Chapter 9 -

"Lily, James, how marvellous that you have both woke." Dumbledore said, a wide smile on his face, masking his inner thoughts. He could not help but notice that Harry Potter was here along with his friends and Adrian.

In all honesty Harry Potter was reminding him a lot of a younger Tom Riddle, both were smart, strong and handsome half-bloods that made their way into Slytherin and reached the top. He was also slightly worried with how Harry seemed to be much stronger than Tom was at his age.

Looking at Lily Potter hugging her son, Dumbledore could only wonder where his plan went wrong.

This wasn't the first time the Potters had woken up, the first time was when Adrian was about five and Dumbledore couldn't have that, he had made sure that the staff alert him before anyone else. He had gotten there and oblivated the healers before hitting James and Lily with a coma spell, then oblivating them whilst they were asleep. He only ever did that two times since, once when Adrian was nine and a second time just near the end of Adrian's third year. He did not understand how they had woken up so quickly.

He had to keep them away so they couldn't affect Adrian, they would ruin his influence over him. He had planned to stage an accident when Adrian was older and get rid of both Potters, he would then blame Voldemort and Adrian would want to get revenge.

But now, he couldn't do that, the healers had alerted him and he realised that his spell had worn off but unfortunately Remus Lupin was in the room at the time, giving Dumbledore a report on werewolf clans. The werewolf had just finished explaining how he had just solved one tiring problem when the floo flared and a healer told Dumbledore that the Potter's were awake. Remus was able to process that news much faster than Dumbledore and with a quick yell about getting Sirius he ran faster than Dumbledore could have expected and was out of the office before Dumbledore could stop him.

Dumbledore decided to quickly take action, he went to the hospital wing, beating Remus as the man probably went to go get Sirius Black first, he found the healers and followed them into the room only to find Harry and his friends, he also had no idea how Adrian got here.

"Prongs!" Two voices screamed just as Sirius Black and Remus Lupin ran in and quickly pulled James into a hug.

"Sirius Black!" The healers screamed, though they were quickly sent into shock when James Potter gladly and happily hugged him back.

Dumbledore was thinking about this, he was an extremely powerful wizard and could chose to obliviate everyone in the room but that wouldn't be as easy as it appears.

Sirius and James, while suffering the physical effects of Azkaban and being in stasis, were still auror trained and dangerous men, though at the moment James did not having a wand. Remus Lupin was also a brilliant duellist and would have definitely made auror if he wasn't a werewolf, Lily Potter also did not have a wand but was also a person that one doesn't cross. Plus there's also the handful of healers in the room, Dumbledore had no idea about how strong they were and while he used to be a Gryffindor he wasn't a fan of jumping head first into the unknown.

As for Adrian, the boy was slightly above average at best, not a challenge for Dumbledore in a one on one fight but it was very possible for the boy to do something with the help of others.

Plus there was Harry Potter and his friends. Dumbledore, along with most of Britain thanks to the 'following mirrors', witnessed just how powerful Harry was. The boy could fly for Merlin sakes! He also seemed to have a fondness for throwing lightning and that was not something Dumbledore wanted to experience. The boy was also clearly quite powerful judging by the strength of his spells alone, plus he was willing to use the killing curse, which meant he was likely willing to use other dark magic.

Who knows what the boy could have learnt when he was in America?

And then there were his friends. They, much like Harry, carried themselves as if they were not worried or fearing of anything or anyone, even the squib. To a trained eye it was clear that Harry was the leader of the group yet this seemed more like a pack of wolves where the leader was simply the most dangerous, that did not mean that the other's were not dangerous. If Dumbledore had to guess then he would say the second strongest was probably Red or Violet, Red looked like a young Tom Riddle and Dumbledore had learnt that Violet was Red's sister, meaning they were both the children of Voldemort.

It was highly possible that they were both strong magic users, likely even better at dark magic than Harry. Then there was the other girl, Rose he believed her name was, she seemed like a normal if very cheerful girl but that did not necessarily mean that she was weak. After all Dumbledore gave off the appearance of an old grandfather but that did not mean he was weak. Then there was the squib, while he had no magic he still seemed like he was not at all bothered or scared in the presence of magic users.

Argus Filch, the squib caretaker of Hogwarts, always looked somewhere between scared and angry when in the presence of magic users. But not the boy, Ryan Dumbledore thought his name was, maybe it was because of who his friends were or maybe the boy had some secret that made him feel all the much braver, or another possibility was that he simply did not understand how dangerous it is for him.

As for the magic users in the group, Dumbledore did not know if they were at the same power level as Harry, and until then it was incredibly unwise to try them all in a fight.

With that, Dumbledore decided to let the events go on until he could find a way to fix everything.

"God I missed you Prongs!" Sirius cried into James's shoulder.

"Call the aurors." One healer whispered to another, the person nodded before he quickly rushed off.

"I am so sorry James," Sirius blubbered. "I shouldn't have convinced you to make Peter the secret keeper!"

"Peter!" Lily shouted, causing all people in the room to jump.

"Lily!" Remus and Sirius cried with joy and went over to hug her.

"Hi guys," Lily smiled before her rage returned. "where is that rat?! I am going to kill him!"

"Not if I beat you to him! Where is he?!" James demanded.

"That's a bit of a story," Remus sighed when he and Sirius finished hugging Lily. "oh hello Adrian, sorry for not noticing you."

"It's alright." Adrian grinned. "I understand."

"Adrian, I...hold up..." Sirius paused as he looked at Harry and his friends. "...mini prongs?" Sirius asked before realisation came to him. "Harry?! Is that you?!"

"Yep." Harry grinned. "I don't think I have to guess your name, Severus Snape right?"

"What?!"

"I mean you look exactly like he was described as, same nose and everything." Harry said with a straight face.

"I have never been more insulted in my life!" Sirius exclaimed while the others stifled their laughter.

"Sirius, Harry is kidding." Adrian said with a massive smile. "Harry knows what Snape looks like, Snape tried to show him up in his first potions class with the prat.

"Never call me Snape again." Sirius said to Harry in a stern voice before a smile came on his face. "What happened?"

"The prat was trying to ask me hard questions and was hoping that I would not know so he could show that he was superior to me." Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"Mr Potter," Dumbledore frowned. "I doubt that's true."

"He tried asking me newt level questions, I would say that it is." Harry responded before he walked up to Sirius and pulled him into a hug. "Nice to meet you Sirius."

"You too kiddo, god you have grown." Sirius said as he returned Harry's hug.

"Harry," Remus said once the two were done. "I am Remus Lupin, I am also a friend of your parents. You used to call Sirius 'Paddy' and you would call me 'Mooey', you hadn't really mastered how to say Padfoot and Moony at the time." Remus said with a small smile as he extended his hand to Harry, Harry did not shake it, instead he simply spread his arms and looked at Moony with a raised eyebrow. Remus's smile grew and he gladly pulled Harry into a hug.

"Guys," Harry said once Remus let go, "meet my friends," Harry said as he began pointing at his friends as he introduced them. "That's Violet, she's the badass girl of the group, that's Ryan, he's the brains of the group. The other girl here is Rose, she's the happy one, then the other guy here is Red. He is the muscle of the group."

"What are you then?" Sirius asked.

"Oh I am just brilliant," Harry shrugged while his friends rolled their eyes. "but I am also the leader of this group. These guys are my family in all but blood."

"That is lovely Harry but I am confused," Lily said. "why are you acting like you have never met Remus and Sirius before?"

"That is...kind of...because I haven't." Harry answered.

"What?" James frowned. "Didn't the two raise you? Or was that the Longbottoms?"

"Neither," Harry took a step back and looked at his mother. "did you know that after you were put in a coma, Dumbledore had taken Adrian and basically left him alone in a giant mansion with nothing but presents and house elves while sending me to the Dursley's in all of his 'infinite wisdom'." Harry couldn't have said the last two words with more sarcasm if he tried.

"What?!" Lily turned to Dumbledore and the old man was grateful that the redhead didn't currently have a wand on her. "you sent him to Vernon and Petunia?!"

"Now, now Lily..." Dumbledore tried to calm her down, sadly for him Harry did not really want to do anything that would make Dumbledore's life easier.

"Hey mum, did you know that they used to make me sleep in a cupboard?" Harry interrupted.

"They what?!" Pure anger filled the redheaded woman.

"The cupboard under the stairs, also known as my bedroom," Harry replied "and to think, he wanted to keep me there."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Lily stormed at the aging headmaster "What were you thinking?! Putting one son in a mansion while you put the other in hell?! Were you on drugs at the time?!"

"I'd be surprised if he wasn't currently on drugs," Harry commented "I mean, look at those robes, what more evidence do you need?"

"There's nothing wrong with my robes" Dumbledore defended his purple and starry robes.

"They look ridiculous." Violet said in an honest voice.

"Especially when you stand next to Snape." Ryan added.

"I know right," Red nodded in agreement. "it does not help having the brightest robes in existence standing next to the darkest."

"It usually gives me a headache." Rose frowned, Red rubbed her head in a soothing manner.

"There is nothing wrong with my robes." Dumbledore insisted.

"They're going to be on fire if I don't get my answers!" Lily growled.

"Now Lily, I'm sure that young Harry is just exaggerating and …"

"Did you know that they starved me?" Harry interrupted, glaring at Dumbledore. "Starved me, hit me, belittled me, rarely let me wash, just treated me like a house elf who was incapable of doing his job. Made me think I was subhuman." Harry turned back to his mum. "And to think, he wanted to keep me there."

"Dumbledore, would you like to explain that?!" Lily spat in anger.

"Now Lily…"

"Plus they let their son bully me," Harry could not help but add. "in fact they encouraged it, rewarded him if he did so. And to think, he wanted to keep me there."

"He's going to make her explode." Sirius commented to Remus who could only nod in agreement, both of them took a big step away from Lily, after all of these years they could still remember how big of a temper she had.

"Well?!" Lily looked at Dumbledore with a look that said 'there had better be a good answer'.

"Lily" Dumbledore replied "I did what I…"

"Oh, and there was that time that Uncle Vernon tried to kill me." Harry commented in a casual voice.

"What?!" Lily, Sirius, Remus, Adrian and James exclaimed at the same time.

"Don't worry, I think he failed." Red said before he could stop himself, earning a slap on the head from Violet.

"Tried to stab me and leave me in the streets." Harry said. "Got to admit, not one of the happier moments of my life."

"Dumbledore, if you don't give me a good reason to stop then I'm going to break my foot in-between your legs!" Lily gave Dumbledore a look that would have caused a lesser man to piss his pants, it only left Dumbledore slightly terrified.

"Now, now Lily," Dumbledore began. "the night of the attack, Adrian had stopped Voldemort by redirecting the killing curse. I believe that Voldemort is still alive, I had to take Adrian away and get him to safety."

"What about Harry?!" Lily demanded.

"Yeah Dumbledore!" Harry nodded "What about Harry?!" Harry asked along with all of his friends. "To think, he left me there!" Harry added.

"You could have sent him to the Longbottoms, Andromeda, Sirius, Remus, McGonagall, Flitwick, or about just about anyone else more qualified and you chose the Dursley's?!"

"Lily, the Longbottoms were attacked shortly after you and while they are alive, they are in no condition to look after children" Dumbledore lied like his life depended on it, even though that part was true. "Augusta Longbottom was already dealing with Neville on her own and I couldn't add to her burden, Remus was a werewolf and couldn't be given custody of a child. McGonagall and Flitwick already have responsibilities to many children.

Andromeda Tonks was grieving from the death of her husband whilst dealing with her own daughter, she was in no condition to care for two children" Dumbledore couldn't reveal he planned to have Harry die, especially now.

"Wait! What?!" James interrupted "What happened to the Longbottoms?! What happened to Ted?!"

'Shortly, after Voldemort went missing some death eaters went looking for them," Harry began explaining. "they figured that the Longbottoms knew where Voldemort had gone, they tortured them with the torture curse until their minds snapped. Their basically living as vegetables at this point, as for Mr Tonks, he died in a death eater attack the day before but was only discovered about three days after."

"Oh merlin." James said in disbelief as he ran his hands through his hair.

"Okay, fine but what about Sirius?" Lily asked, saddened by the news but she wasn't about to forget her son's suffering.

"He was in Azkaban." Remus said in a soft voice.

"What?!" Lily and James blurted out.

"I was in Azkaban," Sirius confirmed "until last year, when I escaped."

"Why were you in Azkaban?!" Lily asked.

"You escaped Azkaban?!" James blurted out at the same time.

"He was framed for betraying you and killing thirteen muggles by Peter," Dumbledore explained "and was sent to Azkaban. Last year Sirius had escaped Azkaban, we had originally thought he was going after Adrian to finish the job that Voldemort had started, only to learn that his true target was Peter Pettigrew who had disguised himself as a pet of one of Adrian's friends."

"Ex-friend." Adrian corrected, Dumbledore frowned at him but did not say anything.

"Actually I am technically on the run," Sirius admitted as he ran a hand through his hair. "so aurors will probably be..."

"Sirius Black!" They were interrupted and everyone turned to the doorway to see a group of aurors standing with their wands aimed at Sirius. "You are under arrest," The lead auror said. "you will be..."

"Oh shut up," Red interrupted. "could you jackasses come back later? We're a bit busy here."

"Stand down." Harry said to the aurors in a calm yet firm voice.

"Look kid, you do not tell us what to..."

"STAND...DOWN!" Harry ordered in a thundering voice, which caused the aurors to flinch and a few of them even lowered their wands without realising.

"That will be enough," Dumbledore sighed as he walked to the aurors. "gentlemen, may I talk to you outside for a moment?"

"But Sirius Black is..."

"Here with me," James interrupted, the aurors looked at James and Lily, seeming to realise that the two Potters were awake. "is that a problem?" James said in a challenging voice.

"But...but he betrayed you..." One auror protested.

"No he did not," Lily replied. "that was Peter Pettigrew."

"Gentlemen, perhaps you should follow me out," Dumbledore suggested. "I will explain everything to you, do not worry about Sirius. He will stay here, won't you Sirius?"

"Yeah, I don't really want to go anywhere else to be honest." Sirius said as he smiled at James and Lily.

"Good, now follow me." Dumbledore said as he walked out and closed the door before the aurors could protest.

"Harry, w...where is Petunia now?" Lily asked, her tone unreadable.

"Dead." Harry answered.

"Dead?" James asked.

"The Dursley's had planned to take me to America, kill me and leave the body there before they returned to England and pretend I never existed," Harry said, his calm voice did not help the adults who looked horrified. "then the Dursley's died and I was left on my own, I was living on the streets, I met my friends there, we looked after each other."

"Ha," Violet scoffed along with the rest of Harry's group. "more like you looked after us."

"Yeah, we'd probably be dead if it wasn't for you." Red added as the others nodded in agreement.

"How...how did Petunia die?" Lily asked, her emotions incredibly mixed at the moment.

"Car crash." Harry said in an emotionless voice.