Here, finally, is the next installment in the series that began with "What's in a Name". As stated in those, this is a fictional story that is AU. This means that the people you see belong to JK Rowling, but I have taken some liberties with their behaviors, personalities, and interactions with their world.

This is also a father/son relationship fic between Sirius and Harry. If you don't like seeing Harry getting much needed hugs and affection from the people around him, this may not be the story for you. I prefer to think that the time spent in Azkaban matured Sirius so that he could give his godson the father-figure he needed.

Also, in my stories, Severus Snape is a longtime friend of the Marauders and has given up being a spy in order to help his friends raise Harry into the powerful wizard he needs to be.

Reviews are always nice, but keep in mind that anonymous flames will be deleted. I try to answer each review as it comes in and use constructive criticism to improve where I can. I can't please all of the people all of the time, no matter what I write, so bear in mind that people read for enjoyment!

I do not study Latin, so please forgive any mistakes you find there, nor did I find a great deal of information on certain things touched upon in the story, so I came up with my own…

Part 1

"Harry."

There was no response from the lump under the light blanket, so Remus tried again with a little more volume, "Harry!"

Ah! A slight twitch could be seen, giving the man hope, so this time he decided to try shaking the lump a bit while calling out, "Harry! Come on, time to wake up."

"Stew ery, lemme slee."

Having not spoken the language of sleepy teen for a while, it took him a minute to puzzle the comment out, "It isn't too early and you've slept half the morning away already. Rise and shine, cub!"

Bleary green eyes finally appeared from under the cover, "But, Remus, it's summer break! The FIRST DAY of summer break! I thought I could sleep in at least one day."

He patted the teen's shoulder, "You did sleep in, Harry; it's going on nine and you need to eat something before it gets any later."

The teenager grumbled softly but began making the effort to get up. Since defeating Voldemort and lapsing into a coma-like state that took him a week to awaken from, Harry was constantly being handed something to eat or drink by his family and friends. The medi-witch at Hogwarts had told them that he would need to eat a lot to help his body completely recover from the shock it had gone through during the final battle.

Once he was on his feet and heading in the direction of the bathroom, Remus set a course for the door leading out of Harry's rooms, "I'll see you downstairs in fifteen minutes, cub; bring your appetite."

The boy muttered a response; for once he wasn't really concerned with being coherent. He stilled tired out easily and his body was telling him that it felt like he needed some extra rest. Maybe he could catch a nap this afternoon or go to bed a little earlier tonight.

Sixteen minutes later, Harry walked into the kitchen where he found three men that made up his family gathered. Remus was putting food on a plate for the young wizard, Severus was sitting at the table facing the doorway sipping a cup of tea while he read the paper, and Sirius was seated with his back to the boy as he finished a piece of toast. Harry walked over to stand behind his godfather and leaned lightly against the man with a huge yawn, "Morning, everyone."

Remus turned with a smile and hovered his plate over to the empty seat next to the canine animagus along with a large glass of pumpkin juice. Severus greeted him softly before returning to the news as Sirius gently tugged him out from behind him and to his chair. Harry slumped into it and accepted the fork he was handed, "Thank you for breakfast, Moony."

"You're welcome, cub; dig in before it gets cold."

Once he was done eating and starting to swallow the last of his juice, Sirius took a deep breath, turned to the boy, and let out a bark of laughter. When Harry had noticed that his godfather was getting ready to say something that appeared to be important, he had instinctively frozen his movements. Which meant the glass he'd just taken a drink from was about an inch from his mouth which was still full of juice where he hadn't swallowed yet. Harry's cheeks were puffed out from the large amount of fluid he'd been about to swallow and he was sorely tempted to spit it all over his godfather in retaliation for laughing at him. However, good sense prevailed, and instead he swallowed and made a face at the chuckling man.

"Sorry, pup, but the look on your face was priceless." He rested one large hand on the boy's shoulder, "I do need to talk to you about something, if you're completely done with breakfast."

Harry nodded and rose to follow the tall man out of the kitchen and down to the library. Rather than sitting at the desk, Sirius led Harry over to a couch placed in front of one of the fireplaces in the room and sat the boy down. Instead of sitting with him, Sirius began pacing in front of Harry with nervous energy.

Finally, the teen leaned forward and caught the adult wizard's arm as he passed, "Siri? What is it? Is it something that bad?"

Sirius heaved a sigh and dropped down to his knees in front of the child, "No, Harry; it's nothing bad. I have something to ask you and I'm not exactly sure what your reaction is going to be."

"Just ask me, then, Sirius, don't drag it out."

Grey eyes met green as the man lifted one hand to push untidy black hair back off the boy's forehead, "Harry, you know how much I love you, right?"

He nodded, "Of course, Sirius, I love you, too."

"And you know that I would never do anything on purpose that would hurt you either physically or emotionally?"

"Yes." A quiver of fear ran through Harry. Was Sirius telling him this because he was planning on sending Harry away for some reason? Had Dumbledore or Fudge told the man that he was going to have to give up custody of his godson?

Sirius pushed himself to his feet again and resumed his pacing, "I know that I am only your godfather, not your real father. I know that I could never take James' place in your life."

Harry watched him warily and murmured so softly that not even the sharp-eared canine animagus heard him, "I don't even remember James, so you would be the only father I know." Deep in his heart, the boy was whispering, 'Don't give me up; oh please, please, don't give me up. I couldn't bear to lose you after waiting so long for someone to love me!"

"But I do have your best interests at heart and I want to make sure that you are taken care of and protected while you're still a minor. Plus, you need to learn some things about wizarding society that have been neglected. Things that would have been taught to you growing up, had you lived with James and Lily, or me if I hadn't been sent to Azkaban." He whirled to continue his pacing in another direction and nearly ran over his godson who had stood up and stepped in front of him. Sirius caught the teen by the shoulders to steady both of them, "Merlin, Harry, are you trying to get bowled over?"

His hands came up to wrap around the man's forearms, "Sirius, please, just tell me. You're scaring me." The look in his green eyes was unmistakable: pure terror. The adolescent was petrified of whatever it was Sirius wasn't telling him.

Sirius responded instantly by pulling the child into his chest for a hug, "I'm sorry, Harry, the last thing I ever want to do is frighten you." After holding him for a moment, and feeling him relax a bit in his arms, the man took hold of his shoulders once again so he could look into the emerald eyes, "Harry, I know that I can never be James, but I would like to officially adopt you and name you as my heir." When Harry opened his mouth, Sirius panicked and pulled him in for another hug, preventing him from actually giving an answer just yet. "You don't have to answer right now; just think about it for a couple of days…or weeks…you can even mull it over for a month or so…!"

Placing his hands on the man's chest, Harry pushed back slightly so he could look up at his godfather, "Sirius, stop. There's nothing for me to think about. I've said it before and I will say it again, this time loud enough for you to hear me: I don't remember James Potter. You are the only man I have every truly looked at as a father-figure. You are the only man I would accept as a father. Yes, Sirius, I would like to be officially adopted by you and love to be able to call you my dad."

Sirius stared down into the boy's tear-glazed eyes and realized that his own were eyes were filling as well. He drew the teen against his chest one more time and let the tears flow, "I love you so much, Harry. Thank you for giving me this gift."

Wrapping his arms around the trim waist of his soon-to-be-father, Harry buried his face in the man's robes, "No, Siri, thank you for being there for me and for wanting me in your life. I love you more than I can ever express."

They stood, enveloped in each other's love and acceptance, for several minutes until a soft voice interrupted and drawled, "So, does this mean that he's accepted your proposal, Black?"

Sirius exploded with his bark-like laugh as he released the teen and turned to face the doorway, "Only you, Snape, would make it sound like something it shouldn't and isn't!"

The potions master flashed a quick smile at them as Remus crowded him into the room, both men wanting to know how things had gone. Sirius kept one arm around the youngster's shoulders as they walked over to the two men and he responded, "Yes, Harry has agreed to the adoption. As soon as I can get the paperwork taken care of, it will be official."

"It already is, in my mind," Harry stated as he leaned into the taller man's side, relief making him feel a little weak. He was so grateful, and a bit shocked, that Sirius wanted to take this step. Harry knew it was going to be a big responsibility for the man to suddenly become the instant father to a nearly fifteen year old. The two of them were going to have a lot of challenges ahead of them as they learned their way through this new relationship.

Sirius sent a formal letter to the ministry requesting whatever forms were needed for him to formally adopt one Harry James Potter and name him as heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Black. He then sat down with Harry after sending the letter and went over the Black Family Tree with him. The boy silently thanked Merlin that he hadn't actually been born into the family seeing as they had a tendency to name their children after stars, constellations, and, apparently, by throwing some Scrabble tiles on the table and rearranging the letters to suit them. Honestly, where else could they have some up with a name like Debeveraline Klainintus Black?

They also talked in depth about what it would mean for Harry to become a peer of the wizarding world. When he reached his majority, Harry would be able to start attending meetings of the Wizengamot as the Potter family representative with Sirius as his guide and advisor. He would have a say in the court proceedings that came before the group as well as a vote on various laws the ministry wanted to put into effect. When his soon-to-be-father passed away, hopefully many, many years in the future, Harry would have two votes as head of both powerful houses. Though Sirius chuckled at the thought of spending much time there unless it was something important; they were mostly made up of "ancient sorcerers with more gray hair than sense who had absolutely nothing else to do besides sit around and try to look important, at least when they weren't falling asleep" according to the canine animagus.

Harry was also shown the ring that would become his as heir; an antique circle of silver that displayed a flawless diamond surrounded by tiny onyx stones, emblazoned with the Black family's coat of arms. The family motto in Latin had once been Semper meracus meaning Always pure to symbolize their allegiance to the pure-blooded attitudes of most old families, but it had been changed as purity of blood became more and more scarce; now the inside of the ring was engraved with the words Priscus sapientia, invictus dominatus which translated into Ancient wisdom, unconquered power.

"My ancestor wanted to convey how truly powerful the Black family was; we can trace our lineage back almost two thousand years and are related to Merlin himself as well as several of the great Ladies of Avalon, including Vivienne and Morgan le Fay. There are books and old scrolls in the family vaults that I will show you sometime that date back forever, it seems," Sirius told the boy. "We have always been one of the more magical families in the wizarding world, so have the Potters; that's why there have been several marriages over the ages between the two families. Somewhere in history, you and I are actually blood relatives somehow; we'll have to look into that to see just how if you want to know."

Harry turned his head to meet his godfather's questioning gaze, "It might be interesting to look into, but right now, all that matters to me is how we are going to be related soon."

Hugging the boy tightly to his side, Sirius dropped rough kiss on top of the teen's head, "Me, too, Harry; me, too."

After leaning into the man's embrace for a several minutes, Harry finally asked softly, "Do you know what the Potter family motto was?"

Grinning down at the boy, Sirius chuckled, "Of course I do. Remember, I told you how your grandparents all but adopted me when James and I were teenagers. The Potter family motto is Non nobis sed omnibus: Not for ourselves, but for all."

Harry nodded in understanding. It was a good motto to live by, though he also understood the Black family's motto as well. He was Potter by blood, but soon to be Black by adoption, so he would need to walk a fine line between the two beliefs.

Standing in the doorway listening to the two as they talked, Severus could see that Harry was contemplative as he mulled over the Latin phrases and their meanings. The potions master shook his head slightly, knowing that the boy didn't have the first clue just how much he had of each family within him already. As Sirius had stated the Potters and Blacks were intensely magical families; James and Sirius had been the most powerful and intelligent of all their schoolmates, prompting the need to teach them stern control so they didn't accidently destroy something in a fit of juvenile hormones.

So far, Harry had proven himself a more than worthy heir to the Potter magic, he already eclipsed James in certain aspects. While Lily had been muggle-born, she had been very bright and a natural when it came to certain areas of magic. Any child born of those two would have been strong magically; and combining that with the potency in the Black family, as well as the remnants of power left behind in the boy from Voldemort, would mean a culmination of magical supremacy unheard of since the time of Merlin himself. They would have to make sure that Harry received the essential teachings to maintain control at all times.

Severus made a mental note to chat with Sirius about training Harry and talking to him about how much his magic would grow over the next few years.

"Problem, Onyx?"

He turned to face the werewolf behind him, "Not at all, Moony; I was just wondering what we're getting ourselves into by having Sirius adopt Harry and join the bloodlines. I don't believe that there has been a member of the Black or Potter families as intensely powerful as Sirius and James. What will happen when those abilities are combined into one already magically strong child?"

The man's amber eyes widened slightly, "I don't think that any of us thought about that ahead of time, did we? I remember the struggles James and Sirius had in trying to control their magic when they were young. I know we've always enjoyed a challenge, but this may be going a bit overboard. Any suggestions?"

Severus turned to study the dark heads seated beside each other on the couch and tapped his chin with one long finger, "Possibly. But I will need to talk to Padfoot first to see if he happens to still have a particular painting in his possession."

"If it's the one I think you're talking about, then the answer is yes, he still has it safely tucked away in the deepest of the Black family vaults at Gringott's."

"Excellent," Severus murmured. "When they are done talking I will suggest that he get in touch with the bank and make an appointment to retrieve it as soon as possible."