A/N: Chapter 2 of 'The Stars'
Once they were safely inside their little flat, Sirius went to put Harry to bed. A little while later, he emerged from the guest bedroom to see Hesper on the couch, chin in her hands, deep in thought. She looked up as the couch cushion dipped and Sirius sank down next to her.
"Sirius, we need to talk about what's going to happen now."
Sirius' face darkened.
"We're keeping Harry."
Hesper rolled her blue eyes.
"Of course we're keeping Harry, but the question is, what will we have to do to keep him? Will they even consider letting us?"
"They?"
"Dumbledore. The Order."
Sirius frowned.
"Why wouldn't they? I'm his legal guardian. It was written in the will."
Hesper sighed.
"I know that, but if I know anything about ancient magicks, and I do, then what was invoked tonight at Godric's Hollow was a very powerful blood ward."
She gave Sirius a significant glance, obviously expecting him to react. He shrugged. Hesper rolled her eyes again.
"In ancient times, a blood ward was used to protect the young sons of warriors from rival tribes that would harm them. Its barbaric, really, because to activate the ward, one parent or immediate blood relation, usually the mother or a sister, would have to willingly sacrifice herself to save the one they wished to protect. After the death of the relation, the protected one would have to live with his blood relations."
Sirius gave her a blank look.
"Nice piece of history, but how does that affect us caring for Harry?"
Hesper resisted the urge to slap him, if only barely, and settled for rolling her eyes yet again.
"It means, Harry would have to stay with those of his own blood."
Sirius frowned.
"But the only living relatives of either James or Lily are the…oh God, not the Dursleys!"
Hesper nodded. She quickly continued, sensing Sirius was about to utilize the famous Black temper.
"I have a way around that. You may not like it, but it will allow Harry to stay with us and even give him an extra layer of protection."
Sirius gave her a puzzled look. She took a deep breath before continuing.
"The answer is simple, really. If Harry needs to live with those of his own blood, there's really only one way to keep him with us. A blood-adoption."
Sirius looked on the verge of exploding. Hesper made a face.
"I told you, you wouldn't like it."
It had taken half an hour to calm Sirius down, and another hour to convince him it was a good idea. Eventually, the desire for Harry to be as safe as possible overwhelmed his hatred of his family, for it was commonly accepted that most wizards, even purebloods, wouldn't dare attack, or even offend, a Black, much less the Heir. So, now that all was calm, the two sat, planning their actions. Sirius had nearly lost it again when Hesper had said they would need the help of the House Black, and that Sirius would have to not only apologize to his mother, but take up the mantle of the Heir of House Black.
"Its either your grandparents or mine, Sirius, and frankly, my grandmother is more likely to set a price on our heads than help us."
Sirius shuddered at the thought; Solaris Sinclaire was a truly terrifying woman, and that was coming from HIM. Then again, so was Melania Black, albeit for a completely different reason. Eventually, though, Sirius reluctantly agreed to the plan. The to-do list was carefully read, one last time, just to be sure that they had thought of everything.
"One. Ask Arcturus Black for his blessing to get married."
"Shouldn't be too hard, Hesper. You are a respectable Ravenclaw from an old pureblood House, after all. In fact, I think before I ran away, my mother had plans to make me marry you. Ironic, isn't it?"
Hesper just glared at him, and continued with the list.
"Two. Visit Walburga Black and explain the situation. Ask for her assistance in forging documents and getting the adoption approved."
Sirius made a face, but didn't comment.
"Three. Go to Gringotts to perform the adoption ceremony."
It had been highly debated, but eventually it was decided that Gringotts was the best place for the adoption.
"Four. Move our new family into Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Hopefully, at least."
It was this element that Sirius had kicked up the most fuss over, and Hesper couldn't blame him. Still, if they were going to be proper Blacks, they would have to live in one of the ancestral homes, especially if Sirius wanted to keep his position as Heir, which they desperately needed.
As they set the to-do list down, Hesper groaned. Sirius looked at her in concern.
"What's wrong, Hesper? Is it the baby?"
Hesper shook her head and swatted away Sirius' hands as they tried to grab her shoulders.
"A name, Sirius."
Sirius looked at her blankly.
"We forgot, we need to give Harry a new name."
Sirius scoffed.
"Is that all? Easy. We just need a star chart. Although, maybe we should add a mythological element, just in case we ever need to please your family."
Hesper made a face at him at this suggestion.
Half an hour later found the two of them at the kitchen table, star charts and mythology books spread out over the entirety of the polished wooden surface.
"Alcor."
"No. How about…Cetus?"
Hesper glared at Sirius for that suggestion. She continued.
"Scorpius?"
"Ew."
"Castor?"
"Hell, no."
"Atlas?"
"He'd be laughed at."
"Arcturus?"
"Do I look like that much of a suck-up?"
"Leo?"
"Mediocre."
Hesper slammed the book closed. She narrowed her eyes at Sirius, who was lounging in his chair, looking bored.
"Fine," she said. "If you don't like any of them, why don't you pick one?"
Sirius smirked, and then, after a few silent minutes, gave his name.
"Phineas Antares."
Hesper's jaw dropped.
"It's…it's…it's perfect! The Greek mythology reference in Phineas will please my side of the family, while also being a traditional Black name! And Antares, 'anti-Aries', another Greek reference and also roughly meaning anti-war! It's perfect! Let's just hope he doesn't grow up to have a best friend named Gene who makes him fall out of a tree…."
Sirius gave her another blank look at that last comment, and then it dawned on him.
"Hey…how did you know that Phineas was a traditional Black name?"
Hesper blushed and looked down. In a near-whisper, she admitted she may have looked up Sirius' family tree while they were in Hogwarts.
"It was only to find out if we were related, I swear!"
This, if anything, made Sirius smirk more.
"I thought you didn't gain any interest in me until we had to work together, eh, Miss High-and-Mighty Ravenclaw?"
Hesper blushed ad stammered, and eventually settled for smacking Sirius' chest and pleading exhaustion. Sirius gave her that; the next day was going to be exhausting.
A/N: New chapter will probably be up tomorrow...