While Tonks was feeling the full weight of Black family magic, back at the manor, her parents were drawn into a discussion that would change a lot of lives. Jonathan Greengrass tried to object to bringing Andromeda and Ted into the discussion, but Harry had overridden it.
"Their daughter is going to be the official regent of House Black; besides, I trust her."
Jonathan shook his head while looking at his son-in-law.
"How are you sure that she would be the regent, Mr. Potter?"
"Amm.. she has the Black blood, and because I say so?"
Daphne was the next to speak, understanding what her father was trying to say.
"Does not mean the regent ring will find her worthy, Harry. House Black has always had placed influential or powerful people in positions of power. Tonks is no slouch, we know, but there is no surety that the ring would find her worthy. You need to be prepared to look for someone else."
Harry stared at his wife for a few seconds before nodding.
"We were discussing about breaking the monopoly of Diagon Alley, Mrs. Tonks. Due to Sirius, Harry has a perfect place to set it up under his control."
Andromeda Tonks looked at the people sitting in front of her while she processed Daphne's words. What they were planning was near impossible for ordinary people, but these were not such. While the Boy who lived was enough to push such an idea into fruition, they had the power of the Lords of some influential houses. She considered everything she knew about House Greengrass, House Potter, Harry Potter himself, and evaluated it using all things she had been forced to learn as a daughter of House Black.
"Call me Andy. What's your plan, Daphne?"
"Since we six have decided not to change anything until this year is done and the Dark Lord is dealt with, we can use the entire year to set up things for the future. All of us had certain things that we wanted to do in the future but were unable to due to the circumstances. Here, we can start with one of the things my husband always dreams about."
She ignored the narrowed look of Harry and proceeded ahead.
"The first thing I would like to set up on that property would be a Hotel along with a restaurant. With a bit of help from Junior, it would gain popularity quickly and would eventually function as the headquarters of the alley. Should our plans for Voldermort not go as expected, it would also serve as a safe house. Once it has gained sufficient clientele, we can start selling shop spaces, which would be constructed through this year. The time between now and launch would also allow us to plan for ways that would make it better and more efficient than Diagon Alley."
"and I assume Mr. Potter would be the one running this restaurant." Her mother observed in a sarcastic tone, one which Harry ignored with ease.
"The only good thing that came out of my stay with Dursleys is that I fell in love with cooking. I am adept at preparing a range of traditional and international dishes, everything my relatives liked to try. Opening a restaurant was one of the things I had always planned to do, and it would give me something to occupy my time."
His mother turned to look at Junior, who seemed overwhelmed.
"And what do you think about this, Mr. Potter?"
"Amm, it's okay? I mean, he is not wrong about the cooking part, and I used to be interested in how the restaurants worked, but then I learned about magic and Voldermort, and it was not that important anymore."
The ensuing silence was broken by Andromeda, who too had drawn out a notepad and a pen.
"Before anything else, you need to decide on a name, each for the Hotel, Restaurant, and the shopping center."
Daphne nodded before making a note of her pad.
"I have a perfect name for the shopping center, something that let it be a legacy for the reason that it would all be the setup."
She looked at Harry with a smile, knowing how he would react.
"In the remembrance of the three members of a group that is important for the boy wonders here, I propose to name it as the Marauder Point."
"Seconded," Harry immediately shouted with glee.
She shook her head as her mother rolled her eyes.
"It is not a vote, Mr. Potter. You are the owner of the land, so you can decide whatever you want to call it."
"Good, yes, as she said, I announce it will be called as the Marauders point from here till eternity."
This time most of the group groaned. Many names were suggested for the Restaurant and the Hotel, but they couldn't agree on any of them. After they decided to shelf that discussion for later, Harry spoke up in a serious voice.
"There is one more thing I would like to set up along with the Hotel, but I don't have any idea how to proceed with that."
At the enquiring looks, he took a deep breath and answered.
"I know there is no concept of magical orphanages in our society, so I would like to set one up. It would be for all children, regardless of age or blood."
Daphne's father frowned a little as he considered it.
"There had been a proposal for orphanages in the past, Mr. Potter, but none of them went beyond the planning stage. The Wizengamot has stringent regulations to approve these types of things, given how easily they can be misused. I hope you understand how difficult such an endeavor would be."
While the reply Harry gave was in soft words, the underlying implication hit hard.
"I am an orphan, Jon. I have been raised by relatives who were ignorant at the best and abusive at the worst, and I had to go back to them each summer because there was no place else that was safe for me, at least according to Dumbledore. Maybe if there had been a place like that, Tom Riddle might not have turned into Voldermort, or I might not have been badly beaten on the first day of my summer break for three consecutive years. Yes, I understand how difficult it could be, but I would still like to go ahead with it, if not for anything else, then for the next time when a student from Hogwarts would not be forced to go back to their home in summer because of lack of options."
It didn't matter whether Harry had deliberately mentioned it or not; the little nugget of information about his relative's behavior had sealed the Dursely's fate. While Harry had planned to let the muggle authorities deal with them, now Daphne had a few more supporters for her plan to handle them, even though she didn't know that yet. Andromeda once again spoke up next, her eyes fixed on Harry.
"We need a solicitor for all this, especially for the Marauders point and the Orphanage. There are a lot of rules and laws regarding both, and it won't do for us to get caught blind in the future due to a lack of information. Does anybody has any suggestion regarding that?"
Several names were suggested, but once again, there was no common agreement. Everyone agreed that the person they would choose had to be trustworthy and capable enough. During the mid of this discussion, Junior and Muncking returned from Diagon Alley along with their escort. Andromeda, who had been arguing with Jonathan about one of her friends, paused after seeing the pale face of her daughter.
"Nymphadora, what happened? Are you okay?"
Surprising her mother, the young Auror trainee leaned into her embrace, her eyes a little moist. The Black traits in Andromeda became clear to everyone as she turned to stare at Junior and Munchkin.
"Explain."
The command was enough to scare even Munchkin, who had learned to have control over her emotions. She looked at Junior, who pulled out a ring from his pockets.
"The ring, it rejected her, I think. I asked her to put it on just as Harry had said, but after a minute, it vanished from her fingers and appeared in my hand. None of us are sure what happened, but the Black account manager thinks it's because she was not found worthy."
When Munchkin confirmed Junior's words, Andromeda relaxed a little and started consoling her daughter. Harry looked a little confused at it as he stared at the grim faces.
"Okay, so I need to choose someone else. Andromeda, you up for the job?"
When no one replied, he looked up from the ring he was observing and flinched at seeing everyone except Junior glare at him.
"Amm.. what?"
Daphne was the one to explain to him a not-to-be-spoken family magic fact.
"Harry, being rejected by your family magic is a huge thing, even for a person like Tonks, who was never part of it."
"But Andromeda was never kicked out formally, just like Sirius."
"Yes, but Nymphadora was never recognized as one. She knows that the blood of House Black flows through her, and yet the family magic rejected her. Such an act has been grounds for cases where the Lord of the House have stripped the person of the family magic, which is often as close as to be stripped of their identity. It is like something that has always been a part of you, saying that you are not worthy of it."
"Okay, but what is the need to cry about this? It's not a that big thing for her."
"Harry, Tonks has..."
"Tonks has always been against that family connection, even in the future. I know because I had to hear multiple rants from her regarding that, and neither Sirius nor I am going to kick her out."
Andromeda answered before Tonks herself could do so, which would not have been as soft as hers.
"Mr. Potter, even though my daughter denies her connection to the Black Family openly, she knows her powers are the trait of House Black. It is a connection that has always been in her mind, one that I have reinforced as much as I could. What happened to her today was like if someone told you that James and Lily never loved you even though you are their son."
Harry nearly snapped at that but held his tongue after seeing Andromeda's stern face. The Tonks matriarch only used a formal name out of such settings when she was angry. He might have made a mistake, and his anger could lead to a bigger one. Instead, he stood up and left the room, dragging a fuming Junior behind him. Nobody spoke for a moment, and then Daphne groaned in her hands.
"Mrs. Tonks, I know Harry's actions were not appropriate, but please, I request you, never say something like that to him again."
At the confused looks, she decided to explain, hoping Harry would understand.
"Harry has done a lot of things during and after the War that are not precisely moral. Things, which his parents might not have approved as we know them from all the stories. His biggest fear has always been that his parents might regret giving their life for him. What you just said came too close, Mrs. Tonks. I know you didn't mean it like that, but Harry is very irrational about this."
Andromeda's glare seemed to lessen, but her face remained stern.
"I understand, Daphne, but Mr. Potter should not have..."
"He was raised as worse than a muggle, spent his entire school years fighting for his life, defeated a dark lord at 17 that your generation let rise, and then failed to stop. Even after leaving school, he had to fight different types of battles just to live like an average person. He was never taught the intricacies of the magical world, and the Wizarding community has made sure that he has more than a dislike for it to learn. You think a man who has been treated like a weapon all his life would let someone like me handle all his family business just like that. No, Mrs. Tonks, Harry more than just dislikes our culture, and it's only due to our marriage oaths that he trusts me. He thinks that things like these are just a waste of time, and given what he has faced, it may very well be."
"Yet, it does not give him the right to act like that. Mr. Potter would eventually need to learn what does it mean to be a wizard."
Daphne stiffened for just a moment before relaxing.
"Andromeda, Harry knows all about being a wizard; he just hates what does it mean to be such in our society. We all should be thankful that he has very few things in common with the magicals in power today because if it had been so, due to things he had faced growing up, Voldermort would be nothing more than a bad dream compared to what Harry would dish out."
Reaching the door of the room, she turned back to look at Andromeda.
"Harry and I know the things you have kept secret, Andromeda. Do not judge him for what he doesn't know, or he will start judging you for what he does know."
With that, she left the room, leaving a pale face Andromeda and some perplexed people behind. By the time she was able to calm Harry and Junior down and bring them back, everyone else had left for their homes. After changing their clothes, all three had to wait for the Delacours to arrive, who did so in less than an hour. The fact that Bill Weasley arrived with them didn't surprise Daphne, and by the suggestive eyebrow movements he was making at the blushing Fleur and Bill, it didn't surprise Harry too. As they walked towards the room Sirius was in; Harry sneaked closer to Bill.
"So, William, going to meet your mother-in-law and sister in law, huh, nice. Some advice though, mate, she looks nice and good, but the moment she is going to learn about you and her daughter, keep your wand ready. I know you are good at flame freezing charms, so keep practicing them; you would need it soon. I hope you have written a will too, it might be needed; you never know."
A flustered Bill Weasley looked at Fleur for help, but the blonde Veela just shrugged.
"Maman is a little protective of me. Don't worry; I am sure she will remember that you are a guest."
Fleur's father snorted from the side, taking part in the teasing.
"I won't be sure about that, William. Just keep your eyes open."
Harry nodded from his side, now dragging and pulling a red-faced Bill.
"Trust me, Mate. She threw a fireball at me after meeting Daphne once and learning that I had insulted her parents and her sister. I managed to get out of there alive even as my hair and clothes were on fire. Don't worry though; I am sure you will survive."
Bill's reply came in a gritted tone as he seemed to pull against Harry.
"How can you say things like that and then say Don't worry, Potter."
"Because I am sure Fleur here won't let her harm you, at least not too much."
"That's debatable, Mr. Potter," Fleur replied, eyeing Bill from the side. Harry shuddered to a halt as he turned to look at Bill with horror on his face.
"What did you do, William Weasley?"
When Bill just blushed instead of replying, Harry turned and started walking again. Daphne, who was smiling at the exchange, poked him.
"What, nothing to add, Dear husband?"
"Hush, Wifey. I am mentally trying to write a eulogy for Bill here. Hmm, how does this look? Here lies William 'Bill' Weasley...burnt and cooked like a Barbeque... use to live a badass life of a Curse Breaker until he decided to meet his future mother-in-law after pissing off his wife. He would be forever remembered as a lesson for the Husbands and his sacrifice...glurrrrhh."
Bill had hit Harry with a mouth-sticking charm and walked ahead, leaving a frantic Harry and others who were laughing. Only when they entered Sirius's room did Bill removed the charm. All the fun and joy was sucked out of everyone as they stared at the weak and shriveled body of Sirius Black. After Harry permitted Fleur's father to use a portkey to travel through the manor wards, he tied one end of the rope to Sirius before hitting him with a stasis charm and then giving the other end to all of them to hold on to. Seconds later, the entire group disappeared in a swirl of magic, leaving an empty room behind.