Harry James Potter was having a very confusing day. Or maybe night. Morning? He wasn't quite sure, anymore. The old man had arrived after the sun set, yesterday. He had a very long talk with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon – so long, in fact, that Harry fell asleep waiting for them to finish. He usually couldn't sleep with strangers in the house (it frightened him, the office parties that Uncle Vernon sometimes hosted had loud, rude people), but his eyes softly shut of their own accord. It was still dark when the old man took him, and they'd been traveling ever since.

Actually, Harry wasn't even too sure about that. The old man lifted him, and asked him to count to three. Harry did, and suddenly they were squeezed really tight, by something invisible, and wham! They landed on the concrete, in an ally. It was still dark, but there were lots of people in coats, carrying styrofoam cups of coffee or tea. They didn't seem to see Harry, or the old man. Not even when Harry almost got whacked by a woman's swinging purse.

They got to a big, tall, glass building, just as the sun was rising. Once inside, things were very different. First of all, people began to notice them again. They would nod at the old man, and some ladies would coo when they saw the five-year-old with the goofy hair. Second, they were dressed in crazy dresses, just like the old man. Third, everything was a bit… strange. Things that ought not to fly were zooming through the air, and some people carried short wooden sticks, like Dudley would do when he went Harry Hunting at the park. The memory, not to mention how crowded the room was getting, made Harry shrink into the old man's side. The boy was lifted again, and got to be carried all the way in to the elevator!

Harry couldn't begin to explain how strange the elevator was.

They ended up on a very high floor (Harry lost count after seven), and the old man finally put him down. They stood in a small alcove, between the elevator and one dark brown door.

"I imagine you have a lot of questions, Harry."

This was new, as well. The old man was very nice at the house (he helped Harry pack his things), but hadn't said much since. It wasn't so much that Harry trusted him, but Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon made their nephew leave. Harry figured he was just lucky that the poor man they shoved him off onto was so kind.

"No, sir."

The old man quirked an eyebrow. "This has been a completely normal night for you, then?"

Harry shied away, his back against the wall. It was awful when grown ups asked questions they didn't mean.

The old man took the hint, and his face dropped to the gentle, caring one that Harry saw before. "There is quite a bit to explain. I only meant that I wouldn't be surprised if you do have questions. This night has been confusing even for a silly old man, like me."

That had Harry cracking a small smile. The old man seemed to like it, as his eyes got all funny and twinkly. "There are two very important people waiting to meet you, behind this door. Shall we?" He raised his fist to knock.

Harry nodded agreement.

The knock was soft, and only one had been rapped out before there was a great "Whoop!" from inside.

"They're here! Moony, he's here!" A hoarse voice yelled.

"Calm down." The other voice answered. It was much milder, but still sounded a bit edgy. Harry was very good at reading grown ups from the sound of their voice. He had lots of practice.

The door swung open. Harry tried not to stare, but he couldn't help it. These were two of the scariest people he'd ever seen in his life. One had long black hair, tied back in a messy ponytail. He had a beard and a mustache, and his clothes (a leather jacket and denim pants) were just as inky as his hair. Even his eyes had dark circles around them. He looked like those bikers that always made Aunt Petunia lock the car doors at the petrol station.

The other man was much too tall. At least he was dressed normal - sensibly, Aunt Petunia would say - in a red jumper and blue denim pants. The real frightening thing about the second man was that he had three scars across his face. He looked quite dangerous.

Harry jumped behind the old man who just chuckled. "Come, Harry. These two won't hurt you. Let's get inside, shall we?"

The boy's voice was as small as his three feet two inches self. "Will you stay, sir?"

He got a solemn nod in return. "Of course."

Wary, he followed in. The flat was like nothing he'd ever seen! Aunt Petunia would think it was messy (though Harry wondered if she'd ever seen Dudley's second bedroom), but he was captivated by the stuff, all around him: bookshelves overflowing with books, three different globes in one corner, large pictures of faraway places on the walls, and a couch that looked very squishy. The old man led to said couch, and they sat, the scary men in mismatched armchairs across from them.

"How much does he know?" The tall one asked.

"Very little." The old man answered. "Only that I'm an old friend of his parents, and that I needed to take him away from his aunt and uncle."

The biker looking man scoffed, and mumbled something that sounded like "about damn time."

"Positivity." The tall one whispered back, chiding. He then turned his attention to Harry, a soft smile on his face. "My name is Remus, and this is Sirius. It's very nice to meet you. We're old friends of your mum and dad, as well."

"You can't remember, of course, but we used to see you all the time, when you were very little." The biker looking man added.

Harry couldn't yet bring himself to converse directly with the scary men, so he looked up at the old man. "You all really knew my mum and dad?"

"Of course!" The old man smiled. "I was their teacher, and these were two of their closest friends."

Harry had no idea what to say in response. "That's good, then. I don't know much about them. I can't even remember the car crash."

"What car crash?" Sirius barked out. Harry shrunk closer to the old man.

Remus rolled his eyes. "You'll have to excuse Sirius, Harry. He's not angry with you, don't worry. He can get loud and shouty, like an overgrown puppy." He smiled, but Harry kept his expression guarded. "Did your aunt and uncle tell you that your parents died in a car crash?"

Harry nodded.

Remus moved closer to the edge of his seat, and leaned in. He could probably reach out and grab Harry's leg, if he wanted to, but Harry wasn't nearly as wary of this stranger as he was just minutes ago. "They weren't telling you the truth – I'd wager they didn't tell you the truth about a couple of important things. It's a long story for another day, when we're all less exhausted. For now, you just need to know that your parents were good people. They love you very much, and died protecting you."

"You can't call Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon liars." He looked up to the old man again. "I'll be in trouble."

"Perhaps not." The old man commented. "Why don't you explain, Remus?"

There was a moment, as if neither of the - now slightly less scary - men knew what to say. Harry kicked his feet in anticipation, but quickly stopped. If he scuffed the couch, that would be real trouble. For some reason, though, no one seemed to notice or mind.

"We heard that you hurt your arm very badly yesterday." Remus finally began.

It was the first time Harry remembered, since the old man came last night. Funny, it should hurt much, much more than it did.

Dudley had shoved him down at the top of the steps, like usual. Harry reached out to steady himself, but he couldn't reach the banister. Instead, his body tumbled down a few steps, while his arm got caught between the vertical rails. There was a gross cracking noise, and more pain than Harry could ever remember feeling. Aunt Petunia groaned and pulled him up, asking if he thought she actually had the time for a visit to the hospital right now, and how on earth could he be so careless?

They spent the entire morning, after dropping Dudley off at school, with the doctor. It was all a jumble to Harry: there were a lot of questions, prodding instruments, and scribbled notes. Finally, a very nice nurse came in. She cleaned his arm (which now had no feeling, at all) for a long time, and then wrapped it up tight in white cloth. He waited for the bandage to harden into a cast while Aunt Petunia signed a bunch of papers. Then, after all that, Harry was released.

It was well after the school day when they got back to Privet Drive. Uncle Vernon was mad, because he had to leave work early to pick up Dudley. Harry was sent to his cupboard while his Aunt and Uncle talked – then things got truly nasty. Uncle Vernon was even angrier, and Harry couldn't for the life of him figure out why. His Uncle retrieved a hammer from the shed, and started to whack at Harry's cast. That hurt even more than when it first broke, it was awful.

"You want your school to get a load of this, don't you?" The red faced man yelled. "Hoping Child Welfare will come to pay a visit? The nerve, after all we've done for you! All our sacrifices for an ungrateful freak!"

The cast was totally hacked off by then, but the screaming continued. Harry was thrown into the cupboard with the arrival of the visitor, and he knew his arm still hurt, then. Sometime after he met the old man, he supposed, the hurting just managed to stop on its own.

"It was an accident." Harry admitted, trying direct conversation with Remus.

"Your Uncle hurt you, didn't he?" Sirius spoke up again.

"He did not! I fell down the stairs!" Harry insisted. He would not be in trouble for this, not if he could help it.

"He hurt you after, though." The old man interjected. "When he took apart your cast."

"How did you know? That was before you got there."

It was quiet, again. Remus looked at the old man with a raised brow, and the old man shook his head. "We were friends of your parents, Harry, as mentioned before. We wanted to make sure things were going well for you, so we set up a monitoring system. It would be difficult to explain further, for right now. I came over because I saw that your Uncle was hurting you."

"You're not in trouble for what he did." Remus quickly added. "He, in fact, is going to be the one in quite a bit of trouble. We decided, as those closest to your parents, that you shouldn't live with him or your Aunt anymore."

Harry was confused, to say the absolute least. "I have to go home, though. My school is there, and my room."

"Not anymore." Sirius joined in, again. "It's dangerous for you to live with those people. I'm very sorry, Harry. So is Remus, and Professor Dumbledore here-"

So that was the old man's name!

"- if we knew what was going on, you wouldn't have lived there for so long. Enough is enough. We think it would be better if you lived here, instead. With Remus and me."

A new home? Harry couldn't believe it. He felt his eyes widen, and his chest went all jumpy. No one told Harry he was leaving leaving. No more Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, or Dudley? Not ever?

"I'm not going back to the Dursleys?" Harry whispered.

"Not ever." Sirius promised.

"Even if they yell?" The child managed to caution. This was all too much. "One time, my teacher said I wouldn't have to go back anymore. Aunt Petunia came to the school and yelled a lot, and then I had to go back anyway. I got in a lot of trouble."

Remus shook his head. "They can yell as much as they want, we won't move you an inch."

"I don't think they will." Harry added. "They'll be afraid. You're tall, and he looks scary." He gestured to Sirius, then immediately hung his head. How rude. "Sorry."

Shockingly enough, no one shoved his head farther down, or pushed him off the couch. They laughed, even Sirius! It wasn't the mean laugh that meant you'd be smacked in a minute, either. It was "something funny on the telly" laughter.

"He does indeed look rather scary. I've been trying to fix that, but Sirius here is stubborn as a mule." Remus rolled his eyes. It was silly, so among the continued chortles of the other two men, Harry managed to sneak in a giggle.

"It's only how he looks, Harry. I can promise these are two very nice people. They'll protect you and take care of you-" Dumbledore began.

Sirius was quick to interrupt. "Tell you stories about your mum and dad, teach you to ride a br- bike, read you books, bandage up your scrapes, make fantastic chocolate sundaes-"

In turn, Sirius was interrupted by Remus. "I know this place doesn't look like much fun, but it really can be. You'll have your own room, too. It isn't much now, but after we're all well rested, Sirius and I will help you decorate it however you like."

Harry had no idea what to say. He was torn between running to hug their legs (as he'd seen Dudley do to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon so many times) and running away, because no way would these people want to keep him around once they realized what an awful burden he was.

He then realized there wasn't much of a choice. They were making it sound good, but no one asked Harry's opinion. They said he'd be living here now, and he knew better than to disobey a grown up. "Thank you," he looked between the two across from him, "it's very nice of you to let me stay."

They both broke out into huge smiles, and Dumbledore's eyes went all twinkly. Harry, of course, didn't mention it – he didn't want to use any freak words so soon.

"It's very nice of you to come stay with us." Remus said.

"It'll be great fun." Sirius added. His smile, Harry noticed, screamed of mischief.

"Harry, I'm going to go home now." Dumbledore moved a hand to the boy's back. "I believe all four of us deserve a long lie-in today. Sirius and Remus will show you to your room, and I'll be by again tomorrow evening."

Harry nodded.

Dumbledore raised a hand in farewell to the men, and was swift to the door. He was almost out when Harry raised his voice. "Um, sir?"

"Yes, Harry?" he took a step back inside.

"Thank you for taking me from the Dursleys."

The twinkle was back, in full force. Or was the old man, for some reason, teary? "It was my pleasure." He then fully stepped out, and there was a pop! outside the door.

Remus walked over and bent down. It was almost, almost like he'd lift Harry up, but decided against it. Instead, he gestured for the boy to follow him and Sirius, who was bounding down a corridor at the back of the room.

"I'm just making sure it's still right!" Sirius called.

Remus laughed. "He already checked four times, before you got here. We are very excited that you're moving in." He whispered to Harry.

Harry giggled, again. It didn't seem like he'd get in trouble for that, here, so he might as well.

They passed one set of doors, and stopped at the second, where the one to the left was open. Were they showing him one of their rooms first? That was odd. It was sparse, but in a comfortable grown up way. A big bed was in the middle, up against the opposite wall. There was a dresser right to the left, a squishy looking rocking chair to the right, and a door at the back right corner. There were loads of books on shelves, put away much more neatly than those in the sitting room.

"It isn't much for a kid, now, but like Remus said, we'll work on it tomorrow." Sirius explained. His calm words were betrayed by the way his heels bounced against the wood floor, like a dog waiting for a ball to be tossed.

"Wait, this is where I go?" Harry was confused.

"Will it be all right?" Remus (for some reason) sounded worried.

"I don't want to- this was someone else's room, wasn't it? Don't you want your room to yourself? I can sleep on the couch, I don't mind." Harry pardoned himself. "I don't want to be in the way."

This time it was Sirius who bent down, at eye level. "You are certainly not in the way, Harry. This used to be Remus's room, a very long time ago. He hasn't slept here in years. It was just waiting for you to arrive, I think! The flat knew all along it would be getting another occupant." The man teased. "Is it okay?"

"Okay?" Harry was incredulous. "It's brilliant. I could fit forty million of my bedrooms in this one, it's even bigger than my cousin's!"

Sirius grinned (still like he was up to no good). "Fantastic."

Harry was feeling gutsy enough by then, so he managed a question. "Where do you go, then? I thought you lived here, too." He addressed Remus.

The adults looked at one another for quite a long time. Long enough that Harry was sure he crossed the line. "Sorry, I- sorry."

"Oh, no. You haven't done anything, love." Remus rested a hand on the child's shoulder, and joined Sirius in crouching down. "Your Aunt and Uncle share a room, don't they? And your friends at school, their parents share a room, as well? Even though we're both boys, Sirius and I share a room just like that."

Harry understood. They were being careful, because this was one of the things he wasn't allowed to talk about, at home nor at school. "Susan – at school – has a mum and a mum instead of a mum and a dad. I'm not supposed to mention it because Aunt Petunia says it's 'indecent,' but they're the second nicest parents in the class. Her mum with the brown hair brings the dog to school when she picks up Susan, and lets me pet it until Aunt Petunia remembers to come for me. You're like that, then?"

Sirius and Remus appeared relieved. "Exactly." Sirius nodded. "Like Susan's mums."

Harry shrugged. It didn't make much of a difference to him. "Okay. Thank you for letting me use the room."

Sirius stood, moving towards the interior door. "You're not just using it, Harry. It's yours! This is your bathroom, but we're going to lock it up at night, okay? You're just a little too little to be going in at night without one of us knowing."

Harry was ashamed. "I can use the toilet myself. I'm five."

"Right, of course you can." Remus agreed. "During the day that's no problem. At night, though, what if you slipped on the wet tile and hurt yourself? I might not hear you yell because this one snores so loudly." He pointed to Sirius, who pretended to be offended. "If you need to use the bathroom, come right across the hall and wake one of us up."

"If you need anything at all, just come in and shake us awake. We don't mind, at all. The door'll stay open." Sirius continued.

There was absolutely no way in the world Harry would do so, but he nodded just the same. These two didn't like it when Harry tried not to make a fuss, it seemed. How strange.

"Um, what about my pajamas? Mister Dumbledore helped me pack them away into a bag he had, but I don't think he left it here." Harry looked about, as though he might have missed it.

"He's a very smart man, but he can be very silly." Sirius explained. "He probably dropped the bag off in the sitting room, but forgot to mention. I'll go fetch it while Remus helps you brush your teeth."

"My toothbrush!" Harry exclaimed. "Oh no, I forgot it-"

"That's no problem, I'm sure we have an extra unused one around here." Remus led the way to the loo.

"No," Harry moaned, "you can't just give me one, they cost so much money!"

"Harry," said Sirius, who hadn't walked out yet, "what in Mer- what on Earth do you mean? A toothbrush is less than five sic- damn, I mean short of two pounds. We're responsible for you now, getting you a toothbrush is the least we can do."

"It's very wasteful of me, since I have a perfectly good toothbrush at home. Plus it's ungrateful, since the one I've got is practically new. I just got it for my birthday this summer. I really am sorry." Harry shrugged at this less than stellar start. Gosh, how quick did it take a freak like him to mess up?

"A toothbrush for your birthday?" Remus sounded surprised. "From your Aunt and Uncle?"

Harry nodded.

"What else did you get?"

Harry shrugged.

Out of nowhere at all, strong arms pulled Harry up off the floor. He thought he was really in for it and cringed to protect his head, but no vicious blow came. He was being held tight against a warm torso, his head held protectively over a leather-clad shoulder. Sirius had lifted him? Out of the two men, Harry certainly would've guessed the other would be the more likely hugger. Harry, very confused, managed to wrap his arms around the nearby neck so that he wouldn't fall off.

"That would be happening anymore." Sirius sounded particularly gruff and scratchy. "You can have a new toothbrush every day, if you like."

A comforting hand started to rub his back. Seeing as both of Sirius's were occupied holding him, Harry figured it was Remus. "Your birthday will be the big, giant, messy celebration that it was intended to be. You'll have so many presents you won't know what to do with yourself. Christmastime, too. I'm sure this December Santa Claus will have to make up for all the years the Dursleys tried to keep him away from you." The tall man said, soothing. "You two don't move a muscle, I'll go for Harry's bag."

Remus left, and Sirius disobeyed. He didn't put Harry down, but did begin to slowly walk about the room. Harry knew it was rude of him, but he was tired enough that this slow stroll might put him to sleep. "You know what the best part is, Harry?" Sirius spoke low, near a whisper. "Very soon, you won't even think this is strange. It'll be perfectly natural for you to have the world's best birthdays, and a nice big room, fit for a prince such as yourself. You'll get used to having two people who care for you very much, and you won't ever have to even think about that awful place where you used to live. We'll go for new trainers tomorrow evening, okay? I'd say we'd get you all new clothes, but that's a tall order for tomorrow, seeing as we'll be sleeping a good portion of the day. Just trainers tomorrow, and Thursday we can go for new clothes. A load of toys as well. Remus might make us get some boring books, but I think we'll take home the ten biggest toys in the shop, as a priority."

"S'a lot." Harry commented, dreary.

"A lot is not enough!" Sirius announced. "Then we'll get back home, all worn out and happy. Remus will make us all cocoa and you two can sit and drink it while mine gets cold, because I'll be trying to assemble all your new toys. You and Remus will laugh at me 'till your sides hurt, but I won't mind at all, because I'm just so happy to have you here with us."

"Hey." Came a new whisper. Remus was back.

Harry lifted his head, and opened his now heavy eyelids.

"Your pajamas looked very scratchy, Harry, but I found these lying around. Want to wear them, instead?"

Remus was holding up a pair of brilliant blue PJs. They looked like the sky and moved like water – Harry would have said "Brilliant!" had be been able to manage anything more than a weary smile.

"Brilliant." Remus said it for him, in reply. Harry was gently laid on the bed, and was nearly asleep by the time the four helping hands had succeeded in changing his clothes. He was tucked beneath the covers, nice and tight but not too tight, like he was a little worm in a cocoon. Warm hands played at the fringe of his hair, and he might have felt a kiss on the head, but he was teetering too far on the edge of consciousness to truly register anything.

He knew he was safe, warm, and happy. Things were certainly changing, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it should have been. Two total strangers in a random London flat were completely in charge of him now, but his mind wasn't calling it frightening. It was calling this "home."

A/N: Thank you so much for reading – please review, let me know what you think! This was going to be my next project, but my WIP was driving me nuts, so I decided to take a break and get started on this.

This is set to be a long series of one shots, in keeping with my head cannon of "if Wolfstar raised Harry…" Keep checking for more, soon! The next bit (and everything after, in keeping) won't necessarily be continuous, but I'll try my best for it to be chronological. Thanks again, you're the best!