Volans lay in bed for some time thinking about his first day of freedom. It had been wonderful and exciting as well as a bit never racking. It had been a day of firsts for him; first time at Gringotts, first time in a car, first time he had eaten spaghetti, which was great but messy and finally the first time he'd seen his mother and not been recognized. He also felt like he had made good connections with Nymphadora and Ted. No matter what happened with his family he was sure he'd have a safe place here to run to if he needed it. If his family was bad enough they may even let him stay. That wouldn't be bad at all. By morning Volans woke feeling refreshed and ready to tackle a new day. Upon entering the kitchen he found the Headmaster sitting at the table.
"Headmaster." He greeted the man.
"Volans, how are you?" he asked in reply.
"Nervous, excited, anxious, happy and good." The boy replied cheekily, "How are you?"
"I'm excellent, thank you." Was his reply.
"Can I help with anything Andromeda?" he turned towards his hostess.
"You can put the toast on the table and get the plates if you want." She pointed her elbow at the stack of toast and plates by the sink.
"How was your day yesterday, I heard it was quite busy." Albus commented.
"It was great." He recounted the day for the man, "So today at noon Sirius can pick up the results. I wonder if he is going to come here to open it?"
"No I'm having him bring it to me first." Albus smiled, "Then we can prepare ourselves for you to meet your parents if you still want to."
"I want to meet them even if they gave me to Bellatrix." He sighed, "I want to know why. Where am I going to meet them?"
"I thought my office would be best." Albus offered.
"I don't really want to take the chance of going back to the school." Volans disagreed, "Too many people who are willing to hand me back to her. I'd rather not be tortured today if I can keep from it."
"That is a good point." Albus conceded.
"What about Aberforth's place." Ted suggested, "We can use his back room. Going through the floo would keep from alerting any of his customers."
"Too public." Albus disagreed.
"What about where your Order meets?" Volans asked, "Unless it's secret."
"We don't have one spot we meet in." Albus sighed, "Although we could see if Sirius would let us use his mother's house. You both know the secret. Bellatrix doesn't so that's another plus."
"We'd have to remove Aunt Walburga's portrait first." Volans informed him, "Her other portrait is at Lestrange Manor."
"I'll get Sirius to do that this morning." Albus nodded, "Then we can meet there around five, does that sound alright?"
"Tell him to give Kreacher clothes and send him away." Volans shuddered, "That elf would cut his own head off if he thought it would please her. He knows she supports Bellatrix and Voldelmort so he does too."
"Good point he'll have to order him to leave and never return." Albus agreed, "We can't have someone loyal to that side hanging around the house if we begin to use it."
The Headmaster left and Volans sighed as he helped clean up after breakfast, "Today is going to be a long one."
"How would you like some distraction?" Ted asked, "I'm rather eager to see you fly."
"Great!" Volans was grinning from ear to ear. Flying was his favorite pastime.
Within the hour the two of them were outside and on brooms. Ted showed him the boundaries where he could fly and told him to keep below the tree tops. They flew a couple laps before Ted landed and sat in a chair to watch the boy fly. He was the most natural on a broom that Ted had ever seen. Andromeda had joined him after a bit and she was watching the boy like a hawk.
"What are you thinking Dromda?" Ted asked.
"He is a natural." She said, "I'm inclined to believe Bellatrix's story. I've never seen anyone who could fly that well, except in professional matches."
"I was thinking the same thing." He replied.
Meanwhile Volans was having a great time. He wasn't holding back for Draco like he usually did. Even when the boy wasn't there Volans had kept his flying and everything else held back. None of them had any idea just what he could do. Not in his flying and not in his magic. If and when he met them on a battlefield they would get the surprise of their life, maybe their second to last surprise if he had anything to say about it, the last one would be when they were told how many years they would be spending in Azkaban.
He landed a little while later, "That was great! No holding back; just me and the broom."
"Actually it looked like you and the broom were one entity up there." Ted laughed, "What to help me wash my car?"
"Ok." Volans agreed.
By two o'clock in the afternoon Volans was beside himself with nerves. He sat frozen in a chair by the fire waiting for Sirius or Dumbledore to show up and take them to the meeting. Ted tried to cajole him out to fly or ride in the car but Volans only shook his head once. Otherwise he could have been a statue. It was half past three when the fire flared and Nymphadora stepped into the room.
"Why are you all sitting in the livingroom?" she asked, "I figured you'd be our taking a ride in the car."
"Volans won't move he's too nervous." Ted explained and pointed to the boy who was back to staring at the floo.
"Is he awake?" she asked.
"Yes he just freezes up when he's so nervous." Andromeda explained, "He told you this before."
Nymphadore moved over to the boy and got down on her knees and blocked his view of the fire. He blinked once and the moved his head a little so he could see past her. She smirked and moved to block him again. They moved fractionally back and forth for twenty minutes before Volans was calm enough to smile slightly.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Thawing you out." She grinned at him cheekily, "What took you so long?"
"I'm really nervous." He replied, "Do you know who my parents are? Have they been contacted? Are they willing to meet me?" Do you think they'll like me?"
"Maybe I should have left you frozen." She grinned at patted his head, "I don't know anything either, sorry."
Volans sighed, "How much longer?"
"About an hour." Ted replied. He was reading a book on the other side of the room.
Volans sighed again but perked up with the fire flared again. This time Dumbledore walked in and Volans was on his feet in an instant, "Do you know anything?"
"I know plenty of things." Albus smiled widely pulling a bag out of his pocket and then a yellow drop out of the bag, "I know, for instance, that lemon drops don't have any real lemon in them."
"Lemon drops?" Volans asked, "I thought they were a solid form of a calming draught."
Nymphadora couldn't stop herself from letting out a laugh at the Headmaster's expense. She had seen him use the drops for the same purpose. It had always been when Sirius, James and Remus were around; well them or the Weasley twins.
"They are a tart candy I find very pleasing." Albus shook his head, "I guess they do have a calming effect on me. But alas I do have a sweet tooth that needs calming every once in a while."
"Every once in about ten minutes." Nymphadora corrected in a whisper to Volans.
He smiled slightly before giving his attention back to the Headmaster, "Are we going to go meet my parents now?"
"We are." Albus nodded, "If everyone is ready I'll let you in on the secret. We'll be having an Order meeting first."
A few minutes later a very stiff Volans followed Albus and Nymphadora through the floo. Ted and Andromeda followed soon after. They found themselves in a dark and dusty sitting room.
"Nothing has changed." Volans looked around, "Possibly a bit more dust than the last time but that's about it."
"Nothing a good scourgify couldn't remedy." Sirius was at the door, "Are you ready?"
Volans couldn't make his mouth work so he just nodded. It was rather stiff but he was very nervous. The group followed Sirius down the hall to another room that looked like someone had actually cleaned. There was a group of people in the room. He recognized the Potter's on one side with Remus. He also recognized a few other faces from the paper but he couldn't place the names at this point. Volans was hidden behind the Tonks family when they entered so no one noticed him right away.
"Andromeda, so nice to see you again." Lily Potter stood and gave her a hug.
"I know the counter curse." Andromeda whispered in her ear, "I have been told recently what spell was used so I can undo it now."
Volans had kind of wanted to counter the curse himself but Andromeda made sense when she said he shouldn't show his magical ability to everyone in the order. One never knew if someone was a spy, like Peter. He would get the credit for finding out the spell and telling her so at least they may be thankful to him for that.
Dumbledore soon called the meeting to order and Volans sat in the back between Ted and Andromeda. Nymphadora and Remus sat in from of them with Sirius and the Potter's in the row in front of them. In his nervousness Volans found himself reverting back to the hair and eye color that Bellatrix had always forced him to maintain. The meeting didn't last long and as the Order members left they finally saw the young boy at the back. Many wondered what he had been doing here; they all knew Ted and Andromeda didn't have any other children.
When all but the group around Volans left Andromeda stood and moved up to beside Lily, "Are you ready for the counter?"
"What about the boy, did he know anything else about Harry?" she asked.
"Counter first Lily." Albus approached, "Then we can talk about that."
She lay on the couch that replaced some of the chairs when the transfiguration was removed. Andromeda slowly waved her wand over Lily's abdomen and chanted a long spell. A flash of light and a small scream from Lily indicated the end of the spell.
"Sorry, but it hurts almost as bad when it gets taken off as it does when it goes on." Andromeda patted her arm, "If I had warned you about it you would have stiffened up and it would have been worse."
"It's fine." Lily sat up slowly with the aid of her husband, "Please tell Volans is it, thank you."
"Tell him yourself." Andromeda stepped away and waved Volans up.
He approached slowly and smiled slightly at the couple, "I know you'll feel better soon."
"I feel better already." She motioned for him to sit by her on the couch. When he did she leaned over and pulled him into a hug, "Thank you so much. You are such a brave, brave boy. Your parents should be very proud of you."
"I'm sorry I never learned where your son is." He frowned slightly, "I couldn't exactly come out and ask without giving away my intentions."
"Don't worry about it." Mr. Potter bent down to their level, "You've done more than anyone expected of you. Albus you have his results don't you. Are you going to make him wait all day?"
"Volans if you would please restore your natural look." Albus smiled, "I think we'll know who he is right away."
Volans shrugged but scrunched up his face a moment as he tried to calm his mind and return himself to his natural state.
"He's a metamorph." Sirius explained to the Potters as he concentrated, "He's nervous so it's taking a bit more time than usual to change back."
Within a few seconds a black haired boy with green eyes sat between the Potters. One look made James fall from his squatted position. He tumbled onto his back with a gasp of shock, "Are you sure?"
"Positive." Albus smiled, "The goblins did a blood test after all. I've never known them to be wrong."
"Well who am I then." Volans was exasperated. Everyone seemed to know except him.
"Harry." Lily let out breathily and then lunged forward and grabbed the boy in a hug, "You're my Harry."
"Really?" a shocked boy turned in the embrace to stare at the Headmaster, "Am I really?"
"You are." He smiled.
James rolled back up to his knees and pulled his family into a tearful hug. No one in the room held a dry eye as the family sobbed into each other. Andromeda was the first of the other group to move and she started to herd the rest of them out to give the small family some much needed privacy. Sirius was reluctant to leave at first but she was insistent and gave him a quick whispered lecture which stopped him and made him slip out of the room with the others. It took a while but the family finally pulled apart. They all tried to dry their eyes as they chuckled at themselves.
"Well I must look a mess." Lily stated as she tried to dry her face off.
"Not at all." The boy said, "I think you are the most beautiful woman in the world."
"Me too." James added.
"Charmers." Lily accused still pulling her boys in for another hug, "But I'll take whatever complements you want to dish out. I'm so glad you're home."
"What a week." Volans/Harry chuckled wetly, "It's been crazy."
"So I've heard." James chuckled, "Should we let the others back in? Paddy is probably trying to get through the door ear first."
"Paddy?" Volans/Harry asked.
"Sirius, his nickname is Padfoot or Paddy for short." Lily explained.
"Odd nickname." The boy shrugged, "But to each his own I suppose."
James flicked his wand at the door and sure enough it opened and Sirius fell to the floor. He looked up and grinned before standing, "Well?"
"We're fine." James said, "A bit shocked but deliriously happy."
"Not to put a dampener on you joyous occasion but I think plans need to be put in place immediately." Albus stated, "He needs to go to school but Hogwarts is out of the question. It just isn't safe enough with all the other children of death eaters around."
"I'm sorry." Lily smiled sadly at the old man, "I know how much you were looking forward to teaching him."
"Can't be helped." Albus waved her off, "I can only be glad he's home. Do you have any ideas on where you can go?"
"We have to leave Britain until Voldemort is gone." Lily stated firmly.
"Where will we go?" James asked, "America? Australia? Is there anywhere far enough to escape their reach?"
"You can't leave for good." Albus stated, "You remember when he was born and Voldemort first started after you all."
"How can we forget?" James asked.
"There was a prophecy, one that predicted his defeat." Albus stated, "I won't tell you word for word but I think Harry will play a large part."
"He would never allow Bellatrix to take me to a meeting like the other kids would do." Volans/Harry stated, "He wanted to meet everyone else but not me. I always thought it was because I was a half blood instead of pure blood. I was rather glad about it because I had no inclination to meet him either. I was supposed to be trained to kill you so I'm betting the prophecy says I'm the one who will kill him."
Albus frowned but there was no way out of this, "You don't need to think about this. You need to be a child and have fun."
"Believe me I'm having fun." Volans/Harry stated, "Anywhere Bellatrix isn't is fun."
"Volans…" Albus started.
"No don't call me that any longer. I'm Harry Potter now and I will go by that name. Volans Orion Lestrange is dead to me." Harry stated firmly, "I will have fun because I'm with my parents, that doesn't mean I won't prepare to do my part."
"I know where we can go." Sirius interrupted.
"We?" Remus asked.
"We." Sirius nodded firmly, "I go where my Godson goes."
"You're my Godfather?" Harry grinned, "Wicked."
"Indeed." Sirius agreed, "We'll go to my tropical island."
"But what if someone gets hurt." Albus wanted them closer.
"They have a healer." Andromeda stood, "And I'm handy at potions
Ted stood behind her, "Magical creatures and arithmancy."
"Three aurors." Nymphadora added, "We've got DADA, transfiguration and astronomy here."
"Charms and I'm handy with potions too." Lily added smiling.
"And a werewolf to tag along." Remus added.
"Who is also handy with the Runes, arithmancy and magical creatures." James added.
"We just need to get to the Alley for his wand and first year books." Lily nodded.
"He's got a wand and all the first year spells down as much as I can see." Ted waved her off, "Bellatrix did us one favor by removing the trace from his wand already. He's been doing magic since he was three."
"I didn't know that could be done." Lily gasped.
"Black family secret." Sirius shrugged, "Everyone go pack your things and we'll head out right away."
"I already have my things." Harry patted his pocket.
"I did too." Sirius grinned, "I was pretty sure leaving the country was going to be the best idea. Remus I have your stuff too."
"We'll be back soon." Lily gave Harry another hug, "I think it's best if you stay here out of sight."
"Ok mum." Harry smiled widely.
It took Lily several more minutes before James could pry her off Harry and get her to go pack. Soon it was just Harry, Sirius, Remus and Albus.
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