Chapter Seven: The Confrontation

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: Since there was some concern, let me state that I don't see Dumbledore giving Sirius and Remus Lockhart's address as a particularly dangerous or horrible thing to do. In canon, Harry does, on occassion, stay someplace that isn't Hogwarts or any great secret. The Burrow, for instance. Lockhart's house has about as much protection as the average house does but it's hardly under a Fidelius Charm. Sirius and Remus would have headed there after finishing talking with Dumbledore anyway and they would have eventually found the address, too, so Dumbledore just sped them along so he could get rid of them.

When Harry and Gilderoy got home, they found that they had two unexpected guests.

"Who are you?" Harry asked curiously. They made an odd pair, really. Both were dressed in very nice-looking robes but while one looked young and handsome, the other looked old before his time.

"Can you believe this?" the younger one demanded. "All this time and all he has to say to us is 'Who are you?'!"

"Well, Sirius, that may be because he doesn't actually know who we are," the older one said mildly.

"That just makes it worse!" Sirius insisted. "How can he not know who we are?"

"To be fair, we haven't seen him since he was fifteen months old," the older one pointed out.

Sirius threw his hands up in the air. "And whose fault is that?"

"I thought we had agreed that it was mostly Dumbledore's fault although we didn't actually have to listen to him," the older one answered.

"If he wasn't going to be with Petunia we should have been able to see him," Sirius said stubbornly.

"I quite agree," the older one – who Harry really wished would identify himself – said with a nod. "But then again, if we had been able to see him then Dumbledore would have known where he was and then he would have been at Petunia's where we couldn't see him."

Sirius looked quite put out. "Why do you have to be so reasonable all the time?"

"It's your influence, really," the older one said dryly.

Harry glanced over at his father who appeared more amused by this exchange than anything else. "Did they forget that we're even here?" he wondered aloud.

The unnamed visitor started slightly. "Oh, dreadfully sorry. My name is Remus Lupin and this is Sirius Black. Sirius is your godfather and we were both friends of your father."

Harry glanced over at Gilderoy for confirmation.

"I'm not sure about the godfather part but I know that Sirius and Remus here were close friends with your father," Gilderoy verified.

"See what Lockhart's done to him? He doesn't even believe us!" Sirius cried out.

"Well…it's not like I've ever met you before," Harry protested. "For all I know, you're just crazy fans pretending that you knew my father."

"And now he's talking about fans!" Sirius complained.

"It's not like he doesn't have them," Remus reasoned. "James used to talk about having fans, too, and he wasn't even famous."

Sirius brightened at that. "There may be hope for him yet!"

"What are you two even doing here?" Harry demanded.

Sirius looked like he was about to start shouting about the travesty of Harry not knowing these answers already - apparently he had wanted a psychic godson – so Remus spoke first. "We're here to see you, Harry. You've grown quite a bit."

No kidding. "Why haven't I seen you before today then?"

"We didn't know where you were," Sirius admitted.

"Why didn't you if you were such great friends of my father?" Harry demanded.

"Because we had been told that you were at your Aunt's and you turned out to be with Lockhart here," Sirius explained.

"But you just said that even had I been at the Dursley's you wouldn't have visited me," Harry pointed out, "and so you don't get a pass on not visiting me just because you didn't know where I was."

"He has a point," Gilderoy spoke up. "And I can assure you that if I had heard anything about the two of you looking for young Harry then I would have discreetly contacted you and set up a meeting."

Harry knew that his father was lying but it wasn't as if Sirius and Remus had any way to know that. Gilderoy hadn't wanted anybody to know before the last possible moment, particularly anybody with a legal claim on him since Harry had technically been kidnapped. And then, of course, there was the fact that Remus had admitted earlier that if they knew where he had been then Dumbledore would have known. Even if Gilderoy had been inclined to let other people know where he was, he would have made sure that they weren't so blatantly in Dumbledore's pocket first as Dumbledore was the one person who absolutely could not know.

That seemed to please Remus but Sirius muttered, "I just bet you would have."

Remus looked awkward. "Dumbledore…You have to understand, Harry, that Dumbledore is one of the most well-respected wizards in the world, not just in Great Britain. He is a very powerful, very wise old man and I've found that he's usually right. It's hard to go against him when he manages to make everything sound so very reasonable."

"Not to mention the fact that the night your parents died, I had mysteriously lost several minutes of my memory and had been brought into St. Mungo's by Gilderoy Lockhart himself," Sirius added glaring at Lockhart pointedly.

Harry could guess what had happened, even without Sirius hinting at it. "You saved Sirius, dad? Why didn't you ever tell me that?"

"I don't like to brag," Gilderoy said modestly. "Though now that you mention it, that was how I wo-er, was awarded my first Order of Merlin. Apparently you and your parents had been hidden by a Fidelius Charm and everyone who knew that believed Sirius here to be their Secret Keeper when in actuality it was a traitor. If I hadn't brought Sirius in then he might have gone off and done something rash. Killing a traitor is still going to get you arrested, after all."

"It would have been worth it," Sirius swore.

"So you see, Sirius wasn't allowed to leave St. Mungo's until Peter was caught," Remus continued the tale. "And I happened to be there keeping him company when Dumbledore came to tell us of Peter's capture. He took that opportunity to tell us that we couldn't visit you."

"And you just accepted that?" Gilderoy sounded shocked. "I would never let anyone tell me that I couldn't contact Harry. I guess it's different if it's not actually your own child."

Sirius looked about ready to burst at that. "Dumbledore promised us that Harry was with Petunia. He said that it was the only place that Harry would be safe but that Petunia hated magic and so we couldn't see Harry or she might reject him or news of Harry's location might have leaked out! If Harry was with Petunia, we couldn't have visited him. Since he was with you, there is no reason at all that we couldn't have and how dare you put Harry in danger by removing him from the protection he had with Petunia!"

"The protection Harry would have had with a muggle?" Gilderoy asked innocently. "Make no mistake, I'm no bigot but I do rather think that as a wizard I could have provided Harry with a bit more protection than a muggle. And had I told everyone that I was adopting him then the information certainly would have leaked out."

"Besides, was it really a good idea to leave a wizard with a woman who hates magic?" Harry asked logically. "I mean, I only remember meeting my aunt the once but that seems like a disaster waiting to happen."

"We were trying to keep you safe," Remus claimed, looking miserable.

Harry felt a pang of guilt at that even though he knew that it was unreasonable. If Remus and Sirius had had their way, he would have grown up on Privet Drive of all places and would probably have been a lot less happy than he was with his father. "I am safe," he said softly. "You might say that I would have been safer at my aunt's but since I was never attacked here, I don't see how. As long as no one knew where I was, I would have been safe and, for better or for worse, my father did an excellent job of hiding me."

"So we noticed," Sirius said through gritted teeth.

"I have something I've been wondering," Gilderoy spoke up. It would appear that he was determined to be unhelpful. "Why is it that Harry's legal godfather wasn't the one to get custody of him after his parent's deaths? Why turn to a disinterested, estranged, muggle aunt?"

"Dumbledore didn't think it would be safe," Remus replied. "Death Eaters were still out and about and they went after the Longbottoms, you know. If Sirius hadn't needed a project after James and Lily died and insisted on sending some of our associates emergency Portkeys, who knows what would have happened? Baby Neville was with his grandmother but Frank and Alice…the Lestranges aren't known for their restraint."

"I don't see why Sirius couldn't have taken protective measures – emergency Portkeys sound like a great start – or gone into hiding himself for a few years. Unless, of course, being able to go out without being incognito was more important than his supposedly precious godson…?" Gilderoy trailed off. "In any case, I think that by allowing Dumbledore to place Harry with his aunt you waived your rights to him."

Sirius' eye twitched.

"I knew there was a reason I took away his wand before coming here…" Remus mused.

Once Sirius had calmed down and Gilderoy was in a different room (still listening, Harry was sure, but purportedly leaving Harry alone with his father's friends), Remus turned to Harry. "Tell me honestly, Harry: Are you happy here?"

"Yes," Harry said truthfully. "I've gotten to spend my life travelling and learning about the magical world and those are things I like doing."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of course he'd think that. He hasn't been noticeably mistreated and it's the only life he's ever known. Whether Lockhart is a responsible guardian is another matter entirely since his life seems to be a dangerous one that a child has no place being a part of…"

Remus coughed pointedly. "Sirius, do you remember a little talk we had before we came here about what would or would not endear you to your godson? Namely the bit concerning insulting his guardian?"

"Vaguely," Sirius said noncommittally. "Harry, does your guardian-"

"My father," Harry corrected.

Sirius blinked. "What?"

"Gilderoy Lockhart isn't my 'guardian', he's my father," Harry clarified. "Not biologically, no, but he legally adopted me and he has raised me as his own for ten years now so that's good enough for me." Well…kind of legally adopted him. Petunia had signed the papers eventually.

Sirius' eye twitched again. "Your father was James Potter, the best man I've ever known."

Harry would have to take that on faith and, depending on just who Sirius surrounded himself with, even if that were true it didn't necessarily mean much. "I can believe that and I'll even believe that he was a good father. Just the same, there's nothing wrong with me finding another father in the man that raised me after my biological father gave his life to protect me." Harry wasn't really sure if it had happened that way but his living-father had advised him that his parents heroically giving their lives to save him would look a lot better than them trying to flee or not noticing that Voldemort had shown up. Since no one knew one way or another, why not remember his biological parents as heroes?

"James deserved better than to be compared to the likes of Gilderoy Lockhart," Sirius sneered.

Harry eyed Sirius strangely. He would probably be taking a lot more offense to this if it hadn't been for how what he was pretty sure the first meeting his father and godfather had had in years had gone. "You seem to have a rather negative impression of the man who saved your life and kept you out of a great deal of legal trouble."

"Which was entirely incidental as he had no way of knowing that when he took me to St. Mungo's," Sirius argued.

Harry shrugged. "And that means it doesn't count? If we were muggles and I stole your car so you couldn't get to work and everyone in your building dies, I still saved your life. Taking someone unconscious to the hospital is much more selfless than stealing from them."

"I'm with Harry on this one," Remus said, sending Harry a small smile which he tentatively returned.

Sirius looked torn. "Yeah but…it's just…listen, Harry, do you think that it's possible that Lockhart Obliviated me for some reason and then dragged me to St. Mungo's? I mean, who knows? Maybe that's how he knew where you were. It can't have been public knowledge and I find his story about 'just happening' to be the first to find out that Petunia wanted to put you up for adoption a little fishy."

Harry concentrated on not showing any reaction to that theory. How had he possibly managed to piece it together? He really wished that his father was here as he'd know what to do.

Remus shook his head in mild exasperation. "Honestly, Sirius, not this again."

Harry hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath.

"What?" Sirius demanded. "It's a perfectly valid question."

"For his father, perhaps, but not for Harry!" Remus cried. "Would you like to hear someone ask you those sorts of questions about your father?"

"I've asked those sorts of questions about both of my parents for years," Sirius said dismissively.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Fine, how would you have felt if someone asked you those sorts of questions about Thomas and Elizabeth Potter? I mean, they weren't your real parents of course but-"

Sirius raised a hand to silence him. "Point taken."

Harry cleared his throat. "It's alright, I don't mind answering. I wasn't there and I suppose anything is possible but I find it a little unlikely that my father would have attacked you, wiped your memory, and taken you to a hospital. It's just…why? Finding out where I was? Why would he seek you out and ask about that? How would he even have known that I was missing so soon after You-Know-Who died? And yeah, maybe what my aunt did wasn't the safest thing in the world but it wasn't really her fault and the important this to remember is that people who wanted to hurt me weren't the ones who got ahold of me. My father was and he's given me a wonderful life."

Remus was smiling a little easier now. "See, Sirius? He's been happy and that's what's really important, isn't it?"

Sirius sighed. "I guess. You're sure that you're absolutely happy and not in any way inclined to come live with me instead?"

Harry laughed at that. "Yes, Sirius, I'm sure. I barely know you, after all, and I'd miss my father terribly."

"Are you planning on keep calling him that?" Sirius inquired.

"Yes, Sirius, I am indeed planning on continuing to refer to my father as my father," Harry confirmed.

"Because, you see, 'the man who raised me' would work just as well," Sirius argued.

"Probably," Harry agreed blithely. "But 'father' is a lot less of a mouthful."

"You're not going to win this one, Sirius," Remus remarked.

"The problem is that I don't appear to be winning any of them," Sirius muttered. "Today's been a horrible day. Not only do I find out that my godson wasn't where I thought he was so he could have been dead all this time and I wouldn't have known but our distance from him wasn't necessary and now he wants nothing to do with either of us!"

"Well, it would probably help if you stopped insulting the only parent he's ever known," Remus advised.

"The only way that would be any harder would be if Snivellus was his father," Sirius declared. "And then the only thing my conscious could possibly let me do was to kidnap Harry so as to save him from a life of greasiness and snark."

"I like snark," Harry offered. "Though greasiness…not so much."

Sirius turned towards him, horrified. "No you don't!"

"I rather think Harry would be a better judge of that than you," Remus pointed out.

"He's young and impressionable," Sirius said as if that settled everything.

"Look, it's not like I want nothing to do with you," Harry corrected his newfound godfather's misconception. "I just don't want to stop living with my father. And I'd prefer it if you could stop insulting him but I'm not expecting any miracles here."

"You…you don't?" Sirius asked tentatively, sounding as if he hardly dared to hope.

"No," Harry verified. "My father didn't really know much about my birth parents and since I was hidden until recently I couldn't very well ask around so I really don't know all that much about them. I've never sat down and talked to anyone about them and I'd really like to. Besides, who better to ask about my father than two of his best friends?"

A positively wicked grin lit up Sirius' face. "Alright kid, here's the story of your father and his seven years of stalking the vivacious Miss Evans…"

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