Chapter 4: The Letter



A small man, Peter Pettigrew, nicknamed Wormtail, was bowing to something in a chair near a mammoth fire place. "My lord, my master, please let me try again," Wormtail pleaded.

"You have failed me once again Wormtail, have you not?" Lord Voldemort asked.

Wormtail whimpered then said, "He was there, the Guardian, what I was suppose to do?"

"Kill him," Lord Voldemort said dully.

"You can't kill him. He is too powerful!" Wormtail exclaimed. "And even if you could there are enchantments, spells, curses protecting It that only he knows how to get through. You must let me try again. I'm sure I can get It now."

"Wormtail, come here," Voldemort said softly. Wormtail looked as if it was the last thing he wanted to do, but did it out of fear. "Wormtail, are you stupid? Or do you just like getting tortured? Of course, I know that the Guardian is so bloody powerful, but the truth is that you don't even know who the Guardian is." Wormtail muttered something. "If you fail again, it will be your LAST!"

"Master?" someone said.

"Malfoy," Voldemort said nastily. "So where is our little friend, Harry?"

"He is in the care of his godfather, and a friend. Both would protect him at any cost, especially his godfather. Isn't that correct, Wormtail?" Malfoy said.

Sirius Black, that flea-bitten mutt, Wormtail thought. The boy will be under his Blackness's protection from dawn till dusk.

"Well, so that plan is out, Black is already with the boy, don't worry we shall do away with him soon enough," Voldemort said. "But once we have the Eye not even Dumbledore would challenge us, let alone some smart aleck ex-con with a soft spot for his godson. Now for you, Wormtail, crucio!" ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Pain seared across Harry's scar, causing him to wake with a start. Where am I? Everything was green, Mrs. Figg's, she had a thing for the color green.

Next to the couch he was lying on, there was a basin half-full of reddish water, and a blood stained washcloth lay folded over its side. Also laying on the floor next to the couch was a black dog, fast asleep.

A clock on the wall told him it was 10:30 A.M., and that Mrs. Figg had slept in, it was summer after all, and she was old. But Sirius had to get up sometime right?

"Sirius, time to wake up," Harry said while stroking the dog's head.

Just five more minutes, Sirius telepathed groggily. And a little to the left.

"The time is now 10:35."

Okay, okay, I'm up, I'm up, Sirius stretched. So how are you feeling?

"A little drowsy, but otherwise fine, why do you ask?"

You don't remember anything? The dog gave Harry a funny look as he put a paw on the boy's forehead to check if Harry had a fever or anything.

"I remember I touched my scar, and felt something sticky on my hand, but that's all," Harry's eyes darted to the basin. The dog looked slightly alarmed, but said nothing. "What's with the basin? I mean that is blood, isn't it?"

Sirius puzzled the situation for a second, before telepathing, Yes, that is blood, your blood, your scar was bleeding on, and off all night. I'm not sure how much blood you lost, it usually came in short spurts, I wrote to Dumbledore about it.

"Why?" Harry asked in disbelief.

Because as far as I know, which isn't very much, curse scars don't bleed, Sirius's eyes didn't flick up toward the scar. He didn't need to, he had known Harry before he was the 'Boy's Who Lived, 'when he was just Harry. You really frightened me, Harry. We thought, Arabella, and I, thought that you were . . . Sirius stopped.

Harry looked away, he had caused Sirius, and Arabella more worry then they needed right now. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

Sorry? Sorry for what? Sirius telepathed sharply.

"Sorry for all the worry I've caused," Harry muttered again.

You're crazy Harry, you're blaming yourself for something that was out of your control, you have nothing to be sorry for, Sirius's telepath was filled with understanding. And speaking of sorry, I wonder where Arabella is?

"Still asleep, I guess," Harry said.

Okay, now you have something to be sorry for, waking up the world's worst morning person before the old lady! Sirius growled a little, looking very fierce. Harry smiled, and patted the dog on the head.

"I think you're losing your touch, an old bean," Mrs. Figg was standing in the doorway still wearing a pink bathrobe. "And what's with the old lady comments? Not teaching Harry bad habits, I hope."

Who? Me? I'm as innocent as a baby Puffskein!

"Yes, maybe in another life," Mrs. Figg said darkly. "Remember I was your supervisor when you were a reckless twenty year-old, and that time with the scorpion . . . "

Oh, for barking out loud! Sirius rolled his eyes. Harry, ignore her. Let me get that letter, I threw it somewhere, I'll be right back.

As soon as Sirius had left the room, Mrs. Figg became more serious, "Harry are okay? You had Sirius horribly scared, I've never seen him so worried. He wouldn't leave your side all night." Harry remained silent. "He really cares about you."

"I know."

"Arabella, I hope this doesn't sound rude, but can you leave," Sirius said rather bluntly as he came back in. He had returned to human form, wearing the same clothes he had on yesterday. (A tight black shirt, and black jeans for anyone who cares)

"You do know that, that letter did land in my tropical smoothie, and you have terrible aim," Mrs. Figg said before leaving.

"Get out before I curse you," Sirius snapped. He opened the envelope, shook the letter out, and began to read.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it must be said, Lily and James Potter have died. I am sorry for your lost, they were fine people, and they will be sorely missed. They were murdered by Voldemort, one of the most feared wizards of all time.

But not all was lost, your nephew, Harry James Potter, did survive . . .

"Sirius, do you mind if we skip over my life story," Harry asked.

"No problem," Sirius was actually glad that he didn't have to read about what happened that night so long ago.

I do strongly advise you that when you leave your house, and do not wish to have Harry accompany you, you leave him with a Mrs. Arabella Figg, she is a witch, and lives on 34 Casket Lane. If you do not do this I'd expect you'll find you house in ruins upon you return.

When Harry turns eleven he will get a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. ("So they knew that I would get the Hogwarts' letter," Harry interrupted again.) Harry will also have to obtain an important paper from me sometime before his fifteenth birthday.

"The letter stops there," Sirius sounded put out.

"What paper?"

"I was hoping you knew," Sirius sighed, so much for a relaxing summer with his godson. This had all the earmarks of an adventure, Harry style. Large, deadly animals, poisonous plants, annoying riddles, and Voldemort.

"No one ever tells me anything."

"We could owl Dumbledore . . . " A flash of white feathers interrupted Sirius. "Back so soon Hedwig? Good girl," he said as he untied a letter. It read,

Dear Sirius,

Thank you for the news of Harry's scar. I'm not quite sure why it was bleeding, I will try to find out of course, but for now I think that it would be best if you stayed with him for a while. Write to me if anything odd occurs. My best regards to Harry, and Arabella.

Sincerely,

Prof. Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster of Hogwarts



"Well that was a lot of help," Sirius handed the letter to Harry. "Do you think your uncle would mind if your godfather hung around for a while?"

"He'd go through the roof, literally, "Harry said seriously.

"Hates my guts? Figures, I wonder how'd he'd look as a fruit bat," Sirius said as he wrote a letter asking Dumbledore about 'the important paper.' Harry read it over his shoulder. "I guess he doesn't like dogs either."

"No, not really, unless . . . " a mischievous grin spread across Harry's face.

"Unless what?"

"You'll see."

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"An American Belgian Akita?" Uncle Vernon read, his brow furrowed. Harry had forged Aunt Marge's handwriting, and wrote an extremely sappy letter about how she had lost her precious little pooch, and how he was so rare that there were only a handful of them left in the UK. "She'll be so glad that someone found him."

"Too bad that she's scouring the countryside looking for him, Vernon you do have cellular phone number?" Aunt Petunia said as she watched Sirius sniff around the house.

"I never knew she had one, I don't believe in those things myself, frivolous things teenagers use," Uncle Vernon said stiffly. "I guess we'll have to keep the retched animal for a few days."

"Yes I suppose, should we just throw it in the cupboard?"Aunt Petunia asked.

I don't think so, Sirius edged away from Aunt Petunia.

"I'll take care of him, he can stay in my room," Harry said quickly.

"As long as it's out of my bloody sight."

"He will be, thanks," Harry said as Sirius and he left the kitchen.

What did you put in that letter?

"Trust me, Snuffles, you don't want to know."

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A/n: Thanks to my reviewers!!!!! No flames, Sirius, isn't that great?

SIRIUS: Yes! I don't end up on a dinner plate! Thanks guys.

Whisperer: Oh you're not getting out of this that easy, how does Sirius Sandwiches sound? *evil grin*

Sirius: NO FLAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whisperer: Calm yourself, do you want to thank our reviewers for me?

Sirius: Sure, here I go:

Audiaa2: Pilfer has always been one of my favs too, thanks for the awesome praise, Chap. 4 is a little longer, and has a ton of hints in it!

max yui: You ROCK! You reviewed everyone of Whisperer's fics, and made her your favorite author! She's working hard on the Forgotten Friend, by the way. Did I mention you RULE!

Foz: Ashley aren't you happy that Whisperer didn't make this one a cliffhanger? She's really glad you reviewed.

Krystal, Herm, Bookworm, Narnia, Demon_Child, and Dark Crystal: Thanks for reviewing!





Sirius: It's me again, I don't know where The Whisperer gotten too . . . Oh, there she is! Yo Wisp!

Whisperer: Sorry, I had to find the disclaimer, here it is: I wish that I owned Sirius, and Harry, but sadly I don't J. K. Rowling does, and I do own Telepathics, and a few other things, but that's all folks!

Sirius & Whisperer: Please Review!

Sirius: but no flames!

Whisperer: Sirius!