Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters, stories, ideas, etc. The only thing that belongs to my in this story is my imagination.
Number 4 Privet Drive
The sun beat down heavily upon the two men that made their way down the street toward Number 4 Privet Drive. They looked like any other people on the street, except for the fact that their clothes seemed just slightly out of date, as if they had not been shopping recently. In actuality it was not that they had not been shopping recently, it was that they had not been shopping for Muggle clothing. You see they were not ordinary men, they were wizards. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were on Privet Drive for one reason and one reason only—to collect Harry Potter and bring him home.
Upon arriving at Number 4 Sirius impatiently began ringing the doorbell, over and over until the door was yanked open by a purple-faced Vernon Dursley.
"What is the meaning of this", Vernon snarled, glaring at the intruders.
Sirius curled his own lip back in disgust and was about to make an angry retort when Remus interfered, "We are here to talk about Harry, Mr. Dursley. May we come in?"
Vernon looked like he would like nothing better than to slam the door in their faces, but he knew that they were likely unnatural freaks like the boy and he didn't dare. He stepped aside and the two men followed him into the hallway.
"I'm Remus Lupin, one of Harry's former professors, we met earlier this summer and this is Sirius Black, Harry's godfather", Remus said politely.
"His godfather is dead", Vernon retorted sharply. "He wakes us up at all hours screaming about it and crying. You'd think he was an infant not a teenager. I won't have it in my house."
Sirius was torn between concern for Harry and the pain he was feeling and rage for the pompous arse standing in front of him.
"Well you won't have to worry about it anymore because as you can see I am not dead and Harry is coming to live with me. Professor Dumbledore will be by shortly to explain things to you. Until then I will just go help Harry with his things", Sirius spat out, gritting his teeth against the insults he wanted to throw at the man.
Sirius headed for the staircase and Remus remained behind with Vernon, knowing that Harry and Sirius deserved time to themselves for their reunion. Vernon began to shift nervously back and forth. Remus eyed him curiously, but made no further moves toward the man. Just as Remus opened his mouth to inquire as to why exactly Vernon was so nervous he was cut off by a panicked shout from upstairs.
"Remus!"
Sirius Black had opened the door to his godson's room, expecting to find the boy lying on his bed reading a book or simply doing nothing in the heat of the day. He had not expected to find a room with bars on the windows or five locks on the door. He was not expecting the dingy mattress with two dirty blankets and a flat pillow and he certainly wasn't expecting the room to be empty. Sirius felt fury rise in his throat as he stared at the room where his godson had been forced to live. No wonder the kid isn't in here, I think I would take my chances with the heat too if my room was this miserable.
As Sirius turned to leave the room and find Harry, whom he assumed must be outside somewhere to escape the dreariness of the bedroom, Sirius's strong nose caught a scent that made him whip his head toward the bed—blood. Sirius hurried across the room and examined the blankets and pillow on his godson's bed; they were covered with spots of blood. There were old and fresh stains, big and small. Enough of the marks were on the pillow for Sirius to conclude that Harry had been bleeding from the head multiple times. The largest stains on the bedding seemed fresh and Sirius was seized with panic. If Harry had been bleeding like this he wouldn't have simply wandered around the neighborhood for the day. Sirius felt a sinking sensation in his stomach when he remembered that no one had heard from Harry all summer. What did Dursley do to him? Sirius began to panic, he shouted for Remus as he ducked to look under the bed and then in the small closet, hoping against hope that he would find his godson.
Remus rushed up the stairs. He stopped dead the moment he entered the room, his werewolf senses allowed him to detect the overwhelming odor of blood almost immediately. What was worse was his sickening realization that the blood was a scent he knew—Harry's blood. One look at Sirius's frantic face told Remus all he needed to know and a quick scan of the room revealed that the teen was nowhere to be found. Suddenly Vernon's nervous shifting took on a whole new meaning to the wolf and with a snarl he stalked towards the stairs with a cry of "Dursley".
Vernon cowered against the wall as he was confronted by a furious and panic stricken Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.
"What did you do? Where is he? Tell me", Sirius ordered shaking with fury and fear.
"I told you I wouldn't tolerate the shouting in the night, he had to be taught a lesson", Vernon retorted, his arrogance only slightly diminished by his fear.
"So you beat him? You beat an innocent child because he has been having nightmares?" Remus was disgusted and horrified by the man in front of him.
"I'll ask you once more Dursley, where is my godson?" Sirius's voice shook with emotion and fury as he glared at Vernon down his wand arm.
"If you won't tell us we can always have a chat with your wife", Remus added menacingly.
"She isn't here, her and Dudders are away for the weekend, a mother-son bonding trip", Vernon sneered at Remus.
"Well if you don't tell me where Harry is then they will be doing a lot of bonding because there won't be a father in the picture anymore", Sirius said coldly.
Vernon gulped nervously and began to sweat, "He's out in the back, under the hedge".
"No", Sirius gasped his face going deathly white. He slumped down the wall shaking. Harry can't be dead. He is only a boy, he has survived so much—he can't die here because of his bloody uncle. Tears began to roll slowly down Sirius's face as he looked up at Remus with an utterly lost expression.
Remus felt the wolf in him tremble with rage; this useless muggle had dared to kill his cub. The pain was there but it was overshadowed by a deep, violent anger.
"You killed him, you killed Harry and I am going to kill you for it", Remus snarled raising his wand.
"No! No, he isn't dead. He was alive when I left him out there this morning. He was moaning on about not being able to get up and if he wasn't going to work in the yard he was at least spending the day out there", Vernon shouted going an interesting green color.
Sirius slowly blinked at the man. Alive? Sirius leapt to his feet and charged out of the house through the kitchen. Remus glared at Vernon and with a flash of red light the man crumpled unconscious to the floor. Remus hurried after Sirius but not until he had sent Patronuses to Tonks and Dumbledore asking the former to summon Madame Pomfrey to Grimmauld Place and the latter to deal with the muggle.
Sirius raced to the hedge with his heart in his throat, it stopped all together when he spotted the still form of his godson dressed in ratty, oversized blue pajamas lying under the hedge. He raced to his side and pulled the boy into his arms. One side of his face was swollen with blood dripping down from a cut in his hairline. His raven locks were matted with dried blood. There seemed to be more blood seeping through his godson's shirt and when Sirius lifted it up he gasped at the mottled skin underneath and the multiple cuts that looked as if they came from a ring. Sirius placed his ear against Harry's lips and sagged with relief when he felt shallow breath and a weak pulse—he was alive.
Sirius pulled the boy into his arms and rocked him back and forth dropping kisses into his hair and murmuring over and over that everything was going to be alright as his tears dropped down onto the messy raven locks of the boy in his arms. Remus joined him and his eyes filled with tears at the sight of the battered boy they both loved.
I should have checked on him. I should have known that the muggles wouldn't listen to our warnings, known that Harry wouldn't just not answer out letters.
"My fault", he whispered brokenly under his breath.
Sirius shook his head sharply, "Their fault, Vernon's and Petunia's, not yours", he said as he slowly got to his feet cradling Harry's thin form close to his chest.
"He's skin and bones, barely weighs a thing, they must have been starving him."
Slowly the two made their way down the street towards Arabella Figg's home where they could use the floo. Sirius did not dare apparate with Harry as weak as he was. They entered without knocking but when Arabella saw who it was and who he carried she handed over the floo powder and promised to go next door and wait for Dumbledore. Sirius stepped into the flames and spun off to Grimmauld Place. When he stepped out of the fire Remus was waiting to steady him and Madame Pomfrey and a very nervous Tonks waited in the sitting room.
Sirius placed Harry on the couch and Madame Pomfrey swept over to check him over. She waved her wand over him, muttering and occasionally grabbing a potion from her bag that she would pour down the boy's throat. Nearly two hours later she finally stepped back from the boy and turned towards the two anxious men that had hovered in the doorway throughout the process.
"He is going to pull through. I won't lie to you, it was very touch-and-go for a while, if you had been just one day later in going to retrieve him I have no doubt he would not be with us. He had a severe concussion and broken ribs as well as some poorly healed fractures that seemed to be partially healed, the oldest being from a month ago. He was also whipped quite severely across the bottom. His wounds were infected but I have treated them. Make sure he gets lots of rest and knows that you are here for him", the nurse sad in her brisk and efficient tone.
"Thank you", Sirius whispered sincerely as he sat next to his godson and clutched the boy's hand in his own.
Madame Pomfrey's eyes softened as she gazed at the pair. After assuring Remus she would come by tomorrow she left to return to Hogwarts. Remus left the room and went to his own room to rest and give Sirius the privacy he deserved, leaving Sirius to sit by Harry's side.
Sirius gently ran his hand through his godson's messy hair as he pled with the boy to open his eyes and come back to him.
A.N. Hi everyone! Two chapters in one day! I have been feeling inspired today! I hope you are enjoying the story so far. I have the next two chapters written as well, they are much shorter but I will post them both at the same time-as soon as I get 5 reviews! They don't have to be long just let me know what you think! Thank you all for reading!
