Disclaimer/reminder: This is all based off works by JK Rowling, she owns the rights to all of this.

Chapter 3

Back to England

As Harry picked himself up off the floor he wondered once more how it was only ever him who seemed to have trouble with portkeys. Sirius took a step forwards and turned to the group, "Welcome one and all to the Black home at number twelve Grimmauld place, this miserable hell hole is where I grew up. Really I'd have like to burn it down and start somewhere new but this house is home to the infamous Black library and its heavily protected which makes it basically priceless. I left the elf here to clean and brighten the place up but he'd always been a pain."
With nothing more than grunts of acceptance, it had been a late night after all, they trudged forwards into the Black home. Upon opening the door, they received a most unpleasant welcome.

"The blood traitor returns, bringing in all his filth and stains of dishonour" screamed a portrait somewhere down the hall.

"Hello mother, I'm home" called out Sirius with a falsely sweet voice "Kreacher" he called, a short crack later and stood one ugly house-elf.

"Master has returned he has, the filthy blood traitor" The elf croaked.

"Kreacher remove that portrait and put it somewhere no-one has to hear it."

"Can't master, Mistress stuck it up there herself and ordered poor Kreacher to guard it"

"Sirius, can't we blast the damn thing?" asked Archer with a face of innocence.

"Nasty little boy shouldn't be allowed near precious Mistress' portrait." Kreacher muttered

"Kreacher find a way to remove that thing before we do it, and we won't care whether it survives or not."

"If Kreacher must." Said house elf, Sirius flicked his wand a set of curtains were drawn in front of the portrait muffling its tirade.

"Well that was delightful, I can only hope it gets better" added Minerva speaking for the first time this side of the channel. "Now this was supposedly cleaned by that elf however this is still a Black property so be careful what you touch. You start to settle in while I head to Hogwarts to start setting up my office." With that she turned on her heel and strode out of the house.

Over the next few days they waged a war against the house which seemed to have its own malevolent personality. Every step taken to clean was countered in some way which often left them debating the merits of burning the whole place down for a sense of satisfaction and revenge. Soon it was time to celebrate Archer's birthday, it was strange how similar the boys were, both born in the summertime, raven haired and according to the testing they had in France both were well above average in terms of raw power. Archer being the smug self-satisfied git didn't want to go to a quidditch match or anything like that. No, as he became a teenager he wanted to be the sole focus of attention. This lead to a small but loud party with a few family friends invited.

Soon after the party it was decided that Hogwarts supplies must be bought well ahead of normal so as to avoid the rush. The boys were well ahead in their studies compared to others their age but they would still attend some classes with their peers and so they needed to venture into Diagon Alley. Though both English neither boy had been here before and were more than a little excited. As they zipped from shop to shop staring through the windows and calling out some of the more interesting objects they saw. In Flourish and Blott's they met a future classmate. A Neville Longbottom, the slightly pudgy faced teen had only returned from Hogwarts a few days before and was browsing the Herbology section of the store. He seemed like a nervous person but Sirius said that the Potter's and Longbottom's have been friends for years and both James and Sirius got on quite well with Frank, Neville's father.

"Really a shame what happened to your parents. I can't believe what my cousin did. Vile woman, I enjoyed casting her out of the Black family when I became the head of the family." All of the boy's winced at the reference to Bellatrix LeStrange. "So Neville, how's Hogwarts, any tips for these two to get ahead?"

"errm, not really, I don't do very well so I can't really say." Neville spluttered, "The potions master is a git though and hates me."

"Snape." Sirius spat the name. "he always was a git at school, you might find with Harry going to school he'll find someone he hates more so chin up lad."

"but other than that the other teachers are nice, I don't know who the new transfiguration or defence teachers are though." Neville said.

"Hey Neville from what I remember, it has been a long time but, your birthday is the end of the month same as Harry's what do you say about a joint party so these two can meet some future classmates?"

"err, I'll have to speak to my Gran, she'll handle all of that, I'll send you an owl." Neville then left smiling at the hope of some real friends. Sirius turned back to the two who had already got bored though Neville seemed nice enough.

"Right so Minnie was able to get your booklists early so you need copies of each of those and I'll fund one book each of further reading." At this the boy's faces lit up. Text books may not be interesting; some were down right backwards but the idea of further reading was an excuse to buy something on any topic that caught their interest whether it was taught at Hogwarts or not. A few minutes later two matching piles of textbooks were dumped into Sirius's arms and there was a blur and a rustling of pages as Archer and Harry shot off in opposite directions. Sirius was happy Harry had inherited Lily's love of reading and Minerva and he only encouraged it. Archer wasn't such a great fan of reading, in fact he often thought of it as a chore, however he fully understood the value of reading and he hated being second best.

A short time later Sirius found Harry browsing a section called Mind Arts, Harry seemed both intrigued and terrified by the idea of wizards doing metal battles over the secrets in one's mind. Harry moved off to find a sales clerk to give him a recommendation on which text to buy so Sirius walked off to located his adopted son. He found Archer in a place dedicated to warding and curse-breaking. "Any particular reason for the interest?" Sirius enquired.

"I'm going to be the first muggleborn in Slytherin for years, it seemed like a good idea to be able to protect my stuff." Archer quipped.

"Oh, Slytherin indeed?"

"Well you did induct me into the noble house of Black, doesn't the rule state that I have to go to Slytherin, not to mention my ambitious personality and self-serving nature."

"I'm a Black and I was in Gryffindor."

"Exactly, the exception that proves the rule. Anyway we both know that I'll have the most fun in Slytherin, imagine their faces when the realise the heir to the Black family is a mudblood who can and will kick their arses." Archer finished.

Sirius thought about it and realised that yes Archer represented the cunning and guile of a Slytherin, he was extremely good at getting what he wanted and he was ruthless enough to survive the snake pit, in a few years the boy could own it. Maybe not all Slytherins were evil after all. Then again Archer had woken Sirius up by dropping some disillusioned ice in his bed this morning, so maybe he would fit right in with the evil gits. "Anyhow," Archer continued "I need to go see a man about a dog. Or well a goblin about a snake but who cares about details." As they collected Harry, paid and headed for the exit Archer turned on Sirius, "now I'm going a way for a little bit, I expect you to behave."

"Hey! I'm the adult here" Sirius started but was rudely interrupted by both boys starting to laugh,

"yes dear, you tell yourself that. You can be an adult today since you're paying for everything"

"whatever, run along you scamp" Sirius called at Archer's retreating back, he looked towards Harry, "Now you two are going away I reckon it's about time you had an owl. We should probably get Archer something as well. A short time later Harry had a large snowy owl sitting proudly on his arm.

"So what should we get Toxin?" Harry asked

"Well as our resident evil git I think maybe a snake?" Sirius suggested,

"No, he is a snake, why would he want a pet one? I reckon we should get him a kitten; all supervillains should have kittens. Plus, deep down he's too nice to say no to it."

"He's still got the super villain thing going?"

"Well he pointed out we're going to be in the spotlight one way or the other. He said either I'm going to be a seen as a hero which would make him a side-kick and he refuses to be a side-kick. Therefore, since I hate the attention, he said he'd take it as the villain, that way I get to be a henchman and that doesn't seem so bad now. At least better than The-Boy-Who-Lived."

"Henchman indeed," Sirius laughed "well if you think some of the marauder stuff was bullying then I guess I could have been a villain too, which would make old Prongsie my henchman, like father like son." As they walked back up the street towards Gringotts Sirius asked Harry "So Prongslet Archer expects to be a Slytherin, you going to the snake pit too?"

"I doubt it," Harry started "surely being a loyal henchman puts me with the badgers, but more seriously I don't know. I love reading so could be a claw, I have got away with a lot of stuff so maybe a snake. I have been known to do stupid stuff to help people though so I'll probably end up in your old house with the rest of the cannon fodder."

The summer passed rather quickly, though the Black household didn't get up too much other than playing with the silver tabby Archer had named Oscar what with the ban on the duelling circuit and actual school to prepare for, they were relatively focused. In no time at all it was the Longbottom-Potter joint party.

The morning of the party found Harry Sirius and Archer in the drawing room at number twelve. "So Sirius, the Longbottoms, anything we need to know?"

"I reckon you must have heard enough over the years, Neville is the only child of Frank and Alice, a couple of Griffs a few years above me and your parents. Good people had just enough time to earn a reputation as great aurors before you got your scar and the war came to a halt. A few days after Volddie vanished my insane cousin ruined everything for that family so Neville was raised by his battle-axe of a grandmother. Right you two on your feet its time." And with that they walked to the fireplace ready to floo to Longbottom Manor.

"Still one of the weirdest things in the wizarding world" grumbled Archer as he threw his powder into the flames.

Once they arrived they were greeted by Neville and a formidable looking veteran who could only be Augusta Longbottom.

"Ah greetings Messiers Black and Potter how are you and how is my old friend Minerva?"

"very well thank you, Minnie is hoping to stop by later, I wasn't aware you were acquainted?" Sirius answered for the group.

"Yes we went to school together all those years ago, right well Mr Potter if you would like to stay here and greet the guests with Neville and you two may move yourselves into the event room."

Within a few minutes' guests started arriving and Harry saw a few faces he recognised from his quick jaunt to Hogwarts but didn't really have time to chat so as to keep the line moving. Later when he re-joined Sirius and Archer he expressed his surprise at the number of people before adding, "it seemed Neville wasn't too fond of many of them, I wonder how many are here to meet Harry bloody Potter the Boy-Who-Lived?"

"doesn't matter pup, now cheer up, go forth and mingle young ones, I'm off to see if there is anyone out of nappies here." Sirius said grinning.

"Prat" Harry called at Sirius' retreating back before a tutting from Archer reminded him where he was. "oh crap" he muttered. As he looked round the room spying a group of people who would likely become his future classmates. He spotted a gangly red-head walking towards him who reminded of little Ginny from the Chamber.

"Hi Harry, I'm Ron Weasley." Harry could basically feel the waves of disapproval rolling off Archer behind him.

"Hello Mr Weasley, I hope you're enjoying the party." Harry answered in what he hoped was a neutral tone.

"Yeah, the foods great isn't it." Archer actually starting coughing at this making it hard for Harry to keep a straight face.

"Quite, pass my best onto your sister Mr Weasley."

"yeah she hasn't stopped talking about you, you should visit sometime Harry I'm sure mum would love to have you over." Ron said talking the fact Harry hadn't asked him to leave as some form of encouragement.

"I doubt we'll be able to manage that I'm afraid, we have quite a busy summer planned." As Harry tried to ease himself away.

"No problem, I'm sure you would if you could. Hey you gonna' get sorted when you come to Hogwarts or since you're late are they just going to put you straight in Gryffindor?"

"God I hope not," interjected Archer "Hello Archer Titus Pittman, heir to the Black family."

"oh you were the one who killed that monster, Ginny won't talk about her time there, what was it?" Ron continued not picking up on the slight against his beloved Gryffindor.

"If Ginny doesn't want to talk about it, I would suggest that you respect her privacy Mr Weasley."

"Oh, so you going to be in Gryffindor too?" Ron asked not sure how to deal with the unknown friend of Harry Potter, the books about his adventures hadn't mentioned a friend!

"I severely doubt that; being part of the forlorn hope has never appealed to me, I'd prefer to be one of the people alive at the end to enjoy my victory." Archer sneered.

"what's a forlorn hope?" Ron spluttered clearly failing to comprehend how someone wouldn't want to be a Gryffindor.

"Do you read, Mr Weasley? do you have an understanding of historical combat or the like? If not, I doubt it's worth me explaining it to you. Either way I must be going, Mr Weasley, Harry." Archer said with nods to each before walking off in search of more civilised company.

"he seems like a typical stuck up pureblood to me, heir to the Blacks, aren't they known for being one of the darkest families, what you doing being friends with him?" Ron asked, clearly unaware of who Harry's godfather was nor his best friend.

"I think you'll find he is a muggle-born, and my godfather, current head of House Black has cast out the darker elements from the house." Harry said seeing all the negative sides of Gryffindor encapsulated in a single person. "I must be off; I'd be a poor host to spend all the party talking to just you. See you at Hogwarts Mr Weasley."

"Oh see you Harry." Harry left to find Archer, he spotted him on a sofa between two girls he would later find were called Lavender and Parvati, Archer would go on to describe them as 'delightful'. Seeing Archer 'busy' Harry decided to see how Neville was doing. Finding the slightly nervous looking pudgy boy in the corner of the room,

"Hey Neville, how's the party going?" Neville almost jumped when he heard Harry speak to him.

"errm fine Harry" Harry sighed at this,

"Nev, do you mind if I call you Nev?" Neville didn't say anything to stop him so he continued, "Nev have you actually spoken to anyone since you came in here?" Neville seemed to look everywhere but at Harry before shaking his head. "Why not, its your party, well ours but you are the real host."

"I just don't really talk to them much at school so I don't know why they'd talk to me now?"

"you must have invited them for a reason, aren't they your friends?" Harry asked slightly confused.

"Well Gran said I should invite my housemates; I think they only came because they knew you were going to be here." Neville said looking at the floor. "I get on okay with some of the Hufflepuffs but they couldn't make it today and I never really get to see them that much since the houses don't mix too much."

After a moment Harry showed how eloquent a recently turned thirteen-year-old boy can be: "Nev, that's so dumb." Neville looked shocked at this outburst.

"But Harry, that's just how it is." Neville tried,

"No Nev, that's how you let it be." Harry argued. "Listen, if you're a Longbottom, aren't you proud?"

"I am, it's just, you know, a lot to live up to. My Mum and Dad were great and I'm not."

"Well Nev, it's up to you to change that. I'll help at school when I can, if you ask, but really you have to just find some confidence, whether you start to believe in yourself or decide that other people's opinions aren't worth your time, even just bluff it till it becomes real. It'll help." Harry smiled at Nev, "now come on, you can introduce me to some people." Neville introduced Harry to the rest of the soon-to-be third year Gryffindors, apparently some girl called Hermione was holidaying with her parents abroad so couldn't make it. From the attitude people had when talking about her she wasn't missed. As they packed up for the day and headed home Harry hoped he'd spoken to enough people and been down to earth enough that when he arrived at school in September he'd have some people who could be friends not admirers and fans.