A/N: Hello my Allers! I'm back with our beloved Siriusly! In this chapter, they're touching down in America! Who do they meet?

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, I just play with them.

XoXo,

Elle.

Friend or Enemy?

Their feet touched the ground in the bright sunlit meadow, causing Sirius and Lily to both blink, trying to readjust their vision. It had been nighttime when they'd left London. Now it was broad daylight. When his eyes opened after adjusting, Sirius looked around blinking rapidly, the tears annoying him. He wiped them away. "There's a house up on that hill."

Lily raised her eyes, shielding them with one hand to look in the direction Sirius was now pointing. Then she turned a complete circle, surveying the landscape around her. "There's nothing else around here. I guess that's where Dumbledore meant for us to go."

Sirius didn't like this at all, but they had no choice. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and stepped downwind from Lily and the baby so the smoke blew in the opposite direction. Sirius pulled out his wand and lit the cigarette he'd pulled from the pack. As he inhaled the nicotine, Sirius shut his eyes and let the cancer stick do its work. "Lily, are you sure about this? We don't know who could be living here."

"Sirius, we don't have a choice. Dumbledore wouldn't have sent us here if it wasn't safe." Lily bounced Harry in her arms, the child still sleeping peacefully. Sirius dropped the cigarette butt to the grass and ground it into the soil with his boot, making sure it was out. Lily was right, of course. They didn't have a choice, but he kept his wand out all the same as they started walking toward the old farmhouse.

The yards of meadow seemed to stretch on forever, the knee high grass swaying in the breeze. The closer they got to the house, the more nervous Sirius became. He didn't like walking into the unknown and this was exactly that.

When they got to the fence surrounding the front yard, Lily gave Sirius an apprehensive glance. Sirius opened the gate for her to step through with Harry, but they hit a boundary spell, setting off alarms. The door to the farmhouse opened and out stepped Caradoc Dearborn. "Doc?" Lily asked, her voice incredulous.

The wizard had been missing for months. No one had known what had happened to him. One day, he'd been at an Order meeting and the next, he'd been gone. Caradoc waved his wand and the alarms stopped, the air shimmered as the wards dropped. "Lily? Sirius? Where's James?"

Lily's eyes flooded with tears as she finally stepped through the gate and closed the distance of the grass to the porch steps. Sirius was right behind her, his hand on her lower back. "He found us, Doc. James...he delayed him so I could save Harry and get to Sirius. But James wasn't strong enough." She dissolved into tears, burying her nose against Harry's unruly hair.

Sirius wrapped his arms around her, careful not to squeeze Harry. The look on Caradoc's face was full of shock, remorse and grief for his fellow comrade. "Please, come in. You must be exhausted."

Lily sniffled a little, but she was still crying, the tears trailing silently down her cheeks as she followed Caradoc into the house. Sirius was behind her, taking in every minute detail he could, cataloging it to memory. Until he got the full story from Doc, he wasn't going to trust the man. He kept a hand touching Lily at all times, hoping there weren't any anti-apparition wards in place. Though he was foolish for thinking that - there were all kinds of alarm wards around this place, no doubt there were wards against any kind of travel.

Caradoc lead them into a sitting room and Sirius sat down on a couch with Lily, draping a comforting arm across her shoulders. He had a brief thought of asking her if she wanted him to take Harry for a while. But Sirius knew Lily wouldn't relinquish her hold on her son anytime soon. Harry was all she had left of James.

"I'll go and make some tea," Caradoc murmured, and left the room.

Sirius could hear him in the kitchen, filling the kettle and knocking things around. He turned to Lily. "Does this feel right to you?"

Lily looked toward the door that Doc had left through. "You know I usually trust my gut instincts. They're usually right. I'm not getting any ill feelings from him. Let's just see what he has to say first. Besides, there are two of us and one of him."

"As far as we know." Sirius said somberly and looked around the room. There were no pictures around, but he was on edge regardless. He lifted his wand from beside his leg and muttered quietly, "Homenum Revelio."

"Sirius," Lily hissed. "He'll know you cast that."

Sirius shrugged as the results from the charm washed over him. "He'll understand. Constant vigilance and all that. He's the only one here, besides us."

Caradoc returned, a tight smile on his face. Sirius could tell that he knew about the spell Sirius had cast, but Caradoc said nothing about it. The wizard across from them set the tray of tea down and began to wandlessly disperse it, asking his guests what they liked in their tea. Once they were all settled a few minutes later, Caradoc took a deep breath. "I suppose you're wondering why I'm alive and where I went?"

Lily gave a small nod, sipping her tea with one hand. Sirius was the one to speak up, "I would think that would be most obvious, Doc. You fucking disappeared without a trace. And we did think you were dead. But it turns out you're alive and living worry-free in America."

"Alive, yes. Without a trace and worry-free, no. Just before I left, Dumbledore came to me. He knew that I had relatives in America and asked me to get in contact with them, in order to set up a safe house. For you, Lily, and your family. But when I tried to contact my uncle, his house elf traveled all the way to me, informing me that my uncle was very ill. I explained the situation to Dumbledore and left immediately, with his permission, to set up this safe house, myself. A month after my arrival, my uncle passed. His spell work, the charms and wards had worn off with his death, so I resurrected them and strengthened them with my own while also utilizing Gritzy's elven magic to further fortify the house, making it more than unplottable. The only way to arrive is by a Portkey made by myself." Caradoc paused, taking a sip of his tea.

Sirius exchanged shocked glances with Lily, both having a hard time digesting what their friend was telling them.

Caradoc set his cup down on the saucer once again and took another breath before continuing. "It took me months to finish protecting this entire property. As you saw, the entire meadow is surrounded by trees and it is a large plot of land. When I finished, I made two Portkeys. One for myself and one for you. I travelled to Dumbledore to inform him of my progress and success, as well as to give him your means of escape. Then travelled back here immediately. I had hoped that you would use the Portkey before he found you, before anything bad happened. Lily, I am so very sorry."

A cry from Harry startled them all and Lily broke eye contact to give her attention to her son. Sirius, however, kept his eyes trained on Caradoc, who was watching Lily with Harry. Sirius was by no means as good a judge of truth and lies as Lily. It was just a knack she possessed, but he knew that Doc's story sounded plausible as well as true. There was only one thing that didn't add up to Sirius. But as Harry was currently working himself into a good fit, he couldn't ask Lily until his godson calmed.

The three adults sat rather awkwardly as Lily tried to calm Harry, eventually fixing him a bottle. When the baby had quieted, Sirius turned to Lily. "I thought you said Dumbledore had made the portkey for you and James?"

Lily looked up from Harry, her eyes connecting with Sirius'. "We didn't actually watch him make it. He just brought it over and said that he'd made it. We just assumed he had made it." She then turned to Caradoc. "I just can't believe you're alive."

Harry spit the bottle out and began crying again. Lily blew out a frustrated breath. "Doc, I don't want to be an inconvenience, but I think Harry wants some real food."

"You will never be an inconvenience here, Lily. Anything you need, Gritzy and I will do anything we can to give you everything you need." Caradoc smiled softly and he rose. "I'll be right back."

Sirius gave a nod, watching the portly Irishman leave. Harry grunted and started squirming in Lily's arms, reaching for Sirius. "Hey, little guy. We're getting you some food." Harry became adamant, wanting Sirius to hold him.

He felt bad for taking him from Lily, but Harry would only get more distraught. As it was now, he was almost screaming for Sirius. "Pad!"

Lily gave Sirius a look and Sirius returned it with sorrow in his eyes as he lifted Harry from Lily's lap and set him in his own. Harry immediately lifted a hand to tug at Sirius' tangled curls, his fingers threading through them. It was one of his favorite pastimes, his favorite being going for a ride on Snuffles and tugging on his ears. Sirius felt a pang of hurt in his chest at the other nickname James had given his Animagus form. Snuffles had come about after Harry had been born.

Sirius tilted his head in the direction Harry was tugging, so as not to have his hair pulled out, and looked at Lily from the corner of his eye. "How you holding up, flower?"

"I think I'm still too shocked right now to fully process. I just know it's going to hit me later and I'm not sure I'll be able to hold myself together." Lily gave Sirius a sad smile and her vivid green eyes dropped to look at Harry. "My other half is dead, Pads. The love of my life, the father of my child. Just gone from this life. Taken by a genocidal, homicidal, hypocritical maniac. What did we do to deserve this punishment?"

Sirius could see the shine of tears appearing in her eyes and a lump formed in his throat. He couldn't leave her alone tonight, not when he knew she was a hairsbreadth away from a breakdown. "Nothing. You did absolutely nothing to deserve this. Fate is just a cruel bitch. But we will kill that evil bastard for what he has done." And Sirius meant it with every fiber of his being.