Harry Potter and The Secret of The Heirs

Chapter Five

The Blacks

Harry found a robe that he thought worthy of the occasion, and then he called out to Sirius,

'Sirius, what am I supposed to wear?'

'Whatever you like,' was the chuckled reply.

'A lot of help that is,' Harry thought. He ended up picking out a nice pair of pants and a shirt that could look either casual or dressed-up, depending on the occasion.

Harry was actually quite nervous. He didn't know much about Sirius's family; he'd never met them before (at least not that he could remember). He wondered whether or not they would like him. He didn't know what they had even thought of his parents or what they thought of him. All he knew was that Sirius's father had died when Sirius was young. And he had to ride on Sirius's bike. He had never seen, let alone ridden, on Sirius's bike and Harry was slightly cautious about getting on the thing.

Harry called out again 'Sirius, do I need to wear a robe?'

Again Sirius laughed as he called out,

'Probably.'

Finally, Harry emerged from his room. He tried not to look anxious as Sirius led him out to the bike.

'Now, Harry,' Sirius began, 'it's important that you don't panic. You've been on this bike before and it's gotten you safely from one place to another, so there's no need to panic now.'

Harry felt that somehow Sirius must have sensed his trepidation. Harry took a deep breath in and hopped on the bike behind Sirius. Harry held on tightly as he felt the bike fly into the air. He screamed as they took off, but only in a joking manner to let Sirius know that he was enjoying himself.

'What does Ron's dad think of your bike, Sirius?' Harry called out.

'What he doesn't know won't hurt him,' Sirius replied. 'Hold on tight, it's getting a bit windy. We'll be there shortly. Make sure you hold on really tightly for the descent. I wouldn't want you to fall off; that'd make a really good impression. My sister would take you away saying that I'm not fit to be a parent. She'd probably be right, too!'

Harry began to relax. Although the sensation of flying on a motorcycle was not the same as flying on his broomstick, it was quite an enjoyable experience anyway. He was beginning to enjoy gazing down below at the landscape they were flying over. Harry began to point things out to Sirius as they flew over them. Sirius had quite forgotten the feeling of flying over land like this.

Soon Sirius prepared for the descent. With Harry clutching him tightly around the waist, Sirius plunged the bike downward. He then pulled up as the bike hit the ground.

Finally they had arrived.

Despite the wind that had plagued them while they were in the air, it was surprisingly still back on the ground. The moon was rising slowly as the sun set over the distant mountains. The orange blended in with the pinks and blues to give a spectacular show. Harry could hardly believe the beauty of it.

'How's that for a good British sunset, eh, Harry?' Sirius said as they marvelled in the beauty.

The Blacks' house was a large old stately home that appeared as though it had been in the family for years. It was huge. Harry could imagine Sirius having fun growing up here. The house looked inviting, friendly but grand. Many windows, indicated that there had probably been many rooms for Sirius to hide in when he had been in trouble, which Harry guessed might have happened frequently. Lots of vacant land surrounded the house for Sirius to practice Quidditch, play pranks on his younger sister and to have many different kinds of adventures. The surrounding grass was the greenest Harry had ever seen, but looked as though the meadows had been attacked. Then Harry saw the horses and it made sense. There were at least a dozen beautiful horses, gazing at Harry. He'd have to remember to ask why they had them; he didn't think it was usual for wizards to keep horses.

Harry was sure that he looked scruffy and shouldn't have wasted his time trying to impress them; the bike ride and wind had done some irreparable damage.

Sirius led Harry down a stone path, surrounded by glowing lanterns. The path was completely bordered by rose bushes of every imaginable colour, to the front door. There was moss overhanging from the above balcony, which provided a cool calmness when you came near it. Sirius knocked on the door.

It swung open, almost immediately as if the person on the other side had been waiting for them. Harry saw a cute little face that belonged to a beautiful six-year-old girl, with flowing blonde curls.

'Hello, I'm Kaylah,' she said excitedly. 'You must be Harry. I've been waiting for you to come. Can I have your autograph, please?'

Harry blushed. He hadn't expected to be greeted by admirers.

Sirius whispered in Harry's ear,'You'd better give her your autograph or she'll pester you all night.'

Harry signed the little autograph book with a little embarrassment. Kaylah then spied Sirius.

'Uncle Sirius, can you please give me a helicopter ride? Please, please, please? You'll be my favourite uncle.'

Sirius laughed, replied, 'I had better be your favourite uncle, 'cause you've only got one!'

He picked up Kaylah, and then swung her around in circles for a while until she screamed to be put down.

'Kayl' a voice called out, 'you're not tormenting your uncle already, are you? Sirius, come through, we're all dying to see Harry again.'

Sirius led Harry through to a sitting room. Harry could see that they were an old wizarding family. There were portraits of past family members hanging on the walls, and more recent photos of family members all over the place. Harry noted that there was no portrait of Sirius. A fire burned in the marble fireplace.

Standing in the room were a woman with the same long curls as Kaylah's but they were black, whom Harry assumed must be Sirius's sister; an older version of the girl who greeted Harry at the door, whom Harry thought must be about ten or eleven; and a little boy, about eight with thick black hair and bright blue eyes. The woman spoke.

'Hello, Harry, my name's Madeleine. I'm Sirius's baby sister. You can call me Maddie if you like. I know you don't remember me, but we've met before, a long time ago. I've been interested in following your life thus far; I've got lots of clippings from the Daily Prophet! Now this mischievous little boy, who is far too like his uncle, is Troy, and this sweetheart is Rechelleigha, but we call her Leigha. My husband Alec will be down soon.' She turned and called out, 'Mum, Alec - Sirius and Harry are here.'

An older lady appeared in the door accompanied by a younger looking man. She didn't look that old; Harry had thought that she would be older, so he was quite surprised when he saw her. He was a very handsome man, but was quite the opposite of Sirius. He had short blonde curly hair, and brown eyes. 'The girls must get their hair from him,' Harry thought.

'Harry, oh you've grown so much,' she said as she walked towards Harry. 'Thank you for never giving up on my son, I owe so much of his freedom to you. You have lifted the shame from our family name. Thank you so much, Harry. You will always be welcome in this house.'

Although slightly bewildered, Harry held this woman in his arms and muttered, 'Any time, Mrs Black.'

'No, Harry, you must call me Heather. You are a friend and an equal.'

Heather Black let go of Harry and showed him into the dining room. A long table was set, with an abundance of cutlery, glowing candles, beautiful roses that appeared to be straight from the garden and a plate of something that smelt delicious. Harry was shown to his seat and was surprised when Sirius sat down at the head of the table. Harry sensed that this formal dinner had been put together for him, and to be honest, he was slightly uncomfortable that they had gone to this much effort for him. No one really ever made any fuss over him, a challenge he had to learn how to deal with when he first came to Hogwarts and became a celebrity overnight. Yet he had never really managed to get used to it. Sirius said what Harry could only assume was a wizard equivalent of grace (it was in some strange language that Harry had never heard of), before Sirius motioned to him that he should start the meal. Harry looked down at his plate to see something that resembled an omelette, but when he took a bite it tasted more like beef and chives. Whatever it was, it tasted fantastic. Then the main course was brought out by a couple of smiling house-elves. It appeared to be a very traditional baked dinner, which Harry was more than happy to enjoy. He was surprised at how good the food was, his experience of food being mainly that of his aunt forcing him to cook, or the delicious food of the Hogwarts banquet. At home the food was seldom like this. When the food was finished, the conversation began.

'Have you seen The Daily Prophet today, Harry?' Maddie asked. 'I assume you haven't, because Sirius hasn't mentioned it yet.'

Sirius sprung to Harry's defence.

'I didn't receive it today,' he said. 'I must write and complain about the reliability of their owls. Why, Maddie, what was in it today?'

'Just an announcement about what's happening at Hogwarts this year,' she replied slyly.

Suddenly Sirius turned toward Harry and looked at him strangely. It was almost a look of hurt.

'Harry,' he started, 'don't tell me you got your letter and didn't tell me, because I know McGonagall would not have published it in The Daily Prophet before she had had written conformation of your acceptance.'

Harry slapped his hand to his head. With all the excitement that had passed in the last couple of days, Harry had completely forgotten to mention it to Sirius.

'How did you know?' Harry asked Sirius.

'I'm a teacher, Harry. We get to veto these things. I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to tell me,' Sirius replied.

A little person at the other end of the table was becoming overly curious.

'What's happening at Hogwarts? I don't want to go there if it's something bad,' she said.

Maddie and Sirius laughed, at the same time as Harry asked,

'You're going to Hogwarts?'

Leigha nodded.

'What's happening, Harry?' she asked. 'Has the Quidditch Cup been cancelled?'

Harry shook his head and joined in the laughter.

'No,' he replied, 'I'm Head Boy, that's all, and it would appear I'm in trouble for not informing your uncle!'

'Oh,' was the relieved reply. 'What house are you in, Harry? What house do you think I'll be in? Mum and Uncle Sirius were both Gryffindors. Does that mean I'll be in Gryffindor too? Then again, Dad was a Ravenclaw, so does that mean I'll be in Ravenclaw? How do you get chosen, is it some kind of test?'

'Whoa,' Harry replied, 'one question at a time. I'm in Gryffindor as well. Just because your family is in one house doesn't mean you will be. It goes on individual qualities. As for how you get chosen, that's a secret. You'll have to wait until you get to school to find that one out.'

Leigha pouted in disappointment. It was clear that she had been hoping that Harry would give her more of an insight than her parents and uncle had given her.

After the conversation had died down a little, Sirius walked over to Harry. He shook his hand in congratulations then hugged Harry. He then turned towards the table and raised a goblet full of wine.

'I'd like to propose a toast,' he began, 'to Harry, to congratulate him for being named this year's Head Boy. I am very, very proud of him and I know James and Lily would be also. To Harry.'

'To Harry,' the family replied as they all raised their glasses.

Harry thanked them for their kindness, commenting that he hoped that he would live up to his reputation.

On that note, when Leigha's inquisitive questioning got to be too much for Maddie, she rang a bell, and a house-elf brought out a lemon tart and served it to the family. At this time, with Leigha relishing every bite of her lemon tart, the conversation turned to other, more 'important' things, than how people were sorted into houses. Harry used the time to remark on the number of horses outside.

'I didn't think it was usual for wizards to own large numbers of horses,' Harry stated.

Alec smiled. He had been quiet for most of the night, but as this seemed to be his forte, he spoke up.

'I breed the horses, Harry,' he said, 'for the wizard races. I assume you've never been to one? Well, wizard horse races are slightly different from Muggle ones. For starters, only witches are allowed to be jockeys, and secondly, wands are allowed, so the race is more a test of a witch's skill rather than how quickly the horse makes it to the other end. Of course, the spells are limited but still enough to provide an interesting race. There are many obstacles that must be overcome as well. You two should stay tonight and come with us to the races tomorrow. One of our horses is in its first race. It will be an interesting event. What do you say, Sirius?'

Sirius was hesitant.'I'd love to stay, and from the look on Harry's face, I think he would too, but is it safe?' Sirius asked.

'It's about as safe as anywhere else, Sirius,' Alec replied dryly. 'We don't know what his plans are, and cannot guarantee anything. But there should be enough of us here to take care of any unfortunate visitors.'

'Okay,' Sirius agreed, after what appeared to be a battle in his head. 'We'll stay tonight and leave first thing after the races. We don't want to place you in any danger,' he added.

'Great!' replied Alec. 'We'll have an early start, so I think it's time for everyone to get some sleep.'

On that note, Maddie led Harry upstairs to a guest room and brought him some of Alec's pyjamas to sleep in, just in case he wanted to feel a bit more comfortable.

Harry lay in bed that night with visions of the races tomorrow. He hoped they would be as exciting as they appeared in his mind.

*~*

Hermione Granger was furious. She glanced once again at the front page of The Daily Prophet. There was a large piece on the appointment of her and Harry as Head Boy and Girl. Hermione hoped that Sirius had been wise enough not to let Harry see it. It slandered Hermione's appointment, because she had Muggle parents ('Honestly, it didn't matter seventeen years ago,' she had thought), then had appeared to be praising Harry's appointment, mentioning his past achievements, namely defeating Voldemort and winning the Triwizard Tournament, and then it began to slander Harry's appointment, saying that he was nothing but a rule-breaker and suggested he had only been made Head Boy because he was Harry Potter. It then went on to talk about his parents, the last Gryffindor pair to be Head Boy and Girl, comparing Harry and Hermione to Lily and James. It simply wasn't fair that Harry was continuously compared to his parents and if Hermione was honest she didn't feel completely comfortable being compared to Lily Potter.

Lily and James.

Harry and Hermione.

Was it fate?

*~*

The moon shone brightly, whilst the night was cold and still. Suddenly the wind began to roar.

Lucius Malfoy approached his master timidly.

'Why did you let Wormtail be captured?' he asked.

Lucius did not dare look up.

'It was unavoidable,' he said. 'We walked right into a trap, Master. They had it planned too well for his expertise.'

Voldemort looked at him furiously.

'You fool!' he cried. 'You have still not learnt to follow my instructions after all these years. You are a fool, Lucius. I knew I should not have trusted you. It is time for you to learn.'

Lucius bowed his head in atonement.

'Whatever is your will, Master,' he said.

Voldemort pointed his wand towards the wretched man and yelled,

'Crucio!'

Lucius convulsed with pain. Even after all these years he could not get used to the sheer agony that came with the Cruciatus Curse.

'Bring me your son,' Voldemort demanded. 'He will compensate for your mistakes.'

Lucius was filled with apprehension for his son.

*~*

Harry awoke with a start.

It was the middle of the night, and he had seen Voldemort perform the Cruciatus curse on Malfoy's father. For some reason it hadn't bothered Harry too much.

'Perhaps it's something in the air here,' he thought, 'or maybe it's just because it's a Malfoy.'

Suddenly Harry remembered what Voldemort had said after he had performed the curse.

'He will compensate for your mistakes.'

Malfoy.

He was going to have to serve Voldemort because of his father. Harry wondered whether he should be worried. Except that it was something Harry had always expected, that Malfoy would logically go on to become a Death Eater.

'Poor Malfoy,' he thought, 'he doesn't have a choice. He probably wants it anyhow.'

*~*

Thanks to neha_dhulkanri, peach brandy and the anonymous person who reviewed chapter four. Keep those reviews coming!