Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters or places from this story sadly belong to our beloved J.K. Rowling, not to me.
Warning: Contains light slash in later chapters.
Chapter Two - Moony
It was late, and Remus was just about to get ready for bed, when he heard a loud, rapid knocking on his door. He wondered who would be out so late at night, but stood up to go answer, surprised when he saw Padfoot standing out in the dark with a bundle of blankets cradled to his chest with one arm, and James's trunk and cloak held tightly in his other hand.
Opening the door, he barely managed to get out of the way as Sirius came barging in, closing the door behind him.
"Moony, I need to talk to you. It's very important. Has Dumbledore been here tonight? In the last few minutes?"
"No, Padfoot, why do you ask?"
"It's James and Lily. They're gone. I've got Harry, but Moony, you won't believe what Dumbledore did," Sirius, voice cracking as if he was about to cry.
"W-what? What do you mean, James and Lily are gone? And what did Dumbledore do?"
"Pettigrew, the traitor, must have told Voldemort where they were. He showed up at their house tonight, and killed James and Lily. Harry survived, though I don't know how. Dumbledore called me to his office earlier tonight, told me to go after Peter and Hagrid to get Harry. I didn't go after him, though, because I had a feeling something was wrong and when I got to the entrance hall, Snape was there and he showed me a memory because Dumbledore talked to him and so when I was done I apparated straight to Godric's Hollow to get Harry and his things, I mean, he doesn't know Hagrid that well, and I'm not going to go after Peter alone! I also didn't want Hagrid to take Harry, I don't really trust him with Hagrid, he's too little, and everything's just so wrong now, and it's just… everything's… I just… Here, I'll just show you, it's easier, and I'm too shaken up to explain it all properly right now," Sirius said, out of breath from trying to get everything out in one rush.
"It's alright, Padfoot. It's alright. Just breathe. I'll have a look at the memory, okay? Is Harry alright, though? Is he hurt?"
"He just has a wound on his forehead, Moony, but otherwise, he seems fine. I'll check him over while you watch the memory. Here," Sirius said, extracting his memory with his wand and letting it fall into pensieve.
Sirius set the trunk and cloak down by the table, then walked over to the old sofa in the corner to put Harry down. Just as he turned around to take care of Harry, he saw Remus bend down to view the memory in the old, cracked pensieve he'd gotten as a graduation gift from himself, James and Peter.
A few minutes later, Remus stood up from the pensieve with a gasp, a terrified look on his face.
"Sirius… I just… don't know what to say. He set James and Lily up to die? Just because of some fickle prophecy? I do agree with him that Voldemort will believe it and therefore go after Harry, but to go to these lengths, just to be hailed as the leader of the Wizarding World, the most powerful wizard… To sacrifice good, honest, innocent people that honestly loved him just for this? It horrifies me. That he could do that. We cannot let him get ahold of Harry. We have to protect him."
Remus paced around the floor in thoughtful silence for a minute, before sitting down next to Sirius and Harry on the sofa.
"Okay. So, here's what we need to do. We need to go to Gringotts, have you do the inheritance ritual, and become Head of House of Black. That way, you're ensured a bit more protection against the law, should Dumbledore try to do anything to you that way. It will also make sure no one else from your family can take over that title should something happen to you. You will also need to instate Harry as your heir, and find a Regent should something happen to you before Harry grows up. Oh, and you should also ask the Goblins to help you take over guardianship of Harry, in a legal manner, so that no one can take that away from you. Perhaps a blood adoption would be the best course of action.
"You will need to tell the Goblins what is happening so they can read James's and Lily's will and get it executed, just in case Dumbledore tries to circumvent it. In that same line of thought, we need to make sure he can't have access to the Potter or Black vaults, in case he tries to seize any of your funds for his own use in the war.
"We can ask the Goblins for help in finding a house to live in. We'll need to stay close, to be able to do what we need to do, but we should also stay in the Muggle World. To be able to do that safely, we'll also need new identities. We can all keep our first names, but we should change our last names, just in case."
"Are you coming with us, then, Moony?"
"Of course, I am, Padfoot. I'm not going to leave you alone to raise Harry, and I'm certainly not going to stay here to be manipulated by Dumbledore into helping him. You're my only friend I have left, anyways, and what would I do without you? Besides, it's very unlikely that I'll ever get a job here in the Wizarding World, what with my Furry Little Problem, so it's better for me to live in the Muggle World. There I can at least claim to be Wiccan so I can get out of work on the Full Moon should it be needed. Muggles make allowances because of religion, they're not allowed to fire people because of their religions and they won't grow suspicious of my absence."
"Okay, Moony, that's good. I'll be glad to have you with us. You also know more of the Muggle World than I do, and I'm going to need all the help I can get."
"It's decided then. We'll get to that first thing tomorrow morning. We'll have to go early, though, to be able to avoid Dumbledore should he come here tomorrow morning. We can just carry Harry so he can keep sleeping. It might be a good idea to get some things from Muggle London, though, like a chair to keep him in. They have some good inventions for babies over there, to make it easier for them."
"Agreed. I will need to go back to my apartment tonight, though, so I can gather my things from it before anyone goes through all my stuff. I have a lot of our Marauder stuff there, and I'd like to get some of my clothes. Can you take care of Harry for an hour, or so, while I go do this?"
"Of course, Paddy, no problem," Remus said with a smirk.
Sirius growled a little at the nickname and scowled at Remus. "You know I hate that nickname, Moony. Maybe I should take up calling you Mooey, like Pronglet does," he said with an annoyed voice, barely keeping his laughter in.
"You know you love it, Paddy," Remus said with a small grin on his face. "Well," he continued, "you'd best get going if you're going to go tonight, so we can all get some sleep tonight. We'll have to be up early."
"Alright. I'll go now, then. Are you sure you'll be fine with Harry alone?"
"Of course, I will, Padfoot. I have taken care of him before, you know. And I have a place to hide him, should it be needed."
"Okay. I'll see you later, then," Sirius said, and disappeared with a crack.
He appeared again in the living room of his apartment. He hurried while gathering his things, putting them in his trunk. He packed everything he thought would come in handy – he had his mother's old Black Book of Blackmail material, just in case he'd need some leverage on some of the more important people in the Wizengamot, some of his old school supplies, like his old books and notes, his clothes, and of course his Marauder things, like their Prank Journal and Map. The Journal and the Map would be given to Harry before he went to Hogwarts.
He looked around his apartment for the last time, before he walked out the front door, sealed it shut, then cast the Fidelius Charm on it, making himself the Secret Keeper. That way, no one could find it without going through him first, and he'd be able to go back there if he ever needed it. Otherwise, he would be able to give it to Harry when he came of age.
He then apparated back to Remus's place with his things.
Remus was still up when Sirius arrived, and opened the door for Sirius when he knocked.
"You got everything you need, Padfoot?"
"Yeah, I did," Sirius said with sadness in his voice. He liked his apartment and didn't want to leave it behind, but it was necessary. For now, at least.
"We'd best get some sleep, then. I don't know how to arrange things, though. There's not like there's a lot of space here, and there's only the one bedroom. There's no space out here to transfigure the couch into a bed, though, so we only have the one bed."
"It's no problem, Moony. We can share you bed, and we can transfigure a chair into a small crib for Harry so he can sleep in there with us. It's not like we haven't shared a bed before when we were younger."
"Okay," Remus said, blushing a little as he did so. Sharing a bed with Sirius… That seemed big, somehow. He didn't entirely know why, but it left him feeling a little flustered.
"I'll transfigure one of your kitchen chairs, Moony. Can you go move your bed to one side and enlarge it as much as the space will allow us, while leaving a bit of space on one side of the bed for our things and Harry's crib?"
"Sure, no problem, Padfoot," Remus said, and walked quickly into his small bedroom, trying to hide his flushing face from Sirius, so he wouldn't see it and start teasing him about being uncomfortable.
He moved his twin bed to one side of the room. There wasn't a lot of space, but he managed to widen the bed a little, to allow room for both him and Sirius on it, but still leave some space for Harry.
A minute later, Sirius came walking into the room, floating a small crib in front of him that he managed to fit into the small space left by the right wall of the room. He went back out to the living room to collect Harry, then came back and placed him in the crib. One last trip, and he brought their trunks and cloaks with him, setting them in the small space left in front of the crib. The room was cramped, but it would do for the night.
He turned towards Remus, then, and saw the other man had already gotten into the bed and was lying close to the wall, under the little window in the room. He quickly transfigured his clothes into comfortable pajamas, cast an alarm charm for 5:30 the next morning, then got into the bed next to Remus and closed his eyes.
"G'night, Moony," he whispered into the dark of the room.
"G'night, Padfoot," Remus answered.
Hoping they'd be able to get some sleep, they both tried to shut their brains off, and tried not to think about what had happened this horrible night.
Before too long, both men were sound asleep, curled up next to each other, their hands touching as if to seek comfort from each other in their sleep.
In the small crib next to them slept the little boy who would overnight gain instant fame in the Wizarding World, known as the Boy Who Lived, oblivious to everything that was happening.
That night, celebrations were held throughout Britain. Everyone was celebrating the fall of the Dark Lord Voldemort, raising their glasses to the Potters who had given their lives to him, and to Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.
Author's Note: Hi people! This is my first story that I've posted on here, so please read and review it. If there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, I apologize, but I have no beta on this story, so this is just read through by myself, and since I'm note a native English speaker, there might be a few.
I will try to post a chapter of the story every week, but I can make no promises that it'll work, since I'm in college and have a lot of studies to get through every week.
Anyway, thanks for reading, hope I get some reviews, and I'd love some constructive critisism if anyone has something to say. I'll try to make the changes if it's something that makes sense for the story.
This chapter was a bit shorter than the last one, and I'm sorry about that, but it just didn't fit well with the cohesiveness of the story to split it somewhere else. Also! The first chapter has been edited and re-posted, so if you have already read chapter one, before the 15th of February, I recommend going back for a second look, since it does look a bit different now, after some very helpful comments from you guys, so thanks for that :) Hope you enjoy!
A7XfoREVer2017!