The Grim
Summary: Harry was about to become the-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Blow-Up-His-Aunt. He was positive it was an Auror in those bushes. And just as he was about to put aside his suspicions, a dog emerged from between the bushes. What? Did the Ministry employ dogs as well?
Chapter four. You know the deal. Read and review, and I update. Just don't be mean please.
"Merlin, you never really appreciate a good shower until you don't get to have one in twelve years." Sirius grinned as he walked into the room, blue towel slung around his neck, and wet strands of hair plastered to his face. "Looks like you found the album… those were the good ol' days… pranking the Slytherins, messing with Minnie…"
Harry's head snapped up at the comment. "Oh… Mr. Black…"
"Mr. Black?" Sirius stumbled back, clutching at his chest dramatically. "That stings, Harry. It hurts me that you'd treat your own godfather as if he were a stranger! I can't believe that you're the same boy that kept chucking his food at me every time I came over for dinner… I had to bring a change of clothes whenever I'd visit Prongs' house, you know?" Sirius chuckled at Harry's astonishment.
"Honestly, Harry. Just call me Sirius or Padfoot. Saying 'Mr. Black' makes me think that my father had risen out of the grave to haunt me…" He shuddered before giving a sly grin.
Sirius strode over to the bed and sat on the bed across from Harry, and pointed at the photo that Harry was looking at. "That is one Remus Lupin, chasing after the handsome devil known as Sirius Black, with neon green goo in his hair and an enchanted monkey hanging from his shirt collar that was charmed to think that Remy was its mum." Harry was about to pose a question when a rumble interrupted him.
Raising an eyebrow, Sirius shot him an amused grin. "Hungry, eh?" Harry simply reddened in embarrassment, and nodded after a while.
"Come on! I haven't had a good meal in 'bout twelve years! And trust me, I wouldn't put it past Kreacher to undercook… I dunno… the chicken or something, give us all salmonella, which then lands us in the bathroom for the better part of the remaining night. Of course, I missed going to a clean loo, but I'm afraid that I'm not too attached to it to be willing remain there for hours on end."
Sirius chuckled as he waited for Harry to get off the bed and follow him to the kitchen. Harry was a bit unsteady on his feet, having sat on his behind for a few hours, but was balanced in no time. He held the photo album close to his chest and followed a step behind his godfather.
"I don't understand… Sirius." The name, now that it wasn't spoken out of contempt, sounded foreign on his tongue. Finally, a guardian who didn't hate his guts. "Why would Kreacher do that? And how do you know about salmonella?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
Sirius turned around and walked backwards down the hall to the staircase with ease. "Even if I'm a pureblood," Sirius childishly stuck out his tongue at that. "I hated the whole 'pureblood mantra' that proper purebloods were supposed to follow, and the Black family was a very big supporter of that. Toujours Pur. Always pure. And I'm not, according to my family anyway, so Kreacher doesn't think highly of me, not that I particularly want him to. Besides, I just took Muggle Studies to spite my parents… my mum sent me tons of howlers when she found out. As if I needed to hear her screech at school, too.
"Prongs called me the white sheep of the Black family… and then Moony slapped his head with a book. According to dear Moony, if I were a sheep, then the whole world would explode. As if I could be a sheep. You know who Prongs and Moony are, right?" Harry grinned, raising the album up.
"Right, right…" The rest of the trip to the kitchen was in silence, though not an uncomfortable one, thankfully. Sirius was busy in thought, while Harry was looking around at the grandeur of the House of Black. He had read about the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black in a book back in First Year.
Well, he had really been researching about the Malfoys (not that he'd ever admit to researching about his nemesis) and his eye caught that title. Really, anyone would want to find out what all the fuss was with the blood purity and all that. Turns out that that "Noble and Most Ancient House of Black" was a large supporter of Voldemort. Harry had scoffed when he found out. 'Noble indeed.'
With the exception of Sirius, of course. Now that he looked closer at the man, his bath had done him good. Sirius had shaved, and with the hair went a few years. He looked much younger, though his hair was still as dead as before. He managed to give himself a haircut, although it was a bit crooked. 'A bit is actually an understatement', Harry grinned, since one side managed to be four inches longer than the other.
Sirius' skin was rubbed red and free of the dirt that clung to it, though his eyes and cheeks were still sunken in. The robes were plain, but Harry could see that they were better made than his own. They may have fit Sirius at one point, but now… they obviously were a few sizes too large.
Harry shook his head, his stomach growling at him. Having left the Dursley's during dinner and being rather preoccupied with not committing murder at the table (not that he had succeeded at that goal), he was starving.
They walked to the stairs in that manner, remaining in silence. It was dark in the hallway, with the only light sources being a few candles and light shining in from the outside. "Keep your voice down while passing here." Sirius whispered as they walked down the stairs. "You see those curtains up there." He pointed at the top of the stairs. There, on the patch of wall that they just passed was the pair of curtains from before that he had attempted to peek behind.
"Yeah…" Harry stared in confusion.
"Turns out," Sirius resumed walking with Harry following. "That my dear mum had a portrait of herself taken. She attached it to the wall with a permanent sticking charm, the old hag. Can't get rid of it. I tried just before… your parents died." Sirius shook his head before plunging on, refusing to let that topic constantly haunt them both into an awkward silence.
"The point is, if you're loud enough, the curtains move aside to reveal the blasted portrait and the hag starts shrieking at the top of her lungs. And when she starts yelling…" Sirius trailed off. They were entering a door to the left of the staircase. "Right, don't want to scar you with tales of my mum."
"Just how big is this house anyway?" Harry asked, swearing to himself when he saw another hallway of rooms.
Sirius let out a bark. "They call it a house when in reality, it's a bloody maze. I told you, it's too big. And this is the kitchen." Sirius spread his arms as he walked in. The entrance to the room was actually wide enough for him to do that without bumping into the door frame. "The best place in any household, including this one."
The moment his foot passed through the threshold, the room lit up. "It's been charmed to do that automatically. Phoam!"
"Phoam?"
"MASTER SIRIUS!" Harry jumped, startled. There was a loud pop and something flew at Sirius, nearly knocking him down in the process. "Master Sirius returns! Phoam knew that Master Sirius would come back!" Harry stared, before slowly inching his way to the side. From that angle, he saw a typical House Elf ear.
"Master Sirius is bad master! Master Sirius is thin like twig! Phoam must make food for Master Sirius!"
Sirius groaned. "Phoam… if you were a little taller, you'd suffocate me and I'd be dead."
"NO! Master Sirius mustn't die!"
"Then… let. me. BREATH!" Sirius gasped out as Phoam finally let go of his master.
He bowed low before turning towards Harry. Whereas Kreacher was wearing rags, Phoam was wearing something akin to what Muggle waiters wore with an apron.
"Master Sirius brings stranger to house?" Harry could clearly see the House Elf's face. His build was similar to Dobby's, but there was something strange about his face. Harry frowned.
"Ah, yeah. This is my Godson, Harry Potter." There was a tinge of pride in Sirius' voice.
"Master Sirius brings Master Harry to house? Master Harry be Master James' son?" Harry nodded hesitantly.
Phoam smiled brilliantly. "House be lonely when Master Sirius left. Phoam be missing Master Sirius and Master James." He paused, before launching forward again towards a startled Harry. "Master Harry has same scent as Master James." He was silent for a few moments. "MASTER HARRY IS BAD MASTER, TOO!" Harry jolted at that.
"Wha-what?" Harry looked desperately at Sirius, who simply shrugged.
"Master Harry like Master Sirius: thin like twig." Phoam stepped away and shook his large head dejectedly. "Phoam is bad House Elf. Phoam didn't make food for Master Sirius and Master Harry. Phoam is very sorry." His large eyes filled with tears and started sobbing into his apron, and all of a sudden, Harry realized what was so strange about the House Elf.
Phoam was blind. It shook him that he could miss such a detail, and an obvious one at that. Where Dobby had green eyes, Phoam's were entirely opaque.
He blew his nose into his apron. "Phoam will make big dinner for Masters." He bowed deeply, first to Sirius, then to Harry, before padding over to a fridge. 'No… He can't be blind. How can he see which food is which then?'
"You must have noticed by now." Sirius appeared right next to Harry. "Phoam is blind. There was an accident when I was little… and well, now he can't see. I suppose you're wondering how he can still move around like that? It's that uncanny thing that House Elves can do. They can do all sorts of bloody stuff… in this case, Phoam does some stuff with his magic, and voila! He can see... or something among those lines anyway."
Harry stared at him. "What? It's true! He explained it to me when I was ten or something!" Sirius whined, causing Harry to raise an eyebrow at him. "Fine! Be like that! You can ask him yourself!"
'Heh, turns out I never got the chance to ask him…' Harry grinned to himself. The moon shone through the window as he got ready for bed. Dinner had been eventful, to say in the least. Phoam kept piling their plates with food, and Sirius had thrown up a few times because he ate too much for his stomach to handle. His stomach must have shrunken a lot over the years.
The first time was terrifying for Harry, but after the third time, he got used to it. Every time Sirius threw up however, Phoam seemed to get more excited and piled more and more food on the plate, all while banishing whatever came out of Sirius's mouth.
Harry turned off the lights and climbed into bed, placing the photo album on the dresser next to the bed, took off his glasses, and held his wand flat in his hands, staring at it. He sighed and waved it. "Muffliato."
Now that he was in a Wizarding house, he should be able to cast magic without anyone finding out. Once the shimmering of the spell disappeared, he drifted into sleep.
"It seems you finally decided to visit me." Tom Riddle scoffed, standing in front of Harry with the Basilisk lying behind him.
"TOM!" Harry spat out, reaching into his pocket for his wand, only to find a crumpled piece of paper there. "Wha-?" He unfolded it. 'Better hold on tight.' He scowled and stuffed it back into his pocket. "What are you doing here, Tom?"
Tom chuckled, petting the head of the giant snake slowly, which had risen slowly. The Basilisk stared right at him, and Harry shut his eyes as fast as he could, but just a bit late… But wasn't dead…
"I don't know what you're talking about. I belong here. Now the question is, what are you doing here?"
"What?"
"Haha, it seems that you really have no idea what you're doing here…" Tom rolled his eyes. "Typical. I swear, the people I work with are bleeding morons. Now then, Harry, let's get down to busi – "
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Harry's eyes snapped open as he slapped his hands over his mouth. The scream didn't come from him.
"NOO! PLEASE!" There was begging and pleading, which all pierced the silence of the Noble House of Black, straight into Harry's heart.
'Sirius!' Harry scrambled out of bed, grabbed his glasses and wand, before going into a full dash towards the room next to him. He whipped open his own door, ignoring the loud slam as it swung and crashed into the wall, grabbing the doorframe with one hand to veer him in a sharp right turn. He slammed open the door to Sirius's room and ran in, flipping on the lights and holding his wand out.
He breathed heavily as his eyes focused on the scene in front of him with difficulty. Black dots littered his sight. He focused on the writhing figure on the bed. "Sirius?"
"Bloody idiots. I told you all to keep him here!"
"Relax, Tom. You'll get to tell him next time."
"Next time? Merlin tell me when that'll happen."
Don't ask why Sirius Black knows about salmonella. He just does.
... But seriously, I just wanted to stick that in there somewhere. Didn't really matter where. I dunno... salmonella's one of those words that I like to spell... probably because I spelled it as "cell-moella" or something in the beginning (You know... when you have to watch a video and take notes?). We meet Tom Riddle in this chapter. Any guesses on why he appears in Harry's dream?