A/N) I found this chapter really difficult to write and as a consequence of that, it isn't as long a chapter as the last few ones...

Twisting Time

Chapter Thirteen

Five months had passed since James, Lily and Remus had learned of Sirius' painful past. To respect his choice to not discuss his old life, the three didn't bring up the events that had led Sirius to drastically change things unless he did so himself. When he did it was only in relation to his work uncovering information about Voldemort, unfortunately, in that particular goal, his hunt had stalled. Though Remus was still being paid to work for Sirius, the work had since dried up, and the two were still making their way through the Black Family Library in their own time. They were about halfway through the books and had yet to find much regarding Horcruxes. They had found mentions on them but nothing concrete on the materials that could destroy them.

In the interim, when he wasn't reading books in the Black Family Library, Remus had taken a job close to where Sirius lived in Oxford. He was a part-time teacher's assistant at a Muggle school, a position arranged for him by Lily. A position he enjoyed, especially since it was impossible for him to get a job in the Wizarding World due to his condition. And his hours and days were flexible so when the Full Moon occurred he was able to avoid working the day of the Moon and the day after.

Little did Remus realise he would soon be making a breakthrough on the issue of Horcruxes.

Friday 2nd May 1986

It was a warm spring morning and Sirius was looking after Harry who was staying at his house for the week. James and Lily had wanted a holiday away and Sirius had kindly offered to watch over their son. Harry enjoyed his time with his godfather and always looked forward to staying over. Sirius had taken his godson into Oxford, showing him all the sites the Muggle city offered, even explaining the history of the city which fascinated the five year old.

"Padfoot?" Harry clutched at Sirius' hand as they walked back towards Sirius' home. They were a few streets away and a slight breeze trickled through the air.

"Yes Harry?"

"Why don't you live in the magic world?" Harry was blunt. Thankfully there were not any Muggles around to hear the boy's question. Harry didn't understand why Sirius kept himself away but he was aware his godfather was considered a hero.

"Because I want to keep my privacy," answered Sirius truthfully. "Living in a Muggle neighbourhood ensures I can."

"How?" Harry looked up at his godfather, his green eyes sparkling.

Sirius chuckled. "Magical reporters cannot risk entering a Muggle neighbourhood unless they wish to draw attention to our world and breaking the Statue of Secrecy is a violation and earns you a sentence in Azkaban. Due to my status as a hero reporters are more likely to want to pursue stories on me. Staying here prevents the publicity I do not wish to have."

"I want to be famous," said Harry happily.

His godson's words drew Sirius back sharply. He remembered a teenaged Harry Potter disliking his fame, wanting nothing more than to be normal. "You wouldn't like being famous."

"Padfoot, can we have a race?" Harry completely ignored Sirius' answer, instead focusing on the next fun thing he wanted to do. Such was the mind of a child. Sirius was glad Harry had kept his innocence and could enjoy his childhood.

"Sure." They were on a quiet residential street and Sirius felt safe in letting Harry have a little fun.

"To the corner?"

Sirius nodded. "You start off, I'll catch up," he instructed, watching as the black-haired boy with the round glasses perched on his nose sped off, laughing and calling for his godfather to try to catch him. Sirius grinned and started to jog after him.

He would let Harry win. He hadn't even started in his attempt to catch up yet when he heard and saw a masked man Apparate directly in front of Harry. The boy was running too fast to stop in time and the five year old collided with the new arrival. The collision only served to unbalance Harry, giving the masked man a chance to reach out and grab the boy's arm, pulling him back with him.

"HARRY!" screamed Sirius. He reached into his jacket pocket and extracted his wand. "Stupefy!"

But the man holding a struggling Harry laughed and pulled away from the jet of red light. His voice was gruff and unrecognisable as he spoke. "Nice try, Black! If you want your precious boy back, you will await our letter!"

"Padfoot! Help me!" Harry was crying, tears pouring down his face as he tried to pull away from his captor. His little face was red with the effort of the struggle and as Sirius focused his wand once more upon the man, the attacker twirled on the spot and Disapparated, taking Harry with him and leaving Sirius behind.

"NO! HARRY!" Sirius rushed forward, panicking. How could he have let this happen? Why had the man kidnapped Harry? James and Lily were going to kill him! His chest was hurting, fear building up and he whirled on the spot, looking around for anything that would show him where they had taken his godson. And then something tugged in his chest and he knew what he was feeling…

The bond he shared with Harry was thundering through his consciousness, pulling at him and Sirius knew where to go. Ignoring the fact he was in the middle of a Muggle street and the explicit instructions he had been given by Harry's kidnapper, Sirius closed his eyes and Disapparated, following the bond that linked him with the black-haired, green-eyed boy.

Immediately upon appearing in a large hall, Harry pulled away from the man gripping his arm, tripped and fell onto his face. He scrambled away, shuffling into the wall, his green eyes watching his captor. He wasn't alone either: there were more men in the hall, all were masked and wore black robes. He counted six of them.

"What do you want?" cried Harry loudly. "Sirius will find me!"

Laugher echoed around the hall.

The one that had abducted Harry pointed at him. "The little boy thinks he can demand us to answer his questions!"

"But we are counting on your godfather doing what we say if he ever wants to see you alive again!"

Harry quirked his head to the side, strands of black hair falling into his eyes. He trembled, tears welling up in his eyes. He didn't feel very brave. Weren't Potters supposed to be brave? He folded his arms around his knees, pulling his legs up to his chest and watched his captors. Where was Sirius?

And then he felt a warm feeling in his chest as he thought about his godfather and he heard a loud crack as Sirius Black Apparated straight into the midst of the group of men, a fierce expression on his face as he stunned the first person he saw.

The other masked men were quicker to respond to his godfather's sudden appearance but Sirius was already ducking and diving, slicing his wand down and then across his body, coming up behind one of the masked men and stunning them before swirling on his feet again and finding himself facing four wands pointed straight at his face before he was thrown backwards by a multiple combination of powerful spells.

"Padfoot!" Harry didn't know what he could do. He wanted to help. This was happening because of him. "Stop it! Leave him alone!"

His godfather was on his feet again, snarling, slipping around Harry's captors and swiftly casting two stunners before a jet of red light hit him in the back and he stumbled forward. One of the men took their chance and launched themselves at Sirius, grabbing him around the neck, pulling the man back, grasping at his head and tipping his head back, even as Sirius continued to struggle, firing off spells, attempting to wrench himself from the grasp of the man that held him.

Harry screamed as strong hands grabbed for him and a wand was placed at his throat. His tears only poured harder and his vision misted as he watched his godfather struggle.

The man holding Sirius kicked him in the back and he fell once again to the floor. Sirius turned, only to stop when he saw two of the men with their wands pointing at Harry, with the third keeping his wand across the young boy's throat.

"Stop fighting or we will kill the boy!" one of the men ordered.

Harry whimpered. He didn't want to die but he didn't want his godfather to do what these men wanted either.

"Hand over your wand!" one of the other men barked.

Sirius glared before relinquishing his wand.

"NO! Pafoo -!" a hand came over Harry's mouth preventing him from yelling anymore.

"Leave him alone!" Sirius' stare at Harry's captors was dark and deadly. "I assume kidnapping Harry was a ploy to capture me?"

The man holding Harry laughed. "It was. You were supposed to follow our demands. But this way works too."

"You have what you want. Let Harry go," said Sirius.

Harry stared at his godfather. He wouldn't abandon Sirius. He loved him too much.

"No," another man said. "We can use the boy to control you."

Sirius growled deep in his throat.

That, to Harry, was a warning sign to back away, but his captors did not know it.

"Last chance." Sirius stood tall, his eyes sparking dangerously. Little sparks of magic appeared at his fingertips.

The group broke out in to raucous laughter and it was then Sirius moved. Magic crackled around them and the six men flinched and screamed as Sirius leapt forward, tripping up the wizard that held his wand, ripping the wood from the man's fingers before quickly stunning him with a well-placed curse. Sirius twisted, pointed his wand at the man grasping Harry and disarmed the man before they had a chance to stop him. Several red jets of light shot towards Sirius but his godfather sensed them coming and ducked as another two men came up behind him. The stunning spells hit both of the men and they collapsed to the floor.

Harry took his chance and pulled away, running towards his godfather, heart beating fast in chest. Sirius reached out for him, grasped the little boy's hand and twisted, Dispparating away as two curses were flung at them. Both missed as they disappeared from the room and landed just outside Harry's home in Godric's Hollow.

Harry flung himself at Sirius, tears pouring steadily from his eyes as he cried. He was shaken, scared and worried, clutching onto his godfather's clothes as Sirius picked him up and held him to his chest, humming softly into his hair. He didn't care he was five years old. He just wanted to be in the safe hands of his godfather.

He didn't notice an hour later when his parents arrived home from their holiday early, frantic with worry over what had happened. Throughout it Harry wouldn't let them prise him away from his Sirius.

Harry had finally fallen asleep a few hours later and they had laid him on the sofa and covered him with blankets, tucking it around his small frame. His mother sat on the floor, one hand brushing through her son's hair, whilst Sirius sat beside the sleeping boy and James opposite.

"I just don't understand why they would kidnap Harry," frowned James as he listened once more to Sirius' story.

"They were after me, Prongs. They must have been watching us when we were walking and waited for their chance to grab Harry. If I hadn't let Harry run off then…" Sirius felt guilty. His godson had got kidnapped because he had assumed it was safe for Harry to run slightly ahead yet his confidence had been misled. "I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary at all. They took Harry because they know they might be able to control me. They could threaten him all they wanted and know I would always acquiesce to their demands. They just didn't expect me to follow straight away."

"How did you do it again?" asked Lily. "Follow Harry? Dumbledore told us you had a link with him but…"

Sirius nodded. "I think it was our link. The bond we have." He knew the Headmaster had explained to Lily and James his link with their son but they did not know much about it. "I just followed it… I can't explain how I found him so quickly. There are advantages to his bond we have never considered but if I can follow Harry wherever he goes then could Harry do the same?"

"I don't think we will know the answer until Harry is old enough to Apparate," said Lily. "I'm grateful your link gives you this advantage… Who do you think put them up to this?"

Sirius frowned, his eyebrows lowering as he thought of the options. "It's definitely not Voldemort. If I had to take an educated guess I'd say it was my mother's father."

"Your grandfather?" queried James. "I thought he'd just made you heir…"

"No, that was my father's father. Arcturus Black is the one who has made me heir not Pollux. Pollux Black is my mother's father. And he hates me. It wouldn't surprise me if he was behind this…" Sirius closed his eyes and sighed. "The problem with my family is the purity of blood is important to them. I'm a blood-traitor because I disagree with that particular view. Arcturus Black's worldview has become more tolerant. He recognises the world is changing and the Black family needs to adapt however Pollux Black wishes to keep true to our ancestry. Considering my own views on blood supremacy and my defeat of Voldemort, he wouldn't want me as heir. Bellatrix would be the rightful heir after me if she wasn't imprisoned but the line of succession currently goes from me to Draco Malfoy. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch if he was trying to have me killed."

"You can't prove it though, can you?" added James, scowling.

Sirius shook his head. Dark strands of hair fell about his face. "No. I can't. I had to get Harry out of there fast. If I'd been able to interrogate them I would have done. I could confront my grandfather though…"

James leaned forward. "Don't. Pollux Black may be expecting it."

"Which is why I won't," returned Sirius. "I'm not stupid Prongs. I will, however, talk to my other grandfather." He sighed and ran a hand through his long black hair. "I need to move."

"But you like living in Muggle Oxford…" said James. "Harry likes it there…"

Sirius caught his friend's eye. "Yeah but you're forgetting for someone to have kidnapped Harry on the streets of Oxford they must know where I live. Even if they do not know the exact location they are in the right vicinity. The last thing I want is my enemies giving Voldemort my location. I may have all sorts of protective enchantments on it but it won't stop him attacking. When Voldemort returns the first thing he will do is seek me out. If people who want me dead know just even my general location it will still be easy for them to track me down. Therefore I need to protect myself and the people I choose to live around if I move."

"You could move back into the magical community?" suggested Lily.

"No. Living in a Muggle neighbourhood has its advantages." He scratched his chin frowning. "I'd like to know how they found out where I was living…"

"Not many people know," James said. "But the Ministry would have a record wouldn't they?"

"Only Amelia Bones," Sirius confirmed. "And I don't think she put it down in a file. No, I'll just move."

"Where will you go?"

"I'll probably stay in Oxford," shrugged Sirius. "Just move across the city. My enemies wouldn't expect me to stay in the same place."

"Unless they've been following you for a long time," James pointed out worriedly. He leaned forward. "They could have been trailing you for ages without you knowing."

Sirius sighed. He didn't want to move away from Oxford. He loved it there. "If they have been following me around then they'd be able to trace me still…"

"So…?" Lily prodded him to continue.

"I have to move city. Urgh I hate being famous." Sirius hung his hand.

James chuckled. "Shouldn't have defeated Voldemort then, should you?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You just had to say that, didn't you?"

The Potter elder grinned, his eyes sparkling. "Naturally."

"I hate you, Prongs."

Pollux seethed, grinding his teeth together in anger. His plan should have succeeded! He had been waiting for the men he had sent to retrieve the Potter boy to bring him back. He would then have used the boy as leverage to ensure his grandson's co-operation which would have ended in the death of the Black heir.

But the men he had paid to carry out this very simple task had failed! Black had somehow managed to follow them straightaway! He had fought them off with ease and escaped with the boy. He was certain Black wouldn't remain living in Oxford. He would move away just to keep his privacy.

This wouldn't do at all.

Of course he could wait and hope for the Dark Lord's return however he was old. Older then he would have liked to be and the chance of witnessing the return of the Dark Lord was low. His health was ailing. He would have to set up new agents now to locate Black's whereabouts and it had taken the original six this long to find out where Sirius Black resided and then to time the ambush with him being the guardian of his boy!

They would be more careful in future.

Pollux had lost his one chance to ensure his grandson's death. He picked up Lucius Malfoy's letter he had received months ago. Clearly the man had a plan that would ensure Black's death. But was it something that could be implemented earlier than the Malfoy patriarch had intended? He didn't have anything to lose other than to find out for sure.

Besides, Pollux couldn't resist the chance to catch up with one of his favourite granddaughter's.

He'd finished work for the day but Remus wasn't tired. He had taken a few books from the Black Family Library home with him and was slowly going through them. The more he read the more he loathed dark magic. It was a horrible branch of magic that should have been buried a long time ago, yet it persisted, continued to be used despite laws made to outlaw it.

He reached down for the next book in the pile. The title "Secrets of the Darkest Art" was a rare book, having been banned years ago though it had never been exactly said why it had been. The book was large and the script inside was small, and the volume was bounded in faded black leather.

As he looked down the contents page his brown eyes widened as he saw the term 'Horcruxes' clearly marked. He flicked to the page and opened it, eyes wide as he read the page. He felt sick as he read it. They had known creating a Horcrux was a particular evil branch of magic but it hadn't occurred to either of them that killing someone was how to do so. And then Remus stopped breathing.

Not only did this book contain instructions on how to make a Horcrux, it also told one how to destroy them.

This is what they had been looking for all this time.

And Remus Lupin had finally found it.

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think!

I thought it was better to end this chapter here as of right now the next chapter will be longer.

Trying to write as a 5 year old Harry was exceptionally difficult - I hope it has come out alright? The kidnapping/recovery scene may seem quite quick but it was a point where I could show a bit more of Harry and Sirius' bond. There will be an explanation at some point about it so please bear with me!

Pollux Black is still scheming. He is referring to Narcissa as one of his favourite granddaughters. The other is Bellatrix and Andromeda is one he detests. So, out of his five grandchildren, two of them (Sirius and Andromeda) were disappointments to him.

In the next chapter... More about Horcruxes and Sirius makes a startling realisation about an even that happened in his old timeline... (What an I referring to here?)

It should be posted next week but I am working next Tuesday night so providing the next chapter is finished I will post it on Monday, if not it will be Wednesday.

Until then,

the-writer1988