Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters or places from this story sadly belong to our beloved J.K. Rowling, not to me.
Warning: Contains light slash in later chapters.
Chapter One - The Story Begins
In an office in a school far up north in Scotland, a lone figure sat at a desk, writing down information from the teachers about their students. Periodically, he would pause in his writing, to dip is quill into an inkpot on the table above the parchment he was writing on.
Suddenly, three alarms went off in the office, one after the other.
The man's head snapped up and he looked around frantically, looking for the sources of the alarms. When they were located, he visibly paled, before he got up and walked over to the fireplace. On the mantel were four trinkets, three of them screaming out their warnings. The wards at the house they were connected to had fallen, and the parents of the boy living in the house were dead. The man noted with relief that the fourth alarm stayed silent, though the others had gone off.
In the middle of the mantel was a bowl with green powder. The man took a handful, before he threw it in the fire. The flames turned green and he stuck his head into the fire where he called out a single name.
"Sirius Black!"
In a house in London, a chime could be heard through the spacious flat, coming from the fireplace, before an urgent voice called out.
"Sirius Black!"
Sirius came running from the kitchen and knelt on the rug on the floor in front of the head floating in the flames.
"What is it, Headmaster?"
"Something has happened to the Potters, I'm afraid. Come through to my office in half an hour, my boy. I'm afraid you're going to be needed. Come through the Floo Network, I'll leave the connection to my fireplace open for you, my boy."
Sirius flinched away, before saying in a shaky voice, "I'll be there, Headmaster. I'll get my things together, then Floo through when you're ready."
As Sirius pulled back from the fireplace, his thoughts were running wild. What could have happened to his friends? He hoped it wasn't anything too serious, though the cold dread he felt in the pit of his stomach told him it was nothing good.
The time drew near to leave, so Sirius walked around in his flat, finding his wand and cloak, then went to gather some of his Hit Wizard gear, just in case. He then went back to the fireplace, took a pinch of Floo Powder and threw it in and stepped into the flames.
"Headmaster Dumbledore's office!" was called out, loud and clear, and with that, Sirius Black disappeared in a ball of green flames.
Meanwhile, in Headmaster Dumbledore's office, the old man had a visitor in his office.
"Severus, my boy, what can I do for you?"
"I thought I should tell you that something has happened. Earlier tonight, I felt a searing pain in my mark, which then started fading. It is almost entirely gone now, just a faint grey outline on my arm."
"That does explain quite a bit, Severus. I'm afraid I have some bad news, and a plea for your help."
"What can I do for you, Headmaster?"
"The Potters were attacked tonight. Just as expected, as soon as he deemed it safe enough, Pettigrew ran to Tom with his information, and told them where the Potters were living. Tom went to their place in Godric's Hollow tonight and killed both James and Lily. Little Harry survived the attack, though, and, according to the prophecy, he'll be the one to vanquish the Dark Lord. Tonight has proved the prophecy to be true. Since your mark has started fading, I can only assume that he managed to fulfill part of that prophecy tonight. However, Tom will be back. He's not completely gone, yet. How he managed to do that, I do not know, but he did.
"According to James's and Lily's wills, Sirius will get custody of Harry. I cannot allow that to happen. Harry will need to be raised in a way that will allow us to have a considerable amount of power over him when he's older, make him trust us enough to want to do what we need him to do, which is to sacrifice himself in the fight against Voldemort."
"And how will you go about doing that, Headmaster?"
"I'm going to send Sirius after Peter, and then frame Sirius for James's and Lily's death by telling everyone he was the Secret Keeper, not Peter. I will send Hagrid to Godric's Hollow to collect Harry and tell him to bring him here, where it's safe."
"That seems like a good plan, Headmaster. It should certainly work, what with Black's incurable Gryffindor behavior."
With that, Severus Snape turned around and quickly left Dumbledore's office, robes billowing behind him. Walking quickly, he went down to the entrance hall and found an empty classroom. Out of his robes, he pulled one of the spare glass vials that he always carried with him, put his wand to his temple and pulled a memory from his head which he then deposited into the vial.
When Sirius appeared in Headmaster Dumbledore's office, he saw another man there. He was big and tall, bigger than any normal man, with a head of brown, bushy hair and an equally bushy beard.
"Hey, Hagrid. What's going on, Headmaster?" he said, when he had stepped out of the fireplace and dusted himself off.
"I'm afraid I have grave news, Sirius. Something has happened at the Potter's house. I'm afraid, Sirius, that Peter has betrayed you all. The wards have fallen."
"W-what!?"
"Young Harry is still alive, but I'm afraid both Lily and James are gone, Sirius. I have alarms connected to all of them and their house. All but Harry's went off. Hagrid, I want you to go to the house in Godric's Hollow and take care of Harry, I'll meet you there in a little while to check on him and bring him here for the time being. See what you can salvage from the house for Harry, gather the things you can, and I'll meet you there. We need to get Harry to safety."
"A´righ´, Mr. Dumbledore, sir. But how will I get there?"
"Hagrid, I left my motorbike here the last time I was here. I want you to take it to Godric's Hollow, there's a side car on it where you can put Harry. He's used to riding on it with me."
"I'll do tha', Sirius," Hagrid said, then left the office to go find the bike.
"Sirius, I want you to go find Peter. Don't let him suspect you know what he's done, just get him somewhere safe so we can figure out what happened. I'll send some Aurors after you so we can catch him. I'll take care of Harry until you have found Peter, then bring him to you when it's safe."
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Headmaster? Shouldn't I be there with Hagrid, to take care of Harry? Harry knows me, is used to me, but he doesn't know Hagrid very well."
"Everything will be just fine, my boy, just fine," Dumbledore said, with a little twinkle in his blue eyes.
Everything was going to plan now. Finally, everything was as it should be. The Potters were out of the way, and he could get control of the boy. He just had to keep Sirius from getting to Harry and make sure to keep him out of the way. It wouldn't do to have the Savior of the Wizarding World growing up with Sirius Black, the Heir to one of the darkest Wizarding Families in their World, no matter that the man had been a Gryffindor. The boy would grow up entirely too spoiled and independent for his liking., and that would make it a lot harder than it needed to be to make the boy do what was needed. It was all for The Greater Good.
Sirius ran through the school as fast as he could. He needed to reach the gates to be able to apparate away because of the anti-apparition wards on the castle. He couldn't understand why Dumbledore wanted him to go after Peter, though. Why would he ask him to do that? Why not contact the Aurors and have an official investigation? Yes, Sirius was a Hit Wizard, but it couldn't be a good idea to send him in alone and unprepared, no matter how successful he was at his job. Something just wasn't adding up.
His instincts were screaming at him to not obey Dumbledore, to go straight to Godric's Hollow to check on Harry. He wanted to see for himself that he was alright. Lily and James had, after all, asked him to be Godfather and to take care of Harry if anything happened to them.
When he reached the entrance hall, he stopped dead in his tracks, though. In front of the big double doors stood a man, blocking his way.
"What do you want, Snape?" he almost spat out. "I'm in a hurry, you need to move. Now."
"I can't believe I'm about to do this, but you need to come with me. You still have some time, it will take Hagrid at least an hour to reach Godric's Hollow from here."
"He has my bike, so no more than forty minute, I think, since he can fly in a mostly straight line."
"Alright then, forty minutes. That still gives us some time. I have something I need to show you."
"What are you up to, Snape? I don't have time for your games right now. I need to get going. How do you know where Hagrid's going, anyway?"
"We'll get to that, but you need to come with me. I have a memory I need to show you. I'm afraid Dumbledore has finally gone insane, and you need to be prepared."
Severus started walking towards a door on the far wall, and after a bit of deliberation, Sirius followed. Hopefully, this would be quick. He needed to get to Harry.
As they entered the empty room, Severus transfigured one of the chairs in there into a pensieve, poured his memory from the vial, then gestured towards it, indicating that Sirius should take a look.
"Hurry up, Black. You're wasting time," he sneered when Sirius hesitated. "Time you do not have."
With a deep breath, Sirius walked towards the pensieve, bent down and dipped his face into the liquid floating there, before he was pulled into the memory.
He was horrified at what he saw there. He couldn't believe it. Dumbledore was planning to have him framed for murder, get him thrown in Azkaban! His mentor and friends had betrayed them all, and for what? To get control of Harry? His anger took root, and started to simmer at a slow boil. He would not stand for that happening. He was not going to let Dumbledore ruin everything even more than he already had. He was going to take Harry far away from there, raise him away from Dumbledore, where they wouldn't be found. A vague plan started to form in his mind. The first thing he had to do, though, was get Harry from his house, then contact Moony.
As he came out of the memory, he turned to Severus.
"That cannot be allowed to happen, Snape. You have my thanks for showing me this, but can I take it with me to show to Remus? I think I'll need it to convince him of what is going on."
"Of course you can, that's why I have it in the vial," Snape said, as he gathered the memory back up into the vial he held in his hands, then held the now closed vial towards Sirius.
"As much as it horrifies me to say this, to you of all people, I do not wish that to happen to the brat, either. I will… try to help you as I can," he said with a grimace and a shudder. "I will contact you through Gringotts when I have news. We can communicate through them, so no owls will be seen coming or going from your place of residence, when you find a place to live, and so no one can connect us through the owls."
"And much as this horrifies me, thank you, Snape. I have to go now, though, if I'm to have any chance of getting to Harry before Hagrid does. I only have about half an hour to get everything together, then disappear with Harry."
With that, Sirius left the classroom and ran through the doors leading outside, across the grounds and out through the gates. There he stopped, turned on the spot, and disappeared with a crack.
He appeared again in front of a house. Or what was left of the house. There was a big part of the second floor missing and part of a wall on the first floor was caved in.
Running up to the house, he went through the blasted down door and into the house. The first thing he saw was James, lying on the floor with his wand in his hand. He couldn't think about him, though. James was already gone, and he needed to get to Harry. He was the priority here.
Heart beating in his chest, he ran up the stairs to go to Harry's room, where he was sure he'd find his Godson. Dear Merlin, he hoped he was okay.
As he got closer to Harry's room at the end of the hall, he heard little whimpers coming from the room. Breathing a sigh of relief that Harry was at least alive, he prayed to Merlin that the little boy was okay, despite the trauma of the night.
"Harry," he called out to the little boy, and the whimpers stopped for a moment, then started again and turned into crying. The heart wrenching sobs coming from his little godson made his heart clench in pain and worry, and he walked faster along the hallway to reach him.
"Harry. Pup. It's okay. Uncle Padfoot's here."
"Unca' Pa'foo'! Mama! Dada!"
"I know sweetie. I'm coming to get you, Harry. You just stay where you are. Uncle Padfoot's coming to get you."
Sirius finally reached Harry's room and stepped inside carefully. He saw Lily lying on the floor in front of Harry's little crib. She was gone, too. Both Lily and James were gone. Turning his eyes to the crib, he saw Harry standing in the crib, holding onto the bars, tears streaking down his cheeks and blood on his forehead. As he saw Sirius, he reached his little arms up and started crying again.
"Up, Pa'foo'! Up! Mama?"
Sirius walked across the room and picked Harry up, cradling him close to his chest.
"I know sweetie. I know. Right now, we need to go, though. Uncle Padfoot needs to pack some of your things so you can come with me. We need to get you out of this house, before Hagrid gets here. I can't let him take you away from me."
Putting Harry back down into his crib was one of the hardest things Sirius had ever done. Having seen how the house looked and how terrified Harry had been with his mother's body so close and the wound on his forehead…. Merlin, he really didn't want to let the little boy go, but he needed both his hands for what he had to do. He had to pack all of Harry's things that he could. All the important things, anyway.
"There, sweetheart, I'll just be a minute," Sirius said. "I need to get your things into a bag so we can go."
He didn't know how much he could take without making Dumbledore suspicious, or how much he'd even need. He hadn't taken care of Harry for long periods of time alone. Just for an evening once in a while when James wanted to take Lily somewhere. He didn't even know how much of Harry's stuff had even survived the explosion of the house.
First things first – finding James's old trunk. It was protected against theft, had multiple compartments, and had locks that could only be opened by a Potter, and himself of course, since he and James were sworn blood brothers. He ran through the house, going into James's and Lily's room. James had told him they put both their trunks under their bed. Dragging them both out, he shrunk Lily's and placed it inside James's trunk.
Going back into Harry's room, Harry's clothes and baby things were first on the list, the most important things. He took out his wand and opened all the drawers and cupboards in the room, then floated all of Harry's things into the trunk. Then he looked around for his toys. Most of them would have to stay here – he simply didn't have the space for all of them – and he could always buy new ones. There were a few that were important, though. Harry had four teddies, a stag for his father, a dog for himself, a wolf for Moony, and a rat for the Traitor. He didn't want to take the rat, but the other three were important. And photos! He needed to see if he could salvage any photos from the wreckage.
And what about… hmm. He looked around upstairs for Lily's wand and decided to take James's on the way out when they left. They could be important later, if for no other reason than to let Harry have them as mementos of his parents when he was older.
He packed the rest of the things from the house he could save and decided that would have to do. He couldn't drag around stuff that needed to be repaired or was destroyed beyond repair. He simply didn't have the room for it.
On his way to get Harry again, he remembered James's cloak, and quickly ran into James's and Lily's again to get it. It would be dead useful if they ever needed to hide away, and he wanted to be able to give it to Harry when he went to Hogwarts. He was the son of the Marauders, after all, and being able to do pranks undetected… it was worth the trouble should he ever get caught.
When he got back to Harry's room to get the little boy so they could leave, the little boy was sitting down is his crib, looking around and rubbing his eyes from tiredness. Sirius, lifted him out of the crib, and held him tight to his chest with one arm, grabbed Harry's trunk and James's cloak in the other, then walked as fast as he could through the house. Time was almost up, and he had to get away. Now!
Just as he got outside, he heard the faint rumblings of his bike in the distance, but getting closer very fast. He spun around and disappeared, just as he caught the first glimpse of the bike in the distance.
As Hagrid landed the big bike in front of the destroyed house in Godric's Hollow, he could feel the tears streaming down his cheeks. He pulled out one of his hankies and blew his nose, before getting off Sirius's bike and stuffing the hanky back into his pocket. He didn't really want to go in there, but he knew he had to get Harry, like Prefessor Dumbledore said. He couldn't leave him here in this house.
He heaved a big sigh, then started walking up the path towards the house.
Getting through the door was a trial in and of itself. It was a small door, and he was by no means a small man. He was half giant, after all, and they were not exactly known to be the smallest of creatures. He maneuvered around the small entrance hall and into the main part of the house, where thankfully, there was a bit more room. That was, unfortunately, also where James was lying.
"Oh, James, ye poor boy. Wha' did the bastard do to ye?"
Getting his big body up the staircase was no easy feat, but he managed. He didn't know how he'd get Harry down with him later, since there was no extra room to move around, but he'd figure that out later.
As he walked into Harry's room, or what was left of it, he saw that there was no little boy there. Where could he have gone?
"Harry!?" Hagrid called, the anxiousness clearly showing in his voice.
"Where could 'e be? Can't have gone too far, now. He's too little. Come on, Harry. T'is just me, Hagrid. Dear Merlin, I'll have'ta call Prefessor Dumbledore to help me look. There's no way I'll fit inta all the wee spaces in here, ta look fer 'im."
Hagrid pulled a piece of parchment, a quill, an inkpot and his wand from his big coat, scribbled a few words on the parchment, folded it up and tapped it with his wand. It disappeared with a slight crack.
A few minutes later, a loud crack could be heard coming from downstairs, then hurried steps coming up the stairs.
"Hagrid? Where are you?" Dumbledore called.
"Up here, in Harry's room, Prefessor Dumbledore, sir!"
As Dumbledore appeared in the door, he paled when he looked inside the room and found only Hagrid there.
"Have you searched the house for him, Hagrid?" Dumbledore asked.
"Nay, Prefessor Dumbledore, sir. I can't fit everywhere ta look. Bu' he ain't in here. Can't find 'im anywhere in his room."
Dumbledore pulled out his wand, pointed it out into the room, and cast the Homenum Revelio charm. Nothing came of it, however. There were no humans on the premises. He started pacing around in the room, clearly in distress. The twinkle that could usually be seen in his eyes was almost gone, and he looked extremely worried.
After a while, he said, "Hagrid, I'm afraid there is nothing more you can do here tonight. I must search for Harry, I'm afraid he's been taken. I will need to go talk to his aunt and uncle tomorrow, tell them what has happened to James and Lily, and let them know that they'll get custody of Harry soon. I just hope Sirius doesn't do anything bad to the boy."
"Sirius, Prefessor?!"
"Yes, Hagrid, Sirius," Dumbledore said, looking directly into Hagrid's eyes. "He must have taken Harry. He was James's and Lily's Secret Keeper, after all and no one else could have betrayed them, Hagrid. He must have thought it was safe after our talk, and he must have taken Harry, even though I told him not to go here. I just hope we find Harry soon, and unharmed."
Hagrid could hardly believe his own ears. Dumbledore was blaming Sirius for this! But… then again, he had been there with them when Dumbledore talked to them, and knew that Hagrid was going to go get Harry…
"A'righ', Prefessor Dumbledore, sir. I'll do tha'. Might just as well go home to Fang, then. He's prob'ly gettin' lonely all alone in me house," Hagrid said sadly as he walked out through the door and down the stairs.
Dumbledore stayed behind for a while, deciding to look for anything that could give him a clue as to what had happened here earlier in the night. The only thing he could see, though, was the fact that there were not many toys or clothes for Harry in his room, but otherwise, nothing seemed amiss.
What shall I do now? Dumbledore thought. My plan has completely fallen apart. Sure, James and Lily are out of the way, but Sirius is still a problem. And he's got the boy, which is not good. I need him to grow up unloved and lonely so I can swoop in and rescue him later, it won't do that he grows up loved to pieces and spoiled with Sirius. Then he'll never do what I want him to do. And it was such a perfect plan, too. Convince them to make Peter Secret Keeper, so he'd go tell Voldemort. Get Sirius to go after Peter, then throw him in Azkaban. Place Harry with his aunt and uncle to grow up unloved and abused so I could rescue him later. Have Harry look up to me enough to want to do everything I tell him, while still trusting me completely, so he will sacrifice himself for all of us when it comes time to kill Voldemort. Because of how fickle Tom can be, he will come after Harry when he comes back. This will also ensure I get to kill Voldemort when he does come back, and I'll be looked upon as their undisputed leader, for killing two of the most feared Dark Lords in history. But now that won't happen, unless I somehow get Harry back. Hmm… Well, first thing first, go back to Hogwarts and sleep on it, to get a few ideas, hopefully. I'll go talk to Remus tomorrow, to tell him not to trust Sirius, then go talk to the Dursleys so they can be prepared to take in Harry when I find him.
Well, there was nothing more he could do here tonight. He might as well just go back to Hogwarts. He had to think of a new plan, after all. Had to find Sirius and Harry before it was too late. With that, he walked out of the room, down the stairs, and apparated to the gates at Hogwarts.
Author's Note: Hi people! This is my first story that I've posted on here, so please read and review it. If there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, I apologize, but I have no beta on this story, so this is just read through by myself, and since I'm note a native English speaker, there might be a few.
I will try to post a chapter of the story every week, but I can make no promises that it'll work, since I'm in college and have a lot of studies to get through every week.
Anyway, thanks for reading, hope I get some reviews, and I'd love some constructive critisism if anyone has something to say. I'll try to make the changes if it's something that makes sense for the story.
A7XfoREVer2017!
