Chapter Text
Sirius felt that there was something very wrong during the Order meeting. Without James at his side, it was difficult to pay attention to anything serious, but that wasn't what was making him uneasy. Remus was gone, having locked himself away for the night because it was the full moon, and James and Lily were both in hiding with their little boy Harry. But Peter should have been here at this meeting alongside him. Tonight was a mandatory Order of the Phoenix meeting as they discussed plans to counterattack Voldemort's forces, and Halloween was the best time for everyone still alive to gather, excluding Dumbledore and those teachers who were also in the Order as they had to attend the Halloween feast at Hogwarts.
But Peter wasn't here, and there no reason why he shouldn't be, unless...
Sirius straightened up as his heart filled with worry. By no means was Peter a skilled wizard, making him a non-suspect and the perfect candidate to be the Potters' Secret Keeper. He should be safe, unless Voldemort or one of his Death Eaters somehow got to him.
“Sirius, are you listening?” said a gruff voice that snapped the last male Black out of his reverie. Sirius looked up to see most of the gathered Order members looking at him expectantly.
“Sorry, what did you say?” he asked.
“Do you know where Pettigrew is?” asked Mad-Eye Moody impatiently.
“Not a clue,” said Sirius, “I thought that he would be here, but I don't know why he isn't.”
There was a tense silence following Sirius's statement, with many of the Order thinking of the worst. The only reason why someone couldn't make it was if they were in hiding like the Potters and Longbottoms, or they were in danger.
“You'd best be heading off to check on your little friend then,” said Moody.
Sirius wasted no time and launched himself out of his chair and headed out of the house which belonged to Dedalus Diggle, then Disapparated off the front porch. He Appparated a second later out the front of Peter's house, and instantly noticed that something was very, very wrong.
For one thing, nobody was home. Sirius tried to reason with himself that Peter was just out somewhere tonight and had probably forgotten that he was supposed to be attending a meeting. Sirius wouldn't put it past his friend, but then he remembered that Peter had checked up with him earlier that morning to see if he was going. Peter's memory wasn't that bad.
Sirius's second fear was realised when he tried knocking on the front door, only for the door to swing wide open. That fear he had in his chest only doubled then as he pushed inside. It was dark and cold, signs that nobody had been here all day.
“Peter? Peter?!” shouted Sirius. There was no answer, and for a moment he feared that his friend was dead. Then he remembered that there was no Dark Mark hovering in the air above Peter's house, and Sirius began to be suspicious. Where was Peter? He'd been ordered to stay at home unless there was a meeting in order to protect not only himself, but also James, Lily and Harry.
I need to get to Godric's Hollow, thought Sirius. He twisted on the spot and Disapparated to his house, hopped onto his enchanted motorcycle and kicked off into the air heading South. Sirius arrived just outside the little Welsh village nearly half an hour later, which was too long in his opinion. Muggle Children were out and about wearing costumes and holding bags half-full with lollies and chocolate, going from door to door while their parents supervised. Sirius ignored them and marched at a brisk pace to where he knew the Potters' little cottage resided. When he smelled smoke, he picked up his pace to a run until he arrived at the cottage, or rather what was left of the cottage.
The door was completely gone, and from where Sirius knew Harry's room was billowed smoke, with the entire outside blown to nothingness. Sirius sprinted forward, uncaring of any potential danger to himself as he stepped into the house and over the ruined door towards the living room. The living room was completely destroyed, the furniture upturned and windows smashed to pieces. Sirius saw a long, thin piece of dark wood and instantly recognised it as James's wand. But where was his best friend?
Sirius left the living room and headed towards where he knew the staircase was, but when he rounded the corner he felt his legs almost give out as his breath left him completely. There was James, lying on his back on the floor next to the stairs, his face pale and eyes staring up at the ceiling lifelessly. Sirius collapsed onto his knees as he felt despair wash over him. James was dead, his best friend, the brother he chose, was gone.
But where were Lily and Harry? Sirius forced himself up onto his feet and staggered up the stairs, his vision blurred by unshed tears. He saw that the door to the nursery was blown off its hinges, with a dark-robed body lying in the doorway. Sirius realised it was Voldemort, his head bald and his eyes closed. He could have been mistaken for sleeping were it not for the anger that was etched onto his ghostly-pale features. Sirius decided to kick the body of the Dark Lord for good measure, and was startled when the entire body disintegrated into white ash that blew away.
Sirius didn't focus on the weird event and instead went inside the nursery. Lily's body lay on the floor, her once-sparkling emerald eyes devoid of life completely. Sirius felt like he'd been punched in the gut and he fell to his knees again. He cried openly as he thought of his two best friends, only twenty-one and already taken from this world. However, his grief was quickly replaced with anger as he thought of the one who had betrayed them.
Peter Pettigrew was the spy within the Order, not Remus. Sirius could have kicked himself for thinking that the werewolf was a traitor, when all along it had been the bloody rat! Peter was not at the meeting because he had probably been revealing the Potters' location to his evil master! Sirius swore that when he found Wormtail he would give him the slowest death imaginable, and then he would-
A startled cry pulled Sirius out of his vicious thoughts. To his utter shock and relief, Harry was sitting in the crib, looking alive and well, except for the lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. His looked up at his godfather with big green eyes so much like Lily's, then smiled widely, seemingly completely unaware of the carnage in front of him.
“Siri!” said the little one-year old baby happily.
Sirius sniffed and wiped his nose with his sleeve before standing up and walking over to the cot, then picked up Harry.
“Hey, Lil Prongs,” said Sirius. He held the boy tightly, then looked around the room. The entire back wall was completely obliterated with two bodies (actually, one) lying there, but Harry was completely fine. He had the bright red scar that was bleeding slightly still, but otherwise seemed unharmed. What happened here?
There was a loud thundering sound of something large coming into what was left of the cottage, and Sirius quickly pulled his wand out and aimed it towards the door while holding Harry protectively. The steps grew louder until an enormous shape appeared in the ruined doorway. Sirius was about to release the first curse until he recognised the bushy, black beard of the Hogwarts caretaker.
“Hagrid?!” exclaimed Sirius as he lowered his wand.
“Sirius? What're yeh doin’ here?” asked Hagrid in response.
“I could say the same to you,” retorted Sirius icily. “Who sent you?”
“Dumbledore did. He said that one o’ his instruments picked up somethin' wrong with the wards around the Potters place and knew that yeh must have betrayed them to You-Know-Who,” answered Hagrid.
Sirius blanched. “Dumbledore thinks I betrayed Lily and James?!” he said “I'd die before I ever did something like that!”
“Well, you were their Secret Keeper, weren't ya?” retorted Hagrid hotly. He moved slightly so that he was towering over Sirius and Harry, his posture ready for a fight. Sirius knew that while Hagrid wasn't the most proficient at magic, it would take more than a few curses to bring the titanic man down, and he didn't have enough room to move around, especially while holding Harry.
Sirius shook his head. “I was never the Secret Keeper. Peter and I switched at the last second because everyone knows how close James and I were,” he explained.
Hagrid looked genuinely surprised at that and took a step back so that he wasn't appearing as intimidating.
“Merlin, we were wrong about yeh,” sighed Hagrid. Then he sniffed as a few tears fell from his beady eyes. “Lily an' James, both gone.”
Sirius felt the pang of sadness hit him again, but right now he needed to be strong for Harry. He was too young to understand what had just happened, but even if Voldemort was defeated, he still had a lot of followers who would be aching for the chance at revenge.
“I have to take Harry to safety,” said Sirius quietly as he adjusted his hold on the baby.
“I can help yeh with that,” offered Hagrid. “Dumbledore sent me to bring Harry to his last livin' relatives so they can look after him.”
“Last living rela...” Sirius trailed off as he remembered. Lily's sister?!
When Hagrid reached forward to take Harry, Sirius pulled away. “No, you can't take him to those people. They hate magic! They'll kill him if he goes there!” he said vehemently.
“Dumbledore said-“ began Hagrid.
“Dumbledore doesn't know Lily's sister and her husband like I do,” snapped Sirius. “They'll despise Harry for what he is and even probably try to beat the magic out of him.” He then looked down at the little boy, who was starting to fall asleep in his arms. “No, I have to get him far away from here, somewhere he'll be safe.”
“Where?” asked Hagrid.
“I have an idea, but I can't tell you,” said Sirius. “Just know that as Harry's godfather, I intend to do everything in my power to make sure that he will be as safe as he can be.”
“But-“ protested Hagrid, but by then Sirius was already pushing past him downstairs. He had made it just past the broken gate when Hagrid's voice stopped him.
“What do I tell Dumbledore?” he asked.
Sirius shrugged. “Just tell him that I wasn't Lily and James' Secret Keeper and that Peter Pettigrew was, and that I'm taking Harry somewhere safe,” he said. Then he added as an afterthought, “Oh, and take my bike. It'll take you to wherever Dumbledore's waiting for you no problem.”
And with that, Sirius Disapparated with Harry, vanishing from Hagrid's sight.
It took a few weeks to get ready, what with having to discretely buy some clothes for Harry as well as the other supplies only a baby needed, as well as waiting for a response from the Ministry of Magic in Japan regarding his immigration. But by the end both Sirius and Harry were ready for their long journey away from Britain. However, it wasn't without incident.
The entire wizarding world was in full party mode, celebrating the downfall of Voldemort. Many of his supporters were being locked up left, right and centre, and the Ministry was having a hard time trying to ensure that the Statute of Secrecy was being upheld. Owls were flying everywhere, attracting many Muggles' attention, but Sirius wasn't bothered by that at all.
What was bothering him was that somehow the whole magical world knew that it was Harry who had somehow defeated Voldemort at the cost of his parents' lives, but Harry had disappeared and as such a massive search was currently being conducted. Sirius suspected that Dumbledore was trying to find the boy and bring him into his protection, but that was not his job. It was Sirius's job as Harry's godfather to protect the boy and that Lily and James were both gone, and that was what he was going to do.
The problem with the wizarding world being on the lookout for Harry was that Sirius had to find other methods to get them both out of the country safely and inconspicuously. He’d settled on leaving the Muggle way, by plane, as he believed that the Ministry and Dumbledore wouldn't consider the idea of either himself or Harry escaping by any method that wasn't magical.
And so, it was a long, gruelling flight that lasted many hours before the plane finally touched down in Narita Airport, Japan. Both Sirius and Harry were exhausted by the long journey, and Harry was particularly grumpy as he constantly fidgeted in the older man's arms. They both got through customs no problem, but now the second part of their journey began; finding the Japanese Ministry of Magic.
The train ride from Narita to Tokyo lasted nearly an hour and a half, during which both Sirius and Harry slept fitfully. Thankfully, because it was midday, the trains weren't very packed, though Sirius noticed he got more than a few curious looks from the locals, and by curious he meant they were all from young women who giggled when he caught their eyes. Maybe a few weeks ago, Sirius would have launched at the opportunity to use his charms on the fairer sex, but now his priorities had completely changed and were now focussed on the boy sleeping in his arms. That and he couldn't speak Japanese.
Eventually the two British wizards stopped off at a station that Sirius couldn't even pronounce, which was supposedly located close to the Japan Ministry of Magic. The visitor's entrance was a bathroom, and like a few of the entrances into Britain's Ministry, Sirius had to step into the toilet and flush himself in.
Sirius and Harry appeared in a spacious atrium far grander than the British Ministry's atrium. The walls were bright red, with numerous moving murals of dragons and warriors dancing together and pointing at the numerous magical folk walking everywhere. Origami cranes and dragons flew over the heads of the Ministry workers while at the Floo entrances, newspaper agencies and salesmen tried to sell their products to incoming and outgoing workers. Sirius noticed that they practically ignored him and Harry as they walked past.
Much like the British Ministry, there were two impressive statues over the tops of water fountains, but far more impressive. They depicted a samurai warrior, clad in traditional armour and wielding a katana in a battle against a mighty, humanoid demon with a fearsome face And horns and many arms, while to the side smaller creatures and a beautiful Japanese woman looked on in awe of the climactic battle. Sirius noticed that the demon's eyes were actually large rubies that seemed to follow his movements, making him feel slightly uncomfortable as he walked over to the reception desk.
The person at the desk was a short, thin young man with short, spiky black hair and a bored expression on his face while wearing a security guard's outfit.
“Um, my name is Sirius Black and I'm here to see the Department of Immigration Head,” said Sirius.
The security guard just gave him a blank look in response. Sirius sighed and pulled out a piece of paper and his wand, then tapped the paper. Instantly Japanese characters appeared in the sentence Sirius was trying to say, and he handed it to the guard. The guard read the paper, then understanding came across his face. The guard tapped the paper with his own wand, and the characters on the page warped into a set of directions written in English. Sirius thanked the guard and with Harry, headed over to the elevators.
The trip from the atrium to the Department of Immigration office was surprisingly short, and there was already someone waiting for Sirius and Harry. He was a short, plump middle-aged man with tidy hair and a moustache wearing a stylish set of dark robes.
“Sirius Black, I presume?” said the man in fluent, but heavily accented English.
“That would be me,” answered Sirius. The man smiled warmly.
“I am Takumi Omura, Head of the Department of Immigration” he said. Then he noticed Harry sleeping soundly. “This is the boy you mentioned in your letter?”
“This is Harry Potter,” said Sirius.
“The one who defeated your Dark Lord,” said Omura.
“And is in incredible danger because of it,” added Sirius.
Omura nodded his head, a serious expression coming across his face before he directed the two newcomers into his office. Once the door was closed, a china cup full of tea floated over to Sirius, which he accepted. He took a sip, then frowned. It was green tea and had a taste that he wasn't sure he liked, but out of politeness, he kept drinking it.
“You have come to Japan at great sacrifice to both yourself and the boy,” noted Omura.
“Britain is still swarming with Voldemort's supporters, even if the Dark Lord himself is vanquished,” replied Sirius. “Leaving the country was the only way I could think of to protect Harry.”
“And what of your friends and family?” asked Omura.
“My closest friends will understand, even if they don't know where I've gone. And I am dead to my family anyway,” said Sirius. He then adjusted Harry slightly to relieve the stress in his tiring arms. “What can be done to protect him here?”
“An excellent question,” said Omura. W8tha flick of his wand, several pieces of parchment flew to rest on the desk in front of Sirius. “Here are the documents for you to be staying with one of Japan's most prestigious Pureblood families,” he added. “They are an ancient family with protections around their home to rival even Hogwarts' wards. And they do not carry any of that bigotry your country do not seem to have overcome, so your charge will be treated as one of their own.”
Sirius looked at the documents in front of him. He and Sirius were possibly going to be living with a family as old as the Black family, the Yoshinaga clan. They lived somewhere in the mountains near a place called Niigata Prefecture, which was on the western side of the main island of Japan. It seemed like a remote area, though Niigata city was not too far away, especially if one could simply Apparate there.
“Have they accepted the offer?” asked Sirius.
“Indeed they have,” answered Omura. “The Yoshinaga have long defended magical Japan from our own Dark Lords and sorcerers, training only the finest warriors in our nation's history.” When Sirius maintained a blank expression, Omura added, “They are samurai.”
“Samurai?” questioned Sirius. “I wasn't aware that they still existed.”
“There are only a few hundred left in all of Japan and the world,” explained Omura, “but the Yoshinaga clan have managed to maintain the craft for hundreds of years, even after the rest of the wizarding world has modernised itself. Under Lord Yoshinaga's tutelage, Mister Potter will become a great warrior.”
“Why do you want him to be trained as a samurai? I read in history books that outsiders were strictly forbidden from learning to be one,” said Sirius.
“Under normal circ*mstances, the Lord Yoshinaga would have declined to teach and harbour the boy. But you said in your letter to us that you feared that Lord Voldemort was not truly defeated and may return,” said Omura. “As a champion of the Light, Lord Yoshinaga thought it imperative that the boy be as prepared as possible for the Dark Lord's return, because the last time a Dark wizard declared war on the world, he convinced many Japanese witches and wizards to join the Dark, and we have suffered ever since.”
Sirius knew that Omura was talking about Grindelwald, whose actions had kick-started World War II and led to the deaths of millions of people.
“Who is this Lord Yoshinaga?” asked Sirius.
“Think of him as Japan's very own Albus Dumbledore, only slightly younger. Were it not for his efforts with his samurai wizards, Japan would be a much darker place than it is now,” said Omura with a small smile. Sirius chuckled quietly to himself at the thought of the Hogwarts' Headmaster wearing samurai armour and wielding a sword instead of the outrageous robes he was infamous for wearing.
“Okay, I think I understand now,” said Sirius. “When do we leave for Niigata?”
“As soon as you are well enough to travel,” answered Omura. "Lord Yoshinaga is already expecting you."
And so it was that Sirius, clutching the waking Harry while bundled up in thick winter clothing, stood at the bottom of the stairs in front of a massive, red painted torii gate, with the magnificent Japanese castle looming high above them. Sirius sighed and looked at boy he was holding. Harry was looking around at his new surroundings with wide eyes, and Sirius felt like he could understand the baby's wonder. He'd never seen anything so grand or spectacular, this castle in the mountains. While from the outside it certainly wasn't as large as Hogwarts, it no doubt still instilled a sense of amazement and wonder within one's soul.
“Well Lil Prongs, looks like we're gonna be living here from now on,” said Sirius. Harry let out a delighted squeal, and with a sigh, Sirius began the long march up to the castle, towards their destiny.
