The Anger .

Sirius collapsed into a chair and sighed, "Arcturus might have been an - not nice man - at times, but even he wouldn't want to upset the rules of inheritance that much." Looking up, he said, "Lord Black, eh? That's going to take some getting used to."

"And you've got plenty of time to do it," replied Cygnus.

Giving himself a bit of a shake, Sirius looked up at his godson. "So, Harry," he said. "You're a lot bigger than I remembered."

Harry gave a snort and said, "Droll, godfather." I take it the young lady with you is Cygnus's oldest," said Sirius. "Daphne, right?"

Daphne just nodded while Harry just looked back at his godfather. "You should know," snarked Harry. "After all, because of what I suspect was one of your pranks, Daphne and I are betrothed."

"Huh?" replied Sirius, not a little confused. "What'd I do?"

"Now, let's see," said Cygnus, enjoying the moment. "Baby Harry is barely a day old. Someone gets the bright idea for the wizardfolk to get together to 'wet the baby's head', so to speak. Lots of firewhiskey gets tossed back. Someone gets the bright idea to betroth infant Harry to my infant daughter. Hilarity ensures. Someone draws up the contract. Someone thinks it's a great idea to use a blood quill. I think you get the general idea."

"Oh, Merlin," moaned Sirius. "I forgot about that."

"Yes. Well. Eleven years later I receive a nice little formal letter from one Harry James Potter, Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter; that, while formally written and with the right prose, basically asked, 'What in Merlin's name is this?' concerning the contract."

Harry grunted and said, "I had only just returned to the wizarding world after escaping the clutches of my aunt and uncle. I had very little money on me, and hoped there might have been money left for me from the estate of my parents. I went to the bank, Gringotts, and they informed me of the accounts, the fact their Will had not been executed, and that surprise, surprise - there was an unbreakable betrothal contract between me and Daphne Ophelia Greengrass, the eldest daughter of Lord Cygnus and Lady Isabel Greengrass. I was both furious and scared out of my mind.

"I didn't know what to do, at the time, so I just asked to have a look at the family vaults. In there, I found two letters addressed to me; one each from Mum and Dad. Dad's letter told me how the betrothal contract came about.

"After leaving the bank I went to the bookshop and bought books on living life in the wizarding world, noble etiquette, a history of the ancient Houses and some others. I then studied up on what I had to do over the next few weeks. Eventually, I wrote to Cygnus and things moved from there."

"But, surely Frank and Alice would have helped you out with all this," said Sirius, quite confused. "You were supposed to go live with them if anything happened to your parents."

Harry grunted again and said, "That did not happen. I'll let Cygnus tell you what happened and why, as it's a long tale to tell. However, I was - raised - by my muggle aunt and uncle, Vernon and Petunia Dursley."

"No!" cried Sirius. "You were never to go anywhere near those people! What happened to Frank and Alice? They were alive, healthy and living under a Fidelius when I - when I went after Peter."

"That's part of the tale for Cygnus to tell you," replied Harry. "All you need to know for now is that, as per my father's wishes, I accepted the Headship of House Potter on my eleventh birthday. Since a few days before I started at Hogwarts, I've been effectively living here. I'm currently a Ward of the Ministry; but Cygnus, Aunt Amelia and Gran - Madam Longbottom - are sorting that all out. I activated the betrothal contract and, as per the old ways, and the ways of the Potters, both Daphne and I wear matching betrothal rings.

"While I was in seeing the goblins, Bloodfang was trying to tell me something but legally couldn't. However, what he did tell me was that the goblins recognised you as Lord Apparent of House Black. Of course, that should not have been possible seeing as you were in Azkaban for life. That got Cygnus, Amelia and Gran looking into why. Which, of course, led to discovering you'd never received a trial. Your name did not appear in the Book of Convictions."

"I wondered why," said Sirius softly.

"Alright," said Cygnus before he looked at Harry and Daphne. "I promised Professor Flitwick I would return you two promptly to Hogwarts. I'll go and see if we can use his fireplace to floo the pair of you direct to his office. You'll have plenty of time to catch up with your godfather next weekend."

"Sorry?" asked Harry.

"With Dumbledore's trial set for next Monday afternoon I cannot see any reason for me not requesting, and getting, permission for the both of you to spend the weekend here, catching up," replied Cygnus.

Walking across to the fireplace he grabbed a small handful of floo powder and, dashing it into the fireplace, called "Hogwarts, Professor Flitwick's office," before sticking his head in.

While Cygnus was talking through the floo, Sirius turned to Harry and softly said, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, Harry. I - I should have been."

"The time for recriminations is later, Lord Black," said Harry. "For now, you have other priorities. For starters, you stink! You need a bath. Then I suggest getting into some comfy duds, enjoying a healthy meal and relaxing long enough to get your head around the fact you're currently free. And talk to Cygnus. We'll talk next weekend."

Pulling his head out of the fireplace, Cygnus said, "Alright. I caught Filius just as he was leaving for the Great Hall for the evening meal. He's now waiting for you."

Looking at Harry and Daphne, he said, "The address is 'Hogwarts, Professor Flitwick's office', let it connect and then call the password, 'Wingardium'. Then you can step through." "Thank you, Cygnus," said Harry, while Daphne gave her father a big hug.

Picking up a little floo powder he dashed it into the fireplace and did as instructed. A few moments later he was standing in the office of Professor Flitwick. Daphne joined them a few moments later."

"Enjoy your visit?" asked the Professor.

"Yes, Sir," replied Daphne.

"Thank you, Sir," said Harry.

"Well, come along then," said the Professor. "We do not want to allow our dinner to get cold, do we?"

The three left, headed for the Great Hall.

While Harry and Daphne were spending time with Sirius and Cygnus at Greengrass Estate, Dumbledore was sitting in his office. He had a bottle of muggle brandy and a clean glass on his desk. However, he'd not touched the stuff since his return.

Since his return he'd been staring out the wide office windows and across the grounds of the castle. Aware of his bond-mate's thoughts, Fawkes had been softly crooning to him. It didn't seem to help. Occasional tears had almost stained tracks down the old man's face.

'What have I done?' thought the old man. 'How could I have been so blind? I should have checked. I should have listened to Arabella. I cannot understand how someone could do that to their own flesh and blood! It's no wonder he clearly hates me now! At least I now know what led to that fury on the night of the Sorting.'

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