Giving the elf a grateful smile Hydrus donned his Invisibility Cloak and made his way to an alley near Privet Drive. It was close to dawn and the time traveler was a bit confused, there was no baby on the doorstep. He was just about to go and knock on the door when he heard the sound of Apparition. Melting into the shadows and putting the Cloak back on, he saw Minerva McGonagall transform into a cat and sit on a wall. The longer the two magicals stayed in the neighborhood the more muddled Hydrus got. According to Hagrid he had come here right away, so where was he? All day the two sat and watched the house and the Dursleys. The young man chuckled when Vernon tried to shoo the transfigured teacher.
Night finally fell and then something happened, Dumbledore appeared, now everything was playing out like he had been told, but what happened to Harry during the day? How did people know about Voldemort's defeat? Judging from the news reports he overheard on one of the neighborhood tellies about the owls and fireworks, Hydrus concluded that word got out, he just didn't know how or who. He kept far back from the house, making sure he was out of sight of the all-seeing Headmaster. He waited for the scene to play out and after the other magicals left, he crept to number four and gently lifted the sleeping baby.
He felt the blood wards bond to him. That was unexpected, but I guess, reasonable. After all, I have Lily's blood in me and I'm technically a closer relation to Harry than Petunia. This will make taking care of him much easier.
Holding Harry tight, he popped back to his house. Once there he could feel the wards settle on the house and bond with the wards he already had set. Harry had woken and was fussing. His tired face screwed up in confusion as he looked around the unfamiliar room and big person and he said, "Mummy?"
"Mummy is sleeping right now, Harry. You should be a good boy and try and get more sleep. Uncle Hydrus will wake you up for breakfast," Hydrus said, making sure the baby was still clean.
"Mummy sleep?" the tiny tot asked as he rubbed his eyes.
"Yes, Harry, she will be sleeping for a very long time."
"Tay," was the tired response as Harry leaned his head on Hydrus's shoulder and went back to sleep.
Hydrus was actually pretty impressed with his younger self's vocabulary, must be because he had only been around adults. Shaking those thoughts away for now, he took the tyke into the nursery and laid him down in the crib and made sure the baby monitor was on. He gently drew a finger over the wound on Harry's forehead, the famous lightning bolt scar. The dreaded horcrux. It was a good thing he prepared for this. Shaking himself from his musings, he then went to see how Sirius was doing.
The other man was asleep, judging from the tear tracks on his face, he must have cried himself to that state. Sirius was tossing and turning, as much as the ropes allowed, so that sleep wasn't peaceful. Hydrus felt bad for leaving the older — Oops, theoretically I'm older, and isn't that weird—younger man alone for so long. He still didn't understand what had happened since he was at Godric's Hollow. He waved his wand and undid the ropes, removed the silencing charm and left Sirius to sleep.
He was exhausted; the adrenaline was gone. He called up some Pepper-up potion, put the letter that was with Harry aside and decided to meditate on everything that went wrong this evening. The same questions popped into his mind. How did everyone know? Where was Harry all day? Come to think of it, how did Snape and Hagrid know to be there? Snape might have been told by Voldemort, but how did Dumbledore know to tell Hagrid? Around and around these questions chased one another, but no answers came. Once again he cursed everyone for his lack of knowledge.
The sounds of Harry waking drew him out of his meditation. He made his way to the nursery and picked up the toddler. "Ready for breakfast, Harry?" he asked as he checked the nappy. Seeing it needed to be changed, he headed to the changing table and took care of it. He grabbed some clothes he had purchased, just in case, and put them on the silent baby.
Harry during all of this was looking around with wide eyes. Once the big person finished cleaning him he asked, "Mummy?"
"Your mummy is still sleeping," Hydrus said sadly. "I am Uncle Hydrus; I'll be taking care of you now."
"Daddy?" the toddler asked as tears started to well up in his eyes as he got more confused.
"Daddy is with Mummy."
"Pa'fut?"
"He'll be up soon. Let's go see him and then get something to eat while we wait for him to wake up." And with that he carried Harry to the room Sirius was still sleeping in and showed the scared boy that someone he knew was there. That seemed to relax the toddler so they went to the kitchen.
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