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
- 21
- 22
- 23
A/N: I think it's starting to become a habit that I begin every update with saying sorry for extremely late update ^^' Also, thank you very much for wonderful reviews and I can promise you one thing - I definitely intend to finish this story, but seeing how busy my personal life is at the moment I can't promise you regular updates :(
Hopefully you'll like this chapter and you can expect another update sometime around this weekend, because the next part is actually already finished...plus, there will be some scenes that most of you were anticipating ;)
Chapter 22
Draco washed his face and looked into the mirror. It’s been two days since winter holidays started; one year has passed since he realised he has feelings for Orion and once again he woke up this morning with a big problem in his pants. Ever since the black haired teen regained his true looks, Draco’s dreams became more troublesome. Dealing with results of a very erotic fantasy of Orion spread out on his bed all naked, wasn’t exactly easy; especially when normally he had to share a dormitory with a few other blokes. Thankfully, now he was back home and he could discreetly take care of his hard-on.
“Why, for Merlin’s sake, did I have to fall for him?” the blond washed his face once more, combed his hair and walked out of the bathroom wrapped only in a towel. He headed to the drawers to pick some clothes. While going through his clothes, his eyes landed on a photo of Orion; a picture he secretly managed to take shortly after his cousin got back from St. Mungo’s. “Yes, that’s exactly why I can’t get him out of my mind,” Draco sighed heavily and continued his morning ritual of getting dressed.
In all honesty, Draco fell for Orion because of his personality. Of course, there were some traits of the teen’s character that he couldn’t understand and annoyed him – like that hero complex, which thankfully Orion was gradually getting rid of – but all in all, Draco loved the type of person the black haired teen was. The fact that Orion was very good looking was only a bonus or rather nail in Draco’s coffin; sometimes he really wondered if he’d have to and be able to forget about the feelings he has for his cousin. He knew that he had feelings like that only for Orion and he’d always be the only person he wanted to see in his bed; he never even thought about any witch or other wizard in such a way, but on the other hand, if Orion doesn’t feel comfortable about getting intimate with other wizards, then Draco would never force himself on him. There was also another matter. He was the heir of the Malfoy family and he needed to get married and have children. This was something that depressed him the most; he’d force himself to marry without love, but seeing how much his parents cared for each other made him hope for a strong and meaningful relationship as well.
‘Dear Merlin! I’m going to become embittered and sexually frustrated in the future,’ Draco thought to himself and walked into the dining room.
“Good morning, Draco,” greeted him Lucius and observed closely. For some reason his son was in a bad mood and refused to tell anyone what was the reason of such state.
“Good morning,” the teen answered shortly and without further ado, started eating breakfast.
“Someone is in a foul mood,” commented Narcissa while hiding a knowing smile. She wasn’t blind; she noticed a long time ago that her son has a crush on Orion and she found it sweet; especially seeing how protective and mature Draco has become. It reminded her of how Lucius treated her ever since they met in Hogwarts. The only thing that bothered her was the fact that obviously the teens haven’t confessed their feelings, which caused Draco’s bad mood. However, she reminded herself that they were only in their fifth year of Hogwarts, so they still had time for dating and potential marriage.
“It’s nothing, mother,” answered Draco and focused on his omelette. “It’s been a very busy term for me. Until now I was focusing on my tasks, but now I think I’m starting to feel the strain those tasks have on me.”
“Indeed,” admitted Lucius. He was there when the Dark Lord gave his son the mission to train Slytherins in duelling and at first he was worried it might be too big of an enterprise. Now, however, he knew his son was fulfilling his duties perfectly and he was proud of him. “Even Crabbe and Goyle were surprised how good their sons have become in charms and duelling…and that’s saying something.”
“True,” agreed Draco. “They were a bit…hard to work with. Thankfully I’ve managed to get something into their heads.”
For the rest of breakfast, adults left the teen alone. They didn’t ask him any more questions, but all three of them kept observing him. Narcissa was the one who analysed his reactions the most, especially that their conversation moved to the Blacks. Whenever Orion was mentioned, Draco twitched a bit in his seat. It was almost too obvious that he was dying to see the black haired teen again. In school they didn’t have enough freedom to spend time together as much as they wanted, but the fact that Christmas was a family holiday and the Blacks were spending it this year with the Weasleys seemed to annoy Draco the most. Narcissa had to fight back a laugh when even Abraxas noticed his grandson’s odd reactions to their discussion.
“If you can’t stand the thought of Orion spending holidays with the Weasleys, then maybe you should think of a way to get him to change his mind,” suggested Abraxas.
“He’s friends with them…he’ll never ditch them…especially during holidays,” said Draco, desperately trying to hide a pout.
“Maybe you could think of something to do during winter break that gives you a chance to invite both Orion and the Weasleys,” said Lucius, who simply loved such harmless scheming. “Of course preferably something that won’t hurt our reputation for inviting the Weasleys.”
For a longer while Draco sat silently, eating his breakfast. In his head he was going through all possible scenarios and how would they turn out, but every idea seemed to have a flaw. Finally, when the meal was almost over, he came up with an idea; he only needed to work out a few more details and he might actually be able to spend some time with his cousin.
“Mother,” asked Draco. “Do you know where Margo and Julien are spending New Year’s Eve?”
“I think they were saying something about London,” said Narcissa and smiled seeing her son’s smirk. That could mean only one thing – Draco had a plan.
The last two days at Grimmauld Place were rather busy, but also very enjoyable. With the Weasleys and Orion around, the house was definitely more lively. Mrs Weasley was ordering everyone around, because she had already planned every detail of what had to be done before Christmas. No one was able to escape duties like cleaning, cooking or decorating the house.
However, this morning, Sirius managed to hide from Molly and skip the sometimes unnecessary chores. Truth to be told, he wasn’t hiding from work; he simply had something more important to do. He tried to locate one of his old drawers. Ever since he moved back to London, he couldn’t find it and he remembered he stored something extremely important in it. Not able to find the drawer in any of the rooms, Sirius decided to look for it in the attic.
Hours were going by, but he still couldn’t find what he was looking for. His brand-new clothes were all covered in dust by now and Sirius was slowly losing hope. At the beginning he thought it unlikely for his parents to get rid of any of the furniture, but now he was starting to believe they might have thrown away all of his belongings after he hid Orion with the Potters.
“Kreacher!” feeling depressed about losing one of his most precious belongings, Sirius called for the house elf, who showed up immediately.
“What can Kreacher do for Master Sirius?” asked the elf. Recently, he started treating Sirius with the respect he deserved; most likely because older Black was supporting Regulus, Voldemort and even brought back young Orion.
“Do you remember the mahogany drawer from my old bedroom?” asked the wizard and Kreacher nodded. “I can’t find it. Did my mother destroy it after I left?”
The elf didn’t answer him; instead, he silently walked deeper into the stacks of old, unused furniture, paintings and boxes. Sirius followed him and quickly noticed his old drawer at the far end of the attic. The wizard rushed to it and happily rummaged through the shelves and small, secret drawers. From one of them, he took out a small bottle and laughed triumphantly.
“Thank you for your help Kreacher,” said Sirius reminding himself to be nice to the elf. Surprisingly, this simple method – kindness – was working miracles and Kreacher was really becoming faithful to him.
Black hurriedly poured the liquid from the small bottle to a less suspicious one and put it safely in one of his pockets. All that time, Kreacher was standing there observing his master. Moments later, both of them heard Mrs Weasley’s voice calling everyone to the kitchen. Sirius knew that meant trouble, cause Molly was definitely going to scold him to disappearing for half a day. At the same time, he noticed pained expression on the elf’s face and he knew immediately that Kreacher had enough of the Weasley family – the elf was angry that they were taking away his duties. Sirius laughed inwardly at his reaction, but he also felt sorry for Kreacher and decided he had to give the poor elf a break.
“Did you clean all the bedrooms and packed gifts?” asked the wizard and received an affirmative nod. “In that case, I have a special mission for you now. You’ve served our family for many years and you know this job better than anyone. I want you to go to the Edinburgh house and check on Hissy. He’s new and all alone in that house so I want you to go there and instruct him how to do things.”
“Yes, Master Sirius. Kreacher will go right away,” the elf answered hurriedly and quickly vanished.
Sirius couldn’t help, but laugh at such a reaction. He couldn’t blame the elf, though; he liked Molly, but she could be a bit too much at times. Not wanting to get the said witch even angrier at him, Sirius rushed down to the kitchen, where he saw Orion, Remus, Molly, Ron, Ginny and the twins. Everyone fall silent the moment he entered the room and an apologetic look on Orion and Remus’ faces told him already that he was in big trouble with Mrs Weasley.
“Sirius Black! Where have you been! I’ve been looking for you since early morning,” Molly’s voice attacked his ears. Deciding that arguing with the witch wasn’t the best idea, Sirius calmly took a seat next to Lupin and took a sip from the bottle he just brought from the attic.
“I was searching for decorations in the attic,” answered the man and took another sip before hiding the bottle in his pocket again.
“I told you yesterday, that we already have enough decorations,” complained Mrs Weasley and Sirius only smiled to the teens sitting on the other end of the table and snickering at how he was getting scolded by the witch. “And today I really needed your help. We need more food supplies, because Charlie will be visiting after all.”
“Is he coming alone or with someone?” asked the twins grinning a lot; it was obvious that somehow information about Charlie having a lover stopped being a secret, although no one knew even the name of the lucky witch.
“I don’t know yet, but if she comes with him, you’re all going to be nice to her,” warned them Molly, looking particularly sternly at the twins, who no doubt already planned some pranks. “I’m sure Charlie chose a nice, gentle and modest witch.”
“Mum, you were saying the same thing about Fleur and then you found out she dislikes Celestina Warback,” noticed Ron, who still didn’t understand why his mother and sister disliked Fleur.
“You shouldn’t set the standards for your daughters-in-law so high or you’ll always be disappointed with them, Molly. You already picture Charlie’s lover as gentle and modest. What if she’s tough and proud? What if it’s not a witch, but a wizard?” Sirius decided to tease Mrs Weasley a bit, particularly because she scolded him in front of the kids earlier, but he never expected her to react the way she did.
Suddenly, all the pots, plates and other things that were magically floating in the kitchen and preparing their lunch fell to the ground. Infuriated Mrs Weasley leaned over the big kitchen table and pointed her finger accusingly at Black. “You take it back, Sirius Black. Neither Charlie nor any other of my children leans that way.”
“It was just a silly suggestion, Molly” explained Sirius feeling perplexed by the situation. He knew his words would annoy the witch, but he honestly didn’t see such a reaction coming, especially from a pureblood witch for whom it should be normal that among wizarding folks, same-sex couples weren’t that uncommon.
“You should start acting like an adult, Sirius. You’re a father, so stop joking around all the time and most of all, don’t you dare accuse my son ever again.”
“I believe the word accusation is a bit too harsh in this case,” Black protested. “You can accuse someone of doing something bad, illegal or a crime…and liking other wizards is as far from that as possible.”
“Maybe, but it only causes sorrow to such wizard and his family,” commented Molly and headed out of the kitchen, leaving them all dumbstruck.
“What did just happen?” asked Sirius completely not understanding the situation. All of a sudden everyone was staring at him; and Ginny was even glaring at him as if he did something wrong. If someone had the right here to be offended it would be him, because Molly just implied he caused pain to his family for being gay. “I didn’t say Charlie fancies men. I was just teasing…it was a joke.”
“Not very funny joke,” said Ron looking a bit irritated at older Black.
“Mum was always a bit worried about Charlie being alone, so this suggestion might have brought back her concerns,” explained Fred, and George nodded in agreement.
“Besides, who would wish their children to lean that way?” said Ginny.
“I don’t understand something here,” Orion cut into their conversation for two reasons – he knew his fathers were gay so he didn’t like everyone implying that there is something wrong with that; and secondly, he was genuinely curious about the wizarding folks’ opinion on the subject. “I know that Muggles don’t appreciate gay people most of the time, but I thought it was acceptable in the wizarding world.”
“Mate! My brother does not fancy blokes,” protested Ron surprised by Orion’s question.
“I’m not saying he does. I’m asking in general, because I’ve heard it’s perfectly fine for two wizards or two witches to be together,” explained Orion.
“Who told you that?” asked Ginny surprised that Orion, of all people, was interested in the topic.
“Draco,” was young Black’s answer.
“Then he was making fun of you, mate,” said Ron and smiled apologetically to his friend. “Do you really think Lucius Malfoy would happily welcome Draco’s boyfriend into their family?”
Orion’s smile immediately vanished when Ron’s words sank in. He believed Draco’s words, but he never thought about it on the blonde’s example. Indeed, he couldn’t imagine Lucius being happy to hear that the heir of Malfoy family preferred men. He already knew that in the future Draco would find himself a girlfriend and marry her, but for some reason the fact that the blond could never be with another wizard, even if he wanted to, made Orion depressed. Sirius immediately noticed this change in his son and was angry that by such comments from the Weasleys, Orion would lose confidence in his own feelings and never confess them to Draco.
“Well, technically speaking, Draco told you the truth,” said Remus just when Sirius was about to intervene. “According to our traditions and history, same-sex marriages are acceptable, even in the pureblood families. As long as the family has an heir to keep the bloodline running, it doesn’t matter who a witch or wizard wants to be with. Although it is true, that ever since the wizarding world became more and more influenced by Muggles and their traditions, same-sex marriages are not as common as they used to be.”
“Even if Malfoy had a brother to inherit instead of him, I doubt their family would accept any wizard who fancies other men,” commented Ron a bit surprised by the information Lupin just told them.
“Malfoys are purebloods and as such, they obey the old wizarding ways; all of them. Even the Blacks always acknowledged and agreed with that particular tradition,” announced Sirius proudly and winked to his son, who understood exactly what he meant. He stood up, took a sip of the mysterious liquid from his bottle and looked at the teens. “Now you stay here and I’ll go talk with your mother before she puts a curse on me for my words.”
Albus locked himself in his old room, in Mould-on-the-Wold. There were no Order’s meeting there today, so he used that opportunity to escape Hogwarts for a while and think. He needed time to think everything through and come up with new plans and ideas. Normally he’d do that in his office, in Hogwarts, but for some times now, he was suspecting that someone was spying on him there. He thought it might be Phineas Black’s fault, especially now that the Black family was once again slipping away from Dumbledore’s grasp.
“Where did I make the mistake? What did I miss?” the headmaster paced around the room and asked himself. “I made sure the boy’s glamour was strong and detailed enough, but he had to have that damned birthmark! Now Sirius is going to spoil him with love and attention; the boy will lack the necessary traits to defeat Voldemort.”
The wizard walked over to the table by the window, where he had all the materials that helped him think – letters, newspapers, photos, notes. He already knew all of those, but he still couldn’t find anything that he has missed in his plan. He went through all of them one more time and sighed heavily.
“The boy’s friendship with young Draco isn’t good either. Ms Granger and the Weasleys weren’t enough to keep him away from the Malfoys. And even Sirius is encouraging him to keep this friendship. If this keeps going on, Orion will start supporting the purebloods and that I cannot allow,” his eyes landed on a photo of Orion soon after he returned from St. Mungo’s. “If I only knew who his mother is…Sirius is keeping it a secret for a reason. That knowledge might help me control Sirius again…right now he has definitely too much freedom.”
Unable to think of any reasonable plan, Albus started organising materials on his desk; perhaps, putting them in order will help him spot something important. About twenty minutes later, he found himself reading through an old Daily Prophet article about Sirius’ trial. He fought back a laugh realising that Black didn’t trust him even back then. If he did, Sirius had told him that he had a son and that the said son was indeed Harry Potter.
“Even his supposedly dead brother shows up out of nowhere and rescues him,” commented Albus sarcastically. “I wonder where he was hiding all those years. His story about losing memories and staying in France couldn’t be true; I personally asked Moody to look for him all around Europe and he couldn’t find anything.”
Dumbledore was about to throw the newspaper into the drawer and head back to Hogwarts when he spotted something familiar. Once more, he looked at the photo from Sirius’ trial; particularly at Regulus Black and his garment. It wasn’t very clear, but from under his cloak slipped out a big, gold locket.
“It can’t be, can it?” Albus nearly whispered the words, not believing his own luck. He quickly rummaged through the drawers looking for a drawing of Slytherin’s locket that he made after his trip to look for Voldemort’s horcruxes. His eyes were moving from one picture to the other, comparing the lockets and finally after a few minutes, a twinkle showed up in Dumbledore’s eyes. “Regulus Black has Voldemort’s locket. Now I just have to prove that he has been supporting Voldemort all along…after all, Tom wouldn’t give his horcrux simply to anyone.”
With a satisfied grin, the headmaster put all of his materials to the drawer and locked it. He already had a plan forming in his head; he had an idea how to control Sirius. He just needed more time to discover what exactly was Regulus Black doing for Voldemort, and why hasn’t Severus seen him on any of the Dark Lord’s meetings.
He apparated in his Hogwarts’ chamber and immediately called for Moody. The ex-auror was one person Albus trusted completely and he needed his help. Albus had to make a few trips around Europe during these holidays and he needed Alastor to be his eyes and ears while he was gone.
“You wanted to see me, Albus?” asked Mad-Eye the moment the door to the office closed behind him. “It’s holiday time and rather late at night already, so what’s on your mind, friend?”
“You’ve noticed as well as I did, that Voldemort is trying to sneak into the Ministry and gain more influence there. Now I think I might have an idea how to stop it, but I need you to do something for me,” said Dumbledore and discreetly handed a small note to the other wizard. Albus’ eyes were watching Phineas’ portrait at that moment, searching for any indication that the painting of the old headmaster was indeed spying on him.
Without questions, Moody quickly read the note that asked him to keep an eye and inform Albus about anything suspicious happening in Hogwarts while he was travelling during holidays. Alastor agreed immediately; he was getting bored in the old castle now that there weren’t as many people living there, so he’d gladly do what he was best at – being vigilant.
On Christmas morning all the fights and misunderstandings from the last few days have vanished. No one wanted to remember about them, and instead enjoy the holidays. Mrs Weasley was calmer now that she had most of her family by her side and the house looked clean and nicely decorated. She was even more thrilled when she reminded herself that Charlie was going to visit them that day; she didn’t see him since summer and letters from her second eldest son were coming very seldom.
“Can we already go unpack the gifts?” Ron was pouting since the very moment he got out of bed, because Mrs Weasley announced that first they will eat breakfast and only after that there will be time for presents. The teen was aware of the fact that he was a bit too old to pout like a little kid, but he couldn’t help it; he liked getting presents under the Christmas tree, even though he knew what gift to expect from his mum.
“Can’t you wait until your older brothers join us?” asked Molly, pretending to be stern, but in fact, she was amused by Ron’s behaviour.
“But mum! They will come over in the afternoon,” now even Ginny protested.
“Alright, alright,” agreed Mrs Weasley and rushed them upstairs, to the drawing room. On their way there, she glanced at her children and at Orion; they all seemed happy in one another’s presence as they always were, which calmed her down. Ever since Orion became friends with Draco Malfoy, she was worried the boy’s friendship with the other teens would be endangered, but so far this proved to be an unjustified concern.
“Now that’s a lot of presents,” Arthur’s voice got Mrs Weasley out of her thoughts. Everyone’s eyes stopped at the pile of boxes under the tree and seconds later, all the teens ran to take their seats by the tree.
It took only about ten minutes for everyone to find their presents and now everyone was sitting in his spot, unpacking the boxes. As was the tradition, everyone got a colourful, knitted sweater or scarf made by Mrs Weasley. The teens mostly gave one another different types of sweets, books, something from Zonko’s or Quidditch-related. However, there were a few unusual gifts that year; one of such gifts was from Orion for the twins.
“So what’s this gift for us about, Orion?” asked Fred excited.
“You’re not trying to prank the pranksters, are you?” teased George with a grin on his face.
“I wouldn’t dare,” laughed Orion and hurried with explanations, because everyone else in the room didn’t understand what was it that he gave to the twins. “I simply couldn’t fit your present under the tree, so I left you clues all around the house. Find them and they will lead you to your actual present. And before you ask…no, it’s not in the house. I’ll go with you to pick it up tomorrow…of course if you manage to figure out by then where it is.”
“That’s just evil to make us wait until tomorrow,” started George.
“And even go as far as to making it into a treasure hunt,” finished Fred.
“We love the way you’re thinking, Orion!” added the twins and excitedly focused on the first clue to their present’s whereabouts.
Orion’s attention then moved to his dad, who was now unpacking the gift from him. The teen wasn’t sure what he should give to the man; after all, this was the first time he was giving present to his dad. He remembered the framed pictures from newspapers that Sirius hanged in the Edinburgh house and Orion thought that maybe it would be good to gift the wizard a new camera and lots of empty picture frames to fill in with more up-to-date family photos. Now, when he looked at Sirius he wasn’t sure if that was such a good idea, because the man had an odd expression.
“Dad? I left the frames empty so that we could,” the teen started explaining his idea for that particular gift, but he became silent when Sirius walked over to him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Now Orion understood, that his dad wasn’t mad or disappointed; on the contrary, he was very happy and didn’t want others to see how emotional he got about such a simple, but thoughtful present.
“Thank you son. Now you can’t complain when I take lots of pictures together,” Sirius smiled to him and pointed to one of the biggest, unpacked boxes. “Now I hope you’ll like the gift from us.”
“From us?” asked confused Orion and started unwrapping the box. “You mean…this is from you and from…”
He couldn’t wait to see what was it that both of his fathers decided to give him; and the moment the wrapping was removed, he became speechless. In front of him stood a small, silver pensive and two boxes filled with tiny bottles and memories floating inside of them.
“You didn’t have the chance to meet some of our family members, so we decided it would be nice if you could at least get to know a bit about them from our memories,” explained Sirius and pulled Orion into another embrace, since the boy was still unable to say anything.
“Thank you, dad.”
“Maybe with time, we could provide you with more memories,” added Sirius and went back to his seat.
“But please, no memories of my conception,” joked Orion and caused everyone to laugh.
“As cheeky as your uncle. I wonder where does that come from,” commented Sirius, but couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “Speaking of your uncle. I think that purple box over there is a gift from Regulus and his…spouse.”
The teen quickly unpacked the said box and found a pair of silver cufflinks with the crest of the Blacks. Orion was grateful for the gift; it was both elegant and made him remember he really belonged to the family. However, the faces his friends were making, told him they were overwhelmed to see such amazing, but expensive gifts. He wanted to leave the last two boxes for later, because he knew those were from the Malfoys and most likely expensive as well, but Ron urged him to open them. The first box contained some fancy, party clothes, which Orion suspected aunt Narcissa ordered in Paris. There was also a note attached to it.
“What does it say?” asked curious Ginny. Seeing the clothes the boy received, she could hardly wait for the chance to see Orion dressed in those.
“You may need these clothes for the surprise in Draco’s gift,” the teen read the note out loud. He was confused by the message from his aunt and uncle, and looked at his dad, searching for explanation.
“Don’t look at me. I don’t know what Narcissa and Lucius meant by that,” answered Sirius.
Just when Orion was about to open the last gift, they heard voices coming from downstairs. It seemed that someone visited them and Mrs Weasley already hurried to the door, to see who it was. Moments later, they’ve heard familiar voices of the two eldest Weasley brothers and all the adults went out to greet them. Meanwhile, the teens decided to wait for everyone to join them in the drawing room.
“Oi, mate! What’s the surprise in Malfoy’s present?” asked Ron, but young Black knew that all of them were curious to know the answer. Urged by Ron’s words, Orion hurriedly opened the gift from his cousin and found a beautiful, silver locket, encrusted with rubies and emeralds. “He gave you jewellery? Maybe he accidentally sent you the gift for his girlfriend?”
Orion didn’t say anything, but Ron’s words hurt him very much. He couldn’t help it, but the fact that Draco might already have a secret girlfriend made him feel unbelievably sad. However, he knew he shouldn’t let anyone find out about those feelings, so he quickly moved the conversation to a different topic. He spotted an envelope with some kind of invitations inside and a letter.
“He’s inviting us to a New Year’s party,” announced Orion, overjoyed by the idea. He never was on such a party in the wizarding world, and from what he has heard from Draco, wizarding clubs in London were amazing. “We’re all invited.”
“Malfoy invites us all?” all four Weasleys couldn’t believe what they were hearing. “Maybe he’s up to something?”
“Oh come on! He’s trying to be nice. I think that’s thoughtful of him to invite us all, and Hermione as well, to a party,” explained Orion a bit annoyed by the way they treated his cousin. “Give him some credit. And besides, don’t you want to see how those wizarding clubs look like? I’ve heard so much about them that I’m thrilled to go there.”
Their conversation was interrupted by Sirius walking in and looking really pissed off about something. They wanted to ask him what happened, but at that moment Mr and Mrs Weasley, Bill, Fleur and Charlie entered the room, followed by Albus Dumbledore. Immediately, Orion understood why his dad was in a foul mood all of a sudden. Sirius didn’t mind having unexpected guests, but the headmaster of Hogwarts was definitely an unwanted guest.
“Professor Dumbledore, what brings you here, sir?” asked Ginny as soon as she hugged her brothers and courteously greeted Fleur.
“I thought I’ll stop by to see if everyone is safe,” the old wizard smiled and the twinkle in his eyes appeared. “After all, we’re not living in the safest times. I’m glad to see you all in high spirits though, but that’s to be expected if there is such a family reunion.”
Charlie sat calmly on the sofa furthest away from Dumbledore and tried to avoid the wizard’s eyes. He was very well aware of the fact that Albus was trying to get in contact with him for the last few months, because he needed his help in recruiting new members to the Order, but Charlie refused to do so. Dumbledore’s visit was no coincidence; he knew perfectly well, that he’d find him at Grimmauld Place that day.
“I hope you’re safe there in Romania, Charlie,” Albus started the conversation. It was clear that he didn’t want to waste time for unnecessary topics; he came here today to persuade Charlie to join the Order again.
“Yes I am, thank you,” answered the younger wizard.
“You didn’t bring your girlfriend with you?” asked Molly with disappointment in her voice. She was really looking forward to meeting her next potential daughter-in-law.
“She wishes everyone happy holidays, but unfortunately she had to stay in Romania and tend to some family business issues,” explained Charlie and before he could say anything else, Dumbledore interrupted him.
“Maybe she and her family could support our cause? I’m sure they wouldn’t deny help to your family and friends.”
“Unfortunately I have to disappoint you professor, but I will not try to force anyone to join the Order of the Phoenix,” said Charlie with annoyance clear in his voice. “I’ve tried, but now I actually understand their point of view. Witches and wizards from other countries aren’t eager to support a cause they don’t understand. Fighting Voldemort and Death Eaters is one thing, but they want to know what happens after the Dark Lord is defeated…what are the plans for the future? Is the wizarding world supposed to be separated from the Muggles? Or maybe mixed together? And if so, then are we going to maintain our traditions and way of thinking or are we going to replace them with Muggle ways?”
“No one knows that yet. It will definitely be a safe and peaceful world, but first we need to defeat Voldemort and his followers,” explained calmly Albus. “And to do so, we need support.”
“But that’s the point, professor. So far, neither Voldemort nor his followers attacked anyone. For most people from abroad that means there is no threat. However, if they were to risk their people in a potential fight then they want to know what are the ideals they are supposed to support. Without such knowledge it’s like signing up a contract without reading it and in that regard I understand them, and agree with them,” answered Charlie and moved closer to his younger siblings to see what they got under the Christmas tree.
A long silence fell in the room and no one really knew what to say, so the twins thought it might be their chance to bring up the topic of the upcoming New Year’s party. They were still a bit hesitant towards the idea of Malfoy inviting them, but on the other hand, they were curious to check it out.
“Changing the subject,” started George.
“Orion and the rest of us,” said Fred and pointed to the rest of the teens. “Got invited to a party in a few days.”
“We can keep an eye on Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Orion,” the twins assured their parents.
“What party and where is it?” asked Sirius and took out his mysterious little bottle from his pocket to take a sip.
“An invitation from Draco to a News Year’s party in one of the wizarding clubs here in London,” explained Orion and smiled already knowing that his dad was definitely going to approve.
“Alright then,” said Sirius with a smile. “You can go, but you have to come back before two in the morning.”
“Out of the question! Absolutely not,” Mrs Weasley announced sternly.
“But mum! Orion can go, why can’t we?” protested the Weasley teens.
“No one is going and that’s final,” announced Molly and Arthur nodded in agreement. “Orion is not going either.”
“I beg your pardon?” interrupted her Sirius, who felt growing anger that Mrs Weasley was undermining his decisions concerning Orion. “I don’t agree, although I accept your decision regarding your children, Molly. But as far as I know, you’re not my son’s mother and as such I don’t believe you have the right to forbid him anything.”
“He needs someone to act like a responsible parent, especially since his real father acts like a child himself and doesn’t care about the boy’s safety,” retorted the angry witch.
“Sirius, you have to admit Molly is right in this case,” added Dumbledore. “A party in a club can be dangerous as it is, but in these times it can endanger Orion and young Weasleys even more.”
Without a word, Sirius stood up from his seat and said, “Orion,…kids, please let us finish this conversation alone.”
Seeing that his dad was about to snap, young Black collected his gifts and headed to the door. On his way, he sent an apologetic look to Sirius and left. As soon as he, Ginny, Ron and the twins were on the corridor, the door to the drawing room shut down and they could hear angry, raised voices coming from the other side. Orion didn’t like the few things addressed at his dad, that he heard, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
“Seems like we won’t be going to the party after all,” commented Fred as the five of them headed upstairs to leave the gifts in their rooms.
“Are you going to check it now?” asked Ron excited.
“Check what?” replied surprised Orion.
“The memories. Don’t you want to know both of your parents?” explained Ron and pointed to the pensive.
“Well actually,…I know who my parents are,” said Black hesitantly, suspecting lots of questions from his friends now.
“We thought you only know your dad. Why didn’t you tell us who’s your mother? Or at least that you know who she is,” asked the other teens in unison.
“I’m still trying to get used to that knowledge myself,” answered the black haired teen and called Kreacher to store his gifts safely in his bedroom.
“Do we know her?” asked Ron.
“…Yes, you know both of my parents,” Orion hesitated for a moment, but then smiled to himself imagining his friends’ faces if they knew the truth. “I promise to introduce you properly, when I get used to the situation. Although, it’s going to be the biggest shock in your lives.”
“It can’t be that bad…can it?” asked George.
“Well, depending how you look at it,” laughed Orion.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter and like I've mentioned....new chapter this weekend (and some Orion/Draco moments ;) )
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Meddling with Darkness