Ch.5
Finding a Father
By: Waterlili
Isabelle and Sirius stood outside of the solicitors office the next day at exactly noon. The rain that had refused to fall all week pounded down on they're heads. Sirius threw the door open and guided Isabelle inside. He preformed a quick drying charm on himself and her and they entered the semi-crowded office. The faces that stared back at them ran the gamut distraught and tear-streaked, angry, withdraw, staunch and stifling, even smug. Sirius guided Isabelle into a chair and stood behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders.
"We'll begin now." the gray and balding solicitor said in a high pitched nasally voice. He started reading pushing his small glasses back up his broad flat nose every so often.
Isabelle tuned him out. She didn't really care who bequeath what. She leaned her head back against Sirius' stomach and closed her eyes. She felt the room around her fall away as she concentrated on matching her breathing to the steady rise and fall of her godfather's. She sat up straight and listened to the nasally voice again when Sirius nudged her gently.
"In the matter of a child under the legal age." the solicitor coughed and pushed his glasses up again. He set the parchment on the desk and laced his flat fingers together, resting the on his overly round stomach. "In the matter of a child under the legal age, that's you Miss Wood, said child should be placed in the custody of her father , paternal grandparent's or godfather based on the laws of the British Ministry of Magic's rules place on each of prior named entities." he finished with a slight cough.
Isabelle glanced up at Sirius for explanation. "It means we have to go to the Ministry after this." he said to her. They sat in the office for another two hours, hearing about trust funds and bank accounts. They learned, to no one's surprise, that Amelia Bones, Oliver's mother's sister, was the trustee for both Oliver and Isabelle's accounts until they 23 and 18 respectively.
When all was said and done Sirius swept Isabelle out of the office before her grandmother could descend on them. They hurried down the rainy London streets towards the Ministry. He lead her down a run down street and into the telephone box. He reached around her and dialed the number, 6-2-4-4-2. They descended quickly and stepped out into the Atrium. They were greeted by the end a long hallway by Eric, the security guard. He took they're wands and registered them.
Isabelle and Sirius walked without speaking into a lift. Sirius pressed the button for the second level. They stepped off the lift into a cramped and crowded office and went quickly through a door with The Department of Families and Magical Guardianship, printed on the door in small gold letters.
Isabelle blinked and raised an eyebrow at the untidy office. There were papers strewn every which way and several people running around after flying memos.
"Ah…Miss Wood and Mr. Black, We've been expecting you." a cheerful receptionist greeted them. Sirius and Isabelle looked at each other in disbelief as she lead them to the private office of the Head of the Department. "If you'll both wait here Mrs. Midgen will be right with you." she said as she left.
"This place is interesting to say the least." Isabelle commented to Sirius.
"That it is kiddo. For all the time I've spent at the Ministry I've never been up here." Sirius said glancing around the office.
"No. Many people haven't." A voice came from behind them. Isabelle and Sirius both turned to see a middle-aged woman with strawberry-blonde/gray hair and kind eyes. "I'm Allison Midgen, Thank you for coming today."
"Like I had a choice." Isabelle muttered.
"Belle…knock it off" Sirius said sternly.
"Miss Wood, your case is a bit of a dilemma."
"How so?" Sirius and Isabelle asked at the same time.
"We aren't exactly sure who your father is." She said worriedly.
"That's ridiculous…How can you not know?" Sirius sputtered.
"We are under the impression that you are Miss Wood's godfather as well as the secret-keeper for her mother."
"Yes…I am"
"Well then…would you mind telling us who you believe to be her father."
"No…but you should have known on your own."
"Mr. Black…."
"Remus Lupin…her father is Remus Lupin." Sirius said as if he was expelling a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
"Remus….." Isabelle's eyes went wide and Mrs. Midgen began shuffling through papers on her desk quickly.
"Yes. Here it is." She said pulling out a small rectangular piece pf parchment. "Her birth certificate states that you are her father Mr. Black."
"Not possible" Sirius said quickly. Isabelle and Mrs. Midgen both looked at him oddly. He turned to Isabelle. "Kiddo, you know I care about you like you're my own daughter, and your mum was one of my best friends….but there is no way in Merlin's beard I could possibly be your father."
"I know." Isabelle said softly. "I agree with him there is no possible way….Mum told me he wasn't…I asked when I was 12."
"We'll still have to go to St. Mungo's to do some tests…but if you both say it isn't right….Mr. Lupin must be."
"Isabelle…while we're here run this down to Arthur would you? I need to speak with Miss Midgen alone." Sirius asked.
"Sure whatever," Isabelle said with a shrug. She took the envelope from Sirius and headed out of the office.
"She isn't going to handle this well" Sirius said to the older woman.
"The way she adjusts isn't really what concerns us here, Mr. Black, we're concerned with legal placing her with the right guardians."
"You can't really send her to live with Remus."
"Of course we can."
"You can't actually. I'd trust Remus Lupin with my life. As well as Isabelle's and Harry's. However…he isn't a British citizen and you cannot place a minor in custody out of the country."
"Mr. Black, We are doing everything in our power to keep your goddaughter in Britain…however her paternal grandparents are rather powerful. Once they find out she is in fact their granddaughter, they will do everything in their power to move her to where they reside." Mrs. Midgen explained.
"Trust me…I know" Sirius said apprehensively "That's what worries me"
Sirius and Mrs. Midgen collected Isabelle from Arthur Weasley's and Flooed to St. Mungo's. Isabelle sat in a waiting room flipping through an out-dated copy of Witch Weekly while Sirius contacted Remus. When Remus finally showed up, looking rumpled and disheveled, they were all ushered into a private room.
"The tests are simple really. A basic charm." the young healer said, Isabelle knew he'd been in Oliver's year but couldn't remember his name.
"What do we have to do?" Sirius asked.
"Let the man talk Padfoot" Remus said calmly.
"Oh you hush" Isabelle said to Remus, her voice laced with annoyance.
"Belle, be nice" Sirius chastised.
"All of you HUSH" Mrs. Midgen spoke entering the room. "Go ahead young man." she said to the healer
"Miss Wood, your hand." he said indicating her wand hand, which she held out to him. He ran the tip of his wand over her palm. "Leave it lying face up on the table." He proceeded to trace a figure eight in the air over both Sirius' and Remus' heads. He then stood back and flicked his wand quickly and watched as small jets of golden light jumped from both Sirius' and Remus' palms into Isabelle's.
"Bloody Hell" Sirius muttered.
"Merlin's Beard" came Remus' response.
"How…" Mrs. Midgen looked confused.
"This isn't possible." the healer said, repeating the test with the same results. "I'm going to get the head of the floor" he said quickly and disappeared.
"Would someone please tell me what's going on Isabelle asked.
"It's a charm to show relations, everyone you're related to flashed a different color. A father daughter relation shows a gold light," Remus explained.
"That would mean you're both my father." Isabelle said with a look of confusion.
"Not necessarily Miss Wood," a voice came from the door as the younger healer returned with an older man, who was graying and had laugh lines around his eyes and mouth. "Timothy Carter." He introduced himself shaking everyone's hand. "Now let's see this again."
The younger healer sighed and flicked his wand causing golden lights to flash again. The elder healer looked at the a, observing critically the scene before him. Isabelle was sitting Indian-style on the hospital bed and leaning against Sirius who was leaning against the bed with his arm around her shoulders. Remus was sitting in a chair at the end of the bed watching the other occupants.
"My guess is that someone preformed a Crossed-Lacing Charm on this young lady before she was born. Assumingly she has enough matching DNA of magical energy from each of you. That you both register as a relation."
"That's a tricky charm Mr. Carter. It would take two extremely talented and powerful witches." Mrs. Midgen said.
"Norah and Lily." Remus and Sirius said together.
"If anyone could pull this off it was the two of them." Remus continued.
"Could you please not speak about my mother in the past tense." Isabelle spat half-heartedly.
"Finding out the actual relation is rather simple. You both.." he said indicating Sirius and Remus "...Have to drink a mild magical enhancement potion and we'll perform the charm again, hopefully with correct results."
The younger healer pulled out two vials of a clear liquid and hand them to Sirius and Remus. They grinned at each other and tossed the potion back, both coughing and sputtering as they finished. The other occupants couldn't help but laugh at them.
"Ready Gentleman?" the elder healer asked.
"Yes sir." Sirius said.
"Yeah" Remus echoed.
"Don't sound so excited" Isabelle muttered "Oh wait…why would you…you're the one that abandoned us." she mumbled darkly.
"Miss Wood…your palm," the healer asked, trying to keep peace in the room.
Isabelle mumbled something incoherent and place her hand palm up on the table. The Healer repeated the procedure running his wand over her palm and tracing the patterns over Sirius' and Remus' head. When he finally stepped back and flicked his wand, the entire room gasped.
A/N: Hahaha….I think this is my first Cliffhanger ever.
A/N: Click it and Review Folks….sweet face I do so love hearing from you.