A chat with a Founder

That night found Harry sleeping alone. Bellatrix had decided that she would sleep at Pounds House after all and that Harry would join them for breakfast.

It was a thoroughly miserable Harry that found his way to the table with Narcissa coming in behind him. He had gotten permission from Albus to let Narcissa miss her first period so that they could have a family discussion. Albus, eyes twinkling in amusement at the shit storm that was the life of the Lord Peverell, had agreed and thus, Harry sat down at the dining room table across from the woman who would be his wife in less than a week, with the woman who would be his wife in a few months beside him.

"A life debt? A Veela life debt? Really?" Bellatrix began without preamble, or without Apollines arrival. "Before our wedding I want a list of every witch you have currently saved the life of. I am going to visit each one and I'm going to murder them."

"Would you prefer that I just let someone get assaulted Bella? Would you have fallen in love with me so easily if I'd have let you suffer that curse? If I'd have fought you like you asked me to?" Harry looked at her, "I love you. Merlin knows I love you and it terrifies me how much I love you...but I'm not going to stop trying to help people. No, I didn't think I would end up with a life debt over distracting a group of jackasses in an alley...but at the same time, I don't regret it. She needed my help, so I helped."

She frowned, "I..I just, I've never been with someone I can trust. I keep expecting you to tell me that you've changed your mind about us." She looked more vulnerable than Harry thought possible for Bellatrix Lestrange. That look was what caused him to rise and go to her side. He took her hand, squeezing it gently. "I will never change my mind about being with you."

That was when Apolline came into the dining room. Bellatrix looked to her for a moment and then back to Harry, "So, you feel as if you owe him your life..." She said to the woman, "Apparently you feel it strongly enough that you could sense our journey into the Chamber last night."

Apolline nodded, "I do owe him my life. If he hadn't been there...I couldn't have gotten away from those men and they would have.." She stopped, before drawing in a breath, "I know that you do not like me Madame, but I would ask you to look at this from the perspective of a Veela. Due to our allure, we rarely meet any man who can talk to us without becoming a drooling idiot to some degree. Harry not only could talk to me, he fought for my safety."

Apolline, for her part, never thought that she would find someone who she could talk to. She was accustomed to forcing her allure to its weakest state so that she could speak to wizards without too much issue. She had resigned herself to living at the enclave once she'd met someone she considered a good father for her daughters. Now though, she wasn't sure that was what she wanted. She didn't want to be a mistress either though. "I am not asking Harry to abandon you, I am not asking to be his wife, or even his lover. He saved my life, and I will repay that however I can."

Narcissa watched this exchange, Is this how I look when I am trying to prove to Harry that I should be the primary wife? She didn't like the idea of appearing as needy as Bellatrix did, but she knew that she had felt this way ever since their first night together.

I told him that I wanted this to be real, that he would never regret fighting for me. Her decision made, she spoke up, "Harry, if something happens, or needs to happen between you two, then I will support you." She ignored the look from Bellatrix and focused on the much more grateful look from Apolline, "I understand what it's like being considered nothing but an attractive toy, rather than as a person. Harry saved me from being betrothed to a man who would have used a compulsion charm on me in order to make me his perfect trophy."

Walburga did not walk in, but rather observed from the doorway. Another woman for his collection. He already has Bellatrix, Narcissa, and I've seen how envious Andromeda is of her sisters...She frowned and turned back towards the hall leading back to her room.

On her desk sat a letter. This on its own was not unusual. But that it was a letter from Arcturus was what made it unusual. Her father rarely communicated by letter, preferring instead to use Kreacher to summon whom he wished to speak with. She had received the letter the day before but hadn't opened it yet. With the argument brewing in the kitchen, she decided that this would be a good time.

Walburga,

My sources in the Wizengamot have told me of your progress in finding families that would join with Houses Black and Peverell. You seem to be doing a passable job with your task. I want a report from you regarding the actions within House Peverell. I have a plan I wish to proceed with and in order to do that, I need to know more about Harry Fawkes.

Father

Walburga wondered about that, What could father be planning? There were, truthfully, many things that he could be planning. Once Harry was married to Narcissa, or even Bellatrix, he could be named the heir of House Black. She thought about that for a moment, If that were to happen Orion would kill him. Druella would enjoy it though, being the mother in law to the new Lord Black...

Scene Break

At the Black Manor, Arcturus was in his study. On his desk lay a stack of parchment with family names on it. At the top lay the lineage for House Potter. He, of course knew of Fleamont Potter, he'd attended Hogwarts with both Fleamont and Charlus' fathers, he was related to Fleamonts wife Euphemia through the Rowles. He also knew that there was no other Potter male under the age of forty besides Fleamonts son James.

So why then the name 'Harry Potter' appeared on the tapestry marked under his grandson Sirius as godson? That had caused him to research the families more in depth. A mystery Harry appears on the tapestry at the same time Harry Fawkes arrives seeking to fight this Voldemort character and rebuild the old Alliances.

The connection has to be there..Arcturus thought as he left the study, locking the door with a casual flick of his wand. He left the Manor through the floo, going to the Ministry. He had an idea of who to speak with. Nothing happens without an unspeakable knowing about it, and I know just the unspeakable to talk to...

He arrived at the Ministry and took stock of the people milling about. Pitiful...people are being murdered in the night and these fools just keep on processing paperwork and complaining about cauldron thicknesses...Arcturus hated the Ministry, contenting himself with his seat on the Wizengamot instead. But, he knew the Ministry had its place. He was acquaintances with the current Minister, Millicent Bagnold after all.

He made his way to the Department of Mysteries. When he arrived he looked at the clerk operating the front desk, "I need to speak with Chief Unspeakable Croaker. Tell them that Arcturus Black is here." The clerk, knowing of the Lord Black by reputation scurried into the department, returning with a small silver token. "Chief Unspeakable Croaker has granted you entrance to his office, please take this and use the lift for floor thirteen." Arcturus took the silver token from the clerk and made his way to the lift at the entrance to the Department. The token glowed as he pressed the button for floor thirteen. Arcturus rolled his eyes at the theatrics, Damned Unspeakables have to make everything so 'mysterious', passage wards have to glow and it has to be the thirteenth floor..He had long grown tired of this aspect of the magical world.

The thirteenth floor held only two rooms, the first was the Archive. The Archive was the Unspeakables collection of tomes, and scrolls dating from before Merlin himself. No one could enter the room except for the Chief Unspeakable and the Head Archivist. The other room was the office of the Chief Unspeakable. The door opened as Arcturus stood before it. At the desk sat Croaker.

"Croaker." Arcturus said as a greeting. The Unspeakable nodded and then removed his hood, revealing a fairly young ginger man with extremely bland features. "Arcturus, good to see you again."

Cecil Croaker had worked for the Department of Mysteries for many more years than it appeared. His unusually youthful appearance considering his age of seventy three was due in parts to exposure to potions that have now been banned. "I need to know if you've had anything strange happen, beyond what you would consider the normal type of strange." Arcturus asked the man. Cecil thought for a moment, "Quite a few things, but if you want to know something specific I'd appreciate if you told me what you were looking for."

"Well, let's start with the sudden appearance of the Heir of House Peverell. He has insinuated his way into my life and is currently the fiancee to my granddaughters Narcissa and Bellatrix." Arcturus let his frown deepen, "Out of nowhere comes this wizard who is strong enough to defeat Rodolphus Lestrange in a duel. He is planning on bringing war to the man who calls himself the 'dark lord Voldemort'. He knows his name, his real name as Tom Riddle."

Cecil smiled then, "I have had the pleasure of meeting the young Lord Peverell. He is indeed dedicated to ridding the world of this Riddle character."

"Then who is he?" Arcturus asked him, "Who is this man who seeks to lead my family into a war?" Cecil thought for a moment, "Are you asking as a concerned Head of House Black, or are you asking in order to tell Riddle about his challenger?" He asked the older wizard.

"I am the Lord of House Black, I have rejoined House Peverell in our ancient Alliance on the grounds that he has saved my youngest granddaughters from the clutches of House Malfoy and House Lestrange. But I need to know if I have allowed my House to join a greater danger.." Arcturus said. He wanted to trust Harry Fawkes, but at the same time he didn't understand where the young man had came from, "He claims to have been on the American Dueling Circuit, but none of my contacts in America have heard of him..."

"That's because he isn't a dueling champion. He is in fact a young man who lost everything to the actions of Tom Riddle and his servants. It is not my story to tell Arcturus, I can only tell you that he is utterly committed to the task of defeating this so-called 'Dark Lord'." Cecil thought for a moment and then spoke again, "I will send him a message, it was me who told him to look into forming a relationship with House Black. I trust you, and so I will tell him to trust you with his story. Afterwards, if you still do not feel that he is a worthy ally then do as you must."

It was later at the Manor when Harry arrived with Bellatrix and Narcissa in tow. The two witches seemed confused as to why they had been asked by Harry to take him to the Manor, but Harry looked as if he was preparing for the fight of his life. Arcturus allowed them into the house, "Lord Peverell, I am glad that you have came to visit me, I wish to speak with you in my private study." He said to Harry.

Harry drew in a breath, "Lord Black, if it is regarding our mutual acquaintance in the Department of Mysteries, I would ask that Narcissa and Bellatrix be there as well." "What is going on Harry?" Asked Bellatrix, looking to the man she would be marrying soon. Harry squeezed her hand, "You said that trust me and I want to be worthy of that trust. I was asked to explain exactly who I am and where I come from to your grandfather, and I want you two to hear it also."

"Then we will all go into my study, I have a pensieve that will allow us to see your memories, rather than hear you tell them." Arcturus led them into the study. Harry looked to the two witches, "No matter what happens after you see this, just know that I love you. I have never lied to you about my feelings."

The sisters watched as Harry drew his memories out, placing them into the pensieve. Arcturus then cast a charm on the bowl, causing a small white cloud to rise from it. "This will allow us to watch the memories rather than have to stick our heads inside of it."

"I'll start from the beginning. My name is Harry James Potter and I was born in the year 1980 to James and Lily Potter. My parents were killed by Tom Riddle and I was struck by the killing curse, but somehow survived." Harry said, he held up his hand when he saw Bellatrix's look of disbelief, "The first memory I'll show you is that night, I was able to remember my parents deaths because of exposure to a dementor.."

Bellatrix watched in horror as she saw the two die at the hands of a slightly older Voldemort. He's telling the truth... She thought as the scene changed and she saw him as a first year at Hogwarts fighting a troll, "This is when I became friends with Hermione Granger, a muggleborn and the smartest witch of our year. Before I met Narcissa, Hermione was the smartest witch I'd ever met period."

Narcissa didn't acknowledge the compliment, she watched as the eleven year old version of her fiancee used the levitation charm to strike a troll with its own club. Beside them, Arcturus merely watched, his face passive, but his eyes were drinking in everything.

The scene in the pensieve changed again, this time to Harry confronted by a fellow first year, "This is Neville Longbottom, the bravest wizard I've ever met. His parents were tortured into insanity around the same time as mine were killed. The Cruciatus curse was held on them until their minds shattered, thanks to the actions of Barty Crouch Jr...and the Lestranges.." Bellatrix drew in a breath before speaking, "I was the witch wasn't I? The one who murdered your wife?" Harry nodded, confirming her fears.

"Where am I in these memories?" Narcissa asked him, "Am I a killer as well?" Harry shook his head, "You were, to my knowledge, never a killer. Though your husband was...and your son."

The scenes continued to change, they watched as Harry fought the basilisk in his second year, "Sorry our time with the basilisk wasn't as exciting.." He said to Bellatrix and Narcissa, "I didn't try to communicate with that time, I was too busy trying to save Ginny and myself.."

Arcturus spoke finally as the memory Harry stabbed the diary with the fang of the now dead basilisk, "That diary, it was a powerful cursed object..do you think there are more of them?"

Harry nodded, "In my time there were more, but we couldn't find them. We were planning our hunt for them when we were betrayed by a professor and...Draco Malfoy.." Narcissa asked quietly, "Draco was my son wasn't he?" Harry's nod caused her to gasp softly.

The scene changed to that moment, when Snape and Draco allowed the death eaters in through the passageway in the shrieking shack, Bellatrix watched as the older version of herself murdered several children, cackling madly all the while. Tears began to flow, Harry took her hand and squeezed it.

The scenes changed more rapidly now as Harry led them through his time on the run with the surviving order members. The sisters watched as one by one the people closest to Harry died, quite often at the wand of Bellatrix. Then came the final memories, the death of Bellatrix by Harry's cutting charm, and his passage through the Veil.

"And then I ended up here. I hope that means somewhere in a place where he wasn't supposed to have been born, Sirius is somewhere living a better life than the one he had in my timeline." Harry said with a little smile at the thought of his godfather.

Bellatrix had especially disliked the memory of herself killing her cousin. The look of maddened triumph in her eyes had caused a shudder, at which point Harry had stopped the viewing so that he could hold her.

"So, you are here now. What are your plans regarding Riddle?" Arcturus asked him. Harry looked from Bellatrix to Narcissa and then to Arcturus, "First I'm going to find the rest of those items, I don't know how yet...secondly I'm going to do my best to guide the students who became death eaters in my time away from him, and after that...if I survive our final conflict, I want to be with Bellatrix and Narcissa and have our family be free of the horrors of Riddle's war for control of our world." He said before looking back to the witches, "If you'll still have me, knowing that I've been lying to you this entire time about who I am.."

"You haven't lied to us...not really." Narcissa said taking his free hand, "You have been exactly whom we fell in love with. A kind, intelligent, loyal man, a man who's fought for us. You didn't have to save me from Lucius-" Harry interrupted her, "I did. Once I knew you, I couldn't let him dull your mind and turn you into the emotionally dead woman I met at the Quidditch World Cup.." She smiled softly, "I will still be your Lady Peverell, if you wish it." Harry's smile told her the answer.

"You say you love me, even after what I did to you in that time? Harry, I was with you when you had that nightmare, you didn't see me...you saw her..how can you still love me?" Bellatrix asked him, looking down at the hand he still held hers with.

Harry released her hand and stroked her cheek, "Bella, I love you, I don't blame you for what Riddle turned you into. That isn't you, that is a shell of a woman maddened by exposure to dark curses and her obsession with being free from her husband.." He drew his wand, "I, Harry James Potter, swear on my life and my magic, that I love Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Black. So I swear, so mote it be." The flash from the tip of his wand showed that magic accepted his oath.

"Very touching." Arcturus said, "I am still willing to be a part of this alliance, but you need to tell me if there is anything else you've held back from me." Harry shook his head, "Keep the memories, go over them at your leisure. I don't have anything to hide anymore, the two most important people in my life know who I am now."

Scene Break

Harry and Narcissa went back to Hogwarts in time for his meeting with Albus. Albus met him in his classroom and the two of them walked to the bathroom that held the entrance to the Chamber. "Fascinating.." Albus said as Harry caused the stone to rise for them.

"First time I was here, we didn't know what to do so I just jumped in. Thankfully a pile of skeletons broke my fall...I may have just realized that was a very odd thing to say." Harry said to which Albus chuckled softly.

He stopped chuckling when they came to the corpse of the basilisk. "This was indeed the basilisk Salazar Slytherin placed those centuries ago.." Albus placed a hand on the snake, "It was turned into a weapon by Voldemort.." Harry nodded, "The first time was when he was a student here, that was when the basilisk killed Myrtle.."

"But what was he looking for?" Albus mused aloud, there was a soft chuckle from behind them, "I can answer that." Harry and Albus turned to see no one there, "Who said that?" Harry asked. The voice spoke, "Step into my mouth and you will see everything."

Well that doesn't sound ominous at all..Harry thought as he and Albus walked to the open mouth of Salazar Slytherin. Inside it was much larger than it looked from the outside, there were row upon row of books, and hanging above a desk was a portrait of the Founder of Slytherin House.

Salazar Slytherin did not look like Harry had imagined, he was an elderly bald man with drooping gray eyebrows and dark green eyes that seemed to twinkle just as much as Dumbledore's. "Greetings to you, Heir of Slytherin." He said bowing in his portrait to Harry.

"The Heir of Slytherin sir? I don't think I understand.." Harry replied. Salazar merely smirked, "You have fought my false heir, you have brought peace to my suffering basilisk, and you seek to end my false heirs reign. You have Peverell blood within you, so we are related in a fashion. Therefore, I can deem you my heir."

"You know who I am?" Harry asked confused. The man in the painting shook his head, "We have never met young man, however, your magic precedes you. When you spoke to my basilisk, I could sense your magic and through it, I know of you Harry Potter."

"You are the one I have deemed worthy of my belongings. Inside this chamber is my private library, use these books to end the scourge of my false heir." Salazar told Harry, "There is one other thing. In my lineage there is a ring, find that ring and you will be one step closer to becoming the Master of Death and defeating the false heir."