Sirius returned to the waiting area to find Remus reading to Harry. The child looked more engaged this time, and he took a moment to enjoy the scene, to take it in, before approaching their vision.
Harry looked up, opened his mom as though to speak, but abruptly closed it.
He's still scared, Sirius realized.
"Hello, puppy," he said, gently, lowering himself so that he was at eye level. "We can leave just as soon as I pay at the front desk."
Harry nodded, and Sirius took his hand. "It will just be a few minutes," he promised, giving Harry a kiss on the top of his head.
The total cost was ten sickles, and Sirius made the follow up appointment for six weeks from that day. Once outside, he took charge of Apparation, holding Harry and Remus tightly.
Harry still looked pale afterwards, but he didn't look like he was about to cry or be sick. All the same, Remus slipped him a piece of chocolate. After a glance at Sirius, who nodded with a smile, he took a bite.
"Let's sit down, and I can tell you both what the Healer told me," Sirius offered.
They sat down next to each other, with Harry in Sirius' lap, still chewing on the chocolate bar.
"She said that you should eat more," Sirius began. "Not more than you feel comfortable eating, not past feeling full, but if you're hungry, tell us. Even between meals."
Harry's eyes went wide. "Really?"
"Yes. Remus or I can fix you a snack. Some fruit, crackers, perhaps some toast. You're very small for your age, Harry, because your aunt and uncle didn't give you enough to eat. We need to fix this. Also," he added, "you'll need to start taking vitamins. She said that there are muggle kinds that taste good. I don't know much about them-do you, Remus?"
"No, I am afraid not," Remus answered.
"Well, we can ask for help at the store. Now, it won't be anything that tastes bad, so we might need to experiment with a few types before choosing the best one," Sirius explained. At Harry's nod, he added, "In six months, the Healer will look you over again. She might suggest some other things to help you get bigger, but for now, that's all. So," Sirius concluded, "tasty vitamins and lots of tasty food. How does that sound?"
"Good," Harry murmured, then yawned, and quickly covered his mouth.
"I think it's nearly time for your nap," Remus suggested, with a smile.
Harry nodded, and the two tucked him in on the couch, making sure he was warm and comfortable enough under two blankets and a soft pillow. They took turns giving Harry kisses on the top of his head, and he rolled over on his side, eyes closing.
Once Sirius was certain that Harry was fast asleep, he performed a spell to detect any change, and then, he and Remus crept into the kitchen.
"Are you going to tell me about the rest of the visit?" Remus asked, mildly.
"What makes you think there was more?" Sirius half laughed.
"Partially the amount of time you were there, mostly the look on your face when you came out," Remus explained.
Sirius scrubbed his face with his hands. "Did Harry notice?"
"I doubt it." Remus fetched two mugs and began to make some tea. "What happened?"
Sirius recounted the rest of the meeting. "I could kill the damned Dursleys," he swore, quietly.
He expected Remus to rebuff him, but the look of anger on his brother's face surely mirrored his own.
"You're not alone, Padfoot."
"Wouldn't do to get arrested for murder, though," Sirius half growled, half relented. "You'd manage fine, most of the month..."
Remus placed a hand on top of Sirius'. "They aren't worth it, and besides, Harry needs you."
Sirius swallowed hard. "I know." With a smile, he added, "You will be willing to listen when I need to rant?"
"If you will extend the favor," Remus promised.
Sirius chuckled. Mild mannered as Remus was, he could certainly rant. Although, Sirius had to admit, he rarely let the swears fly when he did so.
"Agreed." Sirius rose and hugged his best friend, who squeezed him back firmly. They remained like that for several moments, letting go at the same time. "Thank you."
Remus chuckled. "Thank you."
Another thought crossed his mind. "I suppose we owe Snape more than we first thought. Much as I hate to admit it, if it weren't for his insistence and interference, the Dursleys would still be rearing our puppy."
Remus nodded, and they both sat back on the couch, recalling the memory of how Snape ended up helping them-likely, without meaning to, at first.
Upon realizing that Peter Pettigrew had betrayed the Potters, Sirius' first instinct was to go after his former friend and take him down with his bare hands. Remus had physically prevented him from doing so, putting him in a full body bind as he told him all the reasons why this would be a terrible idea.
After Sirius blinked his agreement not to attack the rat, Remus had released the curse, and the two had gone straight to Dumbledore instead. Within twenty-four hours, fifty Aurors had located and tracked down the rat, who was now housed in a special cell for unregistered animagi in Azkaban. There, he would remain until he died.
Sirius had hoped that it would be at least one hundred years.
While he carefully inspected the living conditions of his godson, Remus had reached out to Severus Snape. Their old enemy likely would have hexed him before letting him speak, but the werewolf had gone to the headmaster, first. Remus had been rather sneaky about it, being a Marauder and all. With the Wolfsbane potion ready to be used by werewolves, Remus planned to offer to pay Snape to brew it for him each month. Dumbledore, thankful for Remus' role in the Order before Voldemort's demise, had gone to Severus Snape and either threatened, coerced, or bribed him to make the potion for his former classmate. Neither Sirius nor Remus were entirely sure what he had done, but every month, Snape showed up in the fireplace of the house the two marauders and brothers shared, batch of Wolfsbane potion in hand.
The potion required various specifications for consumption and storage. For instance, since sugar made it useless, Remus could not consume anything with any kind of sugar-even fruit-for five hours beforehand. It also had to be stored at a precise temperature, but this was no issue, as the Black residence Sirius had inherited upon his parents' death contained a laboratory. The potions within said lab were likely poison, but Snape had inspected the storage facilities and deemed it "not likely to turn perfectly good potions into deadly toxins."
While he visited each month with his usual malice and snarky demeanor, he did not poison Remus' potion, and after a few months, Sirius trusted him enough to be left alone with his brother. It was then that the conversations went from Snape's redundant instructions for storage and consumption to, if not exactly reminisces about their school days, some common ground in that Remus had never directly hexed him, and Snape had been friends with Lily since their childhood.
"Why," Snape had asked, one morning, "did the mangy mutt not end up raising Potter's offspring? Surely, he would have preferred it to sending the child onto distant relatives."
"He did," Remus had answered, quite calmly. "The headmaster, however, believed that Harry would be safest living with Lily's sister and her husband."
Snape had nearly spit out the tea he'd begun to drink. "Pray tell me, Lupin, that there is another sister that I don't know about. In any event," he added, "she would be scarcely ten years of age, if that? I thought the muggles of England did away with the concept of child brides some centuries ago."
Remus had simply shaken his head. "No, Severus, Harry is being raised by Petunia Evans-now Dursley-and her husband, Vernon."
Snape had grown irate. "Why in Merlin's name would Dumbledore believe that loathsome woman would be fit to raise Bellatrix Lestrange's children, let alone Harry Potter? Lily and James must be rolling in their graves."
"You see, Severus," Remus had explained, quite calmly, "the blood that runs through Harry's veins is protected by his mother's love. Petunia Dursley, while unpleasant, shares some of that blood. In taking in Harry, and Dumbledore assured us that she had, he will remained protected from anyone who wishes to do him harm. There are, you know, many Death Eaters who escaped serving any time in Azkaban."
Snape had then scoffed. "I'll grant you that the old magic is strong, and may keep him from harm. Certainly, he will not grow up as spoiled as his father." He paused, then added, "However, if Petunia and Vernon Dursley are as unpleasant as adults as they were as children, the Boy Who Lived may live, but only just."
Remus had nodded, looking thoughtful. "What, then, would you have Dumbledore do?"
"As much as I respect the headmaster, and he is certainly more valuable to our world than simply a school headmaster, he had no place in interfering. That is the job of the Wizengamot, who likely had their hands full determining who was following the Dark Lord by their own free will and who was not to bother about the child who defeated him," Snape practically spit out. "I shall see if there are other forms of magic, in the way of potions, that can protect Mr. Potter as well as those mangy muggles."
In the end, he had. It was quite fortunate, really, that the Potters had blood adopted Sirius Black, and that Snape had once consumed a small portion of Lily's blood when she received a cut just before her Hogwarts letter. Without these, the magic would have been considerably more complicated to perform.
Three weeks later, Snape had returned to Sirius' home with the recipe for the Blood Adoption and Protection potion. It was not dark magic in the least, he'd been quick to reassure them, but it would require consumption by everyone involved twice a year. The brewer (Snape emphatically pointed to himself), any guardians (two would be better than one), and the minor would need to consume a goblet full of the mixture.
"While hardly pumpkin juice or butterbeer, it is far more palatable in taste than Wolfsbane," Severus had informed them. "The potion must be consumed by everyone within a one week period of the other, although it would be preferable to consume it all at once, and in the same physical proximity. This means," he added, rather dryly, "that if the wolf and dog can convince the Wizengamot that the Dursleys will cause any type of harm to the sainted Boy Who Lived, he has four weeks in which to consume it, or the entire process must be commenced again."
It was for this reason Severus Snape needed to meet Harry Potter one week after his first visit to the Healer.
Author's note:
Next up: The marauders prepare for Harry to meet Severus Snape for the first time, and Harry learns a bit about the protective power of magic.
As always, constructive feedback is most welcome!