Chapter Nineteen: Sirius Decisions
Raiden sighed as he walked out of the last exam of the year. He had spent the last two months wrestling with the dilemma that Voldemort had presented him with as well as studying for his exams. Now that the exams were finished he could devote his time to fully and carefully considering what he knew of his master's previous actions and what he knew of the man from the five years he'd spent as his apprentice.
He had made his way to the Slytherin common room without really realizing it. He gave the password and entered the large room. Despite what the other Houses thought, the Slytherin common room was quite cosy with large fires burning most of the year and dark colors that seemed to be inviting rather than cold and harsh. Flopping down on the couch he shook his head and sighed again.
"Tired Harry?" one of the prefects asked.
Raiden looked up and smirked. "Yeah a bit. If this is how I feel now, how will I cope with the OWLs?"
The prefect laughed and replied "It gets easier. You just had a really bad exam timetable. OWLs are usually spaced out a bit more than school ones because they're longer and more tiring."
Raiden nodded before getting up and going to his room. He needed privacy to start considering his decision concerning Voldemort's offer. With the curtains closed and spelled appropriately he lay back on his bed and closed his eyes.
First thing was the fact that his master, for all intents and purposes, had been trying to act like Adolf Hitler in the Muggle Second World War. He had done some more research and found descriptions of what Voldemort and his Death Eaters had supposedly done in the name of "purifying" the wizarding world. Through careful questions to Severus and Lucius he had discovered that most of the more petty crimes were actually not committed by Death Eaters but by opportunistic criminals that were taking advantage of the chaos the Death Eaters caused. Another myth was the "fact" that Voldemort had hundreds of followers. What he actually had was an inner circle of 4, and an outer circle of about ten or twelve Death Eaters. The "hundreds" were actually unmarked supporters and sympathizers, not full Death Eaters, and most of them were in various departments of the Ministry.
Second was that Voldemort had personally murdered his parents. Raiden frowned, for all that he looked up to, and cared about, Voldemort, he couldn't quite get rid of the images of his parents' deaths. Shaking his head, he then thought of the result of that little operation and gave a slightly bitter chuckle. Holding grudges didn't help anyone in the present situation and spending the last thirteen years as a spirit was enough punishment, Raiden felt. Besides there was the issue of Voldemort taking him under his wing and teaching him. If he was truly an evil, heartless monster, he wouldn't have done that at all.
Third was that Voldemort hadn't really tried indoctrinating him with his views, he'd allowed Raiden to form his own opinions and hadn't tried to talk him out of decisions regarding his choice of friends, except to warn him to take precautions against possible future betrayal. Hermione hadn't yet met him but Voldemort had occasionally observed the Slytherin Quartet when they were with Hermione and he grudgingly approved of the young witch. Raiden's dislike of muggles only really went as far as his relatives, who had been dealt with. His comments on the Hogwarts Express before first year notwithstanding he really didn't have any issues with blood purity, he was more interested in magical strength than blood type.
Four was that Voldemort had slowly changed his own views from killing all muggles and muggleborns to Raiden's views of allowing the strong muggleborns in and preserving wizarding secrecy some way that didn't involve mass murder and mayhem.
Shaking his head, Raiden rolled over on his side. A quick spell had his shoes and tie off and another ensured he would be woken in time for dinner. He then slipped off to sleep, tired from the exams and needing to replenish his energy before he made any type of decision at all.
Waking up when his alarm went off, Raiden rolled off the bed and went up for dinner where he was met by his friends. He answered "Asleep" when they asked where he'd disappeared to after the exam and they left him alone after that. None of them knew about the Voldemort dilemma and he was going to keep it that way. The two other people he'd talked to about it had been Severus and Lucius, and both had basically told him to make his own decision and not let himself be influenced by outside parties. Raiden had grown comfortable around Lucius and he was more than ready to say yes to the guardianship offer in the week or so that was left before the end of the year. Severus was his Head of House and as such was a confidant of sorts as well for the issues that Raiden couldn't tell his friends or the prefects.
After dinner, Raiden wanted nothing more than to go back to bed but was enticed into a game of Exploding Snap instead and then chess after that. Losing both games spectacularly, he finally excused himself and went to bed, needing more sleep before he did any more thinking. It was hard to make decisions when your brain felt like mush after all.
A week later Raiden had made his decision regarding Voldemort. He might not like what the man had done during the First War as it was called, and he certainly disliked what he'd done to his parents but he couldn't hold it against him forever. After all, war was war and it was a fact of life that in war, people die. He had also examined his apprenticeship situation and found that he didn't want that to end anytime soon. Voldemort might be harsh with his punishments at times but he genuinely cared about Raiden, the Chamber of Secrets incident had proven that. Now he just had to figure out the Sirius Black situation.
He had taken Pettigrew to Snape the day after the conversation with Voldemort and upon hearing the story, Snape had taken the rat and him to Professor McGonagall. One Animagus reversal spell later and the truth came out. Dumbledore and the Minister were called, and Raiden immediately took a strong dislike to Cornelius Fudge as the man refused to exonerate Sirius without a full trial and Veritaserum being given to Pettigrew to prove who he was.
"I believe Sirius Black didn't get a trial in the first place, Minister," he sneered. Fudge looked shocked and tried to bluster his way out of the problem but didn't succeed. The result was that Pettigrew told everything he knew under the influence of Veritaserum and Sirius Black was formally pardoned.
At the Leaving Feast, Raiden was just finishing his meal when Snape came down to the table. Tapping Raiden's shoulder he indicated that Raiden should follow him out of the Great Hall. Once outside the hall Raiden had to hurry to keep up with his teacher and finally he panted out, "Sir, slow down please. What's going on?"
Snape stopped abruptly, not having realized how fast he was moving. Turning to Raiden he said, "I apologise, Harry, but a situation has come up concerning you. Now that Sirius Black has been pardoned he wishes to obtain custody of you, as your parents specified in their will." He held up a hand as Raiden started to protest. "The Malfoys are up in Dumbledore's office right now, along with Black, and they are all having a fine shouting match over you."
"Will I have to go with him? I hardly know him," Raiden said, his eyes narrowed at the thought that he might be snatched away from the Malfoys.
Snape shook his head. "Although your parents specified that he is your godfather they did say that if circumstances were such that he was unable to take care of you, that you be placed with another wizarding family." Looking sideways at his student, Snape continued, "You might be interested to know that Lily was very specific that you NEVER go to the Dursleys. Dumbledore knew this and disregarded it."
Raiden had no time to think about this evidence of Dumbledore's stupidity because they were at the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office. After a ride on the staircase they entered the office and Raiden got his first good look at Sirius Black for the first time that he could remember.
Sirius stood, his eyes fixed on Raiden. "Harry," he whispered.
Raiden nodded stiffly. "Mr Black," he replied, sensing Snape's presence behind him and grateful for the silent support that he was giving. Sirius flinched slightly at the formality from Raiden but after a brief struggle apparently accepted that Raiden wasn't just going to run into his arms.
"Your, your parents named me your godfather," Sirius tried again, confused that Raiden seemed to be almost assessing him.
Raiden nodded once again. "I know. I also know that they wanted you to be my guardian or if not you then another wizarding family."
Sirius nodded and replied, "Yes that's right. I was wondering, well, I can understand if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle, but if you ever wanted another home you could live with me." His eyes were filled with so much hope that it was almost painful.
Raiden shifted a bit and then said, "Can we take this discussion somewhere more private?" Dumbledore nodded and gave directions to the guest suite where Sirius was staying while he visited Hogwarts. On the short trip there, Raiden took the opportunity to study his godfather.
Sirius looked surprisingly good. Raiden supposed that he had got some decent meals and nutrition potions to undo the damage that Azkaban had done. He had filled out from the skeletally thin man that Raiden had seen in the photo in the Daily Prophet. Without the haunted look in his eyes, Sirius was regaining the handsomeness that he'd had when he was younger.
Reaching the guest suite Raiden immediately put up silencing charms so no one could hear their conversation. Lucius and Narcissa had followed them, as had Snape. Once they'd all sat down Sirius looked at Raiden again.
"So, why have the Malfoys and Snape followed us Harry?" he asked.
Raiden looked at Sirius coolly and replied, "Professor Snape is my Head of House and the Malfoys have offered to become my guardians until I come of age."
Sirius stuttered for a minute before regaining control of himself. "Snape is a Slytherin Harry, how could he be your Head of House unless, no, no it's not possible," he muttered.
Raiden snorted. "Yes I'm a Slytherin, Black, get over it. With my dear relatives' care what else could I have become?"
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked suspiciously.
Raiden sighed. "Against my parents' wishes, I was placed with the Dursleys. They weren't too bad; I learnt to manipulate situations to suit myself early on. This past summer though, I lost control of my magic when Vernon's sister insulted my parents one time too many."
"What did you do?" Sirius asked.
He laughed as Raiden replied, "I blew her up like a balloon and she floated off down the road," before sobering again as Raiden continued, "Vernon and Dudley beat me so hard I lost consciousness. Salazar, my owl, flew to Malfoy Manor and Lucius came and rescued me from the muggles. I was in pretty bad shape."
Sirius growled. "Let me at them, I'll teach them to mess with you."
Raiden smirked. "They've already been dealt with. When I was healed, Lucius brought them to his dungeons and he and Severus taught me some curses that had some very interesting effects."
When the Dursleys' punishment was explained to Sirius, the former Marauder proved his heritage by smirking at them. "Good, it was what they deserved" he muttered. Looking at Raiden he sighed. "I can see why you want to stay with the Malfoys, you know them and you don't know me at all really. I would like the chance to get to know you however, I mean, Narcissa is my cousin after all."
Lucius and Narcissa exchanged a glance and then they looked at Raiden. "What do you think, Harry?" Lucius asked.
Raiden shrugged. "I'd like the chance to get to know my godfather. I do want you to be my guardians, but I don't want to cut Sirius out of my life completely. He is a link to my parents after all."
Lucius nodded and then fixed Sirius with a penetrating stare. "I'm certain that we can come to some sort of arrangement regarding visits and other things but know this, if you hurt him in any way you won't be seen ever again."
Sirius shuddered and nodded. He looked sideways at Snape and Raiden sighed loudly. "Sirius if you want to get to know me then you have to let go of the past. Professor Snape is not an enemy here and alienating him will alienate me as well."
Sirius and Snape stared at each other for a moment before Sirius grudgingly held out his hand. "For the sake of my godson I'll put aside our enmity, Snape. Just don't hurt him."
Snape shook Sirius' hand equally grudgingly and replied, "I won't. Harry is more than capable of taking care of himself."
With a tentative truce now declared, Lucius produced a set of papers and handed them to Raiden. Raiden read them quickly yet thoroughly, seeing that they were the guardianship papers that Lucius had promised. He absently conjured a quill from mid air without his wand, which drew an open mouthed stare from Sirius and then borrowed some ink. Two minutes later the papers were signed and they disappeared in a flash of light, being filed properly at the Ministry Child Services department in a sealed section.
With that done, Raiden found himself enveloped in a hug from Narcissa which threated to crack his ribs. When he started gasping for air Lucius intervened and pried his wife off of their new family member.
"Welcome to the family, Harry" he said with a smile. Raiden smiled back and then daringly hugged him. Lucius looked surprised but allowed it, even hugging him back briefly. Sirius looked somewhat jealous but realized that he needed to earn Raiden's trust and get to know him before he could start hugging him. He sat back and watched, seeing that Raiden really seemed to be happy with the situation. Shaking his head he almost missed the next question that Raiden asked him.
"What will you do now?"
Sirius shrugged. "Not sure. I was an Auror before I got arrested and the Director of the Magical Law Enforcement has promised that I can return to my old job, pending a refresher course but I'm not sure whether I'll take them up on that offer."
"Why not?" Raiden asked, barely noticing the other three adults leaving. They knew he'd be safe with Sirius and they thought that it was a good time for Raiden to get to know his godfather.
Sirius shrugged again. "I don't much fancy working in a Ministry headed by Cornelius Fudge. He's the type of politician that would only work in his best interests, not the interests of the wizarding world. Plus I need some relaxation time, time to get used to being a free man again. My wardrobe needs updating, I need a new wand, which reminds me, how the hell did you do wandless magic?"
Raiden chuckled. "I've been able to do it for a while. Dumbledore doesn't know so I'd appreciate it if you kept it a secret." Sirius nodded solemnly and swore that he'd keep it secret. The rest of the time before curfew was spent with Raiden telling Sirius about his childhood, excluding any mention of Voldemort and the first two years at Hogwarts. Sirius took the revelation that he was a Parseltongue in stride; he thought it was rather cool. He laughed at the Lockhart story and the Valentine, seemingly becoming more comfortable with the fact that Raiden was a Slytherin. Raiden had his doubts, he thought that Sirius might be suspending his outraged reaction for when Raiden wasn't around but he held his tongue on that suspicion. The news that the fraud had been fed to the Basilisk had Sirius wincing but agreed that Lockhart probably deserved it.
When curfew rolled round, Raiden excused himself and headed off to bed. He hesitated in the doorway, wondering if he should hug Sirius but then decided that he wanted to get more comfortable with him first. Saying goodnight instead he went back to Slytherin. His last thought that night was that now that the Sirius situation had been dealt with, it was time to tell his master the good news regarding Sirius, and also the news that they would go with the ritual that would make them family. He didn't quite know how the ritual worked but he knew that it would take less time than finding another way, plus he really wanted his master to be part of his family. He snorted at the amusing thought of Sirius' reaction if he were introduced to "Uncle Voldemort" before letting sleep claim him once again.