Sirius didn’t know who was more nervous. The little boy hiding behind the stool he had been sitting on who was now pointing his wand at Sirius or himself. He had to stop himself from fainting when he had seen the back of James Potter saying those familiar words but when he turned to look at him all Sirius could see was Lily and her big green eyes.

He had been right. Harry chose the one property he could walk from Diagon Alley to. It was a small, unassuming flat in a completely Muggle neighborhood. No one would look at it twice, but it had all the security any other Potter property had. Only people who were keyed into the wards could enter. It had been the flat he and James had shared their first year out of Hogwarts. Before James married. The flat he still lived in after James married. They had been in the Auror Academy at the time. They were in the Order. In the thick of it and Mad-eye Moody insisted his Aurors and trainees put full protection wherever they lived. They couldn’t put the Fidelius in the place because it was an apartment building. Even the muggles would notice if suddenly one of the floors had less apartments then the others. But it was about the only protection this place did not have.

To enter, you either had to have Potter blood or a Potter had to have personally keyed you to the wards, as Sirius had been. He looked slightly around the small living room slash kitchen fondly. It looked like Harry had cleaned up a bit but he could still see the stack of old Daily Prophets he had meant to through away that day. Before everything went to hell.  He bet that when Harry had arrive he had found the place with a layer of dust and the Daily Prophets, his clothes and other messes scattered around as they had been. Remus, who had been the only other person keyed onto the wards- Well, him and the rat but Sirius was about to fix that as soon as he got Harry to lower his wand- had obviously not been here if those Daily Prophets from eleven years ago had still been here. He took a deep breath and put on what he hoped was his most charming smile.

“Hello Harry. I bet you’re wondering who I am.”

Harry shrugged and narrowed his eyes but did not put his wand down. Sirius wondered what a twelve-year-old thought he’d do against an adult wizard but he was glad to see Harry wasn’t lowering his guard. “I’ve been looking for you. I’m Sirius Black, your godfather.”

Harry’s head straightened a bit but other than that his demeanor did not change at all, “I don’t have a godfather.”

“Yes you do,” Sirius said raising his hands to show him he meant no harm and carefully putting his wand on the table next to the couch. Harry followed his every move. “See, now you’re armed and I’m not. Go on, take my wand.”

Harry looked suspicious but slowly, and never losing track of Sirius, came from behind the stool and quickly grabbed the offered wand going back to his somewhat protected position.

“If you’re my godfather where have you been?”

Ah, straight to the point.  He would return the favor.

“In jail,” he said simply which seemed to alarm Harry so he hastened to explain. “I was framed. Someone made it look like I had betrayed your parents and killed a bunch of muggles and a wizard. The Ministry at the time didn’t see fit to question me so they just chucked me in Azkaban- that’s the Wizarding prison- until now when they needed me.”

“See Harry, I’m your guardian and since they never tried me, I never stopped being your guardian. When your parents died their wills were automatically enacted, such is with magical wills, and your guardianship transferred to me. When Dumbledore realized you weren’t at Hogwarts anymore he started searching for you and thought you might have gone to Gringotts, so he tried to get your Aunt to make the Goblins tell her if you’d been there, except she wasn’t your legal guardian so they couldn’t. That’s when they found out I never had a trial and ran to give me one. Mind you, not because they thought I deserved one, just because they needed me out of the picture. Except when they shoved Veritaserum down my throat, which by the way is also illegal-“

“Uh- Verita-what.”

“A truth potion. A defendant may demand to be given one but he can only be forced one if he is caught in the act of committing a crime,” he recited from his days in Auror training. “I wasn’t. I was caught at the scene but the Aurors, wizard police, only showed up later. So I was supposedly protected because of my right against self incrimination. But seeing as they had already trampled on many of my rights they didn’t mind trampling on one more. Except when they gave me the potion they were surprised, and not pleasantly, by me being innocent.”

“So you went to Gringotts for them?”

“No, not for them,” Sirius shook his head kneeling down to be closer to Harry’s height. “For you. Because I wanted to find you, to protect you. I left Dumbledore and the rest of them at the Minister’s office and tried to find out where you were. You were smart you know? Only people who have been keyed in to this flat can come here. There are only two other people keyed in and you as a Potter can change those wards. Then no one will be able to get you here.”

“How do I know you mean it? That you’re not just gonna hurt me like they did?”

Sirius looked at the parchment on the counter and said, “That map has a charm on it. You see, back when we were in school there was this kid who hated me, your dad and our friends. He found out a secret about one of our friends, Moony. I’m Padfoot by the way, your dad was Prongs,” he saw enlightenment in Harry’s eyes. “Well, this boy found out this secret and he was taunting me about it. And I ended up getting riled up and saying more than I should. The boy did something really, really stupid,” and he really, to this day, had no idea why Snape went to the shack. He had known he’d face a werewolf. He had known what Remus was and had been taunting Sirius and in a fit of anger Sirius had cried, “Well if you’re so eager to meet a transformed werewolf next full moon just press the knot at the base of the Whomping Willow!” Really, how stupid did you have to be to actually do it? “And he put himself in danger. Your dad saved him but Moony thought I had told him his secret. Betrayed him. So I told Moony to charm the map. If anyone ever betrayed one of the Marauders they wouldn’t be able to use the map again. Even a Marauder. So he did and I was still able to use the map, proving I was innocent.”

“Oh, is that why Fred and George said the map wouldn’t open for them? They said they betrayed the line of Prongs.”

“Where they among the student who hurt you?” Sirius asked with a steely gaze.

Harry shrugged, “They didn’t do anything, but they didn’t try to stop it either.”

“Then they are. They betrayed Prongs’ son by not helping you and just watching.” This was actually a good turn. If Harry had already had a sample of how the charm worked there was a better chance he’d believe Sirius.

“Can I show you that I intend you no harm?”

Harry looked unsure but nodded. He took the parchment and put it in the coffee table in front of the couch. Sirius took a seat on the couch as Harry stood in front of him. Sirius looked at his wand and grinned.

“Gonna need my wand pup.” Harry’s eyes narrowed and he scowled but he handed the wand nonetheless.

“I Sirius Orion Black, aka Padfoot, solemnly swear to never have betrayed nor meant any harm to the line of James Charlus Potter, aka Prongs.”

The map of Hogwarts disappeared and in its place the familiar writing Harry had seen started again.

“Mr. Prongs wants to state Mr. Padfoot is touched in the head if he actually has to state that he has never betrayed my line.”

“Mr. Padfoot says that Mr. Prongs should mind his tongue.”

“Mr. Moony wants to remind Mr. Prongs and Mr. Padfoot that evoking the loyalty charm is serious business and they should stop messing around and give out the result, lest Mr. Padfoot get hexed wherever he is.”

“Mr. Prongs says Mr. Moony is a spoilsport and states that Mr. Padfoot has never wronged the line of Prongs. Moreover Mr. Prongs lets it be known that it was Mr. Wormtail, who no longer is welcome in the Marauders, who wronged the lines of Prongs, Padfoot and Moony.”

“Mr. Padfoot wants to also state that Mr. Moony is toeing a fine line because, though he has not actively wronged the lines of Prongs, he is getting dangerously close to by inaction.”

“How does the map know that?” Harry asked and Sirius looked back relieved. The boy had lowered his wand and had sat next to him. He obviously believed him.

“The charm is sentient. Though I don’t think it’s enough to prove anything in court, it is linked to each of the four of us, by blood, which then makes it linked to our direct descendants, like you. Its magic is aware of when one of the Marauders is wronged. It can’t actually state outright what happened but see here. About Moony. That’s Remus Lupin. He was supposed to take you in if I wasn’t available and he didn’t. And I think that’s what it means. But it also means he didn’t mean to wrong Prongs so we should probably ask him why he hasn’t taken over his responsibilities before deciding how much to hex him.”

“Wormtail is the man who framed you?”

“Yes, Peter Pettigrew.”

“Says he wronged my dad too.”

“He was the Secret Keeper. See, your parents were hidden by a charm. The Fidelius Charm. That charm hides any dwelling in a soul. That of the Secret Keeper, and only those who he tells the secret to can see the place.”

“He told Voldemort,” Harry said seriously and Sirius felt a pang at a child having been through enough to be able to realize that so easily.

“Yes he did. But people thought I was the Secret Keeper. That night, Hagrid was at the house. He had you and said he was taking you to Dumbledore. I thought you’d be safe and Peter was still out there. He could still hurt you so I went after him. Except he got the best of me. He yelled to the whole street that I had betrayed James and Lily and blasted the street cutting his finger and transforming to escape.”

“Transforming?”

“He is an Animagus, he can turn into an animal at will. We all were,” Sirius said getting up and transforming into Padfoot to demonstrate. Harry looked amazed and stretched a hand cautiously to touch the dog. Sirius butted his head into Harry’s hand and let him scratch him for a while before transforming back.

“Everyone thought I killed him and the muggles. Didn’t help that I went a little hysterical, you know. I think everything came crashing down. I hadn’t yet absorbed what was happening and by the time the authorities came I was laughing.”

“Laughing?”

“Yeah, ever heard of how you either laugh or cry? I think my reaction was laugh. Little bumbling Peter got the best of the big bad Auror. Bested us all. They stunned me then and when I woke up I was in Azkaban with only Dementors- that’s the Azkaban guards, nasty dark creatures who suck the happiness out of people - and other inmates for company. Once a year the Minister of Magic makes a round but just that. I managed to keep my mind because I can close my mind off to the Dementors effect or I just transformed into Padfoot at times. See, a dog’s emotions are simpler. Dead boring though. Only myself for company for eleven years. I used to imagine we were living together and all the things I’d be teaching you so I wouldn’t go crazy from loneliness. Can’t do magic there, see, because of the wards. So I couldn’t escape. After a while I just lived in my dreamland. Wasn’t awful like the other inmates who were trapped in their worst memories but wasn’t really sane either. I lost track of reality till they shoved reality on my face today.”

He didn’t know if Harry understood all of this. He figured he was a bit young but he wanted to be honest with Harry. He honestly had no idea how he was doing. Until this morning he had been mostly daydreaming and when he wasn’t he was thinking he’d die forgotten in that little cell. He was realistic, he won’t be the most stable of parents but he wanted to make sure he would be the best he could for Harry even if he had to go to one of those Muggle mind healers Lily had talked about. She had wanted to become one and bring the practice to the Magical World, to help the people affected by the war. From what he heard from the Healer at Gringotts there was a chance Harry would benefit from one to. To help him deal with the years of care at his relatives hands.

“So you’re crazy?” Harry asked simply and Sirius let out a bark of a laugh. The first one in eleven year. He felt as if he had forgotten how to.

“Probably, but to be honest, I wasn’t the sanest person to begin with. But I promise I’ll get help to be a little less crazy. Gotta give me time though. I just got out of prison.”

Harry nodded and then looked at Sirius seriously, “I’m not going back to Hogwarts.”

“And I won’t make you,” Sirius said with the same tone. “If you want, we can see about other magical schools or even home schooling. If you wish you can even go to Muggle school. I don’t mind. I’m not very fond of the Wizarding world right now.”

“But won’t Dumbledore make me go back?”

“Dumbledore might be powerful but he is not above the law and he is not your guardian. I am.”

“What if he comes here?”

“Only four people can get in here which reminds me-“ he said getting up and motioning for Harry to do the same. “After we’re done, there will be only two. Get your wand.”

“I’m not allowed to do magic outside of school,” Harry told Sirius.

“The trace only tells if magic is done near you. Not by you. If anyone says anything I’ll say I performed the magic. But they won’t. Part of the wards in here are wards that cancel any detection charm placed on a person while they are in here. Meaning, the Trace, which is the charm on minors, only works outside these walls. Come here,” he said leading Harry to the door. “Give me your hand. I’ll need to make a little prick. Promise it won’t hurt ,” he made a small prick on Harry’s finger and a bit of blood came out. “Place your wand and hand on the door and say after me. “As the Potter heir I disclaim any other permissions to these wards.’”

“Won’t that kick you out?”

Sirius grinned, “Clever boy, but no. It won’t let me get in again if I go out of the wards but it won’t kick me out no.”

Harry nodded and followed his instructions. The door and walls glowed golden and then went back to their color. With his wand, Sirius pricked his own hand and put his hand next to Harry’s on the door.

“I hereby allow Sirius Orion Black entrance to these wards,” Sirius told Harry and Harry repeated the words. Once again the golden glow involved the whole apartment before diming down.

“There,” Sirius smiled down at Harry. “Now what do you say we see if there is anything edible around.”

“I went shopping yesterday for food and cleaning supplies. The stuff in the fridge had created a forest but I think I cleaned it up all right.”

“Well, seeing as this place was left alone since the moment I was arrested I imagined so.”

“You lived here?”

“Yes, at first with your dad. But then he abandoned me for a skirt,” he made a face and Harry giggled. “I’m going to forgive him because I wouldn’t have you if he hadn’t.”

---

“Albus, you let him leave? He was our only chance at finding Potter?” Minerva McGonagall cried outraged.

“What could I have done Minerva?” Dumbledore asked tiredly from his desk. “Imprison the boy, again. My hope is that he has found young Harry. I tried to see if he had gone to Gringotts but the Goblins were not very receptive of me. They wouldn’t tell me if Sirius was there. They seemed to take offense of my attempt to have Petunia breach their secrecy.”

McGonagall huffed. “The boy might be hurt Albus.”

“I know. I’ve sent a letter to Remus Lupin. He might have better luck with Sirius. He also has a better chance of knowing where Sirius might have gotten to.”

“You hope,” McGonagall huffed. “What of the students. What will we do with them?”

“What can we do? I have already talked sternly to the school last night.”

“Talked Albus! They burnt Potters things! Four of those students physically assaulted him and the rest didn’t allow him to eat!”

“Exactly. The whole school is involved. What do you suggest? I put the whole school in detention?”

“Yes!”

“And who will supervise the entire student body in detention Minerva? It just isn’t feasible and I can’t just punish a few of them for a transgression that everyone took part in. I made it clear I was very displeased with their actions.”

“Well, then you best hope Sirius Black doesn’t find other means of making his displeasure clear!” she snapped storming away.

---

Sirius had taken Harry out to buy some clothes and other supplies they needed. Harry had been wearing the same clothes since Tuesday. With the aid of Harry’s cloak, he had once again ventured Diagon Alley and Gringotts and talked to his account Manager. By some miracle his accounts and Harry’s seemed to be in order. James had been very careful with protecting his son’s estate. So, he took out enough money and went to pick Harry up. A special edition of the Prophet had come out with his innocence but he didn’t want to brave the mobs.

So Harry and Sirius went shopping for Muggle clothes. Sirius clothes had been dusty but thanks to the household charms in his closet they were in pretty good state. Horribly old fashioned but in good state. He put on what he thought would look less ridiculous after seeing how fashion had changed when walking to the apartment and shrunk another set for Harry and they set off. With a new wardrobe and considerably more food than Harry had bought they set to take care of the small, two bedrooms flat. Sirius reclaiming his room and Harry’s his dad’s old room which Sirius had previously turned into a study room for him. Fortunately James’s bed had still been there so it was just the case of rearranging things. Harry had been especially ecstatic at finding pictures of his parents and Sirius felt his anger rise when Harry explained that the only pictures he had had been in his trunk. Sirius was prompt to rectify the situation by making copies of the pictures Harry liked and creating a new album for him.

All in all Harry and Sirius spent the next few days making a home for themselves and getting to know each other. Sirius had also used his considerable vault to not only replace all of Harry’s things but also spoil him rotten for Christmas. Harry had been astounded about receiving so many presents and had been horribly shy about it. Sirius had told him he had eleven years of presents to make up for. The only thing he didn’t buy was a new broom for Harry because, one, Harry couldn’t fly here in London and two. The shopkeeper at Quidditch Supplies confided in him that a brand new broom that was top of the market would be released that summer.  Their peace was not disturbed until mid-morning Christmas day when a rattle ran through the apartment and the walls glowed blue.

“Sirius?” Harry asked worried.

“Someone tried to breach the wards Harry. Get your cloak and stay under it. If a fight begins I want you to run out of the apartment and to Gringotts. You remember the way right? Stay there till I turn up.”

Harry was scared but nodded getting into his cloak after Sirius positioned him behind the wall but close to the door so he could escape as soon as Sirius moved. Sirius himself was between Harry and the door. Whoever was outside would not be able to walk through the wards even with the door open, at least if they held, but better safe than sorry. Sirius cautiously opened the door and rolled his eyes. He lowered his wand and with a quick look at Harry and a sign for him to stay quiet he leaned over the banister and looked at the man sprawled on the floor nursing his head.

“Problems Moony?”

Remus Lupin didn’t know if he should glare at or hug the man in front of him. He compromised into awkwardly getting up and complaining. “The wards repelled me.”

“Hum, wonder why?” Sirius said nonchalantly.

“Sirius, I-“

“Didn’t bother trying to get me a trial, no you didn’t. Didn’t take care of Harry as both James and I asked, no you didn’t. Didn’t even bother to stop by to visit him once in a while, yeah, that’s another one you didn’t.”

“So you have him,” Remus said in a mixture of exasperation and relief.

“Have who?” Sirius asked innocently.

“Harry Sirius!”

“Says who?”

Now Remus did glare at him, “You know I haven’t seen him and-“

“Dumbledore told me.”

“The wards were changed. Only a Potter can change the wards!”

“How do you know I wasn’t the result of a love affair between Charlus and mother and Father just-“

“Because you’re not Sirius, we both know that!” now Remus was really losing his patience. He missed Sirius. He had never wanted to believe he had betrayed them but the evidence had been overwhelming, hadn’t it? A little voice in the back of his head said he should have gone to get the map. That this was the second time he believed others over Sirius. He squashed that voice and focused on the relief he had felt when Dumbledore said Sirius was innocent despite it pointing out that Peter wasn’t. Somehow, he’d always known that it made more sense that way.

He wanted to hug and shake Sirius at the same time, but he did not want to get shocked by the wards again and Sirius was conveniently inside the threshold. But before Sirius could say anything else or Remus respond a very well known piece of parchment floated on front of Remus more or less at the height of both Remus’ and Sirius’s waist and a small finger appeared out of nowhere pointing at a line in the parchment. Sirius frowned at the air and Remus rolled his eyes until he read what was written in the parchment.

“Mr. Padfoot wants to also state that Mr. Moony is toeing a fine line because, though he has not actively wronged the lines of Prongs, he is getting dangerously close to by inaction.”

He swallowed. The map was right. When Dumbledore had told him Harry was better off with his relatives because of Blood wards he had just accepted the orders to leave the boy alone. Dumbledore’s orders. Automatically. So grateful for all Dumbledore had done for him. For allowing him to go to school. But hadn’t James and Sirius done more? Even in death James had provided for him. The day after being notified of James’s death he was also notified from Gringotts of a trust account in his name. An account that would provide him for life. An account that had saved him for starving many times over the years. And he hadn’t said anything about Sirius not having a trial, he knew he wouldn’t be listened to. Probably just be locked up too, but he hadn’t even tried. He had believed in Sirius’s guilt. He swallowed hard and asked something that had been bothering him since he learnt the truth.

“Why didn’t you tell me of the switch? Didn’t you trust me?”

“Considering you didn’t trust me maybe we shouldn’t have. But no,” Sirius heaved a sigh. “They couldn’t torture what you didn’t know out of you Remus.  If you got captured you could just let them rift through your memories, if you knew, you’d try to hide it and then they’d torture you. Peter was supposed to go into hiding. Be safe because I was the decoy.”

Remus swallowed hard. He had wanted to believe they hadn’t trusted him so he could justify his inaction but it was worse. They had done it so if he was captured he wouldn’t suffer.

“Are we gonna let him in?” Remus heard a whisper and Sirius sighed frustrated again.

“I told you to stay hidden.”

“But it was Moony.”

“Still. Next time obey me. Come on,” he finished fishing something off the air and a miniature James Potter appeared out of nowhere. Except when he looked at him Remus could see the green eyes of the baby who had called him Mooye and smiled.

“Okay. But temporarily,” Sirius warned to Remus he said. “You know the drill.” Remus nodded and made a small prick in his finger. “Grab his hand and say “I hereby allow Remus John Lupin one time entrance to these wards,” and he smirked at Remus who glared at him as Harry’s small hand grabbed his and did as Sirius told him. Tentatively Remus put a foot forward and sighed relieved when he wasn’t flung back with an electrical shock.