Chapter One - Betrayals
"James, he's here," cried Lily Potter as soon as she saw the vile man known to the wizarding world as Voldemort. She had her son in her arms and was running up to his nursery. Fear covered her face. She knew what was going to happen. It was inevitable now.
"Get Harry out of here! Activate it now. You know where to send him," yelled Lord James Potter as he took a defensive position at the base of the stairs. "Send him now!"
Lily ran up to the nursery and placed Harry in his crib. She kissed him on his forehead.
"Mummy loves you," she started saying, sobbing knowing that she would not survive the night. "Mummy loves you. Daddy loves you. Be brave my sweet boy. Grandma and Grandpa will take care of you. Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony will take care of you, as will all our friends. You will be raised to be the best man you can be. Remember us. We will always be watching over you."
With a last kiss, Lily activated a panel of runes on the crib.
"Nothing you can do will save him," said Voldemort as he walked into the nursery. "I do not wish to shed any more blood than is needed. You are a powerful young witch. No more magical blood needs to be wasted. Just hand him to me."
"You can go get fucked! You will not get to him. Kill me if you must, but my son will not fall by your hands!"
Voldemort shook his head. "Such foolishness. But, if I must remove you from the equation, then I must."
Voldemort raised his wand and in a blink of an eye, a sickly green bolt hit Lily Potter in the chest, her body falling limp to the ground with a thud. The Dark Lord then looked at the child sitting in the crib. So innocent. So fragile.
"So you are the one who is supposed to be my equal. Maybe one day you could have been. Your parents were strong. Foolish, but strong. I did not want to kill them. Such powerful magic now gone to waste. They would have served me well in my plans, but alas, they chose poorly. And it is with regret that I must do this now. Ending such a powerful family line. It is time to die, Harry Potter."
Voldemort raised his wand to cast the curse when he felt a hole bore into his chest. He turned around slowly to see who had caused such damage to himself as he felt the sting of death. Standing before him were four people he had not expected.
"Never fuck with the Black Family," said one of his most trusted, Bellatrix Lestrange, who had a twisted grin on her face.
"Never fuck with the Black Sisters," said Narcissa Malfoy, her face cold and filled with a fury no one had seen before.
"Never fuck with a man's Godson," said Sirius Black, his face filled with rage. His eyes glowing red, his magic radiating off of him.
"Never think that you can live forever," said Regulus Black, holding the charred remains of Voldemort's horcruxes. The head of his pet Nagini lying on the ground.
Voldemort fell to the ground, defeat in his eyes. People he thought he could trust had not only betrayed him, but killed him. The light in his eyes faded out.
"I thought Harry was supposed to be taken to his grandparents," said Narcissa. "Aunt Dorea said as much from what you told us."
"Well, the runescape was to transport as soon as any spell hit the wards. Looks like that never happened," said Regulus, looking at the rune panel.
Sirius wasn't saying anything. He was on the ground, holding Lily's lifeless body in his arms, tears streaming down his face. He had failed his best friends.
"Sirius, we need to get Harry out of here," said Bellatrix. "We need to get him to Charlus and Dorea. We need to get Aurors here now."
"Take him to Potter Manor. I will deal with the Aurors. We also need to deal with the fucking traitor."
"Don't do anything stupid Sirius," said Regulus, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder. "We will get him. Together. As a family. And I am sure there are a few others who would like to assist in his capture."
"Moony will not leave any evidence behind," said Sirius. "Go, get Harry out of here. I will deal with this. We will still need to deal with the fact that two of you were supposedly working for him. Not a good idea for you to be here at the moment."
Regulus finished deactivating the runescape and lowered the wards. Sirius walked over to the crib and picked up his godson. He held him close, tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry pup. I couldn't save them."
He handed Harry to Narcissa. The young woman took Harry into her arms, kissing him on his forehead. "We may not know each other yet, but you are part of the Black family. You will be loved."
"You will be cared for," said Bellatrix, placing her hand on Harry's head.
"And you will be a beacon of hope for all," said Regulus.
The three members of the family quickly disappeared in a flash, leaving Sirius alone. He laid Lily down gently, placing her arms across her chest. He closed her eyes and kissed her forehead. He then made his way down the stairs and did the same to his best friend, his brother in all but blood. He sent his patronus out with a message to his commanding officer in the DMLE. Then he sat and waited.
Potter Manor
Charlus and Dorea Potter sat on their couch. They knew what had happened. They could feel the magic of their loved ones disappear. They both had cried and waited. They knew that if something happened to both Lily and James that their grandson was to appear to them. They waited, but the child never arrived. They both were ready to go hunt for the child, even though, neither of them were healthy enough to do anything. Then they heard the wards around the manor sound off. Both of the elder Potters stood up, ready for whatever was coming for them. Shock came across their faces when they saw Narcissa walking towards them with Harry in her arms. Behind her were the two Blacks that had been thought to be followers of the Dark lord.
"Explain now," roared Charlus, his wand ready to unleash hell.
"We seek asylum within House Potter," said Narcissa. "We know how things look, but I give you my solemn vow that the three of us are not what you expect. First and foremost, we are children of the Ancient and Most Noble House Black. Sirius sent us to bring young Harry to you. Aunt Dorea, I swear on my magic that I Narcissa Malfoy, a daughter of House Black, mean no harm to House Potter, Harry Potter, nor my aunt and her husband."
"I Bellatrix LeStrange, a daughter of House Black, mean no harm to House Potter, Harry Potter, nor my aunt and her husband."
"I Regulus Black, son of House Black, mean no harm to House Potter, Harry Potter, not my aunt and her husband."
Charlus looked at his wife. He was suspicious, but the three had just taken a magical vow in front of them.
"Come inside," said Charlus. "And where is Sirius?"
"He is waiting for the aurors," said Regulus. "I am truly sorry for your loss. We tried to get there as quickly as we could."
"What stopped you," asked Dorea as she took her grandson from Narcissa.
"The wards around the house had it well hidden. We were not let in on the secret of the fidelus," said Narcissa. "And we were busy making sure he would never be able to return."
"What do you mean," asked Charlus?
"Horcruxes," said Bella. "He used Horcruxes to ensure that he would live forever. We found them and destroyed them all."
"Explain this to me. How is it two individuals known to be Death Eaters, ended up betraying them?"
Bella lifted her left arm to reveal the Dark Mark. With a wave of her wand, the mark vanished. Regulus did the same as well.
"Spies," said Charlus with amusement in his voice. "Your father?"
"He knows some really dark magic," said Narcissa. "Magic so powerful that it fooled everyone, including family. We had to play our parts. Neither of them ever caused harm to anyone. They simply made it look like they did."
"The families that actually got warning," asked Dorea?
"That was us," said Bella. "What is the one thing that is drilled into all Blacks as children?"
"Non ducor, duco," said Charlus. "I am not led, I lead." The three Black children looked at him with shock. "I knew Arcturus long before all of you were even thought of. We fought with each other against Grindewald and his forces. He was always leading the charge. But he did adopt the Potter motto as well."
"I doubt it was the one James and Sirius would constantly yell while in school," said Regulus. "Give them hell."
"No. That was theirs alone, but not a bad one," said Charlus. "In conspectu omnis sanguis."
"Blood before all," said Narcissa. "I remember him saying that."
"Which I see he truly instilled in all of you. Even you Regulus, even though your mother…"
"Is a crazy demented bitch? I agree."
"So, is the madman truly dead," asked Dorea?
"All the horcruxes were destroyed and Sirius put a big enough hole through him that you could pass your arm through," said Bella. "I truly wish we could have gotten to your son and Lily quicker."
"There is not point looking to the past. You ended the terror. You brought us our grandson. House Potter is grateful. If there is anything we can do…"
"Well, we are going to need some character witnesses once it is revealed what we did to clear our names," said Regulus.
"Oh, that will be easy," said Dorea. "Why don't we all get comfortable? We can talk more once Sirius arrives."
Three Hours Later
Sirius arrived at Potter Manor looking beaten and broken. The emotional torment was clear across his face. He was met at the door by Charlus.
"I'm..I'm…"
"It's not your fault son," said Charlus wrapping Sirius in his arms. "You did all that you could. No one could expect more from you."
"I'm going to kill that rat," said Sirius with venom in his voice.
"No. You will not. Sirius, you are now Lord Black. You have a responsibility to your family. You are Harry's Godfather, and he will need you. Dorea and I don't have much time left. Once we are gone, all he will have is you. You will be both Lord Black and Regent for House Potter until such time as Harry can come of age and take his role as Lord Potter. I know this is a heavy burden to place on the Playboy of the Mauraders, but it is one that you have prepared for with myself and Dorea. The rat will be dealt with. You have powerful friends and allies that can bring him to justice. You need to focus on your family, which is full of surprises."
"Maybe I should have given you some warning about them," said Sirius. "We had to keep it as low key as possible."
"I get it. And I am glad that your family is not as dark as people believe. For now, let's focus on the near future. That of laying my son and daughter-in-law to rest and working on clearing up some people's names."
So starts a new story that came out of nowhere. I had one idea in mind and this one sort of pushed itself to the front. This will not focus much on the younger years, only the next chapter or two. This will change dynamics for a lot of characters. Harry being raised as a proper young heir. Harry knowing love from many people. Friendships from a child. Confidence. And a touch of the Marauder spirit.