Chapter Text
Sirius Black did not like Albus Dumbledore one bit.
There were lots of reasons for this. Over the years the other Marauders had heard all the rants from their friend, and all of them shared a similar sentiment. Remus had suggested he take up boxing or something involving a punching bag in fifth year to deal with his pent up anger at the man, preferably before he caused another pumpkin juice explosion in the Great Hall.
As he took every punch, he would imagine it was Dumbledore's face he was hitting. That he could hear every single thing Sirius thought about him and his grandfatherly act .
One punch for not listening to him and Reg when they had told him about their home life first year.
Two for saying it was “normal” to discipline your children like that.
Three for forcing him to leave the Potters every summer he tried to leave that shithole of a home.
Four for making Regulus believe all of his bullshit about the importance of family .
Five for the fight.
Six for Regulus joining Moldywart after school because didn’t you hear Dumbledore? Family matters and this is what our family is doing, so we should stand by their side.
Seven for convincing him and his friends to join the Order of the Phoenix because the ministry wasn’t doing shit against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, for convincing them that no one else would.
Eight for coming to Lily and James’ wedding, even though they had told him that under no circumstances should he be there.
And nine for telling Remus of all people, to his fucking face , that yes, I may be the head of the Wizengamot, but I can’t do anything about those laws that don’t let you live a life like everyone else.
Sirius would hit the bag again. And again. And again.
Between his punching bag therapy and the Occlumency that his mother forced him to learn, he managed not to strangle the man in the Order meetings. He taught James and the others how to Occlude when they were still in school, and later taught Lily when James had finally gotten his head out of his arse and she had become a part of their lives.
The punching bag helped him get through everything. The war. Fleamont and Euphemia being killed. James and Lily being forced into hiding.
And them losing the baby.
They hadn’t told anyone they were expecting. After James’ parents had died, they didn’t want to risk it. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were the only ones who knew. When they had told Sirius that they wanted him to be the child's godfather, he had ugly cried for roughly a half hour.
Well, obviously he had said yes after he was done.
He was so excited to have a little Prongslet running around. He would teach them how to box, and fly, and pranking, Merlin, he could create a pranking master .
And then he had shown up at the cottage one day in June, and Lily and James were crying.
They had lost the baby.
Sirius was upset. He really was. But part of him was also incredibly relieved. This meant that they wouldn’t be giving birth to the prophecy child Dumbledore had told them about. They could leave the cottage. It was ok now.
It was hard to tell his best friend this, after he had lost his unborn child, but James had smiled. He understood what Sirius was trying to say. He understood that comfort was hard for a man who hadn’t really ever had that.
They organized meetings with Dumbledore over the next few months, trying to get him to remove the Fidelius charm he had put on Lily and James.
He never showed up.
July came and went, and news of the Longbottoms having a child came with it.
And strangely enough, so did news of Lily having a child.
Dumbledore went even more silent after the news had started to circulate. It was driving the dog animagus absolutely insane that he couldn’t do anything about the lies spreading. Too many people knew .
Without Dumbledore, they couldn’t remove the Fidelius charm, and James and Lily were stuck. July turned into August, and all parties involved were getting anxious. Peter hadn’t been seen or heard from in months, so he didn’t know about the miscarriage, but the charm held so he was alive.
Finally, at the end of August, Dumbledore showed up in Godric's Hollow.
With a baby .
“Albus, what the hell were you thinking?” Lily was pacing through the living room of the cottage, trying to get the baby in her arms to stop crying. Sirius, Remus, and James sat crammed onto the couch watching her yell at the old man sitting in a plush chair across from them.
“His family is dead, Lily. I knew what had happened with your child, and wanted to offer you another chance at a family.”
“Oh so you were getting the letters.” James stood up, fuming. “Well now that this is resolved, would you please remove the Fidelius charm? We’re not in danger anymore, so what's the point?”
“No.”
Sirius leapt up from the couch and shouted, “Why the hell not? James and Lily could fight if you just let them! You’re purposely letting people not fight when they want to!”
“That is not it, Sirius-”
“I did not give you permission to use my first name.”
Silence. Dumbledore's eyes were wide, and he had gone pale. “What are you talking about, my boy?”
“Common fucking courtesy. I did not give you permission to use my first name. Therefore you should refer to me as Mr. Black. Hell I don’t think my heirship has been removed so its Heir Black, you bastard.”
James and the others were holding back laughter, Sirius knew it. But he was really close to going off on this man and was having none of it.
“My apologies, Heir Black. I cannot remove the Fidelius charm because the world thinks that a few weeks ago, Lily gave birth. And,” he said, raising a hand to silence the protests from James and Lily, “I am aware that did not happen. However, the news got out about your due date, and it turned into you having actually given birth. It cannot be easily changed. And it does not have to be.”
The baby in Lilys arms began to cry again, waving his little fists around. Lily continued to rock him, softly singing to calm him as Dumbledore continued.
“You were put into hiding to protect you and your unborn child. However, there is no longer a child fitting the prophecy. Voldemort does not know this. ”
“What about Neville Longbottom? He was born on the thirtieth. He fits.” Remus protested.
“Voldemort will not go after him. For reasons unknown, he believes it will be your child that will be his undoing. And you don’t have one.”
That stung. Sirius knew it did. Lily paused in her rocking of the tiny child, and James stiffened. They didn’t talk about that. It hurt.
And Dumbledore, that fucking chess master, he knew it hurt .
“You will have to remain here, for your safety. And, conveniently, this child needs that safety as well. Death Eaters killed his family last week. He was born on the thirty-first of July.”
“As the seventh month dies…” Remus muttered, eyebrows furrowing.
“You want us to care for him.” Lily said. The old man simply nodded.
Lily and James looked at each other, and then to Sirius and Remus. Sirius could tell they didn’t believe Dumbledore's story. But they were in a sticky place. The other options for the kid were an orphanage or a muggle family, and if he had magic…
Some muggles never got over that fear from the witch trial era. The Statue of Secrecy existed for a reason.
All four of them knew what they were going to do. Dumbledore obviously already saw the child as a pawn. They could stop that from happening.
Lily let out a deep sigh. “We’ll take him.”
Dumbedore grinned. “Excellent. I brought the paperwork with me for a magical adoption. Just sign here…”
James took the quill in hand and signed his name on the document after reading it thoroughly. The quill signed in his blood, leaving James’ name scratched into his hand. Lilly did the same soon after, and Sirius took out his wand to do the bonding although he was only about 68% sure he knew the incantation, but James shook his head.
“Pads, our offer still stands. This little guy is gonna need a godfather.”
Sirius choked. He nodded a yes, afraid that opening his mouth would end in sobbing. Again. Remus took out his wand as the four gathered together.
After a deep breath, Remus raised his wand and began the bonding spell. “ Puer solum, repetita est dux. duas in absentia elevare ad serviendum. numquam obliviscar undenam esset et novum testamentum et propinquitates reservandum”
Magic settled among the four of them, and Siruis took a deep breath. It was done.
“When did you learn that Moony?” James asked.
“Interned briefly in the Department of Family Affairs at the Ministry. They found out about my… furry little problem though. Didn’t work out.”
Albus stood up, and clapped his hands. “Well! Lovely to see you all. I’ll just be on my way then. Good luck, Lily, James.” He walked over to the fireplace, and after throwing in the green powder with a shout of “Hogs Head Inn!” he was gone.
Quickly, Remus and James took out their wands and searched the room and entryway for listening spells, wiping away the few that had been placed.
“Right, so that was all bullshit.”
The three men turned with wide eyes to Lily, who almost never cursed.
“Well yeah, obviously. But I’m curious to see what you think about this.” James said, taking his new son from her arms.
“Well for starters, this little guy is way too tiny to have been born a few weeks ago. Even born premature he wouldn’t look like this. Odds are? He was born in the last day or so. And there are way too many coincidences in all of this. I mean, everyone thinking I gave birth? Albus ignoring us for months?”
The others nodded in agreement. Lily was a certified mediwitch, and they trusted her judgement. Sirius went and picked up the paperwork, reading through it himself. He quickly signed his name on the line for godparent with the quill.
“This is authentic. Gringotts. Only thing missing is a name for him.”
“Harry.” Remus said. “Harry sounds nice.”
“Harry Potter it is then.” Sirius said, and after Lily and James agreed, wrote it down. “Middle name James sounds good?”
Lily and James nodded with a smile. “I like it”, they said together.
“What now?” Remus said, sitting back on the couch.
“Well, I’ll take this to the bank.” Sirius said, sitting next to him. “I’ll make sure it stays buried, all that stuff. And after… I think we should find out who his birth family is.”
The others nodded. “Who knows what actually happened. We’ll find out for ourselves.” James said. He walked over to where Sirius was sitting and handed him the baby. He immediately realized why Lily was suspicious about his birthday. He looked so tiny, and fragile, and he weighed barely anything. Definitely not almost a month old.
He had messy black hair stuck to his scalp, and slightly tanned skin. He looked a little like James, and it was hard to tell this early but they could definitely be assumed related. They were similar enough. It could work.
Merlin, Sirius loved him already. He was just a cutie.
“We’re gonna find where you belong Harry. I promise you that.”