Monday, 2 September 1991
Mum,
I've made it to Hogwarts safe and sound, thank you again for allowing me to arrive at the Platform with my friends for our last year. I like how you think it's a trade-off that you'll be 'waiting right next to the train door when it arrives for Yule.' You know I always love seeing you when I come home for breaks.
I know it'd usually take me a couple of days to sit and write properly, and usually after receiving a note from you first reminding me of the fact that I should be writing, but something strange happened at the Sorting.
Harry Potter is a first year, which is strange in and of itself, but the reason I'm writing is that his name was called as "Potter-Black, Harrison" and he appears to be close friends with Narcissa's son, Draco. Harrison was sorted to Gryffindor and Draco to Slytherin and they openly cheered for each other, entirely ignoring the odd looks they received from the rest of the school, staff included.
I'm not sure what's going on, but thought you'd like to know. If anything, it might show that Narcissa is safe to reach out to if her son is publicly aligned with the Boy-Who-Lived.
Hope all is well with you. I miss you already.
Love always,
Nymphadora
* * *
"What?" Andromeda said, not elaborating, not at all sure how to react to the news that Harry Potter was friends with Draco Malfoy. Or the news that Harry Potter was apparently a Black. She was starting to think she should've shown up to the Platform either way, at least then she might've had some answers.
"What's wrong?" Ted asked, looking at her in concern.
"I think I need to write to my grandfather."
His look of concern only got more intense which, honestly, was fair. She hadn't spoken to her grandfather in nearly 20 years, hadn't spoken to any member of her family since Sirius was arrested.
* * *
Friday, 27 September 1991
After several enlightening conversations with her grandfather and a summons to a family meeting that she probably couldn't skip out on if she wanted to keep her head attached to her body, Andromeda was finally ready to write her daughter back. She'd sent letters, of course, but hadn't yet touched on anything dealing with the oh so Noble and so very Ancient House of Black.
Nymphadora,
Something is shifting in the House of Black. I haven't yet been in contact with my sister, but I'm hoping to have a chance to see her soon. I will keep you updated. It's your family as well, darling, so you deserve to know.
If you'd like, feel free to reach out to either Draco or Harrison. Harrison is the Heir to the House and Draco is, of course, your first cousin even though you've never gotten the chance to meet him. From what my grandfather has said, they're both darling boys, though he did admit that Harrison has a bit of a propensity for chaos … something I said sounded right up my darling daughter's alley.
Be good, be kind, write home more often. I'll see you soon for your first quidditch match against Ravenclaw.
Love always,
Mum
* * *
Nymphadora Tonks was a lot of things, patient was not one of them.
The moment she finished reading her mum's letter she stood up and marched her way over to the end of the Gryffindor table where her two young cousins had abandoned their lunch in favour of whispering about something with looks on their faces that promised hijinks. She hadn't even spoken to them yet and had already decided she liked these two.
"Hello," she said, stopping at the end of the table. The moment they heard her voice they went silent, staring up at her like they'd been caught. She let her eyes fade to their natural storm grey as her hair grew and took on its natural curl rather than the straight, choppy style she tended to prefer. She left her hair bright pink, though, she couldn't go about abandoning her signature look entirely.
She watched Harry's eyes light up in recognition, followed quickly by Draco's.
"You're Andromeda's daughter," Harry said, a bright smile on his face as he stuck out his hand, "Harrison Potter-Black, nice to meet you."
Instead of taking his offered hand, she plopped down on the bench next to him and slung an arm around his shoulders, "Nymphadora Tonks, call me Tonks."
"Call me Harry," he responded, still grinning and almost instinctively leaning into her side. She couldn't have kept the soft smile off her face if she tried. This kid was adorable with his bright eyes and sunshine smile, she just wanted to pinch his cheeks and protect him from the world.
"I'm Draco," a small voice added from across the table. When she turned her smile toward him, she watched in real time as his confidence grew. "I don't have a nickname, though."
"Oh that's not true," Harry said with a grin that edged into the shit-eating category, "I call him Dragon, so does his mum."
"Oh so it's a family nickname," Tonks said, nodding with an only half-serious expression on her face, "I like it. Dragon it is."
"He's Lion!" Draco said, pointing at Harry like it was an accusation.
"True," Harry said with a mocking put-upon sigh, "do you have a star name, Tonks?"
"My middle name is Aquila."
"So is my mum's," Draco said, a bright smile on his face that made him actually look his age. It was such a far departure from the stoic Pureblood mask she was used to seeing on the Slytherins that it shocked her for a moment, but then she looked into those sparkling grey eyes so like her mum's, so like her own, and couldn't help but smile back.
"I know," she said softly, "I'm named for her."
"Awesome," Draco decided. "It's the eagle, right?"
"Oh no, am I about to get an animal nickname too?" she said, doing her best to look like she hated the idea.
"I sure think so," Harry said with a bright laugh. "Dragon, Eagle, and Lion, we've got some rather regal animal names, I think. Fitting for the House of Black," he added, a haughty look on his face that broke almost immediately as he and Draco descended into a fit of giggles.
"So why are you Lion?" she asked, squeezing Harry's shoulder softly. She liked these boys. She always wanted cousins. Her dad was an only child and her mum had, obviously, been estranged from her family. She'd made great friends over the years, but there was always something missing and the longer she sat at this table, the more she thought her heart had been searching for this pair of grinning, carefree boys before she was even aware of their existence. "Is it because you're a Gryffindor?"
"No, it's because my second middle name is Regulus, heart of the lion, brightest star in Leo," he explained like it was a point of pride, which it probably was, "it just worked out that I'm also a Gryffindor."
"He lets me call him Leo sometimes because everyone calls him Harry so he needed a nickname just for family," Draco said, looking like someone had just handed him the House Cup.
"Oh, so can I use that nickname too?" she asked, grinning as Harry rolled his eyes in Draco's direction.
"I don't see why not," he sighed, though his lip twitching as he tried not to smile betrayed his real opinion. "You'll need another nickname then as well. Draco lets me call him Drake."
"Call me Dora," she offered immediately, it was a nickname only her father used but something about hearing it from these two felt right.
"Well, Dora," Harry said, leaning in like he was about to share a state secret, "Drake here found a hidden passage in the dungeons and I was just convincing him to share his knowledge, care to join?"
* * *
Saturday, 26 October 1991
Sirius looked around the dark halls of Black Manor and felt an involuntary shudder run down his spine. He tried not to let the fear he'd felt as a child within these walls take over, he tried to remind himself that the House of Black was a very different entity now than it had been, he tried to remind himself that Walburga Black was well and truly dead.
He felt himself spiralling until a strong hand settled on his hip and a chin rested on his shoulder; with his peripheral vision full of tawny brown hair and his nose flooded with the ever familiar scent of old books, chocolate, and tobacco, he finally relaxed.
"You're alright, love," Remus whispered, pressing a featherlight kiss to Sirius' cheek. "I'll be here the whole time."
"The whole time?" Sirius couldn't help but ask, leaning back into the warmth of Remus' chest.
"The whole time," Remus promised. "I love you, you know that?"
"No, I didn't, I think you'll have to tell me again."
Remus let out a bright laugh and wrapped his arms more securely around Sirius, "I've loved you since I was twelve, I'll love you until the day I die, and I'll love you even after that."
"Good," Sirius said with a sharp nod, a smile starting to pull at his lips, "I love you too, Moons."
"Boys," Arcturus called from where he was standing by the floo awaiting the arrival of the remaining members of the once mighty House. "Show time."
Sirius only slightly huffed as he adjusted his formal robes, not at all used to wizarding clothes after four years in Azkaban and the following six years running about Camelot in jeans and t-shirts, "I need everyone to know that the only reason I've agreed to this is that Harry's safer if he's backed by a powerful, united house."
"We're all well aware," Arcturus said, tone dripping with sarcasm that, even after all these years of seeing this side of his grandfather, still shocked him.
Before he could respond, the floo chimed and Narcissa stepped through, perfectly poised, face stoic but for the glint of mischief in her eye as she first greeted Arcturus and then made a show of calling Sirius by his fake name, "and Lord Arcturus Ares Black, though grandfather mentioned we should call you Archer, uncle, is that alright?"
"Quite," he responded, trying not to laugh as Lucius stared at his wife like she'd gone spare. "Lovely to see you again, Lady Malfoy."
"Oh," she said, waving him off, tone almost mockingly posh, "call me Cissa, darling, we're family after all."
Sirius nearly choked trying not to laugh he nodded his assent and turned to Lucius, "and Lord Malfoy, lovely to meet you. I've heard great things."
He was lying through his teeth, of course, but apparently Lucius was the only one who couldn't tell as his chest visibly puffed up at the praise, a smug look on his face, "lovely to meet you as well Lord Black, forgive my impudence but it was quite a shock to learn of your existence all those years ago only for you to remain hidden from society."
It wasn't even a well phrased cover up for his real question; who the hell are you and where the bloody fuck have you been? or, alternatively, I thought my son was inheriting this house, who are you to destroy my plans for world domination?
"All will be explained in time," Arcturus said, levelling Lucius with a glare that made him visibly shudder.
Lucius, showing uncharacteristic intelligence, followed his wife across the room and took a seat on one of the couches just as the floo lit up once more and Arcturus' cousins, Callidora Longbottom and her sister Cedrella Weasley stepped out, followed closely by Lucretia and Ignatius Prewett.
Sirius and Arcturus greeted them all and Sirius easily accepted his aunt/sister/the woman who raised fake him's cheek pinching and general cooing. Her eyes were alight with a certain sort of mischief that made Sirius miss his kid. He was starting to think that that specific glint was an inherited trait. He'd seen it in Dorea and James' eyes more than once as they teamed up to pull some sort of prank on Charlus (who took every joke with a broad grin and a hearty laugh), he'd seen it in Harry almost daily as he ran through the halls of the castle with some creature or another, he'd felt it in his own eye every time they'd snuck out of Gryffindor Tower to cause chaos.
Then he thought about the fact that this generation of Weasley children would've inherited that sort of mischief through their father from their grandmother Cedrella and then combined it with the mayhem that ran through the Prewett line. He shuddered before sending up a prayer for the Hogwarts staff.
The next through the fire was Druella Black nee. Rosier who dutifully greeted Sirius and Arcturus before making her way over to her daughter to ask how Draco's first few weeks of school had gone.
"Hello, cousin," Cassiopeia greeted. Sirius couldn't help but grin. She looked so much like her older sister, Dorea, and had the same no nonsense personality. She'd never married, all out refused to follow through on any sort of contract, and had somehow lived to tell the tale while still happily embroidered into the family tapestry.
"Where's your brother?" Arcturus asked instead of greeting her in return.
"Pollux passed away several years ago, cousin, or have you forgotten?"
"Don't play dumb with me," he responded, a crinkle to his nose that told Sirius he was trying not to smile. "Where is your brother?"
"He is at home," she finally admitted with a slight huff and a roll of her eye that made the pair of them look about 80 years younger.
"Well go get him," Arcturus said, pointing toward the floo, now openly smiling. "I did say all Blacks should be in attendance."
"He was blasted from the tree," Cassiopeia argued.
"As was I," Andromeda said, appearing over her shoulder. Sirius startled and looked around the room, trying to figure out how Andi and Ted had arrived without him noticing. "And as was Aunt Cedrella, yet she is here. I, for one, would love to meet Great Uncle Marius."
Sirius grinned. She hadn't changed a bit.
* * *
Andromeda Tonks nee. Black was a lot of things, but patient wasn't one of them.
She dutifully greeted her grandfather, made her quip about being blasted from the tree, and then all but launched herself at her favourite cousin.
They could call him anything they wanted but she'd known the moment she stepped through the floo that it was Sirius. She'd started to expect his involvement when Nymphadora had said Harry Potter also happened to be a Black and she'd only become more convinced when Grandfather Arcturus mentioned a third son who'd popped out of absolutely nowhere to take up the Lordship. A third son who also happened to be the adoptive father of Harry Potter.
Andromeda wasn't stupid and she was rather certain even a small child could've figured out the ploy if given all the information. But she also knew that the wizarding public tended to take everything at face value. They'd buy whatever story Arcturus was planning to sell so long as it came from a place of authority. From what she gathered, they were saying that Arcturus had taken Harry in after Halloween 1981 as a favour to Sirius, that he'd reached out to Remus Lupin, who'd then been introduced to Archer Black. The couple had later officially adopted the young heir and they were all a happy little family living somewhere remote, unplottable, and likely totally made up if Andromeda knew her family like she thought she did. She wasn't about to question it. Whatever insane scheme they'd pulled off had brought her cousin back.
"Siri," she whispered, clinging to him like a life raft.
"Andi," he whispered back, holding onto her just as hard. "I've missed you."
"My daughter has befriended your son. Says he's a riot."
"Funny, my son has said the same thing," he laughed. "I think he and Draco are about a month away from founding a cult in her name."
"They've apparently given each other code names. I'm not allowed to know, it's all very top secret."
She revelled in Sirius' bright laugh. She'd thought she'd be missing that sound forever. But here he was, her impossibly kind and astoundingly intelligent little cousin. The kid who'd followed at her coattails through every family function until she'd left to marry Ted. She could still remember the tears in his eyes as she promised him she'd always respond if he called. He'd been all of 12 when she'd left. He was the only one who'd never stopped writing.
She was so caught up in hugging the breath out of Sirius that it took someone tapping on her shoulder for her to register the throat clearing behind her, "Andi?" a soft voice asked and it took every ounce of her willpower to not drop to her knees.
"Cissy?" she choked out, opening her arms in an offer. After hardly a second of hesitation, her little sister, her darling Narcissa, slammed into her chest at full speed, knocking the air from her lungs, but she couldn't complain, she'd never complain. She held on as tightly as she could, breathing in the still familiar scent of floral perfume and honey scented shampoo.
"I missed you," Narcissa whispered, her face pressed against Andromeda's neck like a little kid.
"I missed you too," Andromeda whispered, catching their mother's eye over her sister's shoulder. Druella looked like it was taking everything in her to not burst into tears. Next to her, Lucius just looked confused and Andromeda really tried to keep in her laugh but if Narcissa's responding huff and Sirius' light chuckle were anything to go by, she'd failed miserably.
"It's good to see you, Andi darling," Arcturus said, running a soft thumb over Andromeda's cheek. He hadn't done that since she was maybe 5 and it was only her and Bellatrix running about the manor. Before Narcissa and the boys had been born. It was clear that things were changing and she was rather excited to be a part of it.
* * *
Arcturus looked over his gathered family and took a deep breath. This was the start of something greater. They were moving into the future and they were going to do it together. He was going to pull the House of Black from the brink or die trying.
"The first thing you must know," he said, his voice commanding the room just as it had done in his youth. Everyone fell silent, watching him for their next cue, "is that Blacks never bow."