A Black Flower

Disclaimer: Harry Pottery belongs to JK Rowling; and I am screwed up royally in the head, read at your own discretion

Author's notes: Just so ya'll know, I do throw revisions and updates of some of these ideas, even if I don't move them over to separate fics. So, you might occasionally want to go back through them.

-*-O-*-

"Ah, Apollina! So good to see you again!" Andromeda Tonks spoke up, a smile on her lips as she hugged the French half Veela and kissed each of her cheeks. "It's been too long, you remember my husband Ted, don't you?"

"Oui," the well aged blonde woman agreed with a smile as she nodded to the shaggy muggleborn wizard. "It has been a long time, Andromeda. Ted. This is my husband, Anton Delacour."

The refined looking French wizard smiled gently to the other couple and nodded as he shook Ted's hand, "A pleasure."

"A long time indeed," Andromeda agreed with a slight little smile. "When last we met, it wasn't Apollina Delacour."

The half Veela witch blushed demurely and nodded. "What with everything happening here in England, I didn't want to cause any discomfort… and then, that awful happenstance with your cousin…"

"Ah." Andromeda looked away for a moment, her eyes clouded over as she could feel Ted's hands resting down on her shoulders. "I couldn't bring myself to at the time… But I have recently had reason to look into what happened back then."

"Ah.. So, the rumors of his escape were true?" There was a flash of something across Apollina's eyes, before a troubled expression fell on her features.

"Yes, but at the same time, the rumors of his conviction weren't." Andromeda said softly shaking her head with a frown. "Which, is most curious. All those witnesses, and they had him caught. A simple matter of questioning him under veritaserum. Instead, they locked him away, for all that time, without a trial. Rather curious don't you think?"

"Excuse me," Anton spoke up, a slight frown on his lips as he entered the conversation. "I'm afraid I'm not as familiar as the rest of you on this matter…"

"My cousin, Sirius Black, was accused of betraying the Potters to the Dark Lord 13 years ago now," Andromeda recounted quietly. "Then blowing up a street full of muggles to kill his other friend, Peter Pettigrew. They only found a finger of Peter's remains."

"Only a finger?" Anton clarified as he frowned slightly, his brow's pressing together. "Nothing else?"

"I checked." Andromeda stated simply as she leaned back in her seat. "I was… given reason recently to check into the circumstances. Only a finger was found. Peter accused Sirius of betraying the Potters, then that section of the street blew up. A dozen muggles died and yet, the curious thing was, no one saw Sirius cast a spell, in fact, he was blasted back and knocked unconscious by the blast himself, never having a chance to say a thing."

"The finger was intact?" Anton once more asked for a slight clarification on the matter as his face drew even more tightly into a frown.

"Yes." Andromeda nodded once more as she leaned back in the stands as she looked out over the lake as the awaited the start of the second task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

"Any explosion that would leave a finger intact, would leave far more than only that," the Frenchman growled as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Are the Aurors in this country completely incompetent?"

"My daughter is an Auror." Andromeda stated casually, as her dark eyes bore back into the suddenly uncomfortable Frenchman before softening slightly. "But, only in her first year. And, yes, a great many of the Aurors in England are incompetent, or controlled by people more interested in their own position than what's right."

"Well, I'm sure you know what my little Fleur is up to… How has little Nymphadora been?" Apollina smiled at the slightly older woman as she shifted just a bit in her seat. "Did she ever get any little brothers or sisters?"

Ted's face shifted into a look of absolutely horror as Andromeda giggled softly in response. "Thank Merlin no! Nymphadora on her own was bad enough… having more of them like her?"

"I love my daughter." Ted said with absolute certainty. "But that girl… was an absolute menace growing up."

"I was shocked when she some how managed to con the Sorting hat into putting her into Hufflepuff." Andromeda agreed, a slightly wistful smile on her lips. "I thought for certain she'd go into Gryffindor or Slytherin."

"Aw, Mum!" A new voice spoke up cheerfully as a girl with bright pink hair and a pretty, heart shaped faced plopped down next to the Tonks. "Don't you know? No one ever suspects a Puff!"

"Apollina, I'm sure you remember my dear, 'sweet' daughter, Nymphadora, don't you?" Andromeda asked with an exaggerated with of suffering. "Nymphadora, this Apollina and Anton Delacour. We met Apollina years ago when you were just a little girl."

"Around two as I recall," Apollina agreed with a smile as she nodded to the bright haired Auror. "And I see your choice in hair color hasn't improved much since then."

"I was unaware that the English had such… lax standards on appearance." Anton said gruffly as he looked at the bright haired girl with a touch of distain.

"Anton!" Apollina hissed slightly as she lightly struck his arm firmly. "I apologize for my husband. He sometimes takes his job a little too seriously."

"Eh, no worries." Nymphadora shrugged before suddenly her hair began to cycle through a virtual rainbow of colors, both natural and those bordering on eye bleeding in intensity. "I'm an off duty morpher Auror. My appearance is however I want it to be."

"Oh." The man looked slightly flustered and apologetic, before he suddenly got a gleam in his eyes as he studied the young woman. "I am most curious on an insider's perspective on your DMLE. Auror to Auror of course."

"Depends on how much Fudge feels like interfering that month." The metamorph shrugged as her face twisted into annoyance. "Or, how much he's letting other Department heads interfere, or.. well the list kinda just keeps going on and on to be honest."

"All right, you two can talk shop later," Apollina interject with a smile. "Here comes Fleur."

As the teenaged champion of Beauxbatons walked up to the platform, her hair shining slightly in the sun, her eyes glanced through the crowds until she found her parents' gaze smiling proudly back at her. Allowing a genuine smile to pass her lips, she nodded back to them in a graceful manner before her eyes darted for a moment to the couple they sat with. The instant her eyes met Andromeda's something sparked inside of her.

Like a thick, black fire, pulsing through her veins. The feeling, tugging at her, telling her, she should know this woman, it was telling her that this woman was connected to her in a way that she hadn't even really understood before. As if something she'd been missing her whole life and never known before. In desperation, she tore her eyes away from the woman's moving them, meeting those of the man she assumed was her husband, before when they met that of a girl with shocking pink hair, she could again feel that sensation, pouring through her.

Her eyes widening in shock, Andromeda suddenly tore her eyes onto the Frenchwoman next to her, as her voice spoke in a hoarse whisper. "Oh, Apollina, what have you done?!"

"Mum… what's going on?" Nymphadora spoke up, her eyes slightly dilated as she met Fleur's own, the sensation, pulling at her, before she tore her eyes away and looked at her mother. "Is that…?"

The half-veela woman sat, rigid in shock, her eyes widening with panic, even as she spoke in a guarded, wooden tone. "I am not sure what you're referring to, Andromeda."

"Black blood always calls true." Andromeda's voice whispered loud enough for them all to hear, to push into their minds. "Blood calls blood, so no matter what, we always know family when we meet."

As a shaken Apollina looked away, refusing to meet Andromeda and Nymphadora's gazes, Anton slowly spoke as he looked at them both carefully, his face schooled to neutrality. "What exactly would you be implying?"

"Fleur's birthday is in Spring, isn't it." Andromeda spoke, more statement than question as she turned her gaze directly to Anton.

Slowly, carefully the man nodded his head, and Ted visibly winced next to his wife. "Yes, it is."

"Why didn't you tell him, Apollina?" The friendliness was gone from her voice as for the first time, in recent memory, Andromeda suddenly resembled her sisters in ways that made both her husband and daughter shift uncomfortably.

"Many reasons," Apollina admitted quietly as she looked down at her still confused daughter, her eyes glisteningly slightly. "None of them now seeming good enough."

"Um, mum? You care to fill me in?" Nymphadora spoke up, her eye color swirling as she shifted, anxiously in her seat.

"Fleur Delacour," Andromeda stated as she met Anton's gaze with her own steely eyes, "Should have been Fleur Black. She is Sirius' daughter by blood."

The man merely nodded slightly in admittance to what the woman said, and grateful to the addition of "by blood."

"I was not aware of just who her natural father was," Anton admitted quietly, his eye growing distant for a moment. "Apollina told me that he was lost in the war against Voldemort."

"He was 16." Apollina spoke up again, her eyes distant, "A charming scoundrel of a young man. Utterly incorrigible, and with a breath taking love of life. He had just been disowned by his mother… How could I tell him, when he hadn't even finished his education that he was going to be a father? I would not take any child of mine here, when she would be a target of that filth, and he would not, could not turn his back on what was happening."

"You still should have told him," Andromeda said firmly, refusing to back down as she met Apollina's eyes resolutely.

"Ah, but he wasn't the only one who was young, and foolish," the French half Veela agreed softly and nodded her head in agreement. "And by the time I knew any better… It was too late. Though, I could never quite believe I had been so wrong about that young man I had met, and the villain they claimed he'd become."

"Nymphadora," Andromeda spoke up after a moment, her lips pursing slightly. "Would you go find Snuffles?"

"Snuffles?" Anton spoke up a brow quirking with a slight bit of humor in his eyes.

"Harry Potter's pet dog," Ted replied, his own lips drawn upwards as he leaned slightly back. "Bear of dog he is… people in certain parts, even think he's a Padfoot."

Apollina's eyes widened for a moment, before she turned head from Andromeda, catching the slight nod of her head before quickly composing herself with an unreadable expression on her face. "Yes, I suppose it would be good for you to go get this 'Snuffles' before things get too 'serious.'"

"Right." Nymphadora nodded her head, before quickly standing up and starting to amble away. "I'll find him… but I'm not giving the mangy mutt a bath this time!"

-o-O-o-

A scratched, bleeding and quite panicked Fleur was being helped out of the water just as Nymphadora returned, a great shaggy black dog trotting sullenly behind her with a piece of rope tied firmly about his neck. Glaring, balefully at the young woman, the dog gave the distinct impression of plotting some sort of vengeance upon her to those who looked their way. An impression that was of course, quickly discarded, after all, dog didn't plot much of anything, now did they.

"Well, took me a bit, but I managed to round up the mangy mutt," the bright haired girl said with a bubbly grin as she gave the leash a slight tug. "He's a wily one, I'll give him that, but in the end, I always catch the dog!"

The dog seemed to glare at her even harder before he caught sight of Apollina and Andromeda. His eyes widening, he immediately lunged forward, the leash ripped out of Nymphadora's hand as he flew through the air, knocking Apollina onto her back, his muzzle dipping down, his mouth, opening to reveal a string of jagged teeth. And then, he began his assault, licking away at the Frenchwoman's face with a visible glee.

Anton Delacour had immediately drawn his wand as he saw the best lunging for his wife. Only to find himself restrained by a simple hand from Andromeda Tonks as she nodded down towards where Apollina was struggling to escape the slobbering assault. After a moment's pause as he listened to his wife shrieking slightly, trying to push the happy beast off of her, he left loose a sound that sealed his fate. He chuckled.

Her eyes narrowed, Apollina Delacour glared at her husband a moment before looking back at the massive dog licking at her. Shaking her head with a growl, she reached up and finally grabbed hold of the offending tongue as she hissed out a response. "All right you little Padfoot… If you don't get off me right now…"

Immediately recognizing the threat in her eyes, the dog paused a moment before glancing down, meaningfully at his tongue, and waiting, patiently. Glowering softly, the woman grudgingly released the wet length of pink flesh, "Fine, but if you don't…. GAH!"

The dog snuck in one last, long slurp before jumping back, and plopping itself down on its haunches, grinning a happy grin back at her. As the half-Veela stood, her body stiff and rigid as she attempted to regain some measure of dignity, she flicked her wand carefully over herself, cleaning away the signs of her assault. Andromeda looked at her critically for a moment, before withdrawing her own wand, and with a flick, Apollina's hair rearranged itself once more into a stylish arrangement.

Nodding gratefully towards the woman, she sighed none the less, "I had hoped he'd grown out of those… greetings." She glared at the dog for a moment, who smiled back at her innocently, before she shifted her hardening gaze onto Anton. "And as for my HUSBAND… Leaving me to that brute's mercies?"

"What can I say, my heart?" the man replied with a smile as he leaned in, brushing his fingers upon her cheek for a moment. "It was quite humorous."

"Don't think for a moment that gets you out of trouble." Apollina huffed slightly, before she heard the apologetic whine that rose from 'Snuffles'' muzzle as the dog hung his head in shame. "Oh, stop that you big baby, I'm going to assume little Nymphadora didn't tell you about my marital status."

"And don't you get any ideas you." Said Auror in training brandished her wand directly at the softly chuffing dog. "I might not be able to hex Mum, or her," She nodded towards Apollina. "But I can definitely hex you, you mangy mutt."

At Anton's raised brow, Ted chuckled slightly as he answered the unspoken question. "Dora has a… dislike of her name."

"You try being a bloody Metamorphamagus with a first name that starts with 'Nymph' and see how much you like it." The young woman countered as she huffed slightly then glared again at the innocently smiling dog.

"Nymphadora." Andromeda chided her daughter, her look reproving. "You have a lovely name, and stop trying to hide it." Turning her head, she then looked down at the oversized dog smiling as cheekily as a dog could. "And as for you… We have some things to discuss with you after the trial is over."

At the dog's whining, Andromeda sighed and gave a slight nod of her head. "Yes, you can bring Harry, it's about time we were reintroduced, don't you agree?" When eager dog, nodded its head and lunged towards Andromeda, intent up giving her the same treatment he'd early given Apollina, there was brief flash of magic and the dog was frozen and suspended before he could finish. "And none of that now."

Grinning slightly impishly, Apollina discreetly waved her wand, cancelling the spells the dog was under, sending him the rest of the way into Andromeda. As confused as the woman he had pinned beneath him for a moment, the grim like dog shrugged itself before immediately slobbering all over the woman. After a moment of this and much protest by her, the dog finally bounced off of her, before quickly darting over and hiding behind the pink haired Nymphadora.

"It was only fair." Apollina responded to the glare Andromeda send her, her own face lit up with a cheeky grin , before she flicked her wand in a few rapid motions and the woman was quickly restored to her state prior to the dog's slobbering assault.

"Um, Apollina?" Ted spoke up, a slight note of caution in his voice. "Do you really want to find out why 'Romeda, was Sirius' favorite cousin?"

Apollina paused a moment, looking down at the grumbling Andromeda before carefully observing her nails. "Depends… do you really want to find out why he liked me so much before he even found out I was part Veela?"

The dog was looking back and forth between the two women, his eyes wide and a broad, happy grin on his face as he plopped down on his haunches once more and simply watched.

Anton sighed softly as he stood next to Ted, shaking his head lightly. "And I had thought she and Fleur were past this stage…"

"Yes, well…" Ted shrugged slightly before smirking down at the dog, "'Snuffles' here seems to have a knack for bringing out the worst in people."

"Humph!" The dog glared up at Ted as it chuffed out its response, before primly raising its muzzle and looking away, sniffing loudly in distain.

"I think you should take Snuffles here to see the vet, Dora." Ted observed casually. "He's obviously coming down with a cold, and when was the last time he got his shots?"

"Not to mention, has he been properly… ahem… Fixed?" Anton suggested, his eyes casually neutral. "I hear the muggles have been quite adamant about such things lately."

The growl that escaped the dog's throat, was enough to silence the pair's only going jokes at the dog's expense, even as he settled down and waited for the trial to end.

-o-O-o-

Harry was blushing slightly under Fleur Delacour's attentions as the French witch thanked him profusely for his actions in regards to her sister, when a soft cough interrupted them. Turning his head, he saw a woman that was most likely Fleur and Gabrielle's mother, standing next to a stern faced man was salt peppered hair that he assumed was most likely her father. At the other side, he saw another man and woman, smiling in bemusement at him, with a pink haired young woman leading a very familiar black dog on a rope leash.

"Snuffles! You made it!" The young man grinned softly as he jumped over to the dog and quickly caught it in a firm hug.

"Mama, Papa," Fleur smiled at her parents, before floundering slightly as she remembered the outcome of her trial. "I am sorry I…"

"Don't worry about it, my dear." The Frenchwoman waved her hand lightly before she reached down, hugging her daughter softly. "You tried your best."

"Still…" The teenaged girl floundered slightly, before wincing just a bit as she reluctantly hugged her back. "Who are…?"

"Ah, forgive me, my dear." Apollina smiled softly as she gestured to the couple. "This is Andromeda 'Nee Black, her husband Ted, and their daughter, Nymphadora. They are old friends we happened to come across, we are also acquainted with young Mr. Potter's… pet Padfoot, Snuffles here."

"Black?" Harry asked in surprise, before his eyes widened even further at the description she had for the dog. Slowly, he looked questioningly at the great black dog, who nodded happily and grinned back at the boy.

"Sirius' cousin," Andromeda agreed, before winking at the boy. "His favorite one by his description, but not a hard title to win, considering I'm the only one he actually likes."

As the dog nodded his head in agreement, Harry offered a slight smile. "All right."

"There is something that we need to talk to Fleur about, but it involves your Snuffles." Andromeda spoke up delicately as she glanced over towards Apollina. "It might be best if you came along as well."

Seeing Apollina's slight, reluctant nod, Fleur looked at her mother in confusion, "Mama? What eez zis about?"

"We'll explain once we're somewhere private, my dear." The half Veela witch assured her daughter before she cast drying charms on both of her daughters.

Seeing the confusion in Snuffles' eyes matching his own, Harry looked questioningly at Andromeda as she responded, "It's something we need Snuffles to be Sirus about."

"Ah," Harry nodded his head, almost simultaneously with the dog's before shrugging just a bit. "Where then?"

Smirking slightly Andromeda flicked her wand with a quick, little motion, and instantly conjured a fairly large sized tent a few feet away from them. "There should suffice."

"Show off." Ted teased affectionately as he lifted up the flap of the tent for the rest to enter.

The woman merely winked back at her husband, her head held high as she strode forth, entering into the tent with an almost regal air, followed moments later by the rest of the group. Looking around, Anton Delacour pursed his lips before with quick, efficient motions, threw up a series of privacy charms about the tent. Nodding just a bit in self satisfaction, he would look down at the dog before he spoke. "It's safe now."

And in an instant, the black dog was replaced by a gaunt, slightly harried looking man, with unkempt black hair, and piercing, blue grey eyes. As he lightly smoothed out his weathered robes, he winced slightly as he saw Harry's disapproving look. "What?"

"You're supposed to be taking better care of yourself now, Sirius." The boy responded as he gave his godfather a slight glare.

"Well, I AM a wanted fugitive you know." Sirius shot back. "Living on the run, never knowing where…"

"Oh, cut the melodrama, Sirius," Andromeda cut him off, glaring slightly at her cousin. "If you weren't such a stubborn mutt, you'd be staying with Ted and I."

"And be subject to your cooking?!" Sirius stared back at his cousin in abject horror. "Are you trying to drive me back to Azkaban woman?!"

"I'm not that bad." Andromeda huffed slightly before crossing her arms with a slight pout on her lips.

"I see not even prison could quite dampen the incorrigible Padfoot, hmmm, Sirius?" Apollina spoke up, a soft, slight smile on her lips. "But, we're forgetting why we're here…" She paused a moment before gesturing to the two confused blonde girls. "Sirius… these are my daughters, little Gabrielle, and Fleur…"

"Ah, a pleasure." The man offered a sweeping bow to the both, a rakish grin on his lips as he started his eyes toward Fleur's own. "I see you both obvious…."

Again Fleur was assaulted by the tugging, longing sensation, deep inside of her, telling her, even louder than before that she should know this man, that she was connected to him so very deeply. "What eez…?"

Sirius stared at the girl, his eyes wide as for a moment, he opened his mouth, then shut it again, speechless for a moment before he turned his eyes questioningly to Andromeda and Apollina.

Sighing softly, the older French woman put her hand on Fleur's shoulder, "Fleur… This is Sirius Black…" Ignoring the look of worried recognition that crossed her daughter's face, Apollina continued softly. "Your father." Turning her head to the staring, wide eyed Padfoot, she met his rapidly blinking gaze. "Sirius… This if Fleur, your daughter."

And with that, two simultaneous thuds could be heard as father and daughter proved they had at least something in common, as they both fainted as one.

"Well," Nymphadora noted, "That went well."

Harry was blinking a moment, staring incredulously at the adults assembled around him. "Fleur is Sirius', my Godfather, daughter? And, he didn't know about her?"

"Oui," Apollina agreed as she looked up from where she was explaining the situation to Gabrielle in French. "There was so much going on… and Sirius was so young…"

"Huh…" Harry frowned a moment, before pursing his lips a bit as he studied the prone form of his Godfather, before sighing softly. "Right about now, I wish I knew a hair coloring charm."

Catching his idea, Nymphadora grinned brightly as she quickly cast a spell, turning Sirius' disheveled black hair, the same brilliant white blonde as Fleur's own. Tapping her lower lip, she frowned slightly as she looked him over. "It's still missing something."

"Hrm…" Harry wordlessly agreed as he studied the pair. "Fleur's hair?"

"That would help," she quickly agreed as she cast the charm, causing Fleur's brilliant white blonde locks to turn to Sirius' dark black.

When Sirius groaned softly and awoke, he lightly rubbed his face and glanced around. "Huh, I just had the weirdest dream, where Apollina went and told me that I had a 17 year old daughter I never knew about who was competing against Harry in the tournament."

"Why, you must have the sight, Sirius!" Andromeda exclaimed with a touch of sarcasm in her words. "That was exactly what we were just about to tell you!"

"Oh." He paused slightly studying the now black haired girl rousing herself across from him. "It wasn't a dream then, was it?"

"Fraid not." Harry agreed with a nod of his head.

"My hair's blonde, isn't it." Sirius continued, his voice slightly dulled as he tried to process just what he'd been told.

"Well, I wanted to slick it back and put you in a girl's Slytherin uniform," Nymphadora spoke up, a cheeky grin on her face before pouting slightly, "But Mum and Harry wouldn't let me."

"There are some things, the world isn't meant to see." Apollina said dryly. "Sirius in a skirt being one of them."

"I'll have you know I look quite fetching in a frock!" Sirius countered glibly, smirking slightly as he started to awaken from his stupor.

"I don't want to know how you know that." Harry said simply before he walked over to a groaning Fleur and offered her his hand. "You all right?"

Taking his hand gingerly in her own, Fleur nodded her head slowly before she allowed herself to be carefully pulled to her feet. "Waz… Waz I dreaming? Mama? Papa?"

Apollina fidgeted slightly before sighing as she shook her head. "No, Fleur, you weren't dreaming. Sirius… is…"

"Her Father." The man in question finished, as Harry nervously noted the look in man's eyes he'd only seen once before, when his Godfather had confronted Peter Pettigrew in the Shrieking Shack. "The father, that you never bothered to inform had a child."

Slowly, Sirius rose up, his eyes starting to blaze as his jaw clenched tightly, teeth bared as a growl began to burn into his mouth. "How… Dare… you…"

"Sirius!" Harry was quickly, grabbing hold of the man and lightly tugging him back. "Stop it!"

Grey eyes flashed in dangerous anger as the man glared down at his godson, but still, he stopped where he stood, the anger still flooding through him before he slumped down, his hands cupping his face as he found himself on the ground. "Merlin, I'm a father."