Chapter 3:
Trust...what was it like to trust an adult? Rose didn't have the slightest clue. The only person she ever had to worry about before was Harry, and she was sure that he was the only person she had ever relied on.
It was awkward for her to be walking around in the dark with a stranger but somehow it didn't scare her as much as she figured it would. She didn't really know this Sirius Black character, but he did say he was her godfather. Could it be a trick? She would stay on guard around this person. Trust was not easy to come by in her life.
"So how did you end up with Marjorie?" Sirius asked trying to break the uncomfortable silence.
"Someone is following us." Rose stated simply.
"It's only Remus." Sirius said with nonchalance.
"Who's that?"
"An old friend." He answered.
"So he's not your friend anymore?" Rose questioned.
"No, he is."
"Then why is he following us?"
"He's just making sure we aren't going to get in trouble." Sirius smirked.
"Are we?" Rose asked with a suspicious glance.
"Depends on the situation at your Uncle's house." Sirius chuckled. Something told Rose that she should stop this man before something really bad happened.
Rose stepped in front of him with her arms spread outwards. Sirius looked down at her curiously. "You can't hurt anyone." She said.
"And who would I hurt?" Sirius knelt down in front of her. "If there is no reason to do so, I will not."
Rose shook her head. "No, you have to promise me." Sirius frowned at her.
"Apparently, there is some sort of retribution that should be had here if you believe that I will have a reason to hurt someone." Sirius growled. "But if you insist. I will try to stay my hand."
Rose tried to think of a reason that she should not want her Aunt and Uncle to be delt with, but couldn't think of any other reason then the fact that she didn't want to see anyone treat people like her relations had treated Harry and herself. She didn't even feel the tears that lightly rolled down her pale cheeks.
Sirius smiled at her as he whiped a thumb across her cheek. "These could break a persons heart at one glance." He kissed her on the forehead and stood up. "I will do anything you ask of me. It is the only thing I can do to make up for my years of absence." Sirius grabbed her by the hand and pulled her along as they headed once again for Private Drive.
Harry sat in his cold bedroom under the staircase with a smile planted on his face. Earlier that day Uncle Vernon had been sitting on the front porch with an aluminum baseball bat. Of course the reason behind this was to ward off the owls that had been sending the letters for Harry.
When the owl that was delivering the days letter came into view Uncle Vernon was attacked by the several other owls that had been sitting around the house ever since they had delivered thier own letters. The poor beefy man came waddling into the house as fast as he could swinging the bat every which way, breaking a mirror and two picture frames in the process. When the door was closed behind him the letter floated in through the mail slot and landed gently on the floor.
In all the excitement Vernon had stumbled into Dudley and they both tumbled over the kitchen table, collapsing it to the ground.
Uncle Vernon was sent to the hospital in an ambulance, returning the same day with a neck brace. Harry had been confined to his room since the incident.
Harry never thought he could enjoy someone else's misery so much in his life and wondered for a second if he was like is Aunt and Uncle in that way. Or maybe it was just because it was them who were the victims of such misery. He could not believe he could be like them. Not even for a minute.
But nevertheless he was enjoying their misfortune.
Then in the silence of the night Harry heard the phone begin to ring. Who would be calling at such an hour? Before long Harry could hear Uncle Vernon's monstrous steps slunk down the stairs as he grumbled something about no respect.
"Dursley residence." Vernon stated. "WHAT!?" Harry stuck his ear against the door to hear what was going on. "How?" A pause followed. "She killed Ripper and escaped?"
Harry became very pale. Rose killed Aunt Marge's dog. Something wasn't right.
"Did you call the police?" Another pause. "I'll keep an eye out. She might return for her brother." Just as he said it a nock was heard on the front door. "Just a minute Marjorie, I think she's here." Harry heard Uncle Vernon stomp past his bedroom and right up to the front door. There was a pause where Harry could only assume that he was peeking out of the peephole on the door. "It's her alright, but she's with a really shady looking man. I'm gonna call the police."
"Who is it Vernon?" Aunt Petunia stepped lightly down the stairs along with Dudley.
"It's Rose and some stranger. I'm calling the police. Lock the door." Harry didn't know what to do at that point. Who was there with Rose?"
"I don't think they are going to open the door for you." Rose said.
"I agree." The two of them turned to see the same scar faced man that Rose saw from earlier, and the same man who had been following them.
"So what do you suggest we do?" Sirius asked. "Rose doesn't want any violence."
"Are you a wizard or aren't you?" Remus Lupin walked up to the door and with a wave of his wand the door vanished. Rose had a sense of deja vu as she remembered her bedroom door disappearing in the same manner. "Excuse me, Vernon and Petunia Dursley is it? We are here for Harry Potter."
The Dursleys were huddled in the kitchen like frightened chickens. "Wh...where do you plan on taking them?" Vernon tried to sound high and mighty.
"They will be attending Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They have been accepted already and the school awaits word from them. You need not worry about expenses, it is all taken care of by their parents." Remus explained. Harry listened in wonder. Hogwarts? A wizarding school?
"Where is Harry?" Sirius asked in a threatening way. Vernon seemed to snap out of his fright at that point to answer the black haired mans challenge.
"They will not be going." He spat. "There is no such thing as magic, quit filling their heads with such nonsense."
"Would you like me to demonstrate for you just how real it is?" Sirius raised his wand, but felt a hand grab hold of his and he looked down to see Rose with pleading eyes. Remus pushed the mans wand back down and tried to reason with them.
"It is real Vernon, and we ARE taking them with us. They are destined to be great wizards. It is in their blood. Now, please, tell us where Harry is."
"He's in here." Rose said as she fiddled with the lock on the cupboard door." Sirius aimed his wand at said lock and it disappeared just as the door had. Rose swung the door open and Harry ran out to great Rose with a hug.
"I'm so happy to see you." Rose said. "I missed you."
"Me to." Harry agreed.
"Lets go." Sirius said.
"Thanks for your cooperation." Lupin said.
"Now wait just a minute!" Vernon grabbed hold of Sirius's arm and pulled him around to look at him. "I said they will not be going and that's final!"
"Sir, I don't believe you have any say in the matter, seeing as how I am their godfather." Sirius said smoothly growing more and more angry.
"Godfather huh?" Vernon sized him up. "Why is it if you are their godfather that you didn't see fit to raise the little welps? If you were their godfather why is it they were left on our doorstep? Why would they need you if they have us?"
Sirius couldn't hold back any longer and swung his arm up and Rose watched as her Uncle Vernon went flying across the room and landed on the floor unconscious. The sight of her uncles still body and the tears that were now flowing down her aunts and cousins faces were too unbearable to watch and she fled from the house. Did that man actually just kill her uncle? She didn't want to find out. Harry was right beside her. Apparently he was thinking the same thing because he grabbed her arm and ran as fast as he could, which was faster then Rose could.
"Who is that man?" Harry asked in a panic.
"He said he was our godfather, but I don't really know. I'm too confused right now. He seemed so nice to me." She breathed heavily as her legs began to shake and Harry stopped running and they collapsed to the ground, finding themselves in a park a few blocks from their house. "Did he really just kill Uncle Vernon?"
"I don't know." Harry said truthfully, and Rose began to cry.
"Rose!" Sirius Black shouted "Harry!"
"We should hide!" Harry grabbed Rose and climbed inside of the jungle gym. "Quiet." He whispered.
They watched as the two men walked into the park shouting their names. "You should have listened to her Sirius."
"Don't." Sirius retorted. "I'm not used to taking care of children Remus. James shouldn't have left them to me."
"Rose whimpered at the sound of her father's name." So their father left them to someone who didn't really want them.
"If you didn't think you could take care of them you shouldn't have taken on such a vital role." Remus explained.
"Well, I figured James was going to be around for them. I didn't think that I was going to be framed for killing one of my best friends and I didn't think that I was going to have to be the father they never had." Sirius sighed as he sat on the merry-go-round. "I can't be like James. I wasn't meant to raise kids."
"I won't tell you that it's going to be a walk in the park...no pun intended..." Sirius rolled his eyes. "...but once you take them in and actually get to know them, there will be such magical moments in your life that you won't even care that there are bad times. And I'm not saying magical like what witches and wizards do, but just special moments that can't be traded for the world."
"How do you know all this Remus, how can you."
"Because I've seen it Sirius. I've seen it in James's eyes. He loved those two." Remus sat beside the man. "They need that love. They have lived without it for far too long."
"Why would Dumbledore bring them here?" Sirius rubbed his forehead. "This was the worst thing for them."
"Dumbledore probably knows something that we do not." Remus smirked. "He usually does."
"You're probably right." Sirius stood up and walked over to the jungle gym. "Your uncle is not dead." He said knowing that they were there. "He is merely unconscious."
Rose sniffled. "You said you wouldn't hurt anyone."
"I know...I'm sorry." Sirius put his hand through the bars. "I promise to never hurt anyone again, unless you want me to." Rose wasn't sure whether she could trust him for a second time, but what choice did she have now. She couldn't return to the Dursleys. She would be murdered for all the trouble she caused. So she bit the bullet and took his hand. He squeezed it lightly and let go. "Now, lets be off then. We have a big day tomorrow." Harry and Rose climbed out of the jungle gym and as unsurely as she had taken his hand a moment ago, she and Harry grabbed hold of their godfathers hands and they disappeared from the world of nonmagic folk.