Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter 3
Dumbledore peered over his spectacles at the two marauders as they arrived. He noted that they had obviously packed previously to his request for their presence at Potter Manor, as they could not have packed two large suitcases so quickly. In fact, knowing Sirius, he was surprised that they had managed to apparate there and then here so quickly, even with the already packed suitcases. He would have expected Sirius to trip over something and get a concussion, or to fall on Remus and give them both concussions, or… he shook his head amusedly. Sirius was a good person and he was extremely loyal, but he was also extremely clumsy. Dumbledore had no doubt that if he had not asked Remus to stay with Sirius and keep an eye on him during the war, Sirius would not have survived, and it would not have been a death eater that killed him off. Noticing suddenly that Sirius and Remus had been standing there while he was lost in thought, he mentally shook himself and told them to sit down.
"Before we begin our little chat," said Dumbledore, "just a point of curiosity; were those suitcases previously packed?"
Sirius grinned broadly and replied, "Nope! Remy here is just a genius and invented a spell to pack everything we need."
Remus blushed and explained, "It was quite simple actually. I just thought if the death eaters showed up, we could make a quick exit without leaving everything behind."
Sirius scoffed at his friend. "Creating a spell is not simple, Moony. Anyway, it's more planning than I did. All I did was hope that if the death eaters did show up; they would come on a full moon so we could set our favorite werewolf on them."
Remus glared at him and did not reply. Turning to Dumbledore, he asked, "So, what exactly did you want to discuss? I assume it has to do with Harry."
"Yes," replied Dumbledore, "it's about where he is going to live. You see, his relatives have refused to take him in, but he still needs the blood protection."
"Why?" asked Sirius, "Voldemort's dead, isn't he?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "Alas, he is not dead. He is gone for the time being, but there is a prophecy about Harry and the Dark Lord. Harry will have to defeat him."
"Isn't that what he just did?" replied Sirius.
"No, he must destroy him permanently. As it is, he can still come back."
"So, he needs the blood protection," interjected Remus, "but does he even have any other living relatives?"
Dumbledore sighed and replied, "I hope so. His father was a pureblood, and I know that most of those families are interrelated, so--,"
Sirius interrupted him, "James wasn't related to me. We checked when we were at school. And I'm related to everyone pureblood, so that pretty much eliminates that option."
"What about Lily?" asked Remus, "I know she was muggle born, but there has to have been magic in her family somewhere, right?"
"Precisely," said Dumbledore, "This will take some research. The Potters have a rather extensive library in the north wing on the second floor. Come this way."
Getting up, all three men headed towards the library, when Sirius suddenly had a thought (A rare occurrence, I know.) "Hold on," he said, stopping suddenly, "where's Harry?"
Dumbledore replied with a smile, "He is sleeping in his bedroom with a spell on him that will tell all three of us if he wakes up."
"Oh." The three of them continued walking. Several minutes later, they arrived at a set of formidable wooden double doors.
"How… creepy," said Sirius, "ew, look, there are spider webs and everything!"
"Oh, don't be such a sissy, Padfoot," said Remus, shoving his friend into the wall, or at least attempting to (rather unsuccessfully, as Sirius was much larger.) The three wizards walked through the double doors into a huge room completely filled with rows and rows of bookshelves. Sirius let his jaw drop as he looked at all of the books.
"Oh man, it'll take forever to look through those!" he complained loudly. Remus, however, wasn't complaining.
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!" exclaimed Remus, falling to his knees, "I have never seen so many books in my whole entire life!"
Sirius looked at Remus and shook his head, saying, "Remus, I have never seen you so excited about anything in your whole entire life, and the one time you go crazy, it's over a bunch of books."
Remus just grinned cheekily at him and replied, "Well, the first time I saw you go crazy about anything was in second year when James stole your hair gel, so you certainly have no right to criticize."
"Yeah, well, it's not like hair gel works on James anyway, so he…" Sirius trailed off when he realized about whom he had been talking, and looked over at Remus, who whispered, "Sirius… we'll never see him again. He's gone. No more Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. Prongs is d—is gone, and Wormtail is the one who killed him. Just Moony and Padfoot. We're all that's left."
"I know," whispered Sirius, sitting down next to the werewolf and putting his arms around him, "I know." They just sat on the floor together, both crying for their friends, both seeking the comfort of the other, until all of their tears had dried up.
