A/N – Based on the reviews I received I think the will reading was received positively. I hope it was worth the wait for Chapter 17. I had fun writing it.
Chapter 18 – Oh Mother Where Art Thou?
Draco Malfoy stormed out of the boardroom and marched off down the hall towards the Gringotts lobby. Pushing his way through anyone unfortunate to get in his way he headed over to the floo and with a flash of green flame he was gone and stepping out at Malfoy Manor.
He looked around almost surprised that he was home. He had been so engrossed in his thoughts that he barely registered going through Gringotts and using the floo. All things considered, he was pretty fortunate he actually made it there safely.
His thoughts were understandably obsessed with the humiliation he was just put through at the Will reading. "Potter is Lord Black! It's not fair – I'm supposed to be Lord Black! Just wait until Father hears about this! He will get the Ministry to reverse this so-called 'Blood Adoption'. That Inheritance is MINE! A vacuum-filled box? My Ass! I looked in that box and there wasn't even air in it."
Being his father's son, he needed something to curse. Perhaps a session in the practice room underneath the Manor. Using Crucios on some training dummies might help. A house elf would make a more fulfilling target, but his father had expressly forbidden torturing the house elves when he was not present to join in.
He never noticed until much later that his Mother had not accompanied him home.
/Scene Break/
Harry and Hermione watched Arthur and his twin sons leave together with a hint of sadness. They both knew that Arthur was first and foremost a family man and that things were probably going to get worse for him before they got better.
They turned back to Ragnok and Griphook. Harry and Hermione went up to shake the Goblins' hands.
"Ragnok, Griphook, on behalf of the Black family and especially my late adopted father Sirius, thank you. I don't think the Will reading could have been handled any better than it was. The look on certain faces was priceless. In fact, I may go home tonight and watch the memory in a pensieve just to relive it all over again."
Seeing that they were alone with Harry and Hermione, the two goblins finally were able to burst out laughing. Ragnok had to wipe tears from his eyes. Once he calmed down enough he looked at Harry and replied, "Oh my, I haven't laughed that hard in years. It was so difficult keeping a straight face. Harry, you are very welcome however we have to thank you as well. A wizard Will reading is usually a very formal and stoic affair and Pureblood wills such as the Black family usually follows a very structured format. Sirius and you gave us the opportunity to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Ragnok's face scrunched up again, "A vacuum-sealed box…"
The old goblin nearly fell over laughing – it was an infectious laugh that got the other three in the room laughing again.
/Scene Break/
Albus Dumbledore headed straight back to his office at Hogwarts. To say he was angry and confused was an understatement. That little shit Potter had managed to escape his plans for him. Now he was Lord Black and Lord Potter.
"I knew I should have sent Sirius back to Azkaban when I had the chance. He royally screwed things up. How am I going to get Potter under control now?"
Thinking back to the Will reading he knew that there were a few screw-ups along the way. The young Weasleys had tipped their hat too soon. They shouldn't have turned their backs on him until after they had gotten him married off. And Granger? They should have been dosing her with Amorentia while she was in the infirmary recovering.
Dumbledore was not a stupid man. He noticed that Potter and Granger came out holding hands. He had suspected something was developing between them and even thought they got along a little too well for just being friends. He thought that Harry stayed out of the way out of loyalty to Ronald and Ronald had effectively kept all other competition away from Hermione. Ronald was going to start giving her the potion at the Burrow later this month and would have had her abandon Harry altogether shortly after that.
No, Lord Potter-Black had not been in any of his plans. He would now have to propose an alliance with the new Lord. Perhaps get him to allow Albus to use his Wizengamot votes by proxy. He would have to be careful tomorrow when he met with Harry. Harry now had more freedoms being an emancipated head of two Ancient houses.
An ambush and capture would not work. Even Albus Dumbledore could not come up with a good public reason to do this. No, it had to be much more subtle. Perhaps offer him training to help him face Voldemort. "Or," he thought slyly, "maybe I should have him help me find and destroy those damn Horcruxes. I'll help find them and 'allow' Harry the honour of destroying them."
A big smile played on his face, "Yes. How does that old muggle saying go? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
/Scene Break/
It was getting close to 4:30. Bellatrix and her band of not-so-merry-and-quite-scared shitless-of-their-leader band gathered outside the compound. The portkeys to take them to the Ministry were ready and everyone was going through their final preparation.
Bellatrix was thrilled beyond belief. Everything was set. A shudder went through her entire body. This was better than sex.
/Scene Break/
At precisely 4:30 Percy met Audrey just as she was locking up the Canadian office. She greeted him with a big hug and kiss. As they were leaving the Ministry they ran into Arthur and told him they were on their way to see the twins.
"I'll meet you there at," Arthur glanced at his watch, "quarter past 5. I just have to pick up some things at my office."
"We can wait for you or come with you, " Percy said with Audrey nodding.
"No, I'll be fine. You go ahead – Fred and George are waiting for you."
Audrey and Percy left the Ministry at quarter to 5.
/Scene Break/
Harry was just finishing up with the Goblins when Narcissa Malfoy walked back into the Boardroom. Harry greeted her, "Mrs. Malfoy, I'm so happy to see you. Do you oppose to anyone of these others being here? They will understand if you do not."
Narcissa looked to the two goblins and Hermione. If what Sirius wanted for he was what she thought, it would be prudent for the Goblins to remain here. As for the girl, Narcissa could read body language and signals very well. The girl and Lord Potter-Black were involved and Narcissa could feel that there was much more there than met the eye. There was a good chance that she was looking at the future Lady Potter-Black and Narcissa was not going to take a chance to piss her off. "No, Lord Potter-Black, I do not object to anyone here. And please, call me Narcissa."
Harry smiled, "Thank you Narcissa. Please call me Harry. I don't know if you have ever met, but this is Hermione Granger."
The two women shook hands politely.
Harry began, "Narcissa. Sirius left me quite a note about you. He missed you deeply. He said that when you were growing up that the two of you with Andromeda used to spend a lot of time together and were the best of friends. When Andromeda and he were ostracized from the family, he felt as though he had lost you."
"Harry, in some ways he had. I didn't have the courage to go against my family wishes and I was promised to Lucius. When the two of them were kicked out of the family I lost a part of myself. Now that Sirius is dead I fear I will never get it back. I don't even know if Andromeda would talk to me after all these years."
"Narcissa," Harry paused looking a little uncomfortable, "Sirius wanted me to ask you if you are truly happy with your marriage, your family, your life." He saw Narcissa beginning to withdraw and added quickly, "Nothing you say here will ever leave this room."
Narcissa had suspected where this was leading. She knew that the next few minutes would affect the rest of her life. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them she looked at Harry with and extremely serious look in her eyes, "Harry, it feels strange talking about this to you but I know that given different circumstances I would be talking to Sirius. I didn't know it would be so hard to answer."
Harry looked softly at her, "Narcissa, I completely understand wondering if you can trust me. I'm thinking the same thing but my love and respect for my adopted father is allowing me to have this conversation with you. This is what he wanted. Where this conversation goes from here depends on your answer."
"Harry, I'm not sure how you can be so calm. Sirius' wishes or not, why don't you see me as the enemy?"
"Over the past few weeks my ideas of who is a friend and who is an enemy have turned upside down." He saw Narcissa look puzzled, "It's a long story. The key is here that I really don't know who you are. Too man people in this world base their judgments on who others are before they really get to know them I know that I would not at this point trust your son or husband but I know better than trust by association. I do know that you have not taken the Dark Mark so you can't be completely evil." He said the last part with a smile.
Narcissa was stunned by the straightforward and mature answer she got from this young man. "So unlike Draco. He may be young, but he acts like a head of a house," she thought to herself. Taking another deep breath and closing her eyes she thought about the question on the table. Opening them she looked at Harry and said, "Happiness is not how I would describe my life, family and marriage but one is bound to one's duty."
"And if this 'duty' could be lifted from you? How would you react?"
"I'm not sure. I would pursue the opportunity if it arose as long as it had the promise of improving my life."
"And you husband and son?"
"I never loved Lucius. I had even thought that being a mother would compensate, but once we had an heir, Lucius was more interested in the Dark Lord than making more children. As for Draco, he has become everything I hate in his father multiplied by five. He treats me worse than Lucius does."
"Narcissa, as your Lord Black and head of house I am offering the following if you so choose. I will declare your marriage to Lucius Malfoy forfeit. He will retain full custody of Draco until Draco is of age. The dowry of five hundred thousand galleons will be retrieved by the goblins and deposited in a vault under the name of Narcissa Black. There will be an additional one million five hundred thousand galleons added to the vault as your inheritance. You will receive the protection of the Black family and will be allowed to hide in a Black residence of your choosing until it is safe for you to rejoin society. Also, you must swear loyalty to the Black Family and it's head."
Narcissa was stunned. Before she could say anything Harry added, "There's just one catch – you have to answer before you leave this room."
Narcissa nodded, "Harry – Lord Potter-Black – I accept your gracious offer. When to we leave?"
Everyone around the table smiled. Harry and Narcissa signed the appropriate documents and Ragnok and Griphook prepared to file them the next morning. Harry disappeared for a moment and returned with a strange book. As soon as he started writing in it, Narcissa knew of Potter Manor – and so did a few others.
Harry was holding Hermione's hand. He held his other out to Narcissa. "For now you can stay at my place it's quite secure and I fear for your safety if you go back to Malfoy Manor." Narcissa smiled and walked over and took his hand. They left an empty boardroom behind as they disappeared.
/Scene Break/
As soon as they left the boardroom, Tonks said goodbye to her parents and dragged Remus to the carts. She wanted to see her vault and the new galleons in it.
Remus chuckled and shook his head. They had already spent a lot of time in vaults recently.
/Flashback/
Remus and Tonks had spent most of Saturday in the vault with all of the Black Family artifacts. Tonks' Auror training came in handy detecting dark spells and curses and between the two of them they made it through all of the artifacts. They had taken a break at dinner and gone out to a local restaurant. They begged off Harry's party since they wanted to finish before the Will reading.
It was nearly midnight when they finished with all the artifacts. There weren't too many of them that needed discarding and the others that were spelled were easy to fix. The only one they didn't touch was a locket with an S on it. Harry had told them to leave it as-is. After the long day, Remus was ready to leave. Tonks however had other ideas. She had found a very nice four-poster canopied bed back with the furniture.
She looked at Remus and wiggled her eyebrows. "Ever done it in a vault?"
/End Flashback/
Remus could not help smiling at that. In the past few days the two of them had grown closer and her outgoing personality was helping Remus come out of his shell and show some of his former Marauder personality. He hadn't felt so alive in along time and he was glad he had let this young woman into his heart.
Tonks was growing closer to the man all the time. She had suspected that quiet, shy man was – pardon the pun – a wolf in sheep's clothing. She was ecstatic that he was ore than she had suspected. Remus was unlike any other man she had ever met. She was falling for him hard. He hadn't even asked her to change into any particular shape of form. He just accepted willingly any shape she felt like at the time. "Hmm," she thought, "I wonder if there's any way to make galleons comfortable."
He looked at her an immediately knew what was on her mind. He bent to her ear, "We have to take your parents to Harry's for dinner."
"Yeah, that gives us an hour though."
/Scene Break/
Molly, Ron and Ginny arrived through the floo into the kitchen at the Burrow.
Ginny looked at her mother, "Mum, what happened back there? I mean it's been planned out for years. I'm supposed to marry Harry. I'm supposed to be Lady Potter. I'm supposed to get his money when he dies."
Molly was still livid as she took in her daughter's questions. "I know Ginny dear. Albus was so insistent that he had this all planned out. We did everything we were supposed to. Don't worry dear, I'm sure Albus will fix it. He has to."
Ginny continued, "But Mum, did you see Harry and Hermione when they walked out? I'm sure Hermione's his girlfriend."
"Now dear don't go jumping to conclusions. You know they've always just been good friends. I'm sure…"
Ron's brain finally clicked in, "BLOODY HELL. She was holding hands with him wasn't she? AND he put his arm around her. That backstabbing son-of-a-bi…"
"RONALD! Watch your language!" Molly reprimanded her son. "Both of them mentioned being in a relationship. They may be together. However that can be solved with a little Amorentia."
Ginny smiled the smile she normally reserved for a person just about to get her infamous bat-bogey hex, "Do you think Dumbledore will get us some?"
Molly shook her head and stood up proudly, "No need, I'm pretty good a potions myself and Amorentia is one of my specialties. Who wants to help me brew?"
Ginny thought this was a great idea and started helping. Ron begged off – it was too much like homework and he had enough of that at school.
/Scene Break/
4:59pm
Bella signaled everyone into position. A minute later they were gone and reappeared the lobby of the Ministry. The ministry appeared deserted with the exception of the guard station. It was quickly destroyed but not before the guard activated the alarm.
"Oh shit!" Bellatrix thought. She yelled instructions to her team, "The off-duty Aurors will be here in ten minutes. Everyone to the elevators now!"
The three elevators were just enough to hold everyone as they descended to the prison level. The doors had opened once or twice on other floors. The volley of curses coming out of the doors as they opened ensured no one was able to get onto the already full elevators. They were going too slow – Bellatrix whined in frustration. The rest of the Death Eaters in her elevator heard it and wondered not for the first time if they would make it out alive.
All through the Ministry around them Alarms were going off and the on-duty Aurors were trying to get an elevator going up to check on the guard station and why the guard was not answering. Finally one of them yelled, "They're after the prisoners and the Auror corps headed for the stairwell to take them two floors down to the holding cells.
/Scene Break/
Lucius heard the alarm claxon through the door. He shook his head – Bellatrix was on her way. Sighing, he picked himself up and straightened his robes the best he could. He had to take over as soon as that door opened or it would be hell for all of them.
/Scene Break/
Arthur had been thinking of the events of the past couple of days as he went to his office. He knew hi marriage was most likely over. That realization came to him based on the conversation he had over the past few days.
/Flashback/
Arthur walked up to a small cottage. He had come here hoping for some shelter and a sympathetic ear to talk to. As he knocked on the door, he was questioned and after he answered a pair of decidedly female arms enveloped him in a hug. He returned the hug and went inside.
Fleur released him from the hug. "Oh Arthur, it ees so nice to see you. I am zo sorry for dee questions but Bill he vants me to be careful."
"I understand Fleur – you can never be too careful. You are looking as beautiful as always."
Fleur already found she cared for her future father in law. He was one of the kindest, gentlest men and yet was devoted to his family and their protection. When she first met Bill's parents she realized the man she loved took after his father with very little of his mother. Fleur could not stand Molly and she was pretty sure the feeling was mutual, but she was instantly taken with Arthur.
Bill came into the room and looked at his father, "Dad, why are you here? I mean, we are always glad to have you, but you look like something is bothering you? Where's Mum?
"Your mother is probably back at the Burrow. But yes, you are right. I am troubled and I was wondering if I could talk to both of you I just don't want to go back to the Burrow."
"Sure dad, come on in, we'll make some tea." Fleur nodded and went to the kitchen. Arthur hugged his son. They stood there for a while before Arthur took a step back. Fleur came back in with the tea.
Arthur began, "It's a long story." He proceeded to tell them more about the events at the Ministry than they had already heard and how Ron, Ginny and Molly had reacted to the other students – especially Harry. He told them about Percy and Audrey.
Bill smiled ear-to-ear with the news of Percy. Arthur told them a bit about Audrey and how perfect she was for him.
He then continued with they reactions Percy got from Molly and also her reaction to the Twins' visit. He also talked about the marriage contract between Harry and Ginny and how Molly and Albus were so insistent that he sign it and then he related how Percy had found out Albus strong-armed it into the will with the Minister's consent. Arthur finally ended with details about his evening and how he ended up on their doorstep.
Bill and Fleur's hearts went out to the man in front of them. Bill had never seen his father like this and Fleur was touched by the trust Arthur had for her and Bill to pour his heart out to them as he had. By the time Arthur had finished his story it was lat and then could see he was exhausted. They offered Arthur their guest room for the night.
Saturday was spent talking more to Fleur and Bill trying to make sense of the whole situation. Bill initially tried to remain impartial but he quickly found that he was siding with the Twins and Percy.
They insisted that Arthur stay the night again and go to the will reading from there.
/Flashback/
"I need to get my oldest boys together. We need to talk about what we are going to do," Arthur thought. Suddenly another thought entered his head as he learned about Potter Manor. He smiled, "so that's what Harry meant."
He was jarred from his thoughts by the alarms going off through the Ministry. He immediately knew what was happening – Death Eaters were coming for the prisoners.
He drew his wand and headed for the stairs.
/Scene Break/
Albus was startled by a floo call from Fudge.
"Albus, the Ministry is under attack again."
"But that's impossible! None of the regular leaders are there and they wouldn't…" he trailed off.
Both Albus and Cornelius said in unison, "Bellatrix."
"Cornelius, if you can, order the Aurors not to engage or we'll have a blood bath on our hands. Hopefully as soon as they get to Lucius he'll be able to take control and get them out of there. We don't need another major Death Eater raid right now. The public hasn't swayed far enough back to neutral since the last attack."
Fudge nodded and disappeared again.
"Shit. Can this day was getting even worse?" Albus said to himself.
/Scene Break/
The elevator music was starting to get to Bellatrix. She had already killed the Death Eater beside her as he started humming the tune that pushed her over the edge.
Finally the doors opened on the holding cell level and a volley of stunners and binding spells met the Death Eaters. They responded with darker and darker curses as Bellatrix started destroying everything in her path. They made mincemeat of the Aurors (all half-blood and muggle-born since Purebloods did not work Sundays) and continued down the hall.
They found the holding cells and started releasing their inner circle. They had not encountered any other resistance, but Bellatrix was still destroying everything. It wasn't until the freed Malfoy that he was able to calm her down. He looked around at the destruction and shook his head.
"Bellatrix, we must leave now" She nodded. At once all the Death Eaters grabbed either a prisoner or one of their fallen comrades and activated their portkeys.
Suddenly Bellatrix, Rookwood and Lucius were alone on the level.
Or so they thought.
Arthur had crept up from the opposite end of the hallway. Now Arthur knew his limits and had no illusion that he could take on either Bellatrix or any of the other of the inner circle let alone all of the Death Eaters he saw. He was close enough, however to overhear the conversation.
"Bellatrix, what in Merlin's name are you doing?" Lucius demanded, "Did our Master authorize this?"
"But Lucy," Bellatrix always annoyed Lucius by calling him Lucy, "The Dark Lord ordered me to plan the take over of the Ministry and I couldn't do it without you. He didn't say I couldn't break you out."
"Oh, Bellatrix, you've messed up things you can't begin to understand. Go back now. The Aurors will be here any minute and Rookwood and I need to leave a surprise."
Bellatrix giggled and disappeared after giving Lucius a spare portkey.
Rookwood spoke up, "Merlin's beard Lucius, that woman is a menace to all of us. She's may have royally screwed up Dumbledore's plans."
"I know. Dumbledore and Fudge had arranged for Draco to pay a huge fine for us from the Black fortune he inherited today and we'd be free. I'm still considering staying and letting that play its course."
"You know after this Dumbledore and Fudge will have to make and example out of some Death Eaters. Maybe it's time to get rid of the half-blood Snape."
"That's and idea worth considering. I'll pass it by Albus and if he agrees we'll convince Tom that Severus betrayed us. You know, I'm glad this is winding down. As soon as we can get Potter and Voldemort to actually duel to the death, Albus can enact his endgame."
"What do you think, should we stay or should we go?"
"If we go there will be trouble."
"But if we stay it will be double."
"Lucius just let me know, should we stay or should we go? Wait what's that?"
They heard the elevators opening again and disappeared.
Arthur mulled over what he heard. "Inner Circles Death Eaters take orders from Dumbledore? Something's not right here." Maybe his boys could make something of it.
He crept back up the way he came and left the clean-up crew to their work. He looked at his watch. It was 5:15. He had to get to his boys before they started worrying.
/Scene Break/
A few hours later Lucius arrived at home after a quick stop in the Death Eater compound. He needed to talk to Draco and Narcissa. He found Draco in his room staring at the wall.
"Hello Draco."
Draco looked up and when he saw who had spoken his face lit up for the first time in several hours. "Father!" he shouted, "What are you doing here?"
Lucius looked kind of uncomfortable, "Well, your Aunt Bellatrix came and got me."
"You mean she broke you out."
"Yes. But don't worry; I have allies in high places. I just need to lie low for a while until I can get matters arranged. So, how does it feel to be Lord Black my son?"
Draco's face fell. He muttered something unintelligible to Lucius.
"Son, you know what happens when you keep information from me."
"I said, ask Potter."
"Why would I ask him?"
"Because he stole the Lord Black title from me."
Lucius was stunned. Much of the Black fortune was already spent. Fudge, Dumbledore and him had plans. "This turn of events is … disappointing."
"DISAPPOINTING? Do you know how I feel? I was made a fool of in that room."
"DRACO! I am still your father and you will address me with respect."
Draco cowered appropriately. "Yes father. That was conduct unbecoming a Malfoy."
"That's better Draco. Now how did Potter usurp your claim to the Head of the Black family."
"Well, apparently Sirius adopted him. Some sort of thing called a blood adoption. I was wondering if you could perhaps get it changed?"
"No, unfortunately a blood adoption is permanent. He now has Black blood in his system and a Heredity Test would show Potter, Evans and Black lineages. Sirius thought that one out very well. Draco, I would like you to tell me everything about the Will reading."
Draco told him about the reading, about how he was set up and made to look like a fool, how Andromeda was brought back into the family, the dissolution of the marriage contract and how close Potter was to the Mudblood.
"And how did that old coot Dumbledore take all of this? He must have been happy his protégé came out on top."
"Actually father, I'm not sure he was too happy. Potter did undo the marriage contract that the Headmaster seemed to favour. I also think that Dumbledore did not expect Harry or the Mudblood to be there. He seemed quite distressed about it."
"So his plans were thrown in the crapper as well," Lucius thought. Draco interrupted him from his musings, "Father there is something else. Now that you are home, I need your help."
"With what Draco?"
"Well, earlier this week the Dark Lord himself gave me a task to prove our family's worth."
Lucius stared at his son for a moment. Thoughts ran through his head, "It can't be that bad but, shit, I go away for a couple of weeks and things go to pieces. Whatever Tom had in store for Draco, I'm sure we can sort it out."
"What did he command of you?"
"Well, I have to complete it before the end of the next school year."
"I ask again, what is it?"
"I … I have to kill Dumbledore."
Lucius felt faint. This day just could not get any worse.
"Well, I'm sure I can convince him to let you have help."
Draco looked at the floor, "There's one other thing."
Lucius felt the blood rush away from his head, "And that would be."
"I also kind of promised him the loyalty of the Ancient House of Black as soon as I become Lord Black. I'm hoping…"
Lucius didn't hear another word as the floor rushed up to greet him.
Draco revived his father with an Ennervate spell. "Father, are you alright?"
"Yes, please go get your mother. I need one of her pepper-up potions. This day has taken a lot out of me."
"She's not here."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know. I didn't see her after the Will reading. I was so angry I stormed out of there and come to think of it I haven't seen her since."
"Why would she have stayed?"
"Hmm. Oh yeah, the will mentioned something about an inheritance only Lord Black could give if she wanted it. I'm not sure what thing she would be inheriting, but it must be pretty valuable."
Lucius went through the words carefully. "Oh no. She didn't, He didn't."
"Didn't what father?"
Before Lucius could answer, they heard an owl tapping at the window. Draco opened the window and the owl flew in, dropped a letter in front of Lucius and flew out. Lucius picked up the letter – it had the Gringotts seal, in fact Ragnok's personal seal. This wasn't good. He opened the letter and read.
For the second time that night his brain could not cope with the information he was given and he fainted again.
A/N – I make no apologies for the not so subtle rip off of the clash. It was late when I was typing it in an airport waiting area and it came to me and the rest is history.