12. The Star of Isis

Jade had never attended a wizard infant's naming ceremony. According to tradition, this was to be conducted on the seventh night after the birth, and served to invoke benediction and protection over the new baby, and to name the child's guardians. It would take place at the gothic chapel on the edge of Hogsmeade village. Jade had also never considered the complications involved in magically transporting a baby. She could not risk taking a Muggle bus or train. Apparition, portkeys and floo powder were all too dangerous, and even contemplating travelling on the Knight Bus seemed an invitation to disaster. Through connections at the Ministry, Kingsley had arranged to borrow a car.

He and Arthur bickered companionably over maps and gear changing protocol. 'Change up! Or is it down?' Arthur instructed, while Kingsley flicked his wand vaguely in the direction of the pedals. In the back of the car, Jade stared out of the window while Remus slept. Full moon had just passed, and he looked harrowed and deathly tired. James, strapped into a car seat Molly had unearthed at the Burrow, slept contentedly as the journey to Scotland slipped by with enchanted speed.

Mesmerised by the rain-swept countryside gliding past the window, Jade remembered her own journeys to Hogwarts, and thought of Sirius making the same journey, returning to Hogwarts with his friends and leaving that oppressive house behind him. Jade glanced at Remus, who had awoken, and was staring at the passing scenery, a far away expression in his eyes, as if he recalled a time of innocence...for the first time I had friends...unravaged by betrayal and loss. Pain stabbed Jade straight in the heart as she heard Sirius – the voice inside her head – saying, 'Moony never told us how painful it was for him...his scars only gave us the faintest idea...'

Nobody knew how hard it was for him to lose Sirius, and he always stood back in deference to Harry's grief and her own. Yet, Sirius had been in Harry's life for two years, and only those few short months in hers...Remus had lost his last lifelong friend. Harry had his friends, she had James, and Remus had – no one. She remembered the blended anguish and rage in his amber eyes as he raised the axe over Kreacher... Those eyes were still open, blue again, slightly bloodshot and burning in his drawn face as he gazed through the window. Jade opened her mouth to say something – to say sorry for being so blind, but there were no words. Nothing that could erase scars that deep.

James blinked his grey eyes and whimpered. Jade lifted him from his car seat, and arranged a blanket modestly over her shoulder whilst she nursed him. Remus's eyes were closed again – whether he slept or not Jade couldn't tell. He seemed so alone, withdrawn into impenetrable isolation. Slowly, inevitably, pain faded from Jade's mind as she cradled James, complete in the primal communion between mother and child.

Night was falling as they drove into Hogsmeade. The rain had cleared and stars glittered in the dusky sky. The headlights illuminated an ancient stone chapel surrounded by bare winter trees. Jade shivered as she stepped out of the car into the cold night. A chill wind fluttered at her robes, and whispered in the bare branches of the trees. Remus held the door while she lifted James from his car seat, and held him against her shoulder as she followed a rough pathway of stone slabs up to the heavy wooden doors of the chapel. The interior of the chapel was dimly lit by flickering candles and burning herbs smouldering on a stone altar at the front of the chapel. Jade, holding baby James, and Harry, stood beside Morgan, the mystical warlock who had conducted wizards' naming and wedding ceremonies as long as anyone could remember. James was swathed in a robe of deep blood red, to symbolise new life.

Jade surveyed the congregation as they assembled... Professor Dumbledore swept through the door, dressed in robes of midnight blue adorned with tiny silver stars. He took his place next to Professor McGonagall, whose expression was serious though a smile flickered in her eyes. Hagrid sat beside her in his best hairy brown suit. Alastor Moody scanned the room vigilantly from his place beside Kingsley, whose bald head gleamed ebony in the candlelight. Tonks's hair was shoulder length and sky blue that evening. She sat with Remus, regarding him with concern. His face looked tired and worn in the glinting candlelight.

Ron and Hermione sat together, their devotion to their friend plain in their solemn expressions. Ginny's intent face was curtained by burnished copper hair. Next to her was a round-faced boy who had to be Frank and Alice's son Neville and a girl with long blonde hair. Fred and George, resplendent in black dragon hide jackets, looked uncharacteristically serious. Molly and Arthur sat side by side, beaming fondly. Bill caught her eye and smiled. Jade was almost overwhelmed by the knowledge that they were all here to share in the benediction of her child, Sirius's legacy.

Smoke drifting from the burning herbs and the poignancy of the words brought stinging tears to Jade's eyes as Morgan pronounced the mystic benediction. 'Benedictum nomen James Sirius Magellan Black. Custon Jade Magellan et Harry Potter polliceri defende et custodi et guberna... Blessed be the name James Sirius Magellan Black. Custodians Jade Magellan and Harry Potter promise to defend, guard and guide...'

Morgan smiled suddenly, and light pierced his unfathomable eyes. 'Harry Potter...I remember your parents standing here on their wedding day, so young and so certain of their love for each other. I had never witnessed greater happiness...not until they stood before me again on your naming day. And their friend Sirius Black was beside them, sharing in the joy of their marriage, and their devotion to their son. He would have given his life for James and Lily, and for you, without an instant of regret.'

Jade bowed her head as her tears bled onto James's red robes. James stirred fretfully, a look of baby sadness on his petal face, as though he knew a part of both of them was missing. Jade saw Harry's jaw clenched as he struggled to hold back the emotion that threatened to overcome him. Sirius's voice was clear in her mind. They made me his godfather thinking they could trust me more than anyone in the world...

'James Sirius is named for two men of courage and integrity,' said Morgan slowly, with a contemplative smile, as though he visualised Harry's father and his godfather standing in front of him. 'Two true friends...and for a legend of resurrection and hope...' The warlock paused, visionary firelight flickering in his eyes...

'According to legend, Osiris, the ruler of ancient Egypt, was slain by his brother, Set, the prince of darkness. The goddess Isis, who loved Osiris deeply, bore his child after his death. Isis is symbolised in the heavenly realm by the Sirius Star, whose advance marks the Inundation of the Nile, the flooding of that great river over the dry desert plains, which betokens fertility and growth, the bringing forth of grains from the barren desert lands. In November each year, the ancient Egyptians enacted a ritual lamenting the death of Osiris, culminating in the creation of images of Osiris with grains of corn planted inside them, their growth symbolising resurrection, and new life rising from death.'

The chapel was so still Jade could almost hear the hissing flames, and melted wax dripping from the candles. After a long, profound silence, Dumbledore swept to the front of the chapel, to invoke the final benediction, a powerful charm of protection. He regarded the slumbering child in Jade's arms for a moment, his expression meditative. When he spoke his voice was low and quiet. 'There is an ancient magic so deep we cannot fully comprehend its ways, but we know it holds power over death and mortality. Sirius is with us every day as he lives through his child, and through his devotion to the ones he loved.' Dumbledore's crystal eyes rested in turn on James, Jade, Harry, and finally smiled as his gaze met Lupin's.

'Emittee spiritum Sirius Black ut digni efficamur promissionibus familia et amora et vitam aeternam...Send forth the spirit of Sirius Black, that we may be made worthy of the promises of love and family and life everlasting...' As Dumbledore raised his wand and pronounced the incantation, James's sleeping face was infused with a soft, golden light, and a pure note of Phoenix song echoed through the chapel. Jade's heart was filled with love and courage, and the conviction that she would live and die for the angel she held in her arms.

As she stepped out into the darkness, the weight of her baby tender and sweet in her arms, Jade looked above to see the Star of Isis bright in the black velvet sky, and for an instant it didn't seem to glimmer coldly a billion miles away, but burned warm and close and tangible. A refrain echoed through her thoughts...

Sweet child o' mine
Sweet love of mine

--Thanks to Madam Pince for the benedictions, and translation.