Well, it's finally here! The next chapter! I am so sorry I didn't update before. Senior year has been so crazy up till now. I hope things get better soon so I can spend more time writing. Anyways, have fun with this one…
"Sirius! Sit down! They'll be here when they're ready!"
"Really, Narcissa, what do they have to be ready for?!" Sirius snapped.
"Well," Narcissa pursed her lips disapprovingly, "you did drop by unexpectedly. Neither Serpens nor anyone else was in a state to welcome a guest. Not to mention how rude you're being when you're at fault. Also, I'd like to know how you managed to pass by the wards and prevent us from magically sending you away"
"Ah, perfect little Narcissa, just as always. Will you stop with the act?! We grew up together! I've seen you outside the perfect housewife role!"
Narcissa narrowed her eyes, "I wouldn't have to "act" as you call it, if you had taken up your duties as the Heir of the House of Black. You chose to dishonor and disgrace yourself. You chose to leave the family. You chose this treatment"
Sirius huffed, "just as always! Sirius the one-who-was-disgraced! Sirius the disappointment! Thank Merlin for Meda! She's the only one between you who can see the madness you all live in!"
Just then, the door was pushed open forcefully and six people walked in, all of them, but one, wearing equal looks of aristocratic indifference. The last wore a look of surprise and hope.
Sirius turned to them, speaking hysterically, "ah! Finally! Lucius the prat has finally decided to come back with the family! Oh! The blond girl must be Draco Malfoy, Cissa's boy! Then there's dear old cousin Bellatrix! Tell me, cousin, how insane are you after all the torture, huh?! And oh! There's a new man in the family! Tom Riddle, right?! You're Bella's secret lover! A half-blood! But dear old Bella isn't disgraced! I wonder why! And finally! The two boys! Orion Black and Serpens Black! Judging by the looks on your faces, I'd say the one with the stick-up-his-arse look is Orion and the other is Harry!"
By the end of Sirius' rant, Bellatrix and Orion looked like they would murder him if no one held them back. Wisely, although he himself wanted to cast the Cruciatus on the disgraced Black, Tom reached out stealthily and held Bella's arm tightly, warning her against acting out on her rage. He had a plan and she would not ruin it. Serpens, who wore a hurt and surprised look, reached out to his brother, squeezing his shoulder in order to calm him. Next to the family of four, the Malfoy Lord and Heir both clenched their jaws and tightened their fists.
"Sirius!" Narcissa screeched, "how dare you?!"
"How dare I? How dare I?! How dare you?! You kidnapped my godson and changed him to look like some stranger and somehow fooled all of Wizarding Britain into thinking he's Bellatrix's son! I mean, Bellatrix! Of all people! You chose Bellatrix! She's not even fit to be a mother! She's a deranged bloodthirsty freak! She can't take care of Harry! Not to mention she's not supposed to anyways! Harry is James and Lily's son! This madness ends now! Harry, you're coming back with me and we'll find some way to change you back!" Sirius screamed.
Orion's eyes glowed a deep red color as he pulled out his wand, aiming it at Sirius, "Cru..."
He was cut off by a silencing charm just in time. He turned to his father angrily. He knew it had to be Tom, no one else was powerful enough to cast wandless nonverbal magic. Tom sent him a sharp look in return.
Serpens ignored them, furrowing his eyebrows concernedly as he walked towards Sirius, "Sirius, this isn't some sort of trick by the Malfoys. Bellatrix really is my mum. James kidnapped me with the help of Dumbledore. None of this is a lie. But Sirius, look, were related now! You're my cousin, now! We can be a real family!"
Sirius looked at him with confusion, "no, Harry..." he started, only to be interrupted.
"Serpens"
"What?"
"It's Serpens, now. It's my real name. It's what Dad named me," Serpens sent a small smile towards Tom.
"No, stop! Your dad named you Harry! This guy isn't your dad, James is!"
"I'm sorry, Sirius, but that's not true. My father is Tom Riddle. My mother is Bellatrix Black. And, to be honest, Sirius, I would not change that for the world"
Sirius stared speechlessly as Serpens moved to stand next to Bellatrix, who pulled him into her arms. To Sirius' shock, Serpens returned the embrace, looking even happy about it. When Sirius' ability to speak returned, he spoke sadly, "no. No son of Bellatrix is my family. I can't believe you're joining the Dark Side after everything we did for you"
Serpens stared at Sirius, hurt written all over his face. Orion, who was released from the silencing charm, took one look at his brother's pained face and started screaming, "what everything?! What did you ever do for him?! Serpens was abused and neglected for years! He grew up tortured! You think your childhood is so bad because Orion and Walburga Black were harsh on you and demanded you act like the heir you were! You think your childhood was so bad because your parents wanted you to GROW UP! Well, boo you! Serpens grew up treated like a house-elf! He wasn't fed for weeks at a time simply because he showed signs of magic! He was beat multiple times and not taken care of properly! When we found him, he was malnourished, dehydrated and anemic! He had three broken ribs that didn't heal properly! I spent three nights listening to him scream in pain as he healed them! Your "great" Light Side did not give a rat's arse over his wellbeing! Why didn't the "great" Dumbledore prevent this?! Don't come in here and bark like the stupid dog you are when you have no idea what's going on! For Salazar's sake! GROW. UP. SIRIUS. You're way past the rebellious hang-out-with-mudbloods teenage phase! You're what?! Forty?! GROW. UP."
Sirius stood shellshocked. This was the first time someone had lectured him like this in a long time, and to think it was done by a practical stranger...
Before Sirius could recollect himself, Draco spoke up, "how dare you throw accusations at us, anyways? Who are you to decide if we're Dark or not?"
Sirius turned to look at him, glaring at the Malfoy Heir, who was sporting a haughty look. Before anyone could react, he pulled Bellatrix to his side forcefully and pulled up her left sleeve. Tom quickly muttered a spell as Sirius looked down at her arm. To Sirius' shock, there was nothing.
"But how? Where's the Dark Mark?" Sirius spluttered. Bellatrix yanked her arm back and glared at him, "you're a complete imbecile"
Tom walked towards them before Bella could do anything, he cocked a questioning eyebrow as he spoke to Sirius, "clearly, you have nothing for us but ignorant rants and accusations. Unless you have anything of value, I suggest you leave"
Sirius huffed exasperatedly, "and I assume you expect me to bow down and do as you say just like all your followers, huh?"
"What did you say?" Orion asked in a dangerously low voice.
"Oh, stop with the act! I know Tom is Voldemort! Dumbledore told me!"
"Dumbledore is an old fool who kidnapped and left a child to be abused. If you choose to follow a man like that, then don't come shouting his lies in my home," Lucius drawled.
Sirius growled angrily, "and you're the cavalier of truth?!"
Tom stared Sirius down, a challenge written clearly in his eyes, "well, you're not in a position to judge, are you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sirius returned with a glare.
"Of course, you don't. It's not like you were in on they lie James and Lily Potter concocted"
"What?" Sirius gulped.
"Ah, caught in your lie…"
Serpens stared wide eyed at Sirius, his face contorted with hurt and shock. "Is it true, Sirius?"
"Harry…" Sirius tried to reach out to Serpens, who pulled back violently, "it's Serpens!"
Sirius gulped nervously, realizing he was not in a good position at the moment. He gulped again before pulling out his wand and apparating quickly.
"How did he do that?" Narcissa turned to look at Tom.
"The pendant," Tom answered.
"What?"
"The pendant. It's ancient magic in its finest forms. The pendant acts as both a portkey and an anti-Ward. Basically, it does the job of a portkey but prevents Wards from acting on the person"
Serpens furrowed his eyebrows in concern, "so this means the Order isn't weakened at all"
"I'm afraid so," Tom nodded.
The room fell into silence which was broken shortly after by Narcissa, "have the lot of you had dinner yet?"
"No," Orion answered.
"Then I'll have the house elves prepare something for you quickly. Please, make yourself comfortable at the dining table"
Lucius excused himself as he had work to do, and Narcissa made her way to the kitchen to speak with the house elves. The rest headed to the informal dining room, taking their seats silently. Narcissa entered the room shortly after, taking a seat herself. It didn't take long for the food to appear and they all dug in, hungry after the day's ordeal.
Bellatrix looked up from her plate to watch her family. They were all eating and engaging in small talk. Tears collected at her eyes as she gazed upon the people that meant the most to her. It'd been too long since she saw them all together, since they looked this peaceful, since they all looked this happy. She'd missed her family so much. She thought she'd lost them all...
And that thought was all it took for the tears to start falling and a small sob to leave her lips. Everyone turned to look at her immediately and her sobs became more pronounced.
Serpens jumped out of his chair as soon as he laid eyes on his mother. He rushed around the table and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. Orion and Tom were the next to act, Orion, however, was on Bellatrix's side first, pushing Tom on his way.
"I thought I lost you all," Bella sobbed.
Serpens rubbed her back comfortingly as he whispered, "it's alright. We're alright. We're safe and we're not going anywhere"
Tom smiled sadly at Serpens' words and moved to his family's side, wrapping his arms around them all.
Behind them, Narcissa left the room, pulling Draco with her, "let's give them their privacy"
Unaware of the pair's actions, the family of four held onto each other, each of them refusing to let go.
"Tom?"
"Yes, Serpens?" Tom didn't look up from the book he was reading as he answered.
"Can you do me a favor?"
Tom put his book on the side and turned to look at Serpens, cocking an eyebrow, "you're my son. You don't ask favors from me, you request them immediately, understood?"
Serpens nodded nervously.
"A verbal answer, Serpens"
"Yes, I understand"
"Better. Now, what is it you want?"
"I... can you pull out more memories from my head? Please?"
Tom frowned, "why?"
"I... I want to remember. No. I need to remember. I need to see what it was like. I need to know"
"You want to know how much we loved you. You need to prove it to yourself. You need to prove to yourself that this is all real"
"Y-yes"
"Alright," Tom sighed.
"W-what?"
"I said alright. I'll fish out more memories from your head"
"I know you don't remember it or understand me, but I need to ask. Why did you do it, Dad? What were you thinking ending a life? A life of an innocent child? Why? Why?! How could you?!"
The grey-haired man stared at him, not understanding. A soft sob left his lips once the man started blabbering incomprehensibly.
"I don't want this. I don't want to live with the guilt of what you did. It's… It's not my fault… but I spent my whole life hating your victims… I might as well be as guilty as you are… Merlin… how monstrous can you be to kill a little child?"
The man kept blabbering like a babe, unaware of the boy in front of him.
"No more"
Whew, that's it for now. Thank you to all the people that have reviewed before, you guys give me the inspiration and motivation to continue. I would just like to ask you one question this time,
What would you like to see happen?
Reviews always welcome
