"I guess so," he said.
"For now, I'll stick with you, as long as it benefits me," she finally decided.
"How kind of you," Harry noted sarcastically. "I thought you'd already agreed to help me out in return for those thousands of galleons I helped you lift from your family's vault."
Bellatrix narrowed her eyes. "I intend to keep my promise. I'm just saying that I'll be looking into any further opportunities to get you connected. If anything comes up, I'll make sure it works to your benefit, as long as I'm sure that it'll benefit me in return. But when you start making changes to the timeline, you better make sure you include me in your plans."
"I'll see what comes up," Harry told her noncommittally.
She looked like she was about to argue that point, but let it slide. Her glance wandered over to another group of pureblood children that had just entered. "Hate to break it to you, Ashworth, but you're going to be on your own for most of the evening, unless you want to keep clashing with those young idiots that my parents and Auntie insist I befriend. I suggest you stick close to the older folks and act as intelligently as you can. If you act competent and show that you can keep a secret or two, you just might pick up some."
"What, pick up some old people?" Harry was surprised he managed that with a straight face.
"Secrets, moron."
"Would you stop calling me that?"
"Then stop acting like one!"
Harry decided not to grace that with a reply. " Are there secrets to be had?" he asked as he glanced around the room.
"Maybe," she said, turning around to walk away. She looked over her shoulder one last time. "And Ashworth, don't even try to apologize to anyone about mangling their children in Diagon Alley. It shows weakness. Stay aloof."
"Aloof," Harry muttered quietly to himself as he watched her join a group of young men and women that were chatting near a window. He supposed that it was good advice. He was about to meander over and join a group of older men standing near the door when he found himself staring at a black-robed chest. He craned his neck up and realized that he was staring into the face of a much-younger Rodolphus Lestrange.
"Having a nice chat with Bella, are we?" he growled.
"What's it to you?"
"That's my future wife you're hitting on." The younger Lestrange brother cracked his knuckles menacingly. "And I don't take kindly to people trying to take what is mine."
Harry's mind raced as he tried to come up with a way to reply that wouldn't sound like either a lame excuse, or a challenge to a fight, but before he could, Walburga and Druella Black strode into the room. All conversation ceased, and all eyes turned to the two women.
"Dinner will now begin," Walburga intoned formally. Everyone took their seats, even Rodolphus, after sending one last venomous glare in Harry's direction.
Food appeared on the table the moment everyone had been seated, and Harry found himself joined on one side by a man that he thought might be Cygnus Black, Bellatrix's father, and someone who looked vaguely related to the Flint family, though he wasn't sure about that. The potential Flint grunted some sort of greeting, while the Black wordlessly began eating. Harry followed suit, glad for the decent meal, though the oddly ornate style of the silverware made him wonder about the sanitary standards maintained in the Black kitchen. He desperately tried not to think about Kreacher and the heads of the house elves that had been on display on the wall when he had first been to Grimmauld Place before his fifth year at Hogwarts.
Harry was silent for most of the dinner, until an old man who bore a striking resemblance to Lucius Malfoy addressed him. The young time-traveler could tell that the silence around him had nothing to do with a lack of interest on the part of those present, because as soon as he was addressed, he had everyone's undivided attention.
"So," Malfoy began slowly, "you must be that young fellow we've heard so much about. Harry Ashworth, is it?"
"That would be me," Harry responded evenly, setting his face into a blank expression and maintaining eye contact. "You must be a Malfoy."
An arched eyebrow was his reply. "Indeed."
"Your skills with a wand are rather impressive, if the paper is to be believed," the Black on Harry's left commented.
Harry glanced over. Never show weakness, he thought to himself. "Against a couple of untrained thugs who are too busy fighting each other to put up a decent fight? I guess they'd call it impressive."
To his surprise, the man laughed, though Harry caught his three would-be assailants from before bristling at the other end of the table, along with a few others. "A good answer. A good answer, indeed. Cygnus Black," he introduced himself. "I believe you know my daughter, Bellatrix."
"We've crossed paths a few times," Harry acknowledged neutrally.
"So she mentioned."
"I hope that's a good thing."
A loud shout from the other end of the table caused several heads to turn. A young man had shot up from his seat, his wand drawn and aimed in Harry's direction. Harry tensed, ready to leap out of the chair and draw his own wand, when the wand was ripped from the young man's hand and sailed through the air to land in Orion Black's outstretched hand.
"Calm!" The word was said in almost a whisper, but it echoed through the entire room with enough force and authority to make the youngster sit back down instantly.
Cygnus Black returned his attention to Harry. "It would appear that a few of our children don't agree with your assessment of them," he said with dark amusement.
Harry shrugged. "What else did you want me to call them? They hardly know how to hold a wand straight and cast a curse, and were so busy yelling insults at each other that they didn't notice how much destruction they were causing or that I was behind them."
"I take it you don't approve of their actions in Diagon Alley, then?" Malfoy asked evenly.
Harry looked over and met the man's stare. "Whatever their conflict, what I don't approve of is the manner in which they resolved it. They acted unbecoming of their status."
He must have said something right, because Malfoy nodded in approval. "Indeed. In fact, that is what most of us here believe." He glared down at the end of the table, cowing the few young purebloods there that had been in the process of rising up again. "But all speculations aside, I would be very interested to hear what a young man such as you does for a living, especially since you are a foreigner, yes?"
Harry knew enough to know that professing to do nothing would be the best way to utterly convince everyone that he was up to something nefarious. He opted for a neutral reply. "I heard that there were opportunities for the… ambitious sort here. And yes, I'm from Australia, though most recently of the United States."
Malfoy seemed interested. "There are opportunities- especially if one associates with the right sort of people, and depending on your view on… certain issues in the world."
"Which issues would that be?" Harry arched an eyebrow.
"Political ones. Concerning the future of our world," Orion Black responded gravely, addressing Harry for the first time.
Harry turned to the Black family patriarch. "I see. I assume, then, that some of these issues are related to the tensions between the old families and those that support Muggleborn?"
The entire room quieted as everyone stared at Harry. He was starting to think that he had made a mistake by revealing too much, when Orion Black nodded slowly. "Our way of life has lasted for centuries. The last few decades have brought great changes. There are some who believe that adaptation is the only way to ensure our survival. Others," the patriarch glanced around the table, "believe that we can continue as we are-that adaptation will eventually bring about our downfall."
"And which do you believe in?" Harry asked carefully.
....
Join my P@treon and get 60+ advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/0LordSilvere0 (Remove the *)
Free members get 2 chapters free.
Join Right Now