Sirius could see the hope that flared to life in Harry's eyes as he gave another nod but he could also see fear that it wasn't true or real. It was going to take time, Sirius reminded himself. He patted Harry on the shoulder softly.
"Now, we have lots to tell you," Sirius said changing the subject and brightening his tone, "but Remus told me you haven't had dinner, so why don't we get something to eat?"
Harry's stomach growled in response.
"Food it is." Remus declared cheerfully. He stood up, and Sirius and Harry followed him out of the room and down the corridor.
Sirius couldn't help smiling as Harry gazed around wide-eyed. "The house has been in my family for generations. My grandfather preferred the country estate and hated London so when my father married my mother he gave it to them. My mother was nuts, and she was restricted to the house by my grandfather." Namely after she'd tortured Sirius, a recognised heir to the line, for refusing to follow Voldemort and driven him to the Potters – but Harry didn't need to know that part of the story.
"Are we going to live here?" Harry asked as Remus led them into the dining room.
"Nope." Sirius guided Harry into the seat on his right as he took his usual chair at the top of the table. Remus sat in the seat to his left, opposite Harry. "I'm going to need this place for business – I have a seat on the Wizengamot – so it's going to be too visible despite the Fidelius. We will live somewhere else." He touched the table and the food appeared – plates of shepherd's pie with peas and carrots. "Tuck in."
Harry immediately began and something uncoiled in Sirius's gut at the sight of his godson eating at a table in a house Sirius owned. He picked up his own cutlery as Remus passed a bread roll to Harry.
"Thank you, Professor." Harry said automatically.
"Professor." Sirius snorted.
Remus shot him a look. "It's Remus, Harry, or Moony, if you'd prefer that. I'm not your professor anymore."
"You used to call him Mooey." Sirius slid in teasingly.
Harry's eyes lit up and a smile flickered over his lips. "Really?"
"Yes, Unca Mooey to be exact." Remus recalled fondly. "As you were only a baby we forgave you the lack of enunciation."
"Prongs thought it was hilarious." Sirius said, remembering the scene in the Potters' kitchen and James chuckling away. "But his face when you called him 'dada' for the first time…" he smiled at his godson's rapt expression, "he was the proudest man on the planet that day."
"Floo called me especially," Remus agreed, "but then you'd been calling your Mum 'mama' for at least a month and I think your Dad was just thrilled you'd finally recognised his part in your parenting."
Harry scooped up more of his pie. "I wish I could remember."
Sirius exchanged a sad look with Remus. "Well, we can share our memories with you so you can see for yourself."
"And tell you lots of stories." Remus added. "I've been saving them up for years and now I finally get the chance to tell you them, since I no longer need permission from either your aunt or the Headmaster to see you or to talk with you openly."
Something eased behind Harry's eyes and Sirius mentally applauded his old friend for letting Harry know simply and quickly why he hadn't been in his life to date.
"We do have a lot to tell you, Harry," Sirius said, "everything from your Mum and Dad and your Potter heritage to what happened after you rescued me at Hogwarts to what happens next…but I don't want to overwhelm you with information, and I would like your agreement on some things that are already in motion so I think we need to prioritise for tonight – agreed?"
Harry nodded and swallowed down his mouthful of food quickly. "OK."
"Well, as we will have plenty of time in the future to tell you about your Mum and Dad and your family, how about we focus on the urgent things?" Remus suggested, spooning more shepherd's pie onto Harry's plate.
"Like what's happened since Hogwarts and what happens next?" Harry asked, smiling a thank you at Remus.
"Exactly." Sirius said, picking up his glass and taking a long sip of water.
"We should do this logically and start from what happened when you, Sirius, left Hogwarts." Remus instructed.
Sirius rolled his eyes but complied. "Well, like I said, before I realised I needed my inheritance to get things done so I came here and assumed control of the family magic; that essentially made me Lord Black." He restrained the urge to tell Harry he would need to do something similar and become Lord Potter. "Kreacher, the old house elf, is giddy at the thought of restoring the family's reputation so he has helped with getting money from Gringotts, doing the shopping, cleaning this place up." Which was a relief and a shock because he and Kreacher had never had the best of relationships when Sirius was a child. "Then Remus sent me a note so we met up and he agreed to help me with getting you away from the Dursleys. He's also agreed to come live with us and keep us out of trouble."
Harry darted a pleased look at Remus who smiled back at him.
"What next?" Sirius asked himself. "Oh, right, we hired a solicitor, Brian Cutter, who's very good at what he does. He investigated my arrest, found there wasn't a trial and approached Fudge on behalf of Lord Black about investigating whether or not Sirius Black was innocent."
"The Minister knows that Lord Black will be very powerful politically when he takes up his position in the Wizengamot, more powerful and wealthy than the Minister's current advisors." Remus jumped in. "So he agreed to the investigation, and ultimately your guardianship, not wanting to annoy a new potential ally."
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