Unveiling The Future

by Lord Lugos

Pre everything, sort of. Sirius Black awakes from a premonition to find that it may not be to late to save Harry from the pain he would surely have. But can he handle being a father? Only time will tell.

3. Hidden In Plain Sight

Thanks for the reviews. I hope you enjoy.

"Unveiling The Future"

Chapter 3, "Hidden In Plain Sight"

Rachel watched as Sirius pulled into the driveway, a look of anger and fierce determination on his face. "Sirius, is everything alright?" she called out, startling him.

He saw pure concern on her face and started toward her before changing his mind. "I..I'm sorry Rachel. I can't talk right now," he snapped, and ran quickly into the house.

Rachel just stood there for a moment, and then headed in after him. When she got to the door she stopped and turned around. It wasn't her concern. But it was, she thought to herself, and turned back around and went in. She felt a sudden prickle on the back of her neck, and it made her stop where she was. Very quickly, though, it turned into a warm sensation up and down her spine, seemingly pushing her toward the open door at the end of the hall.

She saw that it was a good sized library. She found Sirius pulling books off shelves, apparently looking for something. "Sirius?" she said, and he jumped and looked at her.

"Rachel? How did you get in here?" Sirius said, shocked that the wards would let an uninvited muggle in.

"The door was unlocked. Are you alright? What's wrong?" she said, her voiced filled with innocent concern.

"I can't tell you, you wouldn't understand," Sirius said, dropping his gaze to the books all over the floor.

Both of their eyes caught the book at Sirius' feet. Wizard's of Great Britain lay there, open to a page that said, 'The noble family of Black is one of the oldest pureblood wizarding families...' Sirius kicked the book out of the way and looked up at her. She gave him a questioning look.

"Listen, I'm sorry, about snapping at you. There are just some things that you won't understand," Sirius said apologetically.

"Is it something to do with your friend starting his kids at school? You can trust me Sirius. Please, talk to me," she responded with nothing but sympathy in her voice.

Sirius looked into her eyes. He saw trust there. The wards trusted her, why couldn't he? "I...I don't know who to trust anymore. There are things...things happening, people manipulating, trying to interfere with me and my son. I'm just worried for him, that's all."

She nodded. "The kids will be home from school soon. If you need to talk, I'm here," she said. Then she kissed him on the cheek and left.

Sirius looked down at the book in his hands. It was the book of wards that his grandfather Phineas used, enchanted to be read only by an heir of the Black family. It had been hidden behind several other books in the library.

Sirius was in the sitting room reading the book of wards when the boys got home. "So, how was your first day?" Sirius asked. They all jumped in clamoring to be heard. He caught the words, 'brilliant', 'excellent', and 'awesome', among the babble.

He just sat back with a grin as they talked and talked. "You like muggle school, then?" They just rolled there eyes at him. "How did Mr. Lewis compare to Mrs. Gadburry?"

"About the same," James said, "but the school work is a little harder. Sometimes I got board at the other school. I like him, though, he's nice."

"Did your father leave you any instructions about if you're to floo home immediately after school?"

"He said we could stay for a bit, just be home by 6," Ron said.

"Why didn't your little sister, Ginny, goto school too?" Sirius asked a little puzzled.

"Mum wanted to keep her home, only girl, you know," Ron replied.

"And she wanted to see how it went with us," Fred or George added.

"Alright then, let's go have a snack, as I'm feeling a bit hungry myself," Sirius said, leading the way to the kitchen.

After Dobby whipped up a quick snack, they played 2 on 2 quidditch until time to go home. After dinner, Sirius had a great time helping James with his homework, he even learned a few things himself.

After tucking him in and kissing him on the forehead, Sirius just stood, and watched James for a bit. Finally, James giggled and said, "What?"

"Er," Sirius blushed a little. "I found a muggle book in the library today, no idea how it got there, but I was wondering if maybe you'd like me to read it to you."

James eyes started misting up. "No one's ever read to me before. Would you really like to read to me?"

Sirius nodded with a wide grinned and climbed in bed next to James. He leaned back against the headboard while James snuggled down into the covers. He then pulled out a copy of 'Huck Finn', and only managed to read a few chapters before James was fast asleep, a contented smile on his face.

He got up and kissed James on the forehead again before retreating to his own room to get ready for bed. As he was climbing into his own bed, he saw the two viles from the Potter vault sitting on the night stand. He picked them up and stared at the golden liquid swirling around inside. One was labeled Lily Potter, and the other was labeled James Potter.

Sirius held them for a while and finally sighed and said, "I'm sorry guys, I can't. Not yet." He then conjured a velvet lined box and placed them safely in it. He got up a hid the box in the back of his wardrobe before going to sleep, thinking only of what he had planned to do the next day.

The next day Sirius and James were chatting over breakfast when the Weasley's came walking in, tracking soot across the floor. Dobby immediately popped in and vanished the soot from their clothes and feet.

"Next time young sirs, you will wait for me," he said, and began vanishing the foot prints all the way back to the fireplace.

"He sounds just...like our mother," the twins said.

"Care for some breakfast? There's still some time before school," Sirius said.

"We already ate, but i could fancy another sausage or two," Ron said and plopped down next to James.

"A regular eating machine...that one," the twins chuckled, who then joined them for another bite themselves.

Rachel and Sirius stood on the pavement waving as they watched the boys walk to school. Moody had been watching, and once they were out of sight, he headed over. He halted suddenly, as a dark blue van sped up the street and around the corner, opposite the way the boys had gone.

"Blasted muggles," Moody said gruffly, and then cast a wary glance at Rachel with his normal eye, his large magical one hidden by his hat.

"Uh, Rachel, Moody. Moody, Rachel," Sirius said.

Moody simply nodded and Rachel gave him a puzzled look. "Please to meet you, Moody. Sirius, I'll see you later," she said and went back to her house.

"So what's up, Moody?" Sirius said.

"The boy seems to be happy, but it's odd the Weasley's going to school with him."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Seems Dumbledore asked Molly to do this for some reason. Supported Arthur's suggestion right off the bat," Sirius said, growling a bit when he said Dumbledore.

"Yeah, I figured as much," Moody replied. "When I told him that you agreed with him about me moving here, but that he should have asked first, and that I agreed with you, he brushed me off, saying that you and the boy needed protection, especially after that piece in the Daily Prophet."

"Yeah, I don't deny that part, but after that bloody dream, I should be the one to decide what type of protection," Sirius said, stifling his anger.

"That reminds me, that blue van has been parked here for the last two days. Nobody ever gets in or out."

"Deatheaters?"

"I don't know of any deatheater that gives any weight to any muggle contraption. But like I always say..."

"Yeah, constant vigilance, I know. I think maybe you're just being overprotective, but, I do appreciate it. I honestly don't think I could handle losing James in anyway, right now."

"So, what's with this Rachel? Fancy her a bit, do ya?"

Sirius blushed a little. "I don't know, maybe. The weird thing is, the wards let her in yesterday. An uninvited muggle in a Black family house. I guess I can trust her if the house does. I mean, after all, we all know how Phineas and the rest of my family felt about muggles."

"I'll keep my eye on her and her kid then. Wouldn't do for any deatheaters to try and use them as bait."

"Thanks, Moody. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to have a talk with Albus, assuming the school wards will let me floo into his office. Apparating into Hogsmeade would give him too much advance notice."

"You might want to say sherbet lemon before you say Dumbledore's office," Moody said with a wink that truly made him look a bit evil.

Back in the house, Sirius steadied his nerve and threw a pinch of floo powder into the fireplace. At once the fire burned a bright green. He stepped in and said, "sherbet lemon, Dumbledore's office."

The spinning came to an end, and after apparently checking the password, or more accurately the password and his character, the wards allowed the fireplace to spit him out into the office.

He glanced around, Dumbledore wasn't back from breakfast yet, good. He walked around a bit, looking at the odd, silver devices whirring and humming around the office. He gave a bow to Fawkes, the phoenix, who politely bowed it's head in recognition.

Sirius strolled around Dumbledore's desk and eyed the very comfortable looking chair. Dare I? He thought. Surely there would be wards or enchantments on the chair. So? He thought and smiled to himself. He wasn't a Marauder for nothing, and quickly sat down in the chair. Nothing happened. It was indeed a very comfortable. If there were any wards or enchantments, they must like him. He leaned back a bit, and propped his feet up on the desk and relaxed.

About ten minutes later Dumbledore strode into his office and stopped dead. Seeing Sirius, sitting there in his chair took him completely by surprise, and it showed on his face for the longest moment before he could change his expression back to a calm, almost Slytherin one.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Sirius?" he said, ignoring the chair for the moment.

"Well, I just thought I would ask that you refrain from assuming to give me help and wait until I actually ask for it," Sirius replied, smiling.

"I just thought that since you were new to parenting that you wouldn't recognise when you needed the help," Dumbledore said coolly.

"Yeah right. I thought you agreed to not put safety above his childhood. And in this case, the freedom to make his own friends," Sirius said, his tone slightly firmer and the smile slightly smaller.

"Ah, but he had already made friends with the Weasley's. I was just, helping him be more at ease with the wizarding world," Dumbledore countered, his calm smile never wavering.

"Convenient," Sirius retorted, the smile all but gone now. "Well, I'll handle the updates on the ward's myself, thank you. Especially now that I know the whole of the prophecy."

Dumbledore's cool smile vanished at that. He new Sirius would have mentioned it if he had seen it in the dream. Sirius appeared to be having continuing flashes about the future. He would have to tread lightly now, or else lose their trust for ever.

"The dream makes more sense now, don't you know? The prophecy you heard that day says that James will have to kill or be killed by Voldemort. That he was marked as an equal, so you thought that you could manipulate him every year when he got to Hogwart's. He is his father's son, so you would give him just enough clues to wet his curiosity and then let him fight the weakened version of Voldemort several times over, nearly dying each time, just so you could have your weapon. He might eventually equal Voldemort's power, but he was just a boy, not an adult. That, you forced upon him. All of that hell you would put him through, made it impossible for him to learn Occlumency, something he needed to block the connection that scar gives him to Voldemort. He finally had me, the closest thing to a parent that he had ever had. But because he couldn't learn Occlumency, Voldemort was able to trick him into thinking I was in trouble. Eventually leading everyone to that blasted veil. James almost stepped through it, then where would your weapon be? Who else might have fallen into it? The kids that stuck by James' side? Members of your blasted order? But the worse was the end of the dream, when I fell through it, thereby ripping away from him yet another parental figure. Tell me, when will you stop stop this shite?" Sirius' rant had gotten louder and angrier the more he went on, till finally he was out of breath. He had gotten up during it and was now standing face to face with Dumbledore.

Dumbledore just stared at him, showing no emotion. Finally he said, "I'm sorry, but that was the future. I won't do that. I couldn't do that, now that I can see it in perspective."

"Maybe not, but it appears to be your nature, so I don't think I can trust you really. Hang on," Sirius said, looking Dumbledore in the eye, who shied away slightly. "One thing has been bothering me since I woke up, and now I know what it is. There were no aurors there when I woke up, only you and Fudge. Why was that, Albus? Fudge had to go get them for Pettigrew, and it took him a bit of time to do that. You knew I wasn't really dangerous, didn't you? You knew I was innocent, didn't you? Or at least strongly suspected it. You could have done something when Crouch threw me in Azkaban without a trial. You wanted James to grow up in that hell, didn't you?" Sirius began pacing back and forth, never taking his eyes off Dumbledore.

Dumbledore just held steady, holding the gaze as best as he could, but the guilt that he was forcing down was slowly winning.

"You didn't care as much about that blood protection as much as you wanted to make your bloody weapon. Wait," Sirius stopped pacing. "Why WAS it only you and Fudge?" Sirius thought for only half a second. "I don't fucking believe it, you were gonna just get the dream out of me and then toss me back into Azkaban, weren't you? Leaving James again without love in his life."

Dumbledore just bowed his head in guilt. He couldn't deny any of it. He looked up to try and apologize, but he didn't have time.

"You son of a bitch," Sirius said and cold cocked Dumbledore right in the jaw with everything he had in him.

Dumbledore flew a good six feet before hitting the floor. Sirius just stood there for a moment, and then got a goofy smile on his face, before turning and leaving, not noticing that Minerva McGonagall had been standing outside the office, listening the whole time.

She rushed in and saw Dumbledore lying on the ground, holding his jaw, which was quickly turning black and blue. She just pursed her lips and put her hands on hips, staring for several minutes.

Dumbledore tried to say something, but grimaced in pain. He then pulled out his wand and wrote the words 'jaw broken' in the air.

Although she tried, she failed miserably at holding in a few giggles. "As the muggle saying goes, you made your bed, now you have to lie in it," she said with a scolding tone. "I'll inform Poppy of where you are," she added and then exited the office, leaving Dumbledore on the floor.

Sirius made his way out of the castle and onto the grounds. "Merlindamnit, that felt good," he cried the moment the door closed behind him. Outside the gates he was about to apparate home, but decided instead to head to Diagon Alley to get a few things for his bike, it was time for that hog to fly, among other things. He first had a drink at the Leaky Cauldron, though. Much of his anger at Dumbledore was gone finally, and he wanted to celebrate a bit.

He had to goto Knockturn Alley to find a dragon heartstring, as the place in Diagon Alley didn't carry them anymore. He also wanted to find a way to make the bike invisible to muggles. He found out from a more reputable shopkeeper that all he needed to do was add a thestral hair to the dragon heartstring. That would hide sound as well, because thestrals are soundless, not just invisible to muggles. It would have been hard to do if he hadn't seen anybody die, but thanks to the previous war with Voldemort, his memory was painfully replete with that, not to mention seeing Cedric Diggory die in the dream, although he didn't know if that would count for seeing thestrals.

He had Dobby bring the the bike to him in Knockturn Alley, where he promptly added the Rowan twig wrapped with the braided thestral hair and dragon heartstring to the fuel tank. Then he kicked the starter and the engine roared to life. He gunned it a few times, and then pulled back a bit, and it rose a few feet into the air.

He noticed that a few wizards appeared to get confused at what others were looking at the moment he rose into the air. "Brilliant," he yelled and soared into the air.

He flew around for hours, listening to the radio, and losing himself and finding himself all at the same time. When he finally glanced at his watch he found that he needed to head home, because the boys would be home soon.

As he approached Grimmauld Place he saw a figure getting out of a taxi in front of his house. He zoomed down and checked to make sure that there weren't any muggles watching before he landed, and pulled into the driveway. He shut it down, got off and turned around to face his guest.

They just stared at each other for the longest time before embracing each other in a fierce hug.

"I was afraid I'd never see you again when you didn't answer my letter, Remus," Sirius said, tears falling freely.

"I couldn't possibly stay away, when I found out that Wormtail was the one, Sirius. I'm so sorry for even entertaining the idea that you could betray James and Lily."

"That's okay, bud, that's all in the past now," Sirius said standing back.

"Is Harry here?" Remus asked.

Sirius wiped his eyes and said, "No, he's at school, muggle school, he should be home any minute. He likes to be called James, though. He says the name Harry reminds him too much of his bad other family." Then he noticed Rachel standing a ways away. "Rachel, I want you too meet my best friend, Remus Lupin, he went to school with me and Lily."

"Please to meet you, Remus. I was just waiting for the kids to get home, they're running a little late," she said, a little concerned.

Remus gave Sirius a puzzled look and Sirius replied, "Her son goes to school with James. Three of Arthur Weasley's boys go there too. They, er, come here before going home."

"Here they come now," Rachel said and they looked toward the end of the street to see three redheads and a small blond running toward them.

"Where's James?" Sirius said, fear gripping him with a ferocity he had never felt before.

The boys were all crying as the ran up to them. George had a black eye and was holding his wrist.

"They took him," Fred said sobbing, "me and George tried to stop them but they hit George. Men in a blue van. They said to give you this." and he held out a white envelope.

Sirius grabbed it and tore it open and read it quickly. He sank down to his knees, sobbing. Remus tried to comfort him, but he pushed him away suddenly. "Dobby? Dobby, get out here."

Dobby appeared with a pop. "Yes sir, Sirius, sir. What can I do for you?"

"Some muggles took James, please, tell me, can you find him?"

The little house elf got a look of fear and then a look of concentration. After a minute he shook as head. "I'm sorry master, he is behind a ward, I don't know where it is."

"How can muggles use wards? Can you at least tell me which direction he is in?" Sirius said grabbing the house elf in desperation.

Dobby thought for a moment, then said, "Yes, master. The closer we is the better I can tell too."

"Get on the bike, Dobby," he said, his anger rising now, as Moody came running as fast as his leg could carry him. "Remus, stay here with the kids and tell Moody what happened."

Sirius then jumped on the bike and it roared to life. He soared into the air with Metallica's 'Seek and Destroy' blaring from the radio.

Insert commercial here.

"What happened?" Moody said.

"James was taken," Rachel said. "He said Muggles in a blue van. Are they some kind of gang? I've never heard of them before. And just what the hell was that little creature he was talking to? It nearly gave me a heart attack when it appeared out of no where."

"Let's get the kids inside the house," Remus said, trying to calm everyone down.

"Just what the hell is going on?" Rachel said, staring at Moody and Remus. "First, I see Sirius appear out of nowhere in the middle of the street on his bike from my window, and then someone kidnaps James. Then a little creature appears that apparently can almost sense where he might be, and now Sirius disappears on his bike before my very eyes."

Moody just grabbed the ransom note and scanned it quickly before dropping it back to the floor. "The kids will tell you everything. Let's go, Lupin. I think I can track the bike," he said, grabbing Remus' arm and pulling him out the door.

She looked fiercely after them, angry that they didn't tell her anything, then realised that this would keep the kids busy and not worrying about their friend. She whipped around and stared at the three redheads, who were still crying a bit. "Alright, spill it," she said as she got some ice for George's wrist.

Flying low, Dobby kept directing Sirius which way to go. Soon, they found themselves at what appeared to be an abandoned cathedral.

"Master James is in there, sir, I'm positive," Dobby said.

"Can you pop in there and get him?" Sirius asked.

Dobby concentrated really hard and finally shook his head. "The old wards won't let me, I'm sorry sir," he said, tears in his eyes and a strain in his voice.

"Damn it," Sirius whispered. Then he cast a disillusionment charm on himself before landing the bike in some shadows a half a block away. "Stay with me, Dobby, but stay invisible."

He slowly crept near the old cathedral and peered carefully in a window. Nothing but an empty cathedral. Then he saw a basement window with light coming from it. He peered in. He saw James in a corner tied up with duct tape, including tape over his mouth. He was sobbing silently, Sirius saw. He saw two men sitting on overturned crates playing cards.

He went further around the building and found a broken out window that overlooked the landing of the basement stairwell. This is how they got in. He tried to climb through the window but was pushed back by the wards. "What the hell?" he said under his breath.

"Sir told me to stay with him, but the wards won't let me in at all," came the disembodied voice of the house elf.

"Damn it," Sirius said again. "Alright, don't stay with me. See if you can think of a way to help that won't get James or me hurt or killed." Then Sirius slowly climbed through the windows and went down the steps. He pulled out his wand and made his way around the corner in the direction of James.

"Blast, what's that spell?" Sirius murmured to himself when he was close enough to see James. He couldn't think of the spell that would remove the duct tape with hurting him. He removed the disillusionment charm so he wouldn't scare James, and then kept to the shadows and moved closer.

James saw him, and tried to cry out. Sirius held a finger to his lips, and James nodded. He moved closer and started quietly pulling off the tape, keeping one eye on the two men. Finally he removed the tape from James' mouth, but he didn't get up or say anything, he just looked down. When Sirius saw that he had wet himself, he just picked him up and held him close.

Suddenly there was a bang, and Sirius felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder and he almost dropped James, who screamed.

"He's trying to take the kid," said a third man that Sirius hadn't seen.

He spun in the direction of the noise and fought through the pain. Raising his wand he muttered stupefy. The man hit the ground like a sack of bricks. There was another bang, but Sirius had thrown himself and James to the floor the moment he had cast the spell. The bullet just grazed Sirius' other shoulder as he went down. He quickly put the disillusionment charm on himself and James and tried to crawl away. Then he noticed blood on his hands and yelled out in panic.. The first bullet had passed completely through his and James shoulders and James was going into shock. He put pressure on James' shoulder, to try and at least slow down the bleeding. He lost his concentration and couldn't maintain the charm, so it failed.

"There you are," said one of the men, pointing a gun at them. "Turn over, slowly."

Sirius started to do as he was told, and then muttered, accio guns, and then rolled out of the way as three guns came toward him. He brought his feet up and slammed them into the knees of the stunned man standing over him, wondering where his gun just went. He went down as quickly as the first. By the time Sirius had gotten to his feet, the last man had recovered his shock and grabbed a piece of lumber. Sirius tried to duck but wasn't quick enough, and a corner of the board caught him on the head. He went down, but still managed to keep pressure on James shoulder. The last thing he heard as he blacked out, was stupefy.

Insert commercial here.

Sirius felt the fog slowly drift away from his mind as he woke up. He gave himself a quick check without opening his eyes. His head didn't hurt, nor did his shoulders. He could feel the wards, and new he was in his own bedroom. He also could feel a small body next to him. He opened his eyes and glanced over. James was fast asleep, no trace of the wound was visible. But the internal damage was clearly visible, as he was in a fetal position, sucking his thumb.

He got up quickly but gently, so he wouldn't wake James up. He threw on his clothes and headed for the door, only to be stopped as Poppy, Remus, and Moody came in, pushing him back and holding him.

"I'm fine," Sirius said looking at Poppy, "thanks."

"You maybe fine, but James is not," she said.

Sirius quickly spun around and went back to James. He knelt by the bed and gently brush the hair back from James face.

"He's still in shock," she said. "The wound is as healed as yours is, Sirius. But the mental pain will take some time."

He looked up at Remus and Moody.

"They're in jail, those muggle police showed up right after we did," Moody said.

"They were lowlife crooks, not very bright. The police new right where to go. A couple other kids saw what happen and ran back to the school." Remus added glumly.

"We couldn't obliviate the lot of them, so we had to let them police take 'em. Don't worry, though. Dobby's keepin' an eye on them," Moody said without emotion.

Sirius stood up and looked around the three of them, cold anger seeping deep within his eyes. Then he took a deep breath and glanced down at the floor.

"The Ministry doesn't know," Remus said quietly. "The wards on that old cathedral blocked the tracking of the spells we used."

"Thanks for coming after me," Sirius finally said. "I didn't think that muggles would be a challenge. That's a mistake I won't make again."

"Just be thankful Moody could track that bike of yours," Remus said with a faint smile.

"Still, it was a stupid mistake. I know I would die for James, and I almost did. He would have been alone again if had. That's not something I'm gonna let happen. I won't let myself die for him and leave him like that," Sirius said sternly. "However, I am willing to kill for him. Where are they being held?"

"Don't do it daddy," came a weak voice behind them.

Sirius ran back to the bed and gently picked James up and held him. "But they hurt you," he said, a few tears falling.

"Let the police keep them in jail. I don't want you to go to jail too. Would my other mommy and daddy want you to kill anyone?"

Sirius just shook his head and continued hugging James. Shortly he realised James was asleep again. He carefully lay him back down and kissed his forehead, before facing his friends again. "Fine, I wanted to live with in some of the limits of muggle society, so I'll let the police have them. We gotta keep the reporters away, though, to protect James."

"Dobby will do that, sir," said Dobby from the corner of the room.

"You can do that, Dobby?"

"Dobby can do almost anything master tells him, especially with muggles," the elf said with a mischievous grin.

Sirius gave Dobby a weak smile and said, "Do it then." Dobby then disappeared with a pop. Sirius went over to a chair and fell into it.

"James seems to be doing better than I thought he would after such an ordeal," Poppy finally said.

"He's his parent's son," Sirius said simply.

"Don't leave yourself out of that equation, Mr. Black," Poppy said, resuming her more formal tone. "YOU are his daddy now, and it's your love that got him this far, and it's your love that will get him the rest of the way."

"Yeah, if Dumbledore stops his manipulating," Sirius said, suddenly remembering his last conversation.

"Oh I think he's learned his lesson," Poppy said, stifling a snicker. Sirius gave her a quizzical look. "Professor McGonagall came to my office after you left. You were kinda loud, and she heard the whole thing from outside the door. It seems you actually broke his jaw when you hit him. Funny thing though, no matter what I tried, I couldn't heal it magically."

"So what does that mean? Will he be okay?" Sirius said, blushing.

"Yes he will, Mr. Black, but... I had to do it the muggle way, and wire his jaw shut for the next several weeks. He won't be able to talk, and definitely not eat those muggle sweets he's so fond of."

Sirius quickly cast a sound bubble around James, and burst out laughing. Shortly, Remus and Moody couldn't hold it in anymore and started laughing too.

"That's enough," Poppy said, but she too was chuckling.

Sirius suddenly sat up. "What day is it? How long have I been out?"

"Relax, Sirius," Remus said, "It's Friday afternoon, you've only been out a night and half a day."

"Wait, if the police arrived after you did?" Sirius said, finally getting his head together.

"We obliviated them to think that you weren't hurt," Moody said.

"And then filled out all of the statements they wanted," Remus added.

"Oh, Merlin, what about Rachel?" Sirius said suddenly.

"She's fine too," Poppy said. "The children told her as much as they could, Moody said that she could be trusted. I gave her a sleeping draught. She handled most of it, but couldn't seem to relax."

"Her son Ali, took it in stride, though," Remus added. "He knows to keep it a secret. Fred and George were able to convince him of that easily enough. Those two really have a gift."

"Arthur and Molly are downstairs waiting to talk to you," Poppy said. "As is Professor McGonagall."

"Uh oh," Sirius said. "Good or bad?"

"Both, I imagine," Poppy replied.

Indeed it was both. McGonagall scolded him for taking such a chance, but mostly she was glad that he was okay and that James had been rescued. She even gave him a hug.

Molly was very sorry for letting Dumbledore manipulate her like that. In the end, though, it was decided that the boys would keep going to muggle school.

Arthur then told him that what happened would never reach the Ministry's ears because he had taken Sirius' advice and approached Fudge about a promotion. After much discussion, Arthur had been put in charge of the entire muggle division, with half a dozen department heads reporting directly to him. He admitted shyly that things changed in his favor when he had dropped Sirius' name in the conversation. Now things were truly looking up for the Weasley family.

It had been two weeks since that night. It turned out that Rita Skeeter had sold a version of her article to the muggle newspaper, and the kidnappers had seen it. Just two bit crooks who really didn't know what they were doing, they thought they could take advantage of Sirius' wealth. They had no connection to any deatheaters, and they had stumbled on the abandoned cathedral by accident.

The story never made it to the muggle newspaper, nor the wizard one either. Dobby was very effective at that. Sirius, Remus, James, and Moody never had to testify, because the kidnappers never made it to trial. They were killed in their cells within a week. Somehow it got out that they had shot a seven year old boy. Honor among thieves, it would seem.

Rachel had accepted everything finally. In fact, she and Sirius spent nearly every other day together, as she didn't work. She lived on alimony and child support from a ex who was financially secure. He had agreed to pay if he didn't have to ever see them. What an arsehole. At least they were taken care of.

James had slept with Sirius every night for the first week before agreeing to sleep in his own bed. A few times a week though, Sirius would wake to find James snuggled up against him. Such was the case on this particular Monday, three weeks after it had happened.

"Hey, Pronglet, time to get ready for school," Sirius said, stretching.

"Aw, dad," James said and pulled the covers over his head.

"Woof, bark, woof," Sirius the dog said as he stuck his muzzle under the covers, tickling James.

"I'm up, I'm up," James said, laughing as he went to get ready.

Works every time, Sirius thought as he changed back into a human and got dressed himself.

After getting James and the Weasley's off to school, the house seemed so empty. Remus had stayed the first week, until James was feeling better, but then he had to get back to his own life.

With Dobby's help, Sirius had updated the wards on the house, so they were completely protected. A variation on the anti-muggle wards commonly used to hide wizard places, this one hid the house from all but certain wizards. It was blood magic, which was considered dark, but effective none the less.

Now he stood watching the boys walk to school. Moody came over shortly.

"Any luck finding Skeeter?" Sirius asked.

"Not yet. Probably knows what you'll do to her so she's staying a beetle," Moody replied.

"Well, I see you later than," Sirius said, and hopped on his bike. He cast a warming charm to take the bite out of the November air, and took off.

He looked up at the sign on the small out of the way building. It was barely readable from the street. Wing Chun Dojo it said. It had taken him a while to find a place such as this, but it was exactly what he needed.

The place was empty except for one small Chinese man, apparently the owner, master, or whatever.

"I want to learn martial arts," Sirius said to the man, who just stared back at him, but said nothing. "Er, people said you're the best, and that's what I need."

The man kept staring at Sirius, emotionless. "Why?" he finally said.

"So I can protect my son."

"Then why not bring him here?"

"He's only seven years old."

"What would a seven year old need such protection from?"

Sirius just stared at the man. "Both light and dark wizards and some muggles," he said, tired of this.

The man raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I thought it was forbidden to tell such things to muggles."

"It is, but my son's life is more important to me. How did you know?"

"We know much that the wizards think that they keep secret."

"Then you will help me?"

"Perhaps, why would a small boy need such protection? The boy-who-lived perhaps?"

Sirius raised his wand to erase the old man's memory, and suddenly found himself face down on the floor without his wand.

"No need to wipe my memory. Anyone seeking that bit of information will fail, as I have no desire to see Voldemort return to any amount of power. You will train at home with what I show you today. You will also begin the boys training of what I show you."

"No," Sirius demanded. "I want James to have a normal childhood, not training to be a weapon."

"Not as a weapon, of course. But a child's life is to be spent sometime in learning. Teach him the meditation, it will strengthen his mind to disallow unwanted outside influence. A small amount of age appropriate physical training is also healthy."

The rest of the day Sirius learned breathing and meditation exercises. He was shown basic forms that he needed to practise, and how to use the wooden dummy for training. He kept at it until he had to leave to meet the boys coming home from school.

When he got home, he explained to Dobby how to set up a home gym and studio. He decided on the last guest bedroom to the left. Dobby was also to magically expand it to have room for everything that he wanted to do. While Dobby took care of that, he had a snack with the boys and then watched them kick the football around out front with Ali before the Weasley's had to be home.

"Hey, where were you all day?" Rachel said, sitting down next to Sirius to watch.

"Had to run an errand," Sirius said then looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry, auto response. I went to a dojo to learn some martial arts. I want any advantage I can get."

She nodded and they sat in silence for several minutes before she spoke again. "You know Ali is a bit taken with you. Especially with the, um, you know."

"Yeah, he's a good kid. You're not so bad yourself either." Sirius smiled.

"Where are we headed?" she asked, unsure if she should even broach the subject.

"Where do you want to go?" Sirius responded. "I mean, I do like you. I like you a lot. If you can be comfortable with everything, me, James, and the potential wizard war, then I really would like to see where we might go."

She smiled broadly. "I can handle it. I know that any relationship is always risky, ours perhaps more so, but I'm really glad you're willing to give it a shot." Then she gave him a deep, long, passionate kiss, followed immediately by giggling from the boys who had stopped playing to watch.

"Weasley's, get inside and hit it. Your mother will kill me if you're late. Get going," Sirius bellowed then stopped Rachel. "Hey, er, James invited Dean Proffitt to spend the night this weekend and was wondering if Ali would like to join them. He is his cousin after all. Maybe then you could go have a little fun yourself."

She kissed him again before turning to her son. "Ali, you want to spend the night with James on Saturday? Your cousin Dean is coming over."

"Yaaaay," was the response she got.

After his homework was done, James followed Sirius into the converted guest bedroom. "Wow!"

"Remember how I said that your scar was some how connected to Voldemort?" Sirius asked and James nodded. "Well, I want you to start meditating, and it will help you control that. As well help you control your magic better. I know you said the weird stuff hasn't happened since you left them, but I still might as you get older."

Sirius then explained to him how to breath and clear his mind of thought and emotion. James caught on quickly enough, but Snape would actually be a great help, Sirius thought, and decided to contact him in the morning.

Flash, Spinner's End and an unbreakable vow. Flash, Dumbledore and Snape arguing about it. Flash, Draco failing to kill an obviously weakened Dumbledore. "Flash, a begging Dumbledore killed by Snape. Flash.

Sirius sat up in his bed, panting and gleaming with sweat. He got up and splashed some water on his face. "Whose side is he really on?" Sirius said to his reflection. That definitely changes the letter I was going to send to him, he thought.

After seeing the boys off and doing his morning workout, Sirius decided to meet Snape at Hogwart's without warning. He grabbed a pensieve on the way because he didn't want Snape inside his head, and most definitely didn't want to involve the headmaster.

Snape was in his office during a free period when he heard a knock at the door. He looked up and frowned. No one should be bothering him at this time. "Enter," he said.

Sirius strode in, startling Snape, and walked over to the desk and placed the pensieve on it. He placed his wand to his temple, and pulled out a long, silver filament and place it in the shallow bowl. "I've had another premonition and I would like your assistance."

Snape frowned again, and placed his face into the bowl. When he returned to his office, his normally cold emotionless face was actually filled with fear and dread.

"Just which side are you playing the fool, Snape?" Sirius asked sternly, arms crossed still holding his wand.

For a moment, Snape was actually speechless. Sirius enjoyed that.

"How am I supposed to trust you? I've already forgotten what we did to each other in school. I have real things to deal with now. I don't think I want you anywhere near my son, unless you make a similar vow with me."

"I can't do that, Black. I don't know if I could hold up my end, and since death would be the consequence, I have to refuse."

"You need to think where your loyalties lie, Severus. I will speak with you again."

"No need," Snape replied sternly. "I am loyal to myself, and thats all. I would follow the headmaster only as much to remove the threat of the Dark Lord, and to protect myself. That's why I left the deatheaters in the first place, self preservation."

Sirius was a bit stunned with Snape's blunt honesty, he never expected that, so he could still be lying. "I still don't know if I can trust you. I need to though, because I think that I know how to prevent Voldemort from returning, but I would absolutely need your help."

Snape glared at Sirius, moving closer. He relaxed is stare and said, "I find myself daring to believe that you can, Black. Even with leaving our past in the past, you should know something that I don't think you've been witness to in your dreams, yet."

"Something tells me I won't like it," Sirius said, narrowing his eyes.

"You won't. I'm sure you know of the prophecy. Dumbledore's jaw proves that. I overheard part of the prophecy the night it was made. I still don't know it all, but it was on my information that the Dark Lord went after James and Lily."

Sirius certainly didn't expect this. It took guts to admit something like that. He couldn't just kill Snape, well he could, but James needed his expertise in Occlumency. But could he be trusted now? Sirius just paced back and forth, trying to come up with an answer without damaging Snape...much.

Finally he stopped pacing and went quickly over to Snape and brought his wand up, with crucio in the forefront of his mind. Snape quickly brought up a shield to deflect the curse and Sirius kicked him with all of his might in the Snape family jewels. Snape had tears on his face as he went down.

"I wanted to trust you, Severus. I needed to trust you. I thought we could stop this war before it began, but now I don't think I could ever trust you," Sirius growled and stormed out.

"But Macnair, we can't find him," said a wizard in the small dusty room.

Several wizards were congregated in the main room of a small shack perched on a rock in the middle of the sea.

"Damn it," said another wizard. "the longer we wait, the less our chances of him returning to full power."

"We have no choice then. What ever is left of him is too weak. When we see some sign, then we will move. Avery, do you have any news of the Potter boy?" said Macnair.

"Nothing since the article in the Prophet," said Avery. "I found out that Harry Potter was pulled from a muggle school the next day, but we can't find him registered anywhere else. I checked the Black family house, but there's nothing there but an overgrown empty field. Our information must have been wrong."

"Then get NEW information," Macnair growled.

"We can't." Avery replied. "Whatever that dream was that Black had, it's affected Fudge. He seems to be growing a backbone. Not to mention the muggle fool Weasley's been promoted. Those of us at the Ministry that remained loyal after the Prophet article aren't being given high level tasks now. It seems hopeless."

Macnair clenched his fists then relaxed a bit. "That prophecy that Snape us gave said that the boy would have the power to vanquish our Lord. Our Lord isn't vanquished yet, so he still must have untapped power. If we wait, he may learn to tap it," he said and paced back and forth for a moment. "Has anyone learned of Snape's true loyalties?"

"No sir," said another deatheater. "He's still at Hogwart's, and we don't have anyone there to pass information. Right now, Hogwart's is impenetrable."

"Fine," Macnair said with a sigh. "We keep looking, keep our eyes and ears open. If Fudge can no longer be swayed, then we must stay hidden until we can get rid of him."

Snape slowly walked into Dumbledore's office and placed a pensieve on the desk. "You need to see this, Albus," he said.

Dumbledore paused, Snape had never used his first name before. He stared at him for another moment before pressing his nose into the memory. "Oh dear," he said when he was back in his chair. "Another vision from Sirius?"

"Yes," Snape replied in disgust.

"Aside from you killing me, what else is bothering you, Severus?"

"Black of course. After that night when he woke, I found myself wondering if we could become friends. No, that's not right, it was actually hope, I believe."

"But you never really got along with them, why now?"

"I don't know. I hate them for it. Black said he needed to trust me, that he wanted to trust me, but now," Snape just hung his head. "Blasted Gryffindor. It wouldn't have happened for what, ten years? It's still preventable."

"Perhaps, Severus, but Sirius isn't going to take anymore chances. You know what he did to me," Dumbledore said, rubbing his jaw.

"I do indeed know," Snape said, wincing as he shifted his stance. "I think maybe I would go talk to him, but I don't know where he is."

"He's at Grimmauld Place, isn't he? No, that was destroyed long ago, wasn't it?" Dumbledore said. "You'll have to try and send an owl, then. I have no idea where he might be staying. As for the boy, I'm not going to interfere in the his upbringing. I had much time to reflect about both him and Sirius when I wasn't able to speak."

"But, Headmaster? When he comes to Hogwart's?"

"I will treat him as any other student, as much as possible. It's clear that he's more than just a godson to Sirius, and I intend to treat Sirius no different than any other parent."

Sirius nodded his head and left, anger at Sirius for making him feel this way still just under the surface Blasted Gryffindor.

"So where are you and your sister going?" Sirius said as they waited for Joanne to drop Dean off on Saturday.

"Where aren't we going," she said. "We're going to pick up some of our girlfriends and then we're gonna hit every club we can."

"Sounds like fun," he said.

"Yep. What're you guys gonna do?"

"What aren't we gonna do," he said, chuckling. "I rented a video for later, plus we got video games, and I figure we'll get pizza for dinner."

"Boys night in, sounds like."

"You betcha."

Soon a car pulled up and Dean jump out almost before it stopped.

"Hey, Joanne," Sirius said as Rachel got in.

"Hey, Sirius. You guys have fun," she replied. "Do as Sirius tells you," she said to her son before driving off.

Who would have thought me playing daddy chaperon to a kids sleepover, Sirius though to himself as he watched the boys go inside the house. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle as he made to follow them into the house. He turned around to see one shadow tackle another to the ground. He glanced around and then cast lumos, hoping that if anyone was watching, they would think it was a torch. What he saw made him chuckle. Moody was sitting on top of a teenage kid, holding him down.

"Moody, what are you doing?" he asked.

"This kid was takin' photos of you and the boys," Moody replied gruffly.

"How old are you kid?" said Sirius as Moody picked him up roughly.

"I...I'm fifteen," the kid said, obviously scared, shaking as he glanced at Moody, whose magical eye was clearly visible, spinning around in its socket.

"What's your name?" Sirius then asked as he helped him up.

"I..I don't want to tell you." the teen said, his fear increasing.

Sirius stepped forward. "Would you rather I let Moody get it out of you?" he said angrily, thinking of what problems these photos might cause.

He glanced at Moody and squeaked out, "R..Ronan Lestrange."

Both Moody and Sirius had their wands at Ronan's throat in an instant. The eerie glow on his face cast by Sirius' wand made his fear more evident. His eyes cast a glance toward the door of the house. Sirius looked back and saw James standing there, watching.

James whispered to his friends and then came back to where Sirius was standing, while the other two boys retreated into the house.

Sirius turned his gaze back to Ronan in contemplation. "You're a squib," he said, the truth dawning on him.

Moody's eyes, both of them, went wide at the realisation. "A squib eh? So what's with the photos?" he snarled out with a quiet ferocity that would easily rank with Snape's

"The...they kicked me out of the family. They're all looking for you, I just thought..." he trailed off choking back the tears.

"You thought that if you could find me that they would take you back?" Sirius replied, his tone a little softer, and the teen just nodded.

"He can't be trusted, Black," Moody said, "and memory charms can be broken."

Sirius just looked down at the teen squib. Shaggy brown hair and dirty muggle clothes. "What of my son?" Sirius said and motioned James, who had been standing back, over. "Do you realise what the deatheaters want to do to him?"

The teen looked down at James and the tears started to fall. "Ros," he said.

"What?" Sirius said as the teen fell to his knees.

"My little brother. Roswald was my little brother. He was a squib too. I tried to protect him, but they...they said one squib was already too much. They killed him. Never showed any magic ability, just like me. He just turned eleven and didn't get a Hogwart's letter. That was enough for them."

"Why on earth boy, would you want to be accepted in a family like that?" Moody said with an aggression like a slap in the face. The teen even jumped as if he had been hit.

"I don't know," he said with a small voice, looking down at the ground. Then he picked up the camera and opened the back, exposing all of the film. "I just don't know what to do anymore."

"Dad?" Sirius looked down at James. "Remember how you said everyone thought you were the one because of the Black family line? Even though you were best friends with my first dad?" James eyes showed nothing but compassion as he spoke.

"Yeah," Sirius said, "Ronan? I ran away from my family when I was sixteen, because I couldn't stand their insanity anymore. I went to live with my best friend."

"I still don't trust him," Moody said. "He could be a spy."

"Fine," Sirius said, and pointed his wand at Ronan. "Legilimens."

The meditation had been helping organize his mind and magic, and while he wasn't anywhere near as skilled at it as Snape or Dumbledore, a squib wouldn't be difficult, by any means. What Sirius saw, as he moved from memory to memory, made him increasingly sick. Then he came upon the murder of the younger boy, and he wretched, breaking the spell.

"Are you okay, dad?" James said, getting worried. "What did you see?"

"Something I hope you never see, son," Sirius said, straightening back up. "Ronan, if you promise to never go back to them, or betray us in anyway, you can stay here. At least for the time being, until we can figure out a more permanent solution to help you."

"I promise, I swear," said Ronan eagerly. "I'll even take a wizard's oath if it'll work."

Moody gave a half hearted smile. He was satisfied, and went back to his house while the Sirius and James escorted Ronan in.

Dobby led the teen to a guest bedroom and he was out like a light, not having slept much in the passed several days. Sirius and James then joined the other boys in the rec room for video games, pizza, and the movie 'Ghostbuster's'. He had the boys build a pallet out of a mass of several quilts, blankets, and assorted pillows in the floor back from the big screen TV. They had a brilliant time a fell asleep right where they were as Sirius read to them from 'Tom Sawyer'.

Rachel came over the next morning to have breakfast with the boys and found her fondness for Sirius grow a notch when she went down to the rec room. Amidst the pillows and blankets, slept Sirius, his right arm around James, and his left arm around Ali, with Dean snuggled close to his cousin, hanging onto Sirius' arm, the open book laying in his lap.

She crept back up the stairs and whispered, "Dobby?" who popped in quietly.

"Yes ma'am, Miss Rachel?"

"Is there a camera in the house somewhere? I want to take a picture of the boys, it's so sweet."

"Yes ma'am, Miss Rachel," Dobby said and popped out and back, handing her the camera.

She went back downstairs and snapped the photo. This is just too good, she thought to herself.

At breakfast, everyone was introduced to Ronan, a distant cousin of Sirius' who needed a place to stay for a while. After Sirius took Dean home, they decided to hit Diagon Alley. Nobody gave them a second glance, it seemed that the Prophet article had died down considerably. Ronan had been nervous at first, but nobody paid any attention to him either.

After ice cream, they went to get James a wand. He had been hinting to Sirius about learning magic before Hogwart's, and Sirius was eager to oblige. Into Olivander's they went, and soon, the older wizard appeared.

"Ah yes, Mr. Black and son. And Mr. Lestrange, I believe. Odd seeing you here," Olivander said curiously.

"Yes, well, he had some problems and we're helping out," Sirius said, "Anyway, I thought we might get James' wand a little early, maybe do some home schooling."

"A bit unusual, yes, but not unheard of," the old wizard said as he pulled out a tape measure, which began taking measurements of its own accord.

"No need to bother, Olivander," Sirius said. "I think I know which wand will choose him."

Olivander and the tape measure stopped abruptly. "Ah, yes, the dream. Tell me, Mr. Black, which one was it?" he said with an odd smile of the cat that ate the canary.

"A certain brother wand of a certain dark wizard who, shall we say, remain nameless." Sirius said confidently.

"I thought you might say that, Mr. Black. However, as you have already given young James a loving home, you have already set in motion changes to that prophecy as well as perhaps another. I cannot sell you that wand for James."

"What?" Sirius said. "Why not?"

"Why because I've already sold it," he said with that same smile.

Sirius got nervous again, because James would need that wand if they couldn't prevent the events from his fourth year from happening. "To who?" he said.

"You, that night you woke up of course."

A/N: I would like your opinion on making Ali a muggleborn and/or should Sirius and Rachel get married at some point. I've ran the course of my original idea for this story so now it's writing itself. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated. Please review, thanks for reading.