The Black family sat in stunned silence, the room thick with tension after Orion's declaration about Voldemort. Melania, who had been unusually quiet throughout the discussion, finally broke the silence.
"But what I don't understand," she began, her voice sharp but with an undercurrent of genuine concern, "is this business about my grandchildren. Orion, you may be the Family Lord, but as a mother, I have the right to know what's going on."
Orion sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before looking at her. "That, Mother, is another reason for this meeting. But first, we need to finalize the family's decision on Voldemort."
"Who here is in favor of not allying with the Dark Lord?" Orion asked, his piercing gaze scanning the room.
Sirius, bristling with indignation, couldn't hold back. "Wait, our votes don't count?"
"No," Cassiopeia answered coolly, fixing Sirius and Regulus with a look that silenced them both. "You are not of legal age yet, neither by law nor by magic."
One by one, the family members raised their hands, save for Walburga, who was forced to do so under her mother Irma's glare.
"I hope this is the last time I ever see that man in this house, let alone *at the head of the table,*" Orion said, his tone icy as he directed his words toward Walburga.
"You let him sit at the head of the table?" Dorea's voice was incredulous, her usually calm demeanor slipping.
"At. The. Head. Of. The. Table," Arcturus repeated, his voice heavy with disdain.
The room erupted into chaos.
"I will officially send a letter barring anyone from this family from contacting or representing the Dark Lord," Orion continued sharply, his voice cutting through the noise. "Any messages he sends must be redirected to me. If anyone disobeys, let me make myself clear: I will *banish you from the family* and strip you of the Family Magic."
The warning sent a shiver through the room. Even the boldest members of the family said nothing in response.
Orion exhaled, his voice softening slightly as he spoke again. "Now, I need your help."
"*Merlin's beard!* The day Orion Black asks for help is a day to remember," Alphard quipped, grinning as he leaned back in his chair.
"Shut up, Uncle," Regulus snapped, earning a faint smirk from Alphard.
"I didn't expect this either," Andromeda added, her tone teasing but curious.
"What is it, son?" Arcturus asked, his brow furrowing as he leaned forward.
Orion didn't answer immediately. Instead, he pulled out a two-way mirror, which, for now, only worked one way. The surface shimmered, revealing a woman seated in a sleek office. She wore a tailored suit, her hair perfectly styled, her nose adorned with a small pin, and her partition filled with vermillion. The mangalsutra around her neck glittered faintly in the light. On the floor beside her, a child with the classic black family eyes and hair was laughing as she played with a toy.
The room collectively stiffened as they watched the woman. Without lifting her head from the file in her hands, her voice cut through the silence.
"So, tell me again. What is your name?" she asked sharply, her eyes lined with dark kohl flicking up to the man standing nervously before her.
"Ma'am, I—uh—" the man stammered.
"Why do the accounts not tally?" she interrupted, her tone laced with authority.
The man was shaking.
"Are you going to just stand there like a statue?"
When the man fumbled for an answer, she flicked her wrist, sending him flying through the large French windows with a gust of wind. His terrified scream echoed as he plummeted.
"*Witch! Witch!*" he shouted as he fell.
Vishakha muttered,"And that, is exactly why I have big French windows. I am an Elementalist. Get that right, you *paagal.*"
A man with similar striking black hair and sharp features entered, his voice exasperated. "The only *paagal* here is you, didi."
Vishakha glanced at him. "Relax, Munna. He won't die. He just pissed me off. Come on, I know what's going on in my company—that motherf—"
"Didi," her cousin interrupted quickly, holding up a hand. "I'll send someone to clean him up and get him to a hospital. So, he's the one who sold us out?"
"Hmm," Vishakha confirmed with a nod before continuing with her files while the guy bent down to the baby "Radha Rani, our family's princess" he murmured, and crouched down, conjuring flames to dance around his fingers, making little Radha giggle with delight.
The Black family sat frozen, absorbing the scene. Cassiopeia was the first to break the silence, her voice uncharacteristically faint. "She has elemental magic.. That's... astonishing and quite rare."
"Not just astonishing," Dorea murmured, his shrewd eyes fixed on Vishakha. "It's terrifying."
Bellatrix smirked faintly. "I like her."
"Of course, you do," Andromeda muttered under her breath.
Walburga, pale with shock, turned to Orion. "Who is this woman?"
Orion's expression softened as he gazed at the mirror. "Her name is Vishakha. She is my wife."
The room collectively tensed.
"*What?*" several voices exclaimed in unison.
"She is my wife," Orion repeated. "She comes from a different timeline. A different world. And most importantly... when she vanished, everything changed. The bonds between families, the alliances, even the lineages. Walburga suddenly became my wife. My friendship with Abraxas vanished as if no one knew about us.The world I knew it was rewritten. And it all began the moment she disappeared."
Sunddenly an explosion sent smoke billowing through the room, throwing the Black family into chaos.
"What in the name of Salazar just happened?" Pollux barked, coughing as he tried to wave the smoke away.
Suddenly, a thud reverberated through the room as two figures and a baby fell—quite literally—from nowhere.
"What the fuck?!" Sirius exclaimed, his arms reflexively catching the small bundle hurtling toward him. He looked down to see wide, curious eyes staring back at him. The baby gurgled, utterly unfazed. "Is this... our sister? What in Merlin's beard is happening?"
"Great," Regulus muttered, stepping beside Sirius and staring incredulously at the baby. "We were just watching her through a mirror, and now she's here. Perfectly logical."
Orion waved his hand sharply, clearing the smoke. As it dissipated, a grim sight emerged. Vishakha lay sprawled on the grand Black dining table, her body eerily still, blood dripping from a thin, precise cut across her neck. She was breathing faintly, clutching a shard of the broken two-way mirror in her hand.
Standing beside her, drenched in blood, was a young woman about Regulus's age. She was holding a strange, futuristic-looking gun, her hands trembling, and her chest heaving with exertion. Her athletic build and pitch-black eyes were striking, her dark brown hair tumbling in messy waves over her face.
"What kind of weapon is that?" Marius asked, his tone more curious than alarmed.
"Read the room, bloody idiot," Dorea snapped, glaring at him.
The girl's eyes darted to Vishakha's prone form. She dropped the gun onto the table with a clatter and squatted down, shaking Vishakha's shoulders frantically.
"Bua! Bua, wake up!" she pleaded, her voice cracking. Tears threatened to spill from her pitch-black eyes as she turned her gaze to Orion, who stood frozen, his face pale as he stared at Vishakha's bloodied body.
"You..." she whispered, her voice thick with desperation. "You're Bua's pati, aren't you? Please, do something. Save her!"
The plea snapped Orion out of his trance. He rushed to Vishakha's side, his hands trembling as he inspected the wound. "Mother!" he barked, his voice laced with urgency.
Melania Black moved swiftly, her healer's instincts taking over as she examined the cut. Her face tightened with grim resolve. "This wound is poisoned," she declared, her voice clipped but steady.
"Poisoned?" Alphard echoed, leaning back in his chair, a mix of intrigue and unease on his face. "Of course, because a simple knife wouldn't be dramatic enough."
"Shut it, Alphard!" Orion roared, his voice reverberating with authority.
Meanwhile, Sirius stood still, the baby still nestled in his arms. He stared at Vishakha, a storm of emotions playing across his face. This was the woman who was apparently his real mother.
"She's nothing like Walburga," he muttered to Regulus, his voice low but shaking. "She's I don't... and she's lying there, bleeding out. What the hell is going on, Reg?"
Regulus glanced between Sirius and Vishakha, his usual calm demeanor cracking. "I... I don't know. But this—none of this—is normal."
"Normal?" Sirius barked a short, bitter laugh. "This family hasn't been normal since forever. But this? This is a whole new level of insanity."
The girl Vishakha had often called her in the mirror—glared at the family, her trembling hands hovering protectively over Vishakha's body. "Stop arguing and do something!" she snapped, her voice sharp despite her evident fear.
"She's got a point," Andromeda said quietly, stepping closer. "Less bickering, more fixing. Uncle, what do we need?"
Orion's jaw clenched as he glanced back at his mother. "Can you stabilize her?"
Melania frowned deeply. "The poison is spreading quickly. I can slow it, but I'll need time to identify the exact type. This isn't ordinary venom—it's laced with magic."
"And what do we do in the meantime?" Cassiopeia asked coldly, her piercing gaze fixed on the bloodied girl. "Who are you, child, and how did you come to be here?"
Ruhanika's pitch-black eyes flashed with defiance, but her voice cracked slightly as she answered, "I'm Ruhanika.... Ruhanika Rathore. I was with Bua then.....—" She stopped, her hands clenching into fists. "She protected me. But if you don't help her now... I'll—"
"You'll what?" Walburga sneered, finally speaking. "Threaten us with that... muggle contraption of yours?" She gestured disdainfully at the gun on the table.
Before Ruhanika could retort, Orion silenced the room with a single, commanding word. "Enough." His voice was low but dangerous, and the tension in the room thickened.
"We'll help her," he said, his eyes blazing as he looked at his mother. "We'll save her. No matter what it takes."
Ruhanika's shoulders sagged in relief, but she stayed close to Vishakha, her eyes never leaving the wounded woman's face.
"And while we're at it," Sirius muttered, his gaze flicking between the baby in his arms and the chaos around him, "someone better start explaining what in Merlin's name is going on."