Harry woke bright and early, excited for his trip to the Ministry.
After a shower that he attempted to make stretch as long as possible, to take up some of the time before Hermione came over, Harry headed downstairs to see what his dads were doing.
He found that Sirius was still in bed, seeming to be enjoying a lie in that morning, and Remus was in the kitchen with a cup of coffee.
Harry headed over to the coffee maker and poured himself a cup, dosing it heavily with cream and a bit of sugar before taking a seat at the table and looking at Remus. "How are you so calm?" He finally asked his dad.
"Calm? I'm far from calm son, I've just had a lot more years to learn to control my nerves than you have," Remus replied with a smile. "Why don't you take your broom out and fly it around the grounds? There aren't too many muggles around here, and our grounds are charmed so that they look empty and well manicured, to muggles, no matter what they actually are."
"Really?" Harry asked. "I've never been able to fly during the summer before!"
Remus smiled at his son's excitement. "Go for it. You've got about two and a half hours before Hermione should be flooing in, but even if you're out longer, I can call for you when she gets here."
Harry ran upstairs, none too quietly, and grabbed his shrunken broom from his trunk. Unshrinking it and running back downstairs, Harry hopped on his broom and zoomed into the sky.
Sirius had come downstairs, woken by Harry's clattering around, and watched his son visibly relax as he zoomed around the grounds on his Firebolt.
"We should get him a new broom. He's had that one for several years now," Sirius commented.
Before Harry knew it, he had been flying for over two hours, and Sirius had come out to call him in because Hermione would be arriving any minute.
Harry rushed inside and ran up to his room to shower. Just as he stepped out and was drying off, he heard someone knock on his door. Drying quickly, he wrapped the towel around himself and answered the door.
When he flung the door open, expecting to see one of his dads, he found Hermione staring at him, her mouth formed a little O as she took in his near naked form. Both Harry and Hermione blushed and when Harry found his voice he said, "Hey Hermione. Just um...let me get dressed here and I'll be right downstairs."
Hermione nodded and quickly turned and headed back downstairs.
Harry went first to his dresser and found underclothes, and then went to his closet to find an outfit amongst the new clothes that he had gotten the day before.
After picking out a black silk button down shirt and charcoal gray trousers, Harry threw everything on, combed his unruly hair, and slipped his feet into a pair of loafers before heading downstairs to meet his dads and Hermione.
Everyone in the group was visibly jittery, other than Hermione. She was the perfect picture of calm. Remus and Sirius were both worried about Harry's reaction to his new look, and what he'd change his name to, and Harry was worried about how people would react to him looking different and no longer being Harry freakin' Potter. Hermione was just extremely curious. She couldn't wait to see how Harry would look. She already thought he was handsome, but being the son of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black surely wouldn't be bad for his looks.
The group flooed to The Leaky Cauldron where they then headed into muggle London. After having lunch at a small cafe where they all enjoyed light, crisp salads and warm paninis, they headed for the broken down telephone box where they all 4 crammed in and got their visitors passes.
Once in the Atrium they headed for an elevator and went to Level 2, Department of Children and Family Services. Luckily they were a few minutes early, so there weren't any other families in line before them. They waited a few minutes, all of them growing more anxious by the moment, until a small, plump witch came out of a door on the other side of the room and called "Harry James Potter?"
Harry stood, but when his fathers went to stand, he said "Would you guys mind waiting here, but can Hermione go with me?"
A look of hurt passed quickly across Sirius' face but Remus' hand on his leg kept the animagus quiet. "Go ahead kids, we'll be waiting right here for you."
Sirius stood and hugged his son. "We'll be right here," he reassured his son.
Harry and Hermione walked into the room behind the witch and sat at the chairs in front of her desk.
After answering dozens of questions, being asked multiple times if he was sure he wanted to remove the blood adoption, signing several papers and then enduring more questions when he added that he wanted to change part of his name, and signing more paperwork with both his adoptive name, and again with the name that he had chosen for himself, Harry was handed a vial of potion and instructed to take it all in one mouthful.
He took a look at Hermione who was watching him closely. "Are you still going to be my friend when I'm no longer Harry Potter?" he asked, timidly.
"Of course Harry! You know that your fame has never been why I've stuck to your side through all these years. I love you for you, not for your name, or your fame." Hermione exclaimed.
"She loves me?" Harry thought. "Eh she probably just means like a brother or something."
Harry uncorked the potion and grabbed Hermione's hand. Taking a deep breath, he tossed the potion back and swallowed it quickly.
He grimaced as he felt his features begin to change. It felt a bit like when he, Ron and Hermione had taken the polyjuice potion in second year to interrogate Draco, but not exactly the same. There was no pain, but it was a completely foreign feeling. There really was no way to describe how it felt to have your face rearrange itself.
After a few moments he began to feel normal again, and opened his eyes, which he hadn't realized he had closed in the first place, and found that he couldn't see anything. Realizing that he must have gotten his bad eyesight from James, he quickly removed his glasses, only to see a look of shock on Hermione's face.
"Am I hideous or something?" he joked nervously.
Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out a small compact mirror. "Harry, look for yourself, you're absolutely gorgeous.