31 July, 2002

Sirius awoke early in the morning to the sound of Lyra crying. Sitting up, he turned to a sleepy Aletha and said, "I'll get her. I wanted an early start to Harry's birthday anyways." Aletha merely muttered unintelligibly into her pillow as Sirius eased himself out of bed. Entering the nursery, Sirius rubbed his eyes sleepily. He had thought James had been exaggerating when he complained about how little sleep he was getting after Harry was born. Now Sirius knew better. He hadn't been able to sleep until even 9 am since Lyra was born. A far cry from the leisurely noon wake ups he had been enjoying a year ago.

Reaching into the crib, Sirius picked up his daughter. She was beautiful. Her eyes were a light brown and she had little tufts of black hair growing in all over her head. She appeared to have inherited some of his aristocratic looks, but without the paleness of his skin, thanks to Aletha. Defty, he pulled out a clean nappy and some wipes and changed her, dressing her in a cute pink dress. Grabbing the baby sling from the small table, Sirius careful arranged her against his chest, rocking her gently to calm her. After a few moments, she had calmed down, so he wheeled himself down the hall into the kitchen. The baby sling, a thoughtful gift from Emma and Dan was brilliant. He had been worried that Aletha would have to be the one to carry her until she was old enough to sit on his lap.

Opening the fridge, Sirius grabbed a bottle of formula and brought it to the microwave. A minute later, he was happily feeding Lyra as he read the morning paper (yet another thing he had decided was superior in the muggle world). After Lyra had finished her bottle and he had covered the days news (nothing exciting, just the usual), he returned the fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs, some sausages, and juice. As he began preparing breakfast, he once again thought about how much his life had changed. Only a year ago, Lily had made sure to invite him and Remus over at least twice a week to feed them, seeing as they were incapable of feeding themselves anything besides toast. Thanks to Andromeda's cooking lessons (she was able to explain it in terms of potions, which he was fairly good at), he was capable of helping out in the kitchen- although he suspected he would never be a fantastic chef.

Just as the eggs were about to be done he heard the sounds of tiny feet running down the hall. "Good morning Harry," he greeted, "did the smell of breakfast wake you up?"

Harry nodded eagerly and climbed onto a chair. "Big boy chair?" he asked hopefully, his head just clearing the edge of the table.

"Well, you are two today," responded Sirius with a smile as Aletha entered the kitchen.

Kissing him lightly on the cheek, Aletha remarked, "Eggs and sausages. Smells good. Is Harry sitting in a big boy chair today?"

"Yes!" Shouted Harry.

"He does seem to have made up his mind. And we do have a booster seat for him now."

"Okay, big boy chair it is," responded Aletha. "You do realize we will never get him back in the high chair, don't you?"

"Yah, but soon little Lyra will be there."

Aletha nodded as she opened the hall closet to pull out a bright new booster seat. After securing it to a chair she helped Harry climb into it as Sirius proclaimed breakfast ready.

Around noon, Sirius realized that two-year-olds could be quite impatient when it came to birthday parties. While he realized Harry didn't quite understand the whole birthday and party concept yet, he knew something was happening today. And he was excited. Very excited. As in currently bouncing off the walls and running around the room excited. Sirius sighed. Aletha was putting Lyra down for her nap and had left him in charge of calming down the rambunctious child. Looking about the room in exasperation, Sirius decided he might as well give Harry one of his presents early. It would at least keep him occupied.

Grabbing a long, thin package wrapped in brightly colored quidditch paper, Sirius turned to Harry. "Hey pup, you want to open a present?"

Harry's eye lit up with joy at the question and he nodded his head eagerly and ran across to Sirius. "Pwe'sen!" He shouted, clapping his hands.

"Okay buddy. Do you want to sit on my lap or the floor as you open it?"

"Lap!"

Picking Harry up and carefully setting him on his lap, Sirius presented the gift to Harry. With all the care and finesse of a barely two-year-old boy, Harry ripped off the paper, and then giggled in delight. "Bwoom! I fly?" he asked curiously.

"Yep, I'm going to teach you how to fly. Every good wizard should know how and James would already be disappointed in me for waiting this long to replace the baby boom you had. Come on, let's go to the backyard. No flying in the house. Okay?"

"Kay," responded Harry with all the seriousness he could muster.

Sirius smiled happily. It had been a little difficult obtaining a toddler broom for Harry, as neither he nor Aletha could be seen in Diagon Alley. But after a secretive talk via floo with Frank and promises that they could teach the boys how to fly together, Frank had agreed to pick up the broom, behind Aletha's back, for Harry. He had only told her about it after the fact, using his best begging face to convince her it was a good idea. In all honesty, it was a little bittersweet teaching Harry to fly. While it was one of his favorite activities, he hadn't flown since Bellatrix had cursed him, and doubted he ever would again. At least not on a broomstick.

Casting a few extra notice-me-not charms on the yard to make sure the neighbors didn't notice the flying broomstick, Sirius place Harry on the ground next to his new broom. "Okay Harry, the first thing you need to do is say 'Up'".

"Up!" shouted Harry, laughing in delight as the broom shot up into his hand.

"Very nice, now stand with one foot on either side." Using the wheel of Sirius' chair to steady himself, Harry managed to place one foot on either side of the broom. "Good! Now sit down on it and lean forward." As Harry did so, the broom rose another six inches off the ground and moved forward, slowly gaining speed. Sirius followed alongside, giving encouragement and a little help with some of the turns and Harry smiled brightly. Finally, after about half and hour, Sirius had determined that Harry was good enough to fly around the garden on his own. After all, the broom was designed for toddlers and didn't fly very far off the ground. "Stay near me pup, okay?"

It was about an hour later with a thoroughly exhausted Harry that Sirius returned to the house. Bringing him in, he changed his nappy and settled him down for his afternoon nap. Returning to the living room, he found Aletha sitting on a chair, reading a book with Lyra in her arms.

"How was the flying?"

"It was awesome. He loved every minute of it. If it weren't for the fact that he was about to fall asleep on the broom, I think he would have stayed out for several more hours."

"A natural is he?"

"Just like James, yah," responded Sirius with just a hint of sadness in his voice. It didn't hurt as much to talk about James and Lily anymore. Now he could focus more on the good times and memories. "Are we sure about this party?" he questioned, thinking about their plans to head over to Longbottom Manor later that afternoon for a joint party for the two boys.

"Alice and I have spent a long time thinking about it. They had another gathering last weekend for the more public celebration of Neville's birthday. Since they still keep the wards locked down tight, nobody should be too suspicious. Beside, it will be nice to be able to visit the wizarding world again, even if it is only briefly."

"You are right. I just worry. Especially now that we have Lyra."

Aletha nodded and returned to her book as Sirius went to his office. He didn't have a job per say, but was busy working with Frank and Ted on a plan to clear his name. Reading through all the wizarding laws, Sirius realized just how ridiculous they all were. Muggle laws made far more sense, and were much fairer.

Around five o'clock Aletha, and Sirius gathered the kids went into the office where the floo was located. "Right," began Sirius, "I'll take Lyra in the baby sling and you can grab Harry?"

"Sounds perfect, now remember, the password is Holyhead Harpies Rule."

"Ha, Alice's turn I'm guessing?"

"Yup, I fully expect another quidditch themed password from Frank."

Throwing in the floo powder, Sirius shouted "Longbottom Manor! Holyhead Harpies Rule!" then popped a wheelie, rolling into the fireplace. As flew out the other side, he coughed, disturbing the dust that had settled all over him.

Frank, who was waiting on the other side laughed, "The pureblood scion of The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black can't floo without getting covered in soot?" he mocked.

"Bugger off. It's a little different than it used to be. And it's not like I floo very often to practice."

"Excuses, excuses," waved off Frank and Aletha stepped out of the fireplace gracefully.

"Now that's just not fair," grumbled Sirius good-naturedly as the followed Frank out into the back garden.

"Sirius! Aletha! Oh and Harry and Lyra! Look how big they are getting!" cried Alice in greeting as she ran over.

"They do seem to keep growing, don't they," replied Aletha, drawing the bubbly woman into a hug. "And where is Neville? I am sure Harry can't wait to play with him."

"He's in one of the greenhouse with Dora. I think she is currently matching her hair color to some of his favorite flowers, much to his delight."

"Well, shall we head to the greenhouse then?" Aletha asked as she hooked arms with Alice and led her away from the two men.

"I think we were just discarded," muttered Frank. "Guess it's time for a beer. Ted set up a barbeque and is busy grilling ribs with Remus. I head something about a possible girlfriend."

"Moony?" questioned Sirius, "Moony with a girlfriend?"

"You are engaged and holding your newborn baby," cheeked Frank.

"Touché, all the more reason for a beer. Let's go."

Just as the sun began setting and everyone was getting ready to leave, the floo sprung to life and Sirius blanched as Amelia Bones, second in command of the DMLE's face appeared.

Harry was running around the living room with Neville, giggling wildly when the floo came to life. Both boys stopped, curious as to who was coming through. A face appeared in the flames and shouted "Frank! Emergency at the DMLE! I ne… Harry Potter?" And with that, everyone in the room froze in terror at the sight of Amelia Bones, second in command of the DMLE.

As Alice grabbed the boys' hands and dragged them back from the flames, Frank stepped forward nervously, watching the face of his boss turn from confusion, to anger, to curiosity. Swinging his bad leg out to the side, he knelt down in front of the fireplace so that he was eye level with Amelia's face.

"Longbottom! What is Potter doing in your house?" She shouted. Frank swallowed nervously, unsure how to answer. "Never mind. I'm coming through. NOBODY LEAVES THE HOUSE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"Yes boss," Frank managed to utter as Amelia's face disappeared from the flames. Standing up and taking a step back from the floo, Frank glanced at the rest of the group. Somehow, in the intervening moments, Andromeda had turned from relaxed and carefree into the very picture of a Black Woman. Ted, too, had drawn himself up and straightened his robes, trying to look every part the lawyer he was. Meanwhile, Sirius had scooped Harry up onto his lap proactively, with Lyra tucked safely into the baby sling and Aletha by his shoulder. Dora, Neville, and Alice stood off to the side with Remus, trying very hard to disappear. Gathering up his own courage, Frank addressed the group. "Well, we planned on telling Amelia the truth eventually. This is just a little earlier than we wanted to. Alice, Remus be ready to draw your wands. I don't think we'll need to, but…" He trailed of as Amelia Bones stepped out of the floo, wand in hand, followed closely by a grinning Moody.

"Good evening Auror Bones, Auror Moody," intoned Andromeda. "Or is it Amelia and Alastor?" she asked, tone full of confidence and power.

Amelia, visibly shaken by Andromeda's tone of voice looked about the room. Frank, Alice, and Remus all held their wands in hand, ready to find. Holstering hers, she responded to Andromeda. "I believe, Andy, that we need to have a talk. I fear last time I spoke to you, you were not being entirely honest."

"Oh no," replied Andromeda, "I believe you will find I have been entirely honest, it not exactly forthcoming with the entire story. I was asked if I knew where Sirius was. At the time, I did not. I never said anything about knowing where he had been, or where he would be."

Amelia nodded, "very well. If you wouldn't mind, I would appreciate the full story."

Sensing it was time for him to join the conversation, Frank spoke up. "If you follow me into the library, I am sure we can sort some things out. If you don't mind, the children will stay out here with Alice and Remus. They don't need to be present for this conversation."

"Agreed," acquiesced Amelia.

Frank led the group with Amelia, Andromeda, and Ted close behind. Moody hung back, waiting as Sirius handed off Harry and Lyra to Remus. Taking a moment to take in how Sirius looked, Moody remembered the conversation he had with Frank, months ago. "Bellatrix caught him with a dark curse. He won't recover completely," Frank had said. Looking at Sirius' skinny, still legs, Moody had to agree.

"Bellatrix?" He questioned, motioning towards the chair.

"Yah, hit me with a particularly nasty curse as I blew her up. I got lucky, the curse wasn't completed," Sirius responded. He was surprised to find it didn't hurt to talk about what happened any more. With all the excitement and happiness that came with Harry, Lyra, and Aletha it didn't seem to hurt as much. Not that it never hurt, just not that often.

"That's lucky?" question Moody, disbelief evident in his voice.

"Like I said, a particularly nasty curse. Worse than the cruciatus. Black family special."

Moody, sensing it was time to changed subjects asked, "So the kid that got Longbottom so excited, she's yours?"

"Yup," Sirius responded, his face full of happiness. "Her name is Lyra and she is just over two months old."

"You marrying the girl?"

"Yah, don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure you are Alastor Moody?" asked Sirius.

Moody smacked Sirius on the back of the head. "Does that answer your question? And I missed you."

Sirius stopped and looked up at Moody's face, staring him in his real eye. "You missed me?"

"Yup, nobody to smack around with my cane. And now Longbottom carry's one around just to threaten me back," Moody joked. He really had missed Sirius. He might appear hard and unloving, but he was human. James and Sirius had almost been like sons to him. Frustrating, annoying, mischievous sons, but sons nonetheless. The death of James and disappearance of Sirius had hit him hard. Even he could admit that- in private.

Sirius barked in laughter. "Does he really? Oh man, that's fantastic! I told him too! I figured he could scare the bloody hell out of the trainees! Does he?" asked Sirius as he continued into the office, convinced again that it really was Mad-Eye.

Moody grunted. "Damn you. Left the force, hiding from the law and you are still a pain in my ass."

After everyone had entered the room and sat down, Amelia cleared her throat. "Anyone want to start explaining? A don't think I haven't noticed you aren't surprised Moody. You better have a damn good reason why you have been hiding information from me."

"Haven't hid anything from you. Ordered Frank not to tell me anything. If I didn't know anything for sure." he trailed off as Amelia completed his sentence.

"They you wouldn't have been able to give anything up, even under veritaserum as we would have asked what you knew."

"Exactly."

"I suppose I should tell you what really happened then, shouldn't I?" interrupted Sirius, taking a deep breath. At Amelia's motion to continue, he launched into his story. "It all started about a month before Halloween. James and Lily had been in hiding since Harry's birth, but we received intel that an attack was imminent. Dumbledore decided the wards on Potter Manor where not enough, and that James and Lily should use the fidelius charm instead." Amelia nodded, this was all well known. "After a few days of convincing, they started looking for a house to hide in. Potter Manor just seemed too well known. We though people would notice if they forgot about the Potter Ancestral Home, and start looking for the secret keeper.

Amelia nodded, it did seem likely that if people suddenly forgot where the Potters had lived for centuries, they would connect two and two and start looking for the keeper, whereas they would assume they didn't know where James and Lily were simply because they had been in hiding.

"In mid October, they decided on the house in Godric's Hollow. Dumbledore recommended himself as secret keeper, but James and I were hesitant. He had made some decisions that… well, let's just say we didn't trust him one hundred percent. Knowing there was a spy in the Order," Amelia nodded, indicating she knew of the Order of the Phoenix, "they wanted to choose a close friend. James asked me, but I thought it would be too obvious. I recommended Peter Pettigrew, thinking nobody would suspect him. He was the weakest of our friends. We would make a big deal about me going into hiding, to put people off his trail." Aletha wrapped her arm around Sirius, offering encouragement as he continued.

"On the 31st, Dumbledore came to cast the charm. It was around eight in the morning. After completing the charm and being let in on the secret by Peter, he left. Peter and I stayed for a little while longer and planned out the rouse. I would dramatically pack up my stuff that night and head to Uncle Alphard's cabin."

Amelia looked Sirius in the eye, trying to ascertain if he was telling the truth. "Dumbledore knew?"

"Yes," replied Andy. "He knew Sirius was not the secret keeper. That Sirius did not, could not, betray the Potters. To make matters worse, when Sirius arrived at Godric's Hollow in the aftermath of the attack, he ran into Hagrid. Dumbledore had sent him to fetch Harry and bring him to Lily's sister's house."

"But if he knew Sirius was innocent, and knew he was his godfather- not to mention Alice is his godmother-"

"Then why did he try to place Harry with Petunia? Petunia hated Lily. She abhorred anything magical, she was the last place Lily would want Harry to go," Sirius responded angrily.

Andy stepped in again, "I believe he was trying to control Harry. Isolate him from those who loved him, those who cared about him. We believe we know why he wants to control Harry, but I don't know if we can trust you with that yet. What we do know is that Voldemort is not dead."

Amelia shuddered, "You-know-who not dead? How?"

Andy's face turned dark, disgust and hate filling her eyes. "Horocruxes."

There was a look of confusion on everyone but Aletha and Sirius' faces. Aletha's was full of sadness, Sirius's on un-tempered rage. Aletha placed a hand on her fiancées shoulder, attempting to calm him. "HE HAS A HOROCRUX?" shouted Sirius. Andy nodded.

"Would someone please enlighten the rest of us and explain what a horocrux is?"

"They are the darkest of magic," spat Sirius, "So dark even the Blacks dare not create them. They are vessels that contain part of someone's soul. They can only be made through the slaughter of an innocent victim, and while a dark wizard has one, they cannot die." He turned to Andy. "And how, pray tell, did you discover this?"

Andy breathed in deeply. This was not going to be pleasant. "I discovered one. When I gave Harry a thorough exam."

"WHAT!" screamed Sirius, "You found a horocrux in my godson, my son, and did not tell me?" He started to draw his wand, rage tearing through him. Aletha grabbed his arms, trying to pin them to his side.

"I knew, Siri. We removed it; it is no longer there. We didn't tell you because you were already at the hospital. We didn't want to burden you any more. You had lost so much…" She trailed off as she felt Sirius relax, tears falling from his cheeks.

"He is okay now, right?"

"Yes love. Andy found an ancient cleansing ritual and used it on him. He is fine."

Amelia ran all the knew information through her head, then asked, "Andy, you said horocruxes. As in plural. Did he make more than one?" Sirius stiffened again, the thought of making one, yet alone more than one…

"I believe so. The soul fragment in Harry appeared small and accidental, indicating the soul had already been split. Since a horocrux splits the soul into two pieces…"

"Every time you make one the soul inside you is cut in half," Amelia finished grimly. Andy nodded. "What happens know?"

"Well, that all depends on you. If there are indeed, more horocruxes out there, they need to be destroyed. Or else Voldemort can come back. But, this needs to remain secret," Andy replied.

"Secret?" questioned Amelia.

This time Moody responded. "Can't let any of his followers know he is still out there. They wouldn't hesitate to bring him back." Sending a judging look at Amelia as she moved to protest, he continued, "We both know many of his top supporters simply bribed their way out of justice. They still work for the ministry."

"Ah, yes, that," smiled Andy. We have a plan for that.

"We do?" asked Sirius, realizing just how much Andy had been up to while he hid.

"Yes. Ted and I have been working on it with occasional help from Frank. We are simply waiting for dear old Arcturus to die."

Amelia raised an eyebrow, Sirius gulped. "But I was disowned…"

"Not formally. I checked. It appears lovely Walburga simply blasted you off the tapestry. You were never formally disowned. You are still the heir of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. I believe Arcturus would have disowned you had Regulus lived. I suppose even the disgraceful Gryffindor was still better than the Black fortune going to a Malfoy."

Sirius pretended to gag. "Ew. Lucius. You said waiting for Arcturus do die. Do we know when that will be?"

"Not exactly, but soon. He has retreated from society, severely ill. I believe it won't be long," replied Andy.

Moody grumbled. "Not to be rude, but what about Dumbledore? Man proclaims himself leader of the light, yet he is lying to everyone."

Andy nodded sadly, "There is not too much that we can do. He holds too much power at the moment. Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugawump, Headmaster of Hogwarts- all those titles give him power. Add to that the fact that he defeated Grindewald, and yes he did indeed, people look up to him. It is Sirius's word versus his. Even with the aide of veritaserum and pensive memories, it is an uphill battle. Sirius is a Black. That works against us."

"We still need to clear Sirius's name," Amelia responded. "I cannot condone hunting an innocent man."

"While I appreciate the thought, and really, I do, we can't. At least not yet. With spineless Bagnold," Moody laughed, "the bastard Crouch, and Dumbledore in charge, anyone who tried to help me publically will be crucified. No, we listen to Andy. We work behind the scenes. Clean up the ministry. Wait until Crouch leaves the DMLE. Then we strike."

"Didn't know you did waiting and behind the scenes."

Sirius smiled slightly. "I didn't. But I have a family to protect. And I can no longer run guns-a-blazing into a fight." He looked out at the group, sadness spreading into the corners of his eyes. "It's time for me to grow up. It's time for me to use my blasted slytherin upbringing to do some good."

Everyone stared at Sirius, unsure how to respond. Sitting there, holding his fiancée's hand, he looked like a different person from the Sirius they had seen. Gone was the rash, young schoolboy. In his place sat the future Lord Black. A man who would do anything to protect his family. A man you didn't want to cross.