Ch 24

He sighed and turned to the boy. "Draco, let's say there are two hundred pureblood Witches and Wizards graduating today from Hogwarts, they marry. You now have one hundred families. They each have one child, which seems the normal in Pure-blood families. In twenty-five years, those one hundred children marry and each have one child. Twenty-five years later, those fifty children marry and have one child. Then those twenty-four children marry and have one child. Draco, it hasn't been a hundred years and the pureblood lines have fallen from two hundred to twelve Pureblood children!

"Without Half-bloods to replenish the lines, the Purebloods will die out. And the Half-bloods have the same problem, it would just take longer. We need Muggle-borns coming into our marriage pool or our society is doomed. It's simple math! If you don't believe me, then do a bit of research yourself and you'll prove my point."

Draco looked stunned. In fact, so did Andromeda, Nymphadora, and Narcissa. Sirius and Remus had probably heard Lily rant on this topic herself.

"So, the philosophy of Pure-bloods above all is a disaster waiting to happen. We will not support it. That said there is no reason not to be proud of your House's ancient roots in the Magical World. That, however, does not mean you are better than anyone else, just that you are proud of your heritage. If you want ancient, the Patils can trace their line back two thousand years — by Pure-blood logic they should be top dogs in England, yet you, Draco, have looked down on them as inferiors at Hogwarts!" He stared at the boy waiting for his acknowledgement, which came as a reluctant small nod and a look away.

"And the final Family Business is someone I'd like you all to meet. Wait here a moment." Harry hurried out of the room. A minute later, he returned holding the hand of a little six-year-old black-haired girl.

"It is my great honour," he said, "to introduce to you Belladonna Bellatrix Black, the youngest daughter of Cygnus Black III and Druella Black (née Rosier) and sister to Andromeda and Narcissa." The entire room broke into gasps and exclamations. The little girl took a step back and half-hid behind Harry/Gilderoy. The youngest Tonk's hair cycling through every colour in the rainbow.

"Cygnus and Druella kept her birth a secret for reasons unknown. Sirius, you may not know it, but both Cygnus and Druella died last year Spring. Miss Black, here, has been living alone since then with only a house-elf, Bipsy, taking care of her. Last week, after Hogwarts let out, I started inventorying the Black estate. Imagine my surprise when I discovered her at Cygnus' Manor, in the private wing." He smiled down at the girl who was uncertainly staring at the two Witches now in front of her on their knees.

"Bell? These two pretty Witches are your sisters. The one on your left is Narcissa and the other is Andromeda."

Shyly, the girl said, "Hello."

He pointed at Sirius, "That cad . . ."

"Oi!"

". . . over there in the chair is Sirius, your cousin on your father's side." He pointed at Remus, "And that is Remus Lupin. Once a month, on the night of the full moon, he turns into a werewolf and is very dangerous. The rest of the time he's a pushover for little girls like you."

Remus stiffened while most everyone else stared or reached for a wand.

"Oh, come on!" Gilderoy said exasperatedly. "It's only one night a month! If you're going to get worked up about how dangerous he is once a month, then you ladies should also be looked on with fear because once a month you are real terrors for a whole week — even if your husbands never mention it to you!"

Harry was lucky to escape the sitting room intact in the storm of hexes that flew at him. He yelled down the stairs, "See? I told you women were more dangerous than werewolves!" He could hear Sirius' laughter suddenly change to yelps as he became a target.

The little girl's giggling laughter made him smile.