Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.
Prewiev: Harry Potter is found dead. Sirius throws a tantrum and Dumbledore gets what he deserves. After a full moon Sirius and Mirzam are leading their first case since Sirius was freed and it turns really bad. New kid in the family. Ignatius says more than he intends and some people are going to have a very hard life once the family is going to get their hands on them.
Read, enjoy and review (because I'm having a really bad day and I need a bit cheering up).
I find myself in need of a beta, again. Anyone interested?
Thanks to all who wished me happy birthday.
Chapter eight: … and Sorrows.
'This is madness,' Mirzam thought to herself as she ducked into the canals at Fleet Street.
She made four steps forward and then she found what she was looking for. Small body of a toddler. His limbs were gnarled like he died in agony, empty green eyes were open wide. The sight was so horrible that Mirzam had a hard time resisting the urge to vomit and only a thought that Homam was alive and safe kept her from emptying her stomach.
She took of her travelling cloak and wrapped it around the body of the child. She glanced back at the hatch where Snape was supposed to be standing and gave him a small nod before she disapparated.
If there was a place in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries where no one ever wanted to go unless it was really necessary, for sure it was the area situated in the basement of the hospital, situated directly under the Reception: Examination Rooms and Morgue of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Mirzam was down there more times that she ever wanted. It was very creepy place and could give anyone nightmares for weeks. But today she had to go there. Harry Potter's case was her case and she had to be present at the examination of his body.
She took a deep breath as she entered Healers room. Inside it was sitting Theressa Boot, a middle-aged lady whom Mirzam knew all too well.
"New body, Verascez?" asked Theresa as she glanced at Mirzam. "Who we are going to have this time?" she asked as she raised a cup of tea to her lips.
"Harry Potter," Mirzam replied quietly.
Theresa dropped the cup with tea from shock, the cup broken into tiny pieces and the tea split at the parchments on Theresa's desk.
"No kidding," Theresa mumbled.
"I don't," Mirzam replied grimly. "It's him, Tess."
"Take him to Examination Room. I will join you in a moment," said Theresa and she pointed at the open door to Examination Room.
Mirzam nodded and entered the room. She lied small body on the table and unfolded her cloak just as Theresa entered the room.
For next two hours she watched Theresa as she slowly examined the body. Thankfully Theresa assured her that the child was indeed Harry Potter, which meant that the disguise was perfect. The cause of death was starvation and lingering pneumonia.
With a report from examination Mirzam apparated to the Aurors Apparating Point at the Ministry of Magic. She made her way to her cubicle where she found her husband sitting at her desk.
"Happy to see me Mirzam?" he asked casually, just in case someone was listening to them.
She leaned against the wall of the cubicle and sighed heavily, "I would be if I didn't had bad news for you."
"What had happened?" asked Sirius quickly, he played his role well.
"I found your godson," she said calmly.
"And…?" Sirius prompted her to talk.
"In the canals at Fleet Street," she said.
"He is at St. Mungo's, am I right?" Sirius asked.
"He is at St. Mungo's," she said grimly and after short pause she added. "In the morgue. I'm really sorry Sirius."
"Harry is dead?" Sirius in faked shock. "My little godson is dead," he croaked.
"He died from hunger and lingering pneumonia," Mirzam said quietly. "I'm sorry Sirius."
"I'm going to kill Dumbledore," Sirius bellowed so loudly that at least half of the floor heard them.
"What had happened?" asked Melvin Prewett who appeared in the entrance of the cubicle, behind him were standing six other Aurors.
"Dumbledore is what had happened," Sirius snarled angrily. "Harry will be protected at his aunt, he said. No one will hurt him, he said. Where the bloody hell he is now?! At the morgue thanks to Dumbledore's fucking protection!"
"What?" Melvin mumbled.
"My little godson is dead because I trusted the old meddling codger to protect him!" Sirius yelled. "If I had him with me…" he paused and sighed dramatically, "nothing would have happened. I'm a fucking Auror for Merlin's sake. But no," he snarled, "let him live with his aunt. She will protect him. He will be safer there. Harry is dead. That's how it fucking ended!" he collapsed on the chair and hid his face in his hands.
"Dumbledore is here," mumbled Melvin.
"Dumbledore is here," he heard Melvin's mumble.
'Good because according to the plan I'm going to break his nose,' Sirius thought frantically.
"Sirius," he heard Dumbledore's voice coming from between Mirzam and Melvin.
'Three, two, one. Go,' Sirius counted and he launched from the chair at Dumbledore.
His right fist connected with older wizard's nose while his left hand pushed older man against the wall of the cubicle.
"You swore that he will be protected at the Dursleys!" Sirius bellowed at him. "You fucking went against 'In Loco Parentis'! You took my little godson away from me!"
"Sirius…" Dumbledore started.
"Don't Sirius me!" Sirius snarled. "You had no fucking right to take him away from me! Where is that fucking protection which was supposed to keep him safe?! I could keep him safer than your fucking wards did! It's your fault that Harry is dead! You made me fail James and Lily, you failed them!" he yelled before he let go of older wizard and collapsed on the floor muttering incoherently 'He is dead" and 'It's your fault.'
"Sirius," he heard Mirzam's compassionate voice as she knelt next to him. "You are not in shape for work today. Let me take you home."
He nodded and he let her help him in standing up.
"If Verascez was quicker Harry would be alive," said Dumbledore calmly as he massaged his nose.
Sirius was faking his previous fury but when he heard Dumbledore's words he really saw red. No one threatened his wife and got away with it. He launched himself at Dumbledore and slapped older man so hard that he knocked him to the ground.
"If you ever, and I mean ever, say something bad about my wife," Sirius said, voice full of cold fury. "I will make your life a living hell and I very fucking mean it."
"Wife?" mumbled Melvin. "Verascez is your wife?"
"That's Mrs Black for you," Sirius snarled at Melvin. Then he turned back to Dumbledore and said, "If you ever start messing with my family… If you ever hurt my wife or my … there will be no place for you to hide Dumbledore, because I will find you and I will rip you into tiny pieces, limb by limb. Did I made myself clear?" he glared at the man.
"You have a kid?" asked Melvin. "How old is he?"
"Not your bloody business!" Sirius snarled at Melvin and again glared at Dumbledore and hissed, "I meant it."
"Sirius lets go," Mirzam grabbed him by the hand and dragged him away from Auror Headquarter.
She dragged him to Aurors Apparating Point from where they disapparated to home.
After coming back from Fleet Street, where he and Sirius hid the body, Regulus spend his time at looking for Kreacher, who like usual was nowhere to be seen. He didn't called the elf because he really didn't wanted to explain Horcruxes to Sirius or his mother now. He decided that he will let them have about a week of peace after the wedding. But the fact that he didn't called Kreacher didn't meant that he wasn't looking for the Horcrux whenever he could.
After turning whole library upside down, making even bigger mess at the attic and checking his and Sirius's old bedrooms he decided that without Kreacher he couldn't do anything. Finally he gave up and went to play with Homam.
The kid was fantastic. Homam was the calmest child around whom Regulus ever was, not that he was around many kids. He played happily with his toys and generally didn't made a lot of noise. He also didn't minded insanity which went under the names of various members of Black family.
His mother's idea to bring Harry Potter as Sirius's son was fantastic and it allowed Regulus to have a possibility of shaping the character of the kid. With Dark Wanker's existence in the world it was really important to make sure that the saviour of wizarding world knew how to defend himself. Of course, if Sirius or Mirzam, or even mum knew what Regulus had in mind for the kid he would find himself suffering from one of various kinds of torture.
But teaching the kid was a distant plan now. After all Homam was only twenty-one months old toddler and any teaching would not happen before the boy turned five, eventually six years. So for now it was uncle's Reggie job to find and destroy as many Horcruxes as possible, but not until Kreacher was back.
Regulus was sitting at the ground with Homam in his lap and was playing with Homam with a miniature Hogwarts's Express when he realised that something was wrong about the boy. The scar, the one which Wanker gave him was still in place, a bit altered by Familious Potion which changed lightning bolt scar into a straight line. The hair looked the same as always.
Homam raised his head and stared at his uncle, probably wondering why uncle Reggie stopped playing with him. That's when Regulus realised what was wrong with Homam. It was his eyes.
Homam's eyes, usually green, just like eyes of his biological mother, were grey, just like Sirius's.
'Familious Potion shouldn't alter the colour of his eyes, Snape was sure that it won't,' Regulus thought to himself.
Homam blinked and instead of grey eyes a pair of dark brown orbs was staring at Regulus curiously. Homam's eyes changed the colour twice in a matter of about ten minutes. It meant only one thing. Homam was Metamorphomagus, just like Mirzam and Dora.
"Mum!" Regulus called his mother and then whispered to Homam, "Change your eyes to the ones like your mum, Hommy."
Homam nodded and blinked. When he opened his eyes a pair of violet eyes was staring at Regulus.
"Good boy," Regulus snickered and hugged the kid.
The door opened with such a force that it slammed against the wall as his mother ran into the room. She was panting like she had ran all the way to the room.
"What had happened Regulus?" she asked between the pants for air.
"Look at Hommy," Regulus said.
His mother send him a glare but she glanced at Homam nevertheless.
"His eyes are violet," she whispered in shock as she approached them and sat down on the ground in front of them.
"They were grey two minutes ago and then they changed to dark-brown," Regulus said cheerfully. "Hommy is a Metamorphomagus."
"Just like Mirzam and Dora," his mother whispered. "It's great. Andromeda told me that Metamorphomagi is inherited."
"What do you mean?" Regulus glanced at his mother curiously.
"When Snape came around at Thursday, the one before the wedding he administered Familious Potion once again. He managed to separate from Mirzam's blood that little particle which was responsible for green eyes of her mother," she explained.
"So if someone checks Homam if he is really Sirius's and Mirzam's son the result will be positive," Regulus mumbled.
"That was general idea. It took so long to administer the potion because Snape still wanted Homam's eyes to be green even after administering the potion," she added.
"Dora is going to be over moon," Regulus snickered.
"Sure she will," his mother nodded. "I can't wait when the rest finds about it."
Mirzam apparated with Sirius to the kitchen at Grimmauld Place. She felt flattered at his fury but she knew Sirius well enough to know that if she won't manage to calm him down soon he will be moody for the rest of the day.
"Bloody old codger," Sirius muttered angrily as he sat down on one of the chairs.
"He is manipulative old bastard but there is no need to bring the house down with your anger," Mirzam said calmly and she put her hands on his shoulders and squeezed them. "I guess that you let proverbial Kneazel out of the bag."
"You heard him," Sirius huffed angrily.
"Yes, Sirius. I heard him," she sighed and kissed the top of her husband's head. "But he can do nothing to me. It's a matter of very short time before general public will find out that Harry Potter had died and with your outburst earlier I will be very disappointed if Dumbledore doesn't gets at least one Howler."
"You are right," Sirius sighed. "What is really important now, is that Harry is safe from Dumbledore."
"Why don't we go upstairs and play with him?" Mirzam asked.
"Good idea," Sirius nodded and he stood up from the chair.
They made their way to Homam's room quickly and opened the door. On the floor was sitting Regulus, Mrs Black and a kid who should be Homam. Should be but it wasn't possible that it was him because Homam was black-haired and green-eyed kid while the kid who was sitting on Regulus's knees had green hair and violet eyes.
"Where is Homam?" Mirzam asked nervously.
Regulus stared at her as if she grew a second hair before he pointed at the kid and said, "Hommy is a Metamorphomagus."
"But it was expected after we applied second dose of Familious Potion," said Mrs Black without turning back.
Arcturus was sitting at the library in his house and was checking if some of his ancestors managed to posses some books about Horcruxes other than 'The Darkest Arts' but still he found nothing even a bit interesting. Melania was in the garden together with Starshine and they were arranging the garden. Pollux together with Kreacher, whom Walburga supplied as help, was at his old house and together they were packing things which Pollux intended to bring with himself to Park Road.
Arcturus really didn't minded Pollux living at Park Road, especially now, when the Crabbes decided to take back the house in which Pollux and his wife lived. They gave him time till the end of April to pack whatever he wanted to take with himself before he was supposed to gave them back the keys. Pollux didn't put a fight about it because he knew very well that he could live in Canterbury as long as Irma was alive and she wasn't alive anymore.
Arcturus closed the book with a thud and sighed heavily, his eyes were prickling from reading for too long and the ache in his back from sitting in one position for few hours appeared again. He needed a cup of tea and a short nap.
He wandered to the kitchen and made himself a cup of tea with two spoonfuls of sugar before he came back to the library and seated himself in the armchair as he put the cup with tea on a small table next to it. He regretted it almost immediately, it was so easy to forget that on this table stood the last picture of his only son.
But to tell the truth he didn't need a picture to see Orion. He saw Orion every single time he looked at Sirius. Same face, same eyes, same hands, same way of talking, moving, looking at you from below the fringe. Sirius simply was carbon copy of young Orion and looking at Sirius and knowing how Orion had aged gave Arcturus idea how his older grandson would look at his father's age.
When it came to character Sirius was more his mother's son than his father's. It was Regulus who possessed every single quality of Orion's character. They were like fire and water, like wind and earth. Loud and rash, quiet and thinking.
"Thinking about Ori again?" asked Pollux suddenly, Arcturus was so lost in thoughts that he didn't realised that Pollux came back.
"And the boys," added Arcturus pensively. "How much their looks and their characters while making them different make them so much like Wally and Ori."
"Dangerous mix," sighed Pollux as sat down on the other armchair.
"Very explosive," snickered Arcturus. "So what are we going to do with Ori, did you thought about it?" he asked more seriously.
"I did," mumbled Pollux. "I don't think that we should inform Wally and boys before we had a chance to talk with him. On the other hand if he sees one of us instead Sirius he may run away before we had a chance to find out anything."
"Polyjuice Potion?" asked Arcturus curiously.
"Indeed," Pollux nodded. "You will go as Sirius, I'm going to use Lupin. Wolfboy lives in Treen, Orion hardly knew him, even from sight so it wouldn't be suspicious if he was around Sirius."
"There is a flaw in your plan, Polly," Arcturus muttered. "Wolfboy is … a wolfboy. Polyjuice is only designed for humans."
Pollux shook his head and said, "I did some research on the subject. Werewolves who possess the ability of controlling themselves and acting as normal humans won't have problems with Polyjuice no matter if they are takers or givers. Wolfboy possess this ability so spending the day as him won't be a problem."
"How you are going to nick a hair from him?" asked Arcturus sceptically.
"Pre-Full Moon Syndrome," Pollux replied as if it could explain anything. "With full moon approaching he is getting more and more tired. If I nick a hair from him day before the full moon he won't even realise it."
"If you say so," Arcturus sighed.
"I know so," Pollux mumbled.
Walburga wasn't really sure about Lupin's stay at 12 Grimmauld Place during the full moon, even with heavily warded room in the basement and two Animagi – Mirzam put a fight about accompanying Sirius and Lupin during the full moon and won – she was worried beyond her mind that something may go wrong and she spent whole night in Homam's room at listening if the werewolf wasn't approaching.
Morning after the full moon she, together with Homam and Regulus she made her way to the kitchen expecting the worst. But when she found her son, daughter-in-law and Lupin in the kitchen alive, unharmed, even if a bit tired she sighed in relief.
"I told them that I would be fine on my own in Treen," Lupin said sheepishly.
"You should know better than argue Lupin," snickered Regulus. "A breakfast and a long nap will put you in shape."
"I won't be in shape for next two days, maybe even tree," Lupin replied grimly. "Years of experience speaking."
"Maybe you should take a bath in relaxing oils before the nap. They do wonders to my own aches," Walburga suggested. "You are in lucky position, these two," she pointed at Sirius and Mirzam, "have to go to work in a hour."
"We are really cheering about it," Sirius mumbled sleepily.
"You will be cheering after a strong cup of coffee. I'm not letting you out of the house without at least one cup and that's final," Walburga said bossily and send Sirius a meaningful glare.
"Who says that we are going to argue about it?" asked Mirzam.
He admitted to himself that he felt nervous about coming back to work after knocking Dumbledore to the ground but had anyone, save Mirzam, asked him how he felt about whole thing he would answer that he was absolutely fine.
The thing was that he didn't felt fine. There was something on the edge of his mind, a gut twisting feeling that something was very wrong. It wasn't about family, no he knew that they were absolutely fine and if something really happened he would be informed immediately. Mirzam was fine, a glance at her standing next to him and the comforting warmth around his left ring finger only confirmed his assumptions. Homam was fine, busy with tormenting Regulus who spent with the kid more time than Sirius expected it from him.
Something was wrong, very wrong and the closer they got to level two the stronger that feeling was. Finally the grille slid open and they were about to step out of the lift when Madam Bones appeared in front of them.
"I have a case for you two," she said quickly. "The matter needs to be taken care of very carefully."
She entered the lift and pushed the button which stopped the lift.
"What's the problem?" asked alarmed Mirzam.
"Someone had spotted a pack of werewolves last night in High Bentham they were running in the direction of Bowland Forest," said Madam Bones gravely.
"What's wrong with a pack of werewolves running into the forest?" asked Sirius sceptically.
"The fact that they fur was covered in blood. I know that you expect bigger cases now but if something bad really had happened I'm going to need tactful people," said Madam Bones firmly. "What worries me the most is that in this area some of oldest pure-blood families happen to live and werewolves laws are strict enough without a massive attack, Merlin forbid it, let's hope that it was an animal not a human."
"Werewolves don't harm animals," Sirius snorted grimly. "We will go."
They apparated at the outskirts of High Bentham and immediately transformed into a pair of dogs. For normal people they would seem a pair of Labradors; one with jet-black fur and one with golden fur which went for a walk.
Sirius immediately caught the scent and started leading them deeper into the forest. But Mirzam felt unsure about going to the forest, or to be more precise the dog in her felt unsure about accompanying her mate. The dog in her wanted to run in opposite direction driven on something Mirzam as a human couldn't exactly pinpoint.
'What in the name of all things magical you have in mind girl?' she asked her alter ego.
'Pup,' came the answer, it surprised her so much that she tripped on a fallen branch and nearly landed in a puddle of mud.
'Pup?' Mirzam asked the dog.
'Pup. Puppy is wounded. Needs help. Girl wants to help the pup,' the dog answered. 'He chases the bad ones but pup needs help more.'
Pup could mean only one thing, a child, a child in danger, a wounded child. In the moment it clicked in Mirzam's mind she stopped walking and glanced at Sirius who had his nose almost glued to the ground before she turned around and ran as fast as her paws allowed her.
After about two hundred yards of running she heard familiar barking behind her but she didn't stopped. She trusted the dog's instinct, werewolves weren't important, the pup, however, was. When she reached the middle of the length of the village she felt that something tackled her from behind. She shook the weight from her back and stared in disbelief at Sirius who after picking himself from the ground motioned with his head the direction from which they just came.
'No,' Mirzam and the dog thought at the same time and before she even realised what she was doing Mirzam barred her teeth and growled warningly.
Her growl surprised Sirius so much that she had no problem with running past him and when he caught up with her for the second time instead of tackling her he was running by her side.
A bit more to the east, past four types of fences, up the hill. With each passing footstep the smell of blood got stronger. Finally when the scent got so unavailable to stand she spotted the house.
The door to the house were ripped from hinges, garden completely destroyed but somewhere from the confines of the house came a desperate cry. Mirzam let her nose guide her as she ran up the stairs without a single glance at other things around her. She ran into one of the rooms and she found a child.
The body of the child was covered in blood. It was lying on the ground and whimpering pitifully but when it spotted the dog it suddenly stopped. She approached the child before she changed back into her human form.
"Oh dear, what happened to you?" she sighed as she knelt next to the child.
She scanned the body looking for the gash from which blood was dribbling. Left collarbone seemed crushed and had a very deep gash from which the blood was oozing. Mirzam tried to heal the wound but the spell didn't worked. She sighed as she conjured bandage and wrapped it tightly around the wound.
"Take him home Mirzam and alarm Andromeda, she is supposed to be at home today," said Sirius from the doorway.
"I can't heal it," Mirzam mumbled.
"It's a werewolf bite, Mirzam. They are resistant to normal healing," Sirius said grimly.
She turned her head around to look at him before she asked, "What about you?"
"I will alarm Ted and Shack, they will know what to do," Sirius replied. "Go, I will see you at home."
She nodded and she picked the child into her arms before she disapparated.
The house was old, very old. The paintings on the walls reminded Sirius of his own house, old mansion in which generations of pure-bloods lived. But unlike the house at Grimmauld Place this house looked far more brighter, more cheerful despite five bodies downstairs.
He stopped in front of the painting of a beautiful black-haired woman and glanced at the portrait curiously. He knew that kind of high-cheekbones, straight jet-black hair and pale eyes. This was Black family trait. Whomever lived in this house had been related to the Blacks in a way. Under the portrait, in a tiny golden letters was written, 'Callidora Black, on the eve of her marriage to Harfang Longbottom.'
"First cousin twice removed," Sirius muttered to himself. "Married to Harfang Longbottom, brother of Henry Longbottom who fathered Frank Longbottom."
'Neville!' his conscience screamed at him. 'The kid was Neville, Frank's and Alice's only son.'
Now the case looked really ugly. An old pure-blood family attacked, murdered by werewolves and a bitten child. Once the public gets a wind on it there are going to be werewolf hunting all over again, he remembered all too well reading about the case of 'Tavistock 1965' which ended uglier than it was supposed to be.
Twelve wizarding families attacked by a pack of pissed off werewolves, all cruelly murdered, half eaten, four little children, who lasted the slaughter died due to severity of the wounds. Only one child lived through the attack, only one child was fortunate and unfortunate enough to live… doomed for lifetime filled with the curse of lycanthropy.
If Neville lived through this day, his young life was going to be filled with pain. Like Remus he would suffer the pain of transformation, being judged by an event which wasn't his fault. If he lived through the day and the public would get a wind about the attack there was no way for Neville to attend Hogwarts. With his parents in St. Mungo's in no state of sanity and the rest of family murdered Neville was going to end in orphanage because no one would take a werewolf child. It wasn't fair. For Merlin's sake the kid wasn't even two years old!
'You take him,' mumbled Padfoot from the back of Sirius's mind. 'You know how to handle it.'
'Family would never agree,' Sirius replied.
'They seem to accept Moony pretty well,' came a reply.
'Moony is different, Moony visits and sometimes stays for the night. Neville's stay would be permanent. They would never accept him,' Sirius said.
'You may never know until you try.'
This was a possibility of course. He knew that Mirzam would agree immediately, he was sure of that. But the rest of the family will be harder to persuade and what kind of back-story for Neville he was supposed to supply for the public?
He decided to worry about it later and called Ted and Shack for help.
Two minutes later both men appareted next to him.
"What's up Sior?" asked Ted.
"A mass-murder performed by werewolves," Sirius muttered grimly. "Five adults half-consumed and a child which at this moment should be revived by your wife."
"Droma isn't on duty, Sior," Ted shook his head.
"I know," Sirius nodded. "That's why I asked Mirzam to bring the kid to our home and call Andromeda for help. If the kid lives I don't want the public to know that he may be a werewolf," he said seriously.
"You are going against the law," Shacklebolt muttered.
"I know, but I want to make sure that if the kid lives he isn't going to be judged by something which wasn't his fault. He isn't even two years old, for Merlin's sake!" Sirius huffed angrily.
"Dumbledore would never allow a werewolf to attend Hogwarts," Shacklebolt shook his head.
"Speaking for personal experience Shack?" Sirius asked sarcastically. "Because I distinctly remember living for seven years in one dormitory with a werewolf therefore I think that I can persuade Dumbledore into letting Neville attend Hogwarts, assuming that Neville survives."
"You lived with a werewolf in one dormitory?" asked Shacklebolt in shock.
"I did," Sirius confirmed. "Nice fellow."
"But how… what about full moons?" asked Shacklebolt.
"Shrieking Shack," Sirius replied. "Let's go and check the bodies."
They went downstairs and Sirius bend over the body of an old lady. Down from the waist her body was half-eaten. On her left collarbone there was a gash and the pattern of teeth reminded Sirius something.
"I saw this pattern before," Sirius muttered to himself. "But on whom it was … Remus!"
"Lupin had done it?" asked Ted nervously.
"No!" Sirius huffed.
"Lupin is a werewolf Sirius," Ted pointed out.
"He is a werewolf but I spent last full moon with him so unless you want to tell me that somehow he managed to be in two places at the same time there is no way that it was him," Sirius muttered. "Besides I said that it wasn't Remus's teeth. It's a pattern of teeth which I saw ON Remus, the werewolf who bit him had done it," he pointed at the woman.
"One werewolf no matter how powerful wouldn't make so much damage," Ted waved at other four bodies.
"No, he wouldn't," Sirius agreed. "There was a pack of three or four. About three I'm one hundred percent sure, the scent of the fourth is less stronger than the others, more mellow, undeveloped."
"The scent?" Shacklebolt asked sceptically.
"I'm an Animagus," Sirius muttered. "A dog, so I can pick scents better than you. Three older werewolves and one young, three males for sure, the fourth one is either a female or a very young werewolf. They came from north, banged the door open, killed the men first then they went for the women. The child was probably the last. All evidence points out that it was intentional."
"Fernir Greyback?" asked Ted sceptically. "He is known for intentional attacks."
"Possibly," Sirius agreed. "Greyback is a known mad man but no one caught him."
"What we are going to do now?" asked Ted.
"I will alarm Madam Bones and together we will decide what we are going to do with it," Sirius mumbled.
It was pure luck that when Mirzam apparated to the hall her mother-in-law was passing the hall and upon seeing Mirzam with a child covered in blood she ran to her.
"What happened Mirzam?" she asked in concern.
"Call Andromeda and tell her to bring her bag. I'm going to put him in the room on the first floor," Mirzam replied and she ran up the stairs.
She lied the child on the bed and stared at the wound. The bandage was completely soaked in blood. Mirzam quickly conjured another bandage and wrapped the wound.
It seemed that eternity had passed before Andromeda and Walburga ran into the room.
"What happened Mirzam?" asked Andromeda quickly.
"Werewolf attack," Mirzam replied. "He is the only one who lived."
"Step aside and let me take care of him," Andromeda ordered. "Wally, I need Blood Repealing Potion. Do you have any?"
"Downstairs," Walburga replied and she ran out of the room.
"Where is Sirius?" asked Andromeda as she unwrapped the bandage.
"Still there," Mirzam replied. "What about the kid?"
"He lost a lot of blood, Mirzam. But if he survives next three hours he is going to live," Andromeda replied grimly.
"Can I help you?" Mirzam asked nervously. "I'm not a trained healer but I know few healing charms."
"I will need your help with stitches. Werewolf bites can't be healed by magic, especially big ones like this one," Andromeda pointed at the wound. "I will need to stitch it before I can apply the ointment."
Madam Bones appareted to Longbottoms house five minutes after Sirius called her. All three men were waiting for her in the garden. Ted and Shack were sitting on the ground while Sirius was leaning against doorframe.
"How bad it is?" Madam Bones asked as soon as she appareted.
"Very bad. Five dead and the child is fighting for his life," Sirius replied.
"At St. Mungo's?" Madam Bones asked quickly.
"No," Sirius shook his head. "St. Mungo's is too risky now. Ted's wife is taking care of him now. Let's hope that he will live."
"So what are we going to do about that attack?" Madam Bones asked.
"We cannot admit now that it was a werewolf attack," Sirius muttered. "Personally I thought about rabid pack of hungry dogs," he motioned his head to the confines of the house. "Explains everything."
"The child?" asked Madam Bones.
"Eaten," Sirius replied. "If he lives, with no living and sane family the only place he is going to end is orphanage and if he won't … we would be dead to the world anyway."
"Assuming the he lives who is going to take care of him?" asked Madam Bones quickly.
"We will," Sirius sighed. "We will bring him as Homam's twin brother who due to very serious sickness was lying in muggle hospital. It's not that many people ever saw Homam."
"Are you sure that your family is going to agree?" asked Shacklebolt.
"If they don't then they will have to learn to live with it," Sirius shrugged. "Thankfully the kids are the same age."
"How you are going to bring up a werewolf with a normal child?" asked Ted nervously.
"Normally," Sirius shrugged. "A werewolf is dangerous only on a full moon and Mirzam and I are more than capable of handling a transformed werewolf."
"Are you sure that she is going to agree?" asked Shacklebolt.
"One hundred percent sure," Sirius nodded.
"Rabid dogs aren't really good idea. The public will know that it was a werewolf attack," Madam Bones muttered.
"Then what we are doing?" Sirius asked.
"It's a mass-murder," Madam Bones pointed out. "I heard that a muggle mass-murderer hides nearby. The folk is crazy enough to murder whole family. The Longbottoms were wealthy enough."
"How do we explain half-eaten bodies and missing child?" asked Shacklebolt.
"Never heard about cannibalism?" asked Sirius sarcastically.
"I'm with him on this one," Madam Bones muttered. "We push the fault on the murderer, the public will assume that it was him. In the meantime Sirius and Mirzam are going to look for these who done it, if we are lucky we can charge them for an old murder."
"And if we aren't then there is a full moon for us," Sirius snorted.
The hours passed agonizingly slow for Mirzam. Together with Andromeda they stitched child's wound, cleared him from the rest of blood and waited for some sign of recovery.
"He doesn't looks better," Mirzam muttered.
"But he isn't getting worse and that's something," sighed Andromeda. "I will cast monitoring charm and we are going downstairs for a cup of tea."
"I'm not sure," Mirzam muttered, she felt bad about leaving the child on its own.
"There is nothing we can do now besides waiting. Go first, I will join you in a moment," Andromeda nudged her.
Mirzam nodded and left the room. Waiting was the worst part, waiting and not knowing how it would end. She walked into the hall in the same moment, Sirius and Ted apparated.
Upon seeing her Sirius ran to her and hugged her tightly.
"How is he?" he asked after he pulled away.
"Still alive," Mirzam sighed. "We had done everything we could."
"I need to talk to you, in private," Sirius motioned at the library.
She nodded and followed him to the library. Mirzam sat down on the couch while Sirius knelt in front of her. He looked troubled.
"I … We …" he started nervously. "I know that the subject of kids other than Homam didn't came out but …"
She sighed and cut him off by lying her finger on his lips as she said, "If you are asking me about taking care of him if he survives my answer is: yes, we can take care of him."
"You are an angel," Sirius mumbled and he kissed her hand.
"Are we adopting him or are we using Familious Potion again?" she asked quickly.
"Officially Neville is dead," Sirius mumbled. "I think that Familious Potion will do the job. He will be Homam's twin, weaker and sicker one. No one saw Homam beside the family, Remus, Madam Bones and Shacklebolt and no one beside mum, Reg, Remus, Madam Bones, Shack and us is aware of Homam's true identity."
"You are going to talk the family into it," Mirzam sighed. "There is no way that they are going to fall for Familious Potion for the second time."
"I know. That's why I told them to come here in half of hour," Sirius nodded. "I also alarmed Snape, he will come in the evening with the potion if Neville lives this long."
Pollux stared at his older grandson when Sirius finished telling what had happened to the Longbottoms, Lupin who was sitting on Sirius's left looked like he was going to throw up any second now.
"So you want to bring up a werewolf child," Pollux sighed heavily.
It wasn't surprising, not really, that Sirius wanted to bring up a werewolf child and that Mirzam agreed with him, but the act of hiding the kid as their own was surprising.
"Do you have problems with it?" Sirius muttered grimly.
"I only wonder why you need to hide him," Pollux muttered. "You can adopt him officially, you know."
"No we can't," Mirzam shook her head. "Neville Longbottom is officially dead. The attack at the family is disguised as a mass-murder committed by a man who is guilty of other mass-murders. While we are going to look for the real murderers officially we can't do anything about Neville."
"Except attending the funeral," Sirius added grimly. "Does anyone has objections?"
"I have one," said Lucretia quickly. "What about the full moon?"
"Sirius made me spent last night here," Lupin muttered. "In that room," he waved at the room hidden behind the kitchen wall. "It's perfectly warded and two Animagi can keep a werewolf from doing too much damage to itself, or the room."
"What about Hogwarts?" asked Pollux curiously.
"Dumbledore owes me a favour for endangering my godson's life and leading to his death," Sirius muttered grimly. "With Shrieking Shack the kid will made it through his education," he paused then looked pointedly at Andromeda and added, "If he lives."
Andromeda nodded and said slowly, "He will make a full recovery, or as full as possible. His wound is going to scar and it probably will be torn open by the first full moon but it's typical with first transformation."
"You are going to make yourself look bad in the public if someone finds out that Neville is a werewolf," Lupin pointed out.
"Fuck public," Sirius snorted. "I'm asking the family for their opinion, not the public."
"Well if you are going to take all safety measures …" started Melania.
"I don't think that we are going to have something against you bringing up the kid as your own," mumbled Arcturus. "It's sad that the kid is going to live with that curse but a proof that one can be a werewolf, and a nice man is sitting here with us."
"Besides you can afford that new potion," mumbled Cassiopeia. "Wolfsbane Potion."
"It works?" asked Lupin curiously.
"From what I read, yes it does. Quite splendidly," Cassiopeia answered. "It isn't cheap but not very expensive either."
"Snape can make it for us," said Walburga suddenly. "Maybe even we can talk him into making Lupin a batch."
"No way I …" Lupin started but was cut off by Walburga quickly.
"You will need one and Neville will need one. I don't really see a reason for Snape to make the potion for Neville only," she said firmly.
"I can't afford it and it would be …" Lupin started only to be cut off by Walburga once again.
"Consider it as a payback for clearing the garden and if you really feel bad about it I will let you have a go at the library, it needs organising," she said.
Lupin glanced at her then at Sirius and mumbled, "Sirius."
Sirius smirked before he said, "I agree with mum. You need Wolfsbane and Wolfsbane you will get."
"Sir?" Lupin looked pleadingly at Pollux.
Pollux smirked before he said, "You are a grandson of Hercules Lupin, one of the best librarians and archivists I ever meet. I say that you can manage going through Orion's library."
"You knew my grandfather?" asked Lupin curiously.
"I did," said Arcturus quickly. "Seven years in the same class. Always lost in thoughts Ravenclaw."
"You were partnered with him in Potions," Pollux pointed out.
"How we managed to last seven years in one classroom is still beyond me," snickered Arctururs. "Hercules was hopeless when it came to potions."
"Hermes wasn't," Ignatius sighed. "He, Orion, Alphard, Charlus Potter and I were in the same class at Hogwarts. Two Slytherins, two Ravenclaws and one Gryffindor."
"You forgot Patrick Pettigrew, Hufflepuff, same year," Arcturus said pensively. "I wonder why you didn't ended in the same house."
"What you mean?" asked Sirius curiously.
That was one of the secrets which family hid from Sirius, especially after he was sorted into Gryffindor. Six men which formed an unusual for their families awkward friendship which lasted through seven years of education at Hogwarts and partly beyond it.
"Marauders," said Ignatius pensively.
Sirius and Lupin paled at that and exchanged worried glances.
"What you mean?" asked Lupin timidly.
"That's what we called each other," said Ignatius pensively. "Marauders. We befriended each other on Hogwarts Express and even after we ended in different Houses we still remained friends."
"I don't think that there was much of friendship going Iggy," Arcturus snorted.
"What you mean?" asked Ignatius nervously.
"I mean that my son spent more time in Gryffindor tower than in Slytherin dungeon," Arcturus snickered. "Orion's old diaries are very entertaining to read. Especially the parts where he writes down Lupin's snide comments about Alphie and Charlie. There is also a part where Orion writes that if he catches Charlie when Polyjuice Potion is still on, he is going to hex his sorry Gryffindor bum back to where it belongs. You knew it."
Ignatius nodded sheepishly and he said slowly, "Of course we did. I mean it was Orion's idea to use Polyjuice Potion, he told me and Hermes that it was better than listening to Alphie's moaning and groaning about Charlie, well as long as they snogged when Polyjuice wore off. He felt a bit uneasy about Charlie having a go at Alphie when he still looked like Orion."
"Why you never said anything?" asked Lucretia quickly.
"There wasn't much to talk about, Lucy," Ignatius shrugged. "Besides we knew that the families wouldn't be very happy about the friendship. Plus all the dynamics in the group was quite messy, each of us had a best friend in the group but most of the time it wasn't the same person."
"Do explain," Walburga pleaded.
"Orion was my best friend," said Ignatius pensively. "But his best friend was Hermes and Orion was Hermes's best friend. Alphie confided in me with his secrets while Charlie was Patrick's best friend. But no one of us felt really comfortable with Pettigrew, he was just a tag along."
"That's why Orion disappeared from my birthday breakfast in June 1965," Lucretia mumbled. "The party was day after the full moon. He got an owl and disappeared without a word."
"That's when Remus was bitten by a werewolf. Hermes was on a mission and Elizabeth alarmed Orion about the attack," Ignatius nodded. "They took him to muggle hospital where the bite was healed, that's why Remus wasn't in werewolf registry till after graduation."
"Why I was taken to muggle hospital?" asked Lupin quietly.
Ignatius squirmed nervously in his place before he mumbled, "Because you godfather thought that it was unwise to alert the Ministry of Magic about your condition. This way you had a chance to attend Hogwarts."
"My godfather?" Lupin mumbled. "I never had one."
"You did," Ignatius sighed. "Orion was your godfather, just like Alphard was James's and Charlus was Peter's while Hermes was Sirius's and I was Regulus's godfathers. Told you that it's complicated to explain," he rubbed his head nervously.
"I always thought that you were my godfather," Sirius mumbled.
"I was Regulus's but with Walburga around," Ignatius muttered sheepishly. "In not so nice state as now, Orion thought that it would be unwise to make it known that your godfather is a known blood traitor."
"Why I have a feeling that there is more to talk about?" asked Lucretia.
"Because there is," Ignatius sighed. "It was Orion who talked Dumbledore into letting Remus attend Hogwarts, it was Orion who gave money for Shrieking Shack, it was Orion who warded the shack and finally it was Orion who left the book about Animagi Transformation laying around in the library for Sirius to find it."
"You knew it?" Sirius mumbled.
"The last part I didn't. But it was pretty clear after Lucy told me how you and your friends became Animagi. I can bet my wand on the fact that Orion left the book around for you to find it," Ignatius explained. "As for the other parts, I was distinctly aware of the shack, remember that Orion was a Head of School Board of Governors around that time."
"Why Orion never told anyone about it?" asked Walburga suddenly.
"Because he was … well … Orion," Ignatius said slowly. "Orion confided in Hermes in everything he did and if there is one person who knew Orion the best it was Hermes."
"Was?" asked Walburga.
"My father had been killed in Death Eaters attack on 13th November 1979," Lupin mumbled.
That alarmed Pollux and he kicked Arcturus under the table. Orion's letter to Sirius was dated on 13th November 1979. There was no way that it was a stupid coincidence. Plus their plan would fail because Orion DID knew Lupin.
"No he didn't," Ignatius mumbled nervously. "And neither …" he paused. "And neither did Orion on 13th December 1979."
"What you mean?" Walburga demanded.
"They are alive Wally," Ignatius mumbled. "Both of them."
"WHAT?" Walburga shrieked in shock. "You are lying, Orion would never …" she mumbled.
"Orion would fake his death Wally," Pollux mumbled then he turned to Ignatius. "Did they told you why they did it?"
Ignatius shook his head and said quietly, "The only thing they told me was that they had to do it because the lives of their beloved ones were in danger. With Regulus death so fresh in Orion's mind he couldn't risk Sirius life as well," he paused and then added sadly. "You might have blast Sirius from the family tree Wally, but you never blasted Sirius out from Orion's heart. And Hermes, Hermes wanted to protect Remus at all cost."
"Where are they?" Walburga demanded angrily. "When I get my hands on them they will …"
"You won't get your hands on them, Wally," Ignatius mumbled. "The only thing I know is that Orion left a last letter to Sirius somewhere around the house, I think that it was hidden in the book called 'The Darkest Arts'. I was supposed to give Sirius the book as soon as I could find it. But I couldn't, at first, after Orion's 'death' I didn't knew how to approach Wally, then was the case and later Sirius's imprisonment and when I finally had time to look for it … The book was gone, so was the letter."
"You mean this book?" asked Arcturus and he pulled out from his pocket 'The Darkest Art.'
"And this letter?" added Pollux as he pulled out Orion's letter.
"You knew it," Walburga mumbled. "How long?"
"Since Regulus came back," Pollux answered quietly.
"Did you read it?" asked Sirius quietly.
"We did. So you better read it aloud," Pollux said and he handed Sirius the letter.
He took the letter from his grandfather's hand with shaking hands. So many information, things he didn't knew about his father. It was overwhelming. He opened it and read it aloud:
13th November 1979, 12 Grimmauld Place, London
Dear Sirius,
If you are reading this letter then I guess my funeral already took place. I'm sure you wonder why in the name of Merlin's lousy underwear your father appears to know about his own death before it even occurred. I'm not a seer to foresee my demise and frankly I assure you that it didn't even took place. I can't give you more details beforehand but I can tell you one. The body inside the coffin isn't mine, just looks like mine – never polyjuice a corpse if you don't want to have drastic results. You might ask who is that folk who lies in my coffin. The answer is plain and simple, a corpse from hospital morgue, some homeless guy who died during the winter at place near the house. I didn't not kill him, that one I can promise.
Enough of the corpses when living are real trouble. I know your alliance Sirius, I know about the Order of the Phoenix and how active you are in it. Don't fret, no one sold you, I just have my way of keeping my eye on you. I know that you would do everything you can to oppose Lord Voldemort but what you are doing now you are doing in vain. Before you throw out this letter let me finish. I think that your actions are vain because opposing You-Know-Who openly will only get you in troubles but there is other way around to mess with him, a better but more dangerous one.
If you read this letter therefore you have the book in which I put it. Now take the book out of rubbish bin and find the 'Horcrux' part. I know that reading it would give you nausea but I beg you to read everything about them before you come back to reading second part of my letter, it's very important that you are aware of what a Horcrux is before you read the rest of my letter. Now to the book you go.
Sirius finished reading first sheet of the letter and glanced at his grandfather.
"Keep reading," Arcturus said.
So you read about the Horcrux. Scary, isn't it? Now let me tell you a story about young foolish boy who got highly educated in Dark Arts. He read this piece to, at the age of seventeen and got the scare of his life.
Horcrux with the way it's supposed to work in a small way can ensure immortality of the person who created it, while the Horcrux is kept safe and intact the creator of it would live even if his or hers body somehow got destroyed. He or she can't die as long as the Horcrux exist, that's why I think opposing You-Know-Who openly is just giving your life in vain. I know, for sure that Voldemort possesses at least one Horcrux, this means that he cannot die. But he doesn't possess just one, Sirius, I have very strong suspicious that at least six or seven Horcruxes of his exists, what they are and where they are I do not know. But to win the war with him, win for good, the Horcruxes needs to be destroyed before someone tries to kill him, doing it sooner will only be a vain sacrifice.
I can't really explain it here, in this letter but maybe by the time you read this letter I'll manage to possess some kind of the knowledge about it. That's why I need you to meet me at the solstice in a small inn in Treen. Don't worry about the year or time of the year of it because I'm going to wait for you there at every solstice till I die, this time for good.
Maybe you are curious about my reasoning. For example why I abandoned your mother? The answer is simple: if Regulus's death taught me something, it taught me how close Voledmort can get to me without even knowing. My work could endanger Regulus's life, and it might endanger yours if he ever gets a wind about what I'm doing.
I beg you to come and see me in Treen at solstice, that would be one of two times of the year when I'm going to be in Great Britain, don't bother to look for me before it because even I don't know where I'm going to through the rest of the year. But if there is one thing I can promise is that I would rather die myself before I let You-Know-Who gain even more power than he already has.
I beg you to come and see me because it's the only way I can make sure that my grandchildren are going to live in a better world, in a world which knows not the war.
All my love my son,
Orion
Sirius stared at the parchment feeling the tears gathering in his eyes and he blinked furiously to not let them fall. He cared. His father cared for him. He signed the letter, all my love my son. He knew about the Order of the Phoenix.
"So that's why you were so secretive lately," Regulus muttered. "You knew something I didn't."
That snapped Sirius from staring at the letter and made him look at his younger brother in shock.
"What do you mean Reggie?" he asked shakily.
"I mean," Regulus sighed. "Fuck, I never wanted to throw it on you so soon. But since dad already did it," he paused. "Dad is right, Vol … Wanker has Horcruxes, as in more than one. I think that he has six of them and as long as he has them he cannot die. But unlike dad I have upper knowledge which comes from being a former Death Eater, I know or at least suspect what could be disguised as a Horcrux. In fact I have one, somewhere."
"What?" Sirius mumbled.
"I would be more than happy if someone told me where in the name of all thing magical is Kreacher," Regulus said quickly.
"At my place," Arcturus answered.
"What Kreacher has to do with it?" asked Melania quickly.
"Everything," Regulus sighed. "Everything. If it wasn't for him I would never suspect the Wanker of having a Horcrux and if it wasn't for him I would never got my hand on it."
"I will call him if you stop talking in riddles and explain yourself," his mother muttered.
Regulus rolled his eyes and he leaned against the back of the chair before he answered, "As most of you know already at the age of sixteen I became a Death Eater. I lasted about a year there because for most of the time I was at Hogwarts. But shortly after I joined the Wanker told us that he will need a House-elf. I supplied Kreacher."
"What?!" Sirius mumbled.
"I supplied Kreacher," Regulus repeated. "The Wanker took him to the cave at the coast and hid the Horcrux there. He assumed, and I never wanted to prove him wrong, that Kreacher had died in that cave. But he didn't, he came back home because I asked him to come back and he told me everything which had happened in the cave," he paused, took a deep breath and continued. "I told him to lie low and never leave the house until it was absolutely necessary. For about a year nothing had happened," he paused again and then he whispered. "Until the murder of a muggle family of the Greens and then few days later …" he paused again. "St. Ives's Massacre."
"What you mean?" Sirius whispered nervously.
"I was called at the meeting after the parents were killed. The girl had been taken captive and …" he paused, his voice shaking.
"She was tortured and raped by Fernir Greyback," Mirzam finished for Regulus.
Sirius turned to his wife immediately asking her silently for explanations.
"Regulus told me about it," she sighed heavily. "I would have hexed his sorry bum to north pole if he didn't. The thing is that …"
"I killed the girl," Regulus cut Mirzam off. "I killed her because I knew what awaited her if I didn't. Room full of people and she found me. Her eyes bore into my soul, pleading for mercy, pleading for death and I … I killed her and suffered dearly for it but I didn't cared. Ten Cruciatus is a penalty for insubordination every single one of us had to face," he paused and he grabbed the edge of the table so hard that his knuckles turned white. "I would it over again if I had to."
"What about St. Ives?" asked Walburga quietly.
"I …" Regulus started and shook his head. "On 27th June 1979 I … I was preparing for ambush in St. Ives, mentally because I knew that I was about to die in a matter of very short time. Then dad came … and told me about Sirius and Mirzam being partners. Next morning I sent anonymous tip to the Ministry about the ambush, I knew about it because I was supposed to participate in it."
Sirius paled at that, Regulus was there, in St. Ives.
"When I saw," Regulus whispered. "When I saw that …" his voice trembled. "When I saw that the idiots from the Ministry send … ten Aurors, straight from the training … there, to St. Ives. Against … thirty Death Eaters … for a certain death … I …"
No one said anything, they waited for Regulus to calm down.
"I went as far as I could to save as much of them as possible," Regulus whispered. "The Aurors on the roof fought hard, to hard for these Death Eaters who were on the roof to handle them alone. They called for backup …" he paused. "Avery, I think it was him, cursed Mirzam when Nott cast Killing Curse in Sirius's direction. If it wasn't for Mirzam's fall …" he shook his head and looked at Sirius with eyes glistening in tears and said, "If it wasn't for Mirzam you would be dead. I stunned you just in time when Nott and Avery went upstairs."
"But I remember calling for backup," Sirius mumbled as Regulus turned his head away.
"You remember calling for backup because I modified your memory, you were in no state to fight Sirius and neither was Mirzam," Regulus whispered. "I healed her as much as I could and then I gave her the necklace, it was supposed to activate after my death. She was supposed to find my body … Then I called for backup using your wand. I hurt myself and when I heard that the backup had came I ran away screaming like a banshee. I was amongst the ten Death Eaters who got away from the Massacre. But that's not everything."
"You mean that there is more?" asked Walburga quietly.
"There is," Regulus whispered. "At the end of the September Bellatrix," he spat the name. "Bellatrix the bitch got wonderful idea to test my loyalty. I have been told to kill a person of their choosing."
"Whom you were told to kill?" Sirius asked quietly.
Regulus once again looked at Sirius with the most serious expression Sirius ever saw on him and he whispered, "You."
"Me?" Sirius whispered in shock.
"Yes, you," Regulus whispered. "Who do you think make sure that by the time of your supposed death day you were freezing your bum in Finland together with Mirzam? I could never kill you and I would give my own life to protect you Sirius. That was the only way," he turned his head away from Sirius again.
"And then you vanished," Walburga whispered.
"I knew that I was about to die anyway," Regulus said, his voice was suddenly calm. "But I could die happy knowing that Sirius was safe, the only thing which was dangerous to him in Finland was pneumonia and it's curable. But I didn't wanted to die on terms the Wanker and my fucking cousin prepared for me, I decided to be a master of my own death. I came back home, took Kreacher with me and went to that fucking cave. I drunk the potion from the basin, told Kreacher to switch the lockets, take Horcrux home, destroy it and never tell anyone about me. I survived the cave by some freak kind of miracle which reduced me into a squib. That's my story."
"You saved my life, my wife's life and you sacrificed so much," Sirius whispered.
Regulus looked back at him and gave him small smile before he said, "And I would do it all over again. Blood is thicker than water Sirius."
"It is," Sirius whispered and hugged Regulus tightly. "It is."
Walburga watched the boys as they hugged, above Sirius's shoulder she saw Mirzam smiling at her and she smiled back. Then she glanced at the rest of the family, women looked shocked, Arcturus and Pollux looked livid, Ignatius looked sheepish and that's when she remembered about Orion.
"Are you able to contact Orion, Iggy?" she asked calmly. "I promise that I won't kill him if he shows up."
'Right after he shows up, anyway,' she added in her thoughts. 'I will wait with it until he can explain himself.'
"I can," Ignatius mumbled. "And Hermes too," he glanced at Lupin. "They should be here in worst case at Sunday evening."
"Now," Walburga sighed. "Since we cleared the most of the mess can we come back to Neville because I think that if we are going to hide the kid it would be good to give him a new name."
"What about Remus?" asked Sirius from above Regulus's shoulder.
"No way!" Lupin protested.
"Oh, shut up Moony," Sirius sighed. "Mum?"
"I like Remus," Walburga admitted. "The name has charisma."
"Remus Frank," Mirzam said quickly. "Frank after my dad's second name and Neville's own father.
"Remus Frank Black, then," Walburga said with a smile. "Any objections?"
Awaiting criticism.
Homam is a Metamorphomagus - thanks to lordsinuae who asked for it and it was explainable in the plot. Shona - here is the scar and Sirius's outburst, as for Homam inheriting Potter's estete - it is possible but I think that it's rather unwise way of bringing attention to Homam which Sirius doesn't wants but I promise that James's Invisibility Cloak will find its way to Homam, eventually ... if I find a way to do it. anonymous - sorry no pregnancy for any woman in the family yet, that's a distant plan and I might let Andie have a kid other than Dora but not so soon. enka - here is where Kreacher went and one part of Sirius's performance, I have a strong feeling that there is going to be another part where Sirius throws a hissy fit but it won't happen soon.
I feel the need to address aloud Vukk's opinion: yes I spend too much time on writing things which happens before Homam/Harry can do anything to help. That's the general idea of an AU story, things don't go as they did in canon and I'm going to do a lot of canon bending (save for Horcruxes - things and places the same). The idea of Walburga bringing up Harry Potter alone is one hell of canon bending - sorry if you don't like it but a lot of important things have to happen before Homam will be able to help, or at least start walking on his own because the family likes carrying him around a bit too much.
So ... Frankly I'm not sure which issue I should address first. Shall we start with Nevile? Yes, I'm cruel, yes I made him a werewolf and yes, I'm intedning to name him Remus Frank Black - good, strong name no matter how Remus senior moans and groans about it. Next: Marauders ... oops ... Iggy is in trouble, as for sudden noncanon gaynes ... lets just say that it was an old unused plot bunny which kept coming back no matter how hard I tried to kill it. As for Marauders, it's an AU, canon bending as long as I don't tamper too much with their characters is allowed and Marauders issue will make an appearance in the future (after all something needs to drive Orion and Hermes ... like personal need of ... - Sniffy is giving away far too much - you will have to wait for their explanations).
Whoa! What a tirade! The longest one I wrote here, I got a bit carried away, sorry.
Next chapter: Orion and Hermes meet the family and let's leave it at this for now (imagination is a power - throw something at me and I will tell you if you are right).