"This is an affront! Lucius, read this!" Narcissa finally exploded, handing her husband the latter from the law firm.
Mr. Malfoy did exactly that and the more he read, the more he became offended as well. He could understand why his wife, normally a very calm woman, had become so angry. "This hoodlum and blood-traitor as the Head of the House of Black?! Due to feodum talliatum? Unbelievable!"
"Oh, it gets worse, Lucius!" Narcissa prepared her husband for more bad news.
Reading further, he was tempted to rip the letter to pieces. "He gave all of Cygnus' private fortune to Andromeda while you get nothing at all?!"
Narcissa had been truly broken over her father's death and just recovered from it, when this bomb hit. It enraged Lucius to no end that Sirius would trample over his wife's feelings like that - though he was equally angry that it meant House Malfoy would get not a single Knut out of that inheritance.
Reading even further, Lucius dropped the letter in shock, now pale after reading about the most severe of Sirius' decisions. "He can't do that!"
"I'm afraid he can." Narcissa's anger had left her, and now she looked like she wanted to hide under a blanket. "Me, Draco and any future children and grandchildren, while still acknowledged as an offshoot of House Black, won't get anything. No money, no heirlooms, no titles... He cut us off from it."
That left the Malfoys shocked.
They knew they were impotent to do anything against this decision, as Sirius did have every right to do it. However, at the back of their heads they knew, one day they would get back at him for this slight. Yes, one day they would get even with him.
...Black family cemetery, August 3rd...
There usually were several ways a funeral could go. There were truly heartfelt ones, were all those in attendance were honestly grieving. There were those were the grievers were divided into camps. Those, where no one actually would truly miss the deceased. And those where things did not go according to plan.
However, none of these categories fit to the funeral of Cygnus and Walburga Black on the Black family cemetery. The way to describe that one would be 'like a demilitarized zone'.
The reason for this was quite simple: the presence of Sirius Black and Andromeda Tonks.
Sirius had not exactly gunned for being at the funeral, but in the end, he had two reasons for attending. First, as the Head of House Black he was obligated to attend and there was only so much he could ignore etiquette. More important, he was present to protect Andromeda, who was attending, since despite everything, it was her father's funeral.
Of course that caused tensions with all the other people present, without fault wizards and witches from old pure-blood families on the same wavelength as the late Blacks. The Malfoys did stand out, giving Sirius barely disguised looks of sheer hatred and were not much nicer to Andromeda. It was clear they would have loved nothing more than to attack them right on the spot
It was only the Auror presence that stopped this funeral from descending into violence.
Even someone with just one eye could spot that we don't belong to them, Sirius mused.
That was not too difficult to to the way they dressed. Andromeda clearly had been influenced by Ted and did wear an actual black dress. He himself did wear the same suit and hat combination he did at the funeral of the Potters. That of course clashed with all the other wizards and witches present, who all wore wizard robes. For Sirius and Andromeda, it was another sign how they no longer belonged to that crowd.
I'm here for Andromeda. She at least retained some feelings for her father, despite his actions against her. My dear Mum however... I want to make sure she is under the earth and really gone.
Both of them held some distance during the entire ceremony, just in case..
Only now did both of them realize how much they had already alienated themselves from pure-blood society. The burial rituals, which before had been a normal thing to them, now appeared old-fashioned and outright archaic. That everything was said in Latin - something even a number of pure-bloods struggled with - only added to the picture.
When it finally was done and the graves filled up with earth by magic, Sirius turned to Andromeda. "Are you all right, Andy?"
"Yes... I thought it would be harder, but it seems all the hurt I got over the years impacted me more than I thought. Perhaps we should go now?" Andromeda asked her cousin.
However, before the could do so, they were stopped by the Malfoy couple. Narcissa gave Andromeda a very cold look that made it clear she disliked her sister with all of her heart, while Lucius appeared quite controlled.
"Your actions marked you, Black," Mr. Malfoy told him calmly, though the danger in his voice was clear.
"Is that a threat?" Sirius asked, noting how the Aurors had their hands on their wands.
"No, it's not. Merely a reminder that the day will come, when you are held responsible for your past actions," Malfoy said, then turned around to leave with his wife.
"Just like you were held responsible for your past actions? Oh, right, you claimed you were not in your right mind," Sirius remarked, playing upon Malfoy using the Imperius-defense.
The Malfoys stopped for a short moment, Mr. Malfoy tensing like he wanted to draw his wand, but then they acted like they hadn't heard anything and went on. They clearly were not stupid enough to try anything with so much law enforcement being present. Sirius could only shake his head in disappointment.
"Sirius, did you have to poke the hornet's nest?" Andromeda hissed.
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