Chapter XVII

Meetings of importance

The days following the wizengamot trials brought some tension within the house even more so as the day approached where Kinsley would be meeting her new "charge". Arrangements were made, and Felicity Barrow would be staying with Cassiopeia Black. It was the best solution, especially as Cassiopeia would be able to teach the young heir how to handle herself and how to handle the Dark Families she was now associated with.

Kinsley also wanted to give the young heiress options when it came to her education and life. She might be a ward of the Potter family, but she wasn't going to just take her life away.

"I'm leaving for Black Château," she told her mother as she passed by her office, the door open. "I'll be back later on today."

She peeked over at her mother as the woman's head shot up. For a moment she looked ready to say something before she cleared her throat and wished her safe journey. Turning her eyes away, she did her best to hide the hurt that blossomed in her chest before hurrying off. It took very little time to arrive at Black Château and was warmly greeted by her aunt.

"Andromeda will be arriving shortly with the young girl. How is your mother handling the situation?" The elder witch questioned after giving her a hug.

"Still not happy," she answered, emotions finally bleeding through.

"It will get better dear, why don't you head up to your office, I will lead the dear to you. Are you still quite certain about speaking to her alone?" Cassiopeia asked with concern.

"Positive, she was abused Aunt Cassy, I - know how that feels, and she needs to believe that I really do have her best interest at heart. I placed the petition for a reason; she deserves to live her own life and I'm going to give her that option." She declared before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "I'll support her,"

"You're grown up in the last few weeks dear. I placed the petition for a reason; she deserves to live her own life and I'm going to give her that option. They stand to show the amazing witch you'll grow into." Cassiopeia murmured before ushering her off knowing the others would be arriving shortly.

Hurrying through the halls, she moved up to the next level before arriving at her personal office. Already a tea set was waiting for them as well as documents for Felicity. Moving towards the window, she looked over the grounds and settled on a soft cushion.

She'd thought hard about how to approach the new ward of the Potter Family. There were so many ways this could go wrong. She highly doubted the girl was happy, and she had good reasons to be mad.

Only a short time ago the girl's memories were blocked out by some creep who was against Muggle-borns. The girl was also abused by the people who were getting paid to take care of her. It made her sad to realize just how much pain another human being could put on somebody. It also brought to the front her own memories of abuse. She hoped to be able to help the witch in any way she might want. It was the least she deserved.

A soft knock at her door swiftly pulled her from her thoughts, and she turned. The door opened, revealing a witch only a year younger than her standing there. She was a pretty girl, not overly tall and rather thin with long blonde hair done in loose curls down her back. She had warm brown eyes and was dressed in muggle clothes that — although had seen better days — were clean.

She looked nervous as she entered the office, but her nervousness ebbed away to confusion at the sight of her.

"Hi Felicity, I'm Kinsley Black." she greeted as the door shut behind her new charge."

"Black - I thought I was meeting Harry Potter?" the girl questioned yet to Kinsley's pleasure there was no hint of fanaticism in her voice. "I mean he is the heir to the Potter Family right?"

"Yes and no," She answered before taking a deep breath and falling into her tale.

It wasn't very big in explanation, yet it covered her bases and by the end Felicity's eyes were wide and her cheeks were pink.

"So - so you were a boy and now you're a girl and nobody is supposed to know you're Harry Potter." the twelve-year-old stuttered out.

"Complicated right?" She joked half-heartedly before motioning to the chairs. "Tea?"

"That's screwed up," Felicity mumbled while slumping into a chair.

"Try living it, but of course you've not had the easiest life either." she continued while filling two teacups with tea. "Sugar? Cream?"

"Two sugars a dash of cream." came the soft answer, and she quickly did as told before handing the cup over and settling back with her own. "You've been obliviated, and what the foster family taking care of you did has left its scars."

Here Felicity looked away, her eyes shut tight and her posture tense. Kinsley didn't blame her for that action. Mentioning of abuse was never easy.

"I — know how you feel," she pushed on, "somewhat. I wasn't obliviated, however — my "relatives" did abuse me, mentally at the start until this summer where it turned more physical."

Without notice, her hand moved to her stomach, to the bullet wound her "uncle" had given her. She felt anger towards him bubble up inside her as she thought about it, but her eyes quickly caught her bubbling tea, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. It wouldn't do well to scare people away from her. Already she did so much to hide her "abnormalities" from the world, the last thing she needed was her tea evaporating in its cup because of her anger. She was glad everything she owned was charmed with flame-proofing charms.

"I petitioned for guardianship because I thought you deserved the chance to make choices about your life. You've been through too much, and I think you deserve that chance to live your life for your own." She continued causing the girl to look her way with surprise. "There are some things though that you will need to do. You'll be living here at Black Château. This is so that you can have the hands-on teachings that Aunt Cassiopeia can give you regarding upbringing and regarding family. I don't know your thoughts or your knowledge in accordance to the Lestrange and Rosier Family are, however, Aunt Cassy has been around for a while and can give you insight on their history."

"I looked them up," Felicity whispered stopping her from continuing. "I hated Malfoy when I went to Hogwarts, I can't imagine having relatives like him and yet - I'm related to some of the worst out there."

Whispered ever softly, the girl lowered her head to stare at her lap. Kinsley couldn't blame the girl. She'd read up on the other families as well, thanks to Aunt Cassy. She'd learned the dirty known history of many families and the Lestrange and Rosier family had some of the darker histories, similar in fact to the Black.

"Felicity, no matter how bad your family is, there is always light inside of it," Kinsley assured gently before placing her cup onto the table. "The Black Family is notorious for its dark past, Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black being the most renowned however we do have lighter sides like Aunt Cassiopeia, the Weasley's and Prewetts. They are attached to the Blacks as well, even the Potters. We cannot change our families, but we can do our best to show the world we're not all sown from the same tapestry."

"Is that what you're doing?" Felicity questioned her making her smile.

"In a sense, the Blacks don't have the best image at the moment; my father is Sirius Black. Wanted, escaped convict from Azkaban. He's said to have killed a large number of Muggles, not to mention betrayed my adoptive parents. Many members of the Black Family and associated with it were the followers and supporters of Voldemort and his reign of power. They believed that Muggle-borns shouldn't be allowed in our world and that muggles were so low in the intelligence category that they were nothing but mindless creatures. I have to live with that fact and try to bring the family back into a positive light."

Silence met her explanation when she ended, however, she saw the look of thought that was passing over the girl's face. Finally, seemingly coming to a decision she looked up and met her eyes.

"So what are my options?"

Grinning she pulled over various documents before taking a deep breath.

"Fist option is schooling." She declared before pulling out a series of documents. "You have your choice. You could return to Hogwarts, or could attend another magical school."

"Other magical school?" Felicity questioned curiosity in her voice.

"Yes, your options would be as follows. In France there is Beauxbatons Academy de Magie, in Eastern North America, there is Ilvermorny, Durmstrang is also an option, however, it has a darker background than the others."

"You'd let me leave Hogwarts and attend another school if I wanted to?" Felicity asked curiously making Kinsley chuckle.

"It's your life; you should have the option. I don't know what your experience at Hogwarts has been so far, but it would change if you return to Hogwarts. You were sorted into - Ravenclaw correct?"

"Yes," Felicity whispered before she bit her bottom lip with nervousness. "Could I have time to decide?"

"I can only give you a few days, but yeah you can think about it and Felicity, my expectations are none existent okay. You chose what you want to do with your life." She declared earning a relaxed smile from the younger witch. "I also wouldn't blame you if you chose to attend another school. Here are the documents you might want to look through it has details on each school, I mentioned."

"What else - what else is expected?"

"Well I guess I should say you'll be expected to keep good grades, you can take part in any club you want really just considering your options. You're not banned from Quidditch if you want to play it, I love Quidditch. Aunt Cassy might put extra rules in place but on my side, as long as you are happy that's what counts really. Oh, and if you need to talk, you can always send me letters and I'll try to find another way for us to communicate."

"You're not trying to be a parent are you?" Felicity asked curiously, "Because you're like a year older than me."

Laughing at the question Kinsley shook her head. She definitely wasn't going to be a parental figure.

"You can consider me anything you want really, older sibling, cousin, or just a relative. Your choice," Kinsley assured the younger witch who gave a relieved smile in return.

"I've never really had people who were like family, it's going to be weird."

"Oh trust me, I know how that feels."

...

Ron Weasley couldn't help but be impressed by their surroundings. To be honest, he never believed he'd ever have the chance to leave England for a holiday and to go to Egypt was just mind-boggling. He was rather certain that if Hermione had been here, she would have dragged him to all sorts of historical sites and museums.

"Ah my baby brother," Bill greeted warmly while slapping a strong, callused hand onto his shoulder, making him raise an eyebrow up at the older wizard.

"Hi to you to Bill," he greeted, unsure of what was happening. He'd quickly noticed how his brother had changed since the last they'd seen him.

Bill always looked confident, he walked with his shoulders back and with pride. Ron knew he was respected in his job. He was dressed for the surrounding weather, dressed in long tanned slacks and a white long sleeved shirt he seemed relaxed yet perfectly cool. The difference, however, was clear to them all. His long red hair was now pinned back by a leather strap, unlike before where he kept it loses. His entire appearance was more - pureblood like.

"Oh Bill, how wonderful to see you again," Mrs Weasley greeted while hurrying over to pull her oldest son into a smothering hug. "Oh darling, maybe I can give you a haircut when we get to your place."

"My hair is fine the way it is mum, don't worry. Come on you guys I'll lead you there and I have a surprise for you!"

With that, he pulled away from his mother and in a swift movement had pulled Ginny up and onto his back making the girl squeal with surprise while her arms wrapped hurriedly around her brother's neck.

"Bill!" She cried a pout covering her lips.

"Ah, Gin-Gin no need to pout!" The curse breaker laughed while beginning to walk. "You looked sad there for a moment, and I couldn't let you just stay like that."

Yep, something had changed about his brother, thought Ron as he watched his brother walk off with their sister on his back. Still, he couldn't really think about that for now, he had to think about other things. He hadn't spoken with Harry for a good portion of the summer, which was making their bound go a bit crazy at times. He spoke with Hermione plenty, and she said the same thing. They were both getting worried.

"Ron!" Came his mother's exasperated shout, pulling him from his focus and realize that they'd all started off without him thinking he'd fallow.

"Sorry," he grumbled before heading off after his family.

It didn't take them long to arrive at their destination. The Hotel Bill suggested they rent was a comfortable looking abode and wasn't far from his own home. Although Ron knew his mother would have preferred staying with her oldest son, she understood that he didn't have a very large home like they did. Room assignments were rather simple, Fred, George and Percy would share a room, and he would share a room with Ginny while his parents had their own room.

Once they settled in, it wasn't long before they left their hotel room and began the walk towards Bills flat.

"Oh Bill, don't you miss England? The grass, the coolness?" their mother prodded earning a small smile from her oldest son.

"I'm quite happy here actually and the Goblins are quite satisfied with my work so far." He remarked earning a withering look from his mother which Ron quickly caught before looking away.

Their mother always complained about her two oldest son's moving so far away from home to work. She also didn't seem to completely accept their chosen fields of work wanting them to join the Ministry and be respectable members of society. She didn't seem to realize that their world needed all types of job workers not just Ministry employees and to be honest, Ron didn't want to work in the Ministry either.

"here we are!" Bill declared before setting the past up the flat building stairs until they arrived at the second floor.

With quick motions, he unlocked the door before repocketing his keys and opening the door.

The moment they entered the flat, cool air hit their skin making them all feel much better. The stifling heat of the Egyptian desert was quite heavy when you weren't used to it.

"So what's this surprise?" Ginny piped up, reminding them of Bill's promise.

"Well you see, can't be a family holiday without -" "ME!" Bill began before being interrupted by a shout as the second oldest Weasley jumped into view a grin on his face while everybody else either jumped or screamed with surprise.

Charlie Weasley had changed since they'd last seen him and Ron had to hold back a grin as he noticed a few more burn marks on his bare yet very muscled arms. He stood before them dressed in similar pants as Bill yet a sleeveless white shirt that only accented his dark complexion. His hair was cut short, and he wore what looked to be dragon hide boots with a beaded necklace around his neck with a small fang dangling from it.

"CHARLIE!" Their mother screamed, making many of them wince at its high voltage before the second oldest Weasley was engulfed by a bone breaking hug.

"Hi to you to mum," the man laughed while lifting their mother off her feet and hugging her tightly.

With the motions of a gentle giant, he set her back down before pulling away and turning his attention to his other siblings. He easily greeted the stiff Percy with a manly hug before turning to the twins and pulling them into one hug, one arm slung around each twin before turning to him.

"Bloody hell, you'll be as tall as me soon baby brother," the dragon handler declared before pulling him into a headlock and messing his hair up making him laugh as he fought to get loose.

"And gin-gin, Merlin I'll have to fight boys away from you soon enough." he chuckled while letting go of Ron and gathering Ginny into his arms, easily lifting her up to hold her tightly to him making Ginny giggle softly.

"Oh, this is wonderful, all of us together a true family holiday!" Molly exclaimed tears in her eyes that had them all shaking their heads at her.

It felt like a true holiday as the family set off towards their first destinations. Bill had organized for them to just look around the area for their first night. As they were peaking through the bazaar set up Ron felt his oldest brothers take both sides of him making him frown up at them with curiosity.

"We need to talk dear brother," Bill declared while picking up a trinket.

"About?" He questioned, quickly noticing how both brothers seemed serious.

"Blood vows,"

The simple statement had Ron's wincing. How did Bill know? He told nobody about what he had chosen to do after second year, about his vow of loyalty to Harry. He knew what his family would have done if he had. His mother would have pitched a fit, not because of who he had done it too, but simply for the fact that he'd tied himself to somebody at the age of twelve. His father would be furious as well, although in a different way he suspected. His older brothers, however - he didn't expect them to learn about it, and he hadn't planned on telling anybody about it until he was much older. It wasn't that he was ashamed of his ties to his best friend. He was quickly learning that Harry was becoming his family like his own brothers and sister were but in a totally different way. They were kindred spirits in a way, just like Hermione. Hermione was an outcast because of her wish to know everything, he felt distant from his siblings because his mother constantly compared him to them, he was always in his sibling's shadows no matter what he did.

He loved his siblings, but he did not want to be constantly shadowed by them or compared to them. He was his own person. Then there was Harry - Harry had nobody really. His relatives hated him, and he was alone in the world.

"How do you -" "We'll be talking about how foolish and irresponsible it was for you to do something at such a young age. You are too young to understand the full impact of what you did at the end of your second year. As for how we learned of it, its simple. We've been in contact with your friend, the full truth will be explained soon. We've planned to spend some time with all our younger siblings in their own way. You'll be first my youngest brother and it will be tomorrow. We'll talk about it then, but for now, I have this to hand to you. Only read it in the privacy of your room and let nobody else read it. I promise you, little brother, the letter doesn't lie." Bill declared while handing over a thick envelope to his brother who accepted it nervously.

Peaking at the handwriting he froze in recognization. How did his brother get a handwritten letter from his best friend? Why was it coming from Bill and not being delivered by Hedwig?

"Do be angry with your friend Ron, there is a reason you've not received word in a while and it's all explained in that letter. Your friend will need you more than you'll think and if you take your vow seriously you're entire life is about to change." Charlie declared before purchasing a small trinket and slapping him on the back and handing him the object.

Looking down at it, he found that it was a necklace with a sapphire blue stone attached to a brown leather strap.

"Would look good on you little brother and consider it a lucky charm because you'll need it to survive mum once she learns of what you did." He chuckled before both brothers headed off leaving Ron to his thoughts.

"How about we eat some lunch!" Bill declared, pulling Ron with him as they headed off towards a restaurant as a family.

As they settled in the conversation swiftly began to swivel around various topics. The most recent news being the latest Wizengamot meeting that had taken place. Not all information was provided, however the public had been made away that Sirius Black was now to be captured and questioned regarding discrepancies in his case.

"The Potter Family also gained a representative," Charlie remarked making Ron's head shoot up in surprise. "Andromeda Tonks,"

"Although I have nothing against Andromeda I'd like to know how she received the post. Clearly poor Harry's magical guardian chose the fit, but how much of a fit can it be. Andromeda was recently welcomed back into the Black Family. The Black family is not one I'd associate with." Molly snipped sounding far too angry over the situation she had no control over.

"Mum, we're part Black," Bill rebuked before taking a sip of his wine which had his mother frowning in disapproval. "On both sides! Anyhow Mrs Tonks is a nice lady. I met her on occasion. She's a respectable person and I'm sure will do a fine job of handling the Potter affairs."

"The woman took it the heir to the Rosier and Lestrange Houses into the Potter. I doubt she considered the fact that those two families were Death Eater families."

"The girl was raised as a muggle mum, according to the prophet sorted into Ravenclaw. She wasn't raised by the Rosier family or the Lestrange Family. We cannot judge a person by their family name, its something we must stop doing." Bill declared sternly earning a raised eyebrow from his father while his mother simply shook her head.

"The world needs balance, light and dark alike, but just because something is dark doesn't mean it is evil." Charlie declared in a calm tone while sitting back and sipping his own wine. "The world needs both. Have you lot been explained the mechanism of the wizengamot?" he asked, turning his question to his two youngest siblings who shook their heads.

"Well, the wizengamot compromises of three different levels and three different groups. There is the Light portion, dark portion and neutral or Grey portion. The different levels are Most Ancient and Noble Houses, the Ancient Houses and then the Noble Houses. The Noble are the newer, the most ancient and Noble are the oldest."

"They don't need to know this," Molly declared vehemently yet both Bill and Charlie shook their heads.

"Almost every heir to the Most Ancient and Noble houses are in Ron's year mum. Strong chance he would marry one of them and have to know this. Plus nothing wrong with knowing how our world runs." Bill voiced before turning to his siblings and taking note of Ron's quick attention.

"Most Ancient and Noble families are as such, dark families are Avery, Carrow, Lestrange, Nott, Rosier, Rowle and Mulciber. Light Families are Abbott, Blishwick, Longbottom, Perks and McKinnon. The neutral families are Black, Greengrass, Mcmillan, Ollivander, Peverell, Potter and Zabini." Bill declared.

"The Potters are not neutral Bill, they are light sided." Molly chastised causing Bill and Charlie to shake their heads.

"They are a firmly neutral House no matter what James Potter might have done in the first war." Charlie declared.

"Neutral? So does that mean they have allies on both sides of the wizengamot."

"The Potters strongest allies were the Longbottom Family," Bill remarked and suddenly their father stepped in. "Yet they have never strived away from their honest choices. They chose to fight for what they believe is right. They are strong in equal rights for all. They are strong advocates of mixed blood stations."

"I believe this is enough for one day son, your mothers about to have a fit concerning the conversation topic, and we wouldn't want to overwhelm Ron and Ginny considering this is their summer holidays." their father soon jumped in, holding the conversation which earned a nod of approval from their mother.

Looking out the window, Ron thought about the small bit of information he was gleaming before his hand went to his pocket and the letter that lay securely inside. He needed to read it, for some reason he knew something very important was inside.

Sadly, it was only hours later, that Ron finally received the chance to read the letter. It had been burning a hole in his pocket ever since he'd received it, and he was anxious to read its contents. He felt nervous as he unsealed the wax seal and pulled the parchment out. With one deep breath, he began to read.

Dear Ron,

You're probably quite angry with me as of late considering I've not sent you a letter in a lengthy amount of time. I apologise for that however things have been out of my — control — if you would say that. Many things have changed this summer and my story is not going to be short nor easy. Let me just write that this is going to shock you and just think you're not the one living through this.

How about the big shocks first.

1. The Potters adopted me

2. I was kidnapped as a baby and my gender changed so if it hasn't sunk in, I'm a girl.

3. My actual name is Kinsley Bones-Black and I'm the heir to the Black Family.

I think I've covered the biggest shocks, oh wait my parents are Amelia Bones and Sirius Black - supposed mass murdered and Azkaban escape, not to mention supposed Death Eater.

Surprise!

Author note:

So sorry for the lack of chapters as of late, no inspiration to write only to paint I'm afraid. I also think I fell into wizengamot details a bit too much but hey I think it flowed rather well.

Notice! I'll be leaving soon for a 2-week trip so I won't be able to write during those two weeks as I'm not bringing a laptop with me. (Freedom!) lol, I'll still have my phone.

For all my Harry Potter readers, you'll probably appreciate this but I'm going to London! it's going to amazing and I can't wait.

Anybody who lives in London or has been feeling free to give tips and suggestions for places to see or eat at! Always happy to hear from you all and hope you enjoy!