"[...]In one of the gardens grew an elder-tree, and in the other an old willow, under which the children were very fond of playing.[...]"
The trio walked past the kitchen's doors to find Remus and Sirius already sitting at the kitchen table talking animatedly and laughing. As soon as Sirius noticed their presence, he stopped talking with a smile on his face.
"All good?"
A chorus of yeahs was heard in the room.
"So, did they tie you to the bed or something, eh, Harry?" Sirius jokingly asked, elbowing Remus and sharing an amused look with him.
Leo almost spat out his pumpkin juice and coughed violently, drops trailing down his chin. Rhea patted his back a little harder than necessary while spooning a bit of mashed potatoes into her mouth, pretending nothing was happening. That was always her Plan A whenever they were scheming something behind their dads' back.
Just smile and pretend everything is good. Of course, Leo was a terrible liar, most of the time.
Harry awkwardly smiled back to Sirius's beaming face, ignoring Remus's arched brow in Leo's direction.
"Yeah, just managed to escape," Harry answered wittingly, glancing to Leo's shaking smile. Terrible actor.
If Sirius had seen through them, he didn't let on; he kept eating his lunch and talking with Remus, who was giving them the side-eye. Rhea plastered an innocent smile on her face every time her dad glanced in her direction. It used to work pretty well when she was younger, Remus couldn't resist his daughter's angelic smile. By now he had caught on though. Her dad figured out a long time ago she was a bit more mischievous than she looked.
"Ready to start a new year?" Remus changed the subject of the conversation lightly.
They all looked up from their chatter, Leo and Harry looked depressed at the thought of summer ending soon while Rhea was pretty excited to go back to Hogwarts. As much as she loved staying home, having fun safely under her dad's watchful gaze, she also loved being away from it, having new adventures with her friends and learning magic. As much as Rhea liked having fun and maybe a brush with danger once a year, studying was also very important to her. Remus's school life had been pretty much the same as hers, or at least the stories Uncle Sirius liked to tell suggested that. Her dad had pretty good grades while being a part of the Marauders shenanigans.
And Rhea didn't want to possibly disappoint him, he was all she had, and she was his whole world.
"Well, I am!" she said smiling amid Harry's groans, she frowned at him.
"Well, I'm not looking forward to seeing Snape again," lamented Harry, twisting his mouth in disgust at the mashed potatoes in his plate.
"Is that git bothering you, Harry?" asked Sirius. "I can teach you some nasty jinxes." The eagerness was clear in his voice.
"Very mature, Sirius," her dad said, rolling his eyes with a sigh.
"Where's your Marauder spirit at, eh Moony?" Sirius animatedly gestured with his fork, throwing a bit of food in Leo's direction, who gasped in alarm.
"Dad!"
Harry was smirking, probably imagining Snape's hair would look nice in neon orange. "Thanks, Padfoot, but that'll only make him angrier at us, probably."
Rhea's enthusiasm about school died down thinking about the Potions Professor's eagerness to hand out nasty glares and biting remarks. If she didn't know better, sometimes Snape's intense glares, especially when the full moon was close, - it couldn't have been a coincidence - were making her suspicious about what Snape truly knew about her condition. Sometimes it looked like he knew exactly what was wrong with her and her dad. It was difficult to tell because he always looked like someone put flobberworm mucus under his nose, anyway. She dismissed the thought; if Snape knew something he wouldn't hesitate to divulge it. Getting rid of another Gryffindor would probably be the highlight of his life.
"You got all Es and Os, that's why you can't wait to go back!" Leo whined in dismay.
"That's not true! I got barely an A in Potions! And you have decent grades too, by the way."
"That barely counts, nobody gets more than an A unless they're Slytherins," he said morosely, obviously resenting the Potions Master.
Harry snickered at his friend, "Hermione does, but she's probably an exception!"
"We should just admit we suck at Potions," Rhea agreed with Harry, nodding her head slightly.
"A little genius like her dad," whispered not-so-quietly Sirius, Remus didn't say anything and just looked at his daughter, his heart filling with a warm feeling.
"More like a Head Girl in training," replied Leo gloomily in Remus's stead, thinking about how many pranks and adventures they would miss in seventh year.
Remus just smiled knowingly at his godson, "The Heads can be fun too if I remember correctly."
Leo turned his doubtful grey eyes in Sirius's direction, waiting for a confirmation from his dad. Sirius was munching and grinning at the same time as he watched his son stare. "I assure you, son, being friends with the Heads brings a lot of benefits," he confirmed with a mischievous glint in his own grey eyes.
"Well, James always had a soft spot for you," Remus commented softly with laughter in his voice.
Remus noticed how Harry got a hopeful glint in his eyes at Remus's mention of James, eager to hear if they would launch in another story about the "good old days" as Sirius liked to call them.
Sirius's eyes got misty with emotion, thinking about the memories of their Hogwarts days.
Neither Remus nor Sirius expanded on James's Head Boy adventures to Harry's disappointment.
Remus was the only one that noticed Harry's dejected expression; he was always hungry for new details about his parents, despite all the countless tales they had told him since he was four years old and had first entered Sirius and Remus's lives.
Remus couldn't blame him, he wanted to tell him more, to ease that void he knew Harry had in his heart. Sirius and Remus had tried with all their might to give Harry all the love they could muster and fill his heart with love and stories of his parents, but even if they had succeeded to a certain extent, they could never completely replace James and Lily's spot, nor did they want to.
Knowing that Harry would always feel something was missing made Remus's stomach churn. He loved the boy as much as his daughter and his godson, and he knew Sirius did too. The kids had also accepted him as their brother from day one. They couldn't really do more than what they'd already done. It was hard to understand what Harry was feeling; he couldn't really miss someone he never knew, yet he still felt something was amiss. Remus and Sirius had tried to make James and Lily as alive as possible in the boy's mind. However as Harry had never really known them, - their quirks, the small details of their personalities - that was even more difficult.
Remus still was concerned every time Harry returned to Privet Drive, even though it was for a short month. He missed Harry the same way he missed Rhea when she was away from him.
Fortunately, Remus and Sirius had arrived at Privet Drive on that sweltering summer day in 1985. As soon as Remus had read Sirius's last letter, begging Remus to come back to help him save Harry from "the worst type of Muggles he had ever met". As soon as Harry's name had been mentioned, Remus had decided to return to England. The only thing that could convince him to go back to the hellhole that had been the British Wizarding Community was Harry. Simply Harry. Not Harry Potter. The-Boy-Who-Lived. The Chosen One. Just Harry; a four-year-old living in a cupboard, slaving off to his Muggle relatives.
Regretfully Remus thought back to the time Sirius's fiancée had been brutally murdered in their small apartment a few years prior, even then, he hadn't gone back. He had been a shitty friend, but at the time, travelling alone with a two-year-old had been too complicated. Admittedly, he had also been wallowing in his own self-loathing, trying to balance his lycanthropy with Rhea's "sickly predisposition". He could have taken Muggle transportation if it hadn't been so expensive for his wallet. Remus still regretted it, even though Sirius had reassured him he understood his difficulties.
Thinking about the attack and her murder - Marlene, he didn't dare even think her name - made a lick of rage raise from his belly. The wolf in him - a forceful presence now that the full moon was so close - snarled, aching to tear every last Death Eater in England to pieces. Frowning he quelled his wolfish instincts down fiercely.
It had taken every last drop of restrain in him to not sweep away four-year-old Harry immediately. Sirius had mentioned Dumbledore had placed Harry with the Dursleys for a reason. It just wasn't much of a reason in Remus's opinion.
Sirius had argued Grimmauld was as safe as it could get, only Hogwarts could compete with the wards placed on the Black's Ancestral House. However, Albus clearly had already settled for sacrificing Harry's childhood in the name of a mysterious charm Lily Potter had presumably cast before dying. No proof existed of such a charm even existing, let alone being cast.
Honestly, Sirius and Remus had always doubted this was the real reason Albus wanted Harry to remain hidden in Muggle suburbia.
At least they managed to get Albus to agree Harry should, at the very least, know of their existence. The two hours they had spent arguing and negotiating with Albus finally paid off. Occasional visit rights were obtained, to the relief of both Remus and Sirius. As the summer of 1985 came to an end, Sirius realised no one would really report if Harry was to be misplaced - Sirius had convincingly argued - for a day or two. So, additionally to summer, Harry was whisked away to Grimmauld for every possible holiday too.
Padfoot, I'm pretty sure Vernon Dursley knows Thanksgiving is not a Wizard holiday, Remus had protested on such an occasion, a hint of mischievousness in his voice betraying him.
So what, It's not like that walrus is going to object.
And he was right, Vernon and Petunia would never object to spending less time with their nephew. They didn't care too much where the freak - as they called Harry - was taken. Or if they'd return him at all. In fact, they often looked disappointed to see them coming back.
Despite their smooth coming and going from Privet Drive every month, every time they set foot on Privet Drive, Remus couldn't stop feeling still very much observed. His cautious nature always nagged at him to cast a Revelio to identify a hidden Auror spying on them, but the spell never detected anyone.
Only the curious eyes of the residents of the other identical houses were following them like hawks. He could sense their fear and weariness in their scent, though it didn't take a werewolf or an Animagus to say so as they didn't worry about hiding it. Just one old woman seemed to hold no scorn in her eyes. Remus always coughed violently as they passed her house, the smell of cat piss was overpowering to his poor sensitive nose.
To Remus and Sirius's knowledge, Albus Dumbledore never took notice of the threats Sirius, occasionally joined in by Remus, spat in Vernon Dursley's face or that Harry Potter didn't spend a lot of time in Surrey.
Honestly, Sirius couldn't care less: Harry deserved to know magic, to grow up with all the love they could give him and to play with kids his age. They could sue him if they wanted to. He simply deserved a childhood, one filled with love and friends and magic. Just as James and Lily would have given him. Remus couldn't agree more.
The evening found Leo, Rhea, and Harry sprawled in the backyard under the only tree standing there. Considering Grimmauld Place was located in a residential neighbourhood, the backyard should have been quite small, however, the garden had been magically enlarged in length. Enough for the large willow to sit in the far right corner. It was an ancient-looking willow, its branches created a blue-ish curtain that swept at the patchy grass on the ground. It was so old that it had probably seen at least five generations of Blacks grow up in that house.
Not a lucky tree. Sirius had said during one of his bedtime stories.
It did look like an unlucky tree, if such things could be said about a tree, it had looked so withered and grey ten years ago. Maybe the Dark Magic practised by the members of the house of Black had sipped every single drop of life from it. The whole garden had always looked pretty yellow and dead, even during the peak of the Black House; no one really tended to it.
Ten years ago, when Sirius had moved back in with Leo, it looked like it should have been cut a long time ago, however, strangely enough after 1 month, 1 year and so on, the tree started to regain its original green-blue colour. Sirius had boldly assumed it was the presence of light magic in the house, and probably the purge the house had been subjected to from all Dark artefacts it contained.
The willow's branches were brushing softly over the three teenagers lounging in the grass. Blonde and black hair fanned out, uncaring about grass and small insects intertwining in their hair. Just like when they were children.
The afternoon was peaceful, filled with the song of chirping birds and the wind gently blowing a warm blanket of summer heat. No words were uttered and no thoughts were swirling inside their heads. A much-needed pause was put on the issues of their young lives.
Harry was finding it more and more difficult to keep his eyelids open as the willow branches were gently tickling his face and the natural sounds surrounding him were lulling him into a slumber. In the same way, it is when you're about to fall asleep, his mind was totally blank, but naturally, as the warm breeze that was washing over him, some images started flowing across his mind. Like the hazy movies they projected on a white sheet in summer, Harry felt like he was watching a movie about his life.
The first time he arrived at Grimmauld, the meeting with Sirius - finding out he was his godfather had been exhilarating - and meeting the first kids his age that didn't avoid him just because Dudley bullied them. As a matter of fact, there was no Dudley at all to worry about.
At first, his four-year-old self couldn't trust his newfound family not to turn bad at any second. Given his limited experience with adults, it was only natural for young Harry to distrust every single one. They were all nice in the beginning, but then a few words from Aunt Petunia would make sure he was treated like a criminal in training. Granted, he hadn't met many adults outside of his Uncle and Aunt, but all of them turned out to hate him in the end. So, understandably, Harry had been very wary, ready for the dream to turn into a nightmare - even though his relatives weren't there to change Sirius and Remus's minds.
Harry's reverie was interrupted by some whispers, at first, in his semi-asleep status, he couldn't identify where they were coming from. Soon he remembered where he was lying and the whisperers' identities came back to him. Damn, his short rest was already over. Well, he should have known quiet and his friends weren't a good mix.
Harry decided to keep his eyes closed, in preparation for what was surely about to come; the dreadful conversation he had promised they would have. He knew Leo and Rhea couldn't keep the curiosity at bay for much longer; it made him feel annoyed and warm at the same time. Harry shrugged internally, he supposed that's how having someone that loved and cared about you felt. Now the whispers were intensifying.
"Hey, do you think now it's time?" That was Leo.
"Em, don't know," Rhea answered pausing. The next thing she said was spoken too quietly for Harry to understand.
That wasn't like her, she usually went all in when something mysterious came up. Like a true Marauder, she couldn't help but meddle. Harry spoke from experience, a.k.a himself. It was running in their genes, Sirius once said. There was no escaping it.
Harry has been mulling over their conversation since lunch, he wasn't much closer to solving his dilemma if he had to be honest. He didn't like talking about anything that had to do with the Dursleys. Harry couldn't imagine how different his personality, his thoughts, his life, might have been if the Dursleys were the only adult influence in his life. Maybe he would have felt like he deserved the abuse, or maybe he would have just become indifferent to it all.
Grimmauld Place was his refuge, his safe place, literally, which meant he didn't have to think about them. He could ignore their existence for another month. When he was with his family, he was even reluctant to speak their names aloud. It might sound stupid, but saying their name felt like he was, in some way, letting them in Grimmauld; in his shelter from the rest of the world, a place he was very protective of.
The moment he let this thought sink in, he finally understood completely what family meant. Especially this family. Letting go of his past struggles meant freedom rather than exposure. It meant acceptance, love; something he'd strived for since he was young. He made his decision.
Harry sat up suddenly and called their attention, startling his friends.
"Guys."
"Jesus, Harry."
"You scared the hell out of us!"
Harry fixed his stare on Rhea's and Leo's prone forms huddled closer, ignoring their embarrassment, he continued.
"About Christmas," Harry gulped before dropping the bomb, "It was actually my fault." Harry fixed his gaze to the ground, embarrassed and angry at himself. When neither of his friends said anything, he dared look up. Rhea was frowning in confusion and Leo was arching his eyebrow sceptically.
Finally, Leo broke the awkward silence.
"Well, that sounds stupid." It was clear he wasn't taking him seriously.
"I'm serious!"
Rhea let out a disbelieving huff, "Right…"
"Ugh, come on guys." Harry felt stupid trying to convince them he was the one to blame. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way round?! "Listen to me; I lost control at the Dursleys the day before Christmas, they were being pricks."
Petunia had tried to ground Harry for some stupid reason—as if that would ruin his plans to go to Grimmauld—of course, she had to try, though. She couldn't pass an occasion to ruin Harry's happiness with his true family. Harry paused, trying to sound less frustrated.
"I accidentally blew up the Christmas's roast, it flew everywhere; the stuffing burned Vernon's face, a piece got stuck in Petunia's throat and Dudley of course just carried on eati-'' Muffled laughter interrupted his story, he let out a sigh.
"It's really not funny, the curtains even caught fire somehow-"
At this all hell broke loose, Leo and Rhea started rolling on the ground and laughing uncontrollably imagining the whole scene. Harry just looked at them slightly annoyed. He had to admit it was kind of funny after all those months, but that wasn't the point he was trying to make.
"Oh-my-God, I can't breathe." Rhea sounded like she was trying to make an effort to regain a bit more control, as opposed to Leo who was still laughing with abandon.
After a few minutes, they were finally capable of looking at Harry without bursting into laughter.
"Are you done making fun of me?" Harry asked, exasperated.
"Wait a minute, what does this have to do with you not coming here for Christmas?" Leo asked, sounding finally interested in what Harry had to say.
"Well, as I was saying, I performed accidental magic. McGonagall showed up almost immediately, she vanished the exploded roast and put out the fire. She lectured me on accidental magic and asked a few questions to the Dursleys. My loving Aunt," Harry struggled to bite back an insult, "put on her best simpering face and told her I was acting out because I didn't want to be grounded. She told her I was trying to escape to Grimmauld." At this point he was grinding his teeth in anger, the heat was rising to his head.
Rhea and Leo weren't laughing anymore now, their expressions were changing as Harry recounted what had happened.
"Of course she spoiled my plans for Christmas, she couldn't really resist," Harry said with resentment. "After that, Professor McGonagall prohibited me to escape, or whatever." Harry was angrily looking at a patch of grass now.
"But, but- how could Professor McGonagall believe them!" Rhea said scandalised.
"I'm not sure she did, but she knew I wasn't supposed to come here for Christmas. She must have passed on the message to Uncle Remus and Uncle Sirius."
His audience sent him sympathetic looks, they must have known the "deal" Dumbledore had made with their dads didn't really include Christmas, or any other holiday, for that matter. Harry couldn't imagine that in reality, they didn't really know about the real reason Harry had to stay at the Dursleys at least for two months.
"So, that's why it's all my fault," Harry concluded.
"It's hardly your fault! Your Aunt is a right nightmare. They deserved their damned roast exploding in their ugly faces," Leo declared incensed.
If Leo put it that way, Harry couldn't help but laugh a little at the memory. They definitely deserved it, but it wasn't worth spending Christmas miserable, in Harry's opinion.
"Is she really that bad all the time?" Rhea asked, changing the subject.
That was the moment Harry was dreading, but he put on a brave face and carried on.
"Right, I've never told you, but she - all of them, actually - were worse when I was younger." Harry could feel his heart pounding fast in his chest, Rhea and Leo were waiting for him to continue, probably sensing he was about to talk about something serious. Harry felt anger bubble in his stomach; he didn't want to give the Dursleys more importance than what they deserved. He ground his teeth but was extra careful to throw the next few words casually as if they weren't a big deal.
"I didn't have a proper bedroom 'till Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus came around."
He hadn't exactly been specific.
"What do you mean by that?" Leo asked slowly as if he was dreading the answer Harry would give them.
Harry's answer was spoken in a reluctant voice: "I slept in the cupboard under the stairs until I was four."
His friends' mouths were hanging open at this revelation, Rhea even gasped a little, and looked like she was fighting the urge to put a hand to her mouth in shock, probably afraid the gesture would embarrass Harry in some way.
There wasn't really a proper way to react to something like that in Harry's experience. Or at least he didn't know if the adults had some standard phrase to say on these occasions. Like at funerals or something.
I'm very sorry you had to go through that? Condolences on your shitty family?
Harry should have probably expected some pity or detached sorriness, that was the standard adult response he imagined. Of course, Rhea and Leo subverted his assumptions as usual. As soon as they overcame the initial shock, Harry could see anger was clearly starting to raise on their faces
"What- How-"
"What the hell?! How dare-"
"How dare they- those sorry excuses for-
They were talking one over the other, spluttering indignantly, fury was alighting their eyes. Harry just sat there looking at them in surprise, they were probably way madder than Harry ever had been about it. He didn't really expect them to get so enraged, maybe because he never thought deeply about the Dursely's actions.
If he thought too much about it, he suspected he would constantly be a ball of anger and negative feelings. So, Harry mostly pushed everything associated with the Dursley's back into the depths of his mind. Locking the anger and resentment deep down. It wouldn't do him any good to dwell on it all the time.
He just allowed himself to think about it on a few occasions, but mostly when the anger became too much, it all exploded in his face. That was actually what had happened at Christmas, things had literally exploded. The whole mess he had created was pretty self-explanatory as to why he buried it all down.
Hoping it would all go away. It worked most of the time, so Harry stuck with it.
When Rhea and Leo stopped ranting, they were both out of breath and a little red in the face. Harry couldn't explain why that sight made him feel quite relieved. Some of the resentment was leaving from his chest, making him feel the slightest bit lighter.
"I can't believe you never told us!" was the second thought, after the initial outrage, that came out of Rhea's mouth.
Harry kind of expected that, but he didn't really have a clear answer for that question.
"Uh, I don't know. I just hate talking about them. I kind of ignore their existence as much as I can," Harry said, shrugging.
His explanation was met with understanding. In Rhea's opinion, they actually sounded like criminals, she had said vehemently.
As Rhea was listing all the things that were morally wrong with his relatives Harry saw that Leo was looking pensively at nothing in particular. At first, he thought Leo had zoned out and was tempted to kick him in the shin or let Rhea know he wasn't listening. But she noticed before Harry could say anything.
"Hey, are you there?" she asked, waving a hand in front of Leo's staring eyes. Leo finally seemed to emerge from his trance, his eye refocusing slowly.
"I was thinking about something," he trailed off, "I was wondering why is Harry not staying with us If they are so awful."
Leo's logical statement had the power to refocus Harry's attention, it confirmed what he had been thinking; his friends didn't know about the actual reason he had to stay at Privet Drive. Harry wondered If he should say anything, was he even allowed? For the moment he decided to ignore it.
The evening turned to an end when the sky started to change colours and the almost full moon became visible in the orange and pink sky.
Rhea's dark eyes were turned to the moon, she appeared apprehensive. She turned her head back towards them and met their eyes in silent understanding. They all got up together and headed back inside, putting aside the questions their conversation had raised that evening.
I'm sorry it took this long! I was trying to make this chapter and the next as perfect as I could, but of course, perfection doesn't really exist ahah
I hope you enjoyed it!
Stay tuned for the next chapter, it's going to be packed with action!