Chapter 15

A minute later found us all tumbling out of my Floo. Ten minutes later found me showered, dressed in clean clothes, and sitting down on my couch in front of a huge plate of sandwiches, cold chicken, and Butterbeer. I laughed when Teddy took his first sip and choked, spraying it across Ron's arm.

“Alright, the three of you. Start from the beginning,” I commanded, shoveling a ham and cheese into my mouth.

“Well, I think the first thing to say is that thank goodness Ron and Hermione came to visit me in hospital,” Tonks said. “It took all three of us to figure this one out.”

“Go on,” I mumbled around a mouthful of chicken.

“Swallow first, Harry,” Hermione laughed. “The first clue was when Ron and Tonks figured out that the Weasleys, not you, would inherit the money. So, that alone would probably have been enough to clear you if only for insufficient motive.”

My mouth was full again, so I just nodded for her to continue.

“But when I came to visit you, you pointed out that someone out there didn't know that. Whoever was doing this didn't know about, or didn't remember, the Weasley connection to the Black family,” she went on.

“Right,” Ron interjected. “Hermione told me about that, so the three of us started brainstorming, going on the assumption that the fortune was the real goal. Between me and Tonks, we had a pretty good idea about the Black family tree, so we started looking for others that could stand to inherit.”

“And what we found out was really quite interesting,” Tonks continued. “Basically, the family fortune passes down by bloodlines first. Blood trumps all other claims to inheritances. But when other types of relationships are taken into consideration, then the legality of inheritances gets … fuzzy.”

“So, I started doing some research,” Hermione said. “And the two main types of relationships that can interfere with inheritances are marriage, of course, and official godfather or godmother status. Problems usually arise when someone related to a family by marriage challenges someone related to a family by god-status, but Harry, as both Sirius's godson and Teddy's godfather, you have double the ties to the family, and your claim would technically win out over someone who was just related through marriage.”

“You're saying,” I said, swallowing hastily, “that someone out there who's only related to the Blacks by marriage thought that by eliminating me, he or she would then be the only inheritor?”

“Exactly,” Ron said. “You know who it is yet?”

“Not a clue, mate. I'm baffled,” I said. “Keep going while I keep eating.”

“Well, Tonks came to the conclusion that if whoever it was discounted the Weasley relationship to the Blacks, they probably were a pureblood, someone who would perhaps never have known that the Weasleys were related because we're blood traitors,” Ron said matter-of-factly. “So, we were looking for a pureblood who was related to the Blacks by marriage ...” He waited expectantly.

“Don't make me guess, Ron,” I growled, grabbing another sandwich. “I'm exhausted and famished and utterly delighted to be home and if you would just tell the bloody story – oops, sorry, Teddy – then I'd be a happy, happy man.”

“Fine,” Ron sighed teasingly. “But I thought Auror Potter would have gotten it by now.”

Hermione elbowed him in the ribs. “Don't take the mickey out of him, Ron. He's been through enough,” she said. “Harry, at Draco's funeral, didn't you and Ron notice something odd?”

“Yeah, well, Ron did, anyway; Narcissa Malfoy wasn't there,” I said, popping open another Butterbeer. “Thought Lucius had said she was practically an invalid because of the stress of the loss.”

“Right,” Hermione continued. “But the problem is, Harry, she's not been seen since and it's been months.”

“So what? I know how much she loved Draco, and if she loved Scorpius half as much, she had every right to be devastated,” I said.

“Sure, Harry, that's true,” Tonks said. “But we were looking into anyone that could possibly inherit the money, and in particular, anyone that would consider you a threat.”

“And you thought it could be Lucius?” I asked, mulling it over. “Well, he's a pureblood, and he's related to the Blacks through his marriage to Narcissa, but that still doesn't make sense because wouldn't Narcissa inherit the money? What would Lucius have to do with it?”

“You're right, Harry. Narcissa would inherit the money ... as long as she were alive,” Ron said.

“But she's not been seen in months,” I said, my brain whirling. “So, what you're trying to tell me is that she's dead?”

“Not exactly,” Tonks said grimly. “We began investigating him the next day, though.”

“Harcourt and I went to the Manor under the pretense of alerting Lucius to some new information from France,” Ron said. “We asked to be able to extend our condolences once again to Narcissa in person, but he wouldn't let us, saying that she was too weak to accept visitors. But he did allow us to speak with the house-elves.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Well, you see, the 'evidence' we had pointed to a rogue house-elf at their French manor,” he continued.

“A rogue house-elf?” My voice dripped with cynicism.

“Hey, at least he bought it,” Hermione said. “Go on, Ron.”

“So, we were talking to their house-elves, and of course, they were being very secretive, afraid of retribution,” Ron said. “But the one, she kept telling us she had to go, that it was 'time for Mistress's special tea.' So, I asked her about it, saying how much Hermione here loved tea, and would she give us the recipe for it. House-elves everywhere know Hermione, and fortunately this one apparently just loves the famous Miss 'Mione Granger, so she was more than happy to provide us with a sample of the secret ingredient,” Ron concluded.

“What was it?” I asked, wiping my mouth and stifling a belch. Blimey, but I could have eaten another tray of sandwiches. Maybe some pudding …

“It was a watered-down version of the same thing the mediwizards had found in Teddy's system,” Tonks said, looking protectively over at her son, who was playing pretend Quidditch in the next room. “It was basically keeping Narcissa in a comatose state, just like Teddy's, only it was pretty much keeping her alive.”

“You mean, Lucius poisoned his own wife?”

“We're not sure, actually. It could be that she really did fall ill, or had some sort of accident. The point is that it was keeping her just enough alive that she could still legally inherit the fortune through blood lineage if all the other candidates had been eliminated,” Ron said.

“But ... that makes no sense,” I said. “If you're telling me he was keeping Narcissa alive but comatose with poison so that she could be the one to inherit the money, then you're telling me he is also the same one who was after the rest of us. But that doesn't explain why he killed his own family!”

“Sure it does,” Hermione said. “You see, after the war, part of the condition of his and Narcissa's freedom was that they rescind all rights to inheriting any of the Black money unless Narcissa was the sole remaining heir.”

“You mean to tell me that Lucius Malfoy … killed his own son and grandson, and Remus, and attacked the rest of us, simply so that Narcissa could claim the fortune?”