Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: AU An experiment gone awry lands Harry in a world completely different from his own. And despite opposing Voldemort's views, he has no desire to stand against Voldemort himself. After all, Voldemort was only an older version of Tom, right?

Author's Note: In case this comes up later, let me make this clear. There is NO SLASH. And for the most part, no real pairings either.

The Arrival

11/14/09 – 12/6/09

For James Potter, it was another late night at the Ministry. Work had officially ended hours ago, but he had decided to stay a while longer to wrap up a few extra cases. It was hard, he decided, being the Head Auror. Stacks upon stacks of reports and assorted documents were piled precariously atop his desk, waiting to be reviewed.

"Prongs," a handsome face with a head full of dark hair poked through the entryway of the office. "It's about time to pack up and go home, don't you think? We're the last ones here – again." He was frowning, muttering something about working overtime and needing more pay, but James wasn't paying attention – at least, not completely.

"I just have a bit more to do." he answered, running his hand through his messy hair. "You can go home first."

Sirius eyed the stack of reports. "A bit?" he asked, disbelief lacing his tone. "That'll take forever. You're not planning to stay the night in this office again, are you?" There was a slightly accusatory note in his tone, but he didn't push the subject, knowing it was still a sore subject for his friend.

"Well," James looked up, a look of mock accusation on his grinning face, "If someone actually did their work instead of shirking off their responsibilities all the time, I wouldn't have to spend extra hours here every night doing double the work."

"Yeah, yeah, you keep telling yourself that." Sirius answered, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, I'll head back first then. Don't stay too late. Prongs Jr. and I will be waiting for you at home – at Potter Mansion."

The meaning behind those words was left unspoken, but James got it as clear as if it had been spoken aloud. "Mhm," he answered noncommittally, reaching for another report. From the corner of his eye, he saw Sirius shake his head in frustration. However, he was grateful that his friend didn't try bringing up that subject again.

Locking the door after his friend's exit, James continued working for a while. However, as the night wore on, he grew more and more exhausted. In the end, he simply dropped the report and rested his head against the desk. Thinking he would just close his eyes for a bit (and then go back to work), he didn't even realize when he drifted asleep.

Sirius paced restlessly in the living room as he cast agonized glances at the clock. It was half past midnight. What did James think he was doing? Casting a surreptitious glance towards his godson, Sirius quickly looked away again, unable to stomach the look of pure misery on his downturned face.

It was at times like these that Sirius Black seriously considered murdering his best friend and then committing suicide afterwards. But, knowing James was suffering too, he couldn't even bring himself to properly blame him either. However, it didn't stop him from wishing that James would open his eyes and realize he hadn't lost everyone.

True, Lily and Harry were gone. But, he still had another son – a child who desperately needed a father. And, if he didn't think he would be able to raise a child alone, he had him, and Remus, and Peter too.

"Dad's not coming back, is he?"

Sirius jumped, startled out of his thoughts by the quietly voiced question. Turning to face his godson, he was once again struck by the child's uncanny resemblance to his mother. If he had been a girl, he would have been identical to Lily as a child. Fair-skinned and soft-spoken, the boy was a constant reminder of his late mother.

A long time ago, Sirius had joked that Lily had finally managed to do the impossible – she had cloned herself. From his red locks to his piercing green eyes, there was almost nothing of James in him. Even his personality was more like his mother.

"Padfoot?"

Realizing he was making his godson uncomfortable, Sirius quickly averted his gaze. "Sorry," he murmured. Not even he was completely sure if he was apologizing for staring or for James' absence.

"I'll head to bed now."

Sirius nodded, knowing it would only hurt him more if he mentioned James now. However, as he watched the boy's dejected figure amble up the winding staircase, he couldn't help but feel angry on his godson's behalf. Thus, for a long time afterwards, Sirius continued to sit at the couch, waiting for James to return so that he could give him a proper lecture. But, when hours passed without his friend showing any signs of returning, he resigned himself to the fact that James was not coming home tonight.

However, as he was getting up to go upstairs to catch a few hours of sleep before the morning sun rose, he suddenly caught sight of the parchment his godson had been clutching. The boy had been fairly excited about whatever was on there, wanting his father to be the first to see. However, as time had gone by without any signs of James' return, the boy had grown more and more dejected. Eventually, he had crumpled the parchment and tossed it aside altogether.

Now, holding the crumpled ball of paper, Sirius debated whether he should look or not. In the end, however, curiosity won out and he unfurled the parchment. It took him a moment to understand what all the marks meant. But, when he realized what it was, he whistled in surprise. "He's Lily's son alright." he murmured.

Henry Potter had received nearly full marks for all his exams.

An infernal pounding noise tickled the edge of his senses as James sluggishly lifted an arm, searching for his blasted alarm clock. When his groping was met with air, he groggily lifted his head and looked around in confusion. It took him a moment to register the fact that he had spent the night at the Ministry again.

And the pounding was back again. But this time, James knew it was Sirius at the door. No one else would be bothering him at – he checked the clock – 5:00 in the morning. "Hold on, I'm getting it." he shouted, searching for his wand. But, the pounding on his door never ceased even though he was sure Sirius had heard him perfectly fine.

With a roll of his eyes, James made a swish with his wand and unbolted the locks. And, at once, Sirius rushed in with murder in his eyes. "James Potter!" Sirius roared, anger fueled by the look of complete ignorance on his friend's face. "Do you know how long we – no, Henry – waited for you yesterday?"

James immediately felt guilty. He hadn't meant to stay the night. He had just closed his eyes for a second, and the next thing he knew, it was morning. "Is he…okay?" he asked, feeling horrible for not being the father he should have been.

"What do you think?" Sirius asked, slamming a sheet of paper on his desk. "He waited for hours, wanting you to be the first one to see this." Sirius wanted to stay angry, but as James picked up the crumbled parchment, reading through it with increasing guilt, Sirius found that he couldn't stay angry even if he had tried.

"I'm sorry." James whispered as Sirius was exiting the door.

Sirius paused. "I'm not the one you should be saying that to." Then, he left, knowing James needed time to himself. It wasn't the first time James had disappointed Henry, and Sirius was sure that it wouldn't be the last either. Things may improve for a while, but none of it would last. Eventually, James would snap, unable to see Henry without him being reminded of the son and wife that he had lost.

And things would go back to square one.

And again, the one who would be hurt most was Henry.

Sirius wasn't sure how long he waited outside James' office, guarding his privacy by collecting everyone's report before they could go in and disturb him. Already, he had a nice pile of documents at his feet for his troubles.

Just as he was about to relax, however, his sharpened senses picked up a set of frantic footsteps pounding their way. Straightening, he quickly stretched out his arm and grabbed the young man before he could barrel into James' office. Pulling the young auror a distance away, Sirius said, "Feel free to hand your report to me. Head Auror Potter is currently unavailable to answer your –"

"But, I need to see him, this is –"

Sirius glared. "And like I said, he's indisposed."

"But –"

"What? Am I not good enough because I'm not the Head Auror?"

"No, that's not –"

"Then, just give me the damn report and –"

"It's Code Black!" the young man snarled, irritated at being interrupted again and again. "Diagon Alley is under attack by Death Eaters!"

Sirius eyes widened as he shoved the man aside. "Why didn't you say so earlier, fool?" he growled as he quickly rushed into James' office, missing the man's incredulous look. "James! We've got a Code Black in Diagon Alley!"

At once, James dropped the parchment and grabbed his wand.

"Team 2 and 5, all suspicious individuals within the vicinity are to be detained for questioning." James hollered over the chaos of the aftermath. "Team 1 and 4, secure the area. Keep alert in case Death Eaters return with reinforcements. Team 3 will aid Auror Sirius in bringing injured civilians to St. Mungos."

James frowned, taking in the destruction the Death Eaters had left behind. Even though they had arrived in time to prevent a complete bloodbath, they hadn't been quick enough to save everyone.

"All right, be careful. Levitate them slowly. Slowly!" Sirius barked from a distance away. "Now, you," he said, addressing someone James couldn't see too clearly. "Take these civilians to St. Mungos and then come back immediately. We need as many hands as we can afford so don't dawdle."

There was an answer of "yes sir" followed by a soft pop, announcing the man's departure. And, not long later, James found Sirius. "How are things holding up?" he asked, noting the dark, unreadable expression on his best friend's face.

"They're despicable." Sirius spat. "They're worst than despicable. They're –"

James didn't have to ask to know that the "they" Sirius was referring to was the Death Eaters. And he whole-heartedly agreed. How anyone could bring themselves to attack civilians – especially the young ones – was beyond him. But then again, what had he been expecting? These were Death Eaters, after all. "We'll need to report this at the Order Meeting tonight." he finally spoke, cutting off Sirius' rant.

However, Sirius was not to be deterred. "And what was Snape doing?" he demanded with a hiss, barely remembering to keep his voice low so that no one else would overhear. "Shouldn't he have alerted the Order about this raid? I knew we couldn't trust the bloody git."

"Sirius, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this." James cut in, emphasizing the word 'reasonable' to show that if Snape didn't have a good explanation, he would be the first one in line to hex him. "What's important now is getting –"

"Let go!"

James and Sirius simultaneously turned towards the source of the shout, where two of their Aurors were trying to hold down a flailing, young boy. They were a bit of a distance away, so it was impossible to tell what was really going on. However, both of them had their suspicions. Without so much as a glance toward the other, the two quickly made their way toward the three.

For James, this was the part of the job that he hated most. How did one go about telling a parent that their child was gone? Especially when he, himself, was still grieving for the family he had lost 10 years ago. And, possibly even worst than the former, what was one supposed to tell a child who had just lost their family? How did one tell a child that their parents weren't coming back – that they were now orphans, casualties of the war? If his own child had been –

"James," Sirius whispered to him as they near the trio. "Snap out of it. This isn't the time to be thinking of the past. We need to stay focused."

Jaws clenching, he nodded his head.

"Please," they were now close enough to hear the Aurors pleading with the child to stay calm. "Things are a bit chaotic right now. But, once we clear things up a bit here, we'll help you find your family. So, please, calm down –"

"You don't understand." the boy cried, frustrated.

For reasons unknown, James suddenly found his heart pounding the nearer he got to the three. And, more and more, he wished the boy would turn around so that he could see his face. It was an urgent feeling that drove him forward, pressing him to see the boy face to face.

"Child, you have to understand, we're at war. There is a chance that..." the man trailed off and took a deep breath. "There's a chance that your family didn't make it."

The response was instantaneous. The boy snarled as he twisted his arm out of the man's grip. "My brother would never have been brought down by this. If you won't help me look, I'll look for him myself!"

And in that second that the boy turned around, James swore his heart stopped. Whereas it had been beating furiously before, he suddenly found it hard to breath.

"Impossible," he heard Sirius whisper from beside him. Both of them had stopped, unable to move – unable to take their eyes off the young boy that had stopped as well, staring at them in shock. By all rights, he shouldn't be jumping to conclusions. His son was dead. Even if the child before him could have passed as his twin in his youth, and had Lily's green eyes, it did not mean anything. It shouldn't have meant anything.

But then, why was both Sirius and he held spellbound? Vaguely, he noted that the two Aurors were speaking to him about something. It could be important, but for the life of him, he couldn't seem to understand a word.

James and Sirius was still reeling from the shock when the boy slowly took a hesitate step forward and murmured, "Dad? Padfoot?"

And the dam broke.

TBC