(A/N): Hey Guys! So pleased with the bump in attention Lady Black has received. Please hit me up for questions or even just drop a line on your thoughts on the direction of the story.

Huge thanks toLollypops101 for the review. *gushes* Every comments makes my day.

Again, thank you to my followers, favorites and those who stealthily lurk. You are adored and appreciated.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa to those who celebrate. Otherwise Happy Holidays to all the others I either have no familiarity with or no idea of.

Minor changes *24 Dec 15*

~Yasha's Sis


Lady Black

Chapter 6

The Black Gala

In which a bargain is struck…


Draco Malfoy tried not to pout as his mother fixed the collar of his newly laundered dress robes.

He hated these things. Father had just bought him a new toy wand and he wanted to play Wizards verse Druids with Dobby and Knobbles. Knobbles never played the druid right so he had to do it sometimes but that would be so much more fun that sitting around one of his mother's galas. There were never any kids there!

"Must we go to this, mother?" He knew he was whining but his father wasn't here to scold him for it. Narcissa usually let him slide when they were in private.

Narcissa's pale blue eyes flickered up from his crooked tie to Draco's equally pale grey, speckled with blue. "Yes, my love. This gala is very important for the family."

That's what you say about all of them. Draco thought mutinously. His mother seemed to sense the thought and spared a soft sigh.

"Your father would have you puzzle it out on your own but I do not care to deal with this mood, Draco." The near seven year old cringed guiltily. "We are going to the Black Gala. Great Cousin Arcturus officially held the title once more at Uncle Orion's passing but much of the family has not gathered to meet properly since then. Today, I am introducing you to the Black head who replaced Arcturus."

"Is it Aunt Bella?" Draco didn't think she'd get it since she was in prison but she was the last marginally acceptable Black according to his father.

"No. Your Aunt Bella would have been the next in line after your Aunt Andy and Cousin Sirius were disowned had she not been imprisoned in Azkaban."

The name Sirius stirred a thought from an overheard conversation of his father.

"You mean the Sirius Black from Azkaban?"

Narcissa gave a sad smiled and caressed her son's cheek. "The very same."

Her hand dropped to pull the tie a little more to the left before she straightened and checked over her own appearance in the mirror. "When he was released, Great Cousin Arcturus stepped down soon after, allowing Sirius to assume the Head of Family position. It came to be known that Aunt Walburga had not managed to strip him of the title of Heir." Draco bit his lip.

"Father says Sirius Black is a cur." Whatever that meant. Narcissa shot her son a sharp look.

"Sirius is many things but he is as much a Pureblood elite as your father. He is a man who endured years of Azkaban for actions he did not commit while others remained free. Do not say such nonsense again, Draco." Draco was too inexperienced in the wording to see the slight against his father but he understood he had offended his mother something fierce. She held family above all else but especially those of the Black blood.

"Yes, mother." She eyed him carefully a long moment after, before turning back to the mirror cooing her compliments.

"Since you seem so knowledgeable on our family, answer me this: why would we go to the Black Gala?"

"Because we're Blacks even if our surname is Malfoy." Draco said with just the briefest swell of pride. He looked up the genealogy of the Black family and it reached even further back than the Malfoy name of France! His father wouldn't approve of the split loyalty but it was pretty cool to come from a family that old. The cat like curl of his mother's mouth spoke all the approval needed.

"Yes, but I said this was important, far more important than any other gala we've gone to."

Little Draco thought on that. Why would presenting ourselves to the Black Patriarch be important? It wasn't like Draco would be heir to the Black line. He was already Malfoy Heir and Sirius Black's children would be next in line. Could Draco be heir to both?

"Does Cousin Sirius have children?"

Narcissa's laugh, lifting and musical like wind chime in the summer breeze, caused Draco's lips to tilt in a smile. "The day Sirius Black settles down and raises an heir is the day Andy brings her daughter to the Hall. No, my love. As far as I know, Sirius has yet to have an Heir of his blood."

"Then… its important because he'll see me?" Draco reasoned hesitantly. He was wearing the black and silver robes instead of his green accented ones. The difference in clothing choice was subtle but the message was clear: Blood over Slytherin. His mother wanted Sirius to consider him as the next Heir to the Black estates in lieu of letting it fall to a more distant cousin. Were the Black Patriarch to officially acknowledge him he could be taken as heir.

His mother didn't answer directly. Instead, Draco was favored with a kiss to his forehead and a whispered "That's my boy." The Malfoy scion flushed with pleasure and trailed after his mother as she exited his room and descended the stairs.

Lucius Malfoy was nowhere in sight as they entered the main hall in the direction of the traveling fireplace. The Malfoy patriarch was often gone for the weekends on business. Draco was mildly disappointed but his mother's cool announcement of Pleiades Hall with a toss of green powder pulled his mind from dwelling on his father's absence.

Draco and Narcissa exited the flames without so much as a stumble (his father had made him travel back and forth between their Winter cottage and Malfoy manner to ensure he had the upmost poise when exiting the Floo network). They were greeted by a tall house elf that was almost eye level with Draco. He bowed and took Narcissa's travelling shawl exposing his mother's shimmering blue dress that made her eyes shine like crystal. Draco gazed around the large Hall of the ancient Black home where Great Great Cousin Arcturus and his wife Melanie lived.

It was huge! He didn't think he'd ever seen anything so big. Last year was the first year he was allowed to go and it had been in the Summer Home which was about the same size as the Malfoy manor.

"Draco, honey?" The boy started, guiltily turning away from a suit of armor that wanted to shake his hand, and hurried after his mother. She placed a palm on his shoulder and turned him towards an old woman who looked one wrinkle from being a hag. "This is your Great Aunt Cassiopeia, my grandfather's sister." The woman peered suspicious dark blue eyes at him behind delicately framed horned glasses. Her hair was short and a sickly grey, mostly stuffed under a black shroud wrapped around her head. The old bat's skin looked leathery and tough like overcooked meat and she smelled faintly of sherry.

"He's far too thin, Cissy. What do you feed him?" Draco smothered a sound of outrage when the woman pressed the skin of his cheek between her claws, measuring the depth of baby fat still under his skin.

Narcissa hid her mouth behind her hand. "I assure you Aunt Cassie, he eats more than most boys his age." Draco looked betrayed at her lack of interference.

"Draco, why don't you go grab a snack while I speak with your aunt?" She planted a loving hand on his head and nudged him in what he presumed was the direction of the food. He didn't need to be told twice. The Malfoy heir beat a hasty retreat once the old woman released his cheek.

Scowling, Draco edged around a couple older than his mother with dark brown hair and gave one last sulky rub of his cheek.

This was why he hated these things. There were nothing but old people here talking about boring old people things. He never saw another kid around his age. At best they were ten to twelve years older. He wished he had someone his age to talk to.

Draco's thought was interrupted at his near trampling by a girl who looked to be in her mid-teens.

"Hey watch where you're going!" He snapped irritably. Bad enough he had to deal with hags pinching his cheeks like they have a sign on them, he didn't need to be run over by some klutz.

The girl spun abruptly and her warm brown hair turned a shocking shade of pink. "Wotcher, kid. I'm sorry. I was looking for someone and didn't see you there."

Draco's eyes narrowed. Was that a short joke?

His fascination with her hair pulled with his affront but curiosity was rapidly winning when her hair changed again to seafoam green. "You're a Metamorphmagus!" Her eyes widened in surprised pleasure before her face crumpled.

"Oh no! My mum's gonna kill me!" Her hair ran through a rainbow of colors before settling into dark brown and wavy. "Does this look alright?!" Draco almost took a step back from the near manic light in her eyes.

"Er-"

"Nymphadora! There you are."

A short woman whose face reminded him oddly of his mother was heading in their direction and the teenager had the nerve to squeak and try and hide behind him.

"Stall her, will you?"

Draco turned his head back to give her an incredulous look when yet another voice entered the mix.

"If you're trying to hide, Nymph, you're doing a rubbish job of it." The impromptu escape artist peeked over his head and grinned.

"Brie! Where have you been? I ducked my mum to look for you half an hour ago!" Draco was rightly miffed as a black girl with wildly curled dark hair spoke over his head to the crazy klutz clinging to his back. Draco frowned at the pair ignoring his very existence. How dare they talk over him!

"Dad made me play nice with Great Grandfather." Her grey eyes crinkled as she ran over the Metamorphmagus's words. "You ditched Cousin Andy?"

"Nymphadora!" The woman was getting awful close.

"Not very well, I'll admit."

Draco straightened and put on his most authoritative face. "Are you going to keep talking over me like I'm not here?!"

The girl with grey eyes dropped them to his face and winked before ignoring his question and addressing the teen again. "Why are you hiding here? She can see you and your rainbow hair plain as day."

The teen threw one hand to her head, the other still clasping Draco's shoulder. The jerked motion off balanced the smaller child until he tipped back into her chest when she straightened.

"Damn, I thought I made it normal again." The younger girl, Brie, laughed as Nymphadora shifted it again just as the woman reached the group.

"Dora! I told you to keep it tame this evening. Cousin Arcturus and Grandfather Pollux will not be pleased if you flounce about with purple hair."

"Mum! I wasn't- Brie-"

"Don't blame your younger cousin, Nymphadora!" Brie bit her knuckle to hold back a snicker as the teen continued to be berated. "I swear sometimes it's like she's the older of you two. And who is this?" Andromeda questioned finally noticing the blond boy between her daughter and herself like a shield. Draco shook off the teen's grip and puffed out his chest.

"I'm Draco." He said clearly, shooting a dirty look at the teen who blinked owlishly like she just realized he could talk.

'Draco Malfoy' he wanted to say but in the Black Hall his mother said the only thing that matters is your first name. You wouldn't be allowed in the antechamber on these days if you weren't related to the Black blood. The woman's face pinched before she stooped on a knee to eye level, her blue eyes searching his face intensely.

"Draco? You… you wouldn't happen to be Cissy's boy, would you?" Draco had never heard anyone call his mother Cissy until that old hag from before, but constellations were the chosen name of Black children so his mother's variation on Narcissus to Narcissa, a flower, couldn't have been that common in the family. He nodded hesitantly before he was engulfed in the bosom of the woman before him.

"Oh love, you're so big! Last I saw you, you could hardly walk." She pulled back and beamed at him. It beat away some of the uncomfortableness from the abrupt show of affection.

Her happiness wilted slightly as she looked at the uncertainty on his face. "Do… do you know the name Andromeda?"

The woman's heart looked ready to tear as she asked the question. Draco desperately looked at the brown skinned girl standing over the woman's shoulder for help. She caught his eye and gave a soft smile. "Cousin Andy, who's this?" the girl asked in a carefree voice. Draco blinked at the name: Andy? Wasn't that the name his mum called her sister? The one who got disowned?

"This is Draco, Brie. My nephew, but I suppose Cissy never spoke of me much, did she?" The woman's eyes dimmed and Draco felt partially responsible.

"My mum calls her sister Andy." He offered when the woman started to turn away. "She never said Andromeda before." For some reason, this caused the woman's eyes to water and Draco was crushed in another hug.

"You're a precious boy." She whispered softly, embarrassingly starting to sniffle in his ear. He hadn't wanted her to cry. He was trying to prevent that by speaking up!

Andromeda pulled back and patted Draco's cheeks. The teen that had been using him as a shield backed up beside the grey eyed girl looking at her mother like she had never seen her before. "Thank you, Draco. That… Thank you." Draco shifted awkwardly. He hadn't done anything!

She stood and wrapped her daughter in a one armed hug, ignoring the teenage protests of being too old for such signs of public affection. "Draco, honey, would you know where your mother is? I- I'd like to speak with her." The young blond pointed in the direction he'd just come still stunned from the assault.

"She was with Aunt Cassiopeia." That earned him another assault of affection before the teen flailed in her mother's sudden grasp and the pair headed off. Draco stared after them not quite sure what happened.

"Our family will have that effect on you." The boy's head snapped to the sole remaining person from their original quartet. The girl was watching him with amused grey eyes that were emphasized by her silver drop earrings and braided necklace. Her dress was modest, knee length and black with a single silver lily pinned to the front of her dress's folded lapel. The contrast of her skin and eyes made the grey seem so much brighter than his own. He wondered if she was a metamorphmagus too to have such different coloring.

"Is there something on my face?"

Draco flushed at being caught staring. "No! I just didn't know why you said our family. You can't be a close Black." The girl blinked and cocked her head to the side.

"Why not?"

"You don't look anything like my mother's family." The girl, Brie he recalled, frowned ever so slightly.

"You're mother has blond hair and no one in the main black line has anything lighter than brown." Draco frowned. That was true, but Aunt Andy looked like her mother still. Draco looked at the girl closer and did his best to ignore the color. Her hair was right, thick and wavy and her eyes were grey like other Black's he'd seen portraits of. Her mouth reminded him of Cousin Orion's portrait too. Hmm. Maybe she was related after all.

"Still," the boy began stubbornly. "I bet I'm closer related than you are." At this the girl laughed a short surprised thing.

"Closer related to what? The main line?" Draco nodded decisively and Brie gave him brief eye roll. "That's a stupid thing to bet on."

Draco scowled. "It is not. Just admit you're scared." Brie crossed her arms.

"I'm not scared. You just don't have anything I'd want when I win."

What! Draco had plenty of cool stuff and who said she was going to win? "Sounds like coward speak to me." The girl gave him a dark look before shrugging.

"Fine. What are the stakes, little dragon?"

"Don't call me that," Draco growled. Brie smiled in return.

"Doesn't Draco mean Dragon? Besides, we're basically friends now."

Since when?! "No we aren't, we're family!" Not that he'd ever say it aloud but Dobby and Knobbles were the closest thing he had to friends, he didn't need any more. Father said there's no such thing as friends, only associates.

Brie waved her finger disappointedly. "Exactly. Family and friends aren't the same but it doesn't hurt to be both." Her face lit up and she held out her hand. "There! That's my stake. When I win, we have to be friends."

Draco gave her hand a disdainful look. "That's dumb."

Her eyes narrowed in return. "Yeah, well what do you want?"

Draco knew what he wanted the moment he made the bet but put a show of thinking about it. "The loser has to do whatever the other says for the rest of their life."

Incredulous couldn't begin to describe her expression. "You want me to be your servant?!"

Well, no. House elves and Mudbloods were for that, mostly. But a minion? She could be his first minion. It had a nice ring to it. As if reading his thoughts Brie took the hand not offered to him and rubbed her face. "God, at least make it a reasonable time: a year or a couple months. Not our whole lives."

Draco could amend his demand to that. He held out his hand to shake. "Fine. I bet that I have a closer blood tie to the main line than you do and when I win, you have to do whatever I say for a year."

Brie huffed, grasping his hand in hers. "I bet that I have a closer blood tie to the main line than you do and when I win, you have to try and be my friend until I go to Hogwarts." Draco snatched his hand back immediately.

"Hey! You said a year!" Unrepentant, Brie put a hand on her hip and smirked.

"I think being friends is way different than ordering someone around. You shouldn't get the same time."

"But you get years!" The boy whined. "Not that you'll win." He quickly asserted. She laughed fully at his less than elegant reply and stepped closer to him like she was whispering a secret.

"I'll be nine next spring, little Dragon." Draco could smell the enchanted lily on her dress. "Besides, we'll be great friends." She leaned back and winked at him. "I won't even need a year to get you to love being around me."

"My, aren't we confident?"

The voice interrupting them belonged to a woman whom Draco knew was really old just from the way she carried herself but she didn't look a day over 50. The woman had an elegant beauty about her that he thought his mother would have when she reached this woman's age. Grudgingly, he even thought Brie could pull it off. Brie brightened and gave the sharp looking woman a hug.

"Grandma Mel!" Draco was aghast at the clear display of affection from a person of his age towards their elder. His father abhorred such spectacles especially in public and his mother only offered him hugs when they were in the privacy of their home. He tried not to let the sting of jealousy reach his face. The feeling barely began to fester when Brie reached out and pulled him head long towards the matriarchal woman. "This is Draco! He bet me that he was closer to the main line than I was." Draco hissed at her and forgot about decorum enough to elbow her in the ribs. Brie was hardly phased. The woman known as Mel however arched a brow in amusement.

"Did he now? Would you be Narcissa's child, little one?"

"Yes, ma'am." The woman's hazel eyes flickered to the girl.

"Did you know this before you began the bet, Brie?" Brie looked a little guilty.

"Yes, but it was his idea. I told him it was stupid."

"Making a bet about friendship is stupider." Draco sniped back only to cringe at the childishness. Brie gave him a smug look.

"Children." Brie's grandmother scolded lightly causing both kids to quiet. "What's done is done. I suppose you will find out shortly who the winner is in this little… agreement." She pressed a hand to each of their cheeks and gave a warm smile. "It is good to finally meet you, Draco. Narcissa speaks well of you and often. I'm afraid my husband was ill last reunion but I'm sure he would love to see his cousin's line at its youngest."

Brie put her hand over the older woman's warm one. "Did Grandda Rex get over his coughing fit?" Mel pinched Brie's cheek but couldn't help chuckling.

"You're lucky you didn't give my husband an aneurism calling him Rex. Your father and I both know you can pronounce his name perfectly well." Brie frowned petulantly.

"He was being mean to dad."

Draco could see the fondness in the woman's eyes even from knowing her for this brief amount of time. "Your father can handle himself. Speaking of, I'm sure he is looking for you. The ceremony is about to begin." Brie made a noise of distress and pecked the cheek of her grandmother before turning to him and accosting his person with a hug.

"Bye, Draco. See you at the reception!" Blushing, Draco scowled and shooed her away with his head turned.

Brie's grandmother straightened with an ease that mislead her age.

"That girl loves pretending like she doesn't know what's expected of her." She sighed and looked back down at Draco. "You would not be wrong in making an ally of her, Draco, if not a friend." The Malfoy scion, outwardly indifferent to the statement, inwardly kept those words in his mind. He tried to suppress the pout at being the only kid around again, no matter how frustrating Brie was, when Brie's grandmother moved out of the corner of his eye. "Come. You should meet my husband. I'm sure your mother will be in her seat already and it is near the head table." Knowing that tone as one his father exercised with the expectation that he was to be obeyed immediately, Draco obediently stuck to the woman's side as she easily moved through the crowd.

That everyone was moving out of her way once they saw her probably contributed to it.

This should have been the first sign that something was wrong. Sadly, Draco did not pay attention to the hints. Even meeting Arcturus Black and Grandma Mel introducing him as her husband didn't fully solidify the idea in his head.

Nope.

It took Sirius Black stepping onto the podium and introducing to the entire family his Heir and firstborn daughter: Brie Cassiopeia Black for his loss to truly solidify in his head. Brie's grandmother giving him a slight sympathetic smile only hammered the final nail to the coffin.

The only thing Draco could think of was how he was going to explain to his father his sudden very close association with the child of a man Lucius had no love for.


*~LB~*


Brie nodded absently as her father pointed out another distant cousin from some obscure branch of the Black line as her eyes scanned the crowd for the amusing little boy from earlier. Clearly he was a brat and a privileged one if she was observing his behavior correctly. Probably from purely European heritage since he erroneously thought she was a distant Black simply because of her darker skin.

It was typical of someone from a majority anglo-saxon line. Other ethnicities especially the bronzed Armenians named Nazar and caramel former Chad nationals that married into the Black family didn't bat an eye at the contrast of color. Brie wondered if he was narrowminded about more things or if the occurrence was rare.

The kid was adorable though and unbelievably transparent. Sirius would have a field day teasing him. Besides, she wanted to meet more people her age. Molly Weasley continued to bar the Weasley clan from visiting the Black household after Sirius introduced the twins to the glories of noise making charms the one odd evening Sirius managed to get to the Burrow at Arthur's insistence. Brie hadn't made it during that visit and she gave her father a most devastating gaze of disappointment when she realized she wouldn't meet her cousins until Hogwarts. Apparently, her leniency with the twins had dried up rapidly. It hurt Brie but her father brushed off the reluctance with the ease of practice and Brie let Arthur's stories of his children help to fill the gap. It wasn't enough, but it was better than nothing. Draco would be a welcomed addition.

"What's got you so distracted?" Her father's voice broke through her thoughts and turned her attention back to him. The pout on his face looked ridiculous but no one was currently paying them any mind while Grandda Rex held the attention of a number of guests, lecturing on proper Abraxan care.

"Um… a boy I met." Sirius's amused expression shifted to one of dread.

"A boy?"

"Yeah, I told him I'd see him at the reception." Brie's brow furrowed at the sudden scanning her father gave the crowd. "What are you doing?"

"Just eager to meet this boy." Sirius said in a chipper voice, eyes betraying the odd hostility that burned in them. "How old is he?"

Deciding to ignore him- because she had a strong suspicion that if she humored his behavior and asked she'd be annoyed- Brie stood and pressed a kiss to her father's cheek. "He's my age, dad. May I be excused?"

Sirius scowled and opened his mouth to say something probably embarrassing and completely unnecessary when a tall blond with pale blue eyes materialized at his elbow. She wore an elegant shimmering blue dress that complimented her eyes and her lithe figure. Her hair was curled carefully to fall in swirls over her left shoulder baring the pale column of her neck.

Brie thought the woman was beautiful- like one of the marble carvings of ancient Greece. The woman's pale eyes scrutinized Brie for a long moment before her mouth quirked in a ghost of a smile and she dipped her head to her father.

"Lord Black." Her dad blinked at the new arrival and then his face smoothed making Brie eye them both warily.

"Cissy," he returned and the woman's eyes widened slightly. "Brie said Andy came to find you."

Pale blue eyes flicked to her and the woman's face shifted just slightly, sadder. "She did."

Sirius arched a brow, expectant. The woman, Cissy, narrowed her eyes. "That is between us, Sirius."

He watched her face for a long moment and then the smuggest expression settled. "You both started bawling didn't you?"

Brie didn't think she'd care to hear the following conversation and hurried away. The Black Heir shook her head at her father's needling, grateful for the opportunity to escape when the woman's cheeks pinked and 'Cissy' glared at him.

Her reprieve was short lived once a hand snagged her arm and dragged her behind the cursed chocolate fountain that spewed chocolate and haughty insults at anyone who married into the family.

"You tricked me!"

Brie blinked at the red faced, blond boy glaring at her and perked once she recognized him. "Hey Draco!"

The bright welcome distracted his ire but Draco rallied admirably. "You tricked me." He emphasized when she continued to smile at him.

"I told you it was a stupid thing to bet on."

"Only because you knew the truth!" Draco accused. "You didn't say you were Sirius Black's daughter!" Brie flapped her hand uncaringly.

"Why's that matter?"

Draco's mouth worked soundlessly in disbelief. "You're heir to one of the oldest European lines in Wizarding Britain. The only prevalent families older than yours are the Potters and the bloody Patils!"

Brie frowned at his tone, head cocked to the side. Was he jealous? She honestly wanted to say who cared about the line of magic you could trace it back to. It didn't mean anything if you couldn't control it properly. It also was quickly becoming a curse since a lot of older magical lines died out because of the war and they weren't having kids anymore, too focused on maintaining their influence as Pureblood families and causing sterility. Their own family showed symptoms of it with Dora, Draco and Brie herself being the only children present. She could tell though that Draco wouldn't listen to any of that and chewed her cheek in thought.

"You want to be the Black heir."

Draco colored at the blunt assessment. "I- Why would I? I'm a Malfoy." He proclaimed a little loudly and the fountain he dragged her behind shot confection at him demanding he acknowledge the purer, truer line of Britain. The two kids dodged the assault and fled the fountain when a portly man slipped in the goo and shouted expletives at the damned thing, drawing the attention of a decent number of the guests.

Brie had grabbed his hand in their flight, leading him to one of the balconies that overlooked the Eastern garden. Draco barely had time to marvel at the beauty of the sprawling hills in Wales surrounding the Black ancestral home before Brie tugged him to the bench worked into the stone of the floor and sat down, facing him with her legs primly crossed.

"I don't care about being Black Heir." Brie offered, again drawing a flabbergasted expression from the younger's face. "You can have it if you want."

She knew it wouldn't be that simple. One couldn't just hand over her father's legacy without jumping through a daunting number of hoops not to mention it would disappoint Grandma Mel. She had been so excited to see her, practically ecstatic and denying her birthright would bother her favored elder family member. Her heart gave a twinge at letting the woman down.

Draco's pale grey eyes widened humorously. "Why would you say that? Do you know how important it is to be heir?"

Brie knew, more than she thought Draco did. "I'd rather you be my friend." Which was honest. She didn't have any friends. Her interactions were mostly with family and while that was important to her and she wouldn't give it up for anything, she wanted someone else her age who didn't expect anything of her. The adults all wanted her to demonstrate something whether it was proper behavior like her grandfather or brilliant skill like her father, it wasn't a simple desire just to be.

Sirius was too scared of something happening to her to be the doting father all the time and Dora was away at school most of the year. She wasn't devastated by it, per say but it left a gap in her social interactions. She'd be buying Draco's friendship in a way as a necessary first step. She meant it when she said he'd enjoy being around her in less than a year. She wouldn't stand for anything less.

Draco's pale eyes grew calculating after the disbelief and childish want faded.

"I don't have very many friends," Brie began softly, watching the calculation shift into pained acknowledgement before turning away. Her loneliness echoed in him and a part of her mind, cultivated in her father's lessons and her time in Master Jefferson's home told her to capitalize on the visible weakness. Brie swallowed the urge with difficulty. No one who truly understood responsibility would want the situation she was born into. No one. She would bank her future on it.

"It's mainly me and my dad and a few cousins that come around. I don't see them often and I get lonely sometimes when my father's busy. I know it'd bother Grandfather and Grandmother if I were to rescind my heir status but maybe you'd enjoy it more. I mean, you like being the Malfoy heir don't you? Being the Black heir would be really similar if not with more expectations what with it being an older family. You'd have to attend all of the social functions with my father and would have to do press conferences if he renounced me. Your parents wouldn't see you much but it'd be a big step for you."

Draco grimaced at that last line. "I can't imagine." He muttered to himself suddenly not so eager to accept the offer. There was a daunting number of rhetoric and policy that his parents tried to stress into him as Malfoy heir and he hated every second of it. To be the Black Heir, he wasn't surprised to hear there were more, highly disappointed, but in no way surprised. The bragging rights of being able to claim heir status for the Black line was tempting but he could claim familial membership and retain much of the same benefit with the exception of more lessons and responsibility. It took weeks to stop his father from harping on the Malfoy histories.

The Malfoy heir stared at her out of the corner of his eye for a long moment, debating on whether it was worth it to take up the mantle. He also, briefly, noted that the girl beside him looked marginally pathetic and hopeful for more than just an exchange of titles. He was pretty sure he could get more out of her if she retained her status and he his. Besides, she looked like she was going to cry.

Draco huffed, realizing his decision was made when he noticed that last point. He hated when females cried. "What would I want with your responsibilities anyway? Being Malfoy heir is tough work and I won't take on more so that you can skive off."

Brie turned to him, surprised. Draco scowled when he felt his cheeks heat. This was the proper decision. He wouldn't be embarrassed by it.

"What kind of a Black are you, anyway? Giving up your fame and power so you could have a bloody friend? It's moronic."

He expected her to bristle with the insult but instead she gave him a slow appreciative smile and Draco sniffed. "You already tricked me into being your servant anyway."

Brie laughed. "Friend, you tosser. Not servant. Friend."

At his silence Brie glanced back in his direction.

"You- you said-" The Black heir rolled her eyes when the boy gaped at her.

"You said bloody and I didn't hear me complaining."

"You're a girl," he sputtered. "It's different."

The Black heir gave a delicate sniff. "Pretty sure you shouldn't be using such language in front of me then."

Draco refused to be deterred. "Girls can't say tosser!"

The Black heir's nose crinkled. "Don't be sexist, little Dragon."

"Don't call me-"

"There you are." A cool voice interrupted. Both children jolted at the new person who materialized in the archway. A harsh man standing in impeccable dark green dress robes leaned on a cherry wood cane carved with the serpentine lattice of a dragon's body. He was Sirius's height with a full head of silver hair cropped close to his head. Dark grey eyes, unlike the clear color of Pollux, Orion, Sirius and Brie's, scrutinized the pair who got to their feet once he moved from the shadow of the archway.

"Sirius feared you had run off with someone… unsavory."

The look he favored Draco showed he wasn't entirely sure that hadn't occurred. The man practically loomed over them.

"Great Uncle." Draco managed with a small squeak, bowing deeply at the waist. The ancient Black peered at him down his nose before arching a brow.

"Narcissa's boy."

The Malfoy heir made a noise that could have been yes, could have just as easily been a whimper. Brie gave her Great Grandfather a sharp look to which he glowered right back.

"Come. Your parents' worry is unbecoming."

"Yes, Grandfather." Brie said obediently to which the old man gave her a suspicious look over his shoulder. She smiled, all innocence. Draco caught it out of the corner of his eye and, for some reason, started sweating.

Just as the trio neared the table crowded with the older members of the Black line, Brie beamed up at her Great Grandfather. "Cousin Kelis said something to the Chocolate fountain and Draco and I were curious. What's wanking, Grandfather? The fountain thought it was funny."

Narcissa covered her mouth while Sirius choked on a roll, coughing violently to dislodge the misplaced food.

Grandma Mel rolled her eyes to the heavens, mouth twitching uncontrollably and refused to meet her husband's eye.

Aunt Cassie had no such reservations about making her amusement known and cackled, splattering half chewed lemon meringue across the table top.

Pollux Black, her great grandfather on her grandmother's side who had been avidly watching a younger witch two tables over try and fail to clean red wine from her robes without the use of her wand, stared at Brie as if he had never seen a more disturbing thing and Callidora Black smirked, warm brown eyes amusedly waiting for her distant cousin to respond.

But her Grandfather?

Oh he turned a lovely plum shade and looked physically pained when she continued to patiently wait for an answer.

The man should know by now not to look down on people who didn't deserve it while she was anywhere in hearing range.


Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

Next chapter: Sirius and Brie bonding. The following chapter I do believe will discuss Remus. We'll see.

~Yasha's Sis