Chapter Forty-Six

Hospital Wing, Hogwarts, 10 January, 1991

"S-Sirius?" James spluttered, mouth agape.

Sirius nodded stiffly, closing the curtains behind him and casting Muffliato over what was likely to be a nasty confrontation.

"Sirius, what are you doing here?" Lily asked.

"I would imagine that Black is here in preparation for his new position at the school," Severus sneered. "We all know that he isn't visiting his godson."

The three others turned to face him, James and Sirius looking furious and Lily with an expression that indicated he'd just slapped her across the face.

"Do not go there," Sirius snarled, sounding more animal than human.

"Sirius, let's go," Remus said, grabbing Sirius' arm as his friend advanced slightly toward his adolescent nemesis.

Sirius snarled and turned to leave, shaking Remus off of him.

"That's right, Black," Severus taunted, "walk away like you always do. It's all you're good for."

Sirius turned and howled with rage, arm already swinging toward Snape's smirking face. His fist hit Severus' nose with a sickening crack and the Potions Master stumbled back, his head connecting with the stone wall behind him.

Before Sirius could even blink, he was being hauled out of the wing, kicking and roaring, by Remus and James.

"What in the hell was that?!" Remus hissed. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?!" Sirius bellowed. "What's wrong with me is that that stupid, snide arrogant, slimy git pissed me off and I need a drink and I couldn't even talk to him for more than five minutes before I had to leave, and they're just like you!" at this point he was yelling at James, who looked utterly bewildered by the entire episode.

"Remus, can you please tell me what is going on?" he pleaded, raking his old friend's strange expression.

Remus looked almost… amused.

"Sirius is a bit upset," Remus said delicately, leading the larger man away from the wing. "Probably a bit exhausted from his trip."

Sirius laughed high and loud, sounding more than a bit mad. "Oh yes, I just got back from the States, didn't I, Moony? I'd forgotten."

James' expression was priceless, in Lupin's humble opinion, ranging somewhere between horribly confused, curious, and just not wanting to know.

Once they had turned the corner, Remus stopped. "Sirius, can you find your rooms? I need to speak to someone."

Sirius smiled knowingly and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Of course, mate, I'll be fine."

Remus nodded and turned. He'd started to walk away when Sirius grabbed his arm.

"He's a good kid, Moony. Don't let how he acts affect your view. He's just like Lily, really."

Remus nodded again, smiling tightly, and hurried off.

Hospital Wing

"How are you feeling?" Lily asked, looking Henry over carefully.

"I'm fine, Mum, so don't fuss," Henry said, glad that Adrian had snuck out to see his own family.

She sighed. "Oh, alright. If you say that you're fine, I'll believe you until Madam Pomfrey says otherwise."

He scowled lightly at her. "So, what happened between Dad and Sirius? He seems alright to me," he said, turning solemn.

She sighed again. "Henry, that's-"

"Mum, I swear to Merlin, if you don't or won't tell me, Sirius will," Henry warned.
"Henry, I can't. I really, really can't," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "You would hate me."

"It's about Harry, isn't it?" he asked quietly. At her startled look, he pulled the modified rememberall –which he'd taken to wearing around his neck on a chain- from beneath his robes, smiling wryly. "I figured it out, you know. I'm not a complete idiot."

She sighed. "I know that, Henry. I was just hoping that you wouldn't remember so quickly," she said, brushing his hair back off of his forehead. "Although, I guess part of me gave the prototype to you so that you would remember."

"What happened? To Harry, I mean," Henry asked, his amber eyes meeting her green ones. "Did… did he die that Halowe- that night, I mean?"

"Oh, no, sweetheart! No," she said quickly. "Harry was almost completely unharmed after that night."

"So, what happened, then?" Henry asked, brow furrowed.

Lily swallowed thickly. "Well, you were declared to be the prophesized defeater of Voldemort," she said slowly, trying to remember exactly what she'd been trying to block out for so many years, "and suddenly, Harry was no longer simply Harry, he was your brother." She stopped again, wringing her hands. "And you were no longer Henry, you were the famous boy-who-lived. And so, Harry disappeared in the eyes of the world. Overnight, you became a hero, and Harry, well, in the eyes of the world; there was no Harry James Potter, only one Potter boy. You."

"Mum, what happened?" Henry said, no longer looking at her but rather at his hands, which were clenching his blankets.

"We- your father and I- decided that growing up in his brother's shadow would be no way to grow up at all. It would be unfair, and he may have grown to resent you for it," she explained. "And so we- we decided to give him up for adoption."

Henry opened and closed his mouth, looking like a fish without water.

"And so about a week after that night, I took Harry to a Muggle orphanage in London," she said shakily. "I left him there with a note, and that was the last time I ever saw your brother," she said, trying hard to keep her voice steady even as her tears dropped onto Henry's clenched fists.

Henry didn't look at her, he simply stared at his hands.

"Henry," she said. He didn't respond. "Henry, please."

He made a small, almost imperceptible jerk of his head, but didn't respond.

"Henry, look at me!" she pleaded. "Henry Evan Potter, look at me!"

"It's their fault, isn't it?" he said, his voice a deadly whisper. "The reporters? If they'd just left us well enough alone, he'd still be here, wouldn't he? If they could just mind their own bloody business, could go write about something other than me…"

His eyes hardened and he wore an expression that no eleven-year old should ever wear, like he'd just crumbled. "If they didn't have to write about me… Mum, it's my fault," he cried. "It's my fault!"

"No!" she said sharply, lifting his chin so that he was forced to look her in the eye. "Henry, you can blame the reporters or Fate, or even your father and I, but don't you ever blame yourself! The person truly responsible for this entirely awful situation is Voldemort, and don't you ever forget that."

He nodded weakly and looked away from her fierce gaze.

"Lily?"

She looked behind her to see Remus Lupin standing awkwardly at the gap in the curtain.

"Would- can I talk to him?" he asked hesitantly. At her dubious expression, he added, "Please, Lily."

She sighed and nodded, her arm brushing his as she exited the small, tense space.

Henry looked at his professor, wondering what he was doing here.

"Henry, I don't know if you knew this, but Sirius and I were great friends with your parents when we were at school," Remus began softly. "I was friends with your dad, and eventually, Lily became my study partner, and we became friends as well." He smiled fondly. "Your dad drove Lily mad from the first moment they met, because, I'll admit, he was an arrogant prat."

Henry tilted his head to the side, wondering why Professor Lupin suddenly found any of this at all relevant.

"When we entered our seventh year, though, they started dating. James' head had done a bit of deflating, and so they started dating. They got married right after graduation," he continued, taking Henry's apparent lack of interest in stride. "A year or so later, they had twins: Harry James and Henry Evan Potter. Sirius Black was named Harry's godfather, and I was named yours. Soon, though, it was revealed to Lily and James- and through them, Sirius and I- that one of their boys could be the source of Voldemort's demise. A prophesy declared this to be so, and thus your family went into hiding, their house put under the Fidelius Charm, and their secret-keeper was Peter Pettigrew, one of our other best and closest friends.

"After Peter betrayed your family to Voldemort, he was sent to Azkaban, and it seemed that all was well. The next time Sirius and I came to visit, however, you were there," he said even more softly, "but Harry was not.

"Upon learning what had become of your brother, Sirius ran to the orphanage where Lily had left his godson, but there was no record of his ever being there. Sirius severed all ties with you and your parents so that he could go looking for his beloved godson," Remus continued, "and I followed, renouncing my title as your godfather. Until this afternoon, I hadn't seen either Lily or James in over a decade."

"But, why?" Henry asked, sounding very, very young.

"Why what, Henry?" Lupin asked, puzzled. He thought he'd been fairly straightforward in his telling.

"Why did you leave me?" Henry asked, his voice small.

"W- well, I was angry… and your brother… Lily and James had no-"

"No," said Henry sharply, shaking his head. "I know why you left, but why did you leave me?"

Remus stared at the boy before him, openmouthed.

"I- I needed someone else, sometimes, besides my parents and tutors," Henry continued, avoiding his professor's gaze. "I didn't go to school, you know, and I didn't really know anyone. And I get why you left, I do, but… why couldn't you still be my godfather, even if you were away all the time? You could've sent me letters, even if they only came once in a while or on my birthday. I could've visited you when you were in country, and you could've helped me to like flying so that I didn't embarrass myself all the time."

"Henry, I- I am so very sorry for that," Remus said. "I didn't think it would work, what with me not speaking to your mum and dad."

"But, you could've made it work, right?" Henry asked hopefully. "We could still make it work, right?"

Remus nodded firmly. "Now that you're older, I'm sure that we could, Henry. That is, if you don't mind having a stuffy old Transfiguration professor as a godfather."

"Not at all," Henry said, holding out his hand expectantly.

Remus shook his hand, a smile spreading slowly across his face. He was still slightly bewildered and elated by the strange and happy turn of events.

Though, from the looks of things, this was just an ordinary day in the already extraordinary life of one Henry Evan Potter.