Lone Child
Chapter 21: Home again
"School is out!" Triss yelled skipping happily down to the train.
"See what I'm going to have to live with all summer," said James pocketing his trunk and lifting Mel, Kat and Gin's trunks, it would be too suspicious to shrink their trunks down too.
"Better than living with those two," said Gin pointing to Fred and George who were happily skipping with Triss.
"At least Mel will be their to help you hold your own," said Dray wrapping his arm around Gin's waist. Ever since the Chamber the two of them had become inseparable and were a known couple.
"True," said Mel smiling evilly. James had removed the underage wizardry charms on the group's wand so they could more or less do what ever they wanted if they were discreet.
"No killing or mauling the twins Mel," said James.
"I will," said Mel. James rolled his eyes.
A few minutes later they had their own compartment on the train. James stored the girl's trunks away and sat down next to Triss. "So, what do you guys want to do?" he asked.
"Do you still have that Monopoly board?" Triss asked.
"Yeah," said James.
"Do you guys want to give a go at playing Monopoly?" Triss asked. Few people did.
"What about Uno?" asked James.
"That sounds good," said Dray.
For the next several hours the group played several rounds of Uno, with Mel winning most of them. "I am the master of Uno!" Mel said as they stepped off the train and onto the platform.
"I challenge you for a game this summer at our house," said James.
"Where are you guys staying this summer?" asked Mel motioning to James and Triss.
"A manor near Wales," said James.
"Elaborate," asked Gin.
"A privet island a few miles off the coast," said Triss.
"Any of you and your families are welcome at anytime," said James.
"I may take you up on that offer," said Dray.
"Us too," said Fred, motioning to himself and his twin.
"You guys know how to get hold of us," said James motioning to his temple.
"Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Percy!" yelled Mrs. Weasley coming into view of the pack.
"Hi mom! You remember everyone," said Gin motioning to her friends.
"Yes, of course," said Mrs. Weasley hugging her daughter. Ron and Percy showed up several minutes later.
"Mrs. Weasley, I wanted to invite you and your family to come and stay with Triss and I at my family manor sometime during the summer," said James.
"Where is your manor?" asked Mrs. Weasley with a raised eyebrow.
"A privet island off the coast of Wales. My father was very high in the stock market before he passed and bought several houses in different countries," said James.
"Why are you not staying with your guardian?" asked Mrs. Weasley fiercely, it was common knowledge that James and Triss lived with Dragon in a remote forest in England, not in Wales.
"He wanted to visit a relative of his that lives near the manor," said James, not completely lying. Dragon had told he and Triss a few weeks before that he had business with his cousin in Ireland and he would be in and out of the manor.
"I'm sure dad would love it mom, it's a muggle manor," said George.
"We'll see. Right now we have to get home. See you later dears," said Mrs. Weasley pulling all of her children and Mel off to the ministry cars taking them back to the burrow.
"Come on Kat, I'll take you out to who ever is going to meet you. Triss, you stay with Dray," said James picking up Kat's trunk and walking her over to the exit to the muggle world. "After you," said James motioning for Kat to go ahead of him.
Kat went and James followed close behind. "Is Justin picking you up again?" James asked.
"No, my dad is," said Kat somewhat hesitantly.
"Remember if you need anything I'm only a shout away," said James.
"I know," Kat sighed.
"If you want to you can come directly to the manor with Triss and I," said James.
"I would but I'd like to see my mom and Jack," said Kat.
"Feel free to invite them as well. The manor is huge; it could easily house over 100 people. I still don't know why Alex bought it," said James thoughtfully.
"My dad is here," said Kat pointing to a middle aged man with brown hair and blue eyes. He had several worry lines on his forehead and his hair was looking thin, but he was a good sizes man. He stood around 6'1" and weighed around 200 pounds.
James held his hand out to the man. "James Cage, you must be Dr. Granger," James said.
The man took his hand and squeezed hard, James squeezed back making the man wince a little. "Doctor Jacob Granger," he said letting go of James's hand.
Kat nodded to her father and turned to give James a hug. "I'll see you soon Jimmy," she said into his chest.
"Yep, just call if you need me alright," said James hugging her back.
"Will do," she said picking up her trunk with a little bit of difficulty. James cast a small feather weight charm on it and winked at Kat's surprised.
"Have a good summer," he said turning and walking beck to Platform 9 ¾. Triss was still standing there with Dray.
"Everything go over alright?" asked Triss.
"Yeah, she'll call if she needs help," said James, but with a little doubt in his voice. Kat was just one of those people that covered up their feelings and that could destroy her if given the chance.
"I'll see you guys later, dad is here," said Dray walking over to the newly arrived Lucius. Lucius greeted his son and the two disappeared with the aid of a portkey.
"Do you want to port to the manor or fly?" James asked.
"Port," said Triss. James nodded and grabbed her hand before porting away.
&&&&&&&&&&&
They arrived on the beach, not to far from the manor. "Hey Shadow, look at that," said Triss pointing to black mound lying on the white sand. "What is that?" she asked squinting her eyes to see.
"Looks like a dog, lets have a look," said James letting Triss go. He kneeled down by the dog and felt for a pulse. "It's alive, go up and get the door, I got him," said James levitating the dog.
He walked up to the large white manor and in the open door. "Take him up there," said Triss motioning to a bedroom on the first floor. James nodded and carried the dog up the stairs. "Lay him right there," said Triss pointing to the bed in the corner of the room.
James laid him down but sensed something that wasn't right. Dropping his barriers he saw the aura of an animagus. Placing his hand on the dog he muttered a few words and wasn't surprised that the dog turned into a man, it was the man he turned into that surprised him.
Lying on the bed was the gaunt form of Sirius Black. He was painfully thin and looked like he had been beaten with a baseball bat. "Triss, look in my trunk and get the green healing potion," said James. Triss ran out of the room and down to where James had dropped the trunks.
She came back a minute later with a shimmering green potion. "Enniverate!" said James holding his hand over Sirius. He jolted and blearily opened his eye, upon seeing James he jumped and curled back into the corner of the bed. "No, please don't send me back. I didn't do it; I would never become a Death Eater. Please don't send me back. No, no, no, no, no" he said rocking back and forth.
Triss jumped into action knowing James would feel a bit strange about comforting a man. "Shhh, we're not going to send you back. We know you're innocent," said Triss pulling the distraught man into a soft embrace. Sirius latched onto Triss like she was a lifeline that would disappear if he let it go.
"Sirius, I need you to drink this so I can take care of your injures," said James holding out the potion. Sirius backed away from James.
"Sirius, would you rather take a shower and get clean robes first?" Triss asked as the man buried his head in her robes. He nodded into the robes. "Okay, up you get," said Triss standing and pulling Sirius with her. "Shadow, can you get something that will fit him while I help him into the bath?" Triss asked.
"Yeah, are you sure you'll be alright with him?" James asked as Triss stumbled a bit under Sirius's wait.
"I'll be fine," said Triss leading Sirius off into the large bathroom.
James walked out of the room and down the stairs where he left his and Triss's trunk. Opening his trunk he quickly found a pair of flannel pajamas pants and top. He lengthened them a bit to fit Sirius' tall form.
Slinging them over his shoulder he walked back up the stairs and into the bathroom. Triss was sitting on the edge of the bathtub washing Sirius' hair as he occupied himself with the blue bubbles covering his naked form. "He really, really needs a hair cut," said Triss trying to work the knots out of his hair.
"Let me," said James walking over and examining Sirius's hair. "How short do you want me to cut it?" he asked.
"Shoulder length should be fine," said Triss. James nodded and with a wave of his hand Sirius' hair was short and clean. "I wish you had told me you could do that sooner," Triss grumbled.
"You didn't ask," said James.
"Sure, help me get him out," said Triss grabbing a towel from a rack near the separate shower.
"Sirius, are you able to get out on your own?" James asked. Sirius nodded and stood, wrapping the towel Triss gave him around his body and stepped out of the tub. "Here, Triss and I are going to step out for a minute while you put these on," said James handing Sirius the pajamas.
"Did you do a scan on him yet?" Triss asked once they were out of Sirius's hearing range.
"Yeah, he was beaten while he was there. Several of his bones had been broken and need to be reset. There is some internal damage but I can fix that pretty easily. I'll leave the bones to you, I won't risk getting too close to him," said James.
"Why won't you get close to him?" Triss asked. James didn't answer. "Shadow? Tell me what is wrong with him," Triss demanded.
"He was raped, within the last two days if what my scan says is true. It's not the first time either; it's probably been going on since he first entered Azkaban. He is going to be very skittish around me, or any other guy for that matter," said James running a hand threw his hair.
Triss gasped at he revelation, she had figured he had been beaten but nothing more. "No one deserves that, I don't care who they are," said Triss with a small tear running down her cheek.
James wiped the tear from her face. "You're right, and it will not happen to him again if I have anything to say about it," he said looking her in the eyes.
"I know, but what are we going to do with him. As much as I would like to I can't and won't stay with him all the time," said Triss.
"I can call Mel over," said James.
"Why not one of the others?" Triss asked curiously.
"Gin needs to be with her family right now and Kat wants to be with her family so that leaves Mel. I'm sure she will come over if she is asked," said James.
"You do that then, I will take care of Sirius until then," said Triss turning back to the bathroom.
'Mel?' James called out.
'Yeah, what do you need?' Mel's voice asked.
'We have something of an emergency over here, we need your help,' said James.
'How do you want me to get there?' Mel asked.
'You wouldn't happen to be an animagus would you?' James asked.
'Yeah,' she said.
'What are you?' James asked.
'A wolf,' said Mel.
'Damn,' James swore. 'I'm going to come get you. Be dressed to fly,' said James cutting the connection.
He walked back up the stairs and knocked on the door of Sirius' room. Triss opened the door slightly. "What?" she asked.
"I have to go pick up Mel. I'll be back in a few hours," said James.
"Alright," said Triss shutting the door.
James grabbed his wand out of his trunk and apperated away. Like Dragon's home you were able to apperate out but not in. He reappeared out side of a rickety looking house that had to have magic holding it together.
He walked up to the house and knocked on the front door. Ron answered it. "What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.
"I'm here to pick up Mel," said James.
"Why?" he asked.
"Emergency, can you get her please?" James asked. It wasn't every day he was nice to Ronald Weasley but today was an exception. All James wanted to do was get Mel, go home, and sleep.
Ron looked a little thrown off at how polite James was but called Mel and Gin down. The two came bounding down the stairs carrying Mel's trunk. "Hello!" Mel greeted James. Gin didn't bother with formalities; she walked right up and hugged him.
"Ready?" James asked after exchanging greetings.
"Yep," said Mel.
"Good," said James shrinking Mel's trunk down to the size of a matchbox. He handed it to Mel and she pocketed it. Not wasting anytime he shifted over into an adolescent Aquaria Dragon.
"Never thought you were one for blue James," said Mel climbing on.
'It's the fastest animal in the world so I suggest you hang on,' said James taking off into the air. Less than a half an hour later James set down in front of the manor. Mel slowly climbed off the sleek dragon and slowly lowered herself to the ground as to not loose her footing.
"That was interesting," said Mel. "Scary but interesting."
"Come on, let's go inside," said James changing back into his human form. Mel nodded and shakily followed him inside. "Set your stuff their, I'll take care of it in a few minutes," said James pointing to where Triss's and his trunks were piled up.
Mel nodded and set her mini-trunk on top of Triss's. James led her up the stairs and into Sirius's room. Sirius was curled up with his head in Triss's lap while she played with his hair. Sirius looked up, startled at the site of James, and curled into himself a little more.
James looked over when he heard Mel gasp. Mel was on her knees on the floor holding her temples as if they were causing her great pain. Seeing what was happening James dropped to the floor beside her and put both of his hands over hers and creating a mental block.
"Is she alright?" Triss asked from her spot on the bed.
"Yeah, she didn't have her shields up and her mind was overwhelmed by the emotion," said James helping Mel get to her feet.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me I was going into a room with a mentally unstable rape victim?" Mel demanded.
"I didn't think your shields would be down," said James.
"Next time tell me what you're sending me into," Mel grumbled walking over to Sirius. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you could get into aiding the most wanted man alive?"
"A lot, but as of right now no one but us know he is here and I plan to keep it that way," said James.
"What about Dragon?" Triss asked.
"He is staying with Henry and Teresa in Ireland for the summer. He is doing a study on the people driven insane by the Cruciatus curse, so it's just us," said James.
"You two can leave, I'll take care of him," said Mel pointing to Sirius.
"If you need anything call Trig, he will get it for you. Your room will be the one next to this one, if you need anything from us you know how to reach us," said James walking out of the room with Triss in toe.
"Today has been rather dramatic hasn't it," Triss stated.
"Yeah, and we haven't even had to deal with the ministry yet. You know they will come here to look around. Azkaban is only about 30 miles from here, not the closest place but close enough," said James.
"What are we going to do when they come?" Triss asked.
"Seal off the room, let them look around, then tell them to get the hell out and threaten to sue," said James smirking.
(A/N: With school starting up again updates will start to slow down. I'll try to post once a week but I really need to focus on my studies. This past week I received an invitation to the International Baccalaureate program, but I must keep a 3.5 G.P.A., which means a LOT of studying as I am taking all AP classes, even if I am only in 8th grade. Plus Florida Writes, FCAT, and R.C.T. (I think that is what it's called) are all this semester too. I will most likely post on Sundays, if not then than on Wednesdays. Thank you and Happy New Year!)
Review responses:
ZeonReborn: Thanks. No, I'm not Arnold but I do have to fend for my self against 5 brothers, all but one of them are older and MUCH bigger than me. That has to count for something, right? Yes, I would be alive at the end of humanity but that doesn't mean I'll be in this realm. I, personally, prefer the Elven realm, the people are nice.
Black-Rose1212: Thanks. I think I'm going to put it as Remus always thought Sirius was innocent but no one believed him and that puts both of them at ends with Potter. I don't like Potter much after what he did to Snape in the fifth book so I made him into the Snape of J.K.'s version.
Kathy stgqvk: As I said above I think I'm going to put Remus as never really believing Sirius was a Death Eater and put him at ends with the Potters. James and Remus will get along well in the end of third year, you'll see why then. HintThink CrystalsHint
Athenakitty: Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I hope you liked the part with James blackmailing Fudge; he will be doing that quite a bit.
Maxennce: Thanks. I can't fire Fudge yet, but James will have his thump on him till about the end of 4th year.Anon: James didn't take the death of his foster parents very well at first but he got over it.
ER: Thanks. Happy New Year!
Wytil: Yeah, I thought that would make it more interesting.
Howling wolf1: Thanks. Glad you liked the black mail; James will be doing that to Fudge a lot.
Ur friwe: Thanks. I am working on it to the best of my ability but with school and everything it's hard to find time to write the chapters, much less tweak them to perfection. I spend weeks tweaking the first two chapters so they could be posted but I still made a few mistakes.
A friend: Thanks for telling me about the mistakes. Sometime this summer when everything calms down a bit I'm going to go back threw the story and fix all of the mistakes I made, with the help of a few friends. Normally I catch most of the mistakes I make when I proofread a chapter but I always miss at least one thing. As for becoming a famous author, not only no but hell no. I write for fun and to keep my over active imagination on a leash. I have absolutely no proof that these people exist for real but they do roam around in my mind and that is good enough for me.
Amora: Thanks. AU is one of my favorites as well.
Gaul1: Thanks.
Lunawolf: Thanks. I've never been a fan of Fudge and he is as stubborn as a dwarf, wouldn't you say? See the A/N above for news on posts.