Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Meddling with Darkness	By : zoy_grey Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 32786 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 11
Disclaimer: I do not own nor make profit off of JK Rowling's world of Harry Potter, the characters or the timeline. Though I do own the plot that I came up with in this story.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
A/N: Yay! I've managed to finish Chapter 20 ;) As promised...a bit more interesting things happing in this one or at least I hope so ;) I've added a short extra scene with Harry and Draco, and I promise from now on it will only get better ;) Hope you enjoy it and see you soon in the next Chapter ^__^
Chapter 20
Andromeda walked out of her office in St. Mungo’s. Usually she wasn’t working this late, but recently due to the dangerous ritual of Orion Black, she had tons of work to do and even more paper work to report to the Ministry. The fact that the patient was her cousin’s son made her only work even harder on the case, but when she signed up for the job, she never expected to find out such revelations.
Last week Orion managed to get through the worst stage of the ritual and Andromeda could finally extract a sample of the foreign magic in the teen’s blood. After hours of research and checking things more than a dozen times, she was finally able to say without any doubt who was responsible for altering Orion’s true identity and she didn’t like what she found out. At the moment Andromeda was struggling whether she should tell someone about her discovery or maybe face Albus Dumbledore and ask for an explanation. She definitely felt bad about hiding this news from Sirius and Orion; she felt even more sorry for the fact that her cousin trusted Albus so much and now it seemed the headmaster had his own dark secrets.
The witch locked all the blood samples and her research notes in the drawer and walked out of her office. She was already very tired and wanted nothing more than to go home, but before she’d leave Orion in capable hands of other healers for one night, she decided to go check on the boy once more. Quietly, not to wake up any patients, she got to the right floor and walked down the corridor heading to Orion’s room. The curtains on the glass screen to his room were drawn together, but as she got to the door, she could clearly hear some voices inside. It was impossible that the teen already woke up, so it must have been someone else. She opened the door only slightly so that she was able to get a peek of who was inside. The room was rather dimly lit so she could only make out Sirius’ figure sitting by his son’s bed, but she couldn’t exactly recognize the other person standing not far from Black. Andromeda tried to focus enough to maybe recognize the voice, but she couldn’t; the only thing she was certain of was that the other person was a wizard.
“You don’t have to worry so much anymore,” Sirius whispered to the man next to him; he stood up and place one hand on the other wizard’s shoulder. “The worst has passed. Our son is very strong, he survived the painful part.”
‘OUR son?’ a voice in Andromeda’s head shouted shocked. Even though Sirius was her family, she didn’t get too many information from the Ministry about Orion’s other parent; mostly because during Sirius’ trial Wizengamot decided to keep the identity of the boy’s second parent secret until Orion himself decides to officially announce it. Andromeda was surprised, because like most of the people she assumed the mysterious person was a witch, but it seemed Orion had two fathers. ‘That means this man is Sirius’ husband.’ She was brought out of her thoughts when the said man leaned slightly over the teen’s bed and gently brushed hair from his forehead.
“Yes, I know…but even so, how could I not worry about him…especially after all those years of not searching for him and even mistreating him,” the man’s voice sounded familiar, but Andromeda couldn’t quite say to whom the voice belonged. Even so, pain was clearly audible in the man’s voice. “I will do everything to protect him now…I promise you Sirius…I will protect you and our son.”
“I know, I should have never doubted you. But now we’ll both do everything to keep others from meddling with our family,” responded Sirius. “I’m just worried about the reactions he’s going to get when he comes back to Hogwarts. After all, he’s the heir of the Blacks and from what he told me so far, he’s proud of it and intends to make the entire family proud.”
“I’m not surprised. I’ve heard Draco gave him lessons on how pureblood families and their traditions work,” the man laughed a bit. “But you shouldn’t worry about his safety. Even if there are any students who dislike his true identity or origins, Draco already formed a group of trusted students to watch Orion’s back.”
“How nice of him,” saying this Sirius desperately tried to hide his amusement, but his husband noticed that something was off about his behaviour.
“What are you implying?” asked the man genuinely surprised.
“You haven’t noticed the most obvious thing about Draco’s actions, but I’m not going to tell you. You’ll have to figure it out on your own,” teased him Sirius. “I think Orion takes it after you…not noticing the most obvious things around him.”
“But he takes recklessness after you,” noted the man. “Either way, if Orion decides to show pride in his ancestry then there is already a group of students who promised to protect him.”
“That’s good to hear. At least I won’t have to worry all the time,” said Sirius and leaned closer to his husband. “Speaking of being proud…I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but he mentioned that he admires you a lot.”
“Really? He told you that he admires me?” asked the wizard after a longer silence. “Don’t tell me lies just to make me feel better, Sirius.”
“I’m not lying. He honestly told me he admires you and that he even feels the need to impress you.”
“He doesn’t have to impress me. He’s my child…I was impressed the moment he was born and I got completely mesmerized by him,” said sincerely the other wizard. “I just hope that maybe someday he can accept me as his father.”
“He will. Just give him time, Severus. Give him time.”
The men stood silently from that moment on, but everything Andromeda heard caused a million thoughts to run through her mind. She quietly closed the door to the room and hurriedly walked away. Somehow it felt bad if either Sirius or Severus caught her eavesdropping on such a private moment.
‘Dear Morgana! Sirius is married to Severus?! Severus is also Orion’s father?! But how was that even possible?’ Andromeda couldn’t stop, but ask more and more questions. She decided it’s better to keep this new knowledge to herself for the time being, but it only made the situation more complicated. It meant that Severus was a part of the Black family even during last wizarding war; and now it seems Dumbledore was the one who meddled the most with the Blacks.
“If this all comes out, people will be in an uproar,” she muttered to herself and headed to the nearest Apparition point.
Ron and Hermione finished their Transfiguration class and were walking back to the Gryffindor Tower. After that time when Hermione told Ron about her family problems, she felt a little better. Of course her problems were far from solved, because she still didn’t know what to do about winter break, but she was a bit more confident now that Ron told her she wasn’t being mean, feeling a bit insecure about her new sibling.
Their peaceful afternoon was suddenly interrupted by some muffled shouts and blasts coming from one of the classrooms. They looked at each other surprised, but also curious what it was about, and without saying anything more they rushed in the direction from which the noises where coming from. As the sounds were getting louder they noticed it was the DADA classroom.
“Use notice-me-not charm,” instructed Hermione in a hushed voice and stood a few steps away from the door to the room. She suspected Moody’s magical eye might be able to spot them behind the wall unless they used the other protective spell.
Ron trusted the witch and quickly cast the spell like she instructed him. Soon enough they heard Moody’s harsh tone while he was lecturing some younger students. At the beginning it wasn’t anything Hermione and Ron didn’t hear before from the ex-auror, but soon enough the advice were becoming more and more ridiculous and scary.
“Constant vigilance…constant vigilance boys and girls. You never know who from your direct surrounding can be a Death Eater,” instructed them Mad-Eye. “Even your friends and housemates should be tested. Otherwise you can’t be certain of other people.”
“But professor, we’ve known our friends for years so why should we test them?” asked some girl in the classroom. “Besides, we’re in Hogwarts…professor Dumbledore wouldn’t allow any attacks on students.”
“True, but the headmaster will not hold you by your hand all the time. He won’t be always there to protect you. You could be attacked on the corridors, during lessons, in the library, in your common rooms or even in your dormitories…I’m telling you…constant vigilance!” warned them Moody and after a moment of thought he added, “Take your friend, Harry Potter. Everyone thought he’s a Potter, but he proved to be someone completely different. Son of the man who was placed in Azkaban. This is a best proof that you can’t be sure of anything.”
There was a long silence in the room. Meanwhile, on the corridor Ron and Hermione stood dumbstruck by what they just heard. They were exchanging shocked looks not knowing what to think of Mad-Eye’s words. It sounded as if the ex-auror was suspicious of their friend, but that was simply ridiculous. Why would Dumbledore’s friend and a member of Order of the Phoenix doubt the Saviour of the Wizarding World?
“But professor,” started some male student, but sounded very uneasy. “Harry is Harry…and he proved many times to be against Dark Magic. Besides, Sirius Black was also proven innocent.”
“That’s true, but apart from Sirius, the Blacks always supported pureblood supremacy, dark arts and even Voldemort,” after Moody’s words many students started whispering among themselves and some even seemed to agree with what the teacher said.
“First of all he’s not Harry Potter. His name is Orion Black,” protested some girl. By the way she spoke, Hermione immediately guessed she was a Slytherin, but she didn’t recognize the girl’s name. “And secondly, professor Moody, you’re badmouthing one of the oldest and highly respected wizarding family.”
“I’m simply saying the truth about some wizarding families. Everyone can have some bad apples in their family…have you forgotten that Ms Carrow?” answered ex-auror. “Or maybe I should remind you that your blood relatives, Alecto and Amycus Carrow were sentenced to life-long imprisonment in Azkaban. I could tell you and your classmates what I know about their crimes. You wouldn’t be so proud of your old, respected and pureblood family.”
Ron and Hermione waited a few more minutes eavesdropping on the DADA lesson. They were too shocked by everything that was going on during that class. Until now, they didn’t pay much attention to Moody’s teaching methods. Even when their friend tried to convince them that Mad-Eye was paranoid and basically targeting Slytherins, they didn’t want to believe it. Now, however, they heard it from bystander’s point of view and they had to agree that indeed Moody was practically being hostile towards the Snakes and even agitating other students to question and attack them as well.
The lesson was over after the teacher sent a few dangerous hexes towards the students in the classroom. Ron quickly dragged Hermione to hide in an empty classroom next door, because it wouldn’t do any good for them to be discovered by Alastor, eavesdropping. They left the door slightly opened to see with whom Moody had this lesson. First they saw a group of Hufflepuffs leaving the classroom in rather high spirits, but they were followed by a rather angry group of Slytherins. One or two of them had some minor cuts or burns on their hands, but they quickly used a healing spell to get rid of them.
“This is horrible,” whispered Hermione absolutely horrified by what was going on during DADA classes. But she was even more mad at herself for not realising it sooner. “I don’t like Snakes, but this is ridiculous and highly improper for a teacher to treat students like this.”
“Shhhh!” warned her Ron and pulled her further into the room. Seconds later twin girls from Slytherin stopped not far from the door to the classroom they were hiding in. The redhead wasn’t certain, but he suspected those were the Carrow sisters.
“Are you alright, Hestia?” asked the other sister. Her eyes were focused on Hestia’s hands and face, checking for any injuries. “Did any of those hexes hit you?”
“No. I managed to block them,” answered the girl angrily and straightening her robes. “But this is ridiculous! I didn’t go to Hogwarts to learn only how to fight! Flora, you know I prefer to do other things than fighting.”
“I understand that very well, Hestia, but it can’t be helped. It seems everyone is getting this ridiculous idea that Black is going to turn evil now, because he’s an heir of a pureblood family,” commented Flora. “Like I said, can’t be helped. Anyway, good thing that Draco taught us those protective and healing spells…other way, we’d all be on the verge of death by now.”
The Carrow sisters left the corridor and rushed to their next class. Meanwhile Ron and Hermione once more exchanged glances. They felt bad that it took them so much time to realise that something wrong was happening in Hogwarts this year, and it wasn’t necessarily caused by Voldemort or Death Eaters.
“I don’t know about you, ‘Mione, but I’m starting to understand why Charlie went back to Romania and doesn’t want to actively support the Order anymore,” confessed Ron. “I even feel bad for everything we did this summer and after that.”
“I know. We didn’t contact Harry…I mean Orion, only because professor Dumbledore told us not to do that and later on we blamed Malfoy for stealing our friend. But it’s only natural that they became friends after spending so much time together,” said the witch and sighed heavily. “I suppose we should start getting used to his real name too…even Slytherins call him by his true name.”
“True,” agreed Ron. “Oi, Hermione! Did you notice that part about Malfoy? The thing those twins were saying?”
“Yes, that’s really surprising. I’m not sure, but that sounded as if Malfoy cares about his housemates and teaches them how to protect themselves,” the girl was deep in her thoughts now. Maybe everything they thought about the blond wasn’t exactly true; maybe it was just an act and in reality he was indeed a decent teen, just like Orion told them many times before.
“This is all just weird! Headmaster probably doesn’t know anything about this…about Moody’s teaching methods. I’m sure that if he knew, he’d stop it right away,” Ron felt frustration growing inside him. “He’d stop it, wouldn’t he? Right, Hermione?”
The girl was silent for a longer moment. Finally she looked at her friend resigned and not sure about anything anymore. “I hope you’re right, Ron.”
Voldemort held another one of his meetings with most trusted Death Eaters. Recently he was feeling smug and confident all the time, because everything was going according to his plans; not to mention even his private life was going perfectly well. The news about Regulus expecting their first child gave the Dark Lord new hope and energy to push forward with his plans.
“My Lord, we’ve managed to gain influence in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes,” informed him an auburn haired witch. “There are still some who try to remain neutral, but majority of the employees in that department agree with our cause.”
“Job well done, Buchanan,” praised her Voldemort and looked around the room. “How is the situation in other departments?”
“We managed to put some logically thinking people in the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures,” informed Bertie Higgs. “They didn’t openly swear their loyalty to you, my Lord, but they don’t show particular interest in joining Dumbledore either. I’m keeping an eye on them and so far I’d say that with time they might be willing to support you, my Lord.”
“Good, we need as many people supporting us as possible. Who are those new employees though?”
“Silvanus Kettleburn and Damocles Belby, my Lord.”
“Perfect. The more experts in their field supporting us will turn out ideal for us,” commented Voldemort. “Continue watching them. If everything goes right, we’re going to gain influence in another department. We simply have to make sure they see the case of magical creatures the same way we do.”
“My Lord, if I may,” asked Severus and Voldemort gestured for him to continue. “I recently found out that Dumbledore plans to isolate if not completely get rid of those magical creatures that have a bit darker nature. By doing so he’s slowly losing followers even from his closest surrounding. Former Hogwarts teacher, Remus Lupin, a werewolf, was endangered on purpose by the Order of the Phoenix.”
“Interesting…” the Dark Lord got lost in his thoughts. He was already making plans how he could use this information. “Even if he doesn’t agree to join us, then at least him losing trust in Dumbledore will definitely benefit us.”
“My Lord, Sirius is already working to convince Lupin to turn away from Albus,” informed Severus with an evil grin.
“Very well…the Blacks’ support is indeed invaluable,” hearing those words everyone in the chamber looked how the Dark Lord glanced at the mysterious Death Eater, who was always participating in every meeting and session, but no one knew his identity. Only Severus and Lucius looked at each other knowingly and smirked seeing how Voldemort gestured to Nagini and the snake immediately slithered on the table and straight towards Regulus’ lap. The snake seemed very protective of the man, which was enough information for the other Death Eaters – for some reason, the greatest dark wizard of their times, felt protective of this mysterious man; which meant none of them should even think of doing anything against this wizard.
“Yaxley and Rowle,” started Voldemort. “We need more witches and wizards from Department of Magical Law Enforcement on our side. The same goes for Department of International Magical Cooperation. Use all your connections.”
“We’ve already started working on some of the aurors, my Lord,” said Yaxley. “The only obstacle we’ve encountered is Scrimgeour.”
“I might be able to help with that,” interrupted Higgs. “Scrimgeour as well as Tiberius McLaggen from International Magical Cooperation are my friends. I could try working on their views. Rufus may be a bit difficult, but Tiberius not that much.”
“Very well then. Higgs you’re going to help with that,” Voldemort gave a sign that the meeting was over and they should leave.
After about ten minutes, when the wizard felt the castle’s wards signalling that everyone left the property, he stood up and got rid of his creepy glamour. In the same moment Regulus took off his mask and stared at his husband smirking. The younger wizard seemed very amused by the other’s actions.
“That was very unsuspicious of you,” laughed Regulus.
“I don’t know what you’re referring to,” Tom wore his mask of indifference and walked closer to his husband. He stopped in front of Black’s chair and leaned forward capturing the younger one’s lips in a tender kiss. “Isn’t it obvious that they should know who you belong to? Especially now, when I have even more reasons to be protective of you?”
“I’m afraid to think of how overprotective you’ll be when our first born is finally here,” laughed Regulus and kissed his husband back. “But I thought right now you’d be focusing more on how to become next Minister of Magic.”
“That of course is the plan, but I need to think of something that will redeem me in people’s eyes. Something that will make people trust me, even after everything I’ve done in the past,” answered Tom. “I just haven’t thought of any idea yet.”
“Orion…Orion,” he heard a quiet, gentle voice calling his name. “Come back to me already.”
Hearing this voice, the teen tried to open his eyes, but they felt very heavy. For a moment he had to focus all his strength to open them. He didn’t feel like sleeping anymore. Now he was more interested in that familiar voice calling out to him. Finally able to wake up he noticed he was in a very strange place. He was in some dimly lit space; it wasn’t even any particular place, just a vast, grey plane. Those surroundings seemed even more odd because gravity wasn’t present there and Orion’s body was floating in the air.
“What on Merlin’s beard is going on?” was all the teen was able to say when he realised he was levitating in the air completely naked. He looked around embarrassed by the mere thought of someone seeing him like this, but he couldn’t see anyone. The second thing that came to his mind was to examine his new body; after all, his body already changed to its true shape and he could see the small differences – his skin was fair almost like porcelain; the birth mark he inherited from Severus was still there, on this arm; when he leaned a bit forward he saw thick, black, long hair falling from his shoulders and onto his chest. “They aren’t wavy like dad’s hair.”
“You look beautiful with your hair like this,” he heard the same familiar voice and immediately looked up. There, in front of him stood Draco, looking even more handsome than the last time Orion saw him. The blond was fully dressed in his fancy designer clothes, but while Orion was admiring him and his clothes, Draco’s eyes were staring at the black haired teen; his eyes a strange mix of happiness, care and something close to wildness.
“Don’t stare at me, damn it!” Orion protested bewildered by the fact that he allowed Draco to see him like this. He turned around allowing his cousin to see only his naked buttocks, his back and long hair falling over his shoulders. “Are you out of your mind? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m naked! This is so embarrassing…”
“I like what I’m seeing,” all of a sudden Orion felt the blond standing very close to him and wrapping his arms around his naked body; Draco’s hot breath burned the skin of his neck. Orion’s heart started beating extremely fast and loud and his mind was trying to process what was going on. Having the blond’s lips so close to his ear and hearing those words made Orion feel like he was about to melt in the other teen’s arms. “You really are beautiful.”
“What the hell, Draco?” Orion muttered annoyed by his cousin’s actions, but deep inside he felt amazing. He was happy to hear all those words from the blond.
Draco put his hands on Orion’s shoulders and turned him around so that he could see his face. The dark haired teen, however, wasn’t able to keep eye contact with the other boy and buried his face in Draco’s chest. He tried to pull away from the blond too, but he realised he actually felt amazing in his embrace.
“Sleep now, Orion,” Malfoy whispered in his ear. “Get your strength back and come back to me. I miss you a lot.”
Orion remained in his position, leaning against Draco. For some reason the blond’s presence was soothing. ‘Dear Morgana, what am I doing? I’m clinging to him even though I’m naked…and he told me I’m beautiful,’ Orion’s face became all red, but thankfully, Draco didn’t see it. ‘Why am I so happy about it? This is wrong!...Why do I want him to hold me like this more often?...Why do I want him to tell me such words?...Wh-why do I feel the need to touch him…and his lips?...This is wrong…right?’
The teen tormented himself with more questions like that, but he never, not even for a moment, let go of Draco. His arms found their way around the blond’s waist and they remained like that until Orion tired himself out and fell asleep again.
It’s already been two weeks since Orion went to St. Mungo’s and Sirius was still there, by his side. Just by looking at his sleeping form everyone could say that the ritual was successful and already came to an end. The teen’s changed appearance left everyone without doubts that he was indeed Sirius’ son, but right now that wasn’t the most surprising part. All the healers agreed that the last stage of the ritual was finished, but still Orion didn’t wake up. More and more Ministry officials, as well as friends and relatives stopped by to visit and check if Orion woke up, but nothing happened. The dark haired teen was still unconscious.
Sirius was on the verge of a nervous breakdown with every passing day. Anything was able to make him snap at others. The victim of his frustration was usually Andromeda, who came by the room at least three times a day to check on the boy. However the witch didn’t mind her cousin’s behaviour; in fact she was getting worried herself, because she believed Orion should have woken up about three days ago.
“Do they really have to be here?” barked annoyed Sirius to one of the healers scanning Orion’s body for any worrisome signs. Black didn’t even expect an answer from the Mediwitch; complaining about things eased his nerves a bit, so he did it almost constantly these days. However, the presence of Madame Bones and two old wizards from Wizengamot, standing outside the room and staring at Orion through the glass screen, annoyed him immensely. “Can’t you at least draw those damned curtains?”
“Mr Black, I know you’re worried, but such behaviour is really not going to h-help…” the healer stopped midsentence; utter surprise clear on her face. She quickly cast one more scanning spell over the teen and smiling brightly she rushed out of the room.
“What’s going on? Orion…something happened to you? Orion…” Sirius took his son’s hand into his, while his eyes were examining every inch of the boy’s face, looking for any signs of what was going on. Just when he was about to call for some other healers to come and explain to him what was going on, he felt a light squeeze on his hand. “Orion?”
As soon as the name left his throat, he felt another, stronger squeeze. He wasn’t mistaken; this was his son; he was finally reacting to his words. Leaning closer over the boy, Sirius laughed heartily and whispered his son’s name. Shortly after that Orion’s lips started moving slightly as if he was trying to say something.
“Sirius?” Andromeda rushed into the room with a few other healers. Just behind here were the Ministry employees, who decided it was right for them to take part in the moment young Black woke up from the ritual. “Sirius, please step aside. We need to check if everything is alright.”
Black was unceremoniously pushed away from the bed. He was still able to see his son’s face, so he didn’t make a fuss about such treatment. He only wanted his boy to wake up and be fine. After a few minutes, Sirius noticed that Orion was starting to move more in the bed and his eyes were trying to open. Another few minutes have passed, when finally the teen’s eyes opened slowly and those witches and wizards standing closest to the bed gasped surprised that the teen’s previously stunning green eyes were now pitch black.
“Excuse me…I know you must be feeling confused right now, but I have to ask you a few questions,” said the witch from the Ministry and waited for the boy’s reaction. When he nodded in agreement, she continued, “Do you know who I am?”
“Madame Bones…from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement,” answered the teen.
“Do you know who this is?” the witch pointed to Andromeda.
“Andromeda Tonks née Black, my aunt.”
“And you are?” was the final question of Madame Bones.
“Orion Nox Black,” the boy proudly punctuated every part of his full name. He couldn’t help a small smirk growing on his lips when he saw shocked faces of everyone in the room, apart from his aunt and dad. It seemed most people believed that even after the ritual he would still feel a bit nostalgic about his former identity – Harry Potter; However, Orion made a promise to himself, that after he wakes up from this mess he will not go back to being a Potter; he’d be proud of being a Black and an heir of an ancient wizarding family. This was a fresh start for him and he would not allow anyone to manipulate his life like they did before. “Father?”
“I’m here son. I’m here,” answered Sirius and made his way closer to the bed. He sat in a chair next to his son and stared at the boy. Sirius felt all the emotions, both happy and sad, rushing through him as he looked at the teen’s face. Finally after so many years he was able to see his son again and he was overjoyed with every moment that allowed him to see more and more features of Orion that the boy inherited from him or Severus.
“So am I,” the teen said calmly and smiled genuinely to his father. “I’m back, father. I’m finally back.”
“Yes you are, son,” Sirius couldn’t say anything else. He was unable to say more; instead, he reached out for Orion and pulled him into a tight, loving embrace.
The day after Orion regained consciousness at St. Mungo’s, his body health scans proved that he was perfectly fine and ready to go home. As soon as the news reached Hogwarts, the teen received a letter from professor Dumbledore saying how happy he was that Orion was safe and sound, and that they are all awaiting his immediate return to school. Seeing that letter Sirius got angry at the old fool and decided that Orion would spend at least one night at Grimmauld Place before he returned to school for the last two or so weeks of classes.
Ever since the Order of the Phoenix changed their headquarters, the Blacks’ house was not as crowded, for which Sirius and Kreacher were grateful. The only person who still lived there with Sirius was Remus. After the surprise attack on a pack of werewolves, which Lupin miraculously survived, Black preferred to keep his friend by his side; not to mention that it was easier to persuade Remus that Albus was insane, when the werewolf lived with him.
For one night Sirius invited Andromeda and Nymphadora to stay over at his place – after all, the younger witch was already practically a regular guest in the house, because she wanted to check on Remus every day. The four of them were sitting in the kitchen, being served by the old house elf.
“Did Orion wake up already?” asked Remus eating his toasts. “I think he was pretty tired yesterday, but it’s difficult to say for sure…he’s changed a bit. Earlier it was rather easy to read from his expression what was on his mind, but now he’s…reserved.”
“He’s simply adjusting to the new situation,” explained Sirius sipping his tea. “Besides, his cousin personally taught him what it means to be the heir of a pureblood wizarding family.”
“His cousin?” asked Nymphadora confused by the grin on Sirius’ face. “You mean Draco?”
“Yes. They did spend quite a few weeks together this summer,” explained Black. “I just hope Orion won’t have too much trouble in Hogwarts now. Some people might not like his change…and I’m pretty sure he won’t be hiding his friendship and blood relation with Draco anymore.”
“Master Sirius,” interrupted them the house elf. “Young master Orion woke up. He be downstairs in a couple of minutes.”
Hearing this, Sirius nodded and turned around to check if all of his son’s belongings were ready, waiting by the fireplace. They didn’t have much time, after all. They were supposed to arrive at Hogwarts around breakfast or at least before the first class of the day starts.
“Sirius…” Andromeda called her cousin. Her voice didn’t sound confident at all, but she decided she had to tell the man about her discovery at St. Mungo. “There is something important you should know. I didn’t tell it anyone so far…although I’m planning to place that information in my medical report for the Ministry. I think none of us here will tell anyone about this, so if you don’t mind…”
“What is it? You sound really troubled by whatever this news is,” said Sirius pretending to be surprised. He had a pretty good idea of what Andromeda wanted to tell them, but he had to play his role; pull an act as good as the one he did last summer with discovering Orion’s birth mark.
“During Orion’s ritual I was able to extract some presence of foreign magic in his blood. I managed to decipher to whom that magical signature belongs,” the older witch paused for a moment to let the information sink in. “In other words…I was able to find out who is responsible for not only putting that glamour on Orion, but also…who tried to meddle with his magic.”
“Who was it?” Remus asked quickly; his voice sounded a bit aggressive now, but it was understandable since the wizard treated the boy like his own family.
“Albus…Albus Dumbledore,” she muttered devastated.
“What?...But Albus is the Headmaster…he always protected the students,” the younger Tonks couldn’t understand the outcome of her mother’s research; it was just surreal. First Remus acting upon Albus’ orders, walks straight into a trap set on the werewolves and nearly dies, and now this.
“I was shocked myself. I’ve checked the samples many times, but the result was always the same. I wanted to confront Albus about this, but I decided to wait for your decision Sirius….Sirius?” asked Andromeda when her cousin remained silent and only his eyes were gradually becoming darker and full of pure rage.
“Then he knew…he knew all along that Orion was my child and yet he glamoured him” Black was carefully saying every word in a very strained voice. Remus, who was sitting next to him, was waiting prepared for a moment when his friend would snap and his magic lashes at everyone in the room. “When I was suffering after my friends and child’s death he looked me in the eyes and lied that the baby was Harry Potter…he forbid me to take him…he placed him with those filthy Dursleys, who weren’t even related to him and he didn’t even do a thing when they’ve placed me in Azkaban! He didn’t say a word, when my mother was going insane after she thought she’d lost everyone, including her only grandchild.”
“Sirius, calm down. There must be some kind of explanation…” Andromeda tried to reason.
“What explanation!? What reason can there be to take a child away from its family and hide it for years?!” Black nearly snarled at her. “If that’s the way the Order of the Phoenix wants to do things then I don’t want to be a part of it.”
“Sirius, I can imagine how you feel right now…after the recent events I don’t feel comfortable with Albus’ decisions either, but maybe it’s better to wait a bit…continue working with the Order and try to find out what was the reason for him to do something like that to Orion,” said Remus. “I promise you that if Orion or any of my family and friends are endangered again…I will not allow that. Even if that means opposing Dumbledore or Moody, or even Voldemort himself.”
‘Mission accomplished,’ Black laughed inwardly. He didn’t mean to play with his friends; he didn’t even particularly want them to join the Dark Lord, but this was the only way to make his friends and family see Dumbledore’s true colours.
“Good morning,” their conversation was interrupted by Orion’s arrival. Everyone looked at him, still astounded by how alike he was with Sirius. He practically looked like his dad when he was a teenager. Orion noticed the stares he was receiving and felt smug; which only gave him the haughty look, so typical for the Blacks. “I’m ready to go, father.”
“I see you’ve found the gift I left in your room,” Sirius smirked seeing one of the Black family rings decorating Orion’s right hand. The teen smiled genuinely and thanked for the present. “Alright. Let’s go then.”
News about Orion coming back to school reached Gryffindor in record time. The news spread quickly to other houses and teachers, but no one knew when the teen was coming back exactly. Most of the school staff thought he’d be coming back immediately after getting out from St. Mungo’s. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. A day has passed and there was no information from the Blacks about Orion.
This morning breakfast was already coming to an end when suddenly professor McGonagall left the teachers’ table and rushed to the entrance hall of the castle. Unusual behaviour of the Transfiguration teacher didn’t go unnoticed by all the Gryffindors.
“What’s wrong with McGonagall?” asked Ron serving himself to another portion of bacon and toasts.
“I’ve never seen her…” started George.
“walk that fast,” finished Fred.
Hermione turned around to see what everyone meant by professor McGonagall’s odd behaviour. Indeed, the teacher was enthusiastically rushing towards the door. She quickly glanced at the other side of the Great Hall, where Slytherins were seated. Hermione immediately spotted Malfoy and it didn’t escape her notice that the blond was also excitedly looking at the main entrance.
“Dear Merlin!” the witch exclaimed realising what the commotion was about. “He’s here! He has to be!”
“Who’s here?” asked Seamus, who was sitting not far from them.
“Harry!” Ginny nearly squealed out of joy to see her secret crush again.
“As far as I remember, he prefers to be called Orion now,” corrected her Dean in an audibly annoyed tone. It seemed that even though he and Ginny were dating, the girl still had feelings for the Saviour. Her crush only grew stronger when the teen went to St. Mungo’s for a dangerous ritual. Dean however hated the way he was being treated by Ginny. He liked his classmate and was worried about him too, but still he was mad at Ginny for harbouring feelings for Orion when she was supposed to like him.
All of their conversations, as well as all the talking and whispering in the Great Hall stopped when professor McGonagall showed up in the doorway again. This time though she wasn’t alone; she was accompanied by Sirius Black and a black haired teen. Minerva talked with the older Black for a moment longer and lightly patted her younger student on the shoulder. Her facial expression showed that she was both surprised but also extremely happy that he was alright.
“Is that him?” Ron pointed to the teen standing next to Sirius. None of them could believe it was indeed their classmate. This boy seemed a bit taller than Harry, he had long, loosely combed hair and most of all, his clothes were completely different from what Harry used to wear.
Finally professor McGonagall shook hands with the older Black and gestured for the teen to join his classmates. He quickly said goodbye to his dad and turned around to face everyone in the hall. At that moment everyone stopped doing whatever they were doing and stared at him. There were murmurs and whispers among boys, and shocked and excited voices of the girls.
If Harry Potter brought attention on himself by his role in the last war, then Orion Black was officially one of the most handsome boys in Hogwarts. He was slender, but not skinny; with pale, flawless skin. Orion and Sirius’ faces were practically like two peas in a pod, except for the eyes. The teen’s eyes were mesmerizing black and added a bit wildness to his look. The biggest difference so far were his hair; long, straight, black hair, parted on the side and falling gracefully around his face. His layered hair nicely enhanced his handsome facial features and in the back they were gently falling over his shoulder blades. He was dressed in elegant black pants, white shirt with a high collar. The teen left the top buttons of the shirt opened, which gave him a bit haughty, self-confident look. Over it, he wore burgundy red jacket. Both jacket and shirt were perfectly fitted, showing that the teen was indeed slender, but definitely didn’t lack a certain amount of muscles. Sleeves of his shirt were showing from under the jacket and rolled up, partly exposing his forearms.
“Dear Morgana,” there was a rather loud gasp coming from a group of female students, who were now staring at Orion with dreamy eyes.
Meanwhile, Hermione and the Weasleys completely ignored everyone else, got up from their seats and rushed to their friend. Hermione and Ginny couldn’t help themselves, but pull the boy into a tight embrace and greet him back in Hogwarts. Ron, the twins and other Gryffindors waited until he was released by the girls and dragged him towards their table.
Orion sighed relieved that at least so far most of the students didn’t seem to mind him changing from Harry Potter to Orion Black so he thanked them for the warm welcome and smiled to them genuinely. Before he took his seat he glanced at the school staff’s table. He smiled to Hagrid, who was waving to him with a goofy smile; then there was professor McGonagall, who now seemed calmer and somewhat proud; next to her was his dad, Sirius, who was invited to join them until classes started. Sirius was smiling proudly at his son, but also secretly glancing at Severus and Draco to see their reactions; after all, that was the first time those two saw Orion looking like this in real life. The black haired teen’s eyes met with the same pitch black eyes of the potions master and to his satisfaction, he saw pride in them; and the most shocking, yet heart-warming thing was that he noticed corners of Severus’ lips moving slightly upwards in a genuine smile. Finally, Orion looked in the Slytherins table’s direction and quickly spotted Draco. The blond wasn’t taking his eyes off of him and for some reason the way Draco looked at him reminded him of that odd dream he had in St. Mungo’s. He remembered the wonderful yet embarrassing words he heard in the dream and immediately his heart started beating faster.
“Come on, mate. There is still enough time for you to get something to eat before classes start,” said Ron getting Orion out of his thoughts.
“Yes, thanks…just give me a second. I need to do something first,” informed them Black and headed towards Slytherins. Once again, everyone was watching him, but he didn’t feel annoyed by it. On the contrary, he wanted them to watch; he needed them all to witness what he was about to do. He stopped in front of Draco and reached out his hand to him. “I should have done this a long time ago.”
The blond was aware of the fact that even the teachers were observing them; but more importantly – Albus Dumbledore was watching them and most likely, getting extremely pissed off that his Golden Boy just broke loose from his leash. Malfoy stood up from his seat and smirked. “Good thing you came to your senses, cousin” said Draco and with a pleased smiled on his face he shook hands with Orion.
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Meddling with Darkness