The New Marauder

Prologue

The frigid winds of Forks, Washington, blew so hard that Sirius' squib brother, busy beating fat chunks of wood with a withered old axe, didn't hear the crack of apparition behind him. Even though they grew up separately, Sirius knew the man in front of him was the older brother his cruel mother threw away when the healers detected no magic within him. Sirius was glad his brother, Charlie Swan, never grew to know what horrible people his birth family were. He never knew the neglect, the vicious words his deranged mother constantly threw at him. Most of all, he was glad Charlie never knew what the Cruciatus curse felt like. He was the perfect person to raise his child, born into the family yet not bred by them.
Looking down at the little bundle wrapped in a knitted blue blanket Lily made for his child, Sirius felt peace for the first time since Voldemort's uprising. Having a baby in the middle of a war wasn't smart, but when he learned of Joanna's pregånancy and the threat associated with the name Potter, he and his wife knew their child wouldn't be safe. Joanna Potter, twin of James Potter, his best friend and brother-in-law, she was the most precious being that had ever graced this world yet was ripped from it by his own cousin Bellatrix. He didn't know where she was or even if she's alive. He could only hope that her heart still beats, for if it doesn't, then only the gods know what he would do to the one who betrayed them by selling their secrets to Voldemort's followers.
Moving his eyes back to his brother Sirius knew to others the decision he was making tonight would be a rash unthought out move, but with mistrust seeping into the ranks of The Order and Ministry alike, he didn't know where to turn. It was when he visited his family home after learning of his brother's death that he saw the burn mark on the tapestry of his older brother just above his. The idea formed too late for Joanna to agree on who they would place their child with, but he knew what had to be done to allow him to search for his wife. It only took weeks to find him and another to gain the courage to visit, for he hadn't spoken to James or Lily about what he and Joanna argued for months ago before she went missing. Maybe that would be for the best. No one could know where their child was, and if James found out, he would do everything in his power to bring his nephew home, regardless of the danger it would put him in.
Sirius would do almost anything for James, but leaving his child in Britain when there could be a bounty on their head in a matter of minutes was something he couldn't do. Maybe James will understand better when his child is born, but until then, Sirius must think of what he and his late wife agreed on if something like this were to ever happen.
"Can I help you?" The weary, deep American accent glided through the air, snapping Sirius's attention away from the rosy cheeks of his child.
Moving his gaze upwards, he met the warm chocolate eyes of his brother. "Charlie Swan?" Sirius asked, stepping towards him and holding out his hand.
"Who's asking?" The police officer asked, seemingly confused about the man dressed in dark emerald and black robes standing in his yard at almost midnight.
Sirius looked around, knowing he wasn't followed, but he wasn't risking any more chances. Voldemort was everywhere, and with everyone around them dying or going missing, Sirius knew he couldn't risk talking out in the open. "Is there a place we can talk?" Sirius asked, keeping his eyes moving on the tree-line, expecting the flash of a spell to erupt at any moment.
Charlie frowned skeptically until his eyes landed on the corner of a blue blanket tucked into the black jacket. As a young police officer somewhat new to the force, he had not run into a situation such as this yet, but he knew what that specific shade of blue meant. After another moment of silence, he nodded to the gruff-looking man in front of him and led him to the almost rundown shed, deliberately staying away from the white house where his wife and daughter were peacefully sleeping.
Setting down the heavy axe, Charlie turned to the newcomer just in time to see him wave a wooden stick at the door while mumbling something. Letting out a sigh, he walked to a familiar cooler hidden under the bench of his small boat that he and his best friends take fishing every chance they could and pulled out a semi-cold beer.
"Are you Charlie Swan?" The gruff British voice asked once more.
"Depends on who's asking." Charlie responded, cracking the can open and taking a deep chug.
Sirius let out a frustrated breath of air. "Look, I understand how this may-"
"A complete stranger showing up in the middle of the night hiding a child in a jacket?" Charlie interrupted skeptically, glancing at the spec of blue peeking out.
"I know what this may seem like, but I promise you that is not it."
"Did you come here cause I'm a cop?" Charlie asked, trying not to get angry at someone trying to abandon their child. "If that's the case-"
"You were adopted at the age of seven months," Sirius interrupted him and watched as the man froze in place. "Geoffrey and Helen Swan adopted you from an orphanage in Seattle. However, you were originally born in London, St. Mungos hospital to be exact."
For the first time in a while, fear seeped into Charlie Swan's heart. "H-h-how did you know?" He asked, knowing he himself only found that out not two months before applying to the police academy. Afterwards he did his best to hide any and all information of his past  from anyone who would search for him. As far as he was concerned he only had two parents and that's all that mattered. "Who are you?"
"My name is Sirius Orion Black, son of Orion and Walburga Black, your birth parents." Sirius took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. "I'm your brother, Charlie."
Unasked questions flooded the young police officer's mind as the howling wind picked up outside, creating the only sound within the shed. Yet the main one screaming in the back of his mind is why he was here after all this time. "Wh-" Charlie tried to ask the questions stuck in his throat but stopped when a small whine came from the hidden depths of Sirius's long black jacket, causing him to lift the child out into the open.
"Shush, my little padfoot," Sirius whispered as his already shattered heart broke further into sharp little fragments that move throughout his body. "We are at war, Charlie Swan, and your nephew's life-" Sirius paused as his throat tightened. Trying to find the courage to do what he needed to do, he cleared his throat and met the man's eyes. "There is a group of dark wizards that will have his name down to be tortured and slaughtered, they will do anything to get to him including killing me. I know we do not know one another, but I have nowhere else to turn."
"Why me?" Charlie asked, softening his gaze as a small tuft of black curls got released as the baby buried its face into his father's chest.
Sirius took a moment to examine the only reminder he has left of his late wife. "No one from my world knows of you; ou- my parents saw to that. No one under the Dark Lord will know of you; you are the only one who can keep him safe."
"You want to leave your child with a stranger?" Charlie questioned, getting upset.
"No, I want to leave him with the only family he has left." Sirius replied catching the chocolate eyes in a firm gaze, not caring to let him know about it. Pulling out a folder filled with papers, he handed it to his older brother. When he didn't reach out for it, Sirius set it down on the boat. "My friends have assured me that everything you will need to raise him is in there, along with a letter for his eleventh birthday. I know this is hard and confusing, but I assure you that all your questions will be answered when you open that file."
"You can't be serious," Charlie sputtered out. "I have a child I can barely afford."
Sirius held back the snort of laughter thinking about the joke he once would always make and instead let out a breath of pain when he remembered how his wife would always roll her eyes while Lily would smack him upside the back of his head whenever he did make a joke about his name. "Much to my displeasure, all three of us were born into an ancient noble house one to which he is the sole heir. In that folder is an account that holds everything he could possibly need; he will be provided for, Charlie. The only thing I am asking is, if I do not return, you raise him as your nephew, make sure he is loved by those who cannot be there for him." Sirius pleaded. "The letter in there for you explains everything."
Silence encompassed the small shed once more as Charlie glanced from the folder laying on the almost rusted-out boat to the small bundle laying peacefully in the man's arms. If this man was truthful then the baby in his arms was his blood and he knew that his father would roll over in his grave if he turned any one related to him away   "Renee." Charlie shook his head solemnly knowing that without even thinking to hard his wife would have sent the baby to an orphanage without a second thought. "She isn't going to like this." He sighed running a hand across his tired face.
"I'm sorry if this will cause any trouble, and if we had anyone else-" Sirius paused when Charlie raised his hand.
"You swear you are who you say you are?"
"I swear it." Sirius answered without hesitating.
Charlie's eyes inspected his features for any type of lies, but the more he looked at the desperate man, the more features matched up to what he sees not only in the man in the mirror but in his two-year-old daughter also. "What's tyke's name?"
The weight  of worry lifted from Sirius's shoulder was visible as he gave his older brother a smile. "Orion Sirius Black."