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Harry closed his trunk with a click. He needed to have the essentials packed in case he had to make a hasty get away. This had been a very unpleasant two weeks for all involve. He had been trapped in the house with Galatea and Timothy, which he didn't mind, and Sirius, which he did. Normally being trapped with Galatea wouldn't have been such a horrible thing but Sirius Black could turn anything sour. He missed his family but for safety reasons nobody could visit or go visiting. This had been particularly hard on Timothy; Beadle Bard was in fact his very best friend after all. Harry left his room and decided to join Galatea for dinner; a boring affair hopefully. The help had arrived but they were new and inexperienced at just about everything having to do with serving in a proper house. At least it was cleaner and anything dark was promptly sold or hidden away. The painting remained however; it was stuck on permanently but it had been silenced. That poor, mad, woman. She had gotten to him though. He hadn't really thought of his blood status before but being called a filthy half blood was never a pleasant thing even if it was just a painting of a long dead woman.
"Filthy polluting the house of Black…f my poor mistress was alive…." Muttered Kreacher as he dusted the stuffed Elf heads that marked the partition to Sirius' part of the house. They had been kept around jut to annoy the man but they also kept Timothy away from Sirius', part of the house. The house had been partitioned between the four of them and so far it was working out alright. Except for the fact that Sirius kept bothering him of course. He continued walking until he heard retching sounds. He decided to investigate and found that they were coming from Galatea's part of the house. Worried for her he burst into her room and the her bathroom. She was hunched over and empting her stomach before she even had anything in it.
"Bloody morning sickness. Might as well have been called all day sickness. Evil child…" muttered Galatea getting up and bumping into Harry. She shrieked in surprise and Harry left and slammed the door behind him. She could be heard cleaning her mouth out with a charm and then left the bathroom. It was then that Harry noticed her emerald green robe and loose hair. She would have looked nice if she wasn't glaring daggers.
"H-Hey, Galatea." Said Harry taking a step back. She looked like she was going to yell but thought against it.
"Congratulations; you are the first to know." Said Galatea sarcastically. Harry was a bit confused until he realized what she was talking about.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" asked Harry for lack of anything else. Galatea sat down on her bed and gave a long suffering sigh.
"At this point I just hope it's normal. Ensuring conception and making it go faster aren't the safest things in the world to do." Said Galatea regretting making this kid. She knew that she needed more heirs if nothing else to ensure her line from dying out. Timothy was arranged to marry Priscilla Pettigrew but she could always refuse him.
"I'm sure he'll be just fine." Said Harry sitting down next to her. He rubbed her back and surprisingly she didn't refuse him. She leaned her head into his chest and seemed to melt into him. All thoughts of dinner forgotten.
"I don't know what to do. This thing with Sirius is just another form of insanity. The stakes I'm gambling with are frighteningly high." Said Galatea. Harry noticed as he rubbed her back that she was wearing at least a corset under it. His hand crept to her collar bone.
"I'm sure that it will just blow over. He's been cooped up in a prison for over a decade he'll want to go out and do something besides make lists of enemies and plot revenge." Said Harry. Galatea shrunk into him.
"You have no perception. Think about it; our elimination because of one man." Said Galatea thinking of it all ending. Her life as the head of the house of Black. As a Black. She wasn't legitimate or supposed to inherit but the only other heir was Draco Malfoy. His mother was a Black b8t not even from the main line so he wasn't as likely a candidate as her. Hopefully the court papers would hold up and her father would be less mad soon.
"How so; he has no power and he lives off the goodness of your heart?" asked Harry his hand going to the sash of her robe.
"I gave him the money to shut him up and the public over here just loves him and hates us." Said Galatea. He undid her robe and worked on the front of her corset. He used to think ladies had to laced in and out of them. Galatea sat up suddenly.
"What?" asked Harry. She quickly retied her robe and stood up. Harry didn't notice how tall she was before. Well, tall by Pettigrew standards anyway.
"I'm married, I'm older, I'm pregnant; take your pick." Said Galatea taking him by the arm to lead him to the door. He put his hand around her waist and kissed her. There was so much in that kiss that she gave in with as much gusto as he put out. She racked her hands through his hair and he undid her robe and corset. She pushed off his over coat and unbuttoned his shirt. Maybe it was stress, loneliness, or hormones but Galatea was giving in. she pushed him towards the bed and shut the door with a wave of her hand.
"Hilda where's mother?" asked Timothy as eh was served his dinner. The table was large and empty which made him feel just a bit scared. The creepy house elf was still there. Nobody wanted it and they didn't want to put him down just because he was annoying and sour.
"I don't be knowin' little one but I'm sure she'd be wantin' you to be eatin' your dinner." Said Hilda as she served the other two places before going upstairs to serve the mad mister Black.
"If you see her tell her I'm alone and scared and running out of things to complain about." Said Timothy his legs swinging as he ate his food with his hands. It was the one good thing about no one being there; he didn't have to use manners.
"I be doin' that little sir." Said Hilda taking the stair upwards. She made her way to Sirius and left the food outside his door. She gave a quick knock and hurried away. He was dangerous and mad and everyone knew it. Everyone also knew that he hated Remordere and everyone who was from it; including his own daughter. Hilda didn't know why Galatea kept him around and didn't ask. It was probably some aristocratic thing that would go right over her head anyway.
"Finally, some dinner." Muttered Sirius as she opened his door and brought his food in. he would only eat with Harry alone; no one else. Certainly not Galatea who claimed to only want what was best. She was aligned with the rat and therefore a threat. He was the rat, never Wormtail. Wormtail was his friend once but that man was dead. He died when he took the dark mark and betrayed James and Lily. Galatea and her dark creature child were just as bad. He hated this house; he was surrounded by darkness. He had to get Harry away from this place it was poising his mind. He had to save Harry from becoming a dark wizard. Just as soon as he could get Harry alone they'd run away and hunt the rat together. He ate his dinner and made his plans all the while the night was going on for other people.
"He's too small." Said Peter as he watched his son sleep. His coloring was getting better but the baby was simply to tiny. Being dropped unfortunately didn't do much for his health. The poor almost hairless little creature let out a strangled cry and a servant rushed him away.
"What are we going to do?" asked Addie staring at the spot where her son lay. In an instant everything was destroyed. Her son was small and sick and her family was fractured. She blamed Harry for bringing Sirius Black into the house, Peter for bringing Harry into the house, herself for not instilling safety and fear into her children enough, and the Weasley's for harboring not one but two illegal animagi and not realizing it. She also blamed Remordere for letting Sirius Black into the island without giving him the standard animal disease check. A wave of a wand and they would have known that he was a man.
"We need to…to…I don't know. I just don't know." Said Peter crying. Addie held him close to her and muttered pleasant nothings to him. He didn't noticed her crying as well.
"We need to save them!" Said Portia shaking some sense into Persephone. Persephone grabbed Portia's arms and threw them off of her. She wanted them back as much as anyone else but after careful thought she realized that it was Harry who had done all of this. He was no family to her and she wasn't sure if he could be forgiven for this.
"Galatea can handle herself; she doesn't need us meddling." Said Persephone packing her trunk. Normally she would have asked a servant to do it but this had to be a secret trip.
"She's trapped in a house with a mad man. He could kidnap them to get to father then lure him to his death." Said Portia her eyes darting from side to side as if she expected Sirius Black to jump out of the shadows for kidnap her.
"She's a very good witch and Harry's there with her. No matter what he's done I'm going to admit that he is good with a wand." Said Persephone tacking a map into her coat pocket. She wished she remembered where the alethiometer was.
"But can they hold their own against Sirius Black? Now that, dear cousin, is the question." Said Portia. Persephone began counting out money and putting it into her satchel. Even though Portia was older she was an impossible child sometimes.
"Sirius Black couldn't even hold his own against your father." Said Persephone summoning clothes from her closet into her feather weight, bottomless trunk. The perks to being a Pettigrew.
"That was then he could have trained himself in wandless magic or became friends with the demenntors, or …something." Said Portia ducking as some more clothing flew from the closet. Now the wardrobe was opening. It was supposed to be the gateway into another world but they never could find it.
"In Azkaban? Really?" said Persephone with a mocking laugh. Portia turned red with rage. She liked it when people laughed with her not at her. Persephone laughed and laughed for a few more seconds before wiping a non-existent tear from her eye. Portia clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Is that really so hard to believe? I mean, we do live in a magical hidden country after all." Said Portia. Persephone rolled her eyes. Portia was going give go mad if her cousin rolled her eyes one more time.
"And that all had a logical explanation. How exactly would Sirius learn wandless magic if he was too busy have his happy thoughts sucked out. Also, how exactly does one make friends with the abomination that is a dementor?" asked Persephone talking down to Portia as if she were a small child. Portia flipped the trunk over in anger.
"If wherever you're going is more important than your own sister then fine! I don't want your help so just go wherever it is you're going!" shouted Portia slamming the door behind her. Persephone took a calming breath and started again. When this was all over everything would be back to normal. Even if she did have to make a few…sacrifices.