Hey guys! :) It's me again with chapter 2!
a big THANK YOU to the awesome readers who left a review for my little story! And thank you to everyone who added this story to their favorites :)
I hope you like the chapter, it shows a little more of Voldemort's and Godric's character, which will be important for later when they first meet.
Happy Easter everyone!
He was extremely tired.
He had no idea what time it was, he just knew it was late. Very late. Too late.
After the first shock, everyone had started to ask billions of questions, so the meeting kept going…and going…and somehow, he had missed the opportunity to quietly slip out to go back to his dormitory.
Finally, some members started to leave, but Harry and some of the inner circle of the army were still talking to the Founders.
"The plan is brilliant!", Harry just said for the about hundredth time tonight, "I still cannot believe you are really here!"
"Not many people seem to be aware that Founders are able to time travel", answered Salazar, "by the way, I have to apologize to you- the chamber of secrets was never built to hurt you."
"Thank you", Harry smiled, it was a rare true smile that reached his eyes, "I have not felt this hopeful in a long time. With your help, Professor Snape being our spy for Voldemort and Sirius also spying for us, things are finally starting to look better…where is Sirius, by the way? I thought I saw him earlier, and I wanted to introduce him to you."
Damnit!
"I…I am here", there was no need to delay the inevitable, as he stepped out of his corner and slowly came closer, "hi…Harry", he did not dare to look up.
"Sirius, there you are!", Harry sounded relieved, he did not seem to notice that the Black was beyond uncomfortable, "I wanted to introduce you to…"
"I do not think introductions will be necessary here", Godric interrupted calmly, "we know each other quite well, do we not, Sirius Black?"
Sirius swallowed hard, "yes, Sir", he finally managed to say, still staring at the floor.
Harry and the others seemed confused, "how…do you know each other?", Remus asked, "no one outside the army knows that we turned Sirius into his younger self so he can hide from the Ministry."
Please don't tell them…please don't…
"It was merely a coincidence- we have been watching a few of you- the ghosts are keeping us informed about everything that is going on in Hogwarts- and once we figured out that Sirius was spying for you in Slytherin, we approached him to do the same for us. It was easier to find out about the army by someone who is actually part of the army", Gryffindor answered casually, he is lying, thank God, he is lying…
"That's really cool, Sirius", Fred Weasley remarked, and his twin nodded, "like a secret spy mission inside a mission!"
Sirius forced himself to smile, "uhm…yeah…it's been kinda…er, kind of, crazy", he answered, "but I am glad I can help you guys out."
"Always the courageous Gryffindor", Remus grinned and patted him on his back, "come sit with us- or are you going to bed?"
"I should really go…"
"You should sit down, Sirius", Gryffindor said, his voice was calm, but Sirius knew him well enough to know that this was not a suggestion, but an order.
He sat down, staring into his lap.
Why did he had to test Gryffindor again? He should have known he would lose…
The others started talking about the plan once more, while Sirius' eyes started to feel heavier and heavier- he was incredibly tired.
He was secretly quite embarrassed about the fact that his transformation into his 10-year-old self had also transformed his emotions and feelings- he got tired quickly, was scared of thunderstorms, laughed about the silliest things and could eat all the time, something he had never told Harry or Remus.
He stifled a yawn, why the hell had Gryffindor told him to stay? He was exhausted, and since no one paid any attention to him, maybe he should just get up and…
"Going somewhere, Sirius?", Gryffindor was suddenly right next to him, his voice low, "I told you to sit down, did I not?"
"I am…so tired, and I am sorry, I…"
"You are tired, hmm?", for some reason Gryffindor sounded amused, "trust me, you will be even more tired by the time the meeting is over."
Sirius stared at him, dread forming in his stomach, "But…that's probably not for another hour or so!"
"Probably", Gryffindor replied, seemingly unmoved, "an early bedtime does not sound so bad now, does it?"
Sirius paled, "I…I am sorry, I did not mean to, I really…please…I can't…"
"Sit. down."
He fought back tears as he sat down again, his head was hurting, and he started to feel dizzy- why, why had he not listened?
"Are you okay, Sirius? You look a little tired", Harry sounded concerned and he hated that he had to lie to his godson.
"I…I am fine", he mumbled, "just been…a long day and all…and I am kinda worried about Neville, you know."
"Me too", Harry admitted quietly, he sighed, "well, at least we have a plan now and…", he interrupted himself as Remus called him over, asking him a question.
Shortly after, everyone was engaged in a heated discussion about Dumbledore, his negotiations with Fudge, and if he could be trusted to join the army- and what the hell was he doing all day anyways- and again, they completely forgot about him.
Sirius tried to pretend that he did not care that they treated him like a child, someone who was too young to join in a grown-up discussion, but deep down, it hurt.
He was still sitting down, completely and utterly exhausted, and the only thing that had him still glued to his chair was fear- after all, he knew what Gryffindor was capable of.
He pinched himself in the arm, desperately trying to stay awake, tears started forming in his eyes, he had pinched himself way too hard, but he was so tired…so damn tired…
The tears were flooding down his face now, and he cried without making a sound.
Please…I am sorry, I am so sorry…
"I know you are", Godrics voice was soft, as he crouched down in front of him and slowly grabbed his chin, meeting his gaze, "are you going to behave now?"
"Y…yes, yes, Sir", his voice was thick with tears, "I am sorry…I just…wanted to be a part of…", he bit his lip, suddenly feeling embarrassed, "I am sorry", he repeated, forcing his voice to be steadier this time.
"You are a part of it, Sirius Black- an essential one", Gryffindor responded calmly, and rose, "come with me, I am putting you to bed."
Overcome by relief, Sirius scrambled to get on his feet, "are you taking me to…", he hesitated, not daring to finish his sentence.
Gryffindor looked at him pensively, "to your dormitory, Sirius", he finally said, "you know that last time was an exception- no need to cause anymore suspicion than necessary, don't you agree?"
"Yes, Sir", Sirius answered tonelessly, because what else was he going to say?
"We are going to apparate", Gryffindor carefully lifted him up, "hold on tight, Sirius Black."
Yeah, like he needed to be reminded of that.
Seconds later, they arrived in the dormitories for the first grade Slytherins- a huge, cold and uninviting room with enormous canopy beds and expensive rugs on the floor.
God, how he hated this place...
The room was dead silent, which was no surprise, it was way after midnight after all.
Gryffindor carried him over to his bed and then carefully proceeded to tuck him in. Sirius sighed contentedly as soon as his head touched the pillow, "soo…tired…"
"Sleep tight then, Little Star", Gryffindor smiled at him, his rare full smile which always made him feel so…warm inside.
He blushed, "don't…don't call me that anymore", he mumbled, but without any force behind his words, "…good night, Sir."
Gryffindor just ruffled his hair, smiled, and then- he was gone.
And Sirius stared into the darkness that surrounded him, fervently wishing that he could just stop caring so much…could stop thinking how amazing it had felt to get tucked in by Godric Gryffindor- but he couldn't.
"Mylord?"
"Did I not tell you not to disturb me? How fucking stupid are you, Wormtail?"
Pettigrew turned pale, it was always a warning sign when the Lord felt the need to curse, "I am sorry…just…Malfoy is here and…"
"Send him in, then, and stop dawdling, idiot", Voldemort hissed, rude as always, he hated being interrupted, especially when he was reading.
"Yes, Mylord", Peter hurried to obey, he could sense that his Master was close to dishing out some Crucios and he wanted nothing to do with that.
Seconds later, Lucius Malfoy entered the library, the usual sneer on his face.
He bowed, "Mylord."
"Lucius", Voldemort did not even attempt to hide the boredom from his voice, "what do you want?"
Malfoy seemed irritated for a moment, but was able to conceal it, "Mylord, I am afraid I have some bad news- the address you gave us, there were…complications."
His eyes turned red immediately, "complications?", he repeated, the boredom was gone, "what kind of complications, Malfoy?"
"The address is…well, there is an orphanage, Mylord."
Lucius Malfoy swallowed, he was not a man who was easily intimidated, but the look on his Lord's face now was too much- even for him.
"Let me repeat my question, Malfoy", his voice was merely a cold whisper, "what kind of complications?"
Lucius dared to attempt a quick laugh, was this a test, maybe?
"Well, the orphanage is used, Mylord- it is the biggest in the country, too, it accommodates almost 400 children, most of them infants, and you certainly do not…"
Big mistake.
"Crucio!"
Malfoy started screaming in agony, the Cruciatus curse had hit him with full force, "you seem to have forgotten who you are talking to!", Voldemort's voice was louder than his pained screams, "there are no complications, Malfoy, do you understand?"
Malfoy tried to answer, to speak, to beg, anything to make the pain stop, but all was left his mouth was a rattling sound.
"Answer me, Malfoy, or I am going to kill you right now, right here!"
He spit out blood, "I…I unnerrr…stand…", he slurred, "I…apolgzeee…My…mylorr…"
"Thursday morning's newspaper better shows me a burnt-out orphanage, or would you rather see Malfoy Manor go up in flames?"
It was a rhetorical question of course, but Malfoy still tried to respond, "I…do not, Mylord…I…am truly sorry, I…"
"Get out", Voldemort hissed, "get out before I forget myself, Malfoy."
Lucius scrambled to the door, his long hair rumpled and stained with drool and blood, he did not dare to say good bye, but hastily left the room.
Voldemort picked up his book again as if nothing happened, and took a sip from his bourbon. He drank about half a bottle a day, even though his real, much younger body always protested against the hard liquor.
How he hated being stuck in the body of a teenager! How he hated being reminded of how weak he used to be, how much of a dumb fool he had been when he was a child, how much he had wanted…
No, better not go there with his thoughts, it never ended well.
Maybe some of the damn nightmares would finally stop when the orphanage he grew up in would burn to ashes.
He could hardly wait.
Something cold touched his face and Sirius woke up with a shout.
Mean, gleeful laughter surrounded him, and he balled his hands into fists and threw the ice-cold sponge on the floor, "very funny, Goyle!", he hissed and stared angrily at the older, taller Slytherin, who was bullying him since he had set a foot into the Slytherin common room weeks ago, "why don't you try something new for a change? Or are you too dumb for that?"
He hissed in pain when Goyle lashed out and hit him right on the arm, "what was that, scumbag? You better not test me again, you little bastard!"
Sirius choked back a whimper, his arm was burning, "just leave me alone!", he walked over to his wardrobe and grabbed his uniform, and let out a scream when suddenly, a hairy spider started crawling out of one of the pockets.
Gerard Goyle, who was Gregory Goyle's cousin, and the others howled with laughter, "are you scared of spiders, bastard? Better check your pants too, then!"
Sirius trembled in anger. He hated being stuck in Slytherin with these bullies, and he regretted every single day that he had agreed to Remus' idea to hide him in Slytherin, using a different name of course- he went by Orion Howell, Orion being his middle name and Howell being the maiden name of Remus' mother.
"Come on, we are gonna be late for breakfast", Finley O' Reilly now pointed out, he was Goyle's best friend and eagerly participated in making Sirius' life hell.
Gerard, Finley, and the third boy from the dormitory, a shy little pureblood called Atticus Mangrove, finally left and Sirius stared at his uniform on the floor, his whole body sweating by the thought of more spiders crawling out of it.
He was running late already, so to hell with it…he shook the uniform violently, gasped when another spider rushed out, and, with a look of utter contempt on his face, changed into the Slytherin school uniform.
He would miss breakfast, which happened fairly often, thanks to Goyle, who enjoyed hiding his things, or making a mess in the morning, so he often had to stay behind looking for something or cleaning up- Snape could not stand any mess, and Sirius was smart enough to not provoke his childhood enemy any more than necessary.
The lessons passed by slowly, Sirius hating every second of it. The other students ignored him, he was always alone at break time or hiding from Goyle, and class was boring…sooo boring…
Sirius did not care for his grades- why should he? -so everyone assumed that he was stupid and lazy, another reason for Goyle and O'Reilly to torture him endlessly.
Finally, lessons were done and Sirius wasted no time- he needed something to cheer him up, and he knew exactly what that was.
Minutes later, he stood in front of a large door, his heart beating fast from running and the excitement.
He knocked.
"Sirius, come on in", Salazar smiled at him warmly, "how was your day?"
"It was…good", Sirius lied and entered the quarters of the Founders, he hated that he had to lie to Salazar, but there was no way in hell he would share his humiliation with anyone- not even Harry and Remus knew what was going on with him.
"Aurelius is already waiting for you", Salazar informed him, a twinkle in his eyes, "go and have fun."
Sirius grinned, he was very fond of Aurelius, the 6-year-old son of the Founders, "thanks", he responded, and walked over to Aurelius' bedroom.
Aurelius, a blue eyed, rather small boy with soft brown curls, beamed at him as he walked in, "Sirius, I was waiting for you! Look what Daddy got me!", he pointed at the enormous train set, "it is an imitation of the Hogwarts Express! Would you like to set it up with me?"
"Yeah, that sounds great!", Sirius smiled back, it felt so good to be wanted and welcomed, and shortly after, he and Aurelius got busy on the floor, putting train tracks together, laughing and playing.
For the first time all day, he relaxed. All the pressure of being a spy, the bullying, the anxiety of being found and arrested by the Ministry, the endless lessons, the confusion of being 10 years old again, the hurt of being ignored by the adults- it all went away by playing.
Sirius did not even realize that Godric had come home and was watching them, an amused smile on his lips.
"It is time for dinner, boys", he finally announced, "come and eat."
Sirius barely heard him, "in a minute, dad", he answered, distracted by an uneven railroad sign, "just a minute…", he glanced at the tracks, concentrating hard, not aware that he had called Gryffindor dad.
"Now, Sirius- or you will eat your dinner cold", Gryffindor said calmly, he knew that Sirius was not deliberately calling him dad, it only happened when he was so deeply engrossed in play that he forgot everything around himself, and Gryffindor never corrected him.
Sirius blinked, slowly coming back to reality, "what's for dinner?", he finally asked.
Godric sighed, "how about you come and find out? Or would you rather go eat in the Great Hall?"
The thought alone made Sirius jump, "I am coming!", he ran towards the kitchen, "don't eat without me!"
Gryffindor sighed again, and followed the Black, still smiling.
Harry was staring at him open mouthed, "are you…serious? Professor?"
Snape nodded grimly, "unfortunately, yes- the Lord is planning to set the whole building on fire Wednesday night."
"I don't understand…why an orphanage?"
"I have no idea, Potter."
"What are we going to do?"
"We will have to tell the Founders- and maybe the plan can be…modified?"
Harry bit his lip, "we only have this one chance, though", he reminded the Potion Master, "if we fail…if he finds out…"
"He won't", Snape answered, "he is too arrogant, too sure of himself- and too far gone already. The trap will work, trust me, Potter."
"I do", Harry answered, surprising himself and Snape, and blushed immediately, "I mean…I better call a meeting then. Does Dumbledore know?"
"Should Dumbledore know?"
They stared at each other silently for about half a minute.
"You know, I sometimes do wonder if Dumbledore…", Harry bit his lip again, "I mean if he really is on…", he took a deep breath, suddenly too scared to finish his thought.
"You are wondering if he really is on our side?", Snape asked, voice low, "you are not the only one, Potter."
"You don't trust him?"
"Not anymore, no", Snape frowned, "he agreed a little too quickly to all the changes from the Ministry- too quickly for my liking, at least."
"But…why would he want Voldemort to win the war?"
Snape shot him a look, "it might not be a matter of Voldemort winning- but of you losing instead."
"You are saying…he is trying to get rid of me?", Harry swallowed hard, suddenly feeling quite ill, "he is hoping that Voldemort is going to kill me eventually? But…why? He could have killed me many times already if he wanted to."
"I do not have all the answers, Potter- but I would be careful around Dumbledore if I were you", Snape answered, "anyways, you should call the meeting- this is urgent, after all."
Harry nodded and got up from the couch in Snape's private quarters in the dungeons, "okay, will do- I will see you later, Professor."
Snape watched him as he left- a tiny smile on his lips.
"You would have been proud of your son, Lily", he murmured quietly, "be assured- I already am."
soo...that's it for now! I would looove some feedback! :) :)
Gryffindor and Voldemort are going to meet in the next chapter...and that won't go very well lol.
Also, the third father/ son connection is between Gryffindor and Sirius! :)
see y'all soon!
Antonie