Harry skimmed through the files with steadily growing confusion as his darting eyes picked out strange facts. He didn't know much about the Lestrange brothers, but, between Severus and Lucius, he knew enough and that knowledge did not include them being dead or having died on the exact same day. The last name of the murdered girl and lead scene analyst was the same: Moreshire. The third and, quite frankly, most confusing bit of information was the names of two Aurors that had responded to the murder.

James Potter and Sirius Black.

He had little time to continue as the shaking of the door made his head snap up. Cursing, he pushed his magic at the door to hold the Locking Charm and at the files, duplicating them. He sent the copies to his bag and hurried to put everything back to the way it had been. He rushed back to his seat and pulled back his magic, allowing Grey to unlock the door and enter. He sat stiffly as Grey swept up the room and stood in front of him, a hard glare on his face.

Harry prepared himself for yelling or hexing-he honestly wasn't sure which one the man would choose-only for knocking on the door to interrupt Grey's decision. Harry didn't move, but a snarl twisted Grey's face as he looked past Harry at the door.

"What?" Grey barked.

Harry heard the click of the door latch releasing as the door was opened and saw Grey's eyes flash with what could only be described as pure hate.

"I apologize for the interruption, but I require my son."

The relief Harry felt at hearing Severus' voice was palpable and he could have sagged if not for Grey's still imposing form directly in front of him.

"His detention is not over," Grey snapped.

"He will make it up another evening," Severus told him.

Harry wanted to argue, but didn't want to bring either man's wrath on him.

"Come along, Harry."

Harry didn't hesitate to obey, snatching up his bag and slipping from the chair as Grey's blazing eyes snapped to him. He walked briskly to his father, slipping past him into the corridor to get as far away from Grey as possible.

"Good evening, Professor," Severus said politely and pulled the door closed on a fuming Grey.

"Dad, I-" Harry started only to jump when Severus turned to him, face full of worry.

"Did he hurt you?" Severus asked sharply.

Harry frowned. "What? No."

Severus let out a clearly relieved breath. "The way the both of you looked..."

Harry thought back to how stiffly he'd been sitting and the anger in Grey as he loomed. He could see how his father had made the leap.

"He didn't do anything," Harry assured. "He was mad though. I'd locked him out of the room."

"Why would you do that?" Severus questioned.

"He'd left and I...took a look at what he'd been doing," Harry said awkwardly, realizing the trouble he could be in for snooping on a professor. "But, I found something you have to see!" he added quickly.

"We will take a look," Severus said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder to guide him to the dungeons. "Sirius has found something as well."

Worry bubbled in Harry's gut as he walked with his father. Nothing they were finding was making any sense, only causing agitation, confusion, and hurt. Harry was becoming less and less sure he wanted to solve the mystery, not at the expense of his family. A few minutes later, Harry let himself be guided into his father's quarters, finding all three of his godfathers. Remus was perched on the sofa arm with Sirius and Kingsley standing close, the three of them talking quietly with tight faces.

"You know, I love all of you, but I am not enjoying this new pattern of you all being everywhere I go and looking like someone's died," Harry quipped, snickering when a hand swatted the back of his head.

"Maybe remember this is how we've looked during every single one of your stunts the last four years the next time you have the urge to go adventuring," Severus told him, pushing him towards the others to sit on the sofa.

"I wouldn't call it an urge or adventuring," Harry argued as he sat on the center sofa cushion, dropping his bag on the coffee table. Remus remained on the sofa arm while Sirius sat next to Harry, Kingsley stood by the empty fireplace, and Severus took his usual seat in one of the wingback.

"Would you rather your ‘saving people thing'?" Severus retorted with a raised eyebrow.

Harry scowled. "Stop talking to my friends."

"Shall I stop talking to Remus as well then?" Severus asked and Harry whipped his head around to scowl at his godfather, indignant.

Remus lifted his hands in surrender, lips twitching in a clear attempt to hold back a smile.

Harry huffed and threw himself back on the sofa, arms over his chest. "I take it back. I hate all of you."

He rolled his eyes when the men chuckled at his grumbling and Sirius draped an arm around his neck.

"Shame," Severus drawled wryly.

"I believe we have some things to discuss," Kingsley interjected.

"Yes, you both have found something?" Severus said, looking at Sirius and Kingsley.

"I spoke to the goblins and got access to James' vault, the vault Harry will get once he's of age," Sirius told them. "I found a couple of things. A fairly large amount had been withdrawn a few days before Halloween. Considering they were in hiding, a large withdrawal is strange."

"No record of where the money went?" Kingsley asked and Sirius shook his head.

"No scripts were used," Sirius replied. "It was taken out and used as pure cash. Any goblin magic that traces coins was removed."

"How would anyone be able to do that?" Harry wondered.

"A Curse Breaker or an Unspeakable are the only ones that would have the skill to break goblin magic," Severus said and Sirius nodded gravely. "What else did you find?"

Harry craned his neck to look at his godfather curiously when the man hesitated to continue.

"I found Lily and James' wands." Sirius paused again. "They had both been snapped."

Harry frowned at his father and godfathers as their faces grew concerned and confused. "Were their wands broken that night?"

Kingsley shook his head. "No, they were processed through the Ministry and given to the goblins intact."

"So, what?" Harry said. "Someone broke into Gringotts?"

"It wouldn't be the first time," Severus said, referring to Harry's first year and the philosopher's stone. "However, that had been the first break-in in decades, at least recorded. Once the goblins took over, break-ins supposedly ceased."

"Why would anyone break into a vault just to snap a couple wands?" Harry wondered.

"To prevent any examination," Remus replied. "We already know Grey and Moreshire falsely reported their wands had been scanned. Snapping them would ensure no scan could ever be done."

"But why?" Harry asked, not understanding.

"One or both of their wands must have been able to show something about that night," Kingsley explained.

"And, whatever it was, Grey and Moreshire didn't want anyone finding out about it," Remus added.

"Maybe it's connected to what I found," Harry said, leaning forward to dig in his bag for the copies he'd made. "Grey had these." He handed them to Severus whose eyebrows came together low on his forehead.

"This is a crime scene report," Severus observed, scanning the document before looking up at Sirius. "You worked this case with James."

Sirius frowned and took the papers. "And Grey? Adeline Moreshire..." he muttered as he read. "I don't remember this case at all, and I don't remember Grey or Elias Moreshire."

"Could it be from Azkaban?" Harry asked.

"No, Padfoot ensured I kept my mind," Sirius said, rereading the file almost desperately.

"Kingsley," Severus said and Harry watched as the Auror walked over to his father to look at the files on the Lestranges.

"Dead?" Kingsley said, shocked. "They're not dead. I just went through prisoner records and theirs were there. Living inmate documents."

"So, either these are forged or the living documents are," Severus said.

"Wait, when does it say they died?" Remus asked.

"July twenty-sixth, nineteen eighty-one," Severus read.

"That's the day after the withdrawal from Gringotts," Sirius realized.

"The missing prisoners," Kingsley said. "Whoever did this had the living inmate documents made so they wouldn't register as dead or escaped, but didn't take into account the monthly count."

"Who signed the death certificates?" Sirius asked.

"Ariadne. Marina Ariadne," Kingsley read and pulled a parchment from his pocket. "Same person that signed off on this." He dropped the paper on top of Harry's bag on the coffee table. Harry's eyes widened as he read his name on the death certificate.

"What the hell is this?" Harry demanded, snatching up the paper.

"I found it in the Potter file," Kingsley replied. "I have no idea when or how it got there, only that it had to have been after August tenth because that's when the investigation closed, and I use the term ‘investigation' loosely."

"Clearly," Remus said sardonically.

"Who is this Ariadne?" Severus asked, looking at Kingsley.

"I honestly have no idea," Kingsley admitted.

Sirius suddenly stood, startling Harry's attention from the death certificate. "I'm going to Azkaban."

"What?" Harry questioned, startled again.

"Pettigrew knows something. He must," Sirius said.

"He has no soul," Harry pointed out.

"He still has memories," Sirius said. "Come on, Remus. We'll be back for tomorrow night."

Harry barely had time to say ‘goodbye' before the two men were gone.

"I'm going to try find personnel files again for Grey, Moreshire, and this Ariadne," Kingsley said.

Harry watched his third godfather leave before dropping his eyes back to the death certificate...his death certificate. His mind was racing and his gut was twisting. He couldn't stop reading his name as though, if he read it enough times, it would morph into another name, a correct name. By the forty-third read, he was lost in the spiral that was his mind until an arm wrapped around his shoulders and long fingers tugged the paper from his hands.

"Calm down, child," Severus said gently. "You are levitating things."

Harry blinked and looked up, finding a teacup floating as well as the photos and trinkets on the mantle. He frowned and forced the items down, once again having not noticed his excess magic acting up. That seemed to be becoming more common.

"What has you so distressed?" Severus asked.

Harry pulled away and looked at his father incredulously. "I'm dead!"

Severus arched an eyebrow. "You are most assuredly not dead."

"There's a death certificate with my name on it!" Harry shouted, snatching the page back.

Severus took it again with a sigh. "While certainly disconcerting and warranting an investigation, it means nothing unless you are implying I adopted a ghost."

Harry slumped into the sofa again. "Apparently you did."

"Harry."

He lifted his eyes to his father. "What's happening?" he asked quietly, feeling like something was breaking. "What does this all mean?"

Severus sighed again, sadder this time. He brushed Harry's fringe aside and stroked his cheek lightly. "I do not know, but we will find out."

"What if it's something bad?"

"Then we will deal with it."

Harry bit his lip, his anxiety skyrocketing. He pulled his legs up and curled into Severus' side, needing contact, needing to know everything he'd found was still there. It felt like there was a net hovering behind him just waiting to scoop him away. He needed the security that was Severus. The man's arms immediately fell around him, providing that solid presence that kept down the pit threatening to swallow him.

"Don't leave," he muttered into Severus' chest, unable to keep his possibly irrational fear to himself. Severus' arms tightened around him and a kiss brushed his hair before his father's head came to rest against his.

"Never, my son."

"Severus will not be happy if he finds out you're up here in the middle of the night."

Harry turned away from the dark horizon view from the Astronomy Tower at Kingsley's quiet voice. He watched the man push away from the center railing he'd been leaning on and lower himself to join Harry at the edge of the observation platform, sitting against the opposite side of Harry's archway. Harry was reminded of the few nights back in Privet Drive before Hogwarts when he'd been awake, but Severus hadn't been. It wasn't common-Severus had been extraordinarily sensitive to when Harry was awake and distraught-but there had been a few nights where Severus was completely exhausted, but Harry couldn't sleep. He would curl up in a corner, overwhelmed by whatever trauma was tearing at him in the moment, and Kingsley had sat in the opposite corner, taking away his naturally imposing form and ensuring Harry was not alone.

"I've got an Auror escort," Harry quipped with a cheeky half-grin.

Kingsley chuckled lightly. "What's brought you up here?"

Harry's mirth faded and he turned back to look outside. "I've been having nightmares, weird ones."

"Not the usual ones?" Kingsley asked, referring to the Dursleys and Voldemort, and Harry shook his head.

"I mean, Halloween's come back, but it's different. Blank faces, weird voices, weird order of things," Harry told him. "Guess this whole mystery thing is messing with me."

"That's to be expected," Kingsley assured. "Halloween was tragic and traumatic, and it's being dragged up, questioned."

"Yeah, I know." Harry blew out a deep breath. "I can hardly imagine what it's like for Dad, and Sirius and Remus."

"I take it Halloween is not the only nightmare that's driven you up here."

Harry glanced at his godfather. "No, there's another one."

Kingsley just watched him quietly, waiting.

"It hasn't made much sense, but I've had it a few times now," Harry said, picking absently at the skin on his thumb as he remembered the dream. "I think I'm underground. It's dark until I see a small light or movement. There's yelling, two different voices, and a triangle, then I start to get buried and there's a green flash. Then I wake up."

"Have you told Severus?" Kingsley asked.

Harry shook his head. "I forgot after the first time, and now he's got too much else on his mind."

"He'd want to know. Your dreams are not typically just dreams."

"I know, but he's upset and stressed enough with all this Halloween business," Harry argued. "I cause him enough trouble as it is."

"Come on, kid, you know that's not true."

"Isn't it?" Harry shot back. "Did you know he only sleeps maybe four hours a night because he can't stop researching horcruxes in living beings? Can you imagine how much calmer his life would be if he'd never adopted me?"

"Given he's told me he likely would have returned to Voldemort's service in some capacity, I would have to argue that his life would be more stressful," Kingsley told him. "Not to mention lonely. That man had no one before you and don't you even think he would give up any of it just for a couple more hours of sleep. That's why he doesn't stop researching. He refuses to give you up to anything."

Harry let his head fall back against the stone with a small huff. "You know, sometimes I want to wallow in self-pity, not have a helpful lecture."

"Wrong family for that, I'm afraid," Kingsley said with mock sympathy, making Harry laugh. "Now, as for your dream, it sounds like it could be connected to Voldemort or, rather, a part of him."

Harry frowned, questioningly.

"His ring," Kingsley clarified. "Slughorn gave Albus a memory of it, and part of its design and shape is a triangle."

"A horcrux? I'm dreaming about a horcrux?"

"Seems like. The voices and green light, I'm not sure about, but it seems like it could be underground."

"I'm not sure how that helps," Harry replied. "The voices and light, though. What if it's how the horcrux was made?"

"Like a memory."

Harry nodded. "What if memories of their creation are in horcruxes and I can see them because I'm also a horcrux?"

"It is definitely possible," Kingsley agreed. "Horcruxes are basically living things."

"Maybe that's how we find what they are and where they are, through me."

"Let's not get too excited, kid," Kingsley said. "Let's talk to Severus and Albus first. I am not about to encourage a mental treasure hunt for soul bits before we know anything."

"This is what everyone's been waiting for," Harry argued. "I could actually be useful in the search."

"Not until we tell Severus and Albus, and find out what we can first," Kingsley said firmly and Harry exhaled sharply again.

"Fine, but not until after tomorrow," Harry agreed reluctantly. "I'm not ruining Halloween more than it's already been."

"Luckily, James' tail was small enough he could wear trousers like normal while I spent a month cutting holes in mine."

Harry laughed with Sirius as the man's story ended while Remus chuckled and Severus shook his head, amused.

"And here I thought you were," Severus moved his hands up to cover Harry's ears playfully, "experimenting with a special toy."

"Well, that is what James announced in Transfiguration," Remus reminded.

"Oh, I remember." Sirius barked a laugh.

Harry tugged Severus' hands from his ears, letting his father's arms return to where they'd been draped down his chest, keeping him in a loose embrace.

"Can I become an Animagus?" he asked.

"I believe I have said you can begin next year," Severus repeated for what Harry knew was likely the fortieth time since third year.

"They were only fifteen."

"Oh yes, and this story has been a glowing endorsement of that fact," Severus drawled.

"Even I can't argue with Severus on this one," Sirius said and Harry huffed, Severus' chest bouncing under him as the man laughed lightly. Sirius jumped to his feet. "Come on, kid."

"Go on," Severus said, brushing a hand through Harry's hair and pushing him up encouragingly.

Harry took off after Sirius who had transformed into Padfoot and was bounding around the glade. He chased after his godfather, dodging his jumps and rolling on the grass when he was finally knocked down. He laughed as he wrestled with the giant dog, always secretly thrilled to act like a complete child on Halloween, having the fun he never got with the Dursleys for at least one night.

Eventually, Sirius transformed back just as a glittery, blue, translucent stag and doe began running around the glade, looking not unlike Patronuses. Harry smiled at Severus and Remus who had cast the creatures and were talking casually, Remus chuckling and Severus smirking good-naturedly. His attention was pulled from them as Sirius grabbed him around the waist and spun him around, making him laugh wildly. 

As Sirius put him back on the ground, Severus and Remus joined them. Harry was pulled to Severus' side as they watched the stag and doe frolic around, playing and nuzzling with each other. Soon, they slowed and walked over. The doe came to stand in front of Harry and Severus, and Harry raised his hand as if to pet her. It wasn't possible, of course, but he did feel the warmth of the magic that created her and her stag who was sauntering around Sirius and Remus. Harry smiled sadly as the doe bowed into his hand as though wanting his touch.

"Would you look at that."

Harry looked away from the doe at Sirius' voice and followed the man's gaze to the tree line. He was stunned to see a stag standing there and seeming to stare directly at the four of them.

"Nice bit of coincidence," Sirius said, but Harry was more focused on Remus whose face was crumpled with confusion.

"It's not possible," Remus muttered.

"Remus?" Severus queried.

Harry found himself growing anxious as Remus ended his conjuration of the stag apparition and held his wand in the direction of the real stag.

"Do you smell it?" Remus asked Sirius.

Sirius sniffed the air and his eyes widened before furrowing into an expression of distrust. He pulled his own wand as the stag took a few steps forward, leaving the tree line.

"Severus, it's not a stag," Remus told him stiffly. "It's an Animagus."

"And there's another one," Sirius added and, as though summoned, a doe joined the stag.

Severus' conjured doe dissipated as he joined the others in raising his wand to the animals. Harry was pushed partially behind his father in a protective move.

"Death Eaters cannot cross the wards," Severus said. "Nothing with Dark Magic remnants can."

"They're not Death Eaters," Remus replied. "The Dark Magic remains to be seen."

"Why? Who are they?" Harry asked.

The stag and doe shimmered and morphed, losing their animals forms and becoming human. Harry's eyes popped open and his heart leapt into his throat while pounding hard in his ears. He knew them. They were older and didn't look exactly the same as his pictures, but he knew them.

And it was impossible.

He felt a shudder run through Severus as they all stared, for that was all they could do...stare...

Stare at Lily and James Potter.