AN: a bit of writer's block forced me into a rewrite. i couldn't think of how to start the actual fic, so i looked for fics with a similar twist and found a new OTP. Sorry Snarry fans. "^^ i realize Harry's gonna be a bit OOC in this, but in plotting this out as Snarry both get too OOC for my tastes.

Standard Disclaimers Apply

Heir Potter,

I have no doubt that you have little knowledge of who I am, thanks to Dumbledore. That man has been keeping much from you, and if the gossip is true has taken just as much. I am attempting to amend that with this letter. I write you not as Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, but as your Great Uncle Arcturus. Yes my heir, you did and still do have relatives in the magical world. Dumbledore's insistance you be placed with those muggles is the least of your worries.

Your Grandmother Dorea was my sister, as such I would have been the first choice of guardian if those named in your parents' wills were not available. Dumbledore sealing their wills and taking guardianship of you was the final nail on the coffin of House Potter. What was once an ennobled house is all but sickleless thanks to the Light's fascination with muggles. I mean no disrespect or ill-will child, but James's admiration of the headmaster and his love for your mother lead to the financial downfall of your House. From the death of his parents to yours, James had been funding Dumbledore's little vigilante group. Every quarter of the year nineteen eighty the Gringotts sales catalog would have more and more Potter property in it. It would not surprise me if all James and Lily left you was your trust. It was in the spring season of nineteen eighty-two that the Wizengamot quietly revoked the ennoblement of House Potter.

This next bit of information is only known by myself and your family patron now. Even though the muggles refer to them as myth and legend, the Olde Gods are quite real child and are still worshipped and followed by those who still hold to tradition. The Olde Ways are almost lost to us, but your grandparents would not have it. One of the oldest and most important is the naming ceremony where the newborn babe is presented to be blessed by the family patron. During our last tea together Dorea told me that your grandfather Charlus had taken you to the sacred family grove while they were watching you because your mother refused, still believed in the very god that called for the killing of our kind. Charlus said you'd been given the greatest gift the god could give you and renamed you Herodotus to follow the family naming tradition. I know not what this gift was Herodotus, for it is sacriligious and taboo to speak of such things if you do not share the same god. I do know they specifically left the sacred grove and surrounding forest to you child at the god's request.

Now I must ask you to truly give what I am about to reveal serious thought, for it will go against everything that old fool has no doubt instilled in you. Your parents went into hiding because of a prophecy about the birth of a savior. A prophecy witnessed only by Dumbledore just a few months after the two pureblood heirs in his little group married. Two couples that happened to fall pregnant at the same time, both due at the end of July. The Dark Lord goes after you, my demented niece and her friends after the Longbottoms, not long after Sirius gets thrown in Azkaban. Prophecy or not, this fell suspiciously in Dumbledore's favor.

I did not try to gain custody for the very reason Dumbledore used, too many of my decendants chose the Dark Lord's side. I finally got the nerve to write this because of a message from Gringotts. Due to policy the goblins had informed me that Sirius's vault was sealed and could only be opened by himself or you. I fould it odd so I pulled rank and found out that he and James had used the ancient blood rite to bind him to you, Sirius had named you as his heir.

I am dying Herodotus, it's doubtful I'll finish the year, and since Sirius is still a criminal I've named you my sole heir in his stead. My will and estate will be sealed upon my death, only to be opened when you ask or come of age. Claiming the Black Lordship would emancipate you, but I beg you Herodotus to think this through. Do it too soon and someone could easily take it from you, be it Dumbledore or Malfoy or countless others. Learn of the responsibilites and burdens it would put upon you beforehand child. Use all this information when it's most beneficial to you. If you have a hint of your grandmother's Slytherin side I beg you to be cautious Herodotus and not follow your father and godfather's footsteps. They put too much faith in a man that ruined them to fix his own mistake. Do not let your guard down around that man, he is beginning to believe his own legend.

Do your research. Trust the goblins.

Arcturus Black