Bathilda Bagshot had left at about 1:30pm saying how much she hoped to see Y/N in the next term break. As she apparated, Minnie closed the front door and turned smiling at Y/N:

"Our last dinner together tonight. I hope you don't mind, I invited a guest. It was difficult to track him, and there were some obstacles, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."

She refused to elaborate who the guest was, Y/N narrowing his eyes in playful suspicion. It didn't occur to Y/N, but had this happened twelve months earlier every alarm bell and defensive mechanism in his body would have been triggered. Instead, the trust he had built up with Minerva was such that he just narrowed his eyes teasingly and walked over to the couch.

He inhaled deeply before picking up the book Bathilda had left him and after checking the table of contents turned straight to chapter 4- Deimos and the blood curse.

He was horrified at what he read, but at the conclusion of the chapter persevered and returned to page one, starting again from there.

He had been so engrossed in his reading he didn't notice the hours fly by, and as he got to chapter 18 there was a knock at the door and Minnie returned to her lounge room and smiled, asking:

"Could you get that please, Y/N?"

Y/N placed his book down and raised an eyebrow at his... friend.

"You're being very odd, Minnie" Y/N replied. She giggled and motioned with her hand towards the door, hurrying her student. He rolled his eyes and opened the door:

"We welcome you to the home of the magnanimous Minerva McGon-"

Y/N cut himself off, his mouth opening wide at the man in front of him.

"Hey Y/N" Omar smiled as he stepped in the door.

"It's good to see-"

Omar was cut off as Y/N barrelled into him, squeezing the man tightly. Omar looked down in shock. Happy shock, but shock nonetheless.

"Since when were you a hugger?" Omar chuckled.

"I missed you Omar, I missed you so bloody much" Y/N said as he pulled back from the hug, Minerva watching with tears in her eyes.

"Look how big you are?" Omar smiled at Y/N, who was up to his shoulders now. Omar playfully squeezed Y/N's shoulders.

"Full of muscle too, bet the young witches can't leave you alone" he chuckled.

"Two witches in particular" Minnie smiled, Omar raising an eyebrow and asking "really?" as Y/N lit up brightly.

"I thought you weren't allowed to see me?" Y/N asked as his blush subsided.

"That oaf of a Minister said I couldn't visit you, at the Leaky Cauldron, Y/N. He can't ban me from visiting an old friend in Hogsmeade" Omar replied as the two adults grinned.

--~--

"So you've had a term and a half" Omar remarked as the trio sat at the dinner table with Dreek, enjoying the steak dinner the House Elf had prepared.

Y/N and Minnie had given him a run down of Y/N's first term- defeating a troll, having a run in with Slytherins, youngest seeker in a century-

"And he's at or near the top of every single class. He and his three closest friends spend a lot of time in the library. He's a pleasure to teach and a credit to Gryffindor House."

"Thanks to you, Omar. All that time you spend with me. Teaching me. I never would have done any of it without you" Y/N gushed honestly.

Omar smiled.

"It was my pleasure. When I think of that illiterate boy who came into the hospital, the sores, the malnutrition, the... you have exceeded our wildest hopes for how you would turn out, and when I read in the paper you protected a Muggleborn-"

Omar cut himself off, getting choked up.

"Sorry" he smiled, taking a drink of water.

Minerva looked saddened, although slightly confused. Y/N stood, took his jumper off and lifted his t shirt sleeve, showing the scarred

BLOOD
TRAITOR

That was permanently on his right deltoid.

"I was sent a cursed quill in the mail after that. This is what it did. I wear it as a badge of pride. I'm sorry I ever thought different."

Omar was extremely proud and smiled:

"When I think of that small weak child who said mudblood as a given concept, having no idea of the hatred behind the word, it's no wonder you're in the house of the brave."

"First in either family that wasn't a Slytherin. Not the most popular choice the hat's ever made" Y/N laughed.

"Well that's not technically true" Minnie smiled.

"Your mother is Bellatrix Lestrange, but only because she married to Rodolphus Lestrange. You have no relationship to him, you're half Deimos and half Black."

Y/N was stunned. He'd genuinely never considered that before. He always just thought of himself as a Deimos and Lestrange. Honestly he tried not to think about it too much. Minnie continued:

"Sirius Black, your first cousin, once removed, was also a Gryffindor" Minnie said, trying to hide her sadness at the memory of him. She, and Omar, were incredibly shocked when Y/N blurted out:

"Sirius was a Gryffindor?"

"You knew Sirius?" Minnie replied just as quick.

"I did. I do, I guess. He was always nice to me, tried to protect me from the others, snuck me extra food. He was... he was a good man" Y/N said sadly.

He betrayed his best friends and helped kill Harry's parents Minnie thought, unable to express that in words, crushing Y/N's opinion of what was, it sounded, the only positive influence in his formative years.

The rest of the night went swimmingly well, and Omar, Minnie and Y/N devised a plan. Mail from Omar would go to Minnie and she would pass it to Y/N. Likewise, mail from Y/N would be given to Minnie to send. After the evening wrapped up and Omar had left Y/N turned to Minnie:

"Thank you Minnie. I owe so much to Omar. He took so much time to look after me and help me when I got out of Azkaban. I wouldn't be here without him. I didn't know you knew him though."

Minnie smiled.

"I didn't, but after you mentioned him in passing at lunch that first day I asked Albus about him. He told me what happened with Fudge, so I reached out to a friend of mine at Mungo's and she helped me get in contact with him. She's actually very keen to meet you, she was hoping this Saturday night if that works for you, in my living quarters at Hogwarts?"

Y/N looked at Minnie puzzled and asked: "Who would want to meet me from St Mungo's?"

"Your Aunty" Minnie smiled.

"Narcissa? Heh, no thanks" Y/N replied laughing.

"No, Y/N. Andromeda" Minnie smiled again.

Y/N looked at her blank faced and asked:

"Who?"

"Your mother's other younger sister, Andromeda"

"I didn't know my mother had another younger sister, but if she's anything like-"

"She's not. I promise. She was blacklisted from the family for marrying a Muggleborn, Ted Tonks. That should tell you how different she is. She's a very old, very dear friend of mine."

Minnie gave Y/N the eyes. Why did she always do the eyes?

"Fine. I'll meet her, for you" Y/N sighed. Minnie smiled widely.

--~--

It was the final day of the holiday break, and the day the Hogwarts Express would arrive at Hogsmeade station. It was currently 9:00am and Minnie had needed to Floo to the Ministry for a meeting between Hogwarts leadership and the Head of the Department of Magical Education. The two were then going to take a carriage back to Hogwarts at lunch time.

Y/N was going to spend the morning walking around the village, doing some last minute shopping, mainly for books he hadn't seen in the library, before heading back to Minnie's to meet her. As he walked through the centre square and passed the statue of Henguist of Woodcroft he heard a voice behind him he hadn't expected to. He hadn't wanted to.

"Y/N?" the voice said softly. He turned and stared at its owner.

Narcissa smiled, as she reached out to her nephew. He gave her a dismissive

"Pfft"

And turned around, walking away.

"No wait, please" she called, running after him.

"Lucius sent you to do his dirty work? You stinking Malfoy's aren't getting your hands on my vault" Y/N said as he continued walking. A few locals watched in shock as the always demure and elegant pure blood Narcissa Malfoy ran after a child in the street. She caught up to him and gently gripped his arm:

"Please nephew, just hear me out."

Y/N stopped and turned, looking at Narcissa with an expression between distain and gas.

"Please, just let me explain, come to Madam Puddifoot's with me for a cup of tea, and just listen. If you're not interested by the time the tea is finished I won't stop you, but please, just give me a chance."

There was something in her eyes, something similar to Minnie. Y/N felt himself break and looked down, whispering to himself "bloody girls, turning me soft."

--~--

Y/N was sat across from his Aunty in a very pink, very... bloody pink tea house.

There were cat plates and doilies and frills and pink just... everywhere.

"Garish doesn't begin to describe it" Y/N whispered as he looked around in horror. Narcissa giggled at his comment as Madam Puddifoot approached the pair.

"The lovely Mrs Malfoy, it's a pleasure to see you again but I must say you're robbing the cradle here today."

"This is my nephew, Y/N Deimos" Narcissa smiled. Y/N nodded to the owner and looked around.

"Come here a lot do you?"

Narcissa nodded. Y/N looked around and without missing a beat added:

"Yeah, pink doilies really screams Lucius to me."

Narcissa suppressed a smile, Puddifoot chuckling and asked the young man:

"So what kind of tea would you like?"

Y/N looks at the proprietor blank faced:

"...tea?"

"Philistine" she replied, turning to Narcissa.

"We'll both have peppermint. You strike me as a peppermint lover" Narcissa smiled at her nephew.

Puddifoot walked off with their order and Y/N looked at his aunty.

"So, what was so important you had to come down here and... how did you even know I was here?"

"I saw you the other day. I brought Draco for a butterbeer and saw you and Professor McGonagall."

She noticed Y/N tense up and replied immediately:

"I didn't point you out. Draco didn't see you. I can see that worried you. No I saw you and knew I had to take the chance while I could to speak to you alone."

"What do you mean while you could?"

Narcissa looked at Y/N sadly.

"Lucius is planning something, something to do with you. I don't know what. But I know what a vindictive bastard he is."

Y/N was about to reply when Madam Puddifoot turned up with two cups, milk, sugar and a teapot on a tray.

"Here you are m'dears" she said happily and walked off, Narcissa throwing up a silencing charm as she did.

"Must say I'm surprised to hear you call him that."

"I have been a dutiful wife and fulfilled the role I've had too, Y/N. That doesn't mean I agree with him."

"And you think I'm just going to believe you?" Y/N asked with a chuckle.

Narcissa looked at her nephew pleadingly.

"I've had no choice but to stay with Lucius. Pure blood women lose all their assets to their husbands at marriage, Y/N. If I had left I would have been destitute. But look..."

She pulled up her sleeves

"I never took the mark, not like the others. Just because I was powerless didn't mean I agreed."

Y/N looked at her carefully, studying her actions as he replied:

"I've got a mark too"

He pulled up the sleeve of his right arm and watched as Narcissa looked instantly horrified and held her right hand over her mouth, her left reaching out and gently rubbed against the scar.

"You poor boy. You poor, poor boy."

"So the cursed quill didn't come from you and Lucius?" Y/N asked straight faced.

"No!" Narcissa screamed in shock. "I would have imperio'd him if he told me he was going to do this to you."

"Do you know why I got this?"

"Was it because you saved the Muggleborn girl?"

Y/N was watching very carefully. She spoke quickly, no sense of trying to stop herself from saying mudblood, no hint of distain on her lips from the word Muggleborn.

"Yes. Do you know what happened?"

"Just what the Prophet said, that three older students threatened a Muggleborn."

"Three third years, not so dissimilar from Draco and his idiots, had a first year, Hermione, against the wall by the neck. They had priors, I've found out since, of assaulting Muggleborn girls, and not just physically so it was lucky I got there when I did. That bitch Skeeter left that part out. I put the two lackeys in full body binds and used Osassula to snap the leader's ankles. I then used my foot to break his face."

Y/N was being deliberately antagonistic, trying to get a reaction. All Narcissa replied was:

"Thank Merlin for that girl you were there."

"So what is it you want exactly, Narcissa?" Y/N asked, running out of patience.

"I.. I want a relationship with you Y/N. You're my nephew. My blood. I know we can't tell Lucius or Draco but-"

"So you're going behind both their backs?"

"I love my son, but he's too much his father's boy. He wouldn't understand."

"And it's just a coincidence that both you and your sister want to reconcile with me within 24 hours and there's no-"

"You've heard from Andi?" Narcissa asked with a big smile on her face. She actually looked genuinely happy and explained.

"Andi and I were so close when we were young, but after she fell in love with Ted my parents disowned her... It was too risky to try and contact her, not with him around, but I've missed her everyday."

She actually seemed genuine as Y/N finished his tea.

"So that's all you want? To get to know your nephew?"

Narcissa nodded.

"And that you don't blame me for his machinations."

Y/N looked her in the eye and decided.

"You can write to me, at school, in secret, and I will reply. We can go from there. I'll say one time, if you want to know what happens to people who lie to a Deimos, look up Cursed Families of Europe and the British Isles. Have a nice day Narcissa."

"Thank you, Y/N. Truly" Narcissa smiled. Y/N nodded but as he stood she asked:

"Could you call me Aunty Cissi?"

"Perhaps one day. For the time being you are Narcissa."

Narcissa was disappointed, but nodded in understanding, thanking Y/N again as he headed out the door.

Y/N finished what he needed to, getting the shopping he wanted finished, and returned home in time to meet Minnie, have lunch, and finish packing for the return to Hogwarts.

As they were about to walk out the door Minnie stopped Y/N with a hand on the shoulder.

"You have thanked me a lot, but thank you, Y/N. Thank you for staying with me and for giving me a wonderful Christmas. I know we have to return to Professor and Mr Deimos but-"

She smiled as Y/N turned and hugged her, an act that was immediately reciprocated:

"Thank you, Minnie. Thank you."