This is a rewrite of this chapter. I screwed up my own timeline and had to fix the past relationship between Remus and Sylvia. I have always had Orion's birthdate as being in July of 1980, yet when it was time to write Remus and Sylvia meeting I completely forgot to look at my timeline notes and instead wrote that Sylvia met Remus in November of 1980 and was pregnant. Obviously that was wrong and so I have edited this chapter to fix my silly timeline mistakes. I am very sorry about the confusion this might have caused anyone.


Chapter 39: Fathers and Sons

Belvedere, Prosecco, Trieste, Italy

December 26, 1986

"Your son?" Sirius said when at last he could find his voice. He found himself looking from the boy on the bed to Remus and back again.

Remus seemed to understand his disbelief and he nodded. "You have probably noticed that I am not his biological father," Remus said even as he motioned for Orion to come to him.

Sirius watched as the boy scrambled off the bed and willingly went over to Remus. A moment later the boy was seated upon Remus's lap. He found the sight looked right. The boy was trusting of Remus, their motions were that of a pair who had done this a million times. They were mirrors of each other in that moment, two fathers with their little boys seated in their laps. Leonis had turned in his arms and was now facing Orion.

Remus smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. He was nervous, Sirius realized. Though he had not seen Remus Lupin in many years, he had spent seven years as the other boy's friend and dormmate. He could read Remus still and that gave Sirius a great deal of comfort in the current situation.

Sirius cleared his throat. "He looks just like me," Sirius said of Orion at last. "Well, the way I looked as a child," he admitted in a bewildered tone. Remus only nodded as he cuddled the boy close to him and Sirius realized it was more for Remus's comfort than to comfort the child. The silence was heavy between them as Sirius alternated from staring at Orion to looking at Remus. If he was reading his old friend correctly, he would say that Remus was afraid.

Finally, it had to be asked because the silence could not last forever between them. Though Sirius had learned some patience in the Auror Program, he had never been an exceedingly patient person. Remus was not being any more forthcoming with information, so now he'd have to ask the questions and draw it out of him. He asked the important question first. "Is he mine?"

He noted how Remus tensed at the question and for a moment there was a wild look in his eyes, a flash of gold and then it was gone. "Yes," was Remus's sharp reply. "You are his biological father."

Sirius felt as though the breath was knocked out of him. Even with the child's resemblance to him, the obvious sign that the child was his own offspring, he had not really been prepared for Remus to say it. "How?" was the only thing that Sirius could think to ask.

This question seemed to spark anger in Remus for reasons that Sirius could not understand. "How? I should think that would be obvious," Remus spat. Orion wriggled then in his lap and Remus took a few breaths forcing himself to calm down. "Look, Sirius, we really need to talk about this, but we shouldn't do this in front of Orion and Leonis," Remus declared.

He realized that Remus was right. By the disgust and bit of anger Remus just displayed, Sirius imagined that Remus needed to yell at him. There must be a lot that his old friend needed to get off of his chest. He nodded his agreement. "I think that we both need to spend time together to mend this rift between us," Sirius stated firmly. Then he spoke with a voice of authority, unconsciously showing that despite how he had turned away from his family years before, he was every bit a scion of noble upbringing. "Pack your bags. You won't be staying here another night. You'll stay as my guests at Belvedere."

"Sirius," Remus started to argue only to be cut off by Sirius.

"I will swear an oath on my magic if you wish. One that will promise that I will not keep you and Orion against your will. I just want us to have time to sort this out, Remus," he said sincerely.

Remus stared at him for a few moments still unsure. It was Leonis that tipped the scales into Sirius's favor in the end. Leonis asked politely if Orion could come stay with him for the rest of the holiday. Remus looked from his son who seemed eager to get to know Leonis better and back to Leonis and then after a few moments he acquiesced. With the flick of a wand his and Orion's things began to pack up.

Sirius nodded in satisfaction as he watched the items neatly returned to their cases. He had to admit, Remus had always been proficient with charms. The other man used to be disgusted with him and James for just throwing their things in a jumbled mess into their school trunks.

Sirius and Leonis waited outside of the Inn for Remus and Orion to be checked out. Then the four of them were walking back the way that Sirius had come. He was holding Leonis's hand, some part of his mind refusing to let go of the boy because the boy had frightened him terribly. He had probably let the boy off lightly with this escapade, but he couldn't find it in himself to condemn his son for running. Not when it had been Sirius who had acted like a deranged person shouting insults at someone the boy clearly admired.

He winced at that thought, and once again he determined that he would need to talk to Snape soon. He had no idea yet how he would handle the situation, but he couldn't go in slinging insults. That would get him booted out the door. He would need to be polite. In this case, he needed to emulate one of his Grandfather's. Either would do, since both men were cut from the same cloth. He and Snape would never be friends, but they needed a truce. A sort of "Hate me but please don't hurt my child" would have to do. He was not too proud to beg Snape if that was what it would take. Snape would probably love to see him begging. The thought of begging Snape for anything was galling.

He glanced at Leonis who was almost skipping beside him. For just this unguarded moment, the Heir Black was just acting like a child. Sirius felt his lips twitch as he watched the boy. 'He's worth it,' he thought. 'He's worth everything I can give and more, so much more,' he thought.

Sirius had to open the now closed gate to allow them entrance to Belvedere when they finally arrived. Sirius stole a glance at Remus who was staring at the pretty seaside villa and then he looked to the boys. "Leonis, why don't you and Orion go into the house and alert cook to the fact that we have returned. Tell her that I am showing Orion's father around the grounds and that we'll be in shortly."

Leonis nodded his head and then turned to Orion. "Come on, Ori. Cook makes great treats. She has a hurt ankle right now, so we can offer to help her."

Orion looked happy at the prospect and glanced at Remus for permission. He received it a moment later. "Stay with Leonis and be a good boy," Remus said.

"I will, Papa," Orion said and began to leave with Leonis, but then he turned to look back. "You two be good too."

This startled a laugh from Sirius. Remus merely smiled, but it was a genuine smile this time. "Of course, we will," he reassured his child.

The two men watched the children leave them and slowly they began strolling toward a far part of the property. Sirius figured there might be shouting before they had worked things through, and he didn't want Leonis subjected to more raised voices today. He kept this to himself though and instead commented, "He's a cheeky little thing, isn't he?"

Remus smirked then. "Yes," he agreed. He looked at Sirius then and sighed. "Sometimes he has reminded me of you so much it ached inside."

Sirius blinked in surprise at that and felt a sudden lump in his throat. "I owe you an apology, Remus," he said softly.

He felt Remus's gaze upon him even as Remus asked, "Whatever for?"

"The traitor," Sirius said and fought against that lump. "I didn't want to at first, but eventually I did let myself believe that you could be the traitor in The Order. It was why James and I set things up the way we did. Instead of asking you to be the Secret Keeper with myself as the Decoy, we asked Peter. I never should have doubted you. I knew what kind of man you were and yet I let myself,"

"Sirius," Remus said cutting him off and the two men came to a halt on an edge of the property that had a wall of stone keeping them from a long drop to the shore. They both looked out over the private beach and to the beautiful blue choppy waves of the Adriatic Sea below. "I forgave you for that a long time ago. Those were awful and frightening days. Besides, if I couldn't forgive you for that, then how could I ever ask you to forgive me for believing that you could have turned on James like that?"

Sirius cracked a sad smile then. "Forgiven of course," he said. He continued to watch the choppy waters lap at the shore. It was easier somehow to talk to Remus this way, without looking at him. He would need to face him for this next conversation though and so he turned at last to face his old friend. Remus turned his attention to him as well and the two stared at one another for several long minutes.

At last Sirius broke the silence. "How is Orion mine?" he asked of his old friend.

Remus's eyes filled with disgust once more and his hands clenched at his sides. "You always were the playboy, Sirius," he reminded his old friend. "Surely you can figure it out."

Sirius frowned at that. "I slept around, I won't deny that. I also don't think there is anything wrong with it. I never led a woman to believe she'd get more of me than a casual relationship," Sirius replied.

"You didn't initially know about Leonis and you didn't know about Orion either," Remus said with venom in his voice. "Tell me Sirius, do you have any other unknown children running around?"

Sirius scowled at that. "Olivia didn't tell me about Leonis and apparently neither did Orion's mother. If they had then I would have done right by them both," Sirius seethed as he glared at Remus. "Family is important to me."

"Is it?" Remus asked in a raised voice venting his anger. "Is it really? Because I remember you turning your little brother away each time he approached you at school. I remember you ridiculing him. I also remember how you ran away from your parents at sixteen and vowed you wanted nothing more to do with your family."

Sirius felt each word like a physical blow. His hands clenched into fists at his sides and he said in a voice that had gone cold and lethal, "Never mention Regulus to me again."

Remus paused then and stared hard at Sirius. He seemed to contemplate things for a few moments and then at last nodded his acceptance.

Sirius slowly felt himself calm down from a killing rage. Had Remus continued on about how he had mistreated Regulus, he was not sure he wouldn't have hurt his old friend. "My mother was abusive Remus, I had to get away. My failing in the end was that I blinded myself to certain truths. I told myself that Slytherin equaled evil and so all of them were evil. When Reg," he paused because it was hard to talk about Regulus even now. "When Regulus sorted into Slytherin it broke my heart because I believed Slytherin's were evil. I turned on my brother because of that stupid belief."

Remus seemed to feel remorse as Sirius explained and he shook his head. "All of us thought that back then. Lily even stopped being friends with Snape over that belief. Oh, his calling her that name was just the final straw. You really didn't think Lily was so shallow that she would stop being friends with someone over that, did you?"

Sirius slowly shook his head in the negative. He had not really thought about it before. He had just been happy that Lily was no longer friends with Snape because it had made James happy. At first it had anyway. Later though, he thought that James felt guilt over being so instrumental in the rift between Lily and Snape. Sirius could not prove it though since he and James had never discussed it openly.

He sighed and looked at Remus. "You are angry with me about Orion. I want to know why. Please, Remus, just tell me why you are angry."

Remus stared at him for several long moments and the blue of his eyes were slowly taken over by amber. "I'm angry at you yes," he admitted. "I don't want to be but I am. I am so angry at you Sirius."

Sirius frowned in confusion. "Why?" he asked again.

"Because you don't even remember her, do you?" Remus shouted at him suddenly. "You don't remember Ori's mother. You cannot recall her face, or the sound of her voice. I bet you don't remember her name. I bet you didn't even bother to find out her name before you took her to your bed," Remus continued to shout. "You don't remember her at all, do you? Do you?!"

He slowly shook his head in the negative. He had not yet pieced together just which of his old lovers could have been Orion's mother. He didn't have enough information. Was Orion older than Leonis or younger? They looked to be about the same age. Azkaban had also done horrible things to his memories. The Dementors had enjoyed feeding upon him and when the guards were nearby he didn't dare turn into Padfoot to protect himself from them.

"That is why I am so angry at you, Sirius!" Remus shouted. "Because you don't even remember her and I will never forget her," he declared. "I'll always remember the way she smiled and there was that dimple in her right cheek. I will always remember the way her eyes lit up when she was happy. The way the sunlight could shine on her hair and the scent of her. I'll always remember how she looked the day she died, too frail from the pregnancy," Remus shuddered then and his eyes glazed over with tears. "But no matter how angry I am at you for not remembering her, I am angrier at myself because I didn't save her."

Sirius reached for him then and pulled Remus into his arms. The other man collapsed against him, crying against him. He could offer no words of comfort to his old friend after that great revelation so he just held him tight and didn't let go. "I'm here, Remus," he said softly. "I know it's a bit late and you'd rather have her back, but I'm here for you," it was the only thing he could think of to say.

Remus had loved her. The other man didn't need to say the words for Sirius to know and understand that Remus had fallen in love with Orion's mother. Remus must have been there for a great deal of the pregnancy and he had lost her. He felt guilt for losing her. Back during his days in the Auror Academy Sirius had learned about survivor's guilt. He knew he had felt it when James died and when Regulus died, though there was other guilt to go along with it in both cases. Now he would wager that Remus had been carrying around this guilt over the loss of Orion's mother for many years. Who would he have talked to about it? Knowing Remus, no one. He would have been talking about the woman to his son, but holding back this storm of emotions. It had to have been terribly painful.

Slowly Remus began to calm and Sirius at last let him pull away. Remus wouldn't look at him at first but at last he spoke a few simple words. "Thank you," he said and Sirius nodded.

At last Sirius asked of him, "What was the name of the woman you loved?" He couldn't ask the question any other way. Remus had loved her and he had lost her. Sirius could relate to that. The big difference was that he could see Olivia, even if it was only from afar. Remus's love was truly beyond his reach forever. There was little to no comfort in that.

"Sylvia," Remus's voice broke as he said her name. It took him a few moments to regain his composure. "Her name was Sylvia deRais. She split her time between Rennes and London. When in London she lived in the flat down the hall from your old flat. She was beautiful, delicate, and kind. I met her one day when I went to see you. She was moving into her flat and I helped her. She took me out for dinner as a thank you after that. We became friends. When I was in London I would visit her. I thought of her when I was away on missions for the Order. Sometimes I think that just thinking of her while I was away on those missions kept me alive. I would think of her and long to go home to her. Then one time I came back to give news of my mission to Dumbledore. Once he dismissed me I rushed to Sylvia. She was distressed because she was pregnant. She told me that she had engaged in a one-night stand with the handsome man that lived down the hall from her," at this he glared at Sirius. "She knew she would need help raising the child and didn't know what she would do. I offered my help, little as it might be." Remus explained and then a wistful smile curved his lips. "She taught me my current trade."

"What is it that you do now?" Sirius asked curiously. He knew so little about Remus now. Though he was pleased that their history made it easy to read his friend, they had a lot to catch up on.

"I own deRais Books. It was left for me by Sylvia with the condition that I one day give the chain to Orion. It's a small chain but growing. Sylvia owned the store in Rennes and the one she had set up in London before her death. Now both stores are prosperous, though the Rennes store is more so because that is where my workshop is. I recently opened a deRais Books in the Magical center of Lyon. So far it is doing quite well," Remus explained to him. "She taught me how to repair old manuscripts and I have made a good deal of business from that."

Sirius listened to him speak of Sylvia and his life as a Book Store owner and Restorationist, and he slowly began to remember the woman herself. He had only a hazy memory of a beautiful blonde who had reminded him of Olivia. He remembered her smile and coy flirtations when he would return to his flat. He also remembered the little bit of the night he had given in to her flirtations. It was the night before he had learned of Olivia's marriage to Malcolm and of Regulus's death.

"I am sorry that you lost her, Remus," he said gently. "I am thankful that you had her for that little time though, and I am glad that it was you that she confided in and not me," he admitted.

Remus looked startled at that last. "Why?"

Sirius shook his head and sighed. "I would have stood by her and offered her support, but it would have been the support of a stranger. We had only shared one night of passion and a few bits of conversation here and there over the course of a few weeks. If she had not pushed it that night, it wouldn't have happened and then there would be no Orion," Sirius explained. "You gave her what she really needed. She needed love and care and you were there."

Remus slowly nodded in understanding. "I wish I could have saved her," he admitted. "I never even told her that I," he trailed off, unable to say the words.

Sirius understood. He knew he would never look Olivia in the eye and tell her he loved her. Remus would never look his Sylvia in the eye and say the words. The chance was gone forever for the both of them. In Remus's case, it was all the more terrible in Sirius's mind because she was taken from him by Death and not by Remus pushing her away. Remus had done all the right things, unlike Sirius.

"I promised myself that I wouldn't keep Orion from you Sirius," Remus finally spoke. "Once I read about your exoneration and innocence, I knew that I would have to eventually tell you about Ori; I should have written to you. I should have, but I thought of you struggling to overcome what Azkaban must have done to you and I decided to wait. I really just waited because I wanted more time. I was scared you would take Orion from me," Remus admitted.

Sirius winced at that last bit. "I might have thought to if you had written to me so I'm glad that you didn't," Sirius admitted to him. "When I was released from Azkaban, I wanted to take immediate custody of Harry and of Leonis but I knew I'd have to get healthier first. Now," he paused for a moment and ran a hand through his black curls. "Now, I wouldn't part Harry from Petunia. She has taken good care of him while I was unable to do so and it would hurt him to be parted from her. The same goes for Leonis. I still want him with me but whether I like it or not my Great-Aunt Cassiopeia has done a good job raising him thus far. I think you have done a great job with Orion, from what little I have seen of him. What I'm trying to say is," he looked deep into Remus's eyes and stated clearly "I don't want to take him away from you. He's your son, but he's my son too. I want to be able to get to know him. I want to be able to visit him and for him to visit me."

Remus nodded his agreement. "He wants to get to know you, but he said not if you were going to take him away from me," he admitted the last almost afraid that it would anger Sirius.

Sirius only nodded in perfect understanding. He might have been angered by such a thing long ago but not now. He had the vague thought that his mind-healer would be very proud of him for his emotional growth. "We need to put things into writing," Sirius said. "I think we'll both feel better if things are legally ironed out to protect your rights to custody of Orion and my own to visitation."

Remus seemed relieved. "Thank you, Sirius," he said.

Sirius nodded and he heard the words that Remus didn't speak. That losing Orion would destroy Remus. Sirius understood. Just a few hours ago Leonis had gone missing and Sirius had feared the loss of his precious boy. It was a loss he would never recover from, he knew.

"We'll need to alert Lord Black of this as well," Sirius admitted with a grimace even as he motioned for him and Remus to walk back toward the house. "He'll need to know that there is another child of the House of Black, even if he is fostered by one Remus Lupin."

"Fostered?" Remus inquired. "Isn't that a bit archaic?"

Sirius nodded agreement. "Yes, but if I pitch it that way then he might just decide to involve himself as little as possible in this matter."

"You don't sound very hopeful that he will," Remus observed as they entered the gardens near the study in which Leonis had run away from Sirius earlier.

Sirius started up the stairs with a sigh. "I'm not," he admitted to his old friend. "I expect us to have to fight for this, but I know it is the right decision. Orion should not be uprooted and you are in agreement that he should be allowed to know his other family so surely we can convince Lord Black," he said at last as he entered the study. He froze at the sight before him.

Sitting in one of the luxurious high backed chairs near the fireplace was his grandfather, Arcturus Black. Seated on the sofa was his Grandmother, Melania Black and beside her was seated his two sons, Orion and Leonis. Melania seemed to be listening to the boys regale her with the tale of how they had met. He caught snippets of their conversation but he couldn't really follow the flow because their presence in his home worried him. Melania had visited him frequently during his convalescence and Lord Black had visited him at least once a month to check personally upon his progress. Something told him this was not one of their usual happy visits.

"Grandfather, Grandmother," he began but was interrupted by his grandfather.

"Sirius, Mr. Lupin, do come in. It seems we have a great deal to discuss," Arcturus Black III pronounced as he looked upon the two men.

Sirius glanced at Remus and noticed that Remus had the same look of apprehension. Suddenly it felt as though both were back in Hogwarts and in trouble for a prank. Slowly both men entered the room and made themselves comfortable. Sirius took the high-backed chair across from Arcturus while Remus sat himself in a chair off to the side of the sofa.

"I am delighted to have another grandson, Sirius," his grandmother said in a voice full of pleasure. Then she surprised the grown men in the room by turning her blue-eyed gaze to Remus. "Mr. Lupin, will you please allow me to visit with my grandson and he with me? I will of course owl you or floo call you to confer schedules."

Arcturus blinked once as though in confusion before her words truly dawned on him. "Melania, my love, you are acting as though Mr. Lupin shall be keeping custody of Orion."

She looked away from a now tense Remus and smiled charmingly at her husband. "Well of course he is. Orion has obviously flourished under the care and attention of Mr. Lupin," she said and Orion blushed with the praise.

Sirius watched in amusement as Orion fidgeted slightly and then Leonis leaned close to him and whispered something in his ear that had him nodding and then the boy sat up perfectly straight, just like a properly raised child of the House of Black, though Sirius noted that Orion looked far more uncomfortable in the position than Leonis did. He could only imagine that Orion would be forced to endure lessons in Etiquette by his Grandmother now that she knew about the child.

"He has taken very good care of our little Orion," Melania continued. "It would only ruin things to remove Orion from Mr. Lupin's care," when it seemed that Arcturus would object she continued on. ""Furthermore, I would think that Orion's mother must have left documentation to give Mr. Lupin custody of the child. No, darling, Orion must remain with Mr. Lupin, so long as Mr. Lupin is content with such an arrangement that is."

Remus slowly smiled at Melania. "Yes, My Lady Black, please, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to continue to raise Orion. And of course, you may visit him and he you," he told her.

"Splendid," Melania said with a bright smile and she looked to both boys who were smiling at her. "We'll have to have Leonis and Orion visit each other as well. I think they are already growing quite close," she said conversationally. "Arcturus my love, I am sure you can draw up the appropriate documents that will protect Mr. Lupin's rights to Orion while also protecting those of the House of Black."

Sirius glanced at his grandfather and fought to hide his own amusement from the man. It was clear that his Grandfather had initially had a very different idea in mind but it seemed that for whatever reason, he didn't wish to upset his wife. Sirius marveled at that. He had always heard that the marriage of Arcturus and Melania had been a love match, but until now he had never really believed it was true. He really had let his hatred toward Walburga Black cloud his judgement in regards of his other relatives, hadn't he?

"Once Mr. Lupin and Sirius have worked out an arrangement they deem suitable, then we'll take it to Marius to draw up," he proclaimed. "Will that satisfy?"

Sirius nodded his agreement as did Remus. "Thank you, my love," Melania said with warmth in her voice. It was clear that she knew that her husband had capitulated to make her happy.

"Thank you, Lord Black," Remus said then to Arcturus. "I know that you probably have a great many reservations about leaving Orion in my care without fighting me for him, but I promise you that I love him very much and I would never willingly harm him."

Arcturus looked at Remus for a moment and nodded in acknowledgement of his words. "I am aware that you most likely have legal custody of the boy and it would take me more time and money than I want to spend to rip him from you, particularly as it would harm Orion in the process," the Lord Black admitted. "Make no mistake though, some things shall change. For example, I know what you are. We will be discussing what you do with Orion during your full moon nights and whether that is suitable or not. I will not have Orion harmed by you unwillingly."

"Agreed," Remus said swiftly. "Believe me, Lord Black, I would end my own life if I hurt Orion unintentionally," Remus assured him. "He is precious to me."

Sirius watched his Grandfather as the older man analyzed Remus. He wondered what it was that his grandfather saw, what he was looking for? At last Arcturus nodded. "Very well," he said then turned to his wife. "Melania love, perhaps you and the boys should return to the kitchen and see about the cookies you started baking.

Melania merely smiled and motioned for the children to follow her. At the door Leonis looked back at Sirius and then he rushed back to him and put his arms around him in a hug. Sirius barely had the time to respond before Leonis had pulled back and returned to Melania and Orion. Sirius watched bemused as the three left the room.

"Alright gentlemen," Arcturus said without preamble. "Let's begin sorting this out."

With those words, Sirius grimaced and Remus smiled. Sirius fetched parchment, ink, and quills from the escritoire in the corner of the room and he returned to the sofa with them. He sat upon the now vacated sofa and spread them out onto the coffee table. The next four hours were spent in debates, hammering out the details of the agreement that would allow Mr. Remus Lupin to keep custody of Orion Black without the Black family challenging him for said custody. The agreement also named Remus as a Vassal to Sirius Black, thus giving Remus the right to Foster Sirius's son by birth, Orion Remus deRais Black.

Sirius understood why Remus capitulated so easily to Lord Black on many of the terms. His friend had been terrified that they would take Orion from him. Lord Black was a formidable man and it would be easy enough for him to remove Remus from the equation by simply having the man murdered. It would leave Orion an orphan and due to his blood being that of the Black family, they would swiftly take him in. It was a swift answer to the problem and one he was sure his grandfather had already thought of. It was Melania that had thwarted him. Now the man was resolved to try to tolerate Remus because it might make Melania happy, and because it was clear that Orion loved the man. It was not the usual way for the House of Black to behave dishonorably towards those who had done them a great service. This too must have stayed Arcturus's hand, but Remus would not know that. Sirius felt a moment of gratitude that Remus had only heard terrible stories of the Black family from Sirius's lips. It fed Remus's fear and it made his old friend do what Sirius really wanted him to do far easier than it might have otherwise. Now with Remus as his Vassal, Remus would be protected from further potential harm from the House of Black. The Black family had never killed a Vassal of their own House and he was positive that Arcturus would keep that perfect record.

Now Remus and Orion were safe under the banner of House Black, Remus would remain the primary custodian of Orion, and Sirius along with Arcturus and Melania would have access to Orion whenever they wished. Sirius could only feel relief that the situation was being settled so easily. Now, he just needed to spend time with his Leonis, and time getting to know his newly found son, Orion.