"Mm...Adelaide!" Daphne shouted in exasperation as the toddler pushed the antique vase off into pedestal. Maia couldn't help but giggle as Daphne looked ready to pull her hair out without her beloved nanny elf to held care for her two daughters.
"Here." Maia let out a dramatic sigh as she held her arms out for the six month old Odessa. The baby reach out her chubby arms and squirmed until she was in the arms of her pseudo Aunt.
"I really hope this one is a boy!" Daphne whined as she waved her wand, fixing the priceless vase.
"But you make such beautiful, well behaved little girls!" Maia grimaced as Odessa yanked surprisingly hard on her hair.
"Ha! I would much rather have a well behaved little boy like Theo! These girls are going to be just like Astoria!" Daphne exclaimed as she picked up the screaming almost two year old.
"Astoria, your mild mannered little sister who's only love is the library?" Maia asked quizzically with an arched brow.
"She was absolutely mental until she turned sixteen and started to read those bodice rippers." Daphne snorted as she tried to console her daughter, who only wanted to play with the fragile vase.
"Maia, Draco is-" Lucius swept into the room, the sneer on his face that quickly melted into a charming smile when he saw she had company. "Ms. Greengrass, how lovely to see you. I had no idea you were coming to manor today."
"Always a pleasure, Mr. Malfoy. Although, you know it's Mrs. Nott now." Daphne simpered, turning her head to the side so that her dimple seemed her most prominent feature. Maia wanted to gag at the way her father-in-law always acted around her guests. It was terribly inappropriate the way he leered at women young enough to be his own daughter.
"The pleasure is all mine, pet." Lucius leaned down to leave a lingering kiss on Daphne's finger tips. If Maia didn't know her friend she would think she enjoyed the lecherous attention but she saw the flash of irritation in her crystal eyes. Apparently, Lucius didn't because he continued, standing far too close to the much younger, married woman. "Where are your manners, Maia? Why haven't you called one of the elves to relieve Miss. Gree- I mean, Mrs. Nott's beautiful daughters?"
"I wanted to-" Maia started, bristling indignantly but Lucius pushed on, acting as if she never spoke. Not even sparing a glance in her direction.
"Don't worry, I'll handle it. Snitch! Boppy!" Lucius barked out, two hose elves popped into the room immediately waiting for orders. With a sneer he turned to the shivering elves. "Take the Nott heiresses to the old play room!"
"Lucius!" Maia gasped as the house elves stumbled forward to gently take the children away from the women's arms.
-0-
"Your wife is more important than the fate of the wizarding world?" The Dark Lord demanded as he beared down on the beaten and bloody forms of Draco, Bellatrix, and Narcissa. When he dragged them into the throne room of the manor, he could barely control his anger. Curses were spat one after another until the trio was could no longer cry out from their pain. Lucius kneeled beside the platform, watching as his only family was brutally tortured in front of him, a sly smile on his face.
"No.." Narcissa moaned as Voldemort raised his wand to curse them again. She slowly pulled herself towards her son and sister, attempting to cover them both with her lithe body.
"Isn't that sweet, Lucius?" The Dark Lord chuckled as he watched them. Draco reached out to weakly try and pull her mother out of harms way. Bellatrix was unconscious, her breath coming out in pained gasps while Narcissa struggled to lift her head after pulling herself over to her loved ones.
"It is, My Lord." Lucius smirked, openly enjoying the imminent demise of his family.
"You don't mind that I'm about to end your line, Lucius?" The Dark Lord asked curiously, twirling his wand between his long bony fingers. He had no intention of killing the trio at his feet, yet. If two of his most faithful would be executed, it would need to be public, perhaps just after the death of Harry Potter.
"I will find a new pure wife who will provide me with another heir. Perhaps the delightful Miss. Parkinson, she is one of the oldest unmatched ladies of the twenty-eight." Lucius licked his lips as he bared his teeth at his wife.
"If that is-" the Dark Lord paused as he felt his wards shifting to allow Scabior and his team of snatchers onto the grounds.
"Would that be permissible, My Lord?" Lucius asked nervously, his brow furrowed in confusion as he watched Voldemort standing too still above his family. So close to having his freedom, ever since Bellatrix was released from azkaban his family rebelled against him. He could not even teach his son the proper techniques for torture, Bellatrix filled his head with ideas that his brand of dominance was weak and inefficient. Then only to have his son surpass him, to be looked over by his own Lord and have his son valued above himself.
"Visitors..." The Dark Lord hissed just as someone knocked on the double doors. Without waiting for a response, Mrs. Maia Malfoy threw the doors open stalking in wearing a rumpled scarlet and gold jersey with a child on her hip. Scabior and his snatchers followed close behind, dragging two elderly witches and a wizard missing a leg and his iconic eye. The entire troop stopped short at the scene before them, Maia's bright eyes took in the forms of the three most important people in her world. Draco opened his grey eyes blearily, warmth filled him as he took in his disheveled wife, alive and whole.
"My Lord?" Maia asked breathlessly, looking from her family to Lucius, who seemed to have lost all color in his face, and last to Voldemort.
"Well, if it isn't the woman who handed me the key to total domination." The Dark Lord said silkily as he seemed to forget the broken figures at his feet. His eyes trailed from Maia's form to the last of the order of the phoenix, wrapped like a gift just for him. "If they are who I think they are..."
"Moody, McGonagall, and Andromeda Tonks." Maia whispered, holding the sleeping child close. "This is Teddy."
"You've been so busy. If only I knew you were so efficient... Quite like your husband..." The Dark Lord swept forward, reaching out to caress Maia's lank tresses affectionately. "Order headquarters, Potter himself, and all confirmed Order members...even some suspected. Wrapped up nice and pretty in only a week."
"I live to serve, My Lord." Maia whispered, blinking back tears as she turned her eyes to her family. Her blood boiled as she saw Lucius, unharmed kneeling some distance away from her family's bleeding and unconscious forms.
"What is it you wish? I shall reward you above all others...like the filthy muggle stories. I'll grant you three wishes, you want to be a queen? To rule, to own the world? I'll give it to you for what you've given me." Voldemort whispered seductively in her ear, ignoring the uncomfortable shuffling of the snatchers behind him.
"Three things, My Lord?" Maia whispered hopefully, making the Dark Lord smirk his blue eyes shimmering in triumph. She let out a shuddering breath as she looked to her husband beaten and bloody on the floor when inspiration struck her.
"Ofcourse, don't you believe you deserve a reward after you have done such a service to the wizarding world?" The Dark Lord cooed, grasping her chin to draw her gaze back to him. He knew what she wanted, Blacks were loyal to their own.
"I wish..." Maia licked her lower lip nervously, her gaze flicking between her family and her Lord that loomed over her. "For my family to be forgiven of this transgression...I do not know what they have done to earn your ire and I'm sure they did deserve it..."
"Really?" Voldemort raised a sardonic brow as he leaned close enough she could feel his hot breath on her cheek.
"I know that you are a benevolent ruler, I wish that you show them that." Maia attempted to be demure and submissive but her whole body was tense as the man studied her closely. The surprise evident on his face as if he assumed she would ask for anything but her family's safety.
"Very well, I shall forgive them...this once." Voldemort said after a long, tense moment. Maia let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. "What else?"
"I wish Lucius relinquish his status as head of the Malfoy family, I don't know what he has done but it's obvious to me that he is hoping to be free of his obligations. So, he will abdicate, naming my son head of House Malfoy with my husband to be proxy until Scorpius is of age." Maia said a little more boldly as she stared at her father-in-law. Lucius's eyes widened as he looked between Maia and the Dark Lord, his blood ran cold as he saw the amused smirk on his Lord's face.
"Do it." The Dark Lord hissed, barely sparing the silent man a glance. Lucius rose to his feet with his wand clutched tightly in his hand. A deep scowl marred his face and as he raised his wand to curse his daughter-in-law, the Dark Lord waved his hand lazily, forcing Lucius to his knees.
"Please, My Lord." Lucius whimpered through his teeth as fire burned in his veins.
"I could just kill you, it would give Draco your power and this wouldn't be a problem." The Dark Lord drawled lazily, his wand still trained on Lucius's crouched figure while his other hand rested on Maia's shoulder.
"I, Lucius Abraxus Malfoy, abdicate my title naming..." Lucius groaned, unable to continue but magic was all about intent and with a bright flare of light the blonde fell forward on his hands and knees, sealing his fate as just another member of House Malfoy.
"I wonder why you wouldn't give the title to your husband? He will live, should be on his feet in only hours." The Dark Lord clucked his tongue, allowing his cold fingers to to lightly graze the bare skin of Maia's neck as he moved to stand in front of her. "Your last boon?"
"I wish to revive The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black." Maia let a small smile bloom on her face as the Dark Lord tilted his head to study her closely.
"And what would that entail?" Voldemort asked curiously as he let his eyes drift over her unconscious family.
"Our house has been in limbo for over two decades...by completing the ritual, I would be reclaiming our vaults and properties." Maia explained with a sly smile, the Dark Lord nodded appreciatively. Now understanding why she would strip Lucius of his power over her husband.
"Very well, what do you need for this ritual?" The Dark Lord asked after a moment of quiet contemplation.
"Have you killed Potter yet?" Maia asked suddenly, not bothering to look up even when she saw him stiffen from the corner of her eye.
"What do you need Potter for?" The Dark Lord asked suspiciously.
"He believes he's the rightful heir to House Black because the traitor left him Grandmother's home, I would like him to be present when I take everything Sirius Black illegally left him. I want to watch his face as as he realizes his beloved godfather was nothing but a thief and a coward." Maia said softly, idly running her fingers through Teddy's soft raven curls. The toddler made adorable cooing sounds in his sleep as he clung to her neck.
"I plan to kill Potter at sundown in front of everyone. Would you like to be the warm up act?" Voldemort grinned maliciously as he watched her bright silver eyes light up at notion.
-0-
"Shhh, rest. We have a few hours before you need to wake." Maia said softly as saw Draco stirring, his grey eyes snapped open at the sound of her voice. He stared at her for a long moment, a myriad of emotions playing on his usually stoic face.
"You're here?" Draco croaked, his throat dry and scratchy. Looking around he saw his mother and aunt in plush beds close by, looking much better than he remembered when they were sprawled out together in the throne room. He frowned as he turned to his wife, still wearing the rumpled Gryffindor jersey and looking like she had not rested in the almost week she was gone.
"I'm here, Draco." Maia whispered softly, reaching out to move the soft blonde locks from his forehead, she frowned when she saw the deep purple bag beneath his eyes. Moving to the side she poured him a glass of water and gently placed it at his lips.
"How?" Draco asked as soon as he drained the glass, he reached out to touch her face, noticing how pale she was.
"I had to round up the last of the order." Maia smiled smugly as his hand paused just above the collar of her jersey.
"What are you wearing?" Draco demanded, his face twisted in horror as he realized who that number belonged to.
"Pregnant wife is abducted by radical terrorists and after a week, where she is instrumental in bringing the entire operation of anarchists to face justice, she finds her husband being tortured along with his mother and my almost mother." Maia scoffed, a fond smile on her face. "Priorities, Draco."
"You're wearing Potter's jersey!" Draco protested weakly, his vice still rough. His expression softened as he looked into her tired eyes. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you? I'm sorry I couldn't find you, love."
"Shh, I'm fine now. Scorpius and I are home. You'll be feeling better soon and your father is being held captive by Mipsy." Maia said slowly as she eased down onto the bed beside Draco and laying on her side to face him.
"Father is being held captive?" Draco exclaimed incredulously, his eyes wide with shock. Maia chuckled as reached down beside the bed to pull a potion from her bag, Draco eagerly downed it in one swallow, shivering as the invigoration draught took effect.
"You, Bella, and Cissa were being tortured while Lucius watched...the Dark Lord wanted to thank me for helping the wizarding world. I made your father abdicate, he's no long head of the family...you're proxy to Scorpius." Maia smirked at the disbelief etched in her husband's face. Suddenly, he lurched forward wrapping his hands in her hair to pull her face up to his so he could kiss her passionately.
"Merlin, I've missed you." Draco breathed against her lips, his hands eagerly tried to rip the offending jersey from her body as he was suddenly overcome with the need to have her.
"Draco, your mother and Bella are right there!" Maia tried to protest but she missed him so, all she wanted to do was not think. After everything that occurred since she was kidnapped and then spending three hours ordering healers around, ensuring her family was properly cared for. It was all she wanted was to feel her husband all around her.
"Don't care!" Draco grunted, pinning her body to the over stuffed bed with his own. The loud RIP let her know the Gryffindor jersey was no more and Draco threw it unceremoniously over his shoulder. The blonde eagerly attached his mouth to her neck, taking deep breaths through his nose.
"Miney?" A small voice interrupted their bubble of hurried and needy groping. Maia turned to the side to find herself staring into the concerned grey eyes of Teddy Lupin. The toddler was holding the torn jersey in his hands and turned to glare at Draco.
"Who the fuck is that?" Draco demanded, quickly wrapping Maia in the sheet.
"Teddy." Maia sighed as she pushed her husband to the side and sat up in the bed.
"Miney, who dat?" Teddy asked anxiously and pointed to the scowling blonde.
"Your cousin Draco." Maia smiled warmly as she wrapped the silk sheet tightly around her body. "Remember I was telling you we would get to meet your cousin and aunties?"
"Yes." Teddy nodded nervously, his eyes darting to the blonde who was studying him curiously. "Where mummy?"
"Mummy is going to take a long kip with Gran. Remember how sick she was?" Maia said gently, running her fingers through his curly black hair. As the child relaxed his hair slowly started to fade into a vibrant blue. "Where's Snitch?"
"You called my nanny elf?" Draco gasped incredulously, nudging his wife to get her attention.
"Snitch called me names." Teddy pouted, his grey eyes filling with tears.
"Snitch!" Maia called after making an impatient noise in the back of her throat. The house elf appeared at their side silently and glared at the blue haired toddler as if he personally offended the elf. "Is there a problem?"
"No, Mistress. Filthy half-breed mutt try to tell Snitch how to play kings and mudbloods." The elf bowed regally, turning his tennis ball sized brown eyes to his former charge, Draco.
"Snitch. Go clean the kid, keep him occupied until I call for you." Draco ordered harshly, Snitch immediately took the toddler's hand in his own and they were gone before Teddy or Maia could object.
"Why?" Maia turned her eyes to her husband curiously, Draco laid back against the over stuffed pillows, wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her along. He didn't respond for a long moment, just wrapped himself around her, eagerly but gently running his hands along her skin everywhere he could reach.
"I needed you alone." Draco whispered into her hair after a moment, she shivered as he lightly trailed his fingers down her spine. While Draco was always a very generous lover she was surprised he wasn't making any attempts to push farther than his gentle touching. "I worry I'll wake up and you'll still be gone."
"I'm here but you should try and rest some more, you look awful." Maia whispered into his throat, making his arms tighten around her. He took deep breaths through his nose as buried his face in her curls, one of his hands slipping between their bodies to rest on her stomach.
"You're the one who needs rest, I always look impeccable." Draco chuckled softly.
-0-
"My dolly!" Bellatrix shook Maia from her slumber roughly, wrapping herself around the sleeping witch and her husband. Maia jerked violently, thinking for a moment she was still on the island, that it was Potter who held her so close.
"Bella." Maia choked, turning her body to embrace her pseudo mother tightly. Bellatrix practically threw her recently healed nephew out of the embrace, wanting nothing more than to smother the witch in her arms.
"Dolly, I've missed you so! He hurt me. Why would he hurt us? My Lord has never hurt us before, we who have always been so loyal!" Bellatrix cried fat crystal tears into Maia's hair. Immediately, they switched roles, Maia consoling the crying witch as she lamented the betrayal of her master.
"We have an appointment to keep." Narcissa whispered from above them, Maia wordlessly opened her arms as a silent invitation. Narcissa did not hesitate climbing onto the plush bed and embracing her sister and daughter-in-law.
"I feel the love." Draco grumbled irritably, sitting beside the only family he had left, running his fingers through Maia's unruly curls. Only a few hours sleep and already she looked much better, gaining some of the color back to her cheeks.
"Oh! I have a gift!" Maia said suddenly sitting up, forgetting that she was topless. Her husband was quick to grab a silk robe and wrap it around her shoulders.
"A gift?" Narcissa asked incredulously. "You've been held prisoner for nearly a week and you brought souvenirs?"
"No! Snitch!" Maia smiled softly, overcome with the relief and happiness of being home with her family. The nanny elf appeared silently beside them, clutching a drowsy toddler with blue hair.
"Who's that?" Bellatrix asked eagerly, her eyes lighting up at the sight of a small child.
"Your new dolly. He's your great nephew...turns out after this afternoon Nymphadora and her werewolf husband will be quite unable to care for him." Maia said quietly so that Teddy could not hear.
"Gran!" Teddy cried excitedly, climbing onto the bed to throw his arms around Bellatrix. She froze as she stared wide eyed at the child affectionately holding her.
"Werewolf?" Bellatrix hissed once she found her voice, Maia rolled her eyes fondly too happy to finally be back with her family to be annoyed.
"A bit stronger, better sense of smell but most of all, he's a Black." Maia smirked as she watched realization sawn in the witch's grey eyes. Bellatrix leaned down to pull the toddler more securely into her lap.
"Gran?" Teddy said curiously as he leaned close to her face, his blue hair shifting raven as he took in her features.
"Brilliant dolly. Do you want to play?" Bellatrix cooed with a manic smile, Teddy just nodded eagerly but Maia cleared her throat.
"I'll be doing the Nigridonum Ortum ritual tonight." Maia said softly, Narcissa and Bellatrix exchanged an excited glance while Draco arched a confused brow at his wife.
-0-
"Welcome welcome!" The Dark Lord preened under the applause and shouts of his followers. The throne room was completely full, overflowing with eager spectators, his followers bringing along their spouses to the momentous event. On the raised stage Harry Potter, along with all of his order members, were trapped, silenced, and bound in iron cages. "Tonight you will all witness history in the making! For years this coward has hidden behind more powerful and worthy wizards, never once fighting for a worthy cause! Now, we shall eliminate this taint on our community, end his reign as the so-called chosen one!"
"Laudem!" His followers roared, raising their lit wands as they watched on, eagerly awaiting the show. The final battle between their master and the boy-who-lived.
"Once and for all I shall show you that his escapes from justice have been nothing to do with his own skill! But first!" The Dark Lord paused dramatically as the Maia stood with Bellatrix and Narcissa, all three of them looking much better after a round of potent potions. The three Black witches wore traditional pure white ceremony robes and he looked on with satisfaction, tradition was important to their community and one of the easiest ways to manipulate the population. "I have granted Mrs. Maia Malfoy permission to reclaim the House of Black!"
Where he thought he would be greeted with ground shattering applause, the utter silence shocked him. Many of his followers stiffened, their eyes locked on the women silently drawing out complex runes on the floor of the raised platform in front of his prisoners. Houses fell, it was written about throughout history and was inevitable with their dwindling population. Reclaiming a fallen House was thought to be impossible and with so many of them that had ties to to the Black family, they all wondered what the ritual would do. Bellatrix and Narcissa stood just behind and to the sides of Maia, the claimed the youngest witches hand, slicing her palms open before doing the same to their own.
"Spero te werent vultus pro quicquam quod est sensus ad litteram, quia im calcitrando me non quia doctrina veteris Nordmannie." Maia called out as clasped hands with Bellatrix and Narcissa, the Black sisters used their free hands to dribble blood over the carved runes in the floor. The air became heavy with with the suffocating heaviness of old magic. Voldemort tried to step forward to call them off, the magic in the air made his blood boil unpleasantly, but he found himself frozen and only able to watch. Suddenly, Maia gave a pained gasp and she closed her eyes as her hair seemed to come to life, standing on edge and electrified.
"atra favilla regenerationis domo in æternum." Bellatrix and Narcissa chanted, their eyes distance and empty as they stared forward in a trance. Draco was the first to feel it, the overwhelming need to get down on his knees and show contrition for his sins. He heeded the warning and fell on all fours, his eyes never leaving his wife. With a started gasp, Maia opened her eyes, making most of the congregation shiver. Her eyes, even though most always commented how unnaturally bright they were, were now glowing a bright white and unseeing.
"vos nunc proditores vestrae sanguine dare filiis vestris et cadet vias inficiendi!" Maia exclaimed in a distorted and choked voice. She blinked back tears, she could see it all. Flashes of every Black woman and their lives overwhelmed her as if on a constant loop running through her mind. She saw Urula as she prepared for the ritual, Cassiopeia give birth to the first set of twin heirs ever to be born in the family, Bellatrix's grief of failing her sister, Narcissa watching stoically as her son fell in love while watching the curly haired witch from afar. Last she saw herself, reborn as a Black.
"Gah!" Harry choked out as he fell to his knees, holding both hands over his scar. The blinding pain bringing tears to his eyes. As he looked around the congregated masses, he saw more than half falling to their knees with their heads bowed in a show of respect. Ron, Andromeda, and Tonks were all kneeling and silent while Remus stared down at his wife frozen. Minerva and Moody were trembling, looks of severe concentration and pain on their faces as they stared at the ethereal figure that was Maia Malfoy.
"You have betrayed the blood of your family, tainting the ways of old and allowing your children to fall into a state of ignorance!" Maia cold voice rang out, condemning them. All at once over half the assembled witches and wizards fell to their knees, all of them with Black blood pumping through their veins. The Dark Lord coughed violently, blood trickled from his lips as he fought the overpowering compulsion to submit.
"You have been lied to Harry Potter." Maia crooned, her voice ringing in Harry's ears as he fell back, hitting his head on the iron bars of his cage. A strangled moan escaped his lips as he felt his head splitting open, his scar gave a haunting, high pitched scream as a cloud of black smoke escaped him.
"No." The Dark Lord called out hoarsely as he watched his own face bloom in the billowing cloud, his mouth open in a silent scream.
"You're a thief, Tom Riddle." Maia said absently as she raised her hand, forcing the Dark Lord to his knees. His skin bubbled and he was silent as his glamour fell away, leaving his snake like visage for the hall to see. He turned his slitted red eyes up to see the ethereal figure glide towards him.
"What did you do?" The Dark Lord demanded as he kept his head held high, he could feel tears falling down his dry skin but that made no sense. His tongue darted out to taste the warm coppery droplet and gasped.
"You are in the debt of House Black." Maia's bent low to look at him, his pale face stained with tears of blood. His shoulders thrown back and his back stiff from fighting the compulsions that rolled over him. He let out a strangled moan as a heavy weight was placed on his chest but he couldn't take his eyes off the glowing figure standing only a few feet away. "And we always collect."
"No." Voldemort screamed through gritted teeth and the weight was lifted from his chest but he felt oddly hollow and empty. Maia's white eyes rolled back in her head as she crumbled to the floor, her head cracking against the stone floor, making the room flinch. Suddenly, the heady magic dissipated from the air and the congregation slowly rose to the feet. Narcissa and Bellatrix blinked owlishly as they looked around in confusion.
"Maia." Draco's panicked cry broke the silence as he scrambled towards her unconscious body. Just as he pulled her limp form into his arms, Voldemort stood with a menacing scowl on his face.
"What did you do?" The Dark Lord demanded as he pulled his wand, the empty feeling had not yet left and he felt strangely detached.
"Love! Wake up!" Draco whispered frantically as he shook his wife's still frame, not even sparing the Dark Lord a glance.
"Do not ignore me! Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort snapped, aiming his wand at the unconscious woman, Bellatrix fell off the stage as she rushed forward with Narcissa at her side.