GrayTheBlueJay: I'm proud of the "sonar" idea, myself. No idea where it came from, but it works, and that's what matters.
EndGame666: Thank you so much! I put a lot of work into the emotional aspect; exploring different characters' thoughts and motivations is part of the reason I like using POV changes. As for Jen being your favorite femHarry, now I just have to make sure I don't disappoint!
Penny is wise: There will be one instance – it looks like it will be next chapter – where she will give an example of the abuse she suffered at the Dursleys, but it isn't graphic, and you will never read accounts of her work in the brothel because I refuse to write it. Other than that, I might – might, mind you – have a fairly detailed scene about her life between the Dursleys and Candyland, but that won't be for a long while; summer before fifth year, maybe?
This chapter was my favorite to write so far. There isn't much darkness in this chapter; in fact, it's actually rather light-hearted. Some sex talk ahead, and I can almost guarantee you will never look at Sirius and Tonks the same way again.
Summary: Did Harry ever use his money to buy a wardrobe that properly fit? If not, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whoever else she sold the rights to.
Chapter 3
The Ancient and Most Deviant House of Black
"Jen? What are you doing here?"
Sirius turned his attention first to her, then Jen. "Wait, you two know each other?"
"Of course," Jen replied immediately, walking over to greet her with a kiss on both cheeks. "She was my favorite client."
"NARCISSA ADARA BLACK! WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME DID YOU DO!"
"It's Malfoy, has been for twenty-one years," she squeaked. Never had Sirius's voice sounded more like that of her father, Cygnus, or Great-Uncle Arcturus, the previous Lord Black. The fact that her mother had shouted those exact words more times than she cared to remember didn't help matters.
"Sirius! There is no cause for shouting," Jen chastised him. "It is perfectly fine."
Andromeda glanced between the three of them before laying a hand on her daughter's arm. "We're missing something, aren't we?"
Sirius turned away, obviously uncomfortable, and she gave Jen a begging look.
The girl sighed and explained, "I moved here yesterday; before that, I spent seven years working in a brothel. That's where Cissy knows me from."
Narcissa's plea morphed into a glare. That was not how she would have broken the news to her sister and niece.
"What?! Are you telling me that my aunt is a pedophile? That's just sick!"
Andromeda gave her daughter a indecipherable look before turning to her. "While I agree with her, I can't say that I'm really surprised. Father, Bellatrix, and I all knew something was… different about you, and certain rumors didn't help matters any." A blush covered Narcissa's cheeks at the reminder of that particular youthful indiscretion. "As for you, Dora, considering your own proclivities, you might want to keep any judgements to yourself." When the purple-haired young woman made an inarticulate sound, she continued, "Honey, you change gender literally mid-coitus. While not as bad as your aunt, it is still highly disturbing."
Dora sputtered. "How would you even know about that?"
"And that's something I'm not surprised to hear, Andi," Sirius said with a chuckle. "After all, how many times did Uncle Cygnus and Aunt Druella punish you for spying on them? I think most children prefer not to know what their parents get up to in the bedroom."
Now it was Andromeda who bristled. "I don't have to take that from a man who spent his late teens shagging every bitch dog in Hogsmeade! Did you ever discover which puppies were yours?"
"I was Padfoot at the time! It was fine!"
"You were still a wizard, so no, it wasn't!"
A strangled snort dragged their attention to the corner where Jen was leaning against the wall, her face flushed and her hands clutching her sides as she lost the fight to contain her laughter. "Please, no more!" After a few more moments, she finally managed to choke out, "Is there anyone in this house who isn't a deviant?"
"So says the whore," Dora lashed out. Apparently, she had not enjoyed her mother parading around her own sexual quirks for all the family to see, not that Narcissa could blame her.
Jen calmed down before affecting a haughty expression, though the broad grin ruined the act. "I prefer the term 'flesh peddler', thank you very much." Four nearly identical snorts followed, and they all looked at their relatives in shock.
Narcissa started to giggle; only with Sirius in charge could a rollicking by the Head of her House become such a farce. "At least we no longer have to look Regulus in the eye. I always worried about exactly how close he and Kreacher were." This prompted more laughter from Jen, and Andi even joined in.
The elf in question poked his head into the room at the sound, one that had graced the house so rarely in Narcissa's memory. He looked at each member of the family with patent disdain as he announce, "The crippled girl's room is ready. She may enter when she—"
His eyes bulged as the landed on her, and then he whispered, "Miss Cissy? Miss Cissy is here!" Tears of joy running down his cheeks, he threw himself onto her legs and began sobbing.
"Oh, Kreacher," she whispered, stroking his bald scalp. The elf was waspish, rude, and utterly devoted to Auntie Walburga, yet for some reason she had still missed him fiercely. "Yes, I'm here, and I will be coming back and forth quite often from now on, so you will see me again."
"That remains to be seen," Sirius said firmly. Apparently the laughter had not been enough to dispel his anger with her.
She sighed. "Jen, why don't you follow Kreacher to move your things into your room. Andi and – Dora, was it? – could you go with her? I think Sirius would prefer to shout at me in private."
"Very well, Cissy," Jen acquiesced. "Sirius, be nice. I know her a whole lot better than I do you and have been friends with her for much, much longer."
They both ignored Sirius's sudden cringe as she gathered the girl in a hug. "We're family now, Jen. Call me Auntie."
"Okay then, Aunt Cissy. Kreacher, lead us to my room, please."
"Of course, Miss Jen. Kreacher will show you and the blood traitors to your room." The foursome left, closing the door behind them.
"So how long have you two known each other?"
"Seven years, give or take a few months. She was a beauty even then," she murmured with a wistful sigh. Feeling her cousin's glare on her, she rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I have a good idea what it is you want to say, so spare us both the dramatics and spit it out already."
"Fine, I will. Putting aside for now that you like little kids like that at all – because Andi had a point; it's obvious in hindsight that something was wrong with you – I don't like that of all the children you could have violated, you had to pick Jen."
"I'm sorry about hiring her, but at the time I was under the impression that she was a Muggle."
"And?" he demanded. "What does it matter that you thought she was a Muggle?"
"Well, do you think I would have slept with her if I knew she was a witch? I would never intentionally harm a child!"
Sirius gaped in confusion, and she shook her head. It seemed not even a dozen years in Azkaban could knock that silly 'Muggles are our equals' belief out of his skull. He finally managed, "I was in there just last night, and I saw plenty of children getting hurt. If you're a client, you're just as responsible."
"I'm. Not. Harming. Children!" she shouted, and he jerked back in shock. "Candyland is a Muggle club, so no young witches or wizards should even be there in the first place! If all the staff are Muggles, what could it possibly hurt to visit for a little relaxation from time to time?"
He stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes. "It's amazing what you can forget over more than a decade. Do what you want; we both know you would anyway. Just know that if you resume your tryst with Jen, not even your husband's money will save you from the DMLE."
"How dare you?" she whispered coldly. "Ignoring for the moment that she is both a witch and too old for me, you brought her into this House; that means that she is a Black. If you think I would ever work to hurt this family, then you have obviously forgotten more about me than you realize."
"So long as we understand each other." He paused before casting about for a safe conversation starter. "I haven't asked, but how is your son, Deneb, right?"
"His name is Draco, and he is fine. A good boy, even if he…" Her words filled the awkward situation for several minutes until the door opened again, revealing a figure straight from their memories.
Jen walked with the two Tonkses up the stairs to her new room. She had not unpacked anything besides the shirt she had put on that morning, so she had needed only a moment to grab her satchel and Loki's perch before they continued on. She was curious where he had flown off to, but not worried; it wasn't the first time he vanished for several days, nor would it be the last. He was both a wild animal and her familiar, not a pet. He would come if she had need of him and take care of himself when she didn't.
She was, however, slightly embarrassed by what Kreacher was muttering. He had no idea that they all heard how happy he was that 'Miss Jen is a proper Black' and how much he looked forward to her 'replacing nasty Master', but she did and carefully avoided looking at Dora's and Aunt Andi's faces.
That Andromeda wanted to be addressed in that fashion even though they had just met was somewhat unusual, but Jen chalked it up to an unwritten rule of the Black family. In one of their afterglow conversations, Cissy had discussed how her parents had instilled in her the importance of family, putting it ahead of all else. As Sirius was her godfather and Cissy was now an unofficial aunt, perhaps Andi considered her a Black in fact if not name.
Once at the third floor, they followed the right-hand path down to the end of the hall, and Andi gasped.
"Are you all right, Mum?"
"Yes, Dora, I just remember these rooms from when we, my sisters and I, would spend our summers visiting Uncle Orion and Walburga. We each had our own. Kreacher, which room did you renovate for Jen?"
Kreacher glared and moved to resume his muttering before Jen interjected, "I'm curious as well."
He quickly and happily returned his attention to her. "Miss Jen is much like young Miss Bella. This room is best…" With that, he opened the door of the last bedroom and ushered them in.
The room was spartanly decorated, only containing a large bed and an antique roll top desk. When Dora pointed out the absence of a chair, Kreacher snapped his fingers and one appeared. "Kreacher took it from storage…" was all they could get for an explanation.
"Kreacher, I need some bookshelves," Jen said, "six feet tall, against the walls flanking the door." She tossed her satchel onto the bed and opened it while Kreacher was preparing them.
A flick of her wrist caused her books to fly out of the bag and organize themselves on the shelves by subject. After them came her clothes, which stayed folded and on the bed, and her ritual kit at last settled on the desk.
"Wow…" said Dora, eyes following the paths of the books. "You can use wandless magic?"
"I agree," Andi confirmed. "It is unusual for someone your age to be capable of using even one spell wandlessly, and most who are still use the motions. How much can you do without a wand?"
Jen smiled at that; Elsie, too, had been jealous of her abilities once the aftereffects of the core sacrifice ritual had settled. "I actually don't have one." Maintaining the smile on her face, she launched her probes at the women's minds.
Everyone had a natural mental shield, and reading people's minds involved piercing that barrier. She knew there was a way to create additional, artificial defenses to supplement the protection that offered, though she had never learned it; not only did the discipline tie a person's mind to their core, which she no longer had, the raw magic constantly running through her body reinforced her natural shield to such an extent that she was almost guaranteed to never encounter someone with enough magical strength to break through it. The weaker one's protection, however, the easier it was for a mind-reader to slip in undetected, and a simple but effective way to sap mental shields was causing the target to feel a strong emotion, in this case surprise.
As for why she wanted to listen to their thoughts at all, the reason was simple: she would not feel secure in their company without an idea of where she stood with them.
It was good that she proceeded carefully. Andi was clearly trained in that defense, her shields so thick and many that Jen would not be capable of catching even a stray thought without revealing what she was doing. She may call Andi 'Aunt', but she would keep track of this potential danger until there was enough evidence to reevaluate the situation.
Dora's natural barrier was strong, but without supplemental protection it not enough to prevent Jen's entry, and memories and basic facts rushed quickly through the younger witch's mind. She had recently graduated from the Ministry's Auror Academy as the second in the class and was the junior partner of one Kingsley Shacklebolt. Hufflepuff, class of '91. Metamorph, that was interesting. She held quite a bit of anger at her mother, whose marriage to her father planted a number of hurdles in her path if she wanted to advance in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. To her, Jen was a disabled cousin, one who needed a 'big sister' for guidance and protection. Overall, not anyone she had to be overly concerned about.
Making a last sweep, Jen discovered that the subject of Dora's utmost respect was not her mentor, one of her instructors, or either of her parents. It was instead a man named Albus Dumbledore. This oddity piqued her curiosity, and she delved deeper into Dora's mind as she made her way to the bedroom's closet.
Albus Dumbledore was the Headmaster of Hogwarts, though he also had important roles in Magical Britain's combined legislature/judiciary and the international political scene. He had defeated a Dark Lord named Grindelwald during World War II and, in the seventies, fought against the most recent British Dark Lord, a terrorist who went by the pseudonym Voldemort. He was widely considered by the British to be the most powerful wizard in the world – considering what she could do, that was likely baseless propaganda – and the Leader of the 'Light', the faceless masses that were better termed 'anti-Dark'. Dora had no first-hand information on him, most of what she 'knew' being based off of the man's reputation and grandfatherly demeanor, so while Jen could not accurately label him, she would be cautious and consider him a potential threat as well until she had a face-to-face meeting.
She broke off her scan once she arrived at the closet. Focusing on the inside, she was amazed at both the sheer size of the room and how little free space there was. "Kreacher, whose clothes are these?" They are certainly nice, she noted, running her hand over a leather corset and silk dress combination. I might wind up keeping a few of them if Kreacher just forgot to remove them.
"These were Miss Bella's clothes, Miss Jen," was his reply. He continued in an undertone, "They does not please Miss Jen. Kreacher be ironing his hands."
Elves are quite odd. "They are magnificent, thank you. You may go now, perhaps prepare us lunch in a few minutes?"
With a bow, the house-elf popped away.
"Miss Bella's room, Miss Bella's clothes, what is he doing?" she asked Andi.
The woman shrugged. "I really don't know. Did he say anything to you about her before today?"
"No… Wait, yes he did. The last thing he said before he disappeared last night was that I was as bold as this Bella, whoever she is."
"That must be why he's acting like he is; you obviously reminded him of my older sister Bellatrix. He adored her, almost as much as he did Walburga and Regulus, Sirius's mother and brother."
"What happened to her?" Jen turned from the closet to fully face Andi. "Is she dead?"
"As good as. She's serving a life sentence in Azkaban along with her husband and brother-in-law.
"Anyway, enough of this talk. Why don't you change into one of those outfits? If Kreacher expects you to wear them, I suppose we won't need to take you shopping," Andi said with a glare to the few items on Jen's bed.
Jen was more than willing to do so; she had never had anything as expensive or luxurious as these. Throwing off her jeans and shirt, she grabbed the dress and pulled it over her head and down her body. She struggled with the laces for a moment before relenting. "Help, please?"
Andi walked over blushing, while Dora was facing away from them both. "I take it back; we do need to buy some knickers for you."
"Why? I've done without my entire life, and I doubt I suddenly need them now." The dress hugging her frame, she stepped away from the closet and spread her arms. "How do I look?"
"Very nice, just… familiar. I'm sure Sirius and Narcissa will agree."
"Let's ask them, then."
Sirius gaped and slowly reached for his wand. He knew Bellatrix was insanely clever, and recently just insane, but how had she escaped from Azkaban and de-aged herself? With a quick shake of his head, he took a second glance and noticed the blindfold. I know James had the Black hair, but no one expected his daughter to be a dead ringer for a fourteen-year-old Bellatrix.
"Bella?" Good, he wasn't the only one to notice the similarity. Narcissa was also staring at Jen as if she had seen a ghost.
The girl slowly spun in place. "Well, do you like it?" Her voice finally broke the resemblance to the eldest of the Black Sisters. Bellatrix's screech couldn't compare to his goddaughter's musical tone.
"It's wonderful, Jen." Kreacher had clearly been rooting through the old clothes, though if everything he gave her looked as good as this did, he could be forgiven. The black dress set off her pale skin, while the silver ties made her look like a living incarnation of the family crest. If Sirius remembered correctly, this had been Bellatrix's favorite when she was Jen's age.
"Thanks. Quite a lot more was in the closet. Kreacher gave me Bella's old room and apparently everything she left in it."
The doorbell chose that moment to ring, and Sirius was more than willing to greet whoever was waiting outside and let Narcissa admire the nostalgic clothing. Once he opened the door, however, he wished he had stayed and listened to the girl talk.
"Can I help you, Lily?"
Yeah, the Black family is messed up. If you want a squicky addition, think about what Tonks's habits say about Remus!
Obviously, I'm skipping teaching Jen Occlumency, partly because I don't want to force myself to talk about her "building her shields with daily meditation", and partly because I'm so tired of reading stories where Occlumency allows Harry to organize his mind to have perfect recall, stronger magic, a maze that mental attackers can be trapped in, and the ability to remember the name of the girl he's screwing at the moment out of his giant harem that includes every female student his age plus or minus one year, with a Veela three years older thrown in just because he's such a "nice guy".
As such, you have my explanation of Occlumency: it's for making more mental barriers. That's it. Now Dumbledore, Snape, Voldemort, and others are capable of piercing her shields; the problem is that they would need to drain their entire cores for a moment's peek into her head. Unless they just want her surface thoughts, they are going to fall into magical exhaustion, with nothing to show for their attempts other than a very pissed-off Jen.
Silently Watches out.