Sirius Black was sitting in the lounge cuddling his new fiancé, Amanda, when an owl flew in, landed and presented its leg, so he could remove the attached message. After reading the letter that his cousin Narcissa had sent, he called for Harry, who noticing the urgency in his voice came running.
"What's wrong Sirius?"
"Apparently Lucius and Draco got into an argument about Tom Riddle and Lucius used the Cruciatus curse on him, Draco's mother broke his father's arm and stunned him, they are now hiding at the Leaky Cauldron and want me to help them. If it is true, can I bring them here or to one of your other properties please?"
"Of course you can," he then thought for a bit, "but I want a magical vow that they won't disclose anything they see or hear and also won't attack, either physically or verbally, Hermione, Neville, Luna or me. If they are willing to swear that oath, then they can move into the country home outside Leicester, but I won't have anyone living in any of my homes who is going to abuse me or any of my friends."
"Thanks Harry. Do you want to come with me to see them?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah I will, if you don't mind, I just to make sure they are alright. I think we should take a potion to relieve the symptoms of the curse and some chocolate, that always helps, no matter what the problem."
Sirius and Harry used the portkey in their rings to go to Gringotts and walked from there to the Leaky Cauldron to meet Narcissa and Draco. Draco was lying on the bed twitching and shivering when they arrived, so Harry went straight to him and gave him the potion and chocolate, in a few minutes he was feeling much better.
Sirius had been talking to Narcissa and raising his wand said, "I Sirius Black being the head of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black hereby annul the marriage of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black, on the ground of breach of contract." There was a flash of gold light signifying that the marriage was annulled, "I must inform you that even if I take you back into the Black family, that Draco will never be the next Lord Black, if I don't have any sons of my own the title will cease to exist.
He then asked both of them to swear an oath of Loyalty to Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, he also made them swear on their magic and life, not to reveal anything they heard or saw at any of the Potter, Granger (Ravenclaw), Longbottom or Lovegood properties without the express permission of the aforementioned parties. He also made them swear not to physically or verbally attack Harry, Hermione, Neville, Luna, their families or elves, they must treat them with respect at all times. After both of them had sworn the oaths Sirius brought them back into the Black family (when he had first taken over as head of the House of Black he had disowned them, as well as Bellatrix Lestrange, who's marriage he had also annulled. He had also brought Andromeda Tonks and her Daughter Nymphadora back into the family).
Sirius and Harry portkeyed them to Gringotts where they were given the Black family rings and Harry had a portkey to Gringotts, his country house just outside Leicester and Hogwarts added to them. Sirius arranged for Narcissa's dowry to be returned, which consisted of Malfoy Manor and 5,000,000, it would make a sizable dent in Malfoy's funds, not to mention make him homeless, The money was to go into her personal vault, but they didn't want the house, as there were too many bad memories there. So Sirius put it on the market and the money from the sale would go to Narcissa as well.
Harry portkeyed to Leicester first and added them to the wards, and spoke to Mickey the head elf for the house to let him know that they were allowed access. He also asked the old elf to let him know if they were not being treated properly, as he wouldn't have anyone being rude to his elves.
When the others arrived Harry introduced them to Mickey and the other elves, then showed them around the property, which as it turned out was larger than Malfoy Manor, with considerably more land as well. Draco was dumbfounded at the opulence of the house, he knew that this was one of Harry's minor properties and it was much nicer than what he used to call home, he wouldn't be looking down his nose at Harry any more that's for sure; not that he could look down his nose at anyone now, as he was no longer a Baron since he was no longer a Malfoy, he was now a Black and the current Lord Black had aligned his House with House Potter.
Narcissa called for Dobby the Malfoy house elf, which was owned by her, not her ex-husband.
"Mistress called Dobby, what can Dobby do for mistress." He said while bowing prostrate before her.
Harry was absolutely shocked at the condition of the little elf, who was shaking like a leaf and dressed in the filthiest of tattered tea towels.
"Dobby your services will no longer be required," she said then handed him an old sock.
"You're... giving me...clothes," he sobbed.
Harry stepped in at this point, "Dobby are you interested in serving me, I could do with a personal valet?"
Dobby looked from his old mistress and back to Harry Potter, "The great Harry Potter wants Dobby? Oh yes please." He said while jumping up and down in excitement, causing his ears to flap wildly.
"Yes, but there are some conditions, firstly you must never punish yourself, if you do something that you think is wrong, let me know and we will sort it out together, you will never be physically punished while you are bound to me. You will have one day a month off, which you will relax and do what you want, you can go visiting other elves and if you have a mate you will have the same day off as her. You will receive 4 Galleons per month pay which is for your own personal use; it is not to be spent on uniforms or food except if you go out for dinner with your mate. You must wear a uniform and you will get eight uniforms, which you will clean each week, you will do that during normal work times, not on your day off. As you will be serving me personally you will be the same as a head elf. You will not prostrate yourself before me or anyone else, but do a small bow when you first arrive and again as you leave, when we are in private, you will call me Lord Harry, but in public you will refer to me as Your Grace. Do you accept these conditions?" he asked.
Dobby was literally shaking like a leaf, "I...I get p...paid and...and w...wear a uniform and g...get a wh...whole day off a month," then quickly added "Your Grace?" he asked, tears rolling down his face.
Harry knelt down in front of the little elf "Yes Dobby, you get paid and get to wear a uniform and get a whole day off each month," he said smiling at the now sobbing creature in front of him.
"Th...thank you, y...yes" the little elf drew himself up and took a deep breath " Thank you Your Grace Dobby accepts the conditions. There was a golden glow that enveloped Harry and Dobby as the magical contract binding the elf to his Lord took effect.
Narcissa and Draco were looking on in amazement at the way Harry was treating their old house elf, it also set the tone as to how he expected them to treat his elves, they were not punching bags and must be treated with respect, a far cry from the way they used to treat Dobby.
"Cracka" Harry called, there was a soft pop as Cracka appeared, he did a small bow.
"Yes Your Grace, what can Cracka do for you?"
"Dobby is now going to be my valet and needs eight uniforms, see that he gets them please, find him a room at the castle and also start educating him please. I will call for him when needed." Turning to Dobby he continued, "Dobby go to Ynys Môn Castle with Cracka and he will provide you with what is needed." With that the two elves bowed and popped away.
Sirius was smiling at Harry and the compassionate way he was treating Dobby, the magical community could learn a lot from the young man in front of him.
Harry then addressed Narcissa and Draco, "I expect you both to treat the elves that work here with respect, ask, don't demand and you are never to punish them or order them to punish themselves, remember you are a guest in my home and the elves are bound to me."
Narcissa and Draco both stood and bowed to Harry, "It will be as you say, Your Grace," Narcissa said and Draco agreed with his mother then added, "Thank you Your Grace, for helping us, I know you didn't have to, I just want you to know that I appreciate it and I will endeavour to be a better person from now on." He then bowed again and took his seat.
Harry acknowledge what Draco had said then added, "Draco, Narcissa you can just call me Harry when in private or when we are with family and my friends, of course when in public we have to be formal, OK?"
Draco was surprised by this seeing as he had been such a prat about being called Baron when they first met, "Thank you Harry, it's very kind of you."
Harry then added, "Draco you might want to consider where you are going to stay at Hogwarts, I will give you the choice of staying in the Slytherin dorm or in the owners tower with me and the others, also remember that if you choose Slytherin and things get too tough, you can always change your mind and live in the owners tower."
"Thank you Harry, I will think about it over the holidays and let you know when we get to Hogwarts."
oo00oo
Lucius Malfoy had been unconscious for about four hours when he finally woke and found not only his wand arm broken but his wand as well, to say he was annoyed would be an understatement. He thought quickly of what needed to be done and swearing vengeance on his son and wife, he made his way to his study to collect a few items that he couldn't leave behind, then flooed to St Mungo's.
After he finished at the hospital he made his way to Gringotts to get some money, Lucius went to the first available teller "I want to get some money from my vault, take me there immediately," he demanded.
"Certainly Lord Malfoy," the goblin then call out, "Gripaxe take Lord Malfoy to his vault."
After an unpleasant trip at very high speed down to his vault Lucius handed his key over and Gripaxe opened the vault. The sight that befell him made the blood drain from his face and caused him to stumble. Instead of a large pile of gold, silver and jewels there was only a small pile of gold and silver with just a few Knuts thrown in for good measure. "What is going on here?" he screamed, "I should have more than this!"
Gripaxe grinned, while fingering his sword just in case the Lord in front of him should decide to take his anger out on him. "Your marriage to Narcissa Black has been annulled due to breach of contract and her dowry has been taken back by the head of the Black family. You now have ₲150,179, ₴12 and ₭7 in your vault, by order of the Ministry of Magic all dark objects in your vault have been destroyed along with those in your former home including a trunk that had some very dark curses on it." A fee of ₲3 for this service has been deducted as well.
"What about my clothes and books that were in the trunk, where are they?" the irate Lord demanded.
"We didn't open the trunk because of the curses, we just destroyed it." Gripaxe answered with a malevolent grin and slid his sword partially out of it's scabbard as a warning not to try anything.
If Lucius had a wand he would have cursed the Goblin in front of him but as he didn't he huffed took all his money and closed his account, from now on he wouldn't trust anything to the bank but would look after them himself. Leaving Gringotts he crossed the street and entered Ollivander's to get a new wand, then moved on to Madam Malkin's for some clothes though not of the standard he was used to wearing as he would have to conserve his money and he still needed to find somewhere to live, in the mean time he would stay at the Leaky Cauldron, in one of their cheaper rooms while he thought about what to do next.
oo00oo
It was a freezing cold night and Severus Snape former professor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was shivering uncontrollably, despite the warming charm he had cast on himself. He was hiding in the Forest of Dean as he was finding it difficult to move around, not only were the Aurors looking for him but the muggle police were as well. He had tried on numerous occasions to go to Malfoy Manor but for reasons unknown to him he couldn't manage it. He had disillusioned himself a couple of times and made his way to Diagon Alley, but had been nearly caught by Aurors both times. His only option now was to disillusion himself and hop on the back of a truck heading to France. Once there he would start searching for his master, Lord Voldemort.
oo00oo
The Christmas holidays were soon over and everyone was heading back to Hogwarts. An impoverished Lucius Malfoy was hiding on platform 93/4 waiting for his son, as soon as he appeared he would AK him and make his escape. Draco knowing what his father was like decided that he would go to school with Harry and his group, but once there he would dorm with the Slytherins, for now at least and see if he could influence others to follow Harry.
When the Hogwarts Express finally left and Lucius hadn't seen hide nor hair of his son, a rather annoyed Malfoy Snr. apparated back to Diagon Alley, he had been doing a lot of thinking over the last week and a half and had decided to purchase a rather run down shop in Nocturne Alley and set up a business selling hard to get and somewhat illegal potions and ingredients. It had the added bonus of having an apartment above the store as well as a basement where he could brew and hide extremely dark potions.
Severus Snape had finally managed to make his way into Nocturne Alley and who should he bump into but Lucius Malfoy, "Lucius finally, I've been trying to contact you for a week or more. Where have you been and how come your flu isn't working?" he asked.
Lucius directed him to come into his new shop, which he had named "Hard To Find Potions and Supplies", after they were inside they went into the back room and made themselves comfortable, then he explained what had happened and how he only just had enough funds to get the shop and some supplies.
"If you make me a silent partner I can give you ₲100,000 to make sure the business gets off to a good start. I will need a large supply of pollyjuice potion to take with me, it's one of my own creations that lasts for twelve hours, rather than the single hour the normal potion lasts for. I need to get out of the country and it would make it easier."
"That's not a problem, I will show you where the lab is, also if you are going over to Europe maybe you could source some of the more rare and obscure (read dark and illegal) ingredients for me."
They made their agreements swearing magical oaths to seal them and Severus started brewing his modified potion over the next month and putting it into unbreakable glass bottles, which he then shrunk and placed into a small box, during this time he also brewed a large number of other potions for the shop, including some rather dark ones which were kept well hidden in the back area and would only be available to a select clientele. Making his farewells to his long time friend, he departed into Muggle London, where he mugged a lone business man in an alley and taking some hairs, he added one to a bottle of the pollyjuice and took his identity as well as nearly £500, from there he made his way to the port of Dover to catch a ferry to France.
He was sitting in the bar of an upmarket hotel, using Legillimency on the other patrons, most of them were useless but after about an hour he found one that perfectly met his needs, he was an unmarried businessman, heading for Europe on what used to be called in Victorian times,, 'The Grand Tour'. Better still it was his first trip to Europe and he had pre-booked and paid for all his travel and accommodation in advance. The man left the bar and Severus followed him, when he entered an elevator he cast the imperious curse on him and followed him into his room, where he proceeded to rob him of all his money, which amounted to £4,000, his wallet with his drivers license and his clothes, while taking his clothes he found a pouch strapped under his shirt with his passport, tickets and his itinerary in it, he pulled quite a few of his hairs and put them into the box with the potions, after killing his victim he then shrank him and flushed his body down the toilet. The next morning he donned his new identity, grabbed the suitcases he found in the wardrobe and left for the port and France.
oo00oo
A/N. Please review it's what keeps me going.
Raven Spotter