Pretty Boy

Chapter 20

They Finally Meet

The flat was exactly as Sirius remembered seeing it; the only thing that looked out of place was the Slytherin green seat beside the TV set. Oh he knew what the TV was; he'd never watched one though. Arthur Weasley had spoken of his desire to see one and figure out how it functioned. He wanted so badly to spoil Harry, get him out of this flat and into a home he would be safe in. He was genuinely surprised Snape was allowing Harry to remain here. Especially with the Death Eaters out there looking for Harry, the Potions Master knew, better than most, what the Lestrange's were capable of.

"You're late." snapped Severus as he regarded them irritably.

"I know sorry, fell asleep." said Sirius yawning as if to prove his point on how tired they were. The time difference sucked, seven hours there was between the UK and where they were in the island beside the Caribbean. Which meant they'd been tired before dark descended upon them. They hadn't wanted to lose out on their holiday, so kept themselves awake. Now that they were back, they had to get re-used to the change again.

"It's fine, at least you're here." said Harry, Severus reluctantly nodded his head in agreement and leaned back against the couch again. Harry was lying beside him, his head rested on Severus' lap. Or at least for a few seconds, before he got up and sat ramrod straight, staring curiously.

"Snape," said Sirius nodding curtly, inwardly amazed, honestly, if Harry hadn't been here, Snape would have only been half way through his diatribe by this. Harry whether he realized it or not, was making Snape soft. Not that he'd are mention it of course, instead he just created a seat to sit in. Remus sat down in the only other available chair. "It's nice to finally meet you Harry. I hope we can get to know one another better." he desperately wanted to hug Harry, smother him in affection, but unfortunately he didn't think it would be well received.

Harry smirked, nodding his head in agreement and said, "Me too," at least he hadn't started out by mentioning his parents. Fortunately he wasn't stupid; he knew Remus had probably spoken to Sirius about him. He would have liked to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.

"I can give you some money for a flat, I owe you nineteen years worth of presents." said Sirius, "Somewhere safer than here, protected magically." using Harry's safety as means of excuse, hopefully he'd be more susceptible to the idea that way. Deciding not to tell him about the large deposits he'd made into the Potter accounts, over the years. He didn't care if Harry hated him; he just had to show how much he cared the only way possible. He'd also left letters, hoping Harry would get in touch with him. How stupid was he? Harry hadn't been in the magical world, had no way of receiving the letters never mind the gold.

"No thank you," said Harry dryly. He felt very uncomfortable when given presents. It was no wonder; his uncle had tricked him one to many times as a child. There was one year they'd given him a large gift, full of Dudley's old clothes. One year Marge had given him a box of dog biscuits. They'd treated Harry horrifically, and one day they would pay for that with their lives.

"He won't need it, he's coming to Hogwarts." said Severus.

"What? Are you out of your mind? I won't allow that!" said Sirius gaping at Snape incredulity written across his face. He wasn't going to let Dumbledore within breathing distance of Harry, not after what he'd done. How could Harry go along with this plan? The bastard had bound Harry's magic! What if he tried it again? Or worse still found a permanent one they couldn't undo? No he would fight against it, for all the good that would do.

"Do you think us stupid?" snarled Severus, angered by the implications that Black thought he'd ever let Harry come to harm. Harry just lay against him, smirking in amusement, he loved it when Severus made two grown men shrink in their seats the way those two did.

"No," admitted Sirius, if he could call Snape anything, stupid was admittedly not one of them. So it meant he obviously had a plan, but what kind of plan? How could it help Harry remain anonymous? "No you aren't."

"So what do you both have in mind?" asked Remus leaning forward, regarding them intently. He knew they had a plan, so this must be part of it, he couldn't deny he was curious, he'd been dying of curiosity for days.

"Aging Potion," said Severus, as always his solutions were potions based especially if they can be. The idea had a lot of merits, and it's why Severus was using it. It would also help divert suspicion; after all if Harry was their age, Dumbledore couldn't suspect a thing.

"It's devious," said Remus, "The best part, Dumbledore won't suspect anything." a blood thirsty grin appearing on his face.

"You will get revenge on the bastard, wont you?" said Sirius. His blue eyes flashing in fury at the injustices foisted upon his godson. He'd find a way if Harry replied negatively, he swore he would if it was the last thing he did. He'd loose his magic, which meant it would actually really be the last thing he did.

"Are you kidding? Would you let him away with it?" scoffed Harry, his green eyes flashing.

"No." snapped Sirius, he was so angry, he just wanted to scream in frustration, and the situation was…making feel so useless and angry. Emotions he should have been more than familiar with. Since having spent so many years in Azkaban, with nothing but negative emotions. All the good ones had been sucked up within his first week there. Even out of Azkaban, he'd felt nothing but heartache.

"Then you have your answer." said Harry darkly. He was heartened by the fact they wanted to avenge him. It meant they actually put him above Dumbledore, these three men did, from what he remembered about the magical world - most people wouldn't.

"Good," said Sirius, "I want to be there for it."

"You might get to be." said Harry a sly smirk appearing on his face, he had a rough idea on what to do. He just had to smooth out some ideas, before he begun to put it into action. He wasn't going to reveal it to the others either, he wanted it to be a complete surprise. He might have to tell Severus though, unless he figured out a way to do it himself.

"Why not a de-aging Potion? I mean it would make him fit in easier, how else can he be explained? There's no position for teachers." said Sirius.

"He's going to become my apprentice." said Severus.

"You really have thought everything through," said Sirius surprised, despite the fact he shouldn't be. He was a spy for a reason; thinking ahead is what kept him in the game so to speak.

"How will his sudden appearance be explained?" asked Remus a little hazy on that part of the plan.

"That I need your help for," said Harry, knowing Severus hated the idea of asking his 'enemies' for help. He however, wasn't so fussy about asking for it, they obviously wanted to help him. In fact he saw it as they owing him really; they'd abandoned him after all. "It will help in my forgiving you both for abandoning me."

Severus would have kissed Harry right there and then; he was by no means a coward and would have asked. Yet he'd been deeply reluctant to do so, it was not in his nature to ask for help. He'd have done it for Harry, its himself he'd never ask help for.

"We would help you without the ultimatum Harry," said Remus quietly, and very subdued by Harry's words. It was as if he didn't trust them, and felt the need to give them a reason to help.

"Yeah, we would have." stated Sirius glumly.

Harry just stared at them impassively; he wouldn't be the first to break.

"Alright what do you need?" asked Remus after a few seconds or silence.

"We need Dumbledore to trust Harry, assured that he is light so he doesn't go digging." said Severus. "I'm good but not good enough to fake credentials and a full life story. It would need to come from someone he'd never suspect lying to him."

"Us," said Remus deep in thought.

"Remus do you remember the family that used to stay in the old Potter cottage? The land next to them. Mr. Potter never did explain why he let them stay, but we suspected the father had saved him in some way." said Sirius. "They had a son." it was unusual for families to allow quests to stay on the main Potter land. If anything they were allowed to be in other properties but had to pay.

"The exact same age as James, he was home schooled." said Remus. "Really brilliant, he put us all to shame. Harrison Williams, half blood, he and his parents disappeared suddenly without trace. We never saw them again after we finished school. He never he said goodbye, we never found out if he'd been taken away from the war or if they'd been victims of the Death Eaters."

"They did disappear the same time Mr. and Mrs. Potter died." said Sirius paled faced, now that he thought about it, he realized with a sinking feeling they were probably gone.

"Did anyone even check the cottage?" asked Remus horrified.

"Probably not, nobody knew it was occupied, not officially, Mr. Potter didn't charge them remember." said Sirius simply.

"Who were they?" asked Harry curiously.

"No one was quite sure, its just one of those things that was never spoken about." said Remus quietly. "Harrison William's didn't get on with James or Sirius. I spent a while with him though."

"Why?" asked Harry.

"They were immature, he wasn't used to people, he grew up very sheltered, he couldn't understand them." said Remus quietly.

"I know the feeling," said Harry wryly.

"Alright, we shall use Hadrian Williams; it will be Harry's identity." said Severus, "With a little luck he won't go digging, at least not right away."

"Not much is known about them anyway." said Sirius.

"How did my grandparents die?" asked Harry eyeing them, feeling quite alarmed by their sudden shifty looks. "Well?" demanded Harry not giving up.

"They were attacked just after James finished school, fuelling his desire to be an Auror even more. It was the Death Eaters; the Potters were one of the lightest families out there. It was considered a boost in the ranks when you killed someone with great influence." said Sirius honestly.

"Mr. Potter was a well known Auror, so the Death Eaters didn't brag about it…at least not publicly. They would have wanted revenge, and would have taken it despite the consequences." said Remus.

"It was Parkinson and Malfoy." said Severus sounding hollow.

"You were there?" asked Harry, no judgement in his voice.

"No, I was not. They were newly recruited, Lucius is six years older than me but he liked to…brag." said Severus; he'd had to listen to the foul bastard at it for hours, days at a time. He'd wanted to strangle the life out of him; he'd have done the world a favour.

"I will kill them." said Harry calmly, his dark look deceptive to his tone.

"Harry, you can't." said Sirius in protest, "You cannot live for revenge alone, not for someone you didn't know."

"And who's fault it that?" snapped Harry. "I'll do it with or without your help."

"I'll help you Harry," said Severus, he knew Harry well enough to say he didn't say anything he didn't mean. He would get revenge on them, and Severus would rather he be there, just in case anything went wrong. Harry was still so young, and lacked experience when it came to magic. Especially against the likes of Parkinson and Malfoy.

"Alright, I concede, I'll help too." said Remus, thinking much the same as Severus was in regards to Harry. He'd much rather be a part of the plan and know what was going down, and not having to worry about Harry running of on his own.

"Well I'm not being left out." protested Sirius.

Severus and Harry rolled their eyes and Remus just shook his head wryly.

Some things unfortunately just wouldn't change.

"The Potion isn't permanent is it?" asked Sirius looking worried again, deciding to get to easier topics that didn't include murder. Oh sure he wanted to kill Dumbledore, but it seemed the list was getting bigger now.

Severus snorted, "What potion is?" sneered Severus at the idiotic question.

"Well a De-aging potion doesn't just suddenly stop working." said Sirius defensively.

"It would eventually, they do not work indefinitely, and nobody is idiotic enough to keep it through the entire duration. Like the Aging potion, it only lasts one year or until the Anti-dote has been administered." said Severus.

"It's painful the first time isn't it? Its like Polyjuice Potion?" said Remus.

"It is," said Severus.

"And you are okay with that Harry?" asked Remus his amber eyes filled with concern.

"Yes." said Harry, he wanted to go to the magical world with anonymity, and this was his chance to be just a regular wizard.

"Alright then, so how are we going about it." asked Sirius, butting in wanting to know everything.

"It will all be discussed after Harry has had a holiday, his magic needs a little break." said Severus immediately.

"Okay," said Sirius, "You are both welcome to use the Cabin."

"Have fun." said Remus.

"Yes," squeaked Sirius his voice suddenly high and squeaky "Fun." he repeated.

Severus laughed in amusement, smirking wryly; he knew Black wasn't happy with everything yet. Especially not him being with Harry, but he'd come around eventually. He'd been much more composed than Severus thought he would be. At least he'd not lost his composure, said anything Harry wouldn't let him live down or forget.

LOL There we go! what do you think of that? this was where it really didnt make sense...I screwed both chapters up but now it makes so much more sense :D R&R Please