Well, here we go – our first long chapter! Over 4 thousand words! This is where the plot really gets started! I'm so excited to share this with you!

Lori

********** Chapter 2 **********

All Hallow's Eve was rapidly approaching and the two royal families had plans to spend it together at the Malfoys home...

"Mandi, I want you to take five elves and finish decorating the house." Narcissa directed. "Tandi, take three elves and make the feast. Nobby, you will watch Draco while my husband and I get dressed."

Each of the elves accepted their orders and went about their business.

"Lolli, you watch the door. When the Potters arrive, you must send someone to let us know and then show them to the sitting room and get their drinks." She went on. "Only the Potters, Lord Black and Mr. Snape are expected."

Half an hour later, Lucius had finished first so he knocked on his wife's dressing room door. "Cissa, I'm heading to the sitting room. Take your time and I'll come up for you when they're here."

"Alright, Luce." She called.

He checked in on his son quickly before going to the sitting room. The small blond boy lay peacefully in his crib with a stuffed hippogriff snuggled tightly in his grasp. Lucius smiled recalling the day the Potters had given it to his son. Narcissa had insisted on giving little Harry a stuffed dragon toy in return. Both children adored their little stuffed friends and were almost never seen without them.

An elf popped in next to the king as he was turning to leave the room. "Master, an owl just arrived for you."

Lucius took the letter and opened it to find James Potter's handwriting.

My dear friends,

So sorry to cancel on you, but Harry's caught a bad cold. The healer says he should be better within the week, but for now we should keep him away from other children. Sirius may still join you. Enjoy the holiday,

James and Lily

Lucius sighed and told the elf to inform the queen that the Potters wouldn't be joining them. Then he went to the sitting room where his friend, Severus, was waiting with a surprise.

"Lucius, I know this was supposed to be a party of eight but I've been seeing someone and I wanted you to meet him..." He turned and held out a hand to his date. "Tom Riddle, this is my oldest and dearest friend, King Lucius Malfoy."

The other man smiled as he took the king's hand. "It's such a pleasure to meet you, sire."

Lucius felt light-headed at Tom's touch but said nothing. "You're the first person Severus has introduced to us in a very long time, Tom." Lucius smiled at him taking in his appearance.

He seemed to be a charming man; tall with wavy light brown hair and brown eyes. All in all, Tom Riddle was a fairly ordinary man. "Will the queen be joining us soon?" Tom asked lightly.

The king's gaze went unfocused for a moment. "Yes, just as soon as I get her. Please excuse me while I do just that."

Tom smiled. "I'd love to meet your son as well; perhaps later..."

"Yes, later..." He walked out of the room and up the stairs still seemingly dazed.

********** LTF **********

When Sirius arrived at the Malfoys castle, about an hour later, he was extremely surprised to be met by the king himself. "Luce?"

"Hello, sir...Master Riddle will be with you shortly if you'll just wait in the parlor." The long haired blonde man told him without focusing on his face at all.

"I don't understand, Lucius. What's going on here?" Sirius asked.

"Master Riddle will have the answers you seek, sir. Please await him in the parlor." Lucius continued.

"That's ok; I'll come back another time." Sirius swept away and rushed to the nearest apparition point. He hurried through his home and down to his stables where he mounted a horse bareback and rode off.

His destination was James Potter's home and, when he got there, he didn't bother to knock. "James! James!"

Lily hurried out to meet him. "Hush, Siri! We just got Harry to sleep! What's wrong?"

"Where's James, Lily? Something's going on at the Malfoys'...something bad." He divulged.

"What's up, Siri?" James asked quietly as he came out of the nursery and closed the door.

"I need your cloak, James. Something isn't right at the Malfoys' and we need to know what." The raven haired man said.

James called it to him and handed it over. "Be careful, Siri...please."

"I will..." Sirius hugged his friends and left as quickly as he'd arrived. His plan was simple and he knew he could pull it off.

First, he apparated to London. The next step was to get into the castle without alerting the inhabitants. He approached from the north and called the elf Lucius had always assigned him when he stayed with them overnight. "Dobby?" Sirius whispered.

The small creature popped into his presence. He was wearing a dish towel and wringing his hands. "Master Black, sir! What can you be doing here, sir?"

"Do you know what happened inside the castle tonight?" Sirius asked him.

"Indeed, sir! Dobby was helping Nobby watch young Master Draco when it happened, sir!" Dobby bit his lip and whined. "Dobby...and all the elves...were ordered not to speak of it to anyone outside of the castle, sir."

"Bugger it...Can you get me into the castle, Dobby?" Sirius asked. "I need to know what's going on so I can warn the Potters."

"Dobby understands, sir! Dobby will get you in... but how?" The diminutive creature tapped his head as he thought. After a moment, Dobby snapped his fingers. "Master Riddle doesn't check elf magic, sir! Dobby can apparate you inside!" Without hesitation, Dobby grabbed Sirius' hand and popped them into the kitchen of the Malfoys' castle.

Sirius closed his eyes to get rid of the dizziness.

"Dobby can speak of it now, sir! You are being inside the castle!" The elf told him.

"Tell me, then. What happened here?" Sirius asked again.

"Evil wizard, Tom Riddle, took over the castle, sir." Dobby whispered. "Only elves and servants are to be calling him Master Riddle, though. Master Snape calls him another name."

"What name does he use?" Sirius asked uneasily.

"Voldemort, sir...Lord Voldemort!" Dobby squeaked. "He locked away king's and queen's memories, sir! They be forced to act like elves. They forced to be his servants. They forget that they've pure royal blood in them."

"Do they remember Draco, Dobby? Does this Voldemort person know of Draco?" Sirius prayed to Merlin that the poor child would be forgotten so he could be rescued quickly.

Dobby looked sorrowful. "King and Queen be knowing of Master Draco and so Master Riddle be knowing of him. They forget he is their son, sir. He is to be raised as Voldemort's ward."

Sirius stared at the elf. "Is there no way to get him out?"

"No, sir! Master Riddle keeps the child with him at all times, sir." Dobby moaned.

Sirius was helpless. There was only one thing he could do, so he did it. "Dobby, I need you to remain here... in the castle. I need you to stay with Draco. Do whatever you have to in order to get a position close to him and keep it. Do you understand, Dobby?"

Dobby nodded. "Yes, sir. Dobby is to keep close to young Master Draco."

"Yes...and you must never tell Master Riddle or Master Snape that I was here." Sirius told him. "Have hope, Dobby, Harry will rescue him someday..."

"As you say, sir..." Dobby set to wringing his hands again.

"One last thing, Dobby: if anything changes about Draco's position in the household, I need you to come find me." Sirius said looking at the elf with intensity. "Other than that, don't come to me unless I call you."

"Dobby is understanding, sir!" He answered with a grim nod. "Dobby only leaves Master Draco if Master Black calls or something changes with Master Draco."

"Good...now apparate me to the same spot you got me from." Sirius said quietly.

The elf did as he'd been told and soon Sirius was on his way back to Scotland to report his findings.

********** LTF **********

Hogwarts Castle loomed ahead of him. He'd apparated with the cloak into Hogsmeade village and walked up figuring that the walk would help order his thoughts. Once again, he didn't bother to knock and just let himself in. As he got closer to the drawing room, he began to hear voices.

"It's not my fault! I've been fed Amortentia for the last month, James!" Severus Snape was crying into Lily's skirts.

"You let that monster into Malfoy Castle!" Sirius shouted.

"Yes, Black...but I didn't do it knowingly! He's been feeding me love potion! I thought I loved him! I thought he loved me!" Severus wailed. "He trusts me now though! I can be a spy for you!"

"We need details. Severus just got here a few minutes ago claiming it wasn't his fault." Lily frowned.

"The English Magical throne has been taken over." Sirius told them. "Lucius and Narcissa are under a charm that locks away their memories. They haven't a clue who they are or even that they are Draco's parents."

"How do you know that?" Severus stared at the other dark haired man. "Nobody outside of the castle is supposed to know that!"

"An elf told me...after he apparated me into the Malfoys' kitchen." Sirius smirked at Dobby's cleverness.

"Of course...Riddle never monitors the elves' magic! Brilliant!" Understanding blossomed in Severus' eyes.

"Moving along..." James prodded.

"Tell us what happened tonight, Severus." Sirius stood over the other man.

"Alright... When Lucius joined Tom and I in the sitting room, I introduced them and Tom asked if the queen would be along soon. Lucius said that he'd get her and left. He seemed a bit dazed so I got suspicious and excused myself to the bathroom. Once alone, I cast a detection charm – one that works for both potions and magic in general – on myself and found Amortentia in my system. Then I summoned a purging potion from the Malfoy storage room and it flushed all traces from my body." Severus shuddered. "That's when I followed Lucius and cast a detection charm on him. He had traces of a compulsion charm so I cast a strong Finite and he regained his concentration enough to notice me and tell me to hide the betrothal contract, go along with Riddle for a while and get to Hogwarts as soon as I could."

"Why didn't you come to me?" Sirius asked. "I was on my way there; you could've met me outside."

"I didn't know the Potters weren't coming until Luce told me and I assumed you'd be with them since Harry was sick." Severus answered. "Anyway, we told Cissa what was going on and she let Lucius' orders stand for the moment...I wish they'd gone into that room with wands blazing!" The man looked miserable. "They visited Draco's room quickly and told Nobby to get his brother Dobby to help watch Draco. I went to Lucius' office, found the betrothal contract and then I hid it in my robes. I'll place it in Draco's vault at Gringott's tomorrow morning. I rejoined Riddle and we waited for the Malfoys."

"You should've taken Draco and come here! Oh, why didn't they just tell you to do that?" Lily asked.

"I wish they had, Lily!" Severus cried.

"What happened next, Severus?" James demanded.

Severus calmed himself and went on. "Lucius and Cissa came in and I watched Riddle place a compulsion charm on both of them. They came closer and shook his hand. Then he asked about Draco. They called Nobby to bring him to them and, being a good elf, he did as he was told. Draco was placed in Riddle's arms and then he drew his wand. He had Lucius call all of his elves and order them to obey Riddle and myself."

"Was Dobby there?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, all the elves were. Riddle made them watch as he cast the memory locking spell on Lucius and Narcissa. He informed them that they were his servants." Severus whimpered. "He placed Lucius as his butler and Narcissa as nurse for Draco, whom he named as his ward. He, then, forbade the elves to speak of it to anyone outside of the castle. At that point, there was a knock at the door and he sent Luce to answer it."

"It was me." Sirius stated quietly. "I saw the king answering his own door as a sign of something being wrong and said I'd come back another time. That's when I came and got the cloak, James. With it, I called for Dobby and, once inside the castle, he told me most of this."

"How were you able to call Dobby?" Severus asked.

"He's the one Lucius always gave me when I stayed overnight. I treat him well and he comes whenever I call him." Sirius smirked. "The important thing is that we have help inside the castle. I'll call him now… Dobby?"

"He's all the way in England, Siri! He can't possibly hear you!" James frowned.

Sirius smirked again. "Elf magic isn't like wizard magic, James."

His sentence was punctuated by the pop of elf apparition. "How is Master Black needing Dobby, sir?"

Lily, James and Severus stared at the small creature.

"Master Black, sir! Why are you calling for Dobby when Master Snape is here? Master Snape is Master Riddle's lover, sir! He'll tell on us, sir!" The elf cried.

"Dobby, no! Riddle lied to me!" Severus protested. "Riddle has been dosing me with love potions!"

"You can trust him, Dobby; that's why I called you." Sirius interrupted. "You need to know that Snape is on our side. Has anything happened since I last spoke to you?"

"No, sir...wait...Dobby was just changing Master Draco and Master Riddle was speaking to himself. He seemed to be making plans to go somewhere, sir." Dobby told them.

"Where, Dobby? Where did he want to go?" Sirius asked.

Dobby frowned. "A castle, sir...Warty...Hoggy...Warthoggy Castle!"

"Hogwarts Castle? Merlin forbid!" Lily and James were horrified. "Harry!"

Sirius' eyes went wide. "We must keep Harry safe! Dobby, go back to Draco."

The elf nodded and disappeared as Lily waved her wand to set things in motion. A suitcase appeared and began to pack itself. "Siri, take Harry and his healer to your home. When he's well, Obliviate the healer and take him to my sister, Petunia."

"Lily, your sister is a muggle!" Sirius protested. "She and her husband are the worst sort of muggles imaginable!"

James picked up his son and held him tightly. "Siri, you are his godfather. We need you to do this."

"Why can't I just take him?" Sirius asked. "The prince of the magical realm of Scotland should grow up magically!"

"Siri, he'd be too recognizable anywhere other than the muggle world." Lily told him gently. "I spelled her home a long time ago to be undetectable to wizards that I don't know. He'll be safe there."

He nodded. "What about you and James?"

"I don't know what plans he has for us. We may end up like Luce and Cissa...I don't want to think of the alternative." She cringed.

"Siri..." James said quietly. "He went into their minds to lock their memories... When you take Harry, you must Obliviate us so we don't know his location."

Sirius shook his head in horror. "No! James...You cannot ask this of me! You are my friend; my brother! I cannot fathom erasing your memories!"

The king handed Harry to his wife and took hold of his best friend's shoulders. "Sirius Orion Black...I must ask you to obey your king in this matter. It is too dangerous for us to know where Harry will end up. He is the most important thing now. Keep him safe...you'll need the invisibility cloak too. Give it to him when he's old enough and he will save us all."

When faced with James' solemn insistence, Sirius caved with a nod. "I understand..."

Severus watched all of this in horrified fascination.

"She won't do it for free, despite the protection I granted her family. Take this." Lily handed Sirius a small book. "When we set up Harry's muggle bank account, we placed it in your name as well. You'll need to bring a check to Petunia Dursley every July 31st until his seventeenth birthday. Perhaps you should set something up with a muggle lawyer in case something happens to you."

Sirius placed it in his pocket. "Yes, Harry must be safe."

"Severus, please help him get Harry and the healer to his home." James said. "We will trust you to keep this from Riddle."

Severus shook his head. "No, I may practice Occlumency but I don't trust myself with this information. Sirius, when I've helped you get settled at home with your guests, I need you to Obliviate me as well."

Sirius allowed Lily to pass Harry into his arms. "Alright. I promise that I will."

Severus placed a Feather-Light charm on the suitcase and waited for the healer to be called from her sleep.

When she arrived, she took Harry from Sirius and went into another room with Severus.

"May I have parchment, please, James?" He asked.

James nodded and summoned some.

"I'm writing you a letter." He said. "It will be vague, but it will assure you that Harry is safe. Then I will Obliviate you both...and leave."

His friends nodded and wiped away tears.

Sirius looked over his letter before sealing it.

James- my friend; my brother, my King,

Against my wishes, I am forced to erase your memory of the last few hours. You demanded it of me in fear for the life of your son. I swear upon the honor of the Most Honorable and Noble House of my birth that Harrington James Potter will be safe from those wishing him harm.

With all my love and loyalty,

Sirius Orion Black

With a sudden burst of forethought, James snatched it from him and signed it himself with his own specially warded quill and then took Lily into their chambers to lie in their bed.

Sirius looked into each of their eyes and cast the spell. "Obliviate!"

"Siri? What are you doing here at this time of night?" James asked while Lily just fell asleep.

"Just visiting, James...go back to sleep." Sirius told him with a smile. "Say, do you recall me borrowing your cloak earlier?"

James shook his head.

"Ok... Just wondering..." Sirius said as James lay back and drifted off to sleep. He stopped in Harry's nursery and grabbed a framed picture of James, Lily, himself and Harry. "Harry will need this..." He whispered to himself. Then he conjured a vial and pulled the memory of James' royal order for the Obliviation from his mind. He placed the vial and the letter on Harry's pillow in the crib. His next move was to join Severus and the healer. "We'll take them side-along, Severus. I'll take Harry and you bring the healer."

With a wave of their wands and a turn of their bodies, the four of them appeared on the doorstep of Black Manor.

Within the next hour, Sirius and Harry, along with the healer, were settled and waving goodbye to Severus, who had every memory of Lily's sister erased from his mind. Within the next week, Harry was better and the healer, who had sworn an oath of secrecy, was gone.

********** LTF **********

On the day Sirius was about to bring the small boy to Petunia Dursley, he got the news…

A knock was heard at his door. Remus barged in. "Did you hear? Sirius, where were you? Why didn't you stand and fight with them?"

Sirius winced. He'd known it would happen. He'd tried to prepare himself for the accusations.

"Hogwarts has fallen to Voldemort!" Peter Pettigrew shouted.

"James had given me a task, Remmy." Sirius told him. "I was out of town until about an hour ago and I'm on my way out again."

"Prince Harry is missing!" Peter said loudly.

"Please, Peter...I've an awful headache." Sirius said. "I happen to know that the prince is safe. James had me take him someplace. I'm forbidden to speak of it, so don't even ask."

"James and Lily are DEAD, Siri!" Remus yelled. "They're dead and now the heir is in hiding with only you knowing his whereabouts?"

Sirius shook with fear. "D-Dead? He killed them?" Tears ran down his face. "J-James knew there would be an attack...h-he told me to take Harry to the safe p-place...He's dead?"

Remus nodded. "Yes...I'm sorry it came out that way, Siri."

"Leave me alone! Leave me to mourn, damn you!" He yelled and waved his wand to banish them from the property. Later, he would ask a friend to place a spell hiding his manor house from any who would betray him to Voldemort as the one who knew Harry's whereabouts. Then he rushed to grab the baby and his things. "Petunia, you'd better take care of him like he's your own..." Next, Sirius Apparated to the address Lily had given him and knocked on the door.

A horse-faced woman answered. "Yes?" A child around Harry's age peeked around her leg.

"Lily and James are dead. This is their son..." Sirius told her. "Please may we come in?"

She waved him in and listened to the story. She asked for money to help in raising the 'boy' and they settled on a yearly sum of 50,000 pounds which he would deliver on Harry's birthday each year.

He left after placing a sleeping Harry in his crib with his favorite stuffed dragon toy.

********** LTF **********

Sirius returned to his home only to find Severus Snape on his doorstep. He glared at the other man.

Dried tear tracks ran down Severus' face and he looked far worse than pathetic.

Sirius refused to pity him. Overcome with emotion, he asked, "How?"

"How?" Severus echoed.

"Yes, Snape...How?" Sirius demanded. "How did it come to this? How did our world crumble around our feet? How did my best friends die? How did yours end up as servants with their memories locked away?"

Severus shrugged. With no real answers to give, he added to the list of questions. "How did I - an expert at potion making - let myself get dosed so many times? How did our godsons end up parentless and alone?"

"Come in, Severus." Sirius sighed. "Join me for some tea and tell me how James and Lily met their end. Kreacher! Tea service for two."

"When Voldemort heard of the disappearance of Scotland's prince, he was very angry." Severus commented quietly as the door to a sitting room opened of its own accord and he followed his host to a couch.

"How did he know Harry went missing?" Sirius asked before distracting himself with pouring the tea. "Only a few others would've been told."

"Riddle had a spy in the castle; I don't know who." He shook his head and stared into his tea. "He told me that he'd gotten so enraged that he tortured the spy for five minutes with the Cruciatus." Both men shuddered at the thought before Severus moved on with the story. "He called me to the residence and we traveled to Hogwarts. Sirius...He cursed the doors off their hinges and captured James and Lily in less than ten minutes."

"Peter warded those doors for James when they were replaced just before the wedding... It should've taken at least a day to break those spells." Sirius frowned. "Go on."

"Voldemort forced James to watch as he used stinging hexes and other pain spells on Lily to find out where Harry was. It wasn't until he threatened her with the Cruciatus that James confessed, saying that someone had taken his son to the muggle world for his safety and he didn't know where. To try and make them bring Harry back to the magical realm, he used the aforementioned curse."

"No...No..." Sirius moaned. "Not on Lily!"

The other man nodded sadly. "James cried and I could see him waver. He wanted to beg for her life – her sanity...In the end, he stared into her eyes and saw the strength in her. She knew that Harry needed them to take the secret to their grave. Voldemort asked again, this time the threat was death. James tried to tell him again that they didn't know but Voldemort didn't believe him." More tears fell as Severus relived those terrifying moments and finally whispered, "When they continued to refuse, he killed them..."

"Oh, bloody hell, James! If only I'd been there!" Sirius looked as if he'd been punched in the gut.

"Sirius, no! What could you have done; die for them?" Severus argued. "Lily and James need you here! They need you to take care of Harry. You know where he is and who he's with. You couldn't have done anything to help them."

Sirius shook his head. "I could've reinforced those doors! I could've attacked Voldemort before it ever got this far! S-Severus, he was more than my king!"

"He was a friend and a brother to you... I know, Siri..." Severus whispered. "But he's gone and Harry's here ...Harry needs you to be strong. I need you to be strong!"

Sirius looked up at the other man. "You...need me?"

"Yes...I really do…" Severus leaned forward and Sirius was shocked to feel the other man's silky lips against his own.

The two men spent much time together after that and life went on with Harry and Draco living in far different ways than they were meant to, not knowing of each other.