A/N: Hello Everyone! and welcome to chapter 3 of Thanks to Some Yanks. We finally get introduced to the American branch of the Black Family, and my lovely OC's that I built from my previous story. Funny enough the father is named James in this story, so from here on out, when Sirius refers to James Potter, it'll be Prongs, to prevent any confusion of whom we're addressing. Another thing, they look significantly different from the British Black family, with blonde or brown hair instead of the raven black. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT, since they've sworn off the darker aspects of magic, and as such, aren't as... dark looking. I have changed their family motto too to reflect it, I do say what it is in the story, so you'll need to see there, but I think its fitting. That being said, enjoy chapter 3!

Chapter 3

November 10th, 1981

Sirius felt relief course through him. He was standing at the helm of a ship, his eyes staring at the giant green statue holding a torch. "There it is Harry, the Statue of Liberty," the child sitting on his shoulders laughed and grabbed a tuff of his hair

"Pa'foo down!" Sirius smiled and brought Harry down into his arms. A voice over the muggle intercom came on: "Attention passengers, please secure all belongings and make sure everything is accounted for, we will be pulling into port shortly." Sirius grabbed the bag next to him and carried Harry down to the lower deck, where his motorcycle was waiting. Tucking his Godson and the bag into the sidecar, Sirius waited until the ship stopped moving. Turning on the engine, Sirius followed the flow of other cars in the ship leaving for shore, driving out of the gloom of the ship into the chilly November air. Sirius pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket, and checked the location again, he put it back and pulled out onto one the main roads, following traffic until he pulled up to a building. He turned off the engine and flicked the invisibility switch after seeing if anyone was around. He grabbed Harry from the back and walked up to the door. He looked at the intercom at the door and pressed a button. A voice came out asking Password "Toujours Pur d'ame," Always Pure of Soul, this was the American Black family's motto, which was adapted from the original Toujours Pur or Always Pure that the British family used. A buzzer sounded and the door opened. Walking in, Sirius found himself in a lobby, he walked up to the front desk and asked for the office number he had been told and was directed up a floor. When he emerged from the stairs, he entered the only door he could see.

Standing at one of the desks was an older man, with blonde hair, but the same stormy eyes that Sirius had. "You must be Sirius, my name is Harrison Black, I believe you're my second cousin, after all your grandfather is my uncle. Now, why after all these years, is our British branch reaching out to us?"

Sirius sighed and summoning a chair to him, he sat down, "You'll want to sit down for this Harrison, it's quite the story." Once he had settled, Sirius began his tale, Harrison patiently listening. Once he had finished, Harrison summoned some scotch.

Taking a pull, he then looked at Sirius "So, you've been blamed for the betrayal of your friends, and are on the run from the British Ministry because of it. Your friend Peter was the one who actually betrayed them, but he disappeared before you could catch him. Now, you would go and hunt him, but you only desire to take care of your godson, Harry Potter, who they believe too also be dead?"

Sirius shook his head, "Sounds crazy if you list it out like that, but yes." He laughed, "but this is the truth, and I have not left anything out." His cousin sat there for a while, Harry had started to fuss at this point, so Sirius had pulled out some food and making sure Harry was fed and warm, rocked him to sleep.

Sirius kept him in his arms, rocking him still, and only looked up when Harrison spoke again, "I may not be able to help you Sirius, I'm too connected to the MACUSA, but my son James just moved out to Washington, where a lot of No-Maj companies are starting up. He has 3 young sons, the youngest being four. I'm sure he'd be glad to host you, not only is it away from where anyone in Britain would go here in America, but few know he's gone out there, so I have deniability. I'll send a message and will let you know when they can host you."

Sirius let out a sigh of relief, smiling he rose, and hugged his cousin "Thank you Harrison, I can't possibly tell you how thankful I am, this is very important to me, and Harry needs to stay safe."

Harrison pulled away, smiling, "it's my pleasure, I don't know how you British do it, but here family watches out for each other." He began writing a note on his desk and walked over to a box next to it. Opening it and putting the note in, he tapped it with his wand and said "James Black." The box flashed blue and then green.

Sirius's curiosity got the better of him, "What is that?"

Harrison smiled, "Due to the size of our country, and our attempts to hide more from the No-Maj's in plain sight, owls were no longer viable to use for post, so a chap named Benjamin Franklin invented this post box system, you place your letter with the address on it, state the name of the recipient, and off it goes." He sat back down, taking a sip of his scotch, "It's easier, more hidden, and for the main post office in MACUSA, easier to manage and sort the mail that's sent."

Sirius was very surprised, "Well that is very convenient, so should we expect an answer soon?" Harrison shook his head,

"It is 3 hours behind there, it's about four in the morning, we should expect a response in maybe 3 hours, so would you join me for breakfast?" Agreeing, Sirius grabbed his things, his godson still in his arms, and the two men moved down to the first floor and out the door. Sirius followed Harrison down the street, stopping at a diner on the corner. They walked in and ordered food, spending the next two or so hours chatting about a few things, including an intense debate about quadpot versus quidditch, they also entertained Harry, with food and subtly conjured toys for him to play with. After paying for their meal, they made their way back to Harrison's office. Entering, Sirius saw the box glowing with a blue light, Harrison had noticed it too, and made his way over.

Opening the box, Harrison read the note before turning to Sirius, "James says he'd be happy to have you over, his wife Teresa would love to get to know her cousin and his godson."

Sirius felt relief flood his body "That's wonderful, did they say when we could head over?" Harrison nodded and handed Sirius the note, Sirius read through it as Harrison continued, "They said that as soon as you're willing, they'll receive you." Sirius had finished reading the note at that point,

"So, the note is a portkey?" Harrison nodded.

"Correct, it'll take you to them, code phrase is on the note as you can see, when you're ready we can set you off." The two men gathered up the belongings, and Sirius checked Harry, who had just woken up. Sirius made sure he was fed and changed, and they left the building to the street. Sirius grabbed his bike, after making it visible again, and wheeled it into an alley that is hidden behind notice-me-not charms next to the building.

Sirius made sure that Harry was comfortable, and everything was accounted for, before turning to Harrison, and shaking his hand, "Thank you again Harrison, we'll be sure to keep in touch."

The older man smiled and pulled him into a hug, "I will be sure to visit occasionally, James has been bothering me about that, and I want to make sure you two get settled in," Sirius walked back to his bike, and straddled it. He pulled out the note and said the code phrase 'Rainstorm' and the two of them whirled away in a flash of magic. Sirius settled down in a clearing with a single tree on a hill. He spotted a small road leading away, following he eventually hit a two-way split. There in the middle was a stone marking, one pointing left saying 'Buckingham' the other saying 'Black'. He went right and travelled through the trees, the bike quietly puttering along, until he saw a house emerge from the gloom. A two-story home sat in front of an expansive yard, the house was built out of a red brick, trimmed in white. Waiting in front of the very beautiful home, were two figures. One was much taller than the other. Sirius pulled up to the two people, and the taller approached.

This was clearly James Black, heir to the American branch of the Black family. "Cousin Sirius, glad you landed safely, I'd like to introduce you to my eldest Michael." The other person, a young boy, with the same blonde hair and blue eyes as his father, approached.

He bowed slightly, "Hello, it's wonderful to meet you sir, we hope your stay with us is most comfortable."

Sirius rolled his eyes at the formal greeting, "Please, no sir, makes me feel old, just call me Sirius." The lad smiled "Thank heavens, Grandfather was wrong, he isn't super stuffy like most of those Brits."

James tapped his son on the back of the head, "Michael, just because we don't need to be formal doesn't let you be disrespectful." Michael smiled sheepishly, and Sirius ruffled his hair, laughing.

"It's okay, I too was called disrespectful by my mother, but don't worry. I'm not offended," The two Americans smiled, and Sirius was immediately distracted by a noise from the side car. Moving back, he went to pick up Harry, who had just woken up from his nap, "Hey little man, welcome to your new home."

His godson looked up blearily, "Mummy? Da?"

Sirius felt sadness shoot through him, "Sorry buddy, mummy and Daddy have gone, but that's why we're here, so we can be a family together." Seeing his godfather smile at him, Harry smiled back at him, "kay!"

Michael and James had walked over at that point, "So that's your godson? He's so cute!" Harry giggled and smiled at the other kid.

"Yeah, yeah, he's cute," Sirius said laughing, "but he's also probably hungry, so let us get inside so he can get taken care of." James led the way, while Michael carried the bag, and Sirius had Harry in his arms. Entering the home, Sirius was assaulted by the smells of a freshly cooked breakfast. He followed the two Blacks into the wider space, which turned out to be the kitchen. Walking in, Sirius saw a young woman standing at a stove, flipping pancakes, her blonde hair moving with her as she almost danced around the kitchen. There were two other boys, both younger than Michael, sitting at the table on the other side of the room, eating what looked like eggs and bacon.

The woman looked over, her blue eyes lighting up, "Oh, you've arrived, and just in time for breakfast! Will you join us Mr. Black?"

Sirius laughed, "Please, Mr. Black is my father, call me Sirius, I'm not that old yet."

The woman smiled brightly in return, "Then please, call me Terry, and you've met my husband and oldest, but these are my younger sons." She walked behind them and placed a hand on their shoulders. "My second son James Jr., but we call him Jimmy, is six, and my youngest Thomas, who's five." The second son, now known as Jimmy, waved shyly, while the youngest turned to his mom.

"Mommy, who's the strange man that looks like Great-Grandpa?"

James responded to his son, "This Thomas, is Sirius Black, my cousin from England, and the little bundle he's holding is his godson Harry." Jimmy walked over and peered at the child.

He looked up at his mother "Is he our new brother?"

Terri smiled fondly at her son, "Yes Jimmy, Harry and Sirius will be living with us, so he will be like a younger brother." The two young boys cheered, making exclamations about having another brother, James had walked up to join his wife and patted Jimmy on the head, "That's right, now give the two of them some space, they need to adjust to being a long way from home, and you need to get ready for school." The two sons groaned and sat down, finally joined by Michael, as they all began to eat.

Sirius could not help but ask: "There is a school for younger magicals here?"

"Not exactly," said Terri, "but MACUSA encourages we send them to No-Maj schools before attending Ilvermorny. This allows them to learn reading, writing, arithmetic, and how to blend into No-Maj society, because blending in is so important for us to stay safe." Sirius could tell his surprise registered on his face because James had continued where his wife left off.

"It has been proven that by doing this, it will help keep us protected and keep us updated on new discoveries and teaching methods. There haven't been any negative drawbacks yet."

Sirius couldn't help but voice one of his worries "What about accidental magic? Wouldn't that be hard to explain to muggles?"

The black patriarch made a face, "Please don't call them that, it sounds so derogatory." Sirius felt his face heat up, "Sorry, No-Maj. What about accidental magic? Wouldn't they notice those things?"

James patted Sirius on the shoulder; "We rarely have issues here in the states, because how integrated our children are in the schools early on, strange occurrences are considered normal, and we have lots of educators that are either No-Maj's with knowledge of our existence or even some first generations go back and teach. There are a lot of failsafe's in the way if people get too suspicious. Plus, America has a lot of conspiracy theorists, so frequently No-Maj's reporting our existence is usually laughed off by the public." His expression grew serious "but if it gets too bad, MACUSA will step in, and it's unclear what they would do, because it's kept quiet and under wraps." His mood brightened again; "But enough about that, let's get you two set up and comfortable. I'll show you where you're staying." The man led Sirius out of the kitchen and up carpeted stairs. Wizarding photos covered the walls, showing the growth of James's family over the years, each one waving at them as they passed. Sirius felt his eyes water slightly knowing Prongs, Lily, and Harry would never get this chance. 'But maybe Harry and I can get a chance with them.' He thought, wiping his eyes, and looked at the sleeping child in his arms. "I'll make sure of it Harry. We'll have a life here, I promise."

A/N 2: I know how at the end of chapter 2 that I'd be putting up a poll to decide who gets paired with Harry, and there was only a few votes, and so I did get a good idea of which characters were more liked by the community, and I have made a decision. The result will be revealed in the story at some point, and when the two meet, I'll be adding the character to the pairing in the story itself. Now, I also said that I wouldn't touch on the Ilvermorny side, but after deliberating within myself and consulting my awesome beta Goldzar, I've decided to add a bit for each year in chapter 4. There will be only a few named characters, one of which is a canon character. Now then, I hope you enjoyed this story so far, and I'll be back sometime in February with chapter 4!

Cheers,

Rei