Chapter 099

The polite knock at the door to the formal parlour had Sirius pausing mid-sentence with a muttered apology to Miriam Granger and calling out for Penelope to enter.

Her blonde hair was braided into some complicated female thing Sirius had never worked out and she was dressed in formal robes bearing the Black and Potter crests. She smiled cheerfully. "The Tonks' and the Malfoys are both awaiting your presence in your study, Lord Black."

"Right." Sirius grimaced.

It had already been a long morning in some respects; he'd performed the Judgement ritual on the LeStranges in anticipation of the family meeting as soon as he had flooed to Black Manor that morning. He had discussed it with Harry the night before and his godson had been appropriately attentive, understanding the gravity of the decisions that Sirius had made. It would serve as his politics lesson for the week. Sirius wouldn't allow him to witness the ritual though or take part as the Heir as he had known the likelihood of the LeStranges surviving Judgement was small and he didn't want Harry involved with what was in reality an execution.

Harry and Remus had instead collected the Grangers in anticipation of meeting the Tonks' once Sirius had accepted them back into the House of Black. Miriam and Wallace wore good quality if plain muggle clothing while Hermione had formal dress robes in a deep mauve colour that suited her colouring. Minerva had since arrived too and had been delighted to be reintroduced to Hermione's parents, presenting them with a long wished for apology about the various school incidents that helped smooth everything over. They had all settled in the formal parlour for morning tea.

"Show time." Remus pointed out briskly with a grin that Sirius remembered from their Marauder days.

"Good luck." Harry said with a cheeky grin all of his own. Sirius had learned the subtle differences that separated Harry's features and expressions from James's or even Lily's.

Sirius gave him a wink, set his tea down and got to his feet. He headed out of the door and down the corridor. If it hadn't been for the Malfoys he would have had Harry with him as his Heir but he'd talked it over with him and they'd decided it was too risky. Draco and Harry were likely to set each other off and Sirius didn't trust Lucius not to try and murder Harry in front of him no matter what protections the Manor had for its Heir.

He stopped in front of the study door and took a deep breath. He opened the door, strode into the room and closed the door behind him with a sharp bang that caught the attention of his waiting cousins and their families.

He was amused to note that they were politely ignoring each other in the seating area; the Tonks' sat to the far right and the Malfoys closer to the door. Sirius ignored Narcissa's paling face and Lucius's dark look to walk forward and stand in front of his desk.

"Hello, members of the House of Black." Sirius said formally. "Thank you for answering the summons to the family meeting." Andy and Ted gave tentative smiles while their daughter grinned at him happily; the Malfoys were a mix of disinterest (Draco), horror (Narcissa) and glowering anger (Lucius).

"You're Lord Black?" Lucius questioned furiously.

Sirius held up his hand and displayed the ring. "And you're a prat and now we've established that perhaps we can get to business." He heard a badly hidden snicker from Nymphadora Tonks.

Draco bristled. "Father, are you…"

Narcissa put a hand on his arm and silenced him with a look. "My apologies, Lord Black, my husband and son are simply surprised. We had believed the new Lord Black came from the line of Marius Black."

He could see the wheels turning in her eyes as she recalculated what was going to happen.

"Simeon?" Sirius offered with a toothy smile. "Well, in that case you'll be pleased to know that in the event of my unfortunate demise Simeon will take on the mantle of Regent of the House of Black until my Heir is of age. Simeon sends his apologies but he will be in the country later in the summer and will meet up with you all then. He and I have, via correspondence, discussed our new agenda, the decisions that I've made and will make today and are in agreement."

.

.

.

.

🎉The novel is available in PDF with more than 400 chapters, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉

🎉ko-fi.com/gokublack444🎉