Chapter 1- Godric's Hallow

To Theodore Morningstar it felt like blasphemy to step foot anywhere near Godric's Hallow. Though he was never educated to avoid the place per se, his school days made him feel like an intruder as he walked through the streets of small village. Slytherins always rivaled Gryffindors and with any rivalry came unspoken rules. Chief among them is never go after what was sacred and Theodore could think of fewer places more sacred than the birthplace of the founder.

Were it not for Severus Snape, Theodore would've never stepped foot in the town. He wouldn't be walking behind the black cloak of Snape now. He would be back at home with his wife and sons, enjoying their loot from yesterday. A smile came across Theodore's face as he thought about chocolate. He had just thought about the giant bar of Honey Duke's Premium Chocolate waiting patiently for him at home when he ran into Snape.

"Watch it," Snape said harshly as Theodore regained his balance.

"Sorry," Theodore said as his attention turned to an old house. Whatever was left of his smile faded when he realized just what he was looking at. "Is that-"

"Yes" Snape said.

When Theodore thought of James Potter, a small cottage in the middle of nowhere was exactly the opposite of where he'd want to live. Which only makes sense as it's exactly the type of place Severus would want to live because it was the place that Lily wanted to live. Whether or not Snape found amusement in the irony, however, was not something he wore openly on his face.

"Right…" Theodore said as he drew out his wand. "Onto business." He flipped open the gate of the house and stepping across it, passing by the glamor that had concealed the damages that had happened to the house.

Wood fragments were strewn across the yard and about half of the second floor was blown out, almost as if someone had set off a bomb inside. Theodore had just enough time to marvel at the damage when he heard Snape cry out. "Lily!"

"Severus, wait!" Theodore called as Snape dashed past him and towards the house. Theodore chased after him quickly, leaping onto the front porch and catching the end of Snape's cape flowing up the stairs. Before he could follow Snape, however, something else caught his eye and made him stop dead in his tracks.

Lying on the floor before him was the body of James Potter. He looked eerily peaceful, almost as if he was sleeping. However, Theodore had seen the killing curse enough times to know that James was never to rise again.

Theodore knelt beside the body and pulled James' eyes down. "There you go," he said softly. "See you in hell James."

Theodore let out a heavy sigh just before crying drew his attention upstairs. A pang of guilt echoed through Theodore's heart as he walked up the stairs slowly. With each step, he had mentally prepared himself for what he was about to see. As he reached the top step, he braced himself and slowly entered the room he heard the crying from.

A pair of green eyes stared at him from a small crib on the far side of the room. Theodore blinked at the baby who blinked back at him. His gaze then slowly drifted to the center of the room where Severus Snape had his head buried in the shoulder of a young woman.

Theodore had only seen Snape crying two times before. The first time he had witnessed it was shortly before Theodore met James, when Snape was thoroughly embarrassed by his bully. The second time was during their fifth year when he had gotten into a particularly nasty fight with Lily. Having known Snape since day one of Hogwarts, Theodore had learned to liken tears from Snape to that of seeing a baby unicorn.

Neither of those two times had Theodore seen Snape like this. Watching him cry over Lily's body was akin to standing in the presence of a dementor. So much so that Theodore was thankful Harry was too young to understand anything that was going on. Otherwise, the image of his mother's body might burn itself into his head like the scar in his forehead.

Theodore walked over to Snape and knelt beside him. He placed an arm around Snape and held him close, Severus leaning against him and sobbed. As Theodore's shoulder started to soak, he realized that he too had started to cry.

He had just enough time to start wiping away his tears when he heard thunderous footsteps echo from downstairs. Theodore turned to the door quickly and drew his wand. Severus didn't seem to notice, or care, that anything had changed as Theo stepped between him and the door. The footsteps grew louder and louder until stopping at the door, revealing the towering figure of a bearded man who wore a red tunic underneath an open trench coat.

"Hagrid!" Theodore said, a faint smile crossing his face as the friendly half-giant ducked into the room.

"Theo? What are yer doin' 'ere?" Hagrid asked, his face full of confusion. Theodore looked behind him and side stepped, allowing Hagrid to see Snape who still hadn't moved and still clung tightly to Lily. "Oh…" the tone of Hagrid's voice was noticeably distraught as he lumbered over to the crib. "At least Harry's alright."

Theodore turned to Snape and touched his shoulder. "I think this is our cue to take our leave," Theodore said. At first, Severus didn't move. Then, after a few minutes, Severus squeezed Lily tightly before standing up. He whispered something into her ear before turning to Theodore and nodding half-heartedly.

"I'm… ready," Severus said hesitantly as he followed Theodore down the stairs. They stopped, however, as a blue motorbike pulled up in front of the Potter's house. Upon the motorbike was a young man with brown hair and a gaunt face.

Great, Theodore thought to himself, just who we needed. "Stay behind me Severus," Theodore said as they walked out of the house. His hand gripped his wand tightly as Sirius Black stepped off the motorbike and finally noticed them.

"What is he doing here?" Sirius said to Theodore, pointing at Snape.

"To pay respects. I might ask you the same thing Sirius," Theodore growled softly.

Sirius looked taken aback at that. "Why am I here? James was my best friend!" He shouted. "I am Harry's godfather. I am the one who's going to take care of him."

"I believe Dumbledore has other plans," said a hoarse voice from behind Theodore.

Sirius looked as if had been hit by the confundus charm. "Other plans?" He repeated, incredulously.

Snape nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, you were the secret keeper."

Theodore's hand was like lightening as was Sirius'. "Protego!" He shouted as Sirius fired off a spell from his wand. The spell bounced off the shield charm and into the ground. "Enough!" Theodore shouted as Sirius raised his wand for another shot. "You know damn well how this duel is going to end Black."

"Oh, just once jinx Morningstar," Sirius insisted as he stared daggers at Severus. "Just one. Merlin knows that greasy little bastard deserves much worse."

"Let him come Theo," Severus said, having drawn his wand. "Let's see how tough Sirius is now that he doesn't have James to hide behind."

"Severus," Theodore hissed softly.

"Come on then Snivelus!" Sirius shouted.

What Theodore wouldn't give for Lupin to be here right now. "Listen," Theodore stepped between the wizards. "We're all a bit hurt right now. James and Lily Potter are dead and pointing wands and accusations at each other isn't going to bring them back. Neither is killing yourself." Severus grew cold behind Theodore. Theodore's eyes, however, were still trained on Sirius. "Lower your wand," Theodore ordered.

A quick flash of defiance went through Sirius' eyes. Almost as if he considered attacking. But Theodore held his ground as he did many years ago. The lack of James by Sirius' side was the only difference, and, in the end, it had proved to be enough to end Sirius' thought of attacking him.

"You're not worth it," Sirius said as means of preserving his pride. He lowered his wand and sighed mournfully, looking to the house just as Hagrid had come outside. As he approached, Sirius muttered something incomprehensible.

Thinking he had just muttered swears under his breath, Theodore ignored him and turned to Hagrid. "Did I miss anything?" Hagrid asked.

"Just a school yard rivalry," Theodore said. "I think Sirius wanted to-"

"No," Sirius interrupted. Theodore looked over at him, surprised as Sirius sighed. "I've… I've got something to do first. It'll be safer for Harry to be… where's he going?"

"With his aunt and uncle, the Dursleys," Hagrid said.

"Sirius, whatever you're about to do-"

"Shut up," Sirius snapped back. Theodore threw up his hands.

"If you die, Snape will be the one to tell Harry about his father."

"Don't worry," Sirius remarked as a twisted smile came across his face. "I'm not the one about to die. Oh, and Hagrid. Take my motorbike." Without any more explanation, Sirius twirled on the spot and disapperated.

"What do you think he meant by that?" Hagrid asked as he turned to Theodore.

Theodore shrugged. "I think he wants you to take his motorbike and he's off to kill someone."

"Who?" Severus asked.

"If I had to hazard a guess, I would assume it would be the Potter's secret keeper," Theodore said. Severus was about to respond when Theodore cut him off. "You know damn well that he would never rat James out. There wasn't a single moment where one was without the other."

Severus studied Theodore for a moment before shaking his head. "I hope he catches them."

Theodore chuckled slightly. "Sounds like it'd be a win-win for you. Either Sirius kills the person that ratted out James and Lily or they kill Sirius Black and give you the chance to avenge them."

That brought a slight smile to Severus' face, one Theodore returned. Theodore then looked up at Hagrid. "Alright Rubeus, take care."

"You too," Hagrid gave Theodore a smile before nodding the Severus who nodded back.

As Hagrid went to his new motorbike, Theodore turned to Severus. "You're welcome to stay with us for however long you need. In fact, it might be beneficial to Victoria to start building her relationship now, before the wrong sort get their hands on her."

Victoria Lestrange was the one year old daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange and had come into Severus' custody in a strange set of circumstances. One of her aunts didn't want anything to do with Bellatrix, nor her daughter. The other aunt, Narcissa Malfoy, was the wife of Lucius Malfoy who was suspected of being a death eater. Because of this, Victoria was given to her godfather, Severus Snape.

"Your household's about to get crowded, what with Greyback's son and all."

Unlike Victoria, Anubis Greyback, son of the infamous Fenrir Greyback, was a ward of the state and currently under the process of getting adopted by Theodore. Despite the Ministry's early concerns of Anubis being bitten, he had never shown any symptoms of lycanthropy. Supposedly, according to Fenrir, he was waiting for Anubis to be old enough to fully appreciate his gift. The smile on Fenrir's face when he explained this to Theodore still tied his stomach into knots. It was a future Theodore wanted to keep the child from.

"Never mind him, he's merely an infant and we planned for him to share a room with Alistar. For the first few years at least," Theodore smiled. "Besides, you're my best friend. And what kind of Slytherin would I be to turn my back on another of my house? Atticus has been kind enough to provide more than enough experience on the finer points of parenting."

Severus smiled at that, then nodded. "I'll see you there then," he said.

"See you there," Theodore replied as his home came into his mind's eye. He slowly closed his eyes and felt the all too familiar tug in his stomach. The world began to spin around him before finally stopping. When his eyes opened, he was standing in front of his own house.

As he treaded on the well paved path towards his own front door, Theodore couldn't help but spare a thought for Harry Potter. The boy who lived, famous for something he would never remember. For doing something he couldn't possibly comprehend and living with people who never would've realized what Potter did for them.

Theodore couldn't help but wonder just how Harry would turn out. After all, he was going to be with family. A middle class muggle family called the 'Dursleys' with a gorgeous house and a son of their own.

How bad could that possibly be?