AN: So here is my first and only challenge dear readers. Please submit to me via Review the Sirius Black quote that you think should head this chapter. I will pick from one of your submissions. *This is a trick to get you all to write reviews. I'm not above blackmail*

JK Rowling owns Harry potter!

Reviews Welcome.

Sneak peek: A time jump is coming soon. Prepare your hearts.

Chapter 26: Two Little Words

INSERT SIRIUS BLACK QUOTE HERE!

It wasn't on the Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth to-do list that Sirius had left him. It wasn't even something his godson really knew about. The skeletons in the Black closet were… miles deep. He'd have no hope in restoring the Black family's reputation if he didn't start close to home. He gathered his pride and left the manor. He'd have to ambush the man because he wouldn't be able to reach out to him in any normal wizarding way.

He had always kept track of his brother Marius, though he'd never reached out. Today he would rectify that mistake. He had wrestled with this decision but knew he needed Marius more than Marius would ever need him. This would be a humbling day.

He apparated on the outskirts of the mixed, magical, and muggle town Crieff, in Perthshire, famous for whisky, Victorian baths, and its role as a key commercial center for highlanders, made it a place where thieves and highland bandits rubbed shoulders, causing countless feuds. Arcturus, in no real hurry, walked the length of the town in an hour, passing the Glenturret Distillery, which claimed to be the oldest in Scotland, dating back to 1717.

He was familiar with The Hydro Hotel where wealthy magical and muggle clients found long-term convalescent care. Arcturus was still considering sending Orion here. They used a combination of muggle and magical techniques that showed promising success and were able to help people that others had given up on.

His ultimate destination however was the Innerpeffray Library, the oldest lending library in Scotland, which opened around 1680. He stood in front of the impressive building and knew that his brother both lived and worked here. He felt hesitant about the action he was about to take but walked into the building without hesitation.

It took him a while to find him. He was in fact sitting at a massive table overloaded with books. He called to his assistant. "Find the Jefferson Treaties. I need to see if this…" He noticed the visitor entering and straightened. Though he was a bookish man by trade, nothing about the tall, powerfully built man would have suggested it. Except perhaps the reading glasses perched on his nose. He looked how Arcturus wished he looked. Hale, hearty, and happy. The three H's! "Can I help you?"

Marius looked at him with steel grey eyes that seemed to penetrate his very soul. This was his big brother. The one that should be heir except for the fickle nature of magic! And crazy family values that didn't value anything at all except magic. "Yes. Marius. You can help me. It's me. Arcturus."

Marius stared at him for a moment and his assistant pulled him from his reverie by dropping a large tome on the table, "Here you are sir." The young man said wiping the dust from his shirt. Marius looked at him and nodded, "Thank you, Erik. Why don't you and Frederick take off for the rest of the day? It seems I have an uninvited guest. Tomorrow we can finish this." Erik looked like he'd been handed a boon and it wasn't long before the two boys left before their taskmaster could change his mind.

Marius started organizing the books upon the table, "So what brings you to my doorstep Arcturus?" He didn't sound angry, but that didn't soothe Arcturus's fears.

"I've come to make amends. I am the head of the family now. As head of the family, I am un-disinheriting you." Arcturus did what Arcturus always did when he was emotionally compromised, he bulldozed right past the unpleasantness.

"Oh? Did you become Head of the Great and Powerful Blacks today?" He asked curiously.

"Today? Well of course not?" Arcturus got bulldozed right back.

"Oh? A couple of months then? I mean I could understand it would take a couple of months to settle into the job and all." Marius said wisely.

"Well of course not. I've been Head since father died." Arcturus said testily.

Marius lifted a brow in mock surprise. "Father's dead? Amazing. No one bothered to send me word of that. I guess that means mother is dead too?" He was playing with Arcturus like he was a mouse and he was the cat and it was not a comfortable position for Arcturus to be in.

"Yes, it happened some time ago. I never considered that you would want to know that… But I suppose I have even more to apologize for than I thought." He looked at the table stacked with books mostly historical in nature he realized. "What on earth are you doing anyway?"

"I'm am an archaeologist, it's not all digging through mud and chopping through jungles you know." He shook his head, "So tell me what you are doing here."

"An archaeologist? I thought you were a librarian?" He asked a bit confused.

"I am. It is possible to be more than one thing Arcturus." He shook his head and said, "And you still haven't explained why you are here. And don't give me that un-dis-inheriting me bull shite. I've not seen hide nor hair of the lot of you since I was kicked to the curb over fifty years ago. So pardon me if I really don't care. Cause I really don't. I've put all that behind me. Happily so. I have an interesting life. A beautiful woman at my side. I have nine beautiful children and sixteen grandchildren. I have more fun than anyone should be allowed. I've traveled the world and seen everything I've wanted. And most of all… I'm free. I don't want to go back to that bloody world you live in Arcturus."

Arcturus sighed. He couldn't blame the man. "I am not here to drag you back into that life Marius. Although it would be amusing if you did. Put some fire in the belly of the purists." He laughed and Marius shook his head a bit sitting in a straight-backed chair and offering Arcturus the seat next to him.

"So you sound like you have done some soul searching brother. You still have not gotten to the point." He pointed out in amusement.

Arcturus sighed, "This is not easy Marius. But I need your help. Not for me, but for my grandson. And it's a lot to ask, and I don't deserve it. I am sure you don't want to know the details, and I couldn't really tell you them either. But I need to weave someone onto the family tree. And the only way I'm going to do that is with your help.

Marius stared at him. "Okay what? Maybe you should start at the beginning."

So Arcturus told him what little he could, and with his brother's help, they added one Padmus Marius McGrimm to the family tree. In order for the tree to recreate his family branch, he would have to trick the magic of the tree just a bit. After adding Marius back to the tree it would reveal the false branch.

They filled in the background story making Padmus McGrimm, Marius's oldest daughter's first son. She had married a half-blood related to Athena Rosenstall, a pure-blood witch known for the prophecy that Grindewald's fall was foretold in. The story provided the possibility of a Seer talent and It took some doing but the identity they created would be difficult to disprove. Marius knew how to forge muggle documents, It was the magical bona fides that Arcturus would produce.

That evening he dined with Marius at his home, with his wife and very large family. He was more than a little envious of Marius. He had made something good out of something bad. It really was a lesson in humility. Arcturus arrived back home in a somber mood, and Dorea had to coax him into a better mood. Soon though he was looking at his own happy family. Regulus his grandson was a delightful boy with a strong desire to please. A wife who was more than enough for any man. And then there was Sirius. The grandson who came back from the dead, and the grandson who made him feel alive. Both he was lucky to know.

He had plans to visit Marius again soon, and hoped he could introduce him to his grandsons and wife. He wasn't sure how much they could repair but he was hopeful. A feeling he wasn't used to at all.

It wasn't until late into the night when he realized he had not actually apologized to Marius. Why was it so hard for him to say those two little words. "I'm sorry." He whispered into the dark. It didn't make him feel better.