Replies to Guest Reviews from Chapter One (sorry I'm late):
IrisTurner: Merci!
Krystal: Glad you enjoyed it. I completely understand the language adaptation problem; I do the same thing. I end up thinking (and sometimes speaking) in iambic pentameter if I've been reading Shakespeare.
I do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter Three: Apastron
Apastron – the point of greatest separation between two stars
Being stuck in the middle of the rainforest, Harry didn't actually hear about what happened on Hallowe'en until three weeks after Christmas. Even so, he didn't know much, just that 'You-Know-Who' had been defeated by the 'Boy-Who-Lived.' Unfortunately, newspapers presumed that you had already heard the information about who the 'Boy-Who-Lived' was. Whatever the case, the war was over, and it was safe for Harry to return to Britain with his children.
Privately, he mourned. He had fully expected Tom to win. He had hoped that the war would end, and Tom would admit that he had actual feelings for Harry, and then they could be a family – the two of them and their children.
His children – still six and four, though rapidly approaching their fifth and seventh birthdays – had no idea why his mood would alternate from cheer that they were returning home to depression.
It would all be worth it, he told himself, because he would be able to find Sirius and reclaim his youngest son. Maybe he wouldn't have Tom, but he would have his children, and they would be safe.
He only managed to keep that attitude until arriving at Black Manor at the end of January.
"What do you mean that Sirius has been imprisoned?" he demanded after Arcturus told him the news.
"According to Dumbledore, the Potters were under the Fidelius Charm and Sirius was their Secret Keeper," Arcturus said, taking a sip of his tea. "Since the Dark Lord found the Potters, Sirius had to have given up the Secret."
"I saw something in the paper about the 'Boy-Who-Lived', but nothing explained what it was talking about," Harry admitted.
"Last Hallowe'en, the Dark Lord went to the Potters' safe house in Godric's Hollow. While he was there, he killed James and Lily Potter and attempted to kill baby Denny Potter. Somehow, that little boy survived the Killing Curse with only a lightning-bolt scar to show for it," Arcturus stated. "Sirius was arrested two days later after blowing up a Muggle street, twelve Muggles, and Peter Pettigrew. He was taken to Azkaban almost immediately. Why are you so curious about him, Arrakis?"
Harry winced.
"I was pregnant again," he admitted. "I gave birth last summer. Sirius agreed to hide the baby on the Light side so that I could get out of Britain. You have to be at least three to go to the research encampment I was at. He arranged with an infertile couple that they would keep Raselased until I returned. In exchange, they would be the child's godparents and would blood-adopt him so that he could be their heir. But I didn't let Sirius tell me who he gave Raselased to. I don't know where my son is, and now the only person who does is in Azkaban."
Arcturus merely raised his eyebrows.
"That's five now? You two certainly were fertile."
Harry blushed unwillingly as his eyes darted downward.
"Ah," Arcturus said in surprise. "You're pregnant again. Twins again, or just one this time?"
"Triplets," Harry admitted.
He took perverse pleasure in Arcturus' minor jaw-drop, though the lord recovered quickly.
"Eight children," he said, still sounding slightly shocked. "You do know that there haven't been more than five Black children from one parent in thirteen generations?"
"I suppose I'm making up for the rest of my generation's lack," Harry said drily. "Narcissa can't carry any more after how difficult Corona's birth was. Andromeda seems satisfied with her little half-blood Metamorphmagus. Bellatrix seems disinclined to have children…"
"Bellatrix is in Azkaban," Arcturus said. "She, the Lestrange brothers, and Bartemius Crouch Jr. were sentenced to life for the torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom with the Cruciatus Curse."
"Then Bellatrix is never going to reproduce," Harry amended. "Regulus is dead. Sirius is also in Azkaban and unlikely to reproduce, unless he left a bastard running around that we don't know about. It seems I'll have two children for every childless Black, then two for myself."
Arcturus hummed as he snapped his fingers for more tea. After taking another sip, he said, "You realize, that with Sirius dead and Regulus in Azkaban, that you, Arrakis, are now the most likely candidate for the Lordship after myself?"
Harry's eyes widened. He had never even considered that he might one day be Lord Black. He was only distantly related to Arcturus, and he was a half-blood to boot.
"My mother was a Muggle-born," he pointed out.
"A Muggle-born from the Squib line of Rowena Ravenclaw," Arcturus pointed out. "Certainly a worthy match for a Black, even if it was frowned upon at the time. But you were raised in pureblood customs. Were you a blood traitor, things would be different, but you are a worthy member of the family."
Hearing those words, the family approval that Harry had always sought, almost brought tears to his eyes. If any did leak, he blamed it on pregnancy hormones.
"Technically," Arcturus continued, "you're still second in line for the lordship. Your grandfather is the current Heir, with Regulus' death and Sirius' imprisonment, but I highly doubt that he will outlast me."
Harry was relatively certain that Pollux Black was at least a decade younger than Arcturus Black, but he wasn't going to comment.
"In fact," Arcturus said, "I plan to speak with Pollux and convince him to relinquish the Heirship to you. It would be best overall. Even if Pollux does outlast me, it won't be by long. I'm already eighty, and Pollux is pushing seventy. Such rapid turnover of the lordship would not be good for the House."
Harry refrained from pointing out that besides himself and his children, all of the remaining Blacks-by-name were over the age of fifty, and unlikely to be heavily affected by the change. If his lord uncle wanted to hand him the Lordship of House Black, so be it.
"If you go to the Ministry as a member of the Black House, and tell them that you seek information as the future Heir Black from the previous Heir Black, they should let you in."
Arcturus was wrong. They wouldn't let him in. According to Bartemius Crouch, Sr. (father of Bartemius Crouch, Jr., who had been arrested alongside the Lestranges for the torture of the Longbottoms), Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, none of the imprisoned Death Eaters were allowed any visitors. His disdain for the Black family name was obviously as well, despite his mother being one of Arcturus' first cousins.
Harry kept making appeals for nearly a week, before giving up and going back to Arcturus.
The DMLE gave the Lord Black the same reply, even when Arcturus tried to pull rank as Lord Black to get access to Sirius for Harry.
Arcturus took it to court.
After nearly five months of battle, they were no closer to a resolution, but Harry was ready to give birth to the triplets. (Well, he wasn't ready, but they had decided they were showing up anyway.)
Just as with his first birth, Arcturus had called back the Chinese Healer who specialized in male pregnancies and had allowed Narcissa to come in as a midwife. She didn't actively practice healing anymore, as she was now busy with her son, Draco, who was only a month older than Raselased, but she was still more than capable of acting as the midwife, even in a triplet birth.
"It's a girl," Narcissa announced of the first baby. The other two followed shortly: both boys. "Three children, all born on Midsummer's Eve," Narcissa stated. "They'll be magically powerful."
Harry didn't doubt that, superstitious predictions or not. Three was one of the most powerful magical numbers – arithmancers argued whether three or seven was more powerful, though most held with seven. Midsummer's Eve was known to be a date of high magical power, alongside Midsummer itself, All Hallows' Eve and Samhain, Walpurgis Night and Beltane, and Yuletide. Considering he had three children born on Midsummer's Eve that were conceived on Samhain, and they were born of an unaided male pregnancy between himself and the Dark Lord…the chances that one of his children would be a Squib were next to nil.
"Well," Arcturus said when he was allowed in, "at least you have enough children for the lordships now."
"Lordships?" Narcissa questioned. She was still in the dark as to Harry's children's sire.
"The sire was the Heir to two Lordships," Arcturus said calmly, "just as our Arrakis will be the Heir to two. Ravenclaw through his mother, and he will be Lord Black after me."
Narcissa started at that.
"With Regulus dead and Sirius in Azkaban, I'm the closest male heir," Harry said drily. "The only male heir not over fifty, actually."
"The only Black-by-birth-and-name under the age of fifty," Arcturus added. "Excepting your children, of course."
"What are these ones going to be named?" Narcissa asked, looking morbidly curious.
"Once I found out they were triplets, I decided that they should have similar names," Harry said with forced cheerfulness, as if he wasn't exhausted from giving birth to three children mere hours before. "Sadalachbia Alya, Sadalmelik Tarazed, and Sadalsuud Edasich."
"Lucky star of the tents, lucky star of the king, and luck of lucks," Arcturus identified immediately.
"Nicknames?" Narcissa asked.
"Sadie, Melik, and…I'm not really sure. Lucky?" Harry offered.
"Lucky," Arcturus deadpanned.
"His name means 'luck of lucks,'" Narcissa said, a hint of a smile playing at her lips. "That sounds like a Lucky to me."
Arcturus' right eye twitched.
"You want to call a scion of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black 'Lucky?'"
"I think it suits," Harry said decisively. "He'll be Sadalsuud Black in public. But family can call him Lucky."
Arcturus blinked once more, than turned and left the room. Once he was far enough away, Narcissa threw up a Silencing Charm and they both started laughing.
"You may just drive him to distraction, cousin dear," Narcissa replied.
"I enjoy cracking the older generation's masks," Harry replied amicably. "I'll probably call him Eddy though."
"Well, it is a bit more dignified than 'Lucky'," Narcissa laughed. "Would you like me to stay the night, just in case?"
"No, I'll be fine," Harry assured. "Go home to your husband and your baby, Cissy. I'll be fine. The house-elves are keeping an eye on me and will call you immediately if something goes wrong."
His cousin eventually agreed, leaving Harry alone with his babies. He staggered out of bed so he could hover over their cradles.
"I'm sure your father would have loved you," he said quietly. "All of you, Raselased included. If he'd had the chance. If he'd won. If I'd told him. Maybe he would have been more careful, if he knew he has someone to live for. He didn't fight for me. He might've fought for you."
Unsurprisingly, none of the babes responded.
A month later, Harry was at his wits' end. He finally went with his last resort: he approached Dumbledore.
It was the summer holidays, but Dumbledore was still in residence at his office in Hogwarts. His reply to Harry's letter was cautious, but seemed open enough. Of course, Dumbledore tried to play the kindly grandfather for everyone who approached him, but Harry had been warned enough times between his lord uncle and his lover that he knew most of the man's tricks.
Harry Apparated to the front gates shortly before sunset. His cloak was wrapped tightly about him, and the hood was pulled low over his head. No one would see his identity from afar.
The gates opened at his touch. No Heir could be forbidden entry to the ancient castle, unless by agreement from the other three Heirs. Harry had never agreed to ban Voldemort, so Voldemort still had access to Hogwarts as well, despite Dumbledore's best efforts to keep him out.
Harry did his best to walk briskly up to the castle, but his body was still not recovered from the triplets, and he ended up stopping to rest when he was three-quarters of the way there. He Conjured an armchair and collapsed into it, watching the waters of the Black Lake sway back and forth.
A few minutes later, he heard footsteps approaching from behind him.
"Are you well, Mr. Black?" Dumbledore asked, coming to stand beside him.
"I'm afraid I'm still recovering from being unwell," Harry replied smoothly. "The walk was a bit much for me."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Dumbledore replied as he Conjured up his own armchair – a bright purple one, patterned with shimmering moons and stars – and sat down in it. "We can have our discussion here, if you'd like?"
"If you'd put up privacy wards," Harry requested. "This matter is very much private."
Dumbledore did so. Harry kept a close eye on his wand, but the wards he cast were exactly what they were meant to be: exceptionally powerful privacy wards.
"Now," Dumbledore said as he finished, "what is it you wished to speak with me about?"
"I want a vow that you will not share this information without my permission," Harry said firmly. "This knowledge cannot harm anyone, but if it gets out, those it concerns will be in danger."
Dumbledore hesitated, but held his wand up and intoned, "I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, vow not to share the information given to me today by Arrakis Eltanin Lesath Black without his permission. So mote it be."
A small flash of light sealed the vow.
Harry wasted no time in speaking, even as Dumbledore conjured a small table and summoned a house elf to bring tea.
"I need to speak with Sirius Black."
Dumbledore's brow furrowed.
"Why, my boy?"
Harry took a deep breath, and stated, "Sirius is the only person who knows where my son is."
"I wasn't aware you had a child," Dumbledore said in surprise.
The house-elf returned, and Dumbledore poured tea for the both of them. Harry was handed a white-and-silver brocade patterned cup, while Dumbledore took the lurid orange-and-green one.
Harry snorted slightly.
"That's rather the point. My…my lover was a Death Eater. I didn't want to join the Dark forces. I didn't want my children involved, so I never told him that I was pregnant, and I never told him we had children. I decided the best way to protect my children was to ensure that no one knew they existed, not even their father. If I didn't tell anyone, Voldemort could never learn of them and use them against me to force me to join the Death Eaters."
"Children, plural?" Dumbledore questioned.
"I have eight total, now," Harry admitted.
Dumbledore choked on the sip of tea he'd just taken.
"Eight children? And no one knows?" he demanded.
"My lord uncle knows. My cousin Narcissa delivered them under blood-oath. There was also a Chinese Healer my lord uncle hired, one who specialized in male pregnancies. He supervised all the births. Sirius knew about the older five. The triplets were born last month. My oldest twins are seven, the younger twins are five, and my missing son is nearly two."
"Why is Sirius the only one who knows where your son is?" Dumbledore asked gently.
Harry sighed.
"As you may remember, I left the country two years ago, in April, for a research position in the Central American rainforest. I actually didn't leave until August, after the birth of my son. No children under the age of two could be in the research encampment, but I had to get out of the country. The pressure on me to join the Death Eaters was increasing. I had to get out of the country, along with my children. Everything was planned until I found out I was pregnant again. Sirius agreed to find a couple on your side of the war who would be willing to take in a baby and pretend it was theirs. I requested not to know who my son was going to, so long as Sirius would vouch for them, for both their protection and mine. It's safe for me to be in the country again. I want my child. But I don't know where he is."
"Several families were wiped out in the last year of the war," Dumbledore pointed out gently. "Are you sure your son lives?"
"I last saw Sirius two days before Voldemort was defeated, and he assured me that my son was well," Harry said firmly. "There were no children killed after that point. My son is alive. I just don't know where he is."
Dumbledore sighed.
"I'm afraid, my boy, that after this many months, Sirius will be in no position to answer your question. Reports from Azkaban say that the prisoners are already well on their way to being insane."
"But I might be able to get something out of him!" Harry begged. "Please, can't you get me into Azkaban, just for a short time? This is my son we're talking about!"
"I'm afraid that it is against Ministry policy," Dumbledore said quietly. "Mr. Crouch is being very firm about that."
Harry's face fell.
"Is there really nothing that can be done?"
"Aside from watching and waiting when the time comes for your son to go to Hogwarts? I'm afraid not," Dumbledore said sympathetically.
Harry buried his head in his hands.
"I can't – I can't leave Britain without knowing where my son is. What am I to do?"
"She hasn't announced it yet, but Professor Babbling plans to make this her last year at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said. "Would you be interested in replacing her when she leaves?"
"What about my children?" Harry asked. "I can't leave them alone ten months out of the year."
"The house-elves can watch them," Dumbledore offered. "I assume you have some keeping an eye on them normally?"
"Usually," Harry admitted. He took a deep breath. "I will do under certain conditions: I will teach under the name Harry Lesath. My children will be enrolled under the name Lesath. The teachers who know me will be sworn to secrecy as to my true identity. No one will know that I am Arrakis Black."
Dumbledore's eyes widened.
"You're still hiding."
"I'm still hiding," Harry agreed. "I don't want my children being public knowledge. I don't want my location being public knowledge. So far as anyone knows, I'm still somewhere in South America."
"How long are you planning to hide?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
"As long as it takes to protect my children," Harry replied, equally quiet. "All my life if I have to. It's not like I have much family that's going to miss me. Narcissa and Andromeda are the only cousins I've got whose not dead or imprisoned, and we don't talk that often. The only person who needs to know anything is my lord uncle."
"Have you considered a Fidelius Charm?" Dumbledore asked suddenly.
Harry frowned.
"I see no reason that my family needs to live in a house that denies us the right to visitors."
"Not for your house," Dumbledore said. "The Fidelius Charm can hide any secret within the soul of the caster. If you hide that Arrakis Black and Harry Lesath are the same person, no one will be able to recognize you. You can do the same with your children's identities."
"As long as no one knows who I am, no one knows who my children are," Harry said firmly. "Not even my children themselves. I always refer to them by their nicknames. Only Narcissa and my lord uncle know their real names, and Narcissa only saw them at their birth. No one will recognize them. I may cast the spell for Alphen – my eldest – once the time comes for him to act as my heir. But until then, only my identity needs to be concealed."
"I would be perfectly willing to cast the spell for you," Dumbledore offered.
"I would prefer to do it myself, Headmaster," Harry said coolly. "But I thank you for your assistance, and your employment offer. I accept."
Harry and his children moved into the castle in August of 1983. Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall were the only two who knew his true identity – Minerva was told in case something happened to Dumbledore. Both had powerful Occlumency skills, so Harry was not worried his secret would get out that way.
Babysitting quickly became a way for students to earn House points. At the time Harry started at Hogwarts, the triplets were a year old, Raselased would have been three, the younger twins were six, and the elder twins were eight. They enjoyed it when the students would come play with them. Harry appreciated that his children's attention was on someone else for a time. And the students did a very good job of wearing the children out so that they would go to bed more easily.
The next September, Nymphadora Tonks started at Hogwarts and was Sorted into Hufflepuff. Harry had only seen his cousin Andromeda's daughter a few times before his trip to the Amazon. He and Narcissa had visited her together, unwilling to completely give up on someone they cared about simply because she had officially been disowned. Dora was sweet, but she had a temper. Her most prominent feature – or rather, her lack of consistent features – made her a favorite of the Lesath children. It was no surprise to Harry when, two years after meeting her cousin, Mira Lesath – born Aspidiske Mira Black – was Sorted into Hufflepuff with her idol. Her twin, Alphen, ended up in Gryffindor.
Two years after that, the teachers joked that Harry completed the set when Sal and Demi were Sorted into Slytherin and Ravenclaw. One casually mentioned that if he'd had one more child, he could try for two full sets. Harry tried not to let his fists clench at that. He was quietly relieved that his second son was Sorted into Slytherin – Rasalhague could inherit the Slytherin Lordship now. Unlike other lordships, the Founders' seats could only be passed on if the heir was in their House to begin with. Now he just needed one of his other sons to be Sorted into Ravenclaw so that his own title would have an heir.
He wasn't sure if it was Dumbledore's intention in the first place, but teaching helped. Between his students and his children, his days were filled enough that the hole left by Raselased's disappearance as not as prominent. But Harry never forgot, and he never let his children forget either. As September of 1991 approached, they were all eagerly awaiting the return of their missing family member, whoever he might be.