Black Manor, August 30t 4:30 am
Sophie walked down the hallway yawning; all she wanted was a snack and a cup of hot chocolate to get to sleep. It was well after 3 am and for some reason, she was wide awake. On her way down the hall she heard a muffled yell. Back tracking slightly, Sophie found herself at Harry's room. She knocked twice, but got no answer; just more muffled yells and cries. Sophie took a deep breath and opened his door.
Harry was twisted up in his blankets, sweating and writhing as if in pain. He was calling out for someone to run, begging for their life to be spared, and pleading for forgiveness from some unknown entity. Sophie rushed over, immediately perching herself on the end of the bed and tried to wake her god brother.
"Harry? Harry, come on it's just a dream hun. Wake up, Harry. I'm' here…"
Harry awoke to find himself being hugged. He clutched to the person like a lifeline; he'd dreamed of Cedric again. He kept seeing that damned flash of green light and Cedric falling to the ground. He could hear Voldemort's high cold laugh in his ear.
"Pup? You with me?" Sophie's voice washed over him quietly. Not trusting his own voice, Harry nodded, not quite moving just yet.
"'M okay," He muttered finally, sitting up and untangling himself from the other teen. Sophie brushed his damp hair off of his forehead and handed him his glasses.
"Go wash your face. We'll talk downstairs somewhere."
Ten minutes later, Harry and Sophie were sitting in one of the parlors on the family floor. Both of them had mugs of warm hot chocolate, and Sophie was munching on a couple of chocolate chip cookies. After quite a few minutes of silence, Sophie didn't want to push Harry into talking before he was ready, Harry finally began to speak.
He talked about growing up with the Dursleys and the cupboard. He told her about the Stone, and the Chamber. And after a bit more prodding he told her about finding Padfoot.
"We had Wormtail all tied up; Snape was being levitated by Padfoot. Ron and Moony were changed to the traitor. Mione and me were in the back making sure he didn't escape. It was all Hermione to be honest with you. When we got outside and Moony started to change, we all froze, but Hermione used a full body bind on Pettigrew so that he couldn't move at all. I wish I'd have known Stupefy back then," he added with a shrug. "Anyway, we eventually got back to the castle, and while we had Wormtail in Flitwick's office waiting for the Minister, he waited for an opportunity, transformed and scurried right out and found Voldemort. But Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, and the two Aurors that the Professor contacted all saw him before he escaped. Fudge had no choice but to pardon Padfoot. "
Harry talked and talked. All Sophie could do was lay her head on his shoulder, offering nothing but silent comfort and a promise to listen. It seemed like he'd been dying to get this off of his chest for a long time. Sophie wanted nothing more than to find everyone who'd hurt Harry and get payback for him; the biggest two though were Petunia Dursley, and Albus Dumbledore.
Why Petunia? Well, that's easy. Petunia should have treated her nephew like family. She shouldn't have allowed her idiot husband to treat her god brother that way. She should have treated Harry just the same as her own son. Sophie seethed inside as she thought of the injustice. It reminded her of why her friend Austin was raised by his older brother. His father was a Squib, his mother a normal mundane woman. He'd done his very best to beat the magic out of both of his sons out of pure jealousy and hate because they possessed a gift that he did not. As soon as Bryce was old enough, he'd gotten custody of his brother, and the authorities Obliviated both parents of the notion that they even had children. Sophie hated people being treated badly, and didn't think that anyone deserved to be treated like trash for something that they couldn't control.
Dumbledore, however, was a completely different story. Dumbledore sent Harry to that evil troll in the first place. Dumbledore left him there with no contact to anyone in the wizarding world. Dumbledore never thought to make sure that her father (not that she was calling him that) got a trial, even though he was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. He could have done more to see that Harry was hurt less during the school year as well. It was bad all around if you asked Sophie.
"Harry, I can't say that I've been through anything even remotely close to what you have. But, I do know that from now on, I've got your back. If anyone messes with you, they've gotta go through me first."
"No way, Sophie, I don't want anyone else dying for me. Not after Ced…he didn't deserve what happened to him, and it was all my fault. I should have just taken that damn cup, and he would still be alive right now."
"No one is to blame for Cedric's death but Voldemort and his pet rat. You guys were manipulated, and that's the end of it. You know, maybe you should think about training yourself up a little more this year. It seems like every year something happens that you have to protect yourself. Maybe me, you, Mione, Gin, Ron and the Twins should get together and practice some."
"You're right, Soph. We need to figure these things out together though. We'll bring it up on the train when we see everyone again."
"Definitely. Feeling better?"
Harry sighed, looking down at the grey eyed girl next to him. "A bit, yes. Thank you, Cublet." He used Sirius and Remus's nick name for her.
"Any time, Pup."
After a late night, Sophie and Harry both woke up in early afternoon. The night they'd shared wouldn't be spoken of again between the two, but something like that builds a bond, one that would be very hard to break.
August 31st – Black Manor, Sirius' Study
Sirius sat with Sophie drinking a butterbeer and staring into the fire.
"So, Slytherin, huh?" It had been a couple of weeks since her trip to Hogwarts; He raised his left eyebrow and gave her a grin. "Following traditions?"
"Looks like it, Padfoot." She shrugged.
"What'd the hat say to you? How did you get into Slytherin?" he asked.
"That I had ambition to change the world. That my thirst to prove myself was greater than my courage and wit."
"So you could have been put in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Slytherin."
"Yeah I guess."
"Are you nervous about tomorrow, Cublet?"
"I don't know why I should be," she shrugged again. "I mean, if I can keep my head down and stay out of trouble, the school year should go pretty quickly, right?"
"Keep your head down? I'm wounded! My own child has turned her back on the noble art!" he clutched at his heart in fake agony.
"I never said that." She grinned. "I don't want to get into unnecessary trouble, but that doesn't mean I won't cause a little bit."
"That's my girl."
"Say, Sirius?" Sophie's voice was hesitant.
"Yes, love?"
"I'm still not comfortable with calling you 'Dad'."
"I already know that, and I told you that it was –"
"No, but see the thing is," she cut him off. "The thing is, I don't want to call you "Padfoot" either. I want my own name to call you. I wrote a couple of things down, and one just kept coming back to me that just seems….perfect."
"What's that?"
"Dadfoot. You're my Dadfoot. It's still says that you're my dad, but it's more comfortable to say."
"Dadfoot it is, Cublet.
Meanwhile, not too far away, in another manor in Wiltshire, a young man was conflicted. He was confused, scared and damn angry.
He was a Scion of a noble and ancient house, and his first loyalty should have been to his father.
But what if that wasn't what he wanted anymore?
A/N: HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I'm posting this on Christmas Day as a gift to all of you! Thanks for all of your encouraging words so far on this fic. The name 'Dadfoot' comes from Whydoyouneedtoknow and her amazing Living With Danger series. Next chapter we get to Hogwarts, meet some Slytherins (both good and bad) and our first DADA class.
See you all next year!
Janique