Chapter 9 –

The marauders and friends watched the Slytherin and Hufflepuff match, in this life Harry decided to be a chaser and he was just as good at it as he was at being a seeker. He was currently demolishing the Hufflepuff team.

"That's 200 to 20 in favour of Slytherin" The commentator announced "goodness me, Black is killing it out there"

"Is there anything your brother can't do?" Peter asked Sirius

"It's more of what he is willing to do" Sirius replied

"Come on Harry!" Bellatrix cheered

"Woo, go Harry" Lily clapped

"Yes! Come on Harry!" Ginny shouted

"I've yet to find anything wrong with your brother" James said "it's really weird"

"Oh, there is something wrong with Harry" Sirius reassured them "other than being a bit mad"

"What's that?" Remus asked curiously

"Not sure" Sirius replied "but Harry's always said that nobody is perfect, says that if they look perfect then that doesn't mean they are perfect"

"Wise words" Ginny commented "I once had a guy who I looked up to because everyone in my family thought he was a nice guy but it turned out he was a bit of a jerk" Jerk was the nicest word Ginny could think of to describe Dumbledore.

"You're not the only one" Remus added with a sad smile.

The rest of the year went by like a breeze, and so much stuff happened. The marauders pranked a lot but thanks to Harry and Ginny the pranks were harmless, although funny. Remus and Harry kept transforming together, while Remus was getting more comfortable with the idea of having friends.

Lilly didn't hate James Potter, it turned out that by avoiding that one meeting where James had insulted Severus, the two got along really good. Severus also got along with the two but the looks of jealousy when he saw Lily and James together were seen by both Harry and Ginny. They decided that they'd eventually help him work on that. They also spent time with Bellatrix and Peter, making sure that both of them felt like valued members of the group. Soon the year ended, and the group all took the train ride back home.

"I can't believe the year is ending" Lily said as the Marauders, Snape, Bellatrix and Harry and Ginny sat in the compartment with her. "I'm really going to miss Hogwarts"

"Me too" James said "maybe we could write to each other"

"I'd love to write with you all" Lily smiled

"Me and Sirius might be a bit busy but if we don't reply then just assume we'll get back to you later" Harry said "so, everyone looking forward to going back home?"

"Yeah, you guys could come over to my house if you want" James smiled

"I was missing my parents a little bit" Remus admitted

"Me too" Peter added, at this point Harry noted that Snape seemed uncomfortable.

"Yeah, me too" Lily said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, Harry realised instantly that it was probably because of Petunia. He made a mental note to visit Snape and Lily's houses later in the holidays.

Soon they arrived at the platform, and Harry and Ginny said a brief goodbye to everyone before Ginny dragged him to her muggle parents, Sirius was too busy talking to James to notice.

"Hi mum, dad" Ginny hugged her parents

"It's good to see you Gwen" Her father smiled

"Aw, I've missed you" Her mum smiled

"You two too" Ginny smiled before she grabbed Harry's arm "mum, dad, this is Harry Black. The boy I've been writing to you about"

"Oh" Mr Peterson said "yes, I remember you mentioning him. Magical genius with the family that hates muggles"

"Not how I'd sum it up but yeah" Ginny responded

"A pleasure to meet you Mr and Mrs Peterson" Harry smiled, he shook Mr Petersons hand and kissed Mrs Petersons hand.

"My, such a charmer" Mrs Peterson smiled "am I to understand that you two are close friends?"

"He is my boyfriend mum" Ginny spoke

"Boyfriend?" Mr Peterson asked "Don't you think you're a bit too young to have a boyfriend?"

"Well it wasn't exactly like I could refuse"

"What do you mean?" Mr Peterson narrowed his eyes at Harry

"The idiot got a band made up of students to follow him into the great hall where he got on one knee and gave me flowers and asked me to be his girlfriend" Ginny replied "how was I supposed to say no to that?"

"Wow, is that true?" Mr Peterson asked, relief flooded his face at the fact that his daughter hadn't been forced into a relationship.

"Well, yeah" Harry rubbed the back of his head "wanted to make a statement, you know? And I know you think we're a bit young but I would've asked her again when I was older so we thought that we might as well save time"

"Hmm, well, it was nice to meet you" Mrs Peterson smiled

"You as well" Harry smiled right back "okay, I've got to go know. See you next year" Harry gave Ginny a quick hug and ran back to his family.

By this point his parents and Sirius were the only ones of his friends that were still remaining, he walked over to them and noticed that Sirius seemed almost relieved by his presence. He stopped before them and gave them a quick nod.

"Mother, father" Harry said

"It's good to see you, my boy" Orion Black said "both of you"

"Come" Walburga spoke "let us go home"

A little while later, Harry and Sirius had entered their home. Harry was immediately tackled by Regulus who jumped up and enveloped his brother in a big hug. Sirius just laughed and joined in.

"I've missed you" Regulus whispered

"I don't blame you, I'm brilliant" Sirius replied

"Ignore him" Harry said "how are you doing little brother?"

"Fine" Regulus let go and wiped the tears from his face "Kreatcher had been taking good care of me"

"That's good, tomorrow me and Sirius could tell you about some of our adventures at Hogwarts"

"Hadrius" Orion spoke "your mother and I wish to speak to you, along with your grandfather"

"Very well" Harry sighed "I will be with you in a moment father" His father nodded, leaving Harry to talk with his brothers. "Kreatcher" Harry called

"Master Hadrius has returned!" The house elf said joyfully as he popped in

"It's a pleasure to see you again Kreatcher" Harry smiled "normally I would catch up but father has requested my presence so perhaps later. Could you please take my brothers stuff to their rooms? Regulus, Sirius, I'll be with you in a bit. Go up and stay there"

Kreatcher did as he was told and the two brothers went upstairs, both understanding the meaning of what Harry had said. Harry only ever got them out of the way if there was something that he didn't want them to hear. Harry gave one last sigh, before he walked off to confront his family.

"Into the snakes den I go" he said

"Hadrius" Harry's grandfather said "how are you?"

"Fine Grandfather" Harry answered

"Are you doing well in school?"

"Top of my classes, just like last year"

"Well done" Arcturus said proudly "however, your mother has some concerns"

"No mother" Harry said "that dress does not make you look fat"

"What?!" His mother shouted

"Oh, was that not one of your concerns?"

"No it wasn't" Orion answered with a straight face but the amusement was clear in his eyes.

"Fine, what concerns do you have mother?"

"I've heard rumours about you" His mother said "rumours that I don't like, apparently you have been seen kissing and chasing after a mudblood, is that true?"

"Don't call her a mudblood and yes, it's true" Harry answered calmly

"How dare you?!" His mother shouted "how dare you ruin our name by..."

"How dare me?" Harry interrupted "no, how dare you?! I'm trying to help the Black family and here you are shouting at me"

"Improve with a mudblood?" She sneered

"Improve with someone worthy of being my wife" Harry replied

"Wife?! No! I will not allow it!"

"Believe it or not mother, you have no choice in the matter"

"Enough!" Arcturus shouted and the room went silent, although Harry was silent more out of respect of his grandfather "Hadrius, earlier you said you wanted to help the Black Family, what do you mean?"

"It's simple" Harry answered "we wizards are inferior to muggles in one way, many of us have forgotten logic and facts as we have become so convinced that we don't them because we have magic. Purebloods are so convinced of their superiority that they believe that they could kill muggleborns easily, what those idiots haven't done is look at facts."

"Facts?"

"Yes facts" Harry nodded "the first fact is that on average muggleborn witches and wizards are at a similar or higher level to pure-blooded wizards when it comes to theory and the only reason they are slightly lower than us at practical is because they've never known about magic until before their eleventh birthday."

"Your point?" Arcturus raised an eyebrow

"My point is that it's not worth depriving the wizarding world of so many talented witches and wizards just because we disapprove of where they come from. The amount of muggleborns are increasing gradually, soon there will be more and more and we will have some choices to make. Ignore them, hate them or befriend them"

"What do you mean?" Orion asked

"Father, you're a businessman, correct?" Harry asked and his father nodded "think of it like a business. Imagine that the purebloods are the nimbus broom company, you've been around for a while and everything is good. But suddenly the Firebolt company is released, you don't like the firebolts because they are not one of you. You'll have the same choices to make as the ones I offered you, should we play what each choice would get you?"

"Go on then" Orion said, intrigued by his son

"Let's say we ignore the rival company, they'll either ignore us or do something to harm us. If they try to harm us then we will harm them back, but if they ignore us then that means we can all just get on with our lives. Doesn't change the fact the company exists, does it? Let's say we chose to hate them, they'll hate us right back. We'll waste time and money and our resources trying to one up them and they will do the same, maybe we'd win or maybe we'd lose or maybe they'd damage us to the point where it wasn't worth winning.

Now, lets talk about what would happen if we decided to befriend them. The companies combine and could work together and achieve their common goals, we wouldn't have to worry about hostile takeovers and losing workers. No, all we'd do is gain an ally, why have enemies when you can have friends? I hope you understand the meaning behind my words"

"This is ridiculous!" Walburga's loud voice pierced the air "the Black family motto is 'always pure' and..."

"What?" Harry interrupted "Pure what?"

"Pure blood, obviously!"

"Wrong mother" Harry shook his head "You're wrong"

"What do you mean I'm wrong?!" She demanded

"Well I mean that you're incorrect, I would've thought that you would've learnt what wrong meant by now but clearly me expectations were a little too high for you. The Black family is an ancient family, our origins go back thousands of years and we existed at a time where there were barley any muggleborns at all. In fact our earliest ancestors were ancient healers who were tasked with saving all life, no matter the blood as long as they were magical. So are you truly sure that is what the family motto means?"

"What do you think it means?" Arcturus asked

"Pure of heart" Harry answered "it makes sense, we were healers and we came from a time when blood purity wasn't even a recognised issue. It makes no sense for a family made from healers to decide blood purity was what mattered most in their opinions when they willingly helped any wizard they could. Besides, can't you all see the damage that blood purity is doing to us?

We're making enemies of half-bloods and muggleborns, we may laugh now but we're losing potential allies and gaining potential enemies. They're capable of doing the same spells that we are capable of and that makes them just as dangerous, the purebloods are becoming lazy and arrogant while the muggleborns are working hard to prove they fit in to our world.

Families that don't accept muggleborns are dying, they are losing the members who do and they are slowly fading from history. The lack of new blood and magic is resulting in once prestigious lines like the Gaunt family producing squibs and slowly coming to the brink of extinction. The Black family was once famous for having many metamorphmagus's but as of the moment I'm the only active one. True you all may possess the genes which could be handed down but I'm the only one we know about, a few hundred years ago we would've had an entire group of metamorphmagus's at our disposal and now we've been reduced to one. Besides, there is one more important thing that you've gotten"

"And what's that?" Orion raised an eyebrow

"Magic" Harry answered "some believe that muggleborns steal our magic, that's hogwash. How could they steal our magic if they didn't know our world existed? If they were actively trying to steal our magic then we would've found out and stopped them from ever gaining the amount of numbers they have now.

You'll have to face it sooner or later, they have magic because they were born with it. Now, as powerful as I am, I'm not one to question why magic has gifted them with their gifts. I'd rather question what we can do now that they're here"

"Do?" Arcturus asked "What do you think we need to do?"

"Simple, first thing is stop hating them for not knowing our ways, muggleborn means muggle raised so it is ridiculous to expect them to come and instantly know everything about our world. Regulus is a smart and intelligent pureblooded boy but if he was raised by muggles then I doubt that he'd instantly know about our customs and traditions. We shout and complain about their lack of knowledge yet we do nothing to educate them, why is that?

Two muggleborns I know, including my romantic interest, are highly intelligent. They ask me questions about the wizarding world and I answer them, sometimes they don't understand at first but a little bit of explaining and they get it. They're both intelligent and smart, Professors at Hogwarts praise their knowledge and ability and yet we put them down instead of helping them grow into their potential."

"What potential?" Walburga spat

"Mother, you know as well as I do that wizards and witches seek out an opposite that can match them" Harry responded whilst reigning in his anger "I've chosen this girl because I can sense her potential"

"You're saying this girl is as strong as you?" Orion's eyes widened

"No" Harry shook his head "but she could be closer than any of the other girls I've ever met. She's smart, funny, beautiful, with a few lessons she'd be able to act as the perfect pureblood, the teachers can't help but praise her and her magical powers are strong. Under my training, she could be great"

"You truly believe this?"

"Father, I have never been more sure in my life. If we are willing to look past the tired and old concept of blood purity then we could gain a valuable member, I'm not saying that all muggleborns are like this. One thing that wizards and muggles have in common is that they are people, people can be smart, lazy, arrogant or powerful. Wizards like you and Grandfather can conquer the world of business and politics while others prefer to just get drunk at a bar and take a low paying job at the ministry. Some muggleborns may reject our ways while others may prefer our world to the muggle world, however it would be stupid to judge the many by the actions of the few.

Have any of you even had a conversation with a muggle or muggleborn? The answer is clearly no, yet you talk as if you are experts on the subject, why is that? It's because it was what you were told but you never wondered if it was true, you just assumed it was true. If you had told me that vampires were kind and generous creatures who offered you candy and I never questioned it then the result would be me getting two puncture wounds in my neck. Now I'm not saying go into the muggle world and party with them, we can ignore the muggles for all I care but not the muggleborns.

It's time to move on, we could change and improve or we can stay and wither into nothing while the muggleborns grow and improve without us"

"Hmm, leave now" His Grandfather ordered "we have much to discuss"

"Yes Grandfather" Harry nodded "but before I go, I truly hope that you at least consider my words and do not instantly reject them"

With that Harry made his way out of the room, leaving behind one seething and two thoughtful adults. Harry took a breath and made his way upstairs to talk with Sirius and Regulus.

"What was that about?" Sirius asked while he sat on the floor with Regulus in Harry's room

"They wanted to talk to me about Ginny" Harry yawned as he sat on his bed

"Ginny? Isn't that the girl that Harry likes?" Regulus asked

"Likes?" Sirius scoffed "He's already head over heels for her, the two are always staring at each other and spending time together. You might as well just start calling her sister, I think Hadrius plans to marry her"

"Shut up" Harry tossed a pillow at his head "so Reggie, how are you doing?"

"Fine but I missed you" Regulus answered

"Don't worry mate" Harry ruffled his younger brothers hair "we're all together now, next time we're going Hogwarts you're coming with us."

"The Black brothers united" Sirius said out loud with a massive smile "can you imagine the results?"

"Ah, Minnie is going to probably look into early retirement" Harry responded

"Minnie?" Regulus asked

"Professor McGonagall" Sirius explained "we call her Minnie, not that she likes it"

"Oh she likes it" Harry said confidently "she just won't admit it"

"Hmm, you're probably right" Sirius replied "by the way Harry, I have an important question to ask you"

"Go on then"

"It's about Remus, is...is he a werewolf?"

"Took you long enough to figure out" Harry smiled "and yes, he is a werewolf"

"Why hasn't he told us?" Sirius demanded

"Because he doesn't want anyone to know" Harry explained "being a werewolf may seem like nothing to you but it's only because I explained them to you. A lot of other people think they're monsters, Remus doesn't tell people because he is scared. He thinks you're going to reject him and call him a monster and try to get rid of him."

"We wouldn't do that!" Sirius shouted

"He knows but he's scared" Harry said calmly "he can't help it. All of his life he's kept it a secret, it's a habit for him. He knows you won't tell but whenever he wants to tell you he probably imagines what happens if you do and he's too scared to risk it. In his mind he has a good thing going and he doesn't want to chance it"

"How long have you known?" Sirus sighed

"Since I first met him" Harry answered "I worked it out and I told him I would keep his secret. I accompany him on the full moon"

"What?!" Sirus blurted out

"Harry that's dangerous!" Regulus added

"Animagus" Harry said "he can't turn me, werewolves can't turn an animagus. I go in my wolf form and keep him company, without me he'd probably end up biting himself."

"Hmm, Harry" Sirius said slowly "do you think you could..."

"Yes" Harry interrupted "I know what you're going to ask and I'll teach you lot how to become animagus's but only you, and your friends. I don't want the entire school coming to me for lessons. Reggie as well"

"Awesome" Regulus smiled

"I know, now Sirius, do James and Peter know about Remus as well?"

"Yeah but we weren't really sure, we figured I'd ask you first"

"If I was you lot then I'd recommend you all talk to Remus about it" Harry suggested "show him that you're not afraid of him and let him know that you don't care."

"Fine but what about Ginny? What happened?"

"Well" Harry said "mother was a bit upset with me because I fell for a 'mudblood', hate that word, she shouted but I argued that it was stupid to care about her being a muggleborn"

"You're in love with a muggleborn?" Regulus asked in surprise, he didn't really care about it but he was still a bit surprised.

"Yeah" Harry smiled "you'd like her Reggie, she's smart and kind."

"And pretty good looking" Sirius added

"What's so special about her though?" Regulus asked curiously

"She's the only girl I can look at and think of as an equal" Harry answered

'Aw, how sweet' Ginny whispered in his mind

'I love you dear, but shut up and get out of my head. I'm having a moment with my brothers'

'Fine' Ginny huffed 'but you'd better be ready to spend some time talking to me later'

'Of course'

'Bye'

"Really?" Regulus spoke "She sounds fun"

"She is" Sirius grinned "there was this one point when Harry got angry and his eyes turned green again but she wasn't even scared"

"Does she have a death wish?!" Regulus exclaimed

"It's true" Sirius replied "she ran right up to him and whispered in his ear and calmed him down, she then gave him a kiss and skipped off"

"Ok, I have to meet her" Regulus said "she sounds awesome!"

"She's in Ravenclaw" Harry said "fits her, really smart. So Reggie, Sirius is in Gryffindor and I'm in Slytherin with Bellatrix, what about you? Where do you think you'll go?"

"Hmm, I think I'd probably be in Ravenclaw or Slytherin" Regulus replied "by the way, is there anything I should know before I go to Hogwarts?"

"A few things" Sirius said "the dungeons stink, most of the professors are alright, Harry is the unofficial prince of Hogwarts"

"I'd say I was more the king" Harry interrupted

"Oh and don't trust the headmaster" Sirius added

"Why not?" Regulus asked

"Because he's creepy" Sirius answered "he really wants Hadrius"

"Wants Hadrius?"

"Well Hadrius is pretty strong, right? The headmaster probably wants to recruit him as his new son or something"

"Yeah" Harry sighed "the old goat wants me as his apprentice or something, he's trying to encourage me to his side"

"Why would he do that?" Regulus wondered

"I'm the wandless wonder of the wizarding world" Harry replied "how good do you think Dumbledore would look if I was his apprentice and how useful do you think I could be to him?"

"I get what you mean" Regulus said "he'd be pretty unstoppable with you at his side"

"He wants to make sure I stay away from the dark side" Harry said "and join him in the light. I'm staying away from the dark but I'm not joining that idiot"

The next day, Severus Snape had just left the Evans house, he had stayed with Lily over night but sadly he had to return to his own house. He had to return to his father, Tobias Snape, a horrible and drunk muggle who enjoyed raising his hand when he got drunk and that was constantly.

"Hello Severus" A voice brought him out of his thoughts, he looked up to see none other than Hadrius Black standing besides him.

"H...Black? What are you doing here?" Snape asked

"I came to see you or more specifically your father" Harry said

"My...my father? Why?" Snape was now sweating

"Your father hits you, doesn't he?" Harry asked and he could see Snape looks uncomfortable "I gathered from our conversation in the train and your lack of participation."

"Look, just leave it" Snape pleaded

"I understand Severus" Harry spoke softly "I understand"

"You can't understand!" Snape shouted "you might think you understand but you don't!"

"I don't understand? Snape I might be one of the few who do" Harry said calmly "you hate it, the feeling of helplessness, the pain. Every time he raises your hand you feel a little bit of you die inside, at first you wonder if it was something you did wrong. You wonder if you deserve what you get, then when you get older, you realise that it's just the way it is. You realise that life sucks and you have to suffer while everyone else get's to laugh and play and have fun."

"You read that in a book?" Snape growled

"I know that because I've been stopping it from happening to Regulus and Sirius ever since they were born, our mother is not like your father. She's a witch with no restraints, one wrong action or even word and she'd fire off a spell unless someone was there to restrain her. I'm strong because I need to be, I'm strong because it's my job to protect others.

You're not weak Severus, far from it, you're strength is in your intelligence. That's why you do so good at potions, you're patient and understanding and cleaver enough to know how it works. But you're also prideful, to accept help makes you weak, is that right? You're looking at me and you're thinking I should keep my nose out of other people's business, you think you don't need help and you don't want it? Is that right?" Severus thought about Hadrius's words, there was something about his voice that made Severus listen.

"W...what do you plan to do?" Severus eventually asked

"I have a few options" Harry answered "I could either leave you here and let him hurt you, I could let you grow to become a bitter man with mental issues, I could go and threaten him into behaving, I could take you to someone and you can file a complaint against your father. If you file that complaint then you could be rehoused, maybe with another wizard family."

"But I don't want to leave Lily" Severus replied "and that's my home"

"You want to stay here?" Harry asked

"Yes I do"

"Fine but in that case, I'd better make your life easier. I'm going to go threaten your father, don't worry, he'll live? You coming to watch or not?"

"I...I'd rather not"

"Probably best" Harry shrugged and the two walked over to Severus's house, Severus stopped by the fence outside "give me a minute" Harry said

Harry walked right up to the door and kicked it down before he entered the house, Severus heard his father shouting, then he heard his father screaming and the screaming stopped. Harry came out of the house exactly a minute after he entered, he windlessly repaired the door and walked right up to Severus.

"Send an owl if he bothers you again" Harry placed a hand on the younger boys shoulder "you are not a weak person Severus, you are a strong person with a bit more pride than you should have but just remember that it doesn't hurt to ask for help. I'll see you after the holidays"

Harry walked off, leaving a young Severus who walked right into his house. Severus saw his father, twitching and looking at a bottle of alcohol like it was going to kill him. Snape smiled and made his way to his room, his smile didn't disappear even when he got to his room. He laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

"Maybe he isn't so bad after all" Snape said out loud, he then heard his father shriek "then again, maybe he is"