"Shit!" I barked as I swiped through another fucking snake flying through the air directly for my face. "Where the Hell is that hut!?"

'You are not far, I feel the foul magic even now.'

"Wonderful," I growled as I cut another snake to ribbons, marching over the overgrown dirt path as I went.

"Why have you not yet used my form? My hide is impenetrable."

"That would have been great to know a half hour ago, you bloody cat," I growled as the hut finally came into view. "Fucking finally. Can I destroy it from here?"

"Aye."

"Then bloody do it!" I barked, raising my hands.

"With pleasure." The Lion sounded almost giddy as power flooded through my body. I gasped as fire poured from my hands like a tidal wave, destroying the surrounding trees as it washed over the shack. There was a faint scream that cut through the roaring, raging inferno but the fire kept rolling on. In fact, it tightened up and seemed to constrict around the house like a massive, fiery anaconda.

I gasped as the blaze shot into the sky and roared. The pillar of fire finally started to taper off while I stared up in the morning sky like an idiot.

"Dramatic much?" I asked cautiously, stepping forward through the carnage until I was standing where the hut used to be.

"I was holding back."

"Fuck me…" I muttered as I poked through the ashes. "Is it done?"

'I can no longer feel the taint. Riddle's first horcrux has been destroyed.'

"Good." I sighed. "Can we go back to the states, now? Or maybe Hawaii? It's night in Hawaii, right?"

"We still have work to do, boy. And there is one thing left here to recover."

"The stone, right," I said, picking my way through the torched landscape as I made my way to where the hut used to be. "To be honest, I almost forgot about the Hallows."

"Ingots of pure magical power, unmatched and unrivaled by nothing else in this realm or any other-"

"The Infinity Stones."

"The Infinity Stones are creation incarnate, boy, they are not magic. The Hallows are more powerful than you can possibly imagine but nothing compared to the sheer strength of one of the Stones."

"Alright then," I said quietly, scanning the ground as I went. "It should be around here somewhere… There." I knelt down on the still warm ground and took the whole, black gem from where it was lying. "And now we have the first Hallow." I dropped it in my pocket irreverently as I stood up. "Alright, where to now?"

'You do not wish to test the stone?'

"Not particularly, dead people don't really appeal to me. You know, comes with the whole dead thing."

"Do not forget you almost added to their numbers. Test the damned stone, boy." Radin rumbled. I sighed and pulled the stone from my pocket, rolling it in my hand a few times after deciding who I should talk to.

"Who are you? Why have you summoned me?"

"Godric Gryffindor, check." I dismissed the ghost and rolled the stone around again.

"Thank you! Please, do not send me back!" I cocked my head to the side and shook my head, banishing the pleading, screaming Salazar Slytherin presumably back to Hell.

"Hello, dear, who might you be?"

"Harry Potter, sorry to bother you."

"Oh, no, dear, it's no bother at all. I'm never busy now."

"Then I'll let you get back to your rest." I smiled, dismissing Helga Hufflepuff as I summoned the last founder.

"Leave me be."

"Alright." I shrugged, dismissing Rowena back to her eternity while dropping the stone into my pocket again. "There, are you satisfied now you overgrown house cat?"

"Indeed. Now, we must go. There is still much left undone."

"Of course there is." I hung my head as I let Sol take the wheel, taking the tiny Thunderbird form as he climbed skyward. 'Where are we headed?'

'The North Sea. We need allies and one is languishing in a cell. An ally with access to the Locket.'

'Great… So Sirius still got thrown in Azkaban, huh?' I shook my head mentally as we soared over the English countryside.

"We do not know, we have only your memories and the child's."

'And what do Harry's memories show?'

"That he was given to the bearded one, Dumbledore, and left at the Dursley's when he was a babe. It is consistent with the memories of the books you read."

'So Sirius gave… me? To Hagrid? The bloody idiot.'

"No. Sirius did not. Nor did Hagrid." That stopped me dead, thankfully Sol was the one flying us.

'Then who did?'

'It is not our place.'

'Well, then how can I watch the memory?'

"You sleep."

'Then why aren't you letting me sleep.'

"You do not need to be distracted."

'It's that bad?'

"Worse."

'Worse?'

'Worse.'

'How can it be worse?'

'All shall be revealed with time, fledgling. Now? Now you must destroy the Horcruxes, if only for yourself.'

'Wait, what?'

"You thought the Elementals rose to combat one Dark Lord with a shattered soul? No, something much worse is afoot here even if we know not what that might be. For you to live free, you cannot have this Dark Lord hounding you."

'But you must go to Hogwarts, even for a short time. To destroy the diadem and acquire the knowledge Hogwarts holds. Then you may leave if you wish.'

'But what else am I supposed to do with my time? I'm ten, no one will take me seriously yet.'

"Open a smithy, become a baker, do as you wish. Mayhaps you could even attend a normal school."

'Oh Hell no.' I shuddered, definitely not wanting to even touch that idea. 'I'd consider Xavier's but other than that, I'm out.'

"You may eat those words, boy."

'You're probably right, Radin, but I'm sticking to it. I've been through high school once, I've got no interest in going again.'

'But it may become necessary. You will complete the Hogwarts curriculum as quickly as you can. I will be of assistance.'

'Er… Thanks? But how?'

"Sol remembers everything. He's the chronicle of the Seven."

'Ridiculous title is ridiculous. Seriously? You're really called that?'

'Aye, Neridi bestowed the name upon me.'

"Rightly. Teleportation, command of lightning, a perfect memory… The abilities you grant your host are quite impressive."

'Not as impressive as her absolute defense or your sheer power.'

"You forget that my hosts are immune from heat and burns."

'And Ygghodir's can walk through the Arctic in naught but a loincloth yet still be comfortable.'

"Aye, I can do the same for my hosts."

'Only if they wish to look like a sun.'

"My last host quite enjoyed that ability."

'Your last host called himself the sun god.'

"Er…"

'He's got you there, amigo.' I grinned as Sol laughed and Radin grumbled something about stupid mortals with god complexes. 'So you said Harry was given to the Dursleys, right?'

'Aye.'

'Then how did he end up with the Weapon X program? And what the hell was up with that Weapon L thing? I know it means fifty but did he really mean…'

"That there were thirty-nine other souls tormented between the Wolverine and the child? Aye. That is true, it is in your memories as well. The memory is buried, old, but it is there."

'The boy was sold to the program when he was no older than three years old.'

'Sold?' There was a razor edge to the fury in that thought.

'For the equivalent of five years labor for Vernon Dursley.'

'I'll kill him.'

"I'd expect no less." Sol simply remained silent as I fumed.

'Get us to Azkaban.'

'Of course.' Sol said quietly, thundering us away. We rematerialized in a tree on a cliff overlooking the sea.

'Where are we?'

'Skaw. We are currently a hundred miles away from Azkaban but this is the closest point to the Fort on land should we wish to go unnoticed. We go by wing the rest of the way. Shall we wait for nightfall?'

'No. No one expects this place to be broken out of, much less into. And in broad daylight? No. They'll literally never expect anyone to be stupid enough to try this, this way.'

"And Wizards are a foolish lot."

'Yeah, we have that going for us too.' I thought as I launched us into the air, diving down the cliff before Sol took the throttle and jerked us back up before we could take a dive.

'You may have the embodiment of fire with you but I do not believe you would wish to take a swim in this water, fledgling.'

'No, probably not.' Without having hands to move so I could scratch the back of my head, I just kind of chuckled nervously while the Thunderbird flew us east as fast as he could. Which was pretty damn fast. He was eating up the pace, it took us less than a half hour before we saw the forbidding dagger of basalt jutting up from the sea. 'Do you two feel… I don't know? Uneasy?'

"Aye… The fortress is foul, as bad as the Horcrux we destroyed earlier."

'And we're still miles away… Be on guard. Both of you. This wretched place is cursed.' The Thunderbird warned as we approached. I swallowed nervously as I examined the place with Sol's eyes. The Thunderbird was able to pick out incredible details at long range, like that the walls of the fortress itself weren't solid. In fact, the place didn't look like a fortress at all…

'What is this place?'

"I know not…"

'Nor do I.'

'It… Does it look like a hive to you guys?'

"I see the resemblance. The Dementors are foul creatures, who knows what they are capable of."

'Not us.' I said firmly. 'Let's get Sirius and get the Hell out of here. Does this place even have windows?'

'They are small but they are there. Shall I get us inside?'

'Yeah, go for it.'

"Allow me," Radin grunted as we barrelled toward a wall. I swallowed nervously as the Blaze Lion took control and warped us into a creature of pure fire no larger than a house cat. We shot through the bars of one of the cells and skidded to a stop in the hallway. The prisoner looked down at me like a ghost but then shrugged it off and started shivering in the corner of his cell. I huffed and turned down the hall as I actually gained a physical body that wasn't made of fire.

'That was weird.' I shuddered as I padded down the hall in the cat form. 'Being on fire and it not hurting, that is.'

"Aye, it is usually unsettling for my hosts to transform for the first time."

'Thanks for the heads-up.' I rolled my eyes as I mounted a set of stairs and bounded upward, not having seen either a dog or a man who would have matched Sirius's description in this cell. 'This place is worse than that though…'

'Indeed… This place screams of darkness, of tragedy… Fly, Fledgling. Find Lord Black so that we may flee.'

'Flee?' I thought as I heard a woman cackling madly. Well, there was ickle Bella, then. 'Why not just bring the building down on its foundations?'

"Because you are not yet strong enough. I sense a presence of darkness, they have not noticed us yet but we must hurry. The only way we will be able to bring this place down is to assemble the others."

'I agree. Where are you going, fledgling? You have not even looked into the cells.'

'I'm following the cackling. That's Bellatrix. Her cell is supposed to be close to Sirius's.'

"Good. We are one step closer to leaving this place, then?"

'We are.' I thought as I ran up the stairs until the maniacal laughter was crystal clear.

"The Dark Lord will come back! He will free his most faithful servant!"

"Just shut the fuck up, already." A tired, annoyed voice said from a few cells down. I blinked slowly and moved toward it.

"He will! He will come for me, Cousin! He will kill the mudbloods and the- Ooo is that a kitty!? Come to mummy Bella, sweetums!" The woman cooed as she pressed her face against the bars. I nearly tripped backward as she did but I certainly did bare my fangs and hiss. "Aren't you just the most vicious little thing!" I would have rolled my eyes but instead, I turned down the hall and flicked my tail up. If I couldn't give her the finger, I'd give the mad bitch the tail instead.

"How'd a bloody cat get here?" Sirius, who had stood up, was leaning against the bars of his cell heavily. He was gaunt, almost skeletal, and his matted hair was wild as it hung limply behind him. His beard wasn't any better, nor were his teeth. I scrunched my nose at the smell but slipped through the bars of his cell and looked up at him. He looked down at me blankly as I kept looking upward.

'Sol, if he picks me up, can you thunder us out of here?'

'Thunder us? Is that what you call my teleportation?'

'Yeah, so can you do it?'

'I can.'

'Good, get us back to the Great Basin when he finally gets a fucking clue.' Radin laughed as Sol sighed.

Sirius and I kept up our staring contest until I decided we'd wasted enough freaking time. I leaped up onto his shoulder from the floor, getting a yelp out of him but he didn't have more than a second to be surprised before we had disappeared from the cell with a clap of thunder that set more than a few of the prisoners screaming. When the few Aurors who were stationed at Azkaban finally came to investigate, they found quite a few ex-Death Eaters clutching bleeding ears and Sirius Black's cell empty. To say they panicked would have been a dramatic understatement. In less than an hour, the Daily Prophet had picked up the story and all of Wizarding Britain knew that Sirius Black, the man who had infamously betrayed the Potters and murdered Lily Evans-Potter himself had escaped Azkaban.

But meanwhile, in the middle of an American Desert under the light of a full moon, a man and a cat appeared from nothing.

"Wha-What did you do?" Sirius rasped as I jumped off his shoulder and looked at the pile of shrubs I'd piled up earlier when I wanted to sleep. Radin got the idea and my entire body burst into flame. Sirius yelped, scrambling backward after falling down. But his grey eyes widened in shock as my body shifted and warped back into my human form. "H-Harry?" He gasped as I sat down on the opposite side of the campfire from him.

"That's me. You're Sirius Black, right? I'd have hated to break the wrong man out of that Hellhole."

"Harry!" The man cried, struggling to his feet as he staggered around the campfire to wrap me up in a bear hug. I sighed but patted his head as he sobbed into my shoulder. "Oh Merlin, it's really you, Pup?"

"Yeah, I'm Harry. I think I've already said that."

"Y-you have." Sirius chuckled, extracting himself from around me as he staggered to the other side of the fire so he could get a better look at me. "Merlin… You've grown."

"I have."

"You have your mother's eyes… But you're your father's son, that's for sure… How is James?" I blinked as the Grim Animagus stared at me hopefully.

"James? Isn't he dead?"

"Dead!? Why would he be dead!?" Sirius cried out, looking at me in horror.

"Er… Because Voldemort attacked him that Halloween?" I said slowly, something was wrong here but I wasn't quite sure what it was.

"James wasn't home when he attacked, Harry… But hasn't he told you this story? Isn't that why you're an animagus? Why you broke me out?" He pleaded but I just stared at him blankly. 'James is alive? No, bad Potter, think about that later.' I forced myself out of my thoughts as I wrenched my attention back to him.

"No, I'm sorry. I just need your help retrieving something, Mr. Black." Sirius shook his head.

"No. I'm Sirius, or Padfoot. Hell, call me Paddy if you want but never, ever call me Mr. Black." He shuddered. "It makes me feel like I'm in McGonagall's class again."

"Alright, Sirius," I said and the man grinned weakly. "But no, I broke you out because there is an item at Grimmauld Place that needs to be destroyed."

"What?" Sirius asked stupidly.

"I'm hunting a few trinkets Voldemort left behind. James Potter didn't raise me." Sirius's eyes widened as I dropped that bombshell.

"Then who did!?"

"I was given to Vernon and Petunia Dursley until I was four."

"Those two!? Lily said her sister hated her!"

"I could see it, but I don't remember them."

"They put you in an orphanage?"

"I wish." I snarled as Sirius looked even more scared. "Vernon, in his infinite wisdom, sold me to a government ghost agency when I was three, maybe four years old."

"No…"

"He did. The fat bastard made five years' worth of his salary with a signature." I growled, clenching my fists as I stared at the stunned Animagus. "But I'll deal with that bastard later. Right now I have bigger problems."

"Like what? What could be worse than a man who sold you away?"

"Voldemort." Sirius gasped, nearly falling over.

"No! He's dead!"

"He's a Dark Lord terrified of death. Do you know what a Horcrux is?"

"He didn't…"

"He did. Several times."

"He made more than one!"

"Yeah. I think he was going to make another when he came after me." I smirked as Sirius gaped in utter horror. "But something went very, very wrong for him. And they went worse for me." I deadpanned as I pulled up my fringe revealing the scar I could already tell was healing.

"No…"

"Yep. I think he botched the ritual with whatever Lily did, but his soul was already broken and part of it wormed its way into where he hit me with his curse."

"How do we get it out?"

"It's already done. That government group killed me, that took care of it."

"WHAT!?"

"Yeah, ever heard of mutants?"

"I think so… Lily kept up with a man named Charles Xavier's research."

"Did she now…" I tapped my chin as I looked up at the stars. "Huh, interesting. Well, I'm one of them. I've got a healing factor, enhanced senses, reflexes, strength, and stamina." Sirius nodded slowly as he stared at me. "The idiots that took me had a test subject back in the eighties, called him Weapon X, I have the same mutation he did. They bonded metal to his skeleton."

"They did what?" Sirius asked as he tried to process that. I just nodded and loosed my claws. He gaped at them for a while before I sheathed them.

"Yeah, there's that. Sorry to drop that bombshell on you, but needless to say, they did an experiment on me. It ended horribly but it destroyed the horcrux though so all's well that ends well, I suppose."

"They killed you!"

"And now they're dead."

"How?"

"Backlash."

"Ah… So… Why do you think there's a Horcrux in Grimmauld?" I sighed and pulled a locket out of my shirt, passing it to the Animagus who opened it and took the note in surprise. He angled the paper so he could read it with the firelight and his eyes widened.

"I found this earlier today in a cave on the coast of England. You recognize the handwriting?"

"This is Reggie's…" Sirius whispered, tears in his eyes as he stared at me. "How did you know it was his?"

"I have a bit of memory from the Horcrux that was in me." I lied through my teeth but thank God he seemed to believe it. "I have a vague idea of who Voldy gave his horcruxes to. One to Regulus, one to Lucius Malfoy, and one to Bellatrix LeStrange."

"You think there are two in Grimmauld?"

"No, I think Bellatrix got a bit smarter."

"How?"

"Gringotts."

"Shit."

"Pretty much." I nodded as Sirius put his face in his hands.

"Anything else you want to lay on me, pup? Maybe tell me John's dead or Wormtail's Minister for Magic? Oh, that would be a good one." Sirius grunted as I stared at him.

"Who the fuck is John?" Sirius's head snapped up as I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You- You don't know?" He asked weakly.

"Sirius, I didn't know James was alive until literally two minutes ago. Who. The. Fuck. Is. John?" I growled as the Animagus looked at me carefully.

"He's… He's your twin." I blinked, then blinked again as I stared dumbly at the animagus.

"Now you see why we wished for you to wait." Radin sighed in my head.

"I have a brother?"

"Yes."

"I have a brother, a twin brother, and James gave me up to Vernon and Petunia?"

"It looks that way…" He said quietly but I saw red. How dare he? How dare James give up one child, throw away his fri- Wait.

"What was that about Wormtail?" I hissed as Sirius's eyes narrowed to slits.

"He's the one who betrayed Lily and James. He tricked James into thinking I was the secret keeper… Lily… I found her body. James came up in a rage. I think he saw me kneeling over Lily's body with you in my arms. The next thing I remember was waking up in a cell."

"They didn't even give you a trial?"

"James was a high ranking Auror, even at twenty-one, kiddo. He had a lot of pull with Barty and from what little I've heard he has even more with Scrimgeour. Bones is pretty no-nonsense though."

"I'll pretend that those names mean anything to me so we can move on." I sighed. "So, James was brainwashed but we have no way to tell how, but we can assume it's probably permanent now that it's been ten years…"

"No! We have to help him!"

"No, Sirius, I will help him if I can… You can't be seen in Britain. Hell, I'll even send you Pettigrew in a matchbox if I can get him away quietly as long as you stay away."

"Good luck, he's a slippery rat," Sirius growled. "Moony might be able to help us…"

"Who?"

"Moony, Remus. Remus Lupin. He was one of the Marauders- er… He, James, Wormtail, and I were the Marauders back in our Hogwarts days."

"I don't want to know." I sighed, rubbing my temples as I tried to get over just how fucked up all of this was. "James will be the one to hunt you, won't he?"

"I hate to say it, but probably," Sirius said, sagging his head before he perked up and lifted his eyebrow. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you sound like a Yank?"

"The Weapon X program was in Canada, ran mostly by Americans. I wasn't trained by a lot of Englishmen seeing as those are in short supply in Canada."

"Right." Sirius chuckled rubbing his neck as he looked around. "So where are we?"

"The Great Basin Desert, so somewhere in Utah I think."

"You don't know?"

"Nope. My teleportation method is a bit different to apparition."

"How so?"

"I can look at a map and teleport to that place if I need to but if I know the place exists I can teleport directly there."

"So you just teleported us to the first place you thought of?"

"No, I did that when I got out of Canada." I shrugged. "This was my campsite before I started my little Horcrux hunt."

"Ah, alright then." Sirius sighed, trembling slightly as he looked at me. "I… I'm free?"

"You're out." I corrected. "We'll have to prove you're innocent."

"How? They say I killed Lily!" I blinked in surprise. Well, that was a change… But I suppose if he didn't try to kill Wormtail, he had to get into Azkaban somehow.

"Veritaserum." Sirius blinked a few times before he grinned stupidly.

"Yes! Now we just have to find the Americans so they can try me!"

"Hold up, big guy." I held up my hand as he looked at me curiously. "We need to get the Horcruxes first, then we can go nuts with the Americans."

"I'd have to get into the bank to get the one in Bella's vault… I need to talk to my vault manager too."

"No, before we do absolutely anything, we need to get you a doctor."

"Andy could help…" Sirius grunted, biting his cheek as he thought.

"Andy?"

"Cousin Andromeda, she's a healer at Saint Mungo's."

"I'm not taking you to bloody Saint Mungo's." I deadpanned. "You'd be re-arrested in a heartbeat."

"Well then maybe you could put me up in one of those muggle inns?"

"Have to be eighteen to even think about doing that, and neither of us has any money."

"Uh…"

"Damn it, if I bring you back to England you can't be seen. We could go to Grimmauld."

"No!"

"Why not? Just because you don't want to go there doesn't mean it isn't for the best. Andy's close, the Horcrux is there, and you can heal up before we go gallivanting into Gringotts to demand a Horcrux that may or may not be there at all." Sirius groaned as he leaned his head back and stared up at the stars.

"Fine. It's on your head if you don't like it."

"I don't have to like it, we just need a place to hunker down until we can find somewhere else to hide out."

"I… I can live with that."

"Hope so, we don't have much choice," I grunted. "It'll be eleven in England now, will Andy be at work?"

"I don't know, it's been so long…"

"Do you remember her address?" Sirius paused before he nodded and rattled it off. "Alright, I'll check it out. Let's go."

"Already? But the fire is so nice…" He sighed, staring into the flames as I asked Radin how to strangle them. Pain flashed behind my eyes but I knew how to now. I lifted my palm, focusing on the fire, and squeezed. The fire winked out like a candle. Sirius stared at it dumbly before he looked back up at me. "Did you just…"

"Yep."

"Wandlessly?"

"Uh-huh."

"How?"

"I'm special."

"You can say that again."

"So are you, Siri. You're the most special boy I've ever met."

"Than- Hey!" Sirius protested as I chuckled, putting my hand on his shoulder as I focused on Grimmauld Place like it was shown in the movies. When we reappeared in front of it, it actually wasn't too much different than the Grimmauld the movies showed. Sirius glanced around and I was surprised to see that no one was waiting for us at the door. We both walked up the stairs as Sirius placed his hand on the wood. The door pulsed with light and he twisted the knob, stumbling in as the door squealed in protest against its rusty hinges.

"Whosy comes into the greatestests and mostest nobles house of Black?" A graveley voice that sounded like a strange mixture of a ball bearing in a blender crossed with a frog who tried and failed to eat a particularly large fly. "Whosy dares comes here?"

"I do, Kreacher, so shut your gab."

"The baddest master Sirius has returned? At last, master, welcome home. Foolish blood traitor lover… Kreacher will not obey! No hes will nots!"

"Shut up, Kreacher." Sirius huffed, he opened his mouth to say more as I laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Where's the locket?"

"Right here," Sirius said, obviously confused.

"And whos be yous? A mudblood, maybe? A filthy halfbreed?" Kreacher growled as Sirius pulled the locket out of his shirt and put it in my hand. I nodded to my Godfather as I looked at the demented creature in front of me.

"I need your help, elf."

"Ohs? A filthy halfbreed asking for Kreacher's help? Hes be needings mys help?"

"Yeah, I do." I let the locket fall from my hand and dangle from its chain. Kreacher's tennis ball-like eyes snapped to the locket like it was a hand grenade.

"Master Reggie's locket… Wheres… Wheres did you gets that?"

"A cave, a rather horrible cave at that." I shuddered. "The potion idea was horrid, but apparently Voldy didn't think anyone would just heat the basin and boil away the potion."

"Yous… Yous was smarter than master Reggies… He drinks all of the nasty, baddesty potion… Kreacher… Kreacher should have drank! He shoulds have saved the goodest master Reggie!"

"Kreacher," I said, shutting the elf up instantly. "I'll trade you. Your locket for Regulus's." The elf's eyes widened even more and he disappeared, reappearing in less than three seconds with the locket in his hand. He held it out as I passed him Regulus's locket, we traded them at the same time. I smirked as I tapped into Sol's power and flooded enough electricity to make Chernobyl's final output look tame down the golden chain. The locket howled and bucked, thrashing as I dialed up the amperage until it stopped flopping around like a dying fish. Without the protection the horcrux offered still in the locket, the chain and the locket itself melted in an instant, falling to the floor in a small puddle of molten gold and black ink. My nose wrinkled as both the elf and his master swore violently at the little display.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?" Sirius howled as he looked at the gold and black ink sitting on the floor.

"That," I spat, "was a Horcrux.'

"Merciful Merlin…"

"Yeah." Sirius looked down at the puddle of gold on the floor, shivered, and staggered deeper into the house. I followed him but it didn't take long before I finally got fed up with the turtle pace he was going. So I shook my head and threw his arm over my shoulder, supporting him as we walked down the hall.

"Harry?"

"You were going too slow, old man." I grinned as the man sighed.

"Yeah, I feel like an old man." He grunted, looking up as I practically dragged him into the living room and found a decently clean couch for him to lay down on. "Heh, this was always my favorite place in here." Sirius grinned as he sank into the cushions.

"Get some sleep, Sirius. I'm going to get Andromeda."

"Alrigh' Harry," Sirius said as he laid down on the couch. "I'm jus' gonna rest… rest my eyes…" Was the last thing he said before he started snoring like a horse. I shook my head and focused on the address he'd given me.

"I've got it!" A muffled voice called from behind the door I'd knocked on. The Tonks' residence was rather modest, being just a mid-sized cottage on the outskirts of Cardiff, but charming all the same. I was pulled from my musings as the front door was all but torn open. The girl who answered the door opened her mouth to say something, paused, looked down, and then cocked her head to the side.

"Er, you lost kiddo?" Nymphadora Tonks, because the pink hair said everything, asked as she looked down at me curiously.

"Is this the Tonks's residence?" She blinked as I stared up at her. I may have been tall for a ten-year-old but I was still just a ten-year-old. I was five feet flat and in my old life, I was taller than six feet. If it weren't such a novel experience having to look up to people, I'd have been pretty annoyed by it.

"Uh… Yeah? You here for my dad?"

"Your mom, actually."

"What's a Yank need with my mum?"

"That would be telling. Is she here?"

"No, she's working." Nymphadora narrowed her eyes but I sighed and nodded.

"Alright, when she gets back would you please tell her Orion dropped by?"

"Orion!?" Tonks gasped as she looked down at me with much more interest. "You're a Black?"

"No, but my godfather is. We're at Grimmauld for a bit, no one else was using it."

"You might want to get out of there, kiddo…" Tonks said nervously.

"Why's that?"

"Er… Sirius broke out of Azkaban today." I blinked a few times as I processed that.

"Seriously? When?"

"Like an hour ago." Dora shook her head, obviously shocked by the sheer competence the British Magical Press showed for once. "No one even saw him leave his cell. Apparently, he was arguing with aunt Bellatrix when a house cat, of all the bloody things, came trotting in as confident as could be. One guy a few floors down claimed it came barreling into his cell in a fireball but that's too strange even for our world."

"Huh…" I scratched my chin as I furiously went over that in my head. "Alright then. Thanks for the warning…?"

"Tonks, just Tonks kiddo."

"No first name?" I smirked as the pinkette scowled.

"Yeah, I just hate it."

"How about a middle name?"

"Too plain." She shrugged. "Mum doesn't do things by halves."

"She was a Black, I don't think any of them do." Tonks laughed as she shook her head.

"You're alright, kid. Want to come inside?"

"No, thank you. I probably need to get going. Need to warn my godfather and all that." I sighed, rubbing my forehead as Tonks nodded. She opened her mouth but was interrupted with:

"Nymphadora? Nymphadora, where are you?" A woman's voice called through the house.

"Front door, mum!" Tonks called over her shoulder. "We have a guest."

"A guest!? At a time like this!?" Andromeda thundered as she stomped through the house. Tonks stepped onto the porch as Andy finally appeared. The formidable woman looked way too much like Bellatrix for comfort as she glared down at me with her grey eyes. "Who are you?"

"Irrelevant. The Lord Black summons you." Andromeda's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as Tonks cocked her head to the side.

"Uh, kid…" Tonks said slowly. "Great gramps Arcturus died years ago."

"I know. The new Lord is free. You know who he is, you know that can only come to pass one way." I said, bullshitting my way through this with my best poker face. Thank you tropey Harry Potter fanfics for almost everything I was saying…

"No… No! He was convicted! He killed Lily!"

"What!?" Tonks squeaked as she stared at me in horror.

"No. He didn't kill my mother." And now the two of them looked like I'd smacked them with cast iron skillets. "My godfather was the one to find me and… and my brother after we were betrayed. The Dark Lord came because someone else gave us up. Sirius was never the secret keeper."

"Ha…Harry?" Andromeda whispered as she looked down at me. She knelt down, cupping my face as she looked up at me. "You… James said you'd died that night… But you have her eyes… You look just like him!" Andromeda hissed.

"As you can see, I am not dead." I shrugged before pausing. Did I just quote Black Panther? Damn… "He gave me to Petunia."

"No…"

"Yeah. Vernon got rid of me the first chance he had. I don't even remember them."

"I… I don't know what to say…"

"Where were you?" Tonks asked as she looked down at me.

"Canada. Northwest Territories, arctic circle, the whole nine yards."

"Oh." Tonks blinked. "Wasn't expecting that…"

"Right. So, Sirius needs you. He's severely malnourished, dehydrated, and weak as a kitten but he's in an overall decent state of mind. When I left he was snoozing on the couch pretty hard."

"Wait…" Tonks said, narrowing her eyes. "How did you find him?" I grinned and transformed into Radin's Maine Coon sized form. The two of them looked down at me in shock as I thundered a few feet away. They clapped their hands over their ears and winced as I padded back up the porch and reverted to human form.

"That answer your question?"

"You went to him." Andromeda, after she'd pulled her hands away from her ears with a wince, said in disbelief. "Why?"

"It's a long story, but I need you to trust me."

"I'll grab my kit." Andromeda nodded as she bustled back into the house.

"So, Nymphadora eh?" I grinned as Tonks scowled at me.

"Yeah. Don't call me that."

"I won't, Tonks suits you better." I shrugged as she grinned, patting me on the head.

"Attaboy."

"So what's your middle name?"

"Elizabeth." Tonks rolled her eyes as I shot an eyebrow up.

"That's not a Black name."

"Dad picked it."

"Ah."

"Mum just agreed."

"That's a pretty terrible name."

"Yeah, but Tonks ain't too bad."

"Nah, but I'm still going to call you something else."

"Why?"

"Because I have a feeling I'll be around you and your mom a lot. Having two Tonkses around and calling you Tonks will just make things confusing."

"Er… Right. Call me Dora then but don't wear it out." I shrugged again as Andromeda came back through the door with a small, leather satchel around her shoulder, closing and locking the door behind her before he faced us again.

"Are we ready?"

"We are. Grab my shoulders."

"Why?"

"Didn't you just see my little light show?" Dora paled but quickly put her hand on my left shoulder as her mom took the right. "Ready?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"Alright," I said as I dumped us on the front stoop of Grimmauld Place. "Welcome to Grimmauld." Both Tonks were gaping at me as I opened the door.

"That was so much better than a Portkey!"

"And Apparition," Andromeda said as they walked in behind me. "Where did you learn to do that, Harry?"

"I just figured it out one day." I shrugged. "I wanted to be away from somewhere and it happened."

"Huh… Interesti-"

"WHO DARES DEFILE THE HOUSE OF BLACK!? WHAT FILTH WALKS THESE HALLS!? MUDBLOODS? BLOOD TRAITORS? FILTHY HALFBREEDS? BEGONE! KREACHER! KREACHER, THROW THESE INTRUDERS FROM MY HOUSE!" The ranting Walburga screeched as I rolled my eyes.

"Ignore her. Sirius is in the Den. I'll deal with Walburga."

"That old bat's still alive? I thought she died years ago."

"She did, it's a portrait." I sighed before I noticed something. The house was clean. Don't get me wrong, it was still pretty gloomy and dark but it wasn't coated in cobwebs and dust anymore. Well, I'll be damned…

"The goodest master Potters has returned? Whats can Kreacher do for the goodest masters Potter?" Kreacher, having just appeared in front of me, asked as he looked up with bulging eyes.

"Gah!" Dora shouted as she stumbled a step backward. "What is that!?"

"Sirius's house elf. No, thank you, Kreacher. These are Andromeda and Nymphadora, they're family to Sirius. Andromeda's going to see if she can heal him. Take them to him, yeah?"

"Yes, goodest masters Potter, Kreacher wills do it…" The old elf started hobbling down the hall.

"Well, best get going you two." I smirked as the two of them stared at the House Elf's back. "He may just leave you behind." And with that, the two of them hurried down the hall as Walburga kept on ranting. Honestly, following the sound of her voice was easier than spotting a tree in a prairie. She just kept screeching.

"YOU!" She screeched as I walked into the room she was occupying. "BEGONE FROM MY PRESENCE, FILTH!"

"Be silent, woman," I growled, calling on a bit of Radin's power. Not a lot, just enough so that I could call on it if I needed it quickly. The portrait's jaw snapped shut as she tried to back away from me.

"Wha-what are you! A demon!? You're a demon! Begone!"

"What are you on about?" I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Your eyes! They glow! They glow with fire! Hellfire! Noooooo! Begone! Begone from this realm, demon! Return to the pit from whence you came!"

"Is she ever silent?"

'Don't think so.' I shot back to Radin in my head as I stared at the portrait. 'You have any idea what she's talking about?'

"Aye, I do. When you use our powers, as you are using mine now, your irises will burn with your inner fire or lightning. It looks quite similar to… To the Sith of those Star Wars movies you were so fond of."

'Well, that's interesting.' I felt my lips curve into a shallow, sharp smile as I glared at the portrait.

"Are you finished?" I asked, still glaring at her. She shuddered and nodded. "Good!" I released the power and looked at her with the same smile. "Because the next time I hear you screeching about half breeds and mudbloods… Well… I'm sure you can use your imagination."

"Y…Yes, mas-master…" Walburga whimpered, still shying away. I rolled my eyes but didn't correct her as I stalked away from the terrified portrait.

"What the bloody Hell was that about?" Dora asked as I strode into the den where Andromeda was flicking her wand over the comatose Sirius Black.

"Oh, lady Black and I just had a little discussion. She came to see things my way."

"Walburga gave into a half-blood?" Andromeda asked, incredulity shining in her eyes as she looked at me.

"I think you'll find I can be very persuasive."