It did make Hydrus more accepting of Dumbledore's manipulations, even though he was still miffed at the man for never checking on him. Not to mention all his stress from his school years. No, there were still things Hydrus was upset about, but he was beginning to see some of the reasons why the Headmaster did what he felt was for the best. Not that the immortal agreed with him, but you don't have to agree to understand.
Shaking himself from his musing, he turned back to the conversation. "Well, I could give him the ritual that removes horcruxes and say that I did remove the one from the last Potter. The only thing I can't think of is how to explain when I came across Harry," he said thoughtfully.
"Are you going to tell him who you are?" the werewolf asked.
"No, I was going to do it covertly. Type a note, send the ritual, hand over the artifacts and say that Harry is clean too. Except those who already do, I don't think anyone else should ever know about me. Well, maybe one other, but that's a later topic," he stated firmly.
"He's going to want to see Harry and question him about who had talked to him," Sirius said, glancing at Harry, who was quietly playing.
"Yeah, that might be a problem. I might just have to come clean about cleansing the horcruxes. I'd have to make up some story about how I knew about them, and I'm not sure I want to do that. Suggestions," he almost pleaded. He truly just wanted Harry to have a good life at Hogwarts without the Headmaster playing games. Now that the public was much calmer about the Boy Who Lived, he had hoped that none of the issues he had in the wizarding world would affect his younger self. If Dumbledore believed that Harry was free of taint then the two would never have to interact outside of the Headmaster's venue.
"Let's put that aside for now and think on it some more. Harry is only four so we have time," Remus said calmly, hoping to lighten the tension in the room.
"Well, I have another issue," the time traveler said uncertainly.
"Must be important," Sirius said, though he couldn't figure out what was more important than Dumbledore.
"Harry is getting to the age where he is asking questions. Do I tell him who I am, or let him think the story we have about me is true? The only reason I ask is because I hated it when adults lied to me growing up." He looked at his younger self, who was now paying attention to the adults. Hydrus gave a smile and wave, shooing the child back to his toys.
"That's another tough one," Remus said thoughtfully, running his hand through his hair.
"Well, we've already introduced him to Marius, so he knows some of your back story. You could always tell him that you have a mystery that he can solve when he is older. Besides, won't it create a paradox if he knows you are him?" Sirius asked with a hint of worry.
"Yeah, it might. Okay, that sounds like a plan, I'll keep to my story, but let him know that there are some secrets that can't be told. Maybe he'll figure it out on his own, he's a smart kid." And with a firm nod he lifted the silencing spell.
Harry came over and crawled into his Uncle Hydrus's lap. "What were you talkin' 'bout?" he never liked it when the adults talked where he couldn't hear. Uncle Remus said sometimes kids weren't supposed to hear what adults talked about, which was stupid because he was a big boy now.
"Nothing you need to know, right now. When you're older," the oldest uncle said and tweaked the child's nose.
"Not fair," the little boy grumped, folding his arms over his chest and throwing himself backwards on to the sofa.
"I know, but it's the truth, I promise I'll tell you more when you're older," Hydrus said firmly and lifted the boy back onto his lap. "What do you want to do today, Harry?" he asked, hoping to avoid a fit by changing the subject.
"Can I go see, Neville?" he asked with pleading eyes. He really wanted to see his new friend.
"No, not today, only on the weekends and today is Friday, so tomorrow we'll see."
"Can we go to the zoo?"
"I don't know it's awful cold out. Are you sure that's what you want? We could go out to eat or do something indoors," Remus suggested, thinking about what could keep a four year old entertained.
"I know," Sirius said brightly, "let's go and get Harry a broom." He almost bounced out of his chair with excitement.
"Can we, Uncle Hydrus, plllleeeeaaaasssseee?" the small child begged, with puppy-dog eyes.
"It'll have to be a training one," Hydrus said firmly, remembering the stories the other two men told of him riding a toy broom and almost killing the cat.
"Yay," Harry said as he jumped off the lap and started running around the room. Sirius turned into Padfoot and joined the chaos. The other two men smiled indulgently.
"Come on, get your coats and we'll hit Diagon Alley," Hydrus called over the noise
So family, sans Remus, who begged off, got their jackets and went to the Alley. They went to Broomstix and looked at training brooms. They were discussing which one to get when a child's voice interrupted them.
"Look, Mother, a baby getting a baby's broom," came the childish drawl from a kid's voice. They turned to see a young boy with white blond hair, and blue eyes. He was standing with his arms folded and trying to look at them with superiority, which was out of place on his young, angular face. "Are you sure you can ride, you look like Muggles?" he added with an adorable wrinkle of his little nose at their casual non-magical clothing.
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