Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for the OC's if I introduce any. The pieces all belong to JK Rowling, I just try to make the puzzle my own way,

Chapter 1 : The Difference a Single Thought Makes

Sirius Black was broken out of his musings by the arrival of a doe patronus. Not even waiting for the patronus to deliver the message, he ran out of the house and jumped onto his bike and roared away,leaving a half finished glass of firewhiskey behind. Looking back on that day, he wished he'd gulped that down before leaving.

Apparating to the outskirts of the Potter Cottage in Godric's Hollow, he could see something had gone terribly wrong. The upper part of the house lay destroyed. With a heavy heart and a sinking feeling in his gut, he realized that his and Prongs's last big prank on the world had been a disaster. As he entered the rubble of the house, he called out to his best friend, only to fall on his knees on seeing the cold, lifeless body near the stairs. As he was making his way to say his final words to his brother in all but blood, his thought process was broken open by the cry of a baby.

"Harry " he shouted, as he jumped up the stairs, two at the time to get to his godson. As he entered the nursery, he could feel his senses tingling. Having worked as an auror for the last 3 years, he had seen his share of crime scenes reeking of dark magic and this was undoubtedly one. Entering the room, the first thing that caught his eye was another body. This one with red hair. He could see the cold lifeless eyes of Lily Potter, lacking their usual vibrant green colour, eyes that could peer into your soul. As he walked, he heard a crunch noise and looked down to see a wand he had stepped on broken into two. Not paying much attention to that, he walked towards the cot to see a crying Harry Potter. His forehead was read and there was a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

"Don't worry Harry, Uncle Padfoot is here. No one is going to hurt you know." said Sirius, as he picked up the baby in his arms and moved around the room, trying to collect some of the baby stuff that he could that was not reeking of dark magic. He had a job to do. A friend to find. But then another thought came to the back of his mind.

"What about Harry ? No James, No Lily. Are you gonna leave him all alone or worst, at the mercy of Albus Dumbledore ?"

Suddenly, he stopped. He could not leave Harry like that. Wracking his brains for a solution, another thought made his way to his head. Yes, that would work.

Sending out his patronus, he managed to collect all the stuff he could and make his way out of the house. Stopping for a moment to say his goodbyes, he sent off another patronus to a friend. He would need to hear of this as well. As he got on his bike and got ready to leave, he heard a faint pop. Somebody has apparated. His auror training kicked in as he silenced and disillusioned himself, the bike and Harry, who was gently snoring now. It was Dumbledore and Hagrid. As they started to make their way towards the house, Sirius was tempted to follow them. Yet again, he stopped. His first priority was Harry. He had to make sure Harry was safe. Then, the rest could follow.

After flying for an hour, he had reached his destination. Landing down gently in the front garden to not disturb Harry, he made his way towards the backgate and was relieved to see a single light now. His patronus had been received. Knocking gently, he heard a soft yet firm voice pop a question " Who is it ? "

"It's me, Sirius. Dromeda. " said Sirius.

"Who was my mother's favourite daughter ?" replied the voice in the same tone. Sirius was happy to hear this. All of them had decided to make security questions to tackle such situations. His old mentor Mad-eye, would be proud.

"It was Cissy of course". "Who was my mum's favourite?".

"That would have to be Regulus. You were too much of a Gryffindor" said the voice and the door swung open. Standing at the other side was his favourite cousin, Andromeda Tonks nee Black and her husband Ted Tonks.

"Hey. Are you alright ? Is that Harry ?" said Andromeda. Not replying, Sirius made his way inside, before laying Harry on gently on the table and crying his eyes out.

"He came for them. Lily and James are no more. They died protecting Harry."

"oh Sirius" said Andromeda, as she made her way over to him and started to rub his back. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see her husband making his way to grab the firewhiskey bottle that lay nearby.

"On the other hand, He's no more" said Sirius, causing Andromeda to be wide-eyed.

"What do you mean he is no more ?"

"What I mean is, Voldemort's gone. I know for a fact cause I might have stepped on his wand and broken it in two." said Sirius, allowing a ghost of a smile to come on his face before vanishing, as the implications of the night started to set in. His adrenaline had helped him this far, but now it was vanishing. Leaving him a crying wreck.

Refusing the drink Ted offered, " I need to find Remus and we need to go find the rat. I don't know what the old coot has planned for this situation, but I want you and Ted to raise Harry. You have Nymphadora and Harry could use a sister in his life."

"Of course. Just stay safe Siri and do not take any unnecessary risks. We'll take care of Harry." said Andromeda.

After a brief handshake with Ted and a long hug with his sister, Sirius Black left. He had a mission now. A traitor to find.

Three years later

It has been three years since Sirius had dropped off Harry to us in the dead of the night thought Andromeda, as she saw her daughter chase Harry around the garden. Harry had taken to them slowly, crying for his ma and da for days and nights. His crying had also woken up her daughter, who had woken up and come down only to find a baby in her mother's arms and squeal in delight. She had been fond of Harry since that day, helping take care of him. His first words to them had been "Nym" after all, something that brought happiness to her daughter ever since. She really loved Harry like a brother.

Suddenly her mood saddened as she thought of Sirius. he had managed to find Pettigrew, only to be accused of killing him and the muggles. Andromeda had tried to protest his innocence in the Ministry, but to no avail. He had been suffering in Azkaban ever since. Then there was Albus Dumbledore.

Just as Sirius had predicted, Dumbledore had come to their house to demand the possession of Harry. After inquiring about what he planned to do with him, it was an understatement to say she was horrified when she heard about the muggles. That old man was really off his rocker. He had even tried to take them to court and use his political power to gain custody, only to be refused as Sirius Black was technically the Godfather and a simple memory proved that Andromeda had been given custody by him. Since that day, Harry had been happily living with them.

Her daughter's shouting broke her thought process and she ran out to the garden, only to find herself starting to laugh at the little boy's antics. To slow down his sister from chasing him, he had turned a portion of the garden into the mud puddle, only for her clumsy daughter to fall right into it.

As she chuckled and made her way to her daughter and her son, she thought about the happy life she had, but wished Sirius was here with them. He had a way of making even the most saddest of moments seem lighter.