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Chapter 4: Meeting Lucretia

Back in Time

Chapter 4: Meeting Lucretia

Harry was curled in a ball on the bed, he had managed to pull himself up from the floor at some point in his crying session, somehow, now he was just staring at the sky through the window, his arms curled around his stomach as he tried to clear his mind of… well, everything.

There was a gentle knock on the door and he flinched slightly before he slowly sat up and called them in. A young woman, who looked almost exactly like Orion, except that she was about the same height as their mother, her eyes were blue, and her jaw and cheekbones were softer than Orion's.

Was the whole Black family this beautiful? Because of the three he had seen in this time they were stunning, though Orion was his favourite. And even the ones he knew of in his past were beautiful.

She smiled at him gently, although he could see some concern in her eyes too, especially as she saw the tear tracks on his cheeks. She sat on the side of the bed.

"Mother told me we had a guest and I thought I would come and introduce myself. I am Lucretia Black, soon to be Prewett, though," she said kindly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Heir Hadrian Peverell, but you may call me Hadrian or Harry," he said, trying not to let his voice crack too much as he held out a hand to her and when she had placed hers in his he kissed the back of it gently, a small blush appearing on his face, but blending in well with the redness that was already on his pale cheeks.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, too, Harry. Are you okay? Do you need me to get you anything? My mum? A potion or two? They told me you were pretty badly injured," she asked, clearly concerned and it was shocking to him.

"No, thank you. I'll be fine. It's just been a long few months," years really, but she didn't need to know that.

"Hm, well if that changes let one of us, or a house elf, know. We are more than happy to help,"

Harry's lips tugged up at the sides, "Thank you. I hope I'm not putting you all out,"

"No, it's fine. From what I can gather my family are incredibly worried about you after how they found you. And although we may seem tough in public, in our home, with family, we are just like everyone else," Lucretia said.

"I'm not going to lie, I don't really know what everyone else is like," Harry chuckled slightly, "I've been kept away from everyone for my whole life so I don't really know what people are meant to act like,"

"Why? If you don't mind me asking, anyway," she looked genuinely curious.

"I'm a Peverell first of all. People tend to be scared of us because of what we can do, or what people think we can do anyway. But I will assure you now that I can't bring people back from the dead. My parents were also exceptionally paranoid, with my mum being a bearer and me being one, too, and how people seek bearers for their abilities, and their powerful children, they didn't really want to let me out too much," he didn't know why he was telling her about being a bearer, not really. But she would know, one day, anyway. And he felt safe with her. She wouldn't use him for his abilities or tell anyone about them if he didn't want them to know.

She looked at him in shock and awe for a minute, although he could see a hint of pain in her eyes also. She swallowed thickly, "You're a bearer?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "And a necromancer. That combination is… Well, my parents wanted to protect me from the world as much as possible. They carefully picked people who could be my friends, although they have all turned on me by now. Especially…" he trailed off, voice thick with emotion.

"The friend who hurt you?" she whispered, understanding in her eyes.

"Yeah,"

For some reason he felt there was more to the information that Ignotus was supplying him with through their link. Like he was trying to tell Harry something, but also trying to comfort him by not telling him everything. Harry couldn't care enough to think about it too much, though. He felt too numb at that moment.

"Don't worry, Harry. I won't tell anyone that you are a bearer. I promise," she said sincerely.

"I know. That is why I told you. I knew you wouldn't tell anyone that I didn't want to know," Harry said, a small smile on his face.

"How old are you?" Lucretia asked.

"Eighteen. And yourself? If you don't mind me asking,"

"Twenty," she said, "And I'm getting bonded in a month," she breathed as if in awe of that fact. She clearly was very in love with her fiancé.

"Congratulations," he said, smiling brightly at her.

"Thank you,"

"How does it feel? Being engaged to someone?" Harry whispered, "Being in love with someone?" he said the last part so quietly she wasn't sure she heard it.

"It's amazing, and yet completely nerve-wracking. I'm excited, and in awe of him and everything. But planning a bonding is so stressful, and long, and tedious. But it will be worth it on the day, I think," she said, her eyes glimmering with hope and happiness, though it soon turned to anxiety and pain, "I'm just… Merlin, I wish we could have everything, you know? We both want… we both want children, a family, so bad, but I can't… I can't give it to him. I often think that this is all just a dream and that one day I will wake up and he won't want me anymore. That he will dump me for someone who can give him the children he desires, that I desire… I want to be a mum more than anything else in the world, but I can't, and I hate myself for it,"

He could see the pain in her brilliant eyes, the tears making them shine in a way that made his heart twist in pain. Those stupid healers should not have told her she was barren if there was even a small chance she could get pregnant.

He didn't know why she felt comfortable enough with him to tell him her troubles, but he felt comfortable with her, too. She almost felt like a big sister, not that he knew what one of those felt like, but he had dreamt.

He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently, hoping that it was in some way comforting.

"Do you know what the… issue is? Who tested you? Did you get a second opinion?" Harry asked gently, hoping he wasn't prying too much.

She looked at him in shock for a second, "I… It was just a healer at St Mungo's, I don't know their name. It was a long time ago now. They do all the tests for pureblood children to see how 'healthy' we and our magic are. We didn't get a second opinion, and I don't think we were ever told what…" she trailed off.

"Maybe you should get another healer to have a look?" he suggested as carefully as he could, "You need, and deserve to know what is going on. And whatever it is may be fixable. I also know that there are some healers that just tell you you are barren even if there is a chance, no matter how small, that you could fall pregnant and carry the baby to term. I also don't trust the healers at St Mungo's all that much, given my one experience there I feel like they need to sort themselves out. I mean, they left my private information on my bed for all to see, and they healed me from a potentially deadly wound with a lot of blood in front of a bunch of young children. It traumatised the children, for Merlin's sake,"

"Do you really think there is a chance I could get pregnant?" she whispered so hopefully and painfully that his already broken heart broke some more.

"I think that there is at least a small chance. But if you get a second opinion, from a more competent healer, you will have your answer. I don't want to give you false hope, but I feel like in matters like these you need to get more than one person to see to things. Especially if it is something you want,"

She nodded, "I don't… I mean, Merlin, I want it so bad. But it hurts too much to think that maybe they were right and I can't…"

"Maybe they were, but maybe they weren't. I have been let down enough in my life to know that people don't always do the right thing, they don't always tell the truth, they don't always do their jobs as they should, or as they want to. But no matter how rubbish life can be, miracles happen. All the time. Every life on this planet is a miracle. Every plant. Every animal. Every human. We are all miracles, and yes, some people are bad, they hurt people, they lie to people in the worst ways, they mess things up. But it doesn't change the fact that them just being here, when fertility is so fragile, is a miracle. You are a miracle, whether you can birth children or not, Lucretia. But getting a second opinion won't hurt. It will either confirm what you thought you already knew and have had some time to process, or it will give you hope that one day you will receive your miracle. And if you know what the issue is, maybe someone will be able to find a cure for it, to improve your chances," Harry said gently.

"I've never been called a miracle before," she chuckled, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.

"Neither have I," Harry said, smiling at her.

"Well you are, Hadrian Peverell. You are a miracle," she said, smiling at him, "I will get a second opinion, from a healer I trust, and I will find out exactly what is going on. All whilst praying to the god and goddess, and to Merlin, for a miracle. I know there is a chance the healer was right, but, you are correct. We should have gotten a second opinion," she shook her head, "They really left your chart out for all to see? And they healed you from a potentially deadly wound in front of young children?" she looked more than angry, almost like a mother dragon who wanted to go and tear them to shreds for traumatising children in such a way.

"Yes, they did," he growled, also wanted to tear apart the healers, "Which is why I shall never be going to St Mungo's again. I would much rather be around people I trust, in a comfortable environment, with a personal healer. I hate hospitals,"

"Mhm, I would also much prefer that. Thankfully since mum has some training and a minor qualification she has healed us from most of our ailments. And if it is something more serious, which isn't a very common occurrence, we get a personal healer in to deal with it,"

"Sounds nice. Being healed by your mum," he whispered, so quietly that he was hoping she didn't hear that.

Based on the slight widening of her eyes, though, she did hear him.

Before she could question him, though, there was another knock on the door and Harry called them in. The door opened to reveal Melania, and she walked over to him looking at him worriedly, and at her daughter questioningly.

"Hadrian, how are you feeling?" She said, taking note of the tear tracks still on his cheeks and looking at him with more concern than anyone else had in his life, not that he could reveal that.

"Better, thank you. My chest no longer hurts," his heart does, though.

"Good. Are you okay? Do you need anything? Do you need me to contact anyone?"

"I'll be fine, it has just been a rather long few months. And, erm, I don't really have anyone for you to contact. I am all alone now," he said quietly.

Her eyes widened in both shock and understanding, and he got a distinct feeling that she wanted to wrap him up and coddle him a little, or a lot, to make up for him not having anyone else.

"And Lucretia, dear, what are you doing in here? And on Hadrian's bed?" Melania said softly to her daughter.

"Well, you said we had a guest and I thought it a good idea to introduce myself, mum. He is now my littlest brother, though," Lucretia said with a beaming smile at both her mother and Hadrian who blushed, though he felt good.

Amazing even.

She had accepted him. She thought of him as a brother even though they had only just met.

"Lucretia, we don't even know if Hadrian is comfortable here, you can't just adopt him as your little brother," Melania scolded, though she was smiling lovingly at the twenty year old.

"Oh, it's fine, Lady Black. I am rather comfortable here, and I have never been accepted that fast before, so I do believe that Lucretia is now my big sister," Hadrian said, smiling at them both as they smiled at him.

"You may call me Melania, Hadrian, since you are now my third child,"

Hadrian blushed at the reminder and the rest of the words.

"Well, I should go and make that healer appointment," Lucretia said, causing her mother to look at her with so much worry that Harry was almost of the connection the two obviously had.

"Why? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Melania asked her daughter as Lucretia stood from the bed.

"Hadrian was right to point out to me that we should have gotten a second opinion from a trusted healer," Lucretia said, a tad nervous.

Melania looked at her daughter in shock, and confusion, "About..?"

Lucretia nodded, "He said that some healers tell you you are barren even if there is a small chance you could get pregnant. And we were never told what exactly was wrong with me-"

"Nothing is wrong with you, baby," Melania said sternly, and Lucretia smiled sadly.

"I need to know for sure, mum. I need… I need to know if there is even the smallest of chances I could have a baby. And he said that if we find out what is wrong then someone might be able to cure me, depending on what it is. I… I need answers. I love Ignatius. And even if we definitely can't have children, then I will still love him. And I will be happy with him. But I… I need to know," Lucretia said, clearly trying to hide the cracks in her voice.

"Do you want me to come with you to your appointment?" Melania asked.

Lucretia nodded.

"Then let me know when it is and I will make sure I am free,"

Lucretia nodded again then turned to look at Harry who was trying not to intrude on the moment between the two by looking anywhere but at them, "It was a pleasure to meet you, little brother. I will come and talk with you again soon. Make sure to rest up,"

"It was a pleasure to meet you, too, big sister," Harry said, a small smile on his face as Lucretia nodded to him and left the room.

Melania smiled at Harry and sat on the bed, Harry smiled at her, too.

"Why… Why did you both accept me as quickly as you did?" Hadrian asked, a mixture of confusion and curiosity in his features.

"Lucretia and I were both lucky enough to be gifted with the intuition that my mother's family was known for. Orion has a little bit of it, too, but not to the extent that the two of us do. As a result of this gift, we can feel people's intentions, magics, gifts, feelings, as well as sense some of their… future, for lack of a better word. I can't tell you what is going to happen in the future. But we both can feel that you will do wonders for our family, and for our world. As well as that your magic and soul are the purest we have ever come across. We can feel your necromancy, but we know the truth about that gift, and we can feel that although you have used some, though not many, dark spells, your heart, intentions, mind, and soul are all pure. You are the most powerful wizard we have come across, but you have no intentions of using it for bad, unlike the others. I also know that what you told me about your family is not the truth, but I am letting it slide because I don't want to make you uncomfortable, and I sense that there is a lot more than meets the eye with you. Not that any of it is bad, in terms of yourself, but you have been through a lot of stuff you perhaps shouldn't have. If you want someone to talk to, you can talk to us, we won't give away your secrets. But if you want to keep it to yourself, then that is fine also," she said gently, at some point she held his hand and he looked at their joined hands in awe and shock.

He felt the safest he had ever felt with this family, and it was weird.

But it was also amazing.

"And if you ever want to talk about what made you cry after Orion and I left you, then you can talk to me. We won't actively pry into your business, but we are here, if you want to talk. Being alone isn't easy, and you need people around you, especially as you navigate your new Lordship and the responsibilities that come with it,"

Harry nodded, "Thank you. I, erm, I may take you up on that at a later time, if I can,"

She nodded in understanding, a small smile on her face, "Would you like anything to eat? I can have a house elf make it for you,"

"Just… Just some soup please, with some bread and butter,"

"Any kind in particular?"

"Any will do, I'm not fussy,"

He was never afforded the chance to be fussy, really.

She nodded, again in understanding, and soon he had a tray with warm tomato soup and freshly baked bread on his lap and he was eating the delicious meal with Melania fussing over him like a mother hen.

"Do you really think there is a chance Lucretia might not be completely barren?" Melania asked nervously.

"I'm not completely sure, but it is possible. Not all healers are truthful, they can say you're barren if there is only a small chance of you falling pregnant and you wouldn't be any the wiser. In any case, though, I think it is always a good idea to get a second opinion, especially with something as special and fragile as fertility. And you should have been told exactly what the issue was in the first place, it may be fixable with potions or spells, or someone could invent something to help," Harry said nervously.

"Hm, I quite agree. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go with her to the appointment because Orion was ill and I was healing him. I would have demanded answers had I gone, but my husband took her and he is really rather clueless when it comes to what to do in that situation," she shook her head and let out a small chuckle, the devotion and love in her eyes told Harry that she loved her husband very dearly, "I was actually thinking of getting a full healing qualification soon, and I think I might do, especially if we can help Lucretia achieve her dreams of being a mum. I don't trust anyone else with her or my grandbabies enough to let them help her with pregnancies and childbirth," she was very fierce in her statements and Harry grinned.

"That is a wonderful idea. And to be honest, I wouldn't trust anyone but myself with my daughters, or bearer sons, during their pregnancies and births either, or with my grandbabies. Except for you, of course. You have been wonderful. Best healer I know," Harry said happily.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Hadrian," she chuckled, kissing his forehead gently.

He smiled at her, "I was actually considering healing for a career, myself. But I'm a bit rubbish at potions. Which is weird considering I am a good cook, but, I don't know. I don't really fully understand how potions work, I guess," he shrugged.

"I can give you some extra lessons if you would like me to?" she beamed at him excitedly, "Honestly I have been waiting for someone to take under my wing. Unfortunately neither of my children by birth are interested in potions so I could never get them to make any with me, but if you are interested then I will very happily teach you everything I know, and even some healing to see if you are still interested in it,"

"That sounds amazing, thank you," Harry said, smiling happily at her.

They spent a while talking about potions, healing, and a few other things. She checked on him occasionally to make sure he wasn't in pain or anything, too. She made him feel comfortable. She made him feel welcome. She made him feel wanted, truly wanted.

He still didn't quite understand what he did to get her or Lucretia to accept him so fully into their lives and home so quickly. No one had ever really done that before. They had pretended to from what he had gathered, or a lot of them pretended to anyway. There were a few loyal, honest ones. But they really were a few.

But here, in this new time where no one knew him, he felt like maybe, just maybe, he could be himself.

His true self.

And he could fix the world too.

Maybe.

With some help.

Hiya, how are you all?

Honestly, I think I am on a roll this week, I have updated a fair bit, haven't I? I hope you enjoyed this long chapter, did it get weird, it felt weird to me, but I also liked it, I don't know. I hope you enjoyed it, though. I really want Harry to have a good relationship with Melania and Lucretia because I feel like he needs a mother and a big sister, you know, to stand at his side through everything that is to come. Don't worry, Orion will be back in the next chapter. 

Also, if I were to set up a Spotify and make playlists for all of my stories would anyone be interested? They would include songs that remind me of the story in some way, give away little easter eggs for what is to come in the story with some of their lyrics, or songs that just fit. It will be a very eclectic mix of songs because I listen to a variety of music. But I have so many songs that make me think of my stories and I want to share them, if people are interested anyway.

I also have a Facebook group called Maraudering_Paige which you are all welcome to join if you would like to and are able to. It is where we can talk about Harry Potter, fanfics, life, share memes, and more. It is also where I have an update schedule of sorts and will be keeping you up to date on what I am working on, both with original stories, fanfics, and with everything else I do and want to do. So if you are interested in joining then I am more than happy to accept you into the group, we are nearly at 200 members now which is both shocking and amazing, so thank you all so very much for the support. 

I hope you are all having an amazing day! 

Kind regards, 

Paige xx