Where do you see yourself in five minutes?
Where do you see yourself in five seconds, Alasia?
Where do you see yourself in fifteen years?
In the darkest part of Surrey a woman marked by struggle and battle and suffering and survival makes her way to...
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July 27th, 1997
At the twilight hour four days before Harry Potter's birthday, the darkness seemed to be rippling, the air itself quivering.
Then, one by one, figures began to pop into sight as their Disillusionment Charms lifted. Dominating the scene was Rubeus Hagrid, wearing a helmet and goggles and sitting astride an enormous motorbike with a black sidecar attached. A bike that had once belonged to none other than Sirius Black.
But if you ask him, he'd refuse to have ever known that automobile. For back in the day it was all black and sporty - and now looked like a kid's bike. All around him, other people were dismounting from brooms and, in two cases, skeletal, black-winged horses.
Wrenching open the back door, Harry hurtled into their midst. There was a general cry of greeting as Hermione flung her arms around him, Ron clapped him on the back, and Hagrid said, "All righ', Harry? Ready fer the off?"
Sirius Orion Black got off his handsome broom which he liked to say he wasn't flexing but when you looked at its build and the other ragged ones everyone else had - it was clear, the intention was.
Harry saw his friends first and then he saw him, the tallest one there until Remus entered. With a faint nostalgic smile on his lips, the boy hugged his godfather tightly.
"I didn't know you'd be coming, Padfoot."
Sirius grinned boyishly. "Slight change of plans. Mad-eye will explain. You okay?"
"Better than ever," Harry shrugged. "Where's Lay?"
"Allie had a lot of morning sickness today. Uncharacteristically might I add. I didn't let her come."
"Thank God. She's too fiery for her own good."
"Once she's at her full power, kid, not even Merlin himself would be able to stop my woman."
Harry smiled at that, hugging Sirius once again before he left with the others into the kitchen of the now-deserted house.
Sirius felt a sharp twist in his heart when he saw Mundungus Fletcher and his ugly dog and his first thought was that Alasia would've wanted to say hi. He missed her more than anything and it had been a mere hour since he left her at the safehouse.
Sometimes he felt as though his subconscious was locked onto hers, there were moments when he missed her eyes when she blinked.
"Harry guess what?" Tonks called from across the room before showing her glittering left hand - or better, the ring on it.
"You got married?" Harry looked surprised.
"I'm sorry you couldn't be there, it was very quiet." Tonks grinned. "Alasia and Sirius were there though, the woman is like my mother."
"How is she the universally favourite aunt and no one remembers me?" Sirius rolled his eyes, all mirth.
"You want to be the universally favourite aunt, Pads?" Remus smirked.
"Cheeky git," Sirius bumped shoulders with Remus.
"You keep ageing backwards," Remus shook his head.
"Why, thank you -"
"I don't mean physically."
"All right, all right, we'll have time for a cosy catch-up later!" roared Moody over the hubbub, and silence fell in the kitchen. Moody dropped his sacks at his feet and turned to Harry. "As Dedalus probably told you, we had to abandon Plan A. You've still got the Trace on you."
"So what are we going to do?"
"We're going to use the only means of transport left to us, the only ones the Trace can't detect, because we don't need to cast spells to use them: brooms, thestrals, and Hagrid's motorbike."
"Actually," Sirius began, "It's my -"
"We've given a dozen different houses every protection we can throw at them. They all look like they could be the place we're going to hide you, they've all got some connection with the Order: my house, Kingsley's place, Molly's Auntie Muriel's - you get the idea. You'll be going to Tonks's parents. Once you're within the boundaries of the protective enchantments we've put on their house, you'll be able to use a Portkey to the Burrow. Any questions?"
"Er - yes," said Harry. "Maybe they won't know which of the twelve secure houses I'm heading for at first, but won't it be sort of obvious once"- he performed a quick headcount - "fourteen of us fly off toward Tonks's parents'?"
"Ah," said Moody, "I forgot to mention the key point. Fourteen of us won't be flying to Tonks's parents. There will be seven Harry Potters moving through the skies tonight, each of them with a companion, each pair heading for a different safe house."
From inside his cloak, Moody now withdrew a flask of what looked like mud. There was no need for him to say another word; Harry understood the rest of the plan immediately.
With a shout of protest from Harry, several people started speaking together - Remus joining in to explain how it's safe enough.
"You can't do it if I don't cooperate, you need me to give you some hair."
"Well, that's that plan scuppered," said George. "Obviously there's no chance at all of us getting a bit of your hair unless you cooperate."
"Yeah, thirteen of us against one bloke who's not allowed to use magic; we've got no chance," said Fred.
"Funny-"
"SHUT UP," Sirius yelled over the noise. "Can we get this over with? I miss my fucking wife."
Harry shook his head, "But there's no need -"
"They might not be able to get at you or this house while your mother's charm holds," Said Moody "but it's about to break and they know the rough position of the place. Our only chance is to use decoys. Even You-Know-Who can't split himself into seven."
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry looked at Hermione. And Sirius noticed. Goddamn, he needed a list of things he needed to tell Alasia.
"Right then, fake Potters line up over here, please," said Moody.
The Polyjuice tasted like piss and Sirius, who had pranked everyone with it back in the seventies and had not ever tasted it felt sorry for the students for the first time in his life.
Fred and George turned to each other and said, "Wow - we're identical!"
Suddenly, Sirius felt as if he'd turned blind. "Blimey, Harry, do you have an extra pair of glasses?"
At that fortunate time, Moody like their Piss-potion god snatched out a heavenly sack and pulled out six glasses. Sirius could almost see a halo behind the one-legged man.
"Sirius, are you listening, boy?"
"Mhm, what?" Sirius looked up to find the halo was a bulb he couldn't see.
"I said you're travelling with me."
"Why am I with you?" He scrunched up his nose.
"Because you take risks," Moody glared. "And you'll be the first to martyr."
"No, I won't." He challenged. "I've got someone waiting for me back home."
Moody remained quiet for a second, "Mundungus you can go with Sirius. I'll be the protector at the corner."
As they left, Sirius couldn't help but smile at the view of Harry sitting in the sidecar of the motorbike. It looked fit for his own child now. He wanted it the fuck back. And you bet he'd be painting it black once again.
Sirius took his expensive broom with a grin, at least he had that. And at once, the brooms and thestrals and his bike rose into the air, ready for a diversion. Higher and higher they went, together all of them. And then - they were surrounded.
