Chapter summary:

Parenting Harry Potter in the aftermath of the Hippogriff incident.

Word count:

About 3200.

Author's note:

This one is short and after last ten or so weeks it's not going to feel very rewarding. I have no excuses… well, I do have them but they aren't probably going to interest you. To very briefly summarize it: life is what happened; a bit of responsibility here and there; a bit of funk here (creative as well as general one); health issues (that of family members as well as my own that led me to rediscovering that the day has only twenty-four hours and I need to devote at the very least six of them to sleeping otherwise I'm one very cranky lady). That didn't really help with discovering that I most likely wrote myself into a corner, my writing buffer had shrunk considerably without me really adding to it, posting schedule was grating on my nerves because days albeit longer were passing too fast… Top that with realisation that if I would have continued to post the story on schedule I would be left with no buffer whatsoever in a spot of time when I didn't have time and energy to make myself a proper lunch let alone muster enough creativity to move the story forward.

Do I have enough of it now? I don't know. I most certainly have the buffer and enough confidence in myself that I will get myself out of the creative corner. I laugh at my own writing, there's nothing really funny in this chapter but a couple of the next ones have brief moments of much needed levity. I will definitely reduce the number of updates to around every other week so I don't feel like I'm racing against time and not writing a story. I will definitely continue to write it because I'm not done with it.

Next chapter should be up around Halloween, probably on the day or on the day after.

As usual I dedicate this story to all of you, my readers, for sticking with me for so long in spite of my shortcomings.

I adore seeing your reactions and answering your questions. They motivate me, and yes, sometimes an innocent question will make me go out of my way to write a nearly 100k words spin-off that I will integrate into the story. Am I seeking a form of validation from you? To a certain extent, yes, I do, as most likely does any other writer in any of the existing fandoms. We like knowing that what we do matters to someone.

Your comments and kudos are and always will be welcome here because they're my motivation.


Secrets & Keepers –Contentions

Chapter thirteen: The Dog Room

Harry Potter, 2nd September 1993, Hogwarts.

With some luck he managed to avoid being left alone with Sirius between the abrupt end of Care of the Magical Creatures lesson and dinner. Not that he actively wanted to avoid being left alone with him. It was Ron that he was keen on avoiding for the rest of the day. Everything that happened in Care of the Magical Creatures took his mind off from being pissed off at Ron. But his stupid comment still stung. How could Ron equate facing Voldemort with continuously facing Trelawney? And not even that, also not realising how stupid that thought was after mumbling it out in the first place.

That's why Harry eagerly accompanied the Slytherins to Snape's office. It took him away from Ron on a legitimate excuse and with their attention focused on keeping Pansy from running away it was less likely that they will get him in trouble. Plus he had Dean and Neville, not that Neville would have been much of a help in a fight but Dean was the tallest of the three of them and had filled out a little bit during the summer.

He also used up the opportunity to ask Dean about fancying a football game over the weekend, something to what Dean eagerly agreed, even volunteered Seamus for. Mentions of that drawn in Zabini, who although pureblood himself (of that much Harry had been informed during the conversation) had a step-father, who was an Italian half-blood (of some considerable wealth as Harry guessed) and was as huge fan of football as he was of Quidditch. Zabini tagged along to enough games with the man to have a quite reasonable grasp on the sport, better than Harry's which consisted from knowing the rules that were taught at primary school and participating in occasional class match.

Before Harry realised what happened Dean and Zabini were discussing Italian football teams animatedly, to the growing confusion of other Slytherins. In an attempt to distract them Harry asked Millicent Bulstrode how she knew about keeping pressure on Malfoy's wounds. He had to add that it probably saved Malfoy's life before she admitted that her mother was a healer. In return she complimented him, somewhat, on keeping his head and removing Malfoy from danger zone. Then she made an overall compliment towards not present Hermione, Daphne and Tracey for going after the teachers for help. That in turn somehow drawn in Nott with a, somewhat snide comment, that Muggle raised students always knew how to handle themselves in a crisis.

"It's called emergency drills," said Harry simply. "My school didn't run as much of them as Hermione's had but we still had them. And some rudimentary first aid training."

"And perhaps if Hogwarts had them then maybe more students would know what to do in case of emergency instead of freezing," pointed out Bulstrode.

Harry looked at her questioningly.

"Muggleborn mother," muttered Nott. "Very adamant over subjecting Millicent to primary Muggle schooling. Also not the actual healer but their doctor it's called."

"Surgeon?" guessed Harry.

"Trauma surgeon," Bulstrode admitted. "That also underwent complete healer training, Nott," she pointed out. "She found healing lacking the same thrill that Muggle practice offered. Didn't really surprised Dad when she announced that she wanted to change careers. He's an old and very conservative pureblood but has a lot of respect for Muggle doctors since my great-grandfather saved his mother when he was a little boy."

"The beginning of all star-crossed romances," muttered Nott.

"Nothing to shit on," Harry chided him. "Thanks to that Malfoy didn't become a hippogriff doormat."

"Maybe that would fix him," said Nott with a grimace. "He's been acting completely unlike himself since we saw him on the train. Never mind the haircut, hardly anyone adheres to those rules these days. It's throwing me off and I dislike being thrown off."

"It's not just you," Neville chimed in. "He throws us off too. Hermione probably the most, she's speculating that he was kidnapped by aliens."

"What?" asked Nott in shock. "What's that?"

So he learned, from what little Harry knew on the subject and strangely also Neville who speculated that alien kidnappings were one of the theories Muggles came up with to explain magical incidents as witnessing apparation or a spontaneous burst of latent magic in squibs that could happen in dire circumstances.

They also touched at some point Harry's theory on a head injury that Malfoy could suffer during the summer. Which got Nott to agree with him because he heard from Goyle and Crabbe that Malfoy was supposed to participate in Quidditch training with Applebee Arrows. That in turn led to a debate over who had the best chances on winning the title of champion in Quidditch league.

And by the time Nott suggested that the Gryffindors should head to dinner before Snape would catch the sight of them Harry was through the longest conversation he ever had with a Slytherin his age (or several of them).

They arrived to the dinner late, rushing past Snape, McGonagall and Hagrid on the bridge and Harry almost would have turned around to ask Hagrid about the outcome of the incident. Snape and McGonagall's presence however stopped him, as did relieved look on Hagrid's face. Which suggested that the outcome wasn't dire for him or the hippogriff. Which meant that he could wait with satisfying his curiosity until after dinner.

Hagrid didn't return to dinner, Snape and McGonagall came halfway through it and the only thing McGonagall told him on the subject when he cautiously approached her after finishing his dinner was that everything was fine and that he didn't need to worry.

Not really knowing what that meant sucked and he was tempted to sneak out to see Hagrid but he had found the biggest obstacle to that in Sirius that continued to get into his way when Harry tried to exit.

"What?" he asked finally.

The glare that he received in reply spoke volumes. It also made him insanely grateful that at the moment Sirius was practically trapped in his Animagi form.

"I just want to…" Harry started only to be interrupted by a swift shake of dog's head. "Please?" he whispered and got another shake in reply as well as muzzle turned towards the stairs.

Hypocrite, Harry sighed inwardly, knowing fully well that at Harry's age and in similar circumstances Sirius would try to sneak out to. Likely for more nefarious purposes.

"Yes, mother," he muttered before he turned on his heel and stomped towards the stairs.

As he climbed he chanced a couple of glances at Sirius to check if he was following him. He was, no further than five meters away from Harry, eyes darting every way, not giving Harry a chance to slip away. A thought that Harry discarded when they reached the fifth floor. Tomorrow was another day and he could get up extra early to catch Hagrid before breakfast.

That's why he was greatly surprised when Sirius nudged him towards the wall on the landing between sixth and seventh floor. Harry leaned on it and found himself falling into a cluttered and dust-filled room.

He hardly had a chance to look around before he caught the sight of Sirius turning back into his human form with a furious look on his face.

"Harrison James Potter," he growled, sounding very dog-like and showing too much teeth like one. "What in the name of Merlin you have been thinking?" he snarled angrily. "Have you completely forgotten what we have been discussing through the last couple of weeks?" he hissed. "Or you're only planning to giving me a second heart-attack in about a fortnight?" he added as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Right, Harry realised. It was going to be that kind of talk. Safety and not rushing head-first into dangerous situations. Not that Sirius didn't have a point, but he was blowing it out of proportion.

"It's Hagrid!" Harry protested and he definitely didn't whine. "Also you're out in the open."

"Exactly!" Sirius hissed. "It's freaking Hagrid, Harry! The man that brought a motherfucking Cerberus into the school, who in the same school year also smuggled into it a real fire-breathing dragon. One that you had to smuggle out because he was too much of a chicken to own up to his mistake of obtaining one. Last year he sent you and your friend to a colony of bloody Acromatulas, for which he was actually expelled from Hogwarts."

Sirius did have a point and Harry couldn't argue with that and neither he wanted to. Not about that.

"But it was his first lesson," objected Harry. "I wanted to make it good."

"No it wasn't," Sirius snarled. "You bloody didn't have to, Harry. And you want to know why?" he asked angrily. "Because he's grown freaking man, Harry. So what if his lesson would have sucked, he would have gotten over it like all adults do. Nobody's first day on the job is ideal, most of them suck and suck for a reason. Grown people learn from their mistakes and don't even get me started on the mistakes that Hagrid made," he hissed furiously.

"It was an accident and Parkinson's fault," protested Harry.

"You're not wining that argument, Harry," said Sirius stiffly. "And you know why? Because I happen to know to which year's curriculum hippogriffs belong. You know what it is? Year five," he spat and breathed out. "And they're never presented with an offhand comment that flies over students' heads," he added. "The professor is obliged to devote at the very least half of an hour to discussing safety first. Let's also not forget about their age and sex. Hagrid's herd consisted of grown freaking stallions which are the most dangerous and most easily offended kind of hippogriffs. Young mares are the ones you should have in this class, those that recently grown out of being foals but didn't have one of their own yet. They're harder to offend and keener on interacting with human foals. And don't even get me started on that flight around the paddock."

"It was fine," objected Harry.

He did so more out of loyalty to Hagrid than the belief that it was fine. It wasn't, it was bloody terrifying and he was glad that it ended.

"No, it bloody hell wasn't," hissed out Sirius and huffed. "Do you want to know why? Because Hagrid knows a square root of dragon shit about how one is supposed to ride a hippogriff. I do," he paused and huffed again. "I rode hippogriffs on a couple of occasions. You can get away with the lack of saddle but you never should mount one without reins. Don't even get me started on the position, that's the worst one you can possibly assume because your legs are in the way of the wings. Hippogriffs are half-eagle and half-horse. You don't ride the eagle, you ride the horse, you keep your legs behind the wings…"

Well, Sirius did have a point on that one, Harry conceded.

"He's my friend, Paddy," he sighed, opting out of using Sirius's name just in case someone could overhear them.

"I know that he's your friend, Harry," sighed Sirius in resignation. "I'm not asking you to stop being his friend, just to be less cavalier with your health and safety for stupid reasons. I assure you that nothing would have happened if his lesson sucked, he would have gotten over it and maybe learned something from that experience," he added stiffly. "And what he learned instead is that Harry will save him from himself by deliberately volunteering himself for dangerous stuff."

"I'm not going to save him from himself," Harry protested.

"You sure as hell aren't going to volunteer yourself for similar stunt next time," said Sirius grimly. "Because if you do Harry, I swear to Merlin I will get Snape to put you in detention for the rest of the school year."

"You can't do that!" objected Harry.

"I'm your godfather and your legal guardian, watch me," Sirius retorted angrily. "And if I could pull you out of that class I would have done so in a heartbeat."

"Sirius!" whined Harry, completely forgetting about not using his name.

"Don't Sirius me young man," growled Sirius. "Your parents entrusted me with you when you were less than a day old. I swore on my blood that I will protect you and I will protect you even if I'll have to protect you from yourself. If Lily was alive and heard about this she would be on her way here to give Hagrid a thorough scolding. As would I," he paused and huffed angrily. "Unfortunately I also know that it would have been the last thing I would have done before being captured."

"Which is why you're yelling at me and not Hagrid," grumbled Harry.

"I'm yelling at you so it will get through your thick skull that you can't rush head-first into the first danger that presents itself to you," snarled Sirius. "You got lucky in so far. Do you know what will happen once your luck would run out?" he asked pointedly before he leaned against the desk. "You will be dead and that would actually bloody kill me. I could almost see you there instead of Narcissa's son," he sighed and put his face in his hand.

Harry hung his head at that. Sirius was right. About all of it. He wasn't particularly nice about it but he was right. As soon as he realised he was filled with an overwhelming tide of fierce love for Sirius and unable to resist it he slowly made his way to stand before Sirius.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I know," sighed Sirius as he lowered his hands, his eyes were bright and shinning. "I know that after last twelve years having someone that actually cares about your safety and your well-being feels strange and will definitely take some time to get used to…" he sighed. "But Harry, I can't do that alone, I need you to work with me, not against me. I need you to listen to your instincts to protect yourself, especially when I'm not there to intervene and I won't be able to always be there at all times."

"I promise," sighed Harry. "I promise to do better, Paddy," he added. "I won't promise that I will always be successful, but I promise that I will try."

"I can live with that," Sirius breathed out before he reached out for Harry. "Come here, kiddo," he added holding out his other hand.

Harry stepped into the circle of Sirius's arms and found himself wrapped in a fierce and almost crushing hug. He succumbed into it eagerly, wrapping his own arms around Sirius's too thin frame. It wasn't the first hug they shared but in so far it was one of the fiercest. Even leaning against the desk Sirius easily towered over him, to the point that he could rest his chin on the top of Harry's head.

Harry was reluctant to let him go but he knew that they were out in the open with Sirius in human form and it wasn't safe for him.

"Nice haircut," Sirius sighed when Harry pulled away. "I used to have a similar one when I was your age.

"Kreacher," Harry admitted sheepishly and then perked up slightly as he added, "he vanished my hair."

"Really?" asked Sirius curiously. "Was it a potion?" he ran his hand over Harry's hair.

"No," Harry replied with a smile. "That's all me. Apparently I'm capable of growing my hair out under extreme terror when I concentrate on it really hard."

"Then it's better than mine, they just grow without any input from me," said Sirius with a soft chuckle. "Grandma Mel always said that Grandpa Arcturus was like that too. His started to grow out too long before OWLs, outgrew his father's in two weeks and neither his mother or the elves could get it shorter until the OWLs results arrived. But one of her favourite anecdotes on the subject was the length of the braid he had when he was sitting his NEWTs, it was longer than hers."

"Kreacher said that my hair can't be longer than yours," said Harry.

Sirius snorted before he said, "Only those that have nothing to do with their time worry about that. My hair was longer than Grandpa's since I graduated and I hadn't received any missives from him that I should amend the issue. Not that I would have listened, I would have probably allow them to grow out even longer out of spite."

Secrets & Keepers – Contentions

A little while later he returned with Sirius in his Animagi form to the common room. They talked about everything and nothing for a couple of minutes and at some point Sirius admitted that this particular room was where he and Harry's father used to stash not easily shrinkable contraband. He checked it out a couple of days ago and found that the old spells guarding it still held. Which explained why he was comfortable with shifting into his human form in there.

Once inside the common room Harry located Regulus, that was barely visible behind a thick book that he kept propped on his knees.

"Your dog, Aaron," he told him.

"I see," said Regulus as he peered over the top of the book. "Feeling properly chastised, are you Harry?"

"How did you…" started Harry but didn't finish because Regulus nodded towards the far corner of the common room where Ginny and Percy were giving Ron a very thorough mauling.

"Should I intervene?" he asked sceptically.

"I would advise you against doing that, especially if you aren't feeling convinced that you should," replied Regulus. "And from what I heard he earned it fair and square, as did you."

"Yes, I had," conceded Harry. "Even though I'm sure that he's being a big, fat hypocrite over certain points," he added dryly as he looked at Sirius who tried to squeeze himself between the edge of the armchair and Regulus's leg.

"Oh, I know that," said Regulus cheekily as he patted Sirius's head. "That will always give you an upper hand but try to not overuse it. This sucks," he gestured at himself. "The height less than the physical demands of it. I didn't need to sleep for so long for what feels like ages and I can't do that with a whinefest going on."

"Sucks to be you," quipped Harry.

"Now it sucks to be you," added Regulus. "Your captain is coming."

"Hey Oliver," said Harry as he turned on his heel to face quickly approaching Oliver. "What's up?"

"I'm glad that I finally caught you Harry, we really need to talk about the Quidditch cup," said Oliver. "Come with me," he gestured towards the other side of the room where the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team gathered.

TBC


Next: Stuff is coming out of the closet.