Prisoner of Azkaban

Chapter Thirty

Final Conversation

Central Prison

Alchemist Cell Block

"Sirius Black." Sirius looked up at the sound of his name, startled. He had not expected another visitor so soon, and he definitely didn't expect the child yet there he stood on the other side of the door. He looked like James, so much so that for a moment Sirius was confused.

"H-harry? Is that you?" He asked hesitantly, hopeful.

"That's not my name, no matter how many times you wizards call me it. Harry Potter is gone; he's been gone since his parents died. I'm Yuery Elric." The boy said with an angry scowl. "I wanted to come here, to see the man who caused so much pain."

"I came here to rescue you, Harry. You don't understand. These people kidnapped you, took you from your real family when you were just a baby, but I've come to take you home." Sirius pleaded.

"No, my family, that is my first family, was killed. I wasn't taken from them by my Dad. He saved me and made me his child when he was just a kid himself. He brought me home and made a life for us here. This is where I belong, not with you." Yuery said frowning. "You need to understand. All of you need to understand. I am not a pawn in this war. I am not an object to claim. I am not who you all want me to be. I am my father's son. I am the Heir to Amestris. I am their future leader, and the child of one of their greatest heroes. You all think you can erase that from me by pointing out that for a mere three months I had a different future, a different family. You all seem to believe my Dad kept the truth from me, but he didn't. He was always honest with me. Always."

"He isn't your Dad. James Potter was your Dad, and my best friend. I was meant to raise you if the worst were to happen, which it did, but instead that man you call your father snatched you away in the dead of night allowing us all to think you dead."

"He saved my life! Do you not understand? Had I been left there; I would be dead. It was the intention of your leader to allow me to die to fulfill some stupid prophesy. He would have let me die. My Dad realized it as soon as he talked to the man yet no one else ever seems to hear it." Yuery said, before taking a breath to calm down. There had been a reason why he had snuck out of the house, risking a very real chance he would spend the next six years grounded. He had overheard his Dad and Yeye. This man was key to the last piece of whatever they were looking for, but they had already accepted that they were not going to find it because they were not going to trust this man long enough to get the information out of him. "I need to get into your house. There is something there. Something your brother hid there, that we need to win this war."

"You may enter anytime Harry. The warding spells recognize you as my true heir and will open for you and whomever you choose to bring with you. My brother disappeared many many years ago though and I do not think he had anything of value anyway. "Sirius had been slowly inching toward the door as they spoke, he wanted to be as close to the boy as possible, and to assure himself that the boy was fine.

"My name is not Harry! I am so sick of this. Do you honestly think that I would just fall in line? Seriously? After you MURDERED Rebecca Havoc?! A woman I've known my whole life! My Grandmother's best friend! She was one of the kindest people I know, she always watches out for me, and my brothers and sisters and you just went and killed her. Why?"

"I never meant to harm anyone Harry; they were trying to capture me to keep you from me." Sirius pleaded.

"Never meant to harm anyone?! You really think you are the first idiot to try that one? Really?" Yuery shook his head. "Anya was right, kidnappers always have the same excuses and so do killers. We're done here. Do not come near me or my family again. My Yeye hates his Specialty, but he's very, very good at it. Honestly. The only intelligent wizards from your country I have met so far are Remus Lupin and Severus Snape. It's no wonder you are relying on a random kid to be a hero when the rest of you are cowards and killers."

"We are very brave and powerful people who have been fighting a war far too long, now I don't expect you to understand really, because you were taken from us so young you have no concept of war in reality but we have suffered and struggled to try to win, and the real heroes are those like James and Lily Potter who gave their lives to the cause." Sirius said, hoping to get through to the boy.

"I know they were heroes. So were Yuery and Sarah Rockbelle, who stayed behind enemy lines to continue to treat victim from both sides and were killed for their efforts. Trisha Elric, who raised and fought to stay with her two boys so they wouldn't be alone. She died anyway. My Dad and Yeye fought in the Battle of Central when I was just a baby. Everyone knows they're heroes. I know heroes." Yuery glared pointedly. "I know bravery and I know heroes. You are neither, though I do thank you for the information about your house. Please make no further attempts to contact me."

Before Sirius could think of a response Yuery wrapped himself back into the Cloak of Invisibility and was gone. Sirius was devastated, he had been so sure the boy at least would listen to him. Now though, now he would have to find a different way to snatch the boy to safety once he found a way to escape.

Yuery managed to sneak back into the mansion and up to his apartment without any of the guards noticing him. Thankfully, Dad had still been in Reseembool and if he was lucky, Yeye was still downstairs in the office so neither of them would learn of his behavior. He had sighed with relief as he removed the cloak only to scream loudly when the light turned on to reveal his father leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. "You are grounded, of course." Dad said as he stepped closer, "How long depends entirely on what you have to say for yourself."

"I told you I had to speak to him, and you weren't going to let me!" Yuery went immediately on the defensive. He knew there was no talking his way out of trouble, so he decided to go with appealing to his Dad's sense of responsibility instead. "We all know the only one who MIGHT be able to get anything out of him was me, but you were too busy with the aftermath to worry about it right now, so I went to talk to him myself. I didn't go close to him; I spoke with him through the door and stayed out of arm's reach and I used the cloak, so no one saw me aside from him."

"Three months. Go on. Did you learn anything useful?" Dad demanded with a sigh.

"I can enter his house, with whomever I choose to bring along because apparently I am named as his heir." Yuery said, proud of himself for finding the information.

"Go to bed. Do not even think about leaving this house again unless you are with me until further notice." Dad said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I found out what you needed to know, how are you angrier?" Yuery demanded.

"I'm not. I'm also not going to risk you deciding to head off on your own to investigate his house or something equally crazy and don't even think about denying it I saw that expression cross your face. You will remain inside. Give me the cloak, you can have it back when you've earned it."

Xerxes Academy

Xerxes

There were a great number of empty long abandoned buildings surrounding the school. It looked a great deal as Nick had described it to him, though cleaner than he expected. Albus found a building on the edge of town that was still intact aside from the missing doors and set up camp for the night.

From what he had learned from his fellow travelers the students were not currently in session until Sirius Black was found and arrested. He had worried for a bit before he learned just as the train was pulling away from the Xerxes Station with the intent of retrieving the students. Black must have been captured then.

Neither Snape nor Lupin seemed to be in the area, though he couldn't say for certain, so he was kept hidden. That other Elric was around here somewhere as well, being the Headmaster. Such a ridiculous thing really, making such a young man Headmaster. He was barely old enough to teach! It was really just further proof the boy did not belong here.

Alphonse and Edward Elric were not suited to childcare. As much as Albus loved Nick, he knew the man was not nurturing and Dante/Perenelle couldn't have been either. One had to assume they must have used nannies. Either way, he couldn't imagine either brother knew anything about children really. He had been surprised last year when Harry mentioned having siblings. Though really, as he rationalized before, in the end taking Harry back was doing the second child a favor, returning their birthright to them at the same time as restoring Harry to his own fate. Surely, they would see in time that it was for the best. He couldn't recall if he had known anything about the other Elric child or children, he hadn't been sober for this long of a stretch in years and frankly he needed a drink.

Soon enough though he noticed more activity at the school. Students were starting to arrive but no sign yet of Harry in the crowd or anyone who looked like they could be related to Nick. He had crept closer as children milled about greeting each other, a simple cloaking spell ensuring no one noticed him. He overheard several conversations, dismissing them as soon as they began until he heard a girl speaking to what appeared to be her friend, "So, none of the Leader Track kids are back until next week?"

"Nope. Which stinks because I wanted to show Anya and Yuery what I was working on while classes were out." The other girl said, Albus freezing to listen as he recognized the name Elric labeled Harry with when he kidnapped the child.

"Are we sure Yuery and William are coming back next week though? The funeral will be Monday and we all know the Family will attend." Asked a third child as he walked up to them.

"Will the Headmaster attend it do you think?" the first girl asked, as the other two shrugged.

"Children, please find your dorms. We need to keep the path clear for the next load of students." A young blond man said as he approached them narrowly missing Albus.

"Sorry Professor Tringham." The children chimed before rushing off. Tringham turned back toward the larger crowd, this time bumping into Albus as the older man tried to sidestep him.

Albus moved to the left and held his breath, the professor looking alarmed. Though he couldn't see Albus, he had felt him and now knew an invisible person was here. He reached down to a bracelet on his wrist and before Albus knew what was happening there was a bright glow and vines wrapped around him as well as creeping across the ground in search of any others. "Gotcha." The man said before Albus could react.

Quickly a couple more adults rushed in their direction as even more began ushering the children further away from the commotion. He needed to escape. They hadn't seen him yet, but they would because among those who were heading this way was Snape who knew how to dispel cloaking charms. Albus quickly apparated back into Xing, away from civilization. Snape frowned as the former headmaster disappeared. "Dumbledore was here. I recognize his magic. We need to alert the authorities." Snape growled. Lupin, who had been in a meeting with him when the alarm sounded, nodded in agreement.

Xing Royal Palace

Winry was busy packing up the children's things since someone would be arriving to take them home in a few minutes when Ling knocked as he entered the suite. "I'm afraid I have more bad news. It seems Dumbledore was lurking around outside the trains in Xerxes a bit ago and he managed to escape. It seems he's gone into hiding for now, but with the barrier in place he still has to be here somewhere."

"He can't enter Amestris. Is Alphonse and Mei going forward with reopening the school?" Winry asked, already mentally making plans to protect her own children while also growing concerned for the other students.

"They are. No one expects him to make a second attempt anytime soon. From the bit of trail, he's been leaving for my magic users to follow he seems to have retreated here to Xing, where he hasn't moved in a while. Unfortunately, the tracking spell can only give us a generalized area to search until we get close enough, but he doesn't seem to be going anywhere."

"Well, the children and I will be safe in Amestris. I do not know if we need to be concerned for the other children's safety, though whenever these Wizards get involved, it seems we need to worry." Winry frowned, before looking behind Ling, "No offence intended Severus. I assume you brought him this news?"

"I'm afraid not, I came to retrieve you and inform them, but they were already aware. Apparently, the princess called immediately." Severus said as Winry nodded and asked which one had called. Ling snorted before announcing it was both of them.

Tavern somewhere in Xing

He had once more disguised himself with Polyjuice potion, borrowing several strands of hair from a traveler before renting a room on the edge of town. He had enough to wear this disguise for a few days provided he went out sparingly, which was good because he had enough to pay for a week. Then he would have to move on, after hopefully coming up with a better plan.

According to the papers Sirius Black was going to be tried for six counts of murder and two dozen counts of torture in Amestris. The Elric children, apparently there were six, along with the Mustang children were sequestered until the trial was over, as were the children of Emperor Ling (who again apparently were somehow related to them, he hadn't bothered to look into it further). It would be weeks before Harry returned to Xerxes, therefore he needed to remain hidden so that he could plan.

For tonight though, he decided to have a pint before returning to his room with a strong bottle of alcohol he had bought from the bartender. It was going to be a long wait, but he was used to that, after all he had been waiting years to end this war. Soon everything would fall into place, he was sure of it. The prophesy had assured that as well.

A/N: The next story will be a few weeks, after things have settled down and I have free time again. Apologies for the wait.