I really wanted to do review reviews this time, but I just don't have the
time! I only revised this once too, so I'm sorry if there are still a lot
of mistakes...Anyway, I enjoyed writing this chapter a whole lot. I think
most of you will like it. Please don't forget to review! Oh yeah, and
this should have been up yesterday, but fanfiction, net was being a pain in
the ass and didn't let me upload it. So without further ado, here it is:
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Sirius would not let Harry go. Dumbledore knelt next to him and put a hand on Sirius's shoulder as he wept into Harry's hair.
"Please, God, no!" He muttered over and over again.
"I'm so sorry, Sirius," Dumbledore whispered.
Sirius nodded his head but didn't look up. He just continued begging into Harry's hair for him to be okay. Sirius wasn't giving up though. He squeezed Harry to him tighter and tighter.
A soft moaning sound came from somewhere as Sirius squeezed tighter. Dumbledore thought it was Sirius and Sirius thought it was Dumbledore making the noise.
"Owww..." was heard after that and Dumbledore looked into Sirius's face and found an expression of shock. Neither of them had made that noise. Sirius let up on his tight hold on Harry for a moment and looked at his face. His eyes were squinted shut in a look of utmost pain. This was not the look he had had earlier. Sirius laughed curiously and gently brushed back the hair on Harry's head. Slowly Harry opened his eyes and focused on Sirius's face.
Sirius laughed in shock. "Harry? Harry! You're okay?!"
Harry nodded lethargically. "Sirius," he whispered.
"Yeah, Harry?"
"My head hurts," he mumbled.
Sirius laughed at this, laughed hysterically and hugged Harry closer to his chest. Tears were still streaming down his face, but now they were tears of joy, not pain. Harry looked confused at the sight of the tears.
"What happened?" he asked in a strained voice. It was obvious that the ordeal had exhausted him.
"We won, Harry, we won."
Harry gave a half smile and nodded. Slowly he closed his eyes and drifted back into unconsciousness.
Dumbledore then came forward and examined Harry. Particularly the back of his head as that's where he said it hurt. He found it to be bleeding quite severely.
"Sirius, this head wound is very bad. We need to apply pressure to it immediately and get him back to the castle."
Again, Sirius looked panicked. Dumbledore saw that he was going to have to do it all himself.
"Give me the boy, Sirius."
This time Sirius let him go. Dumbledore removed Harry's cloak and rolled it up. As he was doing so something fell out of the chest pocket. Before dealing with Harry's wound Dumbledore bent down to inspect the fallen object. It was a dead toad. It then hit him what had happened. The curse had hit the toad, not Harry. The power of curse was what knocked him over and the impact with the ground caused him to pass out. It was miraculous.
Dumbledore shook his head in amazement and then set to work on tying the cloak tightly around Harry's head. When he was done he turned again to Sirius whose head was buried in his hands. Tears were leaking out between his fingers.
"Sirius, we need to go now."
Sirius nodded and got to his feet. "I'll carry Harry."
"Very good, I think I'm a bit too old to take that responsibility anyhow. We'll apparate back to the graveyard. I imagine Remus and the others will be anxiously awaiting your return."
Sirius nodded grabbed tightly to Harry and with tears still slipping down his face left Godric's Hollow and returned to the graveyard. Again in front of his old friends graves, he looked around and saw Remus, Ron and Hermione a little ways down the path. Hermione came running and Ron pushed Remus in his wheel chair at a quick pace. They all stopped dead though when they got within a couple yards of him.
"Oh my God," Remus muttered. "He's not-he's not dead...is he?"
Sirius smiled broadly and shook his head. Tears flew off his cheeks as he did so. "He's going to be just fine."
Remus wasn't sure if he should believe him or not, but when Dumbledore popped into the area with a broad smile too, he knew it was legit.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Tell you later Rem, right now we need to take care of a big cut on Harry's head."
They all nodded, but before they took off Dumbledore reached into his pocket and held out the dead toad for Ron and Hermione to see. "Do you by any chance know this toad?"
They both examined it and then Ron said, "Yeah, that's Trevor. Neville's toad. What happened to him?"
"He saved Harry's life."
Ron and Hermione gave him curious looks but he didn't elaborate. Rather he set off on the path towards the center of Hogsmead where they'd catch the carriages back to the castle.
Sirius was still crying when they reached the castle, and he continued to cry as they brought him to the hospital wing, and as Madam Pomfrey healed Harry's head. He was going to need lots of bed rest due to the extreme amount of time he had spent under the Cruciatus Curse, but Sirius didn't care. Harry was going to be alright. And for that he could cry those tears of joy for all eternity.
Yet, he managed to stop. After everything had been taken care of Sirius sat by Harry's bed and watched him sleep. Everyone else had left. Remus, still looking for answers needed rest before he could get them, so he went to bed. Dumbledore forced Ron and Hermione to go back to classes, but really only so Sirius could have the time he needed alone with Harry. Dumbledore himself went to his office to try to figure out how to tell the ministry of magic exactly what had happened. It would be difficult considering that Fudge never believed the fact that Voldemort had been resurrected in the first place.
So Sirius just sat there, all alone, running his hands over Harry's hair gently. He noticed that the scar on Harry's forehead no longer stood out so much. It looked more like an ordinary scar than it had ever before. He touched it lightly and found that it was the same temperature as the rest of his skin. It had always been slightly different than the rest of his forehead. Sirius smiled to himself.
Harry was finally going to be a normal kid. Sirius had promised him it was going to happen, and now, that promise was going to come true. Sirius was ecstatic.
He sat there for hours watching Harry and never once felt tired or restless. He was more content just then than he had ever been before in his life. He no longer had to worry about what would happen to Harry, Harry was going to be just fine.
It had been seven hours since Harry had had his head healed when he finally woke up. He woke in increments. First his lips started twitching. Then he yawned. Sirius smiled as he saw it happen. Harry then squinted his eyes and then very slowly opened them.
His eyes slowly focused on Sirius's face and he noticed that Sirius was beaming like mad.
"Hi," he mumbled.
"Hey Bud, how you feeling?"
"Everything...hurts."
"I bet. You went through a lot today. I-I thought I had lost you there, Harry. I thought you were dead today."
"Did I almost die?" he muttered.
Sirius nodded, tears again swimming in his eyes. "Just as Dumbledore said "Avada Kedavra", Voldemort said the same thing...to you. I saw the curse hit you...and you fell over. That's when I lost it." Sirius said, again losing it and pulling Harry towards him. Harry sucked in his breath in pain and Sirius immediately pulled back. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you."
"A little," Harry whispered. "I'm okay though."
"Yeah you are okay," Sirius said beaming through the tears.
"But...Sirius? How-how did I survive this time?"
"You know that cloak I gave you?" Sirius asked grinning and wiping his eyes.
Harry nodded.
"Well apparently it belonged to Neville. His pet toad was in the pocket and the curse hit him not you. The power of the curse knocked you out, but it didn't hit you. Understand?"
"Yeah...so, so kinda, I survived the curse again, right?"
Sirius nodded animatedly and he brushed his hand over Harry's head.
"I was so scared I lost you bud. I was so scared," he whispered, the tears falling like rain.
"I'm sorry..." Harry said.
"No, don't be sorry. You never have to be sorry for anything like this! I'm just so happy, so happy you're okay! Voldemort's gone now bud, all you're problems are gone!"
Harry looked up at Sirius and grinned. Tears started rolling down his cheeks as well and he tried to push himself up in bed, but failed. Sirius helped him and then pulled Harry into a gentle hug. He felt Harry hug back and they stayed like that for a long time. Both crying tears of joy for the defeat of Voldemort and the continuation of Harry's life, as well as tears of pain for all they had been through. They took comfort in each other's presence. After awhile their tears ran dry.
Sirius helped Harry lean back against the headboard and then leant against it himself. He put his arm over Harry's shoulder and pulled him close. Harry rested his head against Sirius's shoulder and fell back to sleep. Sirius watched him for a while before letting the exhaustion consume him as well.
By the time they had fallen asleep, though, everyone else was just coming to visit. Remus managed to get himself all the way to the chair next to the bed all on his own. He was very proud of this accomplishment and sat smiling at the two. They really looked like father and son. Sirius's arm was wrapped securely over Harry's shoulder. Harry sleeping contently with his head leaning against Sirius's chest. Remus sat there for a while, watching them when Ron and Hermione came in to visit as well.
"How are they doing?" Hermione whispered.
"I don't know, they've been sleeping since I've been here...but they look pretty happy, don't they?"
Ron and Hermione both nodded. It had been a while since they had seen Harry looking that content.
Next, Dumbledore came strolling in. He quietly told the three all the events of the day, as they had missed out on a lot of it.
"So that's how Trevor saved Harry's life...I had no idea what you were talking about earlier," Hermione said.
Dumbledore nodded. "Well, when they wake up if you wouldn't mind sending Sirius to my office, I'd appreciate it. Although I imagine it will be hard to pry him away from poor Mr. Potter here."
"Will do, Albus," Remus said. Dumbledore then left the room. The others stayed sitting where they were and watched Sirius and Harry sleep like it was the hottest new TV show. Suddenly though, Harry thrashed. They all breathed in sharply and looked at him more intently. He did it again, this time waking Sirius out of his sound sleep.
Then, he started mumbling. "No...No...Please no! Stop!" He continued on like this for a good minute or so. Sirius was trying to shake him awake, but nothing seemed to work. Harry was now starting to scream softly. He seemed terrified. Sirius dug through his pockets trying to find his wand, but he couldn't get it.
"Give me a wand!" he yelled.
Hermione pulled hers out and he ripped it from her hand.
"Enervate!"
Harry's eyes snapped open and he stopped screaming. He was breathing heavily and leaned his head back against Sirius shoulder and buried his face in Sirius's side. Sirius hugged him close.
"What happened bud?" he whispered.
A couple of seconds passed before he spoke, "I relived what happened today...only this time Dumbledore didn't show up. And when...and when...no...in between the curses he sent at me...he...he killed you. Sirius, he killed you."
"It was just a dream, Harry. I'm fine, you're fine, we're all fine."
"I know...it just...scared me."
"It's alright Harry, nothing like that will ever happen. Voldemort's gone."
A smile broke out over Harry's scared face. "He's gone," he whispered.
"Gone, gone, gone!" Sirius laughed. Harry did too and Remus, Ron and Hermione all gave them strange looks. Sirius and Harry could care less and continued to laugh happily about it.
Harry had to stop laughing sooner than Sirius, though, because he was still in a lot of pain and laughing only made it hurt worse. He had a sour look on his face when he stopped laughing because of it.
"Hey are you okay bud?" he asked.
"Yeah, it just still hurts...allover."
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that...again."
Harry nodded. "It's alright...he's gone now," Harry said with another smile.
"Gone, gone, gone," Sirius joked again.
"Don't make me laugh Sirius," he said trying hard not to.
Sirius nodded and turned to the others. "So how long have you guys been sitting around in here?"
"About an hour," Hermione said, looking at her watch.
"You looked so cute like that," Remus said mockingly.
Sirius blushed slightly and threw a pillow at his friend.
Remus just laughed in response. He was getting a lot better, Sirius noted as he watched his friend.
"By the way, Sirius, Dumbledore wanted to see you in his office. He stopped by here and asked us to tell you."
"If it's important he'll come back down. I'm not going there right now."
"Sirius, I'm okay now. You can go, I don't mind. It could be important."
"Are you sure you'll be alright?"
Harry nodded, "And if I'm not, these guys are here, they can get Madam Pomfrey and then you. The school isn't that big."
"Fine, I'll go. Just, be careful Harry."
"Sirius, I'm stuck in a bed in the hospital wing...what could I possibly do?"
"I know you...you could find something."
"Well I won't, I promise."
"Okay, I'll be back," Sirius said removing his arm from Harry's shoulders and climbing off the bed. He walked hurriedly through the school to Dumbledore's office. The door was open when he got there. He peered inside and watched Dumbledore for a moment. He was stroking Fawkes the phoenix, looking very pensive. Sirius knocked on the door frame to make his presence known.
"Sirius, come in," Dumbledore said, smiling brightly. "Please shut the door behind you. I have important business to speak with you about."
Sirius nodded and shut the door after he stepped inside. He took a seat in front of Dumbledore's desk and asked, "What's up?"
Dumbledore smiled and shook his head. Sirius was still so young at heart. Dumbledore wasn't sure he was ready to do what he was about to be asked. "Sirius, I've recently decided that it's my time to leave this school. I have been here for well over sixty years of my life, and I think it's time to finally go into retirement."
"Because Voldemort's dead?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"Well what if another dark wizard pops up in his place. The Malfoy's are still alive aren't they? Who's going to protect the school from them?"
"Well, I was thinking about having my grandson take over."
"You have a grandson? Who is it?"
Dumbledore looked squarely at Sirius with that familiar twinkle in his eyes and said, "You."
"Huh?!" Sirius exclaimed.
"You, Sirius Black, are my grandson. I would like for you to take my place as headmaster of this school."
"I'm...you're? You're my grandfather? But I knew my grandparents...you weren't one of them."
"No, Sirius, I wasn't one of the grandparents you knew. You see, the man who you thought was your father really wasn't. Your real father died before you were even born...that's my son. Your mother remarried soon after and took the last name Black, and gave it to you as well. I think she felt guilty about remarrying so soon, so she decided to cut me out of all of your lives. That's why she never told you, the truth, and I decided that it was best to respect her wishes. Now, though, I thought it was time for you to know the truth."
Sirius looked down and pinched his nose. This was too surreal for him. He had lived almost forty years believing something that was a horrible lie.
"But...what about Sorai?"
"Ah, yes, the grandchild I was actually allowed to see. Yes, your mother decided to change her last name from Dumbledore to Black when she remarried, too. You are both my grandchildren."
Sirius just sat in his seat and shook his head. "I can't believe this."
"I'm sorry, Sirius, but it is the truth. And I can tell you that although you grew up believing a lie, I couldn't think of a better man to raise you than the one you thought was your father. He was my own sons best friend when they were young. He was a good man. He did a good job."
Sirius looked down and kept shaking his head.
"So what do you say?" Dumbledore asked, almost nervously.
Sirius looked up sharply. "About what? About my entire life being a lie?!"
"That was not my fault, Sirius. I was simply following your parent's wishes. I'm asking what you think about taking over for me."
"Why me, Albus? What do I know about running a school? I can barely run my class right! Why didn't you ask Professor McGonagall?"
"Minerva, I know, does not wish to be Headmistress of this school. I talked to her about it long ago. She would prefer to stay Deputy Headmistress for as long as she can. I want you to do this, Sirius, because I know you can. You can bring a wave of youth and fun to this school, that I never dreamed possible. The children can both respect you and like you."
"They respect and like you too, Albus."
"I know this, but I am past my prime. The only reason I've been here as long as I have was to protect the children against Voldemort. They no longer need that. I want you to be the one to protect them against whoever may pop up in the future. Will you be my successor?"
"I don't know, Albus...I don't know how to run a school."
"Ah, it's a piece of cake, really. And I'll be here until the end of this year. I'll show you how it's done."
Sirius sat thinking for a few minutes and then started laughing.
"What is so funny, Sirius?"
"Imagine Snape's face when he finds out I'm the headmaster!"
Dumbledore couldn't help but chuckle as well. It would be rather comical. "Does this mean you'll accept the position?"
Sirius nodded.
Dumbledore beamed at him.
"I have one question though. Since you were...are...my grandfather...did you ever really believe that I did all the things I was imprisoned for?"
Dumbledore looked pensive for a moment and then nodded his head, "Yes I did. I always thought you betraying Lily and James seemed fishy...but I did believe it to be true. All the facts pointed to you. It hurt to believe it, but I admit, I did. And I definitely believed the story about killing Peter and the other muggles. You always had a temper Sirius, and it was impossible to control. Your father was the same way. I truly believed that you did that. That is, until you told me otherwise. I never believed you to be a liar, Sirius."
Sirius nodded, showing he understood and then said, "I want to get back to Harry, now, I'll talk to you more about this later...but I guess, my answer is yes. I'll take your place...grandpa," Sirius said with a smirk.
Dumbledore just smiled, "Goodbye Sirius."
Sirius walked back to the hospital wing slowly, contemplating what Dumbledore just told him. It was so hard to believe that Dumbledore was his grandfather. Though it explained a lot. For example, it explained why he fought so hard to help Sirius get his freedom, why he was the only one who knew how to get Sirius to snap back into reality after Remus's trial, and why after the incident in the shrieking shack he gave Sirius a chance to explain rather than immediately sticking a deatheater on him.
For some reason the knowledge of it all put him in a great mood. He strode back into the hospital wing beaming.
"What happened Sirius?" Harry asked, noticing the happy look on his godfathers face. It was now just Remus and Harry in the room, so Sirius felt he could tell them everything that happened.
"You're looking at the new Headmaster of Hogwarts!"
Both of their jaws dropped wide open. Sirius laughed.
"Dumbledore's retiring and he wants me to replace him. I told him I'd do it. What do you guys think?"
"Why would Dumbledore ask you to do it?" Remus asked in awe that the former marauder was now going to be running the school.
"Something about wanting his grandson to do the job."
Again wide open mouths.
"What do you mean, grandson?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, apparently my dad wasn't my dad. My real dad is Dumbledore's son...he just told me."
Remus looked curiously at Sirius, "You're okay with that?"
"Yeah, you would think it would upset me a little...but it really didn't bother me at all. I mean at first it did...I've been lied to since I was born...but it's okay."
"I'm happy for you Sir," Remus said smiling. "You have more family left than you thought."
Sirius nodded, "You two are enough though."
"So as the new headmaster, I expect to never get detentions or house points taken away, understood?" Harry joked.
"Oh we'll see about that Mr. Potter. If you stick one toe out of line....you'll be in my office so fast!"
Harry laughed, "I think Snape said something like that to me once."
"I'm going to go wash my mouth out with soap now!" Sirius said starting to walk away. Harry grabbed the edge of Sirius's dress robes and held him back. Sirius smiled at him and sat at the edge of his bed.
"Next years going to be awesome," Harry said wistfully.
"So will the rest of this one. Once you heal up...once you both heal up. How are you feeling, by the way, Moony?"
"Much better. I can even walk a little more on my own without my legs giving way. I think a little bit after the full moon I'll be well enough to get out of here."
"How about the memories?"
Remus's face darkened slightly. "They're lessening...but I still have them. I can't imagine how you got through it in the environment you were in, Padfoot...I couldn't have handled that."
"Yeah, but I had to keep looking to the future, if you recall I had a lot going through my head at that time...I had to protect my godson from the evil rat."
"Wait...whatever did happen to Pettigrew?" Harry asked curiously.
"He's dead," Remus said dully.
"How do you know?" Sirius asked.
"I saw him die...he was moved into a cell near mine...we both needed 'high security.' It didn't take too long for him to kick the bucket...heart attack."
Sirius nodded, "He deserved worse."
"I agree," Remus added. Harry chose not to comment on his feelings towards the news of Wormtail's death. He was simply surprised that it had never occurred to him to inquire about Peter's fate after the prison had been broken into.
Remus yawned and Sirius went into Mother Hen mode, "Rem, you must be exhausted! It's been a big day for you. You should get back to bed and rest up. Full moon's tomorrow night. Snape's going to make the Wolfsbane, but you still can't outdo yourself, alright. Here, I'll help you back to your bed." Sirius stood up and walked over to Remus.
"I'm fine Sirius, really...it was just a yawn."
"Moony, I can't let you do this to yourself. You're tired, I can see it...you need to rest!"
Remus knew it would be pointless to fight, and he figured a nap wouldn't hurt him, so he resigned to going back to his bed. He stood on his own and was going to attempt to go back on his own, but Sirius put his arm around him and guided him there. Again he chose not to fight it. Sirius had been through enough that day, he didn't need anymore arguments.
After Sirius had gotten his friend tucked away he returned to Harry's side. Harry, who had been sitting upright, was now bent over, fast asleep. His head was on his knees and his arms flailed out at his sides. Sirius laughed at the sight of him and then tried to twist him into a better position. Once Harry at least looked comfortable Sirius dragged a chair close and rested his elbows on the edge of the bed. Again he simply watched his godson sleep.
Sirius was ready to fall asleep as well when he heard a soft, "Ahem." He looked up to see Neville Longbottom standing in the doorway of the hospital wing. Sirius smiled softly and motioned for him to come forward. Neville took a seat next to Sirius.
"You heard about your pet, I guess?" Sirius asked.
Neville nodded.
Sirius didn't really know what to say, so he mumbled an apology, "I'm sorry I stole your cloak."
"It's alright."
"And I'm sorry about...Trevor was his name?"
Neville nodded.
"He saved Harry's life, you know? He's a heroic toad," Sirius said, having a hard time not laughing at what he just said.
Again Neville just nodded solemnly.
"Ah...I'm also sorry about stealing your passwords and getting you in trouble back when I was still on the run."
"It's fine Professor Black."
"Okay..." Sirius said starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. Neville must have had some reason for coming.
"Ummm...I wanted to thank you...for two things really."
"What's that?" Sirius asked curiously.
"First for putting me in charge yesterday...when that thing happened with Harry. Why'd you pick me?"
"I thought you were the only one who wouldn't immediately say class dismissed, like I would have done when I was in school. I knew you'd do a good job keeping everyone under control. You did, right?"
Neville nodded. "I also wanted to thank you for stealing my cloak."
Sirius smiled in bewilderment, "Why?"
"Well...umm...I'm usually considered...a wimp...but now I-I sort of helped defeat Voldemort, you know? That's the closest to a hero I'll ever be."
"I doubt that Neville...you have a lot of potential, you just have to find some way to direct it...and you're welcome. You're not upset about Trevor?"
"Not really...he always went missing anyways...maybe now that I've lost him for a good reason, my grandmother will get me an owl."
"Good luck with that, Neville."
Neville nodded.
"You should get to bed now, Neville. Almost time for curfew...don't want Filch or Snape to catch you."
A look of abject fear over came him and he belted out of the room. Sirius laughed to himself at the sight and then went back to Harry gazing. For once he was looking at his godson and feeling no worry at all. He now knew, knew for certain, that Harry was going to be alright. He no longer had to constantly worry about his well-being, he would be fine.
Suddenly, though, a worried thoughts ran through Sirius's mind. What if now, with Voldemort gone, Harry no longer needed him? What help could he possibly be for Harry from that point on? Sirius soon got his answer.
Just like earlier that day Harry started thrashing in his sleep and then burst awake in fright. Another nightmare. Sirius helped Harry through it and then got him to fall back asleep.
Sirius soon started dozing off too. The last thing he thought was, "I'm still needed."
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Okay, so another cheesy ending, huh? Well that's not the end of the story. Still to come is a Sirius Christmas and maybe some kind of end of year thing, I haven't decided yet. I'm thinking one more chapter, but another is possible.
So, some of you were right, Harry couldn't really die. I decided at about chapter 22 to make Harry die in the end, but once I got to chapter 27 I changed my mind and decided on this. I didn't think of using the toad as his escape until I wrote about Sirius stealing the cloaks though, that part of it just kind of hit me all of a sudden. I thought it was pretty how most of you didn't mind his death, so long as Sirius and Remus were okay...I'd probably do it too. Thus, I hope you like the outcome!
Also, if you don't like the Dumbledore is Sirius' grandfather thing, too bad...The idea popped into my head and wouldn't leave. I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me and I like the way it turned out. I'm sure some of you hate that, but I like it so it's staying!
I'll probably start my next story soon so keep your eyes out! Oh and please review!
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Sirius would not let Harry go. Dumbledore knelt next to him and put a hand on Sirius's shoulder as he wept into Harry's hair.
"Please, God, no!" He muttered over and over again.
"I'm so sorry, Sirius," Dumbledore whispered.
Sirius nodded his head but didn't look up. He just continued begging into Harry's hair for him to be okay. Sirius wasn't giving up though. He squeezed Harry to him tighter and tighter.
A soft moaning sound came from somewhere as Sirius squeezed tighter. Dumbledore thought it was Sirius and Sirius thought it was Dumbledore making the noise.
"Owww..." was heard after that and Dumbledore looked into Sirius's face and found an expression of shock. Neither of them had made that noise. Sirius let up on his tight hold on Harry for a moment and looked at his face. His eyes were squinted shut in a look of utmost pain. This was not the look he had had earlier. Sirius laughed curiously and gently brushed back the hair on Harry's head. Slowly Harry opened his eyes and focused on Sirius's face.
Sirius laughed in shock. "Harry? Harry! You're okay?!"
Harry nodded lethargically. "Sirius," he whispered.
"Yeah, Harry?"
"My head hurts," he mumbled.
Sirius laughed at this, laughed hysterically and hugged Harry closer to his chest. Tears were still streaming down his face, but now they were tears of joy, not pain. Harry looked confused at the sight of the tears.
"What happened?" he asked in a strained voice. It was obvious that the ordeal had exhausted him.
"We won, Harry, we won."
Harry gave a half smile and nodded. Slowly he closed his eyes and drifted back into unconsciousness.
Dumbledore then came forward and examined Harry. Particularly the back of his head as that's where he said it hurt. He found it to be bleeding quite severely.
"Sirius, this head wound is very bad. We need to apply pressure to it immediately and get him back to the castle."
Again, Sirius looked panicked. Dumbledore saw that he was going to have to do it all himself.
"Give me the boy, Sirius."
This time Sirius let him go. Dumbledore removed Harry's cloak and rolled it up. As he was doing so something fell out of the chest pocket. Before dealing with Harry's wound Dumbledore bent down to inspect the fallen object. It was a dead toad. It then hit him what had happened. The curse had hit the toad, not Harry. The power of curse was what knocked him over and the impact with the ground caused him to pass out. It was miraculous.
Dumbledore shook his head in amazement and then set to work on tying the cloak tightly around Harry's head. When he was done he turned again to Sirius whose head was buried in his hands. Tears were leaking out between his fingers.
"Sirius, we need to go now."
Sirius nodded and got to his feet. "I'll carry Harry."
"Very good, I think I'm a bit too old to take that responsibility anyhow. We'll apparate back to the graveyard. I imagine Remus and the others will be anxiously awaiting your return."
Sirius nodded grabbed tightly to Harry and with tears still slipping down his face left Godric's Hollow and returned to the graveyard. Again in front of his old friends graves, he looked around and saw Remus, Ron and Hermione a little ways down the path. Hermione came running and Ron pushed Remus in his wheel chair at a quick pace. They all stopped dead though when they got within a couple yards of him.
"Oh my God," Remus muttered. "He's not-he's not dead...is he?"
Sirius smiled broadly and shook his head. Tears flew off his cheeks as he did so. "He's going to be just fine."
Remus wasn't sure if he should believe him or not, but when Dumbledore popped into the area with a broad smile too, he knew it was legit.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Tell you later Rem, right now we need to take care of a big cut on Harry's head."
They all nodded, but before they took off Dumbledore reached into his pocket and held out the dead toad for Ron and Hermione to see. "Do you by any chance know this toad?"
They both examined it and then Ron said, "Yeah, that's Trevor. Neville's toad. What happened to him?"
"He saved Harry's life."
Ron and Hermione gave him curious looks but he didn't elaborate. Rather he set off on the path towards the center of Hogsmead where they'd catch the carriages back to the castle.
Sirius was still crying when they reached the castle, and he continued to cry as they brought him to the hospital wing, and as Madam Pomfrey healed Harry's head. He was going to need lots of bed rest due to the extreme amount of time he had spent under the Cruciatus Curse, but Sirius didn't care. Harry was going to be alright. And for that he could cry those tears of joy for all eternity.
Yet, he managed to stop. After everything had been taken care of Sirius sat by Harry's bed and watched him sleep. Everyone else had left. Remus, still looking for answers needed rest before he could get them, so he went to bed. Dumbledore forced Ron and Hermione to go back to classes, but really only so Sirius could have the time he needed alone with Harry. Dumbledore himself went to his office to try to figure out how to tell the ministry of magic exactly what had happened. It would be difficult considering that Fudge never believed the fact that Voldemort had been resurrected in the first place.
So Sirius just sat there, all alone, running his hands over Harry's hair gently. He noticed that the scar on Harry's forehead no longer stood out so much. It looked more like an ordinary scar than it had ever before. He touched it lightly and found that it was the same temperature as the rest of his skin. It had always been slightly different than the rest of his forehead. Sirius smiled to himself.
Harry was finally going to be a normal kid. Sirius had promised him it was going to happen, and now, that promise was going to come true. Sirius was ecstatic.
He sat there for hours watching Harry and never once felt tired or restless. He was more content just then than he had ever been before in his life. He no longer had to worry about what would happen to Harry, Harry was going to be just fine.
It had been seven hours since Harry had had his head healed when he finally woke up. He woke in increments. First his lips started twitching. Then he yawned. Sirius smiled as he saw it happen. Harry then squinted his eyes and then very slowly opened them.
His eyes slowly focused on Sirius's face and he noticed that Sirius was beaming like mad.
"Hi," he mumbled.
"Hey Bud, how you feeling?"
"Everything...hurts."
"I bet. You went through a lot today. I-I thought I had lost you there, Harry. I thought you were dead today."
"Did I almost die?" he muttered.
Sirius nodded, tears again swimming in his eyes. "Just as Dumbledore said "Avada Kedavra", Voldemort said the same thing...to you. I saw the curse hit you...and you fell over. That's when I lost it." Sirius said, again losing it and pulling Harry towards him. Harry sucked in his breath in pain and Sirius immediately pulled back. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you."
"A little," Harry whispered. "I'm okay though."
"Yeah you are okay," Sirius said beaming through the tears.
"But...Sirius? How-how did I survive this time?"
"You know that cloak I gave you?" Sirius asked grinning and wiping his eyes.
Harry nodded.
"Well apparently it belonged to Neville. His pet toad was in the pocket and the curse hit him not you. The power of the curse knocked you out, but it didn't hit you. Understand?"
"Yeah...so, so kinda, I survived the curse again, right?"
Sirius nodded animatedly and he brushed his hand over Harry's head.
"I was so scared I lost you bud. I was so scared," he whispered, the tears falling like rain.
"I'm sorry..." Harry said.
"No, don't be sorry. You never have to be sorry for anything like this! I'm just so happy, so happy you're okay! Voldemort's gone now bud, all you're problems are gone!"
Harry looked up at Sirius and grinned. Tears started rolling down his cheeks as well and he tried to push himself up in bed, but failed. Sirius helped him and then pulled Harry into a gentle hug. He felt Harry hug back and they stayed like that for a long time. Both crying tears of joy for the defeat of Voldemort and the continuation of Harry's life, as well as tears of pain for all they had been through. They took comfort in each other's presence. After awhile their tears ran dry.
Sirius helped Harry lean back against the headboard and then leant against it himself. He put his arm over Harry's shoulder and pulled him close. Harry rested his head against Sirius's shoulder and fell back to sleep. Sirius watched him for a while before letting the exhaustion consume him as well.
By the time they had fallen asleep, though, everyone else was just coming to visit. Remus managed to get himself all the way to the chair next to the bed all on his own. He was very proud of this accomplishment and sat smiling at the two. They really looked like father and son. Sirius's arm was wrapped securely over Harry's shoulder. Harry sleeping contently with his head leaning against Sirius's chest. Remus sat there for a while, watching them when Ron and Hermione came in to visit as well.
"How are they doing?" Hermione whispered.
"I don't know, they've been sleeping since I've been here...but they look pretty happy, don't they?"
Ron and Hermione both nodded. It had been a while since they had seen Harry looking that content.
Next, Dumbledore came strolling in. He quietly told the three all the events of the day, as they had missed out on a lot of it.
"So that's how Trevor saved Harry's life...I had no idea what you were talking about earlier," Hermione said.
Dumbledore nodded. "Well, when they wake up if you wouldn't mind sending Sirius to my office, I'd appreciate it. Although I imagine it will be hard to pry him away from poor Mr. Potter here."
"Will do, Albus," Remus said. Dumbledore then left the room. The others stayed sitting where they were and watched Sirius and Harry sleep like it was the hottest new TV show. Suddenly though, Harry thrashed. They all breathed in sharply and looked at him more intently. He did it again, this time waking Sirius out of his sound sleep.
Then, he started mumbling. "No...No...Please no! Stop!" He continued on like this for a good minute or so. Sirius was trying to shake him awake, but nothing seemed to work. Harry was now starting to scream softly. He seemed terrified. Sirius dug through his pockets trying to find his wand, but he couldn't get it.
"Give me a wand!" he yelled.
Hermione pulled hers out and he ripped it from her hand.
"Enervate!"
Harry's eyes snapped open and he stopped screaming. He was breathing heavily and leaned his head back against Sirius shoulder and buried his face in Sirius's side. Sirius hugged him close.
"What happened bud?" he whispered.
A couple of seconds passed before he spoke, "I relived what happened today...only this time Dumbledore didn't show up. And when...and when...no...in between the curses he sent at me...he...he killed you. Sirius, he killed you."
"It was just a dream, Harry. I'm fine, you're fine, we're all fine."
"I know...it just...scared me."
"It's alright Harry, nothing like that will ever happen. Voldemort's gone."
A smile broke out over Harry's scared face. "He's gone," he whispered.
"Gone, gone, gone!" Sirius laughed. Harry did too and Remus, Ron and Hermione all gave them strange looks. Sirius and Harry could care less and continued to laugh happily about it.
Harry had to stop laughing sooner than Sirius, though, because he was still in a lot of pain and laughing only made it hurt worse. He had a sour look on his face when he stopped laughing because of it.
"Hey are you okay bud?" he asked.
"Yeah, it just still hurts...allover."
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that...again."
Harry nodded. "It's alright...he's gone now," Harry said with another smile.
"Gone, gone, gone," Sirius joked again.
"Don't make me laugh Sirius," he said trying hard not to.
Sirius nodded and turned to the others. "So how long have you guys been sitting around in here?"
"About an hour," Hermione said, looking at her watch.
"You looked so cute like that," Remus said mockingly.
Sirius blushed slightly and threw a pillow at his friend.
Remus just laughed in response. He was getting a lot better, Sirius noted as he watched his friend.
"By the way, Sirius, Dumbledore wanted to see you in his office. He stopped by here and asked us to tell you."
"If it's important he'll come back down. I'm not going there right now."
"Sirius, I'm okay now. You can go, I don't mind. It could be important."
"Are you sure you'll be alright?"
Harry nodded, "And if I'm not, these guys are here, they can get Madam Pomfrey and then you. The school isn't that big."
"Fine, I'll go. Just, be careful Harry."
"Sirius, I'm stuck in a bed in the hospital wing...what could I possibly do?"
"I know you...you could find something."
"Well I won't, I promise."
"Okay, I'll be back," Sirius said removing his arm from Harry's shoulders and climbing off the bed. He walked hurriedly through the school to Dumbledore's office. The door was open when he got there. He peered inside and watched Dumbledore for a moment. He was stroking Fawkes the phoenix, looking very pensive. Sirius knocked on the door frame to make his presence known.
"Sirius, come in," Dumbledore said, smiling brightly. "Please shut the door behind you. I have important business to speak with you about."
Sirius nodded and shut the door after he stepped inside. He took a seat in front of Dumbledore's desk and asked, "What's up?"
Dumbledore smiled and shook his head. Sirius was still so young at heart. Dumbledore wasn't sure he was ready to do what he was about to be asked. "Sirius, I've recently decided that it's my time to leave this school. I have been here for well over sixty years of my life, and I think it's time to finally go into retirement."
"Because Voldemort's dead?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"Well what if another dark wizard pops up in his place. The Malfoy's are still alive aren't they? Who's going to protect the school from them?"
"Well, I was thinking about having my grandson take over."
"You have a grandson? Who is it?"
Dumbledore looked squarely at Sirius with that familiar twinkle in his eyes and said, "You."
"Huh?!" Sirius exclaimed.
"You, Sirius Black, are my grandson. I would like for you to take my place as headmaster of this school."
"I'm...you're? You're my grandfather? But I knew my grandparents...you weren't one of them."
"No, Sirius, I wasn't one of the grandparents you knew. You see, the man who you thought was your father really wasn't. Your real father died before you were even born...that's my son. Your mother remarried soon after and took the last name Black, and gave it to you as well. I think she felt guilty about remarrying so soon, so she decided to cut me out of all of your lives. That's why she never told you, the truth, and I decided that it was best to respect her wishes. Now, though, I thought it was time for you to know the truth."
Sirius looked down and pinched his nose. This was too surreal for him. He had lived almost forty years believing something that was a horrible lie.
"But...what about Sorai?"
"Ah, yes, the grandchild I was actually allowed to see. Yes, your mother decided to change her last name from Dumbledore to Black when she remarried, too. You are both my grandchildren."
Sirius just sat in his seat and shook his head. "I can't believe this."
"I'm sorry, Sirius, but it is the truth. And I can tell you that although you grew up believing a lie, I couldn't think of a better man to raise you than the one you thought was your father. He was my own sons best friend when they were young. He was a good man. He did a good job."
Sirius looked down and kept shaking his head.
"So what do you say?" Dumbledore asked, almost nervously.
Sirius looked up sharply. "About what? About my entire life being a lie?!"
"That was not my fault, Sirius. I was simply following your parent's wishes. I'm asking what you think about taking over for me."
"Why me, Albus? What do I know about running a school? I can barely run my class right! Why didn't you ask Professor McGonagall?"
"Minerva, I know, does not wish to be Headmistress of this school. I talked to her about it long ago. She would prefer to stay Deputy Headmistress for as long as she can. I want you to do this, Sirius, because I know you can. You can bring a wave of youth and fun to this school, that I never dreamed possible. The children can both respect you and like you."
"They respect and like you too, Albus."
"I know this, but I am past my prime. The only reason I've been here as long as I have was to protect the children against Voldemort. They no longer need that. I want you to be the one to protect them against whoever may pop up in the future. Will you be my successor?"
"I don't know, Albus...I don't know how to run a school."
"Ah, it's a piece of cake, really. And I'll be here until the end of this year. I'll show you how it's done."
Sirius sat thinking for a few minutes and then started laughing.
"What is so funny, Sirius?"
"Imagine Snape's face when he finds out I'm the headmaster!"
Dumbledore couldn't help but chuckle as well. It would be rather comical. "Does this mean you'll accept the position?"
Sirius nodded.
Dumbledore beamed at him.
"I have one question though. Since you were...are...my grandfather...did you ever really believe that I did all the things I was imprisoned for?"
Dumbledore looked pensive for a moment and then nodded his head, "Yes I did. I always thought you betraying Lily and James seemed fishy...but I did believe it to be true. All the facts pointed to you. It hurt to believe it, but I admit, I did. And I definitely believed the story about killing Peter and the other muggles. You always had a temper Sirius, and it was impossible to control. Your father was the same way. I truly believed that you did that. That is, until you told me otherwise. I never believed you to be a liar, Sirius."
Sirius nodded, showing he understood and then said, "I want to get back to Harry, now, I'll talk to you more about this later...but I guess, my answer is yes. I'll take your place...grandpa," Sirius said with a smirk.
Dumbledore just smiled, "Goodbye Sirius."
Sirius walked back to the hospital wing slowly, contemplating what Dumbledore just told him. It was so hard to believe that Dumbledore was his grandfather. Though it explained a lot. For example, it explained why he fought so hard to help Sirius get his freedom, why he was the only one who knew how to get Sirius to snap back into reality after Remus's trial, and why after the incident in the shrieking shack he gave Sirius a chance to explain rather than immediately sticking a deatheater on him.
For some reason the knowledge of it all put him in a great mood. He strode back into the hospital wing beaming.
"What happened Sirius?" Harry asked, noticing the happy look on his godfathers face. It was now just Remus and Harry in the room, so Sirius felt he could tell them everything that happened.
"You're looking at the new Headmaster of Hogwarts!"
Both of their jaws dropped wide open. Sirius laughed.
"Dumbledore's retiring and he wants me to replace him. I told him I'd do it. What do you guys think?"
"Why would Dumbledore ask you to do it?" Remus asked in awe that the former marauder was now going to be running the school.
"Something about wanting his grandson to do the job."
Again wide open mouths.
"What do you mean, grandson?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, apparently my dad wasn't my dad. My real dad is Dumbledore's son...he just told me."
Remus looked curiously at Sirius, "You're okay with that?"
"Yeah, you would think it would upset me a little...but it really didn't bother me at all. I mean at first it did...I've been lied to since I was born...but it's okay."
"I'm happy for you Sir," Remus said smiling. "You have more family left than you thought."
Sirius nodded, "You two are enough though."
"So as the new headmaster, I expect to never get detentions or house points taken away, understood?" Harry joked.
"Oh we'll see about that Mr. Potter. If you stick one toe out of line....you'll be in my office so fast!"
Harry laughed, "I think Snape said something like that to me once."
"I'm going to go wash my mouth out with soap now!" Sirius said starting to walk away. Harry grabbed the edge of Sirius's dress robes and held him back. Sirius smiled at him and sat at the edge of his bed.
"Next years going to be awesome," Harry said wistfully.
"So will the rest of this one. Once you heal up...once you both heal up. How are you feeling, by the way, Moony?"
"Much better. I can even walk a little more on my own without my legs giving way. I think a little bit after the full moon I'll be well enough to get out of here."
"How about the memories?"
Remus's face darkened slightly. "They're lessening...but I still have them. I can't imagine how you got through it in the environment you were in, Padfoot...I couldn't have handled that."
"Yeah, but I had to keep looking to the future, if you recall I had a lot going through my head at that time...I had to protect my godson from the evil rat."
"Wait...whatever did happen to Pettigrew?" Harry asked curiously.
"He's dead," Remus said dully.
"How do you know?" Sirius asked.
"I saw him die...he was moved into a cell near mine...we both needed 'high security.' It didn't take too long for him to kick the bucket...heart attack."
Sirius nodded, "He deserved worse."
"I agree," Remus added. Harry chose not to comment on his feelings towards the news of Wormtail's death. He was simply surprised that it had never occurred to him to inquire about Peter's fate after the prison had been broken into.
Remus yawned and Sirius went into Mother Hen mode, "Rem, you must be exhausted! It's been a big day for you. You should get back to bed and rest up. Full moon's tomorrow night. Snape's going to make the Wolfsbane, but you still can't outdo yourself, alright. Here, I'll help you back to your bed." Sirius stood up and walked over to Remus.
"I'm fine Sirius, really...it was just a yawn."
"Moony, I can't let you do this to yourself. You're tired, I can see it...you need to rest!"
Remus knew it would be pointless to fight, and he figured a nap wouldn't hurt him, so he resigned to going back to his bed. He stood on his own and was going to attempt to go back on his own, but Sirius put his arm around him and guided him there. Again he chose not to fight it. Sirius had been through enough that day, he didn't need anymore arguments.
After Sirius had gotten his friend tucked away he returned to Harry's side. Harry, who had been sitting upright, was now bent over, fast asleep. His head was on his knees and his arms flailed out at his sides. Sirius laughed at the sight of him and then tried to twist him into a better position. Once Harry at least looked comfortable Sirius dragged a chair close and rested his elbows on the edge of the bed. Again he simply watched his godson sleep.
Sirius was ready to fall asleep as well when he heard a soft, "Ahem." He looked up to see Neville Longbottom standing in the doorway of the hospital wing. Sirius smiled softly and motioned for him to come forward. Neville took a seat next to Sirius.
"You heard about your pet, I guess?" Sirius asked.
Neville nodded.
Sirius didn't really know what to say, so he mumbled an apology, "I'm sorry I stole your cloak."
"It's alright."
"And I'm sorry about...Trevor was his name?"
Neville nodded.
"He saved Harry's life, you know? He's a heroic toad," Sirius said, having a hard time not laughing at what he just said.
Again Neville just nodded solemnly.
"Ah...I'm also sorry about stealing your passwords and getting you in trouble back when I was still on the run."
"It's fine Professor Black."
"Okay..." Sirius said starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. Neville must have had some reason for coming.
"Ummm...I wanted to thank you...for two things really."
"What's that?" Sirius asked curiously.
"First for putting me in charge yesterday...when that thing happened with Harry. Why'd you pick me?"
"I thought you were the only one who wouldn't immediately say class dismissed, like I would have done when I was in school. I knew you'd do a good job keeping everyone under control. You did, right?"
Neville nodded. "I also wanted to thank you for stealing my cloak."
Sirius smiled in bewilderment, "Why?"
"Well...umm...I'm usually considered...a wimp...but now I-I sort of helped defeat Voldemort, you know? That's the closest to a hero I'll ever be."
"I doubt that Neville...you have a lot of potential, you just have to find some way to direct it...and you're welcome. You're not upset about Trevor?"
"Not really...he always went missing anyways...maybe now that I've lost him for a good reason, my grandmother will get me an owl."
"Good luck with that, Neville."
Neville nodded.
"You should get to bed now, Neville. Almost time for curfew...don't want Filch or Snape to catch you."
A look of abject fear over came him and he belted out of the room. Sirius laughed to himself at the sight and then went back to Harry gazing. For once he was looking at his godson and feeling no worry at all. He now knew, knew for certain, that Harry was going to be alright. He no longer had to constantly worry about his well-being, he would be fine.
Suddenly, though, a worried thoughts ran through Sirius's mind. What if now, with Voldemort gone, Harry no longer needed him? What help could he possibly be for Harry from that point on? Sirius soon got his answer.
Just like earlier that day Harry started thrashing in his sleep and then burst awake in fright. Another nightmare. Sirius helped Harry through it and then got him to fall back asleep.
Sirius soon started dozing off too. The last thing he thought was, "I'm still needed."
~~~~~~~~~
Okay, so another cheesy ending, huh? Well that's not the end of the story. Still to come is a Sirius Christmas and maybe some kind of end of year thing, I haven't decided yet. I'm thinking one more chapter, but another is possible.
So, some of you were right, Harry couldn't really die. I decided at about chapter 22 to make Harry die in the end, but once I got to chapter 27 I changed my mind and decided on this. I didn't think of using the toad as his escape until I wrote about Sirius stealing the cloaks though, that part of it just kind of hit me all of a sudden. I thought it was pretty how most of you didn't mind his death, so long as Sirius and Remus were okay...I'd probably do it too. Thus, I hope you like the outcome!
Also, if you don't like the Dumbledore is Sirius' grandfather thing, too bad...The idea popped into my head and wouldn't leave. I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me and I like the way it turned out. I'm sure some of you hate that, but I like it so it's staying!
I'll probably start my next story soon so keep your eyes out! Oh and please review!