A/N – I'm happy people liked the last chapter. I kept picturing the elevator scene near the end of the Blues Brothers as I was writing about the Death Eaters in the elevator. This Bella is very fun for me to write.
Sorry that this update has taken longer to write. The combination between the nicer weather and the increased activity at work has decreased the time I have to write.
Chapter 19 – Sisters are Doing it for Themselves
Harry, Hermione and Narcissa appeared at Potter Manor. While Hermione showed Narcissa to one of the available guest rooms, Harry went down to see how Tom and Severus getting along.
He knocked on the cottage door and the door opened revealing a tired-looking Severus. Harry walked in and Severus led him to the sitting room where Tom was relaxing. Tom looked up and greeted Harry.
"Hello Harry. Severus and I were sitting here wondering how the Will reading went."
Harry chuckled and proceeded to tell them about the reading. Once he was done, Tom and Severus were laughing loud. Once again the sight struck Harry as quite odd. He was sitting with two people who just weeks ago were considered his enemies. Now they were sharing a laugh over the misfortune of people whom they had considered allies before. He shook his head slowly; things had changed and were continuing to change at a fast pace.
"There's one more thing. I, um, kind of broke up the Malfoy's."
Severus head snapped so quickly towards Potter that he almost got whiplash, "What do you mean?"
"Well, Sirius left instructions for me to speak to Narcissa privately. I asked her about her future and made her an offer. In short, she now has a vault with two million Galleons and is now once again Narcissa Black."
Tom started laughing again but the real surprise was Severus. For some reason that Harry was not quite sure of, the Potions Master had the biggest grin on his face that Harry had ever seen.
"Where is Narcissa now? If Lucius finds out she may be in danger."
"She'll stay here at the Manor for a while until we can set her up at one of the Black family properties. I've invited a few people for dinner tonight. Andromeda and her family are coming as well as Remus and a few of the Weasleys. Would you two care to join us?"
Severus nodded like a bobble-head doll in a car going over a rough gravel road. Tom hesitated, "Harry, I'm not so sure. People may not be as accepting of me as you think."
Harry reluctantly agreed and changed the subject, "How is the potion coming along?"
Severus spoke up, "Actually it is completed. We are ready to go through the ritual and reintegrate the soul fragments. "
Tom nodded with a serious face and spoke up, "We are not sure of the effects of the ritual and the reintegration of the soul pieces. I need to visit my headquarters tomorrow and talk to young Mr. Malfoy and see how Bella is getting along. After that, Severus and I will "disappear" for a few weeks. Hopefully by then, Voldemort will cease to be."
Just then, Jeeves appeared. "Harry, Fred and George Weasley are in the entrance hall. They are requesting to speak to you immediately."
Harry, looked up at the two men, "If you'll excuse me, Severus, dinner will be at seven," and with that he was gone.
Tom looked over at Severus, "You still care for her don't you?"
"How did you know?"
"Despite your Occlumency, your minor facial expressions and body language gave you away."
/Scene Break/
Arthur arrived at the flat above the WWW shop shortly after half past five. The conversation he had overheard between the escaped Death Eaters was still going through his mind.
His children could see he was agitated and looked very concerned. As he came in he looked at his boys, "Could one of you please floo-call Bill and Fleur? I need to talk to all of you."
Fred nodded and proceeded to call his eldest brother and future sister-in-law. A few minutes later Bill and Fleur stepped through the fireplace and brushed themselves off. Bill saw Percy and smiled broadly going over and hugging his brother. Percy introduced Bill and Fleur to Audrey.
Arthur motioned them to sit around the table. Once seated they all noticed the very serious look in Arthur's face.
He started, "There was a Death Eater raid on the Ministry this afternoon."
A barrage of questions interrupted him but he put his hand s up to signal for quiet, "Please, let me tell you what I need to and then you can ask me questions."
Arthur relayed to the group how he visited his office and heard the alarm. Everyone listened intently as he explained how he snuck down to the holding-cell level and observed the breakout. When he got to the conversation he overheard, the twins did not look as surprised as the rest and shared a knowing glance.
As he finished up, Arthur said, "So, then I snuck back out and came here straight away. I needed to talk to you all about what happened."
Bill, Fleur, Percy and Audrey were speechless. Fred and George had funny looks on their faces. Arthur looked from one to the other and spoke again, "Why do I get the feeling you two aren't very surprised by this news?"
"Well," started Fred, "it's because we aren't."
George took in the new look of shock on everyone's faces. "Gred, I think we need to contact someone."
"I agree Forge," he looked around at the five others who were staring at the twins with a look of apprehension, "Don't worry – we just want to get someone who can explain."
"Please everyone, trust us. We'll be right back."
The twins got up and disappeared.
Bill broke the silence, "Well what was that all about?"
/Scene Break/
Andromeda and Ted Tonks were waiting for their daughter and her new boyfriend. Andromeda had known Remus as one of Sirius' school friends and had liked the shy young man. When Nymphadora introduced him to them as her boyfriend a couple of days ago Andromeda took one look at her daughter and had seen a look of happiness and contentment that she had never seen before. At that moment she realized that she would not stand in the way of any man who could make her daughter that happy.
It was just after 6 pm when a slightly disheveled Remus and Nymphadora appeared at the Tonks' residence. Remus had received a Patronus message from Harry asking for them to arrive early. He relayed the message to Andromeda and Ted and they all agreed to leave as soon as they were ready.
/Scene Break/
Harry arrived back in the entry hall to find the twins. They both ran over to Harry and started speaking in twin-speak.
"Harry!"
"We need you,"
"To come with us,"
"Right away!"
Harry looked from one to another, "Whoa guys! Settle down. What's the problem?"
"Dad knows,"
"About the"
"Conspiracy."
Harry was shocked. "What do you mean he knows?"
"Come,"
"With us."
Harry grabbed hold of their shoulders and they disappeared from the Manor.
They reappeared in the Twins' loft. The other people were surprised to see that Fred and George had brought Harry along.
Harry looked around and was momentarily taken aback at the sight of Bill and Fleur. He had known about Percy and Audrey (he was pretty sure based on the twins' description that the woman seated next to Percy was Audrey) and Arthur, but Bill and Fleur were new to the equation.
Fred broke the awkward silence, "Dad, tell Harry what you saw in the Ministry today."
Arthur told Harry about the attack on the Ministry and what he overheard between Lucius and Rookwood. Harry showed some surprise at the news of an attack on the Ministry, but his reaction of the conversation surprised Arthur.
"Thanks Arthur, I didn't know about the raid on the Ministry. Although I'm not surprised Bella would pull such a stunt. As for the conversation you overheard, I'm afraid it is true. Before I go any further, let me be clear to everyone here – your knowledge of that conversation has put you in great danger should certain people find out that you know including Albus Dumbledore."
He looked around at the shocked faces and continued, "I will give you all the same choice I gave others. I can fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle, but knowing that information will put you in greater danger. The alternative is that you can choose to be obliviated and not remember the conversation between Lucius and Rookwood or even that I was here."
Percy looked at Audrey who smiled and nodded to him, "Harry we want to know."
Bill also felt Fleur squeeze his hand, "We're in too Harry."
Arthur looked around at his family – the two young women had already found a place in his heart – and sighed loudly, "Over the past few weeks my life has taken a direction I never thought it would. I don't recognize my wife and two youngest children and I've even been questioning the foundation my marriage was based on. On the bright side," he smiled at Fleur and Audrey, "I feel like two very nice young women have joined my family – not trying to push anything mind you – and I will always be thankful to Audrey for her part in bringing Percy back into our lives." He smiled warmly at Audrey.
"Harry," Arthur continued, "If you can shed some light on this that will allow me to better understand why my world is being turned upside down then please share the information with me. I need to know."
Harry's heart went out to Arthur. So many things had happened to him and his family in such a short amount of time. He summoned Jeeves and asked for Sirius' papers. Jeeves returned a moment later.
"Before I let you read these, I'll need a Wizard's Oath from each of you that the contents of these papers will not be discussed with anyone who does not have explicit permission from me or in any locations where there is a chance unauthorized people could overhear."
One by one everyone gave his or her oath. Harry smiled and continued, "Thank you. I will leave you with these papers and invite you all to dinner around 7pm. Dinner may be a bit late though since I have one other item to attend to. Oh yeah," he remembered as he has handing over the papers, "I hereby give everyone in this room permission to read the papers left to me by my father Sirius Black."
He smiled at the shocked faces of Bill and Fleur as he headed back to the Manor.
/Scene Break/
Narcissa Black was trying to settle in to her room at Potter Manor. Harry had told her about the protections around the Manor and she felt safe for now. She dreaded what would happen when Lucius and the Dark Lord heard about her betrayal.
There was a knock at her door. She opened it and found Harry standing there. "Hello Narcissa, I came to check on you and give you some news. May I come in?"
"Certainly Harry. I'm doing all right so far. I am worried about what will happen if Lucius gets out and the Dark Lord finds out about what I've done."
"Um, well, that's one of the things I wanted to tell you. Apparently Bellatrix staged a raid on the Ministry this evening. Lucius has escaped."
"What? That wasn't supposed to happen." She covered he mouth afraid that she may have let something slip.
"I know it wasn't supposed to happen." He winked at her, "However it has and we have to deal with it. I'm sure Voldemort won't be too happy with him since he lost his wife and his son is not the Black heir."
"No, but that still won't protect me from his vengeance."
"Narcissa, trust me when I tell you that you don't have to worry about the Dark Lord. " Seeing her quizzical look he added, "I can't explain it fully right now, but ask me again after dinner. Why were you looking so sad when I came in?"
"I was thinking about how much I miss Sirius and Andy. I was wondering if you could possibly relay a message for me to her. She probably hates me, but I would very much like to get to know her again. I miss my Sister."
Harry tilted his mouth in a smirk, "I will relay the message. There is actually someone I want you to meet before dinner. They are at the door. May I let them in?"
He walked over to the door and opened it at Narcissa asked, "Who is it?"
The voice that responded surprised her, "It's me Cissy." Harry had opened the door and Andromeda Tonks came in. Narcissa stood in shock as she saw her sister standing there watching her.
"Andy? I'm so sorry. I've missed you."
"And I've missed you baby sister."
Narcissa walked over to her older sister, "I'm so sorry about what happened between us. I …" She stopped as Andromeda put her hand on her sister's mouth.
"Don't say another word like that. I know the situation you were in. I knew what Lucius and Mother were like. I'm just hoping that this means I get another chance to have my sister back."
Narcissa's face brightened and she enveloped her older sister in a big hug. Seeing Harry over her sister's shoulder, Narcissa silently mouthed a "Thank You" before the head of the Black family turned and closed the door.
/Scene Break/
Hermione was waiting for Harry in the hallway. She noticed the smile on his face. He glanced back at the door behind him, "I think we may have to delay dinner by a bit. They have a lot of catching up to do."
"I don't think that will be a problem," she said smiling as she enveloped him in a hug and gave him a tender kiss. "Besides, with half the Weasley's coming now I'm sure the elves could use a bit more time to prepare." She rested her head on his shoulders. The past week had brought about so many changes – the best of all for her was finding the man she loved more than anyone else on the planet had the same feelings for her. They stood there for several minutes just enjoying the feeling of closeness with one another.
/Scene Break/
The dinner was almost over before it had begun. The appearance of Severus Snape had half the people ready to leave and the presence of Narcissa Black alienated most of the other half. Harry had everyone sit down and he explained how Severus and Narcissa cam to be his guests. Hermione's parents had decided to have a romantic dinner alone so Harry was able to discuss the Conspiracy freely with everyone.
It seemed that Narcissa was in on the Conspiracy to a point. Lucius had involved her as an intermediary at times between himself and Fudge or Dumbledore. He had never required an oath of secrecy from her since she was his wife and was expected to obey him.
The conversation around the table was very lively and it wasn't until dinner was finished when Bill asked about the prophecy.
"Harry, I read everything you gave us."
Narcissa and the Tonks' looked perplexed. Harry gave them the documents from Sirius giving permission to read them as they all moved into the sitting room.
Bill started again, "The prophecy of the heirs of the founders. Have you figured out who they are? For instance, I suspect you are the heir of Gryffindor, but who are the other three?"
Harry thought for a moment and then summoned Jeeves. He whispered something into the elf's ear and Jeeves disappeared again with a nod.
Harry took a deep breath, "In for a penny, in for a pound," he thought to himself.
"Well, you are right about the heir of Gryffindor. I cast the genealogy spell and I am the heir for Gryffindor." He looked at the women on either side of him and got nods from both of them.
"We also found the heirs of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Those lines went dormant hundreds of years ago as their magic protected the lines. For a long time they were thought to be extinct but their magic brought them back as it sensed the time for the prophecy to be fulfilled. The heir of Hufflepuff is Luna."
There was a look of surprise on a lot of faces – Percy looked at Luna, "But aren't you in Ravenclaw?"
Luna got a dreamy look on her face and said, "Yes. The hat knew who I was but decided that blue was a better colour to ward off Nargles."
Neville, Harry and Hermione had to force themselves to keep a straight face. "Loony" Lovegood only came out when Luna wanted to use her wicked sense of humour and keep people guessing.
Harry coughed, "What Luna is saying is that the founders enchanted the hat to protect their heirs until the time was right. Luna was placed in Ravenclaw because that was the best fit for her other than Hufflepuff. Those of you who were there when I was sorted can attest to the fact that it took the hat a while to sort me. It wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I had already met Draco and I did not want to be in the same house as him. It reluctantly sorted me into Gryffindor."
Narcissa looked very thoughtful throughout the whole conversation. Harry could see her figuring things out. She looked up at him, "What about the other two heirs?"
"Well, the Ravenclaw heir obviously could not be sorted into Ravenclaw. The heir of Ravenclaw is actually a Gryffindor and is none other than Hermione Granger. Rowena Ravenclaw's line was the last to reassert it's magic."
Narcissa wanted to follow this discussion to the end. "So, who is the heir …", she stopped and went pale. Those around the table who didn't know what she had just realized were wondering what would make her stop like that and turn so very pale.
She regained her composure and looked at Harry who was smiling broadly, "You can't possibly mean that the heir of Slytherin is"
"Me?" said a new voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to look at the newcomer and half the people in the room suddenly looked like they wanted to be somewhere, anywhere other than Potter Manor. However the shock of the experience kept them in their seats.
Harry said, "I'm glad you got my message Tom and were able to break away from your work." Tom came strolling into the room, "Everyone, I would like you to meet the heir of Slytherin, Tom Marvolo Riddle."
The reactions around the room were varied:
Narcissa had gone silent again.
Andromeda unconsciously tried to shield Ted.
Bill and Fleur were too stunned to move.
The Twins who had already known this part were staring at the man who had terrorized so many.
Neville managed to remain calm. Luna had spoken to him at length and had promised him quite a snogging session would be in order if his Gryffindor courage showed itself in this situation.
Percy was just stunned while Audrey studied the man she had heard so much about but who remained more of an interesting news item in Canada rather than an actual threat.
Severus looked like the cat that ate the Canary. He didn't know how long he could hold the laughter in.
Tonks and Remus were prepared to a point, but seeing the man in real life was just plain frightening even for a werewolf.
Xenophilius and Augusta looked at Luna and Neville's reaction. He was very proud of his daughter for looking beyond the surface and she was proud of Neville for showing courage to stand up there right now without showing any signs of fear.
Arthur was the first to recover, "Har-Harr-Harry, if you hadn't figured it out yet, that is Lord V-V-Vol-Voldemort."
Harry broke the tension by chuckling. He was soon joined by Hermione, Luna, Severus, and - to some extent - Neville. Tom just continued to look around the room and finally cracked a smile as well.
Harry spoke up, "Tom (a.k.a. Voldemort) is really the heir of Slytherin and is essential to the prophecy. He's been staying here for the past few days trying to piece his life back together. I thought that Dumbledore had manipulated my life, when he did to me is nothing of what he did to Tom."
He looked at Tom and asked, "May I continue?"
Tom, smiled and nodded and with a bow of his head answered, "But of course."
"OK everyone. You've all read what Sirius left me. Now I'm going to give you the rest of the story starting with how Dumbledore has manipulated Tom's and my lives and also everything we've discovered over the past week.
For the next two hours everyone listened to Harry – backed up by Hermione and Luna – as he went through the history of the Pureblood Conspiracy and how it had affected them. He used the pensieve to show how Tom had been manipulated from a young age and at times even Tom commented on certain situations.
Harry went through what his mother had written to him and also his life at the Dursleys. He went through all of the manipulations throughout his school years culminating in the battle at the Department of Mysteries and the subsequent betrayal by Ronald and Ginevra Weasley. At that juncture, he made a point of looking over at the Weasleys in attendance. "Fred, George, Percy, Bill and Arthur, I know that you didn't have anything to do with this. That is why you are here tonight. I still love and respect all of you and still consider you part of my family."
It was at this point he had to fight off the hugs and kisses from the twins. They finally relented when Hermione threatened to curse their tongues off. It did however server to break a lot of the latent tension in the room.
The explanation ended with the people who were in attendance at the Will Reading earlier sharing their memories using the pensieve. Arthur shared his memory of the Death Eater raid on the Ministry. Tom was very interested in that and had a very calculating look on his face when he emerged from that particular memory.
The rest of the evening was spent answering questions and talking among one another. Percy and Audrey actually spent a fair amount of time talking to Tom and getting to know him (Audrey's initiative since she did not grow up in fear of a name).
By eleven o'clock, everyone seemed to be talked out. Harry had noticed that many had made the effort to talk to Tom and try to get to know him. It escaped no one's notice how close Harry and Hermione, Neville and Luna and Remus and Nymphadora were. One of the biggest surprises was Severus. He was rarely seen out of the vicinity of the Black sisters. Anyone who had the experience of being a student of Professor Snape was shocked by the smile on the man the whole evening and that he could be polite and actually quite charming when he wanted to be.
The discussion was settling in to that moment of comfortable silence that always occurs at a gathering before people start leaving. Just before the inevitable moment Nymphadora spoke up, "Um, Harry?"
"Yeah Tonks?"
"What now? I mean we have a group of people here who have all been impacted by this conspiracy in some way shape or form. You have people who are part of the Order of the Phoenix, The Ministry, even the Death Eaters …"
"Not to mention," Interrupted Fred.
"The Head one." Said a smiling George.
Tonks, looked at them with minor annoyance and continued, "Um, yeah. What I'm trying to say Harry is that it doesn't just have to be you four in this. I want to help."
Almost unanimously everyone else pledged their support as well and a willingness to help the Heirs of the Founders. Harry was almost overcome by their offers of allegiance. He looked at Hermione and Luna and they looked touched as well. It was harder to read Tom, but he also looked like he was moved by the show of support.
Harry spoke up, "Thank you. This means a lot to all of us. However it's getting pretty late. Can we meet back here tomorrow at nine pm?"
Everyone agreed and they were all just about ready to go when the twins spoke up, "We need,"
"A name,"
"We mean Dumbledore has,"
"The Order of the Phoenix."
"And Tom has,"
"His Death Eaters."
"No offence."
"None taken," Tom said smiling.
"So we thought,"
"We should have"
"A name too."
Hermione put on her McGonagall imitation, "And do you two have a suggestion?"
"Of course," they replied in unison, "We think our name should be …"
/Scene Break/
A half hour later Harry and Hermione were spending some time alone in the sitting room just cuddling an enjoying each other's company after a very long and busy day.
Hermione looked up at Harry, "Tell me the truth, when did you think about the name Fred and George came up with."
"Well, the more I think it over, I like it."
"So do I," she said pulling him into a tender kiss.
A/N – There is a reason I didn't put the name in and it isn't for dramatic effect. As much as I tried, I could not come up with one. So, I'm looking for suggestions and the one I like the best will be in the next chapter.