Disclaim: I do not own the characters or canon of Harry Potter or The Wizarding World created by J.K. Rowling. Ms. Rowling is a mastermind of unequaled talent and creativity.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling and whomever else who may have contractual rights. I do not own characters or settings that were created by or are owned by someone else. The character Capricornia Dagworth-Black is a figment of my imagination, also known as an original character. There will be other minor original characters and one not so minor original character.
Above is the standing disclaimer for this fan fictional work, Purchased Purity, written by Bren Gail.
Author's Note: Welcome to my first Hermione/Sirius story. I am excited about it. Updates will likely be on Sunday. This is an AU that will lean toward established canon. Certain canon deaths and end game romantic ships will be ignored. As the story progresses, how Sirius returned from the veil will be revealed.
Short Summary: An ancient law is amended to create the legal opportunity for the Ministry of Magic to sell Muggleborns under the guise of a marriage law. Sirius buys Hermione to protect her. While researching to appeal the law, Hermione and Sirius uncover long kept family secrets of the Sacred 28 and the Ministry of Magic. Some secrets are worth more dead. Romance. Mystery. Adventure.
Full Summary: An ancient law is amended to create the legal opportunity for the Ministry of Magic to extort and profit from Muggleborn witches by selling them under the guise of a marriage law. To prevent Hermione from landing in the home of a Death Eater or family out for revenge, Sirius Black buys Hermione Granger. While researching and working to appeal the ancient law and modern amendment, Hermione and Sirius uncover long kept secrets of the Dagworth and Black families, the Sacred Twenty-Eight, and the Ministry of Magic. Some secrets are worth more dead. Romance. Mystery. Adventure. Updates on Sundays/Mondays.
Purchased Purity
Chapter One
While he nursed a Butterbeer, Sirius Black, rested his back against the hallway wall beside the door which lead to the library. From this vantage point, he could see the front door and staircase as well as the long hallway with random doors leading to random, mostly unused rooms except for the well used kitchen and dining room downstairs, and the family room where the tapestry was kept.
The small door under the stairs which lead to Kreacher's abode mocked him. He wanted desperately to either free or kill Kreacher, but Hermione had made her view on House Elf rights and Kreacher's well-being clear once he returned from beyond the veil, almost three years ago in the Department of Mysteries, as the final battle occurred.
His brow furrowed when the muggle, antique grandfather clock chimed eight times. It was not unusual for his house mates to work late, but Hermione had been home late every night for over a month and Harry for the fortnight. He had started to think that she was avoiding being home. He knew that her break-up with Ron had to be hard on her, but Ron had moved out six months ago. How much time would need to pass before her heartache lessened? He brought the bottle to his lips then paused when he saw Harry walk through the front door.
"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed. His brows furrowed when he saw the look of defeat on his God son's face. "Everything alright?"
"I need a drink." Harry said morosely then asked, "Why did you ward against Apparition?"
"Certainly. Just added Ogden's Best to the bar in the library earlier. I was waiting on someone. I wanted them to use the front door instead." Sirius said as he turned to open the door to the library. As the two men walked into the library, Sirius asked, "Want to talk about it?"
As Sirius poured the alcoholic beverage, Harry sat in an arm chair near the fire. Harry tossed his briefcase unto the floor near his feet before he placed his elbows on his knees and face into his palms. Although, his voice was mumbled, Sirius heard Harry say into his palms, "I don't know where to start."
Sirius smiled sadly as he tapped Harry's shoulder with the glass of Firewhiskey. Harry sat with his posture stiff before took the glass. Harry stared at the amber liquid as if he was distracted. Finally, he took a sip of the drink.
Sirius sat in the other arm chair, approximately a foot away from his godson. "Your grandfather was fond of saying the best place to start is at the beginning." Sirius smiled as he shrugged before he added, with a mischievous grin caused by a memory of his younger days. "Your grandmother, on the other hand, would tell James and me that the best place to start is wherever you can start."
Harry sighed as he leaned backward into the cushions of the armchair. "Has Hermione talked to you about the law that she is fighting?"
Sirius shook his head as he shrugged. "No." He took a sip of his Butterbeer. "We haven't had a conversation in weeks. I miss the overbearing know-it-all trying to micromanage my life, actually. Sometimes, I hear her come in late at night, but she leaves before breakfast is served. The wards let me know that she is, at the least, coming home for four to six hours a night. Hopefully, to sleep."
Harry rolled his eyes as a small smile formed over his lips. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd have a thing for her." Harry's eyes widened as he placed the drink on the table in between the two arm chairs. "That's it!"
"What's it?" Sirius said, genuinely confused for a moment, before he caught on to Harry's line of thinking. He held the bottle of Butterbeer in between his thumb and index finger as he moved it back and forth in the air, lazily. He continued in a casual tone. "Hermione is a beautiful, talented woman, brilliant witch, I will admit. But, I do not have a thing for her. She's not my type. Too straight-laced, for my liking. Anyway, don't start that matchmaking business with her with me or any other bloke. She is still hung up on Ron. She will find a loophole in this law or persuade the Wizengamout that they're making a bloody mistake."
Harry snorted in laughter and made a face that implied that he thought Sirius was stupid. "Hermione is not still hung up on Ron. She broke up with him and should have done so ages ago. Everyone, including them, were relieved when they ended. Where have you been Sirius?"
"Here, there, a little of everywhere." Sirius responded, smartly. "Why doesn't she come home at a decent hour, then? She's working herself to death to get over Ron. Her arrow on the clock is pointed at the Ministry of Magic every time I look at it."
"Padfoot," Harry said, patiently as if he was talking to Teddy. "Hermione is working herself to death in the attempt to not be auctioned off to the highest bidder."
An ominous feeling overcame Sirius. He said as he scooted to the edge of his seat, "Explain."
"The third anniversary of the end of Voldemort is upon us." Harry stated in a tired tone. "The ministry plans to pass an amendment to a law on the anniversary day for any unmarried muggle-born to marry a pureblood wizard."
"A marriage law?" Sirius sputtered. "Those are barbaric and archaic. There hasn't been such a law made by our ministry since a nasty outbreak of Dragon Pox in 1792. Our population was dwindling, because of it."
"That's what Hermione said when she asked me to help stop the law. I wish that I could help further, but seeing as the Ministry is amending an existing law, my political power can't stop it." Harry sighed. "Kingsley and Percy are against it, too, but they say that they are unable to prevent it for the same reasoning. Not even the sitting Minister of Magic can prevent amendments. According to Kings, he can only delay or stall or stop new legislation."
"That's incorrect." Sirius bellowed. "The Minister of Magic can do so with new or old, but will he?" Sirius stated before he asked sickened,"You said to the highest bidder? What's that about? Hermione isn't an animal to be bought or sold."
Harry exhaled deeply before he answered. "Yes, apparently the wording of the existing law describes a Muggleborn witch eleven to forty-five as property to be purchased from the Ministry of Magic for whatever usage the Pureblood wizard desires excluding marriage. The amendment they're trying to pass is to amend the law to include marriage and require all unmarried Muggleborn witches 17-45 participate in fundraisers for the Ministry as the Ministry sees fit. Percy told me today that he heard that they're debating on calling the fundraiser, Buy The Hand of A Muggleborn To Secure The Next Generation."
"Bloody hell," He exclaimed befuddled. "Mighty big balls." After a moment of silence between the two men, Sirius asked. "How old is this law?" With a hint of disgust, he added. "Sounds something like an ancestor of mine would pass. For the law to be amended in such a way to encourage marriage between Muggleborns and Purebloods is just desserts for him, awful for our Hermione and others like her, but a delightful strike to the Pureblood mania. Maybe he is a ghost somewhere. I'd like to tell him."
"Well..."Harry hesitated. He thought that Sirius found too much enjoyment in revenge against his family, family that he hadn't met. He confirmed and corrected Sirius. "Her. The law was written by Capricornia Dagworth. I think, Hermione said that you were a direct descendant, but I forgot how many generations ago."
Immediately, Sirius confirmed the Black connection. "She was the great-great-grandmother of my great-great grandfather."
Harry choked on a sip of Firewhiskey. He hadn't realized that several hundred years ago that witches, Pureblood or not, had political power. He sputtered, "She?"
"Yes. She served on the Wizengamot after her husband Scarab died and until her son, Leo, was old enough to sit on the Wizengamot. She was the one to start the tradition of using constellation names for children born to the house of Black, her mother was obsessed with stars. If I remember right, she was a Dagworth by birth and married into the Black family when she was eleven." Sirius paused when he realized that Harry was looking at him in mixture of awe and irritation. "What? Walburga subjected me for years with Black family history. She'd randomly give me a pop quiz on the most mundane things. I could list the last three generations of descendants before I knew how to read. If I didn't give the right answer she'd torture me, but when she realized that I didn't care if she tortured me, she began to torture Regulus instead. He was five. I learned quickly and eagerly after that."
"Your parents were evil." Harry said as he shuddered.
Sirius shrugged as he said, "My Dad was weak, but not evil. Walburga was more evil than Voldemort, but didn't have the charm or skill that he had in his early years to gather political clout and followers such as he did."
Harry doubted the validity of Walburga being more evil than Voldemort, but he didn't share those doubts. He knew how much Sirius hated Walburga. Instead, he asked, "In your history lessons, do you remember anything specific about the law?"
"Eh, no, nothing about the law. I do remember Andy telling me that a muggle-born killed Scarab, but don't know the details. Walburga skipped over his death, she called him a blood traitor any time I asked about him."
Perplexed, Harry said. "Interesting."
Sirius said as he took the final sip of Butterbeer. "Yeah, that would have given Capri an incentive to make the lives of Muggleborns even more difficult than what they already were. She was seventeen with a small child when he died."
"How do you know so much about her?" Harry rolled his eyes. "I know you said that your Mum taught you Black family history, but you know a lot about this ancestor. You're sounding like Hermione and Hogwarts, A History."
"No one is ever that bad." Sirius retorted with a chuckle. "Until you told me about this law of hers, I quite liked old Capri that I learned about. Her journals are here somewhere," He motioned vaguely with his hands to the many shelves. "If they weren't destroyed in the fire that James and I started the summer before third year. I remember not being able to find them when I went to read more of her journals between third and fourth year. Capri was a trailblazer in her time, truly a remarkable witch. Bitter, but brilliant."
Harry gawked at Sirius in amazement and worry. "You set fire to a library? This library? Hermione will kill you when she finds out."
"Firstly," Sirius said as he squirmed in his seat. "It was your father and I. I neither confirm or deny the involvement of Regulus. Secondly, Hermione won't ever find out."
Harry snorted before he stated. "Hermione always finds out."
He hoped that she found a way to stop the law.
Author's Note: Please, let me know what you thought of this introductory chapter. Thank you for reading.