Chapter 9: Family goes beyond blood

I don't own 'Harry Potter'


Growing up knowing that your parents had died before you ever truly knew them was a rather depressing state of affairs for anyone to deal with, but having someone to love and care for you certainly helped to soften the cruelty of life.

Susan Bones was a girl who'd always known about the existence of her parents and what sort of people they'd been in life, but the joy of learning about the people who gave their lives for her was always tainted by the fact that they would never learn anything about her in return.

Harvey Bones and Eleanor Bones nee Sykes had never had any portraits made so the closest the girl had ever gotten to her parents were the marble headstones in the family cemetery. Their final resting place was both a source of comfort and a painful reminder of her status as an orphan, but Susan always made sure to dutifully visit whenever she could. She had no desire to take the easy route in life and ignore her problems.

Her aunt Amelia was a strong woman who'd always made sure to impress on her that facing your problems head on way the best way to deal with things. Susan didn't want to dishonour her parents' memory or disappoint her aunt by being a weak person. Her family had suffered so much for what they believed in, and she wasn't going to disgrace that by letting herself be someone that constantly needed rescuing.

She wanted to be someone that didn't have to rely on people she couldn't fully trust for help. Like their own government. The girl still hated that her parents only died because of Ministry incompetence; it was why she respected her aunt so much, as the woman worked tirelessly to for efficiency in her workplace.

A few months after the murders of James and Lily Potter there had still been Death Eaters and supporters at large but the Ministry had grown lax in its excitement at Voldemort dying. Everyone had been so happy at the surprising turn of affairs that nobody seemed to care the vile murderer hadn't been the only problem. They hadn't thought to pay attention to the situation, and it was this utter stupidity that ended with several individuals being killed before the Ministry came down from their 'end of war' cheer.

If they had been paying attention then her parents would still be alive.

The Bones couple had been well-known for being capable fighters with respected jobs in the Ministry. One day not far into the new year of nineteen eighty-two they'd been visiting Diagon Alley - supposedly still under Auror protection, but for some reason left alone – where a raid was soon started by Death Eaters, and the Bones family lost two members leaving Susan an orphan.

The Bones family, considered a strong family of good blood and reputation, had been all but decimated in less than a year. Susan's uncle Edgar Bones and his wife and children had all been killed a few months before the 'miraculous' Girl-Who-Lived incident, her grandparents had faced similar fates just before Rose became an orphan, and then her parents died months after. Amelia and Susan were left the only members of the once-large family.

Amelia had tried hard to raise her niece to the best of her ability and she'd succeeded as far as Susan was concerned. Susan appreciated her aunt's dedication so much, especially as she got older and realised the pressure the woman was under; having to work long hours at the Ministry, as well as teach a young girl about life and magic didn't leave her aunt with much of a social life.

Susan had once asked her aunt if she had a partner, but the utterly miserable look in the woman's eyes had prompted her to change the subject quickly. The girl had been shaken by the conversation that showed her aunt wasn't as infallible as she'd always assumed. It'd been terrifying for her – she'd already lost every other member of her family and the prospect of being completely alone wasn't something she even wanted to contemplate.

That was the moment that Susan decided she wasn't going to sit back and wait for others to help, she was going to save herself instead. She made the decision then and there to become a strong person like her aunt and parents; she needed to become an Auror so her aunt wouldn't be alone anymore.

Amelia Bones was a normal human, Susan knew that, but coming home to her aunt sitting next to an empty bottle of firewhiskey in the summer before her first year of school had definitely been a worrying experience.


"Susan, there's something I've never actually told you. It just wasn't a good idea, not to mention it's not a happy topic. Or at least it wasn't."

The older woman turned to her with a weary face. "You remember about Sirius Black, right?"

Susan nodded cautiously, wondering what a mass-murderer had to do with her aunt's lack of composure.

"He's innocent." Amelia's shoulders slumped and she shut her eyes tight as if to block out the pain. "He's innocent, and he was never even given a trial. He's spent the past decade in Azkaban despite never being proven guilty."

The girl drew in a sharp breath with eyes widened. Innocent? A man spent ten years in prison despite being innocent? Oh Merlin, how could the Ministry do that?

"But that's not everything."

Susan looked back at her aunt who looked wary and tense all of a sudden.

"He's my fiancé."


Learning that her aunt was actually engaged – had been for an entire decade – and that the infamous Sirius Black was her fiancé, had been one of the most bizarre experiences in Susan's life to date.

Finding out that the man was also the adoptive father of Rose Potter was also a shock. Susan had long been informed that the so-called 'factual' books about the other girl were complete farce as the Potter Heiress was supposed to be with her muggle relatives, not living a pampered life in a magical family as the books often 'reported'.

Actually meeting the girl in person was enough to make her discount every page of the books as complete and utter trash.


"Heiress Bones, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Susan looked at the shorter girl in front of her and tried not to gape unattractively. Her light-blue eyes were startlingly bright against the backdrop of her pale skin and platinum-blonde hair, and the girl was beautiful in a way that made Susan immediately want to fidget and play with her hair. If there was someone to make you question yourself, Rose Potter was that person.

Her clothes were obviously expensive though slightly old-fashioned, as if she was wearing something from decades ago. (Susan would eventually come to learn her blonde friend was an unrepentant cheapskate that couldn't be bothered to buy new clothes, but at eleven was nothing but awed.)

Blonde curls cascaded down her back to her hips, swaying slightly whenever she walked, and the redhead was taken away by how comfortable the other girl looked in herself. She hadn't seen anyone so graceful since Daphne, but she'd been like a ballerina from the start. (Susan still didn't have any idea how Daphne did it, it wasn't fair!)

The only issue Susan had with Rose Potter right now was how much she resembled her cousin Draco Malfoy. He was an obnoxious idiot who made her want to test her aunt's duelling tips on him. Whenever she'd seen him the blonde boy hadn't seemed to realise that he offended people left and right, with a very different definition of 'cunning' to everyone else.

"Heiress Potter, the pleasure is all mine."

That was weird. It almost seemed as if the other girl was trying not to wince. Was there something wrong with the situation?

Before she could reply, her aunt and Mr Black left hand-in-hand to spend some time together and Susan wondered what sort of man her aunt was marrying.

"Besotted bastard."

Those words shocked her into physically jolting, and looking back on their encounter years later, she noted that that sentence set the tone for the rest of their relationship. Rose would shock Susan, and Susan would unknowingly forego any and all etiquette from sheer bewilderment. (Until she adapted to the insanity, anyway.)

"I - I beg your pardon?"

"Dad. He's a besotted bastard. I genuinely pity Amelia having to deal with his crap on a daily basis."

Rose turned to her with a bright smile and a glint of amusement in her eyes.

"Welcome to the family!"

Auntie, help.


"Rose?"

The other girl turned to her and cocked her head as she casually ate an insane amount of ice-cream. That can't be good for her.

"Erm … I was wondering something. I mean, I don't want to offend you or anything, but, it's just –"

She paused her rambling and took a deep breath before squaring her shoulders, turning to her fellow eleven-year-old with a questioning look.

"Why are you blonde with blue eyes? You know, considering your parents."

Rose blinked before snorting and choking on the dessert, actually inhaling some of it if the pained squeak was anything to go by. After a couple of minutes of clearing the ice-cream from her nose – and Susan was genuinely concerned at this point; that looked like it hurt – the blonde girl grinned at her and pulled out some photos from a shrunken bag.

"Voila, meet the reasons for my appearance."

Susan peered at a still muggle photo of a young couple, the man having dark auburn hair and blue eyes the exact shade of Rose's eyes. The woman had blonde hair darker than the girl sitting next to her, but with green eyes she'd seen reflected in pictures of Lily Potter.

"As for my particular shade of blonde hair, I have my great-grandmother to thank for that."

The other girl pulled out a photo and handed it over as she leafed through the rest. The Bones Heiress studied the stern blonde woman with brown eyes who was almost glaring at the camera. She didn't look all that friendly to be honest.

"This is your great-grandmother?"

Rose nodded. "Yep. Violetta Black nee Bulstrode. She passed on her blonde locks to several of her female descendants in that specific branch of the Blacks. Aunt Cassi and my grandmother Dorea were both blonde, Dad's mother Walburga too, as well as Narcissa Malfoy."

Susan studied the girl who was now her family. She was so comfortable in herself, and from the brief conversations they'd had – though Susan very much felt as if she was out of her depth – Rose seemed to be pretty open to different types of magic.

"You, um, seem to be very open to being a member of the House of Black. You know, despite the Potters being, err –"

"Light?"

The readhead was coming to the realisation that that smirk existed to give her heart palpitations.

"True the Potters are a light family, but just because someone is inherently dark doesn't mean they're evil. It's the same with spells, intent matters so much more than whether it's light, grey or dark."

Rose shifted and turned to her, adopted a serious expression as she began lecturing. "A person's core has no bearing on their personality as what type of magic a spell uses does on its result. A cutting or a levitation spell are simple first-year light charms, but they still have the capabilities to slit someone's throat or levitate something heavy on top of someone and kill them respectively."

The blonde girl finished her brief but intense explanation and Susan was flabbergasted. Her aunt might not have ever been hateful towards dark magic but she'd always assumed there was something to be avoided because of what she'd heard. Clearly, 'common knowledge' wasn't always actual knowledge.

"Bambi! Stop annoying Susan and give your darling father some attention."

"Please, the only attention you need is from professionals who deal with the human mind."

"Amy, she's picking on me!"

As she listened to the caustic banter between father and daughter, most of Susan's mind was replaying Rose's words over and over again as she began to reassess her opinions of what magic was.

(Rose had no idea this brief explanation was the root cause of her redheaded friend becoming one of her staunchest supporters in the following years.)


"So, what's up?"

Susan was rightly confused given that the makeshift family was supposed to be spending the day together: her, Aunt Amelia, Rose, and Sirius. Rose's other dad Remus Lupin had left to spend the day with his girlfriend, but not before Rose waggled her eyebrows suggestively at the man. Susan had blushed bright red and left the room to the sound of a playful argument between father and daughter. While she couldn't imagine having such a personal relationship with a father she could understand that it was Rose's business.

She'd been shown around Grimmauld Place which apparently used to be quite the dump, by a smiling Rose and a strangely proud house-elf. Kreacher was very old and had traditional views but he seemed to adore Rose for some reason. She wasn't about to ask about Black family business though – her aunt might be a Black now, but even she wouldn't be privy to everything. Blacks were possessive, and blood meant a lot more to them than being family by marriage.

The two girls were now in the tapestry room, and the family tree was rather daunting with how it sprawled across the walls, detailing the infamous family all the way back to the thirteenth century. They were eating some snacks provided by Kreacher and Rose looked to be trying to tell her something.

Susan put down her plate and turned to Rose, blue eyes meeting brown. Susan wouldn't admit it but the other girl's beauty was daunting and she was quite envious. She wouldn't let it come between them though, especially after Rose had once looked thoroughly confused after someone complimented her. That she couldn't understand she was attractive was just another result of being told she was worthless as a child, and Susan couldn't find it in herself to be too jealous of that.

"Dad and Amelia are married so we're practically family now. I'm not someone who generally likes keeping things from family if I can, so I'd like to tell you something about me, though I'd like it if you kept it to yourself."

Susan blinked. "Is it dangerous?"

"Not really, I mean, any magic had the ability to be dangerous if it's used with that in mind, but not specifically. It's more of a Family magic thing, I –"

"Wait!"

Rose paused, bewildered. "Susan?"

"Rose. Family magic is generally kept secret for a reason. It's kept in the family so others can't take advantage of it."

The blonde girl sighed. "I know Susan, but the point is my ability isn't going to remain a secret forever. It's physical magic, and already one person found out without me knowing. Luckily they were family but I'd rather not risk it again. It's useful magic and a lot of people find it to be an attractive quality. Sooner or later people are going to find out, and I'd like to have people on my side when they do. I'm also not the only one who has it.

"But most importantly you're now my family. You might not be a Black by blood but you are by marriage. My ancestors might not have thought you to be family, but between my dad and I the old stuffy traditions aren't going to last too long. I don't like the thought of lying to family. I'll admit that I have secrets which you'll probably never know because they are dangerous, but I don't mind sharing others.

"I trust you."

Susan felt warmth blossom in her chest as she realised the other girl really and truly thought of her as family. This wasn't an ill-conceived decision, this was a thought-out plan because of Rose's own ideas about such things. She knew that this moment was also politically important even if Rose herself didn't realise it. Rose was asking for her trust and Susan was eventually going to be Lady Bones. Rose was going to be Lady Potter and she was close enough to Lord Black to speak for their family. Susan could offer her – and her family's – friendship, or she could step back to just being acquaintances.

"Okay. So what's the issue?"

"Two things, actually. First, I'm already Lady Potter, and though my vote in the Wizengamot wasn't ever publicly acknowledged as changing proxies it was being used by Augusta Longbottom. I also emancipated myself at ten without anyone knowing."

Susan's eyes were wide. "How did you not end up in Slytherin?"

Rose just grinned and casually changed her hair to royal blue and eyes to bronze. In a corner of her mind Susan noted they were the Ravenclaw colours. The rest of her mind was focused on how her friend just changed her appearance. Without a wand.

"Secondly, I'm a Metamorphmagus."

"… Did you make yourself look like a female Draco Malfoy on purpose?!"

The tension was immediately broken, and the discussion swiftly ended with Rose on the floor and tears in her eyes as she laughed hysterically.

Susan just looked at her dazedly. Auntie, I think this family's insane.


A/N: Hey guys!

I hope the line breaks weren't so confusing; I tried to make it obvious but I think it came out a bit weird. This chapter technically took place in two separate time frames as I'm trying to improve my writing by showing what happened in the past rather than just summarising. Sorry if it got too confusing!

Happy reading! :D