August 1981

"James, have you seen Harry's flying hippogriff anywhere?" Lily yelled from Harry's nursery as she packed the last of his things. They were moving to a safe house at Godric's Hollow that very night and it was very little time for Lily to get all their belongings in order and make sure nothing is forgotten. It would be awful if they forgot Harry's favorite toy, especially when they wouldn't be able to leave their home to get him a new one.

The sound of footsteps caused Lily to turn around to see her husband carrying their one year old son with a worried look on his face.

"Did you see it…what's wrong?" Lily asked noticing it and James sighed as he gently bounced a gurgling Harry.

"This whole thing is just…just scary Lily. I can't take Harry being connected to that vile devil in any way" He came in and sat in Lily's favorite rocking chair watching as his son tried to put his foot in his mouth.

"We'll protect him James, we won't let Voldemort anywhere near him." She walked towards her boys and ran her fingers through her husband's already messy hair "It's going to be difficult, but Harry has tons of people who love him and would protect him with their lives"

"I know. It's just…this changes everything" She knew he was right. The prophecy had claimed their son possessed the power to defeat Voldemort. Harry's life could never be normal as it would be defined by this one thing. It broke her heart because no matter how she and James would try to give Harry as much of a normal life as possible, it would be hard.

They heard the fireplace come to life and both husband and wife went down into the living room to see who their guest was, suspecting it to be Dumbledore or Sirius Black. It was the latter.

"There's my most favorite godson" Sirius cooed at Harry

"He's your only godson" Lily said coming to give him a hug "After a lot of begging of course"

Sirius and James laughed

"What brings you by so early Padfoot, we're not set to leave for another two hours" James said

Sirius's cheerful face changed immediately and they knew that whatever it was it was important. Everything was these days.

They all settled into the couches in the living room. James and Lily together on one couch and Sirius in the single one by the fire place.

"I've been thinking a lot about me being your secret keeper and I don't think it's going to work" James frowned slightly "I'm too obvious. Everyone knows I'm your best mate, they won't hesitate to come straight to me for your whereabouts. Now, I'll welcome Vold-shit-mort any day and have him think I'm your secret keeper, when really someone else is, someone they won't suspect… someone we can trust"

"Who?" James asked

"Peter" Sirius said as if it was the most obvious answer "I spoke to him about it and he's eager to help, he always is"

James and Lily shared a look.

"Peter's great but, he's not very good at defending himself" James said "I wouldn't want to put him in that kind of danger because of me and my family"

Sirius shook his head. "I've got it all figured out. We'll put peter in hiding. I'll be the target for any death eater. No one would guess it is peter" James looked unsure "No one would know about the switch, not even Dumbledore. It'll just be us three and peter"

"And Remus" Lily added and James nodded. Of course Remus, he was however not expecting the scowl on his best friends face

"What's wrong?" James asked.

Sirius shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Now, you're not going to like this James, but…I have no doubt that Remus is the mole"

"Shame on you Sirius Black!" Lily was shocked "He's one of your best friends"

"I know. I know, but I can't shake thinking it's him and we can't risk your safety"

"Padfoot that's ridiculous" James told him sounding tired. Sirius had told him about his suspicions before, but he ignored it thinking Sirius had been hanging out way too much with Mad-eye Moody.

"Don't you see it? He's absence from meetings, the fact that he doesn't like to come over and see Harry. Don't you think it's weird?" Sirius said "Always anxious, always lurking in the back"

Lily and her husband shared another look.

"Listen, Sirius, I don't know if you heard or not, well, you probably didn't since he wasn't spose to say, but Remus has had to go undercover for the Order" She paused feeling uncomfortable giving out Remus's secret "He's been living with werewolves that don't share his opinions for months now and that has been hard for him" Lily said "Voldemort is so close to getting their support and Dumbledore has asked Remus to go in and try and do something"

Sirius looked at them blankly. He obviously hadn't known.

"but…but what about Harry? Why does he seem to avoid him? He acts weird around him, don't you see" Lily looked away guiltily.

James on the other hand just shrugged. "You know Remus, Probably thinks by simply looking at Harry he'll turn him into a werewolf"

"He's just being careful" Lily said stiffly, but no one in the room seemed to notice

"We can't leave him out, Sirius, he's one of us" James told him and Sirius nodded.

"I…I guess so…. I've sort of been avoiding him" Feeling like a terrible friend, he threw his face into his palms and groaned

"I'm such an ass!"

"Just a little bit" James said with a small grin on his face and Lily rolled her eyes

"If those are Harry's first words you would absolutely not be godfather to anymore of my children"

000000000000000000

July 31st 1995

"Remus!" Tonks called as she stepped into the plain and worn looking living room. She lightly brushed off her pink dress and checked to make sure her hair was still neat and not damaged from by the floo travel.

"There you are Nymphadora" Remus said coming out of his bedroom. He was dressed to go out too, but not in the way she thought he would dress up for a party. He had on grey slacks that looked like they had seen better days and a simple blue shirt. His hair was a bit untidy and it looked as if he had just come out of the shower not too long ago. It was after she took her time taking in his appearance that she realized he had used her dreaded first name and frowned.

"Remus" She tried hard to glare at him and look as intimidating as she did when others called her that, but it just never worked with him. Her left eyebrow rose and her eyes darkened, yet a slight curve was visible at the side of her lips. He chuckled slightly in the way that didn't make her think he was making fun of her.

"I'm sorry Tonks" He said "You know I can't help calling you by your first name. I wish you knew how pretty it is"

Tonks blushed so fiercely that she had to darken her skin tone just a bit so he won't notice.

"You…um…you wanted me to stop over?" She asked trying her best sound as normal as possible. It worked because he didn't notice a change and Remus went back into the room he came out of only to return with a small wrapped parcel in his hands.

"I was hoping you could give this to Harry for me" He said. The lightness that had been in his eyes earlier was gone and Tonks could see exhaustion and misery.

"You're not coming?"

Remus shook his head.

"I knew Arthur would like to attend, so I volunteered to take his place at the watch tonight, plus Harry and Sirius wouldn't want me there. It's his birthday, he should not be angry or upset"

Tonks took in his worn expression and she wondered why this man enjoyed torturing himself.

"Staying away won't help anything Remus" She paused not wanting to seem too imposing as she only just met him a few months ago.

"Trust me, it's better. Harry is stubborn, just like is father" Tonks narrowed her eyes

"You are his father" Remus smiled a sad smile

"I know. I meant me" He handed her the parcel "It's too late now to go, I have to be at the ministry in ten minutes. Would you give this to him Tonks, please" She obviously could not say no to him, so she took the parcel.

"I still think you should come as it is his birthday and all, but I'll give it to him– badgers honor"

Remus smiled, "Thank you Nymph-I mean, Tonks. Thank you Tonks"

00000000

He wasn't really in the mood for a party, but Sirius had insisted. In fact, he had begged Harry to say yes to the party as it would bring back some sense of normalcy. Harry wasn't sure what he had been talking about because things would absolutely never be normal for them, but Sirius had his own special way of dealing with things. He had gotten up very early in the morning to begin cleaning. Whistling as he went up and down the stairs. Sirius wanted to be so busy, he never just lounged around anymore; he had to have his hands working and his mind engaged in something. Harry thought that it was a weird habit his godfather had picked up, but who was he to judge. He barely spoke to anyone other than Hermione and Ron, and even with them he was sometimes a grump.

The party was in full bloom. Sirius had been careful to only invite those who knew about Harry's current situation and although they seemed to be having fun and acting normal, Harry never missed the side glances and the whispers. He didn't know why it bothered him because he should be used to people always talking about him and hating him, in fact he was getting enough of it from the ministry.

Harry made his way to the family room to try and find some privacy and quiet. He could hear Sirius from the kitchen singing, quite horribly, a Weird Sisters song with Fred and George. He smiled slightly as he pushed open the door and closed it behind him; At least someone was having fun. Leaning heavily on it, he sighed deeply and rubbed his tired eyes. The next full moon was approaching and he could already feel its effects. He had tried very hard to be in a cheerful mood earlier on, but it was too hard.

It had been three weeks since he found out that Remus was his biological father and since that day of the order meeting, he had not seen him since.

Hermione told him constantly that he ought to write to Remus. She was convinced that Harry and Sirius were being immature because they refused to contact him and sort things out. What Hermione didn't understand was that it was not that easy. How could Harry forgive Remus, he was so angry with him. He was his dad, he was there, but never there and that hurt.

Harry walked into the room and sat by the fireplace. Any minute now Hermione and Ron would come looking for him and drag him back to the party. He heard the door open and sighed. They had come earlier than expected.

"I just wanted a few minutes" He turned around and saw the person standing behind him was not Ron or Hermione, but Tonks

"Wotcher Harry" She said coming to sit beside him. Harry smiled. He liked Tonks, they had just met, but she was a very interesting person and not as old as the others, so she was easy to talk to.

"Hello Tonks. You okay?"

"Yeah. Fun party, missing the celebrant though" She gave him a knowing look and he shrugged and smiled.

"I don't think anyone noticed" She added and Harry laughed. They most likely did, but chose to ignore it.

"I have something for you" She said after a pause. Harry watched her bring out a parcel from her purse and then enlarge it with a whispered spell. Harry took it from her and looked at the small parcel. It was wrapped in brown paper was the size and thickness of a small book.

"It's from Remus" Tonks said and Harry suddenly was not interested in opening it anymore.

"Oh"

"He wanted to be here, but he was worried you didn't want that" Tonks tried to read Harry expression, but he wasn't giving away much.

"I don't." He said simply, his eyes focused on the package in his hands. Tonks didn't want to push anything, so she didn't respond.

That night, after the party was over and everyone had gone home or to bed, Harry walked into his room and looked at the parcel he had placed on his table earlier. As Ron was moving around and talking about the highlights of the night and their upcoming trip to Diagon Alley, Harry opened his school trunk and placed the wrapped gift at the bottom of it, he was not ready to receive any gifts from his father, not yet.

000000000000000000000000000000

Sorry for the delay folks! Thanks so much for the support, I truly appreciate it. The flashback is the reason why Harry has always lived with Sirius and why Sirius never went to Azkaban. I figured if Lily knew Remus was Harry's father, she won't allow him be in the dark about the switch. I hope you like the chapter, hopefully I hear back from you all and I'll be sure to update soon.