Chapter Text
January 1, 1992, 1:00 am
Harry carried a now sleeping Ivy inside and up the stairs to her bedroom. She didn’t even stir as he placed her on her bed, transfigured her dress into a set of pajamas, and tucked her in. He closed the door softly and made his way downstairs, looking for the rest of the house’s occupants.
“How was the party?” Remus’s voice carried from inside the kitchen.
Harry walked in to find an impressive sugary disaster on the table. “What happened here?” He asked.
Four sheepish expressions was what he got in reply. Apparently Ron had fallen asleep already, his face not moving from its position on the table.
“We, umm, well, the thing is…”
“We tried making pudding.”
Harry wasn’t sure you could call the…blob on the table a “pudding,” but he didn’t want to be rude. “Well, it doesn’t look so bad in here.”
Percy grimaced and Remus cleared his throat, but Harry wasn’t paying attention and so missed the indication that it might have looked worse at some point that evening.
“So, how was the party?” Remus repeated.
“Oh, it was fine. Sirius ditched me partway through. When he shows up feel free to prank him. I’m open to suggestions.”
The twins perked up at that.
Remus chuckled. “I guess some things don’t change. Who was it?”
“Sabrina Zabini.”
The three Weasleys currently awake seemed a little startled at that information and looked between Remus and Harry, but relaxed when neither showed any discernible amount of concern.
“Makes sense,” Remus said. “He never fell for anyone like he fell for her.”
“They were together then? At Hogwarts?”
Remus sighed. “In a way, yeah. Her father married her off right after she graduated. They both knew it was going to happen, no matter how much they wished otherwise.”
Harry, sensing that this might not be the best topic to discuss with the kids around, decided a change of topic was in order. “So, what did you guys do?”
The nervous laughter was not exactly reassuring.
Later that day
“So. Saw Sabrina, did you?”
Sirius stopped in his tracks. Oops. Right. Remus. The one person who knew all the details from before. “Uh, yeah. Saw her last night.”
“And this morning, by the look of it.”
Sirius laughed nervously. “Yeah.”
Remus just shook his head. “How is she?”
Sirius relaxed. “Good, good. Got rid of the last one.”
“She really did do it then.”
“Yeah.”
“Think she’ll do it again?”
Sirius shrugged. “Maybe. If she finds a good target she might.”
“Think she’d consider retiring?”
Sirius knew what Remus was asking. “It was a long time ago, Moony.”
“Doesn’t look like it mattered too much.”
“I don’t know. So many things have changed, but…”
“Maybe some things haven’t?”
Sirius paused and then huffed a little. “Yeah. Something like that.”
“Well you never know. Maybe you can still be her white knight,” Remus said, smiling softly.
“She doesn’t need one now,” Sirius scoffed.
“Then maybe she can be yours.”
Sirius let out a laugh. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
Remus smiled. “It does, doesn’t it.”
Sirius plopped down in a seat across from Remus. They sat together in the silence for several minutes, each man absorbed in his own thoughts.
Finally Remus broke the silence. “Sirius, I know there’s something you and Harry haven’t told me.”
“Remus…”
“Look, I get it. Just…” Remus sighed. “I’m sorry. I know that’ll never be enough, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry for believing you would ever do that Lily and James, I’m sorry for running away, I’m sorry for not checking in on Ivy like I should have. I’m sorry. I understand if you don’t trust me, and that’s fine, but…”
Sirius held up a hand. “Stop. Just stop. Look, yes, you should have checked in on Ivy. I’m not going to argue that. But the rest? I don’t blame you for that. How could I? We made Peter the secret keeper and didn’t tell you. I thought you might be a spy, for Merlin’s sake. I don’t think any of us ever suspected Peter of being capable of that. And I do trust you, but I have to know where your loyalty ultimately lies now. The things going on now… It’s not just me that’s affected. Hell, I barely have anything to do with it. But it does affect Ivy, and I will do anything in my power to keep her safe.”
“You think she’s in danger?” Remus was visibly pale.
“Yes.” Sirius rubbed his hands together. “I can’t tell you everything, but Voldemort didn’t die that night. He had…done things. Done things to make sure he wouldn’t die. And because of that, given the chance he would try to get back at Ivy.”
Remus leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hand over his face. “Does this have anything to do with the package? With your suspicions about Dumbledore?”
Sirius nodded. “Look, Harry will tell you everything if you ask him, I think. I just need to make sure that you don’t go running to Dumbledore with it afterwards.”
Remus closed his eyes, sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “And you need to know if my loyalty is with you, or with Dumbledore.”
“No. I need to know if your loyalty is to Ivy and Harry, or to Dumbledore.”
“Ivy. No doubt about that. And you. Dumbledore has done a lot for me in the past, but seeing you now, after all this… I’ll admit that as much as I don’t like it, some things don’t add up, even without taking into account the package for Ivy. When he initially told me to stay away, I didn’t question it. But now… After what I’ve picked up about her life before Harry adopted her… Well, I don’t believe Dumbledore would have been that negligent, and honestly, what was he thinking putting her with Petunia? Everyone who knew Lily well knew how much her sister hated magic.”
Sirius nodded, willing to admit to himself that he was relieved. He honestly hadn’t been sure if Remus would side with Dumbledore or not.
“I get asking about Ivy, but why Harry? Didn’t you just meet him? I know he presented the evidence that got you out of Azkaban, but I’ve never known you to be so trusting. What changed?”
Sirius grinned. “Not my story to tell. But I’ll see if Harry will come do the honors.”
Harry was brought into the room shortly, after reminding Ivy and a certain pair of twins that fires and explosions, or anything that might result in either of those, were an outdoor activity, and not a kitchen table activity, please and thank you.
“So what’s this about?” Harry asked.
Sirius guided him to the seat he had previously occupied and pushed Harry down onto it. “Story time.”
“Oh, got it. Umm, what do you think…”
“All of it.”
“Really? Oh, great. Okay, umm… Well, where do I begin. Err…”
Sirius turned to Remus. “This is Henry Peverell, originally born Harry James Potter, son of James and Lily Potter. He defeated a resurrected Voldemort, died, became the Master of Death, and accidentally wound up in this world where he found Ivy, figured out she was this world’s equivalent of him, and kidnapped her away from the muggles.”
“…What?”
“You did WHAT?”
Harry squirmed in his seat a little, even though Remus’s glare was directed at Sirius. And Remus had been taking the story so well. It may have been shock, but you know, tomato, tomato. Wait. Weren’t those supposed to sound different?
“Hey, I personally feel that it was completely justified. Besides, Harry said I escaped Azkaban last time because of Padfoot,” Sirius argued. “Who knows if Peter would have thought up the same thing eventually. He was kind of an idiot, so no guarantees, but I wasn’t going to risk it.”
“Wait, you think I’m mad that he’s dead?” Remus asked.
“Wait, you're not?” Sirius responded, clearly taken aback by the question.
“No, of course not. But how could you?” Sirius made to answer but Remus continued on. “How could you do that and not invite me?”
Harry and Sirius both gaped at him, Harry recovering first.
“I think,” Harry said, “we thought you might not approve, you know, of the whole murder thing?”
“Does it even count as murder if he’s already in Azkaban?” Remus inquired somewhat rhetorically.
“Uh, pretty sure it does, yeah.” Harry wasn’t sure what else to consider the…murder.
“It was revenge,” Sirius offered.
“Pretty sure that’s still murder,” Harry replied.
“A revenge murder that you didn’t invite me to,” Remus reminded them.
“I can make you another one?” Harry wasn’t sure why he had said that, but Remus seemed interested in the idea.
“Like an effigy?” Sirius asked.
“Uh, sure. Let me just, you know… I’ll be right back.”
Harry took off into the backyard. Like he had just told Ivy and the twins, activities that might involve fire and/or explosions belonged outside. He conjured up an effigy that looked remarkably realistic in his humble opinion. He animated it so it would move a little, and then called Sirius and Remus outside. Thankfully the kids were all on the quidditch pitch playing snow quidditch again, so no worries that they would witness…whatever this was going to be.
“Well that was…”
“Yeah.”
“Did you know he could do that?”
“No idea.”
“I’m glad he’s on our side.”
“Me too.”
“Should we put out the fire now?”
“I could always dump it off at Grimmauld Place. Liven the place up for the new year.”
“No.”
“Oh, come on. It’s not even fiendfyre.”
“Still no.”
Remus trotted back over to them just then. “Well, that was lovely. Thank you for that, Harry.” With that he took off in the direction of the house, whistling as he went.
Harry and Sirius looked at Remus, then at the obliterated remnants of the effigy, and then at each other.
“Remind me to never get on his bad side.”
“Same.”
“Now. Grimmauld Place?”
“No.”
January 4, 1992
“And you have your coat?”
“Yes.”
“And both your sweaters?”
“Yes.”
“And your…”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t even finish.”
“But I’m almost all packed and the train doesn’t leave until tomorrow.”
Harry nodded. “Yes, but I don’t want you to forget anything.”
“I won’t,” Ivy sighed. “But if I do you can always just send it to me later.”
“But if you don’t have your coat than you’ll be cold.”
“I’ll ask Percy or Oliver or Marcus or someone to cast a warming charm.”
“Every time you go out? Wait, ask Percy and who?”
“Oliver and Marcus.”
“As in Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint?”
“Yeah. Do you know them?”
Harry didn’t have a great answer for that. “Since when are you friends with them?”
Ivy shrugged. “They go flying with me sometimes.”
“Wait, like, together?” Harry was willing to admit to some differences between his world and this one, but some things were just too unlikely to happen, even in a different universe.
“No, silly,” Ivy laughed. “They don’t like each other. But they each go flying with me. Different days, of course.”
“Right…” Harry needed more information. Who would know… Percy. Perfect.
“Percy, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Percy looked up from the book he was reading. “Uh, yes sir. What did you need to talk to me about?”
“I need to ask you about Ivy. She said she’s friends with Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint. Do you happen to know anything about that?”
“Oh, yeah, right. Well, you see, they both decided that they wanted to be the one to get her interested in quidditch, so they kind of started fighting over her. They both like to take her flying, chase after a snitch, you know. Things like that.”
“Right… umm, thanks.”
“Uh, sure, no prob…lem.” Henry Peverell was already out the door.
“Moony, Padfoot, we’ve got a problem.”
“What? What happened? Is everyone okay?”
Harry winced. “Uh, sorry, Remus. Yeah, everyone’s fine. I probably should have phrased that a little better.”
“What’s the problem?” Sirius asked.
“Ivy is being fought over by two fifth year boys.”
“Okay, so who are we killing?”
“WHAT? No, no, we’re not killing anyone, Sirius.”
“Hold on, you said Ivy, our Ivy, the eleven year old, is being fought over by a couple of fifth years?” Remus did not look happy.
“Uh, yeah. But not like that, I don’t think.” Remus growled. “No, they’re just fighting over her and quidditch. But still, she’s eleven now, but she won’t be, and I am NOT PREPARED FOR THIS KIND OF SITUATION.”
“Breathe, Harry. That’s it. In and out. There you go. You too, Moony. Deep breaths.”
“How are you so calm about this?” Remus snapped at Sirius.
“Easy,” Sirius shrugged. “They put one toe out of line, we go in and end them,” he said, as if were the easiest solution in the world.
“Okay, back up. I am kind of freaking out over here, but that doesn’t mean we can go murdering people.” Harry thought for a moment. “Not those people anyway.”
Sirius sighed. “Fiiinne,” he said, “we won’t go murdering the teenagers.”
“Thank you,” said Harry. “But be serious for a second.”
“I’m Sirius.” “He’s Sirius,” They said at the same time.
Harry groaned. “Ha ha. Focus. Ivy. Fifteen year old boys. All of us taking turns to mildly freak out over the situation.”
“Well I already offered my suggestion.”
“And again, we’re not committing murder. Remus?”
“You umm, you ever given her the talk?”
“What talk… OH. That talk. Ah, no. That would be a no.”
“Well that might be a good place to start…”
“Great. Who wants to do it?”
“Well, you are her guardian…”
Harry did not appreciate that point being made by Remus at this particular moment. “Well, you’re her godfather, Sirius,” he offered.
“Oh no, not me. Mm-mm. Not a good plan. Pretty sure we’re trying to teach her something, not scar her for life.”
Harry and Remus both looked at Sirius and blinked. “Point,” Harry said finally. “Well, what about you, Remus?”
Remus shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “Um, well, maybe… that is… Maybe you could find someone else to do it? Like, a woman or something? That’d probably be better, right?”
Yes. Delegate. Solid plan. Ten points to Gryffindor.
“Okay, I’ll find someone. Maybe when she comes home for Easter? Yeah, that’ll work. But what about right now? What do we do now?”
“Well, you could always ask her about her friends. You know, find out who all her friends are, and see who she’s actually close to. I mean, she might not remember to tell you everything in her letters, right?”
“True. Oh, hey Sirius. Do you still have those mirrors? Might be good to send one back with Ivy.”
“Oh, good plan. Yeah, I’ll find them. I know I brought them here somewhere…”
Sirius wandered off in search of the mirrors, and Harry and Remus were left to continue brainstorming how to best deal with the newfound problem that was Ivy-is-in-fact-a-girl-and-someday-boys-are-going-to-notice-her as well as the Merlin-what-if-they-already-have issue and the none-of-us-are-prepared-for-this concern.
“Hey Ives. How’s the packing going?”
Ivy scrunched her nose. “Same as last time you asked me? Why? You all came in here to ask me about packing? You remember the train doesn’t leave until tomorrow, right? Pretty sure I reminded you of that an hour ago.”
Harry let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, yeah it does. So, anyway, we all wanted to come talk to you and ask you about Hogwarts. You know, who your friends are and such. Figured it’s easier to hear about them now, so when you write in your letters we know who you’re talking about.” There. Totally subtle.
“Okay, what do you want to know?”
“Well, who are your friends?”
Ivy beamed. “Well, my best friends are Draco, and George, and Neville, and Fred…”
“Wait, why did you say George and then Fred?”
“He knows what he did,” Ivy said with a glare. Then her smile returned and she continued. “Then there’s Theo, and Blaise, and Seamus, and Vince, and Greg, and Oliver, and Marcus, and Thomas, and Dean, and Ron, and Percy, and Terry, and Justin, and Wayne, and Ernie, and…”
“Do you have any friends that are girls?” Sirius blurted out. Remus elbowed him in the ribs and he grunted.
“Oh, sure. Lots.” The three men breathed out a small, collective sigh of relief. “Of course there’s Tracey, and Daphne, and Pansy, and Millie, and Hermione, and Padma, and Katie, and Susan, and Hannah, and Megan, and… Well I supposed that’s about it. I don’t know everyone else very well yet.”
“And, just for curiosity’s sake, is there anyone you don’t like at Hogwarts?” Remus elbowed Sirius again.
“Linus and Zach.”
“Um, who?” Harry asked
“Linus Claridge and Zacharias Smith.”
“Okay, and why don’t you like them?” Harry had known Smith, and frankly that one didn’t surprise him, but he couldn’t remember a Claridge from Hogwarts.
“Well Linus was mean to Tracey, but he stopped being mean after she scared him with Tiger. The other girls helped I think. And then Zach is just really annoying.”
“Just remember, you can’t stick Tiger on people just because they’re annoying.”
Ivy nodded solemnly and Harry felt better. He was getting good at this parenting thing, earlier panic set aside and ignored for the time being.
Sirius looked like he was about to say something else, but Remus nudged him and spoke before he could get anything out.
“Well, it sounds like you have made a lot of friends so far,” Remus said with a smile.
“Oh yes. It’s been loads of fun.”
The three men eventually left Ivy to her own devices once more, and Harry began thinking where he had left that form for Castelobruxo. Just in case.