Introduction
When Harry was young, too young to really understand it, he got a small mark on his hip. For a while, he didn’t think anything of it. It resembled a mole, though darker than any mole he’d ever seen, and was easily forgotten in the jolly of play.
It wasn’t until the mark turned into a spider that he freaked out. He remembers it well, running up to his aunt Petunia before he had lost hope in their sympathy. That young, kids just don’t get when they’re being ignored. Harry ran to his aunt and pulled his shirt up, tears in his eyes.
“Oh don’t be dramatic, Harry. It’s just your soulmark.” Petunia had huffed, not even sparing him another glance. That had been the end of it. She hadn’t brought it up again.
Harry had worried about it a little longer and then forgotten it once more. After all, if his aunt wasn’t worried about it why should he be?
Dudley got his soulmark five years after Harry did. He had ran down the stairs screaming and shouting about it, and Harry had heard the Dursley’s reply from the cage of his bedroom.
“Oh, Dudley that’s fantastic! Don’t cry baby, don’t cry.” Harry remembers the bitter sting of jealousy back then. Before he was old enough to console himself he had yearned for his aunt’s hug, for his uncle's pat on the shoulder. They had never come. “That is your soulmark.”
“It means you have a soulmate,” Vernon added in from the table. “Which of course you do, my boy.”
“Someone made just for you.” Petunia’s voice had all but cooed at Dudley.
Harry reaches down and rubs at his own mark. The spider seems to shift in his skin.
—
Most people get their soulmarks after the age of ten. Harry got his at age six. It isn’t until he is already in Hogwarts that he gets an explanation.
“Wizards get their marks early, of course.” Hermoine chatters along beside Harry and Ron. She had just read up on them for a class project, and neither would hear the end of it. “Some as early as five! They say it’s because our magic is more in sync with the soulmate system.”
“What’s yours look like?” Harry asks her.
“None of your business.” Hermoine had blushed a deep shade of red, her eyes darting to Ron and away quick enough for most people to miss.
Harry, of course, did not.
“Soulmates are like a fairytale, mate. You don’t go asking people for their marks.” Ron mutters. “It’s rude.”
“Soulmarks were actually invented as a curse. The first man who got one was matched with another man, and that became the first openly gay wizard.” Hermoine sputters out. She was dodging the question. “It kind of backfired, however, when the magic spread and suddenly everyone — even muggles — were getting the marks. It put a lot of things into motion, including the acceptance of homosexuality in most cultures.”
“Fantastic. Now I can be gay freely.” Harry rolls his eyes and rubs absently at the mark on his side.
—
When the basilisk almost killed Harry, he worried about his soulmate for the first time. Second year had been hard on him. Finding out his two best friends were soulmates — Hermoine wasn’t as secretive as she thought and Harry wasn’t as daft as she assumed — would do that to him. Where he used to see a well-oiled machine, he sees a perfectly bonded couple and their third wheel. The love those two show for each other before even knowing their bond fully made him want to find his own.
Of course, he comes to this conclusion right before he dies.
The venom in his blood spreads like wildfire, burning as it, too. Harry fully expects to keen over and die. Whoever his spider-loving soulmate was, their mark would fade into a scar before he could even meet them.
When the Phoenix saves him, Harry vows to live long enough to turn his own mark into color.
—
Lupin had ignored his soulmark for a long time. Harry knew from stories that Lupin had one, but no one had told him who. Even the professor himself was quick to avoid the subject.
Snape was the one who finally let the ball drop.
The secret stayed for a whole year, until the shack. Snape strolls in, takes one look at the group, and scoffs.
“Of course, you’d come for your soulmate. I bet you’ve been working with the murderer, huh?” And then Snape messes everything up. Almost.
Harry asked Lupin about it as they walk back to Hogwarts, his shoulders tucked against Sirius’s side. The group was worse for wear, but everyone conscious enough to do so tuned into the reply.
“We are soulmates.” Lupin gives Sirius a small smile. “And for the longest time, I believed my soulmate had killed my best friend.”
“For the longest time, I thought mine hated me.”
Lupin bumps shoulders with Sirius.
When they look at each other Harry doesn’t see any hate. There is love there, dedication like he’s only ever seen with soulmates.
—
Cedric and Harry kiss under the quidditch stand for the first time a few months into school. This was before the triwizard tournament and the goblet of fire. At they time they are just dumb, reckless teenagers.
“What about your mark?” Harry had panted against Cedric’s skin. He smelled of sweat and sunshine, so warm and bright against the angst that always ate at Harry nowadays. “Don’t you worry about offending them?”
“I don’t have one.” Cedric had shut him up with another kiss, and that had been that.
Their romance of a fumbled, quick one. The tournament had made things tense, and Cedric choosing someone else for the ball even more so. Harry had been mad, he had been furious, but their chemistry ate away at the tension until it didn’t mean much. They kissed, they fucked, and then they fought against each other in the tournament. Sometimes, in the quiet moments in between, they spoke of life after. Cedric would whisper about love and loyalty to Harry under the cover of night and secrecy. Harry tried to forget the mark on his hip that burned with each touch.
When Cedric died, a little bit of Harry did, too. Cedric might not have been a soulmate, but he had loved the boy.
At least the only scar he left was the one on Harry’s heart.
—
Dear Harry,
I know you want to know more about what’s going on in the world. I can’t offer that to you. Since the events of the triwizrd tournament, we have all been increasingly concerned with your safety. Hogwarts can’t keep you safe anymore. We can’t keep you safe, not completely.
What I am going to tell you soon will change the way you look at a lot of things. Most of all, the way you look at Lily and James. Though I wish we could leave this in the past like your parents always meant for it to stay, I have to look after you and your safety before anything else.
I will explain as much as I can in person on your sixteenth birthday. We will be there at midnight, and we need you to be ready. Pack you things. You will never return to Private Drive if I have a say. Something tells me you won’t mind that very much.
Sincerely,
Sirius Black
Harry rubs his thumb over Sirius’s name a few times, a frown etched into his face. The letter had arrived in the early hours of the morning; It was an interesting start to the day. It was a surprise. Leaving Private Drive? That was a dream come true. Leaving Private Drive with his godfather? That was the best-case scenario since third year.
Hedwig gives a chirp, fluttering her wings. She had flown who knows where to give Sirius his letter and all the way back to return his reply.
“Sorry, Sorry. You deserve it.” Harry reaches into his bag and hands Hedwig a bit of potato chip. She takes it happily enough, chirping a thank you as she hops back into her cage.
Harry’s birthday was a good two weeks away, which seemed as much as a curse as it was a blessing. He could count down the days till Sirius arrived, however, those days seemed far too long for him to stand. Two whole weeks. Harry sighs and slips the paper into his pocket. The sun was just rising over the horizon, sending rays of bright light into the small cluttered room Harry called his. Soon, the Dursleys would wake up and demand food, which of course Harry would serve them.
There wasn’t much Harry could do about that. The thought of never coming back made him want to skip right out the door. Then again, he couldn’t really go anywhere without Sirius’s help. He just had to wait and pack.
“Harry!” Vernon shouts from the hallway. A few seconds pass and he’s banging on the door. The wood creaks under harsh treatment. “Get up! Breakfast time.”
Two weeks. Only two more weeks.
—
Harry paces back and forth in front of the door. It was coming down to the wire, all his stuff was packed, and now he was left wondering if it was all just a dream. Was Sirius even going to come? Maybe it was some cruel prank to get his hopes up and then crush them.
His luggage for Hogwarts was already packed and locked away. Books, wands, robes, and everything else that he could transfer from year to year lay against one wall of the hallway. His firebolt, the one Sirius had gifted him in his third year, lay atop it all like a trophy. Just thinking of quidditch made him want to fly again. Besides his Hogwarts stuff there wasn’t much for him to call his. A few gifts from friends lay packed to the side, though all of those would also go with him to Hogwarts. When he wasn’t here on Private Drive there wasn’t anything to make others assume Harry even lived here.
All that was left to do was wait.
Harry shifts, checking the clock on top of the door.
11:59.
One more minute. It wasn’t as if he didn’t believe Sirius. He never doubted his uncle and his ways, but this was just too much to hope for. Leaving Private Drive and never returning? What would that even look like? Harry didn’t know, and he wouldn’t pretend to. All he’s ever known is Hogwarts and this stupid, ugly house. He wouldn’t miss it — was rather glad to be rid of it — but he was anxious about what was waiting for him on the other side of the door.
He pulls down on the hat he had thrown on last minute. It was rather chilly for a summer day in Private Drive, something aunt Petunia had complained about to no end over tea that morning. Vernon, too, talked about the oddity of the weather with the glint in his eye. Of course, he had blamed even the weather on his freak of a nephew.
“Are you really leaving?” Harry jumps at the question, turning to look up the stairs. Dudley stood there in all of his glory, Christmas-themed onesie stretching across his wide stomach. It was a disgusting color of blue that — along with the fact that it was a onesie — made him look like more of a baby than usual.
“Yeah,” Harry replies. For a moment Harry was afraid Dudley would laugh and tell him he had set it all up. It would be cruel, one of the worst jokes the child had ever played, but not completely surprising. The Dursleys seemed to make a habit of ruining Harry’s joy.
—
“Read it.” Harry nods to the note laying on the dining room table. Vernon gives him a glare, looking between him and his aunt behind him. Having made up his mind, Vernon snatches the letter and reads through it once.
“Sirius Black? The prisoner who killed all those people?” Vernon gives Harry a look, his skin turning that putrid shade of purple they all hated. Harry does little more than nod. It wasn’t even a full confirmation. He didn’t owe his uncle that. “He’s going to take you away?”
“Yes.” Harry turns to look at his Aunt. “I’m almost sixteen. If I want to go with my godfather-“
“GODFATHER!” Vernon stands, slapping the letter down on the table. “He is a MURDERER Harry!”
Harry pauses at Vernon’s outburst. He doesn’t offer a flinch of fear nor does he cut the man off. He had more patience than that.
“-If I want to go with my godfather, I will.” Harry all but shouts when his uncle quits down. Aunt Petunia looks at him the way she had for years. Dudley, glued to his seat, swivels his head between the three of them so fast Harry expects it to twist all the way off. “And you can’t stop me.”
Petunia lets out a loud huff. It was one of anger and exhaustion, a feeling that echoed in the sag of her shoulders and the frown that graces her lips.
“I don’t want to take care of you anyway, Harry. Why would it matter if you left?” Petunia takes a hold of the pot she was using and turns from the three without another word. “I say good riddance to you and your stupid stick.”
For once, Vernon just lets it go.
—
Dudley slumps against the stairs. It was an odd reaction, Harry thinks, as the child gives him an almost sympathetic look. Dudley was no better than Vernon, Harry reminds himself. He would happily see Harry dead.
“For good this time?”
“Yes, Dudley,” Harry rolls his eyes. “You’re an only child now. Congrats.”
Dudley rubs his hands together and looks away from Harry. He gets the odd feeling that Dudley wasn’t as happy as Harry had first thought he would be. Dudley never seemed to miss him, never paid him any mind when he was home for the summer, yet the way he was acting brought that into question.
“I hear you, you know. When you’re asleep.” Harry gives Dudley a long look. He wasn’t surprised that his dreams made him cry out, even scream, into the night. They were torture for him. The number of times he had seen Cedric Diggory fall to the ground without a light in his eye was enough to make Harry lose entire night’s sleep. “I think it’s a good thing for you to not come back here.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, Dudley.” A knock on the door draws Harry away from the frankly frustrating conversation. He walks to the door, casting one last glance to his cousin as he opens it.
Sirius stands on the other side of the door, grinning from ear to ear. Behind him is Lupin. Both of them look rough and tired like they had been traveling a great distance. Harry guesses they have.
It was hard to not be shocked at their appearance here. Next to the perfectly kept and mowed lawns all around them, the two scraggly-looking men with wild looks in their eyes looked rabid. Nevertheless, it was good to see them. He had gone too long without outside contact.
“Harry!” Sirius gathers Harry into a hug. He smelled just as comforting as he had in third year; like the forest and decomposing wood. “It’s so good to see you. Let me look at you.”
Sirius pulls away, keeping Harry at arm's length, and looks him up and down. Harry sees the instant he notices the weight loss. He purses his lips and looks over Harry’s shoulder.
“Well, we can fix that, now.” That is all Sirius says. He turns to Lupin and nods to the door. “Get his stuff.”
Lupin nods, waving his wand till the bags behind Harry float right over his head. “Nice to see you, Harry.”
“You too, professor.”
“Please, it’s Remus now.” The werewolf waves him off as he steps further away from the house. Two brooms lay forgotten in the grass of the front lawn. Harry looks left and right. No muggles had seen them. Yet.
“You can’t just do magic like that in the middle of the road.” Harry chuckles at the shrug Sirius gives him. “They’ll throw you in Azkaban.”
“They’d do that anyway.” Sirius winks. “Now, where is that broom of yours?”
“Accio Firebolt.” Lupin holds his hand out to catch the broom as it slips from one of the luggage cases. He holds it out to Harry. “We’re flying and we’re going a long way. Prepare yourself.”
“When’s the last time you ate?” Sirius grabs his broom and slings his leg over the side. “I mean really, what do those muggles feed you?”
“Like you’d feed him any better?” Lupin hops on his own broom and the two both turn to look at Harry. “Well? Come on. We’re in a slight rush.”
Harry smiles at his godfather and his soulmate. The moon shone bright that night, illuminating their kind smiles and warm auras. They, unlike any Dursley, cared for him. Harry looks back at Private Drive and the half-ajar front door. He sees the empty staircase where Dudley had sat and remembers the dust falling from the ceiling all those years ago when he lived under the stairs. He remembers the screaming, the pain, and the abuse he faced at the hands of those people.
“I’m coming,” Harry says a silent goodbye as he closes the front door. He hops on his broom without a second thought.
The three push off the ground and soar to the sky. Private Drive disappears below them.
Harry looks between Sirius and Lupin and the flying luggage. Mentally he turns the page and marks the time. This was a new chapter in his life. Private Drive was gone and with it the scared little boy beneath the stairs.
—
The next few hours pass in a blur of flying and small talk. It became apparent to Harry a few hours into their trip that they were not going anywhere he had ever been before. For one, Scotland was north and he was pretty sure they were going as far west as Harry had ever been. Second, they were heading right for the sea.
Lupin and Sirius ask Harry about his summer and, to their credit, don’t cringe as badly as he had feared when he fills in the lackluster details. Harry had done nothing all summer except hang around the TV and wait for letters referring to Voldemort's return. That, of course, was the first question Harry had asked them.
“So what is Voldemort up to?” Harry leans forward to get in between his godfather and Lupin, ending their conversation about which of their pranks had done the most damage. The two men both shift their attention to him for a moment before simultaneously looking away. Harry knew their answer before they even spoke.
“Don’t worry about it, Harry. Everything is under control.” Sirius clears his throat and goes on to explain his trip to the amazon rainforest this summer.
Any more questions Harry had dropped related to Voldemort and the resistance, even questions about Hermoine and Ron, are promptly ignored and shot down. The two men were unwilling to spill a single drop of information pertaining to the fight against the dark lord. By the fourth hour, Harry kind of gives up.
Right before they go over the ocean, the trio stops at a gas station — which was very entertaining to explain — for some food. It’s here that Harry gets some answers.
“Why are we leaving England?” Harry grabs a bag of chips as they pass them. Sirius was walking beside him, sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the muggles strolling through. Not only was he a wanted man but he was dressed as if he had just come from the forest. Knowing him, he probably had.
Sirius grabs a bag of chocolate from the shelf, looks at it for a moment, and stuffs it in his pocket. In fact, everything the man was grabbing contained chocolate oddly enough.
“Figured that one out for yourself, huh?” Sirius looks down at Harry with a smirk. “Knew you were bright. Lily was always the smartest of us.”
“It isn’t hard. I’ve visited the coast before.” Harry grabs a few bottles of water. If they really were going to fly on their brooms across the ocean there was no way he was skimping out on food. Besides, they weren’t going to pay for it. Lupin had already enchanted the cashier and blown out the cameras. It was a teenage boy’s dream. “The only thing left between here and the ocean is a tourist trap by the coast. It’s pretty obvious we aren’t going there. I don’t take you or Lupin for the spa retreat type.”
“Hey, you never know. My feet have been looking pretty bad recently.” Sirius holds his foot out and wiggles his hidden toes as if to prove a point. Harry rolls his eyes at the man.
“So? Where are we going?” Harry and Sirius stroll right out of the front doors of the gas station. Lupin was sitting at a bench by the shop, looking up at the almost full moon. He had always looked tired near this time of the month. The trip surely didn’t help.
“New York City,” Sirius answers after a beat. When Harry jumps in surprise he shushes him. “Quiet. I wasn’t supposed to say anything.”
“Why! New York? That’s insane. What’s in New York? Are Hermoine and Ron there?” Harry spits out question after question. Sirius shushes him.
“I can’t say much more than that.” He whispers softer and softer the closer they come to Lupin. “But know it’s for the best. We only want the best for you. I promise.”
Harry gives Sirius a long look, turning to Lupin and regarding him with the same. Neither seems to be willing to answer, as they both skate around the questions he asks. He wasn’t sure if they planned on ever explaining just what was going on.
“What did you guys get?” Lupin stands from the bench and takes a step toward Sirius and Harry. He takes the offered chocolates and water. “Ah yes, the nutritious route.”
Lupin raises a brow to Sirius as if to say ‘seriously?’ Sirius smirks in reply, dramatically tearing open a chocolate bar and taking a big bite out of it.
“What?” Sirius shrugs. “It’s good.”
“Why did I ever trust you to take care of Harry?” Lupin gives an exasperated sigh. He slips the piece of chocolate in his pocket before grabbing his broom. The three sticks lay side by side on the edge of the park. Harry’s luggage was hidden under the invisiblity cloak, an idea Lupin had thought of thousands of feet in the air. Harry had to admit it saved them a lot of trouble, but the maneuvering to get it there was nerve-racking.
“Hey! I will have you know I am a great godfather.” Sirius slings his arm over Harry’s shoulder and gives it a squeeze. The pressure feels nice, and Harry smiles up at him. He had missed this light banter the two soulmates share. It gave him hope that one day he would have the same. After all, he was staring at a convict and a werewolf reunited through a soul bond. Real beautiful stuff, if you asked him.
“He is pretty great.” Harry hums, popping open the bag of chips he was holding. Lupin just rolls his eyes and hops on his broom.
“Wait. Now? We can’t even-“
“Time frame, Sirius.” Lupin nods to the discarded brooms beside him. “We gotta go.”
Harry looks between the two soulmates with a frown. Both seem just as happy as he had ever seen them, with no real worry about traveling all the way to America. Then again, adults were great at hiding things from him.
New York? Really? What was in New York? Surely they weren’t traveling all that way just to sightsee.
Harry hops on his broom and shoots into the sky after his godfather and Lupin. He would get answers eventually.
—
America was a lot less than Harry was expecting. Then again, he had only just gotten here. The field they were in was lackluster, anyway. There weren’t any sandy beaches like in the movies. A cliff met the water and the same crashing waves Harry had been staring at for the past day and a half rang out against the rock behind him. Sirius seems to agree, by the comments he’s making.
“We couldn’t at least have landed in Miami? Harry needs to see Miami.”
“And I am sure he will, Sirius.” Lupin huffs. Harry had the idea that he did that a lot with his soulmate. The two had annoyed each other more than he thought possible. “But we have a ti-“
“A timeline. Yeah, yeah, I know.” Sirius steps further into the field and looks up at the sky. “When’s he supposed to get here, anyway?”
“He? Who’s coming?” Harry steps up beside Sirius as if that would give him any answers. It was just the sky, as dark and cloudless as it had been all day. The moon shines through the clouds. The full moon must be tomorrow or the next day.
“Nick Fury.” Sirius hums, which makes Lupin hiss.
“Sirius!”
“What? The boy deserves to know.” Sirius shrugs, not even gracing Harry with a glance.
This was getting frustrating. Harry turns between the two soulmates, both of which avoid his gaze like the plague. It makes red-hot fury burn through his veins.
“Okay seriously, what the fuck is going on?” Lupin winces at the curse word. Harry ignores him. “You send me a short letter telling me I’m leaving forever and take me all the way to America? Hogwarts isn’t here! I can’t stay here! I don’t even think the train comes all this way. And there is no way Hermoine and Ron are all the way over here.”
“You’re not going back to Hogwarts.” Sirius sighs as if it pains him to say it. For a moment, Harry doesn’t believe he did. His heart skips a beat. It takes Sirius’s frown and Lupin’s pursed lips for him to express his bubbling anger.
“What do you mean I’m not going back to Hogwarts?” Harry’s head snaps to the side as a large aircraft comes into view. It seems to slide out of nothing, the wind suddenly blowing his hair out of his face. The aircraft lands a few yards out from them, its wings going silent. “Who the fuck is that?”
“It’s hard to explain, Harry.” This was Lupin, and Harry gives him his full attention.
“Well try.”
“James Potter isn’t your real father.” Lupin steps forward and grips Harry by the shoulder. “We didn’t ever want to tell you, because he was always your dad. But, with what happened at Hogwarts last year-“
“We can’t let you die and we can’t trust Dumbledore to put you first.” Sirius snaps. “So, we contacted someone who can get you in touch with your biological father.”
“What do you mean my biological father? This makes no sense!” Harry pushes Lupin away from him. “I don’t believe you!”
“You will, Harry.” Lupin pulls a letter from his pocket and presses it into Harry’s palm. “Listen, we don’t have much time.”
The aircraft drops its back, red light flooding into the darkness. It highlights Lupin’s face in a way that makes him look mean. For once, Harry sees more animal than human in his words.
“Your father is Tony Stark. Your mother had an affair that led to your birth, and James agreed to act as your dad from the moment he knew.” Lupin squeezes Harry’s hand. “It’s time for you to be safe, Harry, and we can’t offer that. Hogwarts can’t offer that. The only man who can keep you safe right now is Tony, Harry. We had to do this.”
“What about you guys? You can’t keep me safe?” Harry searches Lupin’s eyes for a long moment. He sees guilt and sadness there, and a bit of anger. More than that, he sees the love and care that he only sees when it’s him or Sirius. “I don’t want to leave England.”
“We can’t save you, Harry.” Sirius bends down and grips Harry’s shoulder. When he looks at his godfather he sees the same rush of emotions Lupin is feeling. Both of them had decided this long before they wrote that letter. “If this keeps you alive, I would do anything.”
Harry looks away from them and towards the aircraft. The back had lowered into a ramp, a ramp that a single man was walking down on. Even from this far away Harry could see the eyepatch and the strict lines of stress from the man.
Harry pulls away from Sirius and Lupin and stuffs the letter in his pocket. Whatever he was feeling wasn’t important right now. He had to deal with this before he could think about it.
“Well isn’t this a meeting?” The man looks between Sirius, Lupin, and finally settles on Harry. His gaze stays there, all the hidden emotions burning into Harry. If he hadn’t taken multiple of Snape’s classes, maybe they would affect him. “And this must be Harry Potter.”