I don't think this is going to actually get into Harry's school years. Maybe. I don't know yet. Truthfully, it's already gone further than I thought it would.
Timeline of events: (mainly to keep things straight in my own head...)
October 31st- around 10-10:15 PM, James and Lily die.
10:25, Dumbledore tries to seal their wills and claim Harry through Gringotts.
10:30, Sirius arrives at the house and takes Harry from the ruins after 15 minute argument with Hagrid, goes straight to the bank. Harry is seen by Curse-Breaker's and Healers, letters are sent to Lord Black and Sirius is shown to a room.
November 1st- between midnight and dawn, Lord Black comes to bank, learns the situation, goes to the Ministry. Lawyers and Aurors argued, agreement made for Sirius to be questioned. The Goblins kick all Ministry officials out of the Potter home, except for the Unspeakables. Lawyers stop media from surrounding Harry. Walburga is banished.
11 AM, Aurors question Sirius, he sends off letters to the Longbottoms.
1 PM, Aurors arrest Peter Pettigrew.
November 2nd- Fight in the Wizengamot chamber
November 3rd- Bodies are prepared and attack on the Longbottoms safe house
It is now November 4
Maybe if Orion had always been absent, the pain of his absence would not have been so bad.
Sirius pursed his lips briefly. "I'll think about it." He finally muttered before moving to rescue Nidget, who was starting to get agitated with Harry's attentions. He was honestly surprised it had taken the cat this long.
"That's all I ask." Arcturus said.
Sirius stood off to the side, Frank and Alice at his side, Harry and Neville in their arms. The two boys were happily chattering back and forth in a language only children seemed to know, seemingly not letting the somber air of the adults bother them. Everyone who saw Harry smiled sadly at the poor boy who'd just lost both his parents.
Everyone here at least had enough sense to not bring up the current rumors that Harry was the one to defeat Voldemort, rumors spread by Dumbledore that were gaining ground despite the media blackout the Potter lawyers had successfully enacted. Most people were so thrilled with the end of the war that they were willing to believe anything about it, especially if Albus Dumbledore was the one to say it was so, while the few that were skeptical were too busy celebrating to raise their questions.
They knew the moment Albus Dumbledore arrived at the gates, as the man seemed to enjoy causing a stir wherever he went. The moment he arrived, his eyes were scanning the crowd, and lit up the moment he saw Sirius with young Harry. Sirius was surprised, though, when he didn't approach them right away. Instead, he started wandering through the crowd, speaking with people and greeting them as though he was the host of this gathering.
Sirius narrowed his eyes, not liking the way the other guests started looking Harry's way after a short conversation with the old Headmaster. Maybe he should move up his plans to leave the country, his grandfather had already chosen a house and sent elves ahead to double check that it was ready to be moved into and had the wards checked again, even though they had just been checked the month prior. They could really move in at any moment. (He just had to buck up his Gryffindor courage and do it.)
Frank growled quietly beside him. "He's doing it again." He muttered, and shifted his body so that Neville was hidden from view, followed quickly by Sirius with Harry. Thankfully the more Slytherin members of the crowd caught the wordless hint and stopped looking at the children, the others completely missed it and instead tried to move so that they could keep staring at the small child.
"Sirius, it's time." Arcturus said softly, coming up to Sirius and laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. Sirius swallowed and handed Harry over to his godmother, who took him carefully and followed along behind him while Frank stayed where he was.
When he'd first moved in, the Potters adjusted the wards to accept Sirius as one of the family. When they died, the manor wards went into lockdown, and only one of the family could lift them. So, while the Goblins could and would manipulate the quarantine wards around the property using the amulets all the guests were wearing, only Sirius could actually let anybody onto the property.
At the front of the crowd, Arcturus cleared his throat, having already been requested by Sirius to be the one to address everyone. Sirius had prepared a small speech about James and Lily, about the people they had been, but that was the extent he felt he would be able to speak with everyone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for coming to say your farewells to two amazing young people, and for your support of the family in this time of grief. At this time, we ask that you make sure you are wearing your amulets provided to you, as you will not be able to pass through the quarantine wards without them. For those who do not know, the amulets will act as a localized ward around your person, enabling your safe passage in and out of the property. We request that nobody stray, and that you be respectful of the property." Arcturus could not resist adding that little jab, looking straight at Albus Dumbledore, remembering the first time the then Transfiguration professor came to visit him about one of his children during the school year.
When the professor had been left alone in the parlor he'd been shown to while Arcturus finished the paperwork he'd been doing, he'd somehow gotten the urge to go exploring. When the elves found him he was in the library casually flicking through a family journal that detailed some potions invented by that member of the family. The next week Albus Dumbledore had released a potion to the public, claiming full responsibility for its invention.
Needless to say, he'd been crushed in the court case for the theft of intellectual and family property and had never been invited back. (Arcturus knew for a fact that the whole thing had been buried, because when he looked into it a few years later, all paperwork about it was gone and nobody remembered it but him.)
Just to be safe, there were three elves assigned to making sure nobody wandered off today.
Once he was done speaking, Sirius placed his hand on the gate, pushed his magic into it, and murmured the passwords to lift the lockdown. Then he physically unlocked the gate with a small key before pushing it open. As soon as they were, a Ministry official port-keyed just inside, James and Lily beside him on stretchers, an Honor Guard made up of Aurors surrounding them.
The crowd murmured quietly at the sight of them, but maintained a respectful air.
Sirius swallowed heavily at the sight of his brother and sister before glancing at Alice. She was using Harry as an excuse to not have to look at her best friend while keeping him turned away from his parents so he wouldn't get confused or try to go to them.
Perhaps bringing him was a bad idea after all...
Frank had Neville and was standing beside Augusta at the front of the procession line that had formed, almost automatically, when the bodies were brought to the head of the line. Those that were closest to the deceased and family members were at the front, while those that weren't as close were behind them, although he noticed that Albus had managed to slot himself into place near the front.
Taking their places at the very front, Sirius and Arcturus began leading the way towards the Burial Grounds on the property.
Halfway down the front drive, they turned onto a hidden path. It was dark despite the time of day, and was instead lit by floating fairylights. The path was lined with sturdy oak trees, and all the Potter and Black family House-elves were standing at attention along the way. Once the procession came into view, they started throwing flowers onto the path and singing an Ancient elven blessing for the dead, wishing them a safe journey to the Other Side.
Most of the guests were shocked by this, as they'd never seen elves behave this way. They didn't even know that the elves had their own language. Many of them only saw their elves as servants that were beneath their notice at best.
There were a few cries of fear when large creatures began to come out of the tree line; the Griffins that the Potter's were rumored to have, Hippogriffs, Pegasi, a few Abraxan, and a small assortment of smaller animals. Even a few of the Unicorns that lived on the property and were rarely seen by the residents.
Sirius stopped by one of the Griffins and rested his forehead against the creatures. "He's gone, Claws." He whispered to James' personal Griffin. Claws was born on James' sixth birthday, and as a result he was allowed to name the animal. According to Charlus, it wasn't long before Claws and James were inseparable, the Griffin even going so far as to sneak inside James' room at night through the balcony.
Claws made a small sound, looking towards his human, before rearing onto his hind legs and roaring, followed by the rest of the animals. Then all of them, except Claws who joined Sirius and Arcturus at the head of the procession, bowed as the humans continued moving along the path, making their way towards the Grounds.
The guests started murmuring again, shocked by the animals' behavior. A few smiled sadly when they heard Harry's excited babble as he stared at the different animals. One of the baby Griffins even went so far as to stretch her neck out so she could sniff at him, curiously. The young toddler seemingly wasn't letting the somber air affect him, only Sirius and Alice could see the slight tension around his eyes that meant he was starting to become scared.
Alice paused a moment to allow Harry to investigate the creature, but couldn't stop for long, they were part of the head of procession, they couldn't be passed by anybody else, and it would be disrespectful to delay.
When they finally arrived at the burial grounds, the processional line fanned out to form a half-circle around the family and the bodies. There, they waited respectfully.
The Honor Guard took up positions on either side of the tombs doorway, waiting for Sirius and Arcturus to take the bodies inside, but Sirius and Arcturus had to speak first. Arcturus laid a gentle hand on Sirius' shoulder, giving him a small amount of comfort.
"Lily and James Potter made a name for themselves as strong, capable fighters. Three times they faced the Dark Lord known as Voldemort. Three times he tried to force them to join him. Three times they refused. Three times they fought him off, the last time they fought, they severely wounded him. Separately, they were powerful and skilled fighters. Ask any Auror who fought beside James. But together... together they were unstoppable. That's how the people know them. I knew them as my brother and sister. They were there for me when I needed them. They were kind, loyal, but Merlin help you if you got either of them angry. They leave behind a son, a little boy who they adored and died protecting, nothing any parent wouldn't do for their child, really. The world... I will miss them greatly." He bowed his head and turned to lay his hands beside their heads on the stretchers and stood there for a moment before Arcturus urged him to go inside.
There were very few dry eyes in the crowd after Sirius was done speaking, those that weren't crying were the bearers of a certain ugly Mark on their arms. Truthfully, Sirius hadn't said half of what he'd planned, but halfway through he'd found that he couldn't continue for much longer without breaking down completely.
The people left outside the tomb lifted their wands and started slowly circling them in the air, a ball of light forming at the end of them while Sirius and Arcturus took the stretchers from the Ministry official and finished the journey, floating them inside the Family Crypt, where they would rest. Alice kept young Harry with her outside, he would just become confused to see his parents right now, she'd managed to keep him from seeing them so far, but it would be unavoidable in the crypt. Claws stood beside them, head bowed as he gazed after his favorite human.
Inside, Sirius directed Arcturus past the filled coffins to the middle of the room, where two platforms stood, and they carefully directed James and Lily's stretchers to lay on top of them, vanishing the supports after they were finally put down. Then, Sirius sighed and allowed himself a moment to break down.
"Come on. We must finish the Rites." Arcturus said quietly, already setting up. Sirius pulled himself together again and silently said his good-byes before turning to help his grandfather finish preparing the bodies.
Once they were done here, the bodies would remain in the center for seven days before the magic of the Family would move them to a closed coffin on either side of the tomb with a name plaque and a carved likeness of them. Nobody knew how it was done, and if the Potters themselves knew, none of them ever said anything to Sirius.
When the two men came back out of the tomb, the guests were still in a half-circle with the Honor Guard on either side of the entrance. When they left, the waiting crowd released all the built up magic into the air, setting off firework-like explosions. Harry and Neville jumped, but cheered and babbled to their respective adult in amazement.
"Food is set up in the tent, let us eat and celebrate two young lives and all they accomplished." Arcturus announced. The crowd bowed towards the tomb in respect, then began making their way towards the pavilion nearby that had been built for just this purpose. The House-elves had used the time Sirius and Arcturus spent in the tomb setting out the food in a buffet style for the guests.
Once it was just the two of them, Frank, Alice, and the boys, Arcturus placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder again. "You did well. For now, see to the guests. Tell stories about them. Let yourself begin to heal." He said quietly. Sirius nodded and took Harry from Alice gratefully, burying his nose in the boys' hair before following his grandfather's advice. Harry needed to eat, anyway. Claws followed along behind him when he went to the pavilion, not wanting to let his human's nestmate and cub out of his sight right now.
"Ah, my boy. There you are. I was hoping we could talk about young Harry's-" Albus was cut off.
"No, my godson is not going to live wherever you seem to believe he needs to go. He is going to stay with me, where he belongs." Sirius said, glaring. Harry squirmed in his arms, and he deliberately took a deep, calming breath. "I don't know what you're up to, but you can leave Harry out of it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a little boy to feed and funeral guests to see to." He said, reminding Albus of where they were and that this really wasn't the time for him to be trying some political scheme.
Albus frowned and stepped in Sirius' path when he tried to move around the old man. "I am not up to anything. I merely worry for young Harry's safety, he is the one to defeat Voldemort after all, and many Death Eaters are still walking free." He said, pitching his voice just loud enough to be heard by those nearby.
Sirius' eyes blazed with fury. "You and I both know that is a load of Hippogriff sh- dung!" He snapped, barely remembering to watch his language considering the setting. "We both know it was that protection ritual Lily and James performed, just like we both know that if you really had Harry's best interests in mind, you wouldn't be trying to separate him from his family and you wouldn't have been so ready to have me thrown in Azkaban! Again, leave my godson out of your schemes!" He ordered and pointedly turned his back on the old man.
"I suggest you leave us alone before I have you removed. This is hardly the place for making a political statement." Arcturus stopped by Albus and glared before ushering nearby guests away to enjoy the food and listen to some of the stories from those who knew James and Lily Potter best. He made a mental note to push Sirius into leaving sooner, rather than later.
Albus frowned after them, but resolved to deal with it later. He could already see the disapproving glares of many of the guests who had seen and heard the confrontation. He'd planned for it to happen so that the others could hear how Harry had saved them and attempt to pressure Sirius into giving in through public demand. That backfired horribly. He was going to have to think of something else.
The next few hours passed quickly as those who knew James and Lily shared stories with the crowd, gathering much laughter from the people despite the setting and general atmosphere. But, as Sirius said, James would not want everyone to be crying over him, he would want people to have some fun.