Chapter Ten
A/N Thanks to all my reviewers, it's amazing the reaction this story has gotten. You guys are great. Review responses will be at the end of the chapter. In case I didn't make it clear, Dudley walked into the house and went straight for the TV. Vernon and Petunia didn't do anything about the bags because they figured they could make "the freak" do it. If he couldn't, it would be an excuse (not that they needed one) to "punish" him.
After the wands' flashes died down, Remus and Sirius looked at the Dursleys as Harry peeked out from the cupboard behind them. Then, all at once, Sirius started laughing hard, Remus gave a low chuckle, and Petunia SHRIEKED.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY VERNON, YOU FREAKS?! CHANGE HIM BACK NOW!"
Sirius' eyes hardened, and Remus' flashed amber, causing Petunia to back up, standing between them and Dudley, as if to shield her son. As Sirius stepped closer, she backed up until she was right in front of Dudley.
Sirius' eyes glinted, "don't worry, I'd never hurt a child. No matter how I feel about his parents."
Petunia had the decency to blush at that rather pointed remark.
Remus smirked as he took his first good look at the "new" Vernon Dursley. Sirius turned, saw what Remus was looking at, and howled with laughter again. Even little Harry couldn't resist a few chuckles, causing Petunia to glare at him, which caused Remus to step between them, glaring right back at her. She paled and turned toward the still chuckling Sirius and what was her husband.
She gasped as she saw what they had done. Vernon Dursley lay on the floor, as what looked to be a cross between a walrus and a whale. She looked at Remus, who seemed the more reasonable of the two, "c-can you change him back?" she asked tentatively, "will you?"
Sirius walked beside Remus and answered, "that depends on a few things." he shot him a questioning look, but Sirius only winked back.
"W-what do you want?" Petunia asked tremulously, "what can we do for fr-magical people? We're normal."
"A lot, actually," said Sirius, "whether we get to talk about it or not depends on how well Vernon here can control his temper. Or whether he says anything to make me lose mine." Sirius' eyes glinted, letting a bit of his all-too-recent time in Azkaban show through.
"All right," said Petunia, "c-can I talk to him first? Before we talk, I mean?"
"All right," said Sirius.
Remus and Sirius stepped over to Vernon, Remus ran his wand over the whale/walrus and muttered something inaudible.
"He's alright," said Remus, "nothing a quick 'finite' won't fix." Sirius nodded and Remus performed the spell. A very dazed-looking Vernon appeared, looking none the worse for wear.
Petunia took his arm and guided him into the living room while Sirius and Remus remained in the hall.
"What are you up too, Padfoot?" Remus asked as soon as the door to the living room had closed, "why don't we just take Harry and go?"
"Relax Moony," Sirius grinned, "it's nothing bad really. Just thinking of a way to get 'round Dumbledore. Marauder's Honor."
"What's your plan?" asked Remus, eyes narrowing as Sirius continued to grin at him.
"Well…" Sirius replied, "I was reading one of the old books from the Potter Library. James and Lily put a lot of copies of them in the trunk. There was one about making something called "portals" a way to get to certain places without using the floo or Apparating."
"And?"
Sirius smirked, "I was thinking that we could leave the trunk here, keep it in the cupboard, even, and make portals inside it to places like Potter Manor, or Potter Island, maybe some other Potter properties. Maybe some Black ones, too. If we can get them cleaned up enough."
"Why?" Remus asked, perplexed.
"You said old Dumbles told you that 'as long as Harry calls that place home, the blood wards will protect him' right?"
"Yes….."
"Well, I figure if we leave the trunk here, we can call it 'home' and as long as it's here, Harry will be protected. Plus, Dumbledore won't know anything."
Remus beamed a wide smile at Sirius, "That's brilliant Padfoot! We have to talk to Harry, though. We might have to deal with the Dursleys on occasion, will he be OK with that, considering?"
"I'll be fine," piped up Harry from the door to the cupboard, "I know they can't hurt me anymore. Not with you here."
Both Marauders whirled around in surprise. "You heard that? Do you understand what we want to do?" asked Sirius.
"Yes," said Harry.
Just then, Petunia opened the living room door, "We're ready to talk. Vernon will be calm."
"All right," said Sirius, slinging an arm around Harry's shoulders, "so are we."
Petunia stepped back, letting them into the room. Sirius, Remus, and Harry sat on the couch, Harry sitting between the two men.
"Diddy darling, why don't you go and watch the telly in Mummy and Daddy's room?" Petunia suggested. Dudley whined, but left the room.
"Well?" asked Vernon petulantly, "what do you want?"
"What we want," Sirius said, eyes flashing at Vernon's tone, "is for you to keep the trunk here."
"Both you and Harry are protected as long as he calls this place home," Remus put in, "given the circumstances, that's not possible."
"But," added Sirius, "we thought that if he can call the trunk home, he'll be protected as long as his home is inside this house."
"What trunk?" asked Petunia.
Sirius grinned at Harry, "oh, that's right, you don't know. James and Lily left him a trunk here. A magical trunk with a lot of hidden compartments."
"You can even leave it in the cupboard, as long as you call it Harry's room." said Remus, smiling as the two Dursleys blanched.
"That would be fine," said Petunia, shooting a look at Vernon, "but what about school? The fr-boy is already registered. People will talk if he doesn't go."
"Oh, he can go if he wants," said Sirius, at Harry's enthusiastic nod, he continued,"you will, of course, be his guardian for all things school related."
"There are some conditions," said Remus.
"What?" snarked Vernon, "what more do you freaks want with us?"
Sirius' eyes flashed, and he brandished his wand toward Vernon Vernon paled and sank back into the couch.
"One," said Remus, eyes flashing amber, "You Will Not Touch Harry." he spoke each word clearly and emphatically.
"Two," said Sirius, twirling his wand, "you will speak to him only if necessary. He will not do your chores, and you will NOT call him any of those horrid names. You will sign all forms as necessary, and you will keep your bully away from him."
"My Dudders is no bully!" shouted Vernon.
"Whether he is or not, he will leave Harry alone." said Sirius firmly.
"And you will not tell anyone that we are here, especially anyone from the wizarding world." said Remus.
"Why?" asked Vernon, eyes glinting, "would it get you in trouble with the other freaks?"
"No," said Sirius, "it will get YOU in trouble. People won't take kindly to how you've treated Harry. If you tell anyone, or if you break the rules, we will take Harry away."
"If Harry goes," Remus put in, "so does any protection you have."
"And of course, we would make SURE everyone knows EXACTLY how Harry has been treated." Sirius smirked, "you think what we did was bad? See what happens when half the wizarding world is at your doorstep."
"And that's not counting," Remus said as both Dursleys paled, "the followers of the one who killed your sister."
Petunia's hand flew to her throat as Vernon turned a sickly white, "w-we'll do what you say. And we won't tell anyone." Petunia said as Vernon nodded vigorously in the background.
Sirius only smiled. Good, he thought as the little family made their way into the trunk, now we have a safe place away from Dumbledore, and Harry can keep Lily's protection. It was not how he'd wanted to deal with the Dursleys, but it seemed the best way without letting Dumbles know anything. And hey, if he couldn't hex the Dursleys for how they treated his pup, at least he could watch them squirm.
A/N So, how did I do? I know it's not really enough, (Sirius doesn't think so either) but keeping Harry protected while staying out of Dumbledore's eye was a big bonus. Don't worry, they'll get more. Do you really think Vernon can keep his temper? I forget where I read about "portals," but if I borrowed it from you, I'm sorry. As one of my favorite authors here once wrote, "we can say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, but we all know that's dragon shit. Stealing is stealing." And I agree.
Review Responses:
ObsessedWithHPFanFic Thanks for yout reviews. Don't worry, old Dumb-as-a-Door will get his soon. And the Dursleys are just abusive narrow-minded jerks who want to see how much they can get out of him. And he IS a genius, so even if he has trouble with some more physical things, he can figure a way around it. As for Sirius, first, he just got out of Azkaban. Next, he was sure he KNEW where Harry was, while he wasn't sure whether Remus would kiss him or hex him. He thought asking that was a better (and safer, as they were in public) way to see where he stood.
Vicky Gross Thank you!
kirsty21 I'm updating as fast as I can write. I'm glad you like it.
alix33 Thank you. I tried to think of what they would write, I just hope I did it justice. The letters were always a big part of the plot. So it was important they go out. And to keep it from being covered up, they needed to go to EVERYONE in an important office. And thanks, I didn't even know there were two spellings to that word. As for the books, one word; DUMBLEDORE. He wants to be the Muggle-born students' only source of information, so he paired down the books little by little until what once was a stack of books is now a pamphlet and a small introduction by a professor. As for Sirius' grudge (yes he does still have one) he figured he wouldn't get far by voicing the grudge to a person who had nothing to do with his imprisonment, and was actively trying to help him. Sirius has plans for the Dursleys and Dumbledore. It's just a matter of timing (and whether or not his temper will get the best of him) BTW I never was able to keep a journal either, I just figured that between James' family history, (they almost all kept journals as a way to tell descendants about their family history) and it being a time of war, they'd want to keep something for Harry to remember them by besides stories and pictures.
Thanks to all of you.
