Early Christmas morning Harry was creeping through the halls headed for the third floor study. Entering the room his eyes immediately went to the brightly lit Christmas tree missing the presence of another person in the room.

"Harry? What are you doing up?" Sirius asked looking up from the envelope he'd been fiddling with. Startled Harry jumped before looking at his godfather.

"Why aren't you still sleeping?" The man continued. "It was late when you went to bed and you know Ron's going to be getting you up in an hour."

The teen fidgeted as he pulled a badly wrapped box from behind his back. "I um was going to leave this in here. I didn't want you to open it in front of everyone downstairs. It's personal and I didn't want Mrs. Weasley to take it the wrong way. "

"Can I open it now?" Sirius asked softly not wanting to startle the embarrassed teen.

"Yeah, um sure," Harry stumbled forward and handed the package over. "It's not much but I thought you might like it."

Sirius pulled the teen into a hug. "Just the fact that you thought to get me something means the world to me." Eagerly now he tore at the paper becoming frustrated with the amount of tape. "You did plan on me opening this right?"

Harry chuckled. "The paper kept ripping and I couldn't get it to fold right."

Sirius paused to give him a look. "Do the rest of your gifts look as bad as this?"

Amused the teen shook his head. "Hermione helped me wrap everything and I got Ginny to wrap hers." He watched anxiously as the man broke through the wrapping to reveal a leather bound photo album.

Curious Sirius opened the book his eyes misting at the picture of James and Lily with baby Harry. Turning the page he gasped in surprise at seeing his godson at a young age. The boy was beaming as he hitched a backpack over shoulder.

"That was my first day of school." Harry explained quietly. "I was excited to get to go and learn new things."

"But how?" Sirius asked in amazement.

Harry shrugged. "I knew Colin had a ton of pictures from my second year on. But he hadn't been there my first so…. I talked to McGonagall to see if any of the older years had a camera and maybe took a picture of the sorting. But um she borrowed Dumbledore's pensieve and she showed me how to capture images. So I picked the ones I thought you would like. Course she just thinks I'm documenting my Hogwarts years for myself."

He smiled down at the picture Sirius had stopped on. "That's when Hagrid told me I was a wizard. And that one is when I entered Diagon Alley for the first time."

Sirius's eyes misted over as he looked at the wonder on the kid's face. "This is incredible."

"I probably went a little overboard," Harry admitted. "There are a lot of pictures in there. You'll probably get bored of looking at me."

"It's great," Sirius corrected as he turned to a picture of his godson's sorting. "You've given me the opportunity to see everything I missed, to watch you grow up. It's more than I could have ever asked for," he murmured slinging an arm around the teen. "Thank you so much."

Harry ducked his head, a blush of embarrassment staining his cheeks. "I'm glad you like it."

Sirius reluctantly set the book aside. "I have something for you too, other than the gift downstairs from Remus and me." He handed over the envelope he'd been fiddling with. "This has to be kept a secret, Dumbledore would blow his top if he knew. And keep in mind that it's not going to change how things are. I'm still an escaped prisoner."

Curious Harry opened the envelope gasping as he read the papers inside. "These are adoption forms."

"If you don't want them it's perfectly okay," his godfather hurried to say. "I'm not trying to force you into anything. And I'm not trying to take James or Lily's place. But I do consider you mine, my son, and I wanted you to know that."

"Is this for real?" Harry asked in a dazed voice. He lifted glassy eyes to the man. "You really want me?"

Sirius cupped the teens face with his hands. "I would rather go back to Azkaban than give you up. I loved you from the moment you were born and it's only gotten bigger as the years went by. You are an incredible young man and I am so proud to be in your life." He took a moment to gather himself. "The question is do you want me?"

Harry had tears sliding down his face. "The whole time I was at the Dursleys all I ever wanted was for someone to hug me and tell me they loved me. When I met Ron and Hermione I was jealous of the letters they would get from home, even the ones that scolded them for something. Then you escaped from Azkaban and even though you were on the run from the ministry you still managed to be there for me. You didn't have to but you took care of me even when it put you in danger or meant you had to eat rats. You have already given me something that I used to wish for every night and now you're wanting to give me even more." He swiped at the wetness on his face as he stared fiercely at his godfather. "I'll be the best son you could ever want. I won't ever do anything that will make you disappointed."

"This doesn't come with strings," Sirius assured him. "I love you for who you are and that's won't change no matter what you do. That's part of being a family." He gave the teen a hopeful look. "So does that mean its a yes?"

Harry nodded eagerly despite the tears continuing to slide down his face. Grabbing the offered quil he signed under his godfather's name. Sirius blew the ink dry before rolling up the parchment and hiding it in a hollowed out book in the bookcase. "The very moment my name is cleared I'll send that to the ministry and have it made official," he promised.

"I don't need the ministries approval," Harry murmured walking over and initiating a hug, surprising the man. "To me it's already final."