Chapter Text
A few weeks later, Fenrir braced himself for a serious conversation he wished he didn’t need to have with his children yet. More accurately, that he wished he didn’t need to have with them at all. He’d sent scouts out to listen to the buzz around some of the larger magical hubs, and they’d all eventually come back with the same news. What both the professor and Lupin had reported were true.
The rumors were overwhelmingly consistent that he was apparently not only a marked death eater in the service of the Dark Lord, but that his lust for blood was unquenchable and his tastes for the flesh ran young. He couldn’t be more sickened, and he vowed to get to the bottom of it. First though, he had to make sure his children weren’t unprepared for what they might face when they met other magical children their own age who had actually grown up in the wizarding world, and not on an isolated rural werewolf compound.
As they finished cleaning up after lunch, he told them to stay at the table with him instead of going back to the schoolhouse to start their usual afternoon lessons. He could tell that they were instantly on edge, there had been a lot of big upsets in their lives and routines recently. He dreaded adding something so negative to what should be an exciting time of happy childlike preparation for going away to school.
In as simple terms as possible, he explained to them what he’d learned. He wanted them to be informed, but they were still so young and he left out many of the worst details. For the first time in a long time, his wolf scratched uncomfortably under his skin, circling his psyche restlessly. He could see his astute and intuitive daughter pick up on his stress immediately, and she whined low in the back of her throat “Dad, we know it’s not true. You would never do the things they accused you of,” she insisted.
He reached out and held her hand, running his thumb over her fine boned knuckles. With his other hand he held his son’s as well. His feelings were getting away from him, but he was safe and they were safe “Thank you, little wolf. Your faith only makes me stronger,” his hand rose to cup her cheek, and she pressed her face into the touch like a cat.
“That’s not what I’m worried about though, what truly concerns me the most is your safety when you begin to enter the magical world and you go to school next year. We know these rumors are false, but so too must the death eaters who served the Dark Lord. They never saw me by their side or at the feet of their lord. They surely know that I never received his wretched brand or did his bidding. While everyone else will most likely be too terrified of the two of you to even glance at you sideways, the children of those death eaters may very well attempt to take revenge on me through you for their lord’s defeat.”
With his gaze as stern and serious as he could make it, he looked between his two children and pushed as much alpha command into his voice as he could muster “The two of you must stay on your guard and keep each other safe. The world can run itself to the ground outside our walls and the people there can think whatever they want of me, as long as you two are alright. You are my most precious treasures, and I want you to protect yourselves as such. Your lives are valuable not because you are the Black and Potter heirs, not because you are an alpha and a beta, not even because you are already powerful young wizards. You are important to me because you are mine - MY children. I expect you to come back to me hale and hearty, safe and sound, with not a hair harmed on your heads. Am I understood?”
“Yes dad,” they spoke in unison, and their eyes flashed at him. Silver for his daughter, Green for his son.
He’d been restless and angry lately, more so than he felt comfortable saying, but it had been a long time since Fenrir had been truly nervous. New things happen every day, he thought to himself with bitter humor, no need to panic over change. But it wasn’t change he was beginning to panic over, it was exposure and the sharp tang of vulnerability that crept in along the edges of his senses. For the briefest moment he closed his eyes and let his wolf take over almost completely, bathing in the sounds and smells around him until it was content that there were no immediate nearby threats. That the only things he had to worry about were his son and his daughter a few steps ahead of him on the narrow cobblestone street.
They skipped down the crowded alley, pressing their little noses up against window fronts, and stared down fascinated into bushels and barrels full of bizarre and sometimes still alive and wriggling potions ingredients. He heard his daughter exclaim that the one she was looking into was full of bugs. Every shop front they passed had cheerful jack’o’lanturns sitting in the windows and on the steps leading up to the doorways. Nearly every other adult wore tall wide-brimmed conical hats like the muggles imagined witches to wear, and he secretly thought they looked quite silly in them. There was a tantalizing scent of buttery baked apples in the air, and rich sweet cider. Red and orange and brown fallen leaves stuffed the gutters on either sides of the street full, and if it rained it would surely flood.
His two children were thrilled beyond measure to take their first baby steps into the wizarding world, and had been willing to compromise greatly to be allowed to be here unescorted by extra guards. They were heavily disguised and looked nothing like themselves, but he could track them by heartbeat alone if need be. There was nowhere they could go that he wouldn’t find them.
He’d asked the children’s magic tutor Geetha to place glamours on the three of them, as she was significantly better at charms than he was. After some thought, she had declined and chosen instead to use a foul smelling potion that she insisted was the more sturdy option. She had taken hairs from her own husband and children to transform his family’s appearance, and his children were ecstatic that they looked more alike than ever before.
Harry’s skin had only darkened a shade, but for Hermione and himself the change was as dramatic as if they’d spent an entire summer doing nothing but laying in the sun like lizards. All three of them sported pitch black, straight, and silky hair. It took a while for Fen to get used to how short his was, and every time he reached up to push back heir that wasn’t there one of his children smacked his hand.
While there were many things his excited little jumping beans were eager to look at and buy, they had business to conduct at the bank first and foremost. He nudged them in the direction of the Greek revival facade of Gringotts, its tall white pillars reminding him of the bars on a jail cell. He shook his head in the hopes of driving the anxiety from his mind. He hadn’t done anything wrong, their appearance was just to protect them from attention - he was an innocent man!
The heavily armed and armored goblin guards eyed him with suspicion as he approached their doors, and the copper plaque warning against the consequences of theft glinted in the bright sunlight. With a hand on each child’s shoulder he ushered them in, nodding respectfully as they passed. It was the middle of the week and the middle of October, and there was no line to speak of. Adults went about their business as usual, but the only other children they’d seen anywhere in the alley so far were their age or younger, all the older ones long since having gone off to school already.
They walked up to the desk of the first teller they came to. He cleared his throat and bowed his head slightly, and when he spoke his voice was low and hushed “Well met sir, I would speak with Griphook and Gornuk to conduct my business, if they are available on such short notice. I need to discuss the Potter and Black accounts”
It’s arched brows shot up above its beetle black eyes, and the ambient noises of the bank around them, whispers and shuffling parchment and the clink of coins, all drew to a halt. Someone dropped something that clattered loudly and the sound around them resumed as if nothing had happened, but the rattling sensation of being exposed came to life in his chest again. Though he stood on his own two feet he felt as if he might as well have been belly up.
What the goblin did with it’s face in response to his request couldn’t accurately be called a smile, but it curled its lips and bared its many long and sharp teeth in a way that made his children gasp with awe and delight. It winked at them almost too quickly for him to perceive, and he recognized fond amusement in its eyes. It’s pudgy little body dropped down from its too-high chair awkwardly. It was half a foot shorter than Hermione, but with a longer torso and shorter legs. Before he could stop her, his daughter’s mouth was going like it always did “Excuse me Mr Goblin, if your horde owns and operates the bank then why aren’t the chairs and desks a more appropriate size for you? Isn’t it uncomfortable?” She asked not unkindly, but devoid of tact whatsoever. His girl and her big heart, he closed his eyes and groaned.
While one of the witches at a teller stand a few feet away gasped and loudly exclaimed “Well, I never!” The goblin his daughter had addressed seemed unbothered. It merely turned to her and gestured up to her father “Our institution was designed for the comfort of the clientele we serve, young mistress. Were our desks any lower a wizard might have to needlessly crane their exalted neck” it rasped dryly.
She humphed and crossed her arms “Sounds like a small price to pay for keeping their money safe for them!” She responded, and Harry nodded enthusiastically next to her. “Yeah,” he piped up “They should at least let you have a little ladder up to your chair if it has to be so much taller than you” he added passionately. His sister hummed her agreement, and though he wished they weren’t such troublemakers he was proud of his son for the way he often instinctively supported his sister in her endeavors. It was one of the many signs of a good beta in the making.
The goblin ever so slightly inclined its head at the two of them “Wise words from the mouths of babes” it replied. Ignoring entirely the stares that followed them from the minor scene they had caused, the goblin turned and beckoned them to follow it with the crook of a single spindly finger. It waddled as it guided them silently out of the foyer and down a severe marble hall. It brought them to a set of richly carved mahogany doors and knocked twice, the sound echoing loudly and reverberating through his head.
As the doors opened it gestured them in and fully bowed to his children with a shine to its eyes, nothing like the sneering nod he’d received earlier, rendering him speechless. Their species notoriously took great pleasure in being as rude as they could possibly get away with to humans. Following closely behind him, he nearly would have missed his children bowing at the waist back to the goblin if it hadn’t barked out a short and sharp laugh.
New things really do happen every day, he thought to himself again, and snorted in disbelief.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In the office of Gornuk, senior Gringotts accounts manager, Fenrir sat awkwardly in a plush antique velvet chair that was a good few inches too narrow for his arse to fit in comfortably. His children flanked him, sitting like little kings in identical chairs that were the perfect size for them. The goblin sat across a wide gleaming desk and glared at him. To his abject dismay, their disguises had inexplicably dropped the instant they passed through his doorway and had caused quite a commotion.
He shifted painfully, trying to get some feeling back in his upper thigh “Listen, I swear upon my magic that I wasn’t trying to hide our identities for nefarious purposes against your horde, I only intended for my children not to draw undue attention in the alley. You have eyes in your head, surely you recognize that one of the children in your office is Harry Potter, though he is my adopted son now. And though you can be forgiven for not knowing her on sight, the other is my daughter who is a member of the Black family,” he explained as apologetically as his pride would allow, trying to appeal to the banker’s sense of client confidentiality.
The scowl dropped from its face and it turned contemplative “We will of course need to confirm this,” the goblin replied much less harshly than when it had chastised him before. He nodded warily, not sure what exactly it was intimating “Very well, then please proceed,” It pulled two sheets of parchment from one of the drawers of its desk, briefly seeming to hesitate over whether he needed a third, and ultimately deciding against it. It also withdrew a gleaming dagger from its waistcoat.
“A single drop of your blood should suffice” it remarked to the children toothily, and only raised its eyebrows mildly when his daughter popped her claws out on one hand and pricked first the tip of her own finger, then her brother’s. They dripped their blood onto the parchments in front of them and red lines began to spread, forming words and neatly printing their names and their parents names. His eyes briefly skimmed over them, but they didn’t contain anything he wasn’t aware of.
Hermione Elena Greyback (Sept 19, 1979 - )
daughter of Hydra Leonida Black (Aug 5, 1940 - Oct 23, 1981)
and Fenrir Lokir Greyback (Apr 1, 1928 - )
*candidacy for Black Heir:
direct birthright via main branch line
other contenders include:
Nymphadora Calliope Tonks,
Draco Lucius Malfoy,
and Harry James Potter Greyback*
Harry James Potter Greyback (July 31, 1980 Sept 19, 1979 - )
son of Lilly Evans (Jan 30, 1960 - Oct 31, 1981)
and James Fleamont Potter (Mar 27, 1960 - Oct 31, 1981)
and Fenrir Lokir Greyback (Apr 1, 1928 - )
*candidacy for Potter Heir: direct birthright via only surviving family branch, with no other living contenders*
*candidacy for Black Heir:
godson of Sirius Black
other contenders include:
Hermione Elena Greyback,
Nymphadora Calliope Tonks,
and Draco Lucius Malfoy*
They passed them back over to the goblin, who gave them little more than a glance and nod before returning them “Excellent, most excellent,” it mumbled “thank you for your cooperation,” and began scrawling a brief note that it then sealed into a canister and shoved into a pneumatic tube on the wall behind it. It was sucked away, and a few moments later, a different one shot back out. It opened it and read it, and nodded again “The manager for the Potter accounts will be joining us shortly,” it announced.
As if it were an entirely different goblin than the one who had been conversing with them just moments before, it turned back to them and politely addressed Hermione directly “Miss Greyback, allow me to warmly welcome you to Gringotts. I am Gornuk son of Nograk, and I have been serving diligently as the accounts manager for the Black family for the last 168 years,” it proclaimed proudly, with a respectful little bow of its head. Without moving her head he saw her eyes peripherally glance his way and flash silver, and she smiled at the goblin.
“Well met Gornuk son of Nograk, I am Hermione daughter of Fenrir,” she responded in kind “This is my father Fenrir and my brother Harry. We need to take a balance of our accounts and get some money to buy our school things, but we also need to know who the actual black heir is. If I understand the papers I’ve just seen correctly, it appears that there are several contenders, myself amongst them,” she said devoid of ego, but as primly and regally as the queen of England nevertheless.
It nodded eagerly “Of course young mistress, of course! I can tell from your lineage papers that you have a very good claim indeed, of slightly greater legal standing than your Tonks and Malfoy cousins, and significantly greater than your brother. Seeing as you are here, and you are eligible, and none has yet made a challenge before you, would you like to try and take the seat today? It eagerly awaits an heir,” it said far too casually.
She openly turned to him for guidance, and he could only wince and shrug sheepishly, wishing he had come sooner and taken care of this for her so she wouldn’t have to be the one who made these decisions now “Is there really no adult currently acting as Lord or Lady Black?” He asked somewhat desperately, feeling as if he were grasping at sandbags to hold back an ocean. The goblin squirmed slightly in its seat “That is a more complicated question than you realize Mr Greyback,” it wheedled.
“Unfortunately the only remaining living adult members of house Black are all ineligible to claim the title. The former Lord Black was Arcturus, and he died earlier this year. His daughter Lucretia and his nephew Cygnus are technically both still with us, but he is infirm and not in his right mind and she has renounced her claim voluntarily. Sirius and Bellatrix, his eldest grandchildren, are both interred in Azkaban prison for life, therefore forfeiting their right to claim either the lordship or the hereditary wizengamot seat. Unfortunately, though she is a free woman of good social standing, Narcissa has also forfeited her right due to having already claimed the title of Lady Malfoy. Finally, although she is in equally good standing with our bank, her sister Andromeda is unfortunately also ineligible as she has been disowned and is no longer an active member of the Black family,” he reported dutifully and without consulting any documents. Fenrir was impressed by his memory.
“There are an entire branch of descendants that are technically Blacks by blood, but that are of very low standing in the family due to their ancestor being the youngest children of youngest children. None of them have shown interest in their claim whatsoever, and some would argue that they are unable to do so. Depending on your interpretation of official versus unofficial disowning, any of Arthur Weasley’s children could be considered eligible for the claim, but they are two entire generations removed from their Black grandmother who was disowned, and if they weren’t listed among the candidates on your parchments then the magic would most likely thoroughly reject them if they attempted it.”
“And so with no adults in the family to take over the lordship, it falls to your generation, young mistress,” the goblin kowtowed blatantly “As your papers state, your cousin Draco has a claim, but as the only Malfoy child he will undoubtedly be claiming that lordship and therefore could not in good faith challenge for the Black heir with no intention of ever actually becoming Lord Black. Additionally, you are older than him by nearly a year and - most critically - you are here first,” he said a bit smugly, as if she was the horse he’d had in the running all along.
She frowned at this “But what about cousin Nymphadora? She’s much older than me, wouldn’t she currently be a seventh year at school?” She asked, but the goblin shook its head “I’m afraid that while she could technically make a claim, Nymphadora’s birthright is nowhere near as strong as yours. Although her mother Andromeda was disowned by her mother Druella, it was never officially confirmed by the head of the family at the time, which is the only reason her daughter retains any claim at all, weak though it is,” it explained, as shamefaced at his daughter’s obvious disapproval as Fenrir had ever seen a goblin.
She huffed and crossed her arms “That’s absurd! Is there nothing we can do for them?” She asked angrily. For a millisecond the goblin grinned like a shark, and he could have sworn he saw more than one row of teeth before it smoothed its expression back out “…If you make a challenge and are successfully accepted by your family magic as the new Heir, you could easily reinstate their line back into the family with all rights and privileges, and your numerous Weasley cousins as well if you so wished,” it said almost casually, and Fenrir growled low “Don’t taunt her with sob stories of disenfranchised family members she’s never even met! If this is what she wants then it’s what she’ll do, but I won’t see her better nature provoked into making a claim she’s not yet ready for!”
It held up its hands as if it were a poor cornered defenseless creature “I’m sure I have no idea what you refer to Mr Greyback, I seek only to keep my client well informed of her opportunities… and potential responsibilities,” Hermione’s stern look had melted, her brow was furrowed and for the first time since they entered the bank she seemed uncertain “Gornuk I don’t know my cousin Draco, but I’ve heard bad things… he would never reinstate Aunt Andy and her family, would he?”
The goblin seemed entirely earnest as it shook its head, and its long pointed ears waggled slightly “I have not met the boy myself, but I have overseen some of the business his father Lucius has conducted and he is as unkind as they come. Not only that, but the man has seen fit to throw around the weight of the Black family name, which belongs only to his wife and child, to increase his own prospects. It falls short of our definition of theft or counterfeit, but only barely. For this the horde considers him a bad actor.”
Fenrir knew there had always been the potential that she could end up being the head of house Black one day, but he could still scarcely believe how candid and deferential the goblin was being with his eleven year old daughter. She nodded at the goblin solemnly “I suppose that decides it then. Is there paperwork or is it just a verbal thing like the swears and oaths wizards make sometimes?” She asked it fearlessly, and he felt his heart nearly come to a stop in his chest. His son laughed in delight next to him and he glared at the boy.
The goblin looked beyond elated, and it took a small box from its desk “A bit of both and neither, young mistress. I took the liberty of having these brought up from the vaults as soon as I felt your magical signature enter the building,” it said with the barest hint of a greyish flush rising to its cheeks and ear tips “The rings will decide,” it said almost reverentially.
“How does it work exactly?” She asked curiously as always, opening the box and staring down at two huge tarnished gaudy rings with distaste clear on her little face. The goblin hesitated tellingly “You must invoke your magic and verbally state that you have a claim to the seat of the heir and are challenging for right of it. Then you place the ring on the index finger of your right hand, and… and then we’ll see what happens” it finished lamely.
Fenrir rumbled low and bared his teeth at it “What exactly will happen?” He demanded furiously, his temper leaping to the surface. It squirmed behind its desk and wrung its long fingered hands, obviously not wanting to answer.
He outright snarled at it, making it yelp and hurry to speak “It depends! If the family magic accepts her as the heir, then the ring will resize to fit her and the gem will change to her birthstone. If it rejects her any number of things could theoretically happen, all of which will make themselves… immediately apparent. Most likely it will just fall off of her hand, possibly with a light stinging sensation. However I sincerely believe that the Black family magic will accept her, she has the best claim and her magical signature is powerful. I tell you again sir, I felt it when she entered the building!” He exclaimed in a terrified rush.
His daughter reached out to take his hand, and he was awestruck to see the resolve and acceptance on her face “It’s going to be alright, daddy,” she told him sweetly, squeezing his much larger hand in her small one. She let go and held her hands in front of her, glancing at him sheepishly “Don’t get mad, I’ve been practicing this with Geetha,” she said with a grin “alright, invoke my magic… invoke my magic,” and as she flexed the fine tiny muscles in her hands ribbons of soft emerald green light swirled to life between her fingers like a miniature aurora borealis.
As she moved her hands back and forth above her lap, sparkles in every shade of green lit off of the tips of her fingers, shimmering in the air before disappearing. The sight of it took his breath away, and before he could work out the words to ask her what exactly she was doing her eyes flashed silver and her voice echoed strangely from her chest “I, Hermione Elena Greyback, daughter of Hydra Leonida Black, granddaughter of Alphard Hyperion Black, claim a birthright to lead this house and do so challenge the Black family magic to find me worthy!” She intoned as she took the ring from the box and thrust it onto her finger.
They watched with bated breath as the ring shook and rattled her knuckles around, spinning and buzzing, before shrinking and settling into a much finer band with a lovely cobalt blue sapphire. In the process it had seemed to shake off its patina, and it shone brilliantly where it rested on her hand. None of them spoke or even breathed, not even his usually loquacious daughter.
When he looked at the goblin he expected to see it as thrilled as it had been when her lineage was revealed, but instead its face was slack and pale. He shot to his feet “What, what’s wrong?” He growled, reaching out to grab it by the collar. It didn’t even try to move away or stop him, and he feared the worst.
As if it were in a trance it pointed down at the box on its desk where a smaller ring still remained inside “That is the heir’s ring that she was supposed to try on. The one that just accepted her was the Lord’s ring. She grabbed the wrong one,” it said in almost comical disbelief “I- I don’t know what this means! She shouldn’t have even been able to pick that one up. She’s a child and yet the magic accepted her as head of the entire family. She’s eleven and she’s the Lady Black,” it said, its voice veering towards hysteria as it reached up to tug on its own ears.
Gornuk let out a braying laugh that sounded viscerally and uncomfortable inhuman “Well… You can definitely restore your family now, my lady,” it wheezed out. His girl had the nerve to look incredibly self-satisfied at this, and asked if she could have a larger tree made out containing the whole family with all its wayward and winding branches. He stopped listening when she began pointedly digging for information about the specific wording of reinstating members.
Fenrir sat back in his own uncomfortable chair heavily. He had no frame of reference for this. He was born into common poverty and his mate had abandoned the life of leisure she had been born to. Now he had to figure out how to continue parenting a member of the peerage. He lived in a cabin in the woods for the goddesses sakes!
As he tried to think of anything he could say to attempt to control or somehow manage the quickly escalating situation, a jarring knock at the door startled them all. Another goblin bustled in and bowed low in his son’s direction “Greetings Greyback family, I am the Potter accounts manager. I am Griphook son of Axecleave, at your service”
His son beamed at the goblin “Griphook my man, you are not going to fucking believe what you just missed,” he told it, and his daughter burst into laughter.
On a viciously cold fortress on a rock in the North Sea, battered by driving wind and freezing rain, beset by wailing wraithlike demons, a wretch of a man shivered in his dank and dark stone cell. It could barely be considered indoors, as a glassless window with heavy dimeritium bars left him exposed to the elements. He twitched and shook, and rose as a dog. Suddenly more alert and aware, he circled his cage desperately, feeling something he couldn’t explain.
For the first time in over a decade the Black family magic reached out and touched him, and it was warm and soft and gentle. It felt good and different and loving in a way he had never experienced in his thirty years, not even as a child. Though he was confused he couldn’t bring himself to feel fearful. Hope sparked dangerously in his chest for the first time in a very long time. Someone was thinking of him kindly. Knowing nothing else, that was enough to lift his spirits.
He spun around three times and laid back down on his cot, falling asleep almost immediately, and getting the best night’s rest he’d ever had in his cell.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In an opulent manor in rural Wiltshire, a beautiful arrangement of garden tables were laid out amongst the rosebushes, each set for a generous tea service. Tiny cakes and cucumber sandwiches on tiered trays popped into existence, and gilded teapots levitated to pour cups of steaming earl grey and darjeeling, jasmine and rooibos. Though the attendees of the party were children, not a single one was so crass as to clink their spoons or lift their saucers. They were far too well bred for that sort of behavior. A violin was charmed to play itself, and it was doing so quite finely.
It was one of the last sunny days of fall, and though it was clear and bright there was a distinctly crisp chill in the air. None of the guests were bothered though, as warming charms hung heavy around the party. Nearly every house in the pureblood coalition had a young member present, excited to celebrate both their last year at home and the upcoming Halloween festivities. The gathering was shaping up to be an overall success until a harsh gasp pierced the air nearly as loudly as a scream, and brought everything to an immediate flabbergasted halt.
Narcissa Malfoy was the quintessential hostess, never a hair out of place or a word less than perfectly polite. Queen of society, queen of occluding herself into an icy fortress. Yet as she felt her ancient ancestral family magic lurchingly stir in a volatile and unfamiliar manner, she crumbled to pieces. As she staggered to her feet, dropping both the cup and spoon she’d been holding, she clutched her chest and ruined her coiffure shaking her head wildly. Her eyes sightlessly searching for someone who wasn’t there, her breathing ragged and fast, she frightened the children terribly. Her son shot to his feet and rushed to help her.
“How? WHO?” She moaned, leaning on him heavily as he arrived at her side “Without even consulting the family? Who DARES?” She cried angrily, unable to contain the furious tears rolling down her cheeks. She dropped to her knees, and unable to support her full weight her son only barely remained upright next to her “Mipsy! Get father!” He called, terror in his trembling voice as he lowered himself to the ground next to her.
As suddenly as she had fallen to despair, Narcissa felt the magic shift again, something returning to it that she had feared would never return. Her gasp this time was awed and wonderstruck “Andy? My sister!” She whispered disbelievingly “Thank you, thank you whoever you are” she wailed gratefully, the tears now from joy, the smile on her face was bigger than it had been in years.
As Lucius arrived in the garden he was horrified to see the state of it, children frozen everywhere in confused fear, his wife and child on the ground. Yet as his eyes fell upon her and he really took her in, as disheveled as she was, she looked more gorgeous to him than ever as he recognized the genuine elation on her face that he hadn’t seen in over a decade.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In the bowels of the ministry of magic a large cohort of seventh year Hogwarts students who had been selected as potential auror trainee cadets were taking their academy entrance exams. A grizzled older man with an eyepatch and a limp paced vigilantly along the perimeter of the hall as he proctored the test takers. His uncovered eye was a brilliant blue, and it roved over the room, seeking out cheaters and general trouble making.
Near the back of the room, a young woman with candy pink hair fell out of her seat with a loud laugh. She had already been seated precariously and it was more of a slow slide to the floor. He picked up the pace and made his way over to her as quick as he could “You alright lass?” He growled.
She rubbed her chest, and looked up at him with a look of absolute wonder on her face “It’s so friendly, and it’s playful like a kid!” she enthused ridiculously, making no sense to anyone around her. She shot to her feet, knocking the parchments off of not only her own desk but somehow the desks on either side of her as well “Look, I’m sorry but I’ve got to go!” She exclaimed, dodging around him and heading for the door.
It took him a moment to process that, and he bellowed after her “You leave this room and you can say goodbye to your chance of ever making it into the academy!” His booming voice drew the attention of everyone else in the room who hadn’t already been distracted by her commotion. She looked over her shoulder back at him, still moving forward and knocking into another desk but grinning all the while “I have a feeling that’s not going to be a problem moving forward, sir! I think my prospects are looking up” she said as she sailed out of the testing hall with another mad laugh.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The weekly meeting for the senior residents to catch up and get on the same page was going long, and healer Tonks had a headache. She’d been feeling a bit peaky all day and had avoided taking a pepper-up because she’d been with patients and hadn’t wanted to look silly, but was slowly coming to regret that. She could feel her heartbeat pulsing behind her eyes, and there was tension building in her forehead. She dug the knuckle of her index finger into her eyebrow to try and relieve some of the pressure on her sinuses.
Healer Borowitz wouldn’t shut the fuck up about needing more medi-witches on his floor, even though his patients were non-emergent and he already had the lion’s share of them and everyone else always needed more as well. What St Mungo’s really needed were more healers, but the mastery took longer and was harder and the number of incoming recruits had been dropping significantly. Practically everyone who wanted to go into healing these days stopped as soon as they received their medi-wizardry quals.
A hospital’s staffing makeup was always going to be composed of more medi-witches than healers, but at St. Mungo’s it was getting ridiculous. They needed competent young people willing to commit to finishing the program, or in a decade’s time every healer in the building would be middle-aged or older. She couldn’t help but think of her daughter and feel terribly guilty.
Dora had wanted to follow in her footsteps, but on top of being a long and difficult mastery track, healing was also an expensive one. While their small family had always been relatively comfortable, they simply couldn’t afford it. They had never starved, her uncle had made sure of that when she was disowned, but there were no extra savings she could scrounge up to put her girl through a mastery and it ate at her terribly.
Her precious girl had decided on the auror track as it was a ministry subsidized program that the trainees didn’t need to pay for. The very thought of her seventeen year old daughter chasing down dark witches and wizards under the dubious supervision of that absolute nutter Moody nearly made her stomach turn. She wished more than anything that she had saved or invested more cleverly or even set aside her pride and gone to beg her sister for money, anything that wouldn’t have her baby running off towards the seedy criminal underworld.
Feeling the beginnings of what she thought might be a bit of minor indigestion, Healer Tonks was about to stand and excuse herself from the farce of a meeting when the sensation shifted and turned very warm and familiar. Her hand rose to press flatly and firmly against her chest, drawing the attention of several of the other residents. It was a gesture everyone was intimately familiar with in a medical setting. Healer Greengrass rose his brows in alarm next to her “Alright there, Andy?” He probed quietly.
She raised her other hand to wipe away the tears she could feel rolling down her face “I can’t bloody believe it Edwin… I think I’ve just been reinstated?” She barely dared to say it aloud, and her voice shook as a breathless laugh bubbled up out of her throat.
“Merlin’s pants, what are you still doing here? Go find out!” He encouraged, and she nodded and rose, not caring or even noticing the screech of her chair on the tile as she shoved it back and out of her way. She raised her hand to wave at her colleagues “Er, family emergency. Gotta go” she muttered to the room at large as she dashed out, leaving whispers behind her. She couldn’t keep the grin off her face as she raced to the bank of elevators.
As she reached the ground floor and passed the front desk, she burst into laughter as she saw her daughter standing there waiting for her “You feel it too?” She asked joyously. They hugged fiercely “Mum, is it what I think it is?” Her daughter responded, and she squeezed her girl even tighter. Closing her eyes and sending a thanks to whatever gods had allowed this to happen, she spun them around joyously “It is Dora, it is! Whoever they are, the new Head of the family’s very first act was to bring us back into the fold”
She kept her hands on her daughter’s shoulders but pushed her back to stare at her at arm’s length, raking her eyes over the sweet face she so loved “We need to- gods be good, but we have to get to Gringotts now darling. Right this very minute!” She looped their arms together, pulling her child along with her to the exit and out onto the street.
As soon as they were outside of the hospital’s anti-apparition wards she side-alonged them both to the doorstep of the bank. The goblin guards looked at them with intense suspicion, most wizards chose to apparate into the leaky rather than into the alley directly. It was considered quite imnpolite, and some businesses even had anti apparition wards set up on their doorsteps to prevent it. Thankfully the bank was a hair’s breadth too mercenary to be one of them. One of the goblins grunted at her “Highly irregular, madam. Not planning on making any trouble, are you?”
She shook her head vigorously, slashing her hand out horizontally away from herself “Absolutely not, sir. Sorry for startling you. Very urgent family business happening inside that we need to be there for!” She said politely, and hardly waited for him to nod gruffly before rushing in. To her immense relief, she recognized one of the junior Black family accounts managers waiting for her in the foyer, and it urged her and Dora to follow it “Come madam and miss, after me please” it said as it waddled away faster than she’d ever seen a goblin move. Hurrying along after it, she hesitated before asking “Do you know who-”
It shook its head and grimaced “I’m sorry madam but I’m not at liberty to say. You’ll see for yourself in just a second anyways” it said not unkindly. She realized it really did mean a second as they stopped abruptly in front of the office she remembered coming to with her father so very long ago. She looked at it and it gestured for her towards the door. She raised her fist, and looking back at her daughter, she braced herself and knocked loudly three times.
If you had given her a thousand house elves and a thousand typewriters and a thousand years they wouldn’t have been able to come up with the sight that greeted her as the carved wooden doors swung open.
Fenrir fucking Greyback sat awkwardly in a chair too small for him, next to Harry bleeding Potter, savior of the entire goddamn Wizarding world, and a girl who had the Black hair and eyes and looked startlingly familiar. A laugh barked its way out of her chest before she could stop it “Am I hallucinating? I think I must be having a bloody out of body experience” she said coming over to the desk and not even leaning against it but flatly sitting upon the top of it and cradling her head in her hands.
Her daughter followed her into the room, tripping over something and spilling to the floor, but instantly shooting back up casually as if nothing had happened. The little goblin in the halls eyes widened and it quickly shut the door. She thought she heard its feet scurrying away on the other side, and laughed again desperately. She looked back over her shoulder and nodded at the goblin seated behind the desk “Hullo then Gornuk, how’s the family?”
It cleared its throat and tilted its head back and forth “Well enough, well enough. Pleasure to see you again, madam” it looked at the girl sitting in front of her “Allow me to introduce Lady Hermione Elena Greyback, daughter of your cousin Hydra and… the new head of the Black family” Gesturing at herself, it continued “My lady, allow me to introduce your cousin Andromeda Persea Tonks and her daughter Nymphadora Calliope Tonks” her daughter grumbled at that “Please just call me Dora” she said under her breath.
She rolled her eyes, and stood back up and came over to crouch in front of the girl. She took her little hands in her own and looked up into her eyes “I don’t know how to thank you, my dear girl. I never thought I’d feel this again in my lifetime” she said, scanning her eyes over the child’s face, exploring every inch of it “I didn’t even know Hydra had a child before she- well,” she winced. Smooth move, Andy she thought to herself bring up the girl’s dead mum the very moment you meet her.
“You’ll have to tell us that story” she said, turning her eyes towards the large man who had remained suspiciously silent, narrowing them at him slightly. To her great surprise the tips of his ears turned red and he reached out as if to touch her hair before stopping himself “You look so much like her” he rasped out, looking supremely uncomfortable and grimacing. She hadn’t even had time to flinch away, the most bloodthirsty werewolf who had ever lived had almost touched her because she looked like his dead… wife? Lover? She started to hyperventilate.
To her utter bafflement, the little girl reached over and grabbed his enormous hand without even looking “You’re making her nervous, daddy” the child said quietly, and got up from her chair to clamber over and sit on the arm of his, perching herself like a bird on a bear. She could scarcely believe her eyes, until the girl looked at her and tilted her head “You should sit Aunt Andy, please” she said gesturing to the chair she had just gotten out of. She did so, again feeling like she was having a vivid out of body experience.
The girl looked at her father, “Did we do everything we needed to do here today, dad?” And he let out a strangled laugh “Are you joking little wolf? No, we literally haven’t gotten to a single one of the things we actually came here for” he huffed, much more gently than she was expecting.
“We were just supposed to get money and go buy your school things” he said with the very familiar drawl of an overwhelmed parent “But apparently you’re Lady Black now, so I guess that’s on the back burner. We haven’t even gotten to- hey, where did Griphook go?” He looked around, and to her astonishment she realized there was a second goblin in the room who was staring at her wide-eyed, and looked like it had been trying very hard to blend into the walls.
The boy finally spoke up “Oh yeah, why is Griphook here again? Is there Potter stuff we need to do too? Because I don’t care how cool that looked, I’m not putting one of those rings on” he turned to meet her daughter’s gaze “It did look so cool though” he said again emphatically, and Hermione nodded and grinned “It was cool as hell” she confirmed.
Her father rolled his eyes “I never said it wasn’t cool but you scared the life out of me, child” he muttered low. Her daughter looked back and forth between the three of them, and like a sixth sense Andromeda could tell her daft child was about to say something stupid or tactless. “Not that it’s not neat, but why is Harry Potter here?” She asked the room at large, and the man glared at the goblin “This is why we had glamours on Gornuk!” He exploded, and to her surprise the goblin looked sheepish. “Greyback” the boy said mildly, apropos of nothing, and she was shocked at how casually he addressed the man.
“What about him?” She asked hesitantly after an awkward drawn out moment of silence, to which the three laughed and the boy responded “No, Harry Potter Greyback. I’m adopted, so I’m part of the family too. That’s why I’m here” he said pleasantly with a smile, before furrowing his brows “Hang on, how have we never discussed this, am I actually part of the Black family? Hermione’s mum didn’t adopt me, only dad did” he glanced at his… father apparently, and then at the goblin who was still impersonating a credenza.
“Griphook, the parchment said my claim was based on Sirius being my godfather. Is that my only tie to the Black Family?” The goblin seemed to consider this extremely carefully before replying “Your great uncle Charlus, your grandfather Fleamont’s brother, was married to Dorea Black, who was sister to Alphard, making you and Lady Black cousins by marriage before your adoption. You were indeed already a part of the family, and coincidentally were also cousins with your godfather Sirius, as his grandfather Pollux was your great aunt Dorea’s other brother”
The boy and girl both looked fascinated and thrilled by this, and reached to hold each others hands sweetly. The man had a very fond look on his face as he watched his children, and Andromeda was beyond confused, but remained determined to not insult the man whose daughter was her new head of house. “It wouldn’t matter either way though” the girl said confidently “the ritual that bound us together let both dad’s blood and mine run in your veins. You’d have been related to my mum through me even though she wasn’t there for it” and Andromeda wasn’t sure about the maths of that statement, but the child sounded absolutely certain. She came back to herself and shook her head slightly to clear it.
“As fascinating as that is, I’m really terribly sorry for the way we interrupted your family business. I just had to find out who reinstated us and thank you for it. You really have no idea what you’ve given me back, I’m so grateful. If you want us to get out of your hair though we can leave now?” She trailed off, the self-preservation driven part of her hoping that her and Dora would be dismissed, and the part of her that burned with curiosity selfishly hoping to stay and get to the bottom of whatever was going on here.
The small family shared intense eye contact, and clearly had a full silent conversation, before the girl turned back to her “You can leave if you want to, but would you like to go shopping and have have lunch with us?” She blushed slightly “Also are you good at charms because we maybe need someone to help us put our glamours back on. Dad’s not good at them, and Harry and I don’t have our wands yet” she said meekly, and Dora burst into laughter from where she had just sat down on the floor “Oh yes mum, lets!”
What a sweet girl she thought mildly, and felt a warm feeling rise in her chest “Well, alright, if you’re sure that its really not an imposition. We can at least give you some privacy while you finish your business though. Come on Darling, lets wait in the hall” she tugged her daughter back up and dragged her to the door.
As she was pulling the door closed behind her, she heard the man address Hermione “Little wolf I love you completely unconditionally and would die for you, but I can already tell that this business is going to be a monumental bloody pain in my arse” he grumbled, to which her and her daughter both burst into laughter.
After the absolutely disastrous conclusion to the autumnal garden party, Lucius wasn’t sure how his family would ever redeem themselves in the eyes of the rest of wizarding high society. He still wasn’t sure what to think about the fact that whoever the new head of house Black was, they had reinstated his wife’s errant muggle-loving sister. He stomach turned slightly sour at the thought of someday having to refer to a halfblood as his niece, and he could barely fathom the possibility of ever having to entertain his sister-in-law’s muggleborn husband on Malfoy soil. He sincerely hoped she would know better than to bring him if she ever came to visit. It would be an affront to practically everything he held dear.
Yet despite the ruinous life choices the woman had made, that he would frankly never understand, she was still his wife’s beloved elder sister. And having been somehow officially reinstated into the Black family, she was a pureblood woman of technically good standing once more. So as much as he detested the situation and was of the firm belief that banishments and disownings were traditionally permanent for a reason, the saying ‘happy wife happy life’ was not just a meaningless platitude.
Or that had been his attitude until his curiosity had gotten the better of him and he’d decided to peruse the Black family tapestry in his wife’s study, a duplicate his mother-in-law had woven and charmed herself as a wedding present for them. He had immediately felt lightheaded at what he’d discovered, and had used Narcissa’s fainting couch for its actual intended purpose for perhaps the first time ever.
Calling an elf to summon his family to him, he tried to arrange himself with some dignity, and considered how to best present the situation. His wife was exceedingly clever, and though he knew she wouldn’t challenge him in front of their son, she would not hesitate to call his bullshite what it was when they were alone together. He briefly considered how long he could avoid private contact with her for, but then dismissed that thought. He did so enjoy her company, and it would clearly be more of a punishment for himself than anything else.
The doors swung open silently and his beautiful wife swanned into the room with a lightness of foot about her that charmed him down to his very toes. Though she had not deteriorated over the years in any way, a piece of her had been missing since she lost her sister, and an ever present sadness had lain over her like a permanent shroud that she had tried so admirably to hide. The creature before him now though practically glowed, this was once again the Narcissa he fell in love with.
She came to him with a press of fingertips and a kiss, and from the doorway their son made a lurid retching noise. He glared at his progeny “Cease that at once you little beast, you only exist because of the love your mother and I share” his voice cracked like a whip, and his son straightened and sat obediently like a little doll on the sofa across from him.
His lovely wife only rolled her eyes and sighed, but exquisitely as if in never ending ecstasy, as she often had the last few days. Not even dirt on her gleaming floors or food spilled on her spotless table had killed her fantastic mood. He hoped it lasted, but he didn’t dare get used to it. She sat so close to him as to almost be in his lap, and he immediately occluded so as not to blush in front of his own son.
“I hate to be the bearer of troubling news, but I have discovered something that necessitates a candid family discussion between the three of us” he said firmly, to which she gently nodded in encouragement. Standing, he drew her over to the wall and beckoned their son to join them “I have been inspecting the tapestry your mother made for us to see if it would reveal who exactly the new head of house Black is. I assumed it had to be one of the elders, as they are the only living members, but I was wrong” he pointed with an elegant manicured finger to a branch he thought had withered away long ago.
Beside him his wife gasped delicately “Hydra had a daughter!”
“Yes” he responded grimly “there must have been powerful enchantments concealing her marriage and birth that only recently broke, but look at the dates. Shortly before she died your cousin had a child, Hermione Elena. I don’t know how it’s happened, but this girl, an eleven year old child, is the new Lady Black” he looked down at his son, whose face was scrunched in confusion as he examined her portrait on the tapestry “I have much to explain to you Draco, but know that if we aren’t extremely careful this child could be the death of us”
His son raised his Black eyes to him, silvery grey like his mother’s “But father, she’s just a girl my age, what could she possibly do to hurt us?” The boy said, not arrogantly but with genuine curiosity in his voice. He sighed heavily, leading his family back over to where they had been sitting previously.
“I know that this is a strange situation, and I’m sure there are important details we are not yet privy to, and that we may never know. The hows and whys are not important at the moment. I am going to tell you a difficult story, and I need you to listen carefully and remember every word. It may sound different than what you’ve heard before but it is the absolute truth, and you must not breathe word of it to another soul besides your mother and I. Do I make myself clear, Draco?” His son nodded, and he closed his eyes and breathed deeply, preparing himself to reveal his darkest secrets.
“What you must first understand is the reason my father’s generation joined the Dark Lord. At the time, he presented himself as a brilliant radical. He claimed he wanted to protect our wizarding traditions and safeguard the place of purebloods in our society. His philosophy and ideology gained him great support initially among our ranks, and he made tremendous strides to bring conservative values back into vogue at the ministry and block progressives in the wizengamot. However, by my generation he had begun to change significantly. He started calling for the death of muggles and the enslavement of muggleborns, and he chose to lead his own followers with fear and control us with torture. People started comparing him to Grindlewald. He had become a terrifying madman that many of us didn’t willingly choose to follow, but rather were enlisted into his service by our fathers. By the time he was defeated, many of us were glad to be rid of him. The atrocities he committed upon wizarding Britain were innumerable”
He paused, deep in his worst memories, and had to physically shake himself out of them. He glanced at his son “Explain it back to me so I know you understand” he commanded lightly.
Draco thought for a moment, before summarizing succinctly “The Dark Lord started out smart and subtle, but he took it too far and was too obvious. He stopped behaving like a Slytherin. You didn’t really want to serve him, but grandfather Abraxas made you do it. That’s the part I don’t really understand, everyone says the Malfoys were the Dark Lord’s favorites” his son said, his brow furrowed. He sighed, he had hoped to get out of this conversation without having to go over this part, as it painted him in a poor light. His son was too astute for his own good.
“It’s not technically false, but it isn’t the whole story. My father was zealously dedicated to the Dark Lord, and he committed a great deal of our fortune to his cause even after the man had clearly turned to madness. It could be generations after I’m gone, if ever, before our vaults are returned to the state they were before my father foolishly gave the Dark Lord free reign over them. Anything he wanted, my father threw galleons at like they grew on trees. When I took over my father’s role in the Dark Lord’s service I was expected to be little more than a walking coin purse, and I gladly acted as such to avoid having to engage in more distasteful behavior. By the grace of the gods I was able to avoid having to torture or kill anyone. I had a safe and important position, but that in no way guaranteed me his favor. In truth I rather suspect the Dark Lord actively disliked me, as he often mocked my social standing and appearance. It was quite humiliating” he admitted, feeling exceptionally vulnerable.
His son looked outraged “So he was crazy and he used us for our money? What a cheap tosser!” The boy exclaimed, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. Cheap tosser indeed. From the mouths of babes.
“My thoughts exactly, but don’t repeat that in front of anyone else. Now that you understand that, there’s another important thing I need to explain to you. When the Dark Lord was defeated, many of his followers were brought to justice and stood trial before the wizengamot. The ones that committed the worst crimes were either given the dementor’s kiss or sent to Azkaban - your Aunt Bellatrix for example resides there on the charges of torturing the Longbottoms. Most who committed only minor and nonviolent crimes got off by paying fines or serving short sentences. However, many were able to get off completely by claiming that they had been under the imperius curse and weren’t responsible for their actions. The trouble was that the Dark Lord and his followers really had imperiused a great deal of ministry employees, and it was therefore not a far-fetched claim to make. It was nearly impossible to tell who had actually been controlled and who was lying - but probably twice again as many people who were actually cursed claimed that they were to get out of a harsh sentence,”
“I was charged with only financial crimes, which I paid steep fines for in reparations, but when you go to Hogwarts you may hear children falsely claim that I pretended to have been imperiused. This is patently untrue, but you must ignore them as arguing will only make us look worse from their perspective. For every follower like myself that didn’t want to serve the Dark Lord, there were three more who did so gladly and proudly. Your Aunt was one of his most faithful, a true believer if you will. In their opinion, it was the greatest honor to either die in his service or be jailed for having done his crimes. To deny having served him is the ultimate treachery to them, and they loathe and wish vengeance for their Lord on those of us who got off easy”
“This is why I’ve told you all of this. The father of the new Lady Black is Fenrir Greyback. Do you know who he is?” when the boy shook his head he continued, despite wishing to spare his son the knowledge “He is a werewolf, and he was one of the Dark Lord’s most vicious followers. He killed indiscriminately and gleefully, eating his victims and turning the survivors into more wolves for his monstrous pack” he said with disgust. His son looked absolutely terrified, and though it brought him no joy to scare him he was glad his child was listening “I genuinely do not know whether Greyback was a true believer of the Dark Lord, or simply a violent opportunist happy to slake his bloodlust wherever he could. Do you understand now why I’m scared for our family, Draco?”
His son swallowed audibly, and his eyes were wet and frightened “If-if he was a true believer and he thinks you renounced the D-Dark Lord he might want t-to hurt you, father” he whimpered, his voice trembling “A-and he could… he c-could have his d-daughter command mother and I to-to do anything… She could make us do whatever she wants! Merlin’s beard, w-what on earth are we going to do, father?” He cried, panic rising and beginning to hyperventilate.
Narcissa moved to kneel in front of him and rubbed his chest “Breathe slowly, my dragon. No matter what happens your father and I shall protect you. Calm yourself’ she shushed him softly, running her fingers rhythmically through the strands of his short hair, brushing it back away from his teary red face. She was such a loving mother, twice again as affectionate as his or hers had ever been, kinder and more maternal. He wondered where it had come from, her goodness of spirit. Certainly not from Druella Rosier.
She hummed to their child softly “Your father didn’t tell you this to frighten you, my love, but to protect you. Knowledge is power - think about how you will act towards her now versus how you might have acted if you hadn’t known about the girl’s power over us. And while it is true that she is our new head of house, she could not force us to harm ourselves or your father. The family magic would punish her if she did, so we do have some measure of recourse there. We have to try and balance what we know with what we know is unknown, and the only way to do that is by keeping an open mind. For whatever reason, her first act after challenging the magic was reinstating my sister Andromeda, who I have so dearly missed these last fifteen years. The girl could very well be a tremendous ally if we remain cautious and keep our options open. If we can win her favor, it could be a great boon for our family!” She said enthusiastically. Their son looked far less frightened.
“My brilliant wife, you could be a Hufflepuff for how optimistic you sound right now” he murmured, and she flushed a lovely rosy pink “Lucius, really” she demurred “It’s true. We must prepare for the worst but remember that the best is also possible. There is no other reason I can possibly think of that the child of a true believer would reinstate a disowned family member. The circumstances are confusing, but we’ve received a sign that there may be much more going on than we know. I’m going to reach out to Andromeda, I can only hope she will be willing to speak with me” she said.
He felt a tremendous rush of love for her, and pride that he had made such a fine choice of a match. Though he hesitated to embrace her cheerful outlook, it certainly helped to remember that good outcomes were possible when one was used to bracing for the worst. Maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed. He stifled a chuckle at the thought - maybe the wolf was housebroken.