Chapter Sixteen of 'The Onyx in Radiance'- Number Twelve Grimmauld Place

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Chapter Sixteen—Number Twelve Grimmauld Place

The common room was crawling with rumors that Riddle had taken Orion from the library and led him off somewhere. Harry had waited with growing uneasiness for several minutes, until he’d finally decided to go in search of him.

He didn’t have to go far.

“Orion?” Harry knew it was abrupt and probably frightening, for him to just blurt out Orion’s name like that, based on his reaction. Orion not only jumped violently and turned to face him, but fell against the wall. Harry moved closer to him, wondering what the hell had happened. Orion’s face was pale, and there were purple bags under his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept in months.

“Orion, what happened—”

Orion’s hands were shaking. Harry stared at them, aware of Orion’s eyes on him, aware that it didn’t matter. He knew exactly what that kind of tremor meant, the little involuntary jerks rippling across Orion’s palms and down his fingers.

Riddle had held Orion under the Cruciatus Curse.

Harry felt rage erupt in the center of his chest. If Riddle had been doing that to him, it would be one thing. Harry could handle himself. And if this had been entirely unconnected to the way Harry had come back and changed the past, then Harry would have been upset about it, but he wouldn’t have felt a sense of responsibility for it.

But Riddle had tortured Orion because of Harry. This couldn’t stand. It was not acceptable..

First things first. Get him back to the common room. Harry cleared his mind as best as he could—almost hearing the echo of Snape’s voice yelling that at him in the back of his head—and then stepped up to Orion, offering his shoulder for Orion to lean on. He wondered for a long moment if Orion would accept the support. He might be too proud.

But he did, after silence that was probably filled with doubts of his own, and Harry began guiding him back to the common room. Guilt and rage gnawed like twin werewolves on his gut the whole time.

“He did it because of me, didn’t he,” Harry said at last. He wasn’t screaming in fury, and that was about the best result he could hope for. His mind was already cooling and assuming a new shape, as he aimed his thoughts and plans in a new direction.

No, he hadn’t wanted to change the past. But it was obvious that he already had. If Riddle used the Cruciatus on a regular basis, then Orion Black would have been driven mad or found some excuse to flee his service long before he’d become the supporter he’d been in Sirius’s childhood. So this was because of Harry.

Orion didn’t respond. Maybe he thought it was obvious. Maybe he was afraid.

But Harry didn’t need the response. He had caused this, which meant it was up to him to solve it. And although his mind and heart ached at the thought of changing the past so severely that he might never be able to return to the future, might never see Ron and Hermione again, and might ensure that Sirius was never born somehow or other, he couldn’t leave Orion or anyone else to suffer like this. Couldn’t.

Help the people in front of me. They’re the only people I can help.

He became aware he was muttering threats towards Riddle under his breath as they neared the door of the common room, but Orion didn’t comment on that, either. He probably didn’t think Harry could do anything about them, but maybe they were comforting to listen to.

Harry would have walked Orion right into the common room, forgetting some of the ways that Slytherin and Gryffindor were different, but Orion shifted his weight in obvious pain when they reached the door and managed to land flat against the wall beside it. “Let me go in alone,” he whispered.

Harry assessed him for a long moment, and determined that Orion wasn’t going to collapse immediately, which would probably have embarrassed him more. He nodded and spoke the password to open the door, so at least Orion wouldn’t have to do that. He murmured, “Don’t be surprised at anything I do tomorrow. I see now that I have to do it.”

Harry didn’t know what he was going to do tomorrow, exactly. But he was going to damn well plan it and do something to make Riddle back the hell off and stop torturing people.

He cast a charm that hovered in front of him as a mobile mirror while he walked away, showing him Orion standing still for a long moment before he limped into the common room. A small worry that he wouldn’t be able to melted off Harry’s shoulders, and he started to move with more purpose.

You want a challenge, Riddle? Let’s see how I can bring you down in this time the way I did in the future.

*

“And you’re sure this is fine.”

Orion sighs. It’s the twenty-eighth time Harry has asked that question since they left Hogwarts. “If it’s not, it’s too late to worry about it now, isn’t it?” he snaps, and then sags back against his seat and flushes.

Harry looks startled for a second, and then throws back his head and laughs. Orion feels himself calming down every moment that passes with Harry’s shoulders shaking and that laugh floating around the compartment like a benediction.

Merlin, he is so in love.

“Yes, you have a point,” Harry says, and glances out the window as the Hogwarts Express slows down. He swallows a little, massaging his throat, and Orion wonders if he was ever picked up by his Muggle relatives here. Well, not on Platform 9 ¾, obviously, but on the Muggle side of the station.

It’s not something Orion thinks he can ask yet, with the way that Harry closes down when someone asks about his past. But someday, he’ll know everything there is to know about Harry, and in the meantime, he can wait, just like he has the self-control to wait to open his Christmas presents until Christmas morning.

“Come on, Harry,” Orion says, as the train stops fully and he stands up to reach for his trunk. “My father is impatient to meet us.”

“And your mum?” Harry’s eyes are cast down as he reaches for his trunk. Orion resists the urge to tap his foot or consult his watch. Yes, Father is impatient, but he’ll still be waiting even if they’re the last ones off the train.

“She’s an artist who travels around the world showing off her skills and working on commissions,” Orion says, smiling as he thinks about it. “An illusionist,” he adds when Harry raises his eyebrows. “She can conjure whole imaginary castles as big as Hogwarts. She’ll be home tomorrow, she wouldn’t miss Christmas, but she’s not there right now.”’

“Oh,” Harry says, and a small smile plays on his lips. “That’s really brilliant.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Orion agrees, and herds Harry towards the doors that will let them onto the platform. He misses his mum sometimes, but he’s proud of her, and right now he’s glad she isn’t here, so he won’t overwhelm Harry with too many new people at once.

Harry stops near the doors and takes a deep breath. Orion has already caught a glimpse of Father from a short distance away and waves enthusiastically, making Harry turn his head and squint.

“Wow, he looks less like you than I expected,” Harry mutters.

“That’s my mum’s influence,” Orion says with a shrug, jumping off the train and reaching back for Harry’s trunk. “My father says my hair and eye color are really the only things I got from him.”

Harry looks as if he’s about to say something for a second, but in the end, he shakes his head and jumps off the train. Orion steadies him and keeps Harry’s hand tucked possessively in his arm as he leads him towards Father. There will be more than one person watching them, including some of the people who might prefer to support Riddle rather than Harry, and Orion wants to show the same message to all of them.

He’s taken. He’s supported.

“Orion,” Father says. His smile is gentle and reserved, since they’re in public. “And you must be Harry Potter.”

“Yes, sir,” Harry says, and makes a sort of half-bow. Maybe he thinks it’s polite. Orion didn’t specifically tell him to do that, and Father will be telling Harry any minute now that—

“Please call me Arcturus.”

“A-all right, sir,” Harry says, blinking, and then seems to realize his mistake and flushes. “Please call me Harry.”

Father nods and holds out his hand. Harry at least puts his own out so that it’s not awkward, and they shake, while Orion watches carefully. Father will not overwhelm Harry, and Harry will not have to panic and flee, the way he did the first night when Orion mentioned that Harry was firmly invited for Christmas.

Well, all right, he looked caught somewhere between panic and incredible happiness. But he still ran away. Orion doesn’t plan on a repeat performance.

“Orion has told me a lot about you, of course. But I look forward to getting to know you better.”

“Thank you, s—Arcturus.” Harry flashes him an embarrassed smile and ducks his head. Father looks at Orion for a moment. Orion knows that Father is wondering what Orion sees in this apparently overly shy and modest boy.

“Hey, Harry,” Orion says casually, “Father was talking about perhaps taking you to a Healer during the holidays.”

Harry moves his left hand automatically up, as though the blackened skin and missing fingers might have changed since the last time he saw them. “Well, I would appreciate it,” he says, looking dubious. “But I don’t have the Galleons to pay you back for something like that.”

Father catches his breath, eyes widening. Orion smiles smugly at him. It’s one thing to hear from Orion by letter that Harry defied Riddle and took on a wound that caused him incredible pain to save Alphard, a member of their family. It’s another to see that damage, and realize that Harry did it after only knowing Alphard for a few months.

Think about it, Father. Think about what Harry would do to save someone he deeply values, someone who values him in return.

Father isn’t slow to pick up the message. He blinks, and his next smile to Harry is slightly warmer. “Well. We, of course, will pay for the Healers, Harry, and you need not think that you owe us.” He waves his wand to float their trunks into the air, and begins walking towards one of the fireplaces near the platform. “Family does not owe debts to family.”

Harry looks as though someone could murder him with a Knockback Jinx. “I…family?”

“It is not a secret from you that Orion intends to court you, I hope,” Father says, swiveling his head to glare at Orion briefly. Orion frantically shakes his head. Father relaxes. “Well, you will become part of the family.”

“But I mean—I’m not yet. If Orion changes his mind about courting me, I might never be. Or you might decide that I’m unsuitable. And I really wouldn’t have the Galleons to pay you back.”

“You have already freed my son from an unworthy Lord, freed my cousin from a spell that would have caused him a great deal of pain if he’d tried to break it, and avenged my son for the Cruciatus Curse that Riddle cast upon him. If anything, we owe you the debt at the present time.”

Luckily, Father seems to recognize the panic that blazes across Harry’s face, and changes the subject as they wait for the Floo to become available. He asks Harry about his favorite subjects, his experience in Slytherin that doesn’t involve Riddle, whether he thinks the new Cleansweep model being released at the New Year will make old brooms obsolete, and so on. Harry seems to be fully relaxed when he finally steps into the fire.

Father does, of course, catch Orion’s eye and says, “Attend me in my study when Harry is fully settled, Orion.”

“Yes, Father,” Orion says, and snatches up the bit of Floo powder that Father offers him. Father will be the last through the fireplace, holding his wand at the ready in case someone is waiting to strike at Orion while he’s alone.

Orion appreciates his father’s care. It’s the same kind that he intends to offer Harry, both from his father and from himself.

*

“The house-elves said that Harry seemed distressed at the size of the room,” Father says, nursing a Firewhisky near the hearth. “Was it too small?”

“No,” Orion says as he sits down in one of the silver-trimmed black chairs across from his father. “Too big.”

Father’s eyebrows creep up.

Orion takes a deep breath. “Harry was raised by Muggles, Father. Abusive ones. I don’t know the exact state of his relationship with the Potter family, except that Charlus Potter seemed unaware of him before Harry arrived at the school and told everyone he could find that they weren’t related, and Harry was trying to go by ‘Evans’ at first. Professor Merrythought started addressing him as ‘Potter,’ though, and of course then everyone noticed the resemblance and started using it.”

It’s subtle, unless you know Father, but Orion can see the way his hand tightens on the crystal of his glass. “The Potters left a child that magically powerful with Muggles?” he breathes.

“You had the chance to cast the charm on him and see his power?”

“Yes. Merlin. I’m sorry for doubting you, Orion. After your first choice in Lord, I am afraid I did, but Harry has the power to become a true one.”

“And the self-sacrificing instinct to go to the rescue of someone he barely knows.”

“I trust you’re keeping an eye on him so that he isn’t endangering himself.”

Orion nods. “It’s easier now that he’s given up on hiding from the rest of the Slytherins. Before he dueled Riddle in the common room and revealed that he speaks Parseltongue, they were ignoring him, but in one leap he became so powerful that they’re wary of challenging him. Not to mention that he then beat Riddle in a formalized duel.”

“He speaks Parseltongue?”

“Oh.” Something Orion forgot to tell his father. “Yes. I, ah, suppose I had other things that I was more eager to tell you.”

“Well, at least you told me before he spoke it in front of me and made me drop food or something similar,” Father says dryly. He stares at his glass as if he forgot he was holding it, and then at Orion. “Really a Parselmouth.”

“Yes, Father.”

“The Potters are utter fools.”

“I think they must not have known about him. It’s the only explanation.”

“But once they knew, not to claim him?” Father shakes his head. “I suppose they might change their minds and try to claim Harry at some point in the future. I am not minded to let them.”

Until he says the words, Orion didn’t know how worried he was that Father wouldn’t like Harry. He sags back in his chair with a little breath of relief, and Father eyes him over the rim of his glass, which he’s remembered again.

“You thought I would dislike him when I met him?”

“I thought you might have reason not to trust my judgment,” Orion whispers, forcing himself to sit up again. He can feel Father’s implicit disapproval of his posture at the moment from here. “After all, I’m the one who thought Riddle would be a good Lord to follow at first, and you said a minute ago that you doubted me.”

“It sounds as though you had very little choice about Riddle, given his power and grip on Slytherin House. But Harry freed you from this, and he didn’t ask for any concession in return? He didn’t act as though he was owed a debt?”

“He said he had one order for us as the Knights of Walpurgis—Riddle’s followers,” Orion explains when Father flicks an eyebrow at him. “He said it was to go be free and do what we wanted.”

Father stares at him in what seems to be honest astonishment for a moment. Then he flings his head back and laughs.

“You have found a rare treasure, Orion.”

Orion smiles at him, made warmer by the praise than he would have been by Father’s Firewhisky. “Then you have no objection to him as a son-in-law?”

“None. I might have objected on grounds of his power, but he has that. He has a potentially inconvenient relationship with the Potter family, but even if they reach out to him now, I don’t think he would choose them over us. In tandem with us, perhaps, but they could not make him abandon us when he took what he might have thought was permanent damage to his hand to save Alphard.

“And I might have objected if I thought he was simply biding his time until he could get what he wanted from you, trying to get a member of an influential family under his control. But he seems to not know what control is.”

“He was furious when he found out that Riddle used the Cruciatus Curse on me.”

“I am furious, for that matter,” Father says in a low voice. “But I understand that Riddle will stand trial when he turns old enough, and that Harry will most likely testify in that trial, and you as well.”

Orion nods. “He deserves Azkaban, Father.”

Father gives Orion a flash of a smile that he hasn’t seen very often. Once, when Mother got injured by someone who was drunk and mistook her for an enemy, and once when someone tried to embezzle from one of Father’s businesses. It’s a cold, cruel thing, as jagged as the edge of a broken mirror.

“I intend to be sure that he goes there,” Father says softly. “And that Harry Potter becomes part of our family. He is worth any price to secure. Do not mess this up, Orion. It would be considerably more awkward to offer him adoption than it would be to offer him a place in the family as your husband.”

Orion sits up and holds Father’s eyes. Father tilts his head, his expression intrigued.

“I don’t intend to, Father. Nothing has ever mattered to me so much,” Orion says, and watches Father give him that jagged smile again, this time approving.