His Boy

Chapter Thirty-Two: Apart

"I can't bloody believe this." Sirius stated angrily, pacing up and down the living room with rage emanating from his entire being. Remus had contacted him as soon as he'd gotten out of the Department for the welfare of Magical Children, having gone straight down to the Auror offices to find him. They had then spent another two hours back in the Department for the Welfare of Magical Children, trying to convince them to give Harry back and it had resulted in a yelling match. They had been asked to leave or risk being arrested for disorderly conduct. "What the hell could they have found that would make them take him away from us?! Troit said everything seemed great here!"

"They wouldn't say. They said they were doing further investigation, though I'm not sure as to what the hell that would entail." Remus grumbled, quite angry himself. He was sitting on the couch, digging through a book that held different wizarding laws, searching for anything that could help them.

Lexie was quite quiet, sitting in the armchair with her arms wrapped tightly over her stomach, a worried expression on her face. She was not the least bit happy about this either. She was pissed as hell, she just didn't have the energy to display it at the moment,.

"Well, at least we know where he is." Sirius sighed, flopping down on the couch and putting his head in his hands. "We should probably contact Dumbledore, see if there's anything he can do to help us figure out what's going on."

"I've already written him." Remus said, looking up from the book. "I imagine he's busy, but he'll probably come when he can once he hears about this."

"I hope so. He's the best hope we've got for getting Harry back."

…...

Harry whimpered slightly, hugging his Snuffles dog closely to his chest. Remus had sent a package via Floo powder a little while ago, containing some of Harry's clothes and favorite things to help him feel a little better about this. McGonagall had done her best so far to try and console him, but she was much better with older children. "I want Paddy."

"Potter, Padfoot cannot come and see you right now. I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to be brave. Would you like to go for a walk and see the grounds?" McGonagall suggested, looking up from a paper she was grading. It was the middle of the school year, so examinations were coming up to see what the students had learned so far this year. Harry shook his head.

"Would you like some dinner? I don't believe you had lunch." Harry shook his head again and McGonagall sighed, watching him carefully. He looked so much remarkably like his father, even at a young age. Upon thinking about this, a small smile played upon her lips, an idea popping into her head. "I believe the Gryffindor Quidditch team has practice after dinner, if you'd like, we can go down and watch them."

"Quidditch?" Harry perked up a little bit, still sad, but then, Quidditch was one of his favorite things. The opportunity to see a real live team playing was very tempting to the four year old.

"Yes, but you'd have to eat dinner first if you want to see them play."

Harry pondered it over for a minute before nodding. He would like to see some Quidditch, and if that meant he had to eat dinner, he would do it. Wait until he told his Padfoot he'd seen real Quidditch! "Okay."

"Good. Come along then." McGonagall rose from the table in her small kitchen/living room. It was hidden behind a bookshelf in her office which was located fairly close to the Gryffindor tower. In fact, if she wanted, she could open a window and look down at the common room from behind a tapestry that could only be seen through on one side. It was how she knew when parties had gone on for a bit too long, though she never penalized against the students when they managed to swipe food from the kitchens. It was all part of going to Hogwarts of course.

Beyond her small main living area, were McGonagall's bedroom and bathroom. Harry had already been told that if the door was shut, he must knock. However, if it was open, he was free to go between the living room and the bathroom as much as he liked, but not to play with things that weren't his.

Harry rose from where he was sitting on the floor with his toys and hugged Snuffles close. He loved his Lion, but this dog gave him an extra dose of cuddly reassurance, especially now.

Having flooed straight from the Ministry to McGonagall's office, Harry had not yet seen the rest of the castle, so when they left the office, his jaw dropped. The ceilings were so tall! And there was a scattering of people here and there, all wearing black robes and school uniforms. Harry had never seen a school so big.

McGonagall took his hand and led him along, through a couple of short cuts and along corridors until they finally, blessedly, and to Harry's relief, reached the Great Hall.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head as they entered the large room, head tilting back to gaze upwards at the ceiling. Or was it the sunset sky? Harry wasn't sure, but either way, it was really pretty.

"Heya Harry! What're you doing here?" Harry turned at the familiar voice and smiled, glad to see red headed Bill Weasley waving at him from one of the tables.

"He's visiting for a short time, Weasley." McGonagall explained, letting go of Harry's hand.

"Cool! Hey Harry, d'you want to eat here with us?" Charlie asked, grinning and shifting slightly aside from his brother to make a space. Harry look up at McGonagall who nodded.

"Just make sure you bring him straight back to me before you leave, Weasley."

"Sure thing, Professor." Bill smiled and Harry climbed up onto the bench between him and Charlie, very glad to see their friendly familiar faces.

Charlie helped Harry get some foods he liked onto his plate, the little boy being unable to reach otherwise, while he got stares from people up and down the Great Hall.

"Here, Harry. Try this." Bill offered, presenting a chicken leg. "They're my favorite."

Harry picked it up and bit into it, his mouth watering with the flavor of it. "Yum!" He beamed, eating away at the chicken a little faster no, chewing and going back for me. He really liked it a lot. It was one of the most delicious things he had ever eaten, in fact, besides Lexie's meatballs, everything on this table was astoundingly wonderful. And when dessert rolled around, he got a nice big slice of treacle tart to devour.

"Isn't he Harry Potter?" A girl beside Charlie whispered not so quietly and a hush fell over the entire hall, everyone turning to look, waiting for the answer.

"No he's a Dementor disguised as a four year old." Bill shot back quickly. He knew what might happen if everyone started talking about Harry at once. He was old enough to also know that it would probably overwhelm the kid if random people started coming up and trying to talk to him. "He's McGonagall's nephew and our neighbor who just bears a bit of resembles to Harry Potter. He's just visiting. Right Harry?"

"Mhm!" Harry nodded, too busy chewing to correct Bill about being McGonagall's nephew or his last name. As far as he knew, he only had one aunt and she was a real meanie face.

"Sorry…" The girl looked taken aback and everyone else returned to their dessert, knowing better than to mess with Bill Weasley. He was really nice until you got on his bad side.

When dinner was over, Bill walked Harry back up to Professor McGonagall who led the little boy back upstairs to get his outdoor clothes on to watch some Quidditch.

Though it was dark out, the pitch was lit up decently, as though a thousand flashlights had been placed around it's edges and along the grass. Truth was, it was just a fancy lighting spell that they used to make it easier for everyone to see during night practices and games that went further into the night. Teams could choose though, to practice with it on or off, and tonight, the team had chosen to have it on, needing to work on new plays instead of circumstantial weather.

Harry's eyes grew wide as he hugged his stuffed dog to his chest and McGonagall led him up into the stands, sitting down and watching as the players soared around the pitch, catching, throwing, and hitting Bludgers every which way. There were fourteen players all together. The main team, and the reserve team, though they mixed together to form two teams and play against one another, making practice all the more effective.

Harry couldn't take his eyes off of the pitch, enticed by how fast these players flew. He had never imagined a broomstick could zoom around like that! His toy one only half as fast as Harry could run!

"Professor McGooglegul?" Harry asked after they had been watching the team practice for about half an hour. "Can we play too?"

McGonagall pondered it over for a moment and then rose from her seat. "Let's go see if show you a little bit. I'm sure they'd be glad to." They left the stands and made their way down onto the pitch where some of the players were getting drinks of water.

"Hey Professor!" A burly boy of about sixteen waved, broom in one hand.

"Evening Fulby." McGonagall stated when they were close enough. "This is Harry Potter. He's visiting for a bit and was wondering if you would show him some things."

"Hey!" Fulby seemed to get excited really quickly. "Yeah! You like Quidditch, Harry?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, jumping up and down, so excited to see real Quidditch players in action. "My daddy was a Chaser."

"Me too, that's cool." Fulby smiled and crouched down to get on Harry's level a bit better. "Want me to show you a special move? It's called the Whirling Whiplash."

"Yeah!" Harry jumped up and down before Fulby looked at McGonagall.

"I promise I won't drop him."

"You never drop the Quaffle, I have full faith." McGonagall admitted. Fulby had been made captain of the team for a reason. He was kind and fair, and a damn good Quidditch player to boot.

"C'mon, Harry." Fulby mounted his broomstick and Harry hopped forward. With a little help, he was able to sit on the broom in front of Fulby. The older boy placed his arms on either side of Harry, gripping the broom in front of him to better keep him on and took off into the air. Harry gave a whoop of excitement, the wind whipping through his hair faster than even Padfoot could spin him or a swing could swing him.

They weren't very high up, only about ten feet just for safety's sake.

"Are you ready, Harry?" Fulby asked.

"Yeah!"

"Okay, hold on really tight."

"Okay." Harry nodded and did as he was told, gripping the broom below Fulby's hands very tightly.

The broom sped up, the world around them blurring, and then they started to spin, shooting across the pitch. Harry screamed with pure joy, adrenaline rushing through his little body. And then the broom rocketed upwards, still spinning until they hit thirty feet in the air and Fulby pulled them up to a stop.

Harry's eyes were wide and he whooped. "That was so cool!"

"That's a special move to keep the Quaffle away from the other players. If you spin, they can't take it from you as easily, but it's a lot harder to do one handed, so you have to be really good at it." Fulby smiled as he dived, slowly and easily as floating, back down towards a safer height. They circled the pitch a couple of times before returning to the center and McGonagall.

"Well, Potter? How do you like flying?" McGonagall asked as Fulby transferred Harry from the broom to the professor.

"It's my favorite!" Harry laughed brightly, hugging her around the neck, glad she had taken him out to see the Quidditch players. "Can we write Paddy a letter and tell him all about it?"

"I suppose that's alright." McGonagall said after a few moments of pondering. The Ministry had said nothing about not exchanging letters. Sirius and Remus weren't allowed to see Harry for the time being, but letters? That was, technically, not seeing him.

"YAY!" Harry grinned, happy for this news at least. He really did miss his family a lot. He was elated from playing with the big Quidditch players, but he was also feeling more and more unhappy the further they got from the pitch.

When they returned to McGonagall's quarters, Harry sighed, climbing into a kitchen chair as she spread out parchment and ink.

"Alright, what is it you'd like to say in your letter, Potter?"

"I can write." Harry said, perking up a little. He always liked to be able to show his abilities to new people. McGonagall looked slightly taken aback as Harry slid off the chair and returned with his box of crayons. He picked out a red one and began writing, biting his tongue between his teeth.

Dear Pady and Moony. I got to fly with a big kwidich player. He shoed me how to do a wurling whiplash move. It was reely cool. I mis you a lot. When can I come home? Plees rite back. Love Harry.

McGonagall read it over, impressed with his ability. He was only four, so his spelling wasn't perfect, but he had still managed to write a decent letter and obviously knew the sounds of letters well enough to make his words readable, even if they weren't perfect.

"It looks good, Potter." McGonagall rolled it up and carried it over to where the owl who normally carried her mail for her, mostly notes to other members of the Hogwarts staff. "Off you go then, Jupiter." She said, opening a window and the owl flew out, heading off to Ottery St. Catchpole. "Alright, Potter. Tomorrow you're going to spend the day with Hagrid, but for now, it's time for bed. Go get your pajamas on."

Harry grimaced and heaved a sigh, grabbing up the bag that had his pajamas in it and changing into them while McGonagall made up the couch for him.

Harry climbed onto the couch and snuggled down under the borrowed blanket, his head buried against his own pillow that Remus had sent over with his clothes and toys, thinking the smell of home might make sleeping a bit easier when he was in this strange new place.

"Gotta wind it." Harry said, holding up the music box to McGonagall. She wound it up and set it on the coffee table.

"All set then?"

"Will you read me a story?" Harry asked curiously, hope filling his voice as the music box chimed along.

McGonagall smiled and rose, moving to her book shelf and pulling off an old book. "This was my favorite when I was a little girl." She said, sitting down on the edge of the couch.

"Once upon a time, in a far away land…"

Harry was out like a light before she finished.

…...

"What do you mean 'pose potential dangers'?!" Sirius shouted, hitting report Dumbledore had managed to get from the Ministry. "We already had everything cleared back in August by Tricia. The fence, the shed, every single little thing possible was gone over and approved safe!"

"This is all my fault." Remus said, his face buried in his hands. He was sitting on the couch while Sirius paced up and down the living room floor again, Dumbledore watching them both.

"And how!? How could they have found out about Harry sneaking out unless they were spying on us somehow?" Sirius asked, dropping the papers down onto the coffee table.

"My sources tell me, that a discussion was overheard in the waiting room at St. Mungo's." Dumbledore explained. "Someone reported seeing Harry and you in the waiting room and that you were talking about werewolf related things and they were able to put two and two together. I believe you must have given the impression that Harry had seen you when changed?"

"Completely my fault." Remus groaned, banging his head down on the coffee table. "I have to leave. That's all there is to it. The Ministry will never give Harry back as long as I'm still living here."

"No, Remus. We need you here, you're part of our family." Sirius said, sitting down next to him and patting him on the back. "We'll just have to figure out a different way."

"Perhaps, instead of changing in the shed, Remus, you could return to doing so in the Shrieking Shack? That would put Harry out of harm's way. We could also install these Muggle contraptions upon the doors." Dumbledore dug into his pocket and held up a white bulbous object. It was hollow and had a little hole at one end. "Clever Muggles. This goes around a doorknob so it can only be opened by someone who has a big enough hand and the strength to press inwards and grasp the actual knob beneath. I believe things such as this are referred to as 'child proofing'."

"Yeah! Lily was talking about doing things like that when Harry started walking… they had to put up all the ornaments." Sirius perked up. "There were latches on the bottom cupboards."

"I also have a padlock, for the fence gate." Dumbledore said, digging again. "No key, just a combination. I have also charmed it so that underage magic, anyone with a Trace on them, won't be able to affect it."

"Brilliant!" Sirius took the padlock, examining it with pure interest. He had never even thought about child proofing the house. Harry was usually well behaved and didn't typically get into anything he wasn't supposed to so it had never crossed his mind. But after that little incident a while back with Harry trying to bring Moony a book… Perhaps child proofing wasn't such a bad idea. And if it got the Ministry to give Harry back to them, then it was worth it.

"But how can we be sure it'll help anything?" Remus asked, lifting his head from his heads. "What if they still refuse to give Harry back? The Ministry is run by that corrupted bitch. She and Lucious Malfoy have always had a sort of underlying cohortedness that could be behind this mess."

"Then we'll keep fighting against it. If we have to kidnap Harry and move away to another country we will. I don't care. We will get him back, no matter what." Sirius stated boldly, rising from the couch and moving across the room towards Dumbledore. "Let's childproof this house."

They spent the rest of the day working on it. Every nook and cranny that the Ministry might have a problem with was solved. The doors to the outside had the bulbous bulbs placed over their knobs. The back gate had the padlock attached. They even put a railing along the side of Harry's bed in case he rolled towards the edge, something they had never even needed to think about before. Harry never fell out of bed, but if it would please the Ministry, they would do it.

After three hours of childproofing and swearing (Sirius had fought with one of the knob covers until Remus had come over and just magicked it on), the three men reconvened in the living room.

"Think they'll give us Harry back now?"

"I certainly hope so." Dumbledore nodded, straightening his hat. A pecking came at the window and they all turned to find an owl, wanting to get in. Remus dashed up to open it and the owl swooped into the room, landing sturdily on the coffee table, holding his leg out to Sirius.

Sirius took the note and unfurled it, smiling as the red crayon writing appeared. "It's from Harry. He's asking about when he gets to come home… but other than that it seems he had a good day at least. He met Quidditch players and they showed him the Whirling Whiplash. That used to be one of James's favorite moves."

"Ooo, is that the one where you spin so fast no one can take the Quaffle?" Remus asked, looking over Sirius's shoulder to look at the letter.

"Yeah." Sirius smiled, tracing the crayon letters on the parchment gently with one finger, looking sad. "Well, at least we know he's safe and sound."

"Guys…" Lexie entered the room, carrying a large book. She'd been in Remus's study most of the day, looking through his Ministry law books, searching for the proper procedures when a werewolf had a child of his or her own. "This here states that whenever a werewolf has a child, that child is to be left with the parent so long as the parent takes the initiative to protect the child from within a mile of the parent when they change."

"Our shed isn't a mile from the house, it's just over half of one."

"Exactly. Move the shed, and no one can say anything."

"Or we can just move it back into the back yard considering I'll be doing all my full moons at the Shrieking Shack from now on. It was one thing to want to be close to home before Harry was quite ready for us to be far away. But now Lexie's here on such a regular basis… She is part of our family and Harry's really comfortable with her."

"Yes." Sirius nodded, smiling. "I think this is going to work. Harry'll be safe, and we'll all be happy."

"Wonderful." Dumbledore smiled. He knew laws in and out, but even he hadn't read up on every single little thing. "In the morning we shall attend to this matter. For now, I believe it is quite late and bed beckons."

Sirius glanced up at the clock. It was two in the morning. He laughed. Yes, it was definitely time for bed… if he could sleep that was.

Hey guys! This chapter was a little bit awkward, but I hope you liked it anyway! Also,

Dear Joe,
While it may not have been common place to put a child in a safety seat when riding in the car in 1984, that does not mean that people never did. In fact, because Sirius loves Harry so much, of course he's going to protect him in every way possible, espeically in a fast moving vehicle. As for the key cards... I was born in 1990. I have never seen anything different, and therefore it did not occur to me that they hadn't been invented yet. For your displeasure at the very slight modernization that occurs when one is writing within a time frame they are not entirely familiar with, I apologfise. However, next time you wish to get testy over such a tiny flaw that no one else seems to have a problem with, I ask you sign in first so that I can respond to you privately in case you wish to discuss the matter further. Thank you.

GUYSSSS GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUYS GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUYSSSSSSSS!
I am so excited! I would like to thank each and every one of you who has ever reveiwed on this story because we have hit over 1,000 reveiws at this point in time. I am so insanely happy about this and the wonderful response it has gotten that I am undoubtedly going to now put on my head set, crank up some music, and lip sync to it whilst dancing about wildly.
ALSO, more awesome news. The ever lovely KrolKrol has begun to translate this into Portugese. So, if any of you prefer to read in Portugese, I will link it in my profile. Cheers to KrolKrol for being so insanely made of awesomeness!

Sorry for the long A/N! Anyways, as always, I appreciate your reveiws, but you don't have to if you don't want to, I also appreciate your interest in reading. :3

Love always, and always,

S.Q.O.