Chapter 5
Sirius woke late the next day. It was becoming a habit. One the 21-year old man reveled in. He rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom to shower. While he was washing, he thought of the night before and the day ahead.
Harry had come full circle. He was right back in the house he had jailbroken out of. The circumstances were much more amenable to the tot, Sirius hoped. Who would have thought that the boy would end up spending his pre-Hogwarts life living in a closet.
Aberforth gave Sirius a full vial of blood when they got back to his place. Sirius remembered his words.
"If you need me to come, to the adoption, I will. You just send Nookie to me. I'll be glad to bleed for that baby again. He bled for all of us and stopped that idiot Riddle. He deserves all the help I can give him for that."
Sirius grinned as he thought of the crabby old coot who was a real softy on the inside. He sat around cuddling a sleeping baby for half the night last night, for Merlin's sake.
Today, Sirius would go back to Gringotts and complete the adoptions. It should be easy to do, now that he had the blood he wanted to use. Then a few quick signs on the dotted line and it should be done. He would come back here and raise Harry as he was meant to be raised. Safe, with family that loved him.
He stepped out of the shower and dried off quickly. He slid some robes on over his head and was off. He didn't want to draw attention to himself by wearing muggle clothes.
Sirius went downstairs and into the kitchens. He got himself a cup of tea and looked outside. Harry was running around the back garden, Nookie sitting patient and ever watchful. His little cheeks were flushed with excitement and joy at riding the little tricycle Lily had gotten for the boy for his first birthday. Sirius hoped James present, a junior broomstick, was still safe somewhere. The boy loved it. Sirius planned to have it mounted for Harry once he outgrew it.
He walked out the back door and said hello. The little boy came running.
"Pa'foot. Wuff, wuff!" Harry said in his adorable, crowing happy voice. He wanted Sirius to transform into his doggie alter ego. Sirius decided to indulge the boy for a few minutes. It was a lovely sunny day. Chilly but bright with sunshine.
Sirius played with the little boy for almost an hour before changing back.
"Okay, buddy. It's time for lunch and a change. We have some business to do, today." Sirius tickled the little boy as he scooped him up to carry him inside. They ate lunch quickly, then Nookie changed the boy and dressed him in his little robes for the day while Sirius grabbed the blood vial and the paperwork he had already read and signed, in preparation for today.
"Nookie, do you mind to carry the trunk into the bank, like you did last time?" Sirius asked the little elf.
She nodded quickly. "Yes, Master Sirius. I cans be taking you to the bank. Are you ready to go now?"
"Yes," Sirius responded, suddenly overcome with emotion. He leaned down and hugged the little elf.
"I really appreciate you helping me with Harry and helping with just everything. You're great, Nookie. Thank you." The elf's eyes brimmed with tears. She whispered "thank you" and popped away quickly in an attempt to keep her composure. Sirius smiled at the empty space. She was so much better than Kreacher could've ever hoped to be.
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It took almost a quarter of an hour for Nookie to reappear inside the trunk. She was still a little misty eyed. She smiled widely at Sirius.
"They is ready for you, Master Sirius. Will little Master Harry go with you?" Nookie asked.
"Yes, for now. I'll bring him back after the adoption part. It will take a little while to get all the paperwork ready. We're going to go into hiding after today, Nookie," Sirius said looking at her, seriously.
"You should start a list of anything you think we'll need for the next year. I expect we'll hide inside the trunk for that long, at least. I want to make sure all thoughts of Sirius Black are gone from the world before we come out again. You can go shopping tomorrow but please try to think of everything. Birthdays, holidays, fun projects Harry might like to try. I want a swing set. A nice one with a fort at the top and a net to climb. We'll put it together as a family. It'll be fun!" Sirius was enthused about the idea.
"What about you, Master Sirius? What food and drinks and fun projects do you want to be working on?" Sirius thought for a moment.
"Maybe a new motorcycle or better yet, an automobile. Yeah. That's what we need. A family car! I'll find a junker I can fix up and move it into the trunk. It'll be fun. We'll go shopping in the muggle world while you're shopping in the magical world." Sirius was excited now. He'd love a sweet ride to take Harry around in. Muggles had automobiles and Sirius was going to be like a regular muggle where he could.
With plans made, Sirius and Harry left the trunk.
"Hello, Harnock," Sirius said to the goblin with a bow as he appeared in the office.
"Mr. Black, or is there another name I should call you now?" the goblin asked as he waved Sirius into a seat before him.
"Prongsworth, if you will," Sirius said with a grin at the inside joke. "Padfoot Artemis Prongsworth, at your service. This little fella is Harrington Kendrick Prongsworth. Pleased to meet you," he said with a laugh.
The goblin didn't smile. He just stared at the man as he spoke and then notated down the new names.
"Do you have the adoption paperwork with you, Mr. Prongsworth," the goblin asked. Sirius nodded and handed over the stack of papers he had brought with him along with the vial of blood he had received from Aberforth.
"Here's the paperwork and the blood for the adoption. The donor wished to remain anonymous." The goblin didn't question it. He merely called for a junior associate from the hall.
"Please ask Healer Smearmork to join us with the prepared vials." The junior associate nodded and left quickly.
"While we wait for Healer Smearmork, perhaps we can begin the paperwork for the name change for the Potter line." The goblin smacked a huge stack of paper onto the desk in front of Sirius, who whimpered. The goblin gave him a nasty grin and then proceeded to ignore the wizard who struggled to keep the toddler entertained while reading a stack of legalese.
"We should also take a blood and magical signature proof right now for both yourself and Mr. Potter. This will allow you to open blood locked items and claim inheritances that come to you later in time," Harnock said blandly. Sirius agreed. A few drops of blood later and the bank and Sirius each had a copy of the proof of blood and magic on tidy sheets of parchment.
Sirius had made little progress on the paperwork when the healer arrived. They made short work of adding Aberforth's blood to one of the goblets full of a smoking orange potion that turned blood red with the addition of, well, blood. Sirius scrunched his nose up in slight disgust and then drank the horrible potion in three, gagging, gulps.
The Healer grabbed the baby while Sirius struggled to hold down the nasty brew. A sudden hot flash of pain raced through his body as changes occurred. Sirius was a tall man at 6' tall but he was no Dumbledore. His bones popped and stretched as he quickly grew to 6'3. His shoulders felt scrunched as they began to grow slightly wider. His nose ached as it grew a full inch in length in an instant. His eyes ached, his muscles ached, his TEETH ached.
In just a few moments it was done and Sirius Black was no more. The man before him had a deep auburn shade of hair with slight waves in place of the black, silken curls that had been there before. The silver eyes were replaced with an ice blue. The olive skin lightened a few shades and became more golden. His nose was a little longer and his chin a little pointier. The changes were all slight and subtle but the overall effect was that Padfoot looked completely different. Sirius Black was gone.
"Will the adoption potion hurt Harry as much as it hurt me?" Sirius asked in concern. It had only lasted a few seconds but it was a horrible few moments.
"No," Healer Smearmork replied. "His body is still growing. Your body was done. It makes a big difference. It will taste foul though. If I may, I'd like to cast a tastebud flipping charm on him until the potion has been drunk. It will make it taste delicious to him. He might have an upset tummy later. Give him peppermint tea and a stomach soothing potion when you get home."
Sirius nodded in compliance. He cut himself and allowed his blood to flow into a vial. The healer took the still warm vial and added it to the other goblet. The potion fumed for a few moments and then went bright red. Sirius conjured a sippy cup lid for the cup and handed it to Harry. The boy slurped it up in record time.
When he was done drinking, he started to whimper slightly. Sirius watched in fascination as Harry's eyes changed from killing curse green to an ocean green shot through with silver blue. His face thinned and lips filled before Sirius' eyes. The little boy grew an inch or two taller, as well. The dark mess of hair relaxed and added an auburn sheen to the deep brown locks.
The now fussy baby clung to his guardian … no, to his father … with a whimpering cry. Padfoot called for Nookie. She took the baby for a tummy soother and a nap. Padfoot turned back to the paperwork that he had only started to make his way through.
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Two hours later, Padfoot was done. The mountain of paperwork had just kept growing. It seemed like every time he finished one stack, three more appeared under him. He had so many decisions to make, his mind was spinning by the time it was all done.
"What will you do next, Mr. Prongsworth?" Harnock asked. The paperwork was complete. The names changed and the vaults shifted. All that was left was to collect the fees and be done with it all, in Harnock's opinion.
"I am taking Harry into hiding for the next year. If all goes well, when the year is up, I'll start looking for the soul shards. I hope they stay put long enough for the heat to settle. I want to make sure no one is looking for either Harry or myself before I show my face in the wizarding world again. I expect Harry won't be back until his 11th birthday, though I might change my mind, if the coast stays clear." Padfoot was anxious to be on his way now that their business was done. He had all of the paperwork he would need to get Harry into school and prove his guardianship in the muggle world. Gringotts, for a hefty fee, had been able to bypass ministry paperwork avenues for such things to get the properly filed documents the same day. None of the new paperwork was associated with the names Harry Potter nor Sirius Black. The Prongsworth family was well on their way to becoming established in both worlds.
"Very good," Harnock responded with little care. "Is there anything else Gringotts can do for you today, Mr. Prongsworth?"
"I was hoping you could provide me with James' invisibility cloak and Harry's junior broom, if they're in the vaults. Other than that, I think we are covered for now. Thanks for your help, Account Manager Harnock. I appreciate your assistance." Harnock nodded in return. He thought the thing the young man would appreciate the most was that all fees so far had been taken from his as yet to be barred access to the Black Family vaults.
The junior broom was quickly recovered. The cloak wasn't in the vaults. Sirius wondered where it was but didn't dawdle. In less than a quarter hour, he was on his way home.
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