Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you can recognise from any books or TV series or movies. I do however take liberties with the plots or mentions provided by JKR or other writers. The only profit I'm getting out of it is improving my English.
Title: Secrets & Keepers – Entropy
Rating/Warnings: R/M [AU; Manipulative Dumbledore (therefore not Dumbledore friendly); profanity; canon typical violence; frank discussion of past child abuse (Harry but not only) and of past child abuse of sexual nature (not Harry); not very detailed descriptions of torture (not Harry); Black family feels; identity crisis; pureblood politics; good Slytherins]
Characters and pairings: Harry Potter, Sirius Black, Regulus Black, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Bathsheda Babbling. As well as Hermione Granger, Arcturus Black, Larry Lawrence (OC) and Josephine Turner (OC). The rest of characters will appear as the story progresses.
All adults are more or less paternal towards Harry or grandfatherly towards Hermione as well as generally friendly or at the very least civil towards each other once they sort out their differences.
References to past and present relationship of sexual nature between Snape and Babbling. Occasional mentions of one sided Sirius/James, not one sided Sirius/OFC (the woman of many names). Contains mentions of Remus/Tonks, eventual allusions to Larry/Josephine and background Arcturus/Melania. No Harry or Hermione pairings because they have a lot on their plates and won't have time for teenage nonsenses for a longer while (at the very least through PoA timeline).
Spoilers: All seven books with occasional, brief references to ground work for HP & CC main plot as well as Secrets & Keepers – Collision Course and Secrets & Keepers – Supernova.
Summary: Harry & Hermione learn that as weird as everything become in the aftermath of learning devastating news is that the life actually goes on. There's a Dark Lord to destroy, a manipulative Headmaster to overthrow, family bonds and new friendships to establish and old ones to maintain. Direct sequel to S&K - Collision Course and S&K - Supernova.
Chapter summary: The last will and testament of Sirius Orion Black as well as that of Arcturus Sirius Black cause some distress.
Word count: About 14 000.
Author's note: This one was a little tricky and might be considered as out of character for certain individuals that appear in it. But truthfully there was no better time for involving them than here and now and the more I thought about what comes later… I hope that its length will compensate how short the last one was. The one that comes after it is shaping to be just as long if not even longer than that. Hopefully I will manage to close it at around 15 k but Sirius's psyche is a very interesting place for a writer so I'm not making promises as I kind of want to close the whole issue that it concerns within one chapter.
Next chapter might be posted within next two weeks, maybe sooner.
I hope that You will find this story as enjoyable to read as it was for me to write and I would love to hear what you think.
If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
~Stephen Levine
Secrets & Keepers – Entropy
Chapter fourteen: The Will and the Way
Sirius Black, 13th August, 12 Grimmauld Place, London
He knew that there was no way to avoid the elephant in the room but after several glares aimed at Regulus, Remus and Dora the attempts at further conversation about Lily's request had dwindled. Not that any of them, especially Harry, appeared to be convinced. It had helped that he resorted to nonverbal responses and picking on his food.
He had no doubts about whatever or not he should go with Lily's offer. Harry's safety was paramount and that was the end of that. And his own life held very little value to him and for a very long time. Not that he didn't need a backup plan for what would become of Harry in the event of his demise.
No, what gnawed on him wasn't doubt but guilty conscience. Because it wasn't just words that were spoken that returned. Thoughts and feelings did too. He tried his best to wall them off but each time he was convinced that he managed to contain them behind his mental wards he only needed to glance at Harry for the thoughts to return with vengeance.
"You deserted me," he heard a livid whisper spoken by a voice that sounded like pissed off James.
"I didn't and you know that," he countered, in his mind to not alert the others.
"You were ready to," protested James. "And now you're making friends with Snivellus of all people."
He snorted audibly at that comment, quickly covering it with a sip from his goblet (just plain water for him while the other adults were drinking elf-made wine that Kreacher offered).
"Lily would have called it using the library like civilised adults we're both supposed to be and we're doing that for the sake of saving your son's life, you twat," he objected. "If you hadn't been blinded by your own hate then maybe we would have a chance to talk about it in person. Now fuck off because I have to compose a will."
Old will wouldn't do, not anymore and not in its entirety. Naturally Harry would inherit both the position of the Head of the Black family and his worldly possessions but Harry also needed a legal guardian. A guardian who was aware of Dumbledore's shadiness, not easily bendable to Headmaster's will and possibly they should also be in the known about Horcruxes. His first instinct was to make Reg Harry's guardian but it wasn't the best choice. Not that Reg wouldn't have done right by Harry and would sooner beat Dumbledore to death with his bare hands than allow any harm to come to Harry from Dumbledore. No, the problem with Reg was the Dark Mark he carried and his own status of being supposedly dead and dead he needed to stay for as long as the Dark Lord's existed.
Then there was Remus and while he loved the man he still didn't completely trust him. Betrayal wasn't an issue, Remus was pissed off at Dumbledore and wary enough to not go and babble. The problem was that Remus was very forgiving and if not now then maybe in the future… Not that it mattered when faced with the biggest problem why Remus couldn't be made Harry's guardian. He wasn't sure how werewolf's rights looked right now but he sincerely doubted that they had been changed for the better and even way back then the only time a werewolf could adopt a child was if a) the child in question was related to the werewolf and had no other family left and b) was willing to live with a werewolf (and Ministry workers made their damned best to ensure that it didn't happen too often).
Snape and Bathsheda, together and/or separately were out of questions for the sake of secrecy and subterfuge. Not that Bathsheda wouldn't do it if he asked her, she would have but naming her Harry's guardian would mean drawing Dumbledore's attention to her and that wasn't good.
Then there was Grandpa Arcturus and wasn't that a can of worms. He still wasn't certain how he felt about the man. Part of him was glad that he was alive but part of him was still pissed that he did nothing to improve his or Harry's situation. Arcturus would guard Harry with ferocity of a Gringotts's goblin and like one would use him for his own purposes. What sort of purposes Sirius wasn't certain but he sincerely doubted that he didn't have them. And Grandpa Arcturus as Harry's guardian posed another problem, Sirius was the only one who knew that the older man was alive and it wasn't that he distrusted Reg but…
That left Dora. She was young enough to relate easily to Harry (and capable of making him laugh which was a good thing) but also of legal age. She was relentless in pursuit of Sirius and with proper tutelage and guidance she would be able to stonewall Dumbledore and the Ministry for a very long time.
He was so lost in his own head that he only realised that the meal had passed when Reg placed a cup of tea by his hand and placed his other hand on his shoulder.
He quickly examined the room and found all of the adults still seated at the table.
"Where's…" he started.
"Sleeping," replied Regulus as he sat down next to him. "Dinner and desert made him sleepy, not that me giving him wine cut with water had helped him to stay awake for long. It's not going to hurt him."
Sirius grunted.
"Now," continued Regulus. "You had more than enough time to form your opinion about Lily's proposition but allow us…"
"You think that it's bloody dangerous and that we should try to find another route. Remus and Dora are likely siding with you," he replied with a sigh before he reached for his cup of tea.
"I agree," said Bathsheda calmly. "It isn't safe," she paused. "But I'm not forgetting what's at stake. Right now the boy is protected by the blood wards that Dumbledore reimburses annually around the Dursleys household. The last one happened in recent months. We all know how powerful he is and even he has to make them conditional as his own individual levels of power aren't enough to ensure that the protection lasts the entire year. At the very least that's what we had seen in so far," she paused again. "Then there's the condition itself which is an issue," she paused once more but briefly. "The boy remains safe from the Dark Lord's direct attack for as long as he considers his aunt's household as a home. If that was the case he wouldn't have spent every single school brake aside of the summer holidays at the castle and from what I managed to establish that if he was given an option to stay away from the Dursleys permanently he would have taken it."
"And he has it now," muttered Snape as he gestured towards Sirius. "Not legally and lawfully yet but it's only a matter of time before the wards will collapse because the conditions aren't met."
"Point," agreed Remus grimly.
"Here's another," replied Regulus. "Although Sirius is a fugitive he's also Harry's godfather and his legal guardian. What's going to happen to him if the process fails and Sirius dies?"
Sirius glanced at Snape.
"It's a possibility," Snape answered simply as he stared into his own cup of tea. "I'm not going to sugar-coat the real odds of the process killing him. The stakes are high but malnourishment aside he appears to be in much better state than the candidates for the treatment that successfully complete it."
"But?" pressed Regulus.
"There is a number of places where the process can go wrong and legal ramifications aside…" continued Snape.
"Forget about legal ramifications," Sirius interrupted him. "I'm a fugitive and there would be no investigation into my death. Not unless Reg wishes to press the charges," he added as he looked at his brother.
"I can't stop you from signing an eventual death warrant on yourself I'm just begging you to consider all of the outcomes," protested Regulus with a small huff.
"I'm considering them," said Sirius calmly.
And he had. He wasn't as disillusioned by optimism as many of the fellow Gryffindors had been and his entrance into adulthood hadn't done anything to improve his realistic outlook at life in favour of optimism. Regardless of what other people thought he was simply just better at faking optimism.
His eventual death would leave Harry without a legal guardian, with a shadow of determined Dark Lord looming over him as well as the search for Horcruxes and one manipulative Headmaster.
"Dora," he said calmly.
"Yes?" she asked quickly, expecting a question directed at her rather than a request. "Wait! What?" she quickly caught up. "You want me to be Harry's guardian in case it fails? But why?"
"Because as much as I love your mother I don't trust her enough to not bend to Dumbledore's will," he answered. "Harry will need a guardian that needs to be aware of the threats to his safety as well as other issues."
"Why not any of them?" asked Dora sceptically, gesturing towards the other occupants of the room.
So he told her, and the others in the process, omitting again the not exactly dead state of Grandpa. That would be a discussion for another date and preferably after he would gain certainty that Grandpa's offers were worth anything. As he expected they all agreed with his reasoning.
"The questions that remains," he concluded as he looked at Snape. "Is how safe can you make it?"
Snape frowned briefly before he asked pensively, "For whom? Yourself or the boy?" he looked up at Sirius. "Assuming that you want to maximise the odds of your own survival and transfer the protection while the old one is still strong and not yet affected by the boy's changing perception of home and family…" he paused briefly. "From research, just theoretical, mind you, I know that majority of the successful treatments had taken place on the new moon…"
"Which is in four days," muttered Remus pensively.
"Which doesn't exactly leave you and I with a lot of time to test for potential allergic reactions, which is the major problem and one of the causes of death with unsuccessful cases. Then there's your overall state of health which while better than normal patients is still far from ideal," continued Snape. "While undergoing the treatment you will require constant monitoring which during the school year would be very problematic."
"So professionally you advise to wait and personally you're leaning towards haste," stated Sirius.
"I didn't say that," objected Snape. "I just believe that for both cases we can find convincing argument and that ultimately it isn't my decision to make."
"What are my odds with haste?" asked Sirius pensively.
"Assuming that you will pass tests for allergies without a problem?" asked Snape. "You've got to remember that you aren't suffering from teip fola. Odds are that the first phase will cause your body to go into shock and once the first potion will start to work there will be very little that I can do to negate its effect. The changes it causes are irreversible and while I can moderately alleviate certain side effects of the potion I need to be very careful about introducing affecting agents. Then there's the transformation process which is another place where everything can go wrong…"
"Because due to their own ignorance and over relying on blood replenishing potions not many wizards, healers included, heard of blood types," Sirius interjected. "I heard that one, quite frequently. Enough to get tested, I'm O negative, just like Lily. Would that help?" he asked.
"Immensely," muttered Snape. "This might work," he added after a moment. "It's sure as hell that it's not going to be a pleasant experience for you…"
Secrets & Keepers – Entropy
Sirius Black, 14th August, 12 Grimmauld Place, London
Early evening found him in Regulus's old bedroom, the claim on which Regulus completely relinquished to him, not that he had done much sleeping in there. He still felt very uneasy about sleeping in human form and found that he had an easier time falling asleep when Harry was in the room and in his dog form. It wasn't exactly a good thing though, Harry was a teenager and needed privacy. He didn't request it yet but it was only a matter of time before he would be told to bugger off.
That particular evening, after majority of the day being spent at being poked and prodded by Snape with various things that had a chance of killing him during the process that he was going to undergo in a couple of days, he was penning the update on his last will and testament. He was so focused on his task that he ignored the knock on the door and only realised that he wasn't alone when Harry cleared his throat.
He looked up just in time to see Harry frown at the headline of his last will and testament. Not good.
"Hey," he greeted him, pushing the current page he was writing to cover the headline.
"Hey," Harry replied gloomily. "I've been talking…" he started.
"Oh, boy," sighed Sirius, knowing that he wasn't going to like the discussion ahead.
"Yeah," said Harry as he leaned against the wall by the desk, crossing his arms in a very Lily manner.
Sirius smiled softly to himself at that. Harry did look like James but the more time Sirius spent with him the more he realised that his mannerism was more Lily than James, maybe with the exception of swiping his fringe out of his eyes, that one was very James thing.
"You don't have to do this," said Harry slowly. "Not at the expense of your own life. Not for me," he added meekly.
"That you believe that is all the reason in the world why I should," answered Sirius calmly. "If it works and I fully trust your mother's judgement…"
"And Snape's judgement as well," Harry interjected with a grimace.
"Has he said anything?" asked Sirius pensively.
Snape wasn't nonverbal during the tests, explaining in a calm dispassionate manner what he was doing and why he needed this or that result, imploring Sirius more with his behaviour rather than his words to be truthful about how he was feeling after being administered an ingredient or a concoction. But also he wasn't going out of his way to thoroughly describe the whole process, the only thing he did say about it was that he needed to make adjustments.
"Not really," answered Harry with a shrug. "Reg did."
Sirius frowned and scratched his chin before he asked, "What it's really all about, Harry?"
"You risking your life…" started Harry only to suddenly stop.
"For you," finished Sirius. "Lily…"
"Wouldn't have lost her life if it wasn't for me," Harry muttered.
"You didn't kill her, the Dark Lord did," said Sirius calmly.
"But he wouldn't do that if she didn't have me," Harry replied gloomily.
"If she didn't have you then she would have a different child," countered Sirius. "Harry, they were a young married couple and James…" he sighed. "He came from a family that was on the brink of extinction and whatever their marriage was going to last or not they were always going to have children and they would always oppose the Dark Lord. Say you weren't born when you had or that they had a different child…" he paused for a moment. "How do you think it would have ended?"
Harry shrugged.
"Maybe they would have survived," Sirius continued calmly. "Or maybe they would still lose their lives. I don't know that, you don't know that. But that isn't what happened. They had you and in the time they had you they did their best to bring you up happy and safe and that's the only thing that matters. And it's exactly what I want. I want you to be happy and safe."
"This isn't exactly making me happy," muttered Harry.
"But it will make you safe and if I learned one thing about parenting is that sometimes when you're left with no other choice you have to sacrifice your child's happiness for its safety," replied Sirius.
"What if all of this will only make him stronger?" asked Harry quietly as he gestured towards his scar. "You don't know that."
"You're right," sighed Sirius. "I don't know that. What I do know is that if it will work as its intended it will give us time, time to fix this," he gestured towards Harry's scar. "Time to save you."
"And if it doesn't?" mumbled Harry.
"That's why I need to make sure that if anything goes wrong you will end in safe hands," replied Sirius and he proceed to explain to Harry what he came up with.
Secrets & Keepers – Entropy
Sirius Black, 16th August, The Black Manor, Derbyshire
Inevitably he knew that he was going to end up there again but back then he didn't expect to return there so soon and for a different reason than the update on how his legal status looked like. But there were things which he needed to discuss with Grandpa.
He had found him in the inner courtyard, at the table under the shade of an apple tree with books spread all around the small table and a half-empty cup of tea at his elbow.
"Sirius," Arcturus greeted him, without raising from his seat, the privilege of both age and position, at the very least in theory. "I don't exactly have an update for you yet."
"Doesn't really matter," sighed Sirius as he sat down. "I have one."
He explained what was going to happen tomorrow but without going into details at all, allowing the older man to believe that Regulus was the one whose potion-making abilities he was trusting.
"You aren't telling me that to talk you out of it," sighed Arcturus heavily.
"But you're going to try doing that anyway," Sirius said and echoed his sigh.
"Surprisingly, no, I know you too well to know that if you're confiding in me it's because you made up your mind and there's no talking you out of it," replied Arcturus grimly. "Tea?"
"Yes, please," answered Sirius.
"Tommy, fresh pot and a cup for Master Sirius," called out Arcturus. "Why are you here?"
"Because if anything happens to me…" started Sirius.
"If you die during the process you mean," corrected him Arcturus.
"I want to make sure that Harry will remain safe from both the Dark Lord and Dumbledore's grasps. I don't know if Reg would be willing to repeat the process on himself, he isn't exactly convinced that I should do it…"
"So you want me to do it," interjected Arcturus with a sigh.
"No," replied Sirius. "If it fails I don't want anyone to do it. It's the fastest and easily available method of protecting him but we both know that it isn't the only one. There are other ways and you're the one with the access to them. Reg is going to need help as will Dora…"
"Dora?" asked Arcturus curiously.
"There are certain issues…" started Sirius slowly, grimacing slightly.
His own freedom was something he was trusting Arcturus with but Horcruxes were a completely different issue which he really didn't feel comfortable with explaining.
"Which you aren't going to share with me," finished Arcturus with a sigh.
"Not because I don't trust you," continued Sirius undeterred.
"But you don't exactly trust me because I gave you no reasons to," interjected Arcturus. "I understand that."
"Proudclaw already received the updated version of my last will and testament. It required only minor adjustments as the only thing that changed was Harry's guardianship. He's also going to ensure that this is the only version of the will that the Ministry will have access to," explained Sirius.
"Then why are you telling me that?" asked Arcturus pensively.
"Because if I'm dead you will have no reasons to play dead anymore," replied Sirius. "Dora is young, ferocious and determined. But she's going to need both the guidance and protection. She experienced only the bad side of being a Black and if I'm gone then she would need to experience the other."
From the inner pocket of his robe he pulled out the letters which he had written to both Dora and Regulus.
"If I die, the wards will grant you access and the letters will convince them to work with you," he added quietly.
"Because in a truly Black manner you had failed to mention to them that I'm not exactly dead," huffed Arcturus.
"I don't exactly have grounds to completely trust you, do I?" snorted Sirius and huffed.
"It's a slow going process," replied Arcturus.
"Keen to share?" asked Sirius curiously.
"Not yet," answered Arcturus with a shrug. "But you have the best damned lawyer I could find and he believes in your innocence."
"Damocles?" hummed Sirius.
"Nope," replied Arcturus, popping the p with a certain amount of smugness. "But a Greengrass and one whose abilities I do trust. It's just…" he hesitated.
"Before you serve a meal you need to clear the table," finished Sirius with a nod. "So who is leaving it?"
"Lucius Malfoy," replied Arcturus.
"Permanently?" enquired Sirius curiously.
"Temporarily at the moment but I have faith in the dangerous flora and fauna as much as I have faith tin his greed leading to his eventual downfall," replied Arcturus just as the fresh pot of tea appeared on the table.
"If it happens then it couldn't happen to the nicer person," agreed Sirius.
Secrets & Keeper – Entropy
Andromeda Tonks, 14th August 1993, Tonks's Residence, London
Andromeda didn't exactly believe in precognition or attributed to instincts paranormal aspects. That said she was grateful that today was Saturday and as the owner of the clinic she didn't have to go to work today. Especially after receiving the letter from Proudclaw.
Something happened. She wasn't exactly sure what it was and what had changed for Proudclaw to send that again. But something did happen and her gut was telling her that…
The doorbell had rung precisely at nine o'clock, a socially acceptable time for a surprise visit from magical family members. Ted's relatives, Muggles all of them, while still very exuberant and impulsive about visits in recent years had learned to forewarn the Tonkses with a phone call. So with Andromeda's relatives mostly dead or imprisoned and Dora backpacking through Italy it only meant one person.
Narcissa that she found on her doorstep looked in every inch like a woman of her financial status without betraying her true nature by her looks. She looked gorgeous and at the same time awful because neither her carefully applied make-up or meticulously arranged hair or implacable summer rode hadn't done anything to cover the signs of sleepless night or anxiety.
"Can we talk?" she asked in a tone that barely covered her nervousness.
It was both a request for conversation as much as a gentle prompting whatever or not Ted was around which signalled the need for secrecy.
"Of course," Andromeda answered calmly as she opened the door further to let Cissy in. "Ted is with his brothers until lunch. They all volunteer as coaches at the football club."
"And you don't mind?" Cissy asked with just right amount of curiosity.
"Why should I?" asked Andromeda lightly as she led Cissy to the kitchen. "I don't have to feed them all and I do know what they're capable of putting away. They get both brotherly bonding and exercise and through the rest of the weekend I can have my husband for myself. Tea?"
"Yes, please," answered Cissy as she slid down into the seat in breakfast corner, eyeing remains of Andromeda's indulgent breakfast with a crossword.
"Earl grey?" prompted Andromeda.
"Something stronger?" asked Cissy demurely.
"Irish breakfast with whiskey in it?" enquired Andromeda, not exactly too harshly.
Cissy pondered briefly before she sighed, "It's got to be five o'clock somewhere."
"China, Indonesia and some part of Australia if I remember correctly," replied Andromeda.
"Tea drinking nations," Cissy nodded slowly.
"Did you have breakfast?" asked Andromeda as she poured hot water into the pot. "I only have cooking whiskey and that thing is strong. I'm not really looking forward to dragging you from under the table this early."
The grunt that came from the direction of the table signalised that breakfast couldn't be further from Narcissa's mind this morning. Luckily for her sister Andromeda was a practical woman with a demanding job and a husband and a daughter that in the morning were hardly capable of not burning down the teapot by accident let alone making breakfast that was more creative than scrambled eggs. That's why she had the freezer stoked with frozen waffles for reheating.
She placed both the cup of tea and a plate with reheated waffles in front of Narcissa before she returned to the fridge and pulled out homemade strawberry jam and the bottle of whiskey. As she predicted Narcissa wasted little time before she dug in.
"Merlin," she groaned. "I love your strawberry jam," she added and sighed contently.
"Aunt Mel's recipe," replied Andromeda as she returned to the table with a fresh cup of tea for herself.
"With a touch of wild berries and a sprinkle of mint," said Cissy with a slow nod.
"Handmade so all the magic goes into the product and not the process," agreed Andromeda. "So what's wrong?" she prompted.
Not that seeing her sister wasn't nice but social visits from Narcissa since she got married and became a mother were very few and very far between. The last time she and Narcissa were together in the same room in the last couple of years was during their father's funeral.
The subject of their discussion back then however was the same as she was feeling deep in her gut was going to be of this one. The last will and testament of Arcturus Sirius Black and bequests made to both of them and their children.
The Tonkses unlike the Malfoys weren't rich but were doing better than some of their distant relatives (cough Weasleys cough). Between Ted and Andromeda they managed to put away enough money for a nice cottage in Surrey which they were planning on renting until Dora would be serious enough about a guy (or a gal, they were both open-minded in that regard) to have her partner move in with her. It was both necessary and honourable thing to do as Narcissa and Sirius ensured that the house they were living in was in Dora's name. They weren't ridiculously rich but they had enough money to afford comfortable lifestyle that suited them, with enough indulgencies to save a bit here and there for occasional splurges, like fancier vacations and a school fund for eventual grandchildren.
That's why they hardly needed the Black family money, just like the Malfoys had and both Narcissa and Andromeda declined their share of inheritance, although Andromeda was more polite in her refusal than Narcissa. But that was over a year and half ago. Things could change overnight let alone than within a year.
Narcissa instead of answering the question reached for her tea and took a big sip only to immediately fill up the cup with whiskey.
"I don't know where to start," she sighed heavily and when Andromeda opened her mouth she quickly added, "I know that at the beginning. Thing is, I have no idea where to begin."
"Does it have something with renewed offering of the inheritance from Uncle Arcturus?" asked Andromeda pensively.
"You received one too?" asked Narcissa, slightly raising her eyebrows. "Of course you did," she answered her own question. "Have you reconsidered?"
"Have you?" asked Andromeda pointedly because two could play this game.
"I had," whispered Narcissa, her voice was barely audible. "I didn't contact Proudclaw yet but I have more reasons to accept it now rather than deny it."
Andromeda hadn't said a word, knowing that any interruptions would spook Cissy from saying what was on her mind.
"Lucius," started Narcissa slowly. "For all his faults and issues I developed with him over the years had always been a dedicated father to Draco. Sometimes too stern and at times downright cold but…" she hesitated. "I believed that he always looked out for both Draco's safety and best interests even if I didn't always agree with his choices," she flinched slightly.
"But?" Andromeda prompted her softly.
"Lucius didn't want to send Draco to Hogwarts," sighed Narcissa. "I objected, quite ferociously. Dumbledore might be leading the school but he doesn't exactly teach there and I trusted the competence of his teachers more than I trusted that of Karkaroff's. Draco is young, malleable and after Bella…" she grimaced. "I didn't want him to grow up as obsessed with Dark Arts as Bella had been or…"
"Lucius is," muttered Andromeda.
"He claims that it's a simple collectors curiosity but…" she hesitated. "Around the time Uncle Arcturus passed away and Father…" she grimaced. "Draco returned from Hogwarts and he and Lucius had been talking a lot, alone. After Draco returned to school I started seeing him a lot of times paging through an empty diary with a contemplative look on his face. I didn't like it."
"You said as much?" asked Andromeda curiously.
"I didn't have to," sighed Narcissa. "After…" she paused and liked her lips. "After Regulus…" her eyes grew slightly misty and somehow Andromeda doubted that Cissy was talking about their long deceased cousin.
"Was it spontaneous?" Andromeda asked gently.
"No," the whisper in which Narcissa said it was barely audible. "It wasn't," she added a bit more loudly. "That was enough for me but I knew that it wouldn't be enough for Draco. Not enough to uproot him, not back then, not when I had nowhere to turn without losing my son in the process," a single tear spilled from her eye and ran down her cheek but she wiped it quickly. "I threatened him and it worked. He can't exactly ruin other people lives by playing his games if he's dead. He never cared about the house-elves enough to know for certain whose family which one of them came from and they were all loyal to me. So as the years passed we continued to coexist, playing polite for Draco and discussing stuff that concerned him."
"Understandable," said Andromeda with a small nod. "Not what I would have done but…"
"Well, you were the braver one," said Narcissa with a small shrug. "Still are. You married for love and worked hard to make a name for yourself. You have friends whom you can trust and confide in and I have no one. By my own choices, but I don't exactly want to talk about that, not yet."
Andromeda refilled their cups with fresh tea.
"Lucius has enemies and not only political ones. I won't go into politics but there's one who is both a political and a personal enemy," said Narcissa slowly. "Some would say that it's a justified hostility."
"And you would agree with them," mussed Andromeda at loud.
"I don't know for certain," sighed Narcissa. "I know Lucius and I know with whom his loyalty lies. I know that our cousin had made some poor choices in his life and not only by falling in love with a Prewett or giving into her desire to have a daughter," she paused briefly, "after six sons."
"But?" prompted her Andromeda.
"I don't really care about them. They aren't that close family and to quote Aunt Mel, they're bloody grown up people and fully capable of making their own bed. It's not about that. But ever since Draco was old enough to accompany us on errands I made sure that one of the elves had eyes on him at all times when we were outside the wards of the manor. It's not his own manservant, Lucius doesn't believe in fostering the bonds between masters and elves the same way our family had. But there's a group of elves that made an oath to me and not Lucius, those I always trusted with looking out for Draco when I was unable to do so. They were always fond of him, especially the kids which is why they agreed to follow him to Hogwarts," she explained slowly.
Andromeda stayed silent.
"The day it happened one of them was shadowing them around the alley, it was towards the end of the summer. I don't really get why so many people leave off their school shopping until the very least…" she trailed off with a shrug.
"Lucius had an altercation with Arthur," guessed Andromeda.
"To put it mildly," said Narcissa with a snort. "But Eddie witnessed something. Lucius slipped something into Arthur's daughter school purchases, something that according to Eddie's descriptions looked much like that empty notebook. At the time I made nothing of it, it didn't exactly look very peculiar and I bet you that you could find a similar one in any of the shops that sell notebooks on both sides of the world. But as the school year progressed something started happening…"
The tale that followed was horrifying for Andromeda as both a mother and a sensible citizen and when Narcissa finished recounting the tale of her tail she was speechless with shock and completely mortified on everyone's behalf.
"Do you see it now?" asked Narcissa quietly.
The way that question was phrased could mean many things and while strictly speaking Narcissa wasn't a bad person she didn't exactly harbour warm feelings towards Muggleborns or would have cared about their wellbeing further than not actively wishing them death. Ted was the exception of that rule but only because Ted was the father of Andromeda's daughter and an exceptional baker. Even then since Narcissa married Lucius at the best of times their interactions were civil if very restrained to coldly polite.
"I see why Lucius was relieved from the position," said Andromeda slowly. "But for the life of me I can't see how the Board agreed that Dumbledore should return to the helm of the school. Potter boy and his friends had done all the heavy lifting and that old goat is the one that gets the price."
"You concentrated on that?" asked Narcissa sceptically.
"I could concentrate on the hefty fines your husband should be paying to all the victims," replied Andromeda sarcastically.
"Aside of Arthur's daughter all of them were Muggleborn. Arthur would never accept Lucius's money and the parents of others…" replied Narcissa with a grimace.
"Wouldn't know that they can demand a compensation on their children behalf until someone will tell them that," finished Andromeda, not really hiding the bitterness from her voice.
"Not my money therefore not really my choice," replied Narcissa with a grimace.
"Not your children therefore not exactly your concern more like it," muttered Andromeda.
"That too," sighed Narcissa. "I know what you're thinking, Meda," she added with a grimace. "But right now I don't exactly care for honour or decency. I stayed with Lucius for as long as I could because I believed that he would do right by Draco. But I'm not naïve enough to believe that that bloody basilisk was being selective. They never are. So while that bastard had endangered other people's children he also put our son's life at risk. It was nothing but a stroke of pure dumb luck that Draco had never been nowhere near the places of attack when they were happening."
"But he could have been," agreed Andromeda with a hum.
"It's not just that," said Narcissa grimly. "This thing, this notebook. Lucius got the remains of it back and I had a chance to examine its aura. I have seen many foul objects in my life but no magic had felt fouler to me than this thing. And then there's the Dark Lord," she added and paused for a moment.
"You were never marked," said Andromeda because she knew as much.
Narcissa nodded slowly, "Unless they were as insanely devoted to him as Alecto or Bella or had something to offer to him the Dark Lord held little regard to wives or mothers of his followers. I was a new wife and then a new mother and Lucius's position in his ranks… I can't exactly say that it protected me from being approached but… The only thing that Bella could buy was the notion that like many others I was aiding his cause by bearing heirs and ensuring their proper upbringing. It was barely enough for her but he…" she swallowed.
"He didn't care as much as she did," finished Andromeda.
"That said," continued Narcissa and sighed heavily. "The manor hadn't been the central of his operations but I know that some of the meetings held place there. And I've seen how some of his followers looked like when they were leaving it," she paused briefly. "In recent years the intelligent ones came to the conclusion that their own political cause had never fared this well as it had been. Money, political power, respect amongst their peers, you name it, it all had been achieved without the Dark Lord's help…"
"… or interference," added Andromeda with a snort.
"Most certainly no more purebloods were dying just because they ineptitude or stupidity had enraged their master," commented Narcissa sourly. "That shadow the boy encountered in the chamber…" she paused to swallow thickly. "I don't know what that moron was hoping to achieve, he knew how many purebloods had lost their lives, on all sides. He had seen Aunt Wally bereft with grief when within a fortnight she had lost both her husband and a son and then there were others, people and families who hadn't chosen a side, who only wanted to survive."
"That desire hadn't been limited to blood," Andromeda pointed out.
"I know," sighed Narcissa. "And even after all of this, after seeing all of this he still decided that the world needed the return of that lunatic that claimed to support the pureblood cause and politics while at the same time if he wasn't murdering them to death he was ordering others to do so. What the hell he was hoping to achieve, Meda?"
"Eternal glory?" supplied Andromeda with a snort.
"More like five minutes of it," replied Narcissa grimly. "The Dark Lord's humours were fickle. Lucius is good at playing games with people, I will give him that but he isn't exactly a master strategist at all times. How long do you reckon it would take him to fall out of the Dark Lord's favour? And what then? He knows that the Dark Lord isn't benevolent master and if Bella was right…" she sighed. "He's capricious and vindictive and not above using family members against each other. Merlin only knows how long Draco would have lasted at his mercy. Regulus only lasted a year and in the end had laid down his life for Sirius."
"An unnecessary…" started Andromeda with a huff but paused at the weird twitch on Narcissa's face. "Cissy," she whispered. "What do you know?"
"I know that there's a lot of things I don't know a thing about, that there are things I didn't see or didn't hear," said Narcissa slowly. "And the longer I thought about that…" she paused briefly. "I never saw Sirius leaving a meeting, not prior to Regulus's demise and not after. I can't neither imagine him and Bella being in the same room and both leaving it breathing after what Bella had done to that girl of his."
"Cissy!" hissed Andromeda furiously. "Does it mean…"
"It doesn't really mean anything," said Narcissa with a shrug. "He still could have been…" she hesitated, "you know, but he might have been kept in the strictest of confidences…"
"With Bella being in His confidence, yeah, right," commented Andromeda and snorted. "Cissy, we both know her. Subtlety had never been one of Bella's virtues, if she had them at all."
"I know," sighed Narcissa. "Which is why I'm telling you that I don't know, not for certain."
"Not enough to risk your own head on that or that of your son," added Andromeda pensively. "Uncle Arcturus is dead," she added after a moment.
"That he is," agreed Narcissa quietly.
"And unaccepted bequests from his last will and testament had been reissued," said Andromeda slowly. "We both know what it means."
"Yeah," sighed Narcissa heavily. "And I'm still breathing," she added nervously.
"The question is whatever or not you want Sirius Black to be the master of your destiny," muttered Andromeda.
"And therein lies the crux," concluded Narcissa with a grimace. "I wouldn't come here if I wasn't certain that my visit would go unnoticed by Lucius and his entourage. Yesterday he received the summons from cousin Victoria and harried off to France at haste, with what he presumes are his elves. Well, some of them are. I've been informed, and not by my husband, that Lady Victoria is considering changes in her last will and testament, provided that interested parties would lend her a hand in her great adventure."
"What sort of great adventure?" asked Andromeda sceptically.
"A hunt for some relict of indigenous people of Pacific islands. All that matters is that the hunt might take months before it will bear fruits," explained Narcissa. "She also admitted that she will change her will no sooner than when she will finally hold it in her hand."
"What's the price?" grimaced Andromeda.
"Doesn't really matter as long as it's high enough for Lucius to drop everything he's doing to act as old lady's errand boy. I know him well enough to know that if it wasn't he would already be home," replied Narcissa.
"What about Draco? Does he know what you're planning to do?" asked Andromeda pointedly.
Secrets & Keepers – Entropy
Draco Malfoy, 16th August 1993, Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire
He felt that something had changed immediately after his return from training exercises with Appleby Arrows. Not that they were the best players in the league but Puddlemere United didn't exactly supplement their budget by offering summer trainings for interested and wealthy parties. But he needed to be in the best shape in order to beat Potter and he knew that Potter didn't exactly have easy access to places to train and Father agreed to pay for it.
But to be fair things had been changing ever since he came down to breakfast at the end of July only to find Mother glaring daggers at the newspaper that Father was reading. Whatever or not Mother was glaring at Father or the newspaper in particular had taken him a couple of hours to figure out because straight away after breakfast he was dispatched for his daily dose of training that ran very late into the afternoon. Once he returned he had been sat down and informed quite extensively about what occurred. Father, obviously was leading the talk, with Mother glaring daggers at his head behind his back. It was a very informative talk, to the point that he had been considering reaching out to Potter in order to gloat. But he was a Malfoy and he could gloat to his heart content a bit later. Not that he really had something to gloat about considering that Sirius Black was Mother's cousin. But what Potter didn't know didn't give him a chance to gloat about in return and Draco wasn't going to advertise familial relation to yet another unstable maniac. One was enough and he had four that he was aware of and Merlin only knows how many potentially very distant cousins that could be severely touched in the head.
As the week went on he continued with his training and acting as usual but noting every subtle change in his parents behaviour. There was nothing new about that, the only difference was that he had another reason to do so and it always had been that way.
Luckily unlike his entourage, that hardly could be called friends but were ridiculously easy to boss around, he was blessed both with intelligence and a certain degree of intuition that for most the time allowed him to exist in the manor in one piece. Not that it always had been this way but some lessons are learned the hard way. And even though enough time had passed from the last one. Well, the one that sorely concerned him and his conduct at the very least, he wasn't going to let his guard down, no sir.
That's why once the training had ended he had more time for observations because if he knew one thing for certain about his father was that a small thing could set him off and it was better for both Draco and his mother if they weren't in his vicinity when it had happened.
He figured out that his father wasn't exactly a good man, by his childhood principles at the very least, at about the age of five or six. The details of the day had paled out over the passing years aside from the event itself and the feelings that it awoke. Fear and fury, both in equal measure and then the pain. That he remembered the most.
Mother on the floor, bruised, battered and bleeding. Barely conscious and pleading. For him and for what years later, by accident, he had learned was his unborn brother. It ended the only way it could have ended, with bruises and blood and a memory fog that for years made him terrified of falling asleep in the dark. The fog eventually had lifted on its own after a foolish argument over not wanting to marry Pansy that eventually had led to more blows, in the wrong place or maybe in the right place. But even prior to that he had this overwhelming feeling that he should beware the wrath of his father and that he should keep it away from his mother.
What was more confusing was that as long as Draco complied with his father's will and suggestions he was pretty good father. Very indulgent to childish whims, even if they cost him money, sometimes a lot of them. And with time Draco learned how to play that to his advantages. He accepted the presence of his wife-to-be and minions rather than friends. It was only a matter of time before he would be old enough to break free from the shackles father kept on him.
He didn't care for the money as much as father had. It was nice to spend it but his childhood fascination with Newt Scamander and his adventures led him to conclusion that things that mattered more than money was doing what you wanted in life and while he didn't have a clear plan for it he certainly wasn't going to become like his father. If possible and if he wouldn't be pushed into a childhood marriage before reaching adulthood he would never marry and most certainly he won't have children of his own. If being like their forefathers was the best the Malfoys could do then the line should and would end with him. It would definitely make his French cousins happy.
His only concern with doing in life whatever he fucking pleased was Mother and what would become of her when he would eventually rebel. But hopefully by the time he would reach adulthood he would be able to come up with something that would make him happy and his mother safe and comfortable.
He immediately recognised the shift when it happened even though he had no idea what possibly could have caused it. All that he knew was that one moment Mother was taking the advantage of a father-free manor and relaxing with a novel while Draco was polishing his summer essays in her company and in the next she almost jumped out of her armchair. Naturally she tried to cover it with excuses of something slipping from her mind but Draco wasn't going to be fooled. Something had changed.
And now with Father's letter lying on the table, proclaiming his plans to not return to the manor for the rest of the summer and possibly not sooner than for Christmas he had a feeling what it was. It was the other letter that was lying next to it. An excerpt of the last will judging from the tone. It read:
To Narcissa Rosamund Malfoy nee Black, provided that she will apply for a divorce with one Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, I leave Ramsgate Estate; widow's vault number 4; sole custody of one Draco Lucius Malfoy and any other children that they both have together and guardianship of the trustee vault for them. To Draco Lucius Malfoy, provided that his mother accepted her inheritance, upon reaching legal maturity I leave the Margate Estate, minor vault, all of the Malfoy family estates that had been sized by the Black family in the divorce settlement, and the right to carry the name Black as a heir of blood and not a bastard.
"Are you going to accept it?" he whispered to Mother once he finished reading, after all the walls had ears in this house.
"Do you want me to?" asked Mother softly but with a hint of frown.
He pondered. It was what Mother referred to as deux ex machina solution when they encountered it in plays they occasionally attended. It was too good to be true. He said as much.
"It won't happen right away," said Mother quietly. "Not until I know for certain whatever or not I can trust more than the bequest or the man who issued it."
Draco coughed.
"But I can no longer trust…" she started and looked down at her left hand.
"Where you go I will follow," he whispered.
And although he agreed he didn't exactly expected to end up in a very Muggle part of London, standing on the doorstep of a small townhouse with all of his worthy possessions stuffed into his school trunk. Neither he expected the sight of the woman that opened the door. She looked eerily like Aunt Bella in her portraits. But that likeness had disappeared as soon as the woman had smiled and opened the door further.
Mother immediately had fallen into her arms and as soon as the door closed behind them she whispered, "Did you hear anything?"
"Not yet," answered the woman. "But Ted received an invitation for a private lunch with his boss and as indifferent as he's to Ted's origins Hyperion isn't exactly known for inviting his employees to private lunches at the manor. They usually mean one of the two things and to his memory Ted hadn't done anything to deserve either."
"Had he grown lax?" asked Mother sceptically.
"He's only waiting out the appropriate amount of time to stop being nice and complacent for the sake of the case. He's good at that and Hyperion uses it to his advantages. There's a nice bonus raiding on the successful conclusion of that case but it's still several months away," replied the woman.
"And you think that…" Mother stated and looked pointedly at the woman.
"If I knew him at all…" started the woman slowly. "Uncle had trained him well and Uncle would have gone to them. And while I have no idea what sort of argument he would have used to convince Hyperion to listen to him…"
"Patriarchy," Mother muttered with a snort.
"Speaking of which," said the woman pointedly.
Mother turned to him and wrapped her left arm around his shoulder as she said, "Draco, I'm not sure that you remember your Aunt Andromeda but she offered us a place to stay until…"
Until whomever was leading the Black family now revealed themselves and decided their fate, he realised as he nodded slowly. He did remember Aunt Andromeda, not very vividly but now that he was looking at her again and matching dates in his head he knew that the woman that once held him when he was a child couldn't possibly be Aunt Bellatrix. There were also other things and other people he remembered. Nice, jovial man that served him and Mother the scones, at whom Aunt Andromeda was looking with a fond smile. Her Mudblood husband, he realised and immediately chastised himself. Of lesser blood the man might have been but he was still the man of the house and their host and even though he couldn't bring himself to eventually show the man gratitude then at the very least he should show the lack of open hostility.
"Good morning, Aunt Andromeda," he said with all the sincerity he could muster while trying to not betray his nervousness.
He didn't expect that, not really, more like some small Black or Rosier family property completely devoid of servants and close connection with the outside world. It wasn't very good or very bad, it just was… New, very new. Not that he never seen Muggles or been in Muggle places. Wizarding Orangery after all had been accessible through Muggle botanic garden and he had seen them. He had never however been in one's house.
Not that come to think about it differed very much from the other houses of its size and he had been in the Crabbe family Oxford's residence several times. The house was sturdy and seemed comfortable for its size from what little he could see of it.
"Were you aware that your Mother would bring you here?" asked Aunt Andromeda pensively.
"Not really," he admitted. "But I like it here, it looks…" he added, stammering slightly, "nice," he settled for a word, "comfortable," he added quickly, "bright," he found another compliment as he quickly glanced into the sitting room on the left.
"You really don't have to hide here," said Aunt Andromeda calmly. "I know that it's not what you're used to but if it makes you uncomfortable most likely you won't have to stay here for long."
"I know," he answered. "I don't…" he stammered again. "I don't really mind, it's just a lot to take in at once, you know."
"I do," agreed Aunt Andromeda. "Did you have breakfast?"
"Yes," Mother answered for him. "Maybe it would be better…"
"Say no more," Aunt Andromeda interrupted her, with no malice. "Leave your things down here for now and come upstairs," she added as she started leading the way up the stairs.
The hallway of the first floor looked much like the one downstairs even if it felt a little more narrow. Right away he spotted five doors, two on the side of the wall where the stairs were and three on the other.
"The bathroom is in the middle," said Aunt Andromeda as she pointed at the door. "The other one is downstairs, through the kitchen, the lion's den by it is Ted's office, not strictly prohibited but it's very cramped and messy. He doesn't mind and I don't mind either as long as the mess is contained to the confines of it. Guest bedroom is up front, on the right. The room next to it is my office."
"Off limits?" asked Mother pensively.
"At your own risk," replied Aunt Andromeda. "It does have a futon but I was thinking that since Nymphadora is gone for the rest of the summer anyway Draco could have her room. It's smaller than the attic but we are readapting it so it gets ridiculously hot in the day and it isn't exactly the best place to wander through during the night."
"That's Nymphadora's room?" asked Mother as she gestured towards the door next to them.
"Yes," said Aunt Andromeda as opened the door.
Compared to his own bedroom at the manor the room indeed was small but it didn't look too cramped. It was airy and had a big window that overlooked the garden by which was standing a narrow double bed and a desk. The opposite wall was covered completely with bookshelves and wardrobes and one of them was open and empty. All of the furniture was made of white wood and although the purple colour of the walls wasn't exactly up Draco's taste the Quidditch and Weird Sisters posters put him at ease.
"The paintjob is old but it was good and solid work so the colour of walls can be adjusted. Dora never keeps it the same colour for longer than a couple of days."
"When she's coming back?" asked Mother curiously.
"With the end of the month but don't worry, she can sleep at the futon if she gets back early and if not she has enough friends to couch surf for a couple of days," answered Aunt Andromeda simply.
"She has good taste," commented Draco as he pointed at the posters. "Weird Sisters are pretty great."
"They aren't exactly what they used to be," said Aunt Andromeda with a shrug. "But I don't mind because it could be a lot worse, she could give up to this niche trend of listening to people rhythmically complaining how miserable their life is between grunting. Well, luckily that isn't my problem."
Unpacking had taken him much longer than he expected considering how little of the stuff he had taken. Clothes that he had taken were those that still fit him and all things considered he didn't have that much of them or required dress robes. But while he was putting away school books he found himself distracted by his cousins books from Auror training. That's why it had taken Mother a couple of tries to finally summon him into the kitchen.
When he got there he found Aunt Andromeda by the stove keeping an eye on what appeared to be a stew of some sorts and a creamy soup that by the smell of it was onion soup. Mother meanwhile was busying herself with preparing an oven tray of quite appetizingly looking brunches. She was seated at the table, sipping slowly at her tea while her wand was doing all the work. Her back was bent slightly rather than ramrod straight, her shoulders slightly slumped instead of rigid but the biggest transformation was her face. The small frown on her face wasn't accompanied by the tense, tight-lipped expressionless mask rather than small quirk of lips. It all was taking ages of her shoulders and her face.
All that she lost when married to father. And for that alone he found himself ready to spend the rest of his life living like a Muggle. Screw the money, screw other people's respect, as long as Mother was happy and at ease in her own skin he would do everything.
Because he wasn't raised by werewolves as soon as he had shaken himself from the shock of the revelation and still hadn't discovered any elves he asked Aunt Andromeda if they were needing his help. Aunt Andromeda smiled and asked him to set the table once Mother was done with toast, which she was just as Aunt Andromeda gestured where she was keeping the tableware.
The lunch was mouth-wateringly delicious and he found himself putting away more than he would have eaten at home, at the manor. He slumped contently against the back of the breakfast seat sipping on pleasantly chilly apple juice. At the very least until Aunt Andromeda stood up from the table to clean up. By hand, which while perplexing kicked off some very deeply buried urge to help.
"There are easier ways," commented Mother simply when Draco was towelling the dishes as Aunt Andromeda was preparing a pot of tea.
"I know," she answered. "But I spent early years of my marriage in constant, ever-present company of my in-laws which didn't have the same benefit as I did. Ima never really minded but she taught me how to find it meditative and considering how many people she had to feed she always had a lot to think about."
"You hadn't been living with them for years," Mother made an observation.
"That's true but old habits are hard to break, especially if they're helpful," Aunt Andromeda answered. "Thank you, Draco."
"Do you prefer it that way?" he asked pensively, as he gestured towards the stove that didn't look like one that could be found at the manor. "Completely…" he hesitated, "non-magical."
"Yes and no," answered Aunt Andromeda right away. "Ted's family is very close and they often visit us. So while I don't really need certain stuff, we're keeping them for appearances sake. The washer and washing machine are a huge improvement. Television is a nice form of recreation but we don't really overuse it. Electricity is a nice amenity as well as a shortcut. I'm not sure if in your generation they've been talking about the effect of magical output…"
"But the less you use for tedious tasks the more reserves of it you have when you actually require it," said Mother pensively. "That's why children tire off easily. How did you managed with Nymphadora?"
"Very poorly," replied Aunt Andromeda with a soft snort. "She loves her cousins but always hated their presence when we were living with Ima and Abba. Once we moved here she became more at ease with herself, less frustrated and far less of a hellion. Then there are her abilities…" she paused. "They always consumed a lot of her power and her puberty had been a hell. But the older she grew the more she settled down."
"Is she sick?" asked Draco curiously.
"Not with something that had been diagnosed to my knowledge although one of Ted's brothers speculated that she might be suffering from some sort of attention deficit disorder. One of Dora's cousins had been diagnosed with it, he's doing well now because he found his calling and is channelling his restless energy into his work."
"Nymphadora is a Metamorphmagus, Draco," Mother explained patiently.
Of those he heard and had always been fascinated by them so he quickly found himself pestering both his mother and his aunt for more information. They finally cracked up and at some point admitted that it was a Black family trait and that all Blacks to a certain degree possessed latent Metamorphmagi abilities. For some of them it was as simple as keeping their hair at the certain length without the need to ever see a hairdresser, for some it was maintaining the implacable colour of their hair until dying days without going grey.
"You and Bella could never keep your hair straight," said Mother with a fond smile. "Reg could never grow out facial hair and Sirius…"
"Grower," replied Aunt Andromeda with a snort. "Anxiety grower. He admitted to that and at some point he simply stopped shaving his head in the morning."
The atmosphere in the room had changed instantly.
"It's him, isn't it?" asked Draco pensively.
"He isn't the only one left from the male line," said Mother with a sigh. "There's a couple of branches that over the centuries had been disregarded or cut out."
"But?" pressed Draco because he felt one in there.
"But he's the…" started Aunt Andromeda just as the door between the kitchen and breakfast nook had opened with a loud bang.
The man that stepped through it was short in stature and slightly portly. Ignoring completely their presence in the room he threw his bag on the floor and as he wrestled his way out of his outer robe he kicked it forcefully.
"Edward Aaron Tonks!" Aunt Andromeda snarled quickly. "Behave yourself for Merlin's sake."
That got him to stop what he was doing and with his arms frozen at awkward angles he looked to the table and blinked at them. His eyes were in a warm shade of brown, similar to Aunt Andromeda but unlike hers his hair was blonde and although it looked a bit messed up by his antics with the robe it was completely straight.
"Pardon me," he said quickly as put his arms down, finally shaking off the robe.
"Bad lunch?" Mother tried to prompt him, choosing to ignore his outburst for the sake of satisfying her curiosity.
The man, Uncle Ted or Edward or whatever he would agree to be called, looked at Aunt Andromeda pointedly. She looked back and for some time their eyes were locked in a quiet conversation from which Draco and his mother had been excluded.
"Your way then," Uncle Ted admitted with a sigh before he pulled back the chair and sank into it with a heavy sigh.
"Tea? Coffee?" Mother offered as she stood up.
"Coffee please," Uncle Ted replied and rubbed his forehead slowly.
"Black?" Mother enquired as she started fiddling with the pot.
What came out of Uncle Ted's throat was a cross between a huff and a snort.
"Had enough of that already?" Mother asked undeterred by the nonverbal reply and that question was too met with another.
Only once Mother returned to the table with a cup of coffee for Uncle Ted and sat down the man straightened back in his chair. Then with a small gesture of his hand he summoned his bag.
"What I'm going to say next obliges all of you to an oath of secrecy for the time being and is revealed to you only because it was requested, as per instructions that I received that 'should I decide that for the sake of involved parties it's in their best interest to know,'" said Uncle Ted as he pulled from the bag a small copper bowl.
He placed it on the table and put his left hand on the edge of it. Aunt Andromeda quickly followed suit as did Mother and after a couple seconds of hesitation so did Draco.
He felt a small tingle of magic that passed through his hand and removed it from the bowl as soon as the adults had done so.
"Is Sirius Black the Head of the Black family?" asked Aunt Andromeda unceremoniously.
"I don't know for certain," replied Uncle Ted with a sigh. "As it wasn't what we had been discussing," he added quickly. "Someone is and that someone, to quote Hyperion, at the moment an unnamed benefactor, a couple of days ago reached out to him with a request to establish what was Sirius's legal status. Why it was needed I hadn't been told and I didn't ask."
"Why not?" Mother prompted him.
"Because of what Hyperion discovered when he examined all of the known evidence," answered Uncle Ted.
"You mean snooped through without permission," Mother interjected. "I hadn't been that long removed from the Black family to forget that lawyers make half of the informants and can con other people into believing that they obtained their knowledge elsewhere legally and lawfully."
"Not exactly the point of the discussion," Uncle Ted pointed out.
"No, the point is what he had found," said Aunt Andromeda.
"Rather what he didn't find," sighed Uncle Ted. "And that would be the solid evidence of guilt for the crimes that Sirius Black reportedly committed. Namely the murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve unfortunate souls that had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"But how…" mumbled out Draco.
"He had been caught at the scene," said Mother quietly.
"And completely off his rocker," added Aunt Andromeda.
"True but he himself was injured, the evidence had never been examined and what's more," said Uncle Ted and paused to sigh heavily. "There's no evidence that his trial had ever taken place. As far as ACML Hyperion Greengrass is concerned Sirius Black had been unjustly arrested and held captive for over eleven years for a crime he did not commit."
"But someone did," said Aunt Andromeda slowly. "Ted, we've seen the reports. Blunt force trauma, extensive blood loss from missing limbs. Twelve dead and twice as much injured…"
"All of which was caused by the explosion that killed Peter Pettigrew," added Mother with a hint of scepticism. "It did kill him, didn't it?"
"Allegedly," said Uncle Ted with a grimace. "According to the reports the biggest piece of Pettigrew that could be found was his finger, forefinger according to the medical examiner. If I remember correctly the left one but I could have gotten that one wrong," he added pensively. "Thing is, had the evidence been examined properly as it was supposed to those muppets at the Auror Office and Wizengamot would have realised that there was something wrong in preliminary examination of the scene and that no follow up to it had been made. It doesn't exactly take an investigative genius to figure out from the photographs alone that something about the scene doesn't add up as it should." He paused briefly but since no one of them made an inkling to interrupt him he continued, "The most telling evidence is the epicentre of the explosion and it's the place where Pettigrew stood. Problem is that for Sirius to be the one responsible for the explosion he would have to be standing nose to nose with Pettigrew and all of the witness statements that had been collected after the explosion put him at the distance of between thirty to fifty feet away from Pettigrew. The statement of the arresting Auror puts him at forty-two feet away from the epicentre. He had been found and arrested while he was trying to stand up. He was disoriented and wasn't answering any of the asked questions."
"Concussion and post-explosion temporary hearing loss," muttered Aunt Andromeda.
"Around that time he started laughing like a maniac and laughed his way straight to Azkaban," added Mother pensively.
"Allegedly," snorted Uncle Ted and grimaced. "Hyperion was able to obtain a copy of his admission of guilt and had enough of comparison material that he knew for certain had come from Sirius's hand. He isn't exactly a master graphologist but even he could tell that although the confession had been signed with his name and his own hand the thing itself was written by someone who tried their best to emulate Sirius's official handwriting. That's all there's to it, just his name and Hyperion speculates that he had been conned into signing it."
"Likely with no lawyer present," Mother muttered pensively. "Crouch specialised in that, that's when the dust settled and…" she stammered. "Getting him removed from DMLE wasn't Lucius's doing but he made his damned best to keep him away from it in the years to come. Especially once Barty started being chummy with Arthur."
"Why there was no trial?" asked Draco because that issue had been nipping at him since he heard about it. "Even they," everybody at the table knew who he was talking about, "got one and they had been caught red-handed, literary when they were casting Unforgivables."
That had been one very gruesome tale that his father told him before bed that kept him awake for months and back then all he did was simply asking why he never seen Aunt Bella or Uncles Pussy and Stan. Well, he learned and he was four at the time.
"Supposedly because Sirius was dangerous and criminally insane…" started Uncle Ted.
"Compared to Bella at her most mellowed Sirius was a paragon of excellent mental health when he was far from such," interjected Aunt Andromeda. "And even then his issues were depression, anxiety and paranoia not bloodlust for seeing other people suffering."
"Aunt Walburga was touched in the head," Mother muttered grimly. "Aren't mental illnesses hereditary?"
"Some are," Aunt Andromeda admitted with a huff. "Ima is a psychiatric nurse and always subscribed to the notion that one should never stop furthering their education. So her books on psychiatry were always my non-leisure reading when I was too sick of studying without feeling guilty afterwards. From what I managed to gather Aunt Wally started losing her marbles around the time when Bella was born, while she was in her mid-twenties…"
"Didn't father always say that she always had been touched to the head?" Mother interjected.
"With certain notions and ideas but up until that point it didn't really affect her day to day life. Point is she was a textbook example of a paranoid schizophrenic and her better days were conclusive with being on a proper drug regime. And back then the state of mental healing practices in this country had been downright appalling," answered Aunt Andromeda.
"Hence a lot of trips to the continent," Mother agreed. "Still doesn't rule out Sirius…"
"If he suffered from any sort of mental illness back then it would be that thing that affects the veterans and prisoners of war," Uncle Ted got into the middle of her sentence. "Shell-shock or that new name specialist coined for it, post-traumatic stress disorder. Thaddeus's partner got it, you remember him, Meda. Tiny guy, red-hair, jumped every time a car backfired or someone slammed the door. Got him talking a couple of times. Prior to internal affairs here he was in organised crimes in Belfast, lost either a fiancée or a long-time girlfriend in an attempt at retaliation. It was a couple years ago."
Aunt Andromeda frowned at that and after a moment nodded slowly, "Yeah, he did remind me of Sirius from the summer of 1981. Merlin, not in looks but mannerism and behaviour…"
"All of it is very informative but we're straying away from the subject and putting oaths of secrecy on things that aren't exactly secret, are they?" Draco pointed out.
"Point meticulously taken," agreed Uncle Ted. "The trial didn't take place. Hyperion had been unable to find any records of it or anything beyond the transfer papers to Azkaban."
"But why?" asked Draco with a frown.
Uncle Ted shrugged and grimaced.
"Hyperion has a theory," said Aunt Andromeda pointedly. "And one you're feeling disinclined to believe in."
"Not as much as disinclined as conflicted about believing into," replied Uncle Ted grimly. He sighed heavily and eyed his cup of coffee that steadily through the conversation grew empty before he said slowly, "Hyperion believes that Sirius's incarceration served someone else's purpose."
"Whose?" Draco asked almost in unison with Mother and Aunt Andromeda.
The answer they received was another grimace and slightly forlorn look at the empty cup of coffee.
"Think of your blood pressure," muttered Aunt Andromeda as she whipped out her wand.
While another cup of coffee was being prepared Mother said slowly, "He didn't exactly have a lot of money."
"No more than any other Auror that worked back then with constant overtime," agreed Aunt Andromeda. "And some of his savings had been tied up in the properties that he owned. Still it wasn't exactly enough to justify…"
"Power," muttered Draco pensively. "If it isn't about money then it is about the power that he held."
"Not back then," disagreed Aunt Andromeda. "About a year prior he was one of the Minister's bodyguards but…" she grimaced. "No, in the months leading to his arrest, he held no more sway than any other Auror."
What about Potter then? The thought occurred to him suddenly, just like Potter related thoughts had a habit of doing. It had been two years and he still hadn't been over the humiliation of being scorned, and for a Weasley of all people. And then there were other things…
But what about Potter? The Boy Who Lived and mysteriously survived an encounter with a Dark Lord when his parents didn't. From what he learned during the last conversation about the man, Sirius Black was made the boy's godfather. And if there was something that Draco knew about godparents for certain was that if someone had them then they and their parents as well expected them to be involved. Unless one had a such extraordinary string of bad luck like Draco had. But in any other family that used the institution as it was intendent to, a godparent or godparents had quite a lot of sway, both as advisors and most often the legal guardians if something unfortunate had happened to one or both parents.
Potter senior even though had married a Mud… Muggleborn had been a descendant of pureblood family, well two pureblood families. It had taken younger Draco a while to wrap his head around the concept of Potter senior being legally adopted by his grandparents but… The relation was there and way back before he had been scorned by Potter the idea of having one distant cousin that accomplished something was very alluring. Not to mention, he had been quite insistently instructed to play nice with Potter by his father.
So not only Potter was Sirius Black's godson, he was also a family relative and that put Black miles above Potter's aunt and any permutation of Wizengamot's judges would have to recognise Black's claim over a non-magical relative. Full stop.
If there was something to recognise, that's it. Who benefited the most from forceful and permanent removal of Sirius Black from Potter's lives? Someone who had the biggest saying in what happens to Potter right after. And although she benefited from his presence, Potter's Muggle aunt had no power, legal or political whatsoever. Also from what he overheard she didn't exactly sound like someone that wanted the boy in the first place. But someone had put him there and made sure that he stayed there.
The Weasley twins as far as sources go were highly unreliable when it came to asking for directions or any sort of help. But when they were talking amongst themselves they had very little subtlety and quite a lot of arrogance to presume that they wouldn't be overheard by anyone. The discussion in question that Draco overheard by accident concerned the retelling of the Potter's rescue from his relatives and one name in particular came up quite a lot of times during that conversation.
"Dumbledore," he muttered slowly.
His statement had met with 'say what' and 'what, why?' And what followed was a very long and very uncomfortable talk about events that occurred not only last year but also the year prior. And the more he talked the more concerned and bothered all of the adults looked.
"Why hadn't you said anything?" asked Mother sounding hurt and worried and it was a miracle that she waited until the very end.
"I…" started Draco nervously.
The most simplest of answers that came to his mind was that he didn't know why it hadn't occurred to him before. It was Mother and if she found out about the detention in the Forbidden Forest and what occurred in there right after it happened… Well, some people would have ended verbally if not literally eviscerated. Hagrid for certain, McGonagall quite likely, Snape… well maybe for not stepping in to remind the rules to any of the above.
Something heavy had settled in his gut and he didn't like it.
"It just didn't occur to you," said Aunt Andromeda slowly and weirdly the way she said it didn't sound like a question. "Curious," she hummed.
Draco frowned at her but she didn't notice as she was staring right at Uncle Ted.
"Nymphadora," said Aunt Andromeda pensively. "She was miserable in her house."
"To the point of begging for being resorted," said Uncle Ted softly. "We promised her that we would look into it."
"It did happen in the past," agreed Mother slowly. "Father told stories but that was…"
"Under Grandpa Phineas reign or that of Dippet," muttered Aunt Andromeda. "Extraordinary circumstances from what I remember."
"Anything can be turned into extraordinary circumstances if you have enough of gold," said Mother swiftly.
"We didn't have that much back then," admitted Uncle Ted. "But we did try," he muttered and frowned. "I remember discussing the options. But why it never took place?"
"Maybe because you felt compelled to let it go?" suggested Mother with a grimace. "If Dumbledore isn't above placing compulsions on children what makes you think that he wouldn't try it on adults. Even if it was just for sport."
"But how exactly he would have benefited from keeping our daughter from switching houses?" asked Uncle Ted sceptically.
"Did she have alternatives?" asked Mother curiously.
"She's my daughter, of course she had alternatives," commented Aunt Andromeda. "Sirius missed quite a substantial chunk of her toddlerhood due to his age but once he started coming around she was quite taken with him. She idolised him and wanted to be like him. That didn't change even after his arrest, she was fiercely determined to become an Auror and worked hard for that. She admitted that the hat was debating between Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Gryffindor."
"And just had chosen Hufflepuff?" asked Mother sceptically.
"Hey, it wasn't a bad place or filled with bad people," protested Uncle Ted.
"For you, not for your daughter," Mother pointed out swiftly.
"Agreed," Uncle Ted harrumphed. "But like with all houses it depends from people in it. Dora had the misfortune of having a lot of…"
"Schoolmates that lost family members in the conflict, whose parents remembered which family you came from," finished Mother as she looked at Aunt Andromeda. "The same family from which Sirius came from."
"Why does it matter?" asked Draco curiously. "I was never singled out due to being related to all of them."
"Dora graduated in 1990/1991 school year which puts her entrance in 1983/84, am I right?" asked Mother. "Too little time had passed between the fall of the Dark Lord. Bella…" she grimaced. "It was early 1982 and the trials had been taking place way into 1984. Dora would have entered Hogwarts with the Smiths, the Abbots, distant branches of Bones relations."
"And back then the name of Black held no sway, over anything," added Aunt Andromeda. "After Sirius's arrest Uncle Arcturus locked himself up in his manor and as far as I know had never vacated it."
"So those who had some sense, money and freedom of movement left had exiled themselves to France," said Mother with a grimace. "And you were born as a Malfoy rather than…"
"A child of a Muggleborn freeloader and estranged daughter of a pureblood family," supplied Uncle Ted dryly.
"I wasn't going to say that," Mother objected swiftly.
"I know, but you would be beating around that bush anyway," said Uncle Ted with a shrug. "I know that back then we had very little money and what appeared to be even less perspectives."
"But that made her an easy target of other students frustrations," said Draco pensively.
Like Potter, a tiny voice in the back of his mind piped up. Not that other Slytherins had been particularly happy with him over losing quite a lot of points, but that only earned him several remarks of acting like an idiot that lacked Slytherin's sense of subtlety. Potter meanwhile, to Draco's amusement back then, had been shunned over by the entire school.
"By the time you entered Hogwarts majority of people with a grudge either graduated or grew up," said Mother simply. "And while a lot of things can be said about your father…"
"People still fear him," finished Draco. "Which is why even supposedly unnamed beneficiary ensured that he would be nowhere near England for the foreseeable future to mess with his plans."
"Point is that taking into account his past and recent behaviour Dumbledore doesn't exactly look good in any way you can point any source of light at him," said Aunt Andromeda. "Which is what bothers you," she added as she looked at Uncle Ted.
"Dumbledore was Chief Warlock of Wizengamot back then," said Mother slowly. "Still is," she added with a grimace. "If all of what happened to Sirius is because of his claim on the boy… Dumbledore will never relinquish it."
"Not easily," sighed Uncle Ted. "Not without an overwhelming evidence to the contrary."
"Hyperion has a plan, does he?" asked Aunt Andromeda. "And he's got you."
"Yeah, he's got me and I have a lot of work to do," said Uncle Ted with a grimace.
"You like winning against the odds," said Aunt Andromeda swiftly.
"I do, my dear," he smiled softly at her. "But I also have to locate close to a hundred of witnesses, all of which had their memories modified and interview them."
"Easy enough task," said Aunt Andromeda simply. "Seeing that Obliviators rarely actually obliviate people involved in incidents of this kind of magnitude."
"I'm actually more worried about locating two John Watsons. Do you have idea how many John Watsons are in England?" asked Uncle Ted.
"Likely less than John Smiths, chin up honey, it could have been worse," said Aunt Andromeda cheerfully.
"I have an abundance of free time and I know how to use the telephone," Mother offered brightly.
"How?" asked Draco curiously.
"In spite of the boards best efforts to the contrary Muggle studies can be helpful with a right teacher," she answered. "Ours had been a harmless oddball for most of the time and had a massive crush on Tesla and his predictions."
"I remember," said Aunt Andromeda with a nod. "Well, we're still waiting for the one you have in mind. But I would say that right now it's more like a matter of several years than several decades."
"Who is that Tesla guy?" asked Draco quickly. "And what did he predict?"
By the time the evening came he learned and some of what he learned was just as fascinating as his cousin's course books from Auror training.
TBC
Next: Sirius goes through hell (literally and figuratively).
