Eyes on the Stars Feet on the Ground

Family Ties

"Hey," a dark skinned Slytherin approached Cielo in the library, "you're Cielo Crouch, aren't you?"

"I am," Cielo confirmed, scanning the kid over, trying to see why a kid from the second or third year would be speaking to him.

"Good," the boy sat down across from him, "I'm Blaise Zabini. Our mothers are sisters. I've been instructed to look out for you, though I can't fathom why Mother would ask me to look after a measly child."

"Adelina had a child," Bianca's eyes narrow, "and he's looking out for my own per her instruction. How remarkably sweet. Strange. She never did like me very much."

"Blaise and his perpetual arrogance," Cielo laughed, "Merlin he was a wimp back in the day. Thank Merlin we dragged him out of the pureblood mindset. Otherwise, who knows what that awful little clique would have dragged him into."

"You mean Malfoy and Parkinson's clique?" Eleanor questioned, "I remember they were friends in first and second year. I think he dropped them mid third year."

"Yeah," Cielo confirmed, "he said family comes first. He's still an arrogant ass, but a nicer and less racist arrogant ass."

"Your mother would be?" Cielo probed, not knowing much about his family tree. Auntie Pandora said she'd tell him more when he was older, but she never got the chance to before she blew up. So now, he knew practically nothing about his heritage.

"You really don't know," Blaise sighed, "I'll start from the beginning then." Blaise pulled out some parchment and a quill, and began to scribble out a family tree. Pointing to the first name, the boy began to educate his cousin on his family.

"This is Arcturus Black the Third," Blaise pointed to the name, "he married Melania Macmillan. They had two children, Luceritta who married Ignatius Prewett with no children. The second was Orion Black, your maternal grandfather. He was married to Walburga Black, daughter of your grandfather's first cousin Cygnus."

"The incest is killing me," Cielo made a face, "what madman marries his second cousin?"

"BAHA," Sirius burst out into laughter at his ex-father's face, "kid's not wrong."

"He got you real good Orion," Druella smirked at Orion and Walburga's obvious embarrassment, "and this is your grandson too. Your only grandchild in fact."

"Get used to it," Blaise says coldly, though a sliver of amusement comes through, "Orion and Walburga had two sons, Sirius and Regulus Black."

"Isn't Sirius that mass murderer?" Cielo groaned, "please don't tell me I'm related to more mass murderers from azkaban."

"Sirius what?" eyes turned to Sirius in shock. No one saw that coming. Walburga and Orion's eyes filled with hope. Perhaps their firstborn wasn't so useless after all.

"False accusation," Cielo clarified, not liking the turmoil on his uncle's face, "spent twelve years in azkaban for a crime he didn't commit. He became the first person to break out though, so bragging rights there."

"No way," Sirius's heart dropped, "they damned me to the dementors. For twelve years. All for something I didn't do?"

"Sadly," Cielo sent a look of sympathy to his uncle, "you did go a little mad after that. You were only posthumously cleared. I found out your innocence two years later."

James didn't know how to comfort his friend, so he simply hugged him. No one else said a word. It was a depressing thought.

"Do you want the full list?" Blaise asked sarcastically, to which Cielo nodded, "Fine. Bellatrix Lestrange nèe Black is your first cousin once removed, alongside her husband Rodolphus. Sirius Black is your uncle, your father Barty died in azkaban, and our three uncles are in Italian prison for murder."