Who would have guessed that personality was genetic?
Dumbledore had flopped down at his desk and began to work on his third Lemon Drop of the hour. Sirius Black, who had been proven to not have betrayed the Potter’s mere hours earlier, had taken Harry Potter against his wishes. He had no control over it, and he doubted he could convince Sirius Black to hand over the child.
Then he got news that Sirius Black claimed his Lordship over the house of Black. Harry Potter, who was about to become the poster boy for the light, had been taken by the lord of a very notorious family. A Dark family.
The icing on the cake was that he didn’t even know where the man had taken Harry Potter, so even if he wanted to try and convince him to bring the child to the Dursley family, he couldn’t. It was all very stressful. Aggravating to say the least. He just hoped that he would hear word from Sirius soon. At least so he could know that they were both alright.
He cast Tempus once again.
It was 2:30 in the morning, and it was probably important that he got rest. After all, the school would be celebrating the fall of a Dark Lord tomorrow, and he knew that many people were going to end up in his office due to their means of celebration.
He sighed and made his way to his bed. Harry Potter would be fine… He hoped as much anyway.
Sirius Black was absolutely shocked when he finished bathing and went to go get his godson back from his mother.
There his godson was, asleep in the arms of his mother. More shockingly, there his mother was, laying on the sofa, asleep with Harry Potter in her arms.
Kreacher popped quietly into the room and looked at his new lord.
“Filthy Blood traitor Master mustn't bother Mistress or young Master.” It came out as a hushed hiss, the house elf glaring up at him. The man stared down at his Mother and Godson, and then over to Kreacher. There was no way he was going to win this battle, and if he did disturb the two sleeping on the sofa, Kreacher would most definitely be less cooperative.
“Cover them up, I’m heading to my old room. Wake me when Harry wakes.” Kreacher looked almost taken aback by his compliance to leave the two alone, but nodded.
Kreacher watched as the new Lord Black made his way up the stairs. He was coming to the conclusion that his Filthy Blood traitor master might not be so hard to listen to, so long as he was respectful to mistress.
Sirius hadn’t even noticed how tired he was until he collapsed onto his old bed. He passed out before he could even question why his old room was still spotless. After all, it had been six years since he set foot inside of Grimmauld place, let alone inhabited his room.
But no, the thought didn’t even have the chance to cross his mind before he was greeted by sweet dreamless sleep, his brain too exhausted to even give him a dream, too exhausted to bring a nightmare.
Luckily, Harry Potter didn’t have any nightmares either. He would have, but Walburga Black’s comforting hold had chased them away. He would have told her that, though she wouldn’t understand, but he fell asleep as soon as he was done with the food he had been brought.
Miles away, Remus Lupin had finally caught wind of what had happened at Godric's hollow, and he promptly began his journey back home. He was more panicked than he had ever been in his entire life. Including when his friends had found out about his furry little problem. He had to get back for Harry, and from what he had heard, Sirius. If what he had heard was true, then Peter had betrayed them, and he didn’t know what brash things Sirius might do with that knowledge.
Walburga Black felt awkward sitting across from Remus Lupin as her son took his sweet time doing Merlin knows what. It had been a week since Sirius had brought Harry to Grimmauld, and in that week, Remus Lupin had returned the Britain and now was currently in front of her, sitting quietly while looking absolutely nervous as her eyes ran over him.
Walburga had many a reason to be angry. Not necessarily because of Lupin's presence, but because of a number of things really. The main cause was probably the fact that her Niece, Bellatrix LeStrange had continued to do Voldemort’s dirty work, even after he had seemingly been defeated. She had gone and attacked the Longbottom family, which was a big mistake, and had basically orphaned their infant son.
To make matters worse, Bellatrix seemed to think that such… behaviors would have no consequence. Obviously the woman had read in the paper that her cousin had taken up his spot as Lord Black, or she would have laid low. Now, thanks to her stupidity, she was disowned from the Black family. Any money that her marriage may have given the LeStrange family was now going straight back to the Black family vault. The marriage dissolved, and Bellatrix no longer being a part of the most esteemed house of Black.
Foolish girl.
Not to mention other stressful things were happening. Arcturus had flooed over so that he could make sure Sirius was… well… Serious about his decision to take his rightful place as Lord of the family. That had been stressful all on it’s own. Then, a bunch of matriarchs that Walburga had been close enough to had decided to come pouring in with Marriage proposals and betrothal contracts between women and men in their families, all in hope of her signing on behalf of her son. Unlikely. She had no power to do so, and no will to attempt it. After all, she knew exactly how rebellious her son was, and he absolutely hated Betrothal contracts…
After all, that’s why he wasn’t married yet. He hated them, and so any contract that could potentially be for him, Walburga and Orion had destroyed. Besides, most Betrothals benefited one house slightly more than the other, and any offer they had for Sirius, well, they never really suited them. More Money? It could be useful one day, but they had enough Galleons to buy the entirety of Wizarding Britain five times over and still have enough that at least five more generations wouldn’t even have need of a job. And it was growing, as Orion had a job.
Now Remus Lupin was sitting before her, looking like he would prefer to be in the company of just about anyone else. Walburga felt the same about being in his company, though her list of people whose company she would prefer not to be in was just about as long as a list could get without it being the list of everyone who lives in Britain.
Finally, Sirius had decided to grace them with his presence, and Walburga, albeit hesitantly, handed the Potter in her lap over to her son. Over the last week she had grown somewhat… Attached to the small child. That surprised her son, but he had overcome such surprise, as he had seats on the wizengamot that he now had to use when it came to the Death Eater trials, and that meant that he was going to have to go to said trials or find a proxy; at the moment, he didn’t really trust anyone to be his proxy.
The main thing he was concerned with was something that he had solved easily. He had made his mother swear not to preach about blood purity to his Godson, nor was she allowed to talk about her ideals on Half breeds unless she had something nice to say. Not that his mother said anything really bad about Half-breeds. Their family had creature blood in it, and they would never downgrade their own family. Unlike other families in the Wizarding world, who seem to think that their shit smells better than anyone else’s.
“Remus, this is my Mother, Mother this is my Remus. Now that you’re acquainted I think we ought to rip the news off like a band-aid-” He didn’t get the chance to announce the news, as his Mother knew everything, obviously.
“You and Lupin have been dating since sixth year, yes, I know. I do keep in touch with people, and you know how much trouble your ex-Cousin was always trying to cause in the family. You act like she wouldn’t tell me that you were dating a Werewolf,” She looked at the looks of surprise and shame. Why the werewolf felt shame, she had no idea, “Oh don’t act so surprised. As if I couldn’t tell. Sirius, you know that I have at least one secret of everybody I have ever met. I dig, and then I have the advantage. Merlin.” Remus hung his head and went to stand.
“I suppose I should be leaving now. I apologize for even entering your house Madam Black.” She raised an eyebrow at him.
“Lupin, if I was going to kick you out I wouldn’t have even let you come inside. I don’t know what people have been telling you, but I’m not nearly as biased against magical creatures as you seem to think. If I were to find them unappealing, like most pureblood families, I would be denouncing my own blood, and that is far below the Black Family. We do not bow to the whims of others.” She was annoyed that someone had told him that she would disapprove of him simply because he was a werewolf.
“So you don’t… Mind that I… You don’t mind?” He was shocked to the core by this revelation.
“What the bloody fuck do you think? I just told you, I have creature blood in my veins. I am no Malfoy, I will not denounce magical creature, especially considering the fact that there are quite a few in my very blood line. I mean, face it, we all know that the Malfoy family gets that unnaturally blond hair from somewhere, and the ferret like features that they all seem to have? For all I know they are part Gridylow.” Sirius couldn’t contain his laughter after that one. No, his mother rarely said things around those lines, but they were almost always about the Malfoy family, and she always hit them with scathing remarks about their looks or magic or the simple fact that they think money is equal to power.
Remus Lupin blinked once. Twice. Then he turned to stare at his boyfriend with a look that obviously meant he was about to say something that the other man was likely to disagree with.
“Your Mother seems to share the same view of the Malfoy Family as you do. I believe that I have been misled to believe that you were nothing like her, and yet, I can see the similarities are not only skin deep.” Walburga was well on her way of taking the werewolf off of her list of people who she’d prefer not to be around.
“Well, is there any other news you wished to share with me, besides the fact that you two have yet to pick a date, send out the invitations, or even really plan the wedding at all.” Sirius never did know how she knew things that he had only ever mentioned when he was alone with people that she had never even met.
He voiced as much.
“I know all of your secrets, Sirius. I am your mother, after all. Just like I know all of Regulus’ secrets. I know even the most well guarded secrets in this family. Nobody can keep anything from me for very long.” She was looking at him like he was stupid.
Remus just shook his head.
Sirius may not have seen it, but he was just like his mother. He remembered his dark haired friend saying something almost exactly along those likes just a few years ago. He had proclaimed that he was they were his very best friends and that he knew every single one of their secrets no matter how hard they tried to hide them.
Well, he had said that to him and James, Peter had been off somewhere, doing Merlin knows what.
As Remus thought about it, he could hardly believe that it took them so long to figure out he was the traitor, and even then, it was only because his betrayal had led to the death of James. He supposed that it was because they had known him for so long, had slept in the same dorm with him for so long, they had been blinded from the truth. People might have even tried to warm them, but they never heard the warnings, never saw the signs. They knew he had been slightly jealous at times, but it happened to the best of them.
Yes, Peters betrayal had hit them hard. It isn’t everyday that one of your longest and closest friends sells you out to a dark lord that wants to murder you. Or maybe it was everyday, for all they knew he had been telling Voldemort about everything that went on in their lives. The sad times, the happy times. Maybe Peter had told Voldemort everything.
Remus glanced at Walburga and Sirius Black.
He sure hoped that Peter didn’t tell the evil wizard everything. For Peters sake, that is. Because if their ratty friend had told the man everything he knew, then he was going to be taken care of. For Peter did not know just how close the apple fell to the tree when it came to Sirius and Walburga Black, and everyone who knew both sides of the pair had a healthy dose of fear for each. Walburga was ruthless, and Sirius had gained that trait.
As Sirius looked at his fiancé and his mother one of many thoughts became prominent. Maybe, just maybe, everything would work out better than he had hoped.
Harry Potter stared at his Adoptive Grandmother with shining eyes. She was nice to him, and that was all that mattered to him. He didn’t have the concerns that someone older would have. Hid Padfoot let the woman hold him and nap with him, so she obviously couldn’t be bad.
He held his arms out for the woman, whose touch reminded him so much of his own Mummy, and yet, was so entirely different. The woman looked cold on the outside, but one look in her eyes was all he needed to know that she definitely cared for him.
His Padfoot looked down at him for a moment, seeing who he was reaching for. The older man sighed softly and looked over at the woman. As soon as she had noticed that Harry was reaching for her, she stood and began to walk towards her son and recently adopted grandson.
As Remus Lupin observed this, He grinned widely. Harry was obviously accepting Walburga well, and Sirius seemed to be getting along with his mother better than most would accept, even if it was only for the sake of his Godson. He watched as Harry grinned excitedly and began to tell Walburga everything he thought he ought to tell her.
“Pa’foo Mu, da Moo’ey,” The young child pointed towards Remus as he introduced his Mooney to his Padfoot’s mummy, “Moo’ey grr.” He held his hands up like claws as he made the best Growling noise he could so he could tell her that his Moony was very cool and could protect them.
“Is that your uncle Moony? He can go grrr? Whoa, that’s crazy?” Remus would have been more shocked if it hadn’t been Harry. He knew that his little cub was very charismatic, and people just couldn’t help but love him.
“Uh huh, Grr, en da ba gu gos.”
“He goes Grr and the Bad guys go away? Then it’s good we have him here to protect us, isn’t it?” Harry nodded and continued to tell Walburga about everything he could think of. He loved talking to his Padfoot’s mummy.
Three years later~~`~
Harry was working hard on his coloring. His Padfoot had insisted that he go to this school, while Paddy’s mum had been insistent that they keep him home. Paddy had won the argument in the end, so there he was with a bunch of different children that Paddy had referred to as muggles.
That didn’t really matter though, as he was having a lot of fun with his coloring. He was making a picture for Paddy, Moony, and Paddy’s Mum, who insisted that he call her Grandmother. He didn’t call her Grandmother most of the time, he called her Granny ‘burga if he wasn’t calling her Paddy’s Mu-mu.
“What are you drawing, Harry?” The adults who were in charge were nice to him, so he assumed that they were good people.
“Me and my bir’day stuffs.” Harry grinned at the woman who watched as he drew knick knacks among other things. If she saw anything strange, she had chalked it up to his imagination.
“Who is it for?” Harry didn’t look up this time, concentrating on drawing himself.
“Moony, Paddy, and Paddy’s Mu-mu.” He stated it as if it were obvious, maybe it was to him. Who else would he be drawing for?
“You mean Mummy and Daddy and Daddy’s Mummy?” She was sure that was what he meant, and was giggling slightly at the silly things he had called them. He paused what he was doing to look up at her with a stubborn gleam in his eyes.
“No, Moony, Paddy, and Paddy’s Mu-mu.” His eyebrows were scrunched together as if what she had said was confusing.
“Who is Moony and Paddy?” She was trying desperately to understand what the young child had meant when he referred to the people the way he was.
“Uncle.” He had stated it like it was obvious, as if to say ‘who else would they be?’ and the teacher raised a brow at the tone he was taking. It was like he, as a small child, was trying to explain something to her like she was a small child and he was the adult. Where he had learned how to sound so condescending, she would never understand.
She left him in peace after that, allowing him to continue his coloring. He shook his head after watching her walk away. He just couldn’t understand her sometimes. Of course Paddy and Moony were his uncles. Who else could they possibly be?
At the end of the school day, for the first time ever, Paddy’s Mu-mu came to pick him up. He jumped up and rant to her. Grabbing her hand, he brought her to the woman who had been asking him silly questions earlier.
“Paddy’s Mu-mu.” He pointed to his adoptive grandmother and them motioned for the woman to introduce herself.
“Hello, I’m one of Harry’s instructors. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She stuck out her hand to the woman who was obviously upper-class.
“Hello, I’m Walburga Black.” she gingerly took the hand of the instructor. Said instructor now saw just who Harry had learned that tone from. How the woman had made her introduction sound so condescending was a mystery, but it very well matched her student’s tone from earlier.
She watched as Walburga Black left with the small child blabbering on about his day as he clung to her.
She didn’t realize that the boy had come from an obviously important family. The man that usually picked Harry up and dropped Harry off had always seemed either carefree or enthusiastic nonetheless. The woman who obviously resembled the man seemed like neither of those, and yet, she didn’t reprimand the boy for tugging her along and talking non-stop, so obviously she wasn’t nearly as highly strung as she may have seemed.
She wasn’t shocked when she looked out the window and saw the woman holding Harry’s drawing and smiling slightly, obviously praising his art work.
“Harry, I have taught you well.” Walburga snickered to the shock of Sirius and Remus as they sat in the sitting room.
“What did he do?” Sirius desperately wanted to know why his mother was so amused, and why he wasn’t part of the joke.
“Apparently he began to sound condescending when he told the instructor at his school that you and Remus were his uncles.” She held back another snicker as Harry crossed his arms.
“Who else could they be? My second great grandparents?” He had muttered the words, and yet the three adults could hear him as clear as day. None of them could hold back any longer, it was the tone he had along with the look on his face and his stature. Mixing all of those things together made for something very amusing.
They all three let their chuckles over come them momentarily.
“He seems to have learned from all three of us.” Remus gasped out. He had seen Sirius make the same face Harry was making, while he had heard Walburga sound exactly like Harry had. Not to mention the arm crossing. Remus could admit that that was all him. Sirius and Walburga crossed their arms plenty, but neither had ever been able to look so disappointed with someone. The pair had only managed to look angry or amused when they crossed their arms.
But no, Harry looked disappointed, slightly pouty, and sounded as if he had to explain how everything worked to the stupidest person on the planet.
Over all, nothing would be able to beat the level of amusing it was, not for a good while anyway.