I'm glad you liked the last chapter! As far as Harry's name goes, the name 'Estel' in here comes from LOTR; it's the name Aragorn hid under while he was being raised by the Elves in the novelization. It means 'hope'. I'm deeply sorry this took so long. I have no excuse. :|

Eleven- An Unexpected Gesture

It was three days after Harry's debut as Estel Gryferin and so far the Order was quiet. Sirius had been using the days to get to know his tiny son better with the result that Pol's giggling laughter was often heard ringing clearly through Grimmauld Place. After being initially startled by his daddy's alter-ego Padfoot, the green-grey eyed child was now enamored of the large dog and would often drift off for an impromptu nap against the Grim's fuzzy, warm body.

Such was the case today, as Harry noticed when he poked his head into the sitting room. Sirius was sprawled out in Grim form, Polaris curled against his side, sound asleep. The boy's eyelashes fluttered a little as he slept, a small smile curling his mouth. Harry wisely chose not to interrupt his son's nap (or his father's for that matter), knowing it would only be a matter of time before Pol would start fighting his naps with the grumble that he was too old for them.

Instead he soundlessly backed out of the room and headed toward the room that held his parent's portraits. Today he was going to offer his father an ultimatum, either get off his high horse and admit that he had no control over whom Harry chose to be with, or James' portrait would find itself back in the vault faster than he could say 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' (which wasn't very fast as it was ridiculously long).

Lily saw him enter first and smiled at him. When he'd first come in here after piercing his ear she'd started scolding him in a very motherly way, though he was relieved she was nowhere near as smothering as Molly Weasley would have been about it. Just thinking about the woman now grated on his nerves, so he quickly banished her to a remote corner of his thoughts. "Hello Mother," he said warmly.

"Harry," she replied softly. "How are you today?"

"Well, so far." His smile was slightly bitter. "It gets difficult after a while to be pinned in one place. I've suggested to Sirius that I use 'Estel' but he's a bit wary of the idea. Unfortunately there are Dementors all around England looking for me and my Patronus is very distinctive. Unlike some, I cannot simply ignore them, my memories are quite painful."

Out of the corner of his eye he could see James' portrait watching them, but the image of his father was quiet outside of a slight furrowing of the forehead. Lily sighed and said, "This is why you are looking for an alternate, more discreet location?"

"Partially," he admitted. "It would be nice to be able to enjoy the sun without worrying about a glamour or some such. This place also has dark memories for Siri, I don't like seeing him upset. Plus, you may have noticed that we have one very active little boy who would probably enjoy running around under the sun and I don't want him involved in any way."

"He does have very distinctive Black features," James finally spoke. He hesitated, looked at Harry for a long moment, studying his son's face. "There is a small Potter family property on the coast near Cornwall. Two levels and an extensive storage grounds below. Snape would be more than able to establish a suitable Potions Lab down there."

As Lily scolded her husband for not using the name Severus Harry used the lack of attention in his direction as a blessed distraction from his considerable surprise. After a long moment he decided to consider it an olive branch from his father and nodded. "Thank you, Dad. What is it called?"

"Domus lux lucis eterna," James said. At Harry's quizzical expression he translated, "House of Light Eternal. You will find that most of the pureblood families allied with the Light were just as fanatical as those of the Dark."

Harry's eyebrows arched at that but he said nothing but, "I am going to go investigate. If it suits our purposes we will move your portraits first. Thank you again, Dad."

James smiled and sighed heavily. "Though it may take me a while to get used to this, I would rather admit that you and Sirius seem to get along well and leave it at that than lose my son. I have spent 22 years in a vault; I do not wish to miss more of your life due to my own stubborn pride."

Harry merely smiled in happiness; his mother shrieked happily and darted into James' portrait, throwing herself into his arms and knocking them both into the tall grass. Resisting a laugh at her antics, Harry slipped away while the pair were distracted.

Returning to the sitting room, he poked his head in the door. Somehow Sirius had wriggled his way out from under Polaris and transformed back, replacing Padfoot's warm body with a soft blanket and small pillow. He looked up at some small sound and smiled when he saw Harry. Harry crooked his finger at him in a 'come here' gesture and Sirius stood, padding barefoot across the carpet to the doorway. "Yeah?" he said softly in that husky voice of his.

Harry smiled at him and said, "James told me of a place that might suit our needs. I was going to go investigate. Would you like to come along?"

Sirius looked at him sharply and said firmly, "You aren't going anywhere without me, Harry. Let me grab my shoes while you ask Severus to listen for Pol if he wouldn't mind."

Harry cheekily flipped him a quick salute and smartly pivoted. Sirius snorted quietly behind him as he walked down the hallway. He moved cautiously into the cellars, headed for Severus' lab. Sirius' desire to be polite around Severus was understandable; Remus was currently on a mission for Albus and had been gone two weeks. Severus' way of showing he was worried about his lover was by being even snarkier and more sarcastic than usual.

He never acted that way around Polaris however. From the moment he had fixed Polaris' chair that first morning the little boy had attached himself to both Severus and Remus. Severus would probably never admit it, but he was quite fond of the little boy who had been named Remus' godson his first week at Grimmauld. Remembering Remus' initial protests and subsequent happy tears still made Harry smile. If something happened to him and Sirius he knew Polaris would be well taken care of.

He entered the lab and watched for a moment as Severus worked on his current Potion. The man had a deft grace and precision for the subject that Harry envied immensely. Next to Severus he felt clumsy and inadequate while attempting to brew a Potion. However, Severus' precision and attention to detail had one major downside. The man was a perfectionist when it came to his brewing, it was the reason he was such an awful teacher. He had no patience for those without his same appreciation for the subject or those willing to settle for 'good enough'. The highest praise he'd ever received from Severus had come three weeks ago in the form of a slightly-sneered, "Adequate, I suppose."

"Severus?" he inquired quietly at a pause in the man's actions.

"Yes, Harry?" Severus said, only the slightest bite of impatience in his tone. Harry must have caught him at a simmering stage, then.

"Would you mind keeping an eye on Polaris while Sirius and I investigate a possible solution to our housing problem? He's asleep at the moment, in the sitting room."

"No," the man said absently, considering the colour of his potion. "I wouldn't mind. Key a surveillance charm down here, this potion is almost done and is the last for today. Where is this possible residence?"

"The coast, near Cornwall. According to my father's portrait, there is a large cellar you could make into a very spacious lab."

"Trying to sweeten the deal, brat?" Severus asked, some humour leaking into his sardonic tone. But Harry could see a keen interest in his dark eyes. "I already said I would watch him. Away with you."

Harry chuckled softly and said, "Thank you, Severus. We shouldn't be gone long."

He turned and exited the lab. Severus didn't acknowledge the thanks, if he had even heard it. The Numbing Potion had finished simmering and the colour was off…

A/N: All right, I'm ending this one here. Next chapter should be up MUCH quicker. I like writing Severus in this one; he seems the most in-character of my stories so far besides Darkest Night. Thanks for reading!