It was the next morning that Harry found himself gawking at the Daily Prophet which had a full front page photo of him with the caption "HARRY POTTER THE REAL BOY-WHO-LIVED RETURNS TO THE WIZARDING WORLD."

Henry walked into the kitchen and barely acknowledged his presence. Harry mistook his reaction "Henry I'm so sorry…"

"It doesn't matter Harry, I know it's silly but it just hurt you know."

Harry bit his lower lip "it's for your own safety…"

Henry glared at him "safety? I've been put into danger every year since I attended Hogwarts. I would have at least expected the old bastard to choose me."

Harry flinched "he's our grandfather, Henry." He said in a defensive tone.

"What?"

"Arcturus."

"What does he have to do with Dumbledore?"

"What does Dumbeldore have to do with the Article?"

"Huh?"

Harry showed Henry the article and to his surprise he was met with laughter. "Why would that upset me? You have literally gifted me the entire family fortune, which I still want to share with you and we will have this discussion again when we turn 17. I can't listen to you lecture me for another hour. But what does my safety…" he stopped mid sentence, his eyes suddenly widening "you are painting a target on your own back!"

"More like baiting him" Harry said with a relaxed smile "what made you so upset?"

Henry ducked his head "well, now it just feels even more sillier than it did before. Here you are putting your neck on the line for me and I'm getting upset over Ron getting the prefect badge."

"Firstly it's a big brothers job to look after his younger brother and secondly are you upset because you wanted to be prefect or is there another reason?"

"I hadn't really thought about it till Hermione's letter came this morning. I suppose, knowing that dad was head boy, I just wanted to make him proud."

"Dad was head boy but it was Remus who was a prefect and I'm sure that he's proud of you just like I am, besides I'm glad then that you weren't made prefect." Henry raised an eyebrow at Harry's remark "I don't want you to become a miniature James, you need to become your own man Henry Potter. Which reminds me, you and I will be stopping by the opetrician on our way to Diagon Alley, we need to get rid of those god awful specs. But more importantly have you seen the photo that Arcturus chose? I look like a moron."

Henry looked at the photograph, Harry was standing with one foot on a gruesome looking man's head, he held a metal whip in his left hand with traces of blood and his wand in his right hand making him look every bit the warrior that he was. His open black robes were rustling softly showing a bloody torn shirt that stretched across his torso enhancing his chest muscles, a few wisps of loose strands gently swayed further enhancing his sculpted jaw and cheekbones. But it was his expression, Henry couldn't imagine his brother who always wore a lazy, confident smile look so frightening. His eyes were brimming with hatred, if that wasn't enough the sheer amount of destruction surrounding him would have anyone running for the hills.

"I don't know about looking like a moron but you sure won't be bothered by too many people approaching you at Hogwarts." He said, finally tearing his eyes away from the photo.

"Who's a moron?" Sirius asked entering the kitchen only for Henry to show him the paper. Sirius chuckled but the usual fun, carefree aura that surrounded the marauder was missing.

They were distracted by the main door blasting open, the clunk against the wooden floor alerted them of the identity of their visitor. Moody walked into the kitchen with an agility that seemed implausible considering his missing limbs.

Still walking he fired a bone breaking hex at Harry followed by two stunners that hit both Sirius and Henry. Harry had managed to throw a chair at the first curse but found himself backed into the corner as Moody relentlessly fired off a string of lethal curses, forcing Harry into a defensive stance.

Two spells from behind forced him to divide his attention, but within minutes he'd managed to get rid of one opponent, Cissy, who lay bleeding on the stone floor and the other opponent, Tonks, who had somehow ended up next to Harry.

But Harry had taken the opportunity to fire his own spells, one had left a long gash on Moody's back but that man hadn't even flinched and another created a black fog, through which he shot a barrage of spells. Unfortunately Tonks was hit in the crossfire, getting irritated Harry conjured a sword as he cleared the fog getting ready to pounce at the man.

Only to find himself frozen on the spot as the man held a stunned Henry at wand point.

"And you said there was nothing left for me to teach the lad."

Harry's eyes widened as Arcturus stepped into the now destroyed kitchen "bloody hell, I just had the place renovated." He remarked.

Moody let go of Henry who fell roughly on a chair slightly shaken. "What happ…" Draco exclaimed, he'd clearly run all the way down judging from his disheveled look. Shortly after an exhausted Remus joined them, he was still recovering from his transformation the previous night.

"Pathetic, the lot of you." Arcturus spat as Harry helped Tonks up who had turned beet red. He then woke Cissy up asking an elf to patch her up as Tonks got Sirius up who looked livid.

"For fucks sake! What the bloody hell are you two playing at!" Sirius spat.

"The boy is good but he could be better. The rest of you are shamefully useless." Moody said, which made Tonks bristle.

"Why would we be expecting anyone to enter and attack? This house might be as safe if not safer than Hogwarts! Nobody can cross the threshold without his permission." She said defensively as she glared at Arcturus.

Arcturus handed over a heavy looking pouch "you just lost me a 1.000 Galleons."

"If you had told me that you'd placed a price on my head I would have been ready!" Harry snapped, letting his irritation get the better of him.

"If I had placed a price on your head idiot boy you'd be dead." Arcturus said in an eerily calm voice "I had thought that I had taught you everything there was to know, clearly I failed. You have gotten too used to hunting, it has always been you who's gone after someone. Clearly when someone comes after you, you let your guard down and that can not only get you killed but it can get everyone around you killed as well."

Henry couldn't understand what he was seeing. Harry looked around the room, his gaze eventually resting on Henry and the impossible happened, Harry Potter broke down into soul wrenching sobs.

"Let him take it out of his system."

"NO! You listen to me, you conniving old bastard! Harry isn't your personal warrior who will become the leader of the Black Wands. He is my godson and the lot of you can go rot in hell for all I care. I'm taking him and Henry and leaving Britain! Voldemort be damned."

The room stood in shocked silence as the two Blacks stared each other down, the magic pulsing in the room was suffocating.

"Good. I will start your training tomorrow at dawn, if you are done with family time that is." Arcturus said eventually and left followed by Moody who pinned Tonks with a disappointed look.

"Harry…" Henry whispered slowly, approaching his brother.

"Harry, don't listen to him. There's a reason my father and uncle turned out to be such wretched people." Sirius said, pushing his anger down, placing a hand on his back.

Harry had pulled Henry into a bone crushing hug. "He's right though, I can't let my guard down." He whispered, suddenly pulling away from his brother and walking out the kitchen door.

Sirius clenched his fists as he watched his godson walk away. He vowed to put his soul into his training, he would try to take Harry's place but if that wasn't possible the least he could do was have his back.

For a minute Henry thought that Dementors had filled the kitchen, the look of pure anguish in Harry's eyes had frozen his insides. Looking around the kitchen, everyone seemed to be fighting their own inner demons. He couldn't let himself be a burden. So far he'd gone through life relying on luck, never really trying to better himself. He thought back to the previous year and promised himself that he'd push his personal limits and become the support that Harry needed.

Harry stripped as he barged into his room, heading straight for a cold shower. Hopelessness filled him as the image of Henry at wand point kept on flashing in his mind. Till now he had always been alone, he knew he had a family but they were safe. Arcturus was a fierce fighter but these people needed to be protected and he had failed them. He had failed Arcturus letting himself get cocky, never again he vowed to himself.

Draco wasn't sure of what to think. His mother had said that the Black's stood united but looking around what remained of the kitchen he didn't know what he could do. He certainly wasn't a fighter and he didn't like that idea of being dead weight. He resolved to do something about it.

Moony was desperately fighting to be let out and rip the men who'd caused his family so much distress to shreds. Watching the pain in Sirius' eyes didn't do him much good.

Tonks was utterly humiliated, she had considered herself Moody's prodigy and yet she hadn't lasted more than a couple of minutes. Anger bubbled in her chest at the thought of Moody going soft on her whilst they were training, it had been nothing compared to what she'd witnessed right now. She had to do better, much better.

Arcturus poured himself a double shot of Babylon's elixir and picked up the single photo frame that sat on his desk. The woman in the photo beamed back at him, her grey eyes twinkling brighter than any constellation in the sky.

It was a well known fact amongst the Black family members that Arcturus Black only ever loved one person, his baby sister Dorea. She had been the light of his life, ever since he'd first laid eyes on her, he had protected her with his life especially from their family. Unknown to everyone the only other person he'd felt remotely the same about had been Sirius.

That was the main reason why he'd never taken Sirius under his wing, he wouldn't have been able to see the boy get hurt. When Sirius was arrested, he knew that at the time he couldn't do much about it, having felt the magic around the house he knew that preparing Harry was his priority. But he'd made sure that the Black family magic kept Sirius safe. He had come to care deeply for Harry and would do everything in his power to keep him alive, yet it wasn't love.

Opening the frame he took the photo out and unfolded it, a baby with big grey eyes looked right at him happily blowing spit bubbles and giggling. What was he going to do with Sirius…

After the morning's fiasco, everyone except Arcturus, was surprised to find Harry in a jolly mood. He walked into the dining room laughing as Woof furiously licked his ear and tugged at his hair.

Arcturus smiled as he looked around the table "so you'll be going to pick up the school supplies after lunch?"

"How can you two be so upbeat?" Tonks asked, accusingly.

Harry simply shrugged, putting Woof down so he could join Apollo who was desperately trying to bait Artemis into playing. "It's one of the first things Arcturus taught me, don't keep anything in. Blow things up, cry your heart out, use every foul word known to mankind, just get it out of your system and pick up from where you left off. There's no point in allowing your negative thoughts to overpower you or to wallow in the mistakes of your past, that just makes you an unhappy, bitter person."

Harry smirked at Henry ruffling his hair before taking a seat "where are you going?"

"I'll ask an elf to bring me a sandwich, I need to go blow things up." Sirius said as he strode out of the dining room, followed by Tonks and Remus "I'll just watch them and swear" he said looking worse than before.

"I think that I would like to be excused as well." Draco said standing up.

Harry simply nodded at Henry who was looking at him, giving him an encouraging push, Merlin knew he had a boatload to get off his chest.

"Well seeing how Narcissa's with Andromeda, it looks like it's just you and me. Thank you, Harry."

It was a much more relaxed group that showed up at Diagon Alley. Having come at the last minute they decided to divide and conquer. "Harry, Henry and Moony you three go to Flourish and Blotts, Cissy you and Draco go to Madam Malkins and I'll refill your potions and writing materials." Sirius said, giving each group a sack of gold.

The reaction of the shoppers was as expected as they saw the group enter. Some looked at them in awe, others in fear but everyone gave them a wide berth.

The bookstore was bustling with last minute shoppers, Remus and Henry split the core subjects between them, leaving Harry to go pick up the books for their electives.

Harry had quickly found all the required books and decided to shop around a bit. A leather bound book caught his attention, walking up to the shelf with the mismatched books he reached out to pick it up only to end up in a power struggle. Every time he tugged at the book it would get pulled back with equal force, giving up he gave it one last tug and let go.

"Ow" a voice yelped, curious he walked around the bookcase and found a blonde girl sitting on the floor. Seeing the book sprawled on the floor next to her he realized what had happened.

"I suppose you owe me a double fairy fudge fizzle." She said as she stood up and checked her dress to make sure she was decent. Looking up, her eyes widened, "Potter?"

"Black Potter, actually" he said trying to act nonchalant but he was sure that his brain had turned to mush, she had to be the most breathtakingly beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Her blonde hair fell in waves down her back, a slight blush had appeared on her porcelain skin but it was her eyes that completely mesmerized him. They were bright blue with specks of green and they were currently staring at him.

"Ahem, are you feeling alright?"

"Huh?" Harry said, cursing inwardly, clearly having zoned out.

"I said, you can have the book if you like after I've gone through it."

"Um, uhuh! Sounds good."

"Great, see you in school Black Potter." She said brushing past him.

Daphne Greengrass was going to kill Tracey Davis, Tracey was positive as she watched her friend march towards her glaring daggers.

"I'm sorry" she whined "I was going to get it but then I sort of spotted him and I couldn't stop freaking out. He's such a looker that photo didn't do him justice well it did justice to his abs but you know what I mean, what is he like? Oh my god! Celestial skies did a star reading today, I listened to yours as well, they said you will bump into the one."

"How should I know? I just met him for all of 30 seconds." Daphne snapped "and I didn't bump into him I was hit by this" she said brandishing the book "will I be spending the rest of my life with this book?"

Tracey pouted, making her eyes bigger, Daphne sighed "you know that trick only works on Blaise right?" When Tracey refused to budge Daphne gave in "fine, he's gorgeous but that doesn't matter if he…"

"Can't make you laugh, isn't smart, is content living on daddy's money, isn't caring and respectful, isn't loyal…"

"Alright we both know you have my list memorized. Let's pay up and go look for the boy that you secretly love obsessing over, instead." Daphne smirked at the blush that now coloured her friend's cheeks.

"What's her name?" Sirius exclaimed as soon as he saw Harry.

"Whose name?" Henry asked, confused.

"Harry met a girl. Aaand he liked her. I would recognize that look anywhere! So cough it up, what's her name?"

"Oh, damn." He said stopping in his tracks and slapping his forehead "I forgot to ask her."

"Well, if you describe her we might be able to recognize her." Draco supplied.

They all took a seat at one of the cafes in the plaza, Sirius quickly placed an order and shooed the waitress away not wanting to miss a single second of the conversation.

"She has wavy blond hair and the most hauntingly beautiful eyes, blue with specks of green, they look right through you and read your soul and she smelled spicy and sweet, I don't really know how to explain it…"

"Well…" Sirius said, looking between Henry and Draco.

"I don't think I know what colour Hermione's eyes are and I've known her for nearly 5 years. Though this whole soul reading thing sounds a bit creepy." Henry said looking at Harry like he'd grown a second head.

"Err, I don't really go around sniffing girls." Draco added scrunching up his nose, Henry nodded in agreement.

Remus burst out laughing when he saw Sirius do a perfect imitation of a fish. "Where did I fail?" He finally asked.

Narcissa couldn't help but shake her head in amusement, she had dearly missed these carefree family moments.

They spent the rest of the evening with Sirius giving the boys a lesson on how to woo a girl, Narcissa would occasionally add a bit of a woman's perspective on his impromptu lesson. Remus just sat there and enjoyed watching them, he was sure that James would be smiling down at them.