A/N: Fluffy bonding chapter, with some very important plot points thrown in for good measure. Enjoy and keep up with the feedback!
"Believe me, Sirius," Remus started when they arrived in the Great Hall that morning. "I'm just as thrilled as you are about this, but isn't it odd that Harry's memory just came flooding back to him? That doesn't really happen when obliviation malfunctions."
Sirius was smiling down at his son, who was talking to an emotional Hermione and an ecstatic Ron. "None of this makes sense Moony, and if I could keep him locked in a cage until this tournament ends, I would."
Remus chuckled at that. "I know you would Padfoot, I'd be right there with you if you wanted to do that. But… I'm worried him having his memory back is another trick by a death eater. I'm thinking it has something to do with legilimency, perhaps? When obliviation works, even if it's incorrectly, a person loses the memory in its entirety, no chance of getting it back. I think we had all accepted that as Harry's fate… so the question is, why is his memory back?"
Sirius frowned at this and turned to look at his friend. "You think he might have been possessed or something?"
Remus looked grim. "It's a possibility. That's the only reason I can imagine him being completely normal today. Someone attacked his mind when they physically attacked him too and they just now quit… or maybe it's some type of dark magic that's been thought up by whoever's targeting him. I think we should take him to my classroom today and see if he's back at the magical level he was before."
Sirius frowned, but nodded. He had been so excited that Harry remembered him again, loved him again, that he hadn't even considered how odd the circumstances were. Remus was right; if Harry had really been obliviated, he shouldn't ever be able to remember anything from his past again. That meant that they weren't dealing with pure obliviation, there was more to this entire attack. His heart clenched, but he reminded himself that his boy needed him and that they'd get through this; they had to, Sirius wouldn't let it end without the three of them having a happy ending - as cliche as that may be.
After eating in the Great Hall, Sirius and Remus asked Harry to come with them to the classroom. Ron and Hermione joined them, and soon Remus had pulled out the closet that he kept a boggart in. "Harry, we're just checking something, considering the circumstances, okay?"
Harry nodded, "so just fight the boggart?"
"Well, I suppose in your case it's a dementor? I don't know whether we should start with a patronus considering how difficult it is…" Remus said slowly, looking to Sirius.
Sirius shrugged. "Let him try it, it will help us gauge what magical level he's at."
"Wait, Sirius," Harry started as Remus moved to open the closet. "My boggart is a dementor, do you want to watch… that?"
Sirius gave his son a small smile. "If you're that worried about your old man to the point that you'll be distracted, I'll step out. If I'm being honest I don't exactly fancy seeing one of those things again, and much less see it attacking you, but I'm not afraid of it."
Harry nodded at this, "I just wanted to check. Okay, Moony."
Remus opened the closet doors, but the dementor never came. Hermione, Ron, and Harry shared a confused look, and Harry walked closer to the closet. Then…
"BOY!" Harry staggered backwards, his eyes wide. Vernon Dursley stepped out of the closet, a belt in his hand, his hand reaching out to grab his frightened nephew.
"R-ridikkulus!" Harry gasped out, watching as the Boggart shifted into a pig. Then…
Still facing Harry, the boggart changed forms again. This time into Draco Malfoy. Harry heard Sirius growl and Hermione exclaim "oh Harry!" but this time Harry wasn't fazed. "Ridikkulus!" He bellowed, watching as Draco turned into the bouncing ferret Moody had transfigured him into earlier in the term.
"That was weird," Harry said, slightly angrily. "I'm not afraid of Malfoy! Little git."
"What if… you are?" Hermione said gently, walking over to Harry.
Harry looked at her like she was crazy. "Of course I'm not, why would I be?"
"Well, Harry… the past couple of weeks everyone's suspected that Malfoy was the one that attacked you. What if, subconsciously, you are scared of him? You just don't realize it because you don't actively remember what he did."
"Hermione, that's brilliant." Sirius praised, walking over to the two.
Regardless, Harry frowned. "I don't feel scared of him at all. I'll walk up to him right now-"
"You will not." Sirius said sternly.
Harry rolled his eyes and grumbled something about mother hens, but they both knew he wasn't actually angry. Sirius smirked at him and ruffled his hair and Harry swatted at him.
"The thing is," Lupin started, turning to Harry before Sirius could retaliate. "Boggarts can get confused when there are a lot of people around, but they sense your deepest fears if you're the only one facing it. For obvious reasons, the dementor changed to Vernon… but the less obvious reason is Malfoy. I think Hermione's right. I don't think you are afraid of Malfoy, but I think subconsciously, you know something is threatening about him since you've been attacked."
Harry shrugged. "Maybe, I don't know how else to explain it. To be completely honest, I wasn't even expecting Vernon. I thought it would be a dementor."
"Speaking of which, we know he's got his third year DADA spells, let's see if he can still do the advanced stuff." Sirius said, motioning for Harry to try a patronus charm.
Harry walked back to the center of the room and pictured Christmas of the past year when Sirius had given him the photo album with the adoption papers. "Expecto patronum!"
An almost solid, silvery-white stag sprout out of the end of his wand and trotted around the room before slowly fading away. "Good, Harry!" Remus praised. "I guess that answers that question, your magic is fine. I just don't see why someone would attack you and make you forget who you were for two weeks with no ulterior motive."
Harry shrugged. "Dunno, but it seems like you guys are fairly sure Malfoy's behind it now. Can't we turn him in and get my actual wand back? I'm surprised I could even do the patronus charm with this thing."
"We can't," Remus said. "No one can prove that you aren't actually afraid of Malfoy for no reason. It's suspicious to us because we know you, but it won't be good enough for the ministry or really, Dumbledore. We need solid proof."
"That was a very impressive patronus considering you had someone else's wand, though." Sirius said, walking up beside Harry with a smile.
Harry smiled back, "I was thinking about you."
Sirius beamed at him and attempted to hug him, but Harry squirmed out of his grasp. "Merlin, you're being lovey this morning. I'll have to hex you if you don't quit acting like a mother-"
Sirius grabbed at Harry again, cutting his sentence off and ignoring his protests. "I'd like to see you try and hex me, puppy. One day you'll learn." He said with a bark like laugh, hugging his son close to his chest. Harry huffed against him, but accepted the hug by nuzzling into his father. They stayed like that while Remus, Hermione, and Ron cleaned up the classroom, all of them, including Harry, recognizing that Sirius really needed this moment with his boy.
After checking Harry's magical ability, Sirius took Harry flying, happy to see that his son thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn't even remember the incident that occurred when he went flying while having amnesia. Then they all went and ate lunch, and Harry went to the dorms with Ron and Hermione to do some homework and hang out with everyone. As promised, though, he returned to Sirius's quarters that evening so that they could eat dinner together.
After Harry had gone to sleep that night, grudgingly accepting Sirius's demand to tuck him in, Remus and Sirius were sitting together drinking coffee in the living room.
"You were right earlier. That was an extremely impressive patronus for Harry using someone else's wand." Remus said with a fond smile towards Sirius.
"Well, Harry's a powerful wizard." Sirius said with a grin. "If he wants to be an auror, he'll be fantastic, just like James was."
"Though I don't disagree with that, I don't think that's why his patronus was so impressive. I've seen him do an impressive patronus before, but that one we saw today would put even the one that he did in front of the castle to shame." Remus said, chuckling.
"Okay… what are you on about, Moony?" Sirius asked, confused.
"I guess what I'm trying to say, is that now you know how much Harry loves you. We stayed up all night last night because we were upset that Harry couldn't remember that he loved either of us… then today he performs the strongest patronus he ever has and his response when you complimented him on it was, 'I was thinking about you.' You're his happiest memory." Remus said with a smile.
Sirius beamed at his friend. "To think less than twenty-four hours ago, he said we would never be his true family. I was so relieved this morning when he asked if I had lost it."
Remus laughed, "Be careful with your craziness, Padfoot, Harry might try and hand you over to St. Mungo's if you keep coddling him the way you are."
Sirius barked a laugh. "He'll sit around and deal with it. I didn't get to hug him for two weeks, I have to make up for that lost time."
Remus smiled, but then turned towards Harry's door and held a hand up. "Harry, I know you're listening. Werewolf hearing, remember?"
Both Sirius and Remus chuckled when they heard Harry scramble back into his bed, then they got up and walked into the bedroom, where Harry was pretending to be asleep. Sirius changed into his animagus form and started licking Harry's face.
"Okay, okay! I'm awake, stop Padfoot!" Harry said, laughing despite his annoyance at having dog slobber all over him.
Sirius changed back and sat on the edge of Harry's bed while Harry curled up around him. "Why can't you sleep?" Sirius asked, putting a hand on Harry's back and rubbing it gently.
Harry's face changed from relaxed to slightly distressed. "I don't know, I was just thinking about some stuff. Nothing's wrong, Siri."
"Now, I know something's wrong. You only call me Siri when you're joking around, or when you're very upset about something. Wanna try again?" Sirius asked, continuing to rub Harry's back, but also giving Remus a knowing look.
Remus smiled and stepped out the room to give them privacy. Sirius was better with Harry when he was upset or sick because they could relate so well to one another. Sirius was also more affectionate than Remus, and Harry craved affection, even if he wouldn't admit it to anyone.
Sirius looked down at Harry in the dark room, waiting for Harry to speak.
"I'm sorry I upset you," Harry finally mumbled, burying his head against Sirius's leg as if he were a small child that just got scolded for something.
Sirius was taken aback. "What are you talking about?"
"I heard you guys talking just now," Harry mumbled. "I really don't remember saying that I didn't love you guys, but I feel really bad that I did. I love you both a lot."
"We know," Sirius said gently, trying to lift Harry so he could look at him. Harry burrowed deeper against Sirius's leg and Sirius frowned. "What's wrong Harry? You know we love you no matter what. Even if you didn't get your memory back, we would have worked through it and found a way. We still are working through it with this attack and this blasted tournament."
"Nothing's wrong…" Harry mumbled, still not moving from his position against his father.
"Then look at me." Sirius said, gently ruffling Harry's hair and giving him a pat on the shoulder. "Come on."
Harry stayed still, face pressed into Sirius's lap. "Don't make me resort to drastic measures," Sirius said, sliding one hand to Harry's side and prodding his ribcage. Other than a quiet yelp and a swat, Harry didn't react. "Merlin you're stubborn. You know you can tell me anything, Harry."
"You'll think bad of me," Harry mumbled.
"I would never," Sirius said gently.
"You promise?" Came the muffled reply.
"I solemnly swear, now look at me." Sirius demanded, pulling on Harry's arm to help him flip into a sitting position. Harry was adamant on resisting, so Sirius just sighed and continued to rub Harry's back in circular motions.
After a few minutes, Harry finally mumbled, "I'm scared."
"I'd think you a fool if you weren't." Sirius said gently.
Harry finally rolled onto his back and met his eyes. "Moony said that to me once."
Sirius chuckled. "Moony's a smart man. I'll tell you a secret though."
Harry rolled his eyes, but still looked up at his father curiously, as if challenging him to turn this into a joke.
Sirius frowned a bit, then said, "I'm scared too."
Harry stared up at him for a second, then started laughing. Sirius turned to him, surprised. "What's funny? I didn't laugh at you."
Harry tried to stop his laughing, but couldn't. He reached in his nightstand and pulled out an old picture from the Daily Prophet. Sirius looked at it for a second, then turned back to Harry. "My mugshot?" He said, slightly amused, but extremely confused.
"It's just-" Harry tried, taking deep breaths. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you telling me you were scared, but- mass murderer that's extremely dangerous… being scared?"
Sirius smiled and grabbed his son in a headlock. "Even dangerous criminals get scared sometimes, puppy."
"What are you scared of?" Harry asked, trying to push his way out of his dad's playful embrace.
"Hm… McGonagall, that woman has a temper. Let's see, I've never been a fan of cats, and McGonagall just happens to also be a cat, so I guess I'm afraid of them too-" Harry nudged Sirius and Sirius chuckled.
"What are you actually scared of?" Harry asked, genuinely wondering what horrors plagued his father.
"I'm scared of losing you," Sirius mumbled, pulling Harry into a more comfortable position against his side.
"Understandable, I am pretty great." Harry said with a grin.
"Don't let it get to your head. So what's scaring you right now then?" Sirius asked, grinning back at Harry.
Harry's face changed again from relaxed to distressed and he attempted to burrow into Sirius's side, as if trying to avoid this conversation.
"Oh come on, I told you what I was most scared of, now it's your turn." Sirius said, attempting to pull Harry back up.
"Well… I suppose it's a bit silly really." Harry mumbled, breathing in the familiar smell of his father while burrowed against his side - slight musk, a little firewhiskey, and, though Sirius would never admit it, fruity shampoo.
"You can tell me, I'll try not to laugh too hard," Sirius said with a smirk. "Though you did seem to find me being scared pretty funny."
"It's just, even if you weren't convicted, you're so brave. It's hard for me to think that anything scares you. But I guess… we sort of have similar fears." Harry huffed. "I don't want to lose Moony or you… and if people are targeting me, who's to say they won't try and go after you?"
Sirius was quiet for a few minutes, pulling Harry closer to his side. "Harry, I can't promise that they won't. But I will always be here for you, I made a promise to your dad about that and now I've promised myself. I won't leave you."
"But just say what if-" Harry started, cut off by Sirius.
"Have I ever told you the one's that love us never really leave us?"
Harry shook his head and looked up at his father curiously. "You can always find them, in here." He said, placing his hand across Harry's chest where his heart would be. "I will never leave you, puppy."
Harry frowned but nodded. "W-will you stay with me? Now, I mean."
"Of course. Padfoot or me?" Sirius said gently, moving his son back to a lying position on the bed.
Harry flushed red and looked away, but pushed through his humiliation of not wanting to sleep without his father and whispered, "you."
Sirius smiled and ruffled Harry's hair. "No need to be ashamed, Harry."
"I'm not ashamed," Harry said defensively, turning a darker shade of red when he heard Sirius chuckle.
Sirius put an arm around Harry's shoulders and pulled him to his side. "Just try and sleep."
"You won't leave?" Harry asked quietly, pressing his face against his father's t-shirt.
"Never," Sirius mumbled, adjusting himself into a comfortable position.
"Will you tell me a story? About anything." Harry whispered after a few minutes of silence.
"Sure… you know, you're embarrassed right now about wanting me to stay with you tonight, but you wouldn't believe how often I did this when you were little. You didn't want to sleep for some reason when you were a baby, but there were always two things that knocked you out cold." Sirius said, speaking with a warm tone that told Harry he was smiling.
"What were they?" Harry asked, yawning contentedly.
"Not surprisingly, me." Sirius chuckled. "Still don't know what it was. Don't get me wrong, you adored your dad and loved playing with him - he just couldn't get you to go to sleep as well as I could. And the second thing of course, was your mother's voice. She used to sing to you every night."
"What song did she sing?" Harry asked, taking in the details about his parents.
"I wonder if I still remember it… now, mind you, my voice is not as angelic as Lily's once was, so I'm sorry if this gives you nightmares." Sirius said. Harry smiled, head still resting against his father's chest. "When I am down, and oh, my soul, so weary. When trouble comes, and my heart burdens me, then I am still, and wait here in the silence, until you come, and sit a while with me."
Harry felt content. He could feel his father's voice vibrating under his head and that, coupled with his soft singing tone, was lulling him to sleep. The burdens and fears that had been plaguing him only minutes earlier were slowly slipping away with the soothing song, and though Harry would never admit it to anyone in the castle, he didn't want his father to ever stop singing to him.
"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains. You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas. I am strong, when I am on your shoulders." Harry felt his eyes grow heavy and he allowed sleep to claim him as his adopted father continued to sing the song that his mother once lulled him to sleep with, a content smile on his face.
