Chapter 4: The Dogfather Returns

Sirius Black was finally released from St. Mungo's just over a week later. Between the regular meals and showers and, by this time, more than two weeks of nutrients potions, Sirius had gained a bit of weight and looked healthier than would have been remotely possible without magic. He still had months of potions, a high-protein diet, and physical therapy ahead of him before he could regain what he lost, but he was ready for it. This morning, the seventh of January, Remus had deemed that he would not frighten the masses; and both Andromeda and his Master Healer had agreed.

Now Sirius, and Remus, who had hardly been parted from his side since they were reunited, were going to visit the one person who knew where Harry Potter lived. As they approached the gates of the place that both men had once considered their home, Sirius and Remus were quiet, each lost in memories of simpler, happier times. They turned a corner, crossing the ward line, and Hogwarts suddenly loomed above them like a fortress. The gates opened before either could touch the seal or cast a patronus. They exchanged a wary look and walked through, heading up to the castle quickly. They met no one on their way in and reached the Headmaster's office quickly; here too, the entrance opened immediately. They headed up, one after the other, without a word.

"Welcome, Sirius, Remus," Dumbledore said brightly as they entered.

"Headmaster," Sirius returned tightly, standing before him and ignoring the Headmaster's gestured invitation to sit. "I think you know why we are here."

Dumbledore inclined his head, then looked at Sirius imploringly. "Sirius, I beg you to reconsider. Harry is protected where he is, safer than he could be anywhere else."

Sirius shook his head. "I will keep him safe, he should be with his family."

"He has family."

Sirius looked at Remus for a moment, both men's eyes darkening. He turned back to Dumbledore. "Tell me you didn't take him to that… that woman," he spat.

Dumbledore looked back stubbornly. "She is his aunt."

"She's a vapid, jealous woman who detests magic, how could you send an innocent child to deal with that?" Sirius closed his eyes, exhaling loudly. When his eyes reopened, cold fire blazed in them. "Where are they?" he demanded, his voice deathly cold.

Dumbledore sighed in disappointment and gazed at his clasped hands. "Number four, Privet Drive, Surrey." When he looked up again, both men were already gone.

A boy with unruly black hair had almost arrived home from school. He was seven, but small for his age, most people mistook him for about five years old –this had the unfortunate side effect of causing most people to talk down to him. Harry learned a lot about people this way, and he didn't like them much anyway, most were either mean to him or thought he was a freak.

And it was true, Harry was an unusual child, though he tried very hard not to be. His relatives, his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and his cousin Dudley, would really rather he be perfectly normal, or maybe just disappear, he wasn't so sure. Sometimes things just happened, especially when he was upset or angry or scared, like when his teacher's hair turned blue, or when he appeared on the roof of his school, or when he heard whispers reaching out to him in the garden when he was lonely. So, Harry wasn't afraid when he left his school to walk back to the Dursleys and saw something strange.

There was a big dog with bright gray eyes sitting in front of the school, a glimmer shimmering next to it that Harry couldn't quite figure out. But Harry did know that the dog was waiting for him, even though no one else seemed to notice it. Harry didn't want to get in trouble for doing something freakish, so he walked past the dog and headed home. It followed, its glimmer behind it. Harry sighed and let the dog fall into step next to him without protest. They quickly made it back to Number 4 Privet Drive; Harry cracked open the door, then looked down. "You can't come in with me," he told it. The dog whined and ran around Harry's legs right into the house. "Wait!" Harry ran after the dog, not noticing that the glimmer had followed him inside as well.

His Aunt Petunia came running into the living room "Boy! What are you -" She froze and shrieked at the sight of the dog in her pristine living room.

When Harry turned back around, two men were standing there.

"You!" Petunia cried loudly.

"Hello, Petunia," said the dog-man. The man then turned to Harry, ignoring his Aunt Petunia. "Harry," he said. "My name is Sirius, I am your Godfather, do you know what that is?"

Harry looked up at him, his green eyes wide with hope. "That we are a family?"

"Yes, Harry, we are a very special family."

And Harry could feel it. That thing inside him that woke up when he was upset and made strange things happen around him, could feel Sirius and his friend. They felt safe, like a home. Harry didn't know what this feeling was exactly -if he had asked, Sirius and Remus would have told him it was the soul magic of the Godfather and pack bonds, but Harry didn't even know what magic was yet –but it told him to trust them, it felt like family, not that Harry remembered having one. Harry smiled. "Can I go with you?"

Sirius the dog-man chuckled. "Yes, right now, let's get your stuff."

Harry blushed and looked down. "I don't have anything," he mumbled.

Harry couldn't see it, but Sirius turned his darkening, blazing eyes on Petunia. "Don't worry, Harry. We'll take care of you. Me and your Uncle Remus here will take care of you now."

And even though Harry knew adults lied, for some reason, he believed Sirius.

Harry had learned a lot of new things in the past hour. Sirius and Remus had taken him to a clothing store –they called it a muggle store, which was one of the new things that Harry had learned about –and bought him some new clothes to wear; they promised they would send something called a house elf to buy him a whole set of brand new clothes, which Harry had never even imagined having.

Remus told him he was a wizard and that a terrible war had taken his parents from him. They told him a little about how it happened; Remus promised to teach him everything soon, but said that there was plenty of time. Harry thought Remus was good at explaining things, so he didn't mind waiting for a little while. Then, Harry tried something else that was new to him –though something that might explain how he appeared on the roof of his primary school when Dudley and his gang was chasing him –he held Remus' hand as they apparated to their new home.

"Now, Harry," Sirius said. They had appeared in a square called Grimmauld, and were looking at a dark building with the number twelve emblazoned above the door. "No one has lived here for a couple years, since my mother died. My grandfather said she left a portrait of herself –magical portraits move and act like an echo of a person who died –and I suspect the old house elf may be a bit batty from listening to her. So, anyway, I'm not sure what shape the inside of the house will be in, but we'll make do."

Harry decided not to question this explanation, though much of it confused him, but in his experience adults preferred not to be questioned too much. So, he let Sirius take his hand and lead him up the sloped steps. The house was very dark when they entered, but Sirius waved his wand and lamps ignited all down the hall. Above them, a painted woman started screaming.

"Blood traitor! Get out! Out of my house!"

"Mother," Sirius said calmly, though his eyes had hardened considerably and he was scowling harshly. "As you might notice, you are dead. This house is now mine and I am Heir Black. So kindly shut up or I will ask Grandfather to come get rid of you permanently."

The woman in the painting fumed at him; her hair seemed to halo around her head in rage and her eyes darted about wildly, making her look possessed. After a few moments, she sniffed derisively. "Fine," she muttered, crossing her arms and turning away from her son.

Sirius sighed. "Well, now just one more thing to check on. Kreacher!" There was a distinct pop and something appeared in front of Harry. It appeared to be male and was no taller than Harry himself, with an oversized head, large, black eyes, and leathery skin. He looked old, ancient even, and had a slightly crazed expression. He looked first to the portrait –who he still considered his Mistress –and, seeing her silent, turned to examine the man in front of him.

"Blood traitor Master be Heir Black, yes. Kreacher feel Black magic, yes, yes," he muttered, turning his big, crazed eyes to Harry. "And he be bringing little Master with him."

"That's right Kreacher. Now, we need three bedrooms fixed up. When they are ready, come get me so Harry can pick some things for his room."

"Kreacher do as Bad Master says," he growled and popped away.

Sirius rolled his eyes, turning to Remus. "I'm not so sure I can stand to keep him around, Remus."

Remus chuckled. "Your grandfather would never allow you to get rid of him."

Sirius mumbled under his breath. "We'll see."

Remus shook his head. "Come on, Harry. Let's go see how the kitchen looks."

A few hours passed as Remus and Harry explored the house –though they were careful not to touch anything –while Sirius and Kreacher cleared rooms and removed dangerous objects, though Kreacher helped only under protest. It may have looked like a normal, three story London row house from the outside –considerably more shabby than the others on the street, but similar nonetheless –but, inside, it was much larger than Harry thought possible, it had what Remus called magical space. The main floor held the formal living room, formal dining room, the Lord's study and a den with comfy chairs in the back. This room was the only one with large windows, which looked out onto a small slice of overgrown garden. Downstairs, in the basement, was the kitchen, which held a second long dining table. Down the hall was a potions laboratory and a dueling room. Remus told Harry that it had magical wards placed in the walls to protect it from spell damage while practicing. Up on the second floor, a large family room dominated the space right off the landing, but if you walked past the couches, it opened up into the largest library Harry had ever seen in a house, not that he had seen very many. Harry liked the room, it was quiet and peaceful, the same way he felt when he hid in the public library in Surrey.

The top three floors held bedrooms. The third floor had two huge suites, Remus said they were for the Master and Mistress of the house; each had a walk-in closet bigger than Dudley's second bedroom and a bathroom three times the size of the one at the Dursleys. Remus said Sirius would move into the Master's suite, though he probably wouldn't want to. But Harry didn't really understand why, he thought it was amazing. The fourth floor was what Remus called the children's floor, it had four identical suites, with two bathrooms shared between them. Each room was bigger than any of the rooms in number four Privet Drive. Two of them were locked up and there were names on the doors. One for Sirius and one for Regulus. Remus told Harry that Regulus had died on the bad side of the war and it made Sirius very sad to think about him.

Harry could understand that. It made him sad to talk about his parents and he didn't even remember them. The last floor had more bedrooms, the guest quarters Remus said, mostly for when family visited. There were twice as many bedrooms on this floor, four on each side and four small bathrooms shared between all eight of them. These rooms were of a more average size with full size beds in them. There was an attic too, but it was only storage. "For now," Remus told him. All in all, Harry thought the house was amazing and was having trouble believing he got to stay here, even if the house was pretty dark and dirty –he wondered if maybe this was just an amazing dream and soon Aunt Petunia would wake him up to cook breakfast.

Remus and Harry returned to the library floor and Remus easily recognized the familiar look of doubt swimming in Harry's eyes, having felt it himself many times before. He sat down on one of the couches, gesturing to Harry to join him. "Harry," Remus said gently. "Sirius and I, we were lost the last few years, I know this is all really strange and sudden and hard to believe, but this is the way it was always meant to be. You don't know us yet, but we love you, Harry, and we want to take care of you."

"Mr. Remus, I feel safe with you, but I don't know, why?" Harry said hesitantly.

Remus chuckled. "Harry, please, call me Remus if you must, or Moony, if you'd prefer?"

"Moony?"

"It's the nickname your dad gave me," Remus said, smiling at Harry.

The black-haired boy's eyes lit up. "Moony," he said to himself quietly.

Harry woke up early, after sleeping on the softest bed he had ever touched. No one asked him to clean or cook anything, and it didn't really seem like they would. Sirius had helped him decorate his room. It was blue and green –the exact same shade as his eyes, his mother's eyes, he had learned –which had made Remus laugh and Sirius grumble a bit, but they didn't explain why to Harry.

Sirius also gave him his first ever present, a framed photo of his parents, who were holding each other and laughing. Harry had asked if there were talking portraits of his parents. Remus and Sirius got really sad and told him that a person had to put their own magic in a portrait, it couldn't be done after they died, not without a magical impression of them. Harry didn't entirely understand their explanation, but accepted it without complaint.

Harry looked out the window at the back of his bedroom, which was one of the suites on the children's floor, that overlooked the same courtyard he and Remus had seen from the den. It was light out, but the sky was gray, like it always was before it rained. Harry was curled up on the bench seat that wrapped along the length of the bay window. He thought about what Sirius and Remus had told him before he went to bed, about why Remus was called Moony and that Sirius had learned how to turn into a dog to help him. Harry had asked if he could do that too. Sirius had promised when he was old enough to learn, he would teach him himself. Harry just really hoped Sirius would keep all his promises.

There was a pop behind him. Harry spun around in surprise, finding Kreacher standing there in his stained pillowcase. "Young Master be coming to breakfast now," Kreacher growled, holding out a gnarled hand to Harry. Harry hesitated. "Bad Master be sending Kreacher, come now."

They appeared in the kitchen in an instant. Disoriented, Harry sat down next to Remus. "Good morning, Harry. Eggs?" he asked.

Harry nodded in agreement.

"My grandfather is coming by to visit, Harry," Sirius told him. "He's, well, he can be a pretty scary man, but he's alright. He wants to meet you, because as far as the wizarding world is concerned, you are basically my son."

"I am?"

"Yes, you are what we call a magical heir. When you were a baby, I swore with my magic when I became your Godfather to be your parent in every way possible if James and Lily couldn't be. So, when they died, I became your magical father. Family is very important to magicals. It's how we pass down our family magic and traditions."

Harry processed this explanation. "So magic thinks you're my dad? And your grandfather is my-"

"Your great-grandfather Arcturus, I suppose."

"Seems like a mouthful," Harry said cheekily.

Sirius laughed. "Oh, pup, I can't wait to see what you'll do next."

Several hours later, Harry stood in the living room with Sirius and Remus, staring at the fireplace. He was dressed in the nicest clothes he had ever had. Truthfully, they weren't that fancy, but to Harry they were great. He wore new shoes -new! -and khakis, with a green button up shirt. When he chose the green shirt, Remus had laughed –again –at the way Sirius had grumbled when he saw it.

This time, they had explained. They had told Harry all about the four Houses of Hogwarts, Sirius' family history, and about themselves in school. By the end of the story, which had stretched out over most of the morning as they visited a few muggle shops for more clothes and toys, Harry felt like he understood a bit more about his new guardians, though he wasn't so sure that Slytherin was as bad as Sirius thought it was, since it was allowed to exist in a school and all.

Now, Harry was looking at the fireplace while Remus explained Floo travel. Since you couldn't apparate straight into the house because of protective wards, he explained, this is how people visited each other. Harry thought it didn't sound very safe if people could appear in your living room. Remus assured him that there were wards on the house that let you choose who was allowed to use your Floo and that some people even had passwords on theirs, too.

Suddenly, the normal looking flames turned bright green and a man stepped regally out of the fireplace in a swirl of flames, brushing the ash off of himself with a flick of his wand. Harry understood immediately what Sirius meant, the man did look kind of scary, stern, a bit like the librarian at the public library in Surrey, who wouldn't let Harry 'loiter' there all summer. But when the man looked directly at Harry, who was half hidden behind his Godfather, his eyes were kind. Harry stepped forward. "Hi Mr. Great-Grandfather Black," he said brightly.

Sirius froze, looking down at Harry in alarm.

Arcturus smiled at Harry widely. "Hello Mr. Harry, maybe we should just stick with Grandfather, that is, if I can call you Harry, of course," he said good-naturedly.

Harry smiled shyly at the tall man. "I've never had a grandfather before," he admitted.

"Well, I'd be honored to be yours, Harry."

This exchange made Sirius Black remember some things he had conveniently forgotten. It reminded him of the few times he had been left alone with Arcturus Black when he was young. He had chosen to ignore it before, too angry at his family to recognize that his grandfather was not his enemy. And later, well, later the dementors had stolen all his good thoughts from him, temporarily at least. He collapsed onto the couch, his palm on his forehead. Remus placed a hand on his shoulder in alarm, turning to look at him. Sirius met his eyes and shook his head. "I'd forgotten," he whispered. Remus raised an eyebrow in concern, but soon turned back to Harry and Arcturus, who had sat down on the couch across from them.

A while later, Kreacher brought them all lunch. His appearance reminded Arcturus of something important. It was clear to him after speaking with the boy for the last hour that he was mature enough to handle what Arcturus had in mind. "Harry," he said. "I brought something for you, or rather, someone."

"Someone?"

"Yes. Mimsy!" he called.

A house elf appeared in front of Harry. This one was female, Harry thought. She was smaller than Kreacher, her skin smoother. Younger, he supposed. She had wide blue eyes and he thought she looked kind.

"Harry," Arcturus said, getting the boy's attention again. "Kreacher is a loyal elf, but I don't believe he is suited to a household of two wizards raising a child. He really is too old now to chase after children." He turned to Sirius. "With Sirius' permission, I would reclaim my bond with Kreacher and take him with me to Black Manor and show you how to bond Mimsy to your family."

"My family?"

"Yes, she would be your elf, Harry and would be loyal to you and anyone you consider family, if you allow it of her." He turned back to Sirius.

"Kreacher never liked me, Grandfather, if you want him back, I will transfer the bond," Sirius said quickly.

Arcturus smiled "Very well. Mimsy," he said, reaching towards the elf. "This is Harry, he is the Heir Presumptive of House Black and I'd like you to bond with him and be his. Is this agreeable to you?"

Mimsy's ears flapped as she looked at Arcturus hopefully. "Oh yes, Mimsy be good elf for young Master if Master wishes."

Arcturus nodded. "Harry," he said. "Take Mimsy's hand. I am going to transfer her to you. All you will need to do is say you accept her. You might feel her magic, don't push it away, alright?"

"OK Grandfather," Harry answered, taking Mimsy's hand. It was softer than Kreacher's, he noticed.

"I, Lord Arcturus Sirius Black of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black do hereby transfer my bonded elf, known as Mimsy, to my Heir Presumptive Harry James Potter-Black. Harry, do you accept Mimsy into your service and swear to treat her in a way becoming of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black?"

"I accept," Harry said. Magic swirled white around the three of them, but quickly focused between Harry and Mimsy, whose grazes were locked together. There was a bright flash that blinded everyone in the room and a strong surge of magic knocked their breath away. And then, just as quickly, everything was normal again.

Remus looked at Arcturus. "Um, Lord Black… is that what was supposed to happen?"

Arcturus blinked the halo around his sight away. "Well, yes, but it's not usually so strong."

"Young Master be strong, good wizard," Mimsy told them happily. "Mimsy be cleaning for Master Harry now." She popped away.

"Harry didn't even give her an order…" Sirius trailed off.

Arcturus nodded. "I've never seen it myself, but there are stories about true elf bonds. When the wizard is both strong enough and has true, good intentions, the bond with their elves is particularly strong. She will be able to sense him, where he is and what he needs from her. It is much more potent than the regular house elf bond. Truly remarkable," he said, turning to look at Harry again.

Harry looked to his grandfather. "I can feel her, here," he said, pointing towards his heart, smiling.