I'm gonna just keep on the most random update pattern ever, (which is the exact same line I used in my last update, I know!) Thank you over and over for your continued patience with my messy self.

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Surprise: to strike or occur with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness.

Lucius and Narcissa landed softly upon the rug in front of the hearth at Andromeda Tonks home. Immediately, eight wands raised in their direction. Lucius took a moment to survey the room, surprised at some of the faces in the mix.

Raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, he spoke, "I have no desire to fight this evening, you've summoned Narcissa here and requested an escort on her behalf. We are prepared to speak with you regarding our knowledge of the events." His eyes flickered to Hermione, taking in the girls new appearance.

Andromeda chose that moment to step forward, lowering her wand as she did. "Lower your wands," she told the others, "I've invited them here as guests and we will be civil to them. We need their assistance as you very well are aware."

Wands lowered around the room, and Lucius and Narcissa were shown to seats near Remus and Andromeda.

Hermione waved her wand, and a tea set hovered delicately in from the kitchen, settling on the ottoman in front of her.
"Can I serve you some tea, Lord and Mrs. Malfoy," she asked politely.

Remus snorted under his breath, the dainty act not fooling him, nor anyone else in the room.

"It's Lucius and Narcissa," Narcissa interrupted before Lucius could speak. "Please, we are your family. We wish to help in any way we can."

Hermione took a small breath, steadying herself for the conversation.

"We," she gestured around the room at the gathered occupants, "have a few questions for you. But before we get into everything I have a few questions for you. If that's all right, Narcissa?" she asked.

Narcissa nodded, "Of course." she said gently.

"Have you always known I was a Black?" Hermione questioned, aware that she was being incredibly blunt but not able to bring herself to care.

"No," Narcissa answered quietly. "We had no idea that Reggie had a child, that he was involved with anyone. I felt the shift in the magic and... well I reached out to Andromeda. I knew something happened but I had no idea what. We've heard of you, of course, Hermione Granger, the muggleborn student who was miles ahead of any of the pureblood students in her year at Hogwarts. Draco has complained fervently about his inability to best you." she chuckled, "But to think you were family, no my dear, we had no clue."

Hermione nodded, busying herself with pouring cups of tea for the inhabitants of the room. Not sure what to ask, she looked to Remus for help.

As tea was handed out, Remus spoke. "Andromeda mentioned you've met already, just the two of you. Would you fill the rest of us in on that, please?"

Narcissa and Andromeda shared a quick glance, and Andromeda nodded her head slightly, letting Narcissa know that it was safe to share the details of their meeting.

"As I said, I felt the shift in the Black family magic the night that Mr. Potter was moved from his home. I knew something big had happened, but I didn't know what. I am not able to access the Black Family home as you're all aware it is secret kept and I am not privy to the information. I figured that Andromeda or maybe Nymphadora had some information." she sighed softly, "But really I already knew what was going on and wanted to... be a part of it, to bring my family back together, I wanted to help. What has been done to this family..." she trailed off.

"What do you mean you already knew?" Kingsley demanded, "How could you have known?"

Andromeda stood, facing the room. "What is about to be said will be shocking for all of you. Please do not get your wands out, I will not hesitate to hex a single one of you. I trust Narcissa implicitly in this and am expecting you to show graciousness towards her." She held her wand loosely in her hand as she leaned against the wall behind the Malfoy's.

"Perhaps," Lucius intervened, "You might offer either or both of us a small dose of Veritaserum."

His words sent small murmurs of shock around the room, no one expecting the regal man to offer such a thing.

"You see, this will be difficult for you to believe, as it was for us. We wish only to earn your trust, to help you, and in order to do so you must know we are being entirely honest with you." Lucius explained further.

"Nymphadora," Andromeda spoke, "There is a small bottle of veritaserum in the basement, please fetch it and we will begin."

Minutes later, with the potion applied to the tongues of both Lucius and Narcissa, the conversation began. The dose low enough to allow for the imbiber to talk casually.

"When you said you already knew what happened, what did you mean by that?" Remus asked.

Narcissa answered, "We knew that the shift in the family magic indicated that a hidden child had been revealed."

"How could you know that? You said you didn't know that I was a Black?" Hermione interrupted.

"We found out about you the night before you were... exposed," Lucius explained. He looked around the room, realizing that with two Aurors in attendance anything he said regarding his knowledge and how he gained the information could have him arrested quite quickly.

Andromeda quickly sensed that Lucius was having difficulty, and knew that fighting the veritaserum could cause him great sickness, intervened. "Before Lucius continues," she spoke abruptly, "I will need an oath that information shared here by the Malfoy's will not be used against them in any way. Several of you work in law enforcement and all of you have been members of the Order and they came here at great personal risk tonight, I will not see them arrested for our request."

Heads nodded around the room, and one by one, oaths were sworn by the seven members of the room listening to the blonde man.

Lucius heaved a sigh of relief before continuing. "Thank you, Andromeda," he said, "As I was saying, we found out about you the night before the incident. The inner circle was summoned and naturally, we all thought the meeting to be in regards to your young friend Potter. However, it was not."

Narcissa continued, "The Dark Lord indicated that Potter was not the focus of the evening. We were all surprised, but when he spun a story of the leader of the Light kidnapping Regulus Black, imperiusing him in an attempt to force him to betray the Dark Lord, stealing his lover and child away in the night. All of us were aghast."

"Indeed," Lucius took over, "We learned that Dumbledore had hidden a Black daughter amongst the Order and that we were to use an old revealing spell on every person we ran into that night, in an attempt to bring their existence to light, so to speak."

"How could the Dark Lord have known about Hermione?" Remus asked, "Dumbledore stole all the memories, killed Reg, there's no way he let that information escape."

Narcissa let out a choked sob, "Reggie isn't dead" she whispered.

"Excuse me?" Remus replied, "Did you just say..."

"Please, we didn't know that either," Lucius spoke quickly, in an attempt to diffuse the tension rising in the air. "We found out about Regulus the same night when he approached the inner circle to ask for help bringing his child back to him. He's been in hiding, waiting until he could move to rescue her."

He looked at Hermione then, a look of sadness in his eyes, "I've never seen a man so distraught. He's kept track of you in school, all these years. He knew it was you, his daughter, but he couldn't move against Dumbledore. Only his death has allowed Regulus to seek you out."

"He's alive?" Remus whispered, shock coursing through his body. "He's actually alive?"

"Yes," Narcissa responded gently, "And he wants nothing more than to connect with you both. Not for the Dark Lord or the war or to get near Potter, but only because he's had to love you from afar, watch you hurt and struggle over the years. He just wants to be part of your lives."

Remus stood quietly, and turned and walked out of the room, the door to the back of the house slamming behind him loudly.
Hermione leaped to her feet. "Narcissa, Lucius. Thank you for coming. There is much help that we need and I am glad to know we can rely on you. Please, stay. Just... we need a minute, please." she said quickly, before spinning on her heel and following Remus out of the house.