This wasn't the first time that Harry had checked in on Professor Snape, admittedly finding it a little jarring that the man hadn't so much as moved in nearly seventeen hours. Snape slept on his stomach with his face half-buried in a pillow. The exact same position he had been in that morning when Harry had gone to see if he wanted breakfast, as well as when he'd looked in late that afternoon, and supper time also. Everyone at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place had taken care to keep noise to a minimum that day so that they wouldn't disturb him, though there didn't seem to be much danger of that anyway. Snape was sleeping so solidly that he hardly seemed to be breathing at all.
"Let him rest, Harry. He's exhausted," came a reproachful whisper from behind him.
Harry jumped slightly as he turned around to look guiltily over at Sirius, who was standing in the doorway behind him with an uncharacteristically stern expression on his face. "I just wanted to make sure he wasn't dead," Harry whispered back, only half-joking, as he tiptoed resignedly out into the hallway to join his godfather.
"He's fine, it's just all catching up to him at once," Sirius replied, closing the bedroom door so gently that it didn't even creak on its hinges.
Harry nodded his head compliantly. He supposed it was understandable that Snape would sleep an entire day away when given the rare opportunity to do so, considering that adequate rest was a luxury that the Potions Master rarely got to indulge in. It wasn't as if being a teacher and Head of House at Hogwarts wasn't enough work in itself, but Snape also had to contend with the balance of servicing both Voldemort and the Order of the Phoenix simultaneously.
Not to mention the mental exertion of employing his continuous Occlumency defenses under circumstances of mortal peril, or the fact that he increasingly had devoted so much time that he didn't even have to Harry. As a result, Snape simply wasn't able to take proper care of himself and the first lights had already been appearing in the sky last night when he'd finally insisted that Harry, Ron, and Hermione follow him upstairs to go to bed. He'd been sleeping soundly ever since.
"Any word on when Dumbledore is going to show?" Harry asked, as he and Sirius started down the stairs together.
"I have no idea," Sirius replied honestly. "We don't appear to be high on his list of priorities, do we? He's probably still at the Ministry."
"I thought he'd have at least come to check in with Tonks considering she was hurt while following his orders," Harry said, finding the lack of news from Dumbledore to be extremely frustrating.
It wouldn't have taken much time or effort for the Headmaster to send them an owl, if he'd felt so inclined. Instead, nearly all of the information they had so far on what had transpired at the Ministry of Magic had come from the notoriously unreliable Daily Prophet. The paper had posted a picture of Dumbledore standing tall in the crumbling atrium of the Ministry on the front page of the early morning edition. "He Who Must Not Be Named Returns!" the headline had read, so they knew at least that the plan to bring Voldemort out of hiding had been a success.
"I suppose Dumbledore knows she's in good hands," Sirius replied nonchalantly.
Tonks had been brought into headquarters late last night after Snape, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had already arrived. She had been standing guard and successfully had raised the alarm on Voldemort and his Death Eaters infiltrating the Ministry. Though it wasn't without injury, the most notable of all being her right leg. It had been charred black from a dark curse cast by Bellatrix Lestrange and had been unable to support any weight. Remus Lupin and Mad-Eye Moody had all but had to carry her into Grimmauld Place. Although it hadn't stopped her good spirits from soaring anyway.
"Help me out, Sirius," she called out animatedly, as Sirius and Harry walked into the lively kitchen. Her bubbly energy was infectious, even with her wounded leg being propped up on the chair in front of her. She was wearing her short hair in her favourite shade of bubblegum pink and had been happily challenging everyone to rounds of Exploding Snap all day to keep their minds off of what was going on outside headquarters.
"Sure, what do you need?" Sirius asked lightly, as he sat down at the table next to Hermione, who had her nose buried in "A History of Magic". Hermione had barely looked up from the textbook since she'd woken up that morning, busy revising for the OWL next week that both Harry and Ron had already made peace with the likelihood of failing.
"Remus doesn't want to come meet my parents tonight," Tonks complained, glaring daggers at Lupin's back. He stood at the counter, stirring a cup of tea with much more devotion than was really necessary. Harry noticed that his ears were slightly pink under the scrutiny and was curious why. It wasn't as if he didn't like Tonks - Lupin had been most concerned about her injuries and hadn't ceased in his attentiveness for a minute all day since.
"C'mon Moony, why not?" Sirius teased, while Harry walked over to take the empty chair beside Ron. "Andromeda and Ted are both great. She was my favourite cousin growing up."
"He's being stubborn," Tonks complained. "I don't much feel like going anywhere right now either, but Mum isn't going to leave me alone until I do. She won't accept I'm fine until she sees me with her own two eyes. Dad's a little more relaxed, of course, but they both really would love to meet you, Remus. I've told them quite a bit-"
"We'll discuss this later," Lupin said quietly, looking extremely uncomfortable as he turned around to face them, but with his eyes focused on the wall past all of their heads. "This is hardly the time or the place. They want to make sure that their daughter is truly as alright as she claims. They aren't looking to have a nightcap with a werewolf."
"Why can't it be both?" Sirius asked diplomatically.
"Because it can't," Lupin said tensely, picking up his mug with both hands. He took a deep breath, apparently to inhale the warmth and aroma of the tea. Perhaps to soothe his weary soul. Harry watched as Sirius's amused smirk shifted into a look of concern, and even Hermione bothered to glance up from her book to share a knowing glance with both him and Ron.
"An owl arrived while you were upstairs, Harry," Hermione broke the awkward silence that had filled the room.
"Dumbledore?" Harry asked hopefully.
"No, it was from Hagrid," Hermione replied with an understanding smile.
"Oh," Harry replied, incapable of feeling disappointed when worries about Hagrid had been weighing on his mind ever since the attack he'd witnessed from the Astronomy Tower. "What did he say?"
"He just wanted us to know that he's alright and already back at Hogwarts," Hermione answered.
"And that Umbridge got the sack," Ron added happily. "According to Hagrid, getting rid of that old toad was Dumbledore's first order of business now that he's been reinstated."
"We hate her in the auror department just as much," Tonks added. "Unfortunately, she's got quite a bit of power so we've all adjusted to tiptoeing around her if we want to keep our jobs. Nobody wants to get on her bad side. Of course, if Dumbledore is going after her now then things could change. At least, I hope they will."
"I shall do my very best, Nymphadora," an amused voice answered, and everyone looked over in the direction it had come to see Dumbledore standing where he surely hadn't been a moment ago. Harry half rose out of his seat in his eagerness. He was desperate for information.
"I would have come sooner," Dumbledore said apologetically, sweeping closer to the table in his favourite shimmery purple robes that were embroidered with moons and stars. "However, I'm afraid that our Minister simply doesn't seem to be able to settle to anything at the moment without my assistance. It's not a good look - to portray someone as a troublemaking old fool to the world and then later beg for their help. I was a little embarrassed for him, I have to admit."
"Mad-Eye doesn't think Fudge is going to be able to hang on to his post much longer anyway," Lupin said.
"Yes, he and I are in agreement on that," Dumbledore replied. "However, I took the high road and have done what I could to help Cornelius today. Whether it is enough for him to hang on to his post is neither here nor there. I don't have much use for a Minister of Magic at present anyway."
"Neither do I, Sir," Harry said bluntly, which made Sirius and Ron laugh. Dumbledore beamed at him - it would be a long time before either of them was able to forget the year they had just endured. All because the Minister had been unable or unwilling to face the truth. Now, suddenly, Dumbledore was once again being revered as the only one Voldemort had ever feared, while Harry was back to being called 'The Boy Who Lived' in the Prophet.
"Did Severus have to leave?" Dumbledore asked, folding his hands together gracefully as he sat down in a vacant chair at the table.
"No, he's sleeping," Harry replied, and from the surprised look on Dumbledore's face he could tell that was not the answer he had been expecting. Perhaps Dumbledore imagined Snape would be back at Hogwarts considering both himself and McGonagall were currently unavailable. Or otherwise with Voldemort. "I can go get him -"
"No need, no need," Dumbledore answered quickly. "Goodness knows he needs a rest. Besides, it's really you and Sirius that I have come to talk to tonight anyway, Harry. Everything else can wait. You all just need to know that Voldemort was successful in retrieving what he wanted at the Ministry last night, and we were successful in ensuring the world finally accepted the truth of his return."
"A triumph that's probably going to make everything seem a lot worse," Tonks said, widening her eyes expressively. Harry could imagine what she was thinking because he also had the same concerns. How much more damage and pain would Voldemort be willing to inflict now that he no longer would be concerned about operating under discretion?
"Please, Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said suddenly. "Has there been any update on how Professor McGonagall is doing?"
"Ah, well not really," Dumbledore answered quietly. "I went to check in with her last night and I plan to stop by St. Mungo's again once I leave here. The healers are keeping her comfortable and doing all that they can. I'm hopeful she won't have to stay in the hospital for too long, although if Minerva had it her way she would have convinced me to break her out of there last night."
They all smiled at that. Nobody surprised in the least that the formidable deputy headmistress would also present as a difficult patient. Then Tonks's grin replaced with a grimace as she slowly lowered her damaged leg down from the chair and gripped the side of the table, preparing to stand. "Need to get going," she explained to Dumbledore. "I promised my parents I'd come home tonight."
"You don't require any assistance?" Dumbledore asked concernedly.
"I'll help you," Lupin suddenly spoke, setting his mug down on the counter to reach her before anyone else could intervene.
"Thanks," Tonks replied coolly, using his offered arm to pull herself up to her feet. Though her leg was now able to bear weight and its bruising had lightened considerably, she still couldn't help but wince from the movement.
"Do you think this will move me higher in the aurors department, Professor?" she asked good naturedly.
"It most certainly should," Dumbledore smiled. "I shall write you an excellent recommendation. Newly qualified auror managed to hold off Bellatrix Lestrange while Voldemort himself infiltrated the Ministry. Not many could make that claim. Though I hope you're not in too much pain…."
"I'll manage," Tonks replied. "It's better than yesterday. Severus gave me something to get rid of most of the burning."
"Well, then give Andromeda and Ted my best regards," Dumbledore said fondly.
"I will," Tonks nodded. "See you all later," she waved at the group. As she and Lupin walked out of the kitchen together and turned the corner, they could hear her ask brightly, "so does this mean you are going to come with me?"
"We'll go wait upstairs," Hermione said tactfully, when Dumbledore smiled at her and Ron expectantly. She closed her textbook and gathered it up in her arms as she stood. "Come on, Ron. We can do some practice questions for History of Magic while we wait for Harry."
"Thank you, Miss. Granger, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said kindly. "This shouldn't take too long."
Though it was clearly important and not at all in line with what Harry had expected them to be discussing right now, because that would have been shared with the other Order members. Sirius seemed to be thinking along the same lines. His hands were gripping tightly to the edge of the table as he watched Dumbledore pull off his spectacles and clean them with the sleeve of his robes, waiting for the sounds of Ron and Hermione walking up the stairs to fade.
"Your situation was one of the things the Minister and I discussed at length this evening, Sirius," Dumbledore finally said, placing his half-moon spectacles back on his face. "To make a long story short, he knows that I have you in my custody and he has asked that I hand you over to the aurors so that a full investigation can begin."
"No way," Harry said loudly. "Professor Dumbledore-"
He broke off when Dumbledore held his hand up for silence. "I have refused," he put that fear to rest. "Cornelius Fudge is so indebted to me right now that I am pleased to say that even harbouring an alleged mass murderer is something he is forced to look the other way on. They will be reviewing your case - a mere technical matter, because the evidence speaks for itself. I won't surrender you until I am confident that a fair trial will occur."
"Is that even going to happen?" Sirius asked nervously. Harry was staring at him in concern, his own heart pounding so strongly in his chest that he was surprised nobody could hear it. The few times Snape had discussed this with him, he had made it seem like Sirius going free was something that would automatically happen once the Ministry was forced to recognize that he had never taken the Dark Mark that identified past and present Death Eaters. It certainly seemed much more complicated than that now.
"I am going to clear your name, Sirius," Dumbledore said quietly, examining his own folded hands with deepest scrutiny. "I will put forth every effort to accomplish that as soon as possible. I regret not doing what I should have done for you back before you spent twelve years in Azkaban. I should have examined the circumstances more closely then and I didn't. For that I am truly remorseful."
His words of apology brought tears to Sirius's eyes, and Harry recognized perhaps for the first time just how great Sirius's sense of betrayal in Dumbledore had to have amplified his immense suffering from being confined by him at Grimmauld Place. Sirius didn't hold the same respect for Albus Dumbledore that most people unquestionably did, and why should he? Dumbledore had once been willing to stand idly by and allow Sirius to be handed to the dementors without even a trial.
"Professor, why didn't you bother to investigate before?" Harry asked with a frown. "Sirius was in the Order. He was working for you."
And he knew that Dumbledore could have intervened if he'd really wanted to. Much the same way as he had spoken in Snape's defense to ensure the former Death Eater was granted full pardon. Yet, Dumbledore's compassion hadn't gone far enough to at least ensure that Sirius was given a trial. Dumbledore's brilliant mind had never bothered to consider the incredible love between James and Sirius that would never have allowed for Sirius to give the Potters up to Voldemort. Not until it was too late.
"I don't have a good answer," Dumbledore replied quietly, peering down his crooked nose at Harry. "To put it simply, I was much more interested in you and arranging your future, your safety, then I was in examining the details of what appeared to be a solid case against Sirius."
Harry looked over at Sirius whose expression had clouded at the Headmaster's words. How difficult it was to contend with your life being destroyed by twelve years of false imprisonment in a fortress designed to wallow its occupants in hopeless despair, all because Professor Dumbledore had been focused on those whose lives he considered to be more of an interest to himself.
"It's time to right the wrongs of the past," Dumbledore said quietly, and Harry swallowed a huge lump in his throat as he turned back to look at him. "I have given careful thought to this next matter. Whether it's even relevant at this moment in time, well that is really only for the two of you to decide."
"What -" Harry frowned, while Sirius gripped the table top so tightly that he accidentally pulled the entire piece towards himself. The table legs groaned angrily as they were dragged over the floor.
"I am talking about how Lily and James made Sirius your godfather and willed that he be the one to take care of you should anything ever happen to them," Dumbledore said, with a sigh. "Of course, that isn't what happened…."
"Because you made me go live with the Dursleys," Harry replied, struggling to keep the note of accusation out of his voice. He glanced nervously at Sirius just as his chair scraped against the floor and he flashed Dumbledore a murderous look.
"That's right, you did," Sirius said contemptuously. "Even if I hadn't gone to Azkaban, you had already decided what you were going to do with him. To hell with his parents wishes, you knew better."
Dumbledore's face was expressionless as he stared mutely at Sirius, who had turned away from him to look imploringly at Harry. "I went straight to Godric's Hollow once I'd learned the Fidelius Charm had broken. Discovering you alive was a miracle and I never would have left you." He looked back at Dumbledore. "Only Hagrid arrived there first and refused to hand me my godson on your orders."
"I know that's what happened," Harry assured Sirius quietly. "I - uhh - I heard Hagrid and Professor McGonagall talking about it one time at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade when I was listening from under my invisibility cloak."
He glanced sheepishly over at Dumbledore, who gave him a small smile. "And here I thought I was informed with all of your adventures, Harry….you're quite right that that is what happened at Godric's Hollow. However, I had a very good reason for choosing to send Harry to live with his Aunt and Uncle over you, Sirius. That is something, I believe, that Severus has already discussed with Harry."
"Yeah, he told me that I have to call Privet Drive home because Aunt Petunia is my mum's sister," Harry muttered.
"Precisely," Dumbledore nodded his head. "I made that decision with the sole intention of doing what would keep you alive. Using my extensive knowledge about how magic works to invoke an ancient protection that would keep your mother's sacrifice alive, rooted in her only living relative."
"But he said I never have to stay the whole summer there again," Harry added urgently, who wasn't about to allow Dumbledore to intervene on a good thing. How he already planned to drop in on the Dursleys for as short a length of time as he could get away with, before spending the rest of the holiday back and forth between both Snape and Sirius. He was already excited about it.
"Yes, that will still stand," Dumbledore nodded his head quietly. "I will only support us going forward if you both are in agreement that Harry will go stay with his aunt for the first two weeks of July."
"Going forward with what, Dumbledore?" asked Sirius sharply.
"Well, naturally once your innocence has been proven it is your legal right to assume guardianship of Harry," Dumbledore said quietly. "Although perhaps at this stage of Harry's life, it's not really important. He'll be of age in a few short years after all."
"Of course it's important," Sirius said abruptly. "The fact that so much of his childhood was stolen from him does not mean we shouldn't bother now."
"Then it's an easy enough process to take care of once you're exonerated, Sirius," Dumbledore replied. "Provided of course that Harry is in agreement, and that Vernon and Petunia Dursley are willing to relinquish custody -"
"That won't be a problem," Harry said confidently. He could already imagine the looks of glee on the Dursleys' faces when they learned they were being freed of the burden that was himself at long last.
Sirius had stood up quickly from his chair and walked over to face the wall with his hand over his mouth. It seemed too much to hope for. A dangerous dream. Harry could hardly breathe as he watched him. Overcome by the emotion that someone could feel purely from wanting him. Just when had Harry become the wanted boy? Regarded as a son and loved, rather than resented.
"Does Professor Snape already know?" Harry asked Dumbledore softly.
"I thought I'd leave that to you," Dumbledore replied. "It is your decision and it really won't necessarily change much at your age." He looked over at Sirius who still hadn't turned around, he seemed too overcome by emotion to speak any longer. "You're about to embark on the next phase of your life as a free man, and it is up to you to decide what that looks like."
Dumbledore paused as he got up to leave. "Voldemort is only going to get stronger and as cruel as it is, Harry will be in the center of it all no matter what any of us do. Who am I to stand in the way of a little bit of happiness when facing those odds? I hope you know, Harry, and I hope you will someday be able to believe, Sirius, that I never possessed any ill will. I did what I did to keep Harry safe, and I hate it as much as you do."