Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry about the long wait, I've been snowed under! I have been excited about this chapter for so long and thrilled that I finally get to share it! There will be a lot of unanswered questions, but hang in there all will be revealed! I guess you could say this is the beginning of the build-up for goblet of fire idk? Events at the end of this chapter will ultimately be what causes goblet of fire to happen so I guess so! Anyway, hope you enjoy and remember to let me know what you think! Until next time!
Dumbledore's office had changed since the last time Sirius had been in it. The walls were still the same colour, the furniture was still in the same place… but something about the room felt so unfamiliar to Sirius. Perhaps it was because so much had changed since he had last been there. Before, he had been a Professor, and now, an escaped convict. But the one thing that had changed more than ever was the glare of the headmaster. Something was different about the way he looked at Sirius, the fond sparkle his eyes had once held now gone. Instead there was pity and knowledge staring back at him, and he did not like it at all.
He had spent hours in Snape's store room as Padfoot, hidden away in a corner under the invisibility cloak. The room was ice cold as he waited for anything to happen, his body shivering even with the fur on his dog body. He wanted more than anything to talk to Harry, to reunite with him properly. With all the chaos with the dementors in the tunnel, he hadn't had the chance. It had felt so good to see the boy again. He had changed from Sirius's memory of him. He was taller, his face more developed and his hair scruffier than ever. He was still just as skinny as he'd always been, and his emerald eyes were still glowing, despite everything that he had been through.
Harry and Mara had stayed in Snape's classroom as instructed, so Sirius had not seen them at all since he was brought into the castle. He didn't know where they had been taken or what was happening. All he knew was that after a long wait, Dumbledore had come for him, bringing him up to his office where it was empty except for the two of them.
Sirius had changed back into a man, his scruffy robes looking out of place among Dumbledore's possessions.
"Fudge is gone?" Sirius asked.
"Yes." Dumbledore replied. "They found nothing."
Sirius turned away from him for a moment, hardly believing that he had escaped the dementors for a second time. When he turned back, Dumbledore was watching his closely, his expression unreadable.
"I need to speak with Harry."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, but nodded understandably.
"I know, Sirius. And I promise you will in due course."
"Where is he?" Sirius asked.
"Both Harry and Mara have been escorted back to their common room for the evening. With everything that has happened today I feel they need some sort of normality."
Sirius scoffed. "I think it's time we accept that nothing in those kids lives will ever be normal."
"That doesn't mean we can't at least attempt to give them stability." Dumbledore said, his blue eyes piercing Sirius. "Now, what are we going to do with you."
Sirius sighed. In truth, he was fed up with all this running away and living his life in the shadows. He wanted to prove he was innocent, to feel the sun on his face again and to walk around as a free man.
"Can't I just stay in Snape's store room?" Sirius suggested, hoping that Dumbledore would catch the sarcasm in his voice.
"I don't feel Severus will appreciate that. I would let you stay here, but Fudge or any ministry official could show up at any minute." Dumbledore said.
"There has to be somewhere. I'm not leaving Hogwarts, Harry and Mara need me." Sirius said.
"Harry and Mara need to know that you're safe."
"I am safe. From what I've heard it's them who aren't safe." Sirius snapped back.
"What exactly are you implying, my boy?" Dumbledore asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.
"Harry was attacked by a dementor right on the school grounds!" Sirius cried.
"Nobody controls dementors, Sirius." Dumbledore responded quietly.
Sirius scoffed. "Fudge does apparently. It seems he controls everything nowadays. Tell me, Albus, when did you become such a bystander to Fudge?"
"There is only so much I am capable of doing when it comes to the minster of magic." Dumbledore said, his voice sterner that usual. "You are angry, Sirius, and you have a right to be. But what good is that going to do now? I am not a bystander to Fudge, but I have a duty to this school and its pupils."
Sirius looked at Dumbledore straight in the eye, his stare as hard as steel.
"You also have a duty to Harry. You promised me all those years ago that Harry would never be left unprotected and vulnerable, yet you allowed him to be shipped off to Petunia's like some stray dog." Sirius half yelled.
Sirius saw a brief flash of hurt appear in Dumbledore's eyes, but it disappeared almost immediately. He regretted the harshness of his tone, but he had meant every word he had said, even if he had been brutally honest.
"You know that Harry could not have been harmed in the home of the Dursley's. I told you twelve years ago of the blood wards. Lily's sacrifice, her blood, would always keep Harry safe. The same blood flows through his sister's veins, whether Petunia wants to admit it or not. Harry was safe there." Dumbledore explained.
"But he wasn't safe from them." Sirius growled. "There is a reason the boy didn't grow up with that woman and her brute of a husband! They're horrible people, and I don't even need to speak to Harry to know how terrible they were to him! And you allowed him to be sent there… to that sort of life?!"
Dumbledore remained silent, his glare strongly on Sirius as his temper rose. But Dumbledore remained calm, his breathing steady and his face soft.
"You will stay in the room of requirement." Dumbledore said after a while.
Sirius snapped his head up to look at the headmaster.
"The room of requirement?"
Dumbledore nodded. "You will have everything you need there, and if you don't wish to be found the room will see to it that you are not located."
"What about Harry and Mara?" Sirius asked.
"I will send Harry to you in the morning, but for now, we allow them to rest. They have been through enough today to go without any sleep."
"You're right." Sirius sighed. "Albus… I'm sorry about… for what I said… I know you care for Harry and Mara a lot. I just need someone to blame."
"I understand, my boy. Loss and hurt are some of the hardest feelings we will ever have to cope with, especially if we are destined to go through it alone. You look for someone to blame for all of this… well there is only one we can place the blame onto. It was Peter who started this fire when he betrayed James and Lily." Dumbledore said.
Sirius took a deep breath. "Yes… but I should have stopped him."
"You weren't to know, Sirius. You can never blame yourself for Pettigrew's disloyalty. I have both Severus and Minerva on the lookout for any sign of him within this castle. We will find him." Dumbledore said kindly, resting a hand on Sirius's shoulder.
"You still believe he is alive?" Sirius asked.
"Yes I do." Dumbledore said. "And I also think that somebody else has played a part in this."
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, furrowing his eyes together.
"On the day of your arrest, Cornelius stated that new evidence had come to light, putting you in the right place at the right time, also making it seem like you were the last person who saw Peter. It seems, or at least in my opinion, that somebody influenced the ministry to blame you for a murder that was apparently committed a dozen years ago. Peter was only assumed dead because nobody has seen him since that night." Dumbledore said.
"I'm not sure I follow, Albus." Sirius replied.
"Who do we know that hates you enough to allow you to rot away in Azkaban for the rest of your life? I can think of someone. It also seems that you have something this person wants, something he tried to use just last year to restore his old master."
Sirius felt his chest tighten as his stomach muscles clenched. Everything suddenly now made sense in his head. He felt sick as the boiling hot anger began to spill out into his bloodstream, but he was determined to remain calm.
"What if," Dumbledore began, "this person planned for all of this to happen? A way to get you out of the picture and frame you for a crime you did not commit. To get rid of Harry by sending him away to his aunt's. To accuse Remus of being a danger to their lives and, therefore, unfit to look after the children. What if, Sirius, this whole thing was a plan to get Mara back with the Malfoy's?"
"Lucius." Sirius spat. The thoughts whirled around in his head, the memories of the cold, stone cell he had spent a summer in. The thought of both Harry and Mara alone and vulnerable in abusive homes. And it had all been a sick plan to get Mara to Malfoy Manor. The more Sirius thought of it, the more it all made sense. Lucius could easily have lied or paid someone to "tip off" the ministry of Sirius's supposed guilt. He was close enough to the minister to manipulate him into separating Harry and Mara, to persuading him that Remus was a danger to them both. The iron hot anger was streaming through Sirius so violently that he was sure he was about to smash every item in the room around him.
Dumbledore had not said another word, the air in the room sizzling with Sirius's fury.
Harry pushed the large wooden door open slowly, his hand shaking as he did so. He had never set foot in the room of requirement in his life, so a part of him was excited at what could possibly lie in store for him. He held a crumpled-up piece of parchment in his right hand, the fine line of Dumbledore's writing visible through his fingers. He had awoken that morning to the letter on his bedside table, and had not wasted a single second before reading it.
Harry- go to the seventh floor, across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Walk past three times- think of Padfoot. Professor Dumbledore.
The note had made next to no sense to Harry as he read it, but Hermione was able to explain it better to him at breakfast.
"The room of requirement." She said, pouring herself some more orange juice.
"Room of requirement?" Mara asked. She was the only person Harry had told about Dumbledore's note. He had not yet explained everything to Ron and Hermione, mainly because he hadn't found the opportunity.
Hermione nodded. "It's a vanishing room located on the seventh floor. It appears and gives you whatever you require, hence the name."
Harry sent Mara a look, who was staring straight back at him with a similar expression. They excused themselves moments later, leaving the great hall and heading towards the main staircase. Mara left him by the third floor, laying a friendly hand on Harry's shoulder to wish him luck. Remus had invited her on a stroll around the grounds that morning, although Harry knew this was merely a distraction to allow Harry to speak with his godfather.
The room of requirement was nothing like he had expected. He had been imagining a small cramped room filled to the ceiling with books and boxes of junk. The room, in reality, had a large ceiling and marble walls, the wooden door disappearing behind him as he walked forward. The room was lit by lanterns hanging from the walls along with the dim light of an open fire from the other side of the room.
The large fireplace sat against the wall, it's orange glow creating a circle of comfort that welcomed him in as he approached. Two chairs stood before it, along with a coffee table filled with empty cups and glasses. Harry spun around. Near the fire sat a large canopy bed, it's sheets messy and slept in. The rags Sirius had been wearing the day before lay sprawled all over the floor, bringing Harry the reminder of why he was here.
"Sirius?" He said, his voice echoing throughout the room like a mystical cave.
"Right here."
Harry turned to see his godfather leaning against the fireplace, a weak but friendly smile on his face. He was wearing dark blue robes, the material looking baggy and unhealthy next to his pale skin. He had brushed his hair, but it still hung wildly about his shoulders like it always had.
"I… I didn't see you when I came in." Harry said, finding it difficult to meet his godfather's eye.
Sirius chuckled lightly. "You came alone?"
Harry nodded. "Mara is with Remus."
Sirius walked towards Harry from the fireplace, stopping just in front of him. He watched him like he was a lost dog or a wounded animal, which made Harry feel less at ease than he had upon his arrival.
"Your hairs got longer." Sirius said, messing up Harry's head with his right hand.
"So has yours." Harry answered.
Sirius smiled. "Azkaban was missing their hairdressers during my stay."
Harry wanted to laugh, but found his throat locked by the painful thought that Sirius had spent months looked away in such a horrible place. Sirius seemed to sense that Harry was uncomfortable, for he rested his hand on Harry's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have said that."
Harry shrugged. "It's nothing. It's just… was it awful? Azkaban?"
"Worse than awful." Sirius murmured.
"I thought about you every day you know." Harry began, taking a seat on one of the chairs before the fire. "Every morning when I woke up, and every night before I fell asleep. Even in my dreams all I could see was you in that place. You used to tell me about the dementors when I was little. You used to say they were horrifying creatures. I couldn't stand the thought of you rotting away in there."
"You should have been thinking of yourself." Sirius said, sitting in front of Harry. "You know me, tough as old boots. You should have been focused on yourself, and making sure you were ok."
"How could we be ok, Sirius?" Harry replied.
"I know. It was a stupid thing to say. But I didn't know, Harry. I thought you would be with Remus, that he would take care of you until I came back. If I would have known you were with Petunia I would have broken down that entire prison to get to you." Sirius said, the sincerity strong in his voice.
"I grew to accept the circumstances." Harry stated.
Sirius sighed deeply, rubbing his head with his hands. The bags under his eyes were almost black from his lack of sleep and nourishment, yet the determination still shone in his grey eyes.
"It was the one thing I never wanted for you." Sirius whispered, continuing to watch the floor. "When I took you in, the one thing I promised was that you would always be in a home where you were loved. That's why we fought against you being raised by your Aunt, we knew she could never love you truly. I swore to myself that you would never know what is was like to be brought up in a family based solely around hatred. That you would never know what it was like to be starved for days, or locked away in your bedroom, or screamed at and called names that would stay with you the rest of your life."
Sirius was breathing so hard that Harry was afraid he would pass out. He couldn't believe how much this all mattered to Sirius, that Harry living with the Dursley's had impacted him so deeply. But then it all made sense to Harry as he looked at his godfather. He could see the truth hidden in his eyes, the reflection of his own sorrow spilling out onto Harry. Sirius knew first-hand how this had felt. It had been his childhood.
"It happened to you, didn't it?" Harry whispered. "Your parents did those things to you and your brother."
Sirius looked up at Harry, the glimmer of tears in his eyes.
"There were many things about my childhood I never wanted you to know about, Harry." Sirius sniffed. "It seemed so unfair to burden it all onto you, so I never told you anything about it, and made Remus swear not to breathe a single word. My parents? They were more than pure-blood crazy. They were crazy in every conceivable way. My mother would lock Regulus and I away in our bedrooms for days without food. My father, he would beat us and call us all sorts of names. That's why I ran away at 16. I ran to your dad's, where I would always be welcome. When I first heard that you were with those people… I couldn't bear it. You are good, Harry, and you don't deserve terrible things like that."
Harry placed his hand on Sirius's cheek, like he had done with him so often when he had been little.
"You're good, too." Harry whispered.
Harry felt Sirius wrap his arms around Harry, holding him close to him for what felt like forever. In that moment, Harry knew that it was Sirius who needed the comfort more than Harry, but he had missed having his godfather here with him.
"I didn't betray your parents, Harry." Sirius said after a while, breaking the peaceful silence that had swept over the room.
Harry watched him closely, his own green eyes looked on to Sirius's grey, and all the doubt he had ever had flooded out of him. James had been there for Sirius in the hardest moments of his life… they were more than friends, just like Mara was to him. Sirius was a brother to his dad, and he knew how much that meant to his godfather.
"I know." Harry said.
"When Voldemort first made a threat against you, your mum and dad went in to hiding. Dumbledore performed what's known as the Fidelius Charm. It's a very difficult spell, but when used properly it can conceal just about any secret. There is always one person who knows, and they're called the secret keeper. Originally, I was the secret keeper to your parent's whereabouts. However, they switched me with our friend Peter Pettigrew because they thought that I would be too obvious. Peter told Voldemort where you and your parents were hiding. After Voldemort had been defeated, I arrived at the remains of the house. I took you from your crib and handed you over to Hagrid who was taking you to Dumbledore. I went after Peter, eventually finding him on a muggle street near London. I wanted to kill him, really, I did… but Remus stopped me. Peter was alive that night, I never touched him. Harry, I swear to you I'm telling the truth." Harry could hear the desperation in Sirius's voice.
"I know." Harry replied. "I wanted to be mad at you before, because I was pissed off that you were gone. I was looking for a reason to be angry, taking it out on the people who were just trying to help. I grew up with you, Sirius, and if you've taught me one thing it's when to spot a liar. And you, Sirius Black, are no liar. I believe you and I trust you."
Sirius pulled Harry into a hug once more, kissing the top of his head as he did so.
"So, what now?" Harry asked when they broke apart.
"Now we find Pettigrew." Sirius said.
"I don't see why the girl is of such importance, Lucius." Wormtail said.
Malfoy Manor was colder than usual, the air frozen with the cold glare of Lucius Malfoy as he paced before Wormtail. His footsteps echoed loudly off the floor, his cane clutched tightly in his right hand.
"Because, you fool." Lucius snarled. "If our plan is to be successful then we need both the children. The girl is of as much value to us as they boy."
"But the boy is what we need." Wormtail stammered. "His blood will bring our master back."
"Yes, the boy is of vital importance. But you heard the Dark Lord, the girl will be of use to him also. Tell me, Wormtail, are you questioning the Dark Lord's wishes?" Lucius asked.
"Of course not!" Wormtail stuttered. "I would never- I couldn't- but the master remains in the old Riddle House! You have not seen him since your last visit!"
"Are you questioning my loyalty, you pathetic little man?" Lucius growled.
Wormtail shook his head, his whole body shaking from head to toe. The sound of a door closing in the distance caused Lucius to snap his head round, the anger in his expression turning to irritation.
"My wife has returned." He said, turning back to Wormtail. "Go- return to the Dark Lord before you resume your position at Hogwarts."
Wormtail nodded nervously, heading towards the door of the library.
"Oh, and Wormtail?" Lucius called from behind. "Do make sure to say hello to Mister Black for me. I'm sure he's delighted to be out of my basement after twelve years."
