Chapter 64
After Sirius had successfully dunked him in the pool, Harry had chased Sirius around the property for ten minutes. Sirius, seeing he was no match for the Auror in Training, Disapparated and left the Potters at the manor. While Harry waited for James to pick himself off the pool deck and wipe his tears of mirth, Lily went inside to tell the elves they were leaving. When she returned they followed Sirius home and Harry decided to change out of his robes that were stiff from the dried chlorine. After changing, Harry lounged on his bed and thought about the weeks after Sirius had 'died'.
Those weeks had been the lowest point of his whole life. He'd had moments where he'd wondered if anything was worth that much stress and pain. While he had never considered offing himself – his 'saving people' thing prevented those kinds of thoughts – he had considered just leaving a few times. Walking away, hopping a flight to some distant land, starting a new life somewhere Voldemort would never find him.
Then reality would kick in every night. Nightmares haunted him night after night of Sirius falling through the veil, Voldemort killing off all his friends, the Weasley's being held captive and waiting for him to show up and him never arriving, and the worst of all was one where Sirius just stared at him with disappointment before turning and walking away from Harry.
Harry was grateful the nights weren't filled with a combination of nightmares and visions. Voldemort had ceased sending Harry visions by that point. Why, he didn't know. But nevertheless he was grateful for that one reprieve.
Harry finally thought about the one thing that had helped him through the guilt enough to move on. An old man named Jack had sent him a letter out of the blue during one of the old man's fits of insomnia one night. All the letter had said was that he and his late wife had believed Harry all along. Then it had a quote Harry could still remember almost three years later;
Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
Jack had signed his name and then added a postscript saying at the end of the day good will prevail. If it needs war or revolution, it's up to the people to earn their freedom back.
The letter was short and to the point, but it had such an effect on Harry that, two days later when he'd received the letter from Dumbledore informing him of the older man's impending arrival, Harry was able to feel excited to return to the Burrow. In the two days before his departure he thought long and hard about Sirius' death, the Prophecy and what it could mean for Harry and the rest of the Wizarding world and he came to the conclusion that, while he was given no choice in the matter of being the 'Chosen One', he and only he had the choice of standing up and doing what was right. He also decided that the fight would not be for himself, but for everyone who had lost someone to that Snake-faced bastard.
Harry hadn't lied when he told Sirius that his death was what sparked the fight into him. Harry still had issues well into the school year, and even up to the month before Sirius' living status was discovered, Harry had felt pangs of remorse when thinking about his godfather. But he hadn't let those feelings get in the way of doing his job.
Harry knew seeing Sirius' point of view of the night he 'died' was going to be painful and infuriatingly frustrating, but he knew he had to watch it so that hopefully one day he might be able to move past this hatred of his former mentor.
Hating Dumbledore was almost as painful as losing Sirius had been. Albus Dumbledore had been Harry's mentor, his confidante, his guide to accomplishing the most difficult thing he might ever do in his life. He had to trust Dumbledore because if he couldn't trust him of all people, who could he trust? Finding out that the one man he'd trusted unequivocally had lied to him about something so significant to Harry's survival, not to mention the happiness of the people he held most dear to himself, was inconceivably painful for Harry.
Harry was eternally grateful that his parents and Sirius were alive, but he didn't know if that gratefulness could outweigh the pain of knowing Sirius could have spent 12 years living a real life and Remus could have spent 12 years with a best friend. He figured a talk with Sirius and Remus might be in his future sometime.
A call from downstairs jolted Harry out of his musings. He stood up and sauntered down to find Sirius, his parents, the Weasley parents, George, Ron, and Ginny sitting in the Drawing Room surrounding the Pensieve.
Sirius was sitting in the kitchen clutching a chipped cup of cooling tea staring at a gouge in the table caused by the twins. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, his head leaning on his hand.
"I'm so bloody bored," he moaned. His head slipped off the hand and his forehead made a dull 'thunk' as it made contact with the table. "Ow," he muttered without lifting his head.
"You know, Sirius, they say a blow to the skull can kill off brain cells. Since you have precious few left, you may want to preserve them," said Remus from the stairs.
"RE-RE! You're back! Finally. How'd the meeting go? Was there a fight? Who hit who? Did anyone die?" Sirius asked rapidly as he bounced in his chair.
"Calm down mate. The meeting went okay, no there wasn't a fight so no one was hit and no one died. Has anyone been here today?" Remus asked as he poured a cup of tea.
"Nope. Nada. Zilch. Padfoot has been lonely," Sirius moaned. He paused for a moment and added, "So lonely he's talking in third person, Remus. Third. Person."
"Knock it off Sirius. Dumbledore said there might be an emergency meeting later tonight, since I finished my mission so quickly. I also heard Kingsley's got more news on the search for you. He should be here soon as well. Dung might have something to tell, but with him, who knows. We gotta cook something for dinner and have the Order stuff ready," Remus said.
"But I don't wanna listen to all the mission reports…I wanna go on a mission," Sirius whined.
Remus shook his head and rolled his eyes as he stood up.
"This tea is rancid, how are you drinking it?" he asked, ignoring Sirius' comment.
"I'm not; it's more for visual effect than consumption. REMUS! Listen to me," the black haired man cried.
"Sirius damn it, I've heard your complaints a hundred times now. You wanna go on a mission, you don't want to hear the reports because it reminds you that you want to go on a mission, you're bored, you hate this house, you're bored out of your mind, you really hate this house, you're so bored you'd have Snape over for company—"
"I wouldn't go that far," Sirius interrupted.
"I'm sick of the complaining, Sirius. We get it; you don't want to be cooped up like this. There's nothing we can do about it, so please, please try to keep it to yourself and stop irritating everyone who comes in here. Especially me," Remus added.
The two men sat staring at each other for a few moments when a thud and a shrill, hair raising cry came from upstairs. Sirius muttered, "Buckbeak," before running out of the room and upstairs.
Remus shook his head as he poured the remaining tea down the drain, washed the pot, and started a new batch.
"Buckbeak?" Sirius said softly as he slowly opened the door to his mother's room. Even after all the years since he'd left and her death, he still got chills when he had to open that particular door. He peeked in and saw the hippogriff perched on his stomach, legs tucked underneath him. As Sirius pushed the door open a few more inches, Buckbeak shifted and started when he caught the movement from the door. A pained groan from the beast could be heard. Sirius entered the room and bowed, hardly waiting for the tip of the creatures head before he moved closer to inspect what was wrong. He could see blood on the ground around the centre of the horse-like body, an area he knew Buckbeak to be extremely sensitive about on a good day. Now that it was injured, he was sure to be very protective of his side.
Sirius walked slowly towards his feathered friend and patted him on the top of the head softly, while murmuring soothing nonsense. He slowly petted Buckbeak and tried to keep him calm while he slowly shifted towards the right flank.
Moving very slowly, he made his way closer to the injury and pulled out his wand. He could see a jagged slice about five inches long and fairly deep about six inches before the hind leg met the torso. He couldn't see any debris or fragments of whatever injured the animal, but he knew he'd have to clean it well to avoid infection.
Sirius started waving the wand for a numbing charm when someone pushed open the door swiftly, allowing it to bang on the wall. This startled both Sirius and Buckbeak which started a quick succession of events. Sirius tapped Buckbeak with his wand a bit too harshly and too close to the injury, which caused the animal to flinch violently and spread his wings in the small space, knocking Sirius over and into the wall. Buckbeak shrieked in pain as he struggled to get up off the ground, which caused the injury to tear wider, which effectively caused the animal to panic more. Sirius, trying to avoid the stomping hooves of his pet, crab walked backwards and ran into the wall which was still too close for comfort.
He grabbed for his wand which had been knocked out of his hand. As he reached, a hoofed foot came out of nowhere and connected with his ribs. A wing swung out and knocked him back on his backside, where another hoof connected with his leg.
Tears of pain pouring down his face, Sirius decided to risk frightening the animal more by calling out for Remus. After a moment he could hear footsteps coming quickly down the hallway.
"Sirius? What the hell is going on?" Remus asked from the doorway. He immediately entered the room and bowed to Buckbeak, who paid the new person no mind and continued to try and harm Sirius under his feet.
"Calm him down, please. Then help me heal him," Sirius moaned from the ground. Remus worked his magic on the creature, calming him down enough for Sirius to crawl, weakly, out from under him. The two quickly healed the creature, before leaving the room.
"Remus," Sirius said as soon as they entered the Drawing Room and sat down.
"Yes Sirius?" asked Remus, who was looking at a pile of paperwork.
"Now could you please heal me?" Sirius asked weakly. Remus looked at his friend and saw Sirius wince as he barely brushed his side as he pulled up his shirt. A giant purple and black bruise was already forming across the right side of Sirius' torso, and a slight concaved area looked ominously like broken ribs. Sirius also looked like he'd been hit by a very large fist in his eye, his trousers were torn in a few places and blood was staining the cloth by the biggest tear.
"My goodness, Padfoot. Animals really do not like you, do they?" Remus asked as he stepped across the room towards his friend.
"It's not his fault. Someone opened the door really fast and it slammed against the wall. It startled us both and…well, you saw what it caused. I'd like to know who pushed the door open though. It wasn't you was it?" he asked, wincing in pain.
"Why the devil would I do something like that? Besides, no one else it here yet," Remus replied.
Both men paused for a moment before a dark look crossed their faces. "Kreacher," they said in unison.
There was a noise downstairs and then shrill screaming and cursing.
"I'll go help Tonks. You sit here and don't move. You may be bleeding internally, in which case, I may need to get Molly. Be right back," Remus said as he walked down to help close the curtain.
Sirius sat still but when a soft cough came from somewhere behind him, he jumped and almost screeched in pain.
"Please sit still Sirius. I don't wish you to harm yourself. I need to speak to you in private once Remus has healed you sufficiently. Please meet me in your room, and do not tell anyone I have arrived. It is imperative that no one know I am here yet, understand?" asked an invisible Dumbledore.
Sirius nodded his head s he attempted to look around the room. Remus came in and saw Sirius looking around and asked, "What 'cha looking for Padfoot?"
"Hm? Oh, nothing. Thought I heard something," he said casually. It took a few minutes but Remus fixed Sirius up adequately and the two left the Drawing Room.
"I'm going to change my clothes. I'll meet you in the Kitchen," Sirius said as he turned the opposite direction. Remus waved, signalling he'd heard as he walked away quietly.
Sirius entered his bedroom and looked around. Seeing no one he pulled some clean clothes out of his drawers and looked around again. He slowly peeled off the bloody shirt. Thankfully Remus had numbed him while his ribs healed, but it was still slow going until he was fully healed. Once he had his new shirt on he waited for a moment.
"Albus?" he asked the seemingly empty room.
"Ah, yes. Sorry about that," replied a voice from the corner. Dumbledore appeared in a shower of sparkles from the spell dissipating. "I always forget I'm invisible when it lasts longer than normal. Please forgive me."
"It's okay I guess. I'm just glad I asked for you before I changed my trousers, that would have been weird," Sirius said with a soft bark of laughter. Albus merely smiled his eyes twinkling. "So what brings you to my neck of the gloom?" Sirius asked as he gingerly sat on the edge of the bed.
"Well, Sirius, I have a bit of a tale for you. It does not have a happy ending, but it could. It also includes time travel," Albus said teasingly.
The older man spent the next five minutes quickly telling Sirius about the adventure Harry was currently having and where it ended. Sirius sat back, his mouth sitting open, eyes staring blankly.
"I'm going to die tonight?" he finally asked.
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Albus said firmly.
"But how? How do you even know all this?" Sirius asked.
"Did I forget that little detail? Oh well, I'm actually from the future. I used the same Time Turner Ms Granger used in her and Harry's third year. My double is going to arrive here in the next hour or so and shortly before that the Order will arrive at the Ministry to save Mr. Potter and his friends. The point of me coming back in time tonight is to save you, Sirius. I don't have much time before my double arrives here, so please listen carefully. Have you ever heard of a Viaggio Portone?"
Sirius shook he head slowly.
"A Viaggio Portone is also called a Travel Portal. It was created in the region now known as Italy a very long time ago. It was the primary method of travel before Apparating, Floo, and Portkeys were popular. It was very useful for large families or groups and to travel long distances. It's basically a Spatial Transport spell that uses magic to shift our mass a long distance without interference. It has since fallen out of favour for several reasons; Apparation is easier and usually faster, Floo uses little power, and Portkeys are much simpler to create."
"Portkeys are really hard to create though," Sirius said.
"Which tells you how difficult the Portal is to create," Dumbledore added with a smile. "Sirius, I must ask you to do something very difficult tonight. It will involve immeasurable amounts of trust on several different levels. I hope you understand. I came here tonight to save you, but in the end, it's up to you to make the decision to save yourself."
"I…I don't quite understand," Sirius said.
"Sirius, I can save you but it's your decision on whether or not you will allow me to save you. First let me explain a few things about my plan. When I leave here, I will have to give you a temporary Memory charm to block the last few moments and the next several moments from your mind. You will then travel to the Ministry to help save Harry. During the fight you will have no recollection of the events as I have told you. It will be completely new to you."
"Wait. Stop right there. Are you suggesting that I go into that fight not knowing my bitch of a cousin will kill me at a certain point? Are you actually suggesting that I willing agree to allow myself to die? Because that's not going to happen, Albus, not even if Godric Gryffindor himself asked me to," Sirius said angrily.
"Please allow me to finish, Sirius. You will go into the fight willingly, and unknowingly about to die. But I will prevent you from actually passing through the veil. Using the Portal I told you about, I will create it in front of the veil where you will inevitably fall through and instead of going through the veil you will travel through the Portal to a room where you will wait for me to arrive. When I arrive I will remove the memory charm from you."
"Okay, I have a couple questions. One, in this scenario does everyone see me disappear into something and come to the conclusion that I died? Two, what exactly do I need to give you permission for? And three, are you bloody insane?" asked Sirius angrily.
"Firstly, I wouldn't say insane, I prefer ambitious and eccentric. Secondly, yes, in order for the second part of my plan to work, you will have to be declared deceased, and if anyone had an inkling that you survived it wouldn't quite work. Thirdly, the permission comes in after I've explained the second part of the plan.
"There is a ritual I can perform that places you in a coma until someone revives you at a later date. By putting yourself into this coma you can help protect Harry from harm in the coming years. We both know the war is picking up and getting more concentrated. Voldemort is focusing his attention on Harry more and more as of late. I am getting increasingly more worried about Harry as the days go on. By adding your sacrifice to the protection already surrounding Harry, we can make him even more protected than he already is. But the ritual won't work if he knows you're alive," said Dumbledore.
"But why do I have to die? Or…make it look like I die? How long will I be 'dead'? What about Remus and Harry, they just have to watch me die and believe I'm dead? How can you ask me to do that to them?" Sirius rambled.
"There is no way to tell how long you'd be in a coma. For this to work, yes, they would have to believe you have passed on to the next great adventure. Sirius, I know this is a difficult situation but there is one more thing I need to say before you make your decision," Albus said slowly. Sirius just stared at him and waited. "If you decide not to do this, I will be forced to erase your memory of my visit and allow events to occur as they would have had I not travelled into the past. That means that instead of surviving and doing the ritual where you'll end up waking up in several years, you will end up truly dying. I am sorry, but it must be this way," Dumbledore said softly.
"So…basically I have to choose death, or temporary 'death' for an unknown period of time? Either way I leave Harry, Remus, Tonks, the Weasleys, everyone I care about, believing I died and will never return. Who does something like that to the people they care about? And what happens if when the war is over and I wake up, everyone I care about is gone? Why would I risk that?" Sirius asked.
"I cannot answer these questions Sirius. I don't know the future beyond what I've lived, and I've only travelled back less than a full twenty-four hours. I don't know the outcome of the war, only the possibilities this plan may provide.
"There is one option though. I can tie your life-force to someone, say Harry or Remus. This way should they perish in the war, you will as well. It is more difficult to perform and I can only use one person, but it's possible," Dumbledore replied.
"This is mad…absolutely barking. Let me guess, I have to give you my answer in the next five minutes as well?" Sirius snapped.
"The quicker the better. I have other things I must be accomplishing tonight, and I cannot sit here all night waiting for you to decide. Besides, my counterpart will be arriving soon and the Order will have to go help rescue Harry and his friends," Dumbledore said.
"So let me get this whole cockamamie plan straight before I make my decision. If, and that's a strong if at the moment, I decide to go with this whole coma thing, you will then erase my memory and allow me to go about my business as if I weren't going to die tonight. I'd rush off to save my godson, and at some point will fight my insane cousin where then I will appear to fall through a Death Veil, but in reality will pass through a Portal of some sort that I must trust you will place in the right spot. I will arrive at a place I have no recollection about and then wait for you to arrive to place me in a coma for an undisclosed, open ended amount of time. After said unknown amount of time, I will then reawaken after the war has ended, hopefully to find my loved ones alive and well. Is that correct?" Sirius asked. Dumbledore nodded once.
"So here's a couple questions that I will have answers to before I give you mine. Why erase my memory?" he asked.
"I must erase your memory before you leave here to help Harry. It is so while you are fighting you are unable to change the timeline any more than we would be by saving your life. Time travel is a strange occurrence. Some believe that any changes, no matter how subtle they are, can cause the most disastrous after-effects. This phenomenon is called, by some, as the Butterfly Effect. Some believe that the timeline isn't as straight as we believe it to be. One person could go back in time and change many things, or so they believe. And when they return to their true time they find out that nothing really has changed. Does that mean that they always went back in time at that particular moment, changed the same things, did and said that same things always? Or can it happen both ways? No one really knows how time works. Perhaps I was always meant to come back and save you, or perhaps in doing so I will change everything. The thing I must strive towards is changing the future without changing the present. Let me ask you something, Sirius. If I was to allow you to keep the memory of this visit and you went off tonight to save Harry what would you do?" asked Dumbledore.
"I sure as hell wouldn't risk my life by fighting with Bellatrix, or go anywhere near a damn veil that's for sure," Sirius muttered. Dumbledore could see the comprehension on Sirius' face, but he continued anyway.
"Exactly. But in my time, you disappeared. Whether you went through the Veil or a Portal, I don't know. But you disappeared and that is what matters. In order to preserve the present time, you must disappear, and if I allow you to retain your memory of this extensive conversation, you, like any self-preserving human, would attempt to stay alive. This could actually end up worse for you. I'm not sure I mentioned this but the spell Bellatrix hit you with before you disappeared was not a Killing Curse. If you were to avoid fighting your cousin and fought, say, Lucius Malfoy you could wind up being hit by something much worse and die by something else. I fear this is my only chance to save you. If we want Harry to have his godfather in the future, we need to follow my plan. And that means I must erase your memory."
Sirius gulped. "Time travel is bloody confusing," he muttered. "Okay, I guess I can, kind of, understand all that. My second question is this, have you ever created a Portal like this? How exactly will that part of the plan work? Because honestly it's hard for me to just trust that if I fall through anything you will make sure it's a Portal and not the damn bloody veil," he finished.
"Well, I've only done the Portal spell a few times, but it has worked for me on each occasion. I will be invisible, standing near the veil waiting. When I see you arrive and start fighting I will create the Portal. I've viewed the memory in my Pensieve from several people's vantage points. I know exactly how you fall, where, and when. I will not allow you to travel through the veil while I am physically able to stop it from happening," Dumbledore finished.
"That's promising," Sirius grumbled sarcastically. "What exactly does this coma entail? And have you done this before?"
"The ritual is a simple one. It is an altered version of a Blood Ritual. This particular version doesn't require blood, only the complete and utter willingness to sacrifice a portion of your life for the safety of someone you love. Any doubt in your mind about this and it could have negative end results," the older man replied.
"But what exactly does it do? You've implied that it gives some sort of protection to Harry, but how?" asked Sirius.
"By sacrificing a portion of your life, Harry will be provided an extra layer of protection. It's similar to the sacrifice Lily made for her son. Certain spells won't have as strong as an effect on Harry; his mind will be better protected against Voldemort. I am unsure how the universe spreads the protection, but the purpose is definite. Harry will have more protection if you allow me to do this ritual. I think we both can agree that the more protection Harry has, the better," Dumbledore finished.
Sirius slumped in his seat and stared off into the distance. After a few minutes he leaned forward and placed his forehead in his hands, while his elbows rested on his knees. Five minutes went by in silence before Sirius sighed loudly, ran his hands through his hair and stood.
"I agree to the plan," was all he said before he started to walk to the door. He paused before opening it and said, "If you have to do the Memory charm, do it now." He bowed his head and waited.
Dumbledore sighed and sent a silent charm at the back of Sirius' head. The man stiffened and shuddered for a moment before he turned and looked around his room in confusion. He looked puzzled for a short time before he shook his head, opened the door, and walked downstairs. He met Remus half way down.
"Merlin, Sirius, I was just coming to look for you. You were taking so long I was getting worried I had not healed you properly and you were dying. Everyone's arrived; we're just waiting for Albus. Snape called and said Harry was in trouble with Umbridge again. He asked specifically if you were here and when we said yes, he actually looked relieved for a split second. Then he snarled and said to contact him when Albus arrived. I just don't understand that man," Remus finished rambling as they both entered the kitchen.
Tonks, Kingsley, and Moody were seated at the table chatting animatedly about their various experiences they'd had while being Aurors. A pot of steamy tea was on the table next to a plate of sandwiches. Sirius grabbed one and poured a cup of tea and listened to the conversations, feeling slightly left out once Remus joined in about his travels with the werewolves.
About ten minutes of conversation had gone by when Snape's head appeared in the fireplace.
"Lupin, a situation has surfaced at the school. Potter and his friends have disappeared. I'm worried the Gryffindor idiot took off for the Ministry after his vision. Get everyone who is at Headquarters ready to leave at a moment's notice. If I find Potter has gone to the Ministry, someone needs to stay there to fill Dumbledore in on what has happened. Black can fill that role," he drawled.
"Harry's missing? I am not going to sit around and wait—"
"You will stay there Black, because someone needs to tell Albus what is happening. Potter had a vision that the Dark Lord was holding you hostage in the Department of Mysteries: Hall of Prophecies. He has no idea it was a false vision. He and Granger disappeared into the Forest with that bint Umbridge an hour ago. I went to her office a moment ago and discovered my Slytherin students incapacitated and the Gryffindors missing as well. I fear they may have followed Potter into the forest, but my search for them all has come up empty. Their trail simply disappears near a heard of Thestrals by the edge of a clearing. I am going to search the school one more time." He turned slightly and looked at the rest of the room. "Be ready to leave at any moment. If the idiot boy has run off, he's gone on a suicide mission and brought five of his dim-witted friends with him. I will contact you again after I've finished my check of the school." With that, Snape's head disappeared and the fire returned to orange and dimmed to a faint ember.
"Remus, I don't care what that snivelling little dungeon bat says, I am not sitting here like a useless lump being an bloody Messenger Owl while my godson is possibly fighting the evilest bastard of all time! I WILL be going with you to the Ministry to help save Harry!" Sirius shouted.
"Sirius," Remus said through his teeth. "You do realize you are a wanted man and we'll be going to the one place in Britain where you should not go? What happens if you get caught? What do you think that would do to Harry? He would hate and blame himself for putting you into that position! Can you honestly say you are willing to risk your life and Harry's sanity right now?" Remus asked harshly. Sirius took a step back and glared at Remus.
"I would do anything for that boy, and you know it, and yes, that includes risking my own life for his. I am sick of waiting around and listening to you all talk about your missions while I sit on my bleeding arse all day staring at the bloody wall. My godson is out there and he's in danger. I will be going to help rescue him. I am done sitting around. I am done being the messenger boy, and I am DONE with being careful! Done! I didn't break out of one prison to be locked up in another by my friends and peers," Sirius said loudly. Remus took a deep breath.
"You are being incredibly selfish. You are bored! You are being a child! Grow the hell up, Sirius. Harry needs a father figure in his life, someone to be there for him and that person is you. If you do something as stupidly careless as leave the protection of this house because you're bored and you get caught and Kissed, then what happens to Harry? Huh? What about me? I can't lose you again Sirius, the first time I lost all my friends I almost fucking died! I can't go through that again! If you leave this house tonight, our friendship is over. If you don't care enough to keep yourself safe then you apparently don't care about the people who love you either." Remus turned and stalked out of the room leaving three shocked Aurors and Sirius.
Several moments went by before Tonks went up to Sirius and mumbled, "I'll go talk to him. He didn't really mean that, Sirius. I know he didn't."
"Yes he did. He meant every word of it. Remus Lupin doesn't say things without thinking. He's the most level headed, easy going, even tempered person I know. If he says something…he means it," Sirius said sadly.
Just then the fire flared and Snape was back.
"Has Dumbledore arrived yet?" he asked the room.
Kingsley went over to the fire to speak to the Potions Professor.
"I'm just going to talk to Remus. Calm him down a bit," Tonks said softly. Sirius shrugged his shoulder as he slumped into a chair and rested his head on his arms. Tonks shared a glance with Moody before she made her exit.
Once Snape finished his quick report and left the fire, the people in the room didn't speak and simply sat around the table. After twenty minutes Tonks returned to the room and took a seat as well. They all sat in silence for over an hour before Snape Apparated into the entryway, the sound waking Sirius' mother's portrait.
"Albus still hasn't arrived. Potter has been missing from the school for four hours now. I think a group should go to the Ministry and wait there. Maybe we can intercept Potter and his idiot friends before they even go inside. If they haven't fallen to their deaths during their Thestral ride," Snape added snidely.
"Can they all see Thestrals?" asked Tonks.
"From what I understand, Potter, Longbottom, and the Lovegood girl are able to. The Weasleys and Granger cannot," said Snape. "Where is Lupin?"
"I'm right here," said the man in question from the stairwell. "I agree with Severus. I think Kingsley and I should go to the Ministry and hide outside the visitor's entrance—"
"What about me?" Sirius asked.
Remus rolled his eyes slightly before responding, "You will wait here with Moody and Tonks for Dumbledore to get here. We'll send a Patronus message if something comes up. If we're lucky there will be no need to fight tonight."
"But Remus," Sirius started.
"Oh shut up Black. This is not the time for one of your tantrums. Go sit like a good dog, and wait for Dumbledore," Severus said with a frown and a raised eyebrow.
"Why you snivelling—"
"Sirius! This is not the time for this. Just wait here," Remus shouted. "Severus, that was uncalled for and you know it. Stop goading him into a fight and both of you act your age. Kingsley, let's go."
The two men left and Sirius stormed upstairs with a gloomy look on his face. The occupants of the kitchen could hear him stomping around in the Drawing Room slamming desk drawers and kicking furniture.
Sirius was muttering to himself as he paced the room. At one point he reached over and punched a cabinet he was passing. The resulting throb of pain made him curse and shake his hand in pain. After several minutes of this behaviour he sat down heavily. Several minutes went by and he suddenly sat straight up. He waved his wand and a piece of parchment and a Never-Out Quill came flying over to him. He scribbled madly for a few minutes before he set that aside.
"Kreacher," he said in a normal tone of voice. He didn't want anyone downstairs to hear him. When the elf popped into view a few minutes later Sirius gave him several orders. The elf reluctantly bowed and then popped out of sight which was the cue for Sirius to do the same. As owner of the house he could leave from anywhere, unlike the guests who had to leave from the entry way.
He appeared in an Alleyway a couple blocks from the Visitors Entrance to the Ministry. He remembered the place from when he was younger and had to come to register his motorbike as a charmed device. Granted he didn't tell them all the charms, only the legal ones, but his bike was registered.
Sirius moved stealthily down the narrow space. As he turned into the next alley he saw a movement by the dumpsters and he pulled back into the first Alley. He Disillusioned himself before peeking around the corner to look for what made the noise. He didn't see anything moving, but just before he stepped out he saw a shadow on the ground. He decided to move closer and see what it could be. As he got closer the shadow looked like a person. He could hear lowered voices as well.
As he stood waiting to get a view of the people, something nudged his shoulder. He glanced to his left and yelped loudly at the site of a Thestral nibbling at his shoulder. His yelp startled the Thestral and alerted whoever was on the other side of the dumpster. Sirius backed away from the animal as the others came running around and collided with Sirius.
He rolled off the person below him and jumped to his feet pointing his wand at someone.
"Remus?" he asked.
"Sirius?" said Remus.
"And I'm Kingsley. Will you please get off me now?" said the tall man under Remus. Remus scrambled off his partner and stood up.
"Sirius, I'm not even going to get into this with you now. When we get back later, we need to talk. But first we need to let the others at Headquarters know what's going on," said Remus.
"I left a note explaining that I ordered Kreacher to tell Dumbledore what's going on so no one has to stay behind. He's not to interrupt anything that happens tonight and to do as he's told by anyone in the Order," said Sirius quickly. Remus rolled his eyes as he cast the Patronus charm to send the message.
The three men waited in silence for the others to arrive. The Thestrals rummaged in the dumpsters for food making a little noise, but nothing that would alert a passerby of something out of the ordinary. Several minutes went by before a series of loud cracks reverberated through the air. Soon enough Tonks and Moody arrived with Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle.
"Fill us in on what's going on. Why's Black here already?" asked Moody.
"Sirius decided to go against orders and do as he pleased…again. As for our stakeout, Kingsley and I arrived and were in view of the entrance the whole time. We heard something in this alley we came to investigate and found six Thestrals…and Sirius. We're assuming the kids are already inside and have been for at least the last thirty minutes. We should send Minerva and Albus a Patronus Message to let them know what's going on and then I say we head inside and try to find the kids," Remus said quickly. Moody nodded and pointed to Kingsley.
"You do that Patronus, and then follow as the rear guard. Lupin, Black, Tonks, you three will be with me. Diggle, Jones I want you two to come along and then wait at the Department Entrance. You are to detain any Death Eaters who escape that way. If you see one of the kids, keep them safe even if it means stunning them and hiding them somewhere. If they're injured get them out and to Headquarters. If it's serious Mungo's is a last resort. If they're dead leave them and focus on the living. Our main goal tonight is not to capture You-Know-Who's followers but to get these kids to safety. Understood?" They all nodded grimly. "Okay then, and everyone remember, Constant Vigilance! Now let's go."
As they all set off to do their parts, Sirius groaned when Moody whispered they were taking the emergency stairs and not the lifts. Ten minutes later found Sirius and Remus standing behind Moody and Tonks as they entered a circular room. Dedalus and Hestia stayed outside, Disillusioning themselves and standing several feet away from the door.
As the door swung shut behind Sirius, Moody half turned and opened his mouth.
"Don't let the door –"
Click.
"Close," the grizzled Auror finished with a sigh. The room whirled around them, causing some dizzying nausea for the three younger adults.
"What the hell…" mumbled Tonks. Moody glared at Sirius who sheepishly shrugged his shoulders and grimaced.
"Oops," he muttered.
"Just bloody wonderful," Moody muttered as he examined the red 'X' on the door.
"Who do you suppose did that; Kids or Death Eaters?" asked Sirius.
"I doubt the Death Eaters would be stupid enough to signal to exactly where they've been or are. I think we can assume this was the work of the kids, and my guess is they don't know how to work the doors here, so they had to mark the rooms they've been in or checked, so let's check the ones they haven't marked," said Moody. At that moment Kingsley entered the circular hallway and halted upon seeing how crowded the room was.
"Having some difficulty with the doors Mad-Eye?" he smirked.
"No you daft fool we were waiting for your slow arse to arrive. Mark the exit door with Flagrate before you shut it. Show me the Men's Restroom," Moody said and a door to his left opened. He stepped forward and marked it with an 'X'. He motioned for Tonks to check the room while he held the door. She returned a moment later with a look of disgust and shook her head.
"No one, place is empty. Theoretically. Men are disgusting," she muttered. Sirius sniggered to himself as Moody called the phrase for the woman's restroom. She checked that room and reported it empty as well.
"Now what? There are six doors left and five of us." asked Tonks.
Moody thought for a moment. Sirius shifted from one foot to the next impatiently.
"Pair up, two people in a group. One person opens a door and enters while the second covers them from the doorway. The last person remains here and waits to be the backup in case a group needs help," Moody said finally.
So the group split into pairs with Tonks staying behind as backup and a link to Dedalus and Hestia just in case something went wrong. Remus and Sirius paired up despite their earlier dispute, they would always be able to work together in a tight spot. They chose a door to the left of the Men's Loo and waited for Moody to take the one right of the Women's Loo and both doors were yanked open.
Sirius slowly followed Remus into a long hallway; they heard Tonks mark the door before it closed partially, a conjured brick acting as a doorstop so Tonks could hear any shouts of distress from them. They inched their way farther until they came to an open space with a fireplace and several stiff chairs and sofas with coffee tables littering the room. Fake plants and piles of magazines were covering the various tables, and a receptionist's window on one wall lead into a small space containing a desk and two chairs on wheels. Several file cabinets lined the wall of the small office and tacky landscapes and posters hung on the walls around the whole space.
"Looks like some sort of waiting room," whispered Sirius. Remus nodded slowly and continued to walk straight through the room towards the only other door. He signalled to Sirius that he would open the door while Sirius would cover him again.
Behind the door was another hallway, this time with several doors leading off to new rooms. The two men shared a glance and continued forward again. At the first door they opened they found a small room containing a raised bed with rails and ominous straps, a desk and chair, and a cabinet. The cabinet was filled with needles attached to long tubes, bags with tubes coming off them and ending in a strange needle that had flaps of plastic on both sides and disinfectant potions with cotton balls. There was a strange coat stand on wheels in the corner of the room that had one of the bags hanging from it, its long tube coiled and draped on the other hooks.
"Remus…I don't like this room. Let's move on," Sirius said softly, his eyes wide as he examined the straps on the bed. Remus had been staring at the contents of the cabinet as he nodded and backed away.
They continued down the hallway and found a total of ten rooms all the same as the first one. The last door in the hallway exited into a Lab of some sort. As they wandered that room they found a cabinet with a cooling charm on it filled with bags and bags of blood. The labels they could read said Pure, MaMo/MuFa, MaFa/MuMo, Sq., MuBo, Vamp., W. Wolf, and several other abbreviations. Another cabinet had a warming charm on it and the same labels on the bags as the previous cabinet. There were several cages around the room with rats, hares, ferrets and other animals. There was even one with a small, lethargic Capuchin Monkey.
A sign by the door read Department of Mysteries: Magical and Non-Magical Blood Experimentation Laboratory followed by the names of several Unspeakables. There were five doors leading off this room as well, and further inspection found them to be the offices of each of the names on the sign. Sirius picked up a document on one work table and read it out loud to Remus.
"In my experiments I've discovered that blood belonging to someone of Pureblood inheritance (Pureblood in this case meaning four or more generations of All Magical ancestors) contains a weaker magical base than that of someone with Mixed Blood (Mixed Blood in this case meaning that of someone with one Magical parent and one Muggle Parent). Muggleborn individuals have been discovered to give poor results, in that the strength of the magical base in someone of Muggleborn descent varies from person to person. Knowledge of the persons ancestors are needed before blood can be used in any experiment and most Muggles keep poor records of their heritage. For example:
"Subject F, a Muggleborn male aged twenty-four, was found to have three distant Magical ancestors and his blood's magical base was scaled at twenty-three on a fifty point scale.
"Subject O is the same age and gender as Subject F, though Subject O has eight Magical ancestors and his scale was a thirty-nine on a fifty point scale.
"Finally, Subject V, also the same age and gender and the previous Subjects, has no known magical relatives past or present and he scored a twenty-seven on the scale.
"Uns. Melman has proved in her research, magical training has little to no effect on the magical base in someone's blood. So when I compare the blood of a Pureblood male the same age as a Mixed Blood male, the magical base ranges can be guaranteed to be accurately measured with no outside interference.
"This gives me hope that my hypothesis is correct. I believe that Magical Blood…That's where it ends," Sirius said.
"That's fascinating," Remus said taking the pile of paper from Sirius and shuffling through it. "If you look at those cabinets I think the abbreviations stand for the blood types. MaMo/MuFa must be Magical Mother and Muggle Father and the other one is vice versa. MuBo must be Muggleborn and W. Wolf is obviously werewolf blood. I had no idea the Ministry was researching the potency of Magical blood," he said.
"Yes, this is all utterly captivating, but we have to go now," Sirius said. Remus nodded and set the papers down where they'd been picked up from.
The two headed back the way they'd come from and discovered nothing had changed. As they exited the room, Tonks gave them a quick look.
"What took you so long? Moody and Kingsley have already done one room and moved on to the next. Pick another door and let's move a bit faster this time," she said tensely.
"It was a big room with many side rooms," Sirius muttered. He and Remus moved towards the next door and opened it. Inside was a glittery light and it was obvious that a fight had broken out here not too long ago. Sirius and Remus rushed inside and found no kids but did discover a larger man with a baby head curled up in a corner wailing his head off, drool running down his chin and a wet spot on his trousers. The two men shared a look and Sirius knocked the Baby-Man out with a sleeper charm he'd used on Harry a couple times when he'd been babysitting. Sirius levitated the man to Tonks to have Dedalus and Hestia watch over him while Remus checked the offices.
When Sirius returned the two went to the last door and found themselves in the Hall of Prophecies. The room was so large they decided to not run through it and instead cast the Homenum Revelio spell. There were four total humans in the room, including themselves.
"Do you remember if Dumbledore said there were people who worked here at night?" asked Sirius.
"No. Everyone leaves after a while. Let's leave this room and come back with the others if we don't find anything in the last two rooms. Come on," Remus said.
"But what if it's Harry and Voldemort? What if that bastard killed all the other kids and Harry's all alone now," Sirius said, his eyes widening. He started to move towards the room, but Remus grabbed him.
"For all we know, those two people could be someone working late. You are a wanted criminal and I am a Dark Creature. If we're going to go running into anything, we need the Aurors with us. I want to keep Harry safe just as much as you Sirius, but we need to keep our heads here," he said as he pulled him back into the Time room and towards the exit.
When they arrived, Moody and Kingsley were just exiting their third room.
"What did you find?" Moody said immediately.
"We found a room where they experiment on Blood potency there," Remus pointed. "And in the Time room there we found a man with an Infant's head, dressed in Death Eater robes. He was in no shape to fight us, so we put him to sleep and left him with Hestia and Dedalus. Through the Time room we found the Hall of Prophecies and there were two more people inside, though we don't know where or who they are. We were just about to check that room there," he pointed to the last door without an 'X'.
"What did you guys find?" asked Sirius.
"Dangerous Spells and Creatures Lab there; Wand and Wandless Theory Room next to it, and that one is a general Potions Lab," Moody said. "Let's do this last one. This is taking too long, this damn department is too bloody huge."
Moody opened the door to a room that was almost completely dark. It had giant, floating balls and specks of light hovering in midair throughout the whole room. In one corner, Remus could see a lump on the ground, only visible because of the eerie glow reflecting off the Death Eater mask lying nearby. Shards of something were scattered around the body.
"Kingsley, get him to Hestia and Diggle," said Moody. Kingsley stepped into the room and was unexpectedly lifted off his feet and was freely floating amongst the planets.
"Er…someone want to get me down?" he said after a moment of shock. Tonks giggled like mad for a moment.
Suddenly a shout came from a room directly across from them.
"Harry, it'll suffocate him!" cried Ginny's voice. Soon came shouts of several mispronounced Stunners, more spellfire, and then silence. Sirius had instantly, at the first shout, darted into the room and was attempting to swim through the air towards the room. Remus had tried to stop Sirius from entering the room, but had been a second too late and found himself suspended in the dark room as well. Tonks and Moody were at a loss as to how to return their colleagues to the ground when Tonks discovered a thin silver line on the floor around the room, one foot away from the walls. She stepped into the room but didn't cross the line and found she could remain grounded. She nodded to Moody before slowly inching her way around the room, her back pressed against the wall.
"When you get to the door, girl, try summoning the Floaters. If it works I'll have you do it for me as well. If not I'll try to find a different path," said Moody. By the time Tonks made it to the other door, Sirius had wiggled and waved his arms in a side stroke manner so much he'd almost reached the door as well. She cast the Summoning Charm and found it worked well. Sirius landed next to her and immediately summoned Remus while she did the same for Kingsley and Moody who upon seeing Sirius suddenly zip over to Tonks, had walked into the room and joined Kingsley in the air.
Once the five were on solid ground again they slowly entered the room and found themselves surrounded by chaos. Four of the missing kids were lying in the rubble of destroyed desks, chairs, and work tables. Sirius, Remus, and Tonks each ran towards a still body while Moody and Kingsley found a thrashing Ron wrapped in a Brain's thought-tentacles. Sirius Enervated Ginny and the girl quickly came to; she explained what had happened to him quickly while he set her ankle in a brace. Luna had been revived and Tonks sent her to get Dedalus and Hestia to bring them back. Hestia had medical training and Dedalus could help stand guard over the kids.
As Sirius moved to help the others with Ron they all paused when they heard a painful scream.
"Harry?" muttered Sirius. Forgetting Ron, who had been freed from the tentacles at last, the five Order members bolted for the doors across the room.
Sirius moaned and shifted his pounding head slowly to the side. His hands clenched around the shaggy rug underneath him for a moment before his eyes flew open. He glanced around the room for a few seconds before he slowly made his way to sitting up.
He groaned and clutched his head.
"Stop…bloody…spinning," he mumbled. "Where am I?"
He carefully stood up and moved to the door. Grasping the handle he attempted to turn the handle. It wouldn't budge. He shook it violently for a few seconds, then curled his hands into fists and began banging on the door.
"Let me out!" he shouted weakly. "Where the hell am I?" he asked again. For a few minutes he banged hard on the door and continued to rattle the handle to no avail. Several attempts with Alohomora proved to be pointless, so Sirius tried several other locking charms but nothing worked.
Finally, he paused and with a shake of his head, turned to take in the room. It was small with a single bed, a small desk and chair, a bookcase with an armchair, and two small windows. On the desk was a small, cream coloured envelope with his name written in curly script. He stepped the four steps over to the desk and ripped it open. He read:
Sirius – I will come soon and explain where you currently are and why. Be assured Harry and his friends, Remus, Tonks and everyone else are fine, alive, and relatively well. Rest and be patient, I will be there soon enough. – DD
Sirius sighed. He knew he could trust Dumbledore so he decided to sit and lay back on the bed. Hopefully the pounding in his head and the dizziness would subside before his 'boss' arrived. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander.
The last thing he remembered was fighting Bella and her stunner just missing him. He remembered joking and then seeing red again with the sensation of falling backwards, then black. He must have been stunned and the side effects he was now suffering was from the spell wearing off on its own instead of him being Enervated. He wondered who had brought him here and just left him. Remus and Tonks would have woken him up or at least put him on the bed, perhaps Kingsley would have also. But Moody wouldn't have a problem just dropping him on the floor and leaving him.
Sirius sat for a long time. After a while the dizziness went away and the headache was slowly but surely dissipating. He couldn't help his imagination running away from him though. He couldn't figure out why he would be locked up in the small room. He couldn't figure out where he was by the view outside the windows. The small pond and little edge of forest he could see could have been anywhere.
He pondered reasons he could be locked up. Perhaps someone in the Ministry had seen him and this was his newest prison. If that were the case he would surely go mad. He could count nine books on the bookshelf and of that four were trashy romance novels and the other five were about Morgana le Fay and Merlin. The rest of the shelves were filled with grandmotherly knick-knacks and doilies. Actually the whole room had that granny's-unused-spare-room feel to it. A floral bedspread, the design matched in the arm chair, white decoupage desk and gauzy, yellowed curtains. There was even a wind chime with cute little kittens on it hanging near the unopened windows.
His mind wandering to more and more frightening possibilities about why he would be locked up in the Granny-room he got off the bed and paced back and forth. After several minutes of that he was bored and his headache was returning so he picked a book at random and sat in the armchair. He was eight pages into the novel when a loud pop sounded in the room causing him to jump and fling the book away from him. Had the chair been pushed away from the wall he'd probably have turned it over backwards.
"Ah, Sirius. I am so pleased to see you are…well. I must apologize for the long wait. I was discussing the battle with young Harry for a few hours. Oh but first I should probably remove the spell on you," Albus said.
"Spell? What spell on me?" Sirius asked in confusion.
"There is a small memory block on you. It was placed by me…or should I say a version of me? Oh well, hold still," the old man said with a smile. Sirius blanched and didn't move as a spell hit him in the face.
Instantly his headache returned full force as the memory of his private meeting with Albus returned. A phial was placed in his hand and he was told to drink so he did. The headache disappeared just as instantly as it had hit him.
"Where the hell have you been?" was the first thing Sirius said.
"Well, after the battle at the Ministry, all of whom fought are alive and well by the way, I sent Harry back to my office by Portkey while I spoke to the Minister and several other officials about Voldemort's attempt to remove the Prophecy by using Harry. Once I was finished there, I returned to the school and spoke with Harry. I am sorry to say but he is taking your…death fairly hard. He destroyed many of my possessions, though I don't blame him. He's had a difficult year. However, I did not know of your survival until my counterpart's letter arrived in my office shortly after Harry left. He explained everything, that he…or I, saved you with a Portal and where you were. I explained to myself what needed to be done and how and when before my counterpart explained when I had to use the Time Turner. I'm afraid I don't have much time to go into extensive detail, but I will have to do the ritual soon," said Albus.
"Wait…can I please write a letter to Remus and Harry? I want them to know that I…I love them. I didn't want to leave them and I…I want them to be safe. I won't say I'm alive. I'll make it seem like I wrote the letters before I left Grimmauld Place earlier tonight. I just don't want to leave them with nothing, I want them to know I cared about them," Sirius said, his voice cracking in places and tears filling his eyes.
"I am sorry, Sirius. But I cannot allow that. I have to finish the ritual soon and there is no time to let you write letters. Besides, how do you think Harry and Remus would feel when they find out you lived and were allowed to write them letters as if you had died, knowing that you would live?" Dumbledore asked.
Sirius stared at him in confusion for a moment before it dawned on him that Remus at least would be pissed off if he found out Sirius had lived, but wrote him a letter after the fact as if he'd actually died. The letters would only prove useful to Sirius to soothe his conscience but would in fact really hurt Harry and Remus in the end. Besides, the only reason he would write the letters was to slip in a secret code that told them he was alive and Sirius was sure Dumbledore would read the notes before allowing the other two to read them, just to make sure, and if he found any kind of code the letters would never make it to their intended recipients.
So Sirius conceded and gave up on the idea of writing a letter or two. After he sighed and nodded his head Dumbledore directed him to lie down.
"Now, Remus will wake you in a few years I'm sure. Harry is getting very strong with his Defence abilities and I think I've discovered how Voldemort has survived. It shouldn't be too long before you are awake again, and hopefully in that time Pettigrew will be captured or sighted and you will wake as a free man. But before I continue, do you have any questions?" he asked.
"Erm…who is going to be caring for me during the time I'm under?" Sirius asked.
"My counterpart is working on that right now. His name is Elmer Hoffsted and he's a veteran Healer at St. Mungo's. Everything will be taken care of and you should have no worries in regards to your safety," said Dumbledore.
"It's almost like you've done this before," Sirius mumbled as he pulled the covers over his body and snuggled down into the bed.
Dumbledore ignored the comment and pulled a shrunken book from his pocket and enlarged it before opening it to a page halfway through the book.
"It's been a pleasure Sirius. I hope we will see each other again in the future," Dumbledore said before he started the ritual. Sirius had no time to ponder what he'd meant by that and the last thing he remembered doing before the blackness overcame him was whispering, "Please don't hate me, Harry."
The scene ended in blackness and a swirl and the group found themselves standing in the Drawing Room of Grimmauld Place. Sirius had tears in his eyes and couldn't look at his godson. Harry could see Sirius avoiding his gaze and walked over to him, throwing his arms around his godfather and hugging him tightly.
"I'm so sorry Harry," Sirius whispered.
"It's okay Sirius," Harry said softly, tears in his eyes.
"Can you forgive me?" asked the older man. Harry pulled away from Sirius and looked him in the eye.
"There's nothing to forgive. You did the right thing," Harry said firmly. Sirius smiled weakly and patted Harry on the back. "Dumping me in the pool however…" Harry said before Sirius found himself dressed in a woman's black, lacy, lingerie and Harry already halfway to the door of the room.
a/n: I know it's been a while, so I hope this incredibly long chapter will be enough to stay your rotten-vegetable throwing arms. I won't go into a whole lot of detail, it's about 2 am right now and I'm exhausted, but this whole chapter was written by hand in my Art History notebook. I have my art history class twice a week for 2.5 hours total, and I spend about 2 hours of that time working on this story...lol. Basically, I ignore my teacher and write my story instead of sleeping which is another thing I tend to do in this class. It looks like I'm taking notes, so she doesn't bother me, and I end up making an otherwise unproductive hour (she's a really bad teacher...) more productive. I'll also add that I'm maintaining a B+ in the class despite my inattentiveness and the teachers poor teaching skills. It's Modern Art Since 1955...easy peasy. Not that I recommend skipping class (even in a mental capacity) to do fan fiction, just that y'all should appreciate this chapter...I wrote all 10 thousand plus words by hand then typed it out and edited.
I went to see Woman in Black the other day...oh my, I nearly ended up in my friends lap at one point I jumped so hard. I don't do scary movies even at noon, on a sunny day in the middle of summer and for some reason we went at night, mid winter, just the two of us...needless to say I barely slept...with a nightlight on. I'm unashamed to admit I'm a wimp. But the movie was totally worth it. Dan Radcliffe was awesome! So was his little godson who played his character's son. I'd recommend seeing it.
Thanks to my awesome beta Teufel1987 for editing this beast in less than a day! You are super awesome! Please review! and I am sorry I've been so slow at updating. I'm so close to being done with my bachelors degree I hope you can forgive me this last year or so. After December I'll have my degree and the only thing I'll be spending my time on is a job...until then, please bear with me. I will never give up on this story. I have too much time and effort put in now to quit. But it will probably be slow going until then.
Last thing, is anyone planning on going to Leaky Con in August? I wish I could go so badly!