AN: Ok ok i know not the story I promised but at least an update! I really hope you enjoy this chapter.
Harry landed with the disorienting sickening jarring thud. He was really growing to hate side along apparition. He was bent over with his hands on his knees, not really caring where they were at the moment. He was actually a little surprised she wasn't barking at him to hurry up. He was really starting to question his sanity in agreeing to go with her. Battlefield stress sounded like a good excuse.
He was beginning to think of escaping when she spoke with a level of concern he couldn't have imagined coming from a death eater. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." he popped out quickly. He could almost feel the stare into his hunched back. "Well I will be." taking a few more deep breaths he finally looked up at their surroundings he froze. There was no way they should be here. He had not believed it when she mentioned it back at the shack but now at seeing the proof his brain back pedaled. "How are we at…"he felt his tongue lock up again.
"At the house of my forefathers. Simple. Magic." the black witch with the white arm quipped. For the second time in as many moments Harry's brain froze. Did the Death Eater extraordinaire just make a Sirius level pun?
"Come on. Neither of us should be on the street right now." Harry felt a gentle hand on his back as she guided him to the door. Stopping at the threshold he watched as the black witch scoffed. He was about to ask 'what'. When she provided the answer for him.
"No security whatsoever." She grabbed the nob and opened the door. A gentle hand on his back again and they were both inside.
Harry watched in horror as the curtains flew open as Bellatrix closed the door. He was already slightly hunched expecting the Banshee of the House of Black to start wailing. Instead Harry watched her blink for a second before a smile blossomed on her aged face. "Bella! How have you been? Where have you been? It's been forever. Please tell me you are here to knock some sense into my idiot blood traitor son and excise the mudblood filth out of the house."
Sighing and rolling his eyes. Here it was. The explosion was surely about to happen. Harry was looking around for a place to run to from a pair of pureblood nut jobs. He was shocked when he heard. "Greetings Auntie. Please refrain from such language. It is unfitting to a lady of standing. Plus some new things have come to light. We shall discuss this more later. I promise."
He stood dumbfounded. Walburga's portrait simply nodded. Bellatrix hefted the sack a little and smiled at Harry. "Come we need to find your reprobate of a godfather." Harry noted there was both happiness and a deep sadness in her purple eyes.
Said reprobate chose that moment to stride into the entrance hall. His wand arm was in a sling. Harry couldn't help wincing in memory of Sirius cracking his shoulder against the great stone archway. The last Black may not have a wand but he was leading a small contingent of order members all with wands.
Harry had no idea why he did what he did. He had seen Bellatrix stiffen at his side. Being the reckless and courageous Gryffindor he was. He stepped in front of the Black witch
"Harry.." Sirius drawled out. It was the most serious Harry had ever heard him.
"Sirius." Harry pleaded. "Something is going on here and we need information." the young man refused to budge as he emerald eyes bore into Sirius slate gray eyes begging him to understand
Bellatrix was stunned. No one had ever stood beside her like her..like Harry was doing down. For no good reason other than the morality of it.
Emerald eyes tracked Sirius as he slowly raised his off hand and laid it gently on the first wand hand it encountered, slowly pushing it low. Each order member followed suit. "Alright Harry. On your word we will hear Trixie out."
The Black Witch was further stunned and her eyes showed it. Sirius still called her by her favored childhood nickname. She saw Sirius smirk and knew her surprise was caught. That smirk spurred her into action. She stepped out from around her..from Harry. Two quick strides and she was almost in Sirius's face. The order flinched but she paid them not mind as she began to rant.
"Sirius Black what the hell were you thinking! Chasing Peter Instead of doing your duty as godfather. I question whether you were a changeling since clearly something is wrong with your good breeding. Or perhaps it was one to many idiotic Gryffindor stunts blwoing up in your face."
"Oi!" Harry called out.
Bellatrix turned an apologetic eye to Harry. "I'm sorry dear but after tonight and your Gryffindorish raid on the ministry, can you really argue the point?"
Everyone was too stunned by the maternal sounding Bellatrix to do anything when she quickly spun around and slapped Sirius hard across his left cheek. "Sirius Black you have failed your family. That was so you never forget again!"
"OW!" Sirius cried out as he began to rub his jaw with his good hand. He watched Trixie who had simply raised an imperious eyebrow at him daring him to challenge her. "Alright, fair. And that was probably far more gentle than Lily or James would have been. Point conceded, Trixie."
The portrait of Walburga let out a bark like laugh. It was suddenly obvious where Sirius had gotten the laugh. "Dear Bella. Thank you for finally doing what I was unable to do and knock some sense into my wayward son."
"Stuff it mother." Sirius retorted but Walburga just looked smug. Many sets of eyes ping ponged between one stunning moment to the next shocking one. Sirius finally turned back to Bellatrix. "Alright, enough family pleasantries. Why are you here and not trying to kill us? Also how are you here? Aren't you bound to Voldemort and your husband?"
"Unwritten Black marriage clause as for LeStrange." Some looked confused but Sirius merely nodded. He knew Bellatrix must have killed Rodolphus and details would eventually be forthcoming. He watched as Bellatrix rolled up her left sleeve and showed an expanse of snow white flesh without any hint of the mark that he knew marred so many of his childhood associates.
"As for the other part. I learned some things during the fight that caused me to change my opinion of the Dark Tosser." another round of miniscule shocked gasps and widening of eyes.
Everyone watched as she picked up the sack and pulled out her damaged mask. "Her hold this. It will help prove my point." She passed the mask to Sirius who took it with all the calmness of a Black Lord.
"His Royal Pain in the assness and my unlamented late husband had me convinced that my daughter had died at the hands of the Light. Several of the children of the Dark were in a safe house. Clearly they lied and hid away my daughter."
The boy who hated titles paled and remembered what he was shown in the shack. He still questioned if it was true. He watched as Bellatrix withdrew the severed arm by the stump end. Bellatrix started speaking again as he examined the arm. "I snagged Rudy and Rolfy's heads. I need various things in the Black vaults for a deep Legilimens scan. I need to know who so i can undo the damage."
Sirius was rubbing the back of his neck and now refusing to meet the eyes of Harry or Bellatrix, the crowd was just watching fascinated. The mask had disappeared into some inner robe pocket. The crowd had heard about the great Black Family dramas and now they were getting to watch one. Sirius stammered slightly and incomprehensibly.
Amethyst eyes turned when she heard Sirius stammer. He had never stammered. Bellatrix watched as the last Black turned slowly to face her. His eyes said it all. He knew. "You KNEW!" She cried and still holding the stump end of her severed arm used it to backhand Sirius across his right cheek.
"ARGH!" Sirius cried out as she stood up and even with his wand arm in a sling he looked powerful and dangerous. Bellatrix leaned back slightly cowed. Yes she had her skill and rage. Yet so did Sirius. He also had a cadre of Order members behind and Harry behind her.
"Yes, I knew Harry was not biologically James and Lily's child. We watched as James was tortured with the infertility curse from Dolohov. Something he particularly enjoyed. I however was not at this supposed safe house. James and Lily were part of a raid on a tip about a supply and operations location. While I and a few others were sent elsewhere as a distraction. I learned after the fact, James and Lily came back from the raid with a handful of children. They rescued them from a life of darkness and torture. Of slaveray to that mad man you called a lord for decades!"
Sirius' voice rang with the authority of a Black Lord. With all her new insite Bellatrix could not help but feel the weight of her actions settle on her soul.
"Nor did I have any intention of depriving Harry of the idea of loving parents who risked anything and gave everything that they had for him in a pointless search for parents who would be equally dead or worse." Sirius continued but paused and let his aura settle full on Bellatrix. "In prison."
Sirius waited. His slate gray eyes burned into Bellatrix for a moment before turning to harry. "Pup, your parents loved you so so much. I did not keep this from you to hurt you. I just did not want you to ever question James or Lily's love for you."
The green eyed boy simply nodded after considering it for a moment. "Thank you Sirius. After everything that has gone wrong lately I know I shouldn't fly off the handle at things."
Walburga chose that moment to pipe up since everyone was ignoring the now mild mannered portrait. "There may be hope for you yet, Boy."
"Don't call me that" "Don't call her that." Harry and Bellatrix called out but for different reasons.
Sirius sighed and reached under his sling and into his outer robe. Withdrawing a small book. "Harry, your parents wrote this for you only, if this information ever came to light. I do not know what it contains. It is bound to you."
The Black Lord had heard Bellatrix indignant huff but chose to ignore her as he handed over the book. "Trixie you squandered that title when you let a LeStrange and a jumped up idiot out play you. I at least have the excuse of being an idiot Gryffindor. At least that's what I was convinced the Hat of."
"You can't be serious? Where did the hat want to put you?" Bellatrix finally joined the ranks of the shocked. Outwitted into Sirius's favorite pun she somehow knew would be coming.
"Of course he is. Just ask Aunt Walburga's portrait!" Harry chirped before turning back to his godfather. "So I guess you wouldn't be upset if I said the hat wanted to put me in Slytherin?" Harry looked down sheepishly clutching the book to his chest.
Bellatrix snapped her amethyst eyes to her hidden child. Had her child really just admitted to out Slytherin-ing the Hat.
"Did you just steal my pun, pup?" Sirius asked as his good hand was held over his heart in faux shock. The gray eyed man chuckled and shook his head. "Well I guess you come from good marauder stock so I will allow it. I was almost sorted into Slytherin as well."
The portrait of Walburga Black finally joined the ranks of the shocked. Both her son and a cousin of the Blacks in some fashion, just admitted to not wanting to be part of the great house of Slytherin. She knew she was just a painting and lacked some of the full capacities of her form flesh and blood self but the situation still deserved her full cunning at this point.
Turning around and finally realizing the entire show had an audience, Sirius waved his good hand up in the air. "Oi, you lot, Get. Ain't you ever seen a simple family reunion!?"
The crowd did disperse but not before someone got a parting shot of a statement off "Blacks are never simple."
Sirius sighed as he turned back but his weary look evaporated at seeing his family again. Fucked up it may be but it was still family. Despite things he was a Black to his core. His good hand found Harry and pulled him into a one arms hug, careful of his injured shoulder.
"Harry. Since you are the only one that can figure out if what is in that book will matter to the greater landscape of the next several months, why don't you go to your room and figure out how to open it? Trixie and I will work on her part. Then we will get Dumbledore in here. I intend to have words with that man."
Harry frowned as the thought of him being pawned off again on some meaningless task. He was about to launch into a tirade as to why he should stay. Emerald fire Blazed from his eyes as he turned up and he stopped. Dead in his tracks before he even got going. Walburga was looking proudly at Sirius. Bellatrix was looking hopeful at him. Sirius had a mixture of reckless Gryffindor with Slytherin cunning.
Harry realized the others did think him important and like Hermione often said 'Divide the task into manageable sections.'
Nodding slightly he clutched the book to his chest again. Looking back he saw the injuries this night had brought. All these people had given to him. It was time for him to be just as giving.
"Thanks for everything Sirius. Bellatrix…thank you for helping tonight" Harry trailed off a little at the end but he never lost his smile. Finally turning to the portrait. "Good night Mrs. Black."
With pleasantries made Harry ran off. To finally be alone with his emotions. His friend's injuries. The unknown possibility of an Order member being hurt. And now the thought that he may not be Harry Potter.
Several long hours later, Harry walked down the stairs. Looking dead as he clutched the book in hand. Partly he had faced a large part of his emotions but not all yet. Partly he was just died tired but he could not sleep. Not yet.
Finding Sirius alone nursing a glass of scotch he smiled. Walburga was clearly moved portraits within the house and was frowning at the muggle drink between staring at Sirius. Sirius for his part looked lost deep in thought.
Without preamble or announcement, Harry let the words, the idea, escape him. "Sirius. I need you to teach me how to not be an Animagus."
AN: Reviews and views are food to all writers. thanks untill next time. :)
