Summary: John thought that nothing could surprise him anymore until their 221C neighbor knocks on their door one morning and asks them to babysit his son. Who on earth is this Harry Potter and what is his relationship with Mycroft? The more John discovers about Harry, the more he realizes just how ignorant he really is. SLASH MH/HP, JW/SH.

Disclaimer: Not mine

Chapter 2 Developments

A/N: This chapter had been greatly expanded (and doubled in length).

A little past 11, a knock on the door made John look up from his book with a small frown. Who could it be? he thought, Was it Harry coming to pick Teddy up? It was probably Harry, John decided, no one else would visit them so late for any other reason. With a sigh, John forced his tired body out of his comfortable sofa chair and headed towards the front door to open it. Instead of Harry however, whom he had been expecting, Mycroft stood on the other side, dressed in elegant evening wear; a bespoke suit of the color of the night sky coupled by his ever present grey umbrella. He looked every inch like the aristocrat he was. He smiled at John - a smile that barely reached his eyes, John noticed - in greeting and tipped his head as a sign of respect. John blinked a little, totally taken aback by this new development.

"Mycroft?" he asked with some surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"He's here for Teddy obviously," Sherlock drawled from his place on the floor. Teddy sat next to him, happily engaged in trying to stack blocks of Styrofoam together to form a tower of some kind. He would laugh when said tower toppled and each block landed harmlessly all around him. John had tried to get Teddy to go to sleep by 10, but Sherlock reasoned it was useless since he'll probably just wake up again when his guardian came to pick him up. Unable to see fault in that logic, John had no choice but to bow down to Sherlock's surprisingly extensive knowledge of child care while he sat back with the book he had wanted to finish for some time. It was a mystery book Lestrade had recommended and whose title John guarded with life, fearing Sherlock would find it and spoil the ending for him by complaining about how unrealistic the whole plot was. It had happened more times than John liked.

But that was not the point now.

"Oh, of course," John said quickly, blushing a little. "Sorry. Come in. Where's Harry?"

"An emergency at work," Mycroft said smoothly, passing John to enter in to the flat. He carefully took off his shoes at the door and leaned his umbrella against the wall in a way it wouldn't fall. As for the coat he had been wearing, he took it off and hung on a hanger near the door before he followed John to the living room where Sherlock and Teddy were situated. If Mycroft was surprised by the scene that greeted him, he did not show. Instead, he headed towards the duo while John retook his seat and his book.

Teddy immediately looked up the moment Mycroft had entered the room, his expression turning in to one of absolute delight. Mycroft smiled fondly at him, leaning down so he could give Teddy a hug. As he tried to let go, the little boy refused to do so, forcing Mycroft to scoop Teddy in to his arms. As soon as he was comfortably settled, Teddy buried his face in the crook of Mycroft's neck and for a moment, John could have sworn the kid was sniffing him.

But before he could ponder further on that strange thought, Sherlock spoke up, his tone absolutely goading.

"Have you gain weight Mycroft? Your suit is looking awfully tight."

"Lost some actually," Mycroft replied with a smile, walking over to the sofa to sit down, Teddy still clinging to him like an octopus, "It had been a good month."

Sherlock gave a sigh of aggravation and John resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his childish behavior. Frustration was not a good look on home.

"You're in a disgustingly good mood," he scoffs, "Took over the world today?"

"You would have heard if I did," Mycroft said and that right there, was the highest compliment Mycroft could probably give Sherlock regarding his prowess of deduction. Sherlock, true to form however, did not take it as a complement but rather as a taunt. His expression soured further and he crossed his arms, glaring up at his brother. He still hadn't moved from his position on the floor.

"You're the king in the shadows. Unless you made it public, I doubt I would have heard about it."

"You flatter me," Mycroft said dryly but John could detect a hint of pride in the man's voice. Regardless of what transpired between them, it was obvious that Mycroft still cared about Sherlock's opinion of him and vice versa. It was cute and sad at the same time how inept they were are communicating with each other. But John couldn't really pass judgement considering the mess he had made with his relationship with his own sibling.

Before he could think more about it though, Teddy took that time to let out a small giggle followed by a string of babble that John wasn't even sure were words. Mycroft however didn't give anything sign that he didn't understand Teddy for he was already nodding along as if he was contemplating what the 2 years old was saying.

Adorable, thought John. Never knew Mycroft was such a family man.

"Oh god," Sherlock groaned, "I cannot believe he domesticated you."

"I'm not some animal Sherlock," Mycroft chided. "I do not need to be domesticated."

John could see Sherlock's point but he carefully kept his mouth shut on that matter.

Time for a change of subject…

"How did you guys meet?" John couldn't help but ask, "Sherlock told me you went clubbing?"

Mycroft grimaced, his attention shifting from his brother to John.

"Yes…clubbing," he said, as if he was disgusted by the mere thought of it, "But I had no choice. Some extremely important plans had been stolen from the PM's office and I was tasked to bring them back. We finally traced the perpetrator to the particular club where an exchange was set to take place."

"Mycroft arrested the wrong man," Sherlock told John in delight, always happy to let everyone know about his brother's failures. For a moment, John wondered if Sherlock was exaggerating things because truthfully, he couldn't see Mycroft as making mistakes in matters so important. That suspicion was dispelled however when the man in question flushed a little and admitted:

"I had been momentarily distracted," his tone slow and painful, as if the secret was being dragged out of him, "But I corrected my mistake quickly afterwards."

"By inviting the other out for dinner," the detective added, "Not very professional of you Mycroft. What would mother say?"

"That's," John started, not knowing what to think of the story, "interesting?"

"Don't bother John," Sherlock rolls his eyes, finally getting up from his seat to head towards the small kitchen, "Nothing Mycroft does is interesting."

"This propaganda campaign you have going on to destroy my reputation amuses me," Mycroft says genuinely and Sherlock's expression soured even further if that was possible.

John resisted the urge to laugh. It was always amusing when Mycroft decided to be the bigger man and not engage in one of Sherlock's taunts. Ironically, by not engaging, Mycroft managed to infuriate Sherlock more than if he had retorted something unpleasant.

Brothers…You can't live with them and you can't live without…arguing with them.

"So, how was your evening Mycroft?" John said quickly, to distract Sherlock from any further revenge planning. The doctor knew if the detective put his mind to it, Sherlock Holmes could be one of the most petty - he really didn't like to use that word but there was no other for it - person on earth, capable of holding a grudge until the bitter end. Mycroft seemed to always bring the worst out of him.

Luckily, Mycroft accepted John's conversation change with grace and replied: "We had a wonderful dinner and a bout of dancing afterwards. I had a wonderful time. Maybe you and Sherlock can join us sometime."

"Fat chance," Sherlock snorted, "You know how I feel about social gatherings Mycroft."

"Yes I do know," the man admitted regretfully, "Did you know Sherlock used to hide under his bed so that mother couldn't find him and drag him downstairs to greet the guests? It was cute really but I hope Teddy won't grow up that way though. It would make his childhood quite difficult."

Teddy giggled and Sherlock glared.

"I would love to see some pictures of baby Sherlock," John said with a small smile, imagining how cute Sherlock must have been, considering how handsome he was now - objectively speaking of course. Despite what the whole world seem to think, John Watson was straight and was not in love or pining away for his flatmate.

"Of course," Mycroft agreed readily, "When you visit my home, I'll show you everything I have."

"Do you have to band with the enemy John?" Sherlock spat.

John ignored him with the ease of someone who had been living with Sherlock for some time and knew well enough when to reply and when to ignore. Instead, he looked down at Teddy, who had stopped babbling and was not fixated on getting Mycroft's tie off. The man noticed of course and didn't hesitate before untying the know and handed the toddler the piece of garment.

"You're really good at this," John complimented him, trying his best not to sound condescending or overly shocked. Sure Mycroft had never seemed the fatherly type but appearances can be deceiving. Sherlock was the prime example of that. John didn't know Mycroft nearly as well as he knew Sherlock and if he didn't even know Sherlock was a natural at children, it was only natural he didn't know about Mycroft either. Nonetheless, it was a comforting thought to see them so tender to little Teddy; it humanizes them somehow in a way their genius never could. "Have you babysat when you were young?"

"Actually, I was the one who took care of Sherlock when our parents weren't home…and that was pretty often."

"Then Mycroft went to College and abandoned me," Sherlock snarled, the resentment clear in his tone. John's eyes widened as he finally realized why there was such a big chasm between the two brothers and why Sherlock was always so reluctant to ask Mycroft for any help. It also explained the length to which Mycroft goes to make sure Sherlock was well-cared for and safe. It was probably guilt.

In the course of a conversation, John found out more about the Holmes brothers than anyone else could have in a life time of knowing them. It was humbling in a way. John smiled to himself as another argument exploded before him, this time, Mycroft giving as good as he got.

Teddy giggled once more and John wondered where Harry was and what he would think if he would walk on this particular scene.

Location Unknown

The council meeting room was filled with tension when Harry arrived, his guards following behind him. The Head Guard, Julian, looked grimmer than usual, his stance tense and unyielding. He made sure to keep closely to his charge and glared at anyone who came to close. Harry allowed it only because he had received an urgent message from his Security team about a possible breach in their system. Things like that tended to make his protectors on edge. After all, no one wanted to repeat the fiasco that was his 5th birthday party.

"You may be seated," he said once he himself had taken a seat. He looked around the room, taking in the familiar faces. At the seat closest to him, Harry's best friend and partner in crime during his school days sat with her tablet in front of her. Hermione Granger gave him a small smile before looking back down to her notes. She looked a little tired but that was probably because little Rose, her daughter, seemed to be allergic to sleep and would keep her parents up until the wee hours of the morning. Harry was infinitely grateful that Teddy was not like that.

Clearing his throat, he made sure everyone else was looking at him before he asked: "What do you have to report?"

"We have determined the source of the breach," Hermione said, "It came from Lady Adelia's household. It is safe to assume the target of the breach is to figure out why you are not returning home even after your mission is over."

Harry frowned in annoyance. He should have known that girl was going to cause trouble one day.

"Did she find out anything?"

"Yes, she found out a lot about Mr. Holmes. It is safe to assume she will be making plans to deal with the problem herself."

Harry nodded.

"Increase the number of guards from 2 to 6. We cannot take any chances."

"But won't he notice if there were that many guards tailing him?"

Harry's expression was grim.

"That's a risk we will have to take."

"Shouldn't you inform Mr. Holmes of the situation? It might help," Hermione suggested and Harry froze. Telling Mycroft about his true identity had been in the plans but he hadn't intended on doing so so soon. But…if Adelia did decide to make an appearance, it was better for Mycroft if he knew all the facts before he found out some other way.

Sighing, Harry made his decision.

He really hoped Mycroft won't resent him for it.

TBC

Next Chapter: Revelations.