“This is perfect really.”
September 1
Harry, who knew clear down to his bones the moment he saw the broken glass from his mirror coating the bottom of his backpack, had been expecting Sirius to arrive at some point. It seemed inevitable, really, since Sirius liked dramatically showing up places he shouldn’t…
Like Privet Drive the night Harry first ran away…
Or the boys dorm on Halloween…
The Shrieking Shack…
Little Whining again, that time on Buckbeak…
The point was, Sirius was dramatic and not entirely mentally stable and Harry just assumed he would show up at some point.
What Harry didn’t expect was for Sam to let Sirius in, followed by Professor Dumbledore himself. It took Harry a delayed second to even realize that it was Professor Dumbledore, as startled as he was by seeing him outside of Hogwarts, in nearly normal muggle clothes, and with Harry’s owl on his shoulder.
“Son of a bitch.” Dean swore quietly and stood up so quickly he upended his bottle of beer that spilled on the floor to nobody’s notice. Harry stood up too, more slowly, and was blinking at Professor Dumbledore in utter shock when his vision was suddenly filled with a very excited godfather.
“HARRY!” Sirius grabbed Harry in a hug, leaving Harry to face the others while he winced as Sirius pressed hard against the half-finished tattoo Sam had given him.
Harry had seen it in the mirror, but it was more obvious in person. Sirius looked better, loads better. There was color to his face, his hair was shining and cut to still be long, but not the stringy and tangled mess it had been. There was even a merry light in Sirius’s eyes when he pulled away to smile at Harry.
“You quit answering my calls!” Sirius said, very characteristically ignoring the tension building in the room between Harry’s brothers and Harry’s… ex-headmaster?
That was odd. Best for Harry to take Sirius’s lead and focus on him instead.
“My mirror broke,” Harry said, mentally crossing his fingers that it could be repaired. It had been a blow to find it broken when Bobby helped Harry find his bag, but as all of Harry’s photos were fine, his wand was fine, and his cloak was safe… it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
Plus, Bobby said he had an extra bookcase in his garage that Harry was welcome to put in his bedroom so he didn’t have to take all his most important belongings with him everywhere he went.
“It broke?!” Sirius sounded so devastated for a second that Harry’s heart sank. Maybe it couldn’t be fixed?
Or maybe Sirius was just dramatic.
“I knew something was wrong!” Sirius’s fingers clenched on Harry’s shoulders almost too tightly, and he threw his head back with a groan. “You have to invest in spellotape until you’re of age, Pup! Your dad, James, had to tape his together all the time over the summers!”
“I’ll go get it so you can fix it!” Harry said eagerly, having followed Sirius’s lead a bit too much. It wasn’t until Harry actually lifted his foot to go get his mirror that he remembered the Headmaster in the room.
And Hedwig, who did not look thrilled with Harry as she rested on Professor Dumbledore’s shoulder.
“Oh. Er… Professor Dumbledore, what a - surprise,” Harry said haltingly, thrown off by his presence.
There was nothing inherently wrong with it, necessarily. Professor Dumbledore, standing in the living room of the house - the home - Harry shared with his brothers. In the United States. On the first of September. When he was meant to be at a sorting feast. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Professor Dumbledore smiling politely at Harry’s brothers, who had yet to say anything after Dean swore.
Except it was very strange, very wrong.
“Harry, delightful to see you,” Professor Dumbledore said politely. His eyes glanced down at Harry’s chest, causing Harry to look down as well. “I believe you’re oozing.”
“Er… that’s a tattoo,” Harry said, unsure how real the moment was that he was explaining the black ink staining through his light grey shirt.
“A tattoo?!” Sirius managed to sound even more excited than he had been before. “Let me see!”
“Maybe later?” Harry said, entirely aware by then that Professor Dumbledore was standing there and Harry wasn’t going to take his shirt off where he could see. “Sam, Dean, this is Sirius. And… er… this is Professor Dumbledore.”
Professor Dumbledore seemed to have been waiting for the introduction because his smile grew until he was positively beaming while he offered first Sam, then Dean, his hand.
“Hello, it is wonderful to meet you both,” he said cheerily, not bothered at all by Dean’s frosty scowl. “I do apologize for dropping in on you at such a time, I would have been here sooner but Sirius and I got caught up on an errand.”
‘Seriously?’ Dean mouthed incredulously when Harry caught his eye. Harry had to duck his head to keep from laughing. Professor Dumbledore was eccentric, but Harry liked him even if he was confused by his presence.
“Isn’t it like three am in most of England?” Sam asked.
“Ah,” Dumbledore smiled at Sam and touched a finger to the side of his nose, “but I came from Scotland.”
Sam blinked. “Isn’t it like —”
“Er… no offense,” Harry started, “but why are you here, sir? Did Professor McGonagall not get my letter?”
Because, while it had been a difficult decision, Harry did make the decision.
Harry loved magic and he liked being a wizard.
Just not as much as Harry loved his brothers and liked being a Winchester.
“She did! Just as the feast was beginning!” Professor Dumbledore said, smiling like Harry had asked a great question. “Perhaps we could sit and discuss your withdrawal from Hogwarts for a moment? I promise to not impose on your brotherly evening much longer.”
“Oh. Sorry.” Harry scrambled to clear away dishes and drinks so that Professor Dumbledore could sit somewhere. If Harry hadn’t been so shocked, he probably would have offered a seat to start with.
Sam gathered the plates from Harry and his laptop and moved them all to the kitchen, leaving the seats cleared away. When Dean opted to continue standing by his recliner instead of sitting, Harry awkwardly offered the sofa to Professor Dumbledore.
Professor Dumbledore didn’t seem to think that Dean was acting suspiciously or rudely at all. He only continued to smile and thanked Harry before sitting down. Hedwig immediately launched herself from his shoulder to Harry’s, only pausing long enough to cuff Sirius in the head on her way across the room.
Sirius snorted and rubbed his head before plopping down beside Dumbledore and shooting Harry a wink. It might have been reassuring, if it came from anyone other than Sirius who - historically - caused a great many difficulties for Harry.
“You have a lovely home,” Professor Dumbledore said, his eyes shining when they lingered on the photo by the door. “I can see why you would prefer it to Hogwarts.”
Sam returned in time to catch that comment and he shook his head at where Harry and Dean stood, Harry trying to get his moody owl to be nice to him again, Dean with his arms crossed.
“You left Hogwarts?” Sam asked Harry, making a point to sit down. It wasn’t a great point, because Harry thought Sam looked as stressed as Dean, only in a different way.
“He did,” Dumbledore answered for Harry. “Except, I do apologize, Harry, but while you’re underage, you aren’t able to withdraw from school without the agreement of a guardian.”
“I’m his guardian,” Dean said without hesitation. “I’m his brother, I’m an adult. If he doesn’t want to go, he’s not going.”
“Actually, I’m his guardian,” Sirius piped up, beaming. “Godfather they knew about instead of brother they didn’t, you see?”
In any other situation, Harry would be sort of thrilled by having two people he cared about jump to claim him as family. Except when Dean and Sirius both looked at Harry then, he felt sweaty.
Was he meant to choose? Right to their faces?! Sirius would cry! And if Sirius cried then Harry would probably cry and then he’d feel terrible and Sirius might never speak to him again!
Harry looked fixedly at Hedwig and kept his mouth shut.
“I’ve got a freakin’—”
“Thankfully there is a simple fix to all this!” Dumbledore said, speaking over whatever (probably a threat) Dean had been muttering. “Sirius, do you consent to Harry withdrawing from Hogwarts?”
Sirius hesitated and Harry could feel his eyes on him. “Pup? You’re sure?”
Harry bit his lower lip and looked over at Sirius. The decision was much harder when Sirius was looking at him. Without Hogwarts, Harry never would have met his godfather, the first person in Harry’s memory to truly care for him. Without Sirius, Harry never world have known about his family, his brothers.
Sam had it right last week though, Harry made Hogwarts his home and his friends his family because, well, what else did he have? With a true home, a true family… Harry didn’t need the pretend home anymore and his friends would still be his friends.
“I’m sure,” Harry told Sirius softly, understanding exactly what he was giving up.
Sirius smiled, looking proud of Harry for some reason, then turned to Dumbledore, who was also still smiling.
“Then I consent,” Sirius said with a showy wave of his hand.
“Wonderful!” Professor Dumbledore, who Harry thought had shown up to convince him to return, looked genuinely pleased by Harry’s official withdrawal. “Now, Sirius, if Harry will be staying here, do you agree it would make more sense for his brother to hold the official guardianship of him?” Dumbledore patted Sirius’s knee kindly. “You would of course remain his godfather in the case that anything should happen to Mr Winchester.”
“Oh. Uh… that makes sense,” Sirius agreed, with obvious reluctance.
“Wonderful!” Dumbledore opened the purple suit jacket he wore and Harry thought he would pull a wand, but instead he pulled a piece of parchment and a quill from within. “Sirius, if you would sign here.”
“I…” Sirius made what Harry thought was genuinely a sad expression when Dumbledore handed him the quill.
Harry hated Sirius looking sad, it tugged hard in his chest and made him ache. Nobody else spoke, recognizing that it was a moment between Harry and Sirius.
“You think guardian is better than godfather?” Harry asked, forcing some teasing in his voice. Harry grinned and shook his head with mock disapproval. “I’m legally Dean’s problem now, Padfoot. I wouldn’t think a legality would bother a Marauder much.”
Sirius could have no title in relation to Harry and still be one of his most cared for people. Sirius offered Harry a home then, when that didn’t quite pan out, he didn’t just say ‘this is too complicated’ and give up on Harry.
Sure, Sirius had the worst advice when Harry called him, but Sirius always answered. Sirius always answered.
“You’re right.” Sirius returned Harry’s smile, but Harry could see he still seemed sad as he signed his name. “I’m being silly, of course your brother should hold guardianship. I mean, you’ll be living here, with him.”
Nobody commented on it, but Harry felt terrible when Sirius’s voice hitched at the end. If things were different… but they weren’t.
“Thank you.” Dumbledore was solemn when he accepted the parchment from Sirius. Harry moved closer to his godfather when he heard what was truly a heartbreaking sniffle when Sirius scrubbed his face. Harry only stood beside him and put a hand on his shoulder, but be hoped it meant something to Sirius.
“And which Mr Winchester will be signing for Harry?” Dumbledore asked Harry’s brothers.
Sam probably wouldn’t have fought him for it anyway, but Dean spoke up before he even could.
“I am,” Dean said firmly. He marched over to Dumbledore, took one look at the parchment offered to him, and thrust it at Sam. “Sammy’s a lawyer,” he said as an explanation.
“Pre-law,” Sam said sheepishly even though he immediately began reading it. “Who’s Petunia Evans?”
“Harry’s mother’s sister,” Dumbledore said pleasantly. “I thought it would be best to have any relative with claim on your brother to relinquish it, hence our late arrival.”
“You went back to Little Whining?” Harry asked Sirius when Sam nodded and continued reading.
“Padfoot did,” Sirius said with a sly grin. “I might have bit that oaf right in the arse.”
Harry laughed and, when Dean looked confused (had Harry told them about Sirius’s animagus form? He couldn’t remember) it only made Harry laugh harder with Sirius joining in. Even Professor Dumbledore seemed amused, but Percy had once said that Professor Dumbledore wasn’t entirely sane.
“What’s the part about a vault?” Sam asked suddenly. “We aren’t contesting it, I’d just like to understand it.”
“Geek,” Dean whispered.
“Ah, I thought it would be prudent to leave Harry’s bank vault within his own hands,” Dumbledore explained. “Unless Harry would prefer to leave the money his parents left him in your hands…?”
“No, that’s fine,” Dean said quickly. “Sam, everything else good?”
“Yeah.” Sam reached out to pass the parchment to Dean. “It’s a pretty standard custody form. It says we need a witness to have it recognized by —”
Dumbledore cleared his throat and beamed.
“But he’s clearly going to sign that,” Sam said, picking up the blatant hint as the rest of them did. “So you’re good, dude.”
“Sweet.” Dean put the parchment against the wall and signed his name with the quill. The instant he finished, he smirked at Harry. “Bed by eight p.m., Mister.”
Since that was a joke, Harry was sure, Harry flipped him off where Professor Dumbledore couldn’t see.
“And I shall sign my name. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore…”
“Brian, huh?” Dean asked sarcastically. “That’s different.”
Harry focused very hard on not laughing, sure it would be rude as Professor Dumbledore had just traveled quite a ways to do Harry a favor it seemed. Sam even had to bite his lip and duck his head, hiding a laugh behind his long hair.
“Isn’t it?” Professor Dumbledore either didn’t catch the joke or he was too used to it. “Though I do prefer it to Benjamin, my brother’s middle name. Now!” Dumbledore clapped his hands before Harry could process that the man had a brother.
“Harry,” Professor Dumbledore gave Harry a warm smile, “I would like to invite you to an exciting offer.”
Harry was instantly wary about anything Professor Dumbledore would find exciting.
“Sir?” he said politely.
“How would you like to be, ah, what did Minerva call it, Sirius? Yes, that’s it! Harry, how would you like to be the first remote student for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?”
Harry had no idea what that meant, admitted as much, and slowly became quite excited by the prospect.
Apparently, Professor Dumbledore had done Harry more than one favor that evening.
Professor Dumbledore stayed for another hour, discussing the role he had created, solely for Harry, it seemed.
Harry would still be a student at Hogwarts, just one who mostly worked from home. He already had the books, so once a month he would Portkey to Hogsmeade and meet with a Professor to go over the work he had done and get any answers to any questions or troubles he had.
“Would it be Professor McGonagall, sir?” Harry asked when they discussed that bit.
“Minerva? Goodness, no,” Dumbledore chuckled. “She’s much too busy running the school. No, no, I thought it would be best if I oversaw your education, Harry. Unless you would prefer, oh, let’s say Professor Snape?”
There was a teasing twinkle in Dumbledore’s eye, as if he knew good and well that Harry would not prefer that, and Harry was flattered as he shook his head.
“No, sir, I’d like to learn from you,” he said, meaning it.
Hermione would lose her mind with envy.
“You flatter me, Harry,” Dumbledore said humbly. “If it’s no bother to your brothers, we could set our first meeting a fortnight from now? I’m afraid I’ll be preoccupied at the end of the month with the tournament Hogwarts is hosting.”
While Harry was curious about a tournament, he was more interested in pleading with Dean. Dean didn’t look as sold as Harry was, but he didn’t understand that Dumbledore was offering Harry his place in the magical world along with giving him a place with his family.
“Dean? Do you mind?” he asked. “This - this is perfect, really. I can stay and I don’t have to give anything up.”
“It would be rude of me to not mention that there is a school of magic in the States,” Dumbledore added. “You’ll notice I didn’t immediately offer that as a solution because I am quite fond of Harry and am just arrogant enough to believe I could teach him a great deal more than they could.”
Dean didn’t even look at Dumbledore, he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and his gaze locked with Harry’s.
“This is what you want, kid? To be some sort of homeschooled wizard? You don’t wanna, hell, I don’t know, go to high school? Make friends?”
“I’ve got friends,” Harry shrugged. Harry very much wanted to still learn magic, especially from someone widely regarded as the greatest wizard alive, but it was still something Harry would give up if he had to.
There just wasn’t a good reason for him to do so.
“And what friends you have,” Dumbledore said while Dean was still debating the matter. “Minerva was accosted by Miss Granger and Mister Wesley before she could even place a hat on the first student’s head! Which reminds me,” Dumbledore opened his jacket and pulled out three letters that he passed to where Harry was perched on the armrest by Sirius. “Mister Weasley asked me to pass these along with your owl. Apparently she’s quite temperamental.”
To prove the point, Hedwig hooted in an offended way.
Harry didn’t recognize the handwriting on the third letter, though he suspected he knew who it would be from, and he thanked Professor Dumbledore as he tucked them away to read later.
“Sam or I could go with him to these meetings?” Dean asked Dumbledore when everyone looked to him for a decision.
“If you’d like,” Dumbledore said. “I had thought to hold them on Hogsmeade weekends, giving Harry a chance to socialize afterwards as friendships are so important, but as family there is nothing preventing you from joining Harry in Hogsmeade.”
Please, Harry begged his oldest brother silently. Please.
Dean rubbed his forehead and shared a look with Sam before he sighed heavily.
“Fine, whatever. If that’s what Harry wants.”
“Yes!” Harry and Sirius both jumped to their feet in celebration. Harry couldn’t believe his luck, really.
Sam wasn’t mad at Harry. Dean was his guardian. Harry would learn magic from Professor Dumbledore. And he would still see his friends every month!
It was everything Harry wanted, handed to him in one neat little package.
“Wonderful!” Dumbledore stood up and offered Dean his hand. “I thank you and give you my word to make Harry’s education a top priority for me.”
“Yeah, sure.” Dean shook his hand briefly and then went back to brooding with his arms crossed.
Dumbledore offered Sam a handshake as well, which Sam accepted with a bit more respect than Dean did, and then he turned to Harry.
“I’ll stop by MACUSA before I leave, to register you as an actively enrolled student and give you use of your wand,” Dumbledore explained. “It might be best to wait to use it until we meet, as this might take more cunning to pull off than I can pull off in an evening.”
“That would be amazing,” Harry said, “thank you, sir.”
“Think nothing of it, dear boy.” Dumbledore’s eyes were sparkling again, but Harry thought they were rather wet then. “Is there anything that should be valued more than family?”
No, Harry didn’t think so.
Professor Dumbledore left after giving Harry his first assignment - writing an essay on his summer - and Harry stood outside with Sirius for a while, not wanting him to leave, not wanting to make him feel like he had to stay. Sirius had fixed the mirror and surprised Sam and Dean by hugging them both, Harry knew they were both delaying the inevitable parting.
“You’re becoming a mini-Marauder,” Sirius said after Harry finally showed him the tattoo he had. It wasn’t finished yet, but Harry liked it.
Sure, it meant that Harry couldn’t be possessed by a demon, which was great, but it was more than that for Harry. It was a horribly painful mark that nobody could take… like his brothers.
“Dropping out of school, getting tattoos…” Sirius tsk’d with playful reprimand. “What’s next? A drinking problem? Prison?”
“Is that all the Marauders or just you?” Harry joked, immediately wishing he could take the words back. “Sirius, wait, I didn’t —”
Sirius threw his head back and laughed until Harry thought he could spot tears actually glistening in his eyes. Harry laughed too, mostly from relief that he didn’t horribly offend him, and Sirius swept him up in another crushing hug.
“You remind me of James so much,” Sirius said with his hand cupping the back of Harry’s head. “And me, of course.”
Harry wasn’t going to cry because he’d already cried once that day and so he brushed Sirius’s kind comments off with something he heard Dean say once.
“No chick flick moments,” Harry said, ginning broadly. “Are you - are you headed back to Majorca?”
“I thought I would,” Sirius said lightly. “I don’t think you need me here quite so much, huh?”
“Don’t say that,” Harry frowned. “Sirius, you’re my family too.”
“Yeah.” Sirius’s smile was strained. “I know.”
Harry didn’t think he did know. And when Sirius left, Harry didn’t like the despondent curl to his shoulders.
“You look miserable,” Dean said bluntly when Harry went back inside. Dean was kicked back in one of the recliners with Hedwig grooming his hair. Sam was in the other one with his laptop opened on his lap. They both scrutinized Harry closely when he flopped down on the couch. “Regretting it already? Want me to call Jolly Saint Nick and tell him to stuff it?” Dean offered.
“No, it’s just Sirius seemed sad,” Harry told them, kicking his foot on the carpet. “I feel bad…”
“He’s a grown man,” Dean said dismissively. “You’re a Winchester, kid. You’re right where you belong.”
“Is that…” Harry adopted a look of shock and peered at his oldest brother with wide eyes. “Dean, was that a chick flick moment? Is that’s what’s happening?”
“God, go to bed,” Dean groaned. “And you’re grounded.”
“From what?” Sam asked Dean, looking up from his computer. “Harry just… follows us around? What could you possibly ground him from?”
Harry looked at Dean then too, curious what he could be grounded from. Harry actually didn’t do much.
Some people might be bothered by their lack of hobbies, but Harry figured that getting a family and a home was step one, then hobbies were somewhere many steps beneath that.
Dean had the footrest up, his hands behind his head, and a deep look of concentration that was ruined by the snowy white owl that was grooming his hair. Harry and Sam waited, quite patiently, for Dean to decide what Harry could be grounded from.
“You know what?” Dean raised his middle finger at Harry. “Screw you. That’s what you’re grounded from.”
“You’re seriously like the best guardian ever,” Sam snorted, going back to his laptop. “Hey, Harry? You can use my laptop for your essay, if you want.”
“What a dumb assignment,” Dean said before Harry could thank (and refuse) Sam’s offer.
It was kind of him, but Harry would take his entire two weeks to write the assignment if he did it on Sam’s laptop.
“‘What I did this summer’,” Dean started, pretending to write in the air. “‘Saved a few people, hunted a few things, learned the family business’.”
Harry laughed, but that was exactly how he opened his essay that he started that night…
This summer, I learned what it meant to truly be part of a family…