Enter Arcturus Black
31st July 1983
Regulus was in the kitchen following a recipe for a cake. Kreacher was watching him with careful eyes while he prepared breakfast for them. Aurora and Harry had yet to awaken. They had begun the transition to sleeping in separate rooms. So far it was mostly a success. He only found Aurora snuggled up in Harry's bed once in the last week. The wards suddenly charmed in warning before he heard the floo go off. Kreacher quickly disappeared, heading straight for the twins. Creeping towards the front hall he flicked his wrist releasing his wand from its holster. With a deep breath he whipped around the corner.
“Expelli-” Regulus watched as his wand was ripped from his hand.
“Regulus, I expected better from you. Learning a wordless expelliarmus should not be that hard. Let this be a lesson, grandson.” A much older man spoke from in front of the fireplace.
“Grandfather.”
Regulus couldn’t believe his eyes. Not once had Arcturus reached out to him. Grandfather had simply left him alone. Allowed him to have his life in peace and kept his secret. What could he possibly be here for now?
“Come grandson. We have much to discuss and please close your mouth. It is very unbecoming, Regulus.”
Regulus instantly closed his mouth and forced his face into a more neutral expression. He found the expression felt a bit more on the uncomfortable side. They went upstairs to the study. Arcturus sat in the chair in front of the desk and he took the seat that was once his fathers.
“Why are you here, grandfather?”
“You have been granted the last few years since your supposed death without my interference. However for too long I sat and let this family run itself into the ground. That changes now.” Arcturus was not a tall man but he still held the authority of the head of family with a certain bravado non the less.
“Albus Dumbledore has reached out to me and taken on the assumption that Harry Potter is under my care. I have said nothing to confirm or deny his accusation. You and I both know that the Potter heir is here and that staying here is a much better option over his muggle relatives.”
He left no room for Regulus to interrupt as he kept talking. His eyes commanded silence. He obliged. Regulus didn’t regret the letter and photos he sent to Arcturus. The Dursleys couldn’t be allowed to get away with their treatment of Harry. It would have devastated Lily if she had seen the giant bruised shaped hand prints on his little body. It had broken Regulus and it was the only time he had reached out to his grandfather asking for a favour. Make them pay. That was all he had written on the parchment.
“I will continue to cover for you as I have been since you returned from the dead. However when my time comes to an end you are expected to take over my duties. Being head of the family allows for many things, many privileges. I know Aurora Lilia Jem Black is the daughter of James Potter and Lily Evans. I know you performed a blood ritual adoption bringing her into our magical bloodline and keeping her altered appearance on a more permanent level that a blood adoption does not.” Regulus bites down on his tongue to keep any lies from spilling. “The Potter heir can carry on his family name but the girl is going to be our heiress and shall be your successor. When she is old enough to marry her partner is going to take our last name and be second to her. Any children she bears shall have our last name and keep our family going.”
“What if Aurora wants to be a Potter later in life and not a Black?” He could not keep his mouth shut. His daughter deserved the right to choose her own path. “I won’t bargain away her future just to appease you.”
A sharp whack could be heard throughout the room. Arcturus had whipped his cane against the desk. His silver blue eyes darkened.
“You can not afford to only live in the moment or be so naive, Regulus. The war may be over but our world is still in shambles and you must think of their future and what is best for them. Both of your children will need the political standing and influence the Black and Potter name carry. I have been working hard the last couple of years to secure their hold on their titles. They can not run forever, despite what you may believe or try to lead them to believe.”
They stared at each other in stoney silence when suddenly the study door pushed open.
“Papa?”
Aurora stood in the doorway. Her eyes quickly looked up at Arcturus before carefully walking around him to reach up for Regulus. He automatically bent over and pulled her up onto his lap.
“Kreacher said we had to wait for breakfast?”
He squished her close and took a deep breath. The soft smell of roses from her shampoo flooded his senses and helped calm him down. He knew his grandfather was right. He would put this all in place with or without Regulus consent. It was better to work with Arcturus and to have an input. They would one day be expected to carry the weight of their family names and it was better to prepare them ahead of time. The world was an endless cycle of spinning.
“Okay. We can continue this discussion after the children have eaten.”
Without another word he stands up and quickly exits the room. Making his way back down to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen he put Aurora in her seat and called for Kreacher to bring Harry. Stepping back in place to continue baking the cake. When he looked at the door Arcturus was walking into the room, the soft tap of his cane echoing.
“You’ve really changed the ancestral home.” His grandfather was surveying the kitchen.
Regulus had painted the walls a sunflower yellow, the floors wooden boards had been fully restored. The ceiling was sky blue. An odd combination that seemed to work in his opinion.
“A new generation means new beginings.”
“Hello. Who are you?” Harry stood at the door, his little hand holding onto Kreachers.
His eyes filled with defiance and a protectiveness Regulus had not seen before. Arcturus' eyes stared down at the young boy in front of him. Harry James Potter, the-boy-who-lived, ready at the age of three years old to defend his home against a stranger. It made his heart soar but it ached at the same time. The trauma placed on his shoulders so young was already heartbreaking.
“Harry, this is my grandfather, Arcturus Black. That makes him Aurora's great grandfather and your adopted great grandfather.”
Aurora, who had been eating some toast, dropped it back down onto her plate. Her eyes snapped towards Regulus.
“Il fait partie de la famille?”
(He is part of the family?)
“Oui, ma petite astre.”
(Yes, my tiny star.)
Kreacher tugged Harry along to his spot beside Aurora.
“Is he here for our birthday?” His eyes still held mistrust in them as he spoke.
“I may have brought a gift of sorts.” Regulus stopped pouring the cake mix into a pan and stared at his grandfather.
Arcturus reached into his pocket and pulled out a parchment. He walked in front of Regulus and placed it in his hands.
“This is the deed to the home in Scotland. I’ve set a private floo connection between here and there. I made the land unplottable and the wards are set to be taken over by the next person I hand the deed too. Which is you, Regulus.”
Regulus takes a small breath before he speaks.
“Kreacher, you are in charge of Aurora and Harry. Arcturus and I have much to discuss.”
“Papa?”
"It’s okay. I’ll be back soon.”
They sat back down in the upstairs study. The deed felt heavy in his hands. He had wanted the summer home in Scotland. It had felt like a pipe dream, not something he would easily achieve. Now it had been handed to him like it was nothing.
“Regulus,” His eyes darted back to Arcturus. “The most ancient and most noble house of Black has secrets only the head of the family and their heir or heiress know. The title does not pass from father to son in the way other old families do it. It is only handed to those who can be trusted with the secrets of this family.”
A pot of tea and biscuits appears on the desk. He poured them both a cup and nodded for him to continue. Before he spoke Arcturus pulled something out of his pocket and placed it on the table. It was a small case and when it opened it showed the Black family tree.
“The family has been led to believe that people have been disinherited from this family for various reasons for as long as the Blacks have been. That is a lie.”
The small case opens and the tree is much bigger than the one on the walls in the room downstairs. Arcturus fingers point out each difference from the case and tapestry.
“Sirius Black, no children and still alive. Andromeda Tonks, alive. Married and has one daughter named Nymphadora. Alphard Black, Dead. No children. Cedrella Weasley, alive and married. She has three sons and many grandchildren. Marius Black is alive and married. He has one son and a daughter. Phineas Black never married nor had children. Isla Black had one child but she was a squib and her children also do not have magic. We still keep an eye on them and make sure they have everything they need. Most of them have turned my help away because this family is very prideful.”
“Most of them?”
“Andromeda is no fool and she has a trust set up for Nymphadora to receive when she comes of age. It won’t be a lavish lifestyle but it’ll be enough that the girl can have a few years to figure out what she wants to do with her life or just to take a break. Ted makes enough for them to live comfortable lives and they want for nothing. She just wants her daughter to have a safety net should anything happen. I sit and have tea on occasion with Marius. His children have turned into delightful adults. His daughter, Harmonia, is a witch and she attended Beauxbatons. She followed love to america. While his son, Metus is a squib and attend the same private school as his father. I worried our name would soon perish. Until the new additions came onto the family tree. Aurora and Harry.”
Regulus looks at where the twins' names sit. They connect to his name but also have lines that connect them both to Lily Evans and James Potter. Unlike the tapestry downstairs there is a distinction of colour difference between Aurora and Harrys connecting lines. The tapestry downstairs also doesn’t have Aurora connected to James and Lily like this one does.
“That’s how you knew I blood adopted Aurora. It showed up on your family tree.”
“Yes. I want Aurora and Harry to attend the same school that Marius did. I have already started the paperwork. Hawkins private school is a fine place. Wizards or Witches have never been allowed to attend before but we have been benefictors of this school for a very long time. Plus, I was able to pull some strings with an important group of people and it has been approved. There are however rules and contracts to be signed.”
“Hawkins Private School? A muggle school?”
“Of course not, Regulus. It is a school dedicated towards Squibs, and muggle half creatures. They learn all about our world and where they come from. While also learning to navigate the muggle world so they are able to take care of themselves since wizarding society will shun them.”
“I’ve never heard of this place before.”
“That is to be expected. This school and its sister school in America are a hidden secret from a majority of wizarding society. Wizards love to think they are so much more evolved from the muggles but we too often go to war over silly things. There is much to discuss and I must take my leave. In a few days time I’ll be summoning you to the summer home and you’ll learn more at that time.”