Author's Note: This story is AU from the beginning as Harry gets adopted by the Grangers at the age of five. No pairings yet but it will be Romance/Adventure eventually. It is rated M due to alternative lifestyles and adult themes in later chapters and FYI it features Evil Snape and Sirius gets free earlier. I hope everyone who reads it enjoys it. Reviews are welcome.

November 1981 - Office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft Wizardry

"I don't like this idea Albus," Minerva McGonagall said. She was holding a one year old in her arms and looking worried.

"What else can we do Minerva?" Albus Dumbledore replied reasonably. "I can't find the Potter's Will even though I know they had one. I won't give him to a muggle orphanage, those places are rather horrible in my experience. Due to that old curse there were never very many Potters and now there are none but him," Dumbledore said gesturing to the baby in her arms. "These people are his only living relatives and I simply cannot imagine any sister of Lily Evans being anything less than kind to a defenseless infant."

"I could take him in ..." she started.

"You already have three jobs Minerva," Dumbledore interrupted, "You are my Deputy, you are Head of Gryffindor house, and you teach all seven years of Transfiguration. I don't see how you can possibly care for an infant unless you retired. Were you planning to retire Minerva?"

Minerva muttered something.

Dumbledore looked sad, "I wish we had funds for daycare or more teachers Minerva but you know very well that we do not. It's all I can do to keep the board from lowering the budget, I dare not ask for more."

Minerva sighed, "If I resign who will you hire to take my place? I must admit I find your hiring policies a mite odd. I have responsibilities to all the children in my house. I can't in good conscience abandon them all for a single child who though very special is not actually related to me. But surely there are many wizarding families that would love to take him in?"

"And how many of them are secret supporters of the Dark? Purebloods who'd poison his mind against his fellow man? How many are looking to get their hand on the potter fortune? Or looking for fame and willing to put a very dangerous spotlight on an infant to get it? No Minerva we can't do that either."

"Surely there must be someone? What about Augusta Longbottom? She has already retired to look after Neville. I'm sure she'd look after Harry as well and none of your objections apply to her."

Albus could see that he wouldn't be able to put her off with a "trust me". He had learned a painful lesson sharing too much information when he was much younger and now habitually kept almost everything to himself but he'd known Minerva McGonagall for decades. He would have to trust her to say nothing to anyone.

Minerva could see him debating with himself and knows all too well about his trust issues so she says nothing and just waits until he's finished. She'd wait to hear what he said before arguing further.

The Headmaster told her of the prophecy and the uncertainty as to whether it meant Harry or Neville, "So you see Minerva placing him with Augusta would be putting all our eggs in one basket. There are still Death Eaters at large as well too many who conspired with them but there will be no trail for them to follow here and this place will be protected by blood wards for as long as Harry lives here. Now unless you have any other objections let us get on with it before it becomes common knowledge that he is here."

She wanted to ask about the blood wards but decided she had to trust her old friend about some things so she just nodded, "Very well Albus, but I'll ask Arabella Figg to keep an eye on him just in case."

"Excellent idea! That will make me feel better too," the Headmaster said.

Four Years Later - August 1985

Arabella Figg makes a phone call to a friend and the police arrive at #4 Privet Drive along with a gentleman from Social Services.

"You can't arrest me! Do you know who I am?" Vernon was red-faced and shouting.

The bobby made sure to the cuffs were extra tight and answered, "Yeah, your the guy who abused his kid. He was freaking locked in a cupboard when we came in!"

"Actually officer it's worse than that," the man in the suit said. "We have no record of this ... man ever having a second child and no record of adoption or legal guardianship either."

Both policemen were glaring at Vernon now, "You sick bastard! You kidnapped some five year old to be your servant? What made you think you could get away with this?"

Dudley sneered to hide his fright and announced, "We didn't kidnap him! Some old tosser left him on our doorstep and we took him in. You ought to be giving us a medal after all we did for him."

"Kid," the policeman said, "we know about you. You keep up with that gang of yours and we'll be arresting you next. Now get out of the way we're taking this kidnapper in."

Despite all his protests Vernon was convicted of kidnapping and Petunia went to stay with relatives in Australia, taking Dudley with her.

ICW Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

Albus Dumbledore was in Geneva that week chairing a long meeting of the ICW. It wasn't going as he had hoped. He was seated at a large round stone table. Around him were men and women in jewel toned and metallic robes. All of them were prominent figures of their respective Magical communities and in the magical world a few were still absolute monarchs.

"Supreme Mugwump and Chief Warlock of Britain," said the man in golden robes with ICW over the left breast and the fleur de lis on the right, "we are assembled here to discuss conditions in your country at the request of our brother wizarding monarch,

Albus nodded, "I greet Louis, the Dauphin de Valois, and all the other august and respected members. We did just finish a war but I think conditions are about as good as one can reasonably expect," Albus Dumbledore said in a very reasonable voice. The Dauphin still held grudges from centuries ago but the Hapsburg was worse. He ruled only Magical Germany and Magical Austria but he believed he should be emperor of all Europe. He kept trying to use even the smallest amount of unrest imply that the other members could not be trusted to run their countries. His hate was especially intense for England because it had elected rulers. As he listened to the rhetoric Albus wished he could just ignore the man but that would never do. He settled in for a long session, glad the ICW did not meet more than once a season. He might be the Supreme Mugwump but he still had to be very careful or all the careful progress towards freedom and modernization would fail.

One Week later in the Headmaster's Office

A very long week later he returned to England and was met by a summons to the Wizengamot, they'd caught another suspected deatheater and they were holding the trial tomorrow. As Chief Warlock he'd have to attend. He had a stack of correspondence from parents and a letter from the board to read as well. He decided to read them after he returned from court and headed straight for bed. He'd need his wits about him tomorrow. He wasn't as young as he used to be and on days like this he felt every year.

By the time he knew of Harry's changed status it was three weeks later and he was already back out of the orphanage. He looked around at the people reporting to him, "So much has happened." He sat and thought for a moment then spoke, "Let me repeat things back to you and you can tell me if I have this straight. The muggle we placed him with, his only remaining family, were abusing him?"

"Yes, Chief Warlock. I was as shocked as you but we have verified it. The Squib you had keeping an eye out for the boy noticed it before it had gone too far and called a friend in the muggle government department that handles such things. The boy spent some time in an orphanage but then two other muggles came by and adopted him. I believe they were originally planning to adopt an infant but when young Harry and their daughter Hermione met accidental magic from both children occurred."

"How extraordinary," Albus said. "So once they understood what had been happening they wanted to adopt Harry?"

"Yes and since it wasn't in anyone's best interest to leave him there we decided that if they were suitable then we would work to accelerate the normal process," the woman from the ministry nodded at the Deputy Headmistress.

"That's when I got involved Albus," she told him then continued with a wry look, "and you may be sure that I checked them out most thoroughly. Roger and Ariadne Granger are good people and have been loving parents to their little girl. They are quite well off and are quite open-minded about magic. I think this is for the best Albus."

Albus Dumbledore suddenly smiled, "Quite Serendipitous I agree. Of course poor Harry is deserving of some good luck for a change." He lifts a parchment, "I take it I need to sign this?"

The Ministry official nodded, "Yes, as you are his magical Guardian. The orphanage no longer retains any record of Harry being there so any malefactors who may have heard of the arrest of Vernon Dursley won't be able to track him to his new home. Once you sign that we will have our contacts in muggle government ensure that all the legalities are observed." She smiled, "After we are done any magical attempts to find Harry Potter will fail. He will need to undergo the goblin Rite of Identification once he turns eleven in order to access his vault but I feel that is more than offset by the security of being Harry Granger. The Goblins will keep his vaults safe until then and you know how well they protect privileged client's information. Once he starts at Hogwarts it will be up to you to see that he is protected but I am sure you can manage that."

"I will certainly try," Dumbledore replied.

"So will I," said the Deputy Headmistress with a grim look on her face that promised pain and woe to anyone harming one of her charges.

Albus sighed as he signed the parchment, "I wish ... well I wish many things and even with magic wishing doesn't make it so. Thank you for your diligence in this matter." He handed the signed parchment back and asked, "Any luck finding the late Potter's will?"

"Actually yes," the Ministry lady said. "However there is still a problem."

Dumbledore peered at her over his glasses, "Somehow that does not surprise me. Apparently they hid from their attacker a little too well. What is the problem? Perhaps I could help?"

"Unfortunately you cannot. It is charmed to open only to an adult blood relative or his godfather. We have approached her sister but she refuses to help and we cannot legally force her." The woman shrugged, "She never knew about it before and now she only states that she never wants to see a witch, wizard, or magical being again as long as she lives. Thus since his godfather was convicted of ..."

Albus interrupted her, "Actually he was not convicted of anything but sent to Azkaban without trial. I am as convinced of his guilt as you but I hate to see anyone sentenced without due process. Their should have been a trial."

The woman nodded in acceptance of the correction, "In principle I agree with you. However this still leaves no one able to access it until Harry himself become a wizarding adult. He will only have access to the vault set up in his name at his birth. It should be enough to pay for his tuition and books as well as that of his new sister but the will and all the rest of the family inheritance will have to wait until he is old enough to claim them himself."

"Very well, I believe we are done here? This has been a shocking day for me and I want nothing more than time alone." He sighed, "Until the next crisis at least."

The others nodded and left.

September 1985

That September Harry and Hermione Granger start school. Hermione quickly rises to top of the class each year and stays there but Harry is usually in the top 10 as well. He starts off slow but with love and encouragement from his new family his natural intelligence blossoms as does his confidence.

"Hey Harry, did you know that in America they call football soccer?" Hermione said when he made the school team.

"Really? What a daft name," Harry replied. "Hey, do you want to try out too? They have a girl's team."

"No Harry, I'm not big on sports," his sister replied. "I'll swim to stay in shape, it's said to be excellent exercise and mum said I can go with her to the gym when it's too cold to swim outside here."

"Okay sis," Harry said. "You are going to come watch me play though right?"

"Of course Harry! Why wouldn't I?" she responded rolling her eyes.

1988 London, England

One day in March when Hermione has just turned eight years old and they are at the zoo with their parents Hermione feels sorry for some of the captive Capuchin monkeys and suddenly the glass separating them from the people disappears. Her parents rush her and Harry out of the monkey house and fortunately nobody connects her with what happened.

Later her parents figure it must have been some sort of odd coincidence and forget it but the kids remember. That same year during August they were laying on the grass reading, talking and soaking up sunshine when suddenly Hermione saw a snake.

"Look Harry, it's a snake," she wasn't screaming or panicked but she did slowly get up and start backing away towards the house.

Harry on the other hand got up and started towards it.

"What are you doing Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I saw one of these while golfing with dad. He said it was harmless," Harry replied.

She looked skeptical, "That was miniature golf Harry, not real golf and are you sure this is the same sort of snake?"

Harry turned to look at it again, "I think so."

"You think so? You shouldn't go near it unless you are sure," she replied.

Harry was going to reply when suddenly the snake talked to him! #Excuse me large predator,# it said, #I didn't realize this was your hunting grounds. I'll just be going now.#

Harry was almost speechless but managed to reply, #Thank you#. The snake turned and slithered rapidly away.

Harry turned to his sister, "Did you hear that? The snake talked!"

She shook her head, "No Harry, the snake wasn't talking in words. You were speaking in snake!"

"Really? It sounded normal to me," Harry said.

"Really Harry. All I heard was hissing from both of you," she replied. "I don't think you should tell anybody you can do that. Remember earlier this year at the zoo?"

"Yeah, alright. I promise not to tell anyone. It'll be our secret." He held up his right pinky finger and she linked hers in and they both said "Swear!" at the same time. "Do you think anyone else can do the things we do?" he asked.

"I dunno," she replied. "There are all sorts of legends of magic but none of them are recent. If anyone else has abilities like ours they are hiding them too. Why not ask the snake?"

Harry turned around to do that but the snake was gone from sight, "If we ever get back to the zoo maybe I can ask the ones in the reptile house."

"I'm not sure we should go back to the zoo Harry," Hermione said. "What if I disappear the bars on the lions cage or something?" She looked worried.

"Hey, don't worry sis," Harry hugged her. "If you'd rather not go back to the zoo that's fine. I'll just wait until we see another snake and ask it instead."

"Thank you Harry," she said as she hugged back. "You're my favorite brother."

"I'm your only brother," he replied.

She smiled, "I know."

Summer 1991 The Granger Residence

The summer they turn eleven they both get a letter from Hogwarts. Since they are Muggleborn they receive an additional note stating that they will be contacted by a school representative with a date and time on it. Roger and Emma Granger find the fact that it was delivered by an owl very odd but decide to at least consider the place since they are sending people all the way from Scotland to meet them.

That Saturday at 9:00 A.M. sharp two people showed up at the Granger's front door with the telltale crack of apparition and knocked. "Well at least they are prompt," said Roger to Ariadne.

Opening the door they saw a woman who looked about fiftyish wearing a severe black dress and sensible shoes. The only color being a tartan pinned at the left shoulder and running down to the opposite hip then back up. The man with her seemed about thirtyish and wore a tailored suit of white silk. He was smiling broadly and looked carefree and a bit mischievous unless you looked in his eyes. His eyes held old pain, pain that had been conquered but never forgotten.

"Is that the McGonagall tartan?" Roger asked.

The woman gave a small smile and nodded, "Yes it is. I'm quite impressed you recognize it though. It's one of the more obscure ones."

"Oh, I love obscure knowledge. There is nothing better than discovering that which few people know. My daughter takes after me in that I think. She learned to read early and hasn't stopped since," he grinned and stuck his hand out.

As the smiling man shook it Roger's wife said, "Roger? If you're going to talk their ears off at least invite them in first." Ariadne pulled the door from his lax grip and opened it wide, "Welcome to our home, you must be the two people from Hogwarts?"

The lady in black nodded and stepped past the two men as Roger started talking about the recent additions to his library to the other man. She held out a hand, "I'm Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress, and with me is Sirius Black."

"Won't you come in? We've quite a lot of questions to ask you," Ariadne replied. She slapped her husband's shoulder, "Enough Roger," she said smiling apologetically. "He gets carried away sometimes but he's harmless and great with kids."

"Both are excellent traits Mrs. Granger," Sirius said entering and closing the door behind him. "I am most grateful to you for being good parents Harry."

Minerva said, "Let us sit down somewhere and I'll explain everything."

They ended up in the family room, "I'll call Hermione and Harry in later," Ariadne said.

Minerva nodded, "Quite sufficient, I assure you. First let me demonstrate some magic. In my experience it helps immensely at the start." She pulled out a wand and started producing effects such as light and darkness, then transfigured a magazine into roses and passed one to each of the Grangers.

Ariadne was slightly hesitant but Roger grabbed his eagerly, "Amazing! Transmutation of matter. It feels real and the thorns are sharp. It even smells like a rose."

His wife was harder to convince but after seeing them turn into a cat and a dog and verifying that fact with her own two hands she was convinced. "And you say our children are capable of such feats?"

"Capable of magic certainly," Minerva replied. "Changing shapes is a rather difficult specialization. One4 who does it is called an Animagus."

"Ah!" said Roger, "From the Latin root?"

Sirius nodded, "A lot of spells have Latin roots. Especially the oldest ones."

Ariadne gave him a penetrating look, "Now, how about you explain your comment about our son Harry?"

He grinned back, "I'll be glad to, no thumbscrews required. You see I knew his birth parents. We all went to school together at Hogwarts along with two others. It's a long story so you should get comfortable and you may want a drink handy." He pulled a small bottle from a jacket pocket and enlarged it to full size. "Thirty year old Laphroaig," he said.

After they all held a glass of the single malt Scotch he started his story. He told of growing up in the Black family and rebelling against their views of the world. Of how he first met James, Remus, and Peter and of James' romance with Lily Evans. He told of the rise of the Dark Lord and how the Potters went into hiding. He loses his smile and looks haunted as he tells of their betrayal by Peter and his false imprisonment.

"Wait a minute," Ariadne interrupts. "Do you mean to say they threw you into this prison without a chance to represent yourself?"

Minerva spoke up for the first time since Sirius started talking, "Sirius was blaming himself for suggesting Peter be their secret keeper and did not demand his right to give testimony under Veritaserum," she paused and added as an aside, "it is a potion that makes you tell the truth," then continued, "Still it was indeed a travesty of justice. It is in fact one reason both the Minister for Magic and the Chief Warlock positions changed later that year. The Chief Warlock position was filled by the same man who is Headmaster of Hogwarts, a man of sterling reputation, but the Ministerial position was not. Cornelius Fudge stopped the practice but did nothing to put right previous transgressions. When he was replaced two years ago, the new Minister, Rufus Scrimgeor, reviewed all the cases that were in any way questionable. Sirius finally had his trial and after being exonerated was given a public apology."

Sirius adds, "And I promptly sued the bastards. Won too." His smile is now back but not quite as bright.

"I should hope so!" Ariadne snorted. "I hope you got a nice fat settlement from them."

"Oh I did," he nodded, losing his smile again. "I didn't really need the money and it certainly wasn't enough compensation for years of my life but it helped."

The Deputy Headmistress pulls out an old wizarding newspaper, "Here is a picture of the Minister apologizing to Sirius. Mind you he was using the opportunity to look good in the press but at least he does what is right even if he prefers to do it in front of as many cameras as possible."

"Sounds like wizard politicians are no different than non-magical ones to me," snorted Roger. He looked at the paper with the headline "Sirius Black Innocent!". After getting used to the way the picture moved he noticed the date, which was January 08, 1989. "Mr. Black," he said, "I remain confused on one thing."

His wife snorted, "One thing?"

Sirius grinned at her before asking Roger, "Ask away and I'll tell you if I know the answer."

"If you went free two years ago why haven't we heard from you sooner?" Roger asked.

"A good question," Sirius nodded and drank a bit more single malt. He thinks for a minute or two deciding how to describe his state of mind without unduly scaring the Grangers, "I spent most of my time as a dog. It's a different mindset, you don't feel time dragging on you and even the most spartan accommodations for a human are more than adequate for a dog."

"Ah, so you needed time to adjust to being human again?" Roger nodded.

"That and I wanted to be somewhere other than Great Britain for a while. I did ask after Harry but both Minerva and Albus assured me he was in good hands so I've spent the last two years in the Caribbean getting used to being a free human being again."

"Albus?" Ariadne asked.

"Albus Dumbledore is the Headmaster of Hogwarts and the Chief Warlock," Minerva said.

Sirius nodded, "And now that the kids are going to be entering magical society I came back. If you decide not to let me see him I'll understand but I can help you all adjust and I've created a trust that will pay for their schooling whether you allow me to meet my godson or not."

"Frankly Mr. Black," Ariadne said frowning, "if I had a choice I'd never let them join in this magical community. It sounds dangerous for adults let alone children but from you tell me they are already part of it. This Accidental Magic Minerva speaks of explains so much we've witnessed." She reached out and grabbed Roger's hand.

He squeezed her hand and spoke to Minerva, "I take it that this law requires the children to go to 'a' school but not necessarily the one you represent?"

"Well yes but Hogwarts is the finest school in the world!" she replied.

"As well as the only one in Great Britain," Sirius added with a grin.

"Where are the others?" Ariadne asked. "Maybe we should visit them too."

"There is a small one in Southern Ireland," Sirius said grinning at McGonagall's shock that anyone who want to go anywhere else. "It's an old Druid school though and very old fashioned. Hogwarts gets a number of Irish students because their parents aren't fond of the old rites and some because they don't want to speak Gaelic."

"Well Hermione knows a little Gaelic but she's better at Latin. The only living language other than English she is fluent in is French. Is there a French school?"

"Yes, it's called Beauxbatons. It is in the south of France along the Mediterranean coast. They have good relations with Hogwarts. They hold all their classes in French but if the kids are good enough ..."

Roger frowned, "Hermione speaks some French but Harry doesn't speak anything but English."

Sirius nodded, "There are two schools in America that speak English but The Salem Academy for Witches is a girls only school so if you wanted them both to go it would have to be the Marie Laveau Voodoo Academy."

Minerva McGonagall sighed, "There is also a Native American one, The Great Ghost Dance School of Shamanism. They normally accept only Native Americans but they will make an exception for Harry I'm sure."

"And if I donate enough money they'll make one for Hermione too," Sirius said. "Of course you may not want them only loincloths and moccasins at school for the next seven years," he added and laughed at the look on Ariadne's face. "If that's a no then the Uluru Academy at Ayer's Rock in Australia would be out for the same reason." His eyes twinkled, "Unless bodypaint counts?"

"Is that all of them?" Ariadne asked. Her daughter was not going to parade around like a half naked savage if she could help it. And she wasn't sanguine about the children learning voodoo either.

"All of those that speak English," he replied and McGonagall nodded in agreement.

"Well why don't you sit here and relax while we go talk privately? We'll be back when we've decided."

After a long discussion, made longer by Roger trying to convince his wife that loincloths and moccasins weren't immoral just the trappings of a different culture, they came back in. Roger spoke for them both, "We think Hogwarts is the best choice based on what you have told us."

Sirius nodded, "Of course you are welcome to check our information. In the meantime can we meet the kids? Oh and it's seven years normally but they can quit after five if their grades are good enough and the wizarding world considers you adult at 17. We also have connections at Oxford and Cambridge should they choose to continue their education in a non-magical university after graduation."

"There are no wizarding universities?" Roger asked.

"None I've ever heard of," replied Sirius.

"Alright we'll go get the kids and let you introduce yourselves to them."