Chapter 371
"Oh." Albus's face fell. "Well, then…"
"As you can imagine, both Remus and I have discouraged Harry fromthinkingthat the family magic is therefore the power Voldemort knows not." Siriusstated briskly. Albus looked at him understandingly. "Do you think there is another option?"
It was the perfect opening.
"What about the Hallows?" prompted Sirius. "Harry is the last of the Peverells. The Hallows are also a power that Voldemort wouldn't know or have personal
experience with."
"I thought we had agreed that the Resurrection Stone should be locked away?" There was a sharpness in Albus's tone that gave away his concern at thesubject.
"Did you know my Grandfather spent his final days searching for howHarrycould ultimately defeat Voldemort?" Sirius asked idly. Albus's eyes widened. "Arcturus?"
"Yes," Sirius placed his teacup down, "Lily and he were friends. She confidedinhim before they went into hiding. The blood wards around Privet Drive cameout of a book my Grandfather gave her. The spell for Harry's protection cameout of another book he gave her that used to belong to my Grandmother."
"Oh my." Albus murmured.
"He came across a source about the Hallows – Remus is trying to track it
down – anyway, it mentioned that the Hallows were created with the Peverell
family magic to help defeat the Dark Lord Severn." Sirius continued. "All threeitems acting in concert." Albus remained silent. Sirius stared him down. "I'm certain your studies into the Hallows must haverevealed something similar."
"Uniting the Hallows," began Albus, with an unhappy frown, "is meant toconvey the wizard holding all three with the power of Death. It is why the
child's tale says the wizard becomes Master of Death. But there is no
evidence to substantiate that."
"Apart from the source my Grandfather found." Sirius decided that Albus didn't
need to know that his Grandfather had gotten the information fromOllivander. "It apparently made it very clear that all three enabled the defeat of this DarkLord." His gaze settled on Albus. "We know where the cloak and the stoneare…"
"And the wand's location is best kept secret to ensure Tomdoes not attempt
to procure it." Albus interrupted. "You agreed with me that it was for the best
when we found the stone."
"I didn't agree; I just didn't pursue the topic. And that was before I had
information that the Hallows could be 'the power he knows not' that Harry
needs in order to defeat Voldemort." Sirius countered calmly.
"Sirius…"
"Secrets, Albus." Sirius said pointedly. "Haven't we just had this conversation?If you know where the wand is then as the person leading the war effort wherethat wand could make the difference between winning and losing, and beyondthat as the father of Harry, the last of the Peverells who arguably the wandtruly belongs to, shouldn't I be told?" Fawkes flew over to comfort Albus and the old wizard stroked the phoenixonhis lap for a long moment. Albus finally raised his eyes and met Sirius's relentless gaze again. "I assumethis is where you inform me that you already know."
"My Grandfather had a theory." Sirius offered, trying to lighten the moment. There was a soft snort from Albus. He slowly drew his wand out of a largesleeve as Fawkes abandoned him and flew back to his perch. The Elder wandwas placed on the desk. Sirius made no move toward it. "Harry is comfortable that you should havethewand for the time being."
Albus breathed in sharply. "He knows?"
"Yes." Sirius said bluntly.
"But then…"
"We understood why you were keeping it secret, Albus," Sirius said impatiently, "and frankly, Harry and I both agree that the wand is probably safest withyou, but we also agree that you need to stop keeping secrets that relate to Harry;
relate to how he could defeat Voldemort." There was another long moment of silence.
"He must hate me." Albus murmured eventually. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 372
"He's annoyed you're keeping secrets about him when you said you wouldn't." Sirius stated firmly. "As am I." Albus sighed. "I have no defence, Sirius, beyond the truth that for many yearsI
was the one to decide who knew what and when. I fear it has taken me sometime to realise the truth that I no longer have that right nor occupy the samerole in the war as last time."
Sirius nodded. "Is there anything else that you should have told me by nowthat springs to mind?"
"Nothing as you say springs to mind but I will review and let you knowif thereis something else." Albus said dryly. Sirius nodded.
"What about the Hallows?" asked Albus, motioning at his wand. "Or was that
merely an example to prove your point?"
"I wish they were just an example but no," Sirius said, rubbing his hand over
his chin. He sighed. "Remus and I are almost convinced that the Hallows arethe power that the prophecy speaks about – mostly because when we didHarry's blessing to transfer the blood protection from the Evans' line to theBlack, the spirit of Morgana Le Fay turned up and said something about Harrymastering Death." Albus's eyebrows were so far up his forehead that Sirius wondered if they
were going to crawl into his hairline. "The spirit of Morgana Le Fay appeared?"
"Bertie declared the whole thing a magical need-to-know event under the
authority of the DOM. Everybody present took a vow not to speak of it." Siriusexplained. "Obviously Bertie didn't make me take a vow and I think in the
interests of knowledge sharing you should be aware."
"Astonishing." Albus said.
"It was. Anyway, Morgana's words didn't mean anything to us at the time but
later when Harry, Remus and I talked about it, in retrospect her words seemedmeaningful. To my mind, she pointed to the Hallows as the defining factor
which would prevent Harry's death." Sirius gestured across the desk at thewand. "However, Remus and I believe we need to track the original sourcematerial that my Grandfather discovered down and see exactly howall threeHallows are meant to work in concert before Harry takes ownership of all
three." Albus nodded. "A sensible approach." His lips twisted. "I will reviewmy ownresearch. It has been some years but I may be able to find something." Sirius smoothed down the front of his robes. "That would be helpful." He
stood up. "I should get home."
"For what it is worth, Sirius, I am sorry." Albus said contritely.
"I think you owe that apology to Harry." Sirius replied. Albus's blue eyes dimmed and he gave a brief nod. "The password to theGryffindor Common Room is moonflower." Sirius inclined his head in acknowledgement of Albus's guess at where Siriuswas headed, and left the Headmaster's office. He immediately made for the
tower. He was almost there when he turned a corner and spotted Snape headinginhis direction. He had to restrain his urge to dive into an alcove and pretendhewasn't there. Instead, he steeled himself and carried on walking. Snape sneered as they drew level. "Black."
"Snape."
It was, Sirius considered amused, an almost civil exchange. He carried onwalking.
"If you're looking for Potter, he's in the new middle years Common Roomnext
to the library." Snape called after him. Sirius paused, shot a look over his shoulder to find Snape gazing back at himdarkly. "Thank you." He said mildly, and changed direction.
"Black." Snape halted Sirius again. Snape closed the difference between them. He drew his wand and Sirius
immediately released his own into the palm of his hand. Snape arched aneyebrow.
"I merely wish to erect a privacy bubble." Snape said formally. Sirius gazed at him wondering why but acquiesced, replacing his wand initsholster. "Yes?" He asked as soon as the privacy bubble had formed.
"You are aware that Potter's medical treatment is now common knowledge?" Snape asked brusquely.
"I am." Sirius answered, trying not to feel defensive or that it was his fault for
changing the time of Harry's appointment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 373
"Is he…" Snape stopped and fidgeted with the buttons on his robes. He seemed unaccountably nervous in Sirius's opinion.
"The rumour is that the sessions are dealing with the death threats?" Snapebegan again. Sirius knew his surprise at the question was written all over his face. "I didn't
know you cared, Snape." And he had no intention of talking about Harry's
treatment with his former schoolyard nemesis.
Snape blocked his move to turn away. "I may not care for Potter but Lily wasmy best friend." Anger erupted in Sirius, surging through him with the force of a tidal wave.
"A best friend whose death warrant you signed when you told Voldemort
about the prophecy." Sirius looked at him with disgust as Snape's face drainedof all colour. "Did you think I wouldn't find out?"
"Does Potter…"
"No," Sirius said crisply, "he said he didn't want to know who told Voldemort if
he still had to interact with the person in question. I wish I hadn't found out
because frankly every time I see you, I want to hit you and keep hitting youuntil you're too bloody to move." Snape's eyes remained affixed on the floor. "You couldn't possibly hate memore than I hate myself."
"Please save me the false regret. If you had any true remorse you wouldn't
have spent the last three years making Harry's life miserable." Sirius shot back, taking a step toward Snape. "He is Lily's son. If you cared at all about her, youwould have done everything you could have to make up for the fact that youare the reason why he doesn't know her; why the only memory of her he hasisof her dying to save him."
Snape went red then white but he remained silent. Sirius took a deep breath and reminded himself he couldn't kill Snape. "Now, since my son's medical treatment is none of your business…"
"I think the death threats have something to do with Bellatrix and the
LeStranges." Snape said as Sirius took a step away from him. Sirius raised a questioning eyebrow at him.
"Your cousin taught me Occlumency and I stayed in the LeStrange mansionfor a month." Snape explained. "She placed a notice-me-not on the memoriesand I discovered it when I felt there was something familiar about the first
death threat note. So far my reconstruction has only shown Bartemius CrouchJunior in the mansion but is it possible she or Rodolphus had a lover?"
"Maybe." Sirius grimaced. "I'll look into it." He refused to thank Snape; he'dgrovel before Voldemort first. Snape bowed his head and stepped away, taking down the privacy bubble. Hedisappeared around a corner in a billow of black robes. Sirius walked away with alacrity, wanting to get away fromSnape and the
words they'd exchanged as fast as possible. He paused at the entrance totheCommon Room to catch his breath and calm down. He didn't want to alarmHarry. He spotted him quickly; Harry sat at a large table, flanked by Hermione andRon with Neville, Hannah and Susan on the other side. The table beside himwas filled with Slytherins – Blaise was passing notes back and forth withNeville while Draco and Theo seemed involved in some discussion. Aseatingarrangement behind Neville was filled with girls of various Houses all tryingtobat their eyelids at the boys rather do any work. Sirius wandered in and pulled up a spare chair to budge in between Harry andRon. "Well, this is very industrious."
"I know." Ron said sorrowfully, casting a look at Hermione who sniffed andcarried on reading.
"Getting your homework out of the way is good practice, Ron, especially nowyou have Quidditch." Hermione lectured briskly.
"Transfiguration essay." Harry explained in reply to Sirius pulling the
parchment closer towards him. "I'm just done. What are you doing here?"
"I was just talking with Professor Dumbledore. Want to walk me out?" askedSirius brightly.
"Sure." Ron grabbed hold of Harry's arm. "Hold up. How do we know it's Sirius?" Hesmiled apologetically at Sirius but didn't relent. Harry rolled his eyes but explained. "Moody says we should check every timewe're asked to go somewhere alone with someone else."
"Constant vigilance!" Sirius echoed cheerfully. "OK, so ask me somethingonlyI would know." He trusted that Harry wouldn't ask him to change into his
animagus form in front of people who didn't know. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 374
"Where did you say Remus was going next in our last communication?" Harryasked immediately.
"Germany." Sirius replied promptly. They'd had that conversation the night
before through the mirrors. Harry beamed at him and started to gather his stuff. They set off without
further ado. Sirius put up a privacy bubble just in case anybody followedthembefore he started talking.
"So Albus and I talked." Sirius began.
"And?" Harry asked impatiently.
"He says he'll do better." Sirius shrugged and Harry nodded as though it wasenough of an answer because maybe it was; Albus had promised to dobetter
once before and he'd failed. He was on his last chance with them.
"He thought I wanted to talk to him about the fallout of your treatment goingpublic." Sirius said, nudging Harry as they got outside and smacked straight
into the brisk Scottish wind. "I understand you blamed it on me."
"Worked like a charm." Harry grinned before his face fell. "Apparently it hasn't
put the stalkers off that much. Hermione says that my being crazy is
attractive?" Sirius chuckled at Harry's bemused expression. He poked his son. "Woundedbirds are to be cooed over. I've had my fair share of that since we came backfrom the States." Nora Zabini was still intent on making himher next husband.
"Brilliant." Harry muttered despondently. "I guess I should rethink Theo's
suggestion."
"What suggestion was that?" asked Sirius.
"He thinks I should pretend date a few of the girls I trust like Hermione andSusan? Maybe Luna and Daphne? If the girls agreed to it, I mean." Sirius hummed as he considered the idea. "It's not a bad suggestion. I'mnot
sure it would put the more tenacious of your stalkers off though."
"It could be good practice though, right?" Harry replied. "If I'mpretendingtodate then I'd have to go on dates so…practice."
"You make it sound like Quidditch." Sirius teased. Harry grimaced. "Quidditch is a lot easier than girls."
"That's true enough." Sirius slung an arm around him. "I think if the girls knowup front and agree then I say go for it. Practice never hurt anyone. But I don't
think it'll solve the stalker issue entirely. If they haven't been put off by your
apparent craziness, I don't think competition is going to do it."
"I know," said Harry morosely. He gave a deep sigh and pushed his hands intohis pockets. "You managed to stop the Prophet from printing anything."
"Well, Brian did." Sirius admitted. "Skeeter still managed to get a fewcomments into her latest article about the continuing lack of progress onthedeath threats about what a toll it must take on you so we'll keep an eye onher."
Harry nodded. "There's no news at all about the death threats?"
"No, although…" Sirius made a face. "I encountered Snape in the corridor onmy way to find you and he mentioned something he remembered which might
give Amelia another avenue to explore."
"Wow," said Harry, "I'm impressed. You and Snape talked and nobody washexed." Sirius laughed. "It was a close-run thing. Your Potions lessons going OK?" Harry shrugged. "He hasn't taken any points or put us in detention for
breathing so…mostly? I preferred Madame Longley and thanks to her I
understand why things need to be stirred or crushed or whatever so he hasn't
marked me lower than an Acceptable this year." He bit his lip. Sirius frowned. "But something is up with the lessons?"
"Not Potions so much as Transfiguration, Charms and DADA." Harry
confessed with a sigh. "I'm just…the practical stuff is too easy. I mean, withall
the practice I did for controlling my power during the Summer, I get whatever
exercise is set first go and…" he coloured a little, "I usually help the othersandthe Professors have started to give me more advanced stuff but…it's
awkward?"
And boring for Harry to feel unchallenged, Sirius concluded. "What about thetheory side?"
"Some of it's difficult – stuff I haven't covered before but some of it is easier." Harry said. "I know it's early days but I've gotten outstanding on all my essaysso far." He looked embarrassed.
"That's wonderful, Harry." Sirius stopped their progress towards the gates. "I'mvery proud of you." He pulled Harry in for a quick hug, before he eased back, set his hands on Harry's shoulders and watched amused as Harry rolledhiseyes. But he could see how Harry glowed with his praise and it warmed Siriusfrom the inside out. "Do you want me to speak to Minnie about your classes?Work something out to challenge you more?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 375
Harry stilled under Sirius's hands as he considered the idea before he shookhis head. "Maybe it'll get better? The Professors are giving me other thingstodo so…not yet?"
"We'll give it a month." Sirius said firmly. "If you're still finding things tooeasy, we'll talk with Minnie then; agreed?" The look of relief on Harry's face spoke volumes and Sirius gave himanother
quick hug.
"Right," Sirius cast his eyes up to the sky and the light drizzle that had started, "you run back to the school. I'll watch from here before I head home."
It was Harry's turn to hug him briefly; hard and tight. Sirius cast an umbrellacharm to keep the rain off while he watched Harry run back up the path. It wasgetting easier to say goodbye to Harry, Sirius realised. There wasn't the
gut-wrenching agony of remembered grief and pain anymore, just a quieter
ache of missing and wistful longing that he wished he didn't have to say
goodbye; a want to be with his son mitigated by the knowledge that Harry'seducation at Hogwarts was important both for his socialisation and his
independence, and Sirius was doing the right thing as a parent letting himgo.
It concerned him though that Harry wasn't being challenged educationally
anymore. They should have expected it, Sirius considered wryly. After thelessons during the Summer, they should have realised Harry's power increaseand his abilities would place him ahead of his peers and the usual fourthyear
classes. Still…he'd promised Harry that they'd give it a month to see if it improvedandhe'd keep his word. Harry wouldn't want special treatment but if it was
necessary, it was necessary. He couldn't see Albus having a problemwithcoming up with an individual learning plan for Harry; the old coot would
probably be delighted. Sirius sighed as Harry disappeared into the school, safe and sound, andfinallyheaded home.
..... 23rd October 1994
"You know you don't have to come to the game if you don't want to, RonandI
won't mind, will we?" Hermione's eyes snapped up from the book she had been reading, oblivioustoher porridge which was half-forgotten and dripping from her drooping spoonback into the bowl. She stared at Harry across the table; he was avoidingher
gaze by keeping his own fixed to the meagre breakfast he was eating. Henever ate much the morning of a Quidditch match and that day sawthe
opening match of the season between Gryffindor and Ravenclawdespitethewet October weather. Next to him Ron was staring at his own plate of food with unusual reluctance. He jerked suddenly as though Harry had kicked him under the table andnodded. "Yeah, it's fine." Ron agreed hastily.
"Of course I'm coming to the match." Hermione said briskly. "I wouldn't missRon's first game for anything." Ron paled under his freckles. "Right. My first game." He placed a hand onhisstomach. "You know I think there's something wrong with the sausage." Harry raised his eyes and rolled them expressively as he pushed a glass of
pumpkin juice towards Ron. "There's nothing wrong with the sausage."
"You haven't eaten any of it." Ron retorted.
"Neither have you." Harry pointed out. The sausage sat on Ron's plate as untouched as the bacon, fried potatoesand beans next to it.
"Have some toast, Ron." Hermione said sympathetically. "You need to eat
something." Ron gingerly picked up a slice, slathered it with butter and started nibblingonit.
"I just meant," Harry said, returning to his original topic with Ron sorted, "that
as much as we appreciate you watching us, if you'd rather do somethingelse, something you enjoy, that's alright with us."
It was sweet of Harry to offer her the out but Quidditch had always beenanimportant part of their friendship and regardless that she hated the gameandwatching it, and really she hated watching Harry play the game because it hadnever yet failed to almost kill him, Hermione wasn't going to stop watching.
"I want to watch you play Quidditch." Hermione said stubbornly. "Both of you." She hastily added on as she belated realised it sounded like she only watchedfor Harry.
Harry and Ron both smiled at her. Ron swallowed the last of his toast. "You could read a book though if youwanted while you watched. Right, Harry?" Harry nodded. "What are you reading anyway?"
"Farringtomen's Theory of Magical Meditation." Hermione said. "Professor
McGonagall recommended it. She said it helped her so maybe it would helpme." Her animagus training was all held up because Hermione couldn't switchher brain off. Ron was having more success achieving a meditative statethanshe was although he'd yet failed to find the lucid dreaming that would leadtothe revelation of his available forms.