Chapter 3

A New Home

Sirius and Harry had fallen asleep on the couch. It was early in the morning, when Sirius had woke up. The sun was barely up when SIrius had got up. It was still dark outside.

Sirius had relived last nights events and remember that he had to get Harry as far away from this house as possible. First he had to get Harry to a doctor.

Sirius picked up Harry, careful not to disturb him, and carried him into the kitchen, where he found a towel to tie around the boy's forehead.

Sirius headed out of the back door and down through the dark alley. Away from the destroyed building. Sirius would some day tell Harry about his parents, but not today. He was far better growing up away from the pain and terror.

Sirius walked a few miles to St. Healer's hospital. He didn't care about the pounding in his head due to his motorcycle incident. He didn't care that he was on the verge of passing out. He was going to help his godson, and no one was going to stop him.

The sun had begun to rise, and the sky turned a bright pink when Sirius had reached a small building made of wood.

Sirius began to pound on the door until Asprina opened the door. It was obvious that she had just woken up. Her hair was uncombed and she was wearing a pink robe. Her eyes opened in surprise when she saw a bloody Harry and Sirius.

"What happened!"

"Not now." Sirius muttered. "Harry needs help."

"You both need help. Come inside."

Aspirina lead the way into the small hospital and to one of the wards. She went to get dress, while Sirius laid Harry on the bed.

While Aspirina treated Harry, Sirius told her what happened. He told her how the Potters' were marked for death. How they made Peter Pettigrew the secret keeper instead of him. The blank looks on James and Lily faces when he saw them. And Harry. How Harry was just sitting in that sad dark house, not knowing that his parents were dead.

"That's about the best I can do." she said, when she finished treating Harry.

"He looks better."

"Yeah. Slept through the whole examination, he did."

Harry did look better. He no longer looked like a bloody mess. He looked exactly like James, except to a new addition to his forehead. Sirius noticed a lightening bolt cut on his forehead. He knew that that was where Voldemort's spell had hit.

"Can't you do anything about that cut?"

"That's no ordinary cut on his forehead." she answered. "That scar will be there forever. That's what happens when a evil curse hit you."

Sirius understood immediately that that scar was important. He didn't really care that Harry was now sporting a hideous scar on his forehead. He was going to love him no matter what. He was going to make James and Lily proud.

Later that day Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic stopped by to grant Sirius complete custody of Harry. Harry was still asleep by the time they arrived. They sat in the kitchen, while Aspirina went on with her daily activities.

"Mr. Black, how have you been?" the minister asked.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. He knew that they were going to question him about the kind of life style he lived.

To tell the truth, Sirius really didn't lead a successful life. He had dropped out of school when he was sixteen and he mixed in with the wrong group. He wasn't a drunk, but he drunk more than his fair share of alcohol. He did drugs, and when he was not at work, doing things for the Order, or hanging with his three best friends, he was on the streets doing drugs.

"As you know my name is Cornelius Fudge. I am the Minister of magic. I am here today to view your current life status to see if you are a responsible adult. If you pass you may take custody of Harry James Potter. If you fail he will be placed in a orphanage. Do you agree?"

Sirius nodded his head, but didn't really agree. He didn't like the idea of his best friend's son in an orphanage, standing in a long line to get food. Or wearing old ragged clothes.

"Let's begin, shall we?" said Dumbledore.

"Mr. Black, can you describe the type of relationship you had with your parents?"

Sirius took a deep breath. He didn't have a very good relationship with his parents. He was afraid that his parents action would determine the kind of man he was.

Sirius took a big gulp of water and regretted it. The water had tasted funny, as if it had something else in it. Sirius had a strange feeling he had drunk Veritaserum, a truth potion.

"We're waiting, Mr. Black." Fudge said impatiently.

"My mother and father hated my guts." Sirius said without thinking of the consequences.

"Yes. All parents love their- what!"

"I was always treated like dirt. Always at the bottom of everything. I could never please them no matter how hard I tried. I got good grades in school, I joined every club, every team, I even went to church on sundays. But they were never pleased. They was so proud of my brother. He dropped out of school when he was in third grade, and my mother let him. I was never good enough. Never. And he was seen as a genius, an angel, some kind of god."

"How did that make you feel?"

"Hurt. I lost faith in myself. I gave up everything that was important in life. I dropped out of school my junior year."

"Oh ho! So is that what you're going to encourage young Harry Potter to do?"

"May I say something, minister?" Dumbledore spoke up.

"Of course."

"Sirius did make a terrible mistake. He was young. Naive. But his true friends made him see life in a different way. Sure he didn't go back to school, but he never encouraged his friends to drop out of school. He didn't want to see them throw their lives away. His heart was in the right place."

Hearing Dumbledore say that he was the reason James and Peter didn't drop out of school warmed him. Fudge, however, ignored these kind words.

"Okay. So you quit school. Then what?"

"I had nothing to do between those hours my best friends were at school, so I had to do something to pass the time."

"What did you do?"

"I ran the streets." Sirius admitted. "I got into constant fights. I got drunk. I did drugs. I sold drugs."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't care about myself anymore. I had to make money some how. My parents would never give me anything. I always had this attitude I would never succeed."

"Sirius had finally saw what he was doing wrong when he heard that Voldemort had his gang of Death Eaters, doing wrong." said Dumbledore. "He kind of saw a resemblance between himself and Voldemort."

"Don't say his name." Fudge said through gritted teeth.

Dumbledore ignored him. "You see, Voldemort,too, had dropped out of school when he was sixteen. He got good grades, was on teams. He even had a 3.0 GPA. But he had one thing in common with Sirius."

"And what was that?"

"He had no parents." Sirius said quietly.

"Voldemort had no motivation, so he just gave up everything. He ran the streets, and pretty soon he was a name that everyone feared. He was a murderer. Sirius didn't want to go down the same road. There was something Sirius had that Voldemort didn't. A heart. Sirius didn't want a life like that so he went out a found himself a job. He decided to get himself a job and start over."

Fudge had heard enough. There was no way in the world was he going to let Harry Potter go to a man who have things in common with Voldemort.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Black, but there is no way that Harry is going to you."

"And why not?" questioned Dumbledore.

"Why not? Why not? I am not about to watch Harry make the same mistakes as this man."

"You said it yourself, Cornelius. Mistake. Remember. . . everyone makes them. I'm not sure Sirius would make that mistake twice. He saw the era in his ways. He wants to make a fresh start."

Fudge stared at Dumbledore for a long time. He hate to admit it, but Dumbledore was right. He decided if Sirius had indeed led a decent life, he would give Harry custody. He turned his attention back towards Sirius.

"Tell me about your life now."

Sirius took a deep breath. Sure he was no longer the teenage boy who ran the streets and did drugs and got drunk, but he wasn't exactly a teacher, doctor, or lawyer.

"I currently live on Crescent Grove, in the Crescent Apartment. I work at the local bar Tipsy and I get paid six fifty an hour."

"That's not much money."

"It's enough for two people to get by."

"What kind of neighborhood is Crescent Grove anyway?"

"It's not exactly Boardwalk, but it's a fair New York Avenue."

Fudge was impress at how Sirius had went from Marvin Gardens, to Mediterranean Avenue, to New York Avenue.

"Very well. I hearby give you full custody of Harry James Potter."

Sirius face brighten. He now had Harry in his care. Now was his chance to show his parents what he could do. He could raise a child to live a successful life. He was not going to fail Harry, James, Lily, and he wasn't about to fail himself.

"I trust you will take very good care of Harry?"

"Of course I will."

"Very well." said the minister, standing up and shaking hands with Dumbledore. "I will be checking in and out on you. Dumbledore. . . good day."

Fudge placed his bowler hat on his head and left out of the room. Dumbledore nodded and Sirius and followed behind Fudge.

Sirius headed towards Harry's ward. Aspirina was applying medicine to Harry's scar when Sirius had entered the room.

"Is everything okay?" she asked when she heard him approaching.

"Yeah. Everythings fine."

Aspirina placed her hand in her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. She hesitated before giving it to Sirius.

"What's this?"

"I found it in Harry's pocket. It's a letter from Lily to you."

Sirius opened the paper and found himself staring at neat handwriting. He knew it was from Lily without being told. He recognized her handwriting. James, however, wrote like he had toes instead of fingers on his hand.

Dear Sirius,

I have this feeling that me and James won't be around for much longer. I have a simple request. Look after Harry. Please protect him with your life. Raise him as if he was your own. Let him know that he is loved. I know with you he will be safe. Please raise him. Make us proud.

Lily

Sirius knew he had a lot of work to do. The first thing was change, for the best.