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Harry Potter And The Game of Death

Level 1

Chapter Seventeen: Bye Bye Privet Drive

To society at large, Sirius Black had become a man of many different titles.

Escaped convict; ladies'man extraordinaire; prank master general; and heir to one of the richest – and Darkest – magical families in the known magical world to name a few. He was outgoing, boisterous, ebullient, and enjoyed being the centre of attention. A decade in Azkaban had failed to break his spirit, and since his return to magical society he had been making up for lost time by attending events and parties of all sorts.

But today was different. Nervous butterflies danced a macabre dance in Sirius' stomach, and his fingers drummed frantic beats on anything they touched.

A loud crash sounded out when his fingers drummed on the wrong item. Sirius looked to see what he had knocked over; it was a Ming vase from the Qianlong period that one of his ancestors had brought back and, oddly for the Blacks, not turned into a cursed object.

A quick Reparo spell rang out, repairing the vase to its former glory as Sirius' oldest remaining friend cleaned up this latest mess.

"For Merlin's sake, Sirius, are you sure that you don't want me to accompany you on the trip? That's the eighth item you've broken in the past ten minutes!" Remus said in a rather irked tone as he chided Sirius. "You're not really inspiring much confidence in your abilities at the moment. I'm worried I might have to call the Ministry for an anti-Splinch unit if you go out like this."

Sirius scoffed at that. The notion that he might mess up either Apparition or the more advanced Side-Along Apparition was ridiculous. Even with some rust lingering from his time spent in Azkaban, Sirius was far too good of a wizard.

Unamused by his friend's clear disdain, the werewolf waggled a finger at him. "Nope! None of that 'I'm just pure awesome' nonsense right now, Sirius. You know that having a distracted state of mind is what causes ninety percent of Splinching accidents to occur. And given your experience with it back in our Seventh year, I'd expect you to have a better appreciation for the pain it can cause."

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. That incident had been mostly James' fault. Well, that and the half a bottle of Firewhiskey they had both consumed just prior to Apparating. And even though Sirius' left foot had ended up in Dublin, his hair in Manchester, and everything else in Hogwarts, it had only taken the Healers a day to sort him out.

"That's ancient history, Remus. There's no need to worry." Sirius smiled widely, gave his wand a twirl, and let loose a dazzling stream of multi-coloured lights from its tip that floated and bobbed in the air around him. "See? I'm as fit as a fiddle and am good to go!"

But all Sirius got in return for his dazzling display was a deadpan stare and a sigh of discontent.

His winsome smile faded at that and returned to its previous grimace. He plucked at his dark red robes, the latest in wizarding fashion, in annoyance. "Don't look at me like that, furball. Everything is under control. Really!"

"Sure it is," Remus said with a roll of his eyes. "And before you go calling me a furball, Padfoot, you'd better look in the mirror the next time you transform."

Ooh! Now there was an opening for a terrible joke if Sirius had ever seen one. "Of course I'm calling you that, Moony. 'Cause I'm Black!"

"Huh? 'Cause you're… ugh! You did not do that just now, did you?" It took Remus a moment, but the man's pained groan when he caught on was music to Sirius' ears. "God, Merlin, Morgana – someone! Anyone! Please, please take mercy on me for dealing with this bloody idiot. Why couldn't Azkaban have done anything for your terrible sense of humour? Why? That pun was worse than your stupid 'of course I'm serious, it's my name' routine. You skipped the whole 'pot calling the cauldron' part entirely!"

"Genius knows no bounds, Remus. Don't be jealous of my great self for being so quick on the spot."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever, moron. Because that joke was so rotten I can feel my brain hurting, I'm bringing along those pictures of you licking yourself the next time we go out looking for dates."

"Ha! As if that would be a bad thing," Sirius barked out as he gave a hearty laugh. "That'll just show the ladies how flexible I am, and the ladies love a man who can bend and stretch. If you want to get one over on me, Remus, you'll need to do a lot better than that!"

"Then how about I show Harry those pictures from our sixth year?" Remus said with a sly smile. "You know, from the time McGonagall caught you and James outside the Common Room after the two of you had just…"

His face blanching in horror, Sirius launched himself at the other man and covered his mouth before Remus could say anything more. "Nope nope nope! That event never happened. James and I had a peaceful night's rest that evening, in our dorm room, and did not go anywhere near her private sleeping quarters. End of story!"

Laughing, Remus pushed Sirius' hand away from his mouth. The man's eyes gleamed victoriously as he waggled a jaunty finger at Sirius. "Whatever you say, Snuffles," Remus said with a chuckle. "Just remember, my friend, that I have far more dirt on you than you'll ever have on me… and that I'm not afraid to use it when it suits my purposes."

The two men mock glared at each other for a moment. Then they laughed and shook their heads, bringing the argument to an end.

Such mock fights were a bedrock portion of their relationship and had been since they were kids. Rediscovering it all these later been good for them both. Or at least Sirius hoped that it had been for Remus; because without the other man's help and support, Sirius knew he would not be even a quarter as healed from his time in Azkaban as he was right now.

Healers and parties were one thing. Both could be bought or found in large quantities when you were as loaded as Sirius. But true friendship and companionship… those were a might bit harder to find, and infinitely more precious.

"Remus, I hope we don't manage to scare Harry off." Sirius said quietly. He felt his forehead tighten in worry as he thought about what might happen if Harry felt that he did not fit in with them. "I… I really want him to like it here. To feel safe, and comfortable, and to think of it as a place where he can have fun and be happy, too."

Remus placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder, his usual sombre demeanour lending the man a comforting gravitas when he spoke. "Don't worry about it. Harry's a smart boy. One that, by every account I've heard, is very much looking forward to joining us here. Besides, if having the Weasley twins in his life for three years hasn't done him in yet – and the pair of them are as bad as you and James ever were – then chances are that being around a silly pair of old fogeys like the two of us won't scare him off either."

Sirius gave an annoyed snort at that last bit. "Hey, don't lump my young self in with your aged ass. I've still got another ten or twenty years of youth left in me."

"Riiiiight," Remus drawled sarcastically, trading his sombre demeanour for the exasperated one Sirius knew so well from their years at Hogwarts. "I'll be sure to mention that to Dora the next time she visits. I'm sure she'll just love disabusing you of that ridiculous notion."

"Eh. She can try. But she'll fail," Sirius cracked. "I'm too much for her to handle."

"Uh huh. Some days I envy your delusions." Remus said wryly. Then his face regained some of its seriousness from earlier. "All jokes aside, are you really sure that you don't want me to come along with you to pick Harry up? I know that we have guests coming soon, but I'm sure we could ask Andromeda to step in and take care of welcoming people. She's good at it and would be more than happy to help out."

Sirius shook his head. "I'm sure. This is something I want to do on my own. That I have to do on my own. And that I should have done ages ago, really. You know, before I went after Wormtail and fell into the bastard's trap." Sirius sighed and rubbed a hand over his face as he spoke. "Doing it now… well, it will allow me to set things right. Both for Harry and for me."

Raw emotion dripped from Sirius' voice at the end. Sensing that they had come straight from his friend's heart, Remus stayed silent and let Sirius think things through on his own.

Dreams of making a home with Harry had been a part of Sirius' life for the past decade and were a constant topic of Sirius' therapy sessions. The professionals he had seen at St. Mungo's agreed with him and thought it would be a healthy step for Sirius to take. All that had been needed before he took the step was for Sirius to get himself back on his feet and to have a place ready for the young boy to live. Both of which, with the aid of Remus, Andromeda, and even that crazy girl, Dora, had now been accomplished.

Thanks to their efforts Sirius was healthier than he had been since the day James and Lily had died. His face and body looked nearly recovered, he had moved into a safe and comfortable home, and even possessed a new Ollivander wand. A few of his old friends and acquaintances had even reached out to renew ties, and the many events Sirius had gone to since his release had done his social butterfly side loads of good.

Life, for the first time in a decade, was looking bright. But no matter what Sirius did, there would always be that niggling worm of guilt in his heart.

It must have shown in his face. For after some time had passed, Remus gave his shoulders a shrug. "You could be right, old friend. Life really might have been different if you had made a different choice that night.

"Remus, I am so, so sorry that-"

"But the same could be said of a hundred other choices too," Remus said, cutting off Sirius' words without batting an eye. "Such as what if Hagrid had refused to take Harry from you? Or what if I had accompanied you to their cottage instead of rushing to check on the Longbottoms? Or what if anyone – Dumbledore, Minerva, Moody, or any other person who knew you – had tried harder to fight for your freedom? Any one of us could have changed the course that history took. But the fact of the matter is we didn't. And in my mind, that makes all of us equally guilty in the many faults which occurred later on."

"I hear you, but even if you're right, I'm still the cause of everything going wrong in the first place. Which means I'm the one most guilty."

"No. If anything, the ones most guilty for setting things into motion are Peter and Voldemort. Not you. But let's not dwell on 'what if's' and 'maybes', my friend." Remus turned his back to Sirius and began to walk away. "If we do, we'll both wind up drinking the day away to try and forget about it all, and then neither one of us would be in any sort of state to pick up Harry or receive all the guests who are due here any moment."

"Heh. Fair enough," Sirius said as he followed his friend. They passed the massive wooden staircase which led to the upper floors of the mansion, its wide banisters and thick steps gleaming from a fresh polish. Sirius idly noted that the decorations he and Remus had put up the night before with Andromeda's assistance were still looking good as well, with not a single streamer or flower out of place. "Thanks for the pep talk. I needed it."

"You know where to find me if you ever need another. But that's enough for now; if I'm not going with you, then I need to finish preparations in the kitchen. Molly'll have my head if I fail to serve proper food, and there's still a lot of work left to be done to get everything ready."

Watching as Remus walked away, muttering under his breath what still needed to be done, Sirius moved towards a nearby liquor cabinet. Having a bit of a nipper before heading off appealed to him, and there was plenty of the good stuff around too.

Only when he tried to open it, Remus shot him in the rear with a stinging hex!

Sirius jumped into the air with an angry howl and glared at his old friend, who bared his teeth in a predatory grin.

"Not on my watch, old bean," Remus stated dryly. "Now get a move on so you can bring the boy back to us in one piece."

A wry grin made its way onto Sirius' face while he rubbed his stinging ass cheek. "Fine, fine," he muttered. "I'll bring the little pup back and the two of us will spoil him rotten. Andromeda and her daughter, too, now that I think of it. Dora's been twisting my ear off for not bringing him over sooner."

"Just be sure not to leave Harry alone with her for too long," Remus said pointedly. "I shudder to think of how she might twist the poor boy. The woman's as bad as you when it comes to some things."

"Ha!" Sirius crowed, seeing a way to turn their conversation back into shallower waters. "If only Harry were so lucky. Any man who can get with a Metamorphmagus is one hell of a lucky bloke."

"Dammit Sirius, you know that's not what I meant! Now go on and scoot already before I follow Dora's example and begin hexing your bits instead of your cheeks."

Sirius's lips twitched as he gave a victorious smirk and turned away. It felt good to end things on a silly note and walk away the victor. All the butterflies that had been in his stomach were gone, and the nervous energy that had filled Sirius' entire body had dissipated like dew on a hot summer day.

But as he made his way to the Cottage's entranceway, there was one final thing he needed to do.

In a well-practised gesture, Sirius gently tapped his wand against the side of his head. The light pink flash of a Dispelio charm shone from its tip before gently fading away.

It was an old habit from Sirius' days as an Auror, back when he would cast that spell before and after handling any important situations. A properly applied sensory Charm to muddle a person's senses could be just as deadly as a killing curse if it went unnoticed, and an Auror who let it happen could only blame themselves for not taking enough precautions. These days, though, Sirius found that the action mostly served as the magical counterpart to the Muggle habit of 'pinching' oneself to make sure that one was not dreaming. Or in his case, that one was, in fact, awake, and not under the influence of a soul sucking creature.

Sirius looked around and saw that nothing had changed.

His breath hitched as he felt a frog grow in his throat. It was a struggle to force it down, but Sirius poured his everything into doing so. Going to the boy's current abode as a weeping, howling mess was the last thing that Sirius wanted.

He was strong. He was healthy. And most importantly, Sirius was happy, and he wanted to make sure that Harry would be happy too.

Sirius gave his wand a twirl, put a smile on his face, and readied himself to Apparate.

"Oh, and before you return with Harry," Remus called out from the kitchen, "make sure to let the Dursley's know that a few of us will be visiting them later on in the week to have a second discussion. Minerva made it quite clear to me that she expects to be included, and Dora sounded especially enthusiastic when Andromeda brought it up during their last visit."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll handle it," Sirius replied. A feral grin came to his face as he thought about just how he might impart the message to Lily's relatives. All the guilt, fear, anger, and sadness he had felt earlier came roaring back, but this time with a clear target upon which to unleash it. "Now get back to pouring that champagne, Moony. Minnie won't be happy if you forget the alcohol."

Deciding to depart before Remus could come up with a reply, Sirius gathered his concentration and left the Cottage with the ear-splitting crack of a successful apparition.

When a sound similar to that of the Knight Bus rang out in the calm morning air, Harry knew that it was finally time.

His heart filled to bursting with joy, he ran over to the front door and opened it with a beaming smile on his face.

A dark-haired man in well-cut wizard robes was walking toward the house with long, loping strides. Sporting a shaggy mane of rich black hair like that of a rocker, and bearing a twinkle in his eyes that had been missing when they last saw one another over a month ago, the man was unmistakable to Harry's eyes.

"Sirius!" Harry cried out.

The roguish man in question smiled happily at Harry's cry and bounded the final few steps separating them. He reached out and wrapped Harry into a fierce hug the moment he was within reach. A hug that Harry returned with as much feeling as he could possibly muster.

"Harry! It's good to see you, too. I wish I'd been able to write you more often, but it's been an absolute madhouse over at the Cottage in getting things ready for your arrival."

"But you're safe, right? No troubles or anything?"

"Nah, everything's under control. Though I've probably been driving poor Remus spare, and we both know that the mangy ol' wolf could probably do with a little less worry and a whole lot more fun in his life." The older man tousled Harry's perpetually messy hair as he spoke. "But we can chat about the details later. We've got a fun little party planned for you today and I can't wait to get you there!"

"That sounds wonderful, Sirius," Harry said with a grin. Moving back, he finally separated himself from Sirius' arms. "Though you really didn't need to go through the trouble of throwing a party just to welcome me."

"Nonsense! There's no way I could've let today go without throwing you a bash. Remus and I invited some of your friends over, as well as a bunch of other people who know and like you, so it should be one helluva good time!"

The man looked Harry in the eyes as he spoke. And as he did, Harry watched as Sirius' roguish grin turned into something more… feral. "Speaking of good times," Sirius said in a suddenly icy tone, "I don't want to ruin that wonderful moment with what will come next. After all, I can't just take you away without properly introducing myself to your three delightful relatives, now can I?"

Nodding in agreement, Harry ended the hug and stepped back inside.

They had discussed this with one another in a recent letter. Though Harry felt that he had stopped the older man from making good on his death threats towards the Dursleys – threats which had been more than a little descriptive in one of the early letters Sirius had sent – Sirius had still insisted on leaving them with an impression. Even if it did cause Harry to feel a little… uncomfortable.

The Dursleys were family, the only living relatives Harry had left in the whole wide world, and a large part of him wanted that to count for something. Even if it was only a little.

Sirius followed Harry as he led the older wizard inside and into the sitting room. Petunia and Vernon sat on two chairs at the far side of the room, flanking the moderate sized couch which was entirely taken up by Dudley's obese form. Petunia had dressed in a formal pink dress with floral patterns while Vernon was in one of his usual severe business suits. Dudley, meanwhile, wore some terrible ensemble that his mother had created for him which made him look like a porpoise stranded on land.

Vernon's walrus-like moustache bristled the moment he saw the two wizards enter the room.

"Alright, boy, let's get this over with already," the large man said in a gruff rumble. "I've got a business meeting to get to in an hour, and Petunia will be taking our little Duddykins out to visit one of his friends from Smeltings. I'd like to finish this inconvenience as soon as possible so that we can all get on with our lives."

Harry let the rude words wash over him. His younger self might have been hurt by them in the past, but not the current Harry. No, to the current Harry they were like the sweetest music he had ever heard. Because he could hear the bluster present in every word said and left unsaid, and he knew that there was nothing – absolutely nothing – his uncle could do to harm him ever again.

"In that case, uncle, please allow me to introduce my godfather, Sirius Black. And Sirius, allow me to introduce you to my Aunt Petunia, my Uncle Vernon, and my cousin Dudley."

Sirius gave a minute nod at Harry's introduction. The dark-haired man stared at each one of Harry's relatives in turn, as if committing every aspect of their features into his mind for later use.

The Dursleys, meanwhile, stared back rather nervously. Petunia's gaze darted to and fro, while Vernon quickly began to look as though his head had become an overripe tomato. While Dudley… well, Harry's bloated cousin seemed rather focused on protecting a certain part of his body. The enormous boy had his hands clamped around his rear and had shoved it so deep into the couch that the poor piece of furniture seemed to be on the verge of breaking.

Hagrid's first year gift of a curly little pig's tail, it would seem, had never been forgotten.

Sirius was the first one to break the tension filled air. "Well, I see no need to draw this out either. Harry, please go and fetch your stuff and bring it here. We'll leave as soon as you have it down."

Harry gave his godfather a glance. "Are you sure? Didn't you want to talk with them before we left?"

"I am absolutely certain. Now, please hop to it so that we can leave this place as soon as possible. I can deliver my message while you work."

Harry nodded in acceptance and went upstairs. He had already packed his stuff and sent Hedwig off the night before, which meant that he should be able to bring everything down in short order. Moving the trunk without using a wand would be the most difficult part of it all, but even that wouldn't take too much time. He had been tempted to just stick it into his 'Inventory' – a super useful feature of the Game that Harry had experimented with over the summer – but ultimately chose against it.

The Game of Death and everything about it was a secret. It also had to be kept a secret, lest someone either accidentally – or purposefully – let slip its existence to the wrong sort. And because the wizarding world had things in it like memory wiping spells, possibly mind-reading spells, and who knew what else, Harry was taking no chances in exposing it to his vulnerable relatives. Which meant putting up an act so that they could reliably recount the details if pressed.

Since he only had a few personal effects he cared about, moving everything downstairs took only a few minutes.

Once Harry had placed the last item onto the rather small pile, Sirius looked at it with a raised eyebrow. The man then raised his wand and muttered a spell that Harry did not quite catch. "Are you sure that's everything? I'm not picking up any storage or expansion spells."

"Yeah, that's everything of value," Harry said, his face flushing as he spoke. He had never really been much for material goods, and the Dursley's had never given him anything of his own to keep until this summer. "Anything else in the house can stay."

Sirius stared at the pile with an unreadable expression on his face. His gaze moved from it, then to Harry, before slowly making its way to the Dursleys.

Dudley's face went white as a sheet when he made eye contact with Sirius; while beside him, both of his parents swallowed nervously. After several moments of tense silence, Sirius moved his gaze back to Harry and seemingly did his best to eke out a smile.

"Well then. I've finished talking with your aunt and uncle already, so there's nothing left to do on my end." Sirius ran a hand through his long locks of hair as he spoke, giving it a forceful tug here and there. "Is there anything you would like to say before we go? This could very well be the last time that you see each other."

A myriad of emotions flashed through Harry's heart and mind at those words.

This was a moment Harry had dreamed of for over ten years. One he had often felt, and feared, might never come. Yet now that it was upon him, all his previous ideas on how he would handle it flew out the window.

There were hundreds of things Harry wanted to say to them.

He wanted to rage at them for locking him inside of a cupboard under the stairs for all those years.

For having lied to him about his parents.

For calling him a freak.

Most of all, Harry wanted to ask why they had never tried to love him like they had loved Dudley. To see if there was anything he could have done differently. To know if it had ever been possible for him to gain their affection like he had always wanted.

But all those questions and concerns died unspoken.

None of it was important in the long run. For in spite of them being his family, the only living family Harry had to the best of his knowledge, every bridge which lay between them had been torched long ago. And he had little desire in building new ones before his departure.

Harry squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. "I hope that you each of you has a happy life. And that we never meet again."

When his statement was met with nothing but silence, Harry knew in his heart that it was time to go. He turned to face his godfather. "Let's go."

After a brief nod, the older wizard tapped Harry's belongings with his wand; upon being tapped, each item disappeared with a sharp crack, ostensibly having been transported to the Cottage. Harry's godfather then proffered his left arm and motioned for Harry to come close. "Grab hold of me with both hands, kiddo. We'll be leaving by Side-Along Apparition, and it can be a mite bit disconcerting the first few times."

With a final look at the Dursleys, seated in a tight cluster as they watched the two wizards talk, Harry felt a single tear leave his misty eyes. He scrubbed it away with one of his sleeves and nodded fiercely. Wanting nothing more in the world than to be gone from this place, Harry grabbed hold of Sirius' robes with both hands and tried to prepare himself for the rigours of magical travel.

A single sharp crack later, and Harry vanished from Number 4 Privet Drive for the final time.

A/N: Thus ends Harry's time at the Dursleys. They are now (mostly) out of Harry's life. And while they still have a minor role to play in things to come, it has never been my intention for them to be a major part of this story. The focus is, and always will be, on Harry and those closest to him as they battle against Voldemort and others who would see them dead.

In hindsight (April of 2023), this was another of my experimental chapters. It would probably have been better if I had added in a different scene after the first one (like one following the Tonks women, or maybe a Dumbledore and Minerva scene at a place like Hogwarts or the Ministry), but I decided to put the Harry scene in because a) the Sirius and Remus scene was short, and b) I wanted the next chapter to just be about Harry's arriving. However, there is a distinct disconnect between the two in tone. And while I've smoothed it out with successive edits, the disconnect will always be there due to the inherent themes in both.

Ah well. Live, learn, and improve.

Until Next Time,

Elsil