Chapter 29: Black Ice, Melted - Winter Break 1993

Sirius Black was fairly content with his new life. Sure, his social circle as an ex-prisoner was quite limited. He only regularly spoke with a muggle divorcee, a grouchy old wizard, and a free house elf. He'd hoped… but nothing so far.

Yet there was still enough to be cheerful about.

He'd recovered significantly from his years in Azkaban thanks to his grandfather's subtle manipulations and outright demands.

Acturus was complicated, but Sirius was glad that they were back in each others' lives, even if the rest of the family was still fragmented after being torn apart by the war and domineering family members like Walburga. While Sirius would curse his mother's name forever, he found comfort in the fact that she was dead.

Because of Sirius' gratitude for the Potters taking him in when his own family drove him away, he was extremely keen to support their only surviving member: Harry Potter. Whenever Sirius thought about Fleamont and Euphemia and James and Lily and how they were all gone, he fell apart.

But Harry would be with him for some of his winter break, and Sirius resolved to hold himself together.

Sirius suspected that it would be a challenging holiday. Petunia had not been a good guardian for Harry, to say nothing of her terrible husband. Sirius knew all too well how a person's childhood could affect them years later.

But in large and small ways, Petunia had come clean about her actions and her regrets over the past few months, and Sirius wanted to give her a second chance.

Still, Harry would always come first.

Sirius told Petunia as much one evening in December as they ate at a muggle restaurant within walking distance of her flat. His voice wasn't threatening, but it was firm. "Harry is going to have an excellent holiday."

"He is," Petunia put up a hand when Sirius was about to elaborate. "You don't need to threaten me. Sev already did. He came to the house two summers ago for a school thing. He didn't like how Harry flinched when I moved, so he returned later."

Sirius said with feigned casualness. "Snape also sent me a few letters. He seems to have taken Harry's well-being upon himself." The dog animagus could admit that he had been hurt by some of the accusations.

Petunia spoke quietly. "Sev also took on Lily's grudges. He yelled at Vernon, too. That… may have escalated our split, not that it hasn't proven for the best."

They sat in silence for a few moments. Sirius raised his plastic cup in a toast, "To becoming our best selves."

Petunia met his cup with her own, then changed topics abruptly. "I'm going to insist that Dobby join us for Christmas dinner. If Acturus doesn't like it, he can eat in his bedroom."

Sirius almost laughed. "You've really bonded with that little elf."

"He may be… a bit odd. But we always find things to talk about, and he's been very helpful in my move. He's also a force of Christmas cheer." She spoke those last few words with slight distaste.

"Did he tell you that my grandfather is teaching him poker?"

"No! That gives me quite the mental picture."

"When he started, I think he was trying to put Dobby in his place a bit, teach him that he wasn't very savvy."

Petunia shook her head. "The fool. He's been defying his masters for years through clever loopholes. Acturus could take lessons from him."

"Oh I think he knows it now. They play several times a week. I wouldn't be surprised if Acturus names him family heir."

"Getting back to Harry, I was thinking about getting some band t-shirts. His mother had several, and you've mentioned his interest in music."

"Let's go shopping together."

Harry felt a little odd going back on the Hogwarts Express mid-year, since he had done it a very limited number of times before.

At King's Cross, both Aunt Petunia and Sirius were waiting for him. Sirius offered Harry a hug. Petunia gave only a strained smile, but Harry didn't mind much.

Petunia led the pair to a familiar car. "We're going to my new flat," she told Harry.

"It's not far from here and only a few blocks from the Black family home," Sirius said.

Harry was a bit confused about why the second fact was relevant, but it became clearer as the night went on.

Petunia's new space reflected the same taste with which she decorated Privet Drive: florals, dark wood, and gold. Harry supposed that it made sense, given that he recognized the same couch, coffee table, and dishes.

The home wasn't especially inviting, but it was clean and fully furnished. It seemed like she had settled in, though Harry noted that the absence of any photos.

The guest room that he would be staying in had the same bed he'd slept on at Privet Drive. Crammed in the corner was a new desk with lots of papers and a typewriter. "I work on my novels here," she said by way of explanation.

That's right, Sirius said she's trying to be a professional writer. Harry tried to think of something nice to say. "How's that going?" Harry set down his bag at the foot of the bed.

"Quite well. Sirius put me in touch with a wizarding press that he thought might take my work."

"Wow, that's great." Harry looked from Petunia to Sirius. "Are you two, like, friends?"

An awkward moment followed.

Before Harry muttered an apology, Sirius jumped in. "Yes. We obviously are both interested in you. But, well, we found we get on. I pop 'round sometimes since it's easier for me to get here than for her to see me at the cottage. We've met at Grimmauld Place a few times, too."

"Sirius never liked Vernon." Petunia said as though it was a great compliment (and it was, in Harry's opinion). "He played a bit of, well, a prank on him at your mother's wedding. It seemed mean at the time, but now it's quite funny."

Harry was honestly flabbergasted. Petunia and Sirius as friends was not something he had predicted at all. He tried to be supportive. "That's something. I hope that means that I'll get to see a lot of both of you this break, then?"

"That's the idea!" Sirius launched into a description of all of their plans for the next few weeks.

After Petunia left to go make supper, Harry asked Sirius quietly, "Is she going to get to see Dudley?"

Sirius grimaced, "Not this year. She gets him for Easter."

"Ah."

Dobby popped in abruptly and addressed Sirius, "Dobby is finished with the cottage for the day, and Master Black isn't needing anything, he says. Dobby is going to clean Tuney's flat now."

"Hello, Dobby. How are you?"

"Harry Potter! Dobby is very happy! It will be a very merry Christmas with Harry Potter around. A Harry Christmas?" Dobby thought of the same pun as he did during Harry's fifth year, with his Room of Requirement decorations.

Harry joked back, "'Tis the Season to be Dobby."

All four of them laughed.

Sirius, Petunia, Dobby, and Harry had a relatively good break together despite some awkwardness between Petunia and Harry and the uncertain friendship (?) between Petunia and Sirius.

Their Christmas luncheon took place at 12 Grimmauld Place. Acturus was as gruff and opinionated as he had been when Harry first met him, but Sirius, Petunia, and Dobby didn't hesitate to stand up to him. They bantered about Petunia's sour expressions, Acturus' magpie tendencies, and Sirius' noisy motorbike. Dobby was safe from teasing, but cracked a few colorful jokes that had the room in stitches.

When Harry was younger, he would have shrunk from their raised voices and bitter-sounding criticisms. But as a secret-adult, Harry could tell that the adults respected him and each other. They all seemed content enough with the company, even if Harry wouldn't class any of them as nice (including Dobby, who was coming into himself).

For Christmas, Dobby gave Harry a pair of tasteful, matching socks. Harry was confused about this until he realized that Dumbledore was probably the one who put the idea of garish, mismatched clothing into Dobby's head during Harry's original fourth year. Harry shook his head in exasperation at the headmaster's antics.

At Petunia's suggestion, Harry gave Dobby several types of cloth and sewing supplies. Petunia had taught him how to use her sewing machine, and he needed more materials, she explained.

Harry noted that the vest and shorts Dobby wore resembled a floral tablecloth they'd had at Privet Drive. He can pull off the look, somehow.

Harry bought Petunia a nice quill, a quill knife, some ink, and parchment. "For writing to witches and wizards about your books. Since you had said that you were looking for magical publishers."

"I am, though I might end up sticking to non-magical presses depending on how things go. I can also write to you at school with them. Thank you."

Petunia gave Harry several band t-shirts and a brand-new pair of jeans. "Sirius helped me pick them out. He told me these would be 'cool' for a kid your age."

Harry grinned. "Very cool. Led Zepplin is a particular favorite of mine." He said.

He tried all of the clothes on later. They fit perfectly.

On Boxing Day, Hermione and Ron met in Little Hangleton just before twilight. With the faces of older muggles from the village, they walked around arm-in-arm like a couple on a casual stroll.

They whispered the town gossip about the place as they poked around conspicuously, looking for a giant snake and attempting to ignite interest. They'd rather be run off now than encounter trouble later.

Hermione could see depressions in the grass showing the snake's path of travel through the overgrown grass and shrubs to the gate and beyond.

They were more interested in the "beyond".

After no response from the house, the pair left and came back disillusioned. Then, they chose the path that Hermione had seen the terrifying snake use the most and casually dropped a small package. Ron cast an illusion on it that would last an hour.

Ron stayed where he was while Hermione shifted a little so she could both watch the house and the location of the trap.

Hermione reviewed the plan in her head to pass the time.

This plan was actually similar to her Crouch failure, but the goals were better aligned with this strategy. Hermione loved a confrontation, but Ron pointed out that her tactics were sometimes better suited to traps.

Additionally, pointing investigators towards Crouch Senior's crimes was a complex objective. The required speed for her plan had given them fewer options to update their plans in the face of failure. Hermione also regretted that her focus on quickness had unnecessarily damaged Crouch's home and probably frightened Winky.

Whereas killing the snake was simpler in many ways. Yes, they had to use extraordinary means because of the horcrux she contained. However, they didn't truly need to persuade anybody of anything, just evade capture or identification.

A half-hour later, Hermione saw their quarry leave Riddle Manor.

Once the snake was within sensing distance, Ron made a "mouse" run a little before letting the snake catch it.

The predator becomes prey, Hermione thought with satisfaction as she heard the snake's snapping jaws.

But Hermione couldn't lose focus. Nagini started moving towards where Ron was hidden, so Hermione cast her own illusion on a rock to draw her away from both of them.

The snake followed lazily, which grated on Hermione's nerves.

It took two excruciating minutes for the basilisk venom inside the bundle to do it's work. Nagini had been alive one second, then completely still the next. A horrible black cloud leeched out of her body and dispersed.

Hermione quickly shrunk the snake's body as Ron surveilled the house for signs of trouble. The witch levitated the now-tiny, very dead snake into the pouch she prepared for this.

They walked some distance, then popped away.

Several apparition jumps later, they were in a nondescript chunk of woodland. Hermione unshrunk the body and levitated it above the frozen ground.

Ron is spooky-good at controlling fiendfyre, now, she observed while he worked.

The pair made several more apparition jumps before going to their separate homes. As they parted, she said, "Good job."

"You, too. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts. See you soon."

Plan Snake Picnic is now complete. (Ron had let her name this one.)

Hermione was excited: they only had four soul pieces left!

But her enthusiasm was tempered by the fact that they didn't know how Voldemort would react to the disappearance of his familiar.

The trio predicted that he would see this as a moderate setback. Voldemort would be weaker without the venom (milk?) of his snake, but it wouldn't prevent his resurrection based on what they knew.

They reasoned that removing and destroying her body would make Voldemort think that she had disappeared, possibly for her own reasons. Ambiguity would spare them from any sudden, dramatic reactions. Or so they hoped.

Ron had a fabulous winter break. His brother Charlie joined his school-aged siblings and their parents at the Burrow.

Having not come home during his original third year, Ron had only seen Charlie perhaps three times during Ron's Hogwarts years. Ron missed seeing his closest friends at Christmas, but was more than content with his lot this time around.

Charlie was definitely at the center of his family's attention this year. All of the Weasleys loved listening to his stories of the Romanian dragon preserve.

Some of the tales caused Mrs. Weasley to blush and for Mr. Weasley's eyebrows to raise. Ron picked up a lot more of the subtext than his siblings.

Ron was delighted to unwrap a new Weasley sweater. At his polite request, his mother had used mostly grey and white yarn, with a big an orange "R" worked onto the front. It was a big upgrade from the many maroon sweaters that he'd received previously. As was tradition, he wore it for the entirety of Christmas day.

Charlie talked to Ron one morning after the others had fled the breakfast table. "Bill tells me you're quite good at charms."

"Oh, er, I work hard at it. There's a lot to know."

"Do you have any favorites? Or ones that you're proud of."

Ron thought hard. "I can do a patronus charm. Although 'charm' is kind of a misnomer— ."

Charlie leaned in conspiratorially. "Can you show me?"

"Sure. Expecto patronum." A silver terrier trotted around. "Tell Charlie that your name is Terrier Into the Heart." Because of course Ron had named his patronus. (Hermione had predictably said the name was too long.)

"Wicked, little brother." Charlie was impressed. "Do you ever think about inventing your own spells?"

Ron bobbed his head. "That's why I'm taking Arithmancy."

"Cool. I always wished I could make a spell, but I've never done it. I don't think anyone in the family has."

"It'd be fun to be the first in something," Ron said lightly.

In a rare Petunia-free moment, Harry asked Sirius a question that had been on his mind since he first met Sirius in this timeline.

"What was my mother like?" Harry and Sirius were both sitting at the dining table at Sirius' cottage.

Sirius picked up the cup of tea in front of him and took a sip before saying, "When she was young, I thought was a snotty little know-it-all with common parents."

Harry was about to ask what exactly he meant by that, but Sirius kept talking.

"I needed to mature before I could see how brilliant she really was. She never thought about anything the way that I did, and the professors loved her for it. Other students, less so."

Green eyes blinked. Harry didn't know what he expected, but that wasn't it. "Did she have friends?"

"Other than Snape, not at first. Eventually she made others. She was still close with some of them after Hogwarts. Like Mary McDonald, although she died before Lily did. By the time we graduated, she was a lot warmer with everyone."

"What did my mother want to do when she finished with school?"

Sirius got a light in his eyes. "She said something about running for Minister for Magic. She played it off as a joke, but I wondered… I couldn't tell you exactly what her ambitions were, but I had no doubt she had them."

"Do you know much about Lily's relationship with Petunia?"

"Being the older sister, Petunia struggled with their parents' high expectations for her that didn't affect Lily. And then her younger sister turned out to be literally magic. I know from Lily herself that her sister was downright unpleasant. However, I think she would be glad that she and I were getting along now."

Harry thought that might be true, but didn't quite know what to say.

Sirius leaned back in the creaky wooden chair. "At first, I was civil to her for you. Then, I was generous to her for Lily, who definitely would have supported Petunia in that tough few months after her split with her husband. Now, I sort of like her for herself. I don't feel like I have to be nice, which is sort of relaxing."

Needing time to process that alone, Harry changed topics. "Do you think that my mother really loved my dad?" The fact that Snape was pretending to be Lily when James and the real Snape died was confusing to Harry.

"Of that I am sure. James was absolutely devoted to her. And you."

Harry didn't find that all that persuasive. He changed angles. "Were you friends with her, or just my dad?"

Sirius stood up to put the tea things away. "I don't think she liked me very much, but we were friendly, I suppose. To her, I was a pureblood snob. I regret how I was during our first year, if that helps."

"Did that change when I was born?"

Sirius exhaled deeply. "I think she hated me more. She was opposed to naming me godfather, but Remus couldn't take the job. So James got his way." Presumably because he was a werewolf, but Sirius didn't say and Harry didn't ask.

Harry said, "For what it's worth, I'm glad to have you as my godfather."

"Thanks, kid. Speaking of, how is Remus?"

"A great professor, though we haven't talked outside of class." Harry had already learned to ignore that particular disappointment.

"He always was… more reserved." With a slight wrinkle in his forehead, Sirius busied himself with the dishes.

On his return trip to school, Harry thought about Petunia as he watched the snowy countryside slip by through the windows of the Hogwarts Express. Harry's feelings on the topic of his aunt were more complicated than Sirius', yet they followed a similar pattern.

Harry first treated her well for his own sake, to make his life easier. Then, he treated her well because he saw her pain over losing her marriage and having limited access to Dudley. By the end of the break, Harry was still wary of her but didn't have any actual complaints.

Dobby, Sirius, and Acturus laughed at her dry comments and checked in on her at her flat. She responded to them in kind.

Harry couldn't say if she'd grown or fundamentally changed as a person, but an even an imitation of kindness and care was something.