The Seas Between Us Roared and Swelled
Thursday, 31 December 1998
“I have an insane idea,” Hermione said, flopping onto the bed and shocking Harry awake.
“I forgot you were in my house,” Harry said once his heart rate had evened out.
“What’s your insane idea, Granger?” Theo asked, wondering, not for the first time, why his boyfriend had zero normal friends.
“We can make portkeys without being caught.”
“So, we’re committing crimes?” Harry asked, glancing down at his watch, “it’s a little early for that.”
“The crime is a small part of the idea,” Hermione said, waving him off. “My insane idea is that we see how many times we can celebrate new years by jumping across time zones.”
“Hold on,” Harry said, sitting up against his pillows as Theo rolled over and pressed his face into Harry’s stomach, “you want to, what? Make a dozen illegal portkeys and hop across a dozen major cities?”
“Exactly.”
“That is an insane idea.”
“We have magic, why not use it?”
“I really don’t think this is what Lady Magic had in mind when she released the gift into the world,” Theo said, his voice muffled against Harry’s hip.
“You have no clue what Lady Magic had in mind,” Hermione argued, “maybe this is exactly what she was thinking.”
“Enough,” Harry cut in with a laugh, running his thumb across Theo’s cheek. “Hermione, I think that’d be fun, but I think maybe we should just try one other time zone this year and see how it goes and then next year we can try to max out for the turn of the millennium.”
“Now that’s an idea,” Hermione said with a grin. “Where should we go?”
“Where do you want to go?”
“New York,” Hermione decided. “Who’s coming?”
“You do remember you’re hosting a party here tonight, right?” Theo said.
“Midnight in New York is 5:00 tomorrow morning here.”
“Alright,” Theo sighed, turning slightly so he could look up at Hermione, “we need to do the math on how many portkeys we’ll need then we need to figure out where they’re landing, and we need to not all get arrested for illegal international travel.”
Harry sighed, realizing they’d officially been enlisted in the project, “we’re going to need to brew some pepper-up. This is going to be a long day.”
“Fred and George are already on it.”
“Two questions,” Harry said. “One, when did Fred and George get here? And two, how did you already have time to rope them into your plan? It’s only 6 in the morning.”
“I’m an early riser,” she said with a shrug.
“You’re a menace, is what you are.”
“Can we light off fireworks here?” Theo asked.
“I think so,” Harry responded, “…why?”
“Because I want to light off fireworks?”
“Alright,” Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Just don’t light my house on fire.”
Theo’s grin was not at all reassuring.
* * *
“Have you seen Draco?” Harry asked, stepping into the kitchen with Teddy secured in a baby carrier on his back; it had been one of those days that he refused to be more than a foot away from Harry for any significant stretch of time.
“He was in the potions lab with the twins last I saw him,” Andromeda said, walking over to press kisses to Harry and Teddy’s cheeks. “Have you been looking for him?”
“I want to go to Gringotts and finish getting everything sorted today. You and Cissa are welcome to join if you’d like.”
“What’s left to take care of?”
“I just need to officially pass over the ring and then he’ll have to stamp a couple of documents. We can bypass most of the paperwork and such because he’s already my named heir and he’s a blood heir of the family.”
“I’ll come with, but I want to go into one of the vaults with you.”
“That’s fine,” Harry said with a shrug. “Can I ask why?”
“Even though you won’t be Lord Black, you’re still a Black which means you’ll need a family ring, and I would like to be the one to pick it out. Normally parents select them and gift them to their children on their 11th birthday, same as when the Heir would get their ring. I just want to be the one to do that for you.”
Harry wasn’t entirely sure how to express just how much that meant to him, but he was pretty sure she understood without him having to explain so he simply said, “I’d be honored, Andi.”
“Do you want to bring Teddy along or is he going to stay with Hermione?” she asked, reaching out so Teddy could wrap his hand around her fingers.
“I think I’ll have to bring him,” he said with a fond smile. He’d never complain about these sorts of days; he hoped Teddy would have these sorts of days his entire life.
“Family trip then,” she said with a warm smile. “Narcissa’s in the conservatory so we just need Draco and Theo.”
Harry grinned at the inclusion of Theo in her definition of ‘family’ and said, “they’re probably in the same place, I’ll go find them if you want to get Cissa?”
* * *
“Theo? Draco?” Harry called, opening the door to the potions lab.
He found Theo, Draco, Fred, and George crowded around a cauldron and all looking like they’d been caught.
“What are you four doing?”
“Nothing,” Draco answered far too quickly.
“Sure,” Harry said, drawing out the syllable, “I need to steal at least Draco but preferably Draco and Theo.”
“What for?” Theo asked.
“I want to get the Gringotts stuff sorted before the end of the year,” he answered, glancing down at his watch, “I’ve still got 14 hours.”
“Why am I needed?”
“Andi said family trip and included you in the list, I think we’ll stop for lunch while we’re out as well. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to?”
“Andi called me family?” Theo asked, looking nearly as vulnerable and hopeful as he had when Harry asked if he viewed Teddy as his.
“She did,” Harry answered, understanding intimately what Theo was feeling.
“Is it alright if I change quickly?” Theo asked, clearing his throat. “I’m still sort of in my pajamas.”
“You mean my pajamas?” Harry teased.
“Same difference.”
“Yeah, you have time to change. Draco are you good to leave now or is this mad science on a timer?” Harry asked, gesturing to the bubbling cauldron.
“I can leave, these two can handle this,” Draco said, wiping his hands off on a rag and standing up. “I hope you’re proud, I understood the muggle science reference.”
“Very proud,” Harry said with a laugh. “I’ll meet you two in the floo room?”
“Alright love,” Theo said, pressing a kiss to Harry’s cheek as he passed by. “Is Ted coming?”
“He hasn’t let me put him down since he woke up, so yes.”
“Sometimes calling him a little koala would be more accurate than calling him cub or pup,” Theo said with a fond smile, pressing several kisses to Teddy’s hair, cheeks, and forehead until he was giggling and nearly squirming out of his carrier.
“Go get dressed,” Harry laughed.
“Oh, alright,” Theo said, pressing one last kiss to Teddy’s head and Harry’s jaw as he left the room.
“You two are so adorable it makes me want to light myself on fire,” George deadpanned.
“That’s a bit much, mate,” Harry responded.
“It’s merely the truth.”
* * *
It was the work of minutes and Harry was no longer Lord Black. Even though it wouldn’t decrease the amount of time he spent working on Wizengamot things, having one less estate to manage was more than welcome.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” Steelclaw, the Black Account Manager, asked.
“We need to go to the family artifact vault and select Hadrian’s Black Family Ring,” Andromeda said.
“You don’t have a family ring?” Draco asked, turning to look at Harry in confusion. “How did I never notice you don’t have a family ring?”
“Well, for one, I had the Lord’s ring,” Harry pointed out, “and for two, my Black parent died before I was born and my godfather was wrongfully imprisoned at the time, so there wasn’t really anyone around on my 11th birthday to give me my family ring.”
“Wait, do I stop wearing my family ring now that I have the Lord’s ring?” Draco asked, deciding to skip over Harry’s rather depressing observation.
“Sirius wore both a family ring and the Heir ring,” Narcissa told them. “I believe Regulus did as well.”
“I know Grandfather wore a family ring and the Lord’s ring,” Andromeda said. “I’d thought that,” she said, pointing to the ring on Harry’s thumb, “was Sirius’ family ring when you found it but then I remembered they all have vault recall spells on them so it wouldn’t have just been laying around Grimmauld. I’m starting to think it was an engagement ring or something.”
“The only person he possibly could’ve been engaged to was a werewolf and this is silver,” Harry pointed out, “I’m pretty certain it’s just a ring.”
“Who will be going down to the artifact vault?” Steelclaw asked, cutting off their tangent.
“Just Hadrian and me,” Andromeda answered before turning to Harry, “do you think Teddy would be alright staying with these three? I don’t know how he’d react to the cart ride.”
“I’ve got him,” Theo said, gently unbuckling the now sleeping Teddy from the carrier on Harry’s back. “So long as he doesn’t wake up and realize Harry’s missing we’ll be fine.”
“We won’t be long,” Andromeda said, “I already know which ring to give him, I just have to find it.”
* * *
Harry hadn’t actually been in the Black artifact vault yet so needless to say he was shocked to find a ring box along with a letter addressed to ‘Hadrian Arcturus Black’ in an unfamiliar scrawl resting on a table right in the front of the vault.
He looked over at Andromeda to ask who it could possibly be from and saw her grinning.
“I had a hunch,” she said, clearing absolutely nothing up. “He always had a way of knowing what was going on without anyone telling him. If I’m right, that’s the ring I was going to pick. You should read the letter.”
Harry opened the envelope to find three sheets of parchment.
10 September 1980
Hadrian,
I met you this morning in Diagon Alley. You were with your father, James, and your godfather, Sirius. No one told me, but I knew. I could feel familiar magic in you. I could see it in the curve of your chin and the particular black shade of your hair.
You’re as much a Black as I am.
I had my guesses as to how, so I came to the bank and asked to see our updated line of succession.
I’m sure your parents have their reasons for hiding it and I’m truly sorry you never had the chance to know your father, Regulus. But I hope you’ll grow up to be a proper member of the Black Family. My son and his wife have a different idea of what that means but know that I mean I hope you grow up to be an intelligent, considerate, curious person. I hope you grow up with love and respect. I hope you know that I love you already and I’ll continue to love you no matter what.
Your Grandfather,
Arcturus Black III
15 January 1982
Hadrian,
It’s been two and half months since Voldemort attacked your home. I’ve been trying to get custody of you, but I’ve failed at every turn. Dumbledore assures me that you’re safe and with Lily’s family. I’ve never met them, but she was an incredible woman so I can only hope that they’ll treat you well. I’ve also been fighting for Sirius, but no one will listen. Our community is just so happy the war is over they refuse to believe that something still might be wrong.
I hope to meet you again someday. I hope to see you grow up and fulfil your dreams, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to. What I do know is that eventually you’ll be made aware of your inheritance, eventually you’ll have access to this vault, and eventually you’ll know that I loved you from the moment I saw you, that I’ll love you until my dying day, and I’ll love you even beyond. I’m going to keep fighting for you, Hadrian. I promise you that.
Your Grandfather,
Arcturus Black III
31 July 1991
Hadrian,
It’s your 11th birthday and today you should be receiving your Potter, Black, and Peverell heirship rings. But, more importantly, you should be receiving your Black Family Ring.
Every member of our family, whether they’re from the primary line or not, receives one of these rings. Sometimes new rings are commissioned, but usually they’re selected from the artifact vault.
I don’t think I’m much longer for this world, my dear grandson. So, someday, if Sirius isn’t around to select a different ring for you, I hope you’ll wear mine. I’m leaving it here for you to someday find.
N’oubliez jamais que vous êtes Black et que vous êtes aimé.
Aime Toujours,
Arcturus Black III
“Here,” Andromeda said, her voice hardly above a whisper as she handed Harry the ring box.
Harry opened the box to find a ring almost identical to Regulus’ wedding band but silver and onyx instead of gold and emerald.
“That’s part of why I was going to choose it,” Andromeda said as she noticed Harry looking between the band on his right ring finger and the one in the box. “But I also just had this feeling that Arcturus had known about you somehow. I don’t know why, but I guess I was right.”
“When did he die?”
“The 2nd of August 1991.”
“Wow,” Harry breathed out, slipping the ring onto his left pink. “This makes me feel more like a real Black than even wearing the Lord’s ring did.”
“You are a real Black,” Andromeda said, gently tucking a stray curl behind Harry’s ear. “This is just further proof you always have been. I’m sorry we weren’t there for you before but we’re here now. I love you like you’re my own son, Harry. I know I’ve said it before, and I know you’ve heard me say it, but I need you to actually hear it, I need you to believe it. That’s why I wanted to be the one to pick out your ring and that’s why I hoped beyond hope I was right in thinking grandfather had somehow known about you; I wanted you to believe that this is your family.
“And it’s not just because you’re raising my grandson,” she said, making sure she had Harry’s full attention. “And it’s not just because I promised Lily on Samhain that I’d watch out for you. I love you because you’re you. I love you apart from Teddy, apart from Regulus and Sirius, apart from any promise I made to anyone. I love you because you’re Hadrian Arcturus Black just as much as you’re Hadrian James Potter and Hadrian Ignotus Peverell. Hell, I love you because you’re just Harry. You’re mine now, got it?”
“Got it,” Harry whispered. “I love you too.”
“I know you do,” she said, pulling Harry into a tight hug. “And can I tell you one more thing before we wipe our tears and go back above ground?”
“Sure,” Harry said, huffing out a laugh.
“When Teddy was born, it was Nymphadora who immediately suggested that you be named godfather.”
“What?” Harry asked, stepping back and looking at Andromeda in total confusion.
“I don’t know why I didn’t tell you this before, I guess I didn’t think it mattered, but I think maybe it does. She was the one who suggested it be you. Remus was immediately on board, but she was the one who suggested it. When Remus left to find you at Shell Cottage and ask you to be godfather, I asked her why she’d pick a 17-year-old boy who in all likelihood would be dead within the week to be her son’s godfather and do you know what she told me?”
Harry shook his head.
“She told me that you were family. That she decided you were family the very day she met you. She said that there wasn’t a person in this world who fought harder for their family than Harry Potter and that she couldn’t think of a single person who’d fight harder for her son.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Harry took a deep breath and thought back to the day he met Tonks. Her bright pink hair and kind smile so out of place on Privet Drive, the way she’d immediately offered to help Harry pack up and then, instead of commenting on the 8 locks and cat flap on his door, she’d started chattering about the color of her hair and distracting him by talking about being a Metamorphmagus. He thought about racing her down the Thames on brooms in the middle of the night and the way she’d immediately tripped over that stupid troll leg umbrella stand when they’d walked into Grimmauld Place and he decided, “I’ve seen her as family from the very start too.”
“Good,” Andromeda said, wiping the tears off Harry’s cheeks. “Now, how about lunch?”
“I could eat,” Harry said, holding out his elbow so Andromeda could link their arms together as they left the vault and climbed into the cart. He tucked the envelope from Arcturus in his back pocket, ran his left thumb along the new ring on his pinky and decided he was rather grateful to be a Black.