He appeared with a pop in front of a well-kept wizarding home, and a firm knock gained him entrance.

"Alastor Moody! What brings you here at this time of night?" asked the blond, aging man, reaching out a hand. Moody shook it firmly, smiling slightly. Trust Barty Crouch to get straight to the point

"Barty, I'm here on unofficial business that needs to be made official."

Barty furrowed his brow, before he was nearly run over by his teenage son.

"Where do you think you're going in such a hurry, young man?" he yelled out the open door. Moody winced at the sudden volume change, turning away just in time to see the young man wave at his father, before yelling the time he would return. Moody schooled his features. When Barty ushered him inside, Moody lead the way to the Director's study, sitting down in his usual chair.

"Barty, we have a major problem."

Barty sat down, kicking his feet up before motioning for him to continue.

"First, Sirius Black and Severus Snape are innocent."

"What?" Barty hissed. "Are you certain?"

Moody nodded

"I fed them Veritaserum."

"Three drops?"

"Four."

"Well that would keep them from lying. Who betrayed the Potters then?"

"Peter Pettigrew. They were both adamant, and James told me something similar before he resigned to go into hiding.."

"Ok," Barty sighed. "That can be solved. What's the twist?"

"Sirius Black is first in line for custody of Harry Potter."

"Well, as soon as we rule him innocent, it won't be a problem."

"There's the issue, Barty. I ran into Albus tonight. He wants to place the child with his mother's sister. That woman makes Morgana look like a saint. Her husband already threatened to kill the boy, just tonight."

"You left him there?"

"Most certainly not," Moody said indignantly. "Not only are they the worst sort of muggles, the Potters filed legal documentation prohibiting the placement of the child there with lawyers and with the ministry. But Dumbledore was adamant that he go there, so I was worried that he would try to frame Black and kidnap the boy during Black's trial in order to place him illegally."

Barty raised his eyebrows.

"Is there some importance to the child needing to be placed with family?"

"Possibly, but no family would be better than those lumps. I've sent Black and Snape off to a safe house for the meantime. I'm hoping you will take a copy of my memory to rule him out of contention. Snape's questioning is during the same memory."

"I'll go over it with Auror Bones. We should be able to verify it soon enough so that we can prevent a trial. Would you mind if we question the two of them if needed?"

"As long as it would only be you and Auror Bones, and you don't mention their location to anyone else."

"I'd be ashamed if you asked for anything less. We'll work on clearing the two and I'll put out orders on Peter Pettigrew."

Moody pulled out the memory copy and handed it off, shaking hands with Barty before he stood. As he walked out, he asked one more question, something that had sent his skin crawling the moment he'd walked in.

"Barty, did your son get that Horntail tattoo he'd been begging for?"

"No, not that I know of. My wife offered to take him, but he turned her down last week. Kids change their minds far too often," he snarked.

"Well then, when he gets home, you might want to check his left arm," Moody said softly, a chill running down his spine. "It was too far for me to make out, especially with a glamour over it, but there's some sort of tattoo there. I'd rather you be safe than sorry."

Barty paled. As Moody walked out of the house, he pretended he didn't hear the battle-hardened Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement weeping.

It was far too late when Severus and Sirius finally arrived at their stop. Sirius was weary, and he missed James and Lily dreadfully. Anger was no longer fueling him, and it allowed the grief to strike even harder. They had always been there for him, and now they were gone. Dealing with Harry without them was far more difficult than he could ever have imagined. Harry would never be a burden, but the loss of James and Lily was one they would have to shoulder together. He looked over at Severus. Severus. It was so odd not to be calling him Snivelus. They had hated each other for so long. Sirius had hated him because he was every bit of what Sirius's own family had wanted him to be, and Severus had hated Sirius because he would never have the one thing Sirius so casually threw away. Fate had paired them together in the oddest way. Raising his godson with Lily's first friend? It was oddly fitting. Besides, he could prove to Lily that he was the better man.

They were both on high alert as they exited the station. However, nothing but the quiet town met them. The town was old, that much was apparent. The air hung heavy with that age. They walked down the well-lit and empty streets, discretely finding the correct streets among the littering of shops and houses. It reminded Sirius vaguely of Hogsmeade, though with a more English feel. The street twisted around he clutched Harry to his chest.

"Do you have the bit of parchment with the address?" he asked Severus.

Severus held up to the light and peered at the cramped writing.

"We have a few more streets down and four blocks over."

He started off with his long strides and Sirius hurried along. He had just as much height as Severus, but he attempted to glide so as not to wake up Harry. Apparation would have been much quicker, but it wasn't particularly subtle and with their luck, it would have hurt Harry. However, he was willing to travel the Muggle way for the rest of his life if it kept Harry safe. Lost in thought, he nearly ran into Severus when he stopped suddenly. Severus turned and started to sneer, though he lost the expression when his eyes fell on Harry. His face softened noticeably. Sirius was stunned that Severus cared. It was the son of the man he hated.

But Harry was also Lily's son. As much as Sirius wanted to turn Harry into a little James, he loved his brother's wife and couldn't help but to be happy that he was like her at all. Merlin, it would never be bad if Harry turned out exactly like Lily.

Severus reached out and brushed the fringe off of the sleeping toddler's forehead.

"He needs to have that looked at," he commented softly.

"We'll see if Moody can recommend someone." Sirius said. The gash was far too angry.

"No matter, we're here," Severus said, gesturing to the address, which matched the one on the parchment. The neighborhood was thoroughly Muggle, refined and week-kept. Sirius scanned around, making sure they were truly alone. As they crossed the front path, a key began to form on the parchment. By the time they reached the door, they were able to pluck it off to unlock the door. They stepped in and shut the door behind them. There were a few pieces of furniture that were covered up and a set of stairs leading up. Sirius knew there was likely more to the house, but he headed up the stairs. It would be best to put Harry to bed first, then they could explore. There was a small room near the top of the landing. Sirius regretted that they hadn't been able to shrink the cot, but it had been damaged in the attack. He pulled out his wand and transfigured a chair into a passable cot and levitated it back up the stairs. That was one more thing to add to the list. He shifted his weight and eased Harry down into the cot.

Severus reached into his pocket and Sirius tensed. Instead of any regression on his part, Severus pulled out a worn teddy bear that Sirius had seen far too many times. He gently laid it down in the crib next to Harry before billowing out of the room. Sirius followed.

Severus spoke first.

"I don't think you are particularly… acquainted with the delicacies of living in a Muggle area." He shot Sirius a look as if daring him to disagree.

"I've lived in an apartment before."

"Apartments do not have neighbors that can see into your house. And houses do not become simply occupied overnight. We will already be an oddity; we can not afford to do anything else to bring unfortunate attention to us." He eyed Sirius disagreeably.

"We are going to have to assimilate. We'll need to find jobs, wear proper Muggle clothing, watch the popular shows."

"Oh?"

"If you don't know the latest show, they'll want to know what rock you've been hiding under. It will put more attention on you. If you don't know what football team won the rivalry game, you're going down."

Sirius swallowed. Were muggles truly that bad?

"It won't be hard to keep to ourselves once we're out, but if we don't proceed with wariness, we'll be found instantly. Anything perceived as oddness will single us out. Once we're established, we can be as eccentric as we wish.

"What about Harry? Surely they'll notice if he has a bout of accidental magic."

Severus leveled an even look at him.

"With children, all you need to do is blame it on the sugar. No parent will question that."

Sirius laughed.

"We should have used that with McGonagall."

They spent the rest of the evening making themselves presentable. Both had short, well-groomed hair at the end. With that, they swept up and retired for the night. The next few days would be long.

A/N: Finally finished the next chapter. Let me know what you think. Reviews are always appreciated.