Chapter 2: Harry Defended.
Hermione's parents were just sitting down in their dining room for dinner when they were interrupted by tapping on the kitchen window. Upon inspection, they discovered the most beautiful owl that they had ever seen sitting on the window sill staring back at them. Tentatively, Mrs. Granger opened the window and stepped back to allow the owl to hop into the kitchen and then onto the counter top.
Hedwig gazed up at the Grangers while sticking out her leg with the letter attached to it. Once she was relieved of her package, she began to clean her feathers while she waited for their reply.
After taking the letter, Mrs. Granger set out a bowl of water and some owl treats Hermione left for them to give to the post owls.
Annabelle recognized the neat script on the envelope while they retreated into the dining room to read the letter. "It's from Hermione." she told her husband after breaking the wax seal. Her facial expression became stonier by the second the longer she read. By the end of the letter her hands were shaking in anger and she was unable to form coherent sentences. Silently, she thrust the letter into her husband's hands and marched over to the liquor cabinet where she poured two stiff drinks.
When John finally finished reading the letter, he picked up the tumbler and knocked back the amber liquid in one gulp before blurting, "We have to do something about this." He practically growled as he waved the letter through the air while continuing his rant, "It sounds like Headmaster Dumbledore knows what's going on with Harry's relatives but he refuses to do anything."
All thoughts of food were put aside as they dealt with the contents of Hermione's letter. Pulling her husband into the living room, Annabelle sat down next to him on the couch so they could discuss their options.
"Does he have any other relatives that can take him in?" John asked his wife once they were situated.
Annabelle curled her feet underneath her legs for warmth while she tried to remember everything that Hermione had told her about the young man. Hesitantly, she said, "He might have some other family members somewhere but I don't remember Hermione ever mentioning them. My question is why wasn't Harry placed with a magical relative if he had any left alive?"
"I don't know." John mumbled while he thought over what he knew about Harry Potter. The boy had saved their daughter's life, at great risk to his own, in their first year of school. If Hermione's stories were true, he had also confronted and killed one of their teachers in defense of the entire Wizarding World that same year. Remembering something about a godfather, he asked, "What about his godfather? Hermione mentioned him at the end of last year."
Mrs. Granger turned to face her husband on the couch and said sadly, "He's a known fugitive in both worlds even though Hermione says that he's innocent. I'm not sure he could take Harry in even if he wanted to."
The only thing that made sense to John was that Dumbledore would go to great lengths to keep Harry with the Dursleys. If things were as bad as Hermione's letter indicated, there was no way that signs of obvious neglect wouldn't be reported by the school system. Especially, since the Dursleys had two boys in the same school.
Not liking Harry's situation with the Dursleys and their desire for a larger family, John looked into his wife's eyes and asked, "Do you think we could step in as his guardians in our world?"
"Oh, John!" Annabelle cried as she launched herself into his arms. They had never been able to have a second child for some reason and she had always wanted more children.
After spending a few moments sniffling in her husband's arms, Annabelle pulled back and kissed him soundly before saying solemnly, "We need to keep this quiet though. According to Hermione, Harry's a celebrity in the Wizarding world and so is Dumbledore. Perhaps we should talk to our solicitor and get him started before their school term ends?"
"I'll ring Roger for an appointment." Mr. Granger said as he got up from the couch and went back into the dining room to clear away the dishes of their forgotten meal while his wife began composing a letter to send back with Hedwig.
~AQ~
Back in London there was a very similar conversation occurring at the ancestral home of the Blacks.
"Remus, we can't let Dumbledore place Harry in this kind of danger!" shouted Sirius as he paced back and forth in the drawing room, Harry's letter open on the table between them.
Holding his palms outward in a placating manner, Remus pleaded, "Calm down, Sirius. I think we should help Harry any way we can with the tournament. It's what we need to do after the tournament that concerns me more."
With a huff and a wave of his arms, Sirius growled out, "He can't go back to those horrible people at the end of the school year. This house has dozens of protections already and we could put it under the Fidelius Charm with you as the Secret Keeper too." Pacing about in frustration, Sirius said pensively, "Dumbledore can't know about this place, especially if we were to ever bring Harry here."
After a few more minutes of mutterings and more pacing, he said, "I need to contact Andromeda. We need to find out if the reading of James and Lily's will occurred or if they even had one. I would also like to get an inventory of what they left to Harry just to be safe."
"Doesn't she think you're guilty like everyone else?" Remus asked.
Scowling at Remus' reminder, Sirius grumbled, "I'm sure she does. It may be best to approach her daughter, Nymphadora, she's got to be an adult by now. I think she is our best hope because she was so young when everything happened."
Upon hearing Sirius' cousin's name, Remus raised his eyebrows and mouthed, `Nymphadora?'
With a bark of a laugh, Sirius chuckled, "Don't ask, it's a family tradition to saddle the children with uncommon names."
Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor when it came to the Black Family naming proclivities, Remus picked up Harry's note from the coffee table and began re-reading it.
While Remus was rereading Harry & Hermione's letter, a stray thought hit him and he asked, "Do you still have those mirrors that you and James used when you were in detention? We could send them one of the mirrors so we don't have to use owls all of the time."
Sirius stopped his pacing and turned to face his old friend with a smile before saying happily, "That's brilliant, Moony! I have them upstairs, we could charm a couple more mirrors so you and Hermione can have your own too."
"Great, I'll start on a list of a few spells and books that they should review. We can send a few books from the library here if we find any that could help him that aren't too dark in nature." Lupin called out to Sirius's retreating form.
After a couple of hours of searching through the library, Remus and Sirius had compiled a diverse list of spells and a small pile of books to send to Harry and Hermione to help with the tournament. Placing everything into a trunk Remus shrunk it and put the Marauder's password onto the small package. "I think that is everything Sirius. Now we just need a way to get this to Harry without it being intercepted." Remus said with a look of deep thought etched on his face.
There was a loud pop and then standing before them was the oddest dressed house elf that they had ever seen before. "Uh…, hello. What can I do for you?" Sirius said to the strange house elf.
Bowing slightly, Dobby said proudly, "I am Dobby, sir, Harry Potter's elf. Do you need a package delivered to the great Harry Potter, sir?" Dobby stared at Sirius intently and after a moment of inspection asked him, "Are you his dog father?"
Remus lost it at `dog father' and started howling with laughter while Sirius stood there shocked and bemused at the same time. "Yes, I am his Godfather, Dobby. Are you the elf that Harry freed?"
"I am indeed! Harry Potter has spoken of me to you before?" Dobby asked with tears in his eyes.
Sirius sat on the floor so that he was eye level with the tiny elf, "He's told both of us about you. The laughing fool over there is Remus Lupin and I am Sirius Black. Would you be able to help us get this package to Harry? Only give it to him if he is alone or with Hermione Granger please."
"Dobby would be most happy to help out kind sirs. Just call if you have any more packages for Dobby to deliver for Harry Potter!" and with a small pop, the package and Dobby were gone from Grimmauld place.
Scratching his stubbly chin in wonder, Sirius mused, "You know, I think that was the strangest encounter with a house elf that I've ever had. I thought that only bound house elves knew that their master's needed something and would react accordingly?"
Remus looked up deep in thought before formulating his response, "I think that elf, Dobby, bonded with Harry when he set him free and I don't think that Harry is aware of it yet. Oh, I bet Hermione is going to have a fit over this one. You know how she can get about house elves."
At the curious look from Sirius, Remus went on to explain what he had overheard about Hermione's views on house-elf rights.
Ten minutes later, a much happier Sirius Black sat sitting on the sofa laughing at the predicament his godson was going to be in when Hermione found out about Dobby.
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