Azkaban Inmates
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe.
Year: 1984
Harry has been with us for three days, today it was currently Thursday. Sirius and I had no idea how Muggle schooling worked, so I went out and did some research not long after returning to the motel room the first day Harry was with us. I learned what days he had school and the times. Monday through Friday, 8 am to 2pm.
No matter how hard I try to seem harmless and friendly the boy found me extremely intimidating. If I get closer than a foot and a half away from him he goes stiff all over and clings to Sirius for dear life. We all sleep on the bed together but Harry makes absolutely certain that Sirius is in the middle.
I know the only reason he tries his hardest to tolerate my presence is because Sirius is so fond of me and he doesn't want to upset him. He is a sweet boy truly, just extremely shy and timid. He is a bit more relaxed when I am not in the room. I can tell because I see how he tenses when he notices me reenter the room.
The wee laddie adores Sirius so much already, even though Sirius told me he doesn't remember him from before Azkaban. You can clearly see he is desperate for Sirius's approval and adoration. He never disagrees with anything his godfather says, even if Sirius tries to stress to him that he wants the boy's honest opinion. Harry always responds how he thinks Sirius wants him to. Of course the toddler is not chatty by any stretch of the imagination. He usually nods, shrugs, shakes his head, or uses his hands to communicate. If he does talk it's only a few words at a time.
"He was always so talkative. Even though he only knew three words he would babble away to you in that adorable baby gibberish." I remember Sirius telling me sadly that first night. "Harry was so happy, enthusiastic, and social. The little bugger was cheeky too let me tell you. It's awful to see him so afraid of everything, so withdrawn into himself."
While Harry was at school Tuesday we spent a lot of time coming up with various different plans on how to deal with the muggle relatives (I can never remember their names). Before picking him up we settled on an idea. One of us will go disguised as Harry under polyjuice potion Friday and stay the night. Saturday the other will pick fake-harry up and relay the information they discovered.
We needed to know what exactly they do to him and Harry obviously isn't going to tell us the details himself. After that Sirius will decide how the muggles will be punished. We had neither resources, nor the time to make a polyjuice potion ourselves. So we went to Knockturn Alley Wednesday to get one, even though Diagon Alley would be preferable it is not wise for us to wander around there for shopping.
Knockturn Alley has narrow cobblestone alleyways and the shops were 10 shades of unpleasant. The many shops were devoted to the Dark Arts, one was Borgin and Burkes, which specializes in objects that have curious and strong magical properties I was informed. The shop we went to for the polyjuice had the physical appearance of an abandoned house.
The walkway leading up to house was cracked, weeds poked out from these cracks. Vines formed a twisted maze upon the side of house, reaching their tentacles towards the roof. The house's walls showed black decay by neglect. Splotches of original paint hinted at the house's former prosperity. Cobwebs covered the corners on the porch, tiny black spiders threaded towards their prey. The door begrudgingly creaked open when we entered. A musty, dank odor filled the stale air. I thought the outside was a ruse and the inside would be better. It wasn't.
The effects of the polyjuice potion are only temporary, and depending on how well it has been brewed, may last anything from between ten minutes and twelve hours. The two we bought were brewed very well indeed. Currently the plan was, Friday at 2pm before picking the real harry up, one of us will take the other to the muggles house. Saturday at 1:30 the fake-harry will be retrieved again before the second polyjuice potion wears off.
You wouldn't believe the amount of pleasure I felt when our never-ending quarrel about who was going to be the one to drink the potion was over. Finally Sirius agreed that it should be me that went. He was a stubborn man though, it took an annoyingly long amount of time to reach that point.
"I hate that you're going to be the one putting up with their abuse." Sirius murmured.
I moved so I was straddling his lap instead of sitting next to him on the bed. My knees now hugged his hips and one hand slithered up and tangled into his thick silky curls. His breathing hitched and his eyes fluttered when I gave those locks a soft tug.
"Yes, the hours upon hours we spent going back and forth can attest to that." I chuckled into his ear. Neither one of us wanted to have the argument in front of Harry, so we did it when he was at school and asleep.
"How long until we leave to pick Harry up?" Sirius inquired, his voice breathless from the attention my lips were paying his neck. Tempus, I thought to myself firmly. Seeing as I was preoccupied, I didn't bother stopping what I was doing to glance and see what time was now floating somewhere close to me. "We have an hour."
"There is a lot we can do in an hour." I purred against his skin, scratching my claws along his scalp gently.
Everything about me was half-shifted except my tail, which is not out at the moment. I unlatched my teeth from where they were nibbling underneath his ear and quickly pressed his lips to mine. Electric heat jumped in-between us and made my head go fuzzy. Sirius used his grip on my hips to pull me even closer than I already was and we rocked against each other.
50 minutes of amorous fun later we righted our rumpled appearance and struggled to get air to our starving lungs. Grey eyes were half-lidded as Sirius cleaned his trousers with a quick wandless spell. I chuckled deep in my throat as I retrieved my new shirt and buttoned it back up. We have not had intercourse yet but there are a lot of other fun sexual activities we have thoroughly enjoyed together.
"Where should we take Harry for a late lunch?" Sirius asked me as he put back on his own shirt. I eyed the beautiful tattoos on his too thin chest before they were covered up. "Anything in particular you are in the mood for, luv?"
"I do not think I should go with you to pick him up today." I replied, putting my long dark chocolate hair in a braid. "He would enjoy it more if it was just the two of you."
"He likes you being there." He denied and at the look I gave him, he continued with. "He does! Prongslet is just shy, that's all. That doesn't mean he dislikes you."
"You're lying to yourself. Surely you can see he fears me? I am sorry Padfoot dear, but he does not like me being around." I could hardly blame the boy. My facial features were sharp and defined before Azkaban, now they were even more so.
My cheek bones look like they can cut someone and my usual neutral expression is hardly warm and inviting. Even if I try to fake a smile it turns out horribly. Apparently my fake smile is a terrifying sight to behold, if the way Harry cringed was any indication. After that I did not bother faking a smile anymore. It is best if I only smile when it is genuine, even if that's not very often.
"Everything makes him nervous. It's not personal against you. He really does like you. I know he does."
"And I know that you are in denial." I snickered and Sirius squinted ebony lashes at me in disapproval. "If it makes you feel better I like him just fine, even if he hates me."
"He doesn't hate you!" He retorted sharply in annoyance.
My lips almost wanted to smirk, I worded the end like that for the sole purpose of riling him up. He was so cute in his ire. He wanted Harry to adore me so badly he ignored the fact that he feels quite the opposite. I am sure hatred is not what the toddler feels, that is far too strong, but I know he is not fond of me.
That is perfectly alright though, as long as he adores his godfather it doesn't matter what he feels for me. Sirius needs his godson. It's driving the man mad that those muggles have been so dreadful to him and Sirius doesn't know to what extent. He has rambled on to me about different possible scenarios, riling himself up.
Do they beat him bloody? Starve him? Drown him in the tub as punishment? How bad is the verbal abuse? Sirius imagined a thousand possible things that they could have done, each more awful than the last.
This plan will put an end to his fretting. Then he can punish them however he sees fit. Will he let them remember their punishment? Or will he obliviate them? Will he use the charm that creates fake memories? Will they even know that they are being punished for their treatment of the toddler? Or will he just do a series of terrifying "pranks"? I don't know the answers to those questions.
"Just go to your godson. I am sure it is two o'clock now. I will be fine here." I tell him, waving a hand shooing him away. I made my fox-features disappear when he left, I didn't want to be caught by surprise when he returned with Harry.
I heard a loud bark-like laugh outside of the door an hour and a half later. Sirius walked in with Harry on his hip. The new glasses his godfather bought him a couple days ago sat on his nose and framed his cherubic face adorably. The easy smile was wiped off when he spotted me on the bed. I folded the newspaper that I had been reading up and sat it on the nightstand.
"Hello there laddie." I greet kindly. The small nervous smile he gave me matched the look in his emerald eyes perfectly. "I have something I want to talk to you about. Is that okay?"
He nodded at me as Sirius walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Tomorrow I will not be here when you get home from school. I have some people I need to visit. I won't be back until Saturday afternoon." When he shot Sirius a questioning look mixed with hopefulness I couldn't help but quip, "Try not to miss me too terribly."
His godfather's expression confirmed my words and I gave him a look that translated to, see? I told you so. I got a quick little scowl in reply.
"Would you like to hear more stories about your parents?" Sirius asked with a crooked smile. "I have plenty of them."
It was no surprise when Harry bobbed his head in agreement. Sirius went on rambling about the different things James - Nicknamed Prongs. Which made me assume he was an animagus - used to do to try and impress Lily and gain her favor. They were very amusing and it was no wonder it took him so long to woo her. He was too over the top with everything. I am not sure why Lily was so against James other than his cockiness but I have a feeling there is more to the story than that. Perhaps I shall ask another time.
Friday a few minutes before 2:00 Sirius and I were walking up the driveway at number 4 Privet Drive. The real Harry was currently waiting in the office at school for his godfather to arrive. My tiny toddler hand was swallowed by Sirius's large one. Unruly raven hair framed my now cherubic face and the fringe fell over Harry's ugly old glasses that were perched on my nose.
I was wearing a tan shirt that was far too big and khaki pants that were filthy and two sizes too large. An old worn belt kept them from falling to my ankles. The second polyjuice potion was stuffed deep into my front pocket. It didn't take long for someone to answer the door after Sirius knocked.
"Yes?" The women was thin, blue eyed, dirty blonde, and had a neck that was too long. Her polite tone was so fake I wanted to roll my eyes. "Back so soon?"
"Afraid so." Sirius responded with a winning smile.
The glamour that was firmly in place made his face rounder and his hair short, light brown, and slightly wavy. His eyes were a dull dark green and his lips were terribly thin. The glamour also made him seem 10 years older and 4 inches shorter. Any witch or wizard could be taught to see through glamour. I could with very little effort if I wished. The fake features would distort like smeared paint and his true face would show.
"You know how it gets when boys spend too much time together. I think they need to take a little break and have some breathing room. Is that alright? I can pick him up tomorrow afternoon if it's not too much trouble." A fake look of concern was etched into his face.
"Of course, of course." She agreed, giving me hard glance with a strained smile. "Sorry he was so troublesome. We have that problem too you see. He behaves so terribly at home."
"Little boys will do that." Sirius replied with a fake sympathetic look. "My son is two years older than Harry here so they don't have any classes together at all. I thought that time apart would be enough but I was wrong."
"What exactly did the boy do?" She inquired, jerking her head down at me without taking her eyes off of Sirius.
"They were shouting, throwing things at each other, and wouldn't go to bed last night when I told them too. I believe myself to be a patient man but they crossed a line, don't you agree?" Sirius answered, exasperation written clearly across his ordinary looking face. He was quite the talented actor and it made me want to chuckle but I smothered it.
"Yes I do" Harry's Aunt told him firmly, "and I can promise it won't happen again."
"Thank you." He appeared to be relieved. "I am sorry again for the trouble."
"See you tomorrow." Patricia (?) replied, even though her tone was sugary sweet and polite it was clearly a dismissal.
Sirius waved goodbye with a wide smile in such a dork-ish fashion that I wanted to mock him for it. When he let go of my hand and started down the driveway, I shuffled toward the woman in a deliberately nervous way.
"Just wait until your uncle gets home boy." She sneered when we were both inside, all friendliness vanishing. She grabbed me by the hair and forced me through the living room and down the hallway. "You are lucky anyone wants to put up with you at all and you have the nerve to embarrass me by behaving that way?!"
"Sorry! Sorry!" I pleaded desperately, feeling hollow and detached internally, but she wouldn't hear it.
"You're going to be more than sorry when your uncle gets home!" She opened the door to a cupboard under a staircase in the hallway and forced me inside of it.
The door slammed closed loudly and I heard the sound of a lock. To my utter shock and humiliation I felt a familiar feeling of claustrophobia well up inside of me and my heart thundered in my ears. The dark walls in the cupboard seem to move toward me, making the room get even tinier.
I resist the urge to Alohomora the door open and flee. I close my eyes and take deep breathes, my hands shaking in their fists. This is ridiculous Riona, I snarled to myself internally, stop being so weak. This is not Azkaban. I am fine. Everything is fine. Stop this insanity, there is no reason for this panic.
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for your patience and support!
Remus will be in the next chapter.