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Chapter Text

Hogwarts Arc

Chapter Nine : Amethyst

Amethyst calms the emotions, encourages clarity of thought, and assists in attaining wisdom. Amethyst is a stone of the mind which brings calmness and clarity. Amethyst is said to attune its wearer with intuition, feelings and values. It has long been regarded as an aid to sobriety and is useful for combating alcohol, food and other addictions. It is also thought to ease obsessive-compulsive behavior.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland, Earth; 3 November 1994

His beautiful godson was horrifically scarred.

It took all of Sirius', admittedly lacking, self-control to not throw himself across the table to wrap the tiny dark haired boy across from him in the tightest hug possible, and whisk him away from Hogwarts and the public's grasping hands to secret him away some place warm and as far away from Dumbledore as possible.

Merlin, when James had first put Harry in his arms, Sirius had expected the wild-haired baby to grow into the perfect image of Prongs, with a mischievous mind and his mother's kind heart. Instead, he was looking at a boy who favoured Lily's softer face and button nose, with James' raven hair tamed with length, and a twisted mass of scarring on on half of his face that he could catch sight of between the curtain of black waves that Harry was using to hide the scars away.

"So? Who the hell're you?"

Sirius' eyes flicked towards the golden haired boy who had immediately planted himself in front of Sirius' godson when the red eyed stranger had let them into the room; the boy was tall and fit, with a scar slashing through his brow, and slit-pupiled blue eyes studied the three adults coldly. The final kid, with serpentine red eyes, a dusky complexion, and black hair falling across his face, had melted into the shadows, but Sirius could still fell his calculating gaze drilling into his spine.

He couldn't quite place their strange accents, but it seems almost Asian crossed with an near-American drawl.

The Black's eyes were drawn back to the green eyed boy across from him, and he licked his lips nervously. "Do you remember me, Harry?"

The green eye stared back blankly, before darting to the blond boy next to him, who was bristling like an angry cat.

"I'm not even sure who 'Harry' is." Harry admitted quietly, shoulders hunching in discomfort. "When my mother saved me, she gave me the name Lapis Lazuli. Before that..." He let out a slow breath, then shrugged helplessly.

Sirius' heart broke, "I'm your godfather, my name is Sirius." Gray eyes were searching, looking at his godson's face for any sign of recognition. "Padfoot?"

All he saw was honest confusion.

"I'm - I'm sorry," Harry said shyly, fiddling with his strange leather and fur clothing, "What's a godfather?"

Sirius felt as if he had been suckerpunched, his breath leaving him in a pained gasp, and he felt Remus' warm hand press down on his shoulder, anchoring the both of them, and he heard Minerva hiss in shock. "Your parents chose me - I was supposed to raise you if anything happened to them."

The blond boy growled, a noise echoed by his red eyed companion in the shadows, and Harry's brows furrowed.

It was the blond who spoke, words gutteral and snarled, "So why didn't you?"

Sirius flinched, and Remus twitched.

Harry frowned slight, "Sting," He admonished softly, and the blond - Sting - scoffed, but his eyes softened when they met the smaller teen's gaze.

"You were wondering the same thing, Lapis, don't even deny it."

Harry sighed, gently gripping Sting's wrist to tug him down onto the couch beside him, where he immediately pressed a hand to his chest, as if to keep the angry boy still, and cast his eyes back to the three adults in the room.

"I wanted to," Sirius blurted out, "Merlin's balls, I wanted to - you were one of the things keeping me sane when I - after -"

"Padfoot," Remus interrupted, voice soothing, "Breathe first."

Sirius forced himself to relax; Remus was right, he needed to breathe, to slow down and think. Sirius had always been slightly unhinged, and he had been forced to face that fact, especially after Azkaban, which had furthur unbalanced his already frayed sanity.

It was a fact he would have to live with.

He let out a slow breath, gray eyes moving to meet a single, searching eye the colour of emeralds, and he told his godson the truth. "I should have, and I'm sorry." Sirius admitted, "When I dug you out of the rubble, I should have taken you to Saint Mungos immediately, but I hesitated. The man who betrayed them, he was still on the loose, and as long as he was out there, you would never truly be safe." He let out a humourless chuckle, "It didn't help much that I wanted him dead." Sirius sighed, "Then Hagrid was there, saying that you needed to be taken to Dumbledore. I argued, at first, I was your godfather, you should have stayed with me. But in the end, I trusted the wrong person - I thought Dumbledore would keep you safe until I could catch Pettigrew. I told myself it wouldn't take too long, Wormtail had never been very bright, and I could easily hunt him down by smell - and I was right. I cornered him in London, but he outsmarted me - he started shouting for everyone to hear that I had betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort, I was too stunned to do anything else as he cut off his finger and blew up the street." Gray eyes flashed bitterly, his lips twisting grimly. "I blacked out, woke up surrounded by dead muggles and a destroyed street, Pettigrew was nowhere in sight. I lost it - it was on my suggestion that they made Wormtail their Secret Keeper; James was my brother in everything but blood, and it was openly known, I would have been their first choice. I had thought myself so smart, nobody would have suspected Peter, but he had already betrayed us. That's when the Aurors arrived, I wasn't really fully conscious at the time, but I've been told I was laughing and ranting it was my fault." He shrugged, "Got Stunned, and woke up in Azkaban where I would stay for the next ten years. You weren't even two yet."

Harry blinked, expression befuddled as Sirius finished his part of the story, and a single green eye switched between his godfather and the blond at his side.

"I'm assuming the other two have some role in this story."

Sirius couldn't quite stop his startled jump as the final boy melted back out of the shadows to brush past the three adults, red eyes calculating, and his long cloak almost making it look like the teenager was gliding.

(A small part of Sirius started wondering if Snivillous had had a child sometime in the past and abandoned it in the wild.)

Minerva sighed, "My part comes next," Sirus glanced at his former Professor; her pale green eyes stern, but very sad as she watched James and Lily's son. "I overheard Albus talking to Hagrid, about taking you to Lily's sister. Your parents were two of my favourite Lions when they were in school, and I wanted to see just what kind of home the Headmaster was placing you in. I spent the day watching that family, and I was frankly disgusted by what I found." Her lips twisted in disgusted contempt, "They prided themselves on being normal, without even realizing that their... behavior made them stand out. The husband was a fat oaf, and the son was well on his way to being a spoiled, brutish thug. Petunia... I could not see an ounce of resemblance between the Evans sisters. I was worried that you would become just as bad as your cousin was shaping up to be, and Albus played on those fears when I argued with your placement. He assured me that the safest place for you was with your closest living blood relatives, that in growing up away from the Wizarding World, you would grow without your publicity and popularity affecting your childhood." Harry's eye had narrowed thoughtfully, and Minerva laughed bitterly. "I was wrong."

Sirius watched as Harry's head tilted, mulling over the information he had been given, then his gaze slid over to Remus, still standing behind Sirius and eyeing the two strange kids warily.

"And him?" Sting had followed the shorter boy's stare, nodding towards the werewolf.

"I wasn't in Britain at the time, and I wasn't recalled until months after everything happened." Remus admitted, "I was deep undercover, and I wasn't even told what had happened until nearly four months later. By then, Dumbledore had already hidden you away behind Wards that would never let me anywhere near you, and I was so deep in grief and depression that it was easier to just hide away. I sent you letters and presents on your birthday every year, but from your expression, you probably didn't get any." The young Potter shook his head soundlessly, and Remus huffed, hand twitching on Sirius' shoulder. "Nobody even knew you were missing until you should have come to Hogwarts at eleven; Dumbledore was quick to assure the papers that you were happily travelling the world with specially selected mentors, and that you'd prefer to continue doing so for a few more years."

"Another lie." Sirius growled.

Harry sat back against the couch, studying the three adults, one pale hand gripping the blond's, and Sirius could pick out the faint tremors travelling up his godson's arm. His two companions were scowling at them in displeasure, as if telling them they hadn't done enough, and Sirius couldn't argue with that.

They had failed James' son.

"I don't trust you, not yet." Harry admitted quietly, "But... I'd like to get to know you, if... if that's okay with you." Sirius perked up, gray eyes shining, but he couldn't respond before his godson was continuing. "And to do that... I'd really like it if you would call me by my name, the one I've gone by."

Sirius wasn't sure how he felt about that - Harry was the name James and Lily had given their son, the name Sirius had been using for the boy who had become his lifeline for ten long years. But, at the same time, he had been telling himself, ever since his release from Azkaban, that when he found him, he would put his godson first - no more selfish exploits and no more running off.

Mind made up, Sirius offered the boy a smile, "I can do that." He was rewarded with a beaming smile, and a pleased flush from his godson. "My name is Sirius, Sirius Black. I'd really like to get to know you, too."

"I'm Lapis." His godson said, eye shining. "Lapis Lazuli. And... if it's not too much trouble... can you tell me about my mum and dad?"