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Chapter 5

Camille couldn't sleep that night.

For 8 years now she and Harry had depended on each other to get through life on Privet Drive. When her parents would get mad at her for not completing her chores in time, Harry would take the blame and punishment. In class at their primary school, Camille would act as Harry's voice.

It had been like that for 5 years: Harry acting as her ears, Camille as Harry's voice. Each depending on the other to compensate for their disabilities and for safety when things at home got bad.

Now Harry's mother was back and Camille was afraid that Harry would abandon her. She didn't want to be alone. And she certainly didn't want to go home to her parents. Not after what happened to Marge this summer.

Getting out of bed and grabbing her sneakers and a cloak, Camille snuck out of the dormitory and headed up to the owlery to look for Lily.

Looking around at the owls that hadn't flown off yet, Camille saw no sign of her aunt.

"Camille?" Lily asked as she came from out of the shadows with—

"Sirius Black!" Camille exclaimed as she saw the man who had betrayed the Potters. "What the HELL are you doing here?"

"Please… calm down and I'll…" Lily sighed as she realized that the light in the room wasn't adequate for Camille to read her lips. Pulling out her wand and lighting it, Lily asked, "Can you read my lips now?" Camille nodded and Lily continued. "Okay… I'd sign but I'm not that proficient yet. Now… Sirius is innocent. He didn't betray me and James and he certainly didn't blow up any muggles. That was all done by Peter Pettigrew, a fellow Gryffindor we trusted. Dumbledore knows all this but until we can figure out how to exonerate Sirius we're trying to keep him hidden. You can't tell anyone."

"What about Harry?" Camille asked. "He should know what's going on."

"We're going to tell him," Sirius assured her.

"Um… Aunt Lily… there's something else I wanted to ask you," Camille said, changing the subject. "Next summer… can I come live with you?"

Lily beamed. "Of course you can. In fact I was planning on showing you and Harry our new home this Christmas."

"I just thought… since Harry's really your son…"

"There's room for both of you," Lily said before pulling her niece into a hug.

The DADA class had been waiting 10 minutes for Professor Lupin when the door suddenly banged open and Snape came in, marching to the front of the classroom and turning to face the students. "Turn to page 394."

'Where's Professor Lupin?' Harry asked, curious.

"That is no business of yours, Potter," Snape said, simply. "Suffice to say he finds himself unable to teach today. Now… turn to page 394 and we will begin our discussions on werewolves."

"But Professor," Hermione said, looking puzzled. "We've only just started learning about redcaps. We're not due to start nocturnal creatures for—"

"When you are teaching this class, Miss Granger," Snape said, coolly. "Then you can decide what the day's lesson is. Now… page 394."

As Harry took down the notes that Snape wrote on the board, he wondered why Lupin would be absent.

A gale had started up early the morning of the match and Harry and the other members of the team had donned goggles with a water-repelling charm—Hermione's idea—to make it easier to see in the storm.

As Harry tried not to be blown about during the storm, he searched in vain for the golden snitch. Swerving just in time to miss crashing into Fred Weasley, Harry saw a glint of something shiny and took off, hoping it was the snitch and not someone's umbrella that had flown away.

Down in the stands, Camille, Hermione, and Ron searched the sky for some sign of Harry.

"They should have canceled the match!" Camille shouted against the howl of the wind.

Hermione tapped Camille's arm and replied, 'Snape insisted the teams could play a fair game in this weather. But with this storm you can't even see who is scoring.'

"Look!" Ron shouted, pointing to a spot on the ground. "It's the dementors!"

Just then, a break in the rain allowed them to see Harry hovering for a moment, his hand clenched around something, before falling off his broom which was blown away into the sheeting rain.

Camille and Hermione screamed and raced down to the field, Ron and Ginny close behind. Once down on the ground, they watched as Harry seemed to slow down a bit before hitting the ground, unconscious.

"Harry! Harry!" Camille shouted, rushing to Harry's side.

"Miss Dursley!" Dumbledore was shouting as he raised his wand and fired something silvery at the approaching dementors. After conjuring a stretcher and lifting Harry onto it, the headmaster looked at Harry's friends and cousin. "Come… let's get him to the hospital wing."

As Hermione, Camille, Ron, and Ginny followed Dumbledore and the unconscious Harry, the Gryffindor Quidditch team followed behind, looking concerned.

Up in the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey checked over every inch of Harry. "Bad concussion, left leg's broken. No trouble… I can mend that easily… lots of bruises…" Looking up at Dumbledore and the others, she said, briskly, "He'll be fine. But he'll be unconscious for a few hours at least. I suggest all of you get out of those wet clothes and…" Pomfrey trailed off when yet another person burst into the room: a redheaded woman with green eyes…

Dumbledore turned and looked at Lily. "Harry will be just fine."

"Oh, thank God," Lily exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief. "I saw him fall, but…" Touching her son's hair, she brushed his wet bangs out of his face and removed his glasses. "I thought I lost you again, Harry."

When Harry finally started to regain consciousness the first thing that registered was pain. He felt like he'd gone 8 rounds with the Whomping Willow and lost. Slowly opening his eyes, Harry saw the blurry forms of his mother, Camille, Ron, and Hermione standing next to his bed.

"Oh, thank GOD!" Camille exclaimed when she saw her cousin waking up. "Madame Pomfrey said you'd just be out a few hours!"

'What time is it?' Harry wanted to know as Hermione handed him his glasses.

"Almost midnight," Lily said, an obvious look of relief on her face. "You hit your head pretty bad. How do you feel?"

'I hurt,' Harry replied. 'Who won the match?'

"We did," Ron said, grinning. "But… What were you looking at? We saw you just hovering there…"

'It… was a big, black dog… in the stands… I… I thought it was…'

"A Grim," Lily supplied, thinking of Sirius. Looking at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, she decided to bite the bullet. "It wasn't a Grim, Harry… It was… your godfather."

'Godfather?' Harry repeated, confused.

"He… wanted to watch you fly, but…" Lily hesitated. She didn't want to tell Harry about Sirius like this but she guessed that there was no way out of having the conversation now. "Harry, you know about Sirius Black, right? How he's escaped from Azkaban?"

Harry nodded and suddenly, his eyes widened in shock. 'You don't mean… Sirius Black is my godfather?'

"Yes," Lily replied. "And before you start panicking, let me explain."

Harry looked at Ron who just looked dumbfounded and Hermione who also seemed astonished by this news. Camille was the only one who had no reaction. 'You knew about this?'

"Aunt Lily made me promise not to tell you," Camille replied, looking apologetically at her cousin.

'But… Black was the one who betrayed you and Dad,' Harry said, trying to make sense of all this.

"Pettigrew was the one who betrayed us," Lily corrected. "We changed Secret Keepers at the last minute. Sirius didn't betray us and he definitely didn't kill those muggles."

'Does Dumbledore know?'

"I told him," Lily replied, nodding. "He's been talking with Amelia Bones, trying to get her to reopen the case and actually look at the evidence. Hopefully, Sirius will be cleared soon."

'Did you find my broom? It flew off after I fell, I think…' Harry asked, changing the subject.

"We found it, Harry…" Ron said, sadly. "Unfortunately not before it flew into the Whomping Willow. There… wasn't much left."

"Don't worry about your broom, Harry!" Camille said, seeing the disconsolate look on his face. "You're lucky you weren't on the broom when it hit the Willow!"

"She's right," Hermione added, reprovingly. "You could have been killed."

'How soon can I leave?' Harry asked.

Lily looked at Ron and Hermione. "Could you give us a few minutes?"

Hermione nodded and pulled a protesting Ron out of the room.

Camille turned to Harry and signed, 'Look, I know you're pissed about this—'

"Language," Lily admonished her niece.

"Sorry," Camille replied. 'Harry, Aunt Lily didn't tell you about Sirius because she didn't know how. She didn't want you running off and doing something stupid.'

"You were already dealing with me being back," Lily added. "I didn't want to put too much on you too quickly."

'You still should have told me,' Harry protested. 'Just like the Dursleys should have told me I was a wizard and what really happened that night.'

"Petunia didn't tell you?" Lily asked, frowning.

"Not a thing," Camille said. "And as far as parents… they were the worst."

Lily smiled at Harry. "I'll see you tomorrow, Harry. Right now… I think I owe my sister a visit."

It hadn't taken much to convince Snape to tag along to #4 Privet Drive. And after explaining about Pettigrew, even Snape had to agree that Sirius would make a welcome addition to what would most certainly be sweet revenge.

Standing outside the house, Lily nodded at Snape who raised his wand and, after using a silencing spell, blasted the front door clean off it's hinges.

Entering the house, Lily saw plenty of pictures of Dudley but nothing that even indicated that two other children lived there. Pointing upstairs, she said to Sirius, "Dudley's room is the second door on the left." Looking at Snape, she added, "Petunia and Vernon's room is the one after that."

Snape nodded and the three started to head upstairs when Sirius caught a familiar scent. "What is it, Black?" Snape asked, shortly. "Second thoughts? Azkaban take your desire for payback?"

"No," Sirius snapped. "Just… hang on a minute…"

Lily watched Sirius head back down the stairs before she turned to Snape. "If you two don't stop this you're going to get us caught," She hissed. "Now just behave."

Snape didn't reply but he looked down the stairs when Sirius whistled. "What?" Snape asked as loudly as he dared.

"You need to see this," Sirius replied as Lily and Snape came down. Pointing at a latched door, he said, simply, "In there."

Lily opened the door and gasped. "Oh, my…"

A twin-size bed had miraculously been shoved inside and judging by the dust that covered everything no one had slept here in years.

Looking at Snape, Sirius asked, "You don't think…? I mean, the two of them couldn't have…"

"Been forced to share this prison?" Snape finished. "I think that is precisely what happened."

Lily stormed upstairs and went to the master bedroom, banging the door open as loudly as she could, and waking Vernon and Petunia up out of what seemed to have been a dead sleep.

"You forced them to share one tiny bed in a cupboard?!" Lily snarled when Petunia's beady eyes finally landed on her sister. "Give me one reason, one exceptionally good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now!"

"Lily…" Snape said, warningly, as he came up on Lily's left side. "They are not worth life in Azkaban."

"I don't know," Sirius replied, coming to Lily's right side. "I'd risk it."

"What else did you do my son? To your own daughter?" Lily asked, her anger just barely contained.

"We gave those freaky brats room and board!" Vernon shouted. "They're lucky we didn't put them on the street when all that nonsense started!"

"Silence, muggle…" Snape said, his tone soft and icy. Even Vernon knew that this was not a man who could be intimidated: he did the intimidating. "I assure you… if it were up to me the two of you would spend more than one night with the dementors. You abused your nephew… your own daughter… because of your negligence and cruelty they have been handicapped."

"Severus…" Lily said, her voice trembling with rage. "Call the police. And child services."

"You can't take Dudley!" Petunia exclaimed, jumping out of bed and dashing to her sister. "Please, Lily! Not my son!"

"You're begging me for mercy?!" Lily burst. "After what you've done to Harry, are you insane?!" Looking into Petunia's eyes, she went on. "I've begged for the life of my child. I pleaded for Lord Voldemort to kill me and spare my son's life. I wonder…" She whispered, cold fury in her tone. "Would you have begged for Dudley's life then? Or just sacrificed him to save your own sorry hide?"

Turning and running out of the room, Lily didn't stop till she reached the street curb and there she fell to her knees, looking up at the clear night sky. "I know you would have jinxed them, James…" She whispered. "But I don't… I don't trust myself to use magic… It would be too easy to use Cruciatus or Avada Kedavra and walk away with a clear conscience. And I know… as angry as you would be right now… you'd still know when to stop… You'd go right to the edge… but you'd stop. I wouldn't stop… not until they'd paid a hundred-fold for what they've done to Harry…"

Sirius had left Snape with the Dursleys to find Lily, certain that Snape would provide sufficient punishment to Petunia, Vernon, and Dudley. Watching Lily kneeling on the damp lawn, talking to James, Sirius wished with all his heart that somehow his best friend would come and comfort his wife.

But Sirius knew that James was dead. If he had been alive surely James would be here now. Walking up to Lily and kneeling next to her, Sirius pulled her close, letting her wrap her arms around him and lay her head on his shoulder, her tears falling on his robes.