Sirius had to remember to send a letter to the Weasley twins next time he could. He really had to pass along his complements about those extendable-ears of theirs. It really was a handy thing to have around Sirius thought as he fingered the flesh colored string idly. Sitting in the kitchen once more, Sirius sat deep in thought as he waited for Dumbledore to find him. Most of his thoughts were on what he had just heard. And his heart ached for his best friend. The second after he closed the door to the room James was staying in, he wished he hadn't left. Memories of when James and him were back at Hogwarts came back to him. More over the ones in which James' pride would get in the way of him talking about his problems to anyone. Sirius included. James had a strong sense of pride, which (weather subconsciously or not Sirius didn't know) kept him from sharing any feelings that might show weakness. If James ever did talk about any feelings of fear, sadness, or grief, it was a onetime event and would not be repeated again. At lest not without the aid of threats made by a best friend or two. Which is why Sirius summoned one of the twins ear things. And also, apart from wanting to know what had happened to his best friend that night, Sirius also wanted to see what other questions the headmaster would ask.
Ever since Paige told Sirius that he couldn't tell James anything, weather it was about himself or Harry, he had been bugged by the reasoning behind it. Even if Dumbledore thought that James was a death eater, what death eater wouldn't know about the Boy-Who-Live or about the death eater that killed all those muggles? Putting the extendable ear down onto the table Sirius put his head in his hands. 'Well, at least Remus will be here soon. He'll know what the hell I should do.' Sirius thought dryly. He looked up from his place at the table when he heard the door open and watched as Dumbledore walked in. They were both silent as Dumbledore took the seat across from Sirius. It wasn't until Sirius saw Dumbledore pull some of those muggle candy things out from his robes that he realize that Dumbledore wasn't going to start the conversation any time soon. So he did.
"Well," Sirius said staring at the old man before him. Dumbledore looked up at him as he placed one of the sweets into his mouth.
"I feel that as soon as I leave or at anytime you please, it would be suitable for you to tell James about Harry. And yourself of course." Dumbledore said calmly. Sirius blinked. "Lemon Drop?" Dumbledore add, holding the box out to Sirius.
"And you feel that I can tell him now as appose to before because…" Sirius said. Dumbledore sighed before answering.
"I had a fear as to what James' reaction would be upon learning of Harry being alive." Dumbledore said.
"What do you mean you had a fear about his reaction? He thinks he lost his son and wife! I'm sure that hearing one of them is still alive wouldn't bring up the want to hex the messenger!" Sirius said. He didn't like Dumbledore's reason. Afraid of what a father would do once he found out that his only son wasn'tdead, come on now.
"It is said Sirius, that the most dangerous place in the world to be, is in-between a mother and her child. And I say, that the second most, is between a father and his child." Dumbledore said.Sirius noted, through his current anger at the headmaster, that the twinkle that was usually in Dumbledore's eyes, was not as pronounced as it usually is. "Weather or not James and yourself ever talked about the danger Lily was in, I know not. But he spoke with me about it… often. He never thought that he would lose her, but he confided in me that were she ever lost, he would be as well." Sirius gave a small nod of his head to show the headmaster that he understood what he was talking about. Him and James never spoke it out loud, but Sirius knew all the same. It was one of the things that didn't need to be spoken between them.
"When I first informed James and Lily of the prophecy, Lily cried. And James, James just stared at Harry before he stated that he would never bury his son." Dumbledore sighed before going on."Any parent who is forced to do so…I cannot begin to contemplate the pain. I feared that the loss of a wife whom he loved so dearly, and the loss of a son, would push him over the edge. Beyond reason." Dumbledore continued. Sirius opened his mouth to say something but Dumbledore answered the question he was going to ask. "I know what you are thinking. Telling him about Harry would bring him back. Make him see reason again. We could not have been sure of this. Yes, the news of Harry being alive would lessen the grief, but he would still be unreasonable. One cannot just switch from one state of mindto the another. I knew that James would want to get to Harry. I feel he will try no matter what state of mind his is in. But, it was my fear that if he tried to go, and you tried to stop him, that he would cause great harm to you."
"Me and James use to duel all the time and we were evenly matched." Sirius said. His anger at Dumbledore had fallen away sometime during the explanation of why Dumbledore wanted the information kept from James.
"Yes, yes you were. But in a state of unreason, and unbelievable grief in which he attacked two muggles… As I said before, I believe the second most dangerous place to be in the world in between a father and his child." Dumbledore stood as he finished speaking. "I must get back to Hogwarts. James is not to come to Hogwarts Sirius. No matter what. It is not safe. I will send news when I can." Sirius stood up as well.
"What about Harry? When is he going to be told about James?" Sirius asked.
"I believe he should be told once we have answers to give him." Dumbledore answered, taking his wand from within his robes and summoning a pot from the opposite side of the room to him.
"But that could take ages! Harry will be furious if this is kept from him for such a long time. I know he'll want answers but I also know that he would want to know this! Is father is alive Albus!" Sirius yelled. No one had ever heard of someone ever coming back from the dead before. No one had come back from the dead. Or whatever the hell happened to James.Dumbledore couldn't just walk into the Hogwarts library and start browsing around. There was nowhere that Dumbledore could get these answers from any time soon. And Harry didn't deserver to be left in the dark that long. Not from this.
"Very well Sirius. When ever you feel that the time is right, we will tell Harry. But I hope you are ready to tell him that he's going to have to wait for some answers." Dumbledore said sounding rather tired. Sirius was taken aback by his answer; he was fully expecting to have to fight to tell Harry. But he recovered.
"And I'll be the one to tell him. No one else, he should hear this from me." Sirius said defiantly.
"Very well. When you feel it is time that Harry be told, send me word and arrangements will be made." Dumbledore said as he placed the pot on the table and pointed his wand at it and said "Portus," which cause the pot to turn blue and shake slightly. With a nod to Sirius, Dumbledore picked up the pot once more, pointed his wand at it again, and in seconds, was gone.
James sat in the bed for a little while after Dumbledore left, wait for Sirius to come back up. As he waited he thought of just what questions need to be asked. One that defiantly had to be asked was how Dumbledore new about Sirius being an Animagus. And then of course the question of what Sirius meant when he said that thing about last time. Those were the two top questions that James wanted answers to.One of his otherquestions was what happened to Sirius to cause such a change in appearance. People change in fourteen years yea, but not in the ways that Sirius had. There was something else besides time that caused the changes that had happened to his best friend. The sound of footsteps coming up stairs alerted James to Sirius' coming back to the room, and soon after hearing him Sirius entered the room.
"Dumbledore's just left," He said, James couldn't help but noticing that Sirius looked nervous about something. "Look James, there's something I gotta tell you. Something that you have to know." Sirius said seriously, running a hand through his hair distractedly. James was shocked to see Sirius like this. Whatever Sirius was going to tell him must be something big for him to be nervous like this.
Sirius suddenly wish that he had thought of what the hell he was going to say before he came to James. If he had stayed in the kitchen and worked out a little speech it wouldn't be this hard. But, he had been so hell bent on having James know the truth that he hadn't planned ahead. And now he was stuck in the situation. There was no going back now. After a few moments used to gather his thoughts, Sirius began.
"There's something that you have to know about," Sirius began, but he was cut off by the sound of a doorbell followed immediately after by screams of insults from his mother. "Damn it." Sirius cursed. What a great time for a visit from a member of the Order. "Hold on just a minute." He said to James before rushing out of the room.
Now James was really curious. What did he have to know? Deciding that he wanted to find out what was going on now, James pulled the covers off of him and got out of the bed. It was then that he realized that someone had removed his shoes. After a quick look around the floor James found his shoes at the end of the bed. While he was hastily pulling them on, he heard a strange noise from some where above him. It sounded like someone, or something, was gagging. The gagging continued as he moved back to the bedside table where his wand was and pocketed it. As James moved to the door, opened it, and stepped out into the hall, he heard it still. Worried that what ever it was that was gagging was indanger of soon choking to death, James headed towards the stairs that led up.
When he reached the landing where the gagging was the loudest, James began to walk up to doors and place his ear against them. When at last he found the room where the gagging was coming from, hepulled out his wand, and slowly opened the door. The room was red, but not a Griffendor red, a blood red. In the center of the room there was a large bed with black covers thathad holes all over it. And on that bed, was a hippogriff. James stared at the animal as it continued to gag. Then before his eyes, it hacked up what looked like the scull of a small animal. Probably a rat. When the hippogriff looked around and saw James standing in the doorway, James found himself bowing. Past classes of Care of Magical Creatures coming back to him. From its position on the bed, the hippogriff bowed in return. Cautiously, James stepped into the bedroom. What the hell was a hippogriff doing inside a house? This house no less. As James looked around, he saw the floor had straw covering it. There were also some bones scattered about. In the corner of the room, however, James saw some old yellowing newspapers, and he moved toward them pocketing his wand as he walked. James picked up one of the yellowing newspapers that littered the floor and nearly dropped it when he saw a picture of himself of about fifteen looking backup at him. But, after taking a closer look, he saw that the boy wasn't him. This boy had a lightening blot scar on his forehead. Then he saw the title: The Triwizard Tournament and The Boy-Who-Lived, by Rita Skeeter.
The Triwizard Tournament? But that hadn't been played in centuries. And who the hell was this picture of? James opened the newspaper and began to read the article. After reading the first few lines of the article, James' heart seemed to have froze inside his chest.
'Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, is, in a surprising turn of events, the forth champion in the Triwizard Tournament taking place at Hogwarts this year. Yes, the boy who saved the wizarding from You-Know-Who all those years ago is taking part in one of the most famous Tournaments ever held in the wizarding world to date. Your Daily Prophet reporter spoke with the young orphan during the Weighing of the Wand ceremony, where he discussed his late parents with myself."
The article continued on, but James couldn't read anymore. No. It…it can't be true. 'Someone would have told me' James thought. He looked back down at the article. The boy who saved the wizarding world from You-Know-Who… How the hell could a baby stop Voldemort? Some of the greatest wizards died at his hand. It couldn't be possible. No matter how much James heart began to achefor the article to be true, it couldn't be. Looking down at the other newspapers on the floor, James saw more articles about this boy. Some were about his love life, 'Harry Potter's secret Heart Ache', and his metal state, 'Harry Potter "Disturbed and Dangerous"'. But James couldn't read them. His mind was reeling. Suddenly, things seemed to start falling into place. Harry didn't have a tomb in the mausoleum. Even if they hadn't found his body, an empty one would have, should have, been placed next to Lily's. Then what Sirius had said came to mind. Last time. If Harry stopped… No. No baby could do it. Nobody could do it.
'Lily, James. Please sit down. There is something to which you must be made aware of. It concerns your son, Harry.' Dumbledore's voice suddenly came to James' mind, and what he had said the day he told him and Lily about the prophecy. But, maybe Harry could do something when he was older, but at the age of one?
' Look James, there's something I gotta tell you. Something thatyou have to know.' Now it was Sirius' voice that filled his head. James looked back down at the picture on the front page. It just couldn't be. And yet, there was that feeling of hope that wouldn't let James ripe his eyes away from the boy.
"James," A voice from the doorway said. Sirius' voice. Slowly James looked up at the door. He took in how wide Sirius' eyes went, and how pale he went when he saw what James held in his hands. "James," Sirius said again, taking a step inside the room.
"What the hell is this all about?" James asked in a low, dangerous voice. "WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE NEWSPAPERS ON ABOUT? WHY ARE THEY MAKING IT SOUND LIKE HARRY LIVED? WHO THE HELL IS THIS BLOODY FUCKING KID?!" James yelled brandishing the newspaper he held at his last question.
"You weren't suppose to find out like this James." Sirius said, taking another step. But as Sirius took his step forward, James took one back. The way Sirius was talking made it sound like the newspapers were right.
"Stop. Stop lying." James said, voice low again.
"No James, I'm not lying. Harry didn't die that night. He lived. He lived James." Sirius said, voice full of mixed emotions. Pride, sorrow, pain, determination, among them. James shook his head, eyes becoming watery.
"No, no, no. It's not possible. I, I saw Harry's room, there's, there's no, no way." James stuttered out. Sirius understood James disbelief; he too saw what Harry's room had become after the attack.
"It is though James. That picture is of Harry. That's your son James." Sirius said, walking, slowly, closer to James. James continued to shake his head. If he got his hopes up, when they all found out that Harry was, in fact, not alive, he would have to lose his son twice. And he couldn't do that. "He's fifteen now James. And, god he looks like you." Sirius said. "But, he still got Lily's eyes, that's really the only big way you can tell he's not you."
"I SAID STOP LYING!" James yelled, and the house around them shook. Once the shaking had stopped, James struggled to not let any tears fall. "You have to stop Sirius. Cause, cause if I believe you, and, and his not, I, I can't do it I, I…" Sirius crossed the rest of the distance that separated himself from James and grabbed James by the shoulders.
"James listen to me. No one really knows exactly what happened that night. But Lily wouldn't let Voldemort get to Harry; she made him kill her first. She died to save Harry." James continued to shake his head, losing in his attempts to keep tears from falling. "No. No, don't shake your head. Listen to me! Because Lily sacrificed herself for Harry, she left a protection on him. And when Voldemort cast Avada Kedavra, when he tried to kill Harry, the spell rebounded and hit Voldemort. And Harry Lived. HE LIVED JAMES!" Sirius yelled shaking James' shoulders as James continued to shake is head. "ALL THAT HE GOT WAS A SCAR! He stopped Voldemort!"
"NO! HOW THE HELL IS A BABY GOING TO KILL THE MOST EVIL WIZARD THAT EVER LIVED?" James yelled back.
"He didn't, Harry didn't kill him. Voldemort was stripped of his powers. The wizarding world had peace for the last fourteen years thanks to your wife and son." Sirius said. James had to understand. He had to. James started mumbling under his breath that it wasn't true. Over and over he said,
"It's not true. It's not. It's not true."
"It is James! Harry is inGriffendor; he's in his fifth year at Hogwarts. He is excellent in Defense Against the Dark Arts. He has a habit of getting into trouble. He plays Quidditch, he's the seeker, and he is the youngest person to make a house team in a century." Sirius started spitting out facts about Harry, hoping that James would believe him.
"It can't be true Sirius it can't be…" James said as sobs started to over take him, something that was happening to much, James noticed some where in the back of his mind dully.
"It is James. I swear to you. I would never lie to you about something like this." Sirius said. James fell to the floor.
"Oh god. No he can't be…" James said. Sirius sat on the floor next to him.
"He is though James. And he is truly your son." Sirius said softly, thinking of all the traits Harry had that just screamed James was his father.
James continued to sob. Though, a changed could be heard in them if you listened close enough. When they first started, they were full of pain, and the pain could be felt by anyone who heard them. And now, they seemed to be of joy. They seemed to be tears of joy.
A.N- I am so, so, so, so, sooooooo sorry that it has taken me this long to update. But on Christmas night, I started coming down with something, and for the next two days I was sick. And before that, I was having serious computer problems. Whenever you would try to do something, it would say that there wasn't enough memory room for it to do what ever you tried to do. Then, after I got over what ever I came down with, the computer crashed. :'( And it was down for a few days. I had about all of the Dumbledore/Sirius convo done when it crashed, andI lost it.When it finally worked again, I had a major school report that I had to do. So that's what was going on, and why it took this long. But I hope that you all like this chapter, and that you'll all tell me if you liked it or not by reviewing for me. You all should know how much I love to see review alert in my mailbox. And, the more reviews I get, the more I'll but pushed to update soon. So hit that button.