Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JKR, various publishers of the HP series. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. I think the song is credited to Frankie Valle, and I have no idea who owns the movie Truly, Madly, Deeply. A trailer from the movie inspired this fic.
Chapter 2 – Bathtub Scene
It was nice having Sirius to talk to. Petunia and Vernon no longer heard crying when they put their ears to Harry's closed door. However, they did hear a muffled one-sided conversation. Vernon wanted to kick the door in and find out who Harry was talking to, no doubt with some kind of wizard telephone or something, but Petunia held him back. As long as Harry wasn't talking to himself outside the bedroom, she wanted to keep this quiet. She told Vernon that it was bad enough having to hide the fact that her nephew was a wizard, she didn't want it getting around that he'd gone crazy too. He reluctantly agreed, although in his mind, if Potter was crazy, that would certainly explain to the neighbors why the boy thought he was a wizard. But then how would they explain that to the wizards who would, no doubt, check in on him. Petunia was right, Vernon decided, keep this quiet.
Vernon started finding all kinds of excuses to bring Harry out of his bedroom by calling him down to do chores. "Boy, come down here and wash the clothes." "Potter, wash the car." "Potter, Aunt Petunia wants you to dig a flower garden." Between the work and the relief of having his godfather in his bedroom, Harry started taking short naps in his bedroom. It didn't matter what time of the day it was. True to his word, whenever Harry returned to his bedroom or woke up from his nap, Sirius was there in the bedroom smiling at him. Sirius either sat on the bed or paced the small room. Harry did the same. Sirius was there to talk things out.
As Harry turned the dirt over in the back yard in what would be the flower bed, he thought to himself, 'Why doesn't Sirius ever come out of the bedroom?' He looked up to the his second floor bedroom window. Sirius was looking down watching Harry work and waved at Harry through the iron bars. Harry waved back with gloved hands. Granted, the Dursleys would be very upset to find a grown wizard with Harry in his bedroom, let alone to be spotted by the neighbors. Then again, he never saw Sirius eating. Harry erased that thought. Sirius was a wizard. He must be disapparating whenever Harry is called away.
Harry came into the house after working all afternoon in the hot summer sun. Vernon jumped on him, "Boy, don't you track that dirt in the house. In fact, go straight up to the bathroom. When you come down you will vacuum the house." Harry, still not saying anything to his relatives, only nodded.
Harry filled the tub and added some old bubble bath he found under the sink. Dudley used to use the bubble bath, but he stopped taking baths when it got he got too heavy to get up from the slippery tub on his own. Harry was scrubbing the dirt from his fingernails, when Sirius's head popped up next to the tub and squeezed a little yellow rubber duckie. SQUEAK! He was balanced on his knees and one hand, while the other held the rubber duckie for Harry.
Harry and Sirius busted out in laughter. "You alright Harry?"
"Yeh. I'm not a kid anymore, you know." Harry snatched the rubber duckie from Sirius's hand.
The grown wizard closed the lid to the toilet and sat on it. "I know, Harry. You probably don't remember when I did that to you when you were a baby. Your mum was so afraid I was too busy entertaining you that I would let you to slip into the water and drown."
Harry's expression saddened, "Sirius, I thought you were dead. Nobody comes back from the dead. Even ghosts, though they're dead, actually never actually made it over to the other side."
"That's true, Harry." Sirius shrugged. "I don't know how I got here. I just know that I am here and that you needed me."
"Can I call other people? Mum? Dad?"
"I can't answer that, Harry." Changing the subject, "So, what flowers are you going to plant for Aunt Petunia?"
"She wants some white lilies." Harry stared blankly at the foot of the tub. Tears started dripping down his cheeks as he thought about it. Sirius watched quietly from his seat, but he didn't seem upset, just somber.
Harry went through the motions of the bath and drained the tub when he finished. He was dressed and hunched over the tub when Uncle Vernon came stomping up the stairs. "Boy, are you finished yet? You get down here and vacuum!" The bathroom door burst open. When he stuck his face in, Sirius stood up, eye to eye, with the purple faced man. Uncle Vernon turned his gaze at his nephew, "What are you doing, boy?"
"I-I-I'm cleaning the tub, sir." Harry croaked. It had been so long since he said anything to Uncle Vernon.
"You do that!" Vernon left the doorway but could still be heard as he walked away, "Probably left a nasty black ring, been so long since he took a bath. Finally did something without being told."
"I'll just wait in your room," Sirius said quietly. Harry nodded his acknowledgement. When he finished cleaning the bathroom, Harry went down stairs and got the vacuum out of the closet. He plugged it in to clean the living room, but he had to wait until Aunt Petunia was off the phone.
"Harry," Aunt Petunia said, "You will need to go to Mrs. Figg's tomorrow. She has sprained her ankle and needs you to change the cat litter." Harry nodded and proceeded to vacuum the house, starting with the living room.
When he showed up at Mrs. Figg's house, she opened the door and greeted him, "Hello Harry. How are you?"
"Fine, Mrs. Figg. I thought your ankle was sprained."
"Oh, it's nothing, dear. We'll be having tea. Remus is here." She showed him to the kitchen.
"Hi, Remus." He looked more rested than the last time Harry had seen him at the train station.
"How are you, Harry." Remus put his teacup down and stood up to shake Harry's hand.
"I'm good. Hey, has Sirius been to see you?"
"Excuse me?" Remus's eyes widened.
"No, nothing. I've been thinking a lot about him and Mum and Dad." Harry sat down and stared at the tea setting.
Mrs. Figg poured his tea and brought out more finger sandwiches and biscuits.
Remus nodded, "Me too, Harry. I've been thinking a lot about them, too."
"Do you ever think about them so hard, that you think they're in the room with you? Or they appear when you want to see them so badly?"
Remus looked deep into Harry's green eyes, "Sure, Harry. I have so many unfinished arguments with James, even more with Sirius. So many things that went unsaid while they were alive. I go ahead and say it. It helps work things out. I still hear Lily nagging on us for your safety."
"Even if they're not really there?" Harry asked quietly.
"Who says they're not there?" Mrs. Figg chimed. "I still talk to dear Mr. Figg, God rest his soul. I called him Figgy. Don't let anyone tell you different. He hears me." She picked up a picture frame from her mantle and brought it to Harry. Mr. Figg winked back at Harry and smiled back.
"Thanks for getting me out of there today. I guess I've been cooped up too long."
"We know, Harry. They aren't working you too hard, are they?" Remus said, sympathetically.
"It's okay." Harry replied, "It gets me out of my room. I couldn't sleep for the longest time, I was afraid of the dreams."
"No dreams now?" Remus looked up from his cup.
"No, I think the physical labor helps get me too tired to think at night."
"Good, Harry. Albus will be happy to hear it."
"Are they feeding you all right, hun?" Mrs. Figg asked.
"More than I want, Mrs. Figg. I haven't had much appetite, and until today, I haven't actually tasted the food. Good sandwiches, ma'am." Harry looked around the room. "So, did you need me to do anything for you today?"
"Certainly not, Harry. I couldn't tell them I wanted you here for tea, now could I?"
After an hour, Mrs. Figg told Harry he had better be getting back to the Dursleys lest they get suspicious. "Just tell him I had you do a few other things, dear."
Before Harry got to the door, Remus got up to put a hand over Harry's shoulder. "Listen, Harry, in two days come out for a walk. We'll go down to the park and talk, or not say anything if that's what you want to do, okay? You do need to get out of the house more."
"Thanks, Remus." Harry called out to the kitchen, "Thanks, Mrs. Figg."
Remus closed the door behind Harry, "Bye now."
-----ooOoo-----
To be continued...