Author Notes: Hey everyone, I'm back again! Like I promised ofcourse. I'm sorry, it's been two weeks since I've updated, but no I haven't forgotten about you at all! Nor did I forget my dear story. In fact, this whole week I've been working on the story, writing more and more chapters. I'm happy some of you decided to follow and favourite The Unexpected Path. Anyway, this chapter isn't really angsty like the last one. Though I know some of you already guessed what's going on. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Not mine, never will. Except for Jasper, and Amelia.

...

"He's stabilized," the matron said, sitting down on the couch next to the four men, "Though those are strange marks. He really hurt himself. The poor dear, he's only 17."

"17?!" Sirius uttered unbelievingly.

"He's only a teenager then," Remus said, a frown on his face.

"An adult. He's of age" corrected Severus.

Lily came and sat down with the rest, she had put the sleeping charm on the teenager. She couldn't help but feel weird. There was something about the guy she couldn't point her finger at. She just felt it, if that makes any sense. Something's big is about to happen.

"I can't possibly think of something that would injure a person greatly like this," Lily said, "I've never had a patient this bad" she sat down between her husband and Remus.

"This only makes this harder!" exclaimed Sirius, "He could be a death eater!" He looked around as if to prove his point. Sirius has been exceptionally wary of anyone strange since that happened. It just scares him that danger could be around.

" He was burnt in various parts of his body. Three ribs were broken, and his leg. He had various cuts on various degrees all over him, and he had some internal damage" Poppy recited from a parchment on her hand, her face in a frown.

"And there was a huge gash on his head from behind, we had to wrap his head." continued Lily.

"He's stable for now. I'm afraid I must leave, dears. Lily, can you take over him?" Madame Pomphrey asked.

Lily nodded her head.

"Remus, you can help Lily," Poppy said.

James stood up, "Poppy? Can you keep this between us?" he asked

"WHAT!?" blurted Sirius, standing too.

James ignored his best friend and continued looking at Poppy, waiting for her answer. James was certain the guy is harmless, and if he wasn't, he and Sirius aren't aurors for nothing. And Snape is a powerful wizard as well.

"Oh, I don't know. Yes, I can but are you sure? You don't know him and for all you know, he could be an enemy" Poppy replied.

"Yes, alright. Sirius and I will be on our guard. But not many people know of our cottage here except for a number of people. I don't think a person randomly popping here will be an enemy" James reasoned out, "Granted he could be dangerous, but first, let's hear him out"

"Alright. Call me if you need me" Poppy finally said and flooed.

A moment of silence took over, "Where's Jasper, Lily?"

"Er, I told him to go to his room to read," Lily replied. Jasper loved to read. He read anything he could get his hands into. But when Lily sent him up to read, he whined and muttered how unfair it is. Yet he still went up.

More silence as members of the room got lost in their thoughts

"I think we ought to hear what he has to say" Remus finally said. They could easily find out the person's identity. There's no reason to fret, if he turns out to be dark, they could easily hand him over.

"What?! Are you guys out of your mind? He's dangerous!" yelled Sirius.

"Sirius, we're both Aurors, and Severus here is a strong wizard. He's only 17. We could take him out on a whim" replied James.

"But-" Sirius tried.

"Don't argue, Sirius. I have decided" James said firmly.

"What a load of codswallop!" Sirius muttered angrily.

"How about we give him fake identities instead of our real ones?" Lily suggested. Lily doesn't really think the boy is dangerous. She's got this weird feeling inside her that she can't shake off.

"That's smart" Sirius commented, "That's actually very smart. You and James are Mr and Mrs...Coghill. I'll be plain Grayson. Remus...you be Mason. And I don't know about you Snape"

"Er Okay then. That's settled, right, ?" James said. Remus and Lily both nodded.

"I'll remain, Snape, I don't want to change my name," Severus said

"Fine then," Sirius muttered, in which Lily swatted him in the head, glaring at him.

"Someone should be guarding him, in case of a...barrage," Severus said in a low voice, ignoring what Sirius said.

Sirius frowned at Snape but reluctantly nodded his head.

"Yes, that's a good idea. Who's going now?" James agreed.

"I will," Remus stood up, grabbed a book from the big shelf of books and headed to the room where they kept the mysterious person.

"This is barmy. Completely mental" Sirius muttered, "I just don't want any more family hurt" he looked James straight in the eye.

"I know, Sirius," James replied apologetically. James, Sirius, Snape and Lily were sitting in the living room, all having the same thoughts. Who is this person? And what does he want?

"Till when is Remus taking over and who's next? It's 5 p.m right now," Lily finally broke the silence.

"I'll take over...at 9? So then Moony can eat some dinner" James asked.

Severus stood up, "It seems everything's sorted out for now. Floo me when it's my turn to watch," he said, walking to the fireplace.

"Severus" called Lily, walking up to him.

"Yes?"

"Thank you," she said gratefully, pulling him to a hug. He responded by wrapping his strong arms around her in a quick hug, then gracefully flooed away.

She then headed into the kitchen to start prepping dinner. Cooking has always helped her sort her thoughts, and hopefully, that nagging feeling will disappear, she thought. James followed her closely, cuffing his shirt sleeves.

Sirius ran his hand through his hair and headed upstairs, he'll have a talk with Jasper, it's not nice to be kept in the dark. He doesn't like this mysterious person, and he won't ever. Why is James keeping him? No clue. He sighed as he reached his best friend's son's room, and popped his head in. "Hey kiddo" he greeted the boy. Jasper was laying on his bed, a forgotten book in his hands staring into space, a small frown on his face.

"Oh hey Padfoot," Jasper said back. This is the moment, Jasper thought, I could ask uncle Sirius and he would no doubt answer me. His eyes widened at the idea. Brilliant. I'm going to get information out of him, the dark haired teen thought determinedly.

"It's pretty exciting down there, right? Shame your parents won't let you be involved as much" Sirius started.

"I know, they've always treated me like a baby and I hate it," Jasper replied and rolled his eyes.

"I know. They do it because they care, don't forget," Sirius reminded, "Anyway, I'm here to fill you up"

"Really?" Jasper jumped up, the book fell to the side. This is easier than I thought, Jasper thought excitingly "So, do you know him? His identity? How old is he? Is he really a death eater?" he rambled on.

"Woah Woah, chill out Jasper. No, no, 17, and I don't know. We don't know him. So we're going by fake names. Your parent's are Mr and Mrs Coghill, so you're going to go with Jasper Coghill now, okay?" Jasper nodded affirmatively.

"I don't know what James is thinking, but he's gone mental for sure. Anyway, we're keeping watch on him. Moony is now guarding him" he completed.

"Really? Cool! Can I see him?" he asked.

"NO!" yelled Sirius, when he realized that was the wrong answer. "Sorry, I mean, no not now. He's dangerous till we know who the hell is he, okay kiddo? So no one gets hurt" Sirius explained apologetically.

"Yes Uncle Siri," Jasper nodded quietly. He understands why Sirius is worked up. He doesn't want history repeating itself, and seeing how uncle Sirius is tense, he should probably listen to him. Goodbye cloak adventure.

"Good lad. That's it. I reckon he'll be out most of the time these days. That kid's got roughed up bad" continued Sirius.

"Aye he's not a kid," commented Jasper, "but I wonder how he got injured…" he trailed off.

"I don't know, man. All we know is that," Sirius replied, flopping on his bed.

"You said he's 17? That'd be the same age as Harry" Jasper said with a calculating look on his face.

"Yeah I guess," Sirius's face fell, "Merlin, time does fly" he sighed sadly.

"Padfoot?" Jasper called him. He doesn't like it when Sirius's sad, and he knew he became lost in thought when Harry was mentioned. He's going to wipe that sad look from his face, he knew it. "Play a round of exploding snap?"

Sirius smiled a little, "Yeahh. Where is your deck?"

"Here" Jasper jumped up and started setting it out on the floor. Oh how he loved exploding snap, especially with Padfoot.

A/U: Yup! That's Sirius, Remus, Lily and James! They're back! Well, in my story! Oh, I've been struggling with writing Sirius...He's so difficult to write! I think I should start a character analysis about him... Anyway, have you figured out what happened to Harry? Haha. Follow and favourite for more. Also won't mind a review :)

Can anyone tell me more about beta readers? Where to find them, when do I need them for my fanfictions, and any recommendations? I don't know much in this area. So please help your writer in need.

THANKS FOR 1,406 HITS! I'm so happy! and thanks for 7 reviews, 46 FOLLOWERS, and 25 FAVOURITErs! You don't know how much this means to me! Shout out to PRITHIKA for exceptional reviews and constructive feedback. They made me dance pirouettes on my rooftop from happiness! (You should consider writing reviews like that ;) )

Au revoir!