A Black Life

Chapter 2 - Black Magic

Remus was hunched over a table in the Black family library, feverishly searching through every tome he thought might be remotely related to protection spells, charms or potions; and even those that didn't. Basically, every book in the library, one of the largest in the wizarding world, was fair game.

Sirius had been working just as fervently, but he had stopped to stretch for a few minutes and to prepare for the two of them. His house elf, Kreacher, had been pretty much useless since old Mrs. Black had passed away and Sirius had become the head of the family.

It was just half past ten o'clock in the morning on the day following their surveillance of Harry and the Dursleys, and the two men had been up most of the night, napping for a while, and then resuming their search in the early hours. They were both exhausted, but refused to give in. They knew Harry's happiness, and maybe even his life, (if things got much worse), could rest on what they were looking for.

His eyes following his fingers as they skimmed across the page, Remus barely registered Sirius coming back into the room bearing a tray that held two cups of tea, some store-bought, muggle biscuits, a bowl of sugar, cream, and a full pot to replenish the cups from.

"Ready for a break?", Sirius asked Remus as he set the tray down on the table, far enough away from the books to diminish the possibility of ruining them in case something got spilled. "No," Remus replied staunchly. He held his hand out for Sirius to put a cup in it, "not until I find something we can use." He took a sip of the hot beverage and made a face, "You forgot the sugar!" Sirius picked up the sugar bowl and passed it to Remus, then carried his own cup over to the overstuffed armchair he had been sitting in all morning and resumed reading where he had left off. The silence was broken only by the rustle of pages turning while both men continued to thoroughly comb every book and roll of parchment they could find.

Hours later Remus lifted his face from the scroll he was engrossed in to stare at the far wall, and whispered, "This could be it!" He lowered his head again and re-read the passage that had caught his attention, continuing on to the end of the scroll. He paused again and closed his eyes as he concentrated on whether what he had read was a viable solution to their problem. "It's Blood Magic." He murmured to himself again, "Blood Magic is what Dumbledore is using now to protect Harry. That is the strongest magic that he could find, but there is more to this than just blood."

Hearing Remus muttering to himself, Sirius looked across the room and queried,"Were you saying something?"

Remus was gradually getting louder as he thought out the problem and he began to gesture with his hands, finally standing to pace back and forth while Sirius looked on in trepidation. Suddenly Remus stopped. He turned to Sirius and called him over to the table where he had been studying the scroll. "Here! Look at this and tell me what you think." Remus pushed the parchment over to Sirius and pointed to the part he had read before. He bounced slightly on the balls of his feet as he waited for Sirius to catch up to what he was thinking.

The dark haired man looked up at Remus hopefully. "I think you're on to something! This could give us the edge we need to protect Harry even though we're not directly related."

"Yes!" Remus encouraged him, "An adoption ritual that would essentially make Harry a blood relative, but it hinges on the feelings that are invoked - on the love you have for James and Lily's child."

Sirius shook his head and insisted, "We, Remus. Both of us can do this. We can both perform the ritual and protect Harry."

"I'm afraid not Sirius." Remus spoke quietly again. "Look at this passage here. This specifies only full humans may participate. You know that rules me out." He hung his head, an expression of self-loathing on his face.

Standing, Sirius reached over and pushed lightly on Remus' shoulder. "It won't make a difference in the long run whether you actually take part or not. Harry will still grow up knowing you love him and calling you 'Uncle Moony'." Sirius smirked. He laughed for the first time since he had left the Dursley's humor-crushing household. "Can you just see the two of us potty training a two-year-old? He still has a chance to grow up warped!" Remus joined him in his laughter for a moment as they contemplated what was now a very possible future.

"Come on," Sirius made a move toward the door, "we can't waste time now. We must get Harry out of there as soon as we can. We'll have to get everything together that we need for the ritual, and then..." he paused dramatically, "we go see the Dursleys!" He had a gleam in his eyes that didn't bode well for Harry's guardians.

"That's not all we have to do," interjected Remus quickly, "in the interest of our continued good health I don't think we should cross Dumbledore in this. He may be slow to anger, but if we go behind his back then we'll be watching our own backs for a long time to come. We should finish preparing, and then present our findings in a well-thought-out manner. We need him on our side to give Harry the best protection we can. There are things he can do, with his connections, that we can't - and to have his strength added to yours for the ritual would be an undeniable bonus."

Sirius sighed, "I knew there was a reason you were made a Prefect at school." He nodded his head in firmly in agreement, "You're right. Lets do this and get it over with so we can get Harry away from those miserable miscreants." Pulling out his wand he quickly made a copy of the information onto a fresh piece of parchment, then he and Remus hurried from the library.

****

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Grand Sorcerer, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Order of Merlin First Class, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Founder and Secret Keeper of the Order of the Phoenix.....sat with his mouth opening and closing like a fish stranded on dry land after he had viewed the memories of Harry's treatment at the hands of the Dursleys that Sirius and Remus had put into his pensieve.

Never have my good intentions been so misguided, he thought sadly, How can I make this up to all of them?

As if in answer to his unspoken question, Remus cleared his throat and pulled a slightly crumpled piece of parchment out of the pocket of his well-worn robes. "We found something in the Black family library that we hope may solve our problems," he said, trying to restrain his sense of urgency, but failing. He and Sirius watched anxiously as the Headmaster read through the copied document that they had brought, and relief flashed in their eyes as they saw Dumbledore nodding to himself over what he was reading.

"Yes, yes," Albus said aloud, nodding again, and this time he allowed a smile to light up his face, "You have found just the thing! I have read about this type of magic before, (indeed it is closely aligned with the Blood Magic I have employed at Harry's current home), but the manuscripts were thought to have been lost, along with the knowledge of how to perform the rite. No time must be wasted in removing the boy from his current situation! This predicament is entirely my doing and I will do whatever I can to remedy the situation." That said, they began assigning responsibilities and looking up the ingredients that would be incorporated into the ceremony.