Author notes:

Hello everyone and sorry for a late update! But I am back now with one more chapter. Thank you for all favorites and follows, they inspire me to write more!

SLYNNR, Samantha L. Riddle, levi.hall.9279, dragonloverpower and Lunainsane11 cookies and hugs for all of you. The cat is indeed McGonagall. She makes an appearance in this chapter.

Argonaut986 You are correct. Lily would never abandon a child. This chapter will provide some answers as to why Clint thinks Harry is Black Widow's son.

thomassmith69 On James' part, it was wizarding world hiding their citizens. But hopefully this chapter will provide an insight on why there were no records about one Lily Evans.

Also, I want to give a shout out to Beast94 for a plot idea. I tweaked her idea a little and used it in this chapter.

If you recognize a character, it belongs to either Marvel or J.K. Rowling! I do not own any of them, nor do I use them for any financial benefit.

English is not my first language, so if you find any grammatical mistakes, let me know!

Happy reading!

The wizarding world of Great Britain was recuperating from a disastrous war. Numerous families were massacred, many lives were lost and an entire generation was wiped out. When the scion of House Potter defeated the Dark Lord on all hallows eve entire wizarding world mourned for the loss. Soon, the mourning had turned into a victory celebration; the monument was built to remember the war heroes and the wizarding world moved on. The Potter sacrifice became a distant memory and their savior, the-boy-who-lived, became the legend. In the following months, almost everyone in the wizarding world forgot the orphaned little child. Everyone but Minerva McGonagall.

She was there when Albus Dumbledore had placed the unfortunate child on those muggles' doorstep. She had argued with Dumbledore against placing him with the Dursleys. She had pleaded with him to hide Harry in the wizarding world. However, when Lestranges mercilessly attacked Longbottoms, she had gingerly accepted Harry was safer with muggles than in the wizarding world. Until she discovered how the Dursleys treated Harry.

When she discovered the mistreatment of Harry at the hands of Durselys, she had gone to Dumbledore, asking him to remove Harry from the abusive house. But Dumbledore had brushed her worries off and assured her of monitoring charms placed on the house. To placate the deputy headmistress, he had placed Arabella Figg near the Dursley household to keep an eye on them. But he had forgotten to factor a natural inquisitiveness of the cat animagus. She had picked up on the hidden 'don't try to remove Harry' cue in his speech and was properly intrigued. She spent most of her free time in Surrey, watching over Harry and trying to find out why her friend was so adamant on keeping him there. She wouldn't have figured out his secret if she hadn't been near Harry when the woman had walked near the scene.

The moment this female had arrived near Minerva, her feline senses were assaulted with Lily's familiar scent. While Harry's scent had a woodland tinge of James mixed with Lily's scent, newcomer smelled like a diluted version of Lily; but more potent than Petunia. She felt familiar as if she was a shadow of Lily and the cat inside Minerva did not protest when little Harry ran towards her. The protective cat had almost purred in satisfaction when Harry had hugged her and Minerva had felt a slight tingle. She watched fascinated as small magical tendrils wrapped around the duo as Harry clung to her and everything clicked.

There were blood wards on Harry and somehow the woman was related to Lily Evans, perhaps a long-lost sister. This woman might be the key to get Harry out of this atrocious neighborhood without alerting Albus. However, before she could act upon her instincts, she picked up another scent, a male perched on the roof. She involuntarily growled as the woman detached crying Harry from her and went her way, the man on the roof hot in pursuit. Minerva took a deep breath and started plotting.

When you have magic at disposal, tracking someone or listening to their conversations is not a tedious task, especially if your targets are muggles. With the help of disillusionment charms, listening charms and a little snooping around Minerva gathered basic information about her two recent targets. Both of them were trained assassins and spies and one was sent on a mission to eliminate the other. Now she knew who these people were all she had to do was hatch out a plan which will somehow
a) Determine if Black Widow was in fact related to Lily Evans and determine if she is trustworthy enough to raise for Harry
b) Make sure Agent Barton does not kill Black Widow
c) Somehow trick these two into taking Harry into custody without Albus any wiser.

She had immediately recruited Arabella Figg and a few hours later Black Widow had gained a new pet kitten. While the kneazle was keeping watch on the elusive woman, Minerva had ventured into the ministry for Lily Evans' family records. The resemblance between Lily and Black Widow and their mother was striking. All three were redheads with green eyes, notable traits Petunia hadn't acquired. There was something fishy about how Lily had never mentioned an elder sister or how her mother was never surprised about a witch in a family. It wasn't until she had come across Petrovich family records she had made a connection. Lily's mother was a squib from the Petrovich family and was the victim of the stolen child protocol. There were many families who claimed back a magical child from their squib lineage obliviating memory of the child. There were rumors about Russian families using their squibs for experiments, but Minerva hadn't believed it until she saw Natalia.

She wasn't about to investigate why Petroviches hadn't come after Lily but she had a tangible proof about Harry and Natalia's relationship that would hold up in a muggle court.

She wasn't yet sure about how she would convince Clint Barton. But when she saw him lurking around the neighborhood, a plan formed in her head. Barton was a good man and if he hadn't killed her yet, chances were he would try to recruit Black Widow instead of killing her. She decided to use the superficial similarity between Natalia and Lily to lure him in the plan. He had already witnessed Harry hugging Natalia and it wouldn't be hard to scatter a few clues that would lead him to believe Harry was her son. It was easy to convince Albus Dumbledore how easily death eaters could find Harry if they ventured into the muggle world. All they had to do was follow a paper trail about Lily Evans which inevitably lead to Petunia Dursley as an obvious guardian to one Harry Potter. Two or three suspicious magical incidences in the Surrey neighborhood later Dumbledore had gravely ordered the ministry to erase all records about Lily Evans from muggle world. With no public records left in the muggle world, Lily Evans and James Potter were ghosts. It wasn't fair to Lily, but Minerva would go to any length if it meant Harry was safe.

Arabella had invited snooping Clint for the tea and had slipped a light influence potion in his tea. It had the desired effect and now he was on the quest to find the real identity of the messy haired kid. As expected, he had gone to Cokeworth to verify Petunia's claim. He then had set the course towards Godric's Hollow. When he was affected with muggle repellent and notice me not charms, Minerva had expected him to turn away and march towards London to confront Black Widow. But the stubborn archer had found the cottage thanks to his sheer determination and proceeded to investigate the cottage, setting off the wards. Minerva, rather impressed by his stubbornness, perched on the tree top opposite the cottage and watched the scene unfold with interest.

End Notes:

Who knew McGonagall is so sneaky? But she loves Harry and would do anything to keep him Happy.
And we now know Clint was misdirected and why there were no muggle records of Lily! In the next chapter, we will check up on Clint and our favorite assassin.

Thank you for reading. Questions, suggestions, and plot ideas are always welcome!