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Chapter Text

It was frustrating.

It was frustrating that they didn’t seem to understand why he was so angry.

It was frustrating that they kept brushing him off when practically everything that was happening affected him in some way.

It was frustrating that they didn’t understand.

Harry crept from his bed, used to tuning out Ron’s snores and snuck out of the room on silent feet. He was used to sneaking around quietly at night. The Dursleys never reacted well to finding him up at night and sometimes he was just too hungry to wait until they decided to feed him again.

He paused when he spotted Sirius’ room open and empty down the hall.

Maybe tonight was his chance?

He wasn’t an idiot okay? He was maybe impatient and reckless but he wasn’t an idiot.

He could tell that the adults in the house conveniently got between him and Sirius during the day. Mrs. Weasley always seemed to have something for them to do on the other side of the house. Tonks was eager to talk and joke around, steering him away from her cousin.

It was starting to piss Harry off.

Because they didn’t understand.

They didn’t get how big of a deal it was to him that Sirius was here, in the same house. They didn’t get how thrilled he was about the chance to talk to his Godfather.

They didn’t get how angry they were making him.

It didn’t matter that Sirius might be unstable as he’d heard Mrs. Weasley whisper about to her husband. It didn’t matter that Tonks watched him warily when he was around. It didn’t matter that Sirius usually had a bottle of Firewhiskey in hand.

None of that mattered.

Because Sirius was his Godfather. He was the man that Harry’s parents had chosen to be his guardian if something happened to them.

And since they were in the middle of a war they would have taken that choice seriously.

So it didn’t matter how many times he heard about how reckless Sirius was or about the bad decisions he’d made.

Harry didn’t bloody care.

Could everyone just give him five minutes to get to know the man that had been illegally kept from him? Could he spend some time with someone who knew his parents? Who was best friends with his dad?

Could he speak to his Godfather for more than two minutes without some ‘well-meaning’ Order member whisking him away with some stupid excuse?

He wasn’t an idiot. And living with people very likely to throw a punch if he breathed wrong meant he was very observant when it came to the people around him.

He could see the sadness that had joined the haunted look in Sirius’ eyes, the defeated slump to his shoulders when Harry was dragged off to do something oh so important.

He could see how Remus tensed, how his hands balled into fists when Sirius didn’t try and call the Order members out on what they were doing. He could see the anger in the werewolf’s eyes when people purposefully got between Harry and his Godfather.

This rubbish piled on top of everyone ignoring his mail during most of the summer, the Ministry being bloody idiots, Dumbledore avoiding him like the plague and his friends not understanding why he was so pissed off meant that Harry was about at the point of ripping his hair out.

He’d taken to sneaking out of his room at night with his cloak, just to find a corner to sit in and be alone for a bit. Because he was never left alone in this bloody house. He apparently needed a babysitter twenty-four-seven and Ron and Hermione were practically glued to him all day despite the fact that he was still mad at them.

He’d tried to go knocking on Sirius’ door the first night, to talk to him with everyone out of the way. But he hadn’t even managed to knock before Tonks was suddenly there, scolding him about walking around at this hour.

The Order members had gone and put some kind of ward up at Sirius’ door so that they could make sure Harry didn’t go talking to him.

He wondered if they thought they were being subtle or if they didn’t care. Either way, it was infuriating.

But Sirius was out of his room, ignoring Mrs. Weasley’s imposed ten o’clock bedtime. No one else seemed to be up and the Order members generally only switched in the morning.

This was likely his only chance.

Pulling his cloak tightly around him, Harry hurried to the stairs, creeping down them and avoiding the spots that creaked. He peered into every room he passed until he found Sirius in one of the sitting rooms in front of the roaring fire.

He was often around the fireplaces in the house. Harry didn’t doubt it was a side-effect of the dementors. They’d left Harry chilled for hours after his encounters with them. Sirius had been around them for twelve years though. He would bet that the cold lingered.

His Godfather was staring into the flames, bottle of firewhiskey held in one hand.

No one was around to stop him this time so Harry took a deep breath and pulled the hood of his cloak down before entering the room.

Sirius’ eyes shot up at the sound of his now audible footsteps and he looked surprised to see Harry who awkwardly stood near the door, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked timidly, not actually sure what to say now that he was finally alone with the man.

Sirius blinked in surprise before gesturing at the other chair.

“Sure.” His voice was scratchy, rough like it still wasn’t getting enough use. “You don’t need to ask.”

Harry moved over and settled into the other armchair, enjoying the warmth of the fire for a moment. He could feel Sirius’ eyes on him and looked up to meet those curious, grey eyes. That haunted look that they’d held since Harry had met him in third year was still there but it was nice to see something other than sadness there too.

If someone interrupted them now, Harry was going to lose it.

“What’s got you up so late? And sneaking around with the cloak?” Sirius asked eventually. When his eyes landed on the cloak still wrapped around Harry’s shoulders, a faint smile ghosted around his lips. “I’m sure no one will yell at you for going to get a glass of water.”

Harry fidgeted for a moment. “Actually I was looking for you,” he admitted, noting his Godfather’s surprise at the admission. “If I’ve got the cloak on then no one can send me back to bed.”

Sirius blinked rapidly for a moment. “You were looking for me?” he asked, perplexed.

Harry felt his irritation rise again as he answered. “Well, everyone gets in the way when I try and talk to you during the day!” he exclaimed, his frustration bursting out of him although he did remember to keep his voice down. “And they put a ward or something outside your door so I couldn't go and knock. So I was stuck checking if you went wandering during the night.” He huffed an aggravated sigh, glaring at the fire.

“They’re only trying to keep you safe,” Sirius murmured and Harry’s gaze snapped back to the man. Sirius was looking away again, grey eyes pained.

“They’re being idiots, that’s what they’re doing,” Harry grumbled, waiting until Sirius’ gaze was back on him to continue. “You’re not a danger to me. You broke out of Azkaban because the rat was too close to me. You got between a werewolf and me. You lived in a cave off of rats so you could be close while that whole disaster of a tournament was happening. All the Order members are being idiots because the last thing you’d do is hurt me. Only Remus isn’t being an idiot because he’s also mad at what they’re doing.”

“Harry…” Sirius looked pained. “The dementors… I’m not exactly the most stable-”

His words made Harry see red since they were an echo of what he’d heard from Mrs. Weasley and Tonks and all the other Order members.

“And who’s fault is that?!” he seethed. “The people who didn’t ever check if you got a bloody trial!” he was barely remembering to keep his voice down now as angry thoughts and feelings he’d been suppressing the last year bubbled over. “I get Remus because he couldn’t check because of his condition and he trusted everyone else to check for him. But did they? Moody was an auror. But he didn’t double-check even though he goes on about never trusting anyone and what they say. Tonks is your cousin but she never checked when she became an auror. All the people that were in the Order with you never bothered to check. Dumbledore didn’t check. And he was the one who had the most power to! None of them checked and they left you to suffer in Azkaban.” He felt tears prick at his eyes and angrily tried to keep them back. His voice still wavered when he spoke again. “Dad would have checked.” He hated how uncertain his voice was. He hated that he didn’t know his parents well enough to be able to say that with any certainty.

“He would have broken into Azkaban himself,” Sirius whispered and Harry’s gaze snapped to his Godfather’s. There was a mess of emotions in those eyes but there was also a tremulous smile pulling at his lips. “He would have stormed the prison while Lily raised hell at the Ministry. They wouldn’t have stopped until someone showed them the memory of the trial, until they’d heard it from my own lips.” He took in a shaky breath and Harry felt something loosen in his chest at the certainty in Sirius’ voice.

“Almost everyone in this building failed you,” he mumbled, leaning back into his chair. “They’ve got no right to make any comments on your mental state.”

Sirius let out a shaky laugh. “Merlin, you really do have your mother’s temper. She bottled it all up inside until it exploded just like that. And she knew how to hold a grudge.”

A warm feeling spread in Harry’s chest. Not just at hearing that he shared another trait with his mother, but also to hear that she wasn’t perfect. Whenever people talked about her they made her seem absolutely perfect with no flaws. It made it more than a little intimidating to be her son. He’d heard more negative things about his dad but that was usually from Snape so he tended to ignore them.

While his mom couldn’t be perfect his dad couldn’t be absolutely terrible.

They’d been human, just like everyone else. And he wanted to hear everything about them. He wanted to hear about the good and the bad.

He wanted to know his parents. And he wanted to know the people they cared about.

Harry looked down at where he was fiddling with the edge of the cloak.

“You’re my Godfather. You’re one of the last links I’ve got to my parents. You were the person who was supposed to raise me if things didn’t go horribly wrong that night. They… they don’t have the right to take that away from me…”

Sirius set the bottle down and leaned forward, prompting Harry to look up. The teen was biting his lip nervously. There was no guarantee that Sirius wanted to spend a lot of time with him after all. Harry knew how much he looked like his dad. He must be a terrible reminder of what Sirius lost.

Those grey eyes were gentle though, that haunted look softened by an emotion that Harry couldn’t quite place.

“I thought you might not want to be around me too much,” he admitted quietly. “It is my fault everything happened.”

Harry blinked in bewilderment for a moment.

“What? No! It’s not your fault!” he was flooded with indignation at the thought. “It’s Wormtail’s fault! You can’t be blamed for trusting your friend.” He met his Godfather’s pained gaze stubbornly. “If you want to blame yourself then you’ve got to blame mom and dad too since they also trusted him.”

Sirius gaped at him for a moment before a weak chuckle escaped him. “That was all James,” he whispered wistfully. “He was as stubborn as they came… But I think you use logic a bit better than he did.”

Harry couldn’t help but smirk triumphantly and Sirius shook his head with another soft chuckle.

“Now that that’s sorted,” he declared. “Dad was stubborn?” he knew that his voice grew a bit more uncertain when he asked the question. People got weird when he asked anything about his parents. Remus had been the only one who tried to answer Harry's questions properly, even if it clearly pained him to think about his parents.

Sirius gained a nostalgic smile though. “The most stubborn person I’ve ever known,” he murmured. “Once he got an idea into his head, he refused to let it go. He’d decided in third year already that he was going to marry Lily. Never looked at another girl after that. He was the one to latch onto the idea of becoming Animagi for Remus. Didn’t let any of the setbacks dishearten him. Even when he got stuck with the beginning of antlers for two weeks.”

Harry let out a surprised laugh and Sirius’ smile widened a bit.

“And no one noticed?” Harry asked, leaning forward a bit.

Sirius shook his head. “No, that wild hair of his hid them pretty well. Thankfully even Remus didn’t notice them. He would have flipped his shit if he’d found out what we were doing.”

“Didn’t he yell at you when you told him afterwards?”

“By then he couldn’t do anything so he had to grudgingly accept what we’d done,” Sirius smirked at Harry’s laugh.

“Better to ask forgiveness than permission,” Harry snickered.

“That was your dad’s motto anyway,” Sirius’s smirk softened into a smile again. “Nothing stopped him once he set his mind to it. Even if what he’d decided to do was befriend the heir of the Black family.”

Harry waited patiently as Sirius seemed to briefly lose himself in the memory. He’d noticed that this happened sometimes. Sirius would get stuck in a memory of the past and would be gone for a bit.

No doubt another side-effect of the long exposure to dementors he’d gone through.

Luckily, for once, he seemed to have gotten caught up in a good memory. Harry had seen Remus trying to draw his Godfather out of bad ones enough times to see the differences.

Then, he would withdraw into himself, muscles tense and expression pained.

Now, he was much more relaxed, a gentle smile tugging at his lips and transforming his face.

Harry didn’t mind at all as Sirius only came out of it about fifteen minutes later.

He blinked rapidly before focusing back on Harry, a guilty look crossing his face.

“Harry, I’m sorry-” he started but Harry cut him off.

“It’s not your fault,” he stated firmly. “Besides, I don’t mind. It looked like a happy one.”

Sirius looked uncertain for a moment before he nodded. “When your dad and I first met.”

Harry immediately perked up. “Will you tell me about it?”

That tentative smile was back and Harry counted it as a win when his Godfather relaxed again.

They both settled into their chairs as Sirius began telling him about how he’d met James Potter on the train in first year, about Harry’s father’s determination to befriend the lonely boy and how they picked up Remus along the way.

Harry was quickly entranced by the story, happy to listen to the kindness his father could display and relieved when Sirius didn’t leave out the details like his father’s arrogance and sharp tongue.

It made it easier to imagine James Potter as an actual human being instead of this mythical being everyone had built him up into.

Harry wanted to know more about him, more about his mother, about Remus and about Sirius.

He was done with people getting in the way of that.

Chapter Text

Harry woke up to the chaos that was the Weasley family heading down for breakfast. Mrs. Weasley was yelling at the twins for… something. Ron was loudly asking what there was to eat and Ginny was grumbling about something.

Harry wondered if Hermione suffered as much as he did in the mornings. He loved the Weasley family but they were so damn LOUD.

Reluctantly, he dragged himself out of bed. As he was rubbing at his eyes and trying to reboot his brain, he remembered exactly why he was so tired.

That woke him right up.

He’d finally gotten to talk to Sirius. With no distractions and no ‘well-meaning’ Order members, he’d finally managed to spend some time with his Godfather. He couldn’t help but smile as he remembered the few hours they’d sat talking, Sirius telling Harry about his parents and, surprising to Harry, asking about his Godson’s own years at school.

Having someone curious about his own life had left Harry feeling warm. That’s what family was supposed to do, be involved or interested in each other’s lives. He’d been a bit hesitant but he’d opened up about his time in Hogwarts.

They’d only gotten up to Harry’s first Halloween in the wizarding world since Sirius was highly unimpressed about the troll incident and had spent a few minutes ranting about ‘how the hell did Dumbledore let a troll into the school?!’

Harry was pleasantly surprised that Sirius hadn’t been mad at him. His Godfather had mostly been worried at the danger he’d been in and proud that he’d managed to save Hermione. Actually, he’d been pretty proud through most of the story. He’d positively beamed when Harry told him about getting onto the Quidditch team.

“That would have given your mom a heart attack and your dad would have been deliriously happy,” he’d informed Harry.

By the time he'd finished up the troll incident, they’d realised how late it was and Sirius had shooed Harry off to bed. He’d been very reluctant to go but Sirius had put his foot down, stating that he didn’t want Harry walking around like a zombie in the morning.

The casual care had warmed Harry right up and he’d quietly thanked Sirius for talking to him. He’d been surprised when a hand tentatively ruffled his hair.

“Anytime Pup,” Sirius had murmured.

Harry just knew that the memory of the previous night was one he’d treasure for a long time. With the noise apparently having moved downstairs to the kitchen, Harry stood up and started making his own way there, absently fighting with his hair in an attempt to get it looking somewhat decent.

It was a fight he always lost.

Entering the kitchen he found most of the house’s occupants attacking the food on the table. Ron was complaining about something, probably the twins swiping something that he wanted and Hermione had already retreated with her food.

Harry caught sight of Remus moving over to where Sirius was sitting with two plates of food, placing one down firmly in front of his Godfather. The two exchanged a look, Sirius rolling his eyes while Remus gave the food a pointed look.

Harry had noticed that Sirius didn’t really eat a lot. Just one more thing to blame on Azkaban.

Like every morning, Mrs. Weasley appeared out of nowhere and shoved an overfull plate of food into his hands before steering him towards where Hermione and Ron were sitting.

Clear on the other side of the long table from Sirius.

Harry had finally got a nice, long talk with his Godfather in and he wasn’t about to go back to barely speaking to the man. He was done with everyone’s overbearing and frankly hypocritical behaviour.

Thanks to long years of practice of ducking out from under Aunt Petunia’s claws, Harry escaped Mrs. Weasley’s hold and beelined for his Godfather.

Sirius had told him that his father was incredibly stubborn and that was how they’d ended up friends in the first place, how his parents had ended up married at all.

That was a trait Harry would be happy to emulate right now.

He planted himself in the chair beside Sirius, startling both his Godfather and Remus.

“Where’d you get an apple?” he asked. “I couldn’t see any fruit on the table?”

He purposefully ignored the sudden silence on the other side of the table.

Sirius blinked a couple of times. “Er, Remus makes sure there’s fruit in stock.”

“Better for Sirius to eat than food that’s too rich,” Remus explained when Harry looked to him.

“Can I have some?” Harry asked. “I can’t eat too much of breakfast usually since it makes me sick.”

Sirius’ eyes suddenly narrowed and Remus looked concerned as well. But neither of them commented on it to Harry’s relief and the werewolf simply got up to retrieve an apple and a banana from the cupboard.

“Thanks,” Harry was still ignoring the people staring at him.

“Harry dear,” Mrs. Weasley started and he braced himself for her new attempt to get him away from Sirius. “You could have just said that you wanted some fruit. Come now, come sit with Ron and Hermione. I need to tell you all what needs cleaning today.”

“I can hear just fine over here,” Harry answered stubbornly, meeting her surprised eyes. He very rarely said no to her.

Well, that was changing. He had no patience left for the people treating his Godfather badly. Not giving Mrs. Weasley enough time to try again, Harry turned to face Sirius and Remus.

“How come the fruit doesn’t spoil without a fridge?” he asked.

Remus looked bewildered by this sudden change but still answered.

“That cupboard has preserving charms on it,” he explained. “Any food put in there is kept fresh for longer.”

Sirius’ eyes flicked over to the other people in the room before landing back on Harry. He met his Godfather’s gaze stubbornly. If he thought that Harry was happy with occasionally meeting up at night in secret, he was wrong.

Those grey eyes softened a bit and Harry almost grinned smugly. He instead shoved some food into his mouth before someone could lecture him on not eating. Like always, the meal was far too rich for him. The same way the food at Hogwarts was. Those years at the Dursleys where he got far too little food that was usually scraps hadn’t done his stomach any favours.

The fruit helped though. It was lighter and easier on his system.

“Harry, what are you doing over there?” Tonks asked, having just stumbled her way down to breakfast, late as always.

“Eating my breakfast,” Harry answered blandly.

He caught Sirius’ mouth twitching very slightly and inwardly cheered. His Godfather deserved some petty payback and Harry would be happy to provide it. Remus was looking confused still but he’d settled back to watch as he ate.

“Yes, but why are you over there?” Tonks tried again after a moment. “Your friends are on this side of the table.”

He glanced up and over the rest of the room. Everyone seemed to be very perplexed by his behaviour.

“Yeah, but my Godfather is on this side of the table and I see my friends all year. So makes sense to spend time with him,” he answered dryly.

He caught sight of a slight smile forming on Remus’ lips before the werewolf hid it behind his tea, realisation dawning in his eyes.

Sirius stayed quiet and bit into his apple while he watched.

Harry calmly ate his breakfast while Tonks and Mrs. Weasley clearly floundered for what to say. Ron, Hermione and Ginny also seemed confused. The twins looked curious and Bill was watching everything out of the corner of his eye while he ate.

“Besides, in case you’ve all somehow missed it despite me being very obvious about it, I’m still mad at them for ignoring me all summer,” Harry added, an acidic note of bitterness coating his words.

Ron immediately scowled while Hermione and Ginny frowned.

“Professor Dumbledore-” Hermione predictably started but Harry cut her off.

“Professor Dumbledore hasn’t had to live in a house that hates him for years so he can fuck right off as far as I’m concerned!” Harry snapped, green eyes blazing as his temper snapped. “You had the choice to listen to him, despite knowing that I was a mess after last year. And you did. You chose Dumbledore over me and I’m allowed to be pissed off about it!”

“Harry!” Mrs. Weasley scolded. “That’s enough of that language-”

Harry absently remembered Sirius’ comment on his mother’s temper as he completely lost his.

“You’re not my mother!” he yelled, slamming his hands down on the table as he stood up, glaring at the woman who shrank back at the unexpected shout. “You don’t have the right to tell me to shut up and accept whatever Dumbledore decided, which made me bloody miserable this holiday by the way. You don’t have the right to yell at me or tell me what to do. I appreciate what you and your family have done for me the last few years but that does not make you my mother!”

Words and bitter thoughts he’d pushed down for years were suddenly overflowing.

“And I’m sick of all of you! I’m sick of you treating me like someone you can order around, like you can decide my life for me. I’m sick of you constantly making decisions for me. But most of all, I’m bloody sick of you trying to keep my Godfather from me!” the table cracked under his hands but Harry didn’t notice. “I’m not an idiot! It’s bloody obvious what you’ve all been doing since I arrived. Every time I try and talk to Sirius someone just coincidentally needs to interrupt us! Every damn time! I’m sick of it! I’m going to talk to my Godfather if I want to! What right do you have to keep the last member of my family from me?!”

“Harry, we’re just worried about you-” Tonks tried and Harry rounded on her.

“And I blame everything Sirius struggles with on all of you!” he snapped, making her rear back. "Everyone in the Order!” he absently noticed that Kingsley and Moody were lingering in the doorway now. “What kind of friends were you that you didn’t even bother to check if he had a trial!?” he demanded. “What kind of family? What kind of allies were you? It’s a miracle that Sirius is helping you at all after you lot abandoned him with only the Ministry’s word. When you already knew they were corrupt! Bellatrix Lestrange got a trial! Why not Sirius?! So I blame you. I blame everyone in the Order. And I blame Dumbledore for everything Sirius struggles through right now. So you hypocrites don’t have any right to say anything about me spending time with my Godfather. Because it’s your fault I didn’t have one until now.” He took a shaky breath as he tried to get his temper back under control. “The only person I don’t blame is Remus since he couldn’t look into it because the Ministry are bigoted idiots. He trusted you all to. And you didn’t.”

Silence fell, everyone in the room gaping at Harry.

It was Remus who broke it.

“He let them use the house because of you,” he murmured softly, drawing Harry’s attention. “They could use the house as long as you got to come here too for safety.”

Harry flicked a glance at Sirius who seemed a bit shell-shocked at Harry’s outburst. He’d already known most of what Harry had said from the previous night but it was different to see his Godson actually yelling it all in the Order’s faces.

“Well I already knew that Sirius was better than them,” Harry declared, sitting back down in his chair.

Remus smiled, looking a bit wistful.

“I know,” Harry smirked a little. “I’ve got mom’s temper. Sirius already told me. Sorry about the yelling. I know your ears are more sensitive.”

Remus blinked in surprise before waving the apology away. Harry could hear Mrs. Weasley spluttering and just knew that she was about to start yelling. So he cut that right off.

“Like I said, you’re not my mother,” he levelled a glare at her. “I love your family, they’ve been there for me when no one else was. But now Sirius can be. Now my Godfather is here and I’m sorry but he’s got a lot more claim to any authority over me. Remus has more claim than you do actually. He’s basically my Uncle. So from now on, I’m not going to do whatever you say because you think I should. I’m not going to do anything because you think I should listen to Dumbledore. You want me to do something, ask Sirius or Remus. If they tell me to do it, then I will. Otherwise, no. I’m fed up with all of you. I may be a minor but that doesn’t mean every adult in my life can order me around. As far as I’m concerned, Sirius is my guardian. Like my parents wanted him to be.”

He grabbed his fruit and stood up, making his way towards the door. He shoved past the two Order members still there before pausing and spinning back around. “Also, take that stupid ward down from outside Sirius’ door! Who do you think you are to tell him what he can and can’t do in his own home?!”

Remus watched Harry storm off before looking back at Sirius. His friend looked a little shell-shocked by what had just happened.

Suddenly the werewolf couldn’t help it. He snickered.

Sirius’ gaze snapped to him along with everyone else's.

“I’m sorry,” Remus tried to get his amusement under control. “I just…” he gestured helplessly. “That was all Lily. Remember when she yelled at some Order members for the comments they made about me?”

Realisation dawned in Sirius’ eyes and a smile tugged at his lips. “It built up for a few meetings and James was getting really nervous. He bolted from the room when she snapped and started yelling at them. Said she was fed up with them being idiotic bigots.” He glanced at the doorway Harry had exited through. “Stormed out afterwards just like that too.”

“That was so cool,” the twins whispered in unison.

“And deserved,” Bill muttered into his food.

“Bill!” Molly cried out in shock.

The curse breaker met his mother’s eyes with a hard gaze. “The lot of you have treated Sirius terribly despite the fact that you’re living in his house. Harry had every right to lose it like that on you. If someone had treated you or dad like that while staying at the Burrow I would have lost it a lot sooner than Harry did.”

He glanced around at the stunned people in the kitchen. “That kid has reached his limit. I wouldn’t continue pushing him I were you.”

Chapter Text

“No.”

Harry idly thought that Mrs. Weasley could achieve the same level of furious red in her face that Uncle Vernon could when riled up enough.

“Now Harry dear,” she tried but he was done with them. They weren’t going to just steamroll over his words from earlier.

“No,” he repeated. “I’m not cleaning anything. You’re not my guardian. Speak to my Godfather or Uncle if you want me to do something.”

Maybe he was channelling his cousin a little as he dropped into the nearest chair but he didn’t care. He was going to force them to treat Sirius properly.

“Harry!” Hermione yelled and he levelled an icy glare at her.

“I’m still mad at you so don’t push it,” he snapped, making her recoil.

Mrs. Weasley spluttered for a moment before whirling on Sirius and Remus who were watching everything with a sort of morbid fascination. Remus looked more amused than anything.

“Well?!” she demanded.

There was a beat of silence.

“Well what?” Remus asked eventually.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” she asked shrilly.

“No,” Remus shrugged while Sirius rubbed his ear with a wince at the levels Mrs. Weasley’s voice was reaching. “I recognise that look in his eyes. That’s the look James got at his most stubborn. There is going to be no changing his mind.”

Harry smirked smugly when the eyes in the room turned back to him. He knew he was acting out of character. But this time it wasn’t entirely about him. They were treating Sirius badly and that wouldn’t stand.

“Besides, Harry was impossible for hours when he got upset as a baby,” Sirius added. “I doubt that’s changed.”

Harry perked up and he wasn’t the only one.

“Really?” the twins asked.

“Our sweet little Harry?” Fred asked.

“Impossible?” George continued.

“Never!” they declared.

Sirius shook his head in amusement. “Oh yes. If the Pup genuinely got upset about something, he did his very best to be the most difficult he could be.”

“That was generally when the person he wanted wasn’t around. Which was usually Sirius,” Remus added.

“You too Rem,” Sirius argued. “With you gone on so many missions, Harry threw many fits when his Moony wasn’t around.”

Harry flushed as Fred and George cooed at him but he pushed past the embarrassment. “So I wanted you guys around a lot?” he asked.

“Oh yes,” Remus nodded. “Sirius was your favourite person in the world. James and Lily were quite put out when your first word was ‘Siri’.”

“It was?” Harry asked in surprise.

Remus’ smile grew sadder at the reminder that Harry didn’t know many things that most took for granted.

“It was Siri first. Then dada and mama,” he told Harry.

“Then Moony,” Sirius added. “Don’t pretend that he didn’t adore you too. He loved when you read him stories.”

Remus suddenly looked thoughtful. “You were a fussy baby when it came to people. You either loved someone or you hated them. You adored Professor McGonagall. But you couldn’t stand Peter.”

“That should have been a clue,” Sirius muttered.

Harry was more than a little smug to hear that he hadn’t liked the traitor. He glanced over to see that Mrs. Weasley was still fuming and fully expected her to start yelling in a moment.

“Well, tell Harry to help with the cleaning so that we can get on with it,” Hermione suddenly said, no doubt thinking that it would solve the issue.

Sirius, however, didn’t look so keen. “Actually I’m not too comfortable with you kids cleaning up the house. My family was pretty damn dark and they had all sorts of nasty things in this place. After the dementors my memory isn’t the greatest so I can’t remember exactly what they had, but I do know there were a fair amount of dangerous items.

Mrs. Weasley scoffed and Harry felt his temper spiking again.

“In all honesty, it’s the aurors who should be doing that. Along with Remus and me. We’re the least likely to get hurt while searching out dark items.

“Wait, there are dangerous items in this house?” Kingsley sounded alarmed. “And the children have been cleaning with little to no supervision?”

“I told Molly but she brushed it off,” Sirius shrugged.

Both Moody and Kingsley turned to glare at her.

“Well, I’ll be the one to say it. No more cleaning until we’ve done a thorough sweep of the place. Honestly Molly, what were you thinking? Everyone knows the Blacks were as dark as they came,” Moody snapped scathingly.

“Not all of them,” Harry immediately defended. “Not Sirius.”

“Or your grandmother,” Sirius added. “Or Andromeda. Or my Uncle Alphard.”

“Seems like you all need to work on not painting an entire family with the same brush,” Remus pointed out mildly.

“My grandmother was a Black?” Harry asked curiously.

Sirius nodded. “James and I were technically cousins.”

“Wicked,” Harry grinned and Sirius didn’t seem able to help his answering smile.

“Then what are the children going to do?” Mrs. Weasley snapped, even angrier now that Moody and Kingsley weren’t siding with her.

Sirius and Remus looked at each other.

“Uh, what kids do when they’re on holiday?” Sirius suggested. “I don’t know why you’re so determined to make them work when they’re supposed to be on break.”

He met Harry’s gaze for a moment and something in his grey eyes seemed to harden before he looked back at Mrs. Weasley.

“I can’t tell you what to do with your own children and I know that Hermione is currently under your care, but as it’s recently been pointed out to me, this is my house. I’m not going to force Harry to work during the holidays.”

Harry beamed at him, pleased that Sirius was taking a stand against Mrs. Weasley. Also, it would be nice not to have to work all day. He got enough of that at the Dursley’s.

Before Mrs. Weasley could blow up, Bill suddenly spoke up from the doorway. “He’s got a good point mom,” he said firmly. “This is his house and Harry is his Godson. If he doesn’t think Harry should be working then that should be the final decision.”

Ignoring his fuming mother for the moment, he looked at Sirius. “I removed that ward from in front of your room. Let me know if anyone else tries something invasive like that again and I’ll put up privacy wards for you Sirius.”

“Thanks,” Sirius seemed surprised but grateful.

Bill nodded at them, shooting his mother a warning look before turning to leave. He paused though. “Oh, and mom? Just remember that the twins are seventeen now. They’re of age. They can spend their time doing what they like. Please don’t try and smother them this summer.”

She gaped at his back as he left. So did the twins.

They glanced at each other, seemed to realise that no cleaning would be happening, and scampered out of the room before Mrs. Weasley could pull herself together.

“So… we’re not going to have to clean?” Ginny asked into the silence, looking hopeful.

“No,” Kingsley answered firmly. “Moody, Tonks and I are going to start sweeping all the rooms. Actually, don’t go into any of the rooms that haven’t been checked.”

“Don’t go into the library at all,” Remus added. “It’s locked.”

“What?!” Hermione sounded horrified at that. She’d been looking forward to getting to that room on the cleaning schedule.

“That library is filled with so many cursed books that only a Black by blood can read. It’s not safe for anyone else,” Remus explained.

Hermione looked dismayed while Moody and Kingsley just nodded.

“I’m a Black by blood,” Tonks pointed out in annoyance.

“You’re not officially part of the family. The curses would affect you too,” Sirius explained.

“And why can’t you bring her into the family?” Mrs. Weasley demanded, finding something else to blame on Sirius.

Harry bristled at the tone but Sirius only rolled his eyes.

“How would I do that? I’d have to go to Gringotts to do that and it would be very public knowledge. How do you think everyone would react if I did do it? They’d start calling Andy and Tonks dark in moments and calling for their heads.”

“It’s asking for trouble,” Remus agreed. “Andy specifically told Sirius not to take the risk.”

“If you’re done trying to blame Sirius for everything that’s gone wrong in the last decade,” Harry bit out, his temper still a little too close to the surface, “Then I’m going to spend time with my family.”

He jumped up from the couch and grabbed both Remus and Sirius by the arms to drag out of the room with him before he lost his temper again.

Sirius chuckled as he fell into step beside Harry, Remus looking just as amused.

“You didn’t mention that that was your plan last night Pup,” Sirius pointed out lightly, making Remus glance at them in curiosity. Sirius noticed and explained. “Our Pup has a habit of wandering around at night under a certain cloak. He found me in one of the sitting rooms.”

“Was my only choice because of that stupid ward and everyone being idiots during the day,” Harry mumbled. “And today happened because I’m done with them all being idiots. You’re my Godfather. They don’t get to take that away from me.”

Sirius’ gaze softened.

“I’m not going anywhere Pup,” he assured softly. “You’re stuck with me now.”

“Good,” Harry huffed.

He suddenly came to a halt as a thought struck him. Nervous, he looked up at his Godfather and Uncle.

“If the hearing goes badly and I get kicked out of school, can I stay with you?” he asked tentatively. “Or do I have to go back to the Dursleys?”

Sirius looked shocked at the question but he knelt down in front of Harry and rested his hands on his shoulders.

“Harry,” he sounded stern for the first time since Harry had met him. “You are always welcome wherever I am. No matter what. It doesn’t matter what happens.”

Harry swallowed hard and nodded, the words taking a weight off his shoulders.

“But it shouldn’t come to that,” Remus was frowning. “This is a clear case of self-defense.”

“Yeah, but with how the Ministry is, that won’t matter,” Harry muttered miserably. He’d been trying not to think about his looming disciplinary hearing.

Sirius and Remus exchanged confused looks.

“What do you mean Pup?” Sirius asked. “Hasn’t Dumbledore explained anything?”

“Dumbledore hasn’t even looked at me since last year,” Harry bit out bitterly. “And anytime I ask someone, they tell me that Dumbledore is handling it.”

The two men were starting to look a bit angry now.

“He’s told you nothing?” Remus asked in shock.

Harry just shook his head.

“He hasn’t brought up getting the memory verified?” Sirius asked sharply. Harry just stared back in confusion.

“Memory?”

Sirius let out a swear and Remus abruptly looked just as angry.

“Come on Pup,” Sirius started leading him towards the study. “We’d better sort this out now. What the bloody hell is Dumbledore thinking?”

“I don’t know but I’d love to find out,” Remus muttered.

Harry glanced between them in confusion. What had got them so worked up?

He was getting a bad feeling about all this.

Chapter Text

"So wait, let me get this straight," Harry stared up at his Godfather and Uncle. "All Dumbledore had to do was send in a copy of my memory for them to verify that it's real, so that it can be used in the hearing and clear things up in minutes?"

Sirius nodded stiffly, a thunderous scowl on his face. Remus was pacing restlessly back and forth.

"Couldn't I just do that with the memory of the graveyard?" Harry asked after a moment, his own anger at the headmaster starting to bubble up. "Or the memory of what happened in third year to clear Sirius?"

Both Remus and Sirius froze before Remus let out a mildly terrifying snarl. But it wasn't directed at Harry so he wasn't really concerned.

"That bastard…" Sirius breathed, eyes wide and clearer than they had been in a while. Anger did some amazing things sometimes.

Harry stared blankly ahead at the wall for a moment. If wizards were able to just watch memories after verifying that they were real… that solved the majority of Harry's current problems.

"Is there any way to send the memories without Dumbledore?" He asked.

Remus took a deep breath and thought for a moment. 

"You could send them directly to Amelia Bones with a request to verify and use them. From what I've heard she's one of the only decent ones in the Ministry."

"Go right over the old fool's head," Sirius agreed with a sharp grin. "I don't know what game he's playing by ignoring the option of using memories but if he's going to be stubborn about it then we'll just do it ourselves."

Remus nodded, a matching smirk on his face.

Harry got the feeling that he was getting a glimpse of the Marauders about to cause trouble.

He was looking forward to it.

Remus got Harry settled at the desk and talked him through the letter he had to write while Sirius went looking for a pensieve. 

"It's what we view memories in," he explained when Harry curiously studied the stone basin. "We need to make sure the memories show what we need them to."

Remus lifted his wand to Harry's temple after instructing him to focus on the memory of the dementor attack. His skin tingled where the tip of the werewolf's wand touched him before Remus drew away a silvery strand.

Always curious about new magic, Harry watched him drop it into a bowl.

He'd reluctantly agreed to not enter the memory with them since Sirius was adamant about him not being near dementors, even in a memory.

It was the clear worried concern and the knowledge that Sirius knew just how bad dementors were that made Harry agree. Normally he got angry when adults told him not to do something but Sirius had asked, not ordered.

And Harry could understand why he asked.

So he waited for them to finish viewing the memory, hoping that this would end up helping with the hearing. 

He was not prepared for his Godfather to suddenly pull out of the memory and drag him into a hug. The teenager was stunned for a moment before he realised that Sirius was shaking.

He felt like an idiot when he thought about it a bit. Seeing dementors get so close to Harry in that memory must have triggered him. He knew that his Godfather was protective from the times he'd already thrown himself into danger to protect him. Seeing that must have made Sirius panic considering the dementors were the source of a lot of his own suffering for the last twelve years.

Not used to it but knowing that Sirius needed the reassurance, Harry tentatively raised his arms and hugged his Godfather.

"I'm okay," he assured the man. "I'm fine, it didn't get me."

Remus let out a shaky sigh beside them and his hand landed on Harry's shoulder, making Harry realise that both of them had been shaken by the memory.

"That was one hell of a patronus," he murmured and Harry peeked over Sirius' arm to meet proud, amber eyes.

He gave his old Defence professor a shy smile in return.

It took a bit of reassurance before Sirius was able to pull back but he still kept his hands on Harry's shoulders. Harry didn't mind, the contact seemed to be helping his Godfather.

Now that he thought about it, Remus usually reached out to provide physical contact when Sirius was having a bad day.

Something to think about later.

"You should never have had to face that creature," Sirius spoke, drawing his attention back to them. "The Ministry failed you and the Order failed you on this one. You did damn good keeping your head and saving your cousin Pup."

Harry couldn't help but smile in response to the words. Praise for something he actually did was pretty rare for him. Sure he got thanked for what happened when he was a baby a lot but he hadn't done anything. He'd been a toddler.

Getting praise for something he actually did? For something he was good at?

That felt good.

"I'm pretty proud of Prongs," he admitted quietly.

Both Sirius and Remus smiled at the name. It might be silly but Harry liked to think that his stag patronus was his father watching over him.

It helped when he was feeling lonely.

He'd summoned his patronus a few times the previous year when he was still fighting with Ron and everyone in the castle hated him (again).

He always felt a bit better when he summoned the stag.

"You've definitely got a knack for defensive spells," Remus confirmed.

Sirius nodded in agreement. "Remus told me all about the year he taught you."

Harry flushed at the clear praise. That would take some getting used to.

Remus moved the memory into a vial before turning to Harry.

"Ready for the next one?"

Harry wasn't so sure suddenly. If they freaked out about that one, then how were they going to handle the graveyard?

But he nodded and allowed Remus to take the next memory before settling down in his seat. He didn't want to see it again, didn't want to see Cedric get murdered again. They didn't need to ask him to sit out this time.

This memory was longer so it was a bit of time before Remus and Sirius staggered back from the pensieve. 

They both looked horribly pale and Sirius was covering his mouth with a shaking hand.

"James… and Lily…" he whispered.

"Merlin…" Remus shakily sank into a seat. "Harry how…"

He shook his head and turned to gaze at Harry who fidgeted in place. 

Then the teen got glomped on by his Godfather again. The hugs definitely bordered on terrified and desperate but Harry couldn't help but enjoy them.

Positive physical contact wasn't exactly common for him. And Hermione's hugs tended to be more smothering than anything else.

Harry couldn't give them answers though. Couldn't reassure his Godfather this time.

There was a lot about that night that he still didn't understand.

Sirius drew in a shuddering breath before pulling back to stare at Harry with intense grey eyes.

"I will not allow something like that to happen again," he vowed fiercely. "You hear me Pup? Never again. While you handled it far better than ninety percent of the population would, you shouldn't have had to."

Harry swallowed hard at the words. A part of him had always wanted to hear them, for someone to say that dealing with Voldemort wasn't his job.

"I was scared," he whispered, admitting what he felt he couldn't to everyone that looked at him and only saw the Boy-Who-Lived.

Sirius immediately pulled him close again. "That's okay," he murmured. "I was bloody terrified just watching that."

Remus moved to crouch beside them, offering silent support.

"Everyone's treating me like a kid while expecting me to do something about a crazy dark wizard," Harry forced the words out, a bitter secret he'd long since buried in his heart. "It's not fair. If I'm a kid then I shouldn't have to do anything. If I should do something then I can't be a kid. They can't have it both ways because they want to."

Sirius rested his chin on Harry's hair, tucking his Godson close to his chest.

"I know Pup. None of its fair," he whispered. "But that's going to change. As you rightly pointed out, Remus and I have the most claim to your guardianship. Technically I never even lost it since I was never convicted. It's time we stepped up and did what Lily and James would want us to."

The words loosened something in Harry's chest. It would be nice to have someone on his side for once. Just his side. Not the side of the Light or Dumbledore's side.

Just his.

That's what family was for after all.

They sat like that for a while, just calming down and taking comfort in each other. The last memory of meeting Sirius in Harry's third year went a lot more smoothly and Harry got to see this one.

It was amazing to be able to watch one of his own memories from this perspective. He noticed so many things he didn't before.

Hopefully, this would make a difference…

Amelia Bones curiously studied the package that had been delivered by a beautiful snowy owl.

Inside she found three vials of memories labelled 'Dementors', 'Graveyard' and 'Sirius Black' respectively.

They all piqued her interest but she read the letter that came with them first.

Madam Bones

I am sorry to bother you with this personally, but no one seemed to think of this and I don't want to leave my Hearing up to chance.

I've included my memory of the attack by dementors that prompted my use of underage magic and hope that you can verify it so that your time isn't wasted with the Hearing dragging on.

I have also included two other memories that you may want to verify and use how you see fit.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely

Harry James Potter. 

Well...this was certainly interesting. She eyed the vial labelled 'Sirius Black' for a moment before picking up the dementor one. First, the memory that had to do with Mr. Potter's upcoming underage magic use hearing. Then she could look at the others.

...Why did she have such a bad feeling about these memories?

Chapter Text

Harry had grown increasingly anxious about his Hearing when its time and location was suddenly moved, sending him and Mr. Weasley sprinting through the Ministry to get there in time.

He thought it was all going to go downhill until Madame Bones abruptly took control of the entire thing.

"Minister," the severe-looking woman who reminded him of Professor McGonagall had cut off the pink toad-lady and eyed Fudge with a sharp gaze. "I do hope you're not trying to pervert the course of justice by rushing through a Hearing that I'm not sure why you're attending in the first place?"

Fudge had spluttered for a moment along with the pink toad.

Madame Bones had stared him down for a bit before looking at Harry.

"Mr. Potter, when did you become aware of the change in location and time of your Hearing?" She asked calmly.

"About five minutes ago," Harry answered, unable to help fidgeting in his seat. The chains wrapped around the armrests freaked him out.

"Hmm," the head of the DMLE cut a look towards the Minister again. "An oversight I'll be looking into I assure you. But moving on to the matter at hand, I'm sure no one wants to be here for too long. It's a rather simple case."

With that, she pulled a vial with a silvery substance twisting inside it into view.

Fudge looked abruptly angry while toad-lady appeared very uncomfortable.

"Now see here, a memory viewing wasn't authorised!" He spluttered in outrage.

Madame Bones raised an eyebrow and he cowered under the look.

"Even though it's standard procedure and would save us all a lot of time?" She asked dryly.

There were some murmurings from the crowd and Fudge swallowed nervously.

"Don't be concerned Minister," Madame Bones smiled at him. "I've already had it verified by Unspeakable Croaker. It's a genuine, unaltered memory."

She'd clearly backed the man into a corner and Harry was relieved for his Godfather's and Uncle's help.

Madame Bones paused to see if anyone else was going to protest before looking at Harry again.

"Mr. Potter, would you prefer to wait outside for the memory viewing?" She asked, voice much gentler when talking to him.

Harry almost denied her offer before he remembered how Sirius had reacted at just the idea of Harry near memory of dementors.

It was that thought that had him accepting her offer and hurrying out of the room as what Remus had called a projector pensieve was brought out. 

"Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked in confusion when he reappeared.

"Madame Bones let me wait outside so that I don't have to see the memory," he explained.

Mr. Weasley only looked more confused.

"Memory?"

Harry nodded. "Remus and Sirius mentioned that it's normal for them to use memories for self-defense hearings. So I wrote to her and sent her the memory."

"I see," he looked thoughtful. "That does make sense." He started smiling. "This should all be cleared up in no time then," he finished cheerfully.

Harry grinned back in relief.

"I wonder why none of us thought of that?" Mr. Weasley wondered out loud.

Harry shrugged but personally he was betting that the Order let Dumbledore do a little too much of their thinking for them.

He'd become a bit disillusioned with the Headmaster lately. He'd already been getting frustrated when nothing seemed to be done about Sirius' fugitive status but being forced into the Triwizard Tournament despite Dumbledore saying it was safe had just pissed him off.

And then he was just shipped right back to the Dursleys after witnessing Cedric's murder and Voldemort's resurrection.

Not to mention the whole duel thing, getting hurt, seeing his dead parents….

He'd been a mess.

Then the headmaster banned everyone from writing to him?

Harry already knew that Remus and Sirius didn't write purely because Mrs. Weasley restricted their access to owls. (Which was just a whole new reason to be mad at her, they were grown men for crying out loud!)

All of that then culminating in Dumbledore ignoring him and telling him nothing about his own Hearing…

Yeah, Harry was fed up with the old wizard. Remus and Sirius seemed to be as well though so that made him feel better.

While Harry was lost in thought, the memory must have been viewed since someone came to fetch him again. 

The witches and wizards in the room looked more than a little sick at what they’d seen, shocked and pale as they quietly watched him sit down in the chair again.

Madame Bones on the other hand looked calm and in control.

“I think that clears it all up,” she stated rather unnecessarily.

There were some quiet mumbles in agreement.

“Perfect,” she looked around the room. “So then we can move on. Mr. Potter didn’t only send me this memory, and I believe that it’s time some truths came to light. If that is alright with you Mr. Potter?” she looked at him again.

Harry felt his heart begin to pound as he realised what was happening. She was doing something. She was actually taking the memories he’d given her and doing something with them.

“I sent them to you for a reason Madame Bones,” he answered quietly.

She nodded firmly and ignored Fudge’s protests.

“These memories have also been verified by Unspeakable Croaker,” she told the room at large. “Mr. Potter, would you prefer to wait outside again?” she asked, tone gentler again.

Harry swallowed hard. “Yes ma’am,” he hated that his voice cracked but he couldn’t imagine watching that memory. 

He could guess which one she would show first.

So he practically fled the room.

Mr. Weasley was surprised to see him again so soon but he wasn’t able to explain this time, staring at the floor.

Everyone would see it.

Everyone would see Voldemort coming back.

Everyone would see Cedric getting murdered.

Everyone would see the echoes of his parents.

His heart beat faster as he thought about the implications.

Everyone would see Peter Pettigrew alive and working for Voldemort.

They’d know.

They’d know.

The tiny spark of hope that lit in Harry’s chest wasn’t something he normally allowed. But maybe this time he could.

Approaching footsteps caught his attention and he looked up to find Dumbledore approaching with Mrs. Figg trailing behind.

Harry was immediately irritated that the man was looking only at Mr. Weasley and hadn’t even glanced at him.

“Arthur? Why are you and young Harry standing outside?” he asked, a hint of confusion in his voice.

“Albus!” Mr. Weasley was far too pleased to see the man in Harry’s opinion. “I’m not entirely sure. Harry seems a bit upset by something. I believe they’re viewing a memory or something at the moment?”

“A memory?” Dumbledore asked, vague surprise in his voice.

Harry stubbornly fixed his gaze on the floor. If his headmaster was so determined to ignore him, then Harry could return the favour.

He was getting good at being stubborn lately.

“What memory is that?” Dumbledore asked.

Harry didn’t answer, glaring a hole into the floor as he tried not to think of the graveyard and Cedric’s dead body.

"Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked in confusion at his silence.

Harry was relieved when the door opened again, cutting off what he was about to say.

"You can come back in Mr. Potter," he gestured at Harry before noticing Dumbledore. "Can I help you Headmaster?"

"Ah yes, I'm just here to help with young Harry's hearing," he explained cheerfully and Harry silently fumed.

The wizard only looked confused. "The hearing is over Professor Dumbledore. Madame Bones already cleared him and pronounced it a case of self-defense."

He turned back to Harry and gestured again for him to enter. Harry eagerly did so, leaving the bewildered adults behind as the wizard closed the door.

If the crowd looked ill before they looked deathly pale now. The fear was practically palpable in the air.

Harry sat down quietly, noting how Fudge was silently opening and closing his mouth and the toad-lady was fuming.

"As you can see, we have a lot to discuss," Madame Bones stated dryly. "But Mr. Potter does not need to be present for that discussion and I'm sure that he wants to get back to his interrupted holiday. So I'll show the final memory now so he can leave."

"What else could there possibly be?" Someone muttered.

Harry almost grinned at the question. The memory was short and focused on Pettigrew's confession so that it didn't give away Sirius' secret or Remus' transformation.

Harry patiently waited through the gasps and shocked cries until silence fell in the wake of the memory.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention Mr. Potter," Madame Bones spoke calmly. "I apologise for the inconvenience the Ministry has caused you today."

Harry nodded, picking up on the dismissal and happily getting up to leave.

That went far better than he'd ever expected.

The room erupted into an uproar as he walked out to join Mr. Weasley again, Dumbledore still there.

"It's all sorted Mr. Weasley," he assured the kind man. "I didn't get expelled. They're going to be busy for a while though."

"That's fantastic Harry!" The man clapped Harry on the shoulder happily.

He could practically feel Dumbledore's gaze on him.

The Headmaster didn't get to say anything though as Mr. Weasley was ushering Harry away, eager to get back to Grimmauld Place to share the good news.

Harry grinned to himself. He couldn't wait until he told Sirius and Remus about what Madame Bones had done.

Chapter Text

Everyone had cheered when Harry got back with the news that he'd been cleared. Mrs. Weasley had immediately started talking about throwing a party but Harry only had eyes for his Godfather. 

He raced over to the man and hugged him, making him startle a little.

"Thanks Sirius," he whispered. "It all worked out thanks to you and Remus."

Thin arms returned the hug a little tentatively. 

Harry wanted so badly to tell his Godfather and Remus about the other memories that had been shown but everyone was quickly being swept up in the celebration.

A cake was produced from somewhere and there was really good food but Harry paced himself with it. He’d long since learned that he’d just feel worse if he overdid it with Mrs. Weasley’s cooking. She was a great cook but he just wasn’t used to the food. Four years in the wizarding world didn’t negate ten with the Dursleys.

Harry planted himself by his Godfather’s side throughout the party, refusing to budge from where Sirius was sitting near the fireplace. Remus was definitely supporting his stubborn desire to spend time with his godfather and helped out by bringing the food over to them so that Harry didn’t have to move.

He smiled at the werewolf in thanks, feeling even more grateful when he noticed that Remus had picked the lighter foods for him as well and that he’d added on fruit.

He’d only mentioned his problems with eating once but the man remembered.

By the time that the party was winding down and Mrs. Weasley was starting to shoo everyone to bed, Harry was tucked under Sirius’ arm and well on his way to sleep.

When Mrs. Weasley called over to Harry to head up to bed, he only gave a sleepy grumble and shifted more closely into Sirius’ side.

His godfather huffed a soft chuckle.

“Don’t worry Molly,” he murmured, lifting his hand to brush the hair out of Harry’s face. “Remus and I will get him up to bed.”

Harry had no doubt that she wasn’t pleased about Sirius being involved at all but Remus didn’t give her a chance to complain as he suddenly lifted the teenager off of Sirius in one quick move.

Harry grumbled again but he was too close to sleep to really be bothered about opening his eyes or protesting with words.

Things blurred a bit after that and Harry was only really aware again when Remus was placing him down onto his bed. The blankets got pulled up over him and Remus squeezed his shoulder lightly before moving away.

Harry was just about to drift off again when he felt a feather-light touch pushing his hair out of his face again.

“Goodnight Pup,” Sirius whispered and suddenly it was very important that Harry respond because that was the first time in his memory that a family member had said goodnight to him like that.

He pressed back into the touch slightly and forced his mouth to move. “Night Siri,” he mumbled.

He drifted off to the sound of his godfather’s surprised huff of laughter.

The next morning Harry woke up to the usual chaos from the Weasley family. He patiently waited for them all to rush past before getting out of bed and following.

Again, he moved straight towards Sirius once in the kitchen, ducking right past Tonks’ outstretched hand as she tried to stop him to ‘tell him something very important’.

He planted himself in the chair next to Sirius again, pretending not to notice Remus’ amused smirk while Tonks and Mrs. Weasley looked frustrated.

He might be willing to accept that they thought they were doing the right thing, that they thought Sirius was some kind of danger to him.

That didn’t mean that they had any right to be doing what they were doing. They didn’t have any connection to him besides Mrs. Weasley being the mother of some of his friends and Tonks being in the same house currently.

So while he might be willing to accept that they thought they were doing the right thing, he was still pissed off and determined to not go along with it.

The reactions around the kitchen were varied as they all watched the mini struggle of wills going on. Bill seemed to be trying to hide a smile while the twins didn’t even bother, outright grinning at Harry and giving him a thumbs up. Ron and Ginny seemed perplexed by his behaviour and he could understand that.

They’d never had to fight for the right to spend time with their family. They didn’t understand.

Hermione just looked annoyed which Harry also got. She believed in the adults around them too much, refusing to admit that they could make mistakes or be wrong. Her defence of Snape was an example of that.

Harry didn’t particularly care if the man was his teacher. He was completely unprofessional when it came to Harry just because of who his dad was.

He was more of the opinion that respect had to be earned than just blindly given. And he was starting to realise that maybe he had given too much respect to some adults that he shouldn’t have…

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Remus set down a plate in front of him and he smiled at the man.

“Thanks Remus,” he murmured, pleased to see the fruit again along with the lighter foods.

He glanced up when more people entered, Mr. Weasley cheerfully greeting everyone and looking confused when he saw his wife’s annoyed expression. Moody and Kingsley followed soon after, talking quietly about something they’d found in one of the rooms yesterday. They’d been horrified by some of the things they’d found in the house and Kingsley had thanked Sirius for bringing the situation to their attention.

Harry had been pretty smug about it all. Maybe they’d start realising that Sirius wasn’t a raving lunatic from Azkaban if they actually listened to what he had to say instead of just dismissing him all the time.

Partway into breakfast, when Sirius was in the middle of telling Harry a story about his parents just after their engagement, an owl swooped in to deliver the Daily Prophet.

Harry scowled at the sight of the paper and ignored it for the moment, focusing on his godfather instead.

At least until Mr. Weasley gasped.

Everyone turned to look at him to find him staring wide-eyed at the newspaper.

He cleared his throat.

“Um, Harry, what exactly did you show the Ministry during your Hearing?” he asked faintly.

“Memories,” Harry answered vaguely with a shrug.

Some of the room looked confused at that statement but Mr. Weasley just swallowed hard.

“They must have been some very interesting memories,” he said in a weak voice.

He turned the newspaper to show everyone.

‘You-Know-Who Returned?! The Truth of the Final Task of the Tri-wizard Tournament!’

‘Fudge Arrested! Ministry Targeting Boy-Who-Lived?’

‘Sirius Black Innocent! Victim of a Corrupt Ministry!'

Harry quietly drank his tea as the room erupted into chaos. Remus snatched the newspaper first, immediately moving to read the bit about Sirius since he already knew about the graveyard.

A wide grin broke out over his face. “You’ve been acquitted Sirius!”

The animagus blinked at him in shock. “What?”

“It says here that Amelia Bones didn’t let anyone leave the Wizengamot Chambers until they’d sorted out your situation. They were in there for seven hours going over the memory and trying to find the trial transcripts. Fudge was forced to take Veritaserum. The whole Wizengamot is up in arms about the fact that a Pureblood Heir was sent to Azkaban without a trial.”

“Because of course that’s their priority,” Sirius rolled his eyes.

Harry looked up when Hedwig flew in through the window. There was a letter tied to her leg which he was very curious about. She’d been gone to Madam Bones for quite a bit, long enough that he’d started to get worried.

Remus had assured him that it was probably so that Bones had a sure-fire way to contact him. Apparently, Dumbledore had put up a lot of owl wards around the house to keep him safe from all the hate mail he’d been getting. But that it might have blocked other people.

Harry wondered if it had blocked people from school, like Neville and Luna. He’d talked to them a little last year and they’d both promised to write but never had.

He hoped that they hadn’t listened to the Headmaster too…

Harry shook those thoughts away and fed Hedwig some bacon as he gave her attention, subtly taking the letter and slipping it into his pocket to read later when he didn’t have nosy people surrounding him.

“Does this mean Sirius is free?” he asked hopefully.

“The Kiss-On-Sight order has been rescinded,” Remus was still grinning wildly. “There’s a quote from Madam Bones stating that Sirius can reach out to her personally and she’ll work on getting everything sorted out for him.”

Finally, Harry couldn’t help it anymore. He grinned back, looking at his shell-shocked godfather.

“It worked Sirius!” he threw his arms around the man.

“What worked?” Fred asked curiously as the newspaper was passed around the table.

“Albus hadn’t mentioned anything about Harry’s Hearing to him,” he heard Remus explain. “So Sirius and I explained about how pensieve memories are used as evidence in these kinds of cases. He sent the memory of the dementor attack to Madam Bones as well as the memory of the graveyard and Pettigrew’s confession.”

“That’s brilliant!” Bill enthused. “Taking advantage of the Hearing to clear up some other issues.”

“What did Professor Dumbledore say?” Hermione asked in confusion.

Harry snorted, not letting go of Sirius yet. “I don’t know. He showed up after everything was already sorted out. He never mentioned anything about my Hearing.”

“Harry!” Mrs. Weasley scolded. “I’m sure Albus had everything worked out.”

Harry shot her a glare. “Well, he didn’t tell me anything about my own Hearing so I did it myself.”

Like he’d been doing for ages already. Only this time he actually had help from adults.

“What if it had gone all wrong?” Hermione asked in worry.

“It wouldn’t. Remus told me who to send it to and Sirius knows how the whole thing worked,” Harry shifted slightly so he could look at the room.

Kingsley was looking confused while Moody looked bloody delighted. It was weird.

“Albus didn’t talk about your Hearing at all?” Kingsley asked in confusion.

Moody cackled which was even weirder.

“I’ll bet Fudge regretted ever meeting you after that Potter,” he smirked. “Nice work. Take advantage of every opportunity you can. The memories were a stroke of genius.”

Harry lifted his chin a little defiantly. “I’m the son of a Marauder, the godson of a Marauder and the nephew of a Marauder. What did you expect?”

Sirius barked out a laugh, reaching out and pulling Harry into a tight hug as the reality of what they’d read sunk in.

Bill, Remus and Mr. Weasley all smiled at his words while Moody smirked and Kingsley quirked a smile. Mrs. Weasley and Tonks were still frowning but it seemed more like it was out of confusion than anything else. The same was true of Hermione, Ron and Ginny.

The twins just looked delighted with his words.

“Thank you Pup,” Sirius whispered as he held him tight. “Thank you.”

“I’m tired of people trying to keep me away from you,” Harry murmured. “I’m done standing for it. Even if it’s the Ministry itself.”

He’d spent most of his time in the Wizarding World fumbling his way through things. It had been a wild and confusing ride a lot of the time but now he’d finally found his anchor in it all.

Like hell he was losing his Godfather. To anyone.

Chapter Text

While everyone was crowding around the newspaper to try and get a look at it, Harry caught Sirius’ hand and tugged him out of the room. He knew Remus would probably follow after a bit.

His Godfather seemed bemused but he followed without complaint, turning his hand around so that he could squeeze Harry’s.

Once they were in one of the quiet sitting rooms and Remus had slipped in after them, closing the door, Harry pulled out the letter Hedwig had brought.

“It’s from Madam Bones I think,” he explained.

He ended up sat between the two Marauders as he opened the letter and started to read.

Mr. Potter

I apologise for the gross miscarriage of justice that has been done to both you and your Godfather.

If you are able, please let Sirius Black know that he can contact me and I will do my best to assist him with returning to the Wizarding World.

Feel free to owl me if you have any further problems.

Sincerely, Madam Bones.

Harry glanced between Remus and Sirius once he finished reading. His heart was pounding now at the thought of his Godfather officially getting free.

"What do you think?" He asked quietly.

"I think Madam Bones is trustworthy. She's one of the few good ones in the Ministry," Remus mused.

They both looked to Sirius who was still studying the letter.

"Mind if I borrow Hedwig for a bit Pup?" He asked quietly and Harry couldn't help smiling in his excitement.

That little bit of hope in his chest was flaring brighter every day.

Harry was reading a Defence book Remus had lent him when the others found him. He'd wanted some peace and quiet for a bit so he'd settled in one of the sitting rooms.

Mrs. Weasley and Tonks looked pleased to see that Sirius wasn't nearby and Ron and Hermione didn't comment. They tentatively asked him if he wanted to join them for some games but he turned them down.

He was still mad at them because they refused to apologise and kept justifying their actions with "Dumbledore said". The twins had apologised to him for not writing, not throwing in any justifications or excuses. So had Ginny. So Ron and Hermione could as well.

He continued reading until it was time for lunch when they finally seemed to notice Remus and Sirius' absence.

"Where are they?" Bill asked with a frown.

"Out," Harry answered easily as he dished up his food. Several people choked on their food at his answer.

"What do you mean 'out'?!" Tonks demanded shrilly.

"Madam Bones contacted Sirius so he went to meet her to sort everything out." He shrugged at their shocked expressions.

"Shouldn't he have waited for Professor Dumbledore to get here?" Hermione asked worriedly. "Can they really trust someone from the Ministry?"

Moody was surprisingly the one to speak up.

"Amelia is safe. I'm the one who taught her. She won't stop until justice is served." He didn't even look up from his food. Well, his magical eye did. Still creepy...

"She seems pretty determined," Harry agreed.

"He isn't supposed to leave the house!" Molly fumed. "That was his agreement with Dumbledore!"

Harry narrowed his eyes at her and felt his temper start to rise.

"Sirius isn't a prisoner," he said sharply. "He's not under house arrest or anything. And his fugitive status got lifted. So why should he stay inside?"

"Dumbledore said so!"

Harry really couldn't help it. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah well, Dumbledore is a teacher. So he doesn't have much say."

He finished up his food and turned away from their gaping expressions.

"This isn't Dumbledore's house either. So he really can't tell anyone what to do."

"Harry!" Hermione started to lecture him but he cut her off.

"No. Dumbledore is a teacher. He's our Headmaster. He's in charge when we're at school. He doesn't get a say in what happens when we're on holiday or in someone else's house. He's not my guardian. He's not Sirius' lawyer. He's not the owner of this house. He's not God!" His voice raised a little at the end and he reined in his temper again. "He's a teacher. He's also a human being so he's not perfect. 'Because Dumbledore said so' isn't actually a reason for anything. It's as bad as a toddler saying 'Because it is'."

With that he turned and left the room, rushing to find a quiet spot to finish reading while he waited for his Godfather and Uncle to get home.

He ended up hiding in the twins' room. They didn't mind when he did and no one thought to look for him here.

“You okay Harry?” George asked at some point when they were ducking in to fetch something.

Harry shrugged. “I’m just getting frustrated with everyone,” he admitted. “They’re being so stubborn about Sirius. And Ron and Hermione won’t listen to me when I tell them why I’m angry with them.”

The twins glanced at each other and moved over to sit on the bed he was hiding behind.

“We can talk to Ron if you want?” they offered. “Or more like ask Bill to talk to him. He’s better with Ron than we are.”

“Do you think he would mind?” Harry asked hopefully. “I don’t like fighting with him.”

He let out a sigh and sagged a little. “I hate fighting with any of them. But I’m just… so sick of it. I just want them to admit that they were wrong. That it wasn’t right to make me think that no one cared about what happened to me…”

He trailed off, glancing away and down to the book in his hands.

“Ron’s just being stubborn,” Fred insisted. “Stand your ground on this and he’ll come around. We’ll talk to Bill.”

“Thanks guys.”

“No problem. Business partners help each other out,” George winked at him before the pair left again.

Harry leaned against the wall, book resting in his lap. He didn’t really feel like reading anymore. He was just restless now, waiting for his Godfather and Uncle to get home. The paranoid part of his mind was now piping up about all the what ifs.

What if it was a trap?

What if Madam Bones was tricking them?

What if someone dangerous got to Sirius first?

He rested his head on his knees after pulling them to his chest. He couldn’t lose his family when he’d just started to bond with them again.

He sat there for a while, mind buzzing with worries and worst-case scenarios. He hated waiting.

Eventually though, Fred poked his head in through the door again. “They’re back Harry,” he called.

Harry scrambled to his feet and darted out the room, almost running straight into the Weasley twin in his hurry.

He took to the stairs two at a time and ran straight into an argument.

Sirius was standing near the door, facing Mrs. Weasley who was yelling at him. His Godfather’s arms were crossed and he just looked annoyed now. Remus was a few steps behind him, glaring at the Weasley Matriarch. 

“Completely irresponsible!” she ranted.

Harry didn’t pay her any attention as he bowled right into his Godfather, wrapping the thin man in a tight hug.

Sirius was startled initially before returning the hug.

“You okay Pup?” he asked softly.

Harry nodded against his shirt, not quite willing to let go. He hadn’t realised how terrified he’d been until the relief hit him when he saw Sirius perfectly safe and home again.

“Everything go okay?” he asked, voice muffled.

“It went fine,” Remus assured him. “Madam Bones went with us to Gringotts and everything is sorted out.”

Reluctantly Harry pulled back enough to look up at his Godfather. He was a little surprised to see the unbridled joy in those grey eyes, almost eclipsing the permanent haunted look that was always present.

He cocked his head and Sirius grinned. “The first thing we dealt with was your guardianship,” he admitted. “Everything’s been transferred to me.”

Harry stared up at him in shock as he processed that. His... guardianship?

“I don’t have to go back?” he whispered, unable to say it louder in case this turned out to be a dream and he woke up.

“Never,” Sirius vowed. “You’re never going back to them. I’m officially your guardian Pup.”

Harry threw himself at his Godfather again, hiding his tears in the man’s shirt. The arms that wrapped around him were still too thin to be healthy but he’d never felt safer.

That small flicker of hope finally blazed into a full-on flame.

He got to have a family again.

Chapter Text

Harry flat out refused to let go of Sirius after his announcement. He just couldn’t make himself release the man. A small part of him worried that if he did then it would all turn out to be a dream and he was still going to be stuck going back to people who hated him every year.

Sirius didn’t get annoyed though. Instead, his Godfather kept one arm wrapped around him while guiding him to the nearest couch where he sat with Harry burrowed into his side.

He vaguely heard Remus shooing everyone away, telling them to give Harry and Sirius some privacy. Mrs. Weasley was being surprisingly quiet since Sirius had told them what he’d done but Harry didn’t have any focus to spare on that.

“Pup?” Sirius spoke quietly, gently brushing his messy hair back.

“I never thought I’d get away from them,” Harry whispered into his shirt. “I thought I’d be stuck with them until I was old enough to leave.”

His Godfather started rubbing his back in comforting circles.

“Harry,” Sirius’ voice was still soft but also worried now. “How bad were they? This is more than just not getting along with family.”

“They’re not my family,” Harry bit out harshly. “They were my jailers and-and tormentors. For years.”

Sirius ran his hand through Harry’s hair again before coaxing his head up a little to see his face. He frowned at the frustrated tears glinting at the corners of his Godson’s eyes.

“Pup,” the affectionate nickname only made him want to cry more. He could have had this for years if it wasn’t for Pettigrew and the stupid, incompetent Ministry.

Harry blinked rapidly to stop himself from crying. He should be happy. Why did he want to cry? Why was he thinking of the Dursleys at all?

Sirius studied him for a moment before he suddenly pulled Harry close so that he could bury his face in the man’s shirt again. Then he started talking.

“My family was largely made up of pieces of shit,” he started. “The only decent ones I semi-regularly saw were Andy and my Uncle Alphard. Even then it wasn’t often. My mother was a vicious, spiteful bitch who liberally used curses when I did something to upset her. Which was fairly often. My father didn’t have much interest in me unless I’d done something wrong in which case he could get very inventive with his punishments.”

Harry found himself listening closely as Sirius picked up the comforting circles on his back again.

“I wasn’t very close to my brother. He was the perfect golden child from rather early on and I sometimes think that our parents kept us apart on purpose. They probably thought I’d be a bad influence. From an early age I had a bad habit of questioning them and their beliefs. Too curious for my own good I suppose.”

He paused for a moment and Harry didn’t move, soaking up the comfort and positive physical contact.

“I spent the years up until Hogwarts listening to my family tell me that something was wrong with me and being punished for almost everything I did. I thought it was normal. And then I met James Potter.”

Harry turned his head slightly, just enough to peer up at his Godfather and catch a glimpse of a nostalgic smile.

“He was arrogant and loud and highly annoying,” Sirius huffed a soft laugh. “And yet he smiled at me and seemed quite determined to become my friend. Regardless of my family. He barged into my compartment, a whirlwind of energy and words and before I knew it I was following him around the train as we picked up Remus and made a solid, terrible impression on Lily when we picked a fight with Snape.”

Sirius leaned back a bit and Harry readjusted so that he was leaning against the man, face tucked into his chest.

“We were young and stupid. Causing fights and making enemies. A couple of dumb eleven years. I’d never felt more free in my entire life. James was the one that taught me that what my family did to me was wrong. He’d been raised by a Black. Aunt Dorea grew up in the Black family but she never beat him or cursed him. Even when he did incredibly stupid things like sneaking out to fly in a thunderstorm and breaking his leg when he crashed.”

Harry snorted at that visual image. But he was starting to get an idea of where this conversation was going.

“I learnt from James that there wasn’t anything wrong with me. That the problem was my parents. No family should ever make a child feel like they’re worthless, like they’re a mistake. No family should make a child feel afraid to be themselves or to ask questions. That’s not a family. That's abuse.”

Silent tears were trickling down Harry’s cheeks and soaking Sirius’ shirt now.

“I found a proper family in the Marauders, in the Potters and in your parents.” Sirius rested his hand in Harry’s hair. “In you Pup. I chose a different family in the end. One that actually cared about me.”

Harry squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, trying not to just break down into sobs.

“They hated me,” he whispered, a thrill of fear still running through him at the thought of telling someone exactly how bad the Dursleys were. They’d drilled that fear into him pretty thoroughly even though most in the neighbourhood were convinced that he was nothing but a lying delinquent. “They hated me so much.”

His breathing hitched and Sirius pulled his a little closer, arms wrapped around the teen and making him feel just a little bit safer.

“I never knew why they hated me so much. Not until my eleventh birthday. They didn’t tell me about my magic. They were trying to beat it out of me I guess. Or starve it out. Or anything that really came to mind.”

He took a deep, unsteady breath before taking the plunge.

“I didn’t know my name until I went to school and the teachers called me by it. I was always called ‘boy’ or ‘freak’ by the Dursleys. They got upset if they simply saw me so they usually locked me away. My bedroom was a cupboard under the stairs until I came back from my first year of Hogwarts. They got scared since the letter said the cupboard under the stairs and they were worried someone from my world would care.” He scoffed softly at the idea.

He paused when Sirius let out a growl that was very similar to Padfoot’s. But he continued after a moment.

“They’d leave me in there for days sometimes. I didn’t really get much to eat back then. Only something a few times a week. Water was a little bit more common since they didn’t want me to die. That would be horrible for their reputation in the neighbourhood. I started to get more food when Aunt Petunia taught me to cook. Not a lot more but I got the leftovers if Uncle Vernon or Dudley left anything. If I messed up anything in the cooking though then Aunt Petunia would hit me with her pans usually and I wouldn’t get anything.”

He lifted a hand and started absently picking at Sirius’ shirt. His anxiety was through the roof but he felt like he needed to do this. He wasn’t going back to the Dursleys. They couldn’t hurt him for telling someone this.

And Sirius would understand. 

“If I annoyed Uncle Vernon or didn’t finish a chore he gave me, then he’d beat me. Either with his fists or his belt. Sometimes it happened just because he was drunk. Dudley just followed in his parent’s footsteps. He saw them hit me so he thought it was okay to do the same. He hasn’t touched me since I left for Hogwarts the first time though. I think Hagrid scared him when he jinxed him. He’s really scared of magic.”

Sirius shifted slightly again. “Hagrid jinxed him?” Harry could hear the frown in his voice. “He would have been eleven.”

“Yeah. He got mad that Dudley was eating the cake he brought me. He gave him a pig’s tail. I thought it was funny at the time but then I found out that they had to have it surgically removed. Didn’t seem so funny then. Dudley was just a kid too. He was just acting like his parents had taught him.”

He startled a bit when Sirius pressed a soft kiss into his hair. “You’re a lot more forgiving than either of your parents,” he murmured. “James and Lily would have hexed him themselves in your situation. They both could hold a grudge.”

Harry shrugged. “I can’t blame Dudley for being the way he is. I blame his parents.”

“Who are never going to touch you again,” Sirius vowed quietly. “I promise you Pup. Those sorry excuses for human beings will never hurt you again.”

Harry swallowed hard at the wave of relief that crashed over him.

“Is that why you struggle with richer foods?” Sirius asked gently and Harry nodded against his chest.

“I’m not used to it. I was there for ten years and then suddenly for most of the year there’s all this amazing food. It took me a bit to learn how not to overdo it and make myself sick. And then in the summer I went back to being half-starved again. So I never got used to it.”

“There're potions for that,” Sirius assured him. “Amelia forced me to go to one of the goblin healers while we were in the bank. They gave me a whole apothecary of potions and some of them are for my stomach. We’ll take you there before you head back to school. Goblin healers are some of the best medical professionals you’ll ever meet. Bloody terrifying, but good at what they do.”

Harry wasn’t a real fan of anything resembling the medical wing but he knew that he probably did need to get checked over after all those years with the Dursleys.

He wondered why Madam Pomfrey never noticed anything? He’d been there often enough…

He shook the thought away as Sirius started talking again.

“But enough about those bastards.” He carefully pried Harry off and the teen reluctantly moved far enough back so that Sirius could see his face. The man’s expression softened and he wiped the tears still staining Harry’s cheeks away before speaking.

“While we were at Gringotts, I stopped in at my vault and also the Potter Family vault. I was given access by your dad a long time ago and it was never rescinded. The goblins pretty much told the Ministry to fuck off when they tried to seize my possessions since they didn’t have the proper paperwork from a trial. And no one could enter the Potter Family vault except Potters by blood when they reach the age of seventeen and anyone given special access.”

Harry was intrigued and watched as Sirius reached down to the floor to pick up a duffle bag.

“Remus and I brought some things from the vault that we thought you might like to have since you can’t go in there for another two years.”

Harry’s heart started pounding as he stared at the bag.

Actual things from his family? Physical things they'd owned? He only had a couple and he treasured them like they were gold.

Great, now he wanted to cry again.

Chapter Text

Harry watched Sirius with wide eyes as he dumped the duffle bag across both of their laps.

“Remus charmed this to be bottomless so we didn’t have a limit to what we could bring,” he was explaining as he unzipped it.

“Let’s see,” he muttered, reaching in. “We were in a rush so I’m not sure what Remus might have grabbed."

He pulled out a couple of books and Harry stared at the symbol on the front. They looked very old.

“Of course he’d grab the books,” Sirius huffed a soft laugh.

“What are they?” Harry asked quietly.

Sirius turned them to face the teenager. “These are Potter history books. Your family is very old Pup so they started writing down their history so they wouldn’t forget it. See the coat of arms on the front? It’s your family’s.”

Harry reached out with a trembling hand and traced over the symbol. He hadn’t even known that he had one.

“You’ll have all the time you need to read these,” Sirius assured him, setting the books aside gently.

Harry’s gaze lingered on them for a moment before he looked back as Sirius reached into the bag again.

He pulled out a photo album this time and Harry’s heart started to pound. Pictures? What pictures could it be?

Sirius frowned slightly to himself as he opened it before he let out a bark of laughter. “Oh, this is your grandmother’s work. She liked her photos and she made a few albums. I’d forgotten.”

He handed it over to Harry who eagerly opened it. The sight just about knocked the breath out of him. The picture clearly showed a young Sirius with who could only be James Potter, both holding brooms and obviously about to go out to fly. They were grinning at the camera, James having one arm thrown over Sirius’ shoulders.

He turned the page and found a picture of both of them again, including Remus this time. The three were sprawled out on the floor doing homework. Remus had his nose buried in a book while Sirius scowled at his essay. James was giving the camera a deadpan unimpressed look that made Harry want to laugh.

Turning the page again revealed James and Sirius by themselves, passed out on a couch. James was sprawled over Sirius who didn’t seem to mind the human blanket too much since he was still dead asleep.

He flipped through picture after picture, eyes watering when Lily joined them, obviously after she’d started dating his dad.

He paused on a photo of the two of them, staring at the way that his dad stared at her adoringly while she smiled at the camera. 

“James practically worshipped the ground your mum walked on,” Sirius murmured softly, also staring at the picture. “He adored her and he would do anything for her. Except forgive Snape for all the crap he’d pulled over the years. That was the only thing he refused to do. Lily understood why after her friendship with the man broke down and she actually saw how he treated the Gryffindors and any muggleborns that weren’t her. That’s the point that she finally gave your dad a chance. It didn’t really take her long to fall for him after that.”

Harry smiled to himself and suddenly found himself wondering if he’d ever have that. If he’d ever find himself looking at someone the same way that his dad looked at his mum. He’d had a crush on Cho but compared to the absolute adoration he saw in his dad’s eyes… it didn’t hold a candle.

Would he ever have that?

He flicked through a few more pages before he set it aside reluctantly. He had all the time to check it out later.

Sirius only reached into the bag for the next thing when he was clearly done with the album.

This time, he pulled out a broom and a grin lit up his face.

“James’ first broom. He always was sentimental. He probably kept all his brooms if they didn’t break before he got his next one.” He turned the broom so that Harry could see the engraving on the handle.

James Charlus Potter.

Tentatively, Harry reached out to touch the words, tracing them with his finger. It felt almost surreal to be seeing and touching something his father owned and clearly loved considering the brilliant condition it was still in. Up until now, his cloak had been the only possession of his dad’s he’d had.

The cloak always reminded Harry about James Potter the Marauder.

This broom though, it made Harry think about James Potter the Chaser, the Quidditch Captain.

“Do you think dad would have been proud?” he asked quietly. “That I became a seeker?”

“James would have been over the moon pup,” Sirius chuckled. “He was going on from before you were born about how he was going to get you a kid-friendly broom when you turned five. Regardless of gender. He was determined to get you into the skies.”

That made Harry smile although it also made him sad. How different would his life have been with parents who loved him and encouraged him to do the things he liked? If he’d had Sirius and Remus there from the beginning?

He’d never really know.

He carefully set the broom down next to him, taking note of the clear signs of wear. This broom had been loved and flown a lot. His dad had clearly treasured it.

Sirius continued pulling items out of the bag for the next hour. His mom's favourite school books with notes throughout the margins. Mostly charms and potions books. Remus had grabbed them along with his dad’s transfiguration books which had the same.

Apparently, his parents had kept them so that he could use their notes when he went to Hogwarts. The thought made him tear up a little.

There was a cloak with the Potter coat of arms that had belonged to his grandfather. Several more photo albums from both his grandmother and from his mum. A box of loose photos that looked like they were all from school. The Marauders' notes on becoming Animagi which was all sorts of exciting.

Eventually, Sirius pulled out two last things. One was another book with the Potter coat of arms on the front and the other was a small box.

“This is the Potter grimoire,” Sirius told him quietly, a lot more sombre now . “It’s passed down throughout your family and no one but a Potter can even touch it. The only reason I can is because I’m your magical guardian. I still can’t open it though.”

“What’s a grimoire?” Harry asked curiously as he took the offered book. His fingers tingled when he touched it.

“It’s how a family stores their family magic. Spells that are unique to your bloodline. Potions sometimes. The Potters were most famous for their defensive spells. It’s what made them such dangerous fighters throughout history. No one but a Potter by blood can learn these spells. James was a nightmare for the Death Eaters to fight because of the spells he learnt from this.”

Harry looked down at the book, running a finger over the dragonhide cover.

“With everyone knowing that Voldemort is back now, they’re going to be expecting you to solve it for them. Because that’s what happened before and the wizarding world is full of fucking sheep. I hate it, but I want you to have all the advantages you can get Harry. I can’t help you learn the spells in that book. Neither can Remus. But I want you to have them so you can have the edge in any fight you end up in.” Sirius stared at the book for a long moment. “That book contains some of the most sought-after spells in the magical world. And you’re the only one who can open it and even read what’s inside. You’ll never be able to share what you learn from it with anyone else. The magic won’t let you. As the last Potter, it’s secrets are only yours.”

Harry looked up at Sirius, shocked by the amount of trust he was showing by handing over a spellbook this dangerous. He could have left it in the Potter Family vault and Harry would have never known any better.

But he didn’t. He saw something that could help Harry and didn’t think twice about handing it over, warning him about how dangerous it was and still trusting him to be careful.

He vowed not to make his godfather regret that trust.

“Thank you Siri,” he whispered.

Sirius smiled at him before sighing. “I wish you didn’t need it. But I’m not willing to take any chances.”

Harry nodded firmly. “I understand. And I promise Sirius, I’ll be careful.”

“I know. You’re only reckless when you get irritated with everyone around you,” Sirius said dryly and Harry flushed, ducking his head.

His godfather hit the nail on the head there.

He looked up again when Sirius held out the small box. It was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand and he wondered what could be in it.

“You should have had this when you turned eleven,” Sirius told him softly. “It’s time to fix that.”

Curious, Harry opened the small box to find a ring nestled inside. It was silver and sported the Potter coat of arms again.

“What’s this?” he asked, brushing his finger against the ring and jerking back when it warmed at the contact.

“That’s the Potter Heir ring. With your parents gone and no one else in the family alive to take on the role of Regent, you should have inherited it when you turned eleven. You’ll get the Potter Lord ring when you turn seventeen and that’s when you’ll inherit the full title.”

Harry blinked at his godfather for a moment.

“Siri? What the hell do you mean by title?” he asked, voice going up in pitch a bit.

Sirius frowned now. “The Potter title. It’s one of the oldest and most powerful noble houses in the wizarding world. Your status beats Malfoy’s by a mile. It’s on par with the Longbottom’s and the Black’s.”

Harry stared at him again.

“WHAT?!” he shouted as another bombshell turned his world upside-down. 

Titles? Nobles? Status?

What the bloody fuck?!

Chapter Text

Harry had never really been the studying type. He wouldn't say that he found sitting down to read a school book fun or engaging, especially when he felt like he hadn't been taught the foundation to understand what he was reading. 

Now, however, he couldn't look away from this particular book. 

It was one of his family's history books. He'd thought he'd take a peek in these before diving into the grimoire, but his attention had been quickly caught. It was just so interesting. His family seemed to have been involved all over the place over the centuries. They'd been aurors and teachers, politicians and travellers. They'd owned businesses and invented things even he'd heard of.

It was amazing to think that he was related to these people.

After Sirius had explained the entire 'you're an heir from an important family that holds a lot of power' thing, Harry had decided to take a look at the past.

While Sirius bit everyone's heads off over him not knowing about this of course. He could still hear the argument going. Moody was cursing as much as Sirius was, apparently having also thought that the teenager had known. Mrs Weasley had been saying something about him being too young when he tuned out of listening, sitting on the floor in Sirius' room with his family's possessions around him.

His heir ring glinted in the light and felt warm on his finger. It made him feel like he'd been reunited with something he'd lost. His dad had worn this ring before he became Lord Potter and so had his grandfather and every other head of the family since it began.

He doubted he'd be taking it off any time soon.

The door creaked open and Harry glanced up sharply only to relax when the twins slipped inside.

"Hey Harry," Fred sounded strangely subdued as the brothers came to sit on the floor with him.

"Hey guys," he greeted, slipping a scrap of paper into the book to keep his place before closing it. "What's wrong?"

They both looked like kicked puppies.

"We wanted to say sorry," George said. "We didn't even consider that you didn't know about your family's standing in our world. You just never seemed to care much about that sort of stuff so we assumed you were ignoring it."

"It's not your fault guys," Harry said firmly. "The adults should have said something. It wasn't up to a couple of third years who barely even know the first year their little brother befriended."

"Still…"

"No," Harry repeated. "No blaming yourselves. I would appreciate it if you, uh, spread the word that I didn't know though. At least I know why some students didn't like me. They thought I was snubbing them."

The twins perked up. "We can do that," they agreed. "You'll find yourself suddenly popular again now that you proved you weren't lying about everything."

Harry huffed. "I think I'm happy to keep two-faced people out of my life for a bit," he grumbled. "I'm tired of fair-weather friends."

He was tired of constantly worrying if his friends would help or hinder him at every turn. He'd sent letters to both Neville and Luna with Remus' help but he'd suggested they don't write back until school. Just in case there were any mail ward problems again. He hoped they weren't mad about no contact throughout the summer.

"What are you up to?" Fred asked curiously.

"Sirius got me stuff from the family vault. These are Potter history books."

"Wicked," both twins grinned. "You can find out more about your family."

Harry smiled back, running his fingers over the cover of the book.

"Yeah… it was Remus' idea to grab the books."

"Figures," George snickered. 

"There's some photo albums too. Wanna see?" Harry offered.

The twins pounced on the chance and they gathered around studying the photos and laughing at a fair few. The pair also helped him gather everything together again to pack away when dinner approached and they all headed downstairs together now that the argument seemed to be over.

Dinner was tense and awkward with everyone seeming nervous while Sirius silently fumed. Remus was just as livid and it was a very quiet meal. Harry escaped as quickly as possible up to bed that night and hoped that the tension would ease the next day.

Harry was absolutely fuming.

"I told you that you couldn't touch it Hermione!" He snapped at the girl who was getting her burnt hand looked over by Tonks. "I told you that it's got protections!"

"Why the bloody hell did you think that you could go through another family's grimoire?" Fred asked in disbelief. "That's such a breach of privacy."

Hermione glared at them. "A book shouldn't be just for one family! It's wrong! You should share that knowledge Harry!"

Harry scowled and held the book tighter to his chest. "That's not your decision," he snapped. "Why were you even digging in my stuff in the first place?!"

His new things were all in the same trunk so she'd been rifling through his photo albums and probably looked at the textbooks from his parents too.

His anger shot even higher. 

"You don't have the right to go through someone else's things!" He shouted.

"Come on Harry," Ron complained. "We're your friends. It was never a problem before."

The teenager's patience snapped.

"Not bloody good friends!" He shouted. "I've finally got stuff that's actually mine and means something to me! Of course I'll have a problem with it! I didn't like it when you did it before either! Why do you think I keep the Map on me all the time instead of leaving it in my trunk? And my cloak is always packed at the bottom. It's bad enough you help yourself to any sweets I've got in there."

Ron's eyes widened in shock.

"What? You think I didn't notice? You leave my trunk a mess whenever you do it and Neville tells me whenever he sees you do it. I know Dean's outright told you not to and Seamus doesn't like it either when he catches you in my stuff. You think I didn't know? You think I didn't know that you help yourself to a sickle or two while you're at it?"

Fred and George swung fiery glares on their youngest brother who was looking nervous now.

"You think I don't know that Hermione goes through my schoolwork as well and changes stuff cause she thinks I can't do anything without her help? I'm not an idiot! I'm just too used to people being bastards to me for no reason! I thought it was normal until I realised how the other guys reacted to it. But by then it was a habit of yours and I didn't want to lose my best friends. So I ignored it. But now I finally have some things from my parents. Books and photos and some of their stuff. And you think you're entitled to it too?! No! It's my family's stuff so leave my stuff alone. Getting burned was your own damned fault."

Everyone was gaping at Harry now and he blinked back tears when he felt a gentle hand land on his shoulder. Sirius gave him a concerned look but there was a similar anger reflected in his eyes.

"I think it's time you got your own room here Pup," he said, tone barely level. "And a lock for your trunk. I'd rather avoid any future invasions of privacy."

Harry gave a sharp nod and ignored the protests that rose up.

"Don't. Touch. My stuff," Harry snapped at them again. "Ask first."

He spun around and stormed out, holding the Potter Grimoire to his chest.

"Well done on making sure he doesn't trust you," George said sarcastically. "Do you guys have any respect for him? Just because you're friends doesn't mean you're entitled to his stuff or that you… own him or something."

"That's if they're still friends after this," Fred muttered.

"He's overreacting," Ron snapped while Hermione looked on the verge of tears. 

"No, you crossed his boundaries and he's sick of it," Fred argued. "He just got things that not only his parents owned, but that his grandparents did! And then you go rifling through with sticky fingers after already stealing from him. I'd lose my cool too."

"It wasn't stealing!"

"Whatever lets you sleep better at night," George muttered as they left.

Sirius shot a glare around the room before he was out the door.

"Leave my godson the hell alone. He's got as much of a right to privacy as anyone else. Get that through your fucking heads."

Chapter Text

Harry didn't want to go back to school. Despite how much it had frightened him to be threatened with expulsion, he was now dreading the start of term. He'd have to leave Sirius and the first true feeling of family and belonging he’d ever had. He’d have to leave having a room that was an actual safe space with locks that only he could open and no one rifling through his stuff. He’d have to leave Remus and his subtle fussing and gentle consideration for everything Harry said he liked or didn’t. He’d have to leave Bill who’d been around a lot more recently and had appointed himself as older brother of everyone which meant no one was safe from a scolding from him.

He’d have to leave Sirius…

Why did he have to give all of that up just to return to a place where people treated him either like shit or like the person who was supposed to solve all their problems?

But as much as he wanted to stay, he knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t just not go to school, and he still loved Hogwarts despite everything.

“Can I come back for Christmas?” Harry asked suddenly as Sirius and Remus were helping him pack with more organisation than he’d ever bothered with before. He had a lot more stuff than he used to though, so it was now necessary.

“Pup,” Sirius looked up to give him a deadpan expression. “I will come drag you out of that castle myself if you don’t come home for Christmas.”

Harry grinned at that answer, feeling warm at the mention of home. Grimmauld place was dark and unpleasant, but Sirius and Remus were home now. 

He looked up when Sirius came to stand next to him.

“One more thing you need to understand pup,” he said seriously. “If anything happens, and I mean anything. Let me know. Whether that’s Dumbledore doing something you don’t like, Snivellus being a bastard or other kids giving you a hard time, please tell me. I’m your official guardian now pup, which means I can do something about it. Don’t let anyone push you around in that castle, alright?”

Harry swallowed hard and nodded. Before he could think too hard on it, he lurched forward and threw his arms around his godfather.

“I don’t even want to go back this year,” he mumbled into the man’s shirt. “I’d rather stay here, with you guys.”

Sirius returned the hug, rubbing the teenager’s back.

“I know pup. But despite everything, you still love that old castle. You’ll regret it if you don’t go back this year.” he pulled back enough to look Harry in the eyes. “But if any shit like deadly tournaments or giant snakes happen again, I’m pulling you out myself and we’ll enroll you in a magical school in another country. We’ll fucking move because I am done with you having near-death experiences in that school.”

Harry snorted at the sheer exasperation in his godfather’s voice.

“I’m going to miss you guys,” he admitted quietly. 

Remus moved over from where he’d finished packing Harry’s school books neatly to squeeze his shoulder.

“We will as well Harry,” he assured. “But you’ll still see us during the year.”

“Holidays aren’t enough,” the teenager grumbled.

Sirius snorted. “Pup, we’re going to be in Hogsmeade every weekend the students can visit. You’ll see us a lot more than just the holidays.”

“Really?” Harry perked up.

“Yup, your permission slip is in your trunk. Give it directly to McGonagall and no one else, okay Harry?”

He frowned a little at that. “Why only to her?”

The two men exchanged a look.

“Let’s just say we had a chat with Minnie and she’s…” Sirius trailed off, looking for the right word.

“Livid? Pissed?” Remus offered dryly.

“Incandescent with rage,” Sirius decided on.

Harry blinked in surprise.

“It turns out that she was getting a very different story about what was happening with you from Dumbledore and hearing the truth from us resulted in her storming back to Hogwarts cursing the old man to hell and back,” Sirius told him. 

“She’s not happy with Dumbledore. She didn’t know how bad the Dursleys were because Dumbledore told her that everything was fine.”

“She didn’t know about the cupboard?” Harry asked in surprise.

“No,” both men deadpanned.

“If she did, the Dursley’s wouldn’t have survived,” Remus mused. “The only reason she isn’t hunting them down now is because she’s more focused on Dumbledore.”

“There’s a reason she’s Head of House,” Sirius told him. “When it comes down to it, when she’s got the actual truth, Minnie will protect her students over anything else.”

“What did Dumbledore tell her?” Harry asked dubiously. McGonagall had done some stuff that upset him before. Could that really just be blamed on Dumbledore?

“That you were a troublemaker in muggle school and tended to lie to get out of trouble,” Sirius explained. “That you were just like James.”

His voice broke on the name and Harry reached out in concern. Sirius continued after shaking his head though.

“Don’t get me wrong pup, your dad was a good person. He was the best kind of friend and never let anything stop him from doing what he believed was right.”

“But he was a prat,” Remus summed up. 

Sirius chuckled. “He was. He was also an absolute nightmare for Minnie. We all were honestly. Dumbledore used that and it coloured everything you did in the professors’ eyes. They all made the mistake of seeing your dad instead of you.”

“I do get into trouble though, a lot,” Harry pointed out.

Sirius snorted again. “Pup, trouble finds you. You’re a lot more like your mum when it comes to behaviour.”

“James actively searched out trouble and instigated as much as he could,” Remus remembered fondly. “And he dragged all of us with him. It was almost always a fun time though.”

“So… I’m not much like dad?” Harry asked, not sure how to feel about that.

“Oh no, you definitely are,” Sirius denied. “You’re reckless and stubborn. And you love fiercely. And that improvising ability? Yeah, you’re like your dad in that way. You’ve got your mum’s kind nature though.”

“And her temper,” Harry reminded, smiling a little.

They both laughed.

“Yes,” Remus agreed. “But you’re also very uniquely you.”

“You’re like both your parents, but you’re also Harry. You’ve got a dry sense of humour that is one of the best things I’ve ever heard. You’re sarcastic and a lot less forgiving than either of them ever were. Yeah, you look like your dad and you’ve got your mum’s eyes. You’ve got some traits from both of them. But you’re still a completely different person and we love every part of you very much.”

“The self-sacrificing tendency comes from Sirius though,” Remus added.

Sirius swiped at his friend with a scowl and Harry laughed. They could always get him to laugh no matter what was happening.

He hugged Sirius again before turning to do the same to Remus as well. He was going to miss them but now a part of him was starting to get excited for school. He wasn’t the same Harry from before. He was done with being a doormat, with putting up with everyone’s treatment of him because he’d had no one in his corner. Now he had Sirius and Remus. And apparently McGonagall too. He was done with doing what everyone else wanted him to do.

This year, he wasn’t going to be anyone’s punching bag. And if he had to embrace some of that ‘prat’ behaviour of his dad’s? He’d prove to everyone that he was the son of a Marauder and the godson of another.

They thought he was a misbehaving kid before? Fine. He’d show them what he was like when he wasn’t trying to give everyone what they wanted.

He was sure the twins wouldn’t mind helping him with being a bit more of a troublemaker. 

He wasn’t his dad. He wasn’t his mum. He was Harry James Potter, and he had a legacy to continue.

Chapter Text

The morning they needed to head to the train station was a chaotic nightmare. Harry was glad to have his own room as he listened to the madness. He’d packed his trunk the night before with Sirius and Remus’ help, but it seemed like he was the only one if he went according to the cacophony outside. He barely managed to get breakfast in the insanity and only managed it because Remus shoved a plate in his hands and sent him to his room where it was safe.

By the time he was ready to leave, the others… weren’t.

Well, that wasn’t completely true. The twins were. Bill had apparently got them to pack the night before as well, but Ron and Ginny hadn’t listened to him. Looking completely exasperated, the man had asked Sirius to take the twins with when they left because Harry’s godfather wasn’t waiting for everyone to be ready before leaving. He and Remus were taking him to the station early.

The twins were eager to escape the madness so they accepted the offer gratefully and the group of them were off. Hermione was trying to organise Ron and Ginny so she wasn’t ready to leave either despite already being packed.

So they left without the others, reaching King's Cross Station earlier than Harry had ever managed before. Luckily, Neville and Luna were also early birds. They both came running up to them with barely a moment of hesitation over Sirius being with him. Most of those in the station were throwing his godfather nervous looks or outright gawking which was trying Harry’s patience rapidly.

"Harry!" Neville called in relief. "We've been following the news. Are you okay? Those dementors…"

His fellow Gryffindor only looked concerned which was a nice change of pace from people demanding gossip about his life in the school. That's what he was dreading the most from school this year.

"I'm fine," he assured. "I used the Patronus charm before they got to me."

Neville looked relieved at that and clapped him on the shoulder lightly.

"Good morning Professor Lupin, Mr Black," Luna greeted the two men behind him serenely while the twins were working to get their and Harry's trunks to a compartment. They were excited to be able to claim a 'good' compartment since they were so early.

Harry was grateful for Luna's easy acceptance of Sirius and Remus' presence since there was a lot of whispering and glances their way from the families already at the station. She wasn't even ruffled though.

"I'm not your professor anymore Miss Lovegood," Remus pointed out while Sirius blinked in surprise at the calm greeting.

"A pity," she mused. "You were the best one. DADA is going to be rather unpleasant this year."

There was a certainty to her voice that made dread pool in Harry's stomach. The DADA curse was a pain for him in particular. He hoped the new teacher didn't try and kill him this time.

Harry finally remembered his manners though. They knew Remus already but of course they didn't know Sirius aside from rumours and lies.

"Siri, this is Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. Guys, this is my godfather, Sirius Black."

"Nice to meet you sir," both of them chorused.

Realisation lit in Sirius' eyes. He was better after the healing but memories sometimes needed to be prompted still. 

"Frank and Alice's kid. You threw up on James and bit Peter."

Harry choked on his laughter, covering his mouth as Neville stared at him with embarrassed awe. From what Harry knew, not many people spoke about Neville's parents. The same way they never seemed to speak about Harry's. 

"I remember that," Remus mused. "It happened on the same day too. James was trying to secure the 'favourite uncle' position."

Neville perked up while also looking mortified.

"Really?"

Sirius nodded. "We were visiting. Alice and Lily were hopeful that you two would grow up as good friends. Alice was your godmother Harry."

That was both cool and a bit bittersweet. He could have been friends with Neville his whole life. And instead he grew up almost completely alone.

At least they ended up as friends in school, even if it was only recently that they were becoming close.

They stood near the train, the twins returning once their luggage was secure, and talked as the station slowly filled up. Fred and George didn’t really seem to know what to do with the extra time before the train left so they stuck with Harry. He didn’t mind. He’d always liked hanging out with them despite their mischief and being older than him.

“Hermione and Ron are going to get into trouble,” Fred noted as the time to leave drew closer. 

“Why?” Neville asked while Luna nodded.

“They’re prefects,” the blond agreed airily. “They’re supposed to be here early.” She pointed to where some prefects were wandering around, keeping an eye on things and helping younger students get their things on the train.

While a part of Harry did feel upset over Ron getting the badge since he hated doing extra work, he knew it was a good thing he didn’t get it. He didn’t need more stress and extra work when he was determined to bring his grades up this year.

He finally had a parental figure that he wanted to impress and refused to let anything get in the way of him being able to show Sirius and Remus a report that he was proud of.

“Ron had the chance to be early if he just packed and Hermione decided to stay behind to nag at him. It’s their own faults if they get into trouble,” Harry shrugged. He felt a bit bad about it but between him still being upset with them and not wanting to get involved with the potential trouble, he knew staying out of it was best. Besides, if Hermione wanted to be the great prefect he knew she could be, she needed to stop babysitting Ron all the time.

As the time to leave drew closer, Sirius pulled Harry slightly aside for some privacy.

“If anything happens this year Harry, then contact me. Doesn’t matter how small it is. Bullying; students or teachers. Feeling unsafe or if you just feel like you need help. You’ve got the mirror and I want you to use it if you need to. I’ll always have mine on me and I will answer.”

Harry nodded. He had Hedwig but he was a little suspicious of owl post at the moment. Talking directly to Sirius or Remus would make him feel much better.

“And call if you just want to talk too,” Sirius added. “Any time, okay pup?”

“Yeah, I will,” Harry promised. “Thanks Siri.”

Giving into the impulse without much fight, Harry threw his arms around his godfather.

“I’ll miss you,” he whispered.

Sirius returned the hug tightly.

“I’m a mirror call away,” he reminded. “Have a good year, Harry.”

Despite fate’s best efforts so far in his schooling career, Harry was determined to have exactly that.

Chapter Text

The train ride, shockingly, was peaceful. Harry spent the trip catching up with Neville and Luna who were both upset on his behalf about the owl wards. Which were fixed thanks to Sirius and Remus altering them themselves. Mail from friends and official sources went straight to Harry and any that came from unknown people or those not on the safe list got diverted to a vault at Gringotts where a cursebreaker regularly checked them for danger before sending them onto Harry once deemed harmless. A pricey setup but well worth the money.

Gringotts as a whole… was something that Harry felt like he’d been lied to about a lot. Many had told him not to trust a goblin and that all they cared about was gold, but Sirius and Remus had spoken very differently.

They said that the thing most important to a goblin was honour and that it was woven into their very culture.

As Fred and George boasted proudly to Neville and Luna about knowing two Marauders, who the pair already had knowledge of, Harry let his mind drift over everything that had happened this summer.

It had started out like complete crap with the dementors being the icing on the cake. But then… things got better. He finally stood up for himself and attached himself to Sirius like a limpet. Sirius had followed his lead and Remus backed them both up.

And suddenly everything just started falling into place. His trial, which started out as a weapon against him, ended up being used to not only clear his name, but Sirius’ as well and to prove that Voldemort was alive and scheming as always. He’d managed to get a proper family out of the entire thing too. A guardian that cared about him and an uncle who did as well.

He was on the outs with his two best friends which he hated, but he also refused to back down this time. It was always him giving in or apologising first. This time he knew he was in the right. He was allowed to be angry and he didn’t need to forgive them just because they were friends. 

Friends would care about him more than they would care about Dumbledore’s orders.

Beyond all of that though… he’d learned some very disturbing things.

It had all come out in Gringotts honestly and he still felt like a complete mess. At the time, he’d been completely shocked and he still didn’t know what to do about it. Sirius and Remus were dealing with all the legal things but the final call on everything came down to Harry.

Because… people had been stealing from him. The thought made his stomach twist and bile burned in his mouth as betrayal clawed at him. He pushed it away, like he always did. They’d said he didn’t need to make a decision yet and he wasn’t really prepared to face the whole thing after everything. 

He wasn’t ready to deal with any of that. He just wanted to go back to school, hopefully have a good year, and come back to his family for Christmas. He wanted to play Quidditch and lead his team to victory. The Captain badge was something he felt he’d actually earned instead of getting it only because of his name. He’d worked his ass off in Quidditch, never missed a practice if he could help it and gave his all in every match.

He’d earned it. And he wanted to focus on that. He wanted to focus on the friends that did stay by his side. He wanted to go to class and hang out with the people he liked.

He wanted to be a regular student who had family that wrote to him and wasn’t hated on and off throughout the year.

He definitely didn’t want to think about Gringotts.

—

Harry knew there was going to be a problem the moment he saw the staff table and he almost threw his hands up and cursed every person who had led to him standing here and seeing the pink toad from his hearing watching him with beady little eyes.

“DADA?” he asked Luna tiredly.

She patted his shoulder sympathetically. “Just remember Harry. Stand up for yourself. Look what it’s given you so far.”

He sighed and nodded, sitting next to Neville at the Gryffindor table and resigning himself to another miserable DADA year. Why did it have to be his favourite class too?

Dolores Umbridge turned out to have got the post because of Fudge just before his fall from grace. Not that there was much grace to fall from of course. She was supposed to have another fancy job title which McGonagall seemed to get great joy from saying no longer applied.

Harry didn’t think he’d ever seen the staff so united in disliking someone. Even Snape eyed Umbridge like she was dirt that had inconceivably dared to be stuck to his shoe. It was certainly interesting to see. Only Dumbledore continued to look as unbothered as ever but Harry couldn’t find it in him to look at the man while he gave his yearly speech.

Umbridge interrupted partway through and everyone watched her with completely scandalised expressions. Even the Slytherins looked entirely put out by this breach of etiquette.

The woman didn’t even seem to realise how bad of an impression she’d made.

Harry pretended not to notice all the eyes flitting to his heir ring throughout the meal. It was only certain people who seemed to have noticed it since they’d been trained to, and confused frowns graced many faces and quiet whispers were shared between friends and rivals alike.

Things were changing and he just hoped that he was ready for it.

—

Harry hadn’t even got to sleep the first night of his fifth year before Gryffindor exploded into questions and demands once he walked through the portrait after dinner. The poor first years looked entirely out of their depth in the chaos.

“He’s really back?!”

“The Ministry and their dementors tried to kill you?!”

“What was your trial like? Were there dementors?”

“Eventful summer, huh?”

“Is it safe living with a mass murderer like that?”

Harry turned to glare at the last question he could make out but George interrupted it all with a piercing whistle. Fred grabbed Harry’s shoulders and steered him towards the stairs.

“Back off, you vultures,” George snapped. “Have a bit of decency. He’s not your yearly entertainment, you know.”

“Off to bed, off to bed ickle Harry,” Fred said cheekily, faking cheer much better than his brother who actually seemed to have lost his temper a bit.

Then again, George did have the shorter temper and Fred was the peacekeeper when necessary.

“First off, you’re going to get clocked if you talk badly about Sirius. He’s a great guy who got framed and if you start spouting shit about him, we’ll just have to do the same about your parents. Fair’s fair after all.”

“Second,” Fred called. “Read the papers. They get sued for slander now so they’ve actually got to print the truth. It’s great. I’m sure you all know how to read?”

The house didn’t seem to know what to do at all with the twins acting like this except for Lee who was bouncing in place with excitement. Honestly, Lee was the most supportive friend Harry had ever met and would cheer the twins on in anything. Especially George.

For reasons. Certain reasons. That both Fred and Harry and the rest of the Quidditch team knew.

Guys could be so oblivious sometimes. And that was coming from Harry who sucked at emotions and relationships.

Caught up in his thoughts, he didn’t fight as Fred swept him up to his room and dumped him on his bed.

“Sleep tight, you’ve got DADA tomorrow,” he said, ruffling Harry’s hair in that way that irritated the life out of him.

Harry batted his hands away. “Quit snooping at my schedule,” he huffed.

He aimed a kick at Fred who dodged and laughed on his way out. “Never!” he declared dramatically.

Harry rolled his eyes and wondered if this was what having older brothers felt like.

Chapter Text

His first classes in his fifth year were a mixed bag. Transfiguration hadn’t changed at all. Professor McGonagall didn’t treat him any differently than before and he was relieved over that. He was already getting whiplash from the students changing their opinion of him again, so some consistency was welcome.

Charms was mostly the same as well. Professor Flitwick did get a little overexcited when greeting him but once the lesson properly started it settled into familiar routine again.

History of Magic was a complete bore and he regretted taking it instead of a different subject. He considered talking to Professor McGonagall about that on Friday. If he wanted to really focus on his schoolwork, then he should pick a class where he was actually going to learn something rather than hear the same lessons on repeat.

Herbology was filled with constant glances his way from Professor Sprout which Harry tried to ignore and Astronomy was a bit weird since Professor Sinistra almost seemed to avoid going near Harry which made no sense. She’d always treated him with complete neutrality so he didn’t understand why that had changed.

Divination was a complete disaster and Harry outright banged his head on his table as Professor Trelawney spouted several readings of his impending death. Admittedly, when she spoke of the grim again, he had to stifle a laugh. He’d very much like Padfoot to be around for the whole year.

He definitely needed to talk to McGonagall about his classes and hoped she’d be able to help him.

Care of Magical Creatures started out with a huge hug from Hagrid which was a little awkward since Harry didn’t know what to think of the man. He knew that Hagrid had taken him from Sirius that night and while he did it with the best of intentions, he also followed every order from Dumbledore without hesitation. Harry wasn’t sure what to do around him now. Thankfully, he didn’t notice and was completely focused on his class. 

And then there was potions and the git who taught it. Harry had already known that Snape was going to be an ass but he hadn’t realised he’d decided to outdo his behaviour from all the previous years and would not shut up about Sirius and Remus. The amount of times he commented on the two and his usual sneering insults towards his father had even the Slytherins glancing at each other in discomfort. Harry was shaking with rage by the end of each lesson but he kept his mouth shut. Since they’d expected this, Sirius and Remus had already come up with a plan to deal with Snape and Harry just had to bite the bullet for a few classes.

His temper was only stretched even further by Dolores Fucking Umbridge.

The insults and sugary sweet comments directed at him had him biting his tongue until he tasted blood. The Gryffindors were with the Slytherins again for this class and they seemed equally as unimpressed with the bitch despite her being slightly less awful to them. She was digging for any opportunity to give Harry a detention so he made sure she found no reason to succeed in that. His work was top notch, his notes perfect and he did nothing to suggest disrespect. 

He was pretty impressed with himself for managing it for the three classes he was subjected to the pink toad over the week.

His temper was on the verge of snapping when he managed to escape her class Friday afternoon.

“That woman is terrible,” Neville said under his breath as they rushed out with all the other students.

“Completely,” Dean agreed. “And relentless too. I don’t know how you haven’t snapped once this whole week, Harry.”

Seamus and Dean had settled back into their normal attitudes throughout the week and they were fine to talk to again. Harry was still fighting with Ron so more people to talk to in the dorm was welcome.

He didn’t know why Ron was so set on him being right to follow Dumbledore’s instruction to ignore him over the summer, but he absolutely refused to apologise to Harry. Hermione was the same. Harry wasn’t going to back down this time though since if he forgave them now to keep the peace, the problem would never be solved.

“I’ll see you guys later,” he told the three boys. “I need to go talk to McGonagall about something.

“See you, Harry,” Neville waved as he followed their roommates back to the tower. They were all already getting buried in work so they were trying to stay afloat by doing some every day. They were going to try and get in the habit for the whole year.

As Harry started down the hallway to get to his Head of House’s office, someone called out behind him.

“Potter!”

Stopping, Harry was shocked to find Daphne Greengrass walking towards him. He didn’t think the girl had ever spoken to him before. Her friend, Tracey Davis, looked just as stunned as she watched Daphne.

“What are you-” she started to ask but Daphne cut her off.

“May I have a moment of your time, Potter?” she asked.

“Er, sure,” Harry managed after he got over his shock.

She turned towards Tracey. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Daphne-”

“I’ll only be a few minutes. I’ll see you in the common room.”

Tracey reluctantly backed up, turning to glance back at them more than once as she left. They ducked into a nearby empty classroom and Harry turned to look at the Slytherin. 

“Can I help you?” he asked. While his prior experience with Slytherins left him nervous about being alone with one, he reminded himself that she’d never really started trouble with him before. She’d mostly just ignored him.

Daphne straightened her back and he was startled to realise she seemed a bit nervous about this too.

“Since no one seems willing to broach the subject and we’re getting nowhere as a result,” she started. “I would like to ask why you have started to wear your heir ring this year.”

Harry glanced down at it in surprise. He’d gotten used to the ring by now and he’d known someone would ask at some point. Sirius had predicted it being after a month while Remus bet on two. Looked like they were both wrong.

“Well, I didn’t really know it existed or that heirs were a thing in the wizarding world,” he told her after getting over his surprise. “I was raised muggle and didn’t know about magic until I got my school letter. And no one thought to teach me about all this stuff. The only thing I learnt before I got to Hogwarts was ‘Evil wizard killed your parents’ and ‘Slytherin bad’.”

She stared at him in stunned shock, clearly not having expected that answer.

“Sirius explained everything to me recently when he realised that no one had taught me about it. I didn’t know the Potter name was all fancy with a lord title. I’m still trying to process that. But anyway, I only got the ring when Sirius retrieved it from my family vault. Which I also didn’t know was a thing.” He'd thought his personal vault was the end of it.

She continued to stare at him blankly and he shifted his weight anxiously.

“I’ve also been told that I owe the other heirs an apology. He explained that I basically snubbed everyone in my first year by not following social etiquette. But I’m not apologising to Malfoy. He was a git when we met and he only got worse.”

That seemed to startle a laugh out of her.

“From what I understand, Draco broke the etiquette first by insulting Weasley in front of you.” She cocked her head. “Who you don’t seem to be on good terms with at the moment.”

Harry grimaced. “It’s personal, but yeah, I’m not happy with Ron and Hermione at the moment.”

“And you’re closer to Heir Longbottom instead?” she asked.

Harry nodded. “He’s been helping a lot. Sirius taught me what he could before I had to come back and Neville’s been helping with the rest. Like who I need to know about. There are so many heirs in Hogwarts. Why are the so many heirs in Hogwarts? And why are there also secondary and tertiary heirs? It’s a lot to learn on top of fifth year work.”

She seemed amused by his whining. “It is something you’re supposed to learn from early childhood. I can imagine it’s rather overwhelming to learn suddenly five years into school.”

Harry nodded with a sigh. She seemed open enough to the explanation so he might as well start with her. He also found it ironic that a Slytherin was the first to actually ask him outright what was going on.

“I am sorry about any unintended rudeness towards you, Greengrass,” he told her. “I was planning to approach some heirs who I was reasonably sure didn’t hate me after everyone was settled into Hogwarts. 

Surprisingly, she waved the apology away. “Now that I know the story, an apology is unnecessary. Important knowledge was kept from you and perhaps one of us should have approached you sooner to find out the reason instead of deciding to take offence. If you don’t mind, may I pass this information on to the others? I can’t imagine that you’d want to have this same conversation over and over.”

“I’d appreciate that,” he said in relief. “I’ll still apologise to everyone though. Just not Malfoy.”

She laughed again. “Fair enough. He did cross the line a few times into feud territory. We were confused when you let it go every time.”

“If I’d known I could start a feud, I might have been tempted,” he chuckled. “But that also seems like way too much work.”

“Thank you for speaking to me, Heir Potter,” she said, slipping back into a more formal tone again.

“You as well, Heir Greengrass.”

She left the classroom and Harry felt a little bit lighter now that he didn’t have to talk to every heir and have the same conversation. Sirius had mentioned that the Greengrass family veered more towards neutral than entirely dark in his crash course on the important families, so while he wasn’t sure about trusting a Slytherin, he decided to give her a chance.

The fact that she approached him while everyone else hesitated earned her some points in his eyes. He was going to ask Neville for his opinion on the whole thing.

After he’d spoken to Mcgonagall though. He really hoped that she’d be able to help him or this year was going to be unbearable.

Chapter Text

Harry took a deep breath to steady his nerves before he knocked on the door and opened it when his Head of House told him to enter. She looked a bit surprised to see him, which was understandable. He wasn't exactly one to spend much time in his teachers' offices if he could help it.

“Mr Potter? Can I help you with something?”

Harry fidgeted in place for a moment. “Um, yes Professor. It’s about my subjects.”

She put down the quill she was using and folded her hands in front of her after gesturing at the chair in front of the desk. He nervously sat down, not sure how this would go. He knew that some students changed subjects in sixth year, but hadn’t heard of a fifth year doing it.

“What about your subjects?” she prompted after he floundered for a moment.

“Is there any way to change them?” he asked hopefully.

“Normally not before sixth year with your Head of House’s permission.” Harry slumped a bit in disappointment, but she continued. “Why do you want to change subjects? You’ve only just started your fifth year classes?”

He bit his lip, hoping that this didn’t sound completely stupid. “I didn’t know what I was doing,” he admitted. “When I picked them, I was just going with what some of my friends were choosing. It’s… it’s Divination.”

“Not Potions?” she asked, clearly a bit surprised by that.

Harry shrugged. “Potions will be useful and I’m used to the, um, difficulties with the class.”

He could have sworn that her lips quirked up in amusement as he danced around the obvious and well known ‘difficulty’.

“Divination is, well, everyone said it was easy all the way through to seventh year. And Ron took it so I just kind of did the same. Considering my classes so far have still been about how I’m doomed because the grim showed up in my tea leaves…” He trailed off.

McGonagall huffed out a surprised laugh. “I hardly think you’d be concerned about your godfather being firmly present in your future. I see what you mean. If I did let you change, what would you choose instead?”

This was the part he wasn’t sure about. Muggle Studies would be the easy choice. But after actually talking to Sirius and Remus about the different subjects, he’d found himself fascinated by one they’d both taken but he'd never even considered before.

“Runes,” he admitted. “Sirius and Remus got me some of my parents’ stuff. Dad took Runes so I looked through his old textbooks. It looked really interesting."

Arithmancy sounded entirely too complicated and a bit boring. His mum had taken that one and her textbooks looked like a next level thing. He’d never been great with maths either.

“And Care of Magical Creatures?” she asked.

“That one’s fine,” he told her quickly. “I like learning about the animals in the magical world. It’s just Divination really.”

“Well I can hardly disagree with you there. That subject should only be accessible to those that show an aptitude for the field. It does get chosen as the easy option often. And I can’t blame you for choosing that either. Your first year ended terribly, your second year was a disaster, your third had you entirely focused on the patronus charm and your fourth year was a catastrophe from start to finish. It's a wonder you've kept up in your classes at all.”

Harry had to grimace in agreement. Fourth year topped the others so far in how awful it had been, but they'd all been pretty bad.

“I will speak to Professor Babbling,” she told him after a moment of thought. “And see if she will be willing to transfer you to her class. You will have to catch up on the lessons that you’ve missed if she agrees, however. That will involve extra classes and some tutoring lessons as well. It won't be easy.”

Harry perked up, hopeful at the words. He might get out of Divination this year then. He’d been dreading dealing with that all until sixth year. And he'd get a subject that sounded actually interesting instead.

“Thank you professor,” he said in relief. “I expected the extra classes to catch up and tutoring would be even better. Sirius said he’d send me the textbooks I’d need if I get to change.”

She nodded in approval. “I will let you know by Sunday. Before you go though, I have something to speak to you about.”

Harry felt confusion and trepidation bubble up in him at the words.

“I have not always been the best Head of House to you,” she started, confusing Harry even more. “I let others’ words bias me in how I saw you. I apologise for that.”

“The Headmaster?” Harry asked tentatively and her expression tightened.

“I have had words with him. Regardless of that though, I still failed you on multiple occasions. Your parents would likely be livid with me if they were here.”

Harry hadn’t expected this conversation at all.

“I was planning to organise a meeting with you soon, but saying it now will do. If you have any problems Mr Potter, whether that’s with students or staff, I want you to come to me. Or send your Godfather an owl. Or send Remus an owl. Or all of the above. Most adults in your life haven’t been nearly as helpful as we should so I understand that you’re reluctant to ask for help. Please do not hesitate to do so this year. If anything happens, let someone know.”

“I will, professor,” Harry agreed quietly. He’d got a similar talk from Sirius but hadn’t been expecting it from his Head of House. “Thank you.”

She gave him a slight smile and dismissed him. Harry left her office with a mix of feelings. It felt strange to have someone other than Sirius and Remus openly upset with Dumbledore and he’d honestly never expected it from McGonagall of all people. It felt good as well though. He felt like he actually had support in the staff suddenly, instead of just from friends.

This year was getting off to a hopeful start and Harry felt like he was prepared for it for the first time since he’d started at Hogwarts.

He caught up with Neville on the way to dinner, finding Luna with him.

“And?” Neville asked.

“She’s going to talk to Professor Babbling for me,” Harry told him, prompting a grin from the boy.

“That’s great,” he agreed.

"You'll enjoy Runes much more than divination," Luna agreed with a smile. 

They resumed heading towards the Great Hall for dinner and Harry let himself relax as he talked with his friends. Things weren't perfect, not even close. But they were so much better than before. Hopefully things would keep going up because then this year was shaping up to be great so far.