I'm SO SO SO SO SO sorry that I took a month to update. I thought it would
be much speedier considering I had my wisdom teeth out and I now have my
own computer, but it just wasn't working for me. The last thing I wanted
to do when I had those teeth out was write, and that lasted about a week.
I also had to see three of my friends off to college and the rest of them
are leaving within the week...*tear*...So I'm fairly depressed and haven't
been in the writing mood especially with this boring, almost transitional
chapter. Hopefully you lovely readers will be a little more fond of it
then I am. I would honestly call it the worst chapter I've ever written.
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"What's the meaning of this Dumbledore?" Mr. Weasley asked shortly.
"I assure you I can explain everything. I ask that you bear with me and don't speak until I'm completely finished. I also ask that you keep everything I am about to tell you in strictest confidence. Can you do this for me?"
Mrs. Weasley nodded her head, still in shock over what her son had just told them. Mr. Weasley, however wasn't about to give in so easily. "Dumbledore, the man accused of being You-Know-Who's right hand man, the man who kidnaped Harry Potter is apparently here in this castle, and you expect us to keep our mouths shut about it? I don't think so."
"Arthur, I was, as you are now, prepared to send him straight to the ministry. After talking to him, however, I have found that there is an interesting twist in his case. Sirius Black never left our side in the fight against Voldemort. He simply gave James and Lily Potter a piece of very bad advice."
"What's this nonsense? You, yourself, gave proof that Sirius was there secret keeper. He was the only one who could possibly have turned them in to Voldemort."
"I did not give proof, I simply told the ministry what I knew. The night before they were to go under the Fidelius Charm they had planned to use Sirius Black as the secret keeper. I was not present at the time the charm took place, so I could not say who the real secret keeper was. It turns out that they made a last minute decision to switch from Sirius to Peter Pettigrew...you remember him I'm sure?"
"Of course...but that's simply ridiculous. Why on earth would they choose Pettigrew, he was always such a dunder head. I don't believe that they would trust a man like that to be their secret keeper."
"That's exactly why they did it. It was sure to through Voldemort off. Of course he would assume Sirius Black was the secret keeper. He'd go straight to him and attempt to torture the information out of him. And when that wouldn't work, he'd simply kill him. They figured he would never guess that the Potters would use Pettigrew, and in a way they were right. Voldemort never had to guess who the secret keeper was because, as it turns out, Peter had been working for Voldemort before he had gone under the charm. He had been waiting for his opportunity to give Voldemort the prize he had been fighting for, and he finally got his chance." "Do you have any proof to this at all, Dumbledore?" Mrs. Weasley, who had been silent through the whole thing, asked.
"Only Mr. Black's word under Veritaserum, as well as his interaction with young Harry Potter. The boy is very fond of him, and appears to have been raised quite well."
"Perhaps Black brainwashed him," Arthur said darkly.
Dumbledore ran a hand through his long hair tiredly. "Veritaserum does not lie. I questioned him the way any court would have done and I found him to be innocent. He has not had an easy time.
"Nor have James and Lily Potter."
"Mr. Weasley, please, use your head. Has there ever been any proof that veritaserum was faulty?"
Arthur reluctantly shook his head.
"Then what makes you think that all of a sudden Sirius Black managed to feed me lies while under its influence?"
"Of all people he could find a way." "Arthur, have I ever lead you in the wrong direction. Have I ever been wrong in my judgement of a person?"
"Not that I know of. But there's a first time for everything, and I think this may be it."
"What would you do with him?"
"I'd take him to the ministry and have them deal with this problem."
"Arthur, you work at the ministry, you know how unjust they can be. I assure you that this man is innocent, and you want to send him to the ministry, who will surly send him to Azkaban! Please think of what's right."
"Maybe you should listen to him Arthur," Mrs. Weasley mumbled.
He turned to her sharply. "You believe this story?"
"Not entirely, but I think we or you should talk to him first. Albus could be right. I think you should just be sure. If he still seems guilty, then you should do something."
Arthur shook his head, as if to disagree, but said, "I suppose. Bring us to him, please, Albus."
"As you wish. I would ask, however, if you give me a moment alone with him before you head right in. He will be somewhat defensive I'm sure."
"Of course," Arthur said with a sigh. He was still quite upset that his son had been in the 'protection' of a convict, guilty or not.
They got up to leave and Ron followed.
"Ronnie, I think you had better stay here right now," Mrs. Weasley said.
"But I want to see Sirius and Harry again. Harry's really cool, you should meet him!"
"I'm going to do that right now, honey, but you need to stay here."
"Aw Mum! I wanna go too!"
"No Ron, you stay here. We'll be back for you shortly."
Ron flopped back on the bed growling furiously to himself and the others left.
When they arrived at the start of the corridor that contained the room Sirius, Remus and Harry were in Dumbledore motioned for them to stop. He walked the rest of the way to the tapestry alone and then opened it once again.
"That was sooner than I expected," Sirius said, his eyes crinkled like he had just been laughing.
"Yes, well...I'm afraid I have some bad news. Young Mr. Weasley's parents arrived sooner than expected and he told them all about the night he spent with you two. They're quite upset about it. It was all I could do to stop them from heading straight to the ministry with the information that you are currently residing here at Hogwarts. Thus, they want to see you."
"What are they going to do to me?"
"Simply question you I believe. They are good people, as I'm sure you recall. However, they have the problem of believing what the rest of the world says. A problem I almost developed as well. Will you see them?"
"I suppose I have to don't I...or else I'll be taking a lovely one-way trip to Azkaban."
Dumbledore nodded. Remus looked at him apprehensively. "Are you sure about this? Are you sure they don't already have their minds made up? This could be a trick, you know."
"Ah, yes, but the Weasley's are some of the most honest people I know. They're not ones to skirt around issues. They tell it like it is."
"If you're sure bring them in."
Dumbledore nodded his head.
"What's happening Sirius?" Harry asked in a slightly apprehensive tone.
"We're going to meet some new people. They probably aren't going to like me at first Harry, but I want you to be nice. It's very important that you're nice. We have to charm them, okay?"
Harry nodded.
Seconds later the door opened again and Dumbledore walked back in followed by two people with flaming red hair. The man, Sirius remembered as Arthur Weasley was looking at him quite hatefully, while the woman, who he also remembered as Molly, looked curious.
"Er hi," Sirius said quietly.
The Weasley's just looked at him quite awkwardly. There they were face to face with a man who they had pictured as this vicious murderer, sitting calmly, kindly, with an adorable little boy on his lap. He looked more frightened of them then he looked frightening himself.
"Ugh..." Sirius started, simply wanting to break the awkward silence.
They interrupted him before he got a chance to say anymore.
"What is the meaning of this, Black?"
"The meaning of what exactly? The fact that I'm here, or all the misconceptions you have of me. I'm not hurt by them so much as annoyed. I've done nothing wrong."
"You were a traitor to Lily and James, your best friends, and then you kidnaped their son." Arthur corrected.
"I'm sure Dumbledore already told you otherwise, but you're obviously choosing not to believe me," Sirius said coolly. "Which is fine, really, Dumbledore didn't believe me either. But I wonder, what would it take to make you believe me?"
Arthur just looked at him squarely in the face and said firmly, "I don't know...ministry acceptance."
"I think you know that the ministry is a completely mindless place. That's why we had the Order of the Phoenix! You were a part of that."
"And so were you until you traded your friends over to the sole person we were fighting against."
"I didn't do it! Peter Pettigrew did. I don't understand why no one believes that! Did he die? No, he just conveniently disappeared right after the Potter's died! How is that not suspicious to anyone? I understand why people think I did it, considering I took Harry too. But I did it for his own good but I'm telling the truth here. I didn't betray Lily and James!" Sirius yelled, Harry cowered slightly in his lap. He hated it when Sirius raised his voice.
Arthur also backed down slightly, as did Molly. "I don't believe you, you vile worthless muderer!"
Harry started crying. "Can you please not talk like that in front of my godson?! I didn't talk like that in front of your son. Can't you see you're upsetting him?" Sirius then turned his attention back to Harry. He turned him around and put a hand on his head. "Don't listen to the mean man, Harry. He just wants to scare us and send me away. Close your ears." Harry cupped his hands over both his ears and buried his face in Sirius's chest. Sirius stroked his hair and sent a chilling glare at Arthur.
"This is getting us nowhere, Arthur...you came into this with a closed mind, will you please open it?" Dumbledore finally cut in.
"Albus, this man is clearly unstable. I can't believe you trust his lies!"
"I believe I've already told you that I questioned him, quite carefully, under veritaserum. You know as well as I do that it's very accurate. What can be done to make you believe the truth?"
"I don't know...I suppose I'm just a skeptic." Dumbledore pulled Arthur to the furthest corner of the room. "What's happened to you? I've never known you to be like this so untrusting. I assure you Sirius Black IS innocent."
"I'm sorry, Dumbledore, but I think that if he was really innocent, he would have stuck around four years ago. He wouldn't have run away."
"He ran away for Harry's sake. He knew that even if it was proven that he was innocent Harry would have been taken from him and put in the custody of his muggle relatives. While I still think it would be safest for Harry to stay with those relatives, I understand Sirius's reason's for Harry not to live with them. Lily and James would be rolling in there graves if that had happened."
"I don't know Dumbledore, I'm just not willing to accept this. It doesn't feel right. Give me proof, hard proof and I'll keep everything I've seen quiet."
"I'm afraid the only proof out there is in hiding. But I think that should be enough proof for you," Dumbledore said pointing to where Sirius was trying to calm down the very upset Harry. He was rocking him back and forth and occasionally planting kisses on his head.
Arthur's face softened slightly, but he again shook his head. "I just don't know Albus..."
"So you're willing to send a man who COULD be innocent to Azkaban?...Simply because we don't have enough proof to be sure who really is to blame?" "Albus, I couldn't live with myself if it turned out he really was guilty and I could have put an end to him..."
"But you could live with sending an innocent man to Azkaban?"
Arthur ran his hand through his hair, showing the real depth of his receding hair line. There was a glimmer of perspiration on his brow which he wiped off the moment it started to drip. Remus, who had been watching silently the whole time found this to be the perfect opportunity to put in his own opinion. He rolled his wheel chair over to them, radiating a Tiny Tim quality in his injured state. "Please, Arthur, I swear he's innocent. I knew both of them so well in school. Peter was always kind of the misfit, you know? And Sirius, he was always the one who made sure everyone was okay. He would never betray anyone. I know those two men like the backs of my hands. What Sirius is being accused of is completely out of character for him. It's completely in Peter's character, that dirty little rat."
Arthur looked at him calculatingly. "How do I know that you aren't in it too? How do I know that anything you say is true?"
"How about a little trust, Arthur?"
Molly walked up to him and put her hand over his. "I think you ought to believe Arthur. Just look at those two. Look at what you'd be separating."
Harry was hanging from Sirius's neck, now half asleep. Sirius was rubbing his back in soft circles, appearing completely lost in thought. Upon his face was a look of pure worry.
"It could be for the better," Arthur said, tiredly.
"No, it couldn't. I believe him dear...I don't understand why you don't."
Arthur again ran his hand over his head. "Fine....fine. I won't say anything. But if I hear "
"Oh thank you dear! Thank you...I can't imagine separating those two. It would have broken my heart."
"I assure you, you'll not regret this decision," Dumbledore said.
"I had better not, Albus...but I must say, I'd like no further part in harboring a convicted man. We'll be leaving now."
"Of course."
Arthur made to walk straight out the door without acknowledging Sirius at all but he stopped when Sirius asked, "What are you going to do?"
"Right now, I'm going to do nothing...but if I hear of anything suspicious about you I'll tell the ministry so fast."
Sirius nodded and Arthur again turned towards the door. "Thank you!" Sirius called as he watched him leave, soon followed by Molly who gave him a perky wave. Dumbledore followed as well.
Sirius laughed shortly after the door shut. Harry pulled back from him, waking slightly. "What's going on?" he yawned. "Did the mean man leave?"
"Yes, but he's not a mean man, bud. He just helped us out more than you'll ever know."
"But he called you a "
"I know what he called me. A lot of people here think that of me, but it's not true."
"Congratulations, Sirius, you've done it again. I swear if it were anyone else you'd already be on the receiving end of a dementors kiss," Remus said, rolling his chair back to them.
Sirius beamed at him. "I know...but if I was anyone else I'd probably be guilty."
Remus shrugged. "He was really stubborn, I thought he'd really bring you in. I can't imagine seeing them take that kid away from you."
"They certainly would have a hard time taking him from me, that's for sure." Sirius wrapped his arms around Harry and rested his chin on his head.
"So...any further news on when you'll be going back?" Remus asked.
"Dumbledore said tomorrow morning he should be able to have an untraceable portkey ready. It's going to be Hell to explain how it works to this little guy though. I'm sure he'll have thousands of questions when we leave here."
"It's too bad he couldn't grow up the way he was supposed to. He should no everything that Ron seems to know about our world."
"I know, I'm trying to teach him a little, but he has a muggle baby sitter and I try to do as little magic as possible so I don't draw attention to myself."
Remus nodded. "You really like it there?"
Sirius shrugged. "I actually like it much better here, but it's safer in Rhode Island, despite what just happened. "I would definitely stay if it were a bit safer...I think Harry and I would both miss Emily a lot though."
"She seemed feisty."
"She is...that's how we met her. The first night in the apartment Harry wouldn't stop crying and she comes over ready to bust down the door because he was being to loud. She really reamed me out and I was desperate so I asked her to help me. The moment the kid saw her hair he was hooked. It was like his Lily replacement...and she's actually pretty friendly and sweet once you get to know her. She's awesome with Harry."
"I'm glad you have at least someone else over there."
"Well I wish you had someone here Remus...it's not good to be all alone. You'll start to think that you're not loved."
Remus looked down. "I've been fine...I'll be fine."
"You're not fine, Remus. You're so different than I remember you. And you always look sad."
"Sirius, anybody would be like this after what I've been through...whether they had someone to fall back on or not. I'm fine by myself."
Sirius just shook his head. "How often do you get out of your little house? How often do you have conversation with other people? Once a week? Less?"
"Stop it Sirius! I don't need to defend myself to you! I'm fine the way I am!"
"You look more sickly than I have ever seen you. Your skin is whiter than I ever thought it possible to be! Your voice is even slightly hoarse, like you never use it! You're not alright!"
"Why are you doing this?" Remus yelled, he sounded almost hurt.
"Because I want you to come with me."
"You think insulting the way I live is going to make me want to come with you?" Remus said, sounding awestruck. "Because it's making me want to go even less."
"That sounds like you already want to go...tell me the real reason you don't want to come to stay Remus!"
"I don't want to."
"Yes you do, I know you do...but you won't, why?"
Remus looked at him defiantly but couldn't hold the look, it slowly drooped and he just shook his head.
"Hey, Harry, why don't you go play with the chess men again, okay?"
Harry nodded and climbed off Sirius's lap. "Talk to me Remus," Sirius said with a shadow of a grin."
Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You don't really want me to stay with you."
"What the Hell? Yes I do, Remus. I've missed you so much...and you've been all alone for four years! You're too young to be all alone. I want you to stay with me for those reason's and also because it will help me a lot. It's hard raising Harry by myself. Emily helps, but she can't be there always. It's all on me, that's a lot of pressure. I'd love a little more help around the apartment."
"I don't think that you'll be feeling the same after the first full moon "
"How many full moons have I been through with you? I know how it works, I know what I'd be getting myself into."
"You won't want me there after a while...I'll become a nuisance. No. I'll just stay here."
"Remus, you're not going to be a nuisance. It'll be just like when we all lived together before."
"That didn't exactly end well, Sirius. Will you just leave me alone about it."
"Not until you make the right decision."
"To me this is the right decision!"
"You know as well as I do that you're wrong."
"No, I'm right. I'll just feel out of place there. I'll feel, once again, that I've been left out of a wonderful thing for four years. It'll be like be a new kid at school. I don't want to deal with that."
"I'm not going to let it be like that. We'll take it slow."
"Sirius why are you pushing this...why do you care?"
"Because I'm lonely too," Sirius said simply.
Remus didn't know what to say to that. He just searched Sirius's face to see if he was being sincere. It looked like he was.
"Please, Rem," Sirius said in a pleading voice.
"Okay," Remus whispered with a soft smile on his lips. Sirius beamed at him.
"Great, excellent! I don't think I could have left you behind if I tried."
"I want you to promise, though, if I wear out my welcome, please tell me. Can you promise me that?"
"Sure, and I can also promise that I'll never need to," Sirius said with a cheeky grin.
Remus smiled back and then sighed.
"I've got a lot of packing to do."
"Yup...are you going to sell the flat?"
Remus thought for a moment and then shook his head. Too many memories there. I'll bored it up as best as I can though. I can't guarantee that nothing will happen to it of course. Maybe I'll come back periodically to check on it."
Sirius nodded. "We should tell Dumbledore soon though. We could just take one portkey to your house and then portkey home."
"I have a better idea. How about you and Harry go as planned and I will get better, then pack up everything and meet you guys out there."
Sirius looked rather sad about the idea but agreed that it was a better plan. They talked more on it for awhile until Dumbledore came back saying that Madam Pomfrey was losing her patience and wanted Remus back in the hospital wing. Sirius transformed back into his animagus form and they all left the room, returning to the hospital wing.
Once Remus was back in bed he began looking like he was going to drift off at any moment. Sirius trotted to the edge of the bed and nuzzled his furry head against Remus's arm. Remus reached down and pet the dogs head a few times before bringing his arm back up and drifting off to sleep.
Dumbledore then motioned Sirius to a bed where Harry was already sitting. He swung the curtains closed and Sirius transformed back to his regular form. They discussed the plan for Remus to come stay with them in Rhode Island and Dumbledore left with the news that the portkey to bring Harry and Sirius home would be ready at about nine o'clock the next day.
The rest of that day was spent with Sirius teaching Harry how to play Exploding Snap while they sat within the confines of the curtains surrounding the hospital bed. Harry loved the explosions that occurred every now and then.
Sirius was very happy that Harry was taking so well to the magic he was seeing. For a while he had felt as though he had failed Lily and James by not showing Harry all there was to magic, but it was risk he couldn't take. The fact that Harry could deal quite well with the changes of it made Sirius very happy. He just didn't know what he would do when it actually came time for Harry to go to Hogwarts himself. He assumed Dumbledore would take care of it for him.
Before they went to bed that night Harry turned to Sirius and asked, "Where's Ron?"
"Ron went home with his mom and dad."
"Oh...I liked him. Will I get to see him again?"
"Probably not, bud," Sirius said. He noticed the sad look on Harry's face. "Sorry."
Harry nodded and looked down.
"But, hey, don't worry about it. You're going to be starting pre-school next year and you're going to make lots of friends just like Ron."
"Will they no about quidditch?" Harry said regaining some happiness.
Sirius didn't want to let him down, but had to. "No, but they'll know about candy land!"
It didn't work. Harry's face fell again.
"I'll tell you all I know about quidditch though. You know your dad used to be one of the best players in the school!"
"Really?!" Harry said getting excited.
"Yeah, I can have Remus bring some pictures with him when he moves in. He's got lots of pictures from when we were young. Would you like to see them?"
Harry nodded vigorously.
"Okay. Well I think it's time we get some sleep bud. We're getting up early tomorrow and finally going home."
Harry looked happy, but slightly sad as well.
"You want to go home right?"
"Yeah! Will I ever come back here though? I like this place!"
Sirius laid back against the pillows and shut his eyes. He brought Harry down next to him and Harry used his chest as an oversized pillow.
"I hope so Harry. I don't know if we'll ever be back here again, but for your sake, I hope so."
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That was the hardest chapter ever! I don't know why it was so hard but it really sucked, wouldn't you say. You'd think that in nearly a months time I'd be able to update more, but that just wasn't happening.
Anyway, I also have another story up now which is flowing much easier than this one. I just have to get to a point and this one should flow easily again too. Anyways, the new story is called When a Home isn't a Home. It's about when Sirius leaves and all that. I like it, please read it.
I have no guarantees as to when the next chapter of this story will be up. I go to college in exactly 2 weeks and have A LOT to do. I also have no idea how much spare time I'll have to write while I'm there. So, please bear with me and wish me luck!
Please don't flame this chapter if you think it sucks, as I do, please tell me kindly. Thank you.
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"What's the meaning of this Dumbledore?" Mr. Weasley asked shortly.
"I assure you I can explain everything. I ask that you bear with me and don't speak until I'm completely finished. I also ask that you keep everything I am about to tell you in strictest confidence. Can you do this for me?"
Mrs. Weasley nodded her head, still in shock over what her son had just told them. Mr. Weasley, however wasn't about to give in so easily. "Dumbledore, the man accused of being You-Know-Who's right hand man, the man who kidnaped Harry Potter is apparently here in this castle, and you expect us to keep our mouths shut about it? I don't think so."
"Arthur, I was, as you are now, prepared to send him straight to the ministry. After talking to him, however, I have found that there is an interesting twist in his case. Sirius Black never left our side in the fight against Voldemort. He simply gave James and Lily Potter a piece of very bad advice."
"What's this nonsense? You, yourself, gave proof that Sirius was there secret keeper. He was the only one who could possibly have turned them in to Voldemort."
"I did not give proof, I simply told the ministry what I knew. The night before they were to go under the Fidelius Charm they had planned to use Sirius Black as the secret keeper. I was not present at the time the charm took place, so I could not say who the real secret keeper was. It turns out that they made a last minute decision to switch from Sirius to Peter Pettigrew...you remember him I'm sure?"
"Of course...but that's simply ridiculous. Why on earth would they choose Pettigrew, he was always such a dunder head. I don't believe that they would trust a man like that to be their secret keeper."
"That's exactly why they did it. It was sure to through Voldemort off. Of course he would assume Sirius Black was the secret keeper. He'd go straight to him and attempt to torture the information out of him. And when that wouldn't work, he'd simply kill him. They figured he would never guess that the Potters would use Pettigrew, and in a way they were right. Voldemort never had to guess who the secret keeper was because, as it turns out, Peter had been working for Voldemort before he had gone under the charm. He had been waiting for his opportunity to give Voldemort the prize he had been fighting for, and he finally got his chance." "Do you have any proof to this at all, Dumbledore?" Mrs. Weasley, who had been silent through the whole thing, asked.
"Only Mr. Black's word under Veritaserum, as well as his interaction with young Harry Potter. The boy is very fond of him, and appears to have been raised quite well."
"Perhaps Black brainwashed him," Arthur said darkly.
Dumbledore ran a hand through his long hair tiredly. "Veritaserum does not lie. I questioned him the way any court would have done and I found him to be innocent. He has not had an easy time.
"Nor have James and Lily Potter."
"Mr. Weasley, please, use your head. Has there ever been any proof that veritaserum was faulty?"
Arthur reluctantly shook his head.
"Then what makes you think that all of a sudden Sirius Black managed to feed me lies while under its influence?"
"Of all people he could find a way." "Arthur, have I ever lead you in the wrong direction. Have I ever been wrong in my judgement of a person?"
"Not that I know of. But there's a first time for everything, and I think this may be it."
"What would you do with him?"
"I'd take him to the ministry and have them deal with this problem."
"Arthur, you work at the ministry, you know how unjust they can be. I assure you that this man is innocent, and you want to send him to the ministry, who will surly send him to Azkaban! Please think of what's right."
"Maybe you should listen to him Arthur," Mrs. Weasley mumbled.
He turned to her sharply. "You believe this story?"
"Not entirely, but I think we or you should talk to him first. Albus could be right. I think you should just be sure. If he still seems guilty, then you should do something."
Arthur shook his head, as if to disagree, but said, "I suppose. Bring us to him, please, Albus."
"As you wish. I would ask, however, if you give me a moment alone with him before you head right in. He will be somewhat defensive I'm sure."
"Of course," Arthur said with a sigh. He was still quite upset that his son had been in the 'protection' of a convict, guilty or not.
They got up to leave and Ron followed.
"Ronnie, I think you had better stay here right now," Mrs. Weasley said.
"But I want to see Sirius and Harry again. Harry's really cool, you should meet him!"
"I'm going to do that right now, honey, but you need to stay here."
"Aw Mum! I wanna go too!"
"No Ron, you stay here. We'll be back for you shortly."
Ron flopped back on the bed growling furiously to himself and the others left.
When they arrived at the start of the corridor that contained the room Sirius, Remus and Harry were in Dumbledore motioned for them to stop. He walked the rest of the way to the tapestry alone and then opened it once again.
"That was sooner than I expected," Sirius said, his eyes crinkled like he had just been laughing.
"Yes, well...I'm afraid I have some bad news. Young Mr. Weasley's parents arrived sooner than expected and he told them all about the night he spent with you two. They're quite upset about it. It was all I could do to stop them from heading straight to the ministry with the information that you are currently residing here at Hogwarts. Thus, they want to see you."
"What are they going to do to me?"
"Simply question you I believe. They are good people, as I'm sure you recall. However, they have the problem of believing what the rest of the world says. A problem I almost developed as well. Will you see them?"
"I suppose I have to don't I...or else I'll be taking a lovely one-way trip to Azkaban."
Dumbledore nodded. Remus looked at him apprehensively. "Are you sure about this? Are you sure they don't already have their minds made up? This could be a trick, you know."
"Ah, yes, but the Weasley's are some of the most honest people I know. They're not ones to skirt around issues. They tell it like it is."
"If you're sure bring them in."
Dumbledore nodded his head.
"What's happening Sirius?" Harry asked in a slightly apprehensive tone.
"We're going to meet some new people. They probably aren't going to like me at first Harry, but I want you to be nice. It's very important that you're nice. We have to charm them, okay?"
Harry nodded.
Seconds later the door opened again and Dumbledore walked back in followed by two people with flaming red hair. The man, Sirius remembered as Arthur Weasley was looking at him quite hatefully, while the woman, who he also remembered as Molly, looked curious.
"Er hi," Sirius said quietly.
The Weasley's just looked at him quite awkwardly. There they were face to face with a man who they had pictured as this vicious murderer, sitting calmly, kindly, with an adorable little boy on his lap. He looked more frightened of them then he looked frightening himself.
"Ugh..." Sirius started, simply wanting to break the awkward silence.
They interrupted him before he got a chance to say anymore.
"What is the meaning of this, Black?"
"The meaning of what exactly? The fact that I'm here, or all the misconceptions you have of me. I'm not hurt by them so much as annoyed. I've done nothing wrong."
"You were a traitor to Lily and James, your best friends, and then you kidnaped their son." Arthur corrected.
"I'm sure Dumbledore already told you otherwise, but you're obviously choosing not to believe me," Sirius said coolly. "Which is fine, really, Dumbledore didn't believe me either. But I wonder, what would it take to make you believe me?"
Arthur just looked at him squarely in the face and said firmly, "I don't know...ministry acceptance."
"I think you know that the ministry is a completely mindless place. That's why we had the Order of the Phoenix! You were a part of that."
"And so were you until you traded your friends over to the sole person we were fighting against."
"I didn't do it! Peter Pettigrew did. I don't understand why no one believes that! Did he die? No, he just conveniently disappeared right after the Potter's died! How is that not suspicious to anyone? I understand why people think I did it, considering I took Harry too. But I did it for his own good but I'm telling the truth here. I didn't betray Lily and James!" Sirius yelled, Harry cowered slightly in his lap. He hated it when Sirius raised his voice.
Arthur also backed down slightly, as did Molly. "I don't believe you, you vile worthless muderer!"
Harry started crying. "Can you please not talk like that in front of my godson?! I didn't talk like that in front of your son. Can't you see you're upsetting him?" Sirius then turned his attention back to Harry. He turned him around and put a hand on his head. "Don't listen to the mean man, Harry. He just wants to scare us and send me away. Close your ears." Harry cupped his hands over both his ears and buried his face in Sirius's chest. Sirius stroked his hair and sent a chilling glare at Arthur.
"This is getting us nowhere, Arthur...you came into this with a closed mind, will you please open it?" Dumbledore finally cut in.
"Albus, this man is clearly unstable. I can't believe you trust his lies!"
"I believe I've already told you that I questioned him, quite carefully, under veritaserum. You know as well as I do that it's very accurate. What can be done to make you believe the truth?"
"I don't know...I suppose I'm just a skeptic." Dumbledore pulled Arthur to the furthest corner of the room. "What's happened to you? I've never known you to be like this so untrusting. I assure you Sirius Black IS innocent."
"I'm sorry, Dumbledore, but I think that if he was really innocent, he would have stuck around four years ago. He wouldn't have run away."
"He ran away for Harry's sake. He knew that even if it was proven that he was innocent Harry would have been taken from him and put in the custody of his muggle relatives. While I still think it would be safest for Harry to stay with those relatives, I understand Sirius's reason's for Harry not to live with them. Lily and James would be rolling in there graves if that had happened."
"I don't know Dumbledore, I'm just not willing to accept this. It doesn't feel right. Give me proof, hard proof and I'll keep everything I've seen quiet."
"I'm afraid the only proof out there is in hiding. But I think that should be enough proof for you," Dumbledore said pointing to where Sirius was trying to calm down the very upset Harry. He was rocking him back and forth and occasionally planting kisses on his head.
Arthur's face softened slightly, but he again shook his head. "I just don't know Albus..."
"So you're willing to send a man who COULD be innocent to Azkaban?...Simply because we don't have enough proof to be sure who really is to blame?" "Albus, I couldn't live with myself if it turned out he really was guilty and I could have put an end to him..."
"But you could live with sending an innocent man to Azkaban?"
Arthur ran his hand through his hair, showing the real depth of his receding hair line. There was a glimmer of perspiration on his brow which he wiped off the moment it started to drip. Remus, who had been watching silently the whole time found this to be the perfect opportunity to put in his own opinion. He rolled his wheel chair over to them, radiating a Tiny Tim quality in his injured state. "Please, Arthur, I swear he's innocent. I knew both of them so well in school. Peter was always kind of the misfit, you know? And Sirius, he was always the one who made sure everyone was okay. He would never betray anyone. I know those two men like the backs of my hands. What Sirius is being accused of is completely out of character for him. It's completely in Peter's character, that dirty little rat."
Arthur looked at him calculatingly. "How do I know that you aren't in it too? How do I know that anything you say is true?"
"How about a little trust, Arthur?"
Molly walked up to him and put her hand over his. "I think you ought to believe Arthur. Just look at those two. Look at what you'd be separating."
Harry was hanging from Sirius's neck, now half asleep. Sirius was rubbing his back in soft circles, appearing completely lost in thought. Upon his face was a look of pure worry.
"It could be for the better," Arthur said, tiredly.
"No, it couldn't. I believe him dear...I don't understand why you don't."
Arthur again ran his hand over his head. "Fine....fine. I won't say anything. But if I hear "
"Oh thank you dear! Thank you...I can't imagine separating those two. It would have broken my heart."
"I assure you, you'll not regret this decision," Dumbledore said.
"I had better not, Albus...but I must say, I'd like no further part in harboring a convicted man. We'll be leaving now."
"Of course."
Arthur made to walk straight out the door without acknowledging Sirius at all but he stopped when Sirius asked, "What are you going to do?"
"Right now, I'm going to do nothing...but if I hear of anything suspicious about you I'll tell the ministry so fast."
Sirius nodded and Arthur again turned towards the door. "Thank you!" Sirius called as he watched him leave, soon followed by Molly who gave him a perky wave. Dumbledore followed as well.
Sirius laughed shortly after the door shut. Harry pulled back from him, waking slightly. "What's going on?" he yawned. "Did the mean man leave?"
"Yes, but he's not a mean man, bud. He just helped us out more than you'll ever know."
"But he called you a "
"I know what he called me. A lot of people here think that of me, but it's not true."
"Congratulations, Sirius, you've done it again. I swear if it were anyone else you'd already be on the receiving end of a dementors kiss," Remus said, rolling his chair back to them.
Sirius beamed at him. "I know...but if I was anyone else I'd probably be guilty."
Remus shrugged. "He was really stubborn, I thought he'd really bring you in. I can't imagine seeing them take that kid away from you."
"They certainly would have a hard time taking him from me, that's for sure." Sirius wrapped his arms around Harry and rested his chin on his head.
"So...any further news on when you'll be going back?" Remus asked.
"Dumbledore said tomorrow morning he should be able to have an untraceable portkey ready. It's going to be Hell to explain how it works to this little guy though. I'm sure he'll have thousands of questions when we leave here."
"It's too bad he couldn't grow up the way he was supposed to. He should no everything that Ron seems to know about our world."
"I know, I'm trying to teach him a little, but he has a muggle baby sitter and I try to do as little magic as possible so I don't draw attention to myself."
Remus nodded. "You really like it there?"
Sirius shrugged. "I actually like it much better here, but it's safer in Rhode Island, despite what just happened. "I would definitely stay if it were a bit safer...I think Harry and I would both miss Emily a lot though."
"She seemed feisty."
"She is...that's how we met her. The first night in the apartment Harry wouldn't stop crying and she comes over ready to bust down the door because he was being to loud. She really reamed me out and I was desperate so I asked her to help me. The moment the kid saw her hair he was hooked. It was like his Lily replacement...and she's actually pretty friendly and sweet once you get to know her. She's awesome with Harry."
"I'm glad you have at least someone else over there."
"Well I wish you had someone here Remus...it's not good to be all alone. You'll start to think that you're not loved."
Remus looked down. "I've been fine...I'll be fine."
"You're not fine, Remus. You're so different than I remember you. And you always look sad."
"Sirius, anybody would be like this after what I've been through...whether they had someone to fall back on or not. I'm fine by myself."
Sirius just shook his head. "How often do you get out of your little house? How often do you have conversation with other people? Once a week? Less?"
"Stop it Sirius! I don't need to defend myself to you! I'm fine the way I am!"
"You look more sickly than I have ever seen you. Your skin is whiter than I ever thought it possible to be! Your voice is even slightly hoarse, like you never use it! You're not alright!"
"Why are you doing this?" Remus yelled, he sounded almost hurt.
"Because I want you to come with me."
"You think insulting the way I live is going to make me want to come with you?" Remus said, sounding awestruck. "Because it's making me want to go even less."
"That sounds like you already want to go...tell me the real reason you don't want to come to stay Remus!"
"I don't want to."
"Yes you do, I know you do...but you won't, why?"
Remus looked at him defiantly but couldn't hold the look, it slowly drooped and he just shook his head.
"Hey, Harry, why don't you go play with the chess men again, okay?"
Harry nodded and climbed off Sirius's lap. "Talk to me Remus," Sirius said with a shadow of a grin."
Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You don't really want me to stay with you."
"What the Hell? Yes I do, Remus. I've missed you so much...and you've been all alone for four years! You're too young to be all alone. I want you to stay with me for those reason's and also because it will help me a lot. It's hard raising Harry by myself. Emily helps, but she can't be there always. It's all on me, that's a lot of pressure. I'd love a little more help around the apartment."
"I don't think that you'll be feeling the same after the first full moon "
"How many full moons have I been through with you? I know how it works, I know what I'd be getting myself into."
"You won't want me there after a while...I'll become a nuisance. No. I'll just stay here."
"Remus, you're not going to be a nuisance. It'll be just like when we all lived together before."
"That didn't exactly end well, Sirius. Will you just leave me alone about it."
"Not until you make the right decision."
"To me this is the right decision!"
"You know as well as I do that you're wrong."
"No, I'm right. I'll just feel out of place there. I'll feel, once again, that I've been left out of a wonderful thing for four years. It'll be like be a new kid at school. I don't want to deal with that."
"I'm not going to let it be like that. We'll take it slow."
"Sirius why are you pushing this...why do you care?"
"Because I'm lonely too," Sirius said simply.
Remus didn't know what to say to that. He just searched Sirius's face to see if he was being sincere. It looked like he was.
"Please, Rem," Sirius said in a pleading voice.
"Okay," Remus whispered with a soft smile on his lips. Sirius beamed at him.
"Great, excellent! I don't think I could have left you behind if I tried."
"I want you to promise, though, if I wear out my welcome, please tell me. Can you promise me that?"
"Sure, and I can also promise that I'll never need to," Sirius said with a cheeky grin.
Remus smiled back and then sighed.
"I've got a lot of packing to do."
"Yup...are you going to sell the flat?"
Remus thought for a moment and then shook his head. Too many memories there. I'll bored it up as best as I can though. I can't guarantee that nothing will happen to it of course. Maybe I'll come back periodically to check on it."
Sirius nodded. "We should tell Dumbledore soon though. We could just take one portkey to your house and then portkey home."
"I have a better idea. How about you and Harry go as planned and I will get better, then pack up everything and meet you guys out there."
Sirius looked rather sad about the idea but agreed that it was a better plan. They talked more on it for awhile until Dumbledore came back saying that Madam Pomfrey was losing her patience and wanted Remus back in the hospital wing. Sirius transformed back into his animagus form and they all left the room, returning to the hospital wing.
Once Remus was back in bed he began looking like he was going to drift off at any moment. Sirius trotted to the edge of the bed and nuzzled his furry head against Remus's arm. Remus reached down and pet the dogs head a few times before bringing his arm back up and drifting off to sleep.
Dumbledore then motioned Sirius to a bed where Harry was already sitting. He swung the curtains closed and Sirius transformed back to his regular form. They discussed the plan for Remus to come stay with them in Rhode Island and Dumbledore left with the news that the portkey to bring Harry and Sirius home would be ready at about nine o'clock the next day.
The rest of that day was spent with Sirius teaching Harry how to play Exploding Snap while they sat within the confines of the curtains surrounding the hospital bed. Harry loved the explosions that occurred every now and then.
Sirius was very happy that Harry was taking so well to the magic he was seeing. For a while he had felt as though he had failed Lily and James by not showing Harry all there was to magic, but it was risk he couldn't take. The fact that Harry could deal quite well with the changes of it made Sirius very happy. He just didn't know what he would do when it actually came time for Harry to go to Hogwarts himself. He assumed Dumbledore would take care of it for him.
Before they went to bed that night Harry turned to Sirius and asked, "Where's Ron?"
"Ron went home with his mom and dad."
"Oh...I liked him. Will I get to see him again?"
"Probably not, bud," Sirius said. He noticed the sad look on Harry's face. "Sorry."
Harry nodded and looked down.
"But, hey, don't worry about it. You're going to be starting pre-school next year and you're going to make lots of friends just like Ron."
"Will they no about quidditch?" Harry said regaining some happiness.
Sirius didn't want to let him down, but had to. "No, but they'll know about candy land!"
It didn't work. Harry's face fell again.
"I'll tell you all I know about quidditch though. You know your dad used to be one of the best players in the school!"
"Really?!" Harry said getting excited.
"Yeah, I can have Remus bring some pictures with him when he moves in. He's got lots of pictures from when we were young. Would you like to see them?"
Harry nodded vigorously.
"Okay. Well I think it's time we get some sleep bud. We're getting up early tomorrow and finally going home."
Harry looked happy, but slightly sad as well.
"You want to go home right?"
"Yeah! Will I ever come back here though? I like this place!"
Sirius laid back against the pillows and shut his eyes. He brought Harry down next to him and Harry used his chest as an oversized pillow.
"I hope so Harry. I don't know if we'll ever be back here again, but for your sake, I hope so."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
That was the hardest chapter ever! I don't know why it was so hard but it really sucked, wouldn't you say. You'd think that in nearly a months time I'd be able to update more, but that just wasn't happening.
Anyway, I also have another story up now which is flowing much easier than this one. I just have to get to a point and this one should flow easily again too. Anyways, the new story is called When a Home isn't a Home. It's about when Sirius leaves and all that. I like it, please read it.
I have no guarantees as to when the next chapter of this story will be up. I go to college in exactly 2 weeks and have A LOT to do. I also have no idea how much spare time I'll have to write while I'm there. So, please bear with me and wish me luck!
Please don't flame this chapter if you think it sucks, as I do, please tell me kindly. Thank you.
