Talking - "…."

Thoughts - '…'

Prologue – Godric's Hollow

As Sirius drove his motorbike through Godric's Hollow, he felt an uneasiness settle in his stomach, something wasn't right. He, along with Remus and Peter, had been invited by James and Lily to spend Halloween at their place, and to see little Harry.

When Sirius arrived at the Potter's, he turned off the motorbike and stared at the house in horror. The front door had been blasted to smithereens and there was a gaping hole in the roof. With an impending sense of dread, he walked up the garden path and through the doorway, only to cry out when his eyes found the still form of his brother in all but blood, James Potter, staring up at him, unblinking.

With tears running down his face, Sirius carried on past James and up the stairs. When he got to the nursery, he let out a choked sob, Lily was lying on the ground amongst the fallen debris, her fiery red hair framing her face as she stared unseeing at the ceiling. He was startled out of his daze when he heard someone calling to him.

"Unca Pa'foo!" Harry cried as he saw his Godfather. Sirius turned around to see Harry standing up in his cot, emerald green eyes filled with emotion, the most concerning thing, however, was a new lightning bolt shaped cut on his forehead that was bleeding profusely.

Sirius swore frantically as he ripped off a piece of his shirt and pressed it firmly to Harry's forehead, trying to stem the flow. Once the blood stopped and Harry was cleaned up, he grabbed a cloth bag out of a nearby cupboard that hadn't been destroyed, and stuffed Harry's blanket and the stag, wolf and dog plushies from inside his cot, into the bag, as well as any heirlooms, photos and albums he found that hadn't been destroyed.

Sirius then grabbed Harry and walked back out of the house, only to see Hagrid coming down the path. 'He's probably here on Dumbledore's orders' he thought 'He must want Harry, like hell I'm giving over my Godson, he'll probably end up with those muggles!' remembering Lily's sister and her dreadful husband. Sirius didn't have anything against muggles, on the contrary some of his best friends were muggles, he just did not like Petunia and Vernon. He also didn't want Harry to grow up without knowing magic.

With that thought in mind, he cast a notice me not charm over both Harry and himself, slipping past Hagrid without a sound. Once he had Harry secure in the sidecar, Sirius pushed the silver button on the dash and the motorbike became invisible. When they were out of town, Sirius took his phone out of his jacket pocket and called his cousin. Sirius knew that if anyone could help him out at the moment, it was Nat. He sighed in relief when she picked up after the third ring.

"Hey Siri, what do you want?"

"Hey Nat, could I meet you somewhere?"

"Ah, yeah, sure, SI, 56, NY"

"I'll be there in an hour"

Sirius had met up with Natasha often enough to know that NY stood for New York, SI stood for Stark Industries, and 56 meant level 56 of the building. After making sure that Harry was still asleep and warm, he tapped his wand on the dash of the motorbike and whispered "Volare" (Fly).

Slowly the bike started to rise until it was above the cloud cover, he pushed the silver button again to ensure they stayed invisible, then headed to New York. He had estimated right, because with 5 minutes to spare, Sirius touched down and drove into the Stark Industries parking lot, deactivated the invisibility shield, picked Harry up, and apparated to level 56 with a crack.

When he arrived, Sirius wasn't surprised when a woman clad in back, with red hair that rivaled Lily's, pinned him to the ground. "Something only Black would know" she demanded. "You are Lucretia and Ignatius Black's lost daughter but do not possess magic" he stated calmly, knowing the drill. "Something only Romanoff would know" he demanded back. "Severus Snape was not really your enemy, quite the opposite"

Satisfied with the other's answer, they both relaxed slightly. "What are you doing here Siri?" Natasha questioned her cousin looked tired and stressed. "Lily and James are dead" he stated calmly, before breaking down into tears and falling to his knees. Natasha was shocked, she had never seen her cousin like this before. She came to her senses and helped him onto the couch. (Level 56 is the Penthouse)

Once Sirius had calmed down, she got him to explain what had happened. "Remus, Peter and I were invited by James and Lily to spend Halloween at their place. I was the first one there, and saw the door blasted apart, I went to investigate, only to find James lying in the hallway, dead. I headed upstairs to the nursery, to find Lily dead and Harry standing up in his cot. He has a cut on his forehead that was bleeding, I stopped the blood, gathered his blanket, toys, any heirlooms, photos and albums that hadn't been destroyed, then drove here".

"He killed them Nat, Voldemort killed them!"

"Yes, but didn't you tell me there were wards around the house to prevent this from happening?"

"The Fidelius Charm, yes, only the Secret Keeper can tell others where the house is". Sirius stopped crying as he realized what had happened. He was overcome with rage. "PETER! You lying, sniveling piece of rat shit!". Natasha was startled, the only other time she had seen her cousin this angry, was when James had imitated him using Polyjuice, and told Snape where Remus was on the night of the full moon, nearly getting Snape killed.

She could feel his magic crackling in the air. "Sirius, calm yourself!". She rubs calming circles on his back, and slowly his breathing evens out and he slumps into the soft leather couch. "Sorry 'Tasha"

"It's fine Siri, now you mentioned that Harry was still alive? where is he?"

"Oh, Sorry" Sirius cancels the notice me not charm that he placed on Harry.

Natasha looks at the 18-month-old baby, Harry, in Sirius's arms, he was not chubby, but still had enough baby fat so as to be healthy. He had a healthy complexion, midnight black hair, and the brightest emerald green eyes that she had ever seen. Overall, he was a beautiful baby. She had to stop herself from cooing. He was adorable! Sirius caught the look on her face and laughed. "Who would have thought, Natasha Romanoff, the feared Black Widow, best assassin in America, fawning over an 18-month-old baby" She shot him a glare. "What are you going to do?" referring to the parenting issue.

"Well, as I was leaving, Hagrid was arriving"

"You think that he was going to take Harry?"

"Yeah, take him to Dumbledore, who would leave him with Petunia"

"Lily's sister?"

"Yeah, the one that hates everything to do with magic"

"Right, so what are you going to do?"

"Well, I was hoping that you could help me raise him"

"Just me?"

"Well if your superhero buddies want to help out, that would be awesome"

"You want Stark to raise a child? He would have trouble raising a normal kid, let alone a magical one" "Hey! I could so raise a kid" came the indignant response from where Tony was now standing in the doorway. JARVIS had informed him that Natasha's cousin had arrived.

"Hey Tony"

"Hey Sirius, so what's this I hear about raising a kid?"

"You had better get the team for this Tony" Natasha stated as she eyed Harry, who was now sleeping in her cousins arms.

She could already tell that they would be raising Harry, but Steve's face when he saw the kid just confirmed her suspicions. By the time Sirius had explained why he was there and what had happened, everybody agreed that it was in Harry's best interests if he and Sirius stayed at Stark Industries so that they could help raise him. With that sorted, Sirius apparated to Diagon Alley, where he bought books on every subject taught at Hogwarts, excluding Divination. He also bought books on Wizarding Politics, Etiquette, Transportation and the Animagus Transformation. If they were going to raise Harry, they were going to do it right. He would learn how to defend himself, how to act as the perfect pureblood heir, he would be taught magic from the age of 5 and would go to primary school until his accidental magic got to out of hand.