Author: enchanted nightingale

Beta Reader: pussycatadamah

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter 25 – Hectic days

Rodolphus had practiced for when he would become a widower. It would be unseemly to look too happy or too sad. No one would believe he had truly loved Bellatrix and everyone would believe he disliked her enough to have her killed. Now though, they had been fugitives, escapees from Azkaban. There would be no formal funeral, no family attending it. Just them, family, the same one that had planned Bellatrix's death had also planned her funeral. And they had made it beautiful, Narcissa had insisted, in the memory of the sister that had kept her company when growing up, brushed her hair and admired her dresses. Still, the wizard could not be gleeful either as he stood in the middle of the crypt well after the burial was complete, after his sister in law and her family had left him alone there. Rodolphus had no last words to share with the witch, no regrets, no gloating speeches, nothing but relief that it was over. That without Bellatrix around there was one less threat for Sirius' life, one less threat against Potter and his niece or nephew, one less obstacle to the plan he had for his brother to start anew.

He left the crypt silently and joined the Malfoy's and the rest of the people who had turned up, all of them Dearth Eaters. No one was really mourning Bellatrix. Half of the Death Eaters there were gleeful that one more spot at the Inner Circle was open and ripe for the taking. He spotted his sibling easily. Rabastan was being a buffer between Draco and the rest of the crowd, keeping the blond teen occupied and trying not to let him show how scared he was of some of the 'guests' that had turned up.

Narcissa sauntered up to him. "People were wondering when you were going to join us."

"I bet," Rodolphus muttered. "One more hour till they all leave, right?"

The witch nodded.

"I can act for one more hour."

She caught his arm before he could go and mingle. He gave her an inquiring look.

"Even now, seeing her dead, no sign of her insanity… I could not cry," the witch said.

"I'm not the person to talk about this to."

"Would you shed a tear if anything were to happen to your brother?" Narcissa asked of him.

Rodolphus regarded his sibling from a distance. "I would like to think so, yes. But … I don't think I will. I don't believe I have it in me to cry."

"What a cold admission," Narcissa commented. "We are a sad family."

Rodolphus nodded. Oddly he too thought Narcissa as family in a way Bellatrix had never been. "I did not mean to disturb you," Narcissa commented.

"You did not," he told the blond witch. "Perhaps we should talk later, now…"

"Now is hardly the right time," Narcissa agreed. She released his arm and patted it once before walking away.

Mask in place, Rodolphus walked further into the room accepting condolences like it was proper and trying not to look at the clock.

People were pointing and whispering. Harry, and with him Neville and Luna, bravely ignored them. The Daily Prophet had come out and since that morning at breakfast, the whole world knew that Sirius Black was an innocent man. Added to that, they also knew that the former convict and now free man was Harry Potter's godfather. They knew all about Peter Pettigrew's betrayal and how an innocent man had been thrown into jail without a trial. That had made the most sensation actually. A few brave souls had tried to approach Harry and ask questions but the green eyed teen had turned them away without any explanations, annoyed at their nosy attitude. The pregnant teen had been interested to notice that neither Hermione nor Ron (he had half expected the red head to do that) boasted about having prior knowledge about Black being innocent. The twins made a few jokes but nothing more than that.

The least questions came from the Slytherin's, who had known much more than the public, especially those with Death Eaters for parents. Harry and his friends had decided to sit with the Malfoy heir for dinner that night and Draco was surprisingly vocal about Sirius' situation around Harry. Apparently the blond Slytherin was well informed about the proceedings of the trials from his father.

"... I mean of course they would be called to pay reparations," Draco muttered with distaste. "You can't just throw a person in Azkaban without a trial."

"They did it to Hagrid on our second year," Harry pointed out.

Draco grimaced. "Yes but he is..."

"Not fully human?" Harry guessed.

Draco nodded reluctantly and Harry waved him on; the Gryffindor was not going to go on a crusade about how all were equal or should be, like Hermione would have done, particularly not against Draco Malfoy. Some discussions were best avoided when talking with certain people, the teen knew this.

The blond wizard went on to explain exactly why Barty Crouch the Senior should have never thrown a Black in prison without a trial even.

"How do you know so much?" Harry asked.

This question was answered by Neville. "All purebloods learn how to deal with the Ministry, even the witches," the Longbottom heir said. "Just in case something happens. I don't know if you have noticed but the system is..."

"Archaic?" Harry offered.

Neville smiled. "At times yes. We do not have lawyers, like Muggle's do. Well, we have them, but they do not go to a school or anything. They are traditionally one or two families well versed in the laws and the way the Ministry works. The Malfoy family had such functions some eighty years back, right?" He turned to the Malfoy heir for confirmation.

"My great Uncle Aloysius," Draco replied.

"The Potters never were in that kind of thing just law enforcement or judging and that bit was because they held seats in Wizengamot, and only during the last two centuries. Before that they were into business and inventing," Neville commented. "The Blacks though were well versed in political affairs."

"The Davies and the Mclaggen families as well," the Malfoy heir added. "Anyway, your godfather is about to get even richer. The Crouch fortune had not received anyone's claim what with the last members being dead and all. It was supposed to become the Ministry's but my father said they are already making the papers to give everything, gold and properties to Black as reparations. Since they do not belong really to the Ministry the Ministry loses nothing."

"Like he needs more money," Harry said. "Nothing will get him his life back."

There was a brief silence. It was a commonly known fact among Slytherin's that Potter had met with his godfather and that he had known the man was innocent.

"How is he?" Blaise Zabini asked from Malfoy's side. He had been silent earlier but now he was asking a question many people wanted to know. How was a man after thirteen years locked up in Azkaban? How sane was he? How functional? Was he like Bellatrix Lestrange? Was he suicidal? Was he safe to be around?

Harry hesitated. All those unasked questions and whispers about his godfather he had heard them before. Remus had actually talked to Harry about some of them because once or twice, Sirius, either because he was drunk or had just woken up or in the heat of speech or an argument, he would confuse the teen with his father and call him 'James'. Those moments were rather awkward and made even the dog Animagus feel depressed about treating his godson that way. But now the last male Black was better, actually better. And he did not confuse Harry with his father any more, that had not happened since Christmas.

"Sirius... He was lucky," the green eyed wizard admitted to those listening in and. if he was rueful, to himself as well. He knew his godfather was well, not very sane, but he could be much, much worse. He did not want to admit Sirius' Animagus form but Draco looked like he understood.

"I've heard horror stories about Azkaban," Blaise admitted. "Even those that serve time there on the wings where Dementors should not approach well... Let's just say those creatures know no boundaries."

Harry, who on certain days could still remember the grotesque creature that lay under a Dementor's hood, was quick to agree with the Slytherin.

"Change of subject, please," Neville urged them all. "I actually want to digest my food."

"When did you get so grumpy?" Harry teased his friend.

"When Ron still has not learned to cast silencing charms to keep his snoring from waking the rest of us. I cast them around my bed but it's just not enough."

"Hex him silent then," Draco commented. "It's what we did with Gregory here till he learned to be more considerate."

The two Gryffindor's grinned.

"I'll mention this to Dean and Seamus, better not give Ron another reason to glare at me,' the green eyed Boy-Who-Lived muttered."What?" he said to the stares he received. "I can be devious."

"We know that, Harry," Luna assured her pregnant friend.

"That's what scares us all, Harry," Neville replied, making the other Gryffindor roll his eyes before focusing back on his meal.

Remus caught the dog Animagus staring at Harry's album again. They had received it from Dumbledore a few days ago. The Headmaster had salvaged as many things as possible from the Potters' personal belonging after that Halloween night and he had told the two Marauders that he had kept them all for Harry. Now that the teen was practically having family of his own he should receive those items. Albus had not wanted to give them to Harry at school though.

"They belong to him but they also need to be waiting for him at his own house," the blue eyed wizard had told Black and Lupin.

It had been also his announcement that Amelia Bones would soon be granting Sirius custody of Harry. Sirius, who after turning himself in had spent two uncomfortable weeks in incarceration before being declared once and for all innocent and free, had not wanted to keep living in Grimmauld Place, but the wards around the residence made it the best and safest solution as far as houses went. Sirius had tried renovating the place, adding colour, getting rid of the heads and the dark artefacts and his mother's gory taste, but Grimmauld, even changed, was still Grimmauld, every nook and cranny of the Ancestral Black London house was filled with unhappy memories and misery. It had never been home to Sirius and the dog Animagus doubted it would become a home for his godson and the baby said teen was carrying.

"Will you stop being so miserable?" Remus commented. "Looks like you're pining after someone."

Sirius gave a half hearted glare at the werewolf. The jibes about him and Rodolphus had become a sort of must do for his friend lately, who would keep teasing the dog Animagus about the affair. Remus had been more comfortable lately at the idea of his school friend being with the Death Eater. Especially since said dark wizard had done one of the things he had wanted the most in the last few years; he had cleared Sirius' name, gave his best friend a chance at a future, a chance to walk around with his head held high.

"I'm not pining after anyone," Sirius denied.

"Then why the long face?"

"Harry's letter. The album… Lately everything keeps reminding me that he's not a kid, that I lost half of my life in Azkaban."

Remus blinked. "Okay… Correct me if I'm wrong, but Blacks tend to live to their bicentennial, right? It means that you have nearly a hundred and fifty years to live free. Harry will soon become officially your ward and move in permanently with you…"

"With his kid," Sirius said. "Moony, I'm becoming a grand father, of sorts…"

"An actual one if Harry starts viewing you as a father figure and not the crazy uncle," the werewolf cut in.

"I'm only good enough to be the crazy uncle. Anyway, stop trying to distract me here! I want to rant."

Remus smiled. "By all means, rant. It makes you look so much like your mother."

"Moony!"

The werewolf laughed. "Sorry, low blow, but you stopped pouting. You were saying?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm old."

"So am I."

"Yes, but unlike you, I don't like being older."

"Nobody does, you get used to it. Now, are you done with your quarter life crisis?"

"Why can't you take me seriously?" the dog Animagus demanded.

"It just hit me that I'm in my forties, living in my mother's house, single and in love with … a widower I guess."

Remus sighed. "Are you drunk?"

"What? No!"

"Neither am I and I can't do self pity right now. Because my friend, if you want to compete, I can win easily," Remus said. He pointed at himself, "Werewolf, just started making money from fiction books, haven't had a date in five years…"

"Five years? Really?" Sirius gasped.

Remus glared at the dog Animagus.

"Shutting up and no self pity rants," Sirius declared. "You win, hands down."

"Thank you."

"Really? Five years? Does that mean no sex either or just the whole dating theme?"

Remus groaned. "I should have let you wallow," he said and left the room.

"Come on! Share your pain!" Sirius yelled and went after him.

The Manor was silent now that there was not a cackling witch making noise deliberately to disturb the peace and quiet. On one hand Rabastan liked it this way. On another though, Malfoy Manor was silent as a tomb and the absence of noise was a bit chilling when he was bothering to sit still. Which he did not do very often as he lately had taken to trying to keep as busy as possible lest he over thought matters that were best left forgotten, like Harry Potter and how much he missed the teen. He felt like an addict trying to kick a habit and in a way, he mused, he had been addicted to the teen.

On days like this he thought back on the last day they had seen each other, the last night they spent together and he felt that something was missing, like he had missed his chance, overlooked something. He had gone over those last hours in his mind over and over again. What if Harry had not seen the Wanted Posters? What if the green eyed teen had not seen him dressed in Death Eater outfit? What if the teen had not found out the dark truth about him? Would he have ever told Harry? Probably not. How do you admit you are a monster? How do you stop lying when it has become a habit? What do you do when you betray the ideals you once had? So what if he had been feeling less than loyal to the Dark Lord even before he and Harry crossed paths in France? Would Harry still want to be with the man he was while hiding? Probably yes, there is no future or happy ever after at the side of a Death Eater, worse yet an escaped convict from Azkaban. Even if the Dark Lord won, Rabastan would not get his happy ending. He could not just walk up to the Dark Lord and politely ask if the last descendant of Slytherin could please spare the life of his mortal enemy. Rabastan snorted. If he did that he would join Bella in her resting place before he could blink. Or perhaps a ward for the mentally unstable.

Rabastan kept on walking, those questions swimming in his mind up until he came across the elusive person he had been searching for, for the past hour. His older sibling was in a remote window crevice. Rabastan had seen him receive mail earlier in the day and a few more days this past week. During all those times his sibling would try to act nonchalant but it was obvious he was trying to hide the letter and the one who sent it. Naturally, Rabastan had grown curious, especially since he felt that Rodolphus still owed him an explanation about his actions during the Hogsmeade raid. There was something off about the way Bellatrix had died and though Rabastan had expected her death, he was positive his brother had not killed her to become a widower, as he often joked. There was a deeper root in all of this and he would find out. And since he managed to track down his sibling, today was the day he would get his answers. Making no noise he managed to sneak up on Rodolphus.

"Quite an interesting letter you are reading there," Rabastan remarked.

Rodolphus looked startled. "Brother," he muttered.

Rabastan ignored the glare his recently widowed sibling gave him and settled to wait. "You never explained what you were up to, undermining the Dark Lord's plans and all. Or why you had Bellatrix killed, with the merry help of her sister and brother in law."

Rodolphus carefully folded the letter he got from Sirius, the letter that explained the progression of Harry's pregnancy, and regarded his brother calmly. "Why did you never mention that you slept with the Boy-Who-Lived?" he asked instead and watched his brother flounder.

End of chapter.