Chapter 56: Lady Vaisey
Aldemar, Morpeth, Northumberland, England
June 20, 1987
"This way Mr. Black," the House Elf directed.
Sirius nodded at once and stood to follow the House Elf. He had arrived fifteen minutes previous in the receiving room of Aldemar, the ancestral home of House Vaisey. The Lord of House Vaisey and his wife, Valdemar Vaisey and Caisonia Vaisey nee Malfoy, had renovated Aldemar shortly after their marriage and turned the old fortress into a beautiful home. This was not the sort of information that Sirius usually paid attention to, but Narcissa had insisted that he needed to know it. His cousin had been very meticulous in trying to prepare him for his meeting today with Lady Caisonia. It was Lady Caisonia who was the true power in the Vaisey family and it was Caisonia that Sirius had to impress if he wanted House Vaisey to agree to his desire to marry Alicia.
Caisonia was the second of three children born to Renier Malfoy and Akacia Malfoy nee Brown. She had served House Malfoy as its Regent during the minority of the current Lord, Abraxas. His Grandfathers had insisted that Sirius study their notes on her time as Regent of House Malfoy to prepare himself for taking on his responsibilities as the Regent of House Potter. He had found himself very impressed with her skill. Caisonia had nearly tripled the Malfoy family wealth during her time as her nephew's Regent. Narcissa had informed him that the Vaisey wealth had risen to that of the Malfoy's since Valdemar became the Lord of House.
In 1932, when she had been pregnant with the Heir Vaisey, Jordannes the father of his dear Alicia, a Wizard had tried to curse Caisonia. Her husband had shielded her from the curse with his own body. Valdemar Vaisey had suffered from various effects of the curse ever since. In an uncharacteristic move, he had made all the vassals of House Vaisey and all the blood members of the House swear vows to treat Caisonia as though she were the Lord of House. Such a thing had rarely been done in their great history.
He was surprised when the House Elf led him down a long hall that led away from the more traditional lounges and reception rooms. When they were halfway down the hall, he felt a great pressure that made his steps falter. He halted his progress and let his gaze roam over the few pieces of artwork lining the hallway. He took a moment to stare at a painting of a beautiful woman with pale silver-blonde hair and ice-blue eyes. He would have thought that a painting of Caisonia Vaisey would have been proudly displayed in one of the receiving rooms, but instead, it was here in this hall. How very curious? He searched the painting for several moments, taking in the scene. The Matriarch of the Vaisey family was adorned as a Greek goddess in a blue and gold ancient Grecian style dress that hugged her feminine curves. Her hair was piled in a half up fashion that left her flowing blonde curls to fall down her back and over her left shoulder. She seemed to have a playful expression and her lips curved into a sultry smirk. He turned his gaze to scanning the ornately carved painting frame and he smirked when he found the simple runes to create a sound ward. Such wards were often set up in homes where children played to keep the noise created by playful children from disturbing others in the home. He did take a moment to wonder why the ward would be here. Surely the Elf could not be leading him toward a children's wing of the Fortress. Once he took a confident step past the ward he immediately had his answer as to why the ward existed in the first place. He could hear musical instruments playing. A piano and a viola were being played together and Sirius winced when he heard dissonant sounds coming from the viola.
"No darling," a feminine voice gently chided. "Hold the bow like this," the voice said again.
A small smile curved Sirius's lips as he paused in the open doorway and watched a stunning woman with the Malfoy coloring, a woman that he recognized now as Caisonia Vaisey, was gently adjusting the way that his little Hannah held a bow to the viola. He watched the two for a few moments as the woman instructed his soon to be step-daughter. He took a moment to admire them both. His little Hannah resembled Caisonia a great deal, but she had the warmer stamp of the Abbott family upon her. Her blonde hair was golden instead of the silver blonde of the Malfoy's. She had warm brown eyes instead of the ice blue of her Great-Grandmother. However, the shape of her eyes, her cheekbones, and her chin were just like Caisonia. He continued to stand in the doorway, listening attentively as Hannah once more attempted to play the piece of music. He watched the little girl's brow furrowed in concentration and he was pleased for her when she got the piece right. He clapped after Caisonia told Hannah that it was well done.
"Sirius!" the little girl cried as soon as she noticed him. He watched with amusement as she swiftly but gently placed her viola down into its case and then she raced across the room toward him. He took three steps into the room and knelt to grab her up and toss her into the air. He barely grunted in the effort and was pleased with how strong he had become since his release from Azkaban. Hannah was not a heavy child, but she certainly wasn't a toddler. "I didn't know you would be here," Hannah rambled at him even as she hugged his neck. "This is a great surprise!"
Sirius chuckled as the little girl rambled. "Well, I needed to see your Great-Grandmother and she was kind enough to grant me an audience today," Sirius told Hannah.
Hannah pulled back slightly to look him in the eyes. "Oh," she said simply but continued to smile. "Did you like what I was playing?"
Sirius nodded. "It was very pretty," he told her, and he held back that he had heard how she had messed up and had to be corrected. He didn't want to harm the girl's growing confidence.
"I picked that piece after hearing Grandmere play it," Hannah told him. "I am going to play it for my Presentation in a few years," she said proudly.
Sirius almost grimaced at that but fought to control his features. It had been years since he had been reminded of society presentations. The children of the Noble Houses presented their children properly to the rest of society when they were ten years old, the year before the child would receive their Hogwarts letter. The idea behind this had started centuries ago when some of the Old Crones had decided that the children should be exposed to the rest of society when they were ten so that marriage alliances could begin to be brokered. Cradle betrothals were rare in their society and they were usually orchestrated to mend broken alliances between the participating families. Such was the cradle betrothal between House Parkinson and House Weasley. Official talks of future marriage alliances started when a child was ten after they had been presented. The idle talk could happen beforehand and often did. Sirius found the number of offers for Harry atrocious. Too many in their society wanted to see their children married to the Boy Who Lived. A Presentation was when a child began to take their first official steps in their society and it had to be done in style. Usually, some sort of great party was planned, and the child was meant to show their worth by performing a musical performance and by reciting archaic words that many had forgotten the meaning of in the first place. Sirius certainly hadn't understood them when he had spoken them at his own Presentation. It did put his mind to begin questioning Cassiopeia, Narcissa, and Andromeda about what was being done to prepare the children of the Houses Black and Malfoy for their Presentations. Remus had never had a Presentation, so he doubted that his friend would remember that Orion would be expected to have one. He would have to talk with Remus about that. He also needed to meet with Petunia and Marius about Harry and Dudley. His Uncle Marius had been Presented only to then prove to be a Squib the following year. He didn't know if Marius would harbor resentment enough to keep Harry and Dudley from being Presented, but Sirius couldn't allow it. As much as Sirius didn't like the Presentation, he knew that everyone expected Harry to be presented.
"It is good that you are practicing it so soon then," Sirius praised her. "By the day of your Presentation, you'll be able to play it just as beautifully as your Grandmere," he said and then stole a glance at Caisonia Vaisey. The woman was watching him, ice-blue eyes assessing his every move, his every word. He was being weighed and measured. He was the Black Sheep of the Black family. The prodigal son. Despite how society had fawned over him since his release from Azkaban and reemergence in society, Sirius had no delusions that this woman would fawn over him like the others. She was too astute, too cunning. This woman was an icy-eyed dragon and she would not let him near Alicia and Hannah if she thought he would hurt them. This last thought made him relax ever so slightly. If Caisonia had thought that he had awful motives, then she would not have let him hold Hannah in his arms as he was doing now.
"Hannah darling, you cannot keep all of Mr. Black's attention," Caisonia said in a congenial tone of voice. "You should go with Nimsy to the kitchens and oversee the making of tea and a few snacks for us to feed Mr. Black."
Hannah nodded her head in agreement. "Yes of course," she said happily as Sirius slowly lowered her back onto her own two feet. She smiled up at Sirius. "You still like the chocolate chip cookies, right Sirius?" she asked him.
He smiled at that. The two had talked cookies once when he had met her and Alicia in Diagon Alley. The two had bonded over a shared love of almost anything with chocolate. "Yes, they are still my favorite," he assured her.
"Great!" she said with a happy bounce and then she turned to the House Elf that had led Sirius to the music room. Soon enough she was following the House Elf from the room, talking happily about snacks that they could prepare for Sirius.
Then he was left alone with Caisonia Vaisey and he turned his full attention to the formidable woman. He remembered all that Narcissa had told him about this woman. This was the woman who had taken the waning wealth of House Malfoy and put them back on the path to being one of the wealthiest families in Britain. She was the one who had guided Abraxas Malfoy. If anyone had turned Abraxas Malfoy into the "Dragon" that he was now known as in society, it was this woman. She had increased the wealth and influence of House Vaisey, a Noble House that had been considered of little importance before her marriage to Valdemar Vaisey.
"I do believe that this is where you properly state your intentions, Mr. Black," the woman said in a business-like tone, but there was a curve to her lips that hinted at amusement.
Sirius braced himself as he stared at the woman. In some ways dealing with a man would have been easier. Sirius was now used to dealing with powerful Lords of House. His own Grandsire was very formidable and while his other Grandfather was not a Lord of House, Pollux Black could easily be confused with one. The man had served as the Potter Regent for years and he had served Lord Black as his voting Proxy in the Wizengamot far longer. Sirius was not used to women wielding the sort of power that Caisonia Vaisey wielded. Oh, he was used to powerful women. He was surrounded by them. All the females of the House of Black were powerful women. None of them were a Lord though and Caisonia Vaisey had all the power of a Lord of House and all the wickedness of a Malfoy with the Midas-touch.
"It is my wish that you grant my suit for the hand of your Granddaughter, Alicia Abbott nee Vaisey," Sirius said aloud in a voice that was clear and strong. He might have a healthy fear of Caisonia Vaisey, but he was not afraid of asking for Alicia's hand. He wanted her, he needed her, and he was sure that she wanted him and needed him as well. He would be good to her, good to Hannah as well.
His future grandmother-in-law eyed him for several long minutes and Sirius noted curiosity was prevalent in those ice-blue depths. "Tell me, please, Mr. Black," she said smoothly even as she motioned with an elegant bejeweled hand for him to come closer. "Will I be raising Hannah once you have Alicia?"
He felt a surge of anger rise in him at the question, but he fought it back. He hated that so many pure-bloods had refused to raise their step-children. Long ago if a witch were widowed and had children and a man sought her hand in marriage, he had to do so with the knowledge that he would be taking her and her children. He would be making a commitment to cherish the Witch he was marrying and to cherish and provide for the children of her body, whether they had come from her previous husband or from himself. Yet a few centuries ago it had become popular for Wizards to take widowed Witches as their spouse but to insist that the children they had in their previous marriage must be the responsibility of either their father's family or their mother's family. Sirius had been raised with the traditions of House Black and those traditions were ancient. No matter how much he had rebelled in his teenage years, he could admit now that he agreed with many of the traditions of his family.
"I am a son of the House of Black," he began. "We follow the ancient ways. I would never separate Hannah from her mother," he said firmly. "If House Vaisey approves of my suit for Alicia's hand then it will be my honor to be Alicia's husband and Hannah's father," he said laying all his intentions before Caisonia. He was a Gryffindor after all. He had no reason to conceal his true motives. He need only tell the truth. He meant what he said, and the woman was astute, she would see through any potential lies. Narcissa had insisted that he use his Gryffindor tendencies to his advantage. That he be honest about his intentions, in his desires. Caisonia had allowed her granddaughter to marry into a family that should have cherished her but had done her great harm in the end. It had to sting. Sirius needed her to understand that though he was the black sheep of the Black family, he was still a Black and his family would never turn on Alicia the way that the Abbott family had done. Alicia would always be safe with him, with his family, and so would Hannah.
She moved to the piano then and sat down on the cushioned bench. "I remember your Presentation," she said idly. "I had thought then that you might be a good fit for my Alicia," she told him. "You played the violin with great passion and daring, and I had thought that you and Alicia would complement each other. I spoke of it once with Walburga, but she seemed to think you could do better than a child of my House," she said with distaste.
Sirius remembered only bits and pieces of his Presentation. He remembered being nervous about having to perform and his father had gently told him that he should just play the piece with all his spirit. Sirius had done so, letting himself get lost in the music. There had been great applause afterward and his father had looked so proud of him. His mother had shown tight-lipped disdain. "My mother was a pretentious old bat," Sirius couldn't resist saying and was pleased to see Caisonia's lips curve up into a smirk at that.
"I never liked her," Caisonia said easily.
"Why did you think that I would suit Alicia?" he asked because he couldn't bite back his curiosity. He had only been ten and Alicia was likewise ten at the time.
"It was your spirit," she admitted easily. "Alicia was a serious child and soft-spoken. She could be mischievous, but you had to pull it out of her. I thought that you would be able to make her smile and laugh when the world seemed bleak and I thought that she would temper your wildness and give you direction."
Sirius thought about that for a moment. He thought about how he had been since his release from Azkaban. He was better when he had goals to work toward when he had a direction. Improving his health had been a good direction. Improving his relationships with Leonis and Harry was rewarding. Just watching Leonis and Harry play made him happier than he could ever remember being. Not even when he had been with the Marauders had he been so happy. Improving his relationships with the members of his family had soothed wounds deep inside of him that he had not realized that he had. Every day he spent learning about politics from his Grandpa Pollux seemed to heal another wound that he had not realized he had allowed to exist, let alone fester. Repairing his relationship with Remus and slowly forming one with Orion was also rewarding. He felt that he now had a better relationship with Remus than had existed when they were teenagers. He hadn't realized back then the imbalance in their friendship. Sirius and James had really held all the power over Remus. His lycanthrope friend had felt inferior to them because of his affliction. The pervading attitude in Wizarding Britain against Werewolves had weighed heavily on his friend's conscience. Sirius had never really comprehended how Remus felt about being a Werewolf back then. Merlin! Sirius really had been an arrogant and stupid kid. Now he and Remus could meet as equals. Remus felt secure in telling Sirius off if he felt Sirius was out of line. It was refreshing and wonderful and every now and then Sirius wished that it could have always been that way. In a better world, it might have been. He delighted in playing uncle to Orion. He might be the boy's biological father, but Remus had been the boy's father in every way that really mattered, and Sirius would never take that away from his best friend. So even though he was Orion's biological father, he interacted with the boy the way he did Harry, as the doting and loving Uncle. Scorpius was another good direction in his life. He wanted the boy to be happy and his own experiences being raised by Walburga Black helped him to understand things about the boy that he was not sure his other family members could. Alicia and Hannah had become a new direction, he knew that. He felt happy with them and protective of them. He had felt protective of Alicia ever since their eyes had met in Estelle's. He had felt instantly protective of Hannah as soon as he had seen her distress due to the actions of her Paternal Grandsire.
"I believe you are right," Sirius told Caisonia. "Alicia and I are well suited. I think I can make her happy. I can certainly provide well for her and Hannah. I can protect them," he said confidently.
She looked up from the piano keys then to stare hard at Sirius. "Are you willing to do what is necessary to restore her good name and give her back her proper standing in society?" she asked of Sirius.
'Here it is,' Sirius thought to himself. Narcissa had cautioned him that Lady Vaisey would not easily give him her blessing. She would likely assign him some sort of task or demand a high bride price for Alicia even though Alicia had been married once before and the social norms dictated that a smaller price is paid. Well, if she wished a high price to be paid then he would pay it. Alicia and Hannah were worth it. "Yes, I am willing."
Caisonia smirked. "Then when you have proven to society at large that Hannah is the child of Johnathon Abbott, thus showing that Alicia was faithful to her husband, I will grant you permission to marry Alicia and take Hannah as your step-daughter."
"May I ask why you have not been able to do this?" Sirius asked of Caisonia. It was a puzzling question. Caisonia was a powerful and influential woman. Her power and influence had probably kept Alicia and Hannah from worse harm, helping to shield them from the worst of the rumors and insinuations. She had clearly protected her granddaughter and great-granddaughter and yet she had not cleared their reputations. Why?
"I did make the attempts when Hannah was younger, but I have a great vested interest," she said. "Abbott is a dear friend to Minister Bagnold and he has the favor of Albus Dumbledore. Those who follow Bagnold would not believe that she would befriend a man like Warring Abbott if he were an unscrupulous cad. So, it was easier for them to believe that I was either ashamed of what Alicia had done and was falsely attempting to clear her name or that I was in denial. Neither is a flattering image of my person," she said with a hint of old disdain.
Sirius frowned at that. "So those who enjoyed believing the scandal wanted to keep believing it for various reasons and it made it nearly impossible for you to prove them innocent?" he asked feeling anger rise in him at the injustice of it.
"Damned by public opinion," she confirmed. "There are those in society who believed the truth when presented with it and those have been kind to Alicia and Hannah, but too many have enjoyed the scandal."
"I certainly know all about the public's great love for scandal," Sirius muttered. He was popular in society because of the great scandal that was his life after all. He would need a plan to help him clear Hannah and Alicia's reputations. It wouldn't be enough for it to be just him. He had been seen in public interacting with Alicia and Hannah. Word had made the rounds by now that he had a vested interest in Alicia's well-being. He would need to draw in the opinion of others, people who didn't necessarily like him and don't particularly care about Alicia one way or the other. One name immediately entered his mind.
'Severus Snape.'
Though they were attempting to hold the peace and get along for the sake of the children of Houses Malfoy and Black, Sirius knew that Severus still disliked him. Society loved a good scandal. His scandalous youth and the enmity between himself and Severus Snape now Lord Prince was a thing of legends among the staff of Hogwarts, the students who had attended during those years, and even some of the upper echelons of society. He smirked at that. Everyone knew how they hated each other and few knew that they were attempting to be cordial for Leonis's sake. If someone like Snape, who everyone knew hated him so much still came down on the side of Hannah and Alicia, then that would hold great weight with society. Severus had also garnered a reputation for honesty and fairness. He had spoken out at Sirius's trial despite his intense hatred for Sirius. His reputation as a man who thought truth and justice should reign would only help Sirius in this situation. It might just be the tipping point that would cause Severus to help him. Surely Severus would not like that a young girl and a young widow, and an old Slytherin classmate, had suffered such great injustice. He would have to talk to Severus. On further consideration, he realized he would have to get Narcissa's help in speaking with Severus. He had learned that his beloved cousin had a great power over Lord Prince and could make him do almost anything. He hoped that she could make him do this.
"I will clear their names," he promised Lady Vaisey.
She smiled at him then and he saw that Alicia had the same smile. "I look forward to your efforts," she said simply neither giving him great encouragement nor discouraging him. Sirius appreciated her tact.
"I live to amuse," Sirius replied with a bit of mirth.
She laughed at that. "Come along, Mr. Black. The music room is no place to eat chocolate chip cookies," she said as she arose from the piano bench. "I'll show you to the blue lounge."
When she reached his side, Sirius gallantly offered his arm for escort causing the woman to smile. She took his arm and they left the music room behind them. He enjoyed listening to her speak of some of the histories of Aldemar and felt part of himself relaxing in her presence. The meeting hadn't gone as bad as he had thought it would have. She had given him a monster to slay, but that appealed to him far more than under the table Slytherin deals, so he was quite content with his assignment. He had already vowed to himself that he would repay Warring Abbott for the many pains he had delivered upon Alicia and Hannah. Now he had the tacit approval of Alicia's family while he did so.
Sirius was pleased. With the backing of House Vaisey would also come subtle if not outspoken approval and backing from House Malfoy. While he knew he would have Narcissa in his corner, regardless, it was good to know that he would also have Lord Malfoy in his corner. It was possible that their allies would back him as well so that when he proved that Hannah was Johnathon Abbott's child and that her Grandfather had viciously wronged her, they would help spread the word far and wide. It would greatly damage Warring Abbott's reputation. His "friends" would back away from the man. Those that did business with Abbott would withdraw. Sirius felt a moment of pity for the other members of the Abbott family before he swiftly hardened his heart. They had never reached out a hand to comfort Alicia, to get to know Hannah.
Their loss in this would be his gain. If only for the love of Johnathon, they should have tried to stop Lord Abbott from disavowing Alicia and Hannah, but that had not happened. Lord Abbott's two remaining children, Clarence Abbott and Clarissa Madley nee Abbott, had gone along with their father and had shunned their sister-in-law and niece. They would pay for going along with it by his ruining the reputation of their Lord of House. While he didn't expect society to completely shun Clarence and Clarissa, he knew that they would feel some of the fallout and some of the sting of society's censure.
"Look Sirius, chocolate chip. Your favorite!" Hannah exclaimed happily from her position beside the coffee table in the blue lounge.
Sirius looked at the little girl's pretty face and noted the excited pleasure of her eyes and he smiled at her. "Thank you, Hannah. These look really good," he said as he settled himself on a sofa and then took up a small dessert plate and placed a few cookies on the plate. He spent the remainder of his afternoon talking with Hannah and Caisonia and slowly formulating ideas and plans in his mind.
Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing. Posting on ffnet and receiving your great reviews has certainly taught me a great deal. I feel like I have grown as an author thanks to your encouragements. Even people who have disliked my story for various reasons have been kind in how they have chosen to approach me about this. I thank everyone for your continued and varied encouragement.
Next Chapter: Sirius attempts to enlist the help of Severus.
