Chapter 26
Despite the fact that Harry was getting a whole two months extra of holidays, he wasn't having very much fun at all.
Firstly, his aunt, as expected, had been furious at him for putting himself in so much danger by going down into the Chamber of Secrets, and hiring Dobby, even though the elf refused to accept a bedroom and was instead sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs. The second problem was that Harry didn't really have anyone to talk to since Dudley was still at school and Aunt Petunia kept dragging Hermione off on shopping trips. The only time he really got a chance to spend time with anyone his own age was on Mondays when Aunt Petunia had tea parties with Mrs. Longbottom, and Neville was allowed to come over for a few hours in the afternoon.
Since there was nothing better for him to do, Harry had decided to devote his time to reading up on defensive spells and trying to research his and Hermione's bond. Fortunately, since Hermione had a slight book obsession, she had bought several large books when they'd snuck down to Hogsmeade during the year.
Harry stacked up some of Hermione's books and rammed them, and his invisibility cloak, into one of the magically strengthened bags Hermione often used at school to carry around all of her books. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, Harry made his way downstairs, calling to his uncle that he was 'going to the park' before leaving through the front door.
Harry took a deep breath as he walked out into the street; it really was great to get out of the house. Harry considered taking a walk down the river but decided against it, he'd told his uncle that he was going to the park so that was where he would go.
In the park, Harry found an old oak tree and began to climb up it, finding a thick branch, settling himself on it, and pulling out the book Remus had bought him for Christmas. Harry had managed to get through several chapters when he heard a quiet sniffling noise from down on the ground.
Harry put a leaf between the pages of his book and closed it, looking down at the ground. A large black dog was sniffing around the trunk of the tree. It seemed to hear Harry close his book and looked up at him, its large grey eyes wide and almost too intelligent for dog's eyes.
The dog pawed the trunk of the tree and whimpered slightly before standing up on its hind legs and somehow scrambling up the tree. Harry watched the dog in interest as it padded across the tangle of branches and perched next to Harry, staring at him with an almost apprehensive look in its eyes.
Harry watched the dog for a second, surprised; he didn't think he'd ever heard of a dog that could climb trees. Harry held out his hand to the dog, letting him smell him before it nudged him gently. "Hello." Harry said to the dog, running his hand through its shaggy black fur. "Have you lost your owners?" He asked, looking for a collar or nametag.
The dog put one paw on Harry's knee and he laughed, shuffling closer to the dog. From the place where he'd shifted to, Harry could see that the dog was painfully thin; almost all of his ribs were visible despite the thick layer of matted black fur covering its skin.
Harry decided to take the dog home with him; obviously, its owners weren't taking good enough care of it. "You can come with me." Harry told the dog, patting it on its head. "You'll have to hide, though; my aunt doesn't like dogs very much."
Harry packed his book back into his bag and climbed down from the tree, wondering if the dog would actually be able to get himself down; Harry didn't like the idea of trying to lift such a big dog. Fortunately, for Harry, the dog managed to get back down from the tree as easily as it had managed to get up.
Harry didn't even have to find a makeshift lead to put the dog on; it seemed to just know to follow him. As they walked home, Harry decided that he really did like the idea of having a dog, sure, he had Hedwig and Hiss living in his bedroom, but a dog was a much more fun pet. Harry grinned at the thought and looked down at his new pet. "I'll wait until we get home to think of a name for you, I'm not very good at on the spot names; I called my snake Hiss, and I stole my owl's name from a history book." The dog barked playfully and nudged Harry forwards.
"You can come with me to school too. My friends will love you, but you'll have to promise not to chase the cats - one of the teachers can turn into one." The dog whined in a way that made Harry think that he could understand what he was saying. "At home you can meet my brother and best friend, but no one else. Like I said before, my aunt won't like an animal being there and Uncle Vernon will just agree. I don't think my Uncle Severus likes any animals, he might skin you if he sees you so I'd stay out of his way." The dog growled quietly and Harry looked down at it. It was looking up at him with a mixture of annoyance and hurt in its eyes.
"What?" The dog growled again and Harry sighed. "I wish I could talk dog too... I wonder what your aura looks like." Harry mused aloud. The dog looked up at him as they continued plodding onwards. "My brother can see auras. I have a werewolf friend and he, apparently, had a really interesting aura. I bet he'd like you." The dog made a strange sound, like a cross between a yelp and bark. "Is that you agreeing?" Harry asked, grinning.
They neared the corner before the terrace and Harry stopped, pulling off his rucksack and extracting his invisibility cloak. "You'll have to wear this and not make any noise." Harry put the cloak over the dog, surprised that it didn't immediately shake it off. The dog was very tall and Harry could rest his hand on its head as they walked towards the house, ensuring that the dog didn't run away with the invisibility cloak.
As Harry walked up the garden path, a tearful Aunt Petunia came running out the door, embracing Harry and giving him a kiss on the forehead. "Oh, Harry, thank God, I was so worried." She kissed him again and Harry frowned.
"You were worried? I was just at the park." Harry said, putting a comforting hand on his aunt's waist. "I told Uncle Vernon."
"We'll talk inside." Aunt Petunia said, looking around before pointing Harry inside.
Harry put his arm out, checking that the dog was still there and nudged it inside in front of him.
"Harry, would you please go upstairs, Hermione is in your bedroom, and your Uncle Severus is on the way over to talk about some things. Please, don't come downstairs until we call you." Aunt Petunia said, giving him another kiss.
"Okay, would you mind if I get some food first, please?" Harry asked and Aunt Petunia nodded, locking the back door and making her way into the lounge.
When he'd first moved in with them, Dobby had wanted to take over all of the cooking and cleaning in the house. Aunt Petunia had not been impressed by this, but after several rather heated arguments, had agreed that Dobby could take over half of the household chores, Dobby had agreed to this on the condition that he would be allowed to clean the entire Granger household.
In the kitchen, Harry found Dobby sneakily polishing some of the cutlery Aunt Petunia had cleaned earlier. "Hello, Dobby." Harry said and the little elf jumped, hiding the cloth behind his back.
"Harry Potter, you gave Dobby a fright." Dobby accused. "Dobby was just making sure Mistress has cleaned her knives and forks properly, sir."
Harry smiled as he made his way over to the fridge. "You know she doesn't like you calling her that. You're not our servant."
"Oh, Dobby knows that, sir. Dobby is grateful to Harry Potter and his family." Dobby tugged at the small striped sweater he was wearing. "Mistress Petunia gives Dobby clothes, but it doesn't mean Dobby can't work here." Dobby grinned a wide toothy grin and continued polishing the knife.
Harry smiled fondly and pulled a steak from the fridge. "Would you mind using your magic to multiply these steaks, could you make six so I can take them but leave this one still in the fridge, please?"
Dobby climbed up onto the table and looked sternly at Harry. "If Dobby does this Harry Potter must eat his dinner, sir." Dobby wagged a long finger at Harry.
"Yes, I promise I'll eat my dinner." Harry said.
Dobby watched him for a long second before nodding and jumping down from the table. He turned his back to Harry and worked over the steaks for a minute. "There you go, Harry Potter, would you like Dobby to cook them?" Said Dobby, holding out the plate, now stacked high with half a dozen steaks.
"I suppose you can if you want to." Harry said and Dobby grinned gleefully, putting his hand over the stack of steaks, browning them instantly. "Thanks, you really are very helpful. I'll see you later, Dobby."
Harry took a bowl from the cupboard and balancing the steaks on top of the bowl, exited through the pantry, picking up a packet of crisps each for himself and Hermione as he made his way out of the room and up the stairs.
He stopped at the bathroom to fill the bowl up with water before crossing the landing and entering his bedroom.
Hermione was laying on his bed, reading a book when he entered, but looked up almost immediately, narrowing her eyes as he approached. "What're you up to?"
"Who says I'm up to anything?" Harry asked, setting the bowl and steak on his desk.
"You've been thinking sneaky thoughts for almost half an hour." said Hermione, raising an eyebrow and setting the book on Harry's bedside table.
"All right," Harry felt around blindly until he felt the dog; gripping the cloak, Harry pulled it off the dog and Hermione gasped. "I recently acquired a dog." He said with a grin.
"A dog?" Hermione asked, getting up off Harry's bed and crossing the room.
As Hermione approached, the dog growled, shifting in front of Harry and crouching protectively. Harry put a hand on its back and said, "She's my friend, I told you about her."
The dog relaxed instantly and padded closer to Hermione. She bent to stroke the dog and it licked her hand, scooting closer to her. "Doesn't he have an owner?"
"I don't think so, look at him, he's so skinny." Harry picked up the plate of steaks and placed them in front of the dog who sniffed it before diving on the plate, tearing at the first steak as though it had not eaten in years.
"Does he have a name?" Hermione asked, patting the dog as it ate.
"I don't think so, what about Willow?" Harry said, earning a snort from Hermione.
"He's a boy, Harry."
"Oh, right, yeah." Harry blushed. "Well, do you have an idea?"
"What about Cosmo?" Hermione suggested.
"Yeah," Harry said slowly. "I kinda like that."
"Are you planning on keeping him a secret?" Hermione asked.
Harry nodded. "Yeah, I already have a snake, an owl, a house elf, and Dud's got an owl, and you want a cat. I think that's more than enough pets to be getting along with."
"And how are you planning on keeping your pet dog a secret?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm not sure about walking him yet, but I suppose the garden is pretty big and if I can make him keep the cloak on then that would be good. I'm thinking that if we let Dobby in on the secret he would be able to clean up any dog mess with his magic and multiply the food so we can feed him. It'll get much easier when we go to school because he can sleep in the dorms, and he seems pretty well trained so I could let him loose on the school grounds during the day and take him on my mountain walks on the weekends."
Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "You seem to have this all thought out, but what will you do when Aunt Marge comes in two months and she brings one of those little beasts she breads, it'll sniff him out instantly."
"Yes, but we'll be going to Ron's after a couple of days of her being here, and we can take Cosmo with us." Harry said smugly.
"And expect the Weasleys to feed him?" Hermione asked.
"No, we'll tell Ron, Fred, George, and maybe Ginny who can help us get food and hide him, and I bet Dobby has some good preservation charms, we could pack up a box full of food for him."
Hermione nodded. "Okay, you put up a good argument, but will your army of pets approve?"
Harry shrugged. "Hiss has gone hunting rats and Hedwig's delivering my recent letter to Moony."
Hermione grinned. "Well, congratulations on your new dog, Cat Boy."
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Cosmo shift slightly, but when he looked down the dog was still devouring the stack of steaks he had put down for him.
"So what was Aunt Petunia so worried about?" Harry asked, handing Hermione her packet of crisps and opening his.
"Something about an escaped Death Eater, Severus is coming over to discuss it with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon."
"Of course," Harry nodded smiling slightly. "I forgot that all Death Eaters are out to kill me."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I don't know why you said it in such a sarcastic voice; you've already received a death threat from Lucius Malfoy."
"Yeah, and I receive them daily from Draco." Harry said as though it settled the matter. "I've kind of learnt to ignore it."
"How very brave of you." Hermione said dryly as she swallowed her mouthful of crisps.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Hermione. If I got a galleon for every time someone threatened to kill me I'd be a millionaire."
"And if I had a galleon for every time someone tried to kill you-"
"You'd have three galleons." Harry said flatly.
"Three galleons too many."
Harry grinned brightly and wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulder. "Oh, I really do love you, Hermione. I can't believe I once hated you."
"You were seven, and I hated you." Hermione pointed out.
"Yeah, well, it's odd, isn't it. We've gotten well past you even being my best friend; you're like my twin sister that was born twelve months before me."
Hermione grinned. "Like the Weasley twins, but more 'badass'."
Harry laughed. "Dudley's way of speaking really has rubbed off on us, I bet by the end of this year we'll have called everyone we know 'badass'."
"Okay, how about, Harry Potter, you are one righteous dude!" Hermione said, her eyes gleaming in delight.
Harry doubled over laughing, the words sounded ridiculous coming from Hermione with her upper-class accent and perfect pronunciation.
"So, what did you find out?" Hermione asked when Harry had finally finished laughing.
Wiping a tear from his eye, Harry sat up and stroked Cosmo, who had finished eating and was lying on his side with one eye half open. "When?" Harry asked.
"Today, when you were doing your research."
"Oh, yeah, I found out quite a bit of useful information on souls."
"Such as?" Hermione prompted.
"Well, the soul is essentially a person's essence, your feelings, memories, and magical core are all linked to your soul; if you lose your soul there is no chance of recovery. I don't think you can just lose your soul, though, it has to be forcibly removed from your body. And from what I've read, there are only a few methods of soul removal."
"Soul removal?" Hermione gasped, horrified.
Harry nodded grimly. "You can partially remove souls, I'm not entirely sure what the point of doing it would be - there wasn't much info on it in the book - but what I do know is that your soul has to have already have been damaged for this to happen. Souls are only damaged by acts of evil; for example, if you kill an innocent your soul will be ripped in two. Also, remember those dementor things Sev told us about? Well, they can fully remove your soul; I don't know what they do with it once they've taken it, like with that other thing the book didn't go into too much detail about that." Harry shuddered at the possibilities.
Hermione nodded. "I'm impressed, if only you put this much effort into your studies."
"I'm nearly as smart as you." Harry said in indignation. "Anyway, that's not all I found. A ghost is the imprint of a soul left on earth; the book I read said that there hasn't been much research done on it, but from what they've found out, it seems that once you make the decision to remain on the earth as a ghost the decision can't be undone."
"Was there anything on soul bonds?" Hermione asked, scratching Cosmo's belly.
"A tiny bit, there's not much that actually refers explicitly to soul bonds, but there's been a load of myths about connections between people. Then there's the King Arthur myth where Lancelot and Guinevere had a bond. I've had to read quite a few books and compare stories, and since I've been alone for quite a bit of this holiday," Harry pursed his lips and arched an eyebrow in Hermione's direction. "I've managed to get through most of the Hogsmeade books."
Hermione smiled, looking slightly guilty and said, "When you do that eyebrow thing you look just like Severus. Anyway, what information did you manage to piece together?"
"Well, we don't actually share a soul," Harry said, screwing up his empty crisp packet and throwing it in the bin. "We have separate ones, but the book said that they're irruv-irrevib, ugh, irreckocably-"
The corner of Hermione's lip quirked upwards and she said, "Irrevocably."
"Yeah, they're that word; tied together, I think it means we can't undo it, even if we wanted to." Hermione nodded and Harry continued, "Our souls are tied together, but in a way which kind of makes them one. It's strange, I suppose you could kind of compare it to two rooms with a door between them, our souls are the rooms and an open door has formed, linking the two rooms and letting stuff through."
"So we still have separate souls, then?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, but it's kind of two parts of a whole, or two rooms that make a house, whereas most souls are single houses- maybe bungalows - in their own right but without the rooms. I think it may be possible for us to force the door closed, the problem is that there's two of them and probably a window too."
"What?" Hermione asked, choking back a giggle. "Are you just making this all up as you go along? We had two connecting rooms before, and now everyone has a house except us who share two rooms with two doors and a window; maybe you dreamed it all."
"No." Harry shook his head earnestly. "It's an analogy, and the more I think about it the better it seems to work. Look, we each have a door, which we can get through into the other's room, but because they're always open, stuff can escape through. I sort of imagine the window is the bit you fall through when you try to look too hard into the other's room, you know like when we were at the zoo that time and I made Dudley fall into the snake's house because he was being annoying- he looked too close and fell into the wrong room."
"So on Halloween I fell into your head because I was trying too hard?"
"Yeah, but the other thing is, I read in one book that if something really emotional is happening we can be sucked through right into the other person's room without wanting too."
"So we need curtains then." Hermione said with a smile.
"You need to learn to come through the door and not the window." Harry said.
"What happened to your hat theory, then?" Hermione asked.
"That still applies, but I've changed my idea from a hat to those jingly metal chain screen things that butchers have on their doors. Mine had a tonne of chains missing so that makes it easier for stuff to get through from your bit, but yours is almost intact so less stuff escapes through, the only problem is, is that apparently I have naturally weak mental shields so I don't think I'll ever be able to repair it."
Snorting, Hermione shook her head. "You really do just make it all up as you go along."
"No, no, look, listen, because this is where the door theory comes in. Because we're linked, our cores are strengthened; think of it like two sticks tied together- two are much stronger than one. This makes us more powerful, the problem is that if one gets snapped the other does too. These doors kind of link to that, if we learn how to close them we could stop both sticks snapping. The problem is, because of the nature of the bond we wouldn't be able to close them for a very long period of time, meaning that we would have to be able to anticipate something bad happening so we could close the doors beforehand."
"You mean we could temporarily sever the bond?" Hermione asked, sitting up straight and chewing her lower lip in the way she often did when interested in something.
"Not sever, no. We can just close it. Cedric told me what happened to you when I was put under the Cruciatus Curse. I think that it may be possible to close the door so that it wouldn't happen again. The problem is, we'd need to get quick at closing the door. I think that if someone casts the Cruciatus Curse at you, you have just under a second to close the door before it hits. So when Malfoy finally plucks up the courage to attack me, I'll be able to close my door and you won't feel any pain."
Hermione narrowed her eyes and thought for a second. "You've closed the bond before." Hermione said slowly. "When you ran away from the school and we had to rescue you in the snow. I tried to get through to you and couldn't."
Harry frowned, trying to remember what he had been thinking as he'd walked in the mountains that day. He definitely hadn't tried to close the bond. "I'll write that down." Harry said, picking up a piece of paper and a quill off of his desk. "If we make a list of all the strange things that have happened, and stuff that we can do, like your eye rolling, we'll be able to find out much more about what the bond means."
"Have you looked into the idea of soul mates?" Hermione asked.
Harry winced. "No, I've pretty much stayed away from it. In some ways it fits, two halves of one whole; we kind of complement each other, but in other ways it doesn't fit at all." Harry smiled, a sudden thought occurring to him. "The Weasley twins! We can observe them, you said before we're like them; the only difference is the distance and the death thing which I haven't really looked into either."
Hermione tilted her head, thinking intently. "You know, that's a rather good idea."
"Oh, you sound so surprised." Harry said, flicking the end of his quill in Hermione's direction and splattering her cheek with ink.
"Hey!" Hermione tried to shift away and nudged Cosmo, who sat up straight, wagging his tale.
"Look, you disturbed my dog." Harry accused, splattering Hermione with more ink.
Cosmo made a quiet whining sound and leapt on Hermione, sniffing her hair before resting his massive head on her shoulder and letting out a long, doggish sigh.
OOOOO
To Harry and Hermione's horror it seemed that the escaped Death Eater really had escaped from Azkaban with the sole purpose of killing Harry. When Severus had first told Harry that Sirius Black wanted to kill him, Harry had been highly amused, it seemed that nowadays everyone was out to get him. This amusement quickly turned to fury when Harry learnt that the Death Eater was not only his godfather, but also responsible for the deaths of his parents.
Though Uncle Vernon, Aunt Helen, and Uncle David still went to work every day, Harry and Hermione had been banned from going outside, meaning that they were forced to rely on Dobby to walk Cosmo every day. Dobby, of course, was over the moon at having this new responsibility, he had taken a liking to the big black dog and enjoyed having someone to look after without Aunt Petunia trying to take over. Harry wasn't nearly as happy with this arrangement; every summer holiday for the past three years, Harry had taken his family on a walk in the Yorkshire Dales, encouraging them to share in his love of the outdoors. This year the trip had been cancelled because Severus had decided that the Dales were the ideal place for Sirius Black to attack them.
When Harry asked him to sign his Hogsmeade permission form, Uncle Vernon said no, justifying his refusal by saying how visiting Hogsmeade would be too dangerous with Sirius Black on the loose. This, along with having not left the house for almost three months, made Harry particularly irritable by the time the date of Aunt Marge's visit rolled around.
Fortunately, Aunt Petunia had still agreed to allow Harry and Hermione to stay with the Weasleys, meaning that Harry only had to spend four days with Aunt Marge. In Harry's opinion, this was four days too many as he would rather take his chances with Sirius Black than spend even a minute with Aunt Marge.
The day before Aunt Marge was due to arrive at The Terrace, Harry and his family began a process Hermione had named 'the purge', in which all evidence of magic was removed from the house. The two owls were sent to stay with Neville and Dobby moved into Hermione's house. Harry's school supplies were moved into one of the Grangers' spare bedrooms and Severus had had the Department of Magical Transportation disconnect all of the downstairs fireplaces from the Floo Network.
That night, the Dursleys, Grangers, Harry, Severus, and Charity celebrated their success in purging the house of magic with dinner.
When Harry sat down at the dinner table between Uncle Vernon and Hermione, he was in a particularly foul mood. Dudley had returned home from school almost two weeks ago and in that time, he'd been allowed to leave the house five times, in three months Harry had only gotten to go outside four times.
Halfway through pudding, Severus tapped his glass with his spoon to get everyone's attention and cleared his throat. "Ahem."
Harry looked up from his trifle, smiling grudgingly; he'd been expecting this and was happy for his uncle. Unfortunately, though, Harry was trying to be purposefully miserable, a feat made impossible by Severus and Charity's announcement.
Hermione noticed far too much, and as soon as Severus and Charity had arrived that morning, she had nudged him through the bond, mentally gasped, and pointed at Charity's left hand.
Harry smiled and felt a small bubble of excitement rise in his chest as Severus took hold of Charity's hand and surveyed the room. "Charity and I... we have an announcement to make." He paused and Harry was surprised at how nervous his uncle sounded. "We-we're getting married." He looked at Aunt Petunia who was watching him expressionlessly.
She sat still for several seconds before standing up abruptly and making her way around the room.
Harry exhaled loudly as she pulled Charity into an embrace and said. "Congratulations, you know for such a long time I worried that Severus wouldn't ever find someone. When I realized that he had found himself a girlfriend I did worry that she wouldn't be good enough for him. But, my dear, you are both perfect for one another." Petunia let go of Charity and looked at Dudley, Harry and Hermione. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come and congratulate your new aunt and your uncle."
"Thank you." Charity whispered tearfully. "Your acceptance means so much to me."
Aunt Petunia smiled. "There's no need for those tears. We accepted you as soon as Severus brought you home; you're part of the family now." She then turned to Severus. "I do have to ask why you took so long to introduce us, though."
"I'm sorry?" Severus asked. "You've met Charity several times before."
Petunia's nostrils flared slightly. "You know exactly what I mean, Severus; you have been seeing one another for at least a year. I am a mother, Severus, do you think I didn't notice you behaving like a lovesick teenager last summer?"
Harry smirked when Severus blushed, looking almost like a naughty schoolchild; Aunt Petunia was one of the few people who could get that kind of reaction from him. "There are several reasons." Severus said stiffly. "Firstly, I didn't want to frighten Charity; I admit I am a rather formidable person to get to know but imagine how much worse it would be if I added my... Lily's family, the boy-who-lived, his bondmate, and her family. The other reason is Harry and Hermione; it is difficult not being able to tell their friends about having one teacher so close to the family, imagine if I suddenly added another staff member for them to keep from their friends."
Aunt Petunia nodded, seeming to accept the excuses.
Glad that Aunt Petunia was happy for Severus; Harry scuttled around the table and pulled Charity into a hug. "Congratulations, Aunt Charity." He said with a grin.
Hermione, who was beside herself with joy, pushed Harry aside and hugged Charity before taking her hand and admiring the pretty white gold ring Severus had bought for Charity.
Harry turned to his uncle and said, "Congratulations, Sev."
Severus smiled and looked lovingly over to Charity, who had been whisked across the room by Aunt Petunia, Hermione, and Aunt Helen so that they could better inspect the engagement ring. "Thank you, Harry." Harry wrapped his arms around his uncle's waist and Severus stiffened slightly before smiling slightly and hugging Harry back.
Severus let go of Harry and turned to Uncle Vernon who patted him on the back and said gruffly, "Congratulations, you've done well for yourself, she's a-a lovely lass."
Severus smiled and licked his lips. "Ah, I wanted to ask you, Vernon, if you didn't mind... would you perhaps, would you be my best man- a-at the wedding, of course."
"It would be an honour, Severus." Said Uncle Vernon, ruffling Severus's hair and smiling.
OOOOO
Harry.
I'm sure that by now Severus has warned you about Sirius Black and the danger he poses to you. Do not take these warnings lightly, Sirius is highly dangerous. Your father and Sirius were very close at school, almost as close as you and Hermione; no one could have predicted him turning against your father and that is what makes him so dangerous.
As long as I knew him, he opposed the Dark Arts and even now I don't know what made him join Voldemort. His family allied themselves with the Dark Arts, but Sirius always strove to separate himself from the Black family; he was the first Gryffindor Black in centuries and was disowned by his family at the age of sixteen when he was taken in by your grandparents and your father. Sirius was best man at your father's wedding and was named your godfather. I am not telling you this to upset you, Harry, but to warn you of what he is capable of. Sirius Black is a ruthless killer who murdered a man who had been his best friend- almost a brother - for over a decade. I doubt he would hesitate in killing you and that is why you need to be careful.
Do not go anywhere without an adult accompanying you, stay inside as much as possible, and keep your invisibility cloak and wand with you at all times.
It is highly likely that Sirius will have other unknown Death Eaters with him, and after the way you acted with Lucius Malfoy I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one behind Sirius's escape.
Remember, Harry, though I can hardly say I know this Sirius Black, I did once know him and if he is anything like he once was, then he will make a truly formidable enemy, topped only by Lord Voldemort himself. I once told you that Malfoy was dangerous, but he is nothing in comparison to Sirius. Not only is he a skilled wizard but he is also loyal, highly creative, and I once saw him best his own cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, in a duel.
Watch your back and as soon as you return to school begin practicing the spells and hexes you have researched.
Keep safe.
Remus.
OOOOO
Moony.
I've not been let outside since Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban, so you don't have to worry about me getting attacked or going after him. I'm going to practice more spells, the speed of my spell casting, and my aim. I promise I won't go after Sirius Black until I can best Severus in a duel, but when I can I'll make him pay for what he's done. It might take several years but I'll catch him, and when I do he won't stand a chance.
My Aunt Marge came over for the week, she puts Voldemort to shame on the evil scale, but fortunately, me and Hermione only had to stay at home for a few days and we are now staying with the Weasleys, along with my many pets. Ron was un-petrified a few weeks ago and seems all right. Ron's older brother Percy was made Head Boy but this made him more upset because he always hoped that he and his girlfriend would be Head Boy and Head Girl together. It's really horrible seeing him like that because he's not acting at all like the Percy we all know. Me and Hermione had a chat with him and he's not doing great, we tried to give him some advice but it's really hard to know what to say.
See you soon.
From Harry.
OOOOO
Dear Harry,
I think you misunderstood what I meant in my previous message. Don't learn the spells so you can go after Sirius; learn them so you can protect yourself. Don't go after him, you will be putting yourself in unnecessary danger.The Ministry will catch Sirius, what I suggested was simply a precaution.
I'm glad that your friend, Ron, is okay. From what Severus told me, it seems that without you and Hermione he could have been much worse off. As for Percy, I can't tell you what to say to him, it can be difficult finding the right words when someone has lost a loved one and all I can say is that you should be sincere, say what you think is right.
Remus.
AN: Thank you to everyone for reading. And thanks to my beta and everyone who reviewed.
-beksta