The Reckoning

Chapter One: Escapes, and little Sisters.

Harry spat the blood from his mouth and swore. This was NOT how things were supposed to happen. It was Voldemort he was supposed to be fighting, not his own Godfather.

"Harry, go back up to the castle. It's not safe down here." Harry groaned. This was too pathetic. He was a grown man and he couldn't even go get a drink without people causing a fuss. Harry had spent his entire life doing shit for others and he sure as hell wasn't going to do it anymore.

"Sirius, Voldemort hasn't done ANYTHING since my 6th year, 5 fucking year ago! Damnit I'm sick and tired of everyone pushing me around! This is my life let me live it!" Harry screamed, as he took his wand out of his pocket. "I'm leaving, whether you like it or not." Sirius's eyes grew wide for a moment, but the amazement at Harry's outburst didn't last long.

"I'm not letting you go." Sirius stated calmly, his wand hanging loosely in his hand. Harry's hand gripped convulsively around his wand and his eyes narrowed.

"Please Sirius . . . " Harry trailed off as Sirius shook his head. Harry sighed, and then before Sirius could react he raised his wand and quickly cast stupefy. Harry walked over to Sirius's unconscious body and sighed. "Sorry Padfoot . . ." With that Harry walked away, not once looking back.

******

Harry was still surprised that he had actually stupefied his godfather by the time he reached Gringotts, so far the plan was working. The Goblins were, as usual, aloof and uncaring. Not that that bothered Harry though, Harry was quite content to be ignored. Harry quickly walked past the other customers hoping the illusions held. With the help of Severus Snape Harry had made a type of Polyjuice Potion, this version didn't make Harry look like a certain person, it made him look like a completely different person. So Harry Potter was no longer Harry Potter, he was now Adrian Snape. Aside from helping him make the Potion, Professor Snape had helped plan Harry's escape and his travels after he left Hogwarts. For right now the plan was that Harry was to empty his Gringotts vault then meet with Samantha Snape, Snape's wife at the leaky cauldron. Harry was to play Severus's little brother. No one ever knew how many Snape children there was due to Stefan Snape's many 'rendezvous' At last count there was 15 legitimate children, Snape included, and about 19 illegitimate children. All in all Stefan Snape was a VERY busy man. Adrian Snape was one of those un-legitimate children and happened to be a friend of Harry, from the Muggle world of course.

Harry waited patiently as the head Goblin transferred his account to a Muggle bank. This was taking longer then they had planned, if the Goblin didn't hurry Sirius and Remus were sure to find him.

"Mr. Snape?" Harry looked up at the Goblin.

"Yes." The Goblin handed him a card and sneered.

"This is an ATM card, you can use it at any Muggle Bank, it's charmed that way." The Goblin's sneer turned to a frown as the front doors were slammed closed behind another customer. "Please hold on a moment Mr. Snape" Harry nodded and turned around to find Sirius screaming at one of the Goblins, and Remus staring directly at him. Harry sighed and muttered a curse under his breath. Of course the illusion wouldn't fool Remus, darn werewolf senses. Remus could smell Harry. There was no changing that. For a moment Harry started directly back at Remus then dropped his eyes. When Harry looked back Remus was walking towards him.

"Harry?" Harry nodded.

"Not so loud, as far as the Goblins know I'm Adrian Snape and I'd like to keep it that way. Should have waited to go to Gringotts, would have been easier. Didn't plan on leaving so soon though, I was going to wait till the full moon that way neither you or Sirius could chase after me for a while."

"Adrian Snape? Why a Snape?" Harry sighed, he knew Remus well enough to know that he wouldn't be leaving Diagon Alley until he explained everything.

"Can you ditch Sirius for a while?" Remus nodded. "Good, meet me at the Leaky Cauldron in half an hour. I'll explain it all then." Remus nodded and walked back to Sirius gently pulling on his arm.

"Come on, he's not here." Sirius sighed and followed Remus out of Gringotts. When the Goblin returned he was mumbling something about how Sirius should have stayed in Azkaban.

As Harry walked out of Gringotts he was definitely happy that Sirius name had been cleared, if it hadn't then Sirius would have been in dog form, with better senses, not as good as Remus's mind you but still it would have made running away a lot harder.

******

Samantha Snape gently patted Harry's shoulder as they waited for Remus Lupin to arrive. They were lucky there was a private room free, and that Tom didn't ask too many questions. Even though the Snape family name had been cleared, not many of them went shopping in Diagon Alley, and rarely did they go to the Leaky Cauldron.

They had been waiting about 15 minutes when Tom stuck his head in. "Mister and Mrs. Snape? Mr. Lupin is asking to be let in, are you expecting him?" Samantha nodded and favored Tom with a smile. A moment later Remus Lupin strode in, Professor Dumbledore right behind him.

"Sorry Harry, you know well enough that there isn't much you can keep from Dumbledore." Harry nodded and smiled.

"It's all right, as long as neither of you try to make me return to Hogwarts."

"No need to worry Harry, I shall not make you do something that you wish not to. You are a grown man; you need to see the world. But I will insist that you contact me from time to time that way Remus and I can make sure that Sirius doesn't go berserk." Samantha smiled.

"I see that Sirius is still as obsessive as always." Remus for the first time noticed Samantha, who had been sitting in the shadows.

"SAM!" Remus exclaimed as he bounded over and wrapped the short dark haired girl in a bear hug. Harry's face took on a look of extreme confusion. When Remus noticed he gave a short bark of laughter and wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulder. "Didn't you ever wonder where the rivalry between Sirius and Snape began?" Harry nodded. "Well Samantha here is the reason. Samantha is Sirius little sister, and Sirius and James were not in the least happy when Sam started dating Severus, Sam was a Gryffindor and she was always getting picked on about not having Gryffindor pride and such. So Sirius and James came to the conclusion that Snape must have used a love potion, and spent most of their remaining three years trying to prove it."

"Yes, that was quite a mess. If I remember correctly Sirius and James parents had to go bail their sons out of a Muggle jail on Samantha's wedding night. They were arrested for being drunk." Dumbledore said

"Exactly, I never did quite understand why James got drunk, he was quite happy with me. I set him up with Lilly by the way. He was even at the wedding; he toasted Snape and everything. And made a few rude comments but then James never could be serious for very long." Remus took a seat by Dumbledore and smiled.

"Now, there's time for reminiscing later right now I think you too need to explain exactly how you

met, and how you convinced Severus to help Harry."