Lucius had left the house before the sun came up, Severus had met him at the door and pressed a portkey into his hand. The quill looked like any other common quill but it was carefully crafted to bring the intended target to Grimmauld Place and put them in a special warded room.

Severus quickly retreated to the potions lab as soon as Lucius was gone, it felt like no matter what they did or planned, he was no closer to getting his daughter back. Automatically Severus began looking after the potion he had left simmering over night as his mind wandered to his little girl. Would she be like Lily? Would she be like him? Severus wished he knew.

Remus stared at his toast blankly, he had gotten up early with the intention of visiting Frank and Alice but when ever he thought of his wonderful partners in St. Mungo's a sick heavy feeling overcame him. Remus wanted nothing more to be able to have his family whole again but with his partners worse than dead, his son secreted away and his daughter missing Remus worried it would never be whole again.

"Rem? I thought you had left hours ago?"

Remus look from his sad breakfast into the eyes of his best friend. "Pads? What time is it?"

Sirius frowned and took a seat at the table, "Half nine. Everything alright there Moony?" Sirius looked his friend over carefully.

The werewolf rubbed a hand over his face and sighed, "No, but it's fine. I just got lost in thought."

"Remus, you don't have to go. You can wait until someone can go with you." Sirius wished fiercely he could be with his friend. Having Frank and Alice so close yet so far had to be torture for the werewolf.

Remus managed a watery smile and stood, ignoring his cold unappealing toast. "I have too, Sirius. I love them and I forgot about them! I forgot about our children and our life together. I owe them at least a visit."

Sirius shook his head as he watched his friend leave the kitchen. "It doesn't mean you have to punish yourself, Remus."

Remus ignored his old friend's word and left the safety of Grimmauld Place for the first time since he had gotten his memories back. The English sky was gray but thankfully it wasn't too cool, the summer weather holding. Remus wrapped his shabby coat tightly around himself as he disappeared from the doorstep with a soft crack.

All too soon, Remus found himself at the door to the permanent spell damage ward. For a long time he could not bring himself to open the door. The idea of seeing his beautiful Alice and his handsome Frank wasting away in a hospital made him sick. "Come on Lupin, for them." He whispered to himself as he pushed open the door.

The smell of sickness, and human inactivity made the werewolf gag. It smelt like death, and as he watched the several residents of ward shuffle around he couldn't help but wonder why their bodies had not gotten the message.

The med-wizards and witches spared him a few glances but quickly returned to their work, leaving Remus to find the two people he had came to visit. There in a corner sat Alice Longbottom. Her once cheerful face was slack and her once bright eyes were dull and lifeless. Frank was no better, instead of the strong smile, he just lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Remus felt a sob build in his chest, his beautiful mates. His family.

Ever so slowly, Remus approached his loves and sat gingerly on the bed where Frank lay. Without warning a memory came to him, Remus had been home when they were attacked.

"The wards!" Frank cried as the house shook around them, Remus clutched the two children to his chest tightly. The full moon had been just the night before, his body ached and even as every fiber of his being cried out for him to help, he could not physically do so.

Alice gripped her wand tightly and looked from Frank to Remus, "Rem, take the kids and go, we'll hold them off. Hide in the safe room, they won't get past us."

"I won't leave you!" Remus cried rising to his feet shakily.

"We won't have time for this! Remus go!" Frank roared.

With a heavy heart and crying children, Remus ran. He tried to ignore the high female laughter and the screams of Frank as he was tortured. Remus had just enough time to shove the children into the panic room when a cruel voice shouted, "Cruico!"

Remus' world descended into pain and then he knew no more.

"Frank." Remus cried softly brushing a hand through his husband's thin, white hair, the memory of his screams still ringing in his ears.

"Sir," A kind voice said, bringing Remus out of his trance. "Alice has something for you."

Remus wiped at his eyes harshly and turned to his wife, the once vibrant and kind woman who offered him a gum wrapper. Remus laughed harshly and took the candy wrapper carefully. "Thank you," he told the med-witch and turned to his wife. "Thank you Alice. I'll treasure it always."

The way Alice smiled broke Remus' heart.

-
The ministry was abuzz, as it always was when Lucius was around. Everyone knew that if you saw Lucius Malfoy in the Ministry then something was coming. As he walked to the lift, Lucius began running through his day. First he would meet with Minister Bagnold and then later the Muggle Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Lucius wasn't fond of muggles, and to be honest PM Thatcher wasn't fond of wizards but the two economies of Britain were closely tied and needed to be seen to together.

After that a quick trip through the Auror Department where he would leave the portkey for Kingsley before heading back to Grimmauld. It would be easy enough and he would be home before supper.

Gripping his cane tightly Lucius stepped onto the lift, to his confusion the three other people also on the lift tensed and one even glared at him rather fiercely. It quickly occurred to Lucius why that might be as he couldn't remember ever doing business with the three, they thought he was a death eater.

During the meeting with Dumbledore, Lucius had learned that a vast majority of people thought him to be a death eater. The idea shocked and appalled the blond, as he would have never stooped so low to bow to a half-blood maniac. Severus was the only half-blood that Lucius could stand to be in the presence of as the man had was incredibly intelligent and had been a long time friend of both Lucius and his wife.

Beyond that, Lucius had sworn an oath when he took leadership of the House of Malfoy after the death of his father. His oath had detailed the survival of the House beyond anything, something that had followed the House of Malfoy after the flee from France during the revolution.

This need to protect the House would have made swearing his allegiance to the genocidal Lord Voldemort impossible, because of the callous disregard that the Dark Lord held for his followers. It did not however stop Lucius from donating money to the cause nor did it stop him from supporting the ideals that the Dark Lord put forth, which is what his his father had done during the rise some years ago.

But never would Lucius or any Malfoy really, stoop to kissing the the hem of some mad man's robe.

The lift halted a cool voice declared the arrival of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and with a sudden decision Lucius stepped off the lift. He wanted to get this business with Shacklebolt over with as soon as possible.

It was far too easy to slip into that maze of cubicles and weave between the various people that inhabited the floor. Finding the proper desk was slightly more difficult but he managed it all the same.

To throw off suspicion Lucius made sure to stop at several desks of purebloods that the House of Malfoy did business with before sweeping past Shacklebolt's desk and leaving behind him a quill.

The portkey had been charmed ever so slightly to ensure that it's intended recipient would pick up it and keep it with him. If all went well the auror would pocket the quill and as soon as he was free of anti-portkey wards he would be transported to Grimmauld place.

Assuming everything went according to plan.

-
Sirius stared at Cassi. Cassi stared at Sirius. Draco rolled his eyes and continued to play with his dragon, as his weird sister and weird cousin stared at each other. Some time ago, Narcissa had left her children in the rather stunned arms of her cousin, announced she would return shortly and left.

"You're pretty." Cassi decided, ending their staring contest abruptly.

Sirius barked out a laugh and scooped up his little cousin tickling her tummy, as she laughed. "Why thank you, Cassi. I think you are pretty too." Sirius tapped a gentle finger on her nose smiling as she giggled again. "Well, I think it's lunch time, what do you think? Draco? You ready to eat?"

The little blond Lucius clone nodded and placed his toy dragon on the couch. Sirius grinned at Draco and scooped up the little boy laughing when he squeaked in surprise. The rather fierce potions regimen Narcissa's healer had put him on was working well. Already Sirius felt stronger and being able to carry two squirming children with ease was also a benefit.

Working on what had to be pure muscle memory, Sirius efficiently situated the children for lunch. In no time at all, Sirius had easy to eat sandwiches in front of the kids while he sipped a cup of tea.

"I wonder where your mum wandered off too." Sirius said mostly to himself. He had a feeling that his cousin was rather ingeniously using her children to keep Sirius from running off and getting into trouble. It was a good plan, as Sirius would never endanger the children but it still irked him, he wasn't a total loose cannon.

"Cousin Sirius? May I have more milk?" Draco asked breaking Sirius' thoughts.

"Hmm? Yeah, sure kid." Sirius quickly grabbed the pitcher of milk and pour his young cousin some more.

"Thank you." Draco said stiffly, making both Cassi and Sirius laugh.

"Kid, you need to lighten up! Call me Sirius-"

"Siri!" Cassi chirped between bites.

"-Or Siri," Sirius said laughing at his littlest cousin.

Draco frowned at his cousin and moodily returned to his sandwich, Sirius chuckled a bit but let it go, he would win out eventually.

Sirius watched with a soft smile as the children finished their lunch. He couldn't help but wonder what his boys would be like, would they be cheerful and bright like Cassi or more reserved like Draco?

Before his world had imploded Sirius could remember his twins being playful and bright. Little Harry had been mischievous and everyday Sirius and James had been able to watch his personality become more and more apparent.

A deep, sharp ache had become a permanent resident in his chest when he thought about his children. Combined with the burning, tearing pain in his heart when he thought about his lost husband, Sirius could barely move.

His family had been ripped apart. His boys taken from him, the lives of his friends and family torn much the same way. None of it made any sense, Sirius couldn't understand why someone had gone to such great lengths to torment them all like this.

It hadn't been for money and Sirius couldn't see any anything political about the moves their unknown adversary had taken. It seemed almost random, or it would have had the families not all been friends.

What ever this was, it was personal and meant to affect them. Sirius shook his head and made a mental note to bring this up with the others later to see if one of them spotted something he had missed.

"Cousin Sirius, can we go play now?" Draco asked breaking Sirius from his thoughts.

The dog animagus blinked in surprise before giving the children a once over. Both had cleaned their plates and were looking at him hopeful. Sirius smiled and plucked them both from their chairs. "Of course, but only if I can play too!"

For the rest of the afternoon, Sirius and his two baby cousins filled Grimmauld Place with laughter and smiles.

A soft pop that could have only been heard inside his head let Sirius know that Lucius' plan to kidnap an Auror with a portkey had worked. Part of Sirius, the part that had wanted to be an Auror, cried at the thought of someone who was supposed to very well trained getting kidnapped like that. It didn't bode well for the world when the police force could be so easily snatched.

Sirius couldn't detect any anger or ill will toward the house so he didn't hurry getting the children to Dobby to watch, nor did he rush Severus who was still working of the potion to dissolve a blood adoption.

With the Malfoys still gone it would be dangerous to approach the Auror without the Grimmauld wards but there was nothing to be done. Kingsley was Sirius' brother-in-law and Sirius couldn't leave him not knowing about his husband and son.

"What are the chances that he won't have his wand and we'll be able to go in and have a nice friendly conversation?" Sirius asked staring at the door. The newest arrival was safely tucked away in the room where Kreacher had thrown Severus the day he was been brought to Grimmauld Place.

Severus offered his friend a dry unamused look.

Sirius nodded. "Yes. That is what I expected."

"Together?"

"Together."

Armed both men moved as soon as the door opened ready to disarm and incarcerate the sure to be angry Auror behind the door.

"Stu-" Sirius paused, as did Severus when they saw Kingsley standing in the middle of the room, wand on the ground in front of him. The the tall black wizard held his arms up and kept his palms out.

"Hello Sirius, Severus. It's nice to see you again." Kingsley said in his deep soothing voice only a bit of shock coloring Sirius' name.

"Uh…"

Kingsley smiled as if Sirius returned his greeting. "I'm very glad to see you out of Azkaban. Regulus," The smile fell away for a moment. "Reg would be glad to see you."

Severus stepped forward, "You haven't had your mind tampered with, then."

Kingsley shook his head. "No, I did but then six months ago I received a letter from Gringotts asking me about a shared vault that hadn't been accessed in years. I had no memory of this vault and began to look at some of my memories. Aurors are trained in the mental arts, it took a few months but I found the block and managed to ease it down."

"Right." Sirius said throwing a look to Severus who raised an eyebrow in response. Not taking any chances Sirius flicked his wand and the one on the floor zipped up into his free hand. "Well I'm going to hang onto this for a while, just in case." Kingsley nodded like he expected it, and if he honestly remembered Regulus the he probably did. The Blacks always had been a paranoid bunch.

"Sev, you mind giving him a once over to make sure he's clear of the blocks? The ward just alerted me to the floo opening and I need to go check it." Sirius had felt the flutter of the floor in the back of his mind just seconds after taking hold of Kingsley's wand.

"I am more than a match for a wandless Auror." Severus drawled unconcerned, his wand gripped tightly and a spell on the tip of his tongue.

Sirius grinned. "Wonderful. Feel free to bring him along when he's clear." Unworried Sirius turned back to the door. "See you two later then."

Sirius did not run from the room, nor did he walk it was more of a jog. Seeing Kingsley reminded him of Regulus. Sirius had thought of his brother in small bursts but seeing the man who he married reminded him that lost more than his children and husband.

Sirius and Regulus had been close growing up. With their parents the way they were how could they not be? Sirius protected Regulus as best he could until Hogwarts and then his brother had to fend for himself.

The two drifted apart during Hogwarts but they had started patching things up when Pyxis had been born. They wanted their children to be close since Pyxis was so close in age with Harry.

On one hand Sirius was ecstatic because he was a step closer to having his family back together but it also reminded him of who was still missing. Who would never come back, the holes in the four families that would never be filled. Not for the first time Sirius feels dark, hot jealousy at the thought of his cousin. Narcissa had gotten her daughter back right away. No one else had been touched. She still had Draco and Lucius and he had nothing.

The dark thoughts swirled in his head even as he went to greet his cousin's husband. Lucius who Sirius did not like even if they were on the same side. Lucius who had his family. "Severus is seeing to Kingsley now." Sirius said shortly.

Lucius raised a single eyebrow at Sirius' greeting. "I'm pleased to see that the plan worked as anticipated."

"Tell Narcissa to lock the floo when Remus comes back. I'm retiring for the evening." Sirius said sweeping from the room. His anger was building the longer he stood in the room with Lucius.

"Of course." Lucius replied watching as his wife's cousin left in a fit of anger. Even if he had been fond of the man Lucius would have been a fool to argue with a Black in one of their moods.

It only took an hour for Severus to check the Auror. He found the remnants of the mental blocks and removed them all carefully. He checked the legitimacy of Kingsley's story finding it to be all true. Severus also took the opportunity to fill the other man in on what they knew. Severus ignored the relief that overcame the taller man when he learned the whereabouts of his son.

Once Kingsley was aware of what was going on he shared a bit of news with the potions master. "This morning Sirius was discovered missing. The ministry is up in arms, quietly of course, but they will have to announce his escape soon." The Auror confided.

"Good." Severus said firmly, "I am more than ready to see my daughter home where she belongs."

"I want my son back." Kingsley agreed.

"And everyone knows Black is ready to burn the world to see his boys back with him." Severus remarked darkly.

"Ah, he's descended into one of those moods?" Kingsley asked, already knowing the answer.

At Severus' look Kingsley laughed, "Have you forgotten already? My husband was a Black, I know all about their black moods."

"Of course."

"How long has Sirius been sulking in his room?" Narcissa asked sipping her tea. Narcissa had returned after Kingsley and Severus had joined the rest of the house.

"At least an hour," Lucius told her not looking up from where his son and daughter were playing in the floor.

"I see," she replied coolly. "I'm not surprised. He has been working himself to a black mood for a while now. Nothing to do but wait it out."

Kingsley nodded in agreement much to Lucius and Severus' displeasure. "Maybe, Remus, can pull him out of his mood." The Auror suggested.

"Where is Remus?" Severus asked curiously. He hadn't seen the other man all day.

"Sirius asked that Narcissia lock the floo after her returned, so I assume out." Lucius told the group.

The blonde woman frowned, "Has anyone seen him today?" The negative replies made her freeze. "Get Sirius. Something is wrong."