Lucius held out his arms with a heartbroken look on his face. "I would never send you away, little beastie. However," he said, trying not to react to her teary eyes. "That decision lies with your parents, rather than myself."
"But..." Ellie's lip wobbled. "But I like it here. You sing to me. Auntie Cissa plays dress up with me and Toppy. Draco is teaching me and Koty how to read music and Koty tells the best stories. I don't want to go! Daddy, we don't have to go, do we?" She let go of Lucius and ran to Sirius.
Koty bit his lip, fighting off his own tears. He loved hanging out with Ellie, acting like a big brother to her, as he was supposed to be with the Potter's baby. That's twice now he's missing out on being a big brother! But he wouldn't say anything. He couldn't. Magically manipulating his father was wrong, despite not having realised it sooner. He would have to be very careful of that in the future.
"I think that you, me and Papa need to go have a talk, don't we?" Sirius said, hugging the upset little girl to his chest.
"Why?" The wolf demanded. "Apparently no one can hear me anyway. You might as well just say whatever you're thinking."
"Fine. What do we have in Bucharest?" Sirius asked flatly. "A house? I've got them all over the world. Friends? We only see them once or twice a month anyway. Family? They're all here! Children for Ellie to play with? There are none, because we live in the middle of nowhere!"
"What about my life?" Remus prompted. "I can't work here! I can't even access our accounts unless you're there!"
"No one in our family even has to work!" Sirius pleaded. "Not for the next ten generations, if we mind our purses. Is working needlessly more important than our happiness?"
"And my own happiness means nothing? Is that it?"
"Why should it?" Sirius asked, letting go of Ellie. For a few seconds, he simply forced himself to breathe. "Toppy!"
When Toppy popped into the room, Ellie immediately grabbed the elf's hand. "Master Doggy called Toppy?"
"Would you be a dear and take Ellie back upstairs for a bit? Maybe you two could spend a little while gathering up some of your best outfits to prepare for a fashion show!"
"What an excellent idea!" Narcissa said, facing the pair. "Toppy, I want you to collect all of the clothes we've grown out of, and shrink them to fit you both."
"Mistress wants Toppy to wear wizzie clothes?" Toppy's eyes were wide as tennis balls.
"I see no problem, if it's just for play. When the fashion show is over, all of the clothes can be put back. Perhaps Bimi and Sippy would like to join you."
"If my friends aren't busy, I'm sure they would love to help too!" Koty added with a small smile.
"Toppy will sets up a grand show for her family, oh, yes!" Toppy grinned widely. "Mistress Ellie, we be's getting lots and lots of clothes for little Mistress, Master Kitten's friends and other elfies! Little Mistress will smile then!"
"'Kay," Ellie sniffled and they popped away.
"D'you even know why you can't access the Black family vaults without me being there?"
Remus crossed his arms, looking pissed. "Well?"
"Because we've not been married for years."
"Excuse me?" Remus scoffed. "I was there when we married, and I don't remember divorcing you."
"There is a clause," Sirius began slowly. "It's in all Black family marriage/bonding contracts. Ours was legally dissolved on December 9th, 1981."
"How?" Remus asked, clearly not believing it. "How was our bond dissolved six days after we married? We were still on our honeymoon."
"Is your memory failing?" Sirius demanded. "I was summoned to Gringotts before you ever finished buggering the bellhop."
Remus gaped, his normally tanned face paling in an instant.
"In fact," Sirius continued, gaining steam. "Every time you violated the contract, I was notified. I had to keep them from telling you about the dissolution, pretending we were still together. Do you have any idea how many times I had to redo all of the paperwork? You should, since I had to redo it every time you cheated on me."
"N-no," Remus shook his head in denial. "That's-that's not-"
"Not possible?!" Sirius roared. "I have let you put your own needs over mine for far too long. I won't let you hurt Ellie the same way!" He forced himself to stop shouting. "The way I see it, you have two choices. Number one: You act like the husband I deserve, and the father Ellie deserves. That means no more cheating on me, and spending more time with her. We will have to remarry, formally. Option number two: You walk out of this house, and never see either of us again. We weren't married when Ellie was adopted, so you have no legal claim on her."
"How many times?" Narcissa asked, itching to pick up her wand. "How many times have you had to refile the bonding?"
"It wasn't-"
"Twenty-six." Sirius cut off any ridiculous excuses Remus could come up with. "In February, 1985 alone, I refiled four times. Including once on my birthday. I stopped a few years ago. I gave up. The last notice that I contested was August 3rd, 1987."
"You've been lying about our marriage for the past five years?!" Remus stood, eyes flashing gold. "How dare-!"
"STAND DOWN, WOLF!" Koty shouted, horrified at what he was hearing.
Remus slammed to his knees, hard. The resulting crash was enough to make Koty wince, though everyone else seemed to be hiding their satisfaction poorly.
"Uncle Siri was good enough to offer you one more chance," Koty felt static crackling around his hands. "You don't deserve it, so I'm taking it away. Look at me!"
Though he was clearly trying to fight the order, Remus' head lifted to stare Koty in the eye.
"You no longer have the choice." He stood, his wings twitching in agitation. "You are going to walk up those stairs, tell Ellie you love her more than anything in the world, but you have to go. You will then gather up whatever belongings that Uncle Siri deems yours, and you will leave. You will never, ever try to come back to this house, or any other home belonging to anyone in this family. Do you understand?"
"Yes, my Lord," Remus snarled through clenched teeth.
"Then GO!"
The first order visibly snapped at the word 'go', as Remus' muscles sagged and he practically flew out the door.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Siri!" Koty sobbed, hugging his fellow little spoon tightly. "I know I shouldn't-"
"Thank you, Kitten," he said, cutting the little boy off. "You were right to do it. He didn't deserve another chance."
"I shouldn't have used my... my command... thing," he finished lamely, sniffling every few seconds.
"Hey, don't worry, pup," Sirius said lightly. "You did it for a good reason, okay? Your parents agree. See? You weren't wrong."
"If it helps, Koty, I thought it was hilarious." Draco laughed.
That seemed to break the tension, as everyone but Koty joined in on the laughter.
"Alright," Narcissa said, clapping her hands together once. "Let's head to the ballroom! We have a fashion show to attend!"
The next morning dawned, drizzly and cool. Koty rolled out of bed and got ready for the day. The ritual for the Dark Lord would take place in a few short hours, and nearly everything was in place. All they had to do was get themselves to the second floor ballroom. It was a fair bit smaller than the Grand Ballroom downstairs, as it was intended for family gatherings only.
Breakfast was slow and tense. All but Koty and the adults were simply going about their morning as usual. His friends were happily discussing the swiftly approaching first day of term, and the things they wanted to do beforehand to be prepared.
"Well, Miss Odoa, a trip to Vicolo Tortuoso sounds like what we all need!" Narcissa said with a secretive smile.
Amelia, who was trying to get her mouth around the strange words, eventually nodded. "That's in Italy, right?"
"Yes!" Olive squealed. "It's only a couple of doors down from my favourite clothing shop! Do you think we might have time for an extra short stop, Lady Malfoy?"
"Which shop, sweetheart?" Narcissa asked, lightly buttering her toast.
"Seta e Piume," she replied with a broad smile. "It's a-"
"Mother shops there often." Draco reached for one of the juice pitchers and refilled his glass. "It's where we buy nearly all of our non-formal attire."
"Was there anything in particular that you were looking for?" Narcissa asked.
Koty thought his mummy was brilliant. The tension in the room was palpable, and even though none of the other kids knew why, they could obviously feel it, as none of them wanted to be the first to speak. His own friends were chatting, but quietly, and mostly within the group.
Draco and his friends were almost completely silent. Koty's mummy was trying to keep conversation light and calm. She was brilliant.
Olive nodded vehemently, rummaging around in her pocket. After a few seconds, she pulled a magazine page out of her pocket with a triumphant 'aha!' "They just brought out the fall line about a week ago, and I've been desperate to get my hands on this! It's to die for!"
Narcissa took the page, eyes narrowed, glancing back and forth between the page and Olive. "May I make a suggestion?"
"Er, sure?" Olive said hesitantly.
"The dress is stunning, make no mistake." She said immediately, hoping to erase the girl's clear nervousness. "But because your colouring is so similar to Lucius and Draco, I think we could request this in shades of blues, rather than the salmon colour in the photo."
Rather than being insulted that she couldn't pull off salmon, she looked thoughtful. "Blue, huh? What are you thinking? Ooh, what about teal?"
When they began discussing various shades of blue that would compliment Olive, Koty checked out of the conversation. He might like hair, but he was only half a step above useless when it came to clothes.
He turned his focus to his dad and Uncle Siri.
Uncle Siri was talking to Ellie, who was much less excitable than usual. "Accio Mr. Doughy," he said softly, and smiled when a stuffed walrus with large eyes zoomed into his hand.
Ellie took the stuffy and leaned into Siri's side.
"He's not coming back this time, is he?"
"I don't think so, cub." Siri just ran his fingers through her hair, looking sadly down at the tablecloth.
Koty leaned over to whisper to her. "D'you want to come to the library with me? Just for a bit." It wasn't as if she was eating anyway, but rather mixing her scrambled eggs into the applesauce and soggy toast lumps.
With only a sigh, Ellie let her spoon fall with a clatter and got up from the table.
When he caught up to her, he took her free hand, as the other was still clutching Mr. Doughy.
It wasn't until they were arranged around a small spindle-legged table that Koty began to speak. "You know that I'm adopted, don't you? That Lucius and Narcissa aren't my birth parents?"
Ellie nodded, her adorable little face red and blotchy. "Daddy said your birth parents were mean, and they hurt you. He said they were kind of like my birth parents, but lots worse."
"Right, but we both got new families." Koty sighed. "Mummy and Daddy were the best thing that ever happened to me. Even though my birth parents did loads of bad things, I'm not sad about it anymore. D'you know why?"
"No," came the small reply.
"Because my new family saved me, and they love me just as much as I love them. Love is the only thing you can never run out of, so we've all got some to spare. Now that you're here, you're family, so that means we love you too. You and Uncle Siri came back into everyone's lives, and we're all happy about that." Koty paused. "I know you miss your papa, and that's okay. No one will ever be upset that you miss him. His leaving had nothing to do with you. It's just that your Daddy and Papa can't get along anymore."
"That's what Daddy said too." Ellie sniffled, wiping her nose on the billowy sleeve of her simple purple dress. "But I don't get why Papa can't just say he's sorry and come back."
"Sometimes sorry isn't enough, Ellie. I know it's awful, and no one wants to believe it, but some hurts are too big to heal."
"It broke then?" She asked, her eyes wide and shining. "Their bonding. It broke, just like your leg?"
"That's one way to look at it, yeah."
"What did Papa do to Daddy? He won't tell me, even when I gave him my puppy dog eyes. It has to be bad, cause Daddy always gives in when I do the puppy dog eyes, but he didn't last night."
Er... how was he supposed to explain adultery to an adulterer's child? He wasn't sure he fully understood it himself. "He... he lied to your daddy. Now, I don't think he ever lied to you, but I know that he lied to your daddy a lot. It... it just became too much for Siri to keep ignoring."
"Papa always told me that lying is wrong, so how come he did it?"
"I don't think anyone but your papa can answer that, Ellie," Harry finished sadly. "But, come on. You've got shopping to do with your Auntie Cissa and Amelia!"
He'd noticed how much Ellie seemed to gravitate toward Amelia, and Amelia didn't mind at all, so it was definitely a win.
In under an hour, everyone was finally out of the house. The only ones that remained were Koty and Lucius, as Severus had to go to the other manor to pick up the Dark Lord.
Koty had the ritual space already set up, and was left to wait. Thankfully, it wasn't a long wait, as Sev emerged through the floo after a few short minutes.
Well, Sev and the Dark Lord. Sev was carrying the man, who was clearly too weak to hold his head up, bridal style.
"Littlessst Malfoy," the rasping voice said, coming from the back of Quirrel's head.
"Yes, sir?" Koty replied nervously, unsure of how to speak to the man, while said man was stuck staring at the floor.
"If you are sssuccessssful," he rasped, pausing to breathe laboriously. "You will be rewarded immenssssely."
"Oh!" Koty could only blink. "Sir, I don't need anything. Sev wanted you back, so I'll help you to help him."
Lucius cleared his throat loudly.
A wheezing laugh escaped the slowly-dying man. "I do not believe your father agreesss, Littlessst Malfoy."
"We can talk more about it when you've got your own body, okay?" Koty suggested worriedly. "I don't think Professor Quirrel is doing very well. Sir." He barely remembered to add the last bit, but who could blame him? It wasn't everyday that the (ex-) twin brother of one's greatest enemy decided to help out.
Koty levitated a large crate to the centre of the ritual space, then carefully levitated the contents out. A positively massive Western Taipan from Australia and a human figure crafted out of extremely magical clay, collected from an underwater cave in the Dead Sea, accessible only via magic.
The snake was coiling itself, readying for attack.
Just as it opened its mouth, Koty shouted.
"Stop!"
Entirely unnoticed by Koty, even the adults froze. Rather than listening to the command, as the snake did, they were all frozen in shock.
Once more, a wheezing laugh came from the Dark Lord. "It looksss, Littlessst Malfoy, asss though the hissstory booksss were wrong."
"What do you mean, sir?"
"Look upon the facesss of your loved onesss."
So he did. His Daddy was staring at him in open-mouthed, wide-eyed mystification. "What's wrong?" Sev was just standing there, looking totally normal.
"Nothing is wrong, Koty," Sev said, placing Professor Quirrel gently into the ritual space. "I merely forgot to inform your father of your gift for parseltongue."
"Ohhh," Koty replied in understanding. "I found out on the first day of school last year. There's a portrait near the common room with a couple of snakes on it."
"Right," Lucius breathed. "My Lord, are you ready to begin?"
The Dark Lord had an odd look on his face, but quickly put up a mask of cool indifference. "Severus, have you acquired the bone fragment?"
"Yes, my Lord." Severus pulled a small phial out of his pocket that looked empty. He tipped the phial over the golem and a tiny chip of something light tan landed on its chest. Severus poked the tiny chip until it disappeared into the clay. "It was in a flowerbed at Godric's Hollow."
"You are certain it is mine?"
"Yes, my Lord. I tested it thrice."
"Then begin."
Koty swayed where he stood, and the others didn't look very well either. Sev was pale and shaky, while Lucius was sweaty and weak looking.
And, in the centre of the ritual space, the Dark Lord was waking. From the hips up, he looked like a regular man. Thick, curly locks, pure green eyes, a strong, square jaw, and a lean torso with smatterings of black and brown scales. From there, the legs had morphed into a large serpent's tail and the snake had vanished.
"We did it," Koty said weakly, the last of his strength giving out. He and his companions collapsed as one