For My Loved Ones by Spelljammer
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
CHAPTER 6: Reunion Under Fire
Sirius Black, the former Prisoner of Azkaban was standing in the mother of all checkout lines in a muggle supermarket in Little Whinging with his family just like everyone else. He, Remus and Harry had already finished the day's shopping and were waiting...and waiting. Some old lady wrote a check and everyone was waiting patiently to the best of their abilities. The three had been waiting for over twenty minutes and the other lines were full. You wouldn't feel alive like a human being right now, you wouldn't feel like this is the best feeling in the world, you wouldn't appreciate being a just doing things everyone else does no matter how inane...unless you were Sirius Black. Among the tension, and stress and price checks, Sirius felt alive. The same couldn't be said for Harry and Remus who had gotten tired after ten minutes of waiting. They were still three groups of people away from getting their own groceries scanned. Sirius was impressed how supermarkets had changed since the early eighties. Harry noticed how the housewife behind them was blushing at Sirius. He did look impressive now, designer black leather jacket playing no small role in his transformation from haggard convict, to a sharply dressed, ashen faced modern guy. Of course the long, silky, black hair and gray eyes he had had a lot to do with it too. Harry tugged at the jacket.
"I was planning on getting you a duster but Remus said you'd stick out too much." Harry said smiling.
"Yeah, I have to keep a low profile you know." They started to move forward. There were absolutely no wizards in Surrey today except for the three that were in the line so it was relatively safe to hide in a crowd of muggles. Sirius always had an easy time passing himself off as muggle. Harry then fully inspected his godfather's clothing and how it fit.
"I was afraid that everything would be too tight or we'd have to make alterations but everything fits well." Harry said as Remus pushed the cart up more.
"Remus sure seems to know every part of your body!" he added quite innocently. Remus turned a soft pink and Sirius noticed this.
"Well, he memorized every piece of it since Hogwarts." He said with his now patented half-cocked grin. Remus just got redder but remained silent.
"Hey, Snuff, what are we going to do about the full moon?" Harry said seriously. (Snuff? Remus mouthed silently)
"I definitely have a few ideas about that, but we'll have to wait until we get home." The three moved up in line again. "Hey, Remus. Why did you tag along? I know my way around a supermarket."
"Because you would have bought nothing but junk food, that's why. You were Honeydukes best customer even out of school." Sirius looked huffy and Harry gave another grin and then wondered how a gentle man like Remus Lupin could be a vicious killer once every month. He kept his concerns to himself though as they FINALLY put their groceries on the conveyer belt. Once they got outside the store it started to sprinkle rain drops but they didn't mind. Remus was carrying the heaviest bag and with his preternatural strength he seemed to be only carrying a feather. They noticed the muggle paper boy whiz by as they made their way up Privet Drive.
"Awfully late isn't he?" Remus commented as he sidestepped some dog droppings on the sidewalk which he smelled a mile away.
"Well I didn't hear him this..."
"HOLY SHITE!!" the boy screamed terrified. They ran over to him and realized he was at their home. He stumbled off his bike because on the front door step was a vicious growling wolf! Harry, Remus and Sirius all saw it. Sirius had an idea how to handle it though.
"What the problem?" Sirius said non-chalantly.
"L..l..look." The boy pointed at the front door, but as Sirius predicted nothing was there anymore.
"Nothing to see here, just our doorstep." He called as the boy took off on his bike dazed. As they made their way inside Sirius groaned "That sort of crap has been going on all day."
"We all saw it, but it seems too fleeting of an image for a boggart...and not tanglible enough for a sword." Remus said.
"Confirmation I'm not mental is always a good thing." Sirius grunted as they closed the front door. Harry and Sirius went to the kitchen with the paper bags and put them on the countertop. Harry looked concerned. "Don't fret. We'll have a research party and then get rid of...whatever, before the Weasleys show up. We've got the whole week."
"It's Wednesday."
"Aw, bugger!" Sirius complained as he put away the milk. Remus was in the other room and saw the sword just lying out in the living room, so picked it up and was going to put in the war chest in the cupboard. When he made his way to the cupboard underneath the stairs and opened it....
"H..Harry!?" Remus saw, instead of the large wooden chest, a pale, thin and battered eleven-year old Harry Potter...for about ten seconds then the chest appeared again. This disturbed him...he'd have to talk with Sirius soon about what he was seeing and hearing. The rain started to fall stronger outside. Remus made his way back to the living room and then noticed the empty chicken boxes. With a small grumble he picked them up and put them in an empty grocery bag because they didn't have a trash can yet. Sirius and Harry then walked out of the kitchen. Remus then gave Harry a glance real quick before saying.
"Sirius and I will go to the study and look up illusion demons. You should go take a shower then read through your mother's Book of Shadows. I know you've been wanting to." Remus said still looking at Harry, top and bottom.
"You used a rain charm right? I hope I get the temperature right...and no bolts of lightning." Harry said thinking back to his charms course with Flitwick.
"You only need to worry if its cast outdoors. The atmosphere won't interfere if it's cast in the house." Remus explained. As Harry walked upstairs Remus stopped him. "Harry..."
"Yeah."
"Um, if anything's wrong you'd tell us right?"
"Sure, I don't want to get electrocuted in my own bathroom." Harry said as he walked up the stairs again.
"That's not what I meant." Remus said quietly.
"You think something's going on with Harry too?" Sirius said in Remus' ear.
"The only way another Dark Creature other than I could get in is if someone else invited it in."
"Or if it was created in the house." Sirius said which was more along the lines of what Remus was thinking. Harry was then in bathroom taking a shower with a properly executed tropical atmosphere rain charm washing over him. Sirius and Remus were in the converted bedroom study looking up Poltergeists, fear entities and ghosts in several expert level Defense Against Dark Arts books. Harry was just simply thinking about Uncle Vernon and how he heard his voice that morning. How he'd worked so hard for the Dursleys even when he was little. How Vernon would hit him even at the slightest provocation. That was all over now since he was with his loved ones, even if they lived in the same house. It's not like Vernon could come back and...
"You freak excuse of a boy! Get out of there and let me use the loo!" snarled the familiar voice of Vernon Dursley.
"What?" Harry said palpable fear in his voice
"I said, I need to go soon...red light!' said the familiar, if a little frenetic, voice of Sirius.
"Okay!" Harry, a little shaken then took the wand and pointed it at the cloud above him. "Finite Incantatem!" he said with authority. The rain cloud dissipated and Harry then pointed at the door where the fluffy towel was hanging. "Accio, towel." The towel then flew across the room to Harry's hand and he wrapped the towel around his waist.
"It's all yours." Harry then said as Sirius came in. As Sirius passed by him he saw a horrific sight. Harry's freshly washed flesh was covered in bruises, some shaped like hands...all across his body. Sirius let out a gasp but when Harry turned around they all were gone. "What's wrong?" He asked.
"Who did this to you?" he asked coldly
"Excuse me?"
"That..thing was here." He sputtered.
"I know, it has such bad taste. For a minute I thought Uncle Vernon wanted to use the bathroom." Harry said quietly. As Sirius sat down on the toilet seat he thought of what Remus said in the study about seeing Harry in the cupboard. He knew Vernon Dursley was not a pleasant man. He'd met him when the Marauders spent the summer hanging around James and Lily before the wedding. He hated magic and everything wizarding.
He couldn't take it out on Harry though. He's just a defenseless child. Sirius thought. Then the memories came back. Harry said everyday was like a fight for survival, that they had a long feud because he had the ability to use magic. It started to piece together. He had to know what was going on in the house though first. As he got up and washed his hands and flushed the toilet a thought hit him with such total simplicity it hurt. You moron! Anyone callous enough to abandon a child in a house certainly could abuse him...even do disgusting, humiliating things to him! His instinct was overpowering. Harry was abused by Vernon and this..thing, being, whatever was feeding off it. But that didn't explain the full moon, wolf, and Dementors....Fuck! It's feeding off all of us! This foreign entity had a potential to hurt them severely if not physically then mentally. They didn't need to be hurt mentally anymore. And he definitely wanted to know where the "Kill the spare" remark came from. Now, Sirius had a dilemma on his hands. Try to get Harry to open up about what happened while living with the Dursleys could make this being stronger than ever. If they got rid of the being first Harry just might keep silent about his pain. He would ingest it and let it feed upon his mind until it rots away the light inside his soul. You should know, Padfoot, you're the expert. He thought glumly. He decided to approach the matter delicately in the morning giving him time to think. It wasn't his style but with an unknown entity and Harry's already fragile condition he wasn't going to push his luck. Harry had a nice heating charm in his bed and was in a sweatshirt reading his mother's book. Lily's handwriting was beautiful and it told of her daily life. Since the book was a graduation present, practically every other entry was about James. One entry though stuck out...
Hogwart's view on the power of magic is so limited. As if anybody could learn everything from textbooks. Severus was right, only when you're outside the walls and books can you fully develop the energy of magic. I'm so happy James agrees with me. I think Ollivander is sooo overrated. You don't NEED a wand to conjure magic since the power comes directly from your soul. It's just a tool to harness energy. The first witches didn't need wands...
Harry was a more than a little surprised. For a minute Lily sounded like Dumbledore and was really wondering why she would have ANYTHING to do with Snape. As Harry looked through the book he noticed some pages were written in strange languages and symbols. He then realized those were the pages where Lily wrote her spells. He'd have to ask Remus and Hermione to help him translate. Harry did wonder though, even though James was the golden-boy animagus...was Lily more powerful than James in the arcane arts? He thought she could have been like Hermione, but the pages that she wrote writhed in understanding far beyond what you can get in textbooks. It was for a brief moment a little scary. Most of the afternoon was spent quietly reading with the book, running downstairs for the occasional snack totally forgetting he could use a summoning charm now. The "being" in the house didn't bother them the rest of the afternoon, which was good news because there were like twenty different candidates that seemed to be the cause of what was happening at the house. From super powerful boggarts to even wraiths and specters, Remus and Sirius couldn't exactly narrow down their search criteria that night. Before they all retired after dinner Sirius warned not to take the unknown being too harshly and that to go ahead and try some spells if it bothered them to much. As they went to bed Sirius then cupped Harry's cheek in his hand and spoke.
"Good night Harry, if there's anything you want to talk about just say the word."
"I'm fine. I just hope that...whatever that thing is... lets me sleep tonight." Harry then pecked Sirius on the cheek and flashed a warm smile before going upstairs. Sirius now knew Harry was hiding something. The more Harry reassured him the more he knew Harry was hurting. After two years of letters he knew that part of Harry's personality well. When they were in bed that night Sirius let Remus know about his suspicions.
"Well it's an ugly, shameful part of himself he doesn't want people to know about." Remus said thoughfully. Sirius was curled up on Remus' chest and was listening to the wolf's heartbeat. "I know what that feels like to have something disgusting about you lurking inside." Remus remembered how, initially, he didn't want his friends to know about the lycanthropy because he thought they'd be scared and reject him, but instead they went out of their way to accommodate him changing into animals for him, Sirius especially changing into another canine for his sake. Remus always wondered what it would be like if his friends were normal people and would have tried to destroy him.
"We worked through it. We helped you, stood by you, took care of you..."
"That doesn't make the pain easier to deal with. I was so disgusted with myself I almost dropped out of Hogwarts. On that day I was outed as the wolf I was terrified you all would abandon..." Sirius immediately put his mouth over Remus'. At first there was shock, but Remus eased up fast. It was like he was dehydrated and was thirsting after the taste of Sirius' mouth because he simply wouldn't pull away. Sirius delicately explored every part of Remus' mouth and was driving all of his feelings and energy into him. When they pulled back Remus' breathing was ragged and Sirius then turned to him.
"I'll burn in hell first before you and Harry are alone again." Sirius whispered. Like that stopped the tragedy of Godric's Hollow. Remus thought bitterly. He noticed Sirius' eyes become distant and felt that he was thinking the same thing.
"I think we have to learn to trust each other...not just reveling in raw happiness and idle times." Remus laced his fingers with Sirius' "Voldemort twisted our feelings and made us hurt each other. In the end only Lily believed in all of us. We'll get through this. You're going to have to learn about Harry over the coming days and he's going to learn about you." Remus said with great gentleness.
"Okay, I know what I'll do." Sirius said quietly. In Harry's bedroom, Harry shifted in his covers and was starting to hear voices...he sat up and felt the presence of the unknown being again. He reached for his wand. The voices then took a familiar tone.
"Don't touch me Black!" It was Remus. "I hate you. You murdered our family and tried to kill Harry!" There were no illusions this time just the voices. He then heard Sirius.
"I knew it, you believe them. Dumbledore believes them too. Forget it, I'm leaving."
"Say it's not true...please." Remus' voice was desperate
"It's not true."
"Fuck you, Black!"
"Goodbye, Remus"
"How the hell I'm supposed to keep going on? YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING GOOD IN MY LIFE!!"
"Riddikulus!" Harry chanted into the darkness. He prayed that both men would appear in bunny rabbit costumes. But something strange occurred...A sickly white light bled through the darkness in the room. It formed itself into a human...shape. A human shaped, faceless entity of off-white energy was hovering over Harry. Hearing the commotion the real Sirius and Remus busted in and saw the still unknown entity. After a few minutes it just vanished. Remus and Sirius just stared at Harry.
"I've got five galleons down that it's not a boggart." Harry said weakly.
"Search just narrowed." was Sirius' reply. Thursday went by fast. Harry and Remus were transfiguring leaves and twigs into decent furniture to accommodate the Weasleys and to fill out the house. It was very decent, good quality oak. They transfigured a dining room table, chairs and a bookcase. Sirius was busy searching the identity of the being they saw last night. He narrowed the search to spectral beings, thoughtforms, and astral entities. He seriously hoped it wasn't a being from the astral plane because it was said those kinds of beings were indestructible. No one talked about the voices Harry heard last night, so much for opening up about their feelings. During lunch, which was grilled cheese sandwiches, a very hyper owl sped through the open kitchen window. It's seemed to want to peck Harry to death...it was Ron's owl Pig. It finally let up and dropped off a letter and took off.
"I never thought that owl would have a personality disorder." Sirius quipped lightly.
"If you lived with Ron day in and day out you would." Harry grumbled as he read the parchment.
Harry,
Heard about your new living arrangement. All the best to you! Me, Ginny, mum and dad will come down and visit you tomorrow evening at 6:30. We got the car back! Hagrid almost crashed into it while riding his bike. (Sirius just grunted at this) Hermione also knows and will be seeing you also. ("Real sub-rosa all right." Remus grumbled) Can't wait to see what you did with the house since I last visited. Mum DID NOT like what you did about the tournament winnings and wanted them to give it to charity. Dad is pro joke shop and him, mum, Fred and George got into a massive row. We're sort of good now, but mum never looked so defeated before. We're all uneasy with the fact that the Ministry may be untrustworthy, but it's just politics you know. ("Like he would know." Harry said flippantly) Mum and Dad still don't trust Sirius but I get the feeling it's something other than being falsely accused escaped convict. And what's Clairvoyant mean anyway? You clear-sighted or something? I know you wear glasses so does that mean you have super vision or something. See you tomorrow!
Ron
"That boy misses things by that much." Sirius put his thumb and forefinger in the "little" position.
"That's an improvement." Harry chuckled weakly. So the three finished their day out keeping busy, not really saying anything to each other. Friday afternoon came around and Molly, Arthur, Ron and Ginny Weasley left the Burrow in their enchanted Ford, flying, invisible with no objection from Molly. Something was on her mind. Everyone in the car knew it too.
"Well, Molly come out with it." Arthur said as they flew above the clouds. The area around Surrey was still experiencing rain but Arthur knew where to drive.
"I don't think Mr. Black should be taking care of Harry. I mean he always stayed with us before why change things." Molly said quietly.
"Mum! Sirius is completely innocent!" Ron protested.
"I'm not talking about that! Just because you're innocent doesn't instantly qualify you to take care of someone." Molly words were tight, controlled. Arthur was silent. Molly had often talked to him about adopting Harry outright especially after hearing stories from Ron. "He was completely a hellraiser in school and he just came out of Azkaban with a high probability of returning there. And he even has the nerve of letting that werewolf staying with them too!"
"Professor Lupin is a very good person! We're all going there to help them! Harry couldn't possibly be any happier." Ron insisted. What Ron didn't know was that Molly Weasley was part of the massive letter writing campaign that forced Lupin to resign. It was her duty as a responsible parent not to let a dangerous creature near her family...but Hogwarts wasn't exactly considered safe anymore. That thought didn't sit to well with her either. The rest of the car ride was silent. Meanwhile a visitor was on the doorstep on Privet Drive.
"Hermione!" Harry screamed when he saw her on the front door in a smart trench coat. She looked different. Her hair was long and straight not bushy at all. It was a small change but very noticeable. After drying off and hanging up the coat Hermione noticed the house.
"It's really charming Harry!" she squealed at the not-so-bare-anymore house. The wooden furniture made it very inviting. The smell of tea on the magickially charged stovetop made it more inviting.
"Hey girl, long time no see!" Sirius said as he came from the basement. He had buttoned down long-sleeved white shirt and his camouflaged pants on. Hermione started to blush deeply noticing how clean Sirius looked. Harry beamed with no small pride. He helped craft this fine looking man of the house.
"Did Harry get qualifications for being a clairvoyant?" She said not breaking her gaze.
"Let's bring our Hermione up to speed shall we?" Sirius said as he motioned to the living room.
"Yes, lets." Harry grinned stupidly. Meanwhile Remus was upstairs in the study on research duty. The last encounter was personal. Harry learned about the last time he and Sirius were together before Azkaban. He was desperately hoping that nothing would happen when they had company. He read through the books they had. Fighting this entity would be a hell of a lot easier once they established what is was...then it happened again.
"STUPID FREAK! WHY DADDY HAS TO KEEP YOU IS BEYOND ME!!" It was a child's voice but it was quite harsh. It was only the voice though, nothing else. Then Sirius spoke up.
"Remmie, you okay up there?" He asked.
"Yes! Is Miss Granger there?"
"Yeah, I'm here Mr. Lupin." She spoke up.
"Does she know of our predicament?
"Yes!" All three yelled.
"Then by all means send her up before the others get here!" Remus said as Harry guided her to the study. Hermione giggled at the sight of the study. Harry probably figured that Hermione had a massive study, but in truth she admired its coziness. She and Remus immediately went to work to identify the intruder. Remus had already written a case history of the creature. Hermione had read through the notes and everything. Harry went downstairs to tend to the tea when Hermione spoke.
"So you think its Harry?" she said quietly.
"All the signs point to him." Remus said in the same quiet voice.
"I propose it's a thoughtform, a being of pure energy and thought."
"Yes, but it could be feeding off all of us, not to mention there are many different classes of thoughtforms" Suddenly he heard Sirius again.
"Hey you guys get downstairs, they're here!" So Hermione and Remus went downstairs and Harry bolted out of the kitchen. He was so happy. He never reckoned that anything bad would happen. So naturally when he opened the door he never thought he would see a great black basilisk on the front door. Lots of screaming ensued and a slammed door followed. The door reopened to a flushed Arthur and Molly Weasley and a Ron and Ginny Weasley in the bushes. It turns out they saw the same basilisk in the front door. So there was an immediate conference in the dining room. The fully furnished dining room with table and chairs.
"A haunted house?" Ron said with a slight shiver.
"Maybe, except our so called ghost was created." Remus said knowing it has something to do with Harry.
"Who would create a ghost like that?" Molly said slightly sternly.
"It could very well be an accident dear." Arthur said then he turned to Hermione. "You said it was a thoughtform?"
"Yes, but I don't know what kind of being would shape into fears that isn't a boggart."
"Maybe it's not fears. Maybe it just, you know, reacts strongest to..." Sirius began before....
"YOU SHITTY BOY! YOU BETTER APPRECIATE EVERYTHING I DO FOR YOU!!" After a moment of stunned silence Harry explained it was Vernon Dursley. Everyone was piecing together things now. Arthur looked quite uncomfortable.
"Let's go to the study and get this matter settled." Arthur said shaken. So Harry showed Hermione and Ron his room, while the adults were in the study. The three were talking quietly.
"So how do we get rid of a thoughtform?" Harry inquired.
"Only the person who created it can get rid of it." Harry knew that this might have something to do with him. The adults came back into the room. Sirius spoke first.
"It's an eidolon." He said. Hermione's eyes lit up.
"So its only form is the memories from its creator?" She asked. Ron and Harry looked puzzled. Hermione then explained. "An eidolon is a creature made of pure thought and energy. Its almost like a patronus except its form is the feelings, emotions or memories of its creator. Normally its not violent or scary but..."
"It's stuck on our bad memories." Harry just said plainly right before...
"HE"S GETTING AWAY!" They all saw in Harry's window Vernon Dursley trying to restrain Harry from leaving by the enchanted car with Ron, Fred, and George. It was quite a violent scene. Ron remembered this memory well. It was just before second year. Molly was starting to get a very good idea what kind of person Harry had to live with for fourteen years. Just then the scene dissolved.
"Harry, please tell us what you really had to go through...before we met you." Remus asked gently. Silence.
"Harry, love, please." Sirius said very quietly. Harry was going to speak up when a very familiar voice spoke...
"Harry, take my body back will you? Take my body back to my parents."
Standing in the hallway was Cedric Diggory.