Author's Note: I want to clear that Cassiopeia Black is the elder sister of Dorea Black and thus Sirius' aunt. In canon she dies in the year 1992.
Here is the next chapter. Thank you to all the lovely readers. Leave reviews and comments and share your ideas. I would love to incorporate them in my story.
I don't own Harry Potter.
Good day to all!
CHAPTER 3
BLACK FAMILY, CHATEAU ,FRANCE
Narcissa, Lucius and Draco landed gracefully in the receiving room of the Black Manor. A sound of another pop made them aware of someone else's arrival. Narcissa turned around to see Bellatrix along with her husband Rodolphus Lestrange.
"You were invited too, Bella?" Narcissa asked politely
"Yes we received an owl yesterday by aunt Cassiopeia. I obviously accepted; had to see for myself how she has been." Bellatrix replied in a haughty manner.
"And does our Lord know that you have come here today?" Lucius' question made her stiffen. Bellatrix had been trying to escape from the Nott's Manor in order to avoid the mind healers, and seeing her reaction she had not told this piece of information to Voldemort. Before their conversation could go any further, the doors to the receiving room opened and a house elf walked in
"Mistress Cassiopeia be waiting for you all in the living room. Please follow Mable." The group of five followed the house elf as directed. The house elf wearing clean clothes with Black Family Crest on it did not go unnoticed either. However, neither of them were expecting the company of Tonks family. Cassiopeia paused her conversation with Ted Tonks to greet her newly arrived guests
"Welcome to Black Family Chateau, Lord Malfoy and Lord Lestrange. I thank you all for accepting our invitation." Lucius bowed stiffly and kissed her knuckles in a formal greeting followed by Rodolphus. Draco on his own part observed Cassiopeia. The old witch was in every sense, regal. Her aura demanded immediate respect from the onlookers. The awkward silence however was broken by Bellatrix's screeching voice "What are you doing here?" Bellatrix spat directly at Andromeda.
"I invited them Bellatrix. Any callous words towards my guests will not be appreciated." Cassiopeia said sharply while Bella still glared at her sister with hatred. "Let us all sit down so we can talk without hassles. I don't want to lose my temper over any of your stupid tantrums."
They all sat down while Cassiopeia ordered tea and snacks for everyone. Lucius was quite the whole time, for he did not know what to say. First, there had been an invitation from Narcissa's supposed dead aunt and now he was sipping tea with blood-traitors and mudbloods. Merlin, he was having a headache already.
"Aunt Cassi, where were you all these years. We thought you were dead." Narcissa spoke putting her cup down.
"All in time, Cissa darling. First there is someone you'll need an introduction to." Cassiopeia said. "Mable please inform Lady Black to come in the living room."
"Yes mistress."Lucius spluttered while Rodolphus choked on his tea.
"Lady Black?" Bellatrix shouted.
"Yes, Lady Black. We can't let the lordship of our house go into the hands of other family when our heiress is alive now, can we?" Cassiopeia's cryptic words weren't understood by anyone. Seconds later though, the doors to the living room opened and everyone saw as a young woman stepped in. She had dark brown wavy hair reaching her waist. Sharp features, high cheekbones a small button rose and rosy lips. Her long eyelashes framing her stormy grey eyes; the stormy grey eyes being the most prominent prove of her Black heritage. She wore dark green robes with Black family crest and the lordship ring proudly. Making her way to stand beside her grandmother she smiled slightly.
"I would like to introduce Elara Azalea Black, daughter of Regulus Black and Azalea Black." Cassiopeia announced with pride in her voice. Rodolphus and Lucius paled even further while Narcissa tried to overcome her shock. Bellatrix got angrier with each passing moment.
"Regulus would have never touched that mudblood." Bellatrix snarled viciously. The temperature of the room seemed to drop and now Elara's attention was on her aunt. Like a predator walking towards it's prey, Elara gently glided standing directly in front of the mad woman. " This is the first and the last time that you have disrespected my mother in my presence. If I hear you call my mother such vile names, I won't hesitate to rip your throat with my bare hands, dear aunt. Be careful next time and learn to watch that filthy tongue of yours else there be consequences." Elara whispered in a dangerous voice. The other occupants of the room became deathly quiet at the threat.
"How dare you threaten me you filthy mudblood." Without wasting another moment Bellatrix took out her wand and was about to cast the torture curse when Elara wandlessly summoned Bellatrix's wand. With another wave of wandless magic Bellatrix was silenced and tied down by ropes.
"You need to reminded dear aunt on how to treat the Head of your family." Elara spoke in a calm voice. Draco and Nymphadora were snickering. Draco was particularly amused and impressed by his new sister knowing how insane Bellatrix could be. Turning her attention towards other guests Elara said, "It seems the meeting did not begin as we anticipated. I apologise for that. Let's all settle down, there are things to discuss and no time to waste." Elara sat between Cassiopeia and Draco. Rodolphus had a hard time to hide his smile at his wife's condition so he left her on the floor while taking a seat with his friend. Bellatrix glared at everybody and said something, but no words came out.
"Elara and I came back to England about two weeks ago. After getting all her inheritances checked, the Black Family ring accepted her as the new head of the family." Cassiopeia started.
"Aunt Cassi, you said Elara was heiress Black." Narcissa was confused a bit.
"Perhaps you should start from the beginning Grandmother." Elara suggested.
"Yes, perhaps you should start from who is Azalea grandmother." Draco piped his voice. Elara snickered at her cousin's glee.
"Azalea Robinson was a muggleborn who apparently had transferred from Beauxbatons to Hogwarts because of her parents' death. She was sorted into Ravenclaw and was attending the 6th year much like Regulus. It was also the year Regulus took the dark mark under Walburga's pressure. I obviously was unaware of this fact or else I would have never allowed it.
Azalea was the best thing that could have happened to Regulus. In his bad time she was the only support he had. Regulus properly courted her, but they kept their relationship hidden. The war was on it's peak and the Dark Lord was slaughtering muggleborns like pigs, to rid the wizarding society off their dirty blood." Cassiopeia snarled viciously at that. The death eaters present paled seeing the old witch angry. Narcissa on the other hand observed Elara carefully and was surprised to see her face blank of all emotions.
"Then in November 1978 I received a letter from Regulus stating that Azalea was pregnant and that they wanted help. I wasn't happy at all but after meeting the couple for the first time together, all my doubts cleared. Regulus looked so happy. Azalea also informed me that she took an inheritance test after moving to England and found that she was the heiress to the long lost line of Shafiq. Not wanting the attention of either Voldemort or Dumbledore, she kept the inheritance a secret.
I contacted uncle Arcturus personally. He was not happy that Regulus took the dark mark and that he was in a relationship with a supposed mudblood. After clearing all the confusion he met them both and eventually warmed up to Azalea. Only Arcturus, Kreacher and I knew about their relationship. They got married on Yule 1978 where Arcturus himself performed the binding ceremony of their marriage.
To keep his granddaughter and great grandchild safe, Arcturus suggested that Azalea be homeschooled for the remaining year. Azalea lived with me while Regulus went to Hogwarts and pretended to be Walburga's perfect son.
Things went downhill one day. It was mid-July and azalea and i were in Diagon Alley for some business. The death eaters suddenly appeared in the alley attacking people. Soon they were fighting off some wizards in hooded robes. It was chaos everywhere. We were hiding when suddenly two wizards threw vicious curses at Azalea and me. It was like they were targeting us specifically. I tried my best to fight them off, but they were too fast. One of their spells hit azalea directly on her womb and I was forced to floo her to the manor. Azalea went into labor soon. Elara was born but the healers couldn't save Azalea."
Cassiopeia tried her best to maintain her composure but failed miserably when the traitorous tears escaped her eyes. She had come to see Azalea as her daughter and her death had hurt so much. Narcissa had her mouth covered in horror. They now knew why the witty and charming Ravenclaw muggleborn never came back, which had caused gossip mongers to say vile things about her. Lucius and Rodolphus felt guilty but Bellatrix seemed smug which wasn't ignored by either Cassiopeia or Elara.
"Regulus was never the same again. The only time we had a glimpse of his smile were the moments he spent with his daughter. October 1979 uncle Arcturus received a letter from Walburga informing us about Regulus' death. Uncle Arcturus seemed broken and he ordered us to be hidden until the time was right for Elara's safety. Some time after we heard that Sirius and Bellatrix were sent to Azkaban for being death eaters."
"Grandfather Arcturus was ashamed of uncle Sirius and dear aunt Bella, so he changed his will making me the heiress over uncle Sirius." Elara continued.
For some time no one spoke. Elara and Cassiopeia gave them time to let the words sink in. Narcissa stood up and drew Elara in to tight hug while silently crying and apologising to her. Elara sighed well naturedly and returned the hug with equal love. To clear the tense atmosphere, Elara first cancelled the spells off Bellatrix and then turned her full attention to her brother and sister. She listened intently to their time spent at Hogwarts and how the auror training program was fairing to Dora. Nymphadora and Draco seemed to enjoy each other's company too. The adults were in their own world, although the guests seemed to keep throwing cautious glances in Bellatrix's direction.
Suddenly her hand brushed along Draco's arm making him flinch and stiffen. Elara narrowed her eyes asking if he was okay. Clearly he wasn't and kept his eyes away from Bellatrix. Elara non verbally used legilimency on Draco to see Bellatrix torture the poor boy with the cruciatus curse, constantly telling him to be prepared for taking the dark mark. She saw as the woman threatened Draco not to tell anyone about the torture or else the punishment would be worse. As she pulled herself out of Draco's mind, the boy gasped loudly gaining others' attention. Elara also knew about the ministry fiasco and uncle Sirius had died. Now was the time to teach her aunt some lessons.
"It seems aunt Bella that hurting not just people but members of your family is quite a hobby of yours. First you killed uncle Sirius and now poor Draco." Lucius inhaled sharply at the mention of his son and asked, 'Apologies Lady Black, but what do you mean by Draco getting hurt."
"I'm not sure how you haven't noticed this yourself when your son keeps flinching and squirming in his aunt's presence. Bellatrix had been torturing dear brother and trying to force him to become a death eater."
"How dare you Bella, how dare you touch my son!" Narcissa snapped
"He needs to be ready for the Dark Lord." Bellatrix snarled.
"If the Dark Lord wanted him to be his follower, he would have said so himself Bella. You don't have to do his bidding." Rodolphus exclaimed. The relationship between his wife and himself was strained but he had loved Draco truly, for he could never have a son of his own.
"He is our Lord, it is our duty to raise our children so they can serve him."
Narcissa was beyond furious now. How dare her sister torture her child? To everyone's surprise Narcissa slapped Bellatrix hard on her face. Before Bellatrix could retaliate, Lucius stood in front of his wife while Rodolphus tried to hold his wife in place. Lucius asked his son, "Why didn't you tell this Draco?"
Draco swallowed the lump in his throat and whispered, "Aunt Bella threatened not o tell anyone or the punishments would be worse." He kept his eyes down. Feeling a hand on his shoulder he was surprised to see Nymphadora comforting him. Bellatrix spoke again, "Yes dear nephew, and now that our secret training is out i would not have any qualms to punish you properly. You little piece of shit, wait until i get my hands on you." Elara who was trying very hard to keep her temper in check snapped and the temperature of the room seemed to drop. Rodolphus pushed her away from his as soon as he felt family magic wrap itself around Bellatrix. The said woman was now panicking, good for her he thought.
"You've been nothing but a disgrace to the family. Your loyalty wavered to your own head of house and you swore allegiance to another Lord. You disrespected your husband and House of Lestrange when you decided to have affair outside your marriage." No one looked surprise at this revelation, not even her husband. While Bellatrix fumed in anger.
"You were sent to Azkaban for torturing the Lord and Lady Longbottom. But you continued to torture people for mere entertainment. You tortured your own nephew and killed a member of the Black Family. I see no reason why I shouldn't take appropriate actions as Grandfather Arcturus allowed me in his final will."
Cassiopeia smirked at Bellatrix's horrified expression. The woman had aid the bed for herself.
"I, Lady Elara Azalea Black, hereby disown Bellatrix Lestrange nee' Black from the Black Family on accounts of harming members of her own family and the disloyalty towards the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. As i have declared so mote it be."
Bellatrix fell to the floor writhing and trembling in pain, requesting for the pain to stop. Family magic reacted violently leaving her body and punishing her at the same time for hurting the members of Black Family. Her screams filled the room sending shivers down the spines of the occupants. Draco was terrified at the sight in front of him. The only one who remained stoic was Elara. Lucius glanced in her direction and realized just how powerful the witch was. This was not just another person to be manipulated, she was the daughter of the Blacks and Lucius did not want to be on her wrong side. After what seemed like eternity the screams stopped and Bellatrix lay dead. No one dared to breathe. Swirling around Elara spoke directly to the Tonks, "You will give magical oaths that whatever happened here today will not reach the eyes and ears of another soul, especially Dumbledore."
The three of them reluctantly gave in. Andromeda asked for some time to make a decision when Elara wished for her aunt to be brought back into the family fold. Rodolphus was a bit sad with his wife's death but surprisingly held no qualms against Elara or the Black family when she apologised. Lucius hid his smile for only he knew the reason. Before leaving he thanked her profusely for saving his son. Narcissa was excited to have her niece and aunt back and invited them for lunch at their manor.
When all the guests left Cassiopeia turned and hugged her granddaughter tightly. She was so proud of her and the way she handled the whole situation.
"We need to have a meeting with the Dark Lord soon." Cassiopeia said.
"I already sent him a letter before coming here. All we need to do is wait for his reply. I don't know how he will react to the death of his right hand." Elara sighed. There was so much to be done.