chapter 13

The end of summer came with a whimper instead of a bang as the pall of unease had fallen across the Wizarding World of the British Isles.

There had been no acts of violence or destruction. No unexplained deaths, nor assaults on muggles, nor destruction of home and property. But most everyone could sense that the issue was not quite resolved. That it would not be resolved so easily.

"They're going to Hogwarts today," Lucius noted as he slowly sat down across from Charlus in the study of the man's home. "James is already practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. I wonder if he will be able to contain himself long enough to actually make it to the platform."

"He'll be fine," Charlus stated with an almost sullen voice as he took a long drink from the glass in his hand.

"You know, this is really unbecoming of you, Charlus," Lucius stated with a frown. "Yes, you lost a man, but you've lost men before. You know this isn't the way you should be acting."

"I didn't loss a man in another country, against an army of professionally trained and disciplined dark wizards," Charlus responded with a glower. "I lost a man against a bunch of hopped up dark wizard idiots because we weren't taking them seriously."

"You weren't taking them seriously, or your men weren't?" Lucius asked with a slight frown on his face.

"I don't even know anymore," Charlus admitted with a sigh. "I… I can't tell if I was being foolish because I was still wanting to get a chance for glory and adventure I'd been craving since I was left out of the fight with the basilisk, or if the boys were just riding too high on their memories of glories since past."

"And exactly how is sulking and nursing a drink helping with that?" Lucius asked with a condescending drawl that reminded Charlus entirely too much of the man's brother-in-law.

"I hate it when you pull a Malfoy impression," Charlus told him with a sour faced grimace. "It makes me want to punch you."

"It is hardly my fault that that fool Abraxas tries to mimic me and fails to understand how to use things in moderation," Lucius declared with a slight huff and a shake of his head. "But that is not the point. You are wallowing. That is not acceptable. Potters don't wallow."

"You know sure as Merlin's bloody bollocks we sure as fuck do!" Charlus snapped back as he glared at Lucius. "We wallow all the fucking time, whenever we cock up something. We all bloody well do it."

"We do not wallow when there is someone around to do this," Lucius corrected before walking over to Charlus and firmly smacking him upside the back of his head.

"Ow, dammit!" Charlus yelped as he spilled his drink over his lap. "That was good brandy, Lucius!"

"Then you had best remember that in the future the next time you decide to wallow in your own misery instead of getting up and fixing your damned problem," Lucius snapped back without missing a beat. "You bollocksed up. Fine. Bloody well get off your arse and fix it."

"There isn't anything to fix, dammit!" Charlus snapped back as he glared at Lucius. "They already know what happened and they know not to do it again. We learned the lesson back during the war, Lucius. This was a reminder we didn't want."

"But you apparently needed," Lucius reminded him with a frown. "Then why are you sitting here, doing nothing but drinking in self-pity?"

"Because I'm the damned officer," Charlus stated sourly as he stared down at his almost empty glass. "I can't act until I have intel. I can't really get the intel myself because no one is going to willingly talk to me right now. So, all I can do is hurry up and wait."

"Ah," Lucius acknowledged with a frown. "Then who is…?"

"The boys," Charlus admitted sourly. "Only, those damned Knights got smart after the raid. They're not letting any of their plans slip."

"Surprising," Lucius admitted with a frown. "I had expected…"

"Yes, well, apparently us taking out the majority of the bastard's lieutenants in one go has made them more careful," Charlus said with a grunt as he put his glass back on the table and began to pour more brandy into it. "He's likely terrorizing them into it, but it's effective."

"And I'm sure you can find something more productive to do than sit here, drinking." Lucius said as he crossed his arms about his chest.

"Yes, well, currently my nephew and his family are rather upset with me. Harry is busy with Hogwarts, you're busy with James going to Hogwarts…" Charlus said as he listed off all the things keeping him from actually being entertained.

"You know, for a married man, you're awfully reluctant to spend time with your wife." Lucius reminded him with a shake of his head and a drawled out chuckle.

Charlus muttered something under his breath that Lucius couldn't quite make out.

"What was that?" Lucius asked, eyes slowly narrowing into slits.

"She's yelling at me about losing a man," Charlus admitted with a quiet voice. "And for taking out the boys without her there to keep them in line and stop them from doing something so stupid as to get themselves killed."

"Ah," Lucius nodded his head slowly. "I suppose that would do it."

"She's also refusing to let me do anything unless they have enough actionable intel to warrant a full strike," Charlus continued as he sank into his seat a bit more, clutching at his drink. "It's not fair!"

"… Charlus?" Lucius stated slowly as he affixed his cousin with a long, flat look.

"Yes?"

"Get over it."

-o-o-o-

Sirius Black walked carefully behind his cousin and… he wasn't quite sure what to call Ted. He knew he rather liked the laidback muggleborn whom had saved his cousins and had been all but forced into the family at wand point. He supposed he'd be Andromeda's fiancé, only with the distinction that he'd be taking the Black family name.

There had apparently been a bit of grumbling about that, but not enough to cause a full out confrontation.

At least once his mother had been thrown out.

Sirius still didn't know exactly how he wanted to feel about that. His mother was no longer a Black. Not simply exiled or thrown out, but completely stripped of her family. Because she'd refused to see reason.

Regulus was still too young to really understand what was happening and why he wasn't supposed to talk to his mother anymore.

The last few weeks had been… He didn't know what to call them. Everything was different. There was both a grimness to the air around his family home, but at the same time it was as if there had been a weight lifted off of everyone's shoulders. He didn't really know how else to put it.

He did know that, otherwise, things had quieted down from what he could tell. There hadn't been any more attacks and nothing new had been reported about the Storm Chaser. Bellatrix had been by several times, dressed in increasingly muggle fashions, while reviewing various things with his father. He'd asked once what but his father had told him he would go over it with him when he was older.

He really hated that. Though, he had to admit, with his mother's influence stifled, he found that he actually enjoyed spending time with his father. The man was so much more vibrant these days, if perversely also increasingly grim and serious.

"Well, squirt, I think you can take it from here, right?" Ted asked as he ruffled Sirius' hair, making it a playful mess.

Sirius rolled his eyes but made no move to stop the playful gesture. "Well, while I can't imagine how it'll be without you blocking the way, I imagine I'll make do."

"Honestly, Ted," Andromeda huffed and hid her slight smile before looking at her little cousin. "Let us or Cissy know if you have any problems, alright? And try not to make too much trouble; it's your first day."

Putting on his best "who, me?" expression, Sirius smiled at her like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. "Of course not, cousin."

Andromeda snorted softly. "And I'm sure that you'll say the same thing when you're dragged off by a prefect."

Sirius waved off the concern and happily trotted off into the train, in search of a compartment. While he did enjoy his cousin and Ted's company, he was still an eleven year old boy and they were both Seventh years. Best to find someone more his own age.

That way he could at least have some fun.

In one compartment he found a boy with messy black hair that looked like the Storm Chaser, a girl with bright red hair, and a sleeping man with an odd looking muggle hat over his face, leaning comfortably in the corner of what he could quickly tell was a magically expanded compartment. When the girl turned to look at him, Sirius had to swallow heavily as he found himself staring at a pair of very familiar emerald green eyes. Well, that was certainly offsetting.

Quickly shaking his head after a moment he offered a slight bow. "Mind of I join you?"

"It does look like they're plenty of room," the girl noted with a bemused smile. "I'm waiting for my friend Severus to join but it looks like this particular compartment has more than enough room."

"More the merrier," the boy stated with a nod as he grinned in a manner Sirius found quite familiar. "Though I think we can thank him for the whole compartment thing."

Sirius nodded his head and settled into the compartment with a nod. "Sirius Black."

"Nice to meet you. Lily Evans," the girl introduced herself with a smile and a nod as Sirius noted her eyes were a bit red rimmed, as if she'd been crying recently.

"Ah, right. Da mentioned you'd be starting this year, too," the boy agreed with a nod of his head. "James Potter."

"Right," Sirius agreed nodding his head a bit. "Lucius Potter's son, right?"

"The same. Orion Black's son?" James asked back.

"Until last few months, I'd have asked you to not hold it against me," Sirius noted with a grin. "At least until somehow someone kicked some sense into my family."

"I think that was Cousin Charlus," James admitted, before pouting slightly. "He and Da still won't introduce me to the Storm Chaser."

"… Who?" Lily asked in confusion.

Sirius blinked at her before his eyes widened slightly. "Oh. Muggleborn?"

"Yes, why?" she asked again, still visibly confused.

"Right, well, there's this group, the Knights of Walpurgis," Sirius started with a nod. "They've been doing a bunch of dark stuff. Dark Arts, muggle baiting, muggle attacking, that kind of stuff. Blood purists, the lot of them."

Seeing Lily's confusion, James spoke up. "Blood purists believe that if you were born to muggles or have a muggle parent or grandparent, then you're inferior to those with a few generations of magical parentage. If someone ever calls you a mudblood, they're insulting you, so hex them to bits, I say."

"Mhm," Sirius agreed with a nod before continuing. "So, these Knights of Walpurgis were making all kinds of trouble… until they accidentally picked a fight with the Storm Chaser. And he basically slaughters the group that had attacked a muggle bar he was having a drink in, looking to murder everyone there."

"Then there was the whole things at Hogsmeade, too." James stated excitedly with a nod.

Lily looked pale and worried. "Really? So they're just… attacking muggles, for… what? Being muggles?"

"Yes," Sirius said with a serious look on his face. "Did you hear about the explosion in London a bit back?"

"It was all over the news!" Lily exclaimed, looking worried. "You're saying that was…?"

"My cousins were there," Sirius looked at her solemnly. "If it hadn't been for Andromeda's boyfriend, they'd have died. The Lord of the Knights of Walpurgis is apparently a crazy scary dark wizard."

"We'll be safe in Hogwarts, though," James stated quickly. "Not only is it the safest place in the world, but the Storm Chaser is going to be there!"

"He is?" Lily perked up at that. "I thought Albus Dumbledore was…?"

"Dumbledore's there, too," James admitted. "But he's old."

Sirius snorted a bit. "And crazy."

Lily looked at them both, slightly scandalized. "There's nothing wrong with being old!"

Sirius quickly put up his hands placating. "Sure, sure."

The door to the compartment opened once more and a boy with sallow skin and greasy hair looked in. Seeing him, Lily's face immediately brightened. "Severus! I was waiting for you!"

For a moment the boy looked like he wanted to say something before shook his head a moment. "We're about to be under way."

Lily nodded his head and gestured to the seat next to her. "This is my friend, Severus. He's the one who told me I was a witch! These are James and Sirius."

Sirius nodded his head. "Lo."

"Hiya," James stated with a nod. "We were just telling Lily here about the whole mess that's been going on with those Knights of Walpurgis."

Severus froze for a moment, glancing at Lily worriedly as he took his seat. "I… see."

"Well, more talking about the Storm Chaser, I think," Sirius pointed out with a smirk as he lounged back in his seat. "And about that whole mess in London."

Severus grimaced a bit. "I… heard."

"Sirius' cousins were there!" Lily stated, her eyes still wide before looking at Severus who shifted uncomfortably. "Why didn't you tell me about it?!"

"… I didn't think you'd want to know?" Severus asked, uncertain, before looking out the window and noting that they had begun to move, and smiling slightly. "But it looks like now we're finally heading off to Hogwarts."

"Brill," James stated eagerly. "I can't wait!"

"It'll be nice finally getting away from my family, even if they've been better lately." Sirius agreed with a nod.

Lily's face grew strained at the family comment and she nodded her head in agreement. "I see. So, Severus, what house do you think we'll be in?"

"It had better be Slytherin." Severus stated authoritatively.

James' face twisted into displeasure and he opened his mouth to say something, only to find an adult voice cutting in.

"And why, exactly, would you say that, young man?" The voice came from the man in the corner, who slowly sat up and pushed his hat up his head.

Sirius' eyes widened as he recognized the figure from Bellatrix's memory. The Storm Chaser!

Snape, coloring slightly at being called into question, stiffened his back and sitting up straighter. "Slytherin is the best house! Cunning and ambition are…!"

"There is no best house." It was a gentle rebuke as the man shook his head. "And your friend here is a muggleborn, yes?"

"What of it?" Severus stated defensively as he glared back at the man.

The man turned his head and looked at Lily. "Slytherin is also known as the house of the purebloods and is where most blood purists prefer to be sorted. While I'm sure he didn't mean it that way, wishing for you to be sorted into Slytherin would mean that you'd be in for a very… difficult seven years."

Severus colored and glared at the man who turned his head back at him and merely arched a brow at the look. When Severus finally broke and looked away, he sighed and looked at the others. When his gaze settled on James, he gave the boy a look.

"However, I would also remember that judging someone and acting against them solely because of their House is the act of a bully." He looked down at James with hard emerald eyes. "And I would hate to have to tell Lucius that his son was behaving just like a blood purist."

James colored and then went pale, staring at the man with wide eyes.

Then he turned to where Sirius was just staring at him. "Yes, Mr. Black?"

"You're the Storm Chaser!"

-o-o-o-

Harry had never had any intention of interacting with his parents or their friends when he rode on the train to Hogwarts. Apparently there was some kind of tradition about the new professors accompanying the students aboard the train and Remus' appearance on the train had not, in fact, been entirely a one off situation. Something about responsibilities he hadn't particularly felt like paying attention to.

So he'd found a nice compartment in the back quarter of the train and conjured himself a hat before taking a page from his favorite defense teacher's book and settling in to spend the trip dozing.

Then James Potter had entered the compartment and, after a bit of hesitation, taken a seat. A few moments later Lily Evans had appeared as well, and a trickle of déjà vu had dripped down his back. When Sirius Black had arrived, he knew that somewhere fate was laughing its arse off at him.

When they'd started talking about the Storm Chaser and the Knights of Walpurgis, he'd wanted to bang his head against the wall and let out a scream of frustration.

Fanboys. He bloody well had fanboys. AGAIN! And that only meant that he also had fan girls out there as well.

… Which, he had to admit, he probably already knew considering Bellatrix appeared to be one of them.

Then, of course, Severus-the-bloody-half-blood-prince Snape showed up. And the déjà vu continued with only relatively minor variations.

And of course, Severus had to open his mouth for that bit of stupidity of wanting a muggleborn in Slytherin of all places. No one had ever accused Snape of not being a selfish arse, after all. So he'd intervened before James could start what he knew would be a long, constant headache for him as long as he stayed at Hogwarts.

Once he'd hopefully nipped that problem in the bud, he found Sirius staring at him.

"You're the Storm Chaser!"

Immediately four sets eyes stared at him in disbelief. With his eyes still on Sirius, he stated in a voice that probably wasn't as calm as he would like, "The appropriate address is Professor Potter, Mr. Black."

"Brill! You are a Potter!" James looked like Christmas had come early as he gleefully smiled in his seat.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, I am," Harry agreed gravely. "Which means that I will expect even more out of you than the rest of your classmates. And if I catch you misbehaving…"

Harry slowly smiled at the suddenly again pale boy. "Well, I can assure you that your classmates will be quite happy to not be you."

James squeaked slightly under the look.

Then he turned his head back to Severus, who looked slightly vindicated at James' chastisement. "And you will find that you should considering the repercussions of your actions more. While having your friend in Slytherin would mean she was closer to you, if you yourself go there, it would also mean that she would have to deal with far more and quite vocal blood purists."

Severus looked away at that while Lily looked… perturbed. "Are they really that bad?"

"They can be, Ms. Evans," Harry stated simply. "The mythology of Hogwarts says that Slytherin was against muggleborns being added to the school, thus it is thought to be the house of the pure."

His lips quirked at that before shaking his head. "All a matter of perspective, honestly, but nothing children should be worried about just yet. You can listen to the hat, but I've heard it will also listen to you. And while you might want to prove yourself… is proving yourself to a group of children truly worth the unpleasantness you'll have to endure?"

Lily looked… quite confused.

Sirius took the opportunity to speak up. "Where did you learn all those spells you use?"

"And exactly how would you know what spells I use, Mr. Black?" Harry asked, half curious.

"Bellatrix shared her memories with the family," Sirius stated simply. "As the heir to the head of house, I was allowed to see them after I petitioned my father."

"Not something a child should really be watching," Harry chided softly, trying to not think about the things he'd seen and done when he was just a first year himself.

"I have a responsibility to my family," Sirius stated as he straightened up a bit, before his shoulders slumped down. "Or, at least now that they're not acting like a bunch of tossers hyped up on the Dark Arts."

"Language, Mr. Black," Harry corrected calmly. "I can and will find your cousin to have words with you. From my understanding, Andromeda Black is quite the formidable witch already, with the potential to be far more."

Sirius grumbled slightly under his breath, something Harry couldn't quite catch.

"I saw the aftermath of that battle first hand, Mr. Black." Harry stated seriously. "I saw what she faced. It was far more than luck that saw her through it."

And he was going to have fun putting the girl who had become his godson's grandparents on the spot when term started. That was going to be fun. And it wasn't like he was planning to revenge himself on Romeda for all the times she had tricked him into changes Teddy's diapers.

Sirius nodded his head slightly. "She and Ted walked me through the train for a bit before they went to find a nice place to snog."

James made a disgusted face. Lily clearly looked disapproving. Severus looked a bit ill at the notion.

Harry wondered what the world was coming to when, out of the four, Sirius Black was the most mature.

-o-o-o-

It was some time later that Andromeda Black and Ted Tonks appeared at the compartment door, with Harry again resting beneath his hat. James and Sirius had broken into a discussion about what classes they thought would be the most fun, while Lily and Severus had a more sedate conversation between them.

"So, making friends, squirt?" Ted asked as he leaned against the frame of the compartment door with a smirk.

Sirius blinked and then perked up as he pointed to Harry. "The Storm Chaser really is here!"

Harry groaned softly and half tilted up his hat to glare at Sirius with one eye. "Congratulations, Mr. Black. You have volunteered yourself as my go to demonstration aide for this semester."

"Already making those connections, huh, kid?" Ted stated as he half barked off a laugh while Sirius paled.

"You know, you could've just asked Uncle Charlus if you wanted to meet him, Sirius." Andromeda stated, before slyly smiling at Harry. "Or talked to my sister."

Harry shifted his glare from Sirius onto Andromeda. "And what do you know? I never knew that the Black family was so notoriously generous with volunteering their services. Were you planning on making for the trifecta, Mr. Tonks?"

"No, Professor," Ted stated cheerfully. "I'm quite happy as I am, though I thank you for the offer."

Andromeda elbowed her boyfriend in the stomach, though that only dimmed his smile a fraction as he grunted at the impact. "I thought we were going through everything together, dear?"

"Mhm. Everything in our relationship," he agreed with a smirk. "All bets are off when you talk about parading your sister about in lycra minis in front of our newest professor."

Harry groaned softly and shook his head as he looked back at Andromeda. "Really, Ms. Black? To a traditionalist like your sister?"

"I do believe you were the one that made the comment about her lack of experience with muggle fashion." Andromeda returned with a brow arching. "She decided to correct that. We were rather in the process of getting her used to muggle dress when we were attacked at the boutique."

"You missed quite the show," Ted added with a half-smile as he again ignored the elbow shoved into his side by Andromeda.

"Ah, I see," Harry nodded his head and then smiled cheerfully at Andromeda in a way that made her hackles rise. "How kind of you to point out the advantages muggle clothing can give you in a fight. I will expect you to bring an appropriate set of muggle clothing to class so that you can demonstrate."

Andromeda's eyes went wide as saucers at that. "But, but….!"

Harry turned his head and looked at the various firsties staring from him to Andromeda and back. "Now, students, what have you learned?"

"Do not try and set you up with my cousin?" Sirius offered.

"That I do not want to find out what kind of punishments you will come up with if you catch me breaking the rules?" James elected.

"… That you are not to be crossed." Severus stated flatly.

"That you haven't had a date in a very long time?" Lily blurted out before slapping her hands over her mouth and blushing brightly.

"That she's going into Gryffindor." Ted noted as he pointed to Lily with a grin.

"Yes, Yes, Yes, none of your business, and that seems a distinct possibility," Harry stated with a completely straight face. "Now, what you need to understand is that if I had been sorted into a Hogwarts house when I was your age, do you know which house I'd end up in?"

"Slytherin." James, Sirius and Severus stated in unison.

"Gryffindor," Harry corrected with a bemused smile.

That made them all stare at him. "Just because you're brave doesn't mean you can't be cunning. Just because you're intelligent doesn't mean you can't be brave, and just because you're hard working doesn't mean you can't be all three."

He paused a moment, before looking at Ted. "Now, take the young Mr. Tonks here."

Ted blinked a bit at that. "What…?"

"Mr. Tonks managed to kill eleven magically resistant creatures in a few moments, force the Lord of the Knights of Walpurgis to release Ms. Black's sister while rather pissing him off enough to dump a mound of fiendfyre melted asphalt on top of them. Something that would have killed all three of them if Mr. Tonks hadn't collapsed the street beneath them and then shielded them with his own magic and body."

Harry smiled as all four firsties stared at Ted with wide eyes. "And what house are you in, Mr. Tonks?"

"Errr… Hufflpuff?" Ted answered in confusion.

"As you can see, your house doesn't define what you can be. So, I'd advise you to consider more who are the people that you want to be with for the next seven years?" Harry stated with a bemused smile at Ted.

Ted had a feeling Harry had just done something terrible to him as well, but he couldn't quite figure out what. Though the looks of awe on the firsties faces were… troubling. Very troubling.

-o-o-o-

Voldemort scowled as he drummed his fingers against the desk in front of him as he stared at the piece of parchment in front of him as if he could cause it to spontaneously combust into flame. Admittedly, he did know how to do that particular parlor trick, but as much as he might enjoy it, lighting things on fire would not solve his current problems. At least not without knowing who to actually light on fire.

Things had been… trying of late.

While the addition of Walburga formerly Black had been a much needed boost to morale and recruitment, it had also come with its own sets of challenges. Specifically, the simple fact that the woman was zealously insane. More so than any of the followers he'd had before.

It made her useful to an extent, but, also… unsettling.

Still, she was helping him and for that he was grateful. Not to mention the fact that she was ruthlessly vicious when it came to muggles. They'd already managed several successful raids on various muggle neighborhoods in an attempt to get his new recruits up to speed as soon as possible.

However there had been other complications preventing them from acting further. Nothing major so far, but there had been minor things. Raids on certain operations they'd begun, purchases, recruitments.

Small strike forces hitting them hard enough to make his groups scatter, but never anything that they hadn't had to drop feelers and whispers into the waters to set up. No more attacks on his followers homes. No more of his followers being hunted down like dogs and crushed beneath that bastard Storm Chaser's heel.

It did, however, teach his newer recruits to be more cautious and formidable in their defenses. At least, those that survived. These days, it seemed that the only way for him to insure that such incidents didn't occur was to make certain to be in place himself.

Not once had they dared mount an attack while he was present.

While it was a wonderfully reassuring that they would not dare assault him, at the same time he found it rather frustrating that he never had targets to destroy.

And now, a new year was starting at Hogwarts.

All those new students, all those minds being led astray. First by Dumbledore, now by that damned Storm Chaser. Teaching them rubbish ideas like equality and that the strong should protect the weak.

Lying to them about right and wrong.

Ignoring the simple truth that Power was all that truly mattered.

It was disgusting how individuals with so much power, so much might could believe in that great lie. Slaving themselves, chaining themselves to such idiotic ideologies. Believing that they should be anything but the rulers of the weak creatures claiming to be men.

He took a slow, deep breath, then shook his head.

No, not now. He would not allow himself to get lost in his anger at them. He would not allow his festering disappointment to rule him.

They were obstacles, cancers that needed to be excised. A rot on the wizarding world along with those worthless muggle loving creatures they supported. Soon enough, he would be rid of them.

After all, their strength was only finite, their lives only mortal. Eventually he would triumph. Eventually, they would be nothing but dust beneath his feet.

And eventually, he would be triumphant.

Time was, after all, on his side.