Chapter One- Strange Allies
Sirius Black had done some stupid things in his life. Calling Minerva McGonagall 'Minnie' at the tender age of twelve. Trying to actually take three different girls to the Christmas Ball his fifth year. Attempting to convince Lily Evans that she had really loved him instead of James in Sixth year.
Really, the list went on and on.
Nevertheless, he was about to do one of the stupidest things of his life. Not only was the whole idea stupid- not to mention immoral and illegal- the catalyst for said idea was also an extremely stupid idea.
Sirius Black, best friend of James Potter and Remus Lupin, the white sheep of the Black family, and former Azkaban prisoner for two and a half years, was standing at the door of Severus Snape's classroom.
He had told Dumbledore that he just wanted to look around the old place.
He had just been released from Azkaban a little over two weeks ago, after a delightful man named Arthur Weasley had accidently untransfigured Peter Pettigrew from the rat form he had been hiding in to masquerade as one of Mr. Weasley's sons' pet.
It was partially true. He did want to look around Hogwarts. He loved this place. It was the first real home he had had- the house he lived in with his parents had never been home- and it was only some of the memories of this place that had kept him sane. He was eager to look around and make sure he hadn't imagined the place.
But that wasn't the only reason. Hogwarts memories had been the large majority of his memories, but the rest had been filled with memories of his godson. Harry.
The first thing he had done after being freed with a full pardon and a large settlement- after taking a loooong shower- was go search for Harry.
He had known it must have been tough for Harry. The boy was only one and ½ when it had all happened and he was thrown in with strangers. James and Lily had been killed, Peter betrayed them, he was locked up and Remus was a werewolf. None of them could now take care of the boy, which Sirius had known immediately would result in him being placed with the only family he had left. Lily's disgusting Muggle sister.
Petunia was even worse than he had remembered though. Not only was she now married to a loud and obnoxious Muggle the size of a large whale, she had procreated, creating a baby whale.
He had tried to be cool and reasonable, as Professor Dumbledore had asked him to. Truthfully, the Headmaster hadn't even wanted to let Sirius see Harry- some gulf about wanting a normal life for Harry- but Sirius would not be swayed. He had legal rights to the boy and would not be denied.
Dumbledore hadn't stopped him and he was going to be damned if he let Petunia Dursley stop him. So when she refused to let him in her house to see Harry, he had taken an invisibility potion and snuck in the house.
What he had seen had not pleased him. The family was in the kitchen, eating food while Harry sat on floor while his Uncle yelled at him about being a freak. When they were done, the uncle had lifted Harry off the ground by an arm and had thrown him into the cupboard under the stairs before locking it.
Harry was thin and had bruises on his arms, probably from other displays such as that.
No way in hell was Sirius going to stand for that.
He had gone at once to Dumbledore, but the annoying old man wouldn't even let him explain.
"Now Sirius," he had said, in that annoyingly placating tone. "We all knew that the first thing you would want to do was take Harry away. But really, do you think you're ready to handle a child on your own? And is it really fair to ask him to leave the only family he remembers? No, Sirius, my boy, it is much better to let him stay with his aunt's family."
And that was it. Dumbledore wouldn't listen to reason.
Which brought him back here.
Sirius jumped, torn from his thoughts as the door in front of him suddenly opened. Severus Snape emerged, in his usual all-black ensemble, complete with greasy hair.
"Black." Severus said, pulling his wand immediately. "What are you doing here?"
Awkward...
"I'm not sure yet." Sirius confessed, deliberately holding up his empty hands so as not to provoke the other man. "But I would like to talk to you when you have a moment."
Severus looked closely at the other man, but for once didn't see a sparkle of mischief in Sirius's face. "I am going to get a special berry from the Forbidden forest. It has to be plucked just before it goes into the potion that I am working on. You have five minutes to decide what you are doing before I get back. Touch nothing in my classroom."
With that, the dark man swept away.
He had left the classroom open, something that surprised Sirius, but he didn't question it. He merely entered the room, looking around.
It was a droll, dark place which was exactly the kind of place he had always imagined Snape would end up. But he wasn't focused on his surroundings, so much as musing what to do next.
He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to steal Harry away from the Dursley's. But he respected Dumbledore enough to wonder if he was making a rational argument. Yes, some parents and guardians were more harsh than others, he knew that better than any. But surely he was making the right argument here. One didn't lock a kid in a cupboard after eating in front of him.
Still, if that part of his reasoning was sound, was this part? He had gone to Remus, but that conversation had gone exactly as he had imagined. "Don't do anything illegal, Padfoot," was Remus's advice, along with, "Dumbledore knows best."
Old Moony had become even more of a do-gooder than before. Sirius would have to change that, to remind Remus of his Marauder roots. But not right now.
And so, he was left with Snape. He and Snape hated each other, sure. It was true, and everyone knew it. He and Snape were fine with being enemies and neither of them really ever had any intentions of changing the status quo.
But as surely as he knew Snape and he were mortal enemies, he also knew one other fact about Snape: Snape didn't lie.
Okay, so it wasn't like he never lied. He had successfully played the Death Eaters for years and was still on good terms with quite a few of them.
But Snape didn't pull punches. If Snape thought the idea was insane, he'd tell Sirius that- gleefully. He would outline exactly why he thought the idea was stupid, as well as what ideas in particular were stupid. Then, Sirius would just have to fix those problems and he'd be set.
He smiled, satisfied with his reasoning, and a voice in front of him asked, "So are you done thinking now?"
He jumped, finally seeing Snape. "Ah, Snape. You're back."
"As brilliant as ever, I see." Severus mocked, looking down at the three different potions he was currently working on. He stirred the middle cauldron carefully five times counter-clockwise and then looked back up at his childhood nemesis. "So, you have ten minutes. Speak."
"Okay." Sirius said at once. If Snape had given him ten minutes, it meant he really only had about eight, if the two of them didn't get in a fight. He had to get this all out before either of those options- both very possible- happened. "Let's see."
How best to explain this to Snape?
"Look at it like this." He said, watching the other man closely as they both sat at desks apart from each other. "Lily was your best friend."
"I do not want you to talk about Lily and me." Severus interrupted, crossing his arms. This was probably a bad idea. Black had just got out of Azkaban, he himself had spent a little over four months in Azkaban and had no wish to return. The two of them had never lasted long together without a fight, which always had the potential to put at least one of them back in Azkaban.
"I know you don't, but it has a little bit to do with it." Sirius said, the same thoughts running through his own mind. "It isn't to tease. But I know you and her were always best friends- even after fifth year, when everyone thought she hated you because of what you called her."
"Wait." Severus held up a hand to stop Black again. "You knew? How did you know?"
"I'm not as stupid as you think I am, Snape." Sirius snapped, annoyed. "You two hung out together in abandoned classrooms- you didn't ever think that someone would come across you?"
"If you had come across us, you would have said something before this." Severus said, hiding his amazement. Maybe the other wasn't quite as stupid as he had thought- not that that meant much.
A rueful look came over Sirius's face and he shook his head. "You being Lily's friend and all, I don't think you ran into many occasions where she hexed you. Believe me, there were many times I didn't start with you or Lily simply to avoid her wand. I did come across you two once in Seventh year. When I confronted Lily, she threatened to hex my bits off, so I never did anything about it."
Both men winced at the threat. Neither doubted the redhead could have done it.
"But my point is, Lily was your best friend. You loved her." Sirius said, holding up a hand to ward off another interruption. "I know, you've said so for years; you only loved her as a friend. And though I'm still not entirely convinced about that, I'm accepting it for today."
"You are?" Severus said suspiciously. "Why?"
"You loved her as a best friend." Sirius repeated, ignoring the question. He was getting there! If the man would just be patient. "Which means you'd have done anything to save her the littlest bit of harm. And now that she's gone, wouldn't you do anything to help her if you could?"
"Yes." Severus said hesitantly. Was Black trying to trick him into doing something in the name of Lily? "Probably."
It was, after all, the truth. He had loved her, as a friend. Never as anything more, despite what Potter and his bunch had thought, but that was still enough.
"So," Sirius went on, happy with Snape's answer, "If you knew she'd want something done now, even though she's dead, would you do it? Even if it went into possible illegal grounds?"
"Black." Severus said, gritting his teeth. Honestly, the man was horrible with explanations. "What are you getting at?"
"Wouldn't you?" Sirius pressed. "No matter what?"
"Yes." Severus said, rolling his eyes. He knew Black well enough to know he'd get no explanations until the other man was well and ready. "I would. Even if it was illegal, if I thought it really meant something to Lily. Now what are you talking about?"
Sirius jumped up gleefully. "So I'm not crazy."
"Well, that's up for debate." Severus said snippily. "Explain. Now."
"Okay." Sirius said, knowing he owed the other. "James is my best friend."
"Was your best friend." Severus corrected, sighing.
"Right, right—is, was, whatever." Sirius said, waving the grammar away. "And if that situation applies to your best friend, it should apply to my best friend too, right? I have to save James's son. James would want me to."
Satisfied, he turned to leave. Right before he got to the door, it slammed shut, locking loudly. He looked back, confused, only to see Snape's wand out.
"That is nowhere near enough explanation." Severus said, pocketing his wand. "Continue. What do mean? What's wrong with Harry? What's wrong with Lily's son?"
"Lily's son?" Sirius repeated.
"Yes." Severus rolled his eyes at Sirius's confused expression. "James and Lily had a son. They named it Harry."
"Snape, I have to go get him." Sirius said, waving the explanation away again. "It's my duty. His father was my best friend and I'm his godfather!"
"Focus, Black." Severus snapped, trying to keep from both panicking or killing the other man. "What is wrong with Harry?"
Sirius paced back and forth in front of the locked door. "Snape, I've tried everything else. I went to Dumbledore, I went to Remus. They both told me I was overreacting. And I know I do that sometimes but I'm not this time."
Angry, Severus stormed to the back of the room and forced Sirius to stop his inane pacing. "You're not overreacting about what?"
"Harry can't stay there, Snape. Those Muggles are no good for him." Sirius said, turning to the other man.
"Mr. and Mrs. Evans aren't good for their grandson?" Severus said, shocked. "What in Merlin's name are you talking about? They're the nicest Muggles I ever met."
Sirius was just as shocked as Severus. "Wait, wait, wait. What are you talking about? Mr. and Mrs. Who?"
"Evans. Lily's parents?" Severus repeated. "What do you think is so terribly wrong with a set of grandparents raising their grandson? That they're Muggle? Really, Black, I expected better of you. That's such a Slytherin thing to say."
"Snape, have you really been down here for the whole three years you worked here?" Sirius shot right back. "Harry is not with his grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. Evans died maybe a year or so before Harry was born."
That stopped Snape cold. "What?" He said, unbelieving. Yes, it was true, a large majority of the wizarding world up to and including Albus Dumbledore thought he and Lily Evans remained enemies after their fifth year, but surely he would have heard...
Why had Lily never told him? Oh wait... He quickly did the math. That would have been right around when he was imprisoned, right before he had convinced Voldemort to let him turn 'traitor'.
"So, Harry is with..." He trailed off as the full impact of what Sirius was saying hit him.
"Ah, you've met Petunia then." Sirius said, recognizing the look of disgust blended with horror that Snape was wearing. "Well she's as unpleasant as ever and now has an equally disgusting husband and child. And they're horrible for Harry." He added, looking forlornly at the door.
Severus sat down on the nearest stool, thoughts running wildly. Harry, little Harry, the boy who shared Lily's eyes, was living with that vile and wretched woman. A woman who hated magic. Harry had already been showing signs of magic when he was just three months old.
Sirius watched Snape closely when he sat down and stopped moving, recognizing quickly the look Severus wore when he was lost in thought. Many times during their Hogwarts career Sirius would try to taunt Snape, but whenever he was lost in thought, nothing got through.
As Sirius knew he wasn't getting out of that door without Snape unwarding it, he wandered up to the potions Snape was brewing. Their ten minutes was just about up, which meant the simmering time for the potions was just about up. If Snape got lost in thought, the potions might be ruined.
Sirius might not be as good at Potions as Snape was, but he had been fourth in their class on that particular subject. He looked quickly at the instructions and tended to the Potions carefully for the next few minutes until Snape looked up.
"What are you doing, Black?" Severus demanded, jumping to his feet. Damn, he had forgotten his potions.
"I can read, Snape, calm down. I didn't harm anything. Better add newt's eyes." Sirius said calmly, pointing to the first cauldron as it started to turn blue.
"I know how to make Potions." Severus snapped, quickly adding the eyes. He couldn't hold back a sigh of relief as the potion turned a bright silver. "Thank you." He added grudgingly.
"Sure." Sirius said easily, sitting on the table in front of Snape's. "I'm sorry to have shocked you." He apologized. "I never thought of it that way, but Harry was as important to Lily as to James. I guess that would have been a bit of a surprise to you."
Severus just grunted agreement, concentrating on the Potions and deliberately not looking at Sirius.
Sirius wasn't fooled though. "I did shock you, didn't I?" He asked. "You thought Harry was with his grandparents. That would have been alright. But even you know that Harry can't stay with Petunia. Her husband hates magic as much as she does. Harry has bruises over him from that bastard."
That was too much for Severus. "He has what!" He shouted angrily. "Some Muggle thought he could touch Harry?"
A few more pieces in the puzzle that was Severus Snape clicked in Sirius's mind. "You're the one Lily used to go out with all the time. Those were the only times she'd let us watch Harry and only if me, James and Remus were there. And sometimes she wouldn't even let us watch him then if she thought we were being too irresponsible. And sometimes she would get sick of James and kick him out for the day or the weekend. He never tried to find her or protest with her and we always wondered why. It was because of you, wasn't it? He didn't want to be with you and at the same time wanted Lily to be able to spend time with her best friend."
He only grinned when Severus's grip on the stirring rod tightened.
"I'm right, aren't I?" he said, amazed. "That is unbelievable. We thought Lily just threatened to hex James, not that she was with you."
Knowing that he was beaten, Severus just sighed. It wasn't exactly like it was necessary to keep it a secret anymore. Then he smirked. "Actually, Lily did threaten to hex him." He said. "The first time she convinced me to drop by her house to meet her son, damned if James didn't walk in while I was holding Harry. He flipped, accusing her of dating me on the side while being married to him, an accusation she did not take well."
Sirius winced, knowing exactly how Lily would have taken that.
"Yes." Severus agreed. "By the time she was finished that day, I don't think he ever said anything about it again. And he never showed up again when I did...except for one other time." He admitted. "But she said that he hung out with his best friends every day and she was going to do the same thing so he had better damn well accept it."
One more mystery clicked into place as well. "What did Harry call you?" He asked, trying to hold back a grin.
He wasn't successful, as Severus saw it immediately. Oh no, Severus thought, trying to hold back a moan. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Come on," Sirius teased, grinning widely. "You were over there at least three times a week. Surely he must have wanted to know who you are."
"What are you trying to get at, Black?" Severus demanded, thinking furiously. Both he and Lily had warned the boy not to talk about Severus's visits. Well...as much as a person could warn a one-year-old.
Damn.
"I know." Sirius said. "He called you 'Uncle', didn't he? I was chatting with Harry one day and he said he had three uncles. I always thought that was weird, because he refused to call Peter 'Uncle'. He knew that bastard was a rat before we did. I tried to question him and he named me and Moony, but for the third uncle, all he'd say was Evie (Ev-ee). I thought that meant Evelyn Lovegood, Xeno's wife, but it was you wasn't it?"
"Why would he call a woman Uncle?" Severus asked, rolling his eyes.
"Because he didn't know what an aunt was, of course. Idiot." Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "But that was you, wasn't it? Don't deny it, Uncle Sevie."
Severus threw the stirring rod at Sirius. "Shut up, Uncle Paddy."
That stopped Sirius's laughter, even as he ducked the rod. "Not funny, Snape." He said, pouting.
"On the contrary, I found it quite amusing." Severus said, summoning the rod back with a flick of his wrist. "Now, onto more important matters. What did you mean when you said Harry had bruises? Petunia's husband dared hit Lily's son?"
Knowing he had an ally, Sirius didn't hesitate. "Yes, Snape, he did. And I watched him throw Harry into a cupboard and lock it. And I tried to explain this to Dumbledore and he didn't say a word. And Remus-"
"Wait, wait." Severus forced himself to be rational. "Even if Dumbledore didn't let you explain, surely Lupin would have. He disapproves of this?"
Sirius shifted uneasily. "I couldn't tell Remus what had really happened. You know how werewolves get about any member of their pack. Harry was the only baby in ours. If he thought for one minute that Harry was in trouble..." He trailed off uneasily.
"Ah, right." Severus said, repressing a shudder. "The wolf would have been released and those Muggles would be dead."
"Yeah." Sirius agreed uneasily. "And even though that sounds appealing, Harry doesn't need to see that and Remus doesn't need that guilt. And as Remus is in such a do-gooder mood right now, I knew he'd turn me in to Dumbledore immediately. The Headmaster refuses to hear anything on the subject of Harry Potter, he's being completely unreasonable. So I'm just going to do it myself. Remus will support me after it's done and I really don't think anything is ever going to convince Dumbledore to go to that place before Harry turns eleven."
"What do you plan to do about it?" Severus asked hesitantly. Black's plans were just like him- larger than life and totally unreasonable.
"Go kidnap Harry and turn his Muggle family into spiders that I can squash under my boots." Sirius said, grinning evilly.
"Black, be serious for once in your life." Severus said, rolling his eyes. Although...he did have to admit, it was one of Black's soundest ideas ever.
"I'm always Sirius, Snape." Black said, laughing.
"Ugh." Severus said, disgusted. Damn, he'd fallen right into the joke that Black had never given up on.
Sirius laughed. "I love that joke." He said. "But, seriously, I'm taking Harry away from those Muggles. I have the right to do so, as I am his godfather. I would love to do something to those Muggles as well, but unfortunately... I fear Azkaban too much to do so. I will make sure something happens to them though, before I die. I just needed to make sure I wasn't being completely irrational first."
"So you came to me?" Severus wasn't sure what to think of that.
"Hey, who better to tell me if I'm being irrational." Sirius said, grinning. "So, now that we know, will you let me out?"
"No, I won't let you out. Is that honestly your whole plan or just the outline?" Severus asked.
"Well, that's about it." Sirius admitted, crossing his arms. "What's wrong with it?"
"Do you intend to go in looking like yourself?" Severus asked. "For one thing. If Dumbledore's conscience does kick in and he goes to them and they describe a crazy, black-haired man with grey eyes, how long do you think it'll take Dumbledore to make the connection?"
"Well...So I disguise myself." Sirius said, shrugging. "I can do that."
"And what about the long term?" Severus went on ruthlessly. "Surely people are going to realize sooner or later that you have a child with you. Everyone knows Dumbledore wants Harry Potter safely hidden with his Muggle relatives. Every Death Eater still out there will come after him if he's seen in your possession."
"Lots of Purebloods keep their children segregated until they leave for Hogwarts." Sirius said, after thinking for a minute. "It wouldn't really be so strange for me to claim an illegitimate son, if I have to. And my fireplace is already password protected, after I got out of Azkaban. I have to actually go let the person through. I am a Black, Snape. We were raised on paranoia. I know how to hide things."
"And what are you going to do when Harry is eleven?" Severus asked. "What if Dumbledore decides to send someone?"
"Then I am in trouble." Sirius admitted. "But I have seven years to worry about that. And I don't think that will happen- Dumbledore is determined that Harry be treated like a normal student. As long as I send back the reply letter, we ought to be fine. And by then Harry will be old enough to decide what he wants to do. He can go as Harry Potter or I can adopt him legally and he can go as Harry Black—whatever he wants. But he's not staying with those Muggles and that's that."
Severus had to admit, the idiot mutt's plan was sound for a change. Except for one last detail. "And when do you plan to go after the boy?"
"Right now." Sirius said enthusiastically. "As there isn't anything wrong with the plan. Why waste time?"
"Ah, I see." Severus turned back to his three potions. The third one was just finished. He tossed in a bezoar to complete the first potion and added in pixie dust into the second. The second now needed to simmer for the next five hours, while the other two were finished. He cut the fire on the two finished potions, ignoring Sirius as he began to whine, and cast a Stasis spell on the middle cauldron.
"Snaaape. Let me out. I wanna go get Harry!" Sirius moaned, pacing back and forth in the room.
"Dammit, Black, will you just hold on. I'm not about to let you go off alone and potentially put Lily's son in danger, alright? So let me bottle up these potions and we can be on our way. Try, for just once, to act your age."
He heard no response. Satisfied, he began bottling the first potion. He worked in silence for awhile before he heard a small clink beside him. He looked over and damned if Black wasn't bottling his Pepper-Up.
"I told you not to touch my potions." Severus said, eyes narrowing.
Sirius just shrugged, carefully bottling. "This way it goes faster," he said, ignoring the other man's glare. It hadn't been effective since their Third Year. "I won't hurt your precious potion- I fear Madame Pomphrey too much."
Well...that was true. Between the two of them, only Remus Lupin might have spent more time in the infirmary. But while Lycanthropy might be a legitimate cause, two boys hell-bent on killing each other was not. Neither of the dark-haired men would ever be friends with the nurse at Hogwarts.