Author's Note: Hello all! Here is another installment to my story. And I will admit, being a guy and all (lol), that I had tears coming down my eyes while I was writing this. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this new chapter. And please review. It is a joy to hear from readers and their comments. And I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! :)
BTW, I know I did not mention it at the top of the first chapter, but I do not own Harry Potter or its characters. That would be the awesome and creative Jo Rowling.
Ch.2
"The Pensieve"
Silence reigned in Dumbledore's office the moment Harry left the room. Dumbledore sat at his desk, still staring at the door that Harry went through. He then shifted his gaze to where Sirius sat. Hunched over in his seat, Sirius had his hand up to his eyes, keeping Dumbledore from seeing his face. All that went through Sirius's mind was how little time he and Harry had spent together: holding Harry in the hospital, looking down at those green eyes that were so Lily. He remembered watching Harry riding the toy broomstick around James and Lily's house, smiling at the one year old as he yelped for joy. And then, he remembered that night, of hearing that his best friend and wife were dead, of being taken to Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit, of realizing that the one person who needed him had to live now with people who hated him. The tears were gradually coming down Sirius's face, still hidden from Dumbledore's view.
Dumbledore continued to stare at Sirius with a sad smile. Then, breaking the silence, Dumbledore asked, "Sirius, are you okay?"
Sirius finally looked up at Dumbledore, tears coming down more frequently. He could not find words that adequately expressed how he felt at this moment. All he could do was look at Dumbledore with a sad face and have tears continue to fall down. Then, as if words found their way to his mouth, Sirius spoke, "Wha-How-Why- Why does it have to be this way? I mean, Dumbledore, he's only 15. For all intents and purposes, he's my little boy. I made a promise to my best friend and his wife that I'd look after their son. What am I supposed to do now? Just watch him die?"
Dumbledore looked at Sirius once more, then stood up, and walked over to the cabinet. Sirius watched and wondered what Dumbledore was doing. He then saw Dumbledore pull out a big basin, turn around, and walk with it back to his desk. Instead of sitting down, however, he continued onward around his desk and away from it. He walked over to the window, peered out over the now sunlit grounds by the morning sun, and then asked, "Sirius, when you first met Harry, in the Shrieking Shack that is, what were your first thoughts of him?"
The tears stopped, and Sirius looked around to Dumbledore. He was now confused. What kind of question is that? Of everything that Sirius had just said, Dumbledore chooses to ask that question. Sirius sat there, going back to that moment, trying to figure out how he felt when he saw his godson all grown-up.
After a few minutes, as if a light bulb had just lit up in his head, he looked back up to Dumbledore, and said, "The first thing I thought when I saw Harry was that he looked very much like James. Except for his eyes. Lily's eyes. Then I thought that he not only looked like James, but he also acted like him. Acted out of anger, inquisitive. But, when me and Remus were about to kill Pettigrew, he stopped us and said to let him have the Dementor's Kiss. Like Lily, he is kind but firm. Then, the last thing I thought was how unbelievably brave he was, like James and Lily, and me too. But then, I also thought about how much he's had to go through without me, and I swear, it took all I had to remain strong and not break down in front of him. He's strong, he's filled with courage, and he puts others before himself. He doesn't want much."
Sirius finished and continued to look at Dumbledore watching the world outside. At last, Dumbledore turned around and smiled. He began to walk back to his desk, took his seat, and placed each arm beside the Pensieve. Sirius turned back around in his chair, facing Dumbledore, wondering what the point to all this was. Finally, Dumbledore said, "Your exactly right, Sirius. That was the whole point I wanted you to see. Harry is brave. He is brave because of everything that he's gone through. Even here at Hogwarts, I've watched him as he dealt with those who were not so kindly to him. Granted, he did get into trouble, but he knew from the start how to defend himself. He knew how to stand up for himself and for his friends. All because of what he went through, Harry knew what to do."
Taking it all in, Sirius simply sat there. He never looked at it from that perspective. His godson was strong. He was able to take care of himself when it came to confrontation. Sirius nodded his head, in agreement with what Dumbledore said. After a few moments of silence, Sirius said, "You're right, Albus. I just never saw it that way. I think I still picture him as that little newborn lying in my arms, looking up at me, while James stood nearby."
Dumbledore couldn't help but smile now. Then, as if it just hit him, Dumbledore stood up and went over to a glass cabinet. Inside it were little, small phials with a silvery white substance in them. Sirius recognized them as phial containing memories, most of them probably Dumbledore's. Dumbledore searched for one phial in particular. Once he found it, he exclaimed, "Aaah, there it is!" grabbed it from near the back, and returned with it to his seat. He set it down beside the Pensieve and looked up at Sirius, who had a very perplexed look on his face.
Dumbledore said, "Well, Sirius, as independent as Harry is to us, we cannot go on thinking that he is entirely independent. Indeed, Harry still has more growing up to do, and he is going to need us both, especially you, there alongside him."
Sirius nodded once again his agreement with Dumbledore. There was no way now that Sirius was leaving, not when Harry needed him the most. Sirius remembered his and James' years at Hogwarts, and while they were the best years of his life, they also felt like an emotional roller-coaster. Harry, Sirius knew, was headed into his own roller-coaster, not just with Voldemort but also with life.
Dumbledore stared at Sirius, glad to see he understood everything. Then, out of nowhere, Dumbledore asked, "Sirius, how far are you willing to go to protect Harry?"
Once again, Sirius looked taken aback by the question. Why was Dumbledore asking this? Had he not been clear before on how far he was willing to go for Harry? Without giving this any thought at all, Sirius said, "Albus, I would go to any means necessary to protect him. I do not want to lose him."
Dumbledore stared, smiling evermore at Sirius's devotion. However, the smile soon faded and was replaced by a sad face. Sirius grew confused again, wondering why the change of expression. As if he was using Legilimency, Dumbledore proceeded to say what the whole meeting was about, "Sirius, the time is coming fast when protecting Harry by his side will be an impossibility."
Sirius grew even more confused and anxious at what Dumbledore was trying to say. Seeing the look on his face, Dumbledore continued, "Sirius, the time is coming when Voldemort will begin to hunt Harry. And when he does, he will also go after those closest to him, like you. That is why, when the time comes, you will need to go into hiding once more."
When those words left Dumbledore's mouth, Sirius's eyes bulged out; he stood up from his chair, and exclaimed, "Not bloody likely! I am not leaving his side, no matter what!"
Dumbledore, calm as ever, looked up into Sirius's eyes and saw the panic and concern. He continued, "Sirius, do you love Harry?"
"More than anything else in this world, Albus."
"Then, like any good and loving parent, sometimes you have to let them go. You have to let them go and do what they are meant to do."
Sirius stared long and hard at Dumbledore. At one point, he sat back down in the chair, turned his eyes to the floor, hunched over, elbows on his knees. Being honest with himself, he knew that Dumbledore was right. He sat back up and leaned back in his chair. He sighed heavily and nodded, accepting what must come to pass.
Responding with a nod, Dumbledore stood up, grabbed the phial, and uncorked it. Looking at Sirius, he said, "However, there is a way that you can protect him from afar. If you would please, Sirius, stand."
Doing as he was asked, Sirius stood, unsure of what was happening. Dumbledore emptied the contents of the phial into the basin. As they swirled around, Dumbledore said, "After you."
Sirius stepped forward to the Pensieve, bent low over it, and plunged his face into the basin. Immediately, he felt his feet leave the floor, falling through space, and then landing on the floor of a room that he had been in many times in the past.
It was the Potters' living room of where they lived in Godric's Hollow. As Sirius's eyes scanned the room, he felt tears begin to form. He, and now Dumbledore who landed right beside him, stood in a corner of the room by a couch. There were two couches, on opposite walls of the room, with a coffee table in between. A fireplace stood at the far end of the room from where they stood, with sliding doors on the other, on Sirius and Dumbledore's right. A television set stood on the left side of the fireplace. A much younger Dumbledore was on the couch nearest them, apparently waiting for something. Then, two sets of footsteps were heard outside of the room, drawing closer. Suddenly, two people appeared in the doorway that made Sirius immediately stifle a sob: James and Lily.
Lily walked over to the couch opposite the younger Dumbledore, while James closed the doors, an antennae sticking out of his back pocket. Once he closed the doors, he pulled on the antennae and out came a baby monitor. He walked over to Lily, sat down beside her, and grabbed her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. After looking at her for a second, James then turned to the younger Dumbledore and said, "Thanks for coming, Albus. We really needed to talk to you."
"Anytime, you two. Anytime. How's Harry, Lily?" he asked her.
She smiled brightly, obviously proud of her son. "He walked today, Albus. For the first time! Right into James' arms!"
James beamed at those words, proud of his son. Sirius took one look at his best friend and could not hold the tears that wanted to burst forth. His legs became like rubber, and he had to grab onto Dumbledore's shoulder to keep from falling to the floor sobbing.
James looked at Lily again, who then gave him a nod. He sighed deeply, looked to the floor for a moment, and then back up to Dumbledore.
"Albus, we've been discussing things about the future. In case Lily and I don't make it. As far as everything we have, materially, it goes to Harry. But," his voice breaking, "as far as Harry goes…" He looked away from Dumbledore and Lily. He couldn't stand the thought of him possibly having to leave his son. He squeezed Lily's hand to continue, as he wiped away the tears that were falling down his cheeks.
Lily continued, "As far as Harry goes, we do not want him at my sister's. We want Sirius to take him. Not just as his legal guardian, but we want him to adopt Harry. If something happens and we can't be here for Harry, we…"
Her voice was breaking as well and trailing off. James squeezed her hand, and she dug her face into his shoulder. James continued for her, with more confidence now, "If we can't be here for our son, then we want Sirius to be. Not just as a guardian, but as his parent. I trust my best friend that he'll never let our memories, if we don't make it, be forgotten by our son."
At these words from his best friend, Sirius completely and utterly lost it. He fell to the floor, on his knees, hands over his eyes, crying. Lucky for them, silence filled the room as James began to have tears fall down his face again. Once Sirius calmed down, he wiped the rest of his tears and stood back up. Then, the younger Dumbledore asked, "So, you want me, when the time is right, to perform one of the most ancient pieces of magic there is: adoption?"
James looked up at Dumbledore with the most pleading look and replied, "Yes."
Dumbledore sat there on the couch, pondering a few things. Finally, he said smiling, "Of course I will. It is very advanced, the potion, and the spell just as equally, but I can do it."
Dumbledore smiled as James and Lily rose to hug Dumbledore. Meanwhile, the present Dumbledore put his hand on Sirius' shoulder, and said, "We're done." Both of them rose through darkness once again and landed back in Dumbledore's office. Sirius continued to sniff and wipe away tears from his eyes, while Dumbledore picked up the Pensieve and took it back over to the cabinet. Sirius sat back down, wiping away remaining tears.
"I'm so sorry I fell apart; I just couldn't hold it in when I saw him smile like that."
Dumbledore walked back over to his desk and sat down. He smiled at Sirius once more, and then said, "It's all right. You miss him. Both of them."
He paused for a moment, giving Sirius the chance to make his vision of Dumbledore clear again. "Both of you do."
Sirius smiled at him, knowing that he meant him and Harry. Suddenly, it all began to sink in. "So, by my adopting Harry, according to the ancient magic, I'll be able to protect him?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes. When Harry is in danger, the magic will let you know where he is. You will have two options: go and help him, or, if it's too risky, perform magic to keep him safe. I'll teach you the spell."
Sirius nodded and said, "Okay."
Silence reigned in the office once more. Sirius was thinking. Apparently, he was smiling, for Dumbledore asked a few minutes later, "What is making you so happy?"
"It was good to see them, alive, even if it was just a memory."
Dumbledore smiled widely, and then whispered, "I know, I know." Silence prevailed for another minute or so, and then Sirius stood up and said, "I think I'm going to go see my boy, now, if that's alright with you? I just need to be with him right now."
Dumbledore nodded, and said, "Yes. I think that sounds like a good idea."
Sirius smiled, nodded at Dumbledore, and turned around to walk to the door. As he reached his hand for the handle, it suddenly struck Sirius: he didn't know the password to enter Gryffindor Tower.
Turning around to face Dumbledore, Dumbledore had his answer ready, as Sirius looked at him with a pleading face, "Fortis, Sirius. That's the password. It means brave".
Sirius nodded and smiled. He said, "Thanks, Albus," and turned back to the door. Before he stepped out, though, Sirius heard Dumbledore call after him, "Sirius?!"
He stepped back in and looked at Dumbledore, who said, "Along with asking Harry about the adoption and telling him that you are a free man, I would also ask of you to tell him that he must go back to his aunt and uncle's this summer, only for a little while though."
When Dumbledore finished, Sirius had a disheartened look on his face. He was hoping that Dumbledore would allow Harry to leave the Dursleys once and for all and begin to live with him. However, as Sirius looked past Dumbledore's half-moon glasses and into his eyes, he soon realized that Harry's return to the Dursleys one last time was necessary. Letting out a heavy sigh once more, Sirius nodded to Dumbledore, smiled, and walked out the door, shutting it behind him.
