Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine, never has been, never will be. All characters you recognize belong to JKR, all that you don't and the plotline are mine.

Ahh, I have no excuse for such a long time between updates. Life got in the way? Didn't make writing a priority? Anyway, I have the next chapter half written so shouldn't be nearly so long! Hoping for closer to weekly to biweekly updates from this point forward. This chapter fought me for every word, so it is shorter than most.

If you're looking for any stories to read, check out robst! He has amazing stories, great characters and great recommendations for other fics.

Ch 14 Clear Minds

March 1986

"Alright Harry, now look around carefully, I want you to remember the details of what you are seeing and experiencing right now." Severus spoke quietly, wanting Harry to remain as relaxed as possible.

Harry, for his part, followed his uncle's directions. When Uncle Sev had told him he thought he might be able to keep Harry's mind safe in his dreams, Harry had been amazed. He'd wanted to be able to do it on his own for a few months now, and was excited to have the chance. When Uncle Severus had asked him to think about where he felt the most comfortable and safe, the library had immediately popped into his mind.

He now looked around, taking everything in. Uncle Remus was sprawled back in one of the recliner chairs, feet up, sleeping (the full moon was the night before). Uncle Sirius was sitting on one end of the sofa, Harry's feet in his lap, with Harry's head resting comfortably on the opposite end's sofa arm. One of his arms was hanging down, his hand running through Gus' soft fur. The fireplace was roaring, keeping the room a comfortable temperature, and Harry could see the early spring blizzard roaring outside through one of the big windows. Uncle Severus was pacing slowly, looking at some of the book titles in one of the large bookshelves, giving Harry plenty of time to look around.

"Alright Uncle Sev, I think I'm done." Severus turned and smiled at the sight. Harry did indeed look comfortable, nestled in the thick cushions.

"Good, Harry. Now, I want you to close your eyes and build this room in your head. Imagine putting the books away after you read them, all of us in here with you, just quietly reading. Gus laying by the fire, petting his soft fur. Imagine anything that makes you feel more comfortable and safe in here."

Harry closed his eyes and felt the warmth overcome him, before settling into a blissful, uninterrupted, sleep.

June 1986

Sirius finished looking at the supplies he had laid out on the ground just outside of the manor. The tent he'd bought in Diagon Alley; he figured it would be used quite often with Harry around, and had splurged on a large, though basic, one. He had gone to a muggle camping store next, and bought typical camping supplies- camp stove, fire starting kit, a normal five person tent, as well as some sleeping bags and cots. Ever since he'd heard his muggle classmates back at Hogwarts talk about camping he'd wanted to go. What better excuse than to teach, Harry, Hermione, the Weasley's, and Draco about the outdoors?

They'd continued their schooling in Potter Manor, the students that weren't residents flooing or apparating in and out with an adult. Now that June had arrived, the adults (minus the Malfoys, though they had relented to Draco's desire to join his friends) had agreed with Sirius that teaching the children about the outdoors, as well as a vacation, were in order. Sirius had volunteered himself to head the trip, with Remus and Severus joining in, and the eldest Weasley boys coming as well.

One small mention to Augusta Longbottom, and young Neville had been enrolled in their school since March. This is who came barreling out just then, followed closely by Harry and Gus. "Uncle Siri! Neville's here!" Harry called out, quite unnecessarily. Sirius smiled softly, "I see that. Are you two ready?" The two boys nodded quickly, their eyes shining. While Sirius had been in charge of gathering all camping supplies, Harry had been helping Remus inside, packing clothes for everyone, as well as food. Remus had mentioned in the next few years making the children go on a trip without magic, and while all had agreed it would be a good idea to teach the children to rely on more than just magic, this first trip was to show how fun the outdoors could be. Sirius also may have balked a bit, after all, camping without magic? He had agreed it would be fun, but maybe someday. Someday far away, he thought again to himself.

After checking his list once more against the gathered supplies, he shrunk everything down before casting a feather light charm, as well as an undetectable extension charm, on a backpack and loaded it up. Just then, Severus, followed by Remus, came out with the rest of the children, an identical back pack already strapped on his broad back. "If everyone is ready to go, grab onto the port key!" Remus called out. The children, having gone through this several times now, after all what is a school without field trips, grabbed on, the older ones making sure Ginny and little Charlie had grabbed on tightly with one hand, the other safely in their own. With a countdown from five, they were gone.

Once Sirius had mentioned camping, the men had begun looking for a suitable location. They wanted to stay on the Potter Manor property, though that wasn't that hard due to the sheer size of it, as well as stay next to a body of water of some type. Severus had been the one to suggest their current location. He'd found it while looking for potion ingredients and had known it would be perfect.

They were next to a small lake, fed by a twisting river, which was shadowed by trees. Their clearing had originally been made for a small hunting cabin that had never been built by James' grandparents. While it had been taken over by grass and wildflowers, a quick spell made sure the wild grass was mowed down. Wild flowers were still abundant after the spell, growing in bunches on three sides of the clearing. The fourth sloped down to the lake, and Severus had taken the time on one of his gathering runs to tie a rope swing on one of the trees that curved over the water. The trees lent shade, keeping the clearing slightly more comfortable than had it been without; Potter Manor, and Scotland, was in the middle of one of the warmest Junes there had been in fifty years.

While the children ran around in glee, Sirius and Remus set up the tent, and Severus, Bill and Charlie unpacked the bags. Sirius had spent more than he needed to on the wizarding tent, but had been pleased with his purchase. What looked like, from the outside a simple, drab, old-fashioned tent, once entered, was a three bedroom, one bathroom, living area and kitchen, home. He had kept all of the accessories simple, though there was still a stove, cooling box, and seating area. He entered the middle bedroom and quickly transfigured the cots he had bought into four sets of bunk beds. The younger boys could sleep in one room, himself, the other adults, Bill and Charlie in another, and finally Hermione, Ginny and little Charlie in the third. He hoped to use this tent for years, and even eventually give it to Harry when he was grown.

Once the tent was set up, he began opening packages with lanterns, the camp stove and a metal bin for a campfire. He transfigured camp chairs into something a bit more comfortable, and even set the electric fan he had bought to run on magic and fan the campsite. The children swarmed the area then, and he stopped what he was doing to pull some snacks out of the cooling box. Molly and Petunia had prepared snacks and side dishes, leaving the campers to rely on the river for entrees.

"Uncle Siri, can we go swimming now?" Sirius looked into the earnest face of his Godson and couldn't help but grin. The changes that were apparent after almost a year in his and his friends care never failed to leave him proud. Harry had now gained two inches and close to a stone in the past ten months, and hardly ever had the shadowed, fearful look he'd once held on to. Sirius glanced around, and seeing all faces on him, nodded. "Yes, we'll go for a swim, then we can have some snacks after?" The children cheered before swarming back to the tent to change into their swimwear.

"What would you have done if in school you somehow saw this scene?" Sirius was sitting on a camp chair in the shallows of the lake, letting the lapping water cool him off, and Severus had followed his lead after playing marco polo with the children. Said man snorted; "probably have thought I'd gone insane. There's no mistaking who Harry came from, and being within twenty yards of you and not casting?" Severus snorted again. "Unimaginable", he almost muttered to himself. While sometimes he felt like pinching himself (especially while in a jeweler shop with Remus last week looking at rings for Petunia!), he thanked Merlin his life was where it was now, versus where it could have been. For he knew, he might have been working at Hogwarts under that forsaken old cronies thumb!

As the two men chatted, Remus came down from the campsite, arms full of fishing paraphernalia. "Who wants to fish for dinner with me?" The sentence was hardly out of his mouth before Harry, Ron, Fred, and the older Charlie were in front of him, eager to take part. The other children continued playing with Bill in the deeper part of the lake.

"Now, while we know about food being one of the principal exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, if there were to be some reason you were stuck in the middle of no where, you'd want to be able to find something to eat without too much magic," Remus continued on, fully in his element of teaching his knowledge hungry pupils. "Of course, that's not to say you couldn't use your wand to hunt, fish or gather plants and roots, but you would be responsible for finding the basic food item." As he was talking, he rolled out several of the flat stones the group had found earlier out of the camp fire, and placed the fish that had been caught on them, the instant sizzling spreading through the camp site. Harry and Ron traded excited grins, happy they had caught six of the fish between the two of them.

The adults had painstakingly been changing and adding to Remus' and Petunia's plans for teaching; while all wanted the children to excel at Hogwarts, they also decided being able to go 'underground' so to speak, could only help. When the camping trip had been originally suggested, it was for fun. It was after listening to one of Remus' experiences while Sirius had been in Azkaban, when Remus had floundered on his own with no resources, that the idea had fully formed to the trip they were now on.

Sirius set out plates and forks, just in time too, as Remus added the now cooked fish to each, before topping each off with peaches.

The old man downed the polyjuice quickly, wrinkling his long nose at the foul taste before feeling the familiar melting as his features changed to become those of a middle aged auror he'd "borrowed" a few strands of hair from. He threw the red auror robes on and apparated to the boat dock, headed for the island of most nightmares.

He walked quickly off the boat, climbing the stairs to finally enter Azkaban. He gave his borrowed wand to the security desk on detail, and wandlessly cast a confundus to skip the requisite body scan (that would of course find his own elder wand, as well as a few more contraband he didn't think would be much welcomed) before continuing into the dank building. He allowed himself a quick smile at how easily he'd found himself in the most guarded prison in wizarding Europe, before making the slight turn and heavy descent into the highest security section that was his destination. He found the cell he was aiming for, looking down his rather pug like nose at the scowling, slightly crazy, woman inside.

"My Mrs. Lestrange, how you've declined." The woman in question snarled, "what do you want here Brey? Come to gloat some more?" The polyjuiced Auror Jim Brey flicked imaginary dust off of his spotless robes before pulling the smuggled in bag he'd brought.

"Not at all. You see we both have some issues we could help each other out with. I have some information and locations on a certain boy who helped to bring down your lord, while you", he trailed off, looking around trying to keep the distain on his face as to not show his glee a how well his plan was working. "You are stuck…here. Would you be interested in helping each other out a bit?" Bellatrix looked around, noticing all prisoners across from her were oddly enough sleeping straight through this conversation, and none of the dreaded dementors were anywhere near that she could feel.

"What's in this for you? You gonna help me out of this place?" She rasped, her vocal cords not having done much other than scream and yell for the past almost six years. "Oh yes, I'm going to help you out of here. And in return, you're going to get rid of Harry Potter, as well as his guardians, your esteemed cousin, his werewolf sidekick, and a certain potions Master." Bella grinned at who she would be against; getting to finally kill the man who dare besmirch her Black heritage was enough to make her year, getting to do it along with that blasted Harry Potter would firmly place her back at her Dark Lord's side where she belonged! She'd finally get revenge for her family, her master and bring him back. She didn't get to be one of the lieutenants of the Dark Lord's army for naught though; she turned to the auror (who she was beginning to think was not who he appeared to be) and looked suspiciously at him. "Why are you helping me? You weren't in our army!" The disguised and disgusted auror just shook his head. "What does it matter who I am, or whether or not I was in your Dark Lord's army? We want the same things! Now, do we have a deal?" He held out his bag of contraband and shook it lightly towards the witch in question, who snatched it quickly into her cell before dumping the contents on her cot. She quickly changed into the elegant robes, tied her long mangy hair back, and turned back to the man who would get her out. She wasn't able to open her mouth to ask what his plan was to get her out when he transfigured her into a small bird, before stunning her.

The auror summoned the blue bird to him and shoved it, slightly roughly, into his pocket. He walked out just as quickly as he'd come, and boarded the small boat back to the mainland.

"That was a quick stop Auror Brey. Did you get your audit done?" The small boat operator asked. "I got what I came for, thank you". The boat operator nodded and smiled and they were off.

Bellatrix Lestrange woke slowly, the slightly buzzed feeling that accompanied being stunned amplified by her being in prison. She stood quickly when she noticed that blasted auror staring at her, before lunging at his throat. He quickly stunned her again before learning from his mistake and bound her, then revived her.

"You bloody bastard! How dare you…" she trailed off, spittle still on her chin as the point of a wand almost broke skin on her cheek.

"Now you will shut up and listen and I will only tell you this once. I acquired a wand for you as yours had been destroyed. It is sitting on that table behind me, along with the names, photos, locations, and any information I was able to find on your cousin and that blasted boy. You will find them, you will get rid of them. There is a bag of galleons, as well as the address of a small cottage you may use that is near where I believe Potter Manor to be. Do this, and the wizarding world will be at your and your lord's feet. We won't be in contact again." He walked to the only door leading from the room, before turning and severing the end of the rope holding the recently freed Death Eater, then continued out before the crazy witch could get to the wand. He grinned as sinisterly as any villain as his second dose of polyjuice wore off, and Albus Dumbledore apparated away.