Extra long chapter to apologize for such a delay in getting this update to you.


House decided to go to Grimmauld Place after all his classes and duties were over on Saturday. He was excited to share the news about his family with Narcissa and he wanted to hear what she was planning to redecorate the gloomy old house and he wanted to check out the piano he had seen. Potter had told him the floo in Snape's office was connected to the house so he was on his way after giving Snape an update on the family visit and carrying greetings to Narcissa from Snape.

"Good to see you, Gregory," she said with a smile, spelling the soot from his clothes before leaning in to kiss his cheek.

"Good to see you too. Draco and Severus send hello and hoping you are well."

"How is Severus? Did the dinner help him?" she asked as they made their way into the living room. Kreacher popped in with a tea tray, bowing to House before he popped out again.

"That was weird, he didn't even acknowledge me last week," House said as he accepted a cup of tea from her.

"I've let him know what you did for me and Draco and that I like you and believe you like me. Don't be too surprised if he starts calling you Master House."

House barked out a laugh at that. "Sorry. That's too close to the name of a brand of coffee in America."

"Oh dear," Narcissa chuckled. "Well, maybe I'll suggest he call you Master Gregory instead."

"That would be better. Severus is doing better since the dinner. Still have mood swings but nowhere near as severe and he's almost… almost… in a good mood as often as he is a bad mood. I'd say it worked even better than we'd thought it would. The better he feels physically, the better he'll feel mentally, at least for a while. Then will come the real work of helping him recover."

"I met my father and step-mother yesterday," he said softly. "They were… what I always thought parents should be like."

"I'm so glad to hear that," Narcissa said with a smile. "Do you intend to meet the rest of the family?"

"Yes, at some point. Not right away, at least not in person. But I gave them permission to tell the rest of the family and to let them write to me with the caveat that they shouldn't expect frequent or lengthy replies. But… yeah. I think I want to meet them," he said with a smile, surprised with his own decision. "And they both said that they would give you and Draco a chance to make a new impression on them. I made it clear that you're part of my circle and they have to accept the whole thing or they don't get any of it."

"You shouldn't have done that," Narcissa said. "I wouldn't want to be the cause of keeping you from your family. Especially after being estranged from Andromeda for so long."

"And I don't want a family that I never knew dictating to me who my friends can be at my ripe old age," House shot back with a defiant look in his eyes. "This is different than you and your sister. I never knew them until today, so it wouldn't be as big a deal to walk away."

Narcissa was about to argue that it would be a big deal but stopped at the determination and passion she saw in his eyes. He cared for her, deeply, she realized. "Thank you, Gregory. I appreciate it, and I know Draco will as well."

"Now, tell me your ideas about how to make this place a home instead of a haunted house," he said, now that that had been settled.

They went through two cups of tea as she told him all of the changes she wanted to make, laying out paint samples, fabric and wallpaper swatches, as well as a catalog of furniture she planned to purchase. House listened attentively, offering his opinion when she asked for it, and just enjoyed hearing her speak so eagerly and passionately. When she'd gone through all the changes, including pumping him for his preferences on the room he had here, he stood up with a smile.

"I want to try out that piano in the drawing room," House said, holding out his hand to help her up. "What does the wizard world do for piano tuners?"

"There are a few, but you'd have to secure Harry's permission for them to enter the house," she said following along with him.

"Do they use magic or tuning forks?"

"Both actually," Narcissa responded, coming to stand behind him as he settled on the piano bench.

House flexed his fingers and ran some scales, grimacing at a few notes that were sour.

"It's not as bad as I'd feared it would be for how long it's sat here unused," Narcissa remarked.

"Not bad? It's horrible. Couldn't even play honky-tonk on it. Definitely need to get a tuner here right away," House said, a bit disappointed that he couldn't really play tonight. The off-key notes were scattered throughout all the scales.

"If Harry gives permission, I'll contact a tuner right away," she assured him.

They wound up back in the living room, her working on the furniture orders and him wrapped up in a book from the Black library until late in the night, finally retiring to their rooms and sleep.

Kreacher laid out an elaborate brunch in the morning and House cajoled Narcissa into going out for a walk in the neighborhood. Narcissa cast a notice-me-not charm on them before they left the house and they were able to wander the streets without hindrance for a couple of hours, visiting several little shops along the way. House stayed for dinner then returned to Hogwarts, promising to send her Harry's answer on the tuner right away.

Immediately on his return to Hogwarts, House sent word to Harry about the piano tuner then settled into grading homework late into the night. Harry sought him out the next morning in the Great Hall at breakfast.

"Professor House," he said in greeting. "There's no problem bringing in a piano tuner. Tell Narcissa to just add his name to the list of people she has for the redecorating and I'll make the arrangements for entry. How's she getting along there alone? Is the redecorating enough to keep her busy and happy?"

"Oh she's in her element, Potter. You won't recognize the place when she gets done with it."

"Good," Harry answered with a grin. Suddenly the hall fell into complete silence and both of them looked up to see why. Weakly, supported by a cane, Severus had been brought to the hall by Tippy, who was now fussing to get him into his chair. Severus grimaced and looked out over the silent student body.

"Good morning," he said as loudly as he dared without pushing a coughing fit. "Please continue your breakfast."

"Good morning, Headmaster," came a scattered but surprisingly loud response, coming from various sections of all four house tables. Snape nodded and sank into his seat, allowing Tippy to fix his plate as he sipped some tea and the normal level of chatter resumed.

"It's good to see you here, Severus," Minerva said quietly leaning closer to him. "Don't push yourself too hard just yet or Poppy might just use a sticking charm on you."

"I assure you, Minerva, I have secured her permission to attend one meal per day in the hall, when I feel strong enough to do so," Severus answered, nodding his thanks to Filius who passed him some jam for his toast.

"Good. I am glad to see you used sense and let Tippy bring you here instead of trying to walk it on your own," Minerva said with a smirk.

"One of the many conditions Poppy laid down," Snape said, shaking his head lightly. "I thought I would try to be at three meals this week, different each time, to start."

Filius and Minerva chatted a bit with Severus, just light gossip about the first couple of weeks of school thus far and little that required a response from him. He managed to eat a small meal and as the students began to leave the hall to gather their books for classes, many of them stepped up to the head table to speak to Snape directly with wishes to continue to get well.

Snape was inwardly much more pleased and surprised than he showed although he did acknowledge their well wishes. He had also picked out quite a few burning, angry glares in his direction around the hall but those were no surprise. Still, practically none of the students would have dared to speak to him directly before the war like they had just now. He would have to think about this. Once it was clear no more students were coming forward, he stood and asked Tippy to return him to his quarters.

Over the next few days, House received a letter from each of his siblings and his grandmother. He was amazed to find that they all looked forward to meeting him and each told him much more about themselves. He reread his grandmother's letter several times. She told him about his grandfather and more about the years that his father had searched for him when he was young. She also sent him pictures, both muggle and wizard, of his family over the intervening years, including birthdays, holidays, school graduations, birth of his nieces and nephews and more. It helped him feel much more like part of the family and helped him learn a bit more of the family's shared history. He wrote a brief note to his siblings, just a bit about himself and that he was happy to have connected with them, promising to write more in the future and that he was thinking about celebrating Christmas with the family.

He wanted to write a longer letter to his grandmother though. He had one of the seventh years with a wizarding camera take a picture of him to include as well.

Dear Grandmother Isobel,

Thank you for taking the time to send me the family history and all those pictures. It really makes me feel like I know you now, that I won't be meeting total strangers at Christmas. At this time, that is when I am thinking of meeting the family as a whole. I intend to return the favor, so that I will be less of a stranger to you, and the family, as well. Not everything that I have to share will be a happy memory, but I will only include the bad memories that are absolutely necessary to really know me. The rest, well… let bygones be bygones. Coming to the wizarding world is supposed to be a time to start over and I intend to take full advantage of it.

So, about me. My step-father was in the military and we travelled all around the world with him. Too many new schools made me a bit of an outcast, combined with being precocious and sarcastic. Fortunately, I was able to learn on my own and quickly catch up and fill in gaps. I learned languages easily; I speak six and read two more. I have a gift for music. I play guitar and piano. My childhood was pretty unhappy with too many rules, excessive punishments and few, if any, friends. I was thrilled to leave their house for good when I left for university.

I went to study medicine. When I was in pre-med, I also played lacrosse, ran track, and did cheerleading, because it would tick off my step-father. He thought I was a sissy, since I didn't play football or become a marine. I was expelled from university for cheating. Not my finest hour, especially since I only did it to prove a point that the professor wasn't grading papers fairly. I proved my point but paid a high price for it. Fortunately, my grades were good enough to get into another program, on probation. I also attended Johns Hopkins, in Maryland. In the end, I graduated magna cum laude, got specialties in nephrology and infectious diseases and began my career.

I have had a lot of issues at work. I don't do too well as part of team, or following authority and rules, especially those that don't make logical sense or actually interfere with treating patients. I got and was fired, from several positions before landing my own department that specialized in diagnostic medicine. I had a lot of leeway and got away with a lot, but built up a worldwide reputation for myself and the hospital.

I had one serious relationship, a lawyer named Stacy. She and I worked well together because we were both independent and went our own way most of the time. We were together for five years and had a lot of good times. It was while I was with Stacy that I met my best friend in the world, James Wilson. He was an oncologist that I met at a conference. Wilson was a gas. So proper and straight-laced on the surface but a mischievous prankster on the inside.

I had a medical emergency, a muscle infarction in my leg that went undiagnosed so long that the muscle died. Stacy made a decision that went against my wishes while I was comatose, to removed the dead muscle in surgery. With years of hindsight, I can now say that she made the right decision if I was to survive. At the time, I felt angry and betrayed and I took it out on her, driving her away from me completely. I was fortunate that Wilson stood by me, caring for me no matter what I said or did to him. I learned to walk again but was left with severe chronic pain.

Ensuing years of drug use, addiction, depression, rehab, counseling, and drinking took their toll on me and my career. I had a short relationship after rehab that blew up on me. I took out my hurt on her house with my car and spent time in jail for it. I was back at work, on parole, when Wilson developed cancer. After a failed attempt at treatment, I faked my death and left town, spending his last few months with him. Afterward, I spent some time bouncing around and finally decided to come her.

I have a few pictures I've included. Professor Flitwick copied some of mine for me, so you can keep these and share them around. There is one of me as a kid; I was nine in that picture. There's a few shots of me and Wilson in various places. The two group shots are my first and second groups of diagnostic fellows. Good bunch of people.

I've really enjoyed being in the wizarding world. I've met some interesting people, found my family, learned a hell of a lot and got a job that isn't medicine that I really like, and made some friends. I'm glad I made the decision to give it a try. I look forward to meeting everyone at Christmas.

Your grandson, Greg

Over the next couple of weeks, House covered most of his base material in his muggle studies classes and moved on to the meat of his lessons, getting the wizard children thoroughly acquainted with the culture of the muggleborn students. He worked with McGonagall and Flitwick to get music and movies working and began to choose selections that he thought would help them work through their feelings about the war. Professor MacDougal did something similar in the wizard studies classes and both were starting to see the beginning of true understanding springing up between the two groups, which they were pleased to present at the first staff meeting in October. The most obvious evidence of this was the fact that Draco had started hanging out and studying with Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Luna.

"I've been thinking we should do a memorial service this month," House suggested.

"There was a memorial service over the summer," Bill responded. "After all the funerals, don't you think that's too soon?"

"Since All Hallow's Eve is the time when the ancestral dead are honored and the veil between the living and dead is thinnest that night… no, I don't think it's too soon. I think it puts the precedent and the right timing within tradition to have a memorial," House said.

"Many wizarding families no longer honor the old tradition. Halloween has become little more than a night to eat yourself into a sugar coma," Jesse said.

"Time to turn the tide on that," House returned. "At least, put off the candy smorgasbord until after the memorial."

"What type of memorial are you proposing?" McGonagall asked.

"I want to ask the kids to give me a picture of someone they lost that they cared about. Then display them one by one to the whole student body in the Great Hall with some appropriate music in the background."

"How will you deal with students who wish to honor those who fought on the wrong side of the war?" Snape asked harshly. "They will surely feel left out by this plan."

"I didn't plan on leaving them out," House snapped. "I'm trying to make the point that everyone lost someone they loved, to try to make them understand they are more alike than they think they are. And I don't think we should limit the memorial to just this battle but take in the whole of the war with Voldemort. That way, Potter's parents, hell, even Longbottom's parents could be honored, although they are still alive," he explained.

"If you would, put together a small example of what you have in mind and how to deal respectfully with both sides," McGonagall said, "and show it to us next week. We'll make the final decision then, is that acceptable, Severus?"

"Yes," Severus agreed. "So long as you can keep it from being a good side show and a bad side list."

"It's all in how you mix the pictures and spin the music, Snape," House said with a smirk.

House introduced the idea of the small-scale project he'd been asked to do by McGonagall in the seventh year class. "I'm trying to put together a way to display photographs, either wizard or muggle, projected so that a crowd could see them. Then I want to change the picture in regularly timed intervals and play music in the background while the pictures are being shown. Who knows charms that will let this work?"

Hermione, Draco and two other Ravenclaws raised their hands in response.

"Cool, all four of you can work on it. If it works the way it does in my mind," he said, smirking as the class chuckled, "then I expect to get approval to do the full project, a memorial for all the dead of the war before the feast on Halloween. Anyone who lost someone they cared about in the war, whether the first round or the second, can submit a picture of them to be displayed in the slide show. Keep in mind this isn't about which side they were on. This is meant to show the personal cost of war to families."

"You mean you're going to show Death Eater pictures too?" Ron bellowed, and was echoed by a couple of other voices. "No way McGonagall will approve putting Death Eaters up on a memorial, though I'll bet that greasy git, Snape would! He should be in Azkaban!"

"I've had it with you, Weasley," House snapped. "Get out of my class. Detention, eight tonight."

Ron made flipped him the bird and swept out of the classroom, followed by two others, which House noted down and assigned them detention as well.

"The rest of you listen up. I thought I made this clear over the last month, but let's say it again for the record. In this classroom, there are no sides. You're all old enough to know that there is no such thing as pure good and pure evil." He turned to the board and drew a symbol on it. "Anyone know what this is?"

"It's the oriental Yin Yang symbol," Harry responded. "Good with a bit of evil in it and Evil with a bit of good in it. It's supposed to represent balance."

"That it is, Potter, five points to Gryffindor. This is supposed to be an ideal to work toward and I think when applied to magic, it works. Dark Magic and Light Magic, instead of good and evil. That means that even the lightest magic still has a little bit of dark in it and even the darkest magic has a little bit of light in it."

House let the class discuss their thoughts on this mindset, bringing up Headmaster Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore as examples and even Regulus Black. He learned quite a bit about how the students were doing in dealing with the war and the adult issues that had been thrust upon them and made several notes about needs that he had noticed while they talked.

Draco listened carefully for a few minutes and when a classmate had a question about the Death Eaters and whether they had any 'light' in them, he decided to speak up.

"Some of them had very little light left in them," he said, drawing immediate attention of the entire class. "There were a few who believed so fervently in the Dark Lord's cause and methods that what light they had in them was so deeply buried, I couldn't see it anymore. Like Bellatrix Lestrange," he acknowledged, looking down and away, ashamed to be related to her.

"Not everyone who served the Dark Lord believed so thoroughly. Or maybe they did in the beginning but began to develop doubts. Once you joined the Death Eaters, the only way to leave was death, like Regulus Black did. He regularly tortured his followers for minor infractions or no infractions at all. It helped to keep everyone in line. Cruciatus was his favorite."

"Did you join voluntarily?" Seamus Finnegan asked suddenly.

"No. My father forced me to join, desperate to regain favor with the Dark Lord. And when I would still have refused to join, the Dark Lord threatened to kill my mother. He had taken over the manor; there was no place to escape for us. I could have asked for help here for myself but … I thought I'd already gone too far. I was already marked, my mother would be killed. And I thought that Snape was loyal, that he would act as Voldemort's hand to get to me."

"What was it like? Living in the manor with them?" Harry asked.

"As terrible as you can imagine, Potter," Draco answered. "Watching my parents humiliated and tortured. I was too a few times. Part of the initiation. And watching them torture and kill other people, muggles and muggleborns mostly. And then you three got caught and I thought that he would win and this nightmare would never be over."

"It was horrible," Hermione agreed. "I can't imagine living there with them. With him."

"At least he wanted me to finish school," Draco said. "Otherwise I would have had to stay in the manor with them. I don't think I would have survived that."

Everyone talked a little about what they had been doing during the last school year and House sat down with them and listened, letting the class turn into an impromptu support group meeting. They needed this, needed to share their stories from either side of the war with each other. Muggleborn students spoke about going into hiding, their friends being killed. Hermione told how she had obliviated her memory from her parents and sent them to live in Australia. That startled many of the students, especially Draco. House had a great deal of admiration for the action she took and the high price she paid for it. Finally the class dismissed and headed off in little groups to continue talking and he counted the day an almost total success.

It was on the way back to his quarters to get ready for dinner that he realized he was about to pay a price for today. Ron Weasley had been waiting for him, certain now that House was a Death Eater sympathizer. He hit House with a stupefy spell and blasted him into a wall.

"Weasley," he croaked as he looked up at the angry student brandishing a wand at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You. I know what you're doing. You're trying to make the Death Eaters look human, to make everyone feel sorry for them and start hanging out with them. Then you'll start recruiting and this whole war will start all over again! Well, I'm not going to let you do it. You've got McGonagall snowed but there's only one reason you're close to Snape and that means you're a Death Eater."

"Way off, Weasley," House snapped, slowly pulling out his own wand. "Snape and I met when we were kids, running around with Lily Evans. I'm no Death Eater."

"Don't talk about Harry's mother! You are a Death Eater! All this no such thing as dark magic crap. There is dark magic and I'm going to prove it you and then you're going to admit what you're really doing here. Crucio!" Ron shouted, face twisted with hatred and anger.

House found himself in agony, worse than he'd ever experienced before with his leg. At least then it had been one area; now his entire nervous system was on fire. It seemed to last forever though he was pretty sure it hadn't been longer than twenty seconds. Still, that was enough to leave him trembling and nauseous and his leg in the beginning throes of spasms.

"Now talk!" Ron demanded. "You were sent to hook up with Malfoy weren't you? And Snape. He may have been a spy but he's dark and a death eater all the way through. Admit it!"

"I didn't even know about Voldemort until I got to the Leaky Cauldron and read the papers," House ground out. "You're in a world of trouble, Weasley."

"When I prove who you really are, I'll be a hero," Ron spat out. "What are you planning with Malfoy and his mother? That house is filled with dark magic, no matter how much we tried to dig out of it. What are you planning?"

"Nothing, I'm not planning anything," House protested, attempting to struggle to his feet and bring his wand up to defend himself but Ron was watching for that and disarmed him before casting the cruciatus again. Fortunately for House, the school wards had warned Snape and McGonagall, both of whom showed up along with Bill Weasley. Bill stunned Ron and took his wand, handing House's wand to Snape while McGonagall knelt down to check on House.

"William, take your brother to my office and hold him there," Snape ordered as Tippy stood by his side wringing her hands. "We'll join you there as soon as we get Professor House taken care of in the infirmary."

"Severus," McGonagall said worriedly, "his leg is spasming now."

"Tippy, take us all to the infirmary," Snape said.

Tippy took McGonagall and House first then came back for Snape. Pomfrey was already casting diagnostic spells. Snape instructed Tippy to get certain potions from his quarters and hurry with them.

"He was put under the cruciatus spell?" Pomfrey asked incredulously.

"Yes, twice, by Ron Weasley," McGonagall said sadly. "His leg, Poppy, can you stop the spasms?"

"Here," Snape said, handing the potions that Tippy had retrieved to Poppy. "My own, against the cruciatus curse. You'll still need to add something to stop the spasms."

Poppy worked quickly and soon had the spasms under control. House came to after another minute or so and looked around weakly.

"Rest, now," McGonagall said, patting his shoulder. "We have Mr. Weasley in custody and Severus has given you potions to relieve the worst of the effects of the curse."

"It will still take a day or so for the effects to wear off but they shouldn't be so severe," Severus said, putting House's wand on the bedside table. "Unfortunately, it affected your leg as well. I suggest you visit your healer at St. Mungo's once the cruciatus tremors are gone."

"Thanks," House said weakly. "Weasley thinks I'm recruiting for some new Death Eater group. He wanted me to admit it. He needs help."

"We will deal with Mr. Weasley, along with his parents and the aurors," McGonagall said. "You rest. We'll get your statement in the morning."