34

Brothers and Curse Breakers

The day after Emily's birthday found her lazily lying on her stomach upon her bed with her legs bent up in the air swinging back and forth as she nibbled on the end of her quill. Despite her intentions she had yet to finish a single thank you letter to her friends for her many gifts. She was distracted, Lucius and Severus had been acting oddly since breakfast the day before. She could tell they were hiding something from her but as it had been her birthday she didn't press either man for more information.

Emily laughed as she glanced over to Isis who was once again inspecting the statue of her namesake sent by the Weasley twins. She kept examining it as if she was sure there was a greater purpose for the object. After a while she would give up her staring contest with the figure and remark "sssilly humanssss…" before curling back up on her pillow.

Just as Isis gave up, a knock at her bedroom door drew Emily's attention. Recognizing the two magical signatures easily Emily called them into her room. The door opened emitting Lucius and Severus who closed the door behind them making their way towards her. Severus sat on the bench at the foot of the bed while Lucius settled next to Emily.

"Deciding what to write to William again?" Lucius asked slightly amused. "Or perhaps you're writing that Diggory boy?"

"Diggory… the sixth year Hufflepuff?" Severus scoffed, "I would prefer the Curse Breaker, even if he was a Gryffindor."

"I would prefer that no boys were vying for her attention yet."

Severus hummed in agreement before looking at Emily who was staring between the two men.

"Wait what are you on about?" Emily asked following Lucius' gaze to the blank parchment in front of her. "Oh, I was writing thank you letters for my gifts but I got distracted."

"I see. Well I think you can put this aside for a moment, Severus and I wanted to speak with you."

Emily nodded and without thinking waved her hand sending the parchment and writing utensils to her side table. Severus and Lucius both raised an eyebrow at the action while sharing a look. Both men doubted Emily even realized she had cast magic without using her wand.

Emily rolled onto her side as she looked at the two men, "Okay, what do you guys want to talk about?"

"Sirius Black," Severus said.

"Who?" Emily asked trying to figure out why the name sounded so familiar.

"Sirius Black," Lucius repeated pulling out a newspaper and handing it to Emily.

Emily stared at the picture of a man that took up most of the front page. She was rendered speechless as she took in the man's appearance. He had long black hair that fell to his shoulders, his face was gaunt which Emily concluded came from being confined and denied proper care for a long period of time. Despite the obvious drawn and worn look of the man there was no doubt in Emily's mind that this was the man she had dreamt of for years, the man who had promised to come back for her and Harry.

"This is the man who was charged with betraying your parents to Voldemort. He has spent the last twelve years in Azkaban but yesterday it was discovered that he has broken out of the prison. He is the first person to ever do so," Lucius said watching Emily carefully for her reaction.

Azkaban, that explained the man's appearance. She had heard the effects dementors had on the prisoners, driving them to insanity and depriving them of any happy thoughts. Emily couldn't help but think that for a man who had been exposed to dementors for twelve years his eyes seemed to hold a certain clarity.

"He betrayed my parents?" Emily asked. In her dreams the man seemed so devastated. She could not picture the man who had kissed her head and whispered his love for her and Harry ever betraying her family.

Severus made a scoffing sound and stared out the window as Lucius shot him a warning glance before turning back to Emily. "In truth we are not sure," Lucius told her.

"What do you mean, you're not sure?" Emily said pulling her eyes away from the picture to look at Lucius.

"You remember when we told you that one day we would have to tell you of our past?" seeing Emily nod Lucius continued. "To explain our uncertainty we have to tell you about what happened during the last war and our part in it."

"Emily you cannot tell anyone what we are about to tell you. We will be having a conversation with Draco so he will know as well, but your safety and ours relies on you both keeping these secrets," Severus told her.

"I understand," Emily replied.

"When I was growing up there were expectations my father held for me. I was to be a proper pureblood and behave as any good heir to the House of Malfoy would. One of those expectations was that I would join the Dark Lord's ranks when I reached my final year at Hogwarts. At the age of seventeen I was presented to the Dark Lord and marked by him at the express wishes of my father."

"Marked?" Emily asked confused by the term. Lucius rolled up his sleeve revealing a tattoo that Emily had never noticed before. It seemed somewhat faded and Emily wondered if it was just due to time or magic.

"I was forced to participate in the raids or endure torture, not only at the hands of the Dark Lord but my father as well. I felt trapped but there was nothing I could do at the time, Narcissa and I were wed as soon as she graduated, my focus was on trying to protect her," Lucius began.

Emily could see he looked haunted as he thought of his past. "When Narcissa was pregnant I knew I needed to do more to protect her and our child. I may not agree with Dumbledore on many things but he was the only person I felt could offer some kind of end to the Dark Lord's rise. I approached him offering my services as a spy as long as he promised to protect Narcissa and my child should such a time come. He agreed, I was a good asset, my father had recently passed away and I was chosen to take his place as second in command within the Inner Circle."

Severus cleared his throat and Emily turned her attention to the dark man. "I also became a spy though I was not in the service of the Dark Lord as long as Lucius. He was a few years older than I and the Dark Lord did not tend to mark people until they graduated. I was approached to join as I was finishing my mastery in potions. As you know I was the youngest potions master in England and that caught his attention. I was young and foolish, drawn in by his power and promises. But he made a mistake," Severus paused and looked Emily in the eyes, "he went after something I could never allow him to destroy."

"My mother," Emily whispered.

Severus nodded, "I had overhead the beginning of a prophecy and the Dark Lord concluded that it referred to you and decided that he would hunt your family down."

"Wait the centaurs in my first year called me the 'child of prophecy'. What does the prophecy say?" Emily asked.

"No one really knows the whole prophecy except Dumbledore and he refuses to tell it to me in its entirety. I am led to believe that it proclaims you able to end the Dark Lord but prophecies are never certain and I know very little of what it actually says."

Emily nodded accepting his answer. Maybe she could convince Dumbledore to tell her. She doubted that Voldemort was sitting around happy with his current lot in life meaning he likely was quietly finding a way to return after being denied the Sorcerer's Stone in her first year.

"Once I had learned his intentions to attack your family I approached Lucius, who I had become close to, asking him for help knowing I could be risking my life if he turned me into the Dark Lord. Instead he sent me to Dumbledore who agreed to take me on as a spy and hide your family away from harm."

"This is where Sirius Black comes into the story," Lucius picked up. "He was your father's best friend. They were inseparable, ever since they started at Hogwarts it was hard to find one without the other. They had two other friends in their group Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Due to Sirius and James' closeness everyone assumed Sirius was their Secret Keeper. In the chaos of the Dark Lord's downfall he was shipped off to Azkaban, when the dust cleared we were all told you and Harry had been sent to muggle relatives for your safety."

"Dumbledore proclaimed Severus a spy of the 'Light' and protected him from Azkaban knowing he had very few connections to save himself at the time. It was decided that I would claim guilty through influence of the 'Imperius' curse. If the Dark Lord was to come back Severus could claim to have used Dumbledore's forgiveness and need for second chances as an opportunity to spy on the man and no one would be the wiser about my position."

"The doubt of Black's guilt comes from the fact that neither I nor Lucius ever saw him at any of the meetings or with the Dark Lord," Severus spoke up.

"Sirius Black is also Narcissa's cousin, she is a Black by birth. Sirius ran from his family to move in with the Potters at the end of his sixth year refusing to be marked and serve the Dark Lord. He wanted nothing to do with the Death Eaters," Lucius said. "Something else to take into account is that he was accused of murdering one of his best friends, Peter Pettigrew, but they only ever found a finger of said man, nothing else."

"Loath as I am to admit it, Black was undyingly loyal to his friends. It doesn't fit that he would sell them out even if it meant giving up his own life," Emily noticed it pained Severus to speak these words and she couldn't help wondering why he hated the man so much but she knew better than to ask at the moment. "Nevertheless, there is not much either of us can do without jeopardizing our positions. The Dark Lord will return. The fact that our marks are still on our arms is proof enough."

"Emily, we tell you all of this because it is likely now that he is free of Azkaban, Sirius will attempt to find you and Harry," Severus added.

"Be careful and always aware, though we question his guilt there is always a possibility that he is in fact guilty. We want you safe Princess," Lucius said pulling Emily into his side.

The week passed and life at Malfoy Manor was back to normal. Now that Severus and Lucius had explained to Emily their concerns and stories they were no longer acting oddly around her, though her dreams had taken an odd turn. It was almost as if she was seeing memories of when she was a baby. The man she now knew was named Sirius Black was in them though everyone in the dreams seemed to refer to him as Padfoot.

Emily didn't dwell on it much though because she was excited that Bill would be coming the next day to work on the wards. Even though they wrote to each other several times a week she was eager to see him in person for the third time since they met a year ago.

It was as they were sitting down to dinner that they were interrupted by one of the many house elves.

"Master, Blinky is sorry for disturbing dinner but Mister Fudgey be saying he needs you in the fire," the little elf said.

"Thank you Blinky I will be right there," Lucius said as he stood excusing himself to the Floo room.

A few minutes later Lucius entered the room and retook his seat at the head of the table. "Emily have you heard from your brother at all?" he asked before taking a bite of his steak.

"No," Emily answered looking from Lucius to Draco who just shrugged his shoulders at her. "Is something wrong?"

"That was Minister Fudge just now and obliviators have had to be dispatched to your old home after Harry performed accidental magic."

"Is he in trouble?" Emily asked setting down her fork. "He can't still be at the Dursley's."

"He was picked up by the Knight Bus and had just arrived at the Leaky Cauldron when we broke the fire call. The magic was purely an accident based on his emotions. He did not cast a spell so he broke no laws, though he did inflate your Uncle's sister. She was found floating over Surrey, it seems the muggles assumed she was a large balloon. The Accidental Magic Reversal Squad has had to puncture her and her memory was modified."

Emily couldn't help but smirk at the thought of Harry blowing up Marge. She was a horrid woman who hated her and Harry, often bringing Dudley extravagant gifts while giving the twins dog treats or tissues. She loved to remind the twins that they were no good and that they would amount to nothing in society like their parents. Emily lost count of how many times she suggested Uncle Vernon dump them at the local orphanage.

"I hope you told him that we would take the boy in," Narcissa told Lucius.

"Of course, love. I made it clear we were happy to have him here and Fudge will be offering him the choice to stay with us."

"A choice, where else would he go?" Narcissa asked setting down her own fork, now focused on what her husband was saying.

"Apparently his other option is to remain at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Alone," Narcissa's tone showed how irritated she was that they would allow a thirteen year old to stay by himself at the pub.

"At his age he is allowed a choice of who he lives with. Fudge should be calling back soon enough," Lucius said taking his wife's hand. "Emily, Draco why don't you two go and spend some time in your rooms while we deal with this and I will update you both in the morning."

The teens nodded and stood to leave the dining room.

"Finish the game of chess?" Draco offered.

"Only if you're ready to lose," Emily countered.

"Race you," Draco called as he took off running towards Emily's room where their latest chess match was set up. By the time the two teens had fallen asleep their chess match lay abandoned by the fire and candy wrappers littered the bedspread. Though Draco had done his best to distract Emily when her head hit the pillow that night she couldn't help but hope that tomorrow there would be more than one guest in the house.

The next morning at breakfast Emily was disappointed to learn that Harry had chosen to stay at the Leaky Cauldron. Lucius had told her that if she wished he would take her to talk to Harry to try and convince him to come live at the manor. The choice was easy, despite having decided a few weeks ago to not interfere with Harry surely now he had to see reason, once Emily was dressed Lucius and Emily flooed to the Leaky Cauldron.

The pub was relatively empty due to the early hour. Lucius walked towards the barman and spoke to him quietly before moving back over to where Emily was waiting by the fireplace.

"He is in room eleven. I am going to stay down here and give you some time to talk. When you are ready to leave I will be at that table waiting for you," Lucius said pointing to a table in the corner of the room.

Nodding Emily made her way to the stairs and down the hallway until she was standing outside the room marked eleven. Taking a deep breath she knocked on the door and waited. When Harry opened the door he looked shocked to see her standing outside his door. "Emily, what are you doing here?"

"I was hoping we could talk," Emily said offering a nervous smile.

"Sure…" Harry hesitantly replied as he opened the door further to allow Emily into the room.

Emily surveyed the room. There was a queen sized four poster bed to her left and on the right was a large fireplace with a couch in front of it. By the window was a wardrobe and Emily noticed Hedwig was perched on top of it. "Cozy," she remarked as she made her way to the couch and sat down.

"Yeah," Harry commented as he seated himself at the other end of the couch. After a few minutes of awkward silence Harry spoke, "Why are you here?"

Emily sighed and turned her gaze from the fire to Harry. "I want you to come and stay at the manor with me."

"Emily I already told you I don't want to live with the Malfoys."

"And what is wrong with the Malfoys?" Emily's tone becoming defensive immediately.

"They aren't good people Emily, they're evil! Ron told me that the only reason Malfoy's dad isn't in prison is because he bought his way out of it! He worked for Voldemort," Harry exclaimed running a hand through his already messy hair. "You may be comfortable there but I can't live with people like that!"

"You haven't even properly met them and you are accusing them of being bad people. Harry, they have practically adopted me and they would be happy to do the same for you. I can promise you no one in that home is evil," Emily countered.

"Ron told me they were working for the man that killed our parents! How can someone be a loyal follower of Voldemort and not be evil? Ron said that –"

"What does it matter what Ron says? I am your sister and I am telling you that the Malfoys are good people who genuinely would be happy to have you in their home," Emily said interrupting him.

"Of course you say that you're a Slytherin, Malfoy is your best friend!"

"What does being Slytherin have to do with anything?"

"Ron told me that there wasn't a witch or wizard who went bad that wasn't in Slytherin."

"Do you only ever do what Ron says? Is the world supposed to be black and white? Because I am a Slytherin I must be evil as well? You cannot tell me that only Slytherins followed Voldemort! Harry you are blinded by your friend's prejudices!"

"I am not!"

"Then why do you keep telling me what Ronald Weasley has spouted to you? Why not listen to me, someone who has lived with them for two summers now?"

"Ron isn't the only person who doesn't like the Malfoys. They are stuck up purebloods who think people of lesser blood status are below them! He called Ron a blood traitor, he sneers at Hermione and most of the other muggleborns," Harry said glaring at Emily daring her to deny it.

"Draco isn't fond of muggleborns, I will give you that. Though neither am I if we are being completely honest but do you have any idea why?"

"Because they aren't purebloods."

"No, it is because they have been getting rid of our old traditions like Samhain and Yule, replacing them with Halloween and Christmas. They bring their prejudices from the muggle world into the magical one. They threaten our existence every time they want to tell someone back home of magic."

"You sound like them. Next you are going to say you hate muggles."

"I don't hate Muggles but you and I both know the downside of muggles knowing about us. Their fear causes them to harm us. You could be happy at the manor! You will have your own room and we can go flying on the Quidditch pitch. I am not an idiot Harry, I know you were locked in your room last summer, Fred and George told me."

"It wasn't that bad, I've only been hit twice since going back. They are afraid, especially after I was broken out by magic last year, that I am being watched more carefully. They took the locks off the door."

"Out of fear but what happens when they get comfortable and realize no one is waiting to swoop in and save you? What happens when you return next summer after blowing up Marge?"

"You won't convince me that living with the Malfoys is better than being with the Dursleys," Harry replied flatly.

"Why because their evil?" Emily snapped.

"Yes."

"You truly believe the Malfoys are the evil ones, they have given me a home and a family never once have they raised a hand or wand to hurt me, yet every summer you return to the Dursleys who beat us, forced us to live in a cupboard and often starved us?" When Harry just shrugged Emily knew there was no talking sense into her brother. She stood and made her way to the door stopping to turn, looking Harry straight in the eyes. "Fine, I get it. I'm just a snake now and my opinion means less than that of a red headed ponce who is barely doing better in his classes then Crabbe and Goyle!"

With that Emily opened the door slamming it as hard as she could behind her and quickly making her way back down the stairs. She walked over to where Lucius was sitting, her face an emotionless mask. At Lucius' raised eyebrow she shook her head slightly. Sighing Lucius stood and led her over to the fireplace allowing her to floo first.

Once in the manor Emily left the floo room intent on heading to her bedroom. She just wanted to be alone. The witch was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she missed the new magical signature walking right into someone. Expecting to fall Emily was shocked when she felt arms wrap around her steadying her.

"In a hurry?" Emily heard the voice chuckle, she instantly knew the owner of the voice. Shaking her head she allowed herself to hug the man back and relax as his hold tightened around her.

"When did you get in?" Emily asked pulling away to straighten out her clothes.

"About fifteen minutes ago. My family vacated my home yesterday so I was able to come earlier than I had told you."

"Do you have to get working on the wards right away?" Emily asked smiling up at the curse breaker forgetting how angry she had been just moments before.

"The goblins took pity on me and gave me a few days off to unwind after my family's visit. Mr. Malfoy has kindly offered for me to stay here so there is no rush."

"It will be good to have you around. I'm sure Apollo will enjoy the rest," Emily said as she led Bill down the hall.

"Probably," Bill laughed before his face turned serious. "Is everything okay? You seemed upset when you ran into me."

Emily had to use her occlumency to keep down her blush, "It's just my brother. We got into a fight this morning and… we just view things so differently, he takes everything your little brother says as truth. He trusts him more than me because I'm a Slytherin and he's a Gryffindor..."

"Emily!" Turning Emily was surprised to see Cedric making his way towards her. He wrapped his arms around her, spinning her in a circle before putting her back down.

"Ced, what are you doing here?"

"We got home yesterday and I wanted to visit you," his eyes looking from Emily to Bill.

"Oh, um Cedric this is William Weasley heir to House Weasley. Bill this is Cedric Diggory heir to the Noble House Diggory," Emily said watching as the two seemed to be sizing the other up.

"Nice to meet you," Bill said nodding his head slightly in recognition of the younger boy. "I think I'm going to get started on the wards. We can finish this chat tonight, okay?"

At Emily's nod Bill offered her a smile before sweeping back down the hallway. Emily couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed as the calm that had surrounded her seemed to leave with him.

Turning back to Cedric who was smiling at her, she took his outstretched hand as they made their way to Emily's room while he recounted his trip to Greece with his family.