YEAR 1983, London

The gentleman who was coming out of the phone booth was not dressed like the typical Londoner. Some might say that he looked like he was heading to a costume party or dress-up competition. If some ordinary person saw him they would say the man was wearing what appeared to be robes with a cloak billowing out behind him. His boots and belt were made of some obscure leather and adorned with silver buckles which resembled snake heads with small rubies for eyes. He also wore an odd assortment of gold jewellery. He topped off the whole ensemble with a pointed hat of all things.

He made his way, walking down the sidewalk imperiously, not paying any attention to the people gawking at him in wonder. To him these people (muggles) were of no consequence. He neither knew them nor did he have any desire to interact with any of them. If he ever needed to be wary of anyone, that would be other wizards. That's right, this man was a wizard and there were a lot of them. Sadly, not as many as the wizards would have liked. There were enough to keep their hidden world running but not enough that they could live openly co-existing with muggles without facing any threat from them.

This fine man, who was tall, heavily built, had a long face, sharp nose, brown eyes and a mustache which was curled up at the ends was coming from the Office of the Minister of Magic. The bumbling fool Fudge had refused his request. His grandson who was also his heir had been incarcerated at the wizarding prison Azkaban. They said that he had betrayed the Potters which had lead to the death of Lilly and James, that he had hunted down and murdered Peter Pettigrew and no less than twelve muggles had also died as collateral damage. This man was the Lord of House Black, Arcturus Orion Black and his heir was Sirius Black who he felt was the only respectable Black to have come along in the family in the last two generations. He turned into a deserted alley and vanished into thin air spinning on his heels.

You see, the wizarding world had been through a civil war which had ended just two years ago when the leader of the dark wizards, Lord Voldemort (stupid name) had fallen before a toddler of 15 months of age. Arcturus Orion Black's descendants were also involved in the war on both sides. The war had left him a broken man.

He had stayed away from the war. He had no desire to support the upstart who presented himself as a self-styled lord and Arcturus did not participate in the war from either side. He had however given the choice to his children to support whichever side of the conflict that they favoured. He had been living away in the chateau of the family on the continent in seclusion for the last two years after his brother-in-law and friend Charlus Potter had been killed. His sister Dorea had died a few days before him and the death of Charlus felt like the end of the world to him. Together they both had faced Grindelwald in his war and had survived to tell the tale. A bond of brotherhood was formed between them which was further strengthened by the marriage of Charlus and Dorea.

He had been in France when he received the news that his wayward heir had been arrested after he supposedly killed his once best friend Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles. The story was that Peter had caught up to him forcing him to confess that he had betrayed James and Lily Potter's secret to Voldemort which had resulted in their deaths.

He did not believe a word of it obviously but he needed to hear it from Sirius. He had hastily returned to Wizarding Britain to be informed that Sirius had been consigned to Azkaban to serve a life sentence by the War Tribunal consisting of the former Minister of Magic Milicent Bagnold, Head of DMLE Bartemius Crouch Senior (who had the reputation of being tough on death eaters even though his own son was one) and Wilkins Addington, the head Auror. He had tried to find the records of the trial of Sirius Black but they were closed to him citing that they had been sealed under the Official Secrets Act and no one except the officers of Law Enforcement could see them. As the name of Black was scorned upon, no one was willing to help him. He had approached Cornelius Fudge with the offer of gracious donations to the ministry or to a charity of his choosing but the minister refused to budge. Perhaps someone else was pulling his strings.

Since the minister had refused to help him, he was left heirless unless he allowed Narcissa's boy to ascend and that simply could not be done. The Malfoy name was the subject of scorn in France and he knew the reason why perfectly well. He would rather melt down his galleons and destroy his estates than let Malfoy touch them.

He needed an heir and all of his children were incarcerated in prison. Pollux and Druella were severely ill and not expected to live beyond a year or two more. Cygnus had also died some time during the last year and it looked like Wulburga would follow suit soon. His sister Charis who had married into the Crouch Family had died years before the war had even started. Her only heir Barty Crouch Jr. had died in Azkaban shortly after he was sent there. Cedrella had been disowned by Orion Phineas Black for marrying a blood traitor and the Weasleys would never welcome him in their home anyway. His sister Callidora who had married into the Longbottom family had died long before the war started. Her grandson along with his wife were permanent residents of St. Mungo's permanent spell damage ward due to overexposure to the cruciatus curse at the hands of Barty Crouch Jr. and Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black with her husband and brother-in-law. It was heart breaking to see that his family was destroying itself. His sister Cassiopeia was living in France away from the debacle that was Wizarding Britain and never married. His sister Lucretia Prewett nee Black was also ill and expected to live only for a couple of years. Her children and nephews had died in the war and the House of Prewett was at the point of extinction with only Molly Weasley nee Prewett being alive and married to Arthur Septimus Weasley who was his nephew. Dorea was dead with her husband and her children and there was only a boy left who would probably be 3 years old now.

His brother Castor had sired Alpharad who had been cast-off the family while Pollux had sired three daughters Andromeda, Bellatrix and Narcissa. Andromeda had married a muggle-born and her mother Druella Black had blasted her off the family tree and had requested that Arcturus cast her out of the family but he refused to do so. Being the head of House, it was his privilege and he had allowed his children to have freedom in these matters. Bellatrix had agreed to a betrothal and married Rodolphus Lestrange while Narcissa was married off to Lucius Malfoy. He had wanted to object to these marriages but kept his peace when he realised that perhaps they would resent him for this choice. His other grandson Regulus Arcturus Black had died under mysterious circumstances and he had failed to find out anything more about it. His wife Melania Black nee Macmillan had died 7 years ago and he was just living waiting for the clock to run down.

Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley, London

He arrived in the alley and entered the bank in a nonchalant manner staying aloof from people around him. He approached a teller, barking at him, "I am here to see Grimjaw."

The teller bowed low to him, "Of course Lord Black."

The teller accompanied him to one side. Then through a maze of corridors and led him to an ornate wooden door with the words, "Grimjaw: Manager to Black family." stencilled on it in gold letters.

The teller rapped on the door and barked, "Lord Black here to see you Account Manager, Grimjaw".

Arcturus entered the chamber and faced a goblin that was ancient even by Goblin standards, stooping with most of his teeth missing. He rose from his seat, "Lord Black, it is good that you are here. We have business to discuss and not enough time".

Arcturus scrutinised him closely and sat still for sometime waiting for the goblin to speak. When it was clear that he was not going to do so, Arcturus started speaking, "I have certain business which must be taken care of before we can delve into other matters. Is Alpharad dead?"

The Goblin nodded grimly, "Alpharad Black had moved to the USA after being cast out of the family by Lord Orion Phineas Black. He died there leaving behind a substantial fortune to be inherited by Sirius Orion Black."

Arcturus sat in contemplation, silently mourning the death of one more of his family. Some time passed before he spoke, "How many potential heirs do I have Grimjaw?"

Grimjaw shuffled some parchments before he answered, "As of now there are three potential heirs who can ascend to the Lordship in case of your untimely demise. One is your heir Sirius Orion Black however he cannot ascend because he is incarcerated in Azkaban which makes him invalid for this. The second is Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy nee Black. The third is Nymphadora Tonks daughter of Theodore Tonks and Andromeda Tonks nee Black who can ascend in case there are no male heirs."

Arcturus sighed, "It looks like there are no respectable heirs left to ascend to the Black family lordship. Narcissa's boy will have to ascend after all."

The goblin who had been browsing through some pieces of parchment and was looking at the family tree for the House of Black said, "It looks like you have another heir, Lord Black."

Arcturus's countenance immediately brightened, "What do you mean? Who is this heir? How can he ascend?"

The goblin pointed out that his sister Dorea had a living grandson who was also connected to Sirius with a bronze link. He said, "This one, Harold James Potter has a double claim to heirship, both as your grand-nephew and as the god-son of your grandson, Sirius."

Arcturus knew what the god-father, god-son bond meant. It meant that Sirius would not have been able to harm the boy in any way. This gave him two important gifts: the absolute proof that his grandson is innocent and an heir. An heir who would bring glory to their family name again. But there was one rather significant obstacle in the way, a wizard by the name of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

Everyone knew that Albus had hidden the boy after that unfortunate night. While Albus was on cordial terms with Arcturus courtesy of his participation in the Grindelwald war, he refused to tell him where the boy was being hidden. He had however hinted that the boy was being hidden behind Blood Wards and that had stunned him. Blood magic was one of the most complicated magics but it also hinted that the boy was being hidden at the home of one of his kin. Arcturus knew that no other Potter was alive anymore and therefore it was logical that the boy would be hosted with his mother's relatives. True that they were not magicals but blood was blood.

"Lord Black,", the Goblin's voice brought him out of his musings, "If it is all the same to you, I want to resign from my post on account of my age. As my successor, I recommend Iron Tooth. He is well versed with the Black accounts and would serve you more efficiently than me."

Since his concentration was somewhere else altogether, he waved him off saying, "I approve it Grimjaw. Tell him about his duties and that I keep irregular hours to visit the bank and do not like to wait."

The goblin nodded, "I will let him know Lord Black. Good day."

Arcturus walked out of the bank with a lot on his mind. He had a lost heir to find. And what's more, once he was found, he had to abduct him and hide him from the Wizarding world. He disappeared from Diagon alley as soon as he exited the bank.

Grimmauld Place

He appeared in the Black Town house at #12, Grimmauld Place. As he stepped towards the meeting room an elf appeared before him, bowing low to him and croaked, "Master is back." The elf was getting on in age, was stooping but looked relatively clean and healthy compared to when Arcturus had come to live in the townhouse two years ago.

He turned to the elf, "Kreacher, go and inform Wulburga that I am calling a House Convocation and she is expected to be present in the meeting room in 10 minutes."

The elf bowed low and disappeared with a low pop.

After 10 minutes, Wulburga Black entered the meeting room trying to look like a helpless, docile woman instead of the shouting, temper tantrum throwing hag that she was. She bowed to him, "My Lord, did you call for me?"

He directed her to one of the seats, "Take a seat, Wulburga. This might take a while."

As she sat, he asked the first question, "Tell me Wulburga, why Sirius had to leave the house?"

She was silent not willing to say anything knowing it would backfire on her. As she sat for sometime without saying anything Arcturus gritted his teeth and said, "So, you say nothing. Perhaps, if you had freely admitted your guilt, I may have tempered my judgement against you. Of course, I already know what you did to my grandson because I heard it all from Dorea. She has given me a detailed account of all of your abuses. How you were forcing him to support Voldemort. You forced away the only respectable Black to have been born into the family by your foul ways. Then you had the audacity to burn him off of the family tree. That is the prerogative of the Lord and not anyone else. You assumed too much authority when you really had none."

She said nothing but shivered. Arcturus who was her uncle before her marriage had never used this tone with her even when she did really nasty things. This time was different. She could not even leave the meeting because the House Convocation forbid her from doing so.

Arcturus who perhaps had not finished was asking, "What happened to Regulus?"

Her eyes watered and she said in a tearful voice, "I do not know, My Lord. He was serving the dark lord and one day he informed me that he was going on a mission and never returned. The Aurors never reported having killed him and neither the Dark Lord nor his followers brought any news."

Arcturus was seething in anger, "So you drove one son away from the family with your foulness and then you coerced the other into the service of Voldemort (she shuddered). For what? For glory? Tell me Wulburga what glory were you seeking when you decided to force your son to follow a self styled lord when you did not even know about the origins of that megalomaniac? You have as good as killed your son. You have brought shame to the House of Black with your nefarious activities. For this you need to be punished."

She fell at his feet, wailing, "No. No, my Lord. I seek your forgiveness."

Arcturus who had stood now with his wand in his hand summoned the elf, "Kreacher."

Kreacher appeared before him with a loud pop, bowing low, "Yes Lord Black?"

Arcturus roared, "Wulburga Black, you have humiliated the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black by your foul deeds and besmirched its reputation. I Lord Arcturus Orion Black hereby confine you to this townhouse from whence you shall never leave. Kreacher will take care of all your needs and you will breathe your last in this house. You will not be given a portrait to grace the walls like your glorious ancestors and your crypt will be forgotten. So I say so mote it be."

Wulburga had collapsed to the ground, still crying while Arcturus turned to the elf, "Kreacher, you were personally bound to Regulus Arcturus Black. What happened to your master?"

Kreacher looked like he was fighting himself for a minute, his hands wringing, trying to close his mouth to stop from speaking. Arcturus noted all this while watching the elf with a critical eye. As he became certain that the elf was battling himself to not speak, he addressed the elf formally, "Kreacher, you are bound for your life to the House of Black and I the Lord of House Black command you to speak about what happened to Regulus. This order of mine supersedes any that might have been given to you by Regulus Arcturus Black."

Kreacher started telling about when the Dark Lord had asked Regulus to enlist a house elf for him. He had offered Kreacher. That the Dark Lord had used him to test the defenses of the underground cave and how Regulus had died while trying to retrieve the locket. As he finished the tale, Kreacher broke down crying and Arcturus also felt pity for the elf but pride for Regulus who had defied Voldemort as he realised that the so-called Dark Lord was a charlatan and a coward.

He asked the elf to bring out the locket. He was stunned to see that it was the famed locket of Slytherin. He could feel the foulness coming out of it. It nagged somewhere in his mind of a magic that he had heard about but forgotten. He entered the library to bring out the tome which contained the darkest of magics all the while praying that this was not what he suspected. He found the term Horcrux easily enough. He learned how it could be made and how to detect if an object was a horcrux. He cast a few diagnostic spells and quickly confirmed that he was holding a horcrux. There were two ways to destroy it, one of them being Fiendfyre and the other being Basilisk Venom. Basilisk Venom was extremely rare and he was no longer strong enough to cast the fiendfyre spell. Perhaps he would have to ask the Goblins. Speaking of Goblins, he had some declarations to be made for which he decided to act without delay.

Next day, Gringotts

Arcturus was sitting in front of Ragnok, king of the Goblins. The Goblin King did not meet with just anyone, but when it was Lord Black, one of the biggest account holders at the bank, the meeting was granted immediately.

Ragnok greeted the wizard, "How can Gringotts serve you, Lord Black?"

He responded to the goblin, "I have to ask you certain questions but I need to be certain that what we discuss will not find its way back to the Ministry or Albus Dumbledore. It is imperative that these questions remain a secret for the time being."

The goblin punched a button on his table and then said, "the privacy wards are active now Lord Black. I am bound by the obligations of the post I hold. Nothing that has been confided by you in me would leave this chamber."

Arcturus leaned closer to him, "What do you know about Horcruxes?"

The goblin's face turned red with anger, "If you were anyone else Lord Black, I would have thrown you into a dragon pen for just mentioning that word. But I can understand how you might know about them. I know what a horcrux is and we hate them with all fervor. They are a perversity of magic and they ruin treasure."

Arcturus brought out the Slytherin necklace and told him all about the story of the necklace and how he came into possession of it, "This is a horcrux of Voldemort and I want you to destroy it with fiendfyre. I fear there may be many more and if I come across any, I will send them to you to destroy for a reasonable fee. Will Gringotts do that for me?"

The goblin king grinned ferally, "Totally agreeable Lord Black. In fact I will send this one for destruction right now. Would you like what remains of it after it is destroyed?"

He nodded, "A time may come when I will need to show these. I want to be prepared for such an eventuality."

The goblin clapped his hands and two goblins entered. He barked orders to them in his language and as they left, he turned towards Arcturus, "Will there be anything else, Lord Black?"

He nodded, "As it happens, I wish to know if the Potters had left a will left about who should get the custody of their son? I distinctly remember that no such will was found."

The goblin nodded, "There is a copy in their family vault which can be accessed only by their son when he comes to eleven years of age. Being the last Potter, he would become the head of his family though would not ascend to Lordship till he reached majority.".

He nodded, "It is as I had guessed. I am guardian of his god-father and I wish to take custody of him and to declare him the heir of Black when he reaches the age of eight."

Ragnok asked, "But as far as we know, he has been sent to live with his relatives and no one knows the location. How would you do it?"

He answered the goblin, "Leave that to me Ragnok. Suffice it to say that I will raise him as my heir and he will enter our world knowing of his history and his family."

The goblin decided not to ask because it was better to stay clear lest he and the goblin nation be implicated as accomplices in the crime. There was one little use that he could make of it though, "Lord Black, if you succeed in your venture please bring him to the bank when he turns eight so we can appoint his bank manager as the last account manager of house of Potter is dead."

He nodded and turned to him, "Now for the other business that I have here. I want to annul the marriage of Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black with Rudolphus Lestrange and cast her out of the family for bringing shame to the family by her deeds. Her marriage contract had a clause which provided that if the groom was unable to provide for the bride due to reasons of incarceration, the marriage will be annulled and the dowry paid shall be returned to the House of Black. I wish for you to confiscate her personal vault in reparation for her atrocities towards the Longbottoms and charge the dowry on the Lestrange family vault."

The goblin nodded, "Very well Lord Black. As you make the proclamation, I will start confiscating her vault and send you a list of its contents."

He pulled out his wand and grasped it in both of his hands, "I Lord Arcturus Orion Black, Lord of House Black do hereby annul the marriage of Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black with Rudolphus Lestrange on the grounds of his incarceration rendering him unable to provide for her. I cast Bellatrix Lestrange out of the family for bringing infamy to the family name by pledging fealty to a charlatan who is a known criminal. Henceforth she will be known as Bellatrix No name. So I say so mote it be."

Ragnok nodded, "It is done Lord Black. I will confiscate her vault and send you a list of the contents."

He nodded and took leave of the Goblin King as the remains of the Slytherin necklace were returned to him.

Black town House

As he returned to the Black Townhouse, he found that there were a number of trunks in the meeting room, full of heirlooms and books from the library. Kreacher had packed the books and all the heirlooms of the family as he had desired. He called, "Lipsy, Mipsy, Tipsy."

Three elves appeared and bowed low to him, "What can we do for you master?"

He addressed them, "Take these trunks to Black Castle. I will be living there for the foreseeable future. The townhouse sole occupant shall be Wulburga Black from now on."

The elves disappeared one after another and he summoned Kreacher, "Kreacher, I am leaving you in-charge of the Townhouse to look after Wulburga. If she needs anything, you are to procure it for her. I have allowed a subsistence of 2000 G per month for her which you will collect from Gringotts from the office of Iron Tooth, Manager of accounts of House Black. You are forbidden from contacting the Malfoys by any means."

The elf bowed low and Arcturus disappeared only to appear in a little apartment situated somewhere in London. This was a secret property that he had bought in Muggle London and had made good use of it at times. He called his personal elf, "Travistor."

The elf appeared with a low pop and bowed low. This elf was tall, had big brown eyes the size of tennis balls, his big ears flapping back and forth, and wore a robe with the Black crest embroidered on it. He said to Arcturus in a deep voice, "You called, Master?"

He addressed him, "Travistor, I am leaving for the Black Castle this evening and I want you to find a person and bring him to me when you find him. This task will take precedence over all others for now."

He gave the details of the person he wanted to be found and twisted his Lord ring clockwise and disappeared with a tug behind his navel.

Two months later, Black Castle

Lord Arcturus had been living in the Black Castle for the last two months. He had chosen to live here so that no one would know his whereabouts. The Goblins had sent him a list of the contents of Bellatrix's vault with the remains of Hufflepuff's cup telling him that another horcrux had been found in her vault. He had shuddered at the thought of the lengths the man had gone to trying to obtain immortality. It made him wonder exactly how many horcruxes were out there. He also was certain of one thing, Dark Lord Voldemort was not dead and would return one day. When that day came, Harry Potter will have to face him. If Arcturus got his hands on the boy, he would make sure that he was able to send Voldemort back to the fiery pits of hell.

He had written a letter to Dowager Lady Longbottom expressing his grief over the incapacitation of his great nephew and his wife and to request a meeting. She was initially reluctant to allow him but had agreed to meet after a series of letters and he had visited her in the Longbottom manor.

-Flashback begins. Longbottom Manor-

As he stepped out of the floo, Augusta Longbottom stood there, looking stern. He greeted her traditionally like a Pureblood Lord and she led her to the parlor.

She stiffly asked him, "How can I serve you Lord Black?"

He started in his most apologetic tone, "Lady Longbottom, I apologise for the acts of erstwhile Bellatrix Nameless and grieve for the injuries inflicted upon my great nephew and his wife. Is your heir well?"

Augusta sniffed, "If you had not cast her out of the family, I would not have agreed to meet with you. My heir is well and is being looked after. I just wish that I also had got Harry Potter in my custody."

He immediately straightened, "What do you mean?"

She addressed him, "Harry Potter is godson of Alice Longbottom and James and Lily Potter were Neville's godparents."

He thought that it was an interesting wrinkle and something worth pursuing as part of his long-range plans. For now he had to do what he had come to do. "Lady Longbottom, I have banished Bellatrix and claimed her vault in reparations. I am committing the contents of her vault to you by way of reparations for the irreparable harm and as a sign offering of goodwill and peace between our houses. I also hope that House Longbottom will support House Black if the need arises", he made his proposition and presented her a cheque for 1 million Galleons which had been obtained after he had sold the contents of Bellatrix's vault. While Augusta did not wanted to accept it, honour demanded that she accept reparations made in good faith lest she wanted to have blood feud with the one make the reparations. Left without options, she accepted the cheque.

Augusta sniffed, "Have you banished Sirius Black off the family tree?"

He told her what the world knew, "He was struck off the family tree after he left the family in the middle of his studies. That was when he refused to bow to his mother's demands and become a death eater."

The meeting did not go any later than that and he had returned after securing House Longbottom as an ally if the need arose.

-Flash back ends-

His reverie was broken by the sound of a loud pop as the elf, "Travistor." appeared in the foyer of the castle with a person who was passed out from having been drunk. The elf bowed to him, "Travistor has found Remus Lupin, master. He was living in Blackmoor and is a werewolf therefore I had hard time to catch him."

Arcturus was surprised to know of this little bit of information but it did not budge him from his proposed plan. He turned to the elf, "Take Mr. Lupin to the guest chamber in the castle and then come to see me in my study."

The elf returned ten minutes later and Arcturus handed him a letter, "This is a missive meant for Mr. Democlas Belby who has recently discovered a new potion which can help a werewolf to keep his sanity during his transformations. Take this letter to him and wait for his reply."

The elf took the missive and disappeared while Arcturus waited for the guest to wake up from his alcohol induced coma.

Cardiff, England

Democlas Belby had just sat down for dinner this evening as a strange elf appeared before him, bowing and presented a letter to him. It was sealed with the crest of House Black and this surprised him. He never had any communication with Lord Black and certainly he had not expected it. After casting a few diagnostic spells to ensure that there was nothing wrong with the letter, he opened it. It was written in an ornate hand and the way a Pureblood would write-

"Dear Mr. Belby,

My name is Arcturus Orion Black, Lord of House Black. I am writing to extend my congratulations to you upon your successful invention of the wolfsbane potion. It will be a ray of hope for hundreds of those cursed with lycanthropy though unwillingly.

I further wish to solicit your help in a delicate matter. In return, I will pay you a stipend for your assistance. I want an unending supply of wolfsbane potion every month from you for the foreseeable future. In return for 1000G every month to contribute toward furthering your research upon the subject. I would further fund your research should you be in need of funds anytime in addition to the help already promised.

Needless to say, this conversation of ours needs to remain secret from the world as it would mean troubles for a law abiding citizen who was cursed with lycanthropy and is a war- hero.

I await your reply with this elf who has brought this missive to you.

Arcturus Orion Black

Lord of House Black

Order of Merlin, First Class"

This letter changed things for him. The ministry grants were not sufficient for his research. He had to make up the difference out of his meagre royalties just to keep going. The royalties were not much because the ingredients were costly and very few werewolves had the means to pay, even with a very small mark-up. It was really hard for anyone afflicted with lycanthropy to get or hold any kind of employment. 1000G per month was not an amount to sneeze at nor was the promise of funding for his research whenever he required it. He immediately wrote a lengthy letter to Lord Black praising his kindness and promising to supply him with all the wolfsbane that he required.

Black Castle

Remus Lupin woke up in a dark room and panicked. He had no memory of where he was or how he came to be there. As he reached for his wand in his clothes, he found it to be missing. This was a recipe for disaster. What was more; his legs were shackled to the bed with silver chain, the metal digging into his skin.

"So you wake up at last, Mr. Lupin," said a voice and he noticed a person was standing in darkness with a hood over his head and a camouflage covering his face. As Remus did not answer the man continued, "You know I expected more from you as I know of your reputation of being an accomplished wizard but you disappointed me."

Remus growled, "Why don't you show your face to me and you will know how much of an accomplished wizard I am. It is easy to be posturing as a powerful wizard when one is standing in the shadows."

The man laughed, "you are more of a marauder than I had initially thought." He noticed Remus's mouth was hanging open and asked him, "What! Did you not expect me to know what you all called your little group? I also know that your friends were unregistered animagi and that you are a werewolf."

Remus was worried now, "Who are you and why have you captured me like this?"

The man started grimly, "Because you failed in your duties, Mr. Lupin. While your best friend died protecting his wife and child, one of your other friends allegedly killed your third best friend with twelve muggles. Who was the victim in these circumstances? The little boy who became your responsibility as his parents died and his god parents were either incarcerated or incapacitated. What did you do? You found solace in fire whisky."

Remus was embarrassed but was not going to let this wizard get the better of him and rallied valiantly, "And what could I do when I have no means to sustain the child and myself? No one will give a respectable job to a werewolf irrespective of how he was cursed. Despite my talents I have to forage for myself while going from one job to another. How could I care for Harry when I cannot keep my sanity during my transformation? How could I take the risk of harming him every time that the moon is full?"

The man smiled sadly, "I can understand your predicament and sympathise with you. I can help you if you are willing to help me."

Remus snapped, "I do not even know who you are. I do not know what you want. Why then should I agree to help you?"

The man raised a hand before his face and Arcturus Orion Black's face appeared, "You do know me Mr. Lupin."

Remus was shocked to see the older man before him. He had heard from others that Lord Black had left London forever and yet here he was or perhaps they were not in England altogether. He asked the older man, "what do you want Lord Black?"

The man smiled, "As you know Sirius Black was Harry Potter's god father and as such, Harry is his heir. Apart from that, he is also grandson of my sister Dorea. I want to make him the heir of Black but I do not know where Dumbledore is keeping him. He refused to tell me yet hinted that the boy is living with his blood relatives. As all the blood relatives on his father's side are dead, it stands to reason that those relatives would be on his mother's side. I want you to find the boy and bring him here. In Black Castle no one can find him. This place is secure from the outside world by a Fidelius Charm of which I am the secret keeper. I will raise the boy the magical way. Since I am old, I want you to stay here and look after the boy as an uncle would do. In return for your services, I would hire you in the capacity of Steward to House Black and House Potter and you will be paid accordingly. Do you accept?"

Remus thought for a while and said, "I will need some time to think about it, Lord Black."

The older man smiled, "Of course. Take your time. I do not need to remind you that you cannot leave this place against my wishes nor will your wand be returned to you. however you are free to move about the castle and the grounds."

He left Remus to mull things over and the werewolf thought about it hard. He of course knew that Dumbledore had hidden Harry Potter in the Muggle World but he did not know Lily's sister's address. He felt that it would be good to raise Harry in a wizarding household so he would be well versed with the nuances of the wizarding world and not feel intimidated by it when it was time to return to it. Not to mention, Lord Black's offer sounded good for him also and he would get to raise Harry by himself, something that he should have done anyhow. There was a question which he had to ask the older wizard however and that could not wait.

He called for someone and an elf appeared which freed him from his bonds and took him to a bathroom which was better than the Prefect's Bathroom at Hogwarts. After an hour long refreshing bath, he was taken to a dining hall where he was served mouth watering dishes and after he had sated his hunger, he asked for an audience with Lord Black.

The elf took him to the study where the older man was engrossed in reading a book. Remus stood at a respectful distance waiting for the older man to look up. After 5 minutes, the man looked up and smiled, "You could have said something Mr. Lupin. If I had not looked up, I might not have noticed you."

Remus firmly said, "Lord Black I have a question to ask."

The man replied, "Oh? Please do go on." In fact Arcturus had been waiting for him to ask this question which he anticipated from the younger man.

Remus said, "Lord Black, do you think Sirius was guilty of betraying the Potters and murdering Peter with those 12 muggles?"

The man sighed, "I am surprised that you even need to ask, Mr. Lupin. I had thought that you would well know the answer to this question having been their best friend for all these years. Tell me, do you think that the boy who walked out on his family because they were pressuring him to join Voldemort would become a death eater? A boy who loved his friend more than his family would betray him? Do you think it is possible that they might have made some elaborate plan to deceive the world and it backfired on them? I have tried to find proof of the answer to these questions for the last two years but no answer presented itself to me. You were their friend and you would know it better than me. I cannot believe that Sirius could have betrayed the Potters to Voldemort nor do I believe that he killed Peter Pettigrew and those muggles. The only way that I could believe it is the day that I hear it from Sirius himself. And I swear by Merlin that if he has done it, I will kill him myself."

Lupin was amazed to see the other man's zeal and was also thoughtful of the points he raised. He turned to Arcturus, "Lord Black, I accept your proposal. What are my instructions?"

The man smiled, "Now we are talking. Since you have agreed to my proposal, call me Arcturus in private and Lord Black on formal occasions. The first problem is that we do not know where Harry Potter might be and we need to rescue the boy. I cannot go and ask questions about him because that would cause suspicions so this would fall upon you. When you have secured him, you shall take him to an address where I will be waiting for you and from there we will return to Black Castle."

Remus nodded and Arcturus dismissed him with instructions to select a chamber in the castle as his own and to give a list of his requirements to the elf Travistor.

Hogs head, Hogsmead

Remus Lupin was sitting in the Hogs head inn waiting for Hagrid to come for his evening outing. In his school years, they had noted Hagrid's routine and it was helpful to him now. He knew the half-giant had a loose tongue and he would speak after a tankard of ale had been poured into him. Lord Black had given him a pouch of Galleons to get this job done. He was dutifully waiting for the half giant with a bottle of fire-whisky sitting in front of him.

The giant entered boisterously, saying his greeting to everyone when Remus hailed him, "Hagrid, over here."

Hagrid came almost running, "Remus! Whadyaa surpris. din't expect you here."

Remus smiled sadly, "I stopped going out after that fateful Hallowe'en night. Never even saw little Harry after that."

As the evening progressed, Remus subtly and carefully kept Hagrid's tankard full enough of fire whiskey so that there was always more to drink and empty enough so that the half-giant never caught on. Remus just kept him talking until he was sure that Hagrid had slipped enough cogs to answer any question without thinking about it. Then he moved in for the kill.

Hagrid", he said, slurring his speech just enough to sound pretty far gone himself even though he had been drinking butter-beer and pretty slowly at that, "what happened that day, when You-Know-Who disappeared?"

The half-giant said, "I rescued him that day from the traitor Sirius Black!... He said give him to me Hagrid. I will raise him but I had me orders... I refused and he gave me his bike... I wondered that time why he was giving it to me but I know now. He was a no-good death eater..."

Remus had listened to a lot more than he wanted to. If Sirius was responsible for betraying James and Lily, he would have taken the bike and fled. He would not have given it to Hagrid. May be there were some more facts to find here, but; he had a different job to do right now. He turned to Hagrid, "Do you know where Harry is? I wish I could see him."

Hagrid's eyes misted and he pulled out a handkerchief the size of a tablecloth from his pocket and blew his nose into it and sniffed, "he was a peaky looking thing when I gave him to Dumbledore in Little Whinging."

He realised what he had said and put his hand over his mouth and started muttering, "Should not have said that! I should not have said that!"

Remus hoped that Hagrid was deep enough in his cups that he would not remember what he had just divulged. He would have tried to obliviate Hagrid, but; this was a half-giant and getting any kind of spell to work on him was iffy at best. Instead, he just kept Hagrid talking about inconsequential matters, keeping his tankard partially full until Hagrid passed out. His mission accomplished, he settled the bill with the Aberforth (He knew Aberforth from the Order) and walked outside before disapparating.

Little Whinging

Remus knew three things: Harry's mother was a muggle-born named Lilly Evans when he first met her at Hogwarts; Harry had been placed with muggle relatives; and those muggles lived somewhere in Little Whinging. He had spent most of the day, going through newspaper archives, trying to find a reference of any kind to wedding announcements for someone named Evans and about the right age to be Lilly's muggle sibling. He then cross-referenced each of those married names with the muggle phone book for Little Whinging and wrote down the addresses. He knew that there would be wards around the property and that there had to be a boy, about three years old. With a dozen or so addresses to check, He started looking.

Little Whinging was little in name only. It was not an easy task to find a child in there. Remus had spent the last two days going down his list, checking each property for magical wards and for boys around age three. He was beginning to lose heart when he came to Dursley, V., 4 Privet Drive. When he checked for wards, they were hard to detect, well-done and subtle, but; definitely present. There was also a large window overlooking the front garden which looked like it had been blown out from the inside, perhaps the effect of accidental magic. He could also plainly hear a young child throwing a temper tantrum through the open pain of the broken window. But, they were calling him duddykins.

"Harry might be in there", he thought, "It's worth a look."

Disillusioning himself and silencing his feet, Remus walked up to the front door of the house and rang the doorbell. The temper tantrum suddenly stopped and Remus heard the floorboards inside creaking as someone came to the door. A monstrosity of a man opened the door. The man was so fat that he did not seem to have a neck.

As the man searched for whoever it was that rang the doorbell, Remus slipped past him to the stairs where he stood out of the way until the man slammed the door shut again.

He growled, "Cursed neighborhood kids playing pranks again!", as he made his way back to the front room, "I swear that if I ever get my hands on them..."

Careful not to bump into anything, Remus followed the man to the front room. There he found a tall, thin, horse-faced woman with a very fat, pink-skinned boy with brown eyes and blond hair. Not the green-eyed, dark haired child Remus was looking for. "This must be 'Duddykins'," Remus thought. He looked around, but found nobody but these three in the room. There was no sign of another boy.

Carefully, Remus left the room and went up the stairs. There was no sign of another child there either. Remus was beginning to wonder if "Duddykins" was a muggle-born wizard. Before he gave up on this house, he cast the Homnum Revelio and found that there was a fourth person in the house, under the stairs of all places! Already, he could feel the wolf inside him beginning to bay for the blood of these muggles. He had to remind himself that his mission was to retrieve Harry, not dispense justice.

Carefully, he made his way to the kitchen. Fortunately, the other child was starting up with his tantrum again and that covered the sound of Remus opening the door to the cupboard under the stairs. What he found there nearly tore the heart right out of him. A child, obviously half-starved, wearing clothes those were both too short and too wide for him, filthy and worn. The boy was sleeping on a soiled baby bed, with filth and grime on his body and four fresh marks of finger across his cheeks. There was nothing more in the cupboard except for a blanket that looked familiar to him.

Without another word, Remus took Harry up in his arms, blanket and all. He disillusioned the two of them and carefully made his way out through the kitchen door. The moment he was outside of the wards, he disapparated.

They apparated just outside of the wards at the house in London. Arcturus was waiting there to receive them. The moment that Remus carried Harry inside, the three of them travelled by port-key to port of France. From there they flooed to the chateau owned by House of Black. Finally, they flooed to Black Castle through an international floo transit paid for by Lord Black.

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