Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 64: House Visit
A black dog arrived at Privet Drive Street and transformed back into his human form after making sure no muggles were around.
Unfortunately, this meant that his body was completely naked.
It was still very early in the morning, and the sun had barely come out...but it would only be a matter of time before someone came out to get to work or fetch the newspaper.
"Oh…" Sirius looked down at himself and quickly knelt behind a bush. House number four was right in front of him, although he couldn't appear in front of the Dursleys looking like this and tell them he came to talk with Harry.
Just then, he felt something moving right behind him. When he turned, he found a short bald man staring down at him.
"Fletcher!"
"Bloody hell, put this on." Mundungus Fletcher made an expression of disgust as he handed Sirius his own jacket. "And lower your voice. No one is supposed to know we are here."
"Thanks… I hadn't thought of… clothes." Sirius looked around again.
"I can see that…" Mundungus frowned while looking away as Sirius stood up and tried to cover as much as he could with his small piece of clothing. "I thought Arthur was supposed to be my replacement today."
"We changed that at the last moment. I needed to speak with my Godson." Sirius said.
"Is that wise after what we discussed?" Mundungus raised an eyebrow.
The secrets written in Dumbledore's diary had now been shared among all the members of the Order, including the old man's suspicions and concerns about Harry Potter.
However, despite Snape's demands to arrest Harry immediately, the Order had decided to take a more passive approach and just keep an even closer eye on the boy.
Not just for his own safety, but also to find out if something was truly wrong with him.
Sirius sighed. He hated being suspicious of his own Godson. He was supposed to protect Harry, not spy on him. But given everything that happened, he had no choice.
"I can't just watch from afar," Sirius spoke with a grave tone. "If there really is something wrong with him and there is something I can do about it, I have to try. And the best way to know is to speak with him in person."
"Suit yourself. Do you need me to stay here? Because I could really use some sleep." Mundungus let out a yawn.
"Have you been here all night? Did something happen during your watch?" Sirius asked.
"Nah… lights were already out by the time I got here. There has been no movement."
"I see. I spoke with Hestia, who was here during the day watch. Harry seemed to have spent most of the day doing some shopping at Diagon Alley with his aunt. They must have been tired afterwards." Sirius failed to mention that when Tonks went to keep an eye on Harry at Diagon Alley, she was unable to find him.
The boy had left his aunt alone at the Leaky Cauldron and went to do who knows what for almost the entire day.
'Something else I need to ask him about.' Sirius knew that this conversation was not going to be an easy one.
Everything related to Harry that he had heard for the last month or so painted the picture of a boy who had suffered a major change in his personality.
"Go rest, Fletcher. I'll take it from here." Sirius walked to the door and hoped that the Dursleys would not be too shocked by his poor attire.
Mundungus's jacket had barely served to cover his most important parts, but that was about it.
'Maybe I can tell Harry to let me borrow one of his robes.' He thought as he placed his finger on the doorbell and made it ring a couple of times.
He waited for a minute or so but heard no response. The house was completely silent.
'Is everyone still sleeping?' He was sure that the Dursleys usually woke up very early. Harry had told him about it many times, and how annoying it was having to wake up early and prepare breakfast for them.
He rang the bell a few more times but didn't get any response.
Getting frustrated, he decided to bang on the door with his fist. "Hey Dursleys!, wake u—!"
It all happened too quickly for him to react.
The moment his fist hit the door, there was a strange noise inside. Then, it was quickly followed by an intense heat that burned his face, and finally, Sirius felt as if something pushed him back with tremendous force, sending him flying like a rag doll.
"Sirius!" Mundungus had already been walking away when he heard that awfully loud noise, and when he turned around, he saw the Dursleys' house exploding into a ball of fire and Sirius being sent tumbling down.
"Bloody hell!" He had to hurry up, so he ran as fast as his short legs allowed him.
Mundungus found Sirius lying down on the sidewalk and knelt next to him. "Are you alive?!"
Sirius coughed as air filled his lungs again. "W-what… what… happened."
"Come on, stand up. We have to move further away from here!" Mundungus helped him stand up.
It was then that Sirius saw the house. It was engulfed in flames from bottom to top. Smoke and fire filled his vision while he felt the intense heat on his naked skin. "No… Harry! No!" He screamed.
"What are you… stop!" Mundungus realized that Sirius was trying to be free of his grasp, so he could run towards the house. "You fool! You'll die if you go in there!"
"Harry!" Sirius screamed.
Just as he managed to push the other man aside and was getting ready to run inside the building, another explosion occurred. This one was even more powerful than the previous one. It pushed them both onto the street and reduced the house to shambles.
"Urgg…" When Sirius lifted his face from the pavement, he realized that nothing remained of the house anymore. It was just a pile of burning rubble at this point. And any chance for any occupant to be alive… was none.
"Harry…" Tears fell across his face
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