The salty air felt like it was trying to bowl Harry over. Wrapping his coat tighter, he hurried towards the whitewashed house with the wooden shutters that sat right in the middle of a vineyard turned orange with autumn.

The useful thing about being a wizard was that he didn't need to ring the doorbell. "Come in, come in," Sirius said, yanking the heavy door open before Harry had even reached the stoop.

Of course, the useful thing about being the head of House Black meant that the family wards would have let him through regardless.

"You've brought some nice English weather, ha!"

Harry shucked his shoes and hung his coat, then followed Sirius into the kitchen. It was warm and smelled of charred food and fresh-baked bread. Remus was busy scraping at a pan.

"Oh, hullo Harry, Sirius. Let me make you some tea. Or coffee? The French are onto something with their coffee, I swear."

Harry managed not to roll his eyes. Magical Britain was notoriously slow on the uptake.

"I'll take care of drinks, Moony. You do whatever that is." Sirius waved his hand at the blackened remains in the pan.

Remus nodded, vanishing the mess. "Right. Well. Would you like some French toast? I was just making breakfast?"

"It's noon." Harry sat himself in the kitchen nook and grinned. "You make yourself something first. Though I'd love a spot of normal tea, Sirius. In a cup that you didn't just booby-trap, please."

Huffing, Sirius took a different mug from the cabinet. "You're no fun. I'll have some of that, Remus, thanks."

Harry looked around the room. The kitchen was the same sturdy one as before, though they'd repainted it a happy yellow. It looked clean, but lived in. There had to be some kind of spell on the floor that vanished things, because there wasn't a dog-hair in sight.

"So, what prompted this visit?" Sirius asked, sliding into the seat opposite Harry with a steaming cup in each hand. He cast a table-setting charm, barely paying attention as the cutlery zoomed into place.

"Can't I just stop by for a nice cuppa?" Harry checked his for tampering before taking a sip. It wasn't the usual darjeeling, but it was better than he'd thought he'd get in rural France. Granted, they were two british wizards, plus a witch and her half-german baby living in rural France. They probably did most of their shopping via long-distance apparation.

"Harry, I admit we were surprised you wanted to visit," Remus began, putting the hot skillet onto the well-worn table, "You haven't made it a secret that you're not…shall I say, fond of Sirius and I."

Sirius said nothing, too busy forking a big piece of toast into his mouth.

"It's not that I don't like you," Harry said, then stopped. He frowned and sipped. It tasted like Yorkshire tea. "I know you were very close to James and Lily, but I think you weren't ready to be a responsible caregiver. Children, especially small ones, need routine and structure, not pranks and chaos."

"So what's changed?" Sirius said, "You think little Ernie is worth less than your precious Sherry? Is it 'cause he's a Black?"

Harry winced. "It's more that you've had time to grow up, and that I trust Remus and Bellatrix to be the sensible ones."

"Sherry can hold his own against the best of them. Just like his dad, he's a fighter. And remember Lily's temper? Ha! But you shouldn't have let him take his NEWTs so soon. He's just a kid playing at being grown up."

"Sirius, remember?" Remus put his hand on Sirius', his own plate of French toast forgotten. "We agreed not to question Harry's parenting decisions."

Sighing, Harry propped his head in his hands. "It wasn't actually my decision. It was Sherry's, with Eurus' and Mycroft's help. One of them is cleverer than ten of me put together, so when they choose a path I trust it's the right one." Harry smiled at the man who could have been his godfather, if he hadn't gone and gotten himself killed. "You understand trusting people, right?"

He watched Sirius swallow. The man wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "Yeah, yeah, I do. I just wish you could trust me. I wish Sherry could trust me. I lived in your flat for years, and you spent the whole time shutting me out."

That was unfortunately true. "You have to earn people's trust and respect, Sirius. I know you were hurting, but Sherry was hurt too. You were supposed to care for him. You made a choice that Halloween night, and from his perspective you didn't choose him." Harry took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "From my perspective, you didn't choose him. You put your own wants over the needs of an orphaned toddler. That's…that's a really bad basis to build trust on."

"But I didn't—ow!" Sirius scowled and pushed back from the table, rubbing his knee. "I mean, I don't see it like that. But I see how you do see it like that. Thank you for explaining it to me."

Harry raised both eyebrows. He looked over at Remus, then back at Sirius. "Thank you for listening."

Sirius nodded, then stood. "I'm going for a walk now. Maybe Remus can take you to see Bellatrix." He left quickly, but didn't slam the door behind him. Out the kitchen window, Harry saw a big black dog sprinting towards the rows of vines.

"When he comes back," Harry said, "tell him my respect for him just doubled."

Remus smiled, looking a bit sad. "He'll be glad to hear it. He's gotten a lot better, believe it or not."

"Oh, I believe it," Harry murmured, draining his cup. "So, tell me how Bellatrix and Ernie have been settling in? Does Gellert see them much?"

Remus got up and set the dishes to wash themselves in the sink. "Not here, no, they floo back to Austria for their…Sirius calls them 'conjugal visits.' I hope they're not doing that, though—just the one is enough for now if you ask me." He chuckled, then gestured for Harry to follow him through the back door.

"Fair enough." Harry grinned. The rain had stopped, but the wind was still biting. Harry hunched and let Remus lead him to the detached cottage by the house.

.oOo.

"What's with the international portkeys, Black?" Alastor Moody said, crashing into Harry's office just after lunch.

Harry sighed and got up, setting aside the biting teapot he'd been unenchanting. "Arthur," he said, poking his head into the other office, "Could you let Amelia Bones know I'm in a meeting when she comes up? I'll send a memo to schedule a new appointment later."

"Will do."

After pulling his door shut, Harry sat himself back down behind his desk. He also dispelled the two listening charms Alastor had just cast.

"Ah, good. You know how I always say," Alastor banged his fist against the table, "Constant vigilance!"

"I know," Harry said, then cast a spell that deactivated Alastor's third and fourth spying charms while waiting for the man to set up his sneakoscope. "You never let any of us forget it."

"So," Alastor said, his eye spinning cheerfully in its socket, "about that international portkey. Bit suspicious, ey?"

It was almost like his first interrogation. Then again, a conversation with Alastor always had the feel of an interrogation. Harry wasn't naive enough to offer tea.

"Alastor, I went to the Black summer house to visit family. You remember Sirius Black? He definitely remembers you."

Alastor's non-mad eye was fixed on the spinning sneakoscope. "Aye, I remember him. Bit too cheerful. Problems with authority."

"Yeah, that does sound like Sirius. Anyway, he moved to France, so I went to check on how he was settling in. He's doing well, by the way. Thanks for asking."

Alastor harrumphed. "There's something you're not telling me."

"I was there for two days. I hope that I couldn't retell a weekend in one sentence, else it'd be a boring weekend not worthy of Sirius Black."

On the table, the sneakoscope started whistling faintly.

"Alright, that wasn't quite true." Harry tried to look rueful, though Alastor's sharp attention always made him want to act out, even if that would make the situation worse. "Truth is, I'd love a nice uneventful weekend for a change."

The whistling stopped. The sneakoscope kept spinning like a top.

Crossing his arms, Alastor leaned back in his chair. "You see anyone interesting there? Meet anyone you think I should know about?"

It was the question Harry had been dreading. "Yeah," he said, slumping against one armrest. "I met with Sirius and Remus. Remus is Sirius' friend—or lover, depending on which of them you ask. Bella was there too, with her son Ernie. And of course we had dinner with the Longbottoms. You'll definitely remember Alice and Frank, and their son Neville who's almost Hogwarts-age."

The sneakoscope stopped, then started to spin the other way. Alastor uncrossed, then recrossed his arms. "Tell me more about this dinner."

Harry sighed, trying to pick the right words to say. Bellatrix had been bragging about the advanced progress of her 'genius child', making little Ernst-Heinrich clap for them, and showing them how he was already smiling. She was busy being an all-round besotted mother.

Alice had tried to bond with Bellatrix by sharing stories of Neville when he'd been half a year old and practising tummy time. Neville had been mortified, Bellatrix had gone off on a tirade about how her child was superior to all other children and would become the greatest wizard ever. Ernie had promptly started bawling, leaving Sirius and Remus to try and keep their conversation with Frank about the good old days afloat.

"Well," Harry said, "it was kind of awful. Remus said they have the Longbottoms over about once a month. I don't know how they do it."

The sneakoscope didn't protest. Harry honestly had no clue, and he'd parented first Sherry, then Luna. Still, he thought Remus had a stabilising effect on Bellatrix, and Ernie had seemed happy and healthy.

"Hmmm." Alastor leaned forward, gripping Harry's desk. "Did they say if they're sending Neville to Hogwarts next year? What with Harry Potter joining, we'll need more security. Maybe Alice or Frank want to take on the Defence position."

Harry licked his lips. "Neville will be going to Beauxbatons, and Harry won't be attending Hogwarts."

"What? Why not?"

"He already has friends in France, and they have a preparatory day school he's already been attending."

They didn't need the sneakoscope's protest to know Harry was being deceitful.

"Alright, alright," Harry smiled humorlessly "We've made alternate arrangements under a different identity to protect Harry Potter from being stormed by fans. He's—" Harry took a fortifying breath before he accidentally called Sherry a child. "He doesn't need the fame to go to his head. I want him to enjoy his youth for as long as we can manage it."

Alastor's scowl had turned into slow nodding over the course of Harry's explanation. "Aye, well. It certainly makes my life easier."

"Yeah, Alastor. I've never seen someone run themselves so ragged being retired."

"I've never seen someone keep their Ministry position for so long when spending as little time on their assigned job as you do, Black."

The sneakoscope whistled loudly. Harry laughed. "I'm more competent than you're giving me credit for. Though I still don't know what all my meetings in the Department of Mysteries are about."

"They're too clever for their own good down there. On and on about theories and prophecies and could-have-beens. Not a practical bone in their bodies."

Harry eyed the sneakoscope, but it didn't protest. The problem with lie detectors was always that they depended on subjective truths. Harry didn't know what the Unspeakables did, but he was thoroughly convinced it was important work. "I'd rather not argue over it. Though I'll pass along your question to the Longbottoms about the defence position."

"Bah. Neither of 'em will take it. Not if they've senstible, and those two wouldn't be alive today if they didn't have their heads screwed on right."

Alastor had a point. The only people left who were interested in the cursed job were…dark lords, death eaters, and idiots. Remus Lupin, thank fuck, had found a nice job teaching werewolves at a French school. It was funny how Harry Potter not existing in this universe had made so many people act so much more less dunderheaded.

"Aries, my heir, is at Hogwarts this year. He says the current defence professor is a decent teacher, if not an unusual choice."

"Aye. I've heard much the same. Gotta be something dodgy about him, though. There always is. I'm hoping to arrest him by Easter."

"On what grounds? Competent teaching?" At least Gellert was doing the job justice. When Harry had been at Hogwarts under Albus' thumb, getting taught by the Dark Lord, all he'd gotten was boring by-the-textbook headaches. Harry didn't smile at the irony, the nostalgia, but it was close.

"There's always something they're guilty of, if you dig hard enough. And trust me, I'm digging. But that's Albus' business. He's asked me to keep an eye out for the sorting hat, by the way, if you could pass that along your network. Don't know how he lost it."

The same hat was sitting on the shelf in Harry's kitchen at home, but he wasn't going to tell an auror that. "I asked you not to involve me in Dumbledore's drama, Alastor."

"Right, sorry. I'll get out of your hair." The man shifted his hands onto his knees and threw in an unsubtle look at his wristwatch. "I've got to see Malfoy about a raid in a minute, anyway. See you around, Harry."

"You invited yourself into my office, you can leave whenever," he replied, waving towards the door. While Alastor deactivated and packed away his sneakoscope, Harry scribbled a memo to Amelia with the offer to reschedule for next week, then joined Alastor on the way to the lifts. He'd been reminded, unfortunately, of a prophecy that was sitting downstairs, which he wanted to hear the wording of again.

Because Ernst-Heinrich had been born on the last day of September and was definitely marked by one Dark Lord so far. Quite frankly, Harry thought the position of 'Chosen Saviour' was getting rather crowded.

.oOo.

Thank you Roofuls and nateyeh for beta-reading, and thank you dear reader for continuing to support this story.

Meanwhile, I'm writing and publishing a Severus Snape centric time travel fix-it called 'A Dunderhead Walks into a Bar' that you might like.