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."
...
He frowned slightly at the news of these "Deathly Hallows," since it was the first time he had even heard of them. "I know a bit about the family's past, but I've mainly been focusing on the here and now.
Ancient history can wait in this case; it's not going to change now, is it? Besides, I've already taken up the position. What's done is done, as they say." He decided he would have to investigate the story to find out what it was all about.
"Wise words. Just be careful, alright?" Sirius asked, almost pleading for him to be safe.
"You're the first one I've told about this," he admitted. "Do you still want me to be your heir?"
"Yes," Sirius said firmly, before asking carefully, "Have you considered the fact that you could end up having multiple wives? Some families will expect it of you, and others could very well want to marry their daughters off to you just for the chance to steal a line.
Or even just for the prestige of the name and your multiple Lordships." He finished as the barman returned with their order of beef stew.
"Yeah, I know," he admitted slowly as he considered his feelings on the subject, feeling uncomfortable with the idea of marriage this early in his life, or the thought of having multiple wives.
He understood, logically, that with his goal of rebuilding his ancestral house, ensuring he had several possible heirs would be a necessity, and having multiple wives would help achieve that goal most effectively. Such a pragmatic approach to progeny was extremely common in the natural world.
But he had been brought up by his abusive Muggle relatives in the Muggle culture, and as much as he hated to admit it, some of their prejudices had rubbed off on him. The idea of a polygamous marriage being taboo was one of them, after being dragged to frequent Sunday church services, even if the faith had condemned his own kind. Like many times since finding out that he was a wizard, he would once again be forced to reconsider his position and beliefs based on new facts and circumstances. After all, he had been a devout atheist before finding out that he was a wizard. But now that ghosts and spirits were proved to not only be real, but a daily part of his life, it reopened that idea for mental debate.
Then there was the fact that he had only just started to notice girls in the last couple of months, even if he knew about the biology behind it all, and understood sexual references months earlier thanks to Tonks' insightful and mentally scarring lesson. "But it's my life. I'll marry who I desire to. And frankly, I think I would prefer a single partner. From what I've seen, most men have problems with just one wife. I don't know how I would ever handle two or three or four!"
His godfather laughed at his discomfort, almost taking pleasure in it.
"Yeah, one plotting against you is bad enough. I learned that the hard way myself. What two could do working together is downright scary to think about." Sirius laughed more as he gave his godson a curious look, almost sensing Harry knew he was speaking from personal experience. "Here's a bit of advice: two girlfriends at the same time may sound like a grand idea, but trust me, it's not worth the trouble you get in," the dog animagus stated firmly, grinning like the dog he was.
Nodding at the advice, Harry replied, "Thanks, no two girlfriends," while shaking his head at his godfather's antics.
"Your father also found that out the hard way."
Harry choked on his stew at learning this about his father. Sirius started grinning evilly at that. "However, as Sirius Black," he said self-importantly, "your corrupting, misbehaving godfather, I have a duty to inform you that a tag-team blowjob is freakin' amazing!" Sirius grinned widely after saying this, almost as if in fond remembrance, causing Harry to roll his eyes at his dogfather's behaviour. He was just a bit too young to recognize the truth of that profound statement.
"And now I desire proof that you are worthy to be my successor to the Noble and Charming House of Black. To prove your mettle, my good man, you must complete 'Sirius' 10 Labours of Charm, Corruption, and Chaos,' if you wish to truly become my heir!"
Watching his godfather warily, Harry wondered what he was playing at. "What are you up to, you old dog? You already said that I'm your heir," he said, vaguely remembering Hercules' Ten Labours. His gut turned in anxiety before a potent thrill of excitement shot through him at the challenge.
Smiling cleverly, Sirius answered his godson's question, "Something which is my right, when testing the suitability of my chosen heir. It will also help to stop anyone from possibly contesting it, if I test you with tasks to prove your worth. Even if you don't need to, it just makes it more recognised, as it used to be a very common tradition amongst purebloods when families were larger and selecting the best person to lead the family. It faded out of practice about 100 years ago when families started having fewer children and selecting amongst several prospective heirs became impossible," his godfather lectured, clearly enjoying himself.
Deciding to play along and hope it was nothing too stupid or illegal, Harry said, "Ok, I accept. However, I want a list now, with terms and conditions of what can and can't be done. I won't have you changing the rules halfway through this game of yours, just because I'm winning too easy," he stated with confidence, before adding quickly, "And none of the things can be illegal," almost missing that part.
"Spoilsport," Sirius responded, faking a pout. "I was going to have you kidnap the Minister. However, I'll tell you the next challenge after you complete the previous one. I want to keep it challenging, don't want to make it too easy for you."
Deciding to get started immediately, Harry asked, "What do I have to do to prove myself to you? Chase my tail?" putting Sirius immediately on the spot, to come up with something straight away before his godfather could put his devious mind to scheming and plotting.
Smiling back at him, as it was clearly what Sirius wanted, "I'll give you your task on New Year's Eve, along with the terms and conditions; you have until the end of your 7th year to complete it. Fair?"
Harry carefully considered the offer, five and a half years for the completion of ten tasks, easily two per year. "Yeah, I would like one which I can bail out of, so a free life of sorts," he answered back, wondering if this was the mead talking, as Sirius grinned.
"Sure, after all, you're no cat," his godfather replied, before asking, "You only get nine lives if you're a cat animagus. Are you one?"
"Nope, I don't think so," Harry said, shaking his head. That was one creature he had ruled out from the start. He just couldn't see himself as a male Professor McGonagall. "Nah, I'm pretty sure I'm a bird of some sort. Maybe a raven or a crow, or maybe an eagle of some type. I just get that rush when flying, or something that likes to have freedom to move about."
"I think raven, personally. They're cunning tricksters," Sirius offered, whilst nursing his beer.
"Yeah, but when do I trick? Or prank? I don't do that all that much," Harry replied. "I trick and prank for personal gain, not necessarily for fun, like you and Remus and Dad did," he added, giving his counterpoint to Sirius's suggestion. "This stew is good, much better than the stuff at Hogwarts."
"Yeah," Sirius agreed.
The rest of the meal was filled with chit-chat, as they just enjoyed a good carefree conversation before carrying on with their shopping.
"Sirius, do you mind if we pop in here for a bit?" Harry asked, as he examined a nearby bookstore, hoping he could find something of interest, even with the language barrier.
"Sure, why not? I was wondering how long it would be before we entered a bookstore," Sirius teased. "After all, you're a right little bookworm."
Entering the old bookstore, the air was once again heavy and thick with the smell of freshly burnt wood. He looked around for a bit before heading off to a corner to start his search for anything of interest. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sirius attempting to talk to the shop owner, but clearly failing based on the confused expression on the owner's face.
Opening one of the tomes he saw that it had an image of a completed potion, making it clear that he was in the potions section of the store. Eventually, by process of elimination, he worked out how the bookstore was laid out. He made a mental note that the next time he travelled he should learn the native tongue beforehand, learn a good translation charm, or find some other means of effective communication.
Shaking his head once again at his godfather forgetting to learn something as simple as a translation charm prior to travelling, he went back to check the shelves for anything of interest. Eventually, after a good bit of searching the shelves, he finally settled on getting a couple books on Nordic runes, as well as some DADA books and a couple on rituals.
Many of these selections were simply because the pictures demonstrating the spells looked far more interesting than the standard Hogwarts material.
One charmed picture showed a Nordic wizard casting a spell at the fallen snow, and a massive ice spike erupting up from it, impaling a charging frost giant. Or its secondary spell, which caused thousands of little sharp spikes to be created across a wide arc.
Frankly, the book's images displayed the gruesome results of the spells, making it clear that Nordic wizards had no issue with drawing blood. Another important note to self: 'don't start a fight with a Nordic wizard.'
Eventually they went back to exploring the alley. However, as darkness began to fall, they retreated back to their hotel for the evening.
...
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