Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor any of the characters from the books or movies, they belong to J. K. Rowling. I also do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Beta: budchick

Pairing/s in this chapter: JL/AL, implied RegulusBlack/MorfinGaunt, SB/HB

Warnings in this chapter: jump in time, slash

Nr words in this chapter: 1,980

"Talking"

'Thinking'

-Parseltongue-

Dream/Memory/Letter/Journal/Book/Newspaper

Chapter X

–Hogwarts–

Tuesday, July 5, 1938

Days passed. The Lestranges were wonderful people and being able to see Tom without worrying about the issue of not much sleep or that someone might enter suddenly was great. Tom was growing quickly, too quickly for Harry's liking. This year… this year meant that Tom was going to Hogwarts. His Tom… was going to become the monster Harry feared and hated…

"Serpens?" Tom asked, confused, as Harry arrived his room.

Harry looked up to Tom to see the boy had his letter in hand and was looking at him with fear. Harry smiled.

"Is that your letter?" Tom smiled and nodded. "Let's see it then." Harry said proudly and picked up the letter, opening it, feeling butterflies at the fact that Tom hadn't opened it yet.

In an hour of the two checking the list of things Tom would have to buy, the bedroom's door opened to show Lord Sirius. Harry and Tom stood at once and bowed their heads in respect.

"Serpens, Tom. Dress in your outdoor robes, we're going to Diagon Alley." Harry frowned, confused. "Tom's been waiting for you to show you his letter, I suppose that he'll also want to buy his school things with you." The man explained. Tom ran to his closet and took out two robes. He gave one to Harry (Harry noticed it was his size) and dressed in his.

Harry looked at his baby brother's ecstatic persona and sighed, pulling on the outdoor robe. Tom didn't know and he was still his baby brother. Harry grinned at Tom and pointed to the door.

"Shall we then?" Tom nodded happily and the three left the bedroom. Harry looked around the Black house in silence. "It's a beautiful house, Lord Sirius."

Lord Sirius bowed his head.

"You're welcome. It's been in the family for generations, one day it will be yours." The three stopped by a door. Lord Sirius opened it and Harry noticed that the inside was a living room filled with multiple adults, all of them looking a lot like Harry's Godfather - which meant that they had to be Blacks. "Tom's brother Serpens came over. We are leaving to take Tom, shopping." Lord Sirius stated.

As if by unison, all the men looked at Harry at once. A woman in her twenties stood.

"Maybe I could accompany you, Grandfather?" the witch asked.

"But of course, Lucretia." Lord Sirius conceded.

One of the men pointed to another man in his late twenties.

"Pollux, my son, accompany them. Diagon Alley is not safe during the nights." The man who was in his fifties ordered.

The youngest nodded and stood.

"Brother Cygnus is right." A woman in her late forties stated. She turned to one of the twenty-year-olds. "Regulus if you could accompany them as well? Both your brother and I would feel safer if nothing happened to Lucretia, young Tom, young Serpens and your father."

The man, Regulus, stood with a nod.

"Not that I don't believe that father can't take care of himself, Mother, but I will do as you request," he stated. The three left the living room, Lord Sirius closing the door behind them. The door had barely closed and Harry already could hear them talking about him. Regulus bowed his head at Harry. "It's a pleasure finally meeting you, young Serpens. I am Regulus Black. You can either call me Regulus or Cousin Regulus like your strict brother does. I can give you a perfectly guarantee that you won't need to call me father. I'm the only one who wouldn't slept with Merope Gaunt."

Harry looked at the young man, amused, as he talked with him as though they had always known each other.

"It's my pleasure, Cousin Regulus. I'm Serpens. And how can you be so sure?"

"Your 'Mother' would have to be Morfin Gaunt for you to exist." Lucretia argued and Harry frowned as Regulus pouted at the young witch. "As not even my dear uncle would dare to go with your uncle, then by all means, that means that Uncle Regulus is safely not your father," she explained. "I'm Lucretia, Regulus is my direct Uncle and Lord Sirius is my direct Grandfather."

Harry bowed his head.

"A pleasure, Miss."

"Cousin." A male voice, which came from the Pollux man, amended. "If you are a Black, then you should use the family status. I don't believe Lucretia would have been your sister as her father Arcturus was too young when he had her. Even if he was old enough for that by the time you would have been born, I'm certain that Arcturus wouldn't do something like that," the man explained. "And, as you must have heard my father say, I am Pollux. Lord Sirius is my direct uncle, which makes Cousin Regulus and Lucretia's father Arcturus my direct cousins. You may also call me Cousin Pollux."

Harry nodded in thanks.

"Thank you, Cousin."

The three entered an office that Harry suspected of being Lord Sirius' one.

"I suppose you have travelled through floo powder before." Lord Sirius stated, offering Harry a vase filled with floo-powder.

Harry made a face but grabbed the powder.

"I did… I'm terrible at the landings through."

"You aren't much better with portkeys either." Tom argued.

Regulus snickered.

"Don't worry, we'll go first and we'll catch you. Just make sure you fall out of the right fireplace…" Regulus chuckled as Harry went deep red. "You already fell out of the wrong fireplace? You really were raised by muggles. Priceless!"

"Behave yourself, Regulus."

"Yes, Father."

"Pollux, Regulus, you two go ahead to the Leaky Cauldron." Lord Sirius ordered and the two immediately floo-travelled. "Lucretia, if you could go next to help Young Serpens with the landings?"

The witch nodded and she smiled at Harry before entering.

"The key, my boy, is pronunciation." A witch voice, that Harry had heard earlier, said. Harry turned to see Regulus' Mother, which made her Lady Black, by the door. "Before you throw the powder into the fire, you take a very deep breath. When you've been emerged with the fire, you use that breath you had taken earlier to say the words as calmly as you can manage."

"Thank you, Lady Bl…"

"Hesper." She put in.

"Lady Hesper."

Lady Hesper approached and rearranged Harry's robe, placing a spell on them before turning to Tom and doing the same. Harry approached the fireplace, but before he could even take a deep breath, Lady Hesper approached with a small coin purse. She put this in Harry's free hand and she bent down to Harry's ear.

"So you can buy your baby brother a new pet. If there isn't enough money tell my husband." Harry opened his mouth to argue but the witch stepped back with a smile. "I promise to save all his letters to give to you next year, or should I say tomorrow?" The witch turned to her husband. "Don't forget to buy the diaries."

"I won't, Hesper."

Harry, frowned, confused and Tom approached him.

"As the lady of the family, she has to know the truth about you. And she insisted on me writing a diary about my time at Hogwarts so I can give them to you."

"Oh…" Harry smiled at Lady Hesper, nodding his head before turning to the fireplace. He took a deep breath, threw the floo powder and waited until the red fire enveloped him before saying the words. "Leaky Cauldron."Harry

As he was thrown into the fire, Harry closed his eyes. He pulled his knees to his chest, only for arms to suddenly embrace him. Harry opened his eyes to see Cousin Regulus, helping him stand.

"You really amuse me, Young Serpens. It's a pity that Young Tom keeps you all to himself."

"And for good reasons," Lucretia added, forcing Regulus' hands away from Harry as Tom and Lord Sirius left the fireplace.

Harry looked at the two and noticed that there were no leaves or debris on their clothes. Now the spell that Lady Hesper had done made a lot of sense. Tom approached him and Harry noticed him looking for bruises, which only warmed Harry's heart.

–I'm fine, Tomtom.–

Tom hummed, his eyes growing slightly.

"Where should we start, Uncle?" Pollux asked.

"Young Tom already has the robes requested, so there is no need to buy the uniform now."

"Cousin Serpens on the other hand…" Lucretia argued, looking at Harry's clothes and making Harry blush.

"I like muggle clothes… Lady Alexa also argues with me about them but…"

"Serpens, my dear, there's muggle clothes… and then there's rags!" Lucretia explained, before turning to her father. "How about Uncle Regulus and I take him clothes shopping and then we meet you at the book shop? We all know how Cousin Tom loses himself in there."

Lord Sirius nodded.

"Put it on the Black's bill. Young Serpens also needs to pass by a shop that Hesper wants him to pass."

Lucretia nodded affirmatively and put a hand on Harry's arm, pulling him away, Regulus behind them. Harry looked back at Tom.

–See you soon.– the boy whispered and Harry noticed it wasn't in English.

–I'll always return for you.– Harry answered before looking away. It hurt to say that, his heart was squeezing so hard…

"I always found it funny when Cousin Tom spoke like that…" Regulus commented pensively. "But when you say it, it makes it almost sensual…" the man added with a wink.

Harry blushed deep red.

"I can't control it like Tomtom," he argued. "But it goes further than English so I can speak with Tommy from so far away."

Lucretia smiled.

"He lets you call him that?"

"I'm his big brother." Harry argued, amused. "Only I have the right to call him as I please." Harry explained making Regulus laugh.

"You're so cute… are you single?"

"I am and I'm a Black, so don't even think about it." Harry answered easily, making Lucretia laugh.

"He got you there, Uncle."

Regulus chuckled himself.

"If you ever change your mind, I'm free," he added tauntingly, making Harry laugh. "So clothes shopping - here we go."

-SiaS-

Harry approached Tom to see him looking at some book.

"If you keep reading like that you're going to need glasses when you're my age," He teased, making the boy look up in surprise. "What are you reading anyway?"

Tom showed the cover. Time-Travel and The Mess It Creates

"Lord Sirius said it would be a good book for me." The boy commented.

Harry smiled and removed something from his pocket to show to the boy. Tom looked at Harry, confused, and put the book back into his pocket. He looked to what was in Harry's hands only for his eyes to grow.

"I promised her that you would give her all the petting and food in the world if she would come with me." Harry said teasingly, making Tom half-glare at him before picking up the small snake.

Thursday, July 6, 1995

When Harry arrived in his timeline, he fell on his bed crying. He cried and cried and cried and kept crying even when all the tears had dried out. Having to keep a smile on his face for his baby brother was the worst thing he had ever done. Poor Tom - he had no idea what kind of monster he would become… and Harry could do nothing to stop it. Not for the first time, Harry hated the time travel phenomenon he was involved in.

-Serpens?- Harry looked up to see Voldemort's snake entering the bedroom and climbing into the bed. She laid next to him and hugged him. -Hush, silly master. Nagini's here, see?-

Harry hiccupped and, for the first time, he didn't care that the snake was calling him by a name she wasn't supposed to. He let her embrace him, crying into her coils.

(TBC)

To whom didn't realize it yet, there was a jump in time from last chapter to this day. There will be, from now on, from time-to-time jumps in time as it would be hard for me and monotonous for you if I really did the 60 days

Ps: to anyone who wants I will share a picture of the Black family on my AO3 story so people can see the family status, I didn't invent anyone. And if anyone's wondering Arcturus Black in the canon had Lucretia Black when he was still 12 years old = P