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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
- 26
- 27
- 28
A/N: I don't even know where to start my apologies to all of you who actually started reading this story and then had to wait SOOO long for an update. I know I myself dislike it very much when I get invested into a story and then there are no updates, so I'm really sorry that I made you wait this long. Like I might have already mentioned some time ago, I definitely do not plan on abandoning this story and starting now I am planning on writing and updating more regularly. I would also like to thank everyone who wrote me a review, because honestly when I saw those reviews (after a few months of not checking my account) they were exactly the thing that gave me the motivation (kick on the butt :P) to start writing again. So thank you for the wonderful words and hopefully you'll enjoy this and all the upcoming chapters.
Chapter 27
Dumbledore was strolling down the corridors of Hogwarts enjoying the fine spring weather outside. After the complications with Sirius and Severus, the situation has settled down again. The fact that the two of them have been hiding their relationship from everyone caused many members of the Order to distrust them and as a result they returned to Albus with even stronger motivation to find new allies, whom the Order could trust. Surprisingly, Molly Weasley’s frustration at how irresponsible Sirius acted proved to be very heart lifting to the headmaster. He already thought the Weasleys wouldn’t want to support him as much as before, due to Charlie’s attitude, but so far, they have started to convince their Muggleborn and half-blood friends to support Albus.
The only annoyance was the constant complaints from Poppy about students practicing spells on one another. Dumbledore knew it was caused by Alastor encouraging students to be vigilant and practice defensive spells. However, he could handle a few people complaining now. If it meant the students would be prepared better to fight against Voldemort and his ideals, then Albus was more than willing to accept a few bruises of his pupils.
“Professor Dumbledore! Professor!” a tired, gasping voice could be heard behind him.
“What is it Mr Filch?” asked the headmaster and waited for the man to run over to him from the far end of the corridor. He watched the man and wondered why the students disliked him so much; especially that all Albus could see was a poor Squib, who tried to fit into the wizarding world.
“Professor Dumbledore, people from the school’s board are here and wait to talk with you,” informed him Filch and pointed to the two older witches and one equally old wizard waiting at the end of the corridor, by the statue leading to the headmaster’s office. “It’s never good news, when they show up.”
“Thank you, Mr Filch. I will take care of our guests,” answered the older wizard and headed towards his office. He greeted the two witches and the wizard and invited them to his office.
“I believe you know the reason of our visit here today, Albus,” started the wizard. “The board has been receiving alarming amount of complaints from parents regarding the treatment of their children, safety in school and the dropping quality of education.”
“We have already done a small investigation and it seems all of those complaints are true, and not exaggerated at all,” added one of the witches. “We cannot allow this to keep on going.”
“The times are difficult; I will admit that much. And we did struggle for a while, but that’s understandable with Voldemort back,” started Dumbledore with his usual grandfatherly smile. “But I believe the situation is being handled well.”
“I dare disagree, professor,” protested the second witch indignant by his words. “The situation is critical, to say the least. O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s are just around the corner, yet some of the teachers haven’t even gone through half of the material prepared for the students to learn. Not to mention some of them are simply dangerous and unsuited to teach.”
Albus became silent. He knew these accusations might be true and there was nothing he could do to convince the school council otherwise.
“The well-being of the students is important to us all and I can assure you that I will do everything I can to fix the situation,” Dumbledore started a monologue, but the other wizard interrupted him.
“It’s already past the point of declarations, Dumbledore. It’s time to take some serious steps. The council expects you to dismiss Alastor Moody from his post as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher immediately and replace him with the person suggested by us and the Ministry,” he placed a scroll on the headmaster’s desk and pointed to it. “You will find the full statement of the board in this document.”
Albus reached out for the scroll to read it. He quickly ran through the document and barely managed to keep his calm and friendly facial expression; the council demanded that he fired Alastor, but also recommended to replace the less competent teachers – one of them being professor Binns. “Aren’t some of those suggestions a bit exaggerated?”
“On the contrary, professor,” answered quickly one of the witches. “Replacing some of the school staff will prove beneficial for the students’ well-being and achievements. However, replacement of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is non-negotiable and effective immediately.”
“If not…we will be forced to close the school and postpone this year’s exams till next year,” added the other wizard and smiled with satisfaction seeing Dumbledore’s frustration growing. “I believe we are done here for today.”
As soon as the representatives of the school board left his office, Albus stood up from his seat and started pacing around the room. He was well aware the other wizard wasn’t joking, and Hogwarts will be closed if he doesn’t replace Moody with a new teacher. Thankfully for Albus, the replacement for that post was supposed to be Shacklebolt, who was still rather loyal to the Order and Dumbledore’s ideas. What worried him, was the suggestion that he should replace some of the other teachers, like Binns and Burbage. He tried to think of something that would show the school board that he was willing to fix the situation, but he couldn’t find a way to resolve the problem.
“What is it this time?” he muttered to himself when he heard something knocking on the window. He looked in the direction from which the sound came and spotted a familiar owl. The bird must have brought him the news he was expecting for some time now.
Albus rushed to the window and took the letter from the owl. Just as he expected, it was a message from one of his acquaintance from Romania, who was supposed to investigate what Charlie Weasley has been doing there the last few months. He quickly ran through the letter and with every second his mood was brightening up.
“So young Charlie has become friendly with the Dragoş family,” the headmaster commented to himself and started forming a plan how to show the Weasleys what happens when people turn their backs on him. After all, all that Dumbledore ever wanted was only what’s best for the wizarding community. He only wanted to show Charlie what consequences come from associating oneself with a family like the Dragoş. They were one of the more notable pureblood wizarding families in Romania, but like most of such families they stuck to the old traditions very strongly and they were very protective of their centuries-long secrets – something Albus never really understood and never appreciated. In his opinion, they should all share their magical knowledge with the rest of the community. In this case, Dumbledore could easily see how this family might have seem appealing to young Weasley, since the Dragoş were known to have been dragon tamers and breeders for centuries. However, they were keeping secrets about their dragons and they were always opposing the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, which was already a good enough reason for Albus to distrust that family.
After a few minutes he had already a plan formed in his head but needed some more help from his acquaintances from Romania. He wrote a long and detailed reply and handed it to the owl, which quickly flew off to its owner.
“Dear Charlie, he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword…or by the dragon,” Albus watched the owl fly away for as long as it was visible on the sky, then he walked back to his desk and with new energy he started writing official resignations, that the school’s board requested earlier.
The Blacks‘ manor in Edinburgh was never a very lively house, however, for the last few weeks it was slowly becoming more liveable. Ever since Severus placed Sirius in Edinburgh again, the manor felt more welcoming to the Black with every passing day. Now that he had Orion and Sirius back, he was feeling happy for the first time in a very long time. He could finally see this place as their actual home, he had some very good memories connected with this house and he intended to get even more of those in the future.
Already three weeks have passed since Sirius had to leave Grimmauld Place and move to his old house; a lot has changed since then - Dumbledore and most of the Order‘s members lost trust in him and began to treat him like a criminal again. Black knew that it would come to this sooner or later, but he didn‘t expect it to happen this soon. Of course, he could blame only himself for such an outcome, because it was his idea to secretly use the Pregnancy potion, but he thought the side effects of the pregnancy would begin a few weeks later. Unfortunately, things turned out not the way he had expected, but at least he was safe in Edinburgh, and he had his husband and son to help him now. There was even Regulus, who of course was expecting a child himself, but the mere knowledge that he wasn‘t the last Black alive and that actually the family would grow soon was very uplifting. Sirius fought back a laugh when he remembered who Regulus‘ husband was and that one of the most powerful dark wizards of their times was actually capable of having warm feelings.
„Master Sirius, Hissy made breakfast,“ a squeaky voice of the house elf got Black out of his thoughts. He nodded to the creature and followed him to the dining room, where he usually ate his meals. He couldn‘t help but smile, when he remembered how difficult Hissy used to be to deal with, but ever since Kreacher taught the younger elf how to serve the Black family, he had to admit he rather enjoyed Hissy‘s company.
Sirius was about to enter the dining room, when he stopped abruptly and immediately prepared his wand. He felt an unexpected disturbance in the property’s wards and subconsciously readied himself for an upcoming threat. He knew that this particular house had very strong blood wards and no one outside of his family was able to get through them, but Black always prepared for the worst; especially now, when he was expecting a child.
Minutes later, someone was standing on the other side of the front door. The doorknob moved slowly and moments later the door quietly opened. Sirius still couldn‘t see who it was, but just in case of a sudden attack, he got ready to cast a stunning spell.
„Why are you pointing your wand at me? I was hoping for a slightly warmer welcome.“
„Severus?“ asked completely baffled Sirius and hid the wand. He searched for an answer on the other wizard‘s face, but the perfectly reserved expression of the other man didn‘t explain much. He could, however, feel the growing bad feeling in his guts.
The potions master stood there perfectly still, just staring back at Sirius. It was clear that he had some big news and wanted to share them with his husband, but at the same time he couldn‘t, or actually didn‘t know how to say it. Finally, after one more look at Severus, Black finally spotted the one thing he missed so far - the potions master was holding a trunk; it was supposed to stay hidden away from Sirius‘ sight, but now the wizard could clearly see it.
„Severus, what happened? What are you doing here in the middle of the week...in the middle of the day...with your trunk?“ Sirius asked nervously, although he already knew what kind of an answer he should be expecting. „You should be in Hogwarts, looking after Orion and other students.“
„Dumbledore doesn‘t trust neither you nor me anymore. He was just waiting and searching for an opportunity to get rid of me from the school,“ explained calmly the potions master. He walked inside the house, closed the door behind him and stopped in front of Black. He placed his hands on Sirius‘ shoulders seeing that the other man was starting to panic about the situation. „We knew there would come a time when our family is endangered again. This time has come now and we just have to deal with the situation and threats as they come.“
„How can you be so calm, when Orion is all alone now in that castle, surrounded by students who distrust him because of who he is and teachers blindly following Dumbledore‘s orders? Let‘s not forget about Albus and that psycho Moody, who already tried meddling and hurting our son before. They were only waiting for Orion to be alone so that they can hurt him and use him for their own plans.“
„Calm down, Sirius. Orion is not alone. Draco is there to keep him safe and other Slytherins and even some students from other houses as well. We were preparing for such a turn of events and we are very well prepared,“ assured him Severus. In the meantime, he led his husband to the dining room and ordered Hissy to fetch some Calming Draught from his brewing station in the basement.
„I know. Orion proved many times already that he is more mature and prepared for the upcoming events than we would have expected, but it just seems as if in one moment we had full control over the situation and in the next one everything started slipping through our fingers,“ explained Black, who already managed to gradually calm himself down. Few minutes later the house elf appeared in front of the two wizards and placed a small bottle of potion on the table in front of Sirius. With a bit of distaste on his face he took the bottle and drank the vile liquid, but mostly because Severus was glaring at him as if he was a problematic little child.
„Don‘t give me that look, Sirius. You know stressing out is not good for the baby,“ explained the other man and placed one hand on Black‘s already quite swollen belly. „This time you can‘t blame me. This time you drank the pregnancy potion out of your own free will. Without mentioning it to me, I might add.“
„And you are so mad at me for doing that,“ commented Sirius and rolled his eyes to make his point.
„Of course I‘m not mad. How could I be, if I got such an amazing night during winter holidays. However, now that we are talking about the baby...I am a bit concerned about how fast it‘s developing,“ said Severus and gestured to the other wizard‘s abdomen.
„Are you implying I‘m fat?“ Sirius asked in the most dramatical way he could master. He simply couldn‘t resist the temptation to annoy Severus every now and then.
“I refuse to get involved into this conversation with you,” answered calmly Severus. “I made this mistake when you were carrying Orion and I am not going to make that mistake again.”
It was already late April when all the students returned to Hogwarts after spring holidays. Most of them were still in shock that professors Moody and Snape got fired, but at the same time many students were far from disappointed from such a turn of events. The only students who were really annoyed by it were those preparing for their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. The situation was even more serious, because it involved two of the most important classes. Students who wanted to apply for a job as an Auror or Cursebreaker were worried such a change might seriously affect their preparations for the exams. Everyone agreed that Moody’s methods weren’t very successful, even if some of the students found it amusing to be able to attack Slytherins without any consequences. However, the Potions Class was a completely different matter. Everyone feared or hated Severus Snape; even the Snakes felt respect and knew they need to study hard for Potions, but only now when they had a nearly two weeks break from Potions, the more ambitious students realised that Snape actually did push his students to do their best and it actually brought results. Now however, they were worried the new teacher might not guarantee them such good results from the exams.
“Did they already announce it?” Hermione ran into the Great Hall and sat between Ginny and the Weasley twins. She was one of the last people to enter the chamber but judging by the excited looks on other students’ faces, she still made it before the school council representative made the big announcement.
“Where were you, Hermione?” asked Ron, glancing at the heavily panting witch, which made it obvious she was running. “That’s completely not like you to be late for a big school announcement.”
“I was in the library,” she explained and showed them the books she brought with her. “I thought that now that we will get new teachers everyone will rush to borrow books on Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts. So, I borrowed them first, before everyone else.”
“Are you seriously planning to read it all in a little over a month?” asked Ron, completely flabbergasted. “Aren’t you worrying a tad too much about the exams?”
“I don’t know about you Ronald, but I want to be prepared. You never know what kind of teachers we will get now. Maybe the new potions master is even scarier than Snape…” while saying that her gaze landed on Orion and she immediately realised what she said. “I’m sorry Orion. I didn’t mean it that way…”
“Don’t worry about it Hermione. I’m very much aware of the fact that my father is scary. Imagine his reaction when I get an “Acceptable’ in Potions,” joked Orion, but at the same time he pictured the look on Severus’ face and immediately made a decision that anything lower than ‘Exceeding expectations’ in Potions was not an option.
Their conversation was interrupted by Dumbledore standing up and asking for their attention. He made a short speech about the need to exchange some of the school staff, because of many complaints he has been receiving from parents. Right after that, the headmaster sat down and made space for one of the school board’s representatives. Dumbledore had his usual grandfatherly smile, but Orion got to know the wizard well enough through all those years to know that he was frustrated with the entire situation. He was certain that the school board never requested getting rid of Severus, but Albus used the situation to get rid of at least one obstacle. However, he was still mad about losing Mad-Eye Moody, who was always loyal to him.
“Dear students, as the headmaster already explained to you, some of the staff changes were necessary,” began the wizard. “However, you cannot remain without teachers, especially when it comes to such important subjects, which I know that many of the seventh-year students are taking their N.E.W.T.s in. I know today is Saturday. A Hogsmead Saturday, as I was informed, so without further ado I would like to inform you that the new teacher of Potions will be professor Horace Slughorn. While the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was accepted by an Auror from the Ministry of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt.”
“I’ve heard from my grandma that Slughorn is a nice guy, but he is kind of vain,” whispered to them Neville. “He surrounds himself only with very talented students or students with influential connections, but he keeps distance from those who are involved in some shady businesses.”
“It seems Black will have to start actually studying potions instead of getting points from Snape,” they heard a comment coming from the students from other houses, followed by snickering.
Orion didn’t even try to say anything back to such comments anymore, since every time he tried that the last few weeks, the outcome was even worse. Thankfully, the Weasleys, Hermione and a few other of his friends were finally getting to terms with the knowledge that he had two fathers and one of them was the one and only Severus Snape. Orion was grateful he didn’t have to at least deal with silent treatment from them. Although he could tell that they had some doubts what to think of his parents now that they were so obviously on bad terms with the headmaster and the Order of the Phoenix.
For the rest of the day they decided to forget about the new teachers and any ridiculous comments directed at Orion, and instead to simply enjoy their Saturday in Hogsmead. They were spending a nice afternoon at Madam Rosemerta’s inn, but it was so crowded that they had to wait unbelievably long to get their butter beer. After about half an hour of waiting Ron offered that he will go and bring their order himself. Normally, he would wait until it was brought to them, but since Hermione and Orion decided to discuss the upcoming exams again, he preferred to find himself something else to do, so that he didn’t have to listen to Hermione complaining how little he cares about his education and future.
He was pushing through the crowds of people and he almost reached the bar, when he noticed a familiar wizard standing in the side corridor leading to the upper floor of the inn. At first, he thought it’s just a coincidence, but the wizard stared at him and gestured for him to come over.
“What are you doing here Percy?” asked Ron as soon as his brother pulled him further into the corridor and cast a privacy charm. “What are you doing? Are you in some trouble Percy?”
“Not yet,” he answered quickly and nervously glanced around if anyone is paying attention to them.
“What do you mean ‘not yet’?”
“I’m sorry Ron, but I don’t have much time. I just need to tell you something. Odd things are happening. And I’m not sure if You-Know-Who is responsible for that, because frankly speaking, the Ministry doesn’t have any evidence of his return or activity,” Percy added quickly when he noticed Ron was about to say something about the Dark Lord’s return, just like everyone who supported Dumbledore. “But I do know that Fudge is losing control of the situation in the country. At the beginning he simply had his private war against Dumbledore, but now out of the blue he started a vendetta against the Blacks.”
“I don’t think Orion’s family plans anything against the Ministry or the wizarding community in general, but you have to admit that recently there are many people who think that way,” commented Ron.
“I know, but this is different,” said Percy with a serious expression. “Mum and dad will not believe me, but you have to. You are so close to Albus every day and as such you have to watch out the most.”
“Why would I have to watch out on Dumbledore?”
“He has been having awfully many secret meetings with Fudge. The Minister thinks no one knows about it, but the way I see it…Albus is plotting something and it is all directed at the Blacks. You are friends with Orion, so please keep your eyes open and watch out for the headmaster. He has changed and I can’t really say if this is all his plan to help everyone or to ruin certain families.”
“But Percy,” protested Ron, who was completely taken aback by what his brother was saying. “I know Fudge is not the best Minister and the Headmaster also has odd ideas lately, but he wouldn’t plot anything…especially with Fudge.”
“I know I made a huge mistake working for Fudge and cutting ties with our family. And I know that mum and dad trust Albus with their lives, but this time I know I’m not mistaken. Something is wrong about those two meeting and just as a precaution Ron, please watch out for yourself. I don’t know if You-Know-Who is back like the Headmaster says, but some serious plotting is going on in the Ministry already and I can’t say yet what will be the outcome of it,” said Percy with determination visible in his eyes. “I have to go now. You should also go back to your friends. But keep in mind what I just told you and for now, please keep it a secret.”
The moment Ron looked away to check if anyone has noticed the two of them chatting, Percy took the opportunity to vanish. The younger wizard was so perplexed by the entire situation, that he completely forgot what he was supposed to do and headed back to the table, where his friends were waiting for him. As if in a daze, the redhead sat down, not paying much attention to Hermione and Orion’s conversation. The only thing he could think of now, were Percy’s words. Normally Ron wasn’t the one to think much about different plots that might be happening behind his back and definitely not about politics, but right now he was slowly being forced out of his comfort zone. He could no longer simply trust Dumbledore, the Ministry or even the best judgement of his parents. Only now, after the conversation with Percy, did he realize what insecure times have come – the Minister of Magic was incompetent, the Dark Lord has come back and might attack anytime, the Headmaster was using some odd tactics to prepare for the Dark Lord’s attack and even his parents and siblings weren’t certain whether to trust Dumbledore or not.
“Oi, Ronald!” Hermione’s voice got him out of his thoughts. “You’re not listening at all.”
“All you two are talking about lately are the exams, so I couldn’t have missed much from the conversation, now did I?” replied quickly Ron, who indeed didn’t register a word of what they were talking about. He hated the fact he couldn’t simply tell them what Percy told him. It would make his life easier, if he could get some advice from his two friends on what to do; after all, this information involved them as well.
“Mate, you were supposed to bring our butter beer,” told him Orion smiling genuinely to him.
“Are you feeling alright?” asked him concerned Hermione. “You’re acting strange. More than usual I mean.”
“I’m fine,” lied quickly Ron. He knew his friends wouldn’t let it go that easily, but he really preferred to keep his promise to Percy. At least for now. Thankfully, a really good idea popped into his head and he decided to switch the topic. “I was just thinking that maybe Orion could teach us a few DADA spells…”
“Dear Morgana! Did you finally start to worry about the O.W.L.s?” asked completely surprised Hermione.
“I just thought it can’t hurt to know a few extra spells,” explained Ron and quickly added in a hushed voice “and we can’t be worse than the Snakes. You heard yourself, Hermione. Malfoy is teaching his housemates some spells and they are actually pretty decent now.”
“I can ask Draco to teach you some spells if you’re so impressed by him,” Orion said indignant, but as soon as both of his friends gave him weird looks, he burst out laughing. In all honesty, he was surprised his friends knew something about Slytherins’ training sessions. However, he was certain they didn’t know the exact extent and nature of those trainings. Otherwise Hermione and the Weasleys wouldn’t be so calm about the topic. “Honestly now. If you really want to, I can teach you some spells that I’ve learned before the Triwizard tournament, but I’m not sure how helpful they might be for the exams.”
Cornelius paced nervously in his office. Every now and then he stopped by his desk and tried to read a few more lines of the main article of today’s Daily Prophet. The problem was, he couldn’t read the article in one go, because every line of it was getting him angry beyond imagination.
“Uncle please calm down,” said Rufus Fudge, who was waiting in the office already half an hour to discuss some Ministry matters with his uncle. “It’s just an article…”
“It’s not just any article, Rufus!” interrupted him Cornelius. “This initiative was shady from the very beginning, but until now we didn’t know who stands behind it. I’ve been warned to watch out for the Blacks, but I didn’t want to listen!”
“But uncle, isn’t it a good initiative? I mean, it’s a day care for young witches and wizards. It’s actually a chance for Muggle-borns to get to know the wizarding world even before they get accepted to Hogwarts,” said the younger wizard, who completely didn’t understand what was so bad about the Blacks’ actions.
“Why are they doing it right now when You-Know-Who might be back and attack again?!”
“Didn’t you yourself say that he isn’t back and it’s just Dumbledore’s way of undermining your position as the Minister for Magic?” Rufus tried reasoning.
“Dumbledore is one matter, but Regulus Black is a completely different matter; a more dangerous one,” older Fudge nearly shouted to his nephew. Luckily, he was cautious enough to have cast a privacy charm on the office so now he could shout out his opinions as much as he pleased and there was no threat of other Ministry employees to hear it. “Young Black was suspected of being a Death Eater already during last war and then he mysteriously vanished. That would be all fine, but now he suddenly shows up out of the blue! After fourteen years! And if that wasn’t enough, more and more revelations are coming up regarding the Blacks!”
“But the aurors confirmed Black’s alibi to be true. Why do you insist on distrusting them? Maybe they truly want to do something good for the wizarding community,” said the younger wizard. “I think it wouldn’t hurt…it could actually help you and your reputation to help the Blacks and this initiative of theirs, rather than attacking them.”
“You’re too young and too naive to see through the schemes of the old pureblood families,” reprimanded him Cornelius, who was already getting annoyed that even his own nephew didn’t seem to support his views. “If Regulus Black was innocent then why did he vanish last time when the Ministry was about to prove he was serving You-Know-Who?! And now he showed up but is hiding again. If he has nothing to hide, then why is he working on this orphanage of his from the shadows?”
“Judging by this article the Daily Prophet’s reporters didn’t have any trouble getting in touch with him to get an interview,” commented Rufus, who was already bored with this conversation. “And from what I’ve heard the Blacks have already hired quite a nice group of witches and wizards to run the day-care for younger children.”
“Probably most of them are just pureblood and will be taking care only of pureblood children. Such a nice initiative of theirs,” commented sarcastically Cornelius.
“Actually, they hired witches and wizards with different blood status, but mostly half-bloods. Which reminds me why I came here,” said the younger man and put quite a big pile of documents on the Minister’s desk. “The Blacks have applied for the Ministry’ official help to negotiate with the Muggle Minister to transfer all magical orphans from Muggle orphanages into the new one they are opening this summer. I’ve checked all the documents they’ve handed in and everything seems to be fine. You just have to sign up at the bottom.”
“Absolutely not!” shouted Cornelius. His face was all red from anger, but there was also a spark of satisfaction in his eyes. Finally, there was something he could do to stop all the ‘noble’ initiatives happening without his knowledge.
“What do you mean ‘absolutely not’? They have handed in all the necessary documents. They even want to hire Squibs to help with spotting such orphans in the Muggle world. If Regulus Black were a Death Eater why would he willingly hire Squibs?” Rufus couldn’t take it anymore and snapped. It was true he was young and inexperienced, but he honestly didn’t see the reason to block such a nice idea. “Your theory doesn’t make any sense, uncle.”
The Minister wasn’t listening much to his nephew anymore. He was already satisfied with the opportunity that has presented itself to him. With a smirk on his face he briefly scanned the documents before him. The moment his eyes landed on the signatures at the end, the smirk on his face was replaced by a devious smile. Cornelius pointed to the one, unfamiliar signature next to Regulus’ signature.
“Ah! The mysterious spouse of Mr Black,” Fudge interrupted his nephew’s ranting. “If they had nothing to hide and would want to serve the wizarding community, they wouldn’t be keeping this witch’s identity a secret! Who is this ‘T. M. Black’? No one has even seen this witch. Who knows, maybe it’s again one of You-Know-Who’s followers.”
“Fair enough, I don’t know anyone, who has met this person, but the people working in the Blacks’ day-care facility say only good things about their employers and the whole enterprise, so…”
“The Blacks can’t be trusted, Rufus,” stopped him the Minister. “Mark my words, the Blacks will yet reveal their true colours…and those colours will be just as dark as their family name.”
The last weeks of the school years went by very fast for most students, especially for those who had to take OWLs and NEWTs. With the sudden change of teachers for two most important subject, all the fifth and seventh years focused on the exams. Other students had it a bit more relaxed, especially that with Mad-Eye Moody out of the school, people didn’t try to hex or jinx one another; at least not as often as it used to be during those last few months.
The day to go back home had finally come and everyone was relieved that now they could enjoy their summer. Normally, Orion was one of those few students who didn’t particularly like end of school year, because that meant going back to the Dursleys. However, this year it took all of his self-restraint to contain his joy inside, rather than jumping in sheer ecstasy. Today was the very first time he could proudly say he was going back home for summer. Because indeed now that everyone knew exactly who his parents are, there was no reason to hide that he was going to spend his holidays at his house. Of course he wouldn’t be allowed to use magic, but at least he would live surrounded by magic – after all, the house in Edinburgh had a big library with books on magic, a potions chamber in the basement, moving and talking paintings of his ancestors and a garden where he could fly on his broom, there was even a house elf; this summer no one would forbid him to write to his friends or to meet with them, and most importantly, he would spend whole two months with his parents and if he was lucky he’d be there when his sibling is born.
“Oi, mate, I give up. You tell her to give it a break with the exams,” Orion was brought out of his thoughts by a whining Ron, who tried reasoning with Hermione that the O.W.L.s were already done, and she should at least enjoy the ride back to London.
“Ron, you’re not taking your education seriously enough,” protested the witch and walked over to the door to buy some sweets from the trolley. “What if we didn’t make it through that DADA or Potions exams? I’m rather certain those subjects are important if you want to become an auror.”
“Hermione, give it a rest,” said Orion half sighing, half laughing. “What’s done, is done. We can’t do anything right now, apart from waiting for the results to come in a few weeks.”
“Yes, exactly,” agreed Ron. “And besides, I don’t want to be an auror anymore. It’s no fun if I can’t become an auror with Orion.”
“An auror is a serious profession, Ron,” reprimanded him Ginny, who decided to stay with them in the compartment, because she didn’t want to deal with Dean; and here, she could enjoy secretly admiring Orion for the whole trip to London. “You can’t expect Orion to always do the same things as you want to do.”
“You’re one to talk,” replied irritated Ron. “Do you know what you want to do after graduating from Hogwarts?”
“I think we are all just still a bit stressed out after the exams and we’re overreacting,” Black tried calming down the situation. “Let’s simply enjoy the summer.”
“You seem awfully calm and happy,” said Hermione and stared at him intently, as if she was trying to read something from his face. “You’re usually not so happy to go back to London.”
“Yes, but this time I have so many reasons to be happy,” answered Orion and smiled to himself. He has reached his limit, he simply had to share his happiness with some people. “I’m going to spend summer in my family’s house. With my parents and…no one is going to tell me that magic is freakish.”
Seeing young Black’s joy, both witches and Ron exchanged knowing glances and hesitated to say what was on their minds. However, such behaviour didn’t escape Orion’s eye.
“Is it about me having two fathers or the fact that one of them is our former teacher?” asked Black, holding back a laugh.
“It’s about you being happy to spend two months in one house with Snape,” Ron was the first one to say what they were all thinking. “Don’t get mad mate, but isn’t it…odd to have to deal with him when you know he’s your father? I mean…he was always mean to everyone, but especially to you.”
“It was weird at the beginning…to think your father hates your guts, but then I’ve heard the story from both sides. Father had a grudge against James Potter and imagine that your only child went missing and then one day you find out that your missing child was hidden with the family of your childhood nemesis. And to top it all the only survivor is not your child, but little Harry Potter. I know that is not an excuse to treat any student the way he did, but after some time I got to understand him. Seeing Harry Potter everyday was like an emotional punch that he has failed to protect his own child.”
There was a long silence in the compartment. Everyone tried to sympathise with the potions master, but they just couldn’t forget his general attitude to almost every single student in the school. Orion however didn’t expect them to suddenly like his father. He could very well understand the feeling of being torn apart in this case, since he was dealing with exactly the same thoughts the last year, but eventually he became proud of his father. But then again, Black was biased, since Severus was his parent, so it was easier for him to find the good side in the potions master.
“I guess it does make sense why he became so bitter,” Hermione finally broke the silence. “Although it’s still hard for me to think of him as your parent…I mean, don’t get me wrong, but I kind of can’t grasp this whole situation. I mean…Sirius is a man…and Snape is a man too…and yet they claim you’re their biological child…and you even look like them. Mostly like Sirius, but you do have some features from Snape…how is that even possible…”
Orion didn’t want to be rude, but he simply couldn’t stop himself from laughing this time. It was hilarious to hear Hermione speaking so incoherently and to see the completely baffled expressions on all his friends’ faces.
“And besides, Sirius was the heir to the Blacks, right?” Ron tried to add some of his thoughts to the conversation. “And sorry mate, but the Blacks were always crazy about traditions and whatnot…so how was it even possible for Sirius to marry Snape! Is that the reason Sirius’ mother kicked him out? Because he turned out to be a bent wizard?”
“Not really. My grandparents actually approved of this marriage and it was all according to the traditions,” Orion started his explanation. “Bent wizards in magical families are no taboo, even in the pureblood families. Everything was fine, because my dad was the heir of the Blacks and my father was the heir of the Prince family. Of course, normally the heir of the family is required to secure the bloodline from dying, but there was still uncle Regulus to start his family, so no one was really against this marriage.”
“Seems like a lot of pressure on your uncle,” commented Ginny.
“And I still don’t believe it that any stuck-up pureblood family would allow same-sex marriage,” said Ron, not completely convinced by the story.
“Honestly Ron, history knows many cases like that. The only problem was the inability to produce a new heir, but since my parents always wanted to have children, my father has discovered a way,” the black-haired teen smiled proudly to his friends. “Not only that. I didn’t get the chance to share his with you before, but actually just like Hermione…I’m going to have a baby sister or brother soon.”
“But…how? How is that possible?” Hermione couldn’t take it anymore and started a scientific monologue about human anatomy and how two men are physically unable to conceive children. Young Black was listening to her lecture the first five or so minutes before he got too bored with the witch being all logical. Of course, he wasn’t an idiot and wasn’t even claiming that what she was saying was wrong, but the fact remained that Severus has discovered a potion that allowed wizards to temporarily be able to get pregnant. As far as he knew, the potion wasn’t replacing any body parts of the wizard with some female parts; it simply allowed a new life to be created and supported for the next nine months. That however, required not only the power of that particular potion, but also a great deal of magic from both wizards involved.
“Orion! Orion! Are you even listening to what I’m saying?” asked Hermione, who seemed a bit annoyed with him dozing off. “I was saying that if there is some wonderful way to allow two wizards to conceive, then your fathers should tell others about it. Maybe it would help not only same-sex marriages, but also cure infertility. How come no one apart from your family has heard about this mysterious magic?”
“It’s something that my father worked hard on developing, because he wanted to have children with my dad, and not some product to sell to other people. Besides, it’s working just for two wizards and not infertility,” explained Orion and let out a relieved sigh when he noticed the outskirts of London. He was grateful for being able to talk openly with his friends, but he honestly wasn’t about to tell them the details of the pregnancy potion.
“But why keep it to yourselves if it could help many people,” continued the witch.
“Because every wizarding family has the right to have some special artefacts, spells or potions that they worked hard on developing to help their family members,” answered Black and followed his friends to the corridor.
“Crazy pureblood traditions, eh Orion?” laughed Ron heading towards the exit.
“But that’s why I don’t understand it why Orion wouldn’t want to share such knowledge with others,” said Hermione. “You can clearly see that some of the pureblood traditions are outdated, right Orion?”
“How should I explain it to you,” the black-haired teen wondered for a moment, when he came up with an idea. “Let’s say hypothetically, that your mum is making the best treacle tart in the world. It’s so good that your entire family eats it only for special occasions. Even people not related to your family, who had the chance to taste it, say it’s absolutely amazing. And then one day, someone comes to your mum and asks her to share that recipe so that they can popularize it and sell it in every bakery, restaurant and whatnot. Theoretically, there is nothing wrong in that. On the contrary, it allows other people to get the taste of such amazing tart. But in the end, that recipe become so popular that even your family members don’t consider it anything special anymore. Everyone knows that particular tart and after a while they get fed up with the taste, some even start changing the recipe, making it actually even worse.”
“Alright, what’s your point Orion?” asked sceptically Hermione, when they were about to step out onto the platform.
“My point is, that as long as the recipe stayed with your mum or your family in general, the treacle tart was something special, the original taste was the best. And there is nothing wrong with the fact that sometimes a family has something that’s very special and typical only for them,” Orion finished his explanation.
The witch stood dumbstruck staring at Orion. On one hand, she understood the teen’s point of view, but she still believed that wizarding community was smart and mature enough to handle some secret magical discoveries with care. She didn’t see the reason why the pureblood families insisted on keeping secrets from others, when those secrets might help other witches and wizards.
“Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Hermione, Orion! It’s wonderful to finally see you all again!” without much warning both Hermione and Orion were swooped into a tight motherly embrace of Mrs Weasley.
“Mum let them breath,” commented Bill Weasley, who came along with his parents to pick up his siblings.
“Hermione, I’m sure your parents are already waiting for you at the station,” smiled Mr Weasley and turned towards young Black. “However, Orion, I have honestly no idea what are your summer holiday arrangements this year. Albus didn’t contact us about it, so…”
“He will be spending summer at home,” came a calm, cold answer. Everyone looked in the direction from which the voice came, and their eyes were met with Severus Snape. To everyone’s biggest surprise, the potions master looked different than his usual self. His hair wasn’t greasy at all, his face had a bit healthier shade and although he was still dressed all in black, his clothes were elegant and well-fitting his body.
“Father,” Orion addressed his father politely, while the corners of his lips moved slightly upwards. He felt proud that everyone could see that the feared potions master looked actually handsome, or at least well-groomed when he didn’t have to spend all the time by the cauldrons.
“You take care of Hedwig,” instructed him Severus while at the same time shrinking the teen’s trunk and taking it with him. “This is such a nuisance that you had to come all the way to London, but the rules are rules I suppose.”
“Severus aren’t you taking him to Grimmauld Place?” asked Arthur, who was the only one who didn’t have a big problem to talk with the wizard, even after Albus lost trust in him.
“No, we’re going to our house,” answered plainly the potions master and looked at his son. “We should go, Sirius can’t wait to see you.”
Mixed feelings were clearly showing on the faces of the teens and adults as Severus mentioned Sirius. They were still not sure what to think of the potions master and Black, although Orion was certain, his friends would tell their family what was the real reason for Sirius’ strange behaviour.
“Don’t be strangers this year,” said the teen. “I expect to get some letters from you this summer.”
A/N: Hopefully you liked this chapter. Please look forward to the next one...it's almost ready :) Oh the things I have planned for Orion, his family and friends this summer break >:)
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Meddling with Darkness