A/N: This story was edited in 2023/2024. Huge thank you to lanamarymack for alpha/beta reading this story!

As soon as Sirius had heard the news, he'd rushed to Godrics's Hollow. He didn't want to - couldn't stand to - believe that it was true, until he saw for himself. James, Lily and Harry had been trapped away in their cottage, in hiding from Voldemort for months. They promised that they'd be safe, that they would be careful.

And, they were meant to be safe there. There were high levels of suspicion among the rank and file of the Order. Someone was betraying them and for weeks now Sirius had even been sure that it was Remus. But, how could he have possibly suspected one of his friends? One of his closest friends?

Things had just been so tense...

But now, standing in Godric's Hollow, he was forced to acknowledge that the rumors were true. That he was right to suspect a friend. Only, he had suspected the wrong one. It was Peter. Oh, Merlin, he wanted to string that little rat up by his tail!

Tears burst into his eyes, thinking that his best friend - that James - was dead.

Dumbledore was already there, of course, holding a tiny bundle in his arms while he talked to Hagrid.

Sirius wiped furiously at his eyes. "Is Harry alright?" he demanded, fury in his eyes. He needed to make sure that his godson was alright, at least, or else this was all for naught. He could make things right for Harry.

"Yes, Harry survived," Dumbledore confirmed in his calm tone of voice, one that only served to irk Sirius given the circumstances.

"You have some nerve showing up here, you traitor!" Hagrid bellowed when he laid eyes on Sirius.

For the first time in his life, Sirius was afraid of the half-giant. His shoulders slumped, realizing that people would be quick to believe that it was him who had sold out his best friend...brother, really. "It wasn't me," Sirius answered, vehemently. "It was Peter. They switched it at the last minute knowing that...most people would assume that I would be their secret keeper."

He turned his attention to Dumbledore. "Go ahead and look in my head. I'll - I'll take veritaserum, if that's what you need to convince you," he begged.

Dumbledore gave him a tight smile, before shaking his head. "No need for all that, Sirius. I believe you," he said.

Sirius felt some of the crushing weight on his chest ease up. "Well, then, hand Harry over. I'm just godfather, after all," he said, holding out his arms. "I will protect him with my life."

"I'm afraid that I can't do that, Sirius," the Headmaster answered, his blue eyes twinkling. "I have another job for you...one that will take years. Harry will be in good hands."

Sirius's hand tightened around his wand, angry that Dumbledore was talking like this. "Harry's safety is the most important thing. James and Lily would have wanted me to look after him," he argued.

"No need to come to a duel, Sirius," Dumbledore said, eyes widening slightly when he realized that Sirius had more of the Black temper than he initially thought. "We have to think about the Order right now...what's best for everyone."

He twirled his wand. "Then, if you won't let me have Harry, at least let me go take care of Peter. Please, just let me kill him, for what he did to James," he pleaded through gritted teeth, his rage boiling up inside him once again.

"No!" Dumbledore commanded, raising his voice. "You will go wait for me at Order Headquarters. Do not go after Peter. Think about James and Lily. Don't get yourself into unnecessary trouble. I will see you later tonight and I will give you your next mission then."

Sirius heard Dumbledore's words, but he didn't want to accept them. He looked at the smoldering ruins of James and Lily's cottage. Dropping to his knees he let out a strangled cry, echoing in the stillness of the night. Then, he took a deep breath, knowing that he needed to keep his emotions in check at a time like this.

"Alright, I'll go," he agreed, his eyes dropping closed. He felt a few tears escape onto his cheeks and he apparated away.

Sirius wasn't sure how long he waited in Order Headquarters waiting for Dumbledore, but he must have been pacing like a madman for over two hours before the other wizard showed up. Everything was still, considering that the others were all out rounding up Death Eaters with the Aurors now that Voldemort was finally gone.

He felt like an utterly useless lump sitting there on his hands and he resented Dumbledore for guilting him into this task.

When Dumbledore finally deigned to show his face, he was carrying a sleeping child and Sirius's heart leapt in his chest, thinking it might be Harry. But then he noticed that the child had long, curly brown hair and his heart sank once again. Dumbledore settled her on the couch.

"What's the meaning of this?" Sirius demanded. "Where is Harry?"

"Harry is safe, Sirius," Dumbledore assured him.

Without proof, Sirius's soul could not settle. "Who the fuck is this?" he asked. "I didn't want just any toddler. I wanted Harry. James and Lily wanted me to look after him," he repeated.

"This girl is a muggleborn. Her parents were murdered tonight. She will also be an integral part of your mission," he explained, before encouraging Sirius to sit down. "As I said before, your mission will take years."

"Why are you even giving me a mission?" Sirius asked, petulantly flopping into a chair, uncaring if the noise woke the toddler. "Voldemort is dead."

"For now," Dumbledore said, cryptically. The silence between them stretched for seconds, but it felt like hours to Sirius as the meaning sunk in. "Voldemort, I fear, will be back. And this time, I plan on having someone under deep cover."

"What? You want it to be me?" Sirius asked, incredulous, his eyebrow knitted together. He was probably the best equipped to navigate the pureblood world, remembering all his lessons as a child. "But everyone knows that I've been disowned. I don't see how that would be much help. And how does she fit in?"

"She is going to be the tool you use to get back in with your family," Dumbledore said, beginning to reveal his plans. "She is an orphan, in need of a family. We will perform a blood ritual tonight that will make her your daughter, flesh and blood. You can use her to get your mother to allow you back into the family."

Sirius felt as if a stone had settled into the pit of his stomach. He didn't even want to think about his mother! He was just hoping he could go to one of his uncles instead. "She won't buy it. And unless that girl actually becomes a pureblood, she will just toss me back out on the street."

"I'd considered that..." Dumbledore said, looking at Sirius over his half-moon spectacles. "I figured the best story is that you didn't know of her existence. The McKinnons were in hiding for over a year before they were killed. And I believe you dated their daughter, Marlene?"

Sirius resisted the urge to sneer at his words. Dumbledore really had sorted everything out, hadn't he? Just how long had he been planning this?

But, it was a stroke of brilliance. No one could corroborate if Marlene was pregnant or had given birth. Plus, the McKinnons were pureblood, though not a part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Walburga wouldn't like it, but she wouldn't deny the girl either.

"What makes you think that I am even capable of taking care of a child?" he asked.

Sirius could have sworn that Dumbledore smirked at him. "Weren't you the one who was so eager to take custody of Harry tonight?" he asked. "Surely, if you are capable of taking care of Harry, you can take care of her."

"That's not the same and you know it!" Sirius raged, only to stop when he saw the little girl on the settee stir, disturbed by the raised voices. "How does she fit into this more broadly? I can't raise a muggleborn as a pureblood...to teach her to hate her own kind. It's not right," he said, thinking of the sad life he was damning her to.

"Don't you see? She will help you. And later on, she will be able to give us intelligence, too," Dumbledore said. "We know that Voldemort had a recruitment network in Hogwarts. Just look at Regulus."

Sirius scowled. Dumbledore always knew exactly which buttons to push. Sirius always cared for his brother, even though his allegiance to the Dark side had separated them.

"She will talk like a pureblood, act like a pureblood, understand pureblood traditions better than a pureblood," Dumbledore continued. "By the time she reaches Hogwarts, no one will question her."

Sirius let his hands fall into his hands. Why was Dumbledore doing this to him? He'd always trusted the man to make the best decisions. But then again, so had James and James ended up dead!

Perhaps sensing that Sirius was weakening, Dumbledore decided to twist the knife of manipulation a bit further. "Do it for your best friend, Sirius! Help me bring down the man that killed James and Lily once and for all!" he argued. "Wouldn't you do anything for your friend?"

"I would have died for them!" Sirius said, vehemently, feeling fresh tears on his cheeks. But then, before he knew what he was doing, he was nodding in agreement to this insane plan.

Dumbledore woke the little girl, who was confused. She had huge, salty tears in her brown eyes. He took the moment to look her over. Her hair was curly like his, and it was a shade somewhere between his black and Marlene's ashy blonde. He wasn't sure how hair worked, but then again, his cousins had the full variety of hair colors. Hell, even Walburga had blonde hair in her youth. The girl's eyes were the same brown as Marlene's, as well. If it didn't know the truth, he would be easily convinced that she actually was Marlene's child.

The Headmaster began pulling ritual instruments out of his sleeves - a dagger, a chalice, a lock of blonde hair, a small potions kit. He took a bit of Sirius's blood first, leaving a small cut on the pad of his middle finger. Then he added the hair - Marlene's, Sirius would wager - and a multitude of other ingredients. It made Sirius's skin crawl, blood magic. It was something the Blacks took well to. Even though it was for a good cause, it was still Dark magic and it would leave a taint on you. He couldn't imagine performing it on such a little girl.

When he was done, Dumbledore handed the chalice to Sirius. He encouraged the girl to drink the liquid. She looked scared, but he could see the beginnings of trust forming in her eyes. He stroked her curly hair and held the cup to her lips, his own tears forming when she drank every last drop.

Walburga Black was reading to scream when she saw the young man on her doorstep - a young man she had told never to come back after she blasted him off the family tapestry. That was, until she saw the little girl that he had balanced on his hip. She pursed her lips together, taking in his disheveled appearance and red-rimmed eyes. He was still wearing those ridiculous muggle jeans and black leather coat, practically rubbing her nose in the fact that he was a blood traitor.

Holding the door partially shut, she peeked out at him. "What do you want?" she demanded.

Sirius took a deep breath, seeming to steel himself. "Can we come in? Please?" he asked.

This tenor wasn't at all what she'd come to expect from her son. Their conversations usually quickly escalated into full on screaming matches. Walburga gave the girl a second glance. She had curly brown hair and frightened eyes, and clutched a ratty stuffed rabbit to her cheek.

"Fine," Walburga agreed, stepping aside and letting Sirius enter the house of her father, wondering if she'd just made a horrible mistake letting him back into her life.

Walburga brought them to the parlor - her pureblooded upbringing didn't allow for a single lapse in manners. She called Kreacher for tea and the old house elf scowled at her remaining offspring in disgust. Sirius settled the girl on his lap.

Finally, she let her curiosity get the better of her. "Who is the girl?" she asked.

The girl had actually bonded with Sirius quite quickly and was remarkably talkative for a two year old. She was already referring to him as papa, which made Sirius's heart feel a bit like it was in a vice every time.

"This is my daughter. She is called Hermione," he said simply.

Walburga immediately stiffened. "I wasn't aware that you were...involved," she said with a sniff, barely able to resist turning up her nose. "Hermione. That's an...unusual name...for the Black family."

Sirius scowled, shaking his head. "I wasn't aware of her until a week ago. Marlene McKinnon, my ex-girlfriend, was her mother," he said, petting her curly hair. "As you know, she and her whole family were killed, even though they were in hiding." He swallowed, before darting his eyes up to meet Walburga's. "I would have chosen a different name for her. Perhaps Cassiopeia...or Cepheia."

Truthfully, Sirius hated those names, but Walburga always loved a constellation name.

Walburga's heart soared. A pureblooded grandchild for the House of Black at long last! It was wonderful! She had been beside herself after Regulus had died and then her Orion not long after, thinking that her house would be in ruins, but now...

"How is it that you've just come to know of her now?" Walburga asked, suddenly suspicious that her dreams were coming true.

Sirius let his mind wander to James and Lily's death. Tears came to his eyes. Dumbledore had suggested this tactic to make things seem more real. "They thought that I couldn't be trusted. So no one even told me that she was alive. And then...it took them weeks to give my own child to me, when she had no one else!"

Walburga considered his words. "Who is 'they', Sirius?" she asked.

Sirius looked up at her, trying to hide his shock. It was the first time that she'd called him by his first name in years. "They...Dumbledore. The Order of the Phoenix," he stammered out, before pressing a kiss to Hermione's head. "They have been taking decisions away from us - from me - for years, all in the name for the 'Greater Good'! But, whose greater good? Certainly not mine...and not Hermione's either!"

Inside, Walburga was preening. She knew that Dumbledore's way was the wrong path, and she was glad that Sirius was beginning to see the light as well. "Well, I don't really see what I can do to help you?" she said, innocently.

"I want Hermione to be recognized by the House of Black," Sirius said firmly. This was the part he was dreading the whole time. He didn't want to beg or grovel his way back into a House that he wanted no part of, but Dumbledore insisted that it was necessary. "I want to be brought back into the House of Black. I want to raise my daughter the right way."

Walburga's lips were in a tight line. Did she really want to let her son back into the Ancient and Noble House of Black? He had been such a troublesome youth and teenager, but of course, people could grow and mature with time. He was twenty-two now. Could he really have matured that much in five years?

She looked at the little girl — her apparent granddaughter. She supposed parenthood did change you. "And what is the right way?" she questioned him, wanting to be sure they were on the same page.

"I didn't realize what it all meant until I had her to look after," Sirius said, his eyes fondly dropping to the little girl in his lap. "I understand now how the pureblood ideals will make her life better. She deserves to be raised as a Black. I don't want to go back to the Order — they gore James and Lily killed and they kept Hermione from me for years. I missed so many of my daughter's firsts just because Dumbledore thought he knew what was best for me."

Walburga gave him a smile and stood, over the moon that her son had finally seen the light. It was especially fortuitous for her because it meant the continuation of her line. Recently, Narcissa had been a bit too presumptuous about the Black inheritances her Draco was entitled to. Walburga was glad to know it wouldn't go to the Malfoys after all.

"Well, let's go visit the tapestry," she said, breezily.

Sirius's jaw nearly dropped. Was it really that easy? His mother had practically welcomed them back with open arms. He nodded in agreement, wrapping Hermione up in his arms and following his mother out of the parlor.

When they stood in front of the massive family tapestry, Walburga raised her wand at the spot that used to show Sirius's face and he watched curiously as the fabric began to knit itself back together, repaired after so many years. He was surprised to see that it looked exactly as it had before. Had he ever been officially disowned, he wondered?

Before he could ponder on it much longer, his mother held her arms open, ready to take Hermione from him. "Alright, darling!" she said, all false cheeriness. "Come to grandmother."

Sirius couldn't think of anything he'd like to do less than hand over his daughter to his mother, who had been abusive to him throughout his childhood, but he knew that he couldn't make a fuss. He handed Hermione over.

Hermione was less than pleased to go to the other woman, looking at her face with wariness. "Granma?" she asked, confused.

Walburga gave her a tight smile. "Grandmother," she repeated, correcting her. "Are you sure you don't want to change her name? You still have time, if you do it before the House recognizes her."

Sirius quickly shook his head. "No, I don't want to confuse her," he said. He was already taking away every bit of Hermione's muggle heritage from her. The least he could do was to keep the name that her real parents had given her.

"We can break her of any bad habits," Walburga reassured him, thinking that her granddaughter probably had already been taught a lot of things that would need to be removed from her pretty little head, even though she only looked to be about two.

Sirius stiffened, every inch of his body filling with repressed rage from his youth. "I will not be subjecting my daughter to corporal punishment," he insisted. He wouldn't let anyone hurt Hermione.

Walburga, seeing the fire in his eyes, was reminded of the old Sirius. She did not want to alienated her son again after she just brought him back into the fold. "Whatever you think is best," she said with a shrug. Then she returned her attention to Hermione. "Alright, darling. Give me your hand," she cooed, before using her wand to slice the pad of one of the toddler's fingers. Then she pressed the finger just below Sirius's face on the tapestry. "Let's see if you really are Sirius's daughter..." she breathed out, daring to hope.

Sirius's breath hitched in his throat while he watched the old tapestry soak up the blood. Immediately, it began knitting together, until Hermione's face was revealed in the threads, with 'Hermione Black' emblazoned below her face.

"Of course you are," Walburga said, cupping the girl's cheeks. "You look so much like your cousin Bellatrix."

Sirius shuddered at the suggestion. He wanted Bellatrix as far away from Hermione as possible.

She must have agreed, because Hermione began to fidget in Walburga's arms. "Papa?" she asked with her arms outstretched, waiting for him to take her back.

Walburga frowned and reluctantly handed her back. "Well, I believe you know your way back to your room. I will have Kreacher bring down a crib from the attic," she said, looking Sirius up and down with disdain. "Tomorrow we will go to Diagon Alley and get you some proper clothes."

Sirius looked at himself. He sighed, knowing that this was his new life. "Of course," he agreed. "Hermione will need some new clothing as well. Also, I understand that my cousin Narcissa has a young child as well. Perhaps she could come with, to help with Hermione's clothes? I am still learning how to raise a toddler."

His mother smiled at him, pleased with the way that he'd turned around. "Yes of course," she answered. "I will send her an owl."

He turned around and walked up the stairs, the familiar path to his old bedroom, with Hermione safely on his hip. He opened the door and sighed, amused that it had been left untouched in the years he was gone, even if that meant it was incredibly messy.

He hated this place.