Chapter 2
Spells
'Thoughts'
::Parseltongue::
::Parseltongue Spell::
As soon as they disapparated, Harry felt as though he was going to die from the explosion of pain that erupted throughout his body. He followed George's advice but didn't think that he'd be able to breathe anyways. The feeling of his injured body being squeezed through a tight tube did nothing to help his condition. As soon as they appeared outside of 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry felt immediately woozy and would have collapsed from the pain in his ribs and ankle if it wasn't for George holding him up.
Fred was immediately right next to them as the others made their way inside, Remus waiting by the door. "It's okay. We have you," the twins reassured him. George took his trunk as Fred picked him up. Harry couldn't help the gasp of pain from the pressure on the wounds on his back. As soon as Remus was about to speak, Fred cut in, "Hey Remus, I think Harry might have twisted his ankle after our arrival. It was his first time with side apparition."
"Well I can help with that easily enough," Remus said happily. As Fred carried him over, Remus took out his wand. Harry believed that he could do it, but after Lockhart removed all of his bones he was nervous to let the man try.
"Ferula," Remus murmured. When Harry looked back down, his ankle was bandaged and in a splint. "Thanks, Moony! I really appreciate it," he thanked him, grateful that he didn't have to worry about that problem now. Fred put him down and they both smiled at him before they all walked in.
Desperately wishing he knew who was staying at the house, Harry followed Remus into the kitchen with Fred and George trailing behind. As soon as he walked in, he was assaulted by a blur of bushy brown hair. "Harry!" Hermione squealed, "I've missed you so much!" She hugged him tightly and he had to fight off the whimper of pain that wanted to escape.
Luckily Fred and George stepped up to help.
"Merlin, Hermione! Let-"
"The kid go! You're going to-"
"Hurt him!" They finished speaking together and Hermione quickly let go, looking panicky. "Ohmygod I'm sorry Harry, I didn't even-" Harry cut her off quickly, concerned about their audience. "Don't worry about it, 'Mione. Really. It's not like I'm made of glass," he smiled softly at her. As he looked around, Harry noticed the people in the room: Snape was standing by the wall, glaring at him; Sirius and Remus were both sitting by the table, Remus reading the Daily Prophet and Sirius looking concerned for Harry's well-being; Tonks was at the counter, trying to make a cup of tea; Shacklebolt was sitting down watching everyone. Harry met Snape's eyes once more and immediately kept them down, glued to the floor.
Sirius got up and walked over to his godson, carefully hugging him and ignoring the flinch. "Merlin, I missed you pup. I'm sorry you couldn't have come earlier, but Dumbledore said it was impossible. An Order meeting is going to start soon, so why don't you, Hermione and those two menaces go upstairs to your room okay?" Sirius said so that everyone could hear. Quietly he added, "We need to talk later pup. Just us. Now go on upstairs." Sirius let go of Harry and the four of them headed upstairs to hang out in Harry's room, the one next to Sirius'. He never noticed the lingering stares of the Potions Master and his godfather.
As soon as they were all settled on the bed they talked for over 2 hours, as Harry found out that Mrs. Weasley got into a huge fight with Sirius, so now their parents and two younger siblings were staying at the Burrow. The twins, Bill, and Charlie were all staying at Grimmauld, so Harry was pleased to hear that he would be able to see the 4 Weasley's who treated him like a little brother, but wary because they were all extremely observant.
Harry knew what the Dursley's did to him was wrong, but after being influenced and manipulated by such things for so long, he started to believe he deserved it. But that didn't mean he wanted anyone to know. How shameful and embarrassing it would be, for these people who treat him like family, to realize that he is weak and useless. That he allowed muggles to do such a thing to him.
"So, Harry," Hermione startled Harry out of his thoughts, "What did you do at the-" Hermione was cut off by a knock at the door.
Harry turned to look at who it was just as Sirius opened the door and walked in. "Alright everyone. Get out of my godson's room and get to bed. It's getting late," Sirius announced to the teens huddled together on the bed. The twin's extracted themselves from Harry, who they had been curled around and on, and Hermione slid off of the side of the bed. Fred and George turned to tag-team Harry with a hug. "Dobby will be paying attention if you need us, little bro. We will see you tomorrow," one of them whispered in his ear and then they all left to go to their own rooms. Harry felt good to know that the twins were always there for him, and would almost never ask any questions, they'd just comfort him and calm him down. He still didn't know how they had convinced Dobby to help, but then again Dobby would do anything for him.
Harry stared at the ground as Sirius leaned against the door frame, watching him. He knew that Sirius was aware that the Dursley's didn't really like him and that he didn't get as much food as a growing boy should, but now that Sirius wanted to have a "talk" with him he was much more nervous.
Sirius walked over to him and ruffled his hair, "Don't worry pup, we are just going to have a little chat. How about we go down to the kitchen and get some hot chocolate and we can talk there."
At the prospect of having some chocolate and something to be able to distract him, Harry quickly agreed and the two made their way down the stairs to the kitchen. As they were approaching the kitchen, Dumbledore and Snape were just walking out.
"Ahh Harry, my boy," Dumbledore said, easily ignoring Harry's subtle flinch at the 'term of endearment,' "Glad to see you're well. I hope you had a wonderful time with your family this summer and will enjoy your stay here until Hogwarts. I believe you will be going to Diagon Alley with Miss Granger and the Messrs Weasley tomorrow, so don't get into any trouble." The entire time the Headmaster spoke, Harry kept his head down, missing the intense stare from Snape and the twinkling eyes of the headmaster.
"Yes, sir. My summer has been quite eventful and we won't get into any trouble tomorrow, Headmaster," Harry said softly.
Snape snorted, "Ah yes, because Potter never gets into trouble. We'll be lucky if he can manage tonight not causing some major issue." As Snape spoke in his typical degrading sneer, Harry's hands started to shake, unable to handle the Potions Professor who hates him as much as the Dursley's. Typically he would be able to have a snappy retort planned out, but it was too soon and he had nothing. Silently, he kept his head bowed.
"That's enough, Snivellus," Sirius sneered, "Harry and I were just going to get something to eat and drink. I will see you later, headmaster." Carefully, Sirius steered Harry into the kitchen and sat him down in one of the seats at the weathered table. As Harry tried to calm himself down once again, Sirius quickly made two cups of hot chocolate and put a light calming draught in Harry's. Not enough for him to notice, but it would relax his already frayed nerves.
Sirius walked over and placed the two cups down and watched as Harry snatched his and cautiously sipped at it. After three small sips, he felt calmer and Sirius decided it would be good to start.
"So pup, let's start with the easy stuff. I know you don't know too much about wizarding politics, so I'm just going to tell you the basics," Sirius spoke in a teacher-like voice, "In the Wizengamot there are 4 sections, Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses, Most Ancient and Noble Houses, Ancient and Noble Houses, and elected officials. There are 13 Most Ancient and Most Noble houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Black, Malfoy, Potter, Prewett, Longbottom, Crouch, Gaunt, Abbott, and Peverell. In the Most Ancient and Noble House, there are 15 houses: Bones, Lestrange, Nott, Parkinson, Greengrass, Fawley, Avery, Carrow, Shacklebolt, Yaxley, Rosier, Rowle, Prince, Lovegood, and Selwyn. There are 21 Ancient and Noble Houses, but I won't name all of those off. Are you understanding all of this?" Harry nodded, trying to soak up everything that Sirius was telling him.
"Okay, so as far as I know, you are heir to two houses: the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter and the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. This is because you're are the last Potter alive and I named you my heir. Now, because I was in Azkaban, even though I was innocent, I had my titles stripped and can never be Lord Black. The Black family was not known just for our inherent madness, but for paranoia, therefore it is stated that if the Heir of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black does not have parents, then they may be emancipated at the age of 16. Tomorrow, we will go to Gringotts and while there, we will talk to your Account manager. From there you will be able to become a legal adult and Lord Potter-Black. I know this is a lot to take in, but I need to know that if anything were to happen to me you knew all this and nobody else can control your finances. I love you, pup, and I need to know that you will be safe," Sirius spoke with a passion that showed how frightened he was of what could happen and how much he cared for Harry.
"I- I mean- I just-" Harry stuttered, unable to find the words and settled for throwing himself at his godfather, hugging him fiercely and ignoring the pain in his shoulder and ribs, "Thank you, Sirius. I love you too." Tears streamed down both their faces as they reveled in a rare moment together.
Once they both settled down and Harry returned to his seat, he realized he had to ask a question. "Uhh, Sirius? What do you mean we? You're a fugitive! I don't think you can just wander down Diagon and into Gringott's..." Harry trailed off.
Sirius laughed, "Pup, I'm going to go as Padfoot. Once inside your account manager's office, the Goblin's won't care. All they care about is gold and getting business. Blacks are extremely wealthy, so they won't do anything but help. Oh and make sure you bow, they'll give you much more respect if you also respect them."
"Okay I think I can do that," Harry said embarrassed. He wished he had thought to buy wizarding etiquette books during his first trip, but then again he was a little overwhelmed and the thought had just never really occurred.
They both sat there for a while, taking sips of their drinks and enjoying the silence. Eventually, Sirius worked up his Gryffindor courage to move on to the next topic.
"Alright pup, there is something else I wanted to talk to you about. And I don't think that you will really want to discuss it, but I think we should," Sirius said, staring at the top of Harry's head. The teen had his head dipped down and his eyes glued to his mug of hot chocolate.
Hearing what Sirius said made Harry extremely nervous. He felt like he should turn around and run out of the room right now, but he didn't even know what it was that Sirius wanted to talk about. 'Sure it could be about the Dursley's, but maybe not. Maybe it's about sex! That would make us both extremely uncomfortable, but definitely more preferable than discussing life at 4 Private Drive.'
Sirius shifted in his chair and started, "I love you, kiddo. I won't ever judge you and I won't every leave you. Remember that. Now, why do you hate being at the Dursley's so much?"
Harry flinched as if someone had struck him and stuttered out, "I- I don't- I mean I do but- It's just- I- I can't use magic there and- and I don't get to see you and everyone else." Harry felt like he was going to throw up. His chest was tight and he was struggling to breathe and he was pretty sure he was visibly shaking.
Watching Harry start to fall apart, Sirius started to panic. Surely this proved that there was something terribly wrong. "Harry, pup, I don't think you're telling me the whole truth." At that, Harry began to cry and hyperventilate.
"N-no I- I mean- I- I- it's not- they're just- I-" Harry's incoherent babbling was cut off by the sound of an elf popping in with two red heads. "Dobby is very sorry. Dobby tried to wait until Harry Potter's Mister Black, sir, made him feel better but Harry Potter got worse. Dobby grabbed Harry Potter's twinsies as fast as possible," a hysterical Dobby said and then popped back to wherever he had come from.
Sirius watched, wide-eyed as Harry was picked up by George and cradled as he whispered reassurances into his ear and Fred wrapped a blanket he had apparently brought with him around Harry's small form.
It was then that Sirius first really saw just how small his godson was for a 16-year-old boy. Harry looked to be no taller than 5'4" and couldn't weigh more than 95 pounds. Sirius didn't know how he couldn't have noticed before. How did nobody notice?
Harry continued to sob into George's chest as one of the twin's ran their fingers through his hair and the other whispered nothings at him, trying to calm him down. Eventually, Harry tired himself out and George brought him up to his bed, tucked him in and made sure to cast a warming charm on him.
When George got back to the kitchen he and Fred sat across from Sirius and tried to not get angry.
"So what-"
"Did you do to-"
"Harry to make him-"
"Freak out like that," the twins finished together.
Sirius shook his head, "I just asked him why he hated going to the Dursley's so much. I figured that it would get him to at least tell me a little about what goes on there. Why did Dobby get you two?"
"Well, that makes sense now. He likes us because we don't ask questions. We just help him the best we can. We leave the questions up to everybody else," Fred said easily.
"Ron, Fred, and I broke Harry out from the Dursley's the summer before his second year. When Fred and I went to go get his trunk from the cupboard under their stairs, we saw something that made us realize that something might be seriously wrong at that house for Harry. We kept an eye on him and realized quickly that he had terrible nightmares and would have panic attacks. At the Burrow, we easily comforted him and made him feel better. It was more difficult at Hogwarts, but we still managed. At the end of his second year, Harry freed Dobby and we managed to corner the little elf and get him to agree that, while at Hogwarts or anywhere not the Dursley's, he would watch over Harry and bring us to him if he needed us," George further explained.
"How did he get through his first and second year if it was that bad?" Sirius asked, extremely concerned for his well-being.
Fred and George shared a look before answering, "Turns out our Harry is quite the potioneer. He's been brewing all of his own potions, which happened to include extreme calming draughts and dreamless sleep potions. We slowly got him off the dreamless sleep but he does still keep some calming draughts around. He takes the Draught of Peace on days when we have Quidditch games."
Sirius nodded his head, trying to keep everything straight and thankful that they realized the seriousness of the conversation enough for the twins to speak one at a time. "Wait. What did you see in a cupboard that made you concerned?" Sirius asked, confused on what could be in a cupboard under the stairs that would make them worry about Harry.
The twins shook their heads and replied together, "No way. Sorry Sirius."
"We don't think it would be smart to tell you. At least not right now," George said quickly when he saw that Sirius was getting angry.
Sirius sighed and raked a hand through his hair, "Fine, fine. But you will tell me eventually if Harry refuses. Let's all get to bed. We are heading to Diagon tomorrow and I have a feeling it will be a long day."
With that, Sirius headed to his own room while Fred and George decided they would sleep with Harry for his first day back from the Dursley's.