Meeting Mr. Black

I don't own Harry Potter!

Harry sped through the book Padfoot had given him. Then, when he had finished, he read it again, and twice more after that. He loved it.

Padfoot had to be magic, Harry decided, no regular dog could pick such a good book on command. That must mean Moony was magic too! How else would he get a magic dog?

Harry had to get back inside Black Bound Bookshop. He wanted the next book in the series and to see Moony and Padfoot again. For a whole week he tried to sneak away from Aunt Petunia when she went shopping but he couldn't manage it. Instead he decided to talk to the man at the other end of Privet Drive, Mr. Black, who owned the bookshop.

Mr. Black was a strange man. He had long hair and rode a motorbike. Instead of the nice clothes Uncle Vernon would wear, Mr. Black wore band tee-shirts, leather jackets, and ripped jeans.

Harry wasn't allowed to talk to Mr. Black, his Aunt and Uncle didn't particularly want him to even walk past his house. But Harry thought Mr. Black was cool.

So one day Harry snuck out of #4 and dashed over to #9, where Mr. Black lived. The garage door was open and Harry dove in as Uncle Vernon's car drove by. As soon as it had passed Harry looked around and spotted Mr. Black under his motorcycle.

"Um..." Harry stuttered, suddenly very nervous "Mr. Black?"

Mr. Black sat up sharply, bumping his head slightly on a tube jutting from the motorcycle "Ow!"

"Sorry!" Harry exclaimed and helped Mr. Black up "Are you okay?"

But Mr. Black was staring at Harry, frozen in shock.

"Mr. Black?" Harry asked nervously.

Mr. Black shook his head and gave a little smile "I'm fine. What's you're name?"

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter. I live down in #4 with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. I visited Black Bound Bookshop a while ago and Mr. Moony gave me this book, well actually it was Padfoot who gave it to me." Harry rambled "And, well, I wanted to see, if I could get the next book in the series?"

"Slow down there." Mr. Black chuckled "I'm sure I can get you the next book. But it won't do you any good if you pass out from not breathing."

"Sorry." Harry hung his head "I'll try to talk slower."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Let's see if I have the second book inside, shall we?" Mr. Black opened the garage door, inviting Harry inside but the boy stepped back shaking his head.

"I can't. I don't have very long. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon will wonder where I am."

"Sirius?" Moony's voice rang through the garage "Are you out here?"

"Uh-oh..." Mr. Black muttered to Harry.

"There you are, I need your help carrying in the grocer-Harry?" Moony stopped mid sentence as he spotted the small boy "What are you doing here?"

"Um..." Harry held out the book uselessly.

"Calm down Moony, the lad just wanted the next book." Mr. Black stepped in "Surely it's inside. We can give it to him. No problem."

"Sirius," Moony rubbed his forehead "Of course the book's inside, you idiot." His face split in a smile "Go get it."

Sirius looked at Harry as though he didn't want to let the little boy out of his sight but did as he was told.

"So, Harry..."

"Please don't be mad! I'm sorry I bothered you. And-and I won't do it again. I just wanted the next book." Harry felt tears pricking the corners of his eyes as he begged.

"Harry, calm down, I'm not mad at you." Moony knelt down in front of the crying six year old "I was just going to ask if your Aunt and Uncle know where you are."

Angry at himself for crying, Harry wiped his tear stained cheeks and shook his head no.

"Well, then let's get you the book and get you back before they notice you're gone." Moony teacher into his pocket and pulled out a lemon drop "Would you like a treat?"

Shyly, Harry took the small candy and unwrapped it "Thank you." He smiled.

Sirius came back out, book in hand. "Here it is, Prince Caspian, enjoy it." He handed it to Harry "Do you want to keep the first book too?"

"I'd better not." Harry shook his head "Aunt Petunia almost found it yesterday. If the Dursleys knew I had a book they'd be really mad. It's to dangerous."

The two grown men shared a nervous glance.

"Harry," Moony asked slowly "What do you mean by dangerous?"

"Oh...um, nothing, just that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would be upset." Harry tried to cover but his hand went to his forearm where Uncle Vernon had held him a little to tightly and left a bruise when Harry had burned the bacon two days ago.

Sharing another look, Moony stepped forward slowly and took Harry's hand "Harry, has your Aunt or Uncle ever hurt you in any way?"

Sirius took a more direct approach.

He leapt forward and grabbed Harry's arm, gently but firmly. Quickly, he rolled up the long sleeve of what had once been Dudley's old sweater. Sirius and Moony gaped at the wriggling boy's badly bruised arm.

Harry started to cry again.

"Oh, Harry." Was all Moony said.

Sirius straightened up and made to walk out and towards #4 but Moony noticed and grabbed him, pulling him back into the garage.

"Sirius, no. Not yet."

"But Remus...!"

"Not. Yet. You're scaring Harry."

That seemed to bring the humanity back into Sirius's eyes. Indeed the little boy was trembling and crying in front of them.

"Here Harry, come inside. It's okay now." Moony said kindly and gently lifted the child, guiding him into the small kitchen "Sirius make the poor kid a cup of tea, would you?"

Nodding, Mr. Black busied himself at the stove, putting the kettle on and finding tea bags.

"Harry," Moony leaned down in front of the still hiccuping boy "I need to ask you a few questions, okay?"

With a last hiccup, Harry nodded.

"How often does this happen?"

"Whenever I mess up or do something wrong, I guess. Or when Uncle Vernon's in a bad mood." Harry mumbled.

"So is it just your Uncle who hurts you? Or does your Aunt hurt you too?"

"Well, she doesn't hurt me like Uncle Vernon does." Harry tried to explain.

"But she does hurt you?" Moony asked.

Silently, Harry looked at the floor and nodded.

"Okay, you're not going back there." Moony straitened up and looked at Sirius "Sirius and I are going to go have a little chat with Petunia and Vernon. You'll stay here and we'll take care of everything."

Sirius handed Harry a small cup of tea and nodded, his eyes gleamed.

The two men started to walk out but Sirius turned back and opened a small trunk in the room. He pulled out a small stuffed, black dog.

"This is for you Harry." He said kindly and handed it to the little boy who looked at it for a moment before squeezing it close to his chest.

Sirius looked back at his best friend and the two continued out the door.

Word count: 1226 words

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The Author