A/N: Thank you all for the great comments, suggestions and theories! Keep them coming - they sometimes inspire me to write something totally different than what I had planned ;)

mizzrazz72: He'll get it. They will all make sure of that :)

tefe203: I don't think he would like that very much - he's too much of a free spirit ;)

randomplotbunny: Oh Amelia will go into shock once she finds out what has been going on at that school... After all her last living relative attends there as well ;) I have not made up my mind about Remus yet. We'll see...

Zoysite: Sorry für das was unten kommt ;) Ich weiß du wirst dich ärgern :D Oh ja das wird lustig ;) Hmmm... ich hab mir noch nicht überlegt was Minerva alles finden wird... aber das ist eine tolle idee :D

AnnElfwind: Of course you may do so :) I enjoy it! Sadly doing that would mean my fic would take ages to be finished ;) You will get some of that but not all in the next few chapters and of course I need to leave something for Dumbledore's trial ;)

ThePhoenixandtheDragon: Would have been a good idea but I actually already had an inkling to how I would do it ;) I still want to have a few informations for Dumbles trial ;D

Guest: I had wanted to call her Professor Whiskers until I remembered that somewhere that is the house elves name for Dumbledore :P

Dixie.f.9: Being in Azkaban would probably kill him pretty soon because he's so old already. I much prefer the Goblin's punishment ;) They will make sure he receives it all before they let him go ;)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling - I just played a bit in her universe.

Thanks to miu-sama95 for prereading, betaing and helping with the storyline ;)

Chapter 44: ... leads to a sore throat

Words: 2875

It was not long after he had fallen asleep that Sirius was gruesomely woken by a kick to his stomach. It was – thankfully – not a hard one but still hard enough to wake him up really quickly.

Now that he was awake he was surprised to find what should have been his godson's quiet room filled with quite an amount of noise. All of it rather assaulted his sensitive dog ears and it took him a moment to discern each sound.

This was aided by his eyes finally adjusting to the darkness in the room. On the floor next to the bed Nagini was hissing fiercely what he could only imagine being many curse words. Harry meanwhile was violently thrashing on his bed while whimpering and muttering quietly. With his super bat like ears he was able to pick up some of the words.

"No!... Please! No!... I'm sorry!... No!"

Knowing he stood no chance of helping while in this form Sirius quickly changed back and started talking to the teen. He had heard that his reactions could be quite explosive during nightmares. All the while Nagini was watching him over the edge of the bed and hissing at him.

"Pup… Wake up! You are safe here. We are all here with you, Harry. Don't worry." Sirius quietly babbled away. He slowly inched closer to the head of the bed while Harry was still trapped in his nightmare. At least his thrashing had gotten less already.

"Harry, pup. It's time to wake up!" Sirius tried again. "Come on, pup. You are safe here. Wake up for me."

Remembering something he had learned from Moony he put his wrist close to Harry's nose before carefully putting his other hand on the teen's back. Even though his godson was not an animagus or creature his subconscious would pick up his scent and hopefully associate it with safety.

Once his left hand had safely made contact with the teen's back he started rubbing soothingly up and down while still talking softly.

"Pup, come on. Wake up. You are safe here."

Just as he thought the boy was coming round he was nearly thrown off the bed by another violent thrash.

Nagini was hissing agitated at him (he believed she was giving him commands) and Harry's mutters had gotten louder again although they sounded quite raspy.

The teen's movements as well as his voice became more and more restless but before Sirius could do anything he shot straight up in his bed with a broken scream.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

Heavily breathing and soaked in cold sweat, the first thing Harry noticed upon waking was the dark figure perched on the edge of his bed. Before he had a chance to react the figure identified himself as his godfather.

"Pup? It's me. Are you with me yet?" The animagus asked carefully.

"Sirius!" The teen breathed out in relieve before throwing himself into the older wizards arms and started sobbing.

Thankfully the last Black reacted fast and managed to catch Harry before they both fell off the bed. It took a bit of maneuvering but he got himself propped up against the headboard with his godson in his lap.

They boy was still sobbing and inconsolable.

"It's okay, pup. Shhhh… Everything is going to be okay."

Sirius got worried when Harry didn't seem to react anymore to any of his ministrations. It also had not escaped his notice that neither of the other two occupants of the house had turned up yet.

Nagini had deemed it safe to come back into the bed again and was hissing next to him but it didn't seem as if Harry had noticed her either.

Looking at the snake gave Sirius an idea. He knew that he would need Severus and a calming draught quickly if Harry didn't snap out of it soon.

"Nagini?" He asked and once she was looking at him he continued. "Could you get Marvolo and Severus, please? I'm not sure how to proceed."

The snake gave a nod and hiss at him (or maybe Harry) before she slithered off the bed and vanished in the direction of the door. That reminded him that it was still very dark except for a bit of moonlight so he drew his wand and lit the small lamp on the bedside table.

Harry was still crying into his shirtfront but at least he had stopped sobbing hysterically. Sirius continued with his murmuring and rubbing the teen's back but hoped that the other two would come here soon.

Meanwhile Nagini had slipped out of the room and finally understood why her master and his mate had not yet come running – their bedroom door was closed and since she was a magical snake she could feel the silencing wards that got triggered automatically if any bedroom door was locked. The only thing that would then be heard inside was knocks on the door.

Thankfully Marvolo had installed special charms so she could fit beneath every door in the whole manor except for the laboratory but she hated how smelly it was there so never entered it anyway.

Inwardly cursing her master for his oversight she slipped under the door into the master bedroom. What met her once she was inside explained a great deal and gave her a fine idea for a scare.

Marvolo and Severus had been making the most of their night together so far. This was already their third round of passionate love making and at the moment Severus was riding Marvolo and driving them both closer to release.

Just then Marvolo brushed this one special spot inside Severus that had him seeing starts and closing his eyes in bliss while moaning in pleasure.

He was still riding on that wave of pleasure when he felt Marvolo take hold of his – until then – neglected member and start pumping. Severus slowly opened his eyes again to better observe the bliss on Marvolo's face when he suddenly shouted out in surprise (he didn't scream like a girl – no he did not!)

"Bloody hell!"

"Severus?" Marvolo asked surprised. "What is it? Are you okay?"

Since his husband was sitting atop of him the Dark Lord could not really turn around and see for himself what had scared the other man so much.

"Nagini! What are you doing here?! Get out!"

"Nagini? Where?" When he tried to look for his familiar Marvolo nearly dislodged his partner which led to a series of hissed chuckles from the snake.

"Nagini! What is the matter?"

"You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The dogman sent me to get you, master."

"Why did he do that?" Marvolo asked even more confused. He hated it when his familiar refused to answer in straightforward sentences.

"You should be ashamed because you were blissfully mating while young hatchling was in great distress!"

"Harry?! What happened?!" He asked while urgently pushing his husband off.

Although he couldn't understand a word of what was being said he still saw Marv's expressions and heard the urgency in his voice. Severus climbed off his husband and threw quick cleaning charms at each of them before they both dressed hurriedly.

"Hatchling was having a distressed sleep and threw me off the bed and now he is dripping from his eyes on the dogman."

It took Marvolo a moment to translate what the snake had said before he relayed it to his husband.

"Harry had a nightmare. Sirius is with him but asked for us to come."

Severus was finished dressing already and without saying anything he shot out of the room and into his son's.

He found the mutt on the bed with the crying teen on his lap. If it weren't for Harry crying he would have laughed at the uncomfortable expression on Black's face.

"Thank Merlin you are here!" He said quietly once he saw Severus.

"What happened?"

The Potions Master quickly approached the bed and climbed into it next to Black. The animagus carefully handed the still crying teen over to his father while explaining.

"Nightmare. I woke up when he kicked me in the stomach. Took me quite some time to wake him up but aside from crying he's been pretty much unresponsive since."

Transfer completed Severus drew his son closer to his chest before whispering into his ear.

"Oh, Harry. What am I to do with you? You are safe here. We are all here for you. Me, Marv and Sirius are all okay."

That finally got the teen to look up.

"Dad?" He croaked while still crying.

"Yes, Snitch. We are all here. Everyone is safe."

"I thought… He… He… Everyone was gone… and he… h-he…" Harry began explaining but his breathing got so uneven and ragged again that he had to stop. His voice also sounded extremely rough.

"Shhh…. It's alright. Calm down, son." Severus did his best to calm the distraught teen but Harry was working his way up to a gull blown panic attack not only because of his dream but also because his voice was giving up on him which scared the crap out of him.

He tried to tell his Dad but no sound came out, just loud ragged breathing which made him even more anxious.

"I need a calming draught, now!" Severus commanded. "He's having a panic attack."

Thankfully the house elves were always listening and one materialized right next to him. Severus efficiently uncorked the vial and administered the potion to his son. He continued to stroke his back and murmured to him (just as Sirius had done before).

Neither father nor son noticed the quiet discussion taking place near the door of the room while they waited for the calming draught to work.

Marvolo had gotten the exact story from Sirius just to assure himself that nothing else had happened.

"Why were you in here anyway?" He suddenly asked.

Sirius looked like a deer caught in headlights before he took a deep breath, winced and answered.

"After all he had told us yesterday I didn't want him to be alone and also didn't want to be alone myself. So I changed into Padfoot and curled up at the end of the bed. Nagini was there as well."

"So you got kicked as a dog?"

"Yep. That's what woke me up."

"Where did he get you?"

"My upper stomach. I'm just happy it wasn't lower." Sirius said with a small smirk.

Marvolo had noticed the wince before and could see Black wasn't holding himself completely upright either. He also knew that changing while injured could exponentially aggravate said injuries.

"Let me see." He commanded.

"I'm alright. Harry should be our main priority."

"Black. Let. Me. See."

With an exasperated sigh Sirius gave in and lifted his shirt. There right above his belly button was a rather big purple bruise forming."

"Of course you are alright!" Marvolo muttered sarcastically before he pulled his wand and healed the younger man. "Better?"

"Yes, thank you."

"You are welcome. It will still be a bit tender for a day or so but the pain should be gone."

"It is. Can we not tell Harry about this? He will just feel guilty for it."

Marvolo looked at the animagus in surprise but agreed at once. It would be far better for his son not to know he had hurt his godfather.

The calming potion had run its course and the teen's breathing was even enough once again that Severus felt he could start a conversation.

"Better?"

Harry just nodded while still snuggled into his Dad's chest.

"Do you want to tell me what your dream was about?"

Harry nodded again but didn't open his mouth. Although he had calmed down again his vocal cords still hurt.

"Harry?" Severus asked after a moment when his son didn't elaborate verbally. "What's the matter?"

With a sigh Harry leaned backwards and put one hand on his throat.

"Does your throat hurt?"

Nod.

"Oh. Does talking hurt?"

Vigorous nodding.

"Does anything else hurt?"

Head shaking.

"So just talking and your throat?"

Nod.

"Probably your vocal cords from all the talking." Severus muttered. "Let me have a look, okay?"

Nod.

Severus picked up his wand and waved it specifically over his son's throat while muttering under his voice.

"Hmmm… The scans are not really picking up anything. But then I'm no fully trained healer."

Nod.

"We can use muggle methods just as easily for this."

Harry looked sceptical but nodded his consent nonetheless.

"It won't hurt, I promise. Open up as wide as you can."

While the teen opened his mouth wide, Severus lit up the tip of his wand and shone it down the boy's throat. After a short moment he was done and drew back to look into his son's eyes again.

"Looks like you irritated your vocal cords pretty heavily. Probably from all the talking you had to do yesterday."

Harry sported one big question mark on his face which had the Potions Master chuckling before he answered the unasked questions.

"Yes, that can happen, No, there is no potion for just that. You will have to suffer through it. It should be gone in a day or two. The less you talk the better."

That had the teen sigh exasperated before he sagged forward into his Dad's chest in relieve.

Marvolo and Sirius rejoined them on the bed and were both surprised to find the other two just cuddled up together and not talking. Severus was rhythmically stroking one hand up and down Harry's back while the other was carding through his hair. These ministrations made the teen rather sleepy again and he blended it out when his Dad explained what was going on.

By the time the adults were done discussing poor Harry's problem they were all surprised to find said teen had fallen back asleep. Since he was lying on top of Severus they could not move him easily which led to another night in the boy's bed.

Marvolo got in beside Severus and made sure his husband and son were both comfortable before turning off the light. Sirius changed back into Pads and curled up at the end of the bed – again – and Nagini also joined them – again – although she curled up on Marvolo's stomach.

It didn't take long until they were all deeply asleep.

The next morning was hard for them all even though they could afford a lie in. It took Severus quite some time to get Harry out of bed since the teen felt so miserable he just wanted to stay hidden all day under his covers.

Sadly they were expecting Madame Bones at ten and he needed to get a move on if he still wanted to get some breakfast.

After an unusually quiet meal together everyone except Sirius headed to the library for the rest of the interviews.

Once Amelia arrived and had been greeted by an overjoyed Sirius they also made their way to the library.

"Good morning, Madame Bones." Marvolo and Severus both greeted her while Harry just waved.

"Good morning, gentlemen. Shall we continue, Henry?"

"Actually he can't." Severus quickly interrupted.

"What do you mean, he can't?"

"All the talking yesterday and screaming in his nightmare tonight led to very irritated vocal cords for Harry. He literally can't speak at the moment."

"Oh, my! I'm very sorry to hear that!" Amelia commiserated while thinking of other ways to get all these statements done as fast as possible.

"Last night I had an idea you might like, Ami!"

"Not now, Black. This is serious!"

"I'm Sirius!"

"S-E-R-I-O-U-S not S-I-R-I-U-S."

"Yeah. That's what I meant. Actually both."

"What?" Now she was confused. "Just spit it out."

"I remembered that we sometimes had witnesses give their statements in written form. You can supervise Harry while interviewing us three."

"That… That is actually not such a bad idea." Amelia said surprised before she addressed Harry again.

"Would that be alright for you?"

Harry nodded and made to get up to get a quill and parchment but Marvolo pulled him back down on the sofa again.

"Kari!" He called out.

"Yes, master?"

"Please get me a lap desk for Harry and tea for all of us."

"Right aways, master."

At Harry's surprised look Madame Bones explained to him what the adults already knew.

"You will have to use a DMLE specific quill and parchment. Also I need to have you in my line of sight all the time to insure its originality."

Once Kari brought him the lap desk and Madame Bones offered him the required supplies he was ready to get started. After a quick explanation on how he should write his statement and doctoring himself a nice cup of tea, Harry began writing down everything that had happened in his four years at Hogwarts.

This would take quite some time but the teen planned on visiting Fortescue's before or after the goblins opened up another part of his blocked core which meant he had to hurry and not dawdle too much.

After they had all observed the furiously writing teen a few minutes while enjoying their own teas Amelia looked at each of the men and asked.

"Who wants to go first?"

TBC

Sorry it's a bit late and also a bit shorter than usual. I don't know why because it is the usual amount of pages in my notebook...

Do you want to know what Nagini has been hissing at Sirius all the time?

First posted on: 29. April 2018

Next update planned: 13. May 2018