/ɒfiˈjuːkəs/ ... or, in plain English, "oh-FEW-kuss" the thirteenth sign, known as the 'Serpent Bearer'

(see note at end of chapter for warnings)

disclaimer:

I do not own any rights to the masterpiece that is Giuseppe Stromboli and the Briefcase of Meatballs. All characters in this fan fiction other than Ophiuchus Corvus Black, Libra Sagitta Black, Morrigan McGonagall or Clementine Bones are owned by JK Rowling & co; I just play in the sandbox etc etc. there is also supplementary worldbuilding to Joanne's because let's be honest, she only provided us with a rough framework to work with here...but that's all part of the fun

Even though this fic doesn't explicitly contain any trans characters, I just want to shout to my trans readers. I love you, and I'm so sorry Jo is such a fucking TERF

If you agree or support Joanne's trans exclusionary feminism, or think that the rights of trans people to exist and strive for as content and safe a life as anyone else, kindly fuck right off and get your eyeballs away from any work of mine. Regards, your friendly neighbourhood nonbinary author

ps/ also while we're here, Black Lives Matter, and even though she's not in this fic, my Hermione Granger is always black xx

Ophiuchus Corvus Black woke in the middle of the night to the feeling of two very wriggly every flavoured beans climbing into his bed. He heard several thumps and a vengeful scream from a floor below and sighed. Their parents were fighting again, and the boys always found it hard to sleep when that happened. He'd asked them to cast privacy wards more than once, but it seemed basic courtesies were simply too much to ask for some people.

Little Regulus, toting his ever present soft chimera toy, came right around to his right side instead of trying to sleep next Sirius, having learned the hard way that it was better to be protected somewhat from the wild tempest of kicking and flailing of limbs that was Sirius whenever he slept. The boy never stilled; he was in constant motion, whether conscious or not. Regulus was no slouch either, but instead of flailing, he was more like Hogwarts' famous giant squid, latching onto anyone or anything he was sleeping near, which was one reason his attachment to Nox the Blackest Chimera was encouraged rather than severed. Not that Ophiuchus minded the hugging all that much, he slept like the dead either way, and would always steal the blanket.

Their Nanny elf Monstar had solved that problem by using a soft kind of elfin sticking charm so they all kept their own blankets all night. They couldn't have the littlest ones going all night in the cold after all.

At that moment however, both boys were wide awake, and both Sirius and Regulus hugged his sides and he sat up between them and wrapped them in his arms as much as he could, rubbing their backs soothingly and stroking their silken soft hair away from their faces. He wasn't able to cuddle them very well, or give the kind of hugs or reassurance they needed. He was, after all, only ten years old.

Nevertheless, he was the heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and while he was still working out what precisely that meant, as what his mother said and what his grandfather the paterfamilias said were becoming more and more disparate as time went on, he knew it was his job to make sure his family were safe and grew up to be the best they could be.

As the voices, thumps and crashes started up again from one floor down where their parents were rowing in their bedroom, Sirius asked, "Could you tell us about the WitchKing again?"

Ophiuchus nodded in the dark and started telling the story that his grandfather had told him so many times, "Once, back in ancient times when men had no magic, there were three brothers who were a part of the Peverell Clan who, as all Peverells tended to, loved to venture out on adventures in many far flung lands. On one particular journey, the furthest they'd ever gone before, they heard tell of a woman in the area who was both a scholar and a warrior, a woman rich in magics that had been passed down from mother to daughter; a woman who was rumoured to know Death personally..."

warning: the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

this fic contains references to: neglectful parenting, abuse, rape, child molestation and graphic depictions of ritual revenge.

I will put warnings as needed at the start of every chapter as relevant. please stay safe, but do be assured that as usual this story has a happy ending, and is specifically being written as a comfort and fix it fic, not angst porn. the whump is present, but barely there tbh.

If you know my work, then you know I prefer to write about cuddles and shy, scholarly boys solving problems with their brains and earnestness, and this is no different 3

Please don't come at me about canonical accuracy. this is an AU and I am firmly in the 'I write for myself and I the do what I want ' camp of fan fiction writing. however if you like the work, please feel free to talk to me about it. it's always good to know what translates well to my readers