"He's injured!" Arcturus said waving his wand over Sirius. "We have to get him to St Mungo's!"
"Lily needs a healer too!" James called out.
"And I am declaring this a need-to-know event under my authority as Head of the DOM." Younger Bertie stated forcefully.
They dropped out of the memory and back into Sirius's study.
"Albus made a portkey and everyone was whisked away to St Mungo's. You healed but couldn't remember anything except being captured and tortured; Charlus died not long after, and we had a war to contend with. I had…not forgotten, but hadn't thought of it for some time." Bertie sighed heavily and sat down in a nearby chair.
Sirius paced back and forth trying to make sense of what he had seen in the memory; what he had seen in the blessing ritual. He stopped. "He called the family magic to him when he was an unborn child and it obeyed?!" He shook his head, closed his eyes briefly and reopened them with a fierce protectiveness turning the grey dark and foreboding. "Did everyone in the room take a Vow not to disclose what had happened?"
"No," Bertie said, "Arcturus and Charlus in a surprise move teamed up and immediately used their family magics to obliviate everyone except James and Lily. They also left me because both of them agreed that someone else outside of the families should have the memory of what had happened and I had been quick to declare the event need-to-know. I have wondered since your exoneration whether the obliviation caused Albus, Bagnold and Crouch to distrust you more, especially after the place where the Death Eaters had kept you was discovered and the men there found dead without any explanation of how you achieved it when tortured so badly. I assume that the family magics that retrieved you enacted justice upon discovering you harmed."
Sirius sighed. He guessed it was possible but it was all magic through the wand.
Bertie gazed at Sirius resolutely. "Your ward…your son has an amazing affinity for family magic, a powerful connection. It's almost like he has a familiar bond with the totems." He said. "It is fascinating."
"If you think I'm going to let you experiment on him…" snarled Sirius.
"No," Bertie held up a hand in supplication, "I didn't mean that, he is a child and shouldn't be subjected to experiments I agree, but you have to admit, on an intellectual level, it is fascinating."
"You sound like Remus." Sirius said dryly.
Bertie smiled. "I take that as a compliment. If it weren't for the werewolf laws I would look at stealing him away from you."
"He wouldn't leave Harry either way." Sirius said confidently.
"No, I guess not." Bertie said. "My reason for showing you this memory is to give you fair warning that now Harry is a position where he is the recognised Heir of the House of Black and he has control of the House of Potter's magic that there may be more instances of this type of thing occurring."
"Bugger!" Sirius swore.
Bertie nodded.
Sirius paced again, considering his options. In some ways Harry having the kind of affinity with the family magics was a good thing. It would protect him that much was clear. On the other hand, it gave away just how powerful and unique Harry was. And they didn't understand enough about what was going on, about Harry's strange relationships with the totems; whether ultimately it would be harmful for him.
"We're coming in next week to look at the prophecy in detail," Sirius began, "I think it might be a good idea for us to explore Harry's affinity with the totems with you. We need to know more if we're to protect him properly."
"I suggest you do the prophecy next week and I'll get some research started in the meantime." Bertie said. "I'd like to have a theoretical basis on which to start posing questions."
Sirius nodded his agreement. "Thank you, Bertie."
"I'll let you get to your son." Bertie said.
Sirius walked Bertie out to the floo. He called Kreacher briefly, thanking him for his work that day and arranging the clean-up of the study. Sirius finally flooed back to Griffin House. He made his way to Harry's room and wasn't surprised to see both Remus and Minerva grouped around Harry's bed with Dobby sat protectively at the end of the bed and Hedwig on the headboard.
He conjured up a chair of his own and picked up Harry's limp hand. "How is he?"
"Sleeping peacefully." Minerva said dryly.
Sirius smoothed Harry's fringe back from his forehead. His scar was faded; a thin sharp zig-zagging line was all that remained – one that Noshi had assured him would fade away completely in time. He traced it lovingly before he sat back tiredly.
Dobby popped away and back again with a mug of hot chocolate.
Sirius took it gratefully and fortified himself with a sip before he began telling them about Bertie and the memory.
"Well, I'll do some research too." Remus said. "It won't hurt to have a second viewpoint."
"Thank you, Moony." Sirius said.
"I will discreetly check out the Hogwarts library tomorrow while Albus is out at the Wizengamot." Minerva offered. She smiled sympathetically. "I believe Lord Black is going to have a busy day."
Sirius grimaced and took a big sip of his chocolate; he let the warmth comfort him.
"Well, I should leave you to it." Minerva said, getting to her feet. "Shall we do the Vow now or do you want me to come back early tomorrow?"
"It's OK, Minerva." Sirius said. "We trust you not to tell anyone; no Vow."
Minerva looked momentarily shocked before she gave a brief nod. "You'd better not tell that to Bertie. Try to get some rest, Sirius." She gently tucked Harry's blanket closer and departed the room.
Dobby popped off after her, presumably seeing to dinner. Sirius couldn't think about eating something – not when Harry was lying unconscious.
"This isn't how I thought we'd spend this evening." Sirius said sadly.
"We can celebrate when he wakes up." Remus motioned towards Harry. "I know looking at him it's hard to feel like celebrating anything but today was a good day, Padfoot. He's your son and nobody can interfere with that. Brian was going straight to the WOO with Amelia to register the adoption. And…despite the unusualness of what happened in the blessing ritual, it was successful. He's protected and that protection is now anchored by Black blood and, uh, the blessing of Morgana Le Fey."
"I know." Sirius said, picking up Harry's hand again. "I just…I want to protect him, Remus, and…"
"You are protecting him." Remus said firmly. "He'll be right as rain after a couple of days, well except for the very probable mortification at passing out in front of everyone."
Sirius gave a weak chuckle. "Thank you, Moony."
"I'll go check what Dobby's cooking up and get started on that research." Remus said pushing out of the chair. "You'll be OK here?"
Sirius nodded. "I'm just going to stay and watch over Harry."
For a moment it looked as though Remus was going to say something but he turned and walked away, leaving Sirius with Harry. Hedwig gave a hoot, launching off the headboard to glide across the room to her perch.
Sirius stroked a thumb over Harry's knuckles, remembering how he'd done the same thing at the clinic after the scar cleansing; how strangely the family magic totems had acted then. His mind drifted to the fragment of the prophecy Lucius had told him. "The one with the power…" Was the power Harry's strange connection with the family magics? As he watched him sleep, Sirius promised his son that he would do everything he could to find out.
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