There was silence in the room.
Harry was breathing heavily and his eyes met Hermione's shocked gaze. She gently extracted her hand from his and stepped around to take her place at his left shoulder, leaving the griffin and snake behind. Harry swayed and the hands on his shoulders steadied him.
Sirius made a small movement, catching Harry's attention. "I have witnessed this blessing and know it to be true by blood, by magic and by this oath." He said shakily. "So have I sworn; so mote it be."
Harry raised his wand. He glanced at the snake which bowed its head before he stared at the griffin desperately wanting to see his mother again; the griffin gave a heartfelt cry as though it too wanted the same as Harry. Sirius cleared his throat and Harry knew he had to end the ritual. He tapped the bowl. The totems dissipated into a cloud of light and then disappeared.
"Merlin's bloody balls!" Someone said in the background.
Harry's frantic gaze met Sirius's and as Sirius took a step towards him, Harry felt darkness beckon him and he fell into it gratefully.
o-O-o
Sirius caught Harry before he hit the floor; adrenaline surging through him. "Harry!" He felt his panic start to escalate as he remained unresponsive. He lowered him down to the floor and searched Harry's neck for a pulse. There was a strong beat against his fingers and he gave a shaky breath.
Ted was suddenly beside him waving his wand in a familiar diagnostic pattern. "Magical exhaustion." He said crisply. "He'll be fine; he just needs bed rest."
"Which when you consider he managed to call forth the spirit of Morgana Le Fey isn't too surprising." Bertie said beside Ted, peering over his shoulder at Harry. He straightened up. "By my authority, this magical event is deemed need-to-know. Everybody here will take a Vow or be obliviated."
An outbreak of protests erupted but Sirius ignored them as Remus finally pushed his way through to them. Sirius placed Harry's arm around his neck and lifted him into his arms, staggering as he got up from the floor with Remus's help. "Remus, can you work on the Vow with Bertie, please."
"I'll help." Amelia offered immediately, understanding the need for confidentiality.
"Is Harry going to be OK?" Molly asked worriedly, hurrying over as Sirius started for the door.
"He'll be fine." Sirius said quickly. "Minerva…can you come with me?"
Molly immediately moved to his side. "I'll be happy to…"
"I'm sorry, Molly, but the house is under Fidelius and I'm not the Secret Keeper. Minerva is already aware of where it is." Sirius said, adjusting his hold on Harry as he shifted away from Molly's outstretched arms that had reached for Harry. "Thank you for your concern though." He walked out with Minerva just behind him.
"You're taking him home?" Minerva asked as soon as she closed the door behind them.
Sirius nodded. He sealed the doorway with a thought. No-one would be able to leave until Sirius returned and let them out. "He's safest there. I'm going to need you to watch him, please, while I sort this out."
"Of course." Minerva said, summoning her bag and outer robe that had been left in a closet in the hallway.
They flooed through to Griffin House and Sirius took the stairs swiftly.
Dobby popped in as Sirius laid Harry down on the bed. "Harry Potter is injured!"
"Magically exhausted, Dobby." Sirius carefully untangled the locket from Harry's hand and placed it on the bedside table.
Minerva immediately healed the wound on Harry's palm while Sirius vanished Harry's clothing with a wave of his wand, leaving him in his underwear. He levitated him under the covers with Dobby and Minerva's help. He traced a hand over Harry's forehead. Lily – Lily! – and Morgana's blessing had cleaned away the blood rune that had been drawn over and over.
He hovered; he wanted nothing more than to stay with Harry, with his son.
"It's alright, Sirius." Minerva said briskly. "I'll watch over him. You return and make sure nobody can tell anyone about what just happened. The sooner you go, the sooner you can come back and have my Vow."
Sirius pushed a hand through his hair and nodded. He dropped a kiss of his own on Harry's forehead and got off the bed. He made his way back to Black Manor with his mind was swimming with what he had witnessed – Lily! – and he wasn't certain that he could make sense of it. The power of Harry's magic had summoned the most notorious witch in the history of the wizarding world – who had blessed him and called him a child of Merlin! And the totems – the totems had formed both spirits…
He found himself suddenly in front of his study door, breathing heavily. He could hear the cacophony of voices within the room and took a breath, gathering his poise and authority. He cancelled the seal with a wave of his hand and marched in, closing the door behind him. He was quite surprised at the orderly scene in front of him.
There was a group consisting of Brian, Remus, Augusta, Bertie, Amelia and Cornelius, all gathered around the pedestal scribbling on a piece of parchment as they agreed the Vow to be taken.
Hermione spotted Sirius and hurried over, trailed by Ron. "Harry?"
"In bed." Sirius said succinctly. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you're OK?"
She nodded, her bushy hair flying everywhere. "It was just incredible and a little scary; the feel of the magic was…" she blushed, "I was just worried that I'd messed up the blessing because I thought I must have messed it up and…"
"Hermione!" barked Ron. "It wasn't your magic that summoned the Dark Witch."
Sirius's eyebrows shot up at the implied insult to Harry.
"Ron," Hermione's eyes gleamed fiercely, "Morgana Le Fey was not a Dark Witch. It's a common misconception based on the patriarchal and chauvinistic myths and legends around Merlin which glorify him and make her, the woman, out to be the villain of the piece when she simply stood for a different religious ideology. In fact, many believe that Rowena Ravenclaw followed the same religious belief and she was well known to be a Light witch so I don't see…"
"Indeed, Rowena was a Priestess in the old way." Narcissa interrupted. She had glided up beside them without anyone noticing; Hermione jumped visibly. "It is documented in older versions of Hogwarts: A History."
Sirius could see Ron fighting not to say something insulting and decided to remove his cousin from the youngster's presence.
"If you'll excuse us," he said politely, taking Narcissa's elbow and leading her back to where Lucius and Draco stood away from everyone else in the room. "I take it you wished to speak to me?"
"We wish permission to tell others of the agenda of the House of Black. Specifically, the decisions and announcements you made to us today will be shared with others in our alliance ahead of the Wizengamot session tomorrow." Narcissa said.
Sirius noted absently that Lucius was deferring to his wife; clearly he had gotten the message about the primacy. "You have my authorisation."
Narcissa hesitated for a moment and then forged ahead. "We also wish permission to mention that we have witnessed the power of the Boy Who Lived."
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