Disclaimer: I'm too young to be Rowling, so Harry Potter sadly cannot be mine…
List of names :
Harry (James) Potter, also known as 'H.J.'
The Black King: Voldemort – who else?
The White King: Dumbledore
Petunia (oldest sibling), also known as: Caspet or C.P. from Cassiopeia Petunia, last name: officially 'Dursley, born Evans'
Ris (the second oldest brother and older (nice) twin; Metamorphmagus), also known as: Rissy-Ris-Ris or sometimes SOB-story, drama-queen, (Severus Snape) or S.O. from Sirius Orion, last name (officially) 'Black'
Rus (third oldest and younger (evil) twin; Potion's Master, Metamorphmagus), also known as: Severus Snape or P.T. from Perseus Tobias, last name (unofficially) 'Evans-Prince'
Lilu (the fourth oldest, Harry's mother), also known as: Lily, Lily-flower or Lily Lu Prince from Lily Lucretia, last name officially 'Potter, née Evans). Died in 1981.
Res (youngest sibling; Unspeakable), also known as: R.A. from Regulus Arcturus, last name (officially) 'Black'. Is listed as dead since 1979.
Now on to the story:
OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooseriouslyooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooseriouslyooooooooooooooooooooooooooO
DEAR GREAT-GRANDFATHER
sSs
A Few Days before September 1st, 1992
A Trip To Diagon Alley with the Weasley Family
Taking The Wrong Exit In The Floo
"Huh," Harry said, looking around Borgin and Burkes. "Guess that you can manage to 'miss-travel' to the right fire-place if you try hard enough…"
He looked around interestedly for a moment or two, but when the Malfoys entered, he slipped out the door before he could be seen by them.
"Wouldn't do any good to be seen by my school nemesis, after all," Harry reasoned. "'Specially not when I try to sneak around."
For a moment, Harry stopped in front of the shop to look up and down the alley, then he deliberately turned away from the way to Diagon Alley and instead entered even deeper into Knockturn Alley.
A few shops down, he stopped again and pulled out a slip of parchment to look at it critically. That was the moment a hag grabbed his arm, pulling him close to her – at least until the blade of a silver knife was pressed against her throat.
"I'm sure that you don't want to manhandle my nephew," a cold voice said and the hag shuddered and stepped back from the man clothed in the silvery cloak and robes of an Unspeakable.
"Of course not, sir," she said, fear in her voice. "Never would I dream of anything like that, sir."
"Good," the man released her and then turned to Harry. "You're late."
Harry shrugged.
"They needed forever to get ready for Diagon Alley," he said pouting. "And then I had to listen to them explaining how to floo and then I had to watch and –"
"Alright, alright, midget, I understand," the Unspeakable replied while putting his hand on Harry's shoulder and stirring him inside one of the shops. The shop was dark and dingy and looked like it needed a thorough cleaning.
Harry wrinkled his nose but said nothing when the man led him towards a back door.
The Unspeakable knocked on the door.
"Come in," and they entered.
The hidden room was clean and nearly buried in teddy bears. In the middle of it sat an old man, knitting.
"Ah," he said when he saw the Unspeakable and Harry entering. "Regulus Black. I haven't seen you in years. As far as I remember, the last thing I heard was that you died, my boy."
The Unspeakable, one Regulus Black, rolled his eyes.
"The last thing I heard about you was that you were rotting away in Numengard – and yet you are here," he replied while rolling his eyes.
The old man waved that off.
"I'm still rotting away in Numengard," he said unconcerned. "I just need a break from rotting now and then."
Regulus snorted amused.
"Does Dumbledore know that you can leave your cell at your will, Grindelwald?" He asked the older male.
The other one shrugged.
"I don't think that he knows," he said. "But then, I build the prison. He should know that I should know it better than anybody else."
Harry looked at the man in front of him in fascination.
"If you can get out – why do you return there?" He asked interested. "I mean, why don't you simply return to your old ways and all that?"
The old man sighed.
"I'm not that foolish anymore," he said. "Making war is hard work – and I'm not interested in doing it again. I've found peace, you know – and I have something to do that I enjoy."
Harry looked at the knitted teddy bears.
"I… see," he said slowly.
"Now, boys, how can your grandpa help you today?" The old wizard said.
Harry looked at Regulus in confusion, the other man instead just rolled his eyes and pulled down his hood.
"If you truly would have wanted to be a grandfather you would have married grandma and not left her pregnant just to continue your war," he replied.
The old man shrugged.
"I should have," he said. "And I would have – but your grandma was nothing but stubborn. She was the last of the Prince family and she refused to marry me at least until after the child was born because otherwise the child wouldn't bear the Prince name."
Regulus raised an eyebrow at that.
"So basically you want to tell me that you had no choice but leave mother to be born out of wedlock," he said scathingly.
The older man shrugged.
"Maybe not," he said. "But in the end it doesn't matter. I guess it was even better like that. Eileen would have had a hard time at Hogwarts, had she born my name."
Harry looked at the man with huge eyes.
"So he's really my grandpa?" He asked surprised.
His uncle sighed.
"Great-grandfather," he corrected his nephew. "Your grandma Eileen never talked about him. We only found out about the relation because he turned up three days after your grandparents had been murdered with the promise that the murderers would pay. Half a week later half of Great Britain was panicking because Grindelwald's sign had been seen at a murder scene."
Harry looked at his uncle with huge eyes before turning his awed stare towards Grindelwald.
"So you're helping us against the Black and the White King?" He asked the old man.
Grindelwald waved him off.
"I'm old, my boy," he said. "I shouldn't meddle anymore. Some advice, sure, but I won't fight. I'm comfortable in my cell, thank you very much."
Regulus snorted.
"Well, we're here for advice," he said, gesturing to Harry. "We fear that the Black King has left a piece of his cake in your great-grandson."
Grindelwald's eyes narrowed at that.
"How did you come up with that one?" He asked.
"I'm getting headaches whenever the Black King is near me," Harry replied. "The White King said that it was my mother's protection, but –"
"I see," Grindelwald said, his eyes narrowed. "The protection shouldn't work like that. It was a blood-magic ritual I taught your mother and it should have stopped him from hurting you. There should be no way that you should be hurt by it in any way or form."
Regulus sighed at that.
"I so hoped that I remembered the context of the ritual wrong," he sighed.
Grindelwald waved it off and then gestured to Harry to come to him.
Harry looked at his uncle and when Regulus didn't object, he followed the former dark lord's invitation.
Grindelwald carefully finished his knitting line and then used his wand turned knitting needle to poke Harry's scar. The next moment Harry glowed red and Grindelwald frowned displeased.
"You're right, little king," he said to Regulus. "My idiotic successor lost a piece of his 'cake' inside my poor little herald."
Then Grindelwald's frown deepened.
"That…," he said slowly. "Displeases me greatly…"
Regulus rolled his eyes.
"Any advice how to get rid of it without killing your great-grandson?"
The former dark lord pondered the question.
"No," he finally said. "But I'll find a way."
Then he picked up one of his teddies and handed it to Harry.
"Until then hold unto that, my boy," he said. "That at least should keep the nightmares away."
Harry snorted at that, but took the teddy anyway.
You didn't refuse the gift of a former dark lord, after all…
"Thank you, great-grandfather," he said. "I'll take good care of it."
"And find a way to explain how I suddenly have a teddy bear," he added silently.
"Good," Grindelwald said. "Now leave me be. I need some actual rest before I return to my cell."
So Regulus and Harry left.
They were walking down Knockturn Alley when Harry finally made the most important connection.
"Hey, Uncle Res!" He said and when his uncle looked towards him, he continued to speak. "Is insanity hereditary? I mean, if you compare Uncle Ris and great-grandfather…"
Regulus just groaned.
"Let's just hope that Sirius won't have children," he said. "They might try and follow his and grandfather's footsteps by locking themselves up into prison somehow without ever staying there. Definitely not a good prospect for our family…"
Harry snickered.
"Don't worry," he said. "It seems to skip a generation. It will be Uncle Ris' grandchildren we will have to be wary off."
"Funny," Regulus just replied dryly before shoving his nephew so that a certain groundskeeper of Hogwarts could see him. "Take care, you troublesome child! And don't lose grandfather's teddy!"
Harry pocked out his tongue and then hastily schooled his face into a mask of fear when Hagrid spotted him. It seemed that it was time to return to acting…
(vvv)xxx(vvv)xxx(vvv)xxx(vvv)xxx(vvv)xxx(vvv)xxx(vvv)xxx(vvv)xxx(vvv)xxx(vvv)xxx(vvv)xxx(vvv)xxx
Same Day
But somewhere in London
Dear Caspet,
Seems like we were right. HJ's infected. Grandpa's looking into it. Prey that he doesn't get his hands on certain people. Might end a little bit different than last time he duelled them if he does.
Res.
SsSsSsSsSs
Dear Res,
Thank you for the warning. I'll prepare an alibi just in case we need it. Any Death Eaters you know that we can fault for it? And no, you are not allowed to suggest Lucius. He's married to our cousin, if you remember.
Caspet
SsSsSsSsSs
If Res isn't allowed to name Lucy, I will! The moron should have stayed in Azkaban. Maybe then his son would have turned out half way decent.
Ris
SsSsSsSsSs
The most is in the genes. Narcissa isn't better when it comes to being a stuck-up, pureblood dunderhead. In other words: No chance for that boy.
Rus
SsSsSsSsSs
So Lucius it is?
Res.
SsSsSsSsSs
Definitely. He's the best scapegoat if we need one.
Rus and Ris
SsSsSsSsSs
I said: Except Lucius!
Caspet
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
In the end, that discussion wouldn't end for quite some months – and when it finally ended, Caspet was so enraged with Lucius Malfoy, that she agreed that he would be the perfect scapegoat.
If Lucius Malfoy had known just a few years later that the only reason he was still free was that Grindelwald hadn't yet killed one Albus Dumbledore, maybe he would have thought twice about returning to Voldemort…
Ccccc
That's it for today. 'Till next time.
