They exited the bank into a spacious alley filled with shops of all kinds. Glancing behind him he saw that the bank building was actually much taller than he had thought. It was made of white marble with no windows on the sides of the building. The alley was filled with shops some of which, he saw, clearly sold the flowing clothes like what Sirius was wearing. One sign that caught his attention was Ollivanders wand shop which had a stick like Sirius had used on display. Or rather a wand on display. A short way from where they were standing on the bank's steps was a darker alley. The entire thing seemed to be hidden in shadows. He felt his curiosity peak but decided it was something to explore another day.

He didn't get access to his trust fund for another two weeks but he wondered how far the galleons he did have would stretch. He really would love to buy clothes that were not orange for once in his life.

"Sirius, can we look around the shops a bit?" he asked.

"Of course," Sirius agreed, "You'll get to see most of the shops when we do your school shopping. Did you have a shop in mind for today?"

"I would like to get some clothes that would fit in with the magical community better," he told his new guardian gesturing to his casual track suit which did not fit in.

He found the idea of the robes appealing because they were so different from the fitted clothing most shinobi wore and nothing at all like his orange outfit. He had left the Hidden Leaf to gain some distance and perspective. He felt a wardrobe change would help to increase that distance. Sirius seemed to register what they were wearing for the first time which again made him question just how good of a guardian Sirius would be not that he would mind remaining as independent as possible. He eyed his orange jumpsuit with distaste and Gaara's gourd with a mild curiosity.

"Is orange your favourite colour?" Sirius asked him.

"No," he replied flatly.

"We can go see about some casual robes," Sirus said with a furrowed brow before his face brightened up, "I'm your guardian. As your guardian I will provide all of your basic needs including food, shelter, clothing, and school supplies. Your trust fund is just spending money for fun things, like pranks."

Even though he had been assigned a guardian by the council before he was a genin, they had been a virtual non-entity in his life. The only contact he could remember having with his official guardian was an envelope with his allowance being shoved under the door once a month when he wasn't home. He had tried setting a trap once but had been called into the Hokage office shortly after where he was advised not to attempt to attempt a trap again. The or else was implied and he had a feeling he would not have liked it so he still had no idea who his supposed guardian had been. He decided that a new place required embracing new experiences. Unlike the guardian he was assigned in the Hidden Leaf, Sirius knew his parents. He also seemed pretty determined to get them to like him. He also had the added benefit of not knowing about the tailed beasts or what a jinchūriki was.

"Your father loved playing pranks when we were at school. We called ourselves the marauders. I was Padfoot, James was Prongs, Remus, who you'll meet soon, was Moony, and the rat who we will not speak of was Wormtail. You'll need to make sure you live up to the Marauder's name while you're at school. I'll show you a neat spell that will turn parchment into a self updating map before you go to help you with the pranking I know you will do," Sirius sounded very passionate about his pranking which seemed a little childish to him.

He frowned as he slowed his pace. He wasn't really interested in resuming the prankster persona he had adopted during the years he spent at the Academy. However, he supposed, provided no one knew it was him pulling the pranks, he could oblige Sirius's whim just this once. It was a connection to his father that he hadn't had before.

"About my father," he began.

"Anything you've heard is a vicious lie. James has never killed anyone. That was all Peter," Sirius interrupted, then decided to change topics, "We'll get your robes at Madam Malkin's she has the best robe shop in Diagon Alley."

"Thank you," Gaara said politely.

He glanced at Gaara but didn't know him well enough to guess what he was feeling. He smiled brightly at Sirius who led the way to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions with a bounce in his step. Madam Malkin's was a cozy looking shop in the centre of the alley. In the window display were a few manikins wearing various styles of robes from plain to embroidered to ones with moving designs. As they entered, a bell attached to the door echoed into the shop which was much larger inside than it had looked from the street.

"Lord Black," a squat, smiling witch greeted Sirius with familiarity, "What can I get for you today?"

He assumed Sirius was probably a regular client of the store. He had said that Madam Malkin's was the best robe shop in Diagon Alley. The brown haired witch bustled toward the front of the shop genuinely happy to see him. When her eyes found him and Gaara beside Sirius she slowed down with a confused frown replacing her smile.

"Madam, allow me to introduce my Godson Hadrian Potter and my ward Gaara Sabaku," Sirius cheerfully answered her unasked question first with a flourish, "They have recently returned to England from abroad and are in need of a new wardrobe. I think five sets of casual robes each should be enough for the rest of the summer. They are growing boys after all."

Once Sirius had finished speaking Madam Malkin turned her attention toward the two of them. Her eyes immediately went to their hands stopping on the heir rings he was wearing. Her smile grew even brighter than it had been before.

"It is a pleasure to meet you both, right this way dears," the witch said but her eyes only glanced at Gaara briefly.

She led them further into the store. The woman clearly had an eye for business as aside from a brief look at Gaara she focused most of her attention on him once she noticed his heir rings. It was unfortunate for her that Gaara was one of two friends he had ever managed to make, he did not take slights against his friends well. If she was hoping to make him a regular client she would need to redeem herself in his eyes.

Sirius followed them into the back of the store oblivious to the subtle slight the witch had made to Gaara. He took a seat against the wall. There were two footstools in front of a wall of mirrors. She directed them to remove the top layer of their clothes so the new robes could be fitted correctly. He placed his pack on the chair next to Sirius as Gaara also placed his gourd on the floor in front of the chair blocking his pack from view. Madam Malkin then had them stand on the stools while she flicked her wand. He could faintly hear a small jingle from deeper inside the store. Another witch who was likely her assistant came out from a different room in the shop. The second witch went over to Gaara to help him with his new robes. Madam Malkin stayed with him because in her eyes he was the more important client.

"Do you like orange?" she asked looking over at a rack of unfitted orange robes.

He really hoped once he was done shopping he would never need to wear anything orange again, ever. He was sure had he not been forced to wear only that colour his entire childhood he might have not minded the colour in a less vibrant shade, but the village had made him wear orange and now he detested the colour.

"I hate orange," he told her, then to soften the harshness of the tone he had used, "Please put me in colours that will compliment me."

"You have extraordinary green eyes. I think we should put you in some darker purples, burgundy and wine red would look nice, and of course a few rich greens would really help to make your eyes stand out even more," Madam Malkin suggested as she made her way through the colourful racks of robes.

Madam Malkin's wand was a lighter shade of brown that the wand Sirius had used. He wanted to ask about wands. What they were made of, what their purpose was. He knew they channelled magic so it could be controlled easier, but was that all that they did? It felt like it should be common knowledge so it would be far too embarrassing to admit just how ignorant of the world he really was. He resolved to find a library as soon as possible so he could take advantage of his bracelet to read all about this new world before he entered the school. It wouldn't feel right to have to rely on others for his information. They could lie to him then he would look like a fool when he went to use the false information. He would not allow himself to have such an easily exploited weakness.

She flicked her wand at the racks and the robes she had gestured to began floating through the air to land on a smaller rack next to his stool. There were a lot more than five robes on the rack. He looked at the rack next to Gaara to compare. He also had a variety of robes but his were all in different shades of red with a few dark blue robes mixed in. The witch seemed to be purposely avoiding black, probably because it didn't fit in with the aesthetics of most of the magical population he had seen so far which all seemed to prefer to wear colours. Even Sirius was wearing robes that were red edged in gold.

Madam Malkin flicked her wand and the robes floated around his eyes for a few minutes until there were only five left. She pulled a set of plum robes that were too large over his head before she began pinning the robes to fit him.

"Just try the blue, it will look much better with your hair and eyes than red. Red clashes with your hair," the assistant witch burst out exasperated.

"I prefer black but you said no. I want red," Gaara told her.

He sounded kind of petulant especially given that he had folded his arms across his chest while he glared at her. He smiled but had to keep from laughing or he knew that Gaara's glare would turn on him next. Madam Malkin removed the purple robes and pulled on a set of wine red robes to repeat the process.

"What about a really dark blue that is almost black with a black trim, that would look nice," he said to Gaara catching his eyes in the mirror.

The assistant sighed, "I'll accept that, I just wouldn't feel right selling you robes that would clash with your hair."

"Fine," Gaara agreed after a short pause, it was clear he was reluctant.

The assistant flicked her wand, which seemed to be made of a reddish wood, as all of the red robes flew back to the rack leaving only the variety of blue robes she had already had on the rack. There also seemed to be a couple of rich browns and at least one blue that was almost green.

Over the next twenty minutes Madam Malkin repeated the fitting process with a set of forest green robes, dark purple robes, and last a set of emerald green robes. The trims on his robes were either black or a darker shade of the same colour. With the last robe finished being pinned to fit she pulled it off standing up with a groan of relief.

"You can put your clothes back on then come to the front of the store," she told him kindly.

With a flick of her wand she sent the rack of pinned robes floating into another room of the store separated by a decoratively carved archway. He quickly pulled on his track suit before making his way to the front of the store seeing as Gaara was having his last robe fitted and shouldn't be too far behind him.

Sirius was stamping his lordship ring on a small blob of wax that was stuck to a strip of parchment that had the information about their purchase written on it. He assumed that the paper was a way to get around having to carry around hundreds of heavy gold coins. It was unfortunate that she removed the receipt before he could see the cost of the robes that Sirius had bought him. He wanted to know how grateful he should be. Gaara came up behind him and handed him his pack. He felt his cheeks redden as he realized he had almost forgotten it. He was already letting his guard down which was not good.

"Thank you, Lord Black, for your business. I'll owl the robes to your home as soon as they are ready," Madam Malkin said cheerfully.

"It was a pleasure as always. Your shop is truly the best," Sirius complimented Madam Malkin who giggled in response.

She turned heading back into her shop to get started on finishing their robes.

Sirius turned toward him and Gaara, "Ready to go home?"

He felt a strange tightness in his chest at the word home. He managed a small smile at Sirius.

"Yes," he answered even though he couldn't really breath properly.

Home was apparently a modest manor house somewhere in the countryside if the acres of meadows and forests were any indication. He wasn't able to fully appreciate the view as his stomach was currently attempting to climb out of his mouth. Sirius had transported them using a method that he called side along apparation. It had felt like he was being squeezed through a small tube without any air in it. He leaned over with his hands on his knees hoping he would be able to keep himself from getting sick.

"Was that your first time apparating?" Sirius asked them with a twinkle in his eyes.

Sirius knew it was their first time apparating. He knew they were from abroad. He was just showing his true colours as a cruel, wicked man.

He glared at Sirius in a way he felt fully conveyed his current discomfort. He was too worried he would be sick if he were to express his rage vocally. Gaara glared just as hard, as a thin line of sand began to rise from his gourd. He caught Gaara's eye and tried to convey how bad an idea it was to let Sirius know about their chakra even if he fully agreed that Sirius ought to be crushed. Reluctantly, Gaara let the sand reform into a cork to plug his gourd. Fortunately for them both the sand had been hidden behind Gaara's head so Sirius hadn't seen it.

"Most people vomit the first time," Sirius said sounding a little disappointed before perking back up and clapping his hands together, "How about a tour?"

With his stomach back under control he was able to answer, "That sounds great."

Sirius led the way up the gravel path to the front door, "I'll introduce you to the house elves once we get inside."

He wasn't sure what house elves were. Given that the goblins were a non-human intelligent race he assumed house elves would also be a non-human intelligent race. He was curious about what they would look like but had no basis from which he could guess their appearances. He would just have to resign himself to being surprised but not letting it show on his face like any well trained shinobi. He fixed his neutral mask in place as he followed Sirius up the gravel path that led to the front door.

House elves turned out to be small creatures with giant floppy ears. Their eyes were all very large taking up half of their heads which seemed to be a little too big for their small bodies. They were all thin and frail looking as if a small gust of wind would be enough to blow them over. Sirius introduced them as Tilly, Milly, and Loppy. Tilly and Milly both seemed to be female elves who were wearing clean pillow cases with what he assumed was the black family crest, whereas Loppy appeared male and only wore a loincloth. It left a little too much skin on display for his tastes so he decided to only call on Loppy in an emergency. He discovered that house elves loved working and being busy. They were happily bound to wizards to act as unpaid servants. Because they were Sirius's wards they could call on any of the house elves if they needed anything. He was grateful because despite living on his own for several years he was not very competent in household chores and all he knew how to cook were instant noodle cups.

They were then given a tour of the manor. The basement of the manor held a potions lab with an set of stairs leading to a door to the back garden for fresh ingredients. There was also a duelling chamber which Sirius used to keep in shape for his job as an Auror which he discovered was like a more friendly less talented version of the ANBU in the Hidden Leaf. It also had the house elf living spaces but those could only be accessed by the elves themselves as there was no door.

The first floor had a ballroom, several sitting rooms, the formal dining room, the kitchen with a small casual dining nook attached, a sun room, three bathrooms, and a large library complete with comfy couches they could curl up on while reading.

Outside was a large garden maintained by the elves along with three greenhouses for when the weather got cold. Being from the Hidden Leaf which stayed mostly warm all year he was a little worried about the fact it got cold enough in that the plants couldn't grow outside. It would be even worse for Gaara who grew up in a desert. Further away from the manor there was a walled area that he could see six large hoops rising from with three on each side of the enclosure. Sirius called it a Quidditch Pitch where wizards and witches could play a game on flying brooms. Though he found the idea of using cleaning supplies to fly odd. Sirius seemed very proud of the fact that he had one on his property which was completely surrounded by forests, so the 'muggles' couldn't see. He had heard the term while they were in Diagon alley but he wasn't fully aware of the meaning. The trees unfortunately were much smaller than the trees in the elemental nations so he would have to travel through the trees on the ground instead of leaping through the branches like he was used to.

The second floor contained the family suites and offices as well as the more basic guest bedrooms. Sirius showed them the door to the master suite which was his and the door to his office which was further down the hall. The office door had a small sign on the outside that could be set by Sirius to say: come in to show that there was nothing pressing being worked on, emergency only, and do not disturb. If the sign was blank it simply meant that Sirius was not inside his office. Near the Master suite was the heir's suite which he was given and across the hall was another suite of rooms that Gaara was given. Once they were shown their rooms Sirius said he would leave them to settle in and left.

With a wave to Gaara he decided to look at his new set of rooms. He opened the door into what had to be the gaudiest sitting room he had ever seen.

"Tilly," he yelled his voice a little more high pitched than usual.

"Master Hadrian called for Tilly?" Tilly arrived clearly confused.

"What is this?" he asked gesturing at the red and gold nightmare of a room.

It was so loud he was sure he would never be able to relax in it. He had nothing against red as a colour, in fact it was one of his favourite colours. He did have a problem with using such a bright shade of red as the main colour when decorating what should be a comfortable room.

Tilly looked at the room in confusion, "It is being Master Hadrian's sitting room."

"I meant why does it look like a strawberry threw up in it," he clarified.

Most of the house he had seen was tastefully decorated in dark neutral colours making it feel refined in a way that quietly gave an impression of old money that wasn't insulting to someone who maybe didn't have it. It was somewhat cozy as opposed to bright and gaudy like the room in front of him. He didn't even want to step further into the room with the way it looked. He really dreaded how the other rooms would look if this was just the sitting room. The elf's face lit up in understanding.

"Yous be wanting to change the colours," she said with her ears flapping.

"Yes," he confirmed with a sigh of relief that the elf had understood.

They were like children in the simple way they viewed the world. Much like children he assumed the way to win them over was to be as friendly as possible. He intended to maintain good relations with the elves so they might be willing to help him maintain more freedom than he otherwise could while Sirius was at work.

"Tilly be doing that right away for Master," then Tilly snapped her fingers.

The room became a collection of soft browns and beiges with only small hints of gold only where metal should be like on the lights and door handles.

"Would you mind making sure the other rooms look more like this?" he asked her politely.

The little elf popped away for a few seconds, "It is being done, Master Hadrian."

"Thank you," Tilly's ears flapped again and she bowed so low her nose touched the floor before popping away again.

Now that he could look at the room without going blind he could see that it actually was a comfortable looking space. Empty bookshelves lined the walls. In the centre of the room was a trio of plush sofas facing a large cozy looking stone fireplace. A beautifully carved desk was behind one of the couches facing the fire with a plush cushioned chair. A door on his left revealed a small two piece bathroom presumably for guests, if he ever had any. Then on his right furthest from the main door was a second door that led into the bedroom. Most of the room was taken by the bed which was large enough for four of him to lay in comfortably, he knew because he tested it with his clones. The rest of the space was taken up by a display shelf and a dresser. A small archway to his right led into a wardrobe where his robes would hang up once he received them. And another door next to the archway led into a marble bathroom with both a shower stall and a large tub that he thought he could probably swim in if he filled it up all the way.

He returned to the hallway once he put his pack down on the bed. He was surprised by the sight of Gaara having a staring contest with a giant black dog. He assumed the only reason a dog had to be in the house was that it was Sirius's pet. He reached out cautiously so the dog could sniff his hand before petting it on the shoulders. He had spent enough time skipping classes with Kiba and Akamaru that he was comfortable enough around dogs even if he didn't really like them that much. He felt he was more of a cat person if he had to have an animal around at all.

He turned to Gaara, "Do you want to eat first or go to the Library?"

"Library," Gaara said after a moment of thought.

He patted the dog on the back lightly before starting toward the stairs. The dog followed them to the Library where it casually shifted into Sirius. He was ashamed that his mask slipped enough to show his shock when his heart made a mad dash trying to run out of his chest.

Sirius just sat on the floor laughing, "You should see your faces."

He felt annoyed but also a little better about his new guardian. He had been told in no uncertain terms that Sirius was a born prankster so it was nothing he should really be surprised about. Once he was able to collect himself again he felt curiosity stirring to life inside him. It had occurred to him that people did not often transform into animals. Theoretically the transformation jutsu could disguise a person as an animal but he hadn't heard of anyone using it that way before. He could however see how it could come in handy for spying if the person you were spying on had pets or if they were in a forest.

"How did you do that?" he asked smiling to show he wasn't upset, anymore.

"I'm an animagus, your father could turn into a stag, I'll teach you when you're older," Sirius said, "What did you think of your rooms?"

"Fine," Gaara said.

"Gaudy but Tilly fixed it," he told the man.

"Hey, those were Gryffindor colours," Sirius said pretending to be insulted.

"Yes, well they made my poor eyes bleed," he said unrepentant.

"Alright," Sirius chuckled ruffling his hair.

He felt himself tense at the unexpected contact. Most people didn't touch him if they could avoid it. The exceptions being Gaara and Sasuke who were his friends, even then it was rare. He would probably need to get used to Sirius touching him though because he seemed like the type. Sirius had also transferred his close relationship with his parents into an automatic affection for him that he hadn't actually earned yet. It explained why he was so willing to touch him but not Gaara who he would need to get to know better. He would need to warn Gaara so he wouldn't accidentally attack Sirius once he decided they were close.

"As a responsible adult I need to let you know that you can read anything in the open part of the library. There is a red line on the floor warding the back section of the library where the dark arts books are. Those books should not be read until you are at least seventeen when you'll be considered adults so I can't stop you, understand?"

"Yes, I think the information we're looking for is in the front anyway," he said, "Are there any books about Hogwarts?"

"Hogwarts: A History," Sirius informed him then seemed to get another thought, "If you know what your looking for just write it in the index here and the library will pull the books for you and put them here."

Sirius first gestured to a blank book on a stand with a feather sitting in an ink pot and then to a small wooden table that was next to it. He walked over to the book and pulled out the feather. He let the excess ink drip back into the pot before he wrote, in English thanks to his bracelet, Hogwarts: A History. A book removed itself from one of the shelves and levitated to the table next to the stand. He picked up the book and skimmed the table of contents with a smile. The book was just what he needed.

"Great," he said knowing his search would be much easier.

He intended to read about the school first. But he felt he could probably use his clones to help him read about the government as well, followed by laws, and then magical culture so he would be prepared for when he went to the school. He knew he would need to interact with his fellow students and intended to make the best impression possible. He would treat it like an infiltration mission so in order to be successful he would need to know as much as he could learn from books to give him a foundation from which to start. The rest he would need to pick up from his interactions with the other students. He would just need to make sure that he spoke to a variety of students so his impressions would be unbiased.

"Dinner is at 4pm, I took the week off so we'll be able to go over your Gringotts ledgers tomorrow morning and then I'll show you both how to fly in the afternoon," Sirius said the last with excitement.

"Sounds great," he said returning the smile.

He wrote the other three subjects in the library index and watched more books soar off the shelves. He handed a random book to Gaara as they made their way to one of the reading nooks.

Sirius pouted at them from the doorway, "I'll leave you to be boring, then."

Once he was sure Sirius was gone he set a clone to guard the door. He made enough clones that he could begin reading three of the other books on the table right away. He didn't want to read them all at once because it would be too difficult to assimilate that much information at once after the clones were released. He settled down on the couch next to Gaara who was already reading. He opened the book he was still holding and began to read Hogwarts: A History.