A/N: Posting a bit early, but hope you enjoy!
"We were at school together," Sirius admits. He can understand why they wouldn't have said anything about him. Petunia and her husband had probably swallowed up the same lie the wizarding world had. "At Hogwarts. We were all Gryffindors together." This seemed particularly important for Harri to get. Perhaps she'd understand him better if she knew his house.
"What's that?" Harri asks, looking up at him now, tilting her head like a cat. Sirius blanches, confused. He'd known the houses and their prominent figures before he could do up his own shoelaces.
"Hogwarts," he says slowly. "Our school."
"Is that here? In Surrey?" Harri sits back on her heel's giving him her full attention now.
"What? No, it's in Scotland," Sirius says, incredulous. "Harri, haven't your aunt and uncle told you about Hogwarts? Aren't you excited to go?"
"I still have to go to St. Grogery's," Harri says. "I'll be in class two next term."
"After your primary school," Sirius prompts, waiting for her to catch on.
"Hm, 'spect I'll be going to Stonebrigde High School," Harri says glumly. "That's where they naughty children go."
Sirius feels as though he's been slapped. Did she genuinely not know? Sirius crouches next to her, looking her right in the eyes. Harri meets his eye, unperturbed.
"Harri, you'll go to Hogwarts, where your mum and dad went. It's where you'll learn it all," Sirius explains. Harri huffs, frustrated now. Sirius blinks uncertainly; had he made her angry? Fuck, he was pure shite with children.
"Learn what? What's Hogwarts for?" she demands, crossing her little arms. Then she deflates, shaking her head. "Sorry, it's just, I'm a bit lost."
Sirius grins at her politeness, shrugging.
"Don't apologize. Hogwarts is where young witches and wizards learn their magic. That where I met your parents, and—and the others." Harri looks around, a nervous expression overtaking her face. She steps closer, and suddenly, it occurs to Sirius that she's scared.
"Magic isn't real," she says. "There's no such thing as witches and wizards."
It sounds rehearsed, like Harri's heard this over and over again until the words had stuck. Sirius scowls, stands abruptly. Harri stumbles back, surprised.
"Right," he mutters, seething. "Right! We're going to Petunia's house."
"Um, I don't think I'm allowed to—"
"Never mind, just follow me!" With that, he shifts to Padfoot, ignoring her little outburst of surprise. He trots down the road, following the familiar scent to Number 4, Privet drive. Harri keeps up with him, surprisingly fast for a girl of not-yet-seven.
Sirius jolts up suddenly, staggering a bit at the sudden change. He gestures for Harri to go ahead, and after a minute of uncertainty, she does, knocking on the door. It opens almost immediately, and Sirius finds himself face to face with Petunia Dursley, someone he hasn't seen in a long time.
"You!" she hisses, breathless. Her face is even thinner in person, long and angular. She really couldn't be considered a pretty woman, he decides.
"Aunt Petunia, do you know him?" Harri pipes up, only for Petunia to immediately shush her.
"Get inside, the pair of you, before anyone sees," she says, rushing the pair of them inside. "You, into the kitchen!" Sirius is bodily shoved down the narrow hallway over to the kitchen. Petunia turns to Harri, who moves to follow. "Not a chance! Go to the cu—go to your room!"
Harri sighs, but she doesn't go one upstairs, like Sirius expects. Instead, she opens the cupboard under the stairs and steps inside. Sirius doesn't get a minute to dwell on it because Petunia shoves him further inside and slams the door.
"You'll have to be quick," she says, hands on her hips. "Vernon will be home soon and I don't want you around."
"I've watched you, you know," he says coolly, immediately fighting back the urge to cringe. Cor, does he sound like a loon or what? "You're not very good to her."
"You've got no idea," Petunia sputters, flushing pink. "The most difficult child ever! All her teachers have run out of ideas!"
"She seems perfectly lovely to me," Sirius contradicts her.
"Of course, she would, you're one of her kind." Petunia fusses about the kitchen, putting things away. "What do you want?"
"Harri doesn't know about anything," Sirius says. "She doesn't even know about magic!"
"Well! I swore when we took her in, we wouldn't have one! Look what it did to my sister!"
"Don't you dare talk about her—"
"Petunia, love, I'm home, have you made the tea—"
In that moment, Vernon Dursley burst into the room, or really, waddled energetically in, a jovial smile on his face that quickly fades away. He looks from Petunia to Sirius, squinting like he couldn't place who Sirius was.
"Who's this, then?" Vernon asks, arms crossed and mustache quivering. Petunia looks suddenly frightened, hurrying over to her husband.
"He's, well, he's one of my sister's people—"
"What!" Vernon cries, going promptly puce, mustache quivering so hard it threatened to fall off. "Out! I want you out!"
"I'm not leaving," Sirius says stubbornly. "I came to make sure Harri was looked after, that she was happy, and you've clearly failed her. You haven't explained anything to her, not about her parents, about Hogwarts, or even magic itself!"
"There's no such thing as magic!" Vernon barks. "You're ill!"
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Sirius groans. Sighing, he brings out his wand and levitates a teacup, one of the only things Petunia hadn't put away in her haste to keep Sirius from filching anything.
"How'd you do that?" Harri pokes her head into the kitchen, eyes as big as saucers. Not even a second later, Dudley shoves her roughly to the ground and hurries in, coming to stand a bit behind his father, looking equally intrigued.
"You made that cup float! Are you some sort of magician?" the boy asks.
"THERE'S. NO. SUCH. THING. AS. MAGIC!" Vernon yells. "Girl! Get back in your room!"
There's a moment where everyone's gone silent, stunned by Vernon's outburst. Sirius looks at him curiously. How can he stand there and deny magic, when Sirius knows for a fact he's seen it? Maybe he's the ill one.
"Listen, mate," Sirius starts, decidedly unsure where he's going with this. "Harri deserves better—"
"If she's going to be living under this roof, she'll have to follow my rules!" Vernon interrupts, looking triumphant. "We're the only family she's got left." Sirius cocks his head, an idea springing to life.
"Right," he says, mostly to himself. "Actually, you're not the only family she's got."
"What?" Petunia asks. "My parents have passed, and so have Potter's."
"Right, well, there's always me," Sirius says, smiling perhaps the first genuine smile he's smiled in years. "I am her godfather."
Harri, who'd been in the process of leaving the kitchen, whirls around, shocked.
"Godfather?" she exclaims. "You're here to get me!"
"Er." Sirius find his will power crumbling, fuck she looks just like James, bright and excited, and so happy with him. Some buried part of Sirius resurfaces, the part that aches to be liked, to be needed. "I suppose."
"She can't go," Petunia says quietly. "That headmaster explained it to me, about the wards, about Li—my sister's sacrifice."
"I can keep her safe," Sirius decides. He's not too sure what Petunia means, she must be confused. Vernon and Petunia exchange a look, and Harri bounces on her toes, eager.
"Well," Vernon decides, breaking the tentative silence. "If you're her godfather, there's nothing stopping you, is there?" He looks gleeful, in a terrible sort of way.
"Right," Sirius says, trying to bolster himself. "Right! Harri, go and get your things." She doesn't need to be told twice, scampering back to the cupboard. The other boy, Dudley, looks at him with wide eyes.
"Is she really leaving?" the boy asks, tugging on his mum's skirt. Petunia looks gob smacked, blinking rapidly and pursing her lips, but Vernon nods eagerly.
"She's going to live with her own kind now," he says haughtily. "Better this way, really."
"Damn right," Sirius growls, anxieties forgotten in the face of his anger. A minute later, Harri skips back in, a small rucksack hanging from her boney shoulders.
"Ready," she says, beaming up at Sirius.
"That's all you want to take?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. Harri shrugs.
"It's all I have," she says bluntly. With that, she turns to the Dursley's. "Goodbye. We'll write."
"Yes," Petunia says, deliberating. "Well… try to keep your hair tidy."
"Go on!" Vernon says enthusiastically, all but shoving Sirius and Harri out the door. "Can't waste the daylight hours!"
The door slams shut and the two of them simply stand there a second, stunned. Sirius feels good, in a strange sort of way, like taking off layers in a dry heat.
"I'll take your bag," he says, holding his hand out. Harri hesitates but passes the rucky over. It's surprisingly heavy for its size, Sirius notes as he slings it over a shoulder. The sun blazes brightly and as they're making their way out of the neighborhood, Sirius realizes how colossally underprepared he is. He's not a parent—hell, he wasn't even a good older brother. He doesn't even know what children eat.
"Do you like chips?" he asks abruptly. He has a few bills of muggle money stuffed in one pocket, but he has no idea if it'll be enough to buy them a lunch.
"Yeah," Harri says. "Where are we going to go now? Where do you live?"
Right, they'll need somewhere to lay low, somewhere Sirius can think and plan out their next move. Maybe he can take her far away, where no one's even heard of them.
"Er, let's just get something to eat first, yeah?" he says. There's a chippy on the corner of the street, looking comfortably deserted. They duck in, and Harri chooses a corner table, dropping onto the vinyl seat. Sirius sets her bag by his chair.
"What would you like?" he asks, pulling out the bills.
"They do a good kebab here," she says hopefully, eyes wide. "Are really yum chips."
"Right," he mutter, holding up some of the bills. "Will this be enough, do you reckon?"
"20 quid!" she exclaims softly. "You could buy so much with that!" Sirius laughs pocketing the rest and heading up to the counter.
"Er, hiya," he says, catching the attention of the haggard looking chef. She ambles over, banging on the register. Sirius doesn't have too much experience in muggle shops, but Lily had taken them out a few times. Honestly, it wasn't too different than normal.
"What'll you have?" she asks, voice monotonous.
"Er, two kebabs, two orders of chips, and two teas, please." The woman nods, jotting it down in near unrecognizable handwriting.
"£10.50," she says. Sirius hands her the bill and she hands him a smaller one, as well as a bunch of coins. "Be out in a mo."
Sirius takes a seat, and for a second, he can't think of a single thing to say to her. He's been gone for six years of her life, and now suddenly, they're together again.
"Where were you? Before, I mean. Why did you only come to get me now?" Harri asks, seemingly reading his mind. Sirius flounders, because he doesn't want to lie to her, but he doesn't want to scare her. How much should a seven-year-old know anyways? Thankfully, he's saved from conversation because they're food comes out.
Harri waits patiently, hands folded in front of her, eyeing the food. Sirius quirks an eyebrow; is he supposed to do something to it?
"Go on," Sirius says, pushing one of the kebab plates towards her and taking the other for himself. He pours out some tomato sauce and takes a bite, gesturing for Harri to do the same.
"This whole plate is for me?" she asks wondrously. Sirius forces himself not to think of the implication and nods, slapping on a smile. She doesn't need to be told twice and digs in with gusto, eating happily. Soon enough, her fingers and mouth are smeared with grease, but she looks quite pleased.
Sirius leans over the table, napkin in hand, to mop up some of the grease. Harri squirms a little, scrunching up her little face—fuck, she looks like James when she does that—but complies, letting him clean her up.
"Where are we going to go now?" she asks, hopping down from her seat. Sirius nabs the rucky and stands, stretching out his limbs. The food had been surprisingly good, but Sirius chocks that up to it being his first human meal in weeks.
"We'll have to find somewhere safe," he says, leading her out of the shop. Sirius wracks his brain, trying to think of a single person he can trust, who, in turn, might trust him. Suddenly, it occurs to him. The one person in the world they can trust.
Moony. They have to find Remus Lupin.
A/N: Anyways, get ready for the wolfstar reunion! Let me know what you thought!