A/N: This chapter is a bit chaotic to say the least, and I kind of don't like it as much (I feel like it's a bit rushed yikes) but don't worry we'll be back at Hogwarts soon. It's also a bit shorter than the other ones.
Faceclaim for Proteus Nott: John Hopkins
Boxing Day was a very relaxed affair. The residents of Black Manor were all occupied with their own things; Sirius was marking essays from his Advanced and NEWT level students, Harry was making Arithmancy notes, Dorea was reading up on wandlore, and Amelia was initially reading, but decided to practise at her wandless abilities - she had barely had time to even read up on it at Hogwarts.
She was working her way through the Hogwarts curriculum wandlessly - starting off with Charms. But she soon got frustrated; even the first year spells weren't working well. In a huff, she marched up to the library and tried to see if there were any beginner books regarding how to use wandless magic.
She was distracted when she heard the library door creak open. Looking up, it was her darling Theodore. They grinned widely at one another. "Hello, my lovely," Theo wandered over to where she was sitting, and kissed her head.
"Where were you?" She asked.
"Spending time in my nice new bedroom," he answered, looking down at the book she was reading. "Woah, babe, you can do wandless magic?"
"Well, yeah," she said, "I was duelling Sirius in the duelling chambers before we went back to school, and I accidentally performed wandless magic. I've been reading up on it, but it takes a lot to do… Even first year Charms are tough for me to perform. It makes me think it was only a one-time thing, but I really want to learn it…"
Theo patted her shoulder. "It'll come to you eventually, dear. It's naturally quite hard to do and takes loads of practise, but I'm sure you'll master it soon."
The two of them sat and spent time together. They felt pretty safe up in the library, as the floor outside in the corridor was marble - they would certainly hear anyone approaching. The two of them spent as much time talking as they did goofing around, and even snuck in a few kisses. When they ran out of things to talk about, it was practically lunch time, so they decided to go down to the kitchen together.
When they entered the kitchen, Harry and Dorea were at the table, hunched over a newspaper. Judging by the black and white moving photographs, it could only be the Daily Prophet. It seemed very odd for them to be reading it. Sirius, it turned out, was in the living room, but currently sat with his head in the fireplace; conducting a Floo call.
"What are you reading?" Amelia asked them, moving towards the kettle.
Harry looked up. "Theo, there's something in this paper… it's about your parents."
Theo balked. "What?"
Harry pushed the paper across the table, and Theo was immediately reaching to have it in his own hands. Amelia glanced at Dorea, who had a knowing look on her face. Amelia was distracted when her boyfriend gasped, and dropped the paper back on to the table as if it had caused him a knee-jerk reaction.
"What is it?" She made her way over.
Theo could hardly speak. Amelia soon discovered why - on the third page of the Prophet, a relatively large headline greeted her: "A NOBLE DIVORCE! OPHELIA NOTT DIVORCES PROMINENT HUSBAND ROHAN NOTT"
A deafening silence overcame the spacious kitchen. Amelia read the story over Theo's shoulder:
"The Nott family is an Ancient and Noble House, and their family name has been a part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight list (created by a Cantankerous Nott) and Pure Blood Directory for decades. However, you can imagine Wizarding Britain's shock when it was revealed on Wednesday that Mrs Ophelia Nott, nee Fortesque, 35, after sixteen years of marriage, has decided to divorce her husband, Rohan Nott, 37.
"My client is well within her rights to divorce her husband on multiple grounds - it is nobody's business to say otherwise." Says Ms Nott's solicitor, Alastor Fawley, "Mrs Nott is a brave woman who has lived a very sad life around her unloving husband, and deserves to live a life of happiness and peace instead of one filled with fear and stress. I can only hope that the Magical Committee for Practising Law come to the same conclusion."
Mr and Mrs Nott have one child together, Theodore Cantankerous Nott, a fifth year Hogwarts student. There is no doubt that the poor lad will undoubtedly be divided of which parent to side with - the Daily Prophet can confirm that Mrs Nott claims full custody of her son.
Our reader's correspondence has simply been rife since this story has broken: "If Mr Rohan Nott is proven to be a horrible abusive husband, then I can only wish Mrs Ophelia good luck in the divorce application," says an anonymous Wizengamot member.
"Rohan Nott was certainly a horrible type back in his school days, so it doesn't surprise me a lot that he's declined this way." writes Mrs Shafiq.
Since this divorce has happened without the knowledge of Mr Nott himself, he was not available for comment. However, his mother - Bethesda Alannys Nott, 78, a prominent figure in wizarding Britain society, had plenty to say when she spoke to us: "My daughter-in-law has always been a bit of a fool," she says, "my son was raised to be respectful, so, I'm sorry, but I cannot understand why she would make something as serious and as damaging as this up, all for attention I'm sure. My poor grandson has been dragged into all of this as well… with his exams months away, I am utterly furious that she has brought negative attention unto the House of Nott."
Amelia stopped reading there. She couldn't believe what she had just read - Theo's grandmother, it seemed, had no sympathy whatsoever for her son's wife - and she was painting her as the villain!
Theo was now sitting at the table, looking faint. He had his face in his hands, yet didn't make a sound. As she patted his back in sympathy, they jumped slightly when they heard Sirius half-shout, "Bullshit, Albus! You know fine well this proves a perfect opportunity to get her out of there!"
Sirius came through barely five minutes later, looking irate. He spotted Theo, and looked unsure whether to speak. "Theo, I'm sure the news is a shock to you-"
"-My mum will be safe now, right?" Theo looked up.
Sirius paused. "I was just Floo calling Dumbledore; I've told him that it would be perfect for your mother to just up and leave now, as… well, when your father does find out she did this without his knowledge, I'm sure we can all imagine just what damage he'd inflict on her."
They all nodded. All five of them shared a look, because they heard the Floo in the living room make a sound that signalled someone coming through. Barely two seconds later, Remus all but bashed the door aside and appeared windswept in the kitchen.
"Jeez, Moony, what's the rush? What's happened?" Sirius went over to him.
"Arthur's been discharged from St Mungo's, perfectly fine," Remus said.
"Then why do you sound so out of breath?"
"Well, when we all went to get him, we were walking down to the reception space and…" Remus looked directly at Theo, then whispered to Sirius. Her godfather's face turned to shock.
"Right, what's going on?" Harry asked.
"Theodore, we saw...your father got wheeled past us on a bed. Multiple Healer's around him, rushing him towards an emergency ward."
"What?" Theo half-gasped, "What happened to him?"
"I heard one of the Healer's say it was alcohol abuse."
Though Theo hated his father, everyone could see that he still was a little bit concerned. "Well, I've never known him sober."
"Wait, is this the 'perfect opportunity' for Theo's mum to escape that you were talking about?" Dorea asked her father.
Sirius grinned. "You're very bright and observant, dear - yes, it was."
"And is she going to do it?" Theo straightened up. "She could come here! It's probably the safest location in all of Britain!"
"Dumbledore seemed to think so too, but knowing him he won't lift a finger to help her," Sirius scoffed. Remus shot him a look.
At St Mungo's Hospital, Ophelia stood outside the emergency ward, where Rohan had been wheeled into. She didn't really feel any remorse for him - he was, after all, abusive, and the reason why she lived in fear, but yet she found herself here all the same.
A few MediWitches walked past her in the corridor. She knew fine well they knew who she was - after all, the news of her divorce had leaked to the press, and half the magical community probably knew who she was now. Ophelia felt their stares.
Rohan was transferred to another ward, but was largely unconscious. All she could do was stand at the door of the ward and stare through the window, at her husband asleep in the bed. She had no clue how long she was standing there, but out of the corner of her eye she saw someone making their way towards her.
A woman was within feet of her. She eyed her. "Do you know Rohan?"
"I know of him." the woman replied. "You must be his wife."
"Not for much longer," Ophelia scoffed, "I'm sure you've read the paper."
The woman tilted her head and looked at her for a few moments. "I should have introduced myself, I am Emmilene Vance."
"Nice to meet you," Ophelia replied, not quite knowing what to think.
Emmeline was silent, but lowered her voice. "I am here at the behest of Albus Dumbledore. He feels this a perfect opportunity for you to escape your husband's clutches."
Ophelia's heart was racing, and emotion was overcoming her. "Are you serious?" Her voice slightly quavered, and her eyes were soon blurred with tears.
"Yes. I am sure you are concerned about your son as well - he is living with a highly trusted associate of Dumbledore's, and is very much safe. You could soon be with him." Vance smiled in sympathy.
Theo, Ophelia thought, my boy… "Let's do it." She broke down in happy tears, and Vance hugged her. After years of torment and torture, she really was finally leaving…
When she had partially dried her face, Emmeline patted her shoulder. "We could Apparate back to your residence so you can pack your stuff up, and then we'll go to Albus."
The house, for once, was very quiet. It felt like a calm sereneness with the absence of Rohan screaming and shouting, truly. Standing in their shared bedroom, Ophelia went about packing two trunks - one with all her things, and another with Theo's things. Vance was waiting down in the hall for her. When she was finally done, the two bedrooms felt completely bare.
She levitated the two trunks down the stairs, and smiled at her new acquaintance. With one last glance around the Nott Manor house, Ophelia walked through the front door and shut it behind her for the very last time.
Despite himself, Theodore asked Sirius to take him to St Mungo's the very next day. He didn't plan on even going into the ward and sitting by his father's bedside, - he was just going to see what he had become ever since he banished Theo from his own house.
Harry came with them, and respectively kept his distance as Theo looked through the window in the door. Theo didn't even feel any sort of emotion; the man asleep in the bed had caused so much pain and suffering to his own wife and child, and wasn't deserving of any sort of sympathy. Yet it felt a little bit sad to see him like that.
The door to the ward down the corridor opened, and Theo didn't move an inch, thinking it was just Sirius or one of the Healer's. Yet a man was now standing slightly behind him, looking into the room.
Theo realised he was partly blocking the door to get in. He turned his head sideways. "Oh, sorry, do you need to go in?"
The man shook his head. "No, no, it's fine. I don't plan on going anywhere near him."
It was silent for another few moments. Theo still stared ahead of him. "Do you know him?"
"Unfortunately. Never liked him though. It's a shame to see him like this, despite all that though. He is, after all, my brother."
Theo's eyes widened. Had he just heard that right? The man behind him was potentially his uncle?! He whizzed around, wide eyed, and looked at this stranger. The man barely looked at him for three seconds before his eyes did likewise. "Oh my god…"
"A-are you my uncle, sir?" Theo asked, barely believing himself.
The man was silent for a few moments, probably not believing it himself. "I think I am."
Harry looked between the two of them, very puzzled. "My dad never talked about you."
"I barely expected him to - he severed contact the second he learned I had married a muggle born. At his own wedding to your mother, he prohibited me from coming." Theo's uncle said, "You look like he did when he was younger. Your mother too… I can only hope you have her kind soul."
"What is your name, uncle?" Theo asked, barely comprehending anything else.
"Proteus. Your name is Theodore, correct?" At his nephew's nod, he continued, "Well, it feels strange finally meeting after all these years, but I can only hope this isn't the first and last time we meet."
Theo nodded vigorously. "I-I would like to get to know you, uncle."
"Likewise, boy." They shook hands. "I can only apologise that this is our first ever encounter. You must be, what, sixteen?"
"Fifteen," Theo corrected politely, "though I'm sixteen in June."
"There's plenty of time for us to make up for. I could give you my address, if you wish to come calling one day?"
"Yes!" Theo agreed a little enthusiastically.
"Great, I will send it to your father's house. I presume you have a fireplace connected to the Floo?" Proteus Nott asked, smiling.
Theo's smile faltered a bit. "I am no longer living at that house."
"Oh?" His uncle's brows furrowed.
"Father banned me from ever returning because I've made friends with people that aren't pure-blood," he said, "instead I am living with one of my friends, Harry Potter." He gestured to Harry, sitting on one of the chairs the whole time, looking bamboozled.
"Ah, yes, Harry Potter." Proteus gestured him forward. "The Boy Who Lived. I've heard lots about you and your twin sister. It's very kind of you to be housing my nephew. May I pop round one of these days to spend time with Theodore?"
Harry tried to smile. "That would be great, but the thing is… I live with my godfather, Sirius Black, in a highly secret location. I'm assuming you're not a Death Eater like your brother, sir, but it would put you and all of us in danger if the Death Eater's ever targeted you and forced you to give up the house's location."
Proteus Nott seemed to understand. "I see. I can understand your concern, truly. Is your godfather around?"
"He went to the tearoom. We could go and talk to him regarding it?" Harry offered, and the man nodded his head eagerly. Just like that, they were heading up to the fifth floor, where they found Sirius, who had finally managed to buy drinks.
"Hello, you two… Oh, who's this?" Siris asked, eying Theo's uncle.
"I am Theodore's uncle, Mr Black - though we only found that out barely five minutes ago." Proteus introduced, shaking Sirius's hand.
"I did not know Rohan had a brother,"
"Me and him severed contact years ago." Proteus went on to explain about how he and Theodore wanted to go about meeting in order to make up for lost family time, and Sirius listened tentatively. He gave Harry a look when Proteus explained (quietly) that they lived at a secret location, but that was about it. After a few moments of consideration, Sirius spoke up. "I can tell you mean no harm, and are genuine. I think I would be perfectly happy giving you access to our house, so long as you swore to keep it a secret."
Proteus nodded. "I swear."
Sirius added Proteus to the house's security ward, and told him the house was now accessible to him via Floo. He told him the name of the house - Black Manor, - and said he'd be welcome over anytime. Both Theo and his uncle looked excited and relieved - Harry felt happy for his friend, finding he had another family member. His uncle seemed a decent bloke too, though on first impression he had seemed a bit intimidating, looming behind Theo back at the ward, but he seemed very kind, despite being related to Rohan Nott.
Proteus had to get going, as he lived on the Isle of Man and had to get back in order to finish some work, so they slightly reluctantly said farewell to him. Harry noticed that Theo looked forlorn as he watched his new-found uncle walk down the corridors and through the doors, black coat slightly streaming out behind him.
The boys arrived back from St Mungo's early afternoon. Dorea and Amelia were immediately told of who they had met at the hospital - Theo had an uncle that he had never met before today. "Wow, that sounds really nice for you to meet him after so many years, Theo," Amelia had said, and Dorea immediately nodded.
Later that day, the Weasley's Floo'd over, this time with Mr Weasley in tow, as he'd been given the all-clear to return home the previous day. Mr Weasley looked as good as new - you wouldn't have thought that barely a week ago, he was fighting for his life after being bitten by a snake. Since it was such a surprisingly nice day outside, they had lunch out in the front garden - though they were sitting on towels since the grass was dewy. The adults seemed to be in a vigorous discussion to one side, whilst the younger ones stayed to another.
"So, Theo, how are you finding the house?" Ginny asked, as she leaned forward to grab a scone.
"It's bigger and better than anything I could have imagined." Theo said breathily, and Dorea still noticed he looked up at the house with a look of awe.
When they had to rush inside due to a sudden shower of rain, the Weasley's only stayed slightly longer before they had to leave to go back to The Burrow. Dorea decided to spend the next few hours brewing in the Potions Lab - she got to work on a Befuddlement Draught, which, at the end of its brewing time, turned out near perfect. Pleased with herself, she ladled the potion into some vials, corked it, and stored it away.
When she returned to the kitchen, she was very confused when she heard a "Mum!" come from the living room, and muffled voices. When she went in, she saw her father and god siblings stood looking touched, and Theo was engulfed in a huge hug with a woman. Putting two and two together, Dorea felt herself smile when she realised that the woman was, in fact, Theo's mother - she had escaped her husband at last.
"When did she arrive?" Dorea asked Harry as she wandered over.
"Just now, practically." Harry said, "I'm really happy for Theo."
Dorea nodded, smiling sympathetically. When the mother and son had finished hugging, Dorea got a good look at the woman. Ophelia Nott was pretty slim, and quite tall. She looked quite young for her age, and had nothing but love in her eyes when she looked at her son.
"Ophelia will be staying with us for the time being," Sirius explained to them quietly, "Black Manor is the safest place for her to be."
They all nodded, thinking that Rohan was definitely not going to be happy when he a) read the paper and b) got out of hospital to come home and realise that his wife had left him. It was a great thing that Mrs Nott was no longer around to feel her husband's wrath.
They spent the rest of the afternoon with their newest house mate, and the woman was so kind it warmed Dorea's heart - how a woman as sweet as Ophelia could be treated so badly by a man who claimed to love her was insane.
On the twenty-ninth, Harry spent half the day at Grimmauld Place, as Sirius had an Order meeting, but for some reason asked Harry to come with him whilst Amelia and Dorea stayed behind back at the Manor with Theo and Mrs Nott. During the Order meeting, Harry spent time with the Weasley kids and Hermione, and they discussed their return to school - they were due to go back on the 3rd of January.
"I think Defence this term is going to be a breeze," Fred said, "us seventh years are starting our Patronus charms in class; Lupin's going to get a shock when he realises that half of us have already mastered it."
Harry grinned. "That'll save him some time teaching then."
"There's those Healing classes as well," Hermione chirped up, not taking her eyes off her Ancient Runes textbook. "Who here's all signed their names?"
"Me!" Came from Ginny. Harry added his voice as well. Ron said yes to, though he only planned to go along to the taster session.
None of them had particularly heard Mrs Weasley coming up the stairs nor knock at the door, for she poked her head around. "Harry, dear, could you come down to the kitchen? Professor Snape would like a word with you."
Harry hadn't realised what she had said, far too engrossed in his game of wizard chess with Ron, but then he turned. "Sorry, Mrs Weasley, what did you say?"
"Professor Snape's in the kitchen, dear, he'd like a word."
Harry sat and stared at her. He looked at Ron and the others, who were equally gaping at him. What on earth had he done to warrant Snape wanting a word with him at Grimmauld Place? He started wracking his brains, but couldn't come to a definite conclusion.
"Come along now, quickly, he says he can't stay long." Mrs Weasley urged.
A minute or two later, he walked down into the kitchen and was welcomed with the sight of Remus, Sirius and Snape both sitting at different ends of the table, not looking at each other at all.
"Erm," Harry announced his presence.
Snape looked around at him, his face its usual monotone. "Sit down, Potter."
"I'd prefer it if you didn't give orders around here, Severus," Sirius said loudly, "you're under my roof, y'see."
"Sirius," Remus shot his friend a tired look.
"The Headmaster has sent me to tell you, Potter, that it is his wish for you to study Occlumency this upcoming term." Snape said slowly.
Harry looked blankly at the three men. "Study what?"
"Occlumency, Potter. The magical defence of the human mind against external penetration. An obscure and difficult branch of magic, but very useful." Snape sneered.
Harry felt dread overcome him. He already had enough on his plate as it was, yet he was being encouraged to take up another subject that no one else was taking? They had all agreed that he hadn't been possessed by Voldemort, so why was this even necessary?
"Okay, but why?" He asked.
"Because Dumbledore thinks it a good idea," Snape replied, "you will receive private lessons once a week, but you will not tell anyone else what you are learning. Do you understand?"
"Yes," he said instantly, "Who's going to be giving me these lessons?"
"I am." Snape raised an eyebrow.
Harry had a horrible feeling that these lessons were going to go very badly indeed. Extracurricular lessons with his least favourite teacher - what on earth had he done to deserve this? Surely Dumbledore was taught the subject of Occlumency, why couldn't he teach him? He looked at Remus and Sirius for support.
"I assure you I did not beg for the job," Snape said, getting to his feet, "I expect to see you at six o'clock, Tuesday evenings, my office."
"Wait a minute," Sirius said, speaking up.
"I am in a hurry, Black. Be quick." Snape sneered.
"I'll get straight to it, then," Sirius stood up to his full height. "If I hear that you're taking advantage of these lessons to give Harry a hard time, you will have to answer to me."
"Sirius, sit down." Remus barked. Harry didn't quite know what to do.
"How touching," Snape said slowly, "Surely you have noticed that Potter is very much like his father?"
"I have." Sirius proclaimed proudly.
"Well then, you will have figured that he's so arrogant that valid criticism simply bounces off him." Snape said slyly.
Sirius's chair was kicked backwards and toppled, the man now striding with vengeance towards the Potions master, pulling out his wand as he went. Snape drew his own out, and the two were now squared up to one another.
"Sirius!" Harry tried to draw the man's attention so that the situation didn't escalate, but it didn't seem to work. Remus was quickly up though, and went to drag Sirius back to the table. "I've warned you, Snivellus," his godfather sneered. "Do not slander my best friend and his son. I do not care if Dumbledore thinks you have changed, I know far better-"
"-Then why don't you tell him, you mutt?" Snape cut him off.
Sirius raised his wand. "No!" Harry exclaimed, quickly moving to join Remus in breaking the two out of their conflict.
"Are you calling me a coward?" Sirius demanded.
"If the boot fits, Black." Snape said, his lip curling.
Sirius balked, and Harry pressed himself between the two, whilst Remus tried to drag Sirius back towards the table. Remus managed to succeed, though Sirius was still frustrated and venting.
"Six o'clock, second Tuesday back, Potter." Severus said without even looking at him, and vanished out of the door and passed the kitchen's threshold. His godfather was still glaring at the door and growling even long after the Potions master had left.
When he had told the Weasley's and Hermione about why Snape wanted to see him, Ron looked horrified. "I'd rather have the nightmares and visions if it meant not having lessons with Snape!"
Hermione was of a different opinion. "Dumbledore clearly wants you to stop having these dreams and visions about Voldemort," she had said, "and I think he's right - they're not good or healthy for you to see, Harry."
Back at Black Manor, the house was quiet, but its residents were content. Theo was doing some Charms homework, Dorea was outside flying, and Amelia had just finished Muggle Studies homework. She went down to the kitchen to make herself a hot chocolate, and found Mrs Nott in there.
"Do you fancy a cuppa?" Amelia asked the kind woman, who was her boyfriend's mum.
"Oh, please! I'll have tea, dear." The woman replied, smiling largely.
Once she had made the drinks, she walked over and sat at the table. Ophelia looked delighted. "My son seems very fond of you, Amelia," Mrs Nott said, "and I can just tell you're a lovely girl. How did you become friends with him?"
Little do you know I'm dating your son, she thought. "Well, it was initially Harry who had become mates with him, but we kind of became friends by default after an incident at the school." She answered. "Then Harry started up the DA, and we all became very close."
"This DA sounds very intriguing - if it was done in my school days, though, I can't even imagine it being that well received at all." Ophelia smiled over the rim of her steaming cup.
The two of them talked some more, until they heard the Floo in the living room signal that Harry and Sirius were returning from Grimmauld Place. Harry quietly told her about what he and Snape were going to do - Amelia was a bit confused initially, as she had never heard of Occlumency before, but she hoped Harry would master it; it did seem to have its uses. She did have a think to herself, though - these were private lessons he was to be having, and Snape was a nightmare to Harry in front of everyone anyway, what if he took advantage of their private lessons to torment Harry? What if he was just like Umbridge? She made a vow then - she was going to look out for Harry tentatively, more than ever, when they went back to school on the third.