Harry Potter and the Silver Coven

Hermione Granger first year of magic had been wonderful and she was very happy with her high grades yet as her summer draws to a close she begins to face the true horror of blood supremacy with her new world.

Ron Weasley had finally accepted that his sorting meant he was not destained to lose the values his family place so high yet as he embraces the new house the gap between his family widens.

Harry Potter had grown up being told he was worthless yet after a year at Hogwarts he finally felt at home yet as second year begins he must decide whether how he will mange his new found fame.

Dark things which have stayed hidden since the fall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named have begun to move again. The wizarding world can not escape its past and the new generation must decide how they will face the shadows which still linger.

Book 2: Binds of Blood.


Book 2: Binds of Blood

Chapter 1 - Summer dinners


Lord Black watched as his daughter left the study, it was her first night back home and after dinner he had brought her into the study so Cassiopeia could recount her year to him in a more formal setting. The familial recap of her second year had happened at dinner, alongside his cousin Narssica and the rest of the Malfoy family yet he suspected Cassiopeia would keep certain accounts out of said discussion and he had been correct. Most notably was her observation of Harry Potter, a boy Regulus had asked her to keep a close eye on and one that seemed to be a disappointment according to Draco and the fact the boy had failed to reply or even find Cassiopeia after christmas initially lead him to agree with Draco, albeit with some scepticism. It appeared he was wrong in part to make such a judgement. Cassiopeia had painted a clear and unnerving picture of the boy. One which he found to be uncomfortably familiar, the boy was quiet, kept to himself and his small group of friends within the common room, towards the second half of the year he had made a few more yet still was reserved. He seemed to lack the confidence his father possessed and from some of the peculiar habits Cassiopeia had described the boy was most definitely being abused in some manner. Harry Potter reminded Regulus of himself prior to his introduction to the Dark Lord.

No one knew where Harry Potter had been hidden after that regretful night and all of Regulus' small probes had turned up nothing. He had not launched a full on investigation since the boy was most certain to turn up in Hogwarts, as he had, yet now it seemed as if the boy had not been given to any of the caregivers that Regulus had suspected. While he was mistrustful of werewolves, his late brother's favourite pet would most certainly never abuse the son of his closest friend and idol. None of the other old families which sided against the rightful path would ever hurt the golden child which they believed had won them the war. So where Albus Dumbledore had hidden him, wherever it was it must be very well protected for no one, in the past eleven years, to have any idea where it was. Harry Potter's lack of awareness of wizarding culture meant it must have been sheltered within the muggle world.

Regulus pulled out a clean, crisp piece of parchment and began to write a letter, filled by another and another. Three letters, each one signed by sealed with the house's coat of arms. Regulus Black had begun to form a clear plan and if it was to succeed then the boy must be found.

LINE BREAK

Hermione held Ron's letter in her hands as she laid upon the towel, soaking up the french sun as much as she could. The holiday her parents had surprised her with when she returned from Hogwarts had been amazing, it was nice that after such a long time away from them Hermione had gotten to spend two whole weeks uninterrupted with them, the weeks however had gone far too quickly and Hermione knew that as soon as this holiday ended both her parents would be back at work, dentists after all did not get a summer vacation. The letter was a couple of days old but she had yet to reply to it. Ron wouldn't notice the delay in reply since international letters often took a few days to cross borders, it seemed magical border regulations were a lot tighter than the muggle counterparts.

Rereading it for the fourth time Hermione contemplated Ron's words. He spoke of how Harry's letters had been getting shorter and the time between his replies were getting longer and while Hermione had noticed the shorting of the letters, she couldn't say if the replies had been taking longer. Their famous friend was still a mystery to Hermione even after a year of living with him, Harry was quiet, kept to himself mostly. That wasn't to say he didn't spend time with Ron or her, he could always be found with one of them during the day, nights however he would often spend truly alone. Harry didn't talk of his home life much, only mentioning his aunt and uncle in passing and quickly moving the conversation on from them if anyone tried to press him for information. Overall while Hermione was glad they were friends she wished she knew more about him then just the basics. Maybe this year she could push for more information. Committing herself to wrapping the mystery that was Harry Potter she folded up the letter and went back to her other reading, it was the book on Alchemy that Hermione had purchased in her first year and while this was the fourth time she had completed the small book something about it made her reread it over and over again. Something about the subject of Alchemy had grabbed her attention and refused to let it go. Hermione wished she could learn more but nothing from the muggle world seemed to answer any of the questions she had and so far in the holiday Hermione had not yet had the chance to return to the bookshop which sold magical information.

The sun had lowered from the height of the sky and Hermione's parents had begun to collect their things.

"Hermione, it's time to head back to the apartment. We need to get started on dinner."

And with that the last day of her holiday came to an end and Hermione headed back for dinner.

The small dining room of the apartment they rented for the holiday hadn't been used yet. This was the first meal they had eaten within the apartment, they ate out at some of the nicest restaurants Hermione had ever been it was tradition of them the last meal of all of the Grangers holidays they would have a home cooked meal no matter which country they were visiting. Tonight's dinner was simple, some basic french food from the local market, the conversation was light, her parents back and forth about returning to work and small questions towards Hermione on what she had most enjoyed about France this year.

"So Hermione," Her mum turned to her after finishing a bite of the gorgeous fish. "What are you doing when we get back?" The question hung in the air and Hermione thought over what she should say.

"I haven't yet started on my homework so as soon as I am back I would like to get it all done. Then it shouldn't be long before my new book list arrives so I was hoping I could arrange with Ron to go to Diagon Alley with him."

She knew it was coming, the uncomfortable silence that filled the room. It had happened a few times already and was why Hermione was resistant to even mention magic in the first place. The small clock which sat on one of the side cabinets ticked, the only sound in the room. Hermione's mum looked over to Hermione's father, a silent, quick conversation seemed to pass between them both before her father spoke.

"What homework do you have? Honestly we haven't heard nearly enough about this school of yours since you got back and nothing over christmas. So tell us dear, tell us everything." And with that Hermione felt a knot within her heart unravel and words began to pour from her mouth, only stopping so she could listen to the question her parents proposed.


LINE BREAK


Magic was real. The thought was one that Colin Creevy was quickly getting used to and the excitement hadn't yet worn off. Honestly he was convinced it would never wear off. When the lady, Professor Mcgonagall, had arrived Collin was confused by her weird clothes but by the time she left he couldn't care less about what she was wearing. He had been in awe of the way she had turned the small table in the living room into a pig and back. His parents were just as excited as he had been. Bombarding the teacher with question after question until the stern women had kindly, if not a little harshly, asked them to send any questions to the school's administrators as she had a busy day.

Colin had spent the rest of his day celebrating with his mum and dad. They said they had always known their little Colin was a special one, there was that time with the goats at the petting zoo, he had apparently disappeared on them and was found hours later in an area of the zoo that no one should have been able to access, along with a couple of goats. Collin was embarrassed about how affectionate his parents were being yet he couldn't deny how much he loved the attention. As soon as he could he was going to drag his parents to all of the wizard shops he could find.

Colin Creevy was very excited for the year to come.


LINE BREAK


Ginny picked at her food, she was not particularly hungry. The incident at Diagon Alley had brought a sour mood to the Burrow. A mood that honestly Ginny was getting sadly used to since Ron had come back from Hogwarts. She didn't blame him, it wasn't like Ron had caused the tension, in fact when he had first come home it was as if nothing had changed. The house was full and she had missed it.

But then that letter had arrived. It was around a week into the Holidays and a beautiful grey owl had arrived carrying a letter which started all the arguments. It was from one of Ron's Slytherin friends, Daphne Greengrass. From what Ginny had understood from the argument which it had caused, the girl was asking if Ron could come over and visit her at her house. When Ron had asked their mum and dad the idea had been quickly shut down. Ron had taken it badly and so the first of many arguments began. Now it was strange for a week to pass without Ron getting into another shouting match with their mum and promptly being sent to his room.

However the tension today was not caused by Ron but instead by their father who had decided to get into an altercation with Lucius Malfoy.

"Honestly Arthur, what could have possibly gone through your head that would make you ever think that attacking that man was a good idea?" Molly Weasley had wanted to have this conversation ever since they had all gotten back but Arthur had immediately ran into the garden shed.

"I am sorry Molly, dear I really am. I just got caught up in the moment, he was insulting those nice people and after all he had done at work to interfere with my latest bill and the fact that the raids at his house haven't turned up anything. I just snapped."

"It was awesome mum." Fred added, quickly shutting up after the glare he got from both their mum and dad.

"I know you have been stressed at work, my love but that's no excuse to start acting like you're still in Hogwarts." Molly had changed her tone, less judgmental and now more full of disappointment.

"What's the issue at work which is causing such distress for you father?" Percy asked, hoping to gain yet more insight into challenges you face when working at the ministry. Which was probably a question on one of his apprentice applications.

"Nothing important, just with the arranging the raids on the old families which we have long suspected of housing illegal artefacts and the pushback has been horrible. Even some of the families not on the list have started pushing against me. Greengrass being the worst." Ginny felt the tension in the room as her father stumbled into the topic that had caused so many fights yet it seemed seeing Hermione today had helped cool Ron's normally hot temper, as he seemed completely disinterested in the conversation. Ginny noticed the twins looking at Ron as well, she had noticed that a lot since they all got back from Hogwarts. The twins had always been protective of Ron and Ginny, she remembered so many moments when they had defended them both and it seemed that since they had gotten back from school they had gotten a lot more protective this was especially clear when they interacted with Percy.

The distance between Ron and Percy had been clear since Christmas, even though Ron had stayed at Hogwarts over the break. When dad had gotten home from the station with the twins and Percy, mum had sent the twins and Ginny upstairs while they had a word with Percy. The conversation had been quick and afterwards Percy refused to come out of his room for the rest of the day.

Ginny sighed, dinner ended and she helped her mum collect the plates and clean up the pots. She missed the calmness of the Burrow, she missed when dinner didn't have tension at the table yet it seemed something was always going on. Whether it was Ron and his new friends. Dad getting into fights with a Malfoy or the Twins going after Percy for a snide comment he made about Ron. Heading upstairs Ginny ran past the twins locked door, she quickly spied Ron alone in his room, his back was hunched over as he seemed to be furiously writing a letter. Ginny wanted to stop and ask if it was too Harry Potter but knew that doing so would cause Ron to throw something at her, it had happened the last time she asked, so she kept going. She reached her own room and sat down on her small bed. The day had been so eventful she had almost forgotten what she had wanted from Diagon Alley, well other than her Hogwarts stuff. Ginny reached under her bed and pulled out one book. It was bound in black leather and had an old feel to it, the pages however were completely blank and the paper looked brand new. Ginny suspected the cover might have been from an older book which had been repaired. She carefully opened up the front, scanning the inside of the cover for any sign of the previous owner. Not finding anything Ginny moved on but before she could fully turn away and grab some ink she noticed a small inscription in the bottom right hand corner.

T.M. Riddle.


LINE BREAK


Cassiopeia Black, daughter of Regulus Black, Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House, awoke. The silver sheets slipped off her slim frame as she arose from the bed. Feet sliding into soft slippers she walked to the door and with a quick turn of the silver door knob pulled it open. Standing expectedly was Kreature, the old house elf who had been a constant presence in Cassiopeia's life; she couldn't remember a single day where he hadn't met her outside the door every morning.

"Mistress black, your father is awaiting you in main study, breakfast will be delivered to the both of you there."

Cassiopeia's father had two studies within Black manor. There was his personal study, which Cassiopeia was never allowed to enter, and there was the public study, which is often were her father conducted his business, and on the rare occasion that he allowed visitors, it was where he hosted them. Breakfast in this room was not uncommon. The dining room was large enough to sit, at least the gathering of 10 therefore, for just the two of them, it often felt very empty and lacking the grandeur for which the black manor had been built. When Cassiopeia entered the room, found on the second floor, She was unsurprised to find her father, not sitting behind the large mahogany desk, which framed the room, but instead at the smaller table, just off to the side. It was made out of black marble and a smoky glass around. It's up to quite comfortable chairs tray for coffee and breakfast which Kreature had painstakingly prepared to the highest expectations of the black family.

"Father." she said as she took her seat.

"Daughter, how did you sleep?" His voice lacked any signs of tiredness. He must have been awake awhile then.

"Well enough."

"I'm pleased to hear it. Today is a busy one, the last day of summer and as is tradition, Narcissa, Lucius and Draco will be over tonight for dinner."

This had of course been happening since Cassiopeia had gone off to Hogwarts last year. It was her father and aunt Narcissa's way of keeping the two halves of the black family connected, while Draco and Narcissa may bear the name Malfoy, they did still possess the Black blood.

"I understand father, is there anything else?"

Lord black simply shook his head. So in silence the two of them ate breakfast, no words spoken till Kreature had cleared away the plates and poured them both a fresh cup of tea.

"What will you do until they arrive?"

Cassiopeia considered a question for a moment, she was actually unsure as her homework had already been completed, the young girl had done all of it within the first week of the summer holidays and her father had already reviewed everything she had written. Cassiopeia had also completed all of the additional assignments assigned to her by her father.

"I believe I shall just enjoy the last summer day."

Nodding in approval her father spoke. "A wise decision, during the day I will be having a few guests no one of great importance, but please try to keep to yourself.

At this Cassiopeia was startled, a feeling she disliked intensely. "If they are no one of note, father, why are you having them visit you here?"

Grimmauld Place was the black family townhouse, situated in London, not too far from the ministry. It was traditionally where House Black hosted guests, not important enough to receive an invitation to the Black family Manor.

"I've been too withdrawn from this world." The admittance of a mistake, which at the start of the summer had caused a rather dramatic row between the two of them, caught Cassiopeia off-guard; however, unlike the surprise of him having guests over, she liked this one as it meant he was conceding defeat to the earlier argument. "You were right, many people were right." He added, as he saw the slight grin on his daughter's face.

Her father had not made any public appearance, other than ones related to her Hogwarts journey, since the end of the trial of the four. Aunty Narcissa had regularly pushed against his isolationism however, he had repeatedly refused any attempts made to rejoin the public eye. This had come to a head when, upon returning from Hogwarts Cassiopeia had pushed him to accept an invite from Lord Notts, he had banished her from the study and the matter had ended there.

"May I ask what changed your mind father?"

"You may not." Regulus paused. "Upon you leaving for Hogwarts, I shall be moving to the townhouse." Cassie opened her mouth but before she could utter a word Regulus interrupted.

"You are not to inform anyone of this decision." His tone was harsh as he continued. "Things are changing, daughter preparations must be made, and I am unable to do those while I am trapped in this Manor."

"Does aunt Narcissa know?"

"No, and you are not to tell her." Cassiopeia went silent for a moment. It was rare that her father asked her not to share information with her aunt. Taking a minute to think over why this would be, she drew one conclusion.

"You don't want uncle Lucius to know do you?"

"No." and with that the matter was closed. She knew the tone her father had used, it was one which meant no further questions would be answered.

She left the study, calmly, closing the door behind her, pausing for a moment to consider what she should really do today, with no assignments given by her father, she truly had a day to herself.

A small, simple smile spread across her lips as she made her way to the library.

This was not the main black library which took up three floors and contained mountains upon mountains of volumes, many of which could not be found anywhere other than said library. No, this was her library, a small neat shelf which contained no more than one hundred volumes.

She took a look at each shelf before taking one book from the middle was one of her most interesting and engaging reads. The written history of British magical bloodlines. She's always been a history lover, her father had from a very young age, insisted that she understand the histories of every major and important magical family in Britain, and this quite daunting task to assign to a child, no more than 10 had spawned in almost fanatic admiration for the histories of magical Britain, be it bloodlines or great wars, or even mysteries which had not been solved. If it was the history of this country or any country that for that matter, Cassiopeia adored it.

Hours passed as she read and made notes and re-read book after book, for each one she made meticulous notes. Most of the books she read today Cassiopeia had already done this for yet she founded as she grew, and began to comprehend some themes and ideas in a deeper level, her notes on the subjects that these great books described became more advanced at the end of each page of notes she made a list of more books for the previous book recommended she would see if she could get father to procure more for her return at Christmas.

Later that day, just as Cassiopeia finished tying her hair into a simple braid, Kreature announced that her father was calling her downstairs and that the Malfoy's were arriving. She chose a simple, black dress for tonight. Making her way from her room and down the main staircase. She found her father waiting by the front door. No matter if it was family, visiting protocol must still be followed.

The great doors of black manor creaked open, standing in the entryway, dressed in their finest dining attire were the Malfoy's. Her father stepped forward, gesturing for them to enter the house, he gave a quick, but firm handshake to Lucius and Draco, yet from Narcissa he received a peck on the cheek. Cassiopeia then stepped forward, presenting her right hand for Lucius and Draco to kiss and then drawing her aunt into a brief but warm hug. The five of them then made their way to the main dining room.

The dinner was the usual for a family dinner. A full three course meal prepared by Kreature.

The conversation ebbed and flowed throughout the night. Mostly being led by Regulus and Narcissa, Lucius spent most of the night, quietly, watching and enjoying seeing his wife so happy.

During the small break between starters and mains the conversation finally turned to heiress of the Black family.

"Cassiopeia, how are you my dear? I feel like I have not said a single word to you all evening. Are you looking forward to entering your third academic year at Hogwarts?"

A small smile appeared on Cassiopeia's face. Of course that would be her aunt's first concern.

"It is not an issue, Aunt Narcissa. I understand that you and father could catch up for hours without noticing the rest of the room."

Feigning offence Narcissa gasped. "You have raised the girl with such an attitude Regulus."

"I tried my hardest but there is only so much I can do. Sometimes I wonder if this is Sirius haunting me." As soon as the words left her fathers mouth the room filled with an awkward tension.

Her father mentioned his older brother often enough that Cassiopeia wasn't too surprised. The casual way he dropped the name was unusual but nothing she took notice of. Deciding to keep the conversation moving she answered her aunt's question. "I am looking forward to my third year."

Uncle Licisus took over the conversation as her aunt was still staring at her father. "What have you chosen for your O. ."

"Charms, Potions, Transfiguration, Herbology and Defence are required but I have also chosen to do History, Astronomy and Ancient runes."

Her uncle nodded. "A good selection, still have your love of history I see. I am sure Professor Binns continues to be a disappointment for you?"

Cassiopeia let out a small polite laugh. "While he covers the course well enough, it would be nice to have a slightly more engaging teacher."

Her father seemed to break the silent conversation he and Narsissa were having at this point. Turning to face Draco. "How did you find your first year then?"

Draco seemed surprised at the sudden turn of conversation towards himself. Swallowing slightly he spoke. "My year was enjoyable, thank you for asking Uncle. Other than the few miss sortings that clearly happened." The disdain in Draco's voice was clear.

Cassiopeia smiled. She had, of course, already informed her father of Draco's rivalry between himself and Ron Weasley. She should've known that her father would use Draco's love of moaning as a way to turn the conversation towards the irregularities and then towards the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Yes, I heard of that unfortunate development."

Narcissa took over the conversation. A small flicker of annoyance passed through her fathers eyes, clearly he had been hoping for Draco to continue and let slip some new information.

"Honestly, what was the sorting hat thinking? it's bad enough to have sorted a half blood and a blood traitor but to even consider putting a mudblood into Slytherin." With a slightly dramatic sigh, her aunt turned to her. "What do you think of these," Pausing slightly, Narcissa seemed to consider her next words. "Undesirables Cassiopeia?"

Cassiopeia thought carefully about her next words; she had already given her true opinions on those three to her father at the end of the year. Now however she would give us a slightly edited version, which would appease both her aunt, uncle and cousin.

" Well, I was quite frankly horrified when I had that hat announce that a Weasley would be joining us. Honestly Draco, I must thank you, if it wasn't for your well timed intervention on that animal's behaviour then who knows how much of a struggle it would've been for us to win the house cup."

Her cousin puffed up at those words, his ego thoroughly stroked. Cassiopeia had found it easier to lie when one added a dash of truth to said lie. Many of the upper years were happy that Draco had confronted Weasley though she was aware that his change in behaviour was more likely linked to the private sessions Weasley and the Greengrass heiress had started taking. Her father had taken notice of this and asked her to keep an eye on this. The Greengrasses are snakes all the way though.

"Though I must advise you next time, pick up a quieter means of sorting the riff raff." Without the truce protecting Draco, loud and distributive acts would not be tolerated.

And don't get me started on that Mudblood. She is horrible for one someone really needs to teach her how to dress herself." Not that Cassiopeia cared but she knew her aunt would appreciate the slight against fashion. "I'm hoping that now the truce protecting first years no longer applies to her, one of our more respectable house members can teach her some manners."

Honestly Cassiopeia couldn't care less about how an upstart mudblood acted as long as she stayed far away from Cassiopeia. The results the girl was getting were high enough that she clearly was committed to making up for her heritage and while it would be nice if the girl learnt her place, Cassiopeia wasn't going to waste any time making it happen.

"And what of Potter? How do you feel about that sorting?" The question proposed by her uncle had a complicated answer.

When she had been talking to her father about the boy who lived she had been unsure. He had not seemed like anything particularly special, his grades had been slightly above average but that seemed to be helped by the mud blood's influence, he was quiet, kept to himself mostly and had not made any effort to confront Cassiopeia after her father sent him the Christmas gift. He was a complete mystery to her.

"He is a wide eyed fool, how the sorting hat ever decided that he was a Slytherin is beyond me. Maybe that hat has gone mad suffering under Dumbledore."

A snort of laughter came from Draco and Narcissa started off on a rant about how badly the school standards had slipped since Dumbledore had become headmaster. Cassiopeia found that the fact Dumbledore had taken over the school a year before Narcissa attended Hogwarts was humorous but felt it was best not to point it out, lest the conversation fall back to her.

The night continued without any more discussion of the boy-who-lived. After food had concluded, Draco and Lucius said goodbye and headed home. Narcissa and her father went to the drawing room and Cassiopeia was left alone, she went upstairs and slid into bed. This year will be interesting, she thought to herself, before drifting off into dreams.


Dear Readers,

So after far too long of a break I have finally emerged with this first chapter. I have a much clearer plan for book 2 then I ever did for book 1 and I have more intention of taking my time with this one. Each chapter shall be posted fortnightly and if I am not happy with the chapter I will delay it so apologies in advance if that comes to pass.

This story is now also on AO3, under the same name but the author is TheReadingBear_123 cause... honestly I don't know why I named the account that.

Please feel free to ask me any question, point out any mistakes or just generally show your support for the work if you like it.

Sincerely Paddington123