This was always meant to be the set up for the second part of this year, thus small but packed full of information. When the unintentional hiatus happened I probably could have added a bit more fluff to the thing but it seemed to take the focus off what was important.
So here it is...
If you wanted to know what all was going on, Tumblr would be the best bet. I will answer pretty much anything on the This Gonna Be Good blog so feel free to ask me questions.
Disclaimer in Chapter 1. Will Add as needed.
Harriet settled at the small table in one of Slytherin Manor's many parlors, Fred and George sat next to her with Mischief and Mayhem perched on their shoulders, watching the two woman across from them with sharp eyes and flickering tails.
Narcissa and Andromeda held themselves stiffly as Harriet poured the tea, "May we ask who you wish to bring into this Lady Slytherin?"
Harri hummed lightly, "You both abandoned your married names for your birth name when you asked for the audience, even going so far as to use the Black Crest when sealing the letter. One of you even ignored your disownment and used the name anyway." Andromeda winced. "As the Black Heiress, I would be remiss to discuss this…family matter, without the Lord of the House."
"Lord Black." Andromeda said uncertainly, "Wouldn't that…"
Harriet set the teapot down a touch too firmly and fixed her eyes on the two woman, "As Heiress Black I'm also going to have to ask you to take a vow of silence on the identity of Lord Black until such a time as he takes his place in the Wizengamot." She said seriously. The two women's eyes darted over to the twins only to be met with four sets of serious brown eyes echoing Harriet's ultimatum.
With no other choice, the two women pulled their wands and vowed to magic that they would keep the identity of the Black Lord a secret until he announced himself to the Wizengamot. Once they had done that Harriet sent her Patronus off to Sirius before sitting back to wait, her eyes locked eerily on the two older women in front of her. Fred and George were enjoying watching their mate break down the masks of the two purebloods in front of them with nothing more than her stare, the two Blacks began to fidget under Harri's stare and when they started to shift minutely, the twins took the distraction as a chance to throw a couple spells at them discretely from under the table. Mischief and Mayhem chuffed softly in their counterparts ears in approval. Harriet caught the actions and was quick to hide her lips twitching behind her teacup, her eyes still glued to Narcissa and Andromeda.
It was five minutes later, when Andromeda had started to twitch under Harriet's unrelenting gaze, that Sirius walked into the room in a dramatic swirl of dress robes. Narcissa and Andromeda looked to their cousin with thinly veiled relief, Harriet just smirked at her Godfather. Sirius' eyes swept over everyone, pausing only for a pair of moments when he found Mischief and Mayhem present. Finally, his eyes landed on Harriet, "You called pup?"
Harriet inclined her head, "Family business apparently. It's about Bella."
Sirius' eyebrows shot up but he dropped into a seat between Fred and Narcissa, "What about her?" he looked to Narcissa and Andromeda, "She hasn't contacted you has she?"
"No, she…" Narcissa began before she gave a sudden hiccup and a red bubble burst from her mouth.
"Are you trying to lie to the person you're asking to help you?" Fred asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"That wouldn't be advisable." George offered just as the bubble popped, "I think the muggle term is 'three strikes and you're out'."
"Out," Andromeda repeated warily as uneasiness became visible in Narcissa's eyes.
"Best you don't find out." Fred offered unhelpfully. Harriet smirked as she crossed one leg delicately over the other and continued to stare at the women.
Sirius huffed, "Really Andy? Cissa? That's how you want to start this?"
Narcissa's mouth pressed into a thin line, "Bellatrix owled a while ago but it was nonsense about the Dark Lord and some insane rambling. It had no bearing on this conversation." She said stiffly.
"If you want me to help her it absolutely had bearing on this conversation." Harriet pointed out.
Sirius frowned, "Help Bella? I think she's doing pretty well on her own, breaking out of Azkaban and all."
"And making to get herself killed!" Andromeda snapped in frustration.
"By me." Harri inserted, "Or the Longbottom's, you know, the people she tortured into insanity along with her husband and his brother?" Narcissa winced and Harriet rolled her eyes, "If you'd like to get to the point, that would be great." She set her tea down and cocked her head, "Why should I try to save her? The House she was in at school is nowhere near enough of a reason for me to do that."
Andromeda set her shoulders and gave a short nod, "Bella was never what anyone would consider…normal. The Black Madness was always within easy reach for her and she wasn't afraid to use it. But, while she was firmly dark oriented and share many of our beliefs, Bellatrix was never a fanatic about it like Arcturus and Walburga. She certainly was never a fan of the rising Dark Lord. Bella was never one for any authority figure, least of all, selfish ones who hid violent actions with pretty excuses when they were really just bloodthirsty."
Narcissa picked up from there, "Bellatrix was wild and untamable. In her early years, she always talked about leaving Britain to explore dark arts that other magical societies had developed and hunting down a portrait of Morgana LeFay to learn from. She never wanted to stay with the family, never wanted to fight in the war. In fact, she tricked her way out of two of the marriage contracts set up for her originally."
"I remember that," Sirius muttered with a thoughtful frown.
Andromeda nodded, "And then all of a sudden she changed. Right after her sixth year. Suddenly her biggest aspiration was to be a Death Eater and she initiated her marriage contract to Rodulphus. The Black Madness was a constant, overwhelming presence within her rather than something she controlled. Bella became completely unhinged. She didn't talk about traveling to find obscure Dark Arts anymore and her tendency for violence blew way out of proportion."
"And you've only now come to a conclusion?" Harriet asked dryly.
"We came to a conclusion then!" Narcissa protested, her frustration winning out over her pureblood manners, "But we couldn't do anything! With all of Bellatrix's talk of leaving, all of the more powerful members of the Black family were firmly on the side of wanting her to stay. Especially because of the power and potential she held. Bellatrix was one of the most prominent and promising Blacks, one that her parents and the Lord at the time were desperate to keep close. They tried for years to try and bring Bella's focus back to the family but nothing worked. But in Bella's sixth year was when she really started planning her trip away from Britain and then not a week after she came back from school, she changed."
"The only conclusion we could come to was that they used one of the Black Binding rituals on her. It was too sudden and drastic for us to think it was anything else." Andromeda said desperately, "The Bellatrix we grew up with would never have joined up with Voldemort and she certainly wouldn't have given up her dream of devoting herself to the Dark Arts more fully."
Narcissa sat forward with a plea clear in her eyes, it was terribly out of character but the Malfoy seemed desperate to convey the seriousness of this. "Please Lady Slytherin. I know there is no proof, only our own suspicions. I know you hold no love for my sister, I'm sure you have heard terrible things about her, but this is not her."
Harriet's lips pressed into a thin line and she clasped her hands together, "What would you have me do? Even if what you say is true? She and the Lestrange brothers tortured two people into insanity. Two people that are under my protection right now."
Andromeda flinched but Narcissa took this question, "We understand. All that we ask is that you spare her. Draco seemed adamant that you had the ability to take the life of a threat and that you would follow through. If you do not wish to take her in, then please drop her back with the DMLE to be tried properly. We don't wish to discount the suffering of the Longbottoms but we also don't want to see our sister die."
Harriet looked over to Sirius inquiringly; the twins' spell had negated much of the need to have him here but if Harri recognized it correctly it would only react if what they were say wasn't something they believed, like Veritaserum but with room to leave information out if you wished. Still, Harriet wanted to know if Sirius agreed with their assessment of Bellatrix prior to her sixth year and if the conclusion was a plausible one. Sirius was looking at his two cousins consideringly but he quickly looked over to Harri and gave her a small nod.
"Very well." Harri said, "I will not kill Bellatrix without first checking to see if your conclusion is correct. If it isn't, then she is too much of a danger to my family to keep around."
Andromeda let out a gusty breath and Narcissa dipped her head, "I can accept that."
"Good. My other condition is that I will allow the Longbottoms to make the decision of what to do with her afterward if she was bound. They will decide if she is to go directly back into the hands of the DMLE or if we should take her in." Harriet said seriously.
"We understand Lady Slytherin," Andromeda said gravely.
Harriet gave a nod, "Then I believe this meeting is finished. We will owl you with any new information."
When they returned to LeFay Castle, Harriet brought them into the sitting room of the Queen suite before sending her Patronus off to the three Longbottoms who should still be settling after getting Neville home from school. Harriet dropped onto the sitting room couch with a sigh and closed her eyes to rub her hands over her face. Mischief and Mayhem looked to their younger counterparts pointed looks before disappearing.
"That was weird," Sirius commented, having caught the looks given by the foxes.
"What's weird?" Harri asked, dropping her hands but leaving her eyes closed as she gave a tight sigh, "The fact that your cousins are actually making a bit of sense?"
"No, I meant…" he trailed off at Fred and George's wild motions to keep silent, Sirius frowned but quickly changed his answer, "Yes, that." Harriet opened her eyes and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "I'm…going to go see if I can get anything on this subject out of my Mothers portrait." Without another word, he popped away.
Harriet frowned but it quickly dissipated as Fred and George came to sit on either side of her, wrapping their arms around her comfortingly, "So, are we going after her or"
"letting her come to us?"
"Depends on Frank and Alice really." Harri hummed, "They were the victims. They get first say in this." She adjusted so she could lean against George, "It will also depend on if she managed to recruit just Greyback or if she picked up others on the way too. If it's just the two of them they will be easier to corral. If there are more we will have to take that into consideration."
"Good point." George mused, "If they have more than the two of them we'll need to figure out if they're wolves too or if they're just wizards."
"If they're wolves we can just send in Fenrir and watch them freak out." Fred laughed, "Especially Greyback. Meeting his namesake could be quite…thrilling for him."
Harriet giggled, "No, it gets better. Greyback took on Fenrir's name after his change because the name he was born with wasn't very 'werewolf' sounding."
"Oh, do tell." George grinned.
"He was born…Eugene!" Harri giggled and the twins' burst into laughter.
"Oh, Merlin! Eugene the Werewolf!"
"No one would ever take him seriously!"
"Now Fenrir has to meet him!" Fred howled.
"It's going to hilarious!"
The Longbottoms' found them like that almost ten minutes later when they arrived. The trio of soulmates was trying to catch their breaths and regain their composure but it had yet to come.
Alice raised an eyebrow, "What's going on here?"
"Eugene the Werewolf." Fred managed to deadpan, sending all three of them into laughter again.
It took them another five minutes to calm down enough so they could speak properly, most of that spent frantically drawing air into their lungs.
"Done?" Frank chuckled as Neville fidget nervously beside him.
"For now." George laughed.
Alice smiled at them, "Why did you call for us then?" she tapped a stack of folders she had come in with. "Did you want the potentials for the new division already? I've got them all looked over and even marked potential partners."
Harri smiled as she took the folders from Alice, "Thank you, but that's not why we called you."
"You may want to sit dow,." George warned, pointing to the group of chairs across from them.
"What's this about then?" Frank asked warily as they all sat.
Harri sighed and set the folders aside, "Earlier I got an owl from Andromeda and Narcissa, they wanted to talk about Bellatrix." All three Longbottoms tensed and Neville edged closer to his parents. "They wanted me to help her, not kill her, because they believe that her full out insanity stems from some sort of binding ritual that the Black Family put over her."
"Did they have proof?" Alice asked stiffly.
"They didn't." Harri said, "Nothing other than their own memories of the time and the sudden change in their sister." Harri folded her hands in her lap, "I told them I would honor their request on two conditions. First and foremost, if I cannot find a bind on her and the insanity is natural then I would kill her. Second, was that if she was really bound in such a way that was causing her insanity then I would allow you guys to decide what to do with her after she was free of the bind. Have her try to work for retribution here or send her directly to the DMLE for a fair trial."
Alice looked torn and Frank's jaw was working, Neville glanced between his parents and his friends uncertainly.
Harri smiled softly, "I don't expect you to make a decision right away. This is a lot to take in. Sirius is currently over at the Black Townhouse to see if he can get any answers from his mother's portrait. Please think about what you want, we'll keep you updated on our findings. Either way, once we gather what we can we will be either going to get her or luring her to us. Alright?"
Frank gave a short, sharp nod, "We have a lot to think about it seems." He said, voice almost robotic.
Harriet softened and she nodded with a small smile, "I'm sorry to dump it all on you but I didn't want you to be in the dark about it."
"Thank you for that at least." Alice said graciously as she tugged Neville and Frank up from their chairs and walked out just as quickly as they had come.
Harriet dropped her head down onto the back of the sofa, "That could have gone better."
"At least you were honest with them." George soothed her.
"And you did actually give them a choice rather than deciding Bellatrix's fate yourself." Fred pointed out.
"Damn my saving people thing." Harri mumbled.
George chuckled, "Aw, don't say that. It's one of the things we love about you." Harri gave him a weak smile.
The Longbottoms' were absent from dinner that night and all meals the next day. Harriet did make sure that they were eating after calling Diana but other than that she let them be to discuss amongst themselves. Alice may have been her god mother but she certainly didn't know them well enough to be an important part of that discussion. To be honest, she was kind of leaning toward the Longbottoms sending her to the DMLE. Other than sticking her in the new division of Shield, Harri had nothing she really needed Bellatrix for and it was highly unlikely for her to form an instant connection with the older woman because of the role she had played in the last timeline. She had offered it as a consideration mostly out of habit, taking in strays is how Tony got things done after all.
The Bellatrix problem fell to the back burner when Sirius was only able to get vague bits from his mother, so they were looking through the Black Family Grimoires to see if any of the rituals would produce results like this while they waited out the Longbottoms decision.
In the meantime, they were preparing for the holidays.
Well…mostly.
Fred and George knew that the Marauders and their own older brothers were watching them closely these past couple days, they kept trying to get them alone but it hadn't worked so far. Harriet was stuck to them like glue for the first couple days of break, enjoying not having to be so cautious now that they weren't in school. The twins weren't sure what the others wanted but judging by the worried looks they kept getting they didn't think it was good.
Harriet finally parted from her mates a week into break. Thor, Frigga, and Arthur had arrived this morning after Dumbledore had delayed them at the school. Now, Loki and his children were giving them a tour of the castle. Harriet had grabbed Luna and had announced that they were going to work on gifts, leaving Fred and George alone with the vultures that were closing in fast.
"Fred, George." Bill said steadily. The Marauders, Percy, and even Charlie were joining in the stare down, worry plastered on their faces.
"Hey guys." George laughed uncertainly.
"What's up with Mischief and Mayhem?" Charlie asked bluntly.
Remus sighed, "We were supposed to be subtle."
"Subtle is for suckers." Sirius muttered.
"What does that even mean?" The werewolf groaned.
Bill waved them off, "Later." He looked to Fred and George, "They're much too active to just be remnants."
"How would you know?" Fred snapped defensively, "There aren't exactly documented cases of a situation like Harriet's."
Charlie held up his hands soothingly, "Whoa there Fred, we're worried, not angry. We just want to know if their dangerous and why you guys seem to be mad at them. They're technically part of your magic after all."
Fred and George blushed, "Actually, we think they are us."
"Excuse me?" James spluttered.
"They talked us through how to help Harriet when she was first attacked." Fred admitted.
"And before that they kept us out of Asgard." George pointed out.
"So, like…" Bill started before he huffed, "No, wait, I'm lost. They're your magic so they're kind of you…"
"No," George said with a wave of his hand, "We're pretty sure it's our souls that followed Harriet back. Literally us."
Sirius's eyes lit up in the beginning of comprehension, "And they're what…giving you advice? Why would you be mad at them then?"
Their blush deepened, "They got to be petted by Harriet." George whined slightly.
"And they think they know everything." Fred pouted, "Just because they're older."
"Are you two seriously jealous of yourselves?" Percy asked incredulously, Fred and George snorted. "Oh Merlin you are!" Percy let out a short laugh.
"They just want their little soulmate to pet them." Charlie teased, making the twins redden even further, if that was possible.
James chuckled, "Does Harriet know?" Fred and George jolted, "I assumed not when Pads said you waved at him to stop and not comment on it."
"We don't think she knows." Fred started.
"We assumed she would have them out a lot more if she did." George added.
"And you're not going to bring it up with her?" James asked, "Why not?"
The twins shared a look, "Well, if she knows then we can't get information from them about how best to take care of her." Fred started slowly.
"Is that it?" James huffed, "Because as the only man in the room who has been married, I'll tell you right now that hiding that stuff will come to bite you later when your bird finds out. I know she's been having problems with remembering to tell you things because she's used to the bond but she's been trying. You're not doing anything to keep that transparency going both ways."
George rubbed at the back of his neck as they both dropped their heads to stare at the floor, "We...it's just…"
"What if she'd rather have them." Fred got out for them finally.
Bill frowned and Charlie gripped their shoulders protectively, "Has she ever made you feel like that?"
"What? No!" George exclaimed.
"Never." Fred agreed, "But she should! They can stand equal to her! They have all the experience! They can protect her!"
"This is another reason you need to tell her." Remus said seriously, "If you continue like this you're going to get some very damaging self-hatred going on. From what I've been seeing you guys are doing brilliantly. Yeah you need a bit more experience but most of us do compared to Harriet. And do you think yourselves in the other timeline started like that? They had to train themselves too, from what Harriet told us they had to learn on the fly so you'll likely be stronger simply by the merit that you chose to start so early. Understand?"
Fred and George nodded weakly, "Understood." They mumbled.
"And you should really tell Harriet." James repeated, "She might already know and you're just beating yourselves up about nothing."
"Promise you'll tell her," Percy demanded.
Fred and George exchanged a look, "We do still want to try to get a little bit of information out of them." George said hesitantly.
Percy narrowed his eyes at them and Fred held up in hand quickly in a surrender, "We'll tell her soon. Promise."
Percy relaxed a little and nodded, "Good."
Across the pond, Natasha and Clint watched as Fury finally crossed the line in his bid to have an inside eye in the new division. Natasha's mouth pressed into a thin line and she pulled out her phone as Clint loaded painkiller into an empty tranq arrow, notching it with the unfortunate newbie in his sights.