Harry had been missing for three weeks and Remus, who had been wrestling with his conscience for some time, was now waiting outside Dumbledore's office. He was still trying to persuade himself to turn back and continue to cover up his betrayal of trust. The door opened and Remus entered, feeling every bit the schoolboy in trouble, which was strangely fitting, but that didn't make Remus feel any better. The office, however, was empty, and Remus wondered why he had been allowed in. The thought was cut short as Dumbledore appeared behind him, giving him that intense, piercing look of his. Remus felt, if it was even possible, even worse. "You said you had something to tell me Remus?" Dumbledore asked lightly, his tone belying belying the look in his eyes, Remus wondered whether Dumbledore did it deliberately, to put people on the edge so he would have the upper hand. Remus took a deep breath, this was it. He idly wondered whether Dumbledore would ever trust him again.
"Sirius Black is an illegal Animagus," and with that it all came out. His desperate search for friends. James and Sirius figuring out what his symptoms meant towards the of their second year, his friend's impossible acceptance of him. The feeling of truly belonging for the first time in his life. Their subsequent nickname for him and their offer to help in a way that he could not refuse, although he had tried to talk them out of it, saying it was too difficult, too dangerous. Them, even poor Peter proving him wrong and becoming Animagi in their fifth year. The birth of the Marauders, bonded together forever, closer than family, or so he had thought.
Throughout his confession Dumbledore had stayed silent, until, finally, when he had no more energy, Dumbledore spoke. "Facinating, we always did wonder where the nicknames came from. Not yours of course, that was obvious to those who knew, but this does explain a lot. I shall have to tell Minerva. The great secret of the Marauders is revealed. It also possibly explains how Sirius escaped from Azkaban," Remus hung his head, this was what he was dreading, that he was responsible for Sirius' escape, Dumbledore noticed his expression, "I don't blame you Remus, you were young and clever. For the first time you had friends, and not just any friends, but friends who would do anything for you, anything to ease your suffering. If you had asked I would have encouraged you, there was no Wolfsbane Potion then, no other way to relieve your pain. There was no way you could have seen how it would all turn out. No way you could have guessed what Sirius would become. Look at me. This. Is. Not. Your. Fault."
Remus walked away from Dumbledore's office feeling lighter. He could not quite believe that he had finally told Dumbledore his great shame and Dumbledore had not been angry with him, in fact he had told him he understood what he had done. Understood his betrayal, condoned and encouraged it in fact. Dumbledore's capacity to trust often blew him away, and this was one of those times. He was not to blame for Sirius' escape, according to Dumbledore, and that was good enough for him. Good enough for anyone.
Sirius had, much to his own disgust, decided that the safest place for Harry and him to stay was his old family home, at least, for the time being. Someone would eventually think to look there and he wasn't sure he could stand being being back for much longer anyway.
Sirius had found Harry the cleanest room in the house, which wasn't saying much. The old house elf had gone mad since he'd been gone and nothing had been cleaned in at least a decade, but Sirius managed to make Harry's room at least habitable. Sirius had also forbidden Kreacher from telling anyone he was here, telling anyone Harry was here, and just to make sure, he told him not to talk to, or pass on any kind of message to anyone other than Harry and himself. Sirius watched as Kreacher tried to find a way around his orders and felt a guilty, vindictive pleasure when he gave up.
Harry, despite Sirius' own opinion, thought this was the best house in the world. It was the complete opposite of the Dursley's house, it was filthy, dark, and was full to the brim with magic. There were pictures that moved and talked, Harry did his best to ignore what they said, they called him all sorts of names, most of which he didn't understand and Sirius only explained when he promised never to repeat them. The portrait of Sirius' mother had to be crept past or it would scream about filth and vermin. Sirius had laughed for hours when Harry had told her that the only filth or vermin around was her, unfortunately, they had nearly gone deaf due to the portrait's subsequent screaming.
There was the house elf, Kreacher, who was possibly the oddest creature Harry had ever seen, not that he had seen much. He shuffled around the house, muttering under his breath about his precious mistress, as though he didn't realise they could hear him. Sirius had told him that the only reason he didn't get rid of Kreacher was that he knew too much and Sirius didn't trust him not to find a way around his orders not to tell anyone about his presence in the house.
There was the self cleaning cutlery, which Harry, who had spent a lifetime cleaning up after the Dursleys, thought was wonderful. Sirius had delighted in Harry's wonder at what he considered to be simple things and had shown him as many spells as he could. One evening Sirius had levitated Harry up to the ceiling, and an interesting game of catch had occurred. Sirius had pronounced Harry naturally gifted and told him he would make a fine Quidditch player in his time. This had led to Harry's obsession with getting a broom and Sirius promised to get him one as soon as possible. Sometimes Harry was so much like James, it was impossible for Sirius to refuse him anything, not that Sirius wanted to. Sirius had decided early on that Harry was to be spoilt as much as possible, although it was perhaps not the best parenting tactic, Sirius wanted Harry to forget the pain of living with the Dursleys.
There were strange objects that lined shelves and lurked in the cupboards. Sirius had made Harry promise not to touch any of them until Sirius had had a look at them and made sure they were safe, or destroyed them if they weren't. Once Sirius had tackled a rattling wardrobe which, when it burst open, had produced Harry, dead and bloody. It had pointed a broken finger at Sirius and said, "Your fault. Your fault. You promised to look after me." Sirius had muttered a word and Harry turned into the Harry he was now, happy and playing, but Harry, the real Harry, had held a sobbing Sirius for hours afterwards. That night Harry made a promise to himself. He had lost his real parents, he would not lose Sirius or let Sirius lose him.
Once, during his recurring nightmare of what he now realised were his parents murder, he had unleashed some uncontrolled magic, which Sirius assured him was completely normal for a young wizard, and set his room on a fire. Sirius had taken a full half an hour to put out completely, after which he had looked at a frightened Harry and told him, half admiringly, that what he had just done was very advanced magic for his age, then laughed and said, "You're brilliant Harry, and just a little scary," Sirius later theorised that it the shock of learning that his parents had been betrayed and murdered that had awoken the nightmare and caused his extreme reaction to it, and felt guilty for having exposed Harry to the horrifying truth. Harry had objected, saying that he had the right to know, no matter how it made him feel, and Sirius, after a little persuasion, had agreed.
Harry, despite his nightmare, was happier than he had ever been before in his life, but Sirius remained troubled. Although he loved Harry to bits, and remained convinced that any place was better for Harry than the Dursleys, a sentiment that Harry wholeheartedly agreed with, he couldn't help being worried that he would one day lead Harry into danger. Worried that Harry would get hurt, or worse, and it would be his fault. At night, when Harry was asleep and unable to comfort him, he tortured himself with the images of Harry's broken body lying lifeless on the ground, and himself as unable to save him as he had been unable to save his parents. His only comfort was that this Harry was unable to speak the words that the Boggart Harry had.
Dumbledore was pacing his office. Remus's news was unexpected, although it did explain Remus' behaviour ever since Sirius Back's escape, his ever present anxiety which could not be solely explained by his and Sirius' old friendship. The information itself, however, raised more questions than it solved. Although Sirius had plenty of ways to disguise himself as a human, those could be beaten, however finding a large black dog, however distinctive, was rather more problematic. For one the Dementors that were currently searching for Sirius Black would not be able to detect him as easily, not that he trusted the Dementors.
The other problem, and surely the one that had convinced Remus to divulge his secret, was that of Harry Potter's disappearance, which was most likely linked to Sirius' reappearance, although not he would not rule out the other options. Dumbledore had immediately visited the Dursleys after Mrs Figg had reported that Harry was missing. Several things had puzzled him, firstly, Lily's protection hadn't come into affect which meant that there was nothing that had wished to harm Harry. Secondly, Mrs Figg had told him that in the months preceding the disappearance Harry had made friends with a large black dog, which she had considered harmless, even positive, after all, Harry needed friends, even if it was with a dog rather than a human. The dog in question, however, had disappeared around the same time as Harry had and she now considered the friendship rather more sinister.
In the light of Remus' information, this dog was almost certainly Sirius Black. If, however, Sirius had wanted to harm Harry, and most people tended to think he did, he would have had ample opportunity during the numerous months he had befriended him. Also, if his intention was to seriously harm Harry, and especially if it was to kill him, Lily's protection would have prevented him from doing so. Had Harry simply run away by himself? Although possible, it was unlikely, he was only nine years old after all. If, and he considered it safe to assume, the dog was Sirius, then what was he doing befriending Harry if his intention was to harm? Was it guilt over betraying James and Lily? Or, and he hardly dared to think it, could the impossible be true, could Sirius Black be innocent? Dumbledore took a steadying breath and decided he had to investigate further before he could conclude anything, the problem was, and it was a very unusual problem for him, he had no idea where to start.
Peter Pettigrew felt an emotion he had not felt in a long time – guilt. He had heard from his curiously well informed family that Sirius had kidnapped Harry, and Peter knew why. He had destroyed his old friend's life to such an extent that his best friend's son was the only thing he had left to live for. He had regretted his actions in the past because he had lost everything through them, He Who Must Not Be Named had not been the right side to back if he wanted power. Then again, if he had not led Him to the Potter's then He would still be in power, so either way he would have lost. Before he had only regretted the betrayal because of the consequences to him, but Sirius' actions had touched him in a way he had not been prepared for. For once he was not thinking of himself but silently willing Sirius and little Harry on, hoping that they were happy. His new found empathy would not, however, convince him to give himself up. His first concern would always be himself and himself only.