The Future of House Black

By: Ryu Katanna

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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Eighteen

Hardwin cursed silently to himself as he ate breakfast the next morning. He'd returned to his room the night before feeling drained by the long day and the conflicting emotions he'd been trying to avoid. All he'd wanted to do was sleep, but he'd been forced to remain awake to listen to complaints from a certain cobra who was then joined by both vipers. All because Dipili was near the window and would get more of the sun than they would when the sun came up in the morning.

He'd been forced to move all four of them to the conservatory on the third floor where the ceiling and two of the walls were glass. Hardwin would need to get more plants into the room today to keep the snakes satisfied with the space. He hadn't wanted to wake Saros, who was the one who took care of the grounds, when it could wait. It had been one of the first things he'd had to do when he'd sat down to eat breakfast though, and so now the elf had the task of finding the best plants to use. Luckily, because it was for the snakes whose care he was responsible for, Nanna had been quick to volunteer to help.

Hardwin had been exhausted by the time he'd made it to bed, but at least his room would now be blissfully quiet.

He'd woken later than usual to Winky insisting that it was time to start the day and Kreature scowling in disapproval of his tardiness in making it down to breakfast at the appointed time. He'd taken the time to shower, and be properly dressed and groomed before leaving the room. He hadn't left his room in the morning without doing so after Draco had been sent to the Manor by Narcissa several days before, and it was slowly becoming a habit.

Hardwin had gotten a crash course in proper grooming from his cousin. He'd spent several hours with Draco that day as the older teen used the hair growth potion Andromeda had bought to grow out and style Hardwin's hair. If anyone would have doubted his Black blood before, they surely wouldn't now. The untameable mess curled loosely and fell to just below his shoulder blades. The resemblance to Sirius had been almost painful to see, and Hardwin had asked Draco if there was a way to pin his hair back a bit to change the style if he wanted to. His cousin, seeing the pain in his expression, taught him a few spells he could use to braid his hair or pull it back into different styles.

"Seems you're starting the day rather late. Have a busy day yesterday, did you, cousin?" As if thinking about the other teen had summoned him, Draco's question drew his attention away from his thoughts as he entered the informal dining room near the kitchens.

"Good morning, Draco. I'll have you know that awake I was until early this morning dealing with three new snakes. They weren't satisfied with where I had them, and wouldn't let me sleep until I moved all of them into the conservatory on the third floor." Hardwin grumbled grumpily as he set down his fork to look at the blonde who was looking at him from the stairs with a familiar smirk.

"Hmm, and here I thought you were unable to sleep because out of anticipation." Draco replied as he came to sit at the table, and poured himself some tea from the pot that was there, a cup appearing in front of him when he sat down.

"What are you going on about, Draco? I have a lot I need to do today before I go out later tonight." Hardwin replied as he picked up his own tea which was growing cool.

"Mother received a letter this morning from Lord Flint to open negotiations for a marriage contract between you and his son Marcus. I guessed that you were with him yesterday to help look for a snake for his younger brother as you'd promised since Aunt Andromeda firecalled us when she was looking for you. So what happened?" Draco asked curiously, and Hardwin mentally cursed at how sharp the blonde could be sometimes.

"Nothing much. I met his family yesterday morning before taking Marcus and his brother Mardyn to look for a snake in the muggle world. Marcus decided to treat me to lunch as a thank you after taking his brother home." Hardwin replied as his empty plate vanished and he silently wondered to himself why he'd given his cousins an open invitation to come to the manor whenever they liked.

At the same time, he didn't truly regret it. He liked that Andromeda with Teddy, Narcissa, and Draco had started stopping by like this. This manor was a big place to live by himself. He appreciated the company.

"Naughty, naughty, cousin. It's improper to be alone with a potential suitor at our age." Draco teased and Hardwin had to try very hard not to roll his eyes.

"Yes, well, we were in public the entire time. What does Narcissa think of the match?" Hardwin asked as he set down his now empty cup.

"Mother is over the moon. She's been waiting to see if Lord Flint would send a request for negotiations since Aunt Andromeda spoke to her about when you met them at the Menagerie the other day. I do believe she put off writing to a few of the other old families to see if Lord Flint would be interested in matching you with Marcus. She was talking about firecalling Aunt Andromeda when she left the dining room after breakfast. I thought to come and warn you before the two of them drag you out to get an acceptable outfit for a marriage meeting." Draco said with a chuckle at the grimace in Hardwin's expression at the thought of shopping with the two women.

He had a feeling Narcissa would either be as bad or worse than her sister when it came to his wardrobe. He'd started caring for his appearance, but he didn't think he would ever reach the same level as those two. Just shopping with Andromeda had been tiring enough with how much she had made him try on. Hardwin had vaguely had hopes of not worrying about another trip for a while more yet, but if Draco was warning him then he knew to be a bit wary.

"You didn't come to warn me so much as you're he to tease me." Hardwin grumbled and stood when he could see that Draco had finished his tea.

I'll admit that was part of my reason for visiting, but I also wanted to see how you felt about it. I mean, I've always known my marriage would be chosen for me. You didn't." Draco answered as he stood to walk with Hardwin who led him up two flights of stairs toward his study.

"Honestly, I'm alright with it. I've thought about it a lot since I found out that I have less than two years to get married or I forfeit the Black Lordship. After everything, I trust your mother to select a good match for me, better than I do myself. Especially since I keep learning more about how much of my life Dumbledore tried to decide for me. At least with Narcissa, she'll take my opinions into consideration." Hardwin replied as he opened the door to the study and Draco followed him inside.

"I've heard a bit about that. Aunt Andromeda firecalled Mother last night after she heard about the marriage contract Dumbledore tried to draw up between you and the Weasley bint. When are you going to do something about them? From what I heard, they've been firecalling her looking for you several times a day. The broodmother even started flooing into Aunt Andromeda's home without notice. She had to block the floo after the harpy started screeching and demanding to know where you were, and woke up the baby." Draco sneered at how uncouth the woman was.

"Andromeda didn't tell me about that." Hardwin frowned as Draco sat down on the settee.

"I don't think she wanted to bother you with it since we know you already have a lot going on." Draco said and Hardwin shook his head.

"I may be busy right now, but that doesn't mean I don't want to know when my family is being harassed. Perhaps I should ask her to move in here with me, at least until this is over. She could lock down the house to keep them off the property. I would never take Teddy from her, but I should also be helping her more with him than I have been. We have shared custody, but I've been so busy that I haven't taken him for more than a few hours." Hardwin admitted; having thought about it before, and feeling like he should be doing more.

"Now you're talking like a proper Lord of House. She might feel like she's intruding on you though when you'll be getting the manor ready for when you're married though." Draco warned as Hardwin lit the fireplace before crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the desk as he spoke to him.

"I don't want any of you to feel like you're intruding, Draco. I didn't know I had a family for the longest time, but I do now. There are rooms upstairs for the extended family if any of you would like to stay the night or even for a while. I'm not really used to being alone as much as I have been recently either; so I do enjoy it when one of you stops by. If Andromeda truly doesn't wish to stay with me then I can see about opening one of the other properties for her and Teddy. I just want to know they're both safe, and away from the line of fire." Hardwin explained and Draco smiled.

"You should probably speak with her about it, and I'll let mother know what you said about the rooms upstairs. I might come to spend a few days looking through the library, but I don't think mother will stay overnight while my father is unable to leave Malfoy Manor." Draco replied before getting back to his original topic.

"Back to Flint. Are you alright with the thought of marrying him? It's one thing to say you're alright with having a marriage contract, but how do you feel now that you know he's a prospective marriage partner?" Draco asked knowing that his mother wanted to be sure before she set a meeting with Lord and Lady Flint.

"I already knew he was a possibility. I'm... I'm actually alright with it. I am interested in him, and he expressed an interest in my contract yesterday. My only problem is that I don't know how closely related we might be." Hardwin admitted with a wince as he thought about the inbreeding in the family that he was determined wouldn't continue.

"I know our great-great-great-grandmother was a Flint, but I think she was from a different branch of the Flint line. I had to learn the family trees for both sides of my bloodline as a child, but I wasn't too concerned about how close the relationships were. Mother was speaking to father about what you said about marrying too closely. I don't think she would approve of the match if that was an issue when she knows your opinion on the subject." Draco said as he tried to remember how closely they were related to the Flints.

"I could always ask the portraits or see what I can find in the family records, I suppose. What about your marriage partner? I think Narcissa said you were set to Marry Daphne Greendgrass's younger sister? When will the wedding be?" Hardwin asked and Draco nodded.

"I'll be marrying Astoria Greengrass. Astoria is two years younger than we are, and will be in her sixth year at Hogwarts this year. The date for our marriage will likely be in early summer after she graduates. There hasn't been a marriage between the Greengrass and Malfoy or Black lines for at least seven generations so I think the relation is distant enough." Draco said and Hardwin nodded thoughtfully as he knew now that he would need to be married before his cousin was.

"How do you feel about her?" Hardwin asked and Draco looked thoughtful.

"We get along well enough though I can't say I know her very well. We've had a few conversations, but we haven't spent much time together, and when we do it's always with a chaperone. Her family has maintained neutrality through every war the wizarding world has had in the last several hundred years. While they do believe in keeping their bloodline pure they don't look down on families that don't. They are a lot like the MacMillan and Fawley families in that respect. They're also one of the few Houses that are Matriarical which is why her older sister is the heiress." Draco told him and Hardwin filed the information away as he moved around his desk and sat down in the chair.

"What about House Flint? Marcus said that they were considered dark, but that Lord Flint didn't side with Tom during this war or the one that was going on when we were born. He said his father kept them moving outside Europe to avoid the conflict when Tom regained a body." Hardwin asked as he remembered what Marcus had told him.

"Yes, House Flint is considered to be dark, but that is because they have advocated to bring back the old ways and to loosen the restrictions on dark magic for several generations now. While Lord Maddox Flint has maintained that political stance, House Flint hasn't supported or condoned the actions of any Dark Lord in at least the last three hundred years. Lord Flint also doesn't support the pureblood supremacy the Dark Lord advocated, and considered him and his followers to be extremists. In fact, while House Flint is a well-respected pureblood House and one of the sacred twenty-eight, they have been known to marry second or third-generation purebloods." Draco told him knowing that, while this was information he would be learning from a tutor later, it was better he know now that Lord Flint was seeking his contract for Marcus.

"The old ways? What are the old ways?" Hardwin asked curiously as he'd never heard of it before.

"The old ways are our traditions; our culture. It's mostly the old families that practice the Sabbats anymore, and when we do, it has to be in secret because practicing has been outlawed. Even information about them has been banned here in Britain. The Sabbats such as Samhain, Yule, and Ostara which celebrate magic have been taken from us while the muggle holidays of Halloween, Christmas, and Easter are forced on us. So many of the old Houses followed the Dark Lord because he promised to restore the old ways, and we would be free to celebrate Magic again rather than some muggle religion." Draco explained and Hardwn's brows pinched as he processed what he was being told.

"So wizarding traditions that celebrate magic are being suppressed just to make the muggle-borns more comfortable? Is that only here in Britain, or is it true in other countries?" Hardwin asked knowing he would need to look in the library; the Blacks had never cared for supposed legality and so he know he would find some information.

"Yes, and it's only here in Britain. It's also why the older families, especially the 'dark' families, have a problem with the muggle-borns. Not only has our culture been suppressed to make them more comfortable in our world, but there is also the risk to the Statute of Secrecy because of the muggle relatives who know about the Wizarding World. No security measures are being used to keep the parents from exposing our world. We are just supposed to trust them not to expose our world." Draco explained because he knew his cousin needed all of the facts to understand the problems he would encounter when he took his seat in the Wizenmont.

"That's not good. Surely there is a department in the Ministry that monitors risks of exposure. What about the obliviators?" Hardwin asked as he thought about his own relatives.

"No, and that's the problem. The obliviators are only sent to manage any exposure after it has already happened rather than to prevent it. Other countries have taken their own measures to limit the contact between the wizarding and muggle worlds and to monitor any risks. They have more laws in place to protect the Statute. The British Ministry used to, but that has changed within the last hundred years and it's become more about managing exposure rather than preventing it." Draco explained and Hardwin had to force himself not to run his fingers through his hair out of habit while he thought.

"That's not good. I was raised in the muggle world, and while not all muggles are bad, it would still be dangerous for us if our word was exposed. Muggles may not have magic, but they have developed weapons that even magic would have a hard time countering. There is also their technology. It's getting more advanced every year. The muggles have something called the internet, and information from just one person can be sent all over the world." Hardwin said as he remembered the computer Dudley had in his bedroom.

"I'm unfamiliar with what the internet means, but if one muggle can do that with it then it would be bad for us." Draco replied looking a bit unsettled, and Hardwin sighed as he looked down at his desk where his gaze focuses on the letter from Arcturus and the ring that lay next to it.

"There's no use in worrying about that right now. I can't take my wizengamont seat until after I marry, anyway. I'll just need to gather information in the meantime so I can bring it to their attention then. I could use your help with something else." Hardwin said; picking up the sheet of parchment and the ring as he stood.

"What is it?" Draco asked curiously as he tried to shake off the thoughts about this 'muggle internet' that had been spiraling in his mind.

"I found a letter from Sirius before I moved out of Grimmauld Place, and I finally read it last night. It had a lot of answers that I needed, but this was also inside it." Hardwin replied as he held up the scion ring for Draco to see; earning a gasp from his cousin who stood to get a closer look.

"That's... Do you know what it means?" Draco asked as he looked at the ring in Hardwin's hand, but made no move to touch it.

"I know it's the ring that marked him as a scion of House Black, and that they are traditionally given to the children from old Houses the day they are born. I also know that usually the rings are only taken off when a child is disowned or disinherited and that the ring will return to the Lord of the House if the body isn't recovered after death. I don't know what it means that he left it to me like this though. All I can think of is that he knew... He knew he might not make it through the war." Hardwin admitted as his fingers curled over the ring as another wave of grief hit him.

"Scion rings are given at birth to denote their belonging to the family. From the time that the child is born, the rings bonds with their magic and the essence of their soul. The only other time one of these rings is removed before death, other than the reasons you already know, is when it is left to someone they trusted more than any other. This person becomes a Keeper which means he's entrusted you as the keeper of his essence. He must have left this ring to you so that you would have a way to clear his name, to bury him, or to give you closure if he were to die." Draco told him, and Hardwin looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean by that? How would the ring clear his name after he's already gone?" He asked in both surprise and confusion.

"Sirius's name was disgraced by the charges he was sent to Azkaban for. He was innocent, but the public doesn't know that. By leaving the ring to you he left you a way to clear his name. It was bonded to his magic since the day he was born. That ring is a physical manifestation of everything he was and all of the memories and experiences that shaped him. That's why the rings can be used in place of a body for burial. The ring is literally a part of the one who wore it." Draco explained, and Hardwin's breath caught in his throat.

"So what do I do?" Hardwin asked after a moment as his grip tightened around the ring to ensure he wouldn't drop it.

"You will need to go to the Minister and the Head of the DMLE to request a retrial to clear his name. If you weren't already Lord Black then you would have needed the Lord of House, but since that's you then it's not a problem. The ring can be placed into a special pensieve to view the memories. The problem is that it can and will put Sirius's whole life on display unless you can guide them to the relevent memories. The ring would be able to show any event he experianced in his lifetime; both good and bad. " Draco explained in a heavy voice as he tried to impart to his cousin how serious he was about what the ring would show.

"Everything? Why would anyone want that? Just to clear his name after he's already gone, I could be exposing everything that made him who he was for public scrutiny! It feels more like a violation!" Hardwin exclaimed and Draco nodded because it was.

"It is, and that is why the ring is only ever entrusted to someone the wearer trusts with everything they were. That's also why it would be a closed trial with only you as the Keeper and his Lord of House, the Minister, the Head of the DMLE, and the Chief Warlock. They would be required to make a vow not to speak of anything they might witness other than the memories pertaining to the crimes he was charged with. It would restore his honor if his name were to be cleared, and the public could no longer consider him to be a blight upon the House of Black. This is also why I think he would have wanted you to clear his name. I don't think he wanted his name to be a stain to your House if you accepted your birthright." Draco explained and Hardwin looked at the ring in his hand as he thought about what he was being told.

Nodding to himself, he picked up a quill from the desk and transfigured it onto a small box. Placing the ring safely inside, Hardwin tucked it away in the drawer of his desk with the letter. He looked back at Draco as he shut the drawer to see the other teen nod as he knew it was probably something Hardwin wanted to think on when he had some time alone. Steel blue eyes then turned their gaze toward the sheet of parchment Hardwin had picked up at the same time as the ring.

"Is that the letter he wrote you?" He asked and Hardwin shook his head.

"No. That one I put away. This one is from Arcturus Black." Harwin said as he stepped back around the desk.

"Arcturus? Your great-grandfather?" Draco asked with mild surprise.

"Yes. Sirius explained in his letter that Arcturus came to him after Regulus's funeral. He asked him to accept the title of heir again, but Sirius wanted nothing to do with it. Apparently, my mum was already pregnant with me, and it was eventually decided that Sirius would blood-adopt me into the main line as a Black while I was still in the womb so that I could be named the heir. Part of their agreement for my being named the heir was that Arcturus had to vow never to interfere with how I was raised." Hardwin explained and Draco almost lost his composure as his jaw dropped a bit.

"That's why he didn't step in as the Lord of House and take you in or assign your care to mother or Aunt Andromeda even though he named you his heir. It would have gone against the vow he made to your parents." Draco stated as they finally had an answer to something they had all been wondering about.

"Exactly. Though I think they would have prefered him to raise me rather than mum's sister. I found this waiting for me on the desk here in the study." Hardwin said as he handed the parchment to Draco for him to read.

"So you're going to wake the portraits." Draco said knowing that Hardwin had been frustrated at not finding the password before.

"I am. Should I call Andromeda and Narcissa? I would like for you three to be here. We all have questions, and I'm sure there are a few I wouldn't even think to ask." Hardwin said, and he saw Draco straighten before he nodded.

"Of course. I'll call mother. Aunt Andromeda might already be with her to help her with planning for the meeting with Lord and Lady Flint." He said before taking a pinch of floo powder from the small bowl on the mantle and throwing it into the fire as he kneeled down into the flames.

Hardwin waited as Draco made the call home. He looked up at the still portrait as he let his mind wander. So much had changed in only a few short weeks. He was more than grateful that he had Andromeda, Draco, Narcissa, and even Lucius to help him. While distant, they were still his cousins, and the support of a family had been something he'd never thought he would have. Now, he was about to talk to his great-grandfather, even if it was only the remnants of his magic and memories bound in a portrait. If Dumbledore had had his way then he never would have known about his heritage or the birthright his parents had wanted for him.

That just made Hardwin even more determined to learn what he needed and to take back everything that had or would have been stolen from him.

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Well, this chapter almost seemed to write itself! I'd thought it would take me longer to write. I mean, I just posted the last one two days ago! Hope you liked it. Next chapter, Arcturus's portrait, as well as the others in the manor will be woken.

Ryu