Thanks for all those lovely reviews!
I have to admit I'm a bit surprised at all the hate towards Dumbledore, but reading back I can kind of understand it. I just wanted to quickly point out that I'm not a fan of bashing, and this story will not be purely "evil Dumbledore", otherwise I wouldn't have included his POV in the first place. He has his reasons for his actions, and whether you agree with him or not, I don't think he bears any hard feelings towards Harry, or even Remus and Sirius should he accept the truth. In my opinion his was one of the most interesting characters in the books, especially in the last one, and I was hoping to reflect the moral greyness that was shown there. Having said that, at this point he is kind of a dick...
CaseLC: Regarding the last chapter about what Remus gave Sirius, it was just his wand, but I figured that after years of not having acess to his magic, that would be quite an emotional moment for him. I don't think Dumbledore intends to prejudice people against Remus; it's just that he's honestly shocked to be betrayed like that. Remus was always shown as one of the most loyal Dumbledore supporters, and I feel that Dumbledore would be a bit shaken by this.
Skybox: Thanks! They will obviously try and find Peter at one point, but right now their priority is taking care of Harry, so it might still be a while. Abotu Hogwarts, without wanting to spoil anything, yes Harry will go there (because what kind of Harry Potter story omits Hogwarts!?), but given that he's only seven in this one, that too will come much later.
alix33: As always, thank you very much for pointing out all those mistakes! I very much appreciate that you actually take the time to go through it and find them all :)
paradoxed: Thank you! The letter thing will actually be adressed in a later chapter (currently writing it, though it will be a few weeks until you guys see it)
Anyway, this one is actually my favourite chapter so far, so I hope you enjoy it :)
Of Spies and Aurors
Harry had accompanied his aunt and uncle to go shopping before (whenever they hadn't managed to ship him off to Mrs Figg for the day), but usually it had just been him following them around while Dudley screamed until they bought him more expensive toys.
Now it was Sirius and Remus following him around. Or rather, tried to as they encouraged him to go and "just pick whatever you like" but ended up practically forcing things on him when Harry hesitated to choose.
Because despite everything, he still could not quite believe that he was actually asked for his opinion on something, and that they would just buy so many things for him.
"What do you think of this one?" Sirius asked as they strolled through the bed section of a big furniture store, and he experimentally pushed on the matrass of a large wooden one. "Feels bouncy. That's the most important thing, really," he explained seriously, "A bed needs to withstand some proper bouncing action." He exchanged a short look with Remus, who arched an eyebrow at him, and scowled. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Moony." Harry didn't understand that comment, but he barely noticed as he was far too preoccupied that he had practically just been invited to jump on his bed. Not even Dudley was allowed to do that.
Once again mistaking Harry's stunned silence for rejection, Sirius quickly continued. "Or if you don't like any of them, you can have a hammock," he said, grinning as he pointed to a red and green striped one on the other side of the shop. "Then you'll be an actual pirate!"
"I always wanted to have a hammock when I was little," Remus said, a wistful smile coming onto his face. "To avoid any monsters under my bed. Because, I reasoned, it would be rather hard for them to hide under a hammock."
Harry's eye grew big. "There were monsters under your bed?" After everything he had experienced about this wonderful new world – and most of it had been in the admittedly rather scary house – he wouldn't exclude that possibility either.
But the smile faltered a little, as Remus seemed to regret his words already. "No," he said quietly, "Not under my bed. What about this one? I quite like the colour."
There was a short pause, and Harry could feel that something wasn't right, but Sirius quickly recovered his spirits, grinning once more, if a little too brightly. "Blue!? We're not making him a Ravenclaw!"
The banter continued for a while (Sirius had to be actively stopped by Remus from test-jumping on one of the beds), until Harry settled on a simple, wooden one made of mahogany. They still ended up buying a hammock for him anyway ("In case monsters do show up"), together with a matching desk and swivel chair (these, Remus hadn't been able to stop Sirius from trying, leading to them very nearly being thrown out of the shop), and a wardrobe (Harry, feeling rather guilty when he thought about all the money they were about to spend on him, tried to convince them that really, he could use the one already in his room, but Sirius pointed out that somebody had in all likelihood died in there as well, so the idea was dismissed).
After they had handed a rather surprised-looking cashier the huge wad of cash, Harry and Sirius went ahead to go look for clothes while Remus found a secluded corner to shrink their purchases. They had explained to Harry that they couldn't perform magic while he was near, because then the ministry would learn where they were. At first, Harry had been a little bit frightened by the idea of ominous, unseen powers hunting after them, but after seeing how relaxed Sirius and Remus were, joking around about Remus' disguise, he started to see the exciting side of it.
They were like the spies in the movies, sneaking around in disguise, outsmarting the bad guys. They even had code names, although theirs were a little less impressive than "007".
"I'll be called Winston," Sirius said as they were looking through a series of coloured jumpers, "I always wanted to be a Winston. There was a muggle church leader called Winston, wasn't there?"
"He was a politician," Remus sighed, shaking his head in exasperation. "And he was arguably the most important British prime minister in history. How do you not know him?"
Harry sniggered. He had already learned that while he might be absolutely clueless when it came to the wizarding world, Sirius didn't know much about normal people either. Harry knew who Churchill was, after all, and he was much younger than his godfather.
"Oh, shut up, Virginia," Sirius scoffed, taking the jumper that Harry had chosen and putting it on the quickly growing pile of clothes on his arm. Remus rolled his eyes. "Hilarious," he muttered, before glancing around. "Think we got enough? People might actually get suspicious if we end up buying the whole place."
In the next shop, they got Harry two pairs of shoes – and some black leather boots for Sirius, even though Remus informed him that fashion had actually changed since his imprisonment, and that he was looking a lot less hip than he probably thought. "Yeah, 'cos you know all about keeping up with fashion," Sirius scoffed. "I mean, I wouldn't have thought it possible, but your wardrobe actually got less colourful while I was gone. You do realize there's colours other than brown and beige? It's downright depressing, mate."
A muggle looked over to them, and Sirius quickly amended, in falsely sweet voice, "I mean... honey. You should really buy yourself something nice for once. Aren't these pretty?" He pointed towards a pair of pink sandals that Aunt Petunia would probably have killed for. Remus also tried to kill Sirius, albeit with his eyes, while Harry had to supress his laughter.
No wonder the other boys at school always wanted to play spies. It's brilliant!
They had lunch in one of the restaurants, where Harry was once again allowed to choose whatever he wanted, and Sirius and Remus told him a story about how they and his father had once almost been discovered by muggles in a shopping centre after James and Sirius had "accidentally" – Remus coughed pointedly at that – released a couple of Dungbombs in a perfume shop. ("It did actually improve the smell, though!")
Harry was laughing so hard that other guests started to look over, and Remus quickly assumed a stern tone (that sounded surprisingly convincing with the female voice Sirius had charmed him), "That story is hardly appropriate for the boy, Winston. James might think it's actually okay to act that way." It was somewhat undermined by the fact that both Harry and Sirius were struggling to keep the grin off their faces, but it did take the attention away from them.
"It is, of course, totally not okay to act like that, by the way," Sirius added quietly when they had calmed down a bit, a more serious expression on his face now. "We behaved atrociously and you should in no way try to replicate that, Ha- James." Harry nodded, although he couldn't help but feel unconvinced. The way they had told it, neither Sirius nor Remus seemed to regret their actions much.
I suppose it's not very nice, though, Harry mused, throwing stink bombs at other people.
After lunch, they strolled around some more, entering whatever shops struck their fancy. Remus spent quite some time in a book shop, much to Sirius chagrin.
"Can we go now?" he sighed after twenty minutes of increasing boredom. "Surely you must've read every book on the bloody planet by now."
"Don't swear in front of James, dear," Remus said absentmindedly, not lifting his gaze from the book he was examining. But there was a mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes, and Harry was certain that he was very much aware of Sirius' annoyance. "And there's quite a lot of books in the world, actually. You wouldn't know, of course, never having opened one."
"I have opened a book!" Sirius exclaimed indignantly.
Remus grinned impishly, an odd sight on his transfigured face, and shut the book with a plop before putting it on the sizable pile that he had collected. "Stolen diaries from the girls dormitories don't count," he informed his friend as he strolled over to the till. Sirius was still spluttering with indignation when they were back outside the shop, and Harry thought that as best days of his life went, he was really having a hard time to choose between the last three ones.
Harry and Sirius were just enjoying some ice cream (Harry could count on his fingers the previous occasions he had eaten some, and here he was allowed to have as many scoops as he wanted), when their perfect day was shattered.
"What's that?" Harry asked, pointing with his cone towards the other end of the mall, where some sort of commotion appeared to have broken out. Sirius frowned, craning his neck. "Dunno," he said with a casual shrug. "Maybe they're giving away some free stuff? I think they do that sometimes, to get people to notice their products." He sounded unconcerned, but Harry didn't miss the way his posture changed, looking a lot more like he had when he and Remus had first shown up in Privet Drive. Worried. Hunted.
"Do you think it might be Remus?" Harry asked, feeling worry rise in him as well. The other man had left them once more so he could shrink their purchases without giving away their location. Come to think of it, he'd been gone longer than the last times...
"Nah," Sirius said, smiling at Harry. It wasn't a very convincing smile. "He's too clever to get caught. Come here" he took Harry's hand in his, quickly finishing the rest of his own ice cream before putting the other hand in his pocket, where Harry knew his wand was hidden. "Let's go look at some squirt guns. I always wanted to have a squirt gun."
Before they could get far, though, Harry saw a (sort of) familiar figure in a blue dress appear between the crowds, making her way over to them. He was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when he noticed Remus' hurried steps, and the clearly worried look that was on his face. Sirius must've seen it as well, because the grip on Harry's hand tightened.
"What happened?" he muttered as soon as Remus was with them, falling into step on Harry's other side. "They found the broomstick," Remus said in a quiet, urgent tone that did not match his female voice at all. "Some muggle saw it hovering around, think it must've gotten out of its hiding place – ancient thing, I've been meaning to have it checked for ages – and there was a bit of a tumult. Obliviators are already there; don't think they know it was us, or there'd be Aurors. But it's only a matter of time before someone figures it out..." Sirius swore violently, and this time Remus did not reprimand him.
Harry felt his stomach plummet, as all of his anxiousness returned.
"But- But how do we get home?" he asked, not caring for once how whiny his voice sounded. Sirius and Remus exchanged a short glance, and Harry felt like they were silently communicating. When his godfather looked back down, there was once more a smile on his face. "We'll just gonna have to take the tube, Prongslet. Did you ever ride the tube?" When Harry shook his head, his smile broadened. "It'll be fun, you'll see," he promised. "Come on, then. And don't forget to call us Mummy and Daddy, alright? We're undercover, after all!"
Harry nodded, although try as he might, he couldn't muster the same enthusiasm as before for their game. Because, he realized now, it wasn't a game. It was real, and there were real people out there who wanted to lock up Sirius and Remus and send Harry back to his terrible family.
The ride home was rather long, and mostly silent. They had to change trains twice, and every time Harry expected some dark figures to jump out from behind the ticket machine and drag him away. He didn't need Sirius' reminder to stay close, as he pressed himself to his godfather as firmly as he could.
Sirius and Remus didn't talk much either, and when they did it was in quiet, hushed voices that Harry didn't understand but thought sounded very worried indeed.
Finally, they reached their stop, and slowly made their way back outside. Again, Harry expected their pursuers to be waiting for them, but while there were plenty of people bustling about, nobody gave the small family a second glance.
That was, until they reached Grimmauld Place. Sirius had told Harry to hide with Remus behind some bins around the corner, while he transformed into a dog and went ahead to check. Harry thought he had never been more scared than in those terrible minutes, when he anxiously waited for the sounds of shouting, barking, whining, of Sirius being captured.
But it stayed silent, and after a short while the black dog rounded the corner once more. "Still only two Aurors, and someone hiding under an invisibility cloak," he reported once he had changed back into the thickset man with short, chestnut hair that he had chosen as a disguise that morning. "Smelled like Moody, but I'm not sure."
"So they don't know it was us yet," Remus said, rubbing the back of his head. "Still, if it's Moody he won't be fooled by the Disillusionment Draught. And we can't get up to the back window without a broom..."
"Go in in plain sight, then," Sirius said, a look if grim determination on his face. "And see how convincing that little charade of us really is."
Remus didn't look very happy with that – and neither was Harry, if he was perfectly honest, though he didn't dare to protest – but finally nodded. "Hope you practiced your shield charm," he muttered as he straightened his dress stepping out in front of the dumpsters. "He hasn't gotten any slower over the years."
"Alright, Harry," Sirius said, kneeling down in front of him so that their eyes were level. "I need to you be very brave now." Harry gulped, not feeling brave at all, but Sirius took his hand, smiling encouragingly. "We'll just walk past there," he explained, "and make it look like we can't even see our house. Can you do that?" Harry did not think he could, but nodded nevertheless. "And then, when we're right next to it, and I give you a shout, you'll run towards the door as fast as you can. Don't look back, don't stop, just run inside. Do you understand?" Uncertainly, Harry nodded again. He was terribly scared, but Sirius did not let go of his hand, and that helped a bit. "It'll be over before you know it," his godfather promised, rising to his feet once more. "And then we can put up all of your new things, and Remus'll make us some hot chocolate. How's that sound?"
"Okay," Harry said timidly, surprised he could utter any sound at all, when all he wanted to do was bury his face in Sirius robes and cry until this nightmare was over.
"You can do it, Prongslet," Sirius promised as he led Harry out to the street and put an arm around the waiting Remus. This time, Remus didn't protest, and as they made their way down the road, they really did look like a proper family.
A family whose child was shaking so terribly that he was sure every bad guy in the whole of London could hear the clatter of his teeth. The crimson-robed figures – Aurors, as Remus had called them – looked up when they appeared, and for a moment Harry was certain that they'd lunge at them.
They didn't, but they didn't look back down either, and Harry felt like they'd start firing the red jets that he had seen Remus and Sirius use on the pests at him the minute he'd try to run inside. The memory of the nasty pixy-creatures lifelessly falling out of the air made him almost freeze in fear.
But as they reached number twelve, Sirius suddenly let go of Harry's and, instead taking Remus' head and turning it around so he could kiss him full on the lips. Harry was so stunned that he almost forgot to be scared, and for a moment Remus seemed to struggle, but then he actually relaxed. Before Harry had quite understood what was happening, they separated.
"Now, Harry! Protego" Harry reacted instinctively. His legs started to run without his head even telling them to as he stumbled towards the big black door with the large number twelve, nearly tripping when his trembling knees gave way under him.
But he didn't fall, and he didn't stop, even when he heard shouts and bangs behind him.
You'll run towards the door as fast as you can. Don't look back, don't stop, just run inside.
There was a cry of pain, and Harry almost stopped, but he knew he couldn't, because Sirius had told him not to.
It'll be over before you know it
He reached the steps, taking two at a time as he hurled himself upwards, crashing down and hitting his knee as his foot caught on one of them. Pain shot through him, but he ignored it, stumbling forward on all fours.
And then we can put up all of your new things, and Remus'll make us some hot chocolate.
It would all be fine. He just had to reach the door...
And then he was there, and the black door swung open as he crashed against it, stumbling into the dark hallway. There was another bang, and as he looked back he could see a grey haired figure with a terrible eye running towards Sirius Remus – who now looked like themselves again – shooting more of those terribly jets at them. The other two had their wands raised as well, and jet after jet was deflected as if by an invisible shield. "Now!" Remus shouted, and while he fired a jet of his own at the approaching figure, Sirius grabbed his arm, turned, and...
There was a plop, and the two men crashed down right on the front steps, tumbling to the floor next to Harry. With a last effort, Sirius rolled them forwards into the hallway, slamming the door shut with his foot and drowning out the angry curses of the terrible man outside.
For a moment all that could be heard was the shouting of the scary portrait, as all three of them lay on the ground, panting. Remus sat up first, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth with an appalled frown. "That," he said over the screams and insults that were being flung at them, "Was the most disgusting thing you have ever done." There was blood on his shoulder, but he barely seemed to notice as he got to his feet and wrestled the curtains shut to quiet the portrait.
Sirius laughed. "Trust me, it really isn't. Remember Cecilia Arkwood? The-" His eyes wandered to Harry, and the smile was wiped off his face in an instant.
"Harry," he said, quickly walking over to him and helping him up, looking him over with an expression of mild panic. "Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself? Did you get-" his eyes fell to Harry's ripped trousers, and the bloody skin that shone through it. He swore quietly, quickly grabbing his wand. "Hold on, it'll be over in a sec" He waved it over Harry's knee, and there was a slight tingling sensation as Harry watched his skin mend itself.
Under different circumstances Harry might have been delighted at this show of magic, but now he barely noticed the pain ebbing. He could still see the terrible blue eye, the bright red light, the screams, the terror...his legs gave up under him, but he didn't fall.
Instead two strong arms closed around him, and he found himself pressed into the scratchy material of Sirius' coat, the comforting smell surrounding him. "Shh,it's alright now, Prongslet," he heard his godfather's voice whisper in his ear as the tears finally broke free, and he started to uncontrollably sob into the coat. "We're safe. We're all safe. They can't hurt us in here, I promise."
He felt his godfather turn his head towards Remus. "Need help with that?"
"No, it's fine," Remus' voice said, and through his sobs Harry could hear him whisper some sort of spell. "Just a bit of debris when he hit the fence." There was a short pause, then Remus' voice sounded from further away. "He's talking to the Aur- no, I think he's obliviating them."
He sounded puzzled, but Sirius shrugged. "Guess that answers our question about whether Dumbledore wants to keep it quiet."
Remus sighed. "I suppose."
Their calm voices, together with the soft rocking of Sirius' arms started to show its effect, and eventually Harry felt his sobs grow smaller.
He was safe. He was with Sirius and Remus, and nothing could hurt him here. No crimson-robed strangers, no shouting pirates with horrible eyes.
When he had gone quiet, Sirius gently disentangled himself from him, holding Harry at arm's length so he could look him in the eyes. "I am sorry," he said earnestly, his grey eyes shining with emotion – fear, relief, regret – "I should never have put you through that. I will do my best to make sure it will never happen again, but I can't promise you it won't, and I'm not going to lie to you." He paused, before continuing more slowly, "If you want to go back to your aunt and uncle, I can perfectly understand. No-one will bother you there, I can promise you that at least."
Harry swallowed. Before, when he had told Sirius that he didn't mind hiding, it had been out of impulse. The idea of going back to the Dursleys was so terrifying that the vague notion of having to stay inside was perfectly acceptable. But now he knew what Sirius had meant, and what living with him and Remus entailed.
"No," he said firmly. "I want to stay with you."
A smile crept onto Sirius' face, not the stressed laugh when he had joked about kissing Remus, but an earnest, wholehearted smile. "Then you will," he said, hugging Harry to his chest once more. As he hugged his godfather back, he heard him whisper into his ear: "You were incredibly brave out there, Prongslet. Wherever they are, I know your parents are very proud of you."
They're still alive! And - sort of - well!
Do British seven year olds know who Churchill is? Is it ridiculous that I spent about fifteen minutes thinking about this and whether I should change it? I'm gonna go with yes in both cases...
If you've got time, why not leave a review? ;)
