A/N : Apologies for taking so long in updating, life is a wonderful and complex thing, also I did post 2 chapters in July and thought I deserved a break xD

Here it is, the new chapter, hopefully all loose ends will be tied up here, the re working of the earlier chapters is going well, mostly it's subtle but some parts have been changed, hopefully for the better. I won't be tampering with the story until I've finished it. Enjoy! I look forward to hearing your views (I hope you are enjoying the story if it's your first read, to those returning, I hope you like the changes)

Chapter Twenty

The enchanted moonlight shone down from the ceiling of the great hall and mingled with the hundreds of flickering candles. The star scape was better than any of the pictures seen through muggle telescopes, it was as if the roof had been completely removed. The music remained slow for the newly weds, many of the dancers who joined them on the floor were couples swept up in the romanticism of the event.

Narcissa rested her head against Harry's chest and allowed him to lead, it had been the perfect day, even the late arrivals had done little to bring down the mood. Harry cast his eyes around the room, Neville danced with Luna, Draco and Astoria passed by and smiled warmly at him, he saw many familiar faces as he danced through the mass of bodies. He recognised many more as the floor filled up and they danced around them. He spotted his best friend dancing closely with his significant other, it took him awhile to spot Hermione and he had to do a double take before he was sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

Andromeda was leading Hermione energetically around the dance floor, much to the amusement of a crowd of their old school friends. Harry kissed the top of Narcissa's head and when she looked up to smile at him he nodded in their direction. He felt her laughing and she just shook her head, the women met their gaze and shrugged in unison. Clearly they were having a good time, most of the large crowd were couples and the few singletons were probably too intimidated to ask them for a dance.

The band brought the music to an end with a flourish, the dancers stopped and applauded. By coincidence Harry and Narcissa stood in the middle of the floor, soft warm hands cupped her face and brought their lips together in a searing kiss, the wolf whistles from the crowd, despite being incredibly childish were ignored by the couple. It wasn't long before the cheering and applause started and they could ignore it no longer.

Breaking apart they held hands at arms length and took a bow, then he pulled her back to his side and they walked over to the buffet. The spread was fantastic and Harry said a quiet 'thanks' to the army of house elves. In the very centre was Florean Fortesque's commissioned cake, four tiers of shimmering white icing and intricate design.

They moved down the table sampling the food, upon eating a rather tasty canapé he immediately picked up another and fed it to his new wife, they sampled the food in this fashion and soon they were joined by Hermione and Andromeda.

"You two looked like you were having fun, is there really that much of a shortage of eligible bachelors?"

"Very funny Cissy! Hermione wanted to dance and so did I, she is too fussy and I think I intimidate everyone"

"There's an understatement, I think most are terrified, and I'm not fussy, I'm just particular about who I'd dance with"

"There's a difference?"

"Yes" the young brunette folded her arms in indignation and held her head high, Narcissa smiled

"I'd forgotten how good you were at dancing, you and Bella were very gifted"

A slightly awkward silence fell on the crowd which was broken by Hermione

"I spoke with Molly" the young witch directed her statement at Harry

"What did she have to say?"

"She wanted to be here but correctly assumed you wouldn't be in the mood to speak to her"

"What about the rest of the people who came?"

"They are just here for the spectacle, they couldn't care one way or the other, it was writ large in the Prophet, there were always going to be gate crashers"

"There has been no sign of Ginny or Rita..."

"...Or Mother! Have you seen her Andi?"

"I haven't, but she won't be far, she'll want her dance with the groom"

Harry almost choked on his drink, several hands slapped his back until the coughing subsided. Neville and Luna came and joined the group, they had been dancing and their faces were flushed, drinks were poured and passed around.

"Are you all right Harry?"

"Yes thank you Luna, I'm so glad you both came"

"We wouldn't have missed it"

The years after the war had been good to Neville, he had shot up in height and towered over most people, it looked quite comical when he leant in towards Harry to whisper conspiratorially.

"I've been talking to a lot of people and no one really cares that you've married Narcissa, a few of the lads think you've done all right"

"Thanks Nev, that means a lot"

He shared a look with his wife who was skilfully hiding a smirk behind a full glass. The Longbottoms excused themselves and moved back into the mass of people occupying the centre of the Great Hall. Over the next twenty minutes a steady stream of well wishers came to congratulate them. They exchanged knowing looks at the few who smiled politely at them and shook their hands, knowing full well that they were being disingenuous.

(Scene Break)

Rita Skeeter made a valiant attempt to slip away from the wedding unnoticed. Druella, still in the guise of a frail and bent old woman, watched her from a shadowy corner and stole after her. The reporter walked briskly across the large entrance hall and into an adjacent corridor.

Druella entered the corridor just in time to see Rita disappear into one of the doors on the left hand side. As she walked slowly along the polyjuice potion began to wear off, she was beginning to tire of being hunched over, she stood up to her full height and stretched. The curly white hair darkened and spilled down her back, in mere moments the transformation was over.

She drew her wand and approached the door, from inside she could hear voices, the unmistakable sound of Rita Skeeter and that of a young woman.

"Well? You summoned me here Rita, but I don't see what I paid you for"

"I've changed my mind Miss Weasley, Druella Black is here and she knew something was going on, she saw right through my glamour charm"

"I don't believe you, and you had the cheek to claim Harry needed his head checked, there is no way that woman would come out of hiding so publicly"

"Obviously she's using polyjuice potion you silly girl, either way, I won't cross her"

"I never thought I would see the day that Rita Skeeter would back down from anything"

"Don't think you can use my pride against me, you don't know her"

Druella was leaning against the wall outside the door, she smiled to herself, the Weasley girl was too arrogant to be afraid it seemed, but Rita, she knew. She wanted to make an impression when she stepped into the room and transfigured her clothes into something more intimidating. The final result wouldn't have looked out of place on Bellatrix. She gripped her wand tight, stepped away from the wall and swung the door open. The look on the two witches faces was priceless, she sauntered into the middle of the room. Muttered spells sealed and sound proofed the room, she rested her hand on her hip and cast her eyes over the pair.

"Good evening ladies, I do hope I'm not interrupting anything"

Druella froze them in place the moment the red haired girl had twitched her arm towards her wand.

"Tsk tsk, I thought we could all chat like grown ups"

She reached inside her robes and removed a small bottle, she swirled the contents around and Ginny's eyes grew large with fear.

"Don't worry little girl, I just have a few questions, Rita and I will have a chat a little later"

The girl tried to scream as soon as her head was freed from the spell, it took several seconds before she realised there was no sound coming out. Druella gripped her chin firmly and forced a few drops of the liquid past her lips. Ginny stopped fighting almost instantly and her body relaxed. As the young girl raised her head back up to look at her captor, Druella was satisfied that she would no longer be any trouble and her voice was returned.

"Tell me what you were planning here tonight"

She began to speak, her voice was dull and monotonous.

"I paid Rita to come to the wedding incognito, I wanted her to find a way of separating Harry from the crowd"

"Then what?"

"Once she had him the glass orb would summon me here, then we would take him to my house"

"I think I know where this is going but I want to hear it from you"

"I have a batch of amortentia waiting"

Tears were running down Ginny's face, Druella remained cold and impassive, her anger bubbled below the surface but she was in full control.

"You feared my eldest daughter because of what she did, had your plan succeeded you would have learnt very quickly that Bella wasn't the only Black daughter who should be feared"

There was nothing else she could learn from the girl, the only question that remained was how to deal with it. Her first instinct was just to kill her, after all, her mother had killed Bellatrix. She decided against it and in the end the simplest method was best, she erased the girl's memory of everything, including the plan and apparated her to Hogsmeade.

In no time she had returned and was stood regarding the disgraced journalist in front of her. The immobilising bonds were loosened, Rita didn't attempt to shout out, she knew better. Druella flashed her a rare smile of approval and removed the silencing charm.

"What did you do with the Weasley girl and what are you going to do to me?"

"I just obliviated her and dumped her in Hogsmeade, she'll feel a little hungover and slink off home with her tail between her legs, she will have no recollection of the events. I'm guessing that means you'll be able to keep the money she paid you"

Druella smiled again, it held no warmth and conveyed no comfort, Rita swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump that had just formed in her throat.

"I didn't get an answer as to what your plans are for me"

"No, I suppose you didn't, you and I have unfinished business, after that discussion, you are free to go"

"Free to go? What's the catch?"

"Nothing you can't handle, you will do your job, I want your best work"

"Doing what exactly?"

"Reporting on my daughter's wedding of course, then there is the small matter of clearing my name, but we'll come to that in good time"

Druella picked up Rita's small handbag and opened the clasp, searching the contents yielded an acid green quill, she touched the tip of her wand to it and with a flash it burst into flames, black ash drifted down onto the floor.

"Obviously we wouldn't want any unnecessary embellishment, would we?"

"What if I refuse?" Druella laughed, it wasn't a pleasant sound

"I don't think you have a choice, however I have just the thing to motivate you, you owe me"

Druella folded her arms and stared at the woman who had forced her into hiding. She had dreamed of this day for years and now it was here, she felt surprisingly calm. Rita was watching the old witch, waiting for her to speak, Druella noted, with a degree of satisfaction, that all of the defiance had gone from her eyes.

"Now what?"

"A little trip down memory lane"

The wards on the room were checked, if the spell was disturbed it would be like waking a sleep walker, dangerous. Satisfied that no one would be able to break through, Druella hitched up her skirts allowing her to move more freely and held out her wand. Rita looked at the woman, it was like a dance, her lips moved constantly as incantations were muttered. She gave up trying to identify words and waited.

When the witch finally ceased her spell casting, a bright pin prick of light hovered in the centre of the room, it began to expand, before the light became too bright to look at, she saw intricate patterns spinning and changing within the orb of light. It expanded to the size of a snitch and the intensity increased, it was almost painful to look at. Soon it was bigger than a quaffle, the two women shied away from the light as it engulfed the entire room.

The light gradually faded away, the two witches were stood side by side in a large courtyard, Druella recovered first and walked slowly around the stone fountain. Rita blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the after glare from her retinas, she looked around and instantly recognised the vast building in front of her. Finding her voice she called out to the woman who had brought her here.

"This is Black Manor!"

"Yes it is"

"What have you done?"

"We are in my memories, it's just like a Pensieve"

With no further explanation forthcoming Rita paced around waiting to see what the dark witch had brought her here to witness. This was one of Druella's favourite memories, at the time she had no idea that it would be the last time she would see her husband alive. The Dark Lord had fallen a few years before, Bellatrix had been caught and sentenced to life in Azkaban. As far as she knew Andromeda was safe and Narcissa had crafted an acceptable front for herself, and in the time after Voldemort fell, her reputation had survived all of the Ministry's scrutiny.

Cygnus had become increasingly paranoid, he still held a strong position within the Ministry, but with Bella's high profile arrest the rumours had begun. A young reporter for the Prophet was carving a name for herself as she uncovered things that had implicated several Death Eater's who had sworn to have been under the Imperius curse.

A loud crack echoed around the manor grounds, a tall thin man had appeared, Rita let out a cry of surprise. He wore grey, but it wasn't at all drab, his hair was dark and well groomed, a jet black goatee framed his mouth. He moved elegantly, at speed and with a look of fierce determination etched onto his handsome features.

The women followed him over the threshold and into the cavernous main hall. His bark like voice called for Druella, the silence after that powerful shout was broken by the sharp clicking of heels. A much younger looking Druella Black stood at the top of the staircase. She had viewed this scene so many times she knew it by heart.

Having kept largely out of the public eye, there was much speculation about the mother of the most infamous Dark Witch of the age, it wasn't a huge shock when the stories began to emerge. At first it had amused her, tales of her ability to take on the form of a monstrous beast, a penchant for drinking blood and other such ridiculousness. It soon escalated, driven by fear and ignorance, and before long the wizarding community were convinced she was slaughtering muggles.

There were no shortage of missing persons throughout Britain, no bodies were ever found, Druella abhorred ignorance of any kind and had the resources to keep an eye on the muggle world. These nameless people were all unsolved cases, dusty reports filed away on dusty shelves in the offices of whatever muggles had for Aurors.

The Prophet had run a sensational story linking these cold cases to wizards or witches unknown, with the lack of any evidence, magic was the only explanation. After Bellatrix's incarceration speculation about the remaining members of the noble and most ancient house of Black had reached fever pitch, Sirius' escape from the wizard prison had poured more fuel onto an already blazing inferno.

Cygnus was explaining the situation to his wife, illustrating how their lives were in danger, she had argued, they had both shouted, neither one willing to back down. She was to flee and he was to stay, this was unacceptable to her. In the end he made a passionate plea, she felt the tears as she watched her younger self cry, he loved her and that was enough for her to agree. She ran down the stairs into his arms, he held her and whispered words of love and reassurance. She remembered vividly how it felt to be held by him and recalled the scent of his aftershave, and then the hug was broken, he placed a nondescript item into her unresisting hand. With a final kiss he drew his wand and tapped the item, Druella Black was gone.

The memory shifted, the hallway de-constructed itself leaving behind bare earth, trees sprang from the ground and in moments the unlikely duo were stood in the clearing of a vast and ancient forest.

"Where are we?"

"Germany, the forests of Bavaria to be exact"

Without further explanation the formidable woman strode off into the trees. Her younger version hadn't managed to forge too far ahead. They walked at a steady pace, several times Rita thought about speaking but each time decided against it. Eventually the trees seemed to be thinning out, and the keen eyed journalist was certain she could see a cottage.

"This cottage has been in my family for centuries, Cygnus and I used to come here when we wanted to get away from it all"

"I still don't understand what you want to show me"

"You will" Druella's eyes flashed dangerously

The building could barely pass for a cottage, it was primarily wood and stone, it wouldn't look out of place on a Christmas card, the gable end was all stone and would no doubt hold the fireplace, the top was tapered to follow the line of the roof and finished at the chimney top. The other three walls were wood and they were mounted on a rocky foundation, the roof itself was thatched.

"Are we going inside?" the door to the cabin had been opened, the door closing sounded obscenely loud in the quiet of the clearing

"No! This will give you the best view of events"

What felt like hours passed, time sped up and slowed down in huge lumps, shadows grew and shrank as the sun wheeled through the sky. Five times the sun crossed the sky chased by the night. As the dim twilight surrendered to the dark all was quiet in the wood, Rita felt a shiver run down her spine, not a bird or beast made a sound.

The full moon was shining directly into the clearing, there was no way to ascertain the time but Rita surmised that midnight had been and gone. She stifled a scream as figures wearing black robes stepped out of the tree line. There were too many to count, they stood almost shoulder to shoulder and made a ring around the entire cabin.

Everything from that point happened almost too quickly to comprehend, a tongue of flame leapt from each wand and struck the cabin, as soon as the spell was cast the robed figures apparated away. The fire had taken hold and there wasn't a part of the building that wasn't aflame, even the stones burned.

Druella stood unflinching at the edge of the blaze, it took a force of will for Rita to approach, she knew it couldn't do her harm but she struggled to relay that fact to her brain. It was then that she heard the screaming, it was getting louder, the door burst from its hinges and a figure jumped clear of the blaze. The figure left a trail of fire behind them and fell to the ground thrashing to extinguish the fire. The scene ended, rapidly blinking eyes struggled to focus on the empty classroom, the fire still danced on the edge of her vision.

Druella stood tall and fierce, she waited patiently for the bound witch to meet her eyes. She slashed her wand through the air and an unprepared Rita stumbled forward and crumpled to the hard floor.

"Tell me how they found me?"

"I didn't, I had no idea, it was just a story"

"Tell me everything" Druella's voice was low and filled with barely restrained fury

"I was dating a young wizard from the ministry, he worked in transport, he was there the night your husband requested the port-key. He told me about it, and I wrote a story about you fleeing the country to escape the growing scandal"

The dark witch seemed to be thinking, and when she spoke it was only to hear her thoughts aloud.

"The Aurors expected the mansion to be deserted, they didn't know that my beloved had stayed, he would have been caught by surprise and outnumbered"

She had speculated many times about the circumstances surrounding her husband's death, now she had all of the facts in her possession.

"You told them the port-key's destination" she was breathing heavily, her wand was drawn and she pressed the tip hard into Rita's cheek, a bead of blood swelled and ran lazily down to her jaw bone.

"No, I didn't, I swear"

"Then explain before I use up the last of my restraint"

"It was Cornelius Fudge, he worked at the Prophet before he became minister, he encouraged vigilante justice against those who escaped prosecution. The Prophet was a perfect place to get information and he used it, his methods catapulted him into office"

Druella removed the wand from Rita's face and took a step back.

"The climate was perfect for people like Fudge, they fed on the fear and took cowardly action to further their ambition, all the while avoiding the danger that went along with it"

"I always knew he was a spineless bastard, I want you to see the price I paid for his rise to power"

With a few wand flicks her outfit had changed, her arms were bare, the neckline plunged front and back as the skirt raised to just below her knees. As she brought her wand up a second time her wand arms faltered. She sucked in a deep breath and exhaled, the wand moved rapidly with no discernible pattern. The change was subtle at first, her left eye became a milky white orb, perfect skin became cracked and charred, half of her face was burned almost beyond recognition, many shades of red and black merged into each other.

The burnt skin around her mouth pulled it into a twisted grimace, although mostly bald, some hair had remained melted against her skull. The wand never ceased in it's movement and before long Druella Black looked as good as new.

"How did you survive?"

"Sheer force of will, luck, I don't know, it was definitely some kind of cursed fire, I'm grateful that it wasn't anything more potent, I kept myself alive but I couldn't heal, I am very gifted when it comes to glamour charms"

The glamour charm had done its work so she transfigured her clothes into an extravagant ball gown, her long hair plaited itself and she draped it over her right shoulder.

"We are done, you will complete the task I have set you, now I would like to attend the remainder of my daughter's wedding and claim my dance with the groom, partly because of tradition but mostly just to scare him witless"

The room's defences were removed and the women left. They didn't talk on the short walk back to the great hall. She strode purposefully towards the hall doors and threw them open, the chatter in the room died instantly. All eyes turned to her, she saw, with a small amount of satisfaction, both her daughters look skyward and shake their heads.

The crowd swept aside as she walked the length of the room, she clicked her fingers and held out her hand. Minerva Mcgonagall hadn't prepared for the arrival of the mother of the bride, she was eager to diffuse the situation, to a large number of people in the room this woman was akin to the bogeyman. The austere headmistress placed a flute of champagne in the waiting hand and turned to address the room.

"May I present the mother of the bride, Druella Black, and as a long standing tradition, this party will come to a close after the last dance" she motioned for the band to take their positions.

At the back of the room Harry was being jostled forward by his wife, sister in law and one of his best friends. He was pushed through the crowd and staggered out onto the open floor. He wasn't prepared for this, she beckoned him over and the band started to play.