Chapter 24
It had been three days since Sirius had seen anyone at his house. He’d spent the time chatting with his mother, trying to befriend his crazy, ancient house elf, and napping a lot- in between his usual routine, of course.
The arrival of visitors had been a very noisy affair – they had come stumbling in the front door, clattering and banging and shouting. Sirius had hurried down the stairs to see what all the commotion was about, but he’d been stopped before he reached the lower landing.
‘Hi Siri! Sorry about all the noise!’ James’ voice was far too chipper to be genuine – he was clearly hiding something. James’ eyes flickered down, checking something downstairs, before he looked back up at Sirius, posture a little more relaxed. ‘Come down if you like, I was just going to make tea.’
Sirius smiled emptily, then sneered at James’ back when he turned. Really – inviting him down to tea in his own home? Clearly, he had been stalling Sirius from seeing something, but whatever it was had been hidden.
He kept up his empty look as he followed James down the hall to the kitchen. Good thing, too, as James turned twice to check that Sirius wasn’t trying to snoop. It seemed unfair to calling it snooping when it was his own house. Investigating mischief, more like. Sirius felt a pang of guilt at how his mother must have felt throughout his childhood, hearing strange noises and being blocked from parts of her own house. He’d have to apologise for that later – she’d probably appreciate it.
The kitchen was empty when they entered, but while James was preparing tea, people slowly began entering. Moody, Arthur and Molly, Doge, Diggle, Emmy Vance and Dung Fletcher.
‘Strange gathering we have here!’ Sirius said cheerfully, toning down his empty look so he seemed mostly normal again. ‘What’s the occasion?’
Eyes darted nervously all over the room, as if nobody wanted to be the one to speak up first.
Albus Dumbledore strolled into the kitchen before anyone had to speak. ‘Ah, Sirius! Lovely to see you up and about! How are you faring? I’d imagine this house might be challenging to live in, but I hope you are managing to heal despite it?’
Sirius’ gaze slid to empty and uncanny. ‘I’m feeling fine, Albus.’ He smiled, but his eyes looked dead. ‘Some bad memories here, I think. Can’t quite grab a hold of them, though. Not sure what the problem is. Been a bit foggy.’
Nobody seemed to notice his obvious shift from ‘bright and smiling’ to ‘uncanny and haunted’. Ignorant schmucks.
Mind you, he had been playing up his instability. He didn’t want to be dragged back into anything while he was trying to work out what to do next.
‘Ah yes, my boy. That’s to be expected, I’m sure, after your ordeal.’
The ordeal you orchestrated, you two-faced old bastard! Sirius thought viciously, but kept it buried deep and his face blank.
‘Right. With the… with… um. That elf.’ He stumbled. James and Lily looked pained as they avoided his eye. Really, this was almost too easy.
‘Kreacher? Has he been giving you trouble, my boy?’ Albus asked, a hint of condescending pity in his voice.
Fucking pity. Sirius hated it.
‘What? Kreacher – no, he’s a good boy. Tucked me into bed last night.’
More awkward fidgeting, expressions practically shouting ‘SIRIUS IS CRAZY!’
Sirius smiled, almost a true smile. It was a little difficult to hold back just how amusing this all was. ‘Do you all know him too? Lovely fellow.’
‘I’m sure he is.’ Dumbledore said placatingly. He glanced at James, some sort of look that Sirius thought might mean ‘Threaten that elf not to kill Sirius – he might be insane but we need him.’
Sirius was quite good at picking up unspoken meanings.
‘I think Albus meant your ordeal in Azkaban, Siri.’ Lily said, voice gentle and overly sweet.
Sirius shuddered. ‘I don’t want to go back today. Can’t it wait?’
Lily gave him a pitying look. ‘You don’t have to go back at all, Siri. You can stay here. Nobody is taking you back there.’
‘But what about my calendar?’ Sirius asked sadly.
‘Er, we can buy a new one?’ James said questioningly. ‘I didn’t think you’d be allowed to have a calendar in prison?’
‘I made it.’ Sirius said proudly. ‘With my blood.’
Various expression of horror ran around the room, before being smothered into blankness – or at least as close to blank as these idiots could hope for.
‘That’s – er… yes. Shall we be getting on, then? Sirius, I’m afraid we have to leave again, this was only a quick visit. Don’t go downstairs, alright? Er, there’s a boggart down there. I don’t think you’ll be strong enough to fight it right now, alright mate? Stay up in your room where it’s safe. Okay, Siri?’ James said, in that same sickeningly sweet voice as Lily.
Sirius nodded, eyes wide and fearful. ‘It might turn into a dementor.’ he shuddered, and a few people winced in pity.
More fucking pity – at least this time he was aiming for it.
‘That’s right, there could be a dementor down there. Don’t go downstairs, Siri. Stay up in your room as much as possible.’
Sirius watched with just a dash of his uncanny expression as everyone left, almost as quickly as they had arrived.
He waited a long time, just in case, drinking two cups of tea and watching the sky for a while from the kitchen window, before he moved.
Time to see what the ‘boggart’ really was.
***
‘He was there, my Lord, but they got away before we could get to him. I caught a glimpse, but it wasn’t safe to try to cast anything at them – I didn’t want to hurt him.’ Carrick’s voice sounded almost close to tears.
Tom laid a steadying hand on his shoulder. ‘It’s alright. We are on the right track at least, and we have seen that he is alive and in their custody. You did well not to risk Harry’s safety, as galling as it must have been to watch him slip away. Do not dwell. We will keep going until we have him back.’
Carrick nodded, visibly pulling himself together. ‘Yes, my Lord.’