Sirius Orion Black was happy to be reunited with his godson Harry. Getting back to Harry had been the one thought keeping him sane through his long, lonely sojourn in Azkaban. The happiest day of his life was when Harry had welcomed him into his life. Every day since he had been more amazed, impressed, or terrified at how Harry had proven to be every inch the son of the first Marauder, every bit as bold as James at his best.
Now he wanted to strangle the little git.
"You are my godfather, we are bound by blood and magic, by the love, blood, sweat and tears shed together from Hogwarts through the Blood War." Harry had said, and Sirius grew as drunk on those words in a way neither whiskey nor the official pardon of the Wizagamot could equal. Drunk on that, he had sobered with the next line like a bucket of ice water after a three-day bender.
Harry was not done talking, and the next words were like whips. Narcissa sat and sipped tea poured by Harry's goblin mother, and the two goblin females had their teeth hidden in the smiles at the moment.
"Draco is your nephew, son of your first cousin Narcissa Black who has dissolved her marriage contract with the Death Eater Lucius No-Name. As a full blood daughter of the House of Black, she has returned to the clan with a son who has no male protector, no male guardian or guide. Her son is owed the guidance of the Lord of House Black, unless you think the only model a son of House Black should have is that ball-less Death Eater Lucius?"
Sirius snarled. "I will not have any hand in raising and training a son of Lucius Malfoy! He fought for Voldemort before, and the apple does not fall far from the tree."
Harry snarled and his hand slammed down onto the table, the runes in its edge flaring as they took an impact that should have shattered it. Frithweaver's smile grew toothy. Her human son was about to educate Lord Black in the ways of the Goblin Clans.
"Narcissa Black ended her marriage, cut her ties to the most powerful politician in wizarding Britain, and cut his balls off, for the crime of endangering a son of the House of Black. Draco Malfoy fought his father wand to wand, defeated him, claimed the lordship of Malfoy and cast Lucius once lord of Malfoy from his own House. Lucius no name has no lordship, gold, or balls. The political right hand of Voldemort has been cut by a son and daughter of House Black who ask only for their place and protection within their clan.
What have you done? Threatened to cut them from the family tree? You are the son of Walburga black who tried to cut you and Andromeda from the family. I guess the rot is set deep in House Black, and your apple didn't fall far from Walburga's tree." Harry sneered.
"Merlin's bloody balls!" Sirius swore as he flinched from Harry's blazing green eyes.
Griphood leaned over and poured some more whiskey into his glass.
Sirius turned to Griphook. "It's not right hearing Lilly's voice coming out of Harry's mouth. I feel like when she was tearing a strip off James and me for doing something she thought was wrong. That is the same bloody tone she used when you realized she pulled her wand while you were caught looking in those hell lamps she called eyes."
Griphook smiled. "I am Harry's father now because Lilly Evans was smart enough to outwit a goblin in contract law, ruthless enough to wield her own death like a weapon, and powerful enough to defeat Voldemort at his peak, when Dumbledore dared not. I find that he sounds just like her to be reassuring."
"Narcissa, you backed Voldemort when he rose, why should I believe you changed?" Sirius said, switching tacts and targets.
Narcissa sipped her tea and smiled coldly. "I saw Dumbledore stripping away everything that made us great. Ritual magic was not to be taught because it was Dark. Occulemency and Legilimency will not be taught because it could be abused. History of Magic couldn't be outright cut, so he left it to be taught by a ghost because he knew that would stop any future generations from every learning about where we came from, and why our ancient traditions came to be.
Every generation weaker than the last, every generation content to fade a little farther until what the muggles eventually discover isn't even worth enslaving, or even noticing when they wipe us out. The Dark Lord promised a return to the old ways, the ancient and eternal quest to master the magic that is our gift and our sacred charge." Narcissa said proudly.
Sirius snarled. "He was a lying genocidal twat who managed to kill more English wizards that Grindewald's entire world war. The only one who was going to end up with any knowledge or power was him and his, and slavery is exactly the cost of being his!
He fed you a line of Pureblood supremacist bullshit and you bought it"
Narcissa sipped her tea. "Yes, well, I tried it on and found it a poor fit. I returned it and took dear Lucius testicles as repayment. You should know a lady always reserves the right to change her mind."
Sirius shook his head and smiled coldly. "You expect me to believe you would turn against your precious Dark Lord and his pureblood supremacist doctrines just because your fop of an ex-husband accidentally sacrificed your son to Voldemort?"
The air in the room went cold and the ambient light drew back to pinpricks around the lamps as darkness gathered like a cloak until all that could be seen was the pale face and cold silver eyes of Narcissa Black.
"I would burn the world to ash, and dance on the corpses of everyone I have ever known if that is what it takes to make my son safe. I am a Black!
Your precious Dumbledore has decided Harry is to die like a sacrificial lamb so he can play Lord of Light, are you willing to betray your oaths to the Order of the Phoenix, to the Ministry as an Auror and the wizagamot as Lord Black to keep him safe?" Narcissa hissed, her voice thick with power and rage.
Sirius smiled, the wide white grin of the Grim whose form he took. Like the goblins in the room, his smile was all teeth and promised violence.
"I would burn the world, and damn my soul with a thousand broken oaths to keep him safe. I am a Black." Sirius said, his voice a thing of cold iron and far uglier ways to die.
Frithweaver topped up Narcissa's tea then took a sip of her own. "This is the goblin way. Blood and gold; hard work and harder fighting, but all of our magics, all of our laws, every coin and every drop of blood is to one end; to defend the clan. Family first, and let the rest of the world burn."
Sirius walked over to Draco Malfoy who had been sitting between Harry and Narcissa, putting on his best Slytherin social smile and slammed a hand down onto his shoulder.
"Right then. Draco Malfoy, Lord Malfoy, I accept you and your mother Narcissa Black into the House Black. You have the protection of the House, and its lord. Your father was a piece of work, but my own mother leaves me no room to talk so welcome to House Black. It's not required to be crazy but it certainly helps."
Raising his wand, Sirius took a breath, and began to speak.
"I, Sirius Orion Black, Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black accept back into the family Narcissa Black and her son Draco Malfoy. I hereby recall to the House of Black Andromeda Tonks, her consort Ted, and their child Nymphadora Tonks.
The fall of the House of Black is over. The restoration of the clan begins."
Sirius slashed his wand down, and a flare of silver light flashed out, signifying magic had accepted his oath, and the family magics would again bind and empower those who had been cut away from the house by marriage contract or expulsion.
Frithweaver smiled, tooth hidden, and patted Sirius Black on the hand with her own clawed one. "It is good to see House Black growing strong and whole again. This makes you better allies for our Harry and the clan he has brought into our family."
Sirius at that point smiled, and the Marauder's sense of humour should have made Harry worry, but his lack of experience with Sirius being serious had left him unable to spot his prankster peaking out from the Lord Black mask until too late.
"Dear lady and second mother of my godson Harry, while House Black has been blessed with a small increase, your son Harry has yet to tell you of his rather bountiful increase in your own clan. You are about to be a grandmother!"
Frithweaver froze, Fangborn choked on the cookie he was eating and had to have his back thumped by Glitterbright several times to keep him from choking to death.
All goblin eyes turned to Hermione and she held up both her hands in protest.
"Do not look at me. Harry and I haven't even gotten as far as kissing yet. He was two timing both me and Noodle with another snake and you are about to have forty grandchildren." Hermione protested.
"$ He was too young! There was no reason to expect her to let him live, let alone choose to let him quicken her eggs. She is a thousand years old, and he is barely out of the nest. I have failed as a reptile. Stupid mammal breeding impulses. This is not my fault. Look at Mouse Giver, she is properly raised by me.
Speaker bites the first snake he sees, doesn't even give her a courtship dance first. I am so deeply ashamed. $" Noodle hissed in protest.
Harry, long broken to translation duties, explained to grownups and goblins what Noodle said.
Frithweaver was out of her seat and in Harry's face in seconds, her claws digging into his shoulders and her eyes burning with the fires of goblin greed and/or anger.
"Where are my grandbabies?" Frithweaver asked.
Harry, casting a glance at Sirius who was looking innocent like he was trying to medal in innocence at the Olympics, Hermione who was looking smug because in fact she had told him so, and Noodle who was looking disapproving because he really thought he raised Harry better.
Harry tried smiling, failed utterly, then switched to Hermione mode information dump.
"They are in the Chamber of Secrets with their mother. She isn't a goblin." Started Harry, because it was important to establish first that she was bound to be a little disappointed no matter who he took home.
"She isn't a human either." Harry continued, which was also true. Milicent was laughing quietly but so hard she was about ready to fall off her chair. Neville was blushing so badly that he looked like a tomato. Luna was watching the confession like a crumple-horned snorcack mating dance, smiling and clapping softly. Hermione was wincing, like each phrase was a bludger to the sensibilities.
Frithweaver looked horrified. "She isn't a dwarf is she?"
Griphook himself looked momentarily shocked.
Harry beamed, finally happy to deliver some good news. "She is most definitely not a dwarf!"
In the end, they simply had to apparate to Hogsmeade and walk up to Hogwarts, causing quite the stir. None of the kids could apparate, and neither Sirius nor Narcissa had been to the Chamber. Harry grabbed Hagrid from his hut, on the principle that if anyone in Hogwarts had any idea about healthy hatching of basilisks it would be Hagrid.
Four goblins, two adults, a half giant, one Noodle and a small horde of students, as the Weasley Twins somehow magically knew when the Queen of Beaters reentered the school and tromped up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
Professor Snape saw the procession and made an objection to the presence of outsiders.
"What are you doing here Black? You should be in Azkaban, not trespassing at Hogwarts with goblins of all creatures." Snape hissed.
"You should have discovered shampoo in that potions book in the last decade Snivelus, but it's an imperfect world. Griphook, Frithweaver and I are here to inspect our son and godson's school. There have been some questions about security, and safety." Sirius said airily.
Snape looked down his nose, which was something that took some doing, as Snape was shorter than Sirius and he had rather a lot of nose to look down.
"And why is Hagrid along?" Snape asked.
"What kind of idiot would allow me in Hogwarts unsupervised?" Quipped Sirius. "Hagrid is along to be the responsible adult."
Snape sneered "Since when does Rubeus Hagrid count a responsible adult?"
Hermione answered calmly before escalation joined the party. "Hagrid is given charge of the first years when they come to the castle before they are sorted. Unless you are saying that you think Sirius Black is more mature than an unsorted First Year, then Hagrid is the best choice for chaperone."
Frithweaver smiled a wide tooth open smile at Snape, and patted Hermione on the arm. Milicent, Narcissa, and Draco offered Snape small nods as they passed their stunned professor. Faced with the challenge of declaring Sirius Black a functional adult or accepting their presence, the poor potions master looked like his brain had simply ceased functioning.
In Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, the serpent marked sink awaited their commands.
Noodle hissed to the door to open it. "$ Open $"
Tromping down the stairs that patient transfiguration had carved into half the ramp, leaving the snake side rough stone for slithering, they entered the fabled Chamber of Secrets. Frithweaver, Griphook, Glitterbright and Fangborn all stopped in awe and wonder at the runework woven into the chamber. It was both within Hogwarts and not, being a pocket dimension rather than a simple spatial expansion, explaining how it had remained a secret for so long. It's entrances were within Hogwarts, but the chamber itself only shared those two points of intersection with normal space.
Hogwarts was so heavy because it needed all those tons of stones to anchor all the powers the founders wove into it, of which the Chamber of Secrets was not even the most potent, just the most dangerous.
As Harry led them into the chamber, he fell forward and shifted into his Animagus form, and a twenty foot basilisk slid forward.
"Morgana's sweet perky nipples, Harry's really a basilisk!" Sirius swore loudly.
"Merlin but she's beautiful." Choked Hagrid, as he stumbled forward, tears in his eyes as he saw a sixty foot female basilisk curled on forty eggs the size of dragon eggs.
"$ Sire of my brood, why are their giants and goblins in my chamber. Are you bringing them as food for our children? $" Sura, Queen of Serpents hissed.
Since Frithweaver had taught Hermione how to weave the clan magic runes into Noodle, Harry, and the rest, she knew all of those Hermione had marked inherited the Parsletongue from Harry as the Speaker and Father of the clan. Suddenly, she felt the lack of that gift.
Hermione sighed, looked at Neville who would answer honestly, Milicent who would answer humourously, and Harry who was twining necks with the single most dangerous monster in the British Isles as if they were necking at a drive in, decided she was the only remaining translator.
" $ Queen of Serpents, I bring the mother, father, brother, sister and godfather, of the sire of your brood, along with the rest of Speaker's clan. $" Hermione hissed, then turned to the various races of confused adults to explain.
"Sura, Queen of Serpents wondered if Harry brought you as food for the nestlings, but I told her that you are Harry's family, come to welcome the new clan members." Hermione said, wondering if this had been covered in Care of Magical Creatures. Not yet, but maybe it was in the NEWT materials?
Sura slithered swiftly off her eggs, moving to flick her tongue to taste the air and magic around the goblins and humans.
"$ I smell him on them. Blood in some. Magic in others. They do not come to kill our nestlings as threats to their kind? $" The Queen of Serpents hissed, her lids trembling as she warred with the instinct to raise them to petrify or kill to defend her eggs.
Hermione translated, and Fritweaver pulled her dagger and slashed her palm, letting the blood fall.
"I swear upon my blood and magic that all of Harry Potter's children are my grandchildren. They will have a place in the clan, food from our table, sanctuary behind our wards, and every blade of the clan raised in their protection. So mote it be!" Frithweaver swore, Hermione rushing to translate into Parseltongue as the blood burned gold and vanished as magic accepted the oath.
Sirius pulled out his wand. "I am Harry's godfather. I swore to myself long ago that if pronglet went and got a girl pregnant at Hogwarts I would make sure they were raised with all the protections of my House since James and Lilly weren't there to provide House Potter's. I was expecting a fellow student, would have loved to tell James it was an older girl, and wish I could have seen Lilly's face when I told her it was forty children. Bloody over achiever.
I swear upon my blood and magic, no child of Harry's will want for anything while I live. They will be members of my clan, and whatever gold, magic or might can provide for their protection I will give. So mote it be." Sirius spoke and the flash of the magic flared from his wand to wash over everyone in the cavern.
The basilisk turned to Noodle who hissed at her.
"$ The runes they carved into me because I was bound to Speaker make me smarter, make my magic stronger, and make Speaker and I once clan. Goblins do not send their nestlings out alone and hope they live. Goblins hunt and hide, kill and feast together. If you allow them to become part of Speaker's clan, with all of these, then none of your nestlings will stand alone until they are strong and powerful as you. When fully grown, they will be even more powerful. $" Noodle swore while Hermione translated for grownups and goblins.
Harry and Hagrid were inspecting the eggs. Hagrid cheering and chattering away as he explained how close they were to hatching, needing only a little bit more magic to quicken their blood to waking.
The Queen coiled and thought. She knew that Noodle had dared to attack her, and his strike had actually hurt her. The bushy haired female had actually taken the other eye, which no witch or wizard had dared in a thousand years. This rune marking that bound them as clan not only made them powerful, but bound them to defend each other.
Basilisk were meant to be alone, but of her clutch, most were meant to die. This was the way of the world. Live in solitude, hated by all that lived, see your children all or at least mostly die before they could become strong enough to defend themselves. This was the way of nature.
She looked at the toothy smile of Frithweaver. She wanted her grandbabies. She wanted them all to live, to grow strong, to kill and not die. This was the goblin way. The sire of her brood, her Speaker, was a goblin.
Nature demanded her children be sent off to die alone. Goblins demanded that her children be marked with runes of power, tied to clan and kin, never to be alone, never to stand alone, never to fight alone.
Nature could get bitten and die. Her children would be goblins.
"$ Speaker, sire of my brood, mark our children. Bind them to your clan. I waited a thousand years for my promised mate. I would not see one of my children die. I will not bear another for six or seven hundred years, I would know my children still lived by then. $" The Queen of Serpents finally pronounced.
Narcissa Black grabbed Sirius arm and whispered to him.
"Sirius, I know this isn't your strong suit, but this is treason. You are making an alliance outside the Wizagamot, outside wizards and witches altogether. That is against the law." Narcissa whispered.
Milicent strode over and spoke loud enough for all to hear.
"Lady Black, you are mistaken. Lord Black is simply making an alliance inside his extended family. It isn't even outside the family, as Harry is his godson and Griphooks son by law. All of us are Harry's clan by goblin adoption with our rune markings, even Noodle, so outside specied or not, it is still inside family." Milicent said stating her position on the law.
Neville finally spoke up, his voice quiet but musing.
"Longbottom, Selwyn, Black; that is three of the Founding Twelve families of magical Britain; three of the six that still exist. Add the Weasley's and Malfoys and that is five of the Sacred 28 founders of the Wizagamot, a good third of the Houses that are still alive or will survive this generation, thanks to Voldemort and Grindelwald slaughtering most of them."
Sirius grinned. "Well, never let it be said that all that time James and I spent riding around on muggle motorcycles was wasted. If you want to start a rebellion, matching tattoos seems like it's almost required."
Hermione put a hand to her head and massaged her temple. "Sirius, you can't seriously be thinking of getting everyone here marked into Harry's clan can you. That would be putting all your houses and vassals into an alliance nearly as large as anything in the wizard or goblin world, but loyal to neither."
"Of course I can, and I'm always Sirius" Sirius quipped, enjoying that the usually bright witch had wandered into his favorite running joke.
Sirius turned to face the room, and his voice was now the iron of Lord Black, not the joking Marauder.
"Voldemort is coming back. You all know it. He is coming and the Ministry is going to deny it until it is too late to do anything. Dumbledore is going to sing kumba-ya and ask for group hugs, send his people out to toss stunners at people who will boil the blood in their body and blow their body to bits of scrap meat. They are going to lose. Lilly and Harry are the only reason we didn't finish losing the last time.
When they fall, I don't plan on falling with them. When they fall, all the old oaths bind us no more. When they fall, the Houses of Black and Potter go to war." Sirius said.
Neville looked up. "The Longbottoms."
Draco smiled. "The Malfoy."
Milicent smiled, and it was a thing of teeth. "The Selwyns, Bulstrodes, Weasleys."
Griphook smiled. "The Hematite clan, and those sworn to us. About a third of the Goblin nation owes us alliance, allegiance or debt."
Hermione gestured at the nest and the rest of the students, "The rest of us, and about forty baby basilisk, which is a bit like saying smuggleable dragons or wizard equivalent of muggle nuclear weapons."
Hermione thought about it for a little bit. "If I do weave the same runes into you that I did Harry, Noodle and the rest, you will all gain his Parseltongue. You and your heirs. That will mean that the alliance will all have the ability to work with Harry's basilisk babies."
Narcissa looked at Hermione in shock, as did Griphook.
"That is impossible! Parselmouth is inherited from the Slytherin line, he bound it to his blood." Narcissa said.
"It is a wizard ability." Griphook offered cautiously.
Hermione shook her head. "I wove it into everyone with goblin adoption magic, not a wand. It isn't a magical transformation, its an adoption. Once you are clan, you are clan. If you have children, they are clan. Our clan just happens to be born from the union of Speaker and Noodle's magic."
Narcissa went bone white in shock. "You can make any witch, wizard or goblin a parselmouth, and they can pass it down? The amount of power you are talking about would set the ICW into a panic and drive the Ministry to war. Inside of a generation or two you would be more powerful than entire wizarding nations."
Harry turned back from basilisk to human, letting Sura rub her head along his as he turned to face Narcissa and the rest.
"I offer you forbidden knowledge and power, ancient and forbidden magic delivered through dark and prohibited rituals. Tell me you are going to say no." Harry said.
Narcissa slapped Draco on the back of his head when the boy began snickering in a most un-Slytherin way.
Narcissa adjusted her dress, then sniffed and said quietly. "I never said I refused. I only pointed out it was treason."
Hagrid's booming voice said "Oh, the little dickens are starting to wake. I think them oaths started them waking. You had best get hunting, I think the little dears will wake up hungry. Can't be more than about four or five hours before they start trying to get out."
Hagrid, being Hagrid, found the idea of being trapped in the Chamber of Secrets with Slytherin's monster and forty hatching basilisk to be quite the high point of his life.
Frithweaver took charge. "Hermione, Griphook and Fangborn have much goblin silver ready. You will do me first, so I can help you with the rest. We will have to have all the adults bound before the baby's hatch, so we can speak to them.
Hermione pointed out. "And not die."
Frithweaver grinned. "Death is iron, grandbabies are gold. Every child is a risk. Best you learn that before you have any, or the little dears will get you."
Turning to Harry she began shouting. "What are you doing standing here? My grandbabies will be born soon. I will die of shame if they go hungry, but you will die first. Go! Hunt! Prove you are goblin not garden gnome and provide for the clan."
Neville, Milicent, and the Weasley's followed Harry out into the forbidden forest, where things were a fair bit safer than the Chamber.
The night was long, and Narcissa Black felt she had become immune to shock. She sat alone on the throne of Salazar Slytherin, but failed to either notice or care what she sat on. What she was looking at stunned her beyond reason.
There was Harry Potter in the form of a twenty foot basilisk, coiled up with a sixty foot basilisk, the companion of the founder of the sacred House of Slytherin. That was disturbing on a few levels, but she could probably cope with it.
A big black grim, also her cousin and lord of her House was curled up with two baby basilisk. A huge polar bear had two Weasley and about a dozen basilisk curled on or around them. A rather plus sized badger was a virtual nest of a dozen basilisk babies. Her Draco and Luna were all cuddled up together with another half dozen, Hermione had Noodle and four of the basilisk and each of the goblins had passed out in a pile with a basilisk wrapped around them.
She was in Salazar Slytherin's own Chamber of Secrets, yet she whispered in quiet horror.
"They have all gone Hufflepuff. Even the snakes."
Narcissa would love to object, but the rune bindings of her new clan adoption were already merging with her personal magic, weaving through her family magic, and making changes in her body and mind. Parseltounge had marked the Dark Lord as special, a gift that marked him as the Heir of Slytherin, a gift that let him stand against the whole of the wizarding world and nearly topple it. A gift he shared with no one, not even an heir of his own body.
Now she had it. Narcissa Black, parselmouth. Narcissa Black, goblin-witch-rebel. Given the gift the Dark Lord claimed was his alone, by a mudblood taught by a goblin using magic given by the Boy Who Lived.
"$ Cuddle me, I am cold! $" A small voice hissed from her feet. She looked and one of Sirius snakes had slithered to her.
"$ I thought you were sleeping with the Dogfather? $" Narcissa hissed, using the Noodle given name for Sirius.
"$ Dogfather farts, and his magic tastes like chasing over open ground. Your magic tastes like silence and secrets, Venomed One. $" The little snake hissed, giving the name that she had wanted to be offended by. Now, from a basilisk, in the holy tongue of Slytherin, she liked the taste of the name better.
"$ Come child. You may sleep with the Venomed One. No one harms my children. $" Narcissa Black felt the stirrings of a magical bond between them. Whatever Harry Potter had started, then dragged her son into, Sirius Black's suggestion had finally sealed her inside it.
Narcissa Black had chosen a side. The Venomed One. Yes. She thought she could get used to that. Besides, now that Draco was growing up, another child might suit her well. This one was already a better conversationalist than her ex husband.