Walking down the high street as the snow softly fell from the sky, he looked in through the shop windows, examining the displays and the various wares on offer. For the first time in his life he truly felt like a regular kid, with the ability to simply enjoy himself and lower his guard without fear, to not have to worry about the legendary Chamber of Secrets, nor having to worry about Pettigrew, the would-be assassin. He could just enjoy himself.
"Anything you fancy, pup?" Sirius asked, looking over his shoulder at the foreign displays.
Eyeing the fur coat made from the pelt of a black bear, he answered, "Yea, I like that coat," pointing it out to his godfather. "However, I can't really see myself using it that much, seems a waste," he said while dismissing it.
"Doesn't matter," Sirius replied easily. "As long as you like it, that's all that matters. Besides, it's not like it's going to bankrupt us," he finished before forcefully pulling him into the store.
The hour flew by as they selected several outfits, much to the shop assistant's personal delight, who quickly realized that they had a lot of gold to spend and then promptly went into 'kiss-ass mode.' During this shopping spree he picked up some nice lighter robes in the native style, which interestingly had fur on the shoulders, making them look rather exotic. However, he also saw the chance to pick up something nice for Daphne, and picked up a white wolf fur scarf, with matching gloves and coat.
The problem was that he didn't know her size really, but he thought he had a good estimate. Naturally, this led him to get something for her sister as well whilst he was there, which frankly was far more difficult to achieve, since he didn't know much about her and had only seen her once before.
Sirius picked out a suitable gift for Lord and Lady Greengrass in preparation for their upcoming dinner. By the time they were done picking clothes for themselves, which were almost whole wardrobes' worth each, as well as for their own friends, a great deal of time and money had been spent on the outing.
They ended up being in the store for well over three hours and got a 15% discount after spending just under 1 thousand gold Scals. Personally, he thought it would be far more, but Sirius quickly explained before he could work it out for himself. "Gold is worth far more over here, and there are only about four to five thousand wizards living in Iceland. And I believe they have no native gold mines."
"Oh, so the exchange rate is in our favour then," he said quickly, catching on.
"Yup!" Sirius assured. "That's probably the biggest sale that sales assistant ever had," he said, whilst grinning like a madman. "He'll probably get one hell of a Christmas bonus because of it," Sirius added as he searched the high street. "Where to next?" he asked whilst looking around the snow-covered alley, smiling at the sight of children playing.
"How about we head to the inn?" he said, pointing it out. "I could do with a bite to eat."
"Sure thing, I could use a drink. I've always wanted to see if Icelandic beer lives up to its reputation. I might even look the other way so you can try one," Sirius said with a massive grin.
Smiling at the offer, he wondered just what the beer would taste like. In the end he found out that the hotel beer was rather decent, but a bit strong for his budding tastes. "You're meant to be the responsible one, what are you trying to do, corrupt me? You evil man!" he exclaimed, enjoying the chance to joke and blow off some steam, since he always had to act so stiff and formal around Hogwarts. "I'm a respectable heir; such poison is beneath me!" he added, turning his nose up in a way that wouldn't be out of place on Malfoy's face.
"Yea! I am," Sirius shot back as they walked into the inn and took a corner seat. The inn itself was a bit like an old Viking longhouse with torches hanging from the wall, bathing the room in heat and light, with an open fire pit running down the centre of the room. Despite the clear Nordic-inspired design, the inn felt warm and friendly as he noted the bar at the back of the room, with two doors at either side.
"Nice place," he noted whilst admiring the inn, making mental notes on the design and layout for future reference, in case he ever needed to renovate 'Pleasurable Nights' again, which after his improvements was finally starting to turn a decent profit. "Where do you want to sit?"
"Over here," his godfather gestured with a flick of his hand, throwing his winter coat over the back of the padded chair as Harry dutifully followed him. Several minutes passed before the barman finally came over and took their orders, before Sirius spoke up again, rather solemnly in fact. "Being serious for a minute, Harry, I've named you as my Heir if anything should happen to me. That Healer, Ayra, that you introduced me to a couple weeks ago... she told me officially something that I had already suspected; I can't have kids," he said soberly while revealing this news.
Sirius paused for a time, just staring at the bar top before looking him in the eye again and continuing. "We both expected it since my release; ten years is a long time to be locked up in maximum security surrounded by Dementors sucking the life and magic out of you. I want you to be my Heir, not just my acting heir, but my true heir," Sirius implored, looking him straight in the eye as he said it. "I have faith that you'll do me and the family proud," Sirius stated, before adding a request while sporting a devious smile. "But I would like at least a little bit of my influence to rub off on you, even if it means I'd have to look forward to your mother's wrath in the next life."
Even though he had known it was possible that he could end up being the Black heir, he hadn't planned for it, or expected it really. He had frankly thought that Tonks would take up the line now that she was back in the family. "I don't know what to say, Sirius," he said, caught totally off guard by the timing of the statement, as the waiter delivered their drinks.
"Thanks," he said absently to the waiter, as his mind was already busy running through various scenarios on how best to use his new position. Furthermore, it meant the Lestrange votes and fortune would be his one day too. 'Damn,' he thought, as he started realizing the sheer amount of political capital he could have at his disposal.
Clearly it was the right thing to say. "Just drink the beer then," Sirius said, smiling whilst pushing the offered beer across the table. "I won't tell anyone if you don't," Sirius offered with a reserved smile.
Deciding he needed to be honest with his godfather if he was going to be his full heir and successor, he discreetly pulled out his wand and cast a simple but powerful privacy charm around them. "Sirius, you should be aware that I'm already a dual heir, even before adding this," he said, rubbing his Black family ring as he reached into his top to pull out the chain holding the Peverell Lordship ring, and discreetly showing it to his godfather. "I am already Lord Peverell, and have been since I turned eleven."
"How?" his godfather demanded, as he examined the ring across the table, whilst attracting some strange looks from the locals in the inn.
Slipping into story mode, he began, "My mother and father put several safeguards in place for my protection in the event of their deaths during the war. One of them was the Peverell Lordship activation. I'm already Lord Peverell and have been since my 11th birthday. It's the reason why the goblins allow me to do so much. To them I'm an adult by wizarding law and by magic, and it is why they allowed me to live by myself last year," he explained to his stunned godfather.
"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Sirius demanded, clearly caught off guard by this sudden news.
"It was a fail-safe; if you turned out to be an ass, or an unsuitable guardian," he explained, "I could have simply ignored you. Plus, I don't need to brag about something or go flashing my Lordship ring around in everyone's face to feel important. Moreover, once Remus moved in, I didn't trust you enough not to reveal it to him. The only reason I'm telling you now is because it's the right thing to do if I'm going to be your heir. It's only an effective safeguard if no one knows about it, sorry," he offered in explanation. "I hope you will keep this between us, because my age offers me a lot of protection currently. If knowledge of my Lordship came out, I would lose that and become very vulnerable."
"I understand," Sirius said after a while. "I was an unknown figure, just someone you knew by name and reputation, nothing more. Considering your past treatment at the hands of your relatives, it's understandable that you would want a way out. I won't tell anyone until you're ready. This is family business; I won't even tell Remus."
"Thank you," he answered, as he drank some more of the unusual mead, which was rich, yet smooth, with a hint of nutmeg and almost fruity.
Sirius wrestled with his drink for a bit before saying, "You're aware that the Peverell name has a rather colourful history? And that not everyone will be best pleased with you for taking it up again? Then there are the stories about the Deathly Hallows. People will come after you due to that alone, from all around the world, attempting to find the Hallows."
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