2 Hope

Crovius Malfoy POV

I made my way out of the hotel. My heart pounding in my chest, only years and years of practiced restraint made it possible for me to move through the hall. I made my way outside the hotel and took out a hairpin from my pocket.

"Activate."

I could feel myself getting twisted in a kind of tube, the nauseating feeling still present even after all this time and soon found myself, outside a small house. I made my way inside. As soon as I opened the door, a pop was heard. A house elf appeared and took my court,

"Master, there is some mail for you and a letter has just arrived from school."

He nodded absentmindedly and made his way to the room. The room was simple with a single bed and desk. It had a minimalistic look. There were a few books opened on the table, various papers littered across the room. It was messy. He stumbled towards the bed and THUD. He was on it

Though nobody could see it, the sheet was continuously getting wet, tears escaped his eyes and made the sheet wet, he tried to stop them but in vain. He had lost it; He had lost it again. He had known this would happen, expected it but that did not mean that it hurt any less. He lay there for a very long time drowning his sorrows into the now wet sheet, for that was all he wanted to do.

Suddenly a pop was heard, and an elf spoke.

"There was a delivery from Gringgots. I have put it into the documents over there."

The elf popped away. He sat there contemplating his decisions, questioning a lot of things. He stood up and looked at the newest document. It had the official Gringgots seal. He opened and found the official record of his name change. He was no longer a Malfoy and was called to the bank to pick a second name. He looked at the document and decided to get this over with, he already had an idea of what to expect and this day had already been hell, why not add a little more heat.

In Gringgots, he was staring at the goblin behind the desk.

"You were very quick to respond, I was not expecting you to come today."

"I wanted it to be over already. The quicker this is over, the better it will be."

The goblin nodded. He was in the Office of Lineages and Legacies. The gobbling took out a file and handed it to him. HE looked at the file, the file had pureblood family names he could take. He expected a few names to be on them but when he opened the file he was shocked for a moment before looking up at the Goblin, who was now smirking at him.

"How is this possible. This should be impossible. How can I take the name Black?"

The goblins smirked widened,

"The pureblood marriages are still done by using contracts. The late lord black made it so that only an ousted child from a family could take up the name Black. You can not be an heir obviously, but you will be able to visit the family vault and get a stipend. For further accommodation you have to talk with the current Lord Black. Though, we can not tell you who it is."

I was absolutely gobsmacked by this. The Malfoys had always wanted to take the name Black, it was close to royalty in the pureblood circles, yet they were unable to do so, because the contract made it impossible. His fa…. Lucius had tried and get the Ministry to pass laws to allow so, but it was impossible. The charter from the Council made it impossible for hm to do so. As, it would require the unanimous vote of all the Lords. This made it impossible.

He thought for a moment. He had already signed the papers. There was no limitation on which name he could pick. The other options were Lestrange and Ashworth, both would only make his life worse. The name Black was a boon to him and it was something he needed. He finally had hope, a shrivel of it yet now it was there. He could make it work.

"I would like to take the name Black." He said handing back the file.

The goblin smiled, probably expecting it.

"Before we can do that, these are the documents you must sign. They merely limit you to take back your family name and stop you from ever giving them your share of any inherited Black fortune."

He looked over the documents and signed them with the quill provided. The goblin gave him a toothy grin and stood up, "Please move to the lobby someone will lead you to the vault shortly."

I was on my way to the vault, on the trolley. My thoughts constantly ringing in my head. This day had started as a disaster. He had lost the last bit of hope he had yet now there was hope, a miniscule amount of hope.

The vault was opened and he entered it,

"You are allowed to take out up to 3000 galleons or 4 artifacts per year."

I nodded and made my way into the vault, the gold galleons were piled at the corner, with various trinkets on the shelf. There were pieces of armor, family heirlooms, portraits and various other Knick knacks. He scanned the room for exactly what he was looking for, and there he found it. Lying below the pictures were the wands of the Black family.

I scanned all of them and just as I was to pick one, I heard a voice.

"Who are you child?"

I turned around and saw the portrait looking at me. The man had the look of an old wrestler, broad shoulders, squared face but his eyes were similar. We both had blue eyes. Even in the portrait he seemed like an authoritative person. He was Arcturus Black, my great grandfather.

"Greeting Lord Arcturus, I am Crovius Black a member of the Black family."

"Ahh. Are you Regulus's son?" he asked thinking of me an heir.

"No. I am the child of Lady Narcissa and Malfoy though was ousted from the family recently and now am taking refuge in the Black name."

He looked at me, "Who is the current Lord Black?"

"The seat is empty. Regulus Black died and Sirius Black was sentenced to Azkaban, though he has escaped and remains on the run."

He sighed," My worst fears.... Why were you made to leave the family? Narcissa though, cold would not part with her child like this?" his question was genuine.

"I wa … .. I am ... I am an imperfictus. Lucius could not have a weak heir and always planned to have me ousted. This was just inevitable."

"How could you be like that. That has not happened in centuries…." His eyes widened at my revelation. This was true, probably due to my unique circumstances and that incident I was the first Incomplete in a century.

"I was allowed three articles; I would like to have three wands from our ancestors."

He looked at me for a long time, before speaking," You are a Black, the contents of this vault are free to you. I can not help you but I wish you luck and hope for your better future."

I thanked him and started looking at the wands, three wands I chose three after about an hour of inspection. The Malfoy family did not keep their wands in a family vault and even If they did, I would never be allowed in their vaults. I had given up hope, yet now I had gained a liver of it.

A healer looked towards the blonde couple, knowing the to be Lord Lucius and his wife. He made his way towards them, and spoke.

"We have done extensive checkups and found out that your son suffers from an affliction that is very old. We have sent for records and will have them in some time. Then we can tell you more."

"Will he be fine?" Narcissa Malfoy asked, the healer could barely hide his contempt at the former death eater in front of him yet he was bound by oaths and the child was innocent.

"We cannot say."

Two days passed and then the healers, gave them the news that would rip away their family,

"Your son is an Imperfictus, the affliction had died out but your son suffers from it and there is no known cure."

He could see the cold look on the Lord Malfoy and the broken façade of Lady Malfoy, despite their misgivings and crimes he hoped that the child would get better. Through a miracle perhaps, because his life would be short and painful.