Re the naming of the chapter - pleasure forgive me. I couldn't help myself. :D As many of you know, this story was born out of my need to explain some glaring errors of continuity and later blatant retconning about DiNozzo's backstory. With MW's departure it became clear to me that it would never be addressed on screen so I decided to fix it myself. As this story continued to grow, many people questioned the parody tag and I'll admit, the more I got into the plot, the more the parallels became more numerous and less of a parody. But in this chapter I couldn't help it - I got to use magic again to explain another glaring piece of retconning and thereby justify the parody tag.

I have been remiss about responding to your kind expressions of condolence I'm afraid, but honestly, I'm still struggling to cope. I'm also facing some major changes in my life and while my intentions are good, I just don't seem to get around to responding. But I do appreciate your feedback and particular thanks to everyone who sent condolences. I do appreciate your good wishes since I'm feeling particularly alone right now.

Serieux Part 2

Chapter 17 Bed Knobs and Broomsticks

The second weekend of Harry's stay in DC they'd gone for a motorcycle ride to Virginia Beach and stopped off at Norfolk for lunch. It wasn't all that surprising that his godfather had ended up owning a bike in the US – even going to the trouble of getting a muggle motorbike license (or perhaps it was Anthony DiNozzo who'd sat for the license previously). Anyhow, before that dreadful Halloween night where James and Lily died, Sirius had bought an old motorcycle and charmed it to fly; apparently, it hadn't just been his mother or Hermione who excelled at Charms.

When Sirius passed through the veil that terrible night at the Ministry of Magic, Harry had inherited the flying motorcycle – along with the title of Lord Black- the head of Sirius' Black's so called Noble and Ancient House and its massive fortune. Now that he'd found his godfather alive again, he'd wanted to give back his bike along with the inheritance but Sirius was obdurate.

"You know I can't acknowledge who I am…who I was, Harry…and even if it was even possible, well I still wouldn't want to. I hated my obscenely insane family - minus my cousin Andromeda - hated everything that they stood for. Apart from having to leave you, Remus, Tonks, Andi and Ted, I didn't miss having anyone who was living, in my life." He confessed, looking despondent and Harry presumed that he was thinking about being with his parents, James and Lily and perhaps James' parents too, who'd opened their home and their hearts to him when he was sixteen and nearly died.

Harry looked as if he wanted to argue but his godfather waved away his objections.

"After all, no one stood up for me when I was arrested, or believed in my innocence – not even Remus who knew me better than anyone else in my life." He continued, depressed. "They all believed I'd betrayed your parents, that I'd killed that prick Pettigrew and a bunch of harmless bystanders, probably because I was a Black. As far as most people were concerned, I was a mass murderer when I died. So, Harry, why would I miss that?"

"But after the war – we cleared your name," Harry protested fiercely. "People know that you aren't a mass murderer. The Ministry of Magic stripped Pettigrew of his Order of Merlin, awarding you a posthumous Order of Merlin for your efforts in the first war and a second one for your actions that night when you died…umm… passed through the Veil."

Sirius had smiled at him sadly. "Maybe Cub…but the first reaction…the instinctive reaction whenever people hear the name Sirius Black will initially be fear, horror and or anger before they remember – that's IF they remember I was framed and subsequently exonerated as a serial killer and the betrayer of James and Lily Potter. And part of that is because of the infamy that the Black name achieved – deservedly so, long before I was ever imprisoned.

"My family was guilty of horrific crimes. I know it...you know it and everyone else knows it too. Bellatrix was a monster – an abomination. It makes me sick to my stomach whenever I think of what she did and that I was related to her, closely related to her."

Harry thought of Neville Longbottom's parents and grimaced. His godfather wasn't exaggerating about his cousin. Some individuals are born evil and Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black was definitely one such witch.

"It was why I rebelled against them," his godfather continued. "So I can't blame everyone for believing the worst of me." He remarked, dispassionately but Harry wasn't fooled. Sirius carried the weight of guilt on his shoulders for the sins committed by his family.

At least they'd been able to tell him that his little brother had seen the monster that Voldemort was and his dying act had been to destroy one of his chances at immortality. Still, except for Andromeda and Tonks, Sirius were right – the Black family was a write-off and unfortunately, Regulus' courageous act must forever remain a secret so that other megalomaniacs never decided to emulate Riddle's abhorrent acts attempting to achieve immortality.

Harry frowned before deciding to bite the bullet and ask a question which had been bugging him since he learnt of his re-emergence. "Why'd you decide to come back to London, Snuffles?"

Tony smiled at the affectionate nickname Harry and his friends had given him. "Once Hermione unmasked my secret identity and the sky didn't fall in," he began somewhat flippantly, then saw Harry's confused look and he grinned widely as he explained. "Non-magical kids story – Henny Penny… anyway once I realised that the end of the world didn't occur, I figured that as long as I maintained my new identity, I could have the best of both world. Do good and be part of your lives – you and Hermione."

Harry beamed at him. "Definitely you're a part of my life. I can't speak for Hermione, obviously but she wouldn't have tracked you down if she didn't want you to come back." Although he wasn't the most perceptive male on the planet, it hadn't escaped his attention that Hermione seemed to be extremely interested in his godfather and not just as the Director of the DMLE either.

Sirius nodded, pleased. "Plus, I needed a new job and after she said you turned the job down because of the corruption, I figured I could fix things up between us and fix things up for you too. Anthony DiNozzo has an impeccable reputation and I'm ready to kick corrupt magical ass and make the unpleasant changes necessary to clean up the Auror Department."

The older wizard grew deadly serious. "I know that as a reformist, I'm not going to win any popular contests – agitators and crusaders never do. But to be honest," he confided, leaning forward. "I'm not planning on sticking around in the job long term. Because Anthony has dual citizenship I can always get work in the UK or maybe get a job with Interpol."

"But you won't disappear again?" Harry demanded needily.

"Nope, I want to get to know you properly, and your family of course. Plus, I want to spend time getting to know Teddy Lupin – he's also a part of my family too. He is the son of one of my best friends and his mother is my second cousin – that makes us third cousins.

"Then there's Hermione - she pulled me out of the black pit of despair I was in…I owe her for that and I also owe her for the whole saving Buckbeak and me with her time-turning stunt all those years ago. Of course, I never had the opportunity to pay her back – I intend to redress that situation."

He regarded his godson with affection. "Plus, I also owe a green-eyed, messy raven-haired wizard for chasing off the Dementors with a bloody awesome Patronus, saving my ass. So, I'll just be hanging around to pay off my debts, if I don't wear out my welcome."

Harry grinned goofily, it felt good to see the mischief returning to his godfather's eyes and the beaming smile that lit up the room.

"I'll clean up the Department of Law Enforcement for you, young Harry and when I leave, you can take over as Director if that's something you want to do and maybe keep Ginny and Molly happy."

The younger wizard grimaced. One of the issues Harry had ended up confiding to Sirius was the fact that Ginny wasn't real impressed with his career advancement, because Harry was 'still just an Auror' after almost twenty years on the job. She'd accused him of being just like her dad, Arthur and not enough like Percy, her prat of a brother when it came to ambition and his career. Apparently, she felt her husband should at the very least by now, be running the Auror Department. Ginny insisted that because of who he was, he could have demanded any position in the Ministry – he didn't have to settle on simply being a humble team leader in the Auror Department of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

His godfather had listened silently but sympathetically. He'd assured him that there was nothing wrong with being an Auror – especially if that was what he truly wanted to do with his life. What mattered was that he was honest, ethical and followed his heart - so long as no one was hurt by his actions that was all that counted – that and Harry was happy.

Sirius declared that happiness was the most precious gift he could give himself and his family and Harry had been grateful for the validation of his life's work. Relieved too that he wasn't disappointed by what others might consider Harry's somewhat modest career achievements.

Secretly, Harry was also incredibly grateful that Sirius hadn't made any negative comments about Ginny. Sirius had been supportive - he hadn't berated him, calling him out on marrying a fangirl and honestly, there were times (more frequently as he got older, admittedly) when Harry did wonder why Ginny had accepted his marriage proposal. He often felt like she regretted marrying him since she was constantly nagging him that his career wasn't prestigious enough.

After all, Aurors didn't get invited to attend all the glittering social events such as Ministry Balls for visiting dignitaries from overseas or society events to which she aspired to attending. Well they did, but usually because they were working as protection duty for any high-profile dignitaries and Ministry personnel, not because they were desired guests.

Now that their kids were all off at Hogwarts nine months of the year, she was also desperate to travel the world. Ginny had dreams of travelling in the style befitting the head of the Houses of Potter and Black but as an Auror, Harry could only take off a few weeks per year for holidays which totally infuriated her. Nevertheless, even if his marriage wasn't as blissfully happy as he'd envisaged when he proposed to her, that didn't mean he would countenance anyone, not even Hermione or Sirius criticising his wife's shortcomings.

Still, it hadn't stop him pondering in the wee small hours when he had trouble sleeping, why after years of shunning Ginny as a fangirl, he'd suddenly done a 180-degree turn around and started dating her in his sixth year at Hogwarts. Or why she had gone from saying barely a dozen words to him in her first four years at school, to suddenly becoming so talkative that he would want her to be his girlfriend. And sometimes he wondered what might have been if he hadn't married Ginny or at least waited 'til she was more mature before they got hitched.

Harry sighed and decided not to worry about the consequences of his decision to come to DC to guard his godfather when he returned home. Time enough to face his wife's ire when he got back to London - after all, he was a Gryffindor and they didn't run away from trouble. In the meantime, he'd enjoy the freedom that came with being able to spend quality time with Sirius without having to endure the curious gaze of the magical world. Here in DC they were wonderfully anonymous and that was an amazing gift.

So, Harry was thoroughly enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing by as they roared down the road towards the beach, the Chesapeake Bay a brilliant salty reminder that they were just a couple of 'boys and their toys' having fun.

Still, this trip wasn't all butterbeer and quidditch, they also had Sirius' work at NCIS, which was the real reason he'd been brought over to DC. While Harry felt like he was learning a lot about how muggles…um non-magicals solved crime, it had its serious side too. The 'Leroy Jethro Gibbs problem' had mostly been neutralised by Hermione's brilliant charm work… thankfully.

Sure, he'd tried accosting Agent DiNozzo more than once but every time he got angry (which FYI was pretty much constantly) he would simply zone out and forget what he was pissed about. While it was hilarious to watch it unfold, he had to work hard to keep a straight face so that no one got suspicious, especially Gibbs. Harry decided the ex-Marine was so paranoid he'd suspect his own grandmother, even if she was six foot under.

Then there was Tony's friend (supposedly his very good friend) Special Agent Timothy McGee but to be honest, Harry wasn't all that enamoured by the guy. Stupid git was still sulky about the investigation conducted into how the forensic scientist found out about the confrontation in the bullpen between Gibbs and DiNozzo, resulting in her assaulting Sirius aka Tony DiNozzo. Despite his godfather personally requesting NCIS not pursue the matter further when McGee had been found culpable of inciting Sciuto's attack on him, the computer whiz was still brooding. The younger wizard didn't know why he blamed Tony for the debacle when Tim was the one at fault, especially since thanks Tony, he'd been prevented from having a black mark on his jacket.

To be frank, Harry longed to hex the prat every time he took a pot shot at his godfather, making snide remarks which, whenever he or Bishop called him out about them, always claimed they were just harmless jokes. He also pointed out that DiNozzo joked all the time, which was true but there was a difference – when he joked he did it out loud and to the person's face. When he teased, and joked it was perfectly clear Tony was joking or teasing and he never deliberately set out to hurt anyone's feelings, even if he might do so unintentionally and he could be clueless at times.

McGee's barbs though, were usually done as an aside or in an undertone so his target often never knew about it. Plus, the jabs were frequently nasty, sarcastic, even deliberately hurtful. Call him ultra-sensitive but Harry rarely found anything funny about them.

Unfortunately, since Tony didn't want to cause further dissent on the team, he'd instructed his godson not to respond to any provocation which meant that Harry had to settle for his own passive aggressive response. Of course, with a wife who was Queen of passive aggression, he was well versed in the art. Harry had started calling him Buddy as a form of address after Bishop had informed him, mischievously, that McGee hated it.

Bishop on the other hand had been quite welcoming to him. It was rather nice to have a female treat him with kindness and not to feel suspicious that she had an ulterior motive in sucking up to him, like his fame or fortune. Truth to tell, she didn't have the foggiest notion who he was, yet she was friendly, helpful and a professional to work with, if a little odd with her eating habits.

Ellie, Sirius and himself had even gone out for pizza and a movie last Friday night. The movie was totally amazing to Harry and he decided that he'd take his kids to see one when they were home for the holidays. He knew that Hermione often took her two kids out into the muggle world to experience things such as movies but he seldom did. Up until now. He decided to accept Hermione's invitations for family outings out in the muggle world in the future.

Ginny preferred going out in the magical world to adult parties and galas. She showed little interest in exploring the wider muggle world and sometimes he had difficulty believing that Arthur was her father. He might be clueless about their world, despite his fascination with all things muggle, but Ginny was typical of most witches and wizards who thought muggle society was vastly inferior to the magical one.

Of course, as much as he was enjoying this assignment, both professionally and personal, there was still a very serious side to his job thanks to the heaping pile of dragons' dung Gibbs had stirred up when he tried to find out about the DMLE. Despite the boys with their toys aspect of this trip, his main role was to protect DiNozzo's back. Even though they'd mostly neutralised the dung-stirring Gibbs, Harry and his godfather, on quite a few occasions had experienced the uncomfortable visceral feeling that someone was watching them. Sometime it happened when they'd been at crime scenes or heading into his apartment late at night. Unfortunately, they'd failed to find ANY definitive evidence to back up those feelings.

Harry tried not to make too big a deal about it – not wanting to make either of them jumpier than they already were.

He also knew that Tony had actually picked up a familiar scent once or twice when they had been at more isolated crime scenes. The trouble was he hadn't been able to identify it or recall where he'd encountered it previously. He'd previously explained to the younger wizard that a corollary of being Padfoot was that he also had a heightened sensory perception as a human, including his sense of smell. Unfortunately, while it was a lot better than mere mortals, it also wasn't anywhere near as precise as a canine's.

That being the case, they were currently debating if Sirius or rather Padfoot should make an appearance to see if he could pick up more detailed information regarding 'the scent' in spite of the risks inherent in his presence. So far, they'd decided it wasn't worth risking him getting caught shifting into canine form around non-magicals, but Harry knew that Pads was getting antsy.

He suspected that now that Padfoot had been allowed to resurface again after years of being suppressed, he wouldn't allow himself to be ignored so easily.

While Padfoot gave the appearance of being just a big goofy canine with a drooling problem, Harry had seen his protective side up close and personal when Pads fought off a werewolf (who just happened to be his best friend Remus) protecting himself, Ron and Hermione. Honestly, as much dragon dung as Sirius talked about owing him and Hermione for saving him from the Dementors kiss, they owed him for saving them too. It was a measure of Padfoot's protectiveness that despite being starved almost to the point of collapse, the animagus managed to fight off a fit and healthy lycan.

Padfoot wasn't just an extension of Sirius – he was his own person…canine…um personality too and now that he had tasted freedom again, he was keen to protect Sirius from the danger that they all sensed was near.

And that meant that the big furry canine would probably be taking matters into his own paws. Which made it inevitable that he'd be making an appearance sooner or later, whether it was wise or not.

~o0o~

DiNozzo looked around his home with a touch of melancholy, acknowledging that this portion of his life was soon coming to an end. He'd bought this apartment when he first arrived in DC at a time when his trust in others had been sorely tested, most recently at that time by Danny Price and Wendy Miller. It had become his sanctuary – a place where he didn't invite even his team mates to hang out. It was his space to run to when his body and soul was sorely tested, when his head became too full of the demons that haunted his dreams and spilled over into his consciousness.

A place where he didn't have to watch every move he made, even though he was now Tony DiNozzo, not Sirius Black. Although the truth was that his 'Tony persona' was more an amalgam of three separate entities. existing inside a single body and at the moment while he was with Harry and Hermione, he was probably more Sirius Black than Anthony DiNozzo or even Tony. It gave him insight into how people with dissociative identity disorder might feel sharing one body. Honestly, it often got way too crazy inside, thus his need for a calm, peaceful place in which to ground himself.

Senior and others who had invaded his space in recent years all intimated he was obsessive or at best, anal about his space, no doubt in part because of his going postal when Anthony's sperm donor (the old flimflam man and sex addict) bedded his nympho neighbour in Tony's bed. Padfoot had wanted to rip the ass wipe's throat out after his inability to keep his libido in check for five minutes – he was lucky Tony had just thrown him out!

But the truth was that his home was incredibly important to him after living through the horrors of Azkaban.

Then having to hide out in that decaying depraved shrine to the House of Black had been the final indignity and sheer torture after Pettigrew escaped…again, damn it…. after he finally managed to apprehend him - 12 years too late. With the rat once again in the wind, he'd almost been kissed since there was no physical proof that he was telling the truth about Pettigrew. Well apart from his word and the three kids, plus a werewolf. Apparently, all of whom were useless witnesses per Cornelius Fudge, previous Minister of Magic and world's biggest dickhead.

He looked around his light and airy bedroom and now the melancholy was tinged with wry amusement. Looking around the room as a stranger might view it, especially at the king single bed – custom made extra-long to accommodate his 6 foot 2 length in comfort – he'd admit that his bedroom seemed austere and empty. Yet after twelve years confined to a tiny cell which was dark and dank, with Dementors waiting to steal his soul, one of the consequences of his stay at Casa Azkaban had been a serious case of claustrophobia. While it was something he had successfully managed to keep hidden all these years, it had completely dictated his search for a home when he moved to DC.

He'd instantly rejected anything dark and depressing (basically anything that might remind him of Grimmauld Place, Dementors or Azkaban) insisting on only looking at places that had plenty of natural light, were open plan and spacious. While this place had been seriously out of his price range – all things being equal – it was also the scene of a rather gruesome killing which had impacted its market value.

He'd always quipped that as a cop and federal agent, a little blood and a corpse or two didn't put him off buying the place. The truth was a lot simpler though. After Azkaban, it took a great deal to make him feel queasy, but very little to invoke his feelings of claustrophobia. Plus, his stint as an Auror witnessing the horror inflicted on the muggles and muggle-born wizards and witches by the Death Eaters had left him with a cast iron stomach. And the fact that magical spells were damned effective at getting out bloodstains.

He'd told people that he had ripped up the floorboards and had new ones laid, since everyone knew that bloodstains were impossible to get rid of completely, which was true up to a point. Magic however seemed to penetrate right down on what he assumed was a subatomic level and absorbed the blood in its entirety – although he didn't completely understand it. No doubt Hermione could explain the process or possibly Abby, if she hadn't turned into such a stupid spoilt brat and thrown away any possibility that some day she might be read in on the wizarding world.

So anyway, once he'd exchanged contracts and taken possession of the apartment (and gotten rid of the blood stains) he'd deliberately furnished it sparingly, anxious to avoid feeling boxed in. He'd avoided clutter and unnecessary fripperies including ostentatious drapes and basically anything else that might remind him of the Black ancestral home. Thus, his apartment had minimal furniture and he had comparatively few possessions. Moving wouldn't be all that onerous a task.

His bed wouldn't be something that he felt compelled to take with him, though. He was more attached to his books, art, his music collection – both the CDs, his vinyl records and his musical instruments and prodigious amount of sheet music. Plus, of course he would be taking his movie collection with him, but remained undecided about what to do with his furniture. He smirked, thinking about the shocked reaction people had when they saw his bed.

He'd told them that he never brought anyone back to his apartment to sleep with them – preferring to stay over at his date's place when he wanted some action. Which was patently false but he couldn't exactly explain to anyone from NCIS why he craved the austerity and spaciousness of the king single while he slept. For some reason, it always made him sleep more soundly and helped to keep the nightmares at bay when he was alone, though. Nor could he explain to the team that when he was seeing someone he cared about, he did indeed invite them back to his place. That thanks to his ability to transfigure his king-single into a sumptuous king-sized bed, making love or even just cuddling up together to sleep wasn't a problem.

He might not use magic all that much since assuming Anthony DiNozzo's identity and becoming Tony, but this was one wizarding perk that Sirius cheerfully utilised when required. Especially when he'd been seeing someone he was serious about, like E.J. Barrett for example. Since she'd been staying with a relative (later revealed to be her Uncle SecNav) when she had temporarily relocated from the Rota Field Office during the P2P case, it just made sense that they retired to his place at the end of the day. Not just to get intimate but so they could get to know each other in a more private setting.

He'd also brought Paula Cassidy back here too – partly because she'd given up her own place in DC when she was sent to Gitmo as an interrogator then was serving as an agent afloat. But he also brought her here because he genuinely cared about her, particularly after she was abducted and almost killed by Adam O'Neill, attorney and partner-in-crime to the infamous serial killer, Kyle Boone. His sanctuary had become hers and helped to soothe her fractured nerves and helped her heal, mentally and physically after the attack – something he also knew quite a lot about.

Thinking about his friend Paula, who'd died in the line of fire prompted thoughts about his former teammate Caitlyn Todd. She, like Paula, had also died in the field too when Ari decided to create a spot on the MCRT for his half-sister, Ziva plus piss Gibbs off. It seemed that his arrogance and autocratic attitude reminded Ari of his own sperm donor – Eli David who at that time Deputy Director of Mossad. Anyhow, if Cate had still been alive when the team finally got to see his apartment and heard his excuse for owning king-single bed, she would have known instantly that he was lying through his teeth and called him on it.

Not because she was a crash-hot profiler – she wasn't. Honestly, Cate was probably the worst profiler Tony had ever worked with. Perhaps she might have been an excellent theoretical profiler but the moment she'd started interacting with victims and persons of interest on the case, she got overinvolved and lost her perspective. No, the real reason she would have known he was lying about not bringing home his dates was his utter shock when Cate declared categorically that women preferred having sex and then going to sleep in their own beds. It was during his first encounter with Paula at Guantanamo Bay and they'd been investigating her, since Gibbs suspected her of having an affair or being in cahoots with a corrupt interpreter. When Tony had insisted, she was innocent, that there was no evidence that Paula had been in the interpreter's room, Cate had revealed her 'Secret Women's' Business' about dating and sex to explain why she would have entertained Sa'id in her room, not gone to his.

Tony knew that he'd been visibly gobsmacked by her gross generalisations about the sexual predilections of the whole female gender, which if he'd proclaimed what she did, she would have promptly accused him of being a male chauvinist pig. Aside from her hubris, claiming her own preferences represented all women who were sexually active, it hadn't been his experience that they expressed a preference for their own place over his. Some did, some didn't and some didn't really care where they did it, however, he did admit that he took her sexist claim and later used it to explain why he owned a king-single bed to the team.

Of course, they'd readily believed his story since Cate had long ago labelled him a chauvinist pig. The label had stuck and Tony discovered it was not without its uses when it came to deflecting attention, so he played up the facade. Luckily, Gibbs didn't seem to remember (or maybe he just didn't care) that Tony had unintentionally revealed that he used his own apartment to bring dates back to all those years ago when Cate had been their probie agent. But there was no way Cate wouldn't have remembered and called him on it.

Then there was his last lover and Anthony DiNozzo's former partner from Philly, Zoe Keats who had stayed over fairly frequently. In fact, they were practically living together towards the end of their relationship until they decided it wasn't working, probably in light of his funk over his unexpected reunion with his old lover - Jeanne Benoit.

Of course, he'd never brought Jeanne back here to his apartment. Not because he didn't care about her, in truth he still loved her madly, deeply and he suspected that she still had unresolved feelings for him which was why she'd warned him off making further contact with her. But because he was undercover as Tony DiNardo and couldn't risk her finding out his real identity they had always met at her place, never here.

Yet as much as his apartment was a part of him, he'd agreed to get a place and move in with her… well before it had all fallen apart when her arms dealing father hit town. Despite his utter panic that he'd made a serious commitment, which scared the crap out of him (thanks so much Wendy Miller) and the fact that Jeanne was only supposed to be a mark, he must have liked the idea. At least liked it enough on some level for him to have agreed to it so readily when she floated the idea. After all, he was a highly experienced skilled undercover operative, with impressive improvisation skills that might not be up to the standards of John Belushi or Robin Williams but he was still damned good. He could have easily diverted her…if he wanted to.

Ergo he had wanted (well, Tony/ Sirius/Padfoot/Anthony wanted – take your pick) a life with Jeanne, even if it was just a pipe dream. He knew it…well the rational part of him knew it – the experienced undercover operative knew that when the shit finally hit the fan that Jeanne would never be able to forgive him. Knew that even if she could, she wouldn't be able to trust him. Yet the heart wants what the heart wants and it wanted Jeanne Benoit – badly.

It wanted the house, the engagement and wedding rings, the two point five rugrats, the dog (okay maybe Padfoot would have put his paw down on that score). Not to mention the white picket fence. The heart is an ass!

Sighing philosophically, since it was all water under the bridge now, he decided to focus on the positives – Jeanne had found a good man, an honest man that didn't have to lie to her and he was going home to be with his godson and his family. Well maybe not Harry's mother-in-law – she wasn't exactly a positive, whichever way you spun it. Mollie Weasley was never going to be someone he would chose to spend time with, but still she was a cross he was willing to bear to remain a part of Harry's live again.

He was willing keep an open mind re Ginny Potter until he had an opportunity to size up the adult witch she'd become, principally out of deference to his godson who had chosen to marry her - but not her mother. He shuddered at the thought of dealing with the matriarch of the Weasley clan and decided that as much as possible he would just avoid her.

As his thoughts turned to his imminent departure from DC, Tony thought fondly about this time spent working out his notice. He was enjoying these last few weeks at NCIS much more than he'd thought he would, given the circumstances surrounding his resignation. Of course, most of the credit for that had to go to Hermione, what with her amazing charm work, which had meant that Gibbs had left him alone and her ensuring that Abby couldn't contact him either. Okay… so it was a sad reflection on his many years contributing to Gibbs' team – and he realised now at the very end that it had always been Gibbs' team. Even when they worked as partners and friends, even when Gibbs resigned and he stepped up and took over the team it was always Gibbs' Team, not his. It may be hard to accept but it was still the truth.

And the other individual owed a lot of credit for helping make this whole process as painless as possible, since a part of him would always regret having to leave behind those people he'd thought of as family for such a significant amount of time – was Harry. Even though he'd initially argued that he didn't need protection, having been overruled, he had to admit that it had all worked out well.

He was definitely looking forward to working with Harry when they returned to the UK although, grimacing he acknowledged that as much fun as they had, his godson, like Hermione had a way of cutting to the chase and forcing him to take off his rose-coloured glasses. In the short time since their reunion they'd made him examine some of his long held and dearest assumptions.

One was particularly painful – for both Harry and himself. Of course, without the prior contributions of Hermione and to a lesser extent, to Probish laying the foundation for facing up to what was a gut-wrenching issue, he probably wouldn't have been ready for the difficult conversation when Harry brought it up. He'd undoubtedly have deflected, using humour instead of dealing with some home truths that they both needed to face.

It had started off with a somewhat humorous opening salvo but his godson had quickly turned up the heat, asking questions that he had no glib answers for.

"So Snuffles, from where I'm sitting, Gibbs is as mad as a bag of ferrets. How did you end up at NCIS in the first place and what in the world made you put up with that tosser for so many years?" Harry asked the pivotal questions after they'd sat down to dinner.

Which was how he'd found himself trying to defend why he'd stayed so long on the MCRT in such a toxic situation. Frankly, he'd been trying to reconcile that conundrum himself as he prepared to leave the agency after 15 years of his life. After the Daniel Budd fiasco, he'd spent many sleepless hours trying to figure out how he'd made such a monumental mess of things, unfortunately, with not a lot of insight.

He'd been unable to explain, even to his own deluded satisfaction why he hadn't cut his losses and got out of that toxic work place a long time ago…apart from inheriting the Black gene for insanity and or masochism. After all, wasn't one definition of crazy doing the same thing over and over and expecting the outcome to be different? Budd hadn't even been the first time his boss had made him feel like he was a screw up, who's services weren't required on the team.

So instead Tony described to his godson the chronology of their working relationship which lead him to NCIS, hoping it might provide insight to either of them. How his Baltimore PD's homicide partner Detective Danny Price's betrayal devastated him (which given Pettigrew's treachery was hardly surprising) and how that had resulted in his subsequent flight from Baltimore.

He rationalised, or he tried to, how he decided not to try to bring Price to justice since the last time he'd tried to turn in a friend it had ended so well for him. He admitted, awkwardly, he'd feared that Price would set him up too. He also admitted how his cowardice had ultimately meant that Danny had been used against him and how he carried a heavy burden of guilt for his death.

He talked about how Gibbs, knowing about Danny's corruptness, had stepped in and offered him a job; how Gibbs, back in the day, had been quite a different person.

"We worked more as partners and had each other's backs when the going got tough. And Gibbs also kind of reminded me of your dad, James."

Harry looked shocked and outraged. "Really? Because from what I know about my Dad, I'm not seeing it. Granted I never really knew him. Please tell me that my father wasn't an arrogant bullying power monger, head slapping his colleagues and subordinates and playing cruel mind games with them to make himself feel important."

Sirius smiled sadly. "As a student James could be rather arrogant – as the only heir to the House of Potter your grandparents' kind of doted on him, plus he was a quidditch hero and damned smart too. He was also known to bully Severus when we were at Hogwarts but hey, not a case of pot/kettle here, Harry. I was no better when it came to Snivellus and I was also extremely arrogant. Still am sometimes I guess, although I try hard not to be."

Looking pensive he continued. "I blame the inbreeding of the Black line – arrogance is endemic in us as well as madness. You do know, James mother was also a Black – yeah? And that my cousin Bellatrix wasn't the only Black who was mad as dragon dung? She was probably the most arrogant witch I ever met. No wonder she worshipped the ground Lord Snakey Lips crapped on."

He knew it might seem as if he was looking to make excuses for his character flaws, but the truth was that as the head of the Noble and Ancient House of Black, Harry needed to be aware of its dark and depraved history – especially as it was also a part of him as well. Sirius remembered all too well how Bellatrix bragged in Azkaban that her beloved Voldermort once ordered her to eat his shit as a punishment when she'd displeased him but he soon learnt that she considered it a great privilege and complied with gusto. In fact the depraved witch had been practically orgasmic in recounting the 'punishment'.

If he'd had any food in his stomach he would have lost it after having to listen to her gloating, fortunately the prisoners of Azkaban only received a meagre ration of food delivered in the early evening. As it was he puked up a mountain of bile and thought very seriously about killing himself.

Listening to the filth which had spewed forth from his cousin over his years of incarceration, he wasn't sure if exposure to Bellatrix or the Dementors had been more damaging to his psyche, especially when she gloated on a regular basis about torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom. He'd worked in the DMLE with both Frank and Alice and he mourned their loss almost as much as he did James and Lily.

Deliberately pushing those sickening memories down deep in his mental trunk – thankful for the occlumency skills he'd developed over the years that had probably been the only thing standing between himself, a strait jacket, drooling and a nicely padded room, he returned to the issues at hand. Looking at Harry compassionately, he did his best to answer him honestly, knowing that his godson deserved the unedited truth. According to Hermione, it was something that Dumbledore had made sure he didn't get access to.

"Despite your dad having a healthy serving of the Black genes, James was essentially a kind person, especially when he matured a bit. He befriended Peter Pettigrew who was being bullied unmercifully by the Slytherins (including Severus Snape by the way) because he was such weedy, pathetic little runt that he might as well of had 'Pick On Me' tattooed across his forehead, since he was born to be victimised. Yet your father offered him friendship and therefore protection.

"Plus, never forget that your father was fiercely protective of Remus during a time when werewolves were incredibly feared, misunderstood and maligned, in the magical world - especially by the purebloods. It was as if they believed that Lycanthrope could be passed on by casual contact or perhaps osmosis."

Feeling furious when he thought of Peter's treachery and that Remus was gone too, he tried to push aside his hatred so he could continue this painful conversation.

"Peter might have been a dreadful mistake, since his betrayal of our friendship ending up costing us practically everything we held dear, apart from you. But never forget that Remus was a loyal and loving friend to your parents and a brave warrior for the force of good."

Tony's features soften markedly. "He was such a gentle wizard when we first meet up with him on the Hogwarts Express – ashamed and afraid of himself and what might be if others found out about him. Severus in particular, seemed to sniff out pretty quickly that he was hiding something massive and was determined to discover what he was hiding."

Tony or was it Sirius, since this was ancient Marauders' history (shameful dark history) which thanks to late night discussions with Hermione, he knew that Harry had knowledge of, contemplated discussing his most reprehensible act. Even now he still couldn't quite believe his youthful arrogance and stupidity, how closed he'd come to his having his best friend sentenced to death and costing Snape his life. He decided it was a discussion for another time, since it was complicated and ugly and deserved to be dealt with comprehensively, not as a minor addendum to an already complex subject. Sighing, he focused back on the topic at hand – Harry's father and Gibbs.

"As juvenile and egotistical as he could be, James ultimately grew up – thanks in no small part to one awesome witch named Lily Evans who refused to tolerate his less endearing traits. With maturity and some less than subtle prompting from your mum, he became a courageous fighter for the light. James willingly sacrificed himself, hoping to save you and your mother. You can be proud of the man he grew into, and honoured to be named after him."

He stood up to grab a bottle of water from the fridge for them both before he went on to describe all the good qualities he'd first seen in Gibbs' which had reminded him of James. "Gibbs was loyal, Harry. Determined to stand up for what was right, no matter the cost, just like your dad. He had a cool head in a tight situation and watched my back; he was my friend at a time when I felt betrayed and alone. Just like James befriended me when my parents had shunned me for being sorted into Gryffindor House.

Without exaggeration, your dad saved my life – he saved my soul.

Later when they disowned me officially because I refused to join the Death Eaters, it was James I ran to and his parents all but adopted me. We were like brothers - even if we were arrogant little prats. Then fast forward all those years…when Danny betrayed my trust and I resigned from Baltimore, I had nowhere to go. Gibbs offered me a place to belong here at NCIS and gave me a purpose."

He looked across at the younger wizard, wondering if he was doing a good enough job of explaining what in all honesty was still very much abstruse to himself. It was like he'd been caught up in a dream which only now with the unrelenting prodding of Hermione, Fornell, Ellie Bishop and now Harry had bludgeoned him over the head with the truth. It was as if he was slowly emerging from a daze.

~o0o~

Harry nodded. He could see how with Sirius' family history he was vulnerable to the sort of friendship Gibbs had held out to him. What with Pettigrew's vile betrayal resulting in Harry's parents being murdered by Voldemort, Sirius spending 12 years in that hellhole Azkaban, then two years as a fugitive, one living rough and the other being as good as a prisoner of his family home. Then, finally with him being sent through the veil, losing everything that was important to him, it wasn't surprising that Sirius would then be utterly destroyed by the betrayed of his partner in Baltimore.

After all, as Harry knew all too well as a seasoned Auror, your partner was friend and family all rolled into one. Often you told your partner stuff you wouldn't even dream of telling you better half – that was the strength of the bond that existed between partners who constantly held each other's lives in their hands. He understood all too well the trust you had to place in them so you could do your job properly.

Plus, he could also appreciate just how much impact it would have on Sirius for someone to offer him somewhere to belong - like Gibbs had done – just like his dad had done many years before.

It was like offering delicious morsels of food to a starving man – pretty much like Harry had grasped Ron's friendship and ignored all the times that Ron hadn't treated him like a best mate should. Ignored his at times petty jealousy, ignored his so-called best friend calling him a liar, cheat and accusing him of wanting the limelight during the Tri-Wizard Cup.

Like he forgave his best mate for his behaviour during the Horcux hunt; his whining and constantly scoffing down their severely limited supply of rations, while he and Hermione had eaten sparingly, mindful of the others. Forgave him for abandoning his two best friends when the going got too tough for him, making a truly miserable and horrific experience even worse with his betrayal.

He'd needed his friendship so desperately that he'd chosen to focus on the fact that Ron had finally returned and pulled him from the frozen waters, that he'd destroyed the cursed locket. Focused on him being there at the final battle, standing shoulder to shoulder with him when they brought down Voldemort. Excused the lapses, writing them off as the cursed locket messing with Ron's mind, trying to possess him. Just like Voldemort's diary had sought to control Ginny all those years ago when she was a firstie at Hogwarts.

He'd also ignored the oftentimes strident voice inside his head that argued that wearing the cursed locket hadn't exactly been a pleasant stroll down to Hagrid's hut for tea and rock cakes with the amiable half- giant and his beloved Fang for Hermione or himself, either. Yet they hadn't abandoned their friends, whined non-stop about the privations they'd endured on that terrible mission or scoffed all the food out of their friends' mouths. Yes, he'd ignored the disparaging voice that observed that hardship had strengthened their characters and deepened their friendship. That the cursed locket had presented them with an opportunity to prove their mettle and they had seized it with stoicism and quiet courage.

Oh, yeah, Harry got it, alright. Sometimes you needed friendship so badly that others took advantage of you. And sometimes you needed someone you could trust so desperately that you ignored all the warning signs which everyone else could see, simply because they weren't invested in the outcome.

The truth was that Harry had much more in common with Sirius than he ever would with his father. Both had been on the run, been starving and cold for months on end, not for a night or two. He would never forget how frighteningly gaunt Sirius had been the first time he encountered the escapee – how the skin was stretched tight over the planes of his face. How waxy his skin and how the tattered rags he wore hung off his emaciated frame. He looked like a corpse!

Nor could Harry ever forget how sharp the angles of Hermione's face and body were when they finished their hunt for Voldemort's cursed artefacts. Not that she was overly endowed before their miserable horcrux hunt, and he figured that he probably hadn't looked any better. He remembered the years of abuse at the hands of the Dursley's and Sirius' own family's abusiveness and knew that they experienced things that James Harry Potter could never fathom.

Yes, he understood why Gibbs could hold such sway over his godfather – probably understood it better than Sirius could.

End Notes:

So originally this chapter was ridiculously long - hitting the 12,000 word mark and even knowing a lot of you like really long chapters, that was ludicrous. So I had little choice but to split this chapter in two...again. Going back and re-editting it because splitting can wreak havoc on my symmetry, I found that before I knew it, I added another couple of thousand words to this chapter, which fyi I think has greatly improved the original chapter. Hope you liked it.