The action begins a little in this chapter. It will fully appear in the
next chapter. I'm excited! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I had a good
time writing it!
Okay, this is the third time I'm going to attempt to put this up. I was going to put it up Wednesday before all my graduation stuff happened, but the site was down. I actually thought I had put it up though, and was like, wow, not one review, that really sucks. Then I come to find out that no one had reviewed because I never posted it. So here it is, finally.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Those first three years passed in a hurry. Harry got big, and learned to walk and talk. Sirius learned to be a good father figure and aged twice as fast as he would have otherwise. He hadn't been ready for responsibility, but when he had to, he took it.
The full three years Sirius worked at the same grocery store. He didn't love it, but it earned him enough to live comfortably with Harry in their apartment and buy new things when they needed to.
What surprised Sirius the most, however, was that he had found happiness there in Rhode Island with Harry. He still missed James, Lily, Remus and his parents greatly, but he was still happy. He had made new friends, the Daltons, and several of his co-workers. He had fun with Harry, he loved Harry.
However, for the second time in his life, Sirius soon found out what it was like to have his world turned upside down.
It started when he was at home one Saturday afternoon, trying to teach Harry a little magic. When an owl flew through the window. He recognized it immediately as Remus's. Over the years Remus occasionally sent him a few letters telling him what was going on in England, and what rumors there were about Sirius. They usually held no great news, nor any terrible news, until that day.
Sirius,
I know you haven't heard from me in a while, and this time, you're not going to want to. I write today with very bad news. Please promise you won't do anything rash, but there has been an attack. It appears to be a deatheater attack, though their still hasn't been any sign that Voldemort has actually risen once again. The attack was on your parents, Sirius. I'm sorry, they're both dead.
Sirius dropped the letter without reading the rest and felt himself start to shake. Voldemort was the cause of all Sirius's pain. He took James and Lily away, forced him away from his parents, Remus, and England, and now he caused more deaths of people he loved. Sirius felt anger surge through him and he clenched his fists. He wanted to cry so badly, but he didn't let himself. He remembered the promise he made to himself the last time he cried and wanted to stick to it.
Sirius gritted his teeth and picked Remus's letter back up and read on.
I'm really worried about how you're going to react to this, Sirius. Please promise me you won't do anything to put yourself or Harry in any danger. You have to stay wherever you are, because that's safe. I wish you could come to the funeral, but don't. No matter what, don't. I'll go, and I'll report back to you on it. I'm so sorry it happened, and that I have to be the bearer of bad news.
I have a lot more to tell you, but now's not the time. You have a lot to think about right now. Just remember I'm still on the lookout for Peter, and whoever did this to your parents. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if they were one in the same.
Take care of yourself,
Love Remus
Sirius bit his lip and put the letter in a drawer. He then pulled a fresh piece of paper out and wrote a letter back to Remus.
Remus,
Thanks for telling me. I can't believe their gone. Though I missed them terribly over these last years, I miss them so much more knowing I'll never see them again. But I'm glad I know. I can't believe there's still deatheater activity over there. I thought I was on the run with Harry just to keep myself from Azkaban, and Harry from the muggles, but it appears I also have to be on the lookout for them. They have ways of finding me, even here, and that scares me more than you'll ever know. Please keep me posted on all other suspicious activity over there, because there is a good chance it'll affect me over here, and I still can't tell you where here is, especially now.
I love you and miss you, and miss them, so much I could cry right now, but I won't. I've made a vow never to cry again, and so far I've kept it. I hope I can still. I'm sure you can see by the writing how hard that is for me. Life really sucks. Just when it's getting good something like this happens and slaps you right in the face. Take care of yourself Remus, and keep in contact, because once the letters stop I'm going to assume they got you too.
Love Sirius
Sirius tied the note to Remus's owl and watched it fly out the window. As he watched it go he longed to be what it carried below it's magnificent wings, flying back to England. But he was rooted firmly to the spot, shaking like a leaf.
Just then the door to his apartment opened and Sirius whipped around, expecting to see a deatheater. He sighed in relief when he saw that it was just Emily.
"Sirius. . .are you okay? You're shaking like crazy." She went to shut all the open windows in the apartment, mistaking the shaking for shivering.
Slowly Sirius moved to the couch and sat down. She went and sat beside him and looked at him expectantly. When he didn't say anything she asked again, "Sirius, are you okay?"
Sirius shook his head, signifying that no, he was not okay.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Sirius whispered, knowing that if he said anymore than that he would completely lose his already unstable composure.
"Okay. . ." she said uncertainly. "Do you want to be alone?"
Sirius nodded.
"Do you want me to take Harry out for a while?"
Again Sirius just nodded. He then looked at her and said, "Please."
Emily smiled uncertainly, "Sure thing."
Sirius watched Emily move down the small hall of the apartment to Harry's room. She then emerged holding Harry's hand as he skipped along beside her.
She sighed as she looked again at Sirius, "Are you going to be okay? You look awful."
Sirius just nodded and spread his arms signifying he wanted Harry to come to him. Harry ran forward as he was expected to and jumped onto Sirius's lap.
"Hey bud," Sirius whispered. "Emily's going to take you out for a little while, okay?"
Harry looked sadly at Sirius like he knew something was wrong, but he nodded his head anyways.
"Give me a hug," Sirius whispered, his voice catching slightly.
Harry stood in Sirius's lap and wrapped his arms around his neck. Sirius squeezed him tightly and kissed his messy head.
"Now go with Emily," Sirius muttered. Harry did this, almost reluctantly. When they reached the door Harry turned back and gave Sirius the most meaningful look Sirius had ever seen on the young child's face. It was almost like he could feel Sirius's pain, even though he didn't know what was going on. Sirius felt his lip tremble as he watched the door shut.
"Screw my rule," Sirius thought as he let the tears fall down his face. He cried for a good fifteen minutes straight, thinking about all the things he had missed in England. He missed his parents last three years of life. He would never see those people he loved so dearly again. Sirius couldn't understand why life had to be so tough.
He actually cried himself to sleep there on the couch that day and was woken a couple of hours later by Harry's return. Harry had climbed onto his chest and decided to take a nap of his own. Sirius opened his eyes and saw nothing but black. Harry's hair was blocking the rest of the world from vision. Gently Sirius patted Harry's back trying to wake him up. He heard Harry groan lightly and lift his head off of Sirius's face.
Harry sat up straddling Sirius's stomach. Sirius picked him up under the arms and sat both of them upright on the couch. Harry was sitting on Sirius's knees facing him.
"What were you doing laying on me like that?" Sirius asked in a kind voice.
"I wanted to take a nap too," he said. Harry had a slightly British accent, but it was nowhere near as strong as Sirius's.
"But you never want to take naps."
"I did today."
"Why's that?"
"Because you were. . .and you seemed sad."
Sirius smiled at the little boy in his lap. He was sometimes overwhelmed by how sweet a four year old could be.
"And you wanted to make me feel better?"
Harry nodded smiling broadly. Sirius couldn't help but wrap his arms around him and give him another kiss on his forehead.
"I love you Harry."
"I love you!" Harry screeched happily. Sirius tickled him then and Harry squirmed off him laughing. He then strutted to the other end of the couch where he sat in feigned resentment, but he was given away when the corners of his mouth kept turning up and he'd try to turn them back down . Sirius laughed at him and he smiled back. Harry could never stay mad at Sirius for long, whether it was real anger or fake anger.
"Did you have fun with Emily today?"
Harry shook his head.
Sirius looked startled. Harry always had fun with Emily. "Why, what happened?"
"I couldn't have fun."
"Why not?"
"Because you were sad."
"Yes, I was sad, but that doesn't mean you couldn't still have fun."
"I was sad because you were sad."
Sirius laughed lightly and dragged Harry back to him. He tucked Harry under his arm and stroked his hair, and with his little godson next to him, Sirius could handle the stress that came with his parent's deaths. Harry gave him the strength he needed to move on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Over the course of those three years, Peter Pettigrew had made himself quite cozy at the Burrow. Every member of the family liked the lazy rat, especially the young and annoying Ronald Weasley. But Peter was loving his life of leisure. He lived comfortably doing no work and having a diet of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans that were always lying around the house and the table scraps everyone fed him. Life was good for Peter Pettigrew.
However, one day, while the family was out Peter turned back into his human form to read the paper. He did this whenever he got the chance. The front page headline that day was, "Deatheater attack on the Black Family: Could the son be behind it all?"
Peter laughed harshly at the headline, but read the article with curiosity. Both Mr. And Mrs. Black had been killed by the Avada Kedavra curse and the dark mark was left over the house. The article alluded to the fact that Sirius had probably been behind the deaths and focused on the fact that there was again deatheater activity about. Peter looked down at the dark mark on his own arm. It was dull, which meant that the Dark Lord had not risen, but perhaps there was a plot for him to rise again.
Peter changed quickly back into his rat form and fled the house, never again to return to the Burrow
~~~~~~~~~~
That day Remus read the article as well. He shook his head in disgust when he saw reference to Sirius in the headline. The man hadn't been seen in over three years, but he's still being accused of more murders. Sirius was the furthest thing from a murderer Remus could think of.
A few minutes after that he received the return owl from Sirius. It was almost impossible to read, the writing was all over the place. Remus was willing to bet that Sirius's vow to never cry had already been broken. The letter revealed to Remus that Sirius was all torn up inside, and he needed to cry to heal. Remus's only hope for Sirius was that he had somebody there to comfort him. He had no idea how much comfort Harry alone could give him.
What Remus wanted more than anything was to see his friend again. To help him through his pain and to inadvertently help himself through the pain. Remus got his chance a week later, but it was extremely against his will.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter made his way through the forest to a cave where he knew deatheaters would often meet to discuss there new plans. When he arrived there was nobody around, but he knew people would show up eventually.
And they did. After he waited almost half a day a small group of deatheaters showed up. Peter recognized them as Lucius Malfoy with his sidekicks Crabbe and Goyle. Also there were Macnair, Knott, and some other people Peter had never been introduced too. All together there were nearly ten deatheaters there, counting Peter.
He listened to them talk a bit before he revealed himself.
"I can't believe they still think Black is capable of these things. That buffoon wouldn't last ten minutes as one of us," Malfoy said arrogantly.
"Yes, well, that was the one good thing that moronic Pettigrew was good for. Nice framing, not even that idiot Dumbledore realizes Black isn't capable of such things," Macnair muttered.
"If only Pettigrew were intelligent enough not to let the Dark Lord go as well," spat Knott bitterly. "Do you think he meant for it to happen?"
"Not sure. . ." Malfoy said pensively. "He seemed pretty loyal to Voldemort, however, he was once one of those silly Marauders."
Peter listened to this and did the first brave thing he had ever done in his life. He turned back into his human form in front of the deatheaters.
"What the Hell?!" Crabbe yelled dumbly.
"You're wrong," Peter said as bravely as he could. "I did not know that our lord would meet his downfall that night. I thought I was doing the best for him that night."
They all looked at him skeptically, evilness glinting in their eyes.
"I swear! I was as surprised as the rest of you."
"Then why, may I ask, haven't we seen you in over three years?" Lucius said with a cocky smirk.
"I'm sure Sirius Black kept in touch with some people. . .if I had stuck around someone would have questioned me, and I'd probably have gotten caught. But this way, everyone still thinks it was Sirius."
"So why are you showing up now?" Lucius asked suspiciously.
"Because I read about his parents and knew you guys were at it again. I want to help, and I have a plan."
"I'm listening," Lucius said and Peter told the group his plan.
~~~~~~~~~~~ After the news of his parents' deaths Sirius went back to his normal routine. He was still working the same hours, at the same position, at the same grocery store. It was a monotonous life, but Sirius liked it well enough.
About a week after the news from Remus, Sirius came home from work one day and was walking down the hallway towards his apartment when he heard Harry screaming. He ran to the apartment and threw open the door to find Harry bawling into Emily's shoulder as she held him in her lap, obviously trying to comfort him, but looking scared herself.
When Harry saw Sirius he jumped off of Emily and ran to Sirius, still screaming. Sirius bent down and picked the shrieking child up. Harry wrapped his arms around Sirius's neck and cried into his shoulder.
"What's going on?!" Sirius asked, completely bewildered.
"I have no idea," Emily shrieked, almost hysterical herself. I put him to bed at seven, like you asked, and he was just fine then, and then he woke up screaming about fifteen minutes ago and hasn't stopped since. I couldn't get him to tell me what was wrong."
Sirius nodded and rocked Harry gently back and forth trying to calm his nerves, but nothing worked.
"Thanks Emily, you can go now, I'll deal with this. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay," Emily said sounding relieved. "Come get me if you need me."
Sirius nodded and watched her go. He then brought Harry over to the couch and sat him down.
"Harry, it's okay. I'm here. What's wrong?" Sirius asked gently.
The boy just kept on crying. He was shaking so hard Sirius was worried he might be having a seizure or something.
"Harry, buddy, tell me what's wrong," Sirius said kindly, but forcefully too so that Harry knew he meant business.
He stopped screaming, but was still crying and whimpering into Sirius's chest.
"Harry, tell me what happened, did you have a nightmare?"
"Yes," Harry whimpered.
"What was it about?"
Harry looked up at him with terrified bloodshot eyes. "The bad men are coming."
"The bad men, what bad men?"
"The bad men. . .they're dressed like--they're dressed like black ghosts."
Black ghosts? The first thing Sirius thought of were deatheaters. He didn't think it possible that Harry would remember what they looked like, but he was somehow seeing them in his dreams.
"What did the black ghosts do Harry?"
"They--they said they were coming to take me. And-and that they were going to kill you." Harry started crying again.
"Shhh, Harry it's okay. I'm not going to let them get you. They'll never take you from me, and they're not going to kill me. They want to get us, but they can't. They can't find us, alright?"
Harry nodded and sniveled softly.
"Everything's going to be alright."
Again Harry sniveled.
"Lets get you back to bed now. . ." Sirius started.
"NOOO!" Harry yelled fiercely.
"Harry, you need to go back to sleep."
"No," Harry mumbled in a terrified voice.
"Do you want to sleep with me tonight?"
Harry's face brightened slightly and he nodded his head. "C'mon," Sirius said. He grabbed Harry's hand and lead him to the bathroom where he helped him wash his tear stained face.
Sirius then got Harry settled on his king size bed and got ready to go to sleep himself. Harry sat up waiting for Sirius to get into bed. When he did, Harry snuggled up beside him. Sirius stroked his hair gently and waited for him to fall asleep. Once he did Sirius kissed the top of his head and then turned on his bedside lamp and found a pad of paper. He hurriedly scribbled Remus another note.
Remus,
What the Hell is going on over there? How much deatheater activity is there? I'm getting worried. Harry just had an awful nightmare and said there were bad men coming. They said they were going to take Harry away and kill me. He described them as black ghosts. The only thing I can think of are the deatheaters. What do you think? One things for sure, I've never seen Harry so scared after a dream. He thought it was the real thing, and usually he knows the difference. I'm really worried. Please stay on the lookout for us, and tell me if you find anything.
Love Sirius
Sirius then crawled out of his bed carefully as to not wake Harry and got out his wand which he rarely used these days. He summoned a post owl to him and sent it to Remus's after giving it a small payment of wizards gold, of which he still had a little.
He then went to get a glass of water. With a shatter he dropped the glass a he heard a very high pitched, "SIRIUS!" Sirius cursed aloud as bits of glass fell over his feet. He then saw Harry running straight towards him with bare feet. Harry paid no heed to the glass and ran straight for it. Sirius dove to get him before he did, and caught him just in time, lifting him to eye level.
"Where were you!" Harry yelled in his face. Tears were pouring out of his eyes as he flung his arms around Sirius's neck and hung there, bawling. Sirius sighed to himself and hugged Harry close to him.
"I just went to get some water, Harry. I'm not ever going to leave you. Calm down. Shhh. . ." Sirius whispered more soothing words to him until he settled down.
"I'm going to put you on the couch, and then clean up the mess I just made, okay?"
"You won't leave me?"
"No, I'll never leave you. You'll be able to see me the whole time.
"Okay," Harry mumbled and let go of Sirius when he set him on the couch. Sirius pulled out his wand again and cleaned up the mess quickly. Harry wasn't too surprised to see the magic performed, though he usually got excited when he saw it. This time he was only mildly amused.
Sirius then returned to the couch and held out his hand, saying, "Let's try this again."
Harry grabbed Sirius's hand tightly and they trooped back to Sirius's room together. Harry tried to climb up on the bed but was too short so Sirius had to give him a boost. He was quite impressed that Harry had been daring enough to jump off the bed when he realized Sirius wasn't there. It was quite a ways down for him.
Sirius stretched himself out comfortably on his bed and buried Harry and himself under the covers. The moment he was completely settled he heard Harry moving around and then felt him on top of him. Harry had decided that rather than trust Sirius not to leave him he would have to force him not to leave him. Sirius laughed at this and put an arm over Harry's back so he wouldn't roll right off the bed.
"You comfortable, Harry."
"Mmmmm," Harry murmured. Sirius rubbed his back slightly and they both fell into a deep sleep. Neither of them knew how intense the next day would be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the record, this chapter was completed and ready to be posted on Tuesday, June 10th. However, fanfiction.net, at least for me, is not working, so who knows when I'll actually get it up.
I hope you liked this chapter, I really did. I had a hard time at first and went through several different scenarios, and I like the way it turned out. The action is starting. Next chapter will hopefully have a lot. This story I'm hoping will go on to about ten chapters. But it could be shorter than that. It will definitely not be In Need of Sirius Help length, or else it will be like the Real World, as one of my lovely reviewers told me. And though I like the Real World, I too do not want this story to become that.
Please Review!
Okay, this is the third time I'm going to attempt to put this up. I was going to put it up Wednesday before all my graduation stuff happened, but the site was down. I actually thought I had put it up though, and was like, wow, not one review, that really sucks. Then I come to find out that no one had reviewed because I never posted it. So here it is, finally.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Those first three years passed in a hurry. Harry got big, and learned to walk and talk. Sirius learned to be a good father figure and aged twice as fast as he would have otherwise. He hadn't been ready for responsibility, but when he had to, he took it.
The full three years Sirius worked at the same grocery store. He didn't love it, but it earned him enough to live comfortably with Harry in their apartment and buy new things when they needed to.
What surprised Sirius the most, however, was that he had found happiness there in Rhode Island with Harry. He still missed James, Lily, Remus and his parents greatly, but he was still happy. He had made new friends, the Daltons, and several of his co-workers. He had fun with Harry, he loved Harry.
However, for the second time in his life, Sirius soon found out what it was like to have his world turned upside down.
It started when he was at home one Saturday afternoon, trying to teach Harry a little magic. When an owl flew through the window. He recognized it immediately as Remus's. Over the years Remus occasionally sent him a few letters telling him what was going on in England, and what rumors there were about Sirius. They usually held no great news, nor any terrible news, until that day.
Sirius,
I know you haven't heard from me in a while, and this time, you're not going to want to. I write today with very bad news. Please promise you won't do anything rash, but there has been an attack. It appears to be a deatheater attack, though their still hasn't been any sign that Voldemort has actually risen once again. The attack was on your parents, Sirius. I'm sorry, they're both dead.
Sirius dropped the letter without reading the rest and felt himself start to shake. Voldemort was the cause of all Sirius's pain. He took James and Lily away, forced him away from his parents, Remus, and England, and now he caused more deaths of people he loved. Sirius felt anger surge through him and he clenched his fists. He wanted to cry so badly, but he didn't let himself. He remembered the promise he made to himself the last time he cried and wanted to stick to it.
Sirius gritted his teeth and picked Remus's letter back up and read on.
I'm really worried about how you're going to react to this, Sirius. Please promise me you won't do anything to put yourself or Harry in any danger. You have to stay wherever you are, because that's safe. I wish you could come to the funeral, but don't. No matter what, don't. I'll go, and I'll report back to you on it. I'm so sorry it happened, and that I have to be the bearer of bad news.
I have a lot more to tell you, but now's not the time. You have a lot to think about right now. Just remember I'm still on the lookout for Peter, and whoever did this to your parents. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if they were one in the same.
Take care of yourself,
Love Remus
Sirius bit his lip and put the letter in a drawer. He then pulled a fresh piece of paper out and wrote a letter back to Remus.
Remus,
Thanks for telling me. I can't believe their gone. Though I missed them terribly over these last years, I miss them so much more knowing I'll never see them again. But I'm glad I know. I can't believe there's still deatheater activity over there. I thought I was on the run with Harry just to keep myself from Azkaban, and Harry from the muggles, but it appears I also have to be on the lookout for them. They have ways of finding me, even here, and that scares me more than you'll ever know. Please keep me posted on all other suspicious activity over there, because there is a good chance it'll affect me over here, and I still can't tell you where here is, especially now.
I love you and miss you, and miss them, so much I could cry right now, but I won't. I've made a vow never to cry again, and so far I've kept it. I hope I can still. I'm sure you can see by the writing how hard that is for me. Life really sucks. Just when it's getting good something like this happens and slaps you right in the face. Take care of yourself Remus, and keep in contact, because once the letters stop I'm going to assume they got you too.
Love Sirius
Sirius tied the note to Remus's owl and watched it fly out the window. As he watched it go he longed to be what it carried below it's magnificent wings, flying back to England. But he was rooted firmly to the spot, shaking like a leaf.
Just then the door to his apartment opened and Sirius whipped around, expecting to see a deatheater. He sighed in relief when he saw that it was just Emily.
"Sirius. . .are you okay? You're shaking like crazy." She went to shut all the open windows in the apartment, mistaking the shaking for shivering.
Slowly Sirius moved to the couch and sat down. She went and sat beside him and looked at him expectantly. When he didn't say anything she asked again, "Sirius, are you okay?"
Sirius shook his head, signifying that no, he was not okay.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Sirius whispered, knowing that if he said anymore than that he would completely lose his already unstable composure.
"Okay. . ." she said uncertainly. "Do you want to be alone?"
Sirius nodded.
"Do you want me to take Harry out for a while?"
Again Sirius just nodded. He then looked at her and said, "Please."
Emily smiled uncertainly, "Sure thing."
Sirius watched Emily move down the small hall of the apartment to Harry's room. She then emerged holding Harry's hand as he skipped along beside her.
She sighed as she looked again at Sirius, "Are you going to be okay? You look awful."
Sirius just nodded and spread his arms signifying he wanted Harry to come to him. Harry ran forward as he was expected to and jumped onto Sirius's lap.
"Hey bud," Sirius whispered. "Emily's going to take you out for a little while, okay?"
Harry looked sadly at Sirius like he knew something was wrong, but he nodded his head anyways.
"Give me a hug," Sirius whispered, his voice catching slightly.
Harry stood in Sirius's lap and wrapped his arms around his neck. Sirius squeezed him tightly and kissed his messy head.
"Now go with Emily," Sirius muttered. Harry did this, almost reluctantly. When they reached the door Harry turned back and gave Sirius the most meaningful look Sirius had ever seen on the young child's face. It was almost like he could feel Sirius's pain, even though he didn't know what was going on. Sirius felt his lip tremble as he watched the door shut.
"Screw my rule," Sirius thought as he let the tears fall down his face. He cried for a good fifteen minutes straight, thinking about all the things he had missed in England. He missed his parents last three years of life. He would never see those people he loved so dearly again. Sirius couldn't understand why life had to be so tough.
He actually cried himself to sleep there on the couch that day and was woken a couple of hours later by Harry's return. Harry had climbed onto his chest and decided to take a nap of his own. Sirius opened his eyes and saw nothing but black. Harry's hair was blocking the rest of the world from vision. Gently Sirius patted Harry's back trying to wake him up. He heard Harry groan lightly and lift his head off of Sirius's face.
Harry sat up straddling Sirius's stomach. Sirius picked him up under the arms and sat both of them upright on the couch. Harry was sitting on Sirius's knees facing him.
"What were you doing laying on me like that?" Sirius asked in a kind voice.
"I wanted to take a nap too," he said. Harry had a slightly British accent, but it was nowhere near as strong as Sirius's.
"But you never want to take naps."
"I did today."
"Why's that?"
"Because you were. . .and you seemed sad."
Sirius smiled at the little boy in his lap. He was sometimes overwhelmed by how sweet a four year old could be.
"And you wanted to make me feel better?"
Harry nodded smiling broadly. Sirius couldn't help but wrap his arms around him and give him another kiss on his forehead.
"I love you Harry."
"I love you!" Harry screeched happily. Sirius tickled him then and Harry squirmed off him laughing. He then strutted to the other end of the couch where he sat in feigned resentment, but he was given away when the corners of his mouth kept turning up and he'd try to turn them back down . Sirius laughed at him and he smiled back. Harry could never stay mad at Sirius for long, whether it was real anger or fake anger.
"Did you have fun with Emily today?"
Harry shook his head.
Sirius looked startled. Harry always had fun with Emily. "Why, what happened?"
"I couldn't have fun."
"Why not?"
"Because you were sad."
"Yes, I was sad, but that doesn't mean you couldn't still have fun."
"I was sad because you were sad."
Sirius laughed lightly and dragged Harry back to him. He tucked Harry under his arm and stroked his hair, and with his little godson next to him, Sirius could handle the stress that came with his parent's deaths. Harry gave him the strength he needed to move on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Over the course of those three years, Peter Pettigrew had made himself quite cozy at the Burrow. Every member of the family liked the lazy rat, especially the young and annoying Ronald Weasley. But Peter was loving his life of leisure. He lived comfortably doing no work and having a diet of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans that were always lying around the house and the table scraps everyone fed him. Life was good for Peter Pettigrew.
However, one day, while the family was out Peter turned back into his human form to read the paper. He did this whenever he got the chance. The front page headline that day was, "Deatheater attack on the Black Family: Could the son be behind it all?"
Peter laughed harshly at the headline, but read the article with curiosity. Both Mr. And Mrs. Black had been killed by the Avada Kedavra curse and the dark mark was left over the house. The article alluded to the fact that Sirius had probably been behind the deaths and focused on the fact that there was again deatheater activity about. Peter looked down at the dark mark on his own arm. It was dull, which meant that the Dark Lord had not risen, but perhaps there was a plot for him to rise again.
Peter changed quickly back into his rat form and fled the house, never again to return to the Burrow
~~~~~~~~~~
That day Remus read the article as well. He shook his head in disgust when he saw reference to Sirius in the headline. The man hadn't been seen in over three years, but he's still being accused of more murders. Sirius was the furthest thing from a murderer Remus could think of.
A few minutes after that he received the return owl from Sirius. It was almost impossible to read, the writing was all over the place. Remus was willing to bet that Sirius's vow to never cry had already been broken. The letter revealed to Remus that Sirius was all torn up inside, and he needed to cry to heal. Remus's only hope for Sirius was that he had somebody there to comfort him. He had no idea how much comfort Harry alone could give him.
What Remus wanted more than anything was to see his friend again. To help him through his pain and to inadvertently help himself through the pain. Remus got his chance a week later, but it was extremely against his will.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter made his way through the forest to a cave where he knew deatheaters would often meet to discuss there new plans. When he arrived there was nobody around, but he knew people would show up eventually.
And they did. After he waited almost half a day a small group of deatheaters showed up. Peter recognized them as Lucius Malfoy with his sidekicks Crabbe and Goyle. Also there were Macnair, Knott, and some other people Peter had never been introduced too. All together there were nearly ten deatheaters there, counting Peter.
He listened to them talk a bit before he revealed himself.
"I can't believe they still think Black is capable of these things. That buffoon wouldn't last ten minutes as one of us," Malfoy said arrogantly.
"Yes, well, that was the one good thing that moronic Pettigrew was good for. Nice framing, not even that idiot Dumbledore realizes Black isn't capable of such things," Macnair muttered.
"If only Pettigrew were intelligent enough not to let the Dark Lord go as well," spat Knott bitterly. "Do you think he meant for it to happen?"
"Not sure. . ." Malfoy said pensively. "He seemed pretty loyal to Voldemort, however, he was once one of those silly Marauders."
Peter listened to this and did the first brave thing he had ever done in his life. He turned back into his human form in front of the deatheaters.
"What the Hell?!" Crabbe yelled dumbly.
"You're wrong," Peter said as bravely as he could. "I did not know that our lord would meet his downfall that night. I thought I was doing the best for him that night."
They all looked at him skeptically, evilness glinting in their eyes.
"I swear! I was as surprised as the rest of you."
"Then why, may I ask, haven't we seen you in over three years?" Lucius said with a cocky smirk.
"I'm sure Sirius Black kept in touch with some people. . .if I had stuck around someone would have questioned me, and I'd probably have gotten caught. But this way, everyone still thinks it was Sirius."
"So why are you showing up now?" Lucius asked suspiciously.
"Because I read about his parents and knew you guys were at it again. I want to help, and I have a plan."
"I'm listening," Lucius said and Peter told the group his plan.
~~~~~~~~~~~ After the news of his parents' deaths Sirius went back to his normal routine. He was still working the same hours, at the same position, at the same grocery store. It was a monotonous life, but Sirius liked it well enough.
About a week after the news from Remus, Sirius came home from work one day and was walking down the hallway towards his apartment when he heard Harry screaming. He ran to the apartment and threw open the door to find Harry bawling into Emily's shoulder as she held him in her lap, obviously trying to comfort him, but looking scared herself.
When Harry saw Sirius he jumped off of Emily and ran to Sirius, still screaming. Sirius bent down and picked the shrieking child up. Harry wrapped his arms around Sirius's neck and cried into his shoulder.
"What's going on?!" Sirius asked, completely bewildered.
"I have no idea," Emily shrieked, almost hysterical herself. I put him to bed at seven, like you asked, and he was just fine then, and then he woke up screaming about fifteen minutes ago and hasn't stopped since. I couldn't get him to tell me what was wrong."
Sirius nodded and rocked Harry gently back and forth trying to calm his nerves, but nothing worked.
"Thanks Emily, you can go now, I'll deal with this. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay," Emily said sounding relieved. "Come get me if you need me."
Sirius nodded and watched her go. He then brought Harry over to the couch and sat him down.
"Harry, it's okay. I'm here. What's wrong?" Sirius asked gently.
The boy just kept on crying. He was shaking so hard Sirius was worried he might be having a seizure or something.
"Harry, buddy, tell me what's wrong," Sirius said kindly, but forcefully too so that Harry knew he meant business.
He stopped screaming, but was still crying and whimpering into Sirius's chest.
"Harry, tell me what happened, did you have a nightmare?"
"Yes," Harry whimpered.
"What was it about?"
Harry looked up at him with terrified bloodshot eyes. "The bad men are coming."
"The bad men, what bad men?"
"The bad men. . .they're dressed like--they're dressed like black ghosts."
Black ghosts? The first thing Sirius thought of were deatheaters. He didn't think it possible that Harry would remember what they looked like, but he was somehow seeing them in his dreams.
"What did the black ghosts do Harry?"
"They--they said they were coming to take me. And-and that they were going to kill you." Harry started crying again.
"Shhh, Harry it's okay. I'm not going to let them get you. They'll never take you from me, and they're not going to kill me. They want to get us, but they can't. They can't find us, alright?"
Harry nodded and sniveled softly.
"Everything's going to be alright."
Again Harry sniveled.
"Lets get you back to bed now. . ." Sirius started.
"NOOO!" Harry yelled fiercely.
"Harry, you need to go back to sleep."
"No," Harry mumbled in a terrified voice.
"Do you want to sleep with me tonight?"
Harry's face brightened slightly and he nodded his head. "C'mon," Sirius said. He grabbed Harry's hand and lead him to the bathroom where he helped him wash his tear stained face.
Sirius then got Harry settled on his king size bed and got ready to go to sleep himself. Harry sat up waiting for Sirius to get into bed. When he did, Harry snuggled up beside him. Sirius stroked his hair gently and waited for him to fall asleep. Once he did Sirius kissed the top of his head and then turned on his bedside lamp and found a pad of paper. He hurriedly scribbled Remus another note.
Remus,
What the Hell is going on over there? How much deatheater activity is there? I'm getting worried. Harry just had an awful nightmare and said there were bad men coming. They said they were going to take Harry away and kill me. He described them as black ghosts. The only thing I can think of are the deatheaters. What do you think? One things for sure, I've never seen Harry so scared after a dream. He thought it was the real thing, and usually he knows the difference. I'm really worried. Please stay on the lookout for us, and tell me if you find anything.
Love Sirius
Sirius then crawled out of his bed carefully as to not wake Harry and got out his wand which he rarely used these days. He summoned a post owl to him and sent it to Remus's after giving it a small payment of wizards gold, of which he still had a little.
He then went to get a glass of water. With a shatter he dropped the glass a he heard a very high pitched, "SIRIUS!" Sirius cursed aloud as bits of glass fell over his feet. He then saw Harry running straight towards him with bare feet. Harry paid no heed to the glass and ran straight for it. Sirius dove to get him before he did, and caught him just in time, lifting him to eye level.
"Where were you!" Harry yelled in his face. Tears were pouring out of his eyes as he flung his arms around Sirius's neck and hung there, bawling. Sirius sighed to himself and hugged Harry close to him.
"I just went to get some water, Harry. I'm not ever going to leave you. Calm down. Shhh. . ." Sirius whispered more soothing words to him until he settled down.
"I'm going to put you on the couch, and then clean up the mess I just made, okay?"
"You won't leave me?"
"No, I'll never leave you. You'll be able to see me the whole time.
"Okay," Harry mumbled and let go of Sirius when he set him on the couch. Sirius pulled out his wand again and cleaned up the mess quickly. Harry wasn't too surprised to see the magic performed, though he usually got excited when he saw it. This time he was only mildly amused.
Sirius then returned to the couch and held out his hand, saying, "Let's try this again."
Harry grabbed Sirius's hand tightly and they trooped back to Sirius's room together. Harry tried to climb up on the bed but was too short so Sirius had to give him a boost. He was quite impressed that Harry had been daring enough to jump off the bed when he realized Sirius wasn't there. It was quite a ways down for him.
Sirius stretched himself out comfortably on his bed and buried Harry and himself under the covers. The moment he was completely settled he heard Harry moving around and then felt him on top of him. Harry had decided that rather than trust Sirius not to leave him he would have to force him not to leave him. Sirius laughed at this and put an arm over Harry's back so he wouldn't roll right off the bed.
"You comfortable, Harry."
"Mmmmm," Harry murmured. Sirius rubbed his back slightly and they both fell into a deep sleep. Neither of them knew how intense the next day would be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the record, this chapter was completed and ready to be posted on Tuesday, June 10th. However, fanfiction.net, at least for me, is not working, so who knows when I'll actually get it up.
I hope you liked this chapter, I really did. I had a hard time at first and went through several different scenarios, and I like the way it turned out. The action is starting. Next chapter will hopefully have a lot. This story I'm hoping will go on to about ten chapters. But it could be shorter than that. It will definitely not be In Need of Sirius Help length, or else it will be like the Real World, as one of my lovely reviewers told me. And though I like the Real World, I too do not want this story to become that.
Please Review!
