The Black mansion was quiet except for the timid spring rain pattering on the roof and the library clock ticking down. Walburga roamed the house like a shadow, from time to time lingering on the leather spines of magic books, or the Ancestral Tapestry, from which the name of her niece, Andromeda Black, had recently been burnt. She remembered everything. And when life brought her face to face with the consequences of their ideology, she also had to repent of her misdeeds.
Orion entered the library and stood quietly beside her, examining the tapestry.
"We need to do something, Wally, gather Alliance, ask Alphard for help, give the reins to Sirius as the new Head of the Family, but return Andi under the protection of magic.
Walburga glanced nervously at her husband and bit her lip: all their convictions flew to Mordred.
"It's amazing that Sirius ended up being right after all, do not you think so?"
Orion only nodded in agreement, turning his thoughts into the past.
Andromeda was only five years older than Sirius, but from childhood, she was brought up as a true Daughter of the Family. Protocols, rules, manners, foreign languages, playing musical instruments, dancing, fencing, yes, yes, children of the Higher Clans must have been taught to handle at least one type of weapon, and of course, magical arts. Andromeda had no equal either in Astrology, Numerology, or in Healing. Therefore, apparently, she chose the Muggle-born medical wizard Ted as her chosen one...
All the brilliant upbringing of the Blacks sunk into oblivion when the blue-eyed blonde infatuated such an exemplary heiress, which Andromeda always considered herself to be. And she didn't care that her parents had already decided everything for her long ago - the Head and Heiress of the Family - Sirius and Andromeda, and who cared that they were cousins? The purity of the blood was above all! Alphard then spat disgustingly and went out, and Sirius openly told his relatives what he thought about their ideology in general, and about marriage contracts in particular.
"I'm not marrying my own cousin!" Sirius practically slammed his fist on the table.
"Politics, my boy, alliance, strengthening the sphere of influence," Andromeda's father started the old song, but Sirius cut him off.
"Whether you like it or not, venerable Uncle Cygnus, I dare to object to you," Sirius began, calming down a little, causing the rest of the relatives to look at him with surprise, "You say: "Alliance", they say, it is the Blacks who should intermarry with the Blacks, produce a handful of cretins, I beg your pardon, pureblood heirs, and declare to all Britain their right to rule, but do you, dear uncle, know about the Union of Twenty-Eight?"
Not at all embarrassed, Cygnus looked at Sirius.
"You dare to doubt my erudition, obnoxious boy? It was us, the Blacks, in alliance with the Potters and the Longbottoms, one and a half hundred years ago, who organized this Union!" Satisfied with himself, Cygnus declared, not yet suspecting that he had landed in the net, skillfully placed by his nephew. Orion suppressed a semblance of a smile. Sirius continued:
"I'm leading to the fact, uncle, that you need not promote incest, as my most ancient family does, but to strengthen influence and restore old ties through allies!"
"But the Potters are blood traitors, as you know, and the Malfoys are aliens!" shouts of indignation were heard from all sides. "And Augusta Longbottom has completely lost her mind."
"I dare to remind you, dear ones, that my great-aunt, your venerable aunt, Dorea Black, intermarried with Potter and produced heirs there so that our blood flows in the veins of our allies, and, as you see, there is no betrayal here. As for the Malfoys, it would be better for Cissy to become Lucius' betrothed than Regulus's wife, as you planned, besides, there is obviously some kind of interest between them. Think about it, and perhaps you will change your mind about punishing Dromeda away for daring to love."
With these words, Sirius asked to excuse him and left to play chess with Alphard.
And now, when proud of their convictions, Cygnus and Druella burned the name of their daughter from the Ancestral Tapestry, on its replica, in the house of Walburga and Orion, the name appeared by itself: Marlene McKinnon-Black. Relative not by blood, but by spirit.
"We owe this girl, Ori, more than we can repay."
"Our son turned out to be right about everything," Orion said thoughtfully, scratching his chin, "Who would have thought!"
"We should have listened to the children, Orion, then a lot could have been avoided. Tell me, didn't you take me practically out from Aile, thereby breaking off a lucrative prenuptial agreement with the Lestranges?"
"Les Estranges, Wally," Orion said, raising his chin, "Why do our Family need French aliens? In addition, with signs of insanity in all features."
"But Lucius and Cissy…" Walburga began hesitantly.
"The Malfoy line is older, less incestuous, and Lucius' ancestors have shown political acumen more than once in the affairs of the Ministry. It won't be easy, but we can try, Wally, and besides, the Malfoys are easier to manipulate than Les Estranges."
"Just think, sir, are you really jealous?"
"Always, mon cher, I will always be jealous, and I will destroy anyone who dares to encroach on the well-being of my family," Orion promised, clenching his fists and hugging his wife by the shoulders.
"And what about this girl?"
"She's the daughter of a chieftain who happened to fall in love with a Muggle, what more proof of blood purity do you need, Cherie? She is almost a queen by the standards of magic."
"Yes, I'm not talking about that," Walburga sighed in response, "If Sirius wants, we will not interfere with him, I mean that she needs a family. Reggie talked about her difficult fate, about losses, about the conflict with her father, and that in the end she was forced to leave her world to please ours. I say, and I don't believe myself, Ori, you might think I'm crazy, as Sirius always prophesied when incest was suddenly mentioned during family dinners, but we have to change our standards. Having almost lost both sons, I understand this more clearly than ever. Do you remember how weak little Sirius was, how small? You spent hours in the lab trying to create a universal potion, and I studied books with ancient rituals. The world simply did not accept blood from our blood, threatening to cause either madness or death at any moment. We agreed to incest because we loved each other and believed in the crazy ideals of our family, but the magic itself insisted on other solutions. And then we took a risk - we performed the rite of introduction into the Famly Magic. Fooled everyone to think that it was Alphard who insisted on making Sirius the Heir, we knew the truth... And everything stopped. Do you remember Ori? And then, suddenly, Regulus was born… He was the exact opposite of Siri: quiet, thoughtful, calm. We, laughing, predicted Ravenclaw for him, but he did not dare to go against the foundations of the family, so in the depths of his soul, he would always keep that blind love for his brother, and almost lose his life because of it. He wanted to be like Sirius, like the Unworthy Son whom magic itself refused to accept because of our sins. I was so afraid that he would be a Squib, do you remember, Ori?"
She kept talking and talking, and Orion listened and agreed with every word of his wife. Within a few months, they almost lost both of their sons. No matter how stubbornly mannered artsy Britain was when the younger generation was raised by house elves, both Orion and Walburga were of a different opinion: they were parents who made mistakes, they were erring, despairing, but they were the parents all the same.
"We will get to know Marlene officially and accept her into the Family. Everyone needs a family, Wally, it's good that we understood this," Orion finally said, and teasing his wife, he asked, "What about Pandora Ollivander, who is being courted by Regulus?"
"I haven't decided yet, Ori, don't demand too much from me," Walburga replied, pursing her lips, to which Orion only smiled. Time. Time will put everything in its place.
"I can't believe it!" Marlene exclaimed, falling on the grass under the apple tree, enchanted for the eternal harvest. Sirius rolled his eyes and knelt beside her.
"Over the years of acquaintance with me, it is high time to get used to it."
"That's you, and those are your parents! I am officially ready to be taken under the protection of the Family, and not only because you need a Chosen Bride."
"Come on, Marlin, allow yourself at least once in your life not to look for a catch in everything. Mom and Dad will not burn you in the main hall of the mansion. It's just a ball."
"And a scary one, mind you. I'm an outcast. I was one, anyway... And now, all this officialdom, receptions, and good manners. Boredom."
"Stop pouting, Marley, it will be fun, there will be dancing."
"I'm not talking about dancings..."
"Not about them," Sirius agreed unexpectedly. "We have a serious mission to find Horcruxes or enemies, or both. Severus and Maya promised to help us spy."
"That's right, and you know what if something goes wrong?" Marlene waved her hand in annoyance and touched the apple tree. After ten minutes of complete silence and concentration, two red-sided apples fell into her palm, and to the admiring whistle of Sirius, she handed one to him.
"Without a wand?"
"It's time to get used to it," Marlene replied, copying his manner, "I was always taught that magic is around us and in ourselves, and wands, medallions, or precious stones are nothing more than an artifact that concentrates this power and sets its vector. Listen to yourself, learn to understand your magic, and it will answer you the same. Like with animagus, you don't need a wand to turn into a dog."
"Mom said something like that too," Sirius muttered, "We're in for a big change..."
"I'm afraid," Marlene admitted. Sirius squeezed her hand.
"Don't worry, I'll be with you. In addition, Reg promised to introduce Dora to his parents, so I'm sure Lady Walburga's attention will switch to her."
"Why did Pandora displease your parents so much?"
"Maman dismisses all questions and hides behind the ideology of purity of blood, but I can see how it has already cracked. It seems to me that mom is just afraid of meeting the Seer, moreover, the daughter of a half-blood, yes and it's just, you know, it's hard to understand that your children have grown up and will soon have families of their own."
"Since when did you get so smart?" Marlene poked Sirius in the side, he pecked her on the cheek without warning.
"All of this is your bad influence."
