In your deathbed

Rufus opened his eyes. His office door stood silently in front of him, and the light of the busy headquarters behind it squeezed into the dark room through the spaces between the door frame and the actual timber. Four beams of light flooded towards him dissolving into the darkness before it reached his desk. This light created an array of shapes each painted a different shade of black to appear all around the room. He had never much liked his office, especially when it was dark. There wasn't much personality lining the walls. It didn't have any atmosphere to it. He couldn't understand how this had come to be because he spent most of his time in his office; surely some of his personality had rubbed off on it.

He could hear the sounds from the busy hall beyond the door slowly becoming clearer. The conversations of the many aurors outside were sounding more like the monotonous mumbling he was used to hearing from his office. Every now and then a figure would pass in front of his door and the beams of light would be blocked from entering. Every now and then Rufus would close his eyes for a bit and dose off again, only to wake up a few minutes later to the exact same scene.

He guessed it was early morning. It was winter so it would be completely gloomy outside. Above his head the streets of London would be full of people rushing off in the darkness to buy things for the holidays. They would be wrapped up in their warmest clothes and walking quickly as they rushed from one heated building to the next. The street lights would be on, providing them with some light. The sky would be overcast. The wind would be menacing. He wondered if it were raining up on the surface today.

Nobody had yet bothered to come knocking at the door. All the aurors knew that he often spend his nights in his office. It was common for him to wake up in his chair; his body was used to the funny way of sleeping. Nobody ever troubled him with their problems until he had walked out of his office looking for coffee and breakfast. Nobody disturbed him until after he had found such things. As far as everyone was concerned this was his home. Nobody ever asked him why he was always here. Nobody ever really cared.

To be the Head Auror wasn't the most difficult of jobs. There wasn't really much to do these days. After the war things had calmed down considerably. The only thing he really had to do around here was to read all the reports and sign all the paperwork. Those seemed to be his only responsibilities. He had to make sure everything went smoothly. It wasn't really something he enjoyed. He wasted so many years of his life filling out and filing reports. He seemed to be doing the exact same thing again. He wished things had turned out differently.

He slowly pulled his legs off of his desk where they had been resting the entire night. He wasn't feeling at all too good at the moment. As his legs fell to the floor his body was pulled upright in a sitting position. He had had a nasty meeting with Moody the previous night. After which he had received some terrible news. Haden had been the one to take the boy home. Haden had killed four of the sell swords he hired and only one of the original nine reported back stating that he did not know what happened to the other four. As far as Rufus could tell, they had probably been hunted down by Haden as well. He was shouted at by Fudge later on in the evening, who had heard that Potter had not returned home after school. It appeared that the minister had been doing things behind his back again. Rufus didn't like it when that man did something he wasn't aware of.

Fudge was and idiot; but he was an idiot with power.

Fudge didn't really know what to do with all the command his title allowed him. So Fudge chose to waste some of his best aurors to snoop around Surrey waiting for Potter to return home. If any of those men had found the squad of mercenaries he had sent to capture Potter there would have been some serious trouble. Luckily the minister didn't have the foresight to send those aurors through the village, instead he just stationing them in front of the boy's house.

This wouldn't be easy to cover up. Such a major mess could not be kept quiet. Eight dead bodies lying scattered around Surrey was not something he could hush up. They would have already been discovered. The muggle news would defiantly have something to say about this. Rufus would have to pin the blame on someone before the muggle Police had enough time to investigate the matter thoroughly. He would have to invent another serial killer to keep them occupied for the mean while. The minister would of course also hear about the entire affair now. He would of course feel the need to do something about it. He would organize his own investigation and get the entire department on the case. Eight murders on the same night the boy who lived went missing and in the same village that the boy who lived went missing in, would definitely spark off something in the man's brain.

Fudge would then go off and get the media involved. Everything that Rufus had tried to cover up the past month would probably get uncovered. He would probably lose his job and get the blame for everything. The country would probably demand Fudge's resignation and the entire Department would be pulled apart. There would be chaos. Law and order would be forgotten. People would revolt against the Ministry. The press would be having the time of their lives and everything he had been working towards his entire life would diminish.

He had to find out what happened to the boy and were he was at the moment. Rufus's best guest was that Haden had taken Potter back to Azkaban and if that was true than he would have to see if he could stop by the prison later and take care of both Potter and Black. He would need to get Potter home before Fudge's panic became self destructive and do away with Black now while the minister was paranoid and anxious.

Today would be a very long day.

He pulled on the door and watched as a tide of bright light stormed into his office. He blinked furiously and stepped into the busy ocean that was Auror headquarters. A hand seized him roughly and Rufus shot his head upwards to stare into the lifeless eyes of the warden of Azkaban. "You nearly walked through me old friend." He said softly.

Rufus felt a wave of anger serge through him, causing his muscles to tighten up and his teeth to clench down tightly on one another. He didn't have time for this right now. He didn't want to speak to this man. He wished Haden would just leave him alone for once. "What are you doing here?" Rufus asked angrily shrugging free of his grasp.

Haden shook his head, his eyes darting from one side to the other doing a quick sweep of the surrounding onlookers, "Can't a man visit an old friend every once in a while? Can't a man have a nice chat with an old friend now and again?" he was drunk. Rufus could smell it.

It was odd seeing the man back at the ministry. It felt right. Haden belonged in headquarters. He blended in almost effortlessly. He had never really had problems with fitting in anywhere when he was younger. Haden was cursed with a normal face; an average sized nose, an average sized chin, unremarkable eyes and straight simple dark brown hair. The only thing that looked slightly impressive regarding his appearance were the few battle scares visible on his arms and neck. He dressed like a common muggle; always a pair of jeans and a faded T-shirt. While everyone around him could clearly be remembered by some feature or flaw visible either in their appearance or their behavior; Haden was the type of face you could easily forget once you met him. He was such a normal typical guy. When you got to know him, you realized that below the normal face lay a fierce intelligence and a cruel heart.

Moody had always commented that was one of the reasons why he was such a successful auror. He didn't seem like an auror at all. He never seemed like much of a threat. Rufus knew better however, Haden was the biggest threat to the ministry at the moment. Rufus turned around and headed back into his office. He had really looked forwards to some breakfast but Haden obviously was very set on talking things out at the moment.

His office was still dark and Rufus lazily flicked his wand in the direction of the enchanted windows allowing the shutters to fly up and the dim morning light to flood into the room. He sighed as he sat down in his chair once again and fixed his eyes upon Haden's figure as the man closed the door carefully behind him and seated himself in the chair opposite. "What do you want with me Haden?" Rufus asked straight out.

Haden smiled bitterly, "I would like to talk to you about last nights activities Rufus. I must express my disappointment. If you had done your job properly you would have sent more men."

Rufus snorted, "I am afraid that I do not know what you are talking about." Rufus said clearly. Fudge would have probably tapped his office by now and the idiot would probably be listening in on the conversation like had listened in on his conversation with Mad-eye. Fudge could be very irritating when he wanted to be. It seemed that the ministry was very curious about all the visitors Rufus had been receiving in his office these past few days.

Haden's frown only lasted a few seconds before he finally caught on. With a cautious scan of the surrounding walls he continued, "Harry Potter is missing. Did you hear about it?" Haden's voice had changed it tone severely. "I came here this morning because I have some information for you regarding that disappearance."

"You, are going to supply me, with some information regarding Potter's disappearance?" Rufus repeated slowly. This wasn't like Haden at all. Something was up. Haden was lying.

He nodded slowly and got a nasty little smirk on his face and devilish glint in his dark eyes, "You see, this morning while I was doing a routine check on the inmates, I came across an empty cell. The door had been forced open and it appeared that someone has escaped." Haden said clearly and calmly.

Rufus fell back in his seat. Sirius Black took Potter and ran for it while Haden was probably passed out on his desk. The man had probably been drinking last night, like he did on every other night and the little brat had probably sneaked out of Haden's office and went to go find his godfather. It was a catastrophe. "And who, pray tell, was this prisoner?" Rufus asked after a few deep breaths. He could imagine hearing the sound of the minister's feet already rushing towards them from his office upstairs. This was a night mare.

"Why, it was that Sirius Black." Haden exclaimed allowing the smile to spread and take up all the room on his face. Haden looked slowly over to the door; it appeared that he also expected the ministry to run into the room any second. Of course this would change everything. The minister would demand that every auror be on the hunt for Black; which would require Rufus to give every auror an explanation of what had been happening the past month and that would easily lead to a full investigation into the case. He knew that the eight murders in Surrey could easily be linked to him once the proper people had the chance to research the matter.

When Rufus looked over at Haden's face again, he saw that this was not the only thing Haden had planned out. Something else was up. Something else was happening and Rufus didn't know what it was. He hated not knowing things. Did this really actually even happen? If it didn't; then what could Haden stand to gain? If the story was actually true and Potter did actually free his godfather while Haden was passed out; then why would Haden tell him that in the first place? Haden would get fired by the ministry from his job as Warden. Rufus knew that Haden loved his job as Warden.

Rufus shook his head; he was jumping ahead of himself. Haden hadn't said anything regarding Potter yet. He hadn't said how anything happened. "Haden, was the Potter boy with you last night?" Rufus whispered urgently.

The warden slowly nodded, "I couldn't let you kill him just yet, now could I? I think the three of us should have a nice chat about the Potter boy later today. I hope you don't mind but I invited Mad-eye to your place. For real this time. It wasn't like last time at the pub. I really think the three of us should talk about this. Mad-eye said he should be around at about five-ish. You have a problem with that."

Rufus shook his head. He didn't have time to argue with this now. He would think about this little get together later. He needed to act very quickly if he was going to catch Black. He had to get men over to Azkaban before the minister barged in. It would take hours to calm Fudge down and that was time he couldn't waste.

"-are we going to do? What if Black already killed the boy! We can't let that happen! You know how important Harry is. The press will have a field day! Can you just imagine the headlines? Why did this happen? How could Black possibly have escaped what are you doing about it? And how do I know that you are doing something? You need to put your best men on this thing. You need to find Black! You need to find the boy! You need to fix all of this! I still don't understand how Black got out of his cell and how he got Potter and how they got away! Why are the two of you just sitting here? Shouldn't you be –"

Haden shot him an amused glance, his eyes dancing with laughter and his lips itching for the chance to relax into a smile. He was enjoying all of the minister's ranting. He was enjoying seeing Rufus in the position he was currently in. He was having the time of his life. Rufus on the other hand had never felt so nervous. He had sent a couple of men to check out Azkaban and investigate the scene. He had organized the rest of the aurors into teams that would search the places where Black was most likely to take Potter. He was waiting for a report back. For news of a sighting or signal that Black was captured. It had been an hour and he still hadn't heard back from anyone.

"I assure you minister," Haden said suddenly in an overpowering voice that caused the idiot fudge to stop babbling. "that Rufus is doing everything in his power to catch Black."

Fudge looked doubtful and rather worried. "Do you think." he started slowly, "Do you think that Black escaped to finish the job he started? Do you think he is out to get me killed? Do you think I am in any danger? Because if I am then I would like a few aurors to be stationed at my house, just incase…" Fudge's hands were devouring his bowler hat and the little man was leaning against the desk hyperventilating.

Rufus just continued staring at the man, feeling disgust rise up in his throat. The boy who lived was possibly dead, the wizarding world was a photograph away of finding out that Black had escaped, all the unlawful trials at the conclusion of You-know-who's fall could be made public any moment and all Fudge could think about was his own safety? He didn't need to look over at Haden to know that the man was once again suppressing laughter. This is exactly what Haden had been preaching about the ministry for years now. There was no sense of duty, there was no loyalty, there was no law and there was no real need to try and enforce it. Haden always said the ministry was a circus run by a cowardly idiot. Here he was dying to say 'I told you so'.

"Minister, I do not think Black is out to kill you, I believe Potter is the reason Black had broken out, though I do not know what he plans to do with the boy." Rufus said calmly, "as for the question of 'how did this happen' I think there is some information I need to share with you. You see, Harry Potter was being escorted home by the Warden yesterday afternoon when they were attacked. Haden killed the men and transported Potter back to Azkaban where he suspected it was the safest. Potter stayed the night in the Warden's office and I believe that after the warden, dosed off, Potter snuck out of the office and went to visit his godfather. Black, I believe then somehow managed to talk the boy into freeing him." Rufus finished quickly, and then looked over to Haden wondering if any of what he had just said was true. It was true that Haden had a drinking problem and would most probably have been drunk but it wasn't very likely that the man would have fallen asleep when there was someone he didn't know and didn't like in the room with him. It wasn't like the warden.

"Is this true?" Fudge asked looking over at the Warden.

Haden nodded sharply and shot Rufus a look which couldn't be deciphered, "I am afraid minister that it is." He said softly, "you would imagine the shock I received when I woke to find the little boy missing."

Something was up. This wasn't right. Haden knew something.

There was a sharp knock at the door followed by the entrance of Richard Law, the auror he had put in charge of the investigation at Azkaban, "Sir." He said sharply nodding at Fudge and then at Haden. Richard's eyes turned towards Rufus, "His cell lock was blown off clean with a blasting curse. He had a wand with him. Magical residue on the melted metal indicates that it happened early this morning. Black couldn't have gotten too far."

Rufus leaned back in his chair his eyes fixed on Haden who was still staring at him with an unreadable expression, "Have you checked the Warden's office?" Rufus asked softly.

Law shook his head, "Why would Black linger?"

"Check the entire building this time Law and don't come back until you have walked every inch of that hell rock yourself." Rufus ordered quietly. He was met by the answering sound of the door slamming shut. Last night Rufus had received notification that a Haden had made an illegal portkey. This was his transport back to Azkaban after he had killed the mercenaries. Haden wouldn't leave the boy alone in his office, he was much to paranoid to do such a thing. So how did the other four get murdered and why were their bodies a mile or two away from the ones Haden had killed in the park. Something wasn't right. He was missing something.

Haden stood up, "Minister, like I said before, Rufus knows how to handle something like this. You should relax. How about a whiskey?" he started walking over to Rufus's liquor cabinet.

"No." Rufus said softly causing Haden to pause, "It's much too early to start drinking don't you think?" Alcohol was the thing that created this mess in the first place. "The minister had other things to worry about at the moment and besides I do not want you to drink a hole into my cabinet. If you must have a drink Haden, why don't you leave and go buy your own."

Haden's hand hesitated for a moment and his iris froze over with anger, "Are you really going to be that way Rufus?" he asked softly, "After all we have been through. Are you really going to treat me this way? It's just a glass of Whiskey, you have enough Whiskey here to last me a month. That is saying something. Surely you will not miss a glass or two?"

"Get out." Rufus said quietly. The man had caused him enough trouble. He didn't really want to have this argument at the moment.

Haden smirked sadly, "Say hello to mad-eye when you see him yeah?" he turned around and headed for the door following the same route that Richard had walked a few moments ago.

Rufus was left with Fudge who was still fidgeting nervously with his hat. "Do you think we will find him?" He asked Rufus again.

Rufus shrugged, he really didn't care at the moment. Haden was the only thing he was worrying about. If you gave Haden enough reason to do something, there was nothing that could stop him from doing it. What was it that Haden was trying to do? What was it that Haden was trying to prove? What had Haden done?

He had been right. It was raining on the surface.

Rufus immerged from an alley way and fell into the stream of people that were walking on the sidewalk. This would be the first time he was out of his office today. He had been waiting for any news about a sighting or a capture but so far had received nothing that sounded hopeful. The auror had organized a map of Britain that was divided into grids. Each team had to search a grid every two hours and monitor all traffic that went into or left that grid. They didn't know how Black would be traveling. The man did have a wand with him but the chances were he wouldn't use it too much because he would be afraid of drawing too much attention to himself.

He had also gotten a group together that would search specific locations; all of the Black family estates, all of Black's old hang outs and all his friends houses. Black had only been out for about 12 hours now and there was still hope of finding him before it reached the day mark. Rufus had somehow managed to calm the minister down and had agreed to give the man extra security even though Rufus knew that it was a waste of man power.

He turned the street corner and walked towards the apartment building doors that led up to his flat on the second floor. He needed to come home. He needed to get some sleep. He needed to think about everything that happened. And he had that stupid meeting with Haden and Moody. Something was still not right. Something still didn't make sense. He cursed mentally as he walked up the stairway. Haden had been up to something. Rufus knew when the man was up to something. He was going to corner Haden about it this time. Didn't Haden know that he was the one in charge now? Rufus had lived with Haden at some stage and he knew what it felt like when Haden had weaved you into one of his plans

It made you feel stupid and dirty. It made you feel used. Haden was manipulating you to fit his plans. Everything you did or said was something he had predicted. You could never figure out what he had planned, you could never figure out what your part in that plan was and it made you feel unsure. Rufus hated feeling unsure. He hated not knowing when something was going on around him. He hated it when he wasn't in control of the events that kept unfolding. He hated it when Haden was provoked into hatching his brilliant plans.

Rufus reached his door and lazily swung it open. He didn't really like his apartment that much either. It reminded him too much of his office. It was past five in the afternoon and it was almost completely dark inside. There was no personality to the place. There was a table and some chairs, a sofa and a bed. The kitchen counter was clean and everything was standing in its place. It felt like no-one had ever lived in the apartment. It was something about Rufus's homes that he never could understand. When you went into someone else's house, it usually told you a lot about what that person was like. It was either neat or messy, cluttered or empty, bright or dull. His home just seemed uninhabited.

He walked over to the counter and reached for the light switch. Once he had flicked it up and heard the sound of the light coming on above his head he turned automatically to hear Mad-eye speaking from the table, "I have been wondering when you would pitch up." Mad-eye growled, "You are late."

Rufus shrugged, "I had a meeting, a few actually, I was busy. I thought you would have forgotten about our little get together. Is Haden here yet?" He looked around the apartment and frowned when he didn't see the man.

Moody shook his head, "I haven't seen or heard of him yet."

Rufus opened up the cupboard door looking for something to eat. "He stopped by earlier this morning. I figured he would already be here."

Rufus looked over towards the table at the sound of Moody's wooden leg scratching across the wooden floor, "Haden was in the ministry?" he asked in alarm.

"Yes, he came to see me this morning," Rufus answered.

Moody's face clouded up, "did you escort him out?" he asked slowly.

"No, I told him to fuck off. He was trying to get into m-" Rufus stopped, his hand slipped off of the cupboard door and he felt his stomach clench painfully. He had let Haden leave his office unaccompanied. He had let Haden wander off into the ministry building unsupervised. This couldn't turn out good.

Millions of rays of light pushed past his shoulder and sprinting into the dark room. Each beam a different shade of crimson, ember or orange. The light rays kept running their straight course across the room until they hit the walls on the other side and were caught beneath the varnish of the wooden floors as the burning image of the fire next to him. The room seemed cheerful and busy. The dusty books and trinkets on the many bookshelves lining his walls were gleaming noisily in the brilliant fire light. It looked homely.

With slight amusement, Remus chanced a glance at Padfoot. The man lay sprawled out on his battered old sofa, his long dark hair falling over his face, creating a vile of shiny silk threads that hid his whispering blue eyes from betraying his own amusement. The man's body portrayed exhaustion. His limbs were sculpted in uncomfortable positions. His head was tilted at an odd angle to accommodate the lumpy sofa beneath it. His body was thin and frail. Worn down to the bone in last the seven years and not knowing what to do with itself now that is was able to recover. The only thing that remained alive in him, were those scared blue eyes. Burning deeply with the forgotten memories of his past self and faint traces of the humor that shadowed him when he was younger.

Remus felt his insides clench with guilt and subconsciously he licked at the torn corner of his mouth, where his bleeding lip served as a painful reminded to what happened just hours ago. The little boy sitting in his lap turned the page and the usual gasp escaped his young mouth. Harry turned his head to look up at him. Lily's eyes blazing with awe, deep set in James's 'innocent' face turned his head to look up at him. The same innocent face that Prongs always used to pull when ever a teacher cornered him or his father gave him a calculating look.

The kid was adorable. Remus couldn't help but reach up and pull his hand through the thick black mess that was James's hair through and through. "What is it this time Harry?" he asked the little boy, feeling laughter bubbling in his heart at the makings of James's old 'annoyed' look that blossomed onto Harry's face whenever Remus messed up his hair. He supposed that the sight of a Potter messing up his hair was something he remembered seeing so often and was so used to that being in the presence of a Potter who didn't ruffle his hair bothered him.

Harry bit his lip and turned slightly on Remus' knee bringing the album with him. His little fingers pointed to the first picture on the dusty page. A photo of James and Lily dancing at their wedding. He looked from the picture back up into Remus's eyes, "Mum and Dad are dancing." He said in an excited voice. "Look. Mum is wearing a white dress, and Dad is twirling her all around. Mum is really pretty huh? I like her red hair." His eyes fell back on the photo and slowly with his tiny thumb he petted the moving red locks tenderly as if he could actually feel them beneath his fingers. The dancing figure of James and Lily stopped twirling and with a joyous smile they looked up at Harry and waved.

There was something about the boy that Remus liked a lot. It was that sense of familiarity that surrounded Harry. Everything Remus saw him do or say reminded him of Lily and James. He could see them both living strongly in the little boys face. There was something about Harry that made Remus feel a deep respect and love. In his lap sat the boy that was as dear as a son to him. Harry was something to protect. Harry was something to love. Harry was something that belonged to him. His cub.

"Uncle Moony," he said with his young voice, "look at this one. You are in this one with Sirius."

Remus shifted his eyes away from Harry's head and concentrated on the boy's fingers that were pointing the next photo; another wedding shot that James couldn't resist taking. Remus wasn't really entertained by the photos anymore. He had never gone too long without taking out the heap of albums he kept hidden in the hallway closet and sobbing all over them after a bottle or two of wine. He looked over at Sirius again, seeing in the dark shadows of his blue eyes the dancing pain that he himself had been dealing with these past years. The two of them needed to talk.

Little Harry yawned again as he slowly turned his head to the other page. Remus could tell that taking out the albums had been a mistake. Harry wouldn't leave them alone until his fingers had memorized the smooth feel of every single photo. Remus reached his hand towards the leather binding and slowly pulled the book close until Harry's hands remained trapped in them. The boy's body became frigid and the breath he had inhaled wasn't let go of as it should have. Slowly, hesitantly Harry turned his face towards Remus, his lip clutched tightly between his teeth. There were many emotions flapping about in his green eyes. The most prominent was fear, followed by confusion, followed by hurt.

Carefully Remus let his hand slide to Harry's wrist and he slowly pulled the boy's hands out of the album, "Harry, I promise you can look at them all some other time. For now, I think it is time we put you to bed. It is very late. You are very tired." He needed to talk to Sirius.

Harry's lip rolled back and forth between his teeth. It looked for a moment as if he were going to disagree. Instead he nodded and slowly slid off of Remus's lap. Cooperation was the last thing that Remus would have expected from James's son. It was the last thing he would have expected from an eight year old. It was suspicious.

As he was pushing himself to his feet he looked towards Sirius whose sunken face followed the fidgeting figure of his godson as he slowly backed away. "I think Moony is right Harry." His voice spoke suddenly. The little boy froze on the spot. "I think we need to give you a bath and send you off to bed. It has been a very long day." Sirius's arms suddenly found holding in the sofa and with energy Remus wouldn't have guessed that his body possessed, Sirius pushed himself upright.

Remus took the opportunity to walk forwards and grab hold of the boys shoulder. "We will draw you a nice bath and then I will make us all some hot chocolate yeah."

Harry responded to that, his face looked up and unfroze itself, "Hot - hot chocolate?" he asked softly.

Remus nodded slowly, "With the marshmallows floating ontop if you would like."

Sirius drew up behind Harry and put his hand on the unoccupied shoulder, "Remus is really good at making hot chocolate Harry. He used to make hot chocolate for your mum and dad all the time."

They slowly began walking the little boy towards the bathroom door. Expectantly Harry's head bobbed upwards to look at Remus, "Is - is this. Is that true?" he asked in an awed voice. "Mum and dad liked hot chocolate?"

Sirius was pushing open the bathroom door and switching on the light. His hand left Harry and he walked over to the bath tub. Remus didn't know why but apparently Sirius was hell bent on getting Harry to take a bath. If the boy was obviously uncomfortable with it than it wouldn't be like Sirius to insist. Sirius wanted Harry to take a bath badly. It wasn't as if Harry was dirty. It wasn't as if Harry smelled bad.

When the sound of water hitting the porcelain surface reached Harry's ears the boy's body began to strain against Remus's hold on him. Something came into Harry's eyes. Something that wasn't at all very healthy. Remus slowly closed the door behind him with his free hand, "Yes Harry, it was true. Your mum was addicted to chocolate." He said pushing Harry backwards; closer towards where Sirius was kneeling on the cracked tiles watching them.

Did Harry have a fear of water? Did he perhaps have a fear of them? He himself would be hard pressed to trust anyone he didn't know. If he were in Harry's shoes he wouldn't trust two fully grown men he had only just met when they were alone in a cottage far away from anywhere. But, that wasn't an option. Harry couldn't be that jaded.

Harry's legs were pressing into the bathtub, his body still curled up as if he were bracing himself for some kind of attack. The sound of Sirius turning open the other tap screeched loudly in Remus's ears. He felt Harry flinching beneath his hand at the sound as well. He could feel the boy's heart beating faster and felt as he tried pulling himself free with all his might. Remus didn't let go. He slowly knelt down so that his eyes were level with Harry's. "Let me help you undress Harry." He said softly as he lessened the hold on Harry's shoulder and took hold instead of the boy's shirt. He pulled the fabric upwards causing Harry's head to be lost momentarily inside it. As he continued pulling the arms were forced up and the big T-shirt came loose from around his body.

His eyes traced their familiar pathway back to Sirius's eyes and he saw the man give him a sharp dangerous look against saying anything. Sirius stopped both taps and reached his hand into the water feeling the temperature. "Okay Harry, come on, let us help you get in. We will have you clean real quick."

Harry was no longer held there by Remus's hand. He didn't move at all, his breathing was rapid and shallow. Remus bit his tongue and reached down to slip Harry's shoes and socks off. This was the son of James Potter. This was the little boy he who had vomited on his shoulder just a few years ago. This was the little boy who once set the dining room table on fire when he accidentally got hold of Lily's wand. Remus pulled off the worn out socks and gently reached for the old pair of jeans Harry was wearing.

Sirius moved quickly again with that strength his frail body could not possibly possess. He picked the boy up by the arms and lifted Harry over the edge of the bath tub and put him into the water. Remus flinched away when he saw the bloody marks on Harry's back.

Harry pulled his knees up and hugged them furiously flinching as Sirius cupped some water in his hand and unloaded it at the base of Harry's neck so that it ran down. Padfoot then tried to wash some of the dried blood with his wet hand but Harry shrunk away.

Remus was on his feet again walking over to shower and taking hold of the sponge that hung just inside the door. That was Harry James Potter. The little boy who once fell asleep on his chest while he was baby sitting one night and continued to drool all over him until his mother came home and took the boy upstairs to his crib.

He handed the sponge to Sirius who was consumed by the deep frown and all the thoughts that came with it. Sirius immediately let it fall into the water. He pulled it back out and once again he positioned it at the base of Harry's neck. He then slowly let his hand guide it down the spine and he began gently washing away the dried blood from the belt imprints on Harry's back.

Harry didn't move, he just sat there hugging his knees tightly and staring at the tap with fierce concentration.

Remus left the room. The house had become quiet again. He could hear the sounds of the sponge digging into the water and breaking the surface clearly all the way to the kitchen. With his wand he absently lit the stove and pulled the kettle closer.

He now wished he hadn't closed the album either.

Remus was busy pulling a fresh pillow case over the pillow when Sirius entered the room holding in front of him a very wet Harry wrapped up tightly in a towel. The boy was staring at the floor and biting his lip, his hands curled firmly into the towel. "I got some of my old clothes that you can wear tonight Harry." He spoke quietly to the boy not expecting to get any reaction out of him. He pointed over towards the dresser were he had taken out an old pair of shorts and an equally old T-shirt. Sirius nodded and steered Harry towards the dresser.

Remus put the pillow back on the bed and reached down to collect the dirty bed sheets at his feet. He walked out of the room quickly not wanting to see those horrible scars again. He was back in the kitchen were he dumped the bedding into the corner and walked back to the cups of hot chocolate that had been cooling down for a while.

Upon entering the bedroom again he was met with the sight of Sirius carefully pulling the covers back and holding them open for Harry to scramble into. He padded over while balancing the three cups in his hand, "I made you that hot chocolate I promised Harry." Remus said as he approached the bed. Harry slowly pulled himself up onto the bed and Sirius let the covers fall around him.

Padfoot then turned towards him with a grim face and took the middle cup that was held there by the other two. He slowly let it float towards Harry's out stretched hands. The little boy was leaning against the head board, his hair was wet and sticking to his face and his expression was solemn. Sirius reached for his own and slowly sat down on the side of the bed. "You see Harry, just like we said. We did just like we said we would." He muttered before he drank from the cup.

Remus padded around the bed towards the other side. His instincts told him that this was something that was between Harry and Sirius but his heart told him that he wanted to be part of it as well. Remus slid across the bed until he was sitting right next to Harry his back also pressing against the head board. "It's good hot chocolate, huh?" he tried saying.

Harry was still staring at the cup at the time. He nodded before talking an innocent sip. "Thank you." He muttered towards Remus. Harry tilted the mug backwards and drank deeply. He reemerged from the cup wiping his mouth on the sleeve of the shirt he was wearing. The boy then placed the half empty cup carefully on the side table atop a piled of books.

Remus shifted a bit allowing the boy to smoothly slide down into a lying position.

Once again Sirius shared a look with him. They wouldn't talk about it tonight. Harry didn't have it in him to talk about it tonight. They would talk about it some other night. For now, it would be kindest to let the little guy sleep.

Absently Remus's hand reached down towards Harry's head again as Sirius clicked of the lamp light and curled up next to Harry as best he could in the little space there was between the edge of the bed and Harry. Remus slowly messed up the boy's wet hair; gently brushing circles into his head. Harry was nearly asleep, his green eyes gleaming in the darkness. Soon afterwards Harry's breathing became slower and his eyes fell closed. It was as if Harry's body was trying to escape the conversation it knew would have to follow.

Which was funny, because that knowledge was the exact thing that kept both him and Sirius awake the entire night.