Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable Harry Potter characters, settings, etc. are the property of J.K Rowling. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. Seriously. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author. Any similarity to any real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
A huge thank you to my beta readers, PhoenixFanatic999 and mione the kneazle, for making this story bearable for mortal eyes.
Death and Grim
Death frowned at what the flows of Fate had done once again; though predictably, the cause was human free will. Human will, quite the fickle indeed. To some degree, a human's fate is pretty much decided even before birth, everything down to their deaths as if a book has already stated everything that was to happen. The choices they make can very well change their supposed fate in some small way or in its entirety.
However human will wouldn't simply go along, freedom of choice could cause a slight change of will and any part of any page could change the rest of the content of the book. It could, in fact, change many other books' pages. The changes could happen once, twice, again and again, or simply never. The only thing predictable of a human is that they are unpredictable.
Tom Marvolo Riddle. A fine example of exactly that.
It had been a long time since Death had taken the fragments of a human soul. This human in particular had done what no other man had done before, he had split his souls more times than any other human. All because of him, a lot of the humans along with other races like the goblins and house elves were dying, Death simply went to do Its task. If anything, Death knew that Riddle would make more of these Horcruxes, as much as the soul of his could be split.
'Another human who thinks he can escape Me,' Death watched as Voldemort wreaked havoc with his magic.
Apparently Death's attention on the human had enticed Fate to join His side.
Fate scoffed, 'Has any human ever?'
Death watched on, 'Fate, I look forward to see the means that would lead this particular Riddle to Me.'
'It is amusing to see his attempts of escaping You, isn't it? As unpredictable as some of these humans can be, Death, none of them has ever in fact found a way to escape You,' replied Fate.
'Whatever they do, it is inevitable; what they think is a way of escaping Me is nothing more as what is intended on their path towards Me,' Death remembered many of those who tried.
As of right now, Nicolas Flamel and his beloved wife, Perenelle Flamel, thought they were living an immortal life thanks to the creation of the Philosopher's stone. In time, the couple would die and sometime later so would Tom Marvolo Riddle. Nothing ever dies before or after their intended time, Death was never early nor late when it came to taking them to the next great adventure. He could appear before them much earlier if Fate deemed it to be, but the removal of the soul itself was, is, and would always be on time.
The ever reincarnating phoenixes were the only creatures that would never truly experience death. As amazing as that may be, Death knew phoenixes could never find true peace, evident in their brief shriek of their burning before they are reborn again.
'It is already taking place,' Fate felt another event taking place as it should be, though this time a little change was made.
In one particular pub called the Hogs Head, young Sybil Trelawney made the prophecy to a much surprised Albus Dumbledore, unknown to them was that Severus Snape had been eavesdropping.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives..."
Death was already intrigued as Snape ran off, upon being thrown out of the pub, after only hearing half of the prophecy and was about to report to his master.
'Power that he knows not?' asked Death.
Unlike Fate, Death's knowledge of all existence came only when the mortal beings come into existence, along with the knowledge of the time of their deaths. Never truly assured how one dies, only when.
'It would only be fitting that a dark yet incredible wizard such as him would be taken out a wizard just as incredible, if not more so, than him.' replied Fate.
'I expect nothing less. What exactly is it?'
'The only thing I will tell You is that it will be interesting, very interesting indeed,' Fate chuckled.
As the human saying goes, Death would have to 'wait and see'. Death wondered whether He'd be personally involved in these two humans' journey towards their deaths. After all, they were descendants of the Peverell brothers. The siblings were special indeed, for it was within their fate to have Death play a role towards their deaths.
'Ignotus, perhaps this descendant of yours will astound Me just as much as you did, if not more,' said Death.
It was on the late night of the thirty first of October that Death watched Lord Voldemort deliver the Killing Curse on the Child of Prophecy. A large of the portion of the Potter Cottage disintegrated along with the Dark Wizard's body from the rebound of the curse. The process as painful as his inhuman deeds deemed it to be. Beyond pain, beyond agony, beyond the limits of the comprehension of the human body, such words did little justice as Voldemort would describe it from his resurrection years later. Just as Death had it, the accursed fragmented soul within His grasp, it split into two before they wisped away. One fragment sped away out onto the outside world, while another latched itself onto the crying toddler, the only living thing amongst the ruins of the room.
'What?' Death knew that Fate was enjoying this.
Death didn't leave, not yet, since He knew very well that He'd have a fragment of the wizard's soul. Young Harry cried in pain, he wanted his parents to come and take away the pain, to comfort him, lull him to sleep. The flash of green light had caused such an intense pain, now another one was making his head hurt.
They didn't come.
His mother, his father, Uncle Sirius, Uncle Moony, none of them came.
The pain worsened as the cries became louder.
Another agonizing scream joined in, hisses of black smoke erupted from the bleeding lightning bolt shaped wound. It wasn't Fiendfyre, nor was it Basilisk venom, but something much more powerful than that. The powerful ancient magic that was Lilly Potter's protection for her son burned away the hold of Voldemort's soul. Once again Death wretched out the soul agonizingly, and this time the soul was His to hold and bring. Death looked down upon the crying toddler, without a doubt traces of magic of the soul fragment had been left behind within him.
'Till we meet again, Harry James Potter,' Death left the last of the Potters alone.
Then the nursery within the Potter's cottage disappeared, where everything was plain white everywhere. In that short time within the empty space, Death dragged the fragmented soul as it whimpered in fear, its mutilated flayed body bleed all over leaving a slowly disappearing trail of blood.
'You wish to split your soul into seven, Riddle?' asked Death, as he held the small fragmented soul by its left leg like a dead chicken, 'Truly ambitious, I will give you that.'
The soul fragment hugged itself tighter.
'Time and time again you paid no heed to the warnings of meddling with the essence of one's self, one's own soul. Your ignorance is only beaten by your own arrogance. Did you really think you can escape Me? ' Death tightened His grip on the skinny leg of the soul. 'You shall be the first of your own self to suffer.'
Everything changed upon the final word uttered by Death, the blankness of space was replaced with crimson red. An unexplainable intense heat had suddenly enveloped Voldemort's soul as Death dangled it by its foot once more. Sweat and blood trickled over its skin as it stared upside down at Death, who had taken the very form of Voldemort's fear. This form had rotting flesh, the ugliest Inferi was nothing in comparison to this grotesque figure, black blood oozed from its various wounds, while maggots squirmed and nibbled all around its body, literally everything Voldemort had feared.
'Seven pieces of the same soul… you will be one of the few humans to suffer the torments of all seven levels of Hell. Don't worry. I am just and fair.' Death assured the piece of soul. 'Inevitably, I will have every single one of split selves to suffer the same fate. When that time comes, I will have each of you on every level, taking turns to suffer all levels, and rotate the cycle, for all eternity.'
"No…" whimpered the soul.
In one moment, Death stood in front the gates of Hell with the dangling soul. Faces of various tortured creatures from demons to humans could be seen over surface of the metallic gates. The two gates each had a massive skeleton, Cyclops judging from the only eye hole of the skull, with their hands crossed over their breastbone and ribs much like mummies. What seemed like gates upright before them had changed when Death was now floating while the gates opened below like a trap door. Screams, screeches, moans, and cries were heard despite the roars of the blazing flames.
'Good bye, Tom Marvolo Riddle.' Death simply gave his farewell as He released the soul's leg, and watched as it fell down to the scorching black flames of Hell.
The gates slammed shut as Death floated away, and scoffed upon remembering one particular popular theory made by the very few who knew of Horcruxes.
'Eternal limbo? As if that will ever happen.' Death scoffed.
It would be another eleven years before Death would claim the soul fragment from the Horcrux that was Tom's diary.
o.o.O.O.O.o.o
Nine years old Harry Potter ran as fast his feet could, something hard to do given the pants that were two sizes too big for him and the pitiful state of the shoes that he wore. Outrunning his cousin Dudley was easy, but the same couldn't be said about his cousin's friends; Piers Polkiss, Dennis, Gordon and Malcolm.
'Why couldn't Dudley make friends the size of baby killer whales like himself?' Harry took a glance over his shoulder, only to trip over a rock.
His taped up glasses fell, causing his vision to be obscured, just as he momentarily skidded off the grass of the playground. He could already hear their footsteps, the chase was over, and they no longer needed run upon seeing they fallen target. Harry quickly reached for his glasses and instinctively curled himself into a fetal position awaiting their kicks and punches. He couldn't risk damaging his glasses beyond repair.
The typical beating would usually take place, and after that Piers would hold him up and let Dudley punch him a few times while the rest watched once the young Dursley caught up with them. Strangely enough, this time there weren't any beating whatsoever. In fact he didn't hear anything after a short moment, no more sounds of approaching footsteps or laughs. Harry took a peek, and yet did see with his poor eye sight any of their silhouettes surrounding him.
Only when he wore his glasses did he see Dudley's friends, they warily stood a safe distance from him. The apprehensive looks on their faces troubled him, it was then he realized they weren't looking at him but behind him. Harry turned around and discovered the cause of their fear, there was a dog a few feet away. He was now just as scared as they were. It was the biggest dog he had ever seen, its shaggy black fur added more to its fearsome look. It snarled menacingly towards Dudley's friends though Harry thought it was directed towards him too. The dog ran towards them, before Harry could even get up to run away. It easily leapt over Harry's head and barked at Dudley's friends upon landing. Dudley's closest friend, Polkiss, peed in his pants as all four of them ran off haphazardly, each one hoping the dog would settle on chasing the other. Harry Potter was the last thing on their mind as they ran back home for safety.
For some reason, Harry just stood and watched when the black dog sent them running. He cursed at his own foolishness for not taking the chance to run upon seeing the dog turning around to face him. However, for some reason, to Harry, it seemed as if the dog was surprised when it laid its eyes on him. No longer menacing in demeanor, the dog continued to stare at him.
"Er…please don't bite me," pleaded Harry.
The dog simply stood there, the action slowly banishing away Harry's dislike of dogs.
No one in the muggle world or the magical world would ever consider the thought that the black dog that was in front of him was the notorious Sirius Black, escaped prisoner of Azkaban. Harry had heard the name of Sirius Black from the Dursleys, an announcement at school was even made, pictures of him that students should be wary of. But for a boy who didn't even know his parents, let alone his magical heritage or godfather, he wouldn't even consider the idea that the dog before him was the wanted man. The only two people alive who knew this fact were a werewolf and a distressed Animagus.
"Thank you, for chasing them away," said Harry.
Sirius huffed, it was the least any godfather should do.
"Can you…understand me?"
Sirius nodded, slowly approached his godson, and simply nuzzled his nose at Harry's hand. Harry didn't seem to mind whether the dog was a wild dog, a stray, or anything odd about the animal. With misery being a major part of his life and yet watched jealously the happiness that his cousin showed, Harry would take what he could. Beggars can't be choosers. Right there before him, was a dog that seemed to understand his every word and didn't hate or avoid him like everyone else he knew.
"I guess not all dogs are bad," commented Harry as he petted the dog; he quickly added when realized what he just said, "Sorry, it's just that I had a bad experience with a pet dog. It was an accident really, not like I wanted to step on that mutt's paw in the first place. I told it that I was sorry, but it kept chasing me. My aunt let that dog of hers chase me up a tree and she only called off when it was past midnight."
Anger blazed within Sirius, something that Harry sensed despite the subtle narrowing of the eyes.
"I'm glad I got to meet you. You're a nice dog," said Harry, "Um…Can we be friends? I've never really had anyone… "
Sirius was tormented, he wanted to do at that moment was revert back and hug the boy. He had been blinded by grief of James' and Lilly's death, anger of Peter's betrayal, not seeing the grave mistake upon hearing Hagrid telling of Harry's fate. To be brought to and taken by the Dursleys on Dumbledore's orders. The only thing he could do for now was simply lick the boy, which earned him hearing the laughter of his godson.
"I wish I could bring you home, but I can't. My uncle and aunt complain about taking care me. All I get are my cousin's things instead of buying me anything. I don't think they'd let me have you as a pet. They really hate me actually," Harry didn't have to think twice about his relatives' reaction about anything Harry wanted.
It was then Sirius really took notice of Harry's thinness, his hand-me-down clothes and trainers.
"I wonder if I could keep you if my parents didn't die. I'm an orphan, you know, I never knew my parents," said Harry.
Sirius clenched his fangs tight in response.
"They died in a car accident," Harry continued.
'Car accident?' Sirius repeated in his head.
"If they were," Harry paused and later frowned, oblivious to the internal struggle within Sirius, "they probably wouldn't let me keep you either. My uncle said my father didn't work, he was a drunk."
'WHAT?' Sirius yelled in thought, eyes widened upon hearing the fabrication, such insult towards James.
"Hey, it's alright. Please don't be angry about them," Harry sensed more of the dog's anger, "It doesn't matter, because we're going to be friends, aren't we?"
Sirius didn't how long he could continue like this, he really wanted to change back. Hug his godson, right whatever wrong that has happened to him, and tell him the truth of it all. But he maintained his form, and let himself be hugged and comforted by his godson.
As time passed by, Harry slowly poured out everything he thought of, a brief introduction of himself, what he felt, to the dog in front of him. He never had told anyone about his life with the Dursleys, their mistreatment, being bullied. Untill now.
Happiness simply wasn't something Harry was allowed to feel in their eyes. But he had made a resolve that he'd keep this sliver of happiness somehow. "I could come and see you whenever I can?"
Sirius barked in agreement, knowing that Harry understood. The last of the ancient and noble family of Black had just decided that he would probably have dig up a den at his hiding spot last night. Sirius would have to bid his time, especially since he didn't have a wand, he couldn't appear out in the open. All those months of he waited patiently and starved to enable himself to slip in between the prison in his Animagus form. He had made a resolve to be by his godson's side, even if it meant remaining as a dog. Sirius beckoned Harry to follow him to the spot he had been hiding and sleeping the day before, again his godson understood him. At their hiding place, Harry continued talking and occasionally petting the dog with much ease, without the worry of his cousin or anyone else finding him.
It was quite a while before Harry quickly realized he had to go home and help Aunt Petunia prepare dinner. Sirius nuzzled his nose just before Harry bade farewell and left.
"See you again tomorrow, Snuffles." said Harry.
'Azkaban couldn't keep me away from you, Harry. I'll definitely see you tomorrow,' Sirius wagged his tail.
Snuffles.
Sirius would have to get used with that name after barking in disapproval again and again at various names Harry had suggested. Harry even suggested 'Black' upon thinking of the color of his fur after numerous rejections, in which Sirius shook his head vigorously much to Harry's surprise.
Just has Harry had said, he visited Sirius whenever he could go. As long as he did his chores and came back before dark, the Dursleys were more than happy to let the boy out of their house and out of their sight. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and the next thing Sirius knew, it was already Christmas. Near the end of that year, Harry didn't complain when got his Christmas present from Aunt Marge. The Dursleys laughed when he finished tearing the newspaper wrappers off the big box. He knew the large size of his present was probably some attempt to give him false hope, for them to laugh at his crestfallen face upon finding out what it was. However, inwardly Harry was all too happy to receive it and was more eager than ever to go see Snuffles. Hopefully the dog would be happy.
Harry had after all received a box of dog biscuits.
Sirius however was not happy from the very moment his keen sense of smell picked up two familiar scents.
'This changes nothing. I won't run,' Sirius's resolve had been made.
"I'm surprised you're still here, Sirius."
Hiding in his den would be no use. He'd have to face them one way or another. The black dog that was Sirius Black stood unmoved in front of his den, other people besides Harry had finally walked into this hiding place he had called home. The sound of crushing snow could be heard, getting louder and louder.
"Here I thought you would have turn tail, literally, the moment you could have picked our scent," a shabby man walked in, a wand in his right hand pointed directly at the dog.
Remus Jonathan Lupin had finally made his appearance.
"Sirius? Sirius Black?" A much older woman came out.
His former Transfiguration teacher, Minerva McGonagall, was there too. Sirius was quite surprised when he had picked up Minerva's scent, thinking she should be celebrating Christmas at Hogwarts along with its other staff members and students.
"The one and only." answered Lupin, never taking his eyes off the dog. "Change now, Sirius,"
"An Animagus?" McGonagall realized, this had turned to be a surprise indeed.
"Change and face me like a man, Sirius!" Lupin warned.
"No man would ever do what he did, Remus," McGonagall snapped, with her own wand out.
"I have questions that need to be answered, Minerva. I want him to answer them tonight, no matter what." Lupin continued.
McGonagall watched as Sirius changed himself back into a human, though she was a bit astounded at the transformation despite she herself was an Animagus. The gaunt, sunken face with a waxy looking face and long matted hair replaced what was once a young man graced with such an aristocratic look.
"Tell me now, Sirius. Tell me why you did it. Why you betrayed James and Lilly. Why you killed Peter." Remus shook where he stood, not because of the coldness of the winter's night but in anger.
"I never betrayed them. What I did was as good as killing them, that I know, but I never betrayed them." Sirius answered miserably.
"What do you mean you didn't?" shouted Lupin , "You sold them out to your-"
"Never! That traitorous rat sold them out to his master!" this time Sirius interrupted Lupin. "If I was a Death Eater, don't you think Harry would be dead already? I was never the Secret Keeper. It was Peter! He was the Secret Keeper! He was the spy, the Death Eater, the traitor."
Lupin and McGonagall were rendered speechless. Before the both of them could consider the possibility of Sirius lying to them, he continued.
"I begged to James and Lilly to change at the last minute. I would have been too obvious. I thought I was better off as a decoy." Sirius recounted, now angry at himself. "Nobody else knew, not you, not even Dumbledore. That night, at the arranged time that I'd be checking Peter's hiding place, I knew something was wrong when he wasn't there. I thought somehow they had found him, but there was nothing. Nothing, not a single sign of struggle. He was gone, I realized he had fled."
"Peter?" Lupin was still trying to comprehend the betrayal, the real traitor.
"I Apparated back, only to see the house destroyed, James and Lily… dead. I was there when Hagrid took Harry under Dumbledore's orders." Sirius scowled, something that didn't go unnoticed by the wizard and the witch. "When I finally cornered Peter, he lied about everything, made it sound like I was the traitor, before he blew himself up along with those muggles."
"You're not the spy," it finally sank in, Lupin walked up to Sirius and hugged him before McGonagall could shout at him.
Sirius returned the gesture though to him McGonagall still didn't look convinced.
"All the witnesses said you laughed like a maniac at the scene before the aurors arrested you, Even Kingsley himself was there." Minerva commented.
"I definitely laughed alright. I wanted to kill him more than anything after seeing James and Lilly dead. I didn't care, I thought I had nothing to lose, Azkaban or a Dementor's kiss didn't matter as long as I got to kill him. He took away Lilly, James, and he took away my only chance to kill him.
"How did you escape? How did you survive Azkaban in the first place?" asked McGonagall.
This puzzled Lupin too, it left everyone in magical Britain wondering as to how the man ever escaped the wizard prison.
"I tried to remain as sane as I could. Definitely not a happy place of rainbows and ponies, Moony, Minerva. I watched a lot of people around me slowly go mad there. Lose their will to live. Most just stop eating rather than continue on living in misery. Any prisoner could tell when another one is just about to die. All one has to do is look at the Dementors, they always get excited when someone is about to die, they can sense it."
"But you survived." remarked McGonagall.
"Not everyone there in Azkaban are driven mad and die, I hate to say it but those who didn't were all the captured Death Eaters." Sirius scowled at the thought. "I remained sane by focusing on one thought. It wasn't a happy thought, it was an obsession for me, the Dementors couldn't take it away from me. I held on to it, that I didn't betray Lilly and James, Peter did. He was the Secret Keeper. If they got too close, I turned into my Animagus form. They couldn't tell the difference, their effects lessened greatly, animal thoughts were simpler, more primal, you would know that, Minerva."
"As for the Death Eaters?" asked Lupin.
"They had the same idea as I did. They were obsessed with the thought of Voldemort's return." Sirius watched Lupin and McGonagall became perturbed upon hearing the tabooed name. "I could hear it in their sleep. Some talked if Peter was alive, they'd kill him. It was obvious, wasn't it? Their supposed spy turned against them, their master gone after acting on Peter's information about James and Lilly." answered Sirius.
Remus tossed his wand to Sirius, much to McGonagall's alarm. She wasn't completely convinced, she had been worried for Harry's safety ever since finished reading the news of Sirius's escape.
"Well, you know what to do, Sirius." Lupin smirked.
Sirius held up the wand as if he was starting a duel, then he made the magical oath on his life that he wasn't the secret keeper. He didn't stop there, going into detail of everything he could think of and banishing McGonagall's doubts. By the time he finished, standing pretty much still alive, McGonagall finally put her wand away.
"I still want to know how you escaped, Sirius," McGonagall worried that if long term prisoners like convicted Death Eaters could stay sane like Sirius, then they could escape.
"I starved myself until I could fit my way through the prison bars while in my Animagus form. I nearly died while swimming my way across the North Sea."
"You starved and swam across the North Sea?"
"Hard to believe, isn't it? I was surprised myself at first after realizing what I did. After that, my only thought was to come here." Sirius simply continued on the conversation, disregarding the coldness of winter. "But as mad and impossible as it was, I didn't care, after remembering why I broke out in the first place. To fulfill my duty as godfather."
"Harry…" Lupin whispered though both McGonagall and Sirius heard it.
"Harry." Sirius nodded. "It hurts seeing what I have done by simply leaving him that night. Going after Peter instead of being the godfather that James and Lilly wanted me to be. I should have taken him in instead of letting Hagrid take him under Dumbledore's orders. "
There it was again, the anger within the escaped prisoner's eyes when he said Leader of the Light's name. It was as if the look destroyed everything he just said to the werewolf and the Animagus, after all this was a man believed to be a Death Eater and he seemed to be seethe in anger whenever he said Dumbledore's name.
"Those accursed Blood Wards are nothing but the lesser of two evils," said Sirius, arms crossed, "Between having him loved but still living in danger where Voldemort's followers could attack him, or living all hated and abused but still protected."
"I warned Albus, but he wouldn't listen." McGonagall shook her head, "I watched those Durleys the whole day I waited for Hagrid to bring the boy. They were the worst sort of muggles imaginable."
"A whole day?" Lupin looked at her.
"Of course it would take him a whole day, Hagrid can't actually Apparate or ride a broom, can he?" Sirius snorted, "Not that I hate the big lug or anything, I just don't know why Albus chose him of all people. All of us in the Order always knew it's not exactly easy for him to travel. I told him to wait there, I had to Apparate back home and bring over my bike for him to use."
It was then McGonagall finally knew why it took Hagrid so long. It wasn't like Sirius could perform side along apparition with the Groundskeeper of Hogwarts and Harry that night. Hagrid's half-giant blood would have messed up the magic in performing the apparition. It was faster for Sirius to bring over the bike and let Hagrid take it than for Hagrid to travel from Godric's Hollow to Little Whinging.
"You tracked Peter after that," stated Lupin.
Sirius nodded, "He wasn't hard to find, all I did was just trace his smell from the hiding place."
But before two could ask him about it, Sirius finally asked a question. "How did you two find me?"
"Sheer. Dumb. Luck." McGonagall answered. "I met Remus yesterday while I was visiting James and Lilly's graves at Godric's Hollow. I asked him if he wanted to join me in visiting a friend of mine, someone who I recently found out had been keeping watch of Harry under Albus' so called request. "
Remus was assessing Sirius, waiting for his reaction. Knowing him, Sirius had probably thought he had covered his tracks and hid well.
"Her name is Arabella Figg." Sirius definitely didn't expect that from his former Transfiguration teacher. "I take it you know her?"
"Harry talks about her, the only person he actually likes. Everyone else is too busy hating him, abusing him, or avoiding him." Sirius replied. "Old lady obsessed with cats, lives two blocks away. Gave him a hard time at first, a sweet person whenever Harry drops by when his 'family' goes out and must have someone to babysit him."
McGonagall exchanged looks with Lupin.
-Flashback-
Arabella stared at her tea. "Albus told me to not tell the poor boy, said he was too young. All I was told to do was to give him a hard time. If those Dursleys found out he enjoys being under my care, they probably would find someone else to babysit him. Many times I watched him play with Mr. Tibbles and the others whenever he thought I wasn't there or asleep. I hated myself, every time I did. For the way I treated a boy, an abused boy, who likes playing with them. The Kneazles, the cats, and even the mixed told me I should have done better. Mr. Paws actually scratched me at one time when I was about to serve the boy a purposely ruined chocolate cake."
Their cups of tea were left forgotten.
"I respect Albus, I really do, Minerva. But I couldn't do it anymore. If I couldn't tell him anything, the least I could do for Harry was not to make things harder than it already is. I let him play with Mr. Tibbles and the rest, and always warned him to never let the Dursleys find out. It was better than boring him with the pictures of all the cats I've ever owned."
-End Flashback-
"Mr. Tibbles." said Sirius in remembering the times he spent with that cat.
Harry told him that the cat was just one of the many cats that his neighbor kept, nothing to be agitated about. The two spent their time at their hiding place as usual while the cat simply watched over them from a tree branch. Both Sirius and simply got along with Harry being their common interest. Unknown to him, the cat's intelligence and manner could be attributed to the fact that it was one eighth kneazle. Not that anyone else could have figured it anyways.
"Yes, Mr. Tibbles." McGonagall smiled, the look of a wizard's acknowledgment to a cat's intelligence always did make her happy, "I was surprised the moment Remus here became so worried when we found out Harry has been spending time with a big black dog. I thought he was being foolish, thinking it was a Grim, the usual rubbish that comes to mind for many whenever one thinks of a big black dog. Wanting to know more, where it is, immediately coming here the moment we got directions."
"You figured it out and took no chances. You always were the smarter one, Moony," Sirius complimented.
"I'd say we got lucky, Padfoot. Besides Minerva, Arabella probably wouldn't have told anyone else about Harry. Furthermore, who better to ask directions from a cat than an Animagus that can turn into one? She wouldn't have known that Harry's beloved dog is actually you, if I hadn't come along with her the entire time," said Lupin.
"What are we going to do about all this?" asked McGonagall.
"One thing I want to make it clear is that I'm staying here. I'm much better off looking out after him whenever he walks outside the blood ward." Sirius started off. "Figg has her pets keeping an eye on Harry. But it still isn't enough, it might be all too late by the time she contacts for help."
"And an Animagus with no wand like you is better?" Lupin smirked.
"Better than Squib at least." Sirius replied with his own smirk.
"Why won't you just confess everything? We'll come with you, I can have Albus-" suggested McGonagall.
"No! Not Dumbledore!" Sirius bit off. "If he could have or wanted to actually do anything, he would already have eight years ago before I got sent to Azkaban. Without a trial."
"But-" again McGonagall didn't get a chance to finish.
"No!" Sirius wouldn't listen, already knowing what they were thinking of. After all, he himself did have the same thoughts. "They sent me to Azkaban without a trial. Remus! Minerva! They gave trials to all captured Death Eaters, but not for me. You think they'd listen? The Aurors won't take any chances. I am, let's face it, a so called dangerous prisoner with powerful dark arts for escaping Azkaban. They'll have me receive the Dementor's Kiss rather than listen let alone believe to what I have to say. I won't, not now at least."
The last part appeased Lupin and McGonagall for the moment.
It was until late of night that the two wizards and the witch talked, mostly about Harry. The times Sirius wanted to do something about the Dursleys, he found out his godson had been having a rough time, which was often. Something had to be done, and yet they knew it had to be kept a secret from Dumbledore. As great as he was, the old wizard had been wrong in whatever he did whenever Harry was involved in some way or another. Sirius didn't want to take chances with Dumbledore in mind, at least until the time seemed right.
Rate and Review?
Looking forward to hearing readers' feedback.
I had a hard time thinking of the title and the summary than the story itself. But I'm happy with the title 'I'm a what?' after some deep thought and reviewing the movies. I remembered him reacting pretty much the same in two movies, I checked just in case and I was right.
Harry Potter and the Sorceror's/Philosopher's Stone:
"You're a wizard, Harry." smiled Hagrid.
"I'm a what?"
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets:
Ron remarked, "You're a Parselmouth. Why didn't you tell us?"
"I'm a what?"