Chapter 9: Sirius' First Crisis
Arcturus' funeral was held on Black Manor grounds. Almost all of the members of the Wizengamot, except those who tried to oppose his appointment of Sirius, were in attendance. The ceremony was a grand event. The old man had been entombed in the Black Manor mortuary which had been located on the grounds in a nearby forest. Sirius was distraught throughout the entire service. Arcturus had been more like a father to him than his own father had, having kept in touch with Sirius even after his mother attempted to cast him out. Though Sirius had been too busy during the war to check up on him. Arcturus, aside from Andromeda, was the only member of the Black Family he considered truly family. Remus held his lover close as the man wept for his grandfather.
After the service the Sirius, Remus, Minerva, Severus, Andromeda, and even Augusta had all returned to McGonagall Manor. They were sitting in the parlor, each with a glass of fire whiskey. Minerva raised her glass, "To Arcturus," She said, "a man with an indomitable spirit and a heart full of love."
"To Arcturus!" they all called in unison toasting the fallen Lord.
Harry was currently on the floor playing with Neville as the adults gathered a few feet away. Remus looked to his nephew and began to get curious, "I wonder what he told him?" he mumbled.
"Pardon?" Minerva asked.
"Oh well throughout the day Lord Arcturus kept asking for people to come speak with him one of those people was Harry." Remus explained, "I myself brought Harry to him. He said something about telling Harry a secret, then whispered something into his ear. Afterward he said Harry wouldn't understand what he told him until he was older and had implied the boy would need to learn Occlumency when it came time to remember it."
"Interesting." Minerva said looking over to the boy, "Just one more thing you should add to your lesson plan eh Severus?"
"Indeed…I'll be sure to include it." Severus responds, "I'm sure it will be a useful skill for the boy to have."
Everyone was quiet for a moment, when at last Augusta spoke up, "You know," she began, "I wanted to hate the bastard…" she said, "After all he was the head of the family of the woman who took my boy and his wife away from their son, but I can't. He was a good man no matter how many bad seeds came from the family he was in charge of." She sniffled.
Sirius was silent, he couldn't respond. She had said nothing wrong. His cousin was responsible for the current state the Heir of House Longbottom and his wife was currently in. Arcturus had been the one in charge of the family during that time, but due to his illness he had been unable to do anything about it. He could do nothing but look over to the children who were giddily playing with each other. He frowned knowing his family was responsible for taking Neville's parents from him.
Remus was doing his best to comfort his lover. When there was suddenly a pounding on the front door. Everyone jumped and drew their wands. Minerva was giving out silent signals. She directed Andromeda and Ted to guard the children and motioned for Sirius and Remus to follow her. She went to the door her wand drawn, and slowly opened it. On the other side of the door was a cloaked figure who was standing in the rain.
Minerva trained her wand on their visitor, "State your business!"
Their visitor stayed silent for a moment when they noticed Sirius standing behind Minerva. Suddenly the cloaked visitor step forward a bit, "Please! I need Sirius' help!" a woman's voice came from under the hood.
Andromeda and Severus heard their visitor's voice and swiftly came around to stand near Sirius. They looked at the figure and Andromeda spoke, "Cissy? Is that you?" she asked.
The figure trembled but slowly removed her hood. There before them stood Narcissa Malfoy. Narcissa was a striking beauty but her gorgeous features were currently marred by a Black eye and a busted swollen lip. Andromeda gasped at the sight of her younger sister, "Cissy what happened to you."
The woman's lip trembled, "I need your help…please…" she said, "Help me and my son." She opened her cloak revealing a young blond boy who was about the same age as Harry.
"Sirius!" Andromeda pleaded.
Sirius looked to Minerva, "May my cousin and her son please be allowed in Minerva?" He asked her.
"Very well…but know I will be watching you closely Mrs. Malfoy." Minerva said as she stepped back.
Severus came forward and took the trembling blond into his arms as Andromeda reached out and pulled her nephew from his mother's shaky arms. They escorted her into the sitting room where Andromeda placed the young blond on the floor with Harry and Neville who were both eager to play with their new playmate, before quickly running over to her sister, "Cissy…who did this to you?" she asked as she drew her wand and began treating the blond woman's injuries.
Narcissa's lip trembled, "Lucius…" she said quietly causing everyone to gasp.
Sirius had a cold fury in his eyes upon hearing this. Lucius dared to strike a daughter of House Black. "Tell me what happened Narcissa." He said his voice hoarse from a day of crying.
She sniffled, "During the war…I had tried to convince Lucius to not become a Death Eater. I told him numerous times it would come back to bite him in the end, but he refused to listen to me. It was then I began plotting to leave him, but I needed help. I had intended to approach Sirius to ask him to have Grandfather to file for an annulment but Lucius kept a close watch on me…I figured he knew what I was planning, probably had his house elves spying on me. As a punishment he began offering me as a reward to Voldemort's servants when they pleased him. Severus can attest to that."
Severus' face was that of regret. Augusta Longbottom was gaping in shock, "That bastard!" she exclaimed, "Offering his own wife up like that!"
"Narcissa had been 'gifted' to me multiple times." Severus said, "Though I was under Dumbledore's influence I was never given any orders to force myself on anyone. The first time she was presented to me I noticed she was under the Imperius curse, and had been dosed with multiple potions. I took it upon my self to break her Imperius and give her a detox potion to cleanse her of the potions' effects. Then had her rest." He looked furious with himself, "Had I been complete in control of myself. I wouldn't have sent her back, but Dumbledore's control would not let me do anything to jeopardize my role as his pawn so I had no choice but to send her back. Each time she was 'gifted' to me I'd do the same as the first time to give her a reprieve from that life."
"You did well," Minerva said, "Even under Dumbledore's manipulation you attempted to rescue a woman from a cruel fate."
"I failed though." Severus said his eyes filled with regret.
"Fortunately, I became pregnant." Narcissa said, "Lucius checked thoroughly to be sure the child was his. When he discovered it was, he stopped offering me up to his fellow Death Eaters, much to some of their dismay." She said as her sister worked on her face, the cut on her lip slowly healing, "I had begun planning again to escape but I still needed Sirius to get grandfather to annul my marriage. Then the war came to an end with the Dark Lord's demise and just when I thought I'd be able to get away from him. I saw The Daily Prophet's report on Sirius' incarceration. My hopes were destroyed in that moment."
Sirius looked down ashamed of himself. His choice to chase after Peter not only effected Harry, but prevented Narcissa from being able to reach out to him. "I'm sorry Narcissa my foolish actions caused you to suffer more."
"It didn't end there." She said, "After the incident with the Potter's Will came to light. Lucius was furious! You being freed effectively stripped him of the ability to siphon funds from the Black family vault. Because with you locked up Draco, our son, was next in line to the House of Black. That's when he did this." She pointed to her eye.
Sirius growled, "Are you telling me…during the month I was locked up he was illegally drawing funds from the Black family Vault?" he asks.
Narcissa nodded, "He needed the funds to buy off those who wanted to prosecute him as a Death Eater." She said. Sirius face was red with fury, "He took his anger out on me. Fortunately, he wouldn't dare strike his heir so he never raised a hand to Draco." She said, "But, his fury was even worse when Grandfather formally had Sirius sworn in as Head of the Black family. Then after grandfather collapsed I made the mistake of asking him to be allowed to visit him. He beat me for an hour after that."
It was then Sirius noticed that under her cloak she was wearing long sleeves, neck covering; she appeared to be hiding additional injuries. 'I'll end him!' he thought growling. "That monster." Andromeda screeched.
"I wasn't even allowed to tell Papa goodbye." Narcissa said as she began to sob. She looked to her sister, "Please tell me he didn't suffer." She said with a pleading expression.
"He was very content." Andromeda told her, "In that very chair." She pointed to the large comfy chair near the fire place, "He was surrounded by people who cared about him and slipped away peacefully."
"Thank god!" Narcissa said relieved, "I tried to get out of the manor to attend the funeral but he had the elves prevent me for leaving…fortunately one of them…a young elf named Dobby helped me escape…that poor elf, Lucius is going to beat him to an inch of his life. I came here, I was too late to attend the service but I knew Sirius was here." She looked up to her cousin, "Sirius you are the head of the family now! I know grandfather added certain clauses to my contract. Ones of abuse…and others. I need you to revoke it! Give me back my family name I beg you." She lowed her head.
Andromeda turned to Sirius, "Sirius please!" she pleaded on her sister's behalf.
"Stop begging both of you!" he growled, "I will not allow a Daughter of House Black to suffer like this." He turned to Minerva, "I know you've been very hospitable allowing me, Remus, and even Severus to stay in your home, but could you please extend your kindness further to Narcissa and her son?"
"Of course!" Minerva said immediately, "I will not allow a former student of mine to be treated this way."
"Thank you!" Narcissa sobbed. When the young blond boy heard his mother crying he began crawling over to her.
"Mama!" the child said as he made his way to her.
Narcissa reached down a picked up her son, "What about Draco?" she looked to Sirius, "I won't send my son back there!"
"Nor would I, the boy is a scion of House Black." Her cousin told her.
"Thank you so much!" she said as she hugged the boy, "Don't worry sweetie we're safe now." She told the boy.
"Take your son and go rest Narcissa." Minerva told her, "Nora…" she called her house elf. The elf popped in, "Please escort Narcissa and Draco to a room to rest."
"Yes mistress." The elf bowed, "Comes Lady Cissy." The elf motioned for her to follow.
Narcissa left the room, and Sirius was pacing furiously. 'My first week as Head of the Black family and I already have to deal with crap like this! I should be in mourning not seething to kill another Lord!' He thought.
"Love…" Remus said gently placing a hand on his lovers back, "I believe the right course of action would be to write to Sir Nagnok to request an appointment to view the marriage contract."
"Your right." Sirius replied before looking to Andromeda. "Andy…would you be so kind as to stay behind and treat your sister. I have a feeling she has additional injuries she is hiding under her cloths. As a healer and her sister you are the only one she will likely show them too."
"Of course." Andromeda said turning to her former teacher, "Minerva may my family borrow the room near Narcissa's"
"Yes dear by all means." Minerva said, "The girl needs her family right now."
"I appreciate this Minerva." Sirius said, "As the Head of House Black I will see to it you are thoroughly rewarded for offering your aid to the Sons and Daughters of Black." He bowed.
"This posturing is not necessary Sirius." She responded curtly, "What kind of teacher would I be if I did not aid my former students during times of crisis?"
"A very poor one indeed." Augusta chimed in, "Unlike her predecessor Minerva is a true educator through and through."
"I concur." Remus said smiling.
Sirius turned to Severus, "Would you mind brewing Narcissa a dreamless sleep potion. I think she could do with a good nights rest without having nightmares of what that animal has done to her. I figure she'll trust you."
"Gladly," Severus says looking to Minerva, "Do you have a potions lab I can work in?"
"Yes," she said snapping her finger. Her House elf Billie appeared, "Billie show our resident potions master to my lab."
"Yes mistress." The elf grabs Severus' sleeve, "Come Potions man this way." The small creature tugged his sleeve.
"Alright I'm coming." He said as he let the elf drag him down the hall.
"I think I'll head home for the evening." Augusta stood and went to pick up her grandson. "Please call for me if you need my assistance." She said picking the boy up before heading to the fireplace to leave by Floo.
Sirius sighed, "I'm going to my room…I must write to Nagnok immediately." He said as he started for the stairs, "Are you coming love." He stopped looking to Remus.
"Coming dear." Remus said following his lover up the stairs.
Minerva sighed, "This is the first time in nearly a century this house has been so full." She smiled and went collect Harry before heading up the stairs to bed.
A/N: Well that happened! I felt so bad for Narcissa in the original story because she clearly wasn't an awful person she straight up lied to Voldemort about Harry being dead just because he assured her her son was alive. In my opinion she is nothing more than a loving mother who was put in a horrible position by her husband and did what ever she could to keep her son safe. So I had to set her free of that fate and of course she'd take Draco with her so now the boy will not be corrupted by his father. What do you guys think of how I handled this?
Up Next: Years go by and Harry is now five years old.