Chapter 48: Guessing and Reasoning

"So, this is it," Harry said, looking at the shack Regulus and Augusta had led him to.

It was Friday afternoon after class and Harry had decided that it was the right time to leave the wards of Hogwarts to get to the Horcrux hidden in the shack Reg and Augusta had found. He didn't think that he would be missed for at least a few hours, so the present time was the best time.

"Well," Harry amended inwardly. "I won't be missed much ." He was quite aware that Hermione was still trying to find out what he was up to. "Guess that one time in the future she will find out," Harry thought. "But that's the future. It won't be now, so I shouldn't concern myself with that right now."

With that thought Harry returned to his previous doings, looking at a rundown shack.

"Doesn't look much," he mused aloud.

"Yes," Reg said. "We didn't enter or anything. I might be quite good when it comes to dark magic and wards, but you are a lot better than me and since we doubted that the Dark Lord went easy on the protection, we decided to call you in before trying to enter."

Harry nodded.

He closed his eyes, concentrating on the magic in the air in front of him. It didn't take long for him to pick up the oily feeling of Tom Riddle's infected magic.

Harry grimaced.

He was sure that he wouldn't get rid of the bad taste of destroyed magic for a few days at least. Nothing tasted as bad as magic that had been infected by evil.

Nevertheless he continued to feel for the magic until he had a hold of the ward-line.

Then he un-shrunk his staff and then drew with it some runes and hieroglyphs in the soft ground along the ward-line.

That done, he activated the runes.

One moment he could see nothing but the shack behind the wards, the next the wards were distinctly and visibly in front of him. The dome they built was surrounded by a colourful iridescent bubble, emblazed with Chinese characters, hieroglyphs, runes and Parsel runes. Then the glowing construct sunk in the wards themselves and illuminated them.

But instead of the colourful swirling and twirling of the bubble, the wards were a sickly looking grey, mixed with some ill looking washed-out sparks of colour here and there. There were also some shoddy runes and Parsel runes flying around and some parts of the wards were nearly transparent or blackened.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Seems that Tommy-boy is a lot," he said. "But he's definitely not a ward master. You and Augusta could do a better ward than that, Reg."

Reg and Augusta exchanged a glance.

"I'm rubbish at wards, Sal," Reg finally said.

"I've never even tried to build a ward," Augusta added.

"Exactly," Harry said. "And you would still be better in building them than Tommy."

Reg snorted amused.

"So… those wards are child's play?" He asked.

Harry waved it off.

"No," he said. "They would have kept out nearly everyone he wanted to keep out."

"But you said -"

"That they're rubbish," Harry intercepted Augusta's words. "They are. I just have to do this -"

With that he twisted the hand with his staff so that his staff hit one of the shoddy looking Parsel runes.

"- and they're gone," he finished, while the wards groaned nearly silently before crashing down. Regulus and Augusta might not have been able to see the wards until they started to collapse, but the feeling of sudden light-heartedness would have clued them in anyway.

Regulus stared at the property and the remains of the ward - some shrivelling black runes along the ward-line.

"You just brought down a ward the Dark Lord build with a single strike," he said in disbelief. "Wards like these damn wards kept out the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry in the last war - and you brought them down with a single strike!"

Harry just raised an eyebrow at the other man.

"You just confirmed to me that the Ministry and Dumbledore's little gang were a lot more ineffective in their endeavours to stop Tom than they tried to make others belief," he said, shaking his head. "I already believed them incompetent, but this… this takes the cake."

Augusta snorted amused.

"Good thing that they weren't fighting alone, then," she said.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I have actually no idea what you mean, Augusta," he said.

The old witch just returned the raised eyebrow.

"Of course, Professor," she said. "I'm quite sure that you just sat by and did nothing - like you sat by and did nothing while we fought against Grindelwald."

For a moment, Harry said nothing.

Then he sighed in defeat.

"I told you before that I'm no hero, Augusta," he said softly. "I would have never fought against Grindelwald like Albus Dumbledore did."

Augusta just snorted.

"And like I said before: I don't know where you were. I don't know what you did, but I know that you did everything you could to shield the innocent. You fought Grindelwald. I might have no idea how or where, but you did. Don't you dare to deny it!"

"That doesn't count," Harry replied while shaking his head. "Whatever I did, it never counted."

Regulus sneered at that.

"Well," he said, bitterness in his voice. "That's not a first. When it comes to Albus Dumbledore, a lot of things don't count."

Augusta raised an eyebrow at that.

"Heir Black?" She asked a little bit confused, looking at him with the question clearly displayed in her eyes.

Regulus returned her gaze evenly.

"My name, Regulus," he said. "Was chosen to honour the fallen. My brother's name Sirius as well. Mother might have never agreed with my grandfathers when it came to their outlook in life, but even she acknowledged the strength and power of Sirius and Regulus Black."

Augusta looked at him in surprise, and Regulus continued.

"I am proud to be Regulus Arcturus Black," he said. "As a child I might not have understood what my name stood for, but when I searched for a way to extract the Horcrux, I found my great-grandfather's journal. I am proud to be a Regulus, because I know that it was his sacrifice that freed the world of Grindelwald - and I will never forgive Dumbledore for taking his right of acknowledgement from him."

Harry just sighed at that and clapped Reg on the back.

Then he turned and looked at Augusta.

"Whatever I did back then," he said. "Doesn't count. Please, leave it at that for now."

With that he stepped away from them and over the now vanished ward-line into the property.

Augusta and Regulus followed him hesitatingly.

They reached the shack without any trouble.

Augusta grimaced at the snake nailed on the door, but Harry ignored it. He looked over the shack and when he was sure that nothing else was attached to the wood - like a hex or curse - he opened the door.

The inside of the shack was nearly empty, but it stank of dark magic. Regulus shuddered when entering, clearly uncomfortable with the heavy evilness in the air. Augusta on the other hand refused to even set one foot inside the door.

"I'm waiting outside," she declared, shuddering. "I refuse to be anywhere inside this… hovel."

Harry just nodded at that.

He wasn't surprised. Augusta was a very light witch, meaning that she was extremely sensitive to the evil in the air. He wasn't about to force her inside a building to have her sick up on the floor somewhere because she couldn't stand being in there anymore.

"We have to search the shack," Harry said. "Concentrate on areas heavy with evil magic."

Reg nodded grimly.

"There might be some," he said. "I don't think that the Gaunts were anywhere near the light for at least the five last generations."

"They were always a bit stuck up and very interested in the illegal aspects of magic," Harry replied sighing. "I guess it is just natural that in the end it was the greed that destroyed their family."

Regulus looked up in surprise at that.

"So their try to take on the Slytherin legacy brought them down?" He asked interested, remembering his and Augusta's guesses from the last time they had been near the shack.

Harry just waved it off.

"Let's search this hovel," he said instead. "Maybe if we're lucky we even can destroy it today as well."

In the end, they found it beneath one of the floor boards.

It was hidden inside a metal box and it had been Regulus who found it.

"Alright," Harry said the moment they had the metal box pulled out safely. The floor board and the metal box both had been hexed, but Harry and Regulus both knew enough of the Dark Arts to be careful while searching so that in the end, nobody got hurt.

It was Harry who dispelled the curses on the box and Regulus who pulled it out from beneath the floor boards.

"Now we just have to destroy it," Reg said, looking at the innocent box in his hands. Harry sighed and nodded.

They left the shack.

"Do you have it?" Augusta asked immediately. She had been pacing in front of the shack, feeling too ill to even think about going in while at the same time refusing to leave the other two alone.

"We do," Reg replied. "And we're now going to a place where we can destroy it."

Harry sighed.

"Unfortunately you can't come with us," he said. "The place is hidden beneath a fidelius. We could use another place, but there, the runes are already drawn. It will take only minutes compared to the hours it would take to prepare a new room."

Augusta just nodded.

"That's alright," she said. "I don't actually mind that much. Just thinking what this box contains makes me ill. I don't need to see it as well. I'm happy with the knowledge that it will be destroyed by tomorrow."

The other two nodded and then the group disbanded.

Augusta returned home while the other two went to Grimmauld Place.

With the help of Kreacher, they entered from the street into the room directly. There, Harry opened the box, dropped the content - a ring with an oddly familiar stone - onto the floor, in the middle of a circle and then started the ritual.

The room, turned ritual chamber was still exactly like they left it the last time. Runes, hieroglyphs and other symbols adorned every square of the room.

"Stand aside, Reg" Harry whispered and Regulus Black who had gone near the ring to take an interested look at it went to another circle painted on the floor right behind the door.

"Let's begin" Harry said before he started to draw runes out of blue fire in the air. A moment later they vanished and with them the little noise from outside you could hear vanished also.

And then the chanting began.

Regulus himself watched from his secured place at the outer side of the ritualistic circle. This was the third time he saw the ritual - and he was as awestruck as he had been the two times before.

He could not look away, even when the light the runes and lines began to glow in started to hurt his eyes. Unearthly - that was the only description he was able to.

And then the chanting in a language Regulus could not place stopped and a soft hissing sound penetrated the silence.

Suddenly a black fog erupted from the two objects in the middle of the circle. The fog tried to take on a different shape, but white glowing light hindered the forming.

Again a chanting was heard. This time filled with soft hisses and words that sounded like Arabian.

The purifying.

Then black and green fire erupted from the ring and reached for the black fog. A high pitched shriek could be heard when the fire began to consume the fog. Then the fog vanished in the flames.

It took another moment and then the unnatural fire also vanished, leaving behind the untainted, and yet still oddly eerie ring with the black stone.

Harry sighted and disabled the runes and the runic circle again. He picked up the ring and pulled out a leather cord to secure it on it. After that he pulled the leather cord over his head and hid the ring beneath his clothing.

Then he simply fell to his knees, totally spend.

Regulus left his corner to hurry to Harry's side.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Harry nodded.

"I am," he replied. "Just tired. Help me to bed?"

Regulus rolled his eyes fondly at that, called for Kreacher so that they could leave without being found. The moment they were outside he picked up Harry, apparated them to Hogwarts and then proceeded to smuggle his already sleeping companion inside the Gryffindor tower to put him to bed.

"Thank Merlin it's dinner time," he mumbled to himself. "Otherwise I don't believe that I would have been able to bring you up here without being found."

He tucked in the other man and then turned into his cat form and hid beneath the bed.

Half an hour later, Harry's friends found him in his bed.

"There he is," Ron said amused. "Sleeping."

Hermione huffed.

"You don't think he's been there all the time just sleeping away, do you?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

Ron shrugged.

"Why not?" He asked. "He said something about not feeling too good to me sometime at lunch. I guess he truly meant it."

Hermione huffed again and then left. Ron followed her with his gaze before turning back to his sleeping friend.

"Don't think that she caught on that I was lying this time," he said. "You know, Harry, you were right. She's a bit controlling." And with a shake of his head he went to his own bed and pulled out a quidditch magazine to read.

"Honestly," he mumbled, again shaking his head. "Bet he was wanking or some such."

Meanwhile his friend slept on, oblivious to the world.

The next Saturday was the second Saturday in December. That day, Severus Snape excused himself from the castle, telling his employer that he had to accompany a student who had a meeting in Gringotts. Albus Dumbledore didn't even think about questioning it.

So Severus and Blaise Zabini left the castle without any trouble at all. Meanwhile another student left the castle as well.

Minerva McGonagall wasn't too happy about that. In her opinion, Neville was far too young to take on the responsibility of a lord. Considering that Neville's father was still among the living, Neville didn't even have the excuse to have to take up his lordship. Even with his father incapacitated in St. Mungo's the Longbottom family still could count him as their head. In Minerva's opinion, it was ridiculous that the heir would take over when he was barely fifteen instead of waiting until after he turned seventeen - something that Minerva saw as a far more reasonable age when it came to managing an estate. But the Dowanger Longbottom had decided - and Neville seemed inclined to follow her lead instead of Minerva McGonagall's wishes.

"Do you truly think that it's wise to take over your lordship now, Mr. Longbottom?" She asked the boy anyway when he entered her office to floo to the Leaky Cauldron. "You still have the choice to beg out. I could tell your grandmother -"

"No, thank you, Professor," Neville replied. "I understand that you are concerned for me - especially in times like we are living in now - but I am certain."

"But you don't have to -"

"I'm quite aware of my duties and rights as an heir," Neville replied and for the first time Minerva McGonagall had known him, he showed the bravery that had sorted him into Gryffindor. "Not taking over would indeed be possible for me," the boy continued. "But it wouldn't be advisable. Especially in the current dark times the old houses have to stand strong - and Longbottom would be looked down upon if I stepped back and hid behind my grandmother's robes. You should know this, Professor. You are, after all, also part of the Wizengamot."

Minerva McGonagall frowned at that.

"I am not, Mr. Longbottom," she objected. "My family is common."

She was surprised when the heir of Longbottom raised an eyebrow at that, incredulously.

"How did you figure that, Professor?" He asked a little bit amused.

Minerva's frown just deepened.

"If we had a place in the Wizengamot, my father would have told me," she answered him earnestly.

The Longbottom heir just snorted.

"Except that he might not have known," he said. "As far as I know, McGonagall hasn't claimed their seat in centuries."

Minerva gawked at him.

"Mr. Longbottom!" She finally exclaimed. "I assure you that my family doesn't have a seat -"

"Maybe you should look up your ancestry, Professor," Neville told her. "You might be surprised when you take a look at the families in the Wizards' Council."

"Of course, Mr. Longbottom," Minerva replied, not sure if she should believe the boy or accuse him of lying. The Longbottom Heir had not shown a tendency to lie before, so she couldn't dismiss him right-out.

"You're welcome, Professor," the boy said. "Please be advised that I might be interested in an alliance if you decide to take up your inheritance."

And with that, the boy stepped into the flames and with a shout of 'Leaky Cauldron!' he was gone before Minerva could even think about a reply.

For a moment, Minerva was inclined to look up the Longbottom Heir's claim, then she dismissed it. She knew that Albus Dumbledore had studied the Wizards' Council and all the names that were associated with it in his youth. He would have told her if he had found out that her last name had been among those families - wouldn't he?

Lucius Malfoy swaggered contently into the room in which he would meet his new family today. It felt great to be rid of the Dark Lord for a day, even if it meant to meet people he had never met before.

Next to him was walking Narcissa, his beautiful wife. Her face was grim, and she kept shooting him glances. Lucius inwardly grimaced when he remembered what this was about.

She had cornered him the day before yesterday after finding the letter he had received about the meeting in Gringotts.

"Tell me, Lucius," she said, looking at him with a gaze that made Lucius think with dread about sleeping on the hard couch in his lounge instead of his warm bed. "What is this?"

He had regarded the letter in her fingers carefully, before finally deciding that the answer to her question wasn't worth sleeping on the couch.

So he explained everything to her: The contact of his lord, the inquiry if the Grand Family and his decision to join. She listened to everything with a stony expression on her face and when he finished she threw him an evil look.

"And you thought that I shouldn't know about anything of this?" She asked him regally.

Lucius frowned.

"This doesn't concern you, Cissy," he said. "This is an offer for the Malfoy family. You might be my wife, but you weren't born into the Malfoy family."

He meant it. Things like alliances had always been made by the ruling head of the family in the Malfoy family. He saw no reason to change that now.

Narcissa just looked at him darkly until he had to force himself not to shrink into himself.

He guessed that it was her Black blood that made her scary as hell even without a wand in her hand…

"I'm sorry, Cissy," he said sighing. "I should have consulted you."

"You should," she said. "Especially considering that your last choice led to us housing… that man… in our manor!"

Lucius wanted to ask her if she meant the vampire or the Dark Lord, but if he had to be honest, he already knew the answers to that question.

The vampire might be the one to grade on everybody's nerves, but it was the Dark Lord who didn't have the decorum to not react to the vampire's loud mouth.

"I am sorry, Cissy," he said again, empathizing his words carefully.

His wife's eyes just narrowed at that.

"I bet you are," she said coolly. "At least you will be after two or three nights on the sofa."

"But Cissy -!"

"Don't you dare to 'but Cissy' me, Lucius!" She cried. "Who knows what kind of trouble you got our family in this time!"

"I know what I'm doing, Cissy!" Lucius replied heatedly.

Her cold stare put out the fire in his argument quite effectively.

"I will believe it when I see it," she said. "And for your sake I hope I will see it when I accompany you to your meeting in Gringotts on Saturday."

Lucius nodded.

"Of course you will," he placated her. Then her words caught up to him and his eyes widened a fraction.

"Wait… accompany me?" He repeated. "Cissy! This is the first meeting of the family! It's solely for the heads and grown up heirs - nobody else!"

She just stared at him emotionlessly until he gulped and relented.

"I… I guess it can't hurt to ask them if they would mind you sitting in," he said. "You are my wife after all. Until Draco is of-age you will be my second when it comes to important decisions."

So now Lucius Malfoy, pureblood and political animal, was walking down the street towards Gringotts with his wife on his arm. If anybody of the other Death Eaters ever found out that he brought his wife to a meeting like that, he would never live it down. They would all laugh at him for being unable to handle a single meeting with potential new allies on his own.

Still, Lucius guessed that he could live with that if it meant to secure himself some new important allies for his political endeavours.

"Cissy," he said shortly before entering Gringotts. "Will you at least consent to waiting a bit until you follow me into the meeting room?"

Narcissa send him a dark glance, but in the end, she nodded.

"Three minutes," she said. "That's all you get. I'm not interested in you getting our family in even more trouble than you already did, do you understand?"

Lucius did the only sensible thing when he heard that laden question.

"Yes, dear," he said, inclining his head. "As you wish, dear."

She send him the evil eye for those words anyway, but didn't say anything else. Lucius counted that as a plus in his books.

Then they reached the door to the meeting chamber.

Lucius took a deep breath, straightened his robes and then put his hand on the door to open it.

He was nervous - not that he showed it in any way or form - but he was also quite sure that he would be content when he finally found out what new families he had gained as allies through his latest stunt of accepting the potential Grand Family as his own. Of course, just belonging to a Grand Family was an honour, but honour was never enough for Lucius Malfoy. He wanted power - and a Grand Family with all its members was the surest way to gain power without being dependent on the Dark Lord's winning.

Maybe he could even sway the other members of the family to see the whole issue of blood purity his… way.

Or maybe not…

Lucius Malfoy stopped dead in the door to the conference room before he could actually walk inside his personal version of hell. For a moment he contemplated to turn around and run, then he remembered that he was subjected to the control of his Head of House and because of that was looking for a way out of the Dark Lord's control that wouldn't kill him before the man noticed that Lucius couldn't finance him anymore and had also lost the power of his name within the Ministry.

Lucius gulped.

Then he stepped inside the room.

Three minutes - he only had to endure three minutes in his personal hell without anyone by his side!

If Lucius had known who was waiting behind the door, he would have told Narcissa to enter with him. At least like that he wouldn't have been the only one scrutinized by the waiting crowd.

Both, the Longbottom matriarch as well as the Weasley patriarch looked at him with interest in their eyes. Their grand-children and children next to them on the other hand, showed clear signs of suspicion.

Lucius suppressed a flinch at the cold eyes of the eldest Weasley children watching him.

Definitely his version of hell …

"Madam Longbottom," he greeted the older woman before forcing himself to greet the other family in the room as well. "Weasley."

The man inclined his head.

"Mr. Malfoy," he said, sounding oddly civil compared to their previous interactions, the Dowager Longbottom followed the Weasley's lead and greeted Lucius as well.

Lucius took a deep breath and closed the door behind him.

"I guess you are here for the meeting as well, Madam Longbottom, Mr. Weasley?" He forced himself to ask nicely.

"Indeed we are, Mr. Malfoy," the dowager replied. "I am surprised that you decided to accept the invitation for your house, Mr. Malfoy."

Lucius inwardly grimaced at that inquiry.

"Somebody… forced me to think over my current alliances," he finally replied evenly. "Some things happened and I wasn't given that much of a choice, in the end."

"Oh," the Dowager Longbottom said. "Did your Lord feel dissatisfied with the state of the British branch of the family?"

Lucius inwardly grimaced again. The most members of the Wizengamot had no idea that he was just the head of a branch family, but there had always been some exceptions. Lucius should have guessed that the Dowager Longbottom was one of them.

"It is not him, I seek to flee," Lucius finally settled on unhappily. "But I never thought that my try to flee would end up as a meeting with… such opposing elements to my own stance."

The dowager raised an eyebrow at that.

"I guess that you were talking about your idea of blood purity," she said coldly.

Lucius closed his eyes.

Maybe, he had been wrong. This meeting didn't look at all like something he wanted to join. He was quite aware that there was no way that he could sway either the dowager or Weasley to his side of the blood purity issue.

Maybe it had been a mistake to come here.

He guessed that even in his current situation there had to be another way to escape the Dark Lord without having to go traitor to all his believes.

"Madam," he said. "I am quite aware that you and your… cohorts don't care for the good of the wizarding world. In your eyes, the muggleborns should run rampant, unchecked, unpunished until the day we are exposed to the muggle world because of one of them. I am sorry, madam. But I can't stand for this."

He wanted to excuse himself, but before he could, his three minutes were up.

The others had exchanged a look after hearing his speech - and that was the moment Narcissa decided to enter the room.

"Lucius, dear," she said, before greeting the others. "Madam Longbottom, Mr. Weasley, Heir Longbottom, Heir and Heir secundus Weasley."

Then she smiled.

"Madam Malfoy," Lucius' opponents answered in greeting, making Narcissa's smile even more pronounced.

"I see that Lucius found quite some interesting company today," Narcissa continued, sounding oddly unconcerned by the fact that Lucius and she were outnumbered and in the middle of a bunch of very light orientated wizards and witches.

The others in the room exchanged another glance and Lucius looked at his wife, begging her with his eyes to help him to leave this room without losing his face. He was quite sure that there might be other ways to get rid of the Dark Lord… somewhere… somewhen…

Instead of listening to his pleading glance, Narcissa turned towards the Heir Longbottom.

"Heir Longbottom," she said amiably. "I heard that you are unusually good with plants from my son. Tell me, are you planning to do something with Herbology? I heard that there's currently quite lack of potions ingredients suppliers. Not a lot children these days want to work with plants."

Lucius looked in betrayal at his wife.

"Er… I don't actually know quite just yet," the Longbottom heir said blushing.

Narcissa smiled, but before she could betray her husband further, the door opened again and Adrian Greengrass entered.

He raised an eyebrow at the current inhabitants of the room.

"I'm quite surprised that everyone's still standing," he said. Lucius and Arthur exchanged an uneasy glance, both remembering quite vividly their last meeting. Then they hurriedly looked the other way when they noticed what they had been doing.

"I'm still waiting for the Head to show up, since I am sure that there has to be a mistake," Lucius settled on. "I don't think that anybody would have thought about adding blood-traitors and a decent family like mine to a Grand Family together."

Adrian Greengrass raised an eyebrow at that.

Arthur Weasley on the other hand spluttered.

"Well, if you mean with 'decent family' Death Eater Scum like you, then yes, I'm quite certain that there has to be indeed a mistake," Arthur retorted.

Lucius sneered.

Narcissa sighed.

"And here I thought they were able to play well together," she said.

"Indeed," another man said nodding. Lucius turned around at the voice. Severus Snape was standing in the doorway next to Blaise Zabini.

"Well, it is quite entertaining to watch," another voice spoke up and it was then that Lucius Malfoy noticed for the first time that there was another person in the room for what he guessed longer than anybody else. The young man, Lucius' Head of House had been standing in one of the corners, leaned against the wall, while watching them. "Especially because they are each other's reason to be here," the young man continued. "I had the choice to invite neither or both, since they are both about the same degree when it comes to measuring the relation to this house. Adding to that that they are cousins through this family and I wonder why they go against each other instead of working with each other like cousins should."

Lucius stared horrified at an equally horrified Arthur.

"Or did both of you forget wizarding etiquette and traditions to keep waring within the family?" The words of Lucius' Head of House were sharp and like a knife they entered Lucius' gut and twisted his insides.

"I'm quite sure that my husband knows how to behave towards cousins," Narcissa said and her glance was as piercing as the Head's words.

"I do indeed, dear," he said, swallowing hard.

Adrian Greengrass snorted.

"This might turn out quite an interesting meeting," he said amused. "Quite interesting, indeed."

Lucius felt a shiver running down his spine when hearing those words.

"Of course it will," his Head of House said. "After all, today is the day you will fully swear yourself to the family. Today is the last day you can back out, after that you are part of the family and you will act like part of the family."

The Head looked at all of them.

"It is today, that you will chose," his eyes travelled to Lucius. "Tom Marvolo Riddle or this family" - then ghosted over Severus to penetrate the Weasley head's eyes. "Albus Dumbledore or this family" - again the head's eyes travelled, this time meeting Adrian Greengrass' and Blaise Zabini's gaze. "Neutrality or this family" - his eyes shifted to the Longbottoms. "Staying on the light side or coming to the grey of this family." He then looked at all of them again. "This decision won't be easy," he said. "And yet, I have to force you to make it today. I contacted you beforehand, I asked you to decide already. Back then, you could go back, you could turn over your decision and return to the life you led before."

Lucius shivered at those words.

He knew that this was the last hurdle. The moment he accepted he would be part of the family, his son would be part of this family, his grandchildren, great-grandchildren and all the following generations. And it was in Lucius' hands to decide their fate…

"You know my conditions for this family," the Head said. "You all decided that you can follow them when I asked you first. Now it is your time to decide if you can live in this family. I can't and won't make the decision for you. It is you who will decide."

When he stopped, it was surprisingly Blaise Zabini who spoke up first.

"I still have some questions," he said hesitatingly and when their potential Head of House nodded, he took a deep breath and then formulated what was on his mind.

"If I as the Head of Zabini decide to give asylum to another heir, will the Grand Family back me or will I have to stand on my own against the Head of the other family?" He asked.

The Head looked a bit amused at that, but answered anyway.

"If you ask, this family will help," he said. "I don't plan to build a dictatorship, but a family. Family members help each other."

Zabini nodded.

"Just one other question: Shouldn't you have announced the family in front of the Wizengamot first before inviting us?" He asked. "I looked it up and that seemed to be the usual approach."

Their Head shrugged.

"It's the current approach, yes," he said. "But it's not the traditional one. This - what I have done - is what our forefathers did until the Ministry came into being. I don't care much for the new rule and since the old one is just forgotten, not prohibited, I decided to found this family like it would have been founded a few hundred years ago. I think that giving people time to actually decide if they want to be part of the family or not, is quite helpful sometimes."

The young Lord Zabini nodded.

"Then I guess I have to thank you for taking this approach," he said.

The Head of House inclined his head, then he looked at the others.

"Any other questions?"

When nobody said anything else, the Head left his corner to walk up to his desk and lean against this one.

"Then it's time for you to decide," he said. "This family - or your old life? What should it be?"

Lucius looked around at that. His eyes met Severus', but the potions master's eyes were unreadable.

What should it be, indeed?

Did he truly want to leave the Dark Lord?

The question was surprisingly easy to be answered when he looked into Narcissa's eyes. His wife was staring at him, quite likely wanting to bring him to say yes by frightening him to death with her glare.

Did he truly want to give up his views on blood purity?

But then, the Head of the Grand Family in planning had no condition when it came to that issue, so Lucius actually didn't have to give up anything at all, if he didn't want to…

Still, all those questions were just there to stall.

Lucius already knew that direst consequence of choosing the Grand Family. It was this he had to decide over, not the issue with the Dark Lord, not his views on blood purity. No, the greatest issue he had was far worse.

Could he accept the Weasleys as cousins?!

What a horrible question to even have to consider!

And yet, here he was, considering it in earnest with his wife's eyes glaring daggers inside his skull.

Lucius turned to look around the room again.

The dowager and her grandson were exchanging glances as well, determination in their eyes. It looked like they were already way on their way to decide.

The Weasleys nodded to each other. They also seemed to be sure what they wanted to do. Lucius shuddered just at the thought of them deciding for being his cousins.

Adrian Greengrass stared up to the ceiling, his face unreadable, and Blaise Zabini already stepped forward bravely.

The young Lord took a deep breath, and closed his eyes for a moment, before he opened them again to look at their potential Head of House.

"I, Blaise Emilius Zabini, Lord of Zabini," he started. "Swear my line to you and your family. Thus I decide, from today on until your family releases us or we vanish into nothingness."

A shining, slightly misty and see-through crest appeared over the young Lord's head at his words. It was the crest of the Zabinis, a silvery spider on a black grounding.

"I, Salvazsahar" - Lucius couldn't hear the rest of his Head's name and House when the secrecy magic took hold of his Head's oath. "Swear to take in your family, Lord Zabini, into mine. We will be your shield, if you need shielding, your weapon if you need defence, your family in every regard you need us to be. We will protect you, we will provide for you and guide you. We will help you in your endeavours and support you in any way you need us to, as long as you follow our guidance and rules. This so I swear, from today on until you beg to leave or my family vanishes into nothingness."

When the oath ended the now familiar crest of a snake wrapped around a lily appeared to spear the Zabini crest. Both crests vanished into a slight show of glittery mist.

Lucius was impressed.

He could barely believe that the young boy had dared to go first when it came to declaring his alliance with the Grand Family.

The feeling of being glared at made Lucius look to his side. His wife stared at him, her eyes basically threatening with the couch for the rest of his life if Lucius dared to back out today.

Lucius gulped.

Then the young Longbottom heir nodded towards his grandmother before stepping forwards.

"I, Neville Frank Longbottom, Heir of Longbottom," he intoned. "With the leave of my grandmother, Augusta Carlotta Longbottom, Regent of House Longbottom, swear my line to you and your family. Thus I decide, from today on until your family releases us or we vanish into nothingness."

This time the Longbottom crest appeared and like before it was speared by the crest of the Grand Family when Salvazsahar accepted and spoke his own oath.

Then with a nod from both of his oldest sons, Arthur Weasley stepped forward.

"I, Arthur Septimus Weasley, Head of Weasley," he intoned. "Regent of the House Prewett until my second born is allowed to carry the lordship, swear my line and my Regent line to you and your family. Thus I decide, from today on until your family releases us or we vanish into nothingness."

Lucius blinked at that.

Prewett.

The Prewett family was quite influential, even after they died out in the male line. Maybe being forced to call the Weasley's cousins wouldn't be too bad if everyone knew that the Weasley's were the last of the Prewetts as well…

Before he could think about it a bit more, Severus Snape stepped forward.

"I, Severus Tobias Snape, Lord of Prince," he intoned while grimacing a little at the mention of his second name and last name. "Swear my line to you and your family. Thus I decide, from today on until your family releases us or we vanish into nothingness."

Lucius stared at his fellow Death Eater. He definitely hadn't even considered that the other man would swear the oath. He had been quite surprised to see the dour man at the meeting, but for him to actually join…

Narcissa shoved him.

He turned towards her and for a moment he felt his innards freeze at the gaze she send him. It was quite clear what she wanted him to do.

Lucius shuddered.

He still didn't want to be a cousin to the Weasleys…

Then Adrian stepped forward as well, determination on his face.

"I, Adrian Heracles Greengrass," he intoned. "Swear my line to you and your family. Thus I decide, from today on until your family releases us or we vanish into nothingness."

Lucius slumped inwardly.

He would be dead if he refused. The Dark Lord might not be the one killing him, but he would be dead anyway. Narcissa would make sure of that if he refused to go this last step.

He stepped forward.

"I, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, Head of Malfoy," he intoned, fully aware of the approving glances Narcissa was now sending him. "Swear my line to you and your family. Thus I decide, from today on until your family releases us or we vanish into nothingness."

Seemed like Lucius would live in his personal hell for the rest of his life.

He was the cousin to a Weasley…

Alastor Moody stumbled upon Harryjames Potter when the later returned from somewhere off the ground.

This time around, the ex-auror just raised an eyebrow at that boy.

"Seems like you're not always were you should be, Potter," he said.

The boy just returned his gaze evenly.

"And you are?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Moody snorted at that.

"Guess not," he said amused. "But you're a little too young to amble around the world without an escort."

The answer was just another amused glance by the boy.

"I'm old enough to go where I went," he replied. "Did you need anything, Moody?"

The auror's gaze darkened at that.

"Aye, lad," he said. "I need to know where you got that information from you gave me."

For a moment, the boy seemed to consider it, but in the end he shook his head.

"No," he said. "I'm sorry, but I won't tell you how I got the information just now. Go and find your own answers, Moody."

The ex-auror just raised an eyebrow at that.

"And how do you think I should do that?" He asked.

The boy crooked his head.

"Go and ask Sirius for the journals of his grandfather and great-grandfather. You could even suggest to him to read them as well - I'm sure they are enlightening," the boy replied. "Go to your own uncle and ask him, ask people outside of Britain, whatever. Just go out and find your own answer - and when you have it, return to me and I will tell you whatever you want to know."

Moody raised an eyebrow at the suggestions - one particular intrigued him.

"My uncle?" He asked. "What do you know about my uncle?"

The boy just shrugged.

"His name is Jêrome Delacour," he said. "You're not related by blood, but you called him uncle nearly all your life."

Then the gaze of those unusual green eyes intensified.

"Everything else will have to wait until you found your own answers," the boy said. "Good day, Auror Moody."

"Wait a moment, lad!" Moody called after Harryjames when the boy passed by him. "I've still some questions left -"

The boy's eyes narrowed.

"I won't talk about the ward scheme you found," he said. "And I also won't talk about the fact that I can bring Sirius to do something by acting like Snape."

Moody's eyes narrowed at that.

"How do you -?"

The boy just sighed.

"I'm not a child, Moody," he said wearily. "Everyone else might treat me like one, but that doesn't mean I am. I've put up with your spying for months now. I let you watch me and ignored you. I even let you take my ward even if that meant some extra work for me to ensure that Dumbledore could not meddle with it if you gave it to him -"

"I didn't, lad," Moody replied. "I solely showed it Bill Weasley."

The Potter child nodded at that.

"I know," he said. "If you had gone to the Headmaster with this, we wouldn't have this discussion. If you had, I would have stopped your snooping back then."

And as odd as it was to hear such a threat from a child, Moody believed him. He believed him that he would have stopped Moody.

That simple thought made Moody shiver a bit.

He knew himself well enough - and if he believed a threat then that meant that he believed the person who threatened him had the actual ability and power to be a threat to his person.

He shivered again.

Harryjames just returned his gaze evenly.

"I let you take a look at the man behind the mask, a look at who I am without being way led by the Headmaster or others," the boy said. "Now it's your turn. Find out the truth for yourself - and then choose your side. Until then, don't bother to try and get the answers from me."

"Lad!" Moody called again when the boy turned around to continue on his way. "I need to know! Just tell me one thing! Just one thing about my father and how this all fits together with your hatred for Albus! You don't understand, lad. I might be able to get the history, but I won't understand why you suddenly abhor Albus if you don't tell -"

"It didn't go as planned," Harryjames said, seemingly without context. "I was too late to shield him. In the end, it's my fault that he died. I'm sorry."

" It didn't go as planned," another tired and haggard man said when the first one couldn't say anything anymore. " I was too late to shield him. In the end, it's my fault that he died."

Moody nearly stumbled when he was hit with the flashback to the day his father died.

The boy just looked at him pityingly.

"I'm sorry," Harryjames repeated.

With that, the boy walked of.

"Seems I truly have to contact my uncle," Moody mumbled to himself. "I definitely need to know what happened back then and how the lad fits into all that…"

Best was that he would get in touch with his uncle immediately.