The Daily Prophet:
Tuesday, September 3rd, 1974
In a controversial move Arcturus Black names 13 year old Sirius Black the Black Heir!
The Daily Prophet:
Monday, December 9th, 1974
Aries Black: Black Madness or justified anger as younger brother usurps his throne?
The Daily Prophet:
Thursday, June 30th, 1977
Sirius Black: Youngest to gain a DADA mastery in a century!
The Daily Prophet:
Tuesday, January 1st, 1980
Heir Black a Knight of the Round Table: is Sirius Black hoping for a place at Merlin's Council?
The Daily Prophet:
Friday, August 13th , 1982
TOUJOURS PUR NO LONGER!
Heir Black flouts own family values and announces engagement to a muggleborn!
The Daily Prophet:
Saturday, May 14th , 1983
The Black wedding of the century and no Blacks in sight! Heir of the staunchly pureblood family Sirius Black marries muggleborn Olivia Wright despite clear family's opposition!
The Daily Prophet:
Wednesday, February 4th , 1986
HEIR BLACK AND MUGGLEBORN WIFE EXPECTING!
Avalon citizens shocked as infamously pureblood family prepares for its first half-blood heir!
In what should have been the happiest day of Sirius Black's life, death came to break his heart to pieces.
On the behest of his heartless mother, the merciless spectre stole into the night the soul made to match his own.
His wife—the brightest star in his universe, extinguished by the cruel magic of his vengeful mother.
His beloved left behind a final gift upon her violent departure from his world, she had left a baby girl behind. Their precious daughter born to the dying hold of her mother and the grief-stricken embrace of her father.
To Sirius's horror, death was coming for his daughter as well. His mother's vengeance sated only by the two lives he cherished the most.
Sirius fought, begged and bargained but to no avail. In a last act of desperation, Sirius tied his daughter's life to his own. The might of his magic, his love and his grief behind a spell of his own creation.
Yet death persisted and his daughter weakened. Every day on this earth took its toll on them both as the curse ravaged her small form. She withered in her father's hold and Sirius withered along with her.
His brother, his friends and his true remaining family fought the looming death with him. Scouring libraries, grimoires and their own minds for a solution but hope seemed to wither and die in the hearts of all as the shadow of death crept nearer with every passing hour.
Everyone else abandoned hope, succumbing to their grief—except for three. James and Lily Potter, together with Regulus Black, refused to let go of Sirius or the cherished addition to their family.
Their grief over losing Olivia was amplified by the torment of watching Sirius and his daughter fade before their very eyes, yet despair found no way to take root in their hearts.
Desperate, they forwent sleep with the aid of legal and not-so-legal potions as they hunted for a path that would not lead to their utter devastation.
After spending many years hunting Horcruxes, the three were used to spending long nights researching desperately for ancient magics and lifesaving solutions.
Yet, the weight of their current predicament felt even heavier than when they had faced the task of destroying Voldemort. Back then, they had yet to endure the devastating toll their mission would ultimately demand.
Now, they understood all too well how grief could threaten to devour their very souls.
It was days later, days while Sirius and his daughter fought to live, that his best friend James Potter came with their salvation.
A Peverell ritual, written down in a blood-protected grimoire by Iolanthe Peverell who went to great lengths to cautious against performing it unless in extremely dire circumstance and only after meeting a strict list of conditions.
Rushed and desperate, they modified the ritual to suit their current situation.
However, it remained untested and, unbeknownst to Sirius, carried the potential to be fatal for everyone involved.
The Potters were more than willing to risk their lives however, considering it was their only chance to save the man they had considered family since their first year at preparatory school and the cherished baby they already loved as if their own.
That night Sirius carried his seven days old daughter to the Black Sanctum with Regulus supporting his steps as Sirius's legs were too weak to bear the journey on their own.
Sirius prayed for strength as he neared the Black Forest which was once a part of the forest of Brocéliande before his ancestors had claimed for their own.
Deep within the forest was a magically concealed clearing where his ancestors had left behind a megalithic structure of giant black standing stones set in the ground in seven rings for purposes neither Sirius nor most of the Blacks had ever truly understood.
But he knew that all Blacks' successful rituals had been done here and Sirius was willing to incorporate anything that might lend them a chance to succeed in their mad endeavour.
Regulus kept muttering under his breath and Sirius knew his brother was probably revising the whole Black library in his head in preparation for anything that might go awry.
Sirius hated doing this to him. Regulus had barely started to build an actual life for himself, and yet here Sirius was threatening to abandoned him for the first time and to leave Regulus to face everything on his own.
"If anything happens to me, you're to leave the country." Sirius wheezed, his battered lungs struggling for air. "I've set up everything, you only need to talk to Shafiq he has all the documents you might need and a Gringotts account—"
"Do shut up, brother." Regulus hissed angrily even as he reached out to stop Sirius from tumbling over his own feet. "You're not going anywhere, and my niece will have a long life where I'll spoil her rotten and end up her favourite. Now save that sudden energy for the ritual and stop wasting it on sentimental tripe."
Sirius huffed but wisely held his tongue. The rest of their journey was spent in silence, each lost in their fears and hopes.
"Finally," Sirius gasped upon reaching the clearing.
James and Lily were already standing in the centre of the inner circle, armed with their wands and a dagger each.
The had lined the ground with oak leaves taken from druid groves and had painted runes in front of each stone in a red substance that Sirius didn't want to think where his friends had acquired.
In the centre of the circle the duo had positioned a stump of a red alder tree and arranged white flowers and a branch from an elder tree upon its red surface, in addition to a simple piece of black cloth and a black crystal that glowed blue under their wand light.
"Ready?" Lily's face paled under the moonlight but the strength in her eyes steadied Sirius all the same.
"Of course we are," James grinned even as he nervously fiddled with his glass and nearly cut off his nose with the dagger. "I am mildly confident this will go absolutely fine. So let's just get started before that confidence runs out."
The first ritual didn't take long and ended with a slash of the dagger upon the duo's palms.
James pointed his own wand at his heart and with his left hand he carefully reached towards the baby held closely in Sirius' arms and pricked her palm with the dagger.
"I, James Charlus Potter beseech the Wild to answer my call. I entreat it to judge my purpose and grant my appeal. I follow in the footsteps of Ignotus Peverell, I ask neither to gain power nor to fulfil my greed. I ask to be granted parentage by blood, by magic, and by soul in the hope of saving an innocent soul from an unjust claim from death. I swear on my magic and my soul my desire for the Wild's aid is pure. Invoco Indomitum! Obsecro Indomitum! Posco auxilium Indomiti!"
As James called for the Wild, a strange and disconcerting hum sped through the forest. The trees started swaying as if an unfelt wind was passing through them.
No sooner had James finished speaking than a golden light fractured into being and crawled from behind the standing stones. It increased in hue as it edged towards them bringing along with it a sense of foreboding that they valiantly tried to ignore.
With a deep steadying breath, Lily raised her wand and pointed it at her heart.
"I Lily Jasmine Potter beseech the Wild to answer my call. I entreat it to judge my purpose and grant my appeal—" Lily cut off with a gasp as the ground shuddered beneath their feet and the golden light grew to encompass the stone rings.
The three fought desperately against the overwhelming urge to look as the golden light began to form into a colossal shape, but even catching a glimpse of it from the corner of their eyes filled them with unspeakable dread.
"—I- I follow in the footsteps of Ignotus Peverell, I ask neither to gain power nor to fulfil my greed. I ask to be granted parentage by blood, by magic, and by soul in the hope of saving an innocent soul from an unjust claim from death. I swear on my magic and my soul my desire for the Wild's aid is pure. Invoco Indomitum! Obsecro Indomitum! Posco auxilium Indomiti!"
A collective shudder went through them as something grew to loom above them and around them. With the feeling of hundreds of eyes looking down at them and the sound of hundreds of giant wings approaching their circle, the golden light grew to encompass them in an ever-increasing storm of a powerful magic that rattled their very bones.
Though clearly terrified, Lily's eyes still held onto her fiery determination as she looked back at Sirius and gave a shaky nod.
It was Sirius' turn and his weakened body nearly gave up on him as the curse tried to tear at him anew while the power of the arriving Wild Magic raged across his skin.
"I, Sirius Orion Black, on behest of my daughter, accept the blood, magic and soul of James Charlus Potter and Lily Jasmine Potter. I beseech the Wild—"
Sirius stuttered as the magic surrounding them turned like a giant snake and engulfed them in a blinding gold column.
He drew his daughter close, trying to shield her from the storm of wild wind and leaves raging around them as he struggled to get the rest of the words out.
"I beseech the Wild to answer their pleas! I beseech the Wild to grant our request! Invoco Indomitum! Obsecro Indomitum! Posco auxilium Indomiti!"
The ground trembled violently beneath them, and the trio feared that the massive stones might collapse and crush them.
The wind grew more fierce as it howled through the clearing. It brought along with that strange, dreadful otherworldly sound that heralded the looming arrival of the Wild.
Then for just a moment that felt like an eternity everything stopped.
The hurricane of swirling leaves froze midair and the trio were forcibly petrified in place as everything ceased its movement.
The light surrounding them fractured into thousands of gleaming threads that were revealing things they knew they must not observe.
The whole world stood still as a forbidden magic found a path to finally cross the boundary between worlds and enter into a domain it had long since been barred from.
Before the trio's need for air burned their lungs or their very bones shattered from the suffocating pressure bearing down on them, a phoenix cry rent the air as an explosion of light sprang from beneath their feet and the world resumed turning.
The trio lost sight of everything but the piercing golden light streaming into their eyes to seep into their very souls.
Unseen by anyone outside the magically concealed forest, the golden light expanded until it covered the sacred ground as Wild Magic came to Avalon in a clear defiance of wizarding laws.
Regulus, who was only an observer of this part of the ritual and had been fighting valiantly not to look as the Wild arrived, screamed as a powerful force passed through him.
It ferreted through his memories and appraised his soul. The youngest Black still crumbled to the ground even as the Wild deemed him worthy of its presence.
The others fared no better. The magic came and judged each of them, putting their intentions and sincerity to the test.
The Wild's demanding force nearly crushed the three as it sought to cast its judgement on the fools who had dared to call onto that which was far beyond the reach of men.
The trio persevered as they welcomed the force's judgment upon their magic and soul.
They showed how their intentions were pure, they had neither asked for power or wealth and they hadn't dared to trespass by asking the magic to directly intervene in death's domain.
They desired only for a chance to save an innocent soul on their own and asked for Wild Magic's aid only to enable them to put an end to a terrible evil.
Intrigued, the magic turned to the little babe cradled in her father's arms.
She was a curious little thing. The newborn was not yet truly conscious of the world but her soul recognized the Wild's presence. Instead of shrinking in fear as the magic drew nearer, the soul reached out in curious fascination without a demand but only in welcome.
The magical force raging in the clearing slowed as the Wild swirled like a gentle rain around the infant.
Over countless millennia of encounters with wielders, the Wild had come across only a rare few souls like this one—souls uniquely crafted to host the Wild without ever yielding to the temptations of the Other.
Like this one, those souls had welcomed it without seeking personal gain and later chose to embrace it only in defence of the world where the Wild once roamed untamed.
However, the force had not encountered another such soul after the youngest Peverell had departed this world. Since then, the magic had been denied its rightful place, even when the world had been in a desperate need for it.
The Wild mused upon this sudden development. Though its Chosen were always from a different magical line, the opportunity presented in this soul was too great for the magic to ignore and that small hurdle could easily be overcome.
It had already cast its judgement and decided to grant the trio's request, their sincere intentions had been enough for the Wild to bestow the gift they had yearned for.
However, now the force had reasons of its own to grant the gift they sought. Luckily for the trio, the Wild's intended outcome matched theirs as well.
Decision made, the Wild Magic soared high in triumph then dove like the thousand rays of a fierce sun into its chosen. In mere seconds the trio's appeal was granted.
Upon its departure, the force left the newborn with its own mark and the parentage of two others besides her original ones.
Anything else the Wild had granted went unnoticed by her parents. Too wrapped up in their own needs to realise the Wild's true intentions.
The trio collapsed as the force vanished from the clearing, trembling from head to toe from the aftereffects of experiencing the True Wild for the first time.
Lily who had tears in her eyes looked at her companions both in wonder and fright as the magnitude of their accomplishment left all of them breathless.
"Well…" James croaked as he wiped his eyes. "Now that the insane part is over, I suddenly find myself a dad. So, let's hurry and save our daughter before I really start blubbering all over you two."
Lily laughed even as her chest tightened with terror at the thought of failing after everything. "Come on, we're nearly done. It's going to work, I'm sure of it."
The two forced themselves back to their feet and helped Sirius as well.
An exceedingly pale Regulus staggered to join them in the stone circle. No words left the shocked Black as he carefully took his niece and placed her on the red stump in the centre of the circle.
Their awe at witnessing the Wild was forcefully discarded, their joy at their new parentage tamped down by the enormity of their second and most critical task. They had to break a curse that seemed utterly unbreakable.
The nature of Walburga Black's curse was truly insidious, as long as the girl lived to carry her mother's blood and her grandmother's claim, the curse would seek to take her and would only stop upon her ultimate death.
Their only hope was that it could be purged through a truly powerful magic that possessed a stronger claim than both.
"Ready?" Regulus asked as he pointed his wand at his niece.
"Yes."
"James should go first then I'll join him. Don't forget, you must ask—"
"Lily we've gone over the ritual for what feels like a hundred times." James took her trembling hand in his own. "Don't worry, it'll all work out."
"Yes, of course." Lily's grip was almost crushing. "Alright, alright. Go ahead, we can do this."
James pointed his wand at the newborn and took a deep steadying breath.
"Magiam Potterorum invoco ut iusiurandum suum impleat. Filiam tuam protege! Filiam nostram serva!" He called on the Potter magic, asking it to fulfil its oath and beseeching it to save the life of the girl who had become his own daughter. In his desperation, James didn't notice the Wild magic of the Peverells answering his call as well.
"Meam magiam invoco ut iusiurandum suum impleat. Filiam tuam protege! Filiam nostram serva!" Lily joined him and brought her own magic to bear, fierce and driven by the love she had for both Sirius and now her own daughter.
Together, the new parents called to their magic, poured their love and their desperation for their dearest friend and their now daughter to be saved.
Sirius joined them, his voice breaking as he called for the Black magic and Regulus followed, pleading his own magic to save his niece. They both entreated the Black magic to refuse Walburga's demand and to refuse to harm its Heir.
Their magics stormed around the baby in a whirlwind of brilliant colours, wrapping her in a cocoon that obscured her from view.
A weak cry left her as the magics haunted for the curse trying to take their own and the vile thing fought back, thirsting to claim what it was promised.
The quartet's magic and claim proved stronger than that of Walburga's and their love more powerful than her vengeful hate. As one, the summoned magics forcefully cast out the curse then utterly destroy it in a shower of luminous gold.
Life bloomed in both father and daughter as magic danced upon their skins. In mere seconds, both father and daughter were finally healed and their souls settled back in their rightful place.
"Merlin! We did it, Lily. We did it!" James pulled Lily in a bone-crushing hug before spinning her through the air.
Their joyous laughter rang out across the clearing, even as tears streamed down their faces.
"Merlin and Morgana, we actually did." Regulus collapsed to the ground with a choked laugh. The normally reserved Black didn't even bother to hide the tears trailing down his own cheeks.
"You're alright now, starlight. You're going to be just fine." Their laughter found its way to Sirius and he smiled as he carefully cradled his daughter to his chest.
With tear blurred eyes, he looked down at his baby girl, born prematurely before he and her mother had planned, before they had even settled on a name. So small she was in his arms, so fragile and more precious to him than the world.
She had remained unnamed as was the Black tradition to remain seven days nameless upon this earth. Sirius had feared she would leave it nameless as well. That she would depart to the stars without a star of her own to return to.
"Mira," Sirius announced in a gruff voice. "Her name is Mira Dorothea Black. My wonderful gift, our miracle."
Note:
Mira: named after the Mira Star, which acquired its name from the latin words "miraculous", "ad-mire", and from mirus, "wonderful".
Dorothea: Means gift of God and is also the name of main-belt asteroid (339) Dorothea.
Thanks for reading!