AN: I don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling owns it.

Harry tumbled out of the portal and for once landed on his feet. He chuckled to himself, finally, he had managed to land on his feet during magical transportation. His mentor would have been proud. He glanced back at the portal only to see it close and disappear. Harry had spent the last 22 years in an alternate dimension, similar to his own but different a lot of ways, learning to be a werewolf and then finally an alpha; he learned how to shift at will and to keep his mind when he shifted. He also earned his masters in Defense Against the Dark Arts and potions.

He had been spit out near where he had gone through, so he was a couple of houses down from his pseudo-childhood home, 4 Privet Drive. Harry wandered over to look into the front window of the home, despite his wolfish instincts telling him not to. He could smell blood and old terror in the home and strange werewolves, which alarmed him. The only werewolf that he knew was friendly and was maybe-more-than-friends with his godfather.

He crept closer, more out of habit and looked inside. There was no one home and the house was deserted, in fact, Harry could even smell dust from out here. Nor could he sense any wards on the property and he was always able to sense wards, even before he had been bitten. Harry sighed audibly; the clues were leading up to the fact that the Dursley's had gotten killed while he had been gone.

He wasn't too terribly disturbed that they had been killed; they hadn't even treated him like a relative at all.

Just as his mentor said, two years had passed in his home; so if he hadn't gone through a portal, it would've been his sixth year. Though, just to be certain, he cast tempus and saw that it was August he walked back home though, he could feel the presence of dementors again. However, if he extended his senses outward until his range ended, there were many dementors floating around London. It was like things in the wizarding world had fallen apart while he was gone. He sighed; 22 years of peace from Voldemort and his death eaters was about to be broken. He sauntered over to where the peculiar strain of magic was and encountered two dementors.

"Really? Just because I was right; doesn't mean I wanted to be right. Voldemort's really sending you guys after me now?" Harry casually asked. "Did the world go to hell in a hand basket while I was gone?"

The two dementors stilled and kind of lifted their head shaped things in his direction. If you asked Harry's opinion of what they were doing, he would have said, 'sniffing him'.

"Shoo. Go on; it's not me you want; well, I guess it is me. But, sniff me. I don't make a good enemy to have." He exerted his will over the two and watched as they fled and eventually vanished.

Harry sighed. "I guess it's time to get to work."

Harry apparated near to the cemetery that he had left after seeing that Voldemort had come back to life last year. He put a glamour on his forehead and eyes. The rest of him looked very different than when he had left, so no one would recognize him. He had acquired new scars that hadn't healed and he had grown to his full height of 6 feet and 2 inches. His hair looked as unbrushed as always, but now it went to his shoulders, plus he was much older. Harry had filled out during the past years, so he also didn't look as underfed and malnourished as he used to.

Then he shifted shape. Now, it came naturally to him, whereas before he had gone through the portal, he was struggling with just changing species. His wolf form looked like a normal wolf but it was a bit bigger than regular. Then add the fact that he had become an alpha, due to that, his wolf had grown taller and bigger to accommodate it; his form was probably roughly the size of Remus's form. He was a light brown color with white and black spots all over him, ranging in size from tiny to large. Once he had painlessly shifted forms, he put his nose to the ground to search for the one person he was looking for: the rat. He started to growl when he found it; the bastard wasn't getting away a second time.

As soon as he found the scent, he shifted back to human shape and apparated. It appeared the rat was in Knockturn Alley. Harry glanced around the alley; it was full of dark robed wizards and witches who crossed over to the other side when they saw him prowling. Their magic probably told them that he was a werewolf. And luckily, he could hide the fact that he was an alpha, otherwise, he probably would have found himself with unwanted attention from death eaters.

He followed the scent of the traitor to his family until he heard the man walk around the corner. His wolf started to growl inside his mind and admittedly, it may have leaked out if the look on Peter's face was anything to go by.

"Hello, Peter," Harry rumbled. "Nice day, isn't it?"

"Uh, do I know you?" the other man asked.

"Yes, but you probably don't recognize me," Harry replied grinning shark-like.

Peter studied him for a minute then Harry watched as his eyes widened. "Harry?"

"Yep," Harry started to prowl closer. Peter took a few steps backward until he walked into the wall behind him.

"No hard feelings, right?" Peter shakily replied, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh, there are hard feelings alright," Harry remarked dryly and cast a wandless stunner and a full body bind at the other man.

"One thing taken care of; a couple of things to go."

Once Harry had left Peter at the desk of the head auror(with a note attached), he apparated to where he could smell kin-scent. He had no idea where Sirius and Remus would be, having been probably considered missing for two years and away during that time, would muddle up his knowledge. But his senses were strong enough that he smelled the particular scents of his godfather and friend.

He apparated to where the beacon of familiarity was and landed in front of a row of houses in London. Harry checked the street for anyone, magical or muggle. And took off the glamour he had on, so family people would be able to recognize him. He thought it likely that Remus wouldn't have any trouble with that, as he could sense that he was Harry.

"Huh, it seems like... they're in between homes," Harry muttered to himself. "But how..."

He walked up to stand on the steps of one of the houses and extended his magic to feel the surrounding area. Then he spooked when the two homes started to move and spread apart. As they moved, another house came into view in the middle. Harry stared for a minute then moved up the stairs and knocked on the door when the houses stopped moving. It must have recognized him somehow.

He cast a silent and wandless patronus and felt Prongs leap to existence. The buck waited patiently for him to give a message.

"Could you send Sirius or Remus out here? His godson's back."

Harry watched as the deer disappeared and stood at the door. A couple of minutes later, he heard someone, with a racing heart, run to the door and open it.

Sirius was at the door and Remus was right behind him. They both stared at him, with widening eyes. They both looked a couple of years older, as if not knowing where he was had taken a few years off. Remus looked haggard and withdrawn but he slowly grinned at Harry. Harry watched as his eyes widened a second later and he averted his eyes and slightly bared his neck. Remus hunched into himself, trying to make himself smaller.

"Harry, s'that you?" Sirius murmured.

"Yeah, it's me," Harry muttered back.

"It's okay, Remus," Harry murmured, knowing the man would hear him. "You don't need to do that with me."

Remus sighed gratefully at him, looking back up at him. "So you're an alpha now, huh?"

"Yep," Harry smiled.

Sirius narrowed his eyes then Remus turned to mutter something to him, something about how a patronus could never be faked. Sirius visibly relaxed and smiled and pulled Harry into his arms for a hug. They pulled back a few minutes later.

"But, you... you look like you're our age! You grew, too! How did that happen? And you're an alpha?"

"It's a long story. May I come in?"

"Yes, of course, you can," Remus said.

Harry walked in past Sirius and Remus and looked around the home. There was a portrait of an older woman hanging on the wall near the door and curtains beside it. The house smelled like it had been dusty for a good portion of the last year but was cleaned just this summer.

"It's good to have you back," Remus commented.

"Yeah, it's good to be back," Harry replied.

"Speaking of that, where the hell did you go? And why are you in your mid-30's when you were 14 last we saw you?" Sirius insisted. "And how did you cast a patronus without a letter arriving to state that you did underage magic?"

"Well, for starters, I kind of went to an alternate universe?" Harry tentatively said. "That is the answer to all your questions."

"Alternate universe?" Sirius asked, curiously, leading them through what looked like a war room. The room had a table in the middle with a lot of parchment on it. The three of them then walked into a sitting room with a couch and a couple of chairs. Harry sat down in one of the chairs and Sirius sat down on the couch. Remus walked through another door and next thing Harry heard was the fridge opening.

"Yeah," Harry started, speaking loud enough so that Remus would hear him. "A couple weeks after I got back from my fourth year at Hogwarts, I decided that I would a lot more skills than I had then to defeat Voldemort. So I did what I had to. It was kind of like I wished it into existence?"

"That... You wished something like that into existence?" Sirius asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Yeah, it was weird but it didn't feel like it would harm me. Kind of like Superman's Fortress of Solitude? Time was also different there; I spent 22 years there."

"What's that?" Sirius asked, blinking.

"Oh, it's a muggle reference. I learned some throughout my time," Harry replied.

Remus came back in with three glasses of butterbeer and handed one to him. "Thanks."

The other werewolf nodded then sat down next to Sirius. "So you spent 22 years somewhere else? And your age and height is not a result of an aging potion?"

"Nope," Harry replied, taking a sip of his butterbeer. "Oh, I missed this."

"Nothing else happened then?" Remus asked.

"No, nothing that I can think of," Harry replied and sighed. "So, what happened while I was gone? I noticed the dementors floating around and what happened to my aunt and cousin?"

Sirius exchanged a look with Remus then turned to look at him. "It all started when we discovered you had gone missing."

"Voldemort had learned of your disappearance and all hell broke loose. There were many more raids on muggle born homes and homes of his enemies and opponents," Remus added.

"Yeah, so predictably the minister blamed it all on me for the first year. Then last year, I guess he actually saw the bugger and resigned. I would have loved to see the look on his face though," Sirius remarked wistfully.

"He's stepping up his plans," Remus informed Harry.

Harry whistled in grudging awe. "And he took out my relatives, didn't he?"

"Yes, that was one of the first things he did. I'm sorry about that," Remus replied.

"That wasn't a great loss for me," Harry casually replied. "It wasn't like they loved me if the way they called me a freak said anything."

"They called you that?!" Sirius exclaimed. "I thought we had scared Petunia out of that habit."

"You scared her? I would have loved to see that!" Harry chuckled. "And what's with the dementors?"

Sirius was about to answer when they all heard a commotion at the fireplace. Harry's wolf started to growl in his mind but it settled down when he saw that it was Dumbledore. The older man stepped out of the fireplace and stopped when he saw Harry.

"Ah, Sirius, Remus, I didn't know you had company," Dumbledore said, apologetically. He was holding a letter that was, Harry could see, addressed to Sirius Black. "I'll leave in just a minute." His gaze passed over Harry and lighted on Sirius then did a comical double take.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?" Harry replied.

"That is you. Good. This is good. It's good to see you, my boy," Dumbledore responded.

"You knew about this?" Sirius glanced at the headmaster, bewildered.

"I suspected something," Dumbledore responded.

"Okay, let's get one thing straight. I am not a boy any longer. I'm 36 years old now and an alpha werewolf; I refuse to be called that anymore," Harry insisted.

Dumbledore startled at that then sighed. "I suppose you are right. Very well. Welcome."

"Thank you," Harry replied. "So I guess you came for a reason?"

"Ah, yes I did. Sirius, this came for you. It's from the ministry," Dumbledore extended the letter toward Harry's godfather.

Sirius took it and opened it, his expression growing very disbelieving by the second. "Uh... What caused this?"

Harry smiled as Remus moved to look over Sirius' shoulder. "Mooney, do you know what this means? Assuming it's not a trap, of course."

"It means you're free," Harry replied.

Both Sirius and Remus turned to look at him. "Harry, how did you know? Did you have something to do with this?"

"Do with it? I arranged it! I found Pettigrew and trapped him," Harry remarked, still smiling.

"How... Where did you find him?!" Sirius exclaimed, grinning.

"I followed his old scent from the grave yard and then found him in Knockturn Alley," Harry replied.

"You went back to the grave yard from your fourth year?" Remus replied.

"Yeah, it wasn't a big deal. There was no one around," Harry said dismissively. "So we need to have a plan. I know I'm going back to Hogwarts, but in what capacity?"

Dumbledore scratched the back of his neck then turned to face Harry. "You could go as the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher this year. And that brings me to another reason that I came. Remus, I need your help with Severus."

Harry startled. "What happened to Snape?"

"He went missing six months ago," Dumbledore replied sadly. "I believe that Voldemort had found out that he was a spy and decided to take action. However, he turned up yesterday evening, tortured and exhausted. And now he is requesting Remus's presence."

"For what, may I ask?" Remus remarked, hesitantly.

"I have not a clue," Dumbledore replied.

Harry saw Remus glance at Sirius with a bewildered expression. Sirius had the same expression on his face too. Harry himself had a questioning gaze; he knew about the professor's hatred for the two living Marauders. He wondered what the potion's professor wanted with his childhood enemies. Especially since Snape's fear of werewolves and his permanent avoidance of Remus for that exact reason.

"I suppose I will take the Defense position then, Dumbledore," Harry replied turning to look at the headmaster.

"Ah, good. Then I insist you call me Albus," the headmaster responded.

"Okay... Albus," Harry smiled then blinked when he thought of something. "Will Professor Snape be up for teaching this year then?"

"Hmm, that is a good question," Albus mused. "Perhaps I will allow him to only teach this year. I'll hire someone else to be Head of Slytherin or someone to be Co-Head."

Harry groaned at the twinkle in Albus's eyes. "You want me to be Head of Slytherin with him, don't you?"

"If you want," Dumbledore replied, starting to smile. "I would have no objections to it and I'm sure he would welcome the help."

"Welcome help?" Sirius muttered. "You don't know Snape then."

"Uh, Albus, you do know that Harry was in Griffindor when he went to Hogwarts, right?" Sirius asked.

Harry chuckled. "I thought the Hat wouldn't tell anyone about what it saw?"

"Harry, what are you talking about?" Remus asked.

"The hat tried to put me in Slytherin at first," Harry grinned when Sirius paled.

"Really? Then why did it put you in Griffindor?" Remus questioned curiously.

"I told it to," Harry shrugged. "I just didn't want to be a Slytherin."

"Students can influence the hat?" Sirius asked.

"Harry is the first one that did," Dumbledore replied with a twinkle in his eyes. "Now, as it is the week before school begins, would you like to come to Hogwarts now and get settled in? You can have a whole other separate quarters as you probably don't want to be surrounded by younger students."

"Yeah, sure," Harry replied. "I'll need to figure out my lesson plans. And since the next full moon is on September 4th, I can spend it there in the forest."

He glanced over at Remus. "Do you have plans for the full moon?"

"I've been just spending it in the basement here," Remus replied. "Since Snape isn't here, I haven't been able to get any wolfsbane."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "You still take that god awful stuff?"

"I used to," Remus hesitantly replied. "Don't you?"

"No, and the werewolves that were in my pack in the other dimension didn't need to take it," Harry muttered. "Here's what you'll do. Meet with me on that night when you feel like you're about to shift. I'll make sure you don't need that stuff. And that's not a suggestion, either. I've seen werewolves who take it end up dead sooner than they needed to be."

Yes, alpha," Remus responded, looking down at the floor for a minute then turning to Sirius. Harry's godfather was looking between the two, bewildered.

"It's a werewolf thing, isn't it?" Sirius asked, reaching out a hand to grasp Remus' shoulder in reassurance.

"Yeah, it is, Padfoot," Remus informed him.

"Sirius, would you like company when you have your trial?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yeah, I would, thanks," Sirius replied.

Harry watched as Dumbledore went back through the floo then he strode over to the fireplace and walked through the floo to Hogwarts.