Chapter 17

The Malfoys

Most of the mages were either asleep or on duty now that it was close to midnight. Harry was drifting in and out of sleep on the blanket outside on the lawn. The game of fly tag with everyone in Hughes's team had been fun but exhausting. He knew he had to get up and get back to the Den to sleep properly but he really didn't want to just yet.

'What are you still doing here?' Hughes's voice could be heard from a little further away.

'Ssh!' the sound came from directly above him. Harry wanted to stir awake when he felt a blanket being put over him and someone sitting next to him.

'He fell asleep?' now Hughes's voice was hushed.

'You lot did give him a run for his broom.' Sirius said chuckling.

'He's pro league level, or he will be in a few years' time.'

'Leila suggested I send him at the Academy in Thun.' Leila was the elusive leader of the mages, Harry had never met the woman before since she was never in Britain.

'Piss on that. The Institute in Atlanta is ten times better.' The American said.

Sirius chuckled 'I won't send him to either.'

'You'll want to keep him close I imagine.'

'No, well yes, I will want to keep him close, but it's not what I want that matters.' Harry felt a hand caress his hair. 'He'll choose for himself what he wants to do with his life.'

Hughes chuckled 'I wish my parents were this understanding.'

A puff noise later Sirius asked for a cigarette.

'I didn't know you smoked.' Hughes said.

'I don't anymore. Used to, before Harry came along.' Sirius exhaled.

'Hold on. I understand a mother not smoking because it's bad for her child, but you?'

'Ah well, I was a chain smoker, but Lily wouldn't have me smoking in the house with her when she was pregnant and after he was born the rule stayed in place.'

'So you only smoked outside and then gradually decreased.'

'Nope. Had to give them all up one month into Harry's life when I figured he didn't like the way I smelled after smoking a cigarette.' Sirius chuckled.

'How did you figure that out?'

'Well, if I came by freshly washed and minty breath the little tyke couldn't get enough of me. He even preferred me to James, on occasion. But if I snuck out for a smoke while Lily was feeding him and came back all hell broke loose, crying, screaming, accidental magic the works.'

Hughes chuckled 'Big bad British douche at the mercy of a baby?'

'Just wait until you have your own.'

There was a long pause when the only things that could be heard were the two men puffing on their respective cigarettes. Harry's heart was beating almost out of his chest. He knew Sirius loved him, but to hear him speak of him like this with another person was overwhelming.

'Did you ever want children of your own?' Hughes finally broke the silence.

'I never thought I'd be a good parent, what with my family being a model of how NOT to raise a child. But I guess before Azkaban I was too young to completely dismiss the idea.'

'And now?'

'Now, now I bet you a bottle of Hennessy James is laughing himself silly at me parenting Harry. Merlin, I was the least qualified of us to deal with a teenager. Probably why he chose me as godfather, to see me squirm.' Sirius chuckled.

'You're doing all right.'

'Says the expert.' Snorted his godfather.

'I don't need to be an expert to see the kid trusts you, loves you although it will take him a while to admit that to you. If you were doing things wrong, he would be running away from you, not towards you.'

'The fact that all the adults so far in Harry's life were crap doesn't make me good, just better than the others, which isn't really enough.'

'But it's all he has. Look Sirius, all we can do is try our best and hope it's enough. You know what a bad family can do to a kid so you will try to avoid that and do better. I think that's all anyone can expect of you.'

'Thanks I guess.' Sirius sighed. 'What about you?'

'What about me what?'

'Kids? Ever thought of having any?'

'No. In my line of work family is a liability.' Hughes got up 'Get sleeping beauty back to his own bed.'

'Good night Hughes.'

Sirius finished his cigarette first before turning to Harry and saw green eyes staring up at him.

'Of course you'd be awake.' Sighed the godfather. 'How much did you hear?'

'Enough. Did you really stop smoking because of me?'

'You had a very sensitive nose.'

Harry sat up and straightened his glasses before speaking again. 'Hughes is right you know? You're a great parent.'

'Yeah well, I have a great kid.'

The next couple of days were split. Both Sirius and Harry felt the need to be at the Den and read through the material Regulus had gathered on the Horcruxes but they had to continue their training with the mages as well. The training room in the west wing would soon be inaccessible for Harry when he went to Hogwarts and he wanted to get as much practice in and with as many different opponents as possible until his return to school. They still didn't know who the replacement for Moody would be but Harry was sceptical about that person being any good. After all, aside from Remus Lupin his other three professors were not ideal even though they had learnt a lot from fake Moody.

It was the night before the 22nd. The day Narcissa was supposed to come back with Draco and Sirius and Harry retired at the Den early after a short visit to Grimmauld Place.

'Hermione is asking more and more questions.' Harry finally said as he set down an old newspaper with a photo of a young Tom Riddle with a circled ring on it.

'I'm sorry Harry, but she is your friend, you have to deal with her.'

'I just don't understand why she wants to know about the West wing so much.'

'Well, from her point of view she might think that if something happened at the manor, it would come from an unknown place, aka West wing.'

'I explained the security. I explained it was something you had complete control over. What does she think will happen?'

'Maybe she thinks I'll attack you. Or maybe she fancies you.'

'Shut up!'

'Just saying, you have grown quite a lot this summer, and you put on muscles.'

'Sirius, Hermione is like a sister to me.'

'Really?'

'Stop putting odd notions in my head!'

'A sister with odd notions, interesting. Maybe I should speak with the Grangers about a betrothal.'

'Don't you dare! Sirius, don't you even mention this to the Grangers!' Harry became alarmed by the older man's grin. If anyone would enjoy making fun of this, it would be Sirius.

'Relax, I won't marry you off just yet. I want to keep you all to myself for a while longer.'

Harry sighed and studied another newspaper this one less old and Voldemort was no longer wearing the ring.

'Hey, look at this. That ring your brother marked in these three chippings. It's no longer there five years later.'

'Hm, the photos aren't that good quality. I can't make out if the ring has any markings on it.'

'Do you think it could be a Horcrux?'

'Possibly.'

'So the locket, the diary, a cup and a ring so far. I understand a locket and a ring, but a cup? What's so special about a cup?' Harry sighed, this Horcrux business was confusing as hell.'

'Maybe it's a magical cup, you know, like the triwizard cup.'

'Something of great value you mean?'

'Something that any witch or wizard would feel sorry destroying.'

'The diary wasn't anything special though.'

'No, well, yes and no.' Sirius said pondering.

'Yes? Why yes? It was an old enchanted notebook.'

'But it spoke of his Slytherin legacy. Even the locket I destroyed, it had the Slytherin S on it. I didn't care that much to do an origin diagnostics spell, but it's likely that thing belonged to Salazar Slytherin himself.'

'Wow, really?'

'Maybe he became obsessed about Slytherin and started looking for artefacts related to the guy.'

'So maybe the cup was once Slytherin's. Somehow I find that a bit creepy.'

'There was never talk about Slytherin's cup. The locket yes, the old Gaunt family…' Sirius's eyes grew big and snatched the newspaper from Harry looking at the ring more intensely.

'What? Sirius, what did you find out?'

'The Gaunts were a very old family that died out a few years before I was born. My father once mentioned them to scare both myself and Regulus from wasting our family money. They died in poverty and neglect because of gambling and bad investments. But they were said to claim they were Slytherin's heirs.'

'You think his mother was a Gaunt?' Harry asked.

'I don't know, maybe. You said Voldemort claimed his father was a muggle.'

'Yes, Tom Riddle senior. He's buried in Little Haggleton.'

'It might be worth investigating. I don't know much about the Gaunts, but they were said to have two family heirlooms. The Locket, supposedly Slytherin's and a ring.'

'That ring.'

'Maybe.'

'But no cup.'

'No, but there are magical cups in wizarding lore. One of the most intensely sought after is the so called Holy Grail. Or Merlin's cup. But it's as legend as the man himself. I'll have to think this through.'

'You mean if the Holy Grail is a Horcrux we'll have to destroy it to make sure Voldemort can be killed?' Harry realized the immense loss the wizard world would suffer from the destruction of such a noble artefact.

'I doubt Merlin himself would protest. To make an object a Horcrux it means to stain it with dark magic beyond the means of it being repaired.'

'What about me?'

'You weren't really a Horcrux. You just acted as one, but the ritual to create a Horcrux never happened, that is why the small fragment of soul couldn't do you harm, it didn't have the backing of the dark magic ritual to aid it.'

'Did I mention how happy I am to be Voldemort free?' Harry shuddered.

'I know, trust me, I know.'

The next day Harry remained at the Den as added protection in case Narcissa and Draco pulled anything at the Manor, not that they could get very far with it, but better safe than sorry.

The two not so welcomed guests arrived in the main office of the Manor, aparated in by Tia. Draco wasn't happy about this, but Narcissa explained to the boy that his options were limited, if he didn't want to end up serving a half blood maniac and if he wanted to keep his fortune intact. The latter was the reason why Draco decided to go along with his mother's plan. That and he was sure his father would find a way to kill Black and then he could re-join the Death Eaters without fear for his magic or his life. It was only a matter of time until the Dark Lord won, after all, Sirius Black was just a deranged ex-convict.

'My Lord, thank you for receiving us.' Narcissa said bowing slightly to Sirius.

'If you are both here am I to understand that you still ask for the Lord's protection for your son and sanctuary for you?'

'We do, both Draco and myself wish to have nothing more to do with the Dark Lord and his followers.'

'Does that include your husband?'

'It does.'

'Does he know you are here?'

'He does not. But he suspects.'

'He'd be an idiot not to.' Andromeda said. 'You had a tracking charm on you both, it broke when Tia Aparated you in.'

'I…we didn't know, I swear. You have to believe me, I would never…' Narcissa grew agitated as she pleaded with Sirius.

'Narcissa I know you are desperate to protect your son but that doesn't mean you can be careless.' Sirius said calmly. 'You choosing the Black protection and not the Malfoy one doesn't mean your husband won't be able to touch you and your son ever again. Yes, the Malfoys are a lesser house than ours but they are still powerful, and as Draco's father, Lucius can harm the boy even if he will be under my protection if the boy chooses to disobey my orders and venture out of the manor or Hogwarts without proper precautions in place.'

'He will not. He knows what's at stake. He won't disobey.' Narcissa said fiercely eyeing Draco.

'All well and good when you say it. But I don't hear Draco's opinion in this.'

'Do I get an opinion?'

'Narcissa, didn't you explain to him that this has to be HIS choice?'

'I did. But…'

'But he didn't believe it.' Sirius smiled understanding. 'Draco, I didn't say those things to your mother just to confuse her or you. I meant what I said. This has to be your choice. My protection comes with a price, and that price is your obedience and your controlled conduct towards this house, myself and everyone I deem under my protection. Once the ritual is done you will be my ward and both you and your mother will live here on the grounds under my protection. Nothing will touch you here, no harm will come to you while on this land. But if you choose to leave and join your father or Voldemort that protection will stop and not just that, you will lose the magic you gained under the Black family. Should you directly disobey me, then that is what will happen with the ritual complete. I won't be able to stop it.'

'You won't be able or you won't want to stop it.'

'Won't be able to. It's a binding magical contract.'

'Will you lose your magic then if you fail to protect me?'

'If you are on this land and I fail to protect you, then my punishment will be death. But there are conditions to this. Should you put yourself in danger deliberately it won't work, should the danger come from your father or your mother, it won't work. Should you disobey an order I give you in hopes to keep you safe, it won't work.'

'And at Hogwarts?'

'Since it is not consecrated Black ground, my protection there can fail, but not from lack of trying. That being said, there will be rules for you to follow at Hogwarts that will keep you safe, refuse to follow them at your own peril.'

'I don't see many advantages for myself in this deal.'

'Except your livelyhood and magic intact. But that's neither here nor there. Narcissa, my passing judgement on your husband will not extend to your son, at least not if he doesn't join Voldemort. Both of you are free to leave here now and should you keep neutral in what is to come Draco will come out with both life and magic intact. I can't say the same about his fortune, but, if he wants his freedom, money and influence is a small price to pay.'

'What does that mean for us as members of the family?'

'You will be disowned but your magic and knowledge will remain, as long as you don't betray it to Voldemort.'

'Why didn't you tell me this last time?'

'Because I wanted Draco to hear it from me.'

'So there is a third option.' Draco said narrowing his eyes.

'In a way.'

'But even in this option, should I turn to the Dark Lord my magic will suffer.'

'The House of Black is at war with Voldemort. All Black family members, disowned or with full rights that choose his side will lose the magic they got from the family.'

'You declared war?' Narcissa went white.

'Yes I did.'

Narcissa sat down on the sofa trembling.

'What does that mean, mother?'

Narcissa sighed and closed her eyes. She had been raised as daughter of the Black house and her loyalty had always been to the Black house. For the Black house to declare war and she to be neutral, she couldn't do that, it went beneath what she considered her duty. Yes, she had married into the Malfoy family, because her own family arranged it. And because it wasn't really her marring into Lucius's family, but Lucius marring into the Black family. As stated by the marriage contract Lucius answered to the Black head of the family. And that head of the family had just declared war on Lucius's master. A master Lucius shouldn't have had in the first place. She had warned him when he took the dark mark. She had cautioned against it, even Bella. But they wouldn't hear it, and Arcturus had kept silent when she went to him. Why, why had Arcturus kept silent? Why did he leave Sirius the lordship but allowed for Bella to bow down to the Dark Lord?

Lucius had told her after seeing the ring on Sirius's finger that Arcturus had been tricked into reinstating Sirius after her cousin had been declared Voldemort's right hand man and chucked in Azkaban all those years ago. But Cissy knew better, she was one of the few that knew Sirius had never been disowned, she was also one of the few that guessed Sirius had been innocent all along. But again, Arcturus did nothing when she went to him with her assumptions and she thought it would benefit her son more if Sirius never had a trial and died without naming an heir. Well, the man blew away all her assumptions and not only survived Azkaban, but escaped, cleared his name, took the lordship and was now positioning himself against Voldemort once more.

Could he win?

It seemed impossible, not with what Narcissa new, what the diary was, what the Dark Lord had done. Lucius was oblivious to it, the Malfoys never had the knowledge the Blacks did, and Narcissa didn't feel like sharing that knowledge with Lucius. Somehow his pure blood attitude towards her, her role just as a mother and a wife and nothing more. The fact that her opinion didn't matter to him. That made Narcissa keep secrets from her husband. Sirius had been right, she had wanted a carrier in politics and settled for the wife role. No, that wasn't right. She hadn't settled for the wife role, but the role of the mother. She remembered she had voiced her wish to work in the ministry and then, she got pregnant with Draco. Even though they had discussed waiting before having their first child, somehow Lucius's protection charm backfired. Somehow she got distracted from her career goals. She frowned. She wasn't stupid, even back then she knew something didn't add up, but Draco became her world and she didn't mind because she loved her son more than anything. And yet she had failed to educate him as she should have.

She closed her eyes as she made her decision. When she opened them the die was cast.

'I will not be neutral when my house goes to war. Lord Black, you have my loyalty.'

'Mother?' Draco looked in horror as her mother drew out her wand and swore her oath to a stunned Sirius. He did not expect that.

'Draco you have a choice to make. Your father or me.'

'Why? Why ally yourself with a blood traitor?'

'I would become a blood traitor if I refuse my Lord's call. As will you, if you side with your father.'

'Surely not. He'll throw in his lot with Muggle lovers like Dumbledore…'

'Dumbledore has no say in the matters of our house.' Sirius said briskly. 'The House of Black answers to nobody but magic itself. As for me being a Muggle lover, they are not so different from us wizards Draco. They may not know magic, but they are still human beings, and I don't consider them a threat nor do I feel so insecure with regards to them that I would torture them or kill them as Voldemort does.'

'I don't understand.'

'Don't you? Why would anyone consider it fun to see a less powerful person suffer? Why is torturing or killing others fun for the likes of Voldemort?'

'They are just Muggles, it doesn't matter.'

'If it doesn't matter, why kill them or torture them? Did you see someone being tortured before?'

Draco gulped and shook his head. 'Only that spider in DADA class.'

'And, was it fun?'

'No, but it was a spider.'

'Would you have found it fun if it had been Harry being tortured?'

Draco opened his mouth to say yes, but stopped.

'Would hearing ear piercing screams and seeing someone convulse in pain be fun for you?'

'I don't know.'

'There are very few who would say yes to that question Draco. Not a peer pressure yes, but an educated yes.'

'But if I join you, Voldemort will try to torture me, kill me.'

'And if you join him? Will you truly be safe from his torture and his killing curse?'

'Will I be safe from yours?'

'I don't torture, and if it comes to that, I will fight to imprison not kill. But in a duel, death and life are uncertainties. What will be a certainty for you if you join Voldemort is that you will forfeit your freedom.'

'Freedom I will have by serving you?'

'I am not asking you to serve me. But I am at war with the man your father serves. I would be extremely foolish if I didn't condition your protection and sanctuary in my home on a vow of loyalty. But I, unlike Voldemort am giving you a choice, and letting you walk out of here now unharmed if you choose to follow him.'

'You-know-who would not extend the same courtesy.' Said Andromeda.

Draco took a long while to think before sighing 'Will I have to obey Potter?'

'No, however you will have to be civil with Harry, as he is now my adopted son.'

'Civil?'

'Just don't hex each other and if you argue don't get too nasty with the insults.'

'I can still insult him?'

'If he really does something stupid you can tell him, but you can't insult him or speak ill of him behind his back. That goes for his friends too, no more calling people mud bloods.'

'What if he hexes me first?'

'He won't, I talked to him about this, and he promised to leave you alone. But if he does, you have leave to defending yourself.'

'What if we have to duel in class?'

'That you can do. In fact if you wish to spar with him you can do so here as well. I know Lucius removed your trace a year ago.'

'As if he'll want to spar with me.' Snorted Draco.

'He will want to. It will be good for him to face against different duelling styles.'

'You duel with him?'

'I do.'

'Will I be forced to fight against my father and the Dark Lord?'

'Against your father no, at least not on my orders. Against Voldemort, maybe, but only when you come of age and it won't be forced. But we will discuss that when you do come of age.'

'Discuss?'

'Yes Draco, discuss.'

Draco didn't like his choices, heck he didn't like Sirius Black. The man was not what he had expected. He wasn't the lunatic in the Daily Prophet's picture. In fact Sirius looked not just sane, but completely in control of the situation. And there was an aura of power around him, not like Dumbledore's, nothing like that old man's. It wasn't power, well it was, but not raw power, if Draco had to put a name on it, he would have called it unpredictability. Yes, Draco didn't like his choices, or that he had to choose, or that he could choose. But he found himself nodding and making his choice, was it the right one? It would be years before he understood, it wasn't about right or wrong, but rather about who he chose to be.

To say that dinner was a tense affair was the understatement of the century. Narcissa tried to make conversation with Andromeda and ignore Ted Tonks as much as possible, but Draco was stunned. On the one hand, Sirius made it quite clear that he would not have him insult guests of the House Black and disobeying the man was no longer an option, oath and all. But he was having dinner with a muggle borne and a very loud and rude American who had popped up out of nowhere. He, Draco Malfoy was surrounded by…by…everything his father said was beneath him, not to mention there was Harry bloody Potter, now Potter-Black right across from him.

Harry was trying his best not to glare at Draco and keep a conversation going with Tonks. Tonks was rather uncomfortable too as Narcissa kept throwing icy glares at her whenever the Pink haired witch spoke to Draco directly.

Hughes was completely oblivious or at the very least was completely unaffected by this as he was chatting up a storm between Ted and Sirius.

It came as a relief to everyone when desert was done and soon after Narcissa excused herself and Draco for the night as they were tired and still needed to unpack. Tia was given the task of swiftly transporting the two to the garden Pavilion, their new home, which had been the guest house for when important people came to stay longer periods of time. With the Malfoys gone tension seemed to melt away.

'We don't have to do this every evening, do we?' Harry asked looking at Sirius.

'Hell no. Narcissa expressed the wish to have dinner with Draco alone at the Pavilion. It was just for tonight to make sure Draco didn't do anything stupid when he first met you around the manor.'

'Thank God.' Harry sighed 'Wait, he'll be free to move around?'

'Not everywhere, but the ground floor and first floor will be accessible for both of them.'

'Not the west wings though.' Harry wanted to be sure.

'No, that is off limits to anyone but us and the mages, at least for the time being.'

'Why did you let them in? They could cause trouble for us.' Hughes said.

'Not if they want to keep their magic and their lives.'

'Shit, you made them take vows.'

'Of course I did.'

'Well, the mother will be all right in the end, but the kid…'

'What would you have had me do Hughes? Turning them away would have meant setting the kid on the path to becoming a Death Eater.'

'I just hope the kid realizes the favour you're doing him.'

'He will, in time.' Sirius and Harry didn't stay too long after that, it had been a strained day and both of them wanted to be on their own.

A/N: Hey guys, happy 2020. I think I blinked and winter went away. It's so warm outside that I am having trouble believing it's january. Anyway, if you review maybe it will snow. hope you enjoyed the chapter and have a nice weekend.