Harry Potter woke slowly, the sun filtering through the windows of his bedroom in Marea Mansion. He stretched in bed, his body still heavy, as if the night had never wanted to leave him. He had not dreamed anything, and yet, in a way, it was much better than having to relive that absurd nightmare.

A muffled silence filled the room, but it was broken by a melodious laugh.

The voice that woke him was Hermione's, her face lit up with a knowing smile. Her hair was even messier and her eyes were sparkling with infectious energy.

"Good morning! I wanted to wake you up earlier but you looked so funny and happy that I would have felt guilty!" She joked, her face was lit up by a ray of sunshine. The boy felt grateful that he hadn't woken her up in any way the previous night.

"At least I don't snore like you," Harry retorted, ruffling his hair.

Hermione burst out laughing, hugging her curly hair with one hand, her expression betraying her amorous irritation at this kind of joke. "Oh, please! As if you were an angel in your sleep!"

Harry noticed some clothes lying at the foot of his bed. "I was looking for some clothes for myself earlier and thought I'd get you some too. There were some that would obviously be too big for you but luckily I managed to find some that fit."

"Hermione, you didn't have to, thank you!" And as he got up to go get dressed in the bathroom, he only now noticed his friend's complete outfit.

Hermione was wearing a little black witch's dress that fit her perfectly and showed off her slim, delicate figure, with long black sleeves down to the palms of her hands decorated with white cobwebs, a black skirt that reached just below her knees, with small silver decorations that sparkled in the morning light, and elegant black ankle boots with very feminine high heels.

Noticing Harry looking at her, she twirled a little. "Do you like it? I don't normally get to wear these clothes but I think they're perfect! They really make me look like a witch!" She blushed, feeling a little childish at that last statement.

"You look lovely." Harry commented and before his brain could process what he had just said, he grabbed his robes and ran to change.

Harry returned wearing a smart white shirt, the crisp, light fabric contrasting with his simple black trousers, a perfect match in terms of both elegance and practicality.

..


They quickly descended the stairs and the dining room opened up before them, a charming and bright environment, where the long solid wooden table was already loaded with an absolutely abundant breakfast. Golden croissants, slices of toast, jams scattered here and there…

At the head of the table was Sirius, sitting with an air of opulent eccentricity. He wore a pair of ridiculous, comical black sunglasses that seemed to defy logic, even on this very bright morning, and a brightly colored Hawaiian shirt that looked like a fusion of flowers and tropical patterns.

"Welcome!" he exclaimed, stretching out his arms in a dramatic salute.

"I've prepared a breakfast that will leave you speechless!" he boasted jokingly.

Sirius looked at his godson and for a moment the mask of joviality he wore fell away in an instant.

"That was the shirt of…" he stopped and shook his head. "Never mind, you look very elegant!" Sirius complimented him and then turned his gaze to the girl.

"Ah! Those were some of Bella's favorites! Of course they fit you perfectly, she was the only one of my cousins who was as flat as a board! I don't know why she used engorgement on them, she was so cute and-" Sirius didn't get to finish his rambling speech, hit on the head with a ceramic plate by a completely red Hermione with anger and embarrassment.


"I'm glad you like it!" Sirius said as he watched the two young students happily eat their breakfast while he rubbed the bump on the head.

"Did you really cook all this?" Harry asked still in disbelief at this.

"Of course..." said his godfather, winking at him, and as much as Harry loved him, he doubted the truth of his statement.

The eggs, the toast...EVERYTHING tasted too perfect, too idyllic, and everything vaguely reminded him of the Hogwarts cuisine.

He would have liked to investigate but he preferred not to, it would have been really wrong after such a generous and apprehensive gesture.

And most importantly, Sirius hadn't forced him to cook all this...

"So...what's the plan?" Hermione decided to ask, always to the point.

Sirius turned his head in confusion, making his sunglasses jiggle a little.

"...what plan?"

Harry swallowed harder and louder than he expected.

"You must have some idea what we're supposed to do, right?"

Hermione urged him on and Sirius shrugged nonchalantly.

"I have a plan. Not just one...MANY plans. I have so many plans it makes my head spin! But," and with a wave of his hands he indicated the two, "I would like to know from YOU what you propose to do."

Hermione chewed her thumbnail nervously, something she often did when she was in trouble.

"I...there's the issue that you're still wanted, then we should somehow warn the headmaster to make him know that we're fine then-"

Harry leapt up from his chair, placing both hands fervently on the table, startling his friend.

"We have to find Peter!" He said, anger taking over his voice.

Sirius didn't flinch and simply smiled mockingly.

"Great, too bad I have no idea where it is." The adult replied shortly after.

"But we can't just let him walk free!" Harry snapped. "It was my fault he ran away and I have to fix that!" he added later, his voice cracking. Sirius sighed.

"Harry listen… it wasn't your fault." He said, picking up yet another bottle of firewhisky from the table and quickly uncorking it. "And besides, Peter could be anywhere right now! Cambodia, Paris, Buenos Aires… Anywhere! I knew he was at Hogwarts because of that photo of your friend Tom in Egypt!" "Ron." The girl quickly corrected him. "Whatever…" Sirius said, starting to gulp down the glass bottle greedily.

"Ron… yeah, Ron. I wonder how he's doing alone in the castle right now. He's probably worried about us, it's not like his house where he has…" Harry's mind was struck by an illumination.

"RON!" he shouted so loudly and suddenly that he made Sirius spit out his drink. "I GOT IT, I GOT IT! HIS NAME IS RON!" Sirius replied resentfully.

"No, you don't understand! The solution is Ron!" Harry said excitedly.

"Explain." Hermione asked, moving closer to him to hear the solution.

"Ron has a clock in his house that shows the situation and where his relatives are! I could contact him, ask him what spell it is and…"

"…replicate it on Pettigrew." Hermione concluded, catching the thread of his reasoning. A smile played at the corners of her mouth. "Oh but Harry, there's no need to ask Ron. We've had the solution right under our noses this whole time!"

She turned quickly to Sirius.

"You've already created something similar with the Marauder's Map, right? We could use the same spell but only on one person!"

"The Marauder's Map…why didn't I think of that before?! Hermione, you're a genius!" Harry genuinely complimented his friend.

"I know." She replied even though he could swear he saw her cheeks flush slightly red.

Sirius remained impassive for a few seconds until he burst into laughter, running a hand through his long hair.

"I have to admit, you two are very good at surprising me!"

He composed himself and moved his chair closer to the table.

"The Marauder's Map was a project that required the collaboration of no less than 4 brilliant Hogwarts students and, most importantly, it was just the castle. In the current situation, it's about finding the location of just one man on the entire planet! That's not such a feasible undertaking…"

"It's not that different from then. There are three of us instead of four." Harry interjected, smiling faintly.

"Sirius, we should try." Hermione said, supporting her friend.

Sirius seemed to think about it, took a shorter sip of firewhisky and grinned devilishly.

"Let's do it, let's flush out that damned, stinking rat!" He accepted euphorically, forcefully placing the bottle on the table.

"I should still have copies of some of the books I studied to create that map here, lying around somewhere. It was a complex spell but I remember that thankfully there was no need to include any of those pesky and very difficult ancient runes…" Hermione looked at him, confused.

"It's normal, ancient runes is just an old language to study like Latin, they wouldn't be of any use…" she stopped and felt deeply embarrassed when she saw what looked like a mocking smile on the former criminal's face.

"d-did I say something wrong?" She stammered.

"No, not at all…it's just that your answer made me smile, it was the same one Moony gave me back then. It's a difficult concept to explain to a student and especially to someone outside the world of 'purebloods' but I'll try."

"The ones you study in school are not the ancient runes I am referring to. In school, only the language is studied and translated as a simple language. However, once upon a time, especially in the ancient families of wizards, the runes were another magical language without the use of a wand. It was a matter of drawing or engraving a series of runes on any surface to obtain a powerful spell, even more than the ordinary ones with the wand. Depending on the runes, you could even transfigure matter at will."

The revelation seemed to devastate Hermione, who widened her eyes in shock.

"It…it's impossible…"

"Funny, Moony said that too," the man said, chuckling under his breath.

"If that's the case, why don't they teach it at Hogwarts? It seems like something useful." Harry asked, as surprised as Hermione, and Sirius stiffened at the question.

"There are several reasons. Even when I attended Hogwarts, ancient runes was not studied in this way but only as, precisely, a language to be translated. It is said that it was a subject too complicated for the students, not all purebloods wanted to share their texts and their knowledge on the subject with the 'rabble' and then…"

He picked up the bottle of firewhisky from the table and drank the last of it, wiping his left arm with his snout.

"Some wizards had the habit of…carving runes into their bodies."

The warm morning atmosphere suddenly disappeared, replaced by a narrow silence.

"Why would anyone do such a thing?" Hermione asked, her face a mixture of revulsion, disgust and fear.

"It's like having a spell always at hand. Besides, if a wooden surface can turn into a diamond, why can't it happen to your body?" He raised his right arm and slashed the air in front of him, moving it as if it were an imaginary blade.

"But it would be a painful process!"

"Oh yes, especially when you had to reverse it, that is, make the transformed body part return to the way it was before. Wizards who practiced this unorthodox practice became strong but… lost their minds. An ancestor of my family, Monoceros Black, had his entire body etched with runes, large and hideous scars. He is one of the reasons why the fantomatic 'Black Madness' became known…"

Black snorted, disgusted even at the mention of his family.

"…What happened to him?" Harry asked, his knuckles completely white.

"His body couldn't hold so much magic anymore and he just…exploded. When it happened, the magic was shining brightly from his scars. Witnesses say he looked like a shining star. Funny, isn't it?"

Nobody laughed.

"Goodbye cheerful atmosphere…" Sirius commented sarcastically, playing with a piece of toast.

"What about spells? We're not allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts..." Hermione asked, trying to divert the conversation to another important topic. She succeeded, and in fact, Sirius looked more than elated.

"You don't have to worry, I know a way that will free you to do spells without being discovered by those nosy Ministry people."

Hermione smiled happily. "Really?"

"It's the least I can do for you." He replied, winking. "I've always found it ridiculous to repress and punish young wizards who experiment with magic. Absurd!" He stood up and stretched noisily.

"You must not have any limits, otherwise how will we track down that wretch?! Eat as much as you want and come to me calmly." He reassured them, waving goodbye and trotting off.

The two young students continued their breakfast, Hermione continued to speak enthusiastically at the news of finally being able to practice magic even far from school and Harry listened to her.

In reality he was genuinely trying to listen to her but his mind was continually troubled.

He thought back to what he had promised himself to do...catch Peter Pettigrew. That low traitor had escaped...and it was all his fault.

He had been weak and Peter had taken advantage of that. He wasn't strong enough to stop him, he wasn't strong enough to hurt him...

If only he had been stronger, Sirius would be a free man now.

And instead, because of him, Sirius was condemned to a life on the run.

If only i was stronger...

A small, warm hand rested over his large one, bringing him back to reality. Hermione had stopped talking minutes ago and was staring at him with an intense gaze.

"Harry, we're going to get through this…"

There was no need for words, she had already know what was troubling him. He smiled back and squeezed her hand gently.

"Thank you."

They continued eating in silence before getting up from the table.

Hermione, however, could not know everything and above all she had not understood the small and dangerous thought that was sneakily creeping into his mind.

"...a shining star, huh?..."

...

..


AN: A pretty hefty chapter this time!

As for the runes: I absolutely love the fandom's explanation of this subject and I don't really appreciate Pottermore's explanation of it as just an 'old language to be translated'.

In the universe of this story I wanted to unite the two concepts, also explaining why they could not teach the 'real' ancient runes in schools.

It's a difficult subject with dark implications, obviously our Harry will stay away from it!...Nobody believes it, right?

Until next time!