Chapter Five
Summary: Harry settles into number 12, Castor goes on another date, return of the curse breakers and the lawsuits kick off.
Evie's Notes: Happy Sunday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week ! As always, thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me ! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update .
Harry loved living at the Black Seat. During the day Castor would go to work and Sirius would work on his exercises that the healer gave him. Remus would use that time to work with Harry library. They talked about wixen culture, reviewed concepts from school and worked on his summer homework. Harry was actually excited to turn in his homework this year since he was able to actually spend time on it instead of doing it under the covers at night when he was exhausted from chores or on the train.
The house was so welcoming and inviting, nothing like it used to be according to Sirius. He was so happy that he could see all the cool details now without his glasses. Magic was amazing! Apparently before Harry moved in Castor had hired a team of Curse breakers to fix up the house to make it safe for them to live there, which is how Castor met Bill. The only curse breaker that Harry knew about was Ron's brother who worked in Egypt… maybe Castor's Bill knew him!
"Hey Castor," asked Harry Saturday morning at breakfast. "You're still going out with Bill tonight right?"
"Yes, and that is not an invitation for you to throw a party" teased the man, turning the page of the Daily Prophet.
"I know," replied Harry, rolling his eyes. "I was just wondering what Bill's last name was. My best mate's brother is a curse breaker and I was wondering if they knew each other"
"Looking for blackmail material for your shovel talk, Bambi?" chuckled Sirius.
"No! No shovel talks!" protested Castor pointing at the three wix seated around the table.
"Awww, you take away all my fun" pouted Sirius.
"It's way too new for that anyway" sighed Castor.
"I don't know about that" muttered Remus, thinking about how Castor reacted to every letter from Bill.
"To answer your question Harry, his last name is Weasley. I don't know if your friend would know him since he just got reassigned here from Egypt to be closer to his family".
There was utter silence around the table at his announcement before Remus and Sirius began to laugh.
"WEASLEY!?" squeaked Harry
"Yes?!" Replied Castor, playing dumb.
"That means that if you marry Bill, Ron and I will be related!" celebrated Harry.
This just made Remus and Sirius laugh harder as Castor turned red and sputtered out his disagreement.
"Harry! It's far too soon to be thinking like that" protested Castor, though now he couldn't get the image of Bill standing in a wedding suit in front of an altar waiting on Castor out of his mind.
"This is awesome! Just wait until I tell Ron!"
"Uh, Harry. Maybe wait until Castor has a chance to talk to Bill tonight" cautioned Remus. "Bill likely hasn't told his family yet about the relationship and you don't want to out anyone before they are ready".
"Oh, yeah that makes sense" said Harry, his excitement deflated.
"I'll talk to Bill about it tonight" promised Castor.
"Awesome" cheered Harry as he eagerly went back to eating his meal. Kreature really was the best cook. Life with Castor was the absolute best, he couldn't wait to tell the others about it!
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
Castor apparated outside of Saltare at seven Saturday evening. Looking around he spotted Bill waiting for him by the doors.
He let out an internal sigh of relief that the other man had dressed down a bit for this date as well. Castor wore a pair of dark jeans with black loafers, an emerald green button down, his new charm bracelet and a pair of teardrop diamond earrings. Bill was dressed in a pair of black leather pants, dragon hide boots, a dark blue button down shirt that had the top buttons undone, and a dragon tooth necklace and earring set.
"Hi Bill" greeted Castor, making his way over to the man. "You look awesome, you ready to dance?"
"With you gorgeous? Always" grinned the man, offering his arm to Castor. Taking it happily, Castor followed the man into the restaurant and dance hall.
The pair had a ton of fun dancing the night away. Over dinner Castor had clarified with Bill that he had not yet told his family about the new relationship, but he planned to the next day at Sunday dinner. Castor promised to hold off Harry's excited owl until Bill had a chance to talk to his family.
As the night came to an end, Castor was feeling brave and as they got back to the Apparation spot, Castor pulled the taller man down into a kiss. It started nice and sweet but quickly spun into strong and hungry. The two pulled back needing to catch their breath.
"If we don't say goodnight now gorgeous you're going to be coming with me" smirked Bill. "And I don't think we're ready for that step yet".
"No, and I have three very anxious people waiting up to hear all about our date at home," sighed Castor.
Pressing another short and sweet kiss to Bill's lips, Castor said goodbye and apparated home for the debrief.
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
Bill was nervous when he arrived at the Burrow for Sunday night dinner. He had already come out to his family as bisexual the year before so he wasn't worried about how they'd react to him dating a man. No, he was worried for Castor and how his Dumbledore supporter parents would react to the news that someone new had legal rights to Harry. Hopefully they would listen to him about how great Castor was and would leave the topic alone.
Every Sunday the Weasleys who were in the country got together at the Burrow for family dinner. Bill entered the house and was instantly surrounded by the chaos of his family. Pressing a kiss to his mum's cheek he quickly helped to set the table.
Once everyone was settled in and the meal was underway the conversation turned from what Percy was getting up to in his first week at the ministry to Bill.
"So Bill, how is Gringotts treating you? Are you still getting along with your new team?" asked Mum.
"Work is great! I love my team. And I've had some really interesting cases recently" answered Bill. "I actually have met someone"
"Oh" teased Fred
"Really" teased George
"Boys please" sighed Dad.
"What's their name dear?" asked Mum.
"His name is Castor Potter-Black and he's recently back in the country as well. He's super great guys, I know it's still early but I'm serious about him".
"Potter-Black?!" exclaimed the table.
"Yeah, Castor is Lord Potter and Lord Black"
"Oh that's great dear. I assume he is related to Harry then?" asked Mum
"Yeah, they are cousins. Castor found out that Harry's muggle relatives were awful human beings and terrible to him. So he assumed guardianship of Harry and they are living together now"
"Wait!? Why didn't Harry tell me anything?" demanded Ron.
"Castor is keeping everything quiet right now since he is building a case against the muggles"
"It was that bad?" Asked Mum
"Yeah, mum. They're the worst kind of humans. I am proud of Castor for standing up for Harry and saving him"
"Oh the poor dear. Well of course we are all happy that Harry is safe now" said Mum.
The others all agreed, even though Ron still looked a little upset that Harry hadn't told him about his change of guardianship.
"It's important that you guys tell no one about Harry's change in guardianship. Castor doesn't want anything to possibly affect the case" pressed Bill
The family readily agreed. The topic then changed to what Fred and George had gotten up to with Lee earlier that day.
Smiling Bill returned home that night happy that he had told his family about his new partner and had secured their promise to keep his secret a little longer.
Writing a letter to Castor, he let him know how dinner went.
Darling,
I spoke to my family about us. They are over the moon to hear about Harry being safe and about our new relationship. They promise not to tell anyone about Harry's change in guardianship until you make it public.
The team and I will be going out for drinks on Friday. Would you like to join us? We will be meeting at the Golden Goose at seven if you are free to join.
Missing you and hoping to see you soon.
Yours,
Bill
Folding the letter, Bill grabbed the box of treacle tart and sent it off with his owl Horus.
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
Monday morning found Castor back at Gringotts with the results from Harry's medical test and his folder of information against Dumbledore and the Dursleys.
"Good Morning Master Silverfang" greeted Castor as he was led into his account manager's office.
"Good Morning Lord Potter-Black. I am surprised to see you back so soon. What can Gringotts do for you today?"
"I am in need of your expertise when it comes to hiring a lawyer for two cases of mine"
"Very well, describe them and I will see who I would recommend for your cases"
"The first is a case of mismanagement and false imprisonment by the Ministry. Sirius Black is innocent of all his crimes and never received a trial" explained Castor. "The second is a child abuse case against my ward's previous guardians both muggle and magical"
Silverfang thought for a minute before reaching into his desk and pulling out a business card. "I would say that for the services you require Katherine Wood of Locke & Wood Law firm would be the best representation. She is known to fight hard for her clients and won previously thought impossible cases. She is also not one easily intimidated and won't back down from a challenge".
"Thank you so much Silverfang," replied Castor, putting the card in his robe pocket for later.
"The other matter I have to address today is hiring Gringotts curse breakers to help my ward. When he had a medical scan done it denoted a large amount of dark magic around his scar. I would like that removed and destroyed… I fear it to be another horcrux"
"That is easily done. I will send over cursebreaker Tyrisk and his team to your home on Thursday to remove and destroy the horcrux. That will give them enough time to review the procedure for removing a horcrux from a living thing and to finish up their current job" planned Silverfang.
"That sounds perfect," agreed Castor. "Thank you again for all your help". Rising to his feet he bid the goblin goodbye "May your gold ever flow"
"And my your enemies tremble at your feet" replied the goblin with a wicked grin, sure that that would be the case for the powerful Lord before him.
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
Hey Ron,
Castor told me that Bill told you all about us. I am so so sorry I couldn't tell you about my new guardian before this. Please don't be mad at me, Cas made me promise.
Castor is super great! I get my own room and he's helping me learn all about our world. I really like living with him. Castor promised that as soon as things are public I'll be able to come see you or you could come here! Hopefully the case against the Dursleys goes public soon since I miss you.
Please don't be mad at me!
You're very sorry friend,
Harry
Sending his letter off with Hedwig, Harry hoped that Ron's temper wouldn't get the better of him and that he would forgive him.
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
Thursday afternoon found Castor waiting in the reception room for the curse breaking team to arrive. Harry stood nervously next to him, Castor had done his best to explain to the boy what was going on without scaring him too badly.
The floo chimed announcing the arrival of the curse breaking team. Opening the floo Castor let the group in.
"Good afternoon Lord Potter Black" greeted Tyrisk.
"Please Tyrisk, it's Castor. Thank you all for coming. I think we will all rest easier once the dark magic in Harry's scar is dealt with" smiled Castor.
"Of course, we are happy to help the young heir," grinned Cordelia.
"I figured we could use the Black Family ritual room for this," suggested Castor.
"That would be perfect," agreed Roger. The team had cleansed the room on one of their previous visits to the house.
Castor led the group down into the Black Family Ritual space in the upper basement. The lower basement was better not spoken about given that it was an actual dungeon. Why Walburga had thought to include a dungeon in her townhouse design Castor would never know.
The team quickly introduced themselves to Harry and did their best to make him feel comfortable. Harry took to them all easily, though he did eye Bill a bit suspiciously.
Tyrisk, like most goblins, hated wasting time, so he set the team work preparing the space. The team had Harry lay down on the marble floor in the center of the room. Evelyn drew several runes around Harry in a large circle. Roger gave Harry a strange murky purple potion to drink. Tyrisk placed a plain teacup beside Harry in the circle. Cordelia began to chant in a language unknown to Castor and Harry began to glow.
It broke Castor's heart to hear Harry start to scream as the horcrux was ripped from its space attached to his core and placed in the teacup. Luckily it was a fairly quick process as Castor watched a dark haze exit his ward and enter the cup. Bill then stepped over the runes into the circle and stabbed the cup with a basilisk fang which had been strapped to his leg. It really wasn't the right time to be thinking it… but all Castor could think was how hot that was of him.
Cordelia stopped her chanting and Roger knelt by the unconscious Harry, slowly shaking him and bringing him back.
"Did you get it?" asked Harry groggily as he woke up making the group laugh.
"Yeah Bambi, they got it" grinned Castor
"Oh good, can I go back to sleep now?" whined the boy.
"Not yet, soon" promised Roger. He passed the tired boy three more potions to drink to help with his recovery.
Harry dutifully drank the potions before sleepily laying back down.
"Oh Bambi, you really don't want to sleep on the hard floor" protested Castor
"Done it before" sleepily sassed back Harry
Shaking off his sudden anger at the Dursleys, Castor stooped to pick up the boy who was far too light for his age. Harry wrapped his arms around Castor's neck and rested his head on the man's shoulder.
"I better get this sleepy head to bed" laughed Castor. "The floo is open for you all. Thank you again for your help. I feel so much better knowing that that monster's soul is out of my ward here".
"It was our pleasure to help Castor," replied Roger.
"We'll see you tomorrow evening, right?" asked Evelyn excitedly.
"Absolutely! I'll be there" grinned Castor, before making his way back up the stairs, the curse breakers following him.
Parting at the reception room, Castor and a sleepy Harry said goodbye to the team before heading up to the family floor.
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
Castor had a great time going out for drinks with Bill's team. The group was a ton of fun. Cordelia had so many cool stories about the hundred plus years that she had been alive. Evelyn and Roger were such a cute couple and complemented each other well. The best part of the evening was getting to sit beside Bill and get to know the man he was rapidly developing feelings for better.
As the group parted for the evening, Castor stood under the street lamp with Bill.
"Thank you so much for inviting me to get to know your friends" said Castor shyly.
"They loved you, as I knew they would" replied Bill sweetly.
"How did you know?" asked Castor.
"Because I love you" said the redhead seriously.
Castor's breath caught in surprise. He didn't expect to hear it so soon, but it was true what he was feeling for the other man was love.
"I love you too" replied Castor, before reaching up to kiss the taller man.
The pair eventually parted shooting eachother longing glances as they each appareted to their homes for the night.
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
Dear Ms. Wood,
I got your contact information from Silverfang at Gringotts. I am in need of your expertise in both an unlawful imprisonment case and child abuse case. I was told that you are well known for your determination and discretion. Please write back to let me know when we can meet.
Sincerely,
Lord Castor Potter-Black
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
Castor was buzzing with excitement when he returned from his meeting with his new law wizard Katherine Wood. He went in search of his housemates and found Sirius and Remus curled up together in the sitting room.
"I take it it went well?" asked Remus as he took in Castor's grin.
"So well!" replied Castor. I turned over all the evidence I had gathered for both cases. The Dursleys will be arrested on Monday. Dumbledore will also be served with the lawsuit on Monday as well"
"When do you plan to go public about your guardianship of Harry?" asked Sirius.
"I did an interview with a certain reporter that I have blackmail on and she will be posting an article that paints Harry and I in a great light Tuesday morning," said Castor, smirking a bit when he thought about Rita Skeeter.
"Aww, look at Swift all grown up and blackmailing journalists" teased Sirius.
Castor just flipped him off and picked up the book he had left in here earlier. It was one that Bill had recommended to him and he wanted to finish it before he saw the man again.
Evie's Notes 2:Thank you all so much for reading ! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week !
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr Find-y0ur-j0y! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie