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I am not JKR

Chapter 30

Hiding

After nearly ten minutes, and Sirius laying Rian on a hospital bed and walking over, placing his hand on his son's back, Harry started to calm down. Sirius didn't miss that while Harry was crying his hardest, the candles in the room flickered and at times glowed so bright they lit the room like muggle lights. Harry stood upright and stepped back.

"You….you're here." Harry said in a choked voice as he leaned back against Sirius.

Melanie smiled, wiping his eyes gently. "I could say the same for you."

Harry nodded, trying to regain his breath. "I missed you….I miss you…everyday." He said, a few more tears falling down his cheeks.

Melanie stroked his hair softly and glanced up at Sirius meaningfully. "I miss you too. Every single day." She said quietly as her gaze returned to the little boy that felt like her own.

Sirius sighed and hugged Harry from behind, just glad he appeared safe, he would deal with the who is going where situation later. "It's fine little bit…she's here now. I need you to calm down though, because you're going to set the castle on fire." He said forcing a smile so he wouldn't look apprehensive in front of his son.

Harry snuffled and roughly wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry." He mumbled, trying to calm down as he watched the flames in the fireplace dim and dull with every ragged breath he breathed.

It didn't take long for Mel to follow his gaze and realize that Harry's emotions were controlling his magic output, she looked worriedly at Dumbledore, knowing that if Harry's magic was unbound, the Horcrux likely was too. "What happened?" she breathed.

Sirius sighed and looked at Dumbledore for answers as Harry turned in his arms and clung to Sirius, hugging him as if his life depended on it.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and walked to the trio crouched in the door. "As Harry has gotten older his own magic has strengthened while bound, which we knew would happen. But it appears that the strength of his magic, coupled with the fact that you were gone for a more extended period of time has allowed the bindings to break…it appears that young Harry here doesn't have to worry about whether or not he'll be accepted to Hogwarts….I think learning to control his magic is probably rather important at this point." He said, smiling warmly at the ten year old, his eyes twinkling a bit as he spoke.

"Did you hear that dad! I get to go to HOGWARTS! Just like you, and Uncle Moony and James." He listed.

"Dad." Sirius corrected without really thinking about it.

"Dad." Harry amended naturally as Mel watched the interaction between the two with something akin to wistful sorrow on her face.

"How about we focus on one thing at a time…and think about Hogwarts when you're 11?" Sirius proposed.

"But I'm IN HOGWARTS NOW!" Harry said, his natural excitement bubbling up and the fire lit up brightly.

Sirius' eyes went slightly wide and he nodded. "Yes, I see that." He looked at Remus. "I can't believe you brought him to Hogwarts." He hissed.

Remus scowled. "Well where would you like me to have taken him? I thought he was dying. And it seemed that he was safer with Dumbledore when the binding broke." He said, irritated. "Besides, we're DAYS away from the full moon Sirius. I couldn't leave him alone could I?" he said, as always agitated closer to the moon phase.

Sirius sighed and nodded. "Right….right…I, there were some….unanticipated distractions." He said, looking at Mel.

"What a amtisipated straction?" A small voice said from the beds along the wall.

Everyone's heads snapped towards the little girl that was sitting in the center of the hospital bed, not looking sleepy or rumpled in the slightest, just curious.

Melanie smiled and stood, walking over to her daughter and picking her up. "I think that's you." She said, laying a kiss on her cheek.

Harry looked completely perplexed at Melanie holding the little girl, and not too thrilled either. He looked at Sirius and frowned. "Who is she?" he asked.

"I is the amtisipated straction." Rian answered Harry. "An you is my brubber." She replied, as if it was obvious.

Harry looked back at the little girl with extremely wide eyes. "I'm sorry….what?" he stammered.

Melanie bit her lip and looked at Remus who had quirked a grin in the corner, Sirius's eyes were going between Harry and Rian as if he didn't know who to respond to. Melanie walked over and knelt in front of Harry with Rian in her arms.

"I didn't know if I would ever get to see you again." She told him sincerely. "And it broke my heart, because I love you, and you little one, are my son…just like you're Sirius' son and he loves you. And when you had to leave so you were safe your dad here did not know that I was going to have a baby. And I did not get the chance to tell him." She explained as Harry's eyes were set on the dark headed little girl in front of him.

"I knew she might never meet you. And that you might never even know about her. But I wanted her to know the other little one that I loved, that shared my heart with her. I wanted her to know who her big brother was. So I showed her SO MANY pictures. All of the ones I had in my apartment. And any that were saved from the house. And you have grown, you're so big…but you're still Harry, you look just the same, just like your daddy James…she knows you because she sees your pictures all of the time."

"An we tell stories, an mummy says all bout you an an I write you letters….you get letters?" Rian asked, wiggling out of her mother's arms to stand infront of Harry.

Harry looked stunned to say the least, though a very small smile appeared on his lips and oddly all the candles and fire settled around them, flickering as if they hadn't been swirling with color seconds before. "No….no I didn't…I'm Ja…I'm Harry." He said, holding his hand out to the small girl.

Rian beamed at him and rather than shaking his hand, literally threw himself into his arms. "I is me." She said, hugging him tightly.

-0-0-0-0

Harry and Rian were playing contentedly at the other end of the hospital wing. Taking it in turns to hide and find one another. Sirius watched them and knew that there was no going back now, he couldn't rip Harry away from Mel and Rian…he couldn't do that to them or to him. And he couldn't leave his daughter, he wouldn't. He sighed and looked back to Dumbledore.

"Are both bindings completely broken?" he asked. "Or is the other still in tact?"

Dumbledore shook his head grimly. "If one is gone so is the other. That is why his magic is so erratic and strong, it's also being affected by the Horcrux. Once he gets used to it, it might calm down." He said, though there was very little hope in his voice.

"What do we do?" Mel asked.

Sirius sighed and pushed his hand through his hair. "He will go to Hogwarts." He said, though he didn't sound thrilled. "Everyone would have been expecting him to show up sometime soon anyways….we just come back.

"You can send him to his aunt and uncle…just for a bit….just to give time, it's the only protection strong enough." Dumbledore said.

Sirius instantly balked at the idea. "I will NOT do that. I will die first."

"And you might." Dumbledore said serenely, making Mel's face go white.

"There has to be something else." She said hoarsely. "You can't send him away. Not again." She nearly plead, her eyes going to the two kids playing together under the bed at the far end, their raven dark heads together and little laughs drifting all the way down to them. "I won't let it happen this time. Not again."

Remus sighed, his eyes hadn't left the 10 year old once until just then. "We don't hide. We don't send him away. We stand up and fight….they're never going to stop, never. And we can't make him spend his whole life hiding. James never would have done that to his son. He never would have kept him from the magical community. He wouldn't want Harry to think that hiding is the answer." He said, his voice a bit thick.

Sirius shook his head. "James DID do that. He did hide! When it came down to Harry and Lily's lives he hid. FROM EVERYONE, and it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough. And his son has been hiding ever since. But if it meant him living…James would have done it. Don't tell me what he wouldn't want, he was my brother, my best friend. I know what he would want me to do with my son."

"His…his son." Dumbledore corrected. "And it took a lot of fighting before James and Lily agreed to hide, you know that." He finished softly.

"MY SON. Yes he is James' son, he will always be James' son. But that 10 year old. Is MY SON. I have raised him, I have held him. I have protected him with my magic, my body , my blood, and my life if I have to. The very same for that little girl. But they are MINE. This isn't about what Jamie would do anymore. It's not about how he would hide his 1 year old. Because that little boy is not the same as he was then. He is now MY 10 year old and it's MY choice. It is how I will protect him." Sirius snapped angrily.

Mel bit her bottom lip. "You're right…he's your son…he will always be your son…and James' son. And it is your choice. But Remus is right. The only thing hiding has done has gotten people killed Sirius. James and Lily died hiding. Jess and Sammi were hiding. You nearly ended up in Azkaban because of hiding. Harry almost died several times hiding…The time to hide is past. We can't hide." She said gently.

Sirius breathed in deeply and looked back to where the kids were, only the kids were not there at all. "Where did they go?" he asked, standing up and looking frantic.

Melanie stood and looked under the beds. "They….they were hiding."