Two days later:

James Potter paced up and down his spacious living room and wondered how the hell things had gone so utterly and completely wrong. He had known from the moment he saw Peter in his house that the other man was in trouble, Pettigrew had never been able to hide anything from him. He had guessed, and feared, that Wormtail was the one behind the slanderous article, but even then he hadn't wanted to believe it. And instead of demanding that Peter tell him the truth, he had reacted with his typical Marauder instincts and went to protect his friend. It had been almost automatic for him to offer Peter sanctuary, as he had done millions of times before at school when Pettigrew was going to get pounded on for getting caught pranking older students. He hadn't even thought about how it would make him look to the authorities—as if he were an accomplice to Peter's crime.

Until Mathilda had marched up to both of them, bound Peter with an Incarcerate Charm and given him a glare worthy of a starving Hungarian Horntail. "James Darius Potter, if I hadn't just seen and heard what you did with my own eyes, I'd never believe you could be so . . .so STUPID! Do you not care at all about your son? What do you think you're doing, Auror Potter, giving aid to a suspected criminal? Have you bloody lost your mind?"

Only then did he realize what he had done. "Tildy, it's not what it seems. It's just . . . he needed help, and I . . ."

"Help! Yes, he certainly does. Help from a Mind Healer and some time in jail for his slanderous tongue!" Mathilda snapped. "And you need some too, if your first instinct is to protect some . . .some slinking rat than your own flesh and blood!"

"I-I wasn't . . .!"

"Weren't you? You knew he was probably guilty for sending that article to the press, and leaking secrets to them that weren't his to share. Do you not comprehend what could have happened to Harry if any other case worker had seen and believed that article? Well, let me inform you. harry would have been removed from all contact with you and the Snapes and any of his relatives. He would have been placed with a foster family until a court had time to investigate the rumors and then after perhaps weeks and months of deliberation to determine if the charges were true, Harry would have been allowed to return home . . .but if there were the slightest doubt that he would be safe . . .you would have lost all custody of him right then and there. But because I knew the Snapes and knew what was false and true, I averted all that. Only to find that you're abetting the very scum that started the rumors in the first place!"

James winced, for she was truly disgusted and furious with him. "Tildy, we don't know for sure that Peter's guilty . . ."

"That's why you bring him into the authorities for questioning, Potter," Remus spoke up, his teeth bared. "Standard procedure in a case, remember?"

"Mind your own business, werewolf!" James snapped.

"This is my business, Potter! He nearly got my best friend arrested on false charges. He was the only one who could have gotten all that private information on Severus and you know it! And instead of doing the honorable thing, you try and protect him. Miss Bagshot's right, you really are an idiot! You put your friend instead of your family first."

"I did not!" he protested, even though he felt something inside him wither at the truth.

"Yes, you did," Mathilda said, her voice hard and grim. "And this time it's going to cost you."

"Now, Tildy, can't you understand . . .he's my best friend, I've protected him since we were kids . . ."

"And what about your son?" she said icily. "Who's going to protect him from that piece of dung?" she pointed at the writhing Pettigrew. "I thought you'd learned to put your child first before everything during our sessions, that nothing was more important than Harry's safety. But I guess I was wrong." Then she pointed her wand and bound him as well, taking them both down to the Ministry for questioning.

James had been released after doing another round of Veritaserum to reveal that he was not in on the scam Peter had been running. But he was being written up for recklessly allowing a suspected criminal to hide out in his home, thus putting his child at risk. And since this was the second count of such a thing against him, it was more than likely the courts would rule that he no longer have custody of Harry and was only allowed to see him at the Snape home. Even worse was his discovery that Pettigrew really had betrayed him, over some obsessive desire for him, and torn apart his chances to ever have a relationship with his son. He had as much admitted that he had wanted Harry gone or dead, and even put temptation in James' way hoping to get him to leave Lily. Though there James had to admit that even without the other girls, his relationship with Lily had been on the rocks way before that. They simply had nothing in common, and his marriage would have probably failed anyhow. Peter's interference had simply hurried things along.

The thing that really bothered him besides the fact that he might lose Harry was that he had started to have a meaningful relationship with Tildy. It had been baby steps, but he had really thought he had something there, and now it too was ruined. Worse still was he couldn't even place all the blame on Peter. Because he had been the one to suggest Peter hide in Potter manor.

So now he paced and kicked himself. Why did you agree to help him? Why didn't you ask first if he had anything to do with the bloody article? Why is it that you only think of these things after the fact? he mentally flogged himself. Now everything's gone to hell in a burnt cauldron and Harry will probably never trust you. And you can kiss Tildy goodbye too. You've really screwed things up this time, haven't you?

He threw himself into his favorite recliner and wished he had a Time Turner, so he could go back and do what he should have done in the first place—question and maybe even arrest Pettigrew. Act like the Auror he used to be, instead of the friend. He leaned his head back against the recliner, and his thought kept returning to one thing—he'd lost Harry. He'd lost the one good thing in his whole messed up life.

Suddenly he couldn't bear it any more. He didn't want to lose his son, not like this, over some bloody mistake. He needed some time alone with Harry, some time so he could explain to his son that he still loved him, that he didn't agree with all that stuff they'd printed about Snape . . .well, not really . . .He jumped to his feet. Today was a Friday, Harry would probably be home from school now, and hopefully he could catch him for a moment alone.

He activated his Floo and stuck his head through, trying to see if anyone were around, like Severus or Lily. But all he saw was Snape's daughter, Rosie, playing on the floor with her little brother, James always forgot what the mini Snape's name was, and the Malfoy boy. He saw no sign of Harry. The three children were immersed in some game with their toys and didn't see him peering about in the fire.

Suddenly footsteps sounded on the stairs and Harry came in through the door. "Hi, rugrats!" he greeted his siblings. "Hey, Mum, I'm home! Aunt Cissy's talking to Da in the shop." He had school with his Uncle Remus five days a week now.

"Okay, dear. I'm almost finished with my shower," Lily called from the bathroom.

James knew he would never have another chance like this. He quickly stepped from the Floo and into the Snape flat. "Harry, I need to talk to you for a minute," he began.

His son jerked away from him. "Dad? Why are you here?" he hissed.

"Harry, please, let me explain . . ."

Harry shook his head. "Does Mum know you're here?"

James didn't bother to answer that question. "Just give me five minutes, okay?"

Harry glared at him, and a frustrated James did something he never would have done normally. He grabbed Harry by the arm and started to drag him back through the Floo.

"Ow! Dad, let go of me!" Harry cried. "You're hurting me."

"Come with me just for a minute," James said, picking up his son.

Rosie began to scream. "Hawwy! Hawwy, no go!"

Eric stared in horror. "Mummy, he's takin' Harry away!"

"Shut up!" James cried, and flicked his wand at the screeching brats, casting a Silencing charm.

"Harry? What's going on out there?" Lily called, the water had been running and she could only make out a few words through the noise, and the fact that her children were crying. But now there was silence.

Meanwhile, James had backed almost halfway into the Floo, Harry still wriggling like a hooked fish, when Draco stood up and cried in fury, "Don't you hurt my Rosie!"

He glared at James, fire in his eyes and suddenly James found himself propelled backwards with stunning force. He landed on the carpet of his own living room with a thud, Harry on top of him.

Holy Merlin, what was that? the Auror wondered, then he quickly cast a Floo Lock over his fireplace, so Lily wouldn't be able to follow him through.

By that time Harry had jumped to his feet and stood looking at his father. "Dad, why did you bring me here? I don't want to talk to you. You got Da in trouble, and now everybody's mad at him over a lie."

"Harry, that wasn't me. That was Peter." James began.

"He was your friend!" Harry accused. "You were gonna hide him from the Aurors."

"Who told you that?"

"Nobody. I heard Mum and Gram Eileen talking."

James ran his hand through his hair. He knew he should just take Harry back right now, that his taking him without Lily or Snape's knowledge could be seen as kidnapping. Lily was probably frantic. But he needed to talk to his son alone.

"Harry, I didn't know Peter was behind that article in the paper, I swear on my magic."

"You should've known! He's never liked me. He always looks at me funny when I'm over. And he always says mean stuff about Da too. You all do! And you hurt Rosie and Eric. What did you do to them?"

"I didn't hurt them. I just cast a Silencing Charm on them. You know I can't stand little brats screaming."

"They're not little brats. They're my brother and sister. Mum's gonna skin you when she finds out." Harry predicted.

James glumly thought that was probably true.

He was going to be hung out to dry either way. "Sit down," he waved Harry to a seat on the couch, knowing he didn't have much time before the Aurors came and took Harry away from him. The thought of losing his son hit him like a fist in the gut. There was so much unsaid between them, so many things he would have liked to share with him, so many things he wished he could undo. I wish we could go somewhere no one would find us, just for awhile, so I could make him see that I'm not some idiot that puts Wormtail first. Then an idea bloomed in his head. It was a desperate idea, one that he knew never should see the light of day, but it might work. Why not vanish into the Muggle world? Take a little trip to France or something? He had heard the Muggles went there all the time on ferries and some other kind of train underground.

"Harry, come here." He reached out and took his son's arm. "We're going on a little trip."

Then he Apparated to London, where he was sure you could take a bus or something to Dover.

* * * * * *

Lily was frantic when she came out of the shower a few minutes later and found Harry was missing and her two youngest children under a Silence Charm. She quickly took the charm off them, they were both hysterical, and hugged them, while questioning Draco.

"This big man came through the fireplace. Harry called him "Dad"," Draco informed her softly. "I didn't like him. He used bad magic on Rosie n'Eric." The little boy shivered. He remembered when his mummy used to use that spell on him, so his daddy wouldn't hear him screaming when she punished him. "So I pushed him away," Draco continued while Lily rocked Rosie. "I got real mad and I pushed him right back through the fire. Only he . . .he took Harry with him."

"Hush, baby. It's okay." Lily murmured. "You used accidental magic on James, Draco? I'm very impressed." She was thinking some rather unprintable names about her ex-husband at the moment. She rose and went to the Floo and tossed some powder down. "Potter Manor!"

But the fire remained a swirling yellow. Which meant he was blocking the Floo. "Bloody hell! Goddamn you, James!" she swore, then hoped Rosie was too upset to catch what she'd said. "We'll see about this! How dare you just waltz in here and take Harry?"

"Hawwy gone?" Rosie sniffled.

"No, sweetie. We're going to get your brother back." Lily reassured her. The she tossed down another handful of Floo powder and called, "Ministry of Magic, Auror Headquarters."

* * * * * *

Harry was furious. He hated it when grown-ups just ignored him, the way his dad was doing now. He had homework and he was hungry, he usually had a snack when he came home from school, and he wanted to tell Lily about the new potions project Uncle Remus had assigned. The last thing he wanted was to be dragged from his home and to a bus station by James, who seemed to think that Harry was a bag of groceries. How many times did he have to say "Take me home now" before his dad got the message?

So when they got to the bus station, Harry decided to do something that Eric or Rosie would have done. He started hollering, "I don't want to go on the bus! Take me home now!"

James stared at him in astonishment. "Harry, stop this. People are staring. You're too old to behave like this. I just want to give us some time together, I need to explain that I made a mistake with Wormtail—"

Harry jerked free of his hold and said something else his little sister had said once when she threw a fit in the toy store. "You're not my dad! I want to go home!"

Now everyone was looking at them and some people were considering calling the police.

James began to get angry. He hadn't wanted to call attention to himself at all, and here was his son, pitching a fit like . . .like a toddler! "Harry, I'm going to count to three," he started to say when Harry turned and ran. "Come back here!" he cried, racing after his son.

Harry didn't run very far, since he had no idea where to go, and James soon caught up with him.

"Harry James Potter, don't you ever run away from me like that—!" James snapped, mad enough now to feel like giving the disobedient little wretch a smack. "You could get lost or something." He put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Dad, why can't you just take me home?" Harry cried. "Mum's gonna be real worried and I don't want to go anywhere with you right now. . ."

There came a sound of displaced air as four Aurors appeared around them, wands pointed at James.

"Easy does it, Potter," said Shacklebolt. "Just give us Harry and don't make any trouble."

"He's my son, Kingsley!" James cried. "I just wanted to talk to him."

"Then you should have asked permission," retorted the other. "Not just taken him from his home. That's kidnapping."

"Kidnapping . . .!"

"New vocabulary word, Potter?" sneered another Auror that he didn't know from his days on the force. "And you're already under suspicion for collusion, now you go and do this."

"Potter, let the kid go and don't make us Stun you both."

James looked at the hard faces and knew that they would do it if they had to. He slowly released Harry, who ran over to Kingsley.

"Can't you just . . .chalk it up to a misunderstanding?" he asked. "I didn't really kidnap him."

"No, you just took him away by force and spellbound two innocent children for the fun of it, right?" said the woman Auror who had spoken before. "This time Potter, you can spend some time cooling your heels in a cell in Azkaban."

"No!" he cried.

He ducked the Stunning spell the witch shot at him, then he Apparated to the only place he could think of where someone might help him.

Hogwarts.

* * * * * *

James stumbled up the stairs to the Headmaster's office, thanking Merlin that Tom hadn't changed the password since last time he'd been here, which had been three days ago, when Tom had brought him here to talk to him about Wormtail. He paused on the staircase to straighten out his clothes, some students had been giving him odd looks, and he didn't want to look like a fugitive, though technically that's what he was.

He rapped sharply on the door.

"Enter," came the smooth cultured voice.

James did so. "Sir, I'm sorry to barge in on you like this," he started to say, for it appeared as if the Headmaster was going over some essays.

Tom looked up and set down his quill. "James! I hadn't expected to see you back here so soon. Have they found Peter yet?"

"Uh . . .yes and no . . .it's complicated . . ." James said, fighting the urge to start twisting his shirttail in his hands and looking at the ground the way he did whenever he'd been summoned before the Headmaster for some prank at school.

Tom's eyes narrowed. "What have you done now, James?"

James gulped. He should have known he could hide nothing from Headmaster Riddle, who seemed still capable of reading minds. And capable of making him squirm like a first year still. He looked up and met the other's knowing eyes, feeling the same way he had when he had hung Professor McGonagall's underwear on the Slytherin goalpost back in second year, guilty as hell. Somehow, Tom had known it was him and Sirius involved and James still didn't know how he figured it out.

"I . . .oh hell, I've messed everything up, as usual." James groaned.

"Why don't you sit down and talk to me?" suggested the Headmaster, gesturing to a seat, which pulled itself up to the desk and stood waiting for James to sit down.

After a moment, James did. He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, then he launched into the whole sorry tale.

Tom listened attentively, not interrupting, just letting the other talk.

" . . .and now the Aurors are after me and they want to arrest me for kidnapping," James finished. "Is there any way you could help me, Headmaster? I know I've been an idiot and all, but I really don't want to go to Azkaban. I didn't really break the law . . ."

Tom frowned. "Didn't you? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you Flooed into the Snape's flat and instead of talking to Lily and explaining to her why you wanted to see Harry, you instead take him from his home against his will, cast a Silencing charm on his younger siblings, and then try and run away with him to France? James, how is that not kidnapping?"

"I know, but Tom, I was desperate! They're going to take my son from me and I don't deserve that."

"From the standpoint of Childrens Services, yes you do," the Headmaster said sternly. "From the evidence Miss Bagshot saw with her own eyes, you would have rather protected a suspected slanderer than your own son. That looks very bad, James. And now this on top of everything else . . ."

"I know how it looks, but it's not fair for them to just . . .condemn me for a few mistakes," James began, knowing he sounded like he was whining and hating himself for it.

"James, you don't seem to understand this is more than a "few" mistakes. You were put on probation for allowing a six-year-old to ride a hippogriff without Safety Charms. That was a stupid mistake. But offering to hide Wormtail . . .son, your problem is that you don't think like an adult. You react impulsively, and make quick decisions in the moment, like a child would. You've never learned to see the consequences before you act. You think about them only later."

"What do you mean? I'm not a little kid, Headmaster!"

"No, but you tend to react like one."

James rose to his feet. "If you're not going to help me, all you had to do was say so!"

"Sit down, Mr. Potter!" Tom ordered in the same voice he used on misbehaving students, stern and implacable.

James obeyed, finding that tone still compelled him, even though he was no longer at Hogwarts. "Sorry."

"That is exactly what I mean." Tom continued. "You got angry because I said something you didn't like and your first instinct was to storm out of here like an angry eleven-year-old. An adult would have controlled himself and listened to what I have to say. I can only help you if you're willing to hear my proposal."

"What proposal?"

"You are in serious trouble, James. Kidnapping a child, even if he's your son and it wasn't intentional, carries a heavy penalty. Add to that the fact that you've already been before a review board regarding your fitness as a parent . . .well, even my influence might not be enough to convince them that you deserve a second chance."

"I don't want to go to Azkaban!"

"Calm down. There may be one way you can avoid going there, it's a slim chance, but the only alternative I can see that might sway the court's judgment right now."

"What's that?"

"Before I tell you, I must first ask if you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you. You're like a father to me, Headmaster." James said.

Tom smiled. "I'm glad to hear you say that, James. Because that's what I will be to you for the next year if the Ministry agrees to my alternative measures."

James looked blank. "Huh? Sir, I don't get it."

Tom chuckled. "You will, son." Then he cleared his throat and began to explain his plan.