It's Sirius Time
Chapter 10
Harry stepped off the knight bus, and into a snowy Hogsmeade. Remus and Tonks helped them with their luggage and then got off to say goodbye. "Have fun all of you, and be careful," said Tonks. "Have a good term," she finished getting back onto the bus.
"Look after yourselves," said Remus shaking hands and giving Harry a hug. "And Harry- " he began smiling almost wolfishly. "Sirius says to..." He leant over and whispered something in Harry's ear which caused the boy to flush a deep crimson as Remus laughed. "As for me- take it slow," he added waving off and getting back onto the bus.
The 6 of them began to lift their trunks which had a featherweight charm on them and walked along the path. Just as they were about to walk past Honeydukes, Harry stopped them. "Guys!" he shouted, "And girls," he added as an afterthought. "I'm not walking in the snow- anyone up to use the secret tunnel?" he asked.
"Which secret tunnel?" asked Ginny feeling very confused.
"Gin-gin, there's a secret tunnel in Hogsmeade," began George.
"That allows you to go straight into the school. You coming?" they asked and walked into Honeydukes. The other 4 followed them into the shop being careful not to get caught by the owners of the store.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me about this earlier," whined Ginny feeling left-out.
"It's a secret Ginny," said Harry. "And if they told you about it in your first year you would have told all of your friends."
"True- but tell about this stuff next time," she complained. The twins agreed, hoping she wouldn't hex them with her signature Bat-Bogey-Hex. She had found that in a obsucre book that was in the one part of the Black library that wasn't off limits to them, and for some reason she was unusally good at it.
"Anyway, ickle Harrykins, what did Lupin say that had you blushing so hard?" asked George.
"Shut up," said Harry pointing his wand at him. "I will not tell you," he confirmed, a blush seeping onto his cheeks.
"Ah, so it's something embarassing," said Fred. "And knowing Sirius it would be something rather lewd. SO..." he took a deep breath.
"He's told you to get on with it with Katie, hasn't he?" asked George cutting his twin short. Suddenly, both of themselves wearing bright pink clothes with makeup and no longer able to speak. Harry smiled smugly before he began walking slightly ahead of the group so that they wouldn't be able to tease him.
The 6 emerged from the secret opening in Hogwarts and Fred, George and Ginny made their way instantly over towards Gryffindor Tower as Harry, Ron and Hermione began to climb out. Just as Harry began to do so, his trunk suddenly opened spilling its contents onto the floor. "You two go ahead," said Harry just as Ron and Hermione were about to help him. "I'll meet you in the common room in about a couple of hours. Dumbledore wants to see me for some reason." Dumbledore had owled Harry saying that he wanted to speak with him after Snape had visited them at Grimmauld Place. He waved both of them goodbye and began cleaning up his trunk. When he'd finished, he shrunk the trunk down wondering why he hadn't done that in the first place. He began walking down the corridor when he was suddenly pulled into a broom cupboard.
"Hi Harry," said a familiar voice as he turned around.
"Hi Katie," Harry said his eyes widening. When the two of them stepped out their clothes and hair were dishevelled and rumpled, their ties askew and both of slightly pink. "Well, cya," said Harry fixing his clothes a little and going to his appointment with Dumbledore.
When he came to the Headmaster's office, he gave the password Dumbledore had told him when he gave the letter for the appointment- 'Whizzing Frizbee' and stepped in front of the door knocker. Knowing as soon as he brought his hand to the knocker it would open he decided to try something else. Stepping back a lot, he raised his wand and he sent a charm to knock on the door instead of doing it himself. Surprisingly, it worked and he managed to knock on the door. As he did so, it swung open revealing the Headmaster's office. Even though he didn't like the man, he had to stop and admire once again the taste he had. The room was circular, with intricate objects scattered around, portraits lining the wall and even solid gold objects that Harry reasoned were gifts from Nicholas Flamel. That brought up a twinge of guilt but he pushed it way knowing it was Voldemort not him that caused the death of Flamel.
"Ah, Harry, take a seat," said Dumbledore as he saw the 15-year-old. Harry complied, deciding to humour the old man for a bit. "I must ask, how did you get past the door-knocker?" he asked letting his curiosity overtake him.
"I used a spell Professor. I knew it was pointless knocking so I tried some magic. I assume you have a sensory spell on it to alert you if anyone is about to use it?" he countered voicing one of the things that had bugged him for many years.
"I do indeed. You are one of the few people to ever realise that Harry, and you father and his friends are among that group. They were investigating my office to prepare for a prank when they discovered it," he said his eyes twinkling with mirth and amusement.
"Did they suceed?" Harry asked excitably not shying away from an opportunity to learn more about his parents.
"They did infact, and I ended up dressed as Peter Pan for the entire week. But, enough about them. I invited you here to talk about you. And I can see that you have been exploring the wonderful joys of youth. I dare say Miss Bell was sad to see you go," he said smiling when Harry flushed. "I have realised," he began more seriously, "that I have been less than honest with you." Harry snorted but didn't say anything. "Therefore, I will allow you to ask me some questions and I will respond to the best of my ability before I tell you about why I called you here."
"Fine," said Harry knowing this was a great opportunity. "Why did you not get Sirius a trial?" he asked first. That had been hounding him for quite a while now.
"I knew he wasn't the secret keeper, but I thought he had murdered the muggles and Pettigrew in a fit of rage. I didn't bother with a trial as I couldn't bear to see the dispair in his eyes, as I knew he shouldn't go there, I powerless to stop it. When he escaped, I tried to get him a trial but I was always shot down by the Minister and all the members that were in Lucius Malfoy's pocket."
"Why did you leave me at the Dursleys?" asked Harry realising that although Dumbledore made a mistakw with Sirius, he did truly want him to be free.
"Ah," Dumbledore began, his voice quite pained. "When Voldemort attacked your parents, your mother sacrificed herself to save you and by doing so she used very powerful magic which protected you. I took advantage of this to create 'blood wards'. These wards weren't exactly legal but they would have been impenetrable. If a wizard or witch intended to harm you then they would have never gotten past the 'front door' if you understand my meaning. Your aunt was your mother's last remaining relative, if the blood wards were to continue to work then you would have to stay with her."
"But what about people like Remus, Amelia Bones. You know- the people my parents specified in their will."
"Remus couldn't take custody of you for obvious reasons, and the other families were struggling themselves. At the time it made so much sense to put you with them. You would be in the muggle world where people couldn't influence or harm you for their own goals, you would be protected from any remaining followers of Voldemort and you could live a normal life until you came back to wizarding world. However the one thing I didn't take into account was the possibility of the Dursley's treating you like they did." Dumbledore admitted, tears silently falling down his face. "I knew they did not like magic but I didn't think it was bad enough to abuse you, especially after all the money I had given them to look after you."
"Wait what?" Harry blinked. "What money?" Harry all but growled.
"I am a fairly rich man, Harry. I gave the Dursley's yearly payments for you, to be spent on clothes and food and so on. When I read that article I realized how big of a mistake I had made. I am not perfect Harry, nor will I ever claim to be. I like others make mistakes, though mine appear to be larger than others. I am glad that the Dursleys have been brought to justice, though I am saddened by the fact they never realised their wrongdoings." Dumbledore finished.
"I understand," said Harry. "I really want to hate you for this, but I don't. I get why you did it, even though I don't like it. So, why did you want me here?" he asked.
"Harry," Dumbledore began his voice solemn, his eyes lacking any amusement. "What do you know about horcruxes?"
"Hey guys," said Harry as he walked into the common room.
"Mate," began Ron, "wanna play chess with me? Hermione's sulking because I beat her in 12 moves."
"I am not sulking!" snapped Hermione before turning to Harry. "Harry, sit down. You can help me learn how to cast nonverbally."
"Hermione, you are sulking admit it," interjected Ron. He turned to Harry about to say something before he noticed the serious expression on his best friend's face. "Harry, what's wrong?" he asked frowning.
"I need to talk to both of you. Now," said Harry. "It's important." He threw up a provacy charm around the 3 of them before sitting down.
"What was that spell?" Hermione asked eagerly always wanting to learn new stuff. "Where did you learn it?"
"It's a privacy ward so other people can't hear us but we can hear them. The incantation is 'Muffliato, and Regulus taught it to me. And you can practise later," he added when he saw Hermione getting her wand out. "Firstly, you know you two are my best friends right?" he asked glad when they both nodded. "And I hat keeping stuff from you two." They nodded again. "I have been keeping something major, and it was because I didn't want to put you in any danger."
"Mate, what it is?" asked Ron.
"Ok, so, in summer I went to see the goblins for like a check-up and what not. And, they told me I had a horcrux in my scar."
"A what?!" said Hermione rather loudly leaving Harry glad he had put up the privacy spell.
"So, it's a part of a soul. Voldemort's soul to be exact."
"You had Voldemort's soul in you!" said Ron gasping. "Holy shit!" For once Hermione didn't scold him on his use of rather crude language. "It's gone now, isn't it? That's why your scar isn't as visible."
"Yeah, it is. I didn't tel you guys cos Voldemort's been trying to hide this for ages. Sirius, Remus and Regulus know since Regulus was the first one that actully found out about the horcruxes. Dumbledore knows as well, though I haven't told him that I knew before. However, he made me realise on thing- you guys are my best friends and I should tell you. You deserve to know," he finished hoping they wouldn't be mad at him for not sharing this earlier.
"Oh, Harry," said Hermione suddenly hugging him. Ron awkwardly joined in as well, and it was nice to know that they weren't mad. "We're not mad, and I think you should talk with Sirius about whether you can tell Professor Dumbledore."
"Thanks guys. I'll tell them later. But for now, let's have some fun!" said Harry cancelling the privacy charm. For a few hours, you could hear the whoops and cheers coming from Gryffindor Tower.
"...so yeah," finished Harry having told an intent trio of Sirius, Remus and Regulus about his meeting with Dumbledore. "I think we can trust him. I could tell, he was being sincere. He truly didn't mean for you to be imprisoned Sirius."
"Hmmm, I agree Harry," said Sirius after a few moments consideration.
"You do!" exclaimed Harry thinking he would need to argue a lot more.
"We do," confirmed Remus. "However, as soon as Dumbledore starts hiding stuff from you or becomes unreliable, we're not trusting him any further."
"Agreed," said Harry.
"Now, before we say goodbye, I need to talk to you about something," said Sirius his face solemn. "Your mirror fell out of your pocket today, and it alerted me. I saw a very interesting scene through it Harry. One of you in a broom cupboard. Care to tell us about it?" he asked whilst his two companions were too busy trying not to laugh.
Harry flushed at this and turned away to calm himself. He knew that it was better to endure the ribbing now otherwise he'd be constantly plagued by them over owls, mirror talks and visits. He took a deep breath and turned back. "Just cos you've never snogged a girl Sirius!" he began ready to put up a fight.
AN/ And cut! New chapter! So, good Dumbledore rears his head in this. I thought about having him wait for a few more chapters but Dumbledore wouldn't do that. He will play the long game sometimes, but he knows that if he doesn't restore relations with Harry soon they'll be gone for good. Also, do you guys think I should have the Department of Mysteries scene or not? I mean it does seem kind of pointless, though it would be a good scene and I can also add the Slytherins in to show that they're loyal to Harry.
Should I have Draco be a good guy or not? I'm on the fence about this, so I need your help. Originally, I thought this story was going to be 70k words, but I've realised it's only going to be about 50k. Still, it's my first story so I consider it quite good. Also, I have set up a poll on my profile page. Please enter it because I need your views.
Review Responses:
TheHPFanEV: How Regulus got past the Fidelius will be explained in a later chapter. It will be a genuine reason, so don't worry.
zoyaaa: Thx I 3 you too (not in a weird way).