A/N: Hey there! Here's the next chapter of Raising Harry! Sorry for the long wait, I was struck with writer's block. This chapter is rather short, but it's going to bring in some information that will be relevant later on. Hope you enjoy!
So, I will be doing NaNoWriMo this year, which means I may not update this all that often. On the other hand, it may mean I'll update really often, since I seem to wind up writing everything OTHER than what I should be when I have a plan to write something. I will try to update this at least once more!
And now...ANNOUNCEMENT! Last year I had an open holiday prompt thingy for my Bleach fanfiction, where I wrote oneshots based on the first 10 prompts I got. I'm thinking about doing that for this story as well - the oneshots will either be posted as 10 separate stories, or as one story (as in: not here). The first 10 will definitely be written, however if there's a really interesting prompt or one that I have a good idea for, I'll do that as well! So if you have an idea, leave a review/PM me! Oneshots won't be written for a while, so you can think long and hard about what you want to see!
Now, on with the story!
"Now what?" Sirius asked, raising his glass of firewhiskey. They had returned to Remus's apartment to both relieve Alice of her babysitting duties as well as celebrate destroying the Dursleys. "That takes care of Harry's family, what do we do about Dumbledore?"
Severus took an appreciative sip of his own glass of wine. "I believe we should first secure allies for ourselves, powerful ones who can stand against Albus."
"We already have the Malfoys..." The dog Animagus looked over at Remus, who was contemplating his glass. "Moony? Opinions?"
"You do have the Malfoys, but I feel that we need to get a diverse group." The werewolf began ticking names off his fingers. "They fulfill Dark, Pureblood, and rich. You'll need them to get the Dark and Pureblood families on your side, provided you are willing to compromise on some things. Albus likes getting his way and only doing things using his methods, but he's never tried to work with them."
"True..."
"I see what you're saying," Severus murmured. "What we need to find out first is what the draw was for the Purebloods to become Death Eaters. I can give you some insight, but cannot say for sure."
Sirius nodded slowly, setting his firewhiskey on the table. "Yeah. I mean, I suppose that part of it is maintaining Pureblood culture. I know that that was part of what my father liked about Voldemort: he wanted to uphold customs and cultures that we no longer perform."
"What do you mean?" Remus asked. After marrying his muggle mother, his father had turned his back on all Pureblood customs, so he hadn't grown up with the knowledge. Sirius had never discussed it, wanting to get as far from his family as possible, and James and Peter hadn't said anything to spare his feelings. "Why do you not do them anymore?"
"Some of them are considered Dark, some have been corrupted to the point that people won't do them because of the negative connotations..." He rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of an example. "Well, let's see...there's the marriage connection."
At this, Severus's head shot up. "The what?"
"The marriage connection. It's this ceremony the bride and groom go through, it's a small thing they do." Taking a sip of his drink, Sirius continued, "It involves a bit of a blood exchange between the couple, which is why it's considered Dark Magic. Magic blesses the union and the couple has a connection for life."
Remus's eyes narrowed. "And divorce?"
"That...leads to some messy situations." Sirius leaned back against the sofa and let out a sigh. "Magic doesn't always bless the union. Some couples who aren't completely sure perform the ceremony once they get engaged. That's usually more common. If the connection doesn't work, then there's no engagement and no wedding. But for a divorce...this is why divorce is uncommon in the magical world. If two people just aren't right for each other, magic won't make the connection between them. On the other hand, if over the years a couple falls out of love, the connection will weaken as well. It works the other way too; the stronger the love, the stronger the connection will be."
"You said there are others?" Severus asked quietly. This new information was more than he could handle at the moment. He had always known about Dark Magic being just that, dark, not evil, but not just how far the fears of such magic reached. "Such as...?"
Sirius shook his head, mentally dredging through his mother's examples of Dark Magic. "Ah! The Fidelius charm!" At the pair of confused faces staring at him, he continued, "The charm attaches itself to the magic of the Secret Keeper through a minute amount of blood spilled on the grounds of the area being placed under the charm. That's why the charm
ends when the Secret Keeper dies."
"You didn't do that," Remus recalled.
"No, I didn't. James wouldn't do it. His parents bought into the whole 'blood magic is evil' spiel of Dumbles's and wouldn't do anything remotely related to blood magic." Sirius set his glass on the coffee table and stood up. "It's late, and we should get some sleep. Things will still be the same in the morning and we'll probably be able to think more clearly
then."
Severus raised an eyebrow at his childhood tormentor. "You're suggesting that we wait for the morning?"
"Yes, why?"
"You generally are not the one to suggest such rational behavior. I would expect that from Lupin." The Potions Master pulled his cloak around his shoulders. "I would suggest, however, that you get in contact with your cousin. The Tonks family will be good to have on our side as a magically-neutral family."
"I'll send a letter to Andy tomorrow morning. I doubt she'll want to be bothered by an owl at this time of night." He turned to Remus. "Does she have kids yet?"
"How should I know? It's your family." Remus got to his feet and collected the cups. "Have a good night, then, Severus, if I don't see you later."
"Good night." Severus and Sirius headed for the door as the third man went to the kitchen. "I have classes tomorrow. However, you may owl me if there is something urgent."
Sirius nodded and pulled open the door of Remus's flat. He made a mental note to discuss their living arrangements with Severus the next evening. There was no way two men,
plus a child who would hopefully go back to his boisterous self, could live in the small flat. He knew Remus and Severus had gone to Prince Manor, but hadn't heard what was the result. "'Night."
"Good night."
A/N: For anyone who asked and I didn't answer, or anyone who is thinking this: No, Harry is not being paired with Tonks! She's about 8 years older than him (too lazy to go get the timeline I made). But I do want her to feature in the story, as his older cousin or sister figure. Anyone else you want to see, aside from her, Neville, and Draco?
Hope you enjoyed!
