Author's Note – Quidditch League Round 3 Entry
Team: Tutshill Tornados
Position: Chaser 2
Prompt: Write about someone having a change of heart, for better or worse.
Additional prompts: winter (season), Marius Black (character), a funeral (plot point)
Word count: 2,961
Trigger warnings: None
FYI: AU fic in the sense that these Black siblings never reconciled and subsequently never adopted Harry. Walburga also died with her husband.
House Black & an Indomitable Winter
Winter was cold, grey, a period of hibernation before a rebirth. To Cassiopeia Black, it was all of these things and more. For years she had been in a dark, indomitable winter, no bright and burgeoning spring on the horizon. It was difficult to live during winter, keeping all parts of life moving when the world froze so mercilessly. And freeze it did – the once powerful and intimidating House of Black was now cowering to a weaker opponent. The family had been torn apart, falling to sickness, madness or the foolish pursuit of a ruthless psychopath. They had long stood against the judgements of the world, steadfast in their belief of tradition and the loyalty owed to one's family. But over time those ideals had driven the family apart and now here she was – four years on from the death of her beloved sister and two years on from the death of said sister's son – bracing for yet another winter storm, praying to Mother Magic that she could lead her family through this unassailable cold front. The upcoming funeral of James and Lily Potter provided the fuel for her change of heart; she only prayed that it had not come too late.
She was broken from her somber thoughts as Arcturus and Pollux entered the drawing room of Black Manor. With Arcturus occupying Brumal Keep, the ancestral seat of the Black family, and Pollux taking up residence in Grimmauld Place, she had resigned herself to a quiet life in the English countryside where she could mourn each new loss in private. No longer would this be an option, not with recent events being what they were. She had been searching for a purpose for so long, alone in the observation of her once great family's seemingly imminent demise. This would not stand – the House of Black was the cornerstone of magic and pureblood tradition in Wizarding Britain and they would not go quietly. Hence the war meeting amongst the three of them, the remaining Black stalwarts.
"Cassiopeia, what is the meaning of this meeting?" Arcturus enquired, taking the seat to her left and leaving Pollux to take the remaining chair at her right. "Why have you brought us together now, of all times? There is much to be done considering recent happenings."
"Precisely cousin, there is much to be done," she nodded, laying her joined hands in her lap, the very picture of a calming cool front. "We three must talk about Sirius-"
"That fool!" Pollux cried, interrupting her speech suddenly. She did not return the gesture, used to such things after decades spent together. Pollux had always been reactionary, only pausing to take stock of a situation when his emotion had been spent – and Cassiopeia had much to say, so thought it best to let him get it out of his system. "It is not enough that he betrays the family by choosing to leave and take up with James Potter and his lot, but now he's betrayed one of the core tenets that this family prizes above all – loyalty."
"First and foremost, Sirius should never have been ex-communicated like he was," Arcturus shot back. "It was your daughter and my son that brought about this mess in the first place, pushing him to make an impossible choice and then pre-emptively burning him from the family tree. That is not the way we handle ourselves in this family and it was a sore point between Orion and I until the day that he died, I am regretful to admit. But we cannot preach about loyalty to a family that we have failed to protect to the fullest. Whether we agree or disagree on the personal politics we each represent, we have always defended each other to the outside world. The Black family is and always will be a fortress – we protect all behind our walls."
"Arcturus, I could not have said it better myself," she said, leaning forward in her eagerness to detail her plan. "The fact that you and I are already sharing such thoughts makes this next part easier."
"Next part?" Pollux queried, coming down from his emotional peak to listen to her. "What exactly do you have planned for us sister?"
"We're going to pull this House from the dregs of society, where it currently resides amongst vitriol and slander from the common people, and we will set it to rights as it always should have been. Ever since I heard of the deaths of James and Lily Potter, I knew Sirius would not be to blame. That boy, while questionable in his acceptance of traditional pureblood rhetoric, never wavered in his devotion to those he cared for. In that sense he has always been a true Black. And true Blacks do not simply betray those that they are sworn to protect."
"I've heard whispers of such betrayal amongst the other Lords," Arcturus said. "Talks of a fidelius charm being used to hide the Potters from the Dark Lord. No doubt this would have been the work of Dumbledore and his band of mindless sycophants."
"I think that is precisely what has happened," she responded. "If that were the case, Sirius would have moved Heaven and Earth to protect James Potter. He was family and he was a brother to Sirius when we were not. Think of the boy you once knew Pollux, you cannot truly believe he would betray James Potter."
Pollux shook his head, bringing his hand up to rub at his face in frustration. Eventually he sighed, eyeing us both as his mouth set itself in a grim line. "Perhaps a change of heart is warranted. You are right to think Sirius incapable of betraying James Potter and his family. That being said, how do we solve his current predicament?"
"First and foremost we have to get the lad out of Azkaban," she told them both. "The fact that some Ministry worm, more than likely a Barty Crouch ally, has seen fit to imprison an heir of House Black is not fit to be spoken of."
"Surely Sirius is not still the heir? He was burned off the tapestry, quite forcibly if I recall," Pollux responded, looking to Arcturus to verify this notion.
Arcturus shook his head, a rueful smile on his face. "Sirius is still very much the heir to the House of Black. It would seem that in their haste to purge Sirius from the bounds of our magic, our children have burned him from the tapestry and done nothing else to officially excommunicate him from the family."
"And if nothing else, that fact guarantees him our loyalty and our protection. Now, the funerals of James and Lily Potter will occur one week from today," she said, laying out the foundation for their resurgence. "By that point Sirius will have spent a little under two weeks in Azkaban. Pollux, your task is to secure his freedom. He has been denied a fair trial and has illegally been imprisoned – that should be enough to get the ball rolling if nothing else. Arcturus, you will be responsible for smoothing things over with the Ministry. Ensure that Sirius is still legally tied to the House of Black and begin sowing seeds of doubt in the elder families."
"And pray tell, what will you be doing during this very important next week cousin?" Arcturus questioned.
"I will find Harry Potter and bring him under our protection," she said. "Not only is he a Black by blood, but, knowing the relationship between the two, I have no doubt that James Potter would choose Sirius to be the boy's guardian. This means that he will one day be the future of this House."
"How exactly do you intend to track young Lord Potter?" Pollux queried. "Dumbledore will undoubtedly have stuck his nose in it by now and spirited the lad away."
"We need a lawyer, one that can be trusted with the severity of the situation," she replied, taking a deep breath as she prepared to utter the one name neither would expect. "I'm going to contact Marius."
- Toujour Pur -
Bringing in Marius proved to be more difficult than first estimated. Tracking him down from Dorea's pilfered correspondence was not the most effective method. Eventually she found the office space her repudiated brother now occupied and secured an appointment. Waiting in his office, she looked around at the commendations that lined his walls, trying to ascertain what kind of person her brother now was. Before she could sink further into her thoughts, the door opened and Marius himself walked in, head in a file.
"Apologies ma'am, my previous meeting ran over time and I've only just gotten away. Now, your name would be-"
"Cassiopeia Black, though if I recall correctly you had a penchant for calling me Cassie," she said, her brother now looking up from his file and staring blankly at her. When he still did not move she continued. "Frightfully common, was the phrase that Father gave that moniker, I do believe. As if that were the most devastating thing that could happen."
"No, as I recall, the most devastating thing to happen to our father was my lack of magical ability," Marius said, shock quickly making room for hostility and distrust in his visage. "What do you want Cassie? You've never been by for a casual visit ever and I don't believe you'd willingly start now. So, what has brought you to darken my doorstep like some looming storm cloud on this day of all days?"
She grimaced, knowing in her heart and mind that he was correct. She even told him so, hoping it would move things along and help her case. "But regardless of how correct you are, now is not the time for past atrocities. Those will have to come later because now I need your help Marius."
"How rich of you to come asking for my help," Marius replied in a derisive manner.
"If you won't do it for me then do it for Dorea and for Fleamont. They deserve it, even if I never can," she said.
Marius took a deep breath. "I cannot tell you how much I despise you invoking the name of the one person who supported me through my exile, as well as the name of her son, but the fact that you do so tells me that something has gone wrong. So what is it?"
"I need your help finding Harry Potter and getting him out of the clutches of Dumbledore," she said. "The funeral of James and Lily Potter is occurring four days from now and I, along with Pollux and Arcturus, want to have our affairs in order before we move publicly with this."
"You're telling me you've managed to galvanise those two into willingly protecting a Potter? How? They didn't appreciate Dorea's choice in husband any more than Sirius's later choice to abandon them for Dorea's grandson, and now you're telling me they've had a change of heart?"
"Because the house is in ruin and I will not be responsible for its demise Marius, I will not be," she said defiantly, letting her frustration and pent up anger leak into her tone slightly. "The mistakes of the past are affecting those in the present. Both Sirius and Harry Potter are owed our protection and our loyalty. Not only do I need your help in this matter but I cannot deny that in offering these things to them I must also seek to make amends with you. No one is more deserving and owed more by the House of Black than you are."
Marius took off his glasses and rubbed the ache from his eyes, unknowingly mimicking their brother. He put his glasses on and stared back at her, allowing her to see his distrust but also the raw power that all Blacks inherently held. Magical he may not be, but Marius had the same disposition and charisma of any Black man before him. It was that, more than anything else, that convinced her that she was doing the right thing. Marius needed to come home and in seeking to help Sirius and protect Harry Potter, she would ensure that this occurred.
"If, and I cannot stress this enough, if I do decide to help you in this quest of yours, what exactly would you have me do?" he asked.
"Well, our first task is to locate Harry Potter from wherever Dumbledore has chosen to hide him," she explained. "I hypothesise he has put him in the Muggle world. It is what I would do, considering the number of magical creatures and beings that would gladly take hold of the Potter Lord for their own nefarious purposes."
"I will investigate," Marius responded, switching perspectives to focus on the task at hand. He picked up a legal pad to take notes as we spoke. "Lily Potter was a Muggleborn, I will begin with her family and go from there. What else do you have for me?"
"We will need to have something to use against Dumbledore. The man is as cunning as ever and I don't think he will take lightly to losing control of both Sirius and young Lord Potter."
Marius shook his head, a slight smirk upon his face. "No, he most certainly will not. You mention Sirius, what is being done to secure his release? I do not recall a trial taking place, even though I observed notices of arrest and imprisonment from the Ministry."
She shook her head. "Your observations were unfortunately correct, but that is another matter altogether. Pollux and Arcturus are focusing on freeing Sirius. For now, our task is to secure Lord Potter. He will be the key to rebuilding the House's future and ending this dark winter."
- Toujour Pur -
Four days later
The day of the funeral had finally arrived and she was in attendance along with Pollux and Arcturus. Stressful and hectic as the last week had been, they had managed to get everything in order. Sirius was at home, given leave to stay at the manor until his formal hearing next month. He was minding Harry, who Marius had located with Lily Potter's sister and whom they had gone to retrieve only yesterday. Following Sirius's formal hearing, they would begin to make formal arrangements for Harry's adoption. For now they were both being looked after by Marius, who was also at Brumal Keep, so as not to alert Dumbledore before they began to move against him in the coming days. Arcturus was slowly coming to agree with her plan and she was sure Pollux too would change his opinions soon enough.
"I still don't think your plan was foolproof Cassiopeia," he lectured the day before, just as they were about to retrieve Harry and alter the Dursley's memories. "How do we know that this change of heart was really for the best?"
"Because it was for the family Pollux," she retorted, her eyes fixed upon him. "It was for the House of Black. I can see beyond the storm we are currently facing and am more inclined to plan for the bright days that lay ahead. That is why we needed to change, and it is why I will never regret it."
- Toujour Pur -
Eleven years later
"So you really did all of that to help me?" Harry asked her, sitting beside her sick bed as she finished retelling the story of how he came to be part of their family.
"We did that for you and for Sirius, because you are family Harry, and Blacks are always loyal to their own," she said, speech slowed by the breath she struggled to take in. "It is why I was so determined to have you come home this winter break to tell you this story in its entirety. I need you to know."
"Know what Aunt Cassie?" Harry replied, brow creased in concern. My heart smiled, knowing that, of all my failings, helping to raise this young man would never be one of them.
"I needed you to know that I would do anything for you, for our family, and that I am only sorry I never did more," she admitted, baring her emotions like never before. Dying had a way of humbling a person, after all.
Suddenly the door opened. "Harry, it's time for dinner," Marius said, entering the room with a small smile. "Neville and his grandmother have just arrived and I don't imagine Hermione and her parents will be too far behind them."
"Alright Uncle Marius, I'll be right down," Harry responded, turning back and placing a kiss on her forehead. "Aunt Cassie, I am grateful for your change of heart. Whatever happened before my parents were killed, however reluctant my grandfathers were in the beginning, you gave me a home and a father. I will always love you for that."
With a final smile Harry was gone from the room, the energy of youth powering him as he went. "It's amazing to watch, isn't it?" Marius asked. "To see him grow up and to know that we had a part in it. And it was all because of you Cassie. You brought us together again."
"I did, didn't I?" she replied, smiling to herself as she laid back and closed her eyes. She heard Marius close the door gently as her breathing became quiet. Now, thinking back on her decision to rally the family, support Sirius and Harry and connect with Marius, she only felt warmth in her soul. It might've been that her change of heart helped save the House of Black, but she had also been saved. She'd been brought out of the indomitable winter that had become her life. Now she could finally rest.