A/N: Wanted to drop a bit of a trigger warning here- miscarriage is a prevalent theme this chapter.

Have a great week!

January 9, 1982

Black Manor, Somerset

Cassiopeia stared around the table with a small frown on her otherwise still features. "Really? Nothing?"

She had presented a rather abbreviated version of Filius Flitwick's account regarding he and Minerva McGonagall's abrupt choice to kidnap Harry Potter from his Aunt and Uncle, followed by a slightly more detailed explanation of Dumbledore's resulting actions: the break in during Orion's funeral, the subsequent attack on his person by Black Manor's wards, the repeated obliviations of Minerva in the months following, and the less than subtle campaign to keep Sirius from being freed.

It had been rather a lot, and all of it appropriately dramatic for a family council, so the absolute silence from the glaring attendees was a bit shocking to say the least.

Popping a sugar biscuit into her mouth, Cassioepia raised a single quizzical eyebrow. "Don't you even have questions? I did just tell you that I instructed my great nieces to comb through the mind of one of the most powerful wizards of our time, and that said wizard has gone out of his way to interfere with our PR campaign. I would have thought you'd be shouting about something by now."

Behind her mistress, perched atop the drinks cart with a written itinerary at hand, Pip sent a long suffering glance towards the ceiling. "Missy Cassiopeia, they can't ask questions or shout."

"Of course they can- they've done it enough already this afternoon to prove it, haven't they?"

"Missy Cassiopeia is forgetting to undo her spells."

Several hours of practice the night before had resulted in a nearly perfect nonverbal silencing spell that fell across the entire table before they had a chance to respond to Cassiopeia's original implication of Harry Potter's abuse. Sticking them all to their seats when Sirius had shown signs of flying into a rather physical rage and Lucretia seemed ready to faint yet again had been an on-the-fly act of inspiration.

"My- oh. Right, Pip. A good point, then. Finite."

"CASS!"

"Cassiopeia, I hate to interfere, but was that necessary?"

The witch in question smiled cheerfully at both of her rather vexed brothers. "Much better, then."

"You could have at least passed out notepads for us to write questions on!" Helen, clearly distressed, glared at her aunt-in-law with a ferocity more frequently seen on her hungry toddler's face. "Do you even remotely understand how many laws have been broken and I don't even have notes to help research them!"

"If it's shouting you want, you'll get it in spades now," Cygnus grumbled, "Daughters, I demand you explain your findings from the Dumbledore madness at once- I won't hear them from this dodgy old-,"

"Watch your tone with your Materfamilias, son," Marius interrupted quickly, his irritation with his twin only slightly outweighed by his instinctive defense of her.

"Don't call me son, you dirty-,"

"Cygnus, please." Pollux murmured, squirming uncomfortably in his seat. "Perhaps w-we could just.."

"A wonderful idea, grandfather." Andromeda smiled gently at the elderly man and reached across the table to pat his hand gently. "Though I'm sorry to say, we got barely anything at all. With Narcissa's help, I was able to recover shadows of Dumbledore's movements over the course of the evening, and we were able to watch as the family magic actually placed some sort of… block… in him. But we have been unable to determine what exactly that block does."

"You're a memory expert though- surely you got more than that?"

Ted frowned at Callidora. "Yes, she is an expert- that's how you know that his mind was extremely well protected. If it hadn't been-,"

"If it hadn't been, I would have been able to tell you his thoughts while he was here. But Dumbledore's unconscious occlumency is enhanced by his bond with his Phoenix- if I had taken more than shadows, I'd have been rather badly burnt."

"Forget the old man!" Sirius' outburst sent the lights flickering and his chair out from under him. "My godson has been in a cupboard? Why?! Even with me and Alice out of the picture- there were other options- everyone knew that Lily's sister is a bint!"

"Language," Agnes admonished.

"Weren't you listening? Dumbledore tampered with the reading of the will- there were no other apparent options."

"I'll kill them all for treating my godson like that!"

"Oh sit down you mangy mutt, the child's already been removed."

Lucius and Sirius glared heatedly at one another across the table.

Cassiopeia, irritably: "I should've just left the spell on for a bit longer."

"Or brought out the alcohol sooner," Alphard muttered, pouring a healthy two fingers of brandy into his own cup, thinking about it for a moment, and pouring more. "Kept everyone a mite calmer, it would've."

"Are there any final, actually relevant, not intentionally combative questions or statements prior to the next topic?"

Sirius bristled, slamming both hands on the table. "I rather think there would be! I want answers, I want justice for the child, I want-,"

"No? Lovely." Cassiopeia's wand swished through the air, and letter E flipped over immediately. The Dursley Family: Evaluation and Suggested Punishment.

"Cousin, Melania- you're up."

Melania had not always been a Black- once, many years ago, she had been Melania McMillian, the pride of her House and a gem of society. Once, many years ago, she had thought the Black madness was nothing but a jealous rumor, and that even if it held merit, she and her beloved would never fall to it.

Many times, over many years, she had been proven wrong.

Orion's funeral had brought her peace- a sense that her oldest child had moved on from his own bitter regrets, at the least. The 'interview' with the Dursleys had shattered that peace into a thousand tiny glass pieces.

I can't lose another child.

It seemed the Black madness was catching, because Melania could not get Petunia Dursley's words to stop spinning through her head.

I can't lose another child. I can't lose another child. I can't-

You pity the creatures?

How could you not?

"Lily Potter had a single surviving family member at the time of her death- an elder sister, Petunia, who married a muggle named Vernon Dursley. The pair were, according to most reports, completely estranged- Petunia was jealous of Lily's friends, her grades, her magic, her appearance, even her personality. It's understandable- what does one plain muggle woman have that can hold a candle to a witch, even if they are…. Less than pure?"

("I would be more than happy to show you," Agnes muttered, and dumped the remainder of her flask into the teacup.

"That's right, my love- you could take her," Marius murmured encouragingly, even as he moved a nearby wine bottle out of reach.)

"It seems likely, from the letters we read, that the sisters might have made up eventually- they were both married, starting their adult lives in such different worlds that they couldn't compare- had Lily's parents not been targeted by the Dark Lord. It was shortly after the Potters went into hiding, and they were unable to even attend the funeral according to that muggle woman's account." Arcturus snorted, his judgement clearly passed. "She was already an exceedingly bitter creature- placing the full blame for her parent's deaths on her sister did nothing to alleviate this."

"Petunia did not know about Harry, and she had not told her sister about her own son's birth- they are, remarkably, quite close in age, though I can only hope that that is where their similarities end. In fact, the first time she heard she had a nephew was when she opened the front door one morning and found him on the front step."

"I'm sorry to interrupt Grandmother," Sirius said pleasantly, swinging one long leg over the other. "Did you just say she found him on the front step?"

Melania nodded. "In a basket, with a letter from Dumbledore himself. But that wasn't all Dumbledore had left."

I can't lose another child.

"Albus Dumbledore was aware that Lily and Petunia were estranged. He was aware that they had a young son, approximately Harry's age. He was particularly aware of Petunia and Vernon's aversion to all things magical- he was, after all, a witness to the absolute scandal of a scene caused at their wedding. But he was completely ignorant in one way that mattered: prior to leaving Harry on the front porch, he did not actually look at the occupants of the house. Dumbledore had no idea that Petunia was expecting."

There was a slight inhale of breath from somewhere down the table- Narcissa, Melania expected, because only a woman who had made a mission of researching things that could threaten or prevent pregnancy in the years leading up to their only child's birth could begin to guess what was to come next.

"Petunia was not particularly far along- their odd doctors had only just confirmed things a month prior. But they were… excited. They wanted a girl- one of each, that way- and they had big plans for a nursery in their guest bedroom, which they had been painting on the night that Dumbledore dropped Harry on the porch."

I can't lose another child. I can't lose another child.

Melania took a very deep breath, and found that no words came out. Her hands clasped and unclasped themselves on her lap, wrinkling the pastel pink robes she had chosen for this specific event, twisting and twisting and-

Her husband's hand was surprisingly gentle as it caught her own. "Dumbledore was never a particularly skilled warder- transfiguration was his forte, as was alchemy, but wards are things that can be too easily hired out if you have a good connection at Gringotts. Despite this, he chose to raise the wards around the muggles' home himself. He protected against fire- it was a common smoke out method used by the Dark Lord's followers during the Blood War. It was a fairly simple ward, and would not have affected the residents of the house- though I did have to wonder why he wouldn't have included other provisions such as flooding as well. But then he used at least one vial- likely more- of the muggleborn witch's blood to create a lasting protection within the house and on Harry himself- a protection against the Dark Lord and his followers."

"He… tampered with Lily's body at Godric's Hollow?"

"But He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was already gone!" Callidora furrowed her brow. "Why would he-,"

"Do I look like I know why Albus Dumbledore makes the decisions he does?" Arcturus demanded, "The fact remains that he did. The blood protection is still there, though it is fairly weak without the boy in the house. Simply put, it was a nearly- if not entirely, given the lack of consent from the muggleborn witch and the residents of the house- illegal bit of magic that ensured that as long as the Dursley's gave the child a home, they too would be safe from any backlash caused by his fame. It was incredibly powerful, even if it was questionably done: so powerful, in fact, that it greatly exceeded the amount of magic that can be safely used on a muggle woman in the family way."

"Wait, what? I didn't know there was any danger in using magic on muggles," Marius interrupted skeptically. "That sounds like some anti-muggle propaganda, it does."

"Unfortunately, no- it's quite true," Cassiopeia sighed, raising a palm to prevent Arcturus from any snarky response. "Well- sort of. Pregnancy is incredibly delicate, and muggle pregnancy even more so- a mother's magical core is responsible for quite a bit of the fetus' protection, including buffering the effects of an overabundance of magic. Still, even pregnant witches resist having most spells used on them directly after the first trimester- it's simply considered safer."

"So if a stay spell hit a pregnant muggle, they would just…?"

"Morganna, no- not at all. It may take much less magic to harm a muggle pregnancy, but it still requires a lot of magic. Typically, blood rituals would be considered the only things with enough oomph."

"And that's exactly what Dumbledore did, without even thinking about using a detection spell to check that poor mother," Melania murmured, eyes glazing over. Orion's face as a child giggled behind her eyelids, and the muggle woman's voice repeated, over and over: I can't lose another child.

You pity the creatures?

How could you not?

The haze faded suddenly behind a blaze of anger. "And then the old fool went and made things worse for every single person in that house."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a bit… complicated." Arcturus furrowed his brow. "Bastardized compelling curses always are."

"Compelling curses?" Harfang repeated, eyes wide. "Dumbledore wouldn't-,"

"Would. Did, at least to the best of Arcturus's knowledge." Cassiopeia's lips drew into a grim line. "I'll remind you, yet again, that no lies can be told while this ward stone is activated. You may as well attempt to suspend some of your disbelief."

"Could someone explain these bastardized compelling curses? They sound…" Daniel shifted in his seat, sending an indecipherable glance in his blank faced wife's direction. "Well, they sound as bad as any blood ward."

"Worse- in the eyes of the law, anyhow." Melania took a careful sip of tea and settled the cup back into its saucer with the utmost care. "Blood magic is quite the grey area, despite the Ministry's best attempts to purge it, as the Old Families have fought relentlessly to keep it from being smothered completely. There is quite a bit of good that can be done with blood magic. Compulsions, on the other hand, are illegal without proper documentation."

"Proper documentation?"

"Of course- from St. Mungo's or the Ministry, depending on the situation. Legal compulsions can help people with… unsavory addictions. Or people with specific goals. They can be experimental. They can help with spell development." Melania shrugged. "Legal compulsions can be perfectly beneficial. Illegal compulsions, however, range from minor unapproved items- like compelling your spouse to want to clean more- to truly dark intents- like turning someone into your puppet.

My husband refers to Dumbledore's abominations as being bastardized because the spell work to complete them- the spellwork that we had to piece apart on the muggles- was a combination of mental and physical compulsions as well as emotional manipulation. Again, I will not deny the man's power- but his results were…"

Arcturus snorted. "His results were abominable- even for muggles, what we saw was outlandish. Beastly."

Marius scowled. "It would be helpful if you actually told us what he was trying to do."

"The spells were intended to make the Dursley's obsess over the first two children in the household as well as over the idea of being a 'normal' family of four- there were specific charms intended to keep them fiercely protective of the first two children in their custody, and there were charms intended to support their natural tendency to avoid all things magic- likely to keep them from cashing in on the boy in the wizarding world. Most damagingly, spellwork was completed with the intent of making them prioritize the second child in the household." Melania paused. "I'm sure you can see where this went wrong."

"But Mama, doesn't that mean they should have been unable to abuse Harry?" Lucretia asked, brow furrowed in deep confusion. "Are muggles really able to defy compulsions like that?"

"They didn't defy the compulsions." It was Narcissa who answered, face pale and voice soft. "Right?"

I can't lose another child.

You pity the creatures?

How could you not?

"That's right." Melania straightened her back and tightened her stomach against an invisible blow. "Cassiopeia's explanation of overpowered magic's effect on a pregnant muggle did not include the rate at which the… side effect… occurs. It's not immediate- in fact, it can take days, up to a few weeks in some recorded instances. So when Dumbledore cast the compulsions immediately following the setting of the blood wards, there were already two children that they claimed guardianship of in the house."

"Bloody hell," Sirius breathed. "The Pronglet never had a chance, did he?"

"The muggle woman found Potter on the porch the next morning, with a note from Dumbledore telling her all about how she would have him to thank for all the protections laid on the house, and how she and her family would be in danger if she didn't take him in." Arcturus paused, a flash of discomfort twisting his features momentarily. "Well. The muggles woman began experiencing… complications… the next afternoon. The… lost pregnancy… was confirmed by their healers the next day."

"Dumbledore didn't intend for this to happen," Ignatius said softly. "His intent simply… went wrong."

"Went wrong? Bloody well twisted 'round the bend it was! Harry was doomed to be hated by that family the second Dumbledore dropped him on the porch, and the old fool didn't even drop back by to make sure that his spells worked properly!" Sirius had worked himself up to a full roar now, and Melania found herself wondering at her grandson's rather expansive vocal range.

"Would you have thought to cast a pregnancy detection charm in that scenario?"

"Yes! Because if you have magic, and you want to use it on others, you are responsible for their safety!"

"Why wouldn't you check the house occupants' status? It takes two seconds- and a standard health detection spell would have told him, it didn't need to be a pregnancy test!"

Melania and Agnes froze, staring at one another in wary alliance for the briefest moment before turning equally furious gazes in Melania's son-in-law's direction.

"What happened after that?"

Melania turned Helen with surprise. "Was that not enough?"

"It's awful- but the title of that topic card was Evaluation and Suggested Punishment, so I assume you have more information to share. Because frankly, I can't even begin to imagine how we can possibly come up with a punishment for any of the people involved when it increasingly sounds like just a few people have tried to do the right thing in their own exceedingly stupid ways and it just resulted in hurting in everyone."

"An excellent observation from the mother of my heir," Cassiopeia said around a mouthful of shortbread. "Melania, Arcturus, if you'd carry on then?"

Aghast at these people's inability to understand, to feel the same pressure in Melania's own chest as she considered the night Dumbledore first visited the Dursley household, the previous matriarch shook her head once sharply, the action so tightly controlled her neck looked liable to snap. "Husband, if you would proceed."

Arcturus frowned. "Because of the timing, the muggles assumed it was magic that caused their loss- and because of Dumbledore's letter, they specifically blamed the Potter boy. Cousin Cassiopeia covered a majority of what came next, but…. The boy was never given the nursery that they had intended for their daughter. Because of their own nature or because of the compulsions… whatever it was, they couldn't bare to look at him. Resented him, resented his magic- even the compulsion to avoid magic became detrimental to their ability to care for him. He was relegated to the cupboard beneath the stairs and despite his age given all indication that his survival was contingent on his ability to be seen and not heard."

"None of them deserved to be put in this situation," Helen whispered, tears clouding her eyes, and Melania scoffed internally at the younger woman's inability to disguise her emotions. (Perhaps Narcissa's odd conviction that the new Heir's mother was French had some foundation after all- weren't the French known for emotional displays?) "Can we… can we help them?"

"Help them?" Sirius demanded, squinting. "Did you suggest that we help them? I don't care if they were damned by Dumbledore or Merlin himself- they deserve punished for their treatment of a completely defenseless child!"

"One defenseless child already died," Daniel said, his arm extending over his wife's shoulder's despite the awkwardness of the position caused by the high backed dining room chairs. "Is that not punishment enough?"

"What's one muggle child compared to a wizarding one?" Cygnus demanded. "Burn the muggles- show the world the Black family won't tolerate their beastly treachery!"

"Cygnus, please," Pollux murmured. "Surely such a cycle of hate…"

"My kid was in a cupboard- I am not going to worry about some cycle of hate you're imagining when I demand retribution!"

"They had no control over their own action!"

"Actually- not entirely true." Every head at the table turned to Cassiopeia as she sorted through the rapidly depleted biscuit mountain at her right elbow. "Compulsions are an irresistible urge to behave in a certain way, especially against one's conscious wishes, and they can- technically- be fought against if it goes against one's own nature strongly enough. Though it should be noted that no one has ever experimented to see if that applies as accurately to muggles, who don't understand the feel of magic intuitively enough to have a chance at realizing they may be under such a spell. In fact, that would make for a-,"

"Missy Cassiopeia is not having time for more projects!"

The Black Materfamilias sighed. "Very well. My point remains- Arcturus and Melania are the only ones who could even guess how much of their actions were compulsions and how much were in accordance with their nature."

"Even we wouldn't know," Arcturus scoffed. "We hardly knew them prior- they seemed shallow and boring and resentful of what they knew about magic, obsessed with their image, and thats all there is to be said."

"Hardly a fair analysis, coming from you!" Marius snapped. "For all we know-,"

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Sirius interrupted. "I don't care what any of you think- they deserve punishment for what they did. My boy didn't deserve that."

"And no person- not a single one!- deserves to lose a child they want, a child they love, a child they- that they- that…."

It was with a numb and nearly incomprehensible sense of shock that Melania realized that the Heir's mother wasn't the only one displaying an inappropriate amount of emotion- there were tears streaking down her own face.

"You should never have asked this of her Cousin," Arcturus was accusing Cassiopeia now, and Melania was too absorbed to correct his inappropriate behavior. She was entirely too engrossed in her own.

I can't lose another child.

You pity the creatures?

How could you not?

"I'd never have asked if I'd known what you'd be finding," Cassiopeia, unnaturally serious, said, her steady gaze making some part of Melania's subconscious wonder if this was how the animals in the zoo felt being stared at by strangers. "I do apologize, Cousin, Melania- I did not intend to deepen your grief."

"Sirius, you owe your grandmother an apology as well," it was Andromeda, spine firm, who stared the young man down until he settled back in his seat flushing.

"My apologies Grandmother. I didn't mean to… distress you further."

"As much pity as I do feel, we have to come to a conclusion on what is to be done with these muggles," Callidora said quietly. "We cannot sit and argue over it forever. The wine would run out, and then where would we be?"

"Forget the wine, I'm wondering if there's more biscuits," Cassiopeia murmured. "Melania, I can release you to-,"

"No."

"Pardon?"

Melania used two fingers under her napkin to dab away the tears catching in the hollows under her eyes, and when she looked up and around the table her resolve hardened. "There is no reason to excuse me. I am here to serve House Black."

Once, a very long time ago, Melania had not been a Black. She had been Melania McMillian, the pride of her House and a gem of society. Once she had thought the Black madness was nothing but a jealous rumor, and thought it something she could avoid.

Now, she knew better. Now, she could embrace it. Now, she could use it.

I can't lose another child.

No, Melania could not stand to lose another child herself. And as the previous Matriarch of this ridiculous family, each face at this table- and each child playing in the conservatory- belonged to her in some way.

Once, Melania had not been a Black. But today she was. And she would do what it took to care for House Black.

January 9, 1982

Black Manor, Somerset

"Non, rien de rien. Non, je ne regrette rien!"

"Missy Cassiopeia?"

"Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait…. Ni le mal tout ça m'est bien égal!"

"Missy Cassiopeia, the family is all being gone now. We can floo home and you can be listening to Edith Piaf in bed."

Cassiopeia sighed, lifting her head from the pillow of her arms she'd created on top of the table. "Oh, are they finally? I lost track after I turned off the ward stone and Arcturus and Marius started rolling around on the floor. Again. Non, rien de rien. Non, je ne regrette rien!"

"Missy's brother took missy's brother's family home, and Pip was kicking out everyone else who could take care of themselves." Pip settled her hands onto her hips and tapped one foot impatiently. "Missy Cassiopeia, why are you having a melt right now?"

"Six hours, Pip. Six. Complete. Hours. Did we even get through assigning everyone their tasks? Distributing punishments? Ruining lives? Creating community leaders to generate good press? Did we keep this entire project from blowing up in our faces? Isla's going to bill me for invested time if this doesn't go well, and I would bet that that means another horrible vacation with no labs or potions or- "

"Missy Cassiopeia is being very dramatic- and Pip is thinking she is needs kale biscuits if she can't find the energy to get up and come home."

Cassiopeia pushed the chair out and stood quickly, staring dazedly at the remains of tea spread across the table. "Why look at the time Pip. It's quite past time for us to head home and to bed, isn't it? Morganna bless me, everyone else is already gone."

"Yes, Missy Cassiopeia."

"You'll put Edith's record on? And bring up real biscuits?"

"Of course, Missy Cassiopeia."