A/N Hello All. I had a spark of inspiration and wrote this. It's a Black Family story. The Blacks in this story will act differently than from what is depicted in canon. Harry/Tonks will come into play later. Read and Review. Thank you.

I should have chapter 7 of Harry Potter and a Real Friend up tomorrow.

Mr. Mage Man.

Arcturus Black sat in his study perusing a book on Goblin traditions. It was a hobby he picked up from his friend Nick. If you respected the Goblins and their traditions, then you had a good chance for better interest rates and a less hostile attitude from them. His reading was interrupted by his house elf, Hoppy.

"Master Arcy, young Master Siri is here to see you. He has a small person with him as well." She told him. He sent the elf to bring him in. 'Hmm. I haven't seen Sirius since he was kicked out of the family by his mother. Damn that woman. Good thing she's dead now, along with the rest of her ilk.' Walburga and Orion Black were killed in a Death Eater raid, Mad-Eye Moody stopped them before they could kill Amelia Bones. Cygnus and Druella had been dead for a few months now. A mysterious poison was put in their morning tea. Arcturus believed it was their eldest daughter Andromeda who put the house elf up to it. He had no love for those two and was glad he could lead the remainder of his family into a better age. Sirius came through the door looking white as a sheet. Arcturus stood and walked over to his grandson. And lightly embraced him, so as not to squeeze the young child in his arms.

"Sirius, I am so sorry. I wanted to keep you in the family, but your mother had the right to, same with Andi. That was my fault, I should have read the contract more deeply. Now, what brings you to my humble home." Sirius was shocked. He had never heard his grandfather apologize to anyone, and he also never had received a hug of any sort from any of his older relations. "The Potters, Grandfather, Voldemort. He-he killed them!" Sirius sobbed. Arcturus sat Sirius in a chair and pulled another up along side him. "Sirius who is this?" He asked, gesturing towards the baby in Sirius' arms.

"Harry Potter, Voldemort tried to kill him, but the curse rebounded, he has a scar on his forehead. He's gone Grandfather, Voldemort is gone, and so is James." He started crying again.

"James died so we can live Sirius." Arcturus comforted, he was very glad that the war was over, but he felt for his grandson. Though deep down he knew this wasn't over. He would return, it was just a matter of when and where. Arc had other things that he wanted to speak to Sirius about. "Son, now that your parents and Andi's parents are dead, I can bring you back into the family. Would you like that?" Sirius' mouth hung open, he nodded vigorously, grey eyes shining brightly. "Good." Arcturus replied, "I need to call your cousins and see if they want back in or out of their marriages." He called for three elves and sent them to collect Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Andromeda. It was risky bringing Andi here with Bella, but if they were going to be a family again, then they needed to get over the blood purity shit. Magic is magic, whether you a first-generation witch or a wizard from a centuries old family it didn't matter to him. But in politics, purity matters so he wore the mask of a hard ass blood puritan to go along with the family motto, Torjus Pur, Always Pure. To most it meant pure of blood, but he felt a pure heart and soul was a better meaning. The elves returned to Sirius and Arcturus saying the sisters were in the board room. They were popped into the room and a resounding and the expected "What the bloody hell is she doing here?" never came. 'Interesting.' Arcturus thought.

ooooooo

Andromeda Tonks had a good life, a young daughter of two years, and a husband who loved her more than anything. Her husband, Theodore, was a muggleborn lawyer. He was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Despite his profession, he was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. He was on the strike team with cousin Sirius, James Potter, and Frank and Alice Longbottom. Any Death Eater they went up against either died or fled. Her Ted was ambushed by the Rodolphus and Rabastian Lestrange. He managed to behead Rabastian, but he didn't see the green light of the Killing Curse coming towards him. He died a hero's death, but she would have preferred a live nobody to a dead hero.

She was distraught for weeks, the only thing that brought her out of it was her daughter Nymphadora, she had walked up to her and sat on her lap and hugged her. This snapped her right out of her pity party and back to the world she had autopiloted since Ted's death at the beginning of October. It was Halloween night, her and Nymphadora had crawled into bed for the night when an elf popped in and told her that Grandfather Arcturus had summoned her. She cursed silently and got dressed. As she carried a sleeping Nym to the elf, she wondered why she was summoned by Grandfather, she wasn't a member of the family anymore. She was popped into a meeting room and saw her sister Narcissa, and another pop brought in Bellatrix. "Well, anyone know why we're here?" She asked.

ooooooo

Bellatrix LeStrange was sleeping in her chambers, separate from her husbands' of course. She really hoped that the Dark Lord would die or kill her so she would be free from her life of misery and torture, both for her sake and anyone who she was sent after. She hated her husband and cursed the bloody contract that prevented her from going against the bastard. She never wanted this life, a dark wizard's wife. She wanted to be an Auror, so she could help people. So she could be with Edgar. When life was harder than normal, she would think back to their school days, when Edgar and her were dating. She loved him with her whole heart, and it pained her so much when the LeStrange contract was sprung on her. She didn't even get to send him a note telling him she loved him. But that was the past, and now she needed a miracle. Her miracle came in the form of a house elf telling her that she must accompany him to Black Manor for a meeting with her Grandfather. She lunged for the elf and told him to wait while she packed her trunk. A minute later she came dressed in simple robles and went with the elf. She popped in and saw her sisters sitting at the table and Andi asked if they knew why they were summoned. Bella only said, "I don't know, but I have a good feeling about this."

ooooooo

Narcissa Malfoy held her son Draco close while he sucked on his bottle. She never loved anything more than her son, but she felt empty because Lucius had never expressed his love for her, because there was none. In the beginning, she thought he was just playing hard to get. She didn't want to be with him, but after the contract had been signed by Walburga, she had to give up her pursuits of Fabian Prewett, a very handsome boy in the year above her. They had been dating for a year when the contract was written, and she was forbidden by Lucius to speak to Fabian. In her last letter to him, she told him she loved him, but they couldn't be together because of the contract. It broke her heart when Fabian and Gideon were killed. She never could show it when Lucius was around, but she cried many nights away in her bedchamber where it was only her.

Draco made her happy, but Lucius had already told her that when he turned three, he was going to get lessons on how to be a pureblood. She knew that he would morph her little dragon into a pompous git that believed in pure blood above all else. Personally, she felt that pure blood meant less than a pure heart, but she never told her husband that. If Lucius felt she wasn't being the good little pureblood wife, then he would hit her. She wanted to get out, preferably with Draco, but she couldn't get custody if she tried. So, she wished for a way out and an elf appeared and grabbed her and popped her to a meeting room. The elf then explained that she was in Black Manor, and that her sisters, cousin, and grandfather would be arriving shortly. The arrival of Andi and Bella made her smile. It had been years since they had been around each other civilly. And from the look on Andi's face and the trunk in Bella's hand, she guessed they were going to be around one another for some time.

ooooooo

Sirius and Arcturus see the sister quietly chatting away like they weren't on different sides of a war. Arcturus cleared his throat and the girls stopped and looked at them. Arcturus had their attention and he spoke, "My dear granddaughters, I have failed each one of you. I failed to protect you from the horrible situations that deprives you of love." He paused and walked over to Andi. "Andi I am sorry. I couldn't stop your mother from kicking you out of the family. I could only wait until I had a chance to reinstate you. Will you forgive an old man for his mistake that cost you your family?" She nodded, he stood. "I'm sorry to hear about Ted, I know your parents didn't approve, but he was a good man." She was crying now. Nymphadora was curled up and asleep on the chair next to her. Arcturus walked to Bella and Narcissa and squatted in front of them and held their hands. "I am so sorry my children. I wish I could have stopped the marriage contracts, but I had no authority because your parents fooled me out of my say in the matter. I am sorry you had to live through abuse and live without love. I hope I can fix that now. Will you forgive me?" They both nodded and he hugged them. Andi walked over and snuck into the group hug. Sirius felt left out, "Wow, group hug and you forget me? I'm hurt." He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around the mass of family. After a minute of hugging they broke it and were returning to their chairs when Arc said, "Why don't we move this conversation to the lounge. The healer will be there as well." He promptly turned and beckoned them to follow.

The lounge was a smaller room. It had several bookshelves and a piano. The mantlepiece had a photo of each of his grandchildren before they got on the Hogwarts Express. Surrounding the fireplace were two armchairs and a four-person sofa with a coffee table in the middle. The sisters sat on the couch and the men each took an armchair. Sirius was still holding Harry and Nym had fallen asleep in her mother's arms. Andi was about to ask who the baby was when the healer was brought in by an elf. Arcturus greeted her. "Hello Poppy, I was afraid you wouldn't come, but little Mr. Potter here needs a checkup. He has had an interesting night." Poppy Pomfrey's mouth dropped.

"Why do you have Mr. Potter? Albus had a conniption when he wasn't in the house." She still hadn't noticed the Death Eater and wife in the room.

"Well, Sirius felt the wards get broken and he got there as soon as he could. When he did, James and Lily were dead, Voldemort was gone, and little Harry was laying in his crib. Being Harry's godfather, he picked him up and came here. Then I called for you. And here we are." He finished. The sisters' mouths were agape. Bella regained the ability to speak first. "He's dead? The Dark Lord is dead?" At the nods of Sirius and Arcturus she jumped up and cheered, "I'm free, I'm free, I'm finally free." Narcissa stood and started dancing with her sister, "We're free, We're finally free Bella." She chimed. It took a minute before the pair had regained their composure and had retaken their seats. Poppy almost fainted when Bella jumped up. She was pleasantly surprised when the most feared Death Eater jumped for joy at the word that her master was dead.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, can I see young Harry?" She asked Sirius, who grudgingly agreed and handed her his godson. Arcturus got down to business while Poppy did her work.

"I gathered you all here tonight mostly because of what happened three hours ago. Lord Voldemort has vanished, supposedly dead, but I think he's too smart to die. He had to have made something to keep him from dying all the way. But that is beside the point. I asked you here to discuss the family. We seven are all that's left of our branch of the Black family, we are still the head of the house, but we are small. I asked Sirius if he wanted back in and he agreed. I ask you Andi, do you want to be a Black again?"

"Yes Grandfather, I want to be a Black again." She smiled.

"Bella, Cissy. I can annul your marriages and you'll also be Blacks. It will have to wait until Monday, but it can happen." He asked the younger siblings.

They share a glance and develop devilish grins and Bella speaks first. "Well Grandfather, we want you to annul our marriages, but first we have some things we want to do to our exes. We are going to transfer the max amounts of gold to our family vault then we'll move all the artifacts from Lucius' vault to ours. Actually, do you now if we can contact Alice and Frank Longbottom? We were going to attack there tomorrow and if we kill Rodolphus, I get everything. Then we move everything from LeStrange to Black and dissolve the family." Bella finished and Narcissa spoke up.

"I really want to save Draco from Lucius, but no matter what, he'll end up like him anyway. So, I want to be a Black again." Cissy sighed.

"So, that's all settled. Tomorrow we save the Longbottoms from the LeStranges and Monday we take all the money we can from Lucius and Rodolphus. Poppy, how is Harry doing?" Arcturus asked.

"Little Harry is going to be fine, he's magically exhausted and I can fade the scar, but I can't make it go away fully. His magical core is the largest I've seen since yours Bellatrix." Bella blushed, Poppy continued, "He is going to be a wonderful child Arkie." It was Arcturus' turn to blush, an interesting color on the older man's face. "Thank you Poppy, I daresay we'll be needing your services again before Harry reaches school." Poppy nodded and was led out by Hoppy. Sirius asked the big question.

"What are we going to do with Harry?"

"Sirius, this child is your godson, how about you blood adopt him after we finish our business." Arcturus suggested.

"That sounds good Arkie." Sirius chuckled, making Arcturus snort.

"You know boy, I'm still young enough to take you over my knee." He said, laughing as Sirius' laughter stopped abruptly.

"One more piece of business. I think we should call a meeting of the other Blacks." Arcturus suggested.

"But Grandfather, there hasn't been a family reunion in over fifteen years after two people killed each other." Andi replied.

"Yes, but all the rabble-rousers are dead now. There are only five different branches. We'll have it next Tuesday." Arkie decreed. "Now, I'm sure this old place has enough rooms that you don't have to share. Hoppy can show you. See you in the morning so we can go to the Longbottoms. Good night you four." He finished as he stood and walked out of the room and called for Hoppy.

"Its good to have family again." Sirius said.

"Yeah." The others agreed. Hoppy took them to their rooms and all the soon to be Blacks had a good night's sleep.

ooooooo

The Blacks congregated around the breakfast table, which was covered with enough food for twenty people, but the Blacks and their three House Elves managed to clean the whole table. Cissy was confused when the elves sat at the table and Arkie didn't punish them. Arcturus saw this and spoke.

"In recent years I have grown lonely here by myself, and the elves and I became friends rather than Master and elf. They have eaten with me for a while now, and I do not plan on changing that. To me, Magic is Magic, whether it be in you, Cissy, or Hoppy, or a Goblin at Gringotts. To me, I see a being who can do extraordinary things. I didn't always think like this, but I recently saw what happens when you discriminate against beings who are deemed lower than yourself. My house elves are more like family than property and I wouldn't have it any other way." Cissy understood and began to change her own opinions on the crea-beings that she had disrespected and thought that her grandfather's way of thinking was more beneficial than Lucius' or her parents' ways. The rest of the table contemplated the thought and agreed almost immediately. The elves were crying quietly, and conversation soon moved on to more pleasant subjects.

At eleven o'clock Arcturus floo called Longbottom Manor and asked for a meeting with the Lord and Lady Longbottom. Frank replied that they could come at one, so the Blacks played chess or gobstones until then and had a light lunch.

ooooooo

One o'clock rolled around and the Black family floo'd over to Longbottom Manor. To say that they were surprised to see Cissy and Bella would be quite the understatement. Frank and Alice both their wands out pointing at Bella and Cissy respectively, looking rather tense. When Sirius came through Frank and Alice relaxed a little. Frank had to ask. "Why did you bring two Death Eaters to my house Arcturus?"

Bella piped up." Well since old Volde is dead, I'm not really much of a problem. Especially since grandpa here offered me a marriage annulment. And Cissy hates her husband as much as I do. I'll swear on my magic if you want. I honestly don't want to hurt you. We came here to warn you."

"Warn us about what?" Alice asked.

"Well before the Dark Lord went to the Potter's and met his downfall, he instructed me, my husband, Barty Crouch Jr., Avery, Nott, and MacNair that we were to come here and kill you and little Neville. And since my husband is coming, I figured I could help you guys off them. The attack is supposed to start up about five." Bella answered.

"What's in it for you Arkie? I know a Black doesn't do anything for free." Augusta said as she walked into the room.

"Well Augusta, if dear Rodolphus were to meet his maker before I annul the marriage between he and my Bella here, then she is entitled to everything under the LeStrange name and vault. We would be making a decent amount of gold from this." Arcturus replied.

"And I get to kill my abusive bastard of a husband." Bella added.

"That explains Bellatrix but what about the rest of you? And why do you have two children?" Frank stated.

"Well, this is Nymphadora, and Sirius is holding Harry." Andi answered.

"Well I haven't seen my godson in a while so can I hold him Sirius?" Alice asked.

"Sure, you can hold him while we talk about the details of tonight." Sirius replied.

The group decided that Augusta and Arcturus would take Neville, Harry, and Nymphadora to Black Manor and she would stay with them during the fight. Sirius floo'd his girlfriend Amelia Bones and asked if she could come through. She was less surprised than the Longbottoms to learn of Bella and Cissy's change of heart. Bella she knew was good because of how her brother Edgar had talked about her before he died in September. Her niece Susan was added to the group of kids Arkie and Augusta would be watching. Sirius then told her he had something to say, Amelia was a little concerned that he'd say he was gay or something. He walked over to her spot on the couch and kneeled in front of her.

"Amelia Susan Bones, we've been dating for a few years now and we said we would wait until the war was over to talk about 'us' and now the war's over and I ask you if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife. Will you marry me?" He asked. He didn't get a verbal response, instead he was tackled and snogged until Frank brought them back to earth. "I'll take that as a yes Miss Bones?" Sirius sarcastically asked.

"Of course, it's a yes Siri." She said playfully smacking his arm.

"Oh, how you wound me woman." Sirius said dramatically, causing the group to laugh.

ooooooo

At five on the dot the alarm wards were tripped, and the plan was put into action. Frank and Alice would take up defenses next to the staircase in front of the door, while Andi and Cissy would wait at the top of the stairs. Sirius and Amelia hid behind potted plants next to the doors and would pounce once they passed the doorway. Bella had rendezvoused with the Death Eaters and would stay in the back and would pick off the stragglers. There were seven real Death Eaters and the seven protectors had the element of surprise.

The conflict was over before it really begun. Each protector had a target and only Cissy had to fire a second spell because she hit Avery with her first stunner instead of MacNair. Bella cast a cutting curse at the back of Rodolphus' neck and cut it clean off. Amelia called the Aurors to come and collect five stunned and one dead Death Eater at the Longbottoms. The Blacks stuck around for the Aurors to give statements and Bella gave one under Veritaserum to prove she didn't want to hurt the people she did. Her truthful excuse of 'the contract bound me to my husbands' will' worked for the Aurors and she was removed from the most wanted but paid a fine for property damage which she charged to the LeStrange account. Augusta and Arcturus came through the fire and called everyone over to Black Manor for dinner.

The meal passed and the Blacks bid the Longbottoms and Amelia farewell and they retired for the night, except for Sirius, who had to stay up for half of it because Harry wouldn't stop crying. He fell asleep holding Harry in his armchair in the lounge. He dreamed of his wedding with Amelia with James, Lily and Edgar looking down on them and smiling.