Chapter Fourteen:

Sirius Black had been completely surprised when they stopped by his cold, wet, dreary cell in Azkaban. He had just gotten some relief from the oppressive feeling of the dementors, and was finally getting ready to welcome some sleep when Alastor Moody, the famed auror, and his mentor had handed him a bar of chocolate and some new robes.

Apparently there was some new evidence that allowed him for a speedy trial. Apparently it wouldn't do to have justice wait another minute, and instead of having a couple of weeks to prepare, they were finally going to give him a trial, that very same morning. He was almost scared it was a trap, give him a couple of moments of happiness that way the dementors would have something to feed on.

Only it wasn't a trick, and he was freed. After a couple of drops of veritaserum and he had given his account of what happened on November 1 and the changing of the secret keepers. That, with letters that were left by James and Lily along with an intensive independent investigation of the crime scene, hired by his uncle Cygnus, he was breathing easy again. Or as easy as he could with Madam Pomfrey watching his every breath.

The door creaked open, and his cousin, Tony walked in.

"Tony," Sirius's voice was still gravelly from the exposure to Azkaban.

"You look awful," Tony blurted out. Well of course he looked awful, he spent years in a prison ran by creatures that suck out your soul. Not exactly the spa getaway that was rejuvenating. Tony thought as he looked his cousin over.

"8 years spent in hell will do that to a man," Sirius answered sitting up. "I wasn't exactly on a desert island surrounded by bikini clad women."

"Been there, done that, over-rated," he murmured. Not that he could be doing that again with Harry, or at least until him an Harry were on better ground, who was he kidding, maybe next month. "Story for another time. I hear you wanted to see me."

Sirius nodded, gathering his words. "I know the truth about Harry."

Tony sighed. "Sirius . . ."

"James didn't hate you, and I hope you know that. Yes, you slept with Lily. I mean who wouldn't. She was gorgeous, beautiful, funny, smart . . ." Tony raised his eyebrow at his cousin, but didn't interject anything. "She was grieving, you were there. He never resented you. You gave him something that he thought he would never have. Lily was able to have the baby she so desperately wanted. I knew that Harry was yours, but they were never able to tell you . . .what happened? Are you going to be there now?"

"I never got anything. Something about my mail being screened at Stark Industries and apparently magical mail owls deliver to magical signatures, and since I don't have a strong one . . . it kept delivering to where I was living last, the penthouse."

"If you had known?"

"Then he would have been with me all along after James and Lily passed," Tony told him, "But I didn't know, and now I have a nine year old boy who has lived with his horrible aunt and uncle. I don't know what I am doing, but all I know is that he is a survivor who hasn't started living yet."

Sirius looked sick as he put together the pieces. "He stayed with that cow, Petunia?"

All Tony could do was nod. He knew that Vernon physically abused Harry, verbally assaulted his son repeatedly, Harry didn't mention anything else, God he hoped there wasn't anything more. His son was damaged, but not unloved, he would do everything now to make sure that Harry knew that.

All Sirius could do was hang his head. Petunia was a wicked witch with a capital "B when Sirius had met her one time at the train station. To think that his precious godson grew up with that wench made his heart hurt.

"I don't know if you know this, but they made me Harry's godfather."

"Lily mentioned it in her letters. I am fully prepared to let you assume whatever role you want to take. I have recruited Remus to help teach Harry, we literally ran into each other at the hospital . . ." Tony trailed off. "I don't know how to be a parent."

"I learned from Dorea and Charlus," Sirius wheezed out, his lungs still hurting from the air of Azkaban. "My own parents were horrible people who should have never had kids."

"Howard was awful, Mom . . . Mom did the best she could with me. She would sing and play the piano to help me sleep," Tony divulged. He had forgotten how much alike they were.

"James and Lily were awesome parents. James would stay up at night with Harry when he was teething. He would mirror call me so I could feel his pain. I would like to be a part of his life, as his godfather. I would like to help Remus teach him about magic and his Potter heritage. James magically adopted him, so that made him the magical dad, his heir. That makes Harry the last in the Potter line."

Tony nodded, hearing all of this from Remus. "Harry and I haven't talked about it, but he is going to stay Harry James Potter in the magical world, but otherwise will be Harry James Potter-Stark. James gave his life for his . . . our . . .son. I want him to know about him, and who better to tell them then James' best friend? I would never dream of depriving the both of you a relationship, and hope to keep you as godfather if anything happens to me."

Sirius nodded, feeling better now that Tony had reassured him of his place in Harry's life. Tony's technology and money could only do so much, Harry would also have to be protected magically. The blood wards on Privet Drive were admittedly the best , and they were trying to figure out a way if they could transfer the magic someway, but Remus wasn't getting anywhere on that research front. It had to be a relative of Lily, and the three men would die before asking that shrew of a woman for anything.

Sirius stood, staring out the infirmary windows. Physically he was drained, mentally the dementors did a number on him, but he wasn't going to let his demons drown him. Below him he could see Remus entertaining Harry on a broom.

"Harry's a natural at flying," Tony commented staring at his son. "He is going to be a seeker, spotted the snitch from that very window at least a dozen times while he was cooped up here."

There was a long uncomfortable silence between the two men.

"How hard could raising a kid be?" Tony mused aloud.

Sirius snorted. "Famous last words cousin. Now, maybe I can get Madam Pomfrey to let me out of here to go meet your sprog, again."

Tony and Sirius walked in relative silence until they reached the shores of Black Lake where Remus had taken Harry to go fly around on a training broom. Tony was still a little worried about Harry and flying on something that was normally meant to clean, but Sirius and Dumbledore assured him that it was perfectly safe, and knowing Remus, he wasn't going to let his nephew fly to high anyway. They approached slowly and softly so Tony could hear the conversation going on between the two of them.

1414141414

Remus normally hated the magical enhancements that came with being a werewolf, but today he definitely needed it to keep up with the energy of the raven haired nine year old who was disguised with spiked red hair and freckles. He looked little like Lily with it. Remus pondered if that was what Tony was going for with this disguise.

"Uncle Remus?

Remus was pulled from his musings when he heard Harry call for him. "Yeah Harry?"

"I'm famous . . .for Mom and Dad dying in the wizard world . . ." Harry toed the dirt with his very expensive sneakers that Pepper had just bought him. When Dumbledore had told Harry of his legacy in the wizarding world, he didn't quite know what to expect. He was grateful that his larger than life father had to go talk with Sirius first, so Harry could assimilate the information and try to make sense of everything. Nothing had made sense since Harry was pushed onto the recumbent DNA machine. Not that it was a bad thing, it was a good thing. But it was still stuff to process.

It had been almost a month since his world had been tilted on its axis.

Remus cast a warming charm on the boy and smiled at him.

"I remember meeting your dad, Tony, when he was 13. His mother, Maria had wanted Tony out of the spotlight for a little bit, so she sent him to stay with your other grandmother, Dorea . They were first cousins, if I remember the relations right. Your grandfather Howard, kept Tony in the spotlight a lot. Tony is a certified genius, much like you. Except Tony had a father who recognized it and exploited it. Tony was constantly in the news for some new advancement that he had made for Stark Industries. He built his first circuit board at 4, graduated high school at 8."

"Tony is a little larger than life, and I don't know if I can live up to being his kid, or this person that the magical world thinks I am . . ." Harry trailed off, sitting down staring at the lake.

"You don't have to live up to anything," Remus told his young charge. Harry definitely was an introspective child.

"Just be Harry," Tony piped up. Tony reached over and removed Camo from his son's wrist. He ruffled his son's unruly hair. "I don't want you to be anything that you don't want to be kiddo." He plopped down next to his son, and draped his arm around Harry's shoulder in what he hoped was reassuring. Howard only tried to make Tony be what he thought the next CEO of Stark Industries should be. Engineering school at MIT and then an MBA, which Obi had insisted upon at Columbia after Howard's death. Having a son who needed extra tuition at the School for Gifted Individuals was something that Howard wasn't too certain of. He was positive that he wouldn't be the next Howard Stark.

Harry just shook his head. "I'm the son of two war heroes, and the son of a famous visionary . . ."

"It is a lot to take in," Tony told him. He remembered dealing with the same emotions when he was younger, realizing the legacy of his father and where he fit in with the entire universe. "But know that I will support you no matter what, even if you are a screw up. I remember this one time Obi needed to come get me from this awesome little place in Las Vegas . . . the girls could do this most interesting thing with their legs, and there was a lot of leg involved . . ."

Remus cleared his throat from behind the pair.

"Something you probably shouldn't be telling your nine year old son," Sirius spoke up for the first time. He was drinking in the sight of his godson, noting how much he did look like a mix of Tony and Lily, and how easily he could be mistaken for James' biological son. "I know you don't remember me but . . ."

"Padfoot," Harry interjected. "I remember your voice."

"You should, he talked to you a lot," Remus informed him.

"He probably just liked the sound of his own voice," Tony joked with him.

"Ha Ha, you guys. They think they are the best comedians," Sirius just shook his head. Then he jerked his thumb over at Tony. "You should watch your old man, he likes to talk a lot." He shifted to an uncomfortable silence listening to Remus and Tony take a couple of more shots at him.

"So you are my godfather . . ." Harry started, "Uncle Remus filled me in a little bit."

Sirius nodded. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking when I went after Peter. You could have been with Tony a lot longer if I had just played it cool and kept my wits about me."

Harry sat for a minute and listened to the words his godfather was saying.

"Tony seems like he is going to be great and he is going to let me and Remus be a big part of your life like we always should have been," Sirius kept on. "I know it was something that James and Lily always wanted. I'm just sorry that it didn't happen earlier. Tony told me a little bit about your Uncle. My mom used to beat me pretty regularly. If you need an ear, I'm here for you."

Harry leaned into his godfather. "It kinda sucked, and I'm not ready to talk yet, but thanks. And I forgive you. The only people responsible for their treatment of me is my relatives, you already spent enough time atoning."

"You sound like a smart kid, you know that."

"Well . . . . Tony is a genius, and I am half him, half Mom, and magically Dad. At least I think that is the way it goes," Harry reasoned. "I probably won't do to bad in that department."

Tony smiled. "Actually kid, you are a genius. Rachel, Ms. Aberdeen, as you know, had you tested. She sent me some of your school work and some of your actual test papers."

Harry ducked his head and blushed. Something that was all Lily. Tony boasted about his genius often, but his son inherited it and some humility. Got the best from both parents.

"I just did really good, nothing special."

"Harry, your IQ is a 160, it's something special," Tony assured him. "We are going to have to figure out what to do to keep you from getting bored until you go to school here. Maybe I will call my mentor Charles to help teach you the basics of your abilities, and if he can't then I am sure he can point us in the right direction."

AN: I am going to be rewriting and editing the first 12 chapters, look for authors notes at the beginning of newer chapters for updates. When I started I didn't have a vision and now I do, so hopefully I can reshape this story into something I enjoy. I have reread it and feel the need to make it better. With that being said, I do have 2 kids, work full time and am married, so this story is not a priority in my life, just something I enjoy doing in what little spare time I have when the beasts are asleep. Please be understanding. Chapter 1 rewrite is coming soon.