Chapter 30
In the luxurious drawing room of number 12 Grimmauld Place, two women sat in leather armchairs by the fireplace, enjoying a leisurely conversation over a cup of tea. The young, light-brown beauty was Andromeda Black, and her companion was the unofficial head of the family, Walburga. The matriarch of one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Wizarding Britain looked to be in her forties and possessed a typically Black appearance: long, raven-black hair framed a stern, aristocratic face and subtly accentuated her dark brown eyes, which seemed almost black in the shadows dancing around the fireplace.
“So, Dora took the engagement well?” Lady Black took a sip of tea.
“Yes, Auntie. She’s a true Black, she understands everything. And besides…” Andromeda placed her cup on the plate, “her fiancé is very powerful magically and promises to grow into a real handsome man. And the age difference is nothing; in a year she’ll be going to Germany. While she’s earning the title of Master Combatant, the boy will grow up.”
“Very good, I was starting to worry.” Walburga nodded contentedly and placed her cup on the table. “I hope I beat the boy up at Hogwarts, he has a nasty temper. He’s been spoiled too much.”
“It’s okay, she’ll take care of him. I trained Ted well back in the day.” The woman grimaced slightly, as if she had a toothache. “I’ll help my daughter with advice if she needs it.”
“Don’t overdo it, we need the boy alive and well!” The family matriarch looked closely into her niece’s brown eyes. “After finishing school, the boy will walk the bride down the aisle and then head straight to Italy, where the best artificers are. I’m already negotiating…”
A bright flash lit up the living room, releasing from the fireplace a young couple with a black-haired girl of about ten. While the father of the family ostentatiously took out his wand and cleaned everyone of soot, the girl hurried to her relatives.
“Lady Walburga, Andi, you won’t believe it! We saw Bella’s daughter on the platform!” The brunette, forgetting her manners, stared excitedly at her interlocutors.
“Shut up, you stupid woman! It can’t be her!” Sirius growled at his wife. “I personally buried a dead child with Rabastan while Rodolphus comforted his grief-stricken cousin.”
“I went to school with her!” The girl pointed at the mantelpiece, which was filled with numerous photographs. “This girl is the spitting image of Bellatrix!”
“Her eyes, you idiot!” The man came closer. “They’re just like Sohatik’s, she’s definitely his sister!”
“But she’s dead! And why is she the spitting image of…” Mrs. Black broke off, looked closely at her husband, then turned her gaze to Andromeda and, turning to her husband, hissed through her teeth. “You bastard! A dog!”
Snap! The woman received a resounding and rather hard slap from her husband and, losing her balance, fell onto the soft carpet. The girl, who had been watching this scene, immediately ran to her mother.
“Quiet! You’re acting like trolls! Kreacher!” Walburga didn’t even raise her voice, but silence fell over the living room, immediately broken by the loud pop of an old house elf appearing, wearing a white pillowcase with the family crest. “Old slacker, bring two memory vials and prepare a pensieve in the study. Now!”
The faithful servant nodded silently and disappeared with the same pop, leaving two crystal vessels on the table. By then, Andromeda had helped her daughter-in-law up and waved her wand in front of her face, removing the potential bruise, all the while glaring angrily at her cousin.
“Mary, don’t get upset, we’ll figure everything out.” Walburga handed one bottle to her daughter-in-law and the second to her son. “Memories.”
While the adults used wands to draw silvery, glowing threads from their temples into the provided crystal vials, the little girl ran up to her grandmother. Lady Black, with a kind smile, stroked her head and leaned toward her.
“Cassiopeia, you and your mother will go to your room now, and she’ll read you a story there.” Walburga looked up at Mary. Under the matriarch’s cold gaze, Mary handed her the bottle and, taking her daughter by the hand, headed up to the third floor, encouraging the girl in a feigned cheerful voice.
“To the office, quickly.” Walburga gave her daughter-in-law a quick glance and headed for the stairs without turning around.
“Siri, if you raise a hand against Mary again…” Andi glared at her cousin. “And you will feel the wrath of the black healer.”
“Scared the Niffler with a Galleon. My wife—I raise her the way I want.” Sirius met his cousin’s gaze defiantly.
The journey to the head of the family’s office was complete silence. A memory pool was already standing on a special pedestal, into which Walburga immediately “poured” her memories and lowered her head. Meanwhile, the cousins settled into comfortable chairs, neither wanting to speak to each other. Half an hour later, the head of the family emerged from the pool and invited her niece over. For the next twenty minutes, they watched a “magical movie” together. Returning to the real world, both women glared at Sirius, who, bored, picked up a parchment from the table and began drawing obscene pictures.
“Son, judging by her eyes, this girl is Harry’s sister.” The mother’s warm tone did not bode well. “Tell me, what kind of Dementor is she, the spitting image of Black?”
– Ummm… I don’t know. – Sirius’s eyes darted around the room, searching for clues. – Maybe she takes after her grandmother?
“You and James broke that mudblood together.” Andromeda sat down on a chair and looked reproachfully at her cousin. “After what you did to her, she couldn’t refuse you.”
“It was an accident, we were drunk and Elk suggested…” “Snap!” The mother gave her son a resounding slap.
“Shut up! No one must know about this! Oh Merlin, sometimes I wish Dumbledore had abolished corporal punishment.” Walburga’s eyes blazed angrily. “You’re lucky the main blowback hit James, otherwise I would have followed Carlos’ example and thrown you out of the house! Now rack your lustful brains and remember the last time?!”
Sirius closed his eyes and began counting something on his fingers, and after a couple of minutes he stared at his mother in surprise.
“It fits! I had another fight with Mary and went to spend the night at Jamie’s, we had a blast – Lils was so hot…” A parental slap landed with a resounding slap. “But how? We tested Harry, the potion confirmed Prongs’ paternity.”
“Tell me, brother Siri,” Andromeda folded her hands and rested her chin on them (yes, it’s not aristocratic, but everyone around here is on their own), “have you checked both children?”
– Why? – The overgrown idiot stared at his cousin in confusion. – But they’re twins!
– Idiots… Auntie, sometimes I think he’s adopted. – Andromeda turned to the elderly lady, who covered her face with her hands and shook her head. – Tell me, brother, are you familiar with the term – triad?
“It’s when a woman has sex with two men at the same time: she can give birth to twins, but the fathers will be different.” Walburga began explaining the new word to her wayward son. “Of course, there are many conditions and compatibility is required, but considering that crooked ritual you performed on the girl while drunk… We need to think it all through.”
“I’m interested in two questions: why is she a sorceress and how did the Platinum Bitch end up with her?” Andromeda looked at Sirius with interest.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” the man decided to go on the offensive. “It’s all Dumbledore’s fault! He told me the girl was a Squib, Poppy confirmed it, and then I suggested strangling her. Why would there be such rickets in the family?”
– And you didn’t check it yourself? – The mother poked her son in the chest. – And where did they put the girl then?
“I’m not a mediwitch, and Poppy is under oath, she can’t lie about the diagnosis.” Sirius jumped up and began pacing the office. “Albus, you bitch! You screwed up with the boy, now you’ve decided to screw up with the girl! But how? We need to check!”
– What exactly? – Andromeda asked her wayward cousin.
“The old man ordered Snivel to deliver her to Lils’s relatives; I’ve been there.” The wizard grinned wickedly. “I’ll go there now and interrogate that Muggle. If necessary, I’ll gut her brains and turn her into a vegetable, but I’ll find out if they had the girl and what happened next.”
“At least one good idea. Okay then.” Walburga started giving orders. “Sirius, go to the Muggles and find out everything you can. Andromeda, go to Mary and talk to her, then go to Narcy. In the meantime, I’ll give Orion and Regulus a treat; they’re at the Ministry right now. There’s a family council this afternoon.”
***
Sirius Apparated near Petunia’s house. He’d been there only once, but he remembered the dull and rather monotonous place well. Lils’s sister was getting married at the time and invited her friends and sister to a quiet family celebration. He and Jamie decided to relieve the boredom: first they served cake, then Prongs turned the Hog into a pig in front of the paralyzed guests. Sirius himself bent over and violated the bridesmaid, who looked at him with utter contempt.
But the wild fun came to an end – Lily cast a Patronus on Dumbledore, who arrived with a group of Obliviators. Regulus was leading the squad, so the Marauders asked him to leave a memory for the Pig and the Horse. So they would remember how much more powerful wizards are than pathetic Muggles, lest the mustachioed fatso start showing off with his business. The redhead was against it, but who would listen to a slave?!
Things didn’t go well with Lily, after all… She and Jamie wanted to prank Snivellus, and their friend brought an old tome from home—it would have been a great prank. The plan was to make the red-haired Mudblood an obedient concubine… But they were drunk and didn’t speak much Aramaic, so they practically ended up with a wife. Sure, she was obliged to follow orders, but they couldn’t do anything to her! When Snivellus struck her, he collapsed from the pain and convulsions. It’s a good thing the primary binding went to James, as the one initiating the ritual, otherwise Sirius wouldn’t have been able to marry his Slytherin ice child.
Sirius sometimes missed the red-haired Mudblood, especially her mouth—she did such things… For the first six months, she was completely apathetic and a log in bed, but then she got used to it, and the knockout blows on Sirius became less severe and less severe. But then, more and more, by the end of her studies, she had somewhat figured out what had been done to her and began to manipulate James, who could do nothing to her. Potter had to live with her, and then the Mudblood got pregnant and started demanding that they be legalized. Who would let her? But Lily wasn’t stupid, and while she and her friend were busy, she showed up at St. Mungo’s, where she gave birth!
It was a major scandal. Jamie was banished from the family, as he could now only marry Lily, especially since she had already given birth to heirs. And everyone found out! Sirius was then spanked by his father for the first time; performing a forbidden ritual under Dumbledore’s nose was sheer idiocy. But Lord Orion got carried away, and the Black heir, at the family’s request, was immediately married to that Slytherin bitch. She despised him, he couldn’t stand her—a typical pureblood family. Perhaps only Narcy and Lucius stood out, and what did she see in him?
All these thoughts flashed through the mind of the Black family’s eldest son, a fine fellow, a master of combat, and simply a handsome man, renowned throughout Wizarding Britain as a true ladies’ man, as he approached a familiar house. But a surprise awaited him – the house was abandoned, and had been for a long time. The “For Sale” sign in front of the building, with its dirty and dusty windows, was askew and gleaming with peeling paint. The house itself was depressing: the whitewashed walls had turned gray, the plaster was crumbling in places, the roof was leaking, but the most important thing was on the front door – written in red paint on yellowed boards:
“Strange. I’ll have to ask the neighbors.” Sirius canceled the Muggle-repelling charm and headed toward the house across the street, fortunately having removed his cloak beforehand. His classic black three-piece suit made him look quite respectable.
Approaching the nice, clean house, Sirius rang the bell. Yes, he knew what a bell was, and Lily had infected him with some modern trends. He even had an enchanted motorcycle, which was very helpful in picking up cute Muggle girls near bars and then taking them to the house Uncle Alphard had given him. The door was opened by a pretty girl of about fifteen, light redheaded, with gray eyes in a childish face.
– Hello, did you want something? – asked the girl.
“Yes, my dear, my name is Sirius, and I’m a friend of the Dursley family. I lived in Europe for a long time, came back, and wanted to surprise an old friend…” The wizard looked back demonstratively. “But they moved somewhere and didn’t tell me. My niece was also living with them – a black-haired girl named Rigel. Can you help me?”
– You didn’t read the newspapers or watch TV? – The girl stared at the guest in surprise.
“I’m a scientist, I’ve spent the last seven years high in the mountains. What happened?” Sirius quietly pulled out his wand and cast a chatter spell.
“I was little then, but I remember the house being surrounded by the police. The news later reported that the girl had been tortured and raped for a long time. The Dursleys.” The teenager grimaced at the word. “They turned out to be real monsters and sadists, and they starved her to death. The girl couldn’t take it anymore and killed them while they were sleeping. She did the right thing! Serves them right.”
– Where did she go then? – Sirius stood at attention.
“They sent her to Central Hospital, she barely survived. Vernon did something terrible to her.” The red-haired neighbor thought for a moment. “We were packing for the baby later, and I gave him my favorite set of markers. We didn’t know, really! I think her name was Rigel… Yes, that’s right, then they sent her to a shelter, but I don’t know which one.”
“Is that all?” Sirius began to examine his interlocutor: long legs in short shorts, a firm butt, a toned tummy, and B-cup breasts. A sweet childish face and red hair completed the pleasant picture.
“I think so. The house has been empty ever since; no one wants to live there. The mayor of Little Whinging said that if the house isn’t bought this year, it’ll be torn down and a park will be built in its place.” The girl felt a lustful gaze on her and began to fidget. “Is that all? Do you have any more questions?”
“Why aren’t you at school?” The wizard looked at the teenage girl thoughtfully.
“I’m not a boarding school student, and assembly is already over; classes start tomorrow. My parents should be back any minute now; they’re dropping my little brother off.” The girl tried to close the door, but the wizard deftly put his foot in its way.
– Imperio! – Sirius glanced around furtively and checked his mechanical wristwatch. – Well, I still have an hour, I’ll say I asked the neighbors. Show me your bedroom.
The red-haired girl, her eyes glassy and a tear trickling down her cheek, turned mechanically and walked into the house. Black smiled lustfully and, casting a signal spell over the surrounding area, followed her.
