AUTHOR'S NOTES: Lily's coming back into the picture quickly because I need her to get Sirius off the hook. Hope you all like!
reminder: words in bold are in sign launguage
Chapter 2
Entering a place he never thought he'd step foot in again, Sirius could dimly hear the sounds of the old house-elf, Kreacher, moving around upstairs. Once Lily was inside, he closed the door. "It's not much, but…" Lily didn't reply and after a while, Sirius figured that she was mad at him. "You can't imagine how I angry I've been with myself for what happened. I wish I hadn't—"
"It's not your fault, Sirius," Lily said, looking at him. "We trusted Pettigrew… Sirius… why were you in Azkaban?"
Sirius led Lily to the dusty drawing room and after magically clearing the dust and cobwebs from one of the sofas, they sat down, facing each other. "After I found James dead… and I couldn't find you… I picked up Harry and tried to comfort him. He wasn't crying that much, but… he didn't know what had happened, so… Hagrid came… said that Dumbledore wanted to place Harry with the Dursleys. I let him go… before I went after Pettigrew."
"To kill him," Lily supplied.
"I wasn't thinking," Sirius explained. "All I wanted was revenge. But what about you?"
Lily sighed and leaned back on the sofa. "When Voldemort attacked, James, Harry, and I were all in the kitchen. James told me to run, but I couldn't… If there was any chance to save James… Voldemort burst in… and James sacrificed himself to give me a few moments to get Harry away. When Voldemort used Avada Kedavra on me… I don't know exactly what happened. It was like I was dead, but not really. There was some kind of invisibility charm on me, as well. I saw you take Harry, but… I couldn't move or speak." She took a moment to regain her composure before going on.
"When I finally came out of… whatever stasis I was in, I changed into my animagus form and started looking for Harry," Lily said. "Eventually I ended up in Eeylops' Owl Emporium and I was trapped there for almost 8 years. I never… I didn't care about being human. If James and Harry were dead…" Seeing Sirius's stricken face, Lily look his hand. "James is dead… but Harry's alive. He's in his third year at Hogwarts."
"Can we go see him?" Sirius said, quickly. "Is he okay? What's he like?" After a moment Sirius's brow scrunched in curiousity before a look of comprehension lit up his face. "You're Harry's owl, aren't you? But why haven't you…?"
"'Harry, I took off because I thought you were dead and I spent 8 years stuck in a cage in a pet shop'," Lily said, looking at Sirius. "I didn't know what to say… then I figured maybe I should wait for a while… Besides… there are… complications."
"What kind of complications?" Sirius asked, confused.
Lily sighed, her temper starting to rise as she thought about her son. "It seems that Vernon Dursley… his daughter is a witch as well."
"Bet she's popular at home," Sirius replied, frowning.
"She had a bad ear infection," Lily went on. "She's completely deaf. Vernon tried to choke Harry and… Harry can't speak."
Sirius leaned back and tried to think. "We have to get them out of there, Lily."
Lily nodded in agreement. "I know. But first we have keep them safe. Vernon's sister, Marge is coming this evening and I can't imagine that will go well."
--
"Still here, are you, you ungrateful brats?" Marge Dursley snapped as she came into the house behind Vernon. "Don't know why you didn't just dump them in an orphanage after that whole mess, Vernon."
"It would have made the neighbors talk," Petunia replied, glaring at Camille and Harry. "Take her things upstairs. Now."
Harry grabbed one bag and gesturing to the other, headed up the stairs, Camille following. After dropping off Marge's things in the guest room, they quickly went in their own room to converse in private. 'Does she always have to marinate in her perfume?' Harry asked, sitting on his bunk.
'I liked the way she suggested that Dad should have taken us to an orphanage. Like he had nothing to do with me being deaf and you being mute,' Camille replied, rolling her eyes.
'Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if you weren't here,' Harry mused.
"Get down here NOW!" Petunia shouted from the stairs.
Harry followed Camille out of the room and when the two got downstairs to the kitchen, Harry heard Marge saying, "Sometimes it's just bad blood, Petunia. You got the good genes. Shame your sister didn't… probably married the drunken loser when he got her pregnant."
Camille could feel the electrical crackle surrounding Harry and she caught his eye before signing, 'Calm down. Don't do anything in front of Marge.'
"Of course, even when you have good blood on both sides," Marge added, frowning at Camille. "Sometimes you have mistakes."
Camille may not have been able to hear, but she could read lips just fine. She tensed as she set the table but the words bristled. 'A mistake?' she thought angrily. 'Why don't you just shut up you despicable—' Feeling Harry grab her arm, she looked up. "What?" But 'What' was instantly apparent as Harry and Camille watched Marge start swelling up like a balloon.
"Vernon! Vernon, do something!" Marge shouted, fear on her rapidly swelling face.
"What did you do to her?" Dudley said, looking afraid.
'Bedroom!' Harry mouthed to Camille. 'Now!' The two ran upstairs and shut the door to the bedroom.
"Was that you or me?" Camille asked, starting to freak out. "I mean, yeah, what she said about me, but… I mean you were… Oh, God… what do we do now?"
'Start packing,' Harry replied, grabbing his trunk. Looking over at Hedwig's cage, Harry wasn't really surprised the owl flown the coop.
'And go where? What about the Ministry of Magic?' Camille asked.
'We'll figure it out later,' Harry said, throwing his invisibility cloak in on top of the rest of his belongings as Camille started packing.
Once packed, they headed downstairs and before Vernon was aware that the door had closed, they were down the street and heading for the nearest cross-streets. Sitting on his trunk, Harry tried to think about what to do next. If the Ministry of Magic found out either both he and Camille would be in trouble or the Ministry would understand that it had been an accident and let them off with a warning.
"Harry…" Camille said out loud, grabbing her cousin's shoulder and pointing at a clump of bushes. "I saw something… over there…"
Harry illuminated his wand and looked but he just saw a stray dog. Lowering his wand, he smiled reassuringly at his cousin. 'Just someone's dog that got loose.'
A loud bang made Harry jump up, holding his wand up in defense and Camille, seeing Harry's reaction, reached for her own wand.
A triple-decker purple bus slowed to a stop and a tall, pimply young man stepped off. "Welcome to the Knight Bus. My name is Stan Shunpike and… What are you doing? Conducting an orchestra?" Stan asked, looking at Harry.
Camille looked from Harry to Stan. "Oh… it's just sign language," she said, smiling. "I can't hear and my cousin can't speak. How much for a ticket to London?"
'London?' Harry queried. 'Why London?'
"The Leaky Cauldron is…" Seeing Harry's gesture that she was talking too loudly, Camille switched to signing. 'If we go to the leaky Cauldron, we can figure out what to do about the Ministry of Magic. Ron Weasley's dad works there, right? Maybe he can plead our case.'
Stan Shunpike didn't know sign language, but he could tell that these kids were worried. Probably had performed accidental magic in front of the muggles at home. "It's 11 sickles each for The Leaky Cauldron. Get on…" He said, gesturing to the bus. "I'll get the trunks and cage."
Harry nodded and gave a grateful smile before pulling Camille on board with him. After paying for the tickets, there was another bang and the two cousins were flung backwards onto one of the brass beds. 'Maybe this wasn't the best idea,' Harry said, as the bus flew down the road at the most insane speeds.
'Oh, yeah… Now you say that,' Camille replied, but she smirked. 'It could be worse.'
'How?' Harry wanted to know. Surely nothing could be worse than being on this rollercoaster ride.
'What if Dad had caught us before we left?' Camille asked, giving Harry a look.
Suddenly the bus ride didn't seem so bad.
--
Pulling in front of the Leaky Cauldron, Harry and Camille's hearts plummeted when they saw the Minister of Magic standing by the door with a tall black man in his 30's. 'Miss Dursley… Mr. Potter…' The man signed, smiling.
"My cousin can hear," Camille said, calmly. "And I can read lips just fine."
"Yes… In that case…" The Minister said, smiling. "I am Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic. Come… we've already taken care of a room for you two." Gesturing to the man at his side, he added, "This is Kingsley Shacklebolt. He'll get you settled as I have… other business to attend to."
Once the Minister was gone and they were inside the pub, Harry asked, 'Why aren't you punishing us for using underage magic?'
"There was a break-out from the wizard prison, Azkaban," Kingsley explained, noticing that Harry was translating for his cousin. "We believe that the prisoner in question, mass murderer Sirius Black, may be after you, Mr. Potter." Once at the room, Kingsley looked at Harry. "The Minister thinks you're too young to know what's going on. I think… given what I've heard from Dumbledore, you're capable of dealing with this news. Listen… stay in Diagon Alley. Don't go with any strangers… and the two of you should stick together."
Harry nodded and after the trunks were in the room, Kingsley left and headed back down the hallway.
"What was that about?" Camille asked, annoyed that Harry hadn't translated the rest of the conversation. "I could only make out bits of what he said."
'You remember that thing on the news the other day about that lunatic named Sirius Black?' Harry asked.
"What about him?"
'He's after me,' Harry replied. 'So I'm to stay in Diagon Alley.'
Camille nodded and looked for some kind of distraction. "You think Black's got something to do with Voldemort?"
'Do you know of anyone else who wants me dead?' Harry asked, disappointed that sarcasm didn't translate into sign language.
--
Sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream store, Lily avoided making eye contact with anyone as she scanned the crowd for Harry and Camille. At her feet, a black, bear-like dog lay calmly, also looking around.
After what felt like hours, the dog lifted his head quickly and woofed as two teenagers came walking up.
Lily watched Harry out the corner of her eye as he and his cousin went up to the outdoor counter and placed their orders.
As Harry waited for his sundae, he looked around Diagon Alley, unable to shake the feeling that someone was watching him. After a few moments though, he figured it was just someone who had seen his scar and turned to take his ice cream from the wizard at the window.
Sitting at a table with Camille, Harry dug into the ice cream and was about to ask Camille about where they should head to first after Gringotts when he again felt someone watching him. Looking around, Harry stiffened when he saw a woman with red hair turning back to the copy of the Daily Prophet. Catching Camille's eye, Harry flicked his gaze back to the woman.
Camille looked in the direction Harry indicated and her curiousity rose when she saw the woman looking specifically in their direction. 'Do you know her?'
'No,' Harry replied. 'It's just… you'll think I'm crazy.'
'Try me,' Camille pressed.
Harry sighed and pulled a picture out of his pocket, sliding it across the table.
Camille looked at the picture, then at Harry, and then glanced back at the woman. 'Oh, my God. Is she…?'
'I don't know,' Harry said, taking the picture back. 'I mean… my mum's dead… right?'
'But what if it is her?' Camille asked.
Harry turned and watched the woman, wanting to believe that it was his mother. But if the woman really was Lily Potter why hadn't she come to take him away Dursleys? Still… curiousity was overcoming his doubts. With an encouraging look from Camille, he got up from his chair.
'He's coming over,' Lily thought, her heart pounding. Harry looked so much like his father it was as if James was suddenly standing there. For a long moment, Lily just stared at Harry, trying to take in every detail she could.
'It could be a trick,' Harry thought. 'She may look like Mum, but…' Harry started to feel uneasy staring at this woman but when he saw her green eyes… eyes just like his… the warm, loving look behind them…
"Harry…" the woman breathed, her green eyes filling with joyful tears. Jumping up from her seat, she wrapped him in a hug, not believing that she was actually holding her son after all these long years.
'Mum,' Harry mouthed, silently. 'I love…' Harry pulled away, tears filling his own eyes. He'd never be able to actually say the words 'I love you'.
"Harry…" Lily said, pulling him back into a hug. "It doesn't matter if you can't speak. I love you."
Harry hugged her back and after the embrace, he pulled her over to Camille who was smiling. 'I was right?' Camille signed, looking at Lily Potter.
'Yeah…' Harry replied, hesitantly.
'So what's the problem?' Camille wanted to know, not sure why Harry wasn't jumping for joy.
'Nothing. I just…' Harry looked at his mother, trying to figure out if she'd be able to read his lips. 'Where have you been?' He asked.
Lily wasn't great at lip-reading but she had a pretty good idea of what Harry's question was. Looking down at Sirius who was pawing at her leg, she said, "Let's… go back to the Leaky Cauldron. I think this conversation is best done in private."
After Camille and Harry hastily finished their ice cream, they all headed to a private parlor in the wizarding pub and Lily put soundproofing charms on the door before gesturing to the two teenagers to sit down. Lily sat as well and she noticed that while both Harry and Camille were facing her, Harry had situated himself so that Camille could clearly see his hands.
"12 years ago…" Lily started, watching as Harry signed for his cousin. "When Voldemort came to kill you… he put me in some kind of stasis. I couldn't move… couldn't speak… Everyone thought I was dead. Once it wore off… I didn't know what had happened to you, Harry."
"But where have you, been?" Camille asked. Seeing her aunt's look, she added, "I can speak… I just can't hear."
Lily nodded. "Okay… Well… years ago a friend and I tried to become Animagi. That is, we could turn into an animal at will. My friend, Alice, couldn't do it but after a few years I was able to become… an owl."
Camille and Harry exchanged looks. 'An owl?' Camille mouthed. 'You don't think that…?' Looking at Lily, she said, "Show us…"
Lily smiled and in a moment, returned to her animagus form.
"Hedwig?" Camille said, stunned.
"Actually," Lily replied, once she was human again. "You can call me Aunt Lily."
--