Chapter 9-Similar life

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They walked for a little longer before they came to a clear opening. Parked next to a tree was a black car with tinted windows. Harry looked up at Brock and asked, "Where are we?"

"Just a spot in the park. Not many people come around here anymore." Brock said.

"So, why are we here exactly?"

"I already told you, Potter. To meet my friend." Brock replied, nudging his head towards the car across the clearing.

"Who is he?" Harry asked.

"My friend?"

"Yeah?"

"Just a guy really."

"What's his name?"

"Mauricio."

"How'd you meet him?" Harry asked, looking at the dark car.

Brock reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He lit the cigarette and took a drag from it. Brock made his lips form an O shape then blew a smoke ring.

He chuckled, "I love making those...I met Mauricio while ago. He's been a real help at getting me the shit I need to sell. He knows the right people and gets me the things that I need to get for other people."

"So, he's like a business partner?"

"In a way, yeah, I guess you could say that." Brock said with a grin.

"So, what does this have to do with me?" Harry asked.

Harry shot up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. He looked around the room and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. It was just a dream. Another stupid dream.

Harry flopped back down onto the comfortable bed, resting his head on the soft pillows as he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. He reached for the nightstand, picked up his glasses and put them on.

Harry looked towards the window; morning sunlight was poking through the curtains. He turned over to glance at the clock on the nightstand. It was seven-thirty.

Knowing that there was no way he could get back to sleep, Harry pulled the covers off himself and rolled out of bed. He opened the door to his room and walked out into the hallway, still in his pajamas.

As Harry exited his room, the bathroom door opened, letting steam escape into the cool hallway, followed by Sirius who had a towel wrapped around his waist and water dripping down his neck from his wet hair.

Harry hadn't noticed how thin Sirius actually was until that moment. Sirius ribs were outlined, easily seen through his skin and is stomach was flat and had very little definition. Azkaban must really do a number on a person's body.

Sirius was startled, not expecting to see Harry up so early. Sirius smiled and said cheerfully, "Morning. You're up early."

"Yeah. I was going to go have breakfast." Harry replied.

"I'll join you. First let me go get dressed." Sirius said before walking off to his room.

As Sirius turned towards his room, Harry's eyes grew wide as he saw Sirius' back. Sirius spine stood out easily because he was so thin, but that was not what Harry's eyes were drawn to.

Starting from Sirius' right shoulder blade, down to his lower back was a line of raised skin. A scar; and a nasty looking one at that. Although it looked old and painless, Harry couldn't help but hold his breath when looking at it. Just the mere sight of it made Harry imagine how much that must have hurt.

Sirius opened the door to his room then turned back to Harry who was just staring at him. Sirius raised and eyebrow at his godson. "Harry, you okay?"

"What?" Harry said, moving his eyes to meet Sirius'. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I'll meet you downstairs."

Sirius just nodded and went into his room, closing the door behind him. Harry sighed and headed downstairs, still thinking about what he had just seen.

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Sirius came into the kitchen, now wearing a navy tee-shirt and jeans, and walked over to the counter to prepare a cup of coffee for himself.

"Did you sleep well?" Sirius asked, pouring the hot coffee into a mug.

"Yeah, I slept great." Harry lied

"That's good. What do you say to pancakes for breakfast?"

"That's fine, fine." Harry said, staring at Sirius' back as he walked over to the refrigerator and started taking out some eggs, still picturing the scar through his shirt.

As Sirius began mixing the batter, Harry asked, "Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"Where did you get that scar?"

"What scar?" Sirius asked, confused.

"The one on your back."

Sirius stopped mixing and rested his hands on the counter and gave a small chuckle. "Oh, that. That scar would be compliments from my loving father."

"You dad did that to you?" Harry said, in disbelief.

Sirius turned to face Harry and nodded his head. "Yup."

Harry looked stunned. "I though you said that your parents didn't beat you."

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, I had just met you when you asked me and I didn't really think it was appropriate for me to just come right out and tell you about how my father use to hit me. I thought it might creep you out or something. Plus, it isn't great conversation starter."

"It looks like shit." Harry said, referring to the mark on his godfather's back.

Sirius nodded, "That it does, but it could be a lot worse."

"How'd it happen?"

Sirius looked a little uncomfortable and Harry quickly said, "That's alright, you don't have to tell me, it's not my business."

"A belt."

"Huh?"

"He, uh, he hit me with a leather belt."

"Why?"

Sirius gave Harry a sad smile, "I don't know why, kiddo. Why would any adult want to hurt a child? My father was an asshole. There isn't much to the story really. He got mad at me one night, he probably had been drinking too, and he came into my room and just…"

"How old were you?"

"Older than you. I was sixteen."

"And he just lashed you with a belt for no reason?"

"Pretty much. My parents and I never got along. We'd fight a lot and then my dad would get really pissed at me and he'd start blaming me for things and he'd tell me that I was a worthless waste of life. My parents always favored my brother because in their eyes, he was the perfect son. He would do whatever they told him to do, no questions asked. But with me, I never agreed with them. They were bastards, always thought they were better than everyone else, that purebloods were like gods and everyone else was scum. I disagreed with them and it always made my father angry. He saw it as defying the family or his authority I think. So, if my father couldn't make me act like a proper pureblood by using words, he'd hit me to prove a point. I guess he thought that knocking me a round a bit would make me become something I wasn't." Sirius explained quietly.

"So, is that why you left your house, because your parents were beating you?"

Sirius nodded, "Pretty much. I mean, it used to be a lot worse when I was younger. By the time I was sixteen they basically stopped hitting me except for a few rare occasions like the belt incident. We normally just argued a lot and I just didn't want to deal with it anymore. The night that I got this beauty," Sirius pointed to his back, "was the night I left my house and went to stay with your dad."

"Did my dad know what was going on in your house before you went to live with him?"

"He did. So did Remus. They sort of figured it out after a while. When we would have school breaks, my family would make me come home to spend time with them, trying to turn me into a pureblood maniac, which normally resulted in a huge fight, leaving me with a bunch of bruises to deal with when I returned to school. James and Remus eventually confronted me about it in our fourth year when I came back to Hogwarts with a broken rib."

Harry looked upset, "Why didn't my dad say anything? Why didn't you guys tell an adult or something?"

"I made them promise not to say anything. I told them that it wasn't really a big deal and I made them think that I could handle it. They hated that I wouldn't let them help me but I didn't want anyone else to know what was going on. I was embarrassed enough that my friends knew about it."

"Why were you embarrassed?" Harry asked

"Well, I had sort of a macho attitude about everything then and the thought of people thinking that I was weak and was getting beaten by my own father made me feel stupid."

"That's really dumb. He could have fucking killed you. You should have said something to someone or my dad should have told someone. You needed help."

"Well, eventually I realized that. After the belt incident, I knew that things were getting out of hand and that I needed to get away from my family before they did any permanent damage. I went to James' place, knowing that I'd be safe there and I stayed with him until I was old enough to get a place of my own."

Harry still wasn't happy. "I just can't believe you waited so long to actually get yourself out of there."

"Sometimes, when people need help, they don't know how to go and ask for it. I was young. I didn't really know what to do. I'm just glad that you can understand the severity of the situation. No child should have to feel threaten in their own home. Just make sure that if you know someone who is getting hurt that you tell someone. If you don't, well, they could end up with worse than a nasty scar on their back. No kid should ever have to deal with what I went through. If that ever happened to you I'd…"

"You'd what?" Harry asked.

"I'd do everything in my power to keep you safe, let you come live with me. Either that or kill the bastard who was hurting you." Sirius said but then smiled, "But hey, it's not like this is happening to you, because if it was, I know that you'd tell someone right away. As you said before if someone is getting abused they should ask for help and drop the macho act, right?"

Sirius turned back to his pancake batter and waited for Harry to say something. Harry looked at his hands folded in his lap. Sirius' home life was sort of like his. The beatings, the verbal abuse, Sirius had been through all of it. It was almost like looking in a mirror for Harry.

Harry looked up at Sirius. "Sirius."

"Yeah?" Sirius said, turning around to face his godson.

"I, uh, I-I'm going to go take a quick shower."

Sirius face dropped a little. Harry thought that he even looked disappointed. Sirius gave Harry a small smile, "Okay, breakfast will be finished by the time you're done."

Harry nodded then left the kitchen and headed upstairs. For a second, Harry thought about tell Sirius everything. But for some reason, even after hearing Sirius' story, he just couldn't.

Once Sirius' heard the bathroom to door close, he ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head.

'Damn.' He thought. 'I was close.'

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AN: So we learn about Sirius' past a bit more and Harry was nearly going to tell him about everything going on but then chickened out.

Special thanks to glory boots who edited the chapter and always helps to fix up my stories. (Read glory boots' stories, they are really good.)

I have no idea what I'm doing in the next chapter. So don't how long it will take me to update.

I need an idea that would start a fight between Sirius and Harry. Someone please give me an idea. I'm having so much trouble with a fight scene! Any ideas would be really helpful.

And Please review. I mean, what's the point of reading all the way up to the new chapters and not reviewing? It doesn't make sense. I'll have like 70 hits on a new chapter and only get 3 reviews lol. It makes me so confused. Lol. So please, review. Even just a nice job would be great.