Disclaimer: All previous disclaimers apply.
Chapter 10
"I knew you or Black would be here, Potter," Severus snarled. "You obviously don't want to see your son as much as you claim if you keep breaking the rules Wizarding Child Services set down."
"I'm just making sure you don't turn him into a Death Eater. Just because you weren't imprisoned in the first round of arrests doesn't mean you won't be. Sirius and I are determined to see you go to Azkaban where you belong!"
"Well, I'll just see what Wizarding Child Services has to say about you stalking Harry under that bloody invisibility cloak of yours," Severus threatened. "Haven't you gotten it through your fat head that Harry doesn't want anything to do with you because you frighten him?"
"I'm his father!" James roared, causing screams inside the daycare and Miss Sherry to come bursting out the door, wand at ready. "What is going on here?" She demanded. She looked at Severus. "Mr. Snape?"
"Sorry, Miss Sherry," Severus apologized. "But I caught Potter lurking here under his invisibility cloak."
"Mr. Potter, I believe I told you to stay away from this daycare or I would summon the hospital security and have you thrown out," Miss Sherry snapped looking up at James with her hands on her hips. "And that is exactly what I'm going to do!" She sent her Patronus, a Jack Russell terrier, off and a few minutes' later two burly security guards appeared and dragged James off in the direction of the entrance.
"I'm an Auror! You can't treat me this way!" James shouted.
"Tell it to WCS," Severus sneered. He turned back to Miss Sherry. "Sorry, for the disturbance, but the git's always thought rules were for everybody except him."
"I'll have security keep an eye out for him in case he comes back," Miss Sherry promised.
Severus nodded. "Thank you." He walked to the Potions Research department stopping first in at his mum office to let her know what had just occurred.
Eileen shook her head. "I see coming back from the dead hasn't changed Potter at all. He's just as spoiled and self-centered as he ever was. I can't understand why they let him back into the Aurors."
Severus came back at lunchtime and checked on Harry, but he seemed to be doing fine. He decided to floo over to the Ministry and let Sarah Mullings know about James lurking outside the daycare under his invisibility cloak. Sarah shook her head. "I see I'm going to have to issue a strike against Mr. Potter and it's going to be even longer before he'll see Harry. If he keeps on disregarding the rules, he may not see him until he's seventeen."
When he came back at five to pick him up, Harry ran over to him and gave him a hug. "Da, I draw you picture!"
"You did? Well, let's see it then." The drawing was of two large stick figures with a smaller stick figure between them and they were all holding hands. Severus guessed the figure on the right was him as it had longer black hair and the figure on the left was Lily as it had long, curly red hair and was wearing a dress.
"You, me, and mummy," Harry said pointing.
"Well, it's a really a good drawing, Harry and I think I have a special spot for it on my bulletin board."
Harry grinned and Severus picked him up so they could floo home. By now Harry was a veteran flooer and knew to keep his eyes and mouth shut because of the ashes. Lily was waiting in the living room having only gotten back from Hogwarts fifteen minutes previously. She smiled as Severus and Harry stepped out of the fireplace.
"Show mummy the picture you drew, Harry," Severus urged.
"Let me see, darling," Lily said lifting Harry up into her lap. She looked at the picture. "Oh, this is very nice, Harry."
"Da, hang it up," Harry requested.
Severus lifted Harry off of Lily lap and carried him into his study. Lily followed them. By now his bulletin board was covered with pictures Harry had drawn him. He sat Harry on top of his desk, slid his wand out of his arm holster, waved it and said, "Engorgio." The bulletin board expanded enough to fit Harry's newest drawing on it. "There, now I can see it whenever I look up."
Lily smiled as she surveyed Severus' study, all the bookcases, the file cabinet, the masculine furniture, and all of Harry's drawings on the bulletin board and some stuck on the wall by his desk.
They came out again and Severus said to Lily, "Before I forget, Harry has an appointment with a pediatric oculist, Dr. Llewellyn on Thursday. I have a six-month standing appointment to get Harry eyes checked. So far, his vision is fine, but I know how bad Potter's vision is and I want to catch it early in case Harry's inherited it."
"What time is his appointment, Sev?"
"It's at 9:30. Miss Sherry knows about them, but you may want to remind her tomorrow just in case. How was your day?"
"Very interesting if I do say so myself," Lily answered with a grin. She described her visit with Dumbledore and the Pinocchio Hex she'd cast on him.
Severus laughed heartily at her tale and Harry giggled even though he didn't understand what his mummy and da were talking about. "I must say that quite an interesting spell you invented. It's probably as good as Veritaserum," Severus complimented her. "And the effects of it would be most amusing."
"Well, I didn't see Dumbledore when I went into the Great Hall for lunch," Lily grinned. "I invented it while I was pregnant with Harry because I had a lot of time on my hands. That's also when I worked on a spell that would keep Voldemort from killing Harry."
"Do you know how long it lasts and does it have a counter-hex?"
"The counter-hex is Strigo, but I don't know how long it lasts without it."
"I wouldn't worry about casting it," Severus remarked. "Let the meddling old fool suffer for a few days just like he let Harry suffer at the Dursley's. Speaking of unpleasant people; Potter was outside the daycare under his invisibility cloak this morning."
"What!" Lily said angrily.
Severus held up his hand. "Miss Sherry called security and had him thrown out and I reported it to Sarah Mullings."
"He won't stop," she said bitterly. "He wants Harry as a trophy to wave in my face. James has always been about competition and he doesn't care who gets hurt as long as he wins."
"Well, he's not going to win this time. Harry's neither a trophy nor the savior of the Wizarding World!"
"You do remember that Harry and Dudley have a play date this Saturday?" Lily asked changing the subject.
Severus nodded. "I already have wards on my lab, on the entrance to the basement swimming pool and on the entrance to the Rooftop Terrace. They can play in Harry playroom or in his bedroom."
"That pool is wonderful and so is the sauna," Lily said blissfully. "I'll ask Tita to bake some cookies too. It seems Dudley has a fondness for cookies."
"I noticed," Severus replied. The child was overweight now, but it was up to Petunia and Vernon to stop overfeeding him.
"I hope Harry and Dudley get along," Lily said with a sigh. "I'd really like it if they could become friends."
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James stormed around Grimmauld Place, throwing things and using his wand to break things. He glared at his wand that he'd gotten a few weeks ago at Ollivander's. Although his new wand had chosen him easily – it was the second wand he'd tried; it just didn't feel like his old one. He had asked the officials in the Department of Mysteries what had happened to his old wand, but nobody seem to know for sure; some thought it had been destroyed and others thought it was somewhere within the department. In the end, they were no help at all! He tossed another tea cup at the fireplace in a fit of aggravation.
"Merlin's beard, James!" Remus snapped coming down the stairs. "It sounds like a herd of Hippogriffs are raging around down here. What's wrong now?" He glanced around the room with all the smashed crockery and with a wave of his wand, repaired it and sent it back to the kitchen for Kreacher to deal with.
"That greasy snake, Snivellus is what's wrong!" James yelled. "Do you know Harry calls that lousy Death Eater 'Da' and actually hugs the greasy git? The lousy bastard used a dark spell to blow my cloak off and that bitch that runs the daycare called security and had me thrown out!"
"As I recall, James you aren't supposed to be hanging around there in the first place!" Remus said coldly. "You keep saying you want to see Harry yet you refuse to abide by the rules set down by Wizarding Child Services."
"Where's Padfoot?" James snarled.
It was obvious to Remus that James had heard nothing he'd said. "I expect he stopped at the Leaky Cauldron before coming home."
"Good! I'll go there," James said. He grabbed a handful of floo powder, stepped into the fireplace, threw down the powder, and yelled, "The Leaky Cauldron!" He disappeared in a flash of green flames.
Remus sighed and went back upstairs to his suite. Merlin! It was like being back at Hogwarts when every time James had seen Lily with Severus he'd gotten in a snit and thrown a tantrum! Maybe he should find another place now. The only reason he'd moved into Grimmauld Place was because Sirius had asked him to as he'd been devastated by James' death, but with his best friend back he no longer needed to be here. He decided he'd ask Arthur if there were any places available in Ottery St. Catchpole or possibly …Godric's Hallow. He knew the house Lily, James, and Harry had been living in had been badly damaged when Voldemort blew up, but maybe it could be repaired. He stepped into the fireplace, threw down the floo powder and said, "Ministry of Magic." Once he got to the Ministry, he threw down more floo powder and said, "Snape House, London."
Severus, Lily and Harry were having dinner when the floo sounded. Severus got up and went over to the fireplace. "Mr. Remus Lupin is requesting permission to come through."
"Let him come through," Severus replied.
Remus removed the ash on his clothing with his wand before stepping out of the fireplace. He followed Severus into dining room where Lily was already filling a plate with the delicious smelling food from the platters, plates and bowls on the table.
"Remmy!" Harry said waving at him.
"Hello, Harry!" Remus replied lifting him off his chair and giving him a hug. He set him back down and sat down across from him. "Thank you for inviting me to stay for dinner."
"It's no problem, Remus," Lily smiled. "You know you're always welcome here."
"How are things at Grimmauld Place?" Severus asked with a grin.
"A bit stormy right now. James came home, raging around about this morning and breaking crockery before he decided to join Sirius at the Leaky Cauldron," Remus replied. "I think it's about time I got another place. I really don't want to continue to share my quarters with two fifteen year-olds; I've already done that once."
"But where will you go then, Remus?" Lily added in a concerned tone.
"I guess that depends on your answer, Lily," he replied.
"What do you mean?" Lily asked with a puzzled expression.
"I was thinking about your house in Godric's Hallow. I know it's badly damaged, but I'd be willing to repair it if you'll consider renting it to me."
"I don't have a problem with that, Remus, but unfortunately I believe Dumbledore put it in James' name seeing as the Wizarding World has never gotten past the 16th century. So, you'll need to ask him."
Severus cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable for the moment. "Actually, I own it, Lily. I bought it recently." He glared at the wall with his arms crossed over his chest as if daring anybody to question his actions. "Dumbledore's turned the house into a bloody memorial to Potter's bravery, dying when he tried to save Harry and his wife from You-Know-Who."
"He's the arse that made it possible for You-Know-Who to find us in the first place!" Lily snapped.
"And he put that statue in the square too," Remus added.
"What statue?" Lily asked.
"Only magical people can see it," Severus explained. "It looks like a war memorial to Muggles, but it transforms into a statue of you, Harry and Potter when anyone magical sees it."
"Ugh!" Lily exclaimed making a face. "How creepy!"
"And yes, Remus you can rent the house, but I'll pay for the repair work," Severus said. "You might want to ask somebody else about decorating the inside though. I'm afraid my talent doesn't include interior decorating. The only reason this house looks so nice is because my mum and grandmother took charge of the decorating."
"We can go on Sunday and see what needs to be done," Lily decided. "I'm sure the inside needs a total redo. Maybe, Eileen and your grandmother can come with us and work their magic, Sev."
"I'm sure they would be happy to help and I'll buy new furniture from my dad's store."
"Are you sure it won't bother you going back into that house, Lily?" Remus asked in a concerned tone.
"Maybe, a little," she admitted. "I probably won't go upstairs."
"That's fine," Remus said. "Whatever you're comfortable with."
The rest of the week went smoothly. Both Lily and Severus checked to make sure James or Sirius weren't lurking outside of the daycare before they walked Harry inside.
Saturday morning Lily explained to Harry that he was going to have a visitor and she would be leaving shortly to pick him up. Harry still seemed uncertain when Lily left unexpectedly as if he were expecting her not come back and he clung to Severus who tried to reassure him that his mum would be back.
Dudley was waiting with his coat, scarf, and mittens already on when Lily arrived at Petunia's house. With Petunia's help, she got Dudley strapped into the car seat Severus had conjured for Harry although she surreptitiously used her wand to widen the car seat as Dudley was much bigger than Harry.
"Goodbye, Dudders!" Petunia said waving enthusiastically. "Mummy will see you later. Be good and mind Aunt Lily."
Lily pulled away from the curb, watching Petunia continuing to wave to Dudley. She shook her head in amusement. The drive back to London only took about 20 minutes. Even though the house was under the Fidelius Charm she still could find it, but she just did not know where it was and could not tell anyone its location. She pulled into the garage, got out and got Dudley out of the car seat. She set him down and took his hand and they slowly walked up the basement stairs.
"Mummy!" Harry shouted running to her as soon he spotted Lily. Severus followed him, smiling. He stopped short when he saw his cousin and looked around fearfully. "It's okay, Harry," Lily said encouragingly. She held out her arms to him. "Give me a hug."
Harry shot straight into her arms, holding onto her tightly.
Lily held him tightly. "It's okay, Harry. Dudley's here to visit you. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't come with him."
Severus still wanted to kick both Tuney and Vernon for their treatment of Harry the short time they had him.
"Hawwy," Dudley said extending his hand.
Harry looked doubtful for a moment and then carefully took hold of Dudley's hand.
"Harry why don't you take Dudley and show him your playroom," Severus suggested. "Maybe Mummy will run the Hogwarts Express for you two."
"Mummy?" Harry asked.
"I can do that," Lily replied. She followed the two children out of the room. Tita popped in as they left. "What would Mr. Severus like Tita to serve for lunch?"
"I think grilled cheese sandwiches and crips for the children and chicken or tuna salad for me and Lily will be fine, Tita."
The floo sounded and Severus went into the living room to find Regulus Black's head sitting in the fire. "Hey, Reg when did you get back?"
"Yesterday," Reg replied. He worked for the Ministry and was part of the Department of International Magical Cooperation that required him to do a lot of traveling. He'd been gone since the beginning of October. "I'm home until after the holidays now."
"Come on through," Severus said.
Reg stepped out of the fireplace after carefully removing the ash from his clothing. He looked like a shorter, slimmer version of his older brother having the same curly, black hair and dark eyes. "I just heard what happened on Halloween." He and Severus had been friends all through Hogwarts and Reg considered him an older brother. "Couldn't believe it! My beloved brother must be happier than a Hippogriff rolling in a pile of dung!"
"Yeah, and the terrible twosome are back causing trouble too! Potter's living with your brother and they're trying to get Harry away from Lily even though Potter's never showed the slightest interest in him while he was alive the first time!"
"Lily's living here?"
"Sit down and I'll ask Tita to bring us some tea and biscuits." Severus called for Tita.
"Right away, Mr. Severus." She was back in a few minutes with the tea and freshly baked scones with pots of Devonshire cream and strawberry jam.
Severus poured the tea and Reg helped himself to a scone topping it with cream and jam. "Merlin! Tita makes the best treats!" He looked sad for a moment. "I'll bet those two gits are giving poor Kreacher hell!"
"Why don't you go over there and take him away? He's bound to your family, but not to the house isn't he?"
"I will," Reg said resolutely. "I don't care what Sirius says. He was disowned by my parents for being an arse so he doesn't have any authority over Kreacher anyway. So tell me about Halloween."
Severus related what had happened or as much as he knew. "I only know what happened to Potter through Remus."
"It doesn't surprise me that Lily would come through the veil here. You two were close even while she was married to Potter." He chuckled. "Boy! I would have like to been in Godric's Hallow and seen the expression on Potter's face! He really thought he was stinking drunk and didn't know he's been dead for a year?"
"That's what I heard. When I went to work the next day everybody in St. Mungo's was talking about it. He was on the special floor they have for injured Aurors."
"So he's back to being an Auror too?"
"Unfortunately," Severus said. "Lily's decided she didn't want to be an Auror again so she's studying with Flitwick for her mastery in Charms."
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After catching up on everything that had been going on, Reg kept his promise and flooed over to Grimmauld Place. He stepped out of the fireplace and called, "Anybody here?" Reg looked around at the sorry state of the house. He looked at the faded wallpaper where his mum and dad's pictures had hung. He'd come over and gotten them after his mum had died and they now hung in his home in Richmond.
Kreacher came up from the kitchen and saw Reg. "Master Regulus! Kreacher is very happy to see you. Will Master Regulus stay for dinner?"
"No, Kreacher and neither will you. Gather your stuff; you're coming home with me. Are you the only one or are there other house elves here?"
Kreacher shook his head. "Kreacher is the only one left now. Kreacher will be happy to go with Master Regulus. Kreacher begged Mistress to cut off his head before she went through the veil. Kreacher hates being here with Master Sirius and his friend. They laugh and shoot stinging hexes at Kreacher when he does not move fast enough for them."
Kreacher went back into his cubbyhole near the boiler and gathered his meager belongings. Reg looked disgusted when he saw the filthy, torn togas Kreacher possessed. "Well, the first thing we need to do is get you new togas. Those aren't even fit to be seen in!" He summoned a piece of parchment and a quill, wrote a quick note, and used a sticking charm to put it on the liquor cabinet where he'd figured Sirius would see it first thing. He guided Kreacher into the fireplace, threw down the floo powder and yelled, "Black house, Richmond!" They both disappeared into the green flames.
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Sirius and James came through the floo after watching a practice session of the Wimbourne Wasps. "Ludo Bagman has sure made a difference as their beater," Sirius said and then yelled, "Kreacher!"
"Yeah, England may actually have a shot at the World Cup this year," James added.
When Kreacher didn't appear, Sirius yelled his name again. "Where is that sullen little sod?" He headed in the direction of the liquor cabinet. "I hope he didn't sneak out and go to Bella's."
"What that?" James asked pointing to the note stuck on the door of the liquor cabinet.
Sirius pulled it off and read it. "It from Prince Reg," Sirius sneered. "He says Kreacher going to live with him and if I don't like it I can go to Hades! The little sneak!" Sirius snarled. "What the hell I'm I going to do without a house elf?" He tore the note in half in anger.
"Don't worry, Padfoot," James replied. "Let's blow this dump and relocate to Potter Manor. I'll bet the house elves are still there because Harry's the heir after me."
"It's a hell of a lot better than this place. What about Remus?"
James shrugged. "He hasn't been a real Marauder for quite awhile and he always sided with Lily anyway. He can find his own place."
They flooed over to Potter Manor and stepped out of the fireplace. It was eerily quiet and all the furniture had dust covers over them. "Anybody here?" James yelled.
There was a pop behind him and Dazzy, the head Potter house elf appeared. "Master James!" She squealed. "We elves is so happy when we heard you and Mistress Lily has returned!"
"You needn't worry about Mistress Lily. She won't be living here. Is there any food in the house?"
"Yes, Master James there is plenty of food."
"Good! Bring a selection of meats, potatoes, and vegetables plus desserts, and a few bottle of wine from the wine cellar to the library and have one of the elves light a fire in the fireplace," James ordered. They headed down the hall to the library and entered. As in the other rooms the furniture was covered up. There were two long couches opposite one another and with a coffee table between them sitting in front of the fireplace. Two squashy armchairs sat at the ends of the couches. There were many books in the bookcases, but only a few of them looked as if they had actually been read.
They pulled the dust covers off the couches and armchairs, letting them drop to the floor. An elf popped in and quickly lit a roaring fire.
"Ahh!" James groaned stretching out on one of the couches as a spread of food suddenly appeared on the coffee table. "Doesn't this bring back fond memories when the Marauders use to gather here and plan our next prank against Snivellus?"
Ravenous, Sirius grabbed a chicken leg off a platter and began tearing strips off of it. "Indeed it does! Remember the ones we planned seventh year? We had to be extra careful so Evans didn't find out we were still pranking Snivellus after you promised you'd quit."
"Well, I never considered that a real promise since he was a lousy Death Eater!"
"I agree," Sirius replied. "Evans was too stupid to see it just like she is now!"
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Harry and Dudley played well together all day long and after lunch both lay down and took a nap, Once they were up again, they wanted Lily to engineer the Hogwarts Express again which she did, waving her wand so the train moved around the track several times. At 3:30 Lily got Dudley ready for the drive home.
"Bye, Duddy," Harry said waving.
"Bye, Hawwy," Dudley said waving back to him.
Once Lily had left, Severus scooped Harry up into his arms and asked, "Would you like to help Da brew?"
Harry nodded enthusiastically. "I put stuff in kettle for Da."
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Remus came home to Grimmauld Place and found nobody around not even Kreacher. He spotted the torn note on the floor, picked it up and read it. 'So Reg has taken Kreacher,' Remus thought. He knew Sirius and James had gone somewhere else, probably Potter Manor. He figured the elves were still there, probably keeping the house for Harry. He went over to the fireplace, threw down the floo powder and called, "Snape House, London." Severus head appeared in the fire and Remus explained what had apparently happened.
"Grab your stuff and come over. I've got a couple of empty bedrooms on the third floor you can bunk in until the house in Godric's Hallow is repaired and habitable."
"Severus thanks, but …"
"No arguments, Remus. You can't stay there by yourself so pack your stuff and get over here," Severus answered firmly.
"If you're sure …"
"I'm sure. If you're worried about the full moon Lily and I can transfigure somewhere safe in the basement."
"All right. I should be over there in half-hour."
"We'll look for you then," Severus said with a nod.
Remus went upstairs to his quarters and hurriedly packed. He didn't have much, mostly books that he packed into boxes using his wand and shrank the boxes, placing them into his pockets. His clothes he packed in his trunk with a wave of his wand. He hauled the trunk downstairs to the fireplace and with a last look around, was gone in a flash of green flame.