Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Striding down Whimsic Alley followed by her brother and cousin, Cassiopeia was in deep contemplation. It was tiring having to plan three or four moves in advance constantly but it was necessary to avoid any surprises and while matters appeared to be proceeding as necessary for the moment that guaranteed nothing. Whilst giving Phineas' research paper to the goblins had bought them their good graces, the public response it would garner was a problem. It would completely shift the power balance to the point that she was sure that the political system would be unrecognisable as in essence it allowed all these lost families to gain back their vaults would allow them to gain back their seats on the Wizengamot. With the last Wizarding War deep routed prejudices and the stranglehold that Dumbledore had on learning on Hogwarts, Cassiopeia had no doubt that a large proportion of them would firmly plant themselves in the Light Block of the Government and this was a bit worrying. Whilst Dumbledore would likely be against this lineage testing by the goblins, he would soon change his tune if his backing within the Light Block suddenly increased dramatically. She snarled, something had to be done and quickly, otherwise everything would go to pot.
Behind her Marius and Phineas exchanged glances, they could almost see the cogs whirling in their companion's mind and were greatly concerned.
"Cassiopeia?" Marius started, "We have passed the tea house, is there some where you would like to go first?"
Looking behind her, the lady rolled her eyes at her brother's unsubtle attempts to not attract her potential ire, "My apologies, I find myself distracted by the situation. To the tea house then!"
Entering the wonderfully scented shop Cassiopeia approached the young man at the till whose worn face seemed almost out of place among the finery that surrounded them.
"May I help you?" The shop assistant asked, looking up from the account book he seemed to be filling out.
"Yes." Cassiopeia answered, eyes wandering over the large urns filled with teas behind him, "May I have five galleons of Gyokuro green tea, three galleons of Earl Grey, oh and throw in a galleon worth of Lady Grey please."
The man nodded and turned to pull urns off the shelf before carrying them to the back of the shop where a set of scales were prepared.
"Lupin?" Phineas muttered quietly when the man had turned to head towards the back of the shop floor.
"What was that?" Cassiopeia asked, turning to her brother.
"The name badge? It read Lupin. When Sirius used to write to me from school he always talked about himself, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and a Lupin, I am afraid I cannot now remember the first name. I can not decide if he could be a relation or the actual boy that Sirius shared a dorm with for seven years."
Cassiopeia looked to the back of the shop where the man in question was weighing out different blends, "I do wonder what side he fell on. Lupin is an old name from about two generations back, the son married a muggle and was involved considerably with the anti-creature legislation about twenty-five years ago."
Phineas looked between the his two cousins, "Well, we do not know what terms Sirius and this Lupin were on during the war. We cannnot presume that they would still be friends, do not forget that Sirius was in prison for the murder of Pettigrew and betrayal of the Potters until last month."
Cassiopeia scoffed, "I wasn't going to just adopt the man like some sort of dog in the hopes he may help Sirius feel better. I shall speak to some people and see whether this Lupin is indeed the Lupin from Sirius' year and then see what their relationship was like."
Marius laughed, "Yes Phineas, never doubt the Dark Lady! Do remember, dear cousin, that we are always steps behind our dear leader and we are but pawns for her plans."
Phineas smirked too, "You are right of course, I had overestimated my value; I shall, of course, avoid such a situation again."
A voice interrupted their teasing quips, "Ma'am?" the shop assistant said as he placed three brown paper bags onto the counter, "Was that everything?"
"Indeed, nine galleons all together then?" Cassiopeia answered, pulling her purse from a pocket in her robes.
"...Yes." Lupin answered, watching the three carefully.
As the Lady Black handed over the gold coins she looked carefully at the man, "May I inquire as to your first name, I knew a Lupin a generation or two ago?"
If it were possible the young man looked more cautious, "My name is Remus Lupin, ma'am?"
"Are you any relation to Rudyard Lupin then?"
"My grandfather was called Rudyard, yes."
Cassiopeia nodded carefully, "Well, it was interesting to meet you, I was not close to John but met him a few times at Ministry functions. I hope that the rest of your day goes well."
With that the lady strode out of the shop with her two companions leaving behind a rather concerned Remus Lupin, who had naturally recognised the three Black elders who had been pictured frequently since they had demanded the trial and subsequent release of one Sirius Orion Black the Third.
Whilst his older relatives had visited Gringott's and gone shopping, Sirius had found himself once more relegated to his bed. This was not to say he wasn't grateful, he felt weaker than a niffler with a cold really and it meant that he got to spent even more time with Harry. After their discussion of Quidditch yesterday, they had moved onto stories of his time at Hogwarts' with James and Remus, the animagus wasn't exactly holding back and told all the best stories, from the time they switched all the classrooms about including put the potions' classroom in the divination tower to the time when they persuaded the house elves to only serve chocolate at all meals for a full week, how the amazing little creatures managed to make chocolate look like bacon or sprouts he would never know. Through them all, Harry was entranced and listened with rapt attention and, more often that not, mouth open with amazement or giggling profusely.
It was only after his godson had fallen asleep on the large bed that Sirius pulled out the folders that lay on his bedside table left by Cassiopeia. Contained in the folders was enough information to catch the man up on the social, political and economic changes that had occurred whilst he had been imprisoned, from the new births within the nobility to the new laws concerning the warding of wizarding properties they managed to catch him up reasonably well. Sirius was well aware that each of the folders, one for every year, were part of the resources that Cassiopeia used to manage her informational and shadow political empire, the mixture of newspaper cuttings and sheets of parchment they were an invaluable aid that he was quite grateful for.
Sifting through them it was immediately apparent that there were still ongoing tensions from the war that simmered beneath everything, this was the thing that concerned Sirius the most. Whilst he accepted that the war, which affected each and every member of his society, would not simply vanish now the leader of one side had disappeared, he had at least hoped that some progress had been made towards creating a balance and harmony. Sirius scoffed slightly as he read many of the new policies from the Ministry that further condoned and condemned any use of blood magic and relegated many more magic types to illegal status. Despite the fact that he had left his family and taken refuge with the Potters', it was not the magic that he objected to most about his previous life but the family, particularly his mother. Sure, he didn't agree with the ancient blood rites that required the use of a virgin's blood but that wasn't to say that every Samhain he didn't think that partaking in a familial ritual circle, that required the use of a couple of drops of one's own blood, should be illegal and punishable with Azkaban. To brand an entire branch of magic illegal was horrendous as to say that someone had a dark or light core was not to say that they were inherently bad or good but to say that they were stronger at one branch of magic or another. Sirius himself had a neutral core that leaned more towards the darker spectrum, he was not going to pretend that he understood this whole concept when he was younger but the years in prison had affected him deeply and he had talked to the younger Lestrange brother whilst there to distract each other and had learned a lot.
Sirius closed the last folder and put it back on his bedside table and looked over at his godson who was curled up against his side. Hearing a chime he groaned,
"Harry? Harry, you need to wake up now. Potion time!"
Sirius smiled down as sleepy green eyes opened and blinked up and him confused for a moment,
"What time is it?"
"Just after four!" Sirius answered as he tightened a thick cover over Harry as he sat up, "Mipsy should be here soon."
Only a few seconds there was a crack as the old house elf appeared with a suspicious look on her face.
"Master Sirius has been behaving?" She asked.
The man in question raised his arms in mock surrender, "I have indeed! Now, how many potions this time?"
The house elf sniffed, "Two for Master Sirius and one for Master Harry." She said as she passed the vials over to their respective wizard. As soon as both had been taken their potions, Mipsy put a tea tray onto the breakfast table and onto the bed.
"There is treacle tart, juice and tea for you both." She said before disappearing once more.
"Yummy!" Sirius exclaimed as he looked at the golden tart, "You had treacle tart before Har-bear?"
Harry looked at the tart suspiciously, "No, what is it? It doesn't look like treacle, treacle is all dark."
Sirius passed the boy over a plate of the tart with a small fork, "It isn't actually treacle, it is golden syrup. I don't know why they call it treacle tart when there isn't any treacle in it. However, you will like it, very sweet. Juice?"
"Please." Harry said as he picked up a piece of the tart on his fork,"Thank you. This is really good!" He said as he tasted the tart.
"We used to have it at Hogwarts a lot. James loved it! I think he once proposed to one in the middle of a Halloween feast by reciting the entirety of a Shakespearean sonnet at it whilst he was on bended knee holding a flower. Then after he was engaged to Lily, he tried very hard to have a treacle tart wedding cake made up of six layers of tart. Lily wasn't too impressed with the idea!"
Sirius laughed at the memory and was not really surprised when Harry joined in, "Now, what are we going to do between now and supper?"
Harry looked thoughtful, "Can you tell me more about the wizarding world? 'Cause I know about Hogwarts and Quidditch but not about much else."
Sirius sat back with a sigh and pulled Harry close, "Well the wizarding world is much like the muggle one, we have a government called the Ministry, a hospital called St Mungo's and policemen called aurors. All our areas are hidden and you have to know where to look to find them, if you were to go to London..." Sirius rambling description drifted on, talking about dragon reservations and Gringotts', from the wizarding beaches of France to the concept of apprenticeships. And by the time that supper rolled around, both had decided it was a rather nice time to spend the afternoon.
Cassiopeia was sitting preparing for war in her study. She had received word that Narcissa Malfoy was going to walk through the floo in half-an-hour and she knew that preparation was key. Whilst she doubted the motives of the girl she knew that to throw away the potential for assistance would be ridiculous and a huge mistake. As a mother, Narcissa was sure to understand why the Potter heir had been removed from his previous guardians whilst as a traditionalist, she was sure to loathe the idea of the heir to one of the great magical Houses being raised by muggles. However, as a mother, Narcissa was likely to desire the title of Lord Black for her son. Cassiopeia sighed, irritated by the fact that she knew so little of her great niece's present character to predict her reactions. For some people it was easy to know their reactions and it was something that she prided herself, so when she could not, it worried her as human emotions caused a variable that effected all her plans.
As Narcissa stepped elegantly from the floo with practiced ease she looked carefully around, taking into account the three people who stood in the room.
"Lady Malfoy." Said Cassiopeia as she approached the blonde woman.
"Great Aunt Cassiopeia." Narcissa replied in turn, "I was honoured that you accepted my attempt at communication.
She received a curled lip in return, "My dear niece, we Blacks' number few and as such must be prepared to move forward together if at all possible despite our respective histories. Taking that into account may I introduce two of our number who have returned into the fold. My brother, Marius and my cousin, Phineas who was the brother of Arcturus and uncle of Orion Black."
Narcissa looked at the pair of men who approached to kiss her hand, "It is an honour to meet you both."
Cassiopeia was quick to end the greetings. "Now, I have had enough of the social niceties and small talk. Therefore, it seems we must speak of controversial matters."
Narcissa nodded, she knew that the protection that social protocols would only protect her from so long.
"In your letter you said that you wanted us to consider you as an 'ally'." Cassiopeia started as she strolled carefully around the room. Narcissa hardly noticed that the two men had left them to it as she was more concerned with the viper in human form that walked round the room. "Obviously you must be aware that Sirius is now free and around him lie some of our greatest plans."
"Why him?" Narcissa asked, "He is disowned, cannot inherit and cannot have children!"
"My dear niece, we are not thinking in the long term yet. We are thinking of the next ten years at the moment, we have no other choice yet... Our reputation is almost completely ill and we have no-one in the Wizengamot or political scene. We are building from the ground up."
Narcissa scoffed, "You think I believe that? You not plan several steps ahead? You would plan the next three generations in advance if you could."
"We cannot tell you everything..." Cassiopeia started before she was interrupted.
"Ha! You would tell me nothing if you could. Why not accept that my son is the only heir."
"Because he isn't?" the elder woman answered, her voice rising.
"Really? Let's look at it shall we? Regulus dead. Sirius disowned and infertile. Bellatrix in Azkaban. Andromeda disowned. Guess what, that leaves me. And I happen to have a son who has been raised to be a pure blood heir. I want to see this House restored and it can be done with time!"
"HOUSE BLACK WILL BE GONE IN THE NEXT DECADE IF WE DO AS YOU ASK. WE THINK FOR THE FUTURE OF THIS HOUSE AND FAMILY." Cassiopeia roared, "ARE YOU REALLY THAT SO ABSORBED WITH THE POWER OF YOUR SON AND HUSBAND THAT YOU WOULD IGNORE OUR KNOWLEDGE AND ADVICE?"
"YES...Yes." Narcissa admitted as she collapsed into a seat, "You think that sitting here in France you understand what it is like in Britain. I can trust no-one. My family was gone, I found myself married and pregnant whilst one sister was disowned and the other swanning around Britain torturing people, it is a well accepted fact that Malfoys' only have one child so who did I have to turn to on that side. Lucius' father?" Narcissa laughed almost hysterically, "That man was as insane as Walburga. Who could I trust other than my family's own power and money? Having control of the title would provide my family with another layer of protection that we need.
You got away from all the chaos of that world and instead decided to sit here in a castle in France and leave us to deal with the fallout. Did you not think that you could resolve the whole situation years ago? You had the political power and knowledge and yet you washed your hands of us until and choose to wait until you could find someone you could manipulate, Sirius provided the perfect opportunity. You are as bad as Dumbledore, you both manipulate for your own gain and sit in the shadows moving people like chess pieces! The only difference between you and Dumbledore is that he pretends to be an old man, full of wisdom who is content to teach the next generation rather than you who gives no such pretenses. And you know what, I don't know which I prefer!"
With that the Lady Malfoy slumped back in her chair rubbing her face carefully and taking a mouthful from a glass of gillywater by her side.
Cassiopeia mimicked her action as she opened a cabinet and pulled out some firewhiskey, with which she poured a generous measure.
She cleared her throat, "I will not apologise for my words and actions for they were done with the best intentions at heart...although I am sure Dumbledore would claim the same." The last part was muttered dispassionately, "We must accept our lot in life and death. You are right though, I did have it easier in France than England, I suppose I felt that being away from action would give more insight into the situation, just as it was easier being in Britain when Grindelwald rose in mainland Europe.
At this moment your son will not be Lord Black. We have plans afoot that will allow us a Lord Black who will lead us forward. Sirius is well aware that we are in essence using him and he, I suppose, accepted it. We cannot tell you everything as everything relies on timing and individual people reacting in expected and unexpected ways. The family law means that you cannot discuss this with anyone, therefore if you do not trust us and accept our plans then you can walk through that fireplace and away to do what you will... Or you can accept that your son is not likely to end up Lord Black, trust us and stay. What say you?"
I am just going to end it here as I haven't completely worked out how Narcissa will react. It may be a while until I can update again as I have a research trip for the next month but I shall try to write when possible.
Thank you to kyrandiana who gave me the idea of the meeting with Remus, we shall be seeing more of him soon.
As ever, review and tell me your thoughts. F200x
