But A Dog Beat Me Over The Fence

Like a skittering mouse, the drop ran along the branches. Slipping past leaves and avoiding dead end twigs, it passed by generation after generation of Blacks on its long journey. It wasn't hard for Harry to guess what was happening as he followed along. The tapestry must operate something like Dudley's computer when it broke and his cousin **** him to fix it. That often enough, the quickest and easiest fix was to hit the reset button.

Was adding her blood like hitting the reset button? Rebooting the family tree with the latest "version" of the blood line installed? If that was the case, this wouldn't work. Harry wasn't Sirius's blood related heir, just his appointed one. And even if the argument could be made that the two were related if you went back far enough, that wouldn't change the fact that she was still Harry Potter, polyjuice potion or not. Wouldn't the blood go right back to himself?

The drop was nearing the end of one of the few remaining branches. It slowed down briefly at the base of a branch that contained Narcissa before passing the path by, racing towards Sirius and another Harry knew to be Sirius's dead brother, Regulus.

Again, the drop hesitated. Narcissa held her breath in anticipation, so focused on the soon to be results that she didn't notice Harry placing herself on the older woman's wand side, ready to make a go for it when the tapestry outed her.

The drop oozed past Regulus like a lost driver eyeing a familiar looking street before realizing its error and happily running up the thicker wood that held Sirius, where it was absorbed into the leaf holding his portrait. It's color deepened, going from an early winter pale orange to a rich autumn red. Sirius's portrait too was effected, the burn spot where he had been lightened until his face once again could be seen.

"I knew it." Narcissa breathed, pulling Harry into a hug without taking her eyes off the tapestry. Harry grimaced, a guilty feeling sinking in her gut for what she was about to do as she inched her hand towards Narcissa's wand. She was just about th-

"Here you come in now, dear. See?" Harry blinked, looking back to the tapestry at Narcissa's urging.

Something new was indeed happening. The Harry Potter already on the wall was connected to Sirius not by a branch or a twig like everyone else, but instead by what looked like spider webbing. While no one had ever explained to him what that represented, Harry had always assumed the meaning of it to show his and Sirius's connection as an artificial one, rather then one of direct blood. Slipping out from behind Sirius's leaf was what undoubtedly a new branch, one rapidly becoming just as thick as the branch Sirius himself was attached by. And on it was not the uncurling of a new leaf, but the bud of a flower.

It sat on the branch, waiting for the wood to finish developing, before blooming. A young woman of fair skin and black hair was revealed, making Harry's jaw drop. Before any doubt could be entertained, the name "Seirios Black" slowly faded into being under the picture.

Harry stood there, hand falling forgotten back to her side as she stared at the new addition, mind struggling to understand what had just happened.

"But... I..." I'm Harry. "I'm a flower."

"Yes. A Dog Rose too. Hmm. Sirius, you really did get the last laugh after all, didn't you?" Narcissa was quiet for a moment, looking at the picture of Sirius with a sad smile before blinking several times. "It's a rare feature of the tapestry. With our family inheritance being Agnatic-Cognatic Primogeniture, it's useful in keeping down infighting by making it clear female heirs such as yourself are the rightful heir." Narcissa finally looked away from the family tree to notice Harry's befuddled expression and incorrectly assumed the cause. "That means women can only inherited if there are no suitable men, specifically out of the direct decedents of the head of the family. It's why you received the title. See yourself here?"

Harry nodded, using the impromptu lesson to gather her thoughts as she watched Narcissa gestured to different people on the tree. The older woman seemed eager to teach her newfound niece about their family.

"You're the child of Sirius, who has... passed. You were the first in line to inherit his titles since, despite being a girl when there's a male in line, you're Sirius's only child. After you, next in line would have been your Aunt Bellatrix. She's... invalidated herself, along with any children she could have. After her, there's Andromeda, who was disowned, which also invalidated her daughter. That means I would have been next in line after you. Draco, my son and your cousin, would have come next after myself."

Harry tried very hard not to make a face at the idea of her and Draco being cousins. Or of Bellatrix as her aunt. If there was one aspect Harry Potter and Seirios Black had in common, it was unpleasant family situations.

"What about him?" Harry asked, nodding to himself on the portrait. Narcissa's lips thinned, as if she'd been hoping her niece wouldn't ask that question and they could pretend the boy wasn't there.

"That's Harry Potter, the son of a close friend of your fathers. Sirius was Harry's Godfather and deemed it best to appoint the boy as the one to inherit his titles. But being heir by appointment is a rather weak claim to have. One easily challenged unless there's no other options. It would have worked, as Sirius had effectively disowned myself and Bellatrix. But as he hadn't done the same to you, the family magics overruled his decree. The Potter boy might have inherited if you had been Regulus's daughter. Though as he hadn't been disowned, you likely still would have had a stronger claim."

Narcissa gave a small shake of her head. "But that's a 'what if.' You're the heir. And through you, the family still lives, standing on its own instead of dying out or being absorbed into another like so many have." The witch drew her wand, keeping Harry in a half hug. Harry never would have thought Mrs. Malfoy to be so touchy feely, even in his wildest dreams.

"There's much to do now that we've confirmed you're family. But first, let's see who the mystery woman is that Sirius managed to keep hidden from us." Narcissa touched the small portrait of Seirios with the tip of her wand. Another portrait started to come into being next to her own, lacking a leaf, flower, or any sort of attachment.