Disclaimer: The characters in this story and universe belong to J K Rowling alone.

Author's Notes: Thank you to the few of you that have been reviewing, I very, very very much appreciate it, if you are enjoying the story so far please let me know in a review! And if you aren't, let me know how I can make it better!

This chapter has turned out much larger than either of the two chapters. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing so let me know what you think about the length! If you are more into the longer length, recognize it might take me longer in between updates.

Chapter 3 - Welcome Back

"I can't believe you still own that shirt Prongslet." Sirius lightly teased his godson as they walked through Muggle London towards the Leaky Cauldron. The shirt in question was the same one he wore seven years prior; the t-shirt with a bludger with the words "Beat-It" written across. Harry looked down and his cheeks pinkened slightly but he said nothing. Throughout the years Sirius had received requests to magically alter it so that it would keep fitting. Today was the first time Sirius mentioned anything about it, and had he known its history he never would have said anything.

Both were wearing muggle clothing as they walked the streets of London towards the Leaky Cauldron. "Is this McGonagall woman serious?" Harry asked for the third time, changing the subject.

"The broomstick thing again Harry? Unfortunately she is. However, I've always seen the words and regulations of your Deputy Headmistress as guidelines rather than hard fast rules." Sirius replied with a grin. At this Harry shook his head, well aware of his godfather's history at Hogwarts.

"So does that mean no flying at all my first year?" Harry asked with a sense of dread, kicking a stone down the sidewalk as the two continued their walk.

"Oh no, there are flying lessons for first years." Harry blanched at this, imagining an oaf holding onto broomsticks and leading students around the castle grounds barely hovering above the ground. Sirius let out his bark-like laugh at his sullen godson who scowled and kicked his stone even harder sending it bouncing several meters away. Thankfully, it missed the shins of any poor unsuspecting muggles. "Additionally – you can fly 'under supervision' and some first years even try out for their house's Quidditch teams!"

Harry's steps stuttered at this news. Despite the exorbitant amount of flying he had done in his childhood he had never played Quidditch. He knew the rules and positions and thought to himself about trying out. The game itself was not terribly interesting to him. But flying was one of the few things he truly found enjoyment from. Throwing a ball through a hoop or hitting a large enchanted iron ball around a pitch did not appeal to him though. "Ugh. All the positions are so… Boring." Harry complained, continuing to kick his stone.

"Prongs would be so wounded! He loved being a Chaser!" Sirius exclaimed, not expecting Harry's response, knowing how much his godson loved flying.

"That might be the worst, followed closely by Keeper!" Harry said letting out a long exacerbated sigh.

"Well, have you put any thought towards Seeker?" Sirius asked. At his question Harry looked up and Sirius could clearly see his brain working. Watching a ten year old's thought process was admittedly hilarious and Sirius had to stop himself from outright laughing at his godson.

'Seeker hm?' Harry had never put any thought to the position. Their one job was to not crash, or get hit by anything. And catch the Golden Snitch. That was something more relevant to his interests. No silly goal scoring or goal keeping, and no cricket on a broom. Following the extremely fast and agile snitch would be challenging, and dodging the Bludgers and other players would be exhilarating in a way dodging trees wouldn't be able to match. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the oaks in the Scottish Lowlands did not move much.

As usual Harry did not reply to Sirius, lost in his thoughts. Even the stone, which had been his victim for fifteen blocks, was forgotten as Harry thought more about the possibility of trying out for Quidditch at Hogwarts. Sirius, seeing Harry's thoughtfulness needed no response and gave a soft smile.

Before long the two were outside of the Leaky Cauldron and Sirius opened the door, ringing a bell, and he held it open for Harry allowing him to walk in before Sirius did himself. As he held the door open he found himself staring at a young woman walking along the sidewalk across the street. She looked up and saw him, looking him in the eyes with an unreadable expression. Ever the flirt, Sirius gave her a wolfish grin and a wink before turning and following his godson. Walking in he ran into Harry slightly who had paused in the doorway, frozen. Sirius looked down curiously wondering what was wrong before he realized it was almost totally silent in the pub.

No one spoke.

Sirius looked around and everyone was staring at him; or rather, his godson directly in front of him. 'Bullocks.' Sirius slowly stepped in front of Harry, subconsciously acting as a shield for his godson. 'Fucking hell.' He realized; Harry had never been seen by the wizarding world. For six years after James, Lily, Sirius and Remus graduated from Hogwarts Voldemort waged constant war on the world vying for, and gaining, power. Three years after graduation he had almost succeeded before suddenly – he stopped. The waiting was almost worse than warfare. The fear of "when" had the world on edge, they were beating themselves and all Voldemort had to do was sit back and wait. Suddenly though, according to Albus Dumbledore, he was gone. Thanks to one Harry Potter - the last person to have seen Voldemort alive.

"The-Boy-Who-Lived" the world was calling him.

Utter shite it was. And the people in this pub were the first to ever see him. 'My godson is a fucking celebrity and I'm a goddamned idiot.' Sirius knew, of course, of his godson's status. So too did Harry. But knowing about it and experiencing it were two very different things. No Prophet reporters were ever able to get to 12 Grimmauld Place, and both Harry and Sirius spent most of their time in Muggle London or at The Valley.

Harry was not ready for this.

A small and incredibly excited man in a dark red top hat reached around his godfather and began shaking Harry's handed quickly and excitedly. "Harry Potter! Dedalus Diggle, such an honor to meet you!" After nearly five handshakes Harry slowly retreated further behind his godfather.

"Uh… And you as well Mr. Diggle." Harry replied quietly, uncomfortable with the suffocating attention of the bar. Sirius stepped between the two of them, and Harry swore he heard his uncle emit a growl. Dedalus' glee was amplified when his greeting was reciprocated and was not swayed at all at Sirius' protective actions.

As the two attempted to navigate through the bar more and more people approached Harry who was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Sirius was at his wits end when the two finally got to the bar, so undeniably close to the door that would lead them to Diagon Alley when they ran into a man. Sirius sized him up; the man was bald, wearing black robes and he was timid, unbelievably so, trembling heavily and unable to look either Harry or Sirius in the eyes.

"Harry P-P-Potter so wonderful t-to meet you." Immediately Sirius and Harry were taken aback by how timorous the man was. He could not get through a sentence without stuttering. Not due to any sort of speech impediment, this stuttering was different – it was entirely driven from nervousness.
"Q-Quirinus Q-Quirrell, I will be your t-teacher for Defense Against the D-Dark Arts." After his introduction Professor Quirrell extended his hand to Harry in greeting.

Harry was honestly surprised that the stuttering man in front of him would be teaching hundreds of children a day. He, however, was pleased to be meeting one of his instructors and wanted to make a good impression and took hold of the extended hand. "My pleasure sir." Harry replied succinctly. After a quick shake Quirrell broke off the handshake and gave the two a quick nod, before quickly escaping further down the bar. Sirius shook his head at the man and led Harry out the back door.

Once outside, Sirius sheepishly apologized to his godson for the debacle. "Finally; vultures, the lot of them, sorry Harry I can't say I expected that." Sirius was met with silence. He looked down at his godson; trembling nearly as badly as Quirrell was and staring at the ground. "Harry?" Sirius reached out to touch Harry's shoulder but was shrugged off. Tears threatened to fall from Harry's eyes.

"I miss my dad. And my mom."

"Me too."

Harry's parents were gone – none of those people saw that though, they saw their hero. Not the price a young boy paid. Just like that; the proud, strong young man Sirius had watched grow up crumbled away and he was given a glimpse of the hurt child Harry desperately tried to repress. "We don't need to do this today Prongslet." Harry sighed.

"I want to." And that was that. "Where's the Alley?" He asked Sirius, wiping his eyes and looking around. All he saw in the walled courtyard was an old, surprisingly empty dustbin.

Thankful for the change of topic Sirius barked out a laugh and drew his wand. He knew he immediately had Harry's attention. For the son of a proud pureblood family Harry was obsessed with Magic. Every spell and bit of magic he witnessed was like the first. He was drawn to it and tried to absorb any amount of knowledge. Sirius smiled. "Watch this."

Harry was undoubtedly excited. However, instead of a spell Sirius took his wand and starting from the dust bin began counting bricks upwards. "1, 2, 3, 1, 2." Like the movement of a knight on a chess board he counted up three and two to the right. Finding the correct brick Sirius turned around and smiled at Harry. Harry felt the excitement well up within him again. This was it, his godfather was going to charm the bricks and create a portal to another part of London.

Sirius flourished his wand drawing it back and twirling it in a complicated manner. Harry leaned forward, anticipating the incantation. His godfather thrust his wand forward with the speed and grace of an accomplished duelist; before stopping its movement hovering barely in front of the aforementioned brick.

"Boop." With that, Sirius lightly tapped the brick and the wall began to shake, the entire courtyard was racked by tremors. All of the bricks on the wall were rotating and shifting, opening a large hole.

Once the bricks had all been moved Harry could see the alley, packed so full with people he could not even read the signs of the shops that lined the street. All of the people wore robes of different colors moving quickly and with purpose, the dull roar of absent chatter washed over Harry's ears and he slowly turned toward his godfather glaring. Sirius met Harry's glare with a shit-eating grin. "I hate you." With that Sirius reached out and poked Harry in the nose lightly.

"Boop." Sirius' grin was infectious and slowly Harry's glare melted away and a small smile spread across Harry's face. "Come on! We have a lot to pick up!" Sirius lightly shoved Harry into the alley knowing Harry would want to see everything. "Gringotts is towards the back so we'll pick up some gold and start from the back before working our way back towards the Leaky Cauldron!"

Harry knew the choice was out of his hands so he nodded absentmindedly trying to absorb as much of the Alley as he could. Sirius kept up a moderate pace to Harry's chagrin he wanted to stop into many of the shops but knew that they would get back to them eventually. Three shops down though one store in particular actually made Harry stop. There was a crowd of children of various ages pressed against the window of a shop talking excitedly. Harry was not close enough to hear whole conversations but he was close enough to hear snippets.

"-fastest ever!"

"-us 2000!"

"the Cleansweeps do-"

"-nadoes all have them!"

Harry's eyes drifted to the sign of the shop and his heart jumped slightly in his chest when he realized he was in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies. And in the window was the broom he had been dreaming about for the last three months; the Nimbus 2000. It absolutely outstripped his Nimbus 1700 and blew the Cleansweep Six out of the water. Harry looked around for his godfather quickly who met his gaze with one of his own. Sirius watched with mirth as Harry went through the realization quickly. "Stupid McGonagall…" Sirius could not help but laugh as he led Harry down the Alley towards Gringotts.

As they walked down Diagon Alley a few people had recognized Harry and did nothing to hide their blatant pointing and exclamations. Harry did his best to ignore them though, and Sirius did his best to intimidate them with harsh glares and bared teeth. The angrier and more protective he got, the more Padfoot came to the surface.

Before too long Harry and Sirius reached the regal white marble steps to Gringotts Bank. Harry felt the need to brush Harry up on proper etiquette while dealing with the managers of the bank. "Remember Harry, Gringotts is run by goblins. They're incredibly intelligent and one of the only things they detest more than theft is their treatment by wizards." Harry responded with a nod and they climbed the stairs to a set of polished bronze doors guarded by two pike wielding goblins wearing gold and red uniforms.

Harry dipped his head in greeting of the two as they walked through the doors. As the past the two goblins turned giving each other puzzled looks. Sirius could not help but be slightly puzzled either. Lack of contempt was one thing, but what Harry showed was outright respect. Sirius paid it no mind though and continued through the entrance hall to a second set of doors. The second pair of doors was made of goblin forged silver and they were engraved with an old goblin poem.

"Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed

For those who take, but do not earn

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there."

-Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry hungrily read the poem contemplating its words before they entered Gringotts Bank in earnest. Inside was a long marble hall flanked by counters that stretched the entire length of the room. Harry estimated there were roughly fifty goblins on each side of the hall, all busy with various tasks. Writing statements, measuring out coins, stamping deeds Harry was fascinated but was hurried along by Sirius. They moved to the nearest unoccupied goblin and waited at the counter for him to acknowledge their presence.

The goblin wore glasses that hung at the edge of his long hooked nose and he slowly and methodically moved pieces of parchment from one pile to another, stamping them as he exchanged piles. A permanent scowl rested on his face; and as he finished the last stamp he ran his long fingers through his thinning white hair, placing his quill into the inkwell and looking down on the two wizards. "What is it that you need today?"

"Harry Potter and Sirius Black Lords of houses Potter and Black are here for statements and withdrawals." Sirius stated dryly. Harry watched his godfather; observing his posture and making mental notes of how he spoke to the goblin. Everything pointed to an air of superiority, something Harry desperately wanted to ask Sirius about.

"And do Lords Potter and Black have their vault keys?" The goblin asked Sirius with a slight sneer, his eyebrows furrowed and his sharp teeth snarled slightly as if challenged. At his inquiry both Harry and Sirius procured their keys. "Very well, if you will enter the room behind me an associate will be with you shortly." Without acknowledgement Sirius stepped around the corner into said room before hurrying to follow him Harry gave the goblin a quick nod, and an almost unnoticeable bend at the waist. The goblin raised an eyebrow in question at the bow as Harry hurried behind the counter, but eventually got back to work.

The room turned out to be a small office with a couch on one wall and a small desk and chair on the other. The office was undecorated and empty other than the aforementioned furniture. On the desk was a large roll of parchment and an inkwell and quill. Harry and Sirius were in the small office for less than a minute before a goblin walked in with a large ledger tucked under his arm. He walked behind the desk placing the tome down with a resounding thud and sitting in the chair.

"My name is Griphook and I have long handled the finances for House Black. At your behest I also took up managing the funds for House Potter six years ago Lord Black." Sirius nodded at this. When he took over as Harry's legal guardian he preferred to deal with the same goblin for all finances. "Where should I start?" He asked Sirius, deferring to him to lead the meeting.

"Might as well start with the Black finances." Sirius said wanting to get out as quickly as possible, but realizing he had not received an official briefing of his finances since becoming head of his family.

"Very well." Griphook passed Sirius a roll of parchment from his ledger before continuing. "You'll find a more complete depiction in your statement but abbreviating; the Black family has roughly a liquid fifty-five million galleons available in addition to various treasures, one house elf and the one property in London." After the summary he also handed Harry a roll of parchment. "The inventions of Skele-Grow, Pepper Potion and Sleekeazy's Hair Potion did wonders for House Potter. The purchase of various properties throughout the years has placed minor pressure on the Potter fortune, but nothing serious. In comparison to House Black, House Potter has a more humble thirty-two million galleons in addition to various treasures, a townhouse in West Country, the cottage in Scotland, a villa in France and the large estate in Wales."

Neither Sirius nor Harry did anything to hide their surprise, for different reasons though. Sirius had no idea that the reason the Potters were so affluent was because of the inventions of various potions. 'I wonder why James never told me. I wonder if he even knew.'

Harry knew that both he and Sirius were well off, the size of Sirius' home and his father's lack of employment was proof enough of that. However, he had no idea that his family was so… Disgustingly wealthy. Harry was having a difficult time comprehending that amount of money. Harry was also revolted by Kreacher being referred to in the same sentence as Sirius' money and property holdings. There was something inherently wrong with labeling the elf that cared for him and whom he had meaningful conversations with as property.

As Harry was sorting through all of these thoughts Sirius stood, concluding the meeting and Griphook led them out of the office. The party of three walked to the end of the hallway and through a pair of golden doors. There the ornate marble hallways gave way to a dark and stony passageway lined with vaults. Griphook stepped into a cart in the middle of the passageway and motioned for Harry and Sirius to follow. "Hold on please." Griphook stated; his 'please' lacking any real sincerity, as if he didn't care in the least if they held on or not.

Almost immediately the car lurched forward acting less like a mine cart and more like a muggle roller coaster. Vaults accelerated past Harry faster than he could keep track of and each curve of the track threw the cart, pulling Harry to the side as if gravity was changing on him. Before he knew it the cart rapidly decelerated causing Harry to heave forward, if he hadn't be holding on he was sure he would have been ejected from the small vehicle. As Harry and Sirius exited the cart Sirius smiled at his godson, "Just like flying right?"

Harry nearly vomited. "Not at all." Flying was exhilarating and freeing, he could control every motion of his broom as if it was an extension of his body. The Gringotts carts however were every bit as fast, but with none of the control or anticipation. It was an experience Harry was not looking forward to repeating.

Harry and the others found themselves in front of a large circular door cut into the cavern. "Vault 687, your key, if you would please Mr. Harry Potter." Griphook extended his hand towards Harry expectantly. Harry placed the key in his hand and Griphook's long fingers closed around the golden key. He walked up to the vault door and revealed a small keyhole before inserting the key and unlocking the vault door and depressing a button in the shape of a hand with fingers so long the hand could not possibly belong to a human.

The door opened and Harry was greeted with the sight of his fortune. The vault was as large as the drawing room at Grimmauld place. But instead of pianos, couches and tables he was greeted with the sight of entire piles of gold; taller than Sirius and just as wide at the base. Harry stared at the room, seeing it on paper and hearing was one thing but seeing the money was entirely different. "And… This is all mine?" He tentatively asked Sirius; maybe Sirius and Harry had a combined vault, which might have made him feel slightly more comfortable.

"Gaudy, isn't it?" Sirius replied.

Harry and Sirius' vaults were close enough to each other that they were able to use the same stop for both vaults. After both Harry and Sirius had filled their bags with gold they returned to the cart where Sirius looked at his Godson and smiled. "It goes just as fast back up."

"Ugh." Harry groaned in anticipation.

"Backwards." Sirius looked like a Cheshire Cat. Harry just looked sick.

Once Harry and Sirius had reached Ollivander's Harry's world stopped spinning. "Why don't you go inside I have a bit of shopping I want to do." Sirius said to him. "Ollivander will help with everything you need and honestly, picking your wand will probably take a moment." Harry wanted to protest, but knew his godfather would not leave him without good reason and nodded. Sirius turned and left and Harry walked inside the shop.

"I don't want it." Harry said to the old wandmaker defiantly.

"I… do not understand." Ollivander replied puzzled. Never in all of his years of wandmaking had he seen a wizard refuse the wand that had chosen him.

"If this wand is truly the brother of that… man…" loathe as Harry was to call him that, "I don't want it." Harry had seen that wand disarm his father, figuratively and literally, murder his father and attempt to murder him as well. "If he was as terrible as everyone says I don't want to do with him, even remotely."

"Harry, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things, terrible yes, but great with that wand." Ollivander told him.

"And I don't care." Harry replied adamant in his decision.

"Very well." Ollivander resigned. If the wizard did not wish to work with the wand the bond would be non-existent anyway. Even worse than using a wand unsuited to the wizard. "The wand and wizard must lean on each other after all. It is a complex connection; more partnership than ownership." With that, Ollivander placed the eleven inch holly wand with the core of a Phoenix feather back into a box and placed it on the table of other wands that rejected Harry.

Ollivander retreated into the back of his shop and did not return for several minutes finally emerging with another wand box, unlike the others it was not made of the thin birch wood. The wand box was a rich mahogany and was clearly very old.

"This wand is a product of my hubris – I made it in my youth and after ten years of failing to find an owner I put it away and wished to have forgotten about it until now." Ollivander approached Harry with the box and removed the top. He stared down at the wand for a moment before taking it out ever so lightly and handing it to Harry handle first with a faint measure of hope in his eyes. "Elder and Threstral hair, fourteen inches – quite flexible." Harry blanched slightly at the mention of the wand's components. Both elder wood and Threstrals carried strong connotations of death.

Harry reached forward towards the wand and knew this one was different. As he reached that decision the wand jumped into his hand as his broomstick had done hundreds of times before. And suddenly, Harry felt contentment that was not his own. "This is the one, Mr. Ollivander." He said.

Ollivander's eyes glazed over as he stared at the wand. He looked at Harry and back at the wand. "Indeed, it would seem so."

"This isn't a normal wand, is it?" Harry asked the old wandmaker, thinking back on its introduction.

"No. No it is not. Long ago I thought myself the best wand maker in the world. And I sought to recreate a wand of legend without the faults it contained. The original wand was made of the same components, but was as stiff and unyielding as iron. The wand would rather cleanly shear than bend. You see Harry, the wand's flexibility is a direct reflection of the personality of the wand and wizard pair; the more flexible, the more willing and able to adapt. I thought to make a wand with untold power and imbue upon it the ability of adaptability. I was positive I had failed, as the wand never picked a wizard. But here, we are. I expect to see even greater things out of you than out of the man who gave you that scar."

Harry wracked his brain, trying to think of the legendary wand Ollivander attempted to replicate but could think of nothing in any of the books on wandlore and history of great wizards he had read. "Mr. Olliv-" Harry was interrupted by his godfather bursting into the store. And Harry turned towards him in his surprise.

"Have you gotten your wand yet Harry?" He asked a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

"Oh, yeah Sirius, I believe I do." He replied

"Well hurry up and pay we still have to do all of your shopping!" Sirius exclaimed. Due to his pressuring Harry pulled out the requisite seven galleons and handed them to Mr. Ollivander biding him good day and the two exited the store. "You excited to own your very own wand there Prongslet?" Sirius asked his godson. Harry looked down at his hands where his wand still lay.

"Yeah. Yeah I am."

The two finished purchasing all of Harry's requisite school supplies as they headed back up the Alley towards the Leaky Cauldron. At each purchase Harry or Sirius summoned Kreacher to bring Harry's supplies back to Grimmauld Place to save themselves the trouble of hauling the purchases through the Alley. By the time Harry and Sirius had exited the Apothecary, they were finished with all of the shopping and the sun was beginning to set.

The Alley had emptied out considerably and Harry was given a direct line of sight of the Nimbus 2000 and he stared wistfully at it, all thoughts of legendary wands had gone from his mind. The store across from the Quality Quidditch Supplies also caught his eyes. There, across the street was Eeylops Owl Emporium.

"Hey Sirius, that McGonagall lady did say I could get an owl."

Author's Notes!

And that's chapter three. Writing about Sirius and Harry's wealth was incredibly difficult for me. Rowling has never come out and said exactly how wealthy anyone in the Harry Potter universe is. However, I did a lot of my own research and calculations. The thing about the potions is actually canon. J.K. Rowling did say that's how the Potter's became as wealthy as they are. After the invention of the Skele-Grow potion every Potter contributed to increasing the wealth (except for James) mostly through inventions as opposed to conventional work.

I am also using the movies when Harry opens his vault for the first time to find a basic volume of gold in Harry's vault. With some quick (and probably terribly wrong math) I got to the numbers you see above. Rowling does mention that James is able to support his family as well as Remus without working (not a cheap undertaking).

As always, please let me know what you think of this chapter!