The Future of House Black
By: Ryu Katanna
Beta:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter Seven
Hardwin sighed tiredly as he stepped out of Valentino onto Old Bond Street in West London with another three bags of clothing. He had already been to the Gucci store down the street, the Prada retailer across from it, and Boggi Milano on Jermyn Street as well as a few others. He was so loaded down with bags from all the stops he had made but he couldn't shrink anything or have one of the elves come pick them up due to all the muggles in the busy area. There were a few that he would have to return to pick up his orders as well since they were being tailored the muggle way. Shopping for muggle clothing had been both easier and harder than he had thought it would be when he had left the manor over six hours ago with the Black and Gold muggle bank card he'd gotten from Gringotts.
The shopping was made easier by the shop assistants who had taken one look at the labels on the bags he carried and seemed to smell money. It had been harder at first as he'd had to change after the second shop into a new outfit. He'd walked out of Harrod's without looking back after some snide comments from one sales associate about him being able to afford anything based on what he had been wearing. Honestly, shopping at the designer and more upscale shops had been almost therapeutic. Eight hundred and fifty pounds may be a lot for a single pair of denims he'd gotten at Valentino, but it felt good knowing that he could so easily afford such prices while his bigoted Aunt Petunia could only dream of shopping there.
It was a petty thought, but one that made him feel better after they had treated him as someone who was a worthless waste of space his whole life.
He walked away from the storefront as he looked for a less crowded area, eventually coming across an alley that would work well enough to conceal him, before apparating away and arriving at the front door of the manor. It was a relief to set all of the bags down in the entrance as he shook some feeling back into his arms. His attention was drawn toward the popping sound of Saros's appearance.
"Supper is being ready to being served, Master Black." The elf told him and Hardwin smiled gently as his stomach rumbled at the thought of food.
"Thank you, Saros. Could you take these bags and have everything sorted and put away in my room for now? I will be leaving for a few more hours later; after supper." He said and moved to go to the dining room only to pause when the elf spoke again.
"Saros will be doing so, Master Black. Mail arrives for Master while he is being out." Saros said and Hardwin nodded in thanks for the message.
"Thank you, Saros. Have it delivered with supper, please." He replied before continuing through the portrait hall to the formal dining room where he took a seat in the closest chair at the head of the table.
He ate at a steady pace as he looked over to see four letters appear next to his plate. He recognized the handwriting on the three thinner envelopes immediately. Those were from Ron, Hermione, and Ginny without a doubt. Hardwin groaned internally at seeing the hearts drawn around the name Harry Potter on one and knew he didn't want to deal with them tonight. Just as he hadn't wanted to deal with the other letters from them that he had been receiving steadily over the last week and a half. This was the second letter he had received from Ron and even the first one had seemed a bit forced. Hermione had sent three before this one, and he'd received more than half a dozen letters from Ginny alone.
He hadn't read any of them after the second one from them. Both Ginny and Hermione's letters had been different, but the tones in the letters had been demanding. Hermione's letters had been thinly veiled demands for him to show himself and spend time with them. She'd tried to get to him at Grimmauld Place a few times in the last week but had been rejected by the wards. Ginny's letter were full of not-so-subtle hints to outright demands that they pick their relationship back up. That they had a future to start planning for together. Talking about marriage and rambling about waiting o have kids for a few years and such to give her time to have a career in quidditch. She seemed to have planned out his life for him, and he hadn't liked it even before he'd found out all that he had. Now he was left to wonder if there was something more going on as it hadn't felt right before all of this either.
He'd stopped reading them, but the letters just kept on coming.
Hardwin had been leery of any contact with anyone he knew outside of the Malfoys, who he'd known had no reason to endear themselves with him since they'd been on the other side of the war, and Andromeda since he'd only met her once. He still didn't know which of his friends had been involved in Dumbledore's schemes, but he had a bad feeling about all three of them since they were the closest to him, and so had not replied. Though he just may find out soon enough as he looked over the thicker envelope to see the Gringotts seal. Quickly opening the large envelope, he pulled out several pieces of parchment and read through Gringott's findings with a sigh of disappointment and a slowly forming scowl. SilverClaw had traced many of the payments going out from his parent's vault to Dumbledore's personal vault, but there had been others they had needed to investigate further that had gone elsewhere.
Payments to a muggle bank had started in November of 1981 to an account in the name of Petunia Dursley. Those payments had continued monthly until Hardwin instructed SilverClaw to freeze all payments going out just over a week before. He could only assume that Dumbledore had set up the payments as an incentive for his Aunt to be willing to take him in. Anger gnawed at his gut when he saw the amount that his so-called family had been receiving.
Petunia had gotten three hundred galleons or fifteen hundred pounds a month since he had been left on their doorstep. That meant she had gotten thirty-six hundred galleons, or eighteen thousand muggle pounds, a year while he had stayed with them. That meant that over the last seventeen years she had gotten somewhere around three hundred and six thousand muggle pounds from his parent's vaults. He had always known that his Aunt and her family had seemed to live beyond their means, what with all the presents for Dudley all year round, the expensive clothes, electronics, and vacations the family went on every year.
Meanwhile, Hardwin had never owned any clothing that wasn't a second-hand rag from Dudley until buying his Hogwarts robes before fist year when he was eleven. He had starved as he'd been forced to survive off of scraps they would 'graciously' provide for most of his childhood. He'd never received a present before Hagrid had given him Hedwig for his eleventh birthday, but had been forced to work like a house elf from a young age while his cousin hadn't had a single chore while growing up. He'd been left with Mrs. Figg and her cats every time the family had gone on vacation. He'd lived in the cupboard under the stairs while Dudley had two bedrooms, for merlin's sake, and there had been another spare bedroom for guests like Marge when she visited.
All that time Petunia had been using the Potter family money, his family's money, to fund their lifestyle.
Hardwin tried hard not to grind his teeth as his anger left his cheeks flushed red while he looked over the records that SilverClaw had sent. Memories of growing up in that house with those people flashed through his mind. How many times had they told him that he was a burden? That he should be grateful he had as much as he did? That he had been unwanted by anyone else and so they had been the ones stuck with him. He had endured their hatred, their prejudice, and their abuse for years. He had been made a slave lesser than a house-elf in their home. All the while they were spoiling their son, enjoying luxuries they would never have been able to afford, and growing fat off the money they got only because he had been forced to stay as a prisoner in their home.
Money that had been his by rite of blood and birth.
Any appetite he had left faded away with his anger, and Hardwin roughly pushed the plate away as he continued reading. There were three regular deposits remaining that he had been unsure about. Now, though, he knew as he read the names connected to the vaults. The names of Hermione Granger, Ginerva Prewett, and Molly Prewett were all listed as well as records of how many galleons had been transferred and on which dates.
The deposits into Hermione's vault had started in August of 1991. This information was damning for his friendship with her since Hermione had been receiving money from his vault before their first year had even started. There had been regular deposits at the beginning of every school year as well as a few random ones during the years as they got older. Looking at the dates, Hardwin connected a few with times Hermione had given him advice that he had followed, or when he had been pushed into dangerous situations. Those smaller deposits had only increased as they had gotten older, and like with his Aunt, the deposits hadn't stopped until he had frozen them.
Suddenly, Hermione's insistence to see and speak with him was making more sense as the most recent expected deposit hadn't been made.
The deposits into the Vault under Molly Prewett had started in June of 1983. Hardwin had been only three years old at the time and had never even met the woman. The first time hadn't been until 1991 at King's Cross when he'd had trouble finding Platform 9 ¾. Actually, now that he thought about it, that meeting was an odd one. Why would a pureblood witch, who had older children who had already been to Hogwarts, be taking the muggle entrance while yelling about the platform and muggles loud enough for the muggles to hear?
It didn't take long for him to make the connection and know that it had been done deliberately.
The deposits into the account of Ginerva Prewett starting at the beginning of her first year in 1992 made sense when he knew about her mother. Ginny had been shy with him when they had first met, but that hadn't stopped her from watching him and following him around. Her behavior her first couple years at Hogwarts had been like that of a fangirl and hadn't pattered out until his fifth year. Then she had started dating Dean, he had taken notice of her, and Hermione… Hermione had encouraged it. Pushed him toward the girl.
Bloody hell and Merlin damn them all.
Had that been the plan all along? For him to date and marry Ginny? Was it all about his family money? As his wife, she would have unrestricted access to his vaults without the restrictions that could be placed with a marriage contract.
A marriage contract could have been that could have leaned in her favor and left him with little to no control of his household or assets, but any contract would have needed the signatures of both Lord Potter and Arcturus before Arcturus had died in 1991. Otherwise, it would never have been legally or magically binding. Hardwin didn't know about his cousin, but from everything he'd learned about his relatives in the Black family lead him to believe that Arcturus would have never agreed to such a thing. He would need to speak with Arcturus's portrait to confirm the kind of man his great-grandfather had been, but Hardwin couldn't imagine he would have allowed his heir to be bound by a contract where the House of Black didn't benefit in the least. The only thing he could think of is if they had planned to coerce Hardwin to sign one after he'd accepted his Lordship.
Especially since Hardwin had never been taught anything about his heritage. He'd literally had a crash course when he'd met SilverClaw at Gringotts. Even then he'd had to do some more research and he would still be playing catch up with Andromeda and Narcissa's help for some time as he got adjusted to his responsibilities as Lord. He was dependent on the assistance of his cousins right now as he learned what couldn't be taught from books, and he knew it. The Family Charter, with all of the by-laws members of the family had to follow, wasn't something completely recorded in a book.
There were secrets carried in each bloodline that were not recorded and only passed down through teachings within the family. It was why the purebloods were so insular and protected their bloodlines so fiercly. They were trying to guard their family magics in the only way that they knew how. Old lines were dying out with every war, and each lost line was the loss of those family magics, talents, teachings, and parts of their culture.
He was only starting to learn about it, but Hardwin could understand and agreed with what the purebloods had been fighting for to a point. He just couldn't condone the methods that had been used. So many lines had been lost to this most recent war on both sides. In the end, it was just that much more of a loss when it had all come down to what had essentially been a game between Albus Dumbledore and Tom Riddle. They had all just been pieces on the chessboard between the two, and neither wizard had cared for anything more than what they could gain from the fighting.
"Kreacher. Could you please bring me some parchment, ink, and a quill? Thank you." Hardwin asked as he set the parchments from Gringotts down and picked up the quill that appeared before he made a few notes.
He would ask for some advice first, but Molly, Ginny, Hermione, and Petunia would all rue the day they had accepted that money. There would be a confrontation coming, and it would no doubt leave scars on both sides. Lines would be drawn. Soon Hardwin would find out who else was involved, who had known, and who was innocent of any of it. He would find out who his real friends were, but as of that moment, only two names came to mind that he felt mostly sure of.
He had been played for a fool for years. He would have to be better; do better. The sorting hat had wanted to place him in Slytherin. He had those qualities, and it was time he used them. Severus Snape had referred to him as a pig for slaughter in the memories he'd seen, and Hardwin wouldn't let himself be made to play the part any longer. It was time he took back the control he had given away to others as he sought their friendship and approval. He should have remembered the lessons that growing up with the Dursley's had taught him about people, but he had been so desperate for a light in the darkness that he had been willing to grasp the first hand that offered kindness.
It was with that thought that Hardwin cast a tempus before going upstairs to get ready for what he'd planned that night.
123
Hardwin glanced nervously at the door to the Freedom bar on Wardour Street in Soho from where he stood in front of the Starbucks next door. He had stopped at a library in London to use a computer and do some research for tonight's adventure before he had gone shopping for clothes. Hardwin would be the first to admit that he didn't know much about computers and so it had taken him a while, but he had found this place. It had been referenced on the web's search engine as the epicenter of London's gay social scene. What the 'gay social scene' was, or how it differed from the straight one was, Hardwin hadn't a clue.
It wasn't like he'd gotten out much over the course of his life so far. For all that he had grown up in the muggle world, Hardwin had lived an almost sheltered life when it came to people, places, and events outside of Surrey or within Hogwarts grounds. The only thing he really knew about 'gays' was the prejudiced vitriol his Aunt and Uncle had spewed if ever anything had been said on the television or through gossip withing the neighborhood. He'd chosen to ignore anything they'd had to say on principle after he'd turned eleven and found out the truth when he'd been raised with nothing but lies about himself, his parents, and the magical world they belonged to.
If they were wrong and had lied about something so fundamental, then who was to say they had told the truth or were right about anything else?
The place didn't look like much from the outside. Nothing which screamed 'This is a gay bar. You will find gay people here.' The doors were glass, and lights shone from inside large glass windows. The only reason he knew that this was the place he had found on the computer was the dark purple awning above the entry that had the word Freedom written in gold across the fabric. A fluorescent pink light was lit against a green background above the awning, curving to spell the name of the bar so as to be seen even in the dark.
He'd stood there in front of the Starbucks for several moments now just watching as people entered and left those glass doors. The people he had seen coming and going were an eclectic bunch. Men and women dressed fashionably in a wide range of colors and styles. Some dressed normally in jeans with plaid shirts or tees while others he'd noticed dressed a little more… Differently.
He didn't know how to describe it as he watched a group of three men dressed in brightly colored skirts and tight shimmering tops with high heels saunter on by him. Their hair was longer than he'd ever seen on a man outside of the wizarding world, and they wore heavy make-up around their eyes and bright glossy lips in bold colors. They also wore chunky high heels that clicked sharply along the ground as they walked. It seemed to Hardwin like it would have been uncomfortable or awkward to walk in the heels and short skirts, but they moved fluidly in them with an ease of familiarity. Though some of their movements seemed almost exaggerated they moved with natural rhythm that wasn't stilted or clumsy.
It seemed a bit odd to Hardwin, but he supposed it would be to him. He'd not seen much of the muggle side of things growing up, but he'd been in the wizarding world for the majority of the time since he was eleven. He could vaguely remember thinking how wizards and witches dressed oddly in their robes. The closed robes even looking like floor-length dresses until he became accustomed to seeing them. It all came down to differences in the cultures and individual preferences, he supposed.
At the same time, he could feel his curiosity growing.
Hardwin steeled his nerves as he pulled away from the wall where he had been leaning as he people watched for the last half-an-hour. He'd been a Gryffindor in school. He had fought in a war. He had faced down the most powerful Dark Lord known in recent memory along with his followers. He could do this. He could walk through that door, order a drink, and figure out his own sexuality once and for all.
Telling himself this helped him to move as he walked over and pulled open the door. It didn't prepare him for the reality as he walked inside. The area was crowded with people. Some were sitting in the comfortable-looking booths while others milled about talking. There was a crowd around the bar that he could see, and the bartenders flowed around each other, moving from one side to the other as they took orders and prepared drinks. The place was lively; with mixed groups of people smiling and laughing.
It was a scene so different from what he was used to seeing the past few years that he felt his heart lighten with the atmosphere and his curiosity pull him further inside.
Hardwin forced himself to move as it would probably look strange if he lingered in the doorway for too long. He made his way through the different crowds as he walked further into the bar and looked around curiously. Watching as the people here spoke and interacted. Men who held hands, pressing close in the booths together, and even openly kissing one another. Women who did much the same. There was an ease in their affection. A naturalness that he had never felt with either Cho or Ginny.
A freedom.
Hardwin found himself smiling faintly as he approached the bar and waited for someone to take his order. Ordering something fiery, he continued to look around before noticing the stairs that led to the second level. Curious, he took his drink as he wandered to the stairs and went up to find a second bar, but there was a dance floor on this level with two rounded mini-stages with poles through the middle. He found himself blushing as men and women danced closely with their partners. Some had even removed their shirts as they pressed and rubbed against each other; a raw sexual energy coarsed thickly through the dance floor.
It was an erotic sight, and Hardwin could feel his body reacting in ways it hadn't even when he had kissed Ginny as he watched a few of the men.
'Well, I am definitely attracted to men.' He thought idly as he moved over to the side of the bar to continue watching people dance.
There were both men and women out on the dance floor as the music blasted and left him with a thumpa thumpa sensation in his chest that pounded with the beat. It was a sight he had seen before during the Yule Ball in his fourth year, but with differences at the same time. Men were dancing and grinding up on other men while women were doing the same with other women. It was far more intimate than anything Hardwin had seen before as people in the wizarding world tended to be a bit more formal and modest in their interactions whilst in public. Here they seemed to be freer and more open with each other. There wasn't any of the same inhibitions in their expressions of affections, and it actually made Hardwin blush a bit in embarrassed arousal at the sight.
"Well, aren't you just the cutest thing? What are you doing standing over here all by your lonesome?" A voice drawled in his ear with a male's deeper bass, but held a feminine tone from next to him, and Hardwin's attention was drawn away from the dance floor to the person who had approached him when he wasn't looking.
Hardwin could tell this person was a man only by their voice, but they were dressed and looked like a woman. Like a few of the people he had seen enter the bar earlier, he didn't know if they should be addressed in a feminine or masculine way as he didn't want to offend, was dressed in a floor-length ruffled light blue skirt, heeled boots peeking out from under the bottom and with a matching blue sequined halter top. The top shimmered in the light coming off of the dance floor and made blue eyes lined in black and silver shine even brighter. Their make-up was heavier than Hardwin was used to seeing, but it was tastefully done and made the sharper masculine features of their face seem softer and more feminine. The end result gave them a more androgenous look.
"Oh, uh, nothing. Just watching people dance. It looks like they're having fun." He replied a bit lamely; feeling a little awkward at having been caught off guard having not thought anyone would really notice him enough to speak to him.
"You should be out there too then. Instead of over here being a wallflower. If you're here alone then why don't you come dance with me, sweetie?" Was the response and Hardwin fidgeted nervously as he clenched the glass in his hand.
"I'm sorry. I would, but I really can't dance." He replied with a small wince as he remembered his inept stumbling around the floor during the Yule Ball, and that was a different kind of dancing that he'd had instruction in.
"Oh, honey, there's no need to be nervous. My name is Jasmina, but you can call me Mina. Is this your first time here?" Mina's tone was gentle and their expression softened as they looked at him.
"Yes, actually. I'm Hardwin, but you can call me Harry if you like." Hardwin replied as he sipped at his drink and tried to calm his nerves.
"Hardwin, well that's certainly old English, but I like it. So, are you just exploring, or getting familiar with the pubs in Soho?" Mina asked and Hardwin knew the question wasn't just about the pubs.
"Exploring, I guess. I grew up pretty sheltered, so…" He trailed off awkwardly only to receive a gentle smile as Mina reached out and grasped his elbow.
"You didn't get the opportunity to get to know yourself, then. Well, I could help you explore a bit if you'd like to keep this girl company for a while. Just buy me a drink, and we can find us a place to sit down and get to know each other." Mina said with a smile before taking his arm in a light grasp with both of hers and directing him toward the bar.
"If you're sure? You probably have better things to do." Hardwin said feeling a little off center at Mina's familiarity with him but oddly comforted at the same time.
"Oh, honey. I'm here all the time. It's not every day I get the opportunity to make a new friend. I'll take a cosmo." Mina said as they made their way to the bar, and Hardwin couldn't help but feel that she meant that.
He'd come here tonight to figure out if he liked men. He hadn't expected to actually speak to anyone. Mina knew nothing about him, his past, his role in the war, or his name and history in the wizarding community. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe having a muggle friend might be just the thing he needed.
Even if it wasn't, it was nice to talk to someone he knew was being genuine in a way that he always had to question with almost everyone else in his life.
123456
Well, that's it for this chapter. I had a really hard time getting this out. I was also a bit distracted with playing the Sims. I'm trying to do generations and build family trees. Lol. The things I do when I'm bored, right?
The stores and even the Freedom bar are real locations in London. I try to reference real places when I can so as to give some visuals. If you'd like to see the places mentioned then you're free to look them up. This chapter was a pain, and Mina's character just smacked me out of nowhere. Nothing went how I'd first thought with this chapter, and yes, we may see Mina again in the future. As it is, the next chapter will be skipping to shopping with Andromeda and Hardwin's health screening. What will be found I have some idea, but it may change a bit depending on what comes when I'm writing it.
I'll try to get working on the next chapter quickly, but no guarantees. I'm almost done with the next chapter for Magic Will Find a Way, and I really do need to work on that too.
Until next time,
Ryu
Edited: 11/17/2022
