1932
'Remus you must leave the country as soon as possible.'
He nodded, he'd already been planning it. He had an aunt in America that he'd contacted once he'd gotten the news. 'And the child?'
Albus looked much older than his sixty years, weary and sad. He glanced at the cot in the corner of his office. In it slept a little, black haired toddler with shockingly green eyes and a bright laugh that made him hiccup when his godfather tickled him. Not that he ever would again, Remus thought harshly. Albus looked back at him, eyes quickly losing the twinkle that filled them upon looking on the child.
'You must keep him safe. It is vital that he remains safe, Remus,' he said seriously, eyes holding Remus, forcing him to promise to this.
'I swear nothing will hurt him,' Remus said in a low, but sincere voice. He made his way with uncertainty to look at Harry's sleeping form, wrapped in bundles of off white blankets.
'I've already acquired passage for you to Boston. After that, you must move inland. Hide yourselves. Become invisible.'
Remus nodded again. 'When-'
'Three days time. The ship will leave from Southampton at noon,' Albus informed him.
'I'll set off in the morning, and take a room in Southampton for a few nights,' Remus agreed. His gaze remained on the peaceful child below him. Harry had no idea what had happened. What was going to happen. It was probably better that way though, he reasoned. Remus wished himself ignorant of all that had happened in the last few days. He knew now what people meant when they claimed ignorance to be bliss.
'Shall I take Harry with me now?' he asked quietly.
Albus nodded. 'His things are there at your feet.'
1938
The Weasley family - plus one - lived in a great shambling wreck of a house. It was a large townhouse, one that Mrs Weasley had inherited upon her father's death. But years of little money - to be spent on food and clothes rather than fixing the leaking roof or the hole in the floor in one of the upstairs bedrooms - had destroyed the splendour and replaced it with children. In the house lived eleven people; six Weasley boys, one Weasley girl, two Weasley parents, a quiet young woman who rented one of the rooms and, of course, Harry Potter.
Remus - unable to afford or care for a young child - had been forced to find someone to take in his friends' child, and the Weasleys were the best he could find. He paid them a sum of money every month to pay for Harry's care, which both embarrassed and pleased Mrs Weasley in great measure. And he visited whenever he possibly could.
He could not help but feel guilty however, when he thought of the child's parents.
Remus made his way quickly through the busy streets, aware of the ice underfoot. Grey, slushy snow was piled to either side of the footpath, and the children who dared to stop and play with it were briskly told off by harried mothers. He quickly found the Weasleys' house, an old-fashioned, teetering thing that Remus had grown quite fond of in the past few years. About to knock on the door - the doorbell didn't work anymore - it suddenly swung open, revealing a rather haggard Arthur Weasley in an ill-fitting suit, briefcase under arm.
'Oh, hello Arthur,' Remus smiled warmly. 'Off to work, is it?'
'And running late I'm afraid. I was called in with hardly a warning in the world just ten minutes ago. I was supposed to have the day off!' he exclaimed.
Remus nodded sympathetically. 'Listen, I need to talk to you for a moment, if that's not too much trouble?'
'I'm sorry Remus, but maybe you could talk to Molly? I really am in a rush.'
Arthur looked at once so apologetic and stressed that Remus relented and let him pass. 'Sure, that's fine. Good luck!'
Arthur nodded and hurried on. Remus sighed slightly, he didn't like having to worry Molly. He knocked sharply on the door, before heading in.
'Remus!' a shrill voice squealed in delight. The eight year old rushed, all energy and excitement, down the stairs and barrelled into Remus - hardly reaching past his waist. Remus grinned and picked up Harry to hug him.
'Hey, how are you doing?'
'Ron stole my car!' Harry accused, pointing towards the red haired little boy who'd accompanied him from upstairs.
'I didn't! I just borrowed it!' he protested. Remus laughed a little, and put Harry back on the floor.
'Maybe you could share it,' he suggested. The two were like brothers - in actual fact, Ron was probably closer to Harry than to any of his brothers. But they took the suggestion that they might actually share the little, red toy car that Remus had got for them as a blow to their pride and their morals.
'But- but it's mine!' Harry said, aghast. Ron folded his arms across his chest sulkily.
'You're mean,' he told the other boy. Remus smiled slightly and shook his head.
'It's nice to share, Harry. Now, do you two know where your mother is?'
'She's in the sitting room,' Ron informed him, pointing towards the half open door. Then, Harry nodding his very grown-up goodbye to Remus, they pelted back upstairs, laughing and shouting all the way. Remus's smile widened, not for the first time he was glad that it was the Weasley family who'd taken in Harry. He quickly made his way in to the sitting room, where Molly was busy trying to get the twins to do their homework.
'But I don't like maths! Why do we- oh, hi Remus!' one of them - Fred maybe, Remus thought - grinned at his entrance.
'Oh hello there, Remus,' Molly gave him a harried smile as he closed the door behind him. 'Harry's upstairs with Ron.'
'Actually Molly, I need to talk to you, if you don't mind,' Remus said in a low voice that barely carried over the rough antics of the twins. Molly nodded and turned to them.
'Fred, George, you can go out and play,' she said tiredly. The both split into massive, identical grins and leapt up, cheering.
'Sorry, I can come back later if you're busy,' Remus offered half-heartedly, reaching back for the door handle, but Fred and George had already pelted past him, thanking him loudly on their way.
'I'm always busy, dear,' Molly said, though not unkindly. 'What is it you have to tell me?'
Remus hesitated for a moment, uncertain as to how to tell her. 'Right, um…you know that Harry and I came here from London, yes?'
'Yes, you told Arthur and me how you got to be here when we took in Harry,' Molly answered blankly.
'And you know that Harry isn't my son? That he's an orphan,' Remus continued, and Molly nodded.
'Well, a friend of mine - or he used to be a friend at any rate - he was sent to prison for the manslaughter of another friend. I also have reason to believe that he is responsible for the deaths of Harry's parents,' Remus said. It was difficult to bring all this back up again, dark memories invading his mind. He went on quickly to avoid any interruption from Molly. 'I saw him last night. He came to the bar, talked to me. He's been released from prison, and came over here.'
Molly looked at once fearful and determined. 'Well he's not coming anywhere near Harry, if Arthur and I have anything to do with it. Why don't you call the cops on him?'
Remus shook his head. 'He hasn't done anything wrong yet. I'm sorry to put you in this position Molly, I really wish I didn't have to.'
'Don't worry about it Remus, it seems to me you have a lot more on your plate. You really think he'll come after Harry?'
'I don't know,' Remus shrugged honestly. It pained him to say that. The Sirius he thought he'd known would have died to ensure his godson's safety.
'I just don't know.'
AN: hmm…is it? I'm not really sure- I think this may be the longest chapter yet! And it didn't take me an inordinate amount of time to upload it! And you got a flashback! But I'm not whoring for reviews, I swear! ;-)
Hope you liked it anyway :-)
Also, I've worked out a fairly decent plot for this but it includes some supernatural elements. It's still not HP-style magic, but I was a little hasty in writing 'no magic' in the summary, sorry! If you do review, could you please tell me if you'd prefer to see vampires or just straight Muggle stuff? I don't mind too much either way, as I can't decide myself at the moment. Thanks!
