Chapter 22 - The Traitor
The next morning, Hermione checked to see that her parents were still in bed and walked into Harry's room where he was doing some press ups. "Harry?"
He stopped and stood up. "Yes, Hermione?"
"I've been having dreams again." Hermione had early on in their friendship confided to him that she had occasional nightmares of losing her friends and failing out of Hogwarts. This dream was different, though Hermione didn't want to tell Harry just yet.
"Come here, my sweet Hermione." Harry just hugged her close, hoping she wouldn't mind that he was sweaty. Hermione breathed him in, looked in his eyes and put a hand behind his head, pulling him in so she could try French kissing since they were in France. It was a poor excuse at best, but she wanted to try it.
Hermione groaned when her lips parted and Harry's tongue entered, sending a jolt of electricity through her body. She pushed him back towards his bed, straddling him as they made out. Harry had a clone around already, who quickly noticed what was going on and stood sentry for the pair, dispelling when Liz woke up. Thankfully for the loving couple, they got themselves presentable before anyone could spot anything out of place.
"Thank you, Harry, that was better than it was in my dream," she whispered as they left his room to start breakfast. That set the tone for other mornings, Hermione would come in when she woke up, cuddling and kissing her beau, before they would start breakfast and get in a little exercise. Liz took to joining them while Matt just watched them, enjoying the lovely sight of his wife jogging while he took care of whatever tasks were needed before they set out for the day's activities.
The end of the holiday came much too soon for all of them, but neither of the elder Grangers could take off more time from their business.
Back in London, Hermione kissed Harry goodbye, at least for a couple of days. Matt had put his foot down, saying he wanted at least some time with his little girls before they all grew up on him. Matt even relaxed the nutritional standards for the day, taking them to eat whatever they wanted, however sugary it might be, and letting them pick what they wanted to do.
For Harry, well, he had his own things to do. First of all, the negotiations were just about complete between Remus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore about the DADA position. With the help of the Clan to monitor Dumbledore's heart rate and other signs, as well as their experience reading people, Remus had gained the confidence to reject the Headmaster's initial offer as being far too low. "Are you trying to insult me, Headmaster?"
"No, not at all, dear boy."
"Then why don't you make a real offer. I know the budget is not so tight as all that. You haven't had to pay a History Professor in decades, for example, and the rest of the staff has been cut to the bone. This at a time when student intake is increasing, meaning the school budget should be flush. If you want me to take on the job, I will need the resources to do it right."
And on it went, back and forth. Now, around three weeks after their chance meeting, the old wizard was ready to sign the papers with the werewolf. Remus would get the same control over prescribed textbooks, the same salary and budget that Lockhart had commanded, and as his final inducement, Albus had offered to supply Wolfsbane Potion for free. Remus had been tempted to accept that offer as is until he remembered just who would be making the potion, and he couldn't trust Severus Snape.
Besides, if Snape made it, he would be even more unhappy with the Marauder and try to use access to the Potion to control Remus, which couldn't be allowed. He had accepted the offer of Hogwarts-supplied potions ingredients 'for his personal needs' instead of having to take up Snape's no doubt valuable time.
Working for the Clan for the last year had improved his health and disposition as well as allowing him sufficient time and resources to practice and perfect the invaluable potion, making Snape's skill unnecessary, unlike two years prior.
Remus had looked over the booklists for the last few years, then turned to ask Minerva if she would be able to supply copies of old booklists for DADA so he had an idea of what ones were available and had been considered worth using.
Minerva was delighted to accept an invitation from the Clan to a party, more time with the young Potter, and the Clan had added an extra incentive, offering to help out with paperwork! As it turned out, their methods weren't helpful, but she was more than compensated by seeing one of her favourite students had a sister who would be following her to Hogwarts in a couple of years. Little Athena favoured her father more in looks, but she was already just as eager to learn as any educator could wish, and seemed to have a more balanced approach to her studies than her big sister had when she arrived.
The party for Athena was attended by the Grangers, of course, and all of Harry's friends and allies in the know had received an invitation. Not all could make it on such short notice, though they sent their congratulations on Athena's confirmation of her magical talent. While not all the wizarding families were yet ready to consider Muggles in general to be their equal, they did recognise them as humans with their own accomplishments. Even the most progressive, though, saw the Grangers' news as a good thing for Athena. This way, if nothing else, she wouldn't be split up from her sister.
Rightly, the Muggle parents nursed reservations about the Wizarding World. While there were good things about magic, like being able to travel long distances faster and no traffic, the ugly side of their world was prominent in their minds since it affected their families directly.
None of that, however affected how the families really felt about each other. They were friends and allies first, Muggles or Witches and Wizards second, and the party reflected that, guests mingling without regard to magical ability.
Athena was the guest of honour, having a ball with all the attention and praise, while Hermione and the other girls in Harry's group had asked him to come with them.
"Don't worry, Harry, it's nothing bad." Daphne and the others chuckled as Harry and his clones exaggeratedly wiped their brows. "We just wanted to talk to you about our relationship."
"I thought you said it was nothing bad," Harry whispered from where he was holding her in his lap. Daphne rolled her eyes.
"It's not! No, we just wanted to talk about, well, about us." Daphne looked around, getting nods from the others. "We are each happy to have you, Harry. And that's what has made us think about things, well, things like where we go from here and-" She cut off, blushing.
Michelle put in, "Daphne means, we've been thinking about how far we want to go, and how soon."
"Oh! Well, that's up to you girls, surely." Harry said, a little confused. Hadn't he already gone over that with them?
"Thank you, Harry, it means a lot that you respect us like that."
"Of course I do!" Harry answered, almost indignantly. His clones gave each of his girls a squeeze, showing that they were special to him and taking away any hurt his tone might have conveyed.
"As I was saying, thank you. We were wondering, however, if you had any boundaries that we should know about. We don't want to hurt you, either." All the girls nodded at that, and Harry smiled.
"Thank you, too, then, and I'm ready for anything. Ninja, you know." He gave his best grin. "But only as far as you want. I love each of you, and as much as I would like to take things further, I won't ever try to hurt you."
Harry's declaration had a different effect than the reassurance he intended, each girl giving him a lot of kisses and telling him they loved him, too! As they came up for air, he realised that he hadn't told them all before, and he resolved to tell them again, and often. "I'm sorry I hadn't said it earlier, my lovely ladies, but I promise to do my best to give you all the love you need.
"My dad always told me that women are like jewels, and are most beautiful when well cared for."
Hermione was the first to melt against him, exploring more french kissing, which a couple of the other girls copied, hearts racing. For his part, Harry was more aware than ever that his girls were growing fast, their bodies developing into the beautiful ones he was sure they each would attain.
The young group had to break up soon after that, lest their parents get the right idea about what was going on, but each of the girls settled into a deeper relationship with their Harry. Based upon mutual love and respect, it opened the door for the extra activities each girl wanted to try, whether it was just things like Meaghan's desire for going for walks by themselves, exchanging kisses and holding hands, or Hermione's private explorations with Harry, her hands roaming or guiding his where she wanted to feel them.
A chance remark from Remus about Dobby had led to the little guy arriving with a pop. "Oh yes, Harry Potter's Uncle Moon, elveses talk to each other lots."
The implications were obvious, and the Clan were hoping to reward the little guy for each bit of information gathered. Unfortunately, they couldn't believe the answers they got from him, which made hope forlorn. Eventually, they gave in and Harry flat out ordered Dobby to tell him honestly what he enjoyed.
"Dobby is sorry, Master- that is, Harry Potter, sir. Dobby didn't mean to be a bad elf."
"You're a good elf, Dobby. We want to show our appreciation for your good work."
In the end, Dobby got across that he enjoyed the satisfaction of cleaning difficult stains from furnishings, and that the fairly restrained praise they had been giving him was wonderful to Dobby. They eventually agreed on creating a room for him that they would fill with hard to clean items that he was allowed to clean as rewards, dirtying them again as needed. If his tastes changed, he was to tell them. Hinata-mum's words expressed the Clan's mutual sentiment.
"After all, it wouldn't be right to make you clean things as a reward if that's no longer what you want."
Justin, Hermione and their other Muggle-raised friends still didn't like Harry taking on a slave. Then again, neither did Harry and they all knew it, which helped them keep their feelings directed at the slavery, rather than at Harry. It reminded him too strongly of what he had to do for the damned Dursleys. It was only the way that Dobby was happy and healthy this way, and indeed still was terrified of being freed, which he considered the same as being kicked out of home, that let them tolerate the situation. The revelation that the kitchens at Hogwarts held hundreds of the little beings was most unwelcome.
Hermione had been all set to go charging in like any stereotypical Gryffindor, campaigning for house elf liberation, until the Kitsunes sat her down, with the Grangers looking on, and explained to her that right now, doing that would result in worse treatment for them, as well as making the others in the Wizarding World dismiss her as a fool or heretic for challenging traditions.
It took Harry holding her, rubbing her shoulders, to keep her there and able to listen to their explanation that they were building up the ability to save all of them, and in the interim they would try to save any others that were being abused. "We'll do what we can, Hermione," Hinata-mum told her gently, "but that's the best anyone can do.
"I know it's wrong, Hermione, and I want to stop it right now. But we have to know the limits of our abilities, and put them to use, rather than trying to do everything and ending up doing nothing."
Hermione started crying, she knew it with her mind, but her emotions insisted that she ought to save them, all of them, and right now. Anything less was a failure on her part in some way. Harry just held her, letting her cry it out. Similar reactions from the other Muggle-raised girls, and the general disgust from the boys and their parents, brought home to the Wizard-raised among their faction just how different their worlds were in this. For some like the Browns and Jones', it was one of the first times that they felt ashamed of their world, felt they were behind the Muggles.
The lead up to Harry's birthday party was a good thing, in the end, letting everyone distract themselves with the fun. The last couple of days were marred when the Daily Prophet reported in a major headline "ESCAPE FROM AZKABAN". The story covered the escape of Sirius Black, notoriously the one who had betrayed the Potters to Riddle enabling the attack that left Harry an orphan.
The article was big on emotion but short on details, using labels like mass-murderer and traitor. It hit Remus hard. It didn't even mention Wormtail by name, referring to him only as a good young Pureblood fighting in the darkest of times. He had avoided saying much to Harry about that night. His work in the Order of the Phoenix, which he had described to the Clan, had kept him busy and it felt like everything was coming down at the end. There was a traitor in the Order, and the evidence had been pointing towards Remus, though he had sworn to Harry that he wasn't the traitor. (Harry hadn't even thought about asking for an Oath.) Black's betrayal was all the more surprising given how he had abandoned the Blood Purists as a boy, being kicked out of home for it and taken in by the Potters. Black had been an advocate within the Order for harsher treatment of the Death Eaters they were fighting, which Dumbledore had consistently refused.
The full moon was only days away, and the increased tension of the coming transformation added to Remus' stress, leaving him by turns irritable or depressed, though he cheered up when Harry was around. Seeing the young man hale and hearty, and happy with his life, did much to ease Remus' guilt for failing to discover the real traitor in time.
When the 31st dawned clear and bright, it did its part to raise his mood. Going on the morning run with Harry did the rest. Between Harry's good mood and the runner's high, Remus even snuck in a couple of pranks on Harry who just chuckled at the pink hair and breasts. Remus opened the door straight into a face full of chalk dust, courtesy of one of Harry's clones. A quick wave of his wand, and they were both returned to normal, laughing.
Harry's girls and their families were arriving in the morning, while the party wouldn't officially start until mid-afternoon, with dancing, dining and drinking until after midnight if the Clan had their way. They usually did with their parties. While the adults would sample the delights of the Clan's cellar, the younger guests would not be left out as there was a wide selection of non-alcoholic beverages available.
His girls didn't care about that, really, not when this was a golden opportunity to go further than their parents might prefer without any complaints since it was for his birthday. The first to tackle Harry was Athena, she had gotten out of the car the instant it had stopped moving as she raced to hug him. "Happy Birthday!" She had a big grin, not only had she beaten Hermione but she was happy to see Harry again.
"Thank you, Athena," Harry replied as he set her down, opening the way for Hermione to add her own hug and a kiss, too. If she was tempted to go further, she fought it down admirably, taking Harry's hand as he and his clones escorted their guests inside.
Out the back of the property at the designated Apparation Point, as it was called, the magical families were arriving. Susan and her aunt Amelia arriving just about the same time as Hermione stepped into the Kitsune Compound, with Daphne and her family only a minute behind.
There was a stream of guests arriving, each being shown through to the hall decorated for the party. The various parents and guardians, after giving their children stern looks to remind them to behave themselves, were soon diverted by the Clan. That earned them the gratitude of the various girls, even if Harry couldn't help thinking that the adults might decide to blame him for anything they didn't like. It was one of the constants of both worlds that the boys were often held responsible for any mischief. He shrugged mentally as he and his girls greeted each other after their arduous separation, up to several days long!
Any temptation Harry might have had to find that funny was thoroughly quashed between his own joy at seeing them again and the certainty that his girls would make him pay for any such comment. He kissed each of his ladies thoroughly, putting into each kiss just how much he cared and loved them, before each pair of a Harry and a girl sat down.
They played games, cuddled, and kissed, and if their turns playing were delayed by girls busy kissing Harry, well they weren't the only ones. As lunchtime came around, one of Anko's clones served up platters of food, giving the girls a smile and thumbs up before leaving without a word. Harry and the girls chuckled before getting back to the serious business of eating, feeding each other bites of various food, and generally being sweet.
Harry wasn't ignoring the guys, though. When they arrived, they were led through to a games room by one of Harry's clones. There were plenty of things for everyone to do, and they were even more pleased when Harry announced that there would be more parties coming up for just about any excuse, though the loudest cheering was reserved for the announcement that these other parties would have more girls around, ones who weren't taken by Harry.
The Clan had taken Harry aside, explaining to him their plans and asking his opinion, when they noticed the guys in the Potter Faction were getting over the 'girls are icky' stage at last. Harry shook his head in admiration, his parents had started work on a solution before he'd even seen the problem. Tsunade-mum just wagged her finger at him like an old crone, even Shapeshifting to match, "When you get as old as we are, sonny, you get to learn a thing or two," she croaked.
As soon as she reverted back to her normally beautiful and youthful appearance, he gave her a big hug, mostly just grateful he got her back to 'normal'. "I don't need you to tell me that, Tsunade-mum, I've known it for half my life."
As dinner-time approached, all the guests were called into the hall. A speech from Naruto and another from Remus had everyone in stitches, and Harry plotting vengeance, before they released him from their torture and called him up to the front, where they started giving him various gifts. One good thing about his wealth was that he had managed to convince his friends that he didn't need them to buy him anything expensive. "You don't need to buy my friendship, just stay my friends and I'm happy."
Nonetheless, he had ended up getting a couple of expensive gifts from the Clan, a new multi-compartment trunk already loaded with a set of books on Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures since those were the electives he had chosen. Hermione and the Ravenclaws in the crowd were the most appreciative of that gift, while others liked the dragonhide wand holster which had been strongly enchanted against wear and tear and to return to its owner, or the Quidditch armour, depending on their interests. Tonks, however, just gave a cheeky grin when she handed over her present to him, a wand-polishing kit.
After the presents were opened, a process Harry sped up with his clones, they all sat down to dinner, with Harry in the centre of the table, his girls on either side and the guys facing them. Conversation was deliberately upbeat, the food delicious, and Harry ended up dancing after the meal with most of the ladies present.
Daphne and Susan had managed to convince their respective families to stay overnight, and slipped away with Harry to give him a kiss at midnight before they were all chased into their beds.
Over in Egypt, things were not as pleasant for a family of redheads. They had arrived a week earlier and there was tension in the household even while on holiday. First of all, Ginny wasn't talking to Molly. She blamed her mother for driving away Harry. She hadn't even been able to write to him after that, partly because that would have meant talking to Molly but mostly because she had no idea what she could say! 'Oh, what must he think of me!' was a common worry for the poor girl.
Ron was proving that his new maturity, displayed by his apology to Hermione, hadn't yet left him, keeping out of their way as much as he could and doing any chores silently. He agreed with Ginny's assessment, even felt ashamed that his mother had done it, but he felt Harry didn't have to leave over the argument, after all if there hadn't been any real shouting then it couldn't have been a real row.
The twins were busy working their tails off, literally from time to time whenever the studying got to them so much that they 'had' to prank someone, trying to get ready for their exams before school returned. They hadn't been there for the argument in question, but felt Harry had definitely overreacted. They were just love potions, after all, nothing to get worked up about. Why, if those were bad, so were their pranks, and pranks were great.
Percy was glad the twins were actually doing schoolwork. It meant they left him alone more, and as for the incident, well, he didn't see what the problem was, since the potions were legal. Still, shouting at a guest was rude.
Arthur had tried to talk to Molly, firstly to stop her sending a Howler as she wanted, then when that surprisingly worked, to get her to send an apology, which hadn't worked at all. The holiday to Egypt they were taking was one part a result of Arthur trying to get his family working again and one part winning the prize in the Daily Prophet draw.
Seeing Bill again helped too. For Ginny, it was seeing her favourite brother, for her parents, their eldest son who they missed. Bill was sympathetic to Ginny in private, saying that he could understand Harry needing to leave after that, but stayed neutral in Molly's presence, not wanting to create more drama.
So when Scabbers, the pet rat of first Percy that was passed down to Ron, went missing, Ron could have kicked himself. He couldn't blame anyone else for this, as much as he wanted to, since he had been told not to keep the rat in his pocket. That was especially bad as he had a habit of dumping clothes whenever it suited him, without bothering to check for Scabbers first. He couldn't even be sure just when Scabbers had gone, though it had been after they arrived in Egypt, he was sure of that, and he was the last one to have seen the rodent.
The search was half-hearted even from the start. Arthur, Molly and Bill cast their strongest Summoning Charms, and after Bill had tried various scrying spells, all coming up negative for a living rodent, or even a corpse, well, that was that. They didn't have the free time in their busy holiday program to drop everything just to find a mangy old rat that spent most of its time asleep. Arthur 'solved' the issue by getting Ron a new pet cat, Ron was happy to get anything new, and the matter was buried much like they figured Scabbers was.
The new month brought with it a full moon, sure as clockwork, and Remus had a rough time of it. While the potion helped like always, the renewed guilt he felt with the news of the traitor's escape meant that the Wolf clawed closer to the surface. Even running with the Clan didn't help as much, since the Wolfsbane Potion didn't hold off as much of the aggression as normal. He'd taken swipes at Naruto, Yuugao and even sweet Hinata, of all people, before his transformation finally wore off. Moony was just glad all three of them had such good reflexes, easily evading his clumsy attacks (made more clumsy by Moony fighting the urge that made him swing).
August also brought with it an emotional rollercoaster for the werewolf. On the first Friday of the month, barely half a week after the full moon, a large mangy dog was spotted on the outskirts of Cranleigh.
Normally, that would barely rate anyone's interest unless the dog was trying to steal food. This dog, however, moved with a purpose. Sure enough, food was one of the more important priorities at the moment for the animal, the last few years its diet had been poor at best, but apart from that, it had taken to watching, examining everyone it saw in the town.
As soon as they moved in, the Kitsune Clan had taken to keeping watch over their new town, which meant they were aware of the dog before it got within a mile of Cranleigh, but it was only when the dog started exhibiting too many human traits that they decided to investigate. Asking Remus if he knew of any magical dogs fitting the description caused the man to freeze in place, guilt plain in his features. "I can't believe I had forgotten! Well, not so much forgot as buried the memory. Harry, is Harry ok?"
"I'm right here, Uncle Moony," Harry said as he headed into the room, easily hearing his honorary uncle's distress. "I'm here, I'm safe, now, what was the problem?"
"Well you see, back in school, us four had been great friends. That was something I had never really known or expected, and even when they tracked me down to the Shrieking Shack and discovered my condition, they didn't abandon me or rat me out. No, they did something dangerous, something amazing. They decided that the best way to respond was to become Animagi so they could keep me company on those nights."
"What were their forms?" Harry asked gently. He could hear the stories later, but for now he needed the answers.
"Your father was a stag, a proud and noble beast, too, so we called him Prongs to bring him down a bit. It didn't work, of course, becoming an Animagus is a very difficult process so he was justified in his pride. Peter got the really useful form of a rat, perfect for sneaking about and getting into tight spaces where a grown man couldn't. Lastly, Black the traitor," Remus growled, "he turned into a big type of dog known as a Grim, considered an omen of death! He got the name Padfoot because of his disproportionately large paws." Remus took a minute, calming down again.
"So this big, mangy dog, it could either be an omen of death, or an escaped mass-murderer. Great! There went my stupid idea that the magical side might be nice and quiet this year." Harry smiled, showing he was joking, mostly.
"What would you like us to do, Remus?" Naruto asked, as serious as could be.
"I want to find out why he did it, why he betrayed the best of us to the Dark, when he had seemed to hate them so much. After that, well, I suppose we can turn him over to the DMLE, though he doesn't have to be in perfect condition." Remus felt the Wolf close to the surface still, but this time he welcomed it.
A signal later, and the hunt was on for the massive canine. They had thought the job would be a simple one at first, but much like that blasted cat Tora that the Clan knew back home, it was anything but simple.
For a start, the dog was far more intelligent and every bit as canny as Tora. Next, it used its enhanced sense of smell to the limit as well as its directional hearing to detect ambushes and slip out of them. Lastly, it was just insanely lucky.
Add those together, and what should have been a five-minute job to pick up a mutt turned into a comedy of errors. In the end, Naruto just threw several hundred clones at the problem, cutting off any avenue of escape as they stacked on the dog, immediately using spools of ninja wire to secure the target completely. Slinging it over a clone's back, they took their captive to the same outbuilding where they had originally examined the Invisibility Cloak, which was equipped with CCTV so the Clan plus Remus could all see the dog. His growl and tight nod confirmed that this was Sirius Black, and Remus got up, intent on getting the answers himself. Anko had other plans, her hand on his shoulder shoving him back down. "No, Remus, leave that to us. We are the professionals, here, and your place is with Harry."
The name broke Remus out of his rage, and he stayed with the young man, giving him support as they watched the dog turn into the man that had destroyed both their lives a decade ago.
On the screen, the remainder of the Clan watched as Anko, Yuugao, Tsunade and Shizune approached the man, loosening the wire and healing him up before he bled out from the self-inflicted wounds he sustained from transforming back into a human. All they had done was tell him he wasn't going anywhere but the stubborn man had tried to defy them.
While Yuugao stayed as primary securing the prisoner, and Tsunade and Shizune were there to see to medical, Anko found herself slipping back into habits from her youth. At that time, she was working in Konoha's T&I, that is, their Torture and Interrogation Department. Any of the Clan could do this job, but she was still their very best at the job.
She grabbed Sirius' head roughly, forcing him to look at her. "You and I are going to have a nice, long chat. Your cooperation is entirely unnecessary for this for I will get all the information I require from you. If you make it easier for me, then you might make it easier on you, too."
Taking her seat, the single harsh light blaring down in the prisoner's eyes, Anko got started. The Clan didn't really trust Veritaserum, they hadn't had it demonstrated for them, hadn't seen a reason to accept it was as good as the claims, so they went with the brutal, dehumanising methods they did know.
Remus' eyes were glued to the screen, watching his former friend protesting his innocence over and over for days, it felt, when all of a sudden, the questions, the pleading, the screaming stopped. Sirius was mercifully unconscious at last, and he noticed the tender care with which Anko was tending his body, as were the other three now that he looked.
"What? Why did you stop right then?"
"He's telling the truth. Short of invasive techniques, he's passed all of our tests, and we can't risk those due to the damned magic in you wizards. It would destroy his mind for good and that would be a tragedy if he's innocent like we believe." Anko shook her head. "He'll be taken to rest up for a few days, fed and cleaned and clothed, while we do what we can to restore his mind. He was never the traitor, Remus. Wormtail is."
"Have you given him Veritaserum?"
"No, we're saving that until he wakes up, but as far as we're concerned it's just a formality. Oh, we won't trust him fully, of course. But at least he may be allowed to see Harry, well a Harry, in controlled conditions. If he passes that test, we may lend him a wand to swear some Oaths."
Remus didn't really hear all of that, breaking down crying as he found that he'd failed not just Harry, but Sirius, his brother in all but blood. Harry ended up comforting him, rather than the other way around, and the work helped keep him occupied while he processed it all.
"Pettigrew was alive and the traitor all along!" Remus wailed.
Harry slapped his face with both palms. "So that's who was on the Marauder's Map. Somehow, I could never remember to ask you or any of the adults I could trust about it. It would just slip my mind."
In the morning, Sirius awoke after what had to be the strangest nightmare ever. He thought he had four lovely ladies around him, which was great, but all of them were looking at him like he was less than dragon dung. Worse, they were all asking him questions, over and over and over, and doing horrible things any time he was slow to answer, all manner of strange questions, too. Then, for no reason, they'd stopped and he was seeing wandless magic, healing up the bad things they'd done to him. Idly, Sirius wondered why it was so hard to wake up fully, but the warm, sinfully comfortable bed was telling him just to relax and-
Wait! He didn't have a bed like that! Sirius sat upright, eyes wide and staring around him at the clean, welcoming room, the four-poster bed in Gryffindor colours, and clothes laid out in his size, Muggle style.
"Ah! You're up! Excellent!" The woman's voice was pleasant enough, but recognition sent a shiver down his spine. She was the chief torturer from his dream!
Anko strolled into the room with a tray carrying breakfast and the small vial of Veritaserum. "Now, eat up, Mr. Black. It's the best thing for you after placing stress on your body. Then, we're going to have much more pleasant chat than last night while you answer a few more questions. I promise, it won't hurt a bit, and we may even take you to see Harry after it's done. Well, as long as you were telling the truth, of course."
The scary woman then sat on his bed and fed him like a baby until he took over, devouring every morsel offered. Whether it was a trap or not, right now Sirius was too hungry to care. It was only at the end that he belatedly realised there could have been anything in that food, but the only twinge from his stomach at the thought was a call for more.
"Now, Mr Black, stick out your tongue."
Sirius did exactly as she wanted. He had no intention of making the woman angry. 'If it means I can see Harry, Hell, I would walk over hot coals, or the greasy git's used underwear, to do that. I could die content if I knew Harry was safe.'
Remus watched from the next room through the one-way glass as Sirius cooperated and then answered question after question under the influence of the truth drug. Anko was using the same questioning method as last night, interspersing random questions to which they already knew the answers at various points, confirming that the drug was working as advertised. It confirmed the horrible picture they had, Peter's betrayal, Hagrid kidnapping away baby Harry on Dumbledore's orders, the confrontation with Peter in London and Peter's murder of a dozen people just to help fake his death and frame Sirius.
And lastly, that Sirius had just been thrown into the wizards' prison Azkaban, complete with soul-sucking, happiness-draining Dementors on patrol, without even the courtesy of a trial, thrown away for a dozen years before he managed to get up the will to escape after seeing the real traitor in the paper. The use of his Animagus ability to escape was brilliantly simple too.
He burst in as Anko finished up, giving the still thin man a rib-cracking hug, prompting her to glare at him before sighing and rehealing his bones on automatic. Remus eased off the pressure, tears flowing. "Padfoot! Oh Merlin, Padfoot, what in Merlin's name were you thinking? Never mind. I'm sorry." He was babbling, and knew it, but it didn't matter, not now that he had one of the Marauders back!
The two men were talking a million miles a minute, apologising for each thinking the other was the traitor in the Order, and generally trying to squeeze ten years of conversation into a single breath.
Anko had slipped out unnoticed as they talked, clones keeping an eye on things as always, while she found Harry, giving him a big hug and smile. "Your godfather was innocent, and he's on the mend." Harry broke down, too, having held out and tried to be strong. After an unmeasured time, a cleaned up Harry sent a clone in, meeting the man who was supposed to raise him, would have raised him, if he hadn't been sent to prison without a trial, an innocent man in hell.
"Sirius?" Harry hated how weak his voice was, but the man didn't notice. All he knew was that there was a young man with Lily's eyes, and James' hair, and a face that was a mixture of both.
"Harry?" Sirius croaked. At the nod, Sirius was out of his seat and hugging Harry tightly. Too tightly, and just before the clone would have dispelled, Harry forced Sirius' grip to loosen.
"Careful, now, you need to let me breathe, Padfoot."
"You? Remus told you, of course! Oh, Harry, I'm sorry I failed you!"
The conversation was painful for all of them, it could hardly be otherwise, but it helped them all to start healing. Sirius was amazed at what Harry could do, and what he had already done. On hearing about Harry's second wand, he broke out laughing, it seemed like Harry was true Marauder even before he'd made it to school. Remus had a quiet word with Sirius and asked Harry if he minded Sirius borrowing his wand. Harry shook his head, and Sirius immediately used it to swear an Oath to protect Harry's secrets, to protect Harry himself to the best of his ability, and never to harm Harry or those he loved.
Over time, Sirius filled out more, regaining his colour and general health, spending every moment he could with Harry or one of Harry's clones, talking and listening, teaching and learning. Harry, meanwhile, knew he had an important meeting ahead, waiting until Amelia Bones' next dinner visit with Susan, lavishing her with the very best food he could give her, then after dinner, diving full steam ahead into the conversation.
"Amelia, I have a confession to make." At her instinctive glare and look at Susan, Harry hurriedly continued, "I don't mean about Susan or any of the girls, though it is just as personal to me. I am hoping that you trust me enough to agree to stay seated, and try to stay calm, tonight."
Amelia gave him a measuring glance, then nodded curtly. "Alright, Harry, I will hear you out. Merlin knows you've more than earned it. Just please be careful with words like that!"
"Thank you! Now, in the last couple of days, a large dog came into Cranleigh..." Harry told the story, weaving it as best he could, spinning it as the brave tale of an innocent man wrongly accused. Amelia had already guessed the ending, but Harry was a superb storyteller.
"Ok, Harry, just how much of that story can you prove."
"Well, he gave the same story under Oath and under Veritaserum, as well as during intense questioning. It also explains why I was always seeing the name Peter Pettigrew on the Map that the four made during their time at Hogwarts. Peter was posing as the family pet rat. I do have to wonder just why on Earth Fred and George didn't raise the alarm when they saw first their older brother Percy and then their younger brother Ron on the Map, asleep in the same bed as someone else."
"Oh, I'd venture to guess a Confundus Charm or Compulsion Charm of some sort, or any of a number of potions or enchanted items that do the same thing. All quite legal, unfortunately. I hate them since they make my job a lot harder." Amelia replied off-hand.
"And can we do anything about his imprisonment without trial? For that matter, shouldn't other people have made sure he got a trial a decade ago?"
"Sadly, we can't do anything about it just yet. Right now, everyone else believes him to be the wizard who betrayed your parents, getting them killed. They wouldn't lift a finger to give a trial to the person responsible for killing two heroes. We will need to cast doubt on his guilt, or find another justification, before we could get him before the Wizengamot." Amelia's frustration was obvious.
Harry sighed. He was afraid that would be the answer. The more Harry saw of their world, the more he wanted to change.
"So an innocent man can't get justice. Sorry, Amelia, I'm not blaming you. I am blaming the rest of the Ministry and the Wizengamot for becoming like that, though. The corrupt and the complacent and the plain lazy, that is." Harry squared his shoulders, putting the problem aside for now while he looked for something that could be done instead of moaning about things he couldn't change.
"Would you be willing to impede the hunt for the 'notorious criminal', Amelia? It would make it easier for Sirius to get around while giving you the chance to put your Aurors to better use, I think."
"At the cost of pitting me against whoever is driving the demand, but yes, I believe I would, once I get to see the evidence for myself. This is putting my career on the line, my ability to work inside the Ministry to repair damage."
"That's completely reasonable, Director Bones," Harry smiled as he used her formal title. "Right this way."
Harry had tried to impress on Sirius that he would be safe, and must not prank or otherwise jeopardise his hearing from the Director of the DMLE. Sirius had just snorted and shook his head. "Harry, while Azkaban can tax the mind, I'm not that far gone! Don't worry, I'll just be my normal, charming self."
"That's what worries me," Harry had replied darkly, before they shared a laugh.
Sirius came through. His aristocratic manner put Lucius Malfoy's best efforts to shame and it was complemented by the newly made robes and minor Disguise technique to hide some of the effects of his imprisonment that had yet to heal. Looking and sounding respectable always helped when trying to convince people to trust you, it was only the details of what that involved that changed from group to group.
When Sirius told the same story both normally and under Veritaserum, Amelia breathed a sigh of relief. She trusted Harry not to lead her astray on purpose, but anyone could make a mistake. "Thank you, Mr Black, for your time and for your information. It is to my regret and my shame that this was not brought to light years ago. As I had to inform Harry, unfortunately this is not enough by itself to restore you your reputation or call off the hunt. I can, however, start work inside the Ministry to help your case."
Sirius was amazed. He remembered Amelia as just another Auror before his imprisonment, one who had lost family to the Death Eaters. He was pleased that she had made it to head the department, since she was obviously a woman of taste and good judgement having seen how wonderful his godson was and accepted Sirius' innocence.
Sirius was thus more willing to accept her judgement of the political situation involved in getting his name cleared. His original plan of capturing Peter Pettigrew from the Weasleys had been vetoed. Instead, Amelia called in a trusted Healer after getting her Oath that she would not reveal anything learned from Sirius' examination, even his name, without permission from both of them. Amelia wasn't willing to risk tipping her hand on this matter or costing an innocent man his chance at justice.
Sirius was incorrigible, flirting with the older woman even as she put him through the indignities of a complete medical exam, which she ignored except for making the process a touch more painful, just to let him know she noticed. She pronounced him remarkably sane and lucid, considering his history, but still prescribed a number of potions, plenty of bed rest, and as much food as he could safely handle.
Amelia was pleased the prognosis was positive, since the man had suffered too much already. That the cost of treatment looked to be low was also good news, since she was sure someone would have the 'bright' idea of making her department bear the brunt of it.
Once the women had left to discuss matters, Tsunade offered to help out, detailing the risk that his magic might cause him to feel some pain during the procedure, though it should disappear as soon as it was over. Sirius shrugged and smiled, "I would like to try it. Besides, those potions taste disgusting, so if this means I can skip even a single one, it would be worth it."
He'd felt nervous when she approached him, he still remembered what the Clan had done while they thought he was a traitor, and that amplified when her hands glowed a green similar to the Killing Curse, but he forced himself to relax, to stay in place as he called forth the bravery that had forced the Hat to Sort him into Gryffindor.
When she put her glowing hands on him, he felt incredibly foolish for being so afraid. Her hands were cool and he could feel his muscles and bones swelling and strengthening, becoming better than they had ever been. Oh, there was that pain she mentioned but that vanished as soon as he noticed the effects of her work and relaxed. It could have been that any pain he felt was completely overpowered by the relief of having aches he'd just grown used to over the years finally disappear but it seemed otherwise to him.
Once he relaxed and his magic followed suit, that was that and all that was left was the euphoria of having his aches and pains completely gone.
As soon as she stopped, Sirius grinned and hugged her, handily resisting any urge to 'enjoy' her ample assets. "Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've never felt better!"
Tsunade looked on chuckling as Sirius stumbled getting off the bed, not quite used to his new strength, but soon bouncing around eagerly. He ran out, clipping one wall on the way and ignoring the incident as he went to find Harry, a task made easier by a laughing clone pointing the way.
Once he found him, Sirius picked up Harry, swinging him around. "Isn't it wonderful, Harry? I'm whole again."
"Not yet, Sirius, you still need to adjust to the changes, which means lots of exercise for you."
"You mean I have to work?" Sirius gasped, then grinned as he got a laugh out of his godson. "Ah, good to see I've still got it. It was always such fun mocking those fussy aristocratic Purebloods. A bunch of pansies."
"Hey, now, there's a Pansy in my year, and she's not that bad. Well, not quite. She hangs around too much with that idiot Malfoy, I think she's been raised too much in that philosophy. Ah, never mind. The joke wasn't that funny, anyway."
"So, what now?"
"Now, you and I take a walk outside while you get used to the changes. I've called in Uncle Moony from his job. My parents don't mind him taking a break since he works overtime by choice."
"Yeah, Moony was always a little crazy like that. Well, let's get going!" Sirius grinned, spending time with Moony and Harry was great.
As the trio walked around on their tour, Harry pointing out various parts of the property, both the Marauders were breathing easier. Using codes from their school days, they were talking things through about having suspected each other of being the traitor and the guilt they felt for it. Harry watched the pair, memorising the signals as a matter of course, but otherwise letting them get on with it. They obviously felt it was necessary and both of them had given Oaths on their lives that they wouldn't hurt him, so whatever the secret was, it couldn't be harmful.
In the afternoon, having caught Sirius up on some recent history, Remus let Harry know what they had discussed, and Harry nodded. "Thanks, Uncle Moony, I saw the signals as I think you guessed, but I figured it was a private conversation. If I needed to know, I trusted you would tell me."
Sirius and Remus took off to a bar after dinner suitably disguised, getting thoroughly plastered while a few clones watched to make sure they didn't go too far by breaking the Statute or getting violent. They needn't have worried, both were well accustomed to being drunk and neither were the violent type. Sirius just flirted with anything in a skirt and Remus just got quiet and happy, the Wolf in him settling down and letting Remus be alone inside his skull.
The next morning, Remus called Dobby asking for Hangover Potions for the two of them. Instead, Tsunade turned up, grinning evilly. "Up for an experiment, Remus?"
He gulped, "What did you have in mind?"
Her hands glowed in that way he still found creepy as she advanced towards him. "Magic versus chakra of course. After the success with Sirius, we have a lot of tests in mind. Naturally, we require your permission before we go ahead with any of them. This particular one is testing a poison removal technique on you. Normally, the process can be painless with, well, any normal poisons. We haven't tested it with magical ones, obviously, but what you have is just a normal hangover. If you keep your magic calm, we expect that you will not feel any pain at all, but that's the test. Either way, your hangover should be cured."
Remus sighed and silently cursed Sirius' loose lips. A quick nod and the legendary medic was already starting the procedure. She was already drawing out the toxins the alcohol had released into his body, getting Remus fascinated as he watched with awe. Her finish came as a surprise when it happened, and in response to her questions, he noted that no, he hadn't felt any pain, yes, he felt much better, yes, his hangover was gone, and yes, he would let them know instantly of any changes.
The Clan threw a party in response, causing Sirius to declare his undying admiration for the whole Clan and Remus to laugh as he settled in, by now used to their penchant for partying.
The Clan were not ready to start working on everyone in their network, however. One test was just not conclusive. Sirius bravely volunteered to get drunk more to provide more data. The next time he went, he invited Remus and Mary along. She decided to go with them after they vowed to protect her, it was an important step she felt in her recovery to start trusting wizards could be good as well as bad. Remus trusted the man, so did the Clan who were taking such pains to help her, and he had that bad boy charm that she found so sexy – not that she was looking for a relationship – but it would be good to go out again.
Mary ended up taking them on a bar crawl, before they all staggered home just before dawn, collapsing in the living room. Anko snorted at the reminder of her old life and created clones to take each of the drunks to their beds to sleep it off. In the morning, she loudly offered to cure their hangovers, something they accepted if only to get her to shut up. Another successful test, and they dug in at the breakfast Harry had put on.
The drunken nights continued, with the clan testing variations like removing the poisons before they slept, preventing the hangover entirely as well as sobering them up. Even the liver damage responded well to treatments, and soon enough they cut back to something more normal in their drinking. Sirius and Mary hit it off fairly well. Both were fun-loving and flirted shamelessly, enjoying nightlife when they could, and both had trust issues with the magical society. Remus fit the last category too, but his and Mary's personalities were too different for the easy friendship that developed between the other pair.
In the interim, there were more serious issues to consider. Firstly, Lucius Malfoy hadn't taken his ousting from the Board of Governors well, which was no surprise. The man was obviously ambitious and didn't like having his powers trimmed. No, the surprise was that he was using the summer break and especially the absence of Arthur Weasley from England and the Ministry to push for amendments to recent acts that called for harsher penalties and better enforcement of laws protecting Muggles from magical attacks. He was coming further into the open in doing this than he had in years, too.
While unwelcome, his efforts were not gaining any real traction, only publicity for his Dark stance. Also, he was making a lot of visits to Fudge's office that coincided with more calls from the Minister to spend more effort on finding Sirius Black, and worryingly the Minister issued a Kiss-On-Sight order. Harry and the others were horrified when they found out this meant the Dementor's Kiss, a process where the person's soul was sucked out of them but leaving the body alive but completely unresponsive.
Amelia suspected but couldn't prove that Malfoy was buying these decisions, ones that took more of her people off their regular law enforcement duties and placed watching towns and cities based on even the most spurious of sightings. Amelia knew for a fact that they were bogus since the man they were supposed to be hunting was safe and sound in Cranleigh but the papers were whipping people up into a panic and Fudge was looking to appear like he cared about their concerns so he could stay in office, leading to the Minister making public announcements of 'his brilliant initiatives'.
The Clan, as suspicious as ever, were looking for other reasons behind the man's actions. The most obvious was that by giving Fudge something popular to do, Malfoy was securing his influence. Next, his anti-Muggle words were placing him at the forefront of the Dark families, espousing a line they found attractive. Lastly, the manhunt for Sirius had the side-effect of making crimes easier to commit. They couldn't be sure whether this was something the man desired or not, let alone if it was a goal in itself, but it seemed like it would be helpful to any number of possible plans.
Added together, Lucius Malfoy was making a move to secure and expand his power base in a significant way, and the man had already tried to get hundreds of children killed. This could not be borne.
At a Clan meeting without any of their houseguests, Anko and Yuugao opened by raising the matter. "We know where he lives. We know he's going to get people killed on purpose. He will be targeting us and our allies."
"So let's go after him first," Yuugao finished and waited.
Naturally that provoked a long discussion. Harry wasn't sure what he thought of the idea. On a purely theoretical level, he appreciated their idea, and attacking the man before he could harm any of Harry's friends was certainly appealing, but it still horrified him listening to his family calmly discussing ways and means.
Naruto saw his conflict, and squeezed his shoulder. "It's ok to feel that way, Harry. I felt that way myself, too, before I understood that sometimes, this is the best way. We don't do this lightly or freely. Tell me, do you think that this will save lives?"
Harry nodded, "Yes, it's only a matter of time until he costs a lot of people their lives. And I know I killed Quirrell for just that reason. It's just, I don't know how to explain it."
"Harry, you're taught that killing is wrong, and it is against the law. That's why you're reacting so badly to this. It's a good thing that you don't want to kill, and we'd rather do this ourselves than put any of it on you. If we do go ahead with this, the most you would do is guide us past the anti-Muggle magic. Do you think you can do that?"
"I could kill him myself, if I must, though I would hate it." Harry replied soberly.
"Good, Harry, that's all we wanted. We have trained you so you can do what you need to do, so you can keep yourself safe. We didn't train you to like doing all the things that might be necessary."
Harry hugged his Dad, relaxing as he felt the acceptance and love of his family even after he'd felt horrified by them.
In the end, they came to an agreement that they would scout out Malfoy Manor and raze it to the ground if they could do it without killing any innocents. So far, father and son had marked themselves for death and the Angels argued that the mother was also complicit in their crimes.
Thanks go to my betas cloud zen (894440), slicerness (1501706) and daisy duck for their continued hard work. Go check out their work if you haven't already. Feedback welcome! Also, this story has begun being posted by me on HPFanFicArcive under the username Achilles due to FFN rating restrictions preventing a coming chapter from containing scenes that exceed the maximum rating.