Hi everyone. This is a continuation of cap red's King Who Lived, starting after Chapter 25. Though cap red will be continuing the original, I was given permission to post my own version of the rest of this wonderful fic. This is a continuation, so I would definitely suggest reading the original first. It can be found at s/4405515/1/King-Who-Lived. I hope you like my version as well!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the idea for this fic. All previous events in this story are property of cap red, but where this story goes is mine.

Harry jolted as another pair of hands suddenly gripped his ankle, stopping his descent into the tree. These hands felt larger than the ones pulling him down, and some part of Harry thought they felt protective, but the small hands belonged to a child, a child that needed his help. Harry started kicking and twisting in an effort to make the large hands leave, which only seemed to prompt a third pair of hands to grab his other ankle and help the large ones. A gruff, unfamiliar voice started talking, but Harry's head was filled with a song of fairies and other realms. In the back of his mind, another voice seemed to join the gruff one, and the hands on his ankles tightened as if they had agreed upon something, when Harry was abruptly being jerked from the tree. As his head cleared the hollow, something silver rushed past in the other direction, and the song was gone. Immediately Harry collapsed in exhaustion, as though he had run a double marathon in an hour. Hands were checking him, rolling him onto his back, and Harry thought his eyes were open, but everything was a blur. His vision spun as the voices from before got louder and louder. Another voice joined in and it was too much, too much, too much, and there was a sound of thunder and everything went black.

Harry awoke to the smell of some meat roasting on the fire, and the two voices, one unfamiliar and one familiar, having a whispered conversation a few meters away. As Harry became more aware, he noticed that a third voice would chime in every few minutes, though he still had no idea what was being said. The young king, suddenly becoming aware of his eyelids once more, opened them with only a little difficulty. The first thing he realized was that he seemed to be in the same place he had passed out in, with one large difference. The tree the child had been in was gone. The second thing he realized was that two of the three voices belonged to Seamus Finnegan and Gunter. The man speaking with Seamus was pale and had long, dirty hair, and Harry could see his rib cage from his point a good few meters away. The man seemed to notice the crunch of leaves as Harry shifted his position, because it took less than a second for the two humans to cross over to kneel next to the king.

"Harry? How do you feel?" The man asked, concerned. Harry tried to answer, but no sound came out. "Seamus, can you get him some water?"

The Irish teen was already conjuring a glass and, with a quick Aguamenti charm, was shoving it into the older man's hand. Both then proceeded to help Harry sit up, and the man carefully held the glass to the king's mouth. The cool water eased Harry's throat, and after a couple of false starts, he was able to speak.

"What happened?"

"It was the Faye, Your Majesty. They tricked you into going to that tree, and would have succeeded in bringing you to their realm if Sirius hadn't come when he did. I came running as soon as you started talking about a child that Gunter couldn't hear, and arrived just in time to help pull you out and stab the tree with an iron knife. Then you passed out and we set up camp for the storm to pass. That was a few hours ago." Seamus finished.

Harry, however, had stopped listening near the beginning. At a single name that had haunted his nightmares since he was a baby. He stared at the sullen man still supporting his back with a sense of terror. Before he even knew what he was doing, Harry pushed against him, and crawled backward as quickly as he could until his back was pressed hard to a tree.

"S-Sir-Sirius B-Black!" Trembling, the boy fumbled for his wand, realizing belatedly that it was on a log next to Gunter, who seemed to be happily oblivious to the urgency of the situation.

Black raised his hands in a calming gesture, showing that he had no weapon. "I know the stories you must have heard, but I'm not going to hurt you, Harry." The words seemed to have no effect on the boy, so Black stood and backed up a few steps, still keeping his whole body where Harry could see it.

Seamus stepped closer to his king, and knelt so that the two were at eye level, "Sirius doesn't even have a wand, Your Majesty. If he had wanted to do something to you, he could have let you fall, and even then, he has had 4 hours to harm you. I even sneaked some Veritaserum from Snape and his story checks out. I have some more if you'd like to see for yourself." Black nodded his consent from his place near the turning meat. Something about the criminal's tightened features made Harry want to believe him. He almost seemed physically pained by Harry's fear of him. And, really, Seamus' logic made sense, if Black had wanted to hurt him, it's not like he hadn't had opportunities. Harry resolved to at least check with the Veritaserum before coming to a conclusion. With a sigh, the king nodded weakly. At the gesture, however slight, a grin rushed onto Black's face for what seemed to be the first time in years. Seamus pulled a vial with the clear potion from his pocket, and directed Black to sit against a tree. Getting to his feet, Harry darted over to Gunter, grabbed his wand, and let it come to a rest pointed at Black's heart.

"Incarcerous." Immediately, thick ropes wound themselves around the man, securing him to the tree.

"Your Maje-" Seamus started to protest.

"It's fine," Black interrupted, "If this is what he feels he needs to be safe, it's fine."

Harry kept his face hardened as he evaluated Black's response. It seemed heartfelt, as though he had no reservations. He had no wand, Harry could knock him out and bring him back to the castle for a Kiss, and the criminal would be able to do nothing. Yet, he didn't seem scared. Black was knowingly, willingly, putting his very existence in Harry's hands, and he didn't even bat an eye. Despite his best attempts, the young king couldn't quench the warm feeling in his chest after this realization. I'll figure out what's going on. He vowed.

"Would you like me to administer the potion, Your Majesty?" Seamus' voice brought Harry back to the situation at hand. With a sharp nod, Harry refocused on the man in front of him.

"Eight drops." He ordered.

Seamus' brow creased as he looked at Harry, but Black interrupted before he could protest.

"Do it. He needs to be sure. I'll be fine."

Black opened his mouth to accept the potion, and Seamus allowed the eight drops to fall on his tongue. Black's mouth had barely closed before the tension was released from his body. Harry took a deep breath, and began the interrogation.

"What's your name?" Seamus looked at him oddly, "What? I'm being cautious." Harry defended himself.

"Sirius Black."

"What house are you in?"

"Gryffindor."

Harry needed something that only the real Sirius Black would know to verify his identity.

"What was you group called in Hogwarts, and what was your nickname in that group?

"The Marauders called me Padfoot." It's him. Harry wasn't sure whether that was a good thing.

"Why are you here?"

"To protect you." Now that give Harry pause.

"What do you mean?"

"You're in danger. I protect you." Maybe it was just the potion, but Black said it like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"Why?"

"You're my godson. I would rather die than let you get hurt." Harry's breath quickened.

"But you betrayed my parents."

"No."

"Weren't you the secret keeper for James and Lily Potter?"

"No, Peter Pettigrew was."

Harry paused. That wasn't right. "What?"

"I persuaded your parents to use Peter instead of me, thought it'd be the least obvious choice and make them safer."

"Who else knew about this?"

"James, Lily, and myself."

"Then why didn't they have you exonerated?"

"I don't know."

"Were you ever a servant of You-Know-Who?"

Sirius gained some fervor to answer this question, "Never!"

"Then what happened on the night of October 31st, 1981?"

"I was scheduled to check on Peter that night. He wasn't in his hideout, and there were no signs of a struggle. Something wasn't right, so I rushed to your house. By the time I got there, the house was already in ruins and James and Lily were unconscious. Chris was sitting in your crib, laughing, and you had your scar. After I made sure that you all were going to get medical attention, I began to look for Peter. I realized what he'd done ... what I'd done. I didn't know what was going to happen, so I never said goodbye." Black had nearly choked up by the end, with the potion quite likely the only thing keeping him talking. Harry's head was spinning. He wasn't sure what to think, so he just kept talking.

"And you killed him." It wasn't a question.

"No."

"Explain."

"I cornered Peter on a muggle street in London. Before I could do anything, he shouted that I had betrayed Lily and James for the whole street to hear. Then he blew up the street, including his own finger, transformed, and disappeared into the sewer. I didn't fight when the Ministry found me, because I thought James and Lily would get me out. After being thrown in Azkaban with no trial, I waited for them to do something, but after a while, I gave up on that hope. I guessed that they must have sustained memory damage, and by then, it was too late." Harry stepped back. This ... this wasn't right, but at the same time, Harry couldn't help believing him.

"How did you escape Azkaban?"

Black paused. "I don't know how I did it," he said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me, but it kept me sane and knowing who I am ... helped me keep my powers so when it all became too much I could transform in my cell, become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know." He swallowed. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions. They could tell that my feelings were less human, less complex when I was a dog but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand...

"But then I saw Peter in that picture with your Seneschals I realized he was at Hogwarts with you, perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again... ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies... and to deliver the Potter's to them. If he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors.

"So you see, I had to do something, I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive.

"It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it. It wasn't a happy feeling - it was an obsession, but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog. It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions and they were confused. I was thin, very thin, thin enough to slip through the bars. I swam as a dog back to the mainland. I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I tried to sneak into Gryffindor to put an end to Peter once and for all." Black paused again, eyes searching pleadingly through Harry's face. "I never betrayed your parents, Harry. I would have died before I betrayed them." A lump had appeared in Harry's throat during the monologue, and hot tears burned trails down his face. He believed him. He truly believed that Black- no, Sirius- was trying to help him. Really cared about him. Him, Harry, not just the crown. Harry hadn't realized how much he needed that until he had it. His voice cracked as he spoke.

"What will you do now?"

"Get you back to the castle safely, then kill Peter."

"Do you know where to find him?"

"He seems to have become the pet of a Weasley, so likely Gryffindor Tower."

"A pet? You mean Scabbers?!" Harry couldn't believe his ears. Ron's rat had been sick since Sirius escaped, but the idea that he could be Peter Pettigrew was crazy.

"I don't know his name, but yes, if it's a rat." The potion seemed to be wearing off, now, but Harry still had one last question to ask.

"Do you care about me, or the crown?"

Sirius smiled. "I am loyal to you as my king, but I care about you, Harry. And I wish I could have been there for you for the past 14 years as well, but I hope you will let me make it up to you now." Harry nodded in acceptance, a teary smile adorning his face, and Sirius's own grin seemed to come out of hiding once again. And with that, the potion wore of and he collapsed against the tree, out cold from exhaustion.

And then, of course (because why should Harry get any form of rest or time to process any of what he'd just learned), the forest around them was filled with noise, and Harry realized that they were surrounded.

How'd I do? Please review with your thoughts!

See you soon,

Magmia