A/N: I... how have y'all adults been working jobs and living lives and still publishing full-ass fics on a regular basis? I get home from work and go straight to sleep D: y'all are truly impressive


The first time they had Hermione and Harry meet, Hermione poked his cheek and Harry started to cry. Of course, this set Hermione off as well and soon they had two inconsolable toddlers on their hands.

Unfortunately, a similar situation occurs when Bellatrix returns to Black Manor with Hermione on this particular day.

Bellatrix rolled her eyes as she patted Hermione's head. "I see he's as dramatic as all Potter men have been," she muttered. "Hopefully that changes with our influence."

Sirius huffed a tired laugh. He'd barely been sleeping more than four hours at a time, as Harry had begun waking during the nights and calling for his parents. "The only family more dramatic than the Potters is ours, Bella. That's no secret."

"Not even Lucy and his precious peacocks?"

He paused for a moment, mind drawing a comparison between the albino birds and Lucius Malfoy's immaculate hairdo he insisted upon. "You make a fair point." He lifted Harry into his arms and began rocking him gently. "When did you say the others would be getting here?"

His cousin sneered at his words. "Be arriving. Sirius, you must begin at least acting as though you've had a proper education."

"Don't bet on it."

"Sirius Orion." He cringed at the use of his full name— how he hated sharing a name with his spineless father. "You agreed to this from the start. As much as you hate pureblood doctrine, that very thing is what will give us the power to protect the children. Use it."

Sirius shut his eyes and counted to ten slowly, waiting for his ire to simmer down. "When will the others be arriving?"

Bella glanced over her shoulder to the ornate clock that stood regally next to the doorway out of the sitting room. "Soon. Not all of the children are tots, so we delayed the meeting until after their introductory tutoring has ended for the day."

While there were some magical families that took charge of their children's education before Hogwarts age, most half-bloods and pureblood within the community relied on tutors to teach basic lettering, arithmetic, and other subjects. Because this was also one of the few avenues for socialization at such a young age, allied families would often split the tutoring costs and have one or two instructors preside over a small class of their assembled minors. In time, the same would be done for Harry, Hermione, and Draco, although Sirius planned to have more involvement in their education by teaching some subjects himself.

Once upon a time, he was to have shared such duties with his fellow Marauders. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect to instead be doing so alongside his cousins.

"You still haven't told me the full purpose for this meeting," he said lightly as he and Bella carried the toddlers out of the room. The only fireplace linked to the floo network was in the foyer and was kept sealed at all times guests were not expected or present. One of them was required to unlock it via blood magic (and wasn't it just exhausting how many of his ancestors relied on such methods for their wards? Sirius now had to regularly brew blood-replenishing potions to keep on hand.)

Bella propped Hermione up on her hip and held out her free hand to Sirius. He knew she wouldn't answer until he'd done as she silently asked, so flicked his wand into his hand from the holder under his sleeve and cast a controlled slicing spell across her finger. Blood welled up immediately, and Bella smeared it along the inside edge of the fireplace. The flames flickered harshly as if blown by a breeze before returning to their previous patterns.

"You were only released from Azkaban a little more than a week ago, and since then have been adapting to being a father," Bella shrugged with one shoulder as she finally answered him. "The healers warned about how too much stimulus at once could harm the healing of your magical core and neural pathways."

"Since when did you listen to healers?"

"Great-uncle and Meda insisted on it if I was to be acting as Hermione's caretaker." The Grangers ran a business during the daytime (Sirius had long given up on trying to explain 'dentists' to Bella) and so Hermione was passed into her care five days a week. He disagreed on principle with the mind magic Bella had woven to convince Hermione's parents that they had known the Blacks as relatives all their lives, but he had to admit that the results were spectacularly in their favor.

"Fine, that's fair," Sirius relented. "But don't—" he paused to look down at Harry, who'd calmed and rested his head on Sirius' shoulder. "Don't call me Harry's father. I'm not a replacement for James."

Bella scoffed as she looked at them. "Then what do you call what you've been doing?"

"Being a good friend," he hissed, a hint of growl bubbling up at the end.

His cousin arched a perfect eyebrow. "To James Potter, yes. But to Harry?"

Sirius didn't answer. Sirius didn't want to answer.

The four waited in silence until the fire before them turned green and flared to fill the entire fireplace.


Narcissa and Andromeda were the first to arrive, of course, with Draco and Nymphadora in tow. Dora's eyes lit up at the sight of Harry. She immediately darted over to Sirius' side and made "grabby hand" motions until Sirius sighed and passed the boy gently into her arms.

Andy's gaze, on the other hand, was wistful. Sirius knew she and Ted had wanted more kids, and frankly, Dora was a miracle considering how often the elder two Black sisters were exposed to the Cruciatus curse in their childhood. No other children would come from her line, but Dora would still be a big sister thanks to her three baby cousins.

The next to floo in was Marcus Abbott. He had recently taken up the mantle of Lord Abbott, due to the passing of his uncle from dragon pox. Propped carefully on his hip was a small girl with strawberry blonde hair, younger than Hermione but certainly months older than Draco or Harry.

"I don't think I'd believe it if it hadn't been splashed across all the papers for a week," Lord Abbott said with a slight chuckle. "The Black family closing ranks."

"Expect the unexpected," Andromeda replied politely.

Marcus Abbott regarded her curiously as he stepped clear of the fireplace. "Of that, I have no doubt. You and Ted Tonks were a year above me, and Hufflepuff remembered what you did for him." He began to busy himself with his daughter after she snéezed from the lingering soot from their floo travel.

Sirius couldn't remember the last time he had seen the Abbott siblings in the same room. Granted, the reunification of the Black sisters was relatively recent as well, but Marcus and Lillian Abbott… if he and Bella hadn't been as flashy, the Abbott situation would've been the biggest family drama during his years.

Marcus Abbott had only just finished charming the soot off of his daughter's upturned face when Lillian Nott shakily stepped through the open Floo connection, a small boy nestled in her arms. The strawberry-blonde froze with wide eyes the moment she saw her brother.

Marcus straightened and took a step towards her, but he too froze as Lillian flinched at the hurried movement.

"Lillian?" His voice wavered quietly.

Something flickered in Lillian's eyes before the light in them shuttered and dimmed. Sirius recognized occlumency when he saw it. Lillian was hiding.

The longer he observed her, the more certain things on her person stood out as abnormal. There was a slight shimmering on her right cheek and wrists that gave away the presence of concealing charms, which had become Sirius' best friends after his returns home to Grimmauld Place. The spells would keep him from having to explain the bruises and scrapes he received at the hands of his mother and from the results of Cruciatus torture.

Then there was the manner in which she cradled her son to her chest, hand placed protectively behind his head. Considering that there were no concealment charms on the boy, Sirius knew she had been shielding him in more ways than one. A glance at his cousins let him know they had noticed as well. Andromeda's hair was even beginning to curl and frizz as her magic grew agitated.

"Lady Nott," Narcissa greeted smoothly, stepping forward with all the poise and grace Walburga wished Sirius had. "So good of you to come. Would you like to join me in the sitting room?" She smiled welcomingly as she ushered the woman to follow her. "My son Draco is still resting, but he and your son are of similar ages and we simply must introduce them…"

The first of the Rosier twins stepped out of the floo and into the uncomfortable silence that had fallen in Narcissa and Lillian's wake.

"Well, I know our circles aren't known for warm welcomes," Pernelle Parkinson née Rosier sniffed scornfully, "but this is downright maudlin."

"Rosier," Sirius grimaced as he stepped forward to do the shallowest bow he could manage. "How lovely of you to make it."

"Don't choke on the words before they make it out of your mouth, Black," Pernelle rolled her eyes as the floo burst to life behind her. "And it's Parkinson now, haven't you heard? I suppose you missed the official announcement given you had gotten yourself locked up in Azkaban–"

"Nelle!" An aghast voice broke into the woman's rant. "Can't you use your manners for once?" Isabel Greengrass née Rosier hurried out of the fireplace, two toddlers nestled together in a bassinet that floated behind her. Pernelle didn't even bother to shoot a parting insult to Sirius as she turned to lift one of the children from where they lay.

"Hello Pansy dear," she murmured, rocking the child softly. "How was my daughter today, Isa?"

"Just fine. Daphne and her get along splendidly." Isabel glanced at the assembled group. "Rather more behaved than adults, as it were." Her gaze was icy as it swept over Sirius and her twin. "Abbott, you look as if you've seen a Grim."

Sirius leaned over towards Bellatrix. "You and Andy haven't said a thing."

Bellatrix smirked. "Why would we? This is entertaining."

Andromeda did her best to hide her smile. "Perhaps we could move to the sitting room? Ladies Malfoy and Nott are sure to be awaiting us." Sirius shifted his hold on baby Harry slightly as he moved to follow the group, but Andromeda stopped him with a look. "We're waiting for one more. Stay here until she arrives?"

Sirius pouted. "Keeping me out of the fun?"

"Saving you from the mess this is about to become," Andromeda shot back. "Come along, Nymphadora."

His baby cousin scrunched up her nose, transforming it at the same time into a narrow and crooked mirror of his own. "Mum, you never mentioned that purebloods were so dramatic."

Sirius patted her head and took baby Harry back from the girl. "Something tells me you'll manage to fit in regarding that."


They waited long enough in the foyer that Sirius sat on the cold stone floor with his back propped against the wall and Harry had stirred and fallen asleep once more before the fire burst to life once more. His eyes widened as he took in the figure that stepped out of the flames and into Black Manor. She was quite possibly the last person he would've expected out of all of the possibilities.

"Pandora Lovegood," he uttered her name like one of Lily's prayers he had clung to in Azkaban.

Her voice was dreamy when she replied. "Sirius Black."

She was just as small as he remembered from Hogwarts, a tiny sprite of a blonde skipping alongside his brother in the distance. The difference now was there was no somber Slytherin in sight, and there was a baby swaddled on her back with a long, shimmering scarf.

Sirius met her blue eyes for just a moment before he lowered his gaze to stare at the floor, his shoes, Harry– really anywhere but her. "He's gone, y'know. R- Reggie."

Pandora came closer until she squatted in front of him, balancing her weight on the balls of her feet. "I know," she stated simply. "I felt it when it happened."

"You– what?"

She tipped her head to one side, observing him. "You've closed yourself off to much of your magic for a long time, Sirius Black. I'm not surprised you weren't listening."

The Sirius of two years ago would've snapped at Pandora Lovegood, telling her that she didn't understand what she was talking about, that Regulus was the one who left him, that he had been kicked out of the Black family. As he sat there in his family's ancestral home, his godson cradled in his arms, glamoured shadows under his eyes to hide his lack of sleep, Sirius knew he could not argue against a single thing that she said.

"I felt it when I left Azkaban," he muttered. "Lord Black gathered us all together– even Walburga– and… Regulus wasn't there. It wasn't an absence in the magic either, that he defied the order to appear. He simply… did not exist, not anymore."

"That's not true." Pandora's hand came out to rest gently over his own, not unlike how Sirius had treated Nymphadora. "No one ceases to exist, not if we remember them. Regulus is the family magic now, not just one part of it."

Sirius gripped her hand like a lifeline. "He died thinking I hated him."

Pandora's fingers squeezed his. "The only one who knows for sure is him. But if you're looking for opinions, I don't think he did. I simply think he missed you."

"That might be worse." He tried stubbornly to keep the tears that had brewed up from escaping his eyes. "I'm not sure which is worse."

"The only one who can decide that is you." Pandora paused, letting them sit in the silence of the hall before she let go of his hand to nudge him under his jaw. In an echo of Lily Potter, she smiled and said "chin up, Sirius Black. Once more unto the breach."

"How do you know she…"

Pandora laughed, and the sound was light and freeing compared to the current turmoil inside of Sirius. "She was my friend too, you know. Let's go join the others." She took Harry briefly from him so he could easily get to his feet before passing the boy back. "Bellatrix is likely growing impatient and wanting to tell us all about the coven we're forming."

"The– you've got to be joking."


As it turned out, Pandora Lovegood was not joking. Neither were the Black sisters.

"This is what you've gathered us here for?" Pernelle Parkinson asked in hushed outrage to not disturb the children as they played together on the Persian rug. Andromeda had supplied them with nymphadora's old toys and they were now eagerly laying claim to their favorites while their parents reeled from the revelation of why they were gathered. "No one has even attempted a coven in over a century."

"No one has been lucky enough to be in our position either," Narcissa calmly replied.

Lillian Nott's face was still a cool mask as she remained behind her occluded shield. "And what position would that be?"

Ever the most dramatic Black cousin, Bellatrix stood and pulled her wand, slicing the rich fabric of her left sleeve clean open to reveal the Dark Mark, fainter than before but still stark against her pale skin.

"The Dark Lord is not dead, and he will return," she said firmly, though it lacked any fervor it may have once had. "We have the chance to weaken him and his followers before then, so that this next generation will not suffer like ours."

All eyes moved towards the children who continued to chatter one, oblivious to the severity of the discussion. All except Nymphadora, who stared at her aunt's arms with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.

Lillian's mask finally broke as her eyes widened and darted between the mark and her son. "No, this must be a cruel trick. He's- he's gone. It was finally over."

Isabel Greengrass, on the other hand, merely rubbed a tired hand across her face despite it breaking formal protocol. "We knew it was too good to be true."

"It was finally over," Lillian whispered brokenly once more, her arms wrapping tightly around herself.

"What did they do to you, Lillian?" Her brother's wrecked voice lashed out. "What happened?"

Her blue eyes flickered up to meet his. They were often mistaken for twins due to how similar they appeared, especially compared to the Rosier twins who looked like night and day.

"What happened?" She parroted. "The Dark Lord happened. His rabid followers happened. Ever since Thaddeus' father let them use the manor as a base, we never had a moment of peace." She paused, shivering. "He had control of dementors towards the end, did you know? And some of the Inner Circle, they relished in the fear they rought."

Sirius watched the scene as if a silencing spell had struck him. His living hell had been during his childhood and early Hogwarts holidays when he was forced back inside the walls of Grimmauld Place. After his reprieve at the Potters' in his later school years, he had mainly lived out nightmares on each battleground as they sprung into and out of existence.

He remembered the smouldering wreckage of Marlene McKinnon's home, how he fell to his knees with a choked scream as the Morsmordre seared itself into the sky above his head. He remembered combing through the fires in Diagon Alley, levitating crying victims from collapsed buildings after the Death Eaters had fled. He remembered Remus' final smile before he apparated away into the Highlands, off to join Greyback's pack as a spy.

And yet after all of those, he could still go home to Godric's Hollow, where Lily and James and Harry welcomed him with smiles and laughter and hugs, or his small flat in Muggle London where he and Remus and Mary MacDonald would eat Chinese takeout and read Jane Austen.

Lillian Nott had no reprieve.

He remembered Godric's Hollow…

"You never answered my missives," Marcus murmured, standing up and moving to his distraught sister. He crouched to be at her height and reached out to take her hands, gently stopping her from digging her nails further into her skin. "I would've come for you and Theodore."

She shook her head. "The Dark Lord was always watching. I couldn't have you be targeted."

Marcus finally caved and pulled Lillian into a hug, nearly lifting her from her seat. He turned to look at the Black cousins. "What would you have us do?"

Andromeda and Narcissa shared a smile while Bellatrix cackled in excitement.

"Nothing we wouldn't do," she promised with a grin.