Chapter 2
Sirius Black was soon to learn the voice in him had been right and he did not have to worry about his godson being too happy with the Dursleys to leave him. The opposite was the truth.
As six year old Harry Potter got up for the day, he banged his head on top of the stairs misjudging where they lay, despite the fact he had been in the cupboard under the stairs, using it as his bedroom for as far back as he could remember.
Last night when he had been asleep he had been happy though. He would keep it to himself, of course, for he knew by then that Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia did not like it when he spoke about his dreams. Nothing really out of the ordinary had happened except – he had dreamt of a man with black hair and warm grey eyes. And he had been talking to him and he had been telling how much he loved him. And he had said they were going to be together soon.
He knew it was stupid. He knew no one was coming for him, a fact he had accepted on his fifth birthday, that living with the Dursleys was his fate – until he was sixteen anyway. And then he was going to run away and he was going to be happy and he was going to find someone - anyone who was going to be willing to love him in return. And then he would be part of a family. A real one, for he did not consider the Dursleys to be his family. How could he?
But the man he had dreamt of the night before had been so vivid that he had been sure he was real. It was as if he had been able to reach and touch him or he had been able to in the past.
As whenever he thought about the car crash, he wished he was able to remember a time before it and that he had not been so small when it had happened. He wished more than anything he was able to remember his parents.
His aunt and uncle never spoke of them but somehow he knew they had been good people – the best people. And he knew he had been loved when he was with them.
But that was no longer the case.
Pulling out the school uniform that was far too big for him from the shelf, he went up to the bathroom to put it on. He hated having Dudley's hand me downs but he knew better than to ask for other uniform.
He was never going to get it.
The one bright point of the morning was by the time he had got to the breakfast table Uncle Vernon had already left for Grunnings.
Breakfast turned out to be cold toast which Dudley had said he wanted but when it had come he had changed his mind and said he wanted cereal, so Aunt Petunia had had to make some more breakfast for Dudley, and had no time to make some for Harry, giving him the toast instead. Then, in true Dudley style, once Harry had had the last bite, he complained to his mother and told her he had indeed wanted the toast that Harry had now eaten (not that it had tasted very nice), so before school, Dudley had succeeded in getting a bit of his favourite show; Harry being told off.
School was slightly more bearable than being home for Harry. When they had begun at the local primary, Vernon and Petunia had requested the boys go in different classes so Harry did not disturb their sons learning. It was the only they had ever done for Harry which he was grateful for as it meant he got at least five Dursley free hours a day.
Lunchtime break was hell though. When they were safely behind the classroom door, some of his class mates would talk to him almost as if they were friends but at break that was not the case for anyone who was nice to Harry run the risk of being beaten up by Dudley and his gang. Without fail, all of the children seemed to have simultaneously decided he was not worth the risk.
After school it was back to number four where he tried to keep out of his family's way as much as he could and so he had taken to hiding in cupboard as much as he could playing absent mindedly with Dudley's long forgotten toys such as his little soldiers.
But it was also there he allowed his dreams to come to life.
Flying motorbikes! Beautiful kind women with red hair and men who laughed so heartedly together that they just had to be brothers. Best of all, they all adored him. He was always with them and they loved him just as much as he did them.
But whether they were day or night time dreams they all ended the same way. With the dreaded flash of green. He did not know why he hated it but he knew that he did and he would do anything to make those dreams last a little longer some days. In fact, he wanted them to last longer every day. He wanted to live his dreams.
Dinner was a trial that night. They had pasta but it seemed his uncle had wanted meat when he got home as he had such a bad day at work though he did not outwardly criticize his wife when they were in front of their son.
No, he just criticized Harry instead. The way he sat. The way he talked. The way he ate. All of it was wrong in the eyes of his uncle. When he finished eating his little food (as ever, Petunia had given the lions share to her son and husband) he went back to his cupboard and his dreams.
He wished and he wished and he wished that one day someone who come for him. It didn't matter who. Just someone.
Later in his life, Harry would wish he had memories of just who and what he had wished for, because that night, a bang on the door came that changed his life forever.
In the end, Dumbledore went with Remus and Sirius to Surrey. He, just like the two younger men, had had his suspicions about the way that the Boy Who Lived had been treated by his relatives though, unlike them, he had always been able to convince himself that it was best for him if he was to stay in their care.
The three wizards knowing how funny the Dursleys were about people like them had gone to the house under the cover of night fall. They were unannounced for Sirius had insisted that he got to see what sort of life his godson had really been living since they had been separated. He did not want to give his relatives time to make it appear better than it was.
Harry had been surprised to hear a knock on the door so late in the day and there was no doubt in his mind that his uncle was going to be furious at whoever it was. It wasn't really day any more. He knew it was in the dead of night and he did not know who was going to come to number four then. Who would be brave enough to make Uncle Vernon that mad?
Naturally, the six year old sat up in the cupboards and listened to the door for his curiosity was well and truly awakened.
"What the devil are you –" he heard Uncle Vernon say before he stopped dead in his track. Whoever it was he knew it had to be someone pretty impressive for his uncle to be intimidated enough to stop talking. He knew his uncle was used to being the one doing the intimating.
Whoever it was, Harry James Potter knew he liked them already.
"I think you know very well why we are here just by looking at us. I want to see him!"
Harry's little heart begun to race as soon as he had heard that voice.
He did not know where from bit he knew it. He remembered it. And he had loved it once he knew he had. He still loved it... the moment he had heard it...
It was a piece of a long forgotten dream that he had once adored.
Inexplicitly, he felt he needed to get out of the cupboard and he had to see the owner of that voice.
He knew he was. Only – he didn't!
But then he also knew if he had got it wrong and he made it known he was awake, then he was going to be in so much trouble that living with Dursleys as far as he had was going to look a bit like a walk in the park.
Biting back his tears, he listened harder than he had ever listened to anything else in his entire life.
Outside of the cupboard, despite the fact he was in the hallway, Sirius Black was already looking high and low for his beloved godson. They were closer they had been in years to one another and he had to close the rest of the gap. And he had to do it as quickly as he could, for the two of them.
A pair of footsteps on the staircase above Harry told him his aunt had come down as well.
"Vernon, whats goi-"
"Well, where is he?" the voice barked harshly.
"Sirius, come on," a cooler voice said smoothly as if he was trying to keep him calm.
And Harry knew he had heard that voice too. It was if they had been part of him when he had been much younger.
And indeed they had.
"No more, Remus," said Sirius as he turned to face his best friend. He had waited long enough like a good boy and now he was doing what was right for him and for his godson. He was done doing as he was told.
Knowing how unreasonable Dursley, had always been to Lily, so much so that he and Petunia had not even bothered to show up for Lily and James's wedding, Sirius did not wait to be lead to Harry for he did not think he was going to be by that fool of a man. He was going find him on his own.
Instead, he bounded up the stairs. He opened the first door on the right, hopeful that it was going to be the door that was going to lead him to his pup.
"Where are you, darling?" he said under his breath.
Certainly not in that room. Rather than a child, there were just a lot of broken toys inside it.
Then he must sleep in with is cousin, Sirius mused, which he knew did not bode well for him. What if the two of them were close? He felt sick at the thought for he knew it was then going to be a lot less likely that he was going to leave to be with him and Moony.
Turning, he saw the first door on the left lead into the Dursleys bedroom. There was only one more shut door, the third he had seen clearly leading into the family bathroom.
Then this was it. He was going to see his godson – James's baby – for the first time in five years.
He was so excited he could barely breathe; he had missed him so much! Putting his hand gently on the door handle, he gently pushed it open instead of throwing it open as he had done when he had opened the door that lead into the to first room for when he was so sure he was going to be in there, he did not wish to alarm the little one. Not his little one.
When he got in there, he saw Harry was hiding under the covers. It did not even register in his mind that there was only boy in the room and any son of James Potter's would never hide under the duvet covers. He had it in his head that the lump on the bed was his god son and everything he had been living for so long and in that moment, he had to say that was all that mattered to him.
"Oh baby..." he said as he begun to pull back the covers.
"YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!" A cry interrupted him from the door. Before he knew what had happened Lily's sister had come into the room and she was like a lioness, trying to get passed him to the lump on the bed.
Realising what had happened but knowing for his own peace of mind he had to check, roughly, Sirius pulled the covers away.
A large, pinked faced blonde haired boy was revealed to him and he knew there was no way that was his godson for he did not think he could ever claim responsibility for – that. He felt a revulsion for the boy straight away before he turned on the women.
"I swear you do not want to keep me waiting. Tell me where my Harry is." He growled as he pinned Petunia against the wall for when it came to Harry he did not think he was above anything. There was nothing he would not do.
There was a sick feeling in his stomach and he knew something was wrong here. He had to know what it was.
Very wrong indeed.
"Where - is - Harry?" he barked.
"Mummy," the boy on the bed whimpered.
"Its ok duddykins!" she said to him with a smile and it was then Sirius knew he could not do it.
He was not Voldemort and he was not going to harm a mother in front of her child.
He couldn't.
Instead, he turned from the room furiously, rushing down the stairs where Remus, Dumbledore and Vernon still stood.
Ignoring all three of the men, he went into the living room trying to look for inspiration. He knew his pup was there, he knew it, he could feel him so close and yet he had looked in all of the bedrooms and he had not been there.
So if he wasn't upstairs then, where was he?
He looked about the living room and his thoughts were broken for it was not just that there was an absence of Harry upstairs.
There was not a trace of the boy anywhere.
Petunia obviously liked to have pictures up for portraits and pictures of herself, Dudley and Vernon lined every wall but there was not a single indication that Harry had ever been there. Not one picture.
What if he had got it wrong? What if Dumbledore was lying? What if Harry was still a million miles away?
"Oh pup." He said in despair as he sat on the couch and finally seemed to admit defeat for a moment. He was a broken man. Having not found Harry when he had gone into the house hurt him more than Azkaban ever could have, even if he had been guilty.
Where was he? He knew he was letting James and Lily down so badly and that was the last thing he wanted to do.
He did not know what to do or where to go from there. He could check the kitchen but he did not think he was going to be able to take another disappointment at that moment and if he wasn't careful, then he was going to be put in jail again. He had to keep calm. He had to hold his nerve. But his blood was boiling...
All he wanted to do was to see his godson. Why was that such an unreasonable request?
In the mean time, Harry sat frustrated in the cupboard. Why had it gone so quiet suddenly and why was the man not checking the cupboard. He knew his Uncle Vernon was just outside of the door with the other men it sounded like. He knew all their voices from... somewhere.
"Mr Dursley, please tell us where Harry is? We just want to know he is ok?" a cool voice said. It was laced with both years and wisdom.
"I will not tolerate any of you in house any longer. Have you not disturbed my wife and child enough? Go! Get out!" he ordered but Harry knew that was going to have no effect.
"That did not answer my question Mr Dursley."
No, it did not thought his nephew venomously from behind the door. All they wanted to do was to see him and he wanted to know why. He had to get out of there. He had to see them!
And so he had a split second decision to make. Did he let his first chance of freedom for years go or did he alert them to his present and risk the wrath of his uncle?
It had to be worth a go, didn't it?
And so instead of sitting quietly as he had been doing so this far, he begun to bang on the door.
He had to get out. He felt suddenly very claustrophobic.
"PLEASE LET ME OUT!" he cried desperately, and it was as he said those words that he really did begin to cry and to big boulders of tears dropped on to his cheeks. "PLEASE –E- LET ME OUT-T!"
It was those words that brought Sirius back from the edge. He had been so close to going over it, after all he had been through since he had lost James and just like that Harry saved him without knowing it.
He turned to the hallway for he was sure the voice had come from that direction.
When he got there he saw Vernon had gone almost purple and Remus had a horrified looki on his face as he struggle to open the latch on the cupboard under the stairs.
"Harry kiddo, come on where are you?" he almost yelled even though he was so close – he just had to know he was there. But he did not want to accept that his... his godson was being treated like - like that!
"IN HERE!"
He knew it as soon as he had seen Remus trying to open the door but he had been praying it was not true. In fact he would have done anything for it not to be true.
But it was.
Throwing a look that could have struck him dead, Sirius pushed Vernon away so he and Remus could be the first things Harry saw when the door opened. He did not want that man anywhere near Harry. Though he was fuming, he was still only too are of the fact that he did not wish his godson to fear him. That was no way to begin their new relationship he wanted for the two of them.
When the door opened, even if he had not been told it was Harry then, he knew he would have known him for his godson. God, he looks so like his father, was his only thought.
He was looking at a mini James. A mini upset James.
He had so many emotions in his eyes. Too many emotions for one so small to have to deal with.
When the door opened, Harry could not believe it. Two men were there but the first one took his breathe away for he had been the man he had seen the night before when he had been asleep. He was the man from the dream. The kind man with the grey eyes who had said he was going to come for him and he had. He had kept his world.
Harry's tears stopped for a moment as he tried to take it in that his dream had true and he was really there.
Perhaps too eagerly, the man leaned forward and pulled him out of the cupboard for it killed Sirius to see his godson kept in such a fashion. He was perhaps a little more forceful than he had wanted to be and had moved quicker than he should have...but he had to get him out of there. He had had too! That was understandable, wasn't it?
The two of them looked at one another and Harry tried to place him in his memories because he knew he had seen him before. He knew it in his bones, in his very heart, he knew this man.
And he was a good man.
"Oh, Harry, it is so good to see you," he had not seen so much affection in someone's eyes for him in years.
He did not know his name, his age, anything about this man. But he knew he was all he wanted and all he had wanted for so long. So when the man leaned forward to hold him in his arms, he let him. In fact, he did not just let him but when he had picked him up, he tightly clung on to him as if he was a life line which Sirius had unknowingly been for the buried little face in his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry," sobbed Harry as he tried to control himself, only to find he could not. He had learnt a long time ago when he had been young that no matter what happened to him, he must not cry for it never got him anywhere. It never helped his case with Vernon and Petunia.
But this seemingly uncommonly kind man who had come into his life exactly when he had needed him the most did not seem to mind.
"Don't you dare say sorry. It's me that's sorry, Harry. I should have been here for you so much sooner than I was. But I am here now, pup, and it is all going to be ok."
Sirius did not think he was ever going to get over what he had just seen. A young lad, a tiny little boy using a cupboard as a bedroom. He would not treat an animal the way and that was the way the Dursleys had treated Harry. His Harry. Sirius' hand found his godsons hair and he smoothed down the ends as he cuddled him close. He was not ever going to let him go... not ever.
He looked up at his old teacher and it was at that moment that Dumbledore knew that everything Sirius had said in the flat was off. Even if Harry begged to stay which did not seem very likely, he was still going to drag him away. He was going to give him a real home once more.
"I am here for you now and I am never going to leave you again." He said with so much passion in his voice that Harry had to believe him, he had no other choice.
Sirius was a link to the past he had never known. He said he had missed him and Harry knew he had not been in contact with him since he had been with his aunt and uncle. That meant he knew he must have known him when he had been with his mummy and daddy.
Sirius knew he had to tell the lad who he was and he knew he was confused. Rightly so. Harry was about to go through a lot of changes for such a young boy but if he was anything like his father which he already seemed to be, then he knew he could take it. And Harry did not seemed to care who he was by the way he was burying his face in his shoulder, like a little animal nestling into its mother.
"Do you know who I am?" he said, as he pulled back from Harry realising tears were on both of their faces.
Harry shook his head not sure he even cared.
"I know you're good." He said to him. It went without saying that that was enough for him.
Sirius beamed.
"I am. But more importantly, Harry, I am your godfather," he said softly. "And I have been away, but I'm back now, I'm back for good. And if you will let me, I am going to look after you. I will look after you, beautiful little boy, forever."
It was all the young lad had wanted to hear for so long and he could not help but think this man who had come was a dream come true. He had been everything he had ever wanted in about two minutes.
Harry did not need to know any more.
He just wanted to have a chance at a new life.
"Right Moony, then I think we are ready for the off." Sirius said as he continued to hold on to his godson both tightly and tenderly. His eyes scanned the cupboard but there did not seem to be anything of great value to Harry in there for he had forgotten it already it seemed.
No, when they we got back to the flat he was going to be able to work out what Harry needed and then he would get it for him. He did not want any bad memories of the past with them when they begun there new life. Everything was going to be new – unless he was able to find out what had happened to the toys and blankets Lily and James's had got for him when he was a baby. And photos. Lots and lots of photos of all of them.
Remus looked as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders for the first time in years and there was a real smile on his face as he saw James's son back in Sirius' arms. It was where he belonged.
A lot more suddenly seemed right with the world. And he knew they were going to come through it together, the three of them. Once more they were a family.
Just as they were going to go out of the door though Sirius turned back and with a sneer on his face he remarked causally, "don't get too comfortable Dursley. Me and you are going to be needing a little chat soon."
And with that remark, Harry Potter was whisked out of the door and into a Dursley free life.
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