"Oh, Cedrella," Molly Weasley's tight smile had pretty much set the pace of the greetings that were to exchanged. "How are you?" Despite asking that question it was painfully obvious that she didn't want to know.

"Oh I'm healthy as a horse, thank you for asking," Cedrella said distractedly but grinned when the rest of the Weasley family entered the room. Charlie, Fred, and George immediately descended on her with cries of, "Grandma!"

She hugged each of them and gave each of them a once over and commented on how they looked before turning to address the last of her grandchildren.

"Percival, Ronald, Ginerva," She nodded to each of them. She was there when Ron and Ginny were younger but after she stopped coming around, the younger Weasley children had only read her letters and didn't remember her so well. Percy nodded back respectfully to his grandmother.

Percy had always struck Cedrella as a Slytherin given his ambitious nature so she was surprised when he became a lion. She chalked it up to him asking to be placed there instead of actually being brave; probably to appease his mother who expected all of her children to be lions like her and her family. Contrary to popular belief, the Weasley family wasn't always sorted into Gryffindor. The wives were, more often than not, from other houses. Even the male Weasley's were sorted into different houses if there was more than one male child. Cedrella's deceased son Billius was a Hufflepuff while Arthur was a lion. This current generation was the first on in a long time where all the children were in the same house.

"Lo there Molly," Septimus greeted his daughter in law politely. While he did not dislike Molly, he understood why his wife did. Molly had used a mild love potion on Arthur in their sixth year of schooling - she had done so because she was tired of waiting for Arthur to make his move and ask he out. She thought that it would speed up the process -which it did- but Cedrella only found out at Arthur's graduation party when Molly all but bragged about it to a friend that she didn't tell.

Cedrella was infuriated but remained cool until the guest left. Once they did, she began to thrash Molly any way that she could. Magically, physically, etc. Cedrella didn't care how she did it as long as she hurt Molly for using that potion on her son. It took a combination of her two sons and her husband to pry her off of the beaten Molly. Bilius had to defend his mother when the Prewett twins, Fabien and Gideon, had pulled their wands to defend their sister. Molly's parents had been furious of course but after they learned what their daughter did their tempers had cooled somewhat. Although they did lay into Molly stating that her two week stay at Saint Mungo's wasn't the worst that could happen to her should charges be pressed and that she should consider herself lucky hat Arthur had begged his parents not to do so. They agreed in the end but whatever potential relationship between Molly and Cedrella died that night.

"Hello Septimus,"Molly said happily before peering at the others. When her eyes landed on Harry they widened before they narrowed. With a speed that no one knew she had, and with a cry of his name, she moved to him and drew him into a hug. Harry immediately tensed before he returned the hug reluctantly though not too many people noticed. Those that did understood how hard this was for him.

"Where have you been young man?" Molly berated Harry who stared at her blankly though on the inside he was starting to get angry. Molly was not his mother and she had no right to berate him.

"He was with us," Artorius said smoothly and Molly frowned at him before putting her hands on her hips.

"And just who are you?" She demanded of him. Several sets of eyes narrowed slightly but Artorius continued to speak.

"I am his family," Artorius said bluntly though he smiled a little to soften his words. "And I am yours as well. My name is Artorus Black, the first of his name and regent for the Most Ancient and Noble house of Black."

Charlie, Percy, Fred, and George looked towards his left hand to see the Black family ring appear into view. Ron frowned at Harry, mostly because of his appearance but he also wondered how Harry met these people. Arthur and Bill stood straighter than they did previously. Ginny had been fighting a blush since she saw the new and improved Harry and welcomed the distraction. Molly just frowned even more.

"And what right did you have in taking Harry away from his aunt and uncle?" Molly scowled at Artorius who lost his smile. "And why wasn't he immediately brought to us." Her eyes raked over Harry's form once more. "What spell did you cast on him? You will remove it now or tell me how to do it." She all but snapped as she inspected Harry closely. The corner of Harry's eyes tightened at her actions but he made no other movement. Arthur looked ready to speak but he was beaten to it.

"You have a lot of nerve for speaking to the regent of your house this way," Artorius spoke calmly though a bit of Black family magic had seeped into his voice causing several people to tense especially Arthur. "I don't know whether to be insulted or impressed." He continued and Molly shifted slightly but narrowed her eyes at the lion animagus.

"I was born a Prewett and I am a Weasley as well and will always be - I am not a Black," Molly stated firmly but Artorius continued to smile and spoke before she could pick up steam.

"Do you not remember what Cedrella's maiden name was?" He asked her and Molly scowled again.

"Black obviously other wise you wouldn't have asked but she was kicked out of the family," Molly spoke somewhat condescendingly and with a little bit of relish. "Now answer my questions young man -"

"You are correct," Artorius interrupted her again as Cedrella's eyes flashed as she glared openly at Molly. "Or at least, you were except one of the first acts for my tenure as regent was to reinstate people into the family - Cedrella was included." Molly's startled gaze looked towards Cedrella's face which was blank though if you looked closely the corners of her lips twitched at Molly's discomfort.

"But Septimus-" Molly began to protest only to interrupted yet again.

"While I am more than confident that he was a wonderful head of house," Artorius began. "When Cedrella was reinstated, you all gained the protection of an Ancient and Noble family but since the Weasley's are not of the same status as the Black family, the power of Primacy comes into play."

"What?" Arthur breathed with wide eyes. "But that means-"

"That I could bend all of you to my will if I wanted to but don't you think I would have done so by now if I really wanted to?" Artorius raised an eyebrow at him. "It's standard for all marriages between any member of the Black family who marries someone not from an old family and the only one who can annul said marriage is either the regent or the lord of the house. With Cedrella and Septimus, there is some leeway because they have no contract between the two of them so they could disenfranchise themselves - and all of you as well- if they wanted too."

Arthur had to sit down at all of the information he was given. His family had been officially recognized by a family that hated the union between his parents and now he was basically under the command of someone who was about the same age as his son. Right now he didn't know what to think or feel. Bill and Charlie eyed Artorius distrustfully. The twins land Ginny looked at him in awe for rendering their mother speechless as she gaped. Percy had a contemplative look on his face. Ron just looked confused.

"I know this is a lot to take in but I will answer your questions over lunch if I am able too." Artorius said honestly. "As will the rest of the family." He motioned to the people who came with him. He started to head outside and motioned for his group to follow. Bertram, Wilfred, Thomas and Embry raised their eyebrows at the Weasley's before they began to follow though Thomas stayed behind with Harry to make sure he got out of the house. It was a good thing he did because Molly tried to grab him again as she held her wand. Cedrella began to reach for hers but Septimus stopped her.

"Is there a problem Mrs. Weasley?" Thomas asked her mildly as he stood next to Harry and loomed over the witch.

"I was trying to see if I can remove whatever has been done to him."

"What's been done to him was to heal the damage to his core and his body," Thomas said coolly. "It's a cleansing ritual which is normally performed by the goblins but if you are versed in old magic and confident in your abilities, you can do it as well. If you don't believe ask your son William. We talked to the goblins before coming here," He said to Bill who looked at him with a questioning gaze. "You were mentioned in passing - apparently a lot of the tellers are pleased with your work." Bill inclined his head though he was grinning inwardly at the news. Thomas turned back to Molly. "I understand your concern and it is greatly appreciated but we are handling it at the moment and Harry will make a full recovery from the trauma that you people put him through and ignored."

Harry gave him a sharp look which was ignored and while Molly drew in a breath. The others in the room looked on in confusion except for the twins who knew what he meant and had uncharacteristic looks of anger on their faces though they weren't angry at him.

"Excuse me," Molly demanded acidly. "We have not put him through anything." She all but hissed but Thomas remained unaffected.

"Surely you were not so blind that you didn't notice that Harry was underfed," Thomas murmured. "Or did his resemblance to his father make you ignore that?"

"I've been feeding him when he's here and sending him food!" Molly's nerves had been frayed at seeing her mother in law here and some stranger questioning her about her methods with dealing with Harry - someone she had come to see as another son- her normal attitude and behavior was no longer present.

"And you don't find it odd that you have to send him food?" Thomas asked her with narrowed eyes. "I suppose that it shouldn't surprise me considering that you ignored your sons when they told you he has bars on his window - something that I have seen myself."

"But-I thought-" Molly stumbled over her words but Thomas continued on.

"Are you coming outside or are you staying with your friends for now, Hadrian?" He looked to the young wizard who shrugged and nodded to Ron and the twins. There were frowns at the mention of Harry's birth name. "Ok I'll see you outside in a moment." Harry held up his hand to stop him from going and motioned for him to come closer. Harry moved to the right side of the Alpha's face so the others couldn't see him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Harry hissed in a whisper, his eyes flashing with anger.

"Riling her up," Thomas replied in a whisper with his lips barely moving. "She needs to learn that not everyone will be cowed by her."

"This will get out of hand," Harry whispered warningly.

"I know that; we all do." Thomas said. "Do you honestly think Cedrella is going to play nice with Molly? After all that she did?"

Harry sighed through his nose but said nothing. Thomas took that as his cue to leave.

"See you outside," He said to Harry as he moved away. To Molly he said, "Please let us know if you need extra hands in bring the food outside." He shuffled away quietly before she could protest. As Thomas reached the door, Molly rounded on Harry.

"What were you thinking about leaving your aunt and uncle with the likes of them," She demanded quietly so she wouldn't be overheard as she gestured to Thomas who stopped right in front of the door and turned around. He crossed his arms and glared at Molly who noticed that he was still there but Harry spoke up.

"The likes of what exactly Mrs. Weasley?" He said calmly and politely. "You don't dislike people from the Colonies do you? Or is it because they are from the Black family like me?" He asked curiously.

"You are not a Black." Molly said sternly, as she turned to him and tried to ignore the glares she was getting from Thomas and Cedrella. "You are a Potter. The Black family is terrible and-"

"They are my family," Harry said stiffly, interrupting her. "My grandmother Dorea was a Black."

"She probably tricked your grandfather-"

"Dorea did no such thing," Cedrella said coldly, cutting Molly off. Molly scowled as she continued. "See unlike someone in this room, she got her man the same way I did - by falling in love the natural way. No spells or potions were used."

Several sets of eyes jerked to Molly who began to puff up as her cheeks burned red.

"Molly, stop it." Arthur said wearily before his wife could speak. He really wanted to get to the heart of the matter and decided to intervene.

"But Arthur-"

"Enough Molly." Arthur stood up and headed to the kitchen. "Boys, help me take some of these platters outside. Ginny, help your mother with whatever she needs." All the boys except for Harry moved until Arthur motioned for him to follow which he did. Septimus dragged Cedrella to the front door which Thomas opened for them. He followed them as he hard Ron say, "Bloody hell mate what happened?"

"It's a very long story." Was the somewhat stiff reply.

Lunch had been tense from the beginning with Molly glaring angrily at Cedrella or anyone who wasn't apart of her brood. Some people gave her unimpressed looks, ignored her completely, or in Cedrella's case glared right back. Halfway through the meal, Artorius spoke up.

"Arthur, I presume that you have some questions," He murmured from his chair at the head of them large round dining table. Wilfred and Bertram sat on his right and left respectively. Thomas sat next to Bertram with Tanya beside him. It continued in that vein until basically the Weasley's were on one side with Septimus directly opposite Artorius with his wife on the left of him and Arthur on his right. Harry had sat where the two groups met with Ginny sitting opposite him with, blushing tomato red when he would glance her way while Ron sat next to him, shoveling food into his mouth and talking between bites every so often.

Harry definitely didn't agree with this seating arraignment because he kept getting flashbacks to the night Ron attacked Hermione. He remembered every foul word he called her when he would punch her or slam her into the pavement in his drunken rage. Harry remembered his own rage that night and the night he killed Ron accidentally but he kept his emotions in check thanks to his Occulmency training which he learned properly when he was an auror. It had helped him somewhat to know that this Ron hadn't done anything yet but he was still a jealous prat and would probably always be one.

"Yes I do," Arthur began. "What is the point of all of this?"

"Straight to the point, I like it." Arorius murmured with a smile. Adopting a serious expression, he continued. "The point, Arthur, is that the house of Black is starting to fall and I want to make it great again but with none of the old hang up's. Meaning no stock in blood purity, no kicking people out for marrying people they love, those sorts of things."

"I hope they include not getting good families killed." Molly muttered scathingly to Arthur who tried to shush her but several people heard her and they narrowed their eyes.

"William!" Bertram barked suddenly causing people to jump. He waved his hand and a Goblin pensive appeared in front of Bill. "Given who you work for, I take it that you know what that is." He gestured to the pensive. When Bill nodded he said, "Please check it to make sure that it has not been altered in anyway." As Bill drew his wand and checked the pensive, Bertram briefly explained it's features. After he was done he turned to Harry and said, "I need the memory of Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail."

Fred and George perked up at those names and their eyes jerked towards Harry who nodded to Bertram.

"Now hold on just a minute!" Molly stood up as Bertram placed his finger to Harry's temple. "What is this about?"

"You're about to find out," Bertram almost hissed at her as he pulled the memory from Harry's mind. "Does it check out?" He asked Bill who stared at the silvery strand that hung from Bertram's finger. "William?"

"Uh yes it checks out," Bill said looking into Bertram's eyes. "It hasn't been altered in anyway."

"So that means if I were to place this memory into the pensive it would either glow normally or glow red correct?" Bill nodded his head and Bertram placed Harry's memory into the pensive. "Since it is not glowing red, that means that the memory is genuine, correct?" Bill nodded once more. "I won't ask whether or not you trust Bill's word but I will say this, throw out any preconcieved notions you have and hold any questions you have until after this is done." He tapped the pensive and the memory began to play.

"Should you really have been so casual with the wand-less magic?" Embry's tone was more curious than accusatory.

"Why not?" Bertram shrugged and Embry shrugged too, not really knowing what to say. When Molly jumped out of her seat and yelled when Ron was dragged away from Harry and Hermione, Artorius spoke up.

"Please sit Mrs. Weasley," He murmured as Bertram tapped the pensive so it could pause but Molly ignored him and yelled at Harry and Ron for not saying anything about this to her. Ron had been pale since the mention of the memory and Harry looked at her with another blank expression. "Mrs. Weasley-" He tried again but she rounded on him and scowled.

"Do not tell me what to do young man!" She snapped as Arthur tried to pull her down. "Or I will have you over my knee!"

"You are not his mother who is a hell of a lot better than you!" Cedrella snapped before Artorius could reply with a harsh retort. She'd been raring to have a go at Molly for awhile now and she would not let the opportunity pass her up even if she did lie a little. "She wouldn't chase her sons away like you did with William and Charles! Just sit your fat arse down and shut up Prewitt!"

There were several wide eyes -especially from the aforementioned people- that met her exclamation as Molly turned bright red. She shoved Arthur into his seat with enough force to send him toppling over it.

"And what would you know about being a good mother!" Molly screamed at her. "At least my children are alive, including my daughter. Can you say the same?!"

Arthur finally had enough and drew his wand. He silenced his wife before he put her in her seat and bound her in her chair. He didn't receive any struggle from his wife who paled as what she said caught up to her.

It was deathly silent before Cedrella stood up and turned to Artorius.

"May my husband and I leave, Lord Regent?" She said quietly. "I have seen what you are about to show and frankly there is very little reason for me to stay given that fact along with some of the current company here."

"Of course Cedrella," Artorius murmured, his voice just as quiet. "I'll see you at the family meeting in a few days time."

Cedrella nodded curtly before she stalked towards Molly. She waved her son off and leaned over to whisper in Molly's ear.

"If you ever speak of my Lyra like that again I will slit your throat in your sleep, Prewitt," She stressed Molly's maiden name as she hissed the words before she turned and walked to her husband. She clasped his forearm with her hand and they disapparated away. It wasn't commonly known that Cedrella had three children and that the third child, a daughter she had named Lyra, had died not too long after childbirth. The reason most people didn't know was because Cedrella and Septimus kept it under wraps to avoid being pitied or have it used against them.

"I was going to be nice about this," Artorius continued quietly but the Black family magic swirled within him as his ire began to rise. "I don't believe in making people follow me by using fear or force but given what just happened I will amend my stance. First order of business is to finish watching this memory -in silence- in response to Molly's not so quiet and scathing remark about getting good people killed." Molly's eyes widened and Artorius scowled slightly. "You really should keep your thoughts to yourself ma'am, otherwise you might say the wrong thing to the wrong people and get yourself killed."

"Oi!" Ron had roared suddenly as he made to stand but Harry gripped his arm and yanked him back into his chair. Ron's red face snapped towards Harry's.

"Be quiet Ron!" Harry hissed. "He was just giving your mum a warning."

"But he can'-"

"Ron he's the head of house at the moment," Harry cut off the angry redhead. "If he wanted any of us to we could take up a broom, fly as high as we could and plunge to our deaths! He was being polite earlier but your mum crossed the line."

"That is enough," Artorius cut in sharply, stopping whatever retort or insult Ron was about to spew. "Paly the memory Bertram. The rest of you stay in your seats and watch." He growled. The memory played again and those who haden't seen it were enthralled by the memory. When the reveal of Peter Pettigrew came up, most could only stare in disbelief, They had all been sure that it was Sirius, the twins were even disappointed that Remus was apparently helping a mass murderer.

As the memory came to a close, they were sat frozen in their chairs, mostly in denial of what they saw.

"Well?" Artorius asked as the silence dragged on.

"I'm going to be sick," Percy started gagging and Artorius said he could move from the table. Percy ran towards a bush and proceeded to empty his stomach. He began to take heaving breaths as he continued to vomit while muttering the words "I let him sleep in my bed" before vomiting again.

"This is going to be a long day," Embry muttered to Irina while trying not to make a face at the smell that came wafting over to them.

"Indeed." She muttered back.

"You well and truly believe in this plan Athena," A golden haired man with bronze armor asked the Goddess of Wisdom as he gripped a bow and tugged at the string absently. "You believe that we will have to either kill or contain our brethren?"

"Of course Apollo," Athena said patiently. They were in her temple so they could have as much privacy as possible and not be overheard. Her father and uncles were doing the same in their temples with many other deities to try and pull them to their side or feel them out. "These options are the ones with the greatest amount of success with the least amount backlash."

"That does not mean they will work smoothly Athena," A woman with white hair and silver armor spoke up as she twirled an arrow between her fingers.

"I know that Artemis, even the best plans can fail but there are no there are no other options," Athena paused before she added. "Apollo, have you seen any other...extra curricular activities from either Ares or Hecate?"

"No and we can't punish them for what they've done so far because they have not directly interfered yet." The god of prophecy said somewhat sourly. In truth Apollo could only see what the Fates had allowed him to see and only after they had decided what course was to happen. He was somewhat envious of Thomas as his power of foresight was growing to the point where he might be able to see all futures for all of mankind and without restriction from anyone else.

"So we watch as much as we can and hope that the mortals prevail over the manipulations of our brother." Athena declared calmly yet firmly.

"Do you believe they will succeed?" Artemis inquired. "The Omega Blade is one of the best swords has ever made."

"No blade that he could make would match the quality of Hephaestus' weapons," Apollo countered. "The smith god is in a league of his own."

"The mortals are capable enough to fight those in possession of the Omega Blade," Athena reasoned but said nothing more. Really though, there was nothing left to say about that. "We should head to the throne room and wait there to discuss things further with our king."

The twin Archers nodded to their sister and followed her out of the temple.

OK if there is anyone still reading this I apologize for the delay but life can often be a pain in the ass when you want to do something fun. Don't know when I'll get the next chapter posted but I will try to get posted as soon as possible.

-Capt. Hazard.