Chapter 2
Sirius Black stood anxiously by the door to his cell, looking out at the guards. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened. One second, he had been standing down a terrified Peter Pettigrew, ready to exact vengeance. The next, he had been in magic suppression cuffs while laughing hysterically. Before he could blink, he was in Azkaban Prison. It had only been 24 hours but it felt like an eternity to Sirius. This joyless place was filthy and filled with horrendous screams and pleas echoing from the prisoners all around him.
Sirius felt so guilty. At his worst moments, he felt he belonged here. But right now, all he could think about was straightening this mess out and getting to Harry. Sirius was supposed to be taking care of the boy! He hoped Hagrid would be willing to keep the boy for a few more days. Maybe it was Dumbledore that had Harry. Hagrid had said Dumbledore wanted Harry taken to Hogwarts. It was driving Sirius mad to have no idea where his precious godson was right now.
Sirius heard silence fall in the hall further up from his cell. He leaned over as far as he could go, his face pressing up against the bars as he tried to see who was coming. Maybe Sirius could talk to them. Maybe he could find out when his trial would be held. Everything would be fine after Sirius explained to the court. He knew it. He would volunteer to take Veritaserum, if he had to. Better to be embarrassed for being stupid enough to get his best friend killed with his crazy idea to substitute himself for Wormtail than to be in this hell hole.
Someone was coming! Sirius stepped back and tried to straighten himself up. There was only a small sink to wash himself inside the cell. Sirius was given no soap but it had only been a day. He was still a mess from the explosion but his body and hair were relatively clean. He was still sane. Someone would listen to him.
Just as Sirius saw a small group that included Minister Bagnold looking inside the cells across from him, he heard a loud boing sound on the bed behind him. The springs creaked loudly and something bounced. It took a moment for Sirius to register what it was.
Harry had somehow come to Azkaban.
The baby bounced once upon the bed and giggled. He saw Sirius and smiled once before beginning to wail. Sirius startled hard at the sound of the baby crying. He wasn't the only one.
"Is that a baby?" Sirius heard someone ask outside the cell. The sound of someone walking towards his cell listening to hear what the sound was made Sirius spring into action. He jumped forward and grabbed the baby up. As he did so, his hand slid into the baby's pocked and touched the shrunken trunk placed there by Nookie. It fell out of the pocket with a tiny bounce, followed by an explosion of movement as it expanded back to normal size. Sirius' shin hit hard against it.
"Shite!" He said to himself, while holding the still sobbing baby in his arms. He didn't know where the trunk had come from any more than he knew where the baby had come from. He didn't have time to worry about it as he heard someone moving keys around outside his cell.
"Double shite!" He said in a quiet hiss. He opened the trunk and put the baby inside. The sound of the baby was distant and almost nonexistent inside the trunk. Sirius shoved the trunk and fell onto the bed. Sirius had been a pretty good mimic in his youth. It had been a handy skill for a prankster to cultivate. Sirius used it now to cry like Harry had just been crying - a loud, continuous wail.
The guard opened the door, wand at the ready and saw the grown man, wailing and wallowing on the thin mattress and shook his head. It had only been one day. This one had already gone insane. He looked around the room swiftly before backing out and locking the door behind him.
"Just a crazy one, sir," Sirius barely heard in the hall over his own keening cry. He kept it up for five minutes before jumping up to check out the tiny window in the door. It was still silent, but Sirius couldn't see anyone outside. He quickly went over to the bed and pulled the trunk out on the far side. No one could see the trunk from the door over here. It was hidden by the bulk of his bunk.
He flung the trunk open, quieting his own wailing. He winced in preparation for the sound of Harry's crying to be much louder than before.
"Sorry kiddo," he said when he still only heard the distant sound of crying. "I couldn't let them find you in here. How are you here?" he reached in and felt nothing but air. He panicked and leaned over into the trunk, trying to find the missing baby, and accidentally fell in. Rather than walking onto the landing and down the stairs, Sirius tumbled across the wide plinth and down the wide set stairs unto the grass below.
For a moment, Sirius lay there hurting, yes, but also terrified. Had Harry fallen down the stairs as well? Sirius' fears were quickly allayed as he heard Harry laughing at him.
Sirius flipped over and saw the baby. He appeared upside down clinging to the grass by his bottom to Sirius, but he was otherwise normal. Sirius sat up quickly and his head spun for a moment. His vision stabilized and he saw the most beautiful sight in the world. His godson, smiling that adorable, two teeth smile. He scooped the boy up and spun him around, hugging him to his chest.
"Oh, Harry! You're alright! I was so worried about you." The baby just gurgled and shrieked in return.
"You were worried about me, too? You should be. Actually, you should worry about us both! We can't stay here! You, you could be permanently injured here. The dementors can't be good for a baby." Sirius was seriously worried now. He laughed in his head at his own joke.
Sirius looked around to figure out what was going on with this trunk and gasped in recognition.
"This is James' travel trunk. His mom gave it to him as his bachelor pad. It was his grandmother and grandfather's first home. They had lived in Potter Manor, as was custom, of course, but they had wanted a place of their own. That's when great Aunt Dorea, who was Jame's great grandmother, commissioned the travel trunk for her son and his wife. James had loved it and so had Sirius. They had moved in together right after Hogwarts. They had lived in it together for almost two years before James had gotten married. Then, James and Lily had lived in it until they had left Potter Manor to go into hiding. The last time Sirius had seen the old place, the whole gang, minus Peter, had been together again for a rager. Even Lily had gotten tipsy and invited Frank and Alice over to join the debauchery. Sirius had a splitting headache the entire weekend after that fiasco but it had also been the most fun he had had in his life.
The trunk was set up like a little house in the country with woods on either side of a dirt lane that circled around and was great for jogging. There was a little pond about twenty acres wide in the center of the circular lane. A small four bedroom/five bathroom house was set off to the side in a little alcove in the woods. It was blue and white and had a literal picket fence surrounding the front garden. A lovely porch with a few swings wrapped around both levels of the two story building.
The weather outside matched the weather inside the trunk. The only difference was rain and snow only fell to a few feet from the ground and the temperature inside the trunk had a maximum and a minimum. Right now, it was late autumn. The sky above was grey but the rain didn't touch them. The leaves on the trees surrounding the house were a riot of colors but the air was only chilly rather than the cold that was whipping with the wind outside.
Sirius walked towards the house bouncing the baby and making faces at him. Harry sniffled still but his attitude had much improved with the presence of Sirius. They entered the house and found themselves in the little foyer. A small restroom with just a toilet and sink and a coat closet graced the tiled entrance. Sirius walked on through he saw the sitting room to the right, the study to the left. He kept going and found the stairs, leading up the bedrooms, and kept walking past the entrance to the library and on to the kitchens. He saw the door to the dining room. He glanced inside and out the back to the porch. The rock-walled back garden was empty. He turned back to the kitchen and saw it was well and truly stocked, as was the pantry.
"I bet there's enough food here for a year," Sirius said as he and Harry walked around the room. Sirius pulled some milk and a few biscuits from the ice cabinet and set Harry on the counter with the treats. Luckily, there were sippy cups in the cabinets.
"Hopefully, there are nappies in your room still, too, buddy. Gods willing, a lot of them. I don't know how you got here. I'm so glad to see you," he hugged the little boy who squirmed away. These biscuits were Harry's favorites and he was hungry. The ugly blonde lady and the big mean man hadn't given him any food.
Sirius watched him eating and tried to think. It was actually much easier to think in here, Sirius noticed. The effects of the dementors didn't reach inside the trunk. Sirius knew it had been well warded before Lily upgraded the wards. Now, they were nearly impenetrable. They were easily as good as the wards on Potter Manor. Sirius grimaced at how not even those wards had been enough against the Death Eaters, who had burned the place down after James and Lily had gone into hiding. Sirius was surprised even this trunk had survived.
Sirius' mind was boggled as to how the trunk had ended up in Harry's possession. It must have been Harry who had brought the trunk with him. Sirius was stumped as to how the boy had just appeared inside his cell. Had someone with the Minister hidden Harry with Sirius? Had someone meant the boy harm when they threw him into Sirius' cell? Sirius couldn't be sure!
Harry finished his food and Sirius picked him up.
"Come on, buddy. Let's go see about those nappies, yeah?" Sirius cooed at the boy as he carried him upstairs. Sirius watched in concern as the boy rubbed the ragged wound on his forehead. It looked like it had been poorly healed. The baby whimpered every time he touched it, yet couldn't seem to stop rubbing it.
"Does it hurt, Prongslet?" he cooed at the little boy. "We'll see if mummy has any medical supplies in her room, too."
They walked into Harry's room and sure enough, there were a large supply of nappies in the closet. Sirius picked up the nappy and some clean pajamas. He walked into the bathroom in James and Lily's room and helped Harry into the warm bath. While Harry splashed in the bubbles, Sirius looked for a healing salve. He found one in the cabinet and pulled it out. There were plenty of medicines in the bathroom.
"Built yourself a little bolthole, did ya, Prongs? You sly bastard. I wish you'd been in it. Could have hidden it somewhere in the muggle world and stayed for decades undetected."
He sniffled as he said the last. He turned around and washed Harry good. He let the boy splash for a few more minutes before getting him out. He dried him off and dressed him quickly before applying the salve to his forehead. Harry started to cry again. He acted like touching the wound pained him. Sirius cooed to him and worked quickly to cover the wound in the salve. To Sirius' surprise, nothing happened. The wound healed for a moment and then went back to the angry, ragged color. Harry rubbed it and whimpered.
"I'm sorry, little one. That didn't help at all, did it?" The man was worried about the baby but had no way to help him. There was only an annual check with a healer here at Azkaban. They left you to rot and expected you to die.
Sirius took the baby back to his room and rocked him gently. He sang a muggle song he had heard on Lily's radio. The words of "Hey Jude" came easily and the boy was quickly asleep. Sirius laid him in his crib and went to grab his own hot shower. The water and soap washed away the grime of the prison and the leftover muck from the explosion Peter had used to escape.
After his shower, Sirius wandered downstairs to get some food. He found the makings of an epic sandwich and ate the whole thing quickly, washed down with some butterbeer hidden in the back of the pantry.
Sirius walked around the downstairs again and made another surprise discovery - a letter.
Dear Little Master Harry,
I is Nookie, your house elf. Headmaster Dumbledore won't let me come to you until you call me. I wanted you to have all the things you might be needing. I hope you will call me soon.
Yours, Nookie
"You little genius, Nookie. I'll try to get Harry to call you in the morning. We need to figure a way out! It isn't safe here for our buddy."
Sirius put the note in his pocket and went back outside. He quickly climbed the stairs to the top of the trunk and peaked outside. All was quiet. HIs daily meal was sitting by the door to his cell. He went quickly over and dumped the tray out between the bars of his window. He set it back by the door and went back into the trunk. He walked fast upstairs and slid into one of the beds that was not in James and Lily's room. He couldn't bear to sleep there, even if he was wearing James' clothes to sleep in. There were some things that were just too far.
-oooOOOoooOOOooo-
The next morning, Sirius woke to the sounds of Harry happily playing in his crib. Harry was pleased to be back amongst familiar surroundings. His toys and his room. His pajamas and his Padfoot. It was as he thought of his Padfoot, that he started to shout for the man. Sirius heard the shouts and got up to quickly check on the baby. Sirius had slept like a baby himself last night free from the feel of the dementors. The exhausted man felt renewed as he picked up the baby. A quick change and they headed downstairs to the kitchens.
"Do you remember Nookie, Harry? The elf. Little Nookie? Do you?" Sirius asked while handing Harry a sippy cup full of pumpkin juice.
"Ookie," Harry said around the cup in his mouth.
"Yes, Nookie. Can you call her? Say Nookie, come here." Sirius said it in a funny voice. Harry laughed and shook his head.
"Come on, just try, buddy. Please? Say Here Nookie, Nookie, Nookie." The man tickled the little boy as he said the words. Harry laughed and shook his head again.
"Please, Harry. Just say Nookie, Come!" Sirius said with puppy dog eyes.
"Ookie, come!" Harry shouted as he laughed. A loud pop sounded in the room as Nookie popped in.
"Ookie!" Harry sang/shouted.
Sirius took up the call, "Nookie! It's so good to see you!" Sirius picked up the little elf in a hug and swung it around the room.
"Puts me down, Master Sirius. I is not liking swinging around," the little elf squealed as Sirius swung her around.
Sirius laughed and set her down.
"How did you get here, Nookie? I didn't think elves could come onto Azkaban island?"
"We can't be. But we can be coming into the family travel trunk when called. I cans not be leaving the trunk without setting off the wards but I cans be in the trunk. I am so glad to see you has little Master Harry. Headmaster Dumbledore said he was taking him to the muggles!"
"Harry just popped in, just like you. I don't know how he got here but I'm glad he did. We need to get out of here! Harry isn't safe in the prison. The dementors could really hurt him."
"I don't know what to do, Master Sirius. I cans not be popping him out. I can shrink the trunk but we have no way out." The little elf started to cry.
"We'll figure it out, Nookie. I might have a plan. My animagus form can't be seen by the dementors. Maybe if they think I'm dead, they'll open the door. I can slip out and carry the trunk with me. If we can get to the water, we can swim away, maybe?" Sirius thought desperately. Azkaban island was somewhere in the middle of the North Sea. It was freezing and the waves were rough. Despite that, he was sure they could make it if they could get to the water.
"Nookie can be shrinking the trunk and helping with swimming. I can make the trunk float, so we can take turns holding on and swimming. My legs is being strong," the elf said flexing her calves. It wasn't a terrible idea.
"Okay, we'll try it but we need something first. Can you pop out and get something in Nocturne alley?" The elf agreed she could. Sirius gave her directions to go to his flat first and grab all his money left in the safe in the back of his closet. Then, she was to go to Nocturne Alley to get Sirius a very life-like homunculus.
With all the ingredients, they were ready to set their plan in motion. They waited for a clear day, when the waves were calm and the sky was overcast, hiding any movement in the water. It came a mere two weeks later.
Sirius Black sat the homunculus that could have been his living, breathing twin onto the bed. With a gentle word, the link between himself and the clay copy of himself was cut. Without his magic, it "died" a few minutes later. Sirius didn't see it. He was hidden inside the trunk with an elf and a baby. They waited a few hours before Sirius climbed out to see if his plan had worked.
The room was empty and the cell door was open. Everything was cleaned and the creaking springs of the mattress stood silently propped against the wall. Sirius climbed out quickly. The trunk shrunk before his eyes. He quickly transformed into Padfoot, the dog. He picked up the trunk with his mouth and slipped quickly from the room. It was black dark outside but Sirius easily remembered his way out of the maze of cells. The walk down to his cell had been one of the most terrifying experiences of his life. It wasn't something he was likely to forget.
A quick, terrifying few minutes work and he was at the edge of the cliff where they buried the bodies. Sirius starred for just a moment at his own name carved into a simple stone before taking a deep breath and jumping over the edge.
-oooOOOoooOOOooo-
It was a chaotic few moments of being unsure which way was up and which way down inside the roiling water before he buoyed up and rose to the top of the waves. His black, doggy head broke the surface and he started paddling. A few quick ruffs and the trunk was normal sized again. He put his front paws up on the chest and started kicking for where he believed the shore would be.
A few hours later, he was exhausted. He stopped paddling and turned back into a man. A quick touch to the center of the medallion set into the front of the trunk and he was inside. He was soaked and unable to stand. Nookie appeared beside him. She moved him quickly inside the house.
"Master Sirius. Here, take this," the elf handed the man a pepper-up potion, which he quickly drank. Another wave of her hand, and the man was dry and warm once more.
"Please, food," Sirius said, looking at the adorable little boy sitting on the floor of the sitting room. The elf hurried to bring him some food and then stood to go.
"It be my turn to paddle. I will go out and swim," the elf looked determined as she said the words.
"Only for an hour or so, Nookie. I could barely do three hours in dog form. I'll take just a little rest and then back to it." The elf didn't look happy but she agreed. She could move fast and use her magic to help them. Master Sirius would see.
He was shocked an hour later when he stuck his head outside to see lights in the distance.
"Good job, Nookie. Now, come inside. It's my turn." He helped the exhausted little elf back into the trunk. He gave her a pepper-up potion and a bowl of the stew she had fed him earlier. Then, he was back out to paddle some more. It only took a few more hours and they were back on dry land.
Sirius moved the trunk into the base of the trunk of a tree for safety and climbed inside. No one could see the trunk from outside. Nookie helped Sirius into a hot shower, fed him another bowl of stew, and put him straight into a warm bed.
Sirius slept late into the day the next day. Nookie was glad to let him sleep. She had slept twice as long as she usually did last night herself. She slept a full six hours for the first time in years. She felt refreshed.
Little Master Harry was fussy today. He kept rubbing his head and crying.
"I don't know what's wrong with that wound. I put healing salve on it and it barely helped," Sirius said helplessly.
"I tried elf magics to heal it this morning, too. It not be working and I not know anything else to try," Nookie said, pulling at her ears.
"We can't take him to Saint Mungo's. Who else has healers we can try?" Sirius said in consternation.
"The goblinses might have a healer. They will be charging money but they might heal the baby," Nookie said excitedly.
"Yeah, maybe," Sirius said contemplatively. "They won't rat us out, either, for a price. Let's go. I want to empty my vault and go hide for a while. I'm not sure what else we can do to hide myself and Harry."
"Headmaster Dumbledore said that baby Harry was safe with the muggles. He be saying that blood wards keep the baby safe." Nookie didn't like the Headmaster. No one kept her from her little master.
"Did he. Can you pop us now, Nookie?" Sirius asked the excited and yet strangely angry looking little elf.
"Yes, Master Sirius. I cans be popping us now. To Gringotts?" She asked.
"Ready when you are. Take the trunk and ask to speak with Harnock, the Black family account manager. We'll come out once we're in his office," Sirius told Nookie. A few more minutes of preparations later and they were on their way.
-oooOOOoooOOOooo-
Almost an hour had passed before Sirius heard the knock signaling he could exit the trunk. Sirius was dressed in the best robes James had in his closet. Harry was in a little purple romper that made the green of his eyes stand out like lasers. They stepped out of the trunk into Harnock's office.
"Sirius Black. I received word just yesterday you were dead," Harnock said with a cruel smile on his face. "Maybe I should let the ministry know their mistake?" he purred.
"I'll make it worth your while if you help me pull a jolly good prank instead," he said to the goblin with a smile. A look of greed passed over the goblin's face.
"Worth my while, just might be worth my while. Sit. What can I do for you?" the goblin asked solicitously now that it might get paid.
"First, Harry here needs to be looked at. Something isn't right about the wound on his head. It won't heal and seems to still be hurting him after several weeks." The goblin noted something down on a parchment before him.
"Yes, we can do that. For a fee. We won't know the fee amount until we know the ailment, of course," the goblin grinned as it spoke. Sirius had a feeling that the amount of the fee would be quite high.
"What else do you need?" He said sneering at the wizard before him.
"I'd like to empty my vault and Harry's vault, too. We're going into hiding. We'll need a tidy sum of the funds converted to muggle money, as well. I don't expect we'll be back until Harry is in Hogwarts." Sirius said, a little manically.
"How do you plan to hide? The aurors might not be looking for you but they will be looking for him once they find out he's missing," Harnock said, looking at baby Harry.
"I, I thought we'd hide amongst the muggles. Dunno. I just have to keep him safe." Sirius looked a little desperate. The goblin just stared at him for a few moments.
"For a fee, Gringotts can help you plan how to hide. If you'd like our assistance, please sign here. Of course, we won't know the fee until we know the plan we come up with," the goblin grinned at the man maliciously.
"Fine," Sirius sighed. He just hoped he had enough funds available to pay for everything. "Please, just help me keep Harry safe." The baby grinned at the goblin. The goblin sat, unmoved.
"Sign here to signify your agreement to the fees." Sirius quickly signed.
"A blood adoption for both of you might work. You could both be blood adopted into an appropriate family for an appropriate fee. For a proper fee, you can change the Potter name, retain the titles and vaults for young Mr. Potter, and take a new name for him and for yourself. If you are both blood adopted, you would be brothers in the eyes of magic. You would then have claim to take control of Mr. Potter's inheritance. Would you like to proceed?" the goblin asked in a bored voice.
"No. I like the idea of a blood adoption but I don't like the idea of being Harry's brother. Let me be blood adopted, then I will adopt Harry. That way, I will be his father in the eyes of magic. No one will expect Harry to show up with a new name and a new dad," Sirius said, enthused.
"Very well, we will have to take an estimate of your worth and find a family willing to accept a new blood adopted member. Would you like this adoption to be anonymous or from a known donor?" Harnock asked.
"I have an idea of who to ask," Sirius said, a mischievous grin on his face.
-oooOOOoooOOOooo-