Harry potter and the Time of Retirement
Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to JKR
Chapter 51 – Year 3
"It works" murmured Harry with a smile of satisfaction, as he floated in the middle of his living room. It had taken almost a full month but his hand-made, sort of, broom was finally complete. 'Sort of' admitted Harry, looking down at the now empty box he bought in Diagon Alley the month before.
The main shaft of the broom was muggle in origin, bought together with two spares, several crates of muggle beverages and other stuff in exchange for a load of wood and stone that the excessively friendly guys at the local pub had been more than happy to barter for. 'They are probably convinced they ripped me off' thought Harry, dismissive – let the muggles enjoy their own businesses, magic was endless.
Applying the various charms and enchantments needed to make it fly with reasonable speed and comfort had not been easy, even with the help of the manual provided in his purchase at Quidditch Quality Supplies; the single spells were easy enough to apply but to have them stick all at the same time was… problematic, to say the least. It certainly took several attempts, and one of the broom even caught fire and was destroyed in the process.
The final touches were the seat and the feet rest: a quality product would have seen those installed before anything else with the following charms applied to the whole broom but Harry just couldn't make it work, not on the spot. Therefore he applied a permanent sticking charm to them and, once linked to the shaft, a couple of smaller charms to make them either more comfortable or more resistant.
The final result looked weird, to say the least, but not ugly and Harry was eager to finally try it for more than just floating. Looking outside he noticed how the sun was high in the sky; not lunch time, not yet, but probably late morning. The morning of Halloween.
It was not a coincidence. When Harry had noticed how his least favorite celebration was approaching, he had speed up the assembly of his broom as to have it ready for that day. A way to cheer himself up a little, and have something to do beyond thinking back on how often Halloween had gone wrong for him, at least when he was young.
So, after covering himself in warm clothes, he walked out of the house. 'Where to, where to…' he considered. Hannah had shown him some of the "best spots" around Godric's Hollow, but most of them were in full view of the neighboring muggles. There was a somehow thick wood nearby, where kids and sometimes their parents went to play and use their wands, but it was not appropriate for anyone wishing to fly higher than a dozen meters.
'Whatever, today's just a test run' thought Harry, as he locked his main door and crossed the village, broom under his arm. 'Once I want to fly for real, I can always….'
Harry stopped, surprised by the sight in front of him. He was close to Godric's Hollow central, and only, square which meant that he was close to his family's statue. What was noteworthy was the presence of a man next to it, busy placing flowers on the ground. Someone he was pretty sure he could recognize.
"Sirius Black" said Harry, approaching the man and making him startle a little. "Hello. This is unexpected."
Black turned, giving Harry a surprised look over. First at his face, then his clothes, and finally the broom he was carrying around.
"Harry…? Why are you here? I mean, not in school" asked Black, eventually.
"Oh, I am taking some time off. And you?" said Harry, getting closer and looking down at the flowers. "For my parents' anniversary… well, death anniversary? Morbid, but I am sure they would appreciate it."
"I miss them both. Even your mom, no matter how stern she was with us" said Black, turning again towards the statue.
"At least you remember them" said Harry, looking at him sideways. "Much better than nothing."
Said that, Harry turned to give his own inquiring stare at Black. He looked… "No offense but you look terrible, Black. Is everything ok?"
Indeed, the man was a disaster. His clothes while not strictly talking dirty were full of dust and creases, enough to look like he was sleeping in them. His hair was a mess, and he had gained no fat at all since the day Harry saw him in Malfoy's house. "I thought your cousin was taking care of you."
"She is not my mother. Which is a good thing by the way" said Sirius, smiling at his own joke. "Beside, there is only so much nagging I can take."
That said, he turned completely towards Harry, with a hesitant expression on his face. "So, Harry… I am happy to see you?"
"Why are you so nervous?" said Harry, smiling apologetically. "I am the one that should be embarrassed, here. For what happened last time."
"Oh, I am still upset about that" commented Sirius, frowning. "But then I heard you got injured at Hogwarts? It was quite the shock, I'll let you know. Dumbledore kept insisting, for months, that you still had to be healed and eventually I stopped… asking, I guess" he concluded, embarrassed.
"Yes, they put together the potion I needed only this July. Half a year, gone" commented Harry. "Listen… I am sorry for getting you drunk last time. And for how you got involved into my problems with Dumbledore. Unfortunately I really wanted my key and, well, you had it" he concluded, shrugging.
Sirius chuckled. "Your apology sucks, Harry. Try to fake feeling guilty, at least. Still, I won't refuse it. Not right here" he said, looking again towards the statue of the Potter family.
"Yes, I assume you and my dad had a long list of things to be sorry about to each other, and it might be even longer with my mom. Charge everything on their tab, they won't mind" said Harry, smiling.
"They would not" said Sirius, smiling himself. "So, and for real this time… what are you doing, Harry? You should be in school. And that broom?"
Harry hesitated for a second, before shrugging. "I got expelled, for that nasty business last January. I moved to my family home here and I am trying new things. Which includes modifying muggle brooms."
"It does look mugglish" judged Sirius, skeptical, looking at it. "Nevermind that. Expelled? You?"
"Yes, me. I am surprised you didn't know, actually. I have been told it made front page on the Prophet."
"I will talk with Dumbledore. Unless you killed someone, I can't imagine you being expelled. Or anyone else, to be honest" said Sirius, before paling considerably. "You didn't kill anyone, did you?"
"I saved the lives of two students, and probably many more than two by stopping a magical beast's rampage inside Hogwarts. While discovering a legendary secret Chamber of the school in the process" commented Harry, smirking widely. "That is, if you spin only the positive side of the story."
"And if you spin the bad side?" asked Sirius, frowning.
"Oh, then I might have deserved my expulsion" answered Harry, lightly. "It's a long story, though."
"I have time" said Sirius, folding his arms.
"Good for you" countered Harry "but as you can see, I have my own plans for the day" he continued, shaking the broom in his hands.
"Didn't you just apologize to me for last time, Harry? Let's say that sharing what happened might make up for it."
"How mercenary" commented Harry, rolling his eyes. "Maybe I should have faked feeling guilty."
"Too late for that. Are we going?" said Sirius, nodding towards Harry's house. With a sigh, slowly, Harry eventually started walking back home closely followed by the man.
"I love what you did to this place" said Sirius in a clearly amused tone, while dropping his coat on one of the couches. It was easy to tell he felt at home, there.
"Yes, dusting can make wonders for the vibes of an house" answered Harry, rolling his eyes. "I hope Kreacher cleaned up yours, by the way."
"Not really. He was cleaning up only the room I was in, constantly. To annoy me, undoubtedly. Finally I told him to disappear, together with his rags, and he hasn't used them since" commented Sirius, shrugging.
"Just sell him. Or kill him, and place his head on the wall. I am sure he would love that" suggested Harry, casually, while placing his wand back in his pocket. On the table, two cups of tea and a dish of cookies were now served, and Sirius immediately took his share.
"I am not planning on killing Kreacher, Harry" countered Sirius, frowning. "He is a nasty little bugger, but he has been with the family his whole life."
"How sweet of you" said Harry, half hiding his grin with his cup of tea. "I have a half plan of buying an elf myself. A good one, of course."
"I hope you are not wasting your parents' money, Harry. And I still think you should not have access to your vault" said Sirius, tightly. Harry's grin died instantly.
"I thought you were here for gossips, not a lecture" commented Harry, acidly, before relaxing a little. "That said, I am going as far as making my own broom and trading with the muggles for my booze. I might be even too frugal."
For a second, Sirius appeared ready to continue; the word booze, in particular, seemed to offend him and he started noticing some of the bottles placed behind the glass doors of the cabinets. In the end, he shook his head and took another gulp of his tea.
"Oh, I give up. You do you, kid. Just call me if you need help, ok?" said Sirius. At this, Harry nodded and smiled, lightly, before talking again.
"I'll say the same. You don't seem in your best shape. What are you even doing these days?"
"Not much. I am toying with the idea of going back to work. Me and your dad were aurors, you know?" asked Sirius, as Harry nodded. "But my opinion of the ministry isn't the best, at the moment. Maybe in the future."
"Whatever it is, just do something. Staying idle is terrible for morale. And you should groom a little, too" said Harry. Sirius just smirked at him.
"Sure, mom" he said, happily. "What do you even know about these things, Harry? And I'll let you know my looks are as dashing as ever."
"You look like a bum" countered Harry, flatly. "Appearances are not to be neglected, people will judge you for them."
"You sound like my parents" said Sirius, his tone turning towards depression. "And I didn't like them much."
"Sirius, you are no longer a teenager" said Harry, shaking his head. "Mind you, after months in Azkaban you are entitled to mope around a little. But not to just… let yourself go."
"Yep, totally like my dad" said Sirius, petulantly.
"Oh, don't worry. I am not your father so" – "Nope, you are not" said Sirius, interrupting him. Harry didn't care and didn't stop. "So, I won't say anything more. Just take care of yourself, ok?"
"I am not such a disaster that I need a little boy worrying after me" said Sirius, before grimacing. "Sorry Harry, I am sure you mean well. But you are not helping, believe me."
"Oh, it was just a friendly remainder that your life isn't over, but it's up to you not to waste it" said Harry, lightly, standing up. "Anyway, matter closed. I still have to try my new broom. Want to come?"
"Yeah, sure, I guess I can" started Sirius, almost rising himself before he stopped, showing a shocked face. "Wait a bloody second, Harry! You were supposed to tell me about Hogwarts."
"Oh, was I?" said Harry, grinning and sitting down again as Sirius frowned at him. "And don't make that face. It was worth trying."
"All you are doing is convincing me you deserve any punishment sent your way" said Sirius, bitterly. "Maybe not an expulsion, but having you scrub all the cauldrons of the castle… maybe."
"And by hand, of course" commented Harry, amused. "That would teach me."
"Your father wasn't this sarcastic, you know? Or your mother. I wonder where does that comes from."
Harry shrugged, silently, and Black spoke again. "Well, no more delays. What happened last January, Harry? How did you even manage to get petrified?"
"It's not just my story, so no names and few details. Normally I would tell nothing, so you better not complain. Or interrupt."
"Does this mean you are speaking just because I am the one asking? Now who's the sweet one" said Sirius, teasingly. Harry just showed a skeptic look.
"It's more like, I am a bit cross with the people involved lately. Well, make it that moron of their father" countered Harry. Sirius sighed. "You bickering with someone? What a shock" he commented. Harry frowned, but decided to let that one slide.
And so, he started retelling a heavily censored version of his story. Of how he thought there was a cursed item created by the dark lord at Hogwarts. Of how he thought he knew who had it. How he tried to get it back and destroy it, only for the little sister of his target to stop him and get him stunned. How he still managed to beat up his target and, unfortunately, the little sister too before having them flee while he kept at bay a dangerous magical beast. How said beast cursed him before dying.
"Wow" said Sirius, apparently impressed – hard to tell if seriously or siriously. "Can I speak now?"
"Sure, go ahead" said Harry.
"Your story has plenty of holes. How did you know about this item? How did you know about this mysterious target? How did you kill some monster capable of petrifying people?" asked Sirius.
"Not telling, I had a hint, and with several curses, what else?" answered Harry.
"And no one died. Right?"
"Right" confirmed Harry.
"I am not sure this is expulsion matter, Harry. Especially since the real problem was this target of yours. Are you sure there is not something else?"
"One of the curses might have been an Unforgivable" said quietly Harry, as Sirius stood up in shock.
"What the… Harry, have you gone mad? People get thrown in Azkaban for life, with those! Thank all that is good that you used it on a beast, but still! Where did you even learn to cast one?"
Harry shrugged, his face a blank mask. No way he would correct Sirius on his wrong assumption, if this was his reaction already. "I don't regret it. It was necessary, I did it. And I learned the incantation somewhere around."
"This explains everything. An Unforgivable in your 2nd year... it looks bad, of course it looks bad!" ranted on Sirius, roaming around the room.
"Anyway, that's it. Mostly. Satisfied?" asked Harry after a while. Sirius glared down at him.
"Don't act like this, Harry! This is not a joke" he said, venomously, before sitting down. "Ok. Don't worry, I will go talk to Dumbledore and settle this thing. Maybe he can really have you clean up the school from top to bottom, but you are going back to class."
"I am not cleaning anything, and I am not planning to go back" stated Harry, calmly. And uselessly.
"Like anyone cares what you are planning for" said Sirius, agitated. "This is not the time for childish tantrums."
"Indeed, it is not. You are not my father, Mr. Black. Get the hint."
Sirius froze, and glared at Harry again. "Is this how you behave, now?"
Harry shook his head. "This is how I am being forced to behave lately, yes. I am not happy about it." After some seconds of silence, though, he continued while Black kept scowling, his arms folded on his chest.
"I don't want to alienate everyone that worries about me" continued Harry, his voice wishful "but if I have to stomp my foot down and remark how I don't have to listen to any of you, I will. Painful as it might be."
"Harry, I am your godfather. I promised your father I would care for you" complained Sirius, passionately, before his eyes glassed over slightly. "It might be the only important duty I have left, I am not going to abandon it."
"Please do, then. I am lacking in friends lately, anyway" sighed Harry, resigned. "But if your idea of caring is shouting at me what I have to do, then we have a problem."
Silence followed for a while, and Harry finished his now cold cup of tea to cover the awkwardness. Sirius, meanwhile, seemed to think this over.
"So, that's just it? You are planning to" he stopped, uncertain, waving his hands in the air "stay at home, and let time pass?"
"You make it sound so negative. It's quite literally what you are doing, too."
"You criticized me for that less than a hour ago" scoffed Sirius.
"I said you shouldn't let yourself go. I keep myself busy."
"A muggle broom" commented Sirius, sarcastically.
"And gardening, and potions, and a cold beer at night during dinner. I am not unhappy."
"No more alcohol at your age" said Sirius, immediately, before sighing at Harry's skeptical stare. "Harry…" he started, still standing in the middle of the living room.
"You are my godfather, true" said Harry, shaking his head "so let me offer a compromise. I am not a fan of Halloween, and I was planning to test my broom to ignore it. Come with me, and we can talk of how well it works. Will you?"
"And I am supposed to ignore everything else?" asked Sirius.
"It's more than I offered anyone annoying me, lately. Either this or the door."
Sirius just shook his head, before snorting. "You would have terrorized your parents, kid. Well, I was no model son either."
"Fine" he decided, giving up and raising his hands in protest. "Let's have it your way, for now. And I do mean for now, Harry. Let's go."
Harry smiled, genuinely, and stood up himself. "Sure. Should be fun."
Right before Harry opened the door, he could hear Sirius murmur behind him. "Pretty sure that broom sucks, though." Harry laughed, openly, and went out into the sun.
The following time was pleasant, indeed. They walked to the sparse woods outside the village, chatting about what little was there to do, especially now that everyone of Harry's apparent age was in Hogwarts. Once arrived, and after casting a couple of quick spells to ward off muggle's eyes, they started.
The broom itself, while capable of flying, was clearly trash. Slow to accelerate and in top speed, uncomfortable, hard to turn. So, a good source of conversation for them both on how to improve it, or if it was even worth it.
"Maybe you should have let me buy you the new Nimbus, eh kid?" commented Sirius, giovially, as Harry tested a couple modifications to the charm he had applied to the broom.
They would have gone on for much longer, too, but leaving the house late morning meant that lunch hour was close. Harry invited Sirius back to his home, and they shared a humble meal. In truth, Sirius offered to call for Kreacher to cook but Harry openly refused, saying he would rather eat the elf itself than trusting him with his meals.
Early afternoon they had less to do and, after some more light chat, Sirius left – not without offering to come back and visit again the very next day. "Maybe I could give you some classes too, help you not fall too behind your classmates" he proposed, awkwardly.
Harry, slightly amused, instantly said no but after a bit more of a back and forth agreed to meet the man in Diagon Alley, eventually, and have a real outing with no hidden intentions. Black, clearly relieved by this concession, left soon after.
Harry put some order into the house and then went out into his yard to do some gardening. With a frown he considered how weird was now to pander to Black. 'He probably thinks he is my babysitter or something' thought Harry, before smiling at the irony of the situation. 'In truth, I am doing the same. He looks like trash. Probably hasn't recovered from Azkaban yet.'
Beside, considered Harry, some company would do him good. He might have made fun of his kid classmates from Hufflepuff but they did fill up the house – almost like his own kids, so long ago. Being proud of them for leaving the house and making their own life didn't stop him from feeling their absence too, back then, and he still had Ginny when they left.
'Ginny' thought Harry with some longing, considering also his last meeting with the Weasley patriarch. 'Maybe I have been too harsh. Of course his priority is kicking the arse of whoever messed with her and Percy'.
Stabbing the dirt with a trowel Harry considered the chance of writing him, before shaking his head, unconvinced. 'Too much. I'll be polite when I'll meet them again, but that's it. Without Dumbledore's paranoia, I would have had little to do with any of the Weasleys anyway.'
Hours later, some work completed, he was ready to call it quit and relax for the night. The sun was still out, actually, but weak enough that he could see some lights and shapes behind the curtains of his neighbours – and some of those lights were clearly Halloween decorations. It reminded him of how the day started.
"Could have gone worse" he murmured, before shrugging and going back inside.