Chapter 7
Cissa and Luc got to work on letters to those they wanted to invite into Harry’s life now that his vaults were protected from any greedy hands and they solidly had Harry in their care, had purchased anything he needed for the immediate future, and gotten him looked at and healed by Poppy and Isla. Luc was going to write to Minerva and Rubeus about having Harry and having them see and spend time with him as well as Augusta Longbottom about Neville spending time with Draco and Harry, while Cissa was writing to Remus about both Harry and Sirius, her sister Andromeda about the same, and Molly Weasley. She knew Molly would love to have their children spend time together. Perhaps they could even homeschool the younger children together as the two were just about of age to start schooling (Harry still had about a month until his birthday but he’d be old enough come September). And she knew that Andromeda and Remus would want to immediately come by and talk both about Harry and about their suspicions in regards to Sirius. She made sure to include a time that they should stop by so as not to surprise Harry too much or catch them at a bad time. She made sure Luc agreed with her proposed time (which he did) before writing it in each of those two letters.
Once the two of them had finished their letters, they sent off a couple of their owls (they had a few since Luc was involved with the Ministry and sometimes multiple were needed) with their letters and hoped they’d get replies fairly soon.
The rest of the day was spent making sure Harry’s room was fully set up the way he wanted it (he was actually giving some input after some prompting from Draco), letting the boys play so Harry could get more comfortable with Draco and form a bond with him, and decompressing from some of the stress they’d been under recently. The most pressing matters had been dealt with and they could take some time to breath before jumping back in with Sirius and anything else that might pop up with Harry. After all, they didn’t believe Voldemort was fully gone and knew something was up with how he’d vanished.
The two boys were tucked in and put to sleep not long after dinner, with Draco refusing to leave Harry’s room to go to his own to sleep. They relented and let the two have a sleepover since they were so adamant about it. Cissa read them a bedtime story from The Tales of Beedle the Bard and kissed them both on the forehead once they’d nodded off partway through the story. Afterwards, she and Luc got ready for bed themselves before falling asleep and putting another busy day behind them.
In the morning, it didn’t take long for them to get replies to their letters. Harry (who’d woken up as late as Draco) and Draco were eating breakfast with them when the replies arrived. Harry was looking at the owls with wide eyes and gently reached out a hand to pet them, preening when they leaned into his touch as he softly stroked the feathers. Cissa waited to open the letters until they’d all eaten and Harry and Draco were occupied with something else. She and Luc were sitting in their home office before they turned their attention to the six letters they’d received that morning.
Augusta and Molly were both thrilled at the prospect of having their children play together and possibly become friends, especially knowing that Harry was now in a magical home. Augusta was especially happy since she knew that Frank and Alice had wanted Neville and Harry to be playmates when Alice and Lily found out they were expecting babies due so close together. Molly was also interested in Cissa’s idea to homeschool their children together since Draco and Harry would be starting primary school soon and she’d prefer to homeschool them as Molly had been doing with her older children.
They then opened the letters from Minerva and Rubeus. Rubeus was excited to see Harry again, seeing as he’d been heartbroken to leave him at the Dursley’s doorstep a few years ago. Minerva was happy that Harry was away from “those horrid people” as she’d seen first-hand what they’d been like before Albus decided to place Harry there against any of their protestations. Both were already inquiring about when they’d be able to see Harry and if they’d bring Harry and Draco to visit at Hogwarts. Cissa looked over at her husband at that, briefly talking about if they should bring the two to Hogwarts. It was decided that since Albus didn’t have guardianship over Harry anymore that it’d be fine as long as they didn’t let Harry leave their sight or the sight of Minerva. They trusted her to go head-to-head with Albus if need be.
Then it was time for Andromeda and Remus’ replies. As expected, both were just a little chaotic. Andy was incensed that their favorite cousin would be imprisoned without any sort of trial and readily agreed to the time Cissa had suggested for her to come by to both meet Harry and talk this over with Cissa and Luc, and Remus had readily agreed as well. His anger in his letter seemed more subdued, but Cissa knew that just meant it was simmering beneath the surface and would be dangerous once it had a definitive outlet. To know that his best friend and love had been accused and convicted, most likely wrongfully if Cissa and Luc were right, of the murder of three of their other friends was both heartbreaking and a relief. A relief to know he might not have betrayed them in such a way, but heartbreaking to think he’d been suffering for something somebody else did for any length of time.
The two of them would be coming by in a couple days, with Andy bringing Tonks, so Cissa and Luc had a couple days to tell Harry a little about who’d be coming by beforehand. She’d told Harry a bit about Remus, but hadn’t mentioned her sister and niece yet since she hadn’t wanted to overwhelm him with the names of family members and family friends that were now in his life. She’d also need to talk to him and Draco about upcoming playdates with both the Weasleys and Neville Longbottom. They needed other friends and children to socialize with as they were growing.
They waited until the next day to mention anything to their boys. Harry was settling into the manor nicely and seemed to be growing more comfortable with himself and more confident in how he spoke and acted the longer he was there and the more time he spent with Draco. It was wonderful to see him flourishing once he was taken care of properly. And it was nice to be able to undo what the Dursleys had started trying to instill in the young child.
“Harry, Draco, we have a few people that will be coming to visit tomorrow,” Luc started after breakfast, looking at the two. They both looked a little confused and directed their questioning glances to both Luc and Cissa.
“Two of them will be my sister and her daughter. Draco, you remember Aunt Andy and her daughter Tonks?” Cissa asked, watching as Draco nodded. “Harry, dear, you’ll meet your Aunt Andy and her daughter Tonks. Andy is my sister and Tonks is her daughter who’s a few years older than you. She’s very energetic and has a type of magic that allows her to change her appearance to whatever she wants.” Harry’s eyes went wide with wonder. Cissa laughed at that. “The other person who’ll be coming is somebody I’ve told you both about - Remus Lupin, or as Harry knows him, Moony.”
Harry lit up at that. She was glad that he might recognize Remus when they saw each other. Merlin knows that Remus needed Harry in his life again just as much as Harry needed Remus. She was still appalled to learn that Remus had been dissuaded from reaching out to Harry when he’d been placed with Petunia.
The rest of that day passed with Harry and Draco asking occasional questions about Remus and Andy. Harry especially. Draco had at least met Andy and Tonks, but these were entirely new people for Harry. And while Harry had met Remus, he most likely didn’t remember much about him considering he hadn’t seen him for nearly 4 years.
Around lunch the following day, Cissa and Luc gathered with Harry and Draco in front of the floo, awaiting the arrival of their guests. Harry was nearly hiding behind Cissa’s legs. He tended to do this whenever they had company coming, she’d realized. He was quite a shy child. It was rather adorable.
Green flames signaled somebody’s arrival. Andy and Tonks stepped through, their eyes flitting down briefly to Harry hidden behind her legs, but focusing back on Cissa. They greeted each other before the two of them greeted Luc and then Draco. That’s when they focused once more on Harry. Andy crouched down so she was closer to Harry’s height while Cissa gently stepped behind Harry and laid a hand on his back. Draco stuck by his side the entire time.
“Harry, dear, this is my sister Andy and her daughter Tonks,” Cissa said, introducing Harry to the two. They smiled at him and he offered them a hesitant smile back.
Andy was able to talk to Harry a little bit before the fireplace was filled with green flames again, causing Harry to retreat a bit behind Cissa’s legs again. This time when the flames receded, Remus walked through and into the room. There was a moment where Harry seemed to freeze a bit, looking intently at the man before he perked up, a smile spreading across his face.
“Moony!”
Remus froze at the nickname falling from Harry’s lips before the boy darted out from behind Cissa’s legs and over to Remus, who was able to come out of his shocked stupor just in time to catch Harry in a hug. Harry smiled as Remus wrapped his arms around him, his own arms wrapping around the man’s legs. Cissa thought she saw his eyes start to water a bit as he smiled down at Harry. Harry looked up at Remus after a moment.
“Moony!” he said again, a little quieter this time.
“Hi cub. It’s good to see you again,” Remus said, slipping into the nickname he’d given Harry. While James, Lily, and most of their friends had taken to calling Harry “Prongslet” both before and after his birth, Sirius and Remus had given him their own nicknames of “Pup” and “Cub” respectively. The new nickname just made Harry smile a bit brighter.
Harry clung to Remus for a bit before he was convinced that the man wouldn’t disappear if he left to play with Tonks and Draco. Once he’d been convinced, the other two children ran off with Harry to another part of the manor so Luc and Cissa could talk with Andy and Remus about Sirius and anything they wanted to know about how they’d gotten custody of Harry. They didn’t say too much in their letters since there was simply too much to tell.
“How did you end up with Harry? I was told that he’d been placed with Lily’s family,” Remus said, starting off their conversation.
“Well, he had been with Lily’s sister and her family,” Luc said, a dark look coming over his face. “However, we happened to run into him when we took Draco to a muggle park and noticed that he seemed a bit thin for his age, especially compared to his cousin. His aunt was also not paying any sort of attention to him. Cissa and I decided to try and find out more about his home life and what we found was abhorrent. The poor boy was being abused and neglected in the home he was supposed to be loved in. He was already doing a majority of the chores and he’s not even 5 yet!” Luc had to stop to take a few deep breaths to calm himself. Cissa continued for him.
“Not just that, but Arabella had told Albus that something was wrong with that house and how Harry was being raised and he did nothing. Minerva had warned him about the Dursleys before he left Harry there. So, we took matters into our own hands. We only recently finalized everything. Albus, as far as I’m aware, still doesn’t know about any of this. Amelia Bones helped us keep this under wraps so that nobody would find out, at least for a while. Harry didn’t know about being a wizard or anything about his parents, so we’ve been fixing that. You can help with that especially,” Cissa said, looking at Remus, “since you knew the two of them much better than I. Anyways, we got him looked over and just bought him all he’ll need in terms of clothes and some toys and books a few days ago.”
“I’m glad he’s with a family that’ll love him and treat him right,” Remus said, looking relieved at that. Cissa looked over at Andy to see her absolutely fuming.
“How dare Albus place him there! He should’ve been placed with our family before he even thought about placing him with Lily’s sister! I didn’t know Lily overly well, but even I know how much her sister hated her. And they don’t even have the means to protect Harry should any dark wizards or witches find him! How idiotic!”
Andy was a force to be reckoned with, especially when she was mad.
“Yes, well, we’ve got him now. And if Albus tries anything with him, he’ll have to deal with the wrath of the House of Black,” Cissa said with a wicked smirk that her sister mirrored, causing both Remus and Luc to have shivers run up their spines. Those two, along with Sirius, always knew how to be scary when they wanted. It was almost an innate trait within the family at this point. “Now, onto the situation with Sirius.”
Both Andy and Remus sobered up a bit.
“We discovered that Sirius apparently never had a trial to determine whether or not he was indeed the Secret Keeper for the Potters or to determine if he killed Pettigrew. I looked into it a bit more, and discovered Priori Incantatum was never used on his wand as well and Veritaserum was never administered to him,” Luc stated, eyes cold with restrained anger at the utter incompetence of the entire thing. “We’re planning to look further into it and wanted to bring you two in on the entire thing.”
Remus and Andy just stared at them for a moment. Cissa could see the anger building in Remus’ eyes while Andy’s was starting to show in her facial expression.
“You’re telling me,” Andy started, fury starting to colour her voice, “that our dear cousin, didn’t even get a trial before being sent to Azkaban so they don’t even know if he did it?!”
“That’s correct,” Cissa answered.
“This will not stand. I don’t care how many people I have to hex, we will get his case looked at. Siri would never betray the Potters. I heard how he talked about them and I saw how he looked at Harry. No way could a man like that betray them.”
Remus looked between wanting to cry and fly into a rage. He took a few deep breaths before speaking.
“What do we need to do?”