(A/N): Sorry for the wait. Real life decided to say fuck you and I've been dealing with that. Stoked for the follows and favorites but thank you so much for the reviews. I love getting solid feedback for my work. TheGoldenFanTrio, thank you again and I hope this chapter was a bit smoother for you. Also big thanks to the guest who gave me kudos.

Preciate the support.

~Yasha's Sis

Lady Black

Chapter 2

Of My Body, Of My Blood

In which a promise is made

Sirius watched as the girl quietly scrutinized the wand in her hand.

Other wizards and witches would never allow their most prized possession to sit in the grasp of a child who didn't believe in magic, especially someone like him who'd had their wand taken from them for years. Sometimes he'd wake up in the middle of the night and clutch it in his grasp just to make sure he knew he wasn't in that hell hole again, but this girl, Brie, she was as precious as any wand could ever be.

I have a daughter.

Him! Sirius! The serial bachelor that would sooner cut off an arm than settle down had knocked up a woman and she bore him a kid.

Brie bit her lip unconsciously, a clear sign of nerves that Sirius sickeningly found adorable. Was this what James felt like when he looked at Harry?

Though it feels like he had no right to want to claim her as his. He hadn't even known the girl was his until that day in Azkaban. Had thought that one night with Fiona had been just that, but a moment of mercy from Shacklebolt and a letter outlining his dalliance with a good friend had Sirius yelling for a guard and demanding to speak with an authority figure.

He played them, claiming to want to outline the gritty details of his betrayal of the Potters but when Albus appeared at the door, nothing but the truth came out. He was going to get free. He needed to check on Harry, and he had to see his daughter.

As if summoned by the thought, clear grey eyes -the same shape and color as his own- cautiously met his and Sirius felt himself swallow with some difficulty. Seven years of this girl's life he missed because he'd been a fool. Six of Harry's. How was he supposed to even start making amends?

"How did you know my parents?" Brie questioned softly.

Especially when the girl still thought he was nothing but a stranger.

Sirius leaned back against his high backed chair and ran a hand through his dark hair. "I was more of an acquaintance with your father until a year or so before you were born. He was a distant cousin of mine, my Uncle Marius's great grandkid." He waved his hand carelessly. "Something like that. Your mother on the other hand, I knew quite well. She was three years behind me in Hogwarts and we were birds of a feather I suppose you could say: didn't like to be tied down."

A delicate brow arched in question as she slowly inquired, "Hogwarts? Is that a school?"

Sirius felt his face hurt from grinning so hard. The girl was clever to pick that up. He didn't think seeing a miniature Fiona with his eyes could be so remarkable but he had to stare in awe the first few moments she entered the room.

This was of his body, his blood.

He honestly never thought he'd see the day.

"Yeah. Got it in one Hecate. Hogwarts is a Wizarding school that serves as Britain's main magical education system."

Her nose scrunched. "Hecate. Why do you keep calling me that?"

"Well," Sirius said slyly. "You never did offer your name, so I thought I'd make one up for you." She looked down guiltily. "Besides, I think it suits you. Hecate is the Goddess of crossroads, magic and witchcraft, among other things. An apt comparison for a witch, I'd say."

His daughter glanced up. "I'm sorry. I guess I forgot with all this talk of magic and wizardry. My name is Brie. Brie Cassiopeia Schwartz."

Fiona followed Black tradition and … wait. Sirius blinked. Schwartz meant black in German didn't it? Why the hell-? "You didn't take your parents' name?" His voice was a little high on the end but she didn't seem to notice. She shrugged one shoulder, eyes back on the wand in her hand.

"I didn't know any different until the funeral and Aunt Tabitha didn't like it when I asked." His daughter hesitated slightly. "The day she left, my mother said she didn't like her name for me and gave me a better one."

Sirius's fist clenched. "Your mother left?"

Brie ran a careful thumb along the runes etched in the wand's length. "After the funeral, Ma rushed and got us packed up. She left me at my Aunt Tabitha's house with a kiss on the forehead. Said she had to go away and couldn't take care of me but I would be safe here." Brie tucked her right leg under herself and leaned back still looking down. "I didn't hear from or see her again until a year ago. She was with some man and when I ran up to her…"

Brie gave a carefree shrug and smiled at him. It was so well practiced that only the subtle flux of her magic gave him any indication that she was upset. "Ah. It doesn't matter. She's gone is all. I guess she didn't know what to do with me after DD died."

Grey eyes closed briefly as Sirius listened to her talk. DD was an odd name to call your father. He'd have to ask her about that sometime, but her location in this place bothered him. Something must have happened to Fiona for her to leave her daughter anywhere for an extended period of time. While at first fearful of having a kid, Fiona practically glowed with excitement by her second trimester. She loved that girl more than she loved herself, so to put her with her squib half-sister, something must have been wrong.

Sirius opened his eyes and the identical hues met. He couldn't see why Fiona would pretend she didn't know the girl if he was reading the situation correctly. Maybe he needed to speak with her. Sirius frowned softly as the letter that started everything flashed back to mind.

If Fi isn't with her, then I fear the situation has degraded for the worst. Don't confront her, cousin. Just promise to carry out my last wish, although I doubt you would be very disinclined to. There's someone I've been meaning to introduce you to, but with the war going on, well you know how it is.

I'm stalling I suppose. You have a daughter, Sirius: Brie. She's turning two this year. I know it was wrong of us to keep her from you, but Fi hadn't thought you wanted a child. She didn't think you'd be serious about it, pardon the pun, and… well... you know me. I've always wanted kids, cousin.

He'd been two parts furious, two parts shell-shocked that he had offspring, but more than anything, he wanted to see her. From the date at the head of the letter, three years had passed when he received it in Azkaban. Sirius had no idea how Shacklebolt had found the letter or what prompted the act. Darius must have wanted to tell him just before the Potter's entered hiding. Miserable timing, that.

Looking at Brie now, he didn't want to imagine not ever knowing her.

The man smiled genuinely and wiped away the depressing thoughts. Here he was moping about the wrongs done to him when a little girl needed cheering up. "Well, Hecate, it seems you and I have a lot in common. Both our mothers weren't what we needed them to be, but that's part of the reason why I'm here." Her eyes grew cautious again and Sirius felt his chest ache. No kid should be that suspicious. "I'd like to take you home with me."

"To do what?"

Dark brows scrunched. What an odd way to phrase it. "To live, laugh, grow up. I want to take care of you."

Brie held his wand to her chest and belatedly, he realized she had curled herself into a crouch on the seat, like she was ready and waiting to flee. "I don't understand. None of the other girls said it'd be like this."

"Be like what?" Sirius asked cautiously.

"When they were sold." Brie answered warily.

Sirius saw red. "Sold! Like house elves?!"

"Elves?"

Sirius didn't hear her but he did notice her flinch away when he shot to his feet. "Argh, that wanker. Selling kids like-" Sirius snarled a string of curses that the little girl blinked impressively at. "What the hell was Tabitha thinking bringing you here?"

"She couldn't find work anywhere else." Brie said defensively. "And I've learned a lot being here. I can cook and clean and sew. I'd be a good worker until I could buy myself out." Sirius stared at her in disgust.

"I should string that muggle bastard up by his balls for even thinking of doing that to my-" He cut himself off consciously and made an effort to breath. "I'm not here to buy you like some child slave! I meant adopt."

"You want to adopt me." Brie whispered softly, drawing Sirius's ire from him like a vacuum. Merlin, he couldn't have found her sooner. Sold- The Black Marauder ruffled his hair and slowly dropped into a crouch. He mustn't think of that now.

"Yes. I owe it to you and your parents." Suddenly, the man looked increasingly uncomfortable. "That is if you wanted to come with me. I won't force you." He grimaced slightly before his eyes hardened in resolve. "I know it's hard to trust strangers but I swear by my magic that I would do anything to make you happy and keep you safe." Brie shuddered at the swirl of energy that roared in the air between then in the wake of his words.

"What was that?!"

He smiled indulgently. "That, Hecate, was a magical oath. Should I break it, I'd lose my magic and become a muggle. It's a fate worse than death in the Wizarding world." He hoped she would understand the significance.

"You did that, just because I don't-" He heard the words she wouldn't speak. Because I don't trust you. She wrapped her hands around herself. "Why would you do that?"

Because you're mine and I couldn't love you more if I tried. "Because I care and because you deserve better than this."

The little girl looked away from his earnest eyes. "You don't know me. Weird things happen all the time and sometimes people get hurt without my meaning to. I'm odd. I'm-"

She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder. "Remember when I said I was going to introduce you to the wizarding world?" He waited until she turned to him before continuing. "Well here's a bit more to that introduction. These weird things happen because you're a witch just like I'm a wizard. Magic runs in your veins and you don't know how to control it yet so it bursts out when you're scared, angry or excited." He chuckled. "I remember turning my cousin's cat lime green when she made me mad one day." His smile was tender as she peaked up at him in wonder. "Look, Brie, I may not know you yet, love, but it'd mean a lot to me if I could."

He waited inwardly agonizing over the potential refusal but outwardly as calm and patient as Albus during one of McGonagall's rants. She was quiet for a very long time, so long in fact that Sirius felt his palms sweating in nervousness. He hadn't felt this bad since showing up on the Potter's steps with nothing to his name but his school trunk. Brie looked up at him and he felt her weighing eyes judge the very fiber of his being. Sirius wondered if he could perform a look like that. She held his gaze for what felt like a lifetime before a soft smile curled the edge of her lip.

"Ok." Sirius blinked like he misheard. "If you still want to adopt me I mean." She responded quickly looking away when he merely stared at her in incomprehension. Then-

"Whoop!" Sirius snatched the girl into his arms and spun in circles cheering about how awesome he was going to be and how he couldn't wait to show her the house. Brie found her initial death grip on his arms loosening as laughter spilled from her lips at his antics. He twirled once more before planting her gently on her feet and grinning like a fool as she laughed with him. "Let's get your things, Hecate." Brie's smile didn't dim in the slightest as she responded,

"I don't have anything really. The others can have my clothes and I grew out of the clothes Ma packed. I travel lightly," She added with a grin, oblivious to the reminder of the poor conditions she'd lived in while Sirius was trying to get his life back together.

"How are things here, Brie?" Sirius asked nonchalantly as he tugged his wand gently from her grip. She released it easily although her smile darkened a little.

"It's better than the other places around here, especially with Bennett keeping his hands-" Brie stopped at the black look in the man's eyes and went for another tact as she fisted her hand on his pants leg. "The people here, they don't have anywhere else to go and Master Jefferson is better than the others. It's his son who's foul. Don't… don't hurt them."

Sirius was quiet for a long while before placing his hand on the small girl's head. He couldn't promise her that. "I won't hurt your friends, Brie. But this place is changing, today. Stay here." He smiled and Brie wondered why it made her feel odd. She also noticed he said he wouldn't hurt her friends. No promises were made for anyone else. "I'll be back in five minutes. I swear." The little girl hesitated before nodding and letting go of his leg.

Just as she felt like heading out after him, Sirius appeared back in the doorway. Her hair stood on end at the strange energy in the air but he seemed calm and his eyes landed on her and softened immediately. "Ready to go?"

Brie hesitated, a small desire bubbled up to say farewell to her friends but the skittish look and fearful eyes they sent her made her smother the desire. She wasn't wanted here, but-

The light grey eyes looked up and met the man's whose own were curiously similar to her own.

She felt she would be with him.

(A/N): Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

I'll have the next chapter out next week to make up for the wait. Maybe sooner if I can crank it out.

Trip to the bank for the Black family next chapter.

~Yasha's Sis