Grimmauld Place 12. Four days after Henry's "death".
Nymphadora Tonks pushed the door open into the familial house of Black family, though it didn't seem to be a house in which a powerful and respected family like Blacks would live anymore. Walls seemed decaying and rotting, little lighting in the house, dust filled places- all pointed towards this place having been abandoned in a long time, and it really was. Even though it had a house elf looking after it, Kreacher, the place has been dying, all because there were no masters living here, until most recently, as Albus Dumbledore has decided to reform his Order of Phoenix, with Grimmauld Place serving as its HQ.
Apparently, the old coot believed that since the place officially empty, nobody would come looking here for them. Plus, with Black wards still active and Sirius being able to set up the list of guests, it seemed like a perfectly suited place for the regular meetings. Although, if Tonks was completely honest with herself, she, along with her Mom and Aunt Cassiopeia, suspected that Dumbledore also wanted to get his hands on the library of House of Black, along with all the artifacts that were here. Well, too bad for them, Grandpa Arcturus had everything of such sort removed out of house, much to the ire of Sirius and his pals.
The only thing of magical property remaining here was the portrait of Walburga Black, which was hidden behind the thick curtains and silenced by a charm, to prevent it from screaming bloody murder. She had heard from her Black relatives, minus Sirius, that she Walburga whiles a prideful and willful, was still a calm and caring mother, nothing like her portrait. Nymphadora had no idea what had brought about that change, nor did she wanted to lose a night's sleep over it. Right now, she had a little spectacle to play in front of the Order.
As she passed through the hallway and towards the dining room, she nearly tripped, typically of her clumsiness. Next second, Nymphadora looked at the cause of her recent bout of clumsiness.
"Ow, Kreacher, watch were you apparate, will ya?" Tonks said to the house elf, who muttered to something to himself, before speaking up.
"Kreacher is sorry, Mistress Tonks. Kreacher will look out where he goes when Mistress Tonks is around." He respectfully spoke, obeying the orders of Lord Arcturus, before looked at the dining room with a sneer. "Filthy blood traitor and his filthy friends is here, Mistress. They talk of Dark Lord and something about in place of mysteries, but nothing about Exiled Master and Little Mistress, Mistress. Shackling Bolts being there as well, Mistress Tonks."
"Well, good to hear, and keep listening, Kreacher." Tonks saw the elf nod to her eagerly. "Remember what to do when they leave?"
"Kreacher remembers and obeys, Mistress Tonks." He bowed to her. "Kreacher serves only the true Blacks. Mistress Tonks be needing anything else?"
"Nah, I'm good. You go on ahead." With a pop, the elf was gone and Nymphadora went in ahead.
Just as the loyal elf told her, practically the entirety of the Order was already assembled here, with all nearly all the Weasleys, minus Percy, Potters, with their son. Sirius and Remus, whose scarred face adorned a blackened spot on the left side of it as a reminder of his attack on Henry, stood near scarred Alastor Moody, Kingsley, who sent her a quick nod, and Hestia Jones, also greeting her with it as well. There some faces she didn't quite recognize, but she quickly recognized two teachers of Hogwarts in here, namely Minerva McGonagall, and the scarred and partially disfigured face of Severus Snape.
Even to this day, looking at the man caused shivers to run along her spine. And with reason too, as he had adorned two long wide open scars, one running diagonally across his face, starting from right side of chin, going upwards to slashed lips, past nose and ending at forehead on left. His second scar was on his right side, a wide gash running down with half his ear slashed off. The sight of the man was somehow even worse than that of Alastor Moody, who was practically a walking talking scar himself. It's actually a miracle that Henry's spell was actually relatively weak, or otherwise, Snape would've died back in Chamber, not that Tonks or many others would grieve for the man.
Her musings were interrupted by the Headmaster himself, standing at the head of the table, as he addressed Nymphadora.
"Ah, Nymphadora, most wonderful of you to make it. Please, make yourselves at home." Dumbledore spoke with his usual grandfatherly tone, causing Tonks to shift her hair's color to red from her usual pink.
"It's Tonks, for the hundredth time now, Professor." She said with irritation, taking her place between Moody and Kingsley. "Sorry I was late, everyone. Had a patrol duty in Devon, but I've got some news that you might find interesting. It's about one of Azkaban's prisoners."
"Hm, how curious." Dumbledore said out loud. "Kingsley here himself was actually going to report us about the same thing. Why don't you go ahead first, Kingsley, my boy?"
"Thank you." He nodded to him, before speaking up. "Head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones, and I had gone to Azkaban four days ago. She had tried interrogating Lestranges with Bellatrix, but got nothing worthwhile out of them. Although the Minister and most of the Ministry seem to close their eyes on Voldemort's return, she's actually convinced that he is back. From what I gathered out of the exchange, she seemed almost… obsessed with this case."
"Hm, wouldn't put it behind 'Melia to be more than a little personally interested in this." Mad-Eye grumbled out loud. "Lost practically all she loved and cared for 'cause of 'em bastards. I hear she still mourns Gabriel and 'er son." It didn't escape Nymphadora, Kingsley and Alastor how James' face contorted in disgust at mention of his older brother.
"Yeah, I remember once walking into her office, to find her crying silently, whilst holding a photo of herself and some damn handsome bloke." Hestia remembered out loud. "Told me that this what she had lost in the war: a husband and a son. She also told me that if I ever spoke of it to anyone, I'd be serving night shifts in Azkaban till I start seeing ghosts everywhere."
"Well, if that's the case, then it sounds to me like we could actually get her on our side. Would be pretty nice to have someone of her standing with the Order, plus would REALLY ease off the pressure on me with Remus and James." Sirius suggested. "I think we should approach her, Professor."
"Wouldn't recommend ya' do that, Black." Moody grumbled out again, his magical eye firmly locked on Sirius. "'Melia may hate Dark Lord and his Eaters more than anyone, but I'll bet my good leg and eye that she knows about our little lunch club here, and she knows that both her brother Brian and husband Gabriel were in this group. Only reason she doesn't bust us out is 'cause she knows we are doing our best against Voldemort. Best we leave her be for now, she'll come to us if she wants on her own."
"Alastor is right. It wouldn't do us any good if we were to get Head of the DMLE against us in these turbulent times." Dumbledore agreed, turning his attention to Nymphadora. "Nymphadora, would you care to share what news you had of Azkaban now with us?"
"Four days ago, either before or after Boss and Kingsley here visited the mad trio, Warden had called the department while I was there, saying that a prisoner appeared to be dying and needed a medic to sort things out. So, I've went there with my Mom, since she was visitin' one of her patients on the med station." Nym began talking, with Charlie interrupting her.
"Doesn't the Azkaban have its own medic there in place? Why would they need to call someone from the mainland?" He asked confused, with some among the members thinking the same thing, before Kingsley spoke up.
"Wizengamot has been 'redirecting' the budget from several of Ministry's assets towards funding certain 'projects'. Like new sets of Minister's shoes." Kingsley stated, with everyone believing him, since it was actually the case. "Azkaban is one such asset being stripped of funds and personal, including medical one. And Director and I've heard from Warden that you were there before us, Tonks. I'll let you finish."
"Thanks, Shacks." Nym nodded to him, before finally cutting to the chance. "Anyway, the prisoner in question was locked up in the Azkaban's lowest level since his incarceration." She saw how everyone understood of whom she talked about. "Mom checked him and confirmed it: Prisoner number 2849, aka Henry James Potter, is dead." A dead silence set upon the entire room, as everyone contemplated what they had just heard.
Tonks knew full well the shared sentiment about Harry, knowing that the so-called 'Light' families and people had despised and hated him. Sure enough she wasn't surprised to see James, William, Sirius, Remus, and most prominently, Snape smiling at the notion, while Lily and most of the Weasleys had taken it approvingly. Minerva, surprisingly, looked somewhat shocked and saddened at the news, though Nym believed it was because of the fact that Harry, before the entire charade with Slytherin Heir, was one of her favorite students. Hestia and Kingsley had seemingly no reactions to this, but Alastor… Her old mentor, surprisingly, looked infuriated and even enraged, as he took out his flask and almost violently chugged down its contents, before unceremoniously wobbling out of the room. Dumbledore seemed to be contemplating something, before William finally spoke up.
"What's got him so worked up? Shouldn't he be glad that the bastard had finally kicked the bucket?" William arrogantly stated. "I'm surprised that loser had lasted this long there. Probably used some vile Dark Magic on himself to stay alive."
"Most definitely, Willie dear." Molly second that immediately after her future son-in-law. "That ungrateful jealous boy had used his sister and my Ginny for his dark arts. I say good riddance to him in hell, although I wish I could've sent him there myself, to be honest."
"Get in line, Weasley." Snape sneered, without losing his creepy smile. "Shame that I was there to see life finally leave his empty head. At the very least, it is comforting to know in his last moments he was probably screaming like little scared girl…"
"I'll be that he has been crying out for his mommy to get it all to stop." Ron laughed out loud, with Sirius and some others adding up to growing anger of Nymphadora and Kingsley. "Dementors must've actually taken some pity on him, since he lasted there for so long. Well, at least he and his little bitch sister can both wallow in hell together."
"What a waste…" Minerva commented in a somewhat saddened voice, getting surprised looks from everyone. "He was among the very best of my students when it came to Transfiguration, not to mention that vivid and alive mind. Had only he had ended up in Gryffindor and not gone the dark path, I would've been more than happy to have seen him succeed me as Professor for Transfiguration. Such a great talent and skills, yet all wasted for nothing. I sometimes feel like it's my fault he had ended up that way…"
"Don't blame yourself, Professor." Remus spoke to her reassuringly. "Harry had long strayed away from the right path, quite possibly before he started Hogwarts. His rot would've only poisoned Hogwarts had he been allowed to teach. At least it's a good thing he was removed in his seventh year, when it was discovered just what he was up to."
"And yet, we do have to learn to forgive and grant peace to those that leave this world repented." Dumbledore said in his usual wise grandfatherly voice. "I am sure that in his last days young Harry had repented for his sins and had asked for mercy. A shame that we will never hear his voice again, nor will we hear him repenting."
"Mom said that he lost the ability to speak over a year after his incarceration, due to muscle deterioration." Tonks said, barely containing her anger over the fact how everyone seemed so alright with what they had done. "When I saw the body…" The image of her surrogate brother in her head had caused her hair to change color from red to pale grey and her face to lose color. "It was like looking at personification of Death: pale, gaunt, thin, with grey pale hair and colorless eyes. Had to have a calming draught to get rid of the shudder."
"Well, at least we won't have to trouble ourselves with that snake ever again." James said without any trouble and actually glad. "Thank you for telling us about it, Dora. Now the name of Potters will no longer be stained by that disgrace of mongrel. The very fact of him living though disowned and without name smirched us with mud..." He practically spat that out.
"The idiot had deserved it. Shouldn't have been the jealous damned git, but who can blame him?" William said without any care. "After all, he could never even have hoped to come anywhere near my glory and power, so he decided to be the sneaky cowardly snake and tried to steal for himself. Every Slytherin is just like that, unable to accept their betters, and they all deserve what they get…"
"Wasn't your grandmother a Slytherin herself?" Tonks asked of William, who looked with a glare at her, joined by Lily and James. "I seem to recall her being one of the kindest people I knew. Heck, she had helped Mom deliver me into this world and went as far as to die defending you and your siblings. If anything, she had deserved to live to see here grandkids get their own kids grown up, not get badmouthed by their own blood."
"Tonks, that's enough of you!" James practically shouted at her. "My mother may've seen kind and caring, but she too had more than a few flaws, like her not accepting Lily as her daughter-in-law, or how about the fact that she and father had refused to even come on our wedding, hm? She was a prideful and spiteful woman, alright, though she did redeem herself by standing up to Him-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
"I'm sorry, but did I hear that right?" Nym, as well as some others couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Potter, that's your own bloody mother, for Morgana arse's sake, you're spitting on! I don't know what her problem was with your wife here, but for Merlin's sake, you can't just fucking go and say this bile about her!"
"Is it bile, if it's true?" Lily suddenly spoke up, surprising Nym, who was starting to get really angry. "That woman had refused me since the day we met. In fact, she even told me on our first meeting, that I was nothing more than a passing infatuation for James. I'm absolutely sure that she had even been raising Harry just get her revenge on me, and it wouldn't surprise me if he had gone dark because of her. Honestly, it is a blessing that James, unlike his dear dead brothers, wasn't as close to that vile woman as they were, or otherwise, he may've perished just the same as those foolish idiots did…" Lily had stopped talking when someone had pulled had forcefully pulled her back, and then slapped her across the face.
"Don't you fuckin' say a word about Dorea and her boys, you wench." Alastor Moody growled out, shocking and astounding everyone. "I've been Michael and Gabriel's godfather and both were great lads, far greater than this damned prick here you call your hubby, and both had died so that this piece of glorified shit here could live, so don't you even dare to say anything about 'em." He then turned and properly punched Potter right in his mug, causing him nearly to fall.
"And as for you, that woman had brought you into this world, loved and cared for you, and this is how ya' repay her? Dorea had always loved you just as much as your brothers, if not even more, and now I see that she was so wrong to have been so lenient in her raising you!" Alastor grumbled out, before spitting on the floor. "I won't stay a fuckin' second in this damned house, listening how you bloody mix their memory with shit and dirt, not will I listen to you spewing these damned lies about Harry! That boy was thrice the man you and your merry men could ever compare to, James, and you should be ashamed of yourself, ya filthy blood traitor!" And with that said, he began to quickly wobble out of here, with practically the entire room in shock at what they saw.
Only Nymphadora was able to get over her shock quickly enough to run and catch onto her former teacher, when he had left the house and was already making his way towards the dark alley to apparate.
"Moody, hey, wait up, damn it!" She managed to catch up to him, nearly getting out of breath. "Hey, what was all that about, Mad-Eye? Don't get me wrong, I fucking wanted to deck the Griffin out of their dors, but that's me, but what's your deal?"
"My deal?!" Moody instantly turned to look right in the eye of his former student, scaring her a little. "Did ya really expect me to sit 'er and hear 'em spew all that damn fucking shit about my best friend's wife and their sons?! Those two boys weren't just my students or godsons, but my own fuckin blood! My own damn blood, and now that sniveling worm dare to say this about both his son and his own goddamn mother!"
"W-wait, your blood? I don't get it… Were you cousins to Charlus or something?" Tonks asked of him.
"Fleamont and Charlus' mother, Evelyn Potter, was born Evelyn Moody, my father's younger sister. Charlus and I practically grew up together, since we both were second sons to our heir brothers, but war with Grindelwald had made us Heads of Houses instead. We've been best mans on our weddings, godfathers to our kids, he and Dorea had even took care of my little Judy and Richard when I mourned my wife." Alastor told Tonks, who saw how tears began to fall from his one good eye. "I had watched their kids grow up and die at hands of that snake bastard, and I was always the one to tell 'em about it, watching how Dora had descended into utter despair at the news, with Charlus losing a part of his heart. Had it not been for Harry, I doubt they would've even had the will to live, and both had died protecting him and his siblings, and now those fuckin' cunts dare to spew that bile shit, after they've sent that boy to Azkaban for doing their own fuckin job…"
"I'm sorry, I-I didn't know, Moody…" Tonks was truly remorseful, with Alastor looking at her with a judging look, before he suddenly spoke.
"Ugh, it's alright, Tonks. Ya got nothing to be apologizing for, I'm actually rather thankful to ya." Tonks looked surprised at him. "Harry had told me that ya and your parents had taken care of him and lil' Rosy after Charlus and Dorea passed away. I'm glad that he had you there for 'em."
"Wait, how come you say Harry and not Henry? Wait…" Then it dawned at Tonks. "Harry has been taking a part-time job each summer since his first year, taking care of some old geezer for a good Galleon. It was you?"
"Who do ya think had taught him how to properly send hexes and curses, his teachers at DADA? I'd be damned if I've let Charlus and Dorea down by not looking out for him and Rosy. Teaching him what I know and ensuring that Ministry never caught even a whiff of where Rosy and Cassiopeia are is the least I could do." Alastor smirked at the sight of shock on Tonks' face. "You think that just because I'm old I couldn't put two and two together? I always knew that Blacks, minus The Mutt and 'Dromeda's sisters, had cared for Harry and Rosy, and that Cassie would never let anything to happen to Rosy. She and Old Man Black are good, really good when it comes to hiding something or someone they care about, but I didn't train two bloody generations of Aurors for nothing. Plus The Trace ain't so easy to remove, unless you know someone in Ministry who has a few skeletons in his closet, who could get rid of it. Wish I could've bloody well saved Harry from Azkaban, but, fuck!" He stomped down in anger.
Tonks looked at her former mentor with sadness, yet in her mind, she was actually already thinking about this entire situation. She knew that Alastor and Dumbledore had been close friends in the past, but now, seeing how the Order had treated Harry and his grandparents, it was pretty obvious to her that Mad-Eye Moody was not all too eager to be working with them. Add to that the fact that he has been safeguarding Rosy without her knowledge, and she could see that instead of considering Alastor Moody as one of the most dangerous potential threats to Amelia Bones' plans, he could actually become someone who could them out. It was a gamble, and a risky one at that, but if her intuition was right…
"Moody," She got his attention to herself. "If you were forced to choose between the Order and Harry, whom would you pick?"
"Don't know why you are askin' it now, Tonks, but… The Order may've helped stop Voldemort, but because of Dumbledore and his fuckin' 'Greater Good', I've watched most of my friends and my family dies right before my eyes. The only reason I even joined them now was because Albus promised me to get Harry a fair trial, but with him gone…" Alastor shook his head, before looking both of his eyes on her. "Why are ya asking me that, Tonks? You know, come to think about it, Harry was like a little brother to you, yet you ain't shedding any tears, no drainage of color in skin or hair, like he ain't dead to ya… Nymphadora, were Amelia and Kingsley in Azkaban talking to Lestranges, or to Harry?" He narrowed his eyes on her, with his former protégé not even flinching.
"Best not to talk about it here." She whispered to him, looking around seeing that there was no tail following them, before she pulled out of her pocket a small metal coin and gave it to him. "The password is 'Bletchley Park'. 10 o'clock, earlier or later, or if you bring a tail- you'll regret it. I mean it, old man, if you aren't alone or tell anyone of this, you'll forget how to take a piss standing."
"Copy that, and Tonks." He looked her in the eye before he pulled something prolonged wrapped in a black cloth and gave it to her. "Managed to save it from been snapped, with just a couple of galleons doing the good bit of talking. So when you next see him, make sure you give it back to him. A bloody good wand this one, especially in battles, but I prefer my Ash and Unicorn to his Red Oak and Dragon."
"I will, and thank you, Alastor." With that said, she apparated out of sight, with Alastor next second too leaving London.
Back in Grimmauld Place.
The rest of the Order was still in shock at what they had just witnessed. It was no secret that Alastor Mad-Eye Moody had more than a few mood issues, but this… This was something unheard of, for Moody to lose his temper like this and physically react to it. Some of the older members of the order, like Minerva, had known that Alastor was Charlus' cousin and a very close friend to Dorea, and she could understand him reacting like this.
Some others, like Kingsley and Hestia, were actually glad that someone had put Potters in their place and had stopped them from spewing their bile. Kingsley had a lot of things he didn't like about Potters, especially James, and badmouthing his parents and son in such a form was something he couldn't abide for long. The majority of the Order, however, were mostly in shock and confusion at what had just transpired, with Ronald speaking up.
"Okay, what the hell was that? Why did Moody just go bloody murder just now?" He asked no one in particular. "And what's with him defending Dorea and that dead snake anyway?"
"Mr. Weasley, if you had spent less time stuffing your mouth with food and used your ears far more, you would've been perfectly able to understand why he did all this." Minerva reprimanded second youngest Weasley, before deciding to explain the situation a little bit. "Mr. Moody is second uncle to Mr. Potter here, as his grandmother, Evelyn Potter, was his own aunt. Charlus and Alastor were closest friends, with them and their wives being closest of friends. It is also my understanding that before Ms. Tonks, he had trained both Michael and Gabriel Potter, his godsons. Their death, as well as death of Charlus and Dorea had a great impact on Mr. Moody's life, sending him on a path of vengeance against the Death Eaters. Criticizing or badmouthing them in his presence has always been a bad idea. And I had expected far better from you, James!"
"Oh shut it, Minerva!" James snapped, nursing his bruised jaw. "Damn half-mad bastard, almost broke my jaw with that swing… Next time I'll see him, he'll be sorry he had raised his hand on me and Lily-flower. What right does he have to tell me what to bloody do?! And what's with his deal about Harry? And where did Tonks go?"
"Perhaps he judges you because you are his relative, and because he may've cared for the boy." Minerva practically shouted at him. "Alastor has always made it clear when asked, what he thought about you and Harry. It is no secret to anyone that he was with Dorea and Charlus when it came to your and Lily's marriage. And as for what he did, I believe that you two had deserved it somewhat. Dorea had always adored and loved you, James, and she was anything but spiteful and prideful. Your words make you no honor."
"So you actually support what she had thought about me and Lily being together?!" James practically raved at what Minerva said. "Do you want to know what she said to me, huh? She told me, that Lily here is only after me because of my status and money, and that she'd dump me for someone richer if she had the chance. She even had stated that there was nothing that would make her a true Lady of House Potter. And when my folks took Harry in, do you know what she said? She said, and I quote: "I'd never entrust you with my grandson, nor would ever allow to you and James hurt him with your antics."
"James, let Alastor calm down, and please calm down." Dumbledore said in his usual way. "Obviously, his imprisonment by Barty Crouch still haunts him and he is only starting to recover completely from it. His emotions and paranoia are getting the better of him. Right now, it would be for everyone's best interests to let Alastor cool off, as muggles like to say it. I am sure that in a few days' time, he will return and apologize for his actions. And as for our dear Nymphadora, I'm certain she is doing her best to mend the relations between us and Alastor as we speak.
"I agree, James. There will be enough time to get our apologies. But, in the meantime," Lily had used her wand to fix her broken lip and swollen cheek, before continuing. "We should actually focus on the fact that Harry is actually dead. I hope you remember what this means for us, right?" It was then that James' eyes lit up and widened.
"Yeah… Finally! I almost had forgotten about it." He exclaimed surprising everyone. "With the bastard gone, there's nothing stopping the goblins from finally giving us all the money! Finally we'll have it all, and father won't do anything about it!"
"Okay, James, what are you talking about?" Sirius, as most of the Order here looked confused, before Lily decided to explain.
"After James' parents' death, we had gone to Gringotts to the listening of their last wills." Lily began explaining. "It was then that we had found out that Charlus and Dorea had excluded James from the line of succession as Lord Potter, and as Lord Peverell. Instead, James and I would only be Lord and Lady Fleamont, while the two most important Lordships, Potters and Peverell, had actually went to our firstborn, Harry. This meant that it was actually Harry that had the full access to all of riches of House Potter and treasures of House Peverell, while James and we were left with only Fleamont fortunes. It is fortunate though that Charlus and Dorea had actually taken to preserving and expanding the riches of all Houses."
"In other words, James had never been recognized as Lord Potter by family magic and goblins, since he got excluded from line of succession, and instead that right went to Harry." Remus got the affirmative nods from James and Lily. "But what is this entire business about separate Lordships. Potter makes sense, but Peverell and Fleamont?"
"Father had gotten into his head an idea to see all of his sons as lords of their own Houses, back when Michael and Gabriel were alive that is." James said. "Michael, as eldest, was to be Lord Potter. Gabriel, as second-born, was to become Lord Peverell after father's death, while I was left with Lordship of Fleamont. Potters are direct descendants of Peverell, from which came our Cloak of Invisibility, one of the Deathly Hallows. And as for Fleamont, that one came from my great grandmother and last member of Fleamont line, Felicia Fleamont."
"Anyway, we had tried to get the fortunes of Potters and Peverells, but Goblins refused to listen to us. They didn't recognizing me as Lord Potter, nor did they care that Wizengamot had recognized me as one. Instead, they told me that I could only use money of House Fleamont, and that the will of my parents is absolute. Of course, we didn't tell anyone of our situation, and especially to Harry, since we knew that we couldn't depend on him to give it to me as his father." James told them all. "However, while the money was out of our reach, there was one way that we could gain them, and that is through succession upon death, as was stated in the wills. With Henry now dead, Will here is now the official Lord Potter, though until he is of age and with kids of his own, it was decided to that me and Lily will fill in the roles of Regents. We'll just have to visit Gringotts to sort it out, which we'll do in a few days."
"Yeah, I'm not looking forward to all this political meddling and the other crap, and I'm sure that Mom and Dad are far better suited to handle my Lordships, now that the trash is dead." William smirked, turning to Ron. "So the first thing when we go to Diagon Alley, I'm getting us both with the best brooms we can get our hands on. Malfoy will be green with envy when he sees us riding those Thunderbolts next match."
And while the Potters, their friends and the rest of Order fell into their personal discussions, Kingsley had analyzed what he had just heard. Neither him, nor Amelia, and probably anyone else, had taken into the account that James might not actually be Lord Potter and have access to the associated riches. It was a surprise for him to learn that Henry was actually the real Lord Potter now, but this also didn't bode well for their plan. If Potters had gone to Gringotts and demanded access to the vaults, it would be completely denied to them, since goblins would be aware of Henry being alive through their own means.
Once the meeting was over, he would need to contact Amelia and Tonks, and inform them of this. He could only hope that Henry and his Black family would be able to come up with a good plan about it.
Alright, I think I'll leave it at here. Sorry if this chapter is a fair bit shorter than what the first one was. Trust me, it was initially even longer than the first, so I decided to break it down into two, with the next one getting published soon enough.
Anyway, you've got your first taste of the Order and Potters. I do realize that I haven't flashed out many of whom you probably would like to see, but I do not despair, as future chapters will feature more of flashing out. Now, onto the possible questions.
1. Kreacher being nice. Yeah, he is actually being nice to Nymphadora. Why? Because he sees her as a Black, and because Arcturus Black recognizes her as one. Why? Well, next chapter will reveal it.
2. Moody's relations with Potters. Now that one is made up completely by me for this story, and I even had to mess up canon a bit, with Henry Potter being married to a Lady of House Moody, instead of last of Fleamont House. Do please not hold it against me. Anyway, Charlus and Moody were cousins, just like Nymphadora and Draco. That also explains his reaction to what James had said, as well as his reaction to news about Harry's death.
3. Lordships. Yeah, I did go with it, cliché and all, but hey, that's what I do. Anyway, since Charlus initially had three sons, he decided to each have them as Lords. Michael as Potter, Gabriel as Peverell and James as Fleamont, but after Michael and Gabriel with their families bit the dust, James was the next in line. But, Charlus and Dorea decided to transfer the rights of Heir of Potter and Peverell to Harry instead of James, which is why Goblins don't recognize James as Lord Potter and Peverell. And as for Wizengamot, they have Albus Dumbledore telling them that James is Lord Potter. Now, if Harry were to die, then the next Lord would be Will, and after him Rose, as Lady. Hope that's understandable.
Now, here's what will happen in next chapter: Regulus' past, Revelations about bloodlines, Reasons to fight, And first move.
Review, question, suggest, give me your opinion, that kind of gist. I just love it. Oh, and a shout out to that good old critic of mine, that has a problem with me being Russian. Don't know what's your deal with me, but here is something for you to translate: Поцелуй меня в жопу, сука.
Oh and one more thing, I still haven't decided on the pairing, so if you have suggestions, would really love to know.
See ya all soon!