A/N To answer Harriet's question about Sirius Black as he is presented in Dudley's world, Sirius Black was DADA Professor for Dudley's first two years at Hogwarts, then became Minister. This is a short history.
*
Sirius Black decided to become an Auror after he graduated from Hogwarts and spent several years in that capacity. He was among the first to arrive at the scene when Voldemort killed his best friend, James Potter, and his wife, Lily. Over his objections, the baby Harry was sent to the Dursley's, where, by contrivance, Peter Pettigrew managed to follow. Sirius learned of Harry's murder and Peter's arrest the following day. Sirius blamed Dumbledore for what happened.
The rift did not last very long, for tragic reasons. Sirius Black, newly married to a childhood friend, accepted his superior's offer to leave work early. They found Frank Longbottom and his wife the next morning. Sirius blamed himself, until Albus Dumbledore appeared on his doorstep. They became friends, united in shared grief.
When James Black was born, Sirius left the Ministry to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. He held this position for nine years. In his fourth year as a teacher, he overcame his emotions, and asked Severus Snape about help for his only remaining friend from school, Remus Lupin, who made his living at odd jobs because of his condition. Two years later, he stood by proudly as his new friend received the Order of Merlin, First Class, for finding a permanent cure for Lycanthropy.
In his eighth year as a teacher, Sirius Black met a new student in his class, Dudley Malfoy, and began to have doubts about the past. In a confrontation, Lucius Malfoy admitted that he knew the child was the son of James Potter, but, because of obtuse remarks made in a meeting with Vernon Dursley, believed the child to be the result of an affair James had with his sister-in-law. Realizing a weakness on the part of his enemy, Sirius made an effort to become a 'friend of the family', using Dudley's secret heritage as an excuse.
That year, was also a very eventful year. Through the aide of the assistant groundskeeper, Voldemort infiltrated the school, and seized the Philosopher's Stone. The theft almost went undiscovered except for the suspicions of two irreverent Slytherins, and two surprising Gryffindors. Uniting, more out of mutual distrust than any comradery, they discovered the plan, and almost foiled it. The stone was later destroyed, but at great cost.
Voldemort had made the Elixer of Life. He had managed to free his followers from Azkaban. Most of them were quickly captured or killed, with the noted exception of Pettigrew, who escaped under unusual circumstances. Voldemort also revealed, by an act of murder, that Bartimus Crouch had freed his own son from the prison, and hidden him away.
The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, dismissed Voldemort's successes as unimportant, and tried to blame Sirius Black for letting an old friend escape. Over the course of the next year, Sirius was exonerated, when it was revealed that he had been seriously injured, and that the lives of several students were also imperilled.
Shortly before the beginning of the school year (Dudley's third term), all hell broke loose. Forced to flee from Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy brought his family to Hogwarts, in hope that his 'friendship' with Sirius Black was strong enough to gain sanctuary. He readily agreed to cooperate, in exchange for a guarantee of safety for his family.
Cornelius Fudge was removed from his position because his incompetence was revealed. When names were submitted, Sirius Black was on the list, but he thought his chances slim. Support came from all directions. The Weasleys, not powerful but well known and well liked, gave vocal support, reminding everyone that their children were all alive because of him.
Lucius Malfoy, seeing an opportunity, let it be known that he and Sirius had been friends of sorts, implying that Lucius was perhaps a spy who was caught, and not the renegade Death Eater he really was. It worked on two levels. The authorities quietly excused his past improprieties, and Sirius gained support of some of the more hesitant.
When it was found the Severus Snape, the humanitarian who brought relief to so many, supported Sirius Black as Minister, the decision was clear. Three days before start of term, Sirius Black left Hogwarts to become Minister of Magic. He acted quickly. On the day Neville Longbottom died, Sirius was already discussing revolutionary changes. The Prime Minister, upon hearing of the incident, agreed with his most ambitious proposal. On November 12 of that year, he revealed to the world that magic was real. Diplomatic couriers had already informed all of the governments of the other countries. Immediately, several technical institutes requested grants to study magic and its effect upon electricity.
The general population, in the British Isles, accepted the situation quite easily, not because of Black, but because of his wife, a muggle. Her remarks made magic seem 'normal' to everyone.
The following morning, Sirius Black received the news he had never expected. While examining Dudley Malfoy for injuries after Neville had died, Polly Pomfrey also performed a lineage test to confirm her suspicions. She had known Lily Evans and James Potter on a medical level, and Dudley had too many characteristics of both. She proved she was right.
Sirius Black discovered that Dudley Malfoy was in fact his godson, Harry Potter, the same child that he had begged to keep, so many years ago.
CHAPTER 6: THE DUELING GROUND
"Harry," Draco called softly, "are you awake?"
"What time is it," Harry asked?
"Half Past. It's time to go."
The two boys quickly dressed for the cold night, and walked out to the Slytherin House common room. Cassandra was waiting for them.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked in surprise.
"I'm going with you," Cassie said in a matter-of-fact tone. "You need a judge, and I thought I would be the best person to keep you honest."
Draco snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. Harry shook his head, returning her smile, "We'll be fine. Go back to bed."
"I can't," Cassandra said, "I'll make too much noise. Would you like to hear?"
"You're not going to win, Harry," Draco told him, "She's very good with her threats."
"I learned from the best," Cassie said, looking at Draco.
"Let's go," Harry said, suppressing a laugh of his own.
Slipping out of Hogwarts was easy, thought Harry. "Don't you have to worry about Mrs. Norris," he asked?
"She had an accident last year," Draco answered. "Filch hasn't gotten a new cat yet." Draco's tone told him not to ask about the accident.
They were standing in the middle of the Quidditch pitch when Weasley appeared just after midnight. With him was Samuel Chase, also a fourth year in Gryffindor House. Following them was James Black. Weasley introduced Chase as his second, and asked Harry if Draco was his second.
When Harry nodded, Weasley pointed to Cassie and asked, "What is she doing here?"
Cassie stepped up to him and said, "I'm the judge."
Then James Black stepped forward as though he were in charge. "No, you are not," said the first form. "I have truce with Harry. I am to be judge."
Cassandra nodded and stepped back.
James ordered the two duelists to shake hands. Weasley snidely asked Harry if he was afraid. Before Harry could reply he felt a sharp pain in his scar and grunted. As he raised his hand to rub his forehead the entire atmosphere changed.
As though on cue, Cassandra pulled out her wand and pointed it straight up, shouting, "Illuminatus." A fireball shot into the sky lighting up an area of more than two hundred yards. It was almost immediately followed by fireballs from Chase and Draco.
"Dementors," Weasley called, pointing to a group of a half dozen of the creatures already at the edge of the pitch.
"And there," called James pointing to another part of the grounds. They watched the creatures advance quickly across the field.
"We'll never make it," cursed Draco as he looked back at the school, where windows were already beginning to show light.
"Get behind me," Harry said, as he raised his wand and shouted "Expecto Patronum," and a brilliant white stag appeared, immediately attacking the dementors.
At this point the students turned and ran for the school. Harry staggered under the strain of holding the spell, combined with the effect of so many dementors around him, as well as the increasing pain from his scar. When he fell, Draco yelled to Weasley to grab him. They each grabbed an arm, and ran with him as fast as they could. Harry could feel the Patronus getting weaker as he himself grew weaker, and as their distance increased.
The race back to the school was a blur with Harry catching only glimpses of what was happening. He remembered seeing fireballs shooting up everywhere, making the entire grounds as bright as noontime. At one point he saw a group of wizards and witches flying brooms in formation. Just as they reached the doors, Harry was laid on a stretcher, barely conscious. Suddenly a British Army officer was standing over him saying he was a medic. Someone said something about Patronus, and the officer laughed, pulled out a bar of chocolate and said he hoped all of his cases were this easy. The last thing Harry remembered before he passed out was eating the chocolate.
*
When Harry awoke there was daylight coming in the window. The pain in his head was now a dull throb, and that was slowly fading. He looked around and saw Draco sitting in a chair by his bed, his left hand bandaged.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"You missed it," Draco said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "We won!"
"Won what? What happened?"
Draco laughed. "The battle, of course. It was great."
Harry looked startled. "There was a battle?"
"I'll start at the beginning," Draco said, laughing again. "You know about your scar, of course. It always hurts when Voldemort is near or is planning something. When it began to hurt, we shot the signals. They thought they had us, but we caught them with their pants down."
When Harry cleared his throat, Draco went back to his story. "The dementors were the first wave, and when you performed the Patronus Charm they stopped all along the line. They didn't expect that at all. That gave us the time to secure the school. You're a hero, Harry."
"I thought I saw a soldier..." Harry said.
"You mean the Queens Highlanders, They had half a regiment through by the time we reached the school." After receiving a confused look Draco explained, "they've had practice runs, bringing troops in with floo powder and using a dozen fireplaces."
"They were muggle soldiers," Harry asked.
"Of course," Draco told him, "Letting the muggles know about us was the first thing Black did as minister. It solved a lot of problems, too. By not hiding ourselves, it was easier to flush out Voldemort's supporters. Once magic became common knowledge the various governments were able to set safeguards to protect themselves from Voldemort's interference. On top of this, muggles are developing things that wizards are finding magical. We are already doing research into making magic and electricity work together. And then there's the infantry. Once you see what a burst from an SA-80 will do to a dementor, you'll want a platoon of your own." Draco laughed again as he said this.
"Draco Malfoy, you are supposed to be in bed yourself," Dumbledore said as he walked into the infirmary. Taking the hint, Draco waved goodbye to Harry saying he would be back.
"Why aren't there more people here," Harry asked, "Draco said there was a big battle?"
Dumbledore smiled politely as he sat down in the chair Draco had vacated. "The actual infirmary is now in the Great Hall, but please don't concern yourself about that, Harry. That isn't why I am here."
"Should I ask why, Sir?"
"I came to apologize to you, Harry," the Headmaster said, "for using you, and almost getting you killed."
"I'm sorry, Sir," Harry said, "I don't follow."
"It was easy, Harry. I could have kept you quiet, not told anyone, and hid you until you left. Instead, I let it become general knowledge, hoping to convince Voldemort that we were at a weak point. I was counting on you having the same affinity to him that Dudley has, and I was right. Voldemort attacked, and by bad timing or good luck you were able to give us an early warning. That you performed the Patronus Charm was a complete surprise and a welcome one."
"And were we lucky?" Harry asked.
"Very," Dumbledore said. "I believe we would have won anyway, but at a much greater cost. Because of you, the dementors never had a chance to get close enough to the school. When the troops arrived, they cut right through those vile creatures. We have the Minister to thank for that. But our biggest luck was that the giants never showed up for battle. We can't be sure why." Dumbledore paused. "Do you forgive me?"
Knowing it was expected, Harry said, "there is nothing to forgive, Sir. You did what you had to do."
"Thank you, Harry." At that, Dumbledore handed a packet to Harry. "Please keep this on you at all times. It is for my counterpart. I hope he finds this information useful."
Harry nodded and put the packet away, noticing for the first time that he was still wearing his robes. As he looked back, Dumbledore was already standing. He left, telling Harry to get some more rest.
As he closed his eyes, he heard Seamus Finnigan ask, "Malfoy, who's Harry."
Harry looked over at the screen separating him from the next bed.
"It's me, Seamus, I'm Harry. I thought everyone knew."
Suddenly Madam Pomfrey was there. "Both of you need to rest, and I do mean now. Seamus, I'll tell you all about it as soon as you are stronger."
Seamus spoke up again in his weak voice, "I thought I heard the Malfoys talking about a battle."
Madam Pomfrey cursed Draco under her breath. "We'll talk later, Seamus, you need to rest."
"Please," Seamus asked, "did we win?"
Harry laughed, and remembered a phrase Dudley (the fat one) once used for a month straight. "We kicked butt," he called out.
Weak laughter was heard, followed by a coughing fit. After Seamus was calmed down, and obviously asleep, Madam Pomfrey stepped around the screen. Harry began to whisper an apology but he was stopped.
"Seamus was hurt badly last week and hasn't had much reason to be happy. You made him smile, Harry. A small bout of coughing is worth his change of attitude." Madam Pomfrey walked back to her office softly muttering, "We kicked butt," and laughing to herself.
*
An hour later, Harry woke up to find Draco was back, this time with his father. "Are you feeling hungry?" Lucius asked.
Harry admitted that he was. "Where do we eat?" he asked, remembering about the Great Hall.
"The students are eating in their common rooms, but I thought you and Draco would rather stay at our rooms for a couple of days, until things get sorted out. Wars can be terribly messy." Lucius said the last part in such a nonchalant way, both boys had to laugh.
Harry got out of the bed and stood up. The room spun for a couple of seconds but then politely stopped, saving him the embarrassment of having to lie down again. Looking over at Draco, he saw the bandaged hand again, and gave him a questioning look.
"I flew too close to a curse," Draco said, ending his sentence in another laugh..
Lucius let his anger and pride show. "You're lucky you were only injured, or I would have killed you."
"Father, I had to, you know," Draco protested. "Those troops had no one to fly scout after . . ." Turning to Harry, Draco said, "Father was right. It was a stupid thing I did."
Harry nodded again. He was doing that a lot lately. He knew Draco was about to say a name, someone he knew, but stopped to save him the pain.
"Seamus Finnigan is feeling better," Harry said, to change the subject, "he even laughed when I told him we won the battle."
The smile returned to Lucius face, "Madam Pomfrey told us how we, what was that phrase?" Draco laughed again.
Then Pansy Parkinson walked in. They exchanged smiles. "I talked to the Headmaster, " she said softly, "and I just wanted to thank you for being a friend."
Harry couldn't help but ask, "Are you leaving?"
Pansy grinned and shook her head. "No silly, you are, remember." Then she turned serious. "The Headmaster said these next two days were the most likely time that you would return to your world. Since we are to stay in our Houses for the most part, and you'll be staying with the Malfoys, this is the only chance I might have to see you.".
"Professor," Pansy asked, "Would you mind if I ask Harry a personal question?" At his nod, she turned to Harry. "Harry, have you ever kissed a girl before?"
He started to laugh and say of course he had, but he knew what Pansy meant, and what she was going to ask. "No. Why?"
"Well, " she said starting to blush.
Blushing as well, Harry told her, "I'd love to."
"By Merlin's beard, do I have to watch this?" Draco interrupted.
"No," said Pansy, "you can wait on the other side of the window if you'd rather."
"Go ahead," Lucius said in encouragement. "We'll wait outside."
It should have been a happy moment, he thought as their lips touched. Harry Potter was kissing a girl for the first time in his life, and it was a sad moment. He was kissing her goodbye.