Potions and redemption, kinda – Reg was being an idiot, and a wimp. "Reg I can give you a glamour, I'll be wearing one and Harry will be wearing one, we can't be spotted. I understand your trepidation about going out into the world but you need clothes and we can't very well have Kreacher do everything for you, clothe shopping is nice." It was scary given how he was a wanted man, but it was fun all the same, in some way. Still, Regulus would not be swayed and it was aggravating, who in their right minds wanted to stay dead once they were given a second chance? In the end it was a good thing that Regulus did not come along with them because he did not have a wand, and that meant he could not defend himself.
It happened right outside Gringotts bank of all places and it was completely unexpected. They had gone to get more money to buy Regulus' clothes, he and Sirius were the same size, they always had been incredibly similar in looks to Sirius could model. Sirius and Harry were wearing glamours, Sirius had made sure of that, after all he has no Polyjuice potion to hand so that was going to have to do. He had just taken Harry to Diagon Alley and they had enjoyed a day out he was feeling triumphant all had gone well. They had had fun and the icing on the cake would have been for Regulus to be with them. But then all had fallen to shambles, the glamour on Harry's forehead had fallen for some reason, only for a split second, but that was all it took.
The man nearby who must have been an order member said nothing and Sirius thought he had gotten away with it but he must have cast a patronus once he turned his back alerting the order. Then he grabbed Harry from by his side, literally just plucked him from the floor and run off with him. Sirius had not seen it coming, the audacity of the man to pick up his son and try to make off with him and God damn it he was fast! Of course he had given chase, practically blinded with worry and here he was now running as fast as he could after his Godson. 'Go faster!' His magic urged, creeping into his legs to aid his muscles and stabilising his breathing to increase his stamina. 'he is taking the cub, we need to catch them!
"PADFOOT!" Harry was screaming as he was being whisked away from him, becoming smaller in the arms of the youth taking him away. The desperation in his voice actually broke his heart, if he could have spared the breath he would have told them that everything was going to be alright. He heaved for breath, once, twice, three times, and took off once more, running, scared that any minute Harry would be subdued so that they could apparate. The youth could not do so at the moment, because while he was struggling they could be splinched. That was the one problem with him being young, that he was not as professional as he could be with complex works of magic, but God damn, he was fast, he was bloody fast.
He knew Harry was not going to be hurt, no, these aurors thought they were doing the right thing taking him away, they did not want him to grow up corrupted and he could compensate with that, he understood where they were coming from. But Sirius did not want him to grow up light because that was manipulative too. He was just a child and Dumbledore wanted him to grow up a warrior, he wanted to wait for him to grow up and fight this war for him when he should be leading the light himself. He was doing the right thing, defeating the death eaters now before they could band together and revolt against the light carrying on Voldemort's legacy. No, he would not let him reform an empire, and he will come back and try to do so one day.
No, these were good people, he had to be careful not to hurt them, they did not deserve that, most of them were blind to the fact that Harry was distressed at being taken away from him and would obviously do better being allowed to remain in his Godfather's arms. He knew they were just following orders but Harry sounded so scared and he looked so small getting further and further away. He hated seeing him hurt in any way, it was heart-wrenching and rage bubbled within him, how dare they take him away? Harry struggled to look over the youngster's shoulder; he must be new to the order, not only was he even younger than him, Sirius did not even know the name of the person who had him.
He extended his little arms towards him, pleading, begging, trying to wriggle free to run to him, but the hold was too firm. There were tears in his little green eyes, "PADFOOT!" He called in his high voice, it cracked with his fear and desperation, he was loud but as the youngster was running faster than he could it was getting fainter. "PADFOOT, HELP ME!" Sirius forced himself to run even faster, now he knew why they had trusted Harry to the youngster. 'How dare they,' his magic hissed in anger, seeping through his pores and creating a deadly aura around him. 'They will rue the day they crossed Sirius Black!' Sirius shook his head, 'we must keep control, we are trying to prove our innocence, I am not a murderer, but they will learn, they will learn well.'
As soon as the youth and he were far enough away from civilisation the order struck. The aurors and ministry officials came out of nowhere. The youth was leading him into a trap damn him, and because he had Harry he had run straight into it. He quickly threw up a shield to protect himself and not a moment later a barrage of spells hit him. He was stopped in his tracks, the pure force meaning he had to stop in the pursuit of his Godson. He growled in irritation, the salt of the sweat on his brow dripping into his eyes already with the exertion of holding up under such an onslaught of attack. He had to modify his shield as a simple protego would not last more than a few moments with this many attacks at him, but how?
These were aurors, trained magical beings, not Rita Skeeter who would not even know an unforgivable if it was cast as her. If he modified it into one that strengthened when spells hit it then they would notice soon enough and destroy it using other means. With a swirl of robes it transformed into a deflective shield. The nasty hexes and curses would be rebounded and flung in other directions, probably hitting others, hopefully they would be sending nothing more than force spells at him to get rid of his shield and then move onto something more. They would not get the chance to move onto something more, he'd have reclaimed Harry and apparated by that moment. This still took energy to uphold, but not as much, he'd still have to act quickly.
There was an anti-apparition ward up, they did not know he could go around barriers, all it did was help him, it meant Harry would not disappear. He continued to run after Harry and looked around him at the people attacking him, he knew these people. Some of them were his friends, classmates from years back, his mentors, his trainers, the people he had grown to love. These were the people he would die for, fight for, the ones he loved, the ones who had loved him before... He should be used to the betrayal by now, he'd had enough time, and he had to harden his heart. He noticed with a small amount of joy that Remus was not one of the number, but that did mean he did not love the other people who were glaring at him with such hatred and conviction.
He scanned the faces, Albus Dumbledore, dear Minnie who had been like a mother to him all throughout school and had now forsaken him just like his biological mother and his adopted brothers. He saw Alastor Moody, his mentor, the one who had trained him to become an auror, the one who made him who he was today, who he was now. This man knew him inside and out, he had shown his tears to this man and now he was throwing the most vicious curses of everyone there. He saw Mundungus Fletcher and Kingsley Shacklebolt, they never particularly liked him, but then nobody liked Dung, but they had still saved each other's lives at some point when they had all been thrown into the same scouting party a couple of years ago.
There were those he did not know very well but had thought with clarity, no, had understood with conviction, that he could trust them. Trust was what the order was made of, because as soon as you joined the order you may be forced to leave your fate in the hands of a stranger, leave it up to someone you do not know to save your life. Indeed Kingsley had saved him life when they were in the same party and he had saved Dumbledore's and nothing was ever spoken of it because that is what happened in the order, it was a dangerous job so why mention thanks? These people trying to kill him now were people he would have once trusted to come and save him and he would have returned the favour and despite hardening his heart, or so he thought, it hurt.
Elphias Doge, he had spoken to him but once and secretly admired his strength but nothing more. Edgar Bones, Dedalus Diggle, Aberforth, Benjy Fenwick, all people he had gone to the pub with at some point with James before he was killed and it all fell apart. Severus Snape, a man whom he had tried to kill before but would never dream would return the favour, although of course try was the main word. None of these people would succeed in recapturing him, although of course it was going to be hard to do this without hurting them, but he'd never been one to shirk challenges. He didn't even know some of these order members, an organisation he noted with appreciation had grown, at least Dumbledore understood more members were needed. Some of them were straight out of school too like the one who had Harry now.
He ran as fast as he could under the barrage. They were being careful now that they saw it deflected their spells. They were moving in formation to make sure they did not get hit, calculating the degrees of the angles their spells would be deflected at and moving in that choreographed way, it was like a dance, hypnotising. He did not have the time to sit back and admire how it looked though, with concentration he apparated to where Harry and his captor was and had to drop his shield in order to gain in hand to hand combat, but the youth was just as conniving. This was why they chose the young one to carry the cargo, he was but a child, good at running and was smart, and would be protected for as long as he held his son.
The ward was dropped. They started apparating and appearing but metres away every couple of seconds, disappearing to appear behind each other and striking out. He managed to knock Harry out of his grip but a huge force strike hit him square in the chest knocking him back several metres and he had to hastily throw up his shield again. Harry scurried away, not to him, he was surrounded again, he just ran away, trying to get away, trying to keep away from the youth who had held him before. He was young but he was tough he could look after himself for a few minutes, hopefully. He just prayed that he would not get hit, some of these hexes were powerful and vicious, even though they just dissolved against his shield, he prayed Harry would be ok.
Everyone started to get tired and Sirius knew that once one gets tired one makes mistakes. He would be ok as long as he kept his shield up and everyone was too occupied to get to Harry, including him. Eventually he managed to get to him, he could not keep apparating, he did not have an unlimited supply of power. Then suddenly a particularly vicious hex was thrown at him by Moody, it was a nerve breaker, caused pain similar to that of crucio but actually caused damage, some said it was worse but for some reason it was not an unforgivable. One had to wonder why he was using it; after all they had not broken through his shield yet. That was the thing with Moody, bloody good wizard an auror, but could be vicious too, for the sake of it.
Like all the others it was deflected and he watched it speed of at 90 degrees towards somebody who was slow and sluggish so could not move out of the way fast enough. "No, SEVERUS!" He screamed in warning but it was too late, he fell to the ground with a small cry and started convulsing as the curse wracked through his body. He was out of time, no one else seemed to even notice he was down, he had to stop protecting himself, the shield would not last much longer anyway. With one apparation he had Harry in his arms and he sprinted over to Severus. A crucatious curse hit him in the back and he roared in pain but did not let it stop him. He had to get to Severus, as much as the potion's master would hate it, he was his only chance.
Hexes ripped his skin; luckily they only glanced him as he ran but he managed to reach Severus and flung the man over his shoulder with his other arm and apparated home. They would not be able to follow him; there were wards up around his house. "Kreacher!" He yelled, depositing Harry on the floor and carrying Severus upstairs in his arms. He appeared with a pop but Sirius did not even turn around, "get me pain relieving potions, and healing ones, all that there are, they're in the kitchen, don't ask me why, just get them." He kept shouting because it was the only way he could keep the blood roaring round his body at a dangerous pace. If he stopped he would relax too much and give in to the pain and feel sorry for himself and this would get them nowhere.
He put his old nemesis on his bed used his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his brow. He was exhausted and hurt himself but if Severus was not healed immediately then there may be lasting effects. Kreacher appeared and Sirius immediately started to pour them down his lax throat one by one, sparing a few of the pain relieving ones for himself too. The black haired man's eyes were closed as he spasmed and lurched on the bed; he barely knew what was happening around him. "Get me some caffeine, I don't care what form it's in and something for these cuts, I'm getting lightheaded, then put Harry to bed and keep him there, I don't want him seeing this. On that note, Harry get away from the door, stay out of this room!"
He tried to lower his voice as he was still pretty much shouting and he did not want to shout at Harry. "Please," he added in a softer tone, "just go with Kreacher, or even better, go to uncle Reg, you can come back in the morning, but not now, go to bed." Severus was groaning and convulsing for a whole hour even after he healed him with his own potions. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and held him down on the bed when the pain made him writhe. There was very little he could do, it was a very evil spell, not as painful as the crucatious curse, but lasting, it actually caused real damage. There was not much he could do to ease the pain as the body worked to heal the damage done to the nerves.
He would make a full recovery of that Sirius was sure; it would not leave him hurt or maimed thanks to his quick action. However it would take while for him to make that recovery and then there would be that matter of letting him go. He did not show any sign of recovery until morning when he eventually relaxed, his face smoothing into sleep. Harry walked into the room, thumb in his mouth, still frightened from arriving with Severus the way he did the night before and the capture and the fighting, he shook his head. "Is the man going to be alright?" He jumped onto his lap and peered at him, Severus looked a lot more peaceful now he was done thrashing, almost innocent lying there like that, no snarky comments coming out his mouth, just lying there in peace.
He nodded as he held his Godson in answer, oh yes, Severus would be alright, he would recover fine, and then he would attack him and then Sirius would be forced to obliviate and dump him. "Who is he Padfoot?" Harry snuggled into his chest, "isn't he one of the bad people who wanted to take me away from you?" He looked at the sleeping man warily, and Sirius did not blame him, he was wary of Severus too. He was the only one of the aurors who had a personal vendetta against him and would attack him even without his being a convict he was sure of it. He was no angel himself but Severus was a snarky, bitter man, but he was not a bad man, he didn't think, just misunderstood and did not have many friends to rely on.
Severus may be here for a while though, and in time he may be able to extend the hand of friendship to him. Of course whether he takes it or not is another matter, but one can hope. Sirius sighed, "he wanted to take you away from me, but he is not a bad person," he clarified. This was a difficult matter to explain to a young child, all he knew was that the people who attacked them yesterday wanted to separate them and that was the last thing he wanted. "He just does not understand that you are happy here."
"Can we just tell him?" He made it sound so simple, but then who said it was not simple. Talking never did much good before, true, but he might as well try again otherwise it was definitely going to get him nowhere. Severus was lying on his bed in his home in his clutches and care, incapacitated for the moment; he had no choice but to tell him.
Sirius smiled at Harry's innocent face and suggestion, perhaps if Harry explained the matter it would actually make a difference because one thing that was for sure: nobody listed to the criminal. "Sure, you can tell him once he wakes up. You'll have to ask Kreacher for breakfast today I'm afraid I need sleep, I was up all night tending to him."
"Ok. I'll ask Kreacher to make something for you later." He hopped off his lap and trotted out the room calling for Kreacher in his young voice. Harry was the pinnacle of learning by example, he sounded like a young Black heir already.
"Thanks cub." He was not looking forward to when Severus woke up, he cast a quick binding charm on him and a small shield around himself, and hopefully he would wake before him. His hopes were to be, he did wake before Severus, but only marginally. A moment later he started thrashing as the pain from his nerves regenerating hit him again. He broke through the magical binds and he almost fell off the bed but Sirius was there to hold him tight. "Hold still Severus," he said as softly but firmly as he could, "you were hit by a nerve cracking hex, they need to be regenerated, I gave you a potion for it, just give it time."
Eventually his onyx eyes opened and focused on him, they narrowed. "Black," he muttered in a quiet, low voice, "what are you doing?" Sirius was impressed, no shouting and screaming, no yelling curses and hexes, not that it would have done anything with no wand, just a quiet question. And it was a fully understandable enquiry too, after all one did not expect to wake up after a battle being tended to by your enemy he was right to be confused. In another time and place, the two of them may have become good friends.
"Hush," he said, not letting that get to him, "you were hit by a powerful hex and it affects your throat as well, just relax and let the potions do their work." It was true, Severus was sounding awfully scratchy, sore throat did not even begin to describe it.
Severus was not to be dissuaded. "Tell me Black," he ordered, again not seeming to be particularly anxious, but sounding rather menacing whilst puzzled.
Well he couldn't argue with that tone. "Moody accidentally hit you with a nerve cracking curse, effectively snapping them and causing you great pain and making you collapse. Nobody else noticed you fall because you were practically silent when you fell. You needed immediate aid and I had just gotten Harry back so I took you to heal you, nothing more."
Severus blinked at him, "why?"
"Because I did not want you do die." He was not sure that he would have died, the aurors would have noticed him eventually but their first concern would have been the one who had just slipped through their fingers and by that time Severus would have been beyond complete repair.
"That's a first," he sneered. A thank you was a long way off.
"Yes, it is," he agreed with an eye roll, "but contrary to popular belief I am not a murderer. I am sorry to how I treated you in school, but it is time that is put behind us and let us start anew. I just want you to get better because you don't deserve to be maimed by carelessness. Now for the last time just relax and let yourself heal." After a long stare he seemed to do as he was told and Sirius let out a long sigh, "thank you. Kreacher!" With a pop the elf appeared. "Two bowls of porridge please Kreacher, and more caffeine, again, I don't care what form it's in."
"How is Harry?" Severus asked after a mouthful of porridge. Sirius was glad he was not rejecting the food, the potions needed something to work with after all, it was just like medicine in that respect. He was also asking a completely unrelated question and sounding almost... pleasant?
Sirius shrugged, "shaken, but he gets over things quick, he'll be fine. In a more general sense he is happy and safe, you do not need to concern yourself with that, I think I have proven myself quite capable of protecting him."
"Where am I?"
"My abode, you're safe for now, I can't tell you what this place is or I'll have to obliviate you once you are healed."
Severus took all of this in his stride. "Where's my wand."
"Again it's safe," in my pocket, "I'd give it to you, but you might cast a patronus and well I'd rather our meeting here was kept between us for now."
Again he but nodded, "Harry, let me see him."
Sirius shrugged, "Ok." He opened the door with a flick of his hand and called for him. "Harry, come upstairs, I want you meet someone!" moments later Harry was hanging nervously by the door. "Come in child and say hello to Severus Snape."
Harry edged closer and gave a shy little wave, "hello," he said in a small voice.
"Hello Potter," Snape sneered back.
Harry gave a shy look to his Godfather who just smiled and inclined his head. "Can you and your friends stop trying to take me away please?" Harry said hesitantly, "I don't know why you want me away, but I like being here with Padfoot. I really like it, he took me from the Dursleys and I don't like the Dursleys and we have loads of fun and," he bunched the bottom of his shirt in his hands in nervousness, "I love Padfoot, so don't take me away."
Severus blinked non-committed, "so I see," he drawled eventually. "Very well, I will cease my hunt for you," he turned to Sirius, "you have my word, but that is the only word you have."
Sirius frowned, confused, "well that was relatively easy," he mentioned, "you are aware that it is me you just promised to leave alone?"
"I am well aware of my own words, yes"
Sirius smiled, "well thank you, Severus, that means a lot, really." Talking worked, he was very sceptical of it before, he had no idea it could work so well. Harry climbed back onto his lap and Sirius let him, pushing him to the side slightly so he could still reach his porridge.
"Why are you being so... well, nice?" Sirius smiled, he was thinking the same thing.
"I see no reason not to be," he shrugged.
"Had your shield failed when we were fighting, I would have killed you Black, with no hesitation, you know that right?"
"I know that," he said quietly, "it is not more than what everyone else would have done. But just because you were prepared to kill me, does not mean I was prepared to do the same. I have hardened my heart where need be Severus, but it beats just as strong. When I saw that curse hit you I knew I could not let you die so I dropped my shield and grabbed you."
"Because you saw no reason not to? Give me a real answer Black."
"One does not think before they save a life Severus, that is just the way things are."
"One usually does not think before killing either."
"Sadly, that too is true."
"Why are you looking after Harry, is it out of guilt, I must say we were all surprised when we learnt he was actually being looked after and Harry just confirmed that himself."
"It is not out of guilt, well it is, actually... it is not just guilt. I love Harry very much, just as I loved James and Lily, it is my duty as Godfather to look after him."
"Then why did you kill them?" His voice was deadly.
Sirius just gave a small sad smile; even though it happened three years ago the pain was still rather fresh, but this was the only way he was going to make Snape see and he wanted him to see. Circumstance had landed them together and that meant for now by a twist of fate Sirius much to his amusement found Snape was his only friend for now, and he needed him to know. "My, my Severus," he mentioned, "you do ask the most ridiculous questions sometimes." He shook his head as if the man was being foolish, "look inside yourself, you know the answer to that."
Sirius stared at him, and Severus stared back into his eyes in answer. Sirius did not turn away and Severus' black orbs burned into his own, searching. The tears welled up again but Sirius blinked them back before they spilled, Severus was not allowed to see his tears just yet. They may grow to be friends, but they had not gotten there yet. Eventually a look of absolute shock crossed over Severus' face and he sat up against the pillows. His eyes narrowed but he shook his head in wonder, "it wasn't you," he gasped, "you're innocent." He did not need Sirius' affirming nod, "I don't understand, what happened that night... Sirius?"
"I wasn't the secret keeper Severus, it was Peter, he betrayed them and framed me, that's all I can say," he looked away; it was a tough subject to discuss.
"Why did you not prove your innocence, you could have gotten Lupin to see the truth and help you, but you did not, you remain on the run and it almost got you killed today."
"I was bitter; I did not want to have to prove myself to my own brother. There is another reason I want to do this myself. While I remain guilty I remain dangerous and feared, as Shakespeare said: there is method in my madness."
"The death eaters," Severus blinked, "of course they fear you and you come for them and it is intimidating, and rather uncharacteristic."
"It is uncharacteristic of my old self, I am reborn now. The nice guys always win; they just go through a lot of pain and loss to get there. The nice guys always sacrifice and make hard choices so they do not end up hurting anyone but themselves and people love them for it. The nice guys always have their closest friends abandon or betray them at some point. The nice guys are the ones who sit in the pub and watch the girls be taken away by the bastards who are confident enough to go up to anyone and talk to them and know they are going to be the ones holding her hand while she cries into his pocket handkerchief."
He wrapped an arm around a now dozy Harry. "But what of the villain? The villain lives a short but happy life, an ultimate villain lives a long and happy life. His family and friends do not betray him, well maybe his family, but his friends and followers never mutiny. He does not usually get the girl but he gets the fame and the easy ride. They do not always have to sacrifice, they don't care and do whatever the hell they want and get away with it because the good guy is too good to kill them for their crimes. The villain makes no hard choices; he is winning until the very end, he takes what he wants and is done with it."
"I'm tired of being a hero Severus, being dark and intimidating yields such better results. But I'm not dark enough to be a villain, so I'm going somewhere in between. I will not have to make any sacrifices or hard choices, I'll just take what I want and disregard the rest. I will only trust the ones I have no doubt over or have my eyes on all the time for a while first. I will severely punish those who betray me and live a long, carefree and happy life. I will raise Harry to be the same. And to top it off, when it's all said and done and done and said I will turn around and win."
Severus surprised him by smiling a small appreciative smile. "Why you devious little Slytherin," he purred, "I would never have thought you have it in you."
Sirius smiled, "thank you. But now you see why I am allowing things to stay the way they are. I wanted Fudge to release me from the charges I am still being held responsible for and I still do want him to be honourable, but I am working with what I am given. Soon I will catch Peter, I don't know how but I'll do it soon, and once I do he will pay for his crimes and the world will answer for betraying me, especially those who said they were my family and friends. I am still bitter towards the order, Minnie and Remus especially." He let out a bark of laughter, "ironically, you are the only one who can be excused given our past."
Severus shook his head. "I don't deserve your forgiveness either. I knew you were innocent because I was a spy for You know who and you were not part of the circle, you were just an order member, you would never betray James and Lily, I knew that, and I ... I let you be locked up anyway. I certainly seem like a bastard now when you are showing me kindness, or is this mercy? I could have gotten you a trial, I knew the truth, but I did nothing, I let my past hate cloud my judgement, I still haven't forgiven you fully for that yet by the way."
"I didn't say I gave you forgiveness Severus, but you are the only one who could be excused. However, I treating you the way I did was also inexcusable. I have wronged you since I've broken out as well, which would make up for it I'd think."
"You stole my potions, I know, though I have no idea how."
"I can apparate past barriers, I knew nowhere else to get professionally made potions, I needed them to aid me in my quest as it were. How did you know it was me?"
"I woke just as you disappeared."
"And you told no one of this encounter?"
"What good would it have done?"
"Well it would have been amusing for starters."
"Only for you, and you weren't there."
"I've spent a rather long time at Hogwarts actually, I risked a lot going there, but I made sure not to be seen. I even got into Dumbledore's office once."
"Why did you risk that you idiot?" Not taking offence Sirius just grinned again and reached over him to rummage in the wardrobe behind him and pull out a cloak of silk. "Is that-"
"James' invisibility cloak, yes," Sirius answered. "It belongs to Harry; I thought it would be a good present so I stole it for him."
"You crazy idiot," he muttered. "So that was why the old fool was so edgy that day, not only did you get into Hogwarts without anyone knowing better, you stole a cloak from his office. You really do know no fear don't you? But then neither would I if I could do wand-less magic, how did you get so skilled with that anyway?"
"It's hard to explain, well it isn't, but it will be hard to believe."
"Try me." And that was it, he was spilling his soul to his worst enemy.