Good For Everything

Chapter Eight: Modifiers

It had rained consistently from the moment Oliver had sent Harry his first sales check for The Wicked Count and the Trials of Fire. It had been projected to sell out within the first day of its publication, and it had done so in less than six hours. Harry couldn't bring himself to be pleased about the matter, however, and even in the weeks that followed when he sent Oliver his first draft for The Wicked Count and the Beloved Sin, he just couldn't get it out of his head that his own mother had been a monster as well, albeit a different kind of one from his father. The most bitter pill to swallow, however, had been the notion that his own mother could have rejected him for just being who he was.

And then there was the matter with Severus, and how he couldn't believe that the man had known his mother while they were young. All he had known about his mother was that she had died when he was born, and that they had the same eyes. The very eyes that had made his own father incapable of loving him. The very fact that Severus, the man he claimed to love, was keeping such tragic information from him gutted him, and he didn't know how to respond to it at the time, and so he had resorted to lashing out. Since the adoption was on the books, there had been no more solo meetings with Severus, but it hadn't stopped the man from attempting to reach out to Harry, and all attempts were rebuffed.

"Harry."

Harry turned around then at the sound of Remus's voice, and forced a smile onto his face; today was the day, and there was no turning back now, not that Harry had any intention of turning back from finding his family fully. "Are they ready for us in there?" he asked.

Luca Zabini stepped out of the courtroom with a bright smile on his face, and nodded to Harry, before turning to Sirius and Remus. "We're up," he informed them, before turning to regard Harry a second time. "You ready to get adopted and become a permanent member of the Black family, Harry?"

Harry nodded; the Easter holidays had been selected deliberately by Sirius and Remus, as they had deemed it perfect time for Harry's adoption to take place, and Harry was more ready for it than ever. "I'm ready," he said, and followed Luca into the courtroom. Harry moved to sit at the table provided with Sirius and Luca, while Remus slipped into the first row, alongside Hermione, Ron, Draco, Ginny, Blaise, Neville, Luna, Sienna, Aideen, Hestia, Molly, Arthur, Fred, George, Lee, and Angelina, who were all waiting anxiously for the judge to appear.

The judge on deck that day set to oversee the adoption was said by Luca to be Judge Cornelius Fudge, who was quite a family man in his own right, and reportedly absolutely loved overseeing cases like this. After giving cursory glances around the courtroom, trying to find escape routes if things went south, Harry found himself straightening up automatically from between Sirius and Luca as the door behind the pulpit opened up, and the judge came out in a pair of sweeping black robes, and Harry, as well as the rest of the people in the gallery, got to their feet.

Judge Fudge got to the pulpit promptly, holding some paperwork in his meaty-looking hands, and moved to sit. "Be seated," he said, once he had done so. "Barrister Zabini, I believe you have the opening statement."

"I do. Thank you, Your Honor," Luca replied, getting to his feet. "Today, we bear witness to a lovely thing within the care environment, and what I believe it is truly about. Here, we have Harry James Potter, an orphan, who long believed that he himself would not be able to find a family that would suit his needs. And yet, one fateful day, Harry was introduced to Sirius Black, who through love and compassion, taught Harry about familial love, and guided him to a place of healing, to the point when Sirius asked Harry if he would like to be made a permanent part of his family, Harry accepted. Your Honor, I come here today, representing both Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, in the hopes that you will take Harry's past into consideration, as well as the wonderful strides he has made academically, personally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually since entering the care of Mr. Black. And now, all that remains is your verdict on the subject, one that I sincerely hope will be in my client's favor. Thank you."