Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for the fantastic reviews. I'm so glad you all liked Sirius's breakout scene. I really enjoyed writing it. I'm glad you liked the modification of the "Sirius finds out through the paper" idea. I thought it would be interesting to still use the newspaper as a motivation for him to escape Azkaban.
I hope you like this chapter too!
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Needless to say, when Harry and Dudley told Petunia and Vernon about the true identity of Mrs. Figg, they were horrified. They couldn't believe that Dumbledore could move her into the neighborhood right under their noses without them suspecting a thing. They'd always thought her eccentric, but harmless. They would have never thought she was hiding such a secret.
"On second thought," Petunia said angrily, "I was a fool not to figure it out. Of course Dumbledore would do such a thing. Whatever was I thinking not to consider such a possibility?" She put her arms around both boys, hugging them close to her.
"I'm sorry, Aunt Petunia," said Harry, and he trembled as he told her about his bout of accidental magic. "Meditating isn't working," he said, desperate for all of this to go away. "What else can I do?"
Aunt Petunia only held him tighter. "You only just started it, Harry," she said gently. "You haven't got used to it yet. Give it time, sweetheart. And the events of tonight must have been very traumatic for you. We all trusted Arabella Figg, after all."
"We're lucky she didn't drag you in front of more of those hoodlums," said Uncle Vernon, his face red and livid. "The nerve of those people, I swear!"
"I know," said Dudley, looking just as furious as his father. "She tricked us! She invited us in for cake and everything, like that would make Harry do whatever she wanted. What a stupid idiot!"
Harry gave Dudley a small smile. "Thanks, Dud," he said with sincere gratitude.
"'Course," said Dudley. "I won't let you be taken by that scum."
"Atta boy, Dudley," boomed Vernon, pounding his son on the back. "You're good boys, you know that?" he said, looking at his son and the boy who was as good as.
"Er, thanks, Uncle Vernon," Harry said, embarrassed.
xxx
Several days passed without incident, but instead of making Harry breathe easier, it put him more on edge. He was scared of what the next move in the game would be - did he even want to know?
And several days later, something did happen, but it was certainly not what he had expected. The news rocked him to his core, and he couldn't have imagined feeling worse if he tried.
It was Saturday morning, and Harry and Dudley had just finished eating breakfast. They went into the living room with Uncle Vernon to watch television while Aunt Petunia set up the ingredients to do some baking. She knew it had been a stressful week for the entire family, and she was going to bake some chocolate biscuits to help everyone's nerves.
As Harry and Dudley walked in, one of the programs Uncle Vernon liked to watch was just coming to an end. The next one was scheduled to come on in several minutes, but suddenly, the words "SPECIAL NEWS report" burst onto the screen. For some unknown reason, a feeling of foreboding rose up in Harry, and he sat up straighter on the couch, not taking his eyes off the screen.
A tall, balding man began to speak. "We break into this morning's programs to bring this to your attention. An extremely dangerous prisoner has escaped from a high-security prison." The picture on the screen changed to show an emaciated, insane-looking man with straggly hair and dead gray eyes. "Sirius Black was convicted for causing a gas explosion that killed thirteen people in 1981. He is armed, and I repeat, extremely dangerous. Anyone who glimpses him should call ..."
Harry didn't even hear the hotline that should be called if anyone saw Sirius Black. All he could hear was a roaring in his ears as the blood drained from his face until it was a ghostly white color. He didn't hear it when the announcer said, "We now return you to your regularly scheduled program." The thing that finally jogged him to his senses was Uncle Vernon's roar of, "Wait just one minute! You didn't tell us where that filthy lunatic escaped from!" And at the same moment, Dudley put his hand on Harry's shoulder and said anxiously, "Harry! Harry! Are you okay?"
"No," said Harry, barely audibly. "I know where he escaped from, Uncle Vernon." He ran into the kitchen. "Aunt Petunia!" he said, adrenaline starting to take hold. "Aunt Petunia!"
"Harry, what is it?" asked Petunia fearfully. She didn't like being interrupted in the middle of baking, but something about Harry's wild entrance made her realize this was no ordinary interruption. "What's happened?"
In a rush, Harry told her of the news report. She let out a gasp of horror, took a few wobbly steps away from the counter, and collapsed into a chair. "Oh, God," she cried out. "Why? Why now? And how did he escape from there? That place is supposed to be impenetrable!"
"I don't know," said Harry shakily. He knew exactly who Sirius Black was, and exactly what he had done. And worst of all, he was his godfather. Could his life get any more difficult? It felt like everything was falling away around him, coming apart at the seams.
Uncle Vernon and Dudley walked into the kitchen. "Harry, Mum, what's going on?" Dudley demanded, looking frightened. "Who is this Sirius Black? Why are you so scared of him?"
In a hushed tone, Aunt Petunia explained just who Sirius Black was, and what relation Harry was to him. Uncle Vernon's mouth opened in horror. "I thought I recognized that name," he said, his voice at a higher pitch than normal. "And he ... he's coming after you?"
"I don't doubt it," said Harry, both terrified and livid at the same time.
Aunt Petunia tried to calm herself down, because she knew she needed to be strong for her nephew. "It will be all right, Harry," she said softly.
"But he'll hurt you to get to me," Harry whispered, staring at his family with dread. "I don't want anything to happen to you because of me. God, I hate witches and wizards."
"We knew what might happen when we took you in," said Aunt Petunia, the fear in her own voice hard to disguise. "It's not your fault you have monsters coming after you." She looked Harry straight in the eye. "I made terrible mistakes with my sister," she said quietly. "I blamed her for things beyond her control. The moment you came to us, I swore not to do the same thing with you."
Harry was shocked. His aunt had never admitted such a thing before. He had always known there was a lot of regret in Petunia's past as far as Lily was concerned, but he'd been hesitant to ask any questions about it. And now, not only was she saying this to him, but she was also confessing this in front of her husband and son. "I will protect you, and Uncle Vernon and Dudley will as well. We will do everything we can to keep you safe, to the best of our ability," she murmured tenderly.
Without warning, Harry felt tears sting his eyes. He looked at the family he loved, and who had proven over and over again how much they loved him, and didn't know what to say. Petunia seemed to understand, and placed a kiss on his forehead. Dudley patted him on the shoulder while Uncle Vernon pounded him on the back.
"Now, to those chocolate biscuits," said Aunt Petunia, doing her best to return to her usual no-nonsense briskness. "I think we all need a little pick-me-up."
xxx
As hard as Harry tried, he had a difficult time not thinking about the new fear that had revealed itself to him in that fateful special news report. He kept up his usual routine as best he could, spending time with his friends and hanging out with Dudley. They exchanged lighthearted banter, but it was apparent that there was fear and dread beneath the surface.
The following day, Harry and Dudley went to the park with Cliff, Matthew, and Robert. There were other children there, too, especially little ones who were playing on the swings and slide. Dudley had always demanded that Harry push him on the swings when they were that age, but Harry gave as good as he got. One of their common arguments had been about who pushed who for longer. Aunt Petunia was always the mediator for these silly arguments, and when Harry remembered those times, he always laughed and teased Dudley about them. Dudley teased right back, which always ended up with the two boys dissolving into laughter.
Fear still hung over Harry as he and his friends kicked a ball around, but he tried not to let it show. His friends couldn't know about magic, after all, and he very much doubted any of them were focusing on the mass murderer Sirius Black. News reports like this happened rather frequently, and who would think about one of those lunatics coming after them? Adults always became more vigilant and told their children to be careful, but these reports did not stop people from living their lives.
When it was about time to leave the park, Robert, who loved animals, happened to notice a stray dog as they began to make their way back to the Dursleys' house, which was tonight's venue for dinner. "Wow," he breathed as he looked at the huge, black, emaciated, forlorn-looking animal with its tail between its legs. As the boys walked nearer, its ears pricked up. "Look at that poor dog."
Harry stared at the creature. He'd never seen such a scruffy, miserable-looking thing in his entire life. It was so skinny and malnourished that he honestly wondered how it was still alive. Harry had seen some television programs about animals that had been abused, and he wondered if this poor dog had met that fate. How had it ended up here?
Robert reached down to stroke it, and Cliff immediately warned, "Rob, you don't know where that dog's been. It could be dangerous and bite you."
"Nah, Cliff," Robert said. "It looks sad. I don't think it'll bite me." Without letting anyone else try to talk him out of it, he began to pet it.
"Seriously, mate, you're going to get yourself hurt one of these days," Dudley told him.
"Are you my mothers, or my friends?" Robert said, annoyed, as he continued petting the dog, who seemed to be enjoying the attention. Its tail began to wag a bit, but it still seemed sad and lonely. Harry wondered again where the poor animal had come from. He'd never seen this dog around here before.
Robert's compassion knew no bounds as he rummaged in the bag of snacks he had been carrying with him that the boys had been munching on during the day. He retrieved a bag of crisps, and started to open them.
"Are you honestly going to give those to the dog?" Cliff asked. "I don't think crisps are good for dogs, Rob."
"But the poor thing doesn't look like it's eaten in years," said Rob as he took several crisps out of the packet and held them out to the dog, who quickly snatched them from his hand and chomped on them like they were the best thing it had ever tasted. Was it Harry's imagination, or was there some life beginning to seep back into it?
As the boys watched, Robert allowed the dog to devour every crisp in the packet. Once it was finished, it licked Robert's face in gratitude.
"Now, I don't know what to call you. Are you a boy or a girl?" asked Harry, who had felt pity swell within his heart as the creature ate the crisps. It had been a long time since he'd seen anything in this kind of shape. He remembered several years ago, when Mrs. Daniels, Cliff's mother, had found an injured bird. The tiny little thing was close to death, and unfortunately, she'd been unable to save it. SHE'd simply held it in her arms as it died, and she had been torn up about the whole thing. There was something about how downtrodden this dog looked that reminded him of that incident. It truly looked like it had been through Hell.
Without thinking, Harry walked a few steps closer to it, and began to rub its belly. No one objected this time; the consensus between all five of them now was that the dog was harmless.
For some unknown reason, the dog responded particularly well to Harry. It licked his hand, as if trying to memorize how it tasted.
"Blimey, mate," Matthew laughed. "And you weren't even the one that fed it crisps!"
"Since when are YOU so good with animals?" Robert teased, a smirk on his face. "No fair!"
The dog suddenly barked, but it didn't frighten any of the boys. Rather than a sound of warning or hostility, it seemed to echo gently through the park.
"Oh?" said Cliff. "What was that for?"
"Woof," said the dog again, and Harry reached down to pet it some more. At once, the barking stopped.
"It seems to like you," Dudley said. "Wonder why."
Harry grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know," he said, laughing.
For about another minute, the boys stayed around the dog. Harry wondered if someone else would give it a home, and he found himself hoping so very much. No creature deserved to be in this condition, and the way its eyes had seemed to shine at such a simple pleasure of eating crisps made him well up with sympathy. Truly, what kind of life could it have led, and what kind of monster would leave it in a sorry state like this?
When Harry, Dudley, and their friends returned to the Dursleys' house, they had an enjoyable dinner that Aunt Petunia cooked, and the boys loved the chocolate biscuits that were left over from the day before.
As darkness fell and the boys began to leave to go to their homes, Harry realized that he'd had a good day, when he hadn't expected to. He had played in the park with his friends, and was able to give comfort to a stray dog. The fear had lessened as the day had worn on. It wasn't until now that the events of yesterday morning came back to him.
At least he could be glad that for several hours, he was able to take his mind off Sirius Black.