Chapter 53:
The next day was the Diagon Alley trip. Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided to stay so they could try and work out the whole Calista-had-a-child thing, as well as look for any valuable Order information someone had carelessly left lying around. Draco and Snape decided to go to Diagon Alley, as did Calista and Evelyn, Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Fleur, the Greenly's, Lenore, and Ginny. Tonks was at the Ministry, as was Mr. Weasley, and Lupin locked himself into his office, busily working on something of importance. Mr. and Mrs. Granger decided to go to Diagon Alley, as they had made friends with Evelyn and Calista, and they rather enjoyed the Magical World. This left the trio basically alone, except for the Dursley's, who weren't leaving their 'floor,' anytime soon, and Lupin, who was working anyway.
The large group left fairly early in the morning. "Are you sure you don't want to come, you all?" asked Evelyn concertedly.
"Yeah, we're good," said Hermione, smiling. "We wanted to get done some homework. Are you sure you don't want to stay, Lenore and Ginny? Ginny, you have OWL's coming up, and-"
"I'm sure, 'Mione," said Ginny hurriedly, the slightly suspicious look which had been plastered onto her face gone. "Come on, everyone, let's go!" she said loudly, ushering everyone outside, before Mrs. Weasley decided to make her stay home and work on an essay. The moment the door was closed, Hermione took over.
"Okay, you guys, think hard. We ARE figuring this out today, mark my words…" She paused for a moment. "Now… he goes to Durmstrang, which means there is a slight chance he was at the Triwizard tournament in Fourth year."
"No, Hermione," said Harry thoughtfully. "He wouldn't have been of age… Calista obviously had him before she 'died,' which was slightly before I was born, probably two months…. Wait a moment… the Lestranges were in Azkaban for twelve years! Calista must not have known…."
"Then that means," said Hermione, "Dumbledore put the child somewhere else. But something is definitely wrong if he's telling Calista that he's with the Lestranges still…" Harry and Ron nodded.
"Then where could this kid be?" mused Ron.
"Wait," said Harry suddenly. "I don't think it could have even been Sirius's."
"Why do you think that?" asked Hermione.
"The tapestry, in the Parlor… Sirius showed me. He was on it, and the last of the Blacks…"
"Come on; let's go see it, if it's even there still," said Hermione, frowning. The three made their way to the Parlor, where the Tapestry still hung, covered by a welcoming curtain. Harry moved aside the curtain, noticing how less dreary the room was. There it was- Sirius Black, with a scorch mark over it. Next to it, there was a death date… Harry tried not to cringe.
"See?" he asked Hermione. "Nobody under him. No kids." He watched as Hermione's eyes drifted, in awe, over the whole thing, before stopping.
"This is amazing- but, Harry, look."
"I know he's related to Tonks and Malfoy, but-"
"No," she said quietly. "It says Andromeda, crossed out- but no Tonks. I bet that if the person is crossed out before they have children, the children don't show up. It's the only way." Now it all made sense. Next to Harry, Ron nodded slowly.
"Look," he said suddenly. "Calista and Sirius were something like third cousins, by marriage…" His finger traced to the other side of Narcissa Black, her mother, whose maiden name was Wentworth, and whose sister's children included Calista. "Look, though, Calista's brothers are dead…" There were two of them, who had the same death day, about ten years ago.
"Why wouldn't the child have been sent to one of them, I wonder…" said Hermione curiously.
"Maybe they were death eaters," said Ron. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"So were the Lestranges!"
"Well," said Ron, affronted. "I was just trying to help…"
Hermione ignored him. "Who could we really go to; somebody who would know when someone was adopted, and who would know where Calista's child ended up…"
Ron mumbled something.
"What was that?" asked Harry.
"I said, Mrs. Black."
The idea was absolutely brilliant, really. Harry, Hermione, and Ron tiptoed into the Entrance hall and dimmed the lights a bit. "Ready?" asked Harry quietly, standing in front of the window-curtain.
"It's now or never," said Ron resolutely.
"Under normal circumstances, I'd vote never," mumbled Harry. On the count of three, they lifted the window.
"MUDBLOODS, BLOOD-TRAITORS, BEFOULED PIECES OF SCUM, GET OUT OF THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS-"
"Mrs. Black, we just need-"
"HOW DARE A MUDBLOOD FILTH SPEAK TO ME! GET OUT! ALL OF YOU! DRAKEN MY DOORSTEP NO MORE….. OUT!"
"Please!" shouted Harry. "Please, listen!"
"I WILL NOT ALLOW FILTH TO SPEAK TO ME IN SUCH A MANNER- LEAVE THE ANCIENT AND MOST NOBLE HOUSE-"
"DO IT FOR YOUR SON! YOUR ONE LAST SON, WHO'S DEAD! HE WOULD'VE WANTED IT!" shouted Harry.
Mrs. Black suddenly stopped screeching and looked at Harry appraisingly.
"You," she said in a voice full of hatred. "Potter… you're the reason my son left! He could have- would have- acted as a Pureblood we could take pride in, but no…. you Bloody Gryffindors took him away! To Mudbloods, and Half-breeds, and Blood-traitors, and the like!"
"I'm not James," said Harry quietly. "I'm his son. Sirius was my Godfather. And Sirius had a son."
"What nonsense is this? Sirius had no children- if he did, they were blood-traitor bastards-"
"Do you remember Calista Wentworth?" asked Harry suddenly. Hermione and Ron each stepped back, as Harry was having the best luck talking with the crazy portrait.
Mrs. Black frowned. "Yes, yes… Her Aunt, I believe, or cousin of some sort, was married to my favorite brother. She was Regulus and Sirius's cousins' cousin. Why do you ask?"
"Because," said Harry, "We were wondering if she ever had children…"
"I believe… that she may have had a child, before she died. I do not know."
"You see," said Harry, "She turned out to still be alive…and we think that she and Sirius had a child…"
"Really?" asked the Portrait. "The one thing he did right, having his child at least with somebody in the family…" Behind Harry, Hermione raised her eyebrows.
"And we also wanted to know if any families you know of… adopted a young boy, around the time of… the Dark Lord's demise…"
Actually," said Mrs. Black regally, "I believe that… our fourth cousins…. On the other side of the Wentworths, actually…. Adopted a young boy…. The Zabini's, I believe."
Behind Harry, Hermione passed out. Harry's mind was racing inside. "Thank you, Mrs. Black," he said vacantly, slamming the window.
After Hermione was revived, they spent a bit of time contemplating how on earth that could've been true.
"The Zabini's weren't known Death Eaters," said Hermione, "So there's Dumbledore's logic…"
"And Blaise kind of looks a bit like Sirius and Calista, don't you think?"
"Now that I think of it," said Ron thoughtfully, "He kind of has Sirius's hair…"
"And Calista's eyes," said Hermione.
"Which look loads better on Gryffindor women then they do on male Slytherins," noted Ron, earning a scowl from his girlfriend.
"Well," said Harry, "It looks like we've found him."
That night, at dinner, there were at least 20 people seated at the table. Rita Skeeter was in her room, under the excuse that she liked her meals alone, and Fred and George had taken their girlfriends out to dinner. Snape had also decided to eat in his private quarters. Charlie had opted to spend a bit of time at Diagon Alley and then would be visiting Hagrid to see how the dragons were, and Mr. Weasley was doing overtime. Yet they still had 20 people. Just as they were about to start eating, all around one huge table, Harry noticed that there were three extra plates. Ron apparently noticed too, for he asked his mother about it.
"Oh, Ron, dear, we'll be… ah, expecting the Dursleys. They haven't been fed today. But we put them by the Grangers, so that they mightn't feel so out of place.
As if on cue, the three Dursleys suddenly tiptoed into the kitchen. Upon seeing it filled with people, witches and wizards, for that matter, Aunt Petunia froze like a deer in the headlights, Uncle Vernon purpled nicely, and Dudley grunted.
"Come sit down," said Mrs. Weasley warmly.
"W-w-we'll just g-go back upstairs, t-th-thanks," uttered Aunt Petunia.
"No, no!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley, steering them all to the table. "We insist! You can sit by the Grangers if you'd feel more comfortable; they're not magical either…" Mr. and Mrs. Granger gave the Dursleys kind smiles. Aunt petunia was ushered next to Mrs. Granger, and she sat down on the edge of the seat, eyes darting to the exits. Uncle Vernon sat beside her, looking very disgruntled, and Dudley planted himself in between his father and his cousin.
Ginny, who was on Harry's other side, gave Harry a pitying look. Harry smiled wryly.
There were several minutes of strained silence before Tabby finally spoke. "Mr. Lupin, I was wondering if this house was, by chance, like, haunted or something…"
Everyone looked up at her curiously. "I don't think so, Tabby, and, by the way, call me Remus…. But why do you ask?" Tabby laughed.
"It's pretty stupid, but… I could've sworn I saw a chimera earlier today, in the basement!" From the other side of the table, Mrs. Weasley and Lupin exchanged dark looks.
"Oooh, what?" asked Lenore excitedly. "Is there really a chimera?"
"That Mundungus Fletcher, the dolt," murmured Mrs. Weasley, her face reddening. Evelyn chuckled and then went on to explain.
"You see, everyone, ever since it was first spotted by Ron here the day you all left for school, there have been several reported sightings in the house of a Chimera, for some odd reason," she laughed. "Of course, no one has caught it, and Mundungus refuses to say a word…. Won't deny or confess bringing it in… We tried talking to Dumbledore, but he doesn't seem too bothered by it. I suppose he thinks it's our imaginations. Oh, well. If we catch it, we catch it…"
"What's a Chimera?" piped up Dudley from the beside Harry, his mouth stuffed with food.
"Shhh!" hissed Aunt Petunia angrily.
"No, no; it's quite all right; we don't mind answering," said Lupin. "Dudley, a Chimera has the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a snake… they're rumored to eat people, but I wouldn't quite worry about that." Aunt Petunia paled, Uncle Vernon purpled, and Dudley let out a squeak of fright.
"It's okay, Big D," said Harry in a sarcastic voice. "They only eat people who hate magic… and we all know that you're its biggest fan, no?"
"Harry," warned Mrs. Weasley. He shot her an apologetic grin.
After a few more moments, Mr. Granger asked what Uncle Vernon did for a living. They managed to start a small, nearly civil conversation. But Harry couldn't help but notice the glares Evelyn was sending at Aunt Petunia, who was trying her best not to notice. Harry decided that Evelyn must have been very fond of her best friends, and vise versa.
Finally, when Aunt Petunia had become so fidgety she was nearly shaking, Lupin nudged Evelyn angrily and told her to lay off. Evelyn glared at him, but stopped glaring at the Muggles and went back to her food.
It was at this point of time when the entire table was completely seated. Charlie stood up, and offered a toast, while beaming somewhat ridiculously at Bill, who was glaring daggers at him. "May I have everyone's attention?" Harry frowned, and exchanged confused glances with Ron. When Harry looked at Draco, however, he was looking particularly smug about something. Harry shook it off and focused his attention on the redhead, who had arrived to dinner late, as Hagrid was busy with 'something.' Fleur had mentioned earlier that Madame Maxime was in England on 'business,' and Harry wasn't at all surprised.
"I would like to make a toast," said Charlie happily. "To… life. And good health." Snape was smirking, eyebrows arched, on the other side of the table. "That's all." Nearly everyone clinked their wine glasses in the middle, but Mrs. Weasley noticed something.
"Fleur, dear, why aren't you drinking? Do you not like this kind of wine?" Fleur blushed.
"Oh, no, Meeses Veasley! I love eet, I do, only… I do not zink I should be drinking right now." She flipped her long slivery hair over her shoulder and smiled at her husband, who grinned back, a slightly glazed look in his eyes. Suddenly Harry noticed that most of the women were either giggling or beaming widely, even Aunt Petunia, and Mrs. Weasley looked so happy she was about to cry. Snape, Lupin, Charlie, and Draco all were slightly smiling and slightly smirking now. Harry nudged Ginny.
"What's going on?"
She just rolled her eyes, however, and everyone laughed as Lupin reached over and patted Bill on the shoulder. Bill nudged Fluer, loudly whispering, "Now nobody will be surprised!" Harry still couldn't quite grasp what was happening. Apparently, Ron couldn't either, for he loudly spoke up.
"What won't be a surprise? Why is everyone smiling and laughing?" People just smiled more, however, and Ron wheeled around. "Harry, do you know?" Harry felt all eyes on him and simply shrugged, hoping that it would look as if he knew but just didn't want to tell Ron.
"No idea," he said in a half real, half-sarcastic voice.
When everybody was nearly done with their food, Fred, George, Katie, and Angelina all entered the kitchen, looking windswept, with snow flurries in their hair. They were all smiling broadly, and Fred's arm was around Angelina, and George and Katie were holding hands. Harry, at that very moment, realized that they looked incredibly in love. Ginny must have seen it too, for at that moment, she squeezed Harry's hand and smiled. He grinned back at her.
After dinner, Lupin surprised everyone by suggesting an indoor game of Quidditch, played on the ground.
"How do you do that?" asked Ron loudly, frowning.
"Well," explained Lupin, "we can play it in the biggest basement room. There are two beaters, only they can't fly, a Seeker, only he has to get the snitch without flying, and three Chasers, who get the balls through shorter hoops, without flying. And a Keeper, who doesn't-"
"Fly?" finished Tabby.
So Harry, Charlie, Katie, Angelina, Ginny, Fred, George, Ron, Bill, Lenore, Tabby, Draco, Evelyn, and, to everyone's surprise and amusement, Snape, decided to play. Bill and Charlie were captains, and Bill chose first.
"Harry," he said immediately, glancing apologetically at his brothers.
"Ginny," said Charlie quickly.
"Katie," said Bill.
"Tabby," said Charlie confidently. Harry chuckled since Charlie had no way of knowing that Tabby had never played Quidditch before.
"Fred," said Bill.
"George," Charlie said, smirking at his older brother.
"Lenore," said Bill, crossing his arms.
"ANGELINA!" yelled Charlie. Harry had forgotten how competitive those two got.
"RON!" yelled Bill.
"Well I choose Draco!" retorted Charlie.
"Evelyn," said Bill, grinning maliciously, seeing the last person who had to be on Charlie's team.
"Snape," said Charlie defeatedly.
Bill huddled the team in. "Okay, guys!" he said quietly. "Harry's Seeker. Fred and Lenore- you're Beaters. Evelyn, what do you play?"
"Keeper," she answered, smiling.
"All right, then… too bad, actually. Ron, Keeper. Evelyn, Katie, and I are Chasers. Let's go, you guys; the games in the bag!"
"Wait!" said Lenore loudly. "We have to name our teams!" she yelled to everyone.
"All right!" called Charlie. "We're the…. Bull Dogs!"
"Okay, then!" shouted Lenore threateningly. "We're the…. Kiwi- Flamingos!" Katie jumped up and clapped her hands excitedly. Evelyn, who had already drawn black marks on her face, opened her mouth in surprise.
"No way!" yelled Harry and Ron together. Lenore, however, just smirked.
"It's already been done…. Lupin wrote it down!" She stuck out her tongue. Harry was about to retort when Bill stopped him.
"No, you guys…. Forget it. Just win this game! Now, Kiwi- Flamingos, on three…. One, two, three-"
"KIWI- FLAMINGOS!" everyone shouted seriously. The other team was roaring with laughter.
After the whistle was blown, the game began. Even the room was pretty spacious, Harry knew immediately that he preferred Quidditch with his two feet off the ground.
After only a couple of minutes, a Bludger soared at Harry. He ducked down, barely missing it. Fred jogged after the ball.
"Sorry 'bout that, Harry!" he panted, looking very comical. Harry chuckled. Right after this, Evelyn scored. Snape was a Beater on the other team, and he whacked a Bludger at Evelyn. She actually jumped over it, took out her wand, and hexed Snape, who, in turn, hexed Evelyn. Both teams got penalties, and both teams scored. Rita Skeeter had come downstairs and had, by a rather strange turn in events, ended up commentating.
"So it's Weasley with the Quaffle- Bill Weasley, to be specific… He jogs down the carpet, shoots, and no! Gets a Bludger to the arm from evil Potions Professor. Still twenty- ten, Kiwi Flamingos in the lead…. Ooh, nice Bludger there by Lenore Felkes, sends Snape flying to the ground…. Doesn't look like the nicest place to whack a Bludger at, especially when he controls your grades for the next year and a half. Still no Snitch spotted, by Potter or by Weasley 2, Charlie…. Katie Bell with the Quaffle- and she scores again, right past Tabby Greenly, Keeper of the Bull Dogs. Not loking promising yet; imagine losing to the Kiwi- Flamingos…" Rita shuddered.
"And it's Ginny Weasley with the Quaffle, she zooms… no, sprints- up the room, and she's blocked, by older brother Ronald Weasley. Also on her opposing team is boyfriend, Harry Potter, whose love life- and I should know- has been one, twisted triangle! First with his girlfriend, Muggle-born-"
"Skeeter!" warned Calista, attempting to sound like McGonagall.
"Oh; right you are, Calli, and a twisted love triangle you have yourself, come to think of it… Sorry, sorry! And it's Weasley- I frankly don't care which one- with the Quaffle- and, what's this! The Snitch is spotted!"
Harry had suddenly seen a gold ball fluttering towards the top of the room, right on the ceiling. He darted over, as did Charlie, but neither could quite reach the roof. Harry began jumping like an idiot, trying to push Charlie away, as Charlie did the same to him. Without thinking, he grabbed his wand and conjured a butterfly net, a spell he had only learned a few weeks before. He used it to scoop up the Snitch, and he won the game for his team.
A/N: LOOOONNNNGGG chapter :-D Please review!!! =)
**Jinglez**