Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/13265373.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      Multi
  Fandom:
      Harry_Potter_-_J._K._Rowling
  Relationship:
      Harry_Potter/Bellatrix_Black_Lestrange/Narcissa_Black_Malfoy/Andromeda
      Black_Tonks
  Character:
      Harry_Potter, Sirius_Black, Bellatrix_Black_Lestrange, Narcissa_Black
      Malfoy, Andromeda_Black_Tonks
  Stats:
      Published: 2018-01-04 Completed: 2018-02-16 Chapters: 5/5 Words: 11381
****** A Different Sort Of Light ******
by VoidofEternalDarkness
Summary
     Harry heads into his fifth year, new challenges await him that he,
     nor anyone else saw coming. Can Harry deal with the upcoming war with
     Voldemort? Alongside a Marriage Contract with the Black sisters? On
     top of this, Harry must also come to terms with the fact that
     Professor Dumbledore isn't the man worthy of his trust that Harry
     first believed. The world isn't what he first thought...Can Harry
     still defeat Voldemort in an Alternate Universe? Find Out. Flames
     will be ignored.
***** Chapter One *****
                                 -Chapter One-
 
A soft torch light encompassed the entire room. It was a primarily barren room,
the only furniture being a wooden table with a chair on either side and a large
fireplace at the end of the room. Two men were currently seated at the table, a
piece of parchment laid between them.
"Are you sure Lil won't go mental that we're doing this Prongsy?"
"I doubt that she will, we have to make sure that Harry's looked after even
when we're gone Padfoot."
"Alright then, let's get started."
"So, who goes first? I've never really been privvy to one of these before,"
James asked Sirius.
"The younger of the two families usually, which in this case is mine. The
Potters are linked to the Peverells’ who pre-date even the Hogwarts founders."
The longer-haired man took a deep, steadying breath. His wand drawing through
the air to slice the skin on the underside of his finger open, "I, Sirius Orion
Black hereby pledge my bloodline and heritage to house Potter through marriage
between the next most suitable heir to the line and the sisters three upon the
event of the death of the Lord Potter. The group must be wed upon the date of
the eligible heir's sixteenth birthday or the usual rules shall come to be, on
my magic so mote it be."
 
Sirius flexed his finger downward, allowing for a droplet of blood to fall from
his flesh, soar downward and collide with the parchment beneath them on the
table.
"It's that simple?"
"James! HURRY UP BEFORE THE TIMER RUNS OUT, WE'RE ON A SCHEDULE BEFORE I LOSE
MY MAGIC!"
Panicking, James quickly used the spell to make an incision in his finger as
well, "I, James Hadrian Potter hereby pledge my bloodline and heritage to house
Black through marriage between the sisters three and the next most suitable
heir to my line upon the event of my death. The group must be wed upon the date
of the eligible heir's sixteenth birthday or the usual rules shall come to be,
on my magic so mote it be."
 
James dropped his blood onto the parchment as well, causing the artefact to
begin shimmering with bright, translucent golden light.
"Say James?" Sirius said as the parchment was doing its thing.
"Yeah?"
"I wasn't going to lose my magic if you took your time, I was just messing."
"I'm going to bloody murder you, Sirius."
Still smirking, Sirius crooked his head toward James, “the important thing is
that the four of them will have a place in the world once it’s all said and
done.”
“Why them though? I’m sure there is plenty of eligible candidates through
Britain and even the rest of the world that will be better options for such a
thing closer to Harry’s age.”
“They all live in secret unhappiness, the three of them…it is my hope that we
can free them from it.”
“But…Narcissa is married with a child?”
“I know this, but…they will accept it in time, the marriage between Lucius and
Narcissa is one without love, it is my hope that this will fix that…unless
ultimately they divorce before that point. Hopefully, we will have a chance to
prepare them for this, especially Harry.”
“The best situation that we can hope for is that we survive through this and it
never becomes reality. As powerful as those witches are, the do have a certain
lure towards the dark side.”
“It’s a risk we have to take for Harry’s protection, Prongsy.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Padfoot.”
x-x-x-x-x
“We’ll hold him off Harry, but we can only hold him off for a few moments, you
must return to the Portkey.”
Harry had reacted quicker than he thought possible, the fourteen year old
rushed across the cemetery, clutched the whimpering Peter Pettigrew, before
pointing his wand, “Accio Cedric! Accio Cup!”
Somehow, he’d managed to capture both the fallen boy who had given his life
tonight and the criminal who’d fed his parents to Voldemort when he was merely
an infant.
“Harry!” Dumbledore exclaimed, rushing down the steps, with Professor
Mcgonnagall and Cornelius Fudge in close pursuit.
“Voldemort…Voldemort’s back,” Harry choked out through harsh sobs,
“Cedric…asked for me to return his body.”
“THAT’S MY BOY!” Amos roared, charging down through the steps and onto the
grass to clutch his son’s body.
“Harry, you have been through a great ordeal tonight but this is not the time
nor the place to discuss it. Wait…Harry, is that?”
Harry rose to his feet, tossing the whimpering form of Pettigrew at Fudge’s
feet, “This is Peter Pettigrew, you’ll find the other parts of him not in the
box sent to his mother here. Pettigrew framed Sirius Black for the death of the
thirteen muggles and my parents thirteen years ago.”
Two emerald orbs snapped open, it’d seemed like months since Harry had dropped
the body of Peter Pettigrew at the feet of the minister, Sirius Black had been
invited for a full trial in the following days, but for some reason, Harry’d
not heard anything regarding the result of the trial in question just yet. To
be quite honest…Harry hadn’t really been told much of anything from anyone, not
even Ron or Hermione. It was concerning on a multitude of levels…levels that
Harry wasn’t sure he was comfortable with even being the first one to broach.
For now, the only thing he could do was to bite his tongue…and hope to Merlin
that someone came to collect him from the Dursleys and soon.
Lying atop the loose floorboard in Harry’s bedroom lay a crumpled copy of the
daily prophet but the front page was still barely visible:
                    THE_RETURN_OF_HE_WHO_MUST_NOT_BE_NAMED:
June 24th 1995 was to be the final task of the Tri-Wizard tournament, for one
wizard to rise above three other champions to claim their eternal glory. The
four champions: Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour, Acclaimed Bulgarian Seeker
Viktor Krum and The-boy-who-lived Harry Potter all entered the maze, which was
to be the final task of the tournament. During the process of the task
champions Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter were transported via Portkey into the
Cemetery of the village of Little Hangleton where Cedric Diggory was murdered
by the long thought deceased Peter Pettigrew and Voldemort was subsequently
returned to life.
Harry Potter managed to escape the graveyard with his life, the body of Cedric
Diggory and Peter Pettigrew. This came as a shock to Ministry officials since
Pettigrew was deemed to have been killed thirteen years ago by one Sirius Black
along with thirteen muggles on the same street. Under questioning by
Veritaserum, Pettigrew revealed that it’d been he and not, in fact, Sirius
Black who had been the Potters secret keeper that night when He-who-must-not-
be-named raided the Potter home on Halloween night of 1981.
Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge has since reached out to Mr. Black and
offered him a real trial, which Sirius Black was actually denied thirteen years
ago from the word of Bartemius Crouch, the former head of the Department of Law
Enforcement, who was demoted to the Head of International Magical Co-Operation
due to some unforeseen circumstances.
No word yet on whether Mr. Black has responded to the Minister’s offer.
 
A soft screeching sound suddenly caressed Harry’s eardrum, he turned his
attention to the metallic cage rested atop his drawers which contained his
second friend in the entire magical world, his snowy owl, Hedwig.
“I’m sorry,” he beseeched her, looking at the pitiful food that she’d been
given, “I’d give you better food if I could, but it’s too risky to let you
outside during the day, if Uncle Vernon gets wind of what I’m doing it won’t be
pretty.”
A much softer hoot escaped the owl’s beak and Harry was able to breathe a sigh
of relief. The last thing he wanted was for her to have to eat such meagre
meals, but since it was mainly smaller portions of his already small dividend,
he didn’t really have much choice in the matter.
 
x-x-x-x
“To hell with that, Albus. He’s told me on multiple occasions how those people
treat him and now that I’m a free man, blood wards or not. Harry’s not staying
with them any longer. Grimmauld Place, albeit a bit more medieval than the kind
of setting he’d be used to in Muggle London is a far better place for Harry. At
least I can guarantee that he won’t be treated horribly around me! Especially
considering that in four years of being his Education Provider that you haven’t
noticed how bloody malnourished the kid is!”
“Despite…”
“I don’t want to hear the excuses Albus, I’m going to collect Harry from that
god-forsaken house if it is the last thing that I do. What better place for
Harry than under the watchful guidance of the Order? I mean that was going to
be the base for it, wasn’t it?”
“It was, but I’ve managed to find somewhere more secluded that we can operate
more as an Order…rather than a business. No offense, Sirius.”
“None taken, the house does have that feel. I hate it, but if it’s the safest
place for my godson, then I’m willing to look past all of that. It’s fidelius
charm is ancient, it only passed to me since I’m the last living male heir of
the Black Family. Please.”
“Sirius,” Dumbledore sighed, “Alright, you can take him…but not alone. I’ll
send Alastor and Kingsley with you just in case anything untoward happens.”
“Thanks but it won’t be necessary, I’ll be able to move less obviously on my
own, even if it takes me a little longer.”
Dumbledore sighed again, “We can’t be too careful.”
“I know, trust me.”
x-x-x-x
“My…My dark mark is gone?” Bellatrix looked down at her wrist in shock, the
dishevelled woman rose up to her full height, slowly traipsing her bony
fingertips down the surface of the pole in her prison cell as if it were
something out of some horrific dream that she would never be able to wake up
from, “Azkaban…did he really control me that much…?”
“Mrs Lestrange?”
“It’s Ms. Black,” Bellatrix answered haughtily, “I was wed under the imperious
curse, it no longer applies to me.”
“I hoped you’d say that,” the voice said, the air of it was so familiar to
Bellatrix, it was one voice that before everything had gone downhill that she’d
adored hearing, before the Imperious curse, Bella and Sirius had been extremely
close.
“What’re you doing here, Siri?”
“I’ve come to take you away from this godforsaken place, don’t worry your
release and divorce papers have been settled with the Minister, which didn’t
take much since trying to marry someone while they’re under influence of the
imperious curse is actually illegal. I didn’t know this up until recently
either.”
“Why are you bailing me out?”
“Because, I have reason to believe that it’s time the Blacks returned to power
along with the last remaining Potter. Harry is far below the power level that
someone of his blood should be at his age and its all because of the abuse that
he’s been suffering through.”
“The Potter boy didn’t grow up as a pampered little brat?”
“I feel as though Dumbledore is trying to manipulate his situation so that
Harry has nothing to live for except defeating Voldemort when the time comes.”
“And this involves me…how?”
“Well, James and I actually foresaw Dumbledore turning into a manipulative old
bastard…well even more of one than he was at the times that we all knew him
best. We couldn’t trust him to not try and completely take control of Harry’s
life so we did up a betrothal contract between him and three witches that we
knew would be able to prepare him for war, while also making sure that he was
protected from Dumbledore’s manipulation.”
“Sirius…you didn’t…”
“I did. You, Narcissa and Andromeda were the best candidates I knew to fill the
roles.”
“How did you even know that I was under the Imperious curse for one thing?”
“That’s for me to know,” Sirius answered cryptically, “I need you to do me a
favour…”
 
                               -End Chapter One-
***** Chapter 2 *****
                                                                               
                                              -CHAPTER TWO-
The divorce had been finalized about two weeks ago, Narcissa had abandoned her
married name as soon as the split had been dealt with and returned to the use
of her maiden name, Black. Draco had chosen to go with his father, meaning that
she was truly left alone after the split. Not that Narcissa minded, Lucius had
corrupted his son and that meant she was better off without him in her life as
well. Suddenly, a tap at the door of the room she’d hired from the Leaky
Cauldron jolted the woman out of her thoughts, one of her eyebrows arched and
she approached the door, slowly pulling it open towards her. As soon as she’d
opened the door, Narcissa’s jaw fell open. “Y..You?” she gasped. “Good to see
you too, Cissy,” Bellatrix stated, rolling her eyes, “Over four years and the
best you can deliver is something like that?” “I’m sorry,” she whispered in
response, “But I thought you’d been sentenced to life in Azkaban?” “Well, I
was. But Sirius proved my innocence.” “And why would he do that?” “Some
contract that he made with that Potter bloke when Harry was born.” “They made a
contract? You mean a betrothal contract between you and the Potter brat?”
Bellatrix nodded her affirmation, “Not just me, it includes you and Andy as
well.” Narcissa’s eyes widened, her pale features contorting with shock, “How
is that even possible!? Were they drunk!?”
“I’m not sure about all the logistics involved, but apparently if he’s not wed
to the three of us by his sixteenth birthday, us three, the Potter brat and
Sirius lose our magic. The father would lose his to, however seeing as he’s not
present to lose it, he will not be.”

A fortnight after a stressful divorce with the head of the Malfoy family,
Narcissa was already having to deal with this? What kind of cruel joke was fate
trying to play on her right now.
“And how does he expect Andromeda to react to this news, Bella? She hasn’t
spoken to any of us for several years, the last I heard, she was happily living
at home with a muggle-born and her daughter.”
“Much like you, she was in a marriage in which love didn’t exist. Nymphadora is
off doing her own thing, prancing around with the Aurors. Andy is much like
you, a lonely woman in desperate need of happiness.”

“And you expect us to find it with the Potter brat? What dimension does Sirius
have you living in?”
“He said they crafted the contract because of Dumbledore.”
“What does he have to do with any of this?”
“Sirius said that he trusts the old codger about as far as he can throw him.”
“Muggle analogy I assume?”
“He did spend a lot of time with Lily Evans, who was a muggle-born.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“Sirius and I had a long conversation the night before I went to find you.”
“Where is he now?”
“He’s gone with an old friend of his to collect Potter.”

“Of course he has,” Narcissa continued, rolling her eyes before she can stop
herself, “And I assume you’re here to collect me, then we’re going to collect
Andy and then go to the same location and Sirius and The Potter brat?”
“Well, I’m surprised that you worked it out so fast on your own to be
completely honest, but yes. That is the plan. We all need to prepare Harry for
his battle with the dark lord, away from prying eyes such as Dumbledore’s.”
“And because we’ll lose our magic otherwise, we are forced to marry the boy
too?”
Bellatrix said nothing, she only nodded. Knowing that words weren’t necessary
at that point. Although the elder of the two Black sisters present could see
the frustration clearly ingrained into Narcissa’s face. She felt awful for her
sister, she truly did, having just got out of a loveless marriage and being
thrust into another one…it couldn’t have been the nicest pill to swallow.
“I suppose I’ll need to cancel the room then?”

“No,” Bellatrix continued, choosing to ignore the emotionless quality to the
tone of Narcissa’s voice at present, “We’ll need this room for another week or
so, I’ve let the Inn-Keeper know in advance.”
“Why on earth will we need it for a week?”
“Do you really want to be around Grimmauld Place when Potter blows his top
after finding out about the contract?” After pausing for a moment and getting
no response, Bellatrix couldn’t help but to allow a smirk to curve onto her
lips, “That’s what I thought.”
“What does any of us have to gain from this?”
“Potter spent his entire childhood being abused by his so-called relatives,
which Dumbledore dumped him with the night the Dark Lord murdered them,”
Bellatrix explained, “And Sirius had gone after Pettigrew as soon as Hagrid had
taken Harry from Sirius under Dumbledore’s orders. Sirius was so frustrated
with Dumbledore’s idea of a good environment for Harry that he wasn’t thinking
straight when he went after Pettigrew? Who…ultimately in the end turned out to
be a coward.”
“This would just be an escape for him then?”

“It’s more than that, we can teach him what it really is to be loved and have a
real support network of people in the magical world who aren’t just
manipulating him into being some wounded saviour free to be dispatched at
Dumbledore’s earliest convenience.”
“In love with someone you’ve never met, Bella? That’s not like you.”
“I’m not in love with him Cissy, but I’m willing to give this a shot.”
“But why? You’re a free woman. You should be over-the-moon that you’re finally
free of Azkaban, but instead you’re dealing with this…”
“Voldemort imperiused me into marrying Rodolphus Lestrange the night I was
arrested, but it became null and void when the Ministry realized that I hadn’t
done it of my own free will,” Bellatrix finally admitted, “I’d rather be wed to
the Potter boy rather than having to deal with that elitist scumbag on a
nightly basis.”
“I don’t get it…you’re making it sound like…”
“Sirius did this as much for us as he did for Harry. It protects all of us.”

“But what about Sirius himself?”
Bellatrix chuckled, “Come on Cissy, you know that Sirius is a special kind of
wizard more than capable of looking after himself.”
Narcissa couldn’t quite fully resign herself to the fact that this was going to
happen one way or another, whether she liked it or not. Being married to a
fifteen-year-old was not exactly where she saw herself after finally being
freed of Lucius, but unfortunately it didn’t seem as if she’d been given a
loophole out of this situation…whatsoever.
“Does Sirius think that us living in Grimmauld Place is wise?”
Bellatrix was shocked at the quick change of subject, but she decided to roll
with it for now: “How’d you mean?”
“Well, he wants to keep the Potter brat as far from Dumbledore’s influence as
possible…yet he’s attempting to situate him right under the Professor’s nose?”
“It’s Sirius’ idea, but I trust he has a good reason for it.”
“I hope so,” Narcissa added in.

“You hope so? Why are you so concerned if Dumbledore knows where Potter is all
of a sudden?”
“Because, if we are to be wed as the contract states, then he will want to try
and manipulate us into ending the agreement once it comes to pass, so that he
can manipulate Harry again, free of external interference.”
“…You changed your mind rather quickly…”
“I haven’t,” Narcissa said firmly, “But, if the contract is terminated I want
it to be because either you, myself, Andy or the Potter brat are unhappy with
it, not because some self-involved manipulative old fool wants the world to be
bent around his fingertips. That doesn’t sit right with me, Bella.”
“I can see your reasoning.”
“Speaking of Andy, where is she?” Narcissa asked, “Shouldn’t she be here if
we’re going to have the use of this apartment for a week?”
“I’ve arranged a meeting with her at Florean’s tomorrow.”
“Isn’t that too open, what if the wrong person overhears?”
“Don’t worry, that’s only where we’re meeting,” Bellatrix explained.

“And where do you hope for us to be able to have such a private conversation?
I’d rather not have the contract privy to Dumbledore’s knowledge until we’re
absolutely sure that he can’t damage it.”
“You seem as though you’re looking forward to being married again already,”
Bellatrix said playfully, a light jabbing tone to her voice.
“I’ve already given my reasons, Bella. What time do we meet Andy tomorrow?”
“She said it’d be around midday, at least at a rough estimate.”
“Then, what shall we be doing with the rest of the morning?”

“I want to purchase a new wand,” Bellatrix said, her eyes lighting up a little
at the prospect of doing such a thing, “The one I was associated with before
being released from the Imperius is accustomed to someone with a brutal desire
for torture and seeing as that isn’t me anymore, the wand isn’t quite working
for me the way it’s meant to.”
“Despite the unpleasant situation that we’ve both found ourselves in Bella, for
what it’s worth…I am happy to see that you were never a traitor the Black name
after all.”
“Never,” she smiled softly, approaching Narcissa and encircling her in a tight
hug, “Mother and father hid it well from the others, of course, but we were
always the right kind. Unfortunately Andy let her guard down and Aunt Walburga
blasted her off the family tree.”

Narcissa returned the hug, nodding to the statement that Bellatrix had made,
before turning her attention out the window. Everything had changed so quickly
for the woman. Bellatrix’s appearance wasn’t unwelcome of course, though things
were becoming more evident, Dumbledore not being all that trustworthy wasn’t
unsurprising to the former Malfoy Matriarch, the senile old fool oozed
foolishness and the so-called ‘Light Side’ were even bigger fools for listening
to anything that he had to say.
It was a wonder they did though, boy-who-lived or not, how could Dumbledore
expect a teenager to be able to save the world without the proper training? The
stupid fool was probably expecting for Harry to win by some out there reasoning
like ‘Love’ which for all its power wasn’t going to work for this kind of
situation. You can’t stop someone like Voldemort with love. All of Dumbledore’s
manipulative little games or for ‘the greater good’, at least that’s what the
Hogwarts Headmaster would call it.
 
x-x-x-x-x-x

The soft hues of the starlit night sky bedazzled the streets of Privet Drive,
illuminating the world for the residents to see, assisting the street lights to
illuminate the otherwise dull suburban area. Harry let his emerald optics turn
slightly to take in the small beauties of the world around him while he got the
chance. Also known as the times in which The Dursleys were fast asleep in their
respective bedrooms. One thing that Harry did notice upon closer inspection of
his window was that a small fleck of white against the darkness of the clouds
was approaching from the distance. The closer the shape got, the more
pronounced it became, first Harry could see the shape of the bird’s wings and
the rest of the body followed.
It was Hedwig, bringing Sirius’ reply. Once the snowy owl had reached a close
proximity to his window, Harry yanked it open and hurriedly took the letter
that was attached to Hedwig’s leg. Once he had it in his grip, Harry tore the
envelope away from the parchment inside to read:
Harry.
There’s been a change of plans.
I did manage to talk Dumbledore into letting you come and stay with me, but
something else that I’d forgotten about has come to my attention within the
past couple of days. I will explain in more detail when we are away from the
Muggles. Speaking of which, I’ll be coming to collect you tomorrow morning at
roughly two A.M so make sure you’re ready.
Sirius.
“Two am!?” Harry hissed vehemently, his eyes snapping towards the clock, almost
immediately his eyes widened in a panic, he had fifteen minutes to try and
organise his belongings? This was not going to be fun. Harry pulled himself out
of bed, almost hissing when the cool night air briskly caressed his skin, it
was not the most pleasant feeling in the world, but he had no choice but to
suffer through it. Harry rushed over to the loose floorboard and removed
several items from it. Taking a few moments to shove them inside his trusty
knapsack. He swung it over his shoulder and headed to make his exit, creeping
over to his bedroom door and silently turned the door handle.

Harry was going to have to be careful here, there were certain things that
needed to be done if he wanted to collect his belongings before Sirius arrived
and without alerting the Dursleys to what he was doing, it wasn’t the easiest
task he’d set himself, but Harry was determined. Moving as silently as he
could, Harry lightly pressed his foot against the flooring of the external
hallway to his bedroom. After checking to make sure that he hadn’t made too
much noise, Harry continued to creep along the carpet. The house looked and
felt completely different this early in the morning, the silence and absence of
his relatives was potentially the best feeling in the world. Knowing he was
about to get away from that for another year in a few short minutes was a
selling point for Harry.
One of the items he’d removed from the loose floorboard would come in handy
when Harry reached the cupboard under the stairs where the Dursleys locked his
school supplies away at the end of every Hogwarts year. Not even the threat of
Sirius Black had been enough for them to change their minds about doing that.
He removed the hairpin from his pocket and inserted it into the lock of the
cupboard.
Harry had watched Fred and George Weasley use this trick when they’d come to
collect him in the summer before his second year at Hogwarts and had always
felt it a valuable skill to learn, after all, there was some doors in which
magic would do nothing to unlock it and for Harry right now, he couldn’t access
his magic due to the statue of secrecy, so this was the next best thing.
After a few moments of jiggling, the lock clicked open, revealing Harry’s
success. He smiled a little then yanked the door open. Harry felt it necessary
to check one last time to make sure that his clothing was covering his injuries
from the previous years, hiding those would remain a paramount concern of
Harrys’, the Dursleys’ hadn’t done anything this summer, mainly because he
hadn’t given them a chance to, however, he didn’t want to let anyone else know
about his freakishness.
Harry pulled the drawstring in the centre of the cupboard, almost immediately
it illuminated, revealing his trunk and broomstick sitting on one side of the
cupboard. He stepped over to the trunk first, rapidly unclicking the dual locks
on either side, then hauled the trunk open. The emerald eyed teen rummaged
through his trunk until he found his wand, then stuffed it into his pocket.
There was no telling what could potentially happen in these early
hours…especially since Harry didn’t know how he and Sirius would be traveling
to wherever it is that they were going, once again, he’d only been told as
little as possible. Perhaps there was another reason for Sirius not being
completely honest with him, letters could be intercepted after all. One last
thing left to do, that was to wait for Sirius to arrive and pray that none of
his so-called relatives wake up before he does.
-End Chapter-
A/N: Just so everyone is completely aware. This story is entirely AU. The Black
Family (Cygnus and Druella at least) Shared a similar view to Sirius Black, but
had to hide it from their family for obvious reasons. Their daughters were
raised with these morals but also were taught to hide it from the extended
relatives.
***** Chapter 3 *****
-Chapter Three-
How long was Sirius going to take? Harry had been sitting on the front porch
for about twenty minutes and there was still no sign of his godfather anywhere,
had he got the address long? Attacked by a Death Eater? Worse? His anxiety
concerning the situation was rising and there wasn’t much that he could do
about it at the current point in time. Right as Harry was ready to turn heel
and return inside to face the undoubted wrath of the Dursleys in a few hours
upon their awakening a soft sound of a whirling wind from a block or two away
caressed Harry’s ear-drums.
What could he possibly expect…this wasn’t going to end well, he could feel it
in his bones. Harry timidly reached into his pocket, extracting his wand and
preparing to aim it at any incoming hostiles. The rush of wind was associated
with apparation, at least that what he gathered the sound was when multiple
people had utilized the skill during his previous summer holidays. He and The
Weasleys had visited the Quidditch World Cup in order to watch Bulgaria compete
against Ireland in the finals.
“Harry!”
A voice had hissed at him and Harry almost fired a spell on the tip of his
tongue out of instinct alone, but luckily Harry had discerned the man’s
appearance before he could.
“Sirius, this isn’t the normal way that you come…anywhere.”
“I had to be discreet, I also moved the dates forward slightly compared to what
I told everyone else.”
“Whatever for?” Harry asked, his eyebrows arching in confusion.
“Dumbledore isn’t as trustworthy as he’d lead you into believing Harry. He
wants what’s best for the greater good, not what’s best for you.”
“Dumbledore isn’t trustworthy?” Harry questioned his god-father, “Have you had
too much to drink celebrating your freedom, Sirius?”
“I thought you’d say that, but I’ll let you judge him for yourself once I can
tell you more of what’s going on when we get to the safehouse and we’ve got the
whole group with us.”
“The whole group…Sirius…”
“I’m sorry Harry, I can’t divulge any more information for now, we’re too in
the open and we need to get out of here right now before the wards break and
Dumbledore gets here with a fleet of members of the Order. I tricked him
because I believe he’s planning something to stop me taking you away from
here.”
Harry pocketed his wand once more, his emerald optics shifting around the area
rapidly, “And how exactly are you going to do that? Apparating away with me
isn’t exactly going to look good in front of the Ministry.”
Sirius chuckled, “You think I’ve not thought of this, Harry do you not know who
you’re talking to? This is the guy who spend a year and a half out-running the
Ministry of Magic before he was acquitted.”
“Congratulations on being freed, Sirius.”
Harry suddenly rushed over to his godfather and threw his arms around him in a
brotherly embrace, “I’ve never been so relieved. You’ve had it rough over the
past thirteen years and that’s putting it into a socially acceptable phrase.
I’m proud of how far you’ve come, you know that right?”
“What’s brought on all this sap suddenly?” Sirius responded with a smirk,
“Finally settled in your mind that you’re going to be leaving Privet Drive
forever huh?”
Harry did release a chuckle for his godfather’s benefit, but he continued to
speak nonetheless, “Even if I was to be still stuck here, Sirius I would still
be happy that you finally were declared innocent after all these years. Did
Fudge give a reason as to why everything moved ahead so quickly?”
“Well, initially I thought it was down to them finally getting their hands on
that pathetic vermin Wormtail, but apparently, The Wizenagamot had been up in
arms for years that Barty Crouch Snr. Didn’t give me a proper trial fourteen
years ago. Even some of the Ministry members were furious. Being the Lord of an
ancient and noble house at the time, my mother Walburga passed away roughly
four months before you were born, thank Merlin, nasty piece of work she was. My
grandfather was still alive when you were born and he had slowly started being
more open about accepting me…but roughly a week before Pettigrew sold us out,
he showed up at a bar infested with Death Eaters.”
“And he was murdered? Just like that?”
“There are some dark secrets in my family Harry, things that ordinary wizards
would probably keel over in disgust at finding out what they were. My
grandfather was no exception, fortunately though he was a member of ‘The Grey
Wolf Society’.”
Sirius hissed the last word, so that it couldn’t potentially be heard out in
the open by one of the Order’s spies.
“What’s the…”
“Shhh! Not here.”
“Sorry,” Harry quickly remedied.
“We’d best get on the move Harry,” Sirius continued, pointing his wand,
concentrating on something as he aimed for Harry’s belongings, “Evanesco!”a
soft fire passed over all of the things Harry had brought out of the Dursley
house with him right before it all vanished a moment later. Hedwig’s cage had
vanished as well, but Harry had already let her out to fly to wherever it was
Sirius lived.
Harry followed his godfather through the silent streets of Privet Drive. He was
silent for a moment or two before deciding to voice the question that’d been on
his mind since his godfather’s arrival on the doorstep of number four.
“How exactly are we going to be travelling Sirius?”
“Teleportation,” The older wizard explained, “It’s like apparation except it’s
not traceable.”
“Not traceable? How does that work?”
“Teleportation is through an object…it’s not unlike a portkey but it’s not
locked to a single location.” Once Sirius had finished speaking he reached
inside the pocket of his jacket once again, this time pulling a strange
metallic knick-knack from the inside shaped like a scarab beetle.
“Each of the Most Ancient and Noble houses have a small trinket dedicated to
teleporting. This Scarab Beetle comes from my Ancestor’s obsession with
Egyptians.”
Without waiting for Harry to reply Sirius pressed the metallic beetle to his
lips and whispered something illegible against the cool surface of the strange
device. A loud whirring sound encompassed the street a moment later as the
beetle opened the back of its shell and sped off into the air. Though, it only
travelled a few metres…right before it exploded into a bright circular mass of
light, which looked as if it was the entrance to some kind of tunnel.
“Right, after you Harry.”
Harry looked to the portal, then looked back at Sirius. He’d only been with his
godfather for roughly ten minutes and already he was being shown some
incredible kind of ancient magic. This was odd for Harry, even after having
spent four years in the Wizarding world already. After releasing a breath, he
didn’t know he was holding, Harry leaped off the ground, diving straight into
the mass of light before him.
The tunnel wasn’t a walkway as Harry had first pictured, but instead it seemed
to pull him through the light completely under its own power. He wanted to
scream at the pace the portal was moving, however, he found that the pressure
of the zone was too much for him to even open his mouth. Harry was about ready
to puke…right in that moment he was thrown out of the light and out onto dark
concrete cobblestones of some kind.
“Ugh,” The young wizard complained, hauling himself to his feet a moment later
as Sirius comfortably sauntered out of the light, walking out onto the street
as if it were nothing.
“Wouldn’t it have been smarter to I don’t know, appear in the safe house?”
Harry snapped.
Sirius sighed, catching the now returned metallic Scarab beetle in his grip,
“Yes, we could’ve but unfortunately, due to the protections on the place, you
would’ve been trapped in the portal for eternity.”
“Oh…” Harry concluded lamely, “Sorry Sirius, I didn’t mean to act that way.”
At first, Sirius found it so odd that Harry apologized for something he didn’t
understand, then it hit him where Harry had been, minus the time he spent at
Hogwarts and he realized what was the root cause of it. In that instant Sirius
felt another rush of anger directed at his godson’s so-called family.
“Where are we exactly?”
“Hampstead,” Sirius divulged, “My family owns a hidden estate here. My
grandfather mainly used it, but he moved into a smaller home when he reached
the later years of his life. He gave it to me specifically in his will, it’s
where I’ve been living since the trial ended.”
Sirius led Harry across the street, Harry was looking around in bewilderment
trying to divulge all the new scenery of Muggle London all at once. Seeing that
Sirius was leading him to a house that looked like it’d been abandoned for
several years, Harry had to admit that there must’ve been some incredible magic
protecting the house, though he didn’t know what exactly it could be, he did
look forward to finding out.
“I, Sirius Black do hereby give permission for Harry Potter to obtain entrance
to The Grim’s Den, Hampstead.”
As soon as the words had passed from Sirius’ lips, the ground began to tremble
and Harry watched in amazement at the scene unfolding before them. Bricks,
timber and all other sorts of materials were weaving around rapidly, rebuilding
the house right before their eyes.
“Sirius?” Harry asked while the objects continued their work, “How is it doing
that?”
“The Fidelius Charm Harry, it’s a charm that protects the house from the
outside world. Only people that the secret-keeper has revealed the location of
the house to may see it for what it actually is. What you’re witnessing now is
The Grim’s Den altering its security to put you on the approved list of
entrants.”
“Wait…how did you get my belongings inside here?”
“Well, since I already know what’s inside…and being that I’m the secret keeper
of this place, I can get anything inside the house. Whether it be another
person or an object. Hedwig’s already been inside due to the response from your
last few letters, so she also got inside without a hitch.”
Once the building had constructed itself in Harry’s view, he crossed the other
half of the street behind his godfather, then waited for him to unlock the
door. As soon as they took a single step inside, Harry’s jaw fell open. It was
huge!The entry-way ran both sides with polished oak walls adorned with
photographs of Sirius, a man who looked like him and another that looked almost
identical to Harry…except for his eyes.
“My dad was friends with your grandfather as well?”
“Aye,” Sirius stated, “We were the founding members of the society along with
Moony.”
“Can you tell me more about the society?”
“All in good time Harry, let’s get you settled in first and whilst Kreacher is
handling dinner I will relay you the tale of The Grey Wolves.”
A smile crossed Harry’s pale features and he nodded, despite how intrigued he
was, Harry knew that he was going to have to wait, all things had their time,
and these was one of things that couldn’t be rushed.
“Well, do you suppose you could tell me how the Ministry got away with
imprisoning a member of a most-ancient and noble house then?”
“Crouch Snr. Hated my grandfather,” Sirius explained, “And he had the previous
Minister in his pocket. The entire community was aghast…but there was nothing
they could do about it. That’s part of the reason that Fudge was so easily
accepted into power. They wanted rid of the last one. Unfortunately, he
couldn’t get around to giving me a trial once I was imprisoned without
substantial evidence. The wizarding justice system is warped kiddo.”
x-x-x-x-x
Two figures sauntered down the moonlit street, they were about a head apart in
height, the two women were focused completely on the task at hand, there was no
point messing around here after all. They had a job to do.
“How can we be sure that she won’t just throw us out the door?”
“Sirius said that he owled her ahead of time to explain that we would be
coming.”
“This doesn’t sound good.”
“We have to trust that he knows what he’s doing, Cissa.”
“Sirius has always been mental, but this scheme that he’s conjured is the most
ridiculous yet.”
“It wasn’t just him, James Potter would’ve had to have a hand in it as well,
since it is a marriage contract with both parties must sign and those two were
always the worst for hare-brained schemes.”
“Come then, we’re going to be late for the meeting we’ve supposedly been
scheduled.”
 
---------------------
End Chapter.
***** Chapter 4 *****
Bellatrix gave her younger sister a nod, then tapped her hand against the front
door to the apartment complex in which Andromeda had been staying since her and
former husband Ted Tonks had divorced. From the information that Bellatrix
obtained through Sirius, she'd found out that Ted had changed towards Andromeda
when Nymphadora was born, he didn't like the idea of such an un-natural ability
running through his daughter's veins above her already strong magical
connection on her mother's side of the family. Andromeda had been distraught
and immediately cut herself off from the situation, Nymphadora herself was
barely graduated from Hogwarts and neck-deep in the Auror academy these days
and, according to Sirius, had a bright future within the field.
"Who's there?" Andromeda demanded without opening the door.
"It is I, Bellatrix Black bringing Narcissa Black at the terms discussed with
The Grim," even though Sirius had been exonerated now, Bella thought it best to
use the code-name that Sirius and herself had come up with during early stages
of planning in hopes of throwing anyone in the order off their trail, the only
one who would know the true plan within the order was Remus Lupin, because
Sirius was adamant that his old friend could be trusted. Especially since
Sirius had spent the better part of two months teaching Remus Occlumency. The
headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore was known (only by a select few
observant souls) to practice legilimency on members of the student and staff
bodies at Hogwarts, Sirius had also dropped to her that he was going to make
sure that Harry learned the same skill to prevent Dumbledore from manipulating
him any further either.
In some ways, Bella was somewhat proud of her younger cousin. He'd pulled both
herself and Narcissa out of abusive and controlling marriages, set them up with
a respectable half-blood wizard, even if he was half their age and was making
works to undo the mind-control that the old fool Dumbledore was utilizing no
doubt for what the senile old fool thought was 'The Greater Good'. Sirius had
told her that under no circumstances would he trust anyone outside of Harry,
herself and her two sisters unless that person's name was Moony. At least until
others proved that he could trust them. Dumbledore may have the theatrical
'Leader of The Light' poster going for him, but the one actually preparing
Harry for his confrontation with Voldemort, the one who was bringing together
allies and teachers for him, preparing for the skills he'd need to learn in
order to win, that was Sirius. It seemed like Dumbledore was doing nothing more
than waiting for Harry to die and the more she thought about it, the more
Bellatrix didn't like the idea.
Right when her train of thought seemed to pause for that split second, the
front door to Andromeda's apartment swung open, "I'm surprised that you're both
actually going through with this."
"Better that brat than Lucius," Narcissa grumbled, seeming to be resigning
herself to fate rather than giving herself a chance to be happy in the proper
environment. True, Bellatrix herself wasn't too keen on the idea, but it was
what had to be done for the best interests of all those involved, she however
did not envy Sirius having to tell a fifteen year old boy, one who's every move
has been determined by someone else up until this point, that even his own
marital partners have been selected for him and that they were all at least
double his age, old enough to be his mother even. At least they got Andromeda
rather than the powder keg that Harry Potter was described to be on more than
one occasion.
"Well, no use standing out here trying to discuss things," Andromeda observed,
"They say that even the trees have ears these days."
"Not something we like being reminded of," Bellatrix commented sagely as she
stepped into the apartment behind her sisters.
"Well, at least it's not the shambles we thought it was going to be," Narcissa
said, the first sign of her natural humour slipping back into her visage.
"Despite what happened between Ted and I, I had to try and raise Nym at the
same time. I couldn't afford for her to grow up with the absence of one parent
physically and the absence of another mentally, she deserves better than that.
So I assume that the Grim has also filled both of you in as well?"
"Yes," Narcissa began, "What are your thoughts on it Andie?"
"I honestly have no idea," Andromeda admitted, "He seems like a nice enough
young man, but Sirius really went to the extreme with this contract…How he got
James to agree to it, I'll never know."
Narcissa who'd been quite close to Lily before everything went down in her
wedding to Lucius shuddered, "Perhaps The Stag went along with it easily, I
doubt the Flower did however. She was a muggle-born so she wouldn't have
understood the customs…unless the rumours of her studying the etiquette of
wizards every night before bed are to be believed."
"Judging how well she did as an Unspeakable….I'd say that she spent most of her
free time studying things that no one else would've expected her to," Bellatrix
said in agreement with her sister.
"Let's be fair though, the Grim is doing Reindeer a wonderful favour. Grim
himself is very proficient in Defending Ones-self against the forces of the
dark. I am adept with Charms and Astronomy. You Narcissa are wonderful with
Potions and caring for any sort of magical creature. Bella your transfiguration
abilities are next to unbeatable. Between us we cover an entire core Hogwarts
year of teaching…"
"Andie…"
"Grim is preparing him for the battle with Voldemort as Dumbledore never would,
I know."
"Even when we were younger those were our best skills, is it possible that
Sirius planned this, even back in those days?" Narcissa questioned the other
two women with a volume of interest in her tone.
"It is possible, even if it is slightly unlikely for Grim to be anything but
spontaneous. Whatever his method and reasoning, he's done what he believes to
be the best thing for the survival of the wizarding world."
"And besides," Andromeda cut in, "it's not as if Reindeer could be as
disastrous as Lucius, Rodolphus or Ted even if he tried. I've heard stories
about how selfless and noble he can be sometimes."
"We'll need to rein that in," Narcissa said before she could stop herself,
"It's okay to be noble and to want to help people, but it's not okay to let
people walk all over you because they know you'll just roll over and take it."
"It seems like you're even starting to warm up to the idea of being with the
Reindeer." Bellatrix teased her.
"I just want to make the most of a chance to set things right with the world,
we've all lived through unhappy and abusive marriages, perhaps this is a
backwards way at giving us three a second chance at love whilst also giving us
and Sirius a second chance at being a genuine family that doesn't hate each
other's guts or try to murder each other at every turn."
"That is very true," Andromeda agreed, "I also wanted to apologize, you both
warned me about Ted…but I didn't listen."
"You were young and in love. We couldn't blame you for that Andie. If Walburga
knew about the true allegiance of our family then we would've been blasted off
the family tree along with our parents as you and Grim were."
"That's all in the past," Andromeda said, waving her sisters off, "And
completely out of your control. I chose to run off with him after you'd all
warned me about him especially mother and father. Now we must focus on more
important things. When are we to meet our new betrothed?"
"Grim asked that we give him at least a week to explain the situation to the
reindeer."
"I bet he's not going to be happy," Andromeda voiced, trying not to shudder.
"Safe bet," Bellatrix agreed.
"We'll convince him otherwise."
"We will in time," Andromeda agreed, "But we cannot rush it…we might run the
risk of pushing him further away…permanently."
"Between the three of us, he'll never escape," Bella spoke, a smirk forming
across her pale features.
x-x-x-x
"The Order of The Grey Wolves, as I said before, is a society that my
grandfather and your great-grandfather founded during the heat of the first
war. They realized that Dumbledore's order weren't getting things done…they
knew the importance of fighting fire with fire. The Death Eaters were prepared
to kill…and they believed that the light should do the same."
"Whoa…"
"Yeah, it was a rough time."
"Maybe we could reform it since Dumbledore has seen fit to reinstate the
Order."
"Not yet. I need Dumbledore to believe that I'm in his corner at least
initially before we're ready to deal with the backlash of it. But there is
something I need to talk to you about Harry and it's quite urgent."
"What is it, Padfoot?"
I wish James was here to tell him this, it's not going to be easy.
"Well, when you were a baby, your father and I were worried that there would be
no one to make sure you were safe, happy and loved after Voldemort ripped us to
shreds. So we made a contract between our families that would ensure your
protection."
"Oh, no big deal," Harry shrugged, "Like a loyalty contract?"
"No Harry…Marriage Contracts."
"Marriage Contracts…as in plural?"
Sirius almost recoiled from the tone of his godson's voice, but he pressed on
anyway, it was going to get him at the very least hexed in a few moments
anyway, "Yes, plural Harry. You are betrothed to Bellatrix Black, Narcissa
Black and Andromeda Black."
"Wait Narcissa…You got me into a marriage contract with Malfoy's mother!?"
"Yes, but Harry she doesn't associate with those two anymore. She was roped
into it by her parents to marry Lucius, Bellatrix was imperiused to marry
Rodolphus Lestrange and Ted Tonks was abusive to Andromeda, so she was forced
to terminate her own marriage. They have suffered albeit differently to you,
but that isn't to say that they haven't suffered as harshly."
"They were forced into marriages…and you went and did the same thing to them!
Not to mention the fact that they are all so much older than I am!"
"Harry try and see reason, they have real-world experience…enough to teach you
what you need to know to fight against Voldemort, I bet they also have so much
love to give considering their situations. Which, if your history is anything
to go by, is something that you need on an exponential level that I cannot give
you directly."
"Were you drunk when you made this contract, Padfoot?"
"No and neither was your father. We were doing what we did with your best
interests at heart, even your mother agreed believing that we'd have to fix
Dumbledore's choices of how your childhood should be spent."
"And you thought taking the choice of who I spent my life with from me the
smartest course of action did you?"
"Don't be bitter about it Harry, marriage contracts are not uncommon in the
Wizarding World, not even multiple ones, which are less common nowadays, but in
the prime of times they were very popular. Look, at least give yourself a
chance to meet them before you press all your anger out at me for doing this
alright. I was just doing what I thought was the best option for you…I was
trying to free you from Dumbledore's manipulations in the only way I knew how."
"Alright Padfoot I'll give them a chance, but that doesn't mean I have to like
it."
***** Chapter 5 *****
-Chapter Five-
A week had passed since Sirius had divulged the true nature of the contracts to
Harry. He was exasperated about the whole thing and was furious that he had to
go through with it for the reason of losing his magic if he didn't. He didn't
mind really that he was already married, it was just the fact that these women
were all a lot older than he was, but he supposed that Sirius and his parents
had their reasons, so he would make the best of the situation that he possibly
could, both for the sake of his magic and the sake of at least trying to have a
semblance of a good life whilst being stuck in this situation.
"When do I meet them?" He asked Sirius on the morning of his seventh day living
at Grimmauld Place.
"Tonight," Sirius said, "It would've been earlier but Bella said that she had
something to do before coming over to meet with us."
Harry nodded, trying not to let his nerves seep out into the open.
"It'll be fine pup," Sirius tried to convince him, "I bet that they are just as
apprehensive and nervous about this as you are, they've barely gotten out of
abusive marriages. I did this to protect all of you."
"I know, Sirius…but…what if they automatically throw me in the same category as
their ex-husbands?"
"I doubt they will, but correct me if I'm wrong here, but do you want them to
give this a chance as well?"
Harry rolled his eyes, "Not for those reasons, Old dog. If I'm going to be
trying to make this work, by rights they should be doing so as well."
"Fair point," Sirius conceded, deciding for the sake of the situation, it was
best to not press Harry about being referred to as 'Old Dog' there would be
other times for that no doubt.
"But what shall we do until they arrive?"
Harry wondered this as well, it was relatively early in the day and if his new
betrotheds weren't getting here until early evening at best, the two of them
were going to need something to do, at least for the first part of the day. He
wouldn't have to wait long until his godfather decided what the two of them
should do though.
"Perhaps it would be best to run a medical on you," Sirius said, "See the
damage that the Dursleys' have done and work on getting it fixed. You are far
too small for someone of your age with the kind of physical activity that you
do. It's not an insult to you, but to those whom raised you under the orders of
Dumbledore."
Harry bit back the reply he'd been waiting to unleash when Sirius quickly
amended the fact that it wasn't his fault, but that did bring a fresh set of
questions to Harry's mouth, "Is there even a medical person within Britain that
we can trust won't go to Dumbledore with my location?"
"As a matter of fact there is, he is exceptionally skilled in the healing arts,
but could never find a job because of his status as a werewolf, he only
received a job from Dumbledore in your third year so that Dumbledore could keep
a better eye on you."
"Professor Lupin?"
"Yup," Sirius said almost gleefully.
"Wait that means that Remus didn't resign because of Snape getting out that he
was a Werewolf."
"No, Remus resigned because he discovered the real reason that he was even
hired in the first place Harry. He is an invaluable ally and a very close
friend of mine and your parents as you already know."
"How will we collect him?" Harry asked, "I mean, we're both far too easily
recognized to go far in the wizarding world without being detected, we could
run the risk of me being dragged back to Number Four."
"I have thought ahead on that, Kreacher!"
A thin crack! Sounded throughout the dining room and a second later a small,
diminutive creature popped into existence within the room, he had grey-toned
flesh and wide tennis ball eyes, but unlike the house-elf that Harry knew, his
ears were down-turned giving him a distinctly…depressed looking appearance.
"Master calls me as though he did not disappoint my mistress, her own flesh and
blood betraying her, besmirching her house with the presence of a half-blood."
"Kreacher, shut up. Right you are going to go and collect Remus Lupin for me.
Do not speak to, signal or reveal to anyone what you are doing in any sense of
the word. No hand signals no expressions, no nothing."
Kreacher looked slightly crestfallen at having all the loopholes covered, but
bowed nonetheless, "As master wishes."
Then with another thin crack! Kreacher had vanished.
"My mother's house elf," Sirius explained, "Never really liked anyone else
except for her and my brother."
"He seems a little…depressed if I'm honest Sirius."
"Yes, he would…he claims that his heart was broken when my mother died and that
I dishonour her memory just by my mere presence in this place."
"Well, while we wait for him to return d'you think you could tell me more about
The Grey Wolf Society?"
"The Grey Wolf Society huh? No questions about your new betrotheds?"
"Let's not go there, Old Dog."
"Ouch, wounded. Harsh Pup, very well…let's see…In the heat of the first war
against Voldemort right after my grandfather had formed the Society, your
father, myself and Remus all joined. We loved feeling as though we were part of
something that didn't have Dumbledore's fingerprints all over it. As I told you
before the only real person in my direct family that I could trust was my
grandfather. Shortly after the formation though, he fell in battle and we
stormed over the ones that had done it. It was around this time that we changed
the name from the Grey Society to the Grey Wolf Society after the shape of my
grandfather's Patronus. He was an honourable man and was disliked strongly by a
majority of the Black Family because of it. Not that he cared though."
"I didn't know that he died so early in the formation of the society, what
happened?"
"He was cornered by three Death Eaters on a reconnaissance mission that he set
for himself, unfortunately, we underestimated the lengths that the Death Eaters
would go to…just to prove their loyalty to their master, it was after
grandfather's deaths that James and I took over the helm as leaders of the
Society, it was also when the Society became more open to killing their
enemies."
"And…The night my parents were murdered?"
"James…trusted the wrong man as you know, but it wasn't my idea for switching
Secret Keepers. It was actually Dumbledore's James was hesitant, but went
through with it because he trusted the headmaster."
"He shouldn't have," Harry sighed.
"No, he shouldn't have, but James has passed as has your mother and we must
deal with the repercussions of that. The question is…how do we proceed from
here?"
"Dumbledore brought the Order of The Phoenix back when Voldemort returned
right?"
"Yes…"
"Then we should bring back The Order of The Grey Wolf."
"Are you sure that to be the wisest idea, Harry?"
"Well, I wouldn't be involved in it, at least not directly. I do feel that we
should have some kind of force of our own if we're going to be coming up
against the Death Eaters and The Order. I think it's necessary."
"Who would be members?"
"You of course, Professor Lupin as well and anyone else who can prove
themselves loyal to our cause."
Suddenly the thin crack! Resounded throughout the room once more, Kreacher had
returned with a man who looked to be in his early forties, with tattered robes
containing a few holes here and there.
"You really should get some new robes my friend."
"You know that it is difficult, Padfoot."
"You should've asked Moony."
"I could never become a charity case to one of my best friends."
"Not that you ever could, but either way, I need your help my friend."
"What's…Harry? I didn't know you were here already," he turned back to Sirius,
"Decided to finally pull Dumbledore's golden boy out from beneath his feet
then?"
"You know it, I also activated the marriage contracts, we cannot afford to take
any risks, especially where Dumbledore is concerned, with him and Voldemort
both trying to destroy the wizarding world in different ways, we certainly have
our work cut out for us."
"Did I overhear you correctly? You're thinking of reforming The Grey Wolf
Society?"
"Yes," Sirius and Harry affirmed.
"You cannot trust the Order to that end?"
"When have they proved to do anything in anyone's best interest or gain, other
than Dumbledore's?" Harry asked his former defence professor, "Professor Lupin,
I'm not sure that I can trust anyone who is not present within this room right
now."
"Harry, since I am no longer your Professor I'd prefer to be called either
Remus, or if your uncomfortable with that, Moony."
"Very well, Moony. I can't trust anything that Dumbledore and his lackeys are
up to. I'm surprised that he hasn't tried to contact me through my friends
yet."
"He actually has," Sirius said, "They both wrote to me asking if I knew where
you were and requested that I take you back to the Dursley's as soon as
possible to make sure that you were safe."
"After everything I told them about that place?" Harry snapped.
"Unfortunately, I had my suspicions about Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger's true
loyalties even back in your third year…but as they were only suspicions I felt
it best not to mention anything, I am truly sorry Harry."
"It's fine Moony, it isn't your fault, in hindsight…with Ron's jealousy and
Hermione's love for authority I should've known that they only befriended me
because Dumbledore asked them to keep an eye on me for him."
"We can not fault ourselves for this," Sirius told his godson, "What's done is
done and now we just need to take steps to ensure that these sick and twisted
manipulations end with this conversation, we're not going to let Dumbledore
push you around any longer, Harry."
"I second that motion."
"We'll get to the official stuff in regard to the Society very shortly, Remus
the real reason I called you here is because of the fact that you are the only
Medi-Wizard that I can trust hasn't been corrupted by Dumbledore. I need to
know for certain what the damages from the Dursleys' have done to Harry's body
both in physical and magical terms."
"I thought as much," Remus nodded, "Alright, let's get to work then."
The former defence Professor extracted his wand from the inside of his robes
and muttered something underneath his breath, a soft glow emanated from his
wand following the incantation and he ran it along the length of Harry's body.
The more Remus scanned, the more his hand holding the wand began to tremble.
"Lily would be turning in her grave," he muttered, trying not to let the tears
fall which had gathered in his eyes.
"How bad is it?"
"Malnutrition that has almost depleted Harry's entire magical core, Several
Scars and internal injuries…along with a stathis lock that Dumbledore placed on
Harry's magic to limit him even further."
"That old fool!" Sirius snarled, "Can we fix it?"
"Yes, it will not be comfortable or easy," here Remus turned to Harry in order
to make sure that he began to understand the risks of what doing this might
entail, "But we have no other option, if left like this Harry won't last for
longer than maybe a year…at the most."
"What do I need to do?"
"Well, Sirius and I will order you blood-replenishing potions, several
enchanted salves and other magical remedies, then I assume you're already
starting to eat properly so that it a bonus and for the last factor of the
healing, we will need to wait until the rest of the healing has been completed
or we may run the risk of killing you even more prematurely to the time you
received in your current condition."
"I'm prepared for the risks that you've outlined," Harry said, "I want to live
longer than a year…and I want to right the wrongs that the old fool and the old
snake-face have driven into the wizarding world. I'm not going to die for some
crackpot old fool, the one thing Vernon got right was speaking of Dumbledore in
that fashion."
x-x-x-x-x
"Remind me why we're here again, Bella?" Narcissa asked as the three sisters
walked side by side down the streets of Muggle London.
"Because, we have one more task to do before we settle in at Grimmauld Place
for the next while."
"And what task might that be?"
While Narcissa's tone had held an enormous amount of frustration, Andromeda's
was primarily laced with curiosity and a want to know what their eldest sister
had in store for them today.
"We are going to get the first bit of the old moron's control of our bethrothed
revoked. Since the Marriage contract has been activated by Grim, since Reindeer
has no power to do so anymore, we can technically take it straight from the
moron's hands and place it into our own or someone else of our choosing at
least until he becomes of age."
"You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" Andie continued.
"I have," she agreed, "He's ours, not Dumbledore's."
-End Chapter-
Thank you all for joining me for another instalment of 'A Different Sort of
Light' in the next chapter we will find out more about the formation of the new
and improved Grey Wolf Society, along with Harry meeting the women for the
first time.
But now, I must ask you. My readers for some help.
Firstly, who do you think should be prominent members of the Society aside from
the members already mentioned in this chapter? I'd rather not fill it with
NPCs, but it can be done if necessary.
And Secondly,
If anyone has ideas for cute/playful/teasing sort of interactions between Harry
and His Betrotheds either drop it in a review or private message them to me, I
would also dedicate the chapter that the idea appears in to you as an added
bonus.
Nox!
Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed
their work!