-And again, like I said, I'm on a roll. This will probably be it for today though!-
"Harry!" Sirius yelled, jumping up to chase after him, Remus at his heels. When they reached the bottom of the staircase from the headmaster's office, they looked in all directions. "It's like he just disappeared, did he have the cloak on him?"
"I didn't see it, all his stuff should have been delivered to our house after we got him from the Dursley's." Remus said, panting and searching frantically down the halls. "What do you think made him run like that? He looked as if he was worried we were going to attack him."
Sirius frowned. "I don't think he was worried about that. When-when you guys confronted me about my own parents, I panicked too, remember? I tried to run, but there were three of you and you blocked the door. I was in hysterics. It's hard when you have a secret and are not ready to share it. He might be ashamed, I know I had been."
Remus gave his friend a comforting look and nodded. "Then maybe, Sirius, you should be the one to talk to him first. You can relate to what he went through, and he seems to trust you most."
Noting the bitterness in his friend's voice, Sirius smiled at him. "He trusts you too, Moony, but you heard Dumbledore. Godparents and godchildren have a special bond, I think that's probably why he trusted me so quickly. I mean, what other reason did he have to trust me? Two months ago he thought I was a blood-thirsty murderer."
Lupin nodded. "I still think you should be the one to talk to him. If I find him first, I'll call you over."
Once they had agreed, the two set off in different directions to search the castle.
They had been searching for an hour, and neither had heard word from the other that Harry had been found. Lupin was starting to panic himself; he was worried he'd pushed the boy too quickly to share, but he knew it was very important for Harry to explain if he wanted justice to come to the Dursley's.
He ran past the one-eyed witch statue, then came to an immediate halt. His werewolf senses allowed him exceptional hearing, and there was no mistaking the crying coming from one of the secret tunnels the marauder's had discovered. "Of course," Lupin whispered, stepping up to the statue to listen. He sent a patronus out to Sirius, alerting him to Harry's hiding spot, then stood there to wait. He didn't want Harry to leave, but he also didn't want to disturb him until Sirius came to talk. He was sure Harry would respond better to his godfather.
A few minutes later, Sirius came running over, panting. "Where is he, Moony?" He whispered, eyeing the statue.
Lupin nodded towards it, then stood aside as Sirius tapped his wand against the statue. "Harry?" Sirius said, loud enough to alert the boy he was entering, but also with a gentleness as to not frighten him.
Regardless of the tone, Harry jumped, then whimpered as he prepared himself for his godfather's disappointment. He was fairly sure he wouldn't be sent back to the Dursley's, but he hated ruining his relationship with Sirius before it even really began.
Sirius nodded for Moony to follow him and close the passageway, but Remus stepped back out, adamant that Sirius do this himself.
"Harry?" Sirius said again, this time at a whisper.
Harry shook with silent sobs, but then looked up. "Go ahead, say it. The 'boy-who-lived' can't even protect himself against a muggle. It's ridiculous, especially after watching everything I faced here. And-and, you wouldn't even look at me, when Remus was talking. I could just tell, you were disappointed in me."
"Harry… you really think I would be disappointed in you for that? No, I'm so proud of you." He said, plopping down beside his godson in the tunnel and throwing a supportive arm over his shoulders. "Besides, I think I might know a little bit of how you're feeling."
Harry went rigid and looked to Sirius with disbelieving eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I didn't really want you to know, but I was abused when I was younger too. My mother and father considered me a disgrace when I was sorted into Gryffindor. I was a black after all, and we're notorious for being in the Slytherin house. They were, well, shall we say, more than vocal about their disappointment. Hogwarts became a home for me too, then your grandparents took me in and that became home as well. So, I know how you're feeling and I want you to know there's nothing to be ashamed of and that you are so loved. I know the Dursley's made you believe crying was weak and that you aren't worth anything, but I need you to know that you are worth so much. Not because you're the 'boy-who-lived,' no, it's because you're Harry. You were your parent's world while they were here, I had never seen them so happy when you were born. They loved you so much. Remus and I love you too, we have since the day your father handed you to me and said 'Sirius, meet your godson.' We want to help you now, and we need to know what happened. Okay puppy?"
Tears were falling from Harry's eyes again, and he readily accepted the embrace from Sirius. He felt his godfather press his lips to his hair, and it made him cry harder. He'd never felt this kind of affection or love, from anyone. Sure, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley had hugged him before, but this was different. This felt like he finally had a parent. And if he had a parent, that meant that he should be able to tell him how he felt, just like Ron would tell his Mr. Weasley.
When he had calmed down enough, he nodded against his godfather's shoulder, then accepted the hand helping him stand up. They met Remus at the entrance to the tunnel, then walked back to the headmaster's office. Sirius had his arm around Harry and Remus would occasionally ruffle his hair, as if to reassure himself that Harry was indeed beside him and okay.
When they returned to the office and got comfortable, Remus looked Harry in eyes. "Alright cub, let's try this again."
Harry took a shaky breath and nodded. He began talking, keeping his eyes on the floor the entire time. "I don't really know what changed. Uncle Vernon had never been… abusive. I mean, he was clearly mean to me, but it was never to the point that I couldn't handle it. This summer he picked me up from the train station and I told him about Sirius, thinking that maybe I could scare him a bit, you know? Tell him a convicted murderer was coming to get me." Sirius snorted and Harry looked up to meet his eyes. Sirius smiled at him and nodded, urging him to keep going. Harry looked back to the ground and kept going. "Things were okay that first day, but it was weird. They locked my trunk and belongings in their closet, instead of the cupboard like they usually do. When I resisted and tried to argue, it's like my uncle lost it. He hit me and at that moment I knew things would be different."
He stopped when both Sirius and Remus got up and resituated themselves on either side of him on the couch. Sirius placed his arm around Harry's shoulder again and Lupin gently lifted his chin so he could look him in the eyes. "I'm so sorry, Harry."
Harry shrugged and looked back down to the ground, wanting to keep going now that he had started. "They made me do the chores, and if I did something wrong or even mentioned Sirius's name, they would lock me in my cupboard for two days straight, without food or even allowing me out to use the bathroom. It was… humiliating. Then we got the letter from the ministry saying you got custody of me a few days before my birthday. My uncle was livid, for reasons I couldn't really understand. He always told me what a burden I was, so I didn't see why he cared if I went with you. But he cared a lot. He told me you didn't want me and that I should be grateful and want to stay with them. Then, when he let me read the letter and saw my reaction, he pinned me up against the wall and he…" Harry gulped and went to wipe his eyes from the tears that were forming, but Sirius stopped his hand and wiped them himself.
"That bastard," Sirius whispered, pulling Harry closer to his side. Harry nuzzled into him, not wanting to cry anymore but also desperately needing the comfort.
"I know this is hard," Remus said, squeezing Harry's hand, "but we need you to finish up the story."
Harry nodded against Sirius, then sat up a little straighter, still not taking his eyes from the floor. "He choked me and told me that I had to tell Sirius I didn't want to live with him or-or h-he would k-kill me. And I know I was stupid to believe him, but I did. And that's why I said that when you came to get me. I was so upset, I thought you would hate me." Harry whimpered, moving back into his godfather's embrace.
"Harry, I'll admit I would have been upset if you had truly meant that you didn't want to live with me. But I could never, ever hate you. Okay? I love you and you're stuck with me forever," Sirius said, giving his godson a kiss against his unruly hair.
"Same goes for me, Harry," Remus said, squeezing his hand again.
Harry nodded again, and finally looked up at his two guardians. He smiled and felt genuinely happy for the first time in what felt like years. At that moment, he thought he could cast the strongest patronus ever.
