Chapter 2

A/N: Hello everyone! It hasn't been long, but here is chapter 2! I've been on a bit of a writing spree for the last few weeks, and I already have chapter 3 written and some of chapter 4. I will be sticking to monthly releases however, so Chapter 3 won't come out until the New Year. I did however, make an egregious mistake with chapter 1. I forgot to credit my incredible Beta Goldzar! Goldzar helped me with Sorting for Success, and he is also known for helping Cragglerock82 with his work, and I am so grateful that an incredible person like him would volunteer to help me out with this story. With that said, Enjoy!

July 31st, 1995

The four others in the kitchen were silent, you could hear the self-cleaning dishes in the background, after about two minutes, Thomas finally spoke "So, this is the guy that killed Harry's parents? I thought he died that night."

Sirius nodded, "Yes, that's what everyone believed, the celebrations apparently became a huge threat to the Statute of Secrecy." Sirius could remember that night, vividly in his head.

October 31st, 1981

A younger Sirius Black stood paralyzed looking at the ruined house before him, "James… Lily… NO! NO!"

He sobbed out, the tears rushing freely down his cheeks as he ran desperately into the house. Through his tears he could see a shape by the stairs, he ran towards it and fell to his knees "Prongs… I am sorry, I am so sorry… I failed you." The tears kept flowing as he held his best friend, no, brother's body to his chest. He jolted from his grief by the sound of an infant crying somewhere upstairs. His eyes widened "Harry!" Placing James' body down, he dashed up the stairs and headed towards the nursery. Sirius stopped at the doorway, his eyes falling on the body of Lily Potter, he started moving towards her "Lily…" he gasped out but stopped when there was a whimpering sound from the crib in the room. Sirius instead moved over towards it and looked down into the green eyes of his godson, Harry Potter.

Sirius bent down and picked him up. When he noticed blood on his face, he panicked. Sirius immediately began waving his wand, using some field spells Aurors used to analyze injuries. He felt relief when there was only the single cut on his forehead that he easily cleaned up. Sirius did pause when he saw the cut afterwards, He noticed the odd shape, like a lightning bolt. He cast a few more healing charms and it closed into a faint red line. Satisfied that his godson was okay, he began to wrap Harry up in blankets, and grabbing a nearby bag, he summoned assorted things he thought he would need: diapers, cleaning supplies, extra clothes; and a pair of stuffed animals he found: a stag and dog. Placing them all in the bag, he then grabbed Harry and carried him downstairs. Placing his godson safely on the nearby sofa, he then went back upstairs and carried Lily's body back down before placing it next to James'. He interlocked their hands before covering them with a white sheet. He also conjured a bouquet of Lilies and Roses before laying them on top. He wiped away the last of his tears and turned his back on them

"I'll take care of him Prongs, Lily, I promise you!" He went and picked up Harry, "I won't fail him like I failed you, I promise." At that he left the house, stepping outside he carried Harry over to his parked motorcycle. He tucked Harry into the sidecar along with the bag, placing a few warming charms to stave off the cold air.

He turned at the sound of apparition, Albus Dumbledore and Rubeus Hagrid appeared before him. Spotting Sirius, Dumbledore pulled out his wand, "Ah Sirius, I'm glad we caught you, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to surrender. The Aurors will be here soon."

Sirius pulled his own wand, "Albus, James and Lily were betrayed, Peter was the Secret Keeper, not me. I would have died before I betrayed them." With that he climbed onto his motorcycle and with his wand still out, revved the engine to life.

"Sirius, you and I both know that when we set up the Fidelius, you were named secret keeper. I know you betrayed them, so I can't let you leave." Dumbledore flicked his wand and the ground under Sirius began to move. Knowing Dumbledore's prowess with Transfiguration, Sirius immediately gunned his bike. It lurched forward just as the earth rose up to try and trap it. Throwing spells at the old headmaster, Sirius flicked the switch to activate the flight charms. Dumbledore had to shield to deflect Sirius's spell fire and could not help but watch as Sirius's bike climbed into the night sky.

Sirius shouted back at the two men watching below, "Find the Rat Albus, only then will you get your answers."

October 31st, 1981

Watching the bike disappear, the roar of the engine fading, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore sighed and put his wand away. Turning to look at the ruined house, he could feel the dark magic soaking the area, "So what now Professor?"

He looked back at his companion and smiled sadly, "We must inform the order to search for Sirius, he betrayed the Potters, and he must face justice. But first the Potters." Turning back to the house, he made his way inside, the half-giant following. Dumbledore took in the white sheet on the floor of the living room. He felt tears come to his eyes, "James, Lily, I'm sorry you had to suffer…" he then headed upstairs and went into the ruined nursery. What he saw chilled him. What Sirius had failed to notice in his grief, was a pile of black robes, and a bone-white wand on top. Dumbledore picked up the wand, holding it in his hands. "Tom, you've fooled yourself, and you paid the price, hopefully we will now have peace." There was no body in the crib either, just some blankets and stuffed wolf and rat. "Harry Potter has also passed, they will not be forgotten." There was the sound of a nose being blown, and then hearing the cracks of multiple apparitions, he said "Hagrid, if you could, try and welcome the Aurors that are outside, let the know that the Potters are dead, and that Sirius betrayed them."

"Of course, Headmaster, I'll let them know." Albus pocketed the wand, and followed Hagrid downstairs, he found Amelia Bones, Alastor Moody, and Barty Crouch waiting for him.

"Albus," growled Moody, "I should've known you'd be here."

Dumbledore smiled, "Ah Alastor, Barty, Amelia, I do have some good news for this dark time" pulling Tom's wand out of his robe.

"It that?"

Dumbledore nodded, "It is indeed Barty, the Dark Lord Voldemort is dead."

Crouch and Bones flinched, but Moody sighed, "And the Potters?"

Albus lowered his head, "Alas, they too have perished this night, even young Harry wasn't spared tonight."

The Aurors were quiet, and then Crouch spoke up, "Alastor, Amelia, send word to the Ministry, I'll inform Bagnold. Start putting together squads to hunt down the Death Eaters, they'll be reeling after they learn what happened tonight." The two saluted, and Moody nodded towards Albus before disapparating. Crouch turned to Dumbledore "There's something else, isn't there Albus." It was not a question.

The headmaster sighed, "Indeed Barty, the Potters were under a Fidelius, but their secret keeper, Sirius Black betrayed them, I wasn't able to stop him escaping tonight." Crouch was shocked

"Sirius? He was an Auror, one of my best, hell he brought in Rowle, Karkaroff, and Avery all by himself, I would've never thought."

Albus smiled sadly, "Sadly, even the best of us can fall, I'd recommend we start a manhunt for him as well"

Crouch pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, Lighting the tip with his wand, he took a pull and then exhaled, "This is going to be a long night."

November 1st, 1981

Sirius did not know where to go; after escaping the Potters Sirius kept flying, trying to put as much distance as he could. Looking into the sidecar, he saw Harry starting to stir, and he looked cold, apparently the warming charms had faded, so he cast a few more. Smiling Sirius watched as Harry settled. He then felt his stomach rumble, pulling the bike down, he flicked on the invisibility, he leveled the bike onto an empty street and then turned it off. He began to make his way down the road and spotted a sign that said 'Motel: Vacancy, 1 km'. Following the road, Sirius pulled into the motel's parking lot. He turned off the bike, grabbing Harry and his bag. Entering the lobby, he was greeted by an elderly man who looked asleep; Sirius walked up to the desk, and rung the bell. The older man jolted awake and looked at him. "Can I help you?"

Sirius nodded, "I'd like a room for the night."

The man turned and pulled a ledger out, "Of course, would you like a double or a single?"

Sirius glanced down at Harry, "Just a single please."

The older man began writing it down, "And how will you be paying?" Sirius hesitated, before pulling his wand and casting a confundus.

Putting it away he leaned towards the man, "Here's my card, I paid it in full and you were happy with the tip."

The man smiled and nodded, "Thank you, sir, your room is 106, have a good night." He grabbed a key from the board behind him, Sirius thanked him and grabbed the key.

He headed for the room and opened the door; immediately grabbing Harry's bag, he pulled out a diaper and cleaning supplies, a set of pajamas and his shampoo. "Come Harry, let's get you ready for bed." The boy in his arms woke up and smiled at him "Pa'foo!"

Sirius could not help but chuckle at him, "Yes I'm Padfoot, let's get in." He turned on the bath in the bathroom, making sure it was a good temperature, Sirius placed his giggling godson into the tub, and began washing him. When Harry would start to fuss, Sirius conjured multi-colored bubbles, making Harry giggle and clap his hands. Sirius kept Harry distracted as he washed his hair. Finishing up, Sirius let Harry splash around for a bit, before grabbing a towel. He cast a few more warming charms on the towel and began to dry Harry off. He dressed Harry up in a diaper and his pajamas. Carrying him into the main room, he transfigured a nightstand into a crib. Laying Harry down, and making sure he was comfortable and asleep, Sirius got ready for bed himself. Settling in for the night, Sirius stared up at the ceiling, alone with his thoughts for the first time in hours. He thought through his plans for getting Harry out of danger, and to avoid the Aurors, who at this point were going to be looking for him. He could not flee to any of the other Blacks, he had been cast out, with none of his surviving relatives wanting anything to do with him. Except… Sirius sat up suddenly and had a moment of clarity "Andi!" He cried, and looked over at Harry, who had not stirred. Andromeda Tonks nee Black, the one other Black blasted off for rejecting their family. He rolled out of bed, grabbing his wand, he then summoned a paper and pen from the room and wrote out a note, he detailed what'd happened and where to find him. He went to the front desk and asked the man if they sent post. When the man affirmed, Sirius asked to send the note to the address he provided, knowing that Ted Tonks kept in touch with his muggle relations. He headed back to the motel room after grabbing some snacks, and when done eating, went to sleep.

November 4th, 1981

It had been three days since Sirius sent the letter, Sirius spent the last few days planning out how to leave the country once he knows where he'd go, and taking care of Harry. Harry had been having night terrors the last few nights, so Sirius had not been sleeping well. He had just gotten Harry settled for a nap when he heard a knocking. Drawing his wand, Sirius made his way to the door, and peeped through the spy hole. Seeing his cousin and her husband, Sirius sighed but still called out "What did Andromeda give me for my graduation gift from Hogwarts?"

He could hear the quiet laughter and a response came back, "We gifted you a leather jacket so that you could 'Make all the Muggleborns swoon'."

Smiling Sirius opened the door and pulled his cousin into a hug, "Andi, thank you for coming, I'm so glad you gave me the moment."

Scoffing, Andromeda let herself into the room, Ted closing the door behind them, "Of course, Sirius, we know you'd never betray Lily and James. The fact that you told us you switched made too much sense, now, what did you need from us?"

Sirius sighed and sat down on the bed, "I need to get out of the country, Britain has listed me Public Enemy Number One, and I can't possibly hide out with no evidence to exonerate me without the rat, but I can't risk my godson like that."

Andromeda moved over to the crib and gasped "Harry is alive? It was reported that he died along with his parents."

Sirius laughed dryly, "That was my plan, if they thought Harry was dead, I could care for him without worrying about anyone looking for him. Now, can you help me?" Andromeda picked up Harry, who smiled at her, and she moved back to the bed.

Sitting down she looked at her cousin, "The only thing I can think of is Australia, America, or Canada. While they still have connections with our Ministry, they aren't a huge fan of us, and are accepting refugees. I'd personally recommend America, they're much more involved with the muggle world, and you'd find a lot of safe spaces to hide out." She paused when Harry started pulling on her hair "Even if you're a criminal in Britain, the MACUSA might give you asylum just to piss the British Ministry off."

Sirius sat, thinking through everything said, "Dumbledore could track me in Australia or Canada easily with his status as Chief Warlock, but yes, MACUSA is probably safer."

There was a small gasp from Andromeda, "Wait, don't we have relatives in America?"

Sirius looked up at her, and he frowned, "I remember grandfather mentioning that he had a brother that left for America after Grindelwald's War." His eyes widened, "They can provide asylum!"

Andromeda smiled at him "Exactly, and I know how to reach them."

A/N: A longer chapter than the last one, almost by double, but I digress. The next few chapters will deal with establishing Harry's roots in America, and such. I plan on jumping around a lot timeline-wise, with Harry being chosen for his Ilvermorny House, and then jumping straight back to where we left off in chapter 1. I don't plan on introducing any characters from Ilvermorny other than some that are canon (you'll find out later), mainly because they aren't a focus for my story, I may add a couple names here and there, but no established characters other than the other Blacks will appear. Now, to the part many are hopeful for when I made the announcement for this story: it is NOT a Harmony story, Hermione will only be a side character, I've decided that I'm going to choose some other character to be Harry's partner. I'm putting up a strawpoll on my page for y'all to vote for a character. I've added 4 options that I'm considering, but I gave an option to message me other ideas that you may have. I'll preface this now. TONKS IS NOT AN OPTION She is paired with Thomas in the fic, and I have a great idea on how that happens, but you'll just have to wait and see.
Thats all for now, cheers!
Rei