Moon Blessed

The tenth of August dawned bright and sunny. The thirteen-year-old Boy-Who-Lived smiled with his eyes still closed as he felt the warm rays of the sun reach him from where he lay cocooned within heaps of blankets, indulging in a sleep-in.

He would never regret having the goblins send renovators to make his room have big, wide windows. Never.

Stretching his arms over his head and sitting up, Harry Potter opened his eyes to be greeted with the view of sunlight peeking through the line of trees right outside his window. He could distinctly hear the sound of the wood creatures – both magical and non-magical – stirring to welcome another day.

Sitting on his bed, enjoying the moment for a while longer, the emerald-eyed teen let his mind drift to how his life was for the past ten days.

Sirius was definitely getting better with each day. Recently enough the goblin Healers had given him the green signal to slowly start doing mundane chores and such since his strength was back to normal. Sirius had bargained with him for hours on end to take over all the house chores immediately. Harry had not liked that. He had in the end, with the goblins' persuasion given up breakfast and washing duties to Sirius. While it was honestly a relief (he didn't have to worry about sprouting a tail in front of Sirius – Harry doubted the experience would go well considering the average witch and wizard's scepticism and distrust at creature-blooded magicals), Harry was still not sure on how he felt on sharing the chores with the man. It was heartening that the man cared about Harry's well-being but for some reason, Harry was worried about Sirius' health despite the goblins' reassurances.

But other than that, the past days had certainly triumphed as some of the best days Harry had had in his entire life, topping even the moment he was free from the Dursleys. It was certainly different to share a house with another person who genuinely cared about him and Sirius was, on the whole, an amazing presence to live with. The man had countless stories to tell about Harry's parents and his own time at Hogwarts.

He had yet to fully trust the man - it was hard to trust an adult completely yet. And the man was a stranger despite being his godfather. But Harry had the feeling that won't be a problem in a few weeks, considering the rate at which things were going. Sirius really was a much better person to share his house with than anybody else.

Harry threw back his sheets, calling on his magic for a quick tempus.

Half-past seven.

He had time for a swim before he had to come back for breakfast when Sirius woke up.

His eyes briefly glanced towards the nightstand near his bed, where his wand lay innocently. Seeking advice from Fradgrot as to why his magic was suddenly more difficult to cast with a wand was also something he had to add to his agenda for today. He had only recently discovered the problem. He had just finished revising all his first and second years' spells and hexes the previous night. Only after he had successfully mastered the last spell did his brain finally register the fact that he had revised all the spells wandlessly. He had not been overly concerned at first. If he could perform them wandlessly, wand magic should have been easier, right?

Wrong.

Sweating to lift a quill from his study table had him realising he really had a problem at hand. If he went back to Hogwarts in that state, he would have to answer more questions that he liked.

Heading to the bathroom to attend to his morning routines, the boy wizard wondered absently if he should have renovators change his bathtub to a pool. Swimming in a pool with a drain would certainly be much easier than trying to get in and get out of a bathtub with his tail. It may look light but the thing sure weighed a ton.

He let out a whoop as he was dragged along with the warm ocean current. The water rushed past him, lifting his hair and blurring the scenery beyond the tunnel of fast-moving waters.

A lazy flap of his tail boosted him along the ride. He let out another cry, giggling as numerous bubbles erupted in front of his face while he was carried further forward. A bale of turtles startled at his presence as he swept past them.

"Hello, sea friends!" Harry flicked his tail, regaining control over himself as he chose to acquaint with the sea reptiles rather than being mindlessly tugged about the sea.

A curious hatchling swam forward clumsily to butt head with his nose. Harry smiled, gently grabbing it by its fins before twirling himself about on the spot, pulling the hatchling with him into the gentle spin. Laughing silently he asked mentally, "And who might you be little one?"

Amusement and joy flowed through Harry from the various links that surrounded him, especially from the tiny purple link between him and the hatchling. He also sensed a few of the older turtles having a sense of worry and caution at seeing him twirl the hatchling despite their amusement.

Harry stopped his spinning and guided the little creature back to the shell of a bigger turtle.

He is Dearg. A raspy voice whispered across Harry's mind. He swirled around to meet a very old turtle gliding lethargically to come face to face with him. And who are you, stranger? You are but a hatchling yourself. Where is your sire?

Harry poked the chin of the ancient turtle curiously, wondering how it felt smooth despite the old age of the skin. "My sire passed a long time ago, friend. As did my mother." Harry swam a circle around the old creature. "I am Harry as humans have named me. What is your name?"

The old turtle swiped a fin over Harry's head playfully. Silly hatchling. Slow down. My name has long been lost to the sea. You may address meVovô like how the others call me.

Harry pouted at how the old one addressed him but complied with swimming at a slower pace as he fooled about with the friendly turtles, showing off his water powers to the little ones whenever they showed him a cool move in return.

Harry swam down to the bottom of the seafloor, sticking out his tongue to the beautiful creature behind him.

"I won, silly." He exclaimed, dodging the swipe of the tail that came his way. "Don't be a spoilsport. I won fair and square!"

The dolphin he was teasing butted its head onto his chest gently. Alright, alright. Have you found what you are looking for, calf?

Rolling his eyes at how all sea creatures seemed to see him a baby creature, Harry pointed to a crystal-like object a few tail flaps away from him. "Yes."

He glided over with his dolphin friend, picking the object up and brushing a few sand particles that still clung to it.

What is is?

"A type of flower. It's called a Lily." Harry replied, admiring the little sculpture.

The dolphin gave an enquiring click. No flower I've seen has ever been so rigid, calf. Are you certain?

Harry giggled. "This is not real, silly. It is simply a mimic of what this type of flower looks like above land."

Harry received another butt to his chest. You should have explained, little calve. I do not know much about the ways of land dwellers.

The dolphin swam around the little boy wizard. What are you going to do with this curious flower?

"Gift it," Harry replied with a smile. "I have someone I need to visit. Hopefully, I can be friends with them."

A distant whistle caught the attention of both the boy and the dolphin.

I must go, little calf. The pod is calling. Have a good time visiting your mystery acquaintance!

Harry waved his sea friend goodbye. He took a last look at the sculpture he clutched before swimming to the surface of the moon pool.

He would practice his powers a short while before he went back home to check on Sirius.

Harry stared at the water sphere before him, feeling his connection with it waver. But despite the unsteady connection, he could not help the smile that danced across his lips.

Both his hands were at his side, yet the water had obeyed his command.

Five, six, seven, eight, nine, –

The sphere fell back into the water with a dull splash.

Harry gave a slightly disappointed sigh before raising his hand to command a new sphere before him to do what he did before attempting to control the water without a gesture. His smile came back as he felt his magic hum as it connected completely to the water. He played with the sphere, changing its shape and size with an ease he certainly did not have a few weeks before.

Happiness and pride washed over his entire being, brightening his smile ten times more as the fact was replayed in his mind, over and over again.

He had mastered his power over the liquid form of water.

His magic hummed along with him in joy. The feeling was just as he remembered from the moon pool. Absolute rightness.

"One down. Three more to go," he muttered to himself.

Changing his hand gesture, he willed the water to start to freeze, his mind moving to focus back on his goals despite only having mastered his first power a few minutes ago.

Better now than later to master all three powers. He could celebrate later.

In a hidden island, on the porch of a lovely cottage, a man stood looking around the woods surrounding the new home he had found.

He was dressed in a loose-fitting shirt and pants, both layered with automatic heat charms that kept him warm while he stood breathing in the cool morning breeze. He had just woken up to find himself in an empty house. If the circumstances had been different, the man knew he would have been in an all-out panic by the time he even suspected the house was missing its other inhabitant. But the reality remained that he was a wanted convict who had to lay low and that the other inhabitant of the house was used to such early-morning mystery routines. And his twelve-year absence from said other inhabitant's life meant he was not in a position to intrude in said mystery routines. If the kid had been doing it for weeks, who was he to barge into the kid's life suddenly and tell him to stop just because he was worried? Who was he to worry when he had been absent for twelve years?

Sirius Black sighed.

He was glad that his pup was too kind to ask such questions to his face, even if such questions whirled about in his mind without anybody asking them. In fact, his pup (despite having been disappointed at Sirius initially for abandoning him when he was a toddler when Sirius was recounting what had happened that fateful night) had been quite understanding of what Sirius had gone through when he lost two of the most important people in his life. But Sirius really could not forgive himself yet, now that he was in a much clearer state of mind.

The escaped convict leaned onto the railing of the porch he stood on.

He was not upset, not truly.

He knew his own actions were the reason why he was in such a position despite being a godfather. Plus in the past few days of living with his godson, he had realised that the boy was as independent as they came. From taking care of his own chores to making breakfast for his recovering godfather, the boy seemed an expert in doing things by himself efficiently.

What bothered Sirius was how the independence was showing in his godson at such a young age. And it was the fact that this obviously wasn't the kind that came with growing up over the years when children gradually matured with time and age. But rather this kind of independence screamed that his godson had been taking care of himself for years, from a young age.

Sirius did not like the implications those observations pointed to. He did not like the thought that his godson had learned to cook from since he was a little thing. It only meant one thing – Harry did not have a good childhood.

Sirius knew the signs all too well. He himself had been abused before after all. If the unnatural independence in the barely-a-teenager boy had not given the fact away, the slight flinch or stiffening whenever he touched the boy was a blunt indication. That along with how Harry had managed to evade every single question regarding his childhood whenever Sirius tried to ask about it – it was the same way Sirius avoided talking about his childhood. The only fact Sirius knew so far was that Harry had only recently moved to live by himself – the newness of their home along with Harry's own reluctant admission had been how Sirius knew this fact.

Sirius sighed again as he felt the breeze blowback his long hair gently. He could faintly hear the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks from where he stood. He idly wondered if his godson had gone swimming in the sea or was simply exploring the woods. The man refused to think about which was considered more dangerous. He really could do nothing as of now on the situation. He wished his pup were back at home, where Sirius could see him and know he was safe.

Sirius eyed the sight of never-ending greenery around him, taking in the calmness of the environment. So unlike what was happening within his head.

It had been like a bucket of ice water over his head when he first realized his godson was a victim of abuse. Even the dementors' effects could be described as mild when Sirius had first had the guilt and regret crash over his being at the realization. He had been so grief-stricken and angry over the death of his best friend and his wife that he had recklessly ran after the vermin who had caused it all. And in that recklessness, he had abandoned the one person who had needed him more than anything else – his orphaned godson. In a way, Sirius thought, he had done the utmost betrayal to Harry that night he had handed him over to Rubeus Hagrid. He had trusted Dumbledore to watch over his godson instead of doing what Lily and James had tasked him to do. He had let down Harry to go after the traitor. That had been the biggest mistake Sirius did in his entire life. Trusting Peter had been the second biggest one.

Sirius closed his eyes.

He supposed he should be grateful for all their effects, the dementors' had not managed to take away his sanity. Living with depressing thoughts for company had not been new to Sirius but he was truly glad he was not lost to insanity due to that place. It would have killed all the possibilities of him escaping and having a second chance with Harry.

Sirius opened his eyes, determination gleaming in them.

No more. He would not fail Harry again. It had pained him to accept Harry's request of not going after the rat. But when those smaller arms had wrapped around him in the first hug his godson had ever given him in twelve years and when he had been able to feel the slight trembling in Harry's body, Sirius had realized how much his godson had needed him to stay with him. It had been painful. The rat had taken everything from him and he badly wanted to see the traitor suffer. But his pup's need came before everything else. It should have always had come before everything else. Sirius was realizing it too late, but he was determined to set things right. The rat could wait. That traitor would get his dues in time. But for now, Sirius would be doing what he was supposed to have done twelve years back on the day the Potters were murdered. He would be Harry Potter's godfather. He would take care of Harry.

And he certainly was never going to trust others with his godson's safety. Especially not Albus Dumbledore, Sirius thought bitterly. The man who had not lifted a finger to help those who had fought at his side of the war faithfully. It was funny how enlightening the guards and inmates of Azkaban were with their theories and gossips and demented mutterings. One learnt many things. From how even the most foulest Death Eater had been given trials, how some were even let off with full pardon, to even how people had just believed his "Black-blood" had finally shown itself as the explanation as to why no one gave him even the benefit of the doubt. It had made his "Black-blood", as they referred to it, boil that last one. What did those fickle sheep know about his and James' friendship? What did they know on how much Sirius loved the Potter family for accepting him that he would kill and die for them? Sheep they all were. Fickle-minded sheep.

A distant laugh brought the escaped convict from his thoughts. He watched as his little charge emerged from the bushes, a snowy owl perched on his shoulder. A glass-like sculpture was clutched in his hands. Sirius could not make out what it was, but he dismissed it as his eyes soon flitted back to his godson's laughing face.

He had truthfully expected to see a mini version of James with Lily's beautiful eyes when he had stumbled through the woods, following the magical bond between him and his godson. His expectation had not been fully thwarted but it sure had been a surprise to see the sheen of familiar red amongst the nest of messy jet black hair. It had not been there before when Harry had been a toddler and seeing it for the first time when the light had hit Harry's head had been a shock – a pleasant shock. It was good to see them both in Harry. Though Sirius knew Harry was his own person and was never going to be Lily or James, seeing bits of both of them in Harry made him happy that not all of them were gone forever.

A rumbling sound brought Sirius back to reality. His eyes widened.

"What the –" the man did not finish the thought as his charge interrupted him.

"Sirius! You're awake!"

Sirius stared at his godson for a moment before protective instincts kicked in prompting his legs to make way towards the direction where the emerald-eye teen was.

"Harry run!" he shouted.

The escaped convict cursed the fact that he had yet to get hold of a wand. "Ah well, Padfoot can do more damage than even hexes," he thought as he drew in his magic to change into his animagus form.

The goblins did advise him to not use magic until they gave the green signal.

But Sirius was sure they did not mean it applied to emergency situations.

Like when a troll stood behind his godson.

"Harry, run NOW!"

He was ten feet away when a flash of understanding seemed to cross his pup's face.

Really, of all day's for Harry to be slow, this was not the day.

"Oh Sirius, Mamjll is a friend!"

The troll was right behind him, for Merlin's sak – What?!

Sirius skidded to a halt, one foot away from his godson. His arms went around the smaller shoulders instinctively and he pulled the boy behind him.

"Come again, pup?"

He could feel the teenager roll his eyes, even without seeing it.

"He's a friend, Sirius. You can let me go now."

Sirius eyed the seven feet creature suspiciously.

"Pup, are you sure? Trolls are not really known to be friendly." Sirius wondered if they could both inch away from the creature now. It did not seem to be thinking of striking either of them yet, despite being close.

"Watch what you are saying. I've been teaching him how to converse in English for the past couple of weeks and he's a fast learner."

Indeed the troll seemed to have an affronted look to its face.

"Right…" Sirius looked over his shoulder to give his godson an inquiring look. Frankly, if the troll was no danger, he had no idea what to do. He for certain had never met one in his life.

This time, Sirius got to see the eye roll his godson gave him.

"Let me go, Paddy," the kid wriggled out of his grip and went over to the troll to give it a hug. Sirius had to hide a wince at how the return hug from the troll gave him anxiety. A small thing like his pup could be crushed in those troll arms.

He grabbed his godson back as soon as the troll released him.

"Honestly he was just keeping me company, Sirius."

Sirius shrugged, unable to really say anything as his mind registered the peculiar experience he was currently experiencing. His godson just hugged a troll. Willingly.

His godson waved goodbye at the green creature. A beat later, said creature knelt on a knee, bowing till its forehead touched the ground before standing and giving Sirius a brief nod of its head.

Then it disappeared between the trees.

Sirius blinked.

"Well, that was interesting."

He turned to inspect his pup, eyes roaming over to check for any obvious injury.

"I'm fine, Sirius. Trust me. Mamjll is very soft-hearted. He wouldn't harm me and he's herbivores since he is a forest-troll. Plus I'm his friend."

Sirius sighed. He sure had not been expecting this when he settled down to live with Harry.

"Next time, warn a man before you do such things pup. I nearly aged twenty more years."

He received a pat on his arm. "Don't worry, Sirius. You still look not a day past eighty-two."

Sirius scowled. "Hey!"

His godson's laughter filled the clearing.

Sirius smiled, the sound igniting a warmth within him. A warmth he had not experienced in twelve years. He let out a breath, now that the adrenaline at seeing a troll in the flesh had died down within him.

"Well, then. Good morning to you, pup. Exciting things aside, I was about to start on breakfast in a few minutes."

"Are you sure that's – "

"It'll be fine, pup. This old dog still knows how to work the stove decently," Sirius joked as he and Harry made their way back to the cottage. "You go and get changed if you need. I'll have breakfast ready for you." Seeing Harry's hesitant face, he continued. "I want to do it for you, Harry."

Sirius chose not to comment on how brightly Harry's face lit up at the fact that Sirius was willing to do something for him. He shoved away the painful thought that no one had done it for Harry before since Lily and James died.

The man sighed softly as he pulled the boy beside him to his side just a little bit more as they walked.

It was barely past a week since he had started living with Harry and he had only managed to take over breakfast and washing duties a few days ago. The goblin healers had been especially helpful in convincing his stubborn godson in the matter, stating that it would do Sirius good to be doing such mundane things to emphasize how he had truly escaped Azkaban and was free – somewhat. None mentioned the part where Sirius had demanded to know if his suspicions were correct on Harry's previous home life. He had gotten the impression Harry was closer to the goblins than anybody knew and the goblin healers' silence had been telling in itself to both sets of his suspicions. If he had pleaded with them to convince Harry to let him at least cook and clean the dishes for his godson, it was a secret Sirius was going to take to the grave. He was pretty sure the goblins would not bother to tell anyone.

Sirius made his way back into the house, chuckling at how the boy was almost skipping to his room.

In his heart, the determination to keep his godson smiling hardened. He was never going to abandon his pup ever again.

Harry suppressed a snicker as he watched Sirius burn the eggs for the third time.

"Are you sure you don't need help, Padfoot?"

The glare he got in answer only increased the chances of his laughter escaping from him.

"I do the breakfast. It was a deal, pup. I'm still not happy you are cooking lunch and dinner, so don't push it."

Harry leaned on the kitchen counter, unable to resist such an open invitation to push Sirius' buttons.

"Well, considering how breakfast is burning I think I made the right decision, Paddy. We wouldn't want to starve all day now would we?"

Harry snickered again at Sirius' indignant look. "I cook fine, pup! It's just the eggs that give me a problem."

The toaster let out a chime in response, giving a clear warning the bread was in the danger of burning if left in it any longer. Sirius scrambled to take it out. Harry simply could not hold in his amusement any longer. He burst into peals of laughter.

Sirius shot him a nasty glare, though the slight upward quirk of his mouth belied his anger. "Stop laughing at me, pup. And eat your breakfast."

Harry took a look at the plate that was handed to him, containing two slices of toast, two sausages, a muffin and a sunny side up.

"Wow, none of it is burnt. I'm impressed. Also, when did you make muffins?"

Sirius rolled his eyes at his godson's teasing before replying.

"I already put them in the oven before you came back. Forgot to mention them when I told you I was starting breakfast," he said sheepishly. But his expression soon turned indignant again. "Plus I was doing fine until you came into the kitchen to distract me, pup."

Harry rolled his eyes this time, choosing to silently start on his breakfast instead of replying to the man's poor excuses as Sirius finally settled down with his own plate to eat after placing a bowl of cut fruits between the two of them.

But burnt eggs and annoying godfather aside, Harry supposed this was one of the best breakfasts he had had in his life, as he finally had a taste at eating at a table with his family.

"So, pup, what are your plans for today?"

Harry shrugged. "The usual. Study. Eat. Study. I also need to go see Griphook and Fradgrot about certain matters, especially my wand." Harry grimaced at the mundane routine before he remembered something. "Ohh! Ohh. Wait there's something else."

He raced up the stairs, ignoring Sirius' "What?" as he ran for his room. Finding what he needed in less than five minutes, he raced back down, handing Sirius some shrunk packages.

"Open them! Open them!"

Sirius raised an eyebrow at his overexcited behavior.

"I don't have a wand to enlarge them, pup. How –"

Sirius paused as ten wands were shoved in front of his face.

"What the –"

"Did I forget to mention Jadeclaw said you were allowed to use magic about two days ago?" Harry asked with an innocent expression.

Sirius looked affronted. "You purposely kept them from me, didn't you?"

Harry shrugged, not in the least remorseful. He had been really curious on how long Sirius could last without a wand in the house. Besides the man's exaggerated lament at the inability to do magic had been funny.

"Entertainment is hard to come by nowadays, Paddy. A kid's got to do what a kid's got to do to have some fun."

Sirius glared at his unrepentant godson. "I'll get you back for this. Watch out pup. You just watch out."

Harry smiled. "Give it your best shot mutt."

Sirius scowled at Harry's obvious lack of fear.

Muttering about mischievous godsons under his breath – much to Harry's amusement- the escaped prisoner spent the next five minutes trying out the different wands. Sirius soon found the best fit he could manage was with a twelve-inch oak wood wand that contained a hippogriff's feather for a core. It certainly did not match as well as his true wand but it was the best out of the ten Harry had presented.

Seeing Sirius' slightly disappointed look, Harry tried to cheer the man up a little. "We can get you a custom wand if you want. You're healthy enough to come with me for shopping now. All we need is a disguise I suppose…"

Sirius smiled at his godson. "That'd be nice."

The escaped convict tapped the wand to the packages in front of him, frowning in puzzlement at what he was faced with once the packages grew back to normal size. "Are these seeds, pup?"

Harry nodded his head.

"Yep!"

"Why are you giving me seeds?" Sirius asked, extremely confused.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Why else? We are going to plant them!"

"Why –"

Harry didn't wait to know the rest of the question. He dragged his godfather out of the house. The man could ask away as they gardened.

Harry stood back, assessing the job he and his godfather had done to his home's backyard.

Looking to where his godfather laid sprawled on the ground and refraining from rolling his eyes – seriously he was doing that a lot around Sirius – he said, "Well, all that's left is watering them and I'd say by tomorrow morning we'll have some really beautiful but funny plants growing here. Though the muggle ones are going to take a day or two longer to grow that quickly even with that magical fertilizer."

Sirius gave a muffled grunt, his hand covering his face as he continued lying on the ground.

"Honestly, Padfoot, stop the drama. I thought dogs liked getting dirty?" Harry asked with a snicker as he approached his godfather. He sat on the ground, pulling his knees to his chest as he gave his godfather a smirk.

"Pup, it's twelve in the afternoon. The sun is literally beating down on us. How are you still about?" The man turned to give him a glare. "You better drink lots of water after this, Prongslet."

Harry gave a small smile, liking the concern in his godfather's tone. "I will. And don't worry so much. I'm used to gardening at this hour. I'll be fine."

When he received no reply, Harry turned to find his godfather staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

"What?"

"Is this something else you picked up from your previous home?"

Harry stilled, staring at his godfather in shock. The man gave a small smile but it contained no happiness.

"I know the signs of neglect and abuse, pup. I know them too well in fact." Harry's eyes widened slightly at Sirius' indirect confession. The man's home life before he lived with Harry's father was a topic they had always avoided before.

Sirius stared at him for a moment longer before sitting up with a sigh. "I'm sorry, pup. I should have been there for you. If I had, we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

Harry stared at the man, unable to speak anything yet. His godfather looked him straight in the eye.

"I can understand if you don't want to talk to me about it now. But if you trust me enough to share in the future, I'll be here to listen. I promise. You are my priority now pup. Rat be damned. I'm sorry I'm twelve years too late in doing this. But I'm going to set things right between you and me. From here onwards, I promise to you that you will always be my first and foremost priority. I'll never do the mistake of abandoning you again, pup. I swear it on my life and my love for James and Lily."

"Sirius, I –"

"You don't need to tell me anything yet pup. As I said, when you're truly ready to trust me with that part of your life, I'll be here."

Harry gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Paddy."

Sirius simply opened his arms in response. Harry leaned into the embrace. A wave of magic washed over him as his Head of House Ring alerted him that new protective wards were settling on his home, covering the entire land, woods included. Harry filed away the information to ask Griphook later, choosing to enjoy the peaceful moment with his godfather instead of pondering about the wards when he was certain the goblins had finished updating and securing his home about two weeks ago.

"You really need to go drink some water now though, pup."

Harry shook his head at the man for ruining the moment.

"You look fine."

Sirius shot a glare at his godson. "No, I look like an idiot. Why do I have to wear this hideous glamour anyway?"

"So you don't get kissed by a Dementor?"

Sirius shuddered. "Alright. Point taken, but you could have at least given me something better than bleach blonde hair and dull blue eyes. These don't suit me at all, pup."

Harry palmed his face. "You look fine Sirius," the thirteen-year-old stated for the umpteenth time. "Now go before Griphook gets annoyed. He is waiting for you, you know?"

Sirius frowned. "You are coming, right?"

"Yes, but I'm only joining you to get your wand. Griphook says it'll take about a few hours at the least to settle your admin matters so I'm going to go take care of my own matters while you do that. I need to meet someone – and no I'm not telling you who – and I also need to visit one of the Potter properties before that. Potter Manor to be exact. I have some things to collect from there."

Sirius nodded. "Alright pup." Sirius gave him a brief hug. "See you in a few hours. Hopefully, I'll survive the paperwork."

"You better, Padfoot."

Throwing a pinch of Floo powder into the fireplace, Sirius waved to his godson one last time before green flames swallowed him up.

He looked at the mansion before him. Even from where he stood far away from outside the gates, he found it to be huge.

"Potter Manor has your entire tapestry dedicated to your ancestry. A self-updating one. Along with those, you have many, many portraits of your ancestors there. Have you not seen it?" Sirius asked, confused.

Harry wondered why he was thinking of that conversation now of all times. His own reply to that question came back to him.

"I didn't know about it then. And I haven't really checked on the Manor before that so the potion to reveal my family tree had been the only way for me to confirm my suspicions on whether you were in any way a betrayer to my family or not. My parents' wills told me Peter was the Secret-Keeper but the fact that you were imprisoned somehow...I was denied any allowance to view your trial transcript, you see. The Ministry official had declined all my requests.

Well, I had to make sure you truly were innocent. And well a magic-bound godfather from the potion's results cleared any doubts I had on you being innocent considering you would have been a squib or dead if you had intentionally meant me harm."

It had been one of the less truthful answers he had given Sirius. While the will and trial matters were real (Sirius telling him he had no trial in the first place had not been a shocker in all honesty with how things were going), the fact that he did not know about the family portraits and the family tree was a lie. The goblins had mentioned there was a possibility that the Potter Mansion, or Manor as Sirius referred to it, would have a family tree considering it was a tradition among old families to have one and the Potter family was an Ancient one. There had also been several blunt hints about family portraits too. But Harry had refused to even try it. Sure the Ruehmhtana potion would take a little longer (and was almost a tad bit on the other side of legal), but he had insisted. And the goblins had not pushed.

In reality, he had taken great pains to avoid the place entirely. Even when he had to check on its condition, he had simply granted the goblins access through his Head ring before portkeying away.

The truth was, Harry was not sure how to face his family – even if they were in portraits. It was funny when he thought about it. He always wanted to know about his family but now when a chance was right in front of him, he was scared of it. Funny indeed. Funny and pathetic.

Harry sighed, pushing away the whirlwind of emotions within him. Now was certainly not the time. He supposed he was thankful he had not shown any of the hesitations when he had interacted with Sirius the past week or so except for maybe the beginning. But then again, Sirius was one man. This matter would involve more than at least five generations of his ancestors.

He lifted his foot, only to hesitate again.

But the main matter, he supposed, would be his parents. Harry had no idea if they had portraits of themselves. A big part of him was hoping there was but he knew logically that the chances were slim, considering it had been wartime back then and they had died at a young age.

He let out a breath he had not realized he was holding.

This was getting ridiculous. "I can always get their portraits painted if I need. Now all I need to go in and get my task done."

He was lying again, to himself this time. A magical portrait required something of the owner, something personal and from their bodies – like a piece of hair. Harry knew he had none of that. But a sweet lie was much better than the bitter truth.

His mind drifted back to the conversation he had had with Griphook – the main reason as to why he was coming back to his ancestral home.

"Such things are better absorbed if you formed your own opinions on it. The Hogwarts curriculum and the magical world's practices have undergone many changes over time, Harrison and not all changes were good. Maybe you should try and find out more on History of Magic."

The conversation had been bugging Harry for a good few days. The goblins had always been honest with Harry in telling him the truth as they knew it. So Griphook mentioning that magic was discriminated was a concerning thing to him. He loved magic with how it had always been there to help him survive and discrimination was never used with a positive connotation. If magic was truly being discriminated, Harry wanted to know how and why. He found it hard to believe that the wizarding world would discriminate the very thing that made them special. But he was not going to doubt the goblins' words. And the evidence of how Britain treated their creatures – even the harmless ones – was proof enough that the wizarding world was capable of cruelty and bigotry. He was skeptical there would be a good reason behind it either, considering wizards and witches often seemed to lack good reasoning behind whatever they did.

Harry looked back at the mansion. He had finally decided to come over not because he was suddenly brave enough to meet his ancestors but because he knew his family had a humongous collection of tomes that could help him learn the true History of Magic. Scouring the magical world's market for something on the subject would be fruitless considering it would only take him so many years back and that it would probably be covered in Ministry propaganda. Other than maybe buying old collections of Daily Prophets or searching up the different laws of the wizarding world and finding out about when, how and why they were made, changed or adapted, there were not many options for him to learn about magical history. So the Potter library was his best hope.

"Really," Harry thought as anxiety rose within him as he thought back on meeting his family, "However am I a Gryffindor?"

He approached the old gates of his long-dead family's home.

"Young master made it back!"

Harry jumped at the raspy voice that appeared at his side. A very, very old looking elf was looking at him. It was so old its hair was a pearly white and it had a long, white beard trailing to the floor. The creature strangely reminded Harry of muggles' Santa Claus, just smaller and with pointy ears. Its red attire that was only slightly visible from under its big beard was not helping Harry in his imagination.

"Burky is so glad Master finally came back. Burky was so afraid Burky would fail the last master's wishes."

Harry barely had time to register the old elf's words when the fragile thing launched itself at Harry and whisked him away from the Manor grounds with a 'pop'.

Shaking his head to clear his disorientation as he landed on his two feet, Harry found himself in a small room, with a pedestal in its middle that held a leather book with rune carvings all around it.

"What's this place, Burky?"

"The ward room, young Master. You is needing to place a drop of blood on the ward book. It will connect young Master's magic to the wards and the whole house much stronger than the Master's ring. It is extra safety for Master as Master be getting complete control of the entire Potter properties."

Harry turned to the elf in shock. "All the properties? Even the other three properties under the Potter name?"

The old elf nodded his head. "Yes, young Master. Yes. Tis is the main ward. It is connected to all other Potter family properties. If the Master has new properties, all Master has to do is add name to the book. Magic will extend to new property."

Harry stared at the elf with his mouth open in shock, even as his mind took in all the new possibilities this new security opened to him. He was never going to say no to more safety features after all.

"I've never seen the likes of this before in any of my other properties, Burky. And some of the properties I've visited are even more ancient than these."

"Tis made by a Potter, young Master. Your grandmother's work before she passed. Tis is a new feature. Only two generations old. The old Mistress did not let the world know of her creation. Tis been kept within Potter house as a secret for family's protection during dark times."

Harry suspected dark times meant during the war with Voldemort.

He approached the bound leather book, observing the runic designs on it. "How many drops of blood, Burky?"

"Just one, young Master."

Harry reached for the small knife placed beside the book. Feeling a jolt go through him, he looked at the elf who was now standing beside him questioningly.

"Magic checks you are family when you try to change wards using the knife, young Master. Burky knows no more than that."

"What if someone uses another knife?" Harry asked curiously.

"Tis room only allows true family, young Master. Knife is just more protection."

"Figures," Harry thought. "They wouldn't only have a knife to guard these matters."

Letting a drop of his blood fall onto the book, Harry gasped as he felt a sudden tingling wash over his entire being while his finger healed magically. A moment later he found himself having an influx of information enter his brain as he suddenly had an acute awareness on what went on in every Potter property he owned.

The information from which types of wards to which kind of bug even crawled into his ancestor's properties by accident entered and exited his mind in the blink of an eye. Strangely enough, they did not overwhelm his brain.

"Oh holy goddess, Burky this is amazing!"

Silence met his exclamation.

"Burky?"

Harry turned to find the old elf staring at his own hands silently. Hands that were fading.

"Burky!"

Harry rushed over to the being, panic rushing over him as he realized that the purple link between him and the creature was growing fainter.

"Sorry young Master. But Burky's time has long past. Burky's magic kept him alive to tell young Master what he needed to know. Burky is sorry he can't help you more."

"Don't say that! You've been a great help! Thank you so much for waiting. I'm sorry for not coming sooner."

Harry cursed his own fear for having kept this poor elf in solitude for so long. It must have been miserable to be alone in such a big house.

Feeling something being pressed into his hand, he glanced down to see a crystal vial in his hand.

"What –"

"The old masters and mistresses reminded Burky to take something of young Master's parents when they died since they do not have portraits. Burky took their hair but Burky is not knowing how to make magical portraits, young Master."

Harry's hand clenched about the vial. "Oh."

The old elf gave a little smile, seemingly understanding Harry's inability to say anything more. "Good luck young Master. Burky be happy to serve the Blessed One even if it was for a short while."

Harry frowned in confusion at the old elf's words but his expression soon turned to that of amazement as he felt his magic reaching out to the old being. He watched as Burky started crumbling before his eyes into golden dust as soon as his magic encompassed him.

At the back of his mind, new information entered and alerted him of changes within the Potter Mansion's grounds.

To the west of the Potter Mansion, within a small area that was dedicated to the loyal house elves that served the Potter household, a small tomb had appeared. The name 'Burky of the Potter Family' was written across the new grave.

Queen Akigla of the Goblin Nation stopped in midst of her spell creation as she felt a familiar magic wash over her, alerting her of the approaching presence of a little merboy she met the last full moon. Settling her quill down from where she had been scribbling a note, her royal highness turned to face the pool situated at the back of her cave.

Like before, a soaked forehead peeked out of the water, followed by two beautiful emerald orbs. Akigla noted how there was a more pronounced sense of presence within the eyes of the merboy unlike during the full moon.

She approached the edge of the pool, kneeling down to greet the little one.

"Hello again, Harrison of the ocean." The queen smiled at the boy's reddening cheeks. "Or would you rather go back to Lord Potter now that you have regained your mind, little one."

Harry swam closer to the pool's edge.

"Harrison is fine, Your Highness. Thank you for allowing me to visit," he said shyly, "I'm sorry I intruded the last time I was here."

Akigla waved away the apology. "It was fine, little one. It certainly was not your fault, though I do admit my nation – at least the females in them – were highly amused when they heard of you thwarting our wards and leaving our male counterparts in a frenzy."

Harry's blush worsened. Akigla chuckled. "Do not be embarrassed, young one."

Harry smiled sheepishly. He took his right arm out of the water. Steam surrounding his hand for a brief five seconds before clearing away. On his palm, there was a beautiful sculpture of a lily, glistening in the low light within the cave. Harry handed it over to the Queen.

"I brought you something. It's a thank you gift, I suppose. I made it on the full moon."

The goblin queen reached out for the present, accepting it graciously. "Thank you, little one. It is lovely."

Harry beamed.

"The word around was that you were visiting your ancestral home. How was the trip?"

Harry shrugged. "I went to collect some books to read on the history of the Wizarding World, its changes and how it affected magic and such. But some other things happened. I collected the books I needed and well, I finally met my ancestors." He paused. "Briefly. Very briefly."

Akigla smiled, shifting position to sit more comfortably on the dirt-covered ground.

"It is alright to be afraid to meet them. You had, after all, lived your life believing you were orphaned. You have fiercely wished to have known your family for a long time while believing you would never get the chance. It will naturally feel disconcerting and unbelievable at first when suddenly the opportunity presents itself."

Harry sighed. "Well, you hit the nail on the head."

The goblin Queen smiled and changed the topic, sensing the boy's unease at the topic.

"You have better control over your powers, I see."

"Oh yes, Your Highness!" Harry set his elbows onto the edge of the pool where the water met earth, mood brightening at the less sombre topic. "Fradgrot's lessons have helped a lot in discipline as Griphook had promised they would. I've practised my water powers ever since the full moon incident and now I can control the shape and size of water much more easily! The connection between the water and my magic is stronger too. And if I try hard enough, I can somehow control it without using the hand gesture to direct my magic!"

Harry paused, suddenly realizing he was babbling away to the Goblin Queen. Just like the last time he had visited under the moon's spell. He ducked his head, embarrassed.

"Oh, don't stop, Harrison. It was very intriguing."

Harry looked back to the goblin Queen's face from under his wet fringe. "I didn't mean to be talkative."

Akigla shook her head. "There is nothing wrong with it child. You have to believe it when others tell you that."

The Queen stood up. "How about you step out of the water and follow me? We can continue the talk as I bring you around our nation's home. The other goblettes have been very interested in meeting you."

Harry hesitated. "Would I be disturbing them?"

"No little one," Akigla soothed his worries, "They should have finished their lunches an hour or two ago. And as I said, they are interested in meeting you. The children usually play by the lake this time. It is the best time of the day to make new friends. Come on."

Harry pulled himself out of the water, steaming himself dry before standing on his two feet that reappeared. He walked over to the Queen goblette.

"I believe you were revealing more on the gestures you used while performing water magic, Harrison," Akigla prompted, leading the wizard child out of the cave.

"Mm hmm, I can change the shape and size of water without the gesture, if I concentrate enough Your Highness though it's for a very short time. But I haven't been able to do it for the other three powers since I have yet to master them with the gestures first…"

The voices of the two faded off as they walked away, trading stories and eventually laughter as they strengthened their chanced acquaintance into something stronger – a friendship. A friendship that both hoped would last for the years to come.

Neither noticed the strange energy that grew within the cave they left, buzzing as though happy and content with what it witnessed between the human and goblette before disappearing as quietly as it came.