IN HIDING.

Lily and James escaped when Voldemort attacked, in order to survive, the entire Wizarding World had to believe they were dead... Ten years later, Harry shows up at Kings Cross Station, ready to begin his first year at Hogwarts.

CHAPTER ONE

Sirius stared down at Harry and shook his head, a smile spreading across his face. "You realise, there is no possible way I can be angry now?"

"That was the plan," Harry said, grinning at Sirius.

Chuckling, Sirius ruffled Harry's hair, "cheeky runt."

"I'm a junior Marauder," Harry said, still grinning. "What did you expect?"

"Junior Marauder?" James' voice reached them a moment before he entered the compartment; with Lily, Charles, Siria and Remus in tow. Looking at his son, James folded his arms. "What are you up to now?" He asked, as he tried to hold back the smile that had his lips twitching.

"I'm doing you a favour," Harry flashed a grin at his Father. "Sirius isn't angry anymore..." He broke off and shrugged, "Well, he's not angry right now." Harry said, correcting himself as he realised that this probably wouldn't be the first, or last time Sirius became angry at his parents for not telling he and Remus they were alive.

James and Lily both smiled at Sirius, "We really are sorry," James said wretchedly.

Sirius sighed and shook his head, "I'm still angry that you let us believe you were dead.." His mouth curving into a slow smile, as he looked at his best friend. "But I am happy you're alive."

"That goes for me too," Remus agreed, pulling both James and Lily into a hug.

Sirius only hesitated for a moment before joining them, throwing his arms around his friends; laughing as he was enveloped in what had become a group hug.

Harry smiled, watching the joyous reunion - it was everything he'd hoped for; he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his parents so happy, they'd always been 'happy' for his and Siria's and Charles' sake, but he'd seen their sadness when they thought no one was looking - a sadness he knew was caused by how much they had missed their friends.

But none of that mattered now, his parents were truly happy for the first time in ten long years. Harry looked down when he felt Charles tugging at his sleeve, his little brother smiled up at him; his green eyes gleaming brightly, "He's not scary anymore."

Harry and Siria chuckled, as Charles' voice brought reunion hug to an end.

Lily, James, Sirius and Remus turned to face them, and Sirius frowned. "Who's scary?"

"You were," Siria put her hands on her hips. "Before you believed who we were."

"Bully," Harry said, mock glaring at Sirius. "You scared my little brother."

Charles looked up at Harry; his face was an embarrassed red as he scowled. "I only said he was scary," the five year old snapped, "I never said I was scared!"

As Sirius and Remus burst out laughing, Lily and James moved to stand with their children. "I think it's time for introductions," James said, his hands resting on Siria's shoulders.

"This little troublemaker, is Charles Remus Potter." Lily said, wrapping her arms around Charles' shoulders. She smiled at Remus, "You're his Godfather."

James laughed, as Remus' eyes widened in surprise. "Just because we couldn't tell you we were alive, doesn't mean we forgot about you..." He looked down at Siria, smiling down at his daughter. "I'm guessing you'll want to introduce yourself?"

Nodding, Siria stepped forward. "Siria Lily Potter, at your service." She said, holding out a hand. She grinned as Sirius shook her hand, "I don't think you have to guess who my Godfather is, do you?"

x

Half an hour later, they had settled into their compartment. James sat opposite Sirius and Remus, Lily was beside him - her hand entwined in his, Harry and Siria were playing wizard's chess, and Charles was fast asleep - his head resting in Lily's lap. James smiled sadly at Sirius and Remus, It was wonderful being with them again, but the strain of their absence was painfully noticeable; where they had once been open and joking and carefree, they were now distant and awkward with each other - the friendship and love was still there, but there was also a small level of distrust that had never been there before.

"I can't believe it's been ten years," he said quietly; it seemed like it had been an eternity since he'd last seen them, and yet somehow, it was also like it was only yesterday.

Sirius shrugged, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Well it's not our fault we didn't stay in touch," his voice was clipped, falsely light as he tried to keep his anger at bay.

James flinched at the betrayal in his friend's eyes, and his shoulders slumped when he saw the same thing when he glanced at Remus. "We didn't have a choice..."

"You could have trusted us," Remus' voice was calm, even if the emotion in his expression wasn't.

Lily squeezed James' hand gently, as he began to tremble. "It's not that we didn't trust you," she swallowed as her throat tightened. "We were protecting both of you as well."

Sirius snorted, "Protecting us?" He shook his head, "from what exactly?"

"From Voldemort," James looked at his friends pleadingly, trying desperately to make them understand. "He doesn't believe that we're dead," in the last ten years he and Lily had fought off dozens of Death Eater attacks. "If he had even the slightest suspicion that either of you knew we were alive, or where we were, he would have captured you, and tortured you to find our whereabouts," James's face was pale as he shook his head. "We couldn't stand the thought of your deaths, being on our hands." He said wretchedly, "we couldn't take the risk_"

"It should have been our choice!" Sirius snarled, lowering his voice at the last second, so he didn't wake Charles.

Harry sighed, shaking his head as he stood. "Come on Ria," he took his Sister's hand, pulling her to his feet as he looked at his parents. "We're going to explore the train, while you sort this out." He could see now, that his parents and Sirius and Remus, needed to 'fight', they needed to let out the anger and pain that had been bottled up for ten years. He glanced at Charles, and folded his arms. "If anyone wakes my brother, there'll be hell to pay." He said, his gaze flicking from Remus, to Sirius, and then his parents.

Remus' eyebrows rose, as Harry and Siria walked out of sight. "Did we just get told off, by an eleven year old?"

Sirius' eyes gleamed, as he burst out laughing.

James grinned at Lily, "He gets that from you, you know."

xx

"Do you think they'll be angry at Mum and Dad for long?" Siria asked, looking up at Harry as they walked along the aisle.

"No," Harry shook his head. "They're angry now, because it's a shock." Sirius and Remus had grieved for their parents for ten years, only to find that they were alive the entire time. He looked down at his Sister, and smiled reassuringly. "Remus and Sirius still love Mum and Dad, and they're happy that they're alive."

Siria's face split into a wide smile, "It's great to finally meet them in person." She, Harry and Charles had been raised on their Father's stories about 'The marauders', they'd been told so much about Sirius and Remus, that Siria felt like she had known them all her life.

Harry grinned, nodding in agreement. "I think Dad was starting to run out of stories to tell us."

Siria frowned, remembering how warmly Harry had greeted Sirius. "Do you remember Sirius?"

Harry cocked his head, "I think I recognise him." he said slowly, when he had seen Sirius, he had felt a sense of familiarity.

"When you greeted him, you said, 'It's great to see you again' not 'it's great to meet you'."

Harry smiled, shrugging slightly. "Because I know it's not the first time we've met," he knew Sirius had visited his Mum and Dad while they were in hiding, "It just felt like the right thing to say."

Siria grinned as she glanced into compartments as they walked by, "I can't believe I get to see Hogwarts two years earlier than anyone else my age."

Laughing, Harry nodded. "Yeah, but it's Charles who'll really get the bragging rights for that."

He paused when he saw a red haired boy, sitting in a compartment on his own. "Let's say hello," Harry suggested, sliding the door open. When the boy looked up, Harry flashed a friendly smile. "We thought you might like some company."

"Sure," the red haired boy smiled, holding out a hand as harry and Siria entered his compartment. "I'm Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley."

Harry smiled, shaking Ron's hand. "I'm Harry, this is my Sister, Siria." He felt a little guilty about keeping his full identity from Ron, but until they reached Hogwarts, it wasn't safe for anyone to know that he and his family, had returned.