CHAPTER 4: PORTRAIT OF HIDDEN ANCESTRY
Five minutes later a thoroughly lost Harry found himself in the 'Red Room', which certainly lived up to it's name. Its walls were covered in red wallpaper, with a small flower pattern in a darker crimson. The bed was a four-poster with drapes virtually identical to the ones in Gryffindor Tower. Dotted around the room were various pieces of furniture including a large mahogany wardrobe, a large mirror and a painting of a man with red hair and blue eyes named Thomas Evans.
Harry was just beginning to unpack when the door to the room opened and a large grim-like dog barrelled in and leapt straight at him, startling the raven-haired boy immensely
"Sirius" Harry gasped out of pain as his godfather landed on his broken rib, "Ow," he wheezed as he felt a sharp jolt of pain.
"Harry," the convict said with concern as he pulled away, "Are you all right?"
"Broken rib, I'll be fine," Harry gasped while still recovering from the pain of his godfather's hug.
"It was those damn muggles, wasn't it?" Sirius growled, he was extremely angry at the various bruises and other injuries that littered Harry's body, "They hurt you, didn't they? If they did I'll kill them."
"I ran away." Harry sighed, he would have to chose his words carefully, or Sirius would most likely do something rash or stupid, and whilst Vernon and Petunia deserved all the punishment they got, he didn't want to lose his godfather because of them, "I couldn't cope after Cedric's death, not with the Dursley's as well. I needed space, time to think away from the pressure."
"They beat you didn't they?" Sirius snarled. He knew perfectly well that Harry was avoiding the question. He also knew what a beating looked like, after having Wormtail as a friend during their school days. The rat had been beaten regularly by his parents, as had Moony when he had first started Hogwarts.
Harry sighed. It was best to tell the truth, he'd find out the truth eventually anyway, "Only the once," he lied, he had been beaten every evening for the ten days he had been at Privet Drive, "I ran away that evening. Uncle Vernon had been taunting me about Cedric, saying I murdered him. I began to believe him. I began to feel depressed, suicidal…" There was a gasp from his godfather.
"Harry," Sirius was horrified and deeply hurt, "But…"
"Let me finish, please Sirius," Harry intervened, "I wrote to Dumbledore in desperation," Bitterness and anger began to creep into his voice, "He wrote a letter back to me, full of lies. He told me he'd write a letter tell them to stop beating me. He didn't, he told them to carry on. I can never forgive him for that."
"Harry," the animagus responded his tone full of shock and annoyance, "Dumbledore's not like that, he didn't intend to hurt you. He was only acting in good faith,"
Harry scoffed, "Good faith!" he sneered, "He told Uncle Vernon to beat me, and effectively said I was to blame for Cedric's death and Voldemort's return. How is that good faith?"
"Don't be so bloody stupid," Sirius said angrily. He was annoyed at the accusations that Harry was making, "Dumbledore would not hurt encourage anybody to hurt you, he cares for you."
"Only because I'm useful to him," Harry muttered darkly, "He doesn't care about me personally, just about the fact I'm the Boy-who-lived and Voldemort happens to be after me. If I had a normal life he wouldn't give a damn about me." Sirius was left speechless.
"He's right you know." a third voice said from behind them. Harry recognised the voice instantly. It was coming from the portrait, but it wasn't Thomas Evans that had spoken, it had been James Potter.
"Dad." Harry gasped, as he turned round. He didn't notice the fact that Sirius was scowling at the intruder's voices, he was too busy staring at the portrait of the eighteen year man, who looked virtually identical to himself, except for the eyes.
"I wouldn't stare too hard, kid," the portrait said with a broad happy grin, "Your eyes are about to pop out," A blushing Harry broke the stare, he was still grinning broadly, and he was feeling deliriously happy to be able to meet his father. He knew he wasn't really his father but it was as close as he was ever going to get to him. "It must be hard be hard not having your Lilly and I there for you." the portrait continued.
"Yes," Harry responded still not believing that he was talking to a portrait of his father.
"James Potter," another voice screamed in a manner reminiscent of Molly Weasley at her worst. A redheaded woman walked into the portrait, an angry expression on her face, "What in god's name have you been up to?" It was Harry's mother.
If Lilly Potter was trying to make her husband feel guilty it wasn't working, "Pranking Thomas Evans," he said defiantly holding his head up high. Harry could hear Sirius laughing, as he tried to suppress his own chuckles, "And he deserves it too," James continued self righteously, "He's an arrogant pompous prick, worse then Snape."
Lilly remained unimpressed, "What the hell are you two laughing at?" she barked at Harry and Sirius. She fixed them a fierce glare, which was surprisingly effective for a portrait. It took her a full minute for her to realise who she was glaring at, "Harry," she gasped, "You're finally out of that jealous bitches care." She looked pleased to see her son.
"Yes, that's Harry alright," James confirmed, "You see him Lilly, he's our son. Our son." he boasted puffing his chest out and beaming with pride in a manner reminiscent of Percy at his worst. He turned his attention to the dresser, "You see him, he's my son. My son!"
"James," Sirius growled as a warning.
It didn't work. As Harry's father merely turned to his best friend, chest puffed out, beaming proudly and boasted, "You see him, Sirius, he's my son."
"Jamie." Sirius' growl was harsher.
The portrait's face hardened to a fierce glare and a scowl, "Shut up, Dog breath."
"Moron."
"Bastard."
"Prat."
"Git."
"Snape's Cousin." Sirius said with a triumphant grin.
"I am not related to that greasy git!" James bellowed angrily, "He is not my damn cousin you incompetent jerk."
"Then explain how Snape's mother and your father are brother and sister, yet you two are unrelated," Sirius questioned, beaming triumphantly. Harry, meanwhile, was thoroughly disgusted by the thought that he might be related to his hated potions professor.
James glared at his best friend, "How many times do I have to bloody tell you, Padfoot." he sneered exasperatedly, "The fact that Snape's grandparents happened to conceive and give birth to my dad does not mean that we're related."
"Actually, Lilly intervened in a sing-song voice, "It does."
James turned in the frame to look at his girlfriend, "Rather Snape's cousin then Narcissa's sister." he taunted. His arms were folded across his chest, his head held high and his whole face was scowling out of a gesture of defiance.
"That bitch is irrelevant." Lilly snapped, the stereotypical temper of a redhead showing.
"Oh, I suppose you happen to have the same parents yet you're unrelated, huh." James taunted.
The name 'Narcissa' tormented Harry's brain; he heard the name before, yet he could not remember where. It suddenly hit him, '"Narcissa?" Harry questioned "As in Narcissa Malfoy?"' He paled at the thought that the wife of Lucius Malfoy could be his relative, the consequences were unthinkable, "Narcissa?" he enquired, hoping his suspicion was wrong. It was not.
"My evil bitch of a sister," Lilly muttered darkly in response, "She makes Petunia look like an Angel in comparison. The bitch married Lucius Malfoy of course." Harry paled even more, that of Malfoy being his cousin was horrifying, until he realised that in the scheme of things Dudley Dursley was worse, at least Draco Malfoy was intelligent and a pretty good Quidditch player, even if he was a wannabe death eater.
"Eugh." he groaned audibly, "That makes Malfoy my cousin."
"Not necessarily Harry's father explained, "All it shows is that you two happen to share a set of grandparents. It doesn't actually mean you're related or that he's family."
"Like you and Snape." Harry questioned
"Not quite," James explained hurriedly, "My father had no parents, in fact he probably had it worse then you. The people he lived with were not nice." Harry gave a look of sympathy even though it wasn't aimed specifically at his father, "They cursed him regularly, and beat him, even as a little kid, and when he was sorted into Gryffindor, they even tried to get Grindelwald to kill him." Harry was horrified. James' tone of voice was bitter.
"Your father grew up with death eaters?" Harry asked incredulously
"They were called something different then, but yes. They actually attacked Hogwarts specifically to get at him. Of course after growing up in that sort of environment he wanted the best for Harry and I. He didn't want us to experience the childhood he went through."
"Harry?" Harry asked, assuming he had been named after this person.
"My elder brother," James said with a sigh, "He died soon after he graduated in a death attack, they were after dad but he wasn't in."
It was at this point that the conversation ended as both Harry and Sirius were called to dinner by a house-elf. Harry was torn, he didn't really want to leave his parent's portraits, but he was extremely hungry, he hadn't eaten properly since the end of term a month ago. It was his stomach that decided eventually, when it let out a loud rumble.
"Go on," his father had prompted between bouts of laughter, "You look as though you could do with some fattening up."
Harry and Sirius weren't alone for dinner, with them was Remus Lupin and two boys, both with the dark red, almost Auburn hair that Harry's grandfather. The eldest of the two looked like a spitting image of Harry's grandfather, while the other had a somewhat darker complexion and the same vivid green eyes that both Harry and his mother had.
"Dad," the elder boy moaned to a fourth man, who was also a spitting image of Richard, although he had dark blue eyes rather than hazel, "I don't need a babysitter. I'm old enough to look after myself."
"I am well aware of that, Owen." the man said, "But, not all the guests are trustworthy, and whilst they're not interested in you, my dad is a target, and the best way to get him is through you. Besides some of our guests are targets themselves." He glanced over to the doorway and spotted Harry and Sirius walking into the room, "such as Padfoot and Harry." He turned and smiled at them, "Welcome home," he said to Harry holding out his hand, "My name is Samuel Evans, technically I'm your Uncle, but don't have to call me that, not after what the treacherous bitch married," Harry took the hand, "These are my sons, your cousins, Owen and Michael." He turned to his sons and wished them a goodnight before hurrying from the room, to prepare for the ball.
"So you're Harry Potter," the elder boy, who Samuel had called Owen said dismissively, "You're not as bad as I thought you would be." His attitude reminded Harry of Draco Malfoy, although he was nowhere near as bad.
"Owen," Michael, the younger of the two, warned, "Can you please stop acting like an arrogant prick." He turned to Harry, "Sorry about him," he said, "I'm pleased to finally meet you, especially after what these two have been saying about you." He was referring to Remus and Sirius.
"Oh," he said looking sideways at the two Marauders, as he sat down opposite the younger boy, "And what have they been saying."
"Nothing bad," Owen said, "Except that you trust Dumbledore far too much, and that you're a Gryffindor."
Harry shook his head at the redhead's comments, "Rather Gryffindor then Slytherin. At least I don't have to put up having Snape as head of house," he taunted, "And as for Dumbledore, he is rather good at manipulation. It's a pity I had to learn the hard way."
Both boys looked extremely surprised at Harry's comments about Dumbledore, while the two Marauders looked disappointed, "Dumbledore is a great wizard," Sirius asserted, "And he's not a manipulator, he wouldn't treat someone so callously."
"Then explain how the Dursley's is safer then here."
"I don't know," Sirius argued, "but I trust Dumbledore to make the judgement that's in your best interest."
Harry gave a bitter laugh, "No, he made the judgement that was in his best interest, and that was to keep me away from the wizarding world so he could control me when I got to Hogwarts, use me to defeat Voldemort once and for all," Harry argued, "To him I'm no more than a tool designed to defeat Voldemort."
"Harry," Sirius snapped, "You sound like a damn Slytherin. Not trusting Dumbledore, you make him sound like the enemy."
"I do not sound like a Slytherin," Harry replied angrily and far too quickly. Although he had accepted that he had a Slytherin side to him, he was not a true Slytherin as Sirius implied, "I merely intend to survive this war with my life intact, and not die like the martyr everyone makes me out to be."
Sirius sighed angrily, "You believe that, but you should know I don't like it."
"I didn't ask you to like it." he shouted irritably. He bit back a retort about his parents; he didn't want to drive his godfather away. He was trying to keep the argument even vaguely civil, but he was feeling quite bitter, so actually being civil was very difficult.
Fortunately he wasn't the trying to keep his temper under control, "Your changing Harry, and I don't like it." he sighed, "I'm worried that you're going to go after Voldemort on your own. You need Dumbledore, Harry, whether you like it or not."
Harry's temper relaxed with Sirius' more conciliatory tone and a warning glare from Lupin, "I know that," he said eventually after he had calmed down, "But that doesn't mean I have to follow him blindly. I'm my own man and I intend to think and act for myself."
"Can you promise me you won't do anything rash or stupid?" Sirius asked with concern.
"Only if you promise the same thing." Lupin gave a look that indicated that he doubted whether Sirius could keep such a promise, but the animagus accepted anyway. They shook hands, and the promise was made.
I took a long time to get into this chapter. I would have posted it earlier but I couldn't due to the changes that took place over the last few days. Thank You to all those who reviewed Chapter three. The reviews were much appreciated. I also want to take this opportunity to promote my other fic: The Redemption of the Deceivers. Go read it!