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Chapter 11: Siriusly Brothers

It was hard looking at Harry and seeing him as his brother and not his godson. Yet, that was what he was. But he still tried to look at him and find any sign of James and Lily in him, there wasn't any.

He had his father's eyes. Well, his eyes as the Dark One. He did share some features that were definitely his Papa before he became that monster, but there were traits that Sirius didn't recognize as well, and he supposed were Cora's.

A woman he had not met yet, and had a feeling he probably wouldn't be meeting if his father had anything to do with.

He had met his father's fiancée though. Damn, she was a looker. If he hadn't been the mess he was, he might've hit on her. But she wasn't his type. While Belle might've been gorgeous, she was no Emma Swan. But she was way too good for her father, which he let her know.

She laughed, "Your father's changed, Bae."

That name. It felt so odd hearing it after so many years; it also didn't help matters that Harry said it meant poo. And he was right; he had proved it to him using something called the Google (he really did need to catch up on muggle technology).

Sirius shook his head. Belle was naïve. He really had a hard time believing that his father had changed. While he might not be glittery and hadn't ripped anyone's heart out in the penthouse hotel they were currently staying at, he knew the Dark One.

Belle sighed, "I know that…I know how he was the last time you saw him, but if you could find it in your heart to give him another chance."

Sirius just shook his head. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"Because you don't have a choice." Belle said more perceptive than he realized. "I know that Rumple helped you escape from jail and that your physical condition isn't exactly ideal right now."

No, he was damn weak. And he was actually glad he was being fed the Dark One's potions, strange as it might sound. Azkaban had did some major damage on him, physically and psychologically, and as long as he was forced to stay here with his father he might as well get well. Harry needed that.

Especially when he figured out how to get him out of his father's thumb and escape to one of the Black hideaways—he was thinking maybe that house in Aruba that he had inherited from one of his squib cousins. Mother (well, the woman who he thought was Mother) always found that place to be so plebian, but Sirius loved the tropical atmosphere and drinks.

And then his thoughts drifted to Emma Swan in a bikini.

Seriously, there was something wrong with him? Besides the name identity crisis. He really didn't get why he was still thinking of Emma Swan so much, if only out of habit because…well, she and Harry were what he used to hang on to in Azkaban for so long.

"You'll get better," Belle said viewing his silence as fear or something—honestly he didn't know. "Rumple will make sure of it, you know he's looked for you for years."

Like that gave him a pass.

Yes, he knew he sounded childish, but his life was fucked up in large part because of his father. Well, if you wanted to get technical about it was the Blue Fairy's fault, but his father could've made things better.

Like squeeze Pan's heart to smithereens.

He was only starting to remember that part of his life now, and he already wanted to forget it.

It was weird how he still couldn't remember everything, like there were big holes in his life. Like how he had gotten into the care of the Blacks.

That didn't exactly make sense, but he was pretty sure that demon Pan was involved.

Belle sighed, "I'm not going to reason with you, am I?"

"I need time," Sirius said. "And tea. God, I want a cup of good tea. That shouldn't mess with the potion's he's been giving me, should it?"

She shook her head, "I don't think so…I can check though. I am surprise your okay with the whole magic thing, Rumple…well, he mentioned."

Sirius shrugged. He was surprised too. He had remembered always sort of being shy of using magic those first few years at Hogwarts, but then…well, he started liking it. He found he was talented at it. And it wasn't as evil as he had always perceived it be. Back then, that evilness he had thought was because of the Black family, but now he knew he had been afraid of magic because it had destroyed his father.

But magic had also bought good things in his life, like his friends and his godson.

Brother, he corrected himself for what ended up being the first time out of many.

Harry had looked completely astonished when he had told him he was his godfather, he guess no one had told him about him. Not that he had been that surprised. He was, after all, a supposed murderer. If he had been raising Harry, he probably wouldn't have told him about himself too.

Okay, that sounded way too weird.

"Godfather?" Harry said. "Why did you let Aunt….err Petunia raise me?"

This alarmed Sirius. "Petunia? You were raised by her, what about Remus?"

"Remus?" Harry said. "Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were my only living relatives. Well, I guess really they weren't. It's sort of hard to think that now. This whole thing is hard to get use of."

Sirius nodded because what else was there to do, because the whole scenario was baffling to him. His godson was really his little brother. Add to the fact that he grew up with Lily's prude of a sister rather than Remus. What was wrong with this? Maybe his father raising Harry…no, just no. He wasn't going to think of it. Besides, he doubted Petunia had inflicted as much damage as growing up with a man who turned people into snails for fun.

"I'm sorry about that," Sirius said as he looked at Harry. "I, uh, well, this wasn't how it was suppose to be."

Harry shrugged. "There's no use apologizing, you can't change the past."

Unfortunately, you couldn't. And the way Harry's tone sounded, well, almost eleven years in Azkaban made Sirius very aware of that tone—hopelessness.

He sighed. "He's treating you okay, isn't he?"

"Dad?" Harry asked. "Yeah, he treats me fine."

Sirius inwardly flinched as he heard Harry call their father that. A part of him would always associate Harry as James's son, even though he know knew that wasn't the truth. Harry didn't even act like James or Lily, that didn't mean he was a duplicate of his father (thank God) by any means. But he definitely saw his father in Harry more than James.

The way he scrutinized Sirius it was just the way his father looked at him.

"He's not that bad to me," Harry said. "I get that the world isn't all black and white, but still there are some days…"

So he knew, about the Dark One then. It sort of surprised Sirius. He really didn't know what to say. A part of him wanted to tell Harry not to trust Rumpelstiltskin at all, but if his father found out…

He didn't want to give him any wiggle room, before he figured out how to get out of this whole mess.

He still couldn't believe he was under his father's thumb again. And besides that, it seemed like his father seemed to be the first stable adult in Harry's life.

Why Petunia?

He knew Lily and James had a will. It wasn't that big of a to do will, but it covered the basis and he knew he was listed as legal guardian should anything happen. He wasn't sure how all that legal mumbo-jumbo worked, but he was sure that Harry shouldn't have been sent to Petunia.

It made him shudder about how reckless he had been. Sure, he didn't have Lily or James, or Emma in his life anymore, but he had Harry and he shouldn't have let him down like that. He shouldn't have given his father a chance to play hero.

His father as a hero. What a parallel universe had he entered? Probably one his father would've liked. A part of him felt bitterness over what he saw, but at the same time he hadn't lost all his sanity he could see that Harry wasn't having the ideal time with his father.

Who would?

Well, maybe his father's girlfriend.

Ugh, what a waste of such a pretty face.

Sirius shook his head. He hoped for Belle's sake and Harry's, that he had really changed like Belle claimed. But he doubted it. He knew his father. It was always some sort of game or something.

Like releasing him from Azkaban. He knew his father was going to hold it over him, but he hadn't exactly figured out how except that he was stuck in the penthouse suite of what he was guessing was some over priced hotel in London based on the room service he was currently eating.

Made sense his father would go for the penthouse, he had gotten extremely ostentatious since becoming the Dark One.

He needed to get out, somehow get access to the Black funds and take Harry to that house in Aruba.

However, doing that was going to be easier said than done especially with how protective his father seemed over Harry and then there was the fact that he seemed to pop up unexpectedly.

Oh, how Sirius forgot just how annoying that could be.

He was actually amazed that his papa had given him and Harry any time alone to talk.

Sirius rolled his eyes once his papa had finally gone away. "I see he is still smothering as ever."

Harry shrugged. "He's always like that I thought he was just like that because he found me."

Of course. How his father had just found out about Harry was another thing Sirius was coming to terms with. He really couldn't believe his best friends were baby stealers even though his father had basically accused them of that about fifty thousand times since Sirius had found out about his godson/brother.

Sirius frowned but didn't say anything. Instead, he decided to change the subject. "So, how do you like Hogwarts?"

Harry smiled. His smile was so big, yet it didn't remind Sirius of James. Nothing about Harry reminded Sirius of James, and that sort of hurt. It was weird. He was grateful about having an unexpected brother, but at the same time he felt like he lost his godson. He knew these thoughts were irrational, but…

It was just how he felt. He needed to get his stupid emotions in tact, which was one of the only reasons he had forced him to take those stupid potions of his father's.

Harry was oblivious to all this inward turmoil as he started telling Sirius about his adventures, but Sirius couldn't help but notice some deliberate pauses.

He raised an eyebrow, "Why do I feel like you're omitting some things?"

Harry bit his lip. "You didn't ask about everything at Hogwarts, I didn't think you'd be interested in some things."

Sirius shook his head. "Uh, huh. You don't get to do that with me."

Harry frowned, "I don't know what you're talking about?"

"The avoidance thing." Sirius said. "You don't get to avoid things, I know it's a family trait and you can't help it but it doesn't work with me. I'm your brother slash godfather."

Harry grumbled something under his breath that sounded like, "Just as bad as Regina."

"Regina?" Sirius asked.

"My sister." Harry said.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "I…"

"She's my biological mum's daughter." Harry said.

"Oh," Sirius said. He noticed how Harry had mentioned his mother. While he outright called their father dad, he didn't seem to do the same with his mother. Maybe he knew more about Lily than James? He did grow up with Petunia after all.

Though, she hated Lily.

So, that didn't make sense. He decided to ask Harry about his biological mother, because honestly he was interested in what sort of woman his father could possibly be with.

Harry sighed, "Don't know much, really. Regina says I don't really want to get to know her. And after encountering her I sort of agree."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "What did she…"

Harry shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

There was something about the way he said this, that made Sirius back off. He really was surprised how guarded his godson was. So, unlike James.

But so like his father, and himself.

Harry shouldn't be that guarded though, he was only twelve. And just barely twelve at that.

Instead, Sirius decided to change the subject to something happier. "So, are you excited about going back to Hogwarts this year?"

Harry frowned.

"What?" Sirius I said. "Is that bushy headed girl, really that annoying?"

"She's not annoying…Hermione, is, well, intense. But, I'm, well, Dad said I'm not going back to Hogwarts."

Sirius felt his blood boil. Of course, his father didn't want Harry going back to Hogwarts. Of course.

He tried to calm down, but calming down was hard to do when you spent almost eleven years in Azkaban.

"Are you okay, Sirius?" Harry asked.

"Just peachy," Sirius lied surprising himself that he even had the ability to lie. "I just need to talk to dear old dad."

"He's not going." His father said after Sirius confronted him on the issue.

Sirius glared at him.

"Bae, I'm not going to budge. You can stop with the glaring."

"He needs to have a proper education."

His father snorted.

Sirius glared at him. "I think that is a solid point."

"Oh, it would be, dearie, if he was getting the proper education."

Dearie. God, he hated that term. His father always used it when he thought he had the upper hand over you. Sirius had seen him use it on countless patsies in the past. Sirius did not see himself as a patsy.

"You're not winning on this," Sirius said. "You're forgetting I'm a full fledged wizard in this world, I know what sort of training Harry needs."

His father laughed. While it wasn't the high pitched giggle that it was back in the Enchanted Forest, there was still something eerie about it. "And you're forgetting that I'm the Dark One. Which means that I know magic a lot better than you. And that you're so called magical training is wrong."

"It is not," Sirius said. Even though he really hadn't gotten a grasp on his magic until he had started experimenting with the standard rules a little bit.

His father laughed again. "Even after all these years, I can still read you like a book, Bae. Let me guess, those methods didn't work until you tinkered with them a bit."

Sirius glared at him, even if it was the truth. "He needs to go to school, Papa. His parents would've wanted it."

That was probably not the right thing to say, given the look that took over his father's face. It was a look that had never really been directed at Sirius until now.

"Papa?" He asked.

"Harry is my son." His father emphasized. "I know that your little friend illegally adopted him. But that does not make him his father."

"James…"

And then Sirius found he couldn't speak. He was shocked.

His father shook his head. "No, I am his father. This conversation is over."

And then his father disappeared into a poof of smoke leaving Sirius more determined than ever to get his godson/brother away from the man.