Chapter 35
Good memories found
Draco's holiday had started off on the wrong foot. He put his name on the list of students that wanted to stay at Hogwarts only for his Godfather to tell him his mother had insisted he go home that year. He wanted to throw a tantrum, but decided that the best way to hurt his mother was to go and give her the silent treatment for two weeks. He hadn't expected to get back to London only to find his mother waiting for him dressed in the most austere mourning clothes with her eyes red from crying. They barely exchanged a few words with his uncle and he was side-along Apparated into their hallway.
'Mother.'
'I'm sorry Draco. I know you probably do not wish to spend Christmas with me, but I just need to know you near and safe.'
'What's wrong?'
'You probably read the articles already about your Uncle.'
'I read them.' A part of him was enraged that the ministry could do something like that to one of their own. Sirius Black might have been a blood traitor, but he was still a pure blood. 'Were you close?'
His mother sat down as one of the younger Black House elves popped up with tea and scones. She had been given to serve Narcissa for the holidays.
'When we were little. I was the closest to his age. His brother and he were my flying companions until I went to school three years before him.'
'You flew?' Draco blinked. As far as he knew, his mother had never laid hands on a broom.
Narcissa smiled as she looked into her cup of tea. 'Thank you Tia. Yes, I loved flying. But your grandmother thought of flying as unladylike. So, once I was off to Hogwarts, my flying days were done.'
'You never told me.'
'I never thought it was important.'
'So what got between you two?'
Draco thought his mother would never answer him, so long she gazed into her cup twirling the tea spoon as if lost in thought.
'Cowardice. That is what got in the way. Cowardice and madness.' Draco flinched at the obvious anger and hatred in his mother's voice. She got up and set her almost full tea cup in the sink. 'Uncle Aries has entrusted me with representing the family at the Yule Balls hosted by the Notts, the Averies and the Greengrasses. We will have to go shopping tomorrow for your new dress robes and for the necessary gifts for the heirs.'
'What about him and Potter?'
'They will not be joining us.'
Draco didn't like the idea of being told what to do by that Squib of an uncle, but being the Black representant would make others think he had a shot at being the next Black Lord. There was a positive response to the press surrounding Sirius Black and many of the Slytherins were now being on friendly terms with him again. He still resented them for turning their backs on him in the first place, but he knew an opportunity to gloat when he saw one. This could bring him back on the top of the food chain.
With that in mind Draco resolved to play nice with his mother for the rest of the holiday but that all went down the drain when he finally received a much awaited letter from his father on Christmas Eve, asking to see Draco on the 26th.
'I am sorry Draco, but seeing your father during these holidays will not be possible.' His mother had cut his request off before he even voiced it.
'You've been reading my correspondence with him?'
'I didn't need to. He wrote to me asking to meet with you. With everything about Sirius so fresh in the press our family is under too much scrutiny. It would be best to let things die down before you meet with him.'
Draco was not convinced. His mother had denied his father visitation ever since August with the promise for Winter visitations and now she was doing it again. He wasn't even sure why he wanted to meet with his father, or if he truly wanted to meet the man. But it was constantly nagging him that he was being denied. His mother had never denied him anything before.
'And why should what happened to a blood traitor stop me from seeing my father?' he spoke before he could stop himself and realized his mistake the moment the words were out of his mouth.
'That Blood Traitor was ten times the man your father could ever hope to become.'
'He fought against his own blood, against the Dark Lord.'
'He fought for what he believed in, against a tyrant who would have seen our world burn just so he could be king of the ashes.'
'I will not listen to this! My own mother is turning into a Blood traitor.' he got up.
'Sit down!' Narcissa's voice was so commanding that Draco did what he was told. 'Your father believed that man to be the saviour of our world and he did not listen to reason when I told him to stay neutral. It almost cost us as a family everything. I will not have my son sprouting this Dark Lord propaganda, or call me a Blood traitor.' she got up. 'Do you want to know who that Dark Lord was? He was a fake, a liar, hiding behind a made up name. His real name was Tom Marvolo Riddle.' She wrote the name in the air with her wand and one spell later the letters rearranged in the air. 'Which Pure Blood family by the name of Riddle do you know?'
Draco couldn't answer. He was transfixed by this new side of his mother.
'No answer? That is because there is none. No Pure Blood, or for that matter Half Blood family goes by the name of Riddle. Until he came along. Your father was bowing down to a half blood. A mad half blood. That mad man is the reason most of the prominent sacred 28 lost sons and daughters, either to death or to life imprisonment. The Lestrange bloodline will die in Azkaban. The Prewett brothers were killed on his orders. The Crouches sent their only son to Azkaban and he died. The Longbottoms were driven insane by other pure bloods. All because HE wanted power. We were not many before HE came along, but we became far fewer after he was done with us.' Draco gulped. He wanted to say that it was not the Dark Lord's fault that it all happened. But he couldn't bring himself to do it.
'Before the war the Wizengamot was divided between the Progressive and the Traditionalist factions with some choosing to be neutral. The late Arcturus Black was the leader of the Traditionalists and there were laws benefiting our kind being passed every other Wizengamot meeting. Tell me, which laws have been passed during the past 12 years that have benefited the Pure-Bloods?'
Draco looked down. He didn't know and he said so.
'Unacceptable.' His mother's voice was like a whip. 'But it is hardly your fault. I allowed that sorry excuse of a wizard to be in charge of your political upbringing. I thought he could at least do that right.'
Draco wanted to protest. His father had indeed taught him political manoeuvring, or what others called bribery and blackmail.
'Starting next year you will have three hours of tutoring every Saturday. And for your information, in 12 years there were 3 laws passed that to some degree benefit us. And do you know why? Because everyone is against us even when the laws are good and just for everyone. They prefer to reject anything that come from the traditionalists. That is your father's Dark Lord's Legacy. But I will be damned if I let it be ours.'
'But how could meeting my father now have a bad impact. He was declared innocent because of the Imperius.'
'Your father only came up with that excuse and could pull it off because I suggested it. He would have been sent to Azkaban had it not been for me and your late grandfather Pollux. Now that his name is mud, people are questioning if that little story is true. With what happened to Sirius, I have no doubt that there will be some who will wish old trials to be reopened. Under deeper scrutiny his lies won't hold.'
'I didn't know.'
'It was my fault. I tried to shield you from the worst.' His mother finally said putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Her voice was the warm loving voice Draco adored.
'Why did he do it?' he finally asked feeling tears sting his eyes. 'Why did he seek out that…that harlot when he had you?' To Draco his mother had always been perfection: beautiful, regal, elegant, smart. And after finding out that she had been the one to save his father from a fate worse than death in Azkaban. He just didn't understand anymore.
She pulled him into a hug and he finally allowed the tears to fall.
'Ours was never a marriage for love. We had a mutual understanding, but we were never in love. It was arranged. And because of that, and because Abraxan accepted my father's demands for the Black Primacy there was always resentment there. I realized how some of my family's treatment hurt him, and tried to intervene but he saw that as a sign of weakness on his part. I never intervened after that and it got better. Until the Dark Lord, until I spoke out against it, and until I saved him. After that, well, he resented me more.'
'For being better than him?'
'There are very few men that can accept a woman is, not better, but perhaps more resourceful than them at anything and at any time. Your father, well, he wasn't one of them. I think that was why he sought the comfort of another witch.'
'It was wrong. What he did was wrong.'
'Thank you for saying that. But in a way, I am grateful for his infidelity.'
Draco frowned 'Why?'
'I am free now. Free to pursue a career of my own, without the fear of bruising his ego. Free to teach you all that you need to know, to never make your father's mistakes.'
Harry's Christmas present pile had been bigger than ever before. Aside from the usual gifts from his friends Aries' had gifted him a book on dual wand wielding and two wand wrist holsters of the best quality before taking him to the Potter Vault where he chose his second wand out of the old Potter Wands. The one that chose him was an ebony 24 cm wand with a dragon heart string at its core. It had been his grandmother's. But what he appreciated the most were the memories from Lupin. It gave him an insight into the lives of his parents that he couldn't have gotten from anywhere else. So the moment when Aries and he returned to their own home, Harry wasted little time before he made use of the Pensive in the study to view a part of the ten memory vials until dinner.
The first memory was inside a lively lit room. He didn't recognize the place but he recognized the people. It was his mom and dad with the other three marauders and a very small baby Harry. Lily looked exhausted as she sat down on the couch with a blanket over her.
'Welcome Home Baby Prongs.' Was written on a big banner that draped over the fireplace.
So this was his coming home party.
'He's so small.' Peter said looking at Harry, who was in a small cradle near his mother. Harry did his best to ignore the man.
'He'll grow up soon enough.' Said Remus smiling a genuine smile.
'He'll learn to fly before he can walk. I'll make sure of that.' James said 'He will be a Chaser obviously. With great aim like his dada.'
'He'll be blind as a bat without glasses if he's like you' Remus pointed out.
'Yes well, who scored over ten goals every match since I got on the team in second year?' James said
'Not you, you got knocked off your broom by Fawley in third year with Ravenclaw.' Said Sirius
'We didn't lose a match in third year!'
'Gryffindor won, sure, but it was only because I defended our great seeker Johanna with my magic bat.' Added Sirius
'I think you're thinking about the wrong bat, mate.' James chuckled
'Both my bats are magical.' Sirius grinned 'Besides who wants to play with a Quaffle. Prongslet here will be a great beater, won't you pup?' as Sirius spoke to the baby the little one opened his still slightly blue baby eyes.
'Yes, you will…look at that grip.' Sirius said picking the baby up and baby Harry locked his tiny fist around the tickling index finger of his godfather. 'And your brilliant godfather will see to it you get the best brooms and bats on the market, only the best for mini marauder…and we'll go picking up girls in the bars, and go torment Minnie at school and we'll even train you to be the youngest Animagus in the world…you'll be one before you turn eleven, mark my words, and Padfoot will help you all the way.'
Harry saw his mother move from the bed and the sharp smack over the head wasn't a surprise, nor was her annoyed face as she took Harry away from Sirius.
'You will never come near Harry without adult supervision, Sirius Black.'
'Ah, come on, Lily Flower, I was just kidding, you know I wouldn't do anything to get little Prongs in danger.' Lily sent another glare at the man before she allowed Sirius to take Harry back.
'Sorry, Prongslet, we'll have to do all those things without your mum knowing.' Lily glared again.
'All right, all right, we'll play nice. No girl until you're of age pup, or your mama will get jealous.'
'He's one week old Padfoot, you're planning too far ahead.' Joked James as he played with a hair strand from his wife.
'I guess you're right. But he will be a bigger heartbreaker than you or me, that's for sure, with those beautiful eyes.'
'Lily's eyes.' James said fondly looking at the tired mother. 'Maybe you should go upstairs and sleep love, you're still not quite recovered.'
'I think I'll do just that. Make sure Sirius doesn't do anything stupid…'
'Hey, I heard that!' Sirius protested but it was at that moment that Harry opened his mouth and started crying.
'Shit…ups sorry Prongslet, that was a bad word, come here, let's see if uncle Sirius can't make you forget about mean old mum.' And Harry watched in awe as Sirius Black, who looked like the coolest man in the room with his leather pants and Queen T-shirt, transformed into the goofiest man in the world. Half an hour later Harry was asleep after Sirius sung him rock ballad after rock ballad, the softer versions. The little guy slept on his godfather's chest as the older man listened to James and Remus and Peter talk and then he fell asleep too.
'Your two kids are asleep, James.' Remus said pointing at the couch.
'Well, if we ever need anyone to put Harry to bed, Padfoot will do just fine.' Chuckled James
'He's so small.' Peter said.
'He'll grow up too fast.' Said James
'With Sirius as his godfather, he'll probably grow up spoiled.' added Lupin
'Maybe, but there are worst things that can happen to a child than growing up spoiled.' James said and Harry thought his father's eyes shifted from the sleeping Harry to the sleeping Sirius.
The memory ended.
Harry took some time to imagine how it would have been had his parents or his godfather lived to take him in after that Halloween night. Sirius would have loved him, had loved him, but it was all for nought since the machinations of one man destroyed every chance at a loving home Harry had as a child.
He dived in to the next memory. This time it was just the four Marauders gathered in an apartment. Remus was lounging on the sofa with a book while Pettigrew was on the armchair snoozing. Harry's eyes were drawn to the table where James and Sirius were drinking fire whiskey with a small velvet box in between them.
'I've been thinking of doing it…' his father started 'You know, soon.'
'James, you've had the damn ring for more than a month now.' Said Remus.
'I know, but I haven't found the perfect time to do it…'
'Perfect?' Sirius raised his brow.
'You know, a nice restaurant, but it seems so cliché, to slip the ring in a champagne glass.'
'Then don't do it in a restaurant. Take her somewhere else.' Said Sirius
'But what if I botch it?'
'You can't botch four words, Prongs.' Sighed Sirius 'It's simple, just say: Will you marry me?'
'There's nothing simple about it, Padfoot. There was something simple about asking her to go out with me and she refused, for 6 years!'
'That's because you were a git.' Remus added.
James glared at Harry's future professor.
'He has a point.' Sirius added 'Besides, she's already going out with you…she's been going out with you since Hogwarts, you shouldn't worry too much.'
'Too much?' James's voice went up a notch 'Meaning that I should worry some…'
'James…look, if you're anxious about it why not practice.'
'Practice?'
'You know, say the words so many times that it will come natural.'
'I can't go around the Auror department saying "Will you marry me" I will get more yes-es than I care to want.'
'Practice in the shower then.'
'I have to say it to someone, not to the walls.'
'Then practice right now, you can propose to me. And don't worry, I won't reject you.' Grinned Sirius.
James wanted to say something but then closed his mouth. 'You know, that's not a bad idea. Stand up and transfigure yourself so you look more like Lily.'
'I'm hurt.' Chuckled Sirius but stood up none the same. 'Don't I look pretty enough for you, Prongsy…'
'Shut up and just do it.'
Harry watched with amused eyes as Sirius turned his hair red and spelled mascara on his eyes.
'Good enough?'
'Lily doesn't have a scruffy beard.'
'I am not vanishing it, I like my goatee.'
'Well, it's better than nothing.' James cleared his voice 'Will you marry me?'
'That is not how you propose, Prongs. Where is the ring? And you're supposed to kneel when you do it.' Objected Sirius.
'This is just pretend!'
'Well, you better pretend better or else this pretty lady will say no, every time.' Sirius said a hand on his hip and flipping his now long hair backwards.
'Fine, but just to make you shut up.' Harry watched as his father took the box and knelt down in front of a still posing Sirius. 'Will-'
'Sweet talk me.' Harry saw movement near the entrance door from his peripheral vision just as James sighed but started again 'Oh lovely magnificent Padfoot, will you marry me?' He turned to see a shocked and amused Lily entering the room.
'I have to say, you two make a nice couple.' She said smirking.
'Lily!?' James immediately sprang up from his kneeling position, his shout waking Wormtail from his sleep. 'This isn't what it looks like.'
'Prongs, you're hurting my feelings. I thought you loved me.' Sirius wined dramatically.
'Oh shut up you drama queen.'
'Is that any way to talk to the…wo-man you just proposed to?' asked Lily smirking.
'I didn't, that was just a joke.'
'You bought an engagement ring for a joke?' Lily continued swiftly taking the box from James's hand and opening it. 'Wow, this actually looks real, did you transfigure it?' she asked looking from the ring to James who started fidgeting. Well there went all the preparation for the big question, and there went James's courage as he mumbled something neither Harry nor Lily understood as he looked anywhere but at her.
'I'm sorry, I didn't get that.' Lily said confused.
'I said I bought it.' James finally managed to get out and he looked up at Lily his face determined. 'This isn't how I wanted you to find out though.'
'Find out what?' Lily said her voice no longer cheerful but serious and a little bit nervous.
'The ring is real, Lily.' James said 'As are my feeling for you, they were always real, though it took you a while to figure it out, granted I might have had something to do with that, and Sirius more than something. I just…ah, I can't believe I botched this…'
'James, what are you trying to say?' Lily asked getting closer to him, the box still open in her hand.
'I'm trying, and apparently failing at asking you if you want to spend the rest of your life with me as your husband and you as my wife.'
'Yes, James, I'd love to be your wife.'
'Y-you do?'
'M-hm.' Lily nodded smiling.
Harry smiled as his father picked his mother up and spun her around laughing as his three best friends looked at them grinning, Remus wolf-whistled. Lily's vision took a bit of adjusting after the spinning when her eyes landed on Sirius's grin.
'Isn't it great Lily Flower, we'll share a husband.' His godfather said making Lily laugh.
'He's right you know, these two come as a package deal.' Remus said. 'Marry one, get one free.'
'Don't worry love, I'm not sharing you with them.'
'But you will share us with her.' Sirius added.
'Only if you promise to behave.' Said Remus
'Come on, let's leave them be, I made a reservation at a nice restaurant.' James told Lily. 'Usually the proposal comes at the end.' James sighed 'But, I guess it can't be helped.'
Lily giggled 'This way it's more memorable.'
'You can say that again.' Sighed James and they were off.
Remus turned to Sirius 'You knew Lily entered the apartment.'
'I knew when Lily entered the street.' Sirius said transforming his hair back to normal and vanishing the makeup.
'So you did that on purpose?'
'James had taken Lily to three nice restaurants trying to ask the question and didn't have the nerves to do it. He just needed the push.' Sirius went to the window and opened it before taking a cigarette and started smoking.
'Lily could have thought he was joking.' Peter pointed out.
'He was being a stuttering mess, had he been joking he would have been smooth about it. Besides, Lily knows him well enough now to know he is actually serious.'
'I'm happy for them.' Squeaked Peter.
'Me too, Pete, me too.' Sirius said sitting down.
'How were you able to sense Lily from the street though?' asked Remus.
'I've modified the warding on this place and tuned it so that even the slightest magical presence sends me warnings.'
'When did you have time to do that? You were gone most of last month on a mission.' Asked Remus
'It was mainly stake out, boring stuff, I had time to think this warding sequence in between comings and goings.'
'You'll have to show it to me.'
The memory ended and Harry returned to the study. That had been entertaining and somewhat refreshing to see that his father had not been all confidence and poise. He couldn't be more grateful to professor Lupin for showing him these. He felt like his parents were finally flesh and blood real people now, not just legend and stories. He missed them even more though, and he was starting to miss his godfather too.
They were in a large room decorated like something Mrs Fig would have approved of. His baby self was in a crib next to a baby Neville while a woman with Neville's round face arranged the blanket around the two sleeping babies.
Lupin had just entered the room with a heavy raincoat on.
'Hello Alice, is everyone in already?'
'Remus, yes, I just went out to check on these two. The Meeting will start shortly.'
Harry followed Lupin inside the Meeting room where people he had seen before like his parents, Sirius, Neville's dad, McGonagall and Dumbledore were accompanied by people Harry knew little about. A beautiful woman about the same age as his parents was sitting opposite Sirius and was glaring at him. Another one was flirting with one of two twin brothers while the other was discussing a recent attack with Frank. Mad Eye Moody was observing the room as Dumbledore settled them around the table.
'As you have heard this last week, we've lost Edgar in a surprise attack.' Dumbledore said his voice tired and sad. 'Unfortunately this made his younger brother become head of the Bones family and he has opted to go with his new born baby into hiding.'
'Can you blame him?' asked the beautiful witch 'Richard lost his wife in child birth. He is a single parent trying to raise a little girl.'
'No, it was expected. What was not expected was the attack on Edgar himself. We still don't know how Voldemort's supporters got wind of him being alone on patrol that day.'
'Someone must have talked.' Moody said gruffly.
'You think there's a spy amongst us? But no one in the Order would betray us.' Said James.
'Don't think everyone here has the same high morals as you, Potter.' Moody eyed a small sneaky looking man.
'Dung didn't know about Edgar's mission, Mad Eye.' Sirius said. 'And it was not just an Order mission. Edgar had been in contact with Amelia at the DMLE.'
'Are you suggesting Amelia Bones betrayed her own brother?' asked Frank
'No, but if they had been even a bit careless and talked about it at the ministry anyone could have listened in. The ministry is not safe.' Sirius added.
'That much we know.' Moody snorted 'But I doubt the Bones were careless.'
'Maybe it was coincidence.' Remus offered.
Moody snorted 'Coincidence is justification for the dim-witted. Cause-effect. There is a Mole.'
'If we start distrusting each other Alastor, we will not be able to defeat our enemy.' Dumbledore intervened.
A small orb next to his mother started glowing and eliciting small sounds.
'Harry.' She said standing up.
'Don't worry Lils, I got this.' Sirius who had been closer to the door separating the baby room from the meeting room. Harry positioned himself in the semi open door a good place to listen to the meeting and watch his godfather interact with him. Baby Harry was crying but once Sirius picked him up the little one stopped.
'Hey there mini Marauder, what mischief did you get yourself into this time?' he wrinkled his nose. 'Uh, Padfoot smells the big mischief is at foot here little guy.' Sirius set the baby on an improvised changing table and took out a clean nappy cloth from the bag labelled Harry next to the crib. He then vanished the old nappy two feet away from Harry. It seemed Sirius was a regular nappy changer since he was just out of range of Harry's peeing jet.
'Very good Prongslet, you'll win all the peeing contest for sure.' Harry blushed slightly at having been so small and being handled like a baby, but he couldn't help smile too seeing the care Sirius put in cleaning him up and then putting baby powder on his little bum and then the nappy in place again.
'There we go, all cleaned up and ready to go to the ball.'
'Apf …apf…' the little baby kicked his feet up and grabbed at the air over him.
'I know you want up, Prongslet, but Paddy has to go back to the meeting.' Sirius picked Harry up nonetheless as the baby cheered. 'Oh dear, someone won't be going back to sleep any time soon. Ah well, that meeting was boring anyway. Let's make Harry fly.' And that was all it took for Sirius to manoeuvre Harry around like an airplane as the kid cheered and giggled. Sirius was running around for the better part of 15 minutes before stopping slightly out of breath.
'Apf…apf…' Harry tried whatever word that was as he pulled at Sirius' hair.
'Yes Prongslet, but Paddy has to take a breather first.'
'Paddy should get back to the meeting too.' His father chuckled.
'What the? Wasn't there a Muffliato between the rooms?' asked Sirius as Harry was now eating a strand of his hair.
'There was, but Lily got worried and upped the baby monitor volume.' Explained James
'Not to mention the door was open.' Frank chuckled.
'And I can see through walls.' Mad Eye added 'Your antics became more interesting than Dumbledore's no Veritaserum, no oath policy.'
'You will be a great dad, Sirius.'
'That won't happen Dorcas.' Sirius said.
'It could have already happened, by the stories running around Hogwarts.' One of the twins chuckled.
'Since when is my private life discussion among Order members, Fabian.' Sirius frowned
'Since Hogwarts.'
'Yeah, well-'
'Pafoo!' Harry cried out when his Godfather didn't acknowledge him for a few minutes.
'What did you say, Prongslet?' Sirius asked big eyes on the baby in his arms.
'Paaaaffffuf.'
James blinked, Lily blinked
'HE SPEAKS!' Sirius cried out as he raised Harry above his head and started running around as the baby giggled and Afuu-Pafuued away.
'Potter, please leave your two kids at home next time.' Moody sighed at James.
But his father didn't care about that 'Hold on a minute there, that's not fair, Pafoo isn't a word. It doesn't count. He has to say daddy first.'
'Don't listen to him Prongslet. Daddy is just jealous you said my name first.'
'Like hell he did, Black. That was not a word. That was still gibberish.'
'Keep telling yourself that Prongs. But we both know he spoke Padfoot first.'
'No, that was more afuf, like usual.'
'You're delusional Prongsy.'
'Evans…please leave your three kids at home next time.' Moody added massaging his good eye.
'I'm glad my Neville said mammy the other day.' Alice said and Lily glared at the woman.
So his first word had been Padfoot. He thought that was a good memory to show Neville too. Since the boy's parents were also present. He left the study as he heard Aries calling him to dinner. He would view the rest of the memories later.
A/N: Thank you all for the reviews and for being patient and understanding. If some of you are also reading The Shackles, that story is not abandoned. I am just trying to finish this one first, since time is in short supplies these days. And for those of you wondering, yes Sirius heard Remus' whisper, no, he doesn't really give a damn.
On a different note, the cold has come, well it's colder anyway. Looking forward to snow again (realistically in a month or two) and fondue and raclette with their fatty goodness. I wonder if we will be able to ski this winter. Maybe with fish bowls for helmets. As usual, reviews are appreciated and stay healthy.
