Realisations
Sirius’ POV
Trying not to fall over in a fit of laughter, Sirius can’t help but laugh at the situation in front of him. Kreacher, his horrible family house elf, had just run smack into Hermione while he was holding a stack of dishes. Just as he is about to get control of his laughter, Harry enters the kitchen at a run, obviously worried about Hermione. Harry sees that Hermione and Sirius are in a fit of laughter and that Kreacher is buried in a pile of broken and unbroken plates. Kreacher is muttering and grumbling under his breath about blood traitors and mudbloods and filth and all Harry does is join his godfather and best friend in laughing at the poor creature.
“What happened here?” Harry asks through the group's laughter.
“Kreacher was mad about Hermione living here, and tried to put the dishes away and didn’t see that she was standing right there and ran into her.” Sirius was laughing so hard every word was garbled.
“I’m okay, and I think Kreacher is too, he is just more offended than anything about me being here and getting in his way.” Hermione's voice was trembling with laughter.
“Stupid, filthy, mudblood! Look what you’ve done, you have destroyed the kitchen,” Kreacher grumbles loudly as he pushes himself out of the pile of rubble.
“You will not say such words to her ever again Kreacher, you wretched creature, clean this mess up and then leave.” Sirius glares at the house elf, anger in his eyes. How dare that stupid creature insult Hermione, she is the smartest witch of her age, he would have to have a very long talk with the house elf later, when Harry and Hermione weren’t around. It was time he took over some more control of the Black family, its heirlooms, artefacts, and the house elves still loyal to them.
“Yes, Master Black,” Kreacher sneers as he begins cleaning up, grumbling under his breath the whole time, occasionally glaring at them as they sit at the kitchen table.
“What room would you like to start searching in?” Hermione questions the group. “I’m excited to see what we can learn here.”
“Why don’t we start in the basement, that is where a lot of the more prized artefacts will be stored. My family only brought them out when we had more notable guests over.” Sirius sighs, not looking forward to any mishaps that may happen. He would have to warn both Harry and Hermione of the dangers that they may face. He just wasn’t sure how to even start, and before he could get another word out, Hermione proved how excited she was to explore his family home.
“That sounds great! Let’s start right after breakfast!” Hermione couldn’t hide her excitement.
“Sirius, are you sure you are okay with us rummaging through the house?” Harry asks, “I don’t want to come across any dark artefacts and be unprepared,” he adds, obviously sensing Sirius’ hesitation.
“It’s fine, but if you feel any dark magic please tell me so that I can properly deal with whatever it is. Remember my family was very anti-muggle and half-bloods, there may be artefacts here that will try and get you to touch them. Whatever you do, don’t think they can’t and won’t be a trap, and most of them could hurt you severely.” Sirius’ voice is full of worry as he looks between the two teenagers across the table from him.
“Is there a way we could ensure there are no dark artefacts?” Harry was looking very nervous suddenly.
“Well we could call the Aurors, but considering I haven’t been cleared, and am still technically a fugitive, that wouldn’t go over so well,” he says teasingly to his godson.
“SIRIUS, please, don’t joke about that, I don’t know what I would do if I was to lose you again.” Harry drops to his knees, tears running down his face suddenly.
“I… I… I am so sorry Harry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I am not going anywhere, I promise.” He sits down beside Harry, wrapping his arms around him, hoping to comfort the boy he loves so deeply. This made him realise just how important his potion was. He needed to get working on it – he was just waiting to hear from Dumbledore about Mundungus.
“It’s okay,” Harry stutters. “I just can’t lose you. You're the only guardian that has truly treated me like I’m my own person.”
Sirius sighs and closes his eyes, his mind taking him back to when Harry was just a wee baby, not long after James and Lily had asked him to be his godfather.
“Sirius, you need to protect the boy at all costs if something happens to us. We can’t let Dumbledore control his life.” James had said to him, Harry cradled in his arms, sound asleep.
“I will do my very best, but you aren’t going anywhere James, I’m just meant to be the fun uncle, buy him his first broom, take him to the pub his first time, and spoil him rotten with all the Black inheritance I will soon be left with.” Sirius teased back, knowing this was very important to James. The war was upon them, and nobody was safe.
“We know that, and we will all try our best to stay alive, but you need to promise me, Sirius, take care of my boy.” Lily’s sweet voice said coming from the hallway.
“I promise, Lily, I will do everything I can to protect him.” Sirius takes his words very seriously. He’d even take an unbreakable vow if they had asked.
“Thank you, now let’s get this little one into bed, the rest of the Order will be here shortly,” Lily said as she picked Harry up out of James’ arms and placed him into his crib. She then walked out of the room and headed down the stairs leaving the boys behind staring at her son.
“Do I really need to attend? I’d rather just stay here and hold our son.” James sighed, already missing the feel of his son in his arms.
“Of course you do, James, you’re one of the best members.” Sirius laughed, even though he would rather stay in the room and admire his godson some more.
“Well let’s get this over with then, and then we can take Harry out, and maybe find him his first broom.” James sighed and reluctantly agreed to head down for the meeting.
“JAMES POTTER, YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING” Lily’s voice echoed throughout the house.
“How in the world did she hear us, she's downstairs already?” Sirius questioned quietly.
“I do not know, but we best go before she comes up here and drags us both out by our ears.” James laughed, not questioning his wifes abilities.
Harry’s voice brought Sirius back to the future, “Sirius, are you okay? You kind of zoned out there a bit.” His voice was full of concern.
“Yes, yes I’m okay, my mind just took me back in time to a promise I made many years ago, and this time I intend to make sure nothing can stop me from keeping it” he says, his thoughts now on how he could free himself, and make sure he never left Harry alone again.
“Why don’t we hold off on looking around the house for a few days, maybe we could get someone in the Order to do a once over, or even bring in an Auror. Sirius, you could just turn into Snuffles and they wouldn't know any better,” Hermione mentions.
“That is an excellent idea. I’m going to go and floo the Weasleys right away,” Sirius replies as he walks towards the front room.
Harry’s POV
Harry was once again left alone with Hermione, only this time he had something he really wanted to talk to her about, he just hoped that she wouldn’t freak out. “Hermione, can we talk about something a little more serious?” he asks her nervously.
“Of course we can,” she replies, a look of worry crossing her face.
“Let’s go back up to my room, I don’t want anyone walking in on us. Especially any of the Weasleys,” Harry says, as he starts heading towards the stairs.
“Now you’ve got me nervous, what do you want to talk about that you wouldn’t want them knowing about?” A small tremor is present in her voice as she questions him.
“It’s about you and I, and I guess that means it is also about Ron, that is why I don’t want them hearing, at least not yet,” Harry replies, even more anxious now as he climbs up the stairs and walks into his room, Hermione following him.
“Oh, should I silence the room? To make sure nobody accidentally overhears us?” Hermione asks, placing a silencing charm on the room as Harry nods his head to her question. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
Sitting down on his bed he sighed deeply, not sure where to start. “Well, to start off, I want to be completely honest with you, and I need to tell you who I trust and don’t trust, for anything else to really make any sense.” His voice shaky as he continues, “I really don’t trust Dumbledore, I don’t understand why I don’t, but there is something deep inside of me telling me not to. I also don’t entirely trust the Weasleys. I know they are good people, but I think they will blindly follow Dumbledore and that isn’t okay either.” He pauses and sighs even deeper than before, worrying about what Hermione would think of his next sentence, “I trust Ron the least,” He blurts out quickly.
Hermione sat down beside him on his bed, “I also don’t trust Dumbledore, he has put your life at risk too many times, allowing you to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, bringing the Philosopher's Stone into the school. I also agree that the Weasleys, especially Molly, will blindly follow him, even to her own demise. The only thing I will ask is, why Ron? What makes you trust him the least?” Her response calms him, knowing that she is generally on the same page as him.
“I’m glad we agree about Dumbledore and Molly,” Harry starts off. He wasn’t really sure how to explain his distrust of Ron to her, they had been best friends for three years now, this could change so much. “I don’t trust Ron, because he is fame hungry, he is quick to react, and he doesn’t think things through before he makes rash decisions. With war upon us, that is something that can get a person killed – of course I don’t want that for him, but more so I don’t want that for you, or for me.”
“I don’t think Ron would purposefully hurt us, but I will admit that he can overreact, and that can cause trouble if we aren’t careful. I still trust him, but he may not be the best ally at the end when things get tough. He will fight for his family, but if any of them die, or get hurt, I don’t think he will see reason. He will only see red.” Hermione’s words spoke volumes to Harry.
“I guess we can just be careful, know he may end up being more of a risk than a help, and be ready to move forward without him if we need to.” Harry could only hope that she would agree with him.
“Agreed, I think we need to be careful with everyone, don’t tell people things unless they absolutely need to know, at least until we can find out who is trustworthy and truly on the right side, the side of equality not light versus dark.” Hermione states calmly.
“Are you saying you are more grey – than Light or Dark?” He asks her, surprised at her last statement.
“I’m saying that there are more than two sides, and in most wars, neither side is completely in the right or the wrong.” Hermione finishes, grabbing her friend's hand and giving it a small squeeze. “We both know that even the light side has its wrong doings.”
“You are right, and I think we need a good mix of Light and Dark to keep things balanced, both the Dark Lord, and Dumbledore are equally bad for the wizarding world. They both want the removal of an entire group of people, and that isn’t fair. One treats Muggles, Muggleborns and Halfbloods like dirt – the other treats Purebloods like dirt, neither option is right.” Harry’s voice trembled with anger, at both the men he mentioned. How could Dumbledore think he was in the right, when he was acting just as prejudiced as Voldemort? After a few minutes of silence went by, he could hear Sirius calling out to them both. Hermione must have heard it as well because she quickly removes the silencing spell and moves away from him, no longer holding his hand. Harry gets up and opens the door before sitting back down, “We’re up here, Sirius” he calls out to his godfather, and seconds later Sirius appears in his doorway.
“Hey, so I talked to Arthur and he is going to arrange for some Aurors to come and give the house a complete once over before we officially open it back up to Order meetings. Dumbledore insists on being here for it, in case he needs to intervene, he also thinks it would be best if the two of you go to the Burrow during the inspection, in case there are dark artefacts. I happen to agree that you shouldn’t be here, and the Burrow is the next safest option.” Sirius informs the two teens, who look suspicious while seated on Harry’s bed.
“I guess that will have to be the plan, where are you going to be? Here or at the Burrow too?” Harry questions him, worried about him getting caught and taken away again.
“I’m going to be coming to the Burrow, but I will have a spy watching their every move. A surprise guest is returning tomorrow, someone I am sure you will both be excited to see.” Sirius was laughing as he shares this with the teens.
“Who? You wouldn’t trust anyone to stay here and keep an eye on things.” Harry asks, curious who this new guest was.
“You’ve both met him, and I was very close to him, up until my stay in Azkaban, he also helped save me when I finally was able to escape.” Sirius states.
“It’s Professor Lupin!” Hermine shouts in excitement. “I thought he wasn’t around anymore after the whole werewolf at Hogwarts incident,” she adds, calming down a bit.
“Well I can’t get anything past you, can I Hermione?” Sirius laughs.
“So it is Professor Lupin then?” Harry asks, his thoughts going to the pictures of his mom, dad, Sirius and the professor. Of course Sirius would trust him, they were best friends, they all were, until Pettigrew betrayed them all.
“Remus will be here shortly, though nobody but us knows that he will be here. It’s going to be a startling surprise for Dumbledore, he thinks Remus is still off doing his bidding.” Sirius says with some anger in his voice.
“What was he doing for Dumbledore?” Harry asks.
“I can’t say, only Remus knows. I do know that he wasn’t safe though, and was glad for a reason to come home. He will be living with us from now on, he trusts us to help him through his transitions each month, and if you two would like, we can train you both to be animagus.” Sirius grins brightly, excited for the future with them.
Just as Harry was about to get up and give his godfather a hug, the doorbell rang, and all three of them got up and went to answer it, excited to see Remus.