Chapter 10: Unwanted Information

BANG!

"Ow. Bloody friggin' hell!"

CRASH!

"Stupid piece of rubbish!"
Harry slipped out of bed and followed the bad words. Aunt Petunia surely would have unleashed her impolite side if such words were ever spoken in her home. However, here, Harry found himself learning a new profanity everyday. Upon entering the kitchen, Harry could not hold back his laughter.

Sirius was standing in the middle of the kitchen surrounded by what looked like every dish in the kitchen, humanly able to hold food. His hand held his 'magic stick' on his side and he was unsuccessfully trying to push his way to the table. He stopped at Harry's mirth and raised an eyebrow.

"You think it's funny, don't you? I try to 'Accio' a bloody plate and the bloody kitchen utensils attack me. It hurt you know and all I was trying to do was make a decent breakfast for you," he said. Harry's laughter died once he heard the reason behind the ridiculous situation.

"Really? Are you okay? Do you want me to make breakfast? Uncle Vernon says I make okay bacon." Sirius reached the doorway and stared quizzically at his young charge before answering the on-flow of questions.

"Nah, I'm fine." He made a funny motion with his hand that made the dishes retreat back to their places.

"See? No harm done. Did you make breakfast at home, a lot?" Harry couldn't help but think this was a strange question but he answered anyway.

"Yeah, I guess. Sometimes I help with supper, too. Uncle Vernon says that my cooking isn't that bad so it makes up for a bit of my… abnormality." Harry held his head high, waiting for praise. He wasn't great at anything but his cooking was not something to be ashamed of. He was slightly confused when Sirius looked sad, not proud.

"Harry, you're not abnormal, all right?" he said, before asking what Harry wanted for breakfast. Neither Harry, nor Sirius, was in the mood for the extravagant morning meal Sirius had been planning on making, so they settled for cereal and toast instead. While they ate, Sirius briefly explained where Lily and James were.

Apparently, James had gone with Remus to talk to the werewolves. This seemed amazing to Harry, who had only ever heard about them in fairy tales, and often as the bad guys. He made Sirius explain to him, twice, exactly what a werewolf was before letting him move on.

Lily's day had no such excitement. She had to go to work because her boss at the ministry would not allow her more vacation time, considering the situation, Harry wasn't sure about what that meant.

"You're stuck with me all day, kid," Sirius finished. Harry smiled, knowing that his day would be a lot better than the ones he spent with old cabbage-smelling, cat-loving Mrs. Figg.

Harry and Sirius stayed in their pajamas all day (somewhat of a highlight to Harry's day because he had never done it before) and played games. It was around two in the afternoon, and Harry was settling in to learn how to play wizard chess, when James appeared.

He stumbled through the fireplace looking like someone out of a war movie. He was covered in soot and other dirt, his face was swollen and bruised, and blood was spilling from his noise and splattered on his shirt. Sirius immediately abandoned the game and ran to his friend's side, helping him limp to a chair.

"Where's Moony?" he asked urgently. James shook his head.

"We were separated and we had already agreed that if things got rough we would just get back to headquarters and meet up here as soon as possible." Both men turned to the fireplace, willing with their eyes for their friend to pop out of the flames.

"It was practically pointless," James said, sighing. "The bastards already have most of the werewolves wrapped around his finger. We tried to explain to them that Voldemort was using them and that they were 'half-blooded creatures,' something he hates, but they stood firm. I think the only reason we weren't jumped earlier was because they could sense Moony's condition," James explained. Sirius nodded in understanding.

"Do you think you got through to any of them?" he asked. James shrugged.

"They're so different from Moony, almost wolfish. I don't know how to describe it. Moony said it has something to do with them living together and feeding off each other. There's a pecking order and everything, some even growled at me. Growled!" He let out a tired laugh. "I'm no match for them physically, as you can see. There so strong, Padfoot. It felt like I was being hit with a bludger, not a bloody fist. You should have seen Moony though. I've never seen him like that. He lets on like he's all delicate and well-mannered; well, let's just say he underwent a complete character makeover. I hope he's okay. He was fine last I saw." James glanced nervously at the fireplace again. "Now I know he let me win all those fights in school."

"I'm sure he's fine, Prongs. Moony's more than capable of taking care of himself," Sirius said, but he couldn't hide the waver in his voice.

James winced as he gingerly dabbed at his split lip and bloodied nose. Sirius picked up on this immediately and sent Harry to go fetch a cloth and some ice in the kitchen. Harry ran quickly into the other room and searched frantically for what was requested. He was scared; never in Harry's life had he seen someone in such bad condition, and that was saying something considering that he lived with Dudley. He grabbed three ice cubes and placed them in the cloth, the way the nurse at school did sometimes when there were no more icepacks.

Harry raced back down the hall and deposited the cloth in James's hand.

"Thanks, Harry," he said bringing it up to his face.

"Do you need anything else, mate?" Sirius asked. James shook his head.

"I'm just sore. And I think I sprained something in my leg. Other than that, a good old-fashioned shower might be nice."

With a little help from the man and boy, James made it upstairs and was five minutes into a very satisfying cleaning when the doorbell rang. Sirius and Harry, who had both been back downstairs by then, froze at the noise. Whoever it was that wanted in, wanted it badly. The ringing had barely died when the button was pressed again.

Harry looked at Sirius in worry when he made a motion for Harry to stay put. Sirius pulled out his wand as he made his way out the door. Harry heard the click of the lock being pulled out of place before a relived scream of: "Moony!"

Harry ran into the hall and took one look at the graying twenty-year-old before making for the kitchen to get another makeshift icepack. When Harry got back, they where already seated in the living room.

"…So I apparated here and ran about a block to the door, hoping that the muggles wouldn't ask any question," he was saying to an attentive Sirius. Remus smiled at Harry and took the cloth.

"Thank you, Harry, I suppose I do look a mess. Is Prongs here, yet?"

"Yeah, he got here 'bout twenty minutes ago. We sent him up to take a shower. He practically looked like he had been in a mud fight," Sirius answered. "Are you hurt too badly?"

"Nothing some of Poppy's amazing bruise cream won't fix in a couple of minutes," Remus replied. "It's-"

He was interrupted at that exact moment by a voice from the doorway.

"Still in one piece, Moony?"

"Of course, Prongs. It takes more then that to get rid of a Marauder."

James was in the doorway, squeaky-clean and in a new set of robes. His hair, although still weighed down by water, was already sticking up a bit, and a bruise on his cheek had turned a nasty shade of purple.

"Does your hair ever lie flat?" Sirius joked.

"Flat, flat, flat…" he muttered, as if to test out the sound of the word on his tongue.

"Never heard of it."

The rest of the afternoon passed a lot less adventurously. Within half an hour, Remus had gone to take his own shower. Sirius resumed teaching Harry how to play wizard chess and with James's help, Harry won his very first game.

When Lily arrived home at five, she was greeted enthusiastically, but she shook her head at them, looking worried.

"I received a letter from Dumbledore. He wants to se us tomorrow," Lily announced.

"What? Why?" James asked, looking dazed. "He saw us yesterday."

"Voldemort knows Harry's here. The sooner we do the tests, the better. He needs to go back to his own time as soon as possible." Lily paused for a moment. "James, he also knows the details of our death."