Harry was lost in a storm of emotion, a conflicting mess that left him unable to find words.
There was joy that his godfather was alive and here, wanting a relationship; there was regret that he had cursed Peter Pettigrew's name, now knowing his sacrifice; there was despair at his godfather's treatment; there was anger at the traitor, for keeping his godfather away and leaving him with the Dursley's; there was concern, and confusion, and fear too, about what his godfather had done and the friends he had made while gone.
Nasrin felt all of it, even understood how disorienting this whole situation must be, and bumped her forehead against his, trying to project calm into the storm.
Yes, all of this was confusing and unfair and a touch worrying, but they had gotten through worse before, and Sirius was there now, wanting to be a part of their lives, and his choices did not change that he was family.
Settled, Harry nodded and turned to a silent Sirius, resolute.
"None of that matters."
"What's important is that you're here now."
"You did what you had to do." Tonks agreed.
"No."
Eevee and Pongo paused in their usual wrestling, falling quiet.
"As much as I'd like to claim that, that I did what I did only to survive, it isn't true. Helping Jack and Jonas wasn't something I needed to do, but something I wanted. The choices I've made, I won't let you cast them aside by claiming that I 'needed to do them'. Did joining the Sons save my life? Of course, but not in the way you think."
Sirius sighed, leaning back in his seat to stare at the ceiling.
"Your dad was my best friend, Harry. He saved me from…Well, let's just say that the Black family wasn't one to play on the side of the angels. Our history was full of dangerous men and women that sought out power and control. They make the Sons of Johto look like pixie fairies. Murder, betrayal, backstabbing, open theft…These aren't the Black family secrets, but their prideful codes of conduct. For eleven years, I was told about what my duties were to the Family and what was expected of me. When I got on the train for Hogwarts…Merlin, if I hadn't chosen the cabin I did, I could have ended up like that prick Lucius Malfoy, caring only about my station in life and trying to find ways to take from others in order to better my standing. But instead of picking the cabin to the right, I picked the one to the left, and there was your father, with his messy hair and glasses thicker than yours. Oh, he grew into his looks, Harry, and before we graduated, he had only yours truly standing in his way of being the most desirable male in Hogwarts-"
Tonks coughed, which sounded suspiciously like the word 'bullshit', while Snow fixed the man with an unimpressed expression matched easily by Robin and Hedwig.
"But back then, he was just this small, scruffy-looking thing. And I just stared at him, and he said, with a cocky little smirk, 'well, well, well, the first kid I get to corrupt'."
His smile was fond and genuine at the memory.
"And did he ever. Your father opened up my eyes, Harry, and before that train ride ended, I knew for a fact that there was no way I was going to be a Slytherin. Not when James Potter had already decided to be a Gryffindor."
"Decided?" Tonks interrupted, frowning. "Slowking-"
"Let's you pick, if you have a strong enough will. James should have been in Slytherin. Slowking fought with him for about two minutes on that before it finally let him be in Gryffindor. The way James tells it, he finally argued that no true Slytherin would ever pick to be in Slytherin because that's advertising you're cunning."
"Slowking said I could be in any House." Harry agreed. "I'm not sure if I picked, or he was just guiding me towards the answer he wanted, but in the end, I was a Gryffindor."
"He showed me memories of my family, and asked who I wanted to grow into." Nasrin added. "I ended up a Gryffindor, too."
"Some of us did it the correct way." Tonks muttered.
"Where's the fun in that, Nymphie?" Sirius teased, laughing at her returning glare.
"Is there a point to this, or are you just trying to annoy us?" Tonks huffed, cheeks puffing up as Sirius laughed harder about 'huffing Hufflepuffs'.
"I don't think Harry or Nasrin's annoyed. Are you, kiddos?"
"Remus taught me never to disagree with a woman if I wanted to live to see adulthood." The Potter admitted, a giggle escaping Nasrin.
"And that's why Remus is the smartest of us all. Probably why he's the only one to make out of the war, out of the four of us." Sirius voiced, smile dimmed. "The point is, James Potter changed the entire direction of my life, and without him, I don't want to even consider what kind of git I would have become. He was my rock, and when he died, I was lost and adrift. Samson wasn't there to pull me back, we lost him barely a year before…If I had known you were alive, Harry, I think that would have been enough, but with nothing left of your father in this world, I probably would have killed myself if I weren't scared of meeting him on the other side and having to explain why I failed him."
The man paused here, gaze falling to his boots, and Nasrin felt the guilt that pervaded his mood.
"If Jack and Jonas hadn't recruited me, I would have either spent my entire life on that island…They gave me a purpose and kept me sane, and smacked me across the back of the head when I got too gloomy. They were my friends when I needed friends the most, and for that, I will never degrade what I did for them in return by claiming I didn't want to help."
"Well, glad they were able to do that when we couldn't." Tonks voiced, bopping him upside the head with her fingers.
"But now you have us!" Harry and Nasrin added, smiling.
"That I do."
"Just imagine how everyone's going to react when we tell them you're alive!" The Auror gushed, excited now.
"We can't tell them."
Silence fell over the group, Pokemon turning to face them, and Sirius explained.
"There's nothing more I'd love to do than reveal that I'm alive and rub it in Lucius Malfoy and his ilk's noses that I survived. And believe I will one day. But not just yet. Not with that grunt still out there."
"The grunt?" Harry parroted, sensing the thoughts racing behind Nasrin's dark eyes.
"The traitor who killed Peter and led Voldemort right to your mum and dad. He's still out there somewhere, and until I find him, he'll be a threat to us all."
"Sirius, no." Tonks protested. "Let the government deal with that! Once you tell them the truth, they'll be tumbling over each other wanting to find the traitor first. There'll be manhunts and bounties and-"
"No."
The Auror paused, meeting Nasrin's steady gaze in surprise.
"Lucius Malfoy was one of Voldemort's most trusted lieutenants. He never denied that he killed and raided in his name. And he's the most powerful Gym Leader in Avalon, with the Minister under his thumb."
"Okay, you have a point…" Tonks admitted, shifting uneasily. "But that doesn't mean-"
"Goyle, Crabbe, Nott, Parkinson." Sirius listed easily. "Those are just four of the Families who openly declared themselves for Lord Voldemort. All of them are still around, free to do what they like because they were able to claim that they were forced and threatened to aid Voldemort, or that Team Nocturne ran a smear campaign against them, making them out to look like murderers and thieves when in 'reality' they were duped into aiding Team Nocturne and didn't realize until it was too late what their motives were. You honestly want me to trust the government that lets half of the senior leadership of Team Nocturne not only walk around free, but gives them rewards? James and Lily died, and the Avalon government's response was to give Lucius Bloody Malfoy, a member of the group who murdered them, a Gym of his own and let him take James' spot as leader of the Gym Leaders!"
Sirius almost growled at that, hands balled into fists.
"If it were just stupidity, well, I might be willing to forgive stupidity. I've done plenty of stupid things myself. But no…No, it isn't just stupidity, but corruption and greed that runs through the heart of Avalon's government. Do you know who gave the most to Cornelius Fudge's campaign for reelection last time he ran? Lucius Goddamn Malfoy, that's who! That bastard has the Minister wrapped around his little finger, and has enough of the Gym Leaders in his pocket to ensure that they vote as he wants. I would probably last maybe a week after 'returning from the dead' before they found some way to pin James and Lily's deaths on me. Hell, that's assuming they would even recognize me as Sirius Black and not some imposter!"
"It can't be all that bad…" Tonks tried, desperation bleeding off her skin and tingling over Nasrin's skin.
But they vividly remembered how Fudge had sucked up to Lucius when the Head of House Malfoy tried to bully Hermione into an interrogation, how Lucius had tried to have Voldemort possess her, how he had tried to claim Zygarde when all else failed…
Harry knew that Nasrin would never allow them to railroad Sirius, but there were other ways to handle this.
"There must be someone else you can get to help you?" He tried. "Remus, or Professor Dumbledore-"
"Harry…Harry, no." Sirius deflected. "The only people on Avalon that I want to know about me are all in this room."
"Why?" Tonks asked, confused.
"Because I can't trust anyone but you three. It would be smarter not to. My original plan was to keep my identity a secret from even you. We have no idea who the traitor is."
"Not Remus." Harry defended, steadfast, and Nasrin's eyes flashed.
"Not my Gems."
"I don't think it's them, either, but I can't rule it out." Sirius explained, his clear discomfort enough to assuage their upset.
"I still don't like it." Tonks repeated, arms crossed.
"I don't like it either, Nymphie, but there are a lot of things in the world I've learned to live with that I don't like." Sirius agreed, rubbing at his eyes with a weary sigh and only blinking a moment when Snow offered a glass of water with her Extrasensory.
"Thanks." He muttered, taking a deep gulp before continuing. "The traitor could be anyone. The fact that he-"
"Or she." Nasrin pointed out.
"It could have been a woman who was disguising her voice." Harry agreed.
"Wonderful, we can't even nail down the gender!" Tonks complained, arms flailing.
"-He or she dressed like a grunt and never revealed their face, even when there was a chance to gloat, tells me that this is someone who didn't want the world to know they were part of Team Nocturne."
"Or they just wanted you to overthink things." Harry and Nasrin echoed.
"Stop doing that!"
"The point is that it literally could be anyone I know." Sirius voiced, regaining control of the conversation. "The traitor said they know me-"
"But maybe…"
The Third Years trailed off at the look Tonks sent them, wisely deciding not to press their luck.
"-And his or her actions made it clear that this was personal." Sirius continued. "It could be one of my classmates, or a member of the Order of Moltres, or someone I met during the war. There's no way to know until I uncover his or her identity, and until then I can't trust anyone. Yes, most likely Dumbledore isn't the traitor, but his barber could be. Remus probably isn't the traitor, but his girlfriend-"
"Remus doesn't have a girlfriend." Harry assured.
"He doesn't? Seriously? By Merlin, does that man want to die a virgin or something?"
"Focus." Tonks pressed, eyes rolling as Robin and Hedwig snickered behind their wings.
"Right. The point is that, not only to protect me, but to protect all of Avalon, we need to keep this a secret. The moment that it comes out that I'm alive, the traitor will either come gunning for me or go underground, and I'll lose the chance to avenge James, Lily and Peter."
Nasrin could sense his conviction, and glanced to Harry, shoulder shrugging in defeat.
The fact this plan was necessary chaffed, but it was the only way to protect everyone and catch the traitor.
"Okay, we'll do it your way." Tonks relented, knowing a losing battle when she saw one.
"Thank you." Sirius breathed, eyes drinking them in like a thirsty man in a desert. "You have no idea how much I want to stay, kiddo, but I need to get going and you do, too. We've already stayed way too long, and soon people are going to ask even more questions than they already are."
"What will you do now?" The Auror wondered as he recalled Empoleon before retrieving his skull mask.
"The Lord of Sevii is going to tour Avalon for a bit before returning to his island. I'm going to use my time to gather as much information about the end days of the war, and try and figure out exactly who did what. The whole thing is a spider web, and sitting right in the middle will be the traitor. I need to chance the strands though, before I can consider making a more aggressive move."
Standing, he placed a hand on Tonks and Harry's shoulders.
"But I'll be around, and I'll be keeping an eye on you when I can. I have some powerful friends now, and they'll be helping me, too. Jack and Jonas still owe me a few favors, and I'm willing to owe them some as well if they can help me figure this all out. The important thing you three can do is act normal and not go off the handle trying to figure things out for me."
Harry and Nasrin ducked their heads at the long stare leveled at them, Eevee and Pongo pressing against their shins.
"I was young and a Gryffindor once, too. And I've read about your adventures. For me, try and behave."
"Remus made me promise the same thing." Harry noted, amused.
"And then the Chamber of the Unown opened." Nasrin finished, biting her lip on a smile.
"So, in other words, I'm screwed?"
"Pretty much." They echoed back.
"Bugger."
With one last check, Sirius nodded to himself.
"Know that I love you both, and I'll do all I can to end this as soon as possible."
With lingering goodbyes, he was gone, and Rapunzel squeaked, confused, in perfect time with Tonks' next words.
"So, what the hell do we do now?"