Chapter 5
Sirius put down the book and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He had visited the Potter Library earlier this morning. As Regent Potter the only book there he had no access to was the Grimoire, which contained solely magics invented by Potter family members. As such it was meant for their eyes only. As he had no direct blood connection to the Potters he would not be able to learn their most secret family magics. Everything else he could browse at his leisure.
It became a habit of his, since his forced stay at Grimmauld Place, to spend every free moment studying magic or keeping in shape. Back then, it started as a means to clear his mind and gave him something to focus on, as idling about would only serve for his mental state to worsen. Together with occlumency it worked wonders in alleviating his mental condition. But somewhere along the way, it morphed into something more, and eventually, it sparked a genuine obssession with broadening his magical repertoire. One that he apparently carried over to this time and place. Not that he minded. He suspected there would come a time when skill with the wand would come in handy and it definitely could not hurt.
'Maybe I should consider signing up for some dueling competitions.' Sirius mused. It would certainly keep him from getting rusty. They would obviously have to be outside of the country, thanks to the war. Voldemort seemed to be keeping his operations strictly to Britain, which, Sirius had to admit, was the smart thing to do. It would not take long for an international response if the attacks spread outside of the Isles. As it was no other government cared enough to do anything, especially since they would have to coordinate with the Ministry.
Bringing his thoughts back on track, he realized that his career, as a duelist or otherwise, would have to take a back seat, at least for a while. His thoughts returned to what happened in the morning.
After waking up he had around five minutes to clean up, before Floppy showed up, telling him Harry woke up. He spent the next two hours with his godson, feeding and entertaining him. When it started to get tedious he left him with the elves, knowing there was no point in forcing himself beyond that. The elves seemed to take great joy in taking care of Harry and fussed over him incessantly, so he had no qualms about leaving him in their capable hands.
He read the morning prophet and saw that not much have changed in what they had reported. The ministry still proclaimed Harry as the boy-who-lived, probably based on Dumbledore's mumblings. They have not commented on his whereabouts, however, nor did they give any real details as to what happened, leaving it open for interpretation. Sirius resolved himself to carefully monitor what was being released about his godson and intervene if need be.
Sirius realized that as Lord Black, in his quest for political power, he should re-establish connections with other houses. At first, he wrote to his own friends and acquaintances: Amelia Bones, Frank, and Alice Longbottom, as well as Lords Diggory and Abott asking them all for a meeting.
Then he wrote to Black family acquaintances and business partners: Lord Greengrass, Parkinson and the old Nott, among others. They may have closer relations with known Death Eaters than he was comfortable with, but so did he when you thought about it. And beyond pushing the blood-purist agenda they were the more reasonable of the lot and he felt needed all the pull he could get. There was no gain in just burning those bridges straight out the gate.
After sending the letters he had to wait for the responses, with nothing to do in the meantime. That is how he found himself picking out a random book from the library and making himself comfortable.
Back in the present, he turned another page. Just as he was about to continue the response from Amelia arrived. She agreed to meet him at Bones Manor in the evening, at his convenience. He sighed, wondering how that conversation would go and was ready to continue reading when another owl caught his eye.
It was an invitation to Longbottom Manor. He didn't need much time to get ready and once fully dressed he immediately set off. Two minutes later he found himself standing at the front gate. A house-elf let him in and led the way towards the meeting room.
Apparently, both Frank and Alice decided to meet him, not surprising considering all that had happened lately. They all belonged to the same social circle, and while Sirius and James were never all that close to Frank at school, beyond being on the quidditch team together, Lily was a close friend of Alice, despite being a year younger. So he fully expected the topic to focus on the Potters for the first part of the talk.
After a round of formal greetings, they settled down into their chairs. Sirius started by narrating yesterday's events and things got quite emotional. Eventually, it was time to reveal the main reason for his visit.
"Well, I had two other things I wanted to bring up." At Frank's gesture, he continued. "First one is quite straightforward. I want to warn you that despite Voldemort's apparent demise you should not let your guard down. His followers are still at large. With the news of their master's death, they might be looking for revenge. With Harry and I out of sight, you are the next best target for them. You should stay in hiding for a few more weeks at least. I'm particularly worried about Lestranges and other particularly unhinged inner circle members. I suspect even the more fanatical of those bastards who weren't yet caught will be focused on trying to warm their way out of Azkaban, but there should still be at least a few dangerous death eaters at large."
They shared a glance and nodded. "Thanks for the warning Sirius," Alice said warmly.
"What's the second reason?" Frank asked impatiently, as the change in the topic of the discussion had already darkened his mood considerably.
"You are still part of the Order right?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, I told you that yesterday I met Hagrid and he tried to take Harry away. What I didn't tell you yet is that Dumbledore accosted me again as I was leaving the Auror Department, trying to take him away. He straight up told me he's taking him away since that's his decision and to hand him over. I'm pretty sure he was actually trying to cast a bit of wandless compulsion on me, but I was able to shrug it off. I obviously told him to go fuck himself." Frank and Alice both looked decidedly unsettled now. "I know it might be a bit hard to believe, but I'm only telling you how it looks from my perspective. Just try to keep that in mind."
"Well, anyway, I'm bringing this up 'cause I'm pretty sure it's not the last I've heard of him. I'm worried he'll try to take this in front of Wizengamot on some formality or fabricated reason, he seemed really set on taking Harry away. And I think I know what sparked his sudden obsession with Harry. Dumbledore told you of the prophecy and this whole chosen one thing he believes in, didn't he? Well, I'm pretty sure he's more interested in the chosen one, not in anything that has to do with Harry himself."
Without giving them a chance to respond, he pushed through. "That's also part of why I wanted to speak with you specifically. Neville here was also part of the whole prophecy business, so I would advise you to be extra wary of what Dumbledore says and does, at least for a short while."
There was a moment of silence before Alice responded. "We will obviously support you in this Sirius. We believe it is in Harry's best interest that he stays with you. And it is what James and Lily would have wanted." She finished sadly.
"Thank you," Sirius said, genuinely relieved. The Longbottoms grew to be some of his closest friends through association, but he learned that with Dumbledore nothing was guaranteed. The old man's influence and bearing went a long way with most people, so much so that he was half expecting to leave here on less than amicable terms. "I would also ask that you inform others of what is going on, especially if you hear that Dumbledore is feeding them a different story. The way he narrates events in whichever way suits him, he will have me painted as a villain for some petty reason in no time. He likes to misinform and manipulate people to get them to see things his way."
"We will keep an ear out."
"Thanks. Take care and be careful. I am still trying to wrap my head around things and get some stuff in order. This is all very sudden."
"We will. Good luck with that then." Frank assured him.
"I will see you soon."
Sirius felt very vindicated that despite their obvious misgivings the Longbottoms chose to put their trust in his words. They, along with Bones, Potters, and Sirius, were the only people to ever question Dumbledore's decisions in the leadership of the Order, so it was not a total surprise, but a very welcome one nonetheless.
After leaving in high spirits Sirius managed to meet up with a couple more people before lunch, with various degrees of success. With more appointments scheduled for the afternoon, it was early evening before he knew it.
"I can't wait to get that old cunt out of my hair." He murmured. He spent the better part of the day in one meeting after another, most of them requiring tight etiquette. He had not missed the roundabout speech patterns or the exchanging of favors from his brief life as an heir. 'Who would've thought I would end up worrying about those things again. At least it's for a good cause.' He reassured himself. He would keep it together for Harry's sake. He already had a go at doing things his preferred way and it landed his ass in Azkaban for over a decade. Hopefully this time the results of his efforts would be more favorable.
Regardless, he would not let Dumbledore mess Harry's upbringing up again. In his past life, although he had some trouble admitting it to himself, he did not like what he saw of Harry all that much. He did not hold it against the boy but just found it hard to relate. Sirius noticed that Harry was exceedingly timid and eager to please. He never even stood up to his friends, letting them treat him however they wanted and forgiving any and every grievance at the drop of the hat. His subservient attitude and blind conforming to social expectations did not sit well with Sirius. He reasoned that it was a result of his upbringing and early conditioning with the Dursleys. Even so, he found it hard to excuse that, since he grew up in a similar abusive environment, at times more extreme, and did not conform to his family's views or grew meek as a result. He could only hope his godson would grow a backbone and learn to stand up for himself this time around.
After a quick meal, it was time to meet with Amelia. Sirius kissed Harry on the forehead and made his way out.
She greeted him at the door to her family home with a smile. "Do you want to see Susan?"
"Sure. It's been a while."
"Yeah..."
Deciding to just get straight to the point he asked the question that was bugging him all the day without any preamble.
"What is our relationship at the moment 'Melia? We haven't properly spent time together in a while and it feels like we've drifted apart, but we never really talked about it." Sirius asked pensively, growing nervous as he awaited her response.
She turned around. "Well, maybe you should do something about it then." Amelia said with a teasing grin. "Or are you waiting for me to make a move on you? Who's the man here again?" She taunted.
Sirius grinned back before schooling his features. He scowled and growled in mock anger. "Now you're just asking for it." He took a quick step forward, grabbing her waist and pinning her against the wall. Amelia moaned loudly as her lips were captured in a forceful kiss. Sirius was unable to help himself and grabbed a handful of her tight ass and started massaging it. Eventually, his patience run out and he picked her up and headed towards the bedroom at a run, making her laugh at his haste.
END
