A/N: I'm so glad everyone enjoyed the first two chapters of the rewrite, thank you so much!

Twisted Chains

Chapter 2:

February, 23, 1982

When she read in the Daily Prophet that Sirius Black had been arrested for the murder of Peter Pettigrew, twelve muggles and being in the services of the now former Dark Lord, during breakfast. Petunia finished up her meal, cleaned up the Pups, gave them to Fenrir; the lone Wolf apparently wasn't going anywhere. And made her way to her Caretaker's room, the man was at his desk writing a letter to his Uncle, upon hearing the knock on his opened door; put down his quill and turned looked over his shoulder.

"Finished with breakfast?" Caz said.

"Sirius Black has been arrested."

"Harry's Godfather?" Caz browed furrowed, Petunia nodded as she walked over and placed the newspaper she had brought along with her on the man's desk, "I see" the Caretaker said after reading the article, "what do you want to do?" he then asked looking back at her.

"I am not sure" Petunia admitted uncertainly.

During her school days, when the both of them were young and before life had forced them apart, Lily often spoke of Potter and his friends; either in her letters or when she was home for the holidays. At first it had been with contempt, how they often did childish and sometimes cruel pranks; especially toward her then friend Severus Snape. Who Petunia thought at the time would be a good master for sister, Lily's letters often spoke of admiration for Snape, of his brilliant intelligent and while he had been not the most handsome of boy; there just something about him that drew her sister toward him. And when she came home, Lily was usually gone, disappearing to wherever Snape was. Petunia had only talked to Snape once, and had certainly been impressed.

So it was a surprise when that contempt soften into something else, and Lily picked Potter as her master. Her sister never told her why when Petunia had asked, and even the journal that now had a place on the Vixen's bedside held no clues except that she regretted the end of her friendship with Severus Snape.

However, the journal did tell her that Lily had reservation about Sirius being Harry's Godfather, her sister had noticed that while Sirius obvious was not proud of his behavior during school; he didn't seem to regret his actions either. Especially toward Severus, which made Lily worry about the influence on her son, learning of this made Petunia wonder about Potter. Black and Potter were very much brothers in all but blood, so the man must have known or at least suspected the same thing as her sister. So either the man didn't care or was blinded, considering it was his idea to name Black Harry's Godfather.

"Do you think he actually did it?" Caz asked curiously.

"Absolutely not" Petunia snorted, "according to my sister, that man is annoyingly loyal, and hated anything to do with the so called Dark Arts."

That her sister was certain, having done the research when she had come of age.

Caz hummed thoughtfully, "Do you want me to intervene?" he then asked, watching the Vixen carefully.

Petunia's tail twitched, and there was another problem. None of Potter's friends, or even Severus Snape knew that Lily had been a Musahib, and Lily had told her that she made Potter promise not to tell anyone; especially Dumbledore. If Caz intervened, they ran the risk of being found out….unless they were very careful about it.

"He most likely won't get a fair trial, if one at all." Caz mused.

"He'll probably be more trouble then he's worth." Petunia added, her tail curling slightly.

"That he could be" Caz simply said, he tapped his fingers against the paper, face thoughtful. "I think we should have a talk with him."

~.~

Caretakers are very well-known around the Wizarding World, and aside from being the guardians of Musahib, they were also known for their earth magic. A powerful type of magic, and rare among Wizards and Witches. According to history, the Caretakers came into being during what Musahib called Majzara. During Majzara, humans hunted down Musahib because they believed them to be evil spirits, demons or monsters. While Witches and Wizards hunted and kidnapped Musahib for their power or because they believed them to be dangerous.

A group of Shamans protected and gave the Musahib shelter, a tradition that had carried on until this day. Typically, the role of Caretaker is a family tradition, though if they have the potential and a strong sense of earth magic, an outsider could be brought in for training and eventually given the role. However, unless it had anything to do with the Musahib under their guardianship, a Caretaker rarely bothered with the Muggle or Wizarding world, so it was quite a shock when Caz and a two-tailed red full form Fox Musahib interrupted the sentencing of one Sirius Black.

"Apologizes for being late" Caz said to the whispering court, "it's been so long since I've last been here, that I forgot where it was. Took us three tries didn't it Pet."

The Musahib merely sat on its hind legs, and curled her tails around her paws.

"Caretaker Caz," Bartemius "Barty" Crouch Senior said, surprise clear in his voice, "this is a surprise."

"Looks to be that way doesn't it." Caz smiled gleefully, next to him Pet sighed in exasperation, her Caretaker was enjoying this a little too much.

"To what do we owe this sudden visit?" Albus spoke up, "and in the middle of a trail too."

"Oh, the trail is still going?" Caz asked with a knowing smirk, taking note that Albus and Barty were the only judges.

While Albus didn't show anything but a polite smile, Barty shifted nervously in his seat. With gleaming eyes, Caz spoke again, "I wish to talk to Black over there" the Caretaker pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the prisoner who was watching it all with a bewildered expression.

"Talk." Barty repeated slightly dumbfounded.

Caz nodded, "Alone." His tone left no room for argument.

There is a anticipated silence as all waited for the two judge's answer, finally, with polite smile still on. Albus nodded, "I do not see the harm." he said.

Pet's ears twitched.

They give Caz and Black a small private room, with two chairs and a table between them; and after shooing the Aurors out, Caz turned to Pet. Pet's eyes glowed, and Sirius shivered as he felt the sudden wave a strong magic. "Now then," the Caretaker then said once he got a nod from Pet, "please have a seat."

From where he was standing in the corner watching everything, Sirius hesitated for a moment, before sitting down in one of the chairs; Caz sat in the other one. Pet settled down at the Caretaker's feet, her tails curling around his feet. Caz leaned back against the chair and waited.

"I'm going to admit" Sirius said after a long silence, "I have no idea what is going on…..did someone send you?"

"We can leave it at that," said Caz with a small smirk, "I know you didn't kill anyone, or betray the Potters."

Sirius's eyes go wide, "You….do?"

Caz nodded, "And I'll help prove it anyway I can."

"Why?" Sirius asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion, "why would you help me?" He then glanced down at Pet.

"You're not her Chosen" Caz said when the man looked back up at him, "now then, tell what happened between you and Pettigrew."

Sirius's expression turned thoughtful, weighing his options, which were very little admittedly; he didn't even get a trail. If the Caretaker hadn't arrived, Sirius was sure he would already be in Azkaban right now.

"Before they were….murdered." Sirius's voice cracked, and it took him a moment to gain some composure, "I convinced James and Lily to reassign the Secret Keeper from me to Peter, believing him to be a less obvious choice and use me as decoy. He….betrayed them, betrayed James. Afterwards, I looked and found him in the Muggle World, and in the open, he accused me of betraying the Potters before creating that explosion and killing those Muggles and himself."

"And then you were arrested" Caz concluded.

Sirius nodded.

"And of course there were witnesses," the Caretaker ran his fingers through Pet's fur when the Musahib lifted and rested her head on his lap, "and they only found a finger, that belonged Pettigrew."

Sirius nodded again, Caz hummed softly, "Very well"

The man startled when the Caretaker suddenly stood, "One last thing, where exactly did this take place?"

~.~

After getting Albus and Barty to postpone the sentencing, and Sirius under house arrest at the old Black House, Caz and Pet made their way to the street where it all took place. Ignoring some of the staring and whispering bystanders, Caz got to work. Whatever evidence there was, was either taken by the Aurors, or lost due to weather and people walking through here. Not a problem for Caz, the Caretaker closed his eyes and when he opened them, his pupils were wide and dark. They flickered, following the phantom figures of the past, vaguely is he aware of Pet making noise.

It wasn't a distressed one, just surprised and curious so he let it be, and continued watching. When he finally came to the phantom of Sirius Black, he held it there and watched. Everything Black told him was true, and when the explosion happened Caz paused it. Studied it, smiled, and let the scene continued. This time more slowly, and when it finally ended, Caz closed his eyes. When he opened them, his pupils were back to normal.

"Looks like we—who's your new friend Pet?"

Pet glared up at him, while the child, couldn't be no more than two or three, giggled as she cuddled up with the Vixen's tails, Caz wasn't surprised that the girl could see passed his Cover spell. Children were a lot more perceptive then adults, easily seeing through spells that generally depended on adults not paying attention or seeing what they wanted to see.

"Puppy!" the child squealed.

"Well, you're not entirely wrong." Caz chuckled, before looking around for the girl's mother or father.

Thankfully, he found the girl's mother, who thanked and apologized to both the Caretaker and Pet, Caz just smiled and reassured the woman that there was no harm done.

"Well, let's go, we have a rat to find"

And then they were gone, and those who had seen them, will only remember seeing a man and his dog taking a nice stroll.

~.~

There was an uproar when Caz returned with a hog-tied, gagged and very much alive Peter Pettigrew, and announced he found the true murder and betrayer of the Potter family, Albus's eyes had gone so dark they were almost black.

"I think a new trail is in order," Caz said to Albus and Barty, "one that I most certainly will attend."

From where he had been dumped in the corner, Pettigrew whimpered when Pet snapped her teeth at him. The two Wizards looked at him, and noticed that there were some visible scratches and the wizard had a very odd look in his eyes.

"Very well." Barty said, caving under Caz's unrelenting gaze.

"Barty" Albus began.

"Obviously, we were wrong about something, Albus" Barty said before addressing Caz, "we will have a new trail."

A week later, Sirius was a free man, and Pettigrew was sentenced to the Kiss.

"I can't thank you enough" Sirius said a few days later.

They were in a Wizarding Pub, having lunch, at the Caretaker's feet laid Pet. Something about the place was oddly off, not bad….just off.

"I assure you, it was no trouble" Caz said, "in fact, I had fun."

Sirius gave an amused huff of laughter, before his expression became serious, "I—" he paused to lick his lips before speaking again, "I've been wondering, why a Caretaker would help me. I'm not a Chosen, and I know for a fact that none of my family member were or are Caretakers, so the only thing I can think of is that you either knew James or Lily"

Caz hummed and rested his chin on his palm, Pet's ears swirled toward Black, "And which one do you think I was known to?"

"Lily."

Caz grinned.

~.~

The death of the man who had betrayed her sister, did not make the hollowness inside her go away, she knew it wouldn't; but had hoped none the less. Still, she slowly began to move on, giving all her focus to the Pups, while Caz and Fenrir helped and made sure she remembered to care for herself.

"Black is asking when he can see Harry." Caz said one afternoon.

From where she was glaring out the window at Fenrir for taking the Pups outside to play in the mud that late morning rain had created, Petunia looked at her Caretaker. In the man's hand was a letter. It's been a month since they've helped Black prove his innocence, since the man figured out that Lily had been a Musahib and that his Godson was one as well. A month since Caz rejected the man demand to see the Pup, stating that the time wasn't right. While in all honesty, Caz only rejected the demand because he knew Petunia was not comfortable with the man, and Black being near the Pups could potentially be dangerous.

"He is Harry's Godfather." Caz said when Petunia turned back to the window.

"Lily did not trust him." Petunia said.

"But she still agreed to it"

"Considering the circumstance, it was probably more of desperation, then anything genuine"

"Maybe, it still doesn't change the facts, besides he has no one now. Two of his best friends are dead, one is who knows where, and he has no family to speak of. Would you really subject him to such loneliness?"

Petunia said nothing, but her ears did droop and her tail twitched with uneasiness. Caz waited.

"…..I suppose, we can have tea, lunch, or something." the Vixen relented, "and from there, we shall see."

Caz smiled, "I'll set up at time and day."

~.~

Caz arranged for Sirius to meet them at his Uncle Cody's house for lunch, Cody was a large muscular mountain of a man, with dark brown hair and grey eyes like his nephew. He lived in London, in a charming flat, with his bonded wolf Musahib Aife. Uncle Cody was the Caretaker the family went to for their Charges to be trained in Martial Arts, which Harry and Dudley will start when they turned five.

"They are adorable, aren't they Aife."

From where she was sitting on the sofa next to Petunia, watching her bonded wrestle with the Pups on the floor, Aife giggled.

"Thank you for allowing us to have lunch here." Petunia said to Aife.

"It's no trouble at all Pet," Aife reassured, "we're always happy to have you over, regardless of the matter, especially since it lets Cody see his nephew."

Petunia looked in the direction of the kitchen, where her Caretaker was making lunch, a sudden yelp turned her attention back to Cody. The Caretaker was easily holding Dudley in one hand, while looking at his other arm that was bleeding.

"Dudley!" she scolded, standing up to get her son who was trying to wiggle out of Cody's hand.

"I got it Pet," Cody reassured, as he placed his hand firmly around the back of the Pup's neck when Dudley tried to get at him again, "no." he said, voice firm.

Dudley growled at him, and started wiggling again, Cody added a bit of pressure, "No" he said again, "you don't bite….well it depends on the situation."

"Cody." Aife said, tone exasperated but amused, while Petunia just shook her head.

"Oh, right, no biting anyone."

Dudley eventual stopped wiggling, and when he was let go, he toddled over to his mother whining softly.

"You can't be so rough my love." Petunia ran her fingers through her son's hair.

Dudley huffed, before he went over to his cousin, Harry, who had decided he was more interested in one of the toys that they had brought with them to keep the Pups entertained, blinked when his toy was snatched from him.

"Mine!"

"Dudley!" Petunia scolded when Harry started to cry.

"Oh dear." Aife said.

This time Petunia stood up and went over to her son and nephew, "We don't snatch things," she said as she took the toy out of the Pup's hand, "and we share."

Dudley growled and bared his teeth, Petunia's ears twitched, "I think someone need a nap."

"No!" Dudley protested, whining when he was picked up.

Petunia, with her struggling Pup in arms, headed to the guest room to put Dudley down for a nap.

"Figured as much," Caz said when he came into the living room and asked where the two were, and Cody told him, "Pup had woken up early this morning."

"You shouldn't put that in your mouth Harry." Cody said.

The toy, a non-magical action figure, was covered in bite marks which told Cody that it wasn't the first time the item had been put in one of the Pups' mouth. Harry giggled around the toy, white fluffy tail wagging happily. Cody let it be, especially since Caz looked more amused then worried or bothered.

~.~

Sirius Black arrived at the destined house at two o'clock on the dot, dressed in Muggle clothing. After nervously fidgeting with his clothes and long black hair that he had put in a low ponytail, Sirius knocked on the door. It opened and Sirius looked up in surprised at the large man filling the doorframe, he had expected Caz.

"You must be Black." the mountain of the man said with a knowing gleam in his eyes.

"Erm…" Sirius said, unable to say anything else.

"Come on in, everyone is waiting for you, I'm Caretaker Cody, by the way; Caz's Uncle."

Silently, Sirius followed Cody into the house and to the living room, and once again he is shocked to silence. Sitting next to Caz, was Petunia, Lily's older sister; Lily's older sister who was a Musahib. Even though he had suspected it, seeing it for himself was still surprising.

"Good afternoon Black," Caz greeted, "you remember Pet."

"Afternoon." Petunia greeted politely, tail curling around her feet, ears twitching; her vertically narrowed blue eyes made the Wizard very nervous.

"Pet." Caz admonished gently.

Petunia said nothing, though her eyes did soften a bit, then, with only the sound of little running feet and squealing laughter as the only warning, two Musahib children came running into the room; being chased by an older Musahib. Sirius's eyes followed the Musahib child with the white tail and ears, who had yet to notice him, run to Caz. The Caretaker picked up the child and placed him on his lap, facing Sirius.

"You of course, know Harry, Harry that's Sirius, your Godfather." Harry followed Caz's pointed finger to Sirius, the Pup blinked at him.

Sirius was moving before he could think, stopping some inches away when he realized what he was doing, he glanced a bit nervously over at Petunia who was watching him.

"It's alright," Caz reassured, "come closer."

Sirius does, and quickly he had Harry in his arms, "….Hello Harry." the wizard said after a long moment, dark blue eyes taking in everything of his Godson.

His heart clenched painfully at how much the child looked like James, however the Child's green eyes were all Lily.

"He looks so much like his parents." Sirius said softly.

Harry hit him with his tail.

~.~

Considering his family, Sirius can honestly say that this wasn't the worst lunch he's ever attended, it was a little better since he was allowed to sit next to Harry; who had taken to his Godfather like most children did. Someone to play with.

He'll take what he could get.

"I just can't believe, James and Lily never told me." Sirius sighed, watching as Harry put most of the food everywhere but in his mouth.

"….Lily" Petunia started softly after her Caretaker gave her a warning look, "had reservations about anyone knowing about her and Harry's true heritage. And I intent to keep it that way."

Sirius tilted his head, there was something off about her words, "You mean me." he guessed, smiling when a tiny food covered fist handed him a piece of chopped meat, he took and ate it.

"Not just you, but yes," Petunia nodded, catching the plastic fork before it fell, and giving it back to her son, "mostly because of your actions during your school years, and what she observed later during your time together in adulthood."

Sirius brows furrowed as he tried to think of anything that could have made Lily not trust him enough, the only thing he could think off was anything that dealt with Snape. But she had cut off all contact with the wizard after the Incident….at least he thought she did, considering everything; she could have patched things up and had been talking to the man without anyone the wiser.

"They made me Harry's Godfather." Sirius then said, grasping for…something.

"Musahib, do not have Godparents" Caz spoke up, "they have Caretakers. You being Harry's Godfather was definitely Potter's idea."

Knowing Lily, James would definitely know this, so why? Was he trying to give the illusion that his family was normal?

"We don't know the reason why Potter did this" Caz then said, "but we will honor it."

For a moment, Sirius said nothing, Musahib laws were different from Wizards; including that Caretakers had all legal rights to Musahib children if the parents for any reason were unable to care for them. The fact that Sirius was Harry's Godfather, was void, the fact that the two were willing to not only overlook; but honor it. Was surprising and a little humbling.

"Y-You will?" the man said, looking at Petunia.

"I don't trust you" the Vixen said bluntly, "and it seems my sister trusted you to a certain extent, however, I will not deny my nephew any kind of connection to his father. With certain restrictions."

"For now" Caz added, "supervised visits, and the like. More importantly, you can't tell anyone about this."

There was something to that last rule, more than just the usual secrecy of Musahib and their world, but he didn't care much for it. He only cared that he got to see Harry, that he stayed in his Godson's life, and if meant following a few rules. Then he'd do it.

"Though I've never been one for following them" the man thought making a slight face.

No doubt guessing what he was thinking, Petunia raised a brow.

July, 31, 1985

"Boys!"

"…Uh-oh"

"Get out of that tree, right now!"

Arms folded over her chest, tail twitching in annoyance, and foot taping impatiently. Petunia watched, with a disapproving gaze, as one by one, Dudley, Harry, Fenrir, and Sirius climbed down from the tree and stood before her; looking various degrees of chastised, amused and unashamed. The Vixen's expression eventually melted into exasperation, and with a sigh, pointed to the house.

"Go clean up, and get dressed." she said to the Pups.

Dudley and Harry hurried off to do just that, not wanting to upset their mother more.

"And you two" she growled at the two older males, "you two should know better!"

"Aww, Pet" Sirius grinned, "no need to be so angry, I mean, they're going to dirty later on anyway."

"That's beside the point, the party starts in less than an hour!"

"Plenty of time for a bit of fun." Fenrir smirked.

"Guests have already started to arrive!" Petunia snapped, tail thumping heavily on the ground.

Both males gave the tail a weary look, knowing whenever she did that it meant she was nearing the end of her patience. After glancing at each other, Fenrir spoke, "Sorry" he said with a sheepish smile that Petunia did not buy one bit.

"Just get inside" the Vixen grumbled.

"Yes Ma'am" Sirius said with a cheeky grin, he and Fenrir hurrying inside the house when Petunia growled.

After a moment, Petunia prayed to her sister for patience, and followed.

~.~

The guests consisted of mostly Caz, his family and their Charges, adult and children alike; and finally Fenrir and Sirius.

"Uncle Cody!"

"Cousin Cody!"

"Caretaker Cody!"

Cody crouched down and was immediately tackled over by Dudley, Harry, and the other children.

"Hello Aife" Sirius greeted as he went around the pile of children and one Caretaker.

"Hello Sirius," Aife smiled, "where can I put this?" she then asked holding up the wrapped gift.

"I'll take it" Sirius took the gift and the two left Cody playing with the children in the hall.

Aife and Sirius went into the living room where it was decorated with balloons and a magical banner hanging in the air that said "Happy Birthday Harry!". The furniture had been moved to make room for the table and chairs, on one table was a lovely decorated cake with a number five candle in the middle, and in a corner were many presents.

"This is lovely" Aife complimented.

"Thank you" Petunia said as she came into the room, floating platters of food behind her, "where is Caretaker Cody?"

There is a loud squeal from the front door hall, "Never mind" Petunia chuckled.

"Shall we rescue your Uncle?" asked Caz's Aunts, Aleen, to Caz.

"I suppose so"

After Caz and his Aunt rescued Cody, the three adults herded the children into the living room where everyone settled down for lunch. Which was a mixture of eating and refereeing the children.

"Ow! Mama, Dudley hit me!"

"He kept pulling Harry's tail!"

"Was not!"

"Daddy, Mary stole my chicken!"

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Don't pull my tail!"

"Stop pulling Harry's tail!"

"Ow! Caretaker Maria, Dudley bite me"

"Dudley, what did we say about biting?"

"You don't know where that person's been?"

"No! We don't bite period"

"Cameron, stop pulling Harry's tail!"

"Hey, don't throw your beans at me!"

"Then don't throw them at me!"

After lunch, the adults sent the food covered children, because honestly they were exhausted and could care less at the moment, outside to play with Fenrir while they cleaned up.

"I'll forever be amazed at how much of a mess children can make" said Uncle Aiden.

"And to think, we still have the cake to do" Caz sighed as Petunia's waved her hand over to messy table, the mess was gone and the table was clean. After the floor was cleaned, the adults sat down and talked. Mostly about their Charges/children, and what was happening in the Wizarding World (rumors of the Dark Lord's return had started up).

"Have you considered looking for a Master, now that you are no longer married Pet?" asked Auntie Aileen.

Petunia's back straightened up, her tail curled around her feet and her ears went back just slightly. "Not at this time," she said, "I want to focus on raising my Pups."

"And I've agreed with her on this decision" Caz spoke up, warning in his eyes and stopping his Aunt from asking anymore questions.

About an hour later, they bring the children, and an oddly shirtless Fenrir back inside for cake, ice-cream, and presents.

"What happened to your shirt?" Sirius asked, ignoring the women and men, both human and Musahib alike leering at the Werewolf's well-defined chest.

"Not sure" Fenrir shrugged, "the Pups had taken it, and it disappeared at some point."

Not that the Wolf cared, he had only put on a shirt because Petunia had brought it and threated to castrate him if he didn't wear the shirt to the party. And judging from the Vixen's look, a mixture of leering and displeased, he was going to have another one put on him soon. Inwardly grimacing, the Wolf tried plan A, and flexed his muscles. He got happy sighs from the other females, and the slight scent of arousal (and not just from the females) made his nose twitched. Petunia's cheeks turn a light pink, but her look turned knowing.

Time for plan B.

"Who wants cake?" the Wolf asked the children, and instantly got cheers.

"You're not off the hook." Petunia whispered to the Wolf as they all headed for the living room.

Fenrir just gave wolfish grin and flexed his muscles again, Petunia's cheek go pink again and she smacked him on the arm.

"Uncle Sirius, Mama Petunia hit Uncle Fenrir." Harry tattled.

"Petunia, no hitting." Sirius grinned.

Petunia just smacked him too.

Review Please!

Next chapter: Harry becomes of age! And begins his search for his Master/Mistress!