Chapter Twenty-five: Home

Summary: Twenty-fifth chapter. Twenty-four to go. That about sums it up.

Harry was sure the trip wouldn't have taken nearly so long if he had been sure of were he was going. But as it was he had had to take a few detours to find familiar landmarks that would guide him along the right path.

But finally, just as the sun was setting, he found his destination.

Godric's Hollow.

He set his broom down just outside the property line. The area had become something of a shrine to those who knew the whole story of what happened here. What was left of the house, (which wasn't much), had been left undisturbed.

Harry was looking over the charred ruins when Hedwig came soaring in for a landing on his shoulder.

"Not much for a home." Harry lamented. He had expected a bit more to be left of the house. But he shook off his disappointment. The point was that he felt it was the perfect hiding place. And maybe there was just enough of his parent's protection left in these ruins to keep him safe.

Harry looked over his shoulder at the growing darkness of the coming night. Pushing past the rusted gate, he made his way towards the blackened ruins.

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"Sirius!"

Arabella's cry echoed through the house.

Sirius was nearly knocked on his back as she came charging down the stairs and ran straight into him. He grabbed her by the arms, trying to calm her down. Hysterics were simply something Arabella was not given to even in the worst of circumstances.

"'Bella? What is it?"

"Harry! Sirius, he's gone."

"Gone?"

"Some of his cloths...his Firebolt...Hedwig. They're all gone. And his window was left open. We told him to never leave the windows open because it weakens the protection charms." She grabbed the front of his shirt. "Sirius, he's run away."

Sirius gave her a reassuring smile. "'Bella. That's ridiculous. Why would Harry run away? He was perfectly safe here."

"I don't know. But he is gone, Sirius. We have to tell Dumbledore. We have to let him know. And we have to look for him, Sirius. It's getting dark.. He all alone out there. What if he comes across the Deatheaters. Or Voldemort? Sirius, we have to find him!" Arabella was quite near hysterics now.

"We will, 'Bella. But we have to think first. Where would he most likely go? Maybe to a friend's house?"

Arabella shook her head. "No. Harry wouldn't do that. It would put them in danger as well. No. He'd...he'd try to stay away from anyone he knew." Arabella turned sharply back to Sirius. "Oh, Sirius! You don't think that's why he ran away, do you? Because he was worried about endangering us?"

Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment. Then suddenly a deep furrow appeared across his brow. "Not 'us', 'Bella. Me. He didn't want me taking the risk of Snape's cure for him."

Arabella fought to get herself back under control. "We have to find him, Sirius."

"But where, 'Bella? There's a hundred places he might have gone."

Arabella shook her head as she laid it against Sirius' chest, dissolving into tears. "Oh, Sirius. I failed him. I tried so hard to make him feel comfortable here. To make him feel safe. To feel like he was home."

Home!

The word rang in Sirius' head. He stared out the window for a moment at the gathering darkness.

Sirius pulled Arabella back, taking her face in his hands as he forced her to look up at him.

"'Bella, do you trust me?"

"What?" Arabella gave him a confused stare.

"Do you trust me? Really trust me?"

"Sirius, you know I do. But I hardly think this is the time..."

"'Bella, I think I know where Harry went. But I have to go there alone."

"What? No!. He's my godson too, Sirius. If you know where he is, tell me. We can go get him."

"'Bella, I believe I'm the reason Harry ran away. So Harry and I will have to sort this out between us if he's never going to feel comfortable here or around me again. You understand?"

Arabella stared up at him for a long time before saying anything. But finally she nodded her head as she looked down from his gaze. "But tell me where he is." She said softly. "I won't interfere. But if something happens, and you need help, I want to know where you are."

Sirius smiled slightly. "You gave me the idea, 'Bella. He went 'home'. Back to his parents house. Which is where I need you to send me so I can bring him back."

Arabella pulled back from Sirius' embrace, wiping her eyes as she pulled a small blue stone out from within the folds of her robes. "Just use that when you're ready to come back." She said, pulling out her wand.

Sirius nodded as Arabella spoke the spell, and he abruptly vanished.

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Harry sat on a stump outside the ruined remains of his parents' house. The only sound he heard as he watched the sun setting was Hedwig's soft hooting. But a sudden pop next to him caused him to turn about so fast that he nearly lost his balance. He righted himself just in time to look up and see the disappointment in his godfather's expression.

"Harry, what were you thinking?" Sirius asked solemnly.

Harry turned his back to Sirius, again facing the fading sunset.

"Do you have any idea how frightened Arabella is? How worried?"

"How did you find me here?" Harry asked in a low tone.

"Where else?"

Harry turned back to him as Sirius walked up and seated himself on the large stump next to Harry.

"Actually," he amended, "it was Arabella who gave me the idea. She wondered why you would run away from the place she was trying so hard to make a home for you. I reasoned you weren't running away from a home. You were running back to one."

Harry turned back to the sunset, now little more than a pale light on the horizon.

"So," Sirius asked, "why did you come here? Why run away at all?"

Harry sat for a long time in silence before answering his godfather. "Because all everyone around me ever does is gets hurt, gets the short end of the stick, or just dies. And I don't want that to happen to you or Arabella."

"Harry, everybody gets hurt at some point in life, as well as do they sometimes get the short end of the proverbial stick, and we're all going to die someday. These aren't traits unique to the people who are around you."

"Just seems to happen at lot more around me." Harry replied dismally. "Sometimes I think everyone would have been a lot better off fourteen years ago if Voldemort had killed me."

"Really? Then where do you think Arabella and I would be now? Voldemort was already looking for us, Harry. We were among those he wanted destroyed along with your parents. Had he succeeded in killing you, then he would never have lost his own powers that night and he could have proceeded with his plans. You were the only thing that stopped him that night, Harry. And Arabella and I are alive because of it. Along with a great many other people."

Harry fell back into silence.

"Never wish things had been different that night, Harry. Because if they had been, things would only have changed for the worse."

Harry sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke again. "What are you going to do about your magic?"

"The same thing I was going to do an hour ago. I'm going to take Snape's potion and hope for the best."

"And you're doing that because you feel you have to protect me. So if it doesn't work and you lose your magical abilities for good then it'll be my fau...."

"Then the only person to blame for that, Harry," Sirius cut him off quickly, "is Voldemort. Not you."

Harry stared at his feet and said nothing.

"Look," Sirius offered sincerely, "I'm listening to opinions, and I'll listen to yours if you care to give it."

Harry shook his head. "You've already made up your mind." He replied quietly.

"There's a lot of hours between now and sunrise, Harry, and I can tell you two things about those hours. One, I do not want to spend them sitting on a stump. And two, things have been known to change in a lot less time."

"And if you don't go through with it you still feel you can't protect me. Even Arabella agrees with that."

"Don't be so sure how your godmother feels about this, Harry. If she felt my doing this would in any way cause you pain, she'd be the first one to try and talk me out of it. She loves you very much."

"But she in love with you. And I don't want to put her in the position of having to choose sides."

"Is that what she's doing?"

Harry turned a questioning stare to Sirius.

Sirius spread his arms out. "Is she here? Choosing sides between us? No. She's at home, Harry. Because she isn't going to get on one side of this or the other. You see, she's already made her choice. The only one she could. To stay out of this. To let us work it out as best we can. The only orders I'm under from your godmother are to bring you home safely."

"So you can be forced to take some potion that may restore your magic or destroy it forever, all because you feel you have to protect me."

Sirius sighed quietly to himself. "Look, Harry," he said finally, "I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not doing this for you. Not entirely."

"No?" Harry said skeptically.

"No. Do you honestly think I'm happy like this? Living my life out as a muggle? Guess again. I'm also doing this for purely selfish reasons. For myself. For the person I use to be. The wizard I was and that I very much want to be again."

Harry stared up at his godfather. Something in what Sirius said rang very true to Harry. He knew all too well Sirius wasn't happy the way he was. But somehow it helped hearing Sirius say that he had other reasons for wanting to take the risk of Snape's cure.

Harry smiled slightly at his godfather, then suddenly wrapped him in a tight hug. "Thanks, Sirius." He whispered.

Sirius encircled his godson in his arms, for the moment enjoying the simple pleasure of holding him and being allowed to lavish all the love and affection on him that Sirius could give.

But finally Sirius pulled back. Reaching out , he gently brushed a line of tears off Harry's cheeks. "Are you ready to go home then?" Sirius asked.

Harry turned to the ground as a dismal air settled on him. "Arabella's really mad, isn't she?" He asked quietly, afraid of the answer.

"She's not mad, Harry. She is very worried though. I would suspect there's a lecture coming at some point. But I think things will start out first with a lot of hugging and tears. So be prepared."

Harry managed a slight smile.

"So, ready to go?" Sirius asked again.

Harry turned back to the ruins of the house. There was something vaguely peaceful about the place. Something that was oddly comforting to him as it sat illuminated in the last light of the day, the evening shadows just starting to fall over it. From somewhere in the depth of his memories he thought he could piece together what the house had looked like. That he could see his parents standing in the yard. His father playing with him as a baby while his mother looked on. A happy family.

But those were elusive memories for him. Ones he couldn't even guarantee were real or something he simply made up to remember.

What was real, he reminded himself firmly, was the man sitting next to him on the stump, and the woman who was waiting for them to come back. And hugging, tears, lecture and all, Harry suddenly found he couldn't wait to return to her.

Turning to his godfather once again, Harry gave him a far more enthusiastic smile than the one before, then nodded his head. "Ready."

Sirius wrapped his arm tightly about Harry's shoulder and pulled the small oval blue stone from his pocket. Squeezing it tightly in his hand, a sudden flare of light enveloped them. Harry watched as the scene in front of him began to fade. He quickly reached up to wipe a stray tear away, and when he looked again, the scene was gone.