A/N: I'm not making money from this. This is J.K.'s world, I'm just playing with it.
Alexandra could see the edge of the wards as they approached. It took a cursebreaker's eye to see the faint blue ripple of the magical barriers, so she pulled Harry to a stop about five feet away from the boundary, and she sat down Indian style on the grass.
"Now, Harry, wards are very complicated and there are plenty of different types. Blood wards are possibly the most complicated, and to put one up, I will need to first connect to each of the wardstones around the grounds, and then connect to our magical signatures. I will then need to cut both our palms, and touch the Potter ring to the blood to tie it all in to the family magic. With me so far?"
Harry nodded eagerly, settling down on the grass and pushing his hair back. Getting a firm grip on her wand, she touched the tip to her forehead and spoke. "Projekti mia menso."
In front of her, the air began to ripple and change, and she could see the image of the book she had been perusing that morning form before her. "Okay, so now I'm going to search for the wardstones, you'll be able to see the process in the image."
Closing her eyes again, she dove deep into her being until she reached a large golden ball of swirling light: her magical core. Alexandra concentrated, and the ball began to send out tendrils of magic that left her body in search of the stones. There were seven in total around the boundaries of the Manor to anchor the wards, and she felt an added rush of energy as she connected with each one.
Another probe reached out to Harry, and she saw his magical signature in her mind's eye. Once she was connected, she reached out with her wand and her hand for Harry's. With a whisper of "Diffindo," she made a shallow incision on both of their right palms, and she interlinked her hand with Harry's to let their blood connect. Her left hand brought the Potter ring up to touch the blood, and she reached out with her magic again into the stone, where the family magic was partially anchored for this purpose. A griffin appeared in her mind- the Potter totem- and allowed her to take a tendril of magic and connect it to the blood.
When she opened her eyes again, where their hands were connected was a strong amber glow, and as she completed the ward, the glow expanded, almost blinding her, and in a flash it was gone. She could see an amber coloured dome going up around the house, and she sighed in relief, sagging back on her hands.
"Wow." Exclaimed Harry, looking at the new ward. "That's incredible! Will you teach me to do that?"
Alexandra smiled. Such an eager kid. "Of course, but it'll have to wait a few years until your core is stable enough to complete it. Such strong magic could permanently damage your capabilities."
He nodded and stood up, reaching out a hand to haul her to her feet. She tapped her wand to the cut on his hand and sealed the wound, removing all traces of an injury from his skin and doing the same to hers.
By the time they got back to the Manor, Harry had bombarded her with questions about curse breaking which she had answered with ease and detailed knowledge that seemed to come from nowhere. Like Dispater had said, her Muggle memories were fading quickly and being replaced by her new life.
"So, Harry, we have a lot to talk about when it comes to what we'll be doing for the summer." She began, as they sat down in the sitting room again. She tucked her feet underneath her on the armchair and leaned on one of the arms. "Part of it will be lessons on pureblood etiquette, politics and financial things, but the other two parts of your training will be physical and magical work. Another part of the summer will be focusing on our goals and how to get them- alliances, things like that. We'll start physical training in the morning, but today I want to get 'admin' done. So, I want you to go through your first and second year textbooks, and make notes on each chapter if it helps.
If you see anything you want to practice, like a spell, or something you don't understand or have a question about, tell me. Meanwhile, I'll be letter writing and scheming. What do you think of inviting Neville Longbottom to join you in training?"
Throughout her speech, Harry had been getting more and more excited, and he was practically hanging off her every word by the end. As soon as she mentioned Neville, he began nodding. "I'd really like that, Lexa. I feel like because of … Ron, I've neglected Neville a bit, and I'd like to get to know him better."
"Wonderful," she beamed, running a hand through her hair. "Now, it's much too lovely outside to stay in here, so what say you we head up to that balcony on the top of the Manor?"
"That sounds good, I'll go and get all my books!" he exclaimed, jumping up and running out of the room. She chuckled and stood up, stretching her back like a cat.
"Jigs!" she called, and with a snap, the elf was before her, bowing low.
"What can Jigs be doing for Mistress?" he asked.
Alexandra smiled. "Well, first of all, you don't have to bow to me when you arrive unless we're in…uncomfortable company, but I'd let you know beforehand. I'll make that an order if I have to, but I want you and the others to be part of the family, not just our servants."
Jigs beamed, and hugged her leg in a surprising display of affection. "Thank you Mistress!" he squeaked, and she rested a hand on his head. "Was there something else?"
"Yes, could you fetch some parchment, envelopes, a quill and ink and the Potter and Black seals from my study, please, and take them up to the balcony on the top?"
Jigs nodded, and with a crack he disappeared. By the time she got to the balcony, Harry was already sitting on a chair reading a Transfiguration textbook, and her writing equipment was sitting on a desk that overlooked the front gardens of the house. She sat down, and began writing.
Dear Lady Longbottom,
My name is Alexandra Potter-Black, and I have just come into the Headship of both Houses. If at all possible, I would like to request an audience with you at your earliest convenience to discuss the future of our Houses. My cousin, Harry, is a roommate of Neville's and as such I would like to extend him an offer. I will be taking a more active role in training my Heir for the war we both know is coming. The events at Hogwarts for the past two years make it clear that the Dark Lord is stirring, and I want Harry prepared for when he does. If you and Neville agree, I would invite him to join our training this summer.
Cordially,
Lady Potter-Black
She signed the letter with a flourish and sealed the envelope with the seals of both her Houses, and set it aside. The owls had taken up residence in the owlery, and she had not seen either since they arrived at the Manor. The next set of letters were addressed to Andromeda Tonks and Narcissa Malfoy. 'Malfoy' was an old French name, and while it carried weight within the Ministry thanks to Lucius, it held no meaning within the Wizengamot. It therefore came under the primacy ruling- since House Black was an older family, House Malfoy bowed under it, and so Lucius and his son were pseudo-members of her House. The same applied to Andromeda's husband and daughter, and to Bellatrix's husband, although Alexandra fully intended to cut her off from the family and the House magic.
The letters called each daughter of House Black, their husbands and children to a family meeting at Grimmauld Place in three days' time to discuss the future of the House. Whilst there, she would assess the old family elf that she knew lived there, and probably hire more elves to take care of the many Black residences.
She was just signing her third letter when Harry called for her. Looking up, she saw him standing next to her clutching a textbook for Charms. "Lexa, I've just had a thought. I made my choices for third year electives in Easter, but I think I want to change them now that I've got a new perspective on things."
Alexandra sat back and looked at her cousin. In the day and a half he had been with her, he had surprised her more times than she could count. He had been so accepting of her, someone he had never met, and trusted her unquestionably when she told him that his friend was lying to him every day. He was already turning a new leaf over, and she could see him becoming a bit more open, a bit more eager as the hours went by. It was truly remarkable, and she was incredibly proud.
Truth be told, she was shocked at how much she already loved him- she knew she'd step in front of Voldemort for him just as Lily, James, Sirius and Remus had done, without question. On impulse, she reached out and clasped his hand in hers, making him smile shyly and blush a little.
"Go on, Harry." She encouraged, and his smile widened.
"Well, I chose Care of Magical Creatures and Divination, but I'm starting to think I should do something else. I only chose Divination because…Ron did, but I think I'd really like to do COMC, and not just to support Hagrid."
She nodded, and straightened in her chair. "Okay, COMC sounds good, from what I've heard you have somewhat of a talent with those anyway, and I'll be honest, the other options are pretty useless apart from Ancient Runes. Arithmancy is using numbers to predict an outcome, but I think we'll be okay on that front, and Muggle Studies…well you grew up a Muggle so again, no need taking that course. Runes, however, are useful- I got an Outstanding in my OWL, and took it to NEWT level. They're very useful in protection as you've already seen, not to mention curse breaking. So, I think you should take COMC and Runes."
Harry thought it over for a moment and nodded. "Great! I'll write to Hermione in a moment, and Neville as well, but I'll ask Hermione what she's doing to prepare for Runes. Oh, by the way, I was wondering if we could get third year books a bit early? I know we don't have a book list, but some of its pretty obvious, and I want to get a head start." He looked nervous in asking that of her, and her heart ached for him. I swear to Merlin, I'll kill that old goat if he ever so much as lays a finger on Harry ever again.
Alexandra squeezed his hand. "Sure thing. We can go to Diagon in a few days, when we know if Neville will be joining us."
Harry beamed at her, and his eyes shone with excitement. "Thanks, Lexa!" With a bound, he was back on the chair reading his textbook furiously, jotting down notes every now and again. She chuckled, and turned back to sealing her letters. When that was done, she cast a quick Tempus and saw it was nearing 2:30PM.
"Poky!" she called, and an elf stood on the balcony again. "Could you bring up the books that I had in my trunk last night, please, and also ask Missy for some lunch?"
The elf nodded, and with a squeak of "Yes, Mistress!" she popped away.
Alexandra stood up and stretched, twisting so that her back popped as she moved. She moved over to the edge of the balcony and leaned off the edge, one arm wrapped around a pillar. Two fingers went in her mouth and she let out a whistle. Within seconds Sirius was winging towards her, and screeched as he neared her, prompting her to stick out an arm for him to land on.
"Hello, Siri. Could you take these letters for me? They're for Augusta Longbottom, Andromeda Tonks and Narcissa Malfoy. Go to Augusta first please, then whoever's nearest. I'll make sure you get some treats when you get back, Wiltshire's quite far, but you're a strong owl, aren't you?"
Sirius puffed up his chest as if to prove that he could make it easily, and the behaviour reminded her of the other Sirius, who made her laugh with his mock confidence and exaggerated poses. She blinked back tears and set about attaching the letters to her owl's leg, and watched him fly away into the countryside and past the wards.
Poky popped back with her books, which she set on the desk, and laid out sandwiches, fruit and pink lemonade for them on the coffee table, and after thanking Poky, she and Harry set aside their work and began their lunch.
"You know, we should really get ourselves watches. I don't want to have to keep casting Tempus, especially if I'm around Muggles."
Harry hummed in approval as he took a bite out of his BLT, and she crossed her legs and sat back with her own sandwich.
"I wanted to talk about training while we eat. Physical will consist of laps of the Quidditch pitch every morning, until you can't run any further. Your endurance will slowly build up, so don't worry about going a certain distance. Then I think an hour of weights and boxing, and hopefully we can alternate that with a Muggle martial arts class once we find somewhere suitable. Then I think an hour on Charms, DADA, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology and History. We don't need to worry about History of Magic all too much, I just want to catch you and Neville up on what Binns is supposed to have taught you over the past two years. That shouldn't take too long, so once we've finished that we can move onto teaching you Runes." She explained, taking a bite out of her sandwich every now and again.
"Then for an hour after dinner we can talk about political movements and forming an Alliance within the Wizengamot. Don't forget that just because there are only fifteen Houses, we still want important Ministry officials on our side. Then weekends you have free apart from physical in the mornings, and a couple of hours on Saturdays to teach you pureblood etiquette. I expect Andromeda- she's a daughter of House Black- will want to teach that, and we have to teach you to dance as well. Is this all sounding good to you?" she asked.
Harry had finished his sandwiches and had moved onto spearing fruit as she spoke. A piece of watermelon was halfway to his mouth when she asked a question and he froze comically, making her giggle. He put down the fruit and nodded. "I think…the summer will be busy. Good busy. I'm actually looking forward to it."
Alexandra reached for a glass of the lemonade, and grinned. "Don't worry, it won't be all work. I think we'll spend a week or two on holiday in one of the houses, and if we're very lucky, we might be able to arrange a trip to Romania. You remember Charlie Weasley, right?"
Harry shook his head. "I never met him. Ron told me he works on a dragon reserve in Romania though. Why, do you know him?"
She grinned. "Weren't you listening to my stories last night? I've known Charlie since I was eleven, though I haven't seen him in two years. If he's not angry with me, we might be able to go visit him at work!"
"Why would he be angry with you?"
Alexandra sighed and set down her glass. "I attended Hogwarts under a false name. After what happened with you and Voldemort, my parents were worried that Death Eater sympathizers would come after me because of my last name. Charlie and Sienna- Katie Bell's sister- have no idea that I'm a Potter, and now I'm making a return to Britain that will spread my name and my face all over the Prophet, along with yours. I just hope they'll understand."
The younger boy reached over and grabbed her hand comfortingly, as she stared into empty space. "I'm sure they will. It'll be okay. Besides, you have me."
The witch turned and smiled at her cousin, squeezing his hand back. "You're right. I do. And I'm never going to give you up."