Author: enchanted nightingale

Beta Reader: pussycatadamah

Timeline: Book 5

Pairs: Harry/Lucius

Disclaimer: The characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I merely use them in my plot for fun.

Chapter 43 – Visitors

The Burrow still had that homely air and the same feeling of disarray and chaos and warmth he had grown up with yet Bill hesitated to knock on the door. Fleur poked his side and he tried to avoid a second one. The witch was evil on purpose; she knew he was ticklish.

"I'm trying to man up and tell them," Bill agreed. "I know we agreed, I know Harry knows, your parents and sister know and approve but my mother..." he shook his head.

"Does it matter?" Fleur asked.

Bill sighed. It really mattered to him that Molly would at least like Fleur because the part Veela was right, no matter what his mother and father thought, his marriage to Fleur was not up for debate. The connection they shared was not going away, ever, and the sooner she was officially his wife the better he would feel. She deserved a bonding ceremony, to wear his name and his ring around her finger. He and Fleur had made plans about marriage and a family on their sixth date and Harry had known before they did because each had confided to the green eyed teen.

"Won't know until I face them," the red head muttered to himself and took the first step, Fleur at his side.

His father answered the door, a smile on his face. He noticed Fleur, recognized her too, and beckoned both inside.

"Bill! We didn't expect you," Arthur told his eldest son after he hugged him. "And who is this lovely girl?"

"Dad, meet Fleur Delacour, my girlfriend," Bill proudly announced, introducing the blond witch.

A plate crashed to the floor and they turned to see the stupefied look on Molly's face as she stared at them.

The smile dropped from Bill's face, knowing that whatever followed next would not be good.

Harry was yawning and trying to sit upright in the small, quiet private pub room. He was dressed haphazardly; throwing on anything he could get his hands onto when he got the urgent message from Bill to meet him and Fleur down in Hogsmeade. He had stumbled around the room trying to get ready and Neville had woken up at some point. The green eyed wizard told him to go back to sleep, grabbed his wand, map and cloak and slipped out of the dorm. He arrived at Rosmerta's pub and slipped inside; going straight up to the room his friends had booked. He found Bill with a grim look on his face and Fleur with tears on hers. Upon seeing him the witch sniffed.

"Oh, 'Arry!"

"What happened?" Harry asked of Bill.

"My mother," the red head growled. He closed the door and walked back to his lover, hugging her to him and kissing the top of her head. He started to explain what happened a few hours earlier when they had gone to the Burrow, how Molly Weasley had done everything to make her son's girlfriend feel did not matter that earlier in the year she had met the blonde witch and had been nice to her during Harry's party. The moment she realized Fleur was there to stay, she acted like a completely different person.

"I've never been more humiliated," the Curse breaker said to Harry. "Including the time she thought we were dating."

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked.

Bill shrugged and looked to Fleur. "We are getting married during summer," the Weasley firstborn son announced, pulling the part Veela to him. He gave Harry a wide smile. "Guess who's my best man," he told the teen who blinked.

"Me?" Harry asked.

"Bien sure!" Fleur insisted. "'Arry, you 'ave to do it!" she told her former fellow champion.

Harry sighed. "You know I'm still partially sleeping right? This is all an elaborate dream that I might forget come morning."

Bill snorted. "We'll just remind you again. But we are both serious Harry."

"You do realize Lucius is a package deal with me?" the Potter heir said.

"I'm a rebel," the redhead shrugged. "Also, Lucius likes me more than all other Weasley's he has met."

" 'Arry, just say yes," the witch urged the green eyed Gryffindor.

The teen grinned. "If you want me that bad, then yes, I will be there." He eyed Fleur. "Though if you have any suggestions about wedding presents I'm all for it."

After that he got tackled into a hug by Fleur.

Harry's night time adventure for the meeting with Bill and Fleur did not go unnoticed by Hermione and Neville, who both remarked upon the tired look on Harry's face. The raven haired wizard had admitted to those two halfway through the trip to McGonagall's classroom that Bill and Fleur asked him to be best man.

"That is a great deal," Hermione mused.

"Greater than you realize," Neville added. "Chances are that you will be named godfather to at least one of their future children."

"Siri was best man to my parents," Harry recalled.

Neville smiled. "Exactly. Will they have a traditional ceremony? If yes, then you might be asked to read the vows or officiate part of the bonding ceremony. Although, with how those two are... there are only a handful of rituals that are appropriate," the Longbottom heir mused.

Harry knew that the other teen was referring to the pull from the sex magic and he was instantly curious about it. He made a mental note to ask Lucius or Bill and read on this. Another thought that occurred to him had to do with Lucius and what would happen between the two of them in the future. It was still early for them to make such a step. Harry had plans for his life, finish school, travel and spend more time with the blond wizard, before he decided to make their situation permanent in the eyes of the law.

"What do you mean?" Naturally, Hermione did not miss the things Neville did not say when he spoke. Neither wizard wanted to elaborate, and sensing that, she dropped it and chose an entirely different subject to occupy the rest of the way to class. "How did you find the assignment Professor gave us?"

Harry shrugged. "Boring."

"Long," Neville replied.

"All three of us did the transformation," Harry told the witch. "I don't see why I need to write an essay about how I did that.""

"It's the Ministry," Draco Malfoy fell into step with them, his voice a drawl as he answered Harry's question. "We need to write a certain number of essays to complete Ministry standards per lesson and year. Ridiculous but true."

Hermione stared at the blond Slytherin, especially since Harry actually smiled at the pure blood teen.

"You're quite knowledgeable about stuff like that," the green eyed teen told Draco.

"Naturally you are a heathen about them," the blond shot back.

"Come on! You love it when you have to explain things!" Harry teased and Draco scoffed.

"I'm not the one enjoying lectures or lecturing people," Lucius' son stated.

"Don't listen to him," Blaise said, as the Transfiguration classroom came into view. "He loves lecturing people. And even more so, he gets impossible when he tells them 'I told you so'. Really," Blaise insisted. "He practically skips."

Draco swatted his arm and stomped ahead of them. Blaise, shooting a smirk at Harry, followed after the blond wizard.

"Typical Draco," Harry muttered and hurried into the classroom.

"Neville," Hermione started.

"Draco is Harry's sort of friend, not mine, not yet," Neville told her.

"Don't you find it odd?" the witch insisted.

Neville shrugged. "Let it go. We have class. My kind lady."

She sighed and nodded when he allowed her to enter through the door first. "Thank you," Hermione said, smiling a bit.

"Chivalry is alive and kicking," the Longbottom heir told her, making her smile wider.

While the rest of Hogwarts got ready for the day of Halloween and the feast that would take place that very night, Harry unlike his friends and classmates had different plans for the evening. Sirius had arranged it with McGonagall and Dumbledore and he took Harry away from school from right before lunch started, for the rest of Friday and through the weekend with the intention to get him back to Hogwarts by Sunday night.

The reason was simple enough. Sirius would be taking Harry to visit the graves of his parents and then spending some time with Sirius and Remus for Friday and part of Saturday and then the teen would be dining with Lucius for Saturday night and he would get back to Grimmauld on Sunday afternoon for dinner with his godfather and Remus. It was elaborate but it allowed Harry to spend time with his favourite adults.

He used the Floo from Dumbledore's office to reach Grimmauld and get immediately tackled into a hug from his godfather.

"Harry! You're here! Finally!"

Harry hugged his godfather back, smiling. "I do need to breathe Padfoot," he teased but Sirius merely grinned.

"I missed you."

"It's October," the teen said. "We have the rest of the year."

"Too long," Sirius complained.

"Sirius, enough," Remus said mock sternly. "Stop hogging him!"

With a final squeeze, Harry's feet touched the ground again and the werewolf hugged him, far more gently than his godfather but his affection was palpable.

"Hi Remus," Harry beamed at him.

"How are you? Were the classes hard? I recall what a zoo the day was when we were back to Hogwarts," the werewolf reminisced fondly. "Have you eaten lunch yet?"

The teen shook his head. "No, wanted to have lunch with you guys." And with that response Sirius was about to pounce on him again but Remus stepped in.

"First we feed him," the former DADA professor stressed.

"What's for lunch anyway?" Harry asked.

"Let me tell you first that your godfather wanted to cook for you," Remus said and the look of horror on Harry's face was telling as was the pout on Sirius' face. "But since I was not in the mood for pizza, again, we left the cooking to the new house elf."

Harry blinked. "You got a new house elf? From where?"

"Malfoy insisted," Sirius answered. "Tilly!"

With a 'pop' a female house-elf, wearing a cute dress and an apron popped into the room. She looked matronly and young, younger than Kreacher for one thing, and without the oddness of Dobby.

"Master called," Tilly said and gave Sirius the stink eye though she shot Remus an adoring look. There was a story there, Harry knew, but his stomach made noise and it made Tilly look at him and gush.

"Master Harry!" she said with delight and Harry recalled one of Lucius' elves clapping hands and gushing when he complimented their cooking.

"Nice to see you Tilly," Harry waved at her and she blushed.

"Lunch is ready at the dining room," the house elf announced. "Steaks and mashed potatoes and lots of greens for young Master Harry to be strong and tall."

"Thank you," Harry told her and with a giggle she was gone. He saw the dog Animagus glaring at him. "What?"

"You're here a second and she likes you?" Sirius groaned.

"I told you that you should not have pranked her," Remus sing songed.

Harry rolled his eyes. "That's a given Sirius. Now let's go. I want to see what else she made. I bet she made those bread buns with the tomato and thyme that I tasted last time I was over at Lucius' place. Or at least the carrot and pumpkin soup," he muttered as he headed for the kitchen. "Then you can tell me all about how you two have been spending your days while I whine about classes and homework."

It was two hours after lunch and it was already dark when the three wizards left Grimmauld Place in favour of the Cemetery of Godric's Hollow. Before going they made a short stop at a nice flower store and bought three bouquets of flowers. Sirius opted for white lilies and sweet peas, while Remus chose white liliums yellow zinnias, and Harry went for blue hyacinths mixed with white poppies. They were quiet as they entered the cemetery that was located in the middle of Godric's Hollow. It was like a small grove of trees with many marble statues and mausoleums and a large number of individual tombs.

"It's been in use since the dark ages," Remus said in a low voice to Harry. "Long before the surrounding town took the name Godric's Hollow."

"Black's are usually buried near the isle of Avalon," Sirius supplied. "When Dorea, your grandmother, married Charlus, she joked that at least in death she would have better company."

"That's morbid," Harry muttered as he followed after Remus and Sirius, the werewolf in the lead. "Have you two been here before?" he asked the two wizards.

"I came after I saw you, back when I escaped from Azkaban," Sirius commented. "Not one of the Aurors was here," he bitterly added. "I brought them daisies from a nearby house."

"I came once, about when you must have been six," Remus offered. "It was the first time in all my visits that I made it past the gates and to their grave."

Harry blinked. "Oh."

"It's not easy for anyone, pup," Sirius admitted. "But you really need to see them at some point."

"I... You know, I've been an orphan for years... years Siri. Seeing the graves... It's like meeting them for the first time and losing them again," green eyes misted over and the teen blinked. He really hated how emotional he was getting. Neither of the adult wizards commented on it, mostly because Sirius and Remus were equally affected.

They walked towards the back of the cemetery and Harry noticed that the graves here were much older and some were covered in ivy and dirt.

"They're right about... here," Remus said, stopping short in front of a modest looking tombstone made of white marble that seemed a bit luminous despite the dull sky above them.

Harry stared at the names of his parents, the dates of their birth and death and the inscription under everything:

"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death"

The teen muttered the sentence out loud before asking his godfather about it.

"An old saying really," Sirius said. "It's a phrase Charlus used to say, your grandfather. James used it as well."

"Dumbledore chose this," Remus told Harry. "He knew Charlus well. It's both a Muggle saying from the Bible and a line often used by Druids."

"You know the strangest things," Sirius muttered. He turned to his godson. "Want to be the first to greet them?"

Harry pursed his lips and nodded. "I guess..." He stepped up, eyes never leaving the grave. His throat constricted. He wanted to say so many things, just like back in first year when he first laid eyes upon the Mirror of Erised, yet words failed him. He settled for just kneeling on the ground and placing the flowers he had brought before him. He never noticed that two more bouquets joined his until a hand squeezed his shoulder and he was helped to his feet.

"Pup?" Sirius asked. "Do you want to stay some more?"

"We've been here for half an hour," the werewolf added making the teen blink.

"We have?" Harry asked. "I didn't notice," he whispered and accepted the hug from his godfather.

"It's okay," the dog Animagus said, holding him.

"We can stay as long as you like," Remus offered.

The green eyed teen shook his head. "That's fine... I'm... Just, could we come again?"

"Of course," Remus and Sirius said together.

"We can go now," Harry told them and the two older wizards each hugged him and led the way out from the cemetery. It was a quiet walk and the young Gryffindor spent it looking at the names on the graves they passed by.

"You know, the house is just around the corner," Sirius mused.

"The house we were staying?" the teen asked. "It's still there? Lucius told me it was practically destroyed when the Fidelius fell and the Avada Kedavra rebounded on him."

"That's true," Remus answered. "It's like an explosion happened but the structure is still standing. Most of the mementoes inside have been moved, whatever was salvageable really. Remind me to show you a few boxes I have with your pyjamas and teddy bears."

Harry blinked. "You still have them?"

"Of course I do! I know you are not a fan of Dumbledore right now but he did help save whatever was in the house, pictures, clothes, all the furniture are in storage, the china sets, your mom's books, James' Quidditch equipment... Though your broom is definitely better," Remus added. "In fact, I'll write him and ask him for details as soon as we go back to London, alright."

"I'd love that," the teen said. "Really though? Even the teddy bears?"

"Harry... even the pacifiers," Remus stated, making the teen blush but smile at the same time.

"Thank you," Sirius told the werewolf who just grinned. "You do realize Lily and James took pictures of you naked, having a bath, eating messy, drooling..."

"Are you blackmailing me?" Harry asked with mock outrage.

The former Azkaban escapee grinned.

"Leave off," Remus warned. "Remember the house elf likes him more?"

"I have few prerogatives as a godfather, I get to use them," Sirius stated.

The good mood they had built since the cemetery fell a bit once they stopped short in front of the cottage like residence the Potters had used, the place Harry had lost both his parents.

"It's really close to the cemetery," the teen commented.

"It's a small town, a really big village if you will," Remus remarked.

"So... This is it," Harry said, looking over the hedge at the husk of the house. Most windows and doors were missing. There was no debris but the house was empty. He could tell even from outside.

Sirius took a deep breath. "Want to go inside?"

"I... No," Harry replied. "It's not necessary," he told the two wizards. "Did you visit this place before?"

"Actually yes," Remus said. "When Lily and James first got married they had discussed moving here permanently but they both liked London and they were staying in an apartment. It was sold before you were born."

"They knew then they needed to hide," Sirius added.

"Can we go?" Harry asked.

"Go back to Grimmauld or just leave the street?" Sirius asked. "We could go up ahead and two blocks down to the left, see if old man Rufus still has that pub? Best hot cocoa in the village."

"He's still alive?" Remus asked with no small degree of surprise. "He's how old?"

"A hundred and fourteen," Sirius grinned.

"Does he have a hot daughter or grand-daughter in his case?" Harry asked with suspicion.

"Nope!" Sirius cheerfully said. "But his spiked hot cocoa is the best," he added when Harry kept looking him with distrust. "Old wolf, you with me?"

"Lead the way, Padfoot," the werewolf said, making Sirius whoop with glee and march ahead. Remus and Harry followed at a more sedate pace a few feet behind the dog Animagus.

"We still have some time together and I know Sirius made plans for us to go to the movies, some action movie or something, he was really excited," Remus said.

"I am feeling a bit lost to tell the truth," Harry told the older wizard. "Seeing the grave... I don't know how to feel."

"And you don't have to decide on that now either."

"I've known they were dead all my life, as far as I remember," the teen said. "But I never, ever thought to visit the graves."

Remus looked at him.

"Why not? Is this what you want to ask?" he told his former DADA professor.

"Yes actually, though I believe I can guess the answer," Remus mused. "Knowing they are dead so long you were used to it. If you had known them you would have visited the graves sooner."

"Also, seeing the graves is really tangible," Harry added. "But ... have I ever told you about the Mirror of Erised?"

"Desire?" Remus asked after a second, proving he was quite smart.

Harry nodded. "I saw them there, the Potters, my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and ancestors... What I desired most was family..."

"And they were all dead," Remus concluded.

"Exactly. What I felt then is similar to what I felt today, what I still feel."

"Want to tell me?"

Harry shrugged. "Finality. I just kept hoping, I guess that somewhere out there I have family, people who love me. I know I have you and Sirius and my friends and Lucius, my own family. But I'll never meet them. You and Sirius, you tell me stories, share memories but it's not the same. I'm sad I'll never know them but at the same time..."

"You never really knew them," Remus finished.

"I miss the idea of having parents more," Harry admitted. "Is that bad? Because it really makes me feel terrible."

"It's not a bad thing," Remus told him. "I never met Lily and James as parents either. I met you as a baby a few times and Sirius was along the same lines but we never saw them interact with you long enough to think as parents. It's why Sirius always thinks of James as the buddy he met when he was eleven and later when they were young adults. That's the images we had of them ourselves."

"How do you think they would be as parents?" Harry asked.

"Who?" Sirius asked.

They had caught up with him.

Remus shared a look with Harry before informing his friend about their discussion so far while they entered the establishment the Animagus had led them to and went to sit at a table.

"James would be like a big kid with you, that's what I think," Sirius told his godson. "He was that way. Even after he got all mature and straightened up his act, he was still a big kid. If he caught you climbing a tree, rescuing stray animals, making mud pies, he would be alongside of you, sharing the blame."

"That I can agree on," Remus added. "And Lily was level headed. A bit like Molly Weasley with the making sure you are warm and have a coat with you and eaten all your food, but she was smart, scary smart. She would know about each prank before it happened..."

"And punish you accordingly," Sirius added. "You would have never gotten into the mess you did like a firstie at Hogwarts."

"But no Howlers," Remus said. "She detested Howlers."

Sirius was nodding. "Your grandmother did not use Howlers either, unlike my mother," he shuddered.

"Black witches do make awful Howlers," the werewolf agreed.

"They combine them with hexes," Sirius explained. "Stinging hexes, sneezing hexes. Once, after a prank that got me a detention for two weeks, she sent me a Howler with a freezing hex attached. I felt cold for two weeks."

"The nurse could not undo it either," Remus recalled.

"My mother knew her dark spells," Harry's godfather muttered. "In the end we wrote to Dorea, your grandma and she stormed to the school, counter-hex ready. She was a Black," he added for his godson's shake. "She was taught what Black witches usually learn but she was more grey than black. She would have also loved Lucius Malfoy," he grudgingly added.

"Charlus too, I think," Remus mused. "What do you think, Sirius? You knew the man better."

"Charlus was... Much like Lily come to think of it. Dorea was a pureblood neutral witch that grew up in a Dark family. She knew her curses, could use them to fight with and protect her family. She was the brains and the slyness. And to this day she terrifies me."

Harry grinned.

"Can I take your orders?"

The three wizards looked up. It was a charming witch around McGonagall's age; hair cropped short and wearing clothes more suited to the medieval ages. And she grinned the moment she saw Sirius, giggling like a school girl at the ex-convict.

"Sirius Black?" the witch asked. "You've been free how long and only now you come into my tavern?"

"I know, I 'm unforgivable. Wait, yours? What happened to Rufus?"

"Going on a hundred and seventeen," the witch replied. "He's at the brewery, making the whiskey. A glass for you, right?"

"Actually Mabel, we're here for your other specialty," Sirius told her and then the witch noticed the Boy-Who-Lived and the werewolf. She winked at Remus and pinched Harry's cheek as if he was a baby. The teen realized that it was possible she had a grandson his age.

"Three hot cocoas coming up, two of them spiked, right?" Mabel said, smiling as Sirius and Remus nodded. "And because I like you," this time she punched Sirius' cheek as well, "I'll thrown in three slices of my pie." She walked off, humming.

"That was Mabel," the dog Animagus told the other two. "Charlus first brought me here when I was twelve. My mother had been a right bitch that summer and my father packed me off to the Potters. He actually met with Charlus and they spoke and then your grandfather brought me here, introduced me to Rufus and his Mabel. The moment she saw me she pinched my cheeks and called me a troublemaker. She actually wrote me a letter once, when I was in Azkaban. Said she believed I was an idiot but not a killer."

Harry rubbed his cheek. "Well, I could do without the pinched cheeks but if you kept your mouth shut then this place must be amazing. My grandfather really brought you here?"

Sirius nodded. "He was like that. Laid back and less strict than Dorea. He would have hated Lucius. Back then he disliked all Malfoy's really," he recalled. "Called them pompous baboons. And he said that to their faces whenever he visited them."

"I doubt they met frequently," the teen said.

Sirius snorted. "They were purebloods. Their wives met at least once a week socially and the men at every Ministry session and social event. Plus they went to school together. Once you spend some time in the magical community you'll realize that all purebloods know each other and at least the wealthy half-bloods are included in that deal."

"So they would have been mixed reactions about Lucius," the teen sighed.

Sirius shrugged. "Sure, but they would have loved you to pieces and spoiled you rotten and perhaps they would have been reluctant about Lucius, well, everyone but Dorea really, but in the end they would have accepted him. Lily might have needled him subtly, taking him to Muggle establishments, not the posh ones that man visits either."

"How do you know he visits the Muggle world?" Harry asked.

Remus grinned. "Purebloods are as your godfather loves calling himself and others, pretentious idiots who change their word faster than wardrobe."

"And a good pureblood changes wardrobe at least twice in two months," Sirius added. "All purebloods know that the magical community is confined, they preach about hating Muggle's and Muggleborns but when they stand to make a profit they can overlook blood better than the smell of a troll."

"Talking politics lads?" Mabel asked as she came back, tray full of their orders and their treat.

"Talking to Harry here about his grandfather," Sirius explained and she nodded.

"Good man, Charlus," Mabel sighed. "Went awfully young... now wait a minute... I think I have something for the young one here," she said, looking at Harry. "Wait up," she told them and left.

The three wizards shared a look. Then they let it go and tasted the cocoa Sirius had bragged about and the pie Mabel treated them to and they felt better, spirits lifted a bit.

"It is great, you were right," Remus and his sweet tooth recognized.

"Thinking about seconds?" Harry teased and the werewolf nodded without shame.

"You do know Tilly has dessert back home, right?" Sirius asked.

"That's hours from now," Remus said, "And you keep saying I need to fatten up."

Sirius snorted. "Go ahead and order then," he said. "So, back to our previous topic, Lily would have tried to rattle Lucius some. James... Well, he would have sulked till Lily hexed him and then he would be sourly around Malfoy but not really bad mouthing him around you."

"We would get to hear all about it over a few pints," Remus added.

"Exactly," Sirius said. "Dorea would have welcomed Lucius with open arms and Charlus would have followed her example, after he had his chance to test him and his intentions towards you. None of them would have cared about continuing the line or anything like that," he added almost as an afterthought. "They had a miracle with James so they were pretty much convinced there would be no heirs to the Potter line."

"Here it is!" Mabel returned, carrying what could only be a picture in her hand, looking winded and red cheeked. "This one's yours to keep," she told the green eyed Gryffindor before handing over the picture.

Harry looked at it carefully. It was a picture of his parents and people he knew to be his grandparents. His mom, dad, grandma and grandpa all having pie and cocoa and looking extremely happy. Lily was beaming and hugging her belly. It was flat.

"She had just learned she was pregnant and she and James came and found your grandparents here. Papa Rufus took the picture and I served them," Mabel said. She ruffled Harry's hair and slinked away, taking Remus' plate and returning with another.

Harry was left, staring at the picture and smiling.

End of chapter.