I know this is only an interlude, but I'll have the regular chapter up later. I just was afraid I wouldn't get both chapter and interlude done if I waited, as I have a busy day ahead of me.
Have I mentioned that both Lily and Narcissa creep me out at times?
Interlude: Mothers to Sons
September 5th, 1993
Dear Connor:
Yes, you can trust Sirius to teach you the full extent of his compulsion ability, even though he might not want to. I know that it reminds him of the Blacks, of the house that he grew up in and the family he fought so hard to escape. He is a hero, Connor, a hero because of that if nothing else.
But he had to use his compulsion ability to force his family to let him go after he was sixteen and ran away to live with James, and he used it several times on the Death Eaters, too. He knows how to wield it. He knows what a useful weapon it can be. And now that he knows you have it, he would push you to use it, if only to get it properly trained. With the War coming, he will do more than that.
I'm sending you the books that you asked for, A Practical History of Goblins in the North by Griphook Fishbaggin and Making the Most of Your Unexpected Dark Gift, by Shadwell Willowbranch. I almost thought there was someone else I ought to tell you to share that last book with, but now I forget who it was. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I would urge you to keep that book somewhere safe and secret. Officially, we aren't supposed to know about this, but unofficially, I've had owls from Dumbledore. The Minister, Cornelius Fudge, has apparently been receiving threatening letters from former Death Eaters. The Ministry is moving to restrict the use of Dark magic and the presence of Dark creatures in wizarding Britain. The Wizengamot is already considering ways to restrict the shipping of dangerous Potions ingredients.
I can promise they won't hurt you, Connor, not when you are and will be their hero, but you'll have to keep your head down for a short time.
So much love for my brave, heroic son,
Lily Potter.
September 5th, 1993
Dear my son:
I hope you are well. Please remember the last tales we have talked about. In return, I have another tale for you.
Julia Malfoy lived six hundred years ago. You have heard of her, I am sure. Her portrait hangs in the front hallway—the tall woman with the blue crystal and the enormous gray hound. Lucius likes to refer to her as his Fearsome Aunt. Most of the Malfoys do. She was indeed fearsome, very strong in her power, about which more in a moment, and apparently aunt to a dozen children without having one of her own.
But she was not childless, Draco. I have finished my investigation of our family's private papers, and I have found evidence that I can only call evidence of a conspiracy, to conceal the birth of Julia Malfoy's only child, a son, and pass it off as someone else's. Do you know who that someone else was, Draco?
Octavius Malfoy, who was one of the next generation of Malfoy children whom Julia grew up mothering. He became Lord when his father died, because it was believed that he was the son of Julius Malfoy, Julia's twin brother and the Heir of the line, and his wife.
I have investigated further, and I am convinced that, in this case, your Fearsome Aunt did not become pregnant by some commoner and thus slip baseborn genes into the Malfoy line because the Lord could not sire a child. Octavius was, in fact, Julius's son. Julia seduced her own brother, so that the child would be born purebred Malfoy.
I can imagine your face now, my son. You will be making a horrible one. Not too horrible, of course, because someone else might see you and question it, but a grimace nonetheless.
The important thing about Julia is not that she committed incest, nor even that she passed her son off as the next Lord Malfoy—when, truly, he was It is that she was willing to go to such lengths to insure the Malfoy line's continuance, and she had the magic to do so. Her brother could not resist her call, but she did not enslave him, either with Imperius or some other spell. She was simply so powerful than when she asked, he did as she bid, dazzled by that which we all crave.
Draco, you will understand in time. I am sending you certain books with my next owl. For now, remember this: I come from the Black family, but no Black mother was ever less determined to protect her children than a Malfoy mother was. I will move mountains for you, Draco. You have only to speak the word, or have a certain look on your face. I have interpreted several such expressions already. Do not fear, my darling. You shall have what you need.
Your loving mother,
Narcissa Black Malfoy.