Sirius dismounted Tracie and stumbled as his feet hit the ground. Adrenaline was rushing through his body and he felt a bit disoriented as he came back to earth. The ride had been awesome. Better than awesome. It was the most fantastic thing he had ever ridden. Broomsticks were all right, but nothing could compare to the power of the horse. He led the surprisingly tame Abraxan into the stable and took off the bridle and saddle and led the horse back into its stall by its harness. He had been back to the McGuire ranch five times to ride Tracie since his first visit, and he still couldn't get enough of the adrenaline rush.

"That was a wicked ride," he heard Bridget say as she began to rub down Merlin. "Perfect weather conditions. And you are getting way better at handling Tracie."

"It was wicked, wasn't it?" After the "Wicked Witch of Ellesmere" episode, 'wicked' had quickly become their new favourite word. Sirius scooped grain into Tracie's feeder, making sure to add the special plant that made the Abraxans more obedient than others of the same breed.

After learning of Sirius' love for riding, Adam had invited Sirius back to the ranch multiple times to go on "trail" rides with him and Bridget. The three wandered all around Ellesmere Range, being careful to avoid dragons whenever possible. But on some days, Adam would take Bridget and Sirius with him to go check on the dragon eggs or some other fairly danger free task. He would teach them about the different breeds of dragons on the ranch and tell them the best way to cure a wound or scale rot.

Mr. McGuire had noticed Sirius' frequent visits to the ranch also, and he and Sirius had formed an odd sort of acquaintance. Therefore, it hadn't been much of a shock when one day, Bridget's father told her that the Blacks were coming over for dinner.

Bridget fainted anyway.


Sirius tugged once more at his tight, uncomfortable collar before Walburga smacked him on the back of the head. He spared her a scowl before concentrating on the task ahead of him: getting through this dinner without getting killed, or worse, coming out of it alive with Bridget absolutely hating him. Either way, the future looked grim.

The family had side-along Apparated to the huge front doors and Orion had just grasped the dragon-shaped knocker and knocked three times. Mr. McGuire opened the door and greeted them warmly.

"Please, do come in," he invited. A house-elf appeared to take their coats and shut the door firmly behind them. "Fiona and the family are in the sitting room, right this way." They followed Gus to a rather large sitting room located to the right of the main entrance and as they entered, the entire McGuire family stood to greet them.

"Orion, Walburga, I would like you to meet my eldest son, Adam." Adam stood shook Mr. Black's hand firmly and kissed Walburga's hand lightly before sitting back down.

"And this is my daughter, Bridget." Mr. McGuire ushered Bridget towards them.

"Nice to meet you, sir," Bridget said through gritted teeth. She bowed her head as she said, "And you, ma'am."

"Charming child," Walburga remarked to Fiona, who gave a curt nod.

Walburga turned back to Bridget. "You are verylovely young lady," she told her.

"Thank you," Bridget said crisply and sat back down.

"I would also like to introduce my three stepdaughters: Adele, Ninette and Chardonnay."

All three dipped a quick curtsey and sat back down.

"And finally, my wife, Fiona." Fiona stepped forward and held her hand out for Orion to kiss and bumped cheekbones with Walburga.

"I love your robes," she gushed as she sat down. "Wherever did you find them?"

While they started chatting amicably, Gus got up and started making drinks for Adam and Orion. Bridget, Sirius, Regulus, Adele, Ninette, and Chardonnay were left sitting there in uncomfortable silence on the sofa. After a while, Adele sighed and finally rose to go to the bar to join in on the business chatter.

"How long do we have to sit here?" Sirius muttered under his breath to Bridget.

"Until dinner is served," Bridget whispered back. Sirius could smell sickly perfume on her knee-length white lace dress as he leaned toward her to hear.

"So how long have you and Bridget been friends, Sirius?" Walburga smiled, her teeth were pointy and slightly yellowed and gave Sirius the shivers.

"Since the first day of school," he said dully.

"Really?" Walburga looked more interested than Sirius cared for her to be.

"Yes," Sirius replied, firmly.

"Oh." That was all she said. She took another sip of her martini and turned her conversation with Fiona back towards the latest fashions. Occasionally, Sirius would catch her watching him and Bridget like she was appraising an outfit or a new antique. Her lips would purse and her eyes would narrow almost suspiciously.

When Elsie the house-elf came in to announce that dinner was served, Sirius nearly died with relief. His stomach was growling uncomfortably and he was growing nervous under his mother's watchful eye. Except as he walked towards the dining hall with Bridget, he happened to catch Walburga and Fiona whispering together also, and both of them were carefully watching the two of them. The two mothers plotting something could mean nothing good. He swallowed nervously before entering the dining hall. The house-elf invited them to find a seat, and he automatically sat down at the table next to Bridget.

"Sirius, your name card is over here, next to mine," Adele informed him. All of a sudden, it seemed that every adult eye at the table was on him. Even Adam and Chardonnay were staring at him.

"Oh, sorry. I'll just–" He made to get up, but Fiona pushed him back down.

"No, you can sit by Bridget. I'll go sit next to Adele." Sirius watched as Adam leaned sideways to whisper to Orion, who nodded with a satisfied grin on his face.

Dinner was a tortuous affair. The food was phenomenal, but he couldn't say a word to Bridget without the fact that he had spoken to her being acknowledged by the entire table. It was enough to make the normally rambunctious Sirius want to crawl into a hole and stay there.

Thankfully, the time could only drag on for so long and after the dessert plates had cleared, Adam, Mr. McGuire and Mr. Black adjourned to the study to presumably smoke cigars and drink brandy or whatever they did in there while Mrs. Black and Fiona went down to the wine cellar/tasting room to have some after dinner "tea." The three stepsisters took pity on Regulus and invited him to join them in the family room to play wizard chess, so Bridget and Sirius were free to roam around the castle as they wished. Once out of sight of his parents, Sirius yanked off his dinner jacket, bowtie and left them hanging on a bust in the third floor corridor. After unbuttoning his collar he stretched out his arms and yawned, "That's much better."

Bridget laughed as she sat down on the floor and unbuckled her too-small white patent leather shoes that Fiona had called "Mary-sues" or something weird like that. She tossed the shoes over her shoulder and they headed down the hallway lazily, not really caring where they were going. They turned the corner and started down another hallway, when a sickly sweet smell slowed them down. Bridget took three deep sniffs, but she still couldn't identify the scent.

"I'm tired, Sirius," Bridget muttered as she swayed dizzily.

"You too?" Sirius asked as he leaned against the wall to steady himself.

"Yeah…" Bridget murmured. Sirius could barely hear her now. He watched, seemingly unattached, as Bridget slid to the floor.

'Don't fall asleep,' the voice in his head told him. He focused on Bridget's dress. It was pretty. It was white lace over a sheer fabric. It hung down to her knees… There was a small, plain black bow in the front. Sirius blinked a few times, the dress went in and out of his vision… then he passed out.

Meanwhile…

"I have a proposition for you, Gus," Orion Black began. He took a small sip of Firewhisky from the glass in front of him before continuing.

"It looks like your little girl and my boy seem to have formed an attachment to each other."

'True. Bridget is very fond of Sirius. We all are," Gus McGuire conceded.

"Let's play that to our advantage." Orion leaned forward in his chair and braced his elbows on his knees.

"Our advantage?" Adam queried, slightly amused.

"Yes, our advantage." Orion confirmed. "The Black family has long allied itself with the best and the most powerful pure-blooded families for centuries. You already have your heir," he motioned to Adam. "But have you thought about your daughter's future at all? Bridget's inheritance will be naught but pennies when you pass your estate on to Adam. And I am sure, that Adam would continue looking out for Bridget an providing for her, but wouldn't you prefer a more stable future for your daughter?"

"I'm listening." Gus put down his drink and gave the man in the armchair opposite of him his full attention.

"My son, my Sirius, can give her that future." Orion leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Think about it. As the heir to the entire Black fortune, Sirius has the means to provide for Bridget and their children without either of them ever having to lift a finger." He slapped the side table with the flat of his hand. "I say, why not form a betrothal between Sirius and Bridget?"

Adam looked disgusted.

"She's eleven for god's sake! Is this really the modern way of settling things, gentlemen?"

Gus however, was slowly nodding his head in agreement with Orion. "You are right: I have not thought of Bridget's future all that often. She will inherit a small fortune from her mother's side of the family when she comes of age and when I die she is entrusted with a measly allowance of five hundred Galleons a year, but that's it. That's not nearly enough to allow her to live her life the way she has become accustomed to. Not to mention the benefits that come from an alliance with the most noble house of Black." He inclined his head towards Orion. "Besides, when I married your mother, I barely knew her at all. It was an arranged over-seas marriage and we had scarcely a hope in hell of ever finding happiness with each other, yet your mother was and is the only woman I have ever loved. Sirius and Bridget will surely grow to love each other. What is friendship, if not love?"

"The child has virtually nothing to lose. She and Sirius have already formed a lasting friendship as we all can see. The two are nearly as inseparable as James and Sirius are! When Sirius comes of age, he will surely appreciate this, and Bridget will too. Without doubt they will prefer being married to each other, than some stranger who they've barely met!" Orion exclaimed.

"Then let's write up a contract then, eh!?" Mr. McGuire roared happily.

Adam was still in shock. "What if she falls in love with someone else?"

Orion shrugged. "I highly doubt it; Sirius is a rather handsome boy."

"Attraction has nothing to do with it. I ask you: what if she falls in love with someone else?" Adam demanded.

"Then let her have a lover! It does not really matter! Do you think that I have remained faithful to that creature that I married for all these years? I should say not! But she has born my children without complaint and as long as she is secretive about her lovers, I have no reason to worry or complain." Orion scoffed.

Adam lowered his head in defeat. "Fine. Father, I will not try to dissuade you from signing away her freedom, but let me name her as my heir."

Gus' eyebrows rose. "Are you serious about this, Adam?"

"Yes, I am. You may not believe me when I say that I will look after my little sister when you're gone, but I love Bridget and if something goes wrong with this marriage I want her to provided for." Adam said firmly.

"What do you mean, 'something goes wrong?'" Orion asked warily.

"Well, what if, I don't know – Sirius dies. Or he runs away to protest the marriage. Or what if you disown him? Will they still be forced together even when you claim that Sirius is no longer part of the Black family? These are things to think about."

Orion leaned back in his chair and stroked his goatee with his fingers. "I see your point. Bridget is fortunate to have such a dedicated and loving brother like you. How about this? I will legally bind Sirius to the Black family fortune via this marriage contract. If he runs away or if he is disowned, he is still the heir to the entire Black fortune. If he dies, Bridget takes his place as the main benefactor. Does that sound fair to you?"

"You have a deal, Orion." Both men stood up to shake hands.

"Marvellous. I'll have my lawyer send the papers over tomorrow morning for you to look them over. After that, how about we meet for lunch and we'll smooth things over with the lawyers?"

"I look forward to it."


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