This is a sequel to the story "A Twist of Fate" and an alternate universe version of Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts.

CHAPTER ONE

Sirius Black knew he lived an extraordinary life. He was very proud of that fact. Whatever was expected of him, he went in the other direction.

It was true it had not always brought him joy. His life had not been without heartache. He'd had more than his fair share. Being a soldier on the front lines of a war meant losing people you cared about. Sirius had lost two of the people he'd care about more than anyone in the world, his best friends James and Lily Potter. He remembered the night it happened. When he'd run into their house and found James- his brother in everything but birth- lying dead, wand still clutched in his hand.

But tragedy could bring joy. James and Lily had entrusted him with the safety of their son, Harry. As difficult as the journey had been to keep Harry safe, it had given Sirius so much. He loved Harry as if he were his own.

His travels to keep Harry safe had brought him to the woman he had parted with and his biological son. A third child- a daughter- followed.

It made Sirius' stomach twist to think about, but that horrible night had managed to bring such joy to his life. He doubted any of it would have happened had he not been given Harry. He shuddered to think what would have happened to him had he not had Harry to worry after.

Worrying after Harry was Sirius' current concern. So often was the case, it seemed.

"Harry's got his letter to Hogwarts," Sirius murmured, turning the letter over in his hand to look at the wax seal closing the envelope closed. He looked up to glance at Remus and studying the werewolf's face. He was frustratingly impassive. He then looked to Yuki, who was biting her lower lip worriedly. "I suppose it makes sense. His birthday is only a week away."

Yuki snatched the letter from Sirius's hand to examine it, as if she were going to find some sort of flaw or forgery. "But..." She shook her head fractionally then looked to Sirius for explanation. "I don't understand. We haven't talked to the Headmaster in years. How does he know where we are?"

Sirius let out a small sigh at his wife's questions. He hated bringing such worry to her, especially on their anniversary. It had been nearly six years since they had spoken with Dumbledore. Their relationship with the Headmaster had never recovered after his hunt for Sirius. While he may have reluctantly forgiven Sirius and helped them hide from Death Eaters, it had been easy to let their contact fall to the wayside once they'd settled off on their own.

Remus gave a small shrug and a sigh. "He always had a way." Remus was the most level headed of the three of them. Sirius was sure they would have gotten into far more trouble were it not for his lycanthropic best friend. "Nico still comes to see us. Maybe he told Dumbledore. They've been friends for decades."

Yuki shook her head firmly. "No. Nico knows the value of a secret. There's no way he would tell Dumbledore about us. Not when he knew we didn't want him to know."

Remus pushed the letter to the centre of the table, giving another small shrug. "There's Andromeda. Or perhaps McGonagall followed us from the World Cup last year. Or... He's Dumbledore. We've probably never been out of his sight. Not really. He just allowed us to think we were."

Sirius scrubbed his face with his hands before running his fingers through his shoulder-length black hair. A growl rose in his throat, the sound so similar to that his canine Animagus form was wont to make. "Why would Hogwarts accept a student who isn't living in the United Kingdom?"

"I wasn't living in the United Kingdom when I was accepted," Remus pointed out. He pulled out his wand, waving it to put on the kettle. The gesture almost made Sirius laugh. Leave it to dependable Moony to make tea in the case of an emergency. "We were in Oregon at the time, at the commune. But I was British born. My name went down at birth. So did Harry's."

"What was that, Moony?"

All three adults froze at the voice. They turned slowly to the doorway. The slight boy wandered into the kitchen, his face obscured by the issue of Which Broomstick? he'd just received.

"Um..." Remus cast a worried glance to Sirius. He opened his mouth, obviously looking for a cue from Harry's father rather than taking the lead himself.

"We were just talking about your problem keeping Nori out of your room," Sirius lied. The pre-teen boy was always complaining about his younger sister invading his space. He had been on about it before the idea of a Nimbus 2000 had distracted him.

Sirius was loathed to lie to any of his children. Keeping things from people had been directly responsible for James and Lily's deaths. But he needed some time. Not forever. Just a day or two, so he could figure out exactly what to say to Harry. A day or two was all right, wasn't it?

"I didn't break anything!" Noriko insisted as she marched into the kitchen, trailing after Harry. She bounced on her heels. "Come on, Harry! You said you'd go outside with me!"

"That was before I got my magazine," Harry said. He pointed to a page. "Look at that."

Noriko got on tiptoes to look at the page. "It's just a broom."

"Just a broom?" JJ sauntered into the kitchen and rested his arms on top of Noriko's head. "Nori, that is the Nimbus 2000!"

"So what?" Noriko asked, rolling her eyes.

"It's the best broom in the world," Harry replied. His emerald green gaze slid over to his godfather. "You know... My birthday is in a few days."

"So it is," Sirius demurred. It was easier to focus on Harry's want of a new broom than to think about the letter on the table.

JJ's brow knit as he looked back and forth between his parents. "Weren't you two going out?"

Sirius nodded, reaching to the table and grabbing the letter that sat there. He slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket. "Yeah, Kachan and I will be going in a minute..."

Harry frowned. "Are you sure everything is all right, Padfoot?"

Sirius nodded. "Of course, Pronglet." He shared worried glances with Yuki and Remus. "There's nothing to worry about at all."

Yuki and Sirius collapsed next to each other on the queen sized bed in the quaint bed and breakfast room they'd rented for the night.

It was not how either of them had expected to collapse on the bed. First of all, they were still dressed in their clothes for their dinner out. Second of all, the dinner they'd gone to have was wrapped matching aluminium foil swans. Neither of them could find the appetite to eat and just went to their room.

"We could head home, you know," Yuki muttered.

Sirius shrugged. "We've paid the night as it is." He rolled onto his side, propping up his head with his hand. "Besides... Here, we can talk without Harry overhearing us. You know he was onto us. If he caught wind of us talking, he'd definitely sneak about trying to find out what was going on."

Yuki rolled over to face him. "We're going to have to talk to him about it eventually."

"But does it have to be now?" Sirius reached over and played with a lock of Yuki's short black hair. She used to wear it so long, but she'd cut it last year. It made her look more mature. Sirius wondered how old he really looked if he hazarded a close look in the mirror.

"Do you really think Dumbledore will stop?" Yuki asked. "Remember when he was looking for you? He sent Fawkes to my flat."

Sirius nodded. "You're right. But do we want him to go?"

Yuki sighed. "I'm his mother. If I could keep him in a house next door to me for the rest of his life, I would. But I'm fairly certain that leads to unhealthy development."

"He doesn't have to go to Hogwarts though," Sirius murmured. He crawled to Yuki, draping an arm over her hip. "We could see if the Salem Institute would be willing to take him. Or Mahōtokoro. That way, he could continue with his Mahō Budō."

"And he could be half a world away from the people who want to hurt him," Yuki finished.

Sirius shook his head. "You say that like it's a bad thing. We're his parents. We're supposed to protect him from people who want to hurt him. That's what we've been doing for the last ten years. Now we're just supposed to throw him into that mess again because Dumbledore came calling?"

He jumped to his feet, grunting. "I need to go out for a run."

Yuki sat up. "Do you want some company?"

Sirius shook his head. "No... I just... I need to clear my head." He gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry I'm not up for much celebration tonight, Kitten."

"I'll take a rain cheque. Don't get into too much trouble."

Sirius gave a nod before transforming into his gigantic black dog form. Yuki rose to her feet and opened the door for him, sighing. She watched the dog lope down the hall. He nearly knocked down the elderly owner as she walked in the opposite direction.

"Goodness!" She cried. She noticed Yuki. "Is that yours? I'm sure I said that pets weren't allowed."

"He won't be back," Yuki sighed.

The woman held out a stack of envelopes. "You've had some mail arrive. Quite a bit of it actually."

Yuki accepted the envelopes. "Thank you."

She walked back into the room, looking over the five letters addressed to her and Sirius.

She opened the first one, sighing as she saw the envelope with Harry's name on it and the Hogwarts seal on the back.

Remus sighed as he poured the tea into cups. How many had he drunk since Harry had gotten his first letter?

First. He'd gotten several of them over the past few hours. It seemed Dumbledore had no faith in their willingness to reply promptly to the letter from Hogwarts. Or perhaps Dumbledore had charmed the envelope to know when the recipient had read it.

All of the envelopes had been incinerated. Sirius had one. That was all they needed. Remus has done it as discreetly as possible.

It wasn't just an issue of Harry of course. Remus gave Alice and Frank an empathetic smile as he set the tea down on the table.

"Neville too?"

Alice nodded. "We haven't talked to him about it yet. We thought it best to wait. See what you three were going to do about Harry."

Remus held up a finger and glanced towards the sitting room. He walked over to the doorway, glancing inside.

For once, the kids were quiet. JJ and Neville were playing chess while Harry read with Noriko and Lex.

Noriko leaned her head against Harry's shoulder. She yawned. "Why can't the princess fight the dragon?"

Lex looked over at her. "Because that's the prince's job."

"Nuh-uh." Noriko shook her head. "Kachan could save Daddy from a dragon. So could your Mummy."

"Why don't you write your own story?" Harry suggested. "Where the princess does the saving?"

"Maybe I will," Noriko said, smiling at her brother. She pointed at Lex. "And you'll be the prince that the princess has to save."

"Why don't you make Harry the prince?" Lex complained. "I don't want to be a prince."

"Because Harry could save himself from a dragon."

Harry glanced up, noticing Remus. "Is everything all right, Moony?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah. It's fine. Just... You kids should be getting to bed soon."

"Harry's not done the story yet!" Noriko whined.

Harry nodded. "And Nev and Jay aren't done their game."

Alice walked up behind Remus. "Thirty minutes. Then it's time."

With a collective sigh, the kids nodded. Remus glanced at her, eyes widening. "How do you do that?"

Alice smiled and beckoned him back towards the kitchen. "Come on."

Remus sat back down at the table, picking up his teacup. "There's no point in talking anymore about this tonight. We can't make an decisions without Padfoot and Yuki."

"And they're deep in anniversary mode," Frank sighed.

"Are you kidding me?" Remus laughed bitterly. "You really think that's what Padfoot is doing right now?"

Padfoot raced through the lush foliage on the grounds around the bed and breakfast. He and Yuki had picked a place in the middle of nowhere. It had seemed romantic at the time. Now it served as a balm on his active mind.

He wasn't sure what was bothering him the most about the letter. Yes, he was worried about Harry's safety. But he still felt bitter anger at the way he had been treated by Dumbledore.

He knew the coot had plans for Harry. Putting Harry into a position where Dumbledore could manipulate him for months at a time while Sirius couldn't interfere made his insides twist.

Padfoot heard the rustling in the brush behind him. He turned and sniffed the air. There were of course many other animals- real animals- out. But there was something familiar about the scent.

The scent was not only familiar, but one not normally found in this area of the world. The large dog cocked his head at the appearance of the black leopard, something held in its mouth. He straightened his back and soon the gigantic dog was replaced with the man once again.

"I'm still getting used to you being able to do that."

The leopard disappeared, Yuki standing before him. She took the papers from her mouth. "Well, it did take me fifteen years." She touched a finger to her nose. "It was the only way I could track you down."

Sirius exhaled, looking around the woods. "Told you I needed to think, Kitten."

"Not really an option." She held up the envelopes. "These arrived at the front desk. If the Headmaster is sending us letters for Harry, no doubt he's sent more the house."

Sirius groaned. "If he's this insistent about just getting a reply, what happens if we give him one he doesn't like?"

"Do you think we will give him one he doesn't like?"

"I don't know!" Sirius raked his fingers through his hair. "This should be one of the best moments of Harry's life, getting his letter from Hogwarts. But we both know what Dumbledore has in store for him. That's our son!"

"And he's James and Lily's son too," Yuki said calmly. She slipped an arm around his waist. "We can talk about this all we want together. But that doesn't change the fact we're going to have to talk to him."

Sirius put his head on Yuki's shoulder as they walked along. "Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort was ever afraid of... And I sometimes think he's who we really have to worry about."

No one seemed surprised when Sirius and Yuki came back before midnight. Sirius gave his friends a wry smile. "I suppose my teenaged prowess has long been forgotten about."

"Just know how you worry about things," Remus sighed.

Yuki looked to Alice. "So... You guys..."

Alice held up the letter with Neville's name on it. "Have you two come to any decision? What are we going to do? I mean... We can't go back... Can we?"

"It's been six years," Frank pointed out. He gave his wife a gentle squeeze. "There hasn't been any Death Eater activity since..."

"...Since we were attacked by them?" Sirius responded tersely. "Since your mother was murdered by them? Since we only got away by the skin of our teeth?"

Frank's hands tightened into fists as he glared at Sirius. Sirius knew it was dirty pool bringing up Augusta Longbottom, but it was the truth. They had left because Harry and Neville were in danger. How could Dumbledore expect them to forget that and return?

"Of course," Remus said calmly. "There is no place safer than Hogwarts. We were all safe there in the middle of an actual war."

"But it's more than that," Sirius shook his head. "It's not just the threat of Voldemort. What about Dumbledore? We'll be giving him seven years to manipulate Harry."

Frank sighed. "I know you're still angry at the Headmaster-"

"You're damn right I am!" Sirius said, jumping to his feet. "You weren't there, Frank! He had my family on the run for a year and a half! And it's only because I blackmailed him that he let us keep Harry!"

"Sirius!" Yuki placed her hand on Sirius' shoulder. "This is not about hand delivering Harry to Dumbledore. This is about Harry- and Neville- going to school. And it's going to be about JJ, Nori and Lex going to school soon enough. Hogwarts is the best school in the world. We've taught them a lot, but we can't teach them everything."

"Not to mention..." Remus ran a hand through his light brown hair, which already had flecks of grey in it. "We can't keep them at home forever. They need to be kids. They need to have experiences outside of us. Magical experiences. Are we just supposed to keep them in Muggle school, deny them their heritage?"

"Everyone we know is there," Alice pointed out.

"We've built a life here," Sirius snarled.

"What kind of life is it?" Remus pointed out. "Except for the World Cup last year, we don't associate with wizards unless it's absolutely necessary and if we do, we use aliases. The kids don't have any friends outside of each other. We've been living off your gold for years. Maybe... Maybe it's time."

Sirius sank back down into the sofa. He tilted his head back. "I just don't know. I know they have to go to school, but... Are we sure about Hogwarts? About going back? We've been able to make lives for ourselves now. Can we really just give it up?"

"But it's not the life we wanted." Yuki squeezed Sirius' hand. "When we were in England, we were happy."

"That was six years ago," Sirius sighed. "And now..."

"Now he's growing up," Remus finished for Sirius, nodding his head. "That's it, isn't it, Padfoot? The last time we were in England, he was a small child. He barely remembers it. Now, he's turning into a young man. He's headstrong and he's going to get himself into as much trouble as we ever did."

"More," Sirius sighed. "That kid has every Death Eater in England wanting him dead. And what about their kids? The ones who are Hogwarts now? What about Snivellus? The last we heard, he was still at Hogwarts."

"Could we get support from the Ministry? Someone over Dumbledore's head?" Alice took a hold of Frank's hand.

Yuki sighed. "With Crouch in the top spot now? He's never been overly fond of any of us."

Remus got to his feet. "Listen, we're not going to come up with anything tonight. We just need to go to bed. Nothing's going to happen in the next few hours that'll make this decision any easier or harder."

Tonks let out a small moan as she rolled over in bed. She was used to waking early, preparing for the training regime that would start in a few weeks when she finally began Auror training. But the knock on the door woke her several hours before she'd planned to get up.

Bleary-eyed from her weariness, Tonks nearly tripped on the hem of her pyjama bottoms. "Hang on a tick!" She called towards the door.

She tried her best to manoeuvre around the boxes in the small flat. She'd moved into the small flat above Twilfitt and Tatting's only a week previously and she was always rubbish at household charms. Her mum had been sick about the idea of her moving to London, but she wanted to be close to work.

Come to think about it, it might be her mother. Andromeda had taken to dropping by at odd times. Tonks quickly glanced into the mirror to attempt to tame her rumpled and vividly purple hair.

"I'm coming!" Tonks said, opening the door. "What are you doing here, Mum, it's so..."

Tonks blinked at the person on the other side of the door. She swallowed hard, remaining frozen. "You're not my Mum."

Quirinus smiled at her. "N-N-Not s-s-so m-much."

Finally shaken out of her stupor by his smile at her, Tonks let out a whoop and threw her arms around his neck. He grunted in surprise at her weight being thrown at him, wrapping his arms around her.

"You should have told me you were coming back!" Tonks cried. "I would've made myself presentable." She bit her lower lip and blushed, reaching a hand up to attempt to flatten her hair again.

"Y-Y-You l-look b-b-b-beautiful," Quirinus insisted. "I-I m-m-missed you."

"You're going to have to tell me all about your trip!" Tonks pulled him into the flat. She waved her hand at the boxes. "Don't mind the mess. I just moved in. But I guess that means you got my last letter. You haven't been writing much..."

Quirinus nodded. "Th-th-things w-w-w-were..." He went quiet for a long moment. A smile then came over his face. "Interesting."

"Are you heading back to the school already? It's summer, you shouldn't need to." She pulled him to the sofa. "Do you have somewhere to stay?" She fell into his lap. "I know! You should stay here! I finally told my Mum about us. Oh, she nearly had a fit, but I'm out of school so there's not anything she can do about it. We can be a real couple now."

Quirinus took a hold of Tonks' hands. "D-D-Dora... S-s-slow d-down... I-I-I j-just g-g-got b-b-back..."

"Sorry." Tonks looked down. "I'm just... Excited. It's been a year! But you're back now and if you're here, then you still... Want..." She laughed nervously. "I mean, you do still want...?"

Quirinus nodded. "Y-y-yes."

Tonks threw herself at Quirinus, taking his mouth in a kiss. He accepted it, cupping her face. When he pulled back, he was breathless. "I-I-I d-do have s-s-some th-things t-t-to do in L-L-London."

"Then it's settled!" Tonks laughed. She rose to her feet, holding her hand out to him. "But, you know, you did interrupt my sleep. I think I want to head back to bed." She crinkled her nose. "And I think I'd like you to come with me."

Quirinus allowed Tonks to pull him along. "O-Oh..."

"It has been a year," Tonks teased. "I would think you would be as tired as I am..."

Quirinus nodded. "Y-Yes... T-T-Tired..."

It should have felt warm with Nymphadora lying in his arms, but Quirinus felt the cold sweep over him. That familiar, icy sensation only meant one thing. He had first felt it in Albania and it had been following him ever since.

He slipped out of the sleeping girl's arms and crept quietly towards the loo. He closed the door behind him and felt the iciness increase.

"This is why you desire power?" The dark voice hissed in Quirinus' ear. "To impress a slip of a girl desiring to be an Auror?"

"She is not threat to you, Master," Quirinus replied.

"Of course she is not!" With each word, the voice grew more snake-like. "But you bring me to an Auror out of... Affection?"

"She'll learn," Quirinus promised. "She is young and loves me."

"Love," the voice now laughed.

"Nymphadora will follow me and I forever follow you."

Quirinus' head jerked up as he heard footsteps on the other side of the door. He then heard the light rapping. "Quirinus? Is everything all right?"

Quirinus laughed nervously. The coolness in the air abated slightly and he opened the door. "O-O-Of c-c-c-course, D-D-Darling. J-J-Just A-A-Apparation... S-S-Sickness..."

"That's a shame," Nymphadora sighed. She gave Quirinus a light kiss on the cheek. "I need to go out and find birthday presents for Harry and Neville. If you're up for it, do you want to meet for a nosh at the Leaky? Around one?"

Quirinus gave a brief nod. "A-A-all right."

Nymphadora smoothed down his hair. "All right. Just go back to bed for now. I need to shower and go out. I'll be quiet. See you later. Rest well."

Quirinus gave another nod, watching Nymphadora retreat into the bathroom. When the door closed behind her, his expression darkened as the chill returned to the air.

"She's shopping for... Harry?"

Quirinus nodded, walking back to the bed. "Her cousin is Harry Potter's adoptive father. They lived abroad. But Nymphadora knows where they are."

The dark laughter chilled Quirinus as much as the presence around him did. He shivered involuntarily. "Well, Quirrell... Here I thought your girlfriend was nothing but base sentiment. But you might have given me the most important thing..." The laughter deepened. "A path to Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived."