safe and happy more than anything else." He thought of Remus and Mia and his insistence
that they give it another go. "It got really complicated for a while."
"Did you ever seal it?"
"No," Sirius replied, shaking his head. "That would have meant marriage, and I
fucked that up pretty bad."
"So, does your Soul Bond with my aunt mean that you and Hermione aren't... ?"
Sirius took a slow, deep breath. Despite Harry being calm and collected for the
majority of the conversation, this was a turning point. "Right. So, to prepare any bond,
there needs to be emotion. Love. I love you, you love Teddy and Hermione, Remus loves
all of us, I loved Mia. To provoke a bond, there needs to be action. James asking me to be
your godfather, Remus asking you the same for Teddy. Me giving Hermione that bracelet
and you confirming it. Sometimes, bonds are provoked by magic."
"What kind of magic?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"Not dark, just grey... ish. Harry, when Hermione brought me back from the veil,
she used Blood Magic. An old ritual that uses an uncollected life debt. When she called me
from the veil, she provoked a bond between us." Sirius looked down at the table, worried
about making eye contact with Harry and seeing his reaction as all the pieces began to fit
together.
With his eyes downcast, a distinct lack of movement on the page of the book in
front of him drew his attention.
"So, does that make Hermione your—?"
"Oh, shit," Sirius mumbled, cutting Harry off. His breath quickened at the sight of
the Potter family tree where Mia's faded name no longer hovered but was unmoving and
solid. There, below her name, an invisible hand had written her date of birth. Her actual date
of birth:
Mia Potter
Born 19 September 1979Unable to tear his eyes away from her name, Sirius felt more than saw Harry lean
over to look at the book with him. "I don't understand."