Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters

Fixing what has been Broken Rewrite

A/N: So I wrote this story a while back, but I didn't like how came out so I decided to rewrite. Hopefully this version will turn out better.

1980

James Potter paced the maternity ward at St. Mungo's. The healers had taken his son away just seconds after he was born to figure out what was wrong. Thankfully Lily had passed out just seconds after their child's birth, so she didn't have to worry, but he was worrying plenty for the both of them.

Soon a healer came out and approached James. She had a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, we did everything we could."

"What are you talking about? Where's my son?" James demanded to know.

"I'm sorry. We tried every spell we could come up with. Unfortunately, not even magic can heal everything. Your son's lungs simply weren't developed enough," the healer explained gently.

"No," James denied. He wasn't an idiot. He knew what the woman was trying to tell him. She was saying his son was dead. But he couldn't hear that. He just couldn't. His son could not be dead. He couldn't deal with that. Lily couldn't deal with that.

"I'm truly sorry about this, Mr. Potter," the healer said again.

"D…does my wife know?" James asked.

"No. She's still asleep. I'm sure you want to be the one to tell her. You can go in whenever you're ready," the healer said before walking away.

James was in shock. He couldn't believe it. His son was dead. How was he going to tell Lily? She was so excited when she found out. They'd had a name picked and everything. Harry. His name was Harry James Potter and now it was all over. Everything they'd hoped for their son was gone. He wasn't going to grow up to go to Hogwarts and start the next generation of marauders. He wasn't going to grow up to be a famous quidditch star or an auror. He wasn't going to grow up at all.

James walked down to where all the babies were kept when they were born. There were two boys there. They appeared to be twins. It wasn't fair. There was a couple out there who had two sons and now he didn't even have one.

James had a terrible thought at that moment. He could take one of those babies and claim it as his own. All it would take was a glamour and modifying a few memories. He and Lily could have the son they had dreamed of for so long.

He knew he was a terrible person for even thinking about it. He was thinking about stealing someone else's child. But then again, this couple had another child. They would survive the loss. Lily would not.

James put on a 'Notice Me Not' charm and walked into the nursery. He picked up one of the boys and carried him out, all the while telling himself he was doing the right thing for his wife.

Just then, the healer that had delivered the news of his son's death walked back towards him. "Mr. Potter, your wife… who is that?"

James immediately obliviated her and modified her memory to forget that his child had died and instead to believe that the woman with twins had lost one of her children instead. "Now what were you saying about my wife?"

"Oh, she's awake. You should take your child to see her," the healer said.

James forced a smile on his face. Thank you, madam. I'll do that now," he said before walking away and going towards Lily's room. When he got there, he found Sirius outside the door.

"James, I'm so sor… Wait, who's that?" Sirius asked as he looked at the baby in his friend's arms. He knew it wasn't the baby Lily had just given birth to. The healer had just told him the child was dead.

"This is Harry, my son." James said.

"James, the healer told me that your son died. Are you okay, mate?" Sirius asked carefully. He wondered briefly if the pain of losing his only child had gotten to his friend.

"You should forget what the healer said." James told him.

"James, where did you get that baby?" Sirius asked apprehensively. He didn't like the way James was speaking right now. Not to mention that he had a baby in his arms that was not his, yet, he was claiming he was.

"It doesn't matter. He's ours now. Mine and Lily's." James said. Sirius he wouldn't obliviate. He was his best friend. He just had to convince him to let the situation be.

"Where did you get him, James?" Sirius asked his friend.

"From the nursery. A couple just had twins," James finally said.

"And you just took him? Have you lost your bloody mind?!" Sirius asked in shock.

"I can't tell Lily that our son is dead. I just can't do it, Padfoot. Please, just help me give Lily her dream," James pleaded.

"Do you know what you're saying, James. You're talking about stealing someone else's child. This is not like pulling some prank. This is kidnapping! We are talking about something that could get us put in Azkaban, not to mention destroying an entire family." Sirius said. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that his friend would ever consider stealing someone else's child.

James shook his head. "I can't think about that. Lily is my wife. She's the one I have to think about. Losing her child would devastate her. It would destroy her, Sirius. I can't let that happen. Please, you have to help me. You have to keep quiet about what you know. Please."

Sirius listened to his best friend beg. He'd never heard him so desperate in his life. But could he really do this? Could he really sit back and let James rip a child from his parents? Could he let really let someone else go through what James was going through right now?

The answer came to Sirius sooner than it should've. James was Sirius' best friend. He'd always been there for him. He and his family had even let them live with them when he ran away from his own family. He couldn't turn his back on him now. He knew it was wrong. He knew that he was selling his soul right along with James, but James was his best friend and he would stand by him no matter what, even if that meant destroying another family to do it. He would hate himself for the rest of his life, but he would stand by James. "Okay."