Broken
By Neurotica
Seven
Remus Apparated onto Arabella Figg's back porch just after he received her near-panicked phone call telling him that Harry was sick. Without a word, she led him to the living room to where Harry laid sound asleep somewhere in the middle of four heavy blankets.
"He's been like that since he got here," Arabella whispered worriedly. "I used the blankets to try and keep him warm, but..." she trailed off, gesturing hopelessly to the shivering boy.
The wizard knelt beside the sofa and felt the child's forehead. He was burning up. Every inch of visible skin was a dark red and in some places, a deep purple. Remus lifted Harry's shirt and found the boy's chest to be chalk-white. He was horrified to see to see a few of Harry's ribs. "What have they done to him?" he muttered weakly.
"Can you do anything, Remus?" Arabella asked softly.
Remus rubbed his eyes with both hands. "No," he said regretfully. "He's got sun poisoning, and he seems to have a bad cold on top of it. It I was to use magic on him now, there's a chance he could fall into a coma—he's still very young, and I don't think his body could handle it. Madam Pomfrey might know what to do..."
"I've already tried Hogwarts, but the entire castle was empty. I've even sent one of those portraits out to check—Dumbledore's not even around," Arabella said.
Remus frowned. Dumbledore always seemed to be at Hogwarts... "Then all we can do for the time being is keep him as comfortable as possible. St. Mungo's is out of the question—Harry's not supposed to set foot anywhere in the wizarding world, and I wouldn't trust a Muggle hospital to take care of him right now. Can we put him in your spare bedroom?"
Arabella was already halfway up the stairs. Remus stood and very gently, took Harry, blankets and all, into his arms. He winced as he realized how light Harry was for a boy his age. His cousin's clothing gave the appearance that Harry weighed more than he actually did. Harry actually felt as if he hadn't eaten in weeks.
Remus carried Harry up the stairs, careful not to jostle the child from his sleep, and into the bedroom he'd stayed in the week before. Arabella had already pulled back the blankets so that Remus could place Harry into the large, warm bed. Remus tucked the blankets around Harry, and pushed the black hair away from the child's eyes. For a moment, Remus' own eyes lingered on the lightning bolt-shaped scar on Harry's forehead—it was bright white at the moment.
Lord Voldemort, the most feared Dark Lord in a century, couldn't kill this little boy, but it's very possible that the people in charge of his well-being will, Remus thought. If this wasn't considered desperate circumstances, he couldn't think of what that could possibly mean...
Julia woke to the sounds of thunder and heavy rain outside. She turned to look at the clock above the fireplace. It informed her that it was half past midnight. There was no sign of her temporary roommate in the room. The television was still on, now showing an old black-and-white horror movie about vampires.
They're not that bloody pale... And they don't wear those high-collared cloaks... Come to think of it, Severus Snape is the probably the best example for what a vampire really looks like. She smirked mentally.
Being Muggleborn witch, Julia found she'd had a lot to learn when she entered Hogwarts. Luckily for her, she'd made a quick friend in another Muggleborn Gryffindor girl, Lily Evans. When the two girls met Naomi Watts, a pureblood, they'd learned all about the wizarding world in a few short years. When Julia began dating Sirius in seventh year, she'd learned the hard way how many purebloods feel about Muggleborns.
Sirius' cousin, Bellatrix, didn't go a day without glaring at the couple and shooting snide remarks at Julia when Sirius' back was turned. His brother, Regulus, had learned of Sirius' new relationship and written home to their mother. When Sirius and Julia stepped off the school train after their Hogwarts graduation, hand-in-hand, Mrs. Black approached her eldest son, slapped him hard across the face, and called him several names Julia hadn't ever heard—even with her dating Sirius Black, she'd never been exposed to that sort of language.
Julia had been more upset over the altercation than Sirius when they'd gone back to his flat. She'd even offered to put a break in their relationship so Sirius wouldn't be hated by his family. Sirius had been horrified at the mere suggestion. He pulled Julia into his arms and gave her the most passionate kiss she'd ever experienced before he told her he didn't give a shit about what his family thought; all that mattered to him was her and their friends. That night, they'd vowed to get married one day. ("That'll really piss off Mother Dearest," Sirius had said with his trademark grin.)
A few years later, just before Harry had been born, Sirius had proposed to her. She had actually been quite surprised; the war had been growing steadily worse, and both Sirius and Julia were so laden down with their work (Sirius as an Auror; Julia in Wizard/Muggle Relations) that they hadn't seen each other in a week before that night.
The best night of her life had quickly turned to tragedy when, the next morning, she'd gone home to find her parents had both been murdered by Death Eaters. Months later, it was discovered that Voldemort had actually killed her family; he'd been after Julia. Sirius immediately enlisted the help of his friends and moved her into his flat in London—something he'd been threatening to do for a year anyway. She still lived there, even after his arrest, but spent many lonely nights on the sofa with a teddy bear he'd given her on their first date.
Wiping tears from her cheeks, Julia stood from the sofa of Number Nine and made her way to the kitchen. Just as she entered, lightning struck somewhere near, and the electricity flickered and went out. She groaned, realizing she'd left her wand upstairs beside her bed.
She went to the window and leaned on the ledge, staring at the black sky. The storm was beginning to remind her of another storm; one back in 1981—Halloween 1981, to be exact...
Shaking those thoughts from her head (she'd had enough depressing thoughts for the week), she looked straight out the window to the woods behind the house. Another bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the forest. The light lasted no longer than a few seconds, but in that time, Julia's heart began to race. There, just in front of her in the trees, was an enormous black dog, staring straight at her. But when lightning struck again, the shape had disappeared.
Her jaw dropped, and she went out to the back porch—she knew she'd seen him! Not caring that the rain was now soaking through her skin, she walked to the middle of the backyard, looking hard into the trees. He'd been there… But how? Dumbledore said no one with the Dark Mark could enter Privet Drive...
The weight on her heart began to lessen as she realized what this could possibly mean... Sirius didn't have the Dark Mark... But then she remembered Remus words their first night on Privet Drive, "If not Sirius, then who?"
"What are you doing?" called an incredulous voice from the back porch.
Julia spun around to find Remus standing there, wand in hand, as if he expected to have to fight something. "Hey. I—" But she couldn't tell Remus what she'd just seen; he'd either think she was mad or go out and search for Sirius himself. "I'm just enjoying the storm," she called, hoping the rain was hiding her lie.
Remus raised an eyebrow and beckoned for her to get in the house before she got sick, too. Julia didn't ask who was sick as she entered the house and had a drying charm performed on her.
"Thanks," she said, sitting at the kitchen table. "So where've you been? You don't look wet..."
"Er, no, I'm not. I was at Arabella's. She was, er, telling me about her cats," Remus stammered.
Obviously, Julia wasn't the only one keeping secrets tonight... "Remus Lupin." She grinned. "Have you finally found a girlfriend?"
"What?" Remus said, a blush creeping to his cheeks. "No, Julia. I really was at Arabella's."
"Uh huh." Julia continued to grin—she was starting to remind him of Sirius, and he didn't like it one bit. Her teasing mood began to fade as she noticed the look on her friend's face. "Remus, what's wrong?"
Remus hesitated. "It's... nothing," he said lamely. "Look, I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning."
"Sure," Julia said slowly as he left the kitchen without a backwards glance.
Next morning, Arabella Figg personally saw to it that Harry made it safely back to Number Four. She'd told Petunia Dursley that the child was quite ill, and needed attention. Petunia assured her that Harry would be quite taken care of, and she needn't worry. Arabella went back to her home worrying worse than she had the night before...
Two days later, Harry's fever still hadn't broken, nor had his horrible sunburn. But regardless of these circumstances, his Aunt Petunia sent the boy out of the house while she prepared the home for a dinner party that night. Harry left the house and slowly made his way to the playground down the street.
As he stumbled across the grass, he vaguely realized a little too late that Dudley and his gang were in the park. Luckily for Harry, they were too occupied with throwing rocks at passing cars to notice the small boy. Harry sat at the trunk of a large, shady tree.
He was still very cold—his teeth were chattering—but he couldn't wrap his arms around himself for warmth due to the extent of his sunburn. Harry sneezed violently and felt his world darken. He didn't even feel something drag him through the bushes half an hour later...
As night fell over Privet Drive, Petunia continued to straighten cushions on the sofa. Vernon was having his boss over for dinner that night, and would hopefully be promoted to Vice President of Grunnings Drill Company. That is, if the boy didn't screw it up for them...
"Mum! I'm home!" Dudley called as he entered the house noisily.
"Hello, darling," Petunia called back to her son. "Mummy will be up in a moment to get you ready for Daddy's party tonight," she added as her six-year-old thundered up the stairs.
My precious Dudders, Petunia thought fondly to herself, going through the hall to the kitchen. She passed her nephew's cupboard and wondered vaguely where the troublesome boy was—he knew to be back when Dudley came home! The thought was driven out of her mind seconds later when she picked up the suit Dudley would wear that night.
Sirius transformed back into his human self for the first time in over a week after he'd pulled Harry into the woods. The small boy had been unconscious when the wizard found him, and he looked worse than Sirius did... If that was possible...
"Oh god, Harry," he muttered, trying to get his godson into a more comfortable position. It was pointless, really, what he was doing; all Sirius had were leaves and sticks he'd used to make a bed.
Harry was shivering horribly, even though it had to be at least a hundred degrees that day. Sirius quickly took off the old, tattered Azkaban robes he'd been wearing for five years, and attempted to wrap them around Harry. The child cried out in pain, still very much unconscious, and Sirius apologized quietly, continuing his action with more care.
Night had fallen completely and Sirius hadn't left Harry's side once. He wondered angrily a few times every hour why Vernon and Petunia hadn't come to look for him—they were supposed to be his bloody guardians! Harry was still shivering violently, and his breathing was becoming raspy and more desperate.
Lacking any other options at the moment, Sirius transformed back into Padfoot and curled up next to the boy in a last ditch effort to give him the warmth he so desperately needed.
"Harry, I'm so sorry," he wanted to say. "What have they done to you? What have I done to you? Oh god, this is all my fault... If I hadn't suggested Wormtail as the Secret-Keeper, this never would have happened..."
A few more hours passed with Sirius trying to think of ways to torture a rat and a few Muggles. Harry hadn't gotten any better, and the night was growing colder.
If only I had somewhere to take him...If he stays out here all night, he'll be dead by morning...
He suddenly thought of the night before during the storm and seeing Julia in the kitchen window... Slapping himself mentally, Sirius transformed again and gently took his godson in his arms. Harry's head fell against his bare shoulder as the wizard quickly retraced his steps to Number Nine.
I just hope they're not awake, he thought desperately.
He made his way out of the trees and into the backyard of Remus and Julia's temporary home. Vaguely, he thought of what he'd do if they were sharing a bed... They'd seemed pretty cozy the night he'd heard them talking...
It doesn't matter... She's not yours anymore, he thought bitterly. Besides, there are more important things to worry about.
He stepped onto the back porch and tested the door—it was unlocked. Shaking his head at the sheer stupidity of his friends—if he could get in, then anyone else could—Sirius entered the dark kitchen. It seemed both of them had turned in for the night.
No wonder—it's nearly three in the sodding morning, he thought, looking at the clock above the kitchen sink.
Once again shaking his head at the Dursleys' lack of caring, he went through the hallway and up the staircase, hoping he could find her bedroom. It couldn't be that hard; this wasn't a very big house... The first door he came to was closed, and there was loud snoring from behind it.
Definitely not Julia, he thought with a smirk.
A few doors down, there was a door slightly open. He nudged it open with his foot and entered silently. There she was, sleeping soundly. She'd always reminded him of an angel when she slept...
Sighing longingly, Sirius moved to the other side of her bed and pulled back the blankets with one hand, hoping she didn't wake now. Carefully, he placed Harry in the bed, tucking the blankets around him. He kissed the child lightly on the forehead, and moved to Julia's side of the bed. He kissed her on the lips and whispered an I love you. He knew he was being reckless, but he didn't care; when was the next time he'd be able to tell her that?
He'd done all he could do. Everything was now up to Remus and Julia.
They'll take good care of him, Sirius thought sadly, wanting nothing more than to take care of Harry himself.
He left the room just as silently as he entered and started to congratulate himself on not being caught. His celebration, unfortunately, was premature. As he reached the top of the stairs, he felt the tip of a wand jab into the small of his back, and heard a low voice growl, "Don't move."