Mattox Black knew nothing good could come from his being called to the Head Master's office, especially not after the night prior. It wasn't his fault he was who he was, nor had he done anything to cause any trouble for anyone. But the looks people from all the houses gave him as he was interrupted from his eggs by Percy Weasley to tell him to report to Dumbledore's office, he knew. He'd not quite made it to the top of the stairs leading to the Headmaster's office, but he could hear his mother's voice ringing down the stairwell to him. When Mattox reached the landing, he found his Godfather and Defense Professor leaned against the wall next to the large, grand door; a amused smirk on his tired face. It had been a full moon the night before, and Mattox knew the man well enough to know really should be resting. "Uncle Remus." He greeted, leaning along with the man against the wall.

"Good morning, Matt." The man replied. "Your mum is here."

"I can hear her." Mattox replied with a chuckle. "She's on a right rampage, isn't she?" he ask, listening to the muffled screaming come through the office door.

"She has her reasons, Matt." Remus sighed, clapping a hand on the boy's shoulder. "This castle is supposed to be safe."

"What does he even want?" Mattox spat at the thought of his father, the wild man known to the public as the murderous Sirius Black. It was no secret that Mattox had a large distaste for the fact of their relation. He made sure everyone knew he wasn't happy about the fact when someone decided to announce it to the entire castle when the term started.

"I cannot answer that, I'm afraid." Remus replied, leaning his head back on the wall and closing his eyes. Mattox fell silent and waited, and after a moment the large office door swung open and his mother came bursting out, pulling both he and Remus into a crushing hug.

"I'm so glad you're both alright." Violet Evans sobbed out, squeezing tightly before letting both wizards go.

"Of course, Mum." Mattox replied. "Word in the hall is he was after Harry anyway." Mattox regretted the words when as soon as he'd said them, for his mother's nephew was a stranger to her; though through no fault of her own.

"Yes, well-" Violet said, sighing out, "I'm not exactly excited about either of you being near him. But Professor Dumbledore assures me that there will be no more incidents of this nature." She dropped a kiss to her son's cheek and ruffled his untidy black hair. "You need a haircut." The boy's grey eyes cut at her in annoyance.

"It's fine, Mum." He said shortly. "May I go back to breakfast?" He ask, turning. Violet glanced sideways to Remus, who shrugged and they both nodded, allowing the boy to go. Remus turned to look at the small redheaded woman next to him as she watched the doorway where her son had stood.

"Sirius doesn't even know his name, Vi." Remus reminded her. Violet shook her head.

"He doesn't need to know his name. Look at him-" She shook her head. "He looks exactly like his father. You could pick him out of a crowd." Remus stood still, unsure how to comfort her. He can only imagine how scared she'd been to find out her ex-fiance had made it not only into the castle but into Gryffindor tower where both her son and nephew were calling home. Remus was afraid to think of the state she'd been in receiving the news alone, for he remembered how she fell apart when they were informed Sirius had escaped Azkaban, and she'd had both Mattox and himself to keep her calm. Violet had wrapped her arms around herself defensively. Remus snaked his own arm around her in comfort.

"He's fine. I'm here, and most days I'm on my guard. Last night I couldn't-"

"I'm not blaming you, Remus." Violet cut him off. "Severus does, but that was about half of the yelling you heard." Remus smiled at her annoyance.

"Old grudges die hard." He said with a chuckle. "He gives Harry and Matt both a fit."

"Professional." Violet mumbled, turning toward the stairs. "Walk me to the gate?"


Back in the Great Hall with still at least thirty minutes to eat, Mattox found a seat next to his best friend Graham Shacklebolt, making another plate as the one he'd been eating before had already disappeared. "Alright, mate?" Graham ask, looking his friend over. "Was it about-?"

"My mum was tearing Dumbledore a new one. And Snape accused my Uncle Remus of helping him in, which set her off more." Mattox explained. He ignored the looks from the rest of the hall, focusing on the everyday talk of his friends who had all gathered up to keep the crowd from staring at him. Mattox was starting to learn how his cousin had felt the year prior, when everyone suspected him of being the heir of Slytherin. Except Harry was innocent of that accusation, but Mattox was guilty of being his father's son.

"Er-" Graham said, calling his attention up. While Mattox had a great many friends in his year, Graham was the only one he fully trusted to tell the whole truth to. His uncle was one of the Aurors that had come to interview his mother and Godfather when the breakout had first happened. Graham nodded down the table to where Harry Potter sat, a crowd of his own gathered round. "I believe he may want a word." Graham said quietly.

"He can come to me." Mattox said, finishing his juice off. He stood abruptly from the table. "Let's find out." Graham had already finished his own breakfast and followed suit, heading out into the hallway where it wasn't but a moment before the boys heard Mattox being called after.

"Matt?" Harry called, cutting through the crowd. It appeared he'd left his own usual group in the dining hall. "Matt! Wait please." Mattox stopped and looked over to his friend, then nodded for him to go on.

"Harry." Mattox greeted. He wasn't sure how to be around Harry. They were first cousins, but he'd never been allowed to meet Harry, because no one allowed his mother to contact him. He'd heard plenty of stories about both of Harry's parents though.

"Mind if we er- talk?" Harry ask, nodding out toward the courtyard. Mattox nodded and allowed Harry to lead him outside. Harry seemed to fidget, like he was nervous. It reminded Mattox just a little of the way his own mother acted when nervous.

"It's alright, Harry. It's not a rumor, he is my father." Mattox said, causing some of the tension to melt from the older boy's face. "I've never met him, he doesn't even know my name." Harry nodded and kicked at a leaf laying near his shoe.

"I know, I figured. I just- I guess I just thought I'd see if you were alright. I know how it is, having them all look at you like you're a raging criminal." Harry said, and Mattox knew he meant it.

"Oh. Er- Thanks then." Mattox said. Harry nodded awkwardly and headed on out into the grounds of the castle, but Mattox headed back met back up with Graham just outside the library to head on to class.


Violet laid gracelessly on her bed, exhaustion finally catching up with her. Aurors had found it alright to inform her of the happening but because the castle was on lock down they wouldn't allow her in to check on any of her family until the morning when the 'all clear' was given for sure. The room felt more suffocating now. There was little she could do about the fact that it was a bedroom she had shared with Sirius. She couldn't afford to move them, and she'd already painted and replaced all the furniture. Though tired, Violet peeled herself up and left the room, going down a flight of stairs to the second floor and entering Remus' bedroom, which wasn't currently in use thanks to his employment at the school. His bed hadn't been touched in months, so Violet didn't feel bad about taking it over and curling up, trying to find rest.

When sleep finally did come, her dreams were plagued by memories, flickers into her past that broke her heart. When Violet finally managed to jerk herself awake, she could feel tears fresh on her cheeks where she'd cried in her sleep. Giving in to the temptation, Violet remade Remus' bed and crept back up the stairs, pulling the trunk from under her bed. Removing the magical locks then putting in the combination code that opened the trunk, Violet pulled out several different relics from her past. Sitting crosslegged on the floor, she took them out of the trunk, one by one.

First was a leather jacket, which had once been stiff but had been worn to the point of being quite soft. It was Sirius' favorite to wear, which had meant at the time it was also Violet's favorite to steal. Without a second thought to anything, she shrugged the old coat on, inhaling deeply to the lining where the faintest smell of cologne was still noticeable. Next she took out several photo albums, flipping them open in the order she knew the pictures started, the earliest ones dating from her fourth year.

There were many things she looked at, dried flowers from various occasions; ones Sirius had picked her on his way home, Valentine's gifts, Lily's bouquet and her own from Lily's wedding. Violet took her time, looking each thing over in its own turn, letting tears roll freely. The last thing Violet took out was an old velvet ring box, clicking it open and looking over the piece of jewelry inside. She'd only got to wear it nine days, so it had no tarnishing on it at all, and still looked as new as the day she'd found it hiding in Sirius' top drawer. Violet took it out of its box with shaking hands, sliding it down on her finger, which was a bit thinner now than when he'd proposed. A thick, loud sob erupted from her chest and she curled her knees to her chest. "Where did we go wrong?" She ask out loud to no one in particular.


Woo- Here we are. Chapter 1 of the main story. I truly hope everyone is enjoying it. I'd like to ask that I get some feedback for it, so maybe, please, could you get my reviews to break thirty... I'd really appreciate it. A lot. Thank you all for reading!