Chapter 16

September 1st, 1990- Platform 9 ¾, King's Cross Station, London, England

Sirius Black was drawing a lot of attention on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. It could have been the fact that he was there in the first place, or it could have been the fact that he was accompanying a redheaded girl with more than a passing resemblance to him.

"Patricia?" Noe asked with surprise when she collided with the girl. Patricia smiled at her roommate.

"Good morning! It's great to see you."

"You look different. Did you do something with your hair?" Patricia tilted her head.

"No, I don't think so. I'm going to go find a compartment. I'll see you on the train?"

"I'll find you."

Noe hurried after her parents while Patricia and Sirius weaved towards the train. Patricia didn't need as much help with her trunk this year thanks to a summer growth spurt so they were quickly able to get it on the train and into a compartment where Lee, Violet, and Grace were already settled.

As usual, the Weasleys were running late.

"Bye, Papa," Patricia said. Sirius ruffled her hair.

"See you in four months, Pup." Patricia stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to the compartment as he left the train. Her friends, who had been watching the entire display with rapt attention, blinked almost in unison and let loose with a flood of questions. Benvolio hooted shrilly and they all went silent.

"I'll tell you when Noe and the twins get here," Patricia said. "Assuming Fred and George don't miss the train."

Fred and George squeezed into the compartment a few minutes after Noe, just before the train was set to leave. "Cutting it close again?" Patricia asked. The twins nodded.

"Charlie forgot his broom—"

"—and Percy switched his charms textbook with Bill's old one." Grace raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure that wasn't you?"

"It wasn't us—"

"—promise."

"We don't want to risk the wrath of you Ravenclaws."

The seven of them bumped into each other as the train started moving. There was a brief scuffle before everyone was in a seat. They were packed in like sardines and questioning the wisdom of trying to fit in one compartment.

"So," Grace said to Patricia after moving closer to the window so that Violet's elbow wasn't digging into her ribs, "what's this big announcement you have to make?"

"Sirius Black adopted me."

"What!" the other six shouted. "What?" Violet asked. "How did that happen?"

"Well…"

August 20th, 1990- Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, England

"Time's up!" Sirius cheered. It had been forty-eight hours since he'd submitted the adoption paperwork to the Ministry and, by their rules, as the head of an Ancient and Noble House they could no longer stop him from proceeding.

The Ministry of Magic had a lot of stupid rules like that for the benefit of the magical elite. It felt good to use one of them against them.

Remus smiled shakily. "Good thing we've got the room all ready. I didn't expect Kreacher to be so much help."

"He has changed, hasn't he? Who knew acting Slytherin was all I needed for him to actually like me?"

"Not me." Remus tapped the surface of his porridge with the back of his spoon. It made an interesting plopping noise. Sirius grabbed his wrist.

"Remus, what's wrong? I'm not taking her away from you; we're doing this so she can't be taken away." Remus sighed.

"I know, I know. I'm…just jealous I suppose. I could adopt her in the Muggle world, but here I'd never be able to just because I'm a werewolf. Someone like Greyback should never be allowed to have kids, but not all werewolves are like him." Sirius nodded slowly.

"I know who you are, Remus, and you are an amazing dad, furry little problem or not. If the Ministry can't see that then they're bigger idiots than I am." Remus laughed and Sirius gave a thankful smile. Remus in a funk was not his favourite Remus to deal with, only slightly above full moon Remus.

"The girls are in the library." That room had thankfully been magically sealed so they hadn't had to do any cleaning. Merlin knows what would have been growing in there otherwise. "We can get ready for the ritual after you finish your breakfast." Remus blushed and quickly dug into his full bowl of porridge.

12 Grimmauld Place, unlike the pureblood manors out in the country, had a special room for performing rituals in. This was because many magical rituals had to take place outdoors but, being in the middle of London, the Black family didn't have that option unless they wanted to work in the tiny backyard. So some family member had come up with the idea of bringing the outside in, so to speak. The ritual room was an empty meadow with a slab of slate serving as part of the ground. It was magically disconnected from the rest of the building so that any explosions or backlash wouldn't destroy the entire house.

Bathsheda had burnt a circle of runes into the grass with Krecher's help while Remus cut the jardarmen, a strip of turf attached to the ground at both ends that would be held up in the middle by Bathsheda's staff, across the circle. They had started when Sirius went to submit the documents and finished the night before.

Sirius and Patricia stood on opposite sides of the jardarmen inside the circle of runes that had started to glow white as soon as Bathsheda propped up the turf with her staff. The shard of quartz encased in the cage of maple at the top of the staff pulsed with the same white light. Patricia's face was pale. She looked over at Remus, who nodded encouragingly from his place outside the circle.

After the runes were charged, Bathsheda began.

"I call the ancestors of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black as witness, I call the ancestors of House Stimpson as witness." The circle's runes changed colour. On Sirius's side they became a smoky grey and behind Patricia they alternated blue and green. Ghostly figures rose from several runes on each side, watching silently. Bathsheda forced back tears when she saw Patricia's parents standing behind her.

"Welcome, House Black, Patricia Stimpson, to be daughter in blood of thy son Sirius Orion Black. Welcome, House Stimpson, Sirius Orion Black, to be father in blood of thy daughter, Patricia Stimpson." Patricia and Sirius bowed to the ancestors opposite them. The Stefanov/Floros/Stimpson ancestors bowed back and, surprisingly, so did the Black ancestors. Apparently the ritual called up only the sane, non-bigoted ancestors. It was nice to know that the Black family had some.

When Sirius and Patricia had straightened up out of their bows, Bathsheda handed Sirius, hilt first, the iron dagger that had been in the Black family for generations. He drew it across his palm before handing it to Patricia, who looked at the blade for a moment before copying his motions. She bit her lip but didn't cry out. Blood dripped to the bare earth under the jardarmen as they clasped their hands together.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, claim thee, Patricia Stimpson, as my daughter. Thou shall be blood of my blood and a true daughter of the House of Black."

"I, Patricia Stimpson, accept thee, Sirius Orion Black, as my father. I shall be blood of thy blood and a true daughter of the House of Black." As Patricia spoke the last word she felt the cut on her palm healing. Bathsheda took the dagger that she was still holding and touched each of her shoulders with the flat of the blade.

"Thou art now Patricia Adhara Stimpson-Black. Let there be blessings upon the joining of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and House Stimpson."

"So mote it be," Sirius and Patricia said in unison.

Bathsheda took her staff out from under the strip of turf, which she let fall to the ground. The ancestors disappeared in a flash of white light, taking the runes with them and leaving the grass whole and unburnt. Bathsheda swayed slightly as the circle broke, but Sirius grabbed her arm and helped her to stay upright. "Methinks the lady needs a rest."

"It should be 'The lady needs a rest, methinks'," Patricia corrected. Remus laughed at the look on Sirius's face.

"You're going to need to read Shakespeare if you want to keep up with your daughter, Black," Bathsheda said with a tired smile.

"Only after I read all the letters we'll be getting from the Ministry," Sirius decided. "Bet you there'll be at least two today, Remus."

"Three, plus two from Gringotts."

"Deal." Bathsheda rolled her eyes.

"Men."

September 1st, 1990- Travelling on the Hogwarts Express

"Why didn't you write to tell us?" Grace demanded after Patricia had finished telling them about the blood adoption ritual.

"Papa wanted me to keep it a secret. He thought it would be a good prank, especially since the Ministry doesn't seem to know about it yet." Wide grins started creeping over Fred and George's faces.

"That-"

"-may be-"

"-the greatest start-of-year prank-"

"-ever!"

"I wouldn't go that far," Lee said. "Last year's merboy prank was pretty good."

"That was you?" Grace and Violet asked. "Why are we surprised?" Grace added. The twins shrugged.

"It was really-"

"-Patty's prank."

"Don't call me Patty."

"It's less of a mouthful than Patricia Adhara Stimpson-Black," Fred said, twisting his face comically as he said the name. "Is that even English?" Patricia stuck her tongue out at him.

"Noe, could you slap Fred for me please?"

"I don't think so. I could elbow him."

"That'll do." Fred yelped as the tiny girl dug her elbow into his ribs.

"So you look different because it was a blood adoption," Violet concluded. Patricia nodded. She had screamed the first time she saw herself in a mirror, and nearly given Kreacher a heart attack. The childish roundness that her face had been holding onto had been replaced by the Black family's defined cheekbones, and her eyes had darkened noticeably.

"And now I'm related to these two." Patricia jerked her head towards Fred and George. Her roommates groaned.

"The pranks are going to be even worse this year," Violet predicted. "Do you think we'll get enough homework to back out?"

"Maybe," Grace said. "And we've still got our patronuses to work on."

"Bet you animagus lessons take longer," Lee said. "We're meeting McGonagall twice a week."

"We're going to practice every night," Grace countered.

"I have to do both," Patricia said.

Their compartment was silent for a moment. Benvolio hooted. Then Grace said, "You win." She tossed Patricia one of the Cholate Frogs that she had bought when the trolley came around. "So, is anyone else trying out for Quidditch this year?" Three answers in the affirmative turned their conversation into a friendly argument about which of their teams was better that lasted until they were twenty minutes away from Hogwarts and had to turn their attention to how they were going to get their robes on without anyone getting elbowed in the face.

They were only second years. The compartment really shouldn't have been that crowded.