A/N: Sorry for the late update but better late than never!

I've gone back to school to get my degree and it's effing tough and takes up so much of my time as I'm still working full-time too. This story isn't forgotten, it's unfortunately just not my main priority these days.

But I will be back with more as soon as I can!

/HBSJ

Chapter 24

Draco stood out there in the hallway, watching Harry in the sitting room where he and Pansy were talking, completely oblivious that his entire world was about to change. He looked uncannily like the Black ancestor in the portrait. Draco wasn't even certain which one of them she was.

His father, having noticed them leaving the room, came to join them outside. "What is this Narcissa?" He asked silkily but his mother just schussed him and pointed to the painting and then to the still blissfully unaware Harry.

He had never seen his father's expressions change so rapidly. First it was shock, then astonishment, then utter bewilderment. "How on earth is this possible?"

"I was at her funeral, it was expected as she was still considered a part of the extended Royal family despite her marriage. I was the same age as their son, Henry." Aunt Lucretia said quietly. "Dorea's husband was grief-struck at the time. He loved her dearly and loathed being left without her. I remember because it was highly unorthodox name and she married out of her station for love. His name was Charlus. Charlus Potter."

They all turned as one to look at her. "This boy, however distant, is Black family. He is not a nobody and neither were his parents."

Draco waited for the other shoe to drop. His aunt looked way too smug for this to be the whole story. What were they missing? No one said anything so he decided to break the silence. "And… who was Charlus Potter?"

His mother sighed slightly, obviously disappointed that none of them remembered their Debrett's so far back. Who actually knew the entire Debrett's? Draco only knew about the people in his own generation and their families listed in the massive tome and it was more than enough to memorise.

His great aunt was utterly unaware of his inner musings though. She spoke in a quiet voice, "He was Earl Sunderland, Viscount Bentham and Baron Dunsop. Ninth of his line. And they had a son, Henry, who carried on the line. But I cannot remember if he had any children."

His mother recovered first. "We need to research this. And we need to find out what happened to Earl of Sunderland holdings."

Sirius just stared wide eyed at the portrait. He was jerked from his quiet shock by Narcissa prodding him. He whispered, "James never told me anything about the like of this." He gestured to the portrait. "He just told me that he was estranged from his family at school but he dutifully went home for three weeks every summer and then he came to ours. My parents loved him."

He never took his eyes off Dorea Black as he continued. "They didn't approve of Lily when they met her. She was from a working family and they married in secret." He took a deep shuddering breath. "I was there at the wedding. I saw them sign the marriage certificate. There was nothing about titles on there. I always assumed he was the second, third or fourth son of the lover aristocracy, like a baronet. I never met his parents, I assumed they had passed on as no one ever came to claim Harry after they… I didn't even think about it,-" A shuddering sigh ran through him. "-James and Lily were just so happy."

Draco was thinking hard. Was Harry actually the heir to the Earl of Sunderland titles and estate?

That line was famously secluded, none of them had attended a single public function in years and years so he had no idea how they were supposed to look.

But this was the age of the internet and a simple search could yield momentous results. "We could just google them." He shrugged. "Somewhere there must be something about the line of succession in the family."

His aunt leaped on that. "Yes! We should do that, do you have your phone darling?"

He grinned. "In fact, I do not have my phone on me." He smirked pointedly at his mother. "It has been forbidden by my mother for years when we entertain guests."

Narcissa sniffed. "As well it should. It is a terrible habit always checking that thing all the time instead of actually focusing your attention on the people in front of you. Especially guests."

His lips twitched. His mother had very pointed views of this, in her opinion deplorable, development in society as a whole and she was, in general, rather unimpressed with smartphones along with most other technological advances.

His mother continued. "Draco, would you please call Harry out here? We really need him to become a part of this conversation."

He didn't really question it, he just did as he had been told. "Harry?"

Harry tuned his head and seemed startled to find Draco, both his parents, Sirius and aunt Lucretia watching him intently. He stared back at them all non-plussed. "Why are you all staring at me?"

Draco smiled tightly. "Could you join us out here for a moment please?" His own voice sounded strange, strangled somehow.

He saw Hermione, because when was he not aware of Hermione, noting the goings on with obvious apprehension. He tried to send her an assuring expression but he probably didn't succeed because her frown only deepened.

Pansy watched Harry leave the room with a very intense expression. Soon enough, all of his friends were gossiping away but Hermione and Pansy both stayed out of it, each watching the gathering of aristocrats in the hall with narrowed eyes.

Harry walked to the door as if walking to the gallows. He was swallowing convulsively and looked at them with wide eyes. "What's going on? Do I need to leave?"

Draco had the irrational urge to give him a hug. Harry had never felt completely at home in the manor, which was why they mostly went to his pool house when hanging out.

Sirius stepped forward as his de-facto parent. He cleared his throat. "No Harry, of course not. I need you to look at this portrait and tell me if you recognize it, okay?" Sirius put his arm around Harry's shoulders and together they turned around.

Sirius stepped aside and Draco was watching Harry closely. The moment recognition dawned, Draco saw it.

Harry blinked and he swallowed convulsively. And then he nodded. "There was a picture of this portrait in my dads things." He looked to Sirius with eyes as wide as saucers. "Why did dad have a picture of this lady in his things? Who is she?"

Sirius' eyes were misting over and he sounded choked up. "Because my boy, you might be a real Black after all." He coughed gruffly and put his arm around Harry again in an utterly fatherly way.

Harry lit up with a bold bright smile. "I am?"

Sirius seemed lost for words as he looked at the young man who was, in every way imaginable, his own son. Draco looked away when Sirius began blinking rapidly. It seemed too emotional a moment to intrude on.

His mother took over the explanations, as Sirius seemed to be too choked up to continue. "This lady is Princess Dorea Black, of the Royal House of Black and granddaughter of King Phineas and Queen Ursula. And cousin to my dear aunt." She looked around at them all and smiled. "The Black family tree is complicated. It wasn't uncommon for first cousins to marry to keep the line pure, which is the case with Sirius' parents." She paused slightly. "I actually believe that Sirius' grandfather was Dorea's elder brother." She sighed. "But as I said, it is somewhat convoluted and I'd need to check my Debrett's."

Draco watched the entire scene in stunned silence. He knew the entirety of both the Black and Malfoy family trees but this filled in some of the gaps.

Narcissa smiled as she related more of the stunning information. "Many years ago, she stunned her family and married for love instead of duty. She married a man called Charlus Potter, the second son of the Earl of Sunderland. It was not expected that he would inherit, and therefore it was considered a low connection as he was beneath her in not only social status but also that he wasn't even the heir to the estate. But a few years later, his brother died without issue and Charlus became the earl. As I said, it was unexpected."

Harry gasped audibly and so did the rest of their friends. All of them had moved to listen shamelessly at the wide-open double doors.

Draco in particular was keeping a watchful eye on Pansy. She was keeping her expression as blank as possible, but he could tell that she was shocked to her core. There was a tenseness around her mouth that he hadn't seen before.

His mother continued. "Dorea and Charlus were blessed with only one son, Henry Potter, the tenth Earl of Sunderland. Henry is alive and well as far as I know, if an older man by now. He lives at the family estate of Sunderland Castle." Harry's eyes had gone wide again. "He has outlived his son and is the current Earl of Sunderland, Viscount Bentham and Baron Dunsop." She paused and pierced Harry with a look that clearly displayed the uncertainty of the situation. "But if he is truly your grandfather, that would make you Viscount Bentham, heir to the earldom of Sunderland and extended family to the Royal House of Black."

Stunned silence met this statement except for a tiny and highly unexpected squeak from Pansy.

Harry had gone entirely white and swayed slightly, both Draco and Sirius swooped in to catch him before he fell over.

Aunt Lucretia, who had stayed uncharacteristically silent through it all, nodded." Yes, let us all take a seat in the lounge. I believe that this evening is far from over."

Harry felt feint.

Wha… how… just, what?

Harry didn't remember anything of his parents but he did have his parents' letters. And there had been letters exchanged between his dad and his grandad, who was indeed called Henry. His mum and dad had each left him letters, with their hopes and dreams for his future. His dads letter also said that if he ever found himself in trouble and Sirius couldn't help, he should go to his grandad as he would be able to help.

He hadn't thought much of that at the time. His dads parents had seemed like a bad lot since they couldn't accept his mum and Harry had always had a great time with Sirius.

And now he couldn't believe it.

He sat down and immediately felt a hand in his, it was Pansy. He took a deep breath and squeezed her hand, endlessly thankful that she was there for him at this time.

He knew in his bones that they were right. This Dorea Black was his great grandmum. And a princess to boot. It was just so weird.

And a title! That was the strangest thing of all. He wasn't meant to be fancy, he was meant to be having a good time and not worry about much.

He was Harry. Just Harry.

Except… it seemed like there was a good chance that he was a bit more than that.

And what the hell would that mean for him?

As they had settled back into the sitting room, Narcissa looked around at them all, the young people in her son's circle.

Each had strength, charisma and power in different ways and with a bit of manipulation, it could stay that way. These young ones could run the country if they so wished.

A sort of hush had fallen over them all and they had clustered together in quite distinctive groupings.

Draco sat with miss Granger, no surprise there. It was obvious they were leaning on each other without physically doing so. Draco really had to sort out that miscommunication between them and her should be doing so himself. She would only interfere if absolutely necessary.

Harry sat with Lady Pansy, now this was more of a surprise but the pairing made an odd sort of sense and now that Harry would have a title, Narcissa could probably convince her snobby parents to consent to the match by pointing out the advantages of the new position.

Lady Greengrass sat with the young Duke, the Marchese and miss Weasley and the four of them were talking quietly. No involvement seemed to be needed there, except perhaps some lessons for the Weasley girl, she was really too young to be acting scruple less as she did.

And then there was the youngest Greengrass sister, Lady Astoria, who sat entirely too close than was proper next to miss Granger's older brother. Now this was news. As Narcissa watched them, it became quite obvious to anyone with eyes, that they had no interest in the goings on and a much larger interest in the each other. A connection there had the same advantages for the Greengrasses as a match between Draco and miss Granger, with the added interest that the Greengrasses and Malfoys would be connected through these siblings from the Forest of Dean.

"Narcissa, darling,-" Her husband drawled quietly. "-what has captured your attention so?"

She smirked because her husband was quite oblivious to what was happening in their sons circle of friends. "Look around Lucius. I would wager we are going to more than one wedding next year."

He looked sharply to his son first and then slowly gazed about the room. His eyed widened ever so slightly as he took in the several burgeoning couples around the room. "I would never wager against you my darling, I realised long ago that would detrimental to me."

She couldn't help but smirk. "Indeed my darling. A good lesson that, I think."

A smirk of his own was his only answer and Narcissa was happy, she had luck falling for a duke of an ancient line, but times had changed and many a duke was no longer a good catch.

Her train of thought was broken by her darling aunt thumping her cane on the floor twice and a hush fell over the room. "I realise this is somewhat of a shock to all but what are we going to do about it?"

Sirius, who had been quietly standing by the window since they re-entered the room spoke up, "Someone, give me your phone. The fundamental line of succession of the Earl of Sunderland needs to be established." He grinned slightly. "Even if Wikipedia sometimes gets it wrong."

Chuckles could be heard around the room as Lady Astoria handed her phone over at once and Sirius began searching silently.

Everyone was waiting with baited breath except for herself and Aunt Lucretia. Her beloved aunt gave her a look that clearly said; Watch him prove me right. And Narcissa was in no doubt that she was correct. Despite her age, her mind was as sharp as ever.

Sirius looked up, and only to Harry. "You're listed here. You really are." He grinned and then turned serious in a heartbeat. "Here's Charlus Potter married Dorea Black, they had Henry Charlus Potter, he had a son, James Henry Potter, and then he had a son too, Harry James Potter. Direct line of decent." He paused. "Lily is on here too."

Young Harry's shock mingled with delight was etched onto his face. "Really"

The Marchese grinned. "What, you've never googled yourself?"

Lady Pansy smirked at him. "No one is as narcissistic as you Blaise." The small amount of bickering lightened the mood considerably as everyone in the room chuckled at their exchange.

Harry stood and Narcissa almost wanted to applaud him for his stoicism. His entire world was changing and he didn't look nearly as ashen as she would have expected. It must be that Black blood.

"Can I see that?"

Sirius handed the phone over and Harry took in the information that would change his entire life with remarkable composure. No more pool houses for him, no more lounging around Draco's ponies all day, no longer a carefree life. He would need to be trained in management of the central estate, fields, tenants and he would need all the help he could get.

A help that her family, along with the rest of the people in this room would happily provide.

Hermione sat on the sofa pondering the news.

Harry would suddenly an aristocrat and would have responsibilities for the rest of his life. He would, if nothing else, have to meet with his grandfather to ascertain what his responsibilities would be in future and perhaps begin helping him now.

However, Harry being Harry, would never lack in help or money.

No matter how little funds he had or stood to inherit, Will would happily help him turn that into a veritable fortune free of charge.

She looked outside to the darkened sky. It had gotten late and Hermione was feeling tired but electrified.

Draco hadn't left her alone once, except for that debacle with the portrait, which still baffled her. The Princess Royal was so old, yet she still saw a specific family member in Harry and remembered where the portrait was. Most impressive.

And Draco was still touching her so casually that it didn't even seem as though he was thinking about it. It was as if he couldn't help himself and lord help her, she relished the contact.

There was a lively debate going on as to how the matter should be handled with Draco's aunt having retired two hours earlier.

Draco had kept up a steady stream of whisperings and comments in her ear and she simultaneously adored it and loathed herself for adoring it.

They seemed to be in their own little bubble and Draco's touches were growing bolder.

Perhaps they should just do something about it.

About all of this damn tension between them.

Every time he touched her, it felt like a zing of energy pulsing through her entire frame. And by the smirks he kept sending her, he knew exactly what he was doing.

He leaned in and muttered under his breath, "Do you want to go for a walk?"

She eyed his playful expression with healthy scepticism. But how tempting it was, to get away from the confusion and shock that still lingered in the room. "Right now? It's past midnight."

He smirked. "Does it matter?"

Not really. It didn't really matter what time it was.

And he saw it, he saw the moment she had made her decision. His smirk widened fractionally and a soft shiver curled down her spine. He looked decidedly hungry.

He glanced around conspiratorially and the moment everyone else were occupied by yet another story told by Narcissa about Dorea Black, he took her hand and they swiftly exited out the garden doors and onto the terrace.

She giggled girlishly and very uncharacteristically. It bubbled up inside her as they ran through the garden and she was so surprised by her own reaction that she clapped a hand over her mouth.

Draco grinned as he kept hold of her hand, leading her deeper into the lush gardens of Dartmoor Manor. He was laughing and it felt so freeing, running away with him from the formal, if very lovely, sitting room.

It felt freeing and, despite everything that still was between them, it felt right too.

A/N: So, despite my lateness, I really hope you like this chapter.

It's been a lot about Harry for a bit, let's get back to Draco and Hermione in the next one!

/HBSJ