Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. However, since Rowling discarded my favourite characters I picked them up and took them into my care to give them the love and attention they deserve...and occasionally give them reason to need that love and attention no matter how much they deserve it without needing a reason.

Summary: What if, when Harry saw a glimpse of Padfoot on the evening he ran away from Privet Drive, things had gone differently?

Warnings: Dumbledore and Snape bashing, a little bit of Molly, Hermione and Ron bashing mentioned.

Special thanks to Kitty for beta-ing this story for me. Thank you for your endless support and patience when dealing with my continuously grammar mistakes. I swear, one day I will get it all right! Thank you for the lessons you give me to help me get better and for the endless inspiration you keep giving me with our conversations.

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Harry managed to make it several streets from the Dursleys before he collapsed on a low wall in Magnolia Crescent, letting his increasingly weighted trunk fall to the ground as he panted.

Now that the original anger was fading away, he couldn't stop a faint panic from settling in as he knew he was in real trouble now. He had blown up his aunt; accidentally of course, but he had still blown her up and was surely to be expelled now.

And not only that; he would have no place to go even if he could somehow manage to talk Professor Dumbledore into allowing him to stay at school.

He had no idea exactly where Ron or Hermione lived; and even if he had, neither of the two would be home right now as Ron was in Egypt and Hermione in France.

He wasn't quite sure how long he sat there at the low wall; trying to tame his turmoil thoughts and rising panic when he heard a sound behind him; swirling around with his wand drawn.

But the street was too dark to properly see and, aware he had pretty much already gotten himself into trouble he raised his wand higher. "Lumos."

A huge black dog stood between the pebble-dashed walls of number two and the garage, glistering eyes narrowing as Harry's light shone over him and Harry could see the dog's fur was matted; the creature thinner than could be considered healthy from all the way there.

As he watched the startled animal; it occurred to him that he should be afraid as it was clearly either abandoned and half starved or just wild; yet a sense of familiarity kept the fear at bay as he stared at him.

It was absurd and there was no way he knew the animal; the Dursleys hated animals and Harry had never really been allowed out on his own outside of going to school and back.

But despite the impossibility of it; he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew this dog, could trust it.

"Here boy," holding out a hand, he tried to beckon the poor animal closer and as it slowly, cautiously approached, a powerful feeling of wrongness washed over Harry.

But he immediately knew it was not caused by the dog itself; though the mere sight of it caused his heart to clench as he instinctively knew this animal should look magnificent and strong.

It was the shape that brought forth that sense of wrongness; like someone else should be there instead.

Remembering McGonagall's lecture about Animagi, he just knew that was the case now and the animal was not what he appeared to be.

The slowly approaching animal blurred as Harry's mind provided him with the vague features of a man and although he couldn't make out the face properly; he knew he had loved that man as affection rushed through him at the faint memory of him.

His heart hammering; Harry was torn between running from whatever magic was at play here and curiosity at finding out who the animal really was when the dog looked up; grey eyes met Harry's green ones and it suddenly clicked.

The wanted criminal on the television a week earlier had seemed familiar to Harry; although he had brushed the feeling off at the time.

Now though, he could immediately place him as memories he hadn't known he possessed rushed through him; leaving him disorientated and fighting to breathe properly.

"Siri..." he became aware of cold hands carefully guiding him down onto his trunk.

"Breathe..." a faintly familiar, yet strangely cracked voice instructed him softly as those same cold hands softly rubbed his back, counting and while it was an odd thing to do Harry found that if he focused on it he could breathe a little easier. "That's it, in and out."

"Siri," Harry fisted his fingers into the fabric of the robe the man wore, not caring that the material was filthy and damp as his mind told him to not let go, to never let go again.

"Shhh, I'm here, please don't cry," it was only then that Harry realised he was indeed crying, sobbing helplessly into the man's shoulder as thin arms had wrapped around him in an embrace that should feel awkward but instead felt utterly comforting.

Harry was not sure how long they sat there like that, but eventually Sirius pulled back; giving Harry a peek at wet and haunted grey eyes as the man glanced the way Harry had come from some time ago.

"...need to go."

"No!" Harry launched himself at the man, his godfather as his mind provided him with, as Sirius made to rise, the previously overwhelming urge to hold onto him now screaming in terrified protest.

"The Ministry is at your house; I cannot be caught."

"Take me with you," Harry pleaded as he tightened his hold on the man's filthy robes, uncaring as they ripped a little. "Please, don't leave me again."

"Pup, we need to go," it was only then that Harry realised that the man was holding onto him just as tightly and hadn't had any intention of leaving without him. "I will not leave you, never again."

A faint and shaky smile crossed the tight expression as Harry's grip loosened a little to let him know he'd heard him properly this time and helped him to his feet. "Tiffy."

Immediately a small and very old looking house-elf appeared, dressed in a black dress embodied with the letter P and looking oddly solemn.

"Siri! Little Harry!" The small elf squeaked at seeing them, her ears shooting up in clear happiness as she clearly recognised them.

"Take us to the Manor, please. We're not safe here," Sirius' arm came around Harry again, pulling him closer against him and Harry tightened his own hold as his stomach lurched at something the small elf did.

But as soon as the horrible feeling had come, it had gone again and he blinked surprised to see they were standing before a beautiful brown building.

"Where..."

"We are at Potter Manor. The house of your ancestors and where your father grew up," Sirius softly answered. "We will be safe here, hello Tiffy."

"Siri," to Harry's uttermost surprise, big tears dripped down from the little elf's large blue eyes as she shuffled forward to fall into his arms as Sirius knelt down, holding her with the same gentleness as he'd held Harry as she sobbed for a long moment before pulling back.

"Why did Siri not let Tiffy come get him sooner?"

"I had not expected to come here," Sirius admitted as he rose to his feet again as Harry held out a hand, eyes hungrily taking Harry in properly now that they were standing in the light coming from the house.

"Why not? If it's safe here, then why wouldn't you have hidden here before?" Harry asked as he took in the man's grubby features and frighteningly thin shape at the same time.

"I didn't escape for me, but I will tell you inside as it's a fairly long and complicated story."

"All right," for all intents and purposes, Harry knew he shouldn't trust the man, even if he had known him once. But trusting Sirius was as natural and automatic as breathing to him and he instinctively knew the man would never let any harm come to him, so he followed him as Tiffy began to lead them to the house.

"After a shower, though. Tiffy not liking how not so little Harry looks and Siri's much, much worse."

"Don't sugar-coat it to spare our feelings," Harry muttered before he could stop himself but before he could apologise both the little elf and Sirius gave a quiet huff of a laugh, making him blush.

"As you will soon learn, Tiffy is a bit of a mother hen and refreshingly honest. She has been taking care of your father and me since I met her in my first year at Hogwarts," Sirius explained as they followed her inside. "And she is quite right, you are sweaty and I don't even want to try and discover what I smell like."

Blinking up to his godfather as he finally noticed just how sweaty he himself was, Harry grimaced. "Yeah, she's got a point."

"Tiffy always has a point," the little elf gleefully told them as she led them inside, Harry noticed he was still holding onto his godfather's hand but since the man didn't seem to mind he didn't pull back and looked around in amazement as the Manor was even more impressive from the inside.

Dark brown floors and walls as blue as the sky on a sunny day gave of the feeling of warmth, despite the eerie silence that felt somehow wrong; this house was meant to be filled with laughter.

"You used to come here often as a small child, visiting your grandparents and playing with the house-elves," Sirius' quiet words made him realise he'd spoken out loud and he nodded as ghostly echoes of laughter filled his ears but as Sirius didn't respond Harry knew it was in his mind.

He was surprised as Sirius passed by the living room, having expected him to stop there, but the man jerked away from it like it was toxic and suddenly the joyful laughter gave way for cruel and sinister laughter as Harry focused on his godfather's reaction.

Faint screaming twisted Harry's stomach with unease and he automatically drew neared to Sirius as that feeling of holding on intensified once more and a desire to make sure the man was all right flared to life.

Flashes of a pale and sickly looking Sirius alerted him to a memory that Sirius had been hurt here and once more wasn't aware he had spoken out loud until he almost walked into the man as he abruptly stopped to give him a tight but confused look.

"I thought you had been too young to remember that. Perhaps coming here was a bad idea," Sirius' voice broke hallway through his sentence as he clearly wasn't used to speaking much but it was the intensive haunting in his eyes that made Harry swallow thickly.

"No, I...the memories are foggy at best. I mostly remember sounds. I was here when you were hurt?"

"I had hidden you in a secret room down the hallway upon arrival as I couldn't be sure everything was safe. A good thing I did, too, as it turned out Death Eaters had infiltrated the house and ambushed me when I entered the living room."

"What are Death Eaters?"

"Supporters of Riddle; his inner circle called themselves Death Eaters."

"Right, why did we come here in the first place?" Harry looked up to Sirius as the man took a deep breath.

"Part of that much longer story I promised you, but it comes down to it that they attacked my house while I was babysitting you and we came here to escape," the man looked tense as they continued walking and Harry was only too happy to leave the living room behind.

"Do the memories bother you?"

"I've been living in their constant presence for the last twelve years," Sirius softly answered.

"Doesn't mean they don't bother you now," Harry flushed as Sirius surprisingly gave him a half smile.

"Your father used to say the same thing."

"He did?"

"All the time. I don't know how much you remember about your parents as you clearly didn't grow up where I wanted you to ..."

"You didn't want me at the Dursleys?" Harry interrupted hopefully, if the man hadn't wanted him there in the first place, then perhaps he could stay with him?

"I'd not even bestow them on Riddle himself," Harry blinked surprised even as Sirius seemed to reconsider his words as his eyes swept over Harry. "Although...on second thought..."

"Riddle?" Harry's heart hammered in his throat as he realised Sirius knew Voldemort's real name and had actually mentioned it before.

"Tom Riddle; better known by his self proclaimed name, but I cannot use that one."

"Why not? Dumbledore says fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself."

"Yes, convenient that he just always forgets to mention that the name is jinxed and leaves those who use it as easy targets for his followers," Sirius huffed.

"How is it jinxed?" curiously Harry looked at Sirius as they followed Tiffy through another long hallway.

"The Death Eaters cursed the name in the war so that anyone who dared to use it could immediately be tracked, cancelling most common protections in their place of residence. It is what brought so much fear to the name in the first place and soon no one dared to even think it any more, lest they would bring the Death Eaters to their doorsteps by some dark and unknown magic. Instead they began giving him ridiculous nicknames."

"Dumbledore indeed never mentioned that," Harry swallowed thickly. "But you call him Riddle."

"That is his name; he just claimed lordship while he isn't actually a Pure-Blood. Most Death Eaters don't actually know his real name so it was never jinxed."

"I've been calling him by his title for two years now..." Harry suddenly realised worriedly.

"His remaining followers wouldn't dare try anything now, but before he is truly dead, I would rather not risk it."

"How do you know he is not?" Thinking back on how Hagrid had believed the same thing and what Harry had seen the previous two years; he wondered why Sirius thought so.

"I have my suspicions," Sirius' eyes found the scar on Harry's forehead but where it normally bothered him to have people staring at it, he found that he didn't mind so much when Sirius did as he instinctively knew the man didn't just see the fame.

"Suspicions have to wait until after shower," Tiffy cut them off, lightly tugging on Sirius' other hand as she pointed to a door not too far away.

"Well, you heard the lady," the little half smile once more thrown his way was a far cry from the broad ones Harry half remembered, but nonetheless was the sight of it more than he could've hoped for.

He didn't know much about Azkaban, but as that was the only Wizarding prison he knew of, he figured Sirius had to have been held there, probably even all twelve years he had mentioned before.

He remembered how shaken Hagrid had been after mere weeks there, unable to smile during the last few weeks of term and utterly terrified of every shadow in case it turned out to be a Dementor.

If that was the result of a few weeks, Harry wasn't sure how Sirius managed to even function as well as he was doing now, but he shook that thought off as Sirius moved forward, stopping before a brown door and turning to him hesitantly.

"This one was your father's, would you like to freshen up in there or take a guest room?"

"I..." on one hand, Harry would love to see more of his father and what he had liked and how he had lived; but on the other hand it almost felt too personal right now.

"Or, if you would prefer; I could show it to you later, tell you some stories behind his stuff after we've discussed things," Sirius seemed to sense his internal debate and Harry found himself nodding relieved.

"What was your room?" Harry asked as he saw more doors further down the hallway and the familiarity with the house told him his godfather had stayed here quite frequently.

"The blue door at the left," Sirius said. "Same offer, although I wasn't quite the hoarder your father was."

"I'd like to see it later," Harry smiled and without discussing it further, Sirius led them to two opposite doors further down the hall and Tiffy disappeared through the left one.

"If you'd prefer, you could make your way to the kitchen once you are done. I am fairly sure Tiffy won't let me leave until I've been scrubbed utterly clean and she is satisfied with how I look."

Sudden panic at the mere mentioning of separating so far from his godfather gripped at him and Harry's hand tightened on Sirius' without him meaning to.

"Or you could get cleaned up and then come into the bedroom and wait there?" Sirius seemed to read his distress perfectly and squeezed his hand in reassurance.

"Y-you wouldn't mind?" Harry shifted uncomfortable.

"Not if it makes you feel better and although I will close the bathroom door, I have to admit that the thought of you being close puts me at ease," the man didn't seem to share his discomfort as he smiled and Harry nodded.

"I'll see you soon then," even so, it still took Harry a moment before he was able to let go of Sirius' hand and made an effort to disappear into the opposite bedroom before Sirius turned to not seem utterly like a small child.

The distance immediately pulled at him, but he took comfort in the knowledge that his godfather was right next door, and wasn't that something, mere hours ago he would not have imagined there was anyone in the world who cared about him the way a parent would.

Yet since the moment he had recognised Sirius, the man had been trying to comfort him and was clearly intent to look after him and although he was mortified by how clingy he had suddenly become, he was also simply grateful that Sirius didn't seem irritated by his behaviour at all.

The man was behaving like Harry had always imagined his parents would if he had still had them and while it made sense as he clearly remembered a warm male voice telling him Sirius was his godfather, it still warmed his heart to experience for himself.

While also slightly terrifying him as they hardly knew each other, yet Harry couldn't help but feel comfortable and safe in the man's presence and although he had no doubt the man could be utterly dangerous, he just knew it would never be directed at him.

Pushing himself away from the closed door, he looked around the simple but beautifully designed room and thought it was quite worthy of kings.

Noticing a few personalised knick-knacks around the room, he wondered who it had belonged to and picked up a photo lying on the night-stand, immediately recognising his father and the Sirius from his memories, though he was not quite sure who the other two boys were.

Returning it to the night-stand, he made his way to the bathroom to take as long as he could to get cleaned up before returning to the bedroom in a bathrobe to find his trunk had been placed at the end of the bed, a clean set of Muggle clothing he didn't recognise laid out for him.

Quickly dressing into the amazingly well fitting clothes, he hesitated for only a moment before picking up the photo and sliding it into his pocket before making his way to the other bedroom.

Sirius had left the door open as a clear invitation to enter so he did and where he could no longer hear the shower, he could hear the unmistakable sound of scissors.

He briefly wondered if Sirius would cut the tangled mess it had been as short as he had it in the photo Harry had in his pocket but before he could truly consider it, the man himself appeared to confirm it.

He was dressed similar to Harry, only long sleeved and the clothes were even bigger than Harry's hand me downs had ever been on the man's too thin frame; highlighting just how thin he truly was but otherwise the man Harry remembered.

"Were you approved of?"

"Barely; I'm quite positive Tiffy will have several potions awaiting us in the kitchen."

"Us? What do I need potions for?" Harry protested.

"Aside from the fact that you are underweight and much too small for your linage and age?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Want me to sum the exact reasons up?"

And darn if Harry didn't feel a flush rise as the man's unyielding gaze travelled over him much like Madam Pomfrey's always did and he wondered if Sirius had been a doctor of some kind when Harry had been young.

"I was training to be a Healer; though I never got my licence," Sirius' answer told him he once more had been thinking out loud.

"Why didn't you get your licence?" Harry asked as they made their way to the kitchen.

"The war was at its height and that put a stop to any of my extra studies as I wanted to fight."

"That is how my parents were killed, isn't it? Because they fought in the war?" Harry asked.

"Sort of. It is part of the same complicated story I am about to tell you."

"Oh," allowing Sirius to gesture him to a chair at the table, a different elf than Tiffy, but one even older and wearing a purple dress with the same P on it that Tiffy had worn, placed two cups of hot chocolate and a plate with biscuits, coated with a thin layer of jam before them.

"Thank you, Misty," Sirius accepted the potions she handed to him, taking them without complaint so when Misty handed Harry two as well, he took them, too.

"Siri and Master Harry eat up well," the old house-elf patted both of their cheeks with clear affection, lingering for a long moment on Sirius' before disappearing again.

"How many house-elves are here?" Harry laughed as Sirius pulled a face after he took a particularly nasty looking potion.

"There used to be about a dozen, but Tiffy told me only she, Misty and Pippy are left. They are all quite aged by now, though you still wouldn't want to get on their bad sides."

"I've met a house-elf before, but he was nothing like this; he was all nervous and twitchy. Miserable seemed to be his default setting," Harry thought of Dobby and suddenly found himself wondering how the weird little elf was doing.

"Well, it depends on their families, but you will find that quite a few of them are like that, usually those who belong to unhappy families," Sirius took a sip from his hot chocolate and some of the intensive pain in his eyes loosened as the hot liquid disappeared, surprising Harry even as the man himself didn't seem to notice any difference. "Many treat them like dirt, abusing them or neglecting their own personal needs just because a house-elf enjoys serving."

"I noticed. Dobby's free now though; I kind of tricked his master into freeing him at the end of term," Harry admitted.

"How did you meet him?" Sirius asked interested. "Because if he was miserable then it usually means his masters wouldn't want him to be visible."

"Ah, it's kind of a long story but Dobby tried to save my life when he learned of danger at school last year. He just had a really rubbish way of going at it, but he has his heart in the right place."

"Did he find another family?"

"I'm actually not sure," Harry admitted, suddenly feeling horrible. "I just hope that he's happy."

"If you want, we could ask one of the elves to seek him out to see if he is and if not, we could always ask him to come work for us."

"You'd just take on a strange house-elf, just because I am worried for him?" Surprised Harry peered at his godfather, but the man didn't seem to find that strange at all.

"You obviously care about him and you did say that he tried to save your life so that is good enough in my book. What do you say? Want to check on him?"

Looking into his godfather's eyes, Harry found himself nodding before he'd even thought about it.

"Hey Pippy?"

The house-elf Harry hadn't met yet appeared at their side immediately; one clearly much younger than Tiffy and Misty were and wearing a sort of light blue toga embroidered with the same emblem Tiffy and Misty wore; large blue eyes shining in happiness as she launched herself at him in a hug before beaming up to him. "Siri called?"

"It is nice to see you, too, Pippy. Would you mind checking in on another house-elf?" Sirius laughed at the enthusiastic greeting and the little elf immediately beamed even more.

"Which elf, Siri?"

"His name is Dobby and Harry is worried about his well-being."

"He used to belong to the Malfoys but was freed a few weeks ago," Harry explained, hesitating on how to describe the weird elf without coming across as offensive. "He's about three feet tall and has big tennis ball-like green eyes...erm...why are you laughing at me?"

"No reason, think you can find him with that description, Pip?" A spark of mischievousness appeared in Sirius' eyes, lifting some of the heaviness in the grey orbs and giving him a glimpse at the man he had once been.

"Siri teasing Master Harry," Pippy shook her head fondly and turned to Harry. "No worries Master Harry, all the house-elves know each other. Pippy will have found Dobby in no time at all!"

"Oh, eh...thank you, but why do you call me Master?"

"Pippy belongs to the House of Potter; Master Harry is future Lord Potter when he comes of age."

"I had no idea," Harry admitted. "Is that why you don't call Sirius master?"

"Oh no. Siri is a Potter as well, but Siri made it very clear we are never to calls him master on pain of tickle attacks," bright blue eyes widened in conspiracy as she leaned closer to him to semi-whisper at him in a voice that Sirius would still have no trouble hearing. "Siri very mean and evil tickler."

"I bet," Harry laughed at the little elf's obvious delight at that supposed punishment and Sirius tried to hide a grin by taking another sip from his drink. "But please just call me by my name as well; the master thing makes me uncomfortable."

"Pippy shall tell Misty and Tiffy," the little elf promised.

"Once you've found Dobby and found he is not happy or you feel for whatever reason that you should take him back with you, please do so. Just make sure he knows Harry's asking about him so he won't be scared," Sirius said.

"Pippy will," without another word the small elf disappeared with a small pop and Sirius turned to him.

"Now that that is handled, want me to tell you the full story I've promised you?"

Taking a deep breath, Harry nodded.