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Albus had realised it was going to be a problem the moment it happened. The moment Sirius gripped Harry's shoulders and said, "The boy needs rest, Dumbledore - can't this wait?" The moment he contradicted him and nearly derailed his plans.
This was why he'd chosen the Potters, fifteen years ago - to avoid exact moments like these.
Children without guardians were much more malleable than children who were loved, cared for, and had the emotional intelligence to question and contradict what they were told.
It was a shame. He'd always liked Sirius, but Albus couldn't let it go on. He couldn't let Sirius ruin all the hard work he'd done. The balance of the wizarding world, the future, depended on it.
So, he mentioned that they needed to reinstate the Order of the Phoenix and establish headquarters in Sirius' presence. He was so eager and willing to help that he promptly offered his ancestral home for the Order, just as Albus had hoped.
Then he told him not to go outside. For his own good, of course. He was still a hunted man after all. The inactive weeks - months - trapped in Grimmauld Place would wear him down, not just because Sirius hated the house, but because the house rejected him, too. Rejected the blood traitor who'd betrayed and killed the last vestiges of his family.
Sirius would be eager to go outside - to fight - when the opportunity would finally present itself. He'd be weak and sloppy and careless.
Then, a week before Harry was to arrive, Albus stopped on his way out and smiled at Molly. He told her he was glad the boy had her to care for him. He needed a mother's presence in his life. She blushed and said that, of course, Harry was like her own son.
Albus kept the smile on his face, eyeing her over his spectacles with kind humour.
Molly was perfect.
She wouldn't even think to question Albus.
Once the groundwork was complete, all Albus had to do was finish the preparations.
Everything hinged on Tom's connection to Harry. He simply had to open the door.
It was easy.
Keep the boy in the dark while Tom worked to get into the Department of Mysteries, to see if there was more to the prophecy than he knew. Tell Severus to give the boy Occlumency lessons, to pry his mind open, to make it more vulnerable to Tom's interference.
From there, it was simply a matter of waiting.
After Tom disapparated with Bellatrix, Albus knew he had only so much time before Harry's grief over Sirius hardened, before his emotions and thoughts settled. He had to work when the wound was still raw, when he could still guide Harry to the right path.
Albus gave him the portkey to his office before the boy could see or speak to anyone else. He didn't have to worry - Harry wouldn't be able to leave the room before he arrived.
He let him rage and yell, shatter his instruments against the walls and the floor, until his fury ran out and he sat down, exhausted. It was only then that Albus began talking. He picked his words carefully, delicately, let Harry hear the prophecy, but only showed him Sybill's shadow and then told him that his secrecy, his half-truths, his lies had only been out of love.
And Albus did love Harry.
He loved all of his boys.