Disclaimer: Not Mine. Be sorry for me.
Hey! So, I know I've been gone for so long, but I'm updating most of my stories, so be proud! So this is one of the single longest chapters I've written, in pretty much ever (it's like almost 15 pages in Microsoft Word), but I'm really happy with how it turned out.
Stay tuned for the legal battle to come.
PS I know the song lyrics seem weirdly depressing, it made sense to me, don't ask, I don't know. And the poem is by William Ernest Henley (it's not mine but I love it and it was Nelson Mandela's favorite so I figure I'm at least in good company).
Read, Review, and Enjoy,
Stars.
Oh, Death
Won't you spare me over til another year
But what is this, that I cant see
with ice cold hands taking hold of me
When God is gone and the Devil takes hold,
who will have mercy on your soul
No wealth, no ruin, no silver, no gold
Nothing satisfies me but your soul
Well I am Death, none can excel,
I'll open the door to heaven or hell.
Oh, Death
my name is Death and the end is here...
~Oh, Death, Jen Titus
"I don't care about the blood protection, Dumbledore! You're not taking him back there." Sirius winced as he sat with Harry in the Kitchen of the London house. They had just arrived back after going clothes shopping for Harry, only to find Albus Dumbledore waiting to speak to the wife of Sirius Black. He could still hear Dany shouting at Dumbledore in the Dining Room, which meant that their godson could hear her too. Sirius took Harry's hand and squeezed.
"Danilynn, you must understand—"
"What? Understand what, Albus? No, it's time you understand. We have nothing. That night in Godric's Hollow, you won a war but we lost our brother and sister. Harry lost his parents. That boy will no longer be collateral damage for the greater good. You will take him back to them over my cold, dead body, and be warned Dumbledore, my family is particularly difficult to kill. And don't forget, Sirius wouldn't stand for it either and Blacks are just as obstinate as I am."
"Danilynn Black. Listen—"
"No. You listen. I don't care if you led the Order, or if you have an Order of Merlin, or that you're Headmaster of Hogwarts. None of that will stop me from smearing your innards onto the walls of this room if you try to take that little boy away from us."
"Danilynn, killing would be inadvisable. I'm sure Sirius' cell is still empty, and Fudge would be more than happy to place you in it."
Sirius and Harry looked down at the table they were sitting at. The Dining Room was directly above them and the table was starting to shake in the kitchen. It was Dany's aura. Sirius could feel the energy from it slamming into him from where he was sitting.
"What you forget is how good I am at disappearing. I could take my husband and my godson and vanish. You'd never see hide nor hair of any of us ever again. Be careful Dumbledore, when Voldemort returns, and he will, you'll need us. All of us. I'm not giving you a choice. Help us keep him, or I'll do it myself. Cornelius Fudge is nothing, nothing compared to the man my father was and my brother is. I was trained from an early age to manipulate, cheat, and bribe. We are keeping him whether you like it or not."
Sirius; head snapped up. Dany's older brother: Rhaegar, had been the golden boy of the Ministry, three years his sister's senior, prepared to walk in his father's footsteps, until he had been tragically killed in the same raid that had killed both of Dany's parents when she was seventeen, just after they had graduated Hogwarts. Somehow the youngest Masters had survived, despite being in the same house as both her parents and brother. But something was wrong with her statement.
"My father was and my brother is…" He whispered to himself. Harry looked at him curiously.
"What'd you say, Padfoot?"
"Nothing, Buddy. Nothing at all…"
"Danilynn—"
"Get out, Albus. Get out now."
"Mrs. Black—"
"Out. Now." Moments later there were footsteps descending the stairs from the third floor. Albus Dumbledore walked into the kitchen to see Sirius and Harry sitting together, staring at him. Dany walked down behind him, her hands clenching and unclenching (a signal that they were aching for her wand), eyes blazing, heels clicking on the marble floors, hair shining like a crown. Sirius smiled a little, this was the Dany that he fought alongside during the war. Brilliant, strong, aggressive, passionate, and born to lead. This was the Dany he had wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and there she was. Time had done nothing to her spirit, he was glad to see. This was the Dany that talked about love like she talked about war, with venom in her smile and knives in her hand.
"Sirius, You must understand the circumstances of Harry's living conditions. Petunia is the last living relative of Lily. Lily Potter's sacrifice makes it necessary that Harry live with a living relative. A blood relative." Sirius looked at Dany who shook her head slightly. Sirius replied as he stood to his full height,
"No, Albus. They mistreated him and hurt him, and I'll be dead before he goes back there." Sirius saw Dany quickly grab something off the counter next to her, "James was my brother and he trusted me to protect his son when he couldn't. Dany's right. Get out." Sirius muttered to Harry, "Leave the room and run upstairs, alright? We'll be there in a moment." Harry dashed out of the room and once his feet had made it up the stairs Dany stated,
"Albus, the door is that way." Dumbledore shook his head,
"You both need to listen—" Dany pressed the knife she had taken from the countertop to the old man's throat with a disturbingly practiced, steady hand,
"No, you need to listen. The door. Now." Sirius watched as his wife walked one of the most powerful wizards in the world to the door, pressing a dagger, with her family's words printed on the blade, to his throat. Once Dany had departed with Dumbledore, Sirius went upstairs to talk to Harry. Harry was sitting on the bed he had been sharing with Dany. Sirius sat down next to Harry.
"Are you going to give me back?" He asked in a small voice. Sirius pulled him into his lap and rested his chin on the top of his Godson's head,
"No, we're going to keep you forever. We've got you now, and no matter what happens, you're ours. You are ours, and we are yours." The door opened softly to reveal Dany.
"But we cannot stay here, that much is now obvious. We have to move to the Scotland house, even if it's just for now. Too many people know this house." She said quietly, but without question in her voice. She sat down next to Sirius and Harry. Sirius moved a hand from around Harry to around her waist. She leaned her head on his shoulder silently and closed her eyes. Being the Dany that she had been when she was speaking to Dumbledore drained her.
"Dany? Padfoot? Why did the table shake?" Dany lifted her head curiously,
"What?" Sirius sighed,
"Well, Harry, there's something that you have to understand about wizards and witches. Each one of us, and even Muggles, has something called an Aura. It's a type of energy that kind of floats around us, and the more powerful the witch or wizard, the more his or her Aura affects the things, and even the people, around the person. So, in an exceptionally powerful wizard, or in this case, witch, their aura can affect the things around them. The table was shaking because Dany was starting to get upset with Professor Dumbledore because he wanted to take you away from us. The more upset or emotional the witch or wizard gets, the more the Aura starts to affect things. Does that make sense?" Harry nodded slowly, taking in all of that information. Dany looked a little embarrassed,
"Was the table really shaking? I'm sorry." Sirius shrugged,
"Don't worry, it's happened to the best of us. Actually it only happens to the best of us."
"Remember that time your Aura hung Snivelly from a chandelier in the Entrance Hall?" Dany giggled and Sirius laughed,
"Yeah, well the slimy git was asking for it. You don't curse my best mate and expect me not to do anything."
"My dad?"
"Yeah, this boy we went to school with curse your dad and I got really mad and my Aura kinda hung him on a chandelier by the back of his pants." Harry laughed too,
"That's pretty funny. So you're both super powerful?" Dany and Sirius exchanged a look,
"So are you, Harry. And so is Professor Dumbledore."
"Can't he take me away if he's powerful?" Dany smiled and took her Godson's hands as Sirius said,
"He isn't going to take you anywhere. He might be more powerful than us alone, but together? No way. You're ours forever." Harry smiled as Dany returned to her normal, survivalist self,
"Well, we need to leave. Babe, can you and Harry grab the bags from the car? I need to grab some stuff to take to the Scotland house." Sirius nodded and he and Harry, after getting lost three or four times, finally retrieved the bags full of stuff for Harry, including clothes, and brought them (or tried to) back to the room Sirius and Dany had been using for the past two or so nights. But they somehow ended up in the basement instead.
"Padfoot? How did we end up here?"
"…I have no idea, Harry. All I know is that I'll be glad to be in a house with a better floor plan than this one." Harry laughed, but his laugh soon faded away once they reached the basement. It was a training room for martial arts, light magic, the dark arts, anything that can keep you alive. A door was open in the back of the dark room and white light was pouring out of the doorway. A figure moved around in the light, casting a shadow in the bath of light. Sirius and Harry approached it and looked in the room.
"So this is the illusive Master's armory." Dany turned around and laughed,
"One of the many. I was just getting some of the things I keep here. Like this, for one. It was a gift. From Rhaegar." She tossed Sirius a sheathed knife about as long as his forearm. He pulled it out and looked at the blade.
"Invictus."
"What does that mean?" Harry asked curiously,
"Harry, all three of us are from very old families, and each of our families has mottos, family words, Sirius' family, the Black's, their words are—"
"Toujours pur. It roughly translates to 'always, or forever, pure'. It's horrid really." Sirius interrupted,
"Your family, the Potter's, your words are 'Genus ipsum prius'. It means 'family before self'."
"What are yours then, Dany?"
"Well, because I married Sirius, I took his surname, and his words, but the Master's family words, well word actually, is 'invictus'. It means 'unconquered'. Of course that brings up the poem, 'Invictus'. I, actually Sirius I don't think you know this because I got it after you were arrested, but I have it tattooed on my back." Sirius raised an eyebrow. He hadn't known that.
"How does it go?" Harry asked curiously, Dany smiled and softly recited,
"Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."
"I love it! Padfoot why can't that be your family motto?" Dany laughed at her Godson.
"I know, that's what I said when I married him, truth be told. But that's okay, I'm still a Masters at heart." Sirius smiled,
"I was never really a Black. I was always a Potter. Your grandparents treated me as their son; they were my family, not the Blacks. But they're gone now, and now my family is here. And no matter what happens, we're together." Harry, although he was quite grown up at eight years old, felt like crying he was so happy. Dany quickly wiped her eyes, not fooling anybody into thinking she hadn't been crying too.
"Dan, is Rhaegar alive?" She looked at her husband slyly.
"You heard that? Yes, he is, but he is in hiding. I wasn't a great threat to the Death Eaters when I was seventeen because if I were to have children, they wouldn't carry my surname, but yours, but Rhaegar was twenty during the raid, and a man that was no longer a boy. He would have children and they would carry the last name of my family. He had to be eliminated, but Voldemort failed to do so. Ray found me that night and I helped him fake his death. Both our parents were killed, but we remained. He left with the promise to return upon Voldemort's downfall, to reclaim our place in power at the Ministry, however the Malfoy's have made that rather difficult, so he has been putting off revealing anything to the Ministry. But yes to answer your question, I am not the last of my line."
"I'll be damned. I always thought…"
"He is married you know, my brother. To a woman named Shay. They have a son named Mason, who is 8, and a daughter named Danilynn, who is 9. Thankfully she goes by Lynn."
"A niece and nephew? Can we meet them?" She nodded slowly,
"Soon, but for now, we must leave. Ready?" She shouldered her bag and took the knife back from Sirius, quickly strapping it onto her leg. She put her hand out and Sirius took it. She took Harry's hand with her other hand and said, "Hold on tight." Then, it felt like they were all being squeezed through a tube, and spit out somewhere else. Sirius and Dany landed on their feet, being much more accustomed to Apparation than Harry. Sirius helped up Harry laughing,
"Congrats on Apparating for the first time!"
"How come I didn't land on my feet?"
"It comes with practice, little man. But I commend you on not hurling. Most people do the first time they Apparate."
"I did!" Dany informed him as she brushed the dust from the dirt road they were on off her Godson's clothes, "Now, we must get inside the grounds. Love, you might want to carry Harry. It's a long walk up the driveway." Sirius nodded and said,
"Hop on up." Harry jumped onto Sirius' back and Dany walked up to the ornate gates directly in front of them. She ran a single finger down the meeting point of the gates and the air seemed to shutter around the fence. She pushed open the gates and waved to them,
"Come on, we need to put the wards back up around the grounds." Sirius walked through the gates and Dany closed them behind him. She pulled out her wand, "Protego horribilis. Protego Maxima. Protego Totalum." She repeated it three more times, pointing her wand in directions Sirius recognized as north, east, and west (the gate being south). She put her wand away and they began the long trek up the driveway to the house.
After a fifteen-minute walk, the oak trees that were loaded down with moss broke and the house came into view. Harry perked up and exclaimed,
"We're gonna live here?" Sirius put him on his feet and Dany nodded,
"Yeah, so Padfoot…" she slipped her heels off and held them by the straps in one hand, "…race you." He grinned and so did Harry and without another word, both the adults and Harry took off down the driveway laughing. Sirius took the lead with his long legs and for the first time in almost 10 years, the house was filled with laughter and the sounds of life.
Sirius slowed down slightly and allowed his slightly gangly Godson to overtake him. The young boy triumphantly reached the front porch with a victorious shout. The adults caught up to him, Sirius carrying Dany bridal style shouting, "welcome home, Honey!" as she laughed and tried to hold onto her bag and wand. He put her down only to pick up Harry and sit him on his shoulders. Dany placed a hand on the heavy wooden double doors, which glowed slightly for a moment at her touch. Harry looked amazed and she continued to fiddle with the doors
"They're protective enchantments. I put them up on my way out of the house last time I was here. Just as a precaution."
"And when was that?" Sirius asked. They hadn't been living here when he was arrested, which made him curious.
"I moved back here for a year and a half almost eight years ago."
"When I was arrested." Dany sighed at this. She originally planned on not telling him at all that she had been forced out of the house they had been sharing, but as it was, she didn't seem to have an option.
"The press had a field day with that, and our old house turned very quickly into a circus, so I took everything personal, clothes, pictures, and the like and moved out of London. I needed privacy and no one would give it to me, so I took it. Once the hype had died down, I moved into my family's London house afterwards, to be close to work. Now, are we going to go in?" Harry nodded enthusiastically, "Well go on then, the door's open." Dany laughed as he tried to push open the door from his position on Sirius' shoulders. Sirius silently reached out and pushed the door open, unbeknownst to Harry, who then seemed incredibly proud of himself for opening such a heavy door. Sirius set him down on request then Harry ran in and gasped. The house was enormous. The entryway had dark, wooden floors like the rest of the house, and a curved double staircase. There was a balcony on the second floor overlooking the doorway and a crystal chandelier hanging from the second floor ceiling, sparkling in the light from the open door. Through the doorway between the staircases, he could see what looked like a sitting room with a grand piano covered in a sheet.
Dany and Sirius followed him in and Dany waved her wand. Windows opened and curtains moved, letting light in, the sheet vanished off the piano and the top opened on its own. The chandelier lit up and within moments, the house was back to being lived in. Sirius pulled Harry's bags out from the bag that Dany carried and said,
"Come on, want to go see your room? We can change it to however you like." Harry nodded and Dany called up to her husband,
"Put him in Ray's old room. He doesn't use it when he's here anymore." Sirius nodded and led him to the room of Dany's older brother. A big room, with grey walls, a large bed, and ceiling-to-floor windows in one of the walls, overlooking the woods and the yard.
"I can do anything I want?"
"You can decorate it anyway you want, however there will be rules. No girls in Muggle bikinis, for one." Dany said as she pointedly looked at her husband, who seemed rather unabashed at this comment, despite it being aimed at him.
"Yeah, there will be house rules too, but they'll only be to keep you safe."
"Well, can one of you change the walls blue?" Dany nodded and asked,
"What kind of blue? A light one or a really bright blue?" Harry considered this for a moment and decided he could have the best of both worlds,
"Some where in the middle, please." Dany laughed and thought for a moment then waved her wand. The walls turned a color of blue right between pale and bright.
"Oh, it's perfect, thank you!"
"You're very welcome, and good job using your manners. Where did you learn them?"
"No one ever really taught them to me, I just kind of picked them up." Sirius, who was putting Harry's clothes into the drawers and closet, chuckled and said,
"That's the Lily in him. I'm pretty sure that James still didn't know the term 'thank you' on the day he died." Dany nodded in agreement. Admittedly, James was a nice person but manners were never his strong suit, as he seldom, if ever, used them. As Sirius finished putting his clothes away, he checked the time, as he just noticed that the sun was to beginning to lower in the sky, "Dan, we gotta get to the Weasley's soon. It's 5 'til 5." She nodded and said,
"Yeah, just let me go put this in our room and we'll be on our way. Can you change him into something that's not yours?" Sirius nodded as Dany vanished out the door. He heard her open another door and there was some movement in the opposite end of the hallway. She reappeared a minute later, with changed clothes, a bright blue dress and heels. Sirius raised an eyebrow,
"It's dinner, Babe. Dinner with the Weasleys." She shrugged,
"Old habits, I suppose. Are we going or not?" Harry nodded enthusiastically and Sirius nodded as well. He held out a hand and she placed her hand in his and Harry's on top of hers, "Ready? 1…2…3!" And with a crack and a moment of being vacuumed through a tube, the three of them were standing on a dirt road, with a very ad hoc house in front of them. With parts added on to the side and the top, the Burrow appeared like the inside would be very, very, cramped. Dany and Sirius each took one of Harry's hands and they approached the house. Once they reached the door, Sirius reached out and knocked on the door, somewhat assertively to be sure he would be beard over the seven children and two adults that were ensconced within the house.
A moment later, Molly swung the door open with a smile on her face,
"Hello you lot! Come in, come in! Arthur they're here! For the love of God George, can you not do that?"
"He's not George, I am!"
"I'm sorry, you two."
"We're only joking, Mom. I really am George." As Molly scolded her children, she made way for the three guests to get through the door. Dany and Sirius walked through first, and three of the seven children fell silent immediately. It appeared that older three were the ones to go quiet and one of them whacked their brothers over the head with a shoe to shut them up. One of them came up to the adults and said,
"You're Sirius Black. And you…you're a Masters, aren't you?" Dany nodded slowly, quite confused, "Your family is in our History of Magic textbook! I recognized your hair; doesn't everyone in your family have it? How does that happen? Inbreeding? Spells? How?" Dany laughed,
"I'm not really sure, it just kind of happens. I was the baby of my family so I couldn't tell you."
"I'm Bill Weasley, by the way. I'm the oldest, 16, and these here are Charlie, 15; Percy, 13; Fred and George, they're twins and also 10; Ronnie—"
"Don't call me Ronnie!"
"—Sorry, this is Ron, who's 8; and Ginny here is 7." Sirius and Dany both shook hand with the oldest child and smiled a little to each other. Sixteen and in Hogwarts, now those were some of the best days of both their lives. "Pads, Lily thinks I'm an asshole!" "James…everyone thinks you're an asshole."
"You all go to Hogwarts then?" Bill and Percy bounded up to the adults,
"Yup! Gryffindors, all of us! Mom and Dad were too, right?" Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both nodded, as Arthur had appeared with a boy about Harry's age and a girl that looked slightly younger.
"We're from a long line of Gryffindors alright. All of Molly's siblings were in Gryffindor too." Harry tugged on the sleeve of Sirius' shirt,
"Padfoot? What's a Gryffindor?" The Weasley children gasped.
"You don't know what Hogwarts is?" Harry hesitantly shook his head. Charlie, Bill, and Percy all exchanged a look and herded Harry and their younger siblings away for a teaching session about the fabled school.
"Be back in half an hour for dinner!"
"'Kay, Mom!" The adults all settled down around the table and Dany said,
"Molly, I don't know if you remember but I was—"
"Alice's friend? Yes, even though I was almost out of the house when you were a First Year, I remember you at our house. I miss her. My baby sister." Sirius shuttered,
"What happened to Frank and Alice…it was horrible. I'm sorry you had to lose your sister like that."
"Thank you. But they were fighting for what they believed in, you all were. When she'd come home for the holidays, you should have heard her talk about you lot. When I was a girl, I used to be so jealous of the friends she had. I mean I was never particularly popular in school, but she was best friends with the daughter of the Minister of Magic and the brightest witch Hogwarts had seen in years,she hung out with the Black and Potter heirs, and her closest friend was one of the McKinnons. Then she married into the Longbottom family, and I was so jealous, I was only 6 years older than her, but then it felt like a lifetime. She was seventeen and had this life that seemed perfect. But of course, some of the things she embellished on to make me jealous, all siblings do, but still." Sirius nodded,
"Oh, my brother…oh Regulus, that boy was forever trying to impress everyone, mainly me, with who he was friends with. Unlike with you it didn't work. I could live the rest of my life and never see Lucius Malfoy again, thank you very much." Everyone around the table laughed.
"Dany, do you have siblings? I thought you had a brother, at least." She nodded,
"Yes, I have a brother. Rhaegar is three years older than me, and gave up trying to impress me when I turned seventeen and became an Auror."
"That's probably because you were Moody's pride and joy."
"I still am Moody's pride and joy. Constant vigilance and all that jazz. But anyways, when I became an Auror, he gave me a gift and said, 'I guess you'll be impressing me now, huh?' he was set to be Minister of Magic after my father, until…"
"Of course, I forgot, how stupid of me."
"No, my brother didn't die in the raid. I helped him fake his death and as soon as I can get the Malfoys under control, he's going to come out of hiding. Lucius was always such a petty little bitch and the return of my family to power isn't something he'll take well." Molly and Dany grinned at each other and Arthur nodded in agreement,
"That man is an absolute monster. I still can't believe that he isn't in Azkaban. Now, Sirius, if I recall correctly, you took Muggle studies at school. I have a couple of Muggle things in my shed and was wondering if you could go take a look at them."
"Arthur Weasley! You will not take a guest—"
"Sure, lead the way, Arthur." The men left and only the women remained.
"You married him?" Molly asked her softly,
"I did. We got married right out of school, only seventeen, the bloody fools we were. We were young and in love, not to mention there was a pretty good chance neither one of us would live to see twenty. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Then Lily and James were killed a year later and Sirius was arrested and I was left without my family. Don't get me wrong, I love him to the moon and back, but we should have waited until after the war. We wanted a family, kids, a house full of life, but we never wanted to have Harry full time. Not because we don't love him, we do, but it means Lily and James are gone."
"I should have waited to marry Arthur, too I was nineteen when I became pregnant with Charlie and we got married just before he was born. We should have been more careful, but we weren't. I remember when I found out, I was so scared, bringing a child into a wartime world. When I told Alice she was so excited, but I could tell she was nervous too. I remember what she told me to this day, 'this child will change everything. And always remember little Molly, you're the master of your fate.' At the time I was too hung up on the fact she just called me little to pay attention to the rest of it." Dany laughed at the last part.
"I'm sorry, it's not funny at all, it's just that the last part, she heard it from me…I never really knew she took that to heart. It's from a poem, 'Invictus' by William Ernest Henley. It's beautiful, actually."
"You know I never understood how you did it, living the way you did, with the publicity and the cameras, it always seemed enough to drive anyone mad. God, I can still remember when I saw Alice in a picture with you and Lily in some gossip paper at Diagon Alley, and the press when you started dating Sirius…"
"God, I'd forgotten about that actually. When that came out I thought I was going to lose my mind. Everyday it was 'The Last Masters and the Last Black: Will There be Wedding Bells?' or 'Danilynn Masters: The Victim of the Imperious Cruse' or, my personal favorite, 'Danilynn Black or Sirius Masters? Who Really Wears the Pants?' I think Sirius framed that one and put it in the Heads' Common for our Seventh Year. It was so ridiculous, I mean we'd go places and our faces would be plastered onto the front of the Daily Prophet! Never. Again." Molly laughed easily,
"Yeah, that's pretty horrific." Just then the door opened and Arthur and Sirius walked back in,
"Are we talking about the headlines when—"
"Yep."
"Did you tell her about the one—"
"I still think I wear the pants."
"I mean technically you're not wearing pants right now. And besides we all know you hate that phrase." Dany shrugged unapologetically,
"Sorry I don't feel the need to act like a man. Oh man, do you remember what I told Fudge when we were what? 16?" Sirius laughed and nodded,
"I'll never forget the look on his face." Molly and Arthur exchanged a look, curiously, "When we were kids, 16 or 17 at the latest, no it must have been 16 because your dad was Minister when it happened, Cornelius Fudge, our current Minister of Magic, was working just below Daniel in the Ministry, alongside Rhaegar and one day he got into an argument with Dany here and he told her something to the effect of 'don't be so bossy'." Dany laughed and took over the story,
"Well, I always hated the word and so I just stared back at him and right as Sirius, both my parents, and my brother walked into the room I just like bluntly said, 'I'm not bossy. I'm the boss'. And it has never gone away." The other three laughed and Molly and Arthur looked borderline amazed at the kind of audacity that Dany had possessed, even as a young girl. Arthur raised an eyebrow,
"You know I can't even imagine Bill saying that at his age." She shrugged at him,
"I don't know why I did. It was just the first thing that came to mind." Molly checked the time and called out,
"Boys! Ginny! Dinner!" Sirius and Dany looked at each other and raised an eyebrow at each other. Seconds later, feet came thundering down the stairs and all eight kids entered the kitchen and began jockeying around the table for food as Harry came to stand between where his godparents were situated, "Hey, you lot! We have guests, so can we all act like civil human beings for once?" the seven Weasley children stopped and all quietly sat down. Sirius sat to Dany's left and Harry to her right, with Ron on his other side. The others took seats around the table and Molly began to portion out the food on the table. Once she took her seat, everyone started eating and Percy said,
"Mrs. Black? What was your father like?" Dany looked up and at him and smiled. What had her father been like? He had been wonderful and kind, he danced in his socks with her on Saturday morning when she was a little girl and had threatened to sic Dementors on Sirius when they had started dating. But that wasn't what Percy wanted to know.
"He was a good man, and he always believed in the inherent goodness of mankind. I remember I would come home from school on break and tell him how things were going Dark even at Hogwarts and he'd sit me on his lap, even at 15 or 16, and say 'Dany, if we lose hope now, there is nothing to fight for. There is always hope, and there is always light. As long as our family lives, as long as the Masters line endures, there is always hope.' He was proud of his heritage, but never thought of anyone as beneath him, just different." Percy nodded thoughtfully and resumed eating. Ronnie asked,
"Your dad? My dad works with Muggle things. What did your dad do?" Dany answered quietly with a small smile at the young boy,
"I personally think that your dad's job is more fascinating than my dad's was. He was Minster of Magic." The youngest members of the family, including Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George, all stopped and looked at her like she had grown an extra head and Fred's spoon clattered onto his plate, "But that was a long time ago. I was barely seventeen when he was killed. He always said that it was too much paperwork, anyways. Speaking of which, what exactly do you do Arthur? I've never really understood your department, honestly." Arthur smiled at her and said,
"Well, during the war, I did mainly raid reparations, cursed Muggle objects. Nothing too complicated, that would go to the curse breakers on the Ministry's payroll. Now, it's mainly kids charming things like doorknobs to bite muggles hands, and the like." Sirius nodded, interested,
"Have you ever had to call in Law Enforcement?" Arthur nodded slowly, glancing at his kids, as if wondering if he wanted to tell this story in front of them,
"Once, about three years ago, we had to call them in, but never you all." He gestured to Dany and Sirius, "Although, from what Albus says, you two had quite the reputation during the war. Alastor Moody speaks quite highly of you both as well. Said that while the Potters had the highest capture rate in the entire department, you two had the highest—" Sirius coughed loudly and pointedly looked at the kids. Dany looked at Molly who confusedly looked back at her. Arthur glanced at the kids, who were eagerly listening to the adults' conversation, "…never mind." Bill noticed the silence and asked politely,
"Mr. and Mrs. Black, what do you both do?" Molly smiled approvingly at him and Dany relaxed as Sirius did the same next to her,
"Well, Sirius isn't doing much of anything at the present, but I'm assuming he's going to want to get back to work under Moody?" She glanced at her husband and he nodded.
"Moody? You don't mean Mad-Eye Moody, do you?" George asked eagerly,
"The very one," Sirius answered, "He's a lot more majestic in the newspaper, believe me. But if they'll take me, I'd like to go back to the Auror Department, work with Dany again. And I hear that Shacklebolt is a real up-and-comer." Dany nodded, thinking about her protégée,
"Got that right, but then again, he learned from the best." She joked as everyone finished eating. Molly stood to clean up the plates and Dany automatically stood to help her, "You want some help, Molly?" She smiled at the other woman and received a nod in return and a thankful look.
The women moved around the kitchen quietly for a few minutes until the Weasley matriarch broke the silence,
"Dany? What was Arthur talking about? If you don't mind me asking, of course." The silver-haired woman shrugged back at her,
"I don't mind much, it's just not the most, um, child-appropriate statistic. What he said about the Potters, Lily and James, was true. They were amazing at what they did; their capture rate was unparalleled. We probably would have been tied, or damn close, but well, the Death Eaters that Sirius and I came into contact with, well their longevity was severely shortened. The Potters captured Death Eaters, a sign of their mercy, their higher moral ground, I suppose. Sirius and I, on the other hand, we had the highest kill rate, which is nothing to be proud of, trust me. God knows how many souls we'll have to face someday. Lily and James actually fought for family and for all the things that people claim they fought for: love, hope, light, and so on, but Sirius and I, we fought for much less noble reasons: Anger, fear, hatred, mostly to protect each other and the Potters. We thought that if we killed a Death Eater, that was one less that couldn't hurt Lily or James or Remus or Frank or Alice. After all, you can escape Azkaban. You can't escape death."
"Lily and James answered to the call from Frank and Alice, didn't they?" Dany sighed and nodded slowly. She had been hoping that Molly would avoid this topic, but apparently not.
"They were. Bellatrix Lestrange is in Azkaban, where she will hopefully remain until she finally dies. You should know that Sirius and I were called when Fabian and Gideon were murdered. The deaths that the men that murdered them received were neither clean nor easy." Dany spoke in low tones, referencing Molly's brothers that had been killed in a raid about a month after Dany Masters had become Dany Black. Molly nodded slowly and took the younger girls hand.
"Thank you." She whispered as the rest of the group came in, kids included. Dany saw Molly furiously wipe her eyes and Sirius looked at her questioningly,
"Fabian and Gideon." Dany mouthed to him and he nodded as Molly silently approached him and gave him a hug, leaving the rest of the room wondering what exactly had happened between the two women. Molly released him and spoke to her husband quietly; too quiet for the kids to hear and he nodded to her and then nodded at the two other adults in what could only be called an understanding gratitude.
Molly sent them off with a large amount of leftovers and after repeatedly thanking her and Arthur; Dany, Sirius, and Harry left for home. One their walk down their driveway, Sirius asked Harry,
"So, Kiddo, how'd you like the Weasleys?" Harry smiled as he took both his Godparents hands.
"They're so much fun! Except for Percy. I don't think I like him much. Ginny's super nice and Ron is so fun and he likes playing tag as much as I do. Fred and George are kind of hard to tell apart but they tell some funny jokes. And Bill and Charlie are so cool. They know just about everything. Dany, Sirius? Am I going to go to Hogwarts? Because it sounds like a lot of fun." Dany and Sirius exchanged a look over their Godson's head. Sirius answered him with a grin that reminded his wife of the sixteen-year-old she fell in love with originally,
"Of course you are! And you're right, Hogwarts is lots of fun, but it's also a lot of work. Once you go there, you get a magic wand and can do magic like we do. Which reminds me, we need to talk to you about accidental magic." Dany caught on and began to give the talk that her parents had given her when she was a little girl,
"Harry, young witches and wizards sometimes do magic accidentally, before they get their wands, and you can't control it. So when something strange happens, like if all of a sudden your plush toys come to life, let someone know because we need to know if that's happening." Harry shifted uncomfortably under his Godmother's gaze, something that didn't go by unnoticed,
"Like a sweater shrinking to the size of a doll's sweater or making your hair grow back?" Both adults nodded,
"Harry…when did you do that?" Sirius asked,
"A couple years ago, I think. I really only remember Aunt Petunia trying to shove it over my head and every time she tried it just got smaller. There was also this other time she shaved my head and my hair was all back the next morning. And there was this other time that Dudley's first bike broke. But that might not have been me. He might have just been to fat for it." Sirius began to laugh and he continued to do so for a few minutes. The house was in sight by the time he stopped chuckling,
"Yeah, Harry that all sounds like accidental magic, except I don't know about that last one." Dany laughed at her husband's reaction. It was good to hear him laugh again.
"Harry, the main point here is that it's nothing to be afraid of and it's happened to all of us, but just let us know when it happens so we know and can keep track of it. The fact that you were already performing accidental magic at six tells us that you're going to be pretty stinking powerful," She grinned at him as the three of them opened the door to their home, "Now, how about Sirius gives you a bath and we'll get you into bed?" Sirius looked like he'd object but when Harry's back was turned Dany whispered to him conspiratorially, "Then you can do the same for me." His entre demeanor changed and she laughed as he carried Harry up the stairs towards the bathroom so quickly that she had to call out, "Don't drop him, Sirius! That would not be a good way to start our parenting career!"
All she got was a knowing laugh in return.