Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I don't make money from this fic.
September 13, 1981 Rye, England - Black Cottage
Regulus sat at the dinner table, stuffing his face and laughing at Sirius's horrible jokes. It'd been a little over a month since the fall of the Dark Lord, and while life hadn't exactly gotten back to normal yet, Sirius held to his promise that they were going to be a real family again. They'd had family dinners every Sunday for over a month, and Regulus was just happy to have his brother back.
The aftermath of the battle had been a rough experience. He'd been helping Sirius and the rest of the Order round up the Death Eaters that remained on the loose, with the help of Severus. Moody had even offered him a job as an Auror, which he accepted. He was surprised at how easily he'd been accepted, but then he supposed Dumbledore had had a hand in that. He had been feeding the Order information for close to five years.
The battleground cleanup had done a number on him, though. People he went to school with, had been friends with for years, had died or been gravely wounded. He wasn't sure he'd ever be the same after that. Hermione, and the other Healers called to the scene, had done all they could to save as many lives as possible. But there were many they could do nothing for.
Regulus was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Harry giggling. Lily, James, and Remus were always round for Sunday dinners, of course; Harry had his own high chair at the cottage and everything. Regulus looked up and saw Sirius feeding him a bit of mushed up carrot while making flying noises. He smiled at the sight.
"You know, you're gonna be a great dad someday." Regulus said, meeting Sirius's eye. He grinned ear to ear.
"Actually, about that-" He said, leaning over to take Hermione's hand. "We have some news."
"I'm pregnant." Hermione said, beaming at Regulus, then Lily, James, and Remus in turn,
"About damn time." James said, his grin matching Sirius's.
"I'm going to be an uncle?" Regulus asked, a slow smile creeping across his face.
"The best damn uncle this family's ever seen." Sirius said with a grin.
"I think I'd make a pretty good uncle, you know." James said, pouting.
"Of course you will. And I already know how Uncle Moony is." Sirius said, with a grin. The two men beamed back at him. Regulus knew they'd been like brothers since first year. He was just glad he was finally included in that again.
"Have you given the name any thought?" Regulus asked. "Are you going to stick with tradition, or-?"
"We've talked about it." Hermione said. "Back when no one knew I wasn't from this time, I made up a story about my would-be parents. That they'd named be Hermione after the Shakespearean character, because both of their names were also Shakespearean characters and they wanted to start their own tradition. Well, I think it's about time we begin our own tradition. We both love Shakespeare, so we think it's fitting." She said.
"I love that idea." Regulus said. "I agree. It's time to bring the House of Black into the modern age." He said.
"Are you worried about backlash from Mum?" Sirius asked.
"She's going to be pissed, but fuck her." Regulus said. "I'm still upset with her for ruining your wedding, and blasting you off the tapestry in the first place. I think she's finally gotten it through her thick skull that I'm not the little puppet she raised."
"Good." Hermione said. "I do worry about you sometimes, though. Cooped up in the house with her all the time."
"She'll get over it." He said, with a grin. "Like it or not, both of the Black boys are Aurors now. If that's not something to be proud of, I don't know what is."
"Don't let her in on the baby, yeah? I'd prefer to avoid cursed baby blankets." Sirius asked.
"As counter-intuitive as it seems, I'd tell her about it yourself. You are still her son. Hearing about it second hand is just gonna make things worse." He said.
"You're probably right." Sirius said. "I guess it's time to be a family again, for real." He sighed.
Regulus smiled, sitting back in his chair. Peace was settling over the Black family for the first time in years.
September 1, 1993 London, England - Platform 9 ¾
Hermione held her son's hand as Sirius pushed their daughter's cart towards the train. Celia Black was a scrawny girl with a mop of curly, jet-black hair and chocolate brown eyes, and it was finally her first year of Hogwarts. Hermione knew Sirius was having a hard time letting his baby leave the nest for the first time, and if she was honest, it was why she was holding on to Regan's hand so tightly; she didn't want to let him go.
"Mum, can we go say bye to Harry? I see Uncle Prongs and Aunt Lily right over there!" Hermione glanced over to where Regan was pointing and smiled as she saw her two friends.
"Go straight to Uncle Prongs, okay, Reggie? I'm going to see your sister off. Merlin knows your father will be in tears by the end of it." Hermione said. He nodded, running off to give his aunt a hug. Hermione waved as Lily nodded, knowing that Hermione was stressing over sending her first child to school.
Hermione made her way over to where Sirius was loading Celia's trunk on the train, giving her daughter a side hug to show her support.
"You'll write, won't you Mum?" Celia asked quietly.
"Of course, love. As often as you want." She said, looking her over.
"How will I write to you? I don't have an owl." She said, petting her cat, Beatrice, who was perched atop the cart as though she owned it.
"I'm sure Harry will let you use Hedwig if you ask him. If she's gone, you can always use one of the school owls." Hermione said.
"What if-" Celia started, but then she turned away.
"What is it, love?" Sirius asked, turning and kneeling down to look into her face, lifting her chin with one hand.
"What if I'm not a Gryffindor? What if I go into some other house, and Harry and I never see each other because of it? What if I'm a Slytherin and Harry hates me!" She said, looking close to tears.
"Sweetheart, calm down." Sirius said with a knowing smile. "Harry isn't going to hate you if you're not a Gryffindor. Want to know how I know?" he asked. She nodded. "Your Uncle Regulus was a Slytherin. In fact, my whole family was, until me. When I got to school, I was Sorted Gryffindor. I was pretty upset about it for the first year or so, especially when Reg came along and Sorted Slytherin. I thought he hated me on principal, that's what I was lead to believe. It wasn't until my sixth year until Reg and I talked again, with your mother's help, and he told me he didn't hate me for being a Gryffindor. He didn't hate me at all, in fact. He missed me."
"Then why didn't you two talk about it?" She asked.
"Because there was a stigma against talking to people from other houses. And I was a 'disgrace to the Noble House of Black' for being who I was." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Celia, I want you to be who you are, no matter what that looks like. I don't care if you're a Hufflepuff, and I'll let you in on a secret, Harry's the same way. He's his father's child through and through. You're family, and nothing can change that."
"Are you sure, Dad?" Celia asked. Sirius looked up at Hermione, who grinned. She looked over her shoulder, finding Harry talking to Lily
"Harry?" She called, and he looked up at her. She waved him over and he hurried over.
"Hey, Aunt 'Mione. There's my favorite trouble maker. I was wondering where you were, Ceels."
"Harry, Celia's worried about school. She's worried that if she's not in Gryffindor, you'll hate her." Sirius said, looking up at the boy who looked so like his father.
"What? Celia, I could never hate you! You're family." He said.
"You mean it?" She asked. Looking up at him.
"I swear it." He said, with a smile. "Come on, you can ride with me and Ron on the way."
"Watch out for her, Harry." Sirius said, standing and clapping Harry on the back as Celia picked up Beatrice, hugging him and Hermione one last time.
"Of course, Uncle Padfoot." Harry grinned, putting a hand on her shoulder. "That's what family's for."
Hermione and Sirius pushed the cart back to where Lily and James stood with Regan, waving to Harry and Celia. Hermione leaned into Sirius for support, fighting off tears. James clapped Sirius on the back.
"She'll be alright, Pads. Harry'll look out for her. He's convinced she'll be Sorted Slytherin, you know." He said, smiling.
"I'm almost positive she will be." Sirius said. "She's just like Regulus. Absolutely brilliant, but she can be the sneakiest thing when she wants to."
"He'll still be there." Lily told him. "He told us as much himself."
"He's the best of you both, you know?" Sirius said, smiling.
"I'd say the same about your two. What do ya say, Reg, how about we head over to Florean Fortescue's for some ice cream once the train leaves?"
"Yeah! Mum, Dad, can we?" He asked, excitedly. Hermione gave James a knowing smile; he'd done the same when Celia had wanted to see Harry off his first year.
"Of course we can." She said. The Hogwarts Express whistle sounded and all five of them shouted and waved at Celia and Harry as it slowly pulled away from the station.
Harry was off on another adventure, but this time, Hermione knew, he'd be safe, wherever he found himself. They all were.
A/N: And so ends another story, my most successful to date. Thank you to everyone who stuck around this long, thanks to everyone who supported this story, and a HUGE shout out to ohnobetty, my beta reader, for sticking with me for months with this story. Now that you're done reading this, you should go check out Albus & The Wolf, her story, which is amazing! I love you all, and I hope to see you all again real soon with a new story!
Edit: In response to several reviews, I just wanted to clear something up. Way back when they were still in school, Dumbledore told Hermione that she exists outside of time. What that means is that when the hourglass fell on her head, she stopped existing anywhere in the timeline for a brief moment before she was deposited in 1976. Her parents never had her, she technically doesn't exist. There is only one Hermione in the timeline, and it's altered from '76 forward to include her.