Hello, everyone. I'd like to thank Ogreman for taking on Betaing this story, though I noticed first now that I gave him last chapter to beta... I need to stop being sleep deprived when I do stuff.

Ted sat and talked with Sirius in the kitchen. Andromeda had luckily made Pizza, hopefully enough. Amelia and Susan would come over as usual, and maybe McGonagall. Too bad that she can't bring Dora with her. But it is what it is.

"So, how is little Dora?" Sirius asked as he looked around. There were a few mundane pictures here and there. Mostly of her, but some of all of them.

"You know the same. Getting in trouble, and paying half the price for it than anyone else."

"Suppose that is easier now. Rather than looking like whoever finds her after she's done something bad. She can just look like somebody else WHEN she's doing something bad. There is probably a reason for why I did not get to be a metamorph… I'd be in the girl's dormitory all the time as the most adorable first year and learn all of their secrets…"

"And now I remember why you and Andromeda fought."

"We didn't fight that much at the end did we?" Sirius asked hesitantly.

"You barely fought ever since you graduated. It was more of a general observation, she did not like how much of a pervert you were."

"Neither did Ami," Sirius said with a wry smile. "Thought I could be better than that."

"And you were."

"Not really, just stopped ogling every girl near my age. Instead, just ogling the one girl. All the time, it's a wonder we managed to do anything."

"Having James and your other team members near would have accounted for some of it I believe."

"Barely, there was a time we talked about doing it. But we could not figure out where was the least likely of being walked in on, or not weird for the two of us to leave together."

Ted had to shake his head at that, it really should not surprise him at all. But it still did.

"So, when is Andromeda coming back? It shouldn't take that long to go to the store and get whatever it was she lacked does it?"

"I'm sure she's right around the corner."

Luckily she was as the door opened up and it sounded like Harry went upstairs while Andromeda came into the kitchen.

"So, you were a good boy after all?" Andromeda asked in all her aristocratic glory.

"And what made you think I wouldn't be? Where's the groceries?" Sirius asked with a confused look on his face.

"We may have a surprise for you," Ted said softly as he looked between them. Andromeda could be a bit too much like her Grand-Aunt than he'd like at times. And Sirius was. Well, Sirius.

"Then why didn't you say so!" Sirius said with a laugh as he rose to his feet.

Ted followed as quickly as he could as Sirius began for the stairs.

"You had another kid?" Sirius asked. "But there were only pictures of Dora?" He added confusedly as he stopped and looked back at them.

"No," Andromeda said with that mask of hers still on.

"Hmm. It's a surprise, and it is not a kid. Thought I heard somebody come in with you. And seeing as you didn't bring groceries, wouldn't be unreasonable to think. Hmm, have no idea." Sirius said but as he started towards them he added, "But let's go and find out!" And ran up the stairs before they had started to react.

Ted was the first one up the stairs and saw Sirius stand there looking at the grey door with 'Harry's Room' written on it in a plethora of colours. The letters were not even allowed to be the same colour. Dora was rather particular about that, a single colour for something was the worst things she'd ever heard about at the time. And the clothes she wore at home proved that colour changing charm had been placed on them.

As Ted came closer the door opened and revealed Harry. He stood there and looked confusedly at the man.

"Laughing man?" He asked quietly. Oh no, they had not thought this through too well had they? He was still really quiet around adult males. Well, most adults that were not Andromeda at least.

Sirius seemed to get his head together and sat down in front of Harry and asked "Laughing man?"

"I had a dream once. A man that looked like you were laughing, then you changed into a dog. Dad put me on your back while Mom looked like she did not know what to do. Meanwhile, Moonly sat on the sofa and seemed to be happy just to be there."

Sirius got sad at hearing that but covered it quickly.

"Yeah, I suppose I am the Laughing Man, but I'd prefer it if you called me Uncle Padfoot," Sirius said.

"Why?" Harry asked as he looked at him.

"Because dogs have pads under their feet."

"No, I meant why should I call you uncle. Besides, your name is not Padfoot." Harry said simply.

"I was a friend of your father. He and your mother named me your Godfather."

"Oh…" Harry said as he looked around at Ted and Andromeda. And they nodded in agreement.

"Then. Then why didn't you come before now? Aunt Andromeda came and found me weeks ago." Harry asked as he bolted over and hid behind Andromeda.

Sirius seemed to freeze again. But it was a lot shorter this time as he looked up at Ted with a look that silently asked:

"Found him? Why did he need to be found?"

Ted cleared his throat before he answered.

"Dumbledore seemed to think that Lily's sister was a good place for him to grow up."

If it were possible Sirius seemed to sag down even more upon hearing that and started to mutter some things. Ted could've sworn that he heard him say "Bloody bastards didn't even kill him. Should've strangled him. Would've done something right."

Ted looked at Andromeda and saw that she was sort of fixing the issue. Explaining to Harry what happened to Sirius, Though hopefully the child-friendly version. He was still mad that Dora got her relations thrown in her face upon entering Hogwarts, and that was probably how she went from a Happy-Go-Lucky girl to a girl who was as likely to prank you as she was to say hi to you. Not a comfort to Andromeda or those that shared hallway space with her at Hogwarts.

Sirius got up and walked over to Ted.

"When did you find him?" Sirius asked quietly

"Five weeks ago. Sirius, you've got to know that he does not trust adults easily. Especially men." Ted answered, uttering words that he wished that he never needed to say.

"What… They didn't?"

"From what Andromeda says, no. Not that at least. But they beat him. Not just by his supposed uncle. But also by the headmaster of the school he was going to. A few other's as well I believe."

Sirius nodded in acceptance.

"Maybe we should head downstairs and continue the conversation there?" Andromeda asked as she looked at Harry.

"Sure," Ted said as he looked over at Sirius. He seemed a bit hesitant but OK with it.

"Yeah. Yeah, let's do that." Sirius said as he gestured for them to go ahead.

Ted wasn't too sure about doing that. But if he needed a little while to compose himself then that's what he needed.

When they came downstairs and into the living room, they all sat down. Ted in his reclining chair with Andromeda and Harry in the sofa.

They did not speak, but Harry seemed to cling onto Andromeda more than usual. As if afraid that this new Uncle would take him away from his aunt, This was really bad wasn't it? But they had about a year or so before that would be an issue, hopefully, they got along by then. But they had to do more than get along too wouldn't they? This was getting more complicated than anticipated.

But they couldn't have left Sirius there either. Andromeda may scold him for having a goatee, but she was relieved that she had a family member to speak to again. That he was sure of. And if worse should come to pass then surely Sirius would see that he could not take care of Harry.

Shortly after Sirius came down the stairs and took a seat in the other reclining chair. And the awkwardness seemed to radiate in the room with his presence.

"So… What should we talk about?" Ted asked gently to get the conversation going.

But before Andromeda or Sirius could reply the floo flared up and out came Susan.

"Hi, Harry!" She said as she ran over and greeted him. Completely oblivious of the atmosphere in the room.

"Hello, Susan." Harry murmured from his place next to Andromeda.

"Why are all of you sitting here?" Susan asked as she looked around the room. "Who are you?" she asked hesitantly as she looked at Sirius.

"Ehm… An old friend of the family." Sirius said as he looked around.

"Oh," Susan said as she looked back at Harry again. Then she quickly grabbed Harry's hand and took him out of the room. And by the sound of it up the stairs.

"He. He didn't know about me?" Sirius asked slowly as he looked over at Andromeda.

"No, he. He had barely gotten here Sirius. We were just focusing on him getting adjusted to a normal family. I am sure he will come around as time goes on." Andromeda said from her seat.

"That is something I suppose… I just thought that he'd been here all along and that you'd have told him about me once Ted started to work on my defence if nothing else."

"We had thought that, but at the same time. We thought that a happy surprise would have been good for him. We didn't exactly think that through it seems." Ted explained.

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Amelia had packed the bag with a bit more trepidation today. She had not been told, but she knew that Sirius would be there. Why wouldn't he? They were the family he had left, of course, he'd be there. It would not make sense otherwise. So hefting the bag over her shoulder she walked slowly towards the fireplace. Susan had already gone through five minutes ago. It would not be dangerous. He did not harbour any ill will. She hoped. There were others there. With those final thoughts of encouragement, she floo'd to the Tonks'.

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The floo flared up again. And out came Amelia. She looked good out of the robes. She honestly did not seem to have aged much, if at all. Honestly, her hair was almost the same as the last time he saw her. A low ponytail, albeit short. Barely past her shoulders. Her blue eyes seemed a bit unsettling, but oh well he couldn't have everything.

"Good evening," Amelia said as she looked at them one by one. When her eyes landed on Sirius they softened a fraction, but they were back to how they were almost immediately. She still hated him. Of course, she would. Why wouldn't she? I am only the reason her brother is half mad. What was it they called it? Age disconnection? Yeah, something like that, is not connected to his age behaviour like others. Will revert to a younger version of himself to a probable older version of himself. And of course to his actual self, who is not sure what is going on.

Couldn't keep my bloody mouth shut. It was three hours. Three hours before the Order raided that hideout. Should have lasted that long, if I did then that girl would not have lost her parents or her Uncle. And Amelia would not have hated me.

"Yes, good evening," Andy said.

"Everything OK?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah, Susan seemed to sense that Harry felt it was awkward and pulled him upstairs. Now the two of you," Andy said with a sweet smile that Sirius knew to fear. He had called it her healer face since she had started her healer training. And he knew to fear it. "Out the back, and talk things through. Don't come back in until then."

Sirius, not one to argue with her when she had that face, the one time he did he could have sworn that she had used a curse worse than the Crutiatis curse on him, got up and headed for the door. Apparently Amelia felt the same as she followed.

They headed into the woods that Ted had mentioned they used as an Apperation point.

"So, what should we talk about?" Sirius asked nervously as he stole a look at Amelia.

"I suppose the same thing you tried to speak to Harry about. Our relationship to one another." Amelia said softly as she leant back against a tree.

"How did you know that was what I tried to speak to him about?"

"I may only have visited once a week, but Andromeda gave good reports. He is afraid to lose the safety he has found here. But what safety do we have to lose?" said Amelia.

"I'm not even sure if I'll stay right now."

"And why wouldn't you?"

"Harry is better off with them, let's not hide from the truth there- I'd always be the doting uncle. I'm not fit to be a parent. Besides, I get everybody close to me hurt. Your brother's, good-sister and parents. My friends. Remus must've gone off and killed himself. I… I'm not strong enough to deal with this. I have been outside of Azkaban for less than a month, I have been free for not even 10 hours and I'm considering to kill myself. With no fire-whisky."

"It's not your fault Sirius. You did what you could. No one else would have held out that long."

"It wasn't even Voldemort that did it. He wasn't even in the hideout as it happened."

"Then who did it?" Amelia said with a hint of tremors in her voice. He'd never talked about it before. He was supposedly the best Occulumence in the force. Good at fixing his holes and improving upon his defences when he was bested. But he did not have time for that when being tortured and broken.

"Who else than everyone's favourite potioneer."

"Snape? No one would believe you, Siri. You hated each other since you were in school."

"I know that. I won't take this public until I can make it stick. If I've learnt one lesson these last six years, it is to have patience. To not run off and do the first thing that comes to my mind."

Amelia didn't look convinced. But that was understandable. He wasn't expecting her to believe him about who was to blame in the first place.

"And our relationship?" Amelia asked hesitantly. Wait, when did she ever do something hesitantly. Even when we revealed our relationship she was firm and immovable.

"You tell me?" She was the one who didn't visit, the one who didn't say anything beyond what was necessary.

"It's complicated. I. I was promoted in the spring after the war ended. Given the command of the Auror forces. I wanted to open your case, but as it was sealed I couldn't without having a reason to do so. And that didn't come before now. And then I got confused. We had spent so much of our time together since you joined my squad. I was angry, I felt betrayed that you'd do something like that. I thought it was possible that you were innocent but unlike them," She gestured back to the house.

"I lost hope rather quickly. I just went on with my life. Focusing on work and Susan. I drank a bit too much in the Autumn than what is healthy. But it was what it was."

"We loved each other. What was there ever to be confused about?"

"I had spent 4 and a half years hating you. Tell me how I'm not supposed to be confused by that. Yes, I loved you, then I hated you. And now I am confused. Where would our lives have been if you weren't sent to Azkaban? Would we have married? Would we have kids, whose family name would they have?"

James were right. Never make a woman confused about your relationship. They'll think too much about things that were not even a blip on your radar.

"If you're that confused then. How about take it slow, do you come over every Friday?"

"Yes, we do. Why?"

"Well then. How about we take half hour to an hour every Friday to begin with and see where it leads us?"

"I suppose that is possible."

"Well then, maybe we should get back now, after all, we have cleared things up between us."

"Want to get away from me so early?"

"No, I just want a meal that has not been made by Moody. A good fighter, but not a good cook."

"Great, now I'll be imagining Moody cooking. It is not pretty, and

my number one concern is how did the kitchen survive?"

Review Responses

TheRealXenocide- Dumbledore thinks his way is the only way. Is he a bit evil? Yes, but that is because those actions are necessary to HIS view of the chain of events to pass. Not just because *I am evil so I need to do this and this and a bit of that.* This won't be a "Dumbledore and Grindewald Master Plan" Evil Dumbledore story.

NoNeedForAName- And that is sort of the problem. OLD and NAIVE in the same sentence about a supposedly great and knowledgeable man is sort of counter intuitive. He should have learnt to read people to a degree, which he seems to do in the books. Mistakes which always seems to push the boundaries of what Harry can manage? Not saying that his shortcomings won't be recognised, but it'll be a long while before that happens. Third year at least.

Stacey's Universe- Thanks for pointing out some names I need to double check as I write. No E in McGonagall. Or in Nymphadora