On Punching Gods and Absentee Dads
Enigmaris
Chapter 49: Sirius and Narcissa
Summary:
Sirius meets up with his cousin. You know the one he hasn't spoken to since he was 16 and got kicked out of his house. The cousin who supposedly married 'up' and was now living in a safe house to avoid the consequences of said husband's bigotry.
That one.
Notes:
ahh last week was so wholesome! We're gearing up for the final battle now you know! I can feel it in my bones!
Chapter Text
Sirius looked at the note Narcissa had handed him, unable to truly believe the words written upon it. It was surprising Narcissa had been able to find the note at all, given its origins. But she had been on a mission. She'd gone to Grimmauld Place shortly after Yule and questioned Kreacher about anything he might know about the Dark Lord. Kreacher, more than willing to work with someone he deemed not a blood traitor, had revealed the locket as well as a copy of a note that his younger brother had written as a warning to the Dark Lord. Kreacher had created the copy from memory upon Narcissa's request and now Sirius was holding it as if it wasn't life changing news.
To the Dark Lord
I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.
It was his brother's handwriting no doubt. Sirius knew that better than anyone alive. He hadn't spoken to his brother in years, not since his mom had kicked him out. When he'd died, he'd gotten drunk at James' place and cried about all that lost potential. He and his brother had been close as children, protecting each other from their mom. But they'd drifted as Sirius had pulled away from pureblood dogma and Regulus had gone towards it.
According to Kreacher, Regulus had died to remove the real horcrux from Voldemort's hiding place and replace it with a fake. A fake that Voldemort had no doubt collected once he realized they were on to him. Sirius highly doubted that Voldemort had realized he had a fake. If he had, Harry would have felt the absolute rage from that realization through his scar and so far nothing like that had happened.
But they had the real one. Kreacher had been trying and failing to destroy it for the past 15 years. It proved that Regulus had changed in all the ways that Sirius had hoped for.
Regulus had defected from the Death Eaters when he realized what Voldemort had done to Kreacher, when he realized what Voldemort had done to his soul. His younger brother had broken through their mother's indoctrination and died a hero. In Sirius' hand was the last horcrux, aside from the one in Harry's scar. Destroying this would make Voldemort as close to mortal as he'd ever been in 6 decades.
"I can't believe it." Sirius said.
"Neither could I." She said. "Regulus had always been so…loyal."
"He knew the Dark Lord wasn't right." Sirius said. "He figured it out before anyone else did, what he'd done."
"He did. He was always the smartest in our family." Narcissa agreed, tilting her head. "I am sorry about it though, that he had to die that way. According to Kreacher the cave the locket was hidden in was guarded by inferi."
Sirius flinched at that. That was not a good way to go. Not at all. He was glad at least that his godson had been spared from having to go in there and having to fight his way through whatever other sick protections Voldemort had put in place.
"We'll destroy it once Harry gets back. He has the sword of Gryffindor with him."
"Of course." Narcissa agreed. "I'm glad I was able to help, in this way. I doubt Kreacher would have ever revealed this to Harry or anyone else, he was quite protective of it."
"Thank you." Sirius said softly. "I don't imagine it was easy going back to that place."
"I doubt anyone but Bellatrix has fond memories of that place." Narcissa sniffed. "Even I found it unnerving and I only spent a few weeks there each summer."
"Lucky you."
"I am glad you're alive, Siri." She said seriously. "Andromeda still isn't interested in speaking with me."
"I wonder why that is."
"Hush up." She said. "I know I made my share of mistakes, that much is obvious, but I'm here now and I won't make them again."
Sirius nodded in understanding. He didn't know how deep his cousin's change of heart really went, but now with Lucius out of her life and her son's dark mark removed she had no reason to remain loyal to the Dark Lord and every reason to join Harry's side. It surprised him that she'd reached out to Andy at all. The two sisters hadn't spoken since Sirius was a kid and Andy had been cut out of the family for marrying Ted.
Only Sirius had kept in contact with her, and he'd had to do it very sparingly lest his mother find out. Sirius had been the only family alerted when Andy had gotten pregnant with Tonks all those years ago. He'd gotten to meet the baby Nymphadora only a few times before things had fallen apart. The last time had been when the shapeshifter had been seven years old. He'd been surprised that the girl had remembered him when they'd met again 15 years later. But she had and it had been such a painful relief when she'd greeted him as Uncle Siri and told him that she was glad he was innocent.
"I've met Nymphadora."
"She likes going by Tonks."
"So, she's said."
"You know you really can't afford to isolate her."
She gave him a look but didn't argue the point.
"We're all that's left." She said. "You, her, and myself. There's Bellatrix of course…but that's it. The glorious Black Family has been reduced to nothing."
"That's what aligning yourself with an insane fascist gets you I guess."
"Could you be serious for one moment?"
"Probably not."
"You're the head of our house." She said. "You should be more concerned with the state of it."
"I'm going to let you in on a secret, Cissa. I don't give a fuck about the Black line." Sirius said. "It was filled with a bunch of bastards who were inbred beyond comprehension and far more concerned with committing atrocities than they were with anything else. The Blacks belong in the past, all of it does."
"You can't mean that."
"I do." Sirius said. "I mean honestly! Look at the world Harry is fighting for, do you think a family like ours is going to survive in that? Truly?"
She stared at him for a moment, her eyes hard, eventually she looked away.
"But what of my son? I can't leave him with nothing."
So that's what this was about. Cissa was trying to get Sirius to star rebuilding the Blacks so that when the time came, there would be a powerful house for her son to inherit. She'd clearly realized that the Malfoy name was tarnished beyond repair. If Harry won the war, no one would want to support the family that had been Voldemort's right hand. She was getting ready to divorce herself entirely from the name and bring her and her son back to the Black name in preparation.
The Blacks still held a lot of political power, or at least they would if there were any left. Sirius was still believed to be dead and he was the only Black left. When it came out that Sirius was alive and his name was cleared, he'd be able to reclaim his titles and the power associated with them. It wasn't something Sirius had ever thought he'd actually have and he wanted it even less now than he had as a teenager.
The political system where the most powerful positions were tossed around like candy between the most powerful pureblood families wasn't sustainable any longer. All of the pureblood families, well a large majority of them, had aligned themselves with Voldemort and signed their own death warrants. The wizarding world would never let them get away with keeping their positions after all the suffering they'd brought about by supporting the Dark Lord.
The writing was on the wall and everyone could read it. Harry had been making political waves far larger than he was even aware of. Harry had basically openly split from Dumbledore, in a move that had shocked everyone. Dumbledore was the traditional hero, the Leader of Light. A title that had been passed from pureblood to pureblood for decades. It was a position for a hero. A position that had only ever been held by a pureblood. A position that had given Dumbledore so much political capital that he had done seemingly nothing with. The war was still going on, people were dying and now it seemed like the governments of the world were looking for someone better.
Harry was a half-blood no matter how you looked at it. His mother was as muggleborn as they came, Harry had been raised as a muggle. He was unknowingly taking on positions of power that purebloods had held onto for centuries. And by his side was a muggleborn far more talented than seen in the last two generations and a blood traitor.
Sirius had watched as Harry had broken through the glass ceiling and made it clear to the public that the time of pureblood superiority was over. Voldemort had shown the true colors of the ruling class and no one was going to forget it.
Cissa was grasping at straws.
"Your son is going to have to remake himself and what it means to be a Malfoy and a Black. His wealth will still be there but he's not going to be like your father or his or mine. The reign of the pureblood houses is going to end with this war, and you know it. We'll all have to adapt to a world where power is shared equally."
"But it's always been this way." She said. "Purebloods have always…"
"Purebloods destroyed the system themselves. They backed a genocidal maniac, they decided that they didn't care about his methods as long as they got to keep their power. It's over Cissa."
"I trained my son to be a leader."
"I hate to break it to you, but he is still one." Sirius said. "I've talked to the kid you know? He realized already that he can't be like his father if he's going to survive in this new world, on the side he's chosen. He's adapting. Draco is going to be just fine."
"If he survives."
"Well yes there is that. There's no guarantee any of us are going to live through this."
They both looked over at the locket in Sirius' hands and thought about what they knew Harry was carrying. Sirius abruptly tried to change the subject.
"Are you coming for the Christmas party?"
"The muggle Christmas party?" She sneered.
"If you want Andy to talk to you I bet coming would help."
"Do you honestly think that would work?"
"Can't possibly hurt." Sirius tempted. "Come on, Cissa, there'll be good food, new music to listen to. Opportunities to befriend your new side of the war."
And that swayed her. His cousin had never been one to deny political opportunities. It was the reason she'd married Lucius in the first place.
"Very well."
"Great!" Sirius said. "Come on, let's head back to New York then. I know Harry and James'll be back soon from Asgard."
Sirius had gone out to the safehouse Tony had bought in Scotland to meet with his dear now only slightly evil cousin when she'd messaged him. Sirius hadn't really wanted to leave New York. His name hadn't yet been cleared in Europe, the Americans had accepted his story and he was under their protection for as long as he remained in the states. Remus was also settling there comfortably, the Americans had programs to help werewolves get wolfsbane treatments, something neither of them had known about when they'd run off together at the end of Harry's third year.
But Narcissa had written and told him she had news and he'd gone.
Now he had a note, a horcrux, and proof that his baby brother had been a hero.
"Let me go get Draco." She said. "We'll all go together."
"Sounds fine to me."
He'd spoken to Draco a handful of times, he'd listened to his godson complain about him far more often. Sirius knew the type of kid he was. He knew the boy's childhood because it was eerily similar to his own, except his mother actually loved him. Draco had the makings of a good kid. Lucius had filled his head with crap and he was just now starting to clear the junk out. If he managed it, Sirius could see him doing great things. He had the same drive that all great wizards needed.
He just had to finish pulling his head out of his ass.
Sirius waiting by the closet door that would take them back to Avengers Tower. It took about three minutes for Narcissa to return with Draco. They were both wearing formal robes.
"Nope." Sirius said. "You are not going to Tony's party wearing that."
"It's the appropriate clothing for a party."
"Not a muggle one." Sirius said looking Draco over. "Unless it was a really weird costume party. You're going stick out like a sore thumb."
"If you expect me to dress like Potter does then…"
Sirius had to admit that Draco had a point. Harry, when left to his own devices, wore clothing that was too big and unflattering. Even when he shopped for himself he gravitated towards baggy clothing. This was likely because that was what he knew from the Dursleys and there really hadn't been time to correct that. At least his wizarding clothing and aesir clothing was fitted properly.
"My godson's taste in clothing is…questionable I'll give you that. I blame myself for not being there to teach him better, you don't have to be a lost cause."
"Then what do you suggest I wear?"
Sirius tilted his head a bit and then flicked his wrist, sending his wand into his hand. With a wave he banished the robes, transfigured the dark dress pants to a dark wash jean and the shoes to some good looking muggle shoes.
"And roll up the sleeves on your dress shirt." He said. "Makes you look approachable."
"This is ridiculous." Draco sputtered.
"I promise it's not. And Cissa, all you have to do is wear a nice dress, skip the robes."
She nodded her head and used magic to do as Sirius suggested. Draco still looked a bit uncomfortable in the jeans. The fabric was one a pureblood aristocrat like himself would never dare to be seen in.
"Trust me." Sirius said. "I'm not steering you wrong on this one kid. You want to fit in at the party? Wear that."
"Fine. But one hint that I'm dressed improperly and you're changing it back."
It would be a fun time to pull a prank Sirius could admit but with the revelation about Regulus he just wasn't in the mood.
"On my honor. Come on, let's go."
They followed him through the door. It was five hours earlier in New York which was just fine by Sirius. The party wouldn't really start for a few more, which gave them enough time to exchange presents comfortably and greet the returning gods from their trip to Asgard. Everyone was hopeful that a breakthrough would happen with the horcrux removal. Harry had started to look a bit run down and Sirius knew he could use some good news.
"Welcome back, Mr. Black." Jarvis said. "I take it your journey was successful?"
"Yep! Let Remus know I've got the final horcrux."
They knew there was only one more, the one in his hand. Harry had done the spell Idunn had given him to identify how many more there were left to hunt and it had shown him the diadem and the presence of one more. They hadn't gone searching for it, because they weren't yet sure if it was one that Voldemort had collected himself and they didn't want to risk starting a fight with him until they were sure they could win it.
"Truly?" Jarvis asked.
"Yep! Narcissa found it, in Grimmauld Place of all homes in London." Sirius said. "Honestly what are the odds?"
"I imagine you don't want the actual calculated odds."
"No sense of humor." Sirius scoffed. "I don't know why Stark keeps you around."
"I could say the same to you."
Sirius stuck his tongue out at the nearest camera in response.
"Very mature, Siri." Narcissa said.
"Never claimed to be that." Sirius said. "Come on, Jarvis, tell me where are the rest of them?"
"They are on the party floor as Mr. Stark calls it. Please take the elevator down."
Sirius really did like Tony. He liked pranking the man and he just admired a man who built a 93 floor building and made one of those floors a dedicated party zone. What a guy. He led the two purebloods through the penthouse to the elevator. They'd met Jarvis already and were used to his voice ringing from seemingly nowhere. The safe house Narcissa was staying in was very, very muggle and the woman had been getting used to it day by day. Jarvis had been teaching her how each thing worked. Apparently, the AI was well practiced in that since he'd had to teach Steve and Thor many of the same things. At least Narcissa didn't have super strength to contend with.
Draco was less practiced but it was clear he'd been picking up some things in the time he'd spent with his mom in the safe house after Yule.
The elevator took them right down and the door slid open to reveal a large open room with couches and tacky muggle Christmas decorations everywhere. There was a Christmas tree with Avenger themed ornaments hanging off it, with dozens of gifts piled beneath it. The Avengers, Remus, and Grangers were all spread out across the room, drinking hot chocolate and cider and egg nog and chatting with each other.
"I come bringing gifts!" Sirius said. "Great tidings of joy!"
"You brought the Malfoys." Natasha pointed out.
"And the final horcrux! Delivered without any emotional harm coming to our dear Harry."
"That is good news." Clint said, lifting up his cup in a sardonic cheer. "Lord knows the kid doesn't need anymore shit piled onto him."
"Ron called and told us about what happened at Yule." Hermione said, looking at Draco. "Was it really as bad as all that?"
"Yes." Draco said. "Potter's vision wasn't…very hopeful."
The kid sounded almost haunted by it. Sirius had heard the story from Ron, the brightness of the fire and the sheer desolation in Harry's voice when he said he'd be hugging his mum.
It wasn't something Sirius liked to dwell on.
"Come on. It's Christmas. Take it from the guy who spent 12 Christmasses with dementors, dwelling on the sad stuff won't help anything." Sirius said. "So, come on. Buck up. We've got all the horcruxes now, a way to destroy the ones who need destroying and the goddess of soul magic herself working on saving Harry. We're all together and there's good food and excellent muggle carols to sing. Let's sing 'em. Last thing we need is Harry, James and Thor coming back to a mope fest."
"I hate to say it." Remus said. "But he's right."
"Hurtful." Sirius said. "You're hurtful Moony."
Remus grinned.
"Come on Sirius. Sing us a muggle carol, since you're so familiar with them."
Sirius was more than willing to sing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Lily had taught him that one and Sirius had memorized it to tease James. Every Christmas since they'd learnt to be animagi, Sirius had made sure to tag Prongs with a glowing red nose and send him flying. After that, he sang 'Grandma got ran over by a Reindeer' to great success. The mood was lightened and most people were willing to put dark things aside for the party.
Sirius was purposefully not thinking about his baby brother.
Harry and the others arrived from Asgard, along with the Weasleys about an hour after Sirius brought Malfoys back. Harry was wearing a purple aesir tunic with silvery gray trousers and black boots. James had explained that most magic users would wear the color of their magic as a sign of status in Asgard, and so Harry's wardrobe had now been accented with purples. The kid looked good in the royal color, it really made his eyes pop. On his hip was the sword of Gryffindor.
Sirius walked up to his godson, who'd just gotten free of James and Thor to go change into more muggle clothing for the party.
"Pup!" Sirius said. "I've got a present. Well Narcissa got you a present, but I'm delivering it."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the locket. Harry's smile slipped a little as he sensed the dark magic in the object.
"She found the last one?"
"Yep." Sirius said. "If you want, I'm sure your dad won't mind taking it back to Asgard so that Idunn can have another test subject-"
"No need." Harry said. "I'll take care of it."
"What? Does that mean…"
"No. Idunn hasn't figured it out yet." Harry said. "The diadem's gone."
"Then shouldn't you be sending this one to Idunn?"
Harry shook his head and gently took the locket from Sirius' grip.
"Sirius." He said. "I'm going to get rid of this one. It's time."
"But."
"I have hope." Harry said. "That everything is going to work out and I'm not going to risk letting this last one get away from us. Once it's gone all that's left is me and him and…and I believe that's how it's meant to be."
He sounded so calm, so at peace with it. There was no fear, no agony. He was looking as if he truly believed that he would win, that he would live, that the world would be safe. He believed it with all of his heart, it shone out of his eyes like sunlight.
"Oh." Sirius sniffed.
"Yeah." He said. "Let me take care of this real quick, then we can start the party."
"If you're sure."
"I am." Harry said. "Come with me?"
"Always."
So together godfather and godson went to the Hulk room and got ready to destroy the last horcrux. There wasn't any special potions they needed to brew, or ancient words to invoke. No, it was a simple affair, almost disappointingly so compared to the build-up. For the past three months they'd been running around in fear of these things. Sirius himself had been so disgusted by their very existence, and what it meant for his godson.
Watching Harry drop the locket onto the ground, remove his sword, lift it up and stab the tip straight down into it was only slightly gratifying.
The horcrux screamed in agony and began to spurt out what looked like blood. Harry kept the sword still until it stopped and then he stepped back, waving a hand to banish the mess someplace far away.
"How do you feel?" Sirius asked.
"Peaceful." Harry answered, looking down at the spot on the floor that used to be a soul shard of his greatest enemy. "No matter what happens next time he and I meet, he's defeatable. If I…kill him and survive, I have years to figure out how to remove the one in my forehead. If he takes me down, then…well anyone can kill him after. It doesn't matter what happens, the world will be safe and we'll win."
"You dying will never be a win, pup."
"It's sort of a win."
Sirius snorted and gently slung an arm over his godson's shoulders. They were the same height now, Harry might have been a smidgeon taller, which made the position a bit awkward but Sirius pretended that it didn't.
"I'm proud of you kid."
"Really?"
"Really." He said. "I mean honestly, you're what I want to be when I grow up."
"What?"
"I told your mum I'd never grow up, not if I could help it, but you might just change my mind pup, you're just that awesome."
He finished that off by reaching up and messing up Harry's hair making him cry out in denial, laughter clear in his voice. Sirius loved hearing that laugh. He felt like he could never hear it enough. He'd missed out on so many laughs over the years because of the stupid decisions he'd made. He'd chosen revenge against Peter over taking care of Harry. He'd chosen to trust Dumbledore, the ultimate authority figure, over his own gut. He'd feared the responsibility of being Harry's caregiver, he'd wanted to be reckless and angry and…
Well Dumbledore had made sure they'd all paid the price of that.
Hearing Harry laugh now was like a dose of pure joy. It was enough to power a thousand patroni, and bright enough to drive away a million dementors. Harry sounded like the kid he was always meant to be as he gently pushed Sirius away telling him to stop messing with his hair. Sirius grinned and jumped forward trying to give the kid a noogie. Harry laughed again and started playfully wrestling with Sirius, careful not to use too much strength.
"Are you two done in here?" Remus asked.
"Moony! We were just-"
"Being ridiculous? Come on, Steve wants to start handing out presents and we're all waiting on you. The other guests are going to be coming in less than an hour so we've got to hop to it."
"Sorry Uncle Moony." Harry said grinning. "We just had to take care of the last horcrux."
"Already? I missed it?" Remus asked, his face breaking out into a huge grin at the moniker Harry had given him.
"Wasn't all that exciting really." Harry shrugged.
"Yeah." Sirius agreed. "Kind of a let down."
"Not like the prank I pulled on dad in Asgard." Harry teased.
"Oh pup." Sirius sang. "You've been holding out on us!"
So Harry told them about the great raven escapade, he used magic to switch his clothing as he did so and all three of them went back up to the party floor. Sirius was laughing into Harry's shoulder by the time they got up there.
"JAMES!" Sirius said. "Your son! He's a genius! A savant! The greatest thing to have ever walked this planet!"
"Tell me something I don't know."
"He got you good!"
"I helped." Thor huffed.
"Yes yes very funny." James said. "Sit down, Padfoot, it's gift time."
Sirius snickered at James' sour face and sat down next to his best friend. 15 years ago, he'd felt as if the entire world had ended. It had been his first Christmas in Azkaban and he'd spent it crying.
He intended to spend this one laughing.
And he had a feeling no one was going to stop him.