Chapter 11: Corvus Black
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the below characters. They all belong to the world of Harry Potter so cleverly created by JK Rowling.
A/N: I am so sorry I didn't get this posted last night like I promised. My niece had her Christmas parade last (she was the cutest one there of course) and I didn't get home until well
after 1 in the morning. I am happy to report that I finished another chapter and started the next one during last week and I have a whole bunch of ideas of where I am going to go so
it would appear I have gotten past my slight case of writers block. Once again I want to sincerely thank everyone who has taken the time to review, it is greatly appreciated. I hope
that you enjoy this next chapter as it explains a lot of the questions that have kind of been left hanging over the last few chapters. So without further ado, here is chapter ll and please
leave a review on your way out. Thanks!!!
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"The first thing that you need to understand about your father is that he was an honest and kind man. He loved you and your mother with everything that he had, and he
died trying to ensure you a safer future." Remus began. He paused trying to think of how and where he would begin. There was so much he wanted to tell Hermione, but to tell her
every little detail about Corvus's life would take days, and they didn't have that.
"Your father looked up to Sirius from the moment he could walk. So of course, his early years were spent, much like Sirius's learning the pureblood way of thinking. He was
taught that purebloods were the superior race and everything and everyone else weren't good enough to be doormats. He was taught to despise muggles and to torment
muggleborns. Like Sirius thought, deep down he felt in his heart that it was wrong. Unlike Sirius though, he wasn't able to hide it as well. While they were younger, Sirius was able to
protect him, and teach him how "act like a Black." Once Sirius left for school though, that changed. Your father was so tender hearted, that he wasn't able to hide his repulsion of the
Black family values even at that young age. Of course, his mother began to despise him, and without Sirius there to lookout for him, there was no one there to stop her from treating
him horribly. Still she did her best to keep his point of views secret from the rest of the family because of her embarrassment. That summer rolled around and even Sirius found it difficult
to protect him. He knew the only way he could was if he continued to fool his mother and yet this meant that he had to be extremely careful about how he communicated with Corvus.
He knew that if he tried to speak to him in the house any one of the portraits or house elves could and would report it back to his mother. Then two weeks into summer Sirius found a
spot for them to talk about a mile away from the house. It was in an old muggle park that was fairly vacant. The park branched off into some woods and in those woods, Sirius found a
big rock formation that created a small cave. All summer Sirius and Covrvus would meet there secretly. After Sirius returned to school the following year, it became a refuge for Corvus
when things in the house got to bad." Remus paused for a moment, recalling the story as Sirius had told him and James all those years ago.
"Things got really bad that year too. His mother quit trying to hide him and pretty soon the entire family was making his life miserable. Then, Christmas break came and Sirius along with
his cousins came home for the holidays. It was three days before they were to return when it happened. Sirius, Corvus, Bellatrix, and Narcissa were at the old muggle park having a
snowball fight when the weather began picking up. Before they knew it there was a full on blizzard going on around them. Bellatrix suddenly pushed Corvus down the hill that led into
the forest and then took off. Narcissa, paused for a minute before taking off as well. At first Sirius started to go down after Corvus, but then a realization hit him and he took off after
the other two. He followed them until they ran into a crowd of people caught off guard by the blizzard as well and purposely lost them before turning around and returning to Corvus. In
those few moments he had realized this was Corvus's chance to escape from the Black family. He helped Corvus find their cave before returning home. The next couple of days were
difficult for him. His family waited an entire day to make a half hearted attempt at searching for him. Although Bellatrix wasn't bragging, she wasn't ashamed to admit that she all but
killed Corvus. After that day, the Black family forgot all about Corvus Black." Remus once again paused to take a steadying breath. He looked at Hermione who looked like she was going
to cry, and was glad that the worst part of the story was coming to a close.
"For the next couple days, Sirius would sneak out in the middle of the night to take food and blankets to Corvus. As soon as he returned to Hogwarts, Sirius went straight to Professor
Dumbledore and told him everything that had happened. Sirius explained that he had hoped they would be able to find a home for Corvus, disguise his looks and create a new identity
for him so that he would be able to attend Hogwarts the following year. So, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall did just that. They found an elderly couple that had never
had any children of their own and placed Corvus with them. His jet black hair became reddish-blonde and his dark brown eyes were turned bright blue. Time along with the elderly
couple changed the rest. He grew a couple inches over the following months and begin to fill out from eating healthy meals regularly. His entire demeanor changed from a neglected and
sickly looking child to a boy that was well taken care of and very much loved. The hardest part for Sirius was the fact that he couldn't see him that summer. Everyone agreed that it was
in Corvus's best interest and safety that Sirius not contact him until school started. By the time school started year, Corvus was unrecognizable to anyone, even Sirius. Corvus entered
the Hogwarts as David Scott and was sorted into Ravenclaw."
"Over the next couple of years, Sirius and Corvus were very careful about who knew how much, and even how often they saw each other. Sirius was not able to see Corvus during the
holiday's, and they limited the amount of contact they had at school. Then, things just became too much for Sirius and he got kicked out of his house and moved in with James in fifth
year. James was the first to find out. Shortly there after, Sirius told me but he never told Pettigrew, which I guess in the long run happened to be a very lucky decision. Lily only found
out by default when Corvus introduced himself to your mother. Boy I remember Sirius had a coronary over that one. That was the only time I had ever seen him that livid at Corvus. After
all those years of tiptoeing around his identity, Corvus nearly messed everything up. It was just fortunate he had the good sense to use his adopted last name, and pure good luck that
it was Lily that he slipped up in front of not someone else. Then I believe that you know how the story goes from there. Abby and Corvus fell very much in love, and were engaged
straight out of school and married a just a little over a year later. Corvus also joined the Order, but he still maintained his secret identity."
"Things went along really well for him until just over a year after the wedding. James and Lily had finally gotten married and Abby had just found out that she was pregnant with you,
although no one else knew at the time. It was just after Abby's twentieth birthday when Adam and Jane Scott were murdered by Voldemort. Corvus was horrified. The people that had
taken him in and raised him with so much love and support were attacked in their sleep in their own home by Death Eaters. Sirius, James, and I all very carefully examined the murder
and we never did find any indication that they had linked the Scotts to Corvus, however the damage was done. That was the incident that led Corvus to keep your identity a secret. The
Black family was at their peek of power and he was terrified for you and your mum. He knew that Andromeda had gone into hiding years prior, and at first considered doing the same.
He didn't want to live in fear though, that everyday might be his family's last, so he decided to fight. As far as anyone could tell, no one had made the connection yet. He was very
careful though about how much anyone knew about his family. He had every measure in place to protect you two just incase anyone ever did find out about him. He figured that even if
any of his old family members found out about him, it would take them a lot more time to find out about you and Abby. He had every detail in place incase something like that happened.
He had plans for Lily and James to take you and Abby into hiding if the family ever discovered that he was still alive. Not even Sirius knew of the plans because he knew that Sirius was
the first person any of his lovely family members would track down. I only found out of the plans the first night I found out about you, the night he left."
Everyone sat in silence for a while after Remus's story. Hermione's head was spinning with all the information Remus had just given. She was just about to ask Remus a question when
a horrible thought blindsided her, "Wait," she suddenly said making everyone look at her. "So then that means that awful woman, that awful woman that screamed insults at everyone,
that dreadful woman Sirius was forced to call his mother, the very same woman that called me a mudblood, is my grandmother!?" Hermione asked in horror. She already knew the
answer, but was praying Remus would answer otherwise.
"I'm afraid so Hermione," Remus said cringing as well. "However your true grandparents, the ones that raised your father to be the man that he was, were truly wonderful. I had the
honor of meeting them a few times, and they were the kindest most devoted people you could ever imagine. Corvus gave you his true mother's name as your middle name."
Hermione allowed a small smile to grace her face as she tried to imagine them. She knew that they must have truly been remarkable people to selflessly raise her father as they had. "I
wish I could have met them," she said softly.
Remus looked at her kindly. "I believe that even though they weren't your blood relatives, much of their spirit was passed down to you. You take after your father's thirst for knowledge
and your mother's beauty inside and out. Your strong will and independence though, I think comes from them, especially your Grandma Jane. She never hesitated to give her input on a
subject whether it was solicited or not much like you Hermione." For the first time since Remus and Tonks arrived, everyone chuckled and Hermione turned slightly red.
"Your ability to read between the lines, and your mature wisdom though, that comes from your Grandpa Adam. He was a quite man much of the time, but he saw things that no one else
did, and when he spoke or gave advice, everyone listened." Remus paused for a moment before saying, "and every single person that contributed to your personality and your life; your
Grandma Jane and Grandpa Adam, your mother and father, Sirius, and even Lily and James helped to give you the best thing about you. Your fierce loyalty and absolute devotion to
those you love is what makes you shine so brightly."
Hermione once again blushed before looking at Remus. "You left yourself out Professor. You have contributed just as much to my life as they did, if not more. You are just as much my
family as they are, and I am glad that I am learning this before anything else happens. I lost all of those other people except my mother without ever knowing just how important they
were."
After that everyone sat quietly in the room for a few minutes digesting the new information when Harry suddenly realized something. "Professor," Harry asked, "you said that you and
Sirius discovered something in our fourth year that caused you guys concern. What was it?"
Remus closed his eyes and sighed. He knew that he had to tell them, but he dreaded the reaction it was going to produce. "Well after things were straightened out with Sirius, we
began to look into some of the clues that Corvus had left behind. We wanted to know who knew what, and how much they knew. We already knew that Arthur knew only what Abby
had told him, which left us to assume that we were the only ones who knew the full story. Still, we wanted to be sure, and we wanted to do everything we could to protect Hermione.
We knew that Corvus had left the first clue of the prophecy with Sirius, but that was about all we knew. It took us forever to realize that the only way to get to the other clues would be
for you to unlock the first one. Even Sirius wouldn't know who or what had the next clue until you unlocked the first one. It was around that time Sirius volunteered the Black house for
the orders use. The first time Sirius returned since he had been kicked out, I went with him. We were looking through some of the things, when Sirius came across an old tattered book.
He opened up the book and realized that it was a book of records. It recorded the birth and death of every Black family member. As he was going through it he found Corvus. Under his
name was the year he was born and the year he died with a question mark next to it. And under that was a line connecting him to the date of your birth and a circle around it. The book
had recorded that he had fathered a child. Sirius immediately took the book to Dumbledore wanting to know what it meant. He didn't understand how the book had recorded his death,
but still was able to record your birth. After carefully examining the book, Albus realized that the reason the book had recorded Corvus death was because that was the day he had
become dead to the family. The family had turned his back on him and he had renounced the Black name. The reason that the book had recorded Hermione's birth was because the
book was created to record the birth and death of anyone with the family's blood running through their veins. The book had made the connection that the child was Corvus's, however
because Corvus was already recorded as dead and he married a muggle the book was confused and therefore not able to produce and gender or a name. The book was never intended
to record someone who wasn't of pureblood, so the book was confused. The same thing happened when Tonks was born. Dumbledore warned us however that those markings meant
that somebody had noticed these inconstancies and was aware that there was a child with connections to the Black family out there somewhere. He advised us that the best possible
way for us to protect you was not to tell you. He let us know that you safer no knowing anything until you found out on your own." Turning to Harry he added, "That was the other
reason Dumbledore kept himself at a distance from you in fifth year. Until he was able to safely hide away Hermione's secret, he wanted to make sure there was no possible way
Voldemort could gain access to that knowledge."
Remus took a deep breath as he finished. He knew that he had just dropped yet another bombshell on Hermione, and he honestly didn't know how much more he could take.
"So," Hermione began timidly, "then that means that it's possible that someone knew about me and we don't know who or even how much they knew?"
"I'm afraid so. They may have never gotten further then the information on that page, but we really don't know. It is also possible that whoever it was has since passed and took the
secret with them. It kills me to tell you this, but we never were able to get any further. We tried and tried but we just didn't have anything to go on. One thing that we did know was
that it was definitely in your benefit that Abby took you and disappeared to Ireland for all those years and that when she came back she was remarried and you were legally adopted by
her new husband." Remus replied.
"So then as far as we know right now, the only people that know about me aside from my parents are Lily, James, Sirius, you, Arthur, Professor Dumbledore, Harry, Tonks and possible
one or more of the Black family members." Hermione sighed adding to herself that almost half of those people were dead. "Well, I suppose it isn't that bad. I mean no one has tracked
me down yet, at least as family member." All Remus could do was nod.
A/N: Here I am once again to ask you to please leave a review. Thanks!!!!
