"This cannot be true."
"Gringotts Inheritance tests don't lie Lucius."
They were all gathered in Lucius's office in Malfoy Manor. The Longbottoms, Blacks, Malfoys and Prewetts.
"But how can my parents be alive? People can't just come back from the dead, can they?" Henry was the person most confused of all those gathered. He'd lived his whole life knowing that his orphan status was an unchanged fact. How could it be that all had been a lie? And where were his parents?
"No they cannot, but that is if they were dead in the first place." Arcturus said as he looked on from his seat as he slowly sipped at his tea.
"I saw James's body myself. How can he be alive?" Sirius said with wide eyes.
"I don't know but goblin magic does not lie. How it happened doesn't matter, the fact is they are alive. All of them are." Victoria said with a tired sigh, leaning her head against Fred's shoulder. The perks of having two sons who were taller than her.
"Where are they then? Since they are alive, our priority now should be find them." Percy said with determination.
"Agreed. But where could they be?" Narcissa's words had everyone silent in thought. They had no idea where they could be hidden.
"There are a few places they could be I suppose. But nothing is confirmed. We need to rally our friends together and get help from people. We won't be able to do anything on our own until we get a stable footing and gather our inner circle." Victoria said with a glint in her eyes that everyone gathered knew well. The woman was scheming and wouldn't rest until she'd found her husband and brothers and sister-in-law.
"Well then." Sirius said with a similar smirk to his sister's on his face. "I have a few ideas."
"I do as well." Lucius said with an arrogant smirk of his own.
And everyone would feel the wrath of the three, for it is unwise to unite a Potter, a Black and a Malfoy. Destruction awaits.
"It's been very long since we've all gathered like this." A raven haired, silver eyed man drawled as he looked at the other three gathered in the dark room. Hades, the codename chosen for him by the group gathered, looked pretty good for being presumed dead. He was wearing elegant black robes and were long sleeved and tight-fitted from the shoulders down, and flowed gracefully at the waist.
"Yes it has. What are we going to start with?" The man with shoulder length raven hair and dark brown eyes asked in his normal deep voice. Nicknamed Akhlys by this circle.
"What has 'D' been up to until this point? I need the most boring of details. Also, what has he discovered about 'T'?" The only female in the room, a blonde with black streaks running through her hair and shining hazel –almost gold- eyes, said, indicating for the man to talk. Athena was unanimously chosen as the leader of the group, the royal circle, back when they'd first established it.
"He has me under an unbreakable vow to protect the boy, and has stuck me in an impossible to break contract to teach. He's too worried about your appearance and the Wizengamot's trust to worry about 'T', but he did say that he is still alive, he just doesn't have a body. His spirit is in Albania." He got nods in return at his report before they turned to the other raven in the room.
"What about you Hades? Any progress on your end?" The woman, Athena, asked Hades.
"Yes, I've managed to collect three of them. The ring, the locket and the diary. I'll need Grandfather's help for the cup and the diadem's location is still unknown."
"I also found out that my nephew was one, but he was cleansed so it was destroyed." Athena said, getting shocked looks from the two raven-heads.
"Yes, we also found out that a lot of people who were thought to be dead were alive." The third man, a blonde with shoulder length hair and blue eyes who went by Ares, said, attracting their attention by that as well.
"Well damn." A man with intense blue eyes, long black hair and pointed canines, nicknamed Lycaon by the other four in the group gathered, exclaimed in surprise with a wolfish grin on his face.
And so, they dissolved into discussions about what they would need to do next.
In another part of England, Sirius Black sat on a table in a small bar in Hampshire with his closest friend sitting opposite him.
"I'm sorry." The man, Remus Lupin, said as he started the conversation.
"I know. I'm sorry too. Of all the things we should've done, trusting each other should've been our top priority." Remus nodded at the words. "But can I trust you now? And do you trust me?"
"I do, Siri, whatever you need."
"More than Dumbledore?" That has the werewolf pausing for a second before he responds.
"During the years that you were in…prison, I discovered a lot of things. I discovered that my parents were the ones to stop Fenrir Greyback from taking me into his pack, and I discovered the many…manipulations the headmaster had done through the years. I…" Remus paused to take a breath. "As soon as the war was over, no one contacted me, no one asked about me, especially Dumbledore. It made me realise that I was…just a puppet in his schemes and I didn't like that feeling. So yes, Siri, I do trust you way more. Because you and Jamie didn't abandon me when everyone else did." By the time Remus had finished his little speech, Sirius had slid over the booth and gathered his friend in one of his signature bear-hugs. And for the first time in years, the two felt at peace in each other's arms.
"Well then, let me tell you what's been going on." Sirius told his friend once they'd pulled away, his smirk making Remus's excitement rise as he knew, whatever it was, it would be marauder worthy.
"I've gathered you all here today for a reason." Lucius Malfoy said as he started the meeting with the other Lords of the dark faction. "It has come to my attention that some Lords and Ladies in our circle, including my sister, have not in fact died, but have been kidnapped."
"How can that be Lucius?" Theodred Nott, Lord of the Vengeful and Most Ancient House of Nott and Tom Riddle's first follower and only known friend, asked quietly.
"My nephew got an inheritance test a few days ago and it showed both his parents as alive."
"It could be faked!" Vincent Crabbe I said loudly, never one of the smarter lords in the Dark sect.
"A Gringotts test cannot be faked or forged in anyway, as it's laced with Goblin blood magic." Arcturus explained with a sharp brow raised.
"With all due respect Lucius, aside from your sister being alive, congratulations by the way, why would we care?" Corvus Lestrange, Lord of the Belligerent and Most Ancient House of Lestrange, asked with bored tone of voice. Ever since his two sons were imprisoned, the man hadn't been the same. He was still the ruthless politician that was famous for being the Dark Lord's left hand man, but any warmth he'd once had was completely lost after he lost his whole family.
"That could mean that others who were missing and/or were presumed dead are actually alive. This includes the Prewett twins, whose living status was confirmed by Fabian's sons' inheritance test, Regulus Black and possible your granddaughter and daughter Lord Lestrange."
That statement stumped the man and some of his cold mask dropping to show the grief that he'd been feeling for the two aforementioned girls.
"So, what do we do? Where would they be hidden and who would have even done this?" Lord Albert Flint of the Vicious and Ancient House of Flint, a man with cropped brown hair and dark brown almost black eyes that shone with a dangerous glint that befits his house's title, asked the questions they were all thinking of.
"We have a few ideas on the 'who' our problem is 'where'." Arcturus said with a vague lilt to his words but everyone understood the meaning behind them very well.
"Albus Dumbledore did this?!" Corvus said in anger. His magic immediately flared around his skin in a clear sign of his rage.
"We believe so, yes." Lucius said with a neutral tone that didn't betray the anger his eyes showed.
"Then revenge must be taken." Lord Alexander Avery said loudly, getting agreeing shouts from the younger lords that were gathered.
"And we will, but where it really hurts. We'll slowly destroy his reputation and power until everyone forgets the name Dumbledore ever existed in the first place." Lucius said with a smirk and those who were smart enough to see where this was going return his expression with smirks of their own. Albus Dumbledore would pay for what he did to those of the Dark.
"Gerard. What I'm about to tell you may change the tide of this whole was to the side you wouldn't expect." Frank Longbottom said to his longtime friend and the leader of the Grey Sect, Lord Gerard Greengrass of the Fair and Most Ancient House of Greengrass. While everyone was meeting with their respective allies, Frank decided that the best way to get help is to get the Grey sect on their side.
"You've caught my interest Frank. Do tell me what has caught your attention so soon after your miraculous healing old friend." Gerard said with interest, sipping his tea as he listened to Frank's story. And Frank did, he told him everything that's happened since he'd woken up. As Gerard listened, his eyes widened more and more as he absorbed everything he was told. By the end, Gerard was gaping slightly, feeling comfortable around his friend to drop his normally immaculate mask.
"That is…"
"Oh believe me I know." Frank said with a small laugh.
"So what now? I can help with taking down Dumbledore, or at least as much as I can. But other than that, I don't see what I can do."
"That's all the help we need. I'm also planning on shifting to the Grey sect from the light sighed, and just…introduce our kids to each other. Henry and Neville need to make friends and I think Daphne would get along well with them. Other than that, I just need the companionship of my old friend." The two shared a smile at Frank's words and then dissolved into more casual topics as they hung out, ending their formal meeting with the shift of conversation. Internally, however, Frank celebrated the success of the casual alliance between House of Longbottom and House of Greengrass.
As soon as Sirius had returned to the Manor after his successful reunion with Remus, he found himself face to face with Amelia Bones.
"To what do I owe this pleasure Madame Bones?"
"Well, Heir Black, if you must know, I used to be very close to a person who lives here, we were even on the brink of possibly starting a relationship when he was sent to prison."
"Is that so?" Sirius said teasingly, grinning mischievously as he got closer to the woman who has had his heart since the moment he had become friends with her. He would not say it was love at first sight, as he did not believe in it, but he had been enraptured with her since she'd given him the chance to get to know her and he hadn't dated anyone else since.
"Yes." Amelia replied as he got close enough to kiss her, but restrained himself so that she'd have the choice whether to close the gap or not. It only took her a second to tilt her head a little closer so that their lips met in a soft kiss. They broke apart a few minutes later and leaned their foreheads against each other.
"I've missed you Amy."
"I've missed you too Siri."