A.N. Howdy y'all! I hope that you enjoy this chapter, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review!!!! Oh, and something wonderful has happened! You've heard about my friend Tadariada, haven't you? Of course you have! Well, then of course you've also heard of her wonderful story, Spiral. I know, I know that all of you were saddened when you heard that she wouldn't be writing a sequel, but guess what! She has put out the sequel to the story anyway! Now, after you finish reading my story, scoot over to her story and read it!!!

Toodles!

Mal


Peter grinned as he reached into his pocket to pull out the key to his flat. It had all been so easy, manipulating Lupin and the Ministry officials. They probably wouldn't even suspect a Polyjuice Potion. Peter threw his cloak on his couch and walked into his small kitchen, searching for something to eat. No, the body had not been Potter's, although it appeared to be in body. The real body belonged to a Muggle woman, about twenty years old, he had seen jogging. Now, Peter had never been great at magic, but even he could manage turning invisible, and kidnapped the woman while doing so.

She had cried for hours as he had put the finishing touches on the potion, which he had been working on ever since that idiot, Black, had stolen the boy. Then he had added the final ingredient… the child's hair that he had gotten ages ago. The bubbling and changing of the potion's color seemed to frighten the woman even more, and Peter had to practically pry her mouth open as he dumped the liquid down her throat.

Even in Harry's body, she cried and wailed, and Peter finally had to place a Silencing Charm on her to shut her up. The rest was rather easy. He hit the child a few times, the bruises that formed making it look like it had been abused, and then throwing the infant from the top of a high cliff. Then he retrieved the dead body that would forever resemble Lily and James' son, its neck broken, and several other limbs sticking out at odd angles. He covered it in seaweed, so it looked like it just washed up from the ocean and onto the beach. The day that followed that, he "found" the body while with Ministry officials.

Remus believed everything that Peter told him, that the boy had been abused for at least a week, before he was sent to his death over the cliff. Remus had started crying when he heard the story and Peter even managed to fake a few tears as he comforted his mislead friend. Nice people were so easy to manipulate.

Of course, it wasn't totally Peter's idea. Lucius Malfoy had helped him with the idea, making sure that Sirius Black would be locked away for good, unless the Potter boy was still with him. But that was easy to cover up. They could blame it on one of the other Death Eaters that had been caught a few days after the Potters died.

Peter took out his wand and paused, thinking what he should have for dinner that night. Steak… Steak would be good…

~*~

It had been a nice dream… They had been at a Quidditch match. Everyone had been there. Lily, James, Remus, Harry and Sirius, but Peter wasn't there, because as far as Sirius was concerned, Peter was a traitor. The Seeker for England had been right about to catch the Snitch when a loud wail from the other room interrupted.

Sirius groaned and got up from his bed. Harry had woken him up every night that week, usually by crying or by screaming, "SIIII! SIII!" This time Harry was crying loudly and erratically, as if something was hurting him. Sirius bolted into his godson's room and picked up the struggling infant. He was surprised to find that the infant was still asleep, but crying through his slumber. The child was sweating, his small mop of black hair sticking to his forehead. The lightning bolt scar that he had gotten… that night stood out against the rest of his skin, He must've been dreaming something terrible, because it took a good ten minutes of walking around and cooing for Harry to calm down again, even after Sirius had awoken him. Then the boy of about 17 months fell asleep in his godfather's arms, using his chest as a pillow. Sirius put Harry back in his cradle and watched his godson sleep peacefully before returning to his own bed.

BEE-BEE-BEE-BEEP! BEE-BEE-BEE-BEEP! Sirius opened one bleary eye, reached over, and slammed his hand down on his alarm clock. It was seven a.m. Sirius had to be at work at eight and getting out of the house was sometimes the hardest part of the day. Sirius had finally gotten the job at the bookstore, and Harry was perfectly happy at the daycare center with the other little kids. Sirius would come every day at his lunchtime and take Harry to lunch with him.

It was just a few days before Christmas, and the whole house was sort of dressed up. There was a tree that looked entirely too large for the apartment, decorated with Muggle tinsel and a string of Cheerios (CHEERI!) that Harry had helped make. Sirius had left all of his real Christmas things at his house. But it didn't matter. They were going to be leaving soon anyway. He had already given his boss notice of them leaving. The magical activity had grown in this city, and it was too risky for Sirius and Harry to stay here much longer. So they were leaving again. This time they were going to Australia.

Sirius pulled the sheets off of his legs and walked into his godson's room. Harry was already awake, standing up in his crib and giggling happily while chewing on a few of his fingers.

"Hey big-boy," Sirius said, grinning at his godson and scooping him out of the crib. "Ready to go to daycare?"

"Daca."

"That's right, daycare. Come on! Lets get you ready!"

Easier said than done. Sirius walked into the small kitchen and sat Harry down in the baby chair that he had gotten. He set a small bowl with Cheerios and milk in front of him and picked up a spoon.

"Open up, Harry!"

Harry giggled and stuck his fingers back in his mouth. Sirius pulled the fingers and held the spoon up to Harry's mouth.
"Here comes the broomstick" Sirius made a burbling noise with his lips and waved the spoon in the air. "It's coming in for a landing! WEEE!"

The spoon stopped in front of Harry's mouth, which was shut tight.

"Open up! Let the broom land! The Quidditch player's injured!"

Sealed tight.

"Harry, come on! We have to get going soon!"

Harry giggled slightly and stuck his fingers back into his mouth, chewing on them.

"Would you rather eat fingers for breakfast?"

He nodded. Sirius wondered for a moment if Harry had actually mastered the whole "Nodding-meaning-yes, Shaking-head-meaning-no" situation.

"You need to eat your Cheerios, Harry."

"Cheeri!"

"Yes, Cheeri. Open your mouth Harry."

Sirius sighed when Harry shook his head, and put the spoon down. He went over and poured himself a cup of coffee, and was just bringing it to his lips when-

SPLAT! A spoonful of cereal collided with the back of Sirius' head. Sirius turned around sharply and saw Harry giggling madly, holding the spoon in the air.
"Harry! Food is for eating!"

SPLAT! Another spoonful hit Sirius in the face.

Sirius sighed and grabbed the spoon out of his godson's hand.

"SPOO!" As Harry opened his mouth to exclaim angrily, Sirius scooped up some Cheerios and put them in Harry's mouth. The shocked child didn't know what to do, so he just chewed his breakfast without another complaint. At seven thirty Sirius picked Harry out of his high-chair, got him dressed ("SHIR! PANS!"), got himself dressed and ready, and grabbed a taxi to work. Sure, he would eventually have to get one of those Muggle cars, and that would mean learning how to actually drive one of them, but for the time being he was getting along just fine.

It took ten minutes for Sirius to get to work. After paying the driver he walked into the bookstore. The boss, a 70-ish year old woman, smiled at him while she talked on the phone. Sirius smiled back as he went to the back of the store where a small Daycare center was set up for the employees. A kind faced woman took Harry from Sirius after he was signed in. Harry scrunched up his face in a sad sort of way and cried, "SIIII!"

"Sirius has to go," Sirius replied, rubbing Harry on the head, making his messy brown hair go everywhere, sticking up at even odder angles. "I'll be back at noon. Bye Harry."

Harry still had the sad look on his face as he waved his small hand to say goodbye.

~*~

The report came back that day. It was indeed Harry Potter's body that they had found. Remus was overcome with grief. How could Sirius do this? Was all that adoration that he had shown for the boy just an act? Was he really the horrible Death Eater that everyone thought he was?

Remus pushed the papers away, not bearing to look at the pictures of the boy that Lily and James had loved so much, and was now dead like them. Purple and black bruises covered the small body, and his arms and legs were twisted at odd angles. Apparently he had been dropped from a very high place.

Remus sat in his chair, sobbing for his friends. Why? Why had Sirius done it? Why hadn't he voiced his suspicions of Sirius being a spy before all this happened? It could have been prevented if Remus had just said something… Now he only had one true friend left. Peter. Peter had always been the quietest one of their group, and now Remus and him were the only ones left.

Knock! Knock! Remus jumped at the sound and hurriedly wiped his eyes.

"Who-Who is it?" He asked shakily, getting to his feet.

"It's Frank and Neville."

Frank Longbottom. He had a little boy named Neville, who was about Harry's age. Remus opened the door and saw the two of them standing there, with snot dripping out of Neville's nose.
"Hello Frank," Remus said hoarsely. "How are you?"

"Good, good. I-we came over to say that we're terribly sorry about this whole ordeal… awful thing to happen to anyone."

"Yeah…" Remus said slowly. "Would you like to come in and have a cup of tea?"

"Yes. Yes, I suppose I could," Frank replied, giving a small smile. Neville grinned and shouted, "GEEEERRR!"

Remus laughed slightly at the child and started to make tea. Frank sat down and looked around the room.

"Nice place you've got here," Frank said. "How long have you lived here?"

"Oh… since I got out of school. I just moved right in. Actually, Lily and James crashed here for a while too, while they searched for a house of their own."

"They were wonderful people. Perfect for each other."

"Yeah, I know," Remus said sadly. "Sugar?"

"No, that's alright."

"Does Neville want anything?"

"CCOOOKKKK!"

Remus laughed. "Does that mean cookie?"

"Yep," Frank replied, bouncing Neville slightly. "It's amazing. It seems just like yesterday he was coming home for the first time from the hospital, and now he's talking. Muggle babies don't talk until they're about 2, you know?"

"Yes, I've heard that. I wonder why witches and wizards start talking earlier than Muggles."

"Who knows. Harry had just started talking a few months ago. Well… a butchered form of talking. He would only say part of the word he wanted to say."

"Neville's the same way. He says "Cook" for cookie, "Dri" for drink, and "Boo" for book."

"Harry used to say, "Cheeri" for Cheerios (it's a kind of Muggle cereal), and "Ho" for Home."

Remus put a cup of tea with a cookie on the saucer in front of Frank and Neville.

After a minute of uneasy silence, Remus asked a question that he had been dying to ask.

"How's the case going?"

Frank shifted uneasily and put down his cup. "Not too good. Black has pulled out at all the stops to make sure that he won't be found. After all, he's charged with several things. Being a Death Eater and murder for a start. The least he'll get is life in Azkaban, if we can find him

"All of the Aurors are in total disbelief. It's been months and we still can't believe what he did to his two friends and now what he did to Harry." Frank sighed, and looked over at Remus.

"Don't worry, Remus. We'll find him and he'll get the punishment he deserves."

Frank reached over and clapped Remus on the shoulder. "I promise you."

~*~

Harry was sitting in a highchair, munching on few French Fries. They were at some sort of greasy Muggle fast-food restaurant. Sirius was munching on a hamburger with limp lettuce and a thin piece of beef, and Harry had a few rubbery chicken nuggets in front of him. This was their dinner for the day. Sirius had managed to burn some soup that they were supposed to be eating, but Harry didn't seem to mind at all. Harry gurgled happily and said "Fi!" which probably meant fry. Sirius handed Harry a few more, and he continued to munch happily. Sirius was looking over a Muggle newspaper.

He missed the Daily Prophet, and he couldn't get used to the still pictures. However, he was happy because there wasn't any news about him in the paper.

Sirius sighed as he discretely conjured up a piece of parchment and a pen.

Dear Remus, he wrote.

How are you doing? I don't know why I bother asking you that, since you won't be able to reply to this letter… but it's the thought that counts I suppose. Frankly, at the moment I don't know how I'm going to get this letter to you. But don't bother trying to trace it. By the time you get this we'll probably be long gone from this place.

I'm not going to tell you where I am, but I will tell you that I am doing well. Harry is fine too, and is enjoying day care. He's right here, getting his fingers rather greasy.

I'm guessing that you haven't helped get me out of this mess, as of now. I hope that you do decide to help me soon. I don't know how much longer I can live like this!
I guess I'll cut this letter short, because you always said that I tend to babble.

Happy Holidays.

Your friend,

Sirius

Remus looked at the letter in disgust. This was sick. How could he even dare write about Harry after what he's done? It was twisted how he talked about Harry as if he was sitting right before him.

Remus had woken up to find the letter in front of his fireplace.

"He's insane," Remus muttered to himself. "He even asked me to help him. Help him! After what he's done…"

Remus glared at the letter once more, and threw it into the crackling fire. He watched for a moment as the fire curled around the letter, before it disappeared in the flames.