Growing Up Black

Disclaimer - Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling, not to myself. I have written this story for sheer pleasure, not out of any pecuniary interest.

Summary: What if Harry had been taken from the Dursleys to live with a different aunt and uncle? AU.

A/N: Thanks to all my readers and reviewers! Now for the next installment...

Chapter 21

The next morning, Draco woke Harry up early as usual, even though it was Saturday. Harry did not feel at all like getting up yet. He had dreamt very strange dreams all night long, and felt as though he had hardly slept a wink. To top it all off, this morning he had a splitting headache.

'Go away, Draco,' he moaned.

'We're supposed to explore the third-floor corridor today,' Draco reminded him. Harry put his pillow over his head. 'Don't you remember?' Draco pressed. 'At the opening feast, Dumbledore said it was out of limits to everyone who did not wish to die a most painful death. Come on!'

Harry sighed. That had sounded too interesting to ignore. He reluctantly got out of bed, and a few minutes later he and Draco were heading out the door of Gryffindor Tower. They hid under the Cloak and made their way towards the third floor. Draco kept watch over the Map. They passed by a few other early risers on the way, but mostly the coast was clear. Once they reached the third floor, however, they found two teachers blocking their path: Snape and McGonagall. The boys froze.

'The last of the protections is in place,' Snape said quietly. 'The Stone should be secure, though I do question the wisdom of hiding such a powerful magical object in a school. I fully expect the Weasley twins to find their way in here before the year is out.'

McGonagall nodded. 'James Potter and Sirius Black would have broken into the corridor within a week.' She sighed. 'Nonetheless, I am sure Albus and Flamel have their reasons.'

The two teachers walked off in the opposite direction from Harry and Draco. The cousins shared a significant look.

'Do you think she meant Nicolas Flamel, the famous alchemist?' Draco asked.

Harry nodded. 'Who else could it be? And they mentioned a Stone.' He could barely contain his excitement. 'Draco, do you really think there's a Philosopher's Stone hidden here at Hogwarts?'

'It seems a likely explanation,' Draco agreed.

'Do you realise what this means?' Harry's expression was ecstatic. 'If we had the Philosopher's Stone, we could brew the Elixir of Life. No one we care about would ever have to die again!'

Draco furrowed his brow. 'Do you really think that's a good idea, Aries? Granny said that your great-grandfather was ready to go.'

'Maybe, but Great-Granddad wasn't,' Harry shot back. 'Besides, at least this way we have a choice. Come on, Draco. This would be the caper of a century.'

Draco let out a deep breath, then smiled. 'I have to admit, it would be pretty cool for us to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Not to use it, mind you. Just to say we'd done it.'

'It's settled then?' Harry asked.

Draco nodded. 'Before the end of the year we'll steal the Philosopher's Stone.'

Harry gave his trademark smirk, and mischief shone in his blue eyes.

'In that case,' he said, 'we had best see what we're up against.'

The boys crept over to the door that led to the third-floor corridor. It was locked, of course, but a simple Alohomora let them in. On the other side they encountered an enormous dog with three monstrous heads. They crept a bit further in, counting on the Cloak to hide them from the beast, but the Cloak could not hide their scent, and the giant dog went mad, all three heads gnashing their very large teeth in the boys' direction. The boys dashed out the door as quickly as they could, but not before Draco noticed that the dog was standing on a trapdoor.

'All right, so we have some research to do first,' Harry panted once they were safely in the corridor.

As it happened, as intriguing as the prospect of researching three-headed dogs was, Harry and Draco soon found themselves distracted by other things. An announcement appeared on the Gryffindor notice board on Sunday, indicating that flying lessons were to be held for first years during the second week, as well as Quidditch tryouts for the older students.

'Flying lessons should be a laugh,' Draco said. 'We've both been flying since we were six.'

Harry snorted. 'I have no intention of going to their damn flying lessons,' he said. 'I'm trying out for Quidditch. It says here that they're looking especially for Chasers and a Seeker.'

'Fancy trying out for Quidditch, Aries?' Fred Weasley said behind them.

'Hate to break it to you, mate, but first years aren't allowed on the team,' George added.

Harry laughed. 'They haven't seen me fly yet.'

Fred and George gave him a sceptical look, but Harry's brazen confidence did not waver in the slightest. George turned to Draco.

'Is he really that good?' he asked.

Draco smirked. 'It depends on the position. He's a mediocre Keeper and, his parentage aside, only a so-so Beater. But he's a good Chaser, and Granddad says that Aries is one of the best Seekers he's ever seen.'

Fred and George flashed an eager grin at one another.

'Aries, why don't you come out to the Quidditch pitch with us this afternoon?' Fred said. 'We'll try you out.'

'If you're as good as you say, we'll put in a word for you with Wood,' George added.

'He's team captain,' Fred clarified. 'We've been on the team since last year.'

'What about you, Draco?' George asked. 'Are you as good as Aries is?'

Draco sighed. 'No,' he replied honestly. 'I think I'm pretty good for a first year, but Aries really is ready to play now, especially if you need a Seeker.'

That afternoon, Harry accompanied the Weasley twins to the Quidditch pitch. Draco tagged along just to watch. George loaned Harry his Cleansweep Five and Fred released a Snitch that they had got a hold of somewhere. Within seconds Harry was off, swooping and dipping through the air as easily as if he had been born on a broomstick. It felt good to be back in the air.

He circled the pitch a couple of times, and then caught sight of the Snitch hovering behind Fred Weasley's ear. He dove right towards the twin and pulled up at the last second, handily catching the Snitch without even grazing Fred. Harry landed, and the twins looked like Christmas had come early.

'Wood is definitely going to want to see this,' George said, and ran off to find the Gryffindor Quiddditch captain. He returned a few minutes later with a burly fifth-year, who looked more than a bit put out at having been dragged all this way to see some first-year 'play around on a broomstick.' His expression shifted to one of ineffable delight, however, when he saw Harry fly.

'I'll speak with McGonagall immediately!' he exclaimed. 'I'm sure she'll let us bend the rule about first-years having brooms.' He rubbed his hands in glee. 'We might just win the Quidditch Cup this year. Do you have a broomstick already?'

'A Comet Two-Sixty,' Harry replied.

'Not bad,' Wood nodded. 'Write home as soon as you can and get them to send it to you. I'll be sure to have your permission from McGonagall before it gets here.'

'Do you really think she'll give in?' Harry asked. His impression of the elderly witch had been that she was a stickler for the rules.

Wood chuckled. 'She'll give in all right. McGonagall's a bit of a Quidditch fanatic. She'll do nearly anything to help us win.'

Sure enough, Harry received a note from McGonagall during supper, excusing him from flying lessons as well as authorising him to join the Gryffindor Quidditch team as Seeker and to obtain a broomstick from home. Harry ran up to the dormitory as soon as he was done eating and contacted Sirius using the mirror.

'What's new, Aries?' Sirius asked.

Harry grinned. 'You'll never believe it, Dad. I've been made Gryffindor Seeker.'

Sirius's eyes went as wide as saucers. 'During your first year? That's incredible. It must be some sort of record.'

'Youngest House player in a century,' Harry replied. He heard a delighted shout from the other side of the mirror.

'Give me that, my boy,' Abraxas's voice said roughly, and soon his face replaced Sirius's in the mirror. 'Did I hear right, Aries? Youngest House player in a century?'

'That's right, Granddad. Gryffindor Seeker in my first year.'

'At least share, Dad,' Sirius protested off the side of the mirror, and soon his face joined his father-in-law's.

'Anyway, I've been told to ask you to send my broom from home,' Harry continued.

'I don't think so, Aries,' Sirius said wryly. 'An occasion like this definitely merits a new broom.'

'A Nimbus 2000, I should think,' Abraxas mused. 'It's the fastest thing on the market right now.'

'Actually, as Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black,' Sirius continued in an artificial drawl, 'I think that buying just one new broom is a bit beneath our dignity. What brooms do the other team members have?'

'I'm not sure,' Harry replied. 'The Beaters are on Cleansweep Fives.'

'Great Merlin!' Abraxas shouted in horror. 'We shall have to remedy that, and quickly.'

Harry laughed. 'You do remember we're talking about the Gryffindor team, right, Granddad?'

Abraxas wrinkled his nose. 'I've conveniently forgotten that little detail, Aries. For now, I shall only remember that we're talking about my grandsons' House team.'

Sirius clapped his father-in-law heartily on the back. 'I knew you'd come around eventually, Dad.'

'Don't push your luck, Sirius,' Abraxas warned, but he was smiling.

'Find out the names of all the team members and let me know as soon as you can,' Sirius said.

'Why?' Harry asked.

'I want to give the brooms to the players personally, not the school,' Sirius explained.

Abraxas raised an eyebrow. 'Rather generous of you, isn't it?'

Sirius shrugged. 'If we give them to the school, there's a chance Dumbledore will redistribute them amongst the other teams in the interest of fair play. This way we can make sure that only the people we want to have them will have them.'

'Very Slytherin thinking, my boy,' Abraxas replied with an approving nod. 'I always knew you were one of us.'

On Sunday evening, Lucius Malfoy was sitting in his study, going through his correspondence and sipping a glass of sherry. His father was at Windermere Court with Sirius Black, the son he never had, poring over broom reviews in Quintessential Quidditch. Narcissa, meanwhile, was at Grimmauld Place visiting with her mother and grandmother. Lucius had the house to himself, and to be perfectly honest, he rather appreciated the quiet.

The study door opened and Dobby stepped in.

'Professor Severus Snape, Master Lucius,' he announced, and the hook-nosed Potions master entered the room, raindrops scattering from his woollen cloak.

'Good evening, Severus,' Lucius said graciously, and indicated a comfortable armchair to his right. 'Please have a seat. Would you care for a glass of sherry?'

'Thank you, Lucius,' Snape said, and sat down. Lucius poured his guest a glass and handed it over.

'To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?' the blond wizard asked.

Snape's nostrils flared. 'I trust you have heard of the little incident we had in Potions on Friday?'

Lucius looked at his guest curiously. It was most unlike Severus to come all the way from Scotland just to discuss a matter of school discipline. He nodded.

'I have heard something,' he said. 'I heard that Aries answered one of your questions correctly and you removed points for his knowing Dark magic.'

Snape narrowed his eyes. 'It is necessary for us to maintain appearances. I cannot be seen to encourage any student in the study of the Dark Arts. If Dumbledore...'

Lucius held up his hand. 'I understand, Severus. Though my father might ask why, if you were so keen to maintain appearances, you asked such a question in the first place.'

'Black answered all my questions correctly,' Snape replied evenly. 'It is not healthy for boys never to get answers wrong. They become big-headed. I simply selected the most difficult potion I knew. I did not expect the brat to know the answer.'

Lucius chuckled. 'You cannot fool me, Severus. I know your real motivations. You have my blessing to bait Aries Black as much as you wish. Merlin knows he needs to be cut down to size.' He frowned. 'I do wish, however, that you had not deemed it necessary to drag Draco into the whole affair.'

'Draco challenged my authority in my own classroom,' Snape said. 'I doubt very much that you would tolerate such insubordination here, and I will not tolerate at school.'

'You must do as you think best of course,' Lucius said nonchalantly, but the look in his eyes was lethal. 'It would, however, be prudent for you to remember that, despite the unfortunate mishap with his Sorting, Draco is still my son.'

'I shan't forget it, Lucius.'

'See that you don't.' The elder wizard took a sip of sherry. 'Now, Severus, is this really the reason you have come all this way to see me?'

Snape shook his head. 'I wanted to know how it was that Aries Black knew the ingredients of the Regeneration Potion.'

Lucius frowned. 'Was that the potion you asked him about? I'm afraid I've never heard of it.'

'My point exactly,' Snape replied. 'Very few people have. It is devilishly difficult to get right, and it is amongst the Darkest magic that I have ever encountered. Could Cassiopeia Black have taught it to the boys?'

'No,' Lucius said. 'I have kept a close eye on their curriculum, and she has taught them nothing I do not know myself.'

'How then would Aries have encountered it? Might Sirius Black...?'

'Sirius Black is an arrogant playboy,' Lucius replied. 'He has no room for anything in his head but jokes and Quidditch. In that respect he makes rather an excellent playmate for my father.' He paused. 'Aries has demonstrated a curious affinity for the Dark Arts. I have often heard Cassiopeia wax lyrical about his strange capacity to master any Dark spell almost effortlessly. I suspect that the boy must have read about the potion in some book.'

'It is curious that the boy would display such a particular aptitude at such an early age,' Snape observed.

Lucius smiled. 'I shouldn't fret so much about the boy's advanced knowledge if I were you, Severus. Aries has much more interesting secrets.'

The Potions master raised an eyebrow. 'What sort of secrets?'

'Tut, tut, Severus,' Lucius scolded mockingly before taking another sip of sherry. 'I may not care for the boy, but he's still family. I shan't reveal everything to you. Let's just say that Aries possesses some unique and extraordinary gifts. I fully expect that his future will prove most...diverting.'

Towards the end of the following week, seven long, thin packages were delivered to the members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Oliver Wood nearly fainted when he saw the note on his.

Dear Mr Wood,

Best of luck on winning the Quidditch Cup this year! We hope this might help a bit. It's your very own brand-new Nimbus 2000. Use it well!

Cordially yours,

Sirius Black, Gryffindor Beater, 1973-1978
Abraxas Malfoy, Slytherin Chaser, 1937-1943, Team Captain, 1938-1943

Every member of the team received the same broom and basically the same note, except for Harry. His note read as follows:

Dear Aries,

Granddad used his connexions at the Nimbus Racing Broom Company to get you a fully working prototype of the Nimbus 2001, which won't be entering the market until next year. We have both tested it - for safety reasons, naturally - and we are pleased to report that it flies beautifully and is a good bit better than the 2000 model. If there are any problems, let us know and we can replace it immediately.

Affectionately yours,

Dad and Granddad

After Potions, Harry and Draco ran up as quickly as they could to their dormitory in order to examine the new broom.

'It's beautiful, Aries,' Draco exclaimed, lightly caressing the wood with his fingers.

'You're not allowed to have a broomstick, Black,' Ron scoffed. 'You'll get in trouble.'

'I've got special permission from McGonagall, Weasley,' Harry replied evenly.

Ron snorted. 'Figures. That what you Death Eaters do, isn't it? Your dad bought his way out of Azkaban, and now he's bought you a broomstick, even though it's against the rules.'

Fred and George walked in, carrying their own new broomsticks over their shoulders.

'Lay off it, Ronniekins,' Fred said. 'Aries is cool.'

'Be sure to thank your dad and granddad from us,' George added.

Harry smiled. 'I'll pass it on.'

'Wood told us to let you know he's scheduled practice for this evening, so we can all get used to our new brooms,' Fred said.

'I'll be there,' Harry replied with a nod.

'You're on the Quidditch team, too?' Ron moaned. 'In your first year? I hate you.'

Whilst his cousin was occupied at Quidditch practice, Draco decided to go to the library in order to begin researching three-headed dogs, and pored through several musty old tomes in the hope of finding some clue. Some three-headed dogs were described as having a mane of serpents, and Draco wondered briefly whether his cousin's Parseltongue ability might help them to get past the dog, but he couldn't remember having seen any serpents on this dog, nor had he heard any hissing. Hercules, for his part, had supposedly got past a three-headed dog by wearing a magical lion skin that protected him from the dog's bite whilst he wrestled it into submission, but the boys hadn't any magical lion skins, and Draco thought that, even if they had, they would hardly be able to wrestle the monster.

Granger, the Muggle girl, was also in the library, studying—she didn't seem to have made any friends at school, and spent most of her time amongst the books. She looked miserable, but Draco had a hard time feeling sorry for her. If the Muggle wanted friends, she should try not to be such an insufferable know-it-all.

Draco's eyes were beginning to blur from fatigue, and he was nearly ready to call it a night. However, he forced himself to try one more book, and opened a thick leather-bound volume. He found what he was looking for on the first page.

'Eureka!' he exclaimed loudly, earning him a disapproving stare from Madam Pince and a curious look from Granger. The blond boy was astounded that he had not thought of it before. It seemed so obvious now. He re-shelved the books with a flick of his wand and ran back to Gryffindor Tower.

Harry whistled as he walked back up to the castle from Quidditch practice. For the first time since he had come to Hogwarts, he felt as though he belonged. Wood and the rest of the team had been ecstatic about his family's donation, and everyone had been thrilled to see how well Harry could fly. He made his way up to his dormitory and found Draco in bed, already wearing his pyjamas.

'How was practice?' he asked.

Harry changed out of his Quidditch robes. 'It was wicked! You should have come.'

Draco shook his head. 'No thanks. I love Quidditch as much as anyone, but coming to practice is a bit much if I'm not even on the team.'

Harry pulled on his pyjamas and sat down on his own bed. He frowned. 'Do you mind that I made the team?'

'Why should I mind?'

'Well, you're a good Quidditch player too,' Harry said. 'It's not fair that you should have to take flying lessons with everyone else. And it would be nice if you could play.'

Draco rolled his eyes. 'Believe it or not, Aries, there is more to life than Quidditch. Like stealing the Philosopher's Stone.'

Ron walked into the dormitory and the boys switched to French.

'Qu'est-ce que tu as découvert? [What have you found out?]' Harry asked. Ron muttered darkly as he searched for his jumper.

'Tu te souviens d'Orphée? [Do you remember about Orpheus?]'

'Bien sûr [Of course],' Harry replied.

'Pourquoi Cerbère l'a laissé entrer l'Enfer? [Why did Cerberus let him into Hell?]' Draco replied smugly. Ron grabbed his jumper and left the dormitory, growling about 'ruddy foreigners'.

Harry grinned widely. 'You mean we have to sing to it?'

His cousin nodded.

'But that's so simple!' Harry exclaimed. 'I should have thought of it myself.'

'You were too busy thinking about broomsticks and Quidditch glory,' Draco retorted. 'Someone had to keep the important things in mind.'

Harry laughed. 'Whatever should I do without you, Draco?'

'I shudder to think,' the blond boy replied primly as he crawled into bed.