Twenty-five
Everyone landed in the portkey room near the French Ministry of Magic. Tom had gone to their own Ministry, to discuss the plans for the day trip, and to secure special dispensation for Sirius Black, so that he would not be perceived to be trying to 'escape'. The monitoring ankle bracelet had been keyed with a spell to allow him to travel to Paris without it going off and inflicting punishment for leaving the British magical world. As soon as they returned to London, the spell would be removed, returning the anklet to its intended purpose. The animagus looked around with wide eyes as they left the travel room and entered the busy Paris boulevard. The Champs-Elysees was off in the distance, while to the right, in the mists, stood the spire of the Eiffel Tower. "I've never been to Paris," Black murmured, grey eyes wide with excitement. "I've heard loads about its nightlife, but I never had the chance to actually come here and experience it for myself."
"Perhaps, after you've been released from house arrest, you would join Severus, Remus, Tom and I in a boy's night out here," Lucius murmured quietly. Because Harrison had wanted everyone to get along, Lucius had put away his enmity for the last remaining Head of House Black, and was willing to make every effort to accept Sirius. He would reserve judgment until such time as he saw how things would go. Narcissa was tickled to have her cousin Sirius back in her life; he was her favorite cousin, and she had missed him terribly.
"I…I would like that, Malfoy," the animagus answered quietly with a nod of his head. "Thank you."
"We are family, Black," Lucius replied with a small smile. "You have my permission to call me Lucius."
"Call me Sirius, then, or Padfoot. Whichever you would be most comfortable with." Sirius turned to the Potions Master, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I want to apologize to you, Snape," he began, surprising the dark man, whose ebon eyes had widened with shock. "I never really understood, until I saw that Hogwarts memory from the outside, just how much like my family I truly was. Even though I put in every effort to try and distance myself from them, even so far as to being sorted into Gryffindor, deep down I was as much my mother's son as Regulus was. There was absolutely no difference between the way I treated you, and the way my family reveled in muggle-baiting. I have no excuses, and I hope that you can some day forgive me."
"Thank you, Black," Severus replied after getting over his shock. "And it's Riddle now. Your apology is accepted, and you may call me Severus if you wish."
"Thank you, Severus. I'm Sirius. I don't believe we've met." The animagus stuck his hand out, and Severus eyed it warily before cautiously taking it. The dour man's shoulders relaxed when he felt no prank, and they shook like men before smirking at each other. Remus smiled at his former lover, relaxing for the first time since he'd met the animagus at the Shrieking Shack three weeks ago. He would never regain the total devotion to Black that he'd held since their days at Hogwarts, but he was hoping to cultivate a deeper friendship with the other man. Thorfinn Rowle and the werewolf were making progress in their relationship; the help that Remus had offered the Hit Wizard to 'contain' Greyback and his pack was invaluable, and served to bring them closer in the guise of 'mutual goals'. In fact, after Remus returned from this trip, he and Thorfinn had a date. The lycanthrope felt like a young cub again, excited for his life in a way that he'd never been before, and it was all due to Harrison and his father.
"Can we talk, Harrison?" Sirius asked quietly. They were poolside at the lavish, exclusive wizarding spa and resort for which Lucius had made the reservations; Harrison was sitting at a table, reading a book whilst everyone else was in the pool, playing 'Marco Polo'. The raven looked up at Padfoot, nodding his head and marking his place in the book before closing it and setting it down beside his empty plate. Sirius sat and eyed the teen for a moment. "Why aren't you in the pool with everyone else?"
"I don't know how to swim," the boy answered with an embarrassed flush. "The Dursleys took Dudley for lessons at the local swim club, but left me with Mrs. Figg and her twenty disgusting, mangy cats. I was never permitted to enjoy the same things as he did. The one time I actually got to go on an outing with them was when Mrs. Figg tripped over one of her cats and broke her leg. Since there was no babysitter, I was allowed to go to the zoo with the Dursleys and Piers Polkiss on Dudley's birthday. I wasn't allowed food or drink, and only got a lemon ice while everyone else enjoyed big ice cream cones, but it was, for a while, one of the best days of my life up to then." A malicious gleam lit the emerald orbs looking at the animagus, and Sirius shuddered briefly at the vindictive light in them, which resembled some of the vindictiveness he'd seen in James. Merlin, he thought, I never realized how vicious James really was until now. "The best part, though, was in the reptile house. We were in front of the python enclosure, watching this beautiful Brazilian boa constrictor. He was napping, but Dudley and Piers kept pounding on the glass and trying to get him to do something, even though there was a sign on the window, clearly asking the patrons not to tap on the glass.
"I rolled my eyes, and the boa raised his head and made some odd gestures toward Dudley and his friend after they had gotten bored and walked away. I grinned and nodded; I understood completely what the snake was saying. So I started talking to him. Dudley took that moment to notice the boa was moving around, and called his friend over. Needless to say, the whale made himself obnoxious, to the point that he knocked me down so he could be the center of the snake's attention. Suddenly the glass vanished and Dudley fell into the enclosure. The boa fled the scene, telling me goodbye as he slithered past me. I had to fight to keep from laughing out loud, but it was the best thing to ever happen to that bloated tub of lard. The fun didn't last, though. On the way home, Piers told the Dursleys that I was talking to the snake. When we got home, I was beaten severely and locked in my cupboard without food for nearly a week."
"Merlin," Sirius whispered, pale and shaken. "What did you do about going to the bathroom?"
"I had a bucket," the teen replied matter-of-factly. "I was locked in there often, usually for several hours, and sometimes days. They wouldn't let me out to use the facilities, but they were kind enough to give me a slop bucket. When I was released, I was responsible for emptying it and cleaning it out, as well as the commode when I finished emptying my bucket. I actually sneaked rolls of toilet paper into the cupboard, usually under one of Dudley's shirts that I wore, and I would stick it in a dark corner so that I had some way to clean myself. Didn't want to have to scrub out my own shit-stained underpants; it was bad enough that I had to do theirs."
"The…the smell must've been horrendous," the animagus gasped, horrified.
"It was. I covered the mouth of the bucket with coloring books when I could, and that helped a little, but it was pretty bad. Sometimes, if I concentrated hard enough, I could make a sort of breeze blow through the cupboard and disperse the stink for a while. I learned to live with it. The Dursleys, however, did not and finally realized that, should they have neighbors over, the smell would lead to uncomfortable questions. So they tossed out the bucket, and I was to knock every time I needed to use the loo."
"What about baths? Showers? In the one memory I saw, you looked like you hadn't seen the wet side of a washcloth, ever."
"I wasn't allowed baths or showers," the raven replied, eyes on his plate. He was happy that Sirius was making an effort to get to know him; however, he really didn't want to relive the memories that still haunted him. Sirius saw the discomfort, and was ashamed of himself for digging into something that was obviously personal and very, very painful, but he wanted to learn all he could about this child, to see and understand why he had made the choices he had, and why he wasn't more bitter and hateful toward people. "It wasn't until I was required to attend primary school that the Dursleys realized that it would reflect badly on them if I was to attend school looking less than well cared for. So, they bought the cheapest soap they could, and gave me permission to use the hosepipe on the outside of the house to bathe and wash my hair."
"What about winter? You couldn't have been using the hosepipe in the winter."
"I assure you, I was," Harrison replied with a shrug. "I quickly grew used to the temperature of the water, and never got colds. I did nearly catch pneumonia once, but Vernon refused to take me to the doctor to get treatment, and my magic took care of the infection. I never saw a doctor for my eyes, or my teeth. Never saw one for inoculations against childhood diseases. Never saw one for the multitude of broken bones and deep lacerations, obtained from the beatings and Dudley's games of 'Harry hunting'. My magic seemed to take care of most of those issues.
"I knew that the Dursleys hated me. Had hated me from the moment I was left on their doorstep with nothing but a note of explanation. However, I wasn't going to let anything they did to me keep me from surviving, and living. When I came to Hogwarts, and saw that there was a whole other world, with people just like me, I was thrilled. Finally, a place where I belonged. But then, all the ruckus and hullabaloo started about me being 'the Savior of the wizarding world', 'the Chosen One', and 'The Boy Who Lived', and I never really got the chance to explore who I wanted to be."
"Who is that, Harrison?" Sirius asked, glad for the change of subject. However, he would be having a long talk with Remus, Lucius, Severus and Tom about the Dursleys, and soon. "Who do you want to be?"
"Just a regular magical child, with a family that loves me and friends that are true and loyal. Someone who can walk down any magical street, anywhere in the world, and not have everyone pointing and shouting and mobbing me. Someone who wants to see the wizarding world prosper and grow and advance, but without leaving behind all of the traditions and rituals that make us who we are. Someone who loves the wizarding world and never wants to leave it."
"So, do you believe in muggle domination and extermination, like your father?"
Harrison laughed good and long over that question, until tears sprung from his eyes. Sirius huffed, flushing a little, with a feeling that he'd stepped in it, but good. Finally, the teen was able to get himself under control, and he looked at the animagus with fond exasperation. "You've been listening to too much of that old fool's rhetoric. Father doesn't want muggle domination; he knows just how pointless and hopeless that goal would be. There are far, far too many of them, compared to wizards, and they would annihilate us without breathing hard. The same with extermination. No. Father and I wish to integrate the muggleborns more fully into our society. We need to educate them to our ways and traditions, so that they could understand us better, and not want to turn the magical world into the muggle world. We also need to educate the magicals to the muggle world, so that they could better understand the muggleborns, and see them as valued and valuable members of magical society, instead of the 'sub-humans' that they see them as right now.
"Too many magicals see muggles as unintelligent animals, easily overtaken and subdued. They see the lack of magic as a lack of power and strength. They are completely unaware of the rapidly advancing technologies in the muggle world that render much of what our magic can do as obsolete. So, Father and I want to have some of those technologies adapted to the magical world. We believe that our world could benefit greatly from some of their inventions, like computers, and televisions, and cell phones. Including some of these technologies will open greater opportunities for employment and education in our world. As well, the twins, Draco, Neville, Seamus, Dean and I are discussing adapting some muggle sporting events to our world. We already have magical boxing leagues, which the squibs succeed in remarkably well.
"And that's another thing. We need to stop sending the squibs out into the muggle world. We need to keep all magicals in the magical world. If we can provide the squibs with their own protected towns and communities, where they will be able to have access to magic in one form or another, I think they'd be much happier, especially if they're surrounded by others who can relate to them as people, and not as somehow defective. Our families won't have to be broken apart, and magicals will be able to see that having squibs in their lines is nothing to be ashamed of. They are magical, and should be cherished, as all magicals should be."
"Wow," Sirius whispered, impressed in spite of himself. "You and your father have thought about this a lot, haven't you?"
"We have. There have to be ways we can peacefully co-exist with muggles. Even if they never learn of our magic; even if we keep our true selves hidden for the most part, we can still benefit from a symbiotic relationship with muggles, and they will benefit from us."
"That's pretty much the same kind of thing that Albus had wanted," Sirius pointed out hesitantly. "What makes you so different from him?"
"He wanted to open our borders and allow muggles and magicals to intermingle. He wanted to allow muggles to learn of magic; to share our magic with them. My upbringing in the muggle world, and Father's upbringing in a muggle orphanage, as well as Severus' treatment at the hands of his muggle father, all point to the dangers of letting muggles know about magic."
"Those are isolated cases," Sirius interjected. "That can't be the norm. Muggles aren't that prejudiced."
"I am afraid that they are," Severus intoned softly, startling the pair. Sirius turned and looked at the Potions Master, fighting manfully not to snicker at the pale man standing there in swim briefs. Severus quirked a dark eyebrow, smirking in amusement at the animagus. He sat at the table and continued his thoughts. "Muggles like to believe that they are good, and nonjudgmental. That they are able to put differences aside and accept everyone equally. Unfortunately, most of them are incapable of doing that. Depending on the cultural norms, or the religious dogma, or even appearance, muggles have a difficult time accepting those that are radically different from themselves. Muggle wars have been waged over religious differences, or over cultural heritage, or over differing ideologies."
"That rather sounds like the magical world," the animagus replied after a few moments of thoughtful silence. "After all, the purebloods feel that they are the true magicals, while halfbloods and muggleborns are considered 'beneath' them, and no better than muggles themselves."
"That is why Father believes that all magicals, but especially purebloods, should learn of muggles firsthand," Harrison said with a grin. "In fact, we took someone who used to be a die-hard pureblood supremacist and introduced him to the muggle world. Needless to say, it was an eye-opener for him, and now he's more willing to accept muggleborns and integrate them within our magical society."
"Oh?" Sirius queried with a quirked brow, amused. "And on whom was this grand experiment perpetrated?"
"My father," Draco chimed in as he came up to the table and sat down. Harrison stared at the blond for a while, eyeing the slight golden hue to his chest and shoulders, and watching as water dripped from his hair, which had turned bronze in the sun. Draco noticed the look and blushed, eyes dropping to the table shyly. Sirius watched the byplay between the two boys, a small frown on his face. Harrison caught the frown, and emerald eyes grew frosty, startling the animagus for a moment.
"No worries, Harrison," Sirius murmured. "I pass no judgments, nor do I have any right to say anything about your life or how you live it. I was just surprised to find out that you've fallen in love already. You're only thirteen, after all."
"I may be physically thirteen, Sirius, but believe me, I am much older than that, both mentally and emotionally." Padfoot could only nod his agreement, once again slammed with guilt at the life he'd left his former godson to, and vowing anew to help keep him happy, healthy, and, most of all, safe.
"So, your father, the great Lucius Malfoy, ventured into the muggle world? Voluntarily?" Sirius teased the little blond.
"Well," Draco replied with a bubble of laughter, "not exactly voluntarily. You see, Harrison had made a point to us that the muggles could live quite handily without magic because they'd never had it. We scoffed at the idea, and he and his father decided that we'd spend a month in the muggle world, living like muggles. It was Father and I, the Weasley twins, Neville Longbottom, Severus, Harrison, and his father. The first few days were a little rough, but once we figured everything out, we had a lot of fun learning about all of the wonderful things muggles could do, and all the fantastic inventions they had. The hardest thing to manage, though, was their form of currency. Where we have just three types of currency-the knut, the sickle, and the galleon-they have all kinds of paper and metal money, from pounds to pence, and so many different denominations. It took us a few days to understand the different monetary denominations, then another few days to figure out how to use them."
"Are we telling tales, son?" came a supercilious voice, as Lucius, Tom and Narcissa joined the group. They had brought food and drinks and laid them out on the table before sitting down.
"No, Father," Draco murmured, blushing. "I was just telling Sirius about our foray into the muggle world."
"Ah," the older blond said knowingly. He looked at the animagus for a moment, a smirk on his face. "Yes. It is true. I did spend three weeks living without magic. I was thoroughly against it at first; I couldn't understand how muggles could possibly be relevant, not having magic like they were. It took seeing all of the marvelous ways they have adapted and thrived, all without the help of magic, that made me realize that they were vastly more intelligent and creative than we ever gave them credit for. A great deal stronger, as well. And, I must admit, a tad more vicious. I had gone into town, to do some window shopping. I am very fascinated by their technologies, and I was watching some of their television programs through a shop window. Some hooligans had accosted me, and I feared for my safety. I will tell you right now, I have never felt more helpless in my life.
"Though I've been in some difficult situations before, during the first wizarding war, I always had a way to get out of it. But this time, without my magic, I finally realized who actually had the power. It was people who had no access to magic whatsoever. That, more than anything, put things into perspective for me. Anyway, I thought I was done, but then something truly remarkable happened. A man and a woman stepped in front of me and confronted the bullies. They even threatened to call the police. When that didn't work to chase them off, the woman punched one of them in the face, breaking his nose. All during this confrontation, a crowd had gathered, and three more people came out of the crowd and stood in front of me, protecting me. They finally ran the hooligans off, and I offered them compensation for coming to my rescue. They turned it down and told me that 'it was the responsibility of all good citizens to help one another, to prevent thugs like that from taking over our streets'. So, yes, I believe that the muggleborns will bring great things to our world, and help strengthen our society."
"I'm glad you're all here," Sirius said as he came into the living room of the suite in which they were staying. Harrison and Draco had already gone off to bed, tired from that day's activities, and left the adults to wind down after a busy day. "I want to talk to you about the Dursleys."
"You might wish to talk to Harrison about them, first," Tom said quietly. "He should be able to tell you more than we could."
"I've already spoken to him about his family," said with a great deal of suppressed rage, "now I want to talk to you about what we're going to do about them."
"Ah," Remus sighed knowingly, "so it's revenge you wish to seek."
"Don't you?" Padfoot asked incredulously. "The shit they put him through…if I wasn't wearing this damned monitoring anklet, I'd go over there and teach them a thing or two about magic."
"Well, that is completely unnecessary," Severus intoned solemnly. "After Tom had rescued Harrison, he sent Sandie to the Dursleys, unobtrusively, so that she could cast some house elf magic on them. They are, at this moment, in the process of slowly starving to death. The punishment is to last for ten years, the length of time that they'd starved Harrison. As well, we are plotting to cast some other spells at them, so that they lose all that is precious to them."
"Oh?" Sirius queried softly.
"Yes," Lucius replied. "You see, Hagrid had bought Harrison a snowy owl for his eleventh birthday, as a way to introduce him to the wizarding world. Harrison loved Hedwig very much; she was his first real friend, and only confidant. When Harrison arrived back to their house after first year, the eldest Dursley male snapped his owl's neck and burnt her remains in a trash bin."
"Merlin," Sirius whispered, aghast.
"Yes," Tom snarled, lip curled in a sneer. "Up to that point, Harrison didn't care enough about them to want to do anything. He was willing to put up with their treatment of him, because he knew that, once he'd reached his wizarding majority, he would be able to leave, and never think about them again. When they butchered his only friend right in front of him; that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. We didn't know that he was plotting some sort of vengeance until the train ride back to school for third year. So, we're going to look into enchantments and curses that will make the Dursleys lose everything they cherish most, and make it last for the rest of their short lives."
"I want in," the animagus barked, scowling. "I may not have been there when he needed me most, but I'm here now, and I want to keep him happy and safe. If it means doling out a bit of justice, I'm there."