This one has a lot of Harry talking over tea, catching his godfathers up to speed, with some important realizations.
This is a bit of a rough one, but I hope you all enjoy this update!


Since Harry didn't have any calming draughts in the townhouse yet, Sirius had Kreacher bring him two from his own stock.
Downing the vials quickly, Sirius and Remus sat on the edge of the armchairs waiting for Harry to start explaining.

There was a heavy pause before Harry took a deep breath and started.

"The summer had not started any differently that it usually did. My belongings were locked away, I was put in my room, locked in, and my relatives generally showed their disgust at my existence. There wasn't much of note until approximately two weeks after the end of term."
Taking a sip of his tea his looked up at them. "That is when everything went to shite. I wasn't very aware at he start, since my uncle had just finished leaving a brand new set of bruises, taking advantage of my aunt and cousin being gone, but I became a lot more aware of the situation when my door was blasted open."

His leg started to bounce, and he set his half finished cup of tea down. He didn't meet the eyes of either of his godfathers.

"Couldn't see much, since I didn't have my glasses on. Hadn't needed them since I had been resting. If I had them on I might have been able to know who it was that turned me." His voice was more than a little self-depreciating, and he paused, tensing like a bowstring.

"To begin with, I thought it was a death eater. Would have made the most sense, more sense than what happened." He chuckled dryly, conveying anything other than humor.
"I wish I could say what happened next went by in a blur. It didn't. I know now that he was likely drawn to my room in the first place because I was bleeding… Uncle Vernon had caused the injuries, though I don't think he had intended to go so far." He gave Remus a hard glare as he heard a growl from that direction.
"Don't start that now, that's not even the worst by far." Rather than being chastened Remus looked thoroughly unrepentant, hiding his scowl with taking another sip from his tea.

"Moving on." Maintaining his glare for a moment longer before looking back down, turning his glare to the ground. Obviously dreading the next part of the story. If he held the teacup as strongly as he was holding each of his arms, the porcelain would have shattered. "It didn't take long to figure out the man was a vampire. He also wasn't consuming blood because he was hungry. It was too languid. He didn't even have to work too hard to keep me in place." He sneered at that, and Sirius leaned forward and put a hand on one of Harry's knees.

"As you said, you were injured, and you more than likely had a concussion. What happened wasn't your fault Harry." Remus seemed to be beyond words, eyes a bright gold even with the calming draught, but he produced a rumbling sound in agreement, eyes earnest.

Harry nodded and Sirius squeezed his knee once before letting go, sitting back.

"Thank you. It took a long time to come to any degree of that realization. I believe you, but telling the story brings back the feelings I had back then." He slumped slightly.
"He had turned my head away to get at my neck, so I still didn't get a good look at him, but I know he realized who I was. He had started running his hands through my hair, which should have been my first indicator of what he was planning, but I was naive. Once he saw my scar he stopped draining me slowly and fed me blood instead. He tore open his arm, reached around, and forced it against my mouth while he held my nose closed."

Here his voice broke a little. His eyes were distant, and they could tell he was starting to disassociate. Not ideal in the least, but completely understandable when telling a story like this one. Remus closed his eyes, breathing carefully. He knew from the way Harry was holding himself that the story was about to get even worse than it already was.

"After he had forced me to drink several mouthfuls, he healed his arm and forced me face-down on my bed. I was gagging, breathing was difficult, and the weight of him on my back was not helping the nausea." Harry was hunched over, looking at the ground, hands gripping his knees hard, looking a little nauseated even now.
Millie popped in, handed him a potion, and popped away. Harry glanced at it and quickly downed it, immediately relaxing a little, his hunched position a little looser.

He looked reluctant as he continued. "When vampires feed it induces lust for both parties involved. Whether it is wanted or not. It can be intoxicating, and in the moment, your mind isn't quite your own."

"You can guess what happened next. He found it hilarious that he had turned 'the famous Harry Potter.' He found it equally amusing to leave me with torn trousers and bleeding profusely from places I'd rather not mention. He was lucky my fangs hadn't come in yet." He paused before looking up at Sirius and Remus. Their faces were pale, and Sirius had his hand over his mouth, looking faint. Remus was pressing his palms against his eyes, trembling slightly with every breath.

Harry kept looking at them, steeled himself. "I'm sure he knew the effect leaving me bleeding that much would have." Sirius' eyes widened a bit at this in realization. "Once I regained consciousness, I was barely aware and was ravenous. Not a good combination. While I was unconscious, who knows for how long, Aunt Petunia and Dudley had come back home." Here he picked the previously abandoned cup of blood tea and held it back at his mouth before taking a sip, eyes closing, keeping the cup at his lips.

"They had no chance. A newly turned vampire that was almost depleted of blood. It was a slaughter. While Vernon was left dry with just a couple pricks in his neck from, the other vampire, I had no precision at that point. I'm sure they were left looking like a wild beast had attacked them, and in a way one did." This time the self-depreciation was strong.

"Oh Harry, pup…" Sirius' muscles tensed in an aborted movement, just wanting to lunge over hand hug him, but he knew it wouldn't be received well at the moment.

Harry directed a bitter smile at Sirius. "I know I could not have helped it. The vampire that turned me constructed that situation purposefully. He knew exactly what he was doing. Despite knowing that logically, I also knew I couldn't stick around." His faced smoothed into an attempt at indifference, though it fell a little short.

"After that I was on the streets. It took a few days with stops due to having been so injured, and along the way I drained a couple of people, still not fully cognizant, but I eventually made it to London. By that point I was a little more clear headed. My brain protected itself a bit by pushing what had happened to the back burner while I focused on surviving. The harder part was when I developed a routine of sorts. Then I had the capacity to think." His facade of indifference turned into a slight joking smirk. "Thinking can be overrated." He flashed a grin at his godfathers, though it fell a little when they both just looked sad.

Looking for a way to change to topic, his head tilted slightly as he remembered something he had planned to ask them. "There is one thing that I have a question about that I discovered while on the streets. I started noticing certain objects or people would glow. It became obvious that the differing colors of the glow I was seeing were connected to different types of spells. Have you ever heard of something like that?"

Seeing the attempted diversion for what it was, and being completely okay with it, Remus responded, having been able to pull himself together and calm the wolf. "That sounds like you are able to see the energy that powers a given spell. Spells are just energy directed and focused with a clear purpose. Do you see these colors all of the time?" His voice was still a little strained, but he also sounded intrigued.

Harry's posture straightened, happy to have some answer for what he had been seeing. "Now I don't since I know how to control it, but when I first noticed it, yes. I'm glad I don't see things all the time now, it was a literal headache." Sirius snorted slightly at that.

"I bet! Out of curiosity, what does the townhouse look like to you when you let yourself see the magic?"

Harry paused, focusing on reactivating that part of his sight after dismissing it for so long. Looking at the floo it was a bright red, and the teapot and set were a light blue, likely due to the magic Millie used to brew the tea. He told his godfathers what he was seeing, but froze when he looked directly at them.

"Harry? What is it?" Sirius voiced, concerned.
When Harry didn't respond after a moment, Remus also tried to get his attention, though Harry jerked after Remus put a hand on his arm.

"Remus, would there be any reason for you to have active spells on you?" Voice strangled, Harry looking back and forth between the two.

Sirius froze, mind racing, and turned to Remus before casting a few spells in succession, causing Harry's eyes to widen in bewilderment.

"Fuck!" Sirius stopped and dropped his wand hand between his knees, other hand coming up to rub his face.

Even more baffled, Harry started to ask, "Sirius what-?"

"Tracking charm. We got rid of it once before, but Dumbledore must have reapplied it. Probably thought it failed naturally." Sirius' face looked waxen after it had just started to gain some color, and Remus didn't look much better.

Remus' face turned quickly to Sirius. "Did you-"
"Yes, I took it back off. But gods I hope he didn't notice where you are."

The panic was starting to grow on their faces, and they both turned quickly to Harry. Sirius, realizing the opportunity, leaned in toward his godson and spoke urgently.
"Harry, can you see any other spells active on us?"

He looked at them a long moment, and hesitating in responding. "I see a slight white glow around you both."

"Is that what wizards without spells look like as a baseline?" Sirius guessed.

Harry shook his head. "No. While I was in Diagon Alley there was almost a radiation of energy surrounding people. Like when you can see the heat radiating off objects on a hot day. I've seen this white glow before, but… it was always after the aurors had to Obliviate someone. Even muggles would have that glow afterward."

Sirius sagged slightly at hearing that. "Of fucking course. I wouldn't put it past the old bastard. We'll have to put off looking into that until a little later."

Harry perked up. "Are you talking about Dumbledore?"

Remus nodded, seeing Sirius was lost in his thoughts. "Albus has been attempting to control our movements closely ever since Sirius and I took up residence at Sirius' family home. He even tried to make it so that Sirius couldn't use the floo, but seemed to forget he wasn't the owner of the house, and Sirius just undid it right after Albus left." A hint of humor entered his voice at that, and a little pride.

Sirius smirked slightly at that, coming back to the present at the end of Remus' comment.

"Since the old coot doesn't know that we know what he cast, we should be getting back to minimize the potential damage. So long as he hasn't tried to check any of his charms we should be fine." Sirius looked at Harry warmly. "I'm sorry for cutting this short kiddo, I don't want to risk him finding you."

"Don't worry about it Sirius, I understand, and I appreciate it. Would it ever work for me to visit you?" The end of the sentence ended a bit shyly, not sure whether they would want, or be able, to have him in their home.

"Absolutely pup! But first, I have to tell you something. 'The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.'"
He looked slightly sour at this, but stated it solemnly.

Puzzled, Harry's face pinched slightly. "What-"

"The house is under a Fidelius charm. It requires someone to know the secret before they can be aware of the target in question's existence. Dumbledore tried to make himself the secret keeper, but I refused. He wasn't happy about it, but no way was I going to give him that much power." He grinned, looking quite pleased with himself.

Remus reached over and nudged him. "Sirius, we have to go." He looked reluctant, but Sirius nodded back at him.

Remus looked at Harry somberly. "I'm sorry cub. We were both hoping to stay longer, especially after such a serious conversation we don't want to leave you alone, but just send Millie ahead, making sure we're in a room alone, and ask if it's clear to floo over. We would love to have you over. Please don't hesitate to turn to us Harry. We will send a note with Kreacher once we know Dumbledore didn't notice we were gone." Standing, Remus pulled Harry into a gentle hug.

Sirius stood as well, joining in on the hug. "We love you pup. Never doubt that. We will stand with you, whatever direction you decide to go in. Be it neutral in this war, or at the side of the bloody Dark Lord." His voice took on a teasing note at the end, and Harry snorted, taken off guard.

They pulled away from each other, and Harry smiled at them, the happiest they had seen him throughout this entire conversation. "Thank you Sirius, Remus. I'll be sure to visit soon."

"Looking forward to hearing from you pup, don't be a stranger. So happy you're safe now." Sirius grinned at him before they walked over to the floo, calling out for Grimmauld Place.

Harry stood in front of the floo for several minutes, considering the newest revelations. While he was worried for his godfathers, it couldn't be easy living in a home that Albus Dumbledore considered his own, he was happy his small family accepted him as he was. They knew the basics of what he had been through, of what he was, and they hadn't rejected him.

The high from the conversation stayed with him for the rest of the day.


Next up we will see things from a bit of a different perspective ;)

Thank you for reading! :)