Reading Time: 87 Minutes

Title: Never A Spare
Author: Strailo
Fandom: Harry Potter
Genre: Angst, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Slash, Time Travel, Tragedy
Relationship(s): Cassius Warrington/Harry Potter
Content Rating: R
Warnings: Major Character Death, Violence-Graphic, Canon-Level Violence, Torture, Obsession, Violence – Against Children, Kidnapping, Murder
Author Note: Thank you for coming to read my story! This was a trip to write and I’m glad it’s finally done and out there. Enjoy.
Word Count: 121,649
Summary: When Magic Herself decides that things are oh so wrong, She makes her move with Fate, Destiny, and Death standing beside her. They knew the Ripples would come when they chose their Person. Those Ripples touch everyone in the Wizarding World. They touch Harry Potter the most, being the Chosen One to bring balance to an unbalanced world.
Artist: Veevess

07 Trials and Talks

Harry greeted Amelia an hour before the start of his godfather’s trial, nodding as he brushed a light kiss to the back of her hand. “Madam Bones, it’s a pleasure to meet you face to face after our correspondence,” he said as they moved out of the direct path of traffic. “I am sorry that this had to be set up the way that this has been, but it really needs to be done,” he continued.

“Of course, Lord Potter. He’s currently sitting in a secure room that will stop anyone from trying to get him before the start,” Amelia promised as Augusta and Neville came out of the floo. “I’m still quite upset with this miscarriage of justice,” she said. She shook her head with a dark frown. “I’m just glad that I was able to get things put together so quickly.”

“I am to. I was afraid that Fudge would try something…again,” Harry agreed, nodding his head. “I’m sure that you know Regent Longbottom and Heir Longbottom,” he introduced. The two shook and kissed the back of Amelia’s hand respectively.

“Of course. It is a pleasure to see the both of you despite the circumstances we find ourselves in,” Amelia greeted. “Come. We’re in Court room 10 today,” she said as she nodded to the hallways. The three followed her to the right courtroom.

Harry already knew that he would be called as a witness, Hermione and Ron having already been gathered from their own homes and the school, and were already waiting in the side room. Amelia showed him to the room and he settled down at a table next to Hermione.

He took note of who else was there. Narcissa Malfoy was sitting in her own chair with a bit of embroidery, doing it by hand out of sheer boredom by the looks of it. Hermione had a book on Wizarding Traditions, probably something that she had borrowed from Blaise or Daphne knowing them. Ron was studiously ignoring them all as he read a Quidditch magazine, sometimes looking up and scanning the room. Severus Snape was in a corner as he scowled and read a book on potions.

Harry had been warned by the summons that he would have to deal with being under a Truth Ward, but he hadn’t thought it was because they had Severus Snape as one of their Witnesses. He just hoped that the man would keep to the truth instead of fighting the ward or twisting his words.

Harry took a deep breath to relax before he pulled out a small muggle paperback that he had dug out of his trunk a couple of days before. It was a mystery book in a series that he had picked up after his cousin had dropped the first book. Dudley had only bought it so that he could try to impress some girl but had found that he hated mysteries. Harry though enjoyed the series and had been able to get the rest of the books in it.

Even as he read though, he kept an eye on the others. He noted that despite her attention being on her embroidery, Narcissa was thinking deeply. Draco had written to him the first night that they had been home for the holidays, and told him that she had gotten a letter warning her not to twist things from the Lord Black.

She had apparently taken that warning and the other warnings to heart, agreeing to speak with Sirius should he be cleared. And that Lucius would behave should there be any consequences about things.

Harry just hoped for her sake that the blond ponce actually listened to her and Sirius. He knew from his godfather that she did love Lucius and had been pleased with their match after Andromeda had run off from the arrangement to marry Ted Tonks. As much as he disliked Lucius, having come to learn that his son was much more Black then Malfoy, he didn’t want to see his cousin hurting if she had to leave him because of his idiocy.

As it was, he was still wondering what Sirius was planning on doing with Bellatrix and everything that came with that mess.

While all of the witnesses were waiting, Amelia was taking the place of Grand Warlock for the trial. She had gotten Dumbledore to step down as a conflict of interest, making him sit in the Dumbledore seat. She noted that for the moment, Remus Lupin was sitting as Regent for House Potter and House Black. From what her notes said, he was sitting there because he was trusted at the moment for what needed to be done.

He had already given his Vow that he would vote only as a Potter and a Black would vote, not as a friend.

No more. No less.

She banged the gavel, the sound echoing through the chamber as everyone fell silent. “Today, on December Seventeenth, we are to hear the Trial of Sirius Black on the charges of being a Traitor to the Potter Family and a Death Eater,” she called out. She allowed everyone to call out in protest before she used her gavel a few times to get them to quiet down again. “If you would have let me finish, I could have told you that the Black Family heir, Lord Harry James Ravenclaw-Black-Potter, contacted Lord Black about the oddness of his Godfather’s trial after he had learned that the man was his blood and oath bound Godfather. Lord Black then tried to gain the records and when he was unable to, contacted me.”

Those who knew what everything she had just said meant just stared at her with surprise painting their features. She gazed at the gathered members and press.

“I was able to learn that Sirius Black had never been given a proper trial. He was placed into Azkaban and left there by Bagman and the rest of the Ministry. We are here today to decide if his status as prisoner is to stand or not,” she continued. “The Kiss on Sight order has been rescinded and he has turned himself in willingly. Bring in the accused,” she called out.

Sirius was escorted out with simple shackles on his wrist, looking pretty goo for a guy who had been on the run. He was being escorted by Kingsley, Tonks having refused to be a guard since he was still technically family even if her part of the family had been disowned.

What no one else knew was that Dumbledore had tried to get her to talk with Sirius about what his plans were. She had shut it down and then made sure that she couldn’t get to him at all by telling Amelia about her familial connection to Sirius. She made it so that she couldn’t get within fifty feet of the man much less his cell before the trial.

Amelia gazed down at him as he looked back at her. “Prisoner Black, how do you plead?”

“Not guilty on all charges.”

“Do you have any requests for this trial?” she asked.

“I demand to be questioned under Vertiserum,” he stated. His voice was strong, sure, and very clear on what he wanted. “I am of clear mind and soul in this request. Your own healers have cleared me to take it.”

Amelia pulled out the sheet that did just that, placing it onto the rune sequence that would make copies and deliver it to everyone there. “This is fact. Ministry healers have cleared you to take it. Do you consent freely to the use of both Truth Serum and Truth wards?” she asked.

“I do,” Sirius stated. “I have nothing to hide from the court,” he said. “My solicitor, Solicitor Kendricks, has the list of all approved questions that both sides have agreed upon,” he continued, nodding to the man who was next to him. He was a tall man, broad of shoulders, hair salt and pepper but his eyes sharp as razors.

“Lady Bones,” he greeted, his accent unapologetically high trained New York.

“I see this as fact,” Amelia said, nodding her greetings to Kendricks as she placed the questions on the array to send to everyone. “The questions have been agreed upon for all witnesses and for Prisoner Black. Whey they are being questions, a ward shall be used to prevent others from asking questions without court approval. If you have one, you are to ask me if I will ask the witness. I and Solicitor Kendricks will approve or disapprove of it accordingly,” she stated, once more sweeping her eyes over everyone, lingering on Dumbledore.

She noted that Fudge was looking a bit pale, possibly a little green around the gills while his Under-secretary was looking far from happy about the trial going on. Amelia had absolutely no doubt that she was trying to plot to do something while Amelia was hoping she could stop it from happening before it did happen.

“Call forth the first witness!” she called out, slamming the gavel down and really starting things off.

Narcissa took to the stand first. During her testimony, she talked about Sirius’ younger years and how he had left the Black Family behind. He had denounced their more dangerous rituals and magics as detrimental to all of wizarding kind. She talked about how through his Hogwarts years he had been fiercely loyal to his friends, even Peter Pettigrew, and especially to James Potter.

She spoke about how she had worked to keep tabs on him, hearing about him dating here and there through the years, and how he had started to fight against the Death Eaters beside his friends. She showed the one letter that he had sent to her. The only letter he had sent to her really.

In the letter he talked about how he was going to Swear on Blood and Magic to protect and care for Harry as his Godfather.

Amelia took the letter and had it copied for everyone.

After Narcissa had finished being questioned, Ron went next, being told that there was a Truth Ward that was currently up. He accepted it and talked about the night that they had learned that Sirius was actually innocent. He talked about how it was his rat, Scrabbers, who had been the illegal Animagus Peter Pettigrew. How Sirius and Remus had tried to stop him from escaping but how the full moon had happened, allowing him to escape in the chaos.

Ron stuck to nothing but the truth. His brother had smacked him around verbally for being an idiot and he had taken the last few days before the trial to really think about things. So he didn’t exaggerate, he just kept to the truth as he talked and what he knew after that night.

After Ron’s interview, Ron was escorted to the stands to watch the rest of the trial. Hermione was brought in next where she collaborated Ron’s story. But she also spoke about what had happened with her and Harry when they used the time turner. She told them about Harry casting a Patronus so strong that it had driven the Dementors away from the grounds of Hogwarts and then Sirius had been broken out when Fudge had tried to have him illegally kissed.

Fudge went pale at the glare that came from Amelia at that, the woman making a note to look into that.

Hermione joined Ron in the stands at the end of her interview and the Wizengamont took a moment to stand, stretching their bodies. None of them really moved from where their chairs and small desks were before they settled back.

As soon as they were all ready again, Harry took the stand. His statement was pretty much about how he had learned things after his name had been called as the fourth champion. About how his Godfather was his Blood and Magic sworn Godfather, and not just one in name only. He spoke about how he had learned what that would mean for him from the Goblins and that Sirius should speak with Madam Bones about a proper trial. About how Lord Black had made first contact.

He missed when Umbridge tried to ask him if he had put his name into the Goblet, staring at Sirius’ solicitor. The wards filtered the question since it hadn’t come from Kendricks or Amelia. He didn’t miss when Amelia turned to her and scolded her about trying to go around the rules of the trial, and he had to stop himself form rolling his eyes.

“Director Bones, I take it that she was asking about the Goblet? I have to wonder if she’s the only person in the whole of Magial Britian who hasn’t read any of the publications that had the Vow on it. Which I’m still under that Vow. I am preparing to return to school after the holiday to face the three tasks seeing as they had to be pushed back,” Harry stated.

Amelia smiled slightly and nodded. “Yes, she was asking about the Goblet. Thank you for your statement, Lord Potter. You may sit in the gallery now. I know that your regent has taken your seat for this trial?” she asked.

“Yes. It was decided after a long conversation with others that Remus would be best able to vote without any bias then I would be. Seeing as I’m also a witness, I didn’t want to create a conflict,” Harry said. “Ravenclaw is sitting out seeing as I was unable to find anyone who the magics would allow to be a Regent in time.”

“Thank you for that clarification, Lord Black,” Amelia said, nodding to him. Harry noted that Percy was looking like he had swallowed a lemon when he walked past the table where the minutes of the trial were being written down.

He ignored the man though, walking to take up a free seat next to Hermione, politely nodding to Ron, getting a wavering smile from the other teen. They turned back to the trial where Severus arrived and gave a truthful, if not stilted statement about what he knew of Sirius Black.

Finally, Sirius was called to the stand and given Vertiserum. The real truth was about to come out and Harry was looking forward to it.

Amelia watched as the Truth potion was given to Sirius, waiting for the tell-tale signs of it working with the glassy eyes and loose posture. “What is your name?” she asked.

“Sirius Black the third.”

“When is your birthday?”

“The third of November.”

“What year were you born?”

“1959.”

“Who were your parents?”

“Orion and Walburga Black.”

Amelia nodded as she ticked off things on a list. “He’s under. Ask the first question,” she said, holding up the list as a visual reminder to the Wizengamont that all of the questions had already been approved.

“Are you Lord Black?” Kendricks asked.

“I am.”

Kendricks waited for the ripple of surprise to die down, noting that Malfoy looked positively pissed but unsurprised by this. “Does the Black Family charters have any kind of regulations against someone taking up the Lordship?” he asked.

“You can not be the Black Lord if you are considered underage, a convicted criminal, or are disowned from the family,” Sirius replied.

“You said convicted criminal, correct?”

“I did. The charter states that you must have had a trial and judged guilty of your crime by magic and peers. It does not matter how small the crime may be, if you have committed it and was convicted, the magics of my family would reject the Lordship claim. It’s an old and ancient magic that the first of our family created to protect our name,” Sirius stated.

“That means that when you were in Azkaban, you were there as a kidnapped heir and not as a convicted criminal?”

“That’s correct.”

“What were you held for?”

“I was held for the Betrayal of the Potters to the Twisted Dark Lord Voldemort and being a Death Eater.”

“Were you a Death Eater at any time?”

“No.”

“Did you betray the Potters at any time?”

“No.”

Once again, Kendricks paused as he waited for the wave of whispers and surprised gasps to finish before he continued. “It ‘s common knowledge that you were the Secret Keeper for their Fidelous. Is this knowledge correct?”

“No.”

“If not you, who was their Secret Keeper?”

“Peter Pettigrew was their Secret Keeper.”

“Can you tell us why everyone ‘knows’ you were the Secret Keeper then?” Kendricks asked as he leaned against the table, hands tucked into his pockets.

They all knew that no one could say that Sirius was lying under the potion and wards after all. They were built for strength and to get the truth.

“Because I was well known as James’ best friend and the Godfather to his son, Harry. When James and Lily went into hiding, it was I who suggested that we make Peter the Secret Keeper since no one would suspect him. He was a good spy. To good as we found out when they were attacked by Voldemort,” Sirius replied. A single tear slipped past the potion, showing just how strong his emotions were.

“So is Pettigrew a Death Eater?”

“He is.”

“He is still alive according to witness statements. Is this true?”

“Yes.”

“Is he an illegal Animagus?”

“Yes.”

“Are you an illegal Animagus?”

“No.”

“Where did you register if not here? Your form is not on record.”

“We registered in America.” Kendricks handed over the copies of the forms for the registration for Lily, James and Sirius.

“Why there?”

“We would have used some nearly impossible name to do it, but with the way the laws around registration your animagus form, we had to use a colony. America was the best choice since they don’t really like making the Ministry’s job any easier. They are known to give them the run around whenever they think that they can do that. If you want information, you need to have the Goblins or the person you’re looking for information about to give permission to get it released.”

“So you filed there. And James Potter also registered there? Along with his wife at a later time?”

“Yes.”

“But not Pettigrew?”

“He called it a stupid idea and didn’t do it. He’s a rat.”

“That’s his form?”

“Yes.”

“So to summarize, you, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew all planned to hide the Secret keeper in plain sight by having Pettigrew as your Secret Keeper while letting it slip that you were it?”

“Yes.”

“Very smart but it really is to bad that your friend had to show his true colors in the most distasteful of ways. He really does give rats a bad name,” Kendricks said as he patted the small rat that had climbed out of his briefcase, squeaking at him. “Now, about the muggles that you supposedly killed when you had supposedly killed Pettigrew. Did you blow the street up?”

“No. That was Pettigrew to escape.”

“What spells did you use during that fight?”

“A disarming spell. A tripping curse. A jelly bones hex.”

“No others?” Amelia asked as she took the list from the tested wand.

“No.”

“I see.” Kendricks stood up with a look at Amelia. “You can give him the antidote. I’m sure that we can all get that at no point was Sirius Black guilty for any crime and that you held a man, illegally, for twelve years and that he had every right leaving the place that was illegally torturing him.”

Amelia nodded, the healer gave Sirius the antidote, the man groaning as he rubbed his face and coming out of the control of the potion.

It didn’t take long for Sirius to be declared innocent after the call to vote was called. Nor did it take them long to approve the restitution for the illegal twelve years of imprisonment. They also decided that they would repay for the treatments and potions that he had taken so far, but they would also continue to pay for that long term care up to ten years from the day.

Once everything was signed and handed over, Dumbledore took his seat again and started the follow up session. He was unable to stop Sirius from swearing in as the new Lord Black seeing as he was confirmed to be hale and hearty. Nor could he stop Sirius and Harry, as Lord Black and Lord Potter, call for a full audit of all the prisoners in the prison, from the smallest to the highest.

They wanted to make sure that all crimes had been equally tried, blood status not included in the decisions. They wanted to see it that all got the same kind of punishments for their wrong doings, not just the Muggleborns getting jail time while the Purebloods got a slap on the wrist if they got anything. They wanted to make sure each individual person got the proper punishment for their crimes and that they had been individually tried, not lumped in with others.

And they wanted every single person in that jail to be tried under Truth Wards or Vertiserum regardless of their blood standing.

Lucius raised his wand with a question. “And why should we entertain this bill?” he asked, sneering slightly.

Sirius stood straight with Harry by him, Harry speaking. “Because, Lord Malfoy, there is every single possibility that people in that jail are in there for some of the stupidest reasons in the world, but got caught up with someone else doing something. They were blamed for something not their fault or what they were doing,” he stated. “For example? Sirius had never received a trial and yet he was sent to the highest security section. We want to make sure that the prisoners are there for a proper reason. And that they are given a fair trial, which includes having them tell the truth. Nothing more. Nothing less. I want to match their sentences to their crimes for all of our people. Despite what most Wizards and Witches seem to think, we are still under Her Majesty’s the Queen of England’s run, and her word is still law with us. This means that the Laws of Muggles are to be our laws to,” he stated. “As per our treaty.”

He pulled out a thick pack of pages, copies of the original treaty that Kendricks had gathered for them, and placed them on the runic circle to send copies to everyone.

“Lord Potter had Solicitor Kendricks work with the Goblins to do a bit of digging for him from what I was told,” Augusta stated as she stood.

“I did my own digging once the young Lord started talking about what he was digging up with Lord Black,” Raphael stated as he stood from where his seat was behind Sirius. “Our treaty with the Muggle Government allows us to remain separate, but states that we are to mirror our laws accordingly and that any laws that we pass for our side must be unbiased against or for any of our people. This does include the laws against, or for Magical creatures, so called Purebloods, and so called Muggleborns. I was going to bring this before the Wizengamont when I learned of this, but I was also going to go to the Queen and have Her deal with this mess. We have forgotten that we are under Her Rightful Rule, and we must act like it,” he stated.

“I see,” Lucius said. He sat down with his copy of the treaty. Everyone in the room started to read through the notes that had come with the treaty, which summarized the legal language for them. Several of the attending Wizagamont members went pale as they read that if the Queen had to step in, a lot of them would find their power base gone. They would either have to agree to the full audit of the prison to start, or have the Queen brought in to do a full audit of their world.

“I believe that we have heard all of the arguments for and against the motion. If you are ready, we can cast our votes. For those who do not know how to vote, each person has a set amount of votes. You are to use the special marbles that are marked for the house that you are voting for. One for yes, one for no, and one to abstain from the vote. I will see the final count here,” Dumbledore stated as he pointed to the parchment in a special roll attached to a magical ball.

He watched as Harry leaned over and whispered something to Sirius before they cast their votes. Harry cast one vote each for House Potter and House Ravenclaw while Sirius cast the votes for House Black.

Dumbledore looked down at seeing just how many votes had been cast. Only one person had abstained from voting, and it looked as if it was Sirius seeing as he had been the one to bring the motion forward with Harry and Raphael backing him. The man also had a feeling that Sirius’ own bias against Azkaban was also one of the reasons why he abstained.

Taking a deep breath as the final count appeared on the parchment, he tore off the parchment with the numbers. Dumbledore pursed his lips. “With a majority vote of approval, the bill to audit Azkaban in full has been passed. I will hand this off to Director Bones seeing as Azkaban falls under the Auror Department’s purview. From here on out, she has full permission to do as she see’s fit, and she will have full access to all and any records,” he stated.

With a smack of the gavel, the motion, as outlined in full on what they wanted to happen, was stamped, signed, and approved by the magic of the courtroom. Dumbledore mentally growled as he felt more of his power slipping away from him.

And he really didn’t know how to feel about it.

Stepping out of the floo at Longbottom Hall, Sirius took a deep breath before blowing it out with a smile. “It’s good to officially be free,” he chuckled softly. “Again, Lady Longbottom, thank you for inviting me to your home for the Yule holidays,” he said, bowing slightly than he should have as a sign of respect to the woman. “It’s a pleasure to see you as a truly free man.”

“I must say that it is good to see you free and the truth out there, Lord Black, even if it does throw some things up in the air,” Augusta teased, smiling at him.

He chuckled. “Please, call me Sirius. Your grandson and my godson are close friends, and I’m hoping to have a good working relationship with you at the least,” he said. She chuckled and patted his arm as he tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow.

“Very well, Sirius. Tell me, I have been dying to know: are you and that young Mr. Lupin together?” she asked.

Sirius’ face took on a rather sad yet serious expression. “No. Not now. We were moving that way after…after Marlene was attacked by Death Eaters. But with the way everything has happened since…” He shook his head.

“That and Dumbledore has his hooks in him,” Harry said as he stepped out of the floo, Neville following him soon after. “That’s really not a good idea to have around. Sirius might end up cursing the man instead of talking with him. No need to start a relationship with that kind of road block.” His smile turned softer, more sympathetic for his godfather. Sirius chuckled, ruffling his hair.

“Compared to you? Who started to be courted by someone who you barely know?” he teased. Harry blushed.

“Thus the Courting contract. That and Fleur is right. A Courting Contract will protect me from someone trying deciding to try and push me into a betrothal or marriage that I don’t want,” Harry told him. “Luckily for me, the charters for the Black and Ravenclaw families have it that only my head of house can sign off on a Courting Contract. Not even a Guardian can sign off on one, much less a Betrothal contract. Encourage the head to sign it yes, but not actually sign it,” he said.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at that bit of information. “That’s good to know. I’m still working my way through the Black Charters, but if my aunt and uncle had signed my cousins into marriages without Grandfather’s approval…”

“Then they either forced them into accepting the marriages, or they were lied into accepting it,” Augusta said. She sounded rather disgusted as the four walked into the small living room where Neville went to sit next to his book.

“What exactly would that mean for your family then?” Neville asked as he picked up the book.

“Well, it would mean I would have to look at their contracts and see if they are up to the standards of the Black Family. And decide if they will still stand or not. Which I’m doing anyways but this would give me more rights,” Sirius stated. “I know that you hate Bellatrix for good reason, but it’s possible that the forced bonding will have added to the Black Madness that hits all of us in some form.”

“Can you tell us what the Black Madness is?” Augusta asked as she took her own seat in a chair. Harry sat next to Neville while Sirius sat in an armchair, facing Augusta. A tea set appeared on the coffee table the moment they had settled. He made an appreciative sound as his tea cup came over to him, perfectly made for his preferences.

“I can answer that,” he said. “All Blacks are told what the Black Madness stems from and how it can manifest when we’re young. It’s something that we all need to know to be able to deal with it. At least one Black from every generation is born without it hammering at them until their replacement is born. Unfortunately for me, because of the Dementors, I won’t be able to have children unless I take specialized potions and have someone carry them for me. Which I might do and set them up as a secondary branch to Harry’s main branch.”

“I learned at Gringotts that I need to have at least three children myself. The family magics will end up choosing which ones are going to be Potter, Black, and Raveclaw, so that’s good,” Harry told them. “Next year, the Goblin Manager over Ravenclaw will end up working with me on taking a loan from the Black family to start building our fortunes. We’ll have a year to turn over a good profit to repay the loan, but I doubt that seeing as he’s the same goblin who runs the Potter estate and he’s made quite a bit of money for that estate, that he won’t do well with Ravenclaw. Axegrind is really going to enjoy making money for two houses, one coming from nothing. It’ll also give him a really good commission. He’s already looking into Business contracts and seeing if any of them are still going to this date. And if they are, where that money from them went to.”

“That’s good to hear,” Augusta said, smiling slightly before turning to Sirius. “Now, the Black Madness?”

Sirius shifted. “From what Grandfather Arturus had told me and Regulus during the talk that we got when we were old enough to learn the Black history, it started out as a curse. This was before the Treaty between us and the Muggle world separated us, so do take that into mind. It started with Alexandra Black, only daughter and her father’s heir. She had told anyone who wanted to marry her that they would have to take her name, her children would end up being raised as Blacks, and if Magic chose to allow one of her children to be heir to her husband’s family, she would not fight it. Otherwise, all of her children would be Blacks,” Sirius told them.

Augusta hummed as she tapped her fingers on her leg. “For that time period, she must have had quite the power base behind her to get away with that.”

“She did,” Sirius said. “Like I said, she was the only child of her father. Her siblings, who had included the families original male heir, had unfortunately died during an influenza outbreak. That was right before the Pepper Up Potion had been created and spread around enough to be of use. It was still a local potion in a small village in the middle of no-where so it was ignored until someone forced someone sick to take it and saved their life with it. She had all the cards in this matter.

“But the someone who wanted to court her and have her take their name was the Lestrange Heir of the time and he was quite unhappy with her boundaries. He had tried to push her to accept his courtship, last name and utter control over every aspect of their family line during their magic. Never mind that the Blacks back then were connected to Magick in a way that would have been dangerous for anyone not blood to hold.” Sirius crossed his legs. “She told him that no Main Line Black would ever marry a Lestrange.”

“I take it that Bellatrix isn’t a main line Black?” Harry asked as he grabbed Neville’s hand. The slightly older male gave him a slightly shaky smile.

“Not at all. She’s branch family. Main line comes from the male line from my grandfather’s side of the family. It went through Father being the first born son, while Grandfather had been the first born son, and so on back through the ages,” Sirius said. “Back to what happened, because of her sworn promise as Heir Black, it was laid in Magic, which has held strong through the many generations through the year. The Lestrange Heir at the time really didn’t like that. He in turn did something that not even the Black family would have ever done because it means rending your soul in such a way that could turn you insane if you’re not careful.” He swallowed heavily, staring down at the tea cup clenched in his hands.

He blinked and broke out of his thoughts when a small glass was placed down next to him with a clink, a finger of whiskey in it. He put his tea down before picking up the glass, finding that it was a good blend of whiskey but obviously made to have less alcohol to it. It was most likely something that most teenagers were introduced to during their more experimental years so as to get used to drinking small amounts.

It would be just enough to take the edge off of what he was about to talk about without it impairing his thought process. He nodded to Augusta with a small smile as she once more sat.

He sipped at the drink before he took a deep breath. He smiled at the two teens and how they were anchoring each other in the moment, staring at him with wide eyes.

“That Heir Lestrange kidnapped his own sister, who was barely two days into her sixteenth year and two days from her own marriage to someone that she dearly loved. He had been a Weasley during a time the Weasley’s were well liked and in high status. He took her out into the forest to a special bit of land and used her in a ritual to place the curse on the Black Family. As long as they did not marry into the Lestrange family and give them the power that they demanded, the Blacks would find madness haunting their every step. He botched it though, just enough, that we only had issues later in our lives, or under certain circumstances,” Sirius told them. “Luckily for the Lestrange Lord, he did have three other children, two sons and a daughter, since for his transgression, he had to strip his child of status, name and family magic for the travesty that he had done.” He sipped his drink. “The botching was the fact that she had slept with her fiance the night before and wasn’t a virgin any more.”

“Oh, that poor, poor girl,” Augusta breathed, pressing a hand to her mouth.

“Yeah.” Sirius swallowed. “The curse would start with the heiress’ children. Which is how we know how the curse works. When they were old enough to properly process their emotions and describe things, she would write down information from her children. The eldest, her heir for the Black Family, a boy, would find himself losing his ability to pay attention to things for long periods unless he took certain potions. The potions had to be tweaked and perfected for him, but he only took them when he had things to do during the day. Her daughter, who had been the heir to her father’s family, the Longbottoms, had nothing touch her. There was very little Black Magic in her, and that carries the curse. I believe that you know of her.”

“Yes, we do. She was the one who gave the Longbottom brown eyes to our line and our ability with plants. I believe that her portrait is in the portrait halls. She rarely talks about that side of her family though,” Neville admitted.

“If yo udon’t mind, I would like to speak with her eventually,” Sirius requested, Augusta nodding her head in agreement. “Anyways, some of us would see things and learned how to figure out if we were seeing things or not. Some of us would be flighty messes, getting worse through life. There are quite a few books written by them that we still have that are some of the most interesting stories that I have ever read. I’m thinking that I might edit them enough to put them out as books. But then, we started to become obsessed.”

They stared at Sirius as he scowled at the cup of whiskey in his hand.

“Just…what kind of obsession?” Harry asked, already dreading the answer.

“For most? Obsessed with being Pure. With keeping the family line strong. Intermarrying in the family or with other very strong family lines that are Pure as far as they know. Never mind the fact that it was because that we married muggles, muggleborns, and others from outside of England that kept our line strong and fresh,” Sirius said. “The madness had started to come out in a new way because of one of us. His madness had been Obsession. Obsession about his family, about his children. About the perfect wife to give him the perfect children. So he chose one of the women in the family, who was a first cousin about four times removed and who was one of the ones who lived in her own world. She wrote her stories and floated through life but he chose her as his wife. They had kids and the madness started to twist even more because he made them marry family or others who were Pureblood with no fresh blood in their families.”

“So, between a curse created by a Sacrificial ritual and Obsession, your family got worse with their madness,” Augusta said. Sirius nodded his head.

“Yeah. I only have a fairly mild case of madness myself,” he admitted as he put the empty glass down. “I do obsess, to a point, on certain things. Those that I consider to be family or friends mostly. For a while there, I obsessed about being seen going against the current Black Family. I lost myself there for a time when it came to things with Snape, I’ll admit, but I started to work with the Family Magics and a therapist to come to terms with my need to hate him for no good reason.”

“Does this mean your attitude towards him wasn’t you being an absolute idiot?” Augusta asked. Sirius snorting softly at her. “Yes, Frank told me about your issues with him.”

“Nope. I had just already claimed James as my family and my madness had taken that to mean that anyone he disliked or seemed to hate, I needed to hate even more,” Sirius stated. “And he disliked Snape seeing as the guy was always around Lily at the time. It really wasn’t a good mix between my growing hormones and trying to distance myself from the Black family, and he came off as someone a lot like them. So I’m working on fixing that bit of thinking while also working on not losing who I am. I’m also looking into seeing if there’s any way to remove the base curse for the future of our family.”

“I hope that you can find that out,” Harry said as he lent into Neville, Sirius smiling softly. “But it is good to know about where it might have come from.”

“Yeah. I think if I can get the journal of the No Name that had done it, I have a feeling that it would have what I need,” Sirius said after a moment.

“I believe that I can speak with Corvus Lestrange. He was quite pissed off last time I talked to him about things. He did promise me once that if his grandson’s had ever gotten their own personal trials and were found guilty properly, he would disown them. As it is, his heir isn’t his son, but rather his daughter. Who had left England during the first war for a variety of good reasons. She wanted nothing to do with that mess. Smart girl, her,” Augusta said.

“Well, he might just get his wish,” Harry said. “They’re all getting their own trials, even ones who weren’t tried with others but were still rushed,” he reminded them. “Let’s do presents though. I have the first of them ready.”

“Yes, let’s do that. It’s time for something happy and then we’ll have a nice lunch after such a heavy topic,” Sirius said as he pulled out the bag that his godson had given him to carry. He laid them out and allowed them to grow as August chuckled and drew the rest of them. “Harry Yule, everyone.”

“Happy Yule!”

The day of the Malfoy Yule Ball, which always happened during the week of Yule, but always after the first day had passed, Harry got up. He started his day after his morning routine with a walk around the Longbottom grounds with Sirius. Augusta had invited him to stay until after the New Year after an owl from Dumbledore had interrupted their lunch.

Augusta had been rather on the displeased side, more so when Sirius had to run a full scan over it before he touched it. He had said something about the possibility of mild compulsions or suggestions on the letter. She had been even more upset when Sirius had said the letter had skirted the boundary of demanding that he return to hiding.

He admitted that he had the goblins and the very few house elves that his grandfather had kept working on getting the original Black house up and running. Sirius was planning on moving into the house once it had been cleared out and fixed, the wards due to be done by the New Year. Augusta in turn had invited him to stay then and there, Sirius agreeing to the invitation. He had sent one of his personal elves to gather some clothes for him for the time.

He admitted that Kreature was still hanging around in Grimmauld Place under very heavy instructions that he was not to speak about anything in the house unless it was to the Magically acknowledge Lord and Heir of House Black.

Harry had wondered if it was the isolation and general darkness of Grimmauld Place that had hurt the elf mentally and physically. Sirius had admitted to him that he was going to also open another house, outside of a Muggle neighborhood and closer to a magical neighborhood. It would be bigger, and cleaner, with a better set up for the Order and for the Weasleys once the summer started. That he had started to work on it once he had claimed his Black ring.

Dumbledore would find his Fideleous Charm moved from one home to another seeing as he had just attached it to a vase since Sirius didn’t allow him to attach it to a ward stone. The secret would change once the vase had been moved and everyone would have the new address instead of Grimmauld Place.

Sirius’ plan once they were moved was to do a full cleanse of Grimmauld Place afterwards. As it was, everything that Molly had tried to throw out without a care, or even destroy, had been gathered and packed away, moved into the locked attic. Someone with the proper training for such things would go through it all.

But now, two days after the invitation and start of Yule, Harry and Sirius was taking a walk. Harry was bundled in a warm cloak that he had gotten from Daphne with a matching scarf and gloves from Pansy. Sirius was bounding through the snow as Padfoot, making his godson laugh and shake his head before he came back, shaking himself off before returning to his human form.

“So, you wanna tell me what’s up with this thing between you and Heir Warrington?” Sirius asked as he smiled at his godson. “It seems kind of fast.”

Harry hummed. “It does, yeah, but it just seemed right to. He wanted to not only help to protect me but he wanted to do properly, which is why we’re courting right now instead of just straight into a Betrothal contract. It’ll also protect me from others trying to get to me for my titles and so called fortunes. Hell, Ravenclaw is simply a name with power. No real money behind it. I think that there’s maybe like…fifteen galleons all told in all of the vaults. The only reason why Gringotts kept them open was because the Founders were Goblin Friends. Yes, even Slytherin was a Goblin Friend. It doesn’t mean I’m a Goblin Friend, just that I’m holding the name of one.”

Sirius hummed, nodding his head. “Yeah, that would do it,” he said. “What are you planning on doing?” he asked.

“For now?” Harry shifted his scar around his neck as he watched a family of white furred foxes slink along the edge of the forest with his godfather. “Take advantage of the courting contract and get to know more people then just Hermione and Ron. I love them, loved in Ron’s case, but they have their own faults. Hermione is working on her issues, and she acknowledges that she still takes some things at face value. And people. She’s working on it. Ron though…Ron doesn’t know just how absolutely lucky he is to have all of his family. He has siblings that love him for all their fights. A mother and father who do love him despite how they act, it’s just…It’s hard to let things go I guess.”

“How is it hard?” Sirius asked.

“All Ron has seen, as I’ve learned, is the money that I have and the fame I would happily give up if I could have had my parents and a loving home,” Harry said softly. Sirius hummed, wrapping his arm around the other’s shoulders, pulling him closer.

“Yeah, I can see that,” Sirius hummed. “And Cassius helps you with learning to be yourself?” Harry nodded, getting a small smile. “Well, I’ll let it go for now. I’m watching your partner and if he tries anything…”

“The contract will punish him accordingly,” Harry stated as he turned back to the Longbottom home. “Come on then. “It’s almost time for lunch. The we all need to start getting ready for the ball.”

“How Cissy got me an invitation so damn fast…I’ll never quite figure that out,” Sirius snorted. He shook his head when Harry laughed at him.

Smiling as he sat with his mother at their dining table, Cassius chuckled softly at the look on her face. “Father finishing a few things before we’re to head to the gala?” he asked, sitting down across from her lunch.

“Indeed,” Jessica sighed before smiling at her son. “He’s eating lunch in his study because of something that came up that was an emergency. He agreed to look over some numbers for a friend of his who thinks that his business partner in embezzling money from their business,” she explained. Cassius hummed, nodding with a smile.

“Sounds as if it’s something that should be fast and easy to get through,” Cassius mused. “And of course you’ll drag him out to take care of himself for the gala.”

“Of course I will be,” Jessica teased, chuckling softly. “I saw those pictures in the papers of you and Harry at the Yule Ball. Was it fun?” she asked.

“Fun enough once we all got past the more boring parts of the ball,” Cassius admitted. “We danced quite a bit. We had a lot of fun. Talked with others. Planned on what they were going to do this year. Hermione had fun with Krum to. She seemed to really relax and be happy instead of just learning all she can. Harry was just happy to be able to spend time with his friends.”

Jessica nodded with a small smile, pleased at the thought of her son being around friends and his courting partner. “I’m glad that you were able to have fun, dear. Now, do tell me more about how your relationship with Harry is going.”

Cassius rolled his eyes fondly at her as he picked up half of the grilled sandwich that he was having for lunch. He bit into it and chewed, thinking for a moment. He thought about how to describe his time with Harry and his feelings. How it had been so easy to talk with him. How easy it was to fall in love with the younger teen.

How Harry had started to become more and more vibrant with self-confidence, a quiet thing that came from being cared for by those around him. How he had soaked up everything that they had to give him and return it ten-fold. How he was forming closer bonds every single day.

“To be truthful? It’s going so much better then I could have ever thought it would have,” Cassius finally said as he put the sandwich half down onto the plate again. His smile was soft and eyes bright. “He makes my heart soar and I find myself wanting to spend all of my time with him. I want to see him smile and laugh. I…just want to bask in all that he is.”

Jessica smiled sweetly at him, feeling nothing but surging delight for her son. She had once wondered if he would ever be able to find someone to love, being a rather standoffish child. But here he was, finding someone who was falling in love with him just as much as he was falling in love. Something that she had found with her husband once upon a time.

“Tell me all about it, sweetheart,” she asked. “Tell me about your first date.”

“I had it set up with our friends so that we could do an indoor picnic with all of the couples in our group. Seamus and Dean were there, but Markus was nice enough to bring Draco as a friend while Neville brought Hermione as a friend. Daphne and Tracy had what they called a friend date on top of that,” he stated, smiling at her. “Blaise also brought Luna as a date so she wasn’t left out.”

They continued to eat lunch as Cassius talked about their date and how each ‘couple’ had their own little picnic set up. Snape and McGonagall had been their chaperones, but they hadn’t really cared about that. They had just enjoyed spending time with each other and getting to know one another.

He talked about their next date next, a walk around Hogsmead and going to one of the nicer restaurants with Draco and Pansy as their acting chaperones. He talked about how he was happy that he had followed his instincts and had asked Harry out on a date when he had.

Jessica beamed at him as she listened to her son talk about his growing friend group and about all of the ways that he was falling in love with one Harry Potter, the Lord Potter and Ravenclaw, and future Lord Black. She just knew that they would make the most beautiful, loving, wonderful couple just by the way he seemed to gush about Harry.

She was very excited for the future that was to come.

08 Holiday Balls, Friendship and Reports

After he had lunch with Sirius, Augusta, and Neville, Harry took a shower and took his time dressing. He knew that dinner would be followed by the ball for a time with the various rooms set up for those who wanted to step away from the main area, usually those who needed to step away to speak with someone. He was rather looking forward to everything.

He, Neville, Augusta, and Sirius had all been invited and were going, the adults apparating them all. He and Neville hadn’t learned how to apparate so they would be taken by the adults. He pulled on simple but fairly elegant dark green robes that he had picked up along with the rest of his wardrobe. He didn’t enjoy fancy outfits but he knew that he had to wear something that looked good for such an occasion as a Lord and Heir.

With his chosen outfit pulled on, he carefully pulled his growing hair into a braid before he pulled on his shoes and grabbed his gloves and cloak. The apparition point was just far enough from the mansion to need a carriage to get to the main house as he had been told. The heating charms on the carriages, even the best ones, often didn’t work fully for all of them.

Walking down the stairs, he was joined by Neville who wore simple dark blue robes in a more modern cut, his heir ring to the Longbottom family prominent on his right ring finger. They joined the adults, Augusta dressed in a beautiful dress that looked good on the older woman, her normal cane switched out for one that was made of a twist of mistletoe and holly wood. It had been soaked in a special potion to make sure that the wood would stay strong and last no matter what kind of weight was put on it.

“You guys ready?” Sirius asked as he adjusted his deep red robe with a smile. He adjusted his cuffs, the mistletoe leaf shaped cuff links glowing in the soft candle light. “Remember to be polite. Harry, you’re going to end up being introduced first if they’re doing this right. Then myself, then Augusta and finally Neville.”

“That’s because of our status, right?” Neville asked. “Harry holds two Lordships and an heirship while you only hold a single Lordship as the Black Lord, which is just slightly older then the Longbottom family.”

“Exactly,” Sirius said, smirking at him as he nodded. He offered Harry his arm and allowed the young teen to curl his arm into the crook of his arm. “Now, hold on tight as we do this,” he warned, Harry pressing closer to Sirius. He groaned when Sirius apparated, grunting when they landed, shaking his head.

A soft chuckle to their left drew their attention, Harry and Neville smiling in greeting when they saw Blaise.

“Good timing. Lord and Lady Warrington, along with Cassius, should be here in just a few moments if you want to take the same carriage,” Blaise greeted.

A beautiful woman with darkly rich skin strolled up to them. She was wearing a beautiful, full length ruby colored dress that hugged her curves before falling loose and flowy from her hips down. It had carefully embroidered red roses in a few shades darker then the dress itself around her neck and along the bottom. Her sleeves went to her wrists while kid gloves in red lace covered her hands. They barely hid the obviously very sharp nails.

“This is my mother, Lady Zadillia Zabini,” Blaise introduced her, smiling at her.

“Though I can tell you that my current husband really does wish that I take his name,” Zadillia stated as she held out her hand. Harry smiled, took it and bowed slightly to ghost his lips over the back of her hand.

“I hear that he has some…questionable tastes,” Sirius drawled as he did the same, keeping eye contact with her as he smirked. “Tastes that makes it really hard for him to step foot in England lest he wants to find himself on the end of many wands in duels. Which means you’re without him tonight.”

“Quite a few questionable tastes. You really should speak with the youngest Tonks about her last encounter with him,” she suggested as she pressed a kiss to Augusta’s cheek in greeting. “I hear that she made him walk funny after that.”

“Ah yes, one of the stories she has told me. Said she used a spell that is used by my family to punish those who dare to…sexually assault another,” he drawled. “It was made by one of my female ancestors and makes them feel the same kind of pain that they caused,” he told Harry, who wrinkled his nose at that.

“I would say that it’s probably a good spell to know. Especially with someone like that,” Harry said, shaking his head.

“I’ll make sure to teach it to you and your friends,” Sirius promised as the Warrington’s all appeared. Cassius came over the moment he saw them and lifted Harry’s hand to press a kiss to it. Harry smiled up at him as Raphael chuckled softly.

“I take it that you’re all speaking about the spell that the young Auror Tonks used on your husband, Lady Zabini?” Raphael asked as he greeted her, then Augusta, Harry and Neville.

“Of course,” Sirius drawled, eyes amused. Cassius hummed.

“I think it’s a fitting punishment since it won’t work if you aren’t such a monster to do such things,” Cassius stated before he turned to Harry again. He tugged him close, getting a small blush from his partner as they smiled at each other. “Shall we head up to the mansion? I do believe that the others are waiting.”

“Of course, lets,” Augusta said, leading the way over to one of the bigger carriages. Raphael helped her, his wife, and Zadillia up into the carriage before Cassius helped Harry in, Neville stepping into it before the three men got in.

Once the door was closed behind them, the carriage started up the path to the Malfoy mansion that was decked out and waiting.

“I suppose we should prepare for this,” Harry breathed out as he wrinkled his nose at the thought of being stared at. Cassius smiled down at him, squeezed his hand, and stepped out the moment that they pulled up to the front door.

Working his way through the ballroom, Harry smiled and greeted the new people that Cassius and his Godfather were introducing him to. Corvus Lestrange turned out to be an older man who was in his early eighties but looked no older then his fifties. He spoke about voting yes to get every single Death Eater a fair trial when they talked with him.

He had been trying to get one for his grandsons from the word go to get full closure on what they had done, but it had been as if someone had stopped it from happening every time. Harry told him that while he didn’t particularly care for his daughter-in-law, or his grandson’s, he did feel that no one, not matter what they had or hadn’t done, should be railroaded through their trial. Or be lumped in on one trial.

They both agreed that Vertiserums would help to speed up the process, granted, but it should have really been used from the start. To Harry, it didn’t matter about the persons blood status, if it would show if a person was guilty or innocent, it should be used. Especially with so many having been tossed into Azkaban with shoddy trials.

Sirius admitted that they would be putting forth a motion to remove the Pureblood exemption for the potion, along with a full audit of the rules around crimes to make sure that they would be upheld evenly. Make it so that one person just didn’t have to pay a fine based on the guidelines while another lands in jail for the same thing.

Corvus agreed with that idea and told them that the Lestrange family would happily back them up.

After they had finished their chat with Corvus, who Harry had promised to write to about their future plans, there had been Regent Muriel Prewitt, who was holding the seat until the new heirs had been chosen. He told her about Fred and George when she asked about the Weasley children he knew personally, and how smart they were, already planning their shop and working towards it. That they would most likely pass their NEWTs with flying colors, but how they were also refusing to show just how smart they were.

No matter how much she loved her children, Molly could be a harridan about them choosing what she considered ‘safe’ jobs.

She promised to speak with the boys over the holidays before Harry and Cassius were greeted by Fudge.

“Ah, Lord Potter,” Fudge greeted as he gave a bit of a bow. Harry just gazed at him and nodded in greeting.

“Minister Fudge,” he said. He eyed the woman behind him with a slight frown. Her robes were quite pink, and far from fashionable, even for older fashions, compared to others. They were long and didn’t quite seem to fit right, as if she was trying hard to hide the slightly larger size of her body but had missed the mark with cheap tailoring.

His group watched as she plastered a bright smile on and giggled, Harry hiding the wince at the sound of the giggle. His hand gripped at Cassius’ arm tightly. The other male put his hand over his and they shared a look.

“Who is your companion, Minister?” Cassius asked as he looked the woman over.

“I am Dolores Umbridge, Heir Warrington,” she said, holding out her hand with an expectant smile. Cassius did the bare minimum of leaning over as he grasped her hand, not even touching the back of her hand with his lips before he stood. Harry did the same before tucking his hand back into the crook of Cassius’ elbow. “I’m the Undersecretary to the Minister,” she said.

“I see.” Cassius looked over to where Sirius and his parents were watching with guarded eyes. “I am fairly surprised that you were able to make it, Minister Fudge. How is your wife doing?” he asked.

Fudge beamed brightly at him. “She’s in Ireland right now, otherwise she would have come with me. She’s helping our youngest with her first child, as she’s done with all of our children who have our grandchildren,” he admitted. He chuckled softly. “A girl, the first of my four grandchildren actually. She’s just like her grandmother and mother with golden hair and hazel eyes.”

“I’ll have to send Melinda congratulations then,” Cassius said, Harry tilting his head to look at his partner. “She had graduated the year before you started,” he explained. Harry made an accepting noise and nodded.

“I’ll send my own congratulations through you to her then,” Harry said, Cassius smiling as Fudge beamed. “I hope that you have many healthy grandchildren then, Minister.”

“We are all hoping, yes, thank you,” Fudge said, nodding his head. Harry noted out of the corner of his eye that Umbridge scowled for a split second at having all of the attention on the Minister before she hid it quickly.

She stepped forward slightly with a sweet smile. “Mr. Pot…” she started before snapping her mouth closed at the blank faced look that Harry gave her. “Lord Potter, forgive me,” she said, knowing when to pick her battles. And she knew that the title of a trumped up tramp wasn’t one that she could fight in front of so many people who liked him. “Lord Potter, are the papers right about the way that you have come into your titles?” she asked.

“If you mean that I was unwillingly called to compete in a tournament set for adults and those who were willing, and was therefore named an adult?” Harry asked as he smiled thinly. “Yes, very correct. And so was everything that was said during Sirius’ trial. And anything that came directly from my mouth,” he continued. “I am very fortunate that I have friends and family to help guide me while I’m learning these things.”

“I have to ask, and I do hope that you take this as nothing more then concern, but…are you sure that you are safe with them?” she asked. Her eyes slid to where Draco and Blaise were watching them with bland looks. “They are the children of parents with certain reputations after all.”

“If I had known that he would be bringing you, Miss. Umbridge, I would have reminded the Minister that you are not very welcome due to your need to spread such slanderous words,” came the smooth, frigid voice of Narcissa Malfoy. She strolled up to them, coming to Harry first, pressing a light kiss to Harry’s temple with a soft look. “Cousin. I do hope that you are having a good time.”

“Of course I am. I take it that dinner is about to be called to order?” he asked, turning away from Umbridge.

“Yes, dear. And, Miss. Umbridge, do remember just whose house it is you’re in. You must remember your manners,” the beautiful woman stated, smirking at her before she strolled off as the dinner bell started to ring.

“If you will excuse us, Minister, we should return to our families,” Cassius said, nodding his head. Harry nodded to Fudge, seeing that the man’s smile was strained, before they walked away. They could barely hear the hissed words from Fudge as he reminded Umbridge that she had promised to use her manners. And to keep her vile words to herself.

Sitting down next to his Godfather while Cassius sat on his other side, Harry smiled up the table to Narcissa, who had taken her seat next to Lucius, the man sitting at the head of the table. With Sirius being Narcissa’s cousin, he had taken the seat to the left with Narcissa and Draco sitting on his right. Raphael and Cassandra was on Cassius’ other side, Blaise and his mother across from them. Across the table and slightly down, Pansy sat with her mother and father while Daphne and Astoria took up the last of the seats at the main table with their parents.

“Lord Potter, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” Lord Parkinson greeted, nodding his head. “This is my wife, Lady Kendra, and of course my daughter, who I hear you are already friends with, yes?”

Harry smiled and nodded as the drinks appeared. He looked at the wine glass and gently moved it to the side to be ignored with a smile at Narcissa. “I hope you’re not insulted, but I do not drink wine due to my age,” he reminded her. She simply chuckled and tapped the table with her wand.

“The elves usually go by titles if they are unsure about ages,” she admitted. Harry just nodded.

“That’s fine. And yes, Lord Parkinson, Pansy and I have had had the chance to become wonderful friends. Pansy and Daphne actually helped me to rebuild my wardrobe when they learned that due to way that they set up the tournament, it made me a legal adult,” he said, smiling at him. “She’s been a great help to with helping my other friend, Hermione Granger, learn about our world.

“A…” Lucius started before looking to his wife, who gave him a cool look and then to Sirius, who had just raised an eyebrow at him. They hadn’t had their meeting with each other about what his marriage with Narcissa would be, so he didn’t want to push Sirius nor his wife to hard at the moment. “She’s a muggleborn, correct?” he asked.

“She is. She’s top of our class, quite strong in her own right to. She’s been learning about the wizarding culture to. Pansy and Daphne have mostly helped her but Tracy, Neville and Draco also help sometimes when those two don’t know the answer or help her to research and what to look for,” Harry said. The food appeared, making them all smile.

The table was lined with platters of various meats, vegetable dishes of all kinds from all over the world with breads and various kinds of butter to use, fruit mixes, and pasta dishes all spread out. Some where casually floating, waiting to be called into the line to feed the people. Lucius served himself with a tap of his wand before the dish split into two parts and headed down each side so that they could all choose what they wanted.

Harry chose small amounts of things that he wanted, knowing that there would be more food later on and noticing that the smaller tables scattered around had the food doing the same thing for them.

“She’s learned quite a bit about our world and has admitted that none of the muggle-raised or born are taught any of the things that you would think that they should have,” Pansy said as the dishes finally settled.

“I have read from past copies of the Hogwarts class list that all muggleborns and those raised in the muggle side had to take Saturday classes about Wizarding Traditions and Laws during their first two years. They also have books and information that was sent tot hem over the summer to go over with their parents,” Daphne told them a before she took a delicate bite of some fruit.

Sirius hummed. “Me and Harry have been talking about seeing if we can’t work on bringing those classes back by next year at the least,” he said. “All those who are muggleborn or raised will be given some reading to do over the summer along with a list of books that they should look for if they have the time if they want to get a jump-start on the classes. Those who would have issues with buying their supplies will be free to apply for help in getting the extra books to. The next Wizengamont meeting is in January after all and we’ll be bringing it forward then.”

“That would help them to integrate into our world better?” Narcissa asked, Harry nodding.”

“There’s quite a bit that I’m seeing that is so wrong with our world,” Harry told them, shaking his head. “Restricting or denying parts of our world to hard is having a backlash. Or can have a backlash depending on time. Take the creature laws. Would they have joined the Dark Lord if they had proper rights as the intelligent beings they are? Werewolves are only dangerous three nights a month. If they can work and are willing to work, while also having a safe space to be during the full moon and getting their hands on the wolfsbane potion? They are just normal humans who would provide their working services and get paid and in turn pay their taxes. They’re putting money into the economic machine just by being treated like the humans that they are.

“With Vampires, I hear that they are the best employees to have to grow certain plants, so why not pay them to do that? Why are they being forced to live in places that do accept them while we try to grow the same plants but struggle? It’s seriously very stupid. And I’m hoping that we can fix these things,” he said.

He watched as the others around him started to talk about such things and the benefits of having the laws changed to allow those with creature blood to do what they had to do. The teens all shared looks, having debates about everything before and during their study sessions. Harry had given them some of his thoughts about their world as someone who had lived outside of the magical world and had seen how trying to squash a minority just caused more hurt for the community in the whole.

They were starting to come around to his thinking as far as he could see. Cassius just chuckled and pressed a kiss to his cheek as he smiled at his betrothed.

After the gala had ended for the night, Harry said his goodbyes to everyone, took Sirius’ arm, and let him apparate them back to the Longbottom home. Cassius had promised to make sure that they would see each other in the next few days with their friends and proper chaperones before he had left with his mother and father.

Blaise had smiled at him, promised he would be there for the few days vacation with everyone and left via a Portkey with his mother.

Augusta hummed contently the moment that they were home, already kicking her shoes off, an elf appearing to gather them. “How about we go ahead and change into something warm before we gather in the main room for spiced cider?” she asked.

“That sounds really good,” Sirius hummed as he stretched his arms over his head. “Tomorrow is know to be the rest day after all the galas. Only a few of us did leave after dinner since they have to do their own work or to head to family things tomorrow,” he told them. Harry smiled at that and nodded, the four all heading to their rooms. He placed the clothes he wore into the special hamper before he took a short shower, wanting to get off the sweat from the night off before sliding into the warm pajamas and slippers that had been set out.

Arriving down in the main room, he found that the others had done what he had done, taking a shower before dressing in pajamas and slippers. “It’s a good idea to get the scents of the ball off of your skin after one,” Neville told him, smiling softly at his friend as he sat down. Harry accepted the thick, long couch blanket that Sirius handed him. Augusta was already settled in with her own blanket, the item covering her from feet to neck. Her chair, which was built much like an overstuffed recliner, had the footstool kicked up with the back slightly lent back.

Harry and Neville shifted around when Sirius turned the couch that they were sitting on into a giant day bed for them. It allowed the two teens to lean back with their blankets over their legs and several pillows. Sirius took over the other recliner like chair, the only light in the room that of the warm fire that was burning.

Cups of hot apple cider, spiced to perfection by the house elves, appeared within easy reach of all of them. Harry picked up his mug as he settled back with a sigh of pleasure at the warmth in his hands.

“So, how was your first gala?” Sirius asked. Harry hummed.

“I’m really lucky that I don’t need to worry about hosting any major parties outside of our birthday until after we graduate,” he admitted. “And that I can be picky with those, keeping them to friends and allies due to the celebration that it’s supposed to be.”

“The really nice thing about birthdays is that you can be much stricter with the guest list,” Neville admitted, nodding his head. “I tend to only invite a few to my party.”

“Myself and Auggie tried to get him to invite some others, but I do suppose that he has his own reasons why he refuses to invite them,” Augusta admitted.

“At the time? Well, you wanted to invite the elder Nott brother and not his younger brother. Theodore was nicer then his older brother even then, who was a damn bully. Like his father. I’m just glad that technically Theodore was named as heir by his grandparents instead of his brother,” he said, shaking his head. “Despite what people think with Sam holding his father’s heirship.”

“Theo isn’t to bad. He can be standoffish yeah, but he has his own reasons. He’s also one of the few who had supported me from the word go just on the word of Cassius. Him, Draco, Blaise, Markus, Daphne, Tracey, and Pansy really. Dean and Seamus from our house to. Luna from Ravenclaw. Cedric actually waited until after the Vow to form an opinion, but that was because Hufflepuffs tend not to make a decision until they have all of the information that they can get,” Harry said as he shifted around. “I’m just glad that Hermione is starting to get over her issues with being right and listening to the adults all the time.”

“I think that’s because Daphne nearly beat her senseless by dragging her to Professor Snape after she took her under her wing. I heard from some of the others that Snape finally got it through her as to why he didn’t like her or her essays. He told her it was because of her attitude and her continued habit of not writing her essays in her own voice. That he didn’t want what the books said, he wanted her knowledge. I’ve seen her really going over her past essays with new knowledge,” Neville said.

“Daphne also wrote to tell me that Hermione had been studying on how to write a concise essay in her own voice while talking with some of her university age cousins over the holidays. Hermione wrote to me to. She wanted to say think you for the good history books on Wizarding society outside of England and asking if we could talk during the New Years Vacation and I told her that we could,” Harry said.

They turned to new conversation topics as they drank their cider after that. It didn’t take very long for the two teens to fall asleep on the couch. Augusta stood up with a fond shake of her head as Sirius chuckled. They moved their mugs to the tables and then arranged the boys on the day bed, covering them with bigger blankets, making sure the that the fire would burn for the rest of the night.

Sirius settled into the recliner chair with a pillow under his head and neck to watch over the boys, covering himself with a blanket.

He knew that the preliminary report from Hogwarts would be arriving to all of the Wizengamont members later that day. Just after noon it would arrive.

It was something that made him want to be close to the two boys who had been hurt so badly by the last war that they were still scarred emotionally and mentally from their first year of life.

Hermione wandered into her family home’s living room, staring at their tree as she put the book about Wizarding Traditions down, having been reading it in the study earlier. She knew that most muggleborns tended to mix the two worlds together, but it would take her time to figure out how she herself wanted to figure out how to do it.

Her mother, Jane, walked in behind her, carrying two mugs of hot chocolate, smiling softly at her daughter. “There are more presents that came from your friends under the tree,” she told her softly. Hermione took the mug with a smile on her face.

“Thanks for telling me, mum,” Hermione hummed as the two women sat on the couch together. The living room was the smaller of the two, more for family then hosting. Both of them preferred the cozy room since it was made just for their family. “I’ve been doing some more thinking.”

“Oh?” Jane prompted.

“About how I treated Harry earlier in the year. I know that I wasn’t as bad as Ron, but still, I wasn’t that nice. I was pushy and a brat. I apologized once but I think I’m going to do a proper, full apology that really means something,” she said. “Daphne, Tracy, and Pansy have all been really good at helping me to learn about my new culture, and learning how to restrain myself from being an absolute berk. But…”

“But doing a proper apology instead of something simple is a harder task to figure out,” Jane asked. Hermione nodded as she sipped her hot chocolate.

“Oh, you used the mint chocolate for our cups,” Hermione sighed happily as she melted into the couch. Jane chuckled softly.

“I’ve been working on some hot chocolate mixes that I will be sending with you to take with you during the trip. I heard that you told them about the mixes I make and I figured that they would like some for your New Years celebration. Your father and I are taking advantage of you going to go do adult thing,” Jane admitted. “Everything will have instructions on how to make a cup. I made one each of mint, white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate raspberry.”

“Thanks, mum. I take it that there’s mixes for the adults to?” she asked, Jane nodding and winking at her.

“I’ve also made sure that they all have notes on what kind alcohol would be best with what drink and how much to add to it so that you don’t get drunk off of one cup. I also created a little recipe book with a variety of drink mixes and cookies that come from the family. I’m sure that the house elves will like the added recipes to their repertoire,” Jane told her. She settled in and stared at the tree with her daughter. “As for what has you worried, dear. All I can advise you to do is say what is in your heart. You can’t plan an apology like an essay as you know.”

Hermione huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, I know. I just…I don’t want to put my foot in my mouth. I need to at least get in my head what I’m apologizing for even if I’m not sure how to word it. I don’t want to insult him just by trying to apology,” she said quietly. She sipped the drink as she watched the lights twinkle.

Jane hummed and pulled her close to her body, cuddling them together. Hermione sighed as she melted into the warmth of her mother’s hug and body. “Just be yourself, Hermione. Say you’re sorry and what you’re sorry about. Don’t try to justify what you did, just be real that you messed up and that you are regretful about it. State the truth.”

Hermione hummed, smiling as she nodded to her mother, agreeing with her words. “I will be,” she promised, smiling up at the woman. “Thank you for talking with me. I think I just needed to get my thoughts out to someone.”

“Of course you did, dearest. Us Granger women always need to talk about our feelings and thoughts,” Jane teased her, smiling down at her daughter. “Now, tell me about this Neville fellow you keep talking about. He sounds like a sweet young man,” she teased.

Hermione turned red as she groaned, trying to hide her face behind her mug of hot chocolate. “Mother!” she cried out. “Please. He’s nothing but a good friend. A wonderful friend. I don’t…To be truthful, I don’t think I’m quite ready to date someone while I’m figuring myself out.”

Jane smiled, feeling warm from the words. “Yes, that’s what I said about your father and look where that got me,” she teased dryly. Hermione groaned at her in return.

Blaise chuckled as he set up the next part of their Yule holiday, checking on the log that he and his mother had lit together the day that he had gotten home.

“Are you sure that you will be fine without me here?” Blaise asked his mother as she placed the candles around the room. “Your new husband is looking mighty smug that I won’t be around for New Years. And do not think that I haven’t noticed the decorations for Christmas instead of Yule in a good portion of the manor,” he noted.

The beautiful woman that stood next to him snorted as she looked at him. “It is because we are to have some influential people who enjoy the muggle customs more then the traditional ones. They know that we do celebrate the old traditions and just have galas and parties on the day of Christmas,” Zadillia stated as she placed her newest Yule gift onto her mantle.

It was from Blaise and he always made sure that she had a new protective symbol every year. Just in case.

Blaise hummed as he adjusted his new necklace that was sitting around his neck. It was a simple chain that had a small dew drop that hung from it, but really it wasn’t the look of it that mattered. It was the carefully placed warding runes that his mother had built into every link. It would protect him in the coming years she had told him, after she had showed him the cards that kept getting thrown.

While she didn’t have Luna’s abilities to see the threads of Fate and Time without issue, she could read the cards, bones and runes better then anyone that he knew. She connected with those tools in ways that even her own grandmother couldn’t.

Blaise shook his head with a snort. “I take it that he won’t be making it out of this Christmas party?” he asked.

“No, he won’t be. It seems as if his mistress has finally figured out that he will not be divorcing me any time soon. The prenuptial that we have signed is just to airtight for him to leave me with any hint of money. It would only give him a quarter of what we share as a couple,” Zadillia stated as she turned to her son, smiling at him. “She was smart enough to warn me that he would most likely be fairly ill for a few days after he visits her. And he has been.”

“Glamours?” Blaise asked. He hadn’t seen anything different with his stepfather so that was the only explanation. Zadillia nodded. “I thought so. Slow acting?”

“Very. Her entire family is very well known for their potions and herbology skills after all. What most don’t know is that they know how to make a poison that will leave the system once the hearts stop pumping. It breaks down into normal, everyday ingredients that one would find in the system of a man who took a potion for erectile dysfunction,” Zadillia purred, eyes glowing with delight. “Which he takes of course. It’s a very well known secret of his after all.”

“Of course,” Blaise said, staring at the small gift pile that he had gathered for his friends. “Still, I’m due to be with my friends the day of Christmas and then I am heading to France for New Years,” he reminded her.

“The funeral will not be held until after New Years and it’ll be small. His body will stay under preservation charms once they have gone over it. It is known that I have the worse kind of luck with my partners. With the information of his…activities in the Thai islands that I will ‘find’ after his death and my appropriate worry that he might have tried for you and other children in your circle…”

“Never mind that I am not a female in any form, and he was so scared of seeming to come off as homosexual that he refused to look at me for longer then two seconds?” Blaise asked, giving his mother a knowing look.

She just smiled at him, tilting her head before placing a small box next to the pile of gifts. “That one is for the young Potter. Tell him that the box within will open on his birthday only if certain things happen.” Zadilla frowned as she paused. “I do hope that those things won’t happen though. I really, truly do.”

“I’ll see if I can’t invite him to visit us here during the summers to. If things do happen as you and Luna think they might, he will need some time away from England to heal after a while,” Blaise said.

Zadillia nodded her head. “He and any guests that he wishes to bring with him will find privacy in the Sunset rooms. I think that he will appreciate the sun setting over the field of flowers more then seeing them in sunrise,” she decided.

Blaise smiled at her, placing a hand on her arm. “Thank you, mother.”

“Of course, dear. He will need all of the support that he can get and I plan on giving him it.”

Bill groaned softly as he finished writing out his report as his boss, Rocksong, worked on his own report at his own desk. “So much of this is just going to have to wait until after the summer vacation starts,” he warned his boss, looking to the goblin. Rocksong hummed, nodding his head.

“We’ll have to update the ward stones, make sure that they are standing strong. Refreshing the magical system of the entire castle truly. I won’t have any doubt that there will be some refreshing of the castle magics to. It’s going to be an interesting one. The Hogwarts manager has finally gotten Dumbledore to come in and get through the things now that he has access to the accounts. Lord Ravenclaw will need to sign off on the restructuring of the school budget but it’ll do the school good,” he said as he sat back in his chair. “He will not be pleased by the fact that there are paychecks that have been going out that shouldn’t have been. The fact that the original Hogwarts manager refused to work with Dumbledore put things into quite the twist.”

“Yeah. When I talked to Ron, he said that one thing that Lord Ravenclaw is big on is making sure that things are done right,” Bill admitted. “That he’s full of sass but has a strong sense of right and wrong. Which should help in the future. I take it that you guys will be setting up a meeting with him about the budget soon?” he asked.

Rocksong nodded his head. “River is going to send him a letter after New Years. He wishes to set it up for before he has to return to Hogwarts so they can start on that planning. The meeting for our figures are to be on the fourth. The students are going to return to the castle on the sixth. He’ll most likely try for the fifth,” he mused as he looked over the calendar with everything on it. “I don’t know how they have let things get so bad. Not truly.”

“At least we got the acromantula taken cared of for good. Hagrid was really pissed off when he learned that we had to cull some of them down but sent the rest of them where they should have been long before now. I had to tell them that they’re considered an invasive species and highly controlled for a reason. Bane had to tell him that the spiders had an appetite for the children of the centaur clans, and if they could have done it, they would have destroyed the entire nest long before now. But all of that silk harvested will end up helping the Hogwarts coffers become healthy again,” Bill said as he shrugged one shoulder.

“Indeed. River is holding onto the money until after Ravenclaw signs things off. The tip about the beast in Slytherin’s chambers and how to get to it will also make Ravenclaw’s coffers very healthy to,” Rocksong stated. He tapped a long clawed finger on his desk as he narrowed his eyes at something. “I am glad that the boy told us about it before Dumbledore did though. The man did try to claim that the beast would be best used for Hogwart’s benefit, never mind that the laws that we have on killing a beast in self defense are very clear on who gets what.”

“And seeing as it was Lord Ravenclaw who killed it to save my sister’s life, we do owe him a life debt at that. I need to actually write to him about that. I know that mom would love to try really hard to leverage that to get him to marry Ginny,” Bill snorted. “It won’t happen of course. Mostly because he’s in a Courting Contract that looks like it will become a Betrothal contract at the end of the year for them. But also because Harry doesn’t seem to be the type to break promises.”

“From what Axegrind has told us about him, he is not one to do that,” Rocksong stated, shaking his head. “Your mother would have a better chance at having her daughter be a surrogate to Lord Ravenclaw and his Courting partner if they wish to have surrogates. He does not seem as if he will want to have multiple spouses or concubine contracts,” he mused.

“He won’t. Not if he’s like any other Potter that is out there. He’s most likely going to stay with one partner outside of losing love for each other or death. And even then, it’d be a while before he decides to find someone new. I’ll talk with him about this. Probably during his summer vacation so he has time to think about it all,” Bill promised. He picked up his typed report and tapped it on the table to get the pages to settle neatly together. He then used a spell that acted much like a staple that held the pages together. “I am so glad that I learned that American spell. Such an amazing little thing. And that we can use the typewriters. Makes writing our longer reports so much easier.”

“Why you English wizards don’t do the same thing as the rest of the world, I will never understand,” Rocksong said, wrinkling his nose before he did the same to his own report. Unlike his human counterpart though, he used a rune covered stamp to create the staple in his papers. “Take this with you when you go drop off yours with Grindstone,” he requested. Bill nodded, taking the report and adding it to the other reports in his arms. He headed out of their temporary office and down to the office of their head of the department to drop it all off.

He noted the rather tall stack of reports that Grindstone already had waiting for him, wincing.

“I’m going to guess that the other teams found more issues with the school?” he asked. Grindstone grunted as he pulled off his glasses and pressed his fingers on the bridge of his nose.

“Yes, they have. Though most of them are about this Room of Requirement that they have found in the school. Tell no one about this, but they found a Horcrux. This will fall under your oaths to Gringotts, Weasley,” he stated. Bill nodded as he felt the small runic tattoo on his hip heat up.

“Of course, sir,” he said, thinking as he frowned. “But do Horcruxes really work? As far as I know all they do is make sure that if you do die, you can’t pass over in full. You end up cursed instead of immortal and the more you make, the less sanity you have.”

“Indeed. We think it is connected with the self styled Dark Lord Voldemort. The item will be brought to our special underground buildings under Hedgestone that we can test it in full. If the one who has made it is still floating about, or has more then one for some stupid reason, we can find out how many there are,” he stated. Grindstone sat back in his chair. “I fear though that if it is attached to him, then there is a prophecy connected to him and to Lord Ravenclaw. And we’d be unable to do anything without a specific contract,” he said.

“And that means we’d have to tell Lord Ravenclaw about this and possibly draw Lord Potter further into this.”

Grindstone frowned as he stared at the reports that were turned in already. “I fear so.”

Harry smiled as he happily waved to his friends, Cassius smiling as he stood next to him. “So, what’s the plan for today?” he asked once everyone had gathered together.

Neville, Dean, and Seamus all held large baskets that had come from the Longbottom elves while Pansy, Daphne, Hermione, Draco, Blaise, and Markus were all looking over for their options for the New Years Eve fun. They had all arrived in Salem the day before via an international portkey and had rested the time difference off. But now, they were wanting to visit things on the magical side.

“Well, the four of us,” Neville said, pointing over at Harry, himself, Seamus, and Dean, “all figured that since there’s a really nice indoor garden we’d go do a picnic for lunch since the adults are trusting us to behave while staying near us. Thus the baskets.” He heft the one in his arms. “It’s almost one now and the main lunch crowd has already left.”

“That sounds like a wonderful time,” Hermione said as she looked at the brochure that showed the entirety of where the magical side of Salem was found. She was so glad that she hadn’t chickened out last minute and come with her friend group. She had a lot to learn and this would be good practice. “Which adults are acting as our chaperones?” she asked.

Seamus pointed over to the four adults who had their own basket with them. “Lord Malfoy, Lord Black, Lady Malfoy, and Lord Warrington all agreed to watch us,” he said. “I think Lord and Lady Malfoy are also going to treat it as a bit of a date.”

Draco groaned as he dramatically leaned into Markus. “Don’t remind me that they still do date nights. But to be truthful,” he started, standing straight again, moving closer to his friends. “I do think father is really thinking hard about what he stands for and what he is willing to do. Lord Black is looking at him and his marriage to mother currently. They’re going to be talking about things as soon as we travel back to Hogwarts,” he admitted softly.

Hermione bit at her bottom lip before reaching out and offering a supportive hand on his arms. “My parents went through a bit of a trial separation back in second year,” she admitted softly. “The thought of your parents getting divorced is hard enough. Them actually going through it will most likely be harder if it comes to it. Just know that we are all here to support you,” she offered quietly.

Draco and Markus both stared at her with wide eyes, surprised that she had willingly shared something so private and delicate with them. Draco mentally shook himself out of his stupor and gave her a grateful smile, nodding at her. “Thank you, Granger.”

“Please, if we’re to spend any more time with each other, call me Hermione. Daphne, Pansy, Harry and Tracy already do it,” Hermione stated, looking at the group. “That does go for everyone who is comfortable with it.”

“That’ll work for me,” Markus said before he lead them down a path and towards the indoor garden, the map in his hand showing where they were as a red dot that moved with them. “Call me Markus. Daphne said that you have an appointment on the second with the Bank?”

“Ah, yes, I do. We were able to at least get in and talk with them about things. Daddy did some genealogy digging and fount that we have a family member that didn’t have any information about six generations. He was found without any kind of memories around age nine, which we think means he was labeled and squib and shunted out of the magical world. But we’re not sure. That’s on mom’s side of the family though. Dad did some research into the Wizarding world and found the Dagworth-Grangers on our side. His great-grandfather’s last name was that, but his grandfather had dropped the Dagworth name and kept the Granger for some reason. We think that he had some magic but not a lot and ended up leaving the Wizarding world because of it,” Hermione admitted. “He wants to see if there are any heirlooms that I have rights to so I can connect with my magical family line better. To do that though, I need a blood test.”

The group all stared at her before Markus snorted. “From what I know about the Dagworth-Grangers, they looked a whole like what you do. The fluffy curls in your hair was one thing and they created whole line of hair care for curls,” he teased. Hermione rolled her eyes. “Daphne, would you be so kind as to take her to a specialized salon soon would you? There are potions that will let her curls be tamed properly and look good. It’ll go a long way for you integrating into our culture,” he told her.

Hermione huffed. “She promised to do it this summer,” Hermione said, Daphne nodding her head.

“It’s going to be a very long all day kind of thing. Hermione will be taught how to use each product, how often to wash her hair with each things, the best kind of pillowcases for her hair and wraps to protect her curls at night, and of course treatments,” Pansy said, waving a hand with a smile. “Mother has curly hair herself and took one look at Hermione when we were picking her up and made an appointment with our salon.”

“Mama has made sure that I know skin care, body care, and various other things. My first pimple had her taking me to a dermatologist for a full consultation and a plan to make sure that I’m working on keeping my skin healthy,” Hermione told them. “Mostly because our teen years are the base of what we will deal with coming adulthood.”

“It sounds like it,” Harry said as he shook his head with a smile. “Sirius had someone come over to the Longbottom mansion during the break and go over good health care of our own skin and hair,” he admitted, pointing to himself and Neville.

Neville nodded with a smile. “It was informative but I found out why I have so many issues with some of the body washes that I use. They have a few ingredients that I have skin reactions to apparently. We found some ones that will work with me along with body lotions and creams.”

“I found that I prefer to use body butter when it comes to my skin,” Harry admitted. Cassius chuckled.

“The letter that I got after you learned that was full of things about it,” he teased, Harry blushing up at him but smiling. “It actually gave me some good ideas for future gifts. Mom is helping me to pick things out,” he said. Harry beamed. “I just need to know preferred scents.”

“Fruity ones when I’m feeling androgynous or feminine, sandalwood and cloves for normal day to day scents. And light spice for just whenever I want something new,” Harry ticked off. “Fleur sent me a huge set of sample scents broken down by what they’re based off for me to test,” he explained. “I’ve been trying different scents every day.”

“I love a good sandalwood myself,” Draco said with a smile. “It’s a subtle scent and rather nice.”

“It is,” Harry agreed, Cassius burying his nose into Harry’s hair with a pleased hum. The younger male laughed softly and pushed at him before they walked up to the door to the indoor garden. They paid for their group fee and headed to where they had been told to go for their spot for their picnic.

Harry stepped out onto the balcony to come to stand beside Hermione, who was wrapped up in warm clothing, watching the ball that was set to drop in just a little while at midnight. “You’re thinking some hard thoughts there,” he greeted softly.

The group was staying in the penthouse that Sirius and the Malfoys had reserved for them. Harry, Draco, and Seamus had been put into one bedroom that held three beds. Cassius, Markus, Blaise and Dean was sharing another room, much to Seamus’ dissatisfaction. Hermione was sharing a room with Daphne, Pansy and Tracy that had two queen sized beds. The Malfoys, the Warrington’s, and Sirius all had their own rooms.

It was a huge place with a small kitchen that had a big enough refrigerator that Sirius had stocked up with drinks from both sides of Salem along with various snacks. They would be leaving for home the next day sometime after nine to arrive home around five. They were looking forward to spending the day in bed but at that moment, he was standing with Hermione.

They were watching a sparkling ball and the countdown to the New Year, both trying to find that easy friendship they used to have before his name came out of the goblet. They were getting better, but there was still something between them.

She finally broke the silence. “I am,” she said as she tugged her gloves up on her hands. “I never thought that I would be cheering for a Slytherin during something like this. Much less cheering him on to make you happy in life,” she said. She turned to lean her back against the railing, Harry mirroring her. “You know, I always thought that teachers knew everything. That their word should be trusted without a thought but…”

“But?” Harry prompted.

“But I’m starting to think that they’re really not the most trust worthy adults around,” she said, looking to Harry with a frown on her face. “It’s as if the ones that we should trust the most have been the ones that have lied, deceived or just not do anything for us the most. It’s hard to come to terms with.”

“Hermione, I hate to say it but the world is far from the black and white we may want to think it is,” Harry said. They turned when Sirius cleared his throat, carrying two mugs of hot chocolate piled high with whipped cream on top.

“Harry’s right, you know?” Sirius asked, handing Hermione a mug before handing Harry the other. “Come on, sit down with me for a minute,” he said. He walked over to the balcony chairs and sat down, the other two joining him. “I’m not a nice man, Hermione. Yes, I’m nice to those that I consider friends and family, but I am a cold bastard to others. I wear a mask in public. Does that make me evil? No, it makes me smart to know how the reality of the world works. For you, you are well loved, but fairly isolated as a child. Most likely because of your brilliance. You clung to what you could control in your life which was books and the ones who taught you because they were kind to you.”

Hermione sighed and nodded. “As I’m learning. I had thought that all teachers and adults were trustworthy, that they wouldn’t hurt me like my fellow students would and wouldn’t lie to me.”

“So you pushed yourself to be seen as the smartest. You’re smart, Hermione, make no mistake, but you forgot that things aren’t always so black and white. We’re living life, not reading a book. Books are written by humans after all, and humans are far from infallible,” Harry said. “I learned that at a very young age when a teacher that I thought would help me get away from the Dursleys instead told them about her concerns. She got fired in turn, moved and I was starved for three days for daring to air our ‘private’ business. I stopped trusting adults after that,” he continued. “Just because they’re nice to you doesn’t mean that they’re right. Or telling the truth. You have to use your own mind.”

“That’s what Pansy has been telling me. She sat me down after a couple of study sessions and really gave me an eye-opening talk. I…I wanted to tell you that I really am sorry for being such a bad friend in so many ways. I tried so hard to push you to be someone that you weren’t. To do things and think things that I thought that you should think and do instead of just trying to get to know who you are.”

Harry smiled, reaching over to squeeze her arm gently. “Get to know the me that I’m also getting to know, Hermione. How about this: we work on learning who we are together. You’re not just my only friend any more, but you are my oldest friend. It kind of hurt at the thought that I wouldn’t be able to keep you as a friend because you started to pull away the way you did.”

“Because I was being an absolute idiot,” Hermione snorted. She drained her hot chocolate with a sigh. “Let’s get inside. The countdown is about to start and I want to start this new year fresh. With my friends.”

Harry and Sirius both stood and walked in with her, finding everyone waiting with sparkling juice for the underage teens and champagne for the adults. They started the countdown together, following the American tradition of kissing their partner that they wanted to be with. Seamus and Dean shared a kiss on the couch while Draco was blushing brightly as Markus kissed the back of his hand. Hermione was doing the same as Draco with Neville while Harry was exchanging a soft, caring kiss with Cassius.

Sirius chuckled as the ball dropped, slipping into his bedroom to mourn what he had lost. Narcissa and Lucius held hands, watching him with thoughtful, sad eyes.

Stepping into the Malfoy house, having spent the rest of the vacation with his godson and dealing with the Wizengamont meeting about Hogwarts, Sirius took a deep breath. A house elf appeared, bobbing a curtsy. “Missy is to show you to the study where Lord Malfoy be waiting,” she said, her English surprisingly better then most of the elves he’d met. Looking at her though, he had a feeling that she was one of Narcissa’s personal elves.

“Please do,” Sirius said, smiling as he nodded. She showed him to the study, promising tea in a moment as the door swung open to let him in. “Lucius,” he greeted. The man had dressed in a simple pair of pants and a button down shirt, forgoing the robe that was hanging on a coat rack.

“I hope that you don’t mind that I am so casually dressed, Sirius,” Lucius said as he turned around to greet him. Sirius waved a hand with a snort.

“No, no. While this is a serious talk, it’s not one that needs us to be dressed to the nines,” Sirius stated as he looked down at his own clothes. A basic day robe that hung open over dragon-hide pants and a simple shirt was his outfit of choice. “You know what I’m going to ask of you, right?”

Lucius sighed, nodding his head. “I do, yes,” he said as he moved to sit in one of the arm chairs before a fireplace.

Sirius sat in the opposite one as a tea set appeared on the coffee table. The pot poured them tea before the cups floated to them allowing them to doctor their drinks as desired. Lucius added some cream and sugar to his while Sirius added just a bit of cream.

“It…There are circumstances behind why I joined that you may not know,” Lucius started.

“What kind of circumstances are we talking about?” Sirius asked.

Lucius hummed. “Did you know that at one time, the Dark Lord wasn’t a complete maniac who was willing to torture his people? No, he was charismatic. Utterly brilliant. He was what this world needed to fix what was being broken in inches, as the Americans say.” He stared at his tea with a frown. “He could charm the paint right off a wall. My father knew him as another name, but he wouldn’t tell me. He even censored his journals of his years at Hogwarts. I do know that he was strong, smart, and very much the Heir of Slytherin. Beyond that? I just knew that he would change things.”

“What was being broken?” Sirius asked him. “In your eyes that is.”

“You’ve seen it. The muggleborns bring in their irrational fear of creatures more and more. Anyone who has done a lick of research knows that most of the magical families have some kind of creature in their family history. That was how magic was introduced to humanity in general. The normal human body isn’t equipped to hold magic fully. Yes, Magick Herself prompted these matings and changes, but we have lost so much history through the many decades that we have nearly forgotten how things started. It’s even made those Purebloods who know their history forget some of where their magical blessings come from.”

“But not you or yours,” Sirius said. Lucius hummed. “All those raids on your home…”

“People who were trying to prove that my house holds Dark Artifacts, never mind that everything Dark is not Evil. They have a strict list on what they can confiscate but there is quite a longer list on what they can not.” Lucius crossed his legs. “I hold books older than the English Ministry. I know for a fact that they want access to those books. Some want to censure them. Others would see them destroyed because if their truths are let loose, there will be changes they don’t want,” he continued.

“I want to come back to those books later, but first, let’s get the big thing out of the way. You say that he was once the change we needed. Does this mean you will be going back to him if he comes back?” he asked.

Lucius took a breath and reached over to a side table where a book sat, handing it over. “This is in Parseltongue. My father found out that it was where the Dark Lord found the brand that marks our arms. We tried to find others who can read it but we have been unsuccessful. I believe that it would allow me to gain freedom from the slave brand on my arm, but I need someone to do the spells within in Parseltongue. Otherwise I will be forced to return to his service.”

Sirius licked his lips and took a slow breath to calm himself down. “You don’t want to go back to him now.”

“I do not. I do dearly love my wife. Perhaps not as a husband should, but I do love her. And I love my son. I do not wish to lose either of them. I would like to renegotiate the marriage contract, but I do not want to lose them,” Lucius said, shaking his head with a frown. “Unfortunately the only part of our contract that can not be changed is the divorce part. We are stuck with each other until we either break some part of the contract, which comes with heavy monetary and magical fines, or we die. One of the two. You can imagine that neither of us want that. Or you declare our marriage voided which hurts the Malfoy name.”

“No, I don’t suppose that you do.” Sirius looked at him, really studying him before nodding. “Fine. As long as the two of you are truthful about what you want, I will allow this marriage to continue. I will set up a meeting with the Goblins to oversee the renegotiation of the marriage contract between the two of you. Bring what you both want and we’ll work it out,” he stated. “And in the meantime, I’ll get this book to Harry and see if he can’t figure out what needs to be done. Hopefully he can figure it out before the end of summer. Or sooner.”

Lucius frowned at him. “You don’t think…”

“We all know that he’s trying to come back, Lucius,” Sirius stated as he stood up and tucked the book away. “Unfortunately for us, we don’t know where, when or how he’ll try. I’ll have Harry send you a letter via house elf once he knows anything about what can be done,” he promised. Lucius nodded his head and watched as Sirius left the study, heading for the floo room.

He wondered just what would happen in the coming months and couldn’t help but pray that he would be free before Voldemort returned. But until such a time, he would transfer the wards into Narcissa’s hold and have her lock them down.

Having dropped Harry off at the train station to return to school, Sirius blew out a breath, smiling sadly as he and Lucius walked away from the train station together. Narcissa had already left to go see her sister, Andromeda, having been told to go talk with her since she was going to rejoin the Black family as soon as Sirius could get to the main Black house. Draco had been the one to tell her to go after they had said their goodbyes, Narcissa agreeing and leaving them to do what they needed to do.

“Sirius?” came a soft voice that Sirius knew. The day he had left Grimmauld place, he hadn’t told anyone that he was going to be staying out of the town house while he got some of the Black houses up to order. He knew that they had wondered, had tried to bring him back. And yet, he knew that voice. Had listened to that voice for years.

Turning, he gazed at Lupin, who was looking rather pathetically sad and more then ready to flee at the sight of Sirius standing beside Lucius. “Remus,” he greeted, nodding his head.

“I…where have you been?” Remus asked. He eyed Lucius as the man just ignored him and adjusted the gloves on his hands.

“I’ve been working on dealing with things that the Black Family should have been dealing with. Such as my cousins, and my homes,” Sirius stated. “I’ve been at the Wizengamont meetings with Harry to, working on fixing a few things.”

“Yes, I know that. I got the notification that I was being replaced as the Potter family regent,” Remus stated.

“Because Harry decided to have someone with familial blood sitting for him. Once I’m done with bringing Andromeda back into the family, she’ll be taking over for the days that Harry is unable to attend,” Sirius told him.

“The few that there will be,” Lucius drawled. “With Dumbledore at the helm of the meetings, outside of pre-ordained ones or emergency ones, he tends to arrange things around his schedule. But he might just try to make it hard for young Potter to attend.”

Sirius snorted as he crossed his arms. “Not that he could do that really. Harry is doing his schooling via tutors after all. As long as he keeps up with his work, he can attend meetings as he pleases or if he feels the need to,” he said, shaking his head. “And he has a two way journal that writes to him while the meeting is ongoing,” he continued.

Remus’ lips pursed, knowing that he wouldn’t win that conversation. “What are you doing with Malfoy then?” he asked instead.

Sirius hummed. “He is my cousin’s husband. We are discussing what they are both looking for in their marriage contract now that I can renegotiate it for them. They aren’t able to divorce without heavy hits on both sides, but they don’t mind.”

“We just wish for a bit more freedom in our personal lives truly,” Lucius stated as he tilted his head. “Sirius is willing to allow us to write it out as long as the power balance between us isn’t favorable one way or the other. It has made quite a few things between me and my wife easier. We are talking out what we want. I was going to take Sirius out to lunch, joined by Narcissa and Andromeda to get to know each other a bit more. Our reservations are in a bit though,” he reminded Sirius who nodded his ehad.

“Was there something that you needed, Remus?” Sirius asked.

“I was hoping to speak with you.” Remus paused, sending Lucius a look. “Along if possible.”

Sirius hummed before he pulled out a small book that he had created as his daily planner, his appointments taking up quite a bit of space. It was getting quite full between the meetings at Gringotts, talks with various other Lords and Ladies that he had to speak with as he settled the Black reputation, and even a meeting with some of the ICW council about what was building in England.

“If you don’t tell anyone about the meeting, before or after, I will send you a portkey for you that will be keyed into your magical signature only to meet me somewhere we can speak privately,” Sirius finally said. “Tomorrow preferably since I have another appointment I have time before to attend.”

Remus nodded his head. “That would work.” He frowned before sighing, eyes closing. “Are you safe?” he asked.

“Very safe, Remus. Just seeing some things that I should have seen a long time ago,” Sirius told him before he tilted his head. “If you’ll excuse us though, two lovely ladies are waiting for us.”

With that said, he turned on his heel and left, Lucius’ hand coming to rest on his lower back as the man lent over slightly to speak with him, Remus watching them.

He wanted to do nothing more then to rip the man’s arm off and beat him with it for daring to touch Sirius. But the werewolf had a feeling that if he did, it would turn out to be a bad idea.

Harry watched everyone move around the Grand Hall as they enjoyed dinner, talking with people that they hadn’t had the chance to see over the holidays. Harry himself had chosen to sit next to Fleur, Lucas and Luna at Ravenclaw table, all four of them enjoying the welcome back feast. Cassius had escorted him to the table with a chaste kiss before he had joined his fellow Slytherins at their table. Hermione and Neville were across from them, looking particularly cozy, Luna giggling over how cute they were together.

“I bet that he will speak with her parents over the summer about a Courtship Contract. You should be there to explain what it is properly to them,” Luna said as she patted Harry’s hand.

“Really?” Harry asked, Luna nodding her head. “Then I will do that. How was your holidays?” he asked.

“I spoke with Ginny about a few things. It seems as if the family was going to visit a friend of the family over the holidays but it fell through,” Luna told him. “We spoke about you some what, and what her expectations surrounding you were.”

Harry wrinkled his nose at that. “I really don’t want to ask but I probably should. What did she say?”

“That she is disappointed that you’re not the Boy-Who-Lived that those who have lived in the Wizarding World heard of. Instead you are…not what she had expected,” Luna said.

“In other words, she had expected someone strong, heroic and wanting to jump into a fight at the drop of a hat?” Lucas asked as he waved his fork. His voice had the odd overtone of the translation rune that sat on his heir ring. Luna nodded.

“Yes. She wanted someone who is, in her mind, a pure Gryffindor, but has instead found that Harry is all of the Houses in parts. He’s smart, ambitious to a point, just like the Slytherins. He’s loyal to his friends, like our Hufflepuffs. He’s also smart and is now showing that, like the Ravenclaws used to do before they became hoarders of knowledge. And he’s strong and protective of those who are in danger, like Gryffindor. He is not just one thing and she is working to come to terms with that. Especially with the fact that Harry is now being courted,” Luna said.

Harry tilted his head, catching the sad note in her voice before he reminded himself that he shouldn’t ask her about such things. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t do so and wouldn’t ask her what she knew.

If he was supposed to know it, she would tell him. They all knew this.

“I’m just me,” Harry stated, wrinkling his nose.

“Yes, but according to all of the books that are about you are about how you go on grand adventures,” Luna said as she shook her head. Her radish earrings wiggled as she smiled sweetly up at him. “The one with the griffin is apparently very popular,” she teased. Harry just sighed as he pulled out his tiny notebook and wrote down that he should deal with the books over the summer.

“The more that I’m starting to learn about all of these things, the more that I learn that I need to deal with more and more things,” Harry moaned. Fleur cooed at him as she patted his head, smiling at the curls that the motions created. Harry just pouted at her as he carefully ignored the studying looks that he was getting from Severus and Dumbledore both.

He didn’t know what they were thinking, but he really wasn’t wanting to know. That worry could come later.

After he had dealt with the first two tasks.

Ginny chewed on a bit of chicken as she watched the way Harry was talking with Luna, smiling and happy and oh so bright. Her eyes were constantly drawn to the bracelet around his wrist and the new cuff links that she knew for a fact that he hadn’t owned before the holidays. Both of them glittered in ways that only came with strong protections.

She hated it. All she wanted to do was walk up to him and destroy the bracelet, tell him to leave Cassius and have him fall into her arms, begging her to save him from the Slytherin. She just couldn’t see how they could court the way they were if they had barely talked to each other before things happened. She was certain that there was something more to it all. But Dumbledore had simply told her that he couldn’t do a thing with Harry’s new status as Lord Potter and Ravenclaw.

Dumbledore also highly doubted that Harry would even think of listening to him at all at the moment. Dumbledore told that she would just simply have to be patient and allow the young Lord to see the truth of those that he had started to hang out with.

She had seen on the train that his friend group had grown to include several Slytherins and others from the other houses, including Susan and Hanna from Hufflepuff. It was looking as if he was making more friends without Ron around. Even Hermione had been talking with the Slytherins, looking quite comfortable with them.

Hermione even wore a delicate necklace with a small bird charm that she had told Lavender had come from Daphne for Yule. It also held some charms on it, warnings for incoming dangers mostly. But she had been so happy to talk about her trip with the entire group to France for New years with the Malfoys, Warrington’s, and Sirius that she had heard it all.

For the group it had been three days of fun, connection and talking through things for Hermione and the others apparently. Ginny had heard about how Harry and Cassius had spent a good chunk of that time attached to each other in some way and how Cassius had refused to allow Harry to spend money on his food and only focus on souvenirs and gifts he wanted.

To Ginny though, she felt as if it should have been her being spoiled by Harry. Given gifts and food paid for. New clothes and jewelry. She should have been there with her brother and Hermione. Not Draco, Blaise, Luna, Cassius, or any of the others who had been there.

It should have been her and her family at the most enjoying a vacation on the Black, Potter and Ravenclaw fortunes dime. Being with Harry.

It should have been her getting a kiss from Harry at midnight as the ball dropped.

It should have been her in the courting contract with Harry, not Cassius. She scowled and looked away from Harry, turning back to her food. She didn’t see Luna looking to her with a thoughtful look on her face.

Never A Spare – 3/5 – Strailo

07 Trials and Talks

08 Holiday Balls, Friendship and Reports

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Never A Spare – 3/5 – Strailo

07 Trials and Talks

08 Holiday Balls, Friendship and Reports

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Strailo

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