The Grind (And Helping Heather Potter) [Book 2]

[CW: Incest]

"Thanks again for being so understanding about this," I said, seeing Septima off for the night at the door of my room.

Septima shook her head and nibbled her lower lip, "Unn, I know how important this is to you. Are you sure you want to do it alone though?"

We both glanced at the unsuspecting cat-shaped, black elephant in the room and I said, "Yeah… I have a feeling that it's for the best that this first meeting is just us."

Luna popped up between us, seemingly appearing out of thin air, "Psst! What are we whispering about? Is it about Bella?"

"It is, in fact, about Bella," I sighed. "Luna? How long have you known my estranged mother was hiding out with us as a cat Animagus?"

"Uh…" Luna froze like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar (again). "Not even a whole month! And I was taking care of it! And her! I'm your Head Henchwoman so dealing with intruders and junk is my job. I didn't want to bother you with it…"

Luna's hurried denial made me sigh again, "It's okay, Luna. I'm not mad. I only started to suspect something last night. So long as you were careful and didn't immediately confront the potentially dangerous escaped criminal in hiding, I don't have a problem with how you chose to deal with this."

Having relaxed slightly at my first words, Luna froze guiltily again at my last sentence, "Uhhhhhh… Yes. I was very responsible and sensible and totally didn't confront mother-in-law while I was naked."

My voice filled with warning, "Luuuu~naaaaaa~?"

I felt like a chastising parent and Luna just whistled innocently. But she couldn't actually whistle so it just ended up with her blowing air through pursed lips and looking anywhere but me.

Eventually, I caved, "Fine. Since it seems you know my mother more than I do, do you have any suggestions for how I should go about this?"

Luna smiled brightly and tapped her chin as she mimed thinking for a moment, "Hmm, let's see… Oh, I know!"

She then cleared her throat and announced loudly, putting on an obvious act for a certain someone, "You'll be ~all alone~ tonight, Atlas? Won't you be lonely? Sounds like you could really use some ~motherly love~ to keep you company tonight. Surely, this is the perfect situation for someone to have you all to herself."

Bella perked up from where she was napping, paying keen attention to Luna's act.

"Laying on a little thick, aren't we?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Luna shushed me, "Shhh! I'm just laying out the bait. She doesn't suspect a thing!"

"That can't possibly be true," I deadpanned in response.

"Trust your Henchwoman, Atlas dear," Septima patted my shoulder gently.

"We'll see. If it doesn't, I'll just go with the direct route."

"I guess we're leaving for the night!" Luna announced. "I sure hope no one takes advantage of poor, delicious Atlas~!"

I rolled my eyes and tried to shoo them out faster. Septima chuckled, "Come along, Luna. Let's take advantage of this night ourselves. We sorely need some time for just us girls."

"Yay! Coven girl sleepover party!" Luna cheered as she and Septima finally left me alone in my quarters.

And then I found myself alone with my mother. My mother who was currently hiding in cat form and didn't know that I knew. Now that I found myself here, I wasn't sure how to proceed. Did I go with the direct method anyway or did I wait to see if Luna's little bait would bear fruit?

I puttered around for a moment or two before deciding that the direct route was as good as any. Slowly and hesitantly, I approached Bella who appeared to be staring off into the distance as if in a dreamy daze. I knelt before her and was about to address the woman inside the cat directly when my resolve faltered and completely collapsed.

This was much harder than I thought it would be. I knew my long-lost mother was sitting in front of me. But actually putting that suspicion into words suddenly seemed impossible. An irrational thought surfaced in my mind. What if I was wrong somehow? I was confident I wasn't but I simply couldn't put that worry to rest.

Instead of the direct route, I ended up going with Luna's trap, "Alright, girl, I'm going to sleep. Totally, uh… totally vulnerable sleep. Who knows what could happen if someone somehow appeared in my bed…"

A wicked gleam seemed to shine in Bella's eyes even though she was still a cat and I realized something. She was definitely not completely sensible and sane. Not after 13 years of Azkaban. Second-guessing myself into Luna's trap… may have been a mistake.

Still, I was committed now. There was nothing to do but see this through to the best of my ability. I went about my normal nightly rituals and lay down in my bed, inviting Bella up to join me. Knowing she was most likely an Animagus did make that invitation slightly awkward but I had a feeling that would be the least of my worries soon enough.

That sinking feeling only grew as I closed my eyes and pretended to go to sleep. Surely though, it wouldn't be that bad, right? Sirius was… well, normal wasn't a word I would use to describe him. But what were the odds my other parent was just as or even more clinically insane in her own way? Now, I just felt like I was tempting fate.

I forced the thought from my mind. I lay still on my back, already a red flag if anyone was looking for one considering I typically slept on my side. But my breathing was even and my expression was forcibly serene. It didn't take long for Bella to make her move.

It started with a weight on my bed where the false cat used to be. Then I felt the weight shift closer to me, depressing the bed as whatever was responsible moved. Then the giggling and heavy breathing started and for a moment, my heart was gripped by something primal.

Fear of the unknown crept into my mind, both of meeting my mother for the first time and of not being certain what was in bed with me. But I still didn't open my eyes to peek and give away my act. The giggles were husky and heavy like weights on my psyche in the strangest way. I felt my lower half stir to life as my body tried its best to prove that fear-boners were a real phenomenon. At least, that's what I hoped was happening. I barely even wanted to consider the fact that incest might have been coded into my very blood…

"My boy~… My beautiful baby boy~ All grown up without me~ So smart, so powerful, so ~perfect~," A strangely familiar voice purred.

"Maybe…? Just a taste?" The voice continued, shifting until it was right above my closed eyes. "Why shouldn't I? Everyone else has gotten a taste…"

"It's only fair," Bella seemed to reason with herself. "I… I can't tell him about me. It would break my heart to be rejected even a little bit like Sirius was. But… if I can't be with him always, I can just take a bit to keep me sated. He's a good boy. I'm sure he won't mind."

Well… This was quickly getting out of hand. The weight on the bed shifted and I felt something reach over me. Before I could react to that, my sleep pants were vanished right off my body. Bella obviously wasn't thinking clearly. How was she planning on putting them back on me so I wouldn't notice in the morning?

I heard her moan and felt the bed shudder beneath us as if she'd cum from the sight alone, "Oooooh~ So perfect~ I'm sorry, Atlas~ Mommy can't resist~"

The weight shifted again, this time to in between my legs. Hot air puffed across my skin in desperate, needy pants. Almost instantly, I felt myself spring to full erection in response. Trying to ignore how eager my body was, I slowly opened my eyes to stare down at Bella.

She was positioned between my legs, naked and surprisingly clean for an escaped convict. The month of living with me in hiding had been good for her. Her figure looked to be in the process of filling out once again, her skin was smooth, and her hair was messy but in a way that said it had been cleaned and tamed recently.

My manhood towered above her face and she stared up at it, entranced and eager for her 'taste'. I stared down at the scene presented to me, similarly entranced. I couldn't help myself. The woman who bore me was beautiful. I found I couldn't rightly think of her as my mother now that she was before my eyes. For my own sanity, at the very least. Something in my blood sang for me to claim her, to keep the line 'pure', and to tell my Muggle-raised sensibilities to sod off. I'd never sympathized with Pure-Bloods as much as in that moment, though I strangely suspected my sudden propensity for incest was something at least partially unique to my Black blood. Something dating back to the original Black Coven perhaps? That was bound to be a whole thing though and now certainly wasn't the time to be theorizing.

Swallowing that thought for later, I spoke, "Hello, Bella."

She moaned, "Oh no~ I even imagine him speaking to me. Mommy's sorry she's so broken, Atlas~ You deserve better~"

I cleared my throat and Bella naturally looked up at me past my straight-standing cock. She froze when our eyes met and I was treated to a movie's worth of emotion. Hope and shock and shame and a broken, all-consuming sort of love flashed through her eyes. I steadily held eye contact throughout it all.

"Hello, Bella," I repeated.

Bella replied shakily, her mind still trying to catch up with the reveal that I was awake, "H-Hello, A-Atlas…"

When it did catch up, Bella began to hyperventilate, "Oh, Hecate! He's awake! My baby boy is awake and he caught me trying to sate my broken desires with his unconscious body! Oh, Macha, Maeve, and Morgana! Mommy's so sorry, Atlas! Please, please, please don't hate me! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-…"

I waited for her to stop and let me speak but Bella just kept rambling on and on, apologizing all the while for anything she could think of. She apologized for leaving me, for being absent all of my life, for letting herself trust her parents even a little bit, for being sold off in contract because of that misplaced trust, for everything she'd been made to do under that contract, for escaping from Azkaban, for hiding from me for a month, and so much in between. It honestly felt like she gave me her whole life story in apologies.

I tried to be patient. I truly did. But as she rambled and rambled, it quickly became clear that Bella was too wound up to listen to anything I had to say. She was like a tightly wrapped ball of anxiety, trauma, and obsession. And she was coming unwound all at once as the subject of her obsession confronted her unexpectedly.

At the same time, I was warring with myself inside. Like with Sirius, fresh hope and long-repressed frustration fought a pitched battle. Unlike with Sirius, uncontrollable, instinctive desire joined the battle on a third front.

Eventually and maybe inevitably, reason lost that battle, succumbing to its wounds alongside hope and frustration, and I gave in to my instincts.

Bella's rambling apologies continued, "A-And I'm sorry for not revealing myself when Sirius did. I was terrified that you might reject us… might reject me. I wouldn't be able to live with that! Please don't turn me away! I promise I'll do better! I promise I'll be a good mommy from now on-… Ghlurk~!"

It was clear she wouldn't stop until I took action. So I did. And since I wasn't thinking clearly, that action ended up playing into my Black desires dramatically. Before I could stop myself, my fingers threaded through Bella's wavy hair and I shoved her rambling lips down upon my throbbing cock.

"Fuuuuuck~…" I groaned as I was engulfed by slick heat. "Why did I do that…?"

Even with my cockhead lodged in her mouth, Bella's eyes lit up at the chance to be useful and apologize even more. She began trying to jabber an explanation out around the thick blockage between her lips.

"Haungh Hnouw! Unnugh 'ooour loooulg!"

"Don't speak with your mouth full, Mother," I chided.

She actually blushed, "Aaaimmm 'oowwy."

"Explanations can wait," I decided. "I've come this far already. No use backing out now. Might as well see my depravity through."

Bella briefly removed herself from my cock and gasped for air, "Gahah~! It's not your fault, My Baby. I'm sure the blame falls on my broken shoulders. You're such a perfectly good boy. No one could fault you for taking reparations from your terrible Witch of a mother."

The moment she was done speaking, Bella drove herself back down upon my shaft. Her self-deprecative, obsessive excuses gave me a brief moment of pause but it was quickly driven from my mind. She eagerly gagged herself, stuffing her mouth full of my meat and trying with all she was to extend her unending apologies in a physical way.

As fucked up as it was, Bella's blowjob felt like her trying to make up for years and years of neglect and abandonment. Which would have been fine, if not for, you know, the fact that she was my mother. Yet somehow, that 'little' fact just turned me on and pushed me further into degeneracy.

I could barely force myself to feel guilt or shame over my descent into vice and sin. I just lay back and let Bella — my absent mother — try to make up for every wrong she'd intentionally and unintentionally done in her life. It was a heady trip of a feeling. So wrong and so right at the same time, I couldn't find it in me to deny the instincts of my blood at the moment.

"Shlulp~! Gauuk~! Gauuk~! Shlulp~!" The sounds Bella was making would have made a pastor blush.

My groan added to the symphony of carnal noises, "Meeeeerlin, woman! You don't do anything by half, do you?"

Bella giggled, something insane and desperately joyous filling her eyes as she stared up at me. Like she was willing to do anything and everything for my approval. She instantly went about proving that thought, dipping her head low and taking as much of me as she could even as she gagged.

Flesh hugged flesh as she drove me past the back of her mouth and into her throat. A warm, wet sheathe of velvet swallowed around me. She gagged and gagged around my girth, trying to pull me deeper while she choked.

My nerves were set alight by the milking contractions of her throat. With each one, it felt like suction was trying to literally drag the seed from my balls. Tears welled up in her eyes and she still kept sucking. Drool dripped from her lips, pooling at the base of my cock as she lavished my shaft with devotion.

Every moment was another of slick, sloppy, sexual nirvana. My core tensed and my cock throbbed. Up and down, Bella's lips dragged along my cock, suckling at the head and going back down to engulf the base. Her tongue seemed to wrap all the way around me, somehow licking everywhere along my shaft even when I was buried deep in her throat.

She sucked me in deep and held me there, looking up and meeting my gaze with eyes full of need. Her throat squeezed me as if asking for my opinion of her oral skills. Validation, approval, love, forgiveness, something, Bella wanted anything she could get, especially when it came from me.

I didn't immediately give her anything. At least, not verbally. My body responded for me. I seized her head again, holding her in place even though she didn't try to move away. My hips bucked, my balls clenched, and I let loose into her stomach.

Pulsing, throbbing pleasure overtook my world. My vision flashed with spots. The first rope rocketed out of me as I drained myself inside Bella's throat. Then came the next and the next until my climax felt like it would never end.

Heat surged up my cock and into Bella. She simply hummed and closed her eyes, enjoying the fruits of her labor (in more ways than one).

When my orgasm did eventually stop, Bella slowly took me out of her mouth, eagerly sucking up the dregs as she did. She smiled up at me when she was done. Then the rambles started again.

"D-Did mommy do a good job, Atlas? I-I can do better! I swear! I won't let you down again! No matter what you want, I'll do it for you! I want to make things up to you. I want to make things right between us. Mommy loves you, Atlas. Please, please let me show it-… Ah~! W-What are you doing?!"

All of a sudden, our positions had changed. Bella was now lying on her back beneath me, still looking up at me with wide, crazy eyes. Despite her question, her hips were desperately trying to push up into mine. Her body clearly craved contact just as she craved approval.

"Shutting you up again," I rasped, my voice hoarse and rough from pleasure. "It's not time for us to talk yet. I'm still feeling rather… not myself. You're going to take responsibility for that, 'mother'."

"Oh! Of course! Anything for you, Atlas. Anything for my baby boy. Sate the cruel desires that have invaded your mind with my body, baby~ It's yours to use as is your birthright-… Oooooh~! A mating press~?!" Bella squeaked out the last question, having practically moaned the rest of her obsessive speech.

And it was. As arousing as it was, I'd grown tired of her simpering. Instead of humoring her as she offered herself up, I took hold of her ankles and pushed them up next to her ears. She lay there, basically bent in half and looking up at me with swirls of desperate desire in her eyes. Served up as if on a silver platter, her shapely legs framed her breasts and her pussy would have winked at me if it could.

My cock rested atop her pussy, hard as it had ever been, and coated with her spit and now femcum as well. Bella stared down at it with awe and reverence in her eyes. I felt her heartbeat quicken through our point of contact, racing so fast it was almost worrying.

She giggled, unhinged and happy beyond reason, "Heheheheheheh~! Yes, yes, yes! Mommy can be useful! Mommy doesn't have to be thrown away! Redeem me, baby boy! Ahhhhoooooh~! Claim me and erase my past~! Make me something worthy of your love, My Atlas~!"

"You have issues, Mother," I stated plainly, just a little bit unnerved. "We should probably get you a Mind Healer. Or two. Or three."

"You are my only salvation," Bella declared, uncaring of how that made her sound.

I shook my head, tabling that thought for later. Now certainly wasn't the time for a drawn-out discussion about trauma and mental illness. Though there was no denying how messed up we both were, considering I was currently just as much a party to this as Bella was. Maybe we could both use a Mind Healer.

Instead of thinking too hard about the prospect that I could have both mommy and daddy issues, I decided that there was a perfectly good distraction splayed out before me. I drew my hips back, aimed, and thrust myself back forward firmly. It must have been exactly what Bella wanted and needed because she came the moment I split her open all the way to her core.

"A-A-Ahhh~!" Bella's scream of utter ecstasy was breathy and stuttered as if my thrust had pushed the air from her lungs.

She clung to her legs like they were lifelines and her head fell back against the bed while her eyes rolled in their sockets. Her breath fluttered as I pulled out, only to catch again when I reversed course. It was as if her whole body was quivering around me, clenching tight to not let me go and yet still somehow releasing me so I could drive both of our pleasures higher.

"Squilsh~!" Our hips connected over and over again with a lewd sound.

Bella fervently welcomed me into her depths. She practically begged to be split in twain, clenching and relaxing around my girth as it speared in and out of her core. She gave herself up as if a tool to be used. As if she'd found her one true purpose in life and it was to slake her baby boy's 'cruel desires'.

My feet planted themselves on the bed and Bella's pretzel-like position was further enhanced. Her backside raised almost entirely off of the bed, allowing me access even deeper. My hips thrust downward. Every movement was spent slamming myself to a hilt inside her. Bella screamed herself hoarse, exclaiming her pleasure to the heavens.

"Yes! Use me for all I'm good for, Atlas! It's in your blood! Brigid, Oh Exalted One! The fruit of mine loins returns as is his birthright! So so so so so perfect~! I love you, I love you, I love you, I love-…"

The flames in my core raged even higher with her declaration. Blood and magic sang in harmony, swirling around and within us both. A primal growl, a feeling like nothing else I'd ever felt, rumbled in my chest. My hips moved as if they had a mind of their own. I couldn't stop myself if I wanted to and I certainly didn't. Stopping was currently the farthest thing from my mind.

Over and over again, we came together. As we did, the heights of heaven grew paradoxically closer and farther away. Bella reached orgasm as if climbing a staircase, each step wracking her body with pleasurable vibrations. I ascended right beside her, building and building to a monumental climax once we reached the top.

I buried myself deep. My whole body tensed. Bella let go of her legs to wrap them around me. She held me close almost as if she was cradling me. The dam finally broke. Seed and white-hot ecstasy flooded Bella's core.

"Yes~" Bella cooed. "That's mommy's good boy~ Her perfect boy~ Let it all out~ Reclaim what is rightfully yours~"

After the initial explosion of pleasure, my orgasm slowed to something almost soft. I didn't shoot ropes so much as it all flowed out of me, thick and hot to sizzle against Bella's inner walls like batter. Bella sighed contently, her eyes fluttering as her own orgasm rolled over her much like mine.

As our peaks faded, clouds overtook my mind. I could feel Bella's heartbeat, one I'd once shared, beating in time with mine once again. Her whole being hugged me as naturally as she breathed. Still, a sudden System notification cut through the afterglow.

< New Coven Member Initiated >

< Coven Members (4): Septima Vector, Luna Lovegood, Gabrielle Delacour, Bellatrix Black >

< +10 to Black Blood Magic >

< Black Blood Magic 1+10=11/100 >

< New Perk Unlocked >

< Brigid's Minor Ritual of Motherly Reclamation: +10 to Healing, +10 to Crafting, the Ability to Control Your Fertility >

< Healing 25+10=35/100, Crafting 3+10=13/100 >

Almost immediately, I used the perk to ensure my seed would not take hold inside Bella's womb. For the briefest of moments, I felt conflicted about that decision. But even whatever primal, blood-driven instincts that currently influenced me couldn't completely win out over common good sense.

"Oh, thank Merlin!" I sighed as a weight I didn't even realize I'd been bearing was lifted from my shoulders. "Er, or thank Brigid, I guess…"

In a daze, Bella hadn't even noticed my exclamation. I flexed myself inside her to get her attention. She jumped a bit and looked at me. I could have sworn I saw her eyes flash into violet hearts for an instant. Then she saw the reproach in my gaze and turned sheepish.

"Mother… Did you invoke a ritual without my consent?" I asked.

Bella's expression froze and her panicked rambling returned, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's tradition and I wanted you to have Brigid's blessing and her approval and I still shouldn't have done it and I'm sorry and-…!"

I sighed. This again? Well, for a brief moment, she'd been silent and resembled something that could vaguely be considered sanity. I guess I'd just have to repeat what had worked until it was permanent. My cock instantly throbbed back to full hardness at that idea. Oh, woe… woe is me…

IIIII

Andromeda Tonks was a woman of routine and familiarity. Her youth had been more than wild and rebellious enough to last a lifetime. As such, she was rather easier to surprise than she thought she was. Often all it took to change her plans for the day drastically was for someone to drop by unannounced.

"Nymphadora? To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Moooommmmmmm~" Tonks groaned as daughters tended to do.

"I gave you that name and I'm allowed to use it," Andromeda firmly asserted. "Now, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?"

"That kind of is why I'm here," Tonks admitted sheepishly.

Before she could explain further, a familiar, female voice called out through the house, "Andromeda? Are you there?"

"Amelia? Is that you?" Andromeda called back.

She turned to her daughter without waiting for a response. Andromeda knew Amelia's voice when she heard it, "Come in while I go see what she's flooing about. Let's hope I don't hear about how you've been fired shamefully and unceremoniously."

Even with her back turned Andromeda could hear the eye-roll in her daughter's reply, "C'mon, Mom, I didn't get fired."

Still, she made her way to the Floo to find Amelia's head made of green flames, "What's this about, Amelia? Nymphadora just arrived as well."

"May I come through?" Amelia requested. "I've been led to believe Tonks — the younger — has something important to share with us."

"Yes, yes, by all means, come through," Andromeda agreed, stepping back to give her space.

Amelia Bones stepped through the Floo, coming to an almost effortless stop in the middle of the Tonks' living room. She nodded to her old friend Andromeda and her most promising young Auror — simply known as Tonks.

"Now, will you explain yourself, Nymphadora?" Andromeda asked, only then noticing that her daughter wasn't alone. "Is that a dog? I hope you realize that I won't let you keep it here."

Tonks grinned sheepishly at the large shaggy black dog at her side, "No, he's actually what I wanted to show you two. Padfoot?"

"Why do I know that name?" Andromeda muttered to herself.

Before she could search her memories, the dog changed, standing upright and losing its fur to reveal an almost equally shaggy Human. The man smirked unrepentantly at Amelia and Andromeda, spreading his arms wide, "Surprise?"

Amelia's wand was instantly out and she soon had the man restrained on his knees, "I suppose the urgency and contents of your report were valid after all, Tonks."

"Oof! Lovely to see you too, Amelia," Sirius joked. "Shouldn't we ease back into the more risky play though? We haven't even established a safe word."

"Your mother's hairy wand," Amelia deadpanned.

Sirius' smile grew hollow and with a shudder, he said, "I see you remember our old one. I suppose that will be good enough."

"W-What is happening?" Andromeda asked shakily, a hand over her heart to slow its rapid beating.

"Cousin Siri wants to turn himself in," Tonks explained. "Says he can prove his innocence."

"That's where this comes in," Amelia added, holding up a bottle of Veritaserum.

"I consent to your questioning," Sirius agreed, surprisingly 'serious' for once. "Merlin knows you won't believe me any other way."

"Wait, Amelia," Andromeda stopped the Head Auror from administering the Veritaserum. "May I ask a few questions as well? Off the record, of course?"

Amelia slowly nodded, "You… may. Why though?"

"He's utterly ruined my routine and all of my plans for the day. I think a little revenge is in order. Perhaps something to the order of what he and Bella did to me and Narcissa's undergarments during his Third Year? I've never been able to get either of them to admit to it."

Amelia nodded, a devious light shining in her eyes, "That seems fair. Perhaps I should ask him a few questions off the record as well. I certainly recall having a few suspicions about his relationship with Sophia Greengrass while we were dating…"

Sirius paled dramatically, "Meep!"

IIIII

Narcissa Malfoy nee Black sighed, once more thankful and resentful of her late husband's death. Oh, she didn't resent whoever was responsible for his 'murder' as the Minister was calling it. In her mind, Lucius had it coming. It was his braindead idea to try and relive his 'glory days'. He simply paid the price for that folly.

No, what — or who — she resented was Lucius himself for leaving so much work on her plate. As she'd quickly figured out after his timely death, Lucius Malfoy was a terrible steward for House Malfoy. Debts, grudges, and promises of support — all poorly documented — were left for Narcissa to work through and around.

He'd also somehow managed to squander much of the sizeable Malfoy fortune left to him by his father. That fortune was just about the only reason Narcissa married Lucius in the first place. Surely, he was not a terrible husband. Cold and distant, but not abusive or too controlling on the whole.

Narcissa had been left to her own devices for the most part. After Draco was born to shoulder the weight of heir, Narcissa hadn't slept in the same bed as her late husband. While she couldn't pursue carnal satisfaction outside of the bounds of their matrimony for fear of the hit to their reputations, Narcissa had managed. She found comfort in other things now. She certainly missed the ecstasy of a good shared 'little death' but rising through the ranks of Pure-Blood society was nearly as satisfying in some ways.

There was no lost love between Narcissa and Lucius. But though her son was a mostly disappointing, Gryffindor-headed fool, she did love Draco something fierce. And with his father now removed from the picture, perhaps there was something to be done about saving him from that man's poor, nouveau-rich influence.

Those were thoughts for the Yule break and the summer though. For now, Narcissa was consumed with salvaging the ramshackle construction that Lucius called the House of Malfoy. Pledging himself to the former Dark Lord was just about the worst decision Lucius had ever made, even discounting how it eventually got him killed.

The Dark Lord was the reason the Malfoy fortune was as baren as it was these days. He was also most likely the reason for Lucius' distance when it came to all things sexual if the stories told among the Dark in backrooms were to be believed. The creative uses for the Cruciatus curse she'd heard there still made Narcissa shudder in disgust.

And nowadays, other rumors filled those backrooms. Rumors that were much more terrifying and concerning than even the Dark Lord's sadistic sexuality. Rumors of his return.

Of course, Lucius was aware of this. He might have even been instrumental in planning it. And he'd had a plan that would make him able to continue supporting and gain even more favor with the Dark Lord once he returned. He would simply claim the fortune and lordship of House Black…

'As if it would ever be that simple,' Narcissa scoffed.

For one, Sirius was still alive. He may have been disgraced, but when did the Blacks ever care about the opinion of the Ministry? As far as Black Magic was concerned, Sirius was still Lord Black. Lucius shrugged this fact off, taken by the idea that Draco was Sirius' heir.

Narcissa might have assumed that was true as well… if she hadn't met that enigma of a Professor at the Quidditch World Cup. Atlas White. He had Bella's eyes and Sirius' smirk. How scandalous… and yet, also so characteristic of both of them, Narcissa thought.

Lucius died before he could even consider changing his plans, leaving all of his notes for Narcissa to find afterward. Also, leaving her with a mess of a House. One that Lucius assumed he could fix if he only had the Dark Lord at his back (literally) and the Black Fortune at his fingers. He couldn't fix a flipped-over turtle.

Narcissa stamped and sealed another envelope, marking it to be sent whenever her owl returned. She was supposed to be 'in mourning'. That was what she'd told the Prophet. Instead, her days had been consumed with even more politicking than usual and letters upon letters of negotiations and refusals.

Lucius had apparently rallied the entire Dark Faction around him, banking on his assumption that the Black Lordship would soon be under his control. As a result, the Dark Houses assumed Narcissa would be continuing his 'good' work. This was the 17th attempt at getting her to play ball and the fourth from Lord Nott alone.

Sighing yet again, Narcissa took out another sheet of parchment and resumed this endless Grind.

"Dear Lord Greengrass,

"Unfortunately, I am not able to set any dates in stone regarding the betrothal contract between House Greengrass and House Black. Though I am acting as regent for House Black at the moment, I do not have the power or authority to 'push things ahead' as it were. As such, I ask for your patience. I am sure this situation will resolve itself in the near future-…"

AN: I actually quite like the idea of the Blacks being mainly responsible for Pure-Blood inbreeding. Just hear me out.

They're an old family, one of the oldest in most canon/fanons. They're obviously decently fertile because even after generations of inbreeding, there were, what? 5 kids in Sirius' generation from two sets of parents? They must have married into basically every other Pure-Blood family at some point.

So if, say, the original Black Coven did a bit of ancient magic that promoted incest and 'keeping the line pure', it would naturally propagate into the rest of the Wizarding World.

Also, on a slightly related note, there's a non-zero chance that magic does something to fix the inbreeding problem. If it didn't, even Pure-Bloods would have realized something was wrong with incest/inbreeding at this point. Since they're still marrying/fucking their cousins (in this story at the very least), I feel like it's safe to assume there's more to the story than just inbreeding being as bad for Wizards as it is for Muggles.