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, and I'm sorry for the delay in posting. The website was also acting up, and moving random paragraphs. I think I fixed it, but if there's something that just doesn't make any sense, please let me know. Now for the next installment...

Chapter 8

Sirius ran out of his bedroom, jumped up on the banister and slid down. Once he reached the bottom, he leapt off, landed on his feet and swept into the drawing room. He was whistling a cheerful tune and carried a bunch of freshly-picked daffodils. Clytemnestra and Cassiopeia exchanged an amused glance. Their young great-nephew had seemed unusually cheerful of late.

'Where are you off to with those lovely flowers, Sirius?' Clytemnestra asked with a wry smile.

'Ought the House of Black to expect the arrival of a new mistress in the near future?' Cassiopeia teased.

Sirius looked confused for a moment, then laughed.

'These? Oh no, there are for Cissy,' he explained. 'They're her flowers, you know. Narcissuses.'

Clytemnestra chuckled. 'You've been spending a lot of time at Malfoy Manor lately,' she said. 'I'm pleased that you and Narcissa have been enjoying one another's company.'

'Well, our sons are best friends, so it's easy enough for us to share war stories,' Sirius replied.

'Do you give flowers to the mothers of all your son's friends?' Cassiopeia asked innocently.

Sirius growled. 'Considering that the only other one I know is that Weasley woman, I should think not!' He stepped over to the fireplace. 'Anyway, I need to be going. Please tell Mopsy I most likely shan't be home until after dinner.'

'Have a good time,' Clytemnestra said, forcing herself to look down at her needlepoint.

Sirius looked at his aunts strangely. 'What's come over you two lately?'

'Nothing,' Cassiopeia retorted. She looked as though she was trying very hard to keep from laughing. 'It's just been very lovely weather this year.'

'Indeed,' Clytemnestra agreed. 'Perfect weather for...daffodils.'

The two old women could contain themselves no longer and burst into hearty laughter. Sirius was worried that they might have gone mad.

'Will you two be all right if I go?' he asked cautiously.

'Go, you idiot boy,' Cassiopeia snapped, waving him on. Sirius took this as sufficient confirmation that his great-aunt was still herself, and promptly Flooed over to Malfoy Manor before he could be subjected to any more of their curious insinuations.

Sirius stepped out of the fireplace to find Malfoy Manor in complete chaos. A table lay toppled over on its side, bits of glass were dispersed across the marble floor and a dented bronze Apollo had fallen near the fireplace. Dobby stood snivelling in the midst of the disorder.

'What's happened here?' Sirius demanded of the elf. 'Where's your Mistress?'

'Dobby's old Master Lucius was taking Dobby's Mistress, sir,' Dobby sobbed. 'Dobby is not hearing where he is taking her.'

'Lucius?' Sirius frowned. 'But how? I thought your Master removed him from the wards.'

'Dobby is not knowing how his old Master Lucius was coming through the wards,' the elf replied. 'But he is not triggering any alarms, sir.'

Sirius's eyes narrowed as he looked around the room. 'It looks like there was a struggle. Narcissa is a powerful witch, Dobby. How did Lucius overpower her?'

'Dobby doesn't know, sir,' the elf muttered apologetically.

'Where was she when Lucius arrived?'

'Dobby can't be sure, sir, but Dobby is thinking that Mistress was sitting on the terrace.'

Sirius darted through the open doors onto the stone terrace. He sighed when he saw Narcissa's wand lying on a table alongside the book she had been reading. He collected it promptly and placed it in his pocket.

'Dobby!' he barked, and the elf appeared, ready to do his bidding. 'Secure the house against all intruders,' Sirius commanded. 'No one is to be allowed in without the express authorisation of either myself or your Master.'

'Dobby understands, sir,' the elf replied with a bow. 'Dobby will carry out his orders.'

Sirius thanked his lucky stars that Abraxas had ordered the elf to obey him without question. He disconnected the fireplace from the Floo network and Apparated back to Windermere Court. Cassiopeia and Clytemnestra were startled to see him appear.

'You're back quickly,' Clytemnestra observed. 'What's the matter?'

'Narcissa's been kidnapped,' Sirius replied. His aunts gasped.

'But who would dare to raise their wand against a daughter of the House of Black?' Cassiopeia demanded.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. 'Lucius.'

'Good Lord,' Clytemnestra whispered. 'Surely not.'

'She is his wife,' Cassiopeia pointed out. 'Are you sure she didn't go willingly?'

Sirius showed them Narcissa's wand. 'If she had gone voluntarily she would hardly have left her wand behind,' he said. 'Besides, I've seen the house. Tables were turned over and vases shattered. There was clearly a struggle.'

'But why would he do such a horrible thing?' Clytemnestra asked.

'Who knows?' Sirius replied. 'The question is how we're going to respond.'

'This vile assault on our family must not be tolerated,' Cassiopeia snapped.

Sirius's grey eyes flashed dangerously.

'I assure you, Aunt Cassie,' he said in a low voice. 'Toleration is the very last thing on my mind.'

'What are you going to do?' Clytemnestra asked.

Sirius took a deep breath. 'If he's gone so far as to kidnap Cissy,' he said, 'he'll probably go after Draco too. He may also try to strike at Aries or other family members. I'll go to Hogwarts and fetch the boys. We could also use the help of Remus and Abraxas. Aunt Clytemnestra, I want you to go over to number twelve, Grimmauld Place and have them prepare to receive us. Send owls to Granny, Ignatius and the Tonkses. Let them know what's happened and invite them to join us. I want all the family together before we develop our plan of attack.'

Clytemnestra nodded and headed for the fireplace.

'Grimmauld Place makes sense,' Cassiopeia said. 'It's probably the most heavily warded house in Britain.'

'I don't care,' Sirius replied. 'It's not good enough. I want you to go through your books and put the strongest defences you can think of on that house. I want you to make my father's paranoia look like sweet, childish naïveté in comparison.'

'Any restrictions on the sort of wards I can use?' she asked.

'Don't kill anyone to make them,' Sirius said after a moment's thought. 'But the protections can be as lethal as you like. Do your worst.'

Cassiopeia smirked nastily and headed up the stairs to her private collection of special spell books.

'Mopsy!' Sirius called out, and the faithful house elf appeared with a pop.

'Yes, Master?' she asked.

'The family is under attack,' Sirius said matter-of-factly. 'Prepare trunks for me, Miss Cassie and Mistress Black, then take them over to number twelve, Grimmauld Place.'

'Mopsy is hearing and obeying,' the elf said with a bow.

'When you've done that, come back here and secure the house against intruders. After Miss Cassie leaves, no one is to come in or out without my express authorisation. Do I make myself clear?'

Mopsy bowed in response, and Sirius walked over to the fireplace and tossed a handful of Floo powder into the flames.

'Professor Lupin's office, Hogwarts,' he said in a strong voice, and stepped into the fire.

Abraxas Malfoy stood in the front of the Defence classroom, lecturing to a group of sixth-year Hufflepuffs. He would never admit it to anyone, but he had found that he rather enjoyed teaching. Even more surprisingly, he found that he quite enjoyed teaching Hufflepuffs. They might not be the brightest torches on the wall, but they made up for it with sheer diligence. They were respectful, obedient and hung on his every word, which were qualities Abraxas greatly admired in his subordinates. Indeed, he thought, the world would be much better off if most everyone were Hufflepuffs, with just a few Slytherins to rule over them. Perhaps one could add a handful of Gryffindors, just to make things interesting. Ravenclaws, however, Abraxas could very happily do without. They thought far too much for everyone else's good.

Suddenly the door burst open and a wizard barged in. It was Sirius. Achilles' rage had nothing on his. The cold fire in his grey eyes spoke of murder and vengeance. Not for the first time, Abraxas was reminded uncomfortably of just how much Sirius resembled his infamous great-grandfather and namesake, both in appearance and in temperament.

'What's happened, Sirius?' he demanded.

'Remus's office, ten minutes,' Sirius snapped, then turned on his heel and stormed out.

Abraxas turned white. Whatever the problem was, it was deadly serious.

'Class dismissed,' he announced without a second thought, and the Hufflepuffs filed out. Abraxas gathered his things and headed for Lupin's office, stopping by his own quarters for a bit of brandy to steady his nerves. When he arrived at Remus's office, he was unsurprised to find the Transfiguration master waiting with Draco and Aries.

'What's going on, Granddad?' Draco asked nervously.

'I don't know,' Abraxas replied. 'Do you know, Professor Lupin?'

Lupin shook his head. 'Sirius didn't tell me anything. He just told me to gather the children and bring them here.'

A moment later, Sirius himself came in, Headmistress McGonagall following closely on his footsteps.

'There must be some reason, Sirius,' she protested. 'You can't just barge in here and take away two of my students and two of my faculty members without explanation! If this is some prank...'

Sirius spun around and glared coldly at the stern witch. 'Narcissa Malfoy has been kidnapped,' he said. 'I suspect the perpetrator may also come after the boys. I'm taking them to a secure location. As for Remus and Abraxas, I'll be happy to send them back to you as soon as possible, but for now I need their help more than you do.'

The Headmistress nodded briefly. 'I understand,' she said in a businesslike tone. 'In that case, I wish you all the best of luck.' She turned and left.

'Uncle Sirius,' Draco began, but Sirius shook his head.

'Wait till we get home,' he said, and Draco nodded. Sirius stepped over to the fireplace and tossed in a handful of Floo powder.

'Number twelve, Grimmauld Place,' he snapped, and ushered them all through the flames.

On the other side of the fireplace, they found themselves in the midst of an extraordinary amount of hustle and bustle. Melania and Roquefort were standing in the drawing room with an immense pile of luggage. Irma and Kreacher were having a detailed discussion over who would be sleeping in which rooms, whilst Druella and Clytemnestra were yelling at each other in the front hall.

'I tell you, Clytemnestra, we are simply in no position to entertain all these guests,' Druella protested. 'Mother Black and I have grown accustomed to our quiet way of life, and we will not tolerate this disruption.'

'You'll be quiet and do as you're told!' the Squib shot back.

Cassiopeia came in through the Floo, a number of old manuscripts in her arms.

'I have several suggestions, Sirius,' she announced. 'Once we have everyone here we can begin setting them up.'

'Have you contacted the others?' Sirius asked Clytemnestra.

His great-aunt nodded. 'Melania's already here, as you can see. As for Ignatius Prewett – well, he's still upset over what happened at Christmas and doesn't want to come.' She sniffed. 'I did, however, make it clear that he's welcome if he ever changes his mind. I haven't heard back from the Tonkses.'

'I don't understand,' Abraxas said to Sirius. 'Why is everyone coming here?'

'Since Narcissa was kidnapped, it's reasonable to assume that everyone else is in danger too,' Sirius replied. 'I want the family where I can keep an eye on them.'

'Who did it?' Aries asked. His brow was knitted in concern, but blue fire raged in Draco's eyes.

'It was him, wasn't it?' the blond boy spat.

Sirius nodded and placed a comforting hand on his nephew's shoulder. 'Lucius took her,' he said. 'Dobby saw it, but was too late to prevent it.'

Abraxas was shocked at the idea. Never in a million years would he have thought his son capable of such a thing.

'Are you sure it was kidnapping?' he asked hopefully. 'He is her husband, after all. Perhaps she went willingly.'

'We already asked that,' Cassiopeia told him. 'She left her wand behind, and Sirius saw evidence of a struggle.'

'How did he get in?' Lupin asked. 'I thought he'd been taken off the wards.'

'So did I,' Sirius replied coldly. 'But Dobby saw him leave through the fireplace.'

All eyes turned to Abraxas, and the old wizard shifted uncomfortably.

'I did remove Lucius from the wards,' he said defensively. 'But he lived at the Manor for many years. It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that he had placed his own backdoors into the system.'

Cassiopeia rolled her eyes. 'Not to mention that there are numerous potions and spells designed with the express purpose of fooling ordinary wards,' she pointed out.

'That too,' Abraxas said. 'If Lucius has gone back to the service of the Dark Lord...er, Riddle, rather...it would be no difficulty for him to obtain such tools.'

Sirius turned on him. 'Then why didn't you take extraordinary measures!' he shouted. 'We could have used Fidelius! We could have placed the house under lockdown!'

Druella sniffed. 'All of which would have had the effect of making my daughter a prisoner in her own home,' she said. 'Be reasonable, Sirius.'

'As much as I am loathe to admit it, Druella has a point,' Cassiopeia said, trying very hard not to gag at the idea. 'None of us could have anticipated that Lucius would commit such an atrocity.'

'He's an effing Death Eater!' Sirius snapped back.

'He's also her husband,' Lupin said reasonably, placing a hand on his friend's back. 'If he wanted to talk to her, or to persuade her to come back to him, most people would expect him to send an owl before trying to kidnap her.' Sirius began to calm down, and Abraxas relaxed. He knew there was a reason he liked Lupin.

'You have a point,' Sirius agreed reluctantly. 'She hasn't heard from Lucius since he left. She even sent him a few owls. He didn't reply.'

'Then why did he kidnap her?' Draco shouted. 'It can't have been just to have a chat. It must have something to do with Riddle!'

Sirius sighed. 'You're probably right.' He paused. 'I think everyone's here who's going to be here,' he said. 'Let's start setting up those wards. Then we can plan our response.'

It took them several hours to set up the defences. Cassiopeia had clearly been hoping for the chance to set up such outrageously illegal wards for some time, and eagerly took command of the process.

'You do realise that anyone not on the approved list who tries to enter the house will die a painful, prolonged and gruesome death?' Lupin observed.

'Good,' Sirius replied coldly. His friend stared at him for a moment wide-eyed, then decided to give him a bit of space.

'I'm glad I'm on his good side,' Lupin muttered to Abraxas on his way out of the room. The older wizard chuckled, and nodded in agreement.

'Sirius may not like to admit it, but he's his parents' son through and through,' Abraxas replied.

'Don't let him hear you say that,' Lupin said with a grin. 'He'll set the wards to fry you too.'

Sirius looked over his shoulder and glared at them.

'Watch it, you two,' he growled. 'I just might.'

Lupin and Abraxas laughed and went outside to help Cassiopeia set up the outer perimeter. When they were done, Abraxas thought that the universe could explode, and the house at number twelve, Grimmauld Place would nonetheless emerge unscathed.

After a quick supper, Sirius convened a family war council in the dining room. Abraxas noticed that both Draco and Aries took seats near the foot of the table.

'You two run along,' Clytemnestra told them, not unkindly. 'The adults will take care of this.'

'It's my mum, Aunt Clytemnestra,' Draco replied.

'We're staying,' Aries insisted.

Clytemnestra looked at Sirius questioningly. The young wizard nodded.

'They have a right to know what's going on,' he said.

The boys eagerly took their seats along with everyone else. Sirius had just begun to speak when the doorbell rang. Everyone tensed.

'Check and see who it is, Moony,' Sirius said.

Lupin got up and looked through the eyehole in the door.

'It's the Tonkses,' he announced.

'Let them in,' Sirius said. 'They're already on the approved list.'

Druella opened her mouth to protest, but Sirius glared at her threateningly, and the old harridan shut up. Abraxas chuckled in delight. Sirius had inherited Walburga's glare.

The Tonkses walked into the dining room. Their faces were long.

'When we heard what happened to Cissy, we decided we had to help,' Andromeda said hesitantly.

Sirius nodded. 'You're all welcome,' he said. 'Take a seat.'

The meeting began in fine Black tradition with everyone making an Unbreakable Vow to keep secret from outsiders everything that they discussed at the meeting.

'Very well,' Sirius began. 'What facts have we established for certain? Dobby told us that Lucius took Narcissa from Malfoy Manor through the fireplace. I saw that Narcissa left her wand behind, and there was evidence of a struggle, so we may presume that she did not go willingly.'

'We know that Lucius is in the service of the Dark Lord,' Cassiopeia added.

'Can we be sure of that?' Druella asked. 'This could be simply a family squabble.'

'Lucius himself admitted that he gave Draco the cursed diary at the behest of Voldemort,' Sirius said.

'But how do you know that he returned to Him-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named afterwards?' Andromeda asked. 'It might have made more sense for him to flee.'

'We have our sources,' Sirius said. 'We are confident of their accuracy.'

'In that case, it is reasonable to suppose that Voldemort approved Lucius's actions,' Lupin pointed out.

Abraxas nodded. 'The Death Eaters would never dream of taking serious action without at least the tacit approval of their master.'

'Couldn't it have been a crime of passion?' Ted Tonks suggested.

Abraxas glared at the Muggle-born as though he were a bit of dung on his boot.

'Don't be stupid,' he snapped. 'Lucius doesn't have a passionate bone in his body. He planned this very carefully. He had to have done in order to break through the wards.'

'But what would Riddle want with my mum?' Draco asked.

Sirius frowned. 'And where are they now? Those are the real questions, aren't they?'

'Well, you said he left by Floo, right?' Dora piped up. Sirius nodded. 'The Ministry keep a record of all Floo activity for forty-eight hours,' she continued. 'The Aurors have access to it.'

Sirius grinned, and winked at Cassiopeia, who harrumphed. 'I knew having an Auror in the family might come in handy,' he said. 'I disconnected Malfoy Manor from the Floo Network before I left, so the last outgoing connexion ought to be Lucius's. Do you think you can manage to look it up for us, Dora?'

The Metamorphmagus nodded eagerly. 'It shouldn't be a problem at all.'

'I doubt very much that Lucius would have been so stupid as to Floo directly back to wherever they're hiding,' Lupin pointed out.

'True,' Sirius admitted. 'But the Floo destination will at least give us an idea of where to begin.'

The meeting continued for another half-hour, but there was little more they could do before Dora found out Lucius's destination, which would not be possible until she went to work the next day, as trainee Aurors did not have after-hours privileges. They agreed to meet the next evening, and the Tonkses left. Most of the family retired to bed, and Lupin and Abraxas returned to Hogwarts.

Draco couldn't sleep that night, so he and Harry stayed up playing chess in Regulus's old room.

'I'm really sorry about what happened to your mum, Draco,' Harry said.

'I don't want to talk about it,' his cousin muttered. He moved his rook forward three spaces. 'Check.'

Harry raised an eyebrow. 'Are you sure you want to do that?'

'Of course I am,' Draco snapped irritably. 'I did it, didn't I?'

Harry shrugged and took the castle with his knight.

Draco stared at the board blankly. 'Damn.'

'Your heart doesn't really seem to be in the game,' Harry observed. 'Do you want to do something else? Exploding Snap?'

His cousin shook his head and moved a bishop. 'I doubt my heart will be in that, either. I mostly want something to pass the time.'

Harry yawned. 'Why don't you ask Dad for a sleeping potion?'

'What if there's news?' Draco replied in a small voice. 'Mum could need me, and I shouldn't be able to wake up.'

Harry nodded at his cousin sympathetically, then moved his queen straight across the board.

'Checkmate,' he said with a grin.

'Prat,' Draco muttered.

The door opened, and Sirius came in.

'What are you two still doing up?' he asked, though he didn't look anywhere close to going to bed himself.

'I couldn't sleep,' Draco said. 'Aries was sitting up with me.'

Sirius nodded. 'May I join you?' he asked.

'Of course,' Harry replied, and scooted over to make more room on the bed. Sirius sat down cross-legged.

'Merlin, Draco,' he said, glancing at the chessboard. 'Aries crushed you.'

Draco snorted. 'I've been a bit distracted.'

'That's understandable,' Sirius said. He chewed his lower lip before continuing. 'Draco, could you give me and Aries a minute, please?'

'All right,' Draco replied, and hopped off the bed. 'I'll grab us a couple of butterbeers from the kitchen, Aries.'

'Thanks,' Harry said.

'Could you get me one too whilst you're at it?' Sirius asked.

Draco nodded. 'No problem.'

Once he shut the door, Sirius turned to look at Harry.

'I have something important to ask of you,' he said. 'Feel free to say no. There's no pressure. I didn't even want to ask you, but Aunt Cassie convinced me to give you the choice.'

'What is it, Dad?' Harry asked.

'You have this connexion with Riddle, right?' Sirius began. Harry nodded. 'How does it work? Have you any control over the visions, or do they happen randomly?'

Harry thought for a moment. 'Mostly randomly,' he said. 'But when I had the diary, sometimes the visions would occur when I was thinking about something in particular.'

Sirius winced, as though it was painful for him to continue.

'Do you think there's any way you could initiate a vision? Maybe use it to find out some particular bit of information?'

Harry grinned. He liked where his dad was going with this. 'Such as where he's stashed Aunt Narcissa?'

'That's right,' Sirius said. 'You don't have to. It's risky. But...' He trailed off.

'It could save Aunt Narcissa's life,' Harry finished for him.

Sirius nodded. 'Otherwise, I shouldn't even mention it.'

'I'll see what I can do,' Harry said.

Just then, Draco returned with their butterbeers, and Sirius broke out a deck of cards. They played until long after midnight, when the drifted off one-by-one on top of the large bed. Sirius fell asleep first, followed by Harry. Sleep claimed Draco last of all.