Wheels Within Wheels – Part Three
Iolanthe
Chapter Nine
The Blacks' Christmas
Harry and Daphne took Iolanthe to Greengrass Manor the next morning, where she hung out with Kendra, Astoria and Scorpius Malfoy. Harry and Daphne floo'd to the ministry and St. Mungo's, respectively, Daphne for rounds, and Harry to check in with Percy Weasley and the unnamed admin person, according to Kingsley's request.
When Iolanthe was born, Astoria had suspected, but didn't know for certain, that she was pregnant with Scorpius. She and Draco had gone to The Mill for a few days during the latter part of October, and Astoria was sitting by the pond feeding the trout while Draco ran some errand. She looked up to see a swan paddling across the mill pond. She hadn't seen a swan land, nor had there been one present when she arrived with the dried crickets for the trout. The swan climbed the pond's bank without difficulty and settled down next to Astoria.
"Not interested in swan babies, Father Zeus. Those would take too much out of me," Astoria said.
"Artemis told me you are smart," the swan said. "Don't worry, that Leda stuff is all in the past. I'm a long way from home and my powers are very weak here, comparatively speaking. Taking on the aspect of a swan is about all I'm capable of. Now, if you see Wotan coming up that lane—old geezer, big hat, staff, one eye—run for it. No, I just wanted to meet you, to ask how the quest is going."
"We're still questing," Astoria said.
"Good," said the swan. "Never give up. Did you get a copy of The Odyssey? Artemis said she advised you to read a little every day."
"Artemis says read a little of The Odyssey every day, so I read a little every day. Mother had a copy of the Fitzgerald in the library," Astoria said. "I never learned Greek."
"Fitzgerald is as good as you'll get until youcan read Greek," said the swan. "Let me just say, you're everything Artemis said you are. I'll consider it a personal honor if you'll allow me…"
The swan stood up and extended its great wing toward Astoria, brushing her torso with his primary feathers, down across her abdomen and the tops of her thighs to her knees.
"Keep your young wizard's mind focused," said the swan. "We're all pulling for you at our aerie. Even Hera."
He gave a little shudder.
The swan slid down the bank and hit the water with a splash. It paddled with its great feet, one, two, three strokes, and disappeared. Draco and Astoria did keep questing, that very night as a matter of fact, and Scorpius arrived at the end of the following June. One look at Scorpius and anyone could see Draco was his father. Nevertheless, Astoria always believed a blessing from Father Zeus couldn't have done any harm to her efforts to give Draco at least one child, and for all she knew, it could have made all the difference.
Harry took care of his administrative matters and was back at Greengrass Manor well before noon. He joined Kendra, Iolanthe, Astoria and Scorpius on the floor in the library. Iolanthe used the furniture to pull herself up onto her feet and was not disappointed in the massive displays of approval forthcoming from her family.
Daphne returned by floo after completing her rounds, taking Iolanthe in hand for a trip upstairs to the rocker for some lunch. The adults gathered for lunch in the sunny room by the patio once the children were fed and content. Daphne's influence on the Greengrass Manor kitchen was still in effect. Harry liked salad, he reminded himself. He searched for some seared tuna, or grilled chicken, amid all the greens, but had to settle for a half-dozen croutons.
"We have the Black estate looking presentable," Daphne said to Kendra. "Let's find a time for you to come see it."
"I'd love to," Kendra said. "What have you done so far?"
"Cleaning, mostly, and some new paint," Daphne said. "All the portraits and frames were cleaned. Kreacher contacted a house elf who really knows magical plumbing, so he and Harry have the kitchen and baths fully restored with reliable water. We're still replacing furniture. What was there was mostly unsalvageable."
"What are you going to do with it, Harry, now that you have a functioning Black estate?" Kendra asked.
"Host Black events," Harry said. "Go to the market in the village. Let the portraits see us coming and going. Take the children so they grow up with the history and the portraits see we're doing our duty."
Kendra, Astoria and Daphne all whooped at Harry's last comment. Harry was glad to see Astoria enjoying herself. Ever since Scorpius' birth she had been much quieter than usual.
"What did you have in mind for a Black event?" Kendra asked.
"Iolanthe's birthday is December first. I thought it might be nice to get everyone together at the estate and kick off the Christmas season," Harry said. "We can have a nice meal and everyone can see one another in a house with some history. We'll take care of the food and cleanup so the only thing anyone would need to do would be show up. And act civilized. As far as that goes with witches and wizards."
"Go Harry, go Harry, GO!" shouted Astoria, to the general consternation (mixed with delight) of Daphne and Kendra.
They really didn't know what to think, but the return of some Astoria spunkiness was to be welcomed, not questioned.
"Please consider this our invitation," Harry said in response. "You're the first official invitee to the reconstituted Black estate."
Harry and Daphne began going to the estate roughly every two weeks, specifically on market days. They found a convenient apparation point just outside the village limits, in a field, shielded by both a stone wall and a hedgerow. They would walk into town with a canvas bag, purchase a chicken and some fruit or vegetables, then take it all back to the estate and let Trix make a meal for the family. Iolanthe discovered the connection between whole apples and Trix' special applesauce puree, and put on quite a performance whenever a stall featured apples.
Trix, Kreacher and Tracey were staying alert for leads on elves seeking situations. The Black estate didn't need a full time house elf, but Potter Manor was nearing completion, and a skilled elf would be a big help in getting the new place through its shakeout period and up and running. Properly integrated into the Potter household, one elf could move with the family and manage affairs for both of the country places, since neither would be occupied on a full time basis.
Harry put together a very successful Black Christmas observance. He got Narcissa Malfoy and Andromeda Tonks, plus Teddy Lupin. The Weasleys were all invited, and Ron and Hermione came because it was a Harry-organized event and they never missed those, barring medical emergency or natural catastrophe. Harry got Bill and Fleur to come, along with Dominique and Victoire. He strongly suspected Victoire was the key to getting Teddy to come with Andromeda. Kendra and Fabio came with Draco, Astoria and Scorpius, who was acknowledged the Youngest Black, earning him a special circuit of the house to be shown to all the portraits.
The Blacks had come to the end of their line of direct male descendants, but many of the wizarding families of Britain had a connection through a female Black ancestor. Arthur Weasley's mother, Cedrella Black Weasley, for example, had been disowned when she married into the Weasleys, already considered blood traitors by the more fanatical Blacks. Thus the Weasleys were all Black cousins. There were more. Harry had hopes that in years to come, he and Daphne would be able to pull increasing numbers together, if only once a year for Black Christmas.
The more fanatical Blacks were all dead, now, and Harry, Lord Black, was the instrument that excised the most recent expounder of pureblood mania. Thus it was not surprising that the head of the family, and the architect of its reconstruction, sought non-confrontational ways and means of letting the extended Black network know that the expellees, and their descendants, would meet a friendly welcome from their cousins if they chose to participate in clan activities.
Harry thought social events would be key to building Black cohesion, but he didn't think they would be sufficient to guarantee success by themselves. A Christmas party and something in spring or early summer (he was thinking of a garden party for all the Black cousins in Britain and Ireland, to be held at the estate) would only go so far in welding the remaining family together. He wanted to find things to pull people in, to make them feel they were part of a respectable clan, the Blacks, who might have been a bit fractious in the past but had left puerile antics behind. Antics such as blasting family members off tapestries, to give one example.
When Teddy was ready to get outfitted for Hogwarts, Andromeda had already arranged for part of his outfit. Harry volunteered to take him to Diagon Alley for the rest of his uniforms, books and supplies. He had no idea how Andromeda was doing financially, but she had never asked Harry for any help in supporting Teddy. Harry remembered how much it had cost for his own first year kit and didn't want Andromeda to end up in a financial bind, so he suggested an outing, and that Teddy could bring his list and they'd see what they could do.
Andromeda accepted, and Harry and Teddy spent a day in Diagon Alley. At each shop Harry would pull the proprietor aside and advise he wasn't looking for anything flashy, but he wanted Teddy to have the best quality available. As a result, Teddy started school with a generous stock of consumables, such as quills and parchment, plus uniforms, robes and a very serviceable sycamore wand that exhibited signs of instant rapport with its young wizard.
Over three or four years, Harry quietly expanded the practice until it became established that any eleven- year-old from any of the branches of the Blacks who would be entering Hogwarts in September was free to walk into Madame Malkin's, Ollivanders, or Flourish and Blott's and identify themselves and get their initial outfits at no cost to their families, purely because of the Black family's interest in supporting and encouraging its young scholars.
Harry thought about an owl, but an owl requires a certain interest in husbandry, so he decided to talk to Andromeda before making that purchase. Eventually, Harry did buy owls, boarding a number of them at the Hogwarts Owlery, free for any Black student to use, whether to send a letter home, or to write to Cousin Harry to share their angst about turning seventeen just when there were so few opportunities for gainful employment.
The initial Black Christmas party was not at all flashy, but everyone in attendance seemed to have a good time. Word spread and Harry began getting belated regrets and promises to attend if he'd announce plans for subsequent events. By the end of December he was getting ideas for a garden party around the time of Scorpius' birthday. In his head he was already calling it Black June.
The ministry did send a few temporary opportunities Harry's way. He mainly assisted with fitness and dueling, running drills, demonstrating dueling forms for beginners, and consulting with the instructors. Harry loved those days, because he ended up getting to work out with the instructors, who were real fighters in great physical shape. As much as he liked his home gym, dueling mannequins would never be the same as fighting a human, with all that human wiliness and unpredictability.
Harry didn't notice that his workouts at the aurors' training facility gymnasium were getting more intense. It did occur to him that the instructors' schedules must have been adjusted recently because when Harry was called in to run exercise periods, there always seemed to be two first-rate aurors available when he got done. Harry got in the habit of staying on and dueling two very capable aurors at once, or taking on two opponents for judo, Graeco-Roman wrestling or boxing. He didn't make a lot out of it because he was too busy enjoying the exhilaration of feeling whole again.
The family had become accustomed to a routine on days Harry was called in. Daphne went to St. Mungo's as usual, while Harry would take the floo to Greengrass Manor and drop Iolanthe Astoria off with her worshipful grandmother, her aunt, and cousin Scorpius before going on to work with the aurors, then the adults would converge at the manor for dinner. Harry would arrive first, followed shortly by Daphne.
Daphne arrived before Harry one evening and was upstairs spooning applesauce puree into Iolanthe's hungry-little-robin mouth when Harry walked in and closed the door behind him.
"You win," Harry said.
"I know," Daphne said. "That's why you're late. I have never beaten you back here and suddenly, today…What do they want you to do?"