Growing Up Black
Disclaimer - Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling, not to myself. I have written this story for sheer pleasure, not out of any pecuniary interest.
Summary: What if Harry had been taken from the Dursleys to live with a different aunt and uncle? AU.
A/N: Thank you to all my wonderful readers and reviewers. Now for the next installment...
Chapter 7
After breakfast on Boxing Day, Pollux took Harry and Draco to number twelve, Grimmauld Place, leaving Abraxas and Arcturus to discuss their plans with the Squibs. They emerged from the grate to find a dusty old townhouse, similar in many respects to the one on Windermere Court, but far dirtier, and with somewhat of a darker feel to it. Malfoy Manor had its fair share of Dark objects on display – skulls, shrunken heads, phials of blood and so on – but this house seemed to revel in its Dark heritage. The staircase was lined with the heads of dead house elves and a troll leg had been turned into an umbrella stand near the door. The portraits looked at Harry and Draco suspiciously, and many of them wore sinister expressions. The cobwebs and thick layer of dust only served to enhance the house's spookiness.
Draco nudged Harry nervously. 'Do you think it's haunted?' he whispered.
Harry shrugged. 'Even if it is, we've got Great-Granddad with us.'
Meanwhile Pollux was scowling in utter disgust.
'What has that blasted elf been up to since Walburga died?' he murmured angrily. 'KREACHER!'
The house elf appeared instantly, and bowed low when he saw Pollux, his eyes wide.
'Master Pollux has come to visit Mistress's house,' he croaked. 'Kreacher is honoured to serve his Master.'
'Kreacher, Mistress Irma and I are moving here after the New Year,' Pollux said sternly. 'We had hoped to find the house fit to live in. How could you disgrace your Mistress in this way? What would she have said to find her home in such a state?'
Kreacher grabbed a poker and started hitting himself vigorously, but Pollux stopped him.
'You'll have plenty of time to punish yourself once the house is clean,' he said sharply. 'I want this place immaculate by the New Year. Every surface should shine.'
Kreacher bowed. 'Kreacher will do as Master has ordered. Kreacher lives to serve the House of Black.'
Pollux pulled Harry and Draco over. 'Kreacher, these are my great-grandsons: Aries Black and Draco Malfoy. They will be coming to visit often, and I expect you to obey them fully. Do you understand?'
'Yes, Master,' Kreacher murmured.
'Aries is Master Sirius's son,' Pollux went on. 'He will be your Master after I am gone, and I expect you to show him full respect and obedience.'
Kreacher's eyes narrowed. 'Master Sirius was an ungrateful blood traitor who ran away from home and broke his mother's heart. Mistress swore he was no son of hers.'
Pollux looked horrified and, without thinking, placed his hands over Harry's ears, which was completely ineffective, since Harry could hear everything anyway, even if it was a bit muffled.
'I forbid you ever again to speak ill of Master Sirius, or to repeat anything bad that anyone else has said,' the old wizard said imperiously. 'From now on I command you to think, feel and act as though you had a deep and profound love for Master Sirius, and to regard him as a great, kind and beneficent master. Now get to your work.'
Harry thought for a moment that Kreacher looked very unhappy, but the elf only bowed deeply.
'Of course, Master,' Kreacher said, and disappeared.
Pollux turned to his great-grandsons. 'Wait for me in the parlour,' he said. 'I need to have a word with Aries' grandmother's portrait.'
Harry and Draco went back into the parlour, but did not sit down, neither one fancying the idea of wallowing in the dust. They wandered around a bit, looking at the various objects on display. Draco stopped in front of a large tapestry that spread across an entire wall.
'Look over here, Aries,' he exclaimed. 'It's the Black family tree.'
Harry wandered over slowly to see what had his cousin so excited, and he had to admit that the tapestry was fascinating, showing every member of the Black family for centuries.
'There's Mum,' Draco said, pointing to one of the names. 'And there I am.'
'There's Great-Granddad, and Aunt Cassiopeia,' Harry pointed out. His heart leapt when he saw Dorea Black married to Charlus Potter, with one son, James Potter, but of course, he said nothing. It wouldn't do to raise suspicions, even with Draco. 'Uncle Marius isn't on here.'
'Oh? Let me see.' Draco looked over where Harry was pointing. 'There's a funny black mark right there. Maybe that's where he ought to be. Do you think the tapestry is damaged?'
'Maybe,' Harry mused. 'There's another black mark like that over here where my dad should be.'
'There's a lot of them on here,' Draco said. 'See? Here's another one right by my mum.'
'Found something interesting, boys?' Pollux asked, walking back into the room.
'We found the Black family tree,' Draco said. 'But it's damaged.'
'Really?' Pollux came over to inspect it. 'I wonder how that happened.' He scanned over the tapestry. 'I don't see any damage.'
'Right here, Great-Granddad,' Harry pointed out. 'This funny black mark where my dad should be. And another one over here, where Uncle Marius should be.'
Harry thought Pollux looked a bit pale. The old man laughed weakly.
'Fancy that,' he said, his voice shaking. 'The tapestry does seem to be damaged. Oh, well, it's easy enough to fix.' He raised his wand and muttered a spell. The black marks vanished, being replaced in each case by names.
'My mum has a sister!' Draco exclaimed. Sure enough, the black mark by Narcissa's name had vanished, being replaced by the name Andromeda Black. A double line of gold thread connected her to Ted Tonks. Beneath their two names appeared yet another: Nymphadora Tonks.
'Look, Draco,' Harry said. 'We have another cousin! She's several years older than us.'
Draco frowned. 'How come I never heard about her before?' he asked Pollux.
His great-grandfather hesitated. 'Andromeda doesn't get on with the rest of the family,' he said carefully. 'She went against her parents' wishes and married a Mudblood.'
Draco gasped. 'Why would she ever do something like that?'
'People do many silly things when they're young,' Pollux replied.
'Is that why her name was covered with a black mark?' Harry asked quietly. 'It was damaged on purpose, wasn't it.' Pollux's wince was all the confirmation Harry needed. 'I suppose Dad's name was missing because he ran away from home, and Uncle Marius was missing because he's a Squib.'
'It's just a silly old tapestry,' Pollux said hastily. 'It doesn't mean anything.'
'So can Aries and I meet our cousin Nymphadora?' Draco asked.
Pollux nearly refused outright, but as he looked down at the two earnest faces of his great-grandsons, he hesitated.
'I'll see what I can do,' he promised. 'Come on, Aries, let's go meet your grandmother.'
Both boys followed Pollux out of the room, none of them noticing the two extra names that had appeared on the tapestry next to Sirius's: Regina Malfoy and Aries Black.
Later that afternoon, Harry returned to Windermere Court with Uncle Marius and Aunt Clytemnestra. He eagerly recounted all the news of the holiday to the portraits, who laughed and gasped in all the right places.
'A Parselmouth?' Lily was stunned. 'Where did that come from?'
James grinned. 'Maybe you're not as Muggleborn as we thought. Maybe you're the Heiress of Slytherin.'
'But I'm not a Parselmouth,' Lily protested.
'Maybe you are, and just never had the opportunity to find out,' Regina observed.
Uncle Marius cleared his throat. Everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to him.
'Whilst all this is most diverting, I am afraid we have some rather pressing matters that demand our attention,' he said. 'Aries, right after you left for Grimmauld Place, Arcturus and Abraxas informed me that they and Pollux have agreed to allow you to remain here with us.'
'That's great!' Harry exclaimed, and James cheered.
'There are, however, a few conditions,' Marius said. 'You will live here Monday through Friday. You will spend Saturdays at Grimmauld Place and Sundays at Malfoy Manor. Over the summer, you will go to visit Arcturus and Melania in France.'
'That doesn't sound so bad,' Harry said.
'There's more,' Aunt Clytemnestra said. 'Cassiopeia will be coming to live with us.'
Harry's jaw fell open. 'Cassiopeia? Why?'
'She'll be tutoring you,' Uncle Marius explained. 'Draco will be coming over for lessons as well.'
Harry wasn't sure what to think of that. Cassiopeia had been perfectly nice to him, after all, but he had seen her be utterly nasty to other people. He didn't think he would much enjoy having her living with him. On the other hand, taking lessons with Draco could be a lot of fun.
'We'll have to be very careful,' he said. 'No one can slip up at all.'
'Certainly not,' Uncle Marius agreed. 'It would take only one mistake to destroy all that we have accomplished.'
Harry's face fell. 'I hope she doesn't ruin everything.'
'Cheer up, Aries,' James said with a mischievous grin. 'We can make things very exciting for Aunt Cassie.'
As things turned out, Cassiopeia was not nearly as awful as Harry had feared. She continued to treat Harry well, and managed even to treat Uncle Marius and Aunt Clytemnestra somewhat civilly. She spent much of her time alone in her rooms, engrossed in her own studies. As for her lessons, Harry and Draco both found them quite fascinating.
'Most pureblood families nowadays,' she lectured them their first day of tutoring, shortly after the New Year, 'leave intensive instruction in magic until Hogwarts, and so handicap their offspring. They claim that studying too much magic too soon can overwhelm children.' She spat in disgust. 'I do not hold with such new-fangled nonsense. I shall be teaching you the way I was taught as a girl: two years of serious theory followed by two years with practice wands. We shall purchase your real wands a year before you go to Hogwarts, giving you a solid foundation from which to excel.'
'If that's the way they used to do things, why did they change?' Harry asked.
Cassiopeia snarled. 'Dumbledore, that Muggle-loving old fool, persuaded the Wizengamot to pass a number of ridiculous statutes restricting what could be taught to children of various ages.' She sniggered. 'He claims, of course, that it's for their own protection, but everyone knows it's an underhanded attempt to put Mudbloods on the same footing as decent wizards.'
'So what we're doing is illegal?' Draco looked positively thrilled.
'Technically,' Cassiopeia admitted. 'But so is special magic. Laws and regulations are for lesser mortals, not for such as we, the noble descendants of great and powerful wizards. One must learn to manipulate such petty regulations to one's advantage, but one can never allow them to prevent one from doing whatever is necessary to achieve one's ends.'
Cassiopeia instructed them thoroughly in the basics of Astronomy, Herbology and potion-making, as well as the theoretical foundations of Transfiguration and Charms. Fridays were devoted to what she called 'special magic,' in other words, the Dark Arts. Draco and Harry were both quite bright, and made steady progress, much to Cassiopeia's satisfaction.
After lessons Draco often stayed over for much of the afternoon, and the two cousins spent many exhilarating days flying their broomsticks in the garden, playing pranks on the Squibs (who didn't really mind) and Cassiopeia (who minded a great deal) as well as exploring the three large magical homes they had at their disposal. As time passed, Harry grew more and more accustomed to his new life, and the Dursleys slowly became little more than a faintly-remembered nightmare.
It took Remus several months of digging in the wizarding Hall of Records, but he finally discovered that Marius and Clytemnestra Black, pureblood Squibs, had been appointed as guardians to one Aries Sirius Black, a pureblood, six years old, the only son of Sirius Orion Black and Regina Cassandra Malfoy. Remus shook his head at the obvious deception. He might not have known Sirius as well as he thought he did, but he would certainly have known if his supposed friend had secretly been married. Moreover, Aries' birth date was given as August 1, 1980, only a day after Harry's birthday, and Remus happened to know exactly where Sirius had been that day—with Remus at James and Lily's, setting up Harry's nursery. Remus snorted. Sirius would never have allowed his wife to give birth alone in another country without his being there to help. He had even tried to stay whilst Lily was giving birth, to provide moral support to James, but Lily had lost her temper and ordered him and James both out. Remus jotted down the address on a spare bit of parchment.
The next day Remus placed a few basic appearance charms on himself before paying a visit to number seventeen, Windermere Court. He walked up the front steps and rang the doorbell. A house elf opened the door and showed him into the parlour, offering him a seat. A few moments later the elf brought him some tea.
'Master Black will be down to see you presently, sir,' she said before leaving the room.
A sudden shriek filled the house. Remus jumped up.
'YOU UNGRATEFUL, MISERABLE BRATS!' a woman's voice roared. 'IF I EVER GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I SWEAR TO MERLIN I'LL CRUCIATE YOU SCOUNDRELS TO WITHIN AN INCH OF YOUR LIVES!'
Remus was filled with sudden pity for Harry. How could he ever have thought Harry might be better off in such a horrible place? He should have told Dumbledore immediately.
How poor Harry must be suffering, he thought guiltily.
Then he heard the giggling in the next room. Drawing on his long-disused Marauding skills, Remus crept over to the door and peeked in. Two sniggering boys stood on either side of the other door, which led into the hallway. Remus was confused. If he had been threatened with torture by a Dark witch, laughter would not have been his first response, yet the boys showed no sign of fright.
'Do you think she's opened the wardrobe yet?' asked the smaller, blond boy, whom Remus did not find familiar.
The other boy checked the clock on the mantelpiece and shook his head. 'Just a minute,' he said.
The taller boy, with his flowing dark locks and dashing features, reminded Remus very strongly of Sirius, and Remus suspected that this might be Harry under some sort of disguise. As he stood there, watching the boys wait, Remus suddenly realised what was going on, and grinned, despite himself. He had walked into the middle of a prank.
A sudden explosion rocked the entire house, and the witch's yelling resumed.
'Now she's opened the wardrobe,' the dark-haired boy smirked, and both boys laughed. The scene brought a tear to Remus's eye. They were acting so very like James and Sirius had, all those years before. Remus half-expected James to walk around the corner and congratulate the boys on their success.
'Well done, lads,' the familiar voice said, chuckling from a corner of the room Remus could not see. 'You should have seen the look on her face.'
Remus turned pale. It couldn't be.
'Thanks, Uncle James,' the dark-haired boy replied.
Remus heard light footsteps, followed by a slightly out-of-breath voice that sounded as though it belonged to an elderly man.
'She's coming down the back stairs,' the voice panted.
'How angry is she, Great-Great-Granddad?' asked the blond boy, but he didn't seem at all worried. 'Is it as bad as when we turned her cat pink?'
'Worse,' Great-Great-Granddad replied.
'As bad as when we blew up the fifth floor?' the dark-haired boy asked.
'Even worse.'
The boys shared a smirk. 'Grimmauld Place?' the dark-haired boy asked, and the blond boy nodded.
'Run along,' James's voice said. 'Go with Plan Delta. I'll cover for you.'
The boys nodded and dashed off, only moments before a furious looking harpy emerged into the dining room.
'Good morning, Aunt Cassie,' James said brightly. 'Did you sleep well?'
'Where are they?' Aunt Cassie growled.
'Where are who?' James asked politely.
'The scoundrels.'
'Oh, if you mean Aries and Draco, I'm afraid they've been gone all morning,' James replied. 'They went over to Grimmauld Place early to use the library.'
'I'm going to kill them,' Aunt Cassie said. 'I'm going to kill them both slowly and painfully.'
'Compose yourself, Cassie,' said Great-Great-Granddad. 'Why don't you take a nice hot bath?'
Aunt Cassie gave a fair imitation of a basilisk stare before sweeping off in a huff. She turned back briefly before exiting the room.
'Don't think I don't know who is the inspiration for all this nonsense, James Cygnus Potter,' she said acidly. 'If it were up to me I would reduce you to a pile of ashes.'
'Oh, but think of how poor Aries would react,' James said, and Remus could hear the wry grin in his voice. 'He might send Kaa after you again.'
Aunt Cassie gritted her teeth and stormed out, muttering darkly under her breath. Remus could only pick out a few bits: 'dratted snake,' 'undignified,' 'Dark Lords' and 'juvenile pranks.' Once she left, James let out a burst of hearty laughter that brought Remus's thoughts right back to Gryffindor Tower.
'Thanks for keeping watch, Granddad,' James said.
'Not at all, my boy, not at all,' Great-Great-Granddad replied. 'I was quite a prankster myself in my youth.'
'Really?' James sounded surprised.
'Where do you think you and Sirius got it from?' The voice yawned. 'Well, I'm going to go take a nap.'
'See you, Granddad.'
Remus couldn't resist. He slipped a bit further into the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of James. He found himself looking directly into the eyes of a very realistic portrait of his dead friend, who was sitting on a table and munching an apple. His hazel eyes flickered in recognition when he saw Remus.
'Moony? What are you doing in that ridiculous get-up?'
