Disclaimer: I'm posting this on a fanfiction site. I think it's obvious that I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: Alternate Universe. On the same night that Dumbledore leaves Harry on the Dursley's doorstep, Sirius retrieves him and instead raises him himself.

Padfoot and Prongs

Chapter 1: Duel in Privet Drive

The night surrounding Privet Drive was still for a moment, until with a loud, resounding crack that shattered the peaceful silence three figures appeared

The night surrounding Privet Drive was still for a moment, until with a loud, resounding crack that shattered the peaceful silence three figures appeared. Two of the newcomers, a male and a female, were garbed in long black robes and had their faces covered by a mask fashioned to look like a skull, whilst the third was a young man clad in a slightly dirty muggle suit, the jacket of which was open revealing an untucked shirt. The two death-eaters seemingly had not noticed the other man's presence as they moved towards number 4, however he obviously noticed them, for within moments his wand was in his hands and sent a silent stunner at the male death eater. His companion whirled around, tearing her mask and hood off as she glared viciously at the other man.

"You!" hissed Bellatrix Lestrange, rapidly drawing her wand and pointing it at her least favourite relative, "What are you doing here?" She stepped over her unconscious husband, ignoring his condition as she advanced on Sirius.

"I could ask you the same thing," commented Sirius. Despite his calm façade his eyes were slightly red, he'd obviously been crying very recently. "So it's a good thing decided to check on Harry myself rather then rely on Dumbledore." Inwardly, he was amazed as the Headmaster's stupidity at leaving Harry unattended in the middle of the night, when every former follower of Voldemort would be after the boy-who-lived.

"The boy," snarled Bellatrix, "I'm going to destroy him and avenge the Dark Lord…" her voice faltered slightly, out of shock that her master had been destroyed by a child, "He must have incredible power…"

"If you thinking I'm going to let you kill my godson to avenge Voldemort you can forget it," the resolve in his voice was clear, "I won't let you even touch him!"

"I was hoping you'd say that!" She lunged forward, sending a bolt of emerald light at her cousin as she screeched, "Avada Kedavra!" Sirius dodged to one side, narrowly avoiding the killing curse as he rolled to one side and aimed at Bellatrix. Ropes sprung from the tip of his wand, which curled towards the deranged woman like snakes, however she swung he wand around in a swift arc, a trail of fire emerging from it to burn away Sirius's spell. She viciously sent another killing curse at him; however, he quickly twisted around on his ankle and vanished. With a loud crack, he reappeared behind his cousin and quickly pointed his wand.

"Reducto!" A burst of translucent energy forced its way out of his wand, hurtling towards Bellatrix with frightening speed, however with a casual flick she raised a protego shield and dissipated the spell moments before it reached her.

"You haven't lost your touch," muttered the death eater grimly, "Killing you will be more fun then…" whatever killing Sirius was more fun then he never found out, for before her sentence was over he had transformed into a large back dog and pounced at Bellatrix, slashing out at her throat with one clawed paw. She gasped, rolling over and desperately pushing Sirius off her. "Well, aren't you full of surprises?" She scrambled away from Sirius and got to her feet as she raised her wand, only to be stopped in her tracks in surprise at her cousin's actions.

"That's enough Bella," Sirius had propped up the unconscious form of her husband Rodolphus like a shield and had his wand pressed against his throat.

"You think I actually care about that worm?" asked Bellatrix scathingly, "my marriage to him was purely because there are so few powerful pureblood families left. Avada Kedavra!" Another jet of emerald light shot out of her wand, this time hitting her husband's chest. Sirius quickly dropped the body as he felt the man die, rapidly clambering to his feet and facing Bellatrix.

"You're even less sane then I thought," commented Sirius, circling around his opponent and barely concealing his shock at his cousin's actions. He eventually stopped, making sure that he was directly positioned between her and his godson.

"Accio Harry!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

The boy-who-lived woke with a start and began to cry in shock as he found himself soaring through the air towards his godfather. Sirius caught the child roughly, twisting around on the spot and dissaparating less then a second before the killing curse hit him. Instead, the beam of emerald light hit the front door of Number Four Privet Drive, igniting it in a flurry of flames.

"This isn't over cousin…" Howling in annoyance, Bella dissaparated herself, leaving moments before the three Dursley's emerged from their flaming house in a fevered panic.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"We appear to have a crisis Minerva," stated Dumbledore, obviously in shock as he paced back and forth in his office, "A report just came in that early this morning number Four Privet Drive was badly damaged in a fire. Although there were apparently no casualties from the fire, a body was discovered outside that the Ministry intercepted and identified as Rodolphus Lestrange, and even more worryingly, there was no trace of young Harry to be found." He noticed his colleague's face visibly pale.

"Bellatrix?" she stammered, collapsing into a nearby chair.

"It seems highly likely," confirmed Dumbledore, returning to his seat behind the desk and placing his fingertips together, "the only problem is Rodolphus. From what I've gathered he was apparently killed by the killing curse, which would seem to indicate that someone else interrupted the Lestranges. The outcome of the encounter is uncertain, but it seems certain that either one or both of the pair took Harry with them."

"So it's possible he's not in the hands of death eaters?" asked McGonagall, a hint of relief seeping into her voice.

"There's certainly a chance," confirmed Dumbledore, "I'll call an order meeting at once too…" At that moment the fire at one side of the room flared green as the head of Sirius black appeared in it. Dumbledore slowly got to his feet in surprise, picking up his wand just in case.

"Dumbledore I need a word," began Sirius, "I know you think I betrayed the Potter's but you have to know I would never do that. I need to talk to you urgently."

"I suppose that if you'll allow the use of Veritaserum then you can enter." Sirius nodded. "Very well, Minerva, please fetch Severus for me and ask him to bring a bottle of Veritaserum." McGonagall nodded grimly and left the room, returning around 10 minutes later followed by Professor Snape. Dumbledore pointed his wand at the fireplace as Sirius emerged, cradling his godson in his arms. McGonagall gasped, taking the child from him as Severus stepped forward and administered the truth potion to his old enemy. Sirius's eyes glazed over slightly, showing that the potion had taken effect, as he sat in front of Dumbledore, arms at his side.

"Now then, are you a follower of Voldemort?" asked Dumbledore, resting his hands on the table and regarding Sirius over the top of his glasses.

"No."

"Were you the secret keeper for Lily and James Potter?"

"No."

"Then who betrayed them to Voldemort?"

"They used Peter Pettigrew as the secret keeper, so it must have been him." The group visibly relaxed slightly, knowing that Sirius was innocent.

"How did you get hold of Harry?" asked Minerva, who was still cradling the boy-who-lived in her arms.

"Hagrid told me that he was taking Harry to the Dursleys. I'd once been there briefly before the war with Lily and James, so I was able to apparate there once I'd gotten over the initial grief," explained Sirius. Dumbledore nodded slightly, indicating that he should continue. "I was too late to meet you there, however when I arrived I spotted two death eaters who turned out to be my cousin and her husband. After a brief fight during which Rodolphus was killed, I retrieved Harry and managed to apparate to safety before Bellatrix killed the pair of us." He placed his fingertips together in an impressive imitation of Dumbledore, "On the subject of Harry, I want to know why you were going directly against Lily and James's wishes and leaving him with the Dursleys."

"Against their wishes!?" repeated McGonagall with a hint of outrage. Dumbledore sighed and seemed to visibly age several years beneath the various stares from the rooms occupants.

"It was for the greater good," explained the headmaster, "As his relatives live there he will be protected by powerful blood wards that will fend off evil so long as he has a home there."

"Has a home there!?" exclaimed Sirius, slamming his fists onto the desk in front of Dumbledore, "you left him on the doorstep of people who hate the magic world and everything to do with it. That place would never be his home, and what happened with Bellatrix proved that he had no protection there!" Dumbledore sighed once more.

"That would certainly seem to be the case." The headmaster rested his head in his hands, deep in thought. However he was never able to reach a conclusion, for Sirius had gotten to his feet again and taken Harry from McGonagall.

"I know exactly what the Potters wanted for Harry if they were killed," he stated heading back towards the fireplace, "I'll raise Harry myself."

"He is not going to turn into James," stated Dumbledore, realising that he wouldn't be able to change Sirius's mind, "don't forget that."

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A few days later, the details had been confirmed with Lily and James's wills and Sirius was named the official guardian of the boy-who-lived. Unwilling to take the boy to Grimmauld Place, the pair moved into the Potter's ancestral manor, which had been left to Harry in his parents' will. For most of their married life James and Lily had inhabited the smaller residence at Godric's Hollow, leaving the Manor almost empty and immediately ready to move in to. The time seemed to pass quickly, with Sirius showing Harry just as much affection as his father would have, however making sure that Harry new just how much his actual parents had cared for him.

The only thing that Sirius concealed from him was his fame. He had attempted to keep the boy away from large crowds, not wanting his godson to have to face his fame until he was ready. As mistaken as Dumbledore had been in believing that Harry should be raised by the Dursleys, he did agree that Harry was better off being raised away from all of the attention. The years passed quickly, and before long it was Harry's tenth birthday and he and Sirius were both in Muggle London for the day to celebrate.

So what do you think? Not really an original idea but I've never done something like this before. Please review, I like reviews.