Heirs of Slytherin

So, I don't own Harry Potter...Damn.

Thanks to those who have followed, favored and/or reviewed.

Previously...

The house-elf at the door was staring right at Peter. "Kreacher hears you have the blood of the great Salazar Slytherin."

"Unfortunately," Peter muttered darkly. "What do you want?"

If the house-elf was offended by Peter's cold remark, he didn't show it. "Kreacher heard hissing. You speak the language of the snake."

Peter only nods as the house-elf comes forward. It was then that the boy noticed the strange looking locket in Kreacher's hands.

"Take this," Kreacher says as he places the locket in Peter's hands and closes his fingers around it. "Destroy it, snake boy. Destroy it."

A look of confusion crossed Peter's face as he watched the house-elf slowly creep out of the room. Opening up his hands, Peter's eyes widened as he realized what he was actually holding.

July, 1995

Sometimes, Diana Steward wondered how she ended up to where she was at that moment.

She found herself looking at her husband of 19 years. His dark blond hair seemed even darker without their guest room light on. His face, relaxed but guarded even in sleep, he still was as handsome as the day she met him some 20 odd years ago. She had been 15 when they first started dating, 18 when they tied the knot.

It had been a happy day, her wedding day. Diana remembered seeing her father, a man who hardly ever shown true emotion, openly weep at the sight of his only daughter in her wedding dress. Diana knew that her father, Rory Kaczmarek, was happy for her, but he also grieved for her. Happy that his daughter had found happiness, but grieving for the girl who used to sit on his lap as he told her stories about a war he was too young to fight in but old enough to remember. She had taken in every word her father had said, and every word that he hadn't said.

Her husband's world, and by default her's when she married him, was embroiled in a war she had never even heard about it. Stories of men with sticks that could shoot off lights that caused great explosions and stories of monsters that masquerade as men. She remembered the day Jim's two brothers, Matt and Peter, were taken away by the awful war. A war that the American wizards didn't need to fight in, but the two Steward's believed that it was their battle to fight.

"Riddle's blood," Matt had said, his haunting brown eyes boring into her own. "We should be the ones out there, kicking his ass for the awful legacy he's bringing to our family."

Diana had always known that Matt saw a purely black and white world, but Peter hadn't. The younger of the two, Peter, he was only 19 when he was murdered by Lord Voldemort himself. Matt, on the other hand, had been 21.

Neither had left behind any children, so when her first born son was born the very next year, Diana and her husband had named him after the two uncle's he should have gotten to meet, not just hear about in stories.

She saw both Matt and Peter in her eldest son. He was kind and shy, much like Peter, but had his moment's of anger and grief about the world that they were living in, just like Matt.

She remembered how Matt had been suspicious of her. Not because she was a no-maj, but because of his paranoia surrounding anyone new in any of his sibling's lives. She vividly remembered how Matt had acted when his only sister Joy had brought home her boyfriend and eventual husband, Colin. Granted, Diana's brother's had done similar things when they had met Jim, maybe she sometimes thought about things far too deeply. She knew that one day her two son's would act in a similar manner whenever Riley brought home a boy for her family to meet.

Only God would know what her husband would do to the poor boy.

She knew that the Order held no trust in her family. It wasn't the first time she had witnessed this, and she knew it wouldn't be the last. In America, the wizarding world there saw her husband's family as beacons of both light and dark. The Steward's had all but kick-started the wizarding world they all knew today, but they had blood ties to infamous wizards that caused a great deal of controversy and death throughout the years.

And yet her husband still married a woman with no magic, disputing yet again that the Steward's were anti-no-maj, just as her father-in-law and grandfather-in-law had done.

Her husband's family, as well as her children, spoke the language of snakes. At first, it had scared her, but after hearing it so many times, she grew to accept it. She still remembered the day she all but ordered her husband to teach her the language. Of course, they hardly got anywhere with that, but Diana knew that Jim had greatly appreciated the gesture. She remembered the day he suggested naming one of their twins after her father, who by then was slowly losing himself in his old age. She remembered the day that the twins were born. Her 3-year-old Peter had been excited to become an older brother. So much so that he had stayed awake for nearly 27 hours, waiting to meet his baby brother and sister. She also remembered how Jim had passed out yet again during their birth, and how she had screamed at him that she wanted a divorce and how he would never touch her again.

She remembered the look of joy on his face as they each held a twin in their arms. She held Rory, Jim held Riley. The look on his face at that moment made Diana remember why she had fallen in love with him in the first place. The look of love and adoration gave evidence that her husband, despite being an heir of Slytherin, a cousin of the vile Dark Lord, was a good man and still is.

Diana wouldn't take that away for the world itself.

Rory was the first one in his family awake, at least as far as he knew.

Still dressed in his Star Wars themed pajamas, the boy walked down to the kitchen. He saw Mrs. Weasley inside, making breakfast as she muttered something indistinctive under her breath.

Standing at the doorway yet again, the boy spoke for what seemed to be the first time to the red-haired woman.

"That smell's good."

The adult slightly jumped, clearly not expecting for anyone to be up just yet. Turning towards the young boy, she seemed unsure of how to respond. "Why...thank you. You're up early." She was awkward, Rory could tell.

The boy nodded as he sat at the table. He folded his hands as he placed them on the wooden table. "I had trouble sleeping."

An uneasy look crossed the woman's face. Rory knew this look all too well. He knew about how some wizards felt uncomfortable when around him or any of his family members. It came with being a Steward, he guessed.

"You aren't happy that we're here, are you?" The boy asked upfront. He noticed that the witch suddenly seemed ashamed, he figured it was because he was young and had known clear as day that she was uncomfortable with him, a Steward, therefore a Slytherin by blood was around her and her family. Rory wasn't by any means stupid, he knew how some people felt when being around him and his family. It came with being apart of a well-known family, he guessed.

He was used to the stares and whispers by now. And to think, he was only 11 and he knew this.

"I wouldn't say that," the woman tried to explain.

"But you won't deny it, would you?" The boy said unnervingly. "I may be a kid, but I'm not stupid. I know none of you want my family and me here. Your son made that perfectly clear yesterday."

An awkward silence follows this statement. It doesn't bother Rory in the slightest, but it clearly does Mrs. Weasley.

"You're a very observant boy," Mrs. Weasley tells Rory, who nods in agreement.

"I have to be," the boy replies. "I'm a Steward, and Stewards always have to know what's in front of them. Otherwise, we find ourselves drowning and burning. That's never fun."

The English witch only stares at him. He's clearly freaked her out, so he gets out of his seat and starts to leave.

"I think I'll leave you to your cooking," Rory says as he heads for the door. "I don't want you to be any more worried than you already are."

Rory Steward doesn't see the troubled look on Mrs. Weasley's face, but he knows it's there.

Intense silence fills the kitchen as everyone eats the food Mrs. Wealsey cooked.

"Where in America do you live?" Hermione asked Peter Steward. She wanted to know more about the Steward family. It wasn't every day you got to meet wizards who descended from famous wizards, no matter how infamous they may be.

"New York," Riley said to the bushy-haired teenager, answering for her older brother. "My Uncle Dean also lives there as well, but Aunt Joy lives in Boston."

"There's more of you?" Ron questioned tactlessly, a horrified expression on his face.

"Of course, why wouldn't there be more of us?" Jim questioned, an amused but pointed look crossing his handsome features.

Ron immediately turns red and looks away in order to hide the look of disgust on his face. More bloody Slytherin's, Merlin kill him now.

"Do they have any children?" Lupin asked politely.

Jim nodded. "Joy recently had her...fourth child I believe, and Dean has a daughter."

"What are their names?" Ginny asked.

"Joy has Conor, CJ, Georgie, and Clara, and Dean has Valeria," Jim told the teenager.

"Are Joy and Dean your only siblings?" Mr. Weasley asked.

Jim shook his head. "No, I've got two other brothers, but they were murdered by Riddle in 79'." He frowned as he noticed everyone seemed shocked by this. "You may find this surprising, but my family doesn't want that power-loving asshole back either."

No one says anything after this, not that anyone needed to.

So, what do you think?

I know there might be some mistakes, so I apologize.

Please, review, like, and/or follow. That would great.

Until next time...

Review(s):

Guest: Thanks for the review. You'll have to wait and see...

Jason: Thanks for the review. I'm not going to confirm or deny that statement.