Altering the events of history

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and many of the places mentioned in this story. The plot is the only thing created by me.

I'm very sorry for keeping you waiting for months. I have genuine reasons, as those of you have checked my profile know. I will be doing a lot better with the updating soon I promise but I can't tell you how often because recovery is getting in the way. Thanks for your patience.

Thank you to Limelight12, my amazing beta, who corrects my ridiculous mistakes! Enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 4:- Shocks and Shakes

When the next day had come around, all four of the wizards involved in the argument the previous night had awoken full of questions. Sirius had been enlightened about the end of the war and the final battle but knew nothing more of what had happened in the past two years, particularly between his godson and enemy. He also wondered why Remus had been so upset about him mentioning Tonks; the last he knew, she had wanted to be with him but Remus had refused. He would definitely be getting some more answers from Remus that morning closely followed by Kingsley, or so he hoped.

Sirius sat in the lounge of Grimmauld Place, noting that not much had changed at all besides appearing to be much cleaner than it was usually kept. Had they got a new house elf? What had happened to Kreacher?

"Kreacher?" he called, curious. To his surprise, the house elf appeared with a crack and looked at him utterly bewildered.

"The son of my mistress has returned from the dead" he said to himself.

"Kreacher, you're still here."

"Yes Master Black. Kreacher lives here with Master Harry and his friends as well sometimes."

"I thought you would have left by now."

"Master Harry and his friends treat Kreacher nicely and so Kreacher decided to stay."

"Morning Remus" he said to his friend, who had just entered the room. He looked like he hadn't slept for a single minute and like he'd been crying, which was very unlike him; it must have been the effects of the war he supposed.

"Morning."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing" he replied sharply, not looking at his friend. They were soon interrupted by the green glow of the fire as someone appeared in the floo network.

"Ted! Nice to see you!" exclaimed Sirius, causing Ted Tonks to almost drop the baby he was holding.

"Sirius? Is that you? Why are you-? What-? How-?"

"We haven't got that far yet Ted" Remus answered. Ted got out of the fireplace, not taking his eyes off Sirius and handed the baby over to Remus.

"Remus, who is that baby and why is its hair changing colour?"

"This is Teddy, my son and his hair is changing colour because he's a Metamorphmagus."

"He's a-? How? Unless you had him with-? Oh." The realisation seemed to have sunk in a bit but Sirius still didn't seem to fully understand what was going on.

"Ted, please don't mention this to anyone yet. We need to sort some things out before people know about him being back."

Ted agreed but looked very shocked as he went back to the fireplace, not quite ready to go to work.

"Remus, seriously, what's going on now? You and Tonks have a son?"

"Yes we have a son. Harry's his godfather."

"Right. So where is Tonks?"

"I can't. I can't Sirius." His friend looked at him, not understanding but once he thought about it, he understood. Remus transfigured a nearby chair into a crib and placed his son inside it, shaking too much to hold him.

"The war?" Sirius asked simply. Remus shook his head, allowing tears to flow.

"She did it. Bellatrix. Wanted to know where Harry was."

"And she wouldn't give in?"

"Of course not!" Remus was really crying now; Sirius shot out of his chair in an instant and wrapped his arms around his friend, unable to think of anything to say to comfort him. He wasn't used to seeing him in such a state.

"She went doing what's right. That's how we'd all like to go. You should be proud of her."

"I am but I miss her Sirius. I don't know what to do with myself. How can I be a good father to Teddy?" he cried into Sirius' shoulder, losing himself in his grief, as he had done with Harry before.

"You will be a good father Remus. It's built inside you to love and to care; you're a great man. You're not expected to raise him alone, you know; he's got his grandparents, his godfather and now he's got me too. None of us will let him go without and you know it."

"Thank you" he whispered into Sirius' shoulder, pretending to feel much better than he actually did.

Despite the similar sorrow shared by those at Hogwarts, the atmosphere was somewhat contrasting in comparison to the morbid conversation at Grimmauld Place. The preparation for the rebuilding of the castle was underway and the staff were working together to repair the old building to the best of their ability. Admittedly, a few tears fell as they remembered the ones lost in the war but they knew that they wouldn't want their friends and families to suffer over their passing; that wasn't what they had died for. With this in mind, the group, led by Headmaster Dumbledore were currently reconstructing the Entrance Hall, which had taken the most damage. Harry and Voldemort's battle alone had caused severe damage, which would have been impossible to fix if it weren't for magic.

A significant number of children's parents were there, helping in any way that they could and trying their best to help recreate the positive atmosphere that Hogwarts once possessed. Instructions were given, spells were cast and spirits were lifted. The target of a week to reinvent the castle may have seemed optimistic but the determination of everyone involved was admirable. There was also the fact that the war was over and the Dark Lord had been defeated, which made almost anything seem feasible.

"Harry, you know that we can't stay long. We need to see Kinglsey" Severus told his partner, as the latter furiously blasted old rubble out of the way and rearranged the bottom few stairs. He was working faster than anyone else, still taking the blame for the state of the place; it was the castle that he'd once called his home and he couldn't cope with being responsible for its destruction.

"I know that but I'm doing what I can before the appointment" he responded, unsmiling and not taking his eyes of the work that he was trying to complete.

"We've only got another hour and we need to go home and inform Lupin and Black before we leave. We can't just barge in with the Minister for Magic without notice." Severus desperately tried to get Harry to look at him but it was all to no avail; his partner appeared to be overcompensating for the part that he believed he had played in the deaths of the fighters.

"Then we've got at least another forty minutes or so to do what we can. Why aren't you helping me?"

"You're avoiding the situation Harry. You can't deal with him being back and you're projecting your thoughts onto anything and everything else."

"What are you, my bloody shrink?" Harry turned to the older man at that point, annoyed that he couldn't simply help out in the reconstruction without being accused of doing it for a particular reason.

"If you want to ignore everything, including me trying to help then that's fine. Just let me know when you're ready to grow up a bit." Severus began helping out Harry, avoiding his gaze and fixing the ridge of the step that his partner had been struggling on for the past few minutes. Severus couldn't be bothered to argue over something so trivial and instead focused his energy on repairing what he could. Several minutes passed in silence, with the couple only conversing with anyone else that had chosen to stop to speak with them.

"I'm sorry" Harry muttered, looking at his feet.

"I don't blame you for being upset or angry but please just accept that I'm trying to help you." He placed one hand on the man's cheek and removed it quickly, remembering that they were in public.

"I will accept that you're trying to help if you realise that no one cares we're together" he whispered softly.

"I know that but I find it hard to show my emotions in front of others. You know that well enough."

"Is this because of how people saw you after the battle?"

"Partially" he sighed in admittance, "I have always felt uncomfortable with public displays of affection but after the way I acted that night, I do not wish to allow the same people to see it again."

"I can understand that and I will be patient with you on that if you're patient with me with other things."

"It's hard to be patient with you" he smirked, "but I am definitely willing to try."

"Hadn't you two better be leaving around now?" Dumbledore asked them both, "I daresay you have enough to be dealing with without trying to help us with this."

"I know sir but I would really like to help in any way that I can."

"We will be here until it is ready again Harry and you can drop in to help any time but right now, you have your own issues to deal with. Once Sirius is declared alive, you do realise that his name will have to be cleared before he is a free man?"

Harry's heart sank; he should have realised that it all wouldn't be simple and no doubt the trials would be more stressful than rebuilding the castle. He had just assumed that with the war over, Sirius' name would be cleared but saying that, he didn't even know what had happened to Peter Pettigrew; knowing him, he probably scarpered during the commotion caused by Harry and Voldemort's fight. He supposed that was just another thing that was going to have to be eventually resolved but how could anyone find a rat? More specifically, how could anyone find a rat that had a history of managing to fool even the oldest wizarding families?

"We will leave now Albus. You will be sure to hear of anything that we find out."

"Thank you Severus. I expect to see you both later on." The old man winked at Harry before leaving them to continue working alongside Professor McGonagall.

"Severus, did they find Peter?"

"Pardon?"

"Did they find Pettigrew and arrest him?"

"No" he responded awkwardly, knowing what Harry's thought process would now be. "Harry, we need to go now. We can discuss this with Kingsley in our appointment."

Minutes later, the two had appeared back in the living room of Grimmauld Place to find a tear-stained Remus Lupin, being comforted by his best friend.

"Harry?" Remus questioned as he heard someone come out of the fireplace.

"Is he ok?" Harry asked his godfather.

"He's better than he has been. I didn't realise how much had been going on" he replied quietly, eying Severus suspiciously across the room.

"Well we did try and tell you how much everything has changed. I assume you've met Teddy?" he asked, gesturing towards the crib.

"I wouldn't say I've met him in all honesty; I've been with Remus since he arrived."

"Remus, don't you think Sirius should meet Teddy properly? Sit down with me for a bit. I need to talk to you anyway."

Remus agreed and sat down with Harry, leaving Sirius to pick Teddy up and Severus to stand awkwardly by himself. Teddy hardly reacted to being picked up by a strange man; he was too young to tell the difference between a loved one and a stranger. The only people he ever seemed to recognise were Harry and of course, Remus. Sirius smiled down at the child in his arms, finding it difficult to remember how to be around a baby, considering the last one he had held was now seventeen-year-old in the room.

"Hi Teddy" he whispered, "I'm Uncle Sirius. I'm your Daddy's friend." Teddy simply stared at the new face, his now pink eyes reflected in those of the man holding him.

"Remus, we have an appointment to see Kingsley in a while so we won't be staying but I'm sure he will want to come round to speak to Sirius. It's up to you if you want to be here or if you need to take Teddy back home."

"I don't live at home anymore. I haven't been back since- I just don't live there. I am staying with Ted and Andromeda at the moment. I have no reason to get back quickly; I have everything I need for Teddy here."

"Did you hear that Sirius?" Harry asked him, practically forcing himself to look over at the man that had upset him the previous night.

"Yes. No doubt I'll be turned into some kind of science project by the ministry" he said bitterly.

"Oh good, we've found something you're useful for" laughed Severus. Harry half-thought that he may have felt left out.

"Well if we need someone that's useful for rape then we'll let you know, shall we?" he retorted.

"Don't you dare start that again! Give Teddy to me!" Harry demanded, suddenly standing very close to the man. Bewildered, Sirius handed Teddy over to him. Harry took him and the boy's hair suddenly changed a raven colour with deep green eyes to match.

"He copied your appearance? What does that mean?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know. He always does it when I hold him. Don't cause arguments in front of my godson. He's only little; I don't want him thinking that he was brought into this world to hear shouting and stupid comments." The whole time that he spoke, Harry rocked Teddy back and forth, settling him into a peaceful sleep.

Sirius stared at his godson with mild surprise on his face; he really had grown up. His caring and consideration for the baby in his arms was far beyond that which any child could muster; he was an adult. That didn't mean that he would be letting the inappropriate relations slide though, not in the slightest.

"We need to go but we will be back with Kingsley very soon no doubt. Leave Teddy to sleep and try to remember as much as you can about the veil before we get back" he instructed as though he were talking to a child. He placed Teddy gently into the crib and turned his back on Sirius, re-joining Severus by the fireplace.

"Are you ready to go?" the man asked him.

"Yes of course. I don't really know what to say to him though. This is all a bit strange."

"Indeed it is. After you." Severus gestured towards the fire and Harry left through it for the Ministry of Magic, closely followed by his partner.

"He's too grown up" Sirius said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Yes, he has had to have been. He has had too much to deal with; he never had a childhood. He was an adult way before his time."

"I suppose you're right. I vaguely get the gist of the war but is there anything else that I should know? What have I missed?"

"Not a lot of things that are important now. Severus pretended to kill Albus and so he was in hiding until the final battle so now everyone thinks there is some kind of conspiracy between Severus, Harry and Albus."

"I'm not surprised. Do people know about Harry and- him?"

"Yes, everyone knows. I will show you the article another time. It was mainly saying that after discovering that Albus was alive and that Harry and Severus were together, there must be some kind of twisted connection. You know what The Prophet is like."

"What about the Death Eaters?"

"Most of them are dead or captured and the rest are being hunted down. The young Malfoy became a Death Eater at 17 but changed sides with Narcissa at the end of the war and helped us. Lucius was killed by Voldemort."

"And our side?"

"Everyone in the order survived, except Alastor but there were quite a few students killed, as well as Percy Weasley and Pomona Sprout. Harry would have died if it weren't for the locket that Severus had made for him; it contained Felix Felicis and kept him alive when he should have been dead. The fight with Voldemort drained all of his power and the life out of him too."

"Anything else?" Sirius asked, trying to comprehend and remember all of the information that Remus had told him.

"Last year, in the fight after Albus' supposed death, Fenrir attacked Bill Weasley. He didn't turn but he has some difficulties."

"This is a lot to take in but none of it is as shocking as those two getting together. I just can't understand it." Sirius put his head in his hands, wishing for the situation to magically change for him.

"Maybe you should try."

"How can I? How can you? It doesn't make any sense. How can any of this have even happened?"

"I don't know the full story but when I found out, I reacted in exactly the same way that you have. I fell out with Harry and said horrible things to him. I threatened Severus. I nearly lost Harry and it wasn't worth it. Surely you understand that much?" He tried his best to get through to the man but he knew he was pushing his luck.

"I won't lose Harry. We both know that but neither of you can expect me to just accept something like this? How the hell did they even get on first name terms? I can't even imagine that happening from the year I came from!"

"Severus had to live here with Harry in hiding because he was Albus' murderer as far as everyone else was concerned. From there, they became friends and developed feelings for each other. Harry knows all that Severus has done for him and I suppose he must have started to admire him. I don't know how or when they got together though. I never asked."

"Even if I could comprehend Harry developing feelings for him, which by the way I absolutely cannot, I just can't understand how a man our age can return those feelings."

"Does the age really matter? I don't think that's what bothers you. I used that line too but I knew it wasn't really what I had a problem with. It's the fact that he's your rival from school and that you've never liked him. It's not about his age."

"Don't get me wrong, I don't want Harry going near him because of who he is but of course the age affects it too. You think I'd be fine about it if it were you and Harry?" Remus shuddered slightly at the picture that Sirius had painted; he could never look at Harry in that way.

"But we're parent figures to him. It's not the same. Harry is old for his age; you said so yourself and it makes sense for him to be with someone older. I would never have chosen Severus for Harry but it is not my choice, nor is it yours."

"I need to know more about this. I have the right as his godfather to protect him and I want to know exactly what happened, when and why."

"Then you need to ask him."

"Believe me, I will."

It was strange being inside the Ministry of Magic without being worried about expulsion, being arrested and fighting against Death Eaters. It would have made a pleasant change if it weren't for the fact that they still needed to be able to clear Sirius' name before he was able to live a regular life again. Harry supposed he was used to it by now anyway but that wasn't the point; he wanted his godfather to be able to live the best life he could now that he had a second chance.

Severus followed Harry down the winding corridors until they both reached the Minister's office. The older man watched as his partner knocked tentatively on the door, opening it upon being given permission through the door.

"Severus, Harry" Kingsley addressed them both as they entered and asked them to take a seat. Harry assumed that Kingsley thought that they were there about the war or the Dailey Prophet articles. He wouldn't know anything.

"What can I help you with today?" he asked, smiling.

"We had a surprise last night. A big one" Severus told him mysteriously. Harry considered telling him that this wasn't some kind of dramatic story where he needed to create suspense but thought better of it.

"In the form of?"

"In the form of a man that we all believed to be dead."

"And who was that?" Kingsley asked, seemingly confused and interested.

"Sirius Black."

The Minister for Magic looked at the couple in surprise and amusement, almost as if he expected them to say they were joking, but they didn't. He didn't know what to say or do about what he had just been told and had barely comprehended it.

"We assumed you would want to talk to him. He's at Grimmauld Place and he's expecting you."

The smile on Kingsley's face dropped into a frown as he realised that they definitely were being genuine.

"I don't understand."

"Neither do we but maybe it's best that we have this discussion there. There are others that have reappeared that I'm sure you will hear about soon enough."

Without another word on the subject, Kingsley allowed Harry and Severus to use his personal fireplace to floo back to Grimmauld Place and quickly followed suit.

"Sirius?" he inquired as soon as he saw the man.

"Kingsley, good to see you" he smirked, pulling the man into a hug. Kingsley remained still, too shocked to move.

"What-? How-?"

"A lot of people have been saying that" Sirius laughed.

"Maybe you should sit down, Kingsley" Harry suggested.

A good half an hour later, Sirius had explained everything that he knew up to the point of him arriving back at Grimmauld Place (leaving out the situation that he had walked in on) and was waiting for Kingsley to offer some kind of explanation.

"We assumed it may have had something to do with your reformation of the ministry, considering it happened not long after" Severus offered.

"I think you might be right Severus. It took a lot of magic and effort to complete the reformation of that particular room. That veil contained a lot of dark magic. There was one single curse on it and we couldn't identify it but it was so powerful that it took three of us to bring it down. I have an Auror researching the history of the veil currently, as we have no idea where it came from and what it is for. It's rather unsettling."

"Why is something contained within the Ministry if you know nothing of it?" Severus quizzed.

"Your guess is as good as mine but I am happy to keep it there for now. I wouldn't want it falling into the hands of the public when I'm not sure of it. It could be dangerous in the wrong hands, much like anything I suppose."

"Kingsley, what's going to happen to Sirius now that he's not dead?" Harry asked, feeling rather childish.

"At the moment, he is declared officially deceased so we will have to do a lot of paperwork; we've never had to reverse a death certificate before. From then, he will of course be on trial for Death Eater activities. I will do my best to clear his name but sadly, it is not just my decision. If he has the entirety of the Order of the Phoenix backing him, things will be easier and progress much quicker but we may need to find Peter Pettigrew, which as you know is something we've been unable to do since his supposed murder."

Harry hung his head in disappointment; he had been expecting to hear a similar answer but that didn't soften the blow in the slightest. He wished that magical politics would work differently to the muggle world; why wasn't there just simply a spell to see if someone was guilty or innocent? He knew Sirius would get off eventually of course; he had to. They just didn't know how long it would take.

"I will make special requests that Sirius remain a secret from the public until his trial comes around. The last thing we need right now is for people to begin making assumptions; no doubt he will become part of the Harry, Severus and Albus controversy somehow. It's not strictly procedure of course but if I can vouch for his innocence, we should be able to come to some kind of arrangement."

"Thank you Kingsley. We really appreciate this. Let us know if there is anything that we can do for you" Remus told him.

Soon after, the minister left, happy that his friend was in fact alive but worried at the prospect of the amount of paperwork and trials that were necessary. Remus also left with Teddy, wanting to get him settled with his grandparents; Harry and Severus also waiting in line to leave.

"Harry, can you stay for a bit? I need to speak with you."

"That depends on how you're going to be treating me."

"We need to talk. Will you stay or not?" he asked impatiently. Harry looked between his godfather and his partner, unsure of what would be best.

"Ok, I'll stay but this had better be a two-way conversation and not a dictation." Severus eyed his enemy as Harry left his side to stay with him.

"If he comes back to me upset Black, I'll have your bollocks."

"You've had enough bollocks in your lifetime Snape." Severus scowled at the insult and left through the fireplace, hoping that Harry wouldn't be too long with his mutt of a godfather.

"Sit down Harry."

"I feel like a child" he said but obliged all the same.

"I'm going to get straight to the point and I don't want an argument so don't get all hot-headed on me. I want to know what has happened between you and him. How did this happen?"

"I don't really know what to tell you. We were living together and we got close. I fell for him but I never thought he could feel the same."

"But he did or so you say." Sirius still couldn't believe that Severus Snape could feel any form of emotion and was certain that no matter what Harry believed, his godson was being used.

"Yes he did and he still does."

"Ok so if I am to believe that, then explain to me how you happened to end up together."

"Do you really want to hear this? I didn't think you would."

"I need to know how this happened. I have the right to know."

"I'll tell you what you want to know Sirius but I didn't think you'd want to hear it. It's all a bit complicated really. We nearly kissed at Bill and Fleur's wedding; I was seventeen at midnight and we leant in towards each other but we were interrupted. I thought he was only going for it because of the drink. On my birthday, I had an Occlumency lesson with him and he saw my thoughts about him. He ignored them and continued but I was embarrassed. I didn't want him to see more so I used a shielding charm and broke into his thoughts. I saw that he'd been thinking the same. Then we ended up kissing."

"So he waited until you were seventeen so he couldn't be accused of doing anything wrong and then he broke into your mind and kissed you? How romantic" Sirius drawled, disgusted.

"That's not what I said at all and yes, actually it was romantic. He felt so guilty for loving me and he tried his best not to act on it. He ended up pushing me off and I was gutted but then when I went to this club with Ron and Hermione, this guy was trying it on with me and took it too far. Severus saw him and blasted him away. He was so angry. He wanted to protect me."

"So then you got together?"

"Kind of. We were talking the next day about it and that's when we got together I suppose."

"And when did you decide you were going to let him fuck you?" he spat.

"Don't say it like that."

"Why not? It's what you've done isn't it? You're old enough to do it so you're old enough to discuss it."

"That's not something you need to know. It's between us. I would never tell anyone private things like that."

"It's not private when I have to walk in on it! What you two were doing was twisted! You can't let him be forceful like that!"

"That's our business Sirius. I'm not talking about that" he responded with determination.

"Whether you discuss it or not doesn't matter really. Nothing you've said has changed my mind on the matter. He took advantage of you and he should be ashamed. I don't want to see you hurt Harry but when it happens, I'll still be here for you."

"I don't care what you think. I don't need your blessing. And what makes you think that he'll hurt me? I know that he won't."

"You keep forgetting that I've known him longer."

"That doesn't mean you know him better."

"No but it means that I've seen sides of him that you haven't; sides that you wouldn't like."

"Stop trying to turn me against him."

"Believe me I've stopped. If you want to date a rapist then you go ahead."

"How many times Sirius? I WANTED IT!"

"Who said I was talking about you?