DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, he belongs to J.K Rowling and if you are reading this and think any different then St. Mungo's should be your next port of call.

Chapter 4: Reunion

5th November 1981

It was morning when Sirius woke up but he did not know that as the room he was currently in was pitch black and had no source of lights whatsoever. Sirius felt as though the Knight Bus had hit him repeatedly then had his magic stolen by a muggle leaving him weak and sore all over and feeling altogether totally drained. "The last time I was this bad was the night of graduating from Hogwarts" Sirius thought wearily though his headache had luckily subsided slightly since he had woke. "Me, James and Remus must have gone through four bottles of Firewhiskey, before the barman at the Hogs Head actually brought out something stronger. My God did that taste like paint stripper." Sirius reminisced with a slight smile on his face though that disappeared altogether replaced with a look of complete horror as the happenings of the last twenty-four hours came flying through his brain.

Just then did Sirius realise that when he tried to move and couldn't, that there were binds tying him to the bed. "Harry, I hope your safe, I will never forgive myself if you come to harm." Sirius mentally panicked for a moment then reality set in. "It was Moony," Sirius thought "the only other people it could have been were Lucius Malfoy or Rudolphus Lestrange yet I am sure that Narcissa and Bellatrix, my dear cousins have forgot that this place existed."

Sirius's hands were tied above his head and even if he had the strength, he couldn't have done anything as the binds were muggle rope, he was sure of it. Just then he heard a sound that broke his heart and stopped all the thought process in Sirius's head:

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! No!" A high-pitched baby voice squealed out from beyond the door and the sound penetrated Sirius's soul, he was helpless.

"Let Harry go, I swear that if you lay one hand on him, I will find you, hunt you down and break every bone in your body before killing you." Sirius bellowed with pure venom dripping from his voice at the person who he thought to be torturing his Godson.

The sound stopped and Sirius heard footsteps approach the room. Sirius mentally braced himself with coming face to face with his captor and prepared himself to do anything to save his beloved Godson.

The door opened and Remus Lupin entered holding Harry who was busy playing with a toy dragon that Remus had conjured a couple of days ago as unbeknown to Sirius, he had been unconsciousness for four days. Remus looked worse than he normally did though the full moon was still two weeks away. His threadbare robes hung off his frame and his face was full of indecipherable expressions. The death of James and Lily had hit him hard and had only really sunk in when he saw Harry sitting there in his cot, asleep with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead, the only thing that showed the terrible ordeal that he had been put through.

"Hello Padfoot, you have been out cold for four days you know. I have been wondering when you were going to wake, Harry has been calling your name for the past four days." Remus looked at his oldest and best friend with a slight smile that in no way reached his eyes.

"PAHFOT" Harry gurgled happily, now seeing that one of his favourite people was awake and not harmed.

"Harry." Sirius croaked his throat sore. Remus conjured him a glass of water and gave it to him. Sirius drank it in one slip and carried on "Moony old buddy, you have to believe me, it was Peter!" Sirius exclaimed once his voice had returned to a somewhat normal sound.

"Oh I do Padfoot, I do, otherwise I would of turned you in and collected the twenty thousand galleons myself. I want to hear the whole story form you right now, and we'll see where we go from there." Remus calmly stated in an even voice, his emotions threatening to overwhelm him already.

"Alright Moony I will but first, what's this about twenty thousand Galleons?" Sirius asked puzzled about his friends' former statement.

"You don't know Sirius? The ministry has put a bounty of five thousand Galleons for our capture dead and twenty thousand if we are caught alive. You are the most wanted criminal in Europe while I am second. They think that you were Voldemort's right hand man and now are in charge while I am now your number two. After your display against Moody and Frank, which somehow got into the Daily Prophet you are now feared by most of the wizarding population." Remus stated, as he took a chair near the bed where Sirius lay, in a tone full of disgust at how Albus and the public could turn on them so fast, especially Remus who they are hunting for just believing Sirius.

"Okay Moony." Sirius said in a far away sounding voice as he was in a shock filled daze, processing all of the information that he had just received from Remus. It was not surprising either. They were all too quick to jump to conclusions in the wizarding world even Albus who in Sirius's mind was the worst of them all. He would get him back someday he prayed. He would punish the man for not what he had done to himself or even Remus but for Harry's sake. Albus had all but nearly ruined the boys' childhood. If Sirius had stayed put and been captured, there was no doubt in his mind that he would be in Azkaban and Harry would be with Lily's sister, Petunia. He had met her once, just last year with her new husband who was the ugliest, most horrible muggle Sirius had ever met. He would never forgive Albus for what he has done to his Godson, never.

"Padfoot!" Moony chided, bringing his friend out of the abyss that was his thoughts at that current point.

"Sorry Moony got lost for a moment. I'll tell you, but don't speak till I'm finished okay?" Sirius asked Moony.

"Okay Padfoot, but I'll give Harry something to do first," Moony said looking down at the boy who was now seated in his lap gurgling happily about seeing his two "uncles" together as James was teaching him to call them. Remus quickly with a flick of his wand conjured Harry up some toy building blocks and setting Harry down on the floor next to them who was happy to play, turned his full attention to the still tied up man on the bed.

"Now I will start with what happened with the Fidelius Charm." Sirius started saying and once he started the whole story started pouring out. How he had suggested that Peter be the secret keeper as it was the perfect bluff, Voldemort was going to go after Sirius leaving James and Lily safe. They weren't even going to tell Albus. Then how Sirius had been in the pub. How he had felt something was wrong. How Peters flat was deserted. What he had seen when he arrived at Godric's Hollow. The bodies of James and Lily and how they lay. It was all to much for the both of them when he mentioned this and both proceeded to weep and grieve for their dead friends, as the only noise for a matter of minutes was Harry slamming the building blocks together. This was coupled with an occasional word from Harry that was certainly in no language that they had ever heard of. Sirius still ploughed on. His confrontation with Malfoy and the two goons. His trip back to the flat. The owl from Remus and his plan for their safety. The trip to Diagon Alley and Gringotts. Then he told Remus all about his encounter with Frank and Moody and ending up with the journey to Scotland, ending with him remembering collapsing in the living room at the sound of his voice. Remus in turn told Sirius all about his meeting with Albus and all the things that were mentioned in it. His encounter with Snivellus which Sirius despite everything grinned at, followed by him packing most of his possessions worth taking he had (which was very little) and apparating to the Orkney Isles. Then with him proceeding to walk the Isle looking for the cottage which he thought may have been a hoax but after about four hours of walking he found what he was looking for.

They both stared at each other for a matter of minutes in shock at the revelations they had both heard and when Remus came to his senses again, he vanished the ropes and Sirius got up and the two embraced. Tears were flowing freely as they hung on to each other for support. They were on their own now, no one else to turn to. They felt a weight at their legs. Harry obviously wanted to join in the group hug. They both held him tight and new tears were shed when Harry after a minute said, " Mum, Dad?" In a tone which could only be described as pure innocence which brought heartache and longing to the two men present.

After about another quarter of an hour, the group split and Remus, handing Sirius his wand back, saying that James's was on the table, the pair walked into the kitchen and started talking about what they were going to do next. They talked about what they needed to survive and how they were going to bring Harry up, to what they were going to tell them about their parents. They decided to tell Harry that as soon as he was old enough to understand they would tell him the truth and teach him magic using James's wand. Remus had suddenly thought of something and was dreading the answer.

"Padfoot, how are we going to survive, I know that we can conjure most things but things such as a fridge and oven and other essentials as well as clothes for Harry as he grows we can't, how are we going to be able to afford it. I have 1 galleon on me and I can't get to Gringotts, not that it would matter but I know you went, but did you get enough to survive for maybe the next ten years?" Remus asked pleading that Sirius got enough money, otherwise what would they do?

"Moony, Moony, old chum, have I got money, here let me show you." Sirius said with a sweeping gesture, unclipping his necklace and putting the silver chain with the miniature pendant on the table, flicking his wand and saying "Engorgio" and the pendant became a full size trunk witch Sirius opened and showed Remus the trunk full of solid gold Galleons.

"My Lord, Padfoot you think ahead." Remus praised as he saw the contents of the obviously enlarged trunk which must of contained 10,000 Galleons. "It should bloody well be enough" Remus thought. Sirius though still had a big grin on his aristocratic face, which made Remus know that he had something else to add. With a wave of his wand a similar necklace to his own appeared on the table. Sirius then muttered the password for his hidden pocket to reveal and he pulled out the other two trunks. With a wave if the wand and the same incantation as before, he enlarged them both, opened the lids and showed a gob smacked Remus the contents.

"Padfoot, what did you do, rob Gringotts?" Remus said with what felt like the first genuine smile he had cracked in days.

Sirius then proceeded to re-shrink both the trunks, putting one back in his pocket while attaching the other trunk to the necklace on the table and firmly putting in it Remus's hand saying:

"Now Moony, I know how you feel about accepting charity, but I insist that you take this, you never know when you might need it. As for the other one, that is for when Harry is old enough to understand what it contains." Sirius told Remus hoping his friend took the gift.

In answer Remus got his feet and him and Sirius embraced once more though this time it was more of a man hug than before. That was all the answer that Sirius needed to hear.

"Moony, what is this place like, when I came, I could barely see let alone take in the cottage, I have only seen the outside once or twice." Sirius asked almost joyful that he would get to decorate a whole cottage as he had a passion of art that he had gotten when a child and he couldn't seem to shake it. At least once all of his friends would have seen him sitting in one of the plush chairs in the Griffindor common room drawing something on a muggle sketch pad using a muggle pencil.

"Well while you were out I checked out the house and it is quite small but large enough for the three of us, I can give you the guided tour if you want, it won't take very long." Moony replied

"Sure." Padfoot muttered

It was approaching noon when Remus started showing Sirius round the cottage. On the ground floor was an average sized kitchen with a dining table and chairs being the only furniture beside the counters. Then there was a long living room that stretched out over the length of the house. Then there was a small little room that could be perhaps used as a study if one of the marauders needed it to be or a playroom for Harry. Upstairs there was three bedrooms, one large, one of an average size and the one Sirius was in which happened to be the smallest. A fairly large bathroom with a corner tub was the last room on the upstairs floor and concluded the tour of the house. Furniture in the house was sparse at best with an armchair and a sofa in the living room and a battered old desk in the study while all the bedrooms contained a single bed and a wardrobe, nothing more. The carpets were the same throughout the cottage, an old grey colour and looked like they had been there for a couple of centuries which in reality they probably had. The walls were all white or were supposed to be but they all had stains and streaks of dirt. The upstairs rooms did not have windows and the ceilings like everything else in the cottage had dirt on them and a layer of dust that you could get yourself lost in.

Sirius and Remus ended back in the kitchen and seeing Harry still playing with the blocks with a happy grin on his face and looking in a world of his own muttering things to himself now and then, the pair sat down. They decided that they were going to decorate all the rooms first then repeat the process while furnishing the rooms with all the items that they were able to conjure and add the stuff that each man had brought with them but this was quite little. Then they would see where they would go from there. Sirius had brought about half of Gringotts and what looked like to be enough clothing to open three women's boutiques, all he needed was the makeup, as he had also somehow remembered to pack six pairs of shoes. Remus on the other hand had managed only five sets of clothes but brought all the books he had owned which was enough to fill a small library as well as a wizarding wireless. They readily agreed to share each others possessions as Sirius really did need to keep in shape with his training therefore needing the books while Remus was in need of quality clothes though he drew the line at wearing any pastel colours. They agreed to do Harry's room first so they could know that he was safe having his afternoon nap while they decorated the rest of the house.

Picking up Harry, who gurgled and made happy noises about being with his Godfather. It had not yet sunk in that he would never be able to see or hear his Mum and Dad again; Harry bounced up and down as the three of them made the way to what would be Harry's room, which was the smallest bedroom. Sirius had agreed to take the middle sized bedroom which was in the middle of the hall closest to Harry's whose was next door to the bathroom's. Remus didn't mind about this, Harry had always being closer to Sirius due to the fact that Sirius didn't work, and spent most of the time he had with James and Lily. The only time Remus ever thought Sirius left was when he went to chat up women "which was quite often knowing Sirius" Remus laughed softly to himself as they approached Harry's room.

Remus took the furniture side while Sirius as soon as entering the room and setting Harry down began to work on the design almost feverishly muttering cleaning charms and colour charms and other design charms. "Sirius is worse than a women with all these charms, he must have memorised the book, "1001 design charms you might use once in a lifetime" Remus thought softly as a grin spread across his features as he settled down to work. He vanished the bed and with a look of concentration he created a large cot that looked very good with an intricate design on it. A couple of flicks of the word and incantations later the cot was padded and had a temperature adjustment charm on it so if Harry was cold the cot would be warm and vice versa. Another look of concentration creased his face as he transfigured the wardrobe into something more new looking and which had muggle clowns drew all over it as Remus remembered that Harry loved clowns. With a look of someone in hard thought Remus conjured Harry a play chest which also had clowns decorating it and with a intense look kept flicking his wand each time a new toy would appear in Harry's play chest. It contained all the toys he had had at home that Remus could remember and with that Remus was finished and he stepped back in awe to look at the job Sirius had done, not noticing it when he was doing the furnishings. The room was now a light blue on two walls and dark navy on the remaining two, the carpet was a thick plush cream one and the ceiling well, it was spectacular. It was a mural of a typical beach scene with lots of people playing about, building sandcastles and splashing in the sea. The sky was clear with just a hint of cloud and the Sun shone brightly. It now resembled a room fit for a king.

"Padfoot, that is magnificent!" Remus praised, he was shocked by the quality of the mural, as they were extremely hard to do.

"I know Moony, I am the best aren't I" Padfoot said in a mock sigh as he batted his eyelids making Remus burst out laughing.

"Come on then dancing queen, lets lay Harry down and get moving." Remus pointed a look at the boy who was gazing with amazement at the room and clapping his little hands.


"Again, Again!" Harry squeaked in a tone of delight at seeing the game that his two "uncles" were playing.

"Come on Harry, nap time" Remus said in what could only be described at an attempt at his stern voice as he picked the now yawning tot up and placed him in his new bed and tucked him in and kissing him on the forehead in a fatherly manner. Sirius also gave Harry a fatherly kiss and both men crept out of the room and no talk was necessary, they had a lot of work to be done.

Two hours later, Sirius and Remus were sitting at the elegant bronze kitchen table on high backed comfortable chairs completely exhausted as they had spent the last two hours decorating, conjuring and transfiguring all the remaining rooms though none were as elegant as Harry's as there was no need to. They only did Harry's room like that as they wanted him to have the best they could offer as he was stuck there with them for maybe a decade if not more until Sirius's and then subsequently Remus's was figured out. They were now, nursing cups of coffee that Sirius had conjured which was not even comparable to the muggle way that Lily made it and they were discussing what they would for the full moon. It was agreed on both parts that the two of them would build a sufficiently reinforced and warded shed for Remus on the grounds for his transformation, which looked to be about three acres though some trimming charms would need to be used. Either that or a heard of Elephants. A training area was to be constructed for them both to use, as they both would never know when they might need it. That was for another day though as once Harry awoke the pair, who would have to buy a sofa as they were too large to conjure for the pair of them, pushed two armchairs together in front of the fire. Then with Harry perched in between them, the threesome that would become each others only family proceeded to play games and tell stories with all three dropping off into as a contented sleep. Well as contented as can be considering James and Lily Potter being dead and the whole world thinking that Sirius and Remus have turned evil. "At least we have each other and Harry" was the last thought that crossed the pair of Marauders thoughts as they drifted off into the land of dreams.

AN

Another chapter, 4 in a week, you lucky readers! I have decided to keep the chapter lengths as they are, between 3,000 and 6,000 and try to do two maybe three chapters a week although RL has been a pain lately, damn revision. I have had nothing to do for months and when I finally start to write a story, bang; I have a hundred things to do. Anyway enough with the rambling.

Not much happening in this chapter just was setting the scene for later.

I have changed the formatting again with the bold font for speech being removed as a reviewer complained so that is fair enough, I have changed it back.

Any ideas will be considered though NO SLASH, I don't like it and I won't write it, it doesn't fit in with the plot.

How powerful do you want Harry to be, I have an idea but it can change if enough people want another.

Anyway, see u all soon

Thanks to all the reviewers especially those that have reviewed all three, thank you and your words are like music to my ears.

Cheers

Halstead