Hey Everyone!
Thank everyone for their wonderful reviews; this took me some time to finish, but I hope you all like it. I had more to say in to everyone but honestly my thoughts are a little bit of everywhere right now.
On to chapter 7!
November 7th, 1982
The Black Estate
The Drawing Room
6:50 pm
"You must stop pacing, Sirius," Remus sighed as Sirius crossed the room for the tenth time. "Everything will be fine."
"You don't know that" Sirius argued, smoothing his outfit for what seemed the 15th time.
"It will." Remus retorted as a loud pop sounded in the room, and both men looked to see Ragnok facing them.
"Good Evening Lord Black, Mr. Lupin." Ragnok bowed to both men and Situated himself in the middle of the table.
"Good Evening, Ragnok" Sirius nodded his head, and Remus followed in suit. "You are early."
"Of course." Ragnok snapped his fingers, and his items set themselves up. "It would be unwise to arrive at the same time as everyone else; I would suggest that you both take a seat. It would give an air of calm to our guests once they arrive."
"Told you." Remus snickered.
"Just a little bit of nervous energy," Sirius mentioned taking the note and sitting down at the Head of the table with Remus to his right. "Remus, we will also need to set up a meeting with all the Black Family. Once news breaks of what is said here, we must show we are on the same accord."
"I will write the invites tonight and have them for you to approve tomorrow." Remus acquiesced.
Sirius nodded and then address Ragnok. "Have you read the Will?"
Ragnok nodded and took a seat. "Yes. I have been aware of its contents since its creation to ensure the legality upon the death of the creator. My hands were tied once it was sealed, and only two people could unseal it."
"Let me guess," Sirius inquired. "I was the other person."
"Yes." Ragnok smirked.
"Another reason he kept you locked away." Remus surmised.
"Once they arrive, please allow me to do the initial introduction. It would be quite a shock for your guest to see you. I believe my presence as well as Madame's Bones well put them at ease." Ragnok suggested.
"You are the expert." Sirius agreed.
When the clock struck seven, four pops sounded off in the room and they were joined by Augusta Longbottom, Minerva McGonagall, Amelia Bones and Andromeda Tonks each holding the letter they received from Ragnok.
Ragnok stood and inclined his head to the women. "Welcome."
"Hi Minnie." Sirius winked from his seat unable to help himself.
"Sirius Black," Minerva stared at him slowly reaching for her wand. "What are you doing here?"
"All will be explained, but he is here legally." Amelia spoke up. "How about we all take a seat, and I will explain."
"Please, yes, have a seat." Ragnok motioned to the open chair. "We have much to discuss." Augusta, Minerva, and Andromeda nodded and they each took a seat around the table and Ragnok nodded to Amelia to start.
"Once again, I must say Thank You all for joining on such short notice." Amelia started. "The reason your letters were vague is, you are here for the reading of James and Lily Potter's Last Will and Testament. Due to the importance of this reading and other actions happening at the Ministry as we meet, we could not risk word of this slipping out until after the reading. As too how and why Sirius Black is here, it was brought to the Ministry's attention that Sirius Black was innocent of his charges of betraying the Potter's and with the help of our friends at the Gringotts bank," she nodded to Ragnok, "and other members of the wizarding community, we were able to bring the perpetrator Peter Pettigrew into custody. We were able to free Sirius last night, thankfully out of the public eye, but we know this information will not stay under wraps for long. Due to that fact, it was pertinent that the Potter's will was read tonight before news broke."
"It never sat right to me; I should have made a bigger fuss." Minerva shook her head in shame, nodding her head towards Sirius. "I am sorry for not fighting on your behalf."
"Thank you, Minnie." Sirius grinned.
"Cousin, I'm very happy for your release, though I do question why we are here." Andromeda motioned around the room.
"The best place to ensure no one could listen in, and do not worry cousin they're bound to this room only." Sirius explained.
"Where are we?" Augusta asked catching on to Andromeda's true meaning.
"Someplace safe." Sirius answered. "Now I believe it's Ragnoks turn to speak."
"Thank you, Lord Black." Ragnok nodded his head to Sirius. "As Madame Bone's stated we are here for the reading of James and Lily Potter's Will. On the night of their death Albus Dumbledore placed an injunction on their Will. The only other person who was able to lift that injunction was Sirius Black. Last night he made that request. If there are no objections I will begin." He paused and looked around the room and no one stopped him. He reached over and grabbed the long parchment in front of him, he lifted it up slightly and started reading. "We James and Lily Potter, who are of a sound mind have dictated this will to be read upon our death. The Wizarding World is under great turmoil and we have found ourselves directly in the middle of it. We have decided to go into hiding and we have named our secret keeper our close friend Peter Pettigrew, this information is known to only five people, besides myself and my wife Lily, the other three are Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore. To the world we made them believe that Sirius is the secret keeper." Ragnok pause slightly as there was a sharp intake of breath from the occupants in the room.
"In the event of our deaths, our Will, will need to be read to ensure Sirius does not take the fall for something he did not do. While Sirius has taken the oath of Godfather for our son Harry, in the event of our death, we would like custody of Harry to go to Frank and Alice Longbottom, as they have a son one day older than Harry. We would like them to grow up as friends, brothers. If Frank and Alice are unable to take care of Harry, he would then go to Sirius Black. We have set up a fund to help pay for the take care of Harry for any exorbitant expenses our son may cause. If he takes after his father, it would most likely be brooms." Ragnok paused as there was a round of chuckles from the room.
"To Remus, you have been a loyal and great friend, and we have hated to see how the world you love so much turned their back on you for something you cannot control. We know you will try to give this back, but we leave to you a sum of 100,000 Galleons. Do not make that face Remus, it is not charity, we are dead, we cannot take the money with us and there's more than enough left over for Harry. Oh, because I know you loved it whenever we visited, the Eastern Estate and all of its surrounding grounds are now yours."
Remus took a deep breath in deep appreciation of his friends.
"To Andromeda Tonks, you do not know how much of an inspiration you were to me, I thank you for all of your kind words and help. You will never know what your friendship meant to me. For that, we offer you a sum of 50,000 Galleons for you to do with as you please. Thank you, Lily."
Andromeda gasped. "I spoke to her maybe a handful of times, we were barely at Hogwarts together. I never knew how much it meant to her."
"She liked that you stood up to the family," Sirius added. "She hated how they treated me, but you never did treat me like them."
"You never know how your words can affect others," Andromeda murmured.
Ragnok continued. "To Minerva, when you showed up on my doorstep all those years ago, you changed the course of my life. You introduced me to a world that only existed in my imagination. You worked to make sure I fit in despite that world not wanting me. To you, I leave a personal fund of 50,000 galleons for you to do with as you please. I also leave you a sum of 3 million galleons to create a fund for Hogwarts to assist other muggleborns into their transition into the wizarding world. This would be for creating an entire curriculum to better help integrate muggleborn into the magical world. It is my wish that you would partner with Andromeda on this class as I believe she would be a wonderful teacher."
"My goodness," Minerva muttered causing Ragnok to pause once more. "We had spoken about it before, creating a course for Muggleborns before they were forced into hiding. I can't believe she would make provisions in her death."
Ragnok resumed. "To Frank and Alice, whether you are able to take care of Harry or not does not negate this part of the Will. You two are like mirrors to Lily and I. You two know more than anyone the weight our children are under. It was always our dream that our sons would grow up together to be closer friends than we were. I know you don't need it, but we leave you both a sum of 10,000 gallons."
"Last but not least Sirius, you have been my best friend since we stepped foot on that train my first year at Hogwarts and you have been my brother since. If I'm not there to raise my son in the ways he should be, that goal falls on you, I ask that you become The Potter House Regent in my son's stead until he is old enough to take the mantle himself. Help Frank and Alice (if they agree) to raise him to be better than us. Teach him to be a marauder but to be smarter than we ever were. On that note, Remus will need to handle the smarts. He was always smarter than the two of us." The table laughed. "I know I don't need to leave you money, but I will leave you one Galleon because I went before you, I lost the bet." Sirius dropped his head in his hand as Remus put a comforting arm over his shoulder. Once he pulled himself together and sat back up Ragnok continued.
"This last part is for the Ministry, if there is not a ministry representative at this reading this information needs to be shared with them immediately. The reason my family was forced to go into hiding along with Frank and Alice's family is because of a prophecy regarding our children. If you are reading this it is because my family was chosen. With all our plans I pray that Lily and I were able to save Harry and that our son was spared. The only upside is Frank, Alice and little Neville were spared. Albus Dumbledore came to Lily and I as well as Frank and Alice and tried to force us to go into hiding. That man views the world as a chessboard, he did not want to share all of his secrets with us, but Frank and I refused to hide without all the information. He reluctantly told us a prophecy that could be either led to Harry or Neville. Frank and I both refused to consider it until he told us everything.
"The Prophecy is as follows: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies."
"Both Harry and Neville fit this description, it is the only reason, we decided to go into hiding. If he came after us, then it is Harry. If by some chance we die and Voldemort is not gone, protect my son. Do not put this burden on his head, he is a child not a lamb for slaughter. Do not let Albus have his way with Harry. I did not like the look in his eye when we left his office that day."
"For the very last of it. Lily and I ask now is that you protect our son, allow him to live a life of love and appreciation. Teach him to be honorable, to be the best of us. We love you all and one day we will be reunited.
James and Lily Potter."
Ragnok stopped and laid the document down.
"That Man," Minerva hissed. "That man and his secrets!"
"They never told me" Augusta sobbed. "They never told me why they were put into hiding. They still were not safe, my Frank and his Alice. They were still attacked."
"I believe this information will require Albus to answer some questions," Amelia spoke up.
"I want to get Harry now," Sirius stated. "I don't want him to spend one more night away from his family."
"Well, officially I would need Madame Longbottom to relinquish her claim. She is here in Frank and Alice's stead." Ragnok explained.
Augusta nodded to Sirius. "I would still like them to grow up as brothers, but I can't raise them both. I'm not as young as I once was."
"They will be brothers; they both lost their parents in a way. They will have each other." Sirius assured her.
Ragnok nodded and made a few notes. "I will file these, but they will take time, but by 7:00 am, they will be recognized by the courts; you will be Harry Potter's legal guardian at that time."
"That's around the time the world will be reading the morning paper," Amelia said. "I don't believe we will keep the actions of the last 72 hours secret for much longer than that. I do believe that Sirius should gather young Harry tonight before news breaks."
"I second that," Minerva spoke up. "Who knows what Albus would do in the morning to ensure Harry stays with his relatives and this plan doesn't deviate."
"So, Harry is with Lily's sister," Remus confirmed.
Minerva sighed. "Against my wishes, I worried about leaving him there; I begged Albus to pick somewhere else. I even offered to take in him, but he won't change his mind, he wouldn't listen."
"Do you remember where they live," Amelia asked. "Are you able to take us there tonight?"
"Absolutely." Minerva nodded.
"Before that happens." Ragnok cut in. "I must say, the funds from the reading of this Will will be transferred to the appropriate accounts by the banks opening tomorrow morning. I do believe this wraps up my involvement here tonight. The letters that brought you here will take you back home. Just tap the letter with your wands when you are ready to depart. Please enjoy the rest of your night." Ragnok snapped his fingers, and his items cleaned up.
"Thank you." Sirius nodded. "You have been an enormous help to my family."
"It is my honor." Ragnok nodded to the room, and as he straightened up, he disappeared with a pop.
"Please let me know once Harry is up to meeting Neville. I would like for them to meet sooner rather than later." Augusta nodded and picked up her letter and pulled out her wand.
"I will let you know as soon as I can." Sirius agreed, and Augusta tapped her wand to the letter, and with a pop, she was gone.
"You have some nerve picking this place for the meeting." Andromeda stood up, walking over to Sirius.
"No better place to recover and ensure no listening ears." Sirius retorted. "As the Head of the Black Family Magic, it is my right to have this meeting here."
"Where are we?" Minerva asked, looking between the cousins.
"Head of the Black Family Magic." Andromeda blinked, ignoring Minerva's question. "When?"
"Last night," Sirius smirked.
"Who witnessed?" she asked, and Sirius nodded his head towards Amelia.
"You know where we are?" Andromeda turned to her.
Amelia nodded. "Where in the since of the name of the building, but I have not arrived by my own means, and nor am I able to."
"Good," Andromeda replied. "What about Remus?"
"He does not have access to arrive without my permission, and he does not know the location," Sirius answered. "I do not have plans to tell him the location, and there are only certain rooms he will be allowed to enter. I've never been a fan of the family, but I understand the need."
Andromeda nodded once more. "Well, I will take my leave; I expect and owl for another meeting in the coming days."
Sirius nodded understanding her meaning. "You will have it."
With another look around the room, Andromeda disapparated, and Sirius turned to Minerva. "Can you take us now?"
"You will have to take me off these grounds first, but yes, I can take you to Harry." Minerva agreed.
Sirius clapped his hands together. "No time like the present. Remus?" he turned to his oldest friend.
"Let's go get our cub." Remus nodded in agreement.
And there is chapter 7? What do you guys think?
Let me know.
Cheers,
Andrea Rose