The Annoyance known as Bellatrix

Wrapping both arms around the forms of his little brothers, Harry buried his face Into their hair, inhaling the scents that's become so familiar to him. A month has passed since the Parkinson's ball, a month since he'd laid down his best cards before lord Arcturus Black, his grandfather.

.

"Grandson."

Stood before his grandfather and lord, Harry refused to weaken under his stern grey eyes, standing tall with his head tilted upwards. Neither of his parents had spoken To him that morning, Walburga not even gracing him with a look. Sirius and Regulus had been appropriately subdued, leaving Harry to eat his breakfast as his resolve hardened. And now, now it was time to put it to the test.

"Grandfather."

"I take it that yesterday you did not express all of your grievances in regards to our way of life?"

Harry grimaced at that, allowing a small dip of his head. He was questioning the way things were, questions that had to be said but ones he should not have put forwards as young as he was, according to social graces. However, to protects Sirius and Regulus from the world, just for a little while longer, he was willing to go to war.

" I fail to see why the champion of blood purity does not use his family name. If he was serious about his cause, why does he hide? He could estrange himself from his family to save the law enforcement coming down upon them while wearing his name with pride. That he hides, it suggests he has something to hide. I refuse to follow a cause which are the leader not submit himself to the same rules by wearing a false name. For all we know he could be son of two squibs, lording over his pure-blood servants that they truly are not as good as he is, silently belittling their beliefs."

Arcturus made a strange noise in the back of his throat, as if he'd not even dared to think about this.

"Pure-bloods intermarry so much that it's possible the man is as related to slytherin as I am, we know nothing, and I see no need to submit myself to a cause on such unjustified grounds. If it were just pure-bloods within the world, then it would eventually become a battle of who has the purest blood. We would turn on each other to fuel the need to feel self-important."

"And what if the things the mud-bloods bring to out world?"

Harry grimaced at the slur, running the pad of his thumb across his knuckles from where his hands were clasped together behind his back.

"Educate them in our ways. Hogwarts has muggle-studies, yet no wizarding studies for those coming into our world. How can we expect them to follow our customs if we do not allow them to be taught? If they were to visit China, a country segregated from us by distance, they would not expect the same culture. They are wrong in the fact they approach our world as if expecting it to the same just because it is Housed in the same country, but we are also wrong in that we do not welcome them. We do not teach them, we push them away when they try to impose their beliefs on us, without telling them why. Is it not the job of the Ancient and Noble Houses not protect the magical world, and all that are in it? When did the animosity between the pure-bloods and the muggle-horns become more important than the bettering of our society?"

.

Arcturus had allowed him to leave after that, no doubt going off to do his own research. He'd agreed that the 'mud-bloods' were not the worth the time it would take to belittle them. Harry had been swift to point out the fact if the muggle-borns were to recognise him as a noble heir, he should act like it. And not just pure-bloods. He was better than them, but it was above lording his superiority over others, he'd explained, and Arcturus had muttered something to do with 'pixies' and 'more with sugar than salt'

Harry had also pointed out that it had been a muggle-born to invent the banishing charm, so did that mean they did not use it, for all muggle-horns were considered worthless by the standards of the House of Black. At that, Arcturus looked like he'd swallowed a lemon, shuffling him right out of his office without an answer. The thought of it made Harry smile, but his grandfather had told him to expect letters from him when he started his schooling at Hogwarts. No doubt their discussion on this topic was not over.

"Turais."

Straightening up, but not before placing a kiss upon both Sirius and Regulus' foreheads, Harry stood to attention before his father. The man hadn't really said much to him since the Parkinson's ball, but it was better than Walburga's thinly laced threats that he better get in Slytherin.

"Father?"

Walburga huffed, walking off to go and greet some other pure blood lady. The second she was gone, Orion knelt down to his level, surprising Harry, especially when arms wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

"I'm not sure I agree with your views, even if you have given my father and I something to think on," the voice whispered in his ear, and Harry didn't miss the fact that the man hadn't referred to Walburga, " but I am profundity of you. For standing up for both yourself and your brothers. Even if we disagree, family comes before everything else."

Harry couldn't help that his lips twisted up into a smile, somewhat touched. He had no idea what Orion had been like another life, where the existence of Turais hadn't come into being. But he felt that here, at least, he'd impacted on the man somewhat. Hopefully for the better.

" thank you father. We will probably end up disagreeing again over something or another, but you will remain my father, as Sirius and Regulus shall forever be my brothers. And I shall do anything to protect my family, even if it means going against your expectations to see our family live in the long run, instead of dying as cannon fodder to a madman."

Orion frowned as he pulled back, his eyes serious before pressing a kiss to Harry's forehead.

"Be careful son."

.

Sitting down Io the train, Harry adjusted the empty owl cage that sat upon the flor, moving it away from the wall so that bars would not rattle. He'd left Aquila, his beautiful barn owl, at Grimmauled place, ready for his brother to send off their first letter. She would return to his side come morning, so Harry wasn't too worried. His family had appeared out of the station five minutes ago, just after seeing him onto the train

Harry prayed that his mother, for it wax her short temper that Harry worried after, would not force his hand. He would leave the House of Black if it saw to the protection of his little siblings. He didn't need financial support from the House of Black to live, after all, a small Vial of basilisk venom fetched A handsome price on the Market. And surprise surprise, he knew just where to get at one.

But he'd rather not let it be known that there was a basilisk around.

And if worse came to worse, he could always contact the one person who knew the truth.after all, when living six hundred years and running into several people with the same scar in the same place, it would have only been so long before one got suspicious. But Harry would like to avoid having to contact someone as politically powerful, however removed he may be, as Nicholas Flamel.

"Excuse me."

Harry paused from where he was sketching the basilisk beneath Hogwarts, looking up at the invaders to his compartment. Two girls were stood there, looking anxious, one blushing furiously at the sight of him. Harry was well aware this body was attractive, but he was rather hoping that people wouldn't start chasing after him until third year. At the least.

"Can I help you?" He gently closed his sketch book, smiling as politely as he could. The blushing girl grew even redder.

"Can we share your compartment?"

Harry got to his feet after gesturing for them to come in , drawing his wand and floating their trunks to the racks above their heads.

"You can do magic already?" The girl that wasn't blushing asked, wide eyes following the movement of his wand. And it was his wand, his precious holly wand which had been crafted at the same culture one as riddle's. This wax the first life he'd dropped in at a time he could pick it up at. Not including his first life of course.

"I've always been able to control my magic, though I've been told that it is highly unusually."

" Alice smith," the girl, Alice, held out her hand, smiling. It wax the second she smiled that Harry recognised her. Nevilles mother. Which meant Frank longbottom would be at Hogwarts soon, if he weren't already. Harry took her hand, and with a pure- blood flourish, placed a kiss upon it.

"Turais Black."

"Black?" Alice's eyes shifted over to look at her blushing friend, who seemed somewhat confused at her companions sudden weariness.

"And yourself?"

"J-Jane Ward." Ah

Alice knew her friend was muggle-born, and was expecting him to react viciously as anyone else in his family would.

Ignoring the fact Alice was all but cringing in anticipation, Harry copied his actions, showing her the same respect he had Alice.

"Charmed," he smiled, seating himself once again, kicking off the expensive shoes Walburga had insisted upon and crossing his legs upon the plush cushion. Alice actually made a double take at his casual manner.

"Sorry, we're you perhaps expecting the rumoured Black madness?"

Now it was Alice's turn to blush as furiously as her friend, who seemed completely taken aback.

" I'm sorry to say miss ward, that there a good few students at Hogwarts who will look down upon you for your origins. My family would be a prime example of this, but I believe in judging someone for their worth as a person. I will not bow to peer pressure that some may attempt I exert on me, simply because I am the heir to the House of Back. You worry for nothing miss smith."

.

The train ride was pleasant, Harry explaining all about the pure-blood prejudice and how different fractions reacted. After some thought, Jane had admitted that she'd been expecting everything to be similar to the muggle world, but had agreed to remain open-minded. Alice seemed somewhat impressed with him, brought to give him use of her first name. Which coming from a pure blood such as herself was a big show of friendliness. Now they were good in the great hall, their names about to be called out to be sorted, one George Abbot had been sorted into hufflepuff, with Cicero Avery going to slytherin. And then It was him.

"Black, Turais."

Harry walked forward with all the grace of a predator, seating himself on the wooden stool and allowing the sorting hat to fall upon his head.

"Dear god, not you again."

Harry laughed, openly i the hall, no doubt leaving everyone to wonder just what the hat had said to him.

'It's a pleasure to speak to you again hat.'

" I hate sorting you. Always popping up, always changing things."

'Comes with the job I'm afraid. I suppose you already know what would be best this time around?'

"You are the biggest brat I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with." Even through the muttered word, Harry could tell that the hat was still fond of him, in its own way. Just annoyed, because it was suppose to sort children, not a constantly reborn immortal.

"Slytherin!"

Harry lifted the hat from his head, handing it to McGonagall and making his way to the table of the snakes. They were refined, clapping politely. Well, all but one.

"Well where else did you expect a parselmouth to go?!" Bellatrix's shriek echoed through the hall, sufficiently silencing everyone, including McGonagall who'd been halfway through pronouncing the next name.

Harry's eyes trailed up the table till they landed on Bellatrix, sat at the very top with the rest of the seventh years. Everyone, and Harry meant everyone, was looking at him. Still with his head high, he slid onto the bench, ignoring the awed look of Avery who'd clearly not put much stock in the rumours from the Parkinson's ball that his family hadn't attended.

He knew that it'd only been a matter of time before everyone found out, but Harry would have liked to have made it a year under Dumbledore's radar, hell, even a month would have been nice. The man was too in control of everything around him, and Harry was not interested in getting involved in this war. He'd helped once, and it was not a problem. The only thing that would get him involved was if his friends or family were touched.

Then he would obliterate the threat.

Be it Dumbledore trying to put Sirius on the front-lines, or Voldemort attempting to court them to his side. Harry didn't care. He'd grown from the boy hero who wanted to protect everyone. He wouldn't stand by in an attack, but he wouldn't go looking for trouble, not anymore. It found him often enough.

Raising his gaze, Harry met the heavy eyes Dumbledore head on, battering away the attempt to invade his mind. If Dumbledore was surprised, he didn't show it, instead his face was a mask of. Indifference.

Harry broke contact first when Alice's name was called out, clapping politely as she was sorted into gryffindor, ignoring the stars of his year-mates as he did so.

Let the games begin.