Harry groaned when sitting down at the Gryffindor table. Only one school day and he was already tired. Double detention last night had been jarring and he had problems keeping his eyes open. The snake, still with no name, was snuggly curled around his neck, keeping her body completely hidden in the folds of his robes. Dawn on the other hand, ever the bundle of energy, hopped over the table, demanding his attention. Harry raised his hand, nuzzling her under her beak in a tired motion. She caught his finger in her beak and started pulling at it. Harry yawned, trying his best to play with her. Someone sat down next to him and he felt a warm body bump into him slightly.

"Morning, Harry." He turned, staring into bright brown eyes, blinking for a moment.

"Hey there Gin. You all right?" He asked with a tired smile on his face. She nodded, tilting her head slightly.

"Yeah, but you don't look so good. Did you sleep badly?" She asked, reaching for a toast. Her red hair shone in the light that fell through the windows of the great hall and she looked a little worried about him. Her hand reached out and she placed it on his upper arm.

He nodded slightly rubbing his face with the palm of his hand. "Yeah, double detention last night." He groaned making her huff a little. She rubbed his upper arm, nodding sadly.

"Sorry. Detention on the first evening sucks. Who was it with?"

Harry sighed filling his cup with tea, put in a little sugar. He wished he could sleep a little more. Ginny looked over, seeing his empty plate. In a swift move, she placed her butter and jam covered toast on his plate and took a new one. Harry smiled at her, a genuine smile.

"First two hours cauldron scrubbing with Snape. Great fun, I know. After that, I went up to the tower helping Professor Scamander feeding a few animals. That was actually fun. He has a pair of albino salamanders. Said they wouldn't survive on their own until they are grown you know? So he raises them. Also, there is this hide-behind, a funny creature. The professor said his name was Hugo and Hugo liked apples." He snorted a little. Professor Scamander had said it quite a few times like it had been an old joke. Yet the hide-behind had been rather adorable when he reached from behind the tree carefully and slowly to snatch the apples from his hand, with his long furry fingers.

"Yet it took quite some time and it was past midnight when we were finally done. Professor Scamander even escorted me back to the Fat Lady, because it was way past curfew. Your dear brother snored quite loudly and someone" His eyes turned to a curious looking Dawn who was fighting with a grape about the size of her own head, butting it around and chirping loudly when she followed. "Thought it was a good idea to wake me early and demand cuddles and embers." His fingers reached out and booped Dawn in the side making her topple over and the grape roll away. Moments later a pouting and chirping Dawn hopped right on his toast, feet in his jam and chirped at him loudly. Ginny giggled next to him while continuing eating. Then a loud ruffling of feathers and wings was heard above their heads. Dozens of owls, like every morning, flew through a small window in the upper corner of the Hall. Harry noticed a white feathered snow owl, landing in front of him. He had asked her to bring a small thank you note to Mr Flamel before they had left with the train and she hadn't returned until now. With a wave of her wings, Hedwig landed on the table, hooting at him. She nudged Dawn slightly to the side, hooting at the smaller bird. While she seemed careful it was obvious whom Hedwig deemed higher up in the pecking order. The black and ember feather ball chirped jumping to the side. She had learned not to annoy the white owl quite early. Harry reached up with a tired smile. "Be nice Hedwig." He said when petting her feathers. He took the letter from her and she hooted, nibbling his finger for a moment in affection. He smiled, even more, offering the snow owl a piece of bacon. Hedwig graciously accepted, before spreading her wings again. Harry could feel Dawn's jealousy as the majestic white bird lifted herself into the air again. Harry chuckled as Dawn also spread her wings hopping and fluttering, trying to get lift-off herself with no success. He turned to the letter.

Dear Harry,

Your thanks are well received and I must thank you in turn again for letting me see this wonder once again. My wife and I are at best of health thank you for your question. As for your question all Phoenixes I have encountered take flight around two to four-month-old. Maybe we will find time in the future when we can talk quite more. I have heard you had a few interesting adventures over your Hogwarts years and I would be delighted for you to meet Ember.

With best wishes,

Nicolas

For a moment it got quiet between the two of them, then Ginny swallowed and stared at him. Harry noticed only after a few moments because he was trying to get a fluttering Dawn of his toast, without smearing himself completely with jam. The young lady cared nothing about it chirping and fluttering while sending waves of joy for being held through their bond. He finally managed to get her off the toast and cleaned her feet and his hands with a wave of his wand. Cleaning spells got easy when you had a hatchling that liked getting herself dirty. With a sigh, he placed her in her pouch and was just lucky that the snake was content to sleep around his neck still. Then he raised an eyebrow at Ginny.

"Yes?" He asked, seeing her intense stare now. She placed her toast down, her hazelnut eyes fixed on Harry's emerald green ones. She leaned over a little bit.

"What did you do with Daphne Greengrass down at the Lake?" Her voice was low almost whispering. Harry thought back to that dialogue, about a marriage contract and what entailed after it. He was pretty sure that this display of 'weakness' wasn't planned by Daphne, the tears and the defeat and he didn't want to bring that up really.

"T-That was a family matter. Sorry, can't talk about it." He stammered out, his face flushing slightly. Ginny frowned more, leaning closer.

"A family matter. At the boulder, also known as the make-out spot." She almost hissed it at him. Harry shuffled a little back, now really blushing.

"I didn't know what that place was called when I said she should meet me there or I would have never suggested it. It would have been improper."

Ginny's scowl deepened even more, while her own face turned a little red. Her eyes glared over at the Slytherin table for a moment, where Daphne Greengrass was sitting, dining with Tracey Davis. Harry's eyes followed hers and he blinked for a moment. Daphne sat there, her head held high, the long blond hair in a wave over her shoulder, nodding curtly. She had the bearing of a Lady. Her eyes wandered the Hall and stopped when she stared over the heads of other students right into the young Lord Peverell's. Dark green met emerald green. Harry gulped a little, quickly looking away.

"I...I forgot something in my dorm." Harry jumped from the bench like stung by a bee and hurried out of the hall, the leaving behind the uneaten toast and a grumbling Ginny. Why had Sirius said this would be fun with all the girls?

With a slight stumble, Sirius stepped out of the floo. He was getting better again, it was only a little difficult now. He came out in a great hall, dark grey marble as a floor, with an inlay in gold, showing a crest. The wainscoting on the walls was white, with warm green walls above. A large stallion was painted onto the wall between two staircases. Sirius waved his wand to get rid of the soot and turned to the man waiting for him. Lord Greengrass was standing there, hands behind his back, nodding at him.

"Lord Black, welcome to Greengrass Manor." His voice had returned to his firm and strong tone, his back was straight as an arrow and his gaze was calm yet dominant. Sirius nodded stiffly while stepping closer, reaching out with his hand.

"Thank you, Lord Greengrass. I'm glad to be out of the house." He said with a little smirk. Greengrass blinked once, before taking his hand. His handshake was firm and calm before he stepped to the side offering a direction. The two men walked side by side through the hall.

"And why would that be?" Greengrass asked, avoiding all emotions. They stepped through a door into a sitting room. It had a different approach than Sirius own, even though both houses used green as a primary colour. It was a much older style, with carved wooden furniture and a green carpet. All the wood was painted white and a grand piano was placed under one of the large windows. It was light and bright. You could see a wide park with neatly trimmed bushes through the windows and in the distance a little lake. It looked nice and very high class.

Sirius smiled a little sad. "Mostly because of Har... I mean, Lord Peverell is out of the house. Twelve years of knowing there is someone out there trying to hurt my godson and then my crazy cousin escaping from Azkaban isn't the best foundation for letting him go." He thought it would be better not to say that Narcissa had shot hexes at him when he had hurried to the floo. He had made one little joke and the woman had exploded like a cage full of pixies. It felt like something had shifted in her this night. She had glared at him for the whole morning, snapped and was being damn angry at the same time. She had shouted at him, before breaking out in tears, saying it was all Lucius' fault, he was stealing her baby, the whole nine yards. When he had tried to calm her down she had suddenly glared at him, yelled he had promised to keep her boy safe and then started shooting really nasty hexes at him. But that was something rather private so he kept his mouth shut about it.

"Yes, I feel the same way, Lord Black. My daughters are very precious to me and the kidnapping attempt hasn't been forgotten by me." Greengrass agreed, offering a place on a light green couch. Sirius sat down with a sigh leaning back. He took a cup of tea from a waiting house-elf with a nod, smiling, ginger tea with one spoon sugar. Lord Greengrass had made note the way he had ordered his own tea before and had kept it in the back of his mind. He took a sip. For a moment, both lords just sipped on their tea, before the older man set his cup down, waving his wand he made two sealed envelope float over to Sirius. In a flourishing hand, there was 'House Black' written on the front of the first and 'House Peverell' on the second.

"These are the formal invitations for our meeting about the life-debt. I hope these will find your approval." The grey-haired man said with a gruff voice and a finality that suggested he didn't want to speak much more about it. Sirius nodded, putting the envelopes in an inner pocket of his robes. Then he crossed his legs, smiling politely at the older man.

"Very well Lord Greengrass. I will contact Lord Peverell and inform him. I think we will come to an agreement of mutual benefit."

The man nodded dignified and then he let a little predatorily smile appear on his face. He leaned forward ever so slightly.

"Now, Lord Black. How about we talk about the interesting part of our meeting." He asked with a little bit of satisfaction in his words. Sirius chuckled and leaned forward.

"Ah yes. While my cousin asked that I set aside money for her son, in case he would ever need it, she has no problem with us utterly destroying that man. I had my solicitor look into the Malfoy estate. Apparently, most of their values lie in a few successful businesses, most notably Blumps Apothecary, Nimbus and the Daily Prophet. I think there would be a nice position, especially in the Daily Prophet, we can use. We only have to buy..."

The early morning was filled with a lot of sinister laughter. Sirius remember the times he and the Marauders had planed the next awesome prank and he got this little feeling this was the adult version of pranking. Just with dire, very dire consequences. But only for Malfoy.

Lucius Malfoy was sitting in the dining room of his Manor. The dark wooden table in front of him was decorated in a neat and sophisticated manner. His breakfast was still in front of him because he had wasted a lot of time yesterday and come home late, after which he had gone down to the duelling hall in the basement and blasted quite a few training dummies into pieces. Damn Black! Lucius's meeting with the Minister yesterday had not gone the way he wanted to. He had talked with him long about the state of Hogwarts and the Wizengamot. There were traditions, there were certain standards which should be held up. He had laid it all out, sound and clear. He had explained it so even an idiot would understand. Yet that utter dunderhead, Fudge had just smiled, nodded and then waved him off. Waved him off! Him, Lord Lucius Malfoy! Had told him he was just too uptight, had basically lapped at Black's feet, like a mutt rolling on his back to get his stomach scratched. He had told Lucius he didn't need to worry, the Ministry had it all under control, that Lord Black did such wonderful things. He had made a generous donation to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and his donation to the Department of Education had been outstanding. Lucius had seethed. Black had bought the Minister, pretty easy. Also, the man knew where more money would come from.

Lucius' hand crushed the newspaper it was holding with a loud crunch and he slammed his fist on the table. The plates jumped a little and his goblet toppled over, spilling his morning tea on the shining dark oak. Quickly a house-elf, stepped up, cleaning up. This was Potty, the one he bought seething after that damn Potter brat had stolen his old servant from him. Potter! That arrogant teen has been a thorn in his side for years now. Two years ago, he had been this close. This close! to getting that damn old meddler kicked out of school. He had been out already. Lucius had already set up his replacement, Lord Lestrange, the father of the Lestrange brothers and also an old friend. The man had introduced him to the services of the Dark Lord and paved his way to the inner circle of the fearsome death eaters. There had been rumours he went to school with the Dark Lord and had been associated, even back then, with the most powerful lord of all time. And then not only had the damn child stopped his plan, had killed the legendary creature of the noble Lord Slytherin, had foiled his wonderful plan to weed out these damn mudbloods and stolen his servant. No, the child even had the audacity to destroy the irreplaceable artefact he had been given by the Dark Lord himself and helped that old fool back to his post. For once Lucius was glad the Dark Lord had died, if he hadn't Lucius' punishment would have been long, hard and very, very painful for losing such a valuable item. For a moment he had even contemplated if it had been a good idea to even use it but that was stupid. He was a nobleman, he was Lucius Malfoy and he would form the world in the way he wanted it.

But by far the worst had been the way that low life had sneered at him during the Wizengamot session. The audacity of looking down at him, in front of the whole high society. Arrogant boy. He was Lucius Malfoy, he was feared in all of Britain, grown men cowered when they heard his name, he had crushed everything that had been in his way and now, a meagre teenager, a scrawny boy without even the ability to sort out his hair, an upstart wannabe Lord was so arrogant that he looked down at him like he was lower than him. He was Lord of a Noble and Ancient House, Peverell was merely a nobleman, no a noble child! And not by blood, but by some vague thousand-year-old dusty law he had snatched that title for himself and got Draco's title of Heir Black as well. Outrageous.

His face contorted in a sneer and he flinched. His hand raised to the bandages in his face. New blood seeped through the fabric, tinting it red. That blood whore! Not only did she disgrace him by not securing his sons title, she even ran to that blood traitor like a common rat and grovelled at his feet. She even had the nerve to cut his face. His face! His noble skin violated by that bloody filth. Oh, he would get her for that. He would get her and then he would make her scream for this impudence! Not like the slaps he had given her when she had been unruly in the early days of their marriage or when she had disgraced him in front of his peers. Oh no, he had this quiet little room down in the basement from back in the day, when the Dark Lord's just crusade had swept the land. He would bring her down there and she would never leave. That would be her payment. Even though he had tried everything, potions, charms everything he hadn't been able to heal the wound in his face. Even Severus had looked at it, trying to figure it out, but even his vast knowledge hadn't helped.

Lucius slapped Potty when she tried to clean the spilt tea with a rag. The elf tumbled down to the floor only to jump up instantly. He had learned the hard way that laziness wasn't considered well. "Bring me a pain reliever potion you scum."

The elf scrambled away, bowing and hurrying to please his ill-tempered lord. Lucius threw away the papers. Nothing interesting in it, only more glorification of Black and the announcement of the Triwizarding Tournament. He knew about this already. Of course, he knew, he had helped implement it. And whom did they give the gratitude for that? Black! Again! Maybe he should write the Prophet, he was shareholder there after all.

He picked up the letters next to his plate looking through. The first one was from Lord Parkinson. Lucius opened it and just skimmed the text for a moment, before tossing it aside. It was another plea, Parkinson all but begging him to reinstate the marriage contract between the two children. Like he ever would. He never wanted that. His aim was higher. He wanted the titles of Most Ancient and Noble House and for that, there was only one option. The Greengrass child. His plan had been stopped, yet again by Black and Potter, but he wouldn't give up. His family would rise, his son would get that coveted title. Still, it was amusing how Parkinson praised his daughter like she was the best cow at a breeding auction. He always pointed out how fertile the females in his family always had been, how Pansy would be a dutiful wife and how willingly she would give herself to Draco. Lucius snorted. Like the willingness played any part in this.

The next letter was from his Gringotts account manager. He frowned. This rarely happened. Mostly they were sent to his solicitor. He ripped it open pulling it out. His eyebrow rose. This was the payment notification for the purchase of clothes. He hadn't bought clothes for a while now. His eyes skimmed the articles. Robes for a man, a teenager and a woman. The prices were considerable. Not enough to put a large dent in his finances but he knew he hadn't purchased it. Then his eyes fell to the lowest part of this parchment. Purchase signed with the Lady-ship ring of House Malfoy. Narcissa! He seethed, ripping the parchment to shreds, even ignoring more pain in his face. He had HAD it. She had dug a deeper and deeper grave for herself.

With trembling hands, he picked up the next letter. Hrmm House Flint. Quickly he pulled it open. An offer for Marriage. Not for Draco but for Lucius himself. The daughter of Lord Flint's brother had just left Durmstrang and was of age. Lucius brushed his fingertip over his lower lip. He didn't NEED to marry again, he had an heir and didn't need more children. But a young wife at home would be nice if she wasn't too feisty. Also, the dowery was considerable. Not exorbitant but quite solid. He would have to think about it.

Two other letters from lower Lords, one from Spain, one from Italy were next, both offering their daughters hands in marriage for Draco. Lucius tossed them aside. House Audito from Italy, being close with the Vatican and House Publa with their high status as the royal magical family of Spain were the only ones he would consider from these two lands. He had a list for every country.

The last letter was different. The parchment was more businesslike, less noble. Also, the sigil of the Minister was on the front, proud and bright. Maybe Fudge had finally seen the truth and would come back to the fold. He would have to make amends though. No one brushed off Lucius Malfoy like this, not even the Dark Lord. After a ripping sound, he unfolded the letter.

Dear Lord Malfoy,

I come to you in grave concern and would like to meet with you in the near future. The state of our administration and the Wizengamot is worrying. Once such a proud and noble institution, it has fallen from grace in the recent past. We have opened our halls to those with no regards for proper conduct and with questionable relations. I know you have brought your concerns to the minister and I agree with you from the bottom of my heart. Something must be done and I hope to find in you someone with the strength and the prevision to help our glorious country back into its golden age on top of due world.

With utmost respect and admiration,

Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary of the Minister

That was interesting. He had heard of this woman. She was a little tacky and had no sense of fashion, but an eye for politics and she had spoken up when all the other fools had already licked Black's boot at his trial. It may be a good idea to speak to the women.

"Mylord, there are guests in the parlour." Potty stated, bowing deeply, while he held out a vial of pain-relieving potion. Lucius kicked the potion back and pushed his heavy chair back. He got up throwing his napkin at the table.

"Clean this up. The eggs were cold." He stated, not caring for the bowing creature, he walked out. Potty was well trained he knew he was expected to punish himself for that slight. Lucius walked down the echoing dark halls of Malfoy Manor. He liked the well-sophisticated style of the Manor. It represented strength and pride. Everyone walking through here knew this was the home of a true nobleman and a powerful one too. Most had cold sweat on the back of their necks by the time he reached them. Yet it wasn't as quiet as usual. There was a voice, singing, faintly, growing louder the more he closed in on the parlour.

"Kill the mudblood, make them cry.

Hurt the mudblood, let them die.

Burn their fingers, rip out their hair.

Pull at their flesh, make it tear.

Hack off their feet, feed them to the dog

Crush them under a big fat log.

Nev my heart, don't be shy.

This is how the mudblood die."

Lucius was feeling the cold sweat running down his spine when he heard that voice. For thirteen years he hadn't heard it and to this day he felt his heart clench when he did. This woman was disturbing. She was the utter hotness that the Black Family had bred into all their daughters, sex on legs so to speak. She had a dream of a body, long black hair all the way down and a bussom that was worth dying for. He had briefly considered marrying her instead of Narcissa, but there was one problem. She was just insane, even back then. Her mind was completely gone, the Dark Lord had entranced her completely. Lucius was pretty sure his former sister in law was in love with their master and would do anything for him. He was no delicate man and he hurt those he hated and enjoyed it but Bellatrix Lestrange enjoyed pain period. Even her own. Lucius had seen her being put under the Cruciatus by their Lord and Master, twisting and twitching in pain, because she had failed in finding the Longbottoms. Then their master had left and she had been just lying on the floor only to giggle. When she had been asked what she was laughing about she had stated their master's powerful presence had excited her a little too much and her underwear was in kind of a crisis. Lucius had quickly left the room when the woman had pressed her hand into the folds of her skirt and made...disturbing sounds of pain and pleasure.

The only thing that was more disturbing than her weird fetishes and utterly crazy mind was her duelling power. Bellatrix Lestrange was feared amongst her peers because she was by far the strongest, quickest and nastiest fighter in the entirety of the death eater ranks. She killed more Aurors and blood traitors than anyone with the sole exception of the Dark Lord himself. The fact that she was crazy didn't help. She had also killed more of their own than anyone, lashing out for the most stupid reasons. She killed Tallhouse for the crime of breathing too loud in the Dark Lord's presence.

And now she was here. This was bad. Really bad. If somebody found her. Or worse if she went berserk again. He had to get rid of her quickly. He could do this, just be careful. Malfoy straightened his back and pushed open the doors to the parlour. The singing stopped. At the window stood a tall muscular man, his hand folded behind his back, staring out into the garden. The man wore ragged clothes and had unruly hair but he looked as strong as thirteen years ago. The infamous werewolf. The Dark Lord's rabid dog. Fenrir Greyback. Over his shoulder, Lucius saw the dismembered corpses of his white peacocks on the lawn. Blood was sprayed over white feathers and wings were broken. Lucius gritted his teeth. The birds had been his pride, difficult to breed and very expensive. It had taken him years to get this many and they were irreplaceable and now they were slaughtered for no reason than amusement. Seeing them killed made his blood boil.

He quickly pulled his gaze away from his beloved animals, before he could say something and concentrated on the other person in the room. Sitting on a couch was his former sister in law. She had a long white peacock feather between her bloody fingers, playing with it in a delicate way. It was the only pure and delicate thing about her. Whatever sexiness, whatever outer beauty she once had, it was gone completely. It had been replaced with gaunt features, a body thin as a twig. Her bones could be seen easily, her eyes were dark-rimmed and bloodshot. The hair on her head was unruly, a true birds nest. Her fingernails were long, crusted with dirt. Her lips were dry and cracked when she smiled brightly at Lord Malfoy. Her eyes burned with insanity. She waved with the feather and jumped from the couch. Greyback turned around, staring at Malfoy with the thoughtful look of a hunter measuring his prey. Bella skipped over to her former brother in law.

"LUCY! It's been tooooooo long. Say would you be a dear and fetch my sister? I missed my Cissy-baby so much."