A/N: Please read and review! Thank you!
The stormy rain reflected his current emotions.
Pettigrew was missing.
Sirius's heart beat in trepidation, fearing the worst. He immediately hopped onto his motorcycle, and switched on the engine. The motorcycle roared with life and flew towards Godric's Hollow.
As he flew, Sirius kept telling himself it everything was fine, that nothing could happen. But deep down inside, he suspected. Peter Pettigrew was one of his friends, and he knew how timid he was. Did he deflect to Voldemort, out of fear, even if it meant the betrayal of his friends? He shouldn't have trusted him, allowing him to become the secret-keeper.
The roar of the thunder made his body jolt. A flash of lightning followed, illuminating the scene in front of him.
It was all too late.
James was lying still on the floor, the pale skin and lifeless eyes hinting the worst.
"No, no, no, no, no!"
His legs gave way. With trembling hands, he pressed his fingers on his neck, desperately hoping to feel his pulse. There was none.
A grief-stricken howl came out of him, unable to believe his best mate was dead.
"Lily… What about Lily? And Harry?"
He got up, trying to shake away his grief and muster up all his strength to walk up the stairs. The stairs creaked noisily as he made his way slowly, every step filled with suspense and dread.
The entrance of the room seemed like the usual. It was as if the horrible nightmare didn't happen, and Sirius could imagine Lily hugging and kissing her son, like always, when he walked into the room.
But having seen James's body, he knew that was impossible. He dreaded what awaited him, knowing that this night might haunt his nightmares for years to come.
Nearing the room, he could hear a baby crying, and that relieved him immensely, for it meant Harry was alive.
Then, Lily?
Stepping in the room, he had his answer. Like James, she lay in front of the cot, unmoving and emerald eyes dull.
The only thing keeping him from breaking down on the spot was Harry's cries, a reminder that not all hope was lost. He gingerly took out Harry from the cot, hugging him closely in his arms. The warmth of Harry seemed to isolate him from the cold, brutal reality.
Surprisingly Harry was staring at him with his mother's eyes, not crying any longer. A warm, fuzzy feeling awoke within Sirius, the desire to protect this child.
"James! Wha's this?!" A gruff cry, followed by a wail from below startled him. The voice sounded familiar.
Sirius peeked down the steps to see Hagrid hunching over James, body trembling in grief.
Not being very stealthy about it, the creak of the first step he took immediately alerted Hagrid to his presence.
"Who's there?!" Hagrid yelled, eyes narrowing, trying to make out in the darkness, wand pointing at the staircase. "If it's yer, Sirius, yeh better reveal yehself!"
"Whoa, whoa, wait." Sirius shouted back, "Harry is here with me, so don't do anything stupid!"
"Harry? Harry's alive?" Hagrid's eyes widened, filling with hope when he saw Harry in Sirius's arms. He lowered his wand and wiped his face streaked with tears on one sleeve. "Lily… What about Lily?" He asked hopefully.
The expression on Sirius face told Hagrid all he had to know.
"Lily… Oh the kind Lily…" He wept, tears flowing once more. "Black… How dare yer betray them?" He said between sobs that violently racked his whole body.
"I didn't." Sirius said solemnly, "Though the fault lies with me... If I hadn't, at that time…" He squeezed out painfully, face contorting with emotions.
As if sensing Sirius's pain, Harry placed one hand on Sirius cheek, comforting him. Wide-eyed and speechless at Harry's action, Sirius managed to calm himself down.
Peter had to pay for his actions, but he withheld the urge to go after him. Right now, protecting Harry was more important. The Dark Lord had somehow or another failed to kill Harry. There was no doubt he would strike again.
"Would yeh give Harry to me?" Hagrid extended out his burly-looking arms, wanting to take Harry out of Sirius's arms.
Sirius swiftly avoided his hands, turning his body away from him. "What do you think you're doing?" He threatened in a voice low and menacing.
Hagrid seemed shocked at Sirius's behaviour, face quickly arranging to keep his fearful expression down. "It's… It's because I had orders, from Dumbledore… to bring Harry, if alive to him."
"Dumbledore…" He was the one who had proposed the Fidelius Charm, and also their professor whom Lily and James trusted a lot. However, Sirius was not one to take orders simple-mindedly. "Where did he instruct to bring Harry to?"
"That's…" Hagrid wavered a while, but Sirius gaze compelled him to answer. "Lily's sister. They're muggles, but they're able to protect Harry using blood wards."
"Lily's sister… Petunia?" Sirius's brows furrowed together, and searched his memory. He remembered Lily mentioning about Petunia avoiding her due to magic, occasionally sending snide remarks of how a freak she was, that she wasn't normal. Their relationship had drifted off, Lily never mentioning Petunia again once they had graduated from Hogwarts.
Hearing Dumbledore's plans for Harry, Sirius sure as hell didn't want Harry to end up there.
"I was named his godfather. I'll take him into custody – not Petunia." He proclaimed, eyes flashing strongly. Hagrid swore he saw a bit of red in those black eyes of his. Fearful of him, Hagrid stepped back a few steps.
And while Hagrid stood there dumbly, Sirius took off to the sky with Harry in his arms, leaving Hagrid to look helplessly at his back.
…
Dumbledore's idea of using blood wards had gave him an idea. Magic that used blood was often powerful, and most of the time, irreversible. To protect Harry, he would give him his blood that was spelled to make Harry become his real son, a blood bond of sorts.
Sirius prepared himself for the pain and slit his wrist in one deep gash, pouring his blood into a cup. Once there was an appropriate amount, he healed his wound, and picked up his wand, flitting around in complicated motions.
The blood glowed once, before returning to its original state, an indication that the spell was done. Sirius carefully poured into a baby bottle and fed it to Harry who drank it all at once.
Once emptied, the spell immediately had its effect. Harry's appearance was slightly altered to become more aristocratic. Basically, with sharper features.
Sirius could not contain his joy having seen Harry's transformation. Harry was now his real child, and his only heir.
Years passed with Sirius raising Harry outside of Britain, not wanting Harry to be exposed to his fame that was too much for a young child. Due to being under blood wards, not even Dumbledore had found out where they lived. The Black Family had many mansions under their name, after all.
The day that the Hogwarts letter arrived in post, Sirius determined that it was time to tell Harry about the identity of his previous parents, and the fame he was likely to receive. The wizarding world literally treated him as their saviour, despite the fact that he was barely one year old when he defeated you-know-who.
Harry looked at him with incredulous eyes, gaping as he tried to process what he had just heard.
"So I'm the boy-who-lived?" He spoke difficultly, unable to wrap his mind around it. "Why are you only telling this to me now, dad?" He spoke in a frustrated tone, brows furrowing deeply. Despite the anger shown on his face, it could not destroy his prominent looks that could easily make a girl fall for him.
Sirius smiled wryly, ruffling Harry's black hair, and Harry's anger dissipated in a flash. He hated how his dad did it so easily, but seeing his father's guilty expression, he couldn't fault it against him – he was weak to only father in this world, after knowing his previous parents had died.
"It's time for you to go out to the world." From his pocket, he held up the letter between his fingers, "This is the Hogwarts acceptance letter, the school I've always talked about."
Harry's emerald eyes twinkled in anticipation. He had always heard about his dad talking about the fun he had during his school period, and could not wait to start school. Being tutored in the mansion was interesting, but he did not have any close age companions.
"I know you're excited, but remember these few things – I don't forbid you from flouting the rules, but don't get caught." He winked, remembering his Marauder days, causing Harry to laugh. His parent was cool with such things, different from the others.
"Next off, whenever Voldemort is concerned, be cautious. If things are out of your hands, ask for help – be it your friends or professors. Hell, even Snape. I heard he had become one of the professors." He said, scrunching up his face, "Though he might still harbour a bit of a grudge from our old days…"
"Your fault, dad." Harry was quick to point that out.
Sirius rubbed the back of his head, displaying a bit of sheepishness. "I know, I know… I'll apologise to him when I have the chance. The last, but not the least…"
"Is our vampirism, right?" Harry cut in, rolling his eyes in desperation. "I know that already. Since young you've been telling me that I cannot tell my tutors about it…"
"Why did I always tell you that?" Sirius questioned seriously, testing his son of his knowledge.
Harry sighed and the words rolled off his tongue easily, proof that he was confident of his answer.
"Because we Vampires are different from humans. We possess speed, power, and highly effective blood magic that others cannot have."
However, glancing back to his dad, Sirius looked unsatisfied with the answer.
"That's only half correct. Think. Our weakness?"
Harry thought for a while, wrecking his head for an answer. "Is there any? Blood?"
Sirius nodded, satisfied. "That's right, our craving for blood. Vampires have been shunned because of their lust for blood, and also their indiscriminate attacks on the innocent humans for centuries. But the Black Family is different. Due to our powerful magic flowing through our blood, we are able to control our craving to a certain extent."
Vampires like them only need a few pints of blood every three months before they go hungry.
The next moment Sirius grinned widely, his fangs showing indiscriminately. A red lustre was in his eyes. "What if there was blood, lots of blood…" He raised his hands, sweeping over the room in an imaginary bloody scene, a litter of corpses on the floor. "Even if it were us, think of the consequence if we were to be exposed directly to large amounts of blood."
An alarmed expression showed on Harry's face. "So that means… if we're exposed to large amounts of blood, we'll go berserk?"
"Berserk… Yes, that might be one way of how you can describe it." Sirius laughed wryly. "We lose all reason, leaving only the primal urge to consume the blood. And in that state, we're particularly vulnerable, relying only on our instincts. Wizards can just off us with one spell – Avada Kedarva."
A shiver ran down Harry's spine hearing the chant of the killing curse. "That's…" He found himself speechless. Never did he think that being a Vampire was a disadvantage. Rather, he did like the benefits it gave, enjoying his more than normal speed walking from place to place.
Sirius gave a small smile, understanding what Harry was thinking. "But you need not worry that much. That situation only occurs if they want to corner a vampire. In reality, it's hard to do so. With our speed, we can escape before the scent of blood hit us, so the worse-case scenario hardly occurs. Still, better to be safe than sorry."
"Got it dad, I won't let others discover my identity." Harry etched it those words in mind.
"Good boy~" Sirius grinned roguishly, ruffling Harry's raven hair, giving him a messy bed-hair look. "My pup has grown up." He sighed, remembering the times when Harry was a cute toddler with rosy cheeks and bright eyes that could barely walk.
…
"How nostalgic." Sirius glanced around Diagon Alley, taking in the changes since he had last been here.
Guiding Harry to buy his school materials, they first went to the apothecary, before visiting Quality Quidditch Supplies. When Harry saw the Nimbus 2001 that was on display, he immediately dragged Sirius, demanding for it.
It was the first time seeing his son wanting something – he was indeed James child.
"You know, if you weren't allowed to play Quidditch for the first year, I'll get you this broom." Sirius said in consolation.
"I appreciate the thought." Harry said glumly, unable to tear his eyes off the broom, sighing. "Then, next year?" He turned his hopeful gaze towards his father.
"I'll get you the new model then."
That perked up Harry's mood. "It's a promise."
Only after a few minutes of Harry admiring the broom, Sirius was finally able to drag Harry to the next store, Flourish and Blotts to buy his books. The next store was Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
Upon entering the store, Harry was hit with the presence of an enticing individual who made his mouth water.
"Dad." Harry looked at Sirius who was glancing into the shop, taking note of the blonde hair and hoping he was not who he thought it was. "He smells quite delicious." He could hardly stop the drool coming out from his mouth.
Sirius froze comically.
"Dad?" Harry tilted his head questioningly. Sirius unfroze, mind whirling of the complication it meant.
He managed to keep a nonchalant expression. "Bear it. Come on, let's go in."
The blonde turned his head in their direction, and Sirius felt faint. From his looks, he could tell he resembled Lucius Malfoy – and that meant only one thing. Luckily, Lucius was not here, or else…
Sirius shut his thoughts off, not wanting to deal with it for now.
"Hello." Harry spoke first with a bright expression to the blonde-haired boy who was around his age. "Are you going to Hogwarts too?"
"Yes." The boy looked surprised, glancing between Harry and Sirius. "You must come from a pure-blooded family. Those are some tailor made robes from Shelly's; my family occasionally have their robes tailored from them too."
From the way he talked, he seemed to look highly on their appearance. Harry supposed it was a good starting point.
Madam Malkin seemed startled hearing Shelly's, face expressing her dissatisfaction while fitting Harry. He supposed Shelly was her competitor.
"I'm Harry Black. What's yours?" It was common courteously to introduce oneself first, Harry had learnt.
"Harry?" The blonde knitted his brows. "I don't suppose it's that famous Harry Potter?" He sneered, a hint of displeasure oozing out when he said the name. "I'm Draco Malfoy."
Regarding Draco's reaction when he said the name, Harry didn't mind it. In fact, he felt it was better if he admit straight up before things became complicated.
"Actually I am. My surname was changed because I was adopted by my godfather."
Beside him, Sirius's jaw dropped, unable to believe that Harry actually said it straight out.
Back at Malfoy, his mouth hung open unsightly, eyes bulging out for a second. However, he immediately recomposed his features, benefiting of a distinguished family of high pride.
"You're a half-blood." Voice containing venom, his eyes narrowed into slits, a complete contrast to the modest behaviour he displayed just a second ago.
Harry shook his head.
"Technically two-thirds." A small smile formed on his lips, as if mocking him.
Staring at Harry like daggers, Draco had a rising urge to wipe the complacent smile off his face.
"Two-thirds?" Draco sneered back. "That doesn't matter. You're not a pure-blood."
"Does that really matter? All that matters is how powerful one is. If supposedly someone not of pure-blood beat someone of pureblood, the pureblood standings would be lost, and that pureblood would be mocked and teased by the others." Harry's lips curled up tauntingly.
Draco's eyes narrowed.
"You think I can't beat you? Don't underestimate the Malfoy family. Our family has many ancient magic that has been passed down for centuries."
Harry mocked laughed, not at all fazed by Draco's words.
"You won't even have the chance to do that." As soon as those words left his mouth, Draco realized that Harry already disappeared from his view.
Feeling a sense of unease, Draco immediately tried to look for Harry's figure.
"I'm here." A voice whispered into his ear, and a hand gripped down on his arm that was reaching out for his wand. Shocked, Draco quickly retreated from his position.
Draco was certain he never felt his heart beating so fast before.
"Y-You…" Unable to form a proper sentence, he took several deep breaths to calm down while being on guard for any other movements from Harry.
"Don't need to be so tense, I won't do anything else." Harry waved his hands nonchalantly. "So, now do you understand the words I said?"
Furrowing his brows, Draco thought back to how Harry could just appear behind him without any warning. Not only that, Harry had even stopped him from using his wand. A slight chill went down his spine. This meant that magic was useless in front of him, especially when Harry was able to incapacitate any wizard before they could perform magic.
"I admit defeat." Seeing how Harry demonstrated his abilities, Draco knew he was powerless against him, unless he learnt wandless magic or methods to retreat quickly.
"Not bad." Harry for the first time smiled genuinely, surprising Draco. "You know when to admit defeat. And do you know your weakness now?"
Draco reluctantly nodded, before his gaze turned serious. "I'm not going to take this lying down. Be prepared."
"I'm ready anytime." Harry said helplessly at Draco's determination. He could probably guess that for the rest of the time before school starts, Draco would probably be polishing up skills to counter against him.