(I don't own Harry Potter or its characters, only this fanfiction's plot)
"Knock, knock," Sirius said, leaning on the door. His grandad rolled his eyes before waving him in; as if he even needed to bother at this point.
"You wished to speak with me?" Sirius began, seating himself in the guest coach as his grandfather summoned the tea. Both were used to this by now.
"Yes, it's about Hades." Arcturus, watching Sirius for a moment before he continued, "He's turning five soon."
"I suppose it's too much to hope that this is just about his party?"
Chuckling, Arcturus shook his head. "It's about his studies, or lack thereof. I wish for him to begin lessons with Ceres and Draco in the fall."
Sirius frowned, "I didn't start mine until I was six."
"Yes, and we hadn't just come off of a war when you were five."
Seeing the way Sirius had set his jaw, Arcturus sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "You know his followers are still out there, I just want Hades properly prepared to defend himself. Even if you don't like my methods."
"James would kill me-" Sirius said, stopping himself before he sighed. "His parents would absolutely murder me if they found out I even considered this."
"The dark arts aren't inherently evil, Sirius." Arcturus said, "You know this, even if you like to pretend otherwise. All they are is a means to harm your opponent, self-defense."
"And that's why I'm considering it," Sirius muttered, rubbing his temple, "Dear Merlin I really am, fucking hell.."
Sirius didn't say anything for a while. "He can start, but I'm not agreeing to- to him learning that. Not until I think about it some more."
"You've been thinking about it ever since Polly made him his legal heir," Arcturus pointed out. "I think you're just trying to find a reason other than your misplaced loyalty to Potter to say no."
Sirius wished he could tell his grandad that he was wrong, but he didn't particularly feel like lying right now.
Sirius walked into the den to see his son and granny were nowhere to be found, a giant yellow fort made of pillows in their stead.
"Oh dear," He said, barely hiding his smirk. "Oh where could my dear Harry be?"
A giggle was heard, and Sirius couldn't help but grin.
"Could he be.." He said, slowly reaching for the window curtains. "Behind here?"
Another giggle resounded, and he could hear his granny pretending to shush him.
"Huh.. Okay," Sirius scanned the room. "Could he be.. Under the couch?"
Sirius looked again, earning another giggle from his son. Sirius grinned, heading for where he knew the mouth of the fort to be.
"Huh.. I don't remember this beautiful fortress being here last time Hades and I visited." He began, gently grabbing on the edge of the sheet. "Could he possibly be..?"
Sirius snatched up the "door" revealing Harry and his granny (who were now playing a game of wizarding chess) who laughed, Harry's soon turning into shrieking when Sirius grabbed him- the tickling beginning.
"No, no, no! Daddy stop!" Harry screamed, laughing all the while. Sirius picked up the pace.
"Did you say more?" Sirius asked innocently.
Harry vehemently shook his head. "Please!"
"Oh, well since you asked so nicely," Sirius said, laughing as Harry slumped against his chest.
"You're a very evil man, you know," Melania said, though the amusement in her eyes told a different story of how she viewed his actions.
Smiling, Sirius shrugged. "You love me anyway."
Harry pouted. "You're still mean."
Pretending to look hurt, Sirius gasped. "Ah! I am not! I'll have you know tickling is a form of love where I'm from."
"Is that so?" Melania asked, Sirius barely having time to realize before she lifted her wand; sending him and Harry both to the floor in a fit of giggles.
Clutching his sides, Sirius yelled. "Ack! Stop- fuck!"
Doubling over, he wheezed. Damnit if she wasn't good at this.
"What was that?" Harry asked, and Sirius realized he wasn't laughing because their granny were torturing him- but at him.
"I will end you-" Laughter tore from his throat, cutting him off.
"Come again?" His granny asked, a shit-eating grin on her face.
"Fuck- fine I'm sorry!" Magically, the hex lifted. Breathing, Sirius sat up, glaring at the smug woman.
"Hades, how would you like to babysit your father while I make us some cookies?" Melania asked, crouching down to be at the boy's level.
Harry's eyes lit up and he nodded profusely, not even complaining when his granny gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Sirius groaned, his ribs were still sore from earlier.
Currently, Harry and his granny were plotting world domination over the cookies she had made, he was the unknowing witness to their plot.
"So you think Fudge is going to win?" Melania asked, eyebrows raised.
Harry nodded, swallowing. "Daddy says he has no.. That he's not very smart, so everyone will want him to win."
"And why is that?"
"Cause," Harry said. "Uncle Lucius says it'll be easy to get what we want that way, and most people agree with Uncle Lucy."
Important purebloods, Sirius wanted to correct, but really, there wasn't much of a difference these days.
"What do you want?" Sirius asked instead, regaining his son's attention.
Chewing on his chocolate chip cookie thoughtfully, Harry gave a shrug. "No more floo travel, I hate it."
"Well, how would we visit anyone, then?"
"Pegasuses," Harry answered automatically, earning a small laugh from Melania.
"It's technically pegasi, Harry," Sirius gently corrected. "Like cacti."
"Oh," Harry said, before perking up again. "Well we could have them pull carr.. Carr.."
"Carriages?"
"Mhmm! We can have them pull those. They could take us places really fast, and then there would be no need for floo travel."
"He makes a compelling case," Melania grinned. "Maybe we should get Lucius to whisper it in Fudge's ear."
Rolling his eyes, Sirius bit into his cookie. "That'll be the day."
His granny and father started talking again, but Harry wasn't really paying attention, he had noticed something.
"You really should visit more often," His Granny was saying. "I feel like Hades has grown a foot since the last time you did."
His father rolled his eyes. "It's only been a week."
"Yes well.." His Granny began, but Harry couldn't keep it in any longer.
So he blurted out, "Why aren't we together?"- Returning the adults' attention back to where it should be; on him.
"We are together, Harry."
Harry frowned, and shook his head. "No we aren't."
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Harry I don't know what you mean-"
"On the family tree," Harry said, gesturing towards the ancient tapestry, "Everyone else is under there mummy and daddy, but I'm not..."
Sirius exchanged a look with his granny, before swallowing and moving to sit beside Harry on the couch.
"Hades," Sirius began. "You know I love you, right? Regardless of how hard it is to wake you up or how much you torture me."
Harry nodded, tilted his head to the side like a little puppy. "Is it something bad?"
Sirius struggled to think of how best to respond, before sighing. "Hades, you know how Vinnie doesn't have a dad, right?"
Nodding, Harry didn't look any less confused. "Are you his daddy?"
"What? No- no I was just.. Nevermind," Sirius looked over at the tapestry. "Do you ever wonder why you call my pops and grams your Uncle Pollox and Auntie Irma? But we call granny and grandad the same thing?"
Harry shook his head. "Why is that?"
"It's because your Uncle Pollox is your uncle, but he's my grandfather," Sirius explained, gesturing towards the tapestry. "You see that woman beside him? Dorea Black?"
"Yeah," Harry said. "She's above me."
"That's because she's your grandma," Sirius explained. "And her son was your father, your birth father. He.. Something happened, and they couldn't take care of you anymore, so I took you in."
Harry's brows forwarded. "But.. I... I don't understand, daddy."
Sirius stood up, crouching in front of Harry as he took his little hands into his own, larger ones. "I didn't make you, I chose you. You're biologically my baby cousin, but I adopted you."
"I'm.. I'm like CeCe or Draco to you?" Harry asked, eyes widening.
"Oh no," Sirius cupped his cheek, brushing his hair out of his face. "I love you like my own son. You are my son. In every single way that matters. You believe me, don't you?"
Harry thought for a moment, staring into his father's silver eyes before he slowly nodded.
Of course he believed him, his father had never lied to him before.
Couple o' things touched upon in this chappy
Sirius has to tell Harry he's adopted for the first time, that's always hard. I remember when my cousin first found out she was adopted, especially because her biological dad could have been in her life but was choosing not to be. Hope I did this kind of thing justice
Harry's going to start his lessons, but there is still the issue of whether the dark arts will be included in the curriculum. Sirius doesn't like the thought of it- he knows it would make James and Lily roll in their graves, but there's still the practicality he can't argue against.
How could he deny Harry something that could potentially save his life?
Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, let me know what you think, and most importantly enjoy!