A/N: So yeh… took me three days to finish this Merlin be damned chapter… in my defense, we have been out all over the place.

Warnings: Same. Sirius' potty mouth, of course. Umm… light slash.

Pairing(s): LVHP

Disclaimer: No.

:::…~~~-0-~~~…:::

"It seems they have just found out."

It was first thing Harry heard when he entered. Voldemort sat behind his desk, hands going through his usual work. He didn't even look up from whatever it was he was reading though his red eyes were shining with mirth.

"Who found out what?" Harry took his usual seat on the floor, mentioning that it was too normal and boring to seat on a chair. Or couch, as that is what the chairs in the manor looked like, though Voldemort insists on calling them chairs.

"Dumbledore's merry band of flaming chickens."

"Found out what?"

"That you've disappeared."

Harry blinked. He forgot about that. They were too useless and unneeded in his eyes that he forgot that the bounty on his head was high for them. Maybe he should just bomb their location? No, he didn't want to kill Kreacher. The elf was useful and he had come to regard it as a being to be respected, in the loosest meaning of the word.

"Severus had made a passing mention," stated Voldemort, "hoping that I had the Boy wonder with me. Too bad I didn't."

Harry hummed, tracing patterns on the carpet, and Nagini curling up on his lap. "Too bad, indeed." responded Harry. "He loved Lily, didn't he?"

Voldemort made an agreeing noise, followed by a shuffling noise.

"He probably already had something coming up when he realized that I, Lily's son, was a part of a prophecy he heard," mused Harry as he turned his attention to Nagini. "He was the one who reported it to you, right?"

"He had overheard it, yes," answered Voldemort, sighing as he got sick of whatever it was he was doing. "He had pleaded me to spare the mudblood."

Harry made a noncommittal noise at the back of his throat. He really didn't care about his parents. "Do remember that we are Half-bloods, Voldemort."

"Doesn't stop me from calling mudbloods, mudbloods." sighed Voldemort, waving his hand in dismissal. "If I predicted Severus correctly, he may have made a binding contract of some sort to protect you."

"Like an Oath? That would be something he would do."

"Indeed."

Silence settled over them as Voldemort poured over his work.

Harry spent that time reading a book he had brought along the way. It was one on warding that he has not read yet. Nagini draped her head on his and ended up dozing.

"How do you reckon they have reacted?"

Surprisingly, it was Voldemort who broke the silence. Harry, absorbed by the book, looked up with slightly bleary eyes.

"Huh?"

Voldemort rolled his eyes. "How do you think your… 'friends' reacted?"

"Probably ran around like headless chickens." answered Harry with a giggle as he imagined how they would react. "Hermyger probably found out first, Mad-eye suspected first but never said anything, Ronny was oblivious until Hermyger says it, Molly Weasley tries to look for me but fails then panics, Gin-gin panics, Lupin's still away for a mission, then Black would be acting like a Black."

"Dumbledore would, then, try to calm everyone down." finished Voldemort.

"Pretty much, yes." said Harry. "What has you so busy anyway?" Harry eyed the rolls of parchment and stacked books on Voldemort's desk.

Sighing, Voldemort put down another book and wrote something down. "Azkaban."

"How can Azkaban be the reason?"

"I need to release my followers."

"Oh. I could just help."

"I'm going through the plan after September first."

Harry looked at him as if he was lacking. "What does that have to with anything?"

Voldemort answered with the same look. "You'd be at Hogwarts by then."

"I won't go back to Hogwarts."

Voldemort opened his mouth to answer back but stopped. He looked at the teen sitting on the floor. "What?"

Harry rolled his eyes, putting his book down. He stated simply, "I won't go back to Hogwarts. No one can make me."

"What about… Tommy?"

"He's perfectly fine with anything I decide as long as it doesn't put me in unnecessary trouble, or as long as I'm with you."

Voldemort looked at the teen in surprise. Seeing the on red eyed gaze, he saw the trust his Horcrux—it somehow sounded wrong to refer to Tommy as his Horcrux when it protected Harry so much, though he himself now did as well, with a different reason, that is—had in him. He supposed that it was because the Horcrux knew him, not the Voldemort everyone, besides Harry, knew about.

With the determination Harry was emitting, Voldemort nodded. "Though some time later, I would probably need someone inside Hogwarts to kill Dumbledore."

Harry cheered and agreed.

As long as he didn't get restrained like that again, he'd happily do anything for Tommy and Voldemort, of course Nagi as well. Deciding that reading and planning was boring, Harry transformed into his Animagus form, careful to dislodge Nagini, and pounced on Voldemort. It wasn't the first time he did it so Voldemort merely ignored it and let Harry perch on his head.

Harry carefully made sure that his claws were retracted before he landed. He let out a meow and made himself comfortable on the bald head.

::When are you breaking into Azkaban?::

::Somewhere around November.::

::Move that earlier into the school year. It would give them the warning that things would take a deep turn, starting with their 'savior' going missing. The Prophet would have a field day.::

::Of course:: said Voldemort, rolling his eyes. ::With their 'savior' labelled as an attention seeking liar and consequently going missing, then an Azkaban prison break out presumably Black being blamed, the Prophet would have a field day, starting with covering up the Ministry's tracks.::

Harry's tail twitched in annoyance. ::We are destroying the Ministry, correct?::

::Of course we are.::

::What about Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape?::

::Malfoy can handle himself, or he would die. As for Snape, we could still dispose of him if he insists on siding with Dumbledore. That is, without the knowledge that you are, indeed, alive and quite happy to be around me.::

::I am happy here, thank you very much. They could all bugger themselves with a poisonous blade for all I care.::

Voldemort shrugged, rolling up a piece of parchment. ::Of course you would say that.::

Harry gave the impression of grinning—how he could do that while a feline was beyond any of them present. When Voldemort made to stand up, Harry climbed down to perch himself on the man's shoulder, using his claws to hold himself.

Voldemort, though, was pleased with the teen's response as well.

Happy, indeed.

:::…~~~-0-~~~…:::

Frantic chatters were all that was heard when Remus Lupin entered the dining room of number 12 Grimmauld Place.

He had returned to his mission during these past weeks, which is, gathering information on Voldemort from werewolves and such. He was also keeping an eye out on those who wanted to join the order. There were those who felt the change in the air and feared whatever would happen to them or their family, he was there to offer help to them.

Remus had been doing this as soon as the news that Voldemort was out there reached Albus and had gathered the 'old lot'.

The only time he had been pulled out from his mission was when they were tasked to retrieve Harry from his repulsive relatives—he knew that the Dursleys weren't the best people there, he was, after all, one of Lily's friends and knew of Petunia's dislike of magic, but he wasn't able to do anything as he was a werewolf. Dumbledore said that it was for the best to have a familiar face to Harry when they came to get him, so Remus agreed. Sirius wanted to come too but it was too much of a risk as all of them knew.

Remus, admittedly, had been excited to see Harry again. The boy had been one of his best students after all, and the son of James, one of his closest friends. So when Harry's scent somehow changed he had been intrigued at first. But then Tonks had been injured and it was pulled away from his thoughts.

When he heard Harry say that particular sentence—You are pathetic.— he was surprised, and more than a bit confused. Harry never said anything like that with such venom, let alone to say that to Ron, his best friend, Remus was at a loss.

But then, he noticed that the beast inside him felt calm around Harry. He became more aware around the teen in the single week he had stayed at Grimmauld Place. That also resulted in him seeing Mad-eye Moody be wary around Harry. He remembered the grizzly ex-Auror approach him and Sirius to be more cautious around Harry. Sirius, of course, snorted at this, Remus, however, had a seed of doubt watered and grew with the words of the ex-Auror.

And when he received news that Harry has gone missing, who was to say that it wasn't even Harry that went with them?

So, Remus went to the meeting with apprehension heavy in his mind. He sat down beside Sirius who looked uncharacteristically stoic and greeted the other man with a nod.

"How has things been here recently?" whispered Remus quietly to Sirius so as not to alert someone them to his presence; they were rather wary of his… other half.

"They didn't even notice…"

Remus cast a side-long glance to his long-time friend. "Sirius?"

"They didn't even notice! My godson has been missing for at least a week and they didn't even notice! I already told them that I have not seen Harry around and They. Did. Not. Believe. Me! And now—" Sirius let out a sardonic chuckle, "now they're panicking! Molly said it was best to leave him alone and now he's missing! We don't even know if he's still alive or not!"

Remus sighed. "Siriu—"

"Don't you even start! I promised, Remus! I promised! I promised that we would be a family and now he's gone! I don't even know where to start—heck, I can't even leave this goddamned house! How can I, Remus? How can I just—"

"Get a hold of yourself Sirius!"

This stopped Sirius' tirade and Remus sighed, hand running through his tawny hair in agitation. The apprehension was still there, as is the doubt, but guilt started to settle. How could he even think like that? Harry had been Harry except for a few changes that could be attributed to him growing up. And now this.

"We- I- Sirius…" Remus tumbled through his words. "Dumbledore- Dumbledore may be able to find him. Harry's too strong to be defeated by you-know-who easily. He has survived encounters with him than we did. He's alive, Sirius. I don't know how I know but- just- he's alive and that's all there is to it."

Sirius sighed and sent a weak smile at him but his previous stoic gait lessened.

"You know…" said Sirius quietly, "he had accomplished his Animagus transformation."

Remus turned to him in surprise but noted the guilt in his proud smile.

"I- we- I promised that I won't say but- Remus- it's just—"

"You're too proud of him to not brag?"

Sirius' smile turned sheepish and Remus could only shake his head. He whispered under his breath, "Typical."

"But- don't say anything to anyone else, alright?"

"Of course."

A few minutes later, Dumbledore arrived.

"Silence!"

Everyone quieted around and turned all of their attention to Dumbledore.

"I understand that Harry's disappearance has caused much distress but we all need to calm down so we can find him." His twinkling gaze travelled around the room and stopped briefly on Sirius before moving on. "Severus-" Here, he nodded at said man who looked uninterestedly around though his shoulders tense, "has been keeping an eye on Voldemort's side but proved futile as—"

"He said he does not have Potter, Albus, do not twist his words. Potter may not have referred to the Potter we mean at all." drawled Severus though his shoulders seem to tense even more. "His disinterest in the topic raises caution flags; he does not trust me anymore."

Severus said this so nonchalantly that everyone was rendered quiet. Everyone but Sirius.

"Then what use are you, Snivellus," growled Sirius in anger, "when even your boot licking to your master is now useless?"

The atmosphere tensed as the ex-convict and Potions Master glared at each other.

"If you must know, Black," shot Snape back with a sneer, "that even I am more useful than you. Tell me, Black, what can you do cooped up inside this house you call home?"

Sirius stood up, gaunt face flushed with anger. Remus' hand immediately held onto his wrist, grip tightening as Sirius tried to pull away.

"Remus, let go! This bastard—"

"Sirius! This won't accomplish anything at all!"

"It will! The world would be rid of another—"

"Sirius, my boy," said Dumbledore in a calm voice, blue eyes twinkling furiously, "I ask that we all sit down and calmly talk. I know that you are worried about Harry but we will not be able to achieve our goal, and our goal is to find Harry himself."

This calmed Sirius enough to sit down, eyes cast down unable to look up in shame.

"Right, sorry Headmaster."

Moody snorted and Dumbledore's attention was pulled to him.

"Anything you would like to say, Alastor?" asked Dumbledore.

Moody's magical eye spun around, never settling at one place. Remus looked at the ex-Auror curiously, wondering what he would say, although Remus had a guess. He was the one who had warned both him and Sirius, after all. And also the one to make you suspect your own cub.

"Nothing, Albus."

This surprised Remus. He would have thought that the paranoid ex-Auror would be the first one to warn everyone of possible danger but he chose to stay silent. The magical eye's gaze landed on the werewolf and Remus shifted in uncomfort. No one ever enjoyed being under said eye's gaze.

"I see," said Dumbledore, "as far as our search goes, we have yet to find any leads. Molly, when was the last time you have seen Harry?"

"I- I don't know, Albus," said a crying Molly, "I- Harry had been rather down lately. Bags under his eyes, lack of sleep- oh, Albus, you should have seen him! So when I- I said that maybe he should rest for a while, and he did, I thought that we should probably let the poor boy mourn for that Cedric boy- Harry's much too young to have witnessed something like that!"

"I see…" said Dumbledore, stroking his long white beard, brows furrowed in thought "how has he been before his disappearance, aside from what Molly has said?"

"Harry has been fine, Headmaster," this came from Hermione Granger who was sitting along with the other children. Normally, they would not be allowed in the meeting but with Harry going missing, they needed all the information they could have. "But he had been disappearing as of his arrival; appearing at random intervals while exploring the house."

Hermione sounded tart and business-like; her way of coping with having to experience extreme emotions. She was too worried and fearful for Harry. He was her first friend—her first best friend—and through their years at Hogwarts, he became her surrogate little brother who needed to be taken care of, but she cannot always be around, and that was what Ron was for. Ron viewed Harry as his best friend, his best mate. And they both failed Harry.

"Is that so?" said Dumbledore, eyeing Sirius in question. Sirius was the one permanently present in Grimmauld Place, much to the dog Animagus' chagrin, but it now proved to be useful.

"My godson," started Sirius in an uncharacteristic show of somberness, "had explored the whole house during his first week of stay, showing up every now and then in one of the rooms. This had angered Molly at first," he ignored the indignant shout from the Weasley matron, "but Kreacher the house elf had seemingly cleaned up the entire house of the Dark Artefacts accumulated through the years."

Snape snorted. "I was not aware that you were capable of talking professionally, Black."

"Severus."

This shut both of them up and Dumbledore gestured for Sirius to continue.

"During the next weeks, Harry was still disappearing randomly and reappearing as is. Kreacher, it seems, has taken a liking to him and had pointed him over to a hidden room—Harry said as much when asked. He even— sorry, he even found a long lost item that belongs to me. The rest was as Molly said."

Dumbledore nodded absently, lost in his thoughts. "Has anyone asked the house elf—Kreacher, yet?"

There was silence. Why did they not think of that? Sirius snapped out of his daze to call on the elf.

"Kreacher!"

There was a loud pop that startled everyone and a sneering creature with big, floppy ears and big, tennis ball eyes appeared before Sirius.

"What cans Kreacher bes doing to blood traitor master and his mudbloods?"

Used to this, Sirius didn't even bat an eyelash. "Do you know where Harry is?"

Kreacher looked in surprise before sneering, "Kreacher cans not be able to tells where Young Master Harry is. Kreacher was not informed."

It was riddled with holes but no one could find an appropriate question to be answered correctly. The deranged house elf can twist words beyond compare and even Snape can't have a straight answer from the elf.

"You can go now." said Sirius, getting annoyed at the elf.

The elf sent a sneer before popping away loudly. Sirius sighed and sagged on his seat. Remus put a comforting hand on his shoulder and sent a weak smile.

"We'll be able to find Harry."

"We will."

Dumbledore sighed as he reached a conclusion. "It seems as if Voldemort does not have Harry, yet knows something. Severus, I want you to continue on keeping an eye on the Dark Lord's activities."

"I'll see what I can do to have back his trust," nodded Severus.

"Remus, you ask around the wolves. They may be able to tell you something, but do not get your hopes up too much."

Remus nodded.

"Molly, Arthur, I want the two of you, along with the children, to wait and see if Harry returns; it's only a couple of weeks before you return to Hogwarts."

"Of course, Headmaster," came the general response of the group.

"Kingsley, Tonks," Dumbledore put emphasis on the surname, "I ask of you to keep an eye on the going ons in the Ministry. Arthur, also, keep your ears open; people tend to be more talkative around your department."

"Of course, Albus."

"Dung," Dumbledore called the attention of the almost always drunk wizard, "ask around your… clients, perhaps they may be able to give you information on either Harry, or the Dark Lord."

"'course."

Molly managed to grimace slightly at the wizard. All of them knew he probably won't do any of those.

"Dedalus, Hestia, Sturgis, Emmeline, I want you all to continue what you were doing."

They all nodded in response.

"Alastor—"

"Yes, yes Albus."

Dumbledore sighed and turned to look at the only person he had not given an order to yet.

"Sirius," said Dumbledore gravely, "I ask of you to stay here until things settle down and we be able to catch Pettigrew to clear your—"

"Bullshit!" Sirius stood up in rage, Remus barely able to hold him back even with the added strength from him being a werewolf. "Harry—My Godson is out there! He could be dead for all I know! I won't stay here knowing that I could have—that I could have done something! Ministry be damned! I swore to him, Albus! And I won't be breaking that promise anytime soon!"

"I know, Sirius," said Dumbledore cordially though sincerely, "we just have to track down Peter Pettigrew to clear your name, then you will be able to step foot out of this house without danger. Meanwhile, you can try to search for Harry in any way you can inside this house. Did he, or did he not leave his possessions here?"

Sirius clenched his fist and let out a gusting breath. He swallowed before he answered, "Yes- yes, of course."

He sat down and Remus sent him a weak encouraging smile. Sirius returned it with a crooked smile of his own.

"Now," said Dumbledore to gain everyone's attention back, "everyone has their own assigned tasks. We must all stand united for the looming danger that Voldemort poses to be. Harry may not be here right now, but we can all do our best to make sure that one of ours is safe and protected once more."

With this, Dumbledore dismissed them, leaving through the floo with the others, leaving Sirius, Remus, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys to their thoughts.

The twins were hunched over, whispering furiously to each other, Ron was comforting Hermione, Arthur was doing the same to Molly, and Ginny was looking horrible, sitting beside Bill who was present, giving silent comfort to his little sister.

Sirius stood up, Remus following him.

"Where are you going?" asked Remus as he followed Sirius briskly.

"Going to do what Dumbledore said," answered Sirius tersely.

They entered what seemed to be Ron's shared room with Harry, if the bright orange walls and Chudley Canons posters were anything to go by. Sirius made his to Harry's bed. It was neat for a teenage boy but that may be just because it had remained untouched for days. Looking over the trunk at the foot of the bed; it was clean, unlike the one at the other side of the room where clothes were strewn around along with some parchment and quills.

Sirius crouched down and opened the trunk.

"What are you looking for?" asked Remus, going over the side of the bed where there were rolls of parchment neatly arranged, an ink bottle off to the side.

"Anything," said Sirius, riffling through the contents of the organized mess the trunk is, "anything that might give light to where my godson is."

Remus nodded, unrolling a roll of parchment and seeing that it was homework, rolled it back and checked the others as well. All of them contained unfinished essays written in Harry's messy scrawl. It was too neat—too clean for a teenager of Harry's age, and a male at that. Kreacher had been rather close to Harry, so maybe the elf cleaned it up for him.

Standing up, Remus saw the empty owl cage hanged near the window. He hadn't seen Hedwig—Harry's owl—at all even when they arrived at Grimmauld Place and the following days after that. Maybe Harry instructed her to go to Hogwarts?

Remus was startled when Sirius let out a surprised yelp, holding a familiar parchment.

"I didn't know kitten had this!" said Sirius, looking at the bleeding letters of 'Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP' he let out a barking laugh. "This brings me back to old times… now if I see the Invisibility Cloak… here it is!"

"Kitten?" asked Remus, smiling over to Sirius, glad that his old friend got out of his depression, at least for the moment. He already knew Harry was in possession of the map.

"Yeah," said Sirius with a proud smile, putting down the piece of parchment, "Remember when I told you he accomplished his animagus transformation? Well, turns out he's a cat, though small so he's a kitten. I don't know what kind but he looked like a smaller version of a leopard…"

Remus smiled. "I'm sure James would be rolling in his grave because his son did not have a 'majestic creature that is a Stag'"

Sirius let out another barking laugh. "That, he would."

Remus took a thoughtful look on his face. "Maybe he used his animagus form to do what your large dog form can't?" said Remus teasingly but froze when what he said registered. He looked at Sirius who looked equally as frozen.

"You don't think—?"

"Maybe… the others don't know, right?"

"Kitten asked me not to tell the others."

"So you didn't—Sirius! You should have told everyone when you realized Harry went missing!"

"You were fine with me not telling earlier, Remus! And I can't just break Harry's trust—"

"This isn't about trust anymore, Sirius! This is about the safety of Harry—"

"—I know that—"

"—do you realize just how much trouble Harry can get into if he's just a cat?! How can you tell that he could transform back? He could have been stuck in his animagus form somewhere that is not at all near here? Dumbledore could have alerted the others to look for a cat! You could have—"

"—I know! Alight, I know! I should have told the others what Harry didn't want to and risk my godson's trust, which, might I add, is hard to get back once broken!"

"So you would risk his own safety and life which, might I add, cannot be taken back once gone!"

Sirius abruptly shut his mouth and looked down in shame. "I- I kn- I'm sorry… I- I didn't think—"

"That's it, Sirius! You didn't think! That's what you always say—that's what you always don't do! You don't think! Just like when you tricked Severus into going to the Whomping Willow when we were at Hogwarts!"

Tense silence mounted over them, Remus panting after his rant, Sirius looking down in shame and anger.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Remus sighed, "C'mon, let's just finish here…"

Sirius responded with resuming to his riffling through the trunk. Remus sighed again.

"I- I'm sorry, Sirius. I know I went out of line but—"

"Yes- a- I know what you meant, it's just- Harry- he's my godson, you know- my only godson. I have been in Azkaban for nearly twelve years blaming myself for what happened to James and Lily, for thinking that you were the spy when it was actually Peter all along, and thinking that I will not be able to see any of you again…"

"Sirius…"

Silence settled once again but it was not as heavy as before, in fact, it seemed lighter. Sirius sent a weak smile to reassure the werewolf that it was fine and they resumed to their earlier task. Remus went to help Sirius when he finished with the scraps of parchment inside a drawer; they were all blank.

Soon enough, which was unsatisfactory, they finished without a single thing to clue them in where Harry might be. There was a set of knives in there but they were all kitchen knives that, as Remus said, were used for cooking; there was only a faint smell of animal blood. Both of them had a rather unpleasant reminder that Harry stayed with the Dursleys.

"Well, at least we know that he left willingly," said Sirius, putting back all of the items they took out and somehow never getting them in order like they were before.

"Yeah," agreed Remus, watching Sirius struggle with amusement, "though how are we going to tell them that without telling them that Harry is an Animagus?"

Sirius looked at him in surprise, "You aren't going to tell them?"

"No, I would tell the Dark Lord so he could instruct his Death Eaters to look for a kitten." Remus rolled his eyes. "If you were so desperate, we could just tell them that Harry took his Invisibility Cloak with him. He can't have been stuck in his Animagus at all if you saw him; I know you would overreact just as I did if Harry ever flunked transformation."

Sirius processed all of this before sending a sly grin to the werewolf, "I didn't know you could be sneaky like that."

Remus shrugged, "Comes with having to survive being a werewolf." Sirius sent an apologetic look before Remus waved it away with a grimace, "Like I said, werewolf. I don't like being one either."

Sirius dropped it and instead went back to their topic, "So what are we going to do with the cloak then? It's not like we can just hide it anywhere here since Molly will probably find it."

"We use Kreacher of course," answered Remus patiently.

"Huh," blinked Sirius, "why didn't I think of that. Kreacher!"

The house elf did not even bother with a greeting and merely sneered.

"Can you contact Harry?" asked Sirius for checking. The immediate answer was no though both of them doubted it. It was already a lost cause. "I want you to hide this where anyone in this house, and Dumbledore and Snape, can't see, detect, hear, or feel at all, got it? After that, report back to me."

The elf nodded and took the cloth before disappearing with a loud pop meant to irritate them—which it actually did so, Kreacher: 1 Everyone: 0.

A few minutes already passed and the elf wasn't back yet. Sirius was about to call the elf again when a loud pop startled them.

At first, they thought it was Kreacher but another look told them it was a different elf.

"Dobby bes here looking for the great Harry Potter!"

Remus stared at the frantic looking house elf. Remus asked Sirius, "Who is he?"

Before Sirius could answer, Ron and Hermione entered the room.

"What happened? We heard a loud noise—Dobby?"

The pillow case clad house elf turned to Hermione, "Mister wheezy! Miss mione!" wailed the house elf, "I's bes here to talk to the great Harry Potter!"

"Dobby- Dobby, calm down!"

Once the elf stopped its wailing, Hermione asked him, "What's wrong, Dobby?"

"Th- The Dark Lord bes planning some thing bad. Very bad!"

:::…~~~-0-~~~…:::

I have no idea what happened.

Over a quarter of this chapter was unexpected. Especially the last part. Dobby bes a forgotten character that somehow popped out here. Merlin. I don't even know what that "very bad" thing is.