7 years later
Summary of the last seven years
Three months after Sirus got Harry, Remus showed up at Grimmauld. Apparently he was out of the country, trying to recruit werewolves from other nations for Dumbledore. Although he is no longer loyal to the headmaster after he screwed Sirius over.
Over the years the three youngest children bonded and became best friends. Whenever they are together they are always up to no good, although they always get away with it. Unless Arcturus or Remus is the one that caught them red handed.
And in all honesty they are the reason the three of them didn't end up as spoiled brats. Arcturus also personally oversaw their education and their upbringing. He had to, because Sirius, Bellatrix, Regulus and Lucius spoiled them way too much.
Narcissa and Andromeda helped out too. But Andy had her own daughter to parent and couldn't come over to help much. Narcissa on the other hand was too busy trying to remedy the shitstorm Lucius created by following the Dark Lord. But once she sorted that out she too helped out a lot with the three of them.
Regulus and Barty also got married a year after Harry's arrival. They are currently expecting their first child sometimes during the end of february to the beginning of march.
Nymphadora already started Hogwarts and she too got a very close realtionship with the three of them and is their always willing partner in crime.
Grimmauld 12, 1988. June 21.
Arcturus was currently sitting on the floor of his study with his granddaughter in front of him. They were playing with a muggle boardgame Sirius bought sometimes ago. Although they were a little sceptical about it, it turned out to be surprisingly fun.
A shame the same couldn't be said about the muggle music Sirius likes to play. Especially that 'heavy metal' Arcturus is convinced he only plays to annoy him.
"What do you know about soulmates, Helia?" He finally asked as he packed away the game.
"Bella says they are the person most compatible with you magically and romantically. Not much, other than that." Helia answered after a second or so."Oh, and Siri told me everyone has a soulmark that helps you find that person."
"Indeed that is true. And now that you are eight you are going to get your own." He said and ruffled her hair, and continued before she could say anything."Now, as the head of this family it is my duty to regal you with the wonders and workings of soulmates. Let's start with the origins of the soulmarks.
Soulmarks or soulmate-marks are bestowed by the Fates and Lady magic to every sentient being. Be they witches, wizards, veelas, werewolves or house-elves. Everyone has one, without exceptions, but not from birth. Your mark always appear on your eighth birthday, at the exact time of your birth. Which means you still have to wait for an hour for yours. Soulmarks are also divided into four main categories: Names, Pictures, Puzzles and lastly Dialogues.
Names are the most straightforward category. They are simply the name of your soulmate tattooed onto somewhere on your body with their own little something added to them.
Dialogues are the next most obvious ones. They are the first words you soulmate will say to you. Most of them are a variant of 'Hello' or 'How are you'. Or in my case: 'Who are you and what are you doing in my room?!'. I got lost in your great-grandparents house once and accidentally entered your grandma's room. She never let me live it down. Anyway.
Pictures are harder to match than the former two. Why? Well, for picture type soulmarks to be a real match they need to be at the same place on the body and have to match down to the last detail.
And then last, but not least the puzzle type marks. The hardest to match amongst them all. These marks take the saying 'Two half of a whole' and make it reality. These marks are one picture, divided in the middle and only become whole once you touch your soulmate the first time. Any questions?" He finished his lengthy explanation.
"Aren't name types a little confusing? I mean, there is a lot of people with the same name." She said with a little frown.
"A good question." He said and took a sip of his tea."When you get your soulmark it is black and white. And when you touch your soulmate for the first time it will become coloured. Mine for example became scarlet red once I touched your grandma for the first time. In fact, this is one of the reasons handshakes were introduced back in ancient times."
"I see. Does it always lead to a happy ending? Like in the stories Remi reads to us?" Helia asked after a pause.
"I won't lie to you and say that they do." He said and put her into his lap, despite her protests."But! Ninety percent of the time they do. And if they don't then there is a reason for that. Take for example Dumbledore and Grindelwald. They were soulmates, but because of their vastly different world-views, ideals and morality they didn't work out."
Helia just nodded at his words and left it at that. They then spent the remaining time, before her soulmark shows up, by chatting about her lessons.
Because as the Heiress to a noble family she needs to know a lot of things to lead the family. As such every since she learned how to write, read and count she took lessons in etiquette, politics, customs, dancing, foreign languages and many more. Alongside Harry and Draco of course as they too need to know these.
Although they have a lot of lessons, but as Arcturus found a way to make them fairly interesting they didn't feel that dry for the children. That and they only have two one hour lessons before lunch and three one hour lessons before dinner. Which leaves plenty of time for playing and everything else.
Twenty or so minutes later Helia felt her neck burn, but before she could so much as scream the feeling was gone.
"You didn't tell me about the pain!" She shouted at her grandpa and turned away, pouting.
"Family tradition." He said and ruffled her hair, which only made her pout more."Okay, okay, I have a bar of your favourite chocolate here as an apology."
She snatched it out of his hands and started eating it right away. Arcturus was just smiling fondly at her.
"Now. Let me show you how it looks like." He said when she finished with the chocolate. Then he conjured up a full body mirror.
Helia just nodded, happy once again, and stood in front of the mirror. On it she saw her own the same messy black curls, silver eyes and snow-white skin she is all too familiar with. And although she is still young you could see that she will be a beauty once she grew up. Mainly because she resembled Bellatrix very much when she was Helia's age.
But unlike the day before, when she looked into a mirror the last time, now there was a prominent tattoo just above her collarbone, at the base of her neck.
It started from the right side and ended at the left, which made said tattoo look like a collar. The centerpiece was surrounded by lily petals and soft looking feathers. Said centerpiece was a name. It read: Fleur Delacour.
"It's nice, if a little bit unfortunately placed." She said after she observed her soulmark from every angle.
"Indeed." Arcturus said and banished the mirror."You are very lucky, little lady. I know exactly who is your soulmate, I already met her in fact. Although they didn't say anything about her mark to me. Then again, they may have though it's a muggleborn or halfblood. Black is a somewhat common surname in the USA, after all." He mumbled the last part to himself.
"Can I go now?" Helia asked as she made her way to the door. Arcturus just nodded and shooed her away.
Once she was out of the door he locked it magically and ignited the floo in his study.
"Delacour Mansion." He said after throwing a handful of floo powder into the flames. Soon the face of a house-elf appeared in the flames.
"What can I help you with, Lord Black?" Asked the elf with impeccable english.
"I want to speak with Apolline. Can she receive me now?"
"I shall ask Mistress Apolline. Please wait a second." The elf said and vanished once he nodded.
In less than a minute the elf reappeared.
"Mistress Apolline says you may come over right away if you wish to." He said and Arcturus took a handful of floo powder and did so right away.
A few uncomfortable seconds and many tight turns later he was spat out by the floo in the Delacour mansion. Where the elf cleaned his robes with a snap of his fingers. The room itself was less like the place where guests would be entering from and more like a cozy living room. Very different from the Black Manor or even Grimmauld 12.
"Mistress is waiting for Lord Black in the garden. Gaston will lead the way." The elf said and once Arcturus nodded he turned around and began walking.
In a few minutes they reached the gardens, where Apolline Delacour was sitting under a gazebo and reading a book. When she saw them arrive she stood up.
"Thank you, Gaston. You may leave." She dismissed the elf and then turned to greet Arcturus."It's good to see you again, Lord Black."
"It's my pleasure, Lady Delacour." He said and kissed the air above her offered hand, like etiquette required.
"I am afraid I am in no mood for pleasantries and small talk for today. So, could you please tell me the reason for your visit?" She said as she motioned for him to sit. He nodded at that.
"Very well." He started."Today my granddaughter turned eight and received her soulmark, a name type mark to be exact. And I'd like to know why didn't you tell me about the possibility of your daughter being her soulmate." He finished with a cold smile.
"I didn't want to jump to conclusions. Simple as that." She said, unfazed by his unfriendly expression."Nevertheless. Congratulations! May I know when can Fleur meet her?"
"Helia's birthday party will be on next Sunday. I will owl you the details later. But I am afraid I have to go, I have to pick up Draco for a sleepover. May the stars shine upon your soul and may the night protect you!" He said and vanished from his seat.
Delacour Mansion, later that night
"So? What was so important that you wanted us to stay after dinner?" Apolline's mother asked her with a frown.
She, along with her husband and her sister, came over for the weekly family dinner when Apolline suddenly asked them to remain after dinner. Normally, that wasn't strange, but the serious expression she said it with made them both wary and curious.
"Arcturus Black come over today." Apolline answered as she flicked her wand to distribute the drinks.
"What did he want?" Her aunt asked as she downed her firewhisky in one shot.
"As it turns out, mother was right. Fleur's soulmate is indeed his granddaughter. He wanted to know why we didn't tell him." She answered with a shrug.
"What else did he say?" Her husband asked, a little concerned.
The...questionable behaviour of his children were a well known fact, which is why they didn't really want to entertain the thought of Fleur marrying his granddaughter. What if she turns out just like her parents? Then Fleur's life would be nothing but misery.
"Said granddaughter's birthday party is on next Sunday and he will send the details via owl." She answered and took a sip of her drink.
"How did he said his goodbye?" Her mother asked the very strange question.
"He said 'May the stars shine upon your soul and may the night protect you!', Why does it matter anyway?" She said, confused about the seemingly random question.
"Good!" Her mother replied with a smile."And it matters, because like most ancient wizarding family the Blacks have their own traditions too. One of them is their goodbyes. They say goodbye to different people based on how close they are to them. That one is reserved for the family of the spouse. Which means we are good." She finished.
"Oh, don't make that face! If the girl is brought up by the remaining Blacks then she will turn out fine!" She added after seeing the still uneasy faces of her family."It was only those few that somehow turned out like that. Although I wonder how. Their mother was a real sweetheart, and I highly doubt she or Arcturus would voluntarily bring them up like that. Probably the Black Madness took them over. But I don't know much about that. You should ask him next week."
The others just nodded and accepted her explanation. Soon they wrapped up their impromptu meeting and retired for the night.