Posted: 1 April, 2010
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story that is recognisable from the Harry Potter books, movies, etc. Everything else however (eg. story plot, original characters, etc.) stems from my own imagination and belongs to me. No copyright infringement is intended and I am not profiting financially from this story in any way.
Chapter 12 - A Reunion Meeting
Wednesday, 1 July, 1992
Harry sat at the desk in his bedroom, brushing the feather of his quill thoughtfully across his chin. He turned a page in his History of Magic textbook, finally finding the reference he was searching for, then put quill to parchment.
It had been almost two weeks since he returned to Privet Drive, and a mind-numbingly boring two weeks it had been. Upon returning home Uncle Vernon had locked his trunk away in the cupboard under the stairs. That was not much of deterrent for Harry however, who had been able to sneak it back up to his room the first night. A Muggle-targeting Notice-Me-Not on the cupboard door and his trunk then prevented any suspicion.
With his trunk, he was free to do his homework, so at least he had something to do. He'd also whiled away his time by subtly improving his bedroom with magic. The lumpy mattress was now softer and more comfortable, the carpet was thicker and plusher, the dings and scratches in the desk, drawers and dresser had been repaired, and the wood lightly polished. Of course, none of this made up for the fact that it was a tiny, cramped, little room.
He had considered, briefly, just finding somewhere else to stay. He could easily put his tracking charm (it had mysteriously been applied to him once more) on Dudley again, as he had a Christmas, and find a hotel room. Free of the Dursley house, he could even get a start on the Horcrux hunting. Unfortunately however, his pragmatic side had won out over any such plans.
Staying at the Dursleys long enough to recharge the blood wards had two benefits. One: it guaranteed him a safe place from Voldemort. Of course he could just cast a Fidelius somewhere else and be just as protected, but that wouldn't cover the second benefit. Two: it ensured he would continue to carry the protection his mother's sacrifice had afforded him. That was powerful magic; magic that had been used to overcome Quirrell/Voldemort the first time around, and hadn't been voided till his blood was stolen for the re-birthing ritual in fourth year. He wasn't quite ready to give up that protection. And so, he had resolved to remain at the Dursleys at least till his birthday.
He just wished he could write to Neville. He was sure that an owl correspondence with his friend would help make the days go by quicker. Unfortunately this was the summer preceding his second year, which meant Dobby had taken it upon himself to discourage Harry's return to Hogwarts by stealing his mail, to make him think he had no friends to return to.
He sighed, scribbling away the last line on his History essay. He blew on the ink till it was dry, then rolled the parchment up, picking up a tie to hold it closed. All he had left to do was his Astronomy, Herbology and Potions essays. He would leave it a few days though. He was trying to spread his homework out as much as possible, in the futile hope that it would stave away death by boredom.
..ooOOoo..
"Calm down Sirius," the amber-eyed man said. "Your pacing is giving me a headache."
"Remus, he should have written back by now," Sirius said. His once smooth voice was still a little hoarse from his long years in Azkaban, and probably always would be. "What if he's changed his mind? What if he doesn't want to visit me after all?" Then abruptly his self-doubting worry switched to angry protectiveness. "What if it's those Dursleys?" he growled. "Lily always said Petunia was horrible to her once she found out she had magic, and I distinctly remember her describing that Verne bloke as a brute of a man, and just as magic-fearing as Petunia."
When Remus had heard the news about Sirius' acquittal, he immediately contacted the former prisoner to express his apologies for not believing in him, and his happiness that he was now free. He expected to be rejected for his lack of faith, but to his surprise Sirius had responded with apologies of his own, for thinking him the spy, and opened his arms in forgiveness
Remus had been a frequent visitor at the flat Sirius had rented ever since. And then, after a fortnight or so, Sirius had approached him about becoming involved in his mind-healing. His Healer had suggested that the support of someone he trusted would be beneficial to his progress.
He had been flattered by the request and immediately agreed. It was not easy, sitting in on some of Sirius' sessions and hearing of the horrors of Azkaban, as well as being on Floo-call day and night whenever Sirius was stressed and needed someone to talk to, but he knew it was the right thing to do and he found it rewarding to help.
It was because of his 'support position' that Healer Bennington had pulled him aside yesterday, after Sirius' scheduled mind-healing appointment, to ask if he could do something about the situation. Sirius had been fretting over Harry's uncommunicativeness for days now, and Bennington explained that the uncertainty was not conductive to his state of mind, which could swing between emotional extremes at the best of times.
"Sirius," Remus sighed, interrupting the man's ramblings about increasingly unlikely scenarios for Harry's lack of response to his letters, "calm down. Firstly, it's Vernon, not Verne. Secondly, I'm sure Harry's not been kidnapped by dragons, or on a drinking binge in Vegas where he's gotten married to a chorus girl."
"Sorry," Sirius groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. "I know my mind's completely buggered. I know I'm being ridiculous."
"You're mind's not 'buggered' Sirius," Remus corrected. Bennington had emphasised the importance of positive encouragement. "It's just injured, but it's going to get better."
"No it won't," he said, depressed suddenly. "I'm just a crazy old man and that's why Harry doesn't want to see me."
"Sirius, it will get better. It already has in fact. Don't you remember how manic you were those first few months?"
He grimaced. "Yeah, I guess I'm not that bad anymore."
"And as for Harry, since he's not answering letters, there's only one way to find out what's going on."
"Oh?"
"We should visit him in person."
"Oh!" Sirius exclaimed, perking up at once. "That's a brilliant idea Moony! Just let me grab some Muggle clothes and I'll be ready to go," he said, zooming from the room.
"I didn't mean right away," Remus called after him, but knew it was too late and so sighed, shucked off his wizard's robe, and waited for Sirius to return.
..ooOOoo..
Harry heard the doorbell downstairs, and would have thought nothing of it if not for just how it was rung. *Ring-ring-ring riiing riiing, ring-ring-ring riiing riiinggg, ring-ring ring-ring ring-ring-riiinggg*. Harry's eyes went wide and then he snickered. He wondered if whoever just played 'La Cucaracha' on the doorbell realised just how unimpressed the owners of the house would be.
He heard the door opening, then distant voices. And then Petunia's voice became shrill enough to hear.
"… don't care if you want to see the boy, I'll not have your sort around here!"
Eyes wide, Harry jumped from his seat and hurried out his room and down the stairs, wondering who it was. He reached the bottom step, turned the corner … and froze. There, standing in the doorway, was Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.
"… like to see you try and stop me," Sirius declared in his usual reckless manner, none of them having noticed the presence of the boy in question.
"Sirius," Remus chided, before trying to reason with his stubborn aunt. "Mrs Dursley, I'm sure you received the notice from the DMCF about the custody arrangements, and the day visits Harry is to have with Sirius here."
"Received it? Of course we did! It came flying through the window one morning on an owl. Poor Vernon's temper was shot for the whole day. Now I don't care what some freaky government department says-"
Enough was enough, Harry thought, seeing Sirius' and even mild Remus' temper beginning to fray. He'd best step in.
"Sirius?" he asked, moving forward, and three sets of eyes shot to him, two happily surprised and one far less pleased. "You are Sirius Black aren't you? Only he said you were, and I've seen your picture in the paper."
"Harry," his godfather breathed. "Merlin, you look so much like your father. But you've got your-"
"Mother's eyes," Harry said, smiling, and hastily stuffing the overwhelming emotions he was feeling down using Occlumency. "Yeah, I've heard that a time or two."
"Yes," Remus chuckled, "I expect you have."
Petunia glared between the three of them, then seemed to decide the visitors weren't going to be leaving. Disgruntled, she sniffed in a meaningful way, gave them all disapproving looks, turned on her heel, and stalked off to the kitchen. Harry was relieved she wasn't going to make any more of a fuss, and especially grateful that Vernon was out with Dudley on some father-son bonding thing. Uncle Vernon would not have taken the situation so well.
"I'm sorry," Harry said, turning to his one-time professor, "but do I know you?"
"My apologies, I'm Remus Lupin," he said, stepping forward to extend a hand.
"Nice to meet you Mr Lupin," he said politely, and Sirius snorted.
"Just call him Remus or Moony. He was friends with me and your dad. We were a quartet actually, James, me, Remus and …" he scowled suddenly, trailing off.
"Pettigrew," Harry finished for him, earning surprised looks for the way he spat out the name. He struggled to look embarrassed. "Sorry, it's just- well after what he did, I think I've a right to hate him."
"Of course you do!" Sirius exclaimed loudly.
"Calm down," Remus said, in the reminding sort of way of one who has said something often.
"Right, sorry," Sirius said, taking a few calming breaths. He gave Harry a slightly ashamed look. "I- ah- the thing is, Azkaban has sort of put my emotions out of whack. You don't have to be worried, just- just expect me to be a bit …"
"Dramatic, at times," Remus provided tactfully.
"Is the mind-healing helping with that?" Harry asked. "You were going to get some, right?"
"Yeah, I have been, and it's been helping a lot," Sirius said.
"I'm glad. I won't worry unless you start doing something really outrageous then."
"Well, when you're dealing with Sirius," Remus commented wryly, "that's not really a sign of a problem so much as business as usual."
"Hey!" Sirius objected. "I resemble that comment!"
The other two snorted.
"I can see you're going to be a font of lame humour," Harry said, but grinned all the same, especially as Sirius contrived to look wounded at the comment.
"Just wait till you hear his Sirius/serious joke. Now that's terrible," Remus agreed, adding to the man's pouting. "McGonagall started deducting points from him for using it starting mid-way through fifth year."
"Old Min just didn't understand my fine and distinguished humour is all," his godfather said with a sniff.
"Oh my god!" Harry gasped, laughing. "I dare you to call her that to her face."
The dark haired man immediately perked up, a mischievous look crossing his face.
Remus groaned. "You had to encourage him!"
"Well, what kind of Marauder would I be to turn down such a fine dare?" Sirius said gamely.
"Marauder?" Harry asked, and the man lit up.
"Oh, I have to tell you all about-"
"Actually Sirius," Remus interrupted, "first we should find out what we came for."
"What? Oh!" Sirius sobered. "Right. Erm, Harry, we just came because you haven't replied to any of our letters, you see. And I was wondering," he asked hesitantly, "if you hadn't changed your mind about wanting to visit?"
Harry blinked, then understood. "No!" he exclaimed, but as Sirius slumped sadly he quickly rephrased himself. "I mean no, I haven't changed my mind." And his godfather perked up again. "But I haven't received any letters from you." He pasted on a confused look and said, "In fact, I haven't received any letters at all. Which is odd. I should have gotten something from Neville by now. He promised to write me."
"You've received no letters at all?" Remus asked, concerned.
"None."
"Maybe a Mail Redirecting Spell," Remus muttered to himself. He drew his wand and indicated to it. "May I?"
"Um, sure."
He stood still as a spell was cast upon him and Remus frowned.
"I wonder who put a Tracking Spell on you."
"A Tracking Spell!" Sirius shouted. "Who's been spying on my godson?"
"I don't know Sirius. Do you want it removed Harry?"
Glad for the opportunity to get rid of it without suspicion, Harry nodded. Dumbledore would have registered Sirius and Remus entering the wards, then the Tracking Spell being deactivated, and assumed correctly that the visitors were responsible, and so not investigate. With a wave of Remus' wand, the spell was removed.
"There's no Mail Redirecting Spell on you. Maybe it's a ward. Do you mind if I check the house?" Remus asked and Harry just shrugged. Remus waved his wand, then blinked in surprise. "Well that was unexpected."
"What is it Moony?" Sirius asked impatiently.
"Blood wards."
"Blood wards?"
"And powerful ones. I wonder …" he trailed off, frowning thoughtfully, then seemed to light up in understanding. "Of course: Lily's sacrifice. She died trying to save you Harry, and that's powerful magic. And Petunia being of Lily's blood … I'd say someone – probably Dumbledore – must have set up the wards and cast a spell so that if you dwell with your mother's blood, the protections hold. That's some very powerful magic. I wonder what it can do …"
"Remus?" Sirius called, as the man descended into muttering. "Remus!"
"What? Oh," he said sheepishly. "Sorry, got carried away in thought."
"You and knowledge. You always were a borderline Ravenclaw."
"Yes, well. Anyway, in addition to the blood wards, there's a variant of the Notice-Me-Not Charm. It's one designed to prevent those not in the known from noticing any magic performed in the house or surrounds. It's a standard spell the Ministry puts on homes of Muggle-borns to help uphold the Statute of Secrecy. And then there's what we were looking for: a Mail Redirecting Ward. And it's strong enough, and you've lived under it long enough, that the magic probably lingers on you even when you leave the house. You'd have to do a Magic Cleansing Ritual to clear it up quickly."
"So that's why I've not gotten any mail?" Harry asked, though he knew that didn't make sense.
"No, it's set to allow mail by Hogwarts, the Ministry, people you know, and people with a personal connection to you. Letters from Sirius and your friend should have gotten through." Remus shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know why they didn't."
"I can't believe that someone set up a Mail Ward without Harry's permission," Sirius said, scowling.
"Calm down Sirius," Remus said, again in that repetitive tone. "Just think about it. Harry's famous. Without that ward up, he'd probably be inundated with owls and fanmail."
Harry blinked. Strange that he'd never considered that. Even in fourth year, when Hermione was receiving hate mail for supposedly cheating on him with Krum, he hadn't received so much as a letter on the topic, supportive or otherwise. He shuddered at the thought of all the mindless drivel that fans must have written him over the years.
"Well I for one am glad it's there," he said firmly. "Although, I'd like to know where it's all being redirected to. It is still my property after all."
"That's a good question," Sirius said, but he looked somewhat appeased at having heard Harry wasn't upset over the ward.
"We'll look into it," Remus promised.
"But back to why we came. If you didn't get the letters, I don't suppose you know I've written to invite you over for one of your day visits."
"No, I hadn't. But I'd love to come whenever you're free."
"How's right now sound?" Sirius grinned.
"Sirius, give the boy a chance to prepare," Remus tried to object but Harry seemed to think otherwise.
"Sounds great!" he said. "I've got everything I need on me, so let's go. Just let me tell my aunt." He hurried to the doorway to the kitchen. "Aunt Petunia, I'm going out for the day with my godfather. I'll be back by five. Bye!"
Then he hurried back and out the door, Sirius bounding after him whilst Remus responsibly closed the door behind them all.
"So," the werewolf heard Harry say up ahead, "tell me about this Marauder thing."
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