A/N: I thought I'd answer some questions people had put to me at the start of the chapter, to clear certain things up.

THESE NOTES MAY ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS!

First, this story is AU – that's Alternate Universe. In this world, Sirius remained the Potters' secret keeper for three years longer than in canon. It was only in the last months prior to this story, when Sirius was promoted in the aurors and realised he was a danger to his friends if he was captured that the role of secret keeper to the Potters was switched to Peter Pettigrew – who subsequently betrayed them to Voldemort, as in canon.

Second, due to Sirius' capture, Dumbledore does not have a clue where Harry is or even whether he is still alive or not. Andromeda's letter was intercepted before it reached Dumbledore, hence the tip off that lead to the attack on the train, and the lack of protection that Dumbledore put on the train. THIS WAS AN UNEXPECTED ATTACK, since in normal circumstances Voldemort would have little to gain by killing Hogwarts students (many of which would be children of his own followers, or potential followers).

Before the attack on the train, pretty much everybody was focussed on the aftermath of the ministry attack, especially Dumbledore.

So what does Dumbledore know, at this point? Very Little.

He knows the Potters are dead and Harry is missing. Even the Daily Prophet knows this.

He does NOT know whether Harry is in friendly hands, captured by death eaters, or dead. He never got Andromeda's letter.

He knows Sirius, too, is missing – but as we shall see, many other aurors are also unaccounted for.

He does NOT know that Peter, not Sirius, was the Potters' secret keeper.

He is unsure as to where Sirius' loyalty lies. After the attack on the train, Dumbledore will probably suspect that the death eaters were looking for Harry, leading him to believe that, at least up until the attack, Harry was in safe hands.

He will quickly realise that in that case, someone must have rescued Harry from Godric's hollow, and someone must have interrupted the attack on the Potters, probably Sirius or Peter – because again, he still thinks Sirius was the Potters' secret keeper and Peter was loyal.
And on another note:

Remus is not an auror, though he is a member of the Order.

Whew. Well, I hope that helps. I'm sorry if I didn't make something clear in earlier chapters, I can't expect you all to psychically know what I'm thinking. And if you think anything is not obvious enough, please do tell me! It doesn't make you dumb, it just makes me too lazy! I want to know when I'm being too sneaky!

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Lost: Small Boy, Answers to Harry

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It was a boy on a broomstick, hurtling out of the sky and falling in a huddle at Nyphadora's feet. Harry recognised him as the red-haired second-year he had seen on the train. He was staring past them, his mouth hanging open. Nymphadora picked Harry up and sat him behind the boy, then threw her leg over the handle, jabbed the boy in the ribs to snap him out of his trance and yelled, "fly, or by God, I'll skin you!"

The boy had been gaping at the approaching death eaters, transfixed, but at the girl's feisty words he gripped the handle of the broom and kicked off from the ground. The extra weight made the broom sluggish to get airborne, and two more hexes shot past their ears, as a third chopped a few twigs from the tail of the broom. The nearest masked assailant made a dive for the three children, clawing at Nymphadora's ankle and trying to drag her to the ground. She pulled out her wand and, knowing not a single curse to cast on him, she just poked him in the eye of his mask with the end of her wand. He fell back with a cry.

The boy clearly knew how to handle a broomstick, and quickly compensated for the extra weight. They rocketed upwards, the ground dropping away below them. A barrage of curses following them into the sky while one death eater screamed in frustration. Harry was sandwiched between the two other children, his arms around the boy's waist and his faced pressed to the scratchy wool of his jersey. Nymphadora has stashed her wand back into her robes and had her own arms around the boy's shoulders. The stinging wind bit at Harry's cheeks, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

The boy turned his head and yelled at Nymphadora, "we have to go back! My older brother Bill is still down there somewhere!" The wind seemed to be making his eyes run, and a tear splattered against Harry's glasses.

"No!" Nymphadora shouted in return as the boy turned to circle the train once more, the wind nearly snatching her words away, "don't you dare turn back! Get us to safety first!"

The boy made some unintelligible comment and turned towards the forest. Harry looked down and felt dizzy and thrilled at the same time. The sensation of flight roared through him, terrifying and exhilarating. This is what I want to do one day! He thought to himself.

The boy dipped the broomstick and they dove towards the forest.

"SLOW DOWN!" screeched Nymphadora, "WE'RE GOING TO CRASH…!"

CRUNCH. With an awful splintering sound, they dropped into the topmost branches of a large oak. For a few moments, nobody moved, and loud groans came from the two older children. Then Nymphadora slid off towards the trunk, looking decidedly ill, and clambered down onto a thicker bough where she tipped her head back to look up at the boy. Harry climbed down onto a branch next to her.

The boy sat, supported, it seemed, by nothing more than twigs, and stared at his broomstick, which had cracked in half, and splintered down its length, the handle hanging limply by a few slivers of wood. "It was brand new," he whispered. Then his face darkened, "I have to go back and look for my brother. What if he didn't make it off the train?"

"They weren't there to kill students," Nymphadora told him, "I think, once they realise they lost their target, they'll withdraw pretty quickly."

The boy looked at her, and then at Harry, "when we flew off – when they were hurling curses at us – one of them was yelling 'don't fire, don't knock them off the broom, the boy has to be alive.' What was it they were looking for, attacking the train like that?"

Nymphadora didn't answer. After a few moments of silence, the boy, said, "I'm Charlie, by the way."

"Tonks," Nymphadora replied, "and he's Harry."

"Pleased to meet you," said Harry, "I'm sorry about your broom. I liked it very much."

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The three children trudged across the empty field, heads hanging in exhaustion. They had been walking for miles now, but the only sign of human life had been a few rugged farm roads. Charlie still carried his broken broom over his shoulder, reluctant to throw it away, even though he had grimly declared it was beyond repair. The clouds hung low overhead, occasionally letting loose a short trickle of rain onto the traveller's already miserable heads.

"Perhaps we should send sparks up into the air," suggested Charlie, "perhaps some of the other students will see. The prefects must be around somewhere."

"What if the death eaters see, and they find us?" Nymphadora pointed out.

Charlie pressed on, "all the death eaters were all back at the train."

"They'll be combing the countryside, looking for us," the girl replied, "so sure, if you'd like to end up dead, go ahead."

"There's no need to bite my head off," muttered Charlie, "It was just a suggestion."

"Well, I suggest you don't make any more of them," Nymphadora snapped.

"Sheesh, I didn't ask for your company."

"Then maybe you should start walking in a different direction!"

"Hey, look!" said Harry. He grabbed Nymphadora's sleeve and bounced forward, "look there!"

Charlie raised his eyes wearily, "it's just another muggle road. A star teal one, that's all."

"It's called tar seal," Nymphadora corrected.

"That's not what my dad calls it, he's in charge of muggle artefacts at the ministry and he calls is 'star teal'."

"Stop it!" Harry stomped his foot, "it isn't just a road. I've seen that road. I flew down it, with my Dad. When we came to visit Moony!"

"What do you mean?" Nymphadora hurried on, with Harry dragging her towards the road by her sleeve, "who's Moony?"

"He lives here! He lives somewhere around here!" Harry could not contain his excitement. The horror of the attack on the train was lost against the thought of seeing his honorary uncle again, "his name's Remus Lupin. He looks after me lots. We went to visit him just last month, for Dad's birthday. Dad flew me around on his broomstick – he didn't go as high as you, though," he called to Charlie, who was scurrying to catch up with them.

"He's a wizard? And he's on the good side?" Charlie broke into a run and reached the road ahead of Harry and Nymphadora. They climbed the rock wall by the side of the road and stood in the middle of the black stretch, looking up and down it.

"Of course he is. He knows Dumbledore. He can find Sirius!" Harry whooped, "come on, I know his house is down this road somewhere, past the village."

"Past the village?"

"How far away does this Moony live?" Charlie asked suspiciously.

"I'm not sure," said Harry, "maybe half an hour by broomstick?"

Nymphadora sighed and Charlie groaned, looking at the sun which was rapidly heading towards the horizon.

"It's gonna be a long walk by moonlight," he said, as they followed the jubilant Harry towards the sunset.

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"C-crucio!"

A million points of fire shot through his nerves: he was blind, deaf, senseless, every muscled tensed so that his body arched upwards, the wire binding his hands cutting deeper into his wrists, but he didn't notice, didn't even feel it…

It was over. Sirius' body tingled and ached, and he gasped for breath, surprised to find he was still alive. He opened his eyes a slit to see the man standing over him, the point of the wand trembling just under Sirius' chin.

"Not very imaginative," Sirius said, wishing immediately that he hadn't.

"Don't get smart!" the wizard jabbed at Sirius' throat, catching on his adam's apple, "you better tell me. You just better tell me where you hid the boy. He gotta still be in the city…"

Sirius didn't reply, and after a moment the man began again.

"Crucio!"

"Stop," he muttered, when it was over, "I'll tell you…"

The man's eyes glittered, "yes?"

"He's gone…I broke into a house and used the Floo network…I sent him to a safe house in Bristol…"

"Liar! Crucio!"

It seemed to go on for a lifetime. Sirius hung limply from the water pipe, mumbling incoherently.

"What was that? Are you telling the truth, now?"

Sirius mumbled again.

The man leaned forward eagerly so his face was inches from Sirius' nose, "what did you say? Tell me!"

"What I said was, 'Masturbation makes you deaf!" Sirius arched his body and brought his knee up and onto the underside of the man's jaw, and the crack echoed around the room. The man gave a squeal of pain and fell forward, rolling off the iron bench and sliding to the floor in a crumpled heap next to his dead companion. He didn't move, though his chest could be seen rising and falling.

"Death eaters these days are so gullible," Sirius muttered to himself. The man's wand was lying on the floor within easy reach. But how to get to it without magic?

After a moment the obvious answer hit him. He kicked off his shoes and stretched his leg out, curling his toes around the handle of the wand. He managed to pick it up with his toes and then wriggled himself into a more comfortable position. His body still felt weak and shivery from the unforgivable curse the man had cast on him, and he was still stuck, even if he had a wand now. But try as he might, he couldn't do more than shoot sparks while holding the wand with his feet.

Dammit! He was in just as bad a predicament as he had been ten minutes ago, although at least no one was torturing him now. But the unconscious wizard on the floor was bound to wake up soon enough, and then Sirius would be back to square one.

He'd have to bluff his way out. The man was drunk after all, and he didn't know that you couldn't cast spells with your feet. A few sparks and some tough talk might convince him to obey Sirius, at least long enough for him to untie his bonds.

Then suddenly there were clunking footsteps coming down the stairs and voices floated through the crack in the door.

"In here!" Sirius yelled, "hey, in here! I need a hand!"

The voices stopped and the door was pushed fully open. With the light shining from behind them, Sirius couldn't see the faces of his rescuers, but he felt relief spread over his own features.

"Who is it?" a man's voice asked as he came into the room, "who are you?" he tripped on the leg of the dead man and gaped, "oh my gosh! It's Quirce, and Laxman!" He squinted at Sirius, "who are you? What's happened here?"

The figure behind him suddenly broke into raucous female laughter. Laughter which Sirius recognised very clearly. His heart plummeted into his stomach and his toes clutched instinctively at the useless wand.

"Look, Avery!" sneered Bellatrix Lestrange, coming into the room so that Sirius could see her face, "it's my dear mudblood-loving cousin, all tied up and nowhere to run. Looks like Laxman did something right for once. Oh, can I stun him, can I please?"

"Be my guest," said the death eater called Avery.

"Bollocks," said Sirius quietly.

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TBC