Title: The Beggining of the End (02)
Author: Procella Nox noctis
Category: Humour
Sub Category: Mystery
Keywords: Zabini family, Blaise, Sirius, Hermione
Summary: Summer brake had been his favourite time of year. Until he had to spend it with Hermione Granger. And that was just the beginning of the story.
Sneak-peek: He didn't know what was more evil: Dumbledore or muggles.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and unfortunately never will. No money is being made out of this story, which is a pity, it's really good.
A/N: Thank you to SkooksiePants (I can't believe you took time to review my story, I'm so proud, thanks) , alenchic (yes, it is too early in the story to tell, but I think from this chapter you can get some other clues) and KoriLewis (sorry, I can't remember your ff.net name, thanks for the review and you'll see Bella is a blast). To everybody who thought that Hermione will be the one Blaise is staying with, BINGO! Read on!
Two: Derek Disdier
Blaise blinked once, twice and thrice. Sirius was staring to think the boy needed medical attention, all that coffee finally having reached his brain.
"Let me get this straight. You turn up three after I let you go, and one after the world thought you dead, to tell me that I'll be living with a friend of my enemy."
"Nifty, isn't it?" Sirius grinned.
"I'm wondering whether to listen to the entire story or just kill you now."
"How about the first?"
"Fine, but if you plan on separating me from my family let me get them here."
"So they can know what's going on?"
"No. So that when you tell my young sisters you're taking me away they can torture you right away."
"This reminds me of the old days."
"Yeah, but I'm except that now I'm prettier and you're a walking zombie."
"Sure, Pretty Boy, call the girls. I do well in crowds."
"One thing before I do that."
"Yes?"
"Stay away from my sister."
"I assure you, Coraline will suffer no harm."
Blaise grinned, he knew the old man would ignore his threat. It had always been like that. Three years ago, during the summer break after his third year, Blaise had found a wounded black dog on the moors beside his house. He had taken him in, and cured him. After two weeks he realised the dog was and Animagus, so when he found out who the dog actually was, well, it had not been a nice view. On either sides. Blaise had fought with Sirius angry because he had actually had a murderer in his house. Sirius had fought with Blaise because Blaise was a really good fighter.
In the end, when they were both beaten, Sirius had explained the situation. He told him how he was innocent and he had escaped, and inexplicably Blaise had listened. And understood. And they had formed a bond. Of course his family had no idea he was holding Sirius Black in his room, because he had set him free before fourth year had begun. Sometimes Sirius had sent him letters, but they had stopped coming after fifth year.
Coraline was the first who came in, asking Blaise if the coffee had been good, to which he had nodded. Arrabella followed carrying Selene in her arms. The seven year-old girl smiled at Sirius as she sat on a chair beside him. Coraline, being two years older than Silly, had knowledge not to talk with strangers, so she nodded at him and sat beside Bella. The oldest Zabini smiled at her brother and blushed at Sirius.
"Now that all this is settled. Hello I am Sirius Black." The first phrase gained a gasp from Bella who knew about him, while the younger girls grinned and waved.
"You are probably wanting to know how come I'm not dead. Well, I guess I could tell you that. You see, I fell behind the Veil. My cousin Bellatrix cursed me in there. It took me two months to realise I wasn't dead, and when I did, I remembered someone could hear me. The Priori Incantatem. They are a group of sorcerers, so they managed to get me out from the Veil. That happened last month.
Anyway, what I am here for is to ensure Blaise's safety. We recently discovered that Blaise has a small amount of sorcerer blood in his veins. Voldemort obviously knows that, which would explain why your parents are gone. You see, Voldemort is a sorcerer himself, but not a powerful one. To have full power he must have the blood of another sorcerer.
Five years ago, Voldemort tried to convince your father into giving you to him. Your father said no, so he was killed. Voldemort supposed he would have to wait until he had a full human body to try to complete his powers. He waited until after your fourth year, when your family went on a cruise. Voldemort lost your trace. This year, however, it became ovious to him you would gain your full sorcerer powers, so he tried to convinced your mother. You can only imagine what happened.
A sorcerer gains control of him full powers when he turns seventeen. You Blaise, although your sorcerer blood is a small amount, the ancestor from whom you have it was very powerful. Here quality beats quantity. Voldemort knows that when you have your full powers there will be no use in taking your blood, once you're initiated, he will have no more use for you, so he'll try to get you now.
The whole having another sorcerer's blood thing is actually a kind of human sacrifice as you can only imagine. The point is, the Priori Incantatem and Dumbledore want you safe. Your seventeenth birthday is in three months, which means Voldemort has three months to get to you. I was sent to tell you, you will be given in the care of one muggle family, where Voldemort will not know to look. We'll hide you under his nose.
This will only be for this summer break. I hope you understand, it's for your safety."
Cora and Silly had been playing in one corner of the room as soon as Sirius had started telling his story, so now only Arrabella and Blaise were there.
"Taking him away? But why? I mean he's safe here!" Bella tried not to cry, as Blaise put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"You think, that you can come in here and tell me that my parents died because I have sorcerer blood and Voldemort wants it, and you expect me to actually go into hiding and NOT avenge my parents' death?"
"Blaise..." Bella hugged her brother, as he broke into quiet sobs. She looked up and glared at Sirius.
"Don't kill the messenger!" Sirius muttered.
"Blaise...listen to the man. You have to go into hiding with whoever he says."
"I don't want to be a coward who hides when he should be avenging his parents' deaths." Blaise shouted.
"And I don't want you to die too! Mother and father died so that you could live. Going out there and giving yourself to Voldemort would make them die in vane. Maybe you'll kill a few Death Eaters but you'll die for sure. You're the only brother I have. You're the heir to the Zabinis. Most importantly, we love you, they love you, and we want you to live and be safe. Please listen to him?"
"Fine, but this doesn't mean I'm going to like it." He said as he went to play with his younger sisters and say good bye.
"They never listen to me, how did you do that?" Sirius approached the brunette once Blaise had left.
Bella grinned. "Never underestimate the power of a preoccupied woman, Mr. Black."
Sirius grinned back, this was turning out rather promising.
"Well they took it better than I suspected." Sirius told Blaise once they were out of the house and into his car.
"Don't be fooled, they're probably crying their hearts out now. Slytherins mask their feelings. I told Bella to install that muggle post-thingy so that I could write to her through letters. I thought, well if I'm going to hide, might as well hide properly."
"You're all too wise for your age."
"Mom used to say that. Anyway, what annoying Gryffindor am I staying with?"
"Hermione Granger."
"Why don't you do Voldemort a favour and kill me now. Just kill me now!"
"I take it you are fond of Hermione."
"If I'd have to choose between the Divination book and granger I'd take the Divination book. No matter how disgusting it is. Granger, while a walking talking encyclopedia, has no idea when to shut her mouth. And you're sending me to muggles?!"
"The Grangers are more than they appear to me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"That they are more than they appear to be. You'll see. Anyway, you will pose as Hermione's cousin twice removed, your name will be Jack Inibaz."
"Wow, amazing, you reversed my surname, Voldemort won't find me now."
"I think I've read about a pill for excessive sarcasm somewhere."
"Be sure to give it to me when you find it. In the mean time, we should think of another name. Oh look, Big Ben!" Blaise lowered the window and took in the views of London. If he were to live in the capital of the U.K. he was going to explore it too.
"How about John Johnson?" Sirius asked as they stepped out of the car, half an hour later.
"Then they can call me J.J. and I'll fell like a dope. No thanks. Hey, Granger sure lives nice."
The neighbourhood was a quiet place, surrounded by trees and a playground at the back of the street. About five houses were dispersed around, each of them modelling its own garden. The house they had stopped at was a big, pale-green house, surrounded by a small fence and decorated by a porch. The sunlight beat on the porch making it enchanted. In the small patch of garden in front of the house, a bush of white roses and a swing was set. All in all the atmosphere was very nice.
"Don't mind helping me with your luggage, I can do it on my own." Sirius' voice was heard from the car.
"If you say so." Blaise shouted, ringing the bell.
"What did you do?" Sirius' voice was right behind him now.
"Summoned the devil. And here he comes."
The door was opened by an old lady, with grey hair and blue eyes. The lady's stature was fairly tall and she wore neat green coloured clothes.
"Oh, you must be the dear boy who's coming to stay with us for the summer. Come in deary. Hello Sirius." The lady said in a happy voice.
"Madame." Sirius winked at the lady.
"I made some cookies, tell me dear, do you like chocolate chip cookies?" the lady took Blaise's hand and drove him towards the kitchen.
"I think they're my favourite, ma'am."
"Well I'll make some more tomorrow. Here eat some."
"Mother you're already smothering the boy up, calm down." A woman in her forties came to view. She was tall and her brown hair was tight in a bun. Hazel eyes settled on Blaise. "Hello, dear. I'm Helene, Hermione's mother, and this lady is my mother, Adelle. My husband just went to buy a new bed for the guest room, and Honey is out there, somewhere. Well, welcome to our house."
Half an hour and some cookies later, Blaise decided the Grangers really weren't so bad after all. Mr. Granger had arrived about five minutes after him carrying an inflatable bed. Henry Granger was a tall man with curly black hair and brown eyes. He cracked jokes every five minutes and smiled at his wife every six seconds.
Sirius and Blaise had been settled on a couch, and they were waiting for Hermione to come and for Sirius to say the rules an on goings of the mission. They didn't have to wait long either, for the moment they had mentioned Hermione's name, a fairly tall girl entered the living room.
"You called? Sirius!" she yelped and jumped into him for a hug. "Amelia told us something about a Summoning but I never suspected it would be you! Oh it's so nice to see you again. How long have you been here? Did you see everybody else? Did you hear you're a free man now? Have you talked to Harry?"
"Whoa, Hermione, easy with the bullet questions. I've been alive for five months. I saw some of the others yes. I heard I'm free, but it's hard to tell them I'm alive now. No I haven't talked to Harry yet, I was planning to visit him today. How's It going for you?"
"Bah, I've been better. It still hurts sometimes, but either than that, no problems. The crew said I'll start with the new level sometime soon."
"That's great, keep it up, you've only got about three months until initiation."
Hermione went on explaining about some crew, but Blaise was really paying no attention. The changes in Ms. Granger were obvious. She had grown a bit, but was still shorter than him. Her frizzy hair was held in a pony-tail, rebel tendrils escaping here and there. Her eyes were still those annoyingly big hazel orbs. And her smile still lightened up the room. What amused him the most were her clothes. She was wearing a forest green T- shirt with the letters "Foxy to the bones" on it, and black jeans.
Blaise was confused. He counted: pale-green house; Grandmother wearing a green dress; Mother wearing a green pullover; father wearing a green jacket, and daughter wearing a green T-shirt. Where did they sent him, Slytherin house, muggle-style?
Five minutes and three glaring contests between Blaise and Hermione later, they were seated and listening to Sirius.
"This will only be for about three months, so we'll do it well. Blaise your name will be Derek Disdier. You will pose as Hermione's cousin twice removed, from her mother's family. Hermione, I expect you to teach Blaise everything you learn with the Crew. He will not be allowed to go there, to not raise suspicions, and you go there undercover so you can be the teacher. Right, Blaise will be allowed to write to his sisters, and you will use muggle post. If he wishes he can see his sisters every month. Well, now that that's settled, I'd better be going. I heard Harry's cousin is a big obnoxious pig, and I can't wait to see Harry. Have fun!"
"Tell Harry I said hi. Bye Snuffles!"
"Bye Honey. Grangers."
And with that he left. And with leaving he abandoned Blaise to the mercy of a family of muggles that were "not what they seem" and an annoying know-it- all. And this was all Dumbledore's idea? He didn't know what was more evil: Dumbledore or muggles.
E/N: Thanks to c-fleurbleue who was oh so kind to give me Blaise's new surname. Keep reviewing and you'll see what happens.