Fait Accompli
Chapter 3 – "Holy Mother of Merlin's B –"
In the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic, there was a lot of damage to be seen to. Really, they needed better security in the place. Not only had a bunch of Hogwarts students entered and wrecked the area, but Death Eaters and You-Know-Who himself had proceeded to take part in a battle!
The destruction was horrendous. Bad enough countless Prophecy Spheres had been destroyed, and those were irreplaceable. Some fool had destroyed the sterile medium of the Time Jar, causing it to work irregularly. The hummingbird was currently trying to be an egg, a hatchling and a full-grown bird all at the same time.
And what of the specially pickled brain of Grindelwald? That alone took up over a decade of research, and a huge chunk of their budget.
The only room left untouched was the Room with the Veil. Well, untouched would be inaccurate, because there were spell backlashes everywhere. But the archway itself was unscathed. The only change was that there was an addition to the whispers from the other side; laughter often followed by a soft screaming.
Now the Unspeakables were forced to counteract these effects. No problem, seeing they had designed (or at least studied) the items beforehand. But the quandary was that they could not use magic. Although their job revolved around research and experiments, they did not want to risk finding out what magic would do to the already damaged – and therefore fragile – goods.
The screams from the Veil came to an abrupt halt. This did not worry anyone; it was quite a common occurrence. The thump of feet meeting stone, however –
"What was that?" an Unspeakable asked, his head whipping up in alarm; he was still very jumpy around sudden sounds. He had been the designated watchman just hours after the break-in at the Ministry. He still shuddered to think what could have happened, had he decided to report for duty earlier than planned for some extra research.
The Unspeakable helping him looked at him funnily. "What was what?" she asked, and her voice was laced with disbelief and a tinge of ennui. Obviously, this had not been the first time their work had been interrupted by phantom sounds.
"Didn't you hear? Footsteps!"
"There's no one else except us, silly, you're probably imagining things…" the woman said.
"I am NOT losing my mind, woman," he retorted. "Maybe-"
CRASH!
Now both of them turned, clutching at each other. Scoring top NEWTs and swearing a Wizard's Oath to become an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries was starting to look like a very bad career move. They slowly inched forward, towards the noise. They didn't have to walk very far.
There lay the remains of a – thankfully unused – glass jar, albeit a jar that would have been able to house a small child. Shards of glass fanned out from the feet of a sheepish looking man. He ran a hand through his cropped black hair, his blue-gray eyes filled with embarrassment. But it was somehow unmistakable who it was. So unmistakable, the female Unspeakable folded, and fell silently to the floor in a dead faint.
The still upright Unspeakable gaped at the man. "S-s-s-Sirius Black!" he stuttered, pointing his forefinger dramatically. He was supposing that Black had been sent back from the dead to kill him, Hodgkin Prewett, seeing as he had already escaped death only a few weeks ago.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yeah, who were you expecting? Voldemort? Or maybe even Merlin himself?"
"I must be dreaming…it's all a dream…Oh, Holy Mother of Merlin's B -" He too joined his colleague on the floor.
Sirius Black sighed yet again. He had to get out of the Ministry. It was odd that there were no Death Eaters or Hogwarts students here, but he'd find out about that later. For all he knew, he could still be hunted by the Wizarding World. All he wanted to do now was to see Harry, see his godson… only then would he demand answers.
Concentrating, Sirius Apparated to the Shrieking Shack. Thank Merlin the idiots at the Ministry had not put up anti-Apparition wards. A bittersweet smile played about his lips as he remembered his last visit to Remus' old refuge during full moons. He still regretted letting Pettigrew live.
Transforming into the great black dog that was his Animagus form, Sirius bounded through the low passageway and pressed the knot on the wood, arresting the Whomping Willow's movements. Then he took off pell-mell along the grounds, despite the shakiness of his limbs, into the school, somehow knowing where his godson was…
OoOoOoOoOo
Said godson was busy explaining himself to his two best friends. Draco was seated next to him, as neither Ron nor Hermione wanted to be seated near the pureblood Slytherin, bane of their existence (second only to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, of course). Concealing and Silencing Charms were carefully set up, so if anyone passed by, they would see and hear nothing but an empty bookcase (which would have seemed odd anyway in the book-saturated library.)
"So what you're saying is that…you're dating Ferret Face?"
"Yes, Weasel, that is what we're saying."
"But…you're dating Ferret Face!" The mere suggestion was making Ron pale under his freckles. When Harry had first broken the news with a jaunty "Hey guys, guess what; I'm dating Draco Malfoy!" the youngest Weasley male had gaped open mouthed at him for five full minutes.
He'd only snapped out of his stupor when Draco had made a snarky comment about how his already insufficient brains had burnt out completely. Even then it was only to sling an insult in retaliation about how 'purebloods had no brains to speak of because of inbreeding'.
Harry sighed. Those two would never get past the petty name calling. Ferret and Weasel. Really, he had set his hopes high if he expected them to get along at all. Then again, they were sitting opposite each other, and no hexes had been cast. Yet.
Hermione's voice cut in through his thoughts. "Harry, are you sure you're in your right mind?"
"Of course I am, Hermione! What do you take me for?" The Gryffindor felt indignant, and his expression attested to that.
"Maybe Granger is suggesting that I have cast a spell on you," Draco said, and Hermione gave him a withering look. Harry, however, was pleased to note that he had called the Muggle-born 'Granger' and not 'Mudblood'.
He smiled inwardly, feeling suddenly cheeky, and solemnly turned to Draco. "The only spell you cast on me is on my heart, Draco, my love," he said with a straight face, placing his hand over his chest, and batting his eyelids coyly as he had seen many of his admirers do. The effect would have been more effective if his emerald eyes had been unobstructed by glasses.
At this Ron gave a snort of laughter, joined in by (surprisingly) Draco. Although, if anyone dared to suggest that a Malfoy snorted, he or she would find themselves at the end of an untraceable Dark Curse.
"Spare me the clichés, Harry."
"Yeah, mate, seriously, it doesn't suit you," Ron said, between sniggers.
"Do you know sometimes he monologues when he thinks no one's listening?" Draco asked Ron, a sly smile plastered on his face.
"Yeah! It gets really weird! And when he's all brooding-"
"-And you can't get a word through to him?"
"Exactly!" The two boys smiled at each other, until of course they remembered that they had been sworn enemies since the first day of school. That, and there had been a feud between their families for generations now. It had something to do with a Weasley girl refusing to marry a Malfoy, instead running off with a poor wizard. Or maybe it was a Malfoy girl. No one was bothered to find out.
Harry exchanged a bemused glance with Hermione, both silently conveying how ridiculous their boyfriends were. 'Maybe this will work out…' he thought, a smile lighting up his face. 'Maybe Draco and I can go public. Finally.'
Just then, Ron's blue eyes went wide. "HOLY Mother of Merlin's B-" he started.
"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione's expression could have given their Transfiguration teacher (and Head of House) a run for her Galleons.
"Heh. Sorry, 'Mione," Ron offered sheepishly, giving a half-smile to his girlfriend. He grew serious, meeting Harry's gaze. "Anyway. Look behind you, Harry!"
Harry heard Hermione gasp as she too saw whoever, or whatever, appeared to be behind him. As one, he and Draco turned around; the latter wondering what in Merlin's name could be so significant as to interrupt such an important conversation.
It was a big, shaggy, black dog. A dog that reminded Harry terribly of…
"Sirius…" His voice was no louder than a whisper, and he didn't notice grey eyes glancing at him sharply. The dog's gaze was fixed on him, somehow. And, as far as Harry knew, Hermione's Concealment Charms were flawless. Not even Madam Pince could tell the difference between a normal bookcase and the three Gryffindors during their private time.
At that precise moment, the Hogwarts Librarian deviated from her usual route of patrolling the Library, taking a left turn instead of the usual right. The empty bookcase was worrying enough. Once she saw Sirius in all his Animagus glory, however, staring at the bookcase as if it was a tree he could relieve himself on, her eyes bulged. Sirius, staring at Harry, noticed nothing.
"Hermione!" Harry shouted. "Get rid of the charm! NOW!"
In a second, the counter-charms were muttered, and Snuffles gave a joyful bark and leaped into Harry, licking his face. Madam Pince, however…
"Dogs! How dare you bring a dog into my library! He'd better be house trained, Potter! Out! Out!" she screeched, holding her wand at the ready. All four of them (five counting Sirius) knew what would happen if they stayed a moment longer. They gathered all their things at lightning speed and ran out of the door, leaving behind a very livid librarian.
They didn't stop running, looking a very odd sight to passers-by; four students (out of which three were Gryffindors and one was a Slytherin – unheard of!) and a large black dog. The people not jumping out of the way pointed at the strange sight, giggling and whispering.
Finally reaching a deserted corridor, they all bundled into the nearest classroom (thankfully empty), the door of which was promptly barred courtesy Hermione, resident spell caster extraordinaire.
As soon as the door's bolt slid closed, Sirius changed back to human form. One second he was on all fours – looking distinctly different to how Harry remembered he was that night – and next he was sprawled on the floor, with Harry over him, sobbing. (Harry, that is.)
"S-Sirius…I t-thought you were gone! I thought you-you were d-dead…" the boy stuttered through his tears.
"Shh, Harry…it's okay, I've got you now, alright?" The black-haired man made soothing noises, stroking his godson's hair tenderly, and a sad smile graced his lips. He quickly wiped his eyes with the back of a hand – the dust in the room had probably gotten into his eyes, or something.
Meanwhile, Draco stood to the side, his eyes narrowed shrewdly. He ticked off a mental checklist, and then nodded sharply to himself as he came to a decision. He pointedly stepped to the side and elbowed Granger in the ribs, none to gently. Harry wasn't looking in their direction anyway, so no need for false niceties.
"What?" she hissed, her eyes still on Harry and Sirius. Draco noticed that they were glistened over, but didn't deign to comment. He didn't want to accidentally set her off and then be on the receiving end of a bushy-haired, blubbering Mud – Muggleborn. See Harry? He was trying!
"That man. He is Sirius Black, no?" Draco said back in an undertone, giving a sharp motion of the head in the vague direction of the ex-convict, although Granger wasn't even looking at the Slytherin.
"Yes, Malfoy. Harry's godfather, who, until recently, was believed dead," she whispered. Then she turned to him and met his eyes smugly, adding a matter-of-factly, "Not that you'd know that of course."
At these words, Draco felt his annoyance grow. However, he pushed this aside, and sneered at the Gryffindor girl, stepping away from her before he caught some dreadful disease. Of course Harry would not like the fact he still thought Mud – Muggleborns were below him, but what the hey. Right now Harry needed the relief of getting his godfather back from the dead. He remembered, what was only a day or two ago, when he himself had comforted Harry.
After a while, Harry pulled out of Sirius' embrace and wiped his cheeks, a little embarrassed, if his blush was any indication. Draco thought it was adorable. Except Malfoys never used adjectives like 'adorable'. Harry shifted off his godfather so Sirius could sit up comfortably.
"So…I suppose you have a lot of questions."
OoOoOoOoOo
Yeah. I'm sure I had a reason for bringing Sirius back to the land of the living, but that went missing, along with my old computer's hard disk and my remaining sanity. Rest assured that I will figure out a purpose for him…eventually.
I won't kill him off. Maybe.
Oh, and the whole "Holy Mother of Merlin's B-" thing? I just edited the phrase. I just don't see purebloods, wizards even, going around saying Mother F—cker, seeing as they say "Oh Merlin" instead of "Oh God" already. As for the full phrase…imagine what you will. Don't email me saying how lame it is. I already know.
Hermione reads a lot, and therefore knows about it.
06.05.07 Edited prologue and chapters 1, 2 & 3.