Surprising no one, they still didn't manage to catch Sirius Black. While it seemed like it ought to be pretty easy to notice a big black dog with glowing red eyes, chances were actually good that he was spending most of his time in the Forbidden Forest. Between Black's schooltime explorations and Voldemort's supposed involvement in the acromantula infestation, there was likely little there to fear as long as he stayed away from the centaurs.

Rumor was that the only reason the dementors hadn't been pulled out entirely was because every time they'd screwed up Black was actually in the area. But that rumor came with the side-rumor that most of the rich pureblood parents were pissed at how often their children had been put in danger. Lucius Malfoy in particular had come hard at the Ministry over Draco almost being killed playing quidditch (in addition to being incapacitated on the train and having a near miss in Hogsmeade). He was probably going to leverage that for additional favors in the Wizengamot, but the biggest sign of it was the broom replacement.

When Draco had fallen, the winds had carried his nearly-new Nimbus 2001 into the Whomping Willow, which had smashed it to bits. Initial word was that the "replacement" would be one of the ridiculously expensive new Firebolt brooms. So it was a surprise to everyone when Draco just got another Nimbus 2001… and a second one for Ginny.

The Malfoys took saving their lives seriously.

It wasn't exactly a full-on life-debt: clearly the number of people on the ground ready to cast spells to catch them played a large role in keeping him from hitting the pitch at speed. But it was certainly over and above what anyone would expect from a sports rival from a family that hated yours. Ginny had even passed up grabbing the snitch to go after the boy. It was especially interesting that he'd insisted on her getting an equal broom when the teams were due for a rematch later in the year. Would Draco stand a chance against the Gryffindor seeker without a superior broom?

Needless to say, Penny's summer conspiracy to turn the Malfoys and Weasleys into the Montagues and Capulets was once again the talk among her, Mathilda, and Alexis. Before the summer I'd have never believed it was possible, because the last time Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy had seen each other, they'd gotten into a fistfight. But after some initial coldness, Mrs. Weasley couldn't resist her urge to mother literally everyone around her, and she'd begun treating Draco more and more as part of the family throughout the summer vacation. Draco, himself, initially seemed to be mostly confused and using all of his manners not to offend his hosts, but had gotten increasingly comfortable with the family by the time the vacation was over.

I mean, really, it's not like the families were actually very different, other than wealth and politics. I was vaguely considering trying to arrange for the kid to spend one-on-one time with Hermione's family the next summer for some real culture shock. And, hell, maybe if he did well enough with that he could eventually actually spend some time with a family that wasn't a tightly-bonded nuclear unit of upper-class white British people.

But anyway, thinking about Draco's relationships, I'd eventually realized that I might have a way to break my final big secret to Mathilda. After we finally made characters for her Arcanos game one Saturday night in late November (I got stuck with healer because I knew the game best) and everyone else had headed off to bed, I pulled her over to a corner of the common room and had her put up some silencing charms.

I'd prepped her that I wanted to try to do this, so I just started with, "Okay… I haven't met Draco's Aunt Andromeda, and don't owe her anything."

"You should meet her! I met her at a party a couple years ago. I see where Tonks gets it! Her mother is formidable." Finally, she seemed to grasp what I was saying. Or, specifically, wasn't saying. "I mean, Maeve is supposedly Draco's aunt. Obviously you've met her. His only other aunt is…" Her eyes widened as she got it, and asked, "Harry! Do you know Bellatrix Lestrange!?"

I pointedly didn't admit it, because I couldn't, but I showed her the yearbook that I'd checked out from the library where I'd originally discovered that she and my mother were best friends.

"Margaret McGregor was your mother, right? Have you ever tried to track them down, by the way? The McGregors, I mean? Probably Scottish, right? Maybe Irish? Hmm, maybe that's how she got involved with the sidhe! Maeve may actually be from Ireland?" I shrugged, and she said, "Okay, sorry, focusing! So your mother was best friends with Bellatrix as a kid? But she died when you were born, right? So you wouldn't have just met her when you were little…"

I tried a few things until I managed to get out a noncommittal, "Justin wasn't the only one who taught me magic after I turned 11 but before I got to Hogwarts."

She thought about it for a second and her eyes widened. "Paid a malu cachu! Bellatrix Black-Lestrange is your godmother!?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny, annoyingly," I was able to tell her.

"So is she hiding in America?" I made a face at her question that wasn't exactly agreement nor negation, encouraging her to think about it. Finally, her mouth dropped open and she punched me a couple of times in the shoulder in excitement, "No! No way! You got straight up Cinderellaed to the Malfoy ball! You told me your tux would evaporate and you were serious! She's not just your godmother, she's your faerie freaking godmother!"

"Keep going," I told her. While she didn't care as much for the deep academics like my prefect friends, Mathilda was whip smart and probably better than me at detective work when she put her mind to it. If you needed to find a needle in a haystack, she was your girl.

"So she shows up at some point after you get with your mentor. And helps you learn stuff on the side that you might need? Fiendfyre! No wonder you knew how to do that! So you owe her… and somehow she's figured out how to do the faerie geas thing Luna's on about! And then you somehow owe Maeve even though you'd never met her before the Malfoy ball… Bellatrix is why Maeve is here! Her and your mother were up to the fae bargains that Oliver says we should never do! And you can't tell anyone about her for the same reason you can't tell them about Maeve!"

I relaxed back into the couch. She'd figured out most of it. It was an interesting relief to finally have that secret off my back.

"But Bellatrix wasn't one of the Death Eaters trying to kill you? What happens if You-Know-Who finds out she's been helping you... sort of? That she has power over you? Does Draco know? Wait, you said he came with us this summer because he didn't want to spend too much time with his aunt! I thought you meant Maeve! But she must just be hiding at their stupid mansion!" She finally just devolved into cursing in Welsh at the enormity of it.

"I don't really know what to do," I admitted, once she'd finished. "Things like this plus being under the Doom of Damocles. I have no idea what the Ministry would do."

She thought about it for a minute, then suggested, "We have to tell Tonks! She'll lose her mind if she finds this out the wrong way. More than anybody! But if we can convince her it's not your fault… she could help!" After a moment's pause, she added, "And we should tell Dumbledore."

While I had deep reservations about the idea, the force of nature that was Mathilda Grimblehawk would not be denied. A few nights later I was back in Dumbledore's office, this time with a much bigger sampling of the Order of the Phoenix. The evening had been scheduled around Tonks' night off so she was there, along with Remus, McGonagall, Mathilda, me, and, of course, Dumbledore. I kind of figured if the headmaster really believed this was important, he'd have invited more people. It was interesting he'd made sure that McGonagall would come, though I guessed she was Mathilda's and my head of house.

"...so, basically, Harry can't talk about any of it. Because of the geas!" Mathilda finished explaining what she'd worked out. I hadn't been able to provide much other than the vague suppositions I'd given to the Quibbler about the state of the Veil.

Remus and Dumbledore looked mostly like they thought we were crazy. The headmaster had brushed off my "fairy tales" before. Tonks looked the same, except maybe a little willing to be mad about me not telling her about her fugitive aunt even though we were getting to be friends. But McGonagall… she believed me. I could see it in her shocked expression.

"Margaret always did believe in the old tales," the assistant headmistress began. "You remember, Albus, that we chided her for it. It was a large part of why she left school when she did, thinking we had nothing left to teach her. And even if you assume that she simply brought Bellatrix into her delusions, who passed them on to Harry, Alice backs him up, at least, on the lord of the red caps they fought in Egypt. What if the old tales are true, and we drove those girls into making pacts with beings that were locked out of this world for a reason?"

I could see Dumbledore turning over her suggestion, and he finally admitted, "I have found it odd that Bellatrix has been at large for over a decade and has shown little evidence of working toward Tom's return. Nor has Lucius, for that matter. And my spy had once speculated that her relationship with her master had soured somewhat. We speculated it was because of his intention to punish Margaret for her defection… but it could also have been that she had found a second master to serve."

"Harry," Remus asked, tiredly, "just how many dark forces are trying to kill you or use you for their ends?"

It really was a lot, wasn't it? Voldemort wanted to possess me and then wanted to kill me. For some reason Justin had grabbed me in the first place. Bellatrix probably had more interest in me than just owing it to my mother. Hell, Greyback had chosen me to kill to get at Remus, Dawlish had way too much invested in his beef with me, Umbridge decided to involve me in her political schemes, and maybe the dementors were after me for their own unearthly agenda?

I shrugged, helplessly, and suggested, "I have a very helpful yet punchable face?"