"SIRIUS!" Yelled the three-year-old from his room. "SIRIUS! I NEED YOUR HELP!"
Sirius Black was sitting downstairs, sipping his coffee, and reading the newspaper. He sighed and put down his things, before walking up the stairs to his godson's room.
"What do you need Harry?" Sirius asked, walking into Harry's room, which was covered with pictures Harry had drawn at preschool. The boy was lying on his bed, struggling with one of his shoes.
"Help! I can't get my shoe on!" Harry exclaimed, holding his foot out for Sirius, with his small sneaker dangling off of his toe. Sirius grabbed Harry by the ankle, and put Harry's shoe on. Then he took it off, realizing that he had put the left shoe on the right foot. Harry wasn't exactly up to date on the whole left-shoe-goes-on-left-foot theory yet.
After the shoes were on the correct feet, Sirius grabbed Harry by the ankles, picked him up off the bed, and carried him out of the room, upside down. Harry giggled madly and tried to touch the floor beneath his head.
"All right, kiddo," Sirius said, flipping his godson right-side up and putting him on one of the chairs in the kitchen. "What do you want for breakfast?"
"Cheerios!"
"You have Cheerios everyday Harry! Don't you want something else? Like toast?"
"I want Cheerios," Harry said, matter-of-factly.
"Why do you like Cheerios so much?"
"Because I do."
Sirius sighed and got Harry his breakfast.
A lot had changed in the past two years, despite the fact that Harry was still eating Cheerios by the ton. They were now living in Florida, after living in Russia for four months. They were living in a small house in a normal looking neighborhood. Sirius had managed to get a used car, and was driving that around. He often complained to himself that it was nothing compared to his old motorcycle. Harry didn't seem to mind. He didn't even remember Sirius' motorcycle.
Harry had grown into a happy, energetic three-year-old, who enjoyed playing in sand, getting incredibly dirty, and chasing bubbles that were produced from Sirius' wand.
Harry didn't often question why he was living with his godfather instead of his parents. Sirius had explained to him that his parents were dead because of a very very bad wizard after being betrayed by one of their friends. Harry knew that he had survived the attack somehow, but Sirius didn't tell him why. 'When you're older' Sirius had sighed. Harry didn't question why they moved all the time either. Sirius had also told him that everyone thought he had betrayed Harry's parents, but it was really mean old Pettigrew. This was a lot for a three-year old to take in, but Harry didn't think about it very often. Usually late at night, when Sirius was asleep. Sometimes he wondered what his parents were like, and how everything would be different if they were still alive. Sirius would probably be much happier that way, and he would get to see Moony again!
Sirius had told Harry all about Moony, or Remus. He had told Harry about all the adventures that the Marauders had gone on together. Harry usually insisted that Sirius tell him a story before bed, and they usually involved Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, although Wormtail was often left out of part of the story.
While Harry ate breakfast, Sirius got dressed. He was working as an assistant for someone in a big law firm. He had studied Muggle Law while he was working as an Auror, and knew enough to be good at his job. The firm dealt with divorce and family cases for the most part. The firm had a pre-school nearby, and Harry went there during the workday. Harry's hair had grown out, and was no longer brown, but its usual black. Sirius' hair was growing back out again, and Sirius wasn't sure if he should chop it off again or if he should grow it out once more. While Sirius' hair was smooth and sleek, Harry's hair was… well… like his father's had been. All over the place. Sirius kept it short, so it wouldn't look so wild, but it also showed the unusual scar on Harry's forehead.
Sirius knew that it was a curse scar, and that Harry had probably gotten it from the Killing Curse that had backfired. Although he was living as a Muggle, news from the Wizarding world had reached his ear. Apparently Voldemort was gone. Disappeared. He probably wasn't dead, not yet at least, but just out of view and out of mind for a while. Sirius was relieved, to say the least. He was already on the run from the Ministry, he didn't need to be on the run from Voldemort as well.
"Sirius! I'm done!" Harry exclaimed, dropping his spoon into his bowl with a clatter. "Can we go to the park today?"
"I have to work today, Harry," Sirius said, taking a sip of coffee. "This weekend, I promise. We'll spend the whole day there."
"Yay!" Harry grinned, clapping his hands together. He jumped down from his chair and went running around the living room, chanting, "We're goin' to the park this weekend! We're goin' to the park this weekend!"
"Go brush your teeth, Harry," Sirius called. "We got to go soon!"
"Goin' to brush my teeth! Goin' to brush my teeth!"
A few minutes later they were ready to go. Sirius helped Harry put on his coat, wiped some toothpaste off of Harry's face, and they walked out to the garage. Sirius buckled Harry into his carseat, while Harry started singing, "We're going to preschool! We're going to preschool!"
~*~
Remus walked through Diagon Alley, occasionally stopping and taking a look at something in a shop window, or in a display outside of the store. He was supposed to be having a meeting with Dumbledore, supposedly about Black, who had been on the run for over two years. Dumbledore had also hinted at something else, but Remus didn't know what.
It had also been about a year and a half since the Longbottoms had been attacked. They said it was Death Eaters, and those Death Eaters had been convicted and sent to Azkaban. One of those Death Eaters had died there, Barty Crouch's son. The Longbottoms had been tortured with the Cruciatus Curse for hours on end, until they had been driven insane. Now they were unfit for most things, especially taking care of Neville. Their son had been shipped off to live with his strict Grandmother, whom Remus had only met once. Frankly, Neville was likely to be scared to death of her, or raised to be snooty and strict.
Remus walked into the Leaky Cauldron. It wasn't hard to spot the headmaster, for his silver beard stood out in the crowd.
"Good day, Remus," Professor Dumbledore said as his former student approached. "Do have a seat, we have much to discuss. Do you want something to eat?"
"No, no sir, I'm fine," Remus said, sitting down in one of the chairs.
"How's Peter doing?" Dumbledore asked, looking down at a menu. "Wasn't he promoted just a few months ago?"
"Yes, just two months ago," Remus nodded. "He really deserves it, after all he's done for the case."
"Yes, yes the case…" Dumbledore's face got grim. "There's been a rumor that Black was spotted somewhere east. No one can elaborate though. We can't just go searching all over the world for him, because of a rumor, though."
Remus couldn't think of anything to say, so he just nodded.
"How have you been?" Dumbledore asked, looking at the man over his half-moon glasses. "How's your job?"
"I'm doing… okay. It's rather hard to get a job with my… condition. At least in the Wizarding world. I'm still working at Flourish and Blotts, and occasionally at Zonkos if they need an extra hand."
"With all of your escapades at school, I would assume you would be quite talented at the latter of the two," Dumbledore replied, smiling slightly. Remus laughed and said, "That was more Sirius and James, I only provided an alibi half of the time."
"I remember finding you in my office a fair few times," Dumbledore chuckled. "Now Peter, he was the one who doesn't have a file that could be used as a paperweight. He had some common sense."
"Didn't have a whole lot of magical power, but common sense, yes," Remus replied. "Glad we have someone reliable in the Ministry."
"Remus," Dumbledore said abruptly. "Are you happy with your job?"
"Well, I suppose I'm as happy as I could be with that job," Remus shrugged.
"Would you like a new one?"
"I suppose, but where am I going to get one?"
"I'd give you one."
Remus' eyes got wide. "P-Professor," he said. "What kind of job would it be?"
"Perhaps Care of Magical Creatures, or Defense Against the Dark Arts. I do say that you have a way with animals, and you were quite good in the Defense class. You've had a bit of experience, haven't you?"
Remus gulped. "I-I suppose. But Professor- I don't know if I can teach a class!"
"From what I've seen, you were always quite good with children! You always helped the first years when they got lost, while you were at school, no matter what house they were in. Besides, this way I could keep you filled in on recent events in the case."
"I don't know what to say!" Remus said, leaning back in his chair.
"You can say yes."
Remus was silent for a moment, before a smile crept to his face. "Yes. I'll do it!"
~*~
True to his word, Sirius took Harry to the park that Saturday. Sirius didn't like to go out in public more than necessary, but Harry had an infatuation with going to the park near their house, and wanted to do it as much as Sirius would let him.
Harry was running around madly, supposedly in a game of tag around the jungle gym. None of the children really seemed to be paying much attention to who was "it" and just sprinted around, waving their arms about and screaming madly.
Sirius sat down on one of the benches, and watched his godson play with the other kids his age. Harry was being chased by a girl with long, brown pigtails, who was yelling at the top of her lungs without stopping for a breath. Sirius was afraid that she was going to faint.
Sirius watched as his godson ran about, wondering when Harry would be ready to eat his lunch that Sirius had packed for him. Sirius remembered when Lilly, James, Remus, and him had gone on a picnic when they were back at Hogwarts. They had spent the day lying around on the grass, eating, and playing a Muggle game called "Frisbee." At the park Sirius could see people playing this game. Some were playing it with their dogs, and Sirius wondered if he could jump as high as those other dogs if he was in his Animagus form…
"Pardon me," a voice said suddenly, making Sirius jump slightly. Sirius turned and saw a woman standing a few feet away, smoking a cigarette.
"Yes?" Sirius replied, not sure what the woman wanted.
"Are you Sirius Black?" Asked the woman, eyeing him cautiously. All of the color drained from Sirius' face and his eyes got extremely wide. The woman looked like a Muggle… how could she know about him-
"Don't look so worried, honey," the woman said, giving a sort of twisted smile. "I ain't going to turn the authorities on you. That would be suicide for me."
"Who are you?" Sirius growled, looking out of the corner of is eye, trying to spot Harry so they could leave as quickly as possible.
"Sandy Dungerfeild, at your service," she said, taking a long drag from her cigarette.
"Sandy Dunger- you mean Insane- Sandy Dungerfeild! The one who killed her husband and his-"
"Yep. That's me," Sandy replied, with a bite of impatience in her voice. "So was I right? You're Sirius Black?"
Silence.
"Look hun, I was framed," Sandy replied hastily. "A bunch of Death Eaters wanted me out of the way, and so they attacked the house. I was out gardening at the time, and my husband was rolling around with that bimbo right upstairs, just two stories above my head. Well, next thing I knew, the Death Eaters were running out of the house after walking in on my husband and her, killing both of them, thinking that his slut was actually me. I was framed, so I ran. I've been running ever since."
Sirius stared at the woman, who was crushing a cigarette under her sneaker. She had blended in with the crowd, just as Sirius was attempting to do. She looked like a Muggle, with her huge sweater and Muggle jeans. She had her hair pulled out into a loose ponytail.
"Bu-but why are you here?" Sirius managed to ask. "I mean, you and him never had a kid-"
"Not with him, no," Sandy said, giving another twisted smile. "Let's just say I don't have the best taste in men." She pointed over to the sandbox. "D'ya see that girl? The one with the pigtails?"
Sirius looked and saw the girl who had been running around, screaming just a few minutes earlier. She was now playing in the sand, with Harry and a few other children. One of her pigtails had come out, and her hair was a tangled mess, the ponytail holder still hanging by a few strands.
"Hi mommy!" The girl said, waving when she saw her mother looking over at her. She waved frantically and then went back to dumping sand on a nearby boy's head.
"That's my darling, Cameron," Sandy said with a small smile. "Her father left me before she was born."
Sirius nodded.
"Is it true that you kidnapped Harry Potter?" Sandy asked. Sirius looked up at her, frowning. "Sorry, but I heard about it from a discarded newspaper years ago. I hadn't had any contact with the Wizarding World in years, and I read that paper five times, and practically memorized everything that happened. I'm assuming you were framed too?"
"And how do you assume that?" Sirius asked, raising one eyebrow.
"You're too nice."
Sirius laughed, and pointed to his godson, "There's Harry, playing near your daughter. With the messy black hair."
"Ah yes, he looks like James," Sandy said dreamily. Sirius nodded, vaguely remembering that Sandy had been three years ahead of them at school. "You don't have to tell me what happened, if you don't want to. I mean, it took me years before I could talk about what happened."
"Have you ever tried talking to the Ministry about what happened?" Sirius asked.
"Hell no! The Ministry of Magic is the sort of government that would give the Dementor's Kiss, rather than give a trial. There's no way that I'm going to talk to them. Besides, with Fudge leading them, there's no way I'll get off. He depends too much on other people, and does exactly what they say. I don't want to risk it."
"So you're going to live this way for the rest of your life?" Sirius asked incredulously.
"Hey, I like my life," Sandy said sternly. "I have a job, I have my kid. To hell with men, I don't need them anymore. They've screwed up my life already." She reached for another cigarette and struggled with her lighter. "My advice to you is to forget your past life, and start anew. The Ministry won't do anything with substantial evidence, and if they haven't already found it, to hell with them too."
She took a drag off of her cigarette and yelled out, "Cameron! Don't put sand in your shoes and pockets! I don't want to spend the whole night vacuuming after you!"
The girl with the one pigtail sticking out of the side of her head, jutted out her lower lip.
"Don't even try it, young lady! You empty those shoes and pockets now!" Sandy called, pointing her finger threateningly. The girl rolled her eyes and started digging sand out of her pocket.
"Honestly, I would seriously like to hurt the man who invented sand boxes," Sandy said. "Oh, by the way, your boy is burying himself in sand."
"Harry!" Sirius said, jumping up and jogging over to the sandbox. Harry's legs were mostly covered in the sand.
"Look at me, Sirius!" Harry said, throwing sand in the air and making Sirius sneeze.
"Very nice Harry," Sirius said, reaching down and pulling Harry out of the sandbox. There was sand everywhere on the boy now, in his hair, in his pockets. Somehow it managed to get into his mouth, but Sirius had always known Harry to have odd eating habits.
Sandy laughed slightly as Sirius started dusting Harry off. Cameron came over a second later, and her mom started to do a sand inspection. Cameron was shooting Harry dirty looks during the whole ordeal.
"My mommy's magic!" Cameron yelled suddenly. "She can curse your daddy!"
"Sirius is more magic!" Harry replied tauntingly. "And he's not my daddy! He's my godfather so there!" Then Harry stuck his tongue out at Cameron. Cameron stuck her tongue back out and used one finger to push her nose up.
"All right, both of you. Neither of us is magic," Sandy said through gritted teeth.
"But today you-" Sandy clamped one of her hands over her daughter's mouth, muffling the sound.
"Kids these days," Sirius said to someone who had been staring at them. "If we're not magic we're race car drivers! Next my boy will be saying that I invented the light bulb."
Sandy snorted and turned to her daughter. "Remember what I said earlier! Don't say anything about mommy's magic."
"Yeah, same to you!" Sirius said, looking at Harry, who was sticking his tongue out at Cameron again.
"Here," Sandy said, while trying to keep Cameron from biting her hand. She handed Sirius a piece of paper. "This is my phone number. If you ever need help from someone, call me."
"Oh, oh, right," Sirius said, stuffing the paper into his jeans pocket. "Well, Harry, we'd better be going."
"But you said we could spend the whole day-"
"Come on Harry," Sirius said, pulling Harry away. The lunches were forgotten on the park bench, as Sirius and Harry left the park, the younger of the two with sand still in his hair.