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Chapter 42
Harry surveyed his friends quietly. They didn't have to wait long for Ron and Neville to arrive after they had decided to go to the Room of Requirement. He had just informed them about what Sirius – and especially Regulus – had told him at Grimmauld Place.
Hermione was looking rather pale and every time she glanced at the locket, she made a face as if she wanted to vomit right on the spot, whereas Neville was just staring into space with a slightly thoughtful but frightened expression.
„So you're saying that this ancient locket - which belonged to Salazar Slytherin, mind you - has a piece of Voldemort's soul in it?" asked Draco, sounding more annoyed than worried while suspiciously eying the golden locket and holding it up with two fingers.
"Yeah..." sighed Harry. "And according to Sirius and Regulus it seems impossible to destroy. They tried everything."
"So they just decided it'll be the best to stash it away in Hogwarts?" he asked incredulously and then put the locket back on the table in front of him. "Not that I don't understand their reasoning, but even though we researched Horcruxes, we don't know if they can be dangerous when you're around them for too long."
Neville's eyes focused on them and he shortly looked at Ron (who looked like he was pouting while tracing circles on the sofa with his wand) and then shook his head in disbelief, before giving the locket a small glance and then turning to Harry: "Not only that... in none of the books there is an explanation on how to destroy Horcruxes... what if... what if they're indestructible?"
Hermione startled them all by furiously shaking her head and answered: "That's impossible. Voldemort's not the only one who's made Horcruxes to stay alive. Others before him did so too. If there's no way to destroy them, then at least some of the people who made one would still be running around. There has to be a way."
"I agree with that. But what I don't understand is why Regulus and Sirius only decided to tell you about the locket now," murmured Draco. "You said this locket is the reason for Regulus dying... so where the hell has this thing been all these years?"
"In a cabinet at Grimmauld Place," replied Harry and flexed his foot when it began to fall asleep. "I still remember when Sirius first talked to Regulus last summer while Mrs. Weasley made us clean the house. When I mentioned to him that we were cleaning out the cabinets he went up there."
"Maybe there are other Horcruxes at Grimmauld Place..." suggested Neville and Harry shook his head in the negative.
"No, Sirius searched the whole house and he said even Dumbledore couldn't find anything after he had to leave the school. What worries me is that he also doesn't seem know how to destroy them. Hell, even Nicolas doesn't know it!"
"Great!" groaned Draco and slumped deeper into the sofa. "So we've got a Horcrux and no one has the slightest idea how to destroy it!"
Harry nodded and took the locket back. "Well, at least we have one."
Ron stopped tracing circles with his wand and looked up. "Am I the only one who's got no clue where in Merlin's name the other Horcruxes could be? Bloody hell, we don't even know how many there are! Not to mention what they are! How the hell are we supposed to get a hold on all of them?"
With one last look, Harry let the locket disappear back into his pocket and shook his head. "No, I believe you're not the only one who's asking himself that question... but we can't do much more than let Dumbledore, Nick or Sirius try to locate other Horcruxes now, can we? At the moment we're stuck here in school and I doubt we'd be able to leave secretly, now that Voldemort's back out in the open."
"And? We can still flash around if we need to," Ron said. "I see no problem there."
"Haven't you noticed the wards strengthening themselves? If not then try flashing around. It doesn't work anymore. I appeared in front of the gates when I flashed back from Grimmauld Place."
Hermione absentmindedly scratched her cheek and then shook her head. "I guess we'll have to wait until the holidays to start looking into it more... the Hogwarts library doesn't help us, so our only option is to search the Black library at Grimmauld Place. D'you all agree with that?"
Harry was the first to nod. "Suits me just fine. I need a little break until then..."
The others agreed as well and then Draco looked at his watch and got up. "Well I've got to patrol the corridors with Daphne and you know how she gets when I turn up late. See you tomorrow then."
The blond left the room and a comfortable silence enveloped them all. Then Ron shook his head and stood up. "Harry... do they expect you to just flick your finger and the Horcrux will disappear?" he asked with a frown. "Why give it to you and not Dumbledore or Flamel?"
With a small shrug, Harry replied: "Sirius didn't give it to me, he just said I should hide it in this room here. I don't think he and Dumbledore have some ulterior motive other than showing us that the Horcruxes are really... well, real."
The redhead nodded and smiled slightly while Harry stood up and went over to one of the cupboards where they stored their equipment. He carefully emptied one of the drawers and let the small vials of potions that had been in there float over to a nearby shelf. The golden locket shimmered in the light when he held it up once more and with a shake of his head, Harry placed it in the drawer and shut it.
When he went back to the sofa, Ron was frowning once more, but then gave him a small grin. "Sorry, I'm just a little on the edge because of those blasted Horcruxes. And... oh shit! I need to do my homework!"
He turned to Neville who had wandered off to one of the bookshelves when Harry had put the locket away. "Oi! Can you help me with my Herbology homework? I totally forgot to do it! And I can't even use the Ministry as an excuse because she assigned it two weeks ago!"
Neville smiled slightly. "Sure, why not? D'you mind coming to the Huflepuff Common Room, though? I've got all my books and even the finished essay there."
The redhead nodded and with a wave the two left the room, leaving Harry and Hermione alone. Harry sighed tiredly, closed his eyes, leaned deeper into the sofa-cushions and started to massage his temples. The last two days had been hell and he still felt the lingering pain of his recently healed injuries.
Hermione put a hand on his arm. "Harry... are you okay? I mean... I understand your outburst this afternoon, but... what was it that made you lose your temper like that? Was it... was it me being a know-it-all?"
"No!" Harry's eyes quickly opened and he turned to Hermione, taking her hand in his. She was biting her lip and not looking at him. "Mione it's definitely not your fault! I..." he sighed and drove a hand through his hair.
"I just couldn't hold it in any longer. The things happening this year... Voldemort's letters, the Dursleys' and all those peoples' deaths, the break-out from Azkaban and then the Ministry... I just feel so... so helpless knowing that most of these things happened because Voldemort's after me."
He gave her a soft smile when she finally looked at him. "The training to resist the dragon-blood didn't help much either... I still feel dizzy occasionally and then add the fact that my whole body still hurts from the last two days."
His soft smile disappeared and he shook his head with a tired sigh. "I just want to have a normal year at school... only one. For Hogwarts supposedly being the safest place I've surely knocked on death's door often enough..."
Hermione continued to look at him and with dread, Harry could see small tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. She slowly leaned forward and buried her face into his chest. He embraced softly, but didn't really know what else to do when her whole body suddenly started to shake.
"Hermione... what? Why are you crying now?" he asked at a total loss.
She shook her head and suddenly he heard soft giggles before she let go of him. "You prat! I'm not crying, I'm laughing!"
He blinked at her. "Um... okay? Why are you laughing?"
She took a deep breath to calm herself down and wished the rears that still threatened to fall away. Then she smiled at him. "I'm laughing, because this was the first time ever, that you told me everything that's bothering you without me having to spent ages forcing it out of you."
Harry felt his sour mood vanish slightly and shrugged a little embarrassed. "Well..."
She stuck her tongue out at him and playfully swatted his arm. "I've got you completely whipped, hm, Mr. Potter?"
He shook his head in exasperation, before grinning slightly lasciviously. Hermione's eyes widened and she squealed and wanted to bolt when he grabbed her and maneuvered her on his lap so that her knees where on either side of him. "Don't let it go to your head..." he whispered and started to trail kisses along her collarbone and up her neck.
"I wouldn't dream of it," she replied and one of her hands entangled itself into his hair while the other went down to his back. She moaned slightly when he softly bit into her ear and craned her neck to give him more access. "God... Harry."
He smiled and shortly stopped to take a look at her face. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes closed. He loved when she got like that. He doubted that anybody would believe him when he told them, that there was more to his little bookworm. He mentally shook his head at the thought. There was no way he would let anybody get to see this side of Hermione.
His arms encircled her waist and pulled their bodies closer together. Harry smiled when a pleased sigh escaped her lips and then she softly yanked his head up and suddenly bowed down to capture his lips.
Harry groaned into the kiss and let himself sink into the cushions of the sofa when her hands started massaging his chest and her hips started to grind slightly. He moaned and felt his own body turn into pudding when her hands slit under his shirt. "By Merlin, Hermione... if you don't want me to lose control, you need to stop now..."
She giggled softly and looked at him with half-lidded eyes. "I know... I've tested your limits before, haven't I?"
He nodded and let his head fall back on the cushions when the hands on his chest were joined by her mouth. Even though they were together for nearly a year, they hadn't done it. Sure, they had driven each other crazy and Harry couldn't remember how many cold showers he had to take this year, but they both felt that sleeping together in the castle was simply not what they wanted. They both wanted their first time to be special and definitely not at Hogwarts. Additionally Hermione had – albeit hesitantly – admitted, that she would rather like to preserve her virginity until marriage.
Harry's thoughts stopped there. As much as he liked Hermione, he couldn't imagine himself marrying anyone at the moment. His mind turned back to the present, when she continued to talk: "And didn't I always know when to stop?"
"Yeah... but remember, we've got to patrol the seventh and sixth floor in half-an hour as well..." he replied rather out of breath, not knowing how much longer he could stand her ministrations without losing it. "and didn't you want to look up something about divination as well?"
"Right..." she admitted and once more captured his mouth. "And I also wanted to look up something for our OWLs..." she whispered back and then she stiffened and her eyes widened. Harry had to suppress his laughter at the look on her face.
"OH MY GOD! We've got exams in a week and I haven't studied a bit!"
...HPHPHP...
Said week later, Harry calmly left the Great Hall after their exam in Ancient Runes with a ranting Hermione in tow. He was confident that he was able to get at least an E. He (and his girlfriend as well) had used runes for magical barriers and rituals before. Other than the rest of the students, Harry therefore understood the deeper meanings behind the simple translations and hadn't hesitated to explain them. And he was sure that with Hermione it was the same.
"I can't believe I confused those two runes!" exclaimed Hermione when they stepped outside the castle and into the sun. "I wrote that Ehwaz means Defense and not Eihwaz! Oh, I bet that cost me at least four points!"
Harry shook his head. "Knock it off, Mione. You of all people don't need to worry about not getting top-marks."
She gave him a sidelong glance and then sighed. "Maybe... it's just the first time that I've studied for something for only a week... I feel as if I've made so many mistakes I could've avoided otherwise."
They stopped walking when they reached the giant tree at the Black Lake that was their favourite spot and both sat down on the soft grass. Harry positioned himself with his back against the tree and waited for Hermione to finish searching her bag for her book on Aritmancy and chuckled when the first thing she found were two bottles of butterbeer.
She gave him a small look and shook her head. "You put that in there, didn't you?" After his small nod and a smirk, she huffed playfully. "I really should stop casting featherlight- and enlarging-charms on it... I didn't even notice I was carrying them."
He slung his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him, so that she sat between his legs. With a small grumble of something Harry didn't understand, she leaned back, opened her book and decided to ignore him as much as possible, while Harry opened the two bottles. He handed one to Hermione, who automatically took it before looking at the book in her hand and then back up to give him a pointed look.
He immediately shook his head and took a sip of his butterbeer. "Don't even start nagging me about some last minute studying! You know it won't work for me anyways. But... you don't happen to have the newspaper from this morning, do you? I wasn't able to read it before you dragged me to the exam."
She opened her mouth to respond, but then decided otherwise. Instead she searched her bag and then handed him the newest Daily Prophet. "That reminds me... there's another article about Sirius in there. It says that he was now fully reinstated – d'you remember the Ministry giving him back his title?"
Harry nodded and tried to find the page the article was on, when she continued: "Well they only gave him back his title as the Head of the House of Black with that. This morning, he was legally – by the Crown - given back the title 16th Marquis of Magical Kent."
Harry blinked slightly and gave up trying to find the page. "Hold on, the Crown - as in the Queen of England – knows about magic? Why haven't I heard about that before? I thought only the Prime Minister knew about the Wizardring World." He scratched his head. "That, or I didn't really understand Narcissa when she tried to explain that stuff to me..."
Hermione gave him a small smile. "I guess you misunderstood something there. But I think that Sir-"
She was interrupted when Ron came running over to them with his training clothes on. They exchanged a surprised glance when the redhead stopped in front of them, slightly panting.
"Uh... Ron? Did we miss something?" asked Harry slowly while checking if there was really just butterbeer in his bottle. "What the hell are you doing?"
The redhead rolled his eyes. "Very funny. What does it look like I'm doing? I got bored, so I decided to go for a run. It's much more interesting than watching Lavender and Parvati polishing their nails in the common room."
Hermione's eyes narrowed and Harry had to chuckle. "And what about studying? Just because you don't have an exam today, doesn't mean that you shouldn't study a little bit for Care of Magical Creatures tomorrow!"
He gave her an odd look as if to ask if she had gone mad. "And what should I study for it? Most of us only looked at thin air while 'studying' thestrals and everyone knows what a twig looks like after sketching those bowtruckles. And if I want to describe a kneazle I just make it a mix between Crookshanks and McGonagall's animagus form."
Harry burst out laughing at that and Hermione huffed before returning to her book.
"I'm surprised to see you out here training alone though," said Harry when the redhead sat down next to them, peering at something in the distance.
With a small smile he noticed, that Ron's ears turned red and he looked down at his feet. "Actually... Loony – err... I mean, Luna - asked me after breakfast if I could help her with some additional training outside the H.A. to really shape up... as crazy as it sounds. She said something about being physically stronger would help her to catch a... Wandering... something."
He looked confused now and started to look off into the distance behind Harry once more. Harry's smile meanwhile had turned into a smirk. "Something you're not telling me?" He started playing with Hermione's hair and noticed that she hadn't turned a page for a while. A clear sign that she wasn't reading but rather listening to what they were talking about. "I didn't know you were into blondes."
Ron started to splutter and his face turned as red as his ears. Wha-? No! B-bloody hell! There's nothing going on there! She just asked me for help. That's all!"
"Uh huh," Harry replied and took another sip out of his bottle.
"There she comes," Ron grumbled then.
Harry craned his neck to look around the trunk of the big tree and saw the blond girl slowly run towards them. She had her usually flowing waist-length blond hair pulled up in a high ponytail which made her look rather different. She was not wearing her strange earrings and also had traded her school-uniform in favour of muggle-styled knee-length black pants and a bright yellow t-shirt.
When she came closer Harry could see the usual dreamy look was replaced by a fierce expression every now and then shifting between a mix of pain and exhaustion. And when she finally reached them, she slumped down between Ron and Harry and let herself fall flat on her back, her breath coming out in small gasps.
"Tired?" Harry asked bemusedly and stared down at the blond witch.
"Knackered!" she replied and surprised all of them by not adding anything about strange creatures afterwards.
Even Hermione had stopped reading now and stared at Luna with curiosity and amusement. "Do you mind me asking why you've suddenly decided to exercise more?"
Luna's breathing had calmed down and she sat up again, the dreamy look back in place. "Daddy and I will go to Sweden in the holidays and after that to Austria where the Wandering Kritchers live. But they only show themselves to people who do sports... otherwise they deem them unworthy."
Harry nodded his head as if the explanation was perfectly understandable. "So you've decided to ask Ron to show you how to do things right?"
After a short while, she nodded. "Yes, Ronald seemed to be the easiest one of the Phoenixes to approach."
Harry placed his now empty bottle on the grass next to him and gave Luna a sideways glance. "I just have to ask now: How d'you know that we're phoenixes? It's not common knowledge, y'kow?"
"Didn't the Sorting-hat say so at the beginning of the year?" she asked dreamily. "Who else would have the chance to unite the houses and teach the darkness fear, if not five friends that are all in different houses?"
Harry opened his mouth to say something, but then decided to simply let it be. He didn't really believe, that she knew about their animagus forms just because of the hat. Sure, she was right with them all being in different houses, but even so, he wasn't sure if they were all phoenixes. Neville hadn't even managed to transform into his animagus form yet.
He stared out onto the lake, not wanting to interrupt the now animated chatter between Ron, Luna and surprisingly Hermione as well and content with just tuning them out. A single eyebrow rose when a red and gold blur flew over the surface of the lake and then disappeared behind a line of trees. Some students excitedly pointed at the blur when it appeared again and then flew up into the air. Then it came closer and closer and hovered directly over Harry and his friends.
"Fawkes?" murmured Harry quietly when he was finally able to make out what the blur was.
Dumbledore's phoenix gave a loud thrill and continued to fly circles over them.
'The Headmaster wants to see you, youngling,' a voice sounded inside his head and Harry had to sigh. He didn't really want to know what the Headmaster wanted because he was still a little peeved at him for not telling him about the Horcruxes sooner. Come to think of it, he hadn't even seen the man anywhere in the castle since their talk after their trip to the Department of Mysteries.
"Mione? Care to move over a bit?" Harry asked anyway. "Dumbledore apparently needs to see me."
"I... what?" she asked perplexed. "How do you know that so suddenly?"
He simply pointed up at the sky where Fawkes was continuing to fly circles and she nodded slowly. He then turned to Luna. "D'you have time sometime after your end-of-year exams are over? I'd like to talk to you about some things that can't be brought up in a H.A. meeting."
The blond girl nodded slightly. "I'm sure the Nargels will have disappeared by then and I'll be able to answer some of your questions."
Harry smiled at her and then with a small frown turned around and started walking back to the castle. When he looked at the sky, he needed to shield his eyes from the sun to get a glimpse at Fawkes. The Phoenix was currently flying lower and lower until he landed on the tree, Hermione, Ron and Luna were still sitting under. With a small chuckle to himself at the pointing and whispering students, he entered.
...HPHPHP...
He just wanted to knock, when Dumbledore's voice told him to enter and shook his head. 'I'd like to know how he does that...'
When he opened the door, he was slightly surprised, that Dumbledore was not the only one in the office. Three more familiar persons were sitting on the old sofa on the left-hand side of the circular room and Sirius was standing not far away from them in front of the fireplace. Giving his godfather a small smile, he turned to the other three and nodded his head.
"Lord and Lady Wilkes, it's nice to see you once more. Are you well?" he asked and after receiving a greeting in return, his eyes fell on his young housemate Rose Zeller, sitting between them. "Rose, I haven't really talked to you since after your... stay in the Hospital Wing... how are you?"
The girl smiled and stood up. "Hi, Harry! I'm fine." Her smile disappeared and she looked at her feet. "I didn't have the chance to ask... but read about You-Know-Who... so... he's really back? And the world believes it? No one did when U-umbridge... when Umbridge told him to k-kill my pa-parents."
Harry sighed and gently cupped her face in his hands to wipe away the tears that had started to gather in the corner of her eyes. "Yes Rose, they all know that he's back now."
"But when he's out in the open, I have nowhere to go!" she sniffed and threw her arms around his waist.
Harry looked over her head to the two adults sitting on the sofa. They sadly shook their heads. He knew that they were her aunt and uncle, but understood that they both came from very dark families and likely would be asked to become Death Eaters. Having a niece that was foolishly seen as a muggleborn, just because two generations ago a squib had married a muggle, would prove to be very dangerous.
"I'm glad you followed my call so quickly, Harry." said Dumbledore then. "Please take a seat."
He nodded and was surprised when Rose didn't let go of him. Looking down at the brown-haired small girl, he shrugged slightly and scooped her up in his arms, before sitting down on the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk with her in his lab. He smiled slightly when he saw that Rose had blushed a little bit. He couldn't understand why the still eleven-year-old girl was so attached to him when in his opinion he was the one partly responsible for the death of her parents.
"Why did you ask me to come here, Headmaster?"
Sirius stepped forward and grinned. "Well, it was me who wanted you to come up here. There are two things. One doesn't concern you directly, but it's something I think you should have a say in as well."
"I'm listening," Harry replied simply.
Sirius started pacing around slightly. "I know that you probably think it's cheesy but I told you before that you're the closest thing I have to a son – that's why I named you my heir." He seemed to gather his thoughts. "But there lies the problem... I didn't think about it before but you don't bear my name and therefore can't be named my heir. And you know the oafs of the Ministry and their grip on traditions."
"But wasn't my grandmother a Black? Dorea Black was my dad's mother, wasn't she? She was your great-aunt. Wouldn't that normally be enough of a blood-relation?"
"True, but as soon as the Potters started to fight against Voldemort, my dear father banished her from the family-tree and ensured that no descendants of her would have claim to the title."
Harry rolled his eyes and Sirius continued. "What the Ministry fortunately doesn't know is, that in the event of my death, not Draco would be the next in line to become Head of House, but Bellatrix."
Harry's eyes widened and then he grimaced. "Bellatrix? But what about Narcissa? Or Tonks – scratch that - isn't Andromeda, Tonk's mother, the oldest of the Black-sisters?"
Sirius nodded. "She is, but even though I reinstated her back into the House of Black, she won't be able to claim the title because she only has a daughter and told me she's unable to have another child. And only a male heir can inherit the title. And Tonks doesn't seem to get married anytime soon, so..."
"But why can't Draco inherit then?" Harry asked perplexed and with a slight pout in his voice.
Sirius sighed. "Because as soon as I declared Narcissa's wedding contract with Malfoy for null and void, her and her descendants claim to the title became non-existent as well. My father took care of that while he was the Head of House, guessing that Cissy would have turned 'traitor' in the event of a divorce. And it's an irrevocable magical contract which I therefore can't cancel."
"But Bellatrix is a woman!" Harry protested, trying to sort out all the information in his head. "How can she become the Head of House? Unless..." he groaned and Sirius nodded his head when he looked at him for confirmation. A small shudder overcame him. "She and her husband would act as regents until their male heir – thank Merlin that they haven't managed to reproduce yet – is of age..."
"So you see where the problem is?" asked Sirius after a short silence and Harry nodded tiredly.
Sirius looked stricken now and cleared his throat. "Harry... I understand if you don't want to but... err... would you be willing to become my legal and official heir?"
"Your...?" Harry's eyes widened and he stared at his godfather with his mouth slightly open before catching himself. "That would mean... you really want to...?"
He wasn't able to form a full sentence at the moment and gently gestured Rose to let him stand up. Rose slit off Harry's lap and went back to her relatives and started talking to them in hushed tones while he went to stand in front of the marauder.
"Now that I'm free and you obviously can't go back to the Dursleys... it well... seemed to be a good idea. And as I said, you're like a son to me. Don't think I only do that because I don't want Bellatrix to get the title!"
"Do you mean it? You really want to..."
Sirius smiled. "Yes, I'd like to formally adopt you, Harry. If I hadn't been in Azkaban, I would have done so straight away and you would never have had to go to the Dursleys, blood-protection be damned! I bet James will kill me in the afterlife anyways..."
Harry stared at Sirius as if he had grown a second head and then shook his head in disbelief, which made his godfather's face falter – thinking he would say no. Harry then grinned. "I... of course! How can you think I'd say no to that?"
Sirius beamed at him and gave him a rough hug while Harry was still not sure if he should believe what he had just heard. Sure, Sirius being his godfather was great, but now... that would mean he would become his adoptive father!
Dumbledore cleared his throat and held up a stack of parchment and a familiar looking quill. "Sirius already arranged everything and got the papers this morning. Harry, your timely adventures are not known to the Ministry and therefore you're still considered a minor for two years to come."
When Harry wanted to open his mouth to correct the man, he held up his hand.
"Please, I know you thought you were of age since the day you turned sixteen, but it seems, like many others, you misunderstood the law the Ministry enforced last year. It only allows you to legally do magic outside of school when sixteen, but you still have to be seventeen to be considered an adult."
"Oh," was all Harry said.
"But due to your relatives' death, you're the only one who's allowed to sign his name in blood and with that approve of the adoption."
Harry nodded and stepped forward to look at the parchment.
"You will have to sign that. The other papers are an overview of all properties you have and some more documents for Sirius," Dumbledore said.
...HP...
Certificate of Adoption
Harry James Potter
Future Head of the Most Brave and Ancient House of Potter, Future Earl of Magical Somerset
with approval of:
the Department of Family-Affairs of the British Ministry of Magic
and
Harry James Potter
is declared to be the the legal son and heir to:
Lord Sirius Orion Black
Head of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black, 16th Marquis of Magical Kent
and henceforth shall officially - with all titles and responsibilities – be recognized as:
Harry James Potter-Black
:::
Signed:...Signed:...Signed:
Augustus Greengrass...Sirius Orion Black...
Head of the Department of...Head of the House of Black, etc...
Family-Affairs
...HP...
Harry stared at his new surname for a long while and felt his heart beat a little faster, before shakily grabbing the quill and looking at the space where his signature was required. He felt Sirius hand grab his shoulder and shortly smiled up at his godfather and soon to be adoptive father. It was strange to call him that in his head...
"What responsibilities are they talking about there?" he asked with a slightly shaking voice.
Sirius smiled and let his hand rest on his shoulder. "It would only mean, that in the event of my death you would be the Head of the House of Black until one of your sons is of age. So basically you would have to ensure to have two sons. The oldest one would be the heir to the Potter-line, while the younger one will be the heir of the Black-line."
Harry blushed slightly at the mention of possible future children and with his hand still shaking he signed the parchment and didn't even flinch when the blood-quill cut into the back of his hand. He then looked up at the beaming Sirius. "Siri, there's one thing though... don't expect me to call you dad, okay? That would just be too strange..."
Sirius snorted and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry pup, I wouldn't dream of it. That would just make me feel old and also I could never get used to that!"
Harry grinned back and nodded and then looked at another parchment Dumbledore held up. "What's this?"
"Well, you see, with me officially being your new father – Merlin... that really takes getting used to – it's obviously impossible for me to continue being your godfather,. This little document gives that right to someone else. And I thought... well... would you agree if Moony gets to be your new godfather? I still need to ask him, of course, but I think he would really like that and-"
"Sirius! You're rambling!" laughed Harry and nodded. "Sure, ask him and tell him I fully approve of that choice."
"So Mr. Potter-Black," Harry did a small double-take at being called that, but was sure that Dumbledore only did that to see their reaction. He doubted anyone else would call him that from now on. "We have another matter to discuss," he continued, "it's time to tell you something about a suggestion I've made to Sirius concerning young Rose here. You know that her relatives can't take her in because Voldemort will surely want to recruit them and if not, at least monitor them."
With a slight frown, Harry shook his head, not really sure where this conversation was going. "I don't mean to sound rude, but that concerns me how?"
"My- well..." Sirius grinned, "our family, has a very nasty background as you know. But unlike with the Gibbons and the Wilkes-family, Voldemort knows that he'll never get the support of the Black family - save Bellatrix's."
Sirius's face turned grim. "And you know purebloods and their constant incest... after some research I also found that Rose is a very distant relative of the Black family... fifth cousin once removed or something like that... pff, heck, she's related to nearly all the pureblooded families there are."
Harry sighed when a suspicion to where Sirius was going with that entered his mind and frowned slightly while trying to think about everything. "You want to adopt her as well, don't you?"
When Sirius nodded, Albaric Wilkes, Rose's uncle entered the conversation: "It would be beneficial for everyone. Rose would gain a certain respect if her true heritage became known and it may sound harsh, but due to her being part of a mighty family, it would be harder for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to kill her. It would cause uproar in the magical community. My wife and I wouldn't have to worry so much about her safety. We don't have the means to protect her as well as Lord Black has. And even so... due my father dishonoring the family-name and being a very small family, the Ministry wouldn't approve of us adopting her anyways..."
Harry saw Sirius rubbing the bridge of his nose when Mr. Wilkes didn't continue to talk and looked back at him. "Other than yours, Rose's relation to me is too distant to simply adopt her and say she's a pureblood to protect her. We would have to take it one step further."
"Blood adoption?" asked Harry after a short pause and got a nod in return, before looking at the small girl and then at the adults in the room. "Have you asked her? I mean, does she know that it'll probably slightly change how she looks?"
This time they all nodded and Harry smiled slightly at Rose who was nervously biting her lip and then at Sirius who stared back at him in question. "I don't see why you shouldn't adopt her then. You're a grown man, even if you usually don't show it."
"You know that this would officially make her your sister, don't you?" asked Rose's aunt Dhalia.
Harry nodded hesitantly – his head slightly spinning. "It's a little overwhelming. It... will take some time to get used to that, but... I'm okay with that, if Rose is okay with it as well. Even though... oh no..."
He suddenly looked at Sirius when a bad thought entered his mind. "But... you know that you've made yourself an even bigger target to Voldemort by adopting me, don't you? Giving her a pureblood status is nice and all, but he already killed Rose's parents just because she's in the same house as me, I don't want to imagine what he'll do when it gets out that she's my adoptive sister!"
"She'll be in more danger if Sirius doesn't adopt her," Dumbledore answered. "If Tom does the same things as in the last war, then he will target muggleborns first. No matter if they should normally be known as children of pureblooded squibs or halfbloods and even quarterbloods. Sirius may fight against him, but despite that he's the head of a very mighty family and he will think twice before attacking him."
"But he would attack Narcissa and Draco in an instant," mumbled Harry.
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, because they don't have claim to the title. But Tom wouldn't want to fully eradicate the Black family. With Rose becoming Sirius's daughter and in the event of his – and your – death, he could still hope that in later years her son will become his follower. You know that his goal is immortality, so he doesn't worry about how long it takes to make everyone loyal to him."
"Far-fetched..." replied Harry and then shook his head. "But possible, yes. Even though I think he would rather kill Rose and let Bellatrix get a hold of the title."
Sirius grinned. "Ah, but you see, with me having you as my official heir and Rose as my daughter and therefore future mother of the next heir in the event of your... death, I can fully disinherit Bellatrix."
"Are you quite finished now?" Rose suddenly asked and blushed a bright red when everyone looked at her. "Sorry, but... I'm okay with all the things you're talking about. And if Lord Black is willing to do this for me and I can help him to keep the House of Black in good hands, then... what are you waiting for?"
Her voice grew louder every second. "Do I look like I mind being your sister? Sure, I may not know you that well, but you're really the most thick-headed person I know! Just accept that people don't mind being around you because of You-Know-Who!"
She stubbornly stared at Harry who suddenly burst out laughing and fell back on his chair. "By Merlin... what did I get myself into? You're like a little Hermione!"
Rose's face turned an even deeper shade of red and she huffed slightly, making Harry only laugh harder.
Sirius grinned and patted Rose's head. "So everything's settled? I'm allowed to adopt this little feisty witch then?"
Harry took some deep breaths to calm down and nodded, still not really believing that technically, he was no longer an orphan and soon wouldn't be an only-child either. "Yeah, sure. I'd love to have a little sister."
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Dark Phoenix of Slytherin