This chapter is basically me making it up to Sirius because he got the short end of the stick with things. Sorry for the weird ending but the chapter got too long and I cut it in half and added the last part of ch. 8 to ch. 9. I thinking of making a little side-fic for drabbles about the little families because I love them and I want to write them having nice things. Would people be interested in reading that?
Severus moved quickly and quietly down the street of Little Winging Drive. The identical houses all dark and locked up for the night. Only stray cats and an occasional owl broke the crushing silence of the witching hour. The potions master found number four easily, the distinct lack of wards left the air light and clear.
It made sense, the headmaster had mentioned something about blood words at one time, but they wouldn't be set here. Not when young Harry didn't share blood with Lily. Without any further thought of wards, Severus crept up to the door and made quick work of the lock with a silent charm. The ministry was likely to register the magic as accidental magic since Harry was so young, and even if they flagged the magic Severus planned to be in and out before anyone would arrive to check it out.
The house was dark and still, faintly Severus could hear snoring if he strained his ears. The house was spotless, even in the dark it was easy to notice. His sister-in-law obviously hadn't changed a bit.
Severus had grown up next to the Evans family, he and Lily had been best friends for years before Hogwarts and Petunia had always been a hateful girl one that he expected to have grown into an even more hateful woman.
Vernon Dursley was a disgusting man that Severus had only ever met once when he accompanied Lily to Vernon and Petunia's wedding. Severus hoped that they had changed if only for their own sakes, because if Petunia had treated his godson like she had treated Lily Sirius would kill her and her husband. Azkaban be damned.
Swiftly and silently, Severus began his search for his godson. Up the stairs because the ground floor didn't appear to have any bedrooms Severus found several doors. One held a very large child that didn't match the memory that he had of his godson.
The wizard forwent the next door as the thunderous snoring told him it was the elder Dursley's room and the room after that appeared to be a guest room.
Sure that the final door would yield the child Severus pushed open the door and swore softly when all he found was broken toys and boxes. His godson wasn't here.
Frustrated, Severus returned to the 1st floor but he stopped to check in the elder Dursley's room just in case but still didn't find Sirius' son.
"Where could he be?" Severus asked himself as he went around the ground floor, finding no other bedroom. Petunia wouldn't have gotten rid of the boy, she would have been too frightened of what wizards would do if they found out. Still, none of the bedrooms upstairs belonged to Harry. The one room that had held an empty bed was obviously a guest room and there hadn't been a second child's bed in the younger Dursley's room.
Where was Harry? Severus froze, ever so slowly he could hear a door open. For a moment he thought the Dursleys had woken up but the sound was too close. Where he was in the living room Severus couldn't see anything but he could hear light footsteps creep closer before growing fainter as they went into the kitchen.
Could that be Harry? Silently, Severus moved toward the kitchen. Astonished Severus stared at the mop of black hair that had to be his godson. Severus watched as the child scrambled up onto the counter so as to reach the sink.
Still facing away from Severus as he was, the potions master could see the features of his friends in the boy. The mop of hair was obviously James, but the color came from Sirius, black as pitch. The boy was slight, appearing to take James' build but he could still thicken up and resemble Sirius there.
Severus watched as the boy stuck his head under the faucet and got several long takes of water, before moving to sit on the counter. Severus knew the moment the boy saw him. Harry froze and his gray eyes widened, but Severus quickly moved raising his index finger to his lips in the sign for quiet.
As non-threateningly as possible Severus walked toward his godson and and lowered his hand. "Hello." He whispered.
"You aren't supposed to be here," Harry told him in a slightly louder whisper.
"I know, but I'm on a secret mission." Severu explained looking over his godson. Something that looked like dirt, but that he feared was bruises littered his arms. There was a similar smudge on his right cheekbone but other than that, Harry appeared whole and mostly unharmed.
"A secret mission?" Harry parroted back, looking more than a little unsure.
"Of course," Severus said easily. "I am searching for my friend's son, maybe you can help me find him?"
"I dunno,"the child said hesitantly.
"Once I find him I can leave." Severus said telling the truth. "You see my friend really misses his son, and he's really sad that his son isn't home with him. I'd really like your help."
Even though he still looked confused and hesitant, Harry nodded and Severus smiled. "Wonderful. The little boy I'm looking for is five years old but his sixth birthday is very soon." Severus waited until Harry nodded before moving on.
"He has black hair and gray eyes, just like you." Severus pointed out as if it were a coincidence. "And his name is Harry James." Severus ignored the tiny shocked gasp that the child made and asked the final question. "Do you happen to know him?"
For a moment the child didn't answer but after a handful of minutes he nodded. "That's me," he whispered.
"Indeed. Well it's nice to meet you Harry, I'm Severus and I'm your godfather. I'd really like it if you would come with me, your father would really love to see you."
In the end it was too easy to get the boy to go with him. That alone had Severus boiling with rage, and what he had learned just before leaving had taken his rage to new levels. The moment Sirius found out, the Dursleys were dead and with James gone there would be no stopping him.
Getting the child back to Grimmauld was harder than he expected. It wasn't as if the boy had a great number of possessions but Severus wasn't sure about apparating with a young child. Narcissa had done it unthinking in the heat of the moment when she found Cassiopeia, but it wasn't recommended transportation for young children.
As Number 4 wasn't connected to the floor network, Severus resorted to the Knight Bus. A quick spell to transfigure a hooded cloak for himself and light blanket wrapped around the child worked well enough as a disguise.
False dawn was just creeping upon London when the Knight Bus dropped the two off a block away from Grimmauld Place. Severus was unsure of what he could do now, would the wards allow him to enter with Harry? The boy was Sirius' son and of Black blood so it was likely but Severus didn't want to risk his godson getting hurt if the wards didn't let him in.
Severus was also not going to leave the boy outside in a London alleyway while he went and got Sirius to change the wards. "Harry, are you awake?" The five year old had fallen asleep some time ago in Severus' arms.
"Hmm?" The sleepy child mumbled into his godfather's shoulder.
"Come now child, I need you to tell me if something hurts or feel strange." Severus prompted as they moved closer to the edge of the wards.
"Warm," the child said yawning. Severus paused for a moment but when Harry didn't say anything else or act as if anything hurt the potions master continued forward and just as silently as he had left Severus slipped into the house.
Sirius snapped awake. For a moment the world spun like the first time he entered Grimmauld Place and Sirius lurched to the side dry heaving onto the floor. "K-kreature!" he yelled weakly.
With a loud snap the vindictive elf appeared before his master with a nasty grin. "Yes, nasty Master? How can Kreature be helping?"
"Who entered the House of Black just now?" Sirius rasped, situating himself gingerly as his head continued to spin. It had taken a moment but Sirius eventually caught on that the wards had awoken him.
"Nasty Master's disgusting Half-Blood brain wizard." Kreature spat.
Sirius shook his head but quickly regretted it when his stomach lurched. "No, someone was with him, but the wards let them through. Who was that?"
"Kreature knows not." The elf replied. "Only a Black can enter the House of Black uninvited."
Sirius scowled at the elf. "Bring me a pepper-up potion." Sirius commanded tired of the unhelpful elf.
With a sneer the elf popped away, just as loudly as he arrived and for a few minutes Sirius had blessed silence. The elf appeared again with another loud snap and cheerfully deposited the potion on the bed before popping away.
"Stupid elf," Sirius muttered grabbing for the potion. Swiftly he popped the cork and downed the contents of the vial managing not to gag out of sure will.
Before long the tell-tale sign of a pepper-up potion became obvious as steam began coming out of his ears. For a moment Sirius sat on his head as his head steamed and the world stopped spinning. His mind wandered to the wards, to Severus and to how he acted just a few hours before with Kingsley.
Before the shame and anger that wanted to consume him could do so properly there was a knock at his door.
Ears still steaming, Sirius stumbled to his feet and carefully made it to his door. "Severus?" He questioned when the open door yielded his friend.
"Sirius. Come with me please." Severus said.
"I assume it has something to do with who ever you brought into the house?" Sirius remarked stepping out of the room just as his ears stopped steaming. "Do I need to get my wand?"
"No, you'll be better off without it. Come along now." Severus told Sirius before turning and walking quickly down the stairs.
With a confused look Sirius followed his friend to the doorway of the sitting room. "What's going on Sev? Who did you bring here? The wards only accept Blacks right now without modification."
Severus just shook his head. "Just go in there and know that I didn't delay to hurt you."
By now Sirius' heart was pounding. He had a few ideas about what his friend was talking about but he didn't dare to allow the thoughts to formalize lest he find his hopes crushed when he opened the door. "Sev? What?"
"Go." Severus opened the door and gave his friend a sharp shove before disappearing into the kitchen.
Sirius found his footing and righted himself quickly. Without permission his eyes sought out the person Severus had brought into his home. There on the sofa where Sirius and Remus had sat just hours ago was a small form wrapped in a blanket.
Sirius felt tears pool in his eyes and he stumbled toward the sofa. Quietly, as the gentle breaths suggested the child was asleep, Sirius fell to his knees, and with a shaking hand carefully tugged the blanket from the child's head.
There on his sofa, in his home Sirius was his youngest son for the first time in years. Inky black hair, a tiny clone of James. In that moment Sirius wanted nothing more than to see his baby's eyes. He knew logically they were the same color as his own but he needed to see them.
"Harry," he whispered gently stroking finger over his son's tiny face. Sirius took in everything. He saw marks knew recognized and others he didn't, Sirius narrowed his eyes at the dark color on his son's cheekbone recognizing it as a bruise.
"How did that happen?" He asked himself as his fingertips ghosted over the darkened skin. "Who hurt you?"
"I'm not supposed to tell." Harry whispered with his eyes still closed, startling his father.
"You can tell me," Sirius whispered back settling back into his spot on the floor by the sofa.
"Nuh uh. I'm not supposed to." Harry said back opening his eyes.
Sirius gasped as his small son fluttered his eyes open to reveal eyes exactly like his own. He had know it was coming but seeing it was something else.
"You, have eyes like me." Harry whispered staring into the eyes so much like his own.
"Yeah, I do." Sirius said. "'cause I'm your daddy,"
"Oh." Harry replied staring intently at Sirius. "The man said you were looking for me."
"Severus? Yes, he was right. I was looking for you because I missed you so much" Sirius said taking one of his son's small hands into his own.
"Why did you lose me?" Harry questioned dropping his gaze to the large hand dwarfing his own.
"Oh, baby I didn't lose you. Someone took you from me, a very, very bad person took you and your brothers away for me me when daddy James died." Sirius explained as best he could.
"Brothers? Daddy James?" Harry questioned his little nose scrunching up on thought, before a yawn escaped him.
"Oh my sweet little fawn, I have so much to tell you, but you need to go back to sleep it's still early." Sirius said looking at the sofa before shaking his head. "Can I pick you up? The sofa isn't very good for sleeping."
Harry nodded with a frown. "I don't want to sleep! What if the bad person takes me again?"
"Harry, no one will ever take you away from me again. I swear." Sirius told his son as he carefully scooped the five year old up into his arms.
"Promise?" Harry asked burying his face in Sirius' shoulder.
"Promise."
It had been a few hours since Sirius had found his youngest son in his sitting room. After the promise Sirius had tucked his son into bed and just watched him sleep. The escaped convict had spent hours memorizing his son's features, examining every bit of him that he could see.
Sirius learned a few things during that time. Harry was cuddler, he used what ever he could to cuddle. The thick blanket on the bed ended up bunched up for the child to hug after he gave up on the pillow.
Second, the bruise on his cheek wasn't the only bruise his son had on him. More small bruises littered his arms and his shins bore a few too.
Third, Sirius was going to kill whoever had been raising his son. Murder them. Break into their home and destroy everything they ever loved, kill them and then burn the house down around them. He had thought over his interaction with Harry and came to the conclusion that children from good homes didn't accept a stranger's word so quickly.
Fourth, Severus' life was still in the balance. He remembered what the other man had told him before sending him in the room with his son and Sirius was torn between kissing the man and stabbing him with something sharp and pointy. Sirius was sure if he asked Kreature, the elf could provide the perfect instrument to do this too.
"Daddy?" Sirius heard his son ask. The five year old had pushed away the blankets and was blinking sleepily at Sirius.
"Hey there, buddy, did you sleep well?" Sirius asked reaching out to ruffle the messy head of black hair.
Harry yawned and nodded. "Uh huh."
Sirius grinned, "You hungry, kiddo? We can go get breakfast if you want, plus there are a few people I'd like you too meet."
Harry's gray eyes widened, "I can have breakfast?"
Sirius' smile melted from his face. "Of course you can Harry."
"Promise?" The boy asked seriously.
"Promise. Come on let's get you changed into something nice before we heard down to breakfast, okay?" Sirius asked pulling the blankets away from the bed so his son could crawl out of the bed.
"Okay."
The kitchen was fully, Sirius could hear Draco and Cassi babbling to their parents, Remus and Kingsley discussing something and while Severus wasn't speaking Sirius had seen the man enter the kitchen just a few moments ago.
"Come on Harry, my friends are in here." Sirius said holding his hand out for his son.
"What if they don't like me?" Harry asked slipping his hand into Sirius'.
"They'll love you." Sirius said giving his son's hand a gentle tug forward. "Come on."
So Harry and Sirius entered the kitchen, the eyes of the adults all turned to the young boy but they didn't verbally mentioned his presence. "Mummy, who is that?" Draco asked Narcissa turning away from his breakfast to point at the newest child sitting at the table.
Narcissa shot her cousin a look but Sirius just shrugged and helped Harry get settled in his seat. "That's cousin Sirius' son, Draco." Narcissa explained casually pushing Cassi's drink away from the edge of the table.
"What's his name?" Draco questioned again peering over the table at the other little boy. He had been stuck with only his sister to play with lately and she was weird.
"Go on, introduce yourself." Sirius prompted instead of answering for Harry.
The gray eyed little boy shot his father an uncertain look but answered anyway. "I'm Harry."
Sirius smiled proudly as he dished out his son's breakfast.
"He arrived last night." Sirius explained.
"Early this morning." Severus corrected idly, giving the nervous child a friendly wave when Harry caught his eye.
"Doesn't matter," Sirius said finishing the plate. "Here you go, kid. Eat up."
Harry turned big gray eyes on his father before turning to the plate. "For me?"
Sirius fought to keep the darkness from his face. "Of course, Harry. It's all for you."
As the child tucked into his meal Sirius shared a dark look with Severus who nodded reluctantly. "I see."
"What's that Padfoot?" Remus asked his friend carefully.
"Nothing, we'll talk later. You are getting Neville and Nerissa today aren't you Moony?" Sirius deflected. "I'm sure Harry, Draco and Cassi would appreciate more kid to play with."
Remus nodded. "That's what we have planned. Kingsley is coming with me when I go."
"Sirius you can watch the children again? I have more work to do." Narcissa said wiping at Cassi's face. "Lucius of course will be working a the ministry and you are the only one left."
Sirius raised an eyebrow, "What about Severus?" It wasn't that he didn't want to watch the kids, in fact Sirius was unlikely to let Harry leave his sight for a long time, but it rankled him a but to have Narcissa declare he had nothing to do.
"I'll be working on the potions to dissolve blood adoptions of course." Severus remarked pushing away his plate. "But I can come up every so often if you need help." Severus added when he saw the uncertain look on Harry's face.
It appeared that Harry had warmed up to Sirius rather quickly but Severus had been the first friendly face Harry had seen in a long while.
"Daddy? Can I have some milk?" Harry asked softly.
"Of course Harry, you can have whatever you want."