A/C: Here's a fun writing update: I just finished writing the Yule Ball chapter, and here in this chapter we're having a Yule dinner! What timing!

Sunday December 19th, 1993

While sitting in a compartment on the train to London, Harry was delivered some chilling news. "They did what?!"

"The dementors attacked Justin!" Stephen Cornfoot repeated. "Sue saw one of the professors carry him in. Everyone in the carriage with him must have got hurt, too. The professors were scrambling trying to get them all to safety."

"Everyone?!" Wayne shouted. "He waited to leave with Susan and Hannah, didn't he?"

"Ernie, too," Kevin added. "Are they okay?"

Stephen shrugged. "I don't know. I was already on the road when it happened. Just heard about it a minute ago from Sue."

Tracey stood up fast from the opposing seat. "I'll see if anyone else saw what happened!"

Tracey raced out of the room, with Stephen hot on her heels. That left Harry, Wayne, Kevin, Draco, and Daphne alone to mull over the bad news. Daphne was the first to speak, "Do you think they attacked him because he's the Heir?"

The Hufflepuffs scoffed. "That doesn't make sense," Kevin said. "He's just a student. Not a criminal."

Wayne continued that thought, "Exactly. They're after Pettigrew."

"True, but if he's the Dark Lord's son-" the group groaned. "-they may have seen him as a threat."

"That's not how it works," Kevin moaned, face in his hand.

"He's right, Greengrass," Draco added. "If that's all it took, many of us would be at risk." An awkward pause followed. After all, Draco would be the prime example if Daphne's theory was right. Draco shifted uncomfortably as their gazes on him lingered. "I'm sure Davis will give us more information once she's combed the train. Let's discuss better topics for now."

"Right," said Wayne. Others nodded in agreement. "Um, does anyone have plans for the holidays? My parents are hosting a small party for Christmas. How about you?"

Draco's face twitched. "My mother isn't hosting any parties this year. We'll be going to cousin Arcturus' for Yule. Just a small family gathering. You'll be going, too, right Harry?"

"Yeah," Harry answered. "I'll have to grab a couple gifts tomorrow beforehand. I also have an appointment with the Ministry. I'm getting my owl wards changed. Oh! And we've managed to convince them to return Potter Cottage to me, so I'll be getting the deed back while I'm there."

"Really?!" the group gasped. Each commented congratulations to him over the news.

"Thanks. I'm also going to take a look at it and the other Potter properties over the holidays. I've never seen them, so this is as good a time as any to look them over and see what changes need to be done."

Daphne's eyes went wide. "What do you mean you've never seen them? They're your estates, aren't they?"

The boys reacted uncomfortably. Harry answered first, "Well I lived with my aunt for ten years."

Draco then added, "Plus he lives with Sirius Black, not at Potter Manor."

"Then… that means you've never seen your ancestral home?!"

"No, but I will."

Kevin blinked at the group oddly. "You guys have 'ancestral' homes?"

The question veered conversation towards discussing ancestral homes in general. What they can be like, what that entails, wards, house elves, ballrooms, lessons, and more. The group got deep into the discussion. So deep, in fact, that they all jumped when Tracey slammed the door open and shouted, "YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT I JUST HEARD!"

Tuesday December 21st, 1993

Draco beelined for Harry the moment he and Sirius arrived at the Sidera Estate. "Were you able to hear back from anyone who was attacked?"

Harry nodded the affirmative. "Justin, Melly and Hannah all say they saw some kind of light attacking the dementors; and a few of the others mentioned sensing some kind of presence."

"A presence? Like what."

"Um, they said it felt like 'joy' or 'hope'," his voice upturned at the strangeness of it, "and it made the dementor's effects go away. Though no one saw what happened to the dementors in the end. They're not sure if the dementors were killed or if they just ran away." Both boys thought over the information. "Do you think what Tracey heard is right?"

Draco shifted uncomfortably. "It's hard to say. I know there's some magic that protects you from dementors. Remember that spell Dumbledore used during your quidditch game?" Harry nodded at his question. "Even so, it's not like there was anyone around who could cast it. I hear it's far too advanced of a spell to pull off. But, angels…"

"If the Ravenclaws who finished that book are right-"

"-Who finished Lockhart's book," Draco reminded him. "That makes it questionable at best."

"I guess, but it wouldn't hurt to check, would it? It's a pretty big coincidence otherwise, right?"

"Yes," he answered slowly, "that certainly would be."

"Draco," Narcissa approached the two, "Cousin Arcturus is best not left waiting. Come along, love. Harry, you as well."

"Yes, Mother."

"Yes, Mrs. Malfoy."

The group walked down the corridor. As they did, the boys switched to other topics. "How did things go with the Ministry? Did you find out about your owl wards?"

"It went well. Seems I was right. Dumbledore set up owl wards for me when he left me at my aunt's. Everything was set as 'return to sender' until I turned eleven, and it barely changed even after that, just friends, family, and schoolmates."

"So you got no mail for eleven years?"

"None. I suppose it makes some sense. I was able to select options to avoid cursed mail or howlers, for example."

"Yes, but that also means you've received no Thank You letters or gifts from well-wishers," Draco pointed out. "Most people must have felt snubbed by that."

The thought made Harry uncomfortable. "Well… I suppose that'll change now. Though most of the new letters are going to go to our home during the year, rather than Hogwarts, just in case. Uncle Sirius can handle them or send them off to me, depending on what they are."

"A wise plan." They walked on a little longer before Draco asked, "I was wondering… You'll be touring your family homes, right? Could mother and I join you for those?"

"Draco!" Narcissa chastised.

The boy flinched, but he pressed on, "Harry's planning to make renovations; but he doesn't know how ancestral homes work. I was thinking we can give him insights or help him find things that he might miss?"

Narcissa gave a derisive sniff. "Sirius lived at Potter Manor for a time, I'm certain he can handle things well enough."

"I don't know," Sirius said slowly, "your kid may have a point. What do you think, Harry?"

Harry glanced over at the other three. Sirius genuinely seemed unbothered by the idea. Narcissa- the opposite. Draco, though, had a difficult expression. His cheeks were red, yet the look in his eyes made it seem like it came from shame rather than embarrassment. It seemed to Harry that Draco really wanted to go. "I think it's a good idea. Maybe not for the cottage at Godric's Hollow, but we could use a second opinion. If that's alright with you, Mrs. Malfoy?"

An uncomfortable pause followed that question. Draco looked up at his mother balefully. "Please, Mother?"

Narcissa closed her eyes briefly. A flash of annoyance on her face. When they opened, she released a resigned breath. "Very well, but only as per Mister Potter's wishes."

"Thank you, Mother!"

"A-hem!" A cough broke off the conversation. Standing at an open door, a gnarled house elf glared up at them. "Master Arcturus be expecting you in the family dining hall. Follow Gorby…" The group walked after the house elf, making short-hand plans as they did. Words fell quiet as they reached the dining hall, each noticing a heavy atmosphere that had fallen between their host and the Tonks family.

Narcissa, at least, handled the change with ease. "Cousin Arcturus," she curtsied, "joyful Yule. It is wonderful to see you again. Andi, joyful Yule. You look lovely, sister."

Awkward niceties started to exchange among the adults. Though Harry couldn't help but notice the black spikes growing out Tonks' hair. "Hey, Tonks. Is everything alright?"

"Sure," Tonks growled, "everything's just dandy. We're just one big happy family. Ain't that right, 'cousin Arcturus'?"

Andi and Arcturus cut a sharp look at the witch. Others, naturally, grew curious. "What did we miss?" Sirius asked. "Is the old man trying to force a husband on Dora?"

Tonks rolled her eyes, muttering darkly, "I almost wish."

Somehow that answer was more alarming than it ought to be. "Cousin Arcturus…?"

The man in question twitched at the staring gazes. "I had hoped the news would be met with some level of compassion; but, very well, if you all insist on such informalities." He took a breath, meeting the eye of each person in the room. "Earlier this week the Lestrange family dissolved all familial ties to your sister. Making her Bellatrix Black once more."

"What?!"

"They did WHAT?!"

"Oh, poor Bella! But why? After all of these years-"

"She never produced an heir, and it's not as though she and Rodolphus have had any sort of- opportunities to do so for many years. Now that she is a widow, and cannot even remarry another man of the family, the Lestranges decided to wash their hands of her completely."

Sirius and Narcissa reacted in differing forms of outrage. Though others were confused.

"What does that matter?" Draco asked loudly to the group. "I mean, she's in Azkaban, right? It's not like that changes things."

"Oh, he's not done yet," Tonks answered darkly, glaring daggers into the man. "Why don't you tell them what's really going on 'Lord Black'? Because I know exactly what you did!"

"Grandfather," Sirius' voice quavered, "what's she talking about?"

The glares between Arcturus and Tonks were palpable. Nevertheless, the older wizard held firm. "As Bellatrix has returned to the Black family, and seeing as her condition has worsened over the past weeks, as Head of our family it was my duty to petition that she be temporarily removed from Azkaban to recover at St Mungos. The ordinance was granted two days ago."

"Are you out of your mind!" Sirius shouted. "She's a madwoman! A psychopath! A demon! What the hell made you think that this is in any way a good idea?! She's a monster!"

"She is family!" Arcturus retorted. "While you clearly lack any notion of loyalty and familial duty, I, as Lord Black, am sworn to protect those under my care!"

"Oh, right, like you protected me when I got thrown in Azkaban?"

Arcturus sneered. "You forget that you abandoned the family years prior. Not to mention that your care fell under your parents' responsibility. With Cygnus gone, and Bellatrix no longer a Lestrange, she is now my responsibility, no matter what any of you have to say about that."

"Oh, really?" said Tonks. "Then I suppose if she gets loose and wreaks havoc, you'll take full responsibility for all that?"

"As a matter of fact, I would." Then he huffed, "of course, the DMLE and I will ensure that that will never happen. Unless you doubt the Ministry's ability to maintain proper security?"

Tonks grumbled an answer at that. Others joined in to bolster Tonks' protests. Yet no matter what reason any could give, Arcturus remained firm in his decision. It seemed the only person who approved of the idea was Narcissa, though even hers was said with relief that it was only until Bellatrix was restored to full health.

When the arguments settled down, their host somehow managed to corral the group into sitting down for dinner. A herculean task considering the dark looks Tonks kept flashing at the man. Yet Arcturus opted to ignore the evil eye and settled into his meal as if nothing was amiss.

Things only changed, mid-meal, as he clinked his glass and stood from his seat. "Before the night continues, there is something I wish to say." His face grew solemn. "On this blackest night, when stars are brightest, we come to reflect the changes and challenges our family has crossed this past year. This summer, we were blessed by the return of Andromeda to our family, and for the inclusion of Edward and Nymphadora into our illustrious line." He nodded towards Andi, Ted, and Tonks, much to the surprise of all. "Yet among our shining stars there have also been tragedies. In recent months, with the loss of Lucius and Rodolphus; and, near this time last year, with-" he took a pained breath, "with the death of my dear daughter, Lucretia."

Heavy looks fell on Narcissa and Draco's faces, guilt and grief mixed through it all. Others observed these expressions with awkward sympathy. Although Arcturus, to his credit, moved past his own grief to place a comforting hand on Narcissa's shoulder.

"We have suffered loss, but we, too, have recovered that which is most precious: family. For no matter what dark course the night brings, it is family we look to as our guiding star out of the night and into a new dawn." He raised a glass with his free hand. "I propose a toast. To family lost and family reclaimed, that we guide one another into that new tomorrow. To Family!"

"TO FAMILY!" the combined call came loud despite each low voice.

Harry drank from his cup even as heavy emotion sat in his chest. Family… He looked about, a single Potter among a table of eight. It didn't hit him until now just how small their families really are. Even his own, on his mother's side… His thoughts drifted to Petunia and Dudley in spite of himself. Wondering how they must be feeling this holiday? Melly told him, once, of Petunia's removal from Azkaban; but he wondered where she is now? In an asylum, like that guard hinted? Or perhaps she found her son? How would they celebrate the holidays? Did they even know about Vernon's fate?

"-You're joking, right?!" His godfather's exclamation broke Harry from his musings. "We got it annulled!"

"If only I were," Arcturus rolled his eyes. "It seems magic took your vows seriously and added her to the tree. Though lord knows how to go about removing her."

"Sirius!" Andi and Narcissa grumbled. Tonks, on the other hand, burst out laughing.

"Removing her?" Sirius' eyes narrowed. "Look, I can admit I screwed up, but if you're planning on killing her-!"

"Of course not! I only mean to remove her from the family tree; but we can hardly instigate a magical divorce upon an already muggle-annulled marriage, can I?"

"Wait," Harry finally clued in to what was happening. "Are you saying Chiara's on the Black family tree?!"

"Unfortunately."

By this time, Tonks was roaring. "Oh, this I gotta see!"

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Sirius demanded.

"Because, knowing you," Arcturus snided, "there's half a chance you'd have been overjoyed having a muggle woman on the tree. At least now that enough time has passed for you two to forget each other, I'm sure you'll have no quarrels ending this sham of a marriage."

"Um," Harry cringed and raised a hand, "is this a bad time to mention that she's coming to visit us after Christmas?"

Silence followed.

The table sat wide-eyed towards Sirius. Arcturus looked positively purple with anger. "I thought you said you stopped seeing her?!"

"I haven't seen her since August," he enunciated each word, as if speaking to an idiot. "She lives in Italy. Of course I haven't seen her."

"You also said you haven't owled her!"

"Of course not," this time he gave a smug smile. "She's muggle, I use the royal mail and telephones to call her."

Arcturus' mouth moved, but his voice strangled for speech. While he and the Malfoys sputtered over the bizarre turn of events, Sirius turned a Cheshire smile over to Ted. "Please tell me you have a camera? I need a picture of the Head's official copy of the tree to remember this by!"

The Tonks' gave a mix of differing laughter. "Sure, though let's wait until after dinner. I'm sure everyone will want to see it."

"That's for sure!"

Less than an hour later, the group followed after a silently raging Arcturus towards the family sitting room. "I suppose it's not too much to ask that you arrange for a divorce while that woman is here?"

Sirius gave a faux-offended look. "I'll have you know that 'that woman' is my wife!" He gave a burst of a laugh, unable to help himself. "I expect you, as a family man, to address her as such!"

The wizard grit his teeth. "Very well. Will you be arranging a divorce with your wife while she's visiting?"

"Mmm…" His head bobbed side to side as if in thought. "I'll think about it."

"Grr…" Arcturus took a deep breath as they entered the room. His hand gestured angrily upwards. "Here you are. Enjoy your damage done! Satisfied?!"

In a first for Sirius, he practically skipped towards the family tree, eager to see the contents. Sure enough, his name was linked in a double line of gold thread to Chiara Fermi. "Oh, this is brilliant! Ha! Chiara's gonna take a kick out of this!"

"Are you sure about that?" Andi asked. "I doubt any woman would be happy to find out she's married when she didn't plan to be."

"Nah," Sirius waved it off, "Chiara's cool. She'll think it's a laugh, I'm sure."

"Whatever you say, Sirius…"

Conversation faded away from Harry as he stepped closer to the family tree. He's seen it before. Arcturus showed it to him a couple of years back. 'The illustrious line of Blacks, dating back 700 centuries', the man had bragged. Though time and circumstance prevented the branches from growing wide and wild. He looked closer, happy to see the Tonks' names all included on the tree, just as Arcturus had claimed. They ought to take a photo of this, too, before Tonks herself finds it and throws a fit over her being listed as Nymphadora.

Hold on. "What's up with Tonks' name?"

"What do you mean?" Draco asked.

"Don't worry about it," Tonks answered quickly, stepping up to Harry's side. "I'll magic out the name when the old timer's not looking."

"No, not the name," Harry said, pointing to her spot on the tree. "This extra gold line coming out from it. No one else has one. What's that for?"

"What?"

Harry turned at the dark sound coming from Andi. At his side, Tonks pulled out her wand, yet it was shot aside before she could do anything. Tonks scrambling after her wand made just enough space for Andi to see their side of the tree.

"NYMPHADORA!"

"Mum! I can explain-"

"WHAT- DID- YOU- DO?!"

"Andi?" Ted's voice flashed with concern.

His call went unanswered as Andi twisted a spell at Tonks, resulting in a soft light settling on her abdomen.

On the other side of the group, Narcissa paled. "Oh my word…"

"Shit!"

"I want a name!" Andi growled out.

"Mum-"

"NOW, NYMPHADORA!"

Sirius's eyes grew wide. "Oh fuck! Did you and Remus-?"

Her flinch told Andi enough. "Remus? Remus Lupin?! Oh-" she growled viciously, "that man is a dead wizard walking! Ted, take Dora home! I have a wolf to skin alive!"

Andi strode out of the room, with Tonks running after her. "Mum! Wait! He doesn't know! MUM-!"

"AHAHAHAHA! NOOOOOO!" Chiara doubled over laughing as Sirius revealed what happened. "That- wow! Hahaha! If that were my mama, the man would have lost his balls!"

"I'm surprised he didn't," Sirius laughed. "To be fair, with both me and Tonks helping him out, he managed to avoid getting completely hexed into oblivion, but it was a near thing. We all needed to go to St Mungo's, our hospital, by the end of it!"

"Dio mio! I can imagine!" She wiped a tear from her eye as laughter slowly subsided. "It looks like I was smart to wait until after Christmas to visit you! Can you imagine how your family would have reacted? And me- married, after all this time! Imagine that!"

"I'd say you're taking it well," Harry teased her from his side of the living room.

Chiara gave a simple shrug. "The more I think about it, it is not like Siri knew what he was doing. We were both very drunk that night, and magic does many strange things. Is a good thing my family doesn't know. They were angry for weeks after what happened. Imagine how they'll act when they find out we are still married. Ay, my goodness!"

"Still?" Sirius purred, wrapping an arm around her shoulders with a teasing smile. "Does that mean you don't want a divorce?"

"Divorce? Darling, we're hardly married!" She nudged back at him. With a nonchalant grin, she leaned into Sirius and began to think out loud. "If we are to do this, we should do it right. Have a ring, a wedding, let everybody come and drink and celebrate. Then, depending on how we're feeling, we get a divorce that night or sometime later."

Sirius snickered at that idea. "Oh is that how we're doing things? And how do we break the bad news to all those happy well-wishers?"

"By throwing a divorce party where we all drink some more!"

"HA! Sounds good to me!"

Harry watched the two adults giving each other dopey grins, shaking his head all the while. And here I thought I was the child between the three of us…

Author's Commentary

A musing thought: I used to wonder how the Black Family could dwindle so badly after 700 years; yet, in recent attempts to build my mother's family tree, I feel like I get it now. My great-grandfather had nine children, amongst which my grandfather had seven, and yet... their surname is dying. There are only 4 people among my 1st and 2nd cousins that can pass on that surname, and only one is married (with no intention on having children). Seeing that happen in such a large family, compared to the Blacks (with their intermarriages; 2-3 kids, if any; and having mostly daughters), I finally understand how easily such things can be lost over time.