Chapter 4

After everything was packed, and Remus had retrieved and shrunk Sirius's motorcycle, they moved Remus's things into one of the bedrooms in the main living area. Harry placed all of Sirius's belongings in the bedroom next to Remus's room. He took the shrunken motorcycle out of his pocket and placed in on a shelf in the room. When everything was put away, they transported back to Remus's cottage.

Hedwig had arrived by then, and Harry brought her into the trunk and made sure she had plenty of food and water before he and Remus settled in front of the fireplace in the trunk's library.

"All right, Harry. What is this idea of yours?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, and then looked at Remus. "Promise me you'll hear me out before you say anything."

Remus nodded, warily.

"Right, then," Harry said, then stood up and began to pace in front of the fireplace. "Where to start."

Remus waited patiently, watching Harry pace back and forth. Finally, Harry threw himself into the chair across from Remus with a heavy sigh.

"Sirius fell through the veil one week ago tonight, right?"

Remus nodded.

"And that's not really enough time to cause an imbalance to the future. So, if you had a way to go back in time and rescue Sirius, but did it at the last minute so that it looked like he fell into the veil, but instead, you brought him into the trunk, would you do it?"

Remus sighed. "Harry . . ."

"No, wait. You said you'd hear me out. Just answer yes or no. Would you do it?"

Remus hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes."

"So, if you and I put our thoughts of everything that happened in the Death Chamber into the pensieve, we could watch it over and over and plan the perfect rescue. The trunk is capable of traveling through time, and I know that time travel can be dangerous, but if we planned everything out perfectly in advance, we could do it, Remus. What do you think?"

Remus placed steepled fingers over his mouth and looked thoughtful. Harry waited silently, afraid that if he made a sound, Remus would refuse. After a few moments, Remus let out a heavy sigh. "So, this is why you weren't upset at the reading of the will; why you've been happy since leaving Tidwell's. You were planning this already, weren't you?"

Harry nodded. "Sirius leaving us his money was perfect. When he comes back, he'll still have access to it, but you and I will be the ones taking it out of the bank. Not even the goblins will know he's back." He looked desperately into Remus's impassive features, leaned toward him, and spoke softly. "It's possible, Remus. We can do this."

Remus nodded slowly. "As long as you don't put yourself in danger, I'm willing to try it."

Harry jumped out of his chair with a yelp, ran to Remus, and threw his arms around him. "You're the best magical guardian in the whole world!"

Remus laughed and gently cuffed him on the back of the head. "And you are a cheeky brat, but I find that I like you, anyway."

Harry laughed and pulled Remus out of his chair. "Come on. Let's go get the instructions, then we'll get started on the pensieve."

88888888888888888

After over an hour of examining every angle of the fight in the Death Chamber of the Department of Mysteries, Harry and Remus had determined where each spell had fallen; the exact number of seconds it had taken from the time Sirius was hit until he fell through the veil; the exact time the battle had begun; where each person was standing and where the trunk should be placed. After carefully going over their plan, they entered the pensieve once more to make sure they were correct.

Finally, they came out of the pensieve for the final time. "I think we've got it," Harry said. "But even if we make a mistake, we can always try it again. This isn't a once in a life time thing."

"Unless we get ourselves killed," Remus cautioned. "But we need to do it as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the more chance we have of disrupting the time continuum."

"We should do it tonight," Harry said. "I just need to program Sirius into the trunk, then we can do it."

Remus frowned. "How are you going to do that, Harry? You had to have one my hairs for it to work with me."

"Exactly," Harry said, grinning. "Hang on. I'll be right back." He left through the door, and was back in less than three minutes, carrying a hairbrush. "I got this from Sirius's room. It still has his hair in it."

Remus followed him into the Control Room, and they sat down in front of the panel. Harry extracted a long, black hair from the brush, placed it over the recessed light, and covered it with his hand. "Sirius Orion Black. Levels 4 through 8 accesses. Control Room Access. Transportation Access. Safe Haven Access. Owl Access. Confirm." The light flashed red.

Harry picked up the gold chain, holding it firmly in his hand, then turned to Remus. "Let's do this."

Remus nodded.

Harry set the Time Travel controls for the date and time they wanted to go back to. He also shrunk the trunk and made it invisible, then set the controls to appear in a section of the chamber where no one would disturb it. When everything was ready, he pushed the Time Travel button and turned the screen on to see outside the trunk.

They only had to wait a few moments before people began to appear in the chamber. Harry saw himself and Neville run into the room, and then the Death Eaters appeared followed by Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. He saw Tonks get hit with a spell and Sirius and Bellatrix begin their duel. Albus Dumbledore finally appeared, which was their cue. As Sirius began to taunt Bellatrix, Harry got ready. When the spell hit, Remus began the countdown.

"8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . . 4"

Sirius had almost fallen into the veil when Harry shouted, "Safe Haven Sirius!"

They watched as Sirius disappeared. Bellatrix began to laugh, and outside the trunk, the Remus from the past held Harry, trying to keep him from following his godfather into the veil.

Remus jumped up and ran out of the control room, Harry following him. Sirius wasn't in the library, so they ran through the door into Level 5. There, Sirius sat on the floor of the lounge, looking around in confusion. Finally, he saw Remus and Harry staring at him as if he had grown a second head. "Where the hell am I?" he asked. "What the bloody hell happened?"

Remus and Harry began to laugh and cry at the same time. They rushed over to him and threw their arms around him. "What is this?" Sirius asked, confused. "Did I return from the dead or something?" This brought more hysterical laughter from the other two.

Finally, Harry stood up, wiping his eyes. "I've got to get us out of here. I'll be back in a minute." He rushed out of the room and ran to the Control Room to take them back to their proper time and place.

When he got back into the lounge, Sirius and Remus were seated on the sofa in front of the fire. Harry squeezed himself in between them and leaned up against Sirius. "I'm so glad you're back," he said softly.

Sirius put his arm around him and pulled him close. "Thanks, Harry. But, where have I been? And where are we now? How did I get here? What happened in the chamber? Would someone please explain, because I feel like I've lost my mind?"

Remus then explained everything that had happened in the DoM and the events that had followed. He explained in detail about Harry's trunk and the events that led to his rescue. When he was finished, Sirius sat quietly, his arm tightening around his godson. "Damn," he said at last. "Oh, damn. So, everybody thinks I'm dead?"

"No one knows that you're alive except for the three of us," Remus answered.

Sirius remained thoughtful.

"You know," Harry said, "You don't have to stay dead forever, but no one will be looking for you now. After we capture Wormtail, we'll have your name cleared and then you'll be free to come back from the dead. In the meantime, you don't have to stay at Grimmauld Place anymore. We've already packed your things and brought them here."

Sirius looked around the room. "And this is a trunk," he said unbelievingly.

"Yeah," Harry said, laughing. "We'll show you around. I can't wait for you to see Level 7."

The tour ended on Level 7, in the Room of Requirement. Harry changed the room into a swimming pool, and the three of them stripped down to their boxers, jumped in, and splashed around until the sun came up.

The next day, the three men slept until 11:00. After breakfast, Remus went into muggle London to shop for food while Harry shopped for some clothes that fit. Sirius went with Harry and bought himself and Moony some muggle clothes. After the shopping trip, they transported the trunk back to Remus's cottage just in time for lunch. They ate sandwiches at the kitchen table and talked about their plans for the day.

Before going back to Privet Drive, Harry wanted to remove everything from his old school trunk, only leaving Dudley's old clothes inside. He knew that when he arrived at the Dursley's, Uncle Vernon would lock his trunk in the cupboard under the stairs. This time, however, he would have everything he needed hidden inside his new trunk. He'd also have Remus and Sirius there with him. He was going to talk to Aunt Petunia at the first opportunity and work out a deal with her that would give him and his guardians some privacy.

After lunch, Harry unpacked his old trunk and placed all his belongings in his new bedroom while Sirius and Remus began unpacking the boxes they had brought from Remus's cottage and Grimmauld Place. Remus said that he would make a list of things they needed so they could equip the trunk to fit their needs. They also decided to do some decorating. Although the trunk was well furnished, they each wanted to add some personal touches to their bedrooms. Harry decided that decorating would be a great way to spend the required two-week stay at the Dursleys.