B.Q. Book Two: Black Princess Ascendant

Chapter 5: Inherited Treasure

Disclaimer: Did Harry, Hermione, and Ron spend five years studying centuries of war between humans and goblins, only to blindly trust Griphook and then be astounded that he would betray them? If so, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whoever else she sold the rights to.
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Tugging sharply on his robes, a set far more elaborate than he normally wore, Sirius glanced over at his goddaughter. Jen would look like the epitome of placidity to most, but after a year with her in the house he could see the small signs of her anxiety: her fingers tapping faintly against her left thigh, the corners of mouth twitching, her nostrils flaring with half-aborted sighs. "Nervous?"

"What? No. Nothing to worry about." She shrugged in what he guessed was supposed to be a nonchalant way. "Give them a bit of blood, let them do whatever it is they do with it, watch them destroy it, and then we're done. In, out, shouldn't be but a couple of minutes, right?"

"Unless you three screwed something up," he warned her gently, "then there's no telling what will happen."

"We didn't. I'm sure of that."

The Naming of the Heir would be the first true test of the blood adoption Andi and Narcissa had performed on her. All heirs and heiresses of noble Houses had to appear before the Ministry's Chief Genealogist within a week of their fifteenth birthdays to have their blood taken and examined to prove who their parents were; only after it was confirmed that they were indeed in their respective lines of succession would they officially be promoted from heir presumptive to heir apparent. This proceeding was a traditional requirement rather than a legal one, but there was a precedent for the Wizengamot to pass over an informally acknowledged heir for another member of the family who was more acceptable to the hidebound Purebloods who made up that august body, and Sirius was not going to give House Malfoy any opportunity to take what did not belong to it.

He had another reason to be worried, as well. After today, assuming there were no surprises, her new parentage would be set in stone. There was no turning back now.

The door behind them leading out to the hall chose that moment to open. "—silly tradition, really, but the Dark families won't change unless... Sirius."

An incredulous half-laugh, half-sigh broke through his control. Had Jen brassed someone off in a past life or something? He should have expected this, really, but with all their other worries, none of the Blacks had thought that they might not be the only ones taking their heirs to the Ministry on their birthdays.

Noticing how rigidly the girl beside him was standing, he forced himself to look at the newcomers and plastered a patently false smile on his face. "James, Lily. What a surprise."

"Hello, Sirius," Lily replied with a weak smile that was much more of a grimace before her eyes shifted to his companion. "And I suppose a 'happy birthday' is in order, Miss Black."

Without even looking, he knew the instant Jen turned around.

Lily did not seem to hear the girl's quiet response. Her eyes had bugged out; her face had paled until it could have made the moon look flushed. She took a staggered step backwards, and Sirius worried for a moment that she might actually faint. Her lips flapped uselessly for several agonizingly long moments before she finally forced out an almost inaudible, "Jenny?"

That soft noise dragged James from his staring match with Sirius, and he honestly choked and spluttered when he looked at his daughter. Sirius would have been laughing his head off if the situation weren't so bloody terrible.

Danny and the Longbottom heir stared at the petrified adults in confusion, and then the birthday boy snarled at his half-sister, "What the hell did you do to them, Black?!"