AN: I saw The Return of the King last night, and it was bloody fantastic!!! You really should go and see this movie!

Chapter 3

"You did it now," Harry said, exasperatedly. He pulled the Charms book he'd been reading from his back pocket, where he'd stored it before lunch. He hurriedly flipped to the back. "I hope there's a countercharm for this, because Aunt Petunia won't be happy if you can't give Dudley's voice back." He looked over the page he'd stopped at. "I didn't think that charm worked on living things anyway."

Sirius just laughed at that as he watched Dudley panic. His wide mouth emitted no sounds, but it certainly revealed the large boy's last snack. Sirius was amazed that he had any teeth left with the amount of cavities in that mouth. There was an added bonus when the Dudster worked out the meaning of Harry's last comment.

It was Remus' fault for Sirius not having anything to do today. His friend hadn't specified what time he would be able to talk to Harry, so the more time that passed, the more antsy he felt.

Sirius sat down heavily on the couch Dudley had abandoned. It was amazing just how well adjusted Harry was after living with that monstrosity of idiocy. When Petunia had timidly announced that lunch was ready, Sirius and Harry had headed back inside in time to see Dudley make a fuss about Harry getting special treatment. If this was 'special' treatment, Sirius wanted to know how many tonnes of food it took to make somebody this brain dead. Or blind. Or lack common sense. Then, once the silent meal had been finished and Sirius followed the Dursley boy into the lounge just to annoy him - and keep Sirius busy, since Harry had decided to wait inside for Remus - and Harry following them silently, Dudley had made a fuss when his favorite television show was interrupted by a newsbreak.

Sirius' attention had been caught by the newsbreak, and when Dudley had gotten so loud that turning up the volume didn't work, he'd silenced the boy with the first thing he could think of. The news didn't seem wizard related, so he watched Dudley panic.

Just as Sirius was about to go up to Harry's room and find *something* interesting to read - he wasn't about to read anything the rest of the household had to offer - there was a knock on the kitchen door. He looked over at Harry, who shut his Charms book and jumped out of the chair he'd been uncomfortably sitting on.

Sirius followed Harry the short length of the kitchen, excitement bubbling through him. As Harry opened the door, the thought that he might freak Moony out crossed his mind. So, he changed into Padfoot with a soft popping sound, which solicited a shriek from Petunia as an added bonus before she fled the room.

"Harry?" Remus Lupin asked as Harry held the door wide open.

Padfoot could smell Remus' scent underneath the worry emanating from his friend. It changed to shock as the graying man caught sight of him.

"Harry?!" Moony's voice was strangled as his hands began to tremble. "Did you...? What...?"

"Professor?" Harry touched Lupin's arm and the man jumped, startled.

Padfoot whined, unable to voice his concerns, but unsure if he should change and possibly give the man a heart attack. He shook his nose over in the direction of the table. Harry took the hint and led the paling man to a chair, where he slumped down.

"Professor?" Harry's voice was shaky. "It's all right, okay?"

Remus ran a hand through the partially gray hair on his head. "Is it...? Can it...?"

Harry nodded, grinning over at Padfoot. "Yes!" he exclaimed happily.

Padfoot sensed this was the right moment to reveal himself. With another pop, Sirius knelt at his friend's feet.

"Moony?" he reached for Remus' hand and held it tight between both of his own.

"Paddy?" Remus' hand tightened around Sirius'. "You're real?"

Sirius nodded. He looked over at Harry with a sappy grin spreading across his lips. "Harry rescued me somehow."

"What!?" Remus sat upright in the chair. His grip tightened enough to make Sirius wince. "Harry!"

"Professor - "

"Remus, Harry."

" - Remus.... I... I didn't do it deliberately," Harry haltingly explained. "It just... happened."

Remus' golden eyes widened. "The Ministry...."

Sirius and Harry nodded in unison, before Sirius rose to his feet. He tugged on Remus' hand.

"Let's go up to Harry's room so we can talk about this in a more comfortable setting."

Remus slowly nodded and allowed Sirius to pull him up.

******

"So," Remus began, "you're telling me that, all of a sudden, you were in the Department of Mysteries."

Harry nodded.

"And the locked room - the one with the door nobody could open in the last hundred years - opened at your touch."

Harry nodded again and added, "to reveal my old bedroom."

Both Remus and Sirius clenched their teeth.

"Yes," Remus said tightly. "Then you went into the room with the veil and somehow rescued Sirius by going through it."

Harry nodded once more. His face was beginning to show his displeasure with the way this conversation was going. Sirius glared at Remus, urging him to move onto something different.

Remus switched his attention to Sirius. "How is it that no one from the Ministry had noticed you doing any magic here? This bedroom has obviously been enlarged magically, and they certainly don't teach that kind of thing until seventh year at Hogwarts."

Sirius shrugged. "I've no idea, but it's like my magic is different now."

"Different?" Remus asked, alarmed. "How?"

He thought for a moment, trying to come up with a way to say it. "It's like... it feels like I'm back at school... like sixth year after I began living with James."

Both older men looked at Harry in consideration.

"Now that I think about it, Harry," Sirius continued, "your room feels like the old Potter House did."

"Really?" The sixteen-year-old perked up at that. "Where...?"

Sirius paused. He wasn't sure if he should continue this conversation. Bringing up anything that had to do with the house that he had lived in after he'd left his family's house was painful. The three years he had lived with the Potters had been great, but at the same time he'd had to face the possibility that his family would be willing to kill him because he was a 'traitor' to the Dark.

Petunia called up the stairs at that moment, announcing that dinner was ready. Sirius looked at Harry. "I will tell you later, alright?"

Harry nodded, but Sirius could see he wouldn't be placated with a half-answer.

******

They were again settled in Harry's room, having endured another strained dinner conversation. The head of the Dursley household had not been amused to have another 'freak' in his house, but had quieted down upon learning that the newest guest was a savage beast every full moon. As opposed to what Sirius would do any day of the month.

Remus sat back amongst the pillows Sirius had transfigured from some of Dudley's old, broken toys. Harry could see that he was thinking about how they could inform Dumbledore without alerting the rest of the Order. As he did so, Harry had other things to worry about.

Remus had told Harry and Sirius about some of the things that had been happening lately. First was about 12 Grimmauld Place itself. The house had gotten dark since the night of the events at the Ministry, but in the last couple of days, it had suddenly lightened a bit. Fletcher had suggested that the house had been mourning the last of the Blacks, and everyone had gone with that explanation because it was logical. Harry could agree with that, but there was more to it. The next thing Remus told them was of Kreacher's odd behavior - even odder than previously. The house elf had taken to some place they couldn't reach within the house, and he would only appear if there were more than four Order members in the house.

He had also informed them that Narcissa Malfoy had attempted to gain entry into the house, but hadn't been able to get the front of the house to appear. It seemed as if Sirius had actually willed the house to recognize Harry as being his only family, and not his own cousin. This had puzzled even Dumbledore, because of the annoying and dangerous creatures the house had given shelter to all these years. Never before had a thing like a house actually been sentient enough to know the wishes of the last of its 'family.'

Harry knew that it was a lot to think about, but Remus had raised an interesting point: why had everything that had occurred in the last three days gone undetected by both the Ministry and the Order when it came to Harry? Add to that, he had his own question to ask Dumbledore - how *had* he gotten Sirius back when no spell could bring back the dead? So what did all of this mean?

He didn't even want to think about what it did mean.

When he had first woken up after getting Sirius back, he'd been so overjoyed at having him here that he'd ignored the questions that came with it. Even before Lupin - Remus, Harry reminded himself - had arrived, he could avoid thinking in exchange for actually having fun in the summer. With Remus' arrival, it had felt almost like an intrusion. Not Remus himself, but the man brought with him the outside world. All of it was encroaching on the little world in which Harry felt totally safe.

He looked over at the other two, who were quickly heading towards a fight over Sirius' actions with the Dursleys. On one level, Harry thought it was only justifying his relatives' beliefs about wizards and witches. The level he most agreed with thought everything was rather funny, and he knew he could count on Sirius for anything like it.

~~~

Sirius wondered just how much Harry had really been hiding his wishes to learn more about his family. He hadn't really noticed it last Christmas - he'd been far too happy that he could be with Harry - but he'd already asked several things in the last three days. He realized then that both Remus and Harry were looking at him.

"Well, it stands to reason, doesn't it, that your power comes from your family?" Sirius asked, referring to their previous conversation about the power in the room where they sat. "Only I never felt it coming from James... just the house."

Remus nodded as Harry looked at him, almost bewildered. "James did a little bit - " Remus began.

"To you, maybe, super-sensitive man," Sirius interrupted. He smirked at his friend, who was frowning.

"What I was trying to say, Harry, is that while one noticed it if James was angry, it seems to ooze out of your pores."

Both Harry and Sirius looked at him in shock.

Remus sighed. "James had some similar power like the power that was in that room in the Ministry, *and* it was part of the Potters' land and home. Because you could access that room, it's logical to assume that you have that power in spades."

Sirius frowned. He didn't think it was the same, because he had *felt* Harry's power when they'd been sitting on the sofa last Christmas, and he said so.

"Was it as powerful as now?" Remus asked.

"No," Sirius said. "But it was more than I've ever felt from anyone other than Dumbledore."

Harry's face scrunched up in frustration. "It's not normal, is it?" He pounded his fist on the desk. "I'm not normal, am I?"

Sirius' heart clenched at the despair written on Harry's face and in his voice, not focusing on the anger that was there as well. He moved to kneel in front of the young man.

"Harry..." he wasn't sure what to say, but knew he had to say something. "Yes, it's not normal - "

Harry reared back, but Sirius grabbed his hands and pulled him closer.

"Harry.... You are special to us. Not for who your father was, as much as I may have wished it before. It doesn't matter to us - " he pointed at Remus and himself - "what power you have or anything like that. We will be with you, no matter what."

Harry looked at him, and Sirius could tell he had at least listened, but it hadn't really sunk in. He looked over at Remus helplessly, not really sure of what else he could say.

Remus stood and crossed the room. Putting a hand on Harry's shoulder, he said, "It sounds a little maudlin coming from Padfoot - "

"It does not," Sirius muttered under his breath to himself.

" - But he is correct, Harry. It doesn't matter if you *are* the one Voldemort is after or you had grown up with your parents. Either way, we love you."

"Because of my parents?" Harry spluttered angrily.

Sirius shook his head. "Never, Harry. I've loved you since the day you were born. It's only changed as you've grown."

"But all that stuff about my dad...."

"Things I wanted to see, even though you showed me differently. Harry, I only did that because I had this picture of you when you were little while I was in Azkaban. I thought of you missing your parents and how it should be, and not how it was." Sirius pulled the younger man into an awkward yet heartfelt embrace. "You, as you are now, are what I missed the most on the other side of that veil, Harry."

Sirius felt Harry relax slightly. As he did so, he could feel Remus kneel as well and put an arm around his shoulder.

"Things are going to be different, Harry," Sirius whispered, "for all of us. I promise it'll get better."

******

It was very quiet in Harry's room later that night. Remus had left very late, promising to bring Dumbledore back as soon as he returned from his reinstatement ceremony in the International Wizards Confederation. Now Harry and Sirius were lying in the bed, almost of the verge of sleep.

"Harry?"

One sleepy, green eye opened. "Hm, Siri?"

"I meant everything I said earlier."

"I know." A pause as Harry yawned. "Good night. Love you."

"Good night, Harry. I love you, too."

~~~

A loud bang woke Sirius from the strange dream he'd been having about being behind the veil. Disoriented for a brief second, he wondered at the warm body close to his. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he looked to find Harry sleeping peacefully.

Another loud bang sounded, and this time Sirius could tell that it was coming from outside. Raising himself just enough to look out the window, he was alarmed to see a group of people a couple of houses over, Auror insignia embroidered on the upper arms of their robes. Panicking, Sirius gave Harry a shove to wake him up, even as he jumped out of bed.

"Wha...?" came Harry's sleepy inquiry.

"Aurors!" Sirius whispered loudly. "Three houses down!"

Harry sat up and looked out the window. Sirius saw they were moving quickly towards them. "Bugger."

Harry sighed, before his face brightened. "Do you trust me, Sirius?"

He turned to look at Harry, who was searching for his glasses. "Yes... why?"

"Come here," Harry said as he climbed out of bed.

Sirius stepped closer and looked out the window. One house away, now. He turned back to the young man in front of him. "Harry?"

~~~

Harry suddenly knew what to do, just like he had in the Department of Mysteries. He put his hands on Sirius' temples, willing the magic to do what it must. Once it started, he could feel the power move through his fingertips.

First, he changed Sirius' magical signature to resemble a squib's - almost identical to Filch's - but still leaving all of his magic intact. Then he slightly changed his physical features. Blue eyes darkened and black hair became a light brown. Lastly, he changed Sirius' physical age to be a little older than his own.

He stepped back, smiling at Sirius before letting the magic still needed to settle over the house.

The last piece fell into place a nanosecond before the first auror stepped past the immediate wards for the house.

"What did you do, Harry?" Sirius asked. He started in surprise at the bass voice coming out of his mouth, quite different from his own baritone.

Harry's smile widened. "You are Martin Evans, a cousin of the Evans that live in the neighborhood on Magnolia Crescent. Aunt Petunia invited you to stay the night because you might possible be related. There are some clothes in the guest room, but I was showing you a couple books to read because you couldn't sleep." He reached over to one of the shelves on the wall, picking up a like-new book.

"Here they come."

Sirius looked wild-eyed for a passing moment before Harry said, "They won't take you away from me, Sirius. Never again."

The 'older' man gave a nervous grin as a knock sounded downstairs at the front door.

~~~

Aunt Petunia gave a loud screech as the auror that had been upstairs ran down once more.

"All clear up there," the blond man said.

"I should bloody hope so," Uncle Vernon bellowed. He obviously was very unhappy with more 'freaks' coming in the middle of the night looking for a murderer. He'd only let them in because the lead auror had pulled his wand out. "No murderer is going to get in my house, and certainly not a freak."

The man, who had identified himself as Senior Auror Roberston, motioned to his men, who began to slowly shuffle outside. "Mr. Potter. I'm afraid I'm going to have to Obliviate your family," he began.

Uncle Vernon grunted. "You're not doing anything to my family."

Aunt Petunia nodded, still shielding Dudley and an arm on the man the aurors were actually looking for. The woman had latched onto 'Martin' like Harry had hoped she would.

"Mr. Roberston," Harry tentatively said. "It's probably best to leave it alone."

The auror looked at him. "You haven't seen Sirius Black since that night in the Ministry, have you, Mr. Potter?"

Harry shrugged. "He fell through that odd looking veil, sir. I don't see how I could."

"Absolutely positive?"

Harry nodded, putting on the innocent face that had kept him out of trouble with everybody except his relatives.

Roberston paused. "If you do see him, please Owl either myself or Kingsley Shacklebolt, who is also handling this case." He turned to Uncle Vernon. "Good evening, sir. I hope we haven't disturbed you too much."

Uncle Vernon opened his mouth, but Aunt Petunia laid a hand on his arm.

The auror turned and exited the house, leaving a livid Uncle Vernon. Aunt Petunia clutched Dudley and 'Martin' closer to her.

"So your godfather's dead?" Uncle Vernon asked, his face turning multiple shades of purple.

Harry shook his head. "No. In fact, he's really close by."

"Where?" was the demand.

He shrugged. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

Uncle Vernon stepped towards him menacingly. "So, you lied to that man?"

Harry sighed. "No. I didn't answer his question of whether I had seen Sirius lately. I just told him I saw him fall through the veil. I said nothing about helping him come back through." Outside, he could sense the aurors leave the vicinity of the house, and so he let most of the magic he been weaving fall apart, exhausted by the effort.

Uncle Vernon's face paled. "So he is alive?" he asked in a shaky voice as he realized the 'murderer' he said wouldn't get in his house was still there and was now the boy his wife was clutching.

'Martin' nodded, even as the years rapidly came back to his face. The Dursleys looked at him in fear and horror.

"How about we leave this until the morning." Sirius yawned. "I would rather go to sleep at this late hour than deal with this." He turned to Uncle Vernon in a threatening manner. "But if you even think of alerting those men that were just here, you won't ever do a single thing in the rest of your very short life."

Uncle Vernon was the palest Harry had ever seen him as he herded his family up the stairs.

Harry watched his relatives flee, relief pouring over him. He had been dreading them doing anything right now while the aurors were still too close. He had the feeling that they would be keeping a close eye on Little Whinging until the morning, but at least they had left the wards Harry had tampered with.

Too bad Shacklebolt hadn't been the one leading the team.

A touch to his arm startled Harry out of his thoughts. He looked to find Sirius looking at him, a worried frown on his lips. The Dursleys were already in their rooms.

"Are you all right?"

Harry nodded, shrugging his shoulders. "Just tired." He moved towards the stairs. "We'll get everything sorted out in the morning."

"That's fine, Harry," Sirius said, as the two of them headed up. He ushered Harry into his room and tucked the younger man into the bed. "Whatever you think you should do, I will help you with."

******

Remus had stopped by again on Friday - after his quick check-up with Tonks watching outside, after the aurors had left Wednesday morning - to help Harry pack up his belongings. Dumbledore had gathered together a group that would be coming tonight to escort Harry to Grimmauld Place. The headmaster had only come back today from France, where the Confederation met in Paris. The ceremony had only lasted a day, but then Dumbledore had been requested by Madame Maxime to come to Beauxbatons to help with something. Remus hadn't specified what it was.

Now Harry and Sirius were waiting for their escort. Remus, unfortunately, wouldn't be one of them, due to his being guard for the Weasley twins each evening when they left their new store in Diagon Alley. Harry knew that, even though Fred and George hadn't sat for their NEWTs, they were smart enough to defend themselves. He suspected that Remus was their mother's insurance that they wouldn't go looking for trouble.

Remus *had* said that Tonks would be one of the group, which would take some of the attention from the fact that Harry had company.

Together, the three of them had decided that it would be better for all of them that the explanations of what had happened since the thirty-first of July to wait until they were safely in London in Grimmauld Place. Since Harry's little trick for disguising Sirius earlier in the week had worked well, they were going to do something similar. Just the Dursleys wouldn't be there to raise hell the next morning. As if they ruckus that would be raised by Mrs. Weasley wouldn't be bad enough.

Instead of disguising Sirius as somebody younger, it was going to be Padfoot they were concealing. They had tried it once, while Remus was in Privet Drive, so that he could tell the others about the newest addition to Harry's menagerie, which included Hedwig, and the snake Sirius had found outside after Dudley was done 'playing' with it. The poor little snake had only survived because Harry could ask where it had been hurt, so that Sirius could heal its wounds. As thanks, the snake had agreed to go with them to London, because Sirius had big plans for Kreacher and the portrait of his mother. Harry was not adverse to these plans, either.

Harry was divided in his feelings about leaving Privet Drive. On one hand, he wanted every one of his friends to know that he'd gotten Sirius back. On the other, he was reluctant to leave this semi-paradise for the real world and the reality of war. He didn't want Sirius to get hurt; he wanted to protect him, keep him safe. But he knew he couldn't coop Sirius up like Dumbledore had.

Maybe, if he pleaded his case right, Harry would be able to give Sirius a disguise that would work to keep him at Hogwarts, where he would have more freedom. After all, he'd already demonstrated that he could mask magical signatures.

Still, Monster - Sirius had picked out his newest name - was a cute puppy. Harry had been able to control the age of Sirius' animagus form without changing Sirius himself. Even when he had changed back and forth from Sirius to Monster, the puppy form had stayed intact until Harry ended the magic. Monster's big paws were so large that he had tripped numerous times, entertaining Harry and Remus all through Sirius' denials that he had meant to do that.

Outside there came the sound of the trash cans banging around in back of the garage. Harry and Sirius looked at each other in exasperation.

"Tonks."

Sirius nodded to Harry, who closed his eyes, willing the magic to change the older man. It was becoming easier and easier to use the magic with his will without tiring him like it had the first time. Harry was thrilled to also know that he wasn't getting in trouble for using it.

A knock on the kitchen door sounded just as Sirius became Monster.

Monster yipped in agreement as Harry said, "looks like we're all set, aren't we?"

The door crashed open, revealing Tonks wearing a banana peel in her hair. "Hi, Harry! Sorry about the dustbins! Ready to go?"

Harry nodded, securing Monster under his arm and insuring the little snake was wrapped securely around his other wrist. "All set."