Sirius was both happy and exhausted.
He was happy because Iris' comments to Madame Bones resulted in a trial, finally. It meant his name was cleared at last, though he was politely 'requested' to find where Iris disappeared to by several parties, particularly Dumbledore. Iris apparently wasn't joking about opting for a home-school in regards to her O.W.L.s and had vanished after hiring several tutors to an undisclosed location.
He was exhausted, because when he finally found where Iris was, he also found her cheerfully chatting with a creature that would give him nightmares and the thing was talking back in actual English! Or at least it was coming out as English in his head.
"Pup...what is this thing?"
"I don't know, but he was sleeping on the periphery of the wards when I went to find how far down they went. He seemed more than amiable towards a conversation since I don't scream all the time and haven't tried chasing him out once," said Iris cheerfully. "Too bad I can't bring Hagrid here...he would definitely get a kick out of meeting him!"
Sirius snorted at that.
"I bet," he agreed. "Pup, why didn't you return when the expulsion was overturned?"
"Because I'm not stupid enough to stick around in a country ruled by sheep and idiots, especially since they can't make up their minds about me. Besides, the goblins said that girls only needed to pass their O.W.L.s to claim their full inheritance and that it was perfectly acceptable for them to do so through tutors," said Iris. "Sexist, but in this case it works perfectly to my favor since I wasn't really looking forward to returning anyway."
"That's for the girls who already have engagements and are expected to carry on the bloodline," he countered.
Iris' eyes gleamed wickedly.
"Expected but not required~! I checked and triple-checked the old laws. There's an implied understanding that girls who drop out will have children soon after, but there's no actual law that states they have to be married or start bearing heirs in order to claim their inheritance. So long as I pass the majority of my O.W.L.s I can claim the title of family head even if I don't get married off and start popping out children!" chirped Iris wickedly.
Sirius had a headache.
"What about the guys?"
"They can only claim it early if they have an heir on the way already and their family head agrees to it. Otherwise they have to wait until their majority," said Iris.
"You went to a lot of trouble to find out the best way to get out of Hogwarts early, didn't you?" said Sirius with sympathy.
"Dumbledore lied to me Sirius. Anyone with half a brain could have told you that Petunia hated her sister, and that there was a strong chance she was adopted. And yet he sent me back to that hellhole every year and did nothing even when I practically begged to be sent anywhere else. Those blood wards weren't what he claimed them to be, and the goblins told me if they had been working then it would have caused serious damage to my core," said Iris angrily. "I want to find my real family, but it's difficult since I have no idea if they would even accept me because I'm a half-blood by their standards."
"According to the ministry you're a pure blood now. The goblins confirmed it. I can't believe Lily's bloodline is a direct one from Atlantis," said Sirius.
Iris sighed.
"Would you be willing to keep a secret, even going so far as to swear on your magic?"
Sirius didn't hesitate. This was his pup after all.
"Mom wasn't from any magical enclave on the surface. Atlantis did sink, but the inhabitants didn't immediately die when it did. Instead their magic adapted to live underwater and they rebuilt the kingdom under the ocean's surface. I've managed to find one of the off-shoots of the kingdom, but I didn't have time to investigate it because I had to come back for Hogwarts or I'd lose my inheritance. From what I know, they call anyone who breathes air exclusively 'surface dwellers' and they really don't like us that much because of all the pollution and crap we've put into the ocean even if most of that was from the muggles."
"Are you sure?" said Sirius. It sounded a bit fantastical to him.
He went completely silent from shock when he saw Iris calmly call water to her...and form it into a short sword. Seeing it cut through a rock like butter was terrifying.
"What... You're an elemental?"
"I'm a Daughter of Nimue. It means I can breathe water just as easily as I can air, and that I have a decent control over water. I still haven't figured out everything I can do, but ever since the first task I've gotten a lot stronger. That's what I was doing all summer...testing out my new abilities and trying to find where mum came from," said Iris.
"So the reason you wanted to get out of Hogwarts early..."
"Was to find mum's family, or at least see if it's worth meeting them. Fortunately the merchief recognized what I was, because that was the first time I had gone swimming. He gave me directions to a kingdom that would at least hear me out and not chase me away because I'm originally from the surface," said Iris. "The fact that Dumbledore would try to find a way to use me further as one of his pieces was another major reason."
"What do you mean?"
"He claims he cares about us, but in reality he sees himself as the king piece on a chessboard, and the rest of us are just pawns. If he really wanted to stop these purges, he could have done more or at least discreetly taken out several Death Eaters with the mark once he returned. Instead he's been sitting on his ass and playing the grandfather card without actually doing anything. Or am I wrong?"
Sirius would have loved to deny it, but it made a sick sort of sense. To be honest the Order hadn't done anything of real worth since it was reactivated, and all he had been doing was sitting on his ass wishing he could do more.
Iris gave him a sad smile.
"You see what I mean? Besides, if word got out to the Death Eaters that the Atlanteans were living underwater, they'd use that as an excuse to see me as something other than human just to weaken my position for their lord. I needed to get out of Hogwarts in order to move freely and make my own path, outside the manipulations of people who don't actually give a damn about my future outside of breeding material or as a toy they can show off and ignore once they're bored."
Sirius couldn't deny her words. The way Iris' life had been before now was not something he ever wanted for his goddaughter.
There was only one feasible solution...and that was to let her go her own way, and to support her however he could until she found the path that was right for her.
The feeling of relief after taking her exams and getting it over with was hard to describe. However there was still formalities and paperwork to deal with once the results came back.
Considering she had taken her exams a bit earlier than the school did, her results were sent back within a few days.
Sirius looked at them, once he registered the shell-shocked expression on her face.
"Defense, Charms, Care, Healing, and Potions, all Outstandings. Transfiguration, Runes, and Herbology are Exceeds Expectations and your history was acceptable. Not bad pup!
"I'm surprised I passed Runes. I only started studying them once I found out the Ministry tried to expel me from Hogwarts," said Iris, still in shock. "How did I even pass potions? My grades in that class were some of the worst!"
"You forgot to add in the Snape factor. He hated James so much he likely took it out on your grades every chance he got."
"...That explains it," said Iris.
"Now that that's out of the way, you just need to claim the rings and take your place as Lady Potter-Black!" chirped Sirius.
"Potter-Black?" she repeated.
"No way the head ring would accept me. I was waiting for your test scores in order to abdicate my position as head of the family to my heir, which is you, and act as Steward in your place. Means Albus can't force me to bring you back as head of the family," explained Sirius.
Iris made a face at that.
"Back to England then," she sighed.
This was going to suck.
In England...
It wasn't as bad as she had feared. It was worse. So much worse.
"Should I feel bad that I hexed Mrs. Weasley on sight to keep her quiet?" asked Iris to Sirius quietly.
"Nope. I have no idea why she's even here," said Sirius.
Spotting Bill, who took one look at his mother's condition and said nothing, Iris headed right for him.
"I'm so sorry about this. Mum heard that you were coming to claim your rings and take your place as Lady Potter, and she insisted on coming to talk you out of it," said Bill apologetically.
"I don't hold it against you or your brothers. Your mother has a bad habit of smothering those she can get away with and badgering the rest into falling in line with what she wants just to get some peace," said Iris. "I appreciate the fact she cares, but she is not my mother nor directly related to me."
Bill accepted the apology and they went inside.
It took only thirty minutes, but Iris walked out with both head rings and the full backing of her family magics. Sirius had a new ring as well...only his marked him as Steward.
Molly looked very unhappy. If anything Iris was angry over what she discovered once she claimed the head rings. She went directly to Bill, who was the heir of the Weasley family.
"Bill...is there any particular reason your mother would write up a marriage contract between me and your family after my second year?" said Iris, fury in her tone.
Bill straightened.
"What?!"
"The goblins asked me rather bluntly if I would like to marry one of your brothers now or wait until the preset condition of turning seventeen. Your mother's signature was on the contract, as was Dumbledore's. I have the distinct feeling that the only reason it wasn't a binding contract is because Sirius was never involved and I was never asked."
Bill turned to his mother furious.
"Mother, what were you thinking?!"
By this point Bill had already removed the hex.
"I thought it would be best to bring her into the family officially! She made such a cute couple with Ron! Of course Fred and George would work just as well."
Bill had a headache.
"Iris, I am so sorry about this. If you give me a moment I'll have the contract dissolved."
"William Weasley!" shouted his mother.
"No, mum. You don't have the right to make up a contract with Iris without her consent or the consent of her magical guardian. I don't know how you thought this would be acceptable in any sense of the word. I will be talking to Dad about this and if necessary I will insist on taking over as head of the family."
Bill had long suspected something was off about his father's behavior, but had been too young at the time to actually do anything about it. However he refused to accidentally start a feud with Iris over a fake marriage contract because his mother wanted to have her in the family. Their family could ill afford to anger the Blacks, and it was clear his mother had forgotten that she had Black ancestry as well. The damage Iris or Sirius could do to their family over this was not something he would ever risk over something so stupid.
Iris was glad this matter was settled, and refused to let Molly try to nudge her towards Order headquarters...which had to be relocated because Sirius had become sick and tired of her badgering and blatant abuse of the Rules of Hospitality and kicked them all out.
Now she could properly focus on finding her mother's family. Fortunately she found something that might help her...it was an odd device that was in her mother's vaults.
Underwater
It was a mystery baffling the patrols. Every day they would pass by a rather impressive rock bluff and there would be carvings. At first it was rather unimportant, but after a week a recognizable form started to take shape.
That shape was the view of their kingdom from a distance. Whoever was carving the picture was not the most skilled, but the effort it would take to etch the picture into the rock was something that should have attracted their notice in the process.
At the very least it intrigued their princess enough that she set some of the guards to watch and see who was doing it.
Whoever was carving the rock face was careful...and quite good at spotting their presence because every time they left their post to change shifts, another piece would be added.
Finally after about a month they spotted the culprit.
It was a young woman, one that hadn't hit full growth yet. She was holding an odd piece of crystal in her hand that was pointed in the direction of the kingdom and using it to magnify the image of the buildings to insure her carving was accurate.
The second she spotted them, she grabbed the crystal and rather clumsily swam away as quickly as he could.
Oddly, the guards couldn't find any sign of what she was using to carve the rocks with.
In the interest to see how much she intended to carve in the rock, the guards watched from afar. She definitely noticed them, but as long as they didn't try to close in she kept carving.
She had only just finished when one of the younger guards startled her. She swam away, but not before something dropped. It wasn't the crystal she had been using, but a slightly older model of picture recording. One with the markings of the Xebel kingdom.
They took it immediately to their king, mostly because he was rather worried what the girl was doing so close to his kingdom. By all appearances, she was a surface-dweller so it was only natural they would be leery of her presence so close to their people.
"My king, what is it?" asked his wife.
King Ricou played the image on the device. The two females that were on it were very familiar to him, for more than a few reasons.
"This young woman that was near our kingdom. How old was she?" he asked the guards.
"She was around the princess' age, your highness," reported the guard. "She did not swim as an Atlantean would."
King Ricou looked at the image. It was that of Xebel's queen and the youngest princess that had gone missing several decades ago.
Princess Lilianna's convoy had been hit by an underwater volcano, and her body never recovered. If she had survived and made it to the surface, it was possible she could have had a half-breed child roughly the same age as his daughter was now. If that was the case, then Xebel's king would have to be informed once the bloodline was confirmed.
The question being why did the girl appear now, and if she was Lilianna's daughter then why did her mother not present her directly to her father?