Chapter 33- Getting ready
Hands started to go up- not enough of them yet.
"Come on, come on- Please."
Father and son watched. More hands had to go up. And slowly, they did. Finally, more than half the Wizengamont was voting in Sirius' favor. That was all it took since it was the majority.
"All opposed-" Fudge quickly asked, but it wouldn't do him any good. Hands went up including Umbridge's, but they couldn't win. Color started to return to Sirius' face and the chains fell from his arms. For the first time in years, he was free.
Harry and Remus went up to him happily and they shared in a three way hug. The happiness was broken for a moment when Fudge walked past trying to sneak by without them noticing as everyone left the courtroom.
"So your idea of a fair trial was trying to get me the dementor's kiss?" Sirius said in a dangerous whisper, taking intimidating steps towards Fudge. Remus caught Sirius by the arm.
"Let's go, Sirius. You just got out of Azkaban. You don't want to get yourself thrown back in."
Sirius glared angrily at Fudge, but taking a calming breath he turned away from Fudge and left with his best friend and godson.
Grimmauld Place- now Phoenix House- didn't seem like a place that would be welcoming to children. It was hard to miss the house elf heads mounted on the wall or the shrieking of the portrait of Sirius' mother when Harry walked past it before learning what it was.
"Filth! Scum! Befouling the house of my fathers." When she saw Remus she added "Disgusting Half Breed! Freak!"
It didn't get any better when she saw Sirius.
"You! Shame of my flesh! Rotting branch of the family tree! Blood traitor! Abomination!"
"Yes, that's me. Blood traitor and proud of it. Now shut up!" He forced the curtains around her shut.
"What a charming woman your mother is," Remus said, hiding a laugh.
"That portrait is the first thing to go," Sirius said determinedly. But it seemed no matter what they did they couldn't take the portrait down. Finally giving up, Sirius said "Oh well. My aim with my new wand isn't quite what it used to be since I haven't cast enough spells in a long time. I think that portrait will do nicely to aim a few curses at. Until we find a way to get rid of it."
Harry had seen Sirius use his new wand and knew there was nothing wrong with his aim.
It seemed they would never get the place cleaned in time for the start of the school year, especially with everything else thy would have to do to get ready. There were actually things breeding in the place it had been abandoned for so long. They were able to release most of them out in the country, although they did keep some baby puff skeins they found in a nest since Remus thought some of the children might like pets.
Luckily Dumbledore asked the Hogwarts house elves to help since there was limited time. Dobby, who now worked at Hogwarts, was especially happy to help and would have done just about anything for "Master Harry." Ron and the rest of the Weasleys came by to help as well. Hermione's parents wanted her to come home awhile, but she did come whenever she could. Tonks and her parents came by to help every chance they got too, and while Sirius spent many hours catching up with his favorite cousin while they worked together, Harry noticed Sirius had been right about the way Remus and Tonks looked at each other. Although Remus hadn't told Tonks yet about his being a werewolf. For the time being he said there was no reason to bring it up.
Sirius had pointed out that it was only a matter of time until she figured it out for herself, but being a good friend he'd keep the secret. Although he did keep leaving not so subtle hints that he thought his best friend and cousin were bound to end up together, and Harry noticed Remus was the only one besides Ted and Andromeda who could get away with calling her "Dora".
The only hindrance was Kreacher. The house elf was always muttering about what "poor mistress" would say about them throwing away all the Black family heirlooms and then stealing them back. But cleaning was going fast even with Kreacher causing trouble and them stopping for the yearly visit to the Dursleys.
The full moon that month fell during the two weeks Harry would have to go to Pivet Drive. So Sirius offered to go, something Remus was somewhat reluctant about.
"Sirius, you wouldn't be planning any pranks on the Dursleys would you?"
Sirius gave a false hurt look.
"Are you saying you don't trust me?"
"Do you want me to be honest about that?" But Remus was smiling himself, and Harry laughed. Now that Sirius was free to do as he pleased, Harry was starting to see the man Sirius had been before he'd been arrested. It was good to see that slowly but surely the haunted prisoner was turning back into the fun loving cheerful man who had been such a close friend to both of Harry's dads. But Harry had also noticed Sirius was far too bold and energetic to be happy without getting out and living life.
"I know you've been cooped up a long time and you want to get to know Harry. But I don't want to hear that any of the Dursleys have sprouted a pig's tail or anything like that."
"Hey, great idea! Thanks Moony."
Remus glared at him.
"Just joking. Just joking."
The best part of the stay would be how they got there. Hagrid had brought over Sirius' old motorcycle several days before.
"Wow! Where did you get something like that?" Harry had asked, wide eyed when he'd seen it.
"Interesting story behind that," Remus said, smiling at the memory. "In our seventh year Sirius saw the add for it and decided since his parents were holding back his bank account he'd raise the money by auctioning off James."
"You what?" Harry asked, covering a laugh.
"James was ready to strangle me when he found out. Until he found out who won him that is."
"Who?"
Remus and Sirius were both grinning.
"Your Mom," Sirius answered.
"Really?"
"Yup. By that time she'd realized she couldn't resist him."
Remus rolled his eyes.
"What Sirius means is by then James had grown up a little and wasn't such a- what was it that Lily used to call him?"
"Ignorant toe rag."
They all chuckled at that, and then Sirius got on his motorcycle, anxious to take it for a spin.
"Still remember how to ride that thing?" Remus asked. Sirius put the motorcycle in top speed and did a series of stunts on it that would have made Evel Keneivel jealous. Harry would have called it Sirius' way of celebrating finally being free. Sirius stopped his display and grinned.
"That answer your question?"
Remus laughed and said.
"I think you remember how to ride it well enough. Just be careful when you go with Harry. We don't want a repeat of the first time you flew it."
"Nothing bad happened."
"Why?" Harry asked. "What did happen when he flew it for the first time?"
"Let's just say you're not the first person to crash a flying vehicle into a tree, Harry."
Sirius crossed his arms and pouted.
So Harry and Sirius found themselves zooming towards Pivet Drive. Sirius had wanted to fly it there, but Remus had reminded him before they left that there was too much risk of being seen by muggles. For their part, the Dursleys couldn't have been more terrified when they opened the door and saw Sirius instead of Remus.
"You- You're that murderer everyone was talking about last summer. I'm calling the police!" Vernon bellowed.
"Won't do you any good," Sirius said with a grin that reminded Harry strongly of Fred and George when they were planning a prank. "Turns out they- " Sirius paused, and his grin got bigger. "They didn't have enough evidence to hold me on."
Harry covered a laugh. Even in the short time he'd known Sirius he'd guessed his godfather wouldn't just leave the Dursleys alone without pranking them somehow. Sirius wasn't going to let them know he was innocent just yet. It was too much fun to see them worry. They probably wouldn't have believed the truth right away anyhow, and as long as they knew the police wouldn't do anything there wasn't anything the Dursleys could do. This was going to be a very fun visit.
All in all, things were going well until one night towards the end of the visit. It was the worst nightmare Harry could remember, and what was so frightening was that it seemed so real. It took Sirius several minuets to wake him up, shaking him gently. Harry sat up, terrified and shouted "He killed him!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Voldemort. He killed the old muggle."
Sirius' eyes were getting more used to the dark, and he noticed for the first time that Harry's hand was on his forehead where the lightning bolt shaped scar was.
"Does it hurt?" Sirius asked, very concerned. Harry nodded.
"Has that ever happened before?"
"During my first year, yes. When Voldemort was close."
"What? Voldemort got close to you your first year?" Sirius had a grip on Harry's shoulders now, and Harry could tell how worried he was. He filled him in briefly on what had happened when Voldemort had tried to steal the Sorcerer's Stone, leaving out as many of the more dangerous sounding parts as he could.
"You don't think something like that's happening now, do you?" He asked when he'd finished telling the story.
Sirius hesitated before answering.
"I don't know. I know Voldemort can't be anywhere near here though. Tell me what happened in your dream and we'll see what we can figure out." He had his arm around Harry now, in a protective gesture although there was no obvious immediate danger he could protect him from.
"Voldemort was really mad at Wormtail for people finding out he was the real traitor. He used the Crutiatus on him for a long time. Then he said something about Wormtail being seen by someone called Bertha Jorkins. They killed her too, but they got information from her first and they're using it to plan something."
Sirius' grip tightened a bit.
"Did you find out what they're planning?"
Harry shook his head.
"Not exactly. All I know is that they're waiting until after the Quidditch World Cup. And then-"
"Then what, Harry?"
"Then Voldemort said he needed to get me for something. Wormtail tried to talk him into using someone else"
"Because he knows he owes you," Sirius said bitterly. "Anyway, what happened next?"
"There was something about his most faithful servant returning by then, and he said Wormtail would have as useful a part to play as Bertha Jorkins, although he isn't going to kill Wormtail. He-" Harry paused, and in the dim light Sirius could see Harry looked more afraid than ever.
"He what?"
" He wants Wormtail to murder someone. He said just one more death."
Sirius held Harry firmly and said gently
"Don't worry Harry. Voldemort's way to you is over my dead body. I know Remus won't let anything happen to you as long as he's alive either."
"That's what I'm afraid of! Wormtail brought up that I'm well protected. What if the someone he wants Wormtail to murder is you or Dad? You're the ones protecting me. If anything happened-"
"I don't think that's what he meant," Sirius said quietly, afraid Voldemort had meant Harry. "And even if it is, Wormtail won't get the best of me again, and Remus can take care of himself."
Harry knew that Remus and Sirius were both very skilled wizards, but James and Lily had been very talented too, and it hadn't saved them.
"Do you think there's a chance it's just a dream?"
"I wish I knew. We'll let Remus and Dumbledore know bout your dream in the morning. Until then, don't worry about us. We've gone against Death Eaters before and made it through. It's you I'm worried about."
Harry tried to push the nightmare from his thoughts and think instead about the Quidditch World cup. The Weasleys had tickets thanks to Arthur's connections at the Ministry and Sirius had bought tickets for everyone else so they could all go. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, but now it seemed like a reminder of the nightmare since Voldemort was waiting for it to be over. Harry couldn't help being worried about his dad and Sirius. He'd already lost one family because of Voldemort, and the thought of anything happening to anyone else he loved was unbearable.
AN: Thanks for all the reviews. I'm glad you all like the idea of a werewolf school. I was worried about how that would go over. Oh, almost forgot, the idea for Sirius auctioning James to get money for the motorcycle came from the fanfic "get your very own James Potter." I can't remember who wrote it, but whoever did gets credit for that idea. I thought it was too funny to resist putting in.