AN: We're continuing right where we left off last chapter, with Mrs Miller finding herself in a bit of a bind (yeah, I couldn't help myself… ;P). More things are revealed and nothing will ever be the same again in our poor and confused main character's life. But maybe she'll finally be able to manage some personal growth before she risks losing everything. (Standard disclaimer applies.)

Thank you all so very, very much for the feedback last chapter. I'm beyond happy you liked the twist and I hope you'll feel the same about what's still to come. I've had one or two people making good guesses at the content of this chapter, but I hope you all will let me know what you think after this as well. Your feedback is the only profit I make out of this, after all. ^^


Mrs Miller was not amused. Not only was she kept tied up in magical ropes, she was also ignored. Mrs Black had placed Regulus in his Moses basket after returning from the kitchen and then taken him with her again. All she could do was sit in silence and listen as her hostess prepared tea, and by the sound of it some cake as well.

There was still some resistance in the logical part of her mind that railed against the concept of magic being real; levitating babies, ropes that moved on their own and birds appearing out of thin air only to disappear just as easily, notwithstanding. There was also something to be said about the fact that Mrs Black did not seem like a witch at all. She wore normal clothes, had a pleasant laugh, no warts in sight and a decidedly straight and adequate nose. Mr Black, with his long hair, might better fit into the role of a wizard, but other than that, he seemed fully human.

At that moment, Mrs Black appeared in the hallway, walking towards the sitting room carrying a tray with a tea set Mrs Miller had never seen them use before. But the obvious delicacy of the china and the minute details of what appeared to be a hand painted pattern told her this must be the best they had to offer. Why in the world would they bring it out for such an occasion as this? She longed to ask but decided to continue just glaring at the young woman, even if she did not notice, seeing that she was still acting as if she was alone.

At long last, the front door was opened yet again and she could hear Mr Miller out in the entryway.

"And you're sure it's correct?"

"Absolutely" Mr Black replied. "Since I'm head of the House of Black now I could override the damage previous generations had wrought. Even took the opportunity to burn Bella off. But come on, best not keep the ladies waiting. I think your wife in particular might be eager to see you. She created a bit of a scene earlier and Mione had to restrain her. For her own good, as well as ours."

"I see. Where is she?"

"In the sitting room."

If Mrs Miller had hoped to be rescued by her husband, she found herself severely disappointed. He took one look at her and simply shook his head, sighing. Not saying a word, he walked over to the other armchair and slumped down in it. After rubbing his brow and pinching the bridge of his nose he finally spoke, a note of tiredness in his voice.

"Whatever did you do now, my dear?"

"What did I do? Why do you not ask what they have done?"

"Because I know they're not the kind of people to tie someone up just for the fun of it. Well, Sirius might've been in his youth, but he's a grown man now, a responsible adult and father."

"You seem to know an awful lot about them."

"Of course I do. I'm friends with them, you know. Now, what did you do?"

Looking at her husband for a while, Mrs Miller debated what she should do. Mr Miller would surely dislike what she had done, but it would probably be best if he heard it from her rather than the Blacks. Who knew what kind of tale they would spin if given half the chance.

"I found an article from eleven years ago saying Mr Black, convicted of murdering thirteen people, had escaped prison. Naturally I had to-"

"He was never convicted" Mr Miller interrupted.

"What do you mean? He was in prison, so surely-"

"No. He was framed by one of the people he allegedly killed and was sent straight to prison without a trial."

"Has he told you about it then?"

"Yes. A few days ago."

"And you believe him?"

"I do" Mr Miller replied, looking resolute.

"But how? They do not just go around throwing people into prison without giving them a trial first. We are a civilised nation after all" she replied, still having trouble reconciling Sirius being innocent with having spent time locked up. It simply was not compatible with her trust in the institutions of civilisation.

"Some parts of our society might not be the shining beacons of enlightenment you would wish them to be. But you were saying about the article?"

Deciding to let the subject of Mr Black's trial go for the moment, but resolved to demand more answers later, Mrs Miller continued her tale of woe and strife.

"I decided I had to get Mrs Black and Regulus out of here while Mr Black was away and then call the police, but as you can imagine, Mrs Black did not want to leave. I might have become a bit overeager in my desire to help and took hold of Regulus in preparation of getting them out, which is when Mrs Black did this to me."

"She bound you with what appears a rather large amount of ropes she just had lying about, while simultaneously taking Reggie from you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

"Yes, she used-"

Mrs Miller stopped herself just in time, knowing that there would be no going back if she crossed that line. Mr Miller might be an understanding and forgiving man, but if she started calling the Blacks witches and wizards it might very well be the straw that broke the camel's back. It was then no small wonder that her jaw just about fell to the floor at her husband's next words.

"Magic, I assume you were going to say."

"W-what? Ho-how do you know? Did they use magic on you as well?"

"No. I was given a lovely demonstration by Sirius after he had told me about how he ended up in prison, along with some other things about his life that are both fascinating and horrifying."

"Then why did you not tell me?" Mrs Miller asked, feeling as if the man before her was somehow moving further and further away from her with each new sentence he uttered, despite staying put in the other armchair. She longed to reach out to him, keep him with her physically at least, but could do nothing with the ropes still around her.

"For much the same reason you did not wish to do so just now. Would you have believed me if I told you?"

"No" she admitted, moving her gaze to the floor between them, unable to look him in the eyes any longer. There were so many things she wished to keep quiet about and tell him about at the same time and it was impossible to decide how to proceed.

Silence fell between them and would no doubt have carried on for much longer if their hosts had not returned. Mrs Black was carrying a pie she recognised immediately, and Mrs Miller felt the woman was only rubbing salt in her wounds, while Mr Black carried the Moses basked in which Regulus still slept.

"We hope you've had enough time the clear the air a little" Mrs Black said with a smile as soon as she and Mr Black had sat down in the sofa.

"Yes, thank you" Mr Miller replied. "But I'm eager to get started on the main topic now."

Mrs Miller had no idea what was going on. It was a most unpleasant experience to be sure, though not particularly new when it came to the Blacks. They seemed forever determined to keep her in the dark. Or at least up until today, seeing how much Mrs Black had just told her.

"Mrs Miller" the woman said, forcing her to focus on her company once more. "If you promise to keep calm I'll remove the ropes. Just know that I'll put them right back if you give me cause to."

Gritting her teeth at the insulting way she was treated, Mrs Miller was still eager to be free and gave a curt nod. That did not appear enough, however, as the other three kept looking at her expectantly.

"Fine. I promise to do my best to keep calm."

"Excellent" Mrs Black said, and with a swish of her wand, the ropes vanished, as if they had never been there to begin with, then turned to Mr Black.

The man gave his wife a look before taking a deep breath while he turned to her once more. There was something strange in his eyes while he regarded her. It made her feel as if he was about to impart something that would change her life forever.

"I'd planned to talk with Ernest alone about this and let him deal with you, but since you managed to push Mione into putting her cards on the table early, you'd better hear this as well" the man said, then shook his head while smiling ruefully. "And I guess I better start with welcoming you to the family."

It was a good thing that dropping one's jaw was only an expression, or Mrs Miller's would be severely bruised by now. Though, she felt sure her brain would suffer acute soreness on the morrow, seeing the insane workout it was pushed through.

"F-f-f-fa… mily" she spluttered. "W-wha-whatever do you mean?"

"It's both astounding and simple really" Mr Miller said. "When I met Sirius earlier in the week to have a look at the Black family tree, we made something of an unexpected discovery. My father's on it."

"What?!"

"Yes, though he had already changed his name from Black to Miller by the time he met my mother so we couldn't be sure until now."

"Marius Black" Mr Black went on, "was the younger brother of my maternal grandfather, Pollux Black. However, since he was born without magic, he was cast out of the family at a young age and had to make it on his own in the nonmagical world. Understandably, he did not wish to keep the name of the family who treated him like that, which is a sentiment I can understand."

Mrs Black reached over and took her husband's hand and he turned to look at her, the tenseness of his body relaxing. The two seemed temporarily lost in each other and Mr Miller continued the explanation to allow them their private moment.

"He never told anyone about the family he was born into other than the fact that he lost them young and I lived without any knowledge of my heritage all of my life until this week. I thought I had no family except for my mother left and now it turns out that Sirius is Eleanor and Oliver's second cousin and that Regulus is third cousin to our grandchildren. And since they're on the same side of the family, the older Mrs Malfoy is another second cousin of our children, along with her sister Andromeda. And her son, Draco, is another third cousin to our grandchildren, just like Andromeda's daughter, Tonks."

Mr Miller's voice grew thicker and thicker as he went on, tears pooling in his eyes, and Mrs Miller was torn. Torn between sharing in his happiness and protesting the people that had caused it. Her husband had always been a family man and having grown up an only child to parents he believed to be the same had left something missing in his life.

Thinking back now, she could recall that he had asked a few times, after Oliver was born, if they were going to have a third, but she had always said two made perfect and left it at that. He had soon stopped bringing it up and she had assumed he was as content with their family as she was. But somewhere at the back of her mind, she had known he wanted more, but was too kind and loving to press her on the issue. And the utter delight on his face when he held Emily for the first time, that had not dimmed in the least when he had done the same for Jack, Matthew and Aidan, was more proof of his priorities. He had been a very involved father and grandfather from the start, never hesitating to get down on the floor and play with the little ones.

"Enid, dear."

Focusing her gaze back on her husband, Mrs Miller gulped at the determined look on his face.

"Yes?"

"You know that I love you, right."

"Yes" she replied, feeling a huge 'but' coming.

"And I want nothing more than for all of us to be a big happy family, but if you won't give up trying to push Sirius and Hermione away, I will choose them. It will break my heart, but I'm not going to give them up. I excused your behaviour with the Saunders, but I won't do so this time. Not with their granddaughter."

It felt like a blow to her very being. Ernest was prepared to leave her… for the Blacks. She wanted to rail against the absurdity of it. The unfairness of it. The part of her that understood him. And that part was rapidly growing now, along with a bottomless pit of dread. There was no lie to be found in his face and his eyes were as hard as steel. He had at long last put his foot down and there was nothing she could say or do to convince him to move it. She either bent now or she would break. The loud and rapid thudding of her heart when she imagined a life without the man she loved, accompanied by a growing panic, made the choice easy.

"Of course I do not wish to lose you, Ernest. If I have to accept the Blacks into our life in order to avoid doing so, I will gladly do it."

"And you will be present and supportive when we tell Eleanor and Oliver about it."

She was on the verge of saying they should leave the rest of their family out of it, that surely he could be content with his own relationship with his newfound relatives, but realised that was just the kind of behaviour he would not tolerate any longer. Their daughter and son would be introduced to their second cousin. The children as well. There was even the prospect of celebrating each other's birthdays and maybe even Christmas together looming on the horizon. It was not something she would enjoy, but it was also much more preferable than the alternative.

"I will. Do you wish to tell them soon?"

"They're coming over next weekend, so that seems as good a time as any. And if it's acceptable" Mr Miller went on, looking at the Blacks, "I would also like to tell them about magic. My father might have started a branch of the family without it, but it's still a part of our history."

"Since you're family the ministry won't object" Mrs Black said. "And if you want to, we'll make sure to stay at home that day so you can call us over if needed. To prove magic or just to introduce us."

"That would be very kind of you, Hermione. Thank you."

"Think nothing of it, Ernest. I'm just as happy about this as you and Sirius."

"Yeah" Mr Black said. "Our House badly needs a few more good members, magical or not."

Mrs Miller sat silently and watched her husband and the Blacks talk animatedly, sharing family stories and planning the future. A future she was to be a part of. It went on until Regulus woke up and started crying. It was apparently time to feed him, but while she took that as their cue to leave and started getting up, Mr Miller remained seated.

"You're free to go home if you wish" he said to her. "I'm sure you have a lot to think about, but I'm going to stay a while longer. And I want to hold my… well, would it be first cousin twice removed?"

"How about we go with great-nephew?" Mr Black responded. "That way he can be plain nephew to your children and cousin to your grandchildren. Sound good?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Realising her husband was correct and that she did have an awful lot to think about, or process rather, Mrs Miller decided to return home. Saying goodbye to the Blacks, she numbly exited the house, crossed the street and entered number twelve. The kitchen was her first destination and she did not realise she still had her loafers on until she poured the first of many cups of tea. Pulling them off, she simply left them there on the floor and headed over to the sitting room only to find that she was too restless to sit down. Endless thoughts swirled around in her head with renewed force and she had trouble sorting through them, or even grabbing hold of just the one. However, a few things were crystal clear.

The Saunders were Mrs Black's grandparents.

The Blacks had intentionally – and quite successfully she had to admit – tried to alienate her to the rest of the neighbourhood.

The Blacks were related to Mr Miller.

Magic was real.

It all just kept turning and turning around in her mind, obscuring her road forward. Not that she did not know she needed to come to terms with those four irrefutable facts, but what about everything else? What was she going to say to Mrs Sutton? What was she going to do about Mrs Jones? Was there any way she might regain the standing she had enjoyed for so long in the neighbourhood? How would Eleanor and Oliver react to everything?

With no clear answers presenting themselves, Mrs Miller was still forced to face the first of those questions the very next day when Mrs Sutton was well enough to have her over for tea before lunch. It was with no small amount of trepidation that she headed over to number ten and rang the doorbell.

"Oh, how are you doing, Enid?" Mrs Sutton asked, looking taken aback, almost the moment she opened the door to let her in.

"I have been better to tell the truth. I have some… news about the Blacks I need to share."

"Have you found something?" Mrs Sutton asked eagerly.

"In a manner of speaking, but I will tell you about it after I can sit down."

"Then please do come inside. The tea is ready and I have some of those almond biscuits I know you like so much."

Still being in that strange combination of restless and numb she had experienced since she left the Blacks yesterday, Mrs Miller followed her friend to the sitting room, where she slumped down in her usual armchair. Mrs Sutton looked disapproving of her poor posture but made no comment. Instead, she poured them both a cup of tea and then sat back to wait for her to share her news.

Knowing she could not reveal the full truth to her friend since neither her husband nor the Blacks had given her permission to do so, she still had to somehow convince Mrs Sutton of the necessity of ending their efforts of driving the latter out of the neighbourhood. She hoped the story she had concocted would be passable enough.

"I have learned that Mr Black was in fact wrongfully imprisoned" she began, thinking that she could say that much without breaking any confidences. "He spent many years locked up for something he did not do."

"How do you know he is innocent? Maybe he fooled some poor gullible judge into believing it and acquit him. He was found guilty at his trial in the first place after all."

"It was discovered that there had been many errors committed during it, especially how the evidence was handled. They discovered his innocence when the DNA they found at the crime scene matched another man who had just been convicted in another murder case. It turned out that other man was guilty of the murders Mr Black had been put in prison for" Mrs Miller continued.

"How did you find out?" Mrs Sutton asked sceptically.

"I had the idea to write The Daily Telegraph and ask if they had anything in their archive about a Sirius Black."

Realisation dawned in Mrs Sutton's eyes then and Mrs Miller knew she had succeeded. Her friend would never disbelieve The Daily Telegraph, just like herself, and since she never interacted with Miss Gilchrist, there was no reason for her to find out the truth about what the newspaper had actually written about Mr Black. It did make her feel dirty to misuse such a good and unreproachable institution of knowledge, but it had to be done.

"Very well. Mr Black might not be a criminal after all, but do you really want them in the neighbourhood anyway?"

"I do. Maybe they are not perfect, but hardly worse than a few others already living here" she replied and suddenly realised how true that was. They had simply stood out more due to being from the generations of the children and grandchildren of everyone else and the inevitable differences that came with such an age gap. In fact, compared to many others of similar age they behaved surprisingly proper. Just look at poor young Mr Henderson and how he had acted, even if at least a part of it had been a facade used to hide his true inclination, and Mr Black could be seen as a true gentleman in comparison.

"I never thought I would find myself disappointed with you, Enid, but sadly that day has arrived. I suppose next you will be saying we need to forgive Mrs Jones as well."

"In fact, that is precisely what I will say" she replied, unflinchingly meeting the gaze of her old friend. "Discovering Mr Black's innocence has made me re-evaluate how we handled all of this and I am disappointed in myself for drawing such hasty conclusions and then acting on them. Mrs Jones was right to berate us for our behaviour and I will not punish her for it."

Mrs Sutton looked like she was about to have an apoplexy, but abruptly stood up instead, cup still in her hand and spilling tea all over her fingers, the coffee table and the rug. For the first time in her life, Mrs Miller saw her friend acting anything but proper and could not help the gasp that escaped her.

"Out!"

"What?"

"You are clearly not well, Enid, and I have not just got healthy again to come down with whatever is afflicting your mind. One of us clearly needs to think straight in all of this and for now that apparently must be me. You are welcome to return when you are yourself again."

For some reason it was with a sense of relief Mrs Miller left number ten and walked home. Mrs Sutton had been her closest friend almost since the day she and Mr Miller had moved into the neighbourhood, but maybe their friendship had not been as beneficial as she had believed. They both had a penchant for gossiping and judging other people she had been blind to before, but she could now acknowledge they had only reinforced it in each other. Constantly validating those negative traits instead of correcting them. If she ended that friendship now, unless Mrs Sutton also saw reason, it would be easier to live the life she had now committed herself to.

Another thing she realised she needed to do was to go and apologise to Mrs Jones. But first things first, she thought, as she sat down in her sitting room and opened The da Vinci Code and started on the chapter they would discuss the next day.

In the end, Mrs Jones had been sceptical but accepted her apology when she had accompanied her on her walk home after the D.R.A.B.S. gathering. Yes, she was still going to call it that. At least for now. Maybe if they would go for a better book next time she would reconsider. But she would make an effort to be a more active participant and work to win back the respect of the other members.

After that the next week passed by in a blur of repairing her marriage and eating dinner with the Blacks almost every night. Now that they had been confirmed as family, Mr Miller had entered a phase that could be described as clingy, if one wanted to be ungenerous, but that Mrs Miller had dubbed the embracing of his inner great-uncle.

She was using those joint meals to get to know the younger couple better, trying to set aside her preconceived notions about them. By the time the weekend arrived she had come to the conclusion that she might never be able to embrace them as fully as her husband had, but that she was perfectly capable of being an amicable in-law. Some of their friends were a different matter, however, and she dreaded the day those twins would move in.

On Saturday, Eleanor and her family arrived first and about half an hour later Oliver and his family turned up as well. They had yet to be told about the Blacks and she and Mr Miller had agreed on bringing it up that night after the youngest generation had gone to bed so they could discuss it with just the adults at first. Then they could decide how much to let their children know about magic. But everyone was to learn about the expansion of their family.

"So" Oliver said as they all sat down around the coffee table a short while after Emily had retired for the night. Being the oldest she was allowed to stay up a little longer than her brother. "What did you want to tell us?"

Both of their children and their spouses looked at them with mild curiosity, but not one of them looked in the least prepared for what they were about to learn. Having been in that position herself, Mrs Miller could sympathise.

"We have recently learned that we actually have relatives on my side of the family" Mr Miller began, looking as eager as she knew he felt.

The four looked surprised at this, but still remained silent, seemingly waiting for the explanation that was bound to follow.

"We have learned that my father had good reason at the time to not talk about the family he was born into, for as it turns out he did not lose them so much as they kicked him out. He changed his name to Miller sometime between then and meeting my mother, but before that he was Marius Black."

"Black?" Julia asked. "Isn't that the name of your new neighbours?"

"Indeed it is. My father's older brother was the maternal grandfather of Sirius Black."

"Maternal grandfather?" Eleanor asked, and Mrs Miller felt proud of her daughter for catching that vital implication.

"Yes, he's a Black on both sides of his family."

"That's mildly disturbing" their daughter said, grimacing.

"Luckily it has not affected the son negatively other than them being bad parents anyway" Mr Miller said sternly. "But while there is a reason for why they married despite being second cousins, that's too complicated to explain at the moment. In fact, I think it would probably be best if Sirius himself did it since I know far from everything."

Watching the four younger people process this, Mrs Miller took the opportunity to pour everyone a cup of tea and start to sip on her own. The possible storm was only just beginning, and she needed to brace herself for any potential fallout. Any of them might react poorly to what was to be revealed next and she felt sure they would need the Blacks' assistance in convincing them.

"The reason my father was cast out of his family was because they were magical while he was born without" Mr Miller then said, dropping the proverbial bomb.

Or maybe shock grenade would be a more apt description, Mrs Miller mused.

"I'm sorry, dad, but did you just say magical?" Eleanor asked.

"Yes. There are witches and wizards living among us, including the Blacks, and-"

"No! You can't expect us to believe this" their daughter interrupted. "I mean, it's preposterous. Right?"

Looking at the others to find agreement, she surprisingly only found it in her husband since both Oliver and Julia looked apprehensive rather than angry or confused.

"Can… can you prove it?" Oliver asked, ignoring his sister's glare.

"I can call the Blacks and ask one of them to come over and perform a demonstration if you like" Mr Miller said.

"Please" Julia said, looking both eager and scared and Mrs Miller noticed she had tightly clutched Oliver's hand in her own. Something strange was going on with her son and daughter-in-law.

With a nod, Mr Miller stood up and went to make the call. He then waited in the entryway until he could return with Mr Black in tow, the rest of them sitting in tense silence meanwhile. The man smiled at them while he was introduced and then, at their urging, drew his wand from wherever he'd had it hidden on his body.

Every pair of eyes in the room was glued to him as he swished it in a short but powerful movement and said what that sounded like Expecto Patronum. Something silvery and glowing burst out of the tip and took the shape of a large dog that wagged its tail while it ran around among them for about a minute before disappearing.

The moment it faded away Julia burst out in sobs and Oliver pulled her into his arms, breathing deeply as if overcome with emotions himself.

"Eh. Sorry" Mr Black said, looking a bit unsure at the reaction. "I didn't mean to frighten anyone."

"No, please don't misunderstand" Oliver said, raising his head and looking at his second cousin, his voice thick with emotion. "It's just that… that…"

He seemed incapable of continuing and Julia took over by surprising them all by freeing herself from her husband's embrace, hurrying over to Mr Black and hugging him.

"Thank you" she whispered. "Thank you so much."

Mr Black awkwardly patted her shoulder in an attempt at a comforting gesture but looked as bewildered as the rest of them.

It took a while for the situation to calm down and then it was time for the first shock the Blacks had not been the instigators of.

"It's Matthew and Aidan" Oliver finally explained. "Ever since they were only a few years old strange things have happened around them. Toys we were sure had not been there in the evening laying in their cribs in the morning, other things changing places around the house and at least Matthew doing things that were potentially dangerous, believing he could without any harm coming to him."

"We thought we were going crazy" Julia continued, taking a step away from Mr Black, but still looking at him, "but this… this explains everything. So, thank you Mr Black, you don't know what a relief this is to hear."

All Mrs Miller could hear was that half of her grandchildren potentially were wizards and suddenly her whole life was cast in a whole new light. Again. While it did not come from her side, her family was now forever shut out of normalcy. Never again could she claim to be fully proper without feeling some guilt over the partial lie it would be. But it was still her family, her darling grandchildren, they were talking about and she would never ever abandon them.

"You can't be serious?"

Looking up, she realised it was her daughter who had spoken. Eleanor had returned to being upset and looked at her brother and sister-in-law with betrayal lurking in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked.

"This… this is all wrong. Can't you see? Magic, even if it's undeniably real, it's still wrong. Unnatural. You can't possibly mean to say my nephews might have it."

"There is nothing unnatural about it" Mr Black defended. "No more than some people being born with black hair, some with brown and so on. Admittedly, there's a lot fewer of us with magic than a particular hair colour, but it's decided in the same way with inheriting it being much more common than it appearing out of nowhere. If your children are born magical, it's much more likely to be because they are a part of the Black family and the ability simply skipping a few generations than it being by chance."

"Well, my children are perfectly normal, thank you very much" Eleanor went on. "I don't need to hear about freaky abilities in order to understand and take care of them."

At that moment Allan put a hand on his wife's shoulder, visibly calming her down, and entered the storm himself.

"Love, I think it's best if we say no more about this tonight, or something might escape you'll regret in the morning. Come. We'll go upstairs and let Oliver and Julia talk to Mr Black since I'm sure they must have many questions."

Looking at them all, Eleanor then nodded and allowed herself to be led away. Mrs Miller watched as her daughter and son-in-law walked out into the hallway and then heard them going up the stairs. She knew it could have ended up worse, but it could also have ended up much better. Hopefully, the night would cool everyone down and they could have a more sensible discussion in the morning. It had at least helped her tremendously to be able to sleep on it.

"I think I will retire as well" she said, standing up.

"I'll stay down here" Mr Miller said, but rose to give her cheek a goodnight kiss.

"We're staying too, at least as long as Mr Black is" Oliver said.

"Please, call me Sirius" Mr Black said. "We're second cousins after all. And so long as your parents don't object, I'd be happy to stay and talk. Mione's at home with Reggie, who's asleep, so I'm not needed elsewhere."

Bidding them a good night, Mrs Miller went upstairs, but stopped on the landing, unsure of what to do. Should she go to her daughter and talk to her? Tell her that she understood the confusion and frustration. Or would that only make things worse? It was strange to be so indecisive, but she could acknowledge that it would be some time before she had a good enough grip on her new reality to feel grounded again. Even if she had a head start, she still had a lot to process, while Eleanor had just begun.

In the silence, she could hear quiet sobs through the door to the guestroom her daughter and son-in-law used, followed by soothing, but indistinguishable words in Allan's deep voice, and knew she would be superfluous in there. Instead, she quietly peeked into the two guestrooms her grandchildren occupied and found them all to be sleeping. At least there were some small mercies to be found in all of this.

Having fallen asleep before Mr Miller, Oliver and Julia went to bed, even if she did have some trouble calming her mind enough to let sleep claim her, Mrs Miller had no idea how long they had stayed up and talked with Mr Black. By how tired they looked in the morning, however, she surmised it must have been well into the small hours. For once, she relented and served coffee instead of tea with breakfast and was rewarded with an appreciative smile sent her way by her husband.

Eleanor still looked to be in a bad mood, even if she had calmed down, while Allan sat quietly beside her. Oliver and Julia on the other hand sat talking to each other in low voices, trying not the be overheard and giving Eleanor apprehensive glances from time to time. The mood of the room was indeed tense, and Mrs Miller felt grateful that the children had already eaten and were out playing in the back garden.

The unexpected sound of the doorbell made them all jump and having nothing but her cup of coffee left to consume, Mrs Miller silently volunteered to go see who it was. Her surprise was indeed great when she opened the door to find Mr Black and Mr Potter standing on the other side.

"Good morning" the former said, his usual smile missing. "I realise I caused a bit of a mess for you last night, so I fetched Harry this morning so he could come and talk to you all."

The younger man nodded in greeting.

"And what do you have to say to us, Mr Potter?" she asked, somehow feeling this was a genuine offer of help rather than the typical kind of shenanigans the Blacks had used against her before.

"Sirius told me that there's some tension in your family due to some of your grandchildren maybe having magic. Since I know all too well what might happen in such a situation, the resentment that might arise, I thought I should tell you about my experience before things risk going too far for you."

The young man seemed honest and after hesitating briefly, Mrs Miller stepped aside. Her family did mean the world to her, so if she had to let more strange and magical people into her life to keep them all together, it was an insignificant price to pay. And besides, Mr Potter, along with his wife and child, would soon become her newest neighbours. It might do her some good to make for a better start this time.


Next chapter: We take a leap into the future and land on Regulus' first birthday party. The guest list is inclusive.

I have also pushed up the reveal about who'll move in after the Potters, however, after this chapter, I think some of you might've guessed anyway. ^^