AT POTTER MANOR

Revised: February 2, 2014

Remus was shocked by the wild look in his friend's eye when he came running to him, shouting about something.

"I know where Harry is!" Sirius told him and Helena who were both in the living room.

"You do?" Helena got to her feet.

"He's at Potter Manor," Sirius said.

"Potter Manor?" Remus' eyes then grew wide. "Of course…"

"Look, the key is missing from the box it was in. Potter Manor- a place he will be safe, where he'd think we wouldn't worry about him."

Remus hit his head with the palm of his hand. "Yes, where else would he be? Wow, I can't believe we didn't work that one out."

"It doesn't matter now. We're going there and getting him- now," Sirius stated.

"Now?"

"Do you just expect me to sit around when I know where my godson is Remus?"

Remus opened his mouth to argue but Sirius looked defiant. The werewolf nodded. "Yes, we should go now."

Sirius turned to Helena. "You take yourself and the baby for a short while okay?"

She sighed. "I will." She kissed her boyfriend on the lips. "Be back soon though okay?"

Sirius and Remus Dissaparated themselves to a remote area of London which was surrounded by trees and empty land.

"Good thing Harry allowed us entry, otherwise I wouldn't know where the house was," Sirius told Remus.

"I know. I can remember every detail of it, haven't forgotten."

It didn't take them long to find the old iron gate that surrounded Potter Manor. With a nod, they stepped into the enclosure and to the front door.

"Looks like the house-elves have been doing a decent job managing it," Remus noted as he looked around.

From inside the house, Plenta jumped in the air when she heard a knock on the heavy front doors. Master Harry was in his bedroom, and he wouldn't need to knock on the door of his own house to get in. She timidly peeked out the large window in the living area to catch a glimpse of two men outside. She ran up the curved stairs and into 'Harry's' room.

"Master Harry! Master Harry, there is two men outside!" she told him.

Harry set down the book that was in his hands. "What?"

Plenta led him downstairs. Harry took out his wand, just in case. Who would have found the place? He checked out the window too before his stomach dropped- he could just make out the outlines of his Sirius and Remus at the front step. How on earth…? Harry bit his lip but opened the door. His guardians were a little taken aback when they saw him, as if they didn't know whether or not he'd be there.

"So, this has been your hiding spot for the past few days has it?" Remus said casually.

"Yeah…" Harry didn't know what else to say so he just stepped back to allow them in.

Sirius looked as if he wanted to shout several things at once. He finally found his voice. "Do you know how worried we've been?" he cried.

"Sorry. I just- wait a minute, how did you know where I was?"

"You left the key box in your room," Sirius pointed out.

"God Damnit," Harry cursed.

"Why did you run away?" Remus asked.

"Answer me first kid- do you know just how worried we've been since you left? Do you?" Sirius demanded.

"Well in my defense you weren't supposed to find me!" Harry yelled.

"What the hell were you thinking? Running off like that without a word? What the hell was going through your mind?" Sirius asked.

"I had to okay?" Harry spat. "I already said before, I can't put everyone in danger. I need to do this on my own."

"Do what? You can't do any of this on your own cub, how many times do we have to tell you that?" Remus exasperated.

"Well maybe I want to," Harry said before he registered what he had said.

Remus raised a brow.

"I mean- I have to. I have to find and destroy all the Horcruxes. It's what I have to do, it's up to me," Harry said softly.

"We know that part is up to you but the least you can do is allowing us to help. We don't want to see you struggling if we can prevent it," Remus told him.

"We've been worried sick!" Sirius glared.

"He knows already Padfoot," Remus bit back.

"Look, I'm sorry I worried everyone but- I have to do this. It's the only option I have."

Remus placed his hands on his shoulders. "It is not cub. We're more than willing to risk everything for you."

Harry was unaware that he stamped his foot. Would he never get away from everyone butting in?

"You are in a lot of trouble when we get back home young man," Sirius said sternly.

"I'm not going back," Harry voiced.

Sirius looked shocked. "What do you mean you aren't going back?"

"This is my home now- or, well it belongs to me at least. Look, I'm terribly sorry I made everyone panic for the past couple days but you don't understand- I can't put you at risk. I have to be away, the safest place I can be. My focus is the Horcruxes. I can't do anything but that. I'm not going back home."

"You have to."

"Why?"

"Because I'm in charge of you, that's why."

Harry rolled his eyes. "That's a pretty weak reason Sirius. I have my own house now, I'm of age. I don't technically need to go home if I don't want to."

"It's the perfect reason, I'm your godfather and you're coming home now."

"I'll be found out soon enough if I stay back there! This is the safest place to be!"

"Our house is just as safe," Sirius told him.

"It may be protected by a Secret-Keeper but anyone can force the location out of Tonks. Meanwhile, here, no one can get in unless I grant them in. And no one knows Potter Manor exists in the first place. I'm not leaving," Harry said firmly.

Sirius raised a finger for more lecturing when Remus pulled him aside.

"What Moony?" he said impatiently.

"Harry's pretty set on staying here. I don't think it's a good thing we force him out. He has every right to stay here," Remus said matter-of-factly.

"So what? We're just going to walk away back home as if this never happened? Sit and worry and wonder what he's up to knowing we can be doing a whole lot more?"

Remus opened his mouth but shut it again. His eyes went wide as if something suddenly popped in his mind. He looked around the vast home and at Harry's determined expression. Yes, this had to work…

"Harry, Sirius. I thought of something," he said. "Harry, this is the safest place to be right now."

"Yeah?"

Remus rubbed his chin. "I'm thinking, well, if it's all right with you, we move in. Us, Helena, and the baby."

Sirius' eyes grew wide now. "That's not a bad idea Moony. That's actually a great idea. What do you think kiddo?"

Harry gaped at him but closed his lips slightly. "I- I dunno." Well, he did know, he just didn't know what to say. "I mean, yeah, it makes sense. It's the safest place to be. It'll be safer than home."

Sirius gazed upon the fancy work of the home and at the two curved staircases. "Just think of it- this will be the perfect place for little Cayden. He'll have such a great time, however long we have to stay hidden."

While Harry did selfishly want to be alone his whole journey, he knew he couldn't turn this down, not now. It wouldn't be right. And he did want them, all of them because they were his family. It was still hard to comprehend at times that he had one, but he did now, and the last thing to do would be to push them away. A smile grew on Harry's face.

"Yes, yes! You should stay here, all of you. It's the safest option."

Sirius looked to Remus. "I'll tell Helena then. I'm sure she won't say no though. Then we'll get packing."

"Wait!" Harry shouted. "I- I can't just forget about Hermione. Or her parents. I need her- I- I do. No way am I allowing her to sit in the Muggle world while I'm here. She won't have a word of it. She has to come, all three of them do."

"And if they say yes, is there enough room?" Remus asked.

Harry quickly thought of the bedrooms in his head. "A room for me, one for you Remus, one for Hermione, one for her parents, Sirius and Helena would share one I'm sure. Cayden could have his own room if you want. And not counting the master where no one is sleeping… yes, there's plenty of room. Wait! Ron- he needs to come. I know his parents don't want him a part of this but I need him too."

Remus smirked. "Then it's time we do some convincing, which shouldn't take long."

"Are you coming kid?" Sirius asked his godson.

"I- I think it's best I stay, look out for the place and get it ready. It's me; it's reason enough for everyone to want to stay."

"All right then, we'd better be going then. We'll see you again soon cub," Remus bade him good-bye before he and Sirius left the premises and disappeared outside.

They met up with Helena at the Grangers and immediately told them where Harry was. Hermione could not believe it.

"We have to go now!" she told them.

"Just wait and listen before we do anything okay Hermione?" Remus said. "Look, Potter Manor is the safest place to be right now. Even safer than our own homes."

"How?" squeaked Emma.

"I thought that Charm you put on it is the safest thing you can do," Daniel said, getting to his feet.

"It is- but Potter Manor works in a different way. Only Harry can give out the location of the house to others. Once he grants you access into the house, you're able to find it. What makes it safer is only a member of the Potter family can do this. And as far as we know, Death Eaters do not know of such a place. Potter Manor is discrete; much relies on trust. And this is Harry; I know he will not give out the location of his house to anyone who shouldn't have it," Remus explained.

"So you're saying you don't trust yourself when it comes to protecting my house? I thought you were our Secret Keeper or whatever!" Daniel yelled.

"I'm not saying anything like that Daniel. I'm saying it's even safer to stay at Potter Manor."

Daniel did not look too pleased. "Look, we have taken a lot about your world lately, and we're very grateful of course. But this- to ask us to leave our own home. To go into hiding… I don't think I can agree with that right now."

"Me either. This is our home, we can't just- pack up twenty years of our lives like that!" Emma snapped her fingers.

Sirius and Remus exchanged helpless looks.

"We don't want to force you to leave if you don't want to. But it will be the better option," Sirius said casually.

Daniel frowned. "How long do we have to decide?" he said finally.

"I'm not sure, days. We're going to be leaving as soon as we can, and I think it's best if we all left at the same time. I don't want to pressure you Daniel but, you need to come to a consensuses soon," Remus told him bluntly.

Hermione got to her feet. "I'm not included in this am I?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Emma said.

"I mean- if I want to go, I should be able to."

"Well I- I'm not sure"-

"Well I want to Mum. I have to. I can't just let Harry do this on his own. I'm going to start packing right away."

"Hermione darling," Emma tried.

"I have to for Harry. He needs me more than ever. And I hope you and Dad will join the rest of us. You have to. I can't force you to but, you have to," Hermione looked desperate before rushing off to her bedroom.

Sirius took Helena in his arms. "Sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, it's the best thing we can do. We should get packed as soon as we can." They kissed before Remus turned to the Grangers.

"We'll be stopping by tomorrow all right? I do hope you think everything through though."

With that, the wizards went back to Owl Post Lane. They couldn't take everything with them to Potter Manor so Sirius, Remus, and Helena packed up their most important possessions. It was Friday night and they concluded they would leave by Wednesday morning. When they proposed this to the Grangers the next day they were a little shocked.

"So soon?" Emma asked, frightened.

"The sooner the better. We figured, we need one more day of packing before we're set. If you two are coming with us you need to start right away," Remus said heavily.

Daniel and Emma shared a look. Daniel closed a hand over his wife's and rubbed tired eyes. "You have to realize this is not an easy choice for us to make. To leave our home abandoned after twenty years… not knowing when, if we'll ever get back. What state it might be in when we return… what will we tell our family and friends? They're suspicious enough already that they can't come to the house anymore. You know I want the best for my family; I'll do anything to protect them. And your family," Daniel nodded to Sirius and Helena. "We've formed relationships I never thought we would. And Harry… the son we never had. T-this is very hard to think about right now…"

Hermione placed a hand on her father's shoulder. "Please Dad, it's the best option. You can't be too safe with our world in the middle of a war. You and Mum will be safest with the rest of us."

Daniel sighed heavily. "But what about our jobs? What about the practice?"

"It's something you're going to have to give up for the time being," Sirius said darkly.

"We will try to do what we can to help your staff in the least suspicious ways we can," Helena explained.

There were several minutes of silence before Daniel exhaled heavily again. "Emma and I had a long talk about this last night. It may need some getting used to but, if it's the safest option we have, then ultimately, that's the most important thing."

"So are you saying…?" Hermione trailed.

Daniel and Emma looked at each other; the latter gave a slight nod, tears in her eyes.

"We'll go," Daniel said shortly.

"Oh Dad! Mum!" Hermione cried and flung her arms around her parents' necks.

"Good choice," Sirius nodded.

"Well, we-we better get started packing now if we're leaving Wednesday…" Daniel seemed as if he didn't know what he just agreed to.

And so a plan was set: tomorrow Sirius and Remus were to go down and modify the memories of the staff at Granger Family Dentistry and Orthodontics after the owners wrapped up what would be their last day of work for a while. They told them ahead of time they could not promise the safety of everyone who worked there and to be prepared for the worst when they got back. Wednesday morning would have what would be a risky drive to Potter Manor for everyone. Sirius would drink Polyjuice Potion and transfigure into a man whose hair he stole walking in Muggle London and accompany Helena and their son to the manor. They would be driving Helena's car the way there. Meanwhile, Remus would transfigure into another man while accompanying the Grangers in their car to the manor, two hours after the first car left to avoid suspicion. The operation would be dangerous but it was the best one they could carry out. Death Eaters would expect them to be traveling by air or Floo.

So come Monday, Daniel and Emma went to work for one final time. And after, they waited around for Remus to show up with Tonks who would be helping everyone out as much she could. Together the wizards hit the staff's heads with a temporary version of the memory Charm, Obliviate, before escorting the Grangers back home where they continued to pack what they could in a short amount of time. By Tuesday night, they had phoned all their friends and family and informed them they were going to take a year-long trip to Australia for some much needed rest and relaxation and it was best they did not try to contact them. It felt horrible to lie to them knowing their suspicions but they could not back out of anything now. That night they looked over all of their belongings they had managed to pack and felt a huge sorrow sweep over them.

"It's- it's for the best," Emma kept trying to tell herself and her husband.

"I know. I just hope those Death Eaters never find the place. Remus- he even said he wasn't sure if anyone knew of it, in the Order, before the charm was put on it."

"There's nothing we can do unfortunately…"

"We can try to send fake letters and postcards through the post office to everyone, that way we can at least pretend we're in Australia," Daniel said, trying to lighten the mood.

Emma nodded and sniffed.

"C'mon darling, we have to get some sleep for tomorrow."

It was dark and dreary the morning of the move. Remus arrived at five in the morning and the sky was still plenty dark.

"It's going to take forty-five minutes to reach the manor from Chelsea so I am going to wait here with you guys until it is our turn to leave," he told Daniel, Emma, and Hermione.

"Is there any way we're going to know whether or not the others made it safely?" Emma asked, clutching a bag.

Remus ran a hand through his graying golden hair. "No. We can't risk sending messages to each other on the drive. Only when we arrive at the house will we know what happened."

The two hour wait was almost brutal for them all. Not knowing how the drive was going, not knowing if they made it safe or not. But they had no time to worry about that now, nor say good-bye to the house before it was time to leave. With Remus and Hermione's help they shrunk most of the Granger's luggage into the car and at 7:00 on the dot, they drove. Thankfully it was a fairly busy morning and they blended into the crowd undetected. Daniel kept a firm hold on his wife's hand the entire time. They reached a dirt path with surrounding trees and soon pulled to a stop. Now the risks of the journey were about to increase tenfold. Since Harry had not granted any of the Grangers inside his house yet, he had no choice but to step into the clearing and do so. Remus took the Grangers to the gate of the house, although they could not see it as they had not been allowed in yet. That's when Harry came out and unlocked the gate. Daniel and Emma jumped a little to see the boy come out of what appeared to be thin air. Harry touched the key with all three of them and before they knew it, everyone and everything was hurried beyond the gate.

"Are- are we safe now?" Emma asked, looking behind her.

"Yeah, it may look like we're out in the open but no one can see any part of this property except us," Harry told them wearily.

That's when Hermione looked at him. She wanted to curse him right then and there for allowing her to worry for so long without word but instead she flung her arms around him.

"Oh Harry!"

"Inside," Harry told her. He gave her a brief kiss before he led everyone into the house.

Daniel and Emma gasped once they walked in for they had never seen such a vast and beautiful house before. Helena stepped out of the living room and immediately hugged all three.

"Oh thank goodness you made it!" she cried.

"Did you have any troubles?" Sirius asked, also coming forward, Cayden in his arms.

"None, morning traffic seemed to be in our favor. Nobody overlooked anything," Remus told his friend.

"Same with us. It was still dark out so we blended in as well as anyone."

Daniel looked around. "So- this is going to be our home for the next however many months is it?"

"Oh, yeah. Um, just a sec- Loley! Loley!" Harry called. A second later there was a pop and the little house elf appeared, causing Daniel and Emma to cry out in alarm for they had never seen such a creature.

"What- what on earth?" Emma gasped.

"Oh, you don't know about house-elves huh? Guys, this is one of my three house-elves, Loley. Their job is to maintain the house and do as I say. But don't worry, it isn't as bad as it sounds," Harry quickly added.

"Oh my, these are those animals you have been so concerned about isn't it Hermione dear?" Emma trailed.

"Yes Mum," Hermione nodded. "They are forced to do such horrible things by their Masters, forced to harm themselves if they don't obey correctly. It's awful. But I can only hope Harry won't treat them as such."

"Of course not. In fact one of the bedrooms has been the House Elf's room for many years," Harry reassured his girlfriend.

"Master called?" Loley piped up.

"Yes. Loley, would you please give the Grangers here a tour of the house? And show them to their room?"

"Yes Master!" Loley took hold of Emma's hand and with wide eyes; she followed after the funny little thing, Daniel right behind.

Harry pulled Hermione aside and cupped her face, planting his lips on hers. "Are you sure you made it okay?"

Hermione nodded. "We're fine now."

They kissed again. Harry took hold of her hand. "C'mon, let me show you where you'll be sleeping."

"I hope it's near you," Hermione cracked half a smile.

"Well not really but it is near something you'll find equally as satisfying."

They went upstairs and Harry showed Hermione to what was called the fifth bedroom of the house, across the corridor and to the right.

"Your parents will be in the room next to this, and the room next to that one will be Sirius, Helena, and the baby," Harry explained, hand on the door handle.

The two stepped into a large enough square room with a large window, double bed, wardrobe, and fancy rug.

"You like it?" harry looked worried.

"It's perfect, really."

"I'd- pick a room for us both but I don't think either of our families would agree to that just yet. But I have been told this is the most comfortable bed and offers great sunlight. But the best thing is…" Harry took her out and stopped at a door close by and thrust it open.

"Oh Harry! It isn't!" Hermione gasped and stepped into the grand circular room.

Harry grinned broadly. "Yep, you're mere feet from the Potters' personal library."

Tears in her eyes, Hermione flung her arms around her boyfriend. "It's the perfect location, thank-you so much." After she kissed him and dabbed her eye, she asked, "Can I see your room?"

"Of course, let me show you…"

The house tour finished an hour later. That night the Potter/Lupin/Black/Delmhars and the Grangers had their first dinner provided by the house-elves. It was odd for Daniel and Emma to be served from these little creatures but from what they heard from Harry so far, it was best to just let them do it without complaint.

"So now what?" Sirius asked his godson over the table.

Harry looked up.

"What's your next plan now that we're safe here for the time being?"

Harry moved his fork around his pasta. "Well, being safe is only the first thing. I have to figure out how I'm going to be able to find and destroy the Horcruxes."

"Any leads?" Remus asked.

"A bit. I- found the Potter Pensieve the other day. I was able to finally see that real memory from Slughorn."

"You mean the one Dumbledore asked you to retrieve last year?" Hermione gasped.

"Yeah."

"Well?"

"Well, it basically confirmed what I already knew. So that helps. I know what I need to do; it's just a matter of finding out how to do it. I still want Ron here to help. There's a lot I don't know still but with- with you guys here… I know I have as good a shot as any to do what Dumbledore trusted in me to do."

Remus sighed tiredly. "You know to ask us anything you need asking cub. We trust you know what you're doing."

Harry sighed too. "Thanks."

Everyone decided it best to tuck in early for the night. They were all shown up to their rooms. Harry had his own, Hermione had her own, as did Remus, Daniel and Emma shared bedroom number four, and the largest of the three rooms, number three, was shared by Sirius, Helena, and Cayden. Again, the Grangers had to get used to the rather dark home and the usage of candles but the witches and wizards in the house would make it as comfortable for them as possible.

That night, Harry was able to fall asleep a bit better than he had all week. His family, girlfriend, and her parents were safe and sound in his home, as well as their pets. His owl was currently resting on the top of her cage and Weinki was sleeping at his ankles while Sabrina was curled up next to his arm like a fluffy pillow. Everyone may be safe inside the old house but there was still so much left weighing on Harry's shoulders.

One more chapter left before the brand-new ones get written! Exciting.

Magical love: Rose