Chapter 6:
Number 12 Grimmauld Place (Part 2)
"Expect-" A pair of paws knocked into his chest, making him fall over again. He whacked his head on the ground, but he could have sworn he had seen Professor Lupin with his wand out. He faded into unconsciousness...
IIIIIIIIIIIII
"Sirius Black!" Lily screamed, marching towards him.
"What?" Whack! She slapped him across the face. "What the hell was that for?!" Sirius yelled, stumbling back from the attack.
"You've knocked him unconscious! You could have killed him!" she screeched, slapping the other side of his face. Meanwhile, James and Remus were sitting with the unconscious Harry, watching Lily smack the daylights out of their best mate. James was trying not to laugh, while Remus just rolled his eyes and put Harry's glasses in his pocket.
"Accio wand!" Remus said with a flick of his wand, not being entertained by the fight unfolding before him. Harry's wand went flying towards his open hand. He gave it to James. "Here." James nodded and stuck the wand into the inner pocket of his cloak, before looking down at his son and pulled out his own wand from the holster on his arm. He casted a quick diagnostic charm, and discovering that Harry was fine, just unconscious, and put it away again. He wiped a loose strand of jet black hair off of his son's face. He really is the spitting image of me, he thought wondrously.
"If you'd give me a chance to explain myself instead of beating the crap out of me!" Sirius retorted, retreating from her. James glanced back up at his angry wife. "He's fine. Just unconscious."
"Fine then! You have 30 seconds."
"Thank you!"
"25 seconds."
"You're serious about this 30 second thing aren't you?"
"20 seconds," she replied tapping her foot impatiently.
"Okay, okay." Sirius ran a hand through his head. "Do you want him expelled? He's already gotten lucky twice and didn't get in trouble, but it's not going to happen again. Fudge isn't likely to lift a finger to help him again. I was trying to stop him from using magic. It's not like I was trying to knock out my godson."
Lily deflated. "He's gotten caught using magic twice?" she repeated, incredulously and gave her husband side eye. "I was hoping he didn't take after you, James."
Sirius smiled at her, cheekily, pleased he was no longer the subject of her ire. "What part of the last four years gave you the impression he was the rule following, studious type?"
Something caught his eye further down the alley. A very large teenage boy was attempting (very badly) to run away from them. "Looks like we have a problem…"
"What," Remus sighed.
"Fatso the cousin. That's what."
"Sirius," Lily scoffed. "That Fatso the cousin happens to be my nephew."
"I'm well aware," he replied, drying.
Lily sank to her knees in front of her son's unconscious form, and smiled lovingly down at him. "I'll check on him when we get to Petunia's house," she told him before returning her full attention to her son. "He's so handsome…"
James smiled. "Just like his old man."
"Moony, take Harry back to headquarters, will you? Lily and I go pick up his things and check on blubb- our nephew," he corrected as his wife gave him a warning look. "…And Sirius, We might need you for the scare factor." she raised her eyebrow. James handed Remus Harry's wand. "Just in case."
"Alright," Remus said quietly. He picked Harry up gently (the last thing he wanted was to get on Lily's bad side). They were gone with a POP!
IIIIIIIIIIIII
Lily rang the doorbell. "I don't want to do this," she whispered to herself. James put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She took a deep breath. The door opened, revealing a large beefy man with no neck and a purple face.
"Vernon," Lily said politely. James nodded his head.
"Where is he?" Vernon said angrily, his eyes wild. "I know you've got him. When I get my hands on him I'll-"
"You'll do what?" James said dangerously.
"Are you threatening me, sir?" Vernon boomed, trying to regain his dignity.
"It depends. What are you planning to do to my son?" James asked, emphasizing the last two words.
"That boy nearly killed my Dudley," Vernon said bravely.
"Vernon," Lily replied tiredly. "None of us want this to last too long, so let's get this going. We're here to collect Harry's things. Then we're gone."
"10 minutes tops," James added, resisting the urge to punch his brother-in-law across in the nose. Sirius didn't look to far away himself. Vernon thought about this for a while. Get this done with before the neighbors see, or get blown to itty bits. He grunted and opened the door all the way.
"Thank you," Sirius said sarcastically, as they walked in. Vernon quickly closed the door, before the neighbors saw what was going on.
"Petunia! We have -um- visitors," Vernon said loudly. A bony woman came in the hall out of the kitchen carrying a cup of tea. A cup of tea she dropped promptly after seeing her sister in her house.
"Lily," Petunia said shakily.
"Petunia."
"Padfoot, can you find his room?" James asked watching Vernon like a hawk.
"No problem, only have to find the one with the doggy flap and all the locks. Can't be that hard," Sirius said, as he stepped up onto the staircase. He paused. "Oh yes, Dursley. I know about that."
Lily wheeled on Vernon. "What?"
"How dare you sir. You prance into my house and then accuse me of such things," Vernon said loudly, acting offended.
"Come, would you like to see? The accusations are true," Sirius replied, flippantly.
"No, thanks," James muttered though his clenched jaw. "I'll take your word for it, Padfoot." Sirius climbed the stairs quickly
"I think we should have a little chat, brother," James said quietly, his eyes a light with anger.
"About?" Vernon said in an unusually high voice. He gulped.
"You see, specific sources tell me that my son was not treated particularly fairly. And well, I would hate to find out the rumors were true. Perhaps we can clear this matter up?" he added, dangerously.
Vernon opened his mouth to reply, but Lily cut him off. "I can't believe you, Petunia!" she snapped. "Treating someone like that. A child? I never thought you'd be that- that monstrous. Locks? On his door? Why would you do that? To your nephew?"
"He has been a thorn in my side ever since they dropped him on our doorstep," Petunia argued back, placing her hands on his hips. "Owls swooping in at every moment, strange things happening constantly... He blew up Marge! Like a balloon!" she added, exasperatedly. "Now, I tried my best to prune the magic out of him, to make him normal, but-"
"He's a boy, not a rose bush, Tunie!" Lily sobbed.
"Don't call me that," Petunia spat.
James looked at her with complete contempt. "Accidental magic? You locked him up because of a bit of ACCIDENTAL MAGIC?" He shouted.
"A bit?" Vernon said hotly. "He blew up my sister, dropped a floating cake on my boss, attacked my son, had that giant of a man mutilate him… And that's just after he started that freakish school of his! He's had it out for us from the beginning."
"Had it out for you?" Lily repeated, incredulously, furiously wiping away tears. "It's not something he could have controlled!"
A loud thumping noise indicated Sirius coming back down the stairs with Harry's things.
James glanced over at his friend. "Is that all?" he asked, looking at the trunk and the owl cage. Hedwig hooted indignantly, clearly displeased about being moved around.
Sirius nodded, as he stepped off the bottom stair. "Everything."
"So you're taking him?" Petunia questioned him. "For good?"
"You'll never have to see him again," Lily drawled, hatefully. "You'll never have to see any of us again."
"Good riddance. I never want to see that freakish boy-"
WHACK! James punched Vernon across the jaw. The large man stumbled back into the cupboard underneath the stairs.
"Come on Lily, were leaving." Lily looked at her sister for a moment, a tears welling up in her eyes, before she turned around and headed for the door. They walked away from the house, silently until they turned onto Wisteria walk.
James stopped and wrapped his arms around his crying wife. "It's alright, flower. It's all over."
"She's not the person she used to be, James. I remember when we were little," she sobbed.
"Don't fret over it. It's too late to fix her."
IIIIIIIIIIIII
Headaches were horrible, Harry decided, rubbing his aching head tenderly.
He rubbed his eyes, and slowly sat up. He was used to headaches by now - but usually they came from his scar, not the actual side of his head. Readjusting the blankets, he searched the dim-lighted coffee table in front of him for his glasses. He unfolded them carefully, and shoved them onto his face.
Nothing moved in the room, but there were signs that someone was living in it. He was in a big four-poster bed that went all the way up to the tall ceiling. There was a cluttered desk opposite him. He stood on his knees and peered over the end of the bed, and was surprised to find his trunk sitting there closed.
Hedwig hooted in her cage from a chair near the door. Where am I? he wondered. He wracked his brain, trying to remember how he had got to this strange place, but he couldn't recall anything after he and Dudley were attacked.
Dementors! He realized. He instantly went into danger mode. Where is my wand? His eyes widened, and he turned back to search the end table for his errant wand. It wasn't there.
Headache forgotten, he quickly climbed out of the bed and tip-toed towards his trunk. He shuffled through his things for his invisibility cloak, before throwing it on.
He headed for the door and snuck out.
Plaques of house elves lined the walls, their dead eyes staring through him. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Portraits hung from the walls in old wooden frames. Inside the frames, ghastly people in different colored robes slept on. He bit his lip, and started tip-toeing his way across the hallway towards the staircase.
There was a loud crash from right above him. He jumped and looked up at the ceiling. Nothing. Harry let out a breath. CRASH! It happened again. Then distantly he could hear whining. It reminded him of the ghoul in Ron's attic. Deciding that it wasn't going to come and attack him, he snuck on. But he could have sworn he'd heard someone curse. He stepped onto the staircase carefully and made his way down. His hand subconsciously trailed down the rail, leaving dust on the cloak. He reached the first landing and was about to go down the second set of stairs when a blood-red set of curtains caught his eye. Hoping he would find a window behind them, he walked towards it, his curiosity getting the better of him. Silently, he opened them a little to peek out.
A high pitched screaming erupted. The curtains flew back violently, revealing an evil looking woman in a portrait. Frightened, Harry stepped back quickly, but tripped over his cloak. He tried to catch his balance, but to no avail.
Harry fell down the staircase, whacking his already sore head on one of the steps as he went. Things went fuzzy. He tumbled hopelessly, in what felt like slow motion. From around the bin, people came running towards him. People he couldn't identify. Fear gnawed at him.
Finally, he whacked the side of the wall, and landing on his arm. The people ran up the staircase towards the screaming picture, urgently, not seeing him. Harry stood up quickly, holding his arm, and made a mad dash for the big black grimy door down the hall.
He started trying to unlock all the locks when he realized none of them would move. Horror rose in his chest and he jostled them again.
"Harry, what do you think you're doing?" Mr. Weasley said calmly after the screeching had stopped.
Suddenly realizing he was not in a house full of Death Eaters, Harry turned red. "Mr. Weasley!" he said embarrassed. "I have a good explanation."
"I hope you do," Sirius laughed.
"Sirius! You're in England again!"
Sirius grinned. "Sure am."
"Is it- is it true? The letter to Dumbledore?" He started. Sirius would tell him the truth, surely.
"Come on. Let's get you away from my mother." Harry glanced up at him confused before followed him down the hall. Sirius led him to another door. This place had too many doors, Harry thought. Opening it he ushered him into the kitchen. The group filed in, and the last one closed the door. An awkward silence hung in the air. Sirius walked over to the sink and filled a glass with water.
"Here, drink this. You look thirsty," Sirius said, handing him the glass. Harry smiled appreciatively, and started drinking the water deeply.
"What the hell's going on?" someone said loudly, running in through the doorway.
Harry's eyes widened, and inhaled the water he had been drinking. He spat out the water and started coughing. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the twins, Ginny, Hermione, Ron and a red haired woman with emerald green eyes followed behind the man. Sirius padded him on the back, while Harry coughed. When his coughing fit had ceased, Harry rubbed his throat and looked up at his father and mother, his eyes still wide.
"Well this didn't go as planned, did it," Sirius laughed uncomfortably. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm making like a broom and flying away," Sirius said before walking out of the kitchen.
Fred and George followed his example and started ushering people out of the room. "Come on you losers. This is awkward enough, without you lazy gits roaming around everywhere."
"Fred and George Weasely," Mrs. Weasely said dangerously, her hands on her hips. They smiled innocently.
"Molly, let's take this outside," Arthur said, wheeling his wife out of the room.