"Good Morning Azalea."
"Cassiopeia, why do you smell like smoke?" she asked tiredly, rubbing her eyes.
"It's of no matter, I will join you at breakfast momentarily. Go on without me, I will be right there." Cassiopeia said softly.
"Oh my god, she's so adorable!" Arcturus crooned. He whipped out a piece of butterscotch candy as soon as Cassiopeia left and handed it to the sleepy child and patted her head.
"Don't tell Cassiopeia about the candy. Call me Grandpa Ari from now on. No, go on, go eat breakfast. We'll join you soon enough." He said, before disappearing to go clean himself up, as he had dried blood and smoke sticking to his skin and clothing. It was a good thing they transfigured their clothing back as soon as they returned, so as to not draw any suspicion with the observant child.
Breakfast was an eventful affair. It seems Azalea was beginning to come out of her shell, so to speak.
"Azalea, dear, drink your potions."
"Yes ma'am."
"This one is your nutrient potion, you will take it with every meal. It's very important that you do not miss it." She handed her a smooth glass vial of a thick caramel colored potion. It had swirls of white and flecks of gold in it, and shimmered in the light of the room. Azalea drank it down, and smiled in surprise.
"It tastes like candy!"
"Yes, that one is rather pleasant. Unfortunately, they all can't taste that way. This one is a magical core stabilization potion. It's very bitter, but unavoidable."
She picked up the second bottle and inspected the new potion. It was a murky green potion that the sunlight didn't shine, though. Azalea sniffed it and wrinkled her nose at the smell. It smelled just awful, like sweaty old socks. It tasted even worse.
"Bleh!" She sputtered at the taste, gagging.
"If you swallow the potion and don't spit it out this time, I will get you a treat." Arcturus bribed the girl.
"You will?" She asked, eyeing the older man skeptically.
"I promise." He nodded in agreement
Azalea swallowed it down, wincing at the taste as she did.
"Are there anymore I have to take?" Azalea asked, reluctant to take another one of the foul tasting potions.
"No, dear child, not at this time. Now eat up, your food will get cold." He smiled at her, she was such a perfect child.
"So what's on the agenda for today, Cia?" He tasked, asking his sister.
"I have some errands to run, and I will be brewing potions later for Azalea. Would you mind spending some time with her? I don't want her alone in the manor until she is more familiar with her surroundings."
"Sure. I'll take good care of her; she'll be safe with me." He promised Cassiopeia.
"Don't worry, little Azalea, I know the perfect thing to do today."
"What's that?" she asked excitedly.
"It's a surprise." He simply beamed at the child.
After breakfast, Zilly helped Azalea get dressed into her new clothing. She was wearing one of her new dresses and felt so very pretty. For the first time in her life, she was safe and secure. She had two people who cared about her and would do anything for her.
A knock on the door shook her from her thoughts.
"Come in?" she said.
"I'm glad to see you dressed, did Zilly help you get that dress on?"
"Mhm! She's a big help."
"Do you like my new dress, Mr. Arcturus?"
"Yes, I do, little one. It matches the green of your eyes exactly. Mr. Twilfit did a wonderful job. Are you ready?"
"Yes I am. Where are we going? Will I need a jacket?"
"Yes, wear your outer robes today, we'll be outside, and the weather is becoming chilly."
"Okay!" she said with an easy smile. She was very excited, she had never gone somewhere with him before, and she got to go outside too! The Dursley's forced her outside in all weather to work in the gardens, and she had grown to rather like it, when it was nice out.
He led her out of what was shortly becoming her room, and through the manor to the room she recognized as the grand parlor. From there, they aperated to The Leaky Cauldron and made their way into Diagon Alley.
"Where are we headed?" she inquired to him.
"We're almost there... Here we go!" He stopped in front of a store named The Little Toyboy.
It was an absolutely magical store. The front window had a miniature Ferris wheel with animated little dolls in all of the seats that were charmed to laugh and wave at the children. The entrance was made from two interweaving sycamore trees that were made into an archway, and the entire store was painted to look like an enchanted forest. The store sold both magical and some muggle toys, of all kinds. He led her into the store.
"I thought I'd treat you. I saw that you were playing with Dorea's old toys, and I wanted to get you some of your very own. Would you like that?" He asked her gently.
"YES, YES, YES!" she shouted.
"I mean, I'd like that, sir." she replied more meekly.
"The sky's the limit, my dear, the sky's the limit. I'll even pick you out some toys that I knew Dorea and your father liked."
"Oh really? Thank you sir!"
And so the next hour or so went by, with her leading him though the store
She hesitated at first, but with Arcturus' gentle but firm pushing, picked out quite a few toys. She had many questions about what everything was, and he answered every single one. She picked out a tub of animated magical creature figurines, exploding toy snaps, a toy bow and arrows that automatically returned once you called them back, a muggle tea set made of fine china, and a castle themed dollhouse. She also picked out animated toy soldiers. Arcturus, at his insistence, picked out for her a toy riding broom, stating that her father would have gotten one for her already, and little wooden toy runes that 'exploded' when put in the wrong sequence, and a toy gardening set and some magical and muggle seeds… But her favorite toy that she picked out had to be the Miffy doll. It was a plush stuffed white rabbit, with a plaid button down blue coat and matching boots.
She snuggled the new doll to her chest as they left the store.
Next on the itinerary was stopping at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.
Azalea absolutely squealed in delight. She had come to love ice cream, as she had never had it before finding Cassiopeia and Arcturus.
The board on the window flashed different names for ice cream. There was butter beer and chocolate chili, apple crumble and vanilla, salted caramel and clotted cream, sticky toffee pudding, strawberry and peanut butter and Earl Grey and lavender, and chocolate and raspberry.
Arcturus chose the dignified Earl Grey and lavender, but she chose the chocolate and raspberry flavor. She had her first ice cream sundae! It had nuts and cherries and whipped cream galore!
They packed their ice cream up in a never-melting cooler and meandered back to The Leaky Cauldron, to head home and eat the ice cream.
They talked while they walked through the Black Manor gardens. He showed her all the different gardens. His personal favorite was the red garden. It had a little pond in the center with water lilies and a small bench to sit at. The surrounding hedges enclosed hibiscus flowers, roses, poppies and cane flowers. He used to sit on the bench as a small child and do his summer homework. He loved the aroma of the red roses mixed with the hibiscus flowers that wafted in on a warm summer breeze.
Azalea particularly liked the purple garden. It held lavender and white roses on opposite sides, and asters and columbine flowers. In the center was a stone bench to sit upon.
They came upon a small empty plot of soil surrounded by two foot tall hedges. The soil was fertile and ready to be planted in.
"Arcturus? What's growing here?"
"Nothing as of yet. Dorea planted much of the flowers, but she passed on before she could complete it." He said after a moment of reflection.
"Would you like to plant some things here? You did say you liked gardening."
"The Dursleys used to make me tend to their rose garden and greenhouse. After a while I started to like it, not that they knew."
"So, would you like to grow things here?"
"Yes, please!" she answered enthusiastically.
As they continued to tour the gardens, they finally ended up along the bank of the lake and sat upon a stone bench that sat between two impressive purple luminescent weeping willow trees. Arcturus pulled out the ice cream from the cooler, and due to magic, the ice cream was completely untouched as when it went into the container.
"Arcturus, will you tell me more about Dorea? You and Lady Cassiopeia both talk about her a lot, but I know nothing about her." Azalea asked.
"Yes, child, I will tell you."
"And my parents too? Did you know them too?" she asked as she spooned a bite of the creamy treat into her mouth. It was absolutely delicious.
"Dorea was... Dorea was something alright. She was my younger sister by a few years. She looked just like you at that age; she had your long curly hair. Although, she had gray eyes, and you have green. She was tall, 5'10". Let's see... She was a Slytherin. She went to Hogwarts, the school you'll go to when you turn 11. She was a rune's Mistress and loved dueling, but she couldn't cook to save her life. She was funny and sarcastic and very sharp tongued." he said fondly.
"Now, I only met James and Lily a few times, but each time I did, Lily was definitely a firecracker. She went to Hogwarts with James and my grandson, Sirius. She was a charms' prodigy, no one else could beat her. It was her favorite class, after all. Sirius always complained that he could never pass her grade in it. Of course, she was the head girl. She was so proud of that. She had such a fiery temper, but I think that's what drew James in." he said fondly.
"James was a transfiguration prodigy. He adored pranks, he used to plan and pull them with Sirius and his other friends. He had your messy hair, nothing could tame it. Of course, Dorea and Charlus were always trying to get him to tame it, Dorea especially. They spoiled him rotten, but he grew up well enough. He played chaser on the quidditch team. He was the captain too."
"Who's Sirius?" Azalea asked. She was slightly confused.
He let out a deep sigh, looking away for a second, as if he was pained.
"Sirius Black was, and is, your godfather. People say he betrayed your parents, that he was the one who went and told Lord Voldemort where your parents were hiding. But everyone who knew him, knew he was your godfather. He was so proud, he bragged to anyone who would listen. Quite loudly, might I add. You know, Azalea, something isn't quite right with that. I don't remember him getting a trial. I'm going to look into it for him. Merlin knows his mother Walberga won't."
It was silent for the rest of the time as they both ate the remainders of their frozen treats, both deep in thought. Azalea at the family members she never got to meet, and Arcturus at the mystery of what had happened that fateful Halloween night in 1981.
After they were done eating, Arcturus turned to her with a soft smile upon his face.
"Azalea, I swear on my magic, I will protect you with my life to the best of my abilities."
Magic swirled around them as the oath was sealed. It brought tears to her eyes. This feeling of warmth that she had never felt before. Is this the feeling of family? She rather liked it. Upon seeing the tears in her eyes, Arcturus hugged her tightly.
"I will love you no matter what." He said while stroking her hair.
At that, she had never felt so protected in her life. For the first time in her life, she felt safe and loved, as if nothing could touch upon her.
They sat like that, huddled together, for quite some time, until something piqued her interest.
"Grandpa, what's that?" she asked him. He froze in shock. First at what she called him, but then at what she was pointing to. He felt a flash of warmth at her calling him Grandpa for the very first time. Was she truly comfortable enough around him to think of him as that? Her grandfather?
He studied the picture before them more closely. It was a mother and her golden foal. It must have been just born because it was small and shined golden like the sun. The mother was large and silvery white, almost glowing in the light. The unicorn shone, so brightly it almost hurt his eyes. It pawed at the ground nervously with its golden hooves and threw back it's head, silver mane flowing feely. Its foal began to drink from the lake shore.
"That my dearest flower is a unicorn, a mother and her child. You can tell the foal was just born because of their size and the fact that they're still golden. That and they don't have a horn yet. We have a herd that roams the grounds. They are one of the most pure creatures alive." he replied quietly as to not startle the creatures, as if they would be spooked by a mere sound.
Later that evening at dinner, all three of them were sitting down to eat.
"Auntie Cassiopeia! Auntie Cassiopeia, guess what I saw today!" the child cried out excitedly.
Cassiopeia choked on her wine, sputtering. It was the first time she had ever been called that, and she felt mighty pleased with herself at that.
"What did you see today, my dear?"
"I saw a unicorn! A real one, not make believe!"
"Oh really? Tell me about it."
And so Azalea regaled her with how her day with Grandpa Arcturus went. She talked about how she had a hard time choosing which toy she wanted and ended up getting them all; she talked about how she really really really liked chocolate ice cream, and then the topic of Dorea, James, Lily and Sirius came up. The jubilant melody of the conversation began to become mournful, at least on Arcturus's side. Until...
"Cassiopeia, I need to talk to you before I retire for the night."
"Alright."
After dinner, they retired back to the red room, where they settled on the chairs in front of the roaring fireplace. Azalea stretched out on the rug below with her new ancient runes toys, reading the instruction manual as she relaxed in the heat. She paid no mind to the talking adults, as soon the worn out child was drifting off to sleep.
"What did you want to talk about? Did something come up?" Cassiopeia asked curiously.
"We got to talking about James, Lily, and Dorea. Sirius came up. Something doesn't sit well with me."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, he did not receive a trial. Even the death eaters received trials. And people knew he was her godfather. He did the ritual in Gringotts Bank."
"You know, thinking about it, there is no way he would be able to betray the Potter's without being stripped from his magic. I will inquire with Gringotts and confirm that he did the ritual. I have a matter of guardianship to attend to while I am at it. As of right now, Dumbledore is her legal magical guardian. I am going to make that right."
"What are you going to do?"
"I've petitioned a letter to Gringotts to open the Potter's Will, as it was sealed. I also put in a request to find any of the Black family, which she would be the only one left. Legally, they would have to put her in my custody, as her only living 'blood relatives' are no longer living."
"Do so before yule. The perfect time will be at the end of November, during the bi-monthly Wizengamot meeting. Dumbledore will be distracted and away from his desk. It's the perfect opportunity to get your revenge on him, legally speaking. You do want to do this legally, correct?" He asked.
"I do. For now at least. We'll see." she answered tiredly.
"See to it that you become her guardian. She truly needs it."
"I will. Goodnight Arcturus."
"Goodnight Cassiopeia."
She turned to the sleeping child and smiled fondly. She was quickly falling in love with her new family member and would do anything to protect this innocent child from harm, even murder.