Sirius put something called a feather-light charm on his trunk, and Harry carried it easily down the stairs, following his godfather.

They met Remus in the front hall, and he smiled at them.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"We have all of Harry's things," confirmed Sirius.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked.

"To our home in London."

"Do you and Mr. Lupin live together, then?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Mr. Black responded after glancing at Mr. Lupin. "We do."

"Okay," Harry said, oblivious to the slight tension between the two men. "How are we going to get there?"

"We're going to do something called apparating. It's just disappearing in one spot and reappearing in another," he explained.

"Like teleporting?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Exactly like that, yes," Mr. Lupin said. "I'll take your things, and Sirius will take you. Sound alright?"

Harry nodded, taking Mr. Black's hand when it was offered to him, and letting go of his trunk when Mr. Lupin took it.

"It might feel a little strange, but I promise I'm very good at it," Mr. Black said. "Ready?"

Harry nodded, and Mr. Black turned on his foot. The next thing Harry knew, he felt as if he was being sucked through a tiny straw. It was a very odd feeling.

When the feeling stopped, they were in a small, untidy garden. Harry didn't recognize half the plants in it, and he was used to gardening for Aunt Petunia.

Mr. Lupin appeared with a pop next to them, holding Harry's trunk and the vivarium.

"Cool," Harry said, grinning up at Mr. Black.

"You'll learn to do it when you're older," he said, reaching down to ruffle Harry's hair.

He followed Mr. Lupin into the house, which was a bit dark.

"Kreacher!" Mr. Black called out, apparently randomly. Then there was another pop, and some kind of creature appeared in the hallway.

"How can Kreacher be helping Master Lord Black?" he asked, his tone servile and fawning.

"Take Harry's trunk and his tank up to his bedroom," Mr. Black said in a commanding tone.

"Yes, Master Lord Black," the being said, before snapping his fingers, disappearing with the trunk and vivarium.

"Who was that?" Harry asked, his eyes wide. "What was that?"

Mr. Black laughed a little bit, shaking his head.

"Merlin, Harry, I keep forgetting that you were raised by muggles! Kreacher is a House Elf, and he works for me."

"Oh, okay," Harry said, though he still had questions.

"Come on, let me give you a tour of the houses," Mr. Black said jovially, slinging his arm around Harry's shoulders.

Harry was lead through the townhouse, from the kitchen - "Kreacher's domain" - to the library - "be careful in here, Harry" - to his bedroom.

"Now, it's a little bit bland at the moment," Mr. Black warned him. "But I wanted to give you the chance to decorate it yourself."

He opened the door with a flourish and revealed a large bedroom with an opulent bed in the middle. It was larger than Dudley's room, even.

"For me?" Harry asked, suddenly shy.

"All for you, Harry. We can make it any color you wish - the paint is enchanted, so we can change it whenever you'd like. And I thought we could go shopping tomorrow and see if there's anything you want for it."

"I already have everything I need for school," Harry offered, not sure he wanted Mr. Black to spend money on him.

"Nonsense, Harry!" He said, grinning. "You need to get something fun!"

Harry shrugged. It would be nice, he supposed, to be able to buy what he pleased without Professor McGonagall looking over his shoulder with her kind but stern gaze. He didn't want to waste money. But he also didn't want to displease his godfather in any way.

"Now, how about a spot of lunch, Harry, and we can talk," he said decisively, clapping Harry on the shoulder. "Come on down to the dining room with me. What would you like to eat?"

Harry shrugged. He wasn't used to being able to choose what he wanted, always stuck with the Dursley's leftovers.

He followed Mr. Black down the stairs, the man pointing out his bedroom on the way, and they ended up in the kitchen, where a big wooden table sat in the middle.

"We like to use the kitchen to eat, rather than the formal dining room," Mr. Black explained. "It's more casual that way."

They met Mr. Lupin in the dining room, where he was waiting for them.

"I've told Kreacher to prepare sandwiches. I hope that's alright with everyone?" He said cheerily.

Harry nodded quickly. Sandwiches were simple, he could eat those without feeling sick.

Mr. Black sat down at the head of the table, and Harry took the seat to his right, opposite Mr. Lupin.

"Mr. Black-" he started, hesitantly.

"Mr. Black?" the man repeated. "No, call me Sirius, Harry. Or Padfoot, that's my nickname. And Remus is Remus or Moony," he said.

Harry glanced towards the other man for confirmation, and he nodded quickly.

"You can call me Remus, of course, Harry."

"Alright, Remus," Harry said shyly. "Sirius, thank you for doing all of this for me. I just wondered... what will my parents say, when they find out that I'm magic?"

Before Sirius or Remus could reply, Kreacher appeared with the sandwiches and a pitcher.

"Lunch for the masters," he said in his gravelly voice, and the tray and pitcher floated down to the table.

"Well, dig in," said Sirius, less cheerfully than before. They all took sandwiches on to the plates that appeared in front of them and filled their glasses.

"Pumpkin juice," Remus explained in an aside. Harry shrugged and tried it. It was different, but pretty good.

"Now, your parents," Sirius said around a bite of his food. "What you need to understand about James and Lily, is that they've, um, let fame get to their heads, a bit."

Remus snorted.

"A bit," he said under his breath. "And dragons are a bit dangerous."

Sirius ignored him except to quirk his lips. Harry was distracted from the wonder of the fact that dragons were apparently real by the fact that they were discussing his parents.

"How famous are they, really?" he asked. "Professor McGonagall told me about my brother being the, um, Boy-Who-Lived? But I still really don't understand what that means."

Sirius and Remus exchanged a look.

"What you need to understand, Harry, is that Adam, your brother, did something impossible, by surviving the killing curse," Remus said. "Not only that, in doing so, the dark lord was defeated. He ended a war, and for that people were grateful. Even more than that. And then James and Lily ended up, well. Taking advantage of that gratitude, in a way."

Sirius laughed bitterly.

"The wizarding world was all too ready to throw themselves at the Potter's feet for what Adam did, Remus, don't sugarcoat things. They were grateful, yes, but also curious. And James and Lily fed that curiosity. James always did have a bit of a big head, but we always thought Lily had deflated him a bit," he said, almost thoughtfully. "It makes me wonder what went on between them. In any case," he said, "they started giving interviews, and the like. Feeding into people's obsession with the myth of the Boy-Who-Lived. And Adam, I'm afraid to say, is entirely spoiled. An odious little boy, really. I don't know him well, but I've met him a time or two since he was an infant. He's full of himself, and his own importance."

Harry watched Sirius speak curiously. He didn't really know what to think of his parents yet, beyond the fact that they had given him up. But from what his godfather said, he didn't think he would like them.

"I still don't know what was going through Lily's head," he continued. "She's muggleborn, you know, so she wouldn't have the prejudices about squibs already. James must have been really convincing somehow."

Remus shook his head.

"As for what they're going to say when they find out that you aren't a squib," he said, his tone measured. "They're going to be shocked, that's for certain. But other than that... well, they might be embarrassed at their mistake. They might try to apologize to you, Harry, and get custody back from you Aunt and Uncle."

"I don't want to live with them," Harry blurted out, almost surprising himself with the firmness in his tone. He hated the Dursley's, that was true, but he was starting to hate his parents more.

Sirius and Remus exchanged another look.

"I don't want you to make any hasty decisions yet, Harry," Sirius said, as though the words pained him. "They are your parents, and-"

"I don't care!" Harry shouted. "They left me! The just - just left me with the Dursley's! They didn't even bother checking on me, just because they thought I didn't have magic. And if I was a squib, they wouldn't care now. I don't want anything to do with them!"

Sirius looked at him, stunned. Remus rose from his seat and came to sit next to Harry, rubbing his back.

"You don't have to," he said. "What they did was unforgivable, so if you don't want to deal with them, you don't have to, alright? I'll be there for you, and so will Sirius. Right?"

"Right," Sirius confirmed, nodding quickly. "And we'll take care of things with the Dursley's. If you don't want to go back there, you don't have to."

"Really?" Harry asked, looking up and wiping tears from his eyes.

"Really," Remus confirmed.