Sirius part 2
Sirius Black was in something like a wind tunnel. If the wind tunnel was tinier than the inside of muggle wiring, the wind was the magic of a hundred generations, and he, Sirius Black was smaller than a speck of dust and made of well, light. Or darkness. Some of that incorporeal shit, anyway. He was tumbled about relentlessly, magic shooting past him and around him and through him. He formed his magic into a kind of lash and reached out and struck into a channel of magic that shot through Hogwarts like bolts of black lightning. And Merlin, he could have wept, because the dark river carried him along, enveloped him, and felt like warming by a homefire.
Grandfather? Sirius asked, relaxing into the current.
Child. Sirius. What Have You Done? Grandfather Ward’s tone was warm and rich as he bolted them along faster than thought. You Were Nearly In Pieces.
None of us are exactly corporeal, here. Sirius murmured, unable to resist the lull of peace surrounding him. Is it okay if I…
You May Rest, Child, But I Dare Not Let You Sleep. You Feel Too Much Like Us, Child. I Fear You Would Be Absorbed. And While I Would Enjoy The Presence of Kin, You Are Needed Without. At Least, You Feel Mostly of Kin. Why Do You Stink of Dumbledore?
Please, please, don’t kick me out. Sirius felt like an exhausted child in desperate need of a snack, blanket, and a nap. That keeps happening for one reason or another. I’m not Dumbledore. I’m Sirius Black. I belong here.
Naturally You Do! Do Not Insult Me. Kin Knows Kin. You Are Sirius Black. You Are Mine. This Does Not Mean You Should Not Bathe.
Sirius laughed. Maybe. It was more like filling up with hilarity and hilarity somehow spilling out, but it was hard to laugh without. Well. A body. I tricked Lady Hogwarts to let me in. She thought I was the Headmaster long enough to get me into the wards, but I got stuck here, lost. I couldn’t get back out.
Ah, Poor Lady, Grandfather sighed. The black lightning struck through sickly looking magic, shattering some, strengthening others and Sirius was pulled along in the undertow. Alas. I fear Dumbledore is lost to madness at last. He drained himself of nearly half his blood to overtake the wards from us. Poor deluded fool. Our blood has been replenishing the warding of the wizarding world for eons before his birth. Does he really think so puny an infusion would cause anything more than momentary confusion?
It’s been a few hours, Grandad. I imagine time feels different when you’re immortal living magic, but that’s way too long to not hear from Harry.
Harry, Grandfather Ward hummed with worry. Yes. Kin Knows Kin. Harry is Ours. And He is In Danger.
Grandad, Sirius found strength somewhere in his…self. We must get to him.
I Had Hoped It Would Not Come to This. Grandad Ward sighed. I Hoped Not To Reveal Our Shame. But Kin Matters Most. Even He Would Agree.
I…what?! Sirius asked.
I Despise Having To Call Upon Your Strength When You Are So Weary, My Child. Grandfather ward said. But I Need The Full Strengh of Your Mind. Focus On The Blood You Have Shared With Harry. Focus On Our Child. Our Kin. Our Love and Hope and Pride in Him. Focus With All Your Being, Sirius Black. Focus On Nothing Else.
Sirius obeyed and felt the river of crackling dark magic spear to the very heart of Hogwarts Herself.
He was skimming across the walls, running in endless loops and twists and waves to encircle an enormous chamber. And from the ceiling of that chamber a platform was descending, spinning slowly as it lowered toward the floor of the enormous cavern. Two figures stood on the platform, holding and steadying each other. To his utter relief, it was Harry and Tom.
Where the fuck is Dumbledore? He asked, spinning upward and into the tunnel from which the boys descended, but it was empty, so he arced his way back down.
His Blood Receedes. Grandad Wards said tersely.
Sound bloody ominous. Sirius said and then broke into that weird body-less laughter at his own ridiculous joke.
Focus, Child. Protect Harry-Kin.
The world came into silent, slow, crystalline clarity. Sirius could see every line of Harry’s face. Every freckle. Every lash. He could hear his boy’s heartbeat, his breath, and yet, strangely, he could not hear a word that he or Tom said. As they fucking jumped off the platform.
Sirius threw all the protection, love, cushioning, softening, luck - (luck? Since when the hell could he wield luck?) and the boys landed safely. Before Sirius could take a breath in relief, a statue was chopping of the end of a dragon’s tail - Sirius had honestly not noticed the dragon for throwing every possible protection and boost to the boys as they floated back up the way they had come - honestly, what were they doing here? He would dock Tom’s pay if he actually paid the kid.
Crap. He should be paying the kid for all the…well, everything, right?
Sirius could do nothing against the dragon tail that slapped his boys from the sky, but he threw protections out that kept them from the boulders. He still couldn’t actually hear what was being said, but he felt the emotions shift in the room as Harry - brave, mad Harry - seemed to talk the dragon around (sidenote: what the fuck?) and then heal the dragon (see previous sidenote) and then bow to the dragon and speak to it in a very un-Harry-like way.
Sirius threw a splash of awareness and skepticism at his kid, but Harry almost seemed to be in a trance. Grandad, what the fuck are you doing to my kid?
I Am Not Forcing Him To Do Anything. I Merely Gave Him The Words.
Take back the fuckin’ words he’s…crap, he’s…Sirius threw a wave of comfort and protection over the kid who was crouched on the ground shaking and then turned into a tiny dragon before Sirius’ eyes.
That. Sirius thought numbly. Is the cutest thing I have ever seen. Also. What the fuck?
He Would Always Have Been A Creature. Grandad Wards said soothingly as the dragon turned into a good looking, familiar feeling guy and Tom, bless him, knelt and scooped up the baby dragon Harry and seemed to be threatening Mr. Cool in the leather coat. There Was Inheritance In His Blood, Even Before Your Blood Adoption. And Now, With Our Blood In His Veins, His Deep Compassion, And The Dragon Blood and Scent He Took On Willingly, Our Line Will Have Dragons Upon Dragons For Another Thousand Years.
Sirius was barely listening. Harry was snuggling into Tom’s shirt, so all seemed pretty right with the world for the Koala Kid. I need out of these wards, Grandad. I need to get to my kid.
Yes, I Know. But He Is Safe and Well. Others of Our Blood Are Not. We Must Leave Him For A Time. All Will Be Well With Him, Now.
What? We can’t leave him as a baby dragon with Mr. Gothic Rock Jacket Dragon Guy!
You Approve of The Coat? Grandfather Ward sounded weirdly smug. It Matters Not, Child. Harry Will Be Safe With The Dragon Man. I Swear This To You. Reach Out And Feel His Heart.
Grandad, I don’t know what the fuck that means.
It Is Not About Knowledge, It Is Feeling. Reach.
And Sirius did. He brushed past Tom’s concern and panic and determination. Spend a little longer revelling in Harry-Dragon’s feelings of weary and joyous and contented. He moved forward to the Dragon Man and felt himself knocked back.
He could have sworn the dragon man looked him in the eye (side note, what eye?) and smiled. Sirius felt shaken down to his noncorporeal toes. This man radiated power. Which should not have been surprising when considering he had been a dragon the size of a city park a few seconds ago. But Merlin and Morgana, the dark power rolling off of this bloke could have knocked Sirius clean out of Europe. But instead, it drew him in, warmed him up, soaked into him like a rich dark river of lightning. And bloody hell was it familiar.
Grandad, Sirius whispered. When the hell did you get a body?
All Will Be Explained, Grandad Wards assured him, even as the other Grandad gave a slight bow with a reassuring smile on his face. I Was Not Expecting Orion Should Be Awakened. Well Met. Grandfather sent a wave of greeting and warmth to the other…him???
A small deep echo. Well Met, Wards Oberon. You Are Stronger Than When Last We Spoke.
We Cannot Linger. Grandad Ward spoke. Protect The Young. Later, We Will Speak For Days On What Has Past.
Of Course I Shall Protect the Young. Orion Black? Scoffed. That Is The Purpose I Built Into You.
I Thought It A Fair Reminder, Old Man. You Have Slept So Long Your Brain May Have Addled. Come, Sirius.
Sirius was hauled away in the undertow of …one of?...his grandfather(s) power, without able to do more than send the emotional equivalent of a wave back toward the cool-jacketed dragon man.
Sirius got a vague sense of what was happening from the ceiling. The Hogwarts’ dungeons were rather cozy, he thought. A little run-down considering students were housed just a few steps away. But he figured the slow dripping sounds and ghostly chills were part of the ambiance. At least until the chill manifested into two tall skinny boys in Slytherin green, one of whom was pinning Draco's arms back, the other of whom had a wand to Draco Malfoy’s throat.
“Honestly, Timmons, can you take the day off?” Draco, Merlin love him, sounded more tired than afraid, though he certainly was that, considering the significantly older boys were jabbing him deeply in the skin of his neck with a wand and the other’s long fingernails were digging into Draco’s arm. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“Say you didn’t live with Dumbledore’s pets all summer. Tell me you’re still a true Death Eater.”
Draco shivered a little, but he spoke. “I was never a Death Eater. I thought it looked fun. I had a smart mouth and a stupid idea of what it meant to be superior. And then I lived with them. I’m bloody grateful not to have done anything with them or for them. I’m so happy not to have that fucking tattoo.”
I need a fucking body. Sirius yelled at Grandad.
So Take It. Grandad sounded torn between annoyed and amused as the boys began to yank at Draco’s arms, hissing in his face. Power began to rumble through the wards and Sirius realized it was responding to both Grandad’s anger and how own. These Are YOUR Wards, Sirius Black. You Are the Lord of All Dark Magic. These Wards Were Laid By The Blood of Your Ancestors. This Boy Is Threatened. He Is A Child. He Is Of Your Blood. Do Not Ask ME For Your BODY. TAKE. IT, BACK.
“Tell me you haven’t turned to the fucking light, Draco!”
Sirius let out a scream of frustration…and fell out of the ceiling.
Okay, it was a little cooler than that. He turned into a billowing sort of fog, filling up the corridor, solidified into a terrifying hooded figure. And then fell to his knees because, damn. Bodies were weird, now.
Fortunately, Slytherins were not known for their courage. And they had an appreciation for style. Because a guy manifesting from sheer fog, no matter how clumsy, did tend to make an impression. They stood frozen and staring as Sirius rose slowly to his feet.
“Draco’s a dark wizard,” Sirius said, voice hoarse. Because apparently, it took a few minutes for vocal folds to fold back together properly. “And he’s my kin. Best leave him alone, boys. Because my blood runs in the fuckin’ walls.”
The boys, understandably, screamed like mandrakes and fled.
Draco shivered a little, took a careful look at Sirius’ face, wrapped a cautious arm around his waist and then, mercifully, blessedly, cast a warming charm on him.
“S-Sirius,” Draco said and the boy gave up his dignified air and buried his face in his shoulder. “I need a little clarification, please. When you’ve a moment. I understand you’re very, very cold right now…”
“I don’t fuckin’ understand it.” Sirius mumbled, hugging the child tightly, teeth chattering a little. “‘The ancient warm fires of our dark magic’ seem to be bullshit. I happen to know these wards run on literal dragon blood. How the hell is ward surfing so cold?”
“I…there’s a lot to sort through, there,” Draco said. “First off, thank you. Secondly, is my father a bird? Third, I think Ron Weasley may have run off after Harry and I find myself concerned about both of them. Must be a disease I picked up from staying with you. Probably infected by the blood in your fucking walls - how do you come up with these things?” Draco mused.
“I…okay, kiddo. I…um…I’m gonna need you to cast a patronus to Remus, please. Let him know I’m out of the wards, I saw Harry and he’s okay for now, but I’m just about wrung out for now and not of much use. Then I’ll answer your questions.”
Draco stared at him for a moment and then obeyed.
“Ron said he was heading for Moaning Myrtles Bathroom with Snape. Suppose we could head that direction. Sounds delightful.” Draco kept close to Sirius, sharing body heat and more wordless warming charms.
“You’re a bloody prince, Draco,” Sirius sighed. “And as far as your questions go, you’re welcome. We’re family. Of course I’ll help you however I can. That’s not even a question. Lastly, I’m glad you’re concerned about Harry and Ron. And yes, it might be catching. Much like Koala fever.” Sirius couldn’t help grinning.
“Oh, is that what you people are always raving about?” Draco sighed, shifting some of Sirius’ weight onto his own shoulders. “You may very well have just saved my life. You’re nearly frozen to the touch and you can barely stagger. Of course, I’m helping you along and trying to help you warm up. It does not mean I’ve joined the dread Cult of the Koala.”
Sirius laughed softly, patting his nephew? Cousin’s shoulder. “Keep believing that all you like, Mr. Malfoy. Sooner or later, the Koala comes for us all. And sometimes,” he added as an afterthought. “It turns into a baby dragon.”
“There, there, sir. I’m sure delirium is very common when you go incorporeal for a time. I’m sure it’s not symptomatic of any larger issue.” Draco sighed. “You know what, fuck this.” He muttered. “Dobby!”
“Old Master Draco!” The funny little house elf beamed up at the boy and then frowned. “Dobby does not works for you any longer. Dobby does not answers to you. Dobby answers to Headmaster Dumblydoor.”
“For Heaven’s sake, Dobby, I’m not trying to entrap you back into working for us. I was just wondering if I might have a blanket and a cocoa for Mr. Shivryous Black, here.”
Dobby stared at him for a long moment before snapping his fingers, and both of them were wrapped in blankets and had tall mugs of hot chocolate in their hands.
“Thank you, Dobby, you’re lovely. Good to see you.” Draco began to move on.
Dobby slowly trailed after them, muttering to himself.
“Alright there, Dobbs?” Draco asked, with such gentle warmth that Sirius could have cried. Surfing the wards did tend to amp up his emotions.
“Dobby is confused, Old Master Draco.” Dobby admitted in his high, lovely voice. “Dobby is glad to help Old Master Draco and his kin Lord Sirius Black. And if Old Master Draco had seen Dobby in the Hall or come to the kitchen and asked something of Dobby…but Old Master Draco summoned Dobby. It should not be possible unless…” Dobby footsteps stopped behind them and Sirius and Draco turned in their huddle to look at a wide-eyed Dobby. “It was in Dobby’s contract.” Dobby whispered. “Studentses will be able to summon house elves…if the Headmaster is dead.”
“Fascinating,” Sirius said before Draco could speak. “Dobby, this may just be some sort of strange fluke because you’re the only free elf at Hogwarts, as far as I know? Or it might be something more sinister. Do you have any way of finding the Headmaster?”
Dobby shook his head until his ears flapped. “Headmaster has many secret ways about the castle where House Elves are not permitted.”
“Then unless you are ordered to do something, I wouldn’t worry about it. And if you’re interested in coming to work for me full time, I’ll be glad to re-negotiate your salary. And pay you very well, Dobby. Just so we’re clear.”
Dobby bowed to them both, snapped his fingers, and was gone.
“One of you lot has killed the Headmaster, haven’t you?” Draco breathed.
“I have absolutely no information to share with you about that. Come on, kid. Let’s pick up the pace. I find I really, really want to go to the bathroom.”