Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters or places from this story sadly belong to our beloved J.K. Rowling, not to me.

Warning: Contains light slash in later chapters.

Chapter 3 - Gringotts

As Sirius woke up to slight buzzing in his ear the next morning, he registered something warm curled around him. He slowly opened it eyes, and came face to face with a head of light brown hair. He registered the arm that was thrown across his waist, and the leg that was between his own.

He extracted him slowly, turned off the alarm, then nudged Moony slightly to wake him up.

"Huh? Wha'? Padfoot, what are you… Oh. Good morning."

"Good morning, Moony," Sirius said, snickering at his friend that was clearly not entirely awake yet. No wonder, though, since it was too early to be up on a normal morning.

"You'd better get up, we have a lot of things to do today, and I'm going to need a lot of help."

"Sure, Padfoot, whatever you say."

Smirking, Sirius turned around and looked into Harry's crib. The little boy was still sleeping peacefully, his Stag teddy clasped tight in his small arms, a slight frown on his face.

"Moony, can you transfigure your chair again, to make that seat for Harry that you were talking about yesterday? Or into something else that we can carry him in while he's asleep. We'll get a proper seat for him later, when we get to Muggle London."

"Sure, Padfoot, I can do that," Remus said, sounding a lot more awake now.

Transfiguring the seat was no problem, and Harry was soon seated comfortably in a seat that could be held by a plastic arch across and above the seat. There was a small cover to shield Harry from most of the light that would make its way into the open seat.

"We still have a bit of time until Gringotts opens for the day, so do you want to eat something before we go?"

"Sure thing, Moony. I can make some porridge if you want?"

"Erh… I'd rather you not, Padfoot. I don't have any wish to burn my cabin down. I'd better do it, I think."

"Hey! That happened three years ago, Moony! No fair. I HAVE actually learned how to make proper porridge since then, you know. I do know how to feed myself. Mostly."

"Whatever you say, Padfoot, whatever you say."

Sirius sighed, then floated Harry's seat out into the living while Remus put his room to right so no one would know Sirius had been there. Then he himself floated the trunks Sirius had brought with him out of the room to join his friend.

"Well, we have about 20 minutes until we can go to Gringotts, so let's eat something."

Pulling out his wand, Remus set the wooden spoon to stirring in a pot of oats and water he'd levitated onto the small two burner camping stove he had standing on his kitchen counter.

When the porridge was ready, he divided it into two bowls, but put a little aside in a small box and put a stasis charm on it so it would keep fresh and warm for Harry to eat later, when he woke up for the day.

The two friends sat down on the sofa with their food, since the one chair had been used for Harry, and the one other chair Remus had had had broken months ago, when Hagrid had tried to sit on it while visiting one evening. It had been smashed to smithereens and had been so destroyed that it could not be repaired with a simple Reparo spell. Remus hadn't had the funds to replace it, and since so very few people visited him, he made do with his sofa when he needed additional seating.

Finished with their food, Sirius and Remus got their things in order, washed up the dishes used, then made the cabin look as if Remus had simply left for the day.

Remus took a trunk with some of his most important things, such as a few sets of clothes and some trinkets that he wanted with him, a photo album of his friends and some mementos, and then picked up Harry's trunk as well. Sirius picked up his own trunk and Harry in his seat. They then left the cabin.

Before they left, Sirius sealed the cabin, had Remus place his hand on the door, and cast the Fidelius Charm, with Remus himself as Secret Keeper. As soon as it was done, the cabin disappeared from his view.

They then gripped their things tightly, before turning on the spot and apparating away with a crack.

Remus and Sirius, with their trunks and Harry in tow, appeared in front of the steps to Gringotts just before six o'clock in the morning.

They hurried up the stairs, and waited outside the door until the bank opened. At six o'clock on the dot, the doors opened and a pair of Goblin guards walked outside to stand on each side of the grand double doors.

Sirius and Remus made their way inside, and walked straight up to the counter, as there were no other visitors in the bank this early in the morning.

"Good morning," Sirius said to the Goblin at the counter. "I wish to speak to Steeltooth, manager of the Black accounts. As soon as possible, please."

"Of course, Mr. Black."

The Goblin pushed a few buttons under his counter, and a few minutes later, another Goblin walked out, directing them to follow him. He led them to an office further inside the bank, opened the door, and gestured them inside.

Inside the ornate office, behind a desk much too big for him, sat another Goblin.

"Good morning, Steeltooth."

"Good morning, Mr. Black. And who is that with you?"

"This is my trusted friend, Remus Lupin. Anything talked about here today can be shared with him and talked about freely."

"As you wish, Mr. Black. What can I do for you this morning? You are here quite early."

"I have a few things I need to speak to you about, and I will need your help in a few things. You will be paid for the services, of course."

"Of course, Mr. Black."

"First, I wish to claim the Lordship of House of Black. I am the Heir to the House, so there should be no problem there."

Steeltooth rang a bell, and another Goblin came walking into the room.

"Whitefang, go get a ritual bowl and knife from the Black vaults."

"Of course, Steeltooth."

"While Whitefang is getting the ritual bowl and knife, Steeltooth, I'll tell you about a few other things we need done. We need to find Lord James Potter's will, and his wife Lady Lily Potter's will as well. Unfortunately, they were killed last night, and we need to have read today to be able to assume guardianship of Harry James Potter, Heir to the House of Potter. There are some people who want to get ahold of him to further their own gain, and I wish to close all paths to do that.

"After the will has been read, I wish to blood adopt Harry, to legally make him my son and Heir to the House of Black.

"I will need to name a Regent to the House of Potter, and a Regent to the House of Black, should I meet an unfortunate end sooner than expected.

"I will also need to have both the Potter and Black vaults sealed, except for specific people. I'm afraid Albus Dumbledore may try to get into the vaults to search for information about where we've gone, and to try to withdraw from the vaults to use for his own agenda.

"I will need your help in creating new identities and papers for myself, for Harry, and for Remus, and help set us up in the Muggle World. We need to disappear from here, so no one can take Harry, or try to, at least. We will need a house to live in, in a Muggle neighborhood, as well."

"That is quite a list, Mr. Black. Very well. We can do that. But it is going to cost you, mind you."

"That should be fine, Steeltooth. You are providing us with a great service, after all."

The Goblin smiled, then looked towards the door as it was opened and Whitefang stepped in with the ritual bowl, knife, and some papers in his hands.

"Here is the ritual bowl, Steeltooth, the knife, and the Potter's wills. Was there anything else?"

"No, Whitefang, you may go."

The door closed again, and the men were left with Steeltooth, who put the ritual bowl and knife on the desk, in front of Sirius.

"You are familiar with the ritual, are you not, Mr. Black?"

"Yes, I am," Sirius said, then took up the knife and moved the bowl closer to himself. He then held his hand above the ritual bowl, with the knife held in the left, slashed his right palm and let a few drops of blood fall into the bowl.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, Heir to the House of Black, Son of the House of Potter, hereby claim the title of Lord of the House of Black, in blood, in oath, and in magic. So have I sworn, so mote it be."

A silvery mist of magic swirled around Sirius and the bowl, judging his worth, before a ring appeared on his left hand. It bore the seal of the House of Black, declaring him Lord Black. The palm of his right hand had healed as the magic judged him.

"I think it would be best to read the will now, Steeltooth, before we proceed from there."

"As you wish, Lord Black. Lord Potter's first, I think.

"We, Lord James Potter and Lady Lily Potter, hereby declare this our Last Will and Testament.

"To Remus Lupin, we bequeath a sum of a hundred thousand galleons and Lion's House at Marauder Drive. May you always have a place of your own to call home.

"To Sirius Black, we bequeath a sum of a hundred thousand galleons and my apartment in Hogsmeade.

"To Peter Pettigrew, our Secret Keeper, we bequeath a sum of a hundred thousand galleons and our cottage in Devon.

"To Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, we bequeath a sum of a hundred thousand galleons. May you use it well in the war against Voldemort, if it should still be raging when I perish. If not, use it for Hogwarts.

"All our assets, except those specifically named above, are to go to our son, Harry James Potter, Heir to the House of Potter. Should we die before he is of age, guardianship should go to these people as follows:

Harry's Godfather, Sirius Black

Frank and Alice Longbottom

Minerva McGonagall

Andromeda And Theodore Tonks

"Under no circumstances should he go to Lily's sister, Petunia Dursley nee Evans, and her husband, Vernon Dursley.

"Are there any objections to this will?"

"Yes, there are a couple," Sirius said. "Peter Pettigrew is a traitor to James and Lily Potter. He went to Voldemort and disclosed their location to him. It's his fault that they died. He should get nothing. Also, Albus Dumbledore. He has his own agenda and wants to gain control of Harry, to use him to further his own goals. He should also get nothing. Should you require proof, I have the memory that will prove it to you."

"That should do just fine, Lord Black. If you will allow me to view it, I will review it, then declare these parts of the will void, or not."

Sirius handed Steeltooth the vial with his memory he'd given to Remus the night before, and waited while Steeltooth watched it in his own pensieve.

"You are quite right in your assessment, Lord Black, neither of these men are eligible for their inheritances since they have breached the late Potter's trust," Steeltooth said after he had watched it. "The money and house meant to go to both Mr. Pettigrew and Mr. Dumbledore will revert to Mr. Potter, then.

"So, that is that. I can, according to the will, award you custody of said child, Lord Black. And you wished to blood adopt him, you said?"

"Yes, I do. I want to be sure that no one can go against it, or deny me guardianship, as Dumbledore wants to do."

"Very well. You know what to do?"

"Yes, I do."

Sirius held his right hand over the ritual bowl again, slicing his palm and letting a few drops of blood fall.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, hereby declare Harry James Potter, Heir to the House of Potter, to be my son, by blood, by magic, by oath. So have I sworn, so mote it be."

As the silver mist of magic surrounded the ritual bowl and Sirius again, Steeltooth quickly snapped his fingers, and part of the blood in the bowl disappeared. He had spelled it straight into the sleeping Harry, lying in his seat beside Sirius. The mist of magic moved closer to Harry, surrounding him, before sinking into both of their skin and disappearing once more. As the magic took hold of Harry, he woke with a startled cry, and Sirius lifted him from his seat to his lap to comfort the little boy.

"It's all going to be okay, Pronglet. It's okay, Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony are here. It's okay, sweetheart," Sirius said, rocking Harry a little, back and forth, while stroking his back to calm him.

As the little boy calmed down in his arms, he looked up at Steeltooth.

"And I can declare him the Heir to my House now, too, right? Then we can have his inheritance rituals, for both the Potter and Black Houses, when he grows older, as is tradition?"

"You can declare him your Heir, yes, but only in your Will. The ritual won't take hold now, while he's so young. He'll have to be able to accept the responsibility of the titles, knowingly and willingly, so he has to be at least 8 years old before that can be done."

"Alright, we'll come back for that in a few years, then. For now, though, I'll have to name Regents. I will, as Harry's father, be Regent of the Potter house and sit for him at the Wizengamot, when the time comes for that, as well as sit in the Black seat as Lord Black. Should I perish, though, I wish to name Uncle Alphard's son, Sterling Black as Regent, until Harry comes of age. He will be Regent for the Potter seat as well."

"Very well, that will go into you Will, then."

"We're almost done, then. I will have to seal all Black and Potter vaults so no one can have access, unless authorized by me. Only myself, Harry James Potter, and Remus Lupin, should have access to the vaults. No others.

"The last thing I need is to set up identities for us for the Muggle World, and a place to live. We don't dare go back to any property we have now, despite it being under Fidelius. Besides that, the only property we have between Remus and myself that's in the Muggle World, is my apartment, and it's too small for all three of us to live in. We need a bigger place, a house preferably, that's situated in a nice and quiet, Muggle neighborhood."

"That should be no problem. It will take about an hour for the identities to be fully finished, registered, and functional. While we get that settled, you can look at the list of properties Gringotts owns in and around London. You just need to tell me which names you want to use for the identities?"

"That sounds perfect. Moony, what do you think about names?"

"Well, we need to have names that we can easily remember. Harry can just go by his own name. It's well used name in the Muggle World, because of Prince Harry, so that's not at all suspicious. We always go by our Marauder names, anyways, so the only thing we need to worry about is finding names we'll recognize when in the company of Muggles, then finding last names for us all. You will obviously use the same name as Harry, he is your adopted son, so that just leaves me. Hmmm… How about… Remi for me, and… Orion for you? It's your middle name, and your father's name, so you should remember it, but so few people here would associate you with it because of your dislike of your father."

"That sounds reasonable. Remi also doesn't sound too far from Remus that you won't be able to remember it."

"That's what I was thinking. As for last names… You and Harry can use… How about Bell? Or Blake?"

"Bell would be better, I think. Blake sounds too close to Black. Should someone come across us, they might be able to make the connection from Blake to Black."

"Bell it is, then. And I think I'll go with… Locke, I think."

"Alright, Steeltooth, we have the names, then. Harry and Orion Bell, and Remi Locke."

"I'll just send that off, then, Lord Black. You'll have your identification in about an hour. In the meantime, here is a list of our properties. If you want to take a closer look, just tap you wand on the name twice, and the parchment will show you pictures of the property and some more specific statistics."

"Thank you, Steeltooth, you've been a tremendous help today."

"It is no matter, Lord Black. Our coffers will sing with happiness after this meeting," Steeltooth said with a little smirk as he climbed down from the chair behind his desk. "I'll leave you to it, then," he said as he walked towards the door "and come back in about half an hour. You can tell me your decision then."

An hour later, Sirius, Remus, and Harry left Gringotts, after having applied some glamors to make them less noticeable and memorable. They didn't want to be recognized, after all, so close to being free.

Sirius and Remus both had new papers in their trunks, identification cards and passports. Sirius also had the key to their new house, and they both had a decent amount of Muggle money. They had been issued some plastic cards by the Goblins, Steeltooth had called them debit and credit cards, that were directly linked to their vaults in Gringotts. That way, they'd be able to pay for things, without having to go to the bank every time they needed some money. Sirius was quite perplexed over the cards, but Remus had seemed to know what to do with them, so Sirius decided he'd just ask him later.

They had settled on a nice house in one of the better neighborhoods of a small town called Little Whinging, Surrey, just south of London. It wasn't big, but it had all the necessities. They had four bedrooms, two baths, a decently sized kitchen and a good living room. They also had a good back garden where Harry could run around and play, when he got a little older.

It was perfect for them, at least for now. There was a good school not too far away, and there was a park and playground close by, as well.

They walked quickly through Diagon Alley, avoiding the few people that could be seen getting out and about as it neared 8 o'clock, and most shops would be opening soon.

Going through the Leaky Cauldron, they stepped out into Muggle London, and stood on the street for a while, looking around, before Remus managed to hail a cab and tell them where they were going.

They were in the car for almost an hour, before they reached their destination. Stepping out of the car, Sirius and Remus looked up at the very unremarkable house in front of them, and smiled. This would be perfect.

Gathering their things, they paid their fare for the car, walked up to the house, unlocked the door and walked inside, all the while hoping they'd made the right decision. They had some hard times in front of them, but they would all be worth it. They hoped.

Author's Note: Hi people! This is my first story that I've posted on here, so please read and review it. If there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, I apologize, but I have no beta on this story, so this is just read through by myself, and since I'm note a native English speaker, there might be a few.

I will try to post a chapter of the story every week, but I can make no promises that it'll work, since I'm in college and have a lot of studies to get through every week.

I wanted to thank all the amazing people who've left me reviews, I am very, very happy about that. Please, keep reviewing and keep critisizing - that's the best way to learn!

Just to remind all you wonderful people - after some pointers from a lovely reader, I have edited the first chapter a bit, so if you read it the day it was published (February 14th, 2017), you might want to go back a reread!

A7XfoREVer2017!