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Harry Potter had lived a very busy and complicated life for a boy who was only five years old. He had just turned one when his parents died, his Aunt, who didn’t like him very much, told him it was a car accident. Harry lived with the Dursley’s for just over three years, there he was treated like a slave, doing all the chores of the house as soon as he was old enough and able to do them. He had just started cooking, cleaning and gardening were two tasks he was a pro at, he still had to figure out how to clean the tall surfaces but he was really good at maintaining a clean floor.
Not that it mattered, his uncle and aunt were always telling him he was not good enough and Duddley was always repeating all his parents said. All that Harry was trying to do was to be a good boy. Sometimes late at night when he was locked into his cupboard under the stairs, he wished for a shaggy black dog to come to his rescue, he just didn’t know how a dog could save him, but the image of the dog was very clear in his mind.
On a rainy Wednesday afternoon, it all changed. Harry was prepping dinner, cutting potatoes to be boiled to make mash, when he heard a loud bang at the door.
“Go get that,” Petunia ordered from the dining table, she couldn’t stop her crossword to open the door.
“Yes, Aunt Petunia,” he replied dutifully, getting down from his stool and walking to the door. When he got closer, there was another loud knocking. Harry was a little scared to open the door, whoever was on the other side did not sound happy. But he knew that it would be worse if he didn’t obey his aunt. “How can I help you?” He asked as soon as he wedged the door open.
“Harry?” A shaggy black haired man asked, besides him there was a tall man with scars on his face.
“And who are you?” The boy questioned, how did this man know his name?
“Who is it?” Petunia asked.
“I don’t know,” Harry replied back. Petunia quickly made her way to the door.
“You!” She said in the same tone she called Harry out whenever he did something wrong, he instinctively winced away from her. Both men noticed that but were more worried about the raging muggle.
“Petunia,” the shaggy haired man started. “I’m here to take my godson home.”
Godson? Harry wondered. Who was he talking about?
“Where were you three years ago when the Headmaster dropped him at my doorstep?”
Oh, is it me? Harry thought to himself.
“In jail,” he replied with an evil smirk. Remus shook his head in disapproval but he also understood what his partner was doing, if they were able to inflict the fear of god in her, she’d leave them alone. But he also noticed the way Harry’s eyes widened.
Oh no… Harry thought. Criminal or Dursley’s?
“Take him,” Petunia replied, without much thought.
Oh well…
“Boy, pack your things and get out of my house,” she ordered. Harry knew better than to try and defy his aunt. He quickly ran to the kitchen to get a plastic shopping bag and then into his cupboard. As soon as he opened the door, he heard the criminal screaming at Petunia, raging about his godson in a cupboard under the stairs and how she would pay for it. His aunt simply replied that he should’ve never come to her and the man replied saying that he knew and that the responsible had paid for it.
Maybe that’s why he was in jail .
Harry didn’t know what to pack, his aunt would put up a fuss about anything he took that didn’t belong to him. So he only took the red blanket that was the only thing he had from his parents and the small wooden soldier he had found on a sandbox when he was little. All his clothes were hand me downs from Duddley and he didn’t want to take those with him. He shrugged and decided the blanket and the soldier was all he was going to take, then he looked into the cupboard for what he hoped was the last time and closed the door before making his way back to the door.
“Is that all ?” The sandy haired man with the scars asked, looking at the small bag that Harry was gripping tightly, the boy nodded in response. “And to think that Dumbledore was giving you money to care for him, the bare fucking minimum, Petunia. Your days are numbered, start counting.”
Harry thought the criminal was dangerous at first glance but the man with all the scars was much scarier. Even Harry was scared for Aunt Petunia, and he really didn’t like her. The criminal took Harry’s hand and asked if he was ready to leave, he looked at Aunt Petunia and she looked away, he looked back to the criminal and nodded once. He saw the man with the scars looking around as if he was searching for something, Harry didn’t know what, but he nodded to the criminal.
“Hold on, pup,” the criminal said, and that word scratched something inside of Harry's brain but he didn’t look too deep into it because he quickly felt like he was being squished into a tube. When the feeling stopped, he looked around and saw the three of them were standing in what seemed to be a living room.
“What was that?” Harry asked, half in wonder and half scared. He then quickly apologised for questioning his betters.
“That was apparition, Harry. It’s the fastest way for us to get from one place to another,” the sandy haired man explained, kneeling down at Harry’s level. “And never apologise for asking questions.”
“Okay…” Harry answered, still very confused, why had his aunt and uncle never travelled by apparition? And since he was given permission to ask questions, he asked that.
“Only wizards and witches can apparate, cub.”
“Like magic?”
“Yes, like magic,” the criminal replied, also getting down to eye level.
“Magic isn’t real,” Harry said. His uncle told him over and over again that magic wasn’t real. The two men exchanged a look at that, it seems that there was a lot that Petunia refused to do and explain to Harry, even that he was magical.
“If magic isn’t real, then how can I do this?” The criminal asked, getting up, and then transforming into the shaggy black dog right in front of Harry.
“Pads!” Harry said and ran straight to the dog from his dreams. He is real, Harry thought while tears came down his face. And he came to save me. Sirius decided to stay as Padfoot as it was clearly someone Harry recognized.
“How do you know that name, Harry?” Remus prodded gently, sitting in front of Harry, who was now entangled with the big black dog.
“I dreamed about him,” the five year old answered through his tears. “But I didn’t think he was real!”
“He is very real,” Remus answered with a small smile.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Remus, I am Pads’ partner and used to be one of your parents best friends.”
“You knew my parents?”
“Yes, I did,” Remus answered with a small smile. Three years had passed since Lily and James died, and now that both Dumbledore and Voldemort were defeated, Remus remembered his friends with fondness and not the sorrow he did for many years.
“Can you tell me about them? Aunt Petunia never said anything good about them.”
“Of course,” Remus replied and noticed how Harry snuggled into Padfoot’s fur as if ready for storytime.
“Your parents were one of the best people I’ve ever known, we met when we were all eleven, we went to a school called Hogwarts together. You’re gonna go there when you’re eleven. And that’s when I met Sirius,” Remus pointed to the dog, “Lily and James. James and Sirius were fast friends, and then they roped me into their shenanigans. Lily was the smartest witch of our generation, we became friends by studying together all the time, and sometimes James and Sirius would join us. We had seven wonderful years in Hogwarts, the boys became animagus, your dad was a stag and Sirius is obviously a dog,” Harry barely blinked, giving the man all his attention.
“That’s where your parents fell in love,” Remus continued his tale. “Life was good. Except for the fact that there was a war raging outside of Hogwarts. Many people said it was the light versus the dark but in all reality it was two megalomaniacs fighting to see who was better, and one represented the light while the other represented the dark.”
“What’s a megalomaniac?” Harry asked quietly.
“Someone who wants all the power they can get,” Remus answered with an indulging smile. “These two wizards wanted to control the wizarding world, one with light means and one with dark means. We all got roped into fighting for the light side as soon as we graduated.”
“That’s not very nice,” Harry pondered.
“No, it’s not. And because we fought for the light side, we trusted the man that was leading us. His name was Dumbledore, and the other one was Voldemort.”
“Didn’t you say that Dumbledore was giving Aunt Petunia money?”
“Yes, he was. He was the one that placed you with her, against your parents wishes.”
“I wasn’t supposed to go to Aunt Petunia after my parents died in the car crash?”
“Car crash?” Remus asked, shocked. Harry didn’t even know how Lily and James truly died. “They didn’t die in a car crash, Harry,” Remus added and saw Harry’s jaw drop. “I promise I’ll get to it but let me run through the timeline okay?”
“Okay,” Harry parroted back.
“Lily and James got married, it was beautiful. And then they got pregnant, it wasn’t planned but we were all so happy. When you were born Harry, you were a ray of sunshine into our lives,” Remus said and quickly brushed a stray tear from his cheek. “The war was still raging, but your parents had taken a step back. But then a prophecy came out and they had to go into hiding with you. And everything should’ve been fine but we trusted the wrong people. We had another friend, Peter, he was the holder of the spell that was supposed to keep you all safe. But he and Dumbledore betrayed us. And Voldemort found you, me and Sirius were too far and didn’t make it in time. Voldemort killed your parents, and when he tried to kill you, he vanished. That’s why you have the scar, Harry.”
“It wasn’t from a car accident?”
“No…”
“What happened after?” He asked quietly.
“Sirius got there, and Hagrid, another friend of ours, was there with Dumbledore. Sirius knew that it was Peter who was to blame for your parent’s death. Yes, it had been Voldemort holding the wand, but Peter told him where you all were. So Sirius, hotheaded as he can be, went after Peter. But Peter knew he was coming and was able to blame Sirius for it all and he faked his death, as if Sirius had killed him. Sirius was then thrown in jail without a trail.”
“That’s not right!”
“It’s not, but it is what happened,” Remus replied sadly. “If anything had happened to your parents and then Sirius, you were supposed to go to me, but Dumbledore hid you with Petunia before I could do anything. I have been looking for you for three years, cub. But I’m a werewolf,” Harry’s eyes shined at that, how cool a wolf! “And the magical world is very prejudiced against werewolves.”
“Why? It’s so cool, you can turn into a wolf!”
“Because without a potion, which is a sort of medicine, I have no control over the wolf during the full moon.”
“Oh.”
“But with the potion, everything is fine. When you were small, you used to nap on top of me during the full moon.”
“Nice,” Harry said with a smile. Remus only shook his head, it had taken way too many years for him to come to terms with his condition. A boy that had technically just met him, was stoked about it.
“Dumbledore made sure I had no legal standing and sealed your parent’s will. I was all alone, and I knew that I had to bring Dumbledore down to get you and Sirius back. So I spent the last three years fighting from the shadows to take Dumbledore down and to free Sirius, and only then we would be able to find you. After a lot of research and spying, I found out most of Dumbledore’s secrets and crimes and just like a jumper when I started to pull the thread more and more came out, it unravelled. He got judged, and confessed to all his crimes. He was then sentenced to death. That was when I was able to free Sirius and finally we were able to find you.”
“Wow… what now?” Harry asked, knowing they had reached the future portion of the story. He also knew the whole thing was way more complex than Remus made it seem, but he also understood that it might be way too complicated.
“Now we live our lives,” Remus said with a small smile. “We have a room here for you, whenever you feel like it, we can go shopping for clothes and anything else you might need.”
“I don’t need much,” Harry said, wanting to make sure he wasn’t going to be a burden. All he wanted was to leave his Aunt’s claws, and now that he had, he just hoped he’d never have to go back.
“We’ll get you the world, Harry.” Remus said. Padfoot then nudged Harry forward so he could transform back into Sirius without letting the boy fall.
“You are our world, Harry. These three years away from you were torture,” Sirius added with a sad smile.
The boy let out a sob and threw himself at Sirius’ arms, it seemed that everything that had happened today finally hit the boy. Remus was quick to bring both of them into his arms, the three of them reduced to tears, tears of exhaustion, sadness, happiness, and relief.
The three of them were finally together and could now move on with their lives. They had seen and lived through too much and there was a lot of healing to be done, but all that mattered now was that they were together.