DISCLAIMER! I OWN NOTHING! DISCLAIMER!
Harry could pinpoint the exact moment when his nervousness started to pulsate around his body. He had been walking beside Auror Robarbs, staying close, as not to lose him in the busy hallway. Following the Wizengamot's example the crowd of spectators had slowly started to disperse from the court room, and wait impatiently for an elevator. Which meant that the duo's progress had been very slow moving.
It was that exact slow pace that had allowed the worries to seep into to Harry's head. What would Sirius be like? Would he take Harry in? Or simply refuse? Would Harry go back on the streets? Would he be sent to his muggle relatives? What if his Godfather didn't like him? The questions swirled around his head in a jumbled mass, by the time Robarbs pulled sharply on Harry's dirty clothes, to get his attention, he was feeling quite sick.
Unlike the rest of the crowd, the duo did not walk towards the elevator, they took a sharp turn left and walked down a rather narrow hallway. It had a solid black door waiting for them at the end.
They were standing right in front of the door before Robarbs finally spoke again. 'He's waiting for you inside.' The older man gestured at the door handle. Harry could see his threadbare appearance clearly in the simple silver door knob. His reflection only adding to his nerves.
Harry wouldn't be afraid. His mothers words were echoing in his head 'Be brave, be fearless, be strong.' Harry swallowed loudly and turned the door knob. This was it.
Harry pushed the door with a little more effort then needed. It swung open quick and smooth, ready to reveal its precious cargo. The room was lighter then he had expected, many torches lit the walls, the soft white stone walls illuminated by the firelight. His eyes fell almost immediately on the dirty looking man, sitting on a comfy suede sofa.
'Harry?' His name sounded so strange on the strangers lips. The boy locked eyes with the man in front of him, as he walked into the room, letting the door bang shut behind him. Sirius's eyes looked so grey, so hollow, it made Harry sad. 'Is that really you?' he repeated.
'I'm Harry James Potter' he heard his voice say, unsure of what to do. So he stood, rooted to the spot, his fingers tapping against his leg; desperate for something to do.
'Do you know who I am?'
Harry nodded, 'You're my Godfather.'
'Yeah, I am' Sirius smiled slightly at the acknowledgement. Harry guessed it must have been the first smile he had had in a very long time. 'How long have you known?'
Harry found this a very odd question, but answered anyway. 'Since today.'
Sirius nodded glumly, as if in understanding. 'Yeah, I'm sure Alice had her reasons'
'Alice?' Harry questioned.
'Your Godmother, you've been living with her haven't you?' Sirius's eyes took on a kind of hardness that Harry had never seen before.
'I grew up in the muggle world...in orphanages...for a while now, I've been living on the streets. For the past four years I've been in Diagon Alley.' Harry waited for Sirius to say something, but the man looked frozen in place, so he continued. 'I've been living in the attic of an abandoned building. Its alright.' Harry added as an after thought.
'Why didn't Alice take you in?' his words sounded so strained, his eyes desperate.
'You mean my Godmother? I only found out who she was today, same as you. Apparently Dumbledore left me with my muggle relatives when I was a baby, they took me to an orphanage. From then, I've been on my own.' Harry said this, in an manner of fact tone. Not letting on how lonely he had felt. Such honesty was very unheard of for him.
'Well that explains the clothes' Sirius noted.
'You're not much better' Harry mumbled, the words slipping out.
Sirius ignored the statement. 'Dumbledore did this.' It wasn't a question, but Harry nodded in response anyway. 'I'll kill him'
'You can't!' Harry all but screamed.
'He did this, Harry! He could have pushed for a trial for me! He could have done so much! He abandoned you, with those muggles. Your parents! James and Lily would kill me for what happened to you. I'm so sorry Harry, I'm so so sorry.' Sirius's anger all but fizzled out, his voice turned pleading, the agony as clear as the dirt on his handsome face.
'You can't. If you go back Azkaban. I'll be alone again. You can't.'
A single tear drop escaped Sirius's grey eyes, and drifted slowly down his cheek. 'Come here Harry', he extended one hand to the small boy. Harry walked forwards as if in a daze, placing his small dirty hand into his Godfather's larger dirtier ones. Sirius trapped his Godson's hand in his own, squeezing gently as if to make sure he was really there.
'I'll never leave you again, Harry. You'll live with me, we'll be a family. Just like your mum and dad wanted. I'll protect you, I'll take care of you, you won't want for anything.' Sirius swore, his oath hanging heavy in the air.
The boy and the man stared at each other, a small smile mirrored on their faces. A warm, feeling was building like a ball of fire inside Harry's chest, he felt ready to explode. He had a family. Someone wanted him, it was not a feeling he would soon forget.
A soft knock at the door, tore the two away from their silent happiness. 'Come in' Sirius spoke, his words full of authority. Sirius stood from his seated position and pulled Harry behind him, acting as a shield. The door opened smoothly, revealing to people. One was the Auror Robarbs and the other, a three foot tall little creature. It had eyes the size of saucers, long spindly arms and legs, and bat like ears that stuck out from the side of its head.
'Merry?' Harry heard Sirius question.
'Master Sirius!' The tiny creature sqweaked with excitement. Sensing no danger, Sirius allowed Harry to move from behind him.
'Harry, this is Merry, the Potter's house elf.' The house elf in question, bowed at the young boy, squeezing the package it held hard to its chest before standing straight again.
'Its an honour to see you again Master Harry', Merry beamed at the boy, which Harry returned in full.
'Its nice to meet you too, Merry.'
'That's the first polite thing, I've heard you say all day' The Head Auror Robarbs muttered, drawing everyones attention.
'Nate?' Sirius questioned, in almost awe.
'You're still the only one who can get away with that'
Sirius swept forwards, drawing the Auror into a friendly hug. 'You kidding, you'd let James get away with murder'. Sirius pulled back smiling. 'Harry, this is Nathaniel Robarbs. He put me and your Dad through training.'
'I know. He rescued me from Fudge and Dumbledore'. Harry smirked at the shocked face of the Auror. Its not every day you get hugged by a former criminal.
'Look's like I have more to thank you for then ever.' Sirius said, clapping the man on the shoulder.
'Get this kid out of my hair, and we'll be even' Robarbs joked somewhat seriously.
'Deal. You ready Harry? He asked his Godson.
'Ready for what?'
'To go home.' Harry let those words wash over him. Home.
'Alright, Merry, can you take us in one trip?' Sirius addressed the little elf.
'Of course. To the Manor?' Merry all but clapped her hands in excitement. 'Wait. This is for you', she handed the package in her arms to the small boy. Harry eyed it warily, he had never been given anything in his entire life.
'Go on. Open it' Sirius urged.
Harry sat down on the suede sofa and tore into the brown paper. It was a cloak. The finest quality he had ever seen. He stroked it reverently before holding it up in front of him. It looked just his size. He stood up, took off his old black cloak and tossed it to the floor.
He pulled on the new cloak, jet black, with a golden trim around the edges. Over his heart lay a strange looking crest. He recognised it from the handle of the Gringotts meeting room. Two stags on their hind legs were placed on either side of a shield, untop of the shield lay an ornate knights helmet.
'Thats your families crest' Sirius said, while Harry traced the pattern with his fingers. 'That cloak was your Dad's.' He was surprisingly proud of that fact. It belonged to his Father, and it fit him. 'Alright, lets get going. Harry, I want you to hold onto Merry's hand and not let go'. The boy nodded, uncomfortably familiar with the form of travel he was referring to.
Harry and Sirius stood on either side of Merry, holding each of her hands. 'It was good to see you again Nate.' Those were the last words Harry heard before the awful feeling of being crushed from the inside out swept over him. They landed back to earth in a matter of seconds, this time however Harry didn't feel the need to throw up.
He opened his eyes, and saw that they were standing at the gates of a large Manor house. The gates proudly displayed the Potter family crest.
'Okay, Harry. You need to repeat after me'. Harry turned to face his Godfather, he looked extremely out of place; still in his prisoner uniform and standing on the steps of the most upper class house Harry had ever seen. 'You need to say. I, Harry James Potter, heir to the noble house of Potter, stake claim to the Potter Manor'
Harry repeated the sentence once in his head. 'I, Harry James Potter, heir to the noble house of Potter, stake claim to the Potter Manor.' A shot of light illuminated the wrought iron gates and swung open, allowing entry.
'Well done Harry.' Sirius smiled, placing a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder, pushing him forwards. The trio made there was up the gravelled pathway to the main house.
'How did you know what to do?' Harry asked his Godfather.
'Oh. I was there when your Dad did it. When you GrandFather died, James needed to stake his claim to the Manor. I was with him, as was Merry.' Sirius explained, his eyes locked on the building in front of them.
The Potter Manor, looked more like a small palace, then the counrty home Harry had first imagined. It looked like it had a thousand windows, the front door was easily 5 feet in width and was double the height of his Godfather. The stone was a light maroon colour, complimenting the white window borders perfectly. All Harry could think was, this is mine. This is my home.
'Come on Harry' Sirius urged. Standing with his hand on the golden door handle. The handle itself, looked to be made of pure gold, the Potter crest inlaid beautifully into its metal. Sirius didn't wait for a sign of approval, he pushed the door open. Harry and Merry followed him inside.
Harry's mouth was agape as he stepped into the large entrance hall. Portraits of previous Potters lined the walls, an expensive looking ruby red carpet ran the length of the hall, and Harry was nervous to step on it. He felt completely out of place. 'Merry, would you please make Harry and I some dinner. We'll take it in Harry's room.' Sirius ordered, the house elf smiled happily, bobbed her head and popped out of existence.
'My room?' Harry questioned, barely listening to his Godfather. He was too busy staring at the wizards and witches lining the walls. Many of the men had Harry's messy black hair. They where all smiling at him curiously.
'These are your relatives' Sirius gestured at the paintings, I'll introduce you tomorrow. 'Lets get you to your room.' He held out his hand for Harry to hold. He did so slowly, unsure of the bodily contact. He couldn't remember having ever held someones hand before.
Harry was barely paying attention to the direction Sirius was leading them in, he was too busy staring at the portraits on the walls, or the golden filigree on the ceiling. Everthing looked so clean and expensive. It was more then Harry could have ever have hoped for. He didn't believe he could have imagined a place more beautiful, in order to wish for it.
Sirius lead them up an enormous set of white marble stairs, to the second floor. The red ruby carpet looked to be a constant decoration throughout the Manor. It ran down the centre of every corridor, and even covered the white marble of the stairs.
They walked for a few more minutes, before Sirius came to an abrupt stop outside of a pair of white wood double doors. 'This is your room Harry, it was your Dad's. He told me that, it always belongs to the heir of Potter. The head of house has a room in the East Wing.' Sirius explained.
'Where will you sleep?' Harry asked, excited to finally be somewhere where he belonged.
'I have already have a room down the hall' Sirius said.
'Already?'
'I'll explain everything over dinner' He promised, waiting patiently for his Godson to make the first move. Smiling, wide eyed, Harry opened the doors, pushing them both open as he walked into the room. The late afternoon light shone through five windows lining the far wall. The walls themselves were a dark blue, and the carpet a fluffy cream colour. A large marble fireplace stood out proudly in the centre of the far right wall. Flanking the fireplace was two huge bookcases, filled to the brim. An enormous king size bed, was pushed against the left wall, close to the windows. But what really caught Harry's attention was the large oak wood desk in the left corner of the room.
Harry walked over to it, looking at it in closer inspection. Papers were strewn across the desk, they looked like maps. One was labelled Hogwarts, the others looked to be variations of the same thing. What really caught his eye, were the pictures. Candid pictures of his mother were strewn about, all looked like she hadn't known they were being taken. Harry gathered up the one of his Father hugging his mother in a sea of people. His dad was wearing Quidditch robes.
'Thats your mum and dad, after Gryffindor one the Qudditich cup in their 7th year.' Sirius smiled fondly at the scene. The smiling faces, danced happily in the picture. 'James was captain, had been ever since third year. He usually played seeker, but 7th year he was a chaser.'
'Was he really that good?' Harry asked, smiling at the happy faces of his parents.
'The best. We were on the team together, I was a beater. Your Dad was pure talent.'
'I'm going to be just like him,' Harry smirked. This was it. This was everything he had ever dreamed of. He was going to be brave, he was going to be fearless, and he was going to be strong.