Harry Potter and the New Start: A Decision
Hello everyone! Thanks so much to all of the reviewers, you're all great. This chapter is setting up what's to come within the next few, so I hope you like what I'm planning.
I'm sorry for the long wait. Not only did I have a few projects and papers to deal with, I actually just got a baby for Child Development class. It cries and all those goodies. I named it Jujubean. If I ever need another elf name, that's gonna be it, just in honor of my sleepless night with a crying plastic kid.
----------------------------------Emerald's Palace
Harry ran like a child possessed, and Sirius trailed behind him wishing there was such as thing as an 'off' button for children. And it wasn't actually the first time he'd wished about such a thing. The little boy had gotten into a stash of chocolate frogs and the rest was blurry history.
True to his parentage, too much sugar had adverse effects on the child. A lesson that Sirius had learned many times over. As if Harry wasn't pretty much a hyperactive child already, adding a sugar high induced boost of energy really wasn't helping the matter.
"Harry James Potter, you stop right now!" Sirius called ahead of him as Harry disappeared around a corner. He was pretty sure that the child knew the castle better than he did, seeing as they'd already been down two hallways that Sirius had not been sure existed until then.
All he was given in response, unsurprisingly, was a mad giggle and a flash of his red pants as he flew into a doorway. Sirius had a new found sympathy for his friends and teachers at Hogwarts, being that both he and James were very much like Harry.
Sirius opened the door, praying that this was a dead-end and Harry would soon be captured and put down for a nap. "Oh bloody hell...." He groaned.
A music room. Since when did the castle have a room full of musical instruments, thereby providing a million hiding places for a small child?
This was a game for them though, Harry loved hide and seek. He was good at hiding. And Sirius wondered in all honesty if it was because Harry was a major player in one big game of hide and seek. His godson might not have realized it yet, though he did know the truth, but they were. Sirius and Harry were the ones hiding, and the rest of the world was looking.
From time to time Sirius considered letting themselves be found. If he could just talk to Dumbledore one on one, with no hatred and prejudice, would the outcome be different? Would the wise wizard believe in him, though he had not in the past? There was so much at risk, and so much to gain at the same time.
As much as he didn't want to admit it, or even think of it, he could not keep Harry there forever. There was so much in life to experience, so much to see and so many people to meet that Sirius couldn't bear the thought of Harry missing out on such joys.
But the world was as unkind as it was magical. And Sirius, who was looking in a drum set, knew that far better than anyone else. A man he trusted and a person he considered to be a brother had imprisoned him in hell...all for someone else's crime.
Could he let Harry go long enough to see things, but not loose him in the process? There were so many things that could go wrong. And Harry was much too young to be let out by himself.
Sirius smirked as he glanced around a group of harps. They didn't know that he had a wand. They didn't know that he could alter his appearance, and Harry's. They could go out, they could see the people and all of the shops of Diagon Alley.
They could do all that and more. Sirius's mind had spent many a night dreaming of bringing James's son into the joke shops and the ice cream parlor. All of his father's old haunts. All of the places that the marauder's spent their time.
He knew that Harry would love every moment of it. And he knew that Harry deserved to see such a big part of his father's world. Of the world that he'd come from. No matter how safe they were in this world that Sirius had created. And as much Sirius wanted to pretend that it would all be for Harry, he knew that wasn't the truth. That small part of him that annoyingly kept coming up always whispered in his mind just how much seeing all of that again would mean to him.
His mind swirled with thoughts of his past, and the pictures of he and James meshed until Sirius was showing Harry all sorts of things about the magical alley. Harry had to know about the world. And he needed to know how to act around people.
Sirius walked past the brass section, knowing that Harry could not fit in a trumpet, no matter how little and flexible he was. A bit of red caught his eye and he backtracked a few steps, trying to determine if it was his imagination or not.
The massive tuba sat in the center of the trumpets, saxophones and other instruments. Just big enough to house a little boy. Smiling manically Sirius tapped the outside of it. "Hello in there!"
Yet again, his only response was a giggle. Though, this time it was hushed and slightly muffled. He couldn't wait till Harry grew up enough where he could no longer hide in small spaces.
"Well, I guess I'll have to go find another little boy to surprise." Sirius said with a dejected sigh. Surprises were a weakness of Harry's.
As if on cue the tuba rumbled and Harry tumbled out. "No! No, I'm here Padfoot!" he yelled.
Pretending to look surprised, Sirius mock gasped. "Well, I suppose you are. Good thing too, I didn't want to take another person with me."
Harry's face lit up. Sirius loved making his godson look at him like that. For a little boy who had already seen so much tragedy, a look that said his whole world had been brightened was enough to cause anyone to push through their own troubles. "Where are you goin', Siri?"
Reaching forward, Sirius snatched up Harry and set him down on a nearby piano. "The question is, my dear godson, where are we going?"
Nodding quickly, Harry amended himself. "Okay, where are we going?" he asked, putting quite a bit of emphasis on the 'we' of his sentence. He really should have understood by then that everything they did was done as a 'we'.
"Did I ever tell you about Diagon Alley?" Sirius asked, knowing full and well that he had. Too many good pranks had occurred there for Sirius not to mention the place. Harry always relished in the marauder stories.
Enthusiasm ran wild in the child. Sirius always had the best surprises. Maybe it would be another story about his Daddy, Siri and Moony. Those were always good. Better than his fairy tale books. "Yep, you did!" he chirped.
"Good, good, then you'll know exactly where we are when we go in two days." Sirius said, sounding matter of a fact.
Harry narrowed his eyes for a second, did Sirius just say what he thought he had? "We're going ta Digon'elly?"
Grinning, Sirius prepared himself for the inevitable squeals of excitement. He simply nodded to tell Harry that yes, they were going.
His mouth dropped open as Harry realized what Sirius was implying. "We're goin'!?" he yelled. His face lit up, just the way that Sirius had been hoping for. It was so easy to make his godson happy. And it was also so worth it.
"Excited?" Sirius asked the obvious.
The scenarios of all that they could do ran rampant through the child's overactive mind. His face was practically hurting him because of all the smiling he was doing. They would have so much fun. They could go all the time. Why hadn't Sirius thought of this before?
The smile slid from his face.
There was a reason why they didn't go before. Sirius could not leave their house. The bad ministry wizards would come and take him away. He felt Sirius's hands gently hold his face.
Sirius watched, alarmed, as Harry's smile faded away. Did he not want to go? He'd been so happy just a second ago. "Harry? Emeralds, what's wrong? Do you not want to go?"
"No!" Harry yelled. He clenched his fists at the thought of losing his godfather. He quickly threw his arms around Sirius's neck and held on tight.
The devoted godfather could not figure out what was wrong. He knew Harry so well, and there usually weren't words required between the two. He had reached a place where just sitting in a room doing separate things, but still being in each other's presence, was enough for both of them. This was unexpected. He didn't know what was going through the child's mind.
"Harry, baby, what's wrong? Why don't you want to go? You seemed so excited." He whispered in the child's ear as he gently rubbed his back in soothing motions. He'd gotten good at comforting a small child.
The little boy merely shook his head. He wasn't crying, luckily, but he wasn't pulling away either. He seemed tense.
Sirius tried again. "Harry, answer me, please? We don't have to go if you don't want to. I just thought you'd have fun. Just tell me why." He wondered. If Harry truly wasn't ready to leave their home then Sirius wouldn't push. They could wait a little while. Maybe Harry was too young for such a thing. The thoughts of the harsh world rang back in Sirius's mind. Maybe he should have trusted his original instincts.
"They'll take you away." Harry muttered, voice obscured by the broad shoulder that he was resting his head on.
It took only seconds for Sirius to realize what Harry was speaking of. Why hadn't he explained better? He'd barely had the chance before Harry had gotten upset. And no wonder why. They'd had more than enough discussions on what had happened that night on Halloween.
Albus Dumbledore had no doubt wanted to shield Harry from knowing his legacy. And on some aspects Sirius agreed. He wanted to preserve his godson's innocence for as long as humanly possible, and then some.
But he'd realized that by doing that, when Harry did find out his whole world could come crashing down. He'd have to assimilate facts with the lies that had been told to keep the truth away from him. And that would be far worse an experience for the child. So he'd mentioned Lily and James's death. Harry knew of Wormtail, of Voldemort and the prophecy. He knew of lycanthrope, of the illegal animagus transformations. He knew of Snape, and of the Black family. Growing up with the truth was what Sirius wanted for Harry. There would be no horrible bombs that were just waiting to be treaded upon.
And, most of all, Harry knew why they were hidden away. He knew about Azkaban, and of what people thought of his godfather. He knew what they would do if Sirius was ever found. The five year old knew things that parents wouldn't dream of telling their children. But for Harry, things were different. This was his life. And Sirius knew it wouldn't be an easy one.
"Harry, no they won't. I wouldn't do that to you." Sirius reassured the child when his composure was reestablished.
Slowly, Harry pulled away and looked up at Sirius though sad eyes. "They'll see you." He whispered. He wouldn't have a day of fun at his godfather's expense.
"They don't know that I've got a wand, Harry." Sirius continued. The dreaded 'they' was ever present in the conversation. This time, however, both knew who the 'they' were. "We can change how we look! They'll never know it's us!"
Harry thought it over. He'd read books about how to change your appearance. He knew it that it was possible. Could they really do it? Go out pretending to be someone else? It sounded fun. And the smile slowly reappeared to his face. "Okay."
"Okay?" Sirius echoed, ecstatic that his godson's fears had been calmed. "Okay?"
"Okay!" Harry yelled loudly. Calming a little, he went on. "But promise me that you're gonna be careful." He added seriously.
Hand snapping to his heart, Sirius acted silly. But his eyes gave away the seriousness of his promise. "Always, Harry, I promise I will be very careful."
Sirius never broke promises. It was enough for Harry. Seeing this, Sirius snatched up the little boy yet again. "All right, Emeralds, how do you feel about blonde hair?"
I hope you liked the chapter. I was hoping to mix some funny parts with the sad, you know, ease you back into the drama aspect. Please let me know what you think!