Hmm… You know… I've almost got a schedule going with this fic. Schedules are dangerous. Because they mean when I'm 'late,' I feel guilty. Silly Wyrm. However, it's extra-long, which should make you all happy. And better yet, I have FIVE reviewers for this chapter! FIVE! I love them all! Cookies for the lot of you!

Becky Silver Black: Because… goats are funny? And I'm afraid your sign isn't going to get much more mileage… I love making people happy, though.

Sunny Moonlight: A-Team? You shouldn't have said that. Sirius and Rory are arguing over who gets to be Murdock now, although personally I see Sirius as more of a Templeton Peck. And Remus found a cigar somewhere and keeps saying 'I love it when a plan comes together.' However, I hope you're happy with the animagus form Reyna and I came up with for Rory.

Evil Emz: Thank you thank you thank you! I try very hard to do the funny/sad mix and keep it balanced.

Lieu of Flowers: I'm glad you like it. I promise Rory's not a Mary Sue, nor will she ever become one. She's simply a very cool plot device for the purpose of giving Sirius and Remus a bunch of children to be daddies to.

Uknowho: I know who? Aaah! Voldemort likes my fic! Wait… is that a good thing, or a bad thing? I'm not sure.

Lovely beautiful reviews. Anyway, on to the story! And I only own Rory! Hey! That rhymed!

29 November 1985

Sirius hadn't returned to the cottage on the moor until after midnight, but he was practically dancing with joy when he did. His excitement had infused his housemates with new energy, and neither of them were sleepy, despite the rain still drumming monotonously on the roof. After Remus and Rory had shown off Harry's room, and the trio had plotted out the day ahead, a tense, anticipatory silence had fallen on them all. The need to be relatively quiet to keep from waking the children balanced badly with nervous energy. Sirius got up and paced, three steps, turn, three steps, turn. Nevermind that there was much more room to pace in; the jet-haired man only took the three steps.

Casting about in his mind for something to distract them all, Remus's sensitive nose picked up the lingering odors of potion ingredients. "You both know what we've forgotten, don't you?"

Both dark heads of hair turned toward Remus, and he found himself momentarily distracted by the fluid grace of his lover's whirl to face him and the way his long hair flared and flowed with the movement. Four impatient grey eyes finally brought him back to himself, and he smiled in amusement at his… family. That thought struck him with such force that he almost retreated back into his thoughts, but then he'd have to explain, and he wanted time to savor the feeling. It had been a long time since Remus had had a family. "Someone in this room, not to name any names, took a potion this afternoon. And if it had been me, I'd be trying out my animagus powers right now."

Discovering that Rory was a snow leopard—and that snow leopards can usually defeat large black dogs in friendly wrestling matches—occupied them until the newborns woke at dawn, clamoring for breakfast. As Remus and Sirius went to the kitchen—Remus to cook, and Sirius to pester and distract him at every turn—the werewolf smiled. Family.

-------------------------

Meanwhile, at Number 4 Privet Drive, Harry was hungry. Half a slice of stale bread wasn't much of a dinner, and it looked like breakfast wasn't going to be much better. He'd been dragged out of his cupboard to set the table while Aunt Petunia made breakfast, but as soon as that chore was done, it was back in the cupboard. He heard the locks on the outside of the door being turned, and hoped there would be some burnt toast left over that he could sneak when he was let out to do the dishes.

The doorbell rang.

--------------------------

Rory was most uncomfortable. True, she quite often wore muggle clothing, but that was jeans and a t-shirt. This business suit was itchy and chafed. Worse, it had been bought before she was pregnant with the girls, which meant it was now too tight around the chest. A glance at her companions revealed that Sirius was looked just as uncomfortable as she, and Remus kept fighting with his tie as if it was strangling him.

A last look up at the house of Remus's friend Maggie, who'd agreed to take care of the children for the day, and Rory was ready to go. Almost. "Did either of you ever actually meet Lily's sister? Or her husband, for that matter?"

"No," Remus responded after exchanging a look with Sirius. "I saw her leaving a room once protesting about Lily and her 'freakish' friends, but that was it. All I know is that she disliked Lily for being a witch."

"I spent a lot of time with her during the summers… the Dursleys are the kind of people who give witches a bad name. They don't like anything outside their definition of 'normal,' and magic isn't 'normal.' Petunia didn't hate Lily for being a witch—she hated her because Lily was praised for being 'abnormal.' What I'm trying to say is, we're going to have trouble getting in the house, and when we leave, we're likely to have a very confused little boy for awhile."

"You mean he might not know about his parents." Sirius's voice was calm and level, a fact which caused his friends to exchange an alarmed look. Calm Sirius meant angry Sirius. Rory chose her next words carefully, but couldn't tell him less than the truth.

"That's entirely possible. It's also possible that if he's shown any signs of magical talent, he's been punished for it. At the very least, he's been living with people who don't understand him, and haven't even tried to." Rory met Sirius's eyes meaningfully. They both knew about not being understood by family, although the Greys were a bit more liberal than the Blacks.

"Then let's not keep him there any longer. I'll try to keep my mouth shut and let you two do the talking." Sirius slipped an arm around Remus's waist and pulled the werewolf close as the trio walked out of sight of potential watchers before apparating.

---------------------

The house was oppressively tidy, even from the outside. Not only was it tidy, it was exactly like the houses on either side of it, and the ones across from it, and down the street… the only features to distinguish number four from number eight, or seventeen, or forty two was the color of the flowers out front and the number on the door. Sirius found the monotony almost painful. "Who actually chooses to live like this? There's no originality anywhere!"

"That sums up the Dursleys quite well, actually. Petunia, anyway. I only met her husband once, though he seemed the same." Rory pulled out her reading glasses and put them on, the action somehow transforming her into a very prim and proper businesswoman. Sirius wondered how she managed it—it fit so oddly with her usual cheerful laidback manner.

The comforting form of Remus pressed against his side steadied Sirius, but he knew it couldn't last much longer. The Dursleys had to take them seriously, and he had a good guess as to the Dursley view on homosexuals. Remus had apparently come to the same conclusion, because with a soft smile and a caress, he reluctantly pulled away from the embrace. He did, however, stay close enough that their shoulders touched, and Sirius smirked. "Can't keep your hands off me, can you Moony?"

"Just wait 'til you see where I put them next time, Padfoot." Remus definitely had the sexiest smirk in the world. Under other circumstances, Sirius would have been forced to kiss it, but Rory was ringing the doorbell, so both men tried to be on good behavior.

---------------------

Petunia Evans Dursley frowned when the doorbell rang. Who could be at the door at this hour of the morning? Dudley hadn't even finished breakfast yet. Poor dear always got so hungry by lunch if he didn't have all of his breakfast. And Vernon was still reading his paper… Petunia headed for the door, removing her apron as she went. A look out the peephole revealed a very businesslike trio, although one of the men had obscenely long hair. She opened the door. "I'm sorry, no solicitors…"

"We're not solicitors." The woman adjusted her glasses. "I'm Aurora Grey, and my associates and I are here to discuss important business regarding the estate of James and Lily Potter."

The mention of her sister's name darkened Petunia's face, and she would have closed the door except somehow all three of the strangers were through the door and the tawny-haired one was closing it behind him. Grey produced a sheet of parchment from somewhere, and consulted it. "Now, you're likely not aware of the exact provisions of the Potters' will in regards to…"

"No I am not aware, nor do I care what my sister and her good-for-nothing husband wrote in their will. It's bad enough that we've had to raise their son!" Petunia had a height advantage of a few inches, and stood as close as possible to the slender brunette, trying to intimidate her.

Grey lifted her eyes to those of the belligerent woman before her. A lifted eyebrow and a calm smile somehow turned the tables, and Petunia was the one left feeling intimidated. "As I was saying, you may be unaware that you were not the intended custodians of your nephew Harry. Mr. and Mrs. Potter appointed a godfather, one Sirius Black…"

"Who killed them. I know the whole story. The man's in prison, what does he have to do with anything?" Petunia felt and heard Vernon coming up behind her, and stood taller. Her husband would help get rid of these people.

"Well, then if you know the whole story you'll know that Mr. Black is out of prison, and has requested custody of his godson. I have the paperwork here, already signed by Headmaster Dumbledore. All you need to do is sign and turn over your nephew." The businesslike woman produced another bit of parchment, and the tawny-haired man stepped forward with a quill and inkwell. It was rather ominous to Petunia the way their companion stayed behind them in the shadows.

Vernon pushed past his wife. "Where do we sign?"

"Vernon, no!" Petunia pulled him down to whisper in his ear. "They're trying to turn the boy over to his godfather. The man's a murderer! He'll be killed!"

Apparently Petunia's whispering technique needed some work, as the tallest of the trio—the long-haired man—stepped forward. "Voldemort couldn't kill him. What makes you think I can?"

Petunia fainted. Vernon scowled. Grey adjusted her glasses. "Shall we get on with the signing?"

By the time Petunia regained consciousness, Vernon had signed the parchment—with his pen, having declined the quill. He scowled as Black stepped forward to countersign. "Don't you ever cut your hair? You look like a fairy."

The three strangers exchanged a look before bursting into laughter, although no explanation was forthcoming while Black signed the papers over the now-conscious Petunia's protests. Finally he reached out and pulled the tawny-haired man close. "But I am a fairy, Dursley. We're Harry's fairy godfathers. Now where is he?"

Petunia tried to sneak back to Harry's cupboard, meaning to let Harry out before they could get there, but all three of them followed her back into the house, ignoring the purpling of Vernon's face. At the sight of the cupboard, growls rose from all three, and Petunia knew she was in trouble. Black shoved her aside, pointing his wand at the door and muttering something under his breath.

All three were obviously furious, but the quiet, as-yet-unnamed man was trembling in anger, dividing his gaze between Vernon and Petunia. "You keep him in the cupboard?"

"Yes. What business is it of yours?" Vernon stepped forward, gnawing on his mustache, but not at all afraid of the slender, golden eyed man in front of him. Petunia, however, shrank away from the quiet man, sensing that there was more to him than met the eye.

Sirius and Rory turned away from the cupboard, Sirius holding a confused but elated Harry, and Rory holding a pillowcase full of Harry's few belongings. They were just in time to see Remus's fist connecting with Vernon Dursley's nose.

Whew… this one took awhile. And I think it qualifies as my longest chapter ever. I really wanted to get Harry out of there, though, so I added the fifth section for this chapter. Next chapter is all about learning to be a family. And review! It makes me happy! Without reviews this chapter would've taken even longer to write.