Severus awoke to Harry’s cries in the middle of the night. Frantically, he rushed out of bed, running over a chair and colliding into a wall. Seeing the way he scrambled, that wasn’t a total surprise. He, though, blamed it on the complexity of the house, and cursed Dumbledore for the umpteenth time for having persuaded him to move in.

Finally righting himself, he entered Harry’s room. The boy was obviously having a nightmare, as he was whimpering, cringing, and hysterically whispering over and over, “Pwease don’ hit! Me be goo’ now!”

Severus’s heart broke again. How many times over these few years had he failed both the child and Lily? Nothing he did could ever right the situation. For now, though, all he could do was console the child. “Harry, wake up, child. You’re here now.”

This made the child curl himself in even further. What could he do to possibly wake the child out of his nightmare? Finally, he reached for the child, and pulled him in. “Shhh…you’re safe now. Harry, listen to me.”

At first, Harry had cringed at the touch, but as his body judged the action to be unthreatening, he began to relax, and his sobs diminished. He clung hard to Severus, and Severus was taken aback. What in Merlin’s name made the boy so possessive? He awkwardly returned the hug.

“Da-da?” Severus winced at the name. He didn’t deserve to be anyone’s father. Nevertheless, he answered Harry’s call.

“Yes, Harry?”

“You my da-da, wight?”

Trust Harry to hit the issue right on the nail. How would he answer this question? And why did Harry want to know now, of all times?

Severus chose his words carefully. “I’m taking care of you right now, yes.”

“O-kay,” replied Harry, the nuances of the words Severus had just spoken lost on him. Harry snuggled in even more, and promptly fell asleep again – in Severus’ arms.

The next day, Severus took Harry shopping, courtesy of glamours, knowing that most people were desperate to know who Harry’s guardian was, and he, for one, disliked attention. Instead of going to Diagon Alley, they went into Muggle London, where they proceeded to enter the nearest Toys ‘R’ Us.

Severus could remember entering one of these back when Lily and he were dating, imagining their future child, their toys, their clothes, and their room. They had dreamed of a life they would live together, a happy-ever-after.  All that, though, was gone now…

But he still had Harry. And, right now was Harry’s time. He really had to snap out of it. He’d have time to think when Harry went for his nap. For now though, he and Harry would have a fun-filled afternoon of picking out toys and clothes.

---------------------------------------------------------

Remus and Dumbledore sat in stony silence, as they both considered the ramifications of the news Remus had just delivered. Of course, none of this would have happened if Remus hadn’t snooped in his imprisoned ex-best friend’s vault. But no, his curiosity got the best of him when that damned letter arrived from Sirius.

The letter, from what he recalled, went like this:

Remus,

I know you’re awful mad at me over what happened to Lily and James. But you gotta believe me, Moony! It wasn’t me! It was Wormtail!

Oh, right. You think he’s dead, don’t you. He’s not. He’s still alive. I know you won’t believe me so I got my lawyer to pensieve my memories. You’ll find them in my vault. Moony, c’mon, old pal, just do this for me. You’ll see I’m right. Think about Harry. I can take care of him when I’m out.

Please, Moony.

Padfoot

Of course, part of him had doubted Sirius’s guilt. The man, though he was Remus’s best friend, was undeniably…mentally challenged in some aspects. He didn’t have what it took to pull off a betrayal that spectacular. And even if he had, why in Merlin’s name did he get caught right away?

 So to assuage his doubts, he went. And to his utter astonishment (all right, not really.), Sirius was right. They had placed an innocent man in prison… unless Sirius had found a way to change his memories. That is why he had so urgently owled Dumbledore, and the reason why he appeared so slipshod. Not that he was normally impeccably neat, but still.

Finally, Dumbledore spoke. “My boy, was there anything else to support  Sirius’s claim?”

Remus paused to think. He didn’t really notice anything. Shaking his head, he answered, “No…but have you looked in James’s vault?”

“No, we haven’t. I suppose it was because we were so eager to bring justice…we abused it. We’ll have to check later. But for now, let’s take a look at Sirius’s memory. I can see if it’s been tampered with,” said Dumbledore resolutely. And with that, the two of them plunged into the memory.

“Listen to me, Prongs,” said Sirius heatedly. “Old Moldy will know for sure I’m Secret Keeper. C’mon, who else would be? Let Wormtail be your Secret Keeper. Trust me, it’ll be all right.”

“Wormtail? Oh, you mean Pettigrew,” said Lily. “Are you sure? I’ve never trusted him, and you know how good my intuition is.”

“Lils, we’ve known Wormtail for years! He’d never give us over,” said James confidently. “Just relax, Lils. We’re going to come out of this fine.”

“Oh, all right. But shouldn’t we write this down somewhere?” asked Lily. “In case something does happen?”

“Don’t worry about it, Lily. You’ll be fine,” reassured Sirius.

“I’m going to write it down anyways,” replied Lily, and walked towards the bedroom, all the while listening to James chuckling over her obstinacy.  

Remus and Dumbledore pulled out. “Well, that memory looked like the original. And it also casts doubt on Sirius’s position as Secret Keeper. Are there any other memories?”

“Yes, the killing of Peter Pettigrew. If Pettigrew had given James and Lily up, then Sirius would still have reason to kill him, so it doesn’t throw the blame off of him at all, in the killing of Pettigrew and the Muggles,” said Remus, then recalled Sirius’s words, He’s still alive. Suddenly, he was very eager to start.

“My boy, are you ready to go again?” asked Dumbledore. 

“You damn rat! Come back here!” roared Sirius, mad with rage.

“No, Sirius, I didn’t mean it! It was the Dark Lord’s fault,” Pettigrew cringed.

“Oh, so it’s the Dark Lord now, Wormtail?” asked Sirius, a curious expression coming across his face. Pettigrew fled, knowing Sirius’s homicidal tendencies. “Who else did you kill, Pettigrew? Those Muggles, they were your doing, weren’t they?”

Sirius began to rapid-fire spells left and right. Wormtail fired back, almost if not equally proficient as the mutt, since Sirius was incapacitated with rage. All of a sudden, Pettigrew shrieked an unholy scream, and a bright flash occurred. Several hundred rats ran by, leaving only a finger. Joining them… was an unusually large rat.

Sirius sank to his knees, not even noticing the Aurors arresting him.

Remus shook violently when he came out. Dumbledore was puzzled. What had the boy seen?

In response to Dumbledore’s unspoken question, he answered, “Pettigrew was an Animagus…a rat. That big one? That was him.”

Now it was Dumbledore’s turn to tremble at the extent to which he had erred. “Oh, Merlin, what have I done?”

“Headmaster, it isn’t your fault. We are all to blame,” said Remus, having recovered.

“No, I put him there, in my arrogance. We have to arrange for his release right away!” said Dumbledore. “Do we have any material evidence?”

“Not yet,” replied Remus, grateful that Dumbledore too, thought the same of Sirius now. “We should probably go take a look at James’s vault now.”

They floo’d to Diagon Alley, where a whole new set of problems awaited them.

----------------------------------------------------------

Severus and Harry were having a blast. Had someone been able to tell that Severus was the man spoiling Harry, they would have fainted. Severus had several bags of stuffed animals and clothes ranging in colours in one arm, and he was carrying Harry in the other. Harry was very close to spilling his ice cream on Severus, but Severus didn’t mind. All in all, it was a very wonderful day.

When they had arrived home, Severus and Harry immediately set about decorating Harry’s room. Being a little too old to have a crib, Severus transfigured the crib into a small bed. He also placed a tiny table in the corner by the window, and set up shelves. He also put away Harry’s new clothes. During this time, Harry had, of course, fallen asleep, tired from his excitement. It was a good thing he had placed bed sheets, pillows, and blankets on the bed before Harry had fallen asleep. Tucking the child in, he glanced at the boy…almost lovingly. Then, seeming to shake himself out of his mood, he continued to work on the boy’s room.

Severus’s thoughts wandered. What was he doing? It was almost as if he was planning to have Harry stay at his house. No, he reminded himself, he only wanted to give the best to the child while he could. That, of course, didn’t go very well with his conscience. But with a well-practiced move, he pushed it to the back. 

He headed to the kitchens, eager to prepare dinner for that night. Now, what was Harry’s favourite food? He seemed to like the hamburgers at lunch, but too many of those in one day were bad for his health. Maybe pasta? Severus smiled, and began to prepare for that night’s dinner.