Chapter 6
Harry and Sirius showered -- Sirius using Reg's shower and Harry using the guest bathroom -- and joined Regulus in the front room.
Sirius looked a lot better after washing and brushing his hair. He was still very skinny, and his eyes were haunted and red with lack of sleep.
Reg folded his arms and glared down at him. "I've wanted to have words with you for several years, idjit. I told you not to do anything stupid, and what did you do? You attacked Pettigrew out in the open."
"I-" Harry began.
"I didn't do it on purpose," Sirius insisted. "Dumbledore-"
"What did the fucking arsehole do now?" Reg demanded.
"I-" Harry started again.
"He put me under a compulsion to go after the traitor," Sirius snarled. "If he hadn't, I would've gone straight to Amelia."
"Would someone please explain to me what's going on?" Harry exclaimed. Both men turned to him, embarrassed.
"Sorry, Fawn," Reg apologized.
"Sorry, Pup," Sirius said.
Harry sat back and folded his arms, staring at them expectantly.
"There's a lot you don't know," Reg sighed. "I don't know some of it, though..." he glanced at Sirius.
"A few months before you were born," Sirius rasped, "there was a prophecy." Reg started. "I don't know what it said, only that it was about you and Voldemort. A Death Eater overheard part of it and told Voldemort, so Lily and James went into hiding. She was eight months pregnant with you at the time."
"The Dark Lord attacked a child because of a prophecy?" Reg demanded angrily.
Sirius nodded. "They decided to put their house under the Fidelius Charm. Do you know what that is?"
Harry shook his head.
"It's a special charm that hides the location of a place; it can't be found by any type of magic," Reg explained. "The secret of the location is held by the Secret Keeper, who is the only one who can tell others were the location is. Others can know where it is and how to get there, but they can't tell anyone else."
"I was the Secret Keeper for your parents... at first," Sirius said quietly. "About a week before... before Voldemort attacked, I was wounded badly in a Death Eater attack."
Reg was furious and alarmed. "Why didn't you-"
"I couldn't," Sirius insisted. "Dumbledore kept me on house arrest until I healed -- the day before Voldemort attacked."
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"Dumbledore," Sirius spat. "He suggested we switched Secret Keepers to Peter. He said he was worried, that it was obvious I was the Secret Keeper for your parents, that I would continue to be targeted, and the only way to protect me was to switch."
"But that wouldn't stop them targeting you," Reg said, eyes widening.
"I know," Sirius growled. "But it didn't matter -- Pettigrew went straight to Voldemort."
Harry stared at him.
"And Voldemort went right to Potter Cottage and killed James and Lily...." His gaze became distant.
"Why didn't you make Remus the Secret Keeper?" Reg asked. "Did he know-?"
"Everyone except me and Lily thought he was the traitor," Sirius said furiously. "Dumbledore and James forbade me from telling him anything! I..." he swallowed. "I didn't want to tell him, anyway... to protect him." He blushed faintly, then shook himself.
"Do you want me to bring him here, tell him what really happened?" Reg asked softly.
"I... yes," Sirius decided.
"Why did you escape Azkaban instead of telling someone about your innocence?" Harry asked with a frown.
Sirius snorted. "I didn't tell anyone about my innocence because Dumbledore would have given some proof that I was lying. And I escaped Azkaban because I found Pettigrew."
"Where?" Reg demanded.
Sirius headed back into Regulus' room and came back with a slightly damp newspaper. "Recognize the rat?" he drawled, pointing to the picture on the front page.
Harry remembered the issue. Ron had sent it to him, saying his dad had won the Daily Prophet Draw. They had used the funds to go to Egypt, to visit Ron's brother Bill.
"That's Scabbers," he said, frowning. "What does Ron's rat have to do with-"
"That's Peter's Animagus form," Reg hissed. "He's missing a toe... how clever."
Reg didn't sound impressed. He sounded dangerously angry. (He looked dangerously angry.)
"I forgot how protective you are over kids," Sirius smirked.
Harry was confused. "What..."
Sirius and Reg exchanged dark looks. "I'll tell you when you're older," Reg said finally. "I'll contact Amelia and Remus. You can sleep on the couch."
"This is revenge, isn't it?" Sirius complained.
"Don't insult my couch, mutt," Reg retorted. "Fawn, honey, it's been a really long day. You must be tired."
Harry took the hint and stood up. "Who's Amelia?" he asked.
"Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE," Reg explained shortly.
Harry knew he wasn't going to get a further answer and went into the guest room.
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Amelia,
I've found out some things you need to know. I have the locations of a person presumed dead and a person presumed guilty of their murder, as well as other things. Don't let the beard find out.
Raven
Moony,
The rat is alive and is the real traitor. Your mate is hiding at my place. There's another surprise waiting for you, if you want to come over.
Raven
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When Harry woke up the next morning, there were two more people in the apartment.
A rugged, scarred man had taken a seat at Sirius' feet and was watching him sleep, looking shocked and pained and longing. A strict-looking woman was talking quietly with Reg in the kitchen while he made omelets.
"Morning, Fawn," Reg whispered, glancing at him. "What do you want on your omelet?"
"Just cheese and green onions," Harry said quietly, sitting down at the island. "Well met, lady witch," he added.
"Well met, sir wizard," the woman responded. "I'm Lady Amelia Bones, although it's Madam Bones on business."
"I didn't know you knew wizarding greetings," Reg said dryly.
"I didn't go to bed immediately," Harry admitted. "I couldn't sleep, so I read some of those books you gave me."
Sirius suddenly let out a loud whimper. "No... James... Lily... pup, don't hurt my pup..."
The man shot to his feet and quickly knelt by Sirius' head, running his fingers through Sirius' long hair. "Siri, wake up, you're safe," he whispered.
Harry noticed that the man's eyes had turned gold.
"Dad, why-" he began.
"That's something you'll have to ask Remus," Reg interjected. "Do you want an omelet, Madam Bones?"
"I ate before coming here," she responded.
Sirius shot upward, almost knocking the blond man over. "Pup!" he panicked.
Reg raised an eyebrow at Harry and nodded in Sirius' direction. Harry got up and went over to the man.
"Pup!" Sirius cried again when he saw Harry. He dragged him into a hug before Harry could do anything. "You're safe," he rasped into Harry's red locks. Harry hugged him back.
Amelia gave them a moment, then cleared her throat. "Lord Ravenclaw-Black."
Sirius jumped and blinked up at her. "Lady -- ah, Madam Bones. It's been a while," he said dryly.
The blond man laughed hoarsely, and Sirius jerked his head in his direction. "Moony!" he cried in delight, knocking a laughing Harry off the couch as he launched himself at the man. They both fell over, narrowly missing the ottoman. Amelia and Reg rolled their eyes, and Harry laughed harder.
"Be careful with my son, mutt," Reg said sharply.
"Sorry!" Sirius said.
"Why don't you explain to Madam Bones while Remus, Harry and I talk?" Reg asked pointedly.
Madam Bones' lips twitched a little. She kind of reminded Harry of Professor McGonagall.
"Fiiiiiiiiine," Sirius complained. "I want to talk to you later, Moony," he added softly.
"We have a lot to talk about," Remus agreed. They disentangled themselves and stood up, and Sirius and Amelia disappeared into Reg's room.
"Eat," Reg told Remus sternly, putting three plates on the kitchen island. "Then I want an explanation as to why you haven't written to me or Harry in years."
"Dumbledore was keeping an eye on me," Remus said bitterly, as he and Harry sat down. "I couldn't send letters to anybody. I tried, once, to send one to Harry, but the letter returned unopened and Dumbledore..."
"What did he do?" Reg asked calmly, eyes flashing.
"He threatened to tell the Ministry that I hadn't registered as..." Remus swallowed and glanced at Harry.
"He doesn't know enough about our world to be prejudiced, Remus," Reg said quietly.
Remus pinched his nose. "I'm... I'm a werewolf."
"...okay," Harry said slowly. "So?"
"The wizarding world -- or at least, the so-called 'Light' -- believe that half-human creatures such as vampires and werewolves are all vicious and dangerous," Reg said. "That they are all evil just because they are Dark."
"But isn't that impossible?" Harry asked. "I know not all Muggles are magic-hating bullies, like my relatives. Statistically, wouldn't most of them be good people?"
"Yes," Reg agreed, and Remus closed his eyes. "Remus, you are a good fucking person, and if you say otherwise, I have about three hundred memories that will prove you wrong."
"Thank you," Remus whispered.
The conversation became happier after that. Remus ended up telling Harry some stories about his mother that showed her fiery and stubborn character. When Sirius and Amelia finally emerged from Reg's bedroom, Harry was on the floor laughing.
"What's so funny, Pup?" Sirius grinned.
"I told him about what happened the first time James made a pregnant Lily mad," Remus said, giving Sirius a small smile.
Sirius cackled. "Oh, yeah! Didn't James burp bubbles for several hours?"
"Well, he should've learned to keep his mouth clean around the baby," Reg drawled.
"He wasn't even born yet!" Sirius protested. Harry howled, shaking.
Amelia rolled her eyes. "I didn't miss this chaos," she muttered. "I'm taking these memories to the Wizengamot," she told Sirius. "As you were only supposed to be taken in for questioning instead of immediately arrested, you are technically free. Don't go wandering around in public until the Prophet posts your innocence."
"What about Pettigrew?" Reg asked sharply.
"I'll be taking a few Aurors to the Weasley residence to apprehend the criminal," Amelia said, eyes flashing. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Lord Peverell-Slytherin-Gryffindor-Hufflepuff-Gaunt," she added.
"It was a pleasure to meet you as well, Madam Bones," Harry agreed.
Amelia said goodbyes to the three adults and left.
Reg waited until he heard the door to the shop close before clapping his hands together. "Right. Dumblefuck has been manipulating all three of you, and that isn't going to happen any longer. This year, we're going to get Dumbledore removed and hopefully arrested. Not you," he added sharply to Harry. "You are going to have a good childhood. You are going to play Quidditch, do your schoolwork, and spend time with your friends. You will not do anything that will get you into trouble. Is that understood?"
Harry nodded.
"If you do get into trouble, you will immediately find Remus or I," Reg said bluntly. "Remus was given the DADA position, but the School Board is going to hire me as his work partner. I will be teaching once a month, or whenever Remus is sick." He turned to Sirius. "You will be going to a Mind Healer as soon as the public is aware of your innocence. Then you will reapply to the DMLE. You will not be joining the Order again. If you don't want to join the Dark Lord, remain neutral."
Sirius agreed reluctantly. Harry frowned. "Dad? Are you a Death Eater?"
"Yes," Reg replied. "I will explain to you why I became a Death Eater later, as it is a long story. But the short answer is fucking Dumblefuck."
Remus eyes flashed gold briefly, and Sirius scowled.
"Oh, Fawn," Reg added, "that reminds me. You got letters from the old fool, Mr. Ronald Weasley, and Miss Hermione Granger."
"Those are my friends," Harry told Remus. "Can I see them?"
"Not Dumblefuck's, that one was practically drowned in compulsions," Reg said sourly. He handed Harry two letters. "You might want to check if you have a mail ward on you."
"What's that?" Harry asked as he opened the letter from Ron.
"It blocks certain letters from reaching you," Remus explained.
"How would we remove a mail ward?"
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Dear Harry,
Where are you? Dumbledore said you were at the Leaky Cauldron, but Tom told us you left after your first night to stay with someone. We were hoping to see you.
Egypt was fun, but hot. Fred and George tried to lock Percy in a crypt, but Mum caught them.
Scabbers has been acting odd lately, I think he might be sick. I'll have him checked over at Magical Menagerie tomorrow.
See you later, hopefully.
Ron
Dear Harry,
I don't know why Ronald is worried, Tom told us he trusts the man you're staying with. I am very curious as to who he is.
I'm staying with Ron's family at the Leaky Cauldron, we're here for the last few days of summer. We already bought our school things, but I was hoping to buy a pet. You have Hedwig, and Ron has Errol. I was also thinking you could buy a snake. I know the letter says that you can only have a cat OR and owl OR a toad, but I recently discovered that that's just guidelines for Muggleborns. It would be interesting to have a pet you could speak to.
I was going to take every single class, but I almost broke my back trying to lift all of the books I'd need. So, I wrote to McGonagall saying I didn't want to take Muggle Studies. She hasn't responded as of yet, but I only wrote her this morning.
I still think it's silly that children have to decide what career they want in third year; we still have so much to learn. That's part of the reason I decided I wanted to take all the extra classes. But I realized that, if I did want a job that works with the Muggle world, I wouldn't need to take Muggle Studies anyway, because I already know everything.
I hope to see you tomorrow,
Hermione
Dear Ron and Hermione,
Sorry I scared you! I'm safe, though -- safer than I was at the Dursleys.
I'm sure you already know why I ran away, given your dad works at the Ministry, Ron. When I tried to withdraw some money for my schoolbooks, I didn't have my key, so I had to take a Blood Test. I show you it tomorrow, but the only thing you need to know right now is that it showed I have a living parent -- a parent chosen by magic. Everyone knows him as Hunter Black, a half-blood. The only reason he wasn't disowned from the Black family is because Sirius Black is the Lord, and he never disowned him. Dad -- Hunter -- is amazing. He's very protective of children. He sent Snape a Howler when he found out about the way he was treating me!
He owns a bookshop in Knockturn, Noir Novels. He calls Muggleborns Firstbloods. He was friends with my mum (although he didn't really know my dad, James, all that well). He was a Slytherin, and before you get all uppity, Ron, not all Slytherins are evil. At least meet him before you make judgements.
He's also going to be one of the DADA teachers this year. The other one is Remus Lupin, who was also friends with my parents. Dad's a really good teacher. I think you'll like him, Hermione.
He said I can come see you tomorrow, by the way. I'll meet you guys at the Menagerie at two!
(My appearance has changed a bit -- I look a lot like my mum now -- so don't freak out.)
Harry James Potter-Black