New Developments – Harry was very good with new people and the children who were used to doting on each other and would throw themselves in front of a proverbial bullet for Sirius and Regulus, coddled him worse than Kreacher. Within five days the children were seen playing with him, flying him around the gardens in their arms, throwing him in the air, playing hide and seek and many make believe games Harry made up on the spot that made little to no sense. They cooked cakes with him and Kreacher and read him stories and put him to bed. The phrase twisted round the little finger came to his mind, but young children had that effect on lots of people, even Snape had not been immune, but then he'd owed him a life debt too.

Harry for one couldn't be happier about having older siblings and having witnessed his father's displays of immense power had come to think he could grant him anything and consequently once came to him to ask if he could have an older brother. Now Sirius was well aware that he was unlikely going to stay impotent forever, he probably would get a wife and a child at some point but Harry would always be his first born and his heir. Having no desire to explain the birds and the bees to the kid he settled for telling him that he was afraid that would be a temporal impossibility and though slightly disappointed, the answer has sated the child.

He ran his hand through his hair as he watched them, they seemed to be healthy and happy already, maybe it was because they were young and had only been in there for a few months, but their quick recovery just seemed so miraculous. The children themselves were by no means a burden either, it was just weird to have so many people under his care but William quickly gained the independence and authority he'd had before. Every night after Harry had gone to bed he would tell the children stories of his youth, his adventures as a marauder in Hogwarts and his friends. He told them about Voldemort and what he'd done to James and his true relationship to Harry. It turned out they already knew about this.

He told them all about Harry being the boy-who-lived and how he was in several books. He told them about the Dursleys and the perilous position Harry had been in when he found him. Eventually he talked about his revolution so far and what he intended to do. Soon he was going to reveal himself to the world now he had people in the ministry who would vouch for him, who would do so since the Lestrange brothers, even Arthur was now on his side after the dramatic display of Peter. At this several young voices piped up saying that they wanted to help or a say in what he did at the ministry, or come along on his missions but he declined them. They were not as strong as he and Regulus, they would need protecting, after all, they were now on the run.

They were not happy about being molly coddled, but they settled down about it after a little while. All it took was a glare to have them grovelling, he never reminded them of how much they owed him but they did remember they even thought about disagreeing with him about something. They still needed to recover anyway, they were not all a satisfying weight yet. Sirius felt a little guilty about Kreacher having to cook for fifteen people three times a day, plus snacks, cleaning, clearing up, cooking cakes and cookies, and basically pandering to needs, but the teens helped out where they could. They could prepare meals too but Kreacher liked to cook, there was just a lot of it to do with so many extra mouths to feed in the house.

Really the only trouble he had from anyone was Moira, who for some reason had an unhealthy infatuation for him. She followed his every move with her strange violet coloured eyes and she was the one trying to get closest to Harry to. He was flattered by the attention, but he was not good for her, he was near on twenty seven after all, while she was only nineteen, not only was he too old, he was just not ready for a relationship yet, he had too much he had to do with his revolution. He barely managed to give Harry the attention he needed without a clingy girlfriend to attend to as well. He did not think too much on it for a while, it was easily ignored, or passed off with a smile and quick hug, to him, she was just a child after all.

Even though it was becoming a little too obvious for his liking he continued to pretend nothing was going on. She started to dress scantily in order to grab his attention, indeed he had ordered Kreacher to go and get clothes with each young adult's sizes but Kreacher had no sense of style. He had finally gotten the polyjuice potion and stolen hairs from random members of the muggle population somewhere in Edinburgh, a place he had visited once in his youth, but was far enough away from Hogwarts to not prove a problem. He had taken the muggle clothes shopping for safety and after five hours they decided they finally had enough clothes. He then took them all out for a meal, the whole day cost him about £1500. It was not a huge amount of money for him, but it was a hefty sum all the same.

He felt like an indulgent father with one or eight too many kids, Arthur and Molly would be proud. The same applied in the house, he made sure they did not play too roughly with Harry, or each other, he purchased them wands but put restrictions on what spells they could use and where they could use them. The children were too used to sleeping together to even be in two separate rooms that were nearby. They had fit twelve beds into the one room, his old one, as it was as big as a dormitory with a little moving around of furniture, and knocking through the wall to the study that was the other side of it. When Moira came down the stairs one morning wearing nothing but denim shorts that barely passed for more than a belt and a bikini top, he felt he had to say something about it, this could not continue.

He had known this display of far too much, admittedly very nice tanned skin was all for him as soon as she appeared at the bottom of the stairs, but he simply did not feel anything for her. She perched herself on the arm of his chair to say good morning, absentmindedly stroking the rim of his mug of coffee with one hand and his hair with the other. When she used her arms to squish her boobs together for him, all he felt was fatherly disapproval. She had not actually tried anything overly forward yet, but she obviously wanted him to make a move, and she did not care how forward that move was, sooner rather than later. For someone who usually planned things to a fault and had multiple back-up plans he felt uncomfortably out of his depth.

He was magically powerful and more than a little intelligent, but all he knew of romance was the various insincere dalliances he'd had at Hogwarts and of course it seemed like true love then but he was only 15. He understood where this infatuation was coming from and he knew before he started the mission the ages and gender of the people he'd be saving, in truth he felt a little foolish this possibility had not come to his mind. He had however noticed that not only did William seem to pay more attention to her than anyone else, besides Dexter of course, but Conner too was starting to view her as more than an adopted sister. Seeming as no one was up yet, even though it had been a week, they still slept a lot to make up for their time in prison, he decided to confront her.

"Moira, I think we need to talk about this," he sighed, when after ten minutes of no more notice than nodding a good morning to her, her finger remained in his hair. "I am twenty six years old; almost twenty seven, that makes me almost eight years older than you." Moira opened her mouth to protest, saying how that really did not make a difference either way, and wizards easily lived to 150 anyway, but he held up his hand to stop her. "More than that, I am doing a revolution at the moment and now I am moving onto the political side things get more complicated; it is going to be a couple of years before I consider myself to be relaxed and ready to look for woman. Raising Harry and spending time with Reg is all the family I need for now."

"I don't mind waiting," she said, eyes boring into his with their violet intensity, but he held her gaze steadily, she had no sway over him. "I know you are going to say I'm too young to know what I'm talking about and that it wouldn't be appropriate. I'm not a child Sirius. You are the one I want, I love you, I know I have not known you long, but I want you."

She was right in one thing, she was not a child, and he had no intention of treating her like one, they would deal with this like the adults they were as much as he may have wanted her to just do as he told her and dropped the whole thing. "I am not good for you Moira; I love you like a father loves a daughter, or like a little sister, I don't think I can love you any other way. You should go for someone who actually loves you back the way you deserve like William or Conner is on the verge of."

Somewhere in his mind he knew that trying to pass on her affections to someone else was not only going to be ineffective but possibly strengthen the desire she had for him but it was the first thing that came to mind. She might also be tempted to take his advice with the sole purpose of trying to incite some jealousy in him but holding back due to the affection she had for her friends/family. With this thought firmly stated in his mind, her response was not all that unexpected. "I don't love him the same way he loves me." So she had noticed William.

"Well I don't love you the same way he does."

"Please... Sirius, if there is someone else you can't have... that is ok... I don't mind."

Sirius' eyes flashed. He threw his mug to the ground, picked her up by the waist and flew them over the nearest wall pinning her to it, his large body caging her between them. "Never. Say. That. Again." He hissed in a threatening tone. "You are worth so much more than that. You are beautiful, you are young, you are smart, use your brain and do not settle for someone who thinks of you as no more than a body. Certainly do not encourage nothing but a physical relationship from people you want as a boyfriend, if someone even tries it, you come straight to me and I will fucking rip him apart. Someone will take advantage of your naiveté and your desperation, there are people here who love you and who are waiting, do not dive into something you know nothing about!"

"But Sirius I-"

"Love me? I'm the only one you'll ever want? Listen to yourself Moira, I'm not trying to be cold and uncaring because I do love you a great deal, but in a fatherly fashion, whatever you want, you are not going to find it with me, I'm sorry, Moira."

"Don't be," she said eventually, "I should have known it was never going to happen."

Regulus came downstairs wearing a pair of shorts and nothing else, rubbing his wet hair with a towel. He stopped when he saw them, "heh? I thought teens were meant to lie in bed until noon it is only 8am."

"I'm not like other teens," she said as she went upstairs, "I'm going to get changed."

"Why did she seem so solemn just then?" Rgulus asked before slapping his forehead, "wait of course, it's only been a week. Man I can be stupid sometimes, after seeming absolutely fine so quickly, of course they were going to start to show symptoms." Sirius decided against correcting him. "So," Reg continued, perching on the arm of the chair that Moira had been on previously, "when are you planning your big reveal?"

Sirius shrugged, "I don't know, once the teens have recovered fully and can look after themselves like they were doing before, if I get them all jobs, all those people living together would have a fine fortune of their own to live off. I want to be comfortable with Dumbledore first too, I need to be sure he will help me take down Fudge, and protect me, or at least, be on my side, truly. Just give me a few more weeks of animosity and loftiness towards the world."

"Hello Siri, you said you'd come visit again, but you only came twice, Teddy wanted to see you and Harry and Regulus too, but you didn't come."

"I'm sorry Dora," Sirius didn't wait before he engulfed her in a hug. "I'm sorry, but things just got out of control. You must have noticed how Regulus only seems to have one arm, and then there was the revolution before and after that and Azkaban too."

"Azkaban?" Tonks did not miss a beat and her hair took on a slightly blue tinge as she processed what she was told. "I know you Siri, I know you are not talking about the year you spent in there, I know you are talking about something different. Why did you go back to Azkaban, what happened that you would have to go back?"

"Does Teddy talk to you yet?"

"He prefers to talk to Remus, seeming as he prefers to talk in canine language," Tonks pouted, "but he can talk in human and he comes to me for some things."

"Did he tell you about what his life was before you found him." On her lap, the toddler which had been playing with his cousin's necklace turned to him and snarled in a half human, half wolf voice, baring his teeth in warning to go no further, Sirius paid no attention to him.

"No."

"He was sheltered by some orphaned teens who, I presume, saw themselves in him, they gave him food and comfort, whatever they could and were prepared to look after him until adulthood. They never got the chance, because they were arrested for stealing – they had to do so to survive."

Sirius watched his cousin's eyes darken and her hair turn black in her anger. "That's horrible, that awful man, he has a lot to answer for." Sirius assumed she meant Fudge. She looked like she wanted to scream and cry but she settled for just holding her 'son' closer. Remus was there, again, or perhaps still, to take care of the little cub, he did not look surprised at the revelation. He must have kept the knowledge from the young teen. Sirius did nothing but turn around and gesture, and like water from a broken tap all of the teens came rushing into the room and Teddy did not wait before launching himself into their arms, whimpering and whining in a distinctly canine manner. Sirius left them to catch up with their lost young companion and his young cousin who had rescued him and turned to his oldest friend.

The man smiled at him tiredly, "Dumbledore knows," he said. "I don't know how, maybe when you were in Diagon Alley with them and somebody saw you and his own investigations led him to the truth. The fact about the children escaping has been covered completely, no record of them ever being in Azkaban in the first place, I suppose that's for the best though in the end." Remus sat down heavily, Dumbledore had not been bothering them recently, and consequently, Remus had not had to converse with them about him, but it would seem he was stirring up trouble. "I told him it would not do well to pursue you about the matter live and let lie. I think he feels threatened by you, he doesn't want you to build up an army."

"Like his Order?"

"Precisely, I don't think he wants to be outshined."

"I outshined him the day I escaped. I've just been growing stronger ever since. Thank you for your help my friend. Perhaps you could pass on a message for me, Dumbledore has two choices, join me or stay the hell out of my way."

"Sirius."

"Albus," Sirius nodded.

Reg walked down the stairs and blinked in slight surprise to see the man in their home, unaware Sirius had granted him entrance although aware the old man had been trying ever since he heard of their last… adventure. "Albus," he nodded.

"Regulus."

"You are not seeing them," Sirius said straight away, "I will not let you."

"My dear boy I-"

"Lord Black or Sirius," he cut in.

"Sirius, I assure you that I only wish to meet them."

"Why?"

"Well they are all youngsters; I would like to see if they would wish to join Hogwarts as scholars or maybe as apprentices to certain professors."

He wants to take them away, have them as his soldiers instead of ours. Sirius glanced at Reg, nodding in agreement to his magic warning. I am aware. "And what makes you believe I cannot take care of their learning myself?"

"There are twelve of them Sirius and only one of you, they are at different levels and you are not a master at every course there is, only charms and defence. What is more you have your duties to take care of and young Harry of course."

"I see." He turned to the foot of the stairs. "William! Sasha! Get down here!"

"Do you have to speak to them so roughly?"

Sirius shrugged, "no." He was not harsh on them; he just wanted to show Dumbledore that even when he acted harsh, they still would not leave his side. They had been with him one month now and they were devoted to him, each and every one of them, if a little wary. Sasha and William, being the bravest and oldest respectively were the spokespeople of the group. The two young men appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "I taught them how to apparate a few days ago, even the younger ones have gotten the hang of it, we've only had one splinch, after that I limited them to short distances, when in the house, the Black magic protects them." He looked upon his boys proudly, who was Dumbledore to try and take them away from him? "Boys, this is Albus Dumbledore, go on Albus, say your piece."

"William, Sasha, my name is Professor Dumbledore; I am headmaster of Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry. It has come to my notice that you are extremely behind, if you have received any formal schooling. I would like to offer you a place among our students so you can form friendships, or as an apprentice to one of our professors in a subject of your choosing if you would prefer so you can get jobs in the wizarding society."

Sasha looked confused, "but Lord Sirius is teaching us well."

"And this way," William continued, "we are each coached at our own personal levels; I believe we would already be at the level expected for our age."

"We are learning without wands too," Sasha went on, "we have not gotten very far but it would jeopardise our learning to change it now."

"Wands do not hold one back, they are an instrument-"

"They are unnecessary professor;" William cut in, "learning to control your magic is essentially learning to harness yourself."

"I will not allow you to turn these young people into warriors."

"I wonder who I got that notion from," Sirius remarked dryly, 'what a hypocrite, telling me not to form an army with his Order of the Phoenix full of former students.' He loved his teens, they were his pack and he would not purposefully place them in harm's way, but they did need to learn how to protect themselves so that if it did come to a war, they would be safe.

"What do you say to my offer boys?"

The two seemed to consider it, Sirius decided to cut in, "it's a boarding school."

"Absolutely no way," the two boys said at once, turning their back on the old man and heading back up the stairs, holding onto one another's sleeve as if afraid one or the other would disappear off to this school without consent. Sirius smirked at the sight; Dumbledore should have known how loyal young people can be when someone shows them kindness after years of knowing nothing but darkness, hate and pain. He had latched onto Remus, James, Peter and even the professor before him without a second of hesitation, Harry would sooner jump into Hades than go anywhere without him and Reg and the teens were no different.

Dumbledore rather fittingly looked as if he had just lost a battle; he supposed that was quite right. He was still having a hard time coming to grips that Sirius was more powerful than him, and smarter and had more supporters as opposed to being one of his supporters like he used to. They had a rather tense agreement, they were allies, Sirius did not follow him and Dumbledore followed nobody, but there was a silent power struggle all the same. Dumbledore looked at him and ever so slightly narrowed his eyes, making Sirius raise one eyebrow, if he wanted to declare war; he was just making himself out to be a glutton for punishment. Sirius smirk grew wider as the two men had their silent battle, "if that is all, professor," he gestured towards the floo.

"Don't feel bad," he said as the white haired man took a step towards the fireplace but did not make any movement to actually leave, "they would not have accepted in the end even if you gave them the option to come home in the evening." He kept his voice casual, but the meaning of his words was not lost on the older man, "do keep in mind that they have never met you so they have nothing personal against you, but I do."

"Why are you so cold towards the old headmaster?" Regulus raised one eyebrow in question. He understood that he was cold about how Harry was left at the Dursleys without supervision to make sure he wasn't being treated the way he was. He understood that he was cold about being left in prison and not having at least visitation from his friends, and that included Dumbledore. He also suspected that Dumbledore, for whatever reason, had something to do with why he did not receive any visits from anyone else. Dumbledore could have done more. Sirius could have been given the protection of the chief mugwump because he must have known or at least suspected Sirius was innocent or that something was up. But he didn't, and he didn't have to, he was as gullible as everyone else and Sirius had sort of forgiven them.

"He had a part to play in the death of Lily and James."

That was something that the younger Black brother had not been expecting. He had performed the fidelius charm on the house to help hide them; he had given them the prophecy and not kept them in the dark despite how much he loved doing so. It was something people started to simply accept from the old man, he just seemed to think he was the only one who could possibly handle such important information no matter how important, or indeed, essential it was, other people learn of it. He had offered to be the secret keeper but they chose Sirius, because he was their best friend, and he chose Peter, who was the traitor. No, from what he'd gleaned from his brother and briefly from others – those who would talk about that fateful night that is – Dumbledore was, if anything, more helpful than he usually was, the again, Sirius was hardly ever wrong.

Sirius removed one of his cloaks from where it hung by the door and draped it over the head of his brother, holding it there so their faces were mere millimetres apart. "James used it since he was eleven, Charlus never really needed it past adulthood, this was how we managed to pull off some of our pranks without being caught. I don't know why Dumbledore had it, but if he did not, then at least one of the adult Potters would have escaped with their lives so they could raise their young son and I would not have spent a year in Azkaban."

Of course, what was currently being held over Regulus' head was just a normal wizarding cloak. It was charmed so it was protected against fire, water, wind, dirt, the biting cold and everything else under the sun, but normal even so. Still, it did not take a genius to work out what Sirius was getting at. "The invisibility cloak." Regulus was not a fool and he was not one to praise or defend their old headmaster but why did he have the cloak? If he was as great and wise as he claimed to be then surely it would occur to him to give the cloak back to a couple in hiding so they could use it to escape should the worst happen. "So what do you want to do about him?"

"Nothing, certainly nothing yet, I doubt I ever will be able to ever to anything against him. He's got so much protection because of his multiple titles and he has done some great things in the past, but he has also made some terrible choices but cannot see them like that. Because the great Albus Dumbledore thinks he has not made a mistake, neither does anyone else. I do not hate him Regulus like I hated Peter or the Carrows or the minister, I cannot deny all the good that he has done for me, and Remus of course, like I said, he has done some great things. I did hate him when I first broke out and I was still a little unstable in the head, of course I hated him, I hated damn near everybody, but I don't like him and I don't trust him."

If only the Sirius of ten years ago could see the man he was to become. He was a father, a lord and an icon, everything he thought would never happen to him. It was all for Harry, that adorable little boy with the messy black hair, the emerald eyes and the lightning bolt scar. He was the little boy, "Uncle Reggie," that right now was shyly peeking around the door. He opened up his arms and Harry ran into them, squealing in delight as he swirled him into the air before bringing him to rest cradled against his chest, their heartbeats in time with each other.

Harry crawled over onto the lap of his father and Sirius smiled into the soft hair on the top of his head, arms wrapped around him securely in the most serious of promises. This was the little boy that he and Regulus were determined to safe. He was too young and too innocent and he was thrown into a situation he neither deserved nor knew anything about. When Sirius was six years old he was bust getting himself into trouble and his biggest worry was his little brother one day managing to beat him at wizards chess, and when he became a teen they focused on girls and how to avoid the teachers and get away with pranks. He was determined to make sure that Harry's problems stayed on that sort of scale; it was his job as the kid's father to rescue him.

Yes, rescuing Harry, because that is what it really came down to in the end. He was the only one who meant anything to any of them, he was their common link. He was the one that Sirius and Regulus treasured over everything they were, he was the one the Grangers accepted as their link to the magical world and best friend to their daughter. He was the reason why Narcissa would not act up, because Draco and Harry were becoming fast friends. He was the one that his teens would protect with their lives, apart from each other of course. They would do anything to please him, as their rescuer, they would do anything to make sure that he would always be there to protect them like he promised. But they loved him; he could see it plain as day in their eyes.

To be honest, Harry absolutely adored having so many older siblings to play with and look after him. One thing he was sorely missing was being looked after and once he had experienced it with his now father, he was hooked on it like a drug. They obliged, because this was what his revolution was about, and in saving his son and making sure his life was one he deserved and not one with a huge responsibility that was not his hanging over his head, he was saving countless others. Whenever he was playing, even when it was just quietly by himself, lost in his own little world, he still liked to have someone there, they did not need to make input or even say anything, just be there. He needed the quiet reassurance of strength that everyone needs because he probably would not be able to take being abandoned again.

Sirius was never going to leave him, not for all the riches in the world, not for anything. He was going to be by his side when he turned seventeen, and when he had children of his own, and when he was a century old, provided he was still alive by then, because he was always going to be his cub. Harry climbed onto his lap with a book in his hands, clamouring for a story he had heard one thousand times before but because he could read now, took great joy in taking part in shared reading and doing the occasional page or paragraph. He buried his nose in the black mop of hair that was so similar to that of James, but soft in the way only a child's was as he read, absentmindedly stroking his cheek or his back as he held him.

He was so full of love, so quick to offer it; he had rescued him just in time so that he still knew how. They all needed saving now and then. He had needed it when he thought Harry was going to die and the muggle doctor had held him. Regulus had needed it when he thought he had caused the death of his brother, but he was just magically exhausted but he had pulled through. It all came back to Harry. Sirius had needed him as much as Harry had needed a father because it was only the presence of such purity that allowed him to justify his actions and took away the faint feeling of guilt for Gate Master that crept up every now and then. It was his innocent smile and his laugh as he played that he lived for, he made sure never to forget that.

Regulus Black was not scared of his brother. Hell, if Sirius even suspected that he would invest in a clown costume purely to combat the problem. But he wasn't scared for him either. Yet it was unmistakable, the stab of fear he felt when around him lately. It was strange how history was repeating itself. This time though, the brothers had switched. He had always been the one that was exactly in line with what was expected. His parents expected him to be in Slytherin and he was, they expected him to hate his brother and let them believe so, they expected him to take the dark mark and he did. Sirius on the other hand was not so much the black sheep of the family, more of the only white one. Outspoken, Griffindor, auror, prankster, he had broken the law, but only to help his friend – a good guy.

Things were different. Sirius was betrayed by everyone he loved and was left to rot in Azkaban and that changed people, while he found out that the Lord he followed was not to be trusted. Now he, Regulus Black was looking after children, was outspoken, played pranks, obeyed the law, was Griffindor in his behaviour, foolish and generally a good guy. Sirius on the other hand was sly, cunning, quiet, inordinately powerful yes, but Black in his dealings. Sometimes he would see how he looked at Harry and Hermione and his fears would be abated but then they would have a conversation and Sirius was sport that smile and it would creep back up again traitorously. Most recently, when his fear spiked, was he had asked Sirius why he had killed Peter, his brother, but when it came to the minister, whom he also claimed he hated, he helped him.

Sirius had said that he only killed people he truly hated and he put Minister Fudge under that same category, yet not only did he let him live, but helped the sick man get better. "Peter was used up," was his answer. "Had been the day he took the dark mark, he was a coward, a turncoat, and always believed that I would forgive him, me and Moony both. He deserved Azkaban and death was really the kindest thing for him once that place sucked everything out of him. Fudge is different. He was a fool, a bit like you, just a fool to be pitied and put in his place, below us, like everyone else." Regulus wanted to reply to contradict but his throat had closed. "The main difference with the good minister is that I still have use for him." It was with those words, the fear truly took hold.