An Eclectic Catalogue of Ideas

Albus Dumbledore appeared in his office at Hogwarts. As he looked around the room, he noticed the large pile of paperwork on his desk and sighed. The summer had not been a good one for him, so far. He had waited near Nurmengard hoping to prevent Gellert's release, but there had been no sign of trouble whatsoever. It was likely that Voldemort had settled upon some other plan.

It was then that he noticed that the instruments monitoring the wards at Privet Drive had were silent, as were the ones monitoring Harry's health. Paling, the man turned and, without looking at the papers that would have explained everything, apparated away.

Making his way to the Dursleys, Dumbledore knocked on the door, glad he'd remembered to transfigure his robes into something more appropriate. When the door opened, he saw Petunia, who asked with a sneer, "What do you want?"

"I wanted to see if Harry was available?" Dumbledore asked.

"He's not here. His godfather picked him up," the woman said with a sniff. "Said he'd never be coming back, thankfully."

"Sirius picked him up?" Dumbledore asked, "How could you let that happen?"

"Like we wanted him anyway," the woman scoffed at him. "We're glad to be rid of that freak." With these words, before he could do anything, she slammed the door in his face.

"Merlin," muttered Dumbledore before disapparating on the spot.

Returning to his office, Dumbledore began to pace. What was Sirius thinking? He moved to the table and began to look through the letters and newspapers. He'd been incommunicado for over a month. His eyes opened wide at one headline: Sirius Black Innocent!

This couldn't be. Flipping through the papers, Dumbledore blanched. Sirius declared innocent. Pettigrew in custody. Sirius declared Harry's guardian. This ruined everything! He would have to move fast if he wanted to reverse the decision.

He tossed powder into the fireplace and flooed to the Ministry.

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He couldn't reverse the decision.

Sirius Black had adopted Harry. Harry was now, legally, Sirius' son.

Dumbledore wanted to rage. Wanted to lash out. But he had to play this smart. He apparated to a location not far from Grimmauld Place and approached the building. He knocked on the door; There was no answer. Waiting patiently, he tried to knock again and again, no one answered. Where could they be? The Blacks were quite wealthy, so there were probably many places they could be. He'd have to have an associate in the Ministry look into the Black properties.

Sighing, he apparated back to his office, moving to sit at his desk and look through the papers. Letters from the ICW, letters from the Wizengamot, updates from his various information sources. It would take a long time to work through it all. First, he had to make a few floo calls.

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Meanwhile, Harry and Sirius had moved into their new home. Amelia had agreed to be the Secret Keeper, giving each of them a slip of paper with their address upon it. "I like this place a lot more than Grimmauld Place," Harry told Sirius. "When is Remus returning?"

"You do?" Sirius asked dryly. "Try being me. As for Remus, he passed his tests! I sent him a portkey, so he should be arriving tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing his Master of Defense-ness."

Harry snorted, "I don't think that's an actual title, Sirius." As he spoke, he said, "So, now that you aren't a wanted man, are you and Remus going to get together officially?"

Sirius stared at him, "You know about that?" He paused, "Oh wait. Future. Of course, you do. We just didn't want to make things complicated for you."

Harry shrugged, "To be honest, young me would have needed that. I have no issue with it, mind you, but when I was a kid, I was remarkably shy about such things. Hell, I didn't even really realize what love was until..." He paused, closing off that line of thought harshly. "Anyway, he's going to move in, right? That's why I chose this place, it has a lot of bedrooms."

"I hope so. The hard part will be convincing him that we're not giving him 'charity'," Sirius said with a snort. "You know how he is."

"The part I'm worried about is Dumbledore," Harry admitted. "He's very loyal to the man. How will we convince him otherwise? I think, though I know you won't like it, that we have to get an Unbreakable Vow that he won't tell Dumbledore. We can only explain the situation to him after that. And that, only if he knows Occlumency."

"He does. I and James taught him at Hogwarts," Sirius said. He chuckled, "Honestly, he's a lot better at it than I am. The werewolf seems to add something vicious to his defences, though he's really not good at more subtle uses. He can stop a Legilimens cold. Are you sure about the Vow?"

"Positive. Think of what might happen if Dumbledore were to find out about me? At best, he'd Memory Charm the hell out of me," Harry stated with a shrug. "We need to be very cautious. Better to be safe now than sorry later." He grinned, "Or as Mad-Eye always says," Harry slammed his fist on the table and yelled, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

"Oh, Merlin." Sirius stared at Harry, "Mad-Eye corrupted you in the future."

Harry chuckled, "Honestly, I was just playing it up. But I admit, I do think a little like him. I think he can be a bit too obviously paranoid at times, but he had the right idea." Shrugging, Harry sighed. "It was a sad day when he died."

"When was that?" Sirius wondered.

"When I was seventeen. Took a Killing Curse from Voldemort," Harry said, not going into details.

"Well, let's hope we fix that then," Sirius said after a moment's thought.

It was at that moment that a glowing phoenix appeared in the room, flying through a wall. "Sirius, I need to speak to you about Harry. Come to my office at Hogwarts."

"Don't you like how he simply commands you to come and expects you to obey?" Harry asked dryly. "I would heavily suggest not going to his office, especially alone. Not unless you want to find that you signed papers transferring custody over to me or something like that."

"Don't you worry about that, I'm not planning on doing so." Sirius' voice was dry. "I wonder if there's a way to sign some sort of paper saying I can't sign away your custody without a lawyer and a medical test by a certified healer examination."

"Now you're getting it. Being cautious saves lives," Harry said approvingly.

"Oh, Merlin. You're right. I'm channelling Mad-Eye," Sirius exclaimed. "I need to see a healer."

"Dramatic, aren't you?" Harry said dryly. "Seriously though, I'm glad we're under Fidelius. Otherwise, I'm sure Dumbledore'd find us."

"I'm glad we put up wards against owls and have to pick up mail at the owl office," Sirius added.

"Good point. Let's go upstairs and finish unpacking. Then I have to practice and exercise. I feel so slow. At least I'm eating more than I did last time," Harry said as he moved towards the stairs.

Following him, Sirius said, "Dibs on choosing dinner," moving to his own room at the end of the hall and disappearing through the doorway.

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"I just can't believe it," Remus muttered.

"Believe it. I can provide all sorts of memories for you," Harry told Remus.

"Why would Dumbledore do this, he's a good man. Or I thought he was." Even as Remus spoke, Sirius slipped behind him and slipped an arm around his shoulders.

"I think he became corrupt. I don't think he's actively malevolent to most, but he became so sure of himself that he believes only he can lead the world properly." Harry shrugged, "Add to that a towering ego, and you get a man who will do many bad things for what he sees as the right reasons and is willing to throw people into the meat grinder to advance his agenda." He frowned, "I've seen similar types in my work, though none as extreme as in Dumbledore's case. I honestly wonder if he's gotten a touch of megalomania."

Remus sighed, leaning against Sirius, "This is just so hard to take in. What happened to all of us? You said we died?"

"Yes. Sirius died at the end of my fifth year. Bellatrix knocked him through the Veil of Death in the Department of Mysteries. You died during the final battle. I honestly think you got reckless due to grief," Harry rubbed his brow, "So many died, really. Fred. Tonks. Over fifty students fought and died against Voldemort and his forces." Harry shook his head, "I will not let it happen again." He paused, "I'm honestly tempted to let Dumbledore go after one of them. Hopefully, he kills himself again." Harry can be harsh at times.

Sirius frowned, his arm around Remus tightening, "What happened, Harry? That doesn't sound like you, you know."

"He went after one of the horcruxes. The horcrux had a compulsion that you wear it. He put it on and it cursed his arm. He managed to slow it down," Harry continued, "But he eventually died." He looked up, "You both have to remember, I'm not the Harry you knew. He's a part of me, my past. I've grown and experienced a lot since then. If I have t kill someone in order to save more people, I might do it. I'm no Dumbledore. I won't hurt innocents. But if I have to kill someone who's guilty?" He shrugged. "That's what aurors do. Hell, I killed my first person when I was eleven, you know. Sure, there were mitigating circumstances like his possession. But I knew touching Quirrel would burn him, and I chose to do so to protect myself as he was trying to kill me."

"I think you need to talk to someone," Sirius said as he shook his head at Harry, "I talk to Remus about Azkaban; it helps a lot."

"Who would I talk to, Sirius?" Harry asked dryly. "I can handle things fine. I haven't broken so far."

"Maybe not," Remus said, "You should still talk to someone, though." As he spoke, he leaned back against Sirius.

"Perhaps." Harry smirked, "Enough about that, though. So. Mastery, huh? Congratulations. What's next?"

Remus pinked, saying, "I plan on working on my studies, I want to take a Mastery in Magical History next."

"That's my Remmie," Sirius said dramatically, "The brain of our relationship."

"You, of course," Harry said dryly, "Are the arse."

"Oh, ow!" Sirius stated, "You wound me."

"I could if you wanted," Harry said with a smirk.

"See what I put up with?" Sirius said to Remus. "Anyway, you now know what's been going on. Dumbledore's been trying frantically to get me to talk to him, and I've been ignoring him."

"You still need to be careful. My main worry right now is he gets you alone and forces you to sign over custody," Harry said with a sigh. "We can handle most of the horcruxes pretty easily with foreknowledge. I just do not want to find myself in a forced marriage once more."

Sirius considered. Then slowly grinned, "I may have an idea." He leaned over and kissed Remus' cheek before saying, "I'll see you guys later."

Watching Sirius leave with a skip in his step, Harry said to Remus, "Now I'm scared."

"Me too," was Remus' response.

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Sirius returned later that night, looking pleased with himself. "Harry, you don't have to worry about being forced into a marriage anymore," he told him as he settled onto the couch by Remus.

"How do you mean?" Harry looked at Sirius with a frown, "What did you do?"

"The best way to prevent a betrothal agreement is to already have one that cannot be broken by your guardian. I wrote one up with the help of a lawyer I know, Ted Tonks. He's married to my cousin if you remember. It can only be broken by mutual agreement of the parties involved. It's perfect, even if Dumbledore somehow gets to me, you're safe as it specifies it's the sole betrothal contract you may have."

"Let me get this straight. In order to protect me from a betrothal contract, you got me betrothed?!" Harry's voice rose incredulously, turning his head to glare at Sirius.

"Calm down, Harry, you did hear the part where you and the lady can cancel it at any time? No one else can, I and Ted were very careful about the contract," Sirius said, "So relax, it's all right." Even as he spoke, Remus leaned over and swatted Sirius in the back of the head, "Hey!"

"Sirius, don't you think you should have discussed this with him first?" Remus asked with a sigh. "Sometimes, you just don't think."

"Oh, I guess you're right," Sirius admitted. "I had the idea and it was perfect, so..."

"All right," Harry sighed, "So who is this I'm betrothed to, then?"

"My niece, Nymphadora. It's perfect, I told her about your worries without going into why, and she agreed," Sirius said proudly. "She said it's fine, as it'll only last till you're seventeen and she doesn't plan on dating soon as she's focused on being an auror. Not to mention she had a bad breakup not long ago."

Harry stared at Sirius. "Tonks. You betrothed me to Tonks."

"Yes!" Again, Sirius gave him a proud look.

"You're lucky you're my godfather," Harry said, his voice low and almost too calm. "Otherwise, I would be forced to kill you." As Sirius blinked in shock at these words, Harry got up and said, "I need time to myself." With this, he walked out, disappearing through the front door.

"I expected him to be surprised or a bit angry, but he... I think he was downright pissed, Remmie. I don't know why." Sirius looked at Remus in confusion.

"You told me he had fallen for someone, and she died at Hogwarts, Sirius? And that he refused to get close to that person as he was too old for them now?" Remus' mind whirled. He was always the smart one of the pair. "Didn't he also say Tonks died at Hogwarts?"

"Yes...?" Sirius trailed off, before blinking, "You don't mean?"

"From that reaction, it's possible. If so, you just betrothed them when he had oh so nobly decided to avoid her." Remus shook his head, "It's not surprising, if so, that he'd be so angry."

"Oh, Merlin," Sirius muttered, running his fingers through his hair, "I wanted to help him. I thought it'd be a good idea."

"It might be in the long run. But he's going to have to get through a few things. It's pretty obvious that he never really got past her death," Remus noted before adding, "It might be romantic, but it was probably bad for him."

"It's not surprising though if he found himself in a loveless marriage. Well, romantically. From how he tells it, he and Ginny were good friends, but that's all - friends." Sirius ran his fingers through his hair, "What should I do, Rem? I was trying to help, and I bollixed it up."

"Remember, he's an adult, Sirius. That's why when he got angry, he left. He'll calm down and act like one. Just wait." Remus' lips quirked, "You'll have to grovel a bit though, I'm sure."

Sirius shook his head, "I'm used to grovelling after all the times I screwed up and had to grovel to you."

"Well, good luck on grovelling to him, then," Remus said with a smirk, shaking his head.

Harry didn't return that evening.

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Remus found him the next day. Harry was sitting in a room at Grimmauld Place, laying upon a bed. "Hello, Harry," the man greeted him as he opened the door, stepping into the room.

"Hey, Remus," Harry said calmly, glancing towards him. "Sorry I disappeared, I needed time to think."

"I figured," Remus said. "You do know that Sirius was trying to help, right? He wanted to make sure that no matter what, you'd be okay. He just got overenthusiastic and didn't think things through, first."

"I know." For a long moment, Harry just sat there, "You know, this is where I and Tonks really talked for the first time. I'd just arrived at Grimmauld Place, and was avoiding Ron and Hermione because they'd listened to Dumbledore and had ignored me over the summer. I had really needed friends that summer. She came in, and we just..." He shrugged, "...talked for a while. Nothing serious. But especially after the summer I'd had, after I watched Cedric die, it was nice."

"I can understand that. Sometimes you just need to get things off your chest," Remus said quietly as he moved to sit on a nearby chair. "What happened then?"

Harry smiled, sadly, "She turned her nose into a pig's snout, joked around a bit, and then we went down to dinner. She and I became good friends, though I'm pretty sure she looked at me as more of a younger brother. I am, after all, six years younger than she is. Or I was, anyway." He chuckled, voice dry as he continued, "I, of course, fell for her hard, though I didn't realize it at the time. I'd never really had experience with love, not even familial love. A youthful crush, sure, but nothing stronger. I only realized it later, after she was gone."

"Sirius is right, you know. This whole betrothal thing makes it harder, but you could at least be friends, and who knows what might happen?" Remus glanced at him, "This could be another chance of sorts."

"Remus." Harry sighed, "You don't understand. In here, I'm over two decades older than she is. And I saw her die. I saw her take a Killing Curse from Bellatrix." He slammed his fist into his thigh, "I have too much baggage. She deserves someone less..." He paused, "Less damaged."

"Don't you think that's my choice?" came a voice from outside the room. Pushing open the door, Tonks entered the bedroom.