Chapter 4 –
The news of Peter Pettigrew being found alive had spread all throughout the country, many had realised that Sirius Black might not have killed those muggles either. The ministry had no choice but to put Sirius and Peter on trial, even though Fudge didn't really want to.
Henry had to quickly sneak Sirius back in to Azkaban, when asked how he simply grabbed the man and apparated back into Sirius's cell. He had gotten rid of the duplicate, when he turned to Sirius who was looking at him a dropped jaw.
"You…you can't apparate into Azkaban" Sirius said slowly
"Huh? Wish somebody had told me that" Henry smirked "now, I'll be off. Remus will be there for your trial, goodbye" Henry popped out of Azkaban, leaving behind a gaping Sirius.
"Do all Potters just not care for the rules?!" Sirius threw his arms up in exasperation.
He sat down and leaned against a wall, doing his best to look tired and miserable. Eventually two guards came up to the cell, they banged on the bars and Sirius spun his head around and looked at them.
"Hello gentlemen" Sirius said in a raspy voice "lovely weather today, don't you think so?"
"You're coming with us Black" One of the guards opened the cell
"Now I'm flattered but I'm only interested in women" Sirius joked
"Shut it, come on" The two guards dragged Sirius out of the cell, not seeing his smirk that he hid.
A little while later, Sirius had been freed by the court while Pettigrew had been sent to Azkaban for life. Sirius was also given two thousand galleons for every year he spent in Azkaban. Sirius met with Remus just outside of the court room once the trial had finished.
"I'm free Moony!" Sirius hugged his friend
"I'm glad Padfoot" Remus hugged him back, the two then let go when they felt someone tugging at their legs. They both looked down to see a house elf looking at them.
"Hello" Sirius blinked
"Can we help you?" Remus politely asked
"I is Stink" The house elf introduced himself "Master Henry says he be coming in ten minutes to take you to master Harry"
"Ah, thank you" Remus said
"Yous is welcome" Stink popped away
"I can't believe this" Sirius said excitedly "I'm going to see Harry! I've got to find a way to thank Henry"
"Henry" Remus sighed "I cannot figure that man out, don't get me wrong, I trust him. But I can't figure him out"
"Did you know that he can apparate into Azkaban?" Sirius asked
"What?! That's impossible!"
"I know but he did it like it was just a normal everyday thing for him"
"How?" Remus wondered
"Remus, I've realised something" Sirius said softly "I realised that I don't really care. I don't care what he can do or what secrets he has, not anymore. He's looking after Harry and that's all I need to know"
"When did you get so mature?" Remus raised an eyebrow
"Around my second year in hell" Sirius shrugged, the two talked for a couple of more minutes when they were interrupted.
"Sirius, Remus" A voice called, the two turned, thinking that Henry had come early.
Unfortunately for them it was not Henry, standing in front of them with an annoying twinkle in his eye and a grandfatherly smile was Dumbledore, wearing the brightest blue robes that the pair had ever seen. Sirius and Remus looked at each other, after an almost telepathic conversation they agreed to try and be civil.
"Dumbledore" Sirius said in a cool voice
"Professor" Remus greeted
"It's good to see you both" Dumbledore smiled at them "Sirius, I would like to apologise for not believing in you. I do hope you can forgive an old man" Dumbledore said, not expecting any answer other than yes.
"I didn't know you'd be here" Sirius chose to avoid answering that particular question.
"Well, I wanted to see you and make sure you were fine" Dumbledore said as sincerely as he could manage
"I'm doing great" Sirius responded "I'm a free man, and I'm going to go see my godson."
"Harry?" Dumbledore's eyes had a hopeful look "You know where he is?"
"No" Sirius shook his head "just the guy who does know"
"Henry Potter?" Dumbledore asked "I was unaware that the two of you knew him"
"We didn't until recently" Remus answered truthfully "Henry wanted us to spend time with Harry so he contacted us"
"Hmm, I was wondering if you could convince Mr Potter to allow me to come with you" Dumbledore said "I wish to see young Harry and check up on him"
"Professor, I doubt it" Remus replied, he had no intention of letting Dumbledore see Harry but he still played his role as one of the man's worshippers "from what I've seen, Henry can be very protective of Harry. And he is a Potter, so he's likely stubborn and it'll be hard to convince him"
"Harry needs me" Dumbledore said "I need to keep him safe, we must find a way to convince Mr Potter to let me see him"
"Do we?" Sirius asked "From what I know he cares for Harry and is capable of protecting him, he's also family and that's good enough for me"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence" Henry appeared, he walked up to them. "Now, Harry is patiently waiting to see his godfather and Uncle Moony, so let's go"
"Mr Potter" Dumbledore said "I realise that in our last meeting we might have gotten off on the wrong foot"
"Do you mean the meeting where you all but demanded me to take you to my home to see my nephew and tried to read my mind in the middle of Gringotts?" Henry asked sarcastically
"Mr Potter, I am simply concerned about Harry"
"Why?" Henry asked
"What do you mean?"
"Why Harry?" Henry clarified "Out of all the boy and girls that lost family why are you focusing on Harry?"
"Now Mr Potter…"
"Neville Longbottom had both of his parents tortured into insanity" Henry interrupted "you didn't interfere when his grandmother took him in. Susan Bones lost both of her parents and went to live with her aunt, you didn't interfere when she took her in. Daphne Greengrass had lost an uncle during the war and you didn't even say anything to her parents. There were more, definitely more kids that lost their parents and family members.
All of those kids yet your only concern is Harry, why is that? Is it because he's the boy-who-lived? Is it because he survived Voldemort? Or is it because of the prophecy?"
"How did you know about the prophecy?!" Dumbledore demanded
"James may have written it down" Henry smirked "I know all about the prophecy and what you and Voldemort think it means."
"So you know that Harry must be protected"
"Yes, and he is. I will keep him safer than some love based wards that are placed in an abusive house"
"Those wards kept him safe!" Dumbledore argued
"Those wards and your decisions also gave him more near death moments than someone he's age should experience!" Henry snapped, attracting a crowd who began listening in "You're not a king Dumbledore! You're not a ruler! You're not Merlin! All you are is a headmaster who happens to be a high up in a corrupt government. You have no rights to make decisions for Harry! My nephew is under my protection and I promise you that Voldemort himself wouldn't be able to stop me from protecting my family."
"Mr Potter, you are young" Dumbledore argued, not knowing that Henry was at least a million years old "I've been battling the dark for a very long time"
"Yes, a very long time" Henry agreed "and you've utterly failed throughout all of that time"
"Failed?!"
"Yes, failed" Henry repeated "it took you twenty years to get up off your arse and defeat Grindelwald, why is that? Voldemort was causing chaos for years and years and the war ended only when a miracle happened and then you took that very miracle and shoved him out of the magical world with no concern about how he was going to live or what his childhood would be like. Forgive me if I don't have a high amount of trust in you"
"Enough of this nonsense, you will take me to Harry and you will take me now!"
"Or what?!" Henry challenged "You are not his legal guardian in any shape or form, I'm his muggle guardian and his magical custody is currently being held open for negotiation. In fact, the hearing is tomorrow, as I'm sure you know. You will stay far away from Harry, you will not meddle in his life"
"You can't talk to me like that!" The crowd was dead silent as they watched the two alpha personalities go head to head "I am the leader of the light and I demand that you allow me to see Harry. I need to know where he is for the greater good"
"The greater good is not my concern, Harry is." Henry replied
"Now listen here, you will take me to Harry and I will…" Dumbledore was cut off by Henry who grabbed him by the collar with one hand and pulled him closer. Dumbledore was about to say something when Henry's eyes turned a killing curse green, the atmosphere became cold. Nobody was willing to anything.
"You will not put a hand on my nephew!" Henry growled in the low voice that he used when he was the vigilante known as 'Curse' and went around hunting death eaters "You're lucky I haven't incinerated you for all the harm you've caused my family! No more meddling in Harry's life! It's time for you to leave the boy alone"
Henry let go of Dumbledore and the old man fell on the floor, the atmosphere made it seem like a dementor was in the room. Henry spun his head in a circle and his eyes transformed back from deathly green to a calmer grey.
"Come on" Henry said to Sirius and Remus, the two men followed Henry outside and away from the crowd.
"That…was….terrifying" Remus managed to get out eventually
"Well, I try" Henry shrugged "sorry about that, the old guy just pisses me off"
"You do realise that you've threatened the most powerful wizard ever to live?" Sirius asked his crazy new friend
"Dumbledore?" Henry snorted "Most Powerful? Please, you must be joking"
"Everyone knows how strong Dumbledore is" Remus pointed out
"Does everyone know everyone?" Henry asked "Have you met every single person on the planet and paired them against Dumbledore? For all you know someone twice as powerful could be living in a hut somewhere in Asia. Also, if Dumbledore was so powerful then he would've ended Voldemorts reign ages before he became that big of a problem. Besides, I've fought with worse than Dumbledore"
"Like what?" Sirius asked
"Vampires, evil werewolves, dark wizards that usually were in groups, I had to get past a dragon one time, a few magical creatures, I've had a few sword fights, this one King wanted to capture and hang me, I've been chased by governments and I've defeated a few dark lords of my own." Henry listed
"Are you serious?!" Remus looked at him with shock
"No, he is" Henry pointed to Sirius
"Definitely related to James" Sirius shook his head
"Now come on" Henry grabbed both of their sleeves "I'm going to take you two to meet Harry"
"Alright listen up" Henry said once they were outside the beach house, he had checked for tracking charms before they left, Dumbledore had one on each of them. Henry had quickly removed them before bringing them here "my wife's in there with Harry. She's told him a simplified version about what happened to you two, as far as Harry knows Sirius was a good man who people thought was bad while Remus used to be extremely sick. Understand?"
"Yes, yes now can we go and see him?" Sirius asked impatiently
"Yes but one more thing before we do" Henry replied "Harry is very shy and he'll be very scared of you two"
"Scared?"
"Yes, he was raised to believe that he's basically below human and his adult experience has never been very good. He seems to be under the impression that we're going to eventually get bored or angry with him and send him back. So we want to give him plenty of time to get used to us, now time for the rules.
Sirius I want you to keep your voice down because normally a loud voice for Harry means he's in trouble. Sirius I want you to listen to Remus at all times, Sirius I want you to listen to my wife at all times, Sirius I want you to listen to me at all times. Sirius, I want you to behave. And those are the rules, let's go"
"Little unfair" Sirius complained
"No it's not" An amused Remus disagreed and the two followed Henry into the house.
"Uncle Henry!" A voice called and Henry leaned down to pick up the small child that had ran into his arms.
"Hey kid" Henry smiled as he scooped Harry into his arms "how are you doing?"
"He's doing great" Gwen walked up to Henry and pecked him on the cheek "but he was missing his favourite uncle."
"I don't blame him, I'm brilliant" Henry smiled
"Are they Padfoot and Moony?" Harry whispered as pointed at Sirius and Remus
"Yes, they are" Henry nodded "say hello"
"Hi" Harry said shyly "my name's Harry"
"Hello Harry" Remus said as gently as he could "my name is Remus Lupin, I was a friend of your parents."
"Are you Padfoot?" Harry asked
"No, I'm Moony" Remus smiled "my friend here is Padfoot"
"Hello Harry" Sirius said in a quiet voice "I…I'm Sirius Black, but you can call me Padfoot if you want. I…I don't know if you know but I'm you godfather"
"Aunt Gwen told me"
Sirius and Remus looked towards Gwen, Gwen had decided a while back to return to her Gwen Peterson look so she looked different from Ginny should she ever meet her.
"It's nice to meet you" Gwen said to the two "I'm Gwen Potter, and welcome to our house"
"Thank you" Remus replied "we hope we're not causing any problems"
"Problems? No" Gwen shook her head "you're here for Harry, you're his family and that makes you our family. Now come on, everyone to the kitchens. I hope you guys are fine with burgers and chips"
The group had sat down at the table and began eating, Sirius watched as Henry cut up pieces of the burger for Harry to eat, as they didn't want him to try and eat all of it as they knew he likely wouldn't be able to finish it and the chips.
"Eat as much as you can kid" Henry said as he placed a small bottle on the table "after you finish your food and drink then I want you to drink this"
"What is that?" Remus asked
"Nutrient potion" Gwen answered for her husband
"Okay Uncle Henry" Harry slowly began eating the little pieces of the burger
"Do you like it?" Henry asked as he began eating his own burger
"Hmm, sreally goof unco Herry"
"Swallow first Harry"
"Sorry" Harry smiled sheepishly "it's really good Uncle Henry"
"I'm glad" Henry ruffled the kids hair.
Sirius couldn't help but smile at the sight of Harry and his uncle Henry. Looking at Henry, his wife and Harry, he imagined that this was what Harry's family would be like if James and Lily had survived. It didn't help that Henry looked so much like James, Gwen didn't really look like Lily other than having red hair but that was enough for him to compare the two.
While he missed them a lot, he was happy that Harry was happy. While he had his concerns about Henry, such as him keeping secrets or not revealing all he is capable of, he didn't care anymore. He looked at Henry and saw someone willing and capable of protecting his godson and that was good enough for him.
Remus couldn't help but watch in amusement as Henry and Gwen fussed over Harry, this in his mind was what Harry deserved. Two loving parents that went out of their way to look after him, he felt saddened by the fact that they weren't James and Lily but he was still glad that they were here for Harry.
Remus noticed many things about Henry, first would be the man has to be very intelligent to create a werewolf cure. The second is the fact that Henry had to be very powerful if he could get through the Azkaban wards and intimidate Dumbledore. Remus doubted he'd ever forget what Henry looked like when his eyes turned green, it was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen.
But he also noticed that the man seemed to genuinely care for Harry, he only threatened Dumbledore when Dumbledore kept being persistent on seeing Harry. Remus didn't really have much to live for at this point, at the moment he only had his friend and his final remaining brother Sirius. The only other thing he had was Harry, James and Lily's son, his cub. Harry seemed safe and happy with Henry and that was good enough for Remus.
"I'm done" Harry said eventually
"Alright drink this, then you're done" Henry handed Harry the potion, Harry gulped down as much as he could before Henry took the bottle back "good boy"
"Let me clean your face" Gwen wiped his mouth "now go to the kitchen and wash your hands"
"Yes Aunt Gwen" Harry nodded, he was about to take the plates when Gwen stopped him.
"It's alright sweetie, we'll take them. You go wash your hands"
"Okay" Harry nodded and made his way to the sink
"Henry, take the plates" Gwen said
"What? Why me?"
"Why not?" Gwen shrugged as she kept eating, Henry fell silent for a sec.
"Fair point" Henry sighed
"So much like James and Lily" Sirius whispered to Remus. Henry waved a hand and Harry's plate and cup flew into the kitchen.
"Wandless magic" Remus noted "you can do wandless magic as well, how long have you been capable of that?"
"Since I was seven" Henry answered "though I keep wands as my preferred method of using magic as it is the most interesting of the three"
"Three?" Sirius asked "I know there's wandless and wands but how else do you use magic?"
"I use my eyes"
"Eyes?" Remus looked at him with disbelief
"Yes, watch this. Expelliarmus" Red beams shot from Harry's eyes and struck a wall behind Sirius. As it was a disarming spell it didn't cause any damage to the wall,
"Wow" Sirius breathed "that's amazing"
"Don't you all start" Gwen sighed "I already have enough trouble keeping his head from getting bigger"
"Says the showoff who got into a sword fight with two men whilst being blind folded and had an arm tied behind her back" Henry replied, referencing their twentieth birthday in the world where they were pirates
"Wait, what?!" Sirius blurted out in surprise
"That wasn't showing off, that was me dealing with prats" Gwen corrected
"What were you doing when she was doing that?" Remus asked Henry
"I was clapping as hard as possible" Henry answered "in-between pitying the poor sods who thought that fighting her would be a good idea"
It soon became late in the evening, Remus and Sirius enjoyed spending time with Harry and vice versa, but eventually it became time for Harry to go to bed.
"Okay sweetie" Gwen said "it's time for bed" Gwen told Harry
"Goodnight pup" Sirius pulled his godson into a hug
"Goodnight cub" Remus's turn came after Sirius was done
"Goodnight" A sleepy Harry yawned "can I sweep with you again Aunt Gwen?"
"It's sleep Harry" She gently corrected him "and yes, you can stay in our room again. I'm sure your uncle won't mind, do you darling?"
"No" Henry shook his head and ruffled Harry's hair "goodnight kid"
"Goodnight" Harry said as Gwen lead him away.
"You know" Henry turned to Padfoot and Moony "I think today went really good. Harry liked you both a lot"
"You think so?" Sirius asked hopefully
"Yeah, he loved you two" Henry said confidently "you two keep this up and we may have to promote you to 'Dadfoot' and 'Momy'"
"Dadfoot?!" Sirius repeated the words with a twinkle in his eye
"Why am I Momy? Why am I the mum?" Remus asked, not quite as pleased as Sirius
"Oh please" Sirius scoffed "when we were in school you offered everyone chocolate, you wore cardigans which you still do now, you always made sure we were up and dressed and you made us do our homework. Besides, you can't be the dad, I'm the dad"
"No you're the godfather" Henry responded "if anyone's the dad then it's me, I mean I'm the one with the wife"
"Only because I didn't want to get married" Sirius replied "I mean, what possible reason could someone have to get married?"
"Saying 'that's my wife' and knocking someone out with a punch" Henry immediately replied "oh, and love, I guess. But I'm still definitely the dad, you're all staying in my house for free and I'm paying for all the food and living expenses. Also, I look the most like Harry"
"Now that's not fair" Sirius objected "you can't use that, it's not my fault that you and Harry have the inherited the Potter bird nest that you call hair while I have the hair of a supermodel"
"The brain of a child though" Henry shot back
"I do not have a brain of a child"
"If you can stop yourself from smiling when I say tits then I would agree with you. Tits, tits and your smiling" Sirius shook his head when he realised that he was smiling slightly
"Yeah but so are you"
"Yeah but I'm smiling at you being childish, not because I think that tits is a funny word" Henry respond, Sirius was about to reply when Remus began laughing.
"What's so funny?" Sirius asked his friend
"Just like you and James" Remus looked towards Henry "you and James really are alike, he and Sirius used to argue like that all the time."
"Nice to know" Henry smiled "so, gentlemen, I have to ask. Do you think it would be acceptable for all of us to help each other and raise Harry?"
"I'm all for it" Sirius clapped his hands together "Harry looks happy and you're looking after him. All I want is for him to be happy and spend some time with him"
"I'm also in" Remus added "I'll be willing to do whatever it takes to keep Harry happy"
"Good, but I wanted to ask something" Henry replied "I know the answer but I want to hear it from your mouth. Do you two trust me when I say it's best to keep Dumbledore away from Harry?"
"Yes" Remus sighed "it's hard for me, I've looked up to the man all of my life but if what you've told me is true then he had no right to refuse my entry into Hogwarts, he cost my family a lot of money and he's responsible for Harry living in that hell."
"I agree" Sirius nodded "I don't care about Dumbledore or Voldemort or anyone else, I just want Harry to be happy. And I don't think that Dumbledore has Harry's best interest in mind"
"He doesn't" Henry agreed "all Dumbledore cares about is 'the greater good'. He doesn't see Harry the young boy, he sees Harry the pawn that he can use against the dark lord. I've met types like Dumbledore, they make you think they care but are really only using you for their own gains."
"How do we know you're not one of them?" Sirius asked, he put his hands up defensively when Henry and Remus looked at him "just saying, we thought we could trust Peter and Dumbledore as well"
"If you need me to make an unbreakable vow then I will" Henry offered
"No" Remus shook his head "that's a bit far"
"Yeah, I didn't mean anything by it" Sirius added
"Don't worry about it, it shows that you're at least thinking." Henry waved a hand dismissively "now Sirius, you can't obtain guardianship of Harry for at least a year. Remus can't because as far as everyone knows, he's still a werewolf"
"But he's cured" Sirius argued
"Yes but they won't believe that. They'll start asking questions like what happens if the cure doesn't work or what happens if the effects fade"
"Do they?" A worried Remus asked
"No, the cure is permanent" Henry answered "but that's not the problem, the problem is getting them to believe that. Because what you're essentially suggesting is you go up to a court of biased and prejudiced individuals that hate half-bloods and werewolves and you're both. Anyway, you know what will happen if you go in and say 'hi, I'm no longer a werewolf because someone invented a cure to a disease that healers have been trying to combat for centuries, with that out of the way can you give me a jobless ex-werewolf custody of the boy-who-lived who is responsible for defeating the worst dark lord this world has ever known and is a national treasure'. I am sorry Remus but I hope you understand what I'm trying to say."
"It's alright, I get it" Remus replied "so I suppose that means you'll be his guardian"
"Yes, I'm the best choice. I'm a Potter, I know about his parents, I'm rich, I have a wife who can act like a mother to him, I'd be willing to make unbreakable vows if they meant protecting him, I'm capable of protecting him and he likes me."
"What do you plan to do when Harry's older?" Remus asked "You don't like Dumbledore so I don't think you want to send him to Hogwarts"
"We don't need to, between the three of us and my wife I think we could train Harry up good. So boys, what do you say? You in?"
"I'm in" Sirius nodded
"Me too" Remus replied
"All for Harry" Henry said
"All for Harry" The two men said together.
