4Gauis Ollivander looked up as quiet footsteps sounded in the front room of his store, without the usual warning of the bell on the front door. Quickly disillusioning himself, he silently padded out of his workshop, the barest hint of electricity arcing between his fingers as he released the first of several blocks on his power.
Upon seeing two children standing in the front with no visible weapons, he relaxed, channeling the buildup of power into nullifying his disillusionment as he stepped into view, seeming to form from the shadows behind the counter. Much to his disappointment, the pair accepted this with little more than a raised eyebrow, which struck him as an incongruous reaction from eleven-year olds, until he took a closer look at their faces and the cut of their robes.
"Master Black, Miss Black, it's a pleasure to meet you. I assume you're Andromeda's, since there's been no indication of Narcissa having any children other than the odious Malfoy boy, and Bellatrix is of course still in prison. How is your mother?"
Exchanging a glance with his sister, the boy replied "She is well, Mr Ollivander, and apologised for not coming but she had some business to take care of in the muggle world that refused to be postponed."
"And your father?" Seeing the looks traded, he continued apologetically. "Oh, I am sorry. Was it Sirius? I always thought he and Andromeda were closer than they pretended."
"No, our father was Ted Tonks." the girl corrected.
Ollivander choked, and coughed into his hand for a few seconds. These two were glowing like miniature suns to his magically-sensitive eyes, and they thought their father was that waste of space? Aside from which Tonks was as queer as a three dollar bill. What on Earth was Andromeda thinking, unless... their father really wasSirius. The scorn of the pureblooded contingent would be far less detrimental to this newest generation of Blacks than the hostility of the so-called Light side for the twin crimes of being Sirius' children and the product of incest. Yes, the more he thought it over, the more he could see how that was what she was doing...
"Mr Ollivander!" the boy's voice shook him out of his stupour.
"Sorry, lost in thought for a moment there. So, might I enquire as to your first names, young Blacks? And then perhaps we can match you to wands, so we hold up no later customers as we discuss how I may aid your family."
"Aid our family? Forgive me sir, but what's in it for you?"
"You are both exceedingly powerful individuals. History has shown that the Blacks play a part in every major change these Isles, and that such changes usually occur after the Blacks split into factions. There is the fact that I have several relatives slightly younger than you, who will find our world a hard place to thrive in despite their talents, due to the circumstances of their birth, and allying with you gives them a chance at something better."
"Fair enough. I'm Nymphadora, and this is Hadrian."
"Charmed, I'm sure. Now, shall we get down to it?"
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"Well, that was an exercise in repetition. I'm glad you're more subdued than you used to be, my darling sister, else it would've been a true nightmare." Hadrian said as he admired his new wand.
"Yeah yeah, laugh it up Hades. Just because he went straight to the foreign box for you after I spent four hours trying every pissant British wand he had. Couldn't you have gotten something man-sized?" She finished with a smirk, watching his cheeks colour slightly at the comment.
"I'll have you know that shorter, more rigid wands are better suited to the speed-casting that I favour in duels."
"Yes, but six and a quarter inches is just ridiculous. It barely sticks out from beyond your fingers. What were the components again?"
"Red maple and wendigo tongue. Yours?"
"Mallee root and platypus venom. What do you think they'll be good for?"
"No idea about red maple, but probably self-enhancement charms and flesh-eating curses from the wendigo. Yours I'd wager pain curses, shields and bludgeoning hexes."
"How do you figure?"
"Mallee root regularly breaks muggle chainsaws, it's such hard wood. Platypus venom will fuck you up pretty badly, days or weeks of constant pain."
"So why did we need another wand again?"
"You know why. We never planned on going to school here, but now that we are, we need wands that are on the official records here. Uncle Jean agreed to keep the British Ministry from finding out about our French wands, and since there's no Trace in France we can use those wands to practice without consequence. This country is so backwards it sickens me."
"France isn't much better Hades, the purists there just have a better grasp of subtlety."
"True, or Jean wouldn't be as secure as he is. I just wish we could have stayed. I was looking forward to Beauxbatons with Fleur, and Gabrielle starts next year. it's going to be tough not seeing them till Summer."
Author's Note
Hey, sorry it's taken so long to get uploading again, but I underestimated how much time full-time work would rob me of. I have been writing, just not typing it up, but I used up my annual leave to get a week off to type. Of course one day into that relaxation, I got into a fight so my knuckles are swollen beyond use. Best-case-scenario I'll get another three chapters out by the end of my holiday, but this is just a short chapter for those who asked about the visit to Ollivander's.