Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.
Prewiev: The family talks about the wedding. Snape has very good idea. Mirzam has a nightmare. Pollux vists Andromeda and kidnaps Dora. The wedding.
Read, enjoy and review (because I'm having my birthday tomorrow and a review would be wonderful present).
I find myself in need of a beta, again.
Chapter seven: Happiness…
Walburga stared at Sirius and Mirzam in shock. Of course she knew that they had feelings for each other, good for them since they were supposed to have a kid together, but then again, marriage? So soon? It seemed like they admitted the feelings for each other just yesterday.
'They don't need to get to know each other,' she thought to herself. 'Then again in the eyes of the family they are supposed to have feelings for each other for ages. So maybe marriage isn't stupid idea.'
Walburga glanced at Mirzam, she was smiling broadly and there was a hint of mischief in her eyes.
'He asked her to marry before,' Walburga realised. 'But where? In Azkaban? Of all places in the world…'
"Terribly, but I think that I can squeeze you into my packed schedule," Mirzam replied as she leaned to kiss him.
"Finally," exclaimed Cassiopeia.
Walburga smiled at Sirius. He was a big boy and he knew what was good for him. Besides she liked Mirzam, she was strong enough to deal with Sirius. They would made a good pair.
Walburga took a glance at the rest of the family. Lucretia was smiling widely and had a look of pure excitement on her face which made Walburga shudder at the thought what Lucy would do if Walburga didn't included her in wedding preparations. Ignatius, Arcturus, Remus and Regulus were grinning widely. Cassiopeia and Melania looked pleasantly surprised. Her father seemed lost in his thoughts and Snape looked like nothing could surprise him.
"So when is the wedding?" asked Regulus playfully.
Sirius and Mirzam glanced at each other for a moment before Sirius replied, "1st April."
"Wedding at April's Fool. Seriously, Sirius," Melania rolled her eyes in faked annoyance. "No one can prepare a wedding in a matter of ten days."
"I can," Walburga said happily. "Why wait Mel? It's not that they have to get to know each other, for Merlin's sake they have a kid together."
"Not many guests will come on so short notice," Melania replied pensively.
"They will," Sirius shook his head. "They are sitting here after all, mostly. Mirzam?"
"I have two," she said simply. "Madam Bones and Kingsley Shacklebolt."
"What about your grandparents?" asked Cassiopeia curiously.
Walburga cringed at Cassie's question and saw Sirius doing the same. She knew what Mirzam thought about it, there was absolutely no reasons for bringing it up again after yesterday.
"The earth will sooner start spinning backwards before they will come to my wedding," Mirzam snorted in annoyance. "Besides I don't want to invite them."
"Why?" asked Melania curiously.
"Because they make pure-blood philosophy pale in comparison to their hate of everything magical," Mirzam explained uncomfortably.
"What about Cygnus and Cissy?" asked Melania.
"They won't come to this house within a mile radius. I won't let them," Walburga snorted. "They made their choice."
They did, Cissy should know better than hold her grandson in the manor as a prisoner. From her younger brother Walburga fully expected siding with Cissy. Even if they wanted to come, they would just spoil the ceremony and Walburga wouldn't allow them that. After all a marriage is once in a lifetime event, generally, and Walburga would be damned if she let her brother and niece spoil that day for Sirius.
"Remus you are my best man," Sirius said in a tone which suggested that Lupin should know better than to disagree.
Lupin nodded slowly. He seemed like he knew better than disagree with Sirius.
"What about your bridesmaids, Mirzam?" asked Melania curiously.
"Unless Regulus or Severus would agree on wearing a dress I don't have any," Mirzam replied. "Speaking about Severus, are you free at 1st April?"
Snape scratched his head before he replied, "I have no lessons on Thursday so I guess that I can come if I manage to fool Dumbledore for one afternoon. But if you think that I'm going to wear a dress you better whack this idea from your head."
"I feel so left out," Regulus snorted. "Wolfboy is a best man, Sevie is a bridesmaid and I don't have anything to do at my older brother's wedding. I feel hurt," he moaned in faked hurting tone.
"Well, you can make other bridesmaid," Sirius snickered. "I want Dromeda and her family to come. Think that we can invite them?" he turned to Walburga.
Of course, it should had came out sooner, a lot sooner. But everybody were so focused on Homam that they probably forgot about Andromeda. Droma was going to get a shock of her life when she will receive the invitation.
"It's a wonder that we didn't included them already," Walburga replied. "Pretty hypocritical from our side to not have anything against Sirius marrying Mirzam while Andromeda is still the outcast in the family. Who is going to bring the invitation to them?"
"I can," Pollux supplied suddenly. "Who is going to perform the ceremony?"
"I thought about Madam Bones," said Mirzam quickly. "She has the authority to do it and if we ask nicely she may agree."
"Wedding is going to be in the garden, isn't it?" asked Lucretia with the insane glint in her eyes. "Because if it is, then we need to clear it out."
"I can help with it," Lupin supplied quickly.
"You won't do anything without Weedrider," Snape snorted. "I will send you a bottle tomorrow."
"I will help you Lupin," Lucretia supplied. "Wally you know where Orion kept Sirius's and Hesper's wedding rings?"
"Loose floorboard under the desk in the library," Regulus answered quickly. "Last time I checked anyway," he added after a moment.
Indeed he did. Regulus was too smart for his own good.
"I still have goblin's made tiara from my wedding," Walburga mumbled pensively. "I haven't took it out from the trunk for ages."
"I can borrow you my wedding dress, Mirzam. Wedding dress of a happily married woman is certainly a good omen," Lucretia said happily.
"If the dress is borrowed then what about the tiara?" Walburga asked her.
"Old?" Lucretia supplied quickly.
"Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue," Regulus snickered.
"The dress is blue," Lucretia pointed out. "A very good omen."
"Then the colours of the dress and tiara crashes," Melania muttered.
"Not if she wears blue and white wraith," said Lucretia.
"Wraiths are for virgins Lucy," Melania replied.
"Should I interfere before you jump to each other's throats?" asked Mirzam calmly.
"Don't worry about them, Mirzam," Arcturus snickered. "You should have seen them before Lucretia's wedding, Orion had to separate them every single time someone mentioned wedding related stuff."
"If your grandparents aren't coming then who is going to walk you down the aisle?" asked Pollux curiously.
"Kingsley Shacklebolt," Mirzam replied.
"He is younger than us Mirzam," Sirius said quickly.
"I'm well aware of it," she nodded. "But nevertheless I want him to walk me down the aisle."
"Why?" asked Ignatius curiously.
"Because it's fitting, Iggy," Walburga said thoughtfully. "Mirzam is an Auror, she is marrying an Auror," she glanced at Sirius who nodded quickly, "therefore why don't have an Auror in the place of a 'father'?"
"You still want to be an Auror, even now?" Pollux turned to Sirius.
"It's not that I can do anything else, grandpa," Sirius replied. "I liked my job and I'm planning to apply after the wedding."
Walburga smiled at him. She couldn't expect less from him.
"I have a thought," she said as she summoned the wine from the pantry, Lucretia seemed to get what Walburga wanted to do and summoned eleven goblets. "Let's have a toast," she added after she stood up.
Lucretia poured the wine to the goblets and passed each goblet to the other occupants of the kitchen.
"To what we are toasting?" asked Snape curiously.
"To whom," Walburga corrected him and she raised her goblet. "To Mirzam Verascez, soon Mirzam Black who in one day returned to me my two sons. Mirzam," she smiled at younger woman who blushed lightly. "Welcome in the family."
Sirius leaned against the back of the couch and smiled slightly when he felt Mirzam leaning against his left shoulder. Homam nestled himself in Sirius's lap and seemed to fall asleep. Sirius felt pleasantly tired and very comfortable, he really could get used to moments like this one.
After the welcoming party had ended and his grandparents, aunts and uncle went to their respective homes, accompanied by Regulus who told the rest that he had to talk to grandfathers about something. After saying goodbye to the rest of the family Sirius's mother decided to move the rest guest to the library for a drink.
Sirius and Mirzam together with Homam sat down on one of the two couches while Remus and Snape sat on the other one. Sirius's mother decided to sit down at the couch and quickly busied herself with knitting something which looked suspiciously like long-clothes, it seemed too small to be meant for Homam and Sirius gulped nervously when he saw it.
"I feel a bit overwhelmed," Sirius confessed as he ran his right hand through Homam's hair. "I forgot how noisy this house could get when they were visiting."
"Noisy and unaware," Snape muttered and he took a sip of Firewhiskey from his glass. "Is Regulus aware of Homam's identity?" he turned to Sirius's mother.
"Not yet. Firstly we didn't had time to explain and secondly if he doesn't explains everything he mentioned before I don't plan to inform him," said Walburga.
"The less people know about it the better for you," Snape sighed. "Personally I think that removing the problem of Harry Potter from the public view would be a good thing."
"What you mean exactly?" asked Remus curiously.
"Dumbledore suspects that Verascez isn't doing anything about Harry's case. Which we know that she doesn't," Snape started. "He suspects that you know where he is but you won't do anything to close the case," he said to Mirzam. "That's why I think that the best option for anyone interested will be killing Harry Potter."
"I hope that by killing Harry Potter you mean making people think that he is dead," Sirius muttered and send Snape a meaningful glare.
"That's what I mean," Snape nodded.
"But how we are going to do it without putting the blame on someone innocent?" asked Mirzam pensively. "And how we are going to find a 'Harry Potter's corpse'."
"For corpse part I advise checking the canals. The nights are still cold enough for some homeless people to die. As for making Harry Potter from the corpse Polyjuice works splendidly, if applied correctly you can get a really good lookalike of the kid. This way people will think that it's real Harry Potter who died," Snape explained thoughtfully.
"The canals are good choice," Mirzam muttered suddenly. "Someone abandoned him in the canals and he died from cold and hunger. This way the only thing to blame is the weather."
"As long as we have a hair," added Snape quickly.
"We have some," Walburga nodded. "But can we please withhold with killing him before the wedding?"
"I guess we can," Sirius mumbled and tried to stifle a yawn but didn't succeed.
"Someone here needs a night of well deserved sleep," Walburga said firmly.
"Yes, mum," Sirius mumbled.
Mirzam leaned against the doorframe with a huge grin on her face, Sirius was home again. She watched him as he was trying to put Homam in his crib but was failing miserably since Homam decided that dad was more exciting than the night of sleep.
"Hommy, please, go to sleep," Sirius groaned as he bend over Homam's crib once again.
Homam paid no attention to Sirius's plea because he stood up in his crib and raised his arms indicating that he wanted to be picked up.
"Give up Sirius," Mirzam snickered. "He isn't going to sleep tonight without you by his side."
Sirius glanced down at Homam who smiled innocently at him.
"Fine, Hommy, you won. You are sleeping with mummy and I tonight," Sirius sighed and picked up Homam from his crib.
Together they walked down the corridor to Mirzam's bedroom with Homam snuggled into Sirius's side. When they entered the bedroom Sirius laid Homam down in the middle of the bed and lied down next to him.
"When I went to Azkaban I never expected that I will ever leave it," Sirius admitted quietly.
Mirzam sat down on the bed and slipped beneath the covers before she said, "But you are here now, you are free again."
"Yeah," Sirius chuckled. "I'm free again, engaged to be married to beautiful and smart woman and we are having a kid together." Then he took a deep breath and asked seriously, "How did you took it, all of it?"
She lied down and stared straight into his eyes as she said slowly, "When I came back from the convention … and Crouch told me what had happened I was furious."
"At me?" he asked quietly.
"Not at you," she shook her head. "At myself. I knew that you were doing something about which you didn't informed me. I trusted you blindly with my life and then…"
"I'm sorry, Mirzam. I'm really sorry for not telling you what I was doing," he sighed. "But I was trying to protect you."
"From what?" she asked, surprised by his confession.
"I knew that as an Auror I was on the line of fire and then, when I joined the Order of the Phoenix, the organisation which Dumbledore created to fight with Voldemort I found out that everybody I cared for were in great danger," he sighed heavily. "I never considered asking you to join because I knew that if you joined you will be in much more greater danger than you were as an Auror. I would never forgive myself if something had happened to you."
"What about the Potters?" she asked curiously.
"James and Lily joined at the same time as I did. Till Harry was born I tried to not be worried too much about them, they were capable of defending themselves. But then Harry appeared and due to certain circumstances, which still lie beyond my capacity of comprehension they were in very great danger," he sighed. "I tried to protect them and I thrust their lives into Pettigrew's hands."
She found his hand beneath the covers and squeezed it reassuringly.
"When I found out that Dumbledore wanted Harry to live with his aunt I was lost. Maybe if I had Harry by my side I would never went after Peter, maybe then I would report him straight to the authorities," he said timidly. "I fucked up and I know it, but now I know that I can make the best of what had happened and protect him just like I promised that I would," he ruffled Homam's hair with his other hand.
"Do you think that they would mind if we bring him up as our son?" she asked quietly.
"If it will protect him from danger," Sirius sighed. "I don't think that they will. As long as he is aware of his real identity when he grows up a bit."
"Time will show if our course of action is right," she whispered.
"Yes, it will," he agreed sleepily.
Two minutes later all three of them were asleep.
Meanwhile the occupants of the library decided on the next course of action Regulus was sitting in the armchair in the living-room at his grandfather's house. Melania wandered upstairs to sleep and Pollux went to the library to pick some book. Arcturus remained with Regulus and stared at the kid curiously.
"What did you got yourself into kid?" he sighed finally.
"I think that deep shit will sum it up pretty well," Regulus replied quietly. "Listen, I don't want to have this conversation without Sirius and I'm not a heartless bastard to rub it into his face before his wedding," he added as he leaned forward.
"I just want to understand what made you change your mind, kid," said Arcturus quietly.
"The world," Regulus replied quietly. "The world. If that's what you wanted to know let me come back to mum," he said as he stood up.
"That would be it, for now," Arcturus nodded and watched the kid as he approached the fireplace.
Regulus left through the Floo, barely avoiding hitting his head on the mantelpiece but Arcturus was staring at the empty fireplace even after he left. Few minutes later he heard Pollux entering the room.
"Do you want to inform Wally about Orion?" Arcturus asked without looking at Pollux.
"Not until I know what he did. I guess that I will wait with it till the solstice," said Pollux with a heavy sigh. "What you think about Sirius's proposal?"
"They were very Siriuslike," Arcturus chuckled. "Trust Sirius to omit the tradition."
"Yeah," Pollux chuckled. "The wedding reminds me of these Muggle shotgun-weddings I read lately. But I agree with Wally, why wait."
"What we are supposed to do with the Horcruxes?" asked Arcturus suddenly.
"I don't know what you think about it but if you want my opinion, I don't think that anyone should be less mortal than the rest of us are supposed to be," Pollux mumbled. "I'm going to help the boys with destroying them."
"Same here," Arcturus sighed. "Same here."
Regulus rubbed his forehead as he leaned against the mantelpiece. Lack of sleep previous night, shouting match with Snape and being subjected to the stares of the rest of his family caused his usual headache to come back quickly.
He hadn't seen or heard from Kreacher all day long and now he felt too tired to ask him about the Horcrux. He decided that a night of undisturbed sleep would cure the headache, besides he could wait few more hours.
She was sitting on the windowsill in her old room, the one which was supposed to be hers. The day was beautiful, the sun was shining and the wind was gentle. She glanced for the last time at the pear in the garden and came back to her book. Anne from Green Gables, her favourite book, this particular copy belonged to her mum. Every single time she read it she imagined her mother sitting by her side and reading it to her.
Suddenly she felt that someone shoved her hard, she lost her balance and fell out of the window. She hit the ground with a dull thud and cried in pain which tore through her back. She managed to glimpse the face of her grandmother standing in the window of her room, she looked livid and was smiling wickedly.
Mirzam jolted awake and sat on the bed. She felt beads of sweat running down her cheekbones. Suddenly a warm hand touched her shoulder and gentle voice asked, "Mirzam, what had happened?"
"Nightmare," she mumbled. "The one with my grandmother pushing me out of the window."
"Mummy," Homam asked timidly and he quickly climbed into her arms.
"Come here," Sirius mumbled and he embraced her tightly.
He pulled her close and laid the three of them down on the bed. She was lying with her head on his left shoulder and Homam in her arms.
"She isn't going to hurt you anymore, Mirzam," Sirius whispered. "I won't let her."
Being a Professor certainly had its perks, Severus Snape decided as he entered his bedroom at Hogwarts dungeon. For an instance being a Professor meant no more problems with snooping Filch. Severus took of his travelling cloak and threw it at the armchair. He glanced at his desk where ungraded first years essays still lied just like he left them in the morning, he felt really tempted to pick up his quill and write failing grade on each of them but he knew that he was still too new Professor to get away with it. That's why with heavy sigh he approached his cabinet and poured himself a glass of wine before he went to the desk and pulled the essays closer.
He read first three essays with mild interest, they were average at best.
"Some people just can't read the instructions," he muttered to himself and he took a sip of wine before he took another essay.
The beginning of this one almost made him set the bloody thing on fire, Timothy McMillan either was an idiot or decided that first year at Hogwarts was so funny that repeating it will be even funnier.
He made his way through next five with growing annoyance. He reached for the next one when he heard a knock on the door. He sighed knowing very well who was waiting on the other side of the door.
"Come in!" he called and took a sip of his wine.
Dumbledore entered the room and sat down on the other chair in front of the desk.
"How was your day?" Dumbledore asked politely.
"Boring," Severus muttered as he reached for the essay.
That was a lie, spending the day with the Blacks could be anything but not boring, but that was something which Dumbledore didn't needed to know.
"How can I help you Professor?" he asked grimly.
"I don't think that Mirzam Verascez is doing her job, Severus," said Dumbledore with heavy sigh. "I need you to spy on her."
"How I'm supposed to spy on her while I'm still teaching, Professor?" Severus asked pointedly.
Dumbledore pulled out from his pocket a small clepsydra and lied it on the desk as he said, "Time-turner. Day worth. I want to be notified about any progress with the search."
"You really intend to send the boy back to his aunt," Severus muttered.
"That's the safest place for him. No one can hurt him there," Dumbledore said gravely.
"Yet someone managed to kidnap him from that house," Severus snorted. "If I know one thing about Lily this one is certain, she would never want her son to live with her sister, Dumbledore. They didn't made Black his godfather for laugh."
"Sirius Black is in Azkaban," Dumbledore replied sternly. "He made his choice."
'He did,' Severus thought. 'You have no idea.'
Here was perfect opportunity to inform meddling Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that now he had a new problem which went under the name of Sirius Black. He could tell the old codger that Black was free man again but he stopped himself from doing it. Watching Dumbledore reading Daily Prophet tomorrow was far more entertaining though than watching his face here where he could rage as much as he wanted.
"Black was an Auror and was supposed to be a much more better protection for the boy than his aunt," Severus pointed out. "But since we can't turn back time," he paused and glanced at the time-turner, "this much, let's not cry over spilt milk. What had happened, had happened and we have to accept the consequences. I will spy Verascez but for now can I finish grading the essays?"
Dumbledore nodded as he stood up and left the room.
'You don't know what is going to hit you, especially if Black decides to sue you for endangering his godson,' he thought to himself and quickly made a mental note to suggest Black doing so.
He came back to the essays in much more lighter mood. He finished grading the essays shortly before midnight and went to sleep.
Next morning he walked into the Great Hall few steps after Dumbledore. He sat down on his chair and with disinterest started eating his breakfast. He consumed his breakfast and reached for his tea when he glimpsed the first owl with Daily Prophet flying into Great Hall. The owl was followed by another five which landed at the staff table.
Severus peeked at Dumbledore who was unfolding his Daily Prophet. He scanned few first lines and a scowl appeared on his face. He folded the newspaper and threw it at the ground.
Severus resisted a smirk and quickly turned to his Daily Prophet. The title claimed in capital letters "'Supposed Traitor and Multi-Murderer, Sirius Black' as cleared of all charges against him due to imprisonment of Peter Pettigrew who turned out to be You-Know-Who's spy and the murderer of twelve Muggles." Someone even found the photograph of Black in his Auror uniform and put it under the article.
'Wait till Black gets a wind that you want to spy his intended, Dumbledore,' he thought to himself. 'He will make your life a living hell.'
Sirius entered Diagon Alley and pulled the hood of his cloak so hard that it covered his face from anyone who was looking at him. He and Mirzam decided that it would be good for them if they didn't showed up together in public until Sirius came back to the Aurors, also keeping the public unaware of the wedding for few weeks would be a good thing.
He quickly passed the alley and found himself in front of Ollivander's Shop. He peeked inside through the door and saw that Ollivander was alone. He entered the shop and pulled down his hood.
Ollivander immediately spotted him and greeted him cheerfully, "Mr Black I was expecting to see you today."
"Thank you," Sirius nodded.
"Let's see which one will suit you this time," Ollivander said happily. "12 inches, dragon's heartstring, maple."
"Broken by the Aurors," Sirius confirmed with a small nod.
"Let's try this one," Ollivander said as he pulled from the shelf one book and opened it. "10 inches, unicorn's hair, ebony," he added as he handed the want to Sirius.
Sirius accepted the wand and waved it in the air. Nothing happened.
"Maybe this one, quite unusual combination," Ollivander said as he took the wand from Sirius and handed him another one. "12 inches, phoenix feather and unicorn's hair, holly and ebony."
"Aren't wands supposed to have only one core and one type of wood?" asked Sirius nervously as he took it from Ollivander's hand.
"Generally they…" Ollivander started but didn't finished the sentence because he had to duck from the spark which came from the wand. "I will find something else."
Sirius nodded and he handed Ollivander back the wand.
About a hour and forty wands later Ollivander shook his head as the wand number forty-three did nothing.
"Twelve inches seems to be a good measure," he muttered more to himself than to Sirius. "Dragon's heartstring doesn't works as good as it is supposed to and unicorn's hair doesn't works at all."
"Maybe I'm hopeless case," Sirius chuckled although there was nothing funny in this situation.
"Nobody is a hopeless case Mr Black," sighed Ollivander. "How about, 12 inches phoenix's feather and… and… why not teak," he said as he wandered to the shelf and pulled out the box.
Sirius took the wand and felt the warmth spreading through his fingers.
Ollivander sighed in relief and chuckled, "This one was the third one I wanted to try Mr Black but the birch one distracted me."
"I'm sorry," said Sirius sheepishly.
"That would be nine galleons Mr Black," said Ollivander.
Sirius paid for the wand and stepped out of the shop. He glanced up and down the Diagon Alley and decided that for one day he did enough of shopping. It was the highest time to come back home.
He wandered in the direction of Leaky Cauldron when he felt someone grabbing his hand. Immediately he turned around to glare at the offender but found no one. The grip on his hand, however, remained.
"Book a room at Leaky Cauldron, I need to talk with you Black," came a quiet hiss.
The hiss reminded Sirius of Snape and he quickly nodded. He felt that the hand which gripped his let go and he went to Leaky Cauldron.
Leaky Cauldron didn't changed for a single bit. He survived the room looking for Tom, whom he found behind the bar bend over the newspaper.
'Good, at least he won't hex me,' Sirius thought and he quickly approached the bar.
"I need a room for about a hour, maybe two," Sirius said calmly. "Do you have a free one?"
Tom looked at him, he seemed a bit frightened but he handed the key to the room nevertheless as he said, "Room number 2."
Sirius nodded and went upstairs. He opened the door to the room and waited a moment before he closed them and leaned against them.
Invisibility Cloak fell to the floor and Sirius found himself staring at Snape.
"I'm not supposed to be here, that's why I borrowed the cloak from Dumbledore," Snape said quickly.
"Dumbledore doesn't needs a cloak to be invisible," Sirius pointed out and then he remembered something, "This one belonged to James."
"Trust me I wouldn't take it if I didn't had to," Snape sighed. "Anyway straight to the business. Dumbledore wants me to spy your intended. Reason the same as I mentioned yesterday. He also seemed quite unhappy about your innocence."
"Thinks that I'm going to cause him troubles?" Sirius asked curiously.
"You may," Snape snorted. "After Harry's case is closed I strongly advise you playing distraught godfather and charge Dumbledore for endangering the life of your godson. Pretty convincing for the public it will be and may be will drive Dumbledore's suspicions from you and your family."
"That's good idea," Sirius muttered. "Very good idea, I bet that uncle Ignatius can come with something good."
"While your intended will 'keep looking' for the kid I advise a visit in the canals, eventually morgue for a homeless guy," Snape added quickly.
"How we are going to administer the Polyjuice to a corpse?" Sirius asked curiously.
"Syringe," Snape replied. "We will drain some blood from the corpse and fill the veins with Polyjuice. Hopefully in a matter of about a hour we are going to have Harry Potter's corpse."
"When you can be ready with Polyjuice?" Sirius asked quickly.
"Wednesday evening but I won't be able to come till Thursday. If not Thursday then maybe at the weekend," Snape said pensively.
"So I better steal some body before Thursday," Sirius muttered to himself.
"Put a cooling charm on it, we don't want it to rot before we can apply it," Snape said.
Walburga put the plate full of sliced apples in front of Homam and watched him as he started eating. Sirius was still at Diagon Alley, Mirzam was upstairs, sleeping after Walburga slipped her three spoonfuls of Dreamless Sleep Potion into her tea. Regulus was still sleeping, in fact threatened Walburga with painful death if she wouldn't let him sleep some more. Lupin who stayed overnight was in the garden, fighting losing battle with the weeds.
"Where is daddy?" asked Homam curiously.
"He is shopping, Hommy," answered Walburga. "He should be back soon."
As if Sirius timed his return Walburga heard the front door opening and few seconds later Sirius entered the kitchen. He was still wrapped in his travelling cloak.
He bend over Homam and kissed the kid on the cheek then he went to Walburga and did the same.
"How was your trip to Diagon Alley?" Walburga asked curiously.
"Good," Sirius answered. "No one bothered me, except Snape, speaking about him I need to get out in the evening to finish the business we talked about yesterday," he said pointedly as he sat down in a chair next to Walburga.
Walburga nodded as glanced at Sirius's empty right hand and asked, "I hope you bought a wand."
Sirius snickered as he pulled out his wand from his pocket and said, "12 inches, phoenix's feather, teak. Wand number forty-four."
Walburga chuckled at that and said, "You take it after Orion. Alphard told me that it took your father two hours and ninety-nine wands before he found his own."
"I hope that Homam will not take this part after us," Sirius sighed. Then he changed the subject, "Where is Mirzam? I need to ask her about something."
"Upstairs," Walburga replied. "She didn't looked like she slept last night so I slipped her Dreamless Sleep Potion into her tea."
At that Sirius paled drastically and asked her in a trembling voice, "How much did you gave her, mum?"
"Three spoonfuls," Walburga replied nervously. "Is she allergic to one of the ingredients?"
Sirius shook his head and he leaned closer to Walburga before he replied, "She isn't allergic, mum. She is addicted to Dreamless Sleep Potion, or I should rather say, was addicted to it by the time she entered the training."
"Why?" Walburga asked quietly.
"Nightmares with her grandmother," Sirius replied. "She didn't exactly had easy childhood…"
"I'm aware of it," Walburga cut him off.
"After her parents had died and she chose to go to orphanage the nightmares had started. They were very violent and after three weeks of lack of sleep she started taking Dreamless Sleep Potion. She continued taking it till I cornered her about it after we became partners," Sirius explained.
"How bad they were?" Walburga asked quietly.
"Very bad," Sirius sighed and he rubbed his head. "She still had nightmares even after I made her stop taking the potion. In fact I think that they worsened. But I didn't knew it until we went to Finland."
"What had happened in Finland, beside you catching Garbageworthy?" Walburga asked.
"In Finland we lived in one-bedroom cottage, with one bed, in fact. Don't look at me like that we kept our hands to each other back then. My point is that she woke me in the middle of our first night there, screaming like someone was trying to murder her. That's when I found about the nightmares," Sirius said quickly. "I managed to talk her into uneasy sleep and next day I suggested her that I would teach her Occlumency. She continued to have nightmares, they didn't subsided quickly but by the time we were supposed to leave she was sleeping all night long without a single nightmare."
"She had one last night," Walburga said pensively.
"She did, woke us up," Sirius confirmed. "Did she had any since she moved here?"
"As far as I'm aware of it, she didn't," Walburga replied then added slowly. "She meet her grandmother at Saturday, I was there."
"That explains a lot," Sirius mumbled.
It was decided that a basement hidden behind the right side of kitchen door was supposed to be temporary place of eternal rest of one Sebastian Greenleaf, known now as Harry Potter. Sirius, Remus and Snape had been present at administering the Polyjuice Potion to the corpse and now were staring at perfect replica of Harry Potter.
"I feel unyielding need to check upon the kid," Remus mumbled. "It's just too creepy."
"It's the only option unless we want to end in Azkaban," Snape muttered.
"So now we wait till 2nd April when Mirzam is going to 'accidentally' check the canals at Fleet Street," Sirius mumbled. "I need a drink after this one. What about you two?"
"I second that statement," Remus mumbled.
"I'm with him," Snape muttered. "Are you sure that your mother took your aunts and grandmother upstairs for fitting the wedding dress for your intended?" he asked curiously.
"One hundred percent sure," Sirius replied. "Plus Regulus is sulking somewhere upstairs so he won't be coming down to the kitchen. Any idea why he sulks so much?" he asked curiously.
"You will find out soon enough and then you would wish that you didn't," Remus sighed.
Sirius opened the secret door to the kitchen and peeked inside. The kitchen was empty. They managed to leave the room and close the door when they heard footsteps on the kitchen stairs and Regulus entered the room.
"Bachelor's party and I'm not invited?" Regulus asked grimly.
"Who stuck a broomstick into your butt?" asked Sirius curiously.
"I can't find Kreacher," Regulus muttered as he sat down on one of the chairs.
"Why you need him?" asked Sirius.
"Unfinished business," Regulus replied grimly. "Ready for big day Sior?" he changed the subject.
"As ready as I can be," Sirius replied. "The wedding is in four days, everything is prepared. Grandpa Polly is supposed to visit Dromeda today and invite them. I have my suit, Remus has new suit. Mirzam is upstairs with the scary lot."
"She is amazing that she can handle them," Regulus mumbled.
The house number four at Shepherdes Walk in London looked like any typical house in the neighbourhood. If Pollux didn't knew better he would never guess that his granddaughter and her family was living there.
With an uneasy feeling he knocked on the door. Last time he saw Dromeda was after her graduation from Hogwarts when she announced that she is marrying Muggle-born wizard, Ted Tonks. Droma had every right to kick him out now but still he had to try, for Sirius.
The door opened a bit and revealed a little girl, about eight years old. The girl had the most unusual appearance he ever saw. She had pink hair pulled in two pigtails which were sticking in two sides. Her eyes were violet, exactly the same shade as Mirzam's were.
"How can I help you?" the girl asked curiously.
"Is your mum home, err?" he asked nervously even if he felt stupid about being intimidated by little girl.
"Dora," said the girl simply. "Mum and dad are still at home."
"Nymphadora who's there?" called feminine voice from the confines of the house.
"What's your name, Sir?" asked the girl.
"Polly," he mumbled. "Polly Black."
"Mister Polly Black mum!" the girl called.
"Merlin's beard!" came exclamation from the inside and soon two pairs of footsteps indicated that someone was coming.
The door had been pulled open a bit more wider and revealed his granddaughter and fairy-haired man. Both looked very surprised.
"Grandfather," Andromeda whispered. "What you are doing here?"
Pollux plastered the biggest and nicest smile he could make on his face and glanced at Andromeda.
"Are you three busy at 1st April?" he asked cheerfully.
"No, why are you asking?" Andromeda asked carefully.
"Because…" Pollux stammered. "Because … Oh for Merlin's sake it's not that hard," he mumbled to himself. "Because the family wants to invite you to the wedding and wedding party of Sirius Black and Mirzam Verascez," he recited. "Women are going to kill me if you don't agree to come."
"Sirius is with the family?" Andromeda asked in shock.
"Had been since they released him from Azkaban," Pollux replied quickly.
"Isn't Mirzam Verascez one of the Aurors?" asked the man, Ted, curiously. "A known Muggle-born in fact."
"She is," Pollux confirmed. "Great girl, has good taste in football teams, regardless what Archie and Sirius claim."
"Football teams?" Andromeda whispered. "Did I heard you correctly grandfather? Sirius is at Grimmauld Place, due to be married to a Muggle-born Auror and the family is okay with it?"
Pollux nodded in confirmation.
"Are you sure that we are still talking about the same Black family?" Andromeda asked sceptically.
"You can go with me and check by yourself," said Pollux. "I have to go to Grimmauld anyway. Someone has to save Homam from his aunts."
"Homam?" Andromeda asked tentatively.
"Sirius's and Mirzam's son," Pollux explained. "Cute kid, you are going to love him, everybody does."
"Mum, I want to go," said the girl as she raised her head to look at her parents who looked wary.
"Ever tried Side-Along-Apportation?" Pollux asked the girl.
She shook her head.
"It's great," Pollux winked at the girl. "You just grab the hold on the one who is apparating and get pulled with him.
If Andromeda didn't seemed to want to go on her own then he will have to make her come after him.
The girl ran to him and grabbed his hand. He tightened the hold on her hand to not lose her along the way and winked at Andromeda.
"See you at Grimmauld," he said and disapprated.
He apparated to the hall at Grimmauld with the girl at his side.
"Wow," the girl mumbled. "That was cool."
"Told you so," Pollux chuckled. "Want ice-cream, Dora?"
"Sure," Dora said happily.
He walked down the kitchen stairs with Dora still holding his hand. In the kitchen were sitting his grandsons and they friends. Sirius looked calm and Regulus looked like someone had poured him a whole bottle of vinegar into his drink.
"Hey grandpa," Sirius called when he saw him. "That would be Dora, am I right?"
"Hey Sirry!" Dora said happily and she let go of Pollux's hand as she ran to hug Sirius. "You are getting married."
"Yep," Sirius confirmed then he turned to Pollux. "Where is Droma?"
"As far as motherly love goes, about thirty seconds behind me," Pollux snickered. "Is your soon-to-be-wife still suffering on the hands of your aunts?"
"Still upstairs," Sirius nodded and snickered. "Homam is with them. I didn't had a chance to kidnap him from the cave of the dragon."
"They should come down soon enough," Regulus sighed. "Grandpa Archie and uncle Iggy are supposed to come here for lunch."
"What had happened to your hair Dora?" asked Lupin curiously.
The girl beamed at him as she said, "They change."
"How?" Regulus asked curiously, his bad mood seemed to disappear instantly.
"I'm a Metamorphomagus," said the girl seriously.
"That explains violet eyes," Pollux mumbled.
"I like them," said Dora. "Violet eyes are very beautiful."
"Then you are going to love Sirius's wife, she has violet eyes herself," Pollux said.
"Does she has pink hair?" asked Dora curiously.
"Nope, her hair are curly and jet-black," Sirius answered.
"Long or short?" Dora continued prodding.
"Waist-length," Sirius replied.
"Like that?" asked Dora and she started changing.
Her hair turned from pink to jet-black, lengthened till they were reaching her waist and started curling. In front of them was standing miniature Mirzam.
When Cassiopeia, Melania and Lucretia left the room Mirzam sized her opportunity to escape. She quickly changed from the wedding dress into her most favourite violet shirt and blue jeans, gathered Homam into her arms and left the room.
"Any idea why your father and I are the most calm people in this family when it comes to the wedding?" she asked Homam as they were walking down the stairs.
Homam shook his head.
"Same here," Mirzam admitted. "Same here, Hommy."
She entered the kitchen and stopped suddenly when she saw a little girl which looked like her carbon copy. She glanced around and saw smiling Sirius at the table.
"Hey Mirzam," he said and then he pointed at the girl. "That would be Nymphadora Tonks, Droma's daughter."
"Hey Mirzam," said Nymphadora as she approached Mirzam. "Please call me Dora," she added as she extended her hand.
Mirzam shifted Homam to the left and grabbed girl's right hand. The hand was very warm, but not in usual way. It was the same kind of warmth Mirzam felt when she held her wand for the first time.
"Hey Dora," Mirzam said tentatively.
"You really have violet eyes," said Dora seriously as she still held Mirzam's hand.
"You too," Mirzam smiled at Dora.
"My eyes are blue like my dad's but I like them more when they are violet," said Dora. "I'm Metamorphomagus."
Dora looked at her curiously as if she was looking for something then she smiled widely.
"Mirzam," Sirius said suddenly. "Your hair."
She looked at him as she asked, "What's wrong with them?"
"They changed colour, they are violet," Sirius replied calmly.
"You are one," said Dora happily which made Mirzam look back at the girl.
"I'm what?" Mirzam asked nervously.
"You are Metamorphomagus," Dora explained seriously.
"But how?" Mirzam mumbled. "I never changed my appearance."
"You did," Sirius said seriously as he stood up from his chair. "During Donowavn's case. Your hair turned auburn for a moment before they came back to their normal colour."
"That's interesting," Pollux said curiously.
Mirzam stared at them in shock.
"That means that Dora here is right and you are Metamorphomagus," said Pollux seriously.
"But I always had black hair and violet eyes," she mumbled then she remembered something.
Animagi. Brown-furred cat, golden-furred dog and raven. Metamorphomagi explained it all but then again she never changed at will.
"It would be easy to prove," Sirius pointed out. "Change your hair back."
She let go of Dora's hand and brought a lose strand of her hair to her eyes. She concentrated at her normal jet-black colour and watched in surprise as they started changing from violet to jet-black.
"Why it didn't happened sooner?" she mumbled, more to herself than to the others.
"The answer to your question is in your past Mirzam," said Pollux seriously. "You were never aware of this ability and if you started changing you were obviously under strong emotional stress. That explains everything."
"It does," she mumbled.
"I can show you how to change," said Dora happily. "We are going to have a lot of fun."
1st April arrived sooner than Walburga suspected. Since Andromeda and Ted visited, or rather came to Dora's rescue five minutes after Walburga's father brought the girl to Grimmauld, time seemed to fly like the fastest broomstick on the market.
Dora was visiting Grimmauld every afternoon. She was doing her homework under Walburga's watchful eye before she ran to Mirzam with whom they locked in one of the rooms for hours, sometimes they were accompanied by Sirius or Lupin or both. Lupin himself practically moved into Grimmauld on Sirius insistence, Walburga didn't minded his presence at all. Lupin was nice chap who dotted on Homam as much as the rest of the family if not more and was very easy to talk to. Together with Lucretia he prepared the garden for the wedding so beautifully that Walburga was speechless when he saw new look of the garden for the first time.
On the morning of Sirius's and Mirzam's wedding Walburga came down to the kitchen where she found all members of the family, plus Lupin and Snape seated around the table. They were chatting and joking happily and acted like the wedding wasn't supposed to be only four hours away.
"Morning everyone," Walburga greeted them.
"Morning mum," Sirius, Mirzam and Regulus called in unison.
"Morning grandma," called Homam from Sirius's knees.
"Morning Wally," called the rest of the family.
"Morning madam," called Snape and Lupin.
"Do I have to remind you that the wedding is in four hours?" Walburga asked curiously.
"You don't have to mum," Sirius snickered. "We are going to have panic attack after breakfast."
The breakfast was happy and comfortable affair but as Sirius predicted after the dishes had been cleared from the table everybody seemed to experience a panic attack. Cassiopeia, Lucretia and Melania hauled Mirzam to the room where she was supposed to change into wedding dress. Walburga joined them after she entrusted Ted, who seemed to be only one calm enough member of the family with taking care of Homam and dressing him up when the right time arrived. Anromeda and Dora joined the rest of women soon after Walburga.
"The food for the party is at Park Road," said Melania without stopping fussing over Mirzam. "Kreacher and Starshine are going to bring them over exactly at fifteen minutes after noon. Lupin turned into Sirius's shadow and tries his best to make him look appreciable. Regulus and Snape are in the garden checking if everything is fine."
"Shacklebolt and Madam Bones are supposed to arrive fifteen minutes before the ceremony," added Lucretia nervously.
"Ted is minding Homam as he is supposed to. Dora stop squirming," mumbled Andromeda.
"Why do we need three hours for dressing up?" asked Mirzam calmly, she seemed to be the only calm person in the room.
"Because we need to make sure that everything is going to be fine. Now Mirzam stop squirming so I can brush your hair," said Melania bossily.
Sirius managed to avoid his grandfathers for about two hours before they finally cornered him in his old bedroom. Together with Remus and Regulus they made him put on his dress robe and made his hair. When they left the room about five minutes before Shacklebolt and Madam Bones were supposed to show up Sirius went to the mirror and stared at his reflection.
His hair looked terrible, as if a dog swiped his tongue through it.
"I look like Lucius Malfoy," he snorted and ruffled them so they looked more like his. "Now that's better."
He peered from the room checking if no one was standing outside. The landing and the stairs seemed clear and he left the room. He made his way to the room where Mirzam and the rest of the women were supposed to be and knocked on the door.
"If it's you Sirius, go away," called his mother through the door. "You aren't supposed to see Mirzam until the wedding."
"I just want to remind you that the wedding is in eighteen minutes," he called back through the door.
He snickered silently when he heard more rustling inside the room and went to look for Homam. He found him with Ted in the library, both were already changed into their dressing robes.
"You have the most calm job to do today," Sirius snickered.
"Trust me I do," Ted replied. "You didn't saw my mother and aunts fussing over Dromeda before our wedding. They were bonkers, yours are personification of the word calmness."
"For a reason unknown to me Mirzam and I are seem to be the most calm people in the house," he admitted.
"If you didn't wanted the fuss, then you should have married her a lot sooner," Ted pointed out.
Sirius was about to reply when he heard a knock on the door.
"I will get it," he said as he walked from the library.
"No you don't," huffed Remus who suddenly appeared on the corridor and pushed him back into the library. "That's best man's job."
Sirius sighed heavily and he leaned against the wall.
"They are in the garden already," said Lucretia quietly. "Sirius is chatting with Shacklebolt. Lupin is trailing after him like a shadow. Mum, Cassie, Droma and Dora are there too."
"Good, go to the garden and call Shacklebolt here. I will join you in a moment," Mrs Black muttered as she straightened for the hundred time the tiara on Mirzam's head.
"Better go now, I will be fine," Mirzam mumbled impatiently.
All the fussing for last three hours was driving her nuts.
Mrs Black glanced at her one last time and with a small nod she left the hall and went to the garden.
"Now I know why the wedding is considered as one of the most stressful events in one's life," Mirzam sighed when the door after Mrs Black clicked shut.
She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes and gripped the bouquet of purple lilac tighter.
'Calm down Mirzam. Nothing bad will happen. There will be no bombing, no Death Eaters, no grandmother,' she told herself. 'Only good things. You are marrying the man you love and who loves you. Everything is going to be fine.'
She was so concentrated on calming herself down that she didn't heard that Shacklebolt entered the hall.
"Having second thoughts now, are you?" he asked curiously as she opened her eyes and stared at him.
"Nope. I'm just worried that something bad may happen. Don't worry I'm just paranoid," she replied.
"You don't need to worry. You have five Aurors at the wedding, yourself and your hubby-to-be included. Plus as far as I remember Lupin, Snape and Blackie were quite exceptional duellist. If someone faints there is a Healer to. So stop worrying, start smiling and let's go," Shacklebolt said quickly as he hooked his right arm under hers left.
"Let's go," Mirzam said and smiled at Shacklebolt.
From her chair in the front row on the left side of the aisle Walburga smirked when she saw that Sirius eyes followed Shacklebolt to the garden door. Knowing Sirius's impatience he was an inch away from going to Mirzam by himself. Thankfully Lupin lied his hand on Sirius's left shoulder and Sirius managed to turn around and send Lupin a meaningful glare before he turned back to look at the door. Walburga glanced around, the door opened and Mirzam and Shacklebolt walked down the stairs into the garden.
Shacklebolt looked a bit intimidating, almost like a real father of the bride. Mirzam on the other hand was glowing with inner warmth. She looked beautiful in Lucretia's wedding dress. Her long, curly hair were let loose and were cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall.
Walburga heard the gasps from left and right. She wasn't the only one who thought that Mirzam looked beautiful today. Shacklebolt and Mirzam reached the end of the aisle where Shacklebolt handed Sirius hers left hand and stepped away. Sirius himself looked gobsmacked but he held on Mirzam's hand tightly.
"Ladies and gentlemen," said Madam cheerfully. "We gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls…" the rest of her words were muffled by Lucretia's sniff. "Do you, Sirius Orion, take Mirzam Mira to be your lawful wedded wife?"
"I do," Sirius replied in slightly shaking from emotions voice.
"Will you love, respect and honour her throughout your years together?" Madam Bones asked solemnly.
"I will," Sirius replied.
"Do you, Mirzam Mira, take Sirius Orion to be your lawful wedded husband?" Madam Bones turned to Mirzam.
"I do," Mirzam replied with a smile.
"Will you love, respect and honour him throughout your years together?" Madam Bones asked.
"I will," Mirzam replied and she smiled at Sirius.
"Then I declare you bonded for life," said Madam Bones and she raised her wand high over the heads of Sirius and Mirzam and a shower of silver stars fell upon them, spiralling around their now entwined figures.
Walburga felt a lone tear falling down her cheeks. Her son got married and the only thing she regretted now was that Orion didn't lived to see this day.
It took all willpower he possessed to not run to Mirzam on his own but he still couldn't help but gaze longingly at the garden door. Mirzam was supposed to be here any moment now. He felt Remus's hand at his left shoulder and turned around to glare at his friend before he turned back to look at the door. He wasn't that impatient for Merlin's sake.
The door opened slowly and Mirzam and Shacklebolt stepped into the garden. Sirius barely acknowledged Shacklebolt's presence, he was staring at Mirzam. She looked beautiful, far more beautiful than she looked during her second visit in Azkaban. Her long, curly hair were let loose and were cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall. Her eyes were sparkling with mirth. Her body was glowing with inner warmth. In her hands she was holding a small bouquet of purple lilac and Sirius felt that his knees went weak.
He felt like he was stunned but didn't lost consciousness. He could only stare at her, and her only.
It seemed that the ages had passed before they reached him and Shacklebolt gave Sirius Mirzam's left hand. Sirius grabbed her hand and held on it tightly.
She smiled at him and he smiled back. He barely acknowledged that Madam Bones cleared her throat.
"Ladies and gentlemen," said Madam cheerfully and Sirius glanced at her. "We gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls. Let the fate allow them long and happy life together. Do you, Sirius Orion, take Mirzam Mira to be your lawful wedded wife?"
"I do," Sirius replied in a shaky from emotions voice.
"Will you love, respect and honour her throughout your years together?" Madam Bones asked solemnly.
"I will," Sirius replied solemnly and glanced at Mirzam.
"Do you, Mirzam Mira, take Sirius Orion to be your lawful wedded husband?" Madam Bones asked.
"I do," Mirzam replied without turning her head from Sirius and she gave him a smile which made him felt like melting.
"Will you love, respect and honour him throughout your years together?" Madam Bones asked.
"I will," Mirzam replied and her smile widened.
"Then I declare you bonded for life," said Madam Bones and she raised her wand high over their heads and a shower of silver stars fell upon them, spiralling around them as Sirius bend over to kiss his wife.
He felt the warmth on his left ring finger which meant that the wedding rings had appeared. From now they were a husband and a wife.
Awaiting criticism.
This chapter had been previously named 'Happiness and Sorrows' but after I wrote the wedding part I decided to let all good things happen here and the bad things are happening in the next one. Wedding scene is heavily based on Fleur's and Bill's wedding scene from DH.
Next chapter: Where Harry Potter is found dead, Sirius acts like outraged godfather, Dumbledore gets into a lot of troubles. Regulus finally finds Kreacher while young Mrs and Mr Black are leading their first case after Sirius's imprisonement. New child in the family - I will let you wrack your mind till you read this chapter but the only think I can said is that Mirzam is not pregnant and probably won't be for next few years.