Disclaimer: yeah...
so because I wrote way too much I broke it up into two chapters, so here you guys go!
It's been a long time coming since I've seen your face
I've been everywhere and back trying to replace
Everything that I had 'til my feet went numb
Praying like a fool that's been on the run
Heart's still beating but it's not working
It's like a million dollar phone that you just can't ring
I reached out trying to love but I feel nothing
Yeah, my heart is numb
But with you
I feel again
Yeah, with you
I can feel again
~One Republic, Feel Again
"Remus? When is Dany gonna be back?" Harry probingly asked the older man after his Godmother had been gone for quite a few hours. The sun had set long ago in the sky, meaning that if the Dursley's wanted him back, they would soon be figuring out that this wasn't a day trip. Remus had smiled a little, even Harry could see the guilt in it, and said,
"She's going to get Sirius from jail, so she'll be a little while longer. Why don't you come over and look at some of those pictures and I'll tell you stories about your mom and dad?" Harry smiled. After no one mentioning his parents for the last seven years, it felt good that people were freely talking about them and wanted to tell him something about them. The sun had set long ago in the sky, meaning that if the Dursley's wanted him back, they would soon be figuring out that this wasn't a day trip.
"Okay. But Remus? If Dany told me who the—the…what was it again?"
"Secret keeper."
"Yeah, if she told me who the secret keeper was, why couldn't she remember?" Moony sighed and looked at his best friend's son sadly, although he had to admit he had asked the very same question in the moments he had seen Dany alone before she left with Albus for the Ministry and, presumably, Azkaban.
"Because in the days following the war, there was a ferocious search for you, by Voldemort's followers. She erased the name from her mind to protect you. If you had come forward as a baby and started babbling names like Peter Pettigrew, Sirius and Danilynn Black, and Voldemort, it would have been too easy to find you. You would have been given to Dany, and Sirius if you had remembered the real secret keeper, and you would have been too easy to find. She erased it from her mind to avoid the temptation of going to the Ministry. Does that make sense?"
"I guess so. I just wish that it had been safe for me to know sooner. I don't like the Dursleys. Do I have to go back? I don't want to go back."
"I don't know, Buddy. We have to wait for your Godparents to come back."
"Sirius is really coming?"
"You betcha." Harry spun around as fast as an eight-year-old possibly could and in the doorway was Dany. She smiled warmly at him and he couldn't help but running into her arms. She scooped him up and laughed saying, "Oof, this was a lot easier when you were a little one. You're so big now." She gently placed Harry down and her attention slid over to Remus, "He's at Hogwarts. Albus said that the potions master has some kind of potion that the Ministry uses on the occasions that they wrongly imprison someone. Something about that place just cripples you and the potion supposedly fixes your body, gives you your physical faculties back. Probably the that Dementors destroy you, if I had to venture a guess."
"How is he?" Remus asked as he smiled at one of his closest friends,
"He's…well he's Sirius. Albus said that they'd be along in an hour or so."
"Dany?" Harry's Godmother looked down at him,
"Yeah, Harry?"
"Can I live with you and Sirius?" She sank down towards the floor so she was at eye level with the sitting boy.
"Harry, we should wait until Sirius and Professor Dumbledore get here, so we can decide what to do about that. We want you to live with us, but I'm not sure how to go about it."
"I do believe that I can help with that." Everyone looked up to see Professor Dumbledore in the door where Dany had been standing minutes before.
"Professor Dumbledore? Do you have my Godfather? Dany said you had him." Harry demanded almost frantically of his future Headmaster (although he didn't know that part yet).
"Ah, well we wouldn't want Mrs. Black to be lying would we? No, he's right here." Professor Dumbledore stepped out of the way and there was a man behind him who looked to be about Dany and Remus' age. Harry recognized him from the memory that he had seen earlier today. Dany stood to her full height and hugged Sirius tightly and said something too soft for Harry to hear from where he was. He responded with something that sounded like 'of course'. She released hm and said,
"Harry, this is your Godfather, Sirius. Sirius, well…you know who this is." Harry cautiously moved towards his Godfather who was much taller than he thought he would be. He was taller than Remus and Professor Dumbledore and outright towered over Dany.
"Hey Harry. It's been so long. Too long. Well I hear that you wanna come live with us?" Harry nodded, now unsure of himself, "Well, we'd love to keep you forever and ever, if that's alright with you." Harry grinned now and hugged his Godfather and glanced over the older man's shoulder to see Dany still in the doorway, her eyes watering, with a hand over her mouth.
Unlike Dany, Sirius had no problem supporting Harry's weight, with his much bigger stature, and held him to his side as he moved over to Remus.
"Moony Lupin. It's been a long time since we've seen each other."
"Yeah, Sirius, about that…"
"Don't. You did nothing wrong. Can we please put this behind us?" Remus nodded slowly and Sirius continued to talk, "Now can we please address the fact that Snivellus is Potions Master at Hogwarts?" Dany's face turned to outrage and Remus' turned to shock. Dumbledore closed his eyes and looked like he'd rather be talking about of a number of other more unpleasant topics at the moment.
"What?! Albus have you completely lost your brilliant mind? Snivelly is teaching?"
"Yes, Danilynn, Severus is teaching Potions. He desired to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, but I denied him that."
"Bloody shame. Everyone knows that job's cursed."
"Sirius. Danilynn. There is a child in the room." Remus lightly added and all four sets of adult eyes turned to Harry, making it clear that even Sirius, who was still holding him, had forgotten that he was there, at least momentarily. Professor Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose and said,
"Yes, Severus Snape is teach Potions, and no whatever you say will not convince me to change my mind as to allowing him to do so. Now in regards to Harry, I will arrange a meeting with the Department for the protection of Magical Children and go from there. One thing is clear though: Harry should not go back to where he was. From what I have been told the Dursleys were anything but kind to him. Danilynn, Sirius, Harry, will you go stay at Danilynn's current residence?" Dany cleared her throat,
"Yeah…it's not what I would call warm and homey so I really think we should consider looking into getting a new place."
"Where are you staying?" Sirius asked her curiously, and Harry couldn't help but be interested, himself.
"…My parents old place." She answered after a moment of silence. Sirius cleared his throat.
"Yeah…don't get me wrong, I loved your parents as much as the next person, but maybe moving would be a good idea."
"What's wrong with your parent's place?" Remus asked and Harry silently watched the adults from his position between Sirius and Dany,
"Think Versailles but a little smaller." Harry wasn't sure what Versailles was but it sounded big and scary. He wasn't sure he wanted to see this place, after all.
"Ah."
"Yeah…beautiful? Yes. Child-friendly? Not in the least. I know my family has some property out in Scottish country somewhere, though. I remember going there as a kid and loving it."
"Why don't you just live there?" Harry asked inquisitively. Dany smiled at him and said,
"I wanted to live near London, because of my job. Remember what I told you I do?"
"You're a bad wizard catcher?" She nodded at him,
"Yup. Well the headquarters is in London, so I wanted to be close to my work so I could get to headquarters faster if there was an emergency." Harry nodded. This made sense to even the eight-year-old. Dumbledore reentered the conversation and said,
"Why don't you stay at the Masters house outside London for tonight and then you can talk about where you want to move to. Remember that Grimmauld place and Potter Manor are both also options." The adults on both sides of Harry exchanged a look that told him that neither of these were real options. Sirius nodded,
"I think we'll do that. Dany, you wanna Apparate us?" Dany glanced at harry pointedly and said,
"How about we drive?" Sirius followed her gaze to Harry and nodded. Dany and Sirius hugged Remus and shook hands with Professor Dumbledore and harry waved shyly to both. Together the three of them left the Leaky Cauldron and loaded into Dany's car, for the first time ever, as a family.