The two months after Halloween went by calmly enough. The news that Harry killed the troll spread like fiendfire, he now had a large fan base throughout Slytherin and some from the other houses. The group of seven friends became closer, meeting in the room of requirement several times per week helping each other with studying and assignments. All had agreed to come along to Greengrass manor for the dinner on the 24th December. It had also allowed Sirius to reconnect with Cyrus and Elizabeth Greengrass, whom he went to Hogwarts with. Harry was still some distance ahead of the rest of the students in the rankings for their year. However, Hermione, Daphne and Susan were also doing very well with Neville also slowly improving. Oddly enough, Harry had also formed at good friendship with the Weasley twins. He found them nothing like their younger brother and in his opinion were hilarious and great company. After their first Hogsmeade weekend, the twins approached Harry to talk about their meeting with Sirius. They clearly loved meeting the marauder and came back with many new plans for pranks. After the incident with the troll, Malfoy and Weasley didn't dare do anything to antagonise Harry or his friends. Harry was pretty sure Ron was being kept in line by Fred and George, while Malfoy didn't dare anger anyone in Slytherin by going after the new golden boy. Quirrell had yet to do anything, Harry and his friends had a suspicion that he let the troll into the dungeons so were keeping an eye on him. Something else disconcerting was the fact Dumbledore hadn't done anything either, Harry was getting very nervous about what the old coot would do next. While there was a lot to worry about, that was all pushed to the back of his mind as the seven of them were sat on the Hogwarts express on their way home for Yule. (Christmas as the muggles called it with their single god faith).
"I'm so glad you're all coming on the 24th. It'll be nice to have people to talk to other than Tori." Daphne said cheerfully.
"Who's Tori?" Neville asked
"Oh that's your sister isn't it?" Hermione jumped in.
"Yeah Astoria, my younger sister. She's two years younger than us. She's really excited to meet you all. Especially Harry." Daphne said with a smirk.
"Argh, why's it always me?" Harry said with fake annoyance.
"Because you're the boy-who-lived Harry, everyone wants to meet you." Daphne replied smiling.
"That and she wants to meet her future brother in law." Tracey whispered to Blaise causing him to laugh out loud.
"What was that Tracey?" Daphne asked a little irritated.
"Nothing Daphne." She replied. Harry simply sat there and shook his head. He heard what Tracey said and wasn't completely against the idea. Obviously it'd have to wait a few years first though. One day however he could imagine himself marrying someone like Daphne.
"Now we all agreed no gifts right?" Daphne said.
Everyone nodded in response, except one. Hermione noticed Harry not responding. "Harry?" She asked in an accusatory tone.
Everyone turned to look at him. "No gifts." Harry said holding up his hands in surrender.
Then suddenly they were interrupted by a git.
"Greengrass, my father and yours will be meeting over Yule to agree on the betrothal contract. I told you that I would have you." Malfoy said with a triumphant smirk.
"Yeah right Malfoy. My father would never agree to that. Your family isn't of the right standing to be worthy." Daphne replied, clearly trying to aggravate him. It worked.
"My father is one of the richest men in the country. No one can defy the Malfoys." He said in anger.
"Well actually Malfoy, there are a few houses higher in standing and power, not to mention wealth that could easily defy you." Daphne said coldly, "Actually, given the fact Malfoy is just a Noble house, means that a lot of families are more powerful, including most in this compartment." She finished.
"How dare you, what can anyone in this compartment do to the Malfoy family?" He asked.
This was when Harry decided to jump in.
"Well Draco, I could have my godfather, Lord Sirius of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, declare your mother a blood traitor, then, you would be of the same standing as the Weasleys. Would you like that?" Harry asked calmly. Malfoy's face went more pale than usual, but before he could respond, Harry spoke again, "Actually come to think of it, I could have you removed from the Black family tapestry all together." He said with a look of thoughtfulness stroking his chin. Malfoy now went from pale to red as he stormed from the compartment door without saying another word.
"Oh how I love doing that." Harry said joyfully as he sat down.
"Doing what exactly?" Blaise asked.
"Shutting him up." Harry replied with a smile getting a laugh from the compartment.
As everyone went back to talking Daphne turned to Harry. "I could have handled that." She said quietly.
"I know Daph, I just felt like shutting him up myself. I don't doubt you could have done it." Harry replied with that stupid lopsided grin of his, that made her heart skip a beat. Daphne smiled back at her friend and went back to the conversation the others were having about the transfiguration homework.
A few hours later the train arrived at king's cross and everyone departed and started looking for their families. Harry eventually saw Sirius talking to a couple with a girl who Harry guessed to be a year or so younger than him near the barrier. Harry soon figured out they were Daphne's parents, as the woman looked almost like her older sister with brown eyes and the man was quite tall, probably around six foot two, had brown hair of a similar length to Harry and the same pair of dazzling blue eyes as Daphne. The girl was a mix of her parents like Daphne just the other way around, instead of her mother's blond hair and father's blue eyes, she had the same colour hair as her father and had her mother's eyes. Harry quickly got Susan and Daphne's attention and gestured to the adults.
"Harry, how did you know they were my parents?" Daphne asked as they walked towards them.
"Well you and your mother look very similar and I'd recognise those blue eyes anywhere." He said with a smile. A small blush appeared on Daphne's face which she quickly hid. The four people finally noticed the three children walking towards them and smiled.
"Hey kids, how was school?" Sirius said as he hugged Harry and Susan.
"It was great." Susan said with a grin.
"Certainly interesting." Harry added with a smirk and a wink.
"Mother, father." Daphne greeted her parents still with her mask on in front of everyone on the platform.
"We missed you darling." Elizabeth Greengrass said as she softly hugged her daughter. Harry could tell where Daphne learned her usual cold facade from. It was clear the Greengrass family wanted to portray an appearance of properness to the outside world.
"How was the journey home?" Her father asked.
"Long and boring father, though it did give me a chance to read," Daphne replied.
"I'd hardly say that interaction with Malfoy was boring Daphne." Came Harry's voice from behind her. She turned back to look at her friend who had a small smirk on his face.
"What happened with Malfoy now?" Cyrus Greengrass asked.
"I'll explain when we get home father." Daphne replied."
"Daphne, aren't you going to introduce us to your friends?" Elizabeth asked.
"Of course, mother, father, allow me to introduce Heiress Susan Bones." She gestured to Susan, "And Lord Hadrian Potter." She then gestured to Harry. "Susan, Harry, allow me to introduce my parents, Lord Cyrus and Lady Elizabeth Greengrass and my younger sister, Astoria." She said as she gestured to each in turn.
"Lord and Lady Greengrass, a pleasure to meet you both at last. I read quite a bit about you both in my parents' journals and I know they considered you good friends." Harry said as he shook the hand of Cyrus and kissed Elizabeth's hand.
"It is a pleasure to see you as well Lord Potter, the last time we saw you was on your first birthday." Cyrus said.
"And please call us by name, there is no need for the formalities." Elizabeth said.
"Then please feel free to call me Hadrian or Harry, whichever you prefer." Harry said in response.
Susan then made her greetings as Harry turned to the younger Greengrass.
"It's very nice to meet you Astoria." Harry said politely, "I heard you're the smart sister." He whispered earning a giggle from Astoria and a smack on the shoulder from Daphne.
"Git" Daphne said in mock anger. Harry just smiled and winked at her forcing her to smile back at him.
"It's nice to meet you too Harry, please call me Tori, I don't like my full name." She said smiling.
"Of course my lady." Harry said bowing earning another giggle.
Cyrus and Sirius stood watching the interaction take place.
"Look at that, he's known her for two minutes and she already loves him." Cyrus said chuckling.
"I know, ladies man just like his father. Gets on my nerves sometimes." Sirius said in response.
"Can you imagine if we had to go to school with him? There wouldn't be any girls left for us." Cyrus said as both men laughed.
"I'd be worried about your older daughter if I were you Cyrus." Sirius said quietly.
"Oh I am, the way she's written about him in her letters home makes me think she already has a bit of a crush on him." Cyrus replied with a slight frown.
"While I know you're very protective of your daughter Cyrus, I can tell you honestly that Harry has one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen, he's a lot more like his mother than you might think." Sirius said in defence of his godson. "It could always be worse. Imagine if it was Lucius' boy." He finished.
"Yeah, that's another issue though. Lucius just won't give up on the idea of a marriage contract. He's asked to meet me again over Yule to no doubt discuss it." Cyrus replied irritatedly.
"Give it some time Cyrus and you may have a solution." Sirius said nodding at Harry having a conversation with Astoria and Daphne.
Cyrus noticed this and smiled slightly. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see. I don't intend to push Daphne into a betrothal she doesn't want." He said.
"Of course Cyrus. Anyway we should probably all leave. I'm pretty sure I just saw molly Weasley looking for someone. Knowing Dumbledore, he's probably instructed her to invite Harry for the holidays." Sirius said a little concerned.
"Yes, right you are Sirius. I look forward to seeing you, Amelia, Susan and Harry on the 24th."
"Likewise Cyrus, see you then." The two of them shook hands and interrupted the conversations of their family members to take them home.
"Right, well it was a pleasure to see you Harry and you Susan, I look forward to seeing you both again on the 24th." Cyrus said as the groups parted.
"Likewise Cyrus." replied Harry.
"See you then." Said Susan.
As they were about to enter the floo, Harry looked back and saw Daphne looking at him. He a winked at her and went into the fire heading home, not noticing the blush on her face.
"Ah, it's good to be home." Harry said as he arrived in the entrance hall of Black manor.
"Where's Amy?" Susan asked as Sirius came through last.
"Work, being head of the DMLE, while having it's perks, means she couldn't get the day off to great you when you got home." Sirius said in response. "Oh by the way, we have something to tell you both when she gets home later." He finished with a smile.
Before either Harry or Susan could ask anything, Sirius spoke again, "So, what happened with Malfoy on the train?" He asked, Harry just smirked as he began his story.
Meanwhile, at Greengrass manor, a similar conversation was happening.
"So what happened with Draco Malfoy on the train dear?" Cyrus Greengrass asked his oldest daughter.
"Well daddy, our group was in our compartment talking when Malfoy opened the door. He came in saying you would be meeting his father to agree on a betrothal contract over Yule and that 'he always said he would have me'" she finished imitating the Malfoy scion. "Anyway, I learned from watching Harry that the best way to deal with Malfoy is to humiliate him so he'll stay away. So I casually reminded him of his family's lower standing as just a Noble House. He then went on that no families could stand up to the Malfoys because of their wealth and influence." Daphne said with distaste.
"Hold on, wasn't Harry in the compartment? Because he's the lord of one of the oldest families in Britain." Cyrus asked.
"Yes, this is actually where he stepped in. Pointing out the fact that he was the Lord of an older and richer house, as well as being the heir to another. He also pointed out the fact that his godfather could disown both Draco and his mother making them blood traitors, putting them in the same standing as the Weasley family who Malfoy can't stand." Daphne explained with a hint of admiration and fondness in her voice.
"Well it's clear to see why he's a Slytherin, a Gryffindor wouldn't be cunning enough to shut Malfoy down like that." Elizabeth said amused.
"Harry actually told us that the hat said he would have fit well in all four houses but eventually went for Slytherin." Daphne replied.
"You seem to be very fond of young Lord Potter dear." Elizabeth said in a teasing tone.
Daphne blushed and looked down slightly. "He's been a really good friend since we started school." She said confidently to her mother.
"Just a good friend? You haven't run off and got a boyfriend without telling us have you Daphne?" Cyrus joked.
"No! Please stop daddy. I'm only eleven anyway." Daphne said a little irritated and embarrassed.
"Sorry darling. We'll stop talking about it. Won't we Cyrus?" Elizabeth asked pointedly.
"Yes of course. I'd hate to scare away Daphne's friend by telling him not to hurt my daughter." Cyrus said with a smirk.
"I swear, in the month since we've properly reconnected with Sirius, you've become more like how you were at school. Lily and I always knew the marauders were a bad influence." Elizabeth said exasperated as she walked from the room.
"While we will drop it dear, I know Tori will do no such thing. Just be careful how much you mention about Harry with her." Cyrus said with a laugh as he followed his wife out of the living room.
Daphne knew he was right, Tori almost hero worshiped Harry, she couldn't know that her older sister had a crush on him or she'd never stop teasing her about it.
Back at Black manor, Harry and Susan had just finished explaining the last Malfoy incident to Sirius. This natural made the old marauder incredibly proud of his godson.
"I must say Harry, you sound rather fond of miss Greengrass standing up for her like you do." Sirius said with a smirk causing Susan to smile and Harry to blush.
"She's a good friend and I can't stand Malfoy anyway." Harry said defensively.
"Yeah, good friend. You're hardly ever apart." Susan said mockingly.
"Don't you start Susan, or should I tell Amy about you being such good friends with Neville?" Harry said in response.
"Ugh, you're such a Slytherin." Susan said annoyed.
"Well why do you think I was sorted there?" Harry said smugly.
"Merlin, my mother would have loved you. She would have seen you as the perfect Black heir." Sirius said with a sad smile.
"Well there's a reason I'm the black heir and Malfoy isn't." Harry said causing Sirius to bark out a laugh.
"Anyway, back to the matter at hand. So you've been gone three months and both already have crushes on people?" Sirius said amused.
"NO!" Both Harry and Susan said defensively.
Sirius simply chuckled at the two eleven year olds whom he had come to regard as his own children. "Okay guys, whatever you say." He said, "Oh one more thing. Harry, since our meeting with Ragnok and you becoming Lord I've been working on something for you. Since we were in a rush that day we didn't discuss it, but you now have access to all Potter properties. The main one being Potter manor." Harry's eyes widened at this as Sirius continued. "Since you went to Hogwarts, I've had the elves working to restore the manor for you and it was finished last month. While this will always be a home to you Harry, I think taking your place at Potter manor would be a message that the Potter family has returned to power. Also, the library there is larger than here, containing older and rarer books. Not to mention, there will also be a lot of your parents belongings." Sirius finished with a sad smile.
"Potter manor? What's it like?" Harry asked quietly.
"It's truly amazing Harry, it's larger than Black manor and I believe it has bigger grounds as well. It has its own quidditch pitch, a large freshwater lake, a swimming pool, huge woods filled with magical creatures and even more powerful defensive wards than we do here." Sirius told him.
"Next summer." Harry said.
"What was that Harry?" Sirius asked as he didn't quite hear.
"I'll move there next summer when I have time to sort everything and fully explore. I would like to see it though." Harry said calmly.
"Of course Harry, we can go the day after Yule." Sirius said.
"Thanks Sirius." Harry said with a smile hugging his godfather.
"Guess you won't have to put up with me so much after next summer Susan ." Harry said smiling.
"Finally." She said jokingly, then hugged the boy she thought of as a brother.
At this moment Amelia arrived through the floo into the entrance hall. "Hello." She shouted as the other three emerged from the living room.
"Hey Amy." Harry and Susan together said as they hugged her.
"I missed you both, I hear that you've put that young Malfoy in his place a few times Harry." She said smiling proudly.
"The git deserves it. It's not been all fun and games though. Now whenever I accidentally swear I have three people telling me off instead of just one." Harry said as he looked pointedly at Susan who just laughed.
"Good girl." Amelia said to Susan with a smile.
"Right, now we're all home, shall we have some dinner?" Sirius asked.
"Oh yes please, I'm starving." Amelia replied.
As they sat round the table in the parlour Harry remembered something.
"Didn't you say there was something you wanted to tell us Sirius?" He asked.
Sirius and Amelia looked at each other and nodded.
"Well yes I did. I think Amy should tell you though." He replied.
Amelia smiled and stood up. "Well, I suppose I should just say it. We're going to have a new member of the family in august. I'm pregnant."
Harry smiled wider than he had for a long time while Susan gave a little squeal of delight.
"Wow, congratulations." Harry said happily as he hugged his aunt and then Sirius. "I think both me and Susan can speak from experience when we say you will be great parents.".
"Yeah definitely." Susan said grinning.
"I guess you won't feel lonely when I go to Potter manor then." Harry said getting a laugh from all.
"That's why we want you gone so the baby can have your room." Sirius said in a joking tone.
"I'm glad you're happy about it, we found out last month but decided to wait to tell you until you were home." Amelia said.
"Does anyone else know yet?" Susan asked.
"No not yet, we're going to announce it at the Greengrass dinner, we just thought we should tell you first." Sirius replied.
"It'll be big news that the Lord and Lady Black are expecting a child, I know what it's like to be in the other end of that sort of attention and it's not fun." Harry said.
"Yes we know, I think we'll be fine. Anyway, I think this calls for a celebratory drink." Sirius said with a smile. Sirius then called a house elf who brought a bottle of non-alcoholic and a bottle of alcoholic wine with some glasses. Sirius was the only one to have the alcoholic wine.
Harry went to bed that night exhausted and happier than he'd been for a long time. He was so happy for Sirius and Amelia, they deserved a proper family of their own now they don't have to look after Harry and Susan as much since they're growing up. It'd be nice to be an older brother of sorts too, he was protective of Susan but she was older than him.
Life looked like it was going on the right direction for everyone, for now that is.
Thanks for all the support everyone it means a lot. I never thought my first story would do this well.
As always, feedback is appreciated.