Chapter One: Two Weeks
Two weeks, just two weeks. This thought was the only thing keeping Harry from losing his mind. It had become his mantra. Two weeks. Just two more weeks.
In two weeks he would be leaving the Dursleys' for good. In just two weeks he would be going to live with his godfather. A home with his godfather. It was a dream come true but the wait was killing him. Dumbledore had contacted the Dursleys shortly before the end of term to inform them that Harry would soon be leaving them for good although he would need to spend the first week of summer with them until he came of age to renew the protection his mother's sacrifice had given him.
Harry was more than willing to agree to that as long as he could live with Sirius. Even if it meant he had to spend a week with the Dursleys' every summer. Besides, Sirius had already promised to spend that he would spend week with him and this lifted his spirits considerably though he wasn't entirely sure his aunt and uncle had been informed of this. And Harry had no intention of telling them, why should he ruin the surprise? Although Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were thrilled to finally be rid of him, they were less than thrilled about being contacted by someone in the wizarding world, especially after what happened with Aunt Marge last summer. They were even more horrified that in two weeks time a full fledged wizard would be descending on their home. And with the added strain the family was under due to Dudley's diet, Harry was doing all he could to avoid Dursleys unless absolutely necessary.
The Dursleys not only enjoyed this, they encouraged it. One afternoon, about three days into the summer holiday, the phone rang while Harry and the Dursleys were eating lunch. Sadly, meal times with his aunt and uncle were unavoidable. Eager to escape the, er, delicious meal of carrot and celery sticks, Uncle Vernon hurried to answer it. His booming voice carried all the way into the kitchen.
"Vernon Dursley speaking." After about a minute, Uncle Vernon's voice rang out from the living room. "You!" he barked at Harry. "In here. NOW." Feeling utterly bewildered, Harry left his food at Dudley's mercy and stepped into the other room.
Uncle Vernon was smiling rather maliciously as he thrust the phone into Harry's hand. "Oh you're in for it now boy," he said gleefully. Nothing made Uncle Vernon happier than Harry's misery. He practically skipped back into kitchen, closing the door behind him. Harry's confusion only increased ten-fold.
Who would be calling about him? He didn't even known anyone who used a telephone expect Hermione but after what happened with Ron last year she would have more sense than to call him. Harry tentatively pressed the phone to his ear. "Harry?" It took several moments for Harry to recognize the voice and when he did, he could barely believe it.
"Alexis!" Harry said in disbelief. "Not so loud," Alexis said in an almost amused voice. "You're blowing my cover; I told your uncle I was from library calling to collect four years worth of overdue book fines." It took self-control Harry didn't even know he had not to burst out laughing. "How did—why are you--"
"Dad was worried about you," Alexis said, cutting off Harry's stammering, "so I looked your aunt and uncle in the phonebook." "I thought wizards didn't use telephones," Harry said, barely able to contain his happiness. Sirius was worried about him. Someone was worried about him. Just like a parent.
"Some do," Alexis said simply. Harry could hear the faint din of people chatting in the background and wondered where Alexis was calling from. It sounded a bit like a shop. Harry remembered, vaguely, Alexis saying something in their first year during the Welcoming Feast that his aunt either owning or working in a shop of some sort. "So how are you? Are the Muggles treating you all right?" Alexis asked. "Same as ever," Harry replied.
"They've been too preoccupied with my cousin's diet to notice me much." There was so much Harry wanted to say, so much he wanted to apologize for. He just couldn't find the words. "Well, try and hang in there Harry, we're trying to speed things up as best we can," Alexis offered encouragingly. He truly sounded concerned and Harry felt ten-times worse.
"If you need anything at all send word with Hedwig, she'll know where to find us." "I will," Harry promised. "Stop running up the bill, boy!" Uncle Vernon bellowed from the kitchen. "I've got to go Alexis, tell Sirius I'm all right," Harry said quickly. "I will, take care of yourself Harry," Alexis said before the line went dead.
"I'm sorry," Harry said into the dead air. He held the phone for several more seconds before he hung it up and returned to the kitchen. Half his lunch was gone. Dudley shot him rather greedy smile across the table. Harry sighed heavily and bit into a carrot stick.
Two weeks, Harry told himself, just two more weeks.
After several hours of tantrums that shook the rafters, the house at Number Four, Privet Drive was at last silent. Dudley still had not quite accepted the fact that third and fourth deserts were not permitted by his new diet. The concept of being refused something by his tearful mother was also another unwelcome change the massive teen was having trouble adjusting to. But by the time darkness had fallen the house was still and all its residents were sound asleep. Well, most of its residents.
As soon as he was sure his relatives were sleeping soundly, Harry slipped silently from his bed, taking care to avoid making the floorboards creek as he knelt upon the floor. He slipped quietly beneath his bed, pausing to listen for any sign he had been overheard. When he was sure the Dursleys hadn't heard, he skillfully and quietly wrenched up the loose floorboard. Groping around in the darkness, Harry's fingers at last closed around the leather of one of his most prized possessions: a small album containing the precious few photographs he had of his parents. Harry sat on the floor with album on his lap, holding an old torch of Dudley's poised just high enough to illuminate the photos but not high enough that the light drifted into the hall.
But rather than looking carefully through the pages, greedily taking in every image of his mother and father as he did each night, Harry turned instead to the back of the album. When he was in the hospital wing recovering from his injuries after his encounter with Voldemort during his first year, Fred and George had gathered everyone in Gryffindor into the common room for a photo. After they had heard Hagrid was making an album for Harry, they felt it was only right he had a picture of his new housemates. Harry stared down the smiling, laughing faces of his classmates with a fond smile but there was one face in particular he was looking for. A face he had never bothered looking for or even given a second thought before now.
Alexis Black was perched on the arm of the chair where Lee Jordon was grinning madly, smiling slightly. His feet barely touched the ground. He looked uncomfortable, out of place. A part of the group yet separate. He'd probably only been in the picture because the twins asked him.
Fred and George had always seemed to get on well with Alexis. Keeping his finger on the page, Harry turned to the familiar picture of his parent's wedding. His bright emerald eyes sought out his godfather, standing beside his father and beaming with happiness. The Sirius in the photo was so different from the man Harry had met in the Shrieking Shack just a few weeks ago. His face was not emaciated or waxy but handsome and full of laughter.
Sirius seemed to light up when he was laughing and it looked as if he never stopped smiling. Seeing him like that, so young and full of life only made what Azkaban had done to him so much worse. Harry felt a stab of sorrow for his godfather who had suffered so terrible, so unjustly. He turned back to the photo of his classmates. Their smiles were exactly the same so much so that Harry was amazed he hadn't noticed before.
Alexis probably looked exactly like his father had at his age. Just like Harry looked like James. But the difference was, when people spoke of Harry's resemblance to his father it was with affection, even fondness. For Alexis however, it was with disdain and hatred. Harry felt a burning stab of guilt as he had thought the very same thing when he learned Sirius was his godfather.
Guilty by association. Tainted from birth. The murderer's son. He should've known better. He should've had the sense to know it was utter nonsense.
Harry sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes. How could you make up for something like that? How could you atone for treating someone like that? Someone who had never been anything but kind to you. Harry sighed again, leaning back against his bed and feeling as if his strength had suddenly deserted him.
He wouldn't be surprised if Alexis never forgave him. Harry wasn't sure he could forgive something like that if it happened to him. Sitting up slightly, Harry turned once more to his parent's wedding picture. For several moments he stared, unseeing at the smiling faces, lost in his own thoughts when his eyes found two familiar faces. Standing just over Sirius's shoulder was none other than Professor Lupin with an arm around Madam Black's shoulders.
Moving so quickly he nearly dropped the album; Harry lifted it to get a better look. Madam Black was just as beautiful then as she was now. She looked no older than Harry himself and stood beside Lupin smiling and laughing happily. He shifted his gaze to Lupin who's youthful albeit scarred face was filled with laughter. His hair was thicker, darker and he looked much less shabby than Harry had ever seen him.
They all looked so happy. Just like a real family. In spite of the sadness and the guilt he was feeling, Harry smiled to himself in the darkness. A real family.
In just two weeks Harry was finally going to have a real family.