Many people had been looking for Sirius and Harry over the years, both muggle and magical. According to Jinx, the magical community was content to be told that the Ministry was looking for the two, but there was little genuine effort on that front. They wanted to find the Boy-Who-Lived, certainly, they just didn't want to do the work. The problems Sirius had been having were due to individuals, individuals devoted to the search, determined to find Harry.
There were two primary reasons behind why they were so hard to track, even for the die-hards: Sirius stopped using magic, so there were no signatures to trace; and they constantly moved around using muggle transportation systems, which few wizards understood, much less could follow someone through.
Jinx also expressed belief that their time in the twisting alleyways was also a contributor to their concealment. Nobody was willing to suspect that the Boy-Who-Lived might be in such a place. If they did, they were either unwilling to put themselves in those places or were too ignorant of how to handle them to make any progress.
It took someone who had experience with the muggle world to be capable of following their initial trail, and then one had to be comfortable with the sinister side of streets to take on the rest of the venture. Someone like Jinx, a muggleborn born into the infernal system by parents much like Sirius was trying to be. Shielding you from the wicked, but futilely so, because the mere presence was enough to corrupt your mind.
Sirius couldn't fault Jinx for his upbringing - that was stupid. But knowing that Jinx was more accustomed to the alleys than he was made him paranoid. The man gave an oath and his intentions appeared transparent, but you couldn't trust.
"I don't need your trust."
Sirius grumbled for a moment, half due to the unexpected response and half due to being unexpectedly impressed by the response. He was going to try and actively keep his grumbles in check so he didn't wake Harry up again. Although, sleeping on a bed for the first time in too long might be enough for sleep to retain Harry through a few loud barks.
"Then what do you want?" Sirius questioned. Jinx couldn't have gone through all the trouble to find them and then let them stay with him for no reason. There was the Ministry revenge thing, but Sirius made it clear that wouldn't happen, yet Jinx still brought them in.
"Can't I just want to help?" Jinx replied with an impish smirk. Sirius closed his eyes to block out the sight of the snarky bastard. He heard a sigh, and then Jinx spoke again with a more placid tone, "You're not going to sleep tonight, are you?"
Sirius shook his head as he opened his eyes, giving a curt "No," to solidify his stance.
"Well, I'm sure you can find the amenities on your own. Guess I'll be seeing you in the morning," Jinx said before making his way to what could only be assumed was his room. Sirius turned away once the door Jinx went through had shut, glancing at the peacefully sleeping Harry. He wondered if perhaps there were any children's story books he could read Harry - maybe he had been unable to give Harry a childhood before, but now... now he could start. And hope that it wasn't too late.
Sirius left the room Harry was sleeping in, albeit hesitant to do so, to see if Jinx had any of said books. He had seen at least one bookshelf in the living room when they came in, but he wanted to get Harry to bed before anything else. Approaching the lone bookshelf, Sirius quickly discerned that, no, there were not any children's books available. He wondered briefly if he could go to whatever Gringotts was nearby to access his vaults. Goblins never dabbled in wizarding politics.
Shaking those thoughts aside for when he could ask about them, he peered at the collection of books that were available, finding them all to be muggle books. It appeared as though Jinx spent more time in the muggle world than the magical, going as far as to have gone to muggle schools. Or maybe Jinx just really liked his geography and arithmetics. Most of them were the typical muggle novels, but there was a smattering of plain educational texts on the bottom shelf.
Alright, so maybe Harry didn't have Tales of Beedle the Bard, but he would have a good understanding of numbers and places - and how many wizards can say that?
He picked a book off the shelf, Fundamentals of Physics, and opened it up to a random page to see what it was about. After staring at the page for about three seconds, he promptly closed it and put it back, convinced that not even Remus would be able to understand whatever the Lorentz transformation of velocities was. He opted for something that had a recognizable structure on the cover, some land in water. The random page he chose for this one was about clouds. Sirius could get behind clouds.
He retired to the sette nearest to the floo to begin his journey with geography. While not the most interesting subject he'd ever read about, it was able to retain his interest until morning.
Sliced sunlight on the wall denoted sunrise, and soon after sunrise came Jinx. The man paused at the entrance of the hall he came out of to look at Sirius. "I guess it was too much to think you'd bathe on the first night." Sirius responded with a dull glare. Jinx shrugged, "Just thought I'd mention it. What do you want for breakfast?"
At the mention of food, Sirius found his stomach growling. Not just food though, a proper meal. His mouth started to water at the possibilities that entailed. He reeled himself in though. "Whatever you usually have."
With a nod, Jinx walked to the kitchen "Omelettes it is then. You okay with potatoes and onions?"
Sirius allowed himself a small grin, "Definitely." He returned to reading about continents - amazing how all the land was held up by bigger pieces of land on top of molten rock. The eventual scent of cooking brought Sirius how of his readings and he was unable to focus back on the book. His excitement for the proper food continued to rise when he remembered Harry was still asleep.
He hopped up from his seat and made his way to Harry. Standing over his godson he pondered whether he should let the child sleep in or get up for breakfast. After a few minutes, he decided Harry should eat now and could sleep later, so he gently shook the boy awake. Those large green eyes that put Padfoot's puppy eyes to shame blinked open.
With a yawn, Harry said "Mornin' Sirius."
"Morning Harry. It's time for breakfast." Sirius grinned down at Harry.
"Breakfast?" Harry asked bemusedly. Sirius felt a familiar pang of guilt. His godson, not even knowing the simple term breakfast. His fault, all his fault. His grin wavered, but he squashed those thoughts in favor of the fact he would get to teach Harry all about breakfast and more soon.
With another grin, Sirius replied "Yep! First meal of the day. Up we go." He pulled Harry up and helped him out of bed, finally noticing how dirty they both were compared to their surroundings. Bathing did sound like a good idea. Eat first, wash second he decided.
He led Harry out to the kitchen where Jinx was finishing up the plating. The look on Harry's face when he saw the omelettes made Sirius feel sure that coming here was a good idea. Unless Jinx ended up betraying them in some way, or if living in the normal world again made them easier to find. He couldn't bear if this were Harry's first and last experience with real food.
Sirius again was forced to squash those thoughts. He needed to stop dwelling on the what ifs. Right now, things were looking up, and so should he.
Jinx motioned for them to take seats at the small dining table, and they did. He placed plates in front of them, and Sirius could almost burst from excitement. But what if it was poisoned? No, Sirius thought. Jinx had taken a Wizarding Oath. He would be incapable of poisoning them. Relax.
When Jinx sat down, he made a vague gesture to Harry's plate. "I kept it more simple for Harry. Didn't want to overwhelm his system." Sirius looked, and sure enough it seemed Harry had what looked like just eggs and some potato on the side.
The animagus nodded, "Understandable. Thanks." Jinx nodded shortly in response.
Sirius picked up his fork to begin eating when he noticed Harry hadn't begun, though he looked like he wanted to. Harry looked up at him for a moment before picking up his own fork, then looking back at Sirius expectantly.
With a smile, Sirius explained. "This is called a fork. You use it to pick up food. You can also cut softer food with the edge if you need to make it smaller. Like so." Sirius proceeded to demonstrate cutting a piece of the omelette with the fork, then stabbing that piece and eating it. Harry beamed at him and mimicked his godfather, making a happy noise at his first bite.
"I find it hard to believe Harry's never used a fork before now." Jinx said with a raised eyebrow.
Sirius shrugged. "You'd be surprised. I know we've used spoons. I guess that and a knife has always been enough." He continued to enjoy his meal with vigor.
Harry got halfway through his plate before turning his attention to a glass of orange liquid. "What's that?" He pointed to it.
"Freshly squeezed orange juice." Jinx smiled at the kid. "It's good for you." Harry took an experimental sip and he blinked a few times before nodding his head.
"I like it. Thank you Mr. Jinx."
"No problem, kid."
The rest of the meal passed in relative silence, but at the end Harry insisted on being taught what the rest of the silverware family was and how to use them. Following this, Sirius explained bathing procedures and helped Harry set up a bath, instructing Harry to shower after since the water would probably get dirty by the end.
"I'll be right in the living room if you need help. Remember not to get soap in your eyes, and make sure to wash behind your ears." Harry nodded vigorously and stepped into the bath. Sirius heard a splash and a giggle as soon as he left the bathroom, giving him cause to smile.
He entered the living room to find Jinx settled on the couch staring at the fire. He looked up and motioned for Sirius to sit down, which Sirius obliged.
"I have a couple of questions for you, if you wouldn't mind answering them."
Paranoid dread crept into Sirius, but he gave a nod. "I suppose answering a few questions is the least I can do given the situation."
Jinx nodded in agreement. "First of all, why were you in Latvia? Just curious."
"To be honest I didn't really know where we were. I had just tried to get us as far from England as I could get us I guess." Sirius paused, "Would you mind if I asked you some questions as well?" Jinx waved his hand in affirmation. "Where are we?"
"Ah," Jinx chuckled. "We're in Spain. I know that's closer to England, but as far as I know, it's really only England on high alert for you two at this point." Sirius grunted an acknowledgement. "Continuing on, you're from one of those prominent pureblood families, right?" Sirius nodded with a raised brow. "So, why didn't you just hole up in one of your estates or something?"
Jinx didn't expect the barking laugh that came from the man, "What? Do you think we all have beach houses at our disposal?" Sirius laughed again at the thought. "My family especially, they never cared about owning property beyond the ol' ancestral home."
"I see. And I guess you couldn't go to this ancestral home?" Jinx inquired.
Sirius shook his head with a heavy sigh, "My mother lives there, and she'd almost certainly kill me and Harry if given the chance."
Jinx took on a thoughtful look, "Walburga Black?" Sirius nodded. "She died last year."
Sirius gaped at the information. "My mother? Dead?" It was then that Jinx was subjected to possibly the largest grin he had ever seen. "What wonderful news! Oh, if only I had known sooner." The glee was exceedingly evident in Sirius's voice.
With an amused look, Jinx said "I suppose this means you won't be staying here for too long then?"
At this, Sirius seemed to consider something before deflating partially. "I would need to go to Gringotts to confirm I have control of the house first, and I don't see that happening soon."
"Does it have to be a Gringotts in Britain?" Jinx asked. "For estate matters, that is. I'm aware you'd need to go to your Gringotts for vault purposes."
Sirius neglected to mention that he actually didn't need to go to 'his' Gringotts to access his vaults, "Maybe not. It's worth a shot. It's just, you know, the potential to be caught," he ended sullenly.
"Maybe. Maybe not. Like I said, it's only England that's on high watch for you. Here, you could probably get away with a glamour and cloak." Jinx smirked, "Both of which I can provide."
"Probably..." Sirius muttered. "I don't know if I'm willing to risk it." He sat pensively for a minute. "Not yet at least."
Jinx hummed for a moment, "Very well. How about this: you two spend some time here getting up to strength, we get you a new wand, teach you a few tricks, and see how you feel then?"
Immediately, Sirius shook his head. "No. No wand, no magic. I don't want them to be able to track me with magic."
Jinx frowned, "The likelihood of you getting caught in Spain for using magic is low. It's not like they track every wand ever waved."
"Low, you said. Not impossible. I won't risk it." Sirius shook his head definitively again.
With a sigh bordering on exasperation, Jinx let it go. "Fine. No magic for you. I was planning on asking anyway, so what about non-magical defense?"
Before Sirius could respond, a large splashing sound followed by a happy squeal sounded from the bathroom. Sirius was unable to suppress the delighted grin at the sound of his godson being a normal kid. "Sounds like there might be a mess to clean up later."
Jinx waved the idea off with a smile, "Fine by me. What do you think? About learning defense."
"I've had to fight people before, so I guess learning how to do it better wouldn't be a bad idea." Sirius contemplated.
"Would you be willing to teach Harry as well?"
"The basics, perhaps. I'd rather he didn't have to fight though."
Jinx nodded in understanding. "No, but you might not have a choice. Better to be prepared."
Sirius gave a deep sigh, "Better safe than sorry."
A few minutes of pensive silence passed between them with only the occasional splash and giggle from the bathroom to break it.
Jinx tapped his knee a few times before broaching another subject, "What about dark magic?"
Grey eyes snapped up to peer at Jinx, "What about it?"
"Learning it." Jinx brought a hand up to silence any comments before he got to explain. "I don't mean curses or poisons. I mean simple things that would be beneficial, like anti-disapparation, jelly-brain, and trapping people in bubbles." He gave a small smile, "Things simple enough to learn wandlessly."
Sirius settled back and crossed a leg over one knee. "So what I'm hearing is: you, Jinx, want to teach me wandless jinxes?" A glimmer of mirth could be seen in his eyes.
Jinx, in turn, closed his own with a disappointed sigh. "Yes. That is what I'm saying."
"I can agree to that." A mild grin formed on Sirius's face. "By the way, why are you named Jinx?"
Still with his eyes closed, the offending person pinched the bridge of his nose. "If I ever see my parents again, I'll be sure to ask them."
They heard the shower head turn on, signaling Harry's bath was coming to an end.
Jinx turned back to Sirius with one more thought, "I'd also like you - and Harry - to learn occlumency and a bit of legilimency. The occlumency for reasons I hope are obvious, the legilimency so you and Harry can at least partially tell most people's intentions towards you."
"I'm already well-versed in occlumency, but I see your point with legilimens." Sirius thought for another moment, "And I agree that Harry should learn it too, if only to help him control his accidental magic."
Jinx made a face that Sirius took to mean slight annoyance, but he didn't care. And when Harry stepped out into the living room, all clean and dressed, they both seemed to forget they were having an adult discussion. Sirius was almost brought to tears at how normal, and above all happy, Harry seemed to be.
Rapid blinking kept the tears at bay as Sirius asked, "Have fun?"
"Yep!" Harry grinned at them, spreading his arms to show off his new outfit and spinning around a couple times.
"Great," Sirius smiled back. "I guess it's my turn next."
"Please." Jinx stated without humor. Sirius chose not to react as he got up and went to the bathroom, giving Harry a big smile as he passed. He paused when he shut the door to the bathroom, suddenly panicked about leaving Harry alone. Well, alone when he would be unable to come to his aid should he need to.
On one hand Jinx had made an oath, but on the other who knows what could happen when Sirius wasn't around. What if some wizard came by and recognized Harry and took him away? What if people had been following Jinx the whole time and were just waiting for a chance to strike? Jinx hadn't sworn to protect Harry, only not to harm him. Maybe Jinx had led them into a trap and was lulling them into a false sense of security. What if-
Sirius took a deep breath and exhaled slowly through his nose. He was going to be living in this house for an indefinite amount of time. Him and Harry. He chose that. And he was going to have to learn to live with it without panicking every time he let Harry out of his sight. Things were different now. They had to be.
He opted to take a shower as short as possible while still cleaning himself fully, with one ear constantly listening for any sign of trouble. He could always turn into Padfoot for an emergency. And he could relax in a bubble bath later. Better safe than sorry.
A/N Sooo, uh, been a heckin' long time. I blame my muses. I wrote the first page or so three years ago and came back to write the rest today, so if there's weird writing style differences, that's why. Also, I'm not sure how long my muses will last time time around, but I really hope they don't leave me for another three years. But I've decided not to worry too much about things making super logical sense, because that's part of what stopped me from writing before. All that "but wouldn't this have happened? And wouldn't they have done this instead?" mish mash. So in the meantime, toodles!