I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 72 – A new Grimmauld home

The door flew open, the doorbell's tone barely fading before it did. Harry's smile was broad and full of pure unrestrained happiness. It was finally the day, the day that he dreamt about for years and never thought would actually happen. He had barely slept the last few days, overcome with excitement for this day.

He was finally leaving the Dursleys.

On the first day of summer break he had received an owl from Dumbledore. Sirius had been completely exonerated of the charges. Pettigrew had been tried and convicted, his punishment to be determined. Sirius had managed to find a home to live in and despite being told he should spend more time recovering, he demanded Harry's removal from the Dursleys and to be brought to him, his legal Godfather and guardian.

Dumbledore had agreed, but insisted that Sirius spend a few days to prepare his home and to recover from the trial, something that Sirius agreed to. However, the days had passed and now, Harry was about to leave for his new home.

Harry was shocked to see who accompanied Dumbledore. McGonagall was there and for some strange reason, Fred and George.

"The Weasley twins had some last minute…detention to do," McGonagall said to Harry's obvious confusion. "So they are here to provide the manual labor."

"Could be worse," Fred said airily, "could be lines."

"We're used to manual labor anyways," George said with a wink.

"Indeed," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. "Let's not prolong things. I am sure everyone is eager for this to be over."

Dumbledore and McGonagall entered number 4 Privet Drive, calmly ignoring Vernon's ugly look and Petunia's terror-laced disdain. Truthfully, Harry had been packed for days. He did not own many belongings anyways and what he did own were packed securely in his trunk. However, at the direction of the Professors, he and the twins combed the house to ensure Harry did not leave anything behind.

McGonagall spent the majority of the visit staring at the cupboard beneath the stairs. Her jaw was clenched tight and whenever she did look at the Dursleys, they recoiled from her gaze.

Finally Harry was standing at the entryway to the house, everything he owned piled neatly beside him. The twins stood right behind him, watching his back. McGonagall stood in front of him, separating him from his relatives. Dumbledore looked at Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley. His eyes no longer twinkled. He looked incredibly weary. He looked incredibly disappointed.

"Is there anything you would like to say?" he asked Harry.

Harry had a lot of things he wanted to say. He swallowed them all and looked at the three people he still felt fear from in some measure. "Good bye," he whispered softly. He felt better when the twins rested their hands on his shoulders.

"That's it?" Vernon snorted. "Not even a thank you for keeping you alive? That's gratitude for you."

The twins' hands gripped Harry's shoulders painfully.

"Gratitude?!" McGonagall sounded incensed. "For all the pain you inflicted on him?!"

"If you want someone to blame, blame him," Vernon sneered, pointing at Dumbledore. "He dropped the brat here, we never wanted him. Everything the freak said that we did is all because of him."

Harry flinched. He wondered if he ever would not flinch when he heard that word.

Dumbledore looked directly at Vernon and the bitter angry man paled under the Headmaster's gaze. Dumbledore turned to look at Petunia who wilted. "I am so disappointed in you," Dumbledore said softly. "Yes, it was my decision to bring Harry here. I had hoped the young girl that wrote me a beautiful letter would have loved her nephew like she loved her sister."

"I never loved my freak sister, and I never loved my freak nephew," Petunia spat.

"That is a true tragedy. For Lily loved you," Dumbledore said. "Very well. I made a grave mistake that day, and I will spend the rest of my life trying to atone for it. I shall start now." He waved his wand and Harry's things shrank. Another wave sent them into Harry's pockets. "Come along Harry. I am taking you to your new home now." Without a backward glance he walked out the door with Harry, the twins, and McGonagall following.

Harry never looked back.

Vernon went to close the door but the twins popped back in. "What do you two want?" he asked, instantly suspicious.

"Oh just to say a thing or two," Fred said genially.

"Won't take much more of your time and once we're done, you'll never see us again," George said blandly.

"First of all, not sure if you remember us, but this isn't our first visit to your…not-so-lovely home."

Vernon's eyes popped open. "You two were in that flying car! I should sue you for damages!"

They laughed at him.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Fred chortled.

"I actually kind of want to see you try," George snickered.

"Anyways, we just wanted to give you lot a warning."

"We debated if we should, but Harry's such a stand up lad, somehow, and we knew he'd want us to so here we are."

"A warning? Are you threatening us?" Petunia snarled.

"We're not threatening you," they said at the same time. The words and the tone of voice made the Dursleys' skin crawl.

"You really have no idea how important Harry is in our world, do you?" George asked.

"Him? Important?" Dudley laughed, snorting like a pig. "He's just a freak."

"Not to us," Fred said, his face turning ugly. "You see, Harry's responsible for bringing peace to our world. He stopped one of the Darkest Wizards to ever have existed. Well, him and his parents. It's because of them we have anything remotely like peace right now."

"Do you know that literally everyone wanted him as a baby? Most people were willing to take him in if they were asked. That's how much they cared about him, thought about him."

"Then why didn't they?" Vernon groused. "Would've saved us grief and effort in trying to keep him alive."

George ground his teeth. "For some reason I'm sure, but that's beside the point. Anyways, people wondered about Harry for eleven years. No one had seen him, heard anything about him. Lots of people thought he would be this perfect kid, a paragon of magic, full of life and health."

"When people actually saw him though, saw the poor kid as what he was, let's just say it reached some people's notice." Fred glared at the Dursleys. "Questions were asked, demanded."

"What's your point?" Petunia felt a sense of growing dread deep inside her.

"The point is," Fred said slowly, savoring the moment, "they know."

"Who knows? What do they know?" Vernon spat, also feeling the mounting fear.

"Everything. Every time you hurt him, every time you beat him, every time you starved him." George pointed at the cupboard. "About you lot locking him up in a tiny cupboard for eleven years. And trust me when I say this: the Wizarding World really cares about their kids. Smaller population you know."

"They won't believe him! He's a liar!" Vernon stammered.

"We can see things that happen, you know, with magic. We also can tell the truth with magic. We all know what Harry's gone through. Everyone in the magical world knows that three Muggles abused the Boy-Who-Lived." George's smile was savage as he saw them comprehend what he was saying. "They know how you treated the savior of the Wizarding World. They know how…abnormal you three are."

"For some damn reason," Fred continued to their horrified silence, "Harry begged people not to do anything to you. He begged them to not hurt you. You have no idea how many people were going to. They were going to come here and do all sorts of magic to you. They would have, eagerly, if Harry didn't beg them not to. He said it would dishonor the memories of his parents."

"In fact, that's why Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall were here. They're really strong and at Harry's request, they cast some protections for you, protections you don't deserve in the slightest." George glared at them. "Somehow, despite all you've done to him, Harry's still a good person. Must come from his parents."

"So if you ever get a funny look, hear some whispers, see people stare at you, feel a tingle, that's one of our kind looking down on you. Not 'cause you're Muggles, but 'cause you're bullying gits that are terrible." Fred looked positively feral with glee at his statement. "And know that it's only 'cause of Harry that you're not being…overtly…hurt. For as long as you live."

Petunia felt the enormity of their words, realizing that this sort of attention is the opposite of the attention she wanted. To always be looked down on, to be talked about unflatteringly, to be hated like this? Forever? She collapsed, whimpering.

Vernon felt all the blood leave his face, he felt sluggish, trapped in a waking nightmare. "But, what, no, this can't be. You have to let us explain. It wasn't our fault!"

"Please, get them back," Petunia begged. "Let us explain. If Harry has this much influence, it was all a misunderstanding. He can stop this."

Fred and George smiled without humor or good will. "He probably could. Everyone loves him so much. He might be convinced if he asked," Fred said.

"We won't be convincing him or telling him though," George said.

"He deserves his peace," Fred said, opening the front door.

"Just like you three deserve having none," George said, closing the front door behind them.

They shared another smile at Vernon's roar of despair, at Petunia's wail of grief.

The twins walked briskly down the sidewalk, away from number 4 Privet Drive.

"I still say we should do something more," Fred muttered.

"You and me both, but this is going to haunt them forever," George replied. "Our tricks will last as long as the magic lasts but that thought will eat at them without stop."

McGonagall raised an eyebrow when the twins approached her. "Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked.

"Indeed we did," the twins said together.

"And?"

"Let's say the Dursleys will never forget the consequences of their actions," Fred said in his best impersonation of McGonagall's lecturing voice.

"And they'll remember it for the rest of their lives," George said with equal impersonation.

McGonagall snorted and the twins were delighted to see her do that. "You're lucky I cannot punish you for that cheek right now," she said with a wry look. "Do I need to go back and look for inappropriate magic?"

"Nothing so…crass," George said with a look of being offended.

"Nope, just some debilitating mental damage," Fred said plainly.

"I feel like I should find out exactly what that means," she said but showed no desire to actually follow through.

"Better us than the girls," Fred said. "They would have done way worse."

"Indeed," McGonagall agreed dryly. "Very well, let's get you two back to the Burrow."

"Are you going to say anything to our parents?" George asked.

She snorted again. "I can't mention anything I don't know of, now can I? Why do you think I let you two go back on your own?" She held up a quill that started to glow. "Let's leave and never come back, ever."

The three touched the Portkey and after a faint pop, they did just that.

-0-

Harry stumbled slightly, the swirl of magic leaving him off-balance. Dumbledore held Harry's arm, keeping him from falling over. "Portkeys are rather shocking," Dumbledore said. "The international ones are even more robust."

Harry smiled weakly. "Do you get used to them?"

"To a degree," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Though just last week when I visited Rome for a meeting of the International Confederation of Wizards, I fell onto my rear after a rough transit. Luckily they cast a Cushioning Charm on the Portkey point so all that was damaged was my ego."

Harry giggled then looked around at their surroundings. The pair had landed in a very severe looking street. The buildings looked very old, well kept but somewhat faded in appearance. The street was clean but it gave a dismal feeling, where people simply did not want to tarry long.

Harry looked about with interest. "Is this where Sirius lives?"

"And where you live as well," Dumbledore said. He led Harry up the steps to a black door. Before he could knock, the door opened, revealing Sirius standing within.

"Harry! Come in!" the man exclaimed. He was still very thin but he looked much better than he did just a few weeks ago. His skin looked warmer, no longer pale and drab. His hair was neater. His eyes glinted and he no longer looked starved.

As soon as Harry and Dumbledore entered Sirius hugged Harry tightly. Harry stiffened slightly. While he knew Sirius was his Godfather, and he knew now that the man would not hurt him, it was still hard to forget that he spent the better part of a year fearing the name. He awkwardly patted Sirius' back, hiding his sigh of relief when the man let him go.

Dumbledore noticed Harry's reaction and he smiled warmly at Harry. "Give Harry a bit of time," he said to Sirius. "He's experiencing a lot as of late.

Sirius nodded. "Totally understandable. Thank you for bringing him."

"It was long overdue and I will rest easier knowing you two will obtain a home life you deserve." He slipped a gold watch from his pocket and looked at the stars that decorated the face. "Unfortunately, I have to get going. I have a lot of things to prepare for this upcoming year. If either of you have need of me, simply send a message." With a nod, Dumbledore slipped out the door and apparated with a crack.

"Well, welcome home Harry!" Sirius shouted. His arms were wide. "What do you think?"

Harry looked around. It was very dark inside the place. Shadows clung to the walls and ceiling. The street outside felt severe but inside here, it felt even more so. The furniture he could see was a very old style and he saw some things that made his skin crawl. Despite all that, he did feel a profound sense of relief at being out of Privet Drive.

"It's a bit…grim," Harry said hesitantly. "Nice and grand, but grim."

Sirius laughed. "Well it is called number 12 Grimmauld Place." Sirius sighed with a hint of sadness. "I grew up here. This is the home of the House of Black. There are homes all over the place, but this is the one closest to the Ministry, so it's the main home of the Blacks."

Harry looked surprised. "Was it always like this?"

"More or less. It hasn't been lived in or maintained well for almost a decade. Truth be told, I didn't want to come back here. I have a lot of bad memories of this place."

Harry looked down; guilt written cleanly on his face.

Sirius saw the look and he instantly felt bad. "Oh no Harry, it's not your fault! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I want you to live with me. I want to do my duty as your Godfather and take care of you like I should have. Honestly, this is the best place for us. It's close to Diagon Alley, St Mungo's. Diagon Alley, and King's Cross. Knowing you'll be here with me makes it much better and we'll get to redecorate! I'm really looking forward to that."

"You mean it?" Harry asked, feeling a little better.

"Sure do! The second I realized I could be proven innocent, I wanted nothing more. Come on, let me show you your room."

Sirius led Harry up the stairs to the second floor and down the hallway. He opened the door with a flourish, a broad grin on his face. "Here you are Harry, this is your room for as long as Grimmauld Place exists."

Harry took a step in and his eyes went wide. It was giant, even bigger than the living room at the Dursleys. A large bed was in one corner, a four-poster like the ones at school but even bigger with red and gold sheets. The carpet was thick and soft underfoot, gleaming new furniture pushed against the walls. A door showed a large walk-in closet and another showed a full bathroom. A window was next to the bed, bright sunlight streamed in.

"Do you like it?" Sirius asked nervously. "McGonagall and Dumbledore suggested you'd want a lot of space. They also mentioned you'd like a window. The window goes into our inner courtyard, not onto the Muggle street. I made sure not to decorate it too much aside from the bedding, figured you'd want Gryffindor colors. I really want you to like it."

"This is all for me?" Harry whispered, looking about in a daze.

"Well yeah of course! There are three floors worth of rooms and you'll never have to share with anyone. If it's still small, I think there are a few suites that are bigger-"

"No! No I mean, this is more room than I know what to do with," Harry stammered. "It's wonderful. Thank you so much!"

Sirius huffed a sigh of relief. "Brilliant! This was the first room I cleaned by the way. Sorry it took me a few days but I wanted to at least get your room ready. McGona-Mum wouldn't let me invite you over until I had a clean room for myself too, otherwise I'd have had you over sooner. The rest of the house is still a wreck in most places. Don't worry though. I already have some people offering to help clean and we can make a project out of it."

Harry giggled. "McGona-Mum?"

Sirius grinned. "Yeah, you know when she gets that crease between her eyes and she starts lecturing you? I called her mum once in school and she gave me detention for it, so naturally, I call her that a lot."

Harry had taken out his shrunken luggage and set it on the ground. "It all sounds wonderful. I'll be happy to help clean too. I'm good at that."

Sirius looked confused at the statement as he tapped Harry's things, unshrinking them. "You know how to clean with magic?"

"No, by hand, but like I said, I'm good at it. I need to earn my keep after all."

"You most certainly do not," Sirius said with a frown. "You belong here. 'Earning your keep.' You'll do no such thing. You're not a House Elf."

Harry shrugged but smiled to take the sting of apathy away.

Sirius gave him a long look before shrugging too. "Well, we can discuss that later. Let me give you a quick tour." Sirius led Harry around Grimmauld. "Now if something looks dodgy or feels off, don't mess with it. I don't know if you know this, but the Blacks were one of the…Darker…families. Lots of dark magic about so be careful. I've managed to put away the worst of it but Merlin only knows what's around. I'll be cataloging things as I can. Otherwise, you're my godson so you're allowed almost everywhere. This is your home Harry. You belong here."

Harry loved exploring. He definitely understood what Sirius meant by things feeling dodgy and dark. That did creep him out a little. However, he felt free here. The dark interior was somehow slightly comforting, and it was strange to walk about without fear of reprisal, without expecting to be yelled at. He liked the feeling but he knew it would take getting used to.

Sirius kept a careful eye on Harry during the tour. He noticed how Harry walked, carefully and light on his toes. He seemed to gravitate to the walls, his eyes never ceasing. He noticed how when they stopped to talk Harry tried to keep his back to a wall, to stand at a comfortable distance from things. IT reminded him of how he was when he grew up here.

Sirius hated that.

Dumbledore and McGonagall did not tell Sirius much about Harry's life prior to this year. He had been flabbergasted when he learned Harry had grown up with the Dursleys. He had met Petunia once but had heard many stories about her and he knew that James and Lily would have hated the idea of Harry growing up with the Dursleys. If only Sirius had done anything else that night. He would not have gone to Azkaban and he would have been able to do his duty in taking care of his godson. He knew he would be making up for that mistake for a very long time.

He was eager to do so.

After showing Harry the roof-top garden and the miniature owlery, they ended the tour in the kitchens. Harry had exclaimed with delight upon seeing it. It was very large, easily one of the biggest rooms in the entire house. A large walk-in pantry was in the back corner and lines of shelves ringed the walls. A very large stove gleamed against the wall and a broad table for eating was by the door. Like the rest of the house, it had a layer of neglect and debris about, needing some proper cleaning.

"I guess we'll work on this next," Sirius said. "We'll need to clean up the place and hopefully entice Kreacher to make food. We can live off of take away until then though."

"Kreacher?"

"Kreacher is the House Elf of Grimmauld." Sirius rubbed his neck. "I'm surprised we didn't see him on the tour. Be careful around him, Harry. He's strange. Loves to mutter and make things difficult. He's gone a bit mad, having only an enchanted painting of my mother to talk to all these years. Just try to ignore him if you can."

"Your mum has a painting?" Harry asked.

"Yep and believe me, that was the very first thing I got rid of. It took some doing. I almost set fire to the whole first floor in doing so. However, I was able to get rid of it." A soft tone was heard throughout the house and Sirius groaned. "Drat it all. I have to get back to doing some paperwork and things. You mind me popping off for now? You should head back to your room. When I'm done, let's get some food and start to get to know one another." Sirius bounded away at Harry's nod, swearing slightly under his breath about busy work.

Harry did not leave the kitchen however. He looked about and was surprised to find some cleaning supplies on hand. They had different names than the brands he was used to, but they looked pretty similar. He found a pair of gloves and started to clean what he could, finding that the faucets worked just fine after struggling with the knobs a bit.

He hummed softly as he cleaned. Normally he resented cleaning, half expecting a harsh word or a blow. Curiously, he found that cleaning here was not so bad. He was not being rushed and he knew that he was cleaning for himself and Sirius, not for the Dursleys.

"What are you?"

Harry jumped, startled. He spun and looked down at a very strange looking House Elf. He was much older than Dobby and the ones he'd met at Hogwarts. This House Elf had sallow skin, hunched shoulders, and haunted eyes. He wore a ragged pillowcase wrapped around his middle.

"I'm sorry," Harry said, trying to calm his beating heart. "I didn't hear you come in. What was that?"

The House Elf stared at Harry. "What are you?" he croaked. "You look like boy. You have to have magic or else you would not be here. But you clean like Elf."

"I, uh, I'm a boy and a wizard. Harry Potter is my name. I've come to live here with my Godfather. Are you Kreacher?"

Kreacher tilted his head. "The boy knows Kreacher's name. Curious. He has come to live with the bad master. The shame of the Blacks."

Harry frowned. "Sirius isn't bad, I don't think. Why do you say he is?"

"He removed Mistress' painting. He shamed his poor mother, Kreacher's Mistress. He was thrown out, and has crawled back. He is bad."

Harry shook his head. "Well, I don't know about all that but he's taking care of me now. He's been very kind to me and I don't think he's all that bad."

Kreacher snorted. "The boy must be foolish to think such things."

Harry felt a flare of anger but it swiftly died. He looked closer at Kreacher. He was nothing like the Hogwarts House Elves. He was different from Dobby too. Then he remembered what Sirius said about Kreacher having been alone all this time.

Harry knew about loneliness.

"Well, I hope you and I can be friends of a sort," Harry said as he went back to cleaning.

"Why?"

"I happen to like most House Elves. The ones at Hogwarts are very nice. Plus we'll be living together here and I'd like to get along."

Kreacher stared at Harry. "Why do you clean like this?"

Harry shrugged, continuing to scrub. "I don't know how to clean any other way."

"With your magic."

"Don't know any cleaning spells. I had to clean like this when I grew up."

Kreacher laughed, a hoarse croaking sound. "You are a wizard of a House. You cleaned like House Elf?"

Harry nodded.

"Why?"

"Because otherwise I wouldn't be able to eat. Or I'd be punished," Harry said simply.

Kreacher gaped at Harry. "Forced to? You were punished like House Elf?!"

Harry thought about the ways Dobby said he was punished. "That's not too far off."

"But…you're wizard!"

"My Muggle relations didn't care," Harry said softly. He figured Kreacher would understand, when others would not have.

Harry continued to clean, putting the strange House Elf out of sight and mind for the moment. Then after a while he realized Kreacher was cleaning with him, working on the opposite end of the kitchen. The House Elf continued to mutter to himself but he worked diligently, his mutterings low and lacking heat.

He also sped things up considerably and soon the surfaces of the kitchen were clean and Harry smiled with satisfaction. "Thank you Kreacher, that's a lot done."

Kreacher stared up at Harry with obvious shock. "You…are…welcome, Master Potter," Kreacher said.

Harry winced. "Please don't call me that. I'm not your master."

"You are bad master's godson. You are master."

"Well, again, I'd rather be a friend. And please call me Harry."

"Yes…Master Harry."

That was a small improvement. Harry looked into the pantry. "Not much in here right now. Is there a grocery store near-by?"

"Kreacher can go to a magical grocery."

"Would you mind? I know Sirius said we would do take-away tonight but I kind of want to cook in this wonderful kitchen."

"You…cook?"

"Yep, like a House Elf," Harry said with a tired grin. "I like to."

"Are you sure you not a House Elf?"

"Sometimes I wonder," Harry sighed. "The Dursleys certainly thought so. Maybe that's why I like House Elves so much."

Kreacher's stare was beginning to unnerve Harry. Finally Kreacher spoke. "Kreacher will go and get groceries. What does Master Harry want?"

"Maybe breakfast things for now. Eggs, toast, butter, sausages. Do you like those things too?"

Kreacher nodded, shocked to be asked.

"Do you need money? I still have some Wizarding money left in my bag in my trunk. I'll be right back." Harry left an open-mouthed Kreacher and went to his room, pulling out his money bag, and came back to the kitchen. Kreacher had not moved nor made any other facial expression. He handed the bag to Kreacher.

The House Elf stared at the bag and back at Harry. Then, slowly but surely, Kreacher straightened ever so slightly. His spine unfurled, his shoulders were not hunched. With a creaky half-bow, the House Elf apparated away.

"Sirius wasn't wrong," Harry chuckled softly. "Kreacher's a little strange." He shook his head and went back to cleaning. "Then again, so am I."

-0-0-0-

D.J. Scales - 71 chapters, I'm surprised my own self how long this has gone on.

DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Please do take care of yourself. I really enjoy seeing your feedback and wish you the best.

I find myself appreciating bittersweet more and more as I get older. It's more real to me, more like real life despite trying to flee said real life to indulge in fantasy and fiction. But the bittersweet helps things feel more approachable to me, and it makes the sweeter times all the better. I always like seeing the little changes that make the big impacts too.

alix33 - I created that tidbit but thought it would be a fun one. Also, not every Quidditch fan may realize the connotations of it.

Urgwaew - I try not to do pure filler things. I always want to include some detail that works into the greater story but I will admit I do like the fluff chapters that are purely there for comfort and fun. Oliver always has the excited energy to me and I feel like Percy is so easily disliked that one of my goals for this fic was to make him more of a human character instead of a caricature if that makes sense. Thank you so much for the encouragement. I look forward to your comments as well.

Arodri - Hopefully happy tears. Thank you.

yogibears - I was proud of thinking of the Snitch and Snidget thing. It seems like it could be a thing right? I always thought Harry would enjoy playing Pro Quidditch. We will have to see if he joins the League.

CleverCatsofHogwarts1013 - I'm glad you enjoy it so. Thank you so much.

Thespianpoet - I hope this chapter is whoop-worthy and you enjoy it very much. At the risk of spoilers, wait and watch his family grow.