Chapter Seventeen: Legacy

November 3rd

9:22pm

Black Chateau, Isle of Man

Harry

Harry thought that constantly leaving the castle grounds would be a more troublesome endeavour. However, not once had he been pulled up by a teacher or auror and the same could be said for today. He didn't like how much time this would take but he knew his objective was of vital importance. So, with his invisibility cloak, Harry made use of the several secret passageways out of the castle and more importantly, the anti-apparition wards.

He opened the hatch below Zonko's and entered the old man's cellar and was immediately assaulted by the sense of magic. Not one to waste time, Harry simply walked forward and the world twisted around him. The dingy, cobweb infested basement gave way to the open landing platform of the Black Chateau where, what once was a foreboding sight for the young Gryffindor, now brought a feeling similar to when he looked upon Hogwarts. This feeling was amplified by the smiling man awaiting his arrival gleefully.

"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed as he embraced his godson in a hug, "how was sneaking out? Still as easy as it was back in my day?"

"Piece of cake old man," Harry japed as he accepted the hug. Not one to prolong any kind of physical contact, Harry ended the display of affection and held him at arm's length. "Come on," he beckoned, "tell me what you got up to today."

Sirius smiled and the two began the walk up to the central building. "Not much happened Harry, in fact I spent most of the morning at Grimmauld Place making sure my stuff wasn't stolen by Mundungus."

"Mundungus?" Harry asked, "the criminal informant in the order?"

"Yeah, Moody saw him taking some silverware from the house," Sirius said frustratedly. "It took three hours to cast an anti-theft ward with Remus." Harry remembered Mundungus from the previous summer, the slacker who went to buy stolen cauldrons rather than protect him. Already he knew the man was of little honour but to steal from your comrades was both a surprise and not at the same time. "After that, Remus and I went to a muggle pub that we used to go to back in the seventies. I was surprised to see it was still open actually."

Harry smiled at the image of a young group of marauders trying to fit in, whilst drunk, in a muggle pub. He could already imagine the chaos they could cause for the ministry in one night if any of them got out of hand.

"That sounds nice at least," Harry replied. "Any presents?"

Sirius smiled widely and pointed ahead of them. They were at the house now, mere meteres from the front entrance. Harry followed Sirius' direction and looked off to the side of the steps to the entrance and saw something he immediately recognised.

"Hagrid's bike?" he asked. For years he'd seen that bike sit outside Hagrid's hut and it seemed like the caretaker loved it whenever he spoke about it so to see it here and presumably in Sirius' possession was unexpected.

"Hagrid's?" Sirius exclaimed, aghast. "That's my bike that I lended to Hagrid. Although twelve years in Azkaban and a further two years in the run had our reunion slightly delayed. I gave that bike to Hagrid the night that… ah well I'm sure you can guess which night."

'Oh yes, that much is clear now,' Harry thought sombrely. Not wanting to keep Sirius in a bad mood, especially on his birthday, Harry switched gears quickly. "Why did you get it?"

Sirius' bad mood seemed to vanish instantly and his eyes flashed with memories of the past. "Back in sixty-eight. We were in that pub I was telling you about and this beautiful woman was talking about how much she liked guys with bikes and that it would fit my look."

"And then this dolt," Remus interjected as he walked outside to meet them, "thinking with the wrong head, went out and bought a motorbike the next day to impress this woman. Three days later she dumped him and now he had a motorbike that he didn't know how to ride." Sirius laughed at his own expense as Remus continued to address Harry, "hello Harry, it's good to see you."

"And you too Remus," Harry greeted simply. It had been nearly a month since he'd seen Remus in person and the man seemed to be looking much older. The greys in his hair had started to pop up in his developing moustache and he looked thinner than before. "Been keeping him in check?"

"Now Harry you must know that no one man can keep Sirius Black in check," Remus joked tiredly. "Come on in, it's much too cold out here."

The three of them went back into the chateau and made for the drawing room. The idea that it would someday be his was almost surreal to Harry. A few years ago he could barely believe magic was real and had no concept of the future but now it had rushed to meet him which was overwhelming. 'That's why I keep to the present I suppose, Daphne is the big planner.'

They all entered the drawing room and took a seat each on the armchairs in the middle of the room. Harry assumed Kreacher had prepared a meal as the coffee table had a large platter on it with a wide selection of food for the three to enjoy. Of course, none of them would ever trust Kreacher to make a safe meal for any of them so it would go untouched the entire time they spent together. Harry accepted a drink from Sirius and the three got to talking.

"Thirty six years old," Sirius muttered, "who'd have thought I'd be turning into an old man."

"We're hardly old men Sirius," Remus rebuked, "it just feels like it."

Sirius flashed a smile and took a sip. "Remember my nineteenth birthday?"

Remus' eyes widened and he shook his head, "no we're not bringing that back."

Harry leaned forward in interest as Sirius continued anyway, "why not? It's a perfectly fine story."

"There's no need to corrupt Harry any more than you have," Remus argued, aware that it was a lost cause when he saw Harry's intrigue.

"Aw come on Moony, don't be a spoil sport." Remus frowned and hid his face by taking a drink. Sirius knew this to be a sign of defeat from his old friend so he turned to Harry in glee. "Your dad, Remus and I had gone out to get on the piss and we succeeded perhaps a little too well. James had the bright idea to go for a joy ride in a nearby paddock with his dad's car but apparently we had caused enough of a ruckus for someone to call the police."

Remus sighed at this point and turned his face to look out the window. Harry could see that he was trying to fight a smile from his angle and knew this next part was going to be embarrassing for the marauder.

"So we're all in this car, none of us have a licence so we're freaking out and being drunk only made it worse. The police car pulls into the paddock and when the policeman reaches our window he is met with the sight of a deer in the driver's seat, an Irish wolfhound in the back and a sputtering Remus in the passenger seat." Sirius and Harry burst out into laughter and Remus soon joined them in a more muted laughter. "The poor police officer was so stunned that he just shook his head and told Remus to go home."

"Those two spent the rest of the night laughing whenever they looked at me. We had to call Lily to come pick us up because we were much too drunk to go home by ourselves," Remus admitted as he smiled at the fond memory.

"Oh ho she was not happy when we told her what happened either. James didn't go out for a month after that night, he was much too scared of Lily's ire," Sirius recounted with real happiness present on his face.

On the rare occurrence that Harry got to hear about his parents he was soberly reminded of just how young they were. It occurred to him that he was probably conceived during the time that his father was too scared to leave the house, which was gross but also sad. 'Not only that, but the fact that Sirius spent more time in Azkaban than with his best friends also comes to mind. The marauders, Hogwarts greatest pranksters and perhaps its greatest tragedy.'

"You guys seemed to know how to have fun," Harry said, falsely putting on a smile to hide his depressing thoughts. Neither of the men replied, they were still lost in the memories of their pasts. "Sirius," Harry tried again and gained the man's attention, "I think now would be a good time to give you your present."

"A present? Harry you shouldn't have, I'm meant to be making up for all of the missed birthdays," he tried to protest but Harry held up a hand so that he could continue.

"By that logic, so do I," he reasoned. "I have to admit though, the present is for all of us," Harry said quietly. He stood and used his wand to slide the armchair back a few paces to give himself some room.

"Must be some present, Harry, if you need to clear the room for it," Sirius joked to ease off his anticipation. He was on the edge of his seat and Remus was leaning forward too.

"It comes with a story so bare with me here," Harry warned. He stood straight and focused on his breathing, who knew opening up was such a daunting task. "For a long time, I didn't know what having a family was like," he began and quashed Sirius' pitiful reply before he could make it with a look. "The Dursleys were not fit to be a surrogate family for anyone let alone the two of you. But now, I understand what all the rage is about. You two have been to me a friend, teacher, someone to look up to and someone to care for and I'd like to imagine that my parents, had they lived, would've been the same."

Harry reached into his pocket, grasped the miniaturised gift and pulled it free. One tap of a wand resized the present to its middle setting and revealed its nature. A beautiful mosaic of the Hogwarts landscape was present in the background but the foreground was what drew the remaining marauders gaze. Five animals were painted close together in various poses. On the far left a large grey wolf howled into the sky, the full moon behind it. On the far right a huge black hound sat with its head high and alert like it was scanning for threats. In the middle, the final animals that remained were huddled close together. A regal stag, angelic doe and a small fawn in the middle of them. The stag was standing taller than the dog and its magnificent antlers spanned the middle ground of the painting. The doe, on the other hand, was bent down and was curling its neck around the fawn in a protective gesture.

The symbolism was clear but Harry wasn't finished, "I had this made for us by a dorm mate of mine. Our family, together in one place, free of violence or fear and immortalised in art. I can't even remember their faces without photos so I thought I'd have something made that represents them in a way we can understand."

Even if Harry had more to say, Sirius had ended that possibility when he enveloped him in a teary embrace. "It's beautiful Harry. Your parents would be so proud of you, I know I am."

Harry held the man for a long time, letting him get all of the grief, regret and sorrow out of his system. When Sirius finally let go, he knelt in front of the picture and whispered words Harry couldn't quite hear. It was then that Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see a teary eyed Remus Lupin with a grateful smile, no words were exchanged between the two, they both knew how much it meant to each other so Harry simply stepped aside to let Remus and Sirius share this moment together.

As he watched Remus kneel next to Sirius and put an arm around his shoulder he thought, 'one day, after all of this, we'll be a proper family, I'll make sure of it.' Once the pair had finished paying their respects, Harry hung it up in the meeting room of the Chateau as a reminder of the sacrifice his family has made in service of the wizarding world but also for them to look up and be filled with warmth in memory of James and Lily.

For the rest of the night Sirius and Remus recounted stories of his parents and their time as marauders. Laughter was heard by a passing through Tonks, tears were shed in honour of the dead and drinks were consumed by the trio in celebration of Sirius' life. Harry returned to Hogwarts early in the next morning far from sober but feeling like he knew his parents more than ever before.

November 12th

5:12pm

Hogwarts, Scotland

Harry

Harry actively tried to avoid spending any time in the library on account of too many people vying for his attention or Madame Prince giving him glares for any noise that popped up around him. That didn't matter now though as Hermione had requested to spend some time with him and she so happened to be in the library today, studying for a test months away.

"That shield breaker spell chain that you demonstrated last Sunday was interesting although I'm not too sure about one of the spells," Hermione voiced from behind a stack of books.

Harry stared at the books in annoyance for a moment before slowly sliding them to the side. He ignored Hermione's outraged expression and replied, "the acid curse?" Hermione nodded and bit her lip as she always did when she was unsure about something. Deciding to fill in for her he continued, "is that because it's a dark spell?"

"I'm not comfortable with casting a spell that kills people, that's not what I'm there for," she admitted. It didn't bother him in the slightest, in fact, he respected her more for sticking to her morals despite the environment telling her to do otherwise.

"Well most spells could kill someone," he tried to retort half heartedly, knowing she liked to argue.

Sure enough, she retorted, "well this one is designed to kill people which is why it's dark."

"True," he agreed easily. The line for what kind of magic Harry practised had been relocated long ago, no more high horse in that department. The simple fact was that dark magic had its uses and wouldn't inherently corrupt someone unless they got off on the power trip. "If you don't want to cast that kind of stuff then I won't stop you. I'm also not going to debate the nature of dark magic with you considering you seem pretty set on it. I'll offer an alternative instead."

"Thank you," she said, surprised at his maturity.

Hermione readied a notepad and he spoke, "the acid is the most effective because it causes gaps in the shield as well as obstructing your opponents view. There's also the psychological aspect of being scared of touching acid but it can be replaced with other things too. Transfiguring rubble into nails and banishing them, a powerful incendio or even just a chunk of rock. The spell you choose here is meant to be a distraction for an opponent that shields often so that they have to choose between your distraction and a blasting curse, you get me?"

Hermione nodded without looking up from her notepad, scribbling down notes faster than Harry could read them upside down. "I understand, anything could be used as long as it's distracting enough." Once she had finished writing she looked up and gratefully continued, "thanks for understanding Harry, I'm really surprised to see you're so… grown up."

Harry quietly chuckled at Hermione's words as he considered how ironic it was that she would call him grown up. "I simply rose out of necessity, Hermione. A lot is expected of me and I need to hold myself to that standard."

"I understand that Harry," Hermione replied. "I can't imagine you any other way anymore, not after the ministry."

Both Harry and Hermione cast their eyes down in memory of their fallen friend. Hermione hadn't been able to name drop Ron since the incident which neither of them had missed. Harry had asked Tonks to broach the topic of therapy because apparently she knew a very good one who works with the ministry but Hermione had declined, respectfully, but dismissively also.

"You seem to be working well with Blaise," he said, trying to change the subject to something less glib. Hermione's expression turned annoyed though and Harry was worried he'd only steered the conversation into another poor direction

"Do not get me started on Zabini," she warned, raising her voice enough for Harry to receive a scathing look from Madam Pince. "He seemed right friendly on the train but now everything I say seems to bore him."

"I get the impression he's not very expressive, less so than Daphne at least," Harry reasoned. He didn't know Blaise well enough to speak directly on his character but he doubted he was being dismissive of Hermione. "What were you talking about when he gave you the impression he was bored?"

"We were talking about the acid curse," Hermione admitted looking sheepish, "or rather I was condemning him for using it so easily."

"Well I think we've gotten to the bottom of this mystery then," Harry said, amused. "Hermione, you've got to realise that us muggle raised have been injected into a foreign culture and people like Blaise have grown up with different views on magic. Now I'm not excusing anyone for being rude, but you do have a tendency to come off a little strong. Do you think less of ,e for being able to cast dark magic well?"

"No, I don't." Hermione didn't take offence, she knew herself well enough to accept that she was quite full on when she believed something. "Alright," she said in a defeated tone, "I'll try to be more open-minded. I can't guarantee anything though, especially nothing like you and Daphne."

"Thank you," he replied. Harry found that tag on at the end odd and asked, "wait, what do you mean like Daphne and I?"

Hermione looked at him, confused and put her quill down to put her attention on him. "Aren't you two dating?" Before he could respond she rambled off, "I mean I know you denied it in the press conference but I figured it was just something you two would–"

"Hermione," Harry interrupted and ran a hand through his hair, "no, just no. There's no time for that kind of stuff, neither of us want to be distracted by a teenage romance."

"Oh, I guess I read that wrong then," she mused out loud.

"Yeah, you did," he replied quickly. A little too quickly and both of them knew it. He knew when she let silence linger for just enough time before continuing.

"It's just that you spend so much time together, have so much in common and—"

"Hermione!" he whisper-shouted which earned him a 'shhhh' from Madam Pince.

Hermione smiled when she saw her teasing had the intended effect. They lapsed into silence again, the only sound to be heard was the scratching of Hermione's quill on parchment although the tension in the air was palpable. He sighed and heard her snort quietly but he didn't bother to pick up the topic again.

Realising he'd been there a long time he checked the time and smiled, "I've got to go, it's meditation time."

"Mhmm, with Daphne?"

The question was innocent enough but Harry knew what Hermione meant by it. The way she didn't look up to ask it either made him certain she was hiding her cheeky smile in her work.

"Shut up," he replied good naturedly as he gathered his things and patted her shoulder as he left the library. His time with Hermione had made him realise that he missed his best friend and he made a mental note to spend more time with her. With an easy smile on his face he made his way to the seventh floor despite knowing Hermione would tease him for it.

A/N: Another chapter, a week later, damn. Oh well, I didn't know what I was doing with this chapter as it's got filler vibes but once I knew it took me a couple of hours to complete. That's the worst part about writer's block, the fact that you know once the inspiration is there you can smash it out but the creativity isn't clicking.

I knew what Sirius' gift was going to be for months. I figured if he'd lived to see his freedom he'd spend most of his time still moaning about James' death. A nice way to honour them without eviscerating Pettigrew is to depict them in art and allow him to pay his respects symbolically. But of course that would mean a lot to Remus too so let's say it's a shared gift.

The idea for the incident on Sirius' nineteenth birthday was from an old reddit post of a German shepherd and a deer in the back of a police car. If you search 'James and Sirius in a car' it's one of the first things that shows up.

Harry's opinion of Light and Dark Magic I feel even in canon ended up being quite ambiguous. We see him use two of the three unforgivable curses and not with great difficulty either. I feel like in a lot of fics where he uses dark magic he also gets super heated when someone questions that. I'm all about keeping my Harry mature and deliberate. He still cares for his friends so he's not about to lash out at Hermione for voicing her own discomfort which I've seen before. Instead he accepts their difference in philosophies and offers alternatives like a good teacher would.

Hermione getting to tease Harry about his love life was fun to write. I feel like I've had very little moments of showing them just being friends. I suppose the same could be said about canon too but with established characters it's hard to remember that I need to treat them as their own entities in fanfiction.

This chapter's recommendation is 'Days to Come' by chris400ad. I've always been a sucker for auror!Harry and the author has done a good job of delving into Harry's built up trauma.

Hope y'all enjoyed

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