Man's Best Friend

Chapter Eleven: Taking Care Of The Kids

Harry was spit out of the fireplace in Hermione's old house and he dusted himself off, ignoring the screams and shocked expressions from the new family sitting on their couch, who had been watching television. He walked past them and out the front door, wishing he knew how to apperate correctly. He stalked down the sidewalk towards the center of town where the jail was, his feet slapping the concrete in determined steps. Just outside the jail, he griped his wand in his hand, anger building up at the thought of someone hurting Hermione like that. He was so focused on thinking of the pain he was going to put the man through, he didn't notice a flash of white light behind him.

"Harry, son, you don't know what you're doing." Sirius said, slowly reaching for his wand just incase.

Harry stared at the few cops that sat around the front desk of the police station, his grip on his wand becoming painful. He felt Sirius talk a step closer and he spun around, his wand waving in front of him. Sirius flew backwards, landing on the opposite side of the street. Turning back to the police station, he started towards it. Suddenly a large force of light grabbed him and he closed his eyes as the blinding light surrounded him. The light died down and he opened his eyes to see that he was now in the alley beside the jail and another building, Sirius standing in front of him, his wand aimed at him.

"I'm not letting you get thrown into Azkaban, Harry. I promised your dad I'd take care of you."

"Get out of my way, Sirius. He's going to pay for what he did." Harry said.

Sirius stood his ground against his Godson, his throat tightening at the look in his eyes, which were almost black with rage. He held his wand up higher. "No, Harry. I'm not letting you do this."

Harry's eyes darkened even more and his lip twitched. Before he knew what was happening, Sirius was deflecting curses and hexes and sending stunning spells at his Godson. Not being quick enough, Sirius was hit in the chest and he landed a few feet away, his body crashing down onto the pavement. Harry was suddenly standing above him. He kicked his wand from his hand before he was able to raise it again and bent down beside him. He stuck his wand under the older man's chin and stared at him, panting hard.

"Take it out on me, Harry." Sirius said with pleading eyes. "You you can't go in there. Take it out on me."

Harry's jaw tightened and his hands began to shake. "You didn't hurt her." he said through clenched teeth. "He needs to pay."

"And he will. But Hermione can't lose anyone else, Harry. Take it out on me."

Harry swallowed the lump in his throat and stood up, pulling Sirius with him. He tucked his wand away and they stood in awkward silence. As Sirius went to say something else, he was met with a fist to his jaw and he was back on the ground. Groaning in pain, he felt himself be turned from his stomach onto his back. He looked up into Harry's dark eyes as he straddled him before continuing to smash his fists into his Godfather's face, angry tears running down his own face. After what seemed like forever, the hitting stopped and Harry fell off of Sirius, leaning against the building, breathing hard. Sirius struggled to his knees and looked at Harry, who was staring down at his hands, which were covered in a mixture of their blood. He felt his heart break as he watched the younger wizard. He was exactly like his father. Thinking before acting then breaking down over what he'd done or almost done. Sirius moved over to Harry and pulled him into a hug, trying to hush the boy's crying, as he had his father, years ago.

Remus looked up as the fireplace exploded with green flames and two figures stepped out into the library. His eyes widened at the site of Sirius' bruised and bloodied face. Harry was still staring at his hands as Sirius guided him out of the fireplace, his hand on his upperarm.

"What happened?" He asked from his place on the couch, where he was holding a now sleeping Hermione, who was curled up on his lap, still clinging to the front of his shirt.

"Get upstairs and clean up." Sirius growled and let go of Harry, patting him lightly on the back. Sirius fell back into his arm chair and closed his eyes. "He's got so much of his father in him."

"You told him to take his anger out on you, didn't you?" Remus asked, absentmindedly ran a hand through Hermione's hair, as her head rest on his shoulder.

Sirius nodded and opened his eyes. "Definitely has his father's anger and right hook." he said, letting out a soft chuckle. "How she doing?" he asked, eyeing the sleeping girl with worried eyes.

"Better. Cried for a bit while you were gone and wouldn't go back to sleep in her room, so I brought her in hear, hoping the sound of the fire would calm her down." Remus replied, looking down at the sleeping girl in his arms. "She actually just fell asleep a few minutes before you and Harry got back."

Sirius stood up and motioned for Remus to follow him. Once they reached Sirius' bedroom, Remus lay her down on the bed and Sirius transformed. Jumping onto the bed, he waited for Remus to cover her with the blankets. When he did, Padfoot lay his head on her torso, keeping his eyes on her, watching for any signs of troubled sleep. He watched as Remus placed a kiss on her forehead and watched her a moment with sad eyes.

"Take care of her tonight, Padfoot." Remus said, scratching the large dog on the head before turning off the light and leaving.

Padfoot woke up to the sound of soft crying. Hermione lay, curled in a ball, crying into the pillows. Stretching his front legs out, Padfoot walked over to her and nuzzled her cheek. She turned to see him sitting there, watching her. Sniffing, she threw her arms around his neck.

"You silly mutt." she cried.

Padfoot rest his head on her shoulder and let her cry as he had before. Once she had calmed down, she laid back down, Padfoot right beside her. Reaching over, she ran her hands over his head, neck and back until she fell asleep, finally feeling safe.