"A memory expert, ma'am?" Dean asked.
"Yes, Mr. Thomas. You see, we don't think he spent any time outside of his rat form while in the school, however, at the same time, even if he did, he would have most likely erased your memory of the event if you were to ever catch him. Now, Mr. Black is merely concerned, and wants to make sure he didn't do anything. If any of your memories are found to be tampered with, then he may open up the invitation to the whole House, we are unsure yet. The choice is yours."
All the students looked at each other, fear and uncertainty in their eyes.
Dumbledore was furious when he got back to his office. He had assumed that Potter would be with the Weasley's, not far-fetched considering they were the only ones he knew within the wizarding world, being friends with the youngest son. But no, he closed the barrier on the youngest Weasley boy for nothing. The only thing he accomplished was almost getting the wizarding world exposed to the Muggles!
Oh, the part of his plan where Weasley number six thought of flying the car to the school worked perfectly. The problem was, Potter was supposed to be with him! Not safely already on the train. Then, when the boys arrived, he was going to swoop in, and save them from any and all punishment. Cementing the trust they would have for him, a trust that would only be multiplied when his loyalty potions took hold. Blast it though, why did Severus have to go and inform Minerva? And why did she have to go to the Weasley parents? They parents managed to convince Amelia Bones to leave the punishment up to Minerva and Severus, that was not supposed to happen either.
Although, he supposed that since Potter wasn't with the boy, that was necessary, after all, the Weasley boy wouldn't be let off as easily without Potter there as he would have been otherwise. If Potter had been there, then they would have just let it slide. Potter was the Boy-Who-Lived, after all.
But still! The boy ruined his plans, again, without even trying! When Minerva gave the boys detention, he was going to 'suggest' that the idiot Lockhart take Potter's, while Weasley could go with Filch. He didn't care about Weasley, no, he wanted Potter to go with Gilderoy, and then he could express his deepest regrets and offer to teach him instead when Potter came to him, complaining, about such an awful teacher. Or, and this was his second best scenario that he had in mind, Potter would be so disgusted with how Gilderoy was behaving with his fame, that it would keep him from growing a head just as large. Of course, if something happened this year, which it would whether he had to stage something or not, then Potter would know exactly how useless the Defense teacher this year was, and he would take care of it himself.
Really, but now the boy wasn't in detention, so he would have to just try and make sure Potter ran into Gilderoy as much as possible in the hallways, and hope the man made as much a fool of himself in class as possible. Hopefully, that would be enough to get the desired results.
Feeling calmer, he popped a lemon-drop (the ones that weren't laced with veritaserum) in his mouth and cheerfully started planning something he could stage, just in case nothing happened on its own.
On his perch, Fawkes watched and 'listened' to everything his 'bonded' wizard was planning. Truthfully, Fawkes was the bonded familiar to Godric Gryffindor, and when Godric passed, he bonded himself to his wizards school. That way, he could keep an eye on things and step in if any of the Headmaster's started behaving in a way that wasn't beneficial to his bonded's greatest achievement. Godric loved Hogwarts, and he loved her students. Unfortunately, Fawkes hadn't been able to act against this man since the day he first stepped through those doors as the Transfiguration professor almost a century ago. The first thing the man did was come to the Heads office, and do... something. To this day, Fawkes still had no idea what he did. All he knew, was that whenever he tried to warn the Head that something wasn't right, to not listen to Dumbledore, he was stopped.
When the man was chosen as the Deputy Head, Fawkes could do nothing against it, in fact, he found himself agreeing to it against his will! Not even his burning days were enough to throw whatever it was off. It got worse when Dippet 'willingly' retired and left Dumbledore in charge, and Dumbledore immediately claimed Fawkes to be his personal familiar. As if Fawkes would ever bind himself to this man! He was bound to the school, but to his horror, whatever the man did to him all those years ago, forced a bond between them. His bond to the school was almost cut off, almost. Hogwarts was an ancient school, holding more power in her walls than a man like Dumbledore could ever dream of. Unfortunately, Fawkes more often than not was her 'voice'. If Fawkes said someone was to never gain entry, then it didn't matter what the ward scheme allowed, not that the wards were really good for much these days anyway, that person wasn't gaining entry. Until Fawkes found a way to break free of whatever this was, the school would accept this man.
Luckily, Dumbledore didn't know the extent of Fawkes connection to the school. If he did, he would have perhaps forced Fawkes to tell him everything that was going on. And the less the man knew about what Harry Potter and Severus Snape were up to, the better. For everyone involved.
Harry woke up the next morning to Peeves bouncing around the room and messing with Ron's stuff. "Peeves!" He whisper shouted. "Get out of here!" When the poltergeist merely blew him a raspberry and swooped down on Harry's bed until Harry made the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin Heir rings appear, that was. "Peeves, you will leave this room and those who sleep here alone! Understood?" He asked harshly.
Thank goodness he read in one of the family journals that the Founders Heirs had absolute control in the castle. Over everything. Including Poltergeists who never listened to anyone.
Peeves stopped and stared at the rings on his fingers for a bit before he pouted and swept out of the room. Harry listened, and snickered when he heard some really girly shrieks coming from the room right above theirs. Which so happened to be the seventh years...
"PEEVES!" He heard a minute later. Quickly followed by shouts throughout the tower for them to shut up, which was followed by loud cursing and grumbling when they realized it was too late to just go back to sleep. Harry laughed and watched amazed as his dorm-mates slept through all the noise. He shook his head and decided he better shower now, before the hot water was gone. Sure, he could just heat it up again, but his control was still too shaky to risk that. He did not want to boil himself alive, thank you very much.
By the time Harry was showered and dressed, Dean and Seamus were already getting their stuff around for their own showers, while Neville was flopped over on his back blinking sleepily at the ceiling while his blankets were half pooled on the ground. And Ron was still fast asleep and snoring away.
Harry groaned when he remembered the Rule.
The year before, they had so much trouble getting Ron up in time for breakfast by the time they were all ready. It had been next to impossible, in fact they were almost late to class more than once because of it (this was before they were friendly with Hermione. Now, Hermione would barge up there and drag Ron out of bed if he wasn't up at what she thought was a reasonable time). So, Dean came up with the Rule. Basically, the first one out of the bathroom in the mornings was responsible for getting Ron up and moving while the rest of them got ready. This way, they could all be up at a reasonable time and Hermione would stop barging in on them. Honestly, what if one of them was still getting dressed when she came in? She didn't even bother to knock!
The problem was, he was so hard to get up! Harry had no idea how Mrs. Weasley did it every morning for eleven years. Maybe he could owl her...? Or ask Percy... he feared what the Twins might say if he asked them.
Dean and Seamus snickered when they heard his groan before they disappeared into the bathroom. Luckily, they had two shower stalls, otherwise it would have taken forever to get all of them through in the mornings.
Harry scowled at them, but grabbed his stuff for the day. He just grabbed all his books since he didn't know what classes they had that day. Luckily, the bag Severus got him had feather-weight charms and expansion charms on it. Nothing nearly so extensive as the pouch Sharptooth gave him, of course, but still. He made sure said pouch was in the front pocket of his bag, his real trunk, as well as everything else he owned that was special to him that he didn't trust to be in his not-quite-as-secure school trunk was in there, he wasn't going to leave it laying around in his room for people to find.
Finally, he couldn't put it off any longer. He turned to face Ron's bed, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Neville was awake enough to sit up and watch what was going on. "What happened to his stuff?" Neville asked around a yawn.
"Peeves." Harry answered absently as he made his way over, taking out his wand and preparing to cast Auguamenti. If he was going to be in charge of getting Ron up the first morning they were back, then he was going to have some fun with it. He just hoped he didn't overpower it and end up blasting Ron off his bed. He did take the time before he actually cast to bring his magic under his control. He wasn't quite at the point yet that only letting out the small amounts necessary was second-nature.
"Oh," Neville said, then he looked around and blinked in surprise. "Ron's bed was the only one he got to?" He asked, and left it at that when Harry shrugged and held up his hand, showing his Heir rings. Neville decided he didn't want to know how Harry got rid of the Poltergeist.
Neville yawned again before he rolled out of bed, landing with a soft thump and an 'ow'.
"You ok?" Harry asked in concern, looking over from his spot by Ron's bed. How on earth did he never notice how Neville was in the mornings before this summer? Besides the fact that he was usually the second to last one awake. With Ron obviously being the last.
"Yeah, I'm good. Hey, why don't you put the cookies and stuff on your bed for now, we can see about getting a table or something later." Neville suggested as he got up and started rummaging for his stuff.
"Ok, I'll get those once Ron is up." Harry said, and with that, blasted Ron with a stream of very, very cold water.
Ron woke up with a short, girly sounding scream. When he shot up, the force of the water, it was still slightly more forceful, and cold, than Harry wanted, ended up knocking him off the bed. He sat on the floor, stunned, for a moment, before the sound of Neville laughing and Harry snickering brought him to his feet.
"What was that for?!" He protested, glaring at his still snickering friend.
Harry shrugged, "I didn't feel like fighting to get you up on the first day." He said said simply. Then he glanced at the still soaking wet bed and mentally grimaced at the thought that he should probably dry it off... no point in making more work for the house-elves. Before he could get too far with those thoughts, though, he jumped when everything suddenly dried.
"I thought you were getting better about that." Neville casually commented as he gathered his things for his own shower, Ron following suit after a moment of staring before he decided he didn't want to ask. He grumbled the whole time though, especially when he saw that his stuff was all over the place. Some of his clothes were on the other side of the room, while his books were scattered among his room-mates nightstands.
"What happened to my stuff?" He asked.
Harry shrugged sheepishly at Neville and said, "Peeves." And really, that was all that needed to be said.
"I'm going to wait down in the common room." He said before he pulled out the baked goods he made at Neville's house and put them on his bed.
When he got down, he wasn't surprised to see Hermione already waiting for them. He was surprised to see the other Weasley boys waiting with her. Ginny was sitting off to the side reading what looked like her potions text.
"You guys waiting for Ron?" He asked the twins. Harry figured they probably wanted to talk to their little brother about the whole car thing. This was getting their parents in legal trouble after all.
The Weasley's all looked at each other. "Actually, we were waiting for you. Can we talk in private? I'm sure Ron will be a little while yet." Percy said.
Harry blinked in surprise, but he nodded. "I'll meet you in the Great Hall, Ok?" He suggested to Hermione. She frowned, but nodded. "And Ron's awake, he just needs to wait for Dean and Seamus to get out of the shower." He added quickly to keep her from impatiently barging up to his room and scaring the other boys. Her lips quirked back up into a smile before she dug a thick book out of her bag to read while she waited.
Once the Weasley boys had led Harry off to an empty classroom, they waited until Percy cast some privacy charms around the place. They didn't want somebody coming by and overhearing something, after all. Since this was Hogwarts, the whole castle would know what part of their conversation was about by the end of the day, and of course, who knows how everybody would fill in the rest of the conversation without knowing the context.
"Alright, we need to know. Do you have a plan for getting rid of Dumbledore?" Percy asked straight up.
Harry blinked. "Sure, right now we're still meeting with the old Potter alliance and patching up relationships there, but yeah, there's a plan in place. Right now, though, we can't make any moves against him because he still has the public on his side. And those who aren't actually on his side are being blackmailed into helping him, or in some form of massive debt to him."
"So, you have to destroy his reputation first." Percy summed. "And free people up from their debts."
Harry nodded. "Right now, Lord Greengrass is working on reversing the laws he passed in my name, and Madam Bones is making plans to slowly leak the criminal file she has on him to the Wizengamot and Rita Skeeter. Obviously, we will have to start with the little things, the ones that make them really question him, especially when they hear the excuses he comes up with to get out of trouble. Then, we'll build up to the big stuff that it won't be so easy to talk his way out of. That way, by the time they get there, they won't have any doubt that he could actually be capable of stuff like that. We also have to go slow since both me and Severus are still in the same castle as him. We don't want him thinking either of us are behind it."
The Weasley boys all nodded, that was very true. Ideas were already running through the Twins minds on how they could help with ruining their dear Headmaster's reputation. "Oh yeah, and what was up with you and the Professor?" Fred asked suddenly. It had honestly been driving all the Weasley's insane trying to figure it out, ever since they saw Harry and the Potions Master together in Diagon Alley, being civil towards each other. Snape SMILED at Harry! Not to mention he was the one to send them to Sharpaxe in the first place.
"He's my godfather." Harry said simply.
And the Weasley's were not expecting that. "Godfather? I thought that was Sirius Black?" Percy asked, confused.
"He is. Apparently, my parents had this huge fight over who my godfather would be. Sirius or Severus. In the end, they compromised and made both of them my godfather." Harry explained with a shrug.
"But nothing was in the wills about it." Fred said, glancing at his Twin.
"Yes, there is. Madam Bones just left those parts out for security purposes. Speaking of, with Dumbledore in the castle and so many of the Death Eaters children here too, Severus and I are going to be acting like nothing changed over the summer. So, don't get upset when he still 'hates' me." He said, making quotation marks with his fingers at the word hate.
The Weasley's blinked at him, but decided not to ask. "We should probably head down to breakfast. Professor McGonagal probably handed out the schedules by now." Percy said after he glanced at his watch.
When they got down to the Great Hall, they found a subdued Ron and Hermione already eating, while Hermione read a book and Neville tried to cheer Ron up by trying to convince him that, yes, Harry made those cookies that Ron helped himself to up in the dorm. For some reason, Ron didn't believe that Harry could bake. Harry wasn't sure if he should feel offended or not when he heard their conversation.
"There you are! Where were you guys?" Ron asked (after his first attempt at speaking with his mouth full) when he noticed Harry and his brothers coming over to sit down.
"There were just a few things we wanted to discuss about the other day." Fred said, he shifted his eyes towards the Head table, or more specifically, Dumbledore. Ron nodded, he got the message.
"Oh, well, tell me about it later then. Here," He gestured towards Neville when the other boy held out a stack of parchments, his mouth was full, but he, unlike Ron, didn't try to talk.
"So, what's got you so down, Ron?" Fred asked.
"You missed the Howler." Neville informed them when Ron scowled and refused to say anything.
"Oh, that's got to be a new record. I don't think anybody has ever gotten a Howler on the first day." Fred said.
"Yeah, and it's not us!" George realized with horror.
"Ron! How could you do this to us?!" The Twins wailed dramatically, catching everybodies attention.
"Shut it." Ron scowled, tossing a piece of toast at each of his brothers. Even Percy, who was trying, and failing, to hide his chuckles. Everyone else nearby laughed, although a few gave Percy strange looks.
The conversation was interrupted with a flood of owls.
"Didn't mail already come?" Harry asked, confused. Especially when he saw Hedwig among them, carrying the same package along with a letter, although she also had an extra with her.
"Yeah, wonder what this is about." Hermione said curiously, putting Voyages with Vampires down to collect her package and letter, giving the owl a piece of bacon.
When she read the letter, her eyes went wide. "This says that all Gilderoy Lockhart books being used as textbooks are being recalled due to possessing false information! Flourish and Blotts apparently has an agreement with the school, if you send in your Lockhart books, they will send you your money back minus the cost of the textbook they just sent us. This one is approved by Professors McGonagall and Snape. If you don't want to send in the Lockhart books, then don't worry about the cost for the other one. The school will take care of it." She summarized for the boys.
They ignored the letter in favor of examining their new book, although Harry smiled when he saw the letter from Sirius.
"Well, I wasn't expecting them to issue a recall." Harry said absently, reading his letter from Sirius. It was good news, if the grin on his face was anything to go by.
"You knew about this?" Hermione demanded. She was slightly hurt and confused. Hurt because she felt like she was missing something and he wasn't telling, and confused about what Harry could have to do with this.
"Sort of. When I was shopping for school, I overheard Snape in Flourish and Blotts, basically, he was telling the shop assistant everything that was wrong with the Lockhart books and why Lockhart was a fraud. He made some good points," Harry 'reluctantly' admitted, "so I didn't even bother to buy them for school. I figured I could just study out of the library or something for that class, you know?" He explained. He had been trying to figure out some excuse for telling everybody why he didn't have the right textbooks, without letting on what he knew and how, and then this just miraculously falls into his lap!
The Weasley boys all raised an eyebrow, they knew Harry hadn't just 'overheard' Snape, Snape was probably the one to tell him not to buy the books in the first place! Why wasn't he telling Hermione what was going on? Unless... her love for authority. Right.
Hermione frowned and started to say something, but Neville cut in, "Hey, we should probably go to class. We have to be in the Greenhouses soon." He had seen how much Harry hated lying to Hermione, and he didn't want to risk her starting an argument that could draw attention to Harry, anything she wanted to argue about could wait until they were somewhere private.
When they got down to the Greenhouses, they noticed that they were the last ones to arrive, a fact that annoyed Hermione to no end, she liked being there first so she could get a good seat where she could easily see what the teacher was demonstrating, and where she could easily be seen when trying to answer a question. Only Professor Sprout had yet to show up.
It didn't take her long though, when she did show up, her arms were full of bandages, and she had Lockhart with her. Harry spotted a giant tree in the distance, with its branches in slings. He figured that must have the tree Ron ran into, glancing over, he saw the guilty look on Ron's face and figured he was right. But, then again, why on earth was a tree like that on school grounds anyway? Sure, Severus told him why it was originally placed there, but Remus Lupin graduated years ago, so why was the tree still here?! Or at least not fenced off or something.
Unlike Professor Sprout, who was squat with a patched hat, and dirt on her clothes and under her fingernails, which in Harry's opinion only increased his respect for her since it was obvious she worked hard and was proud of her work, Lockhart was immaculate. Sweeping turquoise robes with matching hat, shiny golden hair under matching hat with gold trim. His appearance only cemented the fact in Harry's mind that he was a fraud. He was dressed as if expecting the press to show up and start taking pictures of him at any moment, he didn't look like he worked a day in life, let alone did any of the stuff he claimed he did in his books.
Harry had the sneaking suspicion that he didn't know about the book recall yet. He hoped he was around to see his expression when he did find out.
"Oh, hello there!" he called, beaming around at the assembled students. "Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants on my travels..."
"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" said Professor Sprout, who was looking distinctly disgruntled, not at all her usual cheerful self. Which Harry felt was completely understandable, considering she was the Herbology Professor here, and here he was coming in and trying to tell her how to do her own job. Personally, Harry would have probably tried to curse him by now.
There was a murmur of interest. They had only ever worked in greenhouse one before- greenhouse three housed far more interesting and dangerous plants. Professor Sprout took a large key from her belt and unlocked the door. Harry caught a whiff of damp earth and fertilizer mingling with the heavy perfume of some giant, umbrella-sized flowers dangling from the ceiling. He was about to follow Ron, Hermione, and Neville inside when Lockhart's hand shot out.
"Harry! I've been wanting a word- you don't mind if he's a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?"
Professor Sprout DID mind, judging by her frown. And so did Harry, for that matter. But Lockhart said, "That's the ticket," and closed the door in her face, pulling Harry away before he could protest.
"Harry," said Lockhart, his large white teeth gleamed in the sunlight when he shook his head like a father would when his son did something wrong that was actually amusing. "Harry, Harry, Harry."
Harry didn't know why he kept saying his name like that, but this guy was weird. He decided he was safest just getting away, so he slowly started inching his way towards the Greenhouse door. He didn't know what to think of Lockhart. On the one hand, the man was a fraud, on the other, he was supposed to be his professor.
Either way, he didn't want to stay outside with this lunatic.
"I've been wanting to meet with you for some time, you know, from one celebrity to another. Then, of course, when I heard what your friend did, flying a car to Hogwarts! Well, I wanted to make sure you didn't start getting ideas of your own. This would have been brilliant publicity, but it's too big! Too much, too soon!" He said, beaming brilliantly at Harry.
Harry absently wondered if Severus would have advice on how to avoid this guy. At least until he was arrested. For now, he just stared dumbly at him for a moment before his brain caught up with what Lockhart was saying. "Oh, no, Professor, see-"
Lockhart interrupted him before he could begin to explain that he wasn't going to be doing publicity stunts, that he didn't want (or need, to be honest) any more attention. "Harry, Harry, Harry." He said. Harry was getting really tired of him saying his name like that, and was just about to make a break for the door when Lockhart's hand landed on his shoulder.
"I understand. Natural to want a bit more, why, after all that you are the Boy-Who-Lived! But don't take your friend's example, it's too big! Plenty of time for all that when you are older. Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking! 'It's all right for him, he's an internationally famous wizard already!' But when I was your age, I was just as much of a nobody as you are now. In fact, I was even more of a nobody! I mean, a few people have heard of you, haven't they? All that business with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and then your godfather the other day!"
He glanced at Harry's lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead, much to Harry's annoyance (he had hoped it would fade when the soul piece was removed. No luck). "I know, I know- it's not quite as good as winning Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award five times in a row, as I have- but it's a start, Harry, it's a start. Remember, keep it small!"
With that, he winked conspiratorially and strode off, leaving Harry to stand there, gaping at him while his brain tried to process of Lockhart really said what it thought he said. Then, he turned and finally went into the Greenhouse, figuring that he better find something to do and quick or he might just explode. He did, though, slam the door a little harder then he probably should have in his anger.
Professor Sprout raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't say anything from her spot behind a trestle bench in the center of the Greenhouse. There were about twenty pairs of different-colored earmuffs lying on the bench beside her, making Harry wonder what they were doing. When Harry reached his spot between Ron and Hermione, she said, "We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who here can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"
Everyone was surprised when Neville raised his hand along with Hermione. Sure, everyone knew he was the top of their year, probably the whole school in Herbology, but at the same time, he usually preferred to let Hermione deal with answering questions while he just focused on the plants.
Sirius sighed while he read the contract and started signing where he supposed to. He was making arrangements for a team of Curse-Breakers to go through the Black properties, starting with the Manor in the countryside and then Grimmauld Place. He was paying for Gringotts to purify the objects, (and hoped to have at least one of the houses done in time for Harry to come home for Christmas). He knew that in Grimmauld Place, the chances were the only things not cursed in some way would probably be the kitchenware and dining room sets.
The Manor should be fairly clean... at the very least the cursed objects wouldn't be sitting out in the open like they would be at Grimmauld. The other properties would be fairly clean though, for sure, since they were only vacation houses. He would get the checked out anyway, though.
Besides, the stuff in the vacation homes would mostly just be Dark Magic. The stuff in the main homes would be full of Black Magic.
There was a huge difference between the two. And if he was going to live in either place with Harry, he was getting some Curse-Breakers in there to purify the places. He didn't want his godson/son anywhere near any of that stuff. Well, eventually he might go a little into the Ministry-classified 'Dark Arts' with him, but that would be when he was older. But as far as he was concerned, Harry would never be getting anywhere near the Black Arts. Well, beyond what was necessary should he decide to be an Auror or a Curse-Breaker, something that required knowledge of countering them.
Which reminded him. He couldn't help Harry learn the Potter Family Magicks, he wasn't a Potter. But he would need to start teaching him the Black Family Magicks. Which, surprisingly enough, were actually comprised of very little Black Magic. Despite the fact that the Black Family got their name from their practice of Black Magic.
His Family had a dark history...
He was reading through the business investments, trying to decide which businesses to let go and replace with others more profitable and with more... legal connections, (some of the businesses the Family was invested in either weren't making as much as they used to, or they had connections that he didn't approve of, not to mention what the business itself was. Some of that was the fact he used to be a Hit-Wizard, law-enforcement, and the rest was the fact that he was always the more grey-oriented of the Blacks.) when the door opened.
"Ah, Narcissa, its been a while, has't it?" He said, standing up from the desk Barchoke found for him so he could get paperwork done and have somewhere to put all of it that wasn't his bed. Healer Garnock said it would be good for him to be doing some work, something that was normal, while she treated him. (That, and they all wanted to keep him from being too bored. A bored Sirius Black was a prank-happy Sirius Black.) And if he behaved and made good progress, she might let him wander around the Alley a bit next week. With an escort, of course. See how he did in large crowds after so long being isolated in a small cell.
"Yes, it has. You are looking much better than I expected, My Lord." Narcissa said, giving a small curtsy, as was proper for a daughter of the House to greet their Lord.
Sirius shrugged, "People can say all they like about goblin intelligence, doesn't change the fact that they are brilliant and good at what they do. Sit." He gestured for her to take the chair while he sat on the edge of his bed. "Now, I asked to speak with you, because I honestly don't know what to do with you. I've already started the paperwork with the Ministry to officially welcome Andromeda back to the Family, and kick Bellatrix out. Of course, I need to get into the Manor and the Family ritual rooms to actually do it, but I just don't know what to do with you."
Narcissa said nothing, just bit her lip and looked down at her lap. She knew where his problem was coming from.
Sirius continued. "On the one hand, you were my favorite cousin. You and Reg were the only ones not to call me a traitor when I was Sorted into Gryffindor." And even Reg 'left' in the end when he became a Death Eater himself. "Even Andy did, until she fell in love with Ted anyway. But, on the other hand, there is your Death Eater husband."
Narcissa frowned. She remembered those days well. After she got married, Sirius met up with her to congratulate her on her marriage, as arranged as it was, and to tell her to be careful. They both knew, even back then, exactly how far Lucius was in Voldemort's circle. They also knew the rumors about how Abraxus Malfoy treated his wife, Lucius' mother. He was worried that Lucius would be the same way with her. But, Lucius had been very sweet, and a gentleman during the courting phase of their betrothal, so she had taken his concerns and threw them back in his face.
Eventually, when he kept pressing, she turned on him, some of the things she said would have made his mother Walburga very proud of her for finally saying to her traitorous son.
Now, she knew Lucius well enough to know that his fears were very much founded, and very much a reality. The only reason he wasn't physically abusive was because she made it very clear very early in her marriage to him that she was a Black and would not be treated that way. She did regret not taking more of a hand in her sons pre-Hogwarts education though.
Sirius continued when she didn't say anything. "I've been asking around. It sounds like you've never been a loyal Death Eater, merely the wife of one. Your son Draco, on the other hand, it sounds like he has been raised with all the entitlement Malfoy's seem to think they deserve just for existing, despite their low status." As a Noble House, the Malfoy's were fairly low on the influential totem pole. All they had was money. The only reason Lucius was as politically powerful as he was, was because of his marriage to Narcissa, a daughter of house Black. "Why is that?" He asked mildly. He may have been a rebellious teenager, but he was still a Black.
Born a Black, and raised one too. He just tended to question his parent's teachings when it came to Muggleborns and Black Magic use a little more then his cousins and brother did. Meaning he actually questioned them and made his own decisions about them.
Finally, Narcissa sighed, and spoke. "You were right, Sirius," The words left a bitter taste in her mouth. She was proud, and did not like admitting when she was wrong. "About Lucius. The only reason he doesn't hit me is because I made it clear as soon as I realized how he was going to be, that I am a Black and will not let myself be treated that way. But he is every bit as unfaithful as you said he would be. He adores Draco, though. I let him raise Draco how he wanted to, partially because I was afraid that he would forget my heritage if I didn't. I know, that as a daughter of House Black, I failed in teaching my son." She said, not daring to look at Sirius.
Her normally laid-back and fun loving cousin, now looking and acting every bit the Lord of a Most Ancient and Noble House. She was just glad that she refused to let Lucius have access to her personal Black vault. Since that vault received a substantial monthly allowance still from the main Family vaults... that would have been like handing over the entire Black fortune to him.
He watched her for a minute, before he nodded, it seemed he found whatever he was looking for. "I will deal with Lucius later. For now, I will give you one chance. You have until Draco's fifteenth birthday to retrain him, and get him behaving like a proper Son of House Black. I would just give you the standard one year, but I realize that you aren't even going to be seeing him for most of that year while he is in school."
Narcissa finally looked at him, and he could see the disbelief and gratitude warring for dominance in her eyes.
"Thank you, Sirius, I will write him and tell him how I expect him to act from now, hopefully Severus will agree to keep an eye on him for me... and his retraining will start over Christmas break." She said with a genuine smile, one rarely seen by anyone other than her son in private. Sirius grinned back, and just like that, the Black Lord was gone, replaced by her fun loving cousin again.
"Now, tell me what I've missed over the years in your life. It can't all have been spent being a dutiful Pureblood wife." He said with a mischievous grin, one matched by Narcissa.