The next day after breakfast Harry, Draco, Sirius and Cassiopeia took a Portkey to Windermere Court, and then Flooed to Diagon Alley. The passers-by whispered as they walked along the street towards Ollivander's.
Several people shot Sirius nasty looks, and one witch actually came up to him and started yelling before Cassiopeia blasted her out of the way with a flick of her wand. The sudden protests were deafening.
'Self-defence,' Cassiopeia snarled at the angry crowd. 'Next time I shan't be so gentle.' The crowd reluctantly backed away.
The quartet arrived at Ollivander's without further incident, and the elderly wandmaker greeted them profusely.
'Ah, Miss Black, it is a delight to see you,' he said, bowing. 'Walnut, 12 inches, dragon heartstring, as I recall. Quite rigid.' He turned to Sirius. 'Mr Black, what a surprise. I suppose you'll be wanting a new wand?'
Sirius nodded, and Ollivander began searching through boxes. It took a few tries, but they settled on a mahogany wand with a dragon heartstring core, fourteen inches.
'Is there anything else I can do for you?' he asked politely.
'Yes, in fact,' said Sirius. 'We're also here to buy wands for my son and nephew.'
Ollivander furrowed his brow. 'Are the boys eleven yet, Mr Black?'
'Not yet,' Sirius said calmly.
'This is a most unusual request,' Ollivander began, but stopped at Cassiopeia's death glare. 'One I am sure we can accommodate.'
He looked for Draco's wand first, and it didn't take long before the blond boy was matched up with a ten-inch hawthorn wand with a unicorn hair core. Then Ollivander began to look for Harry's wand.
It took a very long time, and they went through half the wands in the store, with the old wandmaker growing ever more excited as they failed to make a match. Finally, he handed Harry an eleven-inch holly wand with a phoenix feather core.
'Try this,' he said eagerly.
Harry took the wand, and instantly knew this was the right choice. Sparks flew and Ollivander applauded.
'Very interesting, Mr Black,' he said thoughtfully. 'Very interesting, indeed.'
'What's interesting?' Cassiopeia demanded.
'You, see, madam,' Ollivander explained, 'the phoenix whose feather is in this wand gave one other feather, just one. That wand went on to do many great things.' He looked Harry in the eyes, and Harry felt a chill run up his spine. 'How intriguing, that you should wind up with this particular wand, especially given the identity of its brother's owner.'
'Who owned the other wand?' Cassiopeia snapped.
Ollivander's gaze did not waver from Harry as he replied.
'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.'
....
Sirius and Draco ended up playing one-on-one Quidditch that afternoon, as everyone else was fawning over Harry and his new wand. Cassiopeia retold the story over and over again, and even Lucius didn't seem able to pull himself away.
Abraxas, Pollux and Arcturus were ecstatic. When Sirius and Draco had finished playing and began to head back in, the fuss had yet to subside.
'Poor Aries,' Sirius said to Draco as they watched Harry through the window. 'He looks miserable in there.'
'I don't know why,' Draco replied. 'He should be used to all the attention by now.'
'I think he'd rather be out here playing Quidditch with us.'
Draco rolled his eyes. 'Of course he would. That's what's so frustrating.'
Sirius looked at Draco curiously. 'What do you mean?'
The blond boy laughed mirthlessly. 'Aries has had the whole family fawning over him ever since he came to England. Any normal boy would get a big head about it, and you could hate him with a clear conscience. But Aries is different. They treat him like he's Salazar reborn, but he treats me like we're the same. He thinks the fact that everyone expects him to be the next Dark Lord is some enormous joke.'
Sirius raised an eyebrow. 'What do you think?'
Draco sighed. 'I think it's terrifying,' he replied seriously. 'We read about Grindelwald, and Aunt Cassie starts crowing about how Aries will kill twice as many Mudbloods as he did. Aries runs into a garden snake at Grimmauld Place, and Great-Granddad makes him give a Parseltongue demonstration for an hour.
He throws a Quaffle inside and breaks one of Mum's vases, and all he has to do is ask Granddad about some obscure point in Magick Moste Evile, and he's out of trouble.'
'You're jealous,' Sirius observed.
Draco scoffed. 'Not about that rubbish!'
'What about, then?'
'I'm jealous about the Squibs,' Draco said after a pause. 'They really care about Aries, and they don't care whether he grows up to be the true Heir of Slytherin or a Curse Breaker for Gringotts. The only person I have who treats me that way is Aries.' He glared at Sirius. 'That's why I expect you not to let him down, Uncle Sirius. Aries needs more people who love him for who he is, not what he is, or what he might be.'
Sirius grinned and gestured at his nephew. 'It looks like he already has someone like that.'
Draco shrugged. 'Someone has to keep an eye on the fellow. They'll eat him alive.' He paused. 'I worry about him, though.'
'What about?'
'Mostly that they'll all turn out to be right,' Draco said. 'I don't want Aries to be the next Dark Lord.'
'Why's that?' Sirius asked.
'It's not that I'm a Muggle-lover or anything,' Draco said hastily. 'I'm all for the purity of the Wizarding race, same as anyone.' He chewed his lower lip. 'But when I hear them describe the things they hope he'll do...' He sighed. 'Aries is special.
I don't want him to turn into some kind of monster.' He set his jaw firmly. 'And I promised myself on his eighth birthday that I would stay beside him and not let that happen.'
'We're on the same page, then,' Sirius said with a chuckle. 'Are you willing to take on a partner in crime?'
Draco smirked. 'Why not? I am tired of working alone.'
Sirius laughed and tousled his nephew's hair. 'You're a good lad, Draco.'
The blond boy grinned. 'You're not bad yourself, Uncle Sirius.'
.....
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