Title: As Black as the night

Summary: It's Lily and James' funeral and the 2 remaining marauders are there with their wives. The Will is read and Harry finds himself without Dudley...Oneshot. Prequel to A B C's...Oh Dear!

As two snow-white coffins were carried up the aisle, tears welled in everybody's eyes. James and Lily Potter, two of Hogwart's greatest students, had been killed by the Greatest Dark Wizard of all times, Lord Voldemort. Baby Harry, only a year old, was instantly shipped off to his only living relatives: the Dursleys.

As the coffins proceeded to the large silk curtain that hung at the end of the chapel, Sirius stood up to speak.

"James had a dream. A dream that was snatched from him before it had properly begun. His dream was this; to bring up Harry like a proper father would; to play quidditch with him on weekdays and treat him and Lily to days out on Saturdays. To watch Harry grow up, go to primary school, away from magic and then to grow up and go to Hogwarts. To be a part of his life and help him when things got too much. He had Harry's whole life planned out the day he was born. He wanted to see Harry when he learned to walk and talk to when he got his first girlfriend. From when he learnt to ride a broomstick to when he performed his first spells. He's going to see none of this. He's not going to see his son do any of these things because of some power-hungry freak thought all the Potter's deserved was to have their socks blown off and then to try and kill a defenceless baby." Sirius paused to wipe his eyes and several people in the audience did the same. "He's gonna be looking after Harry from a distant place now. A place where Harry won't be going for a long time yet." Sirius turned to the coffins and placed his hand on James'. "We'll miss you Prongs. Harry will make you proud; I'm sure he will." Sirius turned to his seat next to his wife, Tamsin Black, and hugged her close, his tears falling into her long brown hair. Remus rose to his feet and took his place, ready to deliver his speech.

"What can I say about Lily? She was smart, strong-willed and pretty. Coming top in every class, she left Hogwarts with extremely good grades. But she put them all on hold to be with James, despite her vowing she would never have anything to do with him. She had him and he had her. They were happy with their lives, especially when Harry was born. Lily put all her career plans on hiatus, until she felt ready to work. She was strong willed. Once she wanted something done, it would get done and to the way she wanted it. Once an idea came to her, it wouldn't leave until it had been fulfilled. She was a very pretty girl. All the boys, especially James, would do anything to get noticed by her. One Amos Diggory came pretty close but James beat them all, just like he said he would." Remus wiped his eyes hastily and continued, bringing his speech to a close. "Lily," He said, looking from her coffin up to the sky, "Your memory will live in all our hearts forever and, right here, in front of all these witnesses, if I ever find Pettigrew, I'll kill him for you. You never know, you may see him up there in the near future. Goodbye Lil, Goodbye Prongs." Remus finished and returned to his own wife, Tara Smyth-Lupin. The coffins passed through the satin curtain and people rose from their seats, bracing themselves for the bitter November winds.

"Mr and Mrs Lupin, Mr and Mrs Black? May I have a word?" Said the Ministry official. Confused looks on their faces, they followed the Official into an antechamber, where a large oak desk sat with a large reel of parchment. Tara gasped. Having just lost her youngest sister, she knew what was ahead – the will reading. Tamsin saw her friend's pale face and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"The will reading of James Potter and Lily Potter, nee Evans commencing on November 5th 1981. Now, as you all know, the Potter's property was destroyed when they were killed but what you may not have known is that they owned a small house in Devon and that has been left in the joint custody of Mr Remus Lupin and Mr Sirius Black." Remus looked at Sirius and cleared his throat.
"What are we going to do with a house in Devon? We both have houses?" He asked more to the will-reader than Sirius and the will-reader smiled.

"Also, Mr and Mrs Potter also requested and cleared that after their deaths, Mr Lupin and Mr Black and their wives also have joint custody of one Harry Potter." Remus looked at Sirius.

"At least James' wish can be fulfilled." Sirius said happily.

"Ah, well, there is a drawback. If any of you don't agree, then Harry could continue growing up with Mr. and Mrs Dursley."

"What are the drawbacks?" Tamsin asked tentatively.

"Well, they wanted harry to grow up, under the circumstances, not knowing everything about magic but not knowing anything until he was old enough to understand not to tell anyone. You see, Harry didn't die because Lily gave her life for him. Therefore, You-Know -who couldn't kill him."
"He can't live with those muggles. We'll take him and live in the house in Devon, away from everyone. He'll grow up knowing what James and Lily wanted him to know." Tara spoke for the first time through the duration of the meeting.

"Very well then. If you pop over to the Ministry and ask to use the floo, you can get to Dumbledore and he can sort the finer details out. Thank you for your time and you have my deepest sympathies with your losses." The Ministry official shook everyone's hand in turn before they all turned to leave for the Ministry.

When the four arrived in Dumbledore's office, they weren't at all surprised to see tears on the older wizard's eyes. He wiped them away with a small lace handkerchief and sat behind his desk.

"Please take a seat, although I daresay we will be off soon, as soon as it gets a little darker." Dumbledore said, waving his wand and summoning four more chairs.

"Now we must consider Harry at this unstable point in his life. He has lost both parents and is being shipped from pillar to post, though I do think it would be better if we get him moved quickly, before he settles too much with the Dursleys. We will leave here in about 15 minutes and apparate into a big park about 10 minutes walk from the Dursleys and then talk to them in a civil manner." This last remark was mainly directed at Sirius as he was known to be completely uncivil in matters such as these. Sirius looked at Dumbledore solemnly and they all rose at strode over to the fireplace.

"We will floo to the Leaky Cauldron. Then we will apparate to the park. We shall then walk to Privet Drive. Slight change of plan, nothing to drastic," Dumbledore concluded, straightening his hat.

One by one, they flooed to the Leaky Cauldron...

After a brief chat to Tom, Dumbledore and the Blacks and Lupins apparated to the small park around the corner from Privet Drive.

"Come, we can't afford to hang around, we are already late." Dumbledore urged.

"Do they know we're coming, Albus?" Remus asked. The four were at a gentle jog trying to keep up with Dumbledore as he strolled hastily around the corner, entering Privet Drive.

"They don't so we must be extra careful. Ah, here we are." Said Dumbledore, mixed emotions on his face and in his voice. He knocked three times on the door and stepped back. Grumbling could be heard inside and a shout, followed by the slam of a door. Then a large beefy man opened the door and was mesmerised by the sight in front of him.

"Good evening Mr. Dursley, lovely evening, is it not." Dumbledore said as he let himself in, the others following. Petunia poked her head out of the lounge door to see who dared disturb their evening and squeaked. Dumbledore strode into the lounge, beckoning for the rest to follow. Sitting down on the sofa, he began to speak.
"We are he to discuss the care of Harry Potter." Vernon grunted at hearing this and exited the room, only to return seconds later with a very thin looking boy of about one, with black scruffy hair and bright green eyes. The boy looked sleepily at Dumbledore and smiled. Dumbledore smiled back at him and continued.

"We had a hearing of the Will of Lily and James Potter earlier in the day and they requested that Harry is placed in the joint care of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. But there are drawbacks to being placed under these men's care. These have been understood and Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black, providing you agree, would like to take Harry to live with them." Vernon grunted again and disappeared, this time for a few minutes. Dumbledore pulled a roll of parchment and a quill out of his pocket and handed it to Petunia.

"If you agree to this, please sign here," Dumbledore gestured to a small dotted line on the custody papers. Petunia took the quill and instantly signed it. Vernon re-entered the room with two carrier bags containing Harry's only possessions and thrust then at Sirius. Sirius scowled but remained calm and held onto the bags. Harry gently walked over to Remus, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Mooey." He whispered, pointing at Moony. Remus smiled and embraced Harry. Petunia whispered something to Vernon and he signed the document.

"Thank you for your time. We will deal with Harry later. Sorry for the inconvenience." Dumbledore said as he rose. Turning to leave, he smiled at the sleeping Harry in Remus' arms. He glanced at the Dursleys' and left.

Returning to Dumbledore's office several minutes, Remus set harry on a small settee that sat in the corner of the room. Bending down to kiss Harry on the forehead, he whispered, "We'll make sure you know all about your parents Harry. We'll make them proud together." Pulling the blanket over the sleeping toddler, he turned and walked over to everyone else stood.

"I've got a feeling everything's going to be okay now." Tara whispered, receiving a kiss on the top of her head from Remus.

"I'm sure it will be." Said Dumbledore. "I'm sure it will."

A/n well after 3 days of writing it's finished!
Please review!