This is the first chapter of my new fic of Sirius and Remus raising Harry, it is canon to my Harry Potter re-write, hope you enjoy.

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@MeowTasticCat @IMPERIAL TRANSMISSIONS

Chapter 1:The End, and The Beginning

It had been a horrible, horrible day. The death toll had continued to rise and as an auror, Remus Lupin had to witness many massacres and there aftermaths first hand. He also felt ever alone.

Besides his former mentor, now his division superior, Vincent MacBones, Remus had no one at work he would call his friend. His old school friend Jame’s and his wife and child were in hiding so Remus couldn’t even receive owls from them. He still wasn’t talking to his father so that was another connection lost. And finally his closest friend in the world, Sirius Black, the man he had admired since they had been sorted together, had not visited or written him in almost eight months.

It was quarter after midnight and yet Remus had only been home in his snug little apartment for less than an hour. Work had been long and painful and he was expected to be back at it in just under six hours so despite all the death and heart-wrenching things he had seen today he needed to sleep.

He had just heated up some milk to take to bed with him when his fireplace suddenly lit up with emerald flame. He whipped around, with his wand drawn, but there wasn’t a person in the chimney, just a face, and a familiar one at that.

‘Sirius, I, what,’ he stuttered in his confusion, he than composed himself. ‘Sirius now is not a good time.’

But something about Sirius’ face told Remus he would not be sleeping for some time to come.

‘They are dead,’ he finally said. ‘James and Lily are dead, Remus.’

Remus dropped his wand and rushed to the fireplace.

‘What, what happened? Are you alright, is the child ok?’

‘No, nothing is alright, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I need to go, there is something I need to do, but I desperately need a favour from you right now Remus.’

‘Anything.’ And he meant it, despite getting the distinct feeling the last year that Sirius no longer trusted him, this was one of those moments that past drama did not matter, he was ready to do what needed to be done.

‘Go to Godric’s Hollow, near the graveyard you’ll meet up with Hagrid from Hogwarts, I need you to-‘ his voice broke, ‘I need you to pick up Harry, keep him safe. I need you to be there now.’

And with a near manic face Sirius disappeared from the fire light. Remus grabbed his wand and a coat and apparated to the village. It did not take him long to find the graveyard, it was not a big village, and standing outside the gate next to what appeared to be Sirius’ motorcycle was the biggest man Remus knew.

The eleven and a half foot tall man looked very worried and impatient. When he saw Remus he raised his umbrella.

‘Who does there?’

‘Remus Lupin, Sirius just sent for me.’

‘He told me ter wait fer his friend, I’m glad yer here cause I can’t wait no longer.’

Hagrid started walking towards a side street of houses. And with his wand drawn, Remus followed.

‘What happened, how were they killed?’

‘Don’t know the full story meself, Dumbledore jus’ told me that You-Know-Who killed them and that I had ter safely deliver Harry to a location.’

Hearing it from a second person made it all but true, Remus though was still in denial, his friend of over a decade murdered. They came to a small two story cottage, it’s curtains open and door blown off its hinges. The fantasy that James could still be alive were now broken, as lying on his back in a cramped hallway was his old dorm mate, hazel eyes still open.

Remus couldn’t breath, the walls felt like they were getting closer and closer and that his body was trying to crawl out of his skin. The only thing that snapped him out of it was the sound of an infant crying upstairs. Remus forced himself to take deep breaths, and then carefully walked passed James’ body. Somehow Hagrid managed to do the same.

As they climbed the stairs Hagrid spoke.

‘I’m sorry Lupin, I know how much Potter an’ his wife meant to yeh.’

Remus couldn’t answer, Remus couldn’t speak at all, it was as though a spell had removed his voice.

As they reached the nursery doorway Remus could then see her, Lily. She lay too on the floor, but unlike her husband it was almost as though she laid down gently. Her hair was neatly underneath her and her eyes were closed.

Remus couldn’t think about this oddity for long as poor Harry was bawling and screaming in his crib. Remus raced over and scooped up the boy.

‘Harry, shhh, shh, shh. I’m here. No more harm is going to come to you. I’m here.’ The crying didn’t stop but he did calm a bit. Remus got a good look at the room, the doorway and area where Lily and the crib remained was intact, but the ceiling on the other side of the room had caved in, seemingly from a powerful blast. Remus then turned his attention to the fifteen month old in his arms.

Harry’s face was covered in blood, Remus cleaned it up a bit with the fabric of his sleeve and soon realized there was a nasty cut on his forehead.

He pointed his wand at the child’s forehead.

‘Episkey.’

But nothing happened. But Remus knew that spell was finicky on what it could and could not heal, he tried a more powerful spell.

‘Vulnera Sanentur.’ That stopped the bleeding, but the cut itself was still open. If Remus was any other wizard he might try again, but secretly being a werewolf he had experience with magical wounds that can’t be closed with a spell, and knew if he kept trying it could actually hurt Harry. Instead he cast a simple spell that always worked on him

‘Ferula.’

A small bandage covered the cut, it should also help prevent it from getting infected.

Not long later aurors arrived at the scene, including Alastor Moody and Vincent MacBones. There was not much to do but document everything, transport the bodies, and interview Remus and Hagrid for there statements. During this time Remus found some formula in a fridge and gave it to Harry, he wasn’t sure how exactly to hold a baby as they ate but Harry didn’t appear to be choking so for now it was ok.

Remus and Hagrid got a little suspicious however when over an hour later they were still not allowed to leave. Eventually Remus handed Harry off to Hagrid and pulled his former mentor aside.

‘Bones, why are we still here, why is a small army of aurors in this house, why are even you acting skittish?’

MacBones sighed and then pulled Remus close and whispered.

‘Dumbledore has claimed that Voldemort has been defeated, in this very house no less.’

‘What!’

‘Shh boy, only higher up officials are supposed to know.’

‘That can’t be possible, there’s no body, and no one in this house could have killed him.’

‘It’s suspicious, and normally I wouldn’t trust solely the word of Dumbledore, however for the past three hours dozens of wizards and witches who had been under the Imperius curse have returned home, and several of his followers have been captured today and are all saying the same thing, he’s gone.’

Hours continued to pass, no one was allowed to leave until the Minister for Magic, Millicent Bagnold, herself sent the all good sign. In that time Remus gave Harry a bath and changed his clothes. It was just after noon that Remus was informed of Sirius Blacks arrest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sirius’ hands were bound, he was scared, and didn’t understand what had just happened. Peter had cast the Blasting Curse, causing several muggle casualties and yet it was Sirius being arrested.

‘What is going on, it is Peter Pettigrew you want, not me. He cast the curse.’

‘And yet it is you who remains, Black. The surviving muggles are already reporting Pettigrew yelling that you betrayed the Potters before you each cast a spell.’

‘I didn’t betray, he was the Secret-Keeper, we switched in secret, and the spell I cast was the Protego Charm, check my wand.’

‘We got orders to immediately charge you and bring you to Crouch.’

Sirius resisted being led, and instead got down on his knees.

‘Please, I beg you, check my wand. It’s the bare minimum you can do, please.’

The wizard seemingly took pity and did as he asked, after a minute his eyes widened.

‘Sir, he’s telling the truth.’

‘What? But that can’t be, Pettigrew is dead.’

And idea suddenly came into Sirius’ mind. ‘Is there a body?’

‘Excuse me?’

‘How do you know he is dead, did you find his body?’

‘Well, no, but no one has apparated from this area, the sewers are empty, and we found the severed finger of Pettigrew.’

‘He’s in the sewers.’

‘He just told you the sewers are empty.’

‘Of people, but not of rats. Peter Pettigrew was secretly an Animagus.’

‘How do you know this?’ He asked suspiciously.

‘I was his roommate for seven years, I had seen him transform. Check the sewers for a rat missing a finger, it will be him, I swear.’

Sirius didn’t think they would believe him, he thought they would continue dragging him away for sure, but instead they called over two others to guard him and they entered the crater themselves.

Minutes ticked by, Sirius started fearing they wouldn’t be able to find him and he’d be dragged off. But suddenly there was a flash of light, and then the two officers from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement came out dragging an unconscious Peter behind them, blood dripping from his hand.

‘In light of new evidence we are now letting you go, however we need you to remain here until we do a thorough investigation of the area. Also, even after we permit you to leave, until the case is officially closed you are not allowed to leave the country.’

‘Yes Sir, thank you Sir.’

It would be close to ten when they finally allowed him to leave. He wanted to go to a pub and drink until he passed out, however the thought of his godson frightened and all alone got him to temporarily clear his head. He knew where he needed to be.

When they crossed paths, Rubeus Hagrid has mentioned Dumbledore had given him orders to transport Harry to the boy’s aunt Petunia. And despite his protest, Sirius was pretty certain that is where Harry would now be.

He’d never been to Petunia’s house, he knew she didn’t live in the old Even’s house, so Sirius would have to use a trick he learned a few months back. The muggle phone book. He found a telephone booth and started going through the Even’s. It eventually occurred to him that she had gotten married and that he should probably be searching for her husband. James has made fun of Petunia and her family a lot, so he now was going through the Dursley’s.

Ten to eleven, and now with a firm address in mind, he apparated to the closest location he had been to that address, from there he walked. He knew he had reached the right spot when he saw his motorcycle parked on the street in front of 4 Privet Drive. Hagrid, Remus, and Harry must have taken it here. The lights were all on and Sirius could hear many loud voices as he approached. Just as he was walking up the path, the front door opened and Hagrid managed to squeeze out.

‘Ah, Sirius, yer alright, was worried about ya when I heard da news. Ya best get in there, they’re arguing on who gets ter keep the boy.’

Sirius should have thanked Hagrid for the update, but instead he rushed by him into the house. The living room was quite a sight to behold, not because of the furniture, but the people inside. There was Albus Dumbledore himself, with his crescent moon glasses, Vernon Dursley, fat as ever, Remus, exhausted but not letting Harry out of his arms, Petunia, trying to rock her own baby back to sleep as they argued, and to Sirius’s surprise, Minerva McGonagall.

‘QUIET!’ He yelled as he entered. Everyone turned to him in shock, he had even managed to temporarily silence the Dursley baby, but not for long. Sirius then marched over to Remus who gladly handed Harry over. With all of there attention, he now calmly spoke.

‘I don’t know what has been discussed, or if a verdict had been made, but I need this to be clear right here, right now. Harry is my godson and it will be me who raises him.’ Remus nodded as though he had been preaching those exact words while he was gone.

‘Take him,’ said Petunia coldly, although Sirius noted her eyes were blotchy meaning she might have been crying earlier. ‘I do not want another freak living with me, growing up with one was enough.’

Sirius was about to give her some strong words for insulting his best friends wife, but Dumbledore intervened first. ‘Sirius, my dear boy, it is not so simple as to who wants him.’

Sirius was confused, what was the old man talking about?

‘The following information does not leave this room, it shall never be spoken again, not to each other, not to Harry, to no one. When Harry arrived here I examined him, it is my understanding that the reason Voldemort was defeat while Harry still lives is that Lily imbued her love into Harry.’

‘But don’t all mothers do that.’

‘Most mothers love there children, yes Remus, but it is my believe that moments before Voldemort tried to kill Harry, that Lily gave her life specifically to save him. He has been marked by her love, and that mark will keep him safe.’

‘Okay, that’s great, but why does that mean I can’t keep my godson Dumbledore?’

‘Sirius, you’ve been out of school for over two years, call me Albus, and the reason is for the mark to effectively work, it needs to be close to someone who shares her blood, at this point Lily’s only living blood relatives are Petunia here, and her son.’

There was silence for a while, but then McGonagall spoke.

‘How long can the boy be apart from her?’

‘Minerva?’

‘Well, for almost twenty-four hours the boy was kilometres away from his aunt and yet the mark still holds, how long do you think the boy can be apart from her before it endangers the mark?’

Dumbledore approached Harry and gently put a hand on the toddlers head.

‘I think the boy must be in close proximity to her for somewhere around eight to ten weeks a year. Preferably sleeping under the same roof as if he considers her home his home, even the slightest bit, it’ll strengthen the mark.’

‘Well then let the boy live with Mr Black, and then a seventy day period that they decide amongst themselves can be spent here.’

Vernon Dursley now spoke up, ‘I object to this, I do not want these two freaks living in my house for a fifth of the year.’

Dumbledore chuckle, ‘Well, the two other options is Sirius drops off Harry for the seventy days and you take care of him yourself, or he doesn’t get custody at all and you take care of him full time.’

Vernon went purple in the face. ‘Fine, when they are here they can all sleep in the small bedroom, however I wish to be compensated, financially speaking.’

Sirius now spoke up. ‘Are we all in agreement then?’ Everyone either nodded or vocally said yes.

‘Okay then, with all that settled I wish to now take my godson home and figure out what I need to do.’

He had just turned around to go out the door, when a letter floated through the slot and landed in the centre of the living room. The back of it read:

Mr S. O. Black

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

Sirius tapped the letter with his foot, it sprang to live and went on to deliver its message.

“Dear Mr Black,

In light of your resent involvement in the murder of twelve muggles this morning, you will be trialed to test if you are fit to be the legal guardian of Harry James Potter. Your hearing will take place on November third, at three p.m.

Hoping you are well,

Yours sincerely,

Dolores Umbridge.”