My Godfather

Chapter XLI: Prison Break

Draco flicked through the pages, hoping to catch a glimpse of the name he had in mind. When he'd recounted the tale of his trip to Grimmauld Place, he'd remembered some finer details. Walburga Black wasn't the sort of person/portrait one could easily forget. She was his mother's aunt so that made her Sirius'and Regulus' mother. No one deserved that. She'd spoken to him and his father that day.

That was the first time he'd seen his father talk without even the slightest bit of ego. She was prejudiced enough to make Lucius look like a muggle lover. Walburga had asked Lucius about his mother, the 'blood traitors' and about someone called Bella.  She seemed to hold a certain fondness for this Bella person and Draco had seen the way his father's face had contorted with envy.

That night he'd dared to ask his father's about Bella only to be harshly rebuffed. A few years later, he had asked his mother about her and Narcissa's expression had turned sad, like she was hurt.

Truthfully, Draco knew next to nothing about the Blacks. Only recently had he gotten to know Sirius, Regulus and Aunt Andromeda. His mother never spoke about her family. Merlin knows why. There was no family tree in the house either.

Now that he was older, he was only more curious to know about the darker details of this rather diabolical family. Which was why he was furiously going through the history of the Black family.

His mother was out with her sister and that's where he wanted her for a while. She would be quite upset if she came home to find him in Lucius' study.

Draco turned to next page and froze. A picture. It was small and old but he could still make out the faces. From the momentary flash, he could tell that the picture had been snapped hastily. There were four people in it. One was definitely a woman, two other men and one boy, no older than sixteen. He easily recognised his father at the left but he didn't know the bloke next to him. The woman and the boy seemed to look vaguely alike. She was fairly young with curly, almost frizzy black hair and heavily lidded eyes. She had sharp, cold features and a proud smirk on her face and looked around the same age as his father.

The boy on the other hand looked strangely familiar. When he looked closer, his eyes widened. No bloody way! That was Regulus!

The office door was thrown open and Draco hurriedly slammed the book shut and shoved the photo into his pocket. It wasn't his mother. "Up to something, mate?" It was Blaise Zabini, his annoying and impossibly clumsy best friend. The Italian had an overnight bag slung over his shoulder. "Bloody hell, Zabini! Don't you ever knock?" His voice lacked any spite though. "Hey, don't blame me. I told you I was coming over. Your mum wasn't there downstairs, you weren't in your room so I figured you'd be here." He almost regretted telling Blaise anything.

"Found anything?" Blaise was the one person Draco could confide in without afraid of being judged. He was one of the few Slytherins who wasn't a prejudiced snob. "I think so."

"Brilliant. You can tell me more about it While I kick your arse at chess."

"You mean get your arse kicked? Certainly." He'd ask Regulus about the photo the next day. "So how's your mum?"

"She's happy. Thinks she's finally met the one," Blaise replied. "Who knows? Maybe fourth time's a charm." Draco put the book back in the drawer and closed it.

*********

"Dad, I don't think I need so many pairs of jeans. We're in our uniforms most of the time," Harry complained as Sirius tossed yet another pair into his trunk. "Nonsense, pup.  Third year means Hogsmeade weekends. You're going to thank me later. I've signed the permission slip and kept it inside your transfiguration textbook. That way, you can give it to Minnie and be done with it. Okay?"