What If? By Spunky
Summary: What would have happened if Hagrid had given Harry to Sirius that fateful Halloween night? Misunderstandings, pranks and a very mad Hermione.
Disclaimer: If Harry Potter was mine, would I be writing Fanfiction? None of this belongs to me so everyone else can battle it out arguing that it's theirs. Let me know who wins.
Author's Note: Let it be known that the characters in this story are alternate universe characters. They will behave differently then they do in the books because they have lived their lives differently. However if they act differently, reasons will be give for their change in behavior. They are not Out of Character (OOC) in this story because the situation is different. I have done my best to make the behavior changes realistic. Everything up to when the Potters are killed is the same as is described in the books.
I solemnly swear I am up to no good!
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It was four-fifteen the next morning when Irene Granger was woken by her young daughter's cries. She pulled herself out of bed and over to the nearby crib. The baby, Hermione, was normally a quiet child. She was a smart child also. Already she was starting to talk.
"Hush little baby, don't say a word. Mamas' gonna buy you a mocking bird." She softly sang. "If that mocking bird don't sing, Mamas' gonna buy you a diamond ring." Hermione quieted down and all was well.
Or was it? Irene could hear a slight scratching coming from downstairs. She tried to tune it out but it continued to grow more and more insistent. Irene began to worry. She set Hermione down and crept down the hall, down the stairs, all the while following the sound. It was coming from the front door. All around her the shadows were dancing on the wall, making the hallway look as though ghosts were sweeping through the house, but there were no ghosts. She knew that. Only her and her shadow, and the noise, that continued to grow louder and louder. Someone was breaking in!
She inched up to the door. Closer, closer, closer. Each step carefully calculated, until she was crouched next to the door. She reached a shaking hand up to the door, turned the knob, and flung it open.
There on the step was a big black dog. And a baby.
Irene did a double take. She couldn't believe her eyes. What were a baby and a dog doing on her front porch at four-thirty in the morning?
Irene called up to her husband, "Daniel! You better come have a look at this!"
Her husband lumbered down the stairs, "What? Irene it's four-thirty in the morning can't this wait?"
"Oh, I don't think so. Look." She gestured to the baby and the dog, who was now sitting perfectly still on the step.
Daniel's jaw dropped. "What on earth's a baby doing on our doorstep?"
"I don't know, but I was thinking we should probably take him out of the cold and inside." Irene picked up the baby, "Go warm up a bottle of milk. I doubt this little guy's eaten in a while." Irene shut the door and carried the baby into the kitchen, leaving the dog outside on the porch. "We should probably call the police. Try to find his parents."
Daniel walked over with the heated bottle "What's that on his forehead? It looks like quite a nasty scar for a little baby."
"Humm... No idea. I wonder..." Irene drifted off.
"Well," said Daniel suddenly. "We have just discovered a baby on our doorstep. We should name him."
"Daniel," Irene started, "the police will take him away-"
But Daniel interrupted her. "I don't care if the baby is gone in an hour. He needs a name."
Irene thought for a moment. "How about Chad? That's what we would have named Hermione, had she been a boy."
"Chad it is, then."
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Peter Pettigrew was sitting down to breakfast when the owl flew in his window.
Pettigrew,
Despite your previous display of unfaithfulness, a few of us believe you had no idea that our Lord was going to meet his downfall on your information. Therefor we are going to give you one chance to prove your loyalty. Meet me at the Longbottom's house tommrow at three in the morning. We believe they have information about the location of our Lord. We are going to try to find him and return him to power.
Don't be late.
Barty Crounch Jr.
Peter smiled an evil smile. A chance to prove himself. Just what he needed.
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Police were everywhere. Sirius looked around the front lawn and wagged his tail. Everything was going as planned so far. Now all he had to do was become the Granger's family pet and everything would be okay.
Mrs. Granger was giving a report to the police. "I heard something outside and so I came down to investigate. And this baby was sitting on the front step next to this big dog. And-"
"Where's the dog?" The policeman asked.
"Oh, I don't know. I left him outside. When I brought Chad inside."
That's my cue, thought Sirius. He walked up to Mrs. Granger and sat down.
"Here he is." Said Mrs. Granger.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, that's the dog."
Sirius pawed in the air like he was trying to shake hands.
"It looks like he's been trained." Mrs. Granger said. "Come boy. Come."
Sirius came.
"Sit"
He sat.
"Incredible. Who would let loose a fully trained dog like this?"
"Ma'am, I have to leave now." The policeman said, "I'm going to take the dog and the boy with me and so-"
"Can't they stay here? We can provide a good home for them. My daughter is about the same age as the little boy and I've been taking time off from work to take care of her. I can take care of both of them. We have a steady income. Both my husband and I are Dentists."
"Well, all right. I'll have to fill out some paperwork making you the boy's temporary guardian, but I think it would work."
Jackpot! Thought Sirius. His mouth pulled into a grin and he jumped up in the air.
"My goodness!" Said Mrs. Granger, "If I didn't know better I'd think he could understand everything I'm saying!"
'She has no idea,' Thought Sirius with a smile. 'No idea.'
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Early the next morning Peter Apperated to the Longbottom's house.
"Over here!" Peter heard someone whisper. It was Barty Crounch and three other of his fellow Death Eaters. "You're here. I thought you might have chickened out."
"I'm early." Peter replied.
"Yeah, right. Okay, we're going to split up. Pettigrew, you go with Mr. and Mrs. Lestranges. Head around back. Me and Grabarini; we'll come in from the front. Now be quiet, we don't want to draw the neighbor's attention."
Peter snuck over to the back door. The last time he had been there he had been attending the Longbottom's Christmas party. The window's had been filled with Christmas light's and people laughing. But not tonight. Tonight all the windows were dark.
He reached the back door. It was locked. He pulled out his wand and whispered "Alohomora" and the door unlocked. It was silly really, all wizards had at least a simple guarding charm put on their doors at night, and the Longbottoms were Aurors. He would have expected it to be a lot harder to get in than it had been. But he wasn't complaining.
Inside was just as dark as outside was. Again he pulled out his wand and whispered "Lumos." He could just barely see the Lestranges behind him. They were the only ones in the room with him. The Longbottom's must be upstairs, he thought as he rounded the corner. He knew the way to their room. He'd passed it on his way to view their new son's bedroom at the Christmas party. Neville, that was the boy's name. Peter hadn't cared whether or not he saw the room, but Lily had wanted to. Which meant James came, which meant that Peter had seen the room.
He started up the stairs, Crounch was already halfway up having entered from the front. Grabarini was at the top. They crept along silently, not saying a word. Not wanting to give themselves away. Grabarini and Crounch reached the door and stopped, waiting for Peter and the Lestranges. Finally when they were all there, they slowly opened the door.
Someone turned the light's on, revealing a large crowd of Aurors waiting for them.
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Alastor Moody had been waiting in the dark of the Longbottoms's bedroom with ten other Aurors for several hours when the bedroom door opened. He flipped on the light switch and shouted, "Freeze! Don't move!"
The intruders turned to run while delivering several well aimed curses at the Aurors. Two of them fell. Moody returned the intruders fire with the Stunning Curse. The other Aurors around him did the same thing.
"Stupify!" They cried, and the intruders were knocked out.
Moody hurried up to the stunned bodies of the intruders and quickly put the Cuffing Charm on them. He surveyed the Death Eaters lying in front of him. There were five of them. Mr. and Mrs. Lestrange were no surprise, he'd had his eye on them for a while, Alex Grabarini was no surprise either. He'd been accused of dark activity before. But the last two intruders startled him. They were, undoubtedly, Peter Pettigrew and Barty Crounch Jr., One of the Potter's good friends and the son of the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Two of the people he had least expected to see.
Moody's fellow Auror, Fewson, walked up beside him. "Well," said Fewson, "Unfortunately there's no suprise here."
"What do you mean? I didn't even know there was going to be a raid tonight, and it turns out that two of the people we're arresting had never even had a shadow of doubt cased over their loyalty. I'd call that a suprise."
"Well, The meeting tonight was originally going to be a standard meeting to check-in and make sure everything was running smoothly. But this afternoon I was meeting with Dumbledore and Remus Lupin came running into his office. The poor guy was going to pieces. You know he was a friend of the Potters and Sirius Black. Well, he had been over to see Peter Pettigrew that morning. Pettigrew wasn't home but Lupin found a letter on Pettigrew's kitchen table. Pettigrew, being careless had forgotten to put it away. The letter was from Crounch Jr. inviting Pettigrew to tonight's raid and pretty much blamed Pettigrew for the Potters death, instead of Black. Lupin, not knowing what to do, showed the letter to Dumbledore who evacuated the Longbottoms from their home and set up our little group to meet them if they decided to show up tonight."
"Hey Moody!" Tomas, another one of the Aurors called, "I could use your help here!" He was getting ready to transport the captured Death Eater's to the Ministry.
"Be right there, Tomas." Moody replied, and he hurried over to help charm the massive transportation system.
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Irene looked up at the sky. It was 3:30 in the morning and Chad had woken her up. Poor boy, she thought as she rocked him in her arms. His family must be so distraught. Their baby son was missing. She knew she would be horrified if Hermione ever disappeared. Hopefully they would find Chad's family soon.
Irene stood by the window staring out at the pitch black sky with only stars twinkling through the heavy blanket of sky. Her eyes landed on Orian's belt. Her first constellation. Her mind drifted back to the first of many lessons on stars her father had given her. She had been seven. Her father had shown her the big and little dipper, the north star and the bear, but the only one that stuck with her seven-year-old self was Orian's belt. It was easy for her to spot because it was three stars in a row. Now, after many starlit chats with her father, she knew them all, but she still remembered her first constellation, Orian's belt.
In the other room the big black dog sighed. Irene looked at him, he looked so sad. Like he beared the whole world on his shoulders and knew all the great troubles of the world. He looked like how she felt when someone she held dear to her died. Like her starloving dad. And so, in memory of him... Irene smiled, "We'll call you Orian."
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Bartimus Crounch Sr. stood in front of the jury the next day. "I now ask you to raise your hands if you feel these crimes' deserve lifetime imprisonment in Azkaban."
In unison the jury raised their hands. The audience in the room began to clap.
"Take them away." Crounch Sr. watched as the dementors lead his son, Mr. and Mrs. Lestragne, Grabarini and Pettigrew out of the room. His son was screaming that he hadn't committed the crimes he was accused of but Crounch Sr. knew better. Besides, he never liked his son much anyway. He turned his attention to the next trial. A man named Karkaroff claimed to have names of other Death Eaters, which he would exchange for freedom.
There was some shouting outside and a man came running in. "He's disappeared!" The man cried "Peter Pettigrew has disappeared!"
"What's this?" Crounch asked.
"He disappeared! Into thin air!"
"He didn't apperate did he?"
"No, we placed an anti-apperation spell on him! He just disappeared!"
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Sirius and Harry quickly settled into the Granger family's daily routine. Daniel, Harry's adoptive father, rose every morning at six-thirty, Irene woke at seven, and fed Hermione and Harry. Then at seven-thirty Daniel left to go to work. Irene then filled her day with numerous activities. She might go shopping or have guests come over, but she always included Harry and Hermione. Then at four, Daniel would return from work.
At five everyone sat down to supper together. After supper they would do numerous activities together. Often Daniel could be seen trying to teach Harry and Hermione to talk or play hide-n-go seek. Then at eight Harry and Hermione would go to bed. Hermione's room had been moved around and a second crib was placed in there to accommodate Harry. Irene would sing them to sleep, then after she left Sirius would sneak into the room change into himself and tell Harry stories about Hogwarts and Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. In this way Harry grew-up knowing more about Hogwarts then Albus Dumbledore himself.
The Granger's had tried, unsuccessfully to find Harry's family. Sirius hadn't been very suprised that no one had found the notice that had been placed in the Muggle newspaper; no Witch or Wizard read Muggle papers anyway. Besides, Sirius would think bitterly to himself at night, they all probably thought he had killed Harry by now. Peter had gotten away with more than anyone could imagine. He was probably sitting in his house laughing to himself right then about how he had fooled everyone.