"Don't tell Dumbledore… yet," Sirius said.
"I'm sorry Mr. Black, but if it's true that the child is here, we'll have to tell him. The child is mentally unbalanced. I am just here to obliviate any memories, but we also have strict orders to tell Albus Dumbledore that-"
"That child is not mentally unbalanced!" Sirius said with clenched teeth. "This is a four-year-old child. Think about how this ordeal is affecting him."
The old man just sighed. They were outside of a Muggle orphanage. At the moment, they were both under disillusionment charms, so no one outside the orphanage knew they were there. It was a very weedy looking building. Before they went inside, they took off the charm. They entered an office where an elderly woman was. The obliviator began to ask questions about whether or not anything strange had happened that day.
"Well, yes," the woman admitted. "I couldn't believe my eyes. One of the small boys was levitating some blocks. He's been here for a few months now. He's a sweet little dear, but very depressed. He keeps asking for his daddy and brother."
"His name?" Sirius asked.
"He says his name is Harry Potter," she answered.
Sirius looked at the Obliviator, he pleaded with the old man silently. He gave out a small sigh but nodded. He turned to the woman and asked if they could see the child. While they left the office, he leaned over and whispered.
"Get him out of here quickly then," he muttered. "I'm gonna retire soon anyway."
Sirius silently thanked him. They were taken into a large room where there were several children running around. The woman walked over to one of the boys and picked him up. His shoulders were slumped forward and he kept his face down. She carried him back, and when Sirius saw his face, he wanted to rage at whoever brought him there.
Harry looked as if he had lost a lot of weight. There were dark circles around his eyes and they were red because he had recently been crying. As soon as he looked up at Sirius though, they lit up.
"Uncle Sirius!" his voice was very hoarse sounding; it was as if he hadn't spoken in a long time.
"Harry!" Sirius said.
Harry leaned forward and Sirius plucked him from the woman's arms. She was about to protest, but the Obliviator pointed his wand at her. He nodded at Sirius to let him know he could go. He didn't need to be told twice, he ran as fast as he could from the room. As soon as he was out of sight of anyone inside, he disapparated.
---
James jumped when he heard someone running into his house. He grabbed his wand, ready to attack whoever it was. Luckily Henry was having a nap. However, he lowered his wand when he saw Sirius enter the room holding Harry.
"DADDY!" Harry screamed.
James ran over to Sirius and grabbed him. He hugged him so hard that he was sure he had hurt the boy. His child looked awful, his face was pale, he had dark circles under his eyes and he was a lot lighter than he used to be. James sat down in a chair and began to examine Harry. He didn't find any injuries on the boy.
"Harry, where have you been?" he asked.
"At orphan place," Harry anwered. "Was at a place the old man took me and then-and then I fall asleep and woke up at orphan place."
"There was some underage magic performed at some Muggle orphanage," Sirius said. "So I went with Hugh Rochen to investigate, and we found Harry. According to the woman we talked to, he's been very depressed. He has been asking for you and Henry."
"So whoever took Harry away dropped him off at an orphanage? Who would do that? And why wasn't he found sooner?"
"Something is still fishy," Sirius said. "Who ever did this couldn't have been smart. Why would they take Harry from the center and then drop him off at an orphanage? I'm guessing more than one person was involved. Someone must have told whoever took Harry to get rid of him. They probably thought an orphanage would be a good place to hide him."
James never wanted to let him go, but he was going to have to give him up. They had talked to Severus who had agreed for a hefty price. Sirius had been angry, but James would pay a hundred thousand galleons if he had to just to keep his son safe. Whoever did this had something against his son.
"Harry, have you been hurt at all?" James asked.
"No," Harry answered. "Didn't like being in strange place. Thought you hated me daddy, I didn't lie. I promise I didn't. I never hurt Henry."
Sirius frowned. "Harry, tell us what happened that night when Albus was watching you."
"We were playing Quidditch with our brooms. Henry flew into a wall and fell into the table."
Harry jumped off of James lap. The movement seemed to take some strength from him because he looked as if he would collapse. He seemed to get a hold of himself though because he walked straight over to a table that held one of Lily's favourite lamps.
"Hit nose right here," Harry said and he pointed to a corner of the table.
"He seems to be sticking to this, even after all these months," Sirius said.
"But Henry is sticking to his story as well," James sighed. "He told me everything that happened that night. When he wakes up we can ask him again."
Sirius ran a hand through his hair. He started to pace the sitting-room. Harry hurried back over to James and climbed into his lap. He started to weep again as he buried his face into his fathers robes. James hugged him close. He had imagined this moment for months, but he hadn't expected to see that his son had lost so much weight.
"Harry didn't they feed you?" James asked.
"Didn't want to eat," Harry answered. "Wanted you. Why don't you like me no more? I love you daddy!"
"Harry, I love you too. I missed you so much and I didn't know where you were. If I knew, I would have come to get you right away."
Sirius was still pacing the room; he seemed to be deep in thought. All James wanted to know why someone had taken his child from the center. Why didn't they have more wards on the place to make sure that this happen?
"Harry!"
They both looked up to see Henry in a pair of blue pajamas in the doorway. He ran over and climbed into James lap so he could hug his brother. Harry hugged him back and started to cry even harder. He hugged both boys tightly glad to have them both together again.
"We're going to have to do this soon," Sirius sighed. "We'll have to talk to the boys and then tell Snivellus that we found him."
James nodded. He wasn't sure how much four-year-olds would be able to understand, but for the next half-hour both he and Sirius took turns explaining to the boys about what they had to do. It wasn't right, Harry had just been returned to his father and brother and now he was going to be separated from them again.
Both boys stared at their father and Godfather with wide eyes.
"Don't live with you no more?" Harry asked. "I love you daddy."
"I love you too Harry. You'll get to see me when you want, but Sirius is going to be your daddy now," James explained. "You can see me everyday if you want to."
"Except for the days that Albus Dumbledore is here," Sirius said. "I'm not sure if I trust that man."
"What?" James asked. "It's my own fault for not reading that parchment he shoved in my face. I was upset about losing Harry, but I should have read it. He told me to read over every document that was there. Anyway, he was just trying to help. How was he supposed to know that he would get abducted?"
"Something just seems suspicious that's all," Sirius said. "He's done a lot for me, he spoke on my behalf when we had Peter's trial, but Henry and Harry have different stories here."
"But why would Albus lie about Harry attacking his brother, send him to a center to be abducted? Remember, if you can't trust Albus Dumbledore, you can't trust anyone. Why would he want to harm a four-year-old? The past three years he has helped me with both boys. He helped me move on past Lily."
"I don't know, I'm just thinking like an Auror I guess. Everyone is a suspect, and the story just doesn't add up," he turned to Henry. "Can you tell me exactly what happened the night when Albus baby-sat you and Harry? Do you remember that night when you said Harry attacked you?"
"We were playing Quidditch and I caught the toy snitch. When I did, Harry got very angry. He ran and punched me a lot in the face," Henry answered. "But I'm not angry no more."
"I didn't hurt him," Harry said. "I didn't! He fell off his broom. Daddy, I promise I'm not lying!"
He started to cry again and he was inconsolable for the rest of the night. James wanted to wait a day before they fed Harry the potion. He asked Sirius to tell Severus to come the next day. That night, he wanted to spend the night with both boys in his bed. He hated himself for not reading the form before he signed it. It was his own fault, and Albus had told him to read over everything first.
---
There was a hitch the next day. James had forgotten that Albus was coming over later that day. It wasn't until Severus had shown up with the potion that he had made he remembered.
"I'm surprised you are doing this today as you have a meeting with the Headmaster, Potter," he said as he eyed both boys at the breakfast table.
"Shit!" James said.
"Forgot did you Potter? He was just telling me this morning about the lessons you have him doing with your brat. Do you have the money?"
"Yes," James said and pulled out a sack of Galleons from his pocket "What time-"
There was a knock on the door. Severus just gave him a smirk as he took the money. Albus was the only person due that today who would knock. They had told Snivellus to use the fireplace.
"Please Severus," James pleaded. "Take him with you."
"Ah, but I wanted to spend my Saturday-"
"I'll pay you more! Please, you just have to watch him for the day. How much do you want?"
There was another knock, it sounded impatient this time. James hated the fact that he had to plead with his childhood enemy. Severus muttered a price and he nodded. He ran over to the table and grabbed Harry.
"Listen little man, you have to go with Sni-Severus for a bit. You'll come back in a few hours and then you'll see Sirius," He said.
"Don't wanna go," Harry sniffed.
"Just take him go!" James said as a louder knock entered the kitchen.
Severus laughed but took the child from his arms. James threw the floo powder into the fireplace for the man. Harry was wailing loudly, and it hurt to hear him. The child had already endured enough, but what could he do? A few seconds later, they were gone. He hoped his old enemy wouldn't hurt a child just over something that had happened at school.
"Henry, you cannot tell Albus that Harry was here!" James said.
"I know," Henry said. "Don't want my brother gone no more!"
"Good, good boy!"
James ran to the front door to let the old wizard in. He smiled even though his knocks had sounded as if he were irritated.
"Sorry about that, I was getting Henry ready," he said.
Luckily the boy was already dressed for the day, so Albus didn't question it. James was glad that he had learned to control his emotions otherwise it would be hard to lie to someone like his old Headmaster. He had learned to master himself after his school days at Hogwarts. The man always seemed to know when Marauders were lying. However, after Lord Voldemort decided to go after his family, James had no choice but to learn how to lie.
"So what are going over with him today?"
"Just the usual basic wand movements again and concentration. As I said before, he's only four so there isn't much we can do yet. It might be a good idea to get him enrolled into a school soon so that he can read over some age appropriate books about defense," Albus answered.
"Can I use my trick wand?" Henry asked playing the part well.
"As I explained to you young man, a trick wand will not help you. We'll use the ordinary wand we got you."
"Wanna learn magic," Henry protested.
"When you're older child, much older."
---
James had never been more proud of Henry in his life. It must have been hard for a child his age to keep a secret as big as having his brother back but he did it. Albus was not the least bit suspicious when the day over.
Severus returned with Harry about a half-hour after Dumbledore left.
"You're lucky Potter," he said. "The child was taking a nap when McGonagall walked into my office without knocking. She wanted me to take care of a few of my Slytherins. There were actually… quite a few close calls."
"But no one saw him?" James asked.
Severus smirked at him. "I'm surprised a child as smart as that boy is yours. He seemed to understand that he had to hide when someone came. He was also well behaved… another surprise. Well, I expect to see the rest of my money soon. Be warned Potter, you or your friends call me Snivellus, or attack me in any other way and I might just let a secret slip. That goes for when these boys start at Hogwarts."
Without another word, he disappeared back into the fireplace. Harry ran over to James and hugged him tightly. Now all they needed was to add his son's blood to the potion vial, and Sirius'. He lifted Harry up and carried him over to a chair. Automatically Henry ran over to climb into the chair with his brother.
"Harry, this is going to hurt, but it's necessary. I will give you both a chocolate frog afterwards," James said.
He went to the counter to grab the potion. He pulled out the stopper and carried it back to the boys. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at Harry's small index finger. A small cut appeared and surprising his son didn't cry. A few drops of blood dripped into the vial. It let out a sizzling noise but that was it. James quickly healed the finger.
"Now even though we will be eating soon, you each can still have a chocolate frog. Then I want you to play together," he told the boys.
Once they were gone, James fell into a chair. He really didn't want to do this. Again he silently yelled at himself for not reading the piece of parchment. Perhaps there was a way to convince Albus that Harry wasn't mentally imbalanced… but what if it didn't work? He couldn't risk losing his son permanently. Whoever had taken him from the center could very well take him again.
He jumped when both Remus and Sirius walked into this kitchen.
"Where is he?" Remus asked.
"I think they went upstairs," James told him.
Remus had missed Harry as much as the other two had. He turned and ran from the room. Meanwhile, James grabbed the potion so Sirius could add his own blood to it. Once he did, the potion sizzled even louder. It had once been a light brown colour, but it turned pure white, as it was supposed to.
"How are you going to convince a four-year-old to drink that?" Sirius asked. "Bet it tastes gross."
"The boys are actually good about taking medicines," James said as Remus appeared with Harry in his arms.
"I found Uncle Remus," Harry said. "I'm with my family again!"
"Harry, I need you to drink this potion. Do you remember what we told you last night? You'll be living with Sirius now. He will be your new daddy, but you'll still see me a lot, and I still love you."
"I'm not lying daddy, I promise," Harry said.
"It's not that son. We are doing this so that you'll never have to be taken away from me again," James said.
"What are you going to do about his name?" Remus asked. "Is it going to remain Harry?"
"We'll have to change that as well," Sirius sighed. "It will be hard, but as I said before, he is still quite young. As long as we keep him from Albus Dumbledore-" he said the name with some disgust "over time it will be easier and he'll respond to the new name."
"I still don't see why you have to go through with all of this. Just tell Albus that he isn't mentally unstable," Remus said. "You are both sure that he didn't attack those workers."
"But we had Albus and a few Obliviator's go through the men's memories," Sirius sighed. "If they can't see that their memories have been tampered with then we have nothing to go with. The people at the center say he is mentally unstable. Whoever did this was very clever. Although I still don't see what they thought they'd accomplish by sending him to a Muggle orphanage. His magic was detected first of all, and besides, he would get his Hogwarts letter when he was eleven."
"Unless the letter didn't get to him," Remus muttered. "Whoever did this didn't want him found. They might have even been watching that orphanage. They might know he is gone by now. If any owl post went there they could have easily stopped it."
"Unless of course Harry was adopted," James said.
"But they could find that out easily. No one saw us at the orphanage because we were under disillusionment charms when we apparated, but they might still find something out. It's best to lay low for a while. I'm going to have to keep him secret for a while because if someone finds out that I have a child right after he disappeared they might put two and two together," Sirius answered.
"But this doesn't make sense!" James said angrily.
The boys looked up at him fearfully. They had been listening to the conversation, it was hard to know if they understood it or not. They both remained quiet nonetheless. He started to pace the kitchen while everyone's eyes followed him.
"Why would someone want to prevent him from returning to this world?"
"You have to ask?" Sirius asked. "He's the brother of The-Boy-Who-Lived! There's a connection to it, I know there is."
James just nodded. He turned to Harry who was still in Remus' arms.
"Listen son, please drink this potion. It might taste awful, but you have to do this. I am not doing this because I am angry with you. I am doing this to protect you. You can still come over here. You can even sleep in your room sometimes. You have to live with Sirius though. He is going to be your daddy now."
Harry's eyes filled up with tears, but he nodded. James handed him the vial of potion. He took it and brought it to his lips. He grimaced but he drank it all down. Nothing happened at first, but then the features in his face started to change. He started to cry as the potion began to change him.
When it was over with, a small version of Sirius was in Remus' arms. Even the eyes had changed and this was what hurt James the most. Every time he had looked at his son, he could see Lily in him, but now it was gone. He had dark brown eyes instead. Even the trademark messy hair was gone.
"Wow," Sirius said. "Guess this is why the potion is banned."
"And why it's so hard to make," Remus added.
"How come my brother looks different now?" Henry asked.
"Don't you remember what we told you?" James asked him. "Harry is going to be Sirius' son now. He looks like him, doesn't he?"
"Uh huh," Henry agreed.
"We have to decide on a name as well," Sirius said.
"I don't know," James said.
He and Lily had spent so long picking the right name for their sons. It wasn't right that it had to be changed.
"Well, what would your girlfriend name him?" Remus asked with a small smirk.
"The last girlfriend I had liked the name Jonathan. I could name him Jonathan Sirius Black. Jon for short," Sirius said. "It's really up to you James. He is still your son."
"No, I like the name Jonathan," James said. "It doesn't relate to any of our families. It seems fitting that your old girlfriend would name him after you if she wanted him to meet you someday. She wouldn't name him after any of your other family members however."
"What do you say?" Sirius asked and he gently pinched Harry's cheeks. "Do you like the name Jonathan?"
"That's my new name now?" he asked.
"Yes, do you like the name Jonathan Sirius Black?"
"I like the name Harry James Potter," he answered and he sniffled.
"I know little buddy. When you are around other people you can't call yourself that. You have to go by Jonathan, all right?"
Harry let out another sniffle but nodded. All three adults knew it was going to be hard though. It wouldn't be easy for him to respond to a new name. Sirius was right though, he was only four. Over time he would grow used to the name Jonathan. At least they hoped. Secretly, Sirius wanted to do more investigation on Albus. There was something that wasn't adding up.
---
A/N: It will be awhile before they find out exactly what Albus did. The boys will be much older and Voldemort will back, but Sirius isn't going to rest until he finds out the truth. He's already suspicious, but no one wants to believe that someone as trustworthy as Albus would do that.
You'll find out eventually about everything that had happened the night that Henry was hurt to when Harry ended up in the orphanage. Every question will be answered in time.
And in case anyone wondered, it wasn't Sectumsempra that James used on Harry. When I was reading over the story I realized people might wonder about that. It was just a simple charm to poke his finger to draw blood.
And as someone pointed out to me (thank you btw!) what Albus did was bad. I guess that was the wrong word to use in the other authors note. I just meant that he wasn't trying to be evil. He was thinking more about destroying Voldemort then anything. To him, Harry was a distraction. He wants to train Henry up without distraction so that the boy can someday defeat Lord Voldemort.
