"We have plenty of time before we go to the Weasleys." Sirius contradicted. He waved his hand dismissively. "Besides, if this goes anything like his Potter inheritance ritual, we'll be out of here in thirty seconds flat." He grinned at Harry who rolled his eyes at his godfather.
"OK, let's get on with it." Remus ordered.
"Familius magicus." Sirius picked up his wand and tapped the ritual bowl. Silver sparkles erupted from the bowl; he cut his palm, allowing the blood to drip into the hollow. "I, Sirius Orion Black, Head of the House of Black name Harry James Potter, Head of the House of Potter as Heir to the House of Black, by blood, by magic, by law, and by this oath. So have I sworn; so mote it be."
Harry took the ritual knife and repressed the nerves that were running rampant in his belly. He sliced his palm with a grimace and let the blood drop into the bowl with Sirius's. "I, Harry James Potter, Head of the House of Potter, accept the duties of Heir to the House of Black, by blood, by magic, by law and by this my oath. So have I sworn; so mote it be."
The Black magic rose up sharply and surrounded Harry in a silver mist. He could feel it pressing against him, testing him. It was so different to the Potter magic which had been warm and welcoming; the Black magic was cold and icy in comparison. But he remained firm in the centre of the silver tempest. He wanted this to work for Sirius because he owed his godfather more than words could say for getting him away from the Dursleys and giving him a home, for loving him.
Abruptly the magic left and settled above the ritual bowl in the shape of a silver snake. Harry felt the ring settle on his finger.
Harry didn't think; he just opened his mouth. "Hello."
The snake rose up, its hood flaring. "A speaker."
"Yes." Harry said. "Have you had a speaker before?"
"Only one other speaker has come before you, youngling." The snake rippled and twisted.
"Sirius told me you were a snake but I didn't realise I would be able to speak to you." Harry said, fascinated by the snake.
"You are a speaker and so we can understand each other. Know this, Heir of Black, Lord of Potter: you are of our blood and magic, youngling. We will do all that we can to protect you just as the griffin of Potter." The snake shifted, glancing towards Sirius who Harry realised belatedly was looking on with concern. "We reunited you once before and always will again when called; remember that, youngling."
The snake vanished without another word and Harry caught his breath as he felt his skin tingle coldly for a long moment as though the Black magic was seeping into him.
"Harry?" Sirius placed a hand carefully on Harry's shoulder.
Harry looked up at him and smiled. "I'm fine. The snake said it would protect me like the griffin."
"Ah." Sirius didn't look any less concerned and Harry wondered why.
"That's good, isn't it?" Harry questioned warily.
Sirius and Remus exchanged a look over Harry's head.
"What?" demanded Harry, annoyed.
"It's just surprising." Sirius said finally. "Family magic isn't supposed to work the way it does for you. I've never heard of the totems being so…" he whirled his hand about his head, "interactive? Talkative? Cooperative? Protective? All of the above?"
"Oh." Harry frowned. "Well, the snake did say it hadn't had the chance to talk with a speaker in a long while and I would guess the other totems don't have a way of speaking?"
"That's a good point." Remus said. "And at least we know you still have your parseltongue ability. I had wondered if the cleansing of your scar might have, uh, taken it away."
Harry nodded slowly. He'd wondered the same thing. "I guess I'm stuck with it."
"I know it isn't the most popular ability to have, Harry," Sirius comforted him, "but it could prove to be useful in the future."
"Only if I plan on becoming a snake handler." Harry joked, his tension easing again with the evidence that it didn't matter to Sirius and Remus that he was a parselmouth.
"Funny." Remus nudged him, caught sight of the clock and blanched. "We should leave."
Sirius rolled his eyes but carefully cleaned the bowl and knife before locking them away. Remus hurried them out of the study and towards the floo. Remus went first to warn the Weasleys of the additions to the visit and Sirius had Harry go next.
Harry stumbled out of the floo into the Burrow and gave quiet thanks that he hadn't ended up flat on his face. He moved out of the way to allow Sirius room to walk through and was immediately gathered into a hug by Molly Weasley.
"Harry!" She beamed at him as she stepped back and Harry took the opportunity to step away and stand beside a grinning Ron. "It's so good to see you! And don't you look well? You're still a bit skinny though but no matter; we can feed you up tonight!"
"We weren't expecting dinner," Remus said quickly, "and we wouldn't want to put you out."
"Nonsense!" Molly chided him. "It's only another couple of mouths to feed."
Sirius stepped through with elegant precision and Harry could see Molly stiffen a tad.
"Apologies," Sirius said, "I had a small delay on the other side." He offered his hand to Molly and she reached out to take his, surprise widening her eyes when he turned her hand over deftly and kissed her knuckles. "Madame Weasley."
Arthur, who had been standing off to the side, a half-read Daily Prophet tucked under his arm, moved forward. His eyes quickly caught on the crests on Sirius's robes and the ring he wore. "Lord Black."
"Mister Weasley." Sirius shook hands solemnly. "Please call me Sirius."
"Blimey," Ron muttered under his breath at Harry, "this is all a bit serious." He elbowed Harry and snickered. "Serious! Get it!"
Molly shot her youngest son a look that shouted 'behave!'
"It's Arthur and Molly." Arthur answered in reply to Sirius's earlier request. He waved around the rest of his brood which included an older looking Weasley that Harry hadn't seen before. "My eldest, Bill; Percy; the twins, Fred and George; you know Ron, of course, and finally; Ginny. We're just missing Charlie."
They all gave small waves or muttered hellos.
"Well, this is an unexpected pleasure!" Molly said brightly. "It's so good of Professor Lupin to bring you both!"
"Please; it's Remus." Remus said quickly. "I've only just broken Harry out of the habit of calling me Professor."
He had too, Harry mused, smiling back at him.
"I'm afraid the subterfuge is my fault." Sirius said smoothly apologising for their unexpected arrival. "Not many people know Harry's already in my custody and we're keeping a low profile at the moment until we can make the formal announcements at the Wizengamot."
Arthur nodded understandingly. "May we congratulate you both on the guardianship?"
Molly looked desperate to say something but she held her tongue.
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