"Grandmother," Altair bowed to Viviane when he found her after lunch.
Eléonore, who was sitting next to the old lady, curiously looked at her fiancé, and stayed quiet as the witch who was considered the most powerful in the world stood up and walked over to her grandson.
Without saying a word, the two walked through the hallways of Castle Nocturnum in silence, and only when they arrived at one of the hanging gardens did they stop and turn to face each other.
"Yes, my Noir?"
He smiled at the gentleness in her voice and felt a deep warmth in his heart.
"I can help Daphne, Astoria, and Cereus, but it involves a treasure whose origin I cannot explain. The world is better off not knowing about it, and if revealed, it will create a great deal of trouble for us." He spoke meaningfully. "It will vanish after use, so it is like an investment that needs to be worth it."
Viviane regarded him for a while, looking right into his eyes.
"Your intentions?"
"I want all three of Daphne, Astoria, and Cereus." He spoke truthfully.
"Slaves?"
"No. Daphne will be the future Lady of House Slytherin, and Astoria and Cereus will be our Handwives." He took a deep breath and sighed. "I promised Lord Salazar that I would find wives with emerald green eyes, so that the future Slytherin children will possess them."
"Lord Salazar?" She smiled. "I thought he died thirteen centuries ago."
"He did," Altair nodded. "There's a secret solar in Hogwarts. I found his living portrait there."
"Living portrait?"
"Yes," he smiled. "He was a genius. He put a shard of his soul in the portrait and bound it to the castle's magic. He is almost like a ghost, but confined to the portrait."
Viviane's eyes widened at his words before she fell into a deep thought.
"Fascinating... And I suppose that's how you found the Slytherin ring?" she asked, and when he nodded, she leaned in and looked him in the eyes. "You have the most beautiful eyes in the world. Why would that old man not like them?"
"He says they are not Slytherin enough."
She rolled her eyes at his words and then let out a heartfelt chuckle.
"I see, but may I ask why you made such a promise to him?"
"He gave me things that are very precious. Family heirlooms, books... his most precious things, which he worked all his life to give to the rightful heir."
She smiled at his words.
"Do those things include the Grimoire of House Slytherin?"
"No, but he told me where it is. I will retrieve it one day."
Viviane nodded and then leaned close to his ear.
"Eléonore will be very upset." She whispered, and he rolled his eyes now.
"I will talk to her when the time is right."
"Good." She nodded and straightened her back. "Always be respectful to your wife. Never make her feel like she is unimportant in your eyes."
"I understand, Grandmother." He nodded, and she smiled softly.
"Did Lord Salazar give you the cure?"
"No. He gave me the treasure, but even he did not realise that it could theoretically be used to cure Blood Malediction."
"Oh?" She looked at him with interest. "You won't tell your grandmother what it is?"
"It's a potion, Grandmother. A very mysterious and powerful potion. It gives you immunity to basilisk venom and even its death gaze." He did not hide it from her and thoroughly enjoyed the shock that dawned on her face.
A while later, when she had digested his words, she smiled.
"And how does it fix Blood Malediction?"
He rolled his eyes at her question. Even Salazar had overlooked this detail. Then again, it was something no one was willing to consider, as it meant certain death.
"Grandmother, don't you know what basilisk venom is and what it does?"
She frowned and fell into deep thought.
A while later, her eyes widened in surprise.
"It destroys curses, even the mightiest of them... so..."
"If you are immune to it, you can inject it and use it as a cure for even the mightiest of curses." He smiled brightly, and her mouth fell open in shock.
Moments later, sadness gripped her heart as she recalled her child, Altair's father, who had been born cursed... now, his son had found the cure, but he was long gone from this world.
Not willing to let her beloved grandson see the sadness in her heart, she sweetly smiled.
"You are going to give that potion to those two girls but not to me?" she teased, and frowned when he sadly lowered his head.
"I will, Grandmother... I promise." He sweetly said. "According to Lord Salazar, it does not work on people past their prime, but I hope it will work on you... You are still in your magical prime, if not physical..." He sighed and then spoke his next words with regret. "Lord Salazar consumed it, but it did not work beyond granting him immunity to Basilisk Gaze and Venom. If it had worked properly, he would have lived a very long life."
Viviane looked at him in surprise, and despite all her efforts, her heart started racing.
"You consumed it?"
"Yes..." he watched her as she took out her wand and tapped his forehead, encasing him inside a magical sphere.
She then close her eyes, and soon he saw her brows furrow and relax. In the end, when she opened her eyes, there was a bright smile on her face.
"My, my... My Noir has a centuries-long lifespan." She sweetly said. "Won't you share some with me?"
"Can I?" he asked without hesitation, and her heart warmed.
She leaned in and planted a kiss on his forehead.
"No mother would ever steal the lifespan of her own child, my Noir." She gently said. "I don't want it."
He sadly lowered his head, and she laughed. He was clearly worried that the potion would not work on her, her husband, and his Granna.
"Come. Let's go and visit the Greengrass family. Also, don't interfere in what I will do with them." She said firmly, and he obediently nodded.
The next moment she grabbed his hand and apparated them right outside the wards of Greengrass Manor.
Altair took in a deep breath and smiled at the sound of the flowing water next to them.
"Minty." He called out, and the next instant, a house-elf wearing the Greengrass uniform and crest appeared before him.
"Master Altair." She bowed and then stared at Viviane in reverence and fascination.
"Please inform Lord and Lady Greengrass that my grandmother and I wish to see them."
"Of course." The house-elf bowed and disappeared, only to reappear several seconds later when the wards were opened for them.
Viviane smiled at her when she nervously reached for her hand, and gave it to her.
Altair did the same, and the next moment, they were inside a beautiful study with scented wood burning in the fireplace.
"Lady Viviane!"
Lord Greengrass, a handsome man with pale blonde hair not unlike that of the Malfoys and Lovegoods, deeply bowed to her.
When he straightened, the old witch sighed in her heart at how tired of life he was.
Knowing that both his daughters were doomed, and that he could do nothing to save them, was worse than losing a child for a parent.
She could understand his pain, but she could never claim to know the true extent of it.
"Lord Greengrass."
"Please, just call me Alaric, Lady Morvaine. And accept my gratitude for blessing my household with your presence." He spoke sincerely, not minding when she stepped forward and gently ruffled his hair.
Instead, he was shocked at the refreshing wave that coursed through him, making him feel as though he could breathe easier.
Viviane took her seat at the silver-lined chair by the fireplace, stared at the flames, and then glanced his way.
"Alaric, please call your cousin over, and if you trust your wife and your cousin's wife, call them as well. There is no other adult in your family, is there?"
The man tensed at her words, but nodded.
"I have another cousin, but he is in Azkaban."
"Well, he does not count, and I hope you will have nothing to do with him even in the future. He was among the group that ambushed my child all those years ago," she said lightly and tapped her finger on the armrest. Alaric nervously looked at Altair, who was standing obediently by his grandmother's side. "There are only three children in the family, right? All girls?"
"Yes, Lady Viviane."
"How lucky of you..." she whispered. "Do you plan to keep me waiting for long?"
"Of course not!" The man panicked and called his house-elves, all of them, and told them to bring all his family here.
Alaric's cousin, Gareth, was working in his office at the Ministry when his house-elf informed him about the urgency.
Within moments, the study started filling up, and when a certain girl arrived, she happily rushed to the young Morvaine.
"Altair!"
He opened his arms for her when she jumped into his embrace and laughed as she tightly hugged him.
"You are a star! They cannot stop talking about you!"
"I am aware, dearest Astoria." He gently said as he put her down and patted her head.
He then turned to look at Daphne, who seemed a little pale. She smiled and nodded to him, but stayed next to her mother, not daring to approach him like her sister, especially with Viviane Morvaine sitting there.
The old witch curiously looked at the family, then at little Cereus, who was only five years old and holding her mother's hand.
Because of their blood malediction, the Greengrass family mostly married among cousins, sometimes siblings. However, Daphne's mother was a Scamander by birth, child of Theseus Scamander, born to a young lady of the Yaxley family, who died in childbirth.
As for Gareth, his wife Aquilla was from the Payne family, a respected Pure-blood family that was an offshoot of the Selwyn family. Her mother was a Greengrass, so she was Gareth's cousin.
"Lady Viviane." Gareth and everyone else respectfully stepped forward and bowed.
"So you are the Greengrass family." She smiled. "Descendants of the proud and mighty Mournwyl."
They all felt a pang of sadness at her words, despite the pure-blood in their veins and powerful magic. It was because they did not just carry the blessings of their blood but also the curses.
"I need an oath from all of you. A blood oath that you will not speak a word about the secrets of the hour. Not to a single soul."
They all looked at her in dismay, and she smiled.
"A leap of faith can work wonders, Alaric." She said mysteriously, and the adults furrowed their brows and glanced at each other.
"Please." Altair requested, and hearing his voice, Lord Greengrass frowned and took out his wand.
He waved it, ejecting a stream of shimmering red mist that roped around all his family.
"Repeat after me," he told them, and then started with his blood oath...
"We, who stand united
By blood, by magic, and by honour,
Do solemnly swear and bind ourselves
That we shall not reveal, nor speak, nor whisper,
Nor commit to parchment, spell, or memory
Any secret entrusted to us this hour
By word, by deed, or by fate's design.
Should any one of us betray this Oath,
Let our magic recoil, our honour break,
And let the binding of blood and consequence
Fall upon the oath-breaker.
So say we all; So let it be witnessed; So let it be bound."
As soon as they finished taking the oath, a cut appeared on their left ring finger, drawing blood.
It happened so suddenly that the children did not even get a chance to prepare for it.
Astoria held back her tears, but Cereus was younger, and she cried at the sudden stinging pain.
Viviane smiled and waved her hand, and in an instant, the cuts were fully healed, not even leaving a mark behind.
She had not even used her wand, and her wandless, silent magic dismayed the adults in the room.
The children looked at their fingers in shock, and little Ciri suddenly became very confused.
"Let's talk about your future now," said the old witch as she glanced at the children and then settled her eyes on Alaric and Gareth, who were standing next to each other. "The two of you will not have any more children for the rest of your lives. If you do, the sin and its consequences will be entirely yours."
They all frowned at her words, but waited in silence for her to elaborate.
"Daphne, Astoria, and Cereus will belong to my grandson from this day onwards." She declared. "Daphne will be his wife, Lady of the House Slytherin, and Astoria and Cereus will be their handwives."
The words exploded in their minds and they all froze, trying to comprehend what had just been revealed to them.
Alaric's eyes instinctively looked at the ring on Altair's finger, and his heart trembled in shock.
"Lady Viviane..." Gareth, who managed to compose himself first, probably because he had been expecting it since he knew how deeply the Morvaine and Slytherin lines were connected, worriedly looked at her. "We feel honoured that you have trusted us with this secret... but Cereus and Astoria..." he sadly lowered his head, not even having the heart to finish his words.
"Daphne too, Gareth." She smiled. "Don't you all know that the girl is a Maledictus?"
Her words made the girl and her parents' faces go pale, and Astoria, Aquilla, and Gareth, who were unaware of this, looked at the three of them in dismay.
"Alaric..."
Gareth sadly lowered his head when he saw his cousin nod and his sister-in-law shed tears.
However, his mind soon caught up with reality, and then he frowned.
If Lady Viviane knew about it, why was she asking for the three girls to continue the Slytherin family?
When he raised his head, he found the old witch wearing the slightest of smiles.
"They will be cured, of course. Do you think I would let my great-grandchildren carry your family's curse?"
These words shocked them even more than the revelation about Altair being the Slytherin heir, and a deep silence descended in the study.
"How..." Honoria whispered, and Viviane sighed.
"It will cost something truly precious. A treasure your family cannot afford, not with all your wealth and lives, child." She said, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "And sadly, it can only help these three girls, not you two."
Proud Alaric, hearing her words, instantly dropped to his knees.
"I will swear myself as your slave to pay this debt, Lady Morvaine. Please... help my daughter and niece..." he begged from the bottom of his heart, and his daughters could not hold back their tears at seeing their proud father kneeling.
His wife went to her knees next, Gareth followed, and finally, Aquilla knelt, holding her child tightly in her arms.
Astoria worriedly looked at Altair, but Daphne stared right into Viviane's eyes, refusing to kneel.
"My, my, we have quite a witch here, Altair. I see why you wish to make her the lady of the Slytherin family. Unbowed, unbent, unbroken."
Her words caused him to smile, and Daphne embarrassedly lowered her head.
"Then again, I never asked you to kneel. Get up." She said coldly, and all of the adults instantly shot to their feet. "Do you have no shame? Kneeling in front of me when your children are present?" She chastised them like an elder, and they all felt deeply ashamed of their action.
Seeing them so embarrassed, Astoria involuntarily giggled, and Viviane amusedly looked at her when she tried to hide behind Altair.
"Fascinating..." she whispered before she looked at the adults. "Sit, we have terms to discuss. And do not forget that you are Mournwyl, even if you go by the name Greengrass now."
Alaric and Gareth obediently nodded and then sat down adjacent to her, and their wives stood by their side.
For the next hour, Viviane patiently drafted the marriage contracts and clauses, and in the end, she forced all four adults to take Unbreakable Vows that they would never betray Altair in their lives if their daughters were cured.