"Look through the properties he tells me while he goes off flirting with my cousin," Sirius grumbled to himself as he read the address of the land that he now supposedly owns. The late Mr. And Mrs. Potter had plenty of properties before they passed and they left it all to James. James left it all to him, Sirius, to give to Harry when the boy was old enough.

Sirius swallowed the nasty feeling that crept up every time he thought of the boy. He still hoped that Harry would be located soon.

Not only did Sirius have to look through the Potter's properties, he also had to look through his own. The Blacks were rich purebloods who had more lands than they needed. Being the only Black who was alive and wasn't in Azkaban (anymore) it was his duty to manage them. Perhaps selling a few lands here and donating the money to a muggle hospital would make his mother scream from the after world. The though made Sirius smile. He hated that woman.

He had already seen a nice cottage that the Potters owned, he would keep that. A house in the south that belonged to his great grandfather, maybe he would put it up for rent. Next was a little abandoned shop in Knockturn Alley, it belonged to the Potters. Not for the first time, Sirius wondered why on Merlin's beard did the Potters have a property in the dreadful place.

He stopped by at the Leaky Cauldron first. He had told Remus to meet him there.

There were a few people who stopped and stared at him as he walked by, obviously shocked that he, Sirius Black, was walking about in public. His friend though, did not even notice his arrival for he was too busy smiling and laughing at everything young Nymphadora Tonks had to say.

"So anyway, I finished the obstacle course ahead of everyone else. I mean I was the youngest person in the group and I finish before all of them. Mad-eye then calls us all in to line up and tells the others off for being unable to keep up with me. Then he calls me to stand in front and as I walked I tripped on thin air." Remus laughed, Sirius looked at them in disgust. It was sickening. "Mad-eye then just gives me this look of disbelief and started yelling 'How in Merlin's name did you trip over bloody nothing?'." Remus laughed again, he looked very captivated by the story and was leaning in closer and closer, far too close for Sirius' liking.

"Hello," Sirius greeted the couple loudly. Remus moved away from Tonks so fast that Sirius could have sworn he used magic.

"Hey" Tonks replied brightly as Remus sent a weary nod his way. She then turned her back on Sirius and continued telling Remus the story. Sirius rolled his eyes as he sat on the stool next to theirs and summoned himself a bottle of butterbeer.

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"A hundred quid!" yelled a boy of fifteen indignantly. The boy stood much taller than his companion. His sleek dark hair and expensive looking suit was a contrast to the boy he was talking to. Despite being dressed in rags, the younger boy did not back down.

"Yes, a hundred take it or leave it. I'm sure your daddy won't mind if he notices how empty his liquor cabinet is," Harry answered back calmly. He had nicked a few bottles of vodka from one of the local pubs and was selling it to one of the students, who needed something to spice up a party.

The older boy huffed but pulled out his leather wallet and gave Harry a wad of cash. Harry took it and left him without a word. This cash would be last him a while, if he was frugal. Maybe he could nick a few more bottles; he saw a nice box of Jack Daniels in one of the pubs. Maybe he could be lucky again and earn a few more. Maybe it could even be a good business.

He walked down the streets. Most of the pubs looked too hard to get into without being noticed. He noticed one particular shabby looking joint. The door was opened by an odd looking woman wearing strange robes, but the door opened wide enough for him to see that it was fairly dark inside and there was an unattended bar. Perhaps he would be able to get a bottle or two if he were to enter through the back. But there didn't seem to be a way in the back. It would be futile to try; he would only get caught if he were to enter through the front, but something about the place was calling for him.

He had been living in London for some time now, but he had never seen this place before. He doesn't like venturing outside his territory because that was one of the rules in the streets. Each person had their own territory and some people were very protective of theirs. Harry looked up at the sign, 'Leaky Cauldron' it read. He figured it was a good half an hour's walk from his place. He really shouldn't enter, but it was really tempting to. Something in it was beckoning for him to enter, a sort of pull.

The door opened again. This time Harry caught a glimpse of people all wearing strange robes of some sort, there was even a woman with neon pink hair that Harry could easily spot from afar. Before being knocked down by a fairly large man, who too was wearing peculiar robes, Harry caught a glimpse of a bottle flying across the room.

Harry rubbed his eyes. The man who knocked him down had vanished when Harry looked around for him. It didn't seem like a good idea at all to enter the pub. They were probably a cult of some kind, not at all the sorts that Harry wanted to go near to. An electronic store advertising a new game stole Harry's attention. He decided to indulge himself to a chance to play with one of the new games for free on the consoles that the store had on display. That is until the manager took one look at his mangled clothes and kicked him out.

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"Did you smell that?" Remus asked suddenly in the middle of his conversation with Tonks.

"Not me," Sirius said defensively putting his hands up.

Remus waved him off and looked around the bar. There was a distinct smell that caught his attention. Being bitten as a child, it made him more adapted to his werewolf senses compared to someone bitten as an adult. When a werewolf child hits puberty there are wolf like senses that he inherits from the wolf, such as the ability to recognize smells, along with great eyesight even in the dark and such. The smell that he just caught a whiff of made him curious. He couldn't place it but he knew it.

"What's wrong?" Tonks asked. She had been in the middle of a story when Remus stopped her.

Remus wanted to get back to her but he couldn't shake the feeling that the smell was important. He traced its source from the outside. He opened the door and caught another strong hint of it. It was getting diluted by the other scents of the city though and was disappearing rapidly with every passing second. His nose twitched trying to catch the smell.

He walked towards the muggle store. Many children were coming in and out of the place; there was apparently something new inside. A hurdle of teenage girls passed him by and the aroma of their perfumes made the smell he was chasing undistinguishable. He sighed irritably.

"What was it?" Sirius asked him when he entered the bar again.

Remus shrugged, "It was nothing, I just thought I smelled something peculiar."

"Find out where it's from?" Tonks asked as she took a sip of her butterbeer.

"No," Remus said rubbing the back of his neck, "but I don't think it's important."

Remus decided to forget about the subject. He let Tonks finish the story and smiled at the enthusiasm the young lady had about her job as an auror. It was infectious. Remus often found himself smiling along with her just by looking at her. He was crushing on her bad, a fact that made Sirius tease him to no ends about. Speaking of...

"So, what brings you to the Leaky Cauldron Sirius?" Remus asked his friend. Since his freedom, Sirius made it a point to stay away from the public for a while since there were still many people suspicious of him.

"There's this place in Knockturn Alley I want to check out,"

"Knockturn Alley? What for?"

"It's of the properties that belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Potter."

Remus nodded. It was at his suggestion after all for Sirius to check them out. He thought that his friend needed to do something productive with his life other than chasing a ghost and he was right. It had only been a week but he could definitely sense an improvement in Sirius. Perhaps he should push the guy to look for a job, get him socialized again. The Quidditch World cup was coming up; it would be a good idea to get tickets there.

"So you wanna come with?" Sirius asked.

Remus blinked uncertainly. "Come with where?"

"Knockturn Alley of course!"

Sooner that Remus had hoped for, they found their way navigating the retched streets of Knockturn Alley. The place stunk of nasty potions and dark magic. You could practically see the presence of evil lurking about. They kept their wands out, even Tonks kept her hair a low profile and settled with dark locks. People glared as they bumped to each other, street vendors offering them illegal items for a terribly high price.

"I have half a mind to arrest them," Tonks grumbled when a man leered at her for the umpteenth time.

"Now, Tonks don't make a scene," Sirius said in a tone that sounded like a parent chastening their child. "We go in go see the place and leave."

They reached the place. It was located an isolated corner of the alley; barely seen compared the others. It was boarded up and looked to be centuries old. Remus worried the whole place might cave in if they went in but then again, the Weasley's house also looked like it was close to collapsing but it still stood tall.

They magicked the boards away to make a way for them to enter. The door opened with a loud creak and the floor looked unstable. A quick reparo spell made it possible for them to walk without falling to the floor bellow. A good layer of dust covered the place but other than the dirt, it looked fairly empty.

That smell again. It was much stronger inside compared to how he caught a whiff of it in the Leaky Cauldron. It was rather curious to smell it twice in a day. Remus walked towards the back of the room, it was getting stronger. There was someone behind the door, he could hear someone moving. Remus felt Tonks and Sirius creep behind him. He steadily opened the door and what do you know, the strong scent belonged to the person, a boy from the looks of it.

The door led to the basement, but unfortunately there were no stairs going down. The creak of the door caught the boy's attention. The kid looked to be twelve or thirteen, undernourished looking even. He had a messy head of hair that looked dirty and clothes that were ragged. What stood out though was his eyes, even in the dark Remus could see them clearly. It was the eyes that he'd seen almost every day during his time in Hogwarts. It was the eyes of the woman his best friend married. It was the eyes of Lily Potter.

"Harry?" Sirius gasped in disbelief besides Remus.

The boy, Harry, looked at them in confusion then shock then panic. Before the two wizards could even think of casting a reparo spell to fix the stairs so they could go down, Harry was already halfway climbing a makeshift staircase, out of boxes and brinks, towards a hole in a wall that led to outside. Sirius hastily pushed Remus out of the way, casting a quick spell to repair the steps and descended to the basement. But it was too late.

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A message from TemperedRose:

Hello my fellow pothead. Thank you for your reviews, they make me smile and encourage me to write. Yes, I crave your acknowledgement and support due to my own insecurities with my parents neglecting me in favour of my siblings because I'm a middle child... or at least that's what the internet tells me. In my opinion I just like reading people's opinions.

In other new, I would like to clarify that there is a six months (aprox) gab between chapter one and two. Chapter one was before the winter break and chapter two was just at the start of summer...

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and remember to help me keep my brain juice flowing by leaving me a review... until then