Chapter 18

The meal went over well, after a discussion about its potential poisoning, and the early evening of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place was in full swing. Most of the Weasleys had migrated back over to the fire, though Ginny had lingered a little longer to compliment Draco on the meal. Draco, Sirius and Narcissa remained at the dinner table, sharing stories of their past experience with Walburga Black while Hermione and Harry began on the dishes.

'It was one plate of food.' Hermione grumbled. 'How many pots and pans and bowls do you need to use for one plate?'

Harry laughed. 'You've never cooked before have you?'

Hermione tried to argue, but could only squeak out before finally sighing. 'I help my mum bake my Dad's birthday cake every year.'

Harry smiled fondly. 'Then you know that there are more components to cooking than just the pan it's cooked in. You've done dishes at the Burrow before.'

'Well yes.' Hermione argued. 'But there's always a mountain of plates on that table.'

'And there's always a bigger pile of pots and pans.' Harry pointed out, splashing Hermione with soapy water. 'You were hidden away for most of today. Did something happen with Ron?'

'No.' Hermione sighed. 'Ron hasn't said a word to me yet. I was knitting Rita a gift, for her going above and beyond in that article. I think she genuinely enjoyed writing it.'

'She does love a scandal.' Harry chuckled. 'Let's just hope she doesn't decide you're her next one. Y'know because of the whole jar thing.'

'She'd have to out herself as an unregistered animagus for that.' Hermione shrugged. 'She has a lot more self preservation than we give her credit for.'

'But when she finds out you're the Stuart Heir or whatever she called you, she's not going to want to write about you favourably.' Harry pointed out.

'I'll just have to deal with that when the time comes.' Hermione sighed. 'She'll probably get revenge somehow, but she's positioned herself against the minister so I don't think she'll go with a character assassination too soon at the risk of seeming aggressive or vindictive to her readers.'

'We all know she doesn't have to worry about that.' Harry rolled his eyes. 'Not to speak ill of someone who isn't here to defend themselves but Mrs Weasley was particularly vile to you even though she'd known you for years.'

'I don't have the space to worry about her just yet.' Hermione frowned. 'I've got the Minister to worry about, and very likely a large number of Wizengamot members.'

'Yeah I doubt a group of old men in power will be willing to give that up.' Harry frowned.

'And that same group of old men are going to be in a ballroom in a few hours, likely plotting how to get around the law.' Hermione groaned. She dropped the sponge in her hand back into the sink and turned around, to face the table.

'How screwed am I if I let that ball go uninterrupted?' Hermione asked, startling Narcissa out of her conversation.

Narcissa stammered for a moment. 'Alliances will be formed at the event. Over the course of the night people will discuss many topics and allies will shift their opinions to match those of the group's most vocal or influential members. Lucius used the ball to consolidate allies for legislation that would otherwise fail to pass the floor.'

'So very.' Sirius translated.

'I wouldn't say that, but there would be a faction firmly against you regardless of any good you could do for them.' Narcissa qualified. 'Politics is not a game of morals and ethics, it is a series of subtle and overt manipulations to topple those regarded as the other side. Lucius was a very influential and vocal member of what you would call the dark. It was why he stayed in the Dark Lord's graces despite having distanced himself from the movement while he was gone. He's an important figure for pushing legislation favourable to the Dark Lord, and preventing any that oppose his opinions from passing.'

'There are several other events but Yule is a pretty big one for bargaining.' Draco added. 'There isn't another ball for five months, whereas there's several during the summer. Any alliances formed in that ballroom will be much harder to break after the fact.'

'So I need to interrupt them.' Hermione sighed. 'If I knew the timings of these things it would be a lot easier.'

'Scheming won't start until eight.' Narcissa spoke up. 'The first hour is for being seen by as many peers as possible. After that you might start moving onto milder topics, regulation of goods and services, formalising agreements made over the last year. And everybody in that room will be sharing their opinions on Sirius and Pettigrew as matter of fact, and trying to convince others to their side. It's all very tiring, but it's a risk free environment to discuss such things.

'By nine, you will be the topic of conversation. Usually potential candidates for Minister will have been submitted and those alliances will be deciding who will do them the least harm, or pushing a member of their own group. This only happens every five or so years and there isn't an election for a while yet. They will be deciding if they should side with the incoming Monarchy, or try to oppose it to keep their facsimile of Democracy intact.'

'So I show up at nine, make a big fuss, see what happens?' Hermione asked.

'Not exactly.' Narcissa grimaced. 'You'll need to state your claim to the throne, even if there is no Chief Warlock, and invoke your right to rule both verbally and magically. We have a few hours to scour the books here for the proper wording while you go get ready. I'm a little taller than you so we might have to get creative.'

'We?' Hermione asked, startled.

'Yes, we shall be getting you ready while Draco and Sirius go through the library.' Narcissa smiled, standing from her seat. 'Three hours is not nearly long enough for such an appearance, though I will work as much magic to make it acceptable.'

'I don't really need to dress up do I?'

'My dear, if you think you can walk into that event in jeans and be taken seriously, you are sorely mistaken.' Narcissa kept her polite smile plastered on her face and beckoned Hermione to follow her out of the room.

Hermione groaned as she left. 'It took all day to calm my hair down for the yule ball.'

Draco grimaced, exchanging a worried glance with Harry. 'My mother can be like a vengeful banshee when it comes to these things.'

'We'll have to trust that she can get Hermione ready without any bloodshed, or curses.' Sirius declared, standing from his chair.

Draco followed suit, and Harry walked around to the other side of the table.

'The dishes can wait I guess.' He sighed.

As they paced out of the room, they noticed Ron and the twins standing up from their places around the fireplace. Fred and George whipped their wands out and made quick work of the dishes, the tools going about the work independently. Ron on the other hand, paced his way over to them.

'I still don't like you.' He declared to Draco. 'But Hermione has been a steadfast friend in all the times I haven't. I'd like to help.'

Draco held in all manner of insults he would have usually thrown at Ron. Are you sure you can read? Played over in his mind. 'Glad for the company,' he decided on.

The four of them made their way into the library, where the first task was to search through any books on wizarding law. To Draco's dismay, this was accomplished by pulling every book off of the shelves and sorting them into two messy piles, one considerably larger than the other.

'Why would your family have so many books on laws?' Ron asked, haphazardly tossing a book written entirely in runes onto the no pile.

'My father used to be like Draco's.' Sirius explained. 'He would brush up on every law surrounding a topic he wanted to influence and then spend all of his time bribing and coercing people into agreeing with him. He and Draco's grandfather started working together once Lucius and Narcissa got married. They shared the same views and were sympathetic to the same megalomaniac so it was advantageous to keep Voldemort on their good sides.'

'But the ministry isn't just bribery though.' Ron frowned. 'My dad wouldn't accept one and he certainly wouldn't go around trying to give them.'

'Your father is a noble outlier.' Draco commented. 'There are very few people in that building who don't use underhanded tactics. It's why he has so much trouble with funding and legislation. Though part of that is by virtue of his department.'

'Because he works with muggle stuff?' Ron scowled.

'Yes, actually.' Draco nodded. 'I'm sure it hasn't escaped your attention that the majority of the Ministry is comprised of purebloods, and blood purists by extension. They'd rather let the muggles get their hands on cursed objects and suffer the consequences. Your father is fascinated with muggles and their world, something he gets looked down upon for.'

'But his job keeps the statute of secrecy intact.' Ron huffed, tossing another book onto the pile. 'Wouldn't they rather the muggles not know about us?'

'Secrecy is the last thing on their minds.' Harry frowned. 'They want supremacy, deserved supremacy in their eyes. Once Voldemort is done taking over the wizarding world he won't suddenly become content. It'll be another war.'

'Hermione could stop that right?' Ron asked. 'I mean she could do anything.'

'She could certainly try.' Sirius shrugged. 'But I think Voldemort's obsession with Harry might make that a little complicated.'

'It's just because he tried to kill my family and he missed a person.' Harry shrugged. 'He wanted to wipe us out and he failed, and he basically died in the process. It's just his ego.'

Sirius grimaced, though he said nothing.

They came to the end of their sorting and began scouring the small pile of books they'd decided seemed useful. Though Draco was reading as he sorted the rest of the books back onto the shelf. Harry diligently scoured every page, while Sirius and Ron quickly flipped through jumping several pages ahead at a time, though Sirius sometimes flicked back through them if he'd picked up too many pages.

'How old is the law?' Harry suddenly asked.

'As old as the ministry itself. It was included when they first formed it.' Draco muttered, scanning the appendix at the end of his second book.

'These are dated.' He said, slamming his book closed. 'Why aren't we just looking for the right date?'

'Amendments.' Draco shrugged. 'Though it would be useful to find the original as well.' He added, noting the dejected look on Harry's face.

'Why weren't these organised anyway?' Ron asked.

'The twins were clearing out dark books.' Harry shrugged. 'I doubt they cared about organisation.'

'But Hermione would have been in here.' Draco suddenly stopped his work, ripping books back off of the shelf to the group's surprise. 'I didn't even notice it wasn't organised. And believe me we know when someone misorganises editions of the same book at Hogwarts.'

'So what does that mean?' Ron asked, closing his book with a sigh.

'It means there is something about the shelves, or on them, that doesn't want to be noticed.' He took a few steps back, slowly scanning the shelves. 'Not even by a Black.'

'So what good is it looking at them?' Ron asked again, walking over to Draco. 'If we can't see it, why are we looking?'

'Because there has to be a way to find it.' Draco nodded to himself. 'Something only the residents would know.'

Ron and Harry turned their attention to Sirius.

He raised his hands in surrender. 'I have no idea what it is.'

'It could be magic related.' Ron shrugged. 'I doubt it's some mundane mechanism.'

'The Black family magic barely expressed itself fully.' Sirius shook his head. 'None of the relatives I know of, bar Tonks, have been able to use it fully. And plenty of Blacks married in. you couldn't be certain the family magic would remain pure enough to function over centuries.'

'So we'd need a Black who actually liked living in this house, who could tell us.' Harry sighed. 'And they're all dead.'

'Kreacher isn't.' Ron pointed out.

'Kreacher would rather kill me with his bare hands.' Sirius shook his head.

'But he likes Draco.' Harry pointed out. 'He practically kissed his shoes earlier.'

'Kreacher.' Draco called out. In moments the elf popped next to him and settled in a deep bow.

'What can Kreacher do for Master?' He asked.

'Reveal the secrets of these bookcases.' He ordered, staring expectantly at the shelves in question.

'Simply say the words "toujours pur, toujours régnant" and it will reveal itself to you.' Kreacher spoke, bowing once again.

Draco took a deep breath. 'Toujours pur, toujours régnant.'

The bookshelves slid apart and a door squeezed its way between them. The shelves creaked and the room seemed to get longer, the floorboards sliding beneath them. The movement stopped with a small thud and the door swung open, revealing a dark, dusty room.

Without hesitation, Sirius, Harry and Ron stepped inside, leaving Draco dumbfounded outside.

'Thank you Kreacher.' He stuttered out. 'Would you mind cleaning our mess?' Draco took a staggered breath and followed the others into the open doorway.

Kreacher simply clicked his fingers and the books slipped back onto the shelves.

A dimly lit room lay on the other side, near burnt out candles flickering a sputtering. More shelves lined the walls and a small table sat in the centre of the room, scattered with parchment. Harry and Ron were already scanning the shelves but Sirius was reading a piece of parchment, scribbled with near incoherent words. Draco stood next to him and began reading over his shoulder.

'It was taken from us.' He read aloud, drawing Harry and Ron's attention. 'Stolen so long ago it wouldn't recognise us as a whisper. Curse Grey. Curse him and his progeny. The world could have been in our grasp. No more muggles parading as wizards, no more half breed filth. Curse my ancestor for his writings, curse those who came after and wrote more. It could have been ours. It would have been ours. It should have been ours. I tried to speak the words, quietly, in the chambers and it failed. Without it we will fail. Without it we are no more than those treacherous worms beneath us. We are the most ancient and noble house of Black. We will have what is ours.'

Sirius took a deep breath. 'I always knew our relatives were mad. No surprises here.' He joked, stammering out an awkward laugh.

Draco lifted another piece of parchment from the table and began reading. 'We thought we had found them. The Gaunts were reclusive, they could have been the ones we were looking for. In them we did not find what we had lost, but a charming man with ambitions. We share those ambitions. I will advise my family to align with him, though not submit. No others know but he is half blood, we will use him as a weapon to cut through the filth of our world. He is powerful, but he is beneath us.'

'Who wrote these?' Harry asked, a very old collection of papers in his hand, loosely collected together in a leather cover.

'Our ancestors.' Sirius frowned. 'They wouldn't have always been kept here. I'm betting these have been closely guarded for centuries.'

Draco lifted another sheet of parchment.

'The warping of language over the centuries has made it hard to interpret, but the law is clear. Should the monarchy return the throne is theirs. Should my family regain its magic the throne will be ours. "I, Arcturus Licorus Black the Third, am born of Royal blood. With my magic, I invoke the ancient right of rulership. Let no man deny my birthright. Let no man deny my blood. These words I swear on my magic, these words I swear on my life." These are the words I must remember. Once I speak them in the chambers the filth of this world will finally be cast out and our magic will be pure once again.'

'Seems like he was demented.' Sirius rolled his eyes, taking the sheet from Draco and placing it back on the table.

'Not according to this.' Harry shook his head, holding up a sheet of his own. 'They sign every entry, Helena Stuart.'

Ron picked up a diary from the shelf. 'Edmund Stuart.'

'So not only is Hermione descended from the royal line, but so is the majority of the wizarding world.' Draco spoke up. 'Any one of the old families could have a claim.'

'No.' Ron spoke up. 'That crazy old man, he tried and failed.'

'The Stuart family magic was prevalent.' Draco nodded. 'The only members who didn't have it were squibs.'

'So the magic got lost to time?' Ron asked.

'Whatever happened, only Hermione's claim will stand.' Harry spoke up. 'I suppose we'd better get used to calling her Your Majesty.'