Chapter 1
The Letter
At first glance, anyone would think those living at Black Manor were the most normal of families. That is, of course, if Black Manor could be seen by normal people for those living in the large house were anything but normal. Sirius Black, the Master of the house, was in fact a wizard. He worked at the Ministry of Magic as an Auror, the wizarding version of a police officer. He had been instrumental in the capture of many dark wizards and was extremely well known throughout the wizarding world. After the end of the war and the defeat of the dark wizard Voldemort, Sirius Black made it his personal mission to send anyone associated with Voldemort to Azkaban.
It also didn't hurt that Sirius Black was a rather good looking man. The newspapers loved printing his picture whenever there was an article about him. He was average height but well built, although not overly so. His grey eyes and short black hair that fell into his eyes gave him a youthfulness look that added to the jokester attitude which had become his trademark. Sirius had an aristocratic look about him which wasn't surprising since he was a member of one of the few pure-blooded wizarding families remaining in existence. He had been one of the few purebloods to oppose Voldemort, making him an outcast among purebloods.
Until Voldemort was defeated by a mere child.
Not much was known about Voldemort's defeat and even less was revealed to the public. All that was known was that Voldemort was seeking out the Potter twins and managed to find them with the help of the traitor, Peter Pettigrew. Peter had betrayed his friends by joining Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters. He had kept his betrayal a secret for nearly a year, gaining the trust of his friends to be named the Secret Keeper for the Potters when they went into hiding under the Fidelius Charm. With the Fidelius Charm, the location of the Potters was magically concealed inside Peter Pettigrew's soul. Only Peter could reveal their location. Only Peter could betray them.
Sirius had been the first choice as the Secret Keeper but with the demands of his job, he had claimed it had been too dangerous. He was fighting Death Eaters every day. If he had been captured, there was a chance the secret could have been forced out of him. He couldn't risk the lives of his godsons that way. Hayden and Harry Potter were too important to him to take that risk. They were the reason he fought as hard as he did to make the wizarding world a better place for them.
However, Sirius' efforts weren't enough to prevent the attack on Godric's Hollow on Halloween night when the twins were only a year old. James and Lily Potter had been called away to an emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix, leaving the twins with a child minder. The Order was a private group led by the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore. This group was comprised of witches and wizards with a large variety of occupations, determined to stop Voldemort. The Ministry was doing what they could but there were too many politicians and spies for Voldemort within its walls. No one could be trusted so the Order was created.
Halfway through the Order meeting, the alarms sounded alerting everyone that the wards at Godric's Hollow had been breached. The entire Order hurried to Godric's Hollow to find the Potter's house nearly destroyed. James and Lily ran to the nursery followed by Sirius and their close friend, Remus Lupin. They had hoped and prayed that by some miracle the nearly identical twins had been spared with every step. The mere possibility of their death was inconceivable.
Entering the nursery, the four adults had been shocked to find Hayden sitting on the floor, silently crying as he held his unconscious brother, Harry. Harry's face was covered with blood and his breathing was labored. Sirius pulled Harry out of Hayden's arms and rushed him to Hogwarts while everyone else checked on Hayden. While Harry fought to stay alive, Hayden was announced as the-boy-who-lived, the defeater of Voldemort. While the wizarding world celebrated, the Order retreated to Hogwarts and waited for word on the injured twin. Harry made a slow recovery. He had suffered from magical exhaustion and had a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightening bolt. Harry's injuries had been explained as a result of being caught in the cross fire between Hayden and Voldemort.
