A/N: Oh my! I've already gotten reviews! I thought my story would go unnoticed for a bit, until I put up a few chapters and then someone might take an interest. This is really surprising. Thank you! I can't express how much I appreciate it. I just hope I don't let you guys down! I really have to try my hardest now!

Harry had never received such an enthusiastic homecoming. At first he stood stiff, allowing himself to be smothered by his godfather's embrace. Then, slowly, he lifted his arms and grabbed the fabric above Sirius' shoulder blades, returning the hug. After a few moments, Sirius pulled away, beaming at his godchild. "It's good to have you here, kiddo," he said, ruffling Harry's hair. Harry stood in awe. The man before him was so different from the one he met weeks ago in the Shrieking Shack. For one thing, it did not look like he wanted to tear Harry apart. For another, he was very clean, his hair, his face, his clothes. Peering into the healthy face before him, it was hard to tell that Sirius had spent any time in Azkaban at all. Feeling it was about time he said something, Harry spoke, "er, it's good to be here."

Sirius' grin, if possible, grew bigger. "Come in, I'll get your truck." As Harry went around him, Sirius pulled out a wand and waved it at the trunk, causing it to hover a few inches above the ground. Harry could not help but gape at the entryway. It looked no better than the houses outside. He could not help thinking that somebody should have taken a match to this place years ago. The wallpaper seemed to want as far away from the walls as possible and had peeled off in long spirals. The carpet had disintegrated; a few pieces remained here and there on the floorboards. Overhead was a large, serpentine shaped chandelier, with cobwebs hanging off of it like climbers on a mountainside. An assortment of old, age-worn portraits hung precariously upon the walls. Adding to the eerie ambiance was a horrible screeching noise. A set of broken bagpipes would easily be shamed by the wheezing, banshee-like sounds. When Harry strained he could make out actual words.

"Filth! Scum! Blood traitor! How dare you enter this house!"

Harry frowned at the shrieks. They sounded like they belonged to an elder woman.

"Sirius," he began, "is there someone else here?" Sirius turned to face Harry and his smile quickly fell away.

"Oh, that'll be my mum," he frowned.

He ran off down the hall, leaving Harry to stand perplexed. Was it popular for ex-convicts to return home to live with their mums, he wondered. He quickly set off down the hall after his godfather.

At once Harry wished he had not. The woman in the portrait was terrifying. Her bulging eyes moved in such a way that it suggested they were beyond her control. Her hair was pulled tightly back in a bun, and had taken the skin around her face with it. Her face was so taut, it was a wonder it did not snap. The teeth that were left in her mouth were unusually yellow and sharp. Sirius was struggling to shut a pair of curtains over her.

"Filth! Scum! Shame of my flesh! Blood --"

Sirius finally managed to draw the curtains closed and the hallway fell into silence. He was bent over, hands on his thighs panting. In a shaky voice Harry spoke.

"That's your mum?"

"Yeah," Sirius looked up. "My dear old mum. This used to be my parents house you know."

"Oh."

"Probably should've waited for you on the step. She starts screaming after any loud sound goes off. Can't manage to get her down…"

They stood in silence as Sirius ran a hand through his dark hand. Harry stared down at his shoes.

"Well then," Sirius began, "guess I'll show you to your new room, eh?"

Harry nodded and followed Sirius back to the entrance to grab his things. Sirius led him up the stair case, past a parade of house-elf heads mounted on the walls, past the first floor, to the second. Twisting one of the house's many serpent shaped doorknobs, Sirius opened the door to a large, near empty room. The only furniture was a twin sized bed and a wardrobe. The high ceilings added to the illusion of vast nothingness.

"It's not much, but it's probably one of the cleaner, and safer, rooms in the house." Sirius explained, setting Harry's trunk at the foot of the bed. Harry stood mouth agape.

"We can decorate it however you like," he added hastily, "new fabrics, bedspread, wallpaper, banners, whatever. Any color you want, too".

A small smile lit Harry's face. He had not been allowed to decorate his old "room" at the Dursleys'. He had tried to make it his own, with some drawings of Hedwig and Hogwarts on the walls, though that was all. The idea of a whole room to do with as he pleased seemed all at once both daunting and exciting.

"It's brilliant. I can't wait to fill it."

"Great! I've got some old Gryffindor banners-"

Harry, however, did not learn where Sirius kept his Gryffindor banners, for at that moment a knock echoed up from the front door. Almost instantaneously, Mrs. Black's screams filled the air.

"Damn, I really need to put up a 'do not knock' sign." Sirius frowned then turned sharply to Harry. Probably shouldn't cuss in front of the kid. Harry tilted his head and gave the man a confused look. Sirius just shook his head.

"Could you get the door? I need to shut my mum up."

Harry nodded his confirmation and Sirius took off running. Harry followed unenthusiastically behind. He opened the door to find a girl in her early twenties standing there. Her white blonde hair fell in soft curls to her waist. She wore a neat black and white dress that looked very professional under her immaculate black robes. She smiled warmly at him.

"Hello there. Is Mr. Sirius Black in?"

"Erm, yeah, just a moment."

Harry frowned and glanced down the hall. The screaming had ended and Sirius was jogging towards him.

"Really got to do something about her," he muttered. "Um, hello," he said when he caught sight of the girl.

"Hello," her smile grew bigger, "I'm Selene Beckett. Dumbledore sent me."

She extended her hand towards Sirius, who took it with a confused expression on his face.

"I thought Dumbledore was sending someone tomorrow…"

"Well yes, that's when I start work. I just wanted to come round today and see what sort of supplies I might be needing for tomorrow."

"Oh, well, come in then."

Sirius and Harry both stepped back to allow Selene into the house. Harry glanced up at Sirius. He seemed to be very flustered. Harry turned back towards the blonde woman. Her expression was unreadable as her sharp, pale blue eyes took in her surroundings. She walked up to a portrait and ran her finger along the glass. She "hmm'ed" and "oh'ed" as she surveyed the grime on her finger.

"What other rooms shall I be cleaning?" She asked, turning to face Sirius.

"Oh, right. Um, let me show. Harry, you think you could wait in your room a bit?"

He turned nervously to Harry and hung hopeful eyes on him.

"Yeah, um, no problem."

Relief seemed to flood Sirius' face and Harry gave him a reassuring smile. Harry went back down the hall to the stairs, while Sirius steered the woman towards the kitchen.

A/N: I'm glad this chapter is much longer than the first. I guess that's from all the dialogue. I'd like to say the next chapters will be like this or close to it, but I just don't know… sorry!

Trying to picture the layout of the Black house in my mind confuses me to no end. So I'm not really going to go into too much detail about that if I can help it. And yeah, there's my OC. I'm really going to try to keep her more on the sidelines. She's going to be taking care of the boys since Sirius doesn't want another house elf. I'll explain more next chapter. What happened to Kreacher you may ask? Good question. I don't know. He just sort of creeps me out, so I'd rather not have to deal with him. Since I'm already mucking up the story line, why not mess with it a bit more? So he's just not there. That's the magic of fanfic. ^_^

I just wanted to mention that I also got my image of Sirius from a doujin I came across a few days ago. He's got his hair all slicked back in a ponytail, with some unruly bangs in his face. He's also got a nice suit on, so he almost looks like a mafia member. Despite that he is just too adorable. The story's about Harry coming to live with him, so that was a springboard for my story. The doujin was really short and didn't give much detail, so it got me yearning for more about what might happen if they really did live together. I mean, they've only known each other for a few weeks, I imagine it'd be rather awkward at first. But I think that Sirius really wants to be a good father figure for him, and Harry really wants a family, so they'd try hard to make the other happy. So I really wanted to explore the idea more and hopefully I can do it satisfactorily. I was way disappointed when Harry lost his chance to live with Sirius. He really deserves a loving family, and so does Sirius. ^_^ That was much longer than I meant it to be. Sorry! Review?