A/n: Wow! I got fifteen reviews for this overnight. Apparently I've finally got a popular story. Woohoo.

Athenakitty: I needed some reason for Vernon to drop dead of natural causes. A heart attack seemed best. And yes, Moody was sent by Dumbledore.

Henriette: Kind and light? I would never! That's just too…light for my taste. And no, Moody is exactly who he says he is.

Fancyfree: Actually, if you weave two or three pieces of pantyhose together, it's very strong. And about Dudley, I'm going to have to disagree. He was spoiled and pandered to by his mother. He got person to person crooning and adoration of every second of every day. For that to vanish suddenly… it would really mess you up. Especially if you had four years to get used to it. And then spending a week with Aunt Marge as your prime caretaker on top of that? You'd go nuts in no time flat.

Hmm: Nope. Moody is Moody. Not Crouch. Or any other bad guy for that matter.

Thanks to all my reviewers: Fancyfree, Kudarung, hmm, Henriette, Athena Kitty, When Pandas Rule the world, ocpawnmaster1, Greyhound Master, Angelkitty77, kinguofdoragons, JammnJim, jbcna and Mystical witch. Keep it up. You guys (and girls) rock!

Author's note two: I just got back from a college interview weekend. Thanks to all my reviewers that happened while I was gone… I have exams tomorrow so I don't have the time to look up all your names. But thanks to you too. You know who you are.

All it takes

Chapter Two

'Albus…' Moody thought. 'Why did you pick me for this job? I'm too old for this, and I would make a terrible father…'

Moody's thought's were interrupted by the door opening and a very small four year old entered the room. He seemed to be very independent of mind and brave, simply because he didn't seem the slightest bit nervous.

"Hi." Harry squeaked. "Are you the scary looking guy they want to be my daddy?"

Moody almost choked, before letting out a low chuckle. 'Plain spoken… I like him already.' he thought. 'Maybe Albus isn't as crazy as I thought.'

"That I am, Lad. Assuming you'll have me of course." Moody replied.

"'Kay." Harry said, giving him a dazzling smile. "I've never had a daddy before. It sounds fun!"

'Really trusting lad… I'll have to fix that.' Moody thought.

"If both of you sign this paper, then you two can be on your way. Check in with us in a week, and if you both agree, we can sign the final paperwork, and legally you will be father and son." A matronly looking woman with a pen and a paper on a clipboard said.

Moody took the paper and looked over all the paperwork with a narrowed eye. He signed at the bottom, and passed the clipboard to Harry.

Harry narrowed his eyes and looked over the paper in the exact way that Mad-Eye did. Were he any older, people would have thought he was mocking him. Instead it earned a chuckle from the matron which she stifled into a snort.

Harry spent almost the exact amount of time eyeing the paper as Moody did, before signing his name at the bottom. People seemed shocked by that, as they expected him to sign with an x or something.

"Looks like everything is in order." The matron said.

"Ready to go Lad?" Moody asked

"Yeah!"

Moody got up from his chair and hobble walked towards the door,. His wooden leg made dull thunk sounds on the carpeted floor. Harry followed him out the door and had to almost run to keep up with Moody's long strides.

They walked a bit in perfect silence, before Moody decided to speak once more.

"I'm sure you were wonderin' how we would get home, seeing as I can't drive with this wooden leg." Moody said in his usual gruff voice.

Harry hadn't been, but he nodded anyway.

"Well, we are goin' to drive… Just not a car. Tell me Harry, have you ever ridden on a motorcycle?" Moody asked. He had talked to Hagrid, and borrowed Sirius Black's old motorcycle. He hoped he didn't scare the boy.

"No… but I've had dreams about them." Harry piped up. "In the dreams… in the dreams it could fly!"

Moody grinned like a maniac. "What would you say if I told you this one could fly too?"

"I'd say that I want." Harry said with a cheeky smile.

Moody reached over and mussed up Harry's hair while chuckling. "I like ya already kid."

"Thanks!" Harry said, grinning. They reached the bike, and Mad-Eye gave Harry a boost to get up. The Ex- Auror climbed on in front of Harry and he started the engine.

"Hold on tight, Kid." Moody said. Harry clipped on the seatbelt and wrapped his arms around Moody's waist (as far as they would reach anyway.) Moody started the bike, revved the engine a few times, pulled up the kickstand, and they rode off into the early morning light.

A few blocks down the way, Moody pulled into the parking lot of a park. He killed the engine and climbed off the bike. Harry hopped down without help, and looked to Mad-Eye to see why they stopped here.

Moody walked over to a park bench and sat, gesturing for Harry to follow. Harry took a seat on the bench across from Moody, and waited, patient and curious.

"Harry, what do you know about your parents?" Moody asked bluntly.

"Not much… Aunt Petunia said they died in a car crash." Harry replied.

Harry's eyes widened in shock. He knew he must have said something bad to make Moody glare like that. And the sparks… they were scary too.

"That fool of a Dursley… If he wasn't dead I would…" He stopped when he noticed Harry curling up into a protective ball. He felt his anger wash away instantly. He felt like scum…worse than scum.

"I'm sorry Harry. It's… They lied. Your parents didn't die in a car crash." Moody sighed. "Did they tell you anything about your parents at all?"

"No…" Harry said, loosening his protective all a bit.

"Harry… You're a wizard. Your parents were also wizards. And I'm a wizard. And they were also murdered by a wizard." Moody said bluntly. "The reason you were sent to live with your aunt and uncle was for your own good. In our world, the Wizarding world, you are famous. Extremely famous. The dark wizard who killed your parents also tried to kill you. But it didn't work. You lived through the curse that nobody survives, and the dark wizard was sent away. That's where you got that scar."

Harry reached up and touched his scar. "I… can I ask you something?" Harry asked finally.

"'Course Lad." Moody replied.

"Are you a pirate?"

Moody goggled for a minute. He was stunned. Of all the questions, that was not what he had expected.

"No, Lad. I'm not." Moody replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, the wooden leg mostly. And the weird eye. You should get an eye patch for it. That would be cool." He sounded a bit disappointed. Harry seemed completely unsurprised at the entire existence of magic and all that had been explained. There was something about Moody that made him a lot more trustworthy.

Moody chuckled. "Arr… Cap'n Moody prefers the term 'Privateer.' We should be off lad… treasure to find, villages to raid."

Harry giggled and followed Moody back to the bike. He felt he'd found his father already.