"You see, the Blacks have always been difficult and ambiguous," Severus began, settling into the couch with a huge cup of tea. Hermione settled herself across from him and prepared to listen to what this motley group had managed to decide in her short absence.

"I only understand that I don't understand anything. Remus and Bella? What the hell is this?"

Snape chuckled, seeming to enjoy pissing her off. And she, meanwhile, had not yet forgiven him for an affair with the precious Bellatrix! The portrait of her husband was in for good thrashing down!

"There were always five of them, the children who descended from the canvas of the starry sky and were born into a family of their traditionally obsessed parents. Bella was predicted to marry Sirius, they say, as he was the future head of the Family, and she was too bright a diamond in the crown of the royal family for such a profitable union to be ignored. She did not mind, marriages between close relatives were not so rare in the world of purebloods, but then Sirius rebelled. He had not yet forgiven his uncle Signus for forcing Narcissa on Lucius Malfoy without asking her how she felt. And the fact that Andromeda was burned off the family tapestry for daring to love a Muggle also did not help matters. Dear Bella somehow quietly took over as the eldest in the family after the expulsion of Dromeda."

"It seemed to me that Sirius didn't care about all the family members, and he cared so much more about his friends from Hogwarts," Hermione drawled, turning her cup to occupy her fingers with. Severus chuckled.

"Everyone thought so, but it turned out that we were mistaken. Bella has always been Sirius's favorite sister, she looked for him in the corners of Hogwarts in his first year at school and she shielded him before Lady Walburga, she always met him at King's Cross and escorted him to the train; and all there. She cared for him. And she was very glad that he somehow unexpectedly made friends with Lily. Even his friendship with a Muggle-born witch was far better than the perpetual troubles that he got into thanks to the Marauders. Bella is two years older than all of us, a brilliant head girl, a talented witch, and a deeply unhappy woman."

Hermione lifted her chin in annoyance.

"You're talking nonsense, she's just crazy, nothing more!"

"You obviously have some grudges with her, as I see it, but you are mistaken. Family means a lot more to purebloods than we used to think, and when Sirius went against his parents, this could not but affect magic. Having lost their Head, the Blacks began to rapidly lose strength. Which prompted both Bella and Regulus to accept the Mark. And not at all because of the nonsense that dearest Dumbledore was telling everyone!"

Hermione shook her head in dismay.

"So what about Remus?"

Snape finished his tea, deliberately slowly stretching out the pleasure, put the cup on the table, and straightened up to look at Hermione.

"Did you know that werewolves choose their partners for life?"

She nodded. Who, if not Tonks, was Remus' partner? Severus continued.

"I had a short affair with Bella, I will not bore you with details, but I discovered one curious detail. Bella is labeled. It is a Crescent. Doesn't that ring a bell to you?"

Hermione tensed her brain.

"A werewolf's teeth mark?"

"Exactly. Slytherins always see and understand much more than is commonly believed. The fact that a werewolf lives in the Castle and every full moon hides in the Shrieking Shack was known not only to me. Desperate to return Sirius to the family, broken by the news of her marriage to Lestrange, Bella somehow went to that hut, hoping the beast would tear her apart. And he…"

" ... recognized her as his mate..."

"Precisely. This was a surprise not only for the wolf himself but also for Bella. Somehow their darkness accepted each other. They began an affair, both sought to forget about everything in the arms of one another. Bella did not manage to return her brother, in addition, they lost Regulus, who was ready to risk his life, if only Sirius paid attention to him. And Narcissa was preparing to be Lady Malfoy. Lucius, of course, was a much more promising candidate than Rabastan Lestrange, but the Blacks understood that even with this marriage they could not regain their lost influence. The world of purebloods was bursting at the seams. In addition, the very marriage with Rabastan was not possible, because in fact, and from the point of view of magic, Bella belonged to another man. And who knew what would result in such an outrageous disregard for the laws of the ancient forces?"

"And that's why Bellatrix agreed to the Mark? To become a part of something bigger with the help of such black magic? To gain patronage and support?"

"And also to keep herself from going crazy. Werewolves don't separate. And the Blacks Family, having lost their Head, actually fell on the shoulders of Bellatrix, as the eldest in the family. Lord Orion and Lady Walburga were getting old, they needed to hand over the reins of power, and the family was falling apart. Everyone really needed Sirius."

"And Sirius and his buddies were busy with all sorts of nonsense," Hermione muttered.

"And it nearly cost his brother his life. We've grown too accustomed to relying on magic, but we've never learned to appreciate it."

"And such like Voldemort, they did a great job…" Hermione drawled as she conjured more tea for herself and Severus. Her head was spinning from the abundance of news. Snape nodded.

"He was able to give us what we thought we needed. The Blacks - greatness, me - education, Lucius - recognition. Everyone got what they wanted and fell into a deadly trap."

"And now what we can do?" Hermione asked without thinking.

"Fix what still can be fixed. Bella honestly told everything to her uncle and aunt. Oh, and there were screams! This house hasn't heard such exquisite cries since my daddy's time. But there is nothing to do, and you cannot defy the laws of magic, as they say. It was decided to break the marriage contract with Lestrange. Bella was released to go to Remus, after having come up with a whole plan to get her out of Voldemort's clan. Sirius repented and asked for forgiveness. He is ready to become the Head of the Family, but he needs a worthy woman for himself because he cannot pull out such strong magic alone."

"How about McKinnon?"

"Marlin is just as badass as he is. Lady Walburga organizes a ball and ordered them to appear strictly at the specified time before her motherly eyes. By the way, we are also invited. There will be a funny snake's nest of pureblood wizards and Voldemort's henchmen, you can try to find out the location of other Horcruses."

"And what about you? How is your training?"

"Nonsense," Snape waved her off, "Master Orion promised to put in a good word with my Master in gratitude for saving Regulus' life. And he keeps trying to persuade me to write to my grandfather. I'm a half-blood on my mother's side. Nicholas Prince will be relieved to know that his lineage had not faded into oblivion as was expected when my mother ran off with a Muggle who, in a tragic coincidence, gave birth to her child. Me, that is."

"You express yourself so interestingly. Poeticly, cynically..."

"This is all the bad influence of Narcissa, she dreamed of making a nobleman out of an uncouth boy from the working quarters. She said that my talents should not be wasted just because I was lucky enough to be born into the wrong family. We were friends with her. Both draw well and somehow became friends on the basis of painting in the second year. She wanted to be understood, she was too different from her so bright brothers and sisters, I wanted to be accepted, and we somehow found this in each other."

"There were always five of them so that in the end there would be none," Hermione whispered sadly. Two extremes were now fighting in her: hatred for Bella and a strange understanding of the motives of the Black family.

"It can still be fixed Maya, we're here for some purpose," Severus smiled and she wanted to smile back at him.

Their relationship warmed up.