It had been fifteen minutes since Sirius, Remus, and Harry tumbled into Dumbledore's floo, interrupting a meeting between Snape and Dumbledore. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at the trio, but Snape looked utterly beside himself. He was angry, perhaps at his time with Dumbledore being taken up. Dumbledore had asked if the three could wait, and all Sirius could blurt out was: "Harry talks to snakes!"
That had been enough to get both mens attention, eyes glued to the boy wizard who looked as if he was threatening to throw a tantrum over the lack of Quidditch. Harry didn't often have meltdowns, but when he did, they were awful. Sirius quickly conjured up a Snitch and handed it to Harry, who then busied himself with attempting to catch it as it zoomed around the office. Dumbledore summoned two more chairs in front of his desk; Remus sat dutifully between the two men who couldn't stand each other.
"What could this possibly mean?" Snape wondered outloud after Sirius finished retelling the story of the nightmare and then the incident in the garden with the snake.
"It means he bloody talks to snakes!" Sirius snapped. Harry could be heard giggling in the background, and Sirius twisted in his seat in time to see the young boy jump and almost grasp the snitch before falling on his bottom. Harry grinned at Sirius before getting up and trying again. The portraits of Headmaster's past were split between murmuring about this being an office and children shouldn't be allowed to play, while others marveled at the joy the young boy seemed to be experiencing. Sirius focused his gaze back on Dumbledore.
Dumbledore's steely blue eyes felt as if they were piercing through Sirius' soul. "I know it's rare, Professor, but could it just be a recessive gene in the Potter line?" Remus' voice was soft and unassuming. Sirius racked his brain; James had never mentioned anyone ever having talked to snakes.
"I don't believe so," Dumbledore said with a heavy sigh. His chin rested on his long fingers as he closed his eyes. "We'll need to exclude Harry from this conversation." Sirius had to strain his good hearing to hear what Dumbledore had said, and his brows furrowed.
"Shouldn't he be included if it's about him?" Sirius demanded, annoyed.
"He is six. He doesn't need to know the way of the world," Dumbledore said, almost daring Sirius to disagree that he would rather have Harry overly involved in everything.
"Perhaps I'll be going while you speak to these two," Snape said, acknowledging that he was maybe not the person Dumbledore needed seated in front of him. "We can resume our conversation later." Snape stood.
"Stay, Severus. This has to do with what you promised all those years ago," Dumbledore said softly. He cast a charm so that Harry couldn't hear the four men discussing his life. Sirius doubted that Harry would have cared, either way, when he could be so easily occupied by the snitch he was chasing. Just like James used to, Sirius thought, a spasm paining his chest as he remembered all the days spent down by the lake, snitch in sky.
Severus looked stricken, and sat immediately. Sirius glanced over at the Slytherin, and felt confused. What did Snape promise? Does this have to do with him coming to the Order right before the end of the war? What is Dumbledore playing at? "Sir?" Remus asked, breaking Sirius' thought process.
"Voldemort isn't dead," Dumbledore said slowly. The words sounded rancid coming out of Dumbledore's mouth.
"Excuse you?" Sirius' voice was booming and demanding. He now understood why Dumbledore had cast the charm. He wouldn't want Harry to have to hear this fight. "James and Lily are dead - Harry's got that scar, and you've got the audacity to say that Voldemort isn't dead? Merlin, Dumbledore. Obviously you never went to Godric's Hollow that night. There was nothing left!"
Dumbledore sat back in his chair, putting his hands up to stop Sirius' rant. "I understand what you think you saw, Mr. Black."
"Don't you condescend to me!" Sirius felt the anger he felt inside welling up. Angry that his friends had given their lives. Angry that the other members of the Order had died. And for what? Voldemort has to be dead; otherwise he would have come for us by now. How can Dumbledore be this stupid?
Dumbledore's blue eyes felt like they were piercing his soul. "Mr. Black, think back to..ah, I believe it would have been your seventh year in Defense. Do you remember the professor briefly mentioning a Horcrux?" Sirius racked his brain before shaking his head no.
"Wait- Professor... Are you saying that Voldemort has a Horcrux?" Remus' voice sounded scared, and Sirius really wished he could remember what that was.
Dumbledore nodded slowly, taking in the three men in front of him. Snape seemed to understand immediately - of course he would, that slimy git. I knew that he was a fucking dark wizard. This should be enough proof that he can't be trusted. Why is he part of this anyway? Nothing that he sacrificed in the war should warrant his presence in this conversation, Sirius thought. Remus' face looked pained. Sirius just looked confused, and scared.
"What's a Horcrux?" demanded Sirius.
Dumbledore began to explain the complex process that was creating and obtaining a Horcrux. He went into details about Horcruxes that even Remus and Snape had not previously known. "Essentially," Dumbledore said slowly, stroking his long, white beard, "It is extremely dangerous. There aren't many successful cases of this happening in history. I do, however, believe that Voldemort was successful at this."
Sirius gawked at Dumbledore. He did recall learning about Horcruxes. He had dismissed them as readily as the Professor had. Didn't he say something like, 'oh, don't worry, no one has ever done this'? Sirius tried to recall the lesson accurately, but continued to fall short. He ran a hand through his choppy hair before closing his eyes. He felt like life was crashing down on him.
"So what does this have to do with Potter?" Snape sneered, clearly agitated by something. Probably by existing, Sirius reasoned with himself.
"I believe that Voldemort unknowingly created a Horcrux," Dumbledore said slowly. "We know that Voldemort isn't dead- stop with that look, Sirius - and I believe that he's in hiding. I believe he is too weak with his fractured soul. I've been doing this research since Harry was able to win in the fight. I had always wondered how Harry survived, but I think that given this circumstance of speaking to snakes, the dream you described, and his unusual magical power, it is reasonable to believe that he could have part of Voldemort's soul him."
Sirius dropped his head into his hands, trying not to throw up. He felt Remus place a comforting hand on his back as the tears started to stream into his hands. "This isn't a death sentence," Dumbledore said softly.
"How is it not, Professor?" Remus asked the question that was constricting around Sirius' heart. He felt sick. He was thankful that he had Remus.
"The prophecy," Dumbledore said slowly, before Snape cut him off.
"The prophecy stated, Dumbledore, that neither could live while the other survived."
"How do you know that?" snapped Sirius, pulling his head from his hands. His cheeks were red and tear stained.
"Because, Black, I was the one who warned Dumbledore of Voldemort's thoughts that it could be the Potters, you insolent child!" Snape's voice was sharp, full of anger. Why's he so angry about it? He and Lily weren't even friends anymore, and Voldemort killed off James. Snape hated James, so why does it matter?
"The prophecy that caused James and Lily to hide?" asked Remus, wanting to clarify. Neither Sirius or Remus had been privy to all of what the prophecy said. It had been dangerous times, and while Sirius and Remus had been able to talk to James about why he was going in to hiding ("Because, mates, Dumbledore's nervous. There's a prophecy, but then he said he wasn't sure if it was true... so he would rather be safe than sorry!"), James had never given them full details.
"Yes," Dumbledore confirmed. Sirius snapped his head back to look at Harry. He was laying on the ground by the exit of the office, marveling at the snitch.
"If he's got a piece of Voldemort in him, " questioned Sirius, "then why isn't he all bad?"
"Sirius, I think you of all people should know that you can overcome your circumstances. I believe that Harry is a bright, lovable young boy. Having a piece of Voldemort in him doesn't make him bad. It just adds a complexity like we had not expected."
"So what next?" Snape's voice was short and to the point.
"We do not tell Harry of this. One day will come when Harry needs to defeat the Dark Lord again, but until then... we tell him nothing of this. Our duties to Harry include raising him to be the best wizard he can be. Teach him everything that he needs to know to defeat Voldemort for good. And in the spare time, we can work on killing off the rest of Voldemort's horcruxes. I have an idea what some of them might be, but without being able to decide how many there are, it might be hard to accomplish. And I'm sure that he didn't just leave them laying around carelessly."
Sirius' head was spinning. "You want me to raise my god-son so that he can be slaughtered?" His voice sounded weak, like he was defeated. Maybe we can just move to America. I've heard that the wizards there are coming around and the community is really vibrant. Although ludicrous, Sirius just wanted Harry to be as far away from Dumbledore and stories about horcruxes as possible.
"No, Sirius, I do not. I fully believe that we can train Harry to win in this fight. He's not ready yet - we need to continue to shelter the boy. And Sirius, you have the most important job of all. You need to continue to love the boy, so he knows it."
"Love him!? I'd give my life for him. I'll fight Voldemort instead of him!" Sirius bellowed, standing. He placed his fists on the front of Dumbledore's desk top. His eyes burned with rage. How does he not understand my love for this boy?
"Sit," Dumbledore instructed, and Sirius did as he was told. It was as if he was a school boy once again, unable to stand up for himself when Dumbledore's gaze pierced him with those blue eyes.
Sirius looked to his right. Remus looked just as distressed as Sirius felt. Snape looked... uncomfortable and pained. Why does he care? Sirius wondered, trying to force the grief away that threatened to consume him.
"I'm not even sure if Voldemort know of this connection, although I'm sure he will find out eventually," Dumbledore said slowly. "I don't know where Voldemort's... remains are - in hiding, trying to gain strength to come back again. This is Harry's fight. It won't happen tomorrow, but it'll happen eventually. We just need to make sure that Harry is ready for it all."
Sirius felt crushed. How could he accept this? He was raising a six year old to die. And for what? Sirius wondered. It's not possible that the former Death Eaters would risk being associated with Voldemort again. It's not possible that there are still so many people willing to fight. The light has to outweigh the dark this time, doesn't it? Sirius felt like his head was swirling. He couldn't do this. He couldn't.
"You need to stay here," Sirius said to Remus, finally certain of something. I'm going to grab Harry. We're going to leave. Go somewhere, anywhere. We can't have contact with these people. We can't be part of this. If we run, we can hide better than Voldemort can. We have endless amounts of money, we can buy supplies along the way. Sirius' anxiety over the situation was clouding his thoughts and feelings. There had only been one other time when he had felt so rash - when he went after Peter Pettigrew in an attempt to kill him for the betrayal of their best friends.
"Sirius..." Remus started, his voice failing as Sirius stood up. Sirius canceled Dumbledore's charm that he had cast before stepping towards Harry. Harry looked up at his god-father, a smile on his lips. He showed Sirius the snitch, eyes wondering if he could keep it. Sirius didn't respond to Harry's unasked question, but merely scooped the small framed boy up in his arms and entered the floo. He didn't need the men in this room; they were making his relationship with Harry messier than it needed to be. I don't need their help, thought Sirius as he bellowed out the name to his floo network in Hogsmede.
"Alright, Harry," said Sirius, a pained sounding tone in his voice as they hit the floor in the house they shared together. "There's a suitcase in your room, I need you to pack your favorite things."
"Where are we going, Padfoot?" The young boy looked up at him with bright green eyes, full of trust and love.
"Wherever you want, mate. We're going on a vacation, as far from here as we can go," he promised as they started up the stairs together.
I will do whatever it takes, to keep him safe. I promise, James, that I'll keep him alive for you. I'll lay down my life if I have to, vowed Sirius silently to his best friend. He had faith that James and Lily were watching down on Harry and Sirius right now. He had faith that he was doing the right thing by his friends, and that they would have expected him to do nothing less than to protect their son with everything he had.
I feel like we just got here, mused Sirius as he began tossing articles of clothing into the open suitcase on his bed. But, starting over never hurt us before.