A/N: So I have my little brother in from out of town for the rest of the month, which means my schedule is going to be unpredictable. We're going on a trip this weekend, so I won't be around to post an update. That means you get an early update! Keep in mind, this also means that you won't get another one until the following weekend (29th or 30th). For that, I apologise. Also, I am VERY well aware of the Potter family canon, but I have been using Dorea and Charlus as James's parents since I started writing, and I just prefer them. However, I wanted to give a little nod to new canon in this chapter. Lastly, this chapter is for ashenrenee. She'll know why. ;)

Chapter Ten

July 20th, 1981

Remus watched Hermione sleep, unable to find rest himself.

Between all of the arguments they'd had since joining the Order mixed with a healthy dose of worry, suspicion, and Greyback's usual bullshit, Remus had all but been on his way to genuinely thinking that Sirius had been the danger lurking in the shadows. It made sense to anyone who did not bother to look twice. Remus should have looked twice.

Peter, though.

It did not make one bit of sense.

That was, until he, James, and Sirius sat down and confirmed timelines with one another over things that had happened over the past few years. One week before Remus had been set to leave for the packs, there had been an ambush. James and Lily were taken, and Sirius and Peter had been paired to rescue them with the Prewett brothers. Sirius and Peter were missing for over a week, days after Gideon and Fabian got James and Lily back safely with no more than a scratch on either and a failed attempt at an Imperius Curse on Lily. Voldemort had apparently thought it a worthy endeavour to attempt overpowering Lily in hopes of controlling James. Unlucky for him, either Lily was a dab hand at throwing off the Imperius or he needed to raise the bar a bit more when choosing Death Eaters—maybe require actual talent.

Peter was talented.

James and Sirius were more boastful about everything they did, and their names alone would draw attention even if their bravado did not. Remus, on the other hand, was more subdued, but he had prided himself on his talents at Hogwarts as a wizard. When he had brief interludes where he felt more man than monster, he actually took the time to enjoy a bit of an ego that came from his efforts. Peter, while shyer than the others and not as naturally talented as James and Sirius, was a dab hand at Charms and Potions. Only his nerves ever really got the better of him, thus keeping him from outshining the rest of them. As much as Remus wanted to always think of Peter as the sweet, shy boy he remembered when they were children, Peter was a grown wizard who was accepted into the Order on his own merits.

Peter was clever.

Thinking too much about what that spelt for the future Remus sick to his stomach.

While James and Lily were reporting what happened after their capture to Dumbledore, Sirius and Peter had been separated. When they finally found one another again, having both escaped from separate rooms inside of an abandoned Muggle warehouse, Sirius was badly injured. Peter Side-Alonged him straight to St Mungo's, and the Order was so busy worrying about whether or not Sirius would recover, that they did not think twice about what Peter might have gone through during his time alone with Death Eaters.

Was he already a spy then? Had he been the one to trap Sirius? To lead James and Lily to their possible doom? Or was Peter, like the others, a victim?

Hermione and Sirius seemed to be on one side of the table with James and a worried Lily on the other. Drifting around the middle was a conflicted Harry. Remus only knew that he wanted to protect his family. He just was not sure whether Peter still counted. He was not sure what would happen if Peter showed up with a Dark Mark on his arm.

He wanted to protect Hermione above all else. Smiling down as she slept, he felt a bit of relief in knowing that she was fairly adept at taking care of herself. Memories of how she had scratched, kicked, and bit at Greyback came to the forefront of his mind, turning his smile into a full grin and almost erasing the stress of the whole night.

Almost.

July 21st, 1981

Harry tried to smile as he watched his mother steal the third cigarette that afternoon out of Sirius's mouth. The man had been trying to smoke since waking, but—especially after chatting with Hermione on the subject—Lily was having none of it. She went on a rant about the dangers of secondhand smoke and how now that she technically had two sons, she would have to be on Sirius's case about his habit twice as much.

The morning was spent researching the complexities of wards and learning more about the decade that Harry had found himself in. At one point in the afternoon, Remus, Sirius, and James had wandered off. Harry decided to give them space, figuring that they were still reeling from being told about Peter Pettigrew.

Harry, himself, was more than concerned that his father could, perhaps, be right about Peter. If so, Harry wondered how he was supposed to feel. All he had ever felt for Pettigrew was disgust, anger, and pity. He watched the man die right in front of his eyes and was resolved in the fact that he would never have to look upon him again. But an owl left late the previous night in search of the fourth Marauder, and the sinking pit in his stomach had not let Harry forget it.

"I wonder if I should change my name," he said thoughtfully as he sat at the kitchen table with his mother, Hermione, and the younger version of himself who was currently trying to feed apple slices to a stuffed niffler.

"I love your name," Lily said with a frown. "It's a family name. My father's name was Harold, and James's grandfather was called Harry. His real name was Henry. I would hate for you to think that you need to change your name just because there's technically two of you."

"I could be a Henry," Harry suggested, smiling when his mother narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't you think it would be weird and a little suspicious for there to be two Harry Potters in the world?"

"Maybe you could change your name to Roonil Wazlib," Hermione suggested cheekily, not bothering to look at him as she tried—and failed—to hide her smile behind the morning paper. "Wasn't that a nickname of yours once?"

"Rude," Harry muttered, amused.

Lily watched them with curious interest, smiling. She leant across the table and brushed Harry's hair from his forehead and then returned her attention to the younger version, prying bits of apple out of the stuffed niffler's pouch. "You are right, though. Especially if we don't want to draw unwanted attention to you. And we can't all stay stuffed up in this cottage forever. I might have an idea, actually. We can't trust the Ministry to work on our behalf, but I actually have a friend who works as an Unspeakable. She might be able to alter some records from within. We'll just say that you're . . . a Potter cousin or something."

"Who's a Potter cousin?" James asked with a furrowed brow as he walked into the kitchen, stopping to kiss the top of Lily's head. "I don't have any cousins, love."

"Not technically, no. But what about your aunt and uncle? The ones who died in America during the Dragon Pox outbreak."

"Fleamont? Never met him. He never had any kids that I know of. Went a bit off the grid once Sleekeazy's took off. Dad always said that Aunt Euphie had trouble with people trying to steal their money. Don't know why they thought moving to America would be any better. All that gold went into the family vaults or was dispersed to various charities when they died anyway. Why're you asking?"

"We need to set up some sort of background for Harry. We can't just announce to the world that he's from the future," Lily said.

Hermione's eyes were wide. "Your uncle invented Sleekeazy's?"

"You had an uncle named Fleamont?" Harry asked.

Ignoring them, Lily continued, "I was thinking a certain friend of mine could dig around in the records at the Ministry. We could say that Harry's parents were your aunt and uncle, and that he was just raised by some American family until recently or something."

"What friend?" James asked as he sat down, stealing an apple slice from little Harry's plate.

"You talking about Dora?"

Lily turned around in her chair to catch Sirius with an open bottle of orange juice in his hand. "Use a glass!"

He rolled his eyes, licking juice from his bottom lip even as he opened the nearest cupboard to pull out a glass. "How is she? You hear anything?"

"She's doing good, last I heard," Lily said with a smile. "I'm sure she'd love to see you. So would—"

"Are you talking about Tonks?" Harry asked, confused. "You said Dora. Did you mean Nymphadora?"

Though he assumed she did not do it on purpose, he caught Hermione glancing at Remus. Trying not to draw anyone's attention, Harry gently patted her on the arm, hoping that she took comfort and assurance from the gesture.

Sirius choked on a mouthful of orange juice. "Nymphie? Hell no. Stop laughing, Prongs," he snapped at James, who was doing nothing to stifle the sudden chuckles that were coming in waves. Both Remus and Lily also looked amused. "Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware that my House has been known to dabble in a little family tree . . . grafting."

"Is that what you call marrying your own cousins?" Lily asked with a smirk.

"Shut your gob, Evans." Sirius looked at Harry. "Even if Nymphadora wasn't seven years old—"

"Eight," Lily corrected.

"I do not have plans to seduce my own blood, thanks very much."

"Good to hear," Hermione quipped. "So who's Dora then?"

Smiling at Sirius for being so defensive and flustered, Lily replied, "Pandora Maestro. A Ravenclaw friend of mine from Hogwarts. Sirius is in love with her."

"Don't sully what we have with your simple Muggle words, Evans," Sirius said, dipping his fingers in the orange juice and flicking droplets at her. "What Pandora and I have transcends the weird domestic thing that you and Prongs have. Don't be offended. You can't help it. You're only mortal. Pandora, however, is a goddess."

Remus groaned. "If he starts writing sonnets again, I'm going to kick him. I barely made it through seventh year without smothering him to death with his own pillow."

Harry had never once heard about Sirius being in love with anyone, and at one point he had highly suspected that Sirius and Remus had something going on that they just never got around to telling him about. But Sirius was in love? Had been in love? What happened to this Pandora when Sirius went to Azkaban? Was she just another in a long list of people who assumed the worst? Did she die in the war? Was that why Sirius never mentioned her? Not wanting to reveal that the love of Sirius's life might not have been around in the future, Harry shared a nervous look with Hermione before clearing his throat.

"I'm not familiar with the Maestro family."

"She's an only child," Lily said. "I think she has cousins in France somewhere, but she never talked about them. Do you not know . . . ?" She began to say, but Harry's eyes widened just a fraction, and Lily pinched her lips into a tight line.

"Not a Maestro anymore," Sirius commented as he sat down next to Harry. "Married woman and all."

"You have a wife?!" Harry blurted out in shock, losing all composure that he previously worked so hard on.

Sirius laughed, shaking his head, looking a tad deflated. "No. If I marry anyone, my wretched cousins would do their level best to hurt me through my spouse. I honestly didn't think I'd ever have a family of my own. But then . . . well, Pandora got pregnant."

Harry's chest tightened at the word as he watched what little humour was left in Sirius's eyes give way to a sad longing.

"People knew we'd dated during our seventh year, so unless she was associated with someone else and quick about it, Death Eaters might've suspected she was having my baby. So she convinced another friend to marry her. He's never been much for girls. Or wizards, now that I think about it. Good bloke, though. I knew I could trust him with my family."

Hermione was squeezing Harry's hand tightly. He looked at her to see her eyes wide and her face pale.

She knew something.

But Harry wanted to hear more.

"Sirius, you have a family? I mean . . . you have a child?" He expected to feel jealous the same way that he had when Sirius had first arrived and attached himself straight away to little Harry, but that envy did not come. Instead, he was filled with a determination, now more than ever, to make sure that his godfather got through this war unscathed. Sirius had a family that needed him.

Smiling with equal parts pride and sadness, Sirius nodded. "Pretty little thing. I've only seen her twice since she was born. Death Eaters track me wherever I bloody go," he mumbled, his expression turning dark. "It's too much of a risk to let them think for a second that we pulled one over on them. Plus, Pandora's a half-blood. Bellatrix would be frothing at the mouth if she thought that Luna was my daughter. Thank Merlin that she looks just like Pandora except for her eyes."

Hermione's grip on his hand became painful, and Harry turned toward her. "Luna."

He tried to remember Luna smiling, dancing at Bill and Fleur's wedding, or affectionately feeding baby thestrals with no qualms about how terrifying they appeared. Harry did not want to remember getting word about Luna's death. It had sparked a minor dissension amongst Voldemort's ranks when two of Draco's friends had attacked their fellow Death Eaters after Luna was murdered by Rabastan Lestrange. The boys got themselves killed in the process—one had been tortured to death by his own father. Luna had a way with people—even Slytherins. Harry had not been surprised. It was almost impossible not to love her.

Hermione cleared her throat, pulling Harry from his thoughts, and shifted her attention to Sirius. "I'm so sorry that you can't be with them, Sirius. That's awful."

"It's safer for them," Sirius said, looking like he still regretted it. "One of my cousins was assaulted in Diagon Alley when she was pregnant, by her own sister no less, just because the kid had a Muggle-born for a father. They were fine, in the end. Aurors were just around the corner and got Andy to St Mungo's, but Bellatrix got away. And she loved her sister once. She's always hated me. Always. No, it's safer for Pandora and Luna if . . ." He let out a heavy sigh that sounded like relief and guilt mixed together. "You don't know my cousins."

"We do," Harry said, frowning.

Sirius looked up, meeting his stare. Harry did his best to not look at Hermione as he was prone to do whenever Bellatrix was mentioned. He did squeeze her hand gently, though.

"Is there anything good about the future?" Sirius asked.

"Bellatrix is dead," Hermione offered.

Shocked, Sirius appeared to perk right up at the news. "Well, bless! Hear that, Prongsie? Tomorrow doesn't look so bleak after all."

Everyone but Hermione and Harry shared a soft, if somewhat uncomfortable, laugh. Then there was a loud chime from the Floo, and they were all on their feet with wands drawn as though Death Eaters had just descended on the house.

"For fuck's sake," Lily muttered in exasperation as she stowed her own wand back in her pocket. "It's just a fire-call. Everyone be quiet. If we're lucky it's just Hestia doing her weekly check in on us. She's a few days early, though."

As the others returned their wands to pockets and holsters, Harry kept his tight in his grip. He could count the number of times a fire-call meant something good on one hand. He said nothing, following Hermione as she edged closer to the other room to listen in on the fire-call. While he could not tell to whom his mother was speaking, it was a woman, and she sounded angry.

Harry was relieved when Hermione cracked the door.

"—goddamned pieces of shit Death Eaters! We're getting ready to go now. All the Aurors were sent in first, as usual. Hestia wanted me to call and make sure that you lot were exactly where you need to be. I know you sometimes sneak about when you can. Last thing we need is you running into You-Know-Who and his rabid, tattooed sheep."

"We're fine, Marlene," Lily said. "God, please just be careful. You're sure that Dumbledore said . . . ? I mean, you're certain that the information is good?"

"What do you mean? Lils, is something going on? You look odd."

Harry looked at Hermione and his eyes widened in remembrance. "McKinnon?"

Sirius glanced up from the table. "Is that Marlene calling?"

"What's wrong?" James asked as he stood and made his way into the other room. "Marls? What's happening?"

"None of your business, Potter. Stay grounded. Just a little Death Eater kickup. Nothing we can't handle."

With a sudden realisation, Harry blurted, "Don't go!"

"Who's that? I thought you two were locked up. Did Black come back early?"

Sirius rushed into the other room, casting Harry a panicked look as he passed him. "Right here, McKinnon. You're not going anywhere. Stay where you are." He glanced back to Harry, who was shaking his head. "Or . . . not?"

"What the fuck are you on about?" Marlene snapped.

Sighing impatiently, Hermione took over. "Tell her to get her entire family away from wherever the Death Eaters are, but don't go home. Go somewhere unexpected. Another safe house. Is there any place that Pettigrew isn't aware of?"

"Marls, does your mum's family still have that place in the Cotswolds?" James asked. "No one in the Order's been there, right?"

"What happens to Marlene?" Remus asked Harry, suddenly standing behind Hermione with his hands on her shoulders.

Harry furrowed his brow. "I don't know. We don't exactly have a whole list of who lives and dies. I actually thought she would already . . . I thought my mum and dad were the only ones left to . . . you know."

The photograph of the original Order of the Phoenix was not the first picture of his parents, but it was the only one he had that showed who they really were as people. He had fun pictures of them with their friends, and the few from their wedding that Hagrid was able to track down, but the photo with the Order had told Harry that they were fighters—that they stood for something. He remembered everything about the moment when Mad-Eye had given him that photograph, including the people in it he said had died.

"I don't know if it's today, but her whole family is going to die. She needs to go into hiding, right now," Harry said firmly.

Remus did not wait for further information. He stepped into the room and pushed his way past the others to kneel in front of the fireplace.

"Remus?" Marlene asked in shock. "Where the hell have—?"

"Shut up. Is Hestia with you?"

"Don't tell me to . . . Yeah, she's in the other room. What's going on, Remus? Why are they—?"

"Get Hestia, now."

"Rem—"

"NOW!"

"Jesus Christ, fine!"

Harry let out a breath and turned to see that Hermione had left his side to pull the fussing baby from his highchair, shifting him to her hip. It was a strange thing to see. Had the current tension of the room been even slightly less, Harry might have laughed and made a joke about Hermione always mothering him. As it was, he could not even form the words as another voice shouted from the fireplace.

"Remus? Oh my God, we've been so worried!"

"Hestia, do you trust us?" Remus asked.

"With my life."

"Then grab Marlene and Disapparate to her parents' place in the Cotswolds. I know you've been there, but to my knowledge, no one else has. Get all of her family in that cottage and lock the place up. Run to ground. Don't tell a soul. We'll send word when it's safe."

"I . . . Okay," Hestia said anxiously. "And then what?"

"Then you'll come here," James said, meeting Harry's gaze. "But don't tell anyone. Not even . . . Not even Dumbledore. Only come out if you get a message from me, Lily, Sirius, or Remus." He looked pained to leave out Peter's name. "No one else. No one."

Harry could hear Marlene arguing in the background, but Hestia's voice was firm when she said, "I trust you. Consider it done."

The fire-call ended, leaving everyone in the living room looking shell shocked. Hermione and Harry joined them; Hermione observed each adult carefully, as though she were deciding which of them was the most stable for holding the baby—or which needed him the most. James took him without question, pressing his nose against the small head of black hair.

They had almost no time to relax or talk about what had just happened or where Death Eaters currently were or what details Harry knew about Marlene's hopefully averted death. A loud crack sounded from outside followed by the wards shaking. Someone, likely whoever Apparated into the garden, screamed in pain.

Harry felt like his chest was caving in at the sound, and he rushed to the front door, throwing it open without a thought at the same time as he drew his wand.

"Is that Peter?" Lily asked frantically behind him.

"Whoever it is, it's a Death Eater," Sirius growled, following after Harry.

The wards had turned dark from the inside, and there was someone trapped beneath a thick blanket of visible magic. Harry reached out to touch it, but Sirius yanked his hand back.

"Get rid of it," Harry said in a panic. "What is this? Get rid of it!"

"Something Prongs and I thought up this morning. I knew enough from my brother about the Dark Mark. So I set a little trap to be triggered by the tattoo. I know James thinks he's innocent, but I couldn't take the chance that Peter could get one over on us."

"Take it off!" Harry loudly pleaded with his godfather. "It's hurting him!"

Sirius frowned. "It's not offensive magic, Harry. The trap won't hurt Peter."

"It's not Pettigrew!"

"Oh my god!" Hermione pushed her way to Harry's side just as Sirius removed the sprung trap to reveal a writhing blond beneath it. "Draco!"

Harry felt his chest clench and then release in a tidal wave of relief at the sight of the man, and he bent forward, wrapping his arms around Draco's shoulders until he heard a hiss of pain. Sitting back, Harry drew his attention to Draco's arm, which was gushing blood due to an arrow sticking out of it. "What happened?"

"Fucking . . . centaurs," Draco hissed angrily. He looked pale and woozy from the loss of blood. "The whole lot should be rounded up and thrown into the lake. I don't care what Granger says. Bloody beasts."

"We need a Blood-Replenishing Potion," Hermione said urgently. "Let's get him inside."

No one moved a muscle.

"Hermione, who is that?" Remus asked nervously.

"This is who Harry and I have been waiting for."

"Death Eater," Sirius said stiffly. "He's a Death Eater."

"I know," Harry whispered sadly, affectionately brushing blond fringe from Draco's forehead before leaning down and pressing a kiss to his mouth. "I know."