Lucretia approached Arcturus as the family filtered out of the dining room. "Father, are you sure that was wise? Now dear old Wally and the others may cover up their tracks."
Arcturus smiled as he stood and squeezed her hand. "A broken clock is right twice a day. It won't be long before Walburga reverts back to her misbehaviors. I shall just be waiting to see who steps in to convince her to stray from the orders of her Head of House."
Lucretia smiled. It pained him to see how extraordinarily she looked like her mother in those moments. "I give her three weeks before she snaps."
He chuckled and began to escort her out of the room. "Speak to Sirius– he started the betting pool before the rest of you arrived."
She raised a perfect brow. "And you approved?"
"There's nothing wrong with a little family competition… so long as it stays within the family. I will have no one else make light of our failures."
The first matter at hand was to retrieve Harry James Potter from his 'unlawful relocation,' as Arcturus had taken to call it. The old man was ever so carefully politically correct with his words. Sirius had believed since he was a young child– and still did– that Arcturus could go toe-to-toe with a riddling sphinx and win.
Of course, the other side of the coin was that Grandfather also knew what Sirius was like even before the months in Azkaban filed away at his impulse control. It was with a begrudging nod that Sirius accepted Andi, Cissa, and Cedrella joining him to get his godson. Better them than anyone else, considering their experience with children and relative level-headedness.
Privet Drive looked as if someone had performed the same transfiguration charm on every house on the street. It was completely un-magical, completely normal, and completely absent of any bit of unique charm. He'd spent a fair amount of time in Muggle England with… with his friends, but it was clear that this was Narcissa's first time in a Muggle neighborhood, and the way she wrinkled her nose showed she was not impressed.
"They all live like this?" She muttered derisively.
"It's not usually this bad, but… I have to agree." Andromeda shrugged.
Cedrella sighed. "It's a step up from post-war London, I assure you. Although I do agree, the architectural style is a blight on the eyes." She waved them on with her hand. "Let's not dally, children."
Sirius rolled his eyes at the chiding but shook his shoulders and fell into his Animagus form. He trotted ahead of where the group of them waited at the head of the street, nose to the ground as he went. While wizards who knew what they were doing often remembered to hide evidence of their magical presence, many forgot to mask one important trait: their scent.
There were some faint traces of a familiar scent, one that he was used to from his last few years as a Hogwarts student. Minerva McGonagall had been to the neighborhood several times, but not for more than a week. There were other trails, much older though, but they were all muddled around the ward line of house Number 4. It was important information but nothing that couldn't wait, so Sirius sat and wagged his tail in an "all clear" signal. It had been agreed upon: gorgeous Narcissa would be the bait to get them in through the door, Andromeda would be on hand for healing and wards, and Cedrella would be the "coming in if they weren't out in fifteen minutes."
She only had to knock four times for a man to open the door.
"I'm so sorry to bother you," Narcissa simpered. "My car broke down on the main street, and no one else seems to be home. Would you mind if I borrowed your phone to call for a ride?"
Mr. Dursley leered at Narcissa for several seconds before he looked down his nose toward Sirius and sniffed imperiously. "You're more than welcome to, sweetheart. But the dog stays outside."
"Oh, thank you so much!" Narcissa artfully pushed her way into the house. "And don't worry… he follows commands very well." Dursley had turned to let his gaze follow the sway of Narcissa's hips, allowing Sirius room to step inside, transform back, and shut the door behind him. With perfect timing, Cissa glanced over her shoulder and, seeing he had made it inside, both of them drew their wands. "Don't you, boy?"
He would freely admit that he relished the way Dursley yelped and stumbled away from him, tripping on the runner and falling on his behind. "I listen on occasion. But now then…" He turned his eyes onto Dursley. "I remember you," he snarled. "From Lily's Muggle wedding." He sneered down at the quivering man, watching as his face steadily grew red. "Where's Petunia?"
Vernon Dursley glanced up towards the ceiling before hurriedly back at Sirius.
That was answer enough for him. "Watch him," he told Cissa.
"Gladly," his prim-and-proper cousin responded, carefully side-stepping the broken glass and spilled liquid on the carpet. Her wand remained steadily on the cowering man as Sirius cautiously climbed the stairs.
He found her quite easily, just through the first open door in the hallway. A lanky blonde stood just inside, hovering over a wooden crib to watch the two boys sleeping inside.
"Evans." It's strange to say that name once again and mean it. Still, the letters sit heavy on his tongue.
She stiffened and turns around. "You," she gasped. "I don't understand."
"Nice to see you too, Evans." He moved forward to come to a stop next to her. "Cute kid you got there." He kept his voice low to not disturb the toddlers.
Petunia sighed. "If this were two years ago, I would be screaming at you until you left my house. But now…" Her arms wrapped around herself. "If you're here, it means she's really dead."
Sirius watched the two boys sleep in silence, their tiny chests rising and falling. They were so small. So fragile. Focusing on his black-haired godson, Sirius had a hard time believing that this child had been the final lodestone behind Voldemort's fall.
"She is. I'm sorry."
Her breath rattled as she held in a broken sob. "How?"
His voice sounded hollow even to his own ears. "They found her in front of Harry's crib. She was protecting him from an evil wizard."
"And… her husband?"
Sirius wasn't sure whether to be angry that Petunia still couldn't say his name all this time, or relieved that he didn't have to hear Jame– his name yet.
"At the foot of the stairs. Tried to give her time to escape with Harry."
"Oh, God." She covered her mouth with her hand. "I never liked him, but… James Potter loved her so much."
He watched as she reached her other hand out to smooth down her son's fluffy brown hair.
"Would that fat oaf downstairs do the same for you?" The question came out before he realized the words were even on the tip of his tongue.
"Excuse me?!"
"Evans, I'm serious. It's widely known that Lily was a muggle-born. She often mentioned having a sister while at school and… and Severus Snape was following the man that killed her." His gaze was piercing. "Would your husband protect you like Ja– James did for Lily and Harry?"
Her knuckles turned white from how hard they clutched the railing of the crib. "How can any of us Muggles protect ourselves from people like you?" She spat.
Sirius fought back his instinctual reaction to snap back at her. After all the time he'd had to think the last few months, the screams of Pettigrew's victims echoing in his ears, he couldn't blame her for her fears.
"I'll help you," he said. "I'll protect you and your son." His blatant omission wasn't unnoticed by either of them. "There are ways to protect your home–"
"The note," she interrupted with wide eyes. "That's what the note said."
"Note?"
"He left it unsigned, but I recognized the handwriting. I wrote to him once, asking if I could go to Hogwarts," Petunia said as she choked on a bubble of hysterical laughter. "Headmaster Dumbledore left it in Harry's basket when he left my nephew on our doorstep on a cold November night!"
"He did what?" Sirius said lowly. He can hear the electric crackle from his magic beginning to flare out. It built up in a static charge around his, sending all his hair standing on end.
"Sirius!" He turned sharply to find Cissa standing in the doorway. "Think of Harry," she said. "You don't want to hurt him!"
Sirius took a series of long, shuddering breaths and focused on purposefully releasing the energy rising within him. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Evans… I'll leave some basic wards in place but I'll be back soon for an answer."
Petunia shook her head and scooped up Harry, handing him over to Narcissa, before reaching back down again to lift her son into her arms. "Dumbledore knows where we are. I don't trust him or who he may have told." She looked between them imploringly. "I'll go with you."
"Well, isn't this adorable." Sirius and Narcissa spun with their wands out in an instant and pushed Petunia behind them protectively. It was only Cedrella in the doorway though. "But as usual, you children have forgotten something quite important about your house." She added extra weight to the final word, and Sirius closed his eyes in shame at his blunder.
Black Manor was warded to only accept magical occupants. The magic was so deeply woven into the building and its surrounding land that there was no feasible way to undo or alter the ward scheme without a selfless, large-scale sacrifice. It had been one of the reasons Sirius' Great-uncle Marius had left for the Muggle world once he became of age– the manor no longer welcomed him. If Sirius had tried to return via apparation with Petunia and her son, the consequences would have likely been fatal.
His own personal apartment had been ransacked by the Ministry after his arrest, and there was no possibility that Malfoy Manor would accept two Muggles under its protective enchantments. He further loathed asking Andromeda for help with their temporary housing, considering all that she and Ted had done for him already.
Cedrella rolled her eyes. "Foolish children," she chastised. "Petunia, is it? You'll come to Weasley Hollow with me, darling. Septimus will be ever so thrilled to have young ones in our home again!"
Great-aunt Cedrella may have been a Black to her soul, but Sirius had to admit, she pulled off the Weasley welcome wagon exceedingly well.
Petunia's frostiness melted before his eyes as she carefully surveyed the older woman. "Excuse me, who are you?"
Cedrella's expression softened. "I'm their great-aunt," she explained. "Cedrella Weasley, and it's wonderful to meet you, although I wish it were under different circumstances. Now, we don't have a lot of time left before we must leave." She strode forward meaningfully and looked around the room. "Petunia-dear, is there anything here that must come with us today?"
"The crib!" She blurted before her cheeks turned red in embarrassment. "I… our father crafted it. Please, if we can take the crib and the blankets…"
"Done," Sirius nodded. Transfiguration was always one of his best subjects, and Merlin knew he needed a distraction at that very moment. He sprung into action, transfiguring the crib, blankets, and even the mobile into small marbles that fit snugly in his pocket. As Narcissa was still holding Harry, Cedrella conjured a scarf to help secure Petunia's son across his mother's chest.
The four of them made their way downstairs with the babies carefully in tow. Sirius saw a sly grin exchanged between Narcissa and Andromeda once they entered the foyer.
"Mr. Dursley is going to be taking a nice, long nap," Meda said. "He'll be up tomorrow and unable to remember Harry." Her gray eyes flickered over to Petunia. "I take it that you're coming with us?"
Petunia clutched her son closer to her chest but nodded shakily.
Meda sniffed imperiously, looking nearly identical to Bellatrix in her mannerisms. "Good. Vernon also thinks you two have amicably separated. He won't alert the authorities."
"Andromeda, you'll help me bring Petunia and the baby– I don't think we ever asked for his name! My apologies."
Petunia recovered a sliver of a smile at Cedrella's manners. "We've named him Dudley."
The younger Blacks all stared at her incredulously.
"You're serious?" Narcissa asked, actually breaking pureblood protocol to question the choice of name.
Sirius couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. By the way Meda groaned, she realized what he was about to say. "No, I'm Sirius."
Cedrella sighed once more and escorted Petunia, Dudley, and Meda outside. Sirius and Narcissa waited until they apparated away to Weasley Hollow before they too left the wards and disapparated.
The first thing Cissa did once their feet were solidly on the floor inside Black Manor was to gently pass the just-awoken Harry into Sirius' arms.
"Hey, Prongslet," Sirius murmured, swallowing his grief as Lily's bright green eyes looked up at him from the small form of his godson.
"Pa'foo," Harry babbled back.
Sirius finally cried.