A/N: I do plan to finish every story, I've just had some writer's block on my other two and this one is flowing so easily. I'm working on new chapters for both of the others though, feel free to throw some ideas out if you'd like. For now, here's a new chapter. Read and review!
Harry woke groggily at 9:30 the next morning. Once he got his bearings and realized how late it was, he bounded out of bed. He thought that Sirius would wake him up to cook, just as Aunt Petunia always had, but maybe he expected Harry to wake up and begin on his own?
Jumping in the shower quickly, he cleansed himself as thoroughly as possible while also trying to move fast. Drying off, he moved out of his bathroom and into the closet, looking through the new clothes to find a suitable outfit for redecorating the house. Choosing a red Gryffindor t-shirt and some tan colored shorts, he put them on, then went back into the bathroom to attempt to comb his hair. Giving up on that, he walked swiftly out of the bathroom, his bedroom, and into the hallway.
Harry stepped out onto the landing where their staircase was and stood in awe. He had missed just how beautiful the entrance to the house was the night before. He could see the tall, oak front door from where he was standing on the landing; two silver sets of armor stood on each side of the door, as if guarding it. Large windows ran up to the ceiling behind the armor and let in golden natural light. If the foyer was so welcoming, he couldn't wait to see the rest of the house; however, remembering how late it was, Harry bounded down the stairs, accepting that he would need to finish breakfast before he took a look around.
Harry walked down the hallway that led to their kitchen, but paused outside the door; the smell of warm coffee wafted out to him, and he could hear Remus and Sirius talking low behind the door. Confused, Harry pushed it open.
Both men immediately looked up at Harry, surprised.
"Good morning, mate." Sirius said, pulling out the vacant chair to his right. "I didn't think you'd be up for another hour. We'll start cooking breakfast in a bit."
Harry looked at the proffered chair wearily. "You don't want me to cook breakfast?" He asked, stepping closer to the table where the men were seated.
Sirius and Remus shared a look, then both shook their heads.
"I'm happy to fix you something to eat. If you ever want to cook breakfast for yourself, feel free, but I don't expect you to cook for me. I was thinking about making pancakes this morning, how does that sound?" Sirius said, smiling as Harry finally sat down in the chair at the table.
"Good," Harry said, feeling a new relief sweep over him. He didn't have to cook here - that was something he could get used to.
"Right, so after breakfast, Moony and I were going to finish up decorating. We have all the bedrooms done, as well as the kitchen, and the garden. That mostly leaves the living room, den, and library. I've also got a surprise outside that I need to finish, so you can help Moony in here if you'd like. Does that sound good?" Sirius explained, picking up Remus and his coffee mugs and taking them to the sink. He tapped his wand once and a sponge began to magically clean the dishes.
"Yeah, brilliant," Harry said with a nod. Then, after a moment, "weren't you going to go see Dumbledore?"
Sirius had his back turned, setting up the stove with his wand. He sighed quietly. "Yes, at some point. I wanted to spend some time with you and so long as the man doesn't come knocking down our door to take you back to your aunt and uncle, I figured I could delay my visit."
Harry thought this was weird, especially considering Sirius's passion about seeing Dumbledore the night before - he had a strange feeling it had to do with his refusal of taking his aunt and uncle to court. Regardless, he nodded and busied himself with a thread on his shirt.
A moment later, Sirius returned to the table. Harry looked up at the stove and saw pancakes cooking on their own.
"Wicked," he said quietly. Sirius and Remus both looked at him, a little perplexed. Harry continued, "I just feel so disconnected from the wizarding world over the summers - it's cool to see all that magic can do when I'm back."
Remus nodded knowingly. "My mum was a muggle, so she was amazed for years after she met my dad. I don't know that she ever really got used to it; we kind of hid from the wizarding world once I was bitten. My parents were afraid the ministry would send me to a colony when I was old enough."
Harry watched as Sirius reached over and squeezed Remus's hand. Remus smiled gratefully.
"So… you hid until you got your Hogwarts letter? Why did your parents let you go if they were afraid of the ministry?" Harry asked, curiously. He hadn't had much of a chance to talk to Remus after he learned that the man was a werewolf.
"Dumbledore actually came by the house to deliver my letter - he convinced my mum. My dad was pretty excited that I could go and learn, but my mum was terrified something bad would happen." Remus explained."Fortunately, I made it through all seven years with no issues - unless you count all the detentions I got because of this one," he said with good humor, jabbing a finger in Sirius's direction.
Sirius snorted, shaking his head good naturedly. "Moony, you came up with half of the pranks that we got into trouble for - I don't think it's fair to say I put you in every one of them."
Harry smiled at their jabber - he had so much he wanted to learn about their days at Hogwarts, and about his parents. He also wanted to learn more about his godfather's life growing up, but after their last conversation, he was scared to ask. Sure, Sirius had never gotten angry for his curiosity, but his childhood was clearly a sore subject.
Before he could muster the courage to ask again, however, Sirius had stood up and gone back to the stove. He summoned three plates to him and magically placed the pancakes on each one.
When he brought the food over, Harry realized that his was piled high with four pancakes, whereas Sirius and Remus only had two - he opened his mouth to comment on this, but Remus beat him to it.
"Sirius, mate, I know you're worried about Harry, but you need to eat more too." He scolded lightly, accepting his food.
Sirius stared at the plate in front of him, looking slightly nauseous. "I'm not used to eating a lot yet, I think I'd get sick if I ate more than a couple of pancakes. Cut me some slack," he said after a moment, grinning. "I spent twelve years eating sludge."
Remus rolled his eyes, apparently used to the casual way Sirius spoke of Azkaban; Harry, however, did not miss the haunted look that shone in his godfather's grey eyes. Growing up, he thought he always had it bad with food - he always got the smallest plate, and most of the time it was either burned or cold. The Dursley's food, however, had to have been better than Azkaban gruel.
Harry looked up from his godfather's plate and saw Sirius watching him, his eyes concerned. He realized that the man was waiting for him to begin eating. Harry wanted to say something, tell Sirius he didn't need to fuss over him because he was capable of eating on his own, but the look in his godfather's eyes stopped him. Sirius had been so worried about him the past three days, and that alone was so much more than the Dursley's had ever done. With this in mind, Harry obediently began eating his larger pile of pancakes, noticing, with relief, that Sirius began to eat as well.
They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, enjoying their first breakfast together in the house. Soon, Sirius and Remus began to tell Harry stories from Hogwarts, beginning with the night they first met.
"James and I had such a great time that first train ride," Sirius reflected fondly. "We didn't meet Remus until after we had been sorted, but we became close very quickly."
"You met my dad as soon as you got on the train?" Harry questioned. "That's how Ron and I met… well, we met on the station, actually. I didn't know how to get onto the platform and my relatives had just left."
Sirius and Remus both frowned at that. "They left you alone at the station?" Remus asked.
Harry nodded. "I think they thought it was funny - they didn't believe that there was a Platform 9 and ¾."
Sirius looked angry. "As many times as Petunia went to the station with her parents! She knew exactly where it was and what you would need to do."
"Well, I'm not surprised she didn't tell me." Harry said, thoughtfully. "If Vernon had found out she knew anything about magic, I'm sure he would have gone for a divorce."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "That man is vile."
"He is," Harry agreed, nodding. They lapsed into silence at this, finishing up what remained of their breakfast. After a few minutes, Remus cleared his throat.
"I suspect we should begin decorating - the day will be gone before we know it, and this house is far from finished."
Sirius nodded and stood, banishing the dishes to the sink. "I'm going to go outside and work on the surprise. I'll come back in here when it's finished."
Harry watched his godfather walk out of the room, then turned to Remus, who was also getting out of his seat. Remus smirked at him. "I know you're curious about what he's doing; you're going to love the surprise."
"Really?" Harry asked, following the man out of the room.
"Really," Remus said, leading him down the hallway and back out into the foyer. They walked down another, more hidden hallway behind the staircase, which lead into a high-ceilinged library. Harry stared around in awe of the empty bookshelves, which stretched to the roof. There were large windows on one of the walls, which showed a beautiful garden with a meandering brook outside. Harry stepped closer to get a look at the magical creatures playing throughout the garden.
"I can't wait for Hermione to see this," Harry said, turning back around to face Remus. "She'd love it… er, well, she'll love it when we stock some books in here."
Remus chuckled. "Well, that's the plan for today. It should go much faster with you and I together."
Harry nodded, approaching the boxes stacked up in the corners. "Why did Sirius want a library? Does he like to read?"
Harry watched as Remus levitated ten books to the very top shelf. "Sirius hasn't ever been a bookworm, if that's what you're asking. He's brilliant though, Harry, and he likes to learn. I think he partially wanted a quiet space for you to study, but I'm sure he'll use it plenty too."
Harry nodded and stood awkwardly to the side. He didn't want to get in Remus's way, but he also wasn't exactly sure how he could help in this situation.
"I suppose you haven't learned the banishing charm yet?" Remus asked, levitating another stack of books.
"Er… no," Harry said, watching as heavy volumed guides to alchemy and potions flew upwards.
"It's depulso," Remus said, lifting another stack into the air. "You can try it - you won't get into any trouble for doing magic here, this place is practically unplottable."
Harry concentrated, held out his wand and said the word - it sort of worked. The book he wanted to banish to the top shelf flew straight into the air; however, gravity caused it to fly back down before it could make it to an upper shelf.
Remus chuckled. "Don't feel bad, mate, it's a fourth year spell. Why don't you try a few more times, and if you don't get it we can do something else."
Harry nodded, and watched as Remus flawlessly moved books to the shelves. Preparing himself again, he said the phrase; the book went a little closer to the shelf he was aiming at, but gravity still got the best of it.
He tried yet again; this time, after the book had fallen, Harry noticed he was feeling slightly dizzy. However, this wasn't the first time he had gotten a little sick after exerting some magic, and he didn't see any reason to be concerned over blurry vision. So he continued to attempt the spell, ignoring the cold sweat that was soon appearing on his face and the dark spots in his vision.
When the ringing in his ears began, however, he decided that he should probably say something.
"Er, Remus-" Harry said, staggering to a nearby chair and flopping down. "I'm feeling a little weird…"
"Harry?" Remus said, concern in his voice. "What's wrong?"
"Dizzy-" Harry slurred, noting with panic that a wave of nausea was coming; he really didn't want to vomit all over the floor. That would be a terrible way to start his first day living there.
Remus frowned. "Harry, try and keep your eyes open for me, alright?"
Harry did as he was told, and watched a blue light shoot at him from Remus's wand; he had little time to panic over the spell being cast at him, but he realized soon after that it was a diagnostic spell. Remus's frown deepened. Harry watched as, this time, Remus cast a full patronus. It was shaped like a wolf, and it prowled out of the room and back into the hallway.
"Patronus?" Harry asked, his world still spinning.
Remus nodded curtly. "In their full form, patronuses can send messages to people. I just sent one to Sirius - he'd have my neck if I didn't tell him what was happening."
"What is happening?" Harry asked, as Remus summoned a glass of water for him. Harry sipped at it gratefully, feeling the world begin to right itself.
"You've got a concussion," Remus said simply. "Not the end of the world, but I wish we had known last night before we sent you to bed… you could have gone into a coma. You should probably go to Madame Pomfrey when you stop feeling dizzy."
"Remus? Harry?" Sirius said from the foyer. Harry heard his footsteps approaching and after a moment, he appeared in the doorway. "What happened?" He came closer and sat on the arm of the chair Harry had occupied.
"I was trying to do that er, banishing spell, and I got really dizzy." Harry said, sitting up straighter. "I'm feeling okay now, just needed to rest."
Sirius looked at him with concern. "Remus said the diagnostic spell showed a concussion. How'd you get that?"
Harry thought back to yesterday, when his uncle had grabbed him by the hair and threw him into the hallway. He had hit his head pretty hard against the wall when that happened, so he was sure that was the reason behind his concussion; however, if Sirius and Remus knew that, they might force Harry to take them to court. "I… I don't really know," Harry mumbled, averting his eyes.
Sirius looked gravely at his godson, and Harry felt his heart constrict slightly. They had just talked about being honest with one another the night before, and Harry could tell neither Sirius nor Remus believed him. To his surprise, Sirius didn't press him. "Alright, well let's get to Hogwarts. I'll take you to Pomfrey and then go speak with Dumbledore."
Harry stared blankly at him. He really didn't want to go sit in the hospital wing, but he could tell Sirius wouldn't budge on the matter. He got up and followed the man towards the floo.
"You coming Remus?" Sirius asked, grabbing a handful of powder out of the nearby bucket.
"I'll stay here. I can finish up the library and start on lunch." Remus said, going back to the pile of books.
Sirius nodded and handed Harry the bucket. "You've flooed before, right?"
Harry nodded - he had flooed once, and it wasn't a great experience; he had somehow ended up in Knockturn Alley, a dangerous shopping street for dark magic, instead of Diagon Alley. However, he felt pretty confident he would do it correctly this time.
"You go first, then." Sirius said, gesturing towards the fireplace. Harry stepped in, called out "Hogwarts School!" and felt himself zooming through the floo. He flew out onto the floor in Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore stood up from his desk, but did not look surprised to see him. Harry wondered if Sirius had sent him an owl that morning, or if Dumbledore just truly knew everything.
"Harry," Dumbledore said in greeting as he stood up off the floor. "I was expecting to see Sirius. Is he coming?"
"Er-" Harry started, but before he could answer, the flames had turned green again. Sirius stepped out gracefully. He still looked grave, but he allowed a small smile to appear on his features when he saw his soot-covered godson. "You'll get used to it," he said, brushing a few ashes off Harry's shoulder. Then, he turned to Dumbledore. "I'm going to drop him off with Pomfrey and then I'll be back."
Dumbledore frowned - maybe he doesn't know everything, Harry mused - but nodded nonetheless. "I'll wait here for you."
Sirius placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and steered him out of the office. Harry looked at the man, confused. "Did he know you were coming?"
"Yeah, Remus flooed him last night when I left the house to get you. I'm sure he's not happy with me at the moment," Sirius said, removing his hand from Harry's shoulder as they went down the rotating staircase. "He'll have to deal with it though. The more time that passes, the more I realize how bad they really were."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, walking fast to keep up with his godfather's long strides.
"Well, last night I know your uncle pushed you over and kicked you… but I didn't hear your head hit anything. I think that would have been noticeable. So that means he hurt you another time besides last night. Am I correct in thinking that?" Sirius asked, giving Harry a knowing look.
Harry looked at his shoes and nodded. He should have known that Sirius would deduce this; again, he felt bad for lying, but for some reason, he was struggling to tell the man the truth when it came to his relatives. However, he knew Sirius expected some sort of explanation. "Remember how I said I had to clean the bathroom?" He mumbled.
"Yeah," Sirius said, looking at the boy with concern.
"I had cleaned it the first day I got there… I couldn't believe that he wanted me to do it again, and I told him that. He grabbed me and threw me against the wall and I hit my head pretty hard." Harry said, keeping his eyes on his shoes.
Sirius stopped abruptly - so abruptly, in fact, Harry had to backtrack, since he was speed-walking to keep up with the man. He looked at his godfather nervously, wondering what he would do. Before he could ask, however, he felt himself being pulled into an embrace. He was so shocked, he didn't know what to say; luckily, Sirius spoke for him. "I'm so sorry I ever let you step foot in that house, mate."
Harry swallowed thickly. "It's really okay, Dumbledore was the one-"
"I should have put my foot down." Sirius said, pulling back and putting his hands on Harry's shoulders. "The more I learn about them, the more I regret not telling Dumbledore no. I am so sorry I left you when you were a baby and got myself thrown in Azkaban… all of this would have been avoided."
"It was Pettigrew-" Harry tried to insist, though he choked on the words in his haste to say them; he didn't want Sirius to feel guilty about any of this. He didn't blame him for it, after all.
Sirius looked at the floor for a moment, then nodded. "It was Pettigrew, and the Dursleys… yet, I wish I hadn't let my emotions get the best of me that night." He started walking again, and Harry followed suit, listening intently. "If I hadn't, we wouldn't be just getting to know each other now… you would have lived with me your entire life, you would have known about magic, and, most importantly, you would trust me."
"I do trust you," Harry insisted. "The Dursley's are just… different."
Sirius nodded, but didn't say anymore on the matter; Harry could tell the topic wasn't closed though. He knew Sirius didn't believe him.
And why should he? Harry thought miserably. You lied to him so many times, he has no way of knowing when you're telling him the truth.
Sirius stopped outside of the hospital wing and turned to Harry. He noticed the put-out expression on the boy's face, and softened a little. "I'm not upset with you, mate, I promise. We can talk more about it later."
Harry nodded, but didn't meet his godfather's eyes. He heard Sirius sigh and tentatively looked up.
The man had a pained expression in his haunted, grey eyes, but his features were schooled. "I'm going to go speak with Dumbledore. Let Madame Pomfrey take care of that concussion. I'll be back to get you when we finish talking."
Harry nodded, then walked into the hospital wing. He felt extremely uneasy about the whole situation, but before he could analyze it, Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office. "Dumbledore said you were coming by. Here, sit."
Harry did as he was told, taking a seat on a proffered bed. Madame Pomfrey used the same spell that Remus had used on him earlier, and clucked her tongue at the results. "Were you hit in the head with a bludger?"
"No," Harry said glumly, not wanting to have this conversation with the matron.
Madame Pomfrey surveyed him for a moment, then nodded. "You don't have to tell me, Potter, though I am bound by patient confidentiality if you would like to share. Is there anything else I should know before I heal the concussion?"
Harry shook his head. Pomfrey nodded again, then waved her wand in multiple complex motions around him. She cast another diagnostic charm once she was finished and, satisfied with her work, summoned a few potions over. One, Harry recognized to be a nutrition potion, not unlike the potions Sirius sent him. The other was an unfamiliar bottle of something that had a sky blue color.
Noticing his questioning look, Madame Pomfrey picked up that potion first. "The diagnostic spell showed significant signs of stress - you're anxious about something. This is a calming draught. You wouldn't need much of it, but I think it might would help for you to have some."
"Did Sirius tell you I needed one or something?" Harry asked, feeling a little bit of resentment rise within him. Was this Sirius's way of getting him to agree to take the Dursley's to court? By drugging him?
To Harry's surprise, Madame Pomfrey smiled. "No, but if you would believe it, Lupin flooed in last night to get some for Black. I'm not sure why, but he was pretty worked up about something."
Harry felt guilt and shame replace the resentment - Sirius was upset about him last night. All the man had wanted to do this entire time was help him, and Harry's traitorous feelings were keeping him from doing that.
"Maybe I will take the calming potion, then," Harry said, accepting that he would need a hold on his emotions if he hoped to have a real conversation about his relatives with his godfather.
Harry accepted the potion she administered, then leaned back on the bed, resigning himself to wait for Sirius to return so they could have a much needed conversation.