Chapter - 42 : Shadows of Allegiance part - 3

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"Yes, this is Orion," Sirius said.

"Hello, ma'am," Harry said, making sure not to offer his hand. He needn't have bothered worrying about it, since Melania swooped down and gave him a rather bony hug.

"Oh my dear boy, call me Grandmother," she ordered. "No need to mention the exact number of generations between us, hmm?"

"Yes, Grandmother," Harry said obediently. Even after such a short exchange, Harry knew exactly what Sirius had meant earlier when describing the woman.

He and Sirius were both ushered over to sit in the chinz armchairs by the fire, displacing three intelligent looking cats as they did so. Harry thought they might be part Kneazle as they shared a certain resemblance to Crookshanks. He looked around the rest of the room, taking in the high arched windows overlooking the garden and the gilt-framed paintings hanging on the wall. He shifted a bit uneasily in his chair, uncomfortable under the scrutiny of all the portraits. Several of the canvas figures must have been visiting from other frames, since there were over a dozen pairs of eyes staring down at him, clearly inspecting the newest addition to the Black family. Melania was also examining him closely, making Harry sit up straight and fix his politest expression on his face.

"Such an attractive child you are!" Melania declared at last after her sharp eyes had taken in every aspect of Harry's appearance. "Much better looking than that Crabbe boy on the other side of the family tree."

"Uh, thank you." Harry wondered if she was talking about Vincent Crabbe, the burly Slytherin who was in Harry's year at Hogwarts. He hadn't known the Crabbes and Blacks were related.

"Well, Sirius, you have done well I must say," Melania told her grandson, arranging her robes carefully as she sank down into a chair opposite them. "When I heard you had fathered some bastard child and wanted to bring him into the family…. well! I don't mind telling you that I feared the worst. But Narcissa quite raved about him you know and all-in-all young Orion here has quite exceeded my expectations."

"Thank you, Grandmother," Sirius said stiffly.

"And not only do we have Orion to welcome into the family, but we also have you back amongst us!" she prattled on. "The whole family's simply dying to celebrate your release from that dreadful place."

"What d'you mean?" Sirius exchanged an alarmed glance with Harry. "Who else is coming?"

"Well my dear Arcturus is here, obviously," Melania replied. "He's busy trying to get Cassiopeia down from the attics – she's been up there all week working on her experimental spell research or some such nonsense. Then when Narcissa told me you had run into her and young Draco in Diagon Alley I just had to invite them, too. And dear Lucius as well of course."

Sirius sighed and leaned back in his seat with an unhappy expression. "Of course."

"And then the thought struck me – why not introduce dear Orion to another of his future school mates," Melania continued in her unrelenting manner. "It's always good to be friends with the right sort. We wouldn't want him mixing with any Undesirables, now would we?"

"Of course not," Sirius mumbled.

"So I invited my darling nephew Evander Macmillan and his young son Ernest," she finished triumphantly. "Wasn't that a clever idea of mine?"

"Yes it was," Sirius replied dutifully.

Harry fixed the older witch with an innocent smile. "I'm really glad I'll be able to make some friends before I go to Hogwarts. Especially ones who're also family."

"Well said," came the stern voice of Arcturus Black from the doorway. "Family is paramount."

Sirius immediately got to his feet and subtly gestured Harry to do the same. Harry remembered that this was another one of those politeness things, showing respect to their Paterfamilias, and so hurriedly stood as well. He turned around in time to see Arcturus walk into the room, followed by a tall, dark haired woman with the typical Black looks.

"You must be Orion," the woman said with a cheery wave at Harry. "I'm your great-great-aunt Cassiopeia, but you may call me Aunt Cassie."

Harry smiled back at her. "Hello, Aunt Cassie." He liked her at once, especially since she and Sirius seemed to get on well judging by the fond embrace they shared.

Melania sniffed disdainfully. "I don't know why you insist on that dreadful nickname of yours, Cassiopeia. It makes you sound like a common mudblood!"

"And I don't know why you insist on airing views on things that are simply none of your business," Cassie replied frostily. The Kneezles lounging by the fire stirred at the sound of the argument, their tails twitching as they turned to stare at the two witches. Cassie and Melania glared angrily at each other, neither looking as if they were prepared to back down.

"Ladies, please," Arcturus said, sounding as if he often had to intervene between them. "This is supposed to be a happy occasion! And do keep in mind that our guests will soon be arriving."

"Actually they should have already been here by now," Melania said with a frown, while Cassiopeia pointedly moved off to fuss over the Kneazles. "It's very rude of them to be so late."

Only moments later the Macmillans and the Malfoys were shown into the drawing room by the family elf.

"Speak of the devil," Sirius muttered to Harry as they both prepared for yet another round of greetings and introductions.

Lucius Malfoy was coldly polite and said little beyond what was strictly necessary, but the other guests were all much friendlier (though how sincere they were was debatable). Harry was pleasantly surprised to find that the 'Ernest' mentioned earlier was actually Ernie Macmillan, the Hufflepuff student who had been a friend of Harry's and a member of the DA. Harry greeted him enthusiastically, trying not to laugh as the boy puffed up his chest as they shook hands. It quickly became obvious where he got his pomposity from – his father was even worse than he was.

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