Here you go, and I promise there's no cliff hanger this time :-) Part of me was tempted to be mean and cut this one super short so that there was one, but you guys have been awesome, and I couldn't do that to you (another cliffie or just a short update)
Now, some may say that this has a weak Harry, but not really. Just consider what he's going through, and you'll find that even adults would have a hard time coping fully. Any and all reviews stating that he's acting childish will be fully laughed at.
When Harry and his leech landed, Harry's wand was grabbed from him, and he was immediately thrown into a chair and bound with ropes.
"Well well, Mr. Potter," a silky voice sneered. "I have certainly been looking forward to this day for some time."
Harry was swallowing, trying to wet his suddenly dry throat. "Lucius Malfoy. I can't really say the same to you," he answered.
"Diffindo!" another voice said, and Harry hissed in pain as a slice appeared on his shoulder.
"You still haven't learned manners, have you, Potter?" a vaguely familiar voice asked from the shadows
"You're one to talk about manners," Harry snapped back. "Don't you Death Eaters have the decency to introduce yourselves before you start cursing?"
Malfoy threw his head back and laughed, and then nodded to the figure in the corner, who stepped forward. It was Marcus Flint.
"Flint?" Harry asked, shocked. He knew the former Slytherin, had played a few matches against him years ago.
"At your service," he smirked, and hesitated before sending another cutting curse at the younger boy.
Harry gritted his teeth as he felt his skin slice again. "So, what's the brilliant plan, here?" he demanded.
"What makes you think that we would tell you anything?" Malfoy asked, amused. Then he raised his own wand, pointing it at Harry's left arm. "Deprimo."
This time, Harry couldn't suppress a groan of pain, and bit his lip as his left ulna broke.
"Not bad, Potter" Flint said, sounding impressed. "Not going to scream for us?" Then he looked nervously at Malfoy, who just sent him a glare. "Crucio!" Flint yelled.
Harry tasted blood as he bit clean through his bottom lip to keep from yelling. He would crucio himself before he would give the bloody bastards the satisfaction. After an eternity, the pain ended, and Harry's head fell, panting. When no one spoke, he looked up, hate in his eyes. "Go to hell," he snarled.
"Sectumsempra!" Malfoy bellowed, watching in glee as deep gashes appeared on Harry's chest. Then he sighed in disappointment as he realized that Harry had passed out. He sent a spell to ensure that the boy did not bleed out, and the two left the room. After all, it was no fun to torture someone who was unconscious.
Harry's first thought when he woke back up was that he was in hell. His wrists and ankles burned, his arm was in agony, and his chest felt like he'd scrapped a cheese grater across it. Thinking about the emergency portkey he wore around his neck, he tried whispering the password, but nothing happened. Harry mentally shrugged even as his heart fell. He was pretty sure that you had to hold it in order for it to work, otherwise it was too easy to use accidentally.
Then he heard voices, and listened intently.
"Why aren't we calling the Dark Lord now?" Flint asked, sounding nervous.
"I told you, Potter has found a way escape him four times now. We don't want to risk it. But if we can deliver him so injured that he doesn't stand a chance…" Malfoy trailed off, sounding smug.
Harry fought the rage that was welling inside of him. He was here simply to be tortured, and then handed off to Voldemort? No, he would find a way out of this. He had to.
"Ah, Potter, you're awake!" Malfoy said, sounding pleased. "Such a lack of manners, passing out in the middle of a conversation."
"If those are the conversations you enjoy, I can see why no one enjoys your company," Harry snapped back, and wasn't surprised when another Deprimo was sent his way, breaking a few ribs.
"Do not test me," Malfoy whispered, furious.
"Why not when it's so easy?" Harry said recklessly, trying to breath shallowly to avoid undue pain in his ribs.
"Crucio!" Malfoy yelled, waiting nearly two minutes before he removed the curse.
"Come on, can't you be more creative?" Harry demanded, wiping blood off his mouth using his shoulder.
"Flint, he wants creative," Malfoy said, sounding amused.
Flint thought for a moment before raising his wand. "Tarantallegra," he said lazily.
Normally, he would have scoffed at the idea of using the dancing spell, but it was a bit more painful when your legs are firmly bound to a chair. Harry groaned in pain as his legs uncontrollably fought the bindings. It was only when a crack was heard, and Harry let out a scream through his clenched teeth, that he took the spell off.
Harry was panting again, fighting the unholy pain of yet another broken bone, then he looked back up. "Not bad, Flint," he gritted. "I see you have a few brain cells after all."
Malfoy smiled at Flint, and they pulled up a few chairs. "So, tell me, Potter. What were you and you dogfather doing at that hotel? I mean, rumor had it that you were staying in London for the summer."
Harry shook his head. He wasn't going to risk putting Lupin in danger. He hurried to hide that information behind his Occlumency shields, and reinforce as well as he could. "Well you see, we were travelling as Muggles. They have this thing called secret shoppers, and we were making sure the hotels accommodations were up to par."
Malfoy growled at him. "Legilimence!" he shouted.
Harry braced his shield against the battering ram. He knew that he'd been spoiled by Sirius, who was much gentler trying to get in, but they'd been practicing for weeks. Not to mention they'd spent almost a week of preparing him for an unexpected attack. He felt Malfoy attacking him multiple times, trying to get through his shield. After nearly half an hour of the relentless attack, Harry's shield broke.
Malfoy looked triumphant until he saw the multiple shields covering various memories. He had just started attacking one, when he felt himself thrown out. The force behind it was so strong, he felt himself thrown out of the chair he'd been in.
Harry was groaning in pain. He'd never had to hold his shield for that long. As soon as the presence was gone, he hurried to build his shield back up. He had barely done that when Malfoy stood and cast again.
The attack wasn't as strong this time, and after another half hour, Malfoy was furious. He cast fire spells at Harry, burning him several more times.
Harry spat blood out of his mouth from biting his tongue. His wrists and ankles had rope burns from fighting to get free. He wasn't sure what possessed him, but he lifted his head and glared at Malfoy. "That all you got?" he snarled.
Enraged, Malfoy screamed a spell that Harry couldn't hear, and Harry threw what little energy he had left into an attempt to dodge the curse. Thankfully, most of him was out of the way, and the curse flared across the left side of his neck. It was pain beyond anything he had ever felt before, and he was sure that this was what hell had to be. The white hot pain pulsed even harder, and his eyes rolled in the pain, falling unconscious once again.
When Harry woke for the second time, he was once again alone. He had no idea the amount of time he'd been out, but he could hear arguing coming from outside. For the first time, he looked around the room he was in. He could tell that it was a one room cabin of sorts, but it was abandoned and completely empty except for some trash strewn around on the ground. Harry ignored the raised voices this time, and focused on his predicament. He knew that if he didn't leave soon, he wouldn't live to see Voldemort again. He thought hard about what he could do, and when he realized it, he wanted to kick himself for not thinking of it earlier. Twisting his hands slightly to aim at the ropes binding him, he whispered, "Diffindo," and the ropes fell off. He hurried to do the same to his feet, and he was free. He tried to stand too quickly, forgetting about all his injuries, and crashed to the floor, alerting the two outside.
"Potter, how did you – " Malfoy bellowed, Flint following him inside.
Harry didn't bother trying to stand. He just raised his arm and cast three Stunning spells. Training with Sirius had taught him that it's better to cast more in case someone dodges one. Sure enough, Malfoy dodged one, Flint caught the second, and Malfoy finally fell to the third. Harry crawled over to them, and saw that his spells had been weakened by the amount of pain he was in, and they wouldn't be out long. He grabbed his wand back from Malfoy, making a mental note to clean it with boiling water before using it again. Leaning heavily on the side of the cabin for support, he painstakingly made his way outside, finding a small niche in the wall where he could stay for a moment, and grabbed the portkey at his neck, again whispering the word 'safety'. Nothing happened.
Harry cursed, realizing that they must have placed anti portkey wards around the area. He thought hard. He didn't know any healing spells, and if he tried to make it on foot, he wouldn't be able to get far before they overtook him. There was only one thing he could do: transform.
Harry had read about the dangers of people who tried to make the full Animagus transformation too early, and that had stopped him from trying it. People had ended up not fully understanding the respiratory system, and had asphyxiated; others had died of brain hemorrhaging, because they had not thought about the size of the animal's brain, and ended up trying to fit their normal size brain in a tiny space.
Reading those stories had kept him working the smaller things, such as paws, snout, or ears. However, right then, he was out of options. If he took off like he was right now, Malfoy would grab him when he woke up, as Harry didn't know how far the anti portkey wards extended, or how well Malfoy and Flint were knocked out. On the other hand, no one would think anything of a wolf walking around. He slid down the side of the cabin, closed his eyes, and tried to sink as deep into his magic as he could, keeping in mind everything about his wolf, grateful beyond words for spending so much time reading about their anatomy.
In less than two minutes, a dark grey wolf was laying where Harry had been. He left the cabin as quickly as he could. Running was a difficult process to understand, not helped by the jerking and shaking left over from the hours of torture. He couldn't focus on anything other than continuing to put one paw in front of the other as fast as he could.
He had been walking for some time when he saw the hotel that he and Sirius were supposed to stay the night at. Knowing that Sirius wouldn't want to be there alone, but would have gone straight on to Lupin's he took off in the direction Sirius had pointed to. He fell down every few steps he took, the pain becoming overwhelming. But he knew that if he stopped, he would be found.
He eventually saw a house about a mile or two away, but it was at that point that his body refused to take another step, and collapsed. He whined, trying to get back up, but it was useless, his body was jerking too much to allow him to move. He raised his head up slightly and howled as loud as he could. Please, Sirius. Find me, he thought, and howled again.
Snape and Dumbledore had left, Remus was dozing off at the table, and Sirius was still staring out the window. He felt a burning behind his eyes, but he was unsure if that was from being up for nearly 24 hours, or from the emotions he was holding at bay.
He was about to grab another cup of coffee when he heard a wolf howl in the distance. At first, he just shrugged it off, but then his head snapped back around. Wolves don't howl in the morning, they do so at night. Besides, the area was far too populated, with not nearly enough room for wolves to live. Another howl broke him out of his thoughts.
"There's no way in bleeding hell," Sirius whispered. Without thinking, he transformed into a dog and ran outside, barking twice. When he heard another howl in the distance, he took off, bounding across Remus' land. He skidded to a halt when he saw the body of a wolf laying on the ground, jerking.
He transformed back into a human, and cautiously walked over. He knew that the first few transformations were difficult, as you had to balance your mind with the instincts of the animal. But he knelt down by the head and saw the barely there scar. When he started rubbing his head, the startlingly green eyes stared haunted back at him.
"It's me, Harry," Sirius whispered, choking up as he saw the blood matted fur. "Can you transform back for me?" he asked, still rubbing the top of his head comfortingly. The wolf turned its head away, then back, and Sirius got the impression that Harry was shaking his head. "Alright, I can change you back, but it might hurt a little, is that okay?" he asked softly. Turning back to human after the first transformation was nearly as hard as turning into the animal, and it was not advised to be changed back by the spell, as it was something that you needed to learn. However, given the amount of concentration Harry would have needed to change back, Sirius knew that he really didn't have much of a choice.
Harry gave the equivalent of a wolf-snort and nodded his head once, bracing himself.
Sirius's hands were shaking as he pulled out his wand, and muttered the incantation. A moment later, his godson was laying there.
"Oh, God, it hurts," Harry moaned, hating how pathetic he sounded. "Help, it hurts so bad."
The tears were finally falling down Sirius's face as he saw the damage done to his godson, but he tried to snap back. He knew that there was no way he could walk back to the house, it was at least two miles. He grabbed Harry's hand, and the two held onto the emergency portkey still around Harry's neck, and Sirius whispered the activation word, the familiar jerking pulling them.
They landed in the same spot Sirius had been in hours before, and Sirius wasted no time picking him up and putting him on the couch.
"Remus!" he bellowed, and his friend's head snapped up, bewildered by the sight of Harry on the couch. "Get Poppy now!"
Remus stared for a moment, then stumbled to the fireplace, throwing the powder into it.
"Potions bag," Harry begged, and Sirius ran over to snatch it, grabbing a pain potion.
"Drink this for me, kiddo," he said, and placed the vial on his bloody lips and helped lift him up so that he could drink. It was clear that it wasn't enough for the pain that he was in, but it helped a bit, and Sirius looked over as Poppy, Albus, and Severus came into the room.
Poppy took one look at the teen on the couch, and looked over her shoulder. "Someone get my sister, I'm going to need some help," she ordered, and set to work. "What in the hell happened to him? Four broken ribs, broken ulna, hairline stress fracture to his femur, burns and cuts over the majority of his torso. What is this?" She stared at the mark on his neck. It was as though he'd been skinned, the first few layers simply peeled off and was steadily oozing blood. She waved her wand over it, but that did nothing. She frowned and did it again, to the same effect. "Severus," she called, waving him over, and showed him the mark.
Snape looked at the mark, and gritted his teeth. "It was definitely Malfoy who had him. He's been working on that spell for a long time. I can try to make a potion to heal it, but it will take a while," he warned.
"Get to it," she ordered. "I can't seal the wound, and it won't stop bleeding." She gave Harry a blood replenishing potion while she was talking.
"That was the whole idea," he told her coldly, and Flooed out, not wanting to admit that even his ironclad stomach was wanting to rebel at the sight of the severely injured teen.
Moments later, Rose Pomfrey hurried through the same fireplace, all business. "What do we have?"
"Rose, thank god. Can you heal the ribs while I handle the leg and arm?" Poppy asked, moving to hover over his leg.
Rose was about to say something when she saw who it was. She turned to Sirius, a look of fury on her face. "Who did it this time?" she demanded, getting everyone's attention.
Sirius was stroking his godson's hair, refusing to move away from him. "Death Eaters," he said shortly, not taking his eyes off of Harry, who was still whimpering in pain. "Can we talk about this after you heal him, for crying out loud?" he demanded.
Rose just glared at him, and the two witches set to work. In very little time, they had healed his breaks, rubbed salve from Harry's satchel into the burns and gashes, and began treating the friction burns on his wrists and ankles, as well as healed his lip and tongue. Finally, the two were exhausted and could do no more. "He will still be in a lot of pain for the next few days," Poppy warned. "He can take three pain potions a day, but no more. Until Severus can find something for his neck, he needs a blood replenisher every four hours. I'll bring some over shortly, as well as gauze, since you need to change that out at the same time because of the bleeding. I know he'll be tired, but he needs it to keep from bleeding out, so every four hours," she stressed. "Also, his magical core is almost entirely depleted. He's on magical restriction for a month, and that's a minimum. In addition, he's on bed rest for a week. I'd prefer it to be longer, but I know him too well. No moving around, lifting anything heavy, and don't stress him out. He can have Dreamless sleep later this evening as long as he doesn't have a pain potion for two hours before hand," Poppy finished telling Sirius, as Harry had passed out again while they were working.
Poppy turned to Rose to thank her for the help, but Rose was staring at Sirius. "I thought you were going to look after him," she snapped.
Sirius just looked up and glared at her. "He was kidnapped by Death Eaters. Not much I can do when I don't know where they took him."
Her eyes widened in understanding, and she was about to murmur an apology, when Remus asked the question that everyone was thinking. "How do you two know each other?"
Sirius looked back down at Harry with pain filled eyes. "I needed someone to heal him this summer, and Rose was the one that did so."
"What did Harry need to be healed from?" Albus asked, concerned.
Sirius looked up, hatred making his eyes nearly flame. "He needed healing because of those Muggles you saw fit to leave him with. I won't yell at you right now; it's not the time for it. But you and I are going to have a long conversation about Harry, I promise you that," he seethed, and went back to stroking Harry's hair.
Dumbledore gaped at him, wondering what on earth he was talking about, and Rose shook her head when he looked at her. "Patient confidentiality, Albus, you know that," she scolded. "Now, if you need anything, I'm just a Floo call away." She left, taking her sister with her.
"I need to head to the Ministry," Dumbledore told Remus. "Fudge will likely make a commotion about Harry using magic, and I must do what I can. Tell them that I'll be over tomorrow?" he asked, and Remus nodded.
So it was finally just the three left in the house, and Remus walked over to the couch. "He's alive, Sirius," Remus whispered, seeing the agony on his best friend's face.
Sirius tried to scoff, but he couldn't do it. "He's a mess is what he is," he breathed. He still hadn't stopped touching Harry since he'd found him. He was so terrified that this was a dream, and he'd wake up with Harry still being missing, or worse. He carried the weight of James and Lily for years; he wasn't ready to add another death to his toll.
"We'll help him through this," Remus insisted.
This time Sirius did scoff. "You realize he's going back to school in two weeks? He'll spend two weeks of being with the son of the man that did this, and there's nothing that Harry can do to protect himself."
"We'll figure it out, I promise you that," Remus said firmly. "For right now, let's take him to the guest bed. It's big enough for the both of you, since you need some sleep, too."
Sirius was back to staring at Harry. "I don't think I could sleep if I wanted to."
"Well, you can rest at the very least. Come on, Pads, let's get him to the other room."
So Sirius lifted him, and Remus opened the door down the hall and pulled back the covers. It was hard for Sirius to hold onto him, as Harry was still shaking from the after affects of the Torture curse, but he laid him down as gently as he could, pulled the covers over him, and lay down next to him.
"I'll let you know when Poppy gets here with his next round of potions," Remus said quietly, and closed the door.
Two hours later, Sirius let out a sigh of relief. He had wondered if the jerking and shaking was ever going to stop, and it finally had. He closed his eyes to get some more rest, when Harry started shaking again. Concerned, Sirius got up to take a look, and found that Harry wasn't shaking from the torture, but from a nightmare.
Sirius closed his eyes in pain, and then gently shook his godson. "Harry? Wake up for me, kiddo. Can you do that?" He kept talking and shaking, trying to get him to wake up, when Harry started screaming. Alright, he was done being gentle about it. "Harry, wake up now," Sirius said loudly and firmly, just as Remus opened the door, drawn by Harry's yells. "Wake up," he repeated.
"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled, jolting up to a sitting position. He looked around wildly, unsure where he was. His eyes finally fell on his godfather, and he let out a relieved breath, but he was still worried. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you, too?"
Sirius walked over slowly, and put a hand on Harry's shoulder to help ground him. "I'm fine, pup. Got hit with one hex, but Pomfrey fixed it in about two seconds. We were more worried about you."
Harry stared at his godfather, searching his face for the truth, then looking him over to make sure that he was, in fact, unharmed. He nodded when he saw that Sirius was alright. "Why do I feel so weak?" he asked, leaning his head back.
Sirius smiled sadly at him, and waved Remus forward now that Harry was calmed down. "You went through a lot last night, kid. Not to mention, your magical core is nearly gone, it'll take a lot of rest to get it back."
"Rest, huh?" Harry asked, trying to smile, but failing miserably. "I bet Madame Pomfrey told you that. She thinks rest cures everything."
Remus grinned, thought it was a bit forced. "Know from experience?"
This time Harry did smile. "Quidditch injuries, lots of them."
"Among others, apparently," Sirius said with a stern look, but he eyes were laughing.
Harry closed his eyes briefly. "Yeah, well, have to save the school when I can, don't I?" he asked, fighting the pull of sleep. Merlin, was he tired.
"Go back to sleep, Harry. We'll talk more about your attraction to danger later," Sirius said.
But Harry forced his eyes back open and looked fearfully at Sirius. "You'll stay with me?" he asked. While he hated admitting it, he was frightened. Not only did he want Sirius there because he cared, but he was an adult that could use magic, and Harry could feel that he wouldn't be able to for a while. If the Death Eaters could somehow track him there, he didn't want to be alone.
Sirius felt his heart break again. "I'm not going anywhere, kiddo. You're stuck with me." To prove his point, he sat back down on the chair by the bed, and Remus quietly exited the room.
Suddenly, Harry felt bad. "I haven't said anything to him yet," he fretted, fighting another yawn.
"Shush," his godfather soothed. "Remus understands. You'll have plenty of time to talk to him later. You are on bed rest for a week, after all."
That got Harry back to being upset. "A week? I can't just stay in bed for a week. And there's no way I can impose on Professor Lupin for that long." That time, he couldn't fight the jaw cracking yawn.
Sirius was sitting up again, and carded his fingers through Harry's hair. "Harry, it's okay. Get some rest, we'll talk more later."
Harry just nodded a bit and fell back into a fitful sleep. Sirius on the other hand, refused to close his eyes at all. He knew he'd come close to losing Harry, and his godfatherly instincts were screaming at him. He couldn't believe that school started in only two weeks. It wasn't enough time to help Harry recuperate from this, but it's what they had, and he was going to make sure that they didn't waste any time.
Remus opened the door and poked his head inside. He smiled sadly when he saw Harry back asleep. "Can I get you anything?" he asked quietly.
"A cup of coffee?" he asked gratefully.
Remus just nodded, and came back in a minute later with two steaming cups, handing one to his friend and taking a sip from the other.
"Thanks for letting us stay here for a while. Harry's just not strong enough to go anywhere else the next few days."
Remus gently smacked Sirius on the back of his head. "Idiot. Of course the two of you are welcome here anytime, you know that. The two of you will stay here for the week, since Harry's on bed rest anyway." Remus hesitated for a minute. "You know, I have about a hundred questions."
Sirius laughed softly. "Moony, when don't you have questions?" Then he sobered slightly. "I know you do, and thanks for waiting. It's just that a lot of them have to come from Harry, they're not my answers to give."
Remus smiled. "I know, and its great how close you two are, just doesn't make it less frustrating for me."
"We'll talk later, depending on how he's doing," Sirius said, gesturing to Harry.
Two hours later, Remus was still talking quietly with Sirius, who refused to leave Harry for even a moment, when a chime sounded, signaling that someone was at the Floo. "Probably Poppy bringing the potion and gauze. You wake him up?"
Sirius nodded, and Remus left the room. "Harry, can you wake up for me? Have to take a look at your neck," he said quietly, and Harry stirred, then stiffened, looking around wildly before relaxing a bit.
"I thought I was still there," Harry whispered. "I had passed out a few times, now I never know if I'm going to wake up here, or if I'll still be there."
Sirius pulled him into a hug, being careful of his injuries which, while healed, would still be sore. "We'll get through this," he promised.
Remus walked to the fireplace, and was surprised to find Snape there instead. "Where's Poppy?" Remus asked.
Snape sneered. "While I have no desire to play nurse to the brat, I have a salve I'd like to test on his neck, so I brought the potion and dressings as well."
Remus just nodded, though he did shoot the man a look that clearly said 'behave!', which Snape ignored. They walked to the guest room, and Remus stuck his head in.
"Severus is here to look at you, Harry. Is that alright?" When Harry nodded, the two walked in, and Snape went over by the bed.
"Drink this, Potter," he commanded, shoving a vial at Harry.
Harry took it, but started shaking as he tried to lift it. Sirius noticed this, and took it before it could spill. He uncapped it quickly, and helped Harry swallow it. Harry's face was once again burning in humiliation, but the older wizards ignored it for now.
"Right, now I'm going to take this dressing off and apply a salve. I don't know if it will work, but we can try," Snape said, and took the bandage off, surprised when Harry didn't even wince in pain. He took out the bottle of salve and liberally smeared it on the gash, then put fresh gauze over it. "We won't know for a bit if it's working or not. I'll be back in four hours to check on you again," he said quickly, and left.
The three left in the room were shocked at how fast that had gone, but shrugged it off. Remus looked at the clock and realized that it was nearly 11:30 in the afternoon.
"You hungry, Harry?" he asked, standing. He knew that the teen hadn't eaten in nearly twenty four hours, but felt it was better to ask.
Harry looked up, then back down at his lap. "You don't have to go to any trouble, I don't want to be a burd –"
"Harry James, if you say that word, I will make sure to put a Sticking Charm on you so that you can't leave that bed until school," Sirius threatened. He understood Harry's insecurities, but he wasn't going to allow them to continue. It was like dealing with Moony's issues all over again!
Harry kept his head bowed. "Lunch would be great, Professor Lupin."
Remus was a bit disconcerted by the conversation, but forced a smile onto his face. "Harry, I haven't been your professor in over a year. Call me Remus, or Moony."
Harry gave him a ghost of a smile, and nodded.
"Anything in particular you want?" Sirius asked a bit softer. When Harry just shook his head, he sighed. "How about soup and sandwiches?"
Harry looked up. "That sounds good," he said, giving his godfather a smile.
"Alright, we'll be right back with that," he said, and the two older wizards left the room, headed for the kitchen.
Remus started heating up some soup, and Sirius pulled out the sandwich fixings. "What was that all about?" Remus asked quietly.
Sirius's hands stilled. "I can't tell you everything. I won't break Harry's trust in me," he said hesitantly.
"I understand that, but can you give me something? I'm a bit lost here."
Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose. In truth, he should have expected a bit of a regression to how he was at the beginning of the summer, but with everything going on, it wasn't as important. "Harry doesn't trust adults, and unfortunately he has a lot of reasons not to."
"Meaning what, exactly?" Remus prodded. He didn't want to pry, but he cared a lot about Harry and didn't want to do anything that would cause him to be pushed away, especially now.
Sirius turned, and Remus stared at the pain filled eyes. "Let's just say that Harry's childhood was a lot more like mine than James's."
Remus gaped at him. "Tell me you're kidding, here," he demanded harshly. He remembered well all the times the Marauders spoke of Sirius's childhood.
Sirius turned back to the sandwiches he was making, needing to do something with his hands. "I wish I could, Moony. Harry's going to have to tell you anything else, though."
Remus jerkily turned and stirred the soup. He should have expected this. After all, what thirteen year old can't think of a good memory? "So, how did he come to trust you so quickly?" he asked, and saw that Sirius was about to protest. "Don't deny it, the kid loves you."
Sirius nodded. "I don't know. I think part of it is that I don't treat him like a child. I treat him like an adult because honestly, that's what he is, no matter his age. Also, we spent all day every day together for over a month."
Remus was pouring the soup into three bowls. "Is there any chance for me and him?" he asked quietly.
Sirius had finished plating the sandwiches, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Of course there is. Just give it some time, he'll open up to you."
The werewolf smiled and nodded. They grabbed a few glasses of water and went back into the room.
"Here you go, kiddo," Sirius said, placing a plate with a sandwich on Harry's lap. "It's not as good as Beauxbatons', but it'll have to do." He placed the water and soup on the table by the bed.
"Thanks. I'm sure it's good," Harry said, digging in. He really was hungry, not that it was surprising.
"So, how was France?" Remus asked Harry, starting his soup.
"It was nice," Harry said between bites. "I really learned a lot while we were there. Sirius is a good teacher," he stated, smiling at his godfather.
"What was he teaching?" Remus asked, laughing.
"French, Occlumency, Potions, we reviewed most everything for my classes, dueling, Ancient Runes, and Arithmancy," Harry listed.
Remus choked on his soup. "Sirius taught you Arithmancy?" he asked incredulously.
Sirius playfully pushed him. "Hey, I taught him the basics, all right?"
"But you hated Arithmancy. You had to con me into helping you every weekend!"
Harry smiled at the pair. "Sirius is actually a good teacher, but I'm awful at it. I think I prefer Runes."
Remus laughed. "Well if you'd like, I could spend some time with you on Arithmancy. I'm sure he was great teaching Runes, though," he said, still laughing.
Harry smiled nervously. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't want to take your time away from other things."
He waved his hand, as though brushing the thought away. "I'd love to help. If you're anything like you were in third year, you're going to go batty this week. The least I could do is sit with you and try to distract you some."
Harry smiled a bit wider at that. "Thanks, Remus."
Said man smiled at the use of his first name, and thought of another question. He had to take it slowly, but he did have a lot of smaller questions, too. "So, Sirius told me that your Potions satchel was a gift."
Harry nodded. "It was. The potions teacher and school nurse at Beauxbatons gave it to me as a thank you for stocking the infirmary."
Remus choked on his soup again, but this time it was from shock. "You stocked the infirmary?" he asked.
Harry just nodded, setting his plate aside. "Yeah. I found that I really enjoy brewing potions. After there was an, uh, event…." He glanced guiltily at Sirius.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "How many times do we have to go over this? I don't blame you for that, alright? It was just a bump on the head."
"Yeah, one that left you bleeding everywhere, and one that I caused!" Harry exclaimed.
Remus stepped in. "Someone want to clue me in?"
Sirius could tell that Harry wasn't going to. "We were having our nightly Occlumency lesson, and I stumbled onto a memory that Harry was rightfully upset about. He threw me out of his mind rather forcefully, and I hit my head. Harry was so freaked that he managed to brew a blood replenishing potion, a pain potion, and nearly a vat of bruise balm. Most of the balm he gave to the Assistant Head as a thank you for sitting with me while he brewed. After that, he worked on Potions every day, and gave half to the school."
Remus gaped at Harry. "That was very generous," he praised.
Harry shrugged. "It was the right thing to do. Besides, I was using their ingredients, and they were letting us stay, use their rooms, library, dueling chamber, and fed us three meals a day. It seemed like the least I could do."
Remus shook his head fondly. "You have so much of your mother in you."
Harry smiled at him, and then reached for his soup. He'd forgotten about his temporary weakness, and spilled half the soup onto his lap.
"Harry!" Sirius said loudly, concerned that he might've burned himself.
Harry interpreted it a bit differently, and started getting up. "I'm so sorry, Remus. I'll take care of this. I didn't mean to drop it," he rambled as he started stripping the bed, leaning heavily on the bedpost to stay upright.
Sirius hurried over to his side as Remus started cleaning up. "Harry, we're not upset with you, I was just worried you might have burned yourself. Are you hurt?"
Harry stared at him, confused. "I'm fine, but the sheets…." He was tired, sore, and frankly a bit crabby, but he was aware that this wasn't his house, and he couldn't ruin any of Lupin's things.
"Are washable," Remus said calmly, and with a flick of his wand, the bed was dry, and fresh sheets were on it. "Harry, it's not a big deal."
Just then, Harry's knees buckled, and Sirius grabbed him, and lowered him gently onto the bed. "You sure you're not hurt?" Sirius asked again.
Harry looked down at his thighs, which were just a little red. "I'm fine."
Sirius groaned at the oft used phrase, and shook his head.
Three hours later, Harry was dozing in bed, book forgotten on his lap. The Floo chimed again, and Poppy was in a moment later. "Mr. Potter, you are still in bed, I'm impressed," she said sternly, pulling out a bag which she handed to Remus. "That's five days of blood replenisher and the gauze he'll need. Severus will be by once in a while to test a salve or potion he thinks might help." With that, she grabbed a vial out of her apron and went over to the bed. "This is Dreamless Sleep, I'm sure you remember it."
Harry scowled at the reminder of the other time he took the potion. The bloody Third Task. "I remember it."
"Right. Well, it will put you out for about ten hours. If you drink all of it, you shouldn't have any problems staying asleep, even when one of them changes the dressings or gets you to drink the potion."
Harry accepted the vial and thanked her before he downed it.
"Not a problem. I will see you at the end of the week," she told him, and took her leave.
Remus looked at Sirius. "How do you want to do this?" he asked. "His next dose will be in four hours. How about I take the first eight hours while you sleep and then you handle it when he's awake?" Sirius was about to protest, when Moony interrupted. "That wasn't really an option, there. You haven't slept at all. I at least got some sleep this morning. Go to sleep, and I'll wake you two in the morning."
Sirius just growled playfully at him, and started getting ready for bed. Without a doubt, it had been the longest twenty four hours in a long time.
Yay, he's safe! To me, Harry's in character here, but I understand if anyone disagrees, just don't be mean about it. I give you the right to have a different opinion, I would appreciate it if you gave me the same consideration.
Nothing ever really happened with Flint in cannon after he left, but I had him join our favorite Dark Lord. He was the new recruit that Snape mentioned, since he's still young. I purposefully put him in there with Malfoy, and there's a reason for that. One of the reasons will be in the next update!
