Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Sirius!”

Harry’s shout was lost to the wind. The blizzard made it near impossible to see, and his hands were red and numb. At least the bike was under his control for once - he turned one way, then the other, calling for his godfather, but to no avail. And the snow had begun to fall thicker.

“Sirius!” he yelled again.

Silence.

Then the engine began to sputter and spark, and without warning rushed away to the left, with Harry clinging on for dear life. They made several sharp turns, ploughed straight through a snowdrift and finally stopped at a clearing where -

“Sirius! Are you OK?” Harry ran towards his godfather, who lay half-buried in snow. He still managed a frozen grin.

“Come to rescue me, eh Harry?”

“What are you doing out here? You could have died!”

“Well I wasn’t going to let you waste away in prison was I?” Sirius wheezed as Harry helped him up. “How the hell did you get out of there?”

“I didn’t. Tom let me go, to come and help you.”

“Tom?”

“He's the wizard.”

“That bloody maniac just let you go?”

“But he’s not a maniac Sirius…”

---

It took Harry quite a while to finish recounting all that had happened in the past few days, throughout the cold journey home, then the building of a fire and the fetching and carrying of blankets and hot water until they were both warm and dry again.

“Well,” Sirius was looking more than a little gobsmacked. “I don’t often say this Harry, but I am lost for words. An Unbreakable Vow… wow, that must have been pretty advanced magic to break it, James told me that they were completely binding…”

Harry's eyes widened. “My - my dad? But how - was he -”

Sirius had the distinct look of someone who had spoken without thinking. He looked down at his hands, shame written all over his face.

"I'm sorry Harry. I'm so very, very sorry."

"Wha- what do you mean?"

"I should have told you, I should have told you ages ago... your parents were both wizards.

"I was born into a magical family you see, but they disowned me when they discovered I was a Squib - that's a person born to magical parents who isn't a witch or wizard. Your father's family took me in, even though I wasn't one of them.

"About twenty years ago, a dark wizard named Grindelwald came to power. Your parents fought against him - but nobody lived once he decided to kill them. They died, but Grindelwald's Killing Curse just missed you. That's why you have your scar, it's the mark of the curse, where it touched you. You were sent to the Dursleys to keep you safe. It took me ten years to find you."

Angry tears prickled at Harry's eyes. At some point during Sirius' speech, he had stood up, shaking with fury.

"Why?" he demanded. "Why did you never tell me? I had a right to know! How could you keep something like that a secret?"

Sirius sighed, suddenly looking much older than he actually was. "Because - and I know this is going to sound completely pathetic - but it's because I was trying to keep you safe. Grindelwald was still at large for a long time, he may still be out there. Living in the Muggle world meant that we were harder to find."

"But you still could have told -"

"Harry, you're all I have left of James and Lily, and I have a duty to look after you. I know you're probably furious with me right now, but please, understand. I only did all of this to keep you safe and happy. It was a foolish decision yes, but I made it for you."

In all honesty, Harry wasn't sure what to feel. He was furious, inordinately so, but there was also a lump in his throat and his mind was reeling and Sirius looked so much like a puppy that had just been kicked, eyes brimming with guilt, that it was hard to feel resentment towards him.

And just to hear that confirmation, that final word that someone had truly cared enough for him to make that decision, however foolish...

Harry leaned forward and hugged his godfather tightly.

"It's OK," he muttered. "Well... I mean, it's not OK, but I understand, I get it..."

Sirius stroked his hair. "You know, I thought you might have cottoned on after I got that motorbike flying."

"That was magic? But you said you were a Squib."

"Well, I can do a few simple charms. Levitation can come in handy."

"Is it meant to just steer itself?"

"Ah, no. I hadn't actually realised it did that."

Harry gave a half-hearted, very watery chuckle.

The moment was then interrupted with a muffled squeak of “Please sir, Dobby cannot breathe!”

They both jumped, and Dobby came toppling out of Harry’s pocket, landing on the table and proceeded to do several wobbly pirouettes before squeaking “Hello!”

“Dobby?”

“‘Tis I Harry Potter sir! Good evening Master Sirius sir!” He bowed.

“Well, I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again.” Sirius chuckled.

“But - what are you doing here?” asked Harry, who was still thoroughly confused.

“Oh, Dobby knows it is none of his business sir!” said the teacup. “But Dobby had to ask - why is Harry Potter going away? Does he not like it at Hogwarts any more?”

“Of course I like Hogwarts Dobby, it’s just that -”

Harry was cut off by a sharp rap at the door and he went to answer it, wondering exactly who was out so late at night.

When he opened the door, all the blood drained from his face.

“Evening boy,” smirked Uncle Vernon.

“Wh-wh-what are you doing here?” Harry stammered. Fear kept him frozen, unable to unstick more words from his throat, to slam the door shut and never open it again, to keep out the monsters -

“We’ve come to collect your godfather. Seems that he’s been acting rather out of sorts lately…”

Stretching up on tiptoe to see past Uncle Vernon’s bulky frame, Harry could see the rest of the villagers gathered outside the house with angry faces and flaming torches - and the wagon, with Dursley Asylum for the Freakish and Abnormal painted on the side.

“Sirius is not crazy!” he shouted, the sight sparking red hot anger in his chest, and he tried to slam the door in his uncle’s face. A meaty fist blocked him. The crowd guffawed.

“Not crazy? He was raving like a lunatic!” Crabbe sniggered.

“What are you doing to my godson?”

Sirius stormed out of the doorway, his hands balled into fists, towering over Uncle Vernon. His timing couldn’t have possibly been worse.

“Sirius!” Crabbe yelled. “Tell us again! Tell us about the wizard!”

“He was tall, dressed in black, with a nose like a snake -”

The shrieks of laughter drowned out the rest of his words.

“You don’t get much crazier than that!”

“It’s true!” Sirius hollered as two enormous men in hoods grabbed him by the arms.

“Malfoy!” Harry ran towards the crowd and grabbed him by the shirt collar, eyes pleading. As much as he despised him, his influence in town was more than most and he might be able to convince the rest of the villagers to stop this. “You know he’s not crazy! Please, do something!”

“Poor Harry,” Malfoy smirked. “I might be able to clear up this little - misunderstanding. If…”

“If what?”

“If you marry me.”

“What?”

“One little word Harry, that’s all it takes.”

Harry pulled away in disgust. "Never!”

Malfoy shrugged. “Have it your way.”

“Let go! Let go of me you snivelling, wart-faced -” Sirius struggled as they dragged him towards the wagon, still severely weakened after his ordeal in the forest.

Harry ran inside and re-emerged, clutching the Mirror of Erised.

“Sirius is not crazy and I can prove it!” he shouted, dodging round his uncle. “Show me Tom Riddle!”

He held it up as the glass swam - and the entire town gasped in fear as they saw the twisted, furious face of Tom Riddle, blasting a suit of armour into fragments with his wand.

“Is he dangerous?” shrieked Pansy Parkinson.

“No! No, I swear he isn’t,” Harry said desperately. “Please! I know he looks evil but he’s really kind and clever and… gentle,” he smiled absentmindedly. “He’s my friend.”

Malfoy was practically green in the face with envy.

“If I didn’t know better I’d say you had feelings for this monster.” he sneered.

“He’s no monster Malfoy,” Harry spat. “You are!”

It was the final straw. Rage completely consumed Malfoy’s handsome features.

“He’s as crazy as his godfather!” he grabbed Harry’s wrist and snatched the Mirror away. “This wizard is evil. He will make off with your children!” Terrified mothers clutched their babes in arms. “He will send plagues upon your crops!” There were fearful mutters. “We're not safe until his head is mounted on my wall. I say we kill the wizard!”

A roar of assent met him.

"We're not safe until he's dead!"

"He'll come stalking us at night!"

"He'll wreak havoc on our village if we let him wander free!"

"So come on then!" Malfoy roared. "It's time for us to fight back! We'll lay siege to the castle and bring back his head!"

“No!” Harry ran at him, trying to grab the Mirror. “I won’t let you!”

“If you’re not with us, you’re against us!” Harry’s strength, though fuelled with fiery anger and righteous indignation, was no match for his, and Malfoy picked him up bodily and threw him into the wagon with one hand. “Lock them up!”

The two men holding Sirius dumped him beside Harry and Aunt Petunia quickly bolted them inside.

“Gather your weapons!” Malfoy bellowed. “Bring your torches! Follow me and we’ll find that wizard and tear him limb from limb!” There were cheers as he mounted his horse, which was almost as big as he was. “Cut down that tree! We’ll bring it and use it to batter the door down!”

He clattered away into the Forest with the crowd yelling behind him, the Dursleys bringing up the rear, their faces red and their smiles cruel.

---

“I knew it would be foolish to get our hopes up.” Snape said unconvincingly.

The very dejected staff of Hogwarts sat in the Headmaster’s office, brooding over their loss.

“Perhaps it would have been better if he’d never come at all.” muttered Professor McGonagall.

“Now now Minerva, we must always look on the bright side of things.” But even Dumbledore was hanging his head glumly, with no real warmth in his voice. Clearly, there was no bright side to this situation to be found.

Silence reigned for several minutes.

“Merlin help us!” Professor Trelawney suddenly cried from her perch on the windowsill.

They quickly crowded around, hoping in vain that it might be Harry, returning to save them.

But it was a terrifying mob, bearing blazing torches and vicious blades, screeching and howling like wild animals, that met their eyes.

“Invaders!” gasped Professor Flitwick. Madam Pomfrey very nearly fainted.

“Severus,” Dumbledore said quickly. “Alert the rest of the castle to prepare for battle. We must defend Hogwarts at all costs. Minerva, you must go and speak to Tom, try and make him see reason. There is not a moment to lose!”

---

Rain had begun to lash down from the black sky and flashes of lightning cast eerie shadows over Hogwarts. But this could not deter the attackers, fuelled with fear, adrenaline and bloodlust.

“Take whatever you will,” Malfoy roared, brandishing his sword. “But remember - the wizard is mine!”

And with a great cry of “Kill the wizard!”, the mob began to break down the door.