15 Decision Part 1

While Ron and his brothers were showing Harry the Quidditch Pitch and trying to get him to warm up to them, inside the Weasley House was a different scene. ``How is this possible?! How could they treat a child this way and that too their own blood?!!'' Both Molly and Arthur were shocked and appalled at what Sirius had told them. After getting out of Azkaban, Sirius had been at St. Mungo's, recovering from the damage his body had taken during his stay in Wizard Jail. As the sole direct member of the Black House, Sirius was provided with the best care and protection and with all the attention he had on him for his false imprisonment, no one wanted to be the one responsible for an attack on him. During his time in Azkaban, Sirius had time to think about what he had done and more importantly what he had done wrong. `I wonder what Harry's life is like right now.' that thought and the image of the traitor was the thing that had helped him keep his sanity and not lose his mind to the Dementors.

After getting out of St. Mungo's, Sirius went straight to Remus, to ask for forgiveness for ever thinking he might be the traitor. But he also went there to see his godson and when he didn't see him, he asked Remus, ``Stop Apologising! We both thought the worst of each other and we were both wrong but if you don't tell me where my Godson is right this moment, I will show you what my Family wanted me to be!''. Remus who had been living an isolated and impoverished life, moving from job to job, each one being far below his level of ability but despite the difficult life, he still had his pride. But the words from Sirius made him feel ashamed and he struggled to respond, ``I,I don't know.'' Although Remus spoke in a low voice, the words were like a bomb in Sirius' mind and he went off at Remus, ``You don't know?! How could you not know where James' Son is?! How?!''.

At first Remus was taking everything Sirius was saying to him but he finally snapped and said, ``I am not Harry's Godfather, you are! I am an outcast, a beast on the run who's barely able to survive in this world. Where did you think I would have the time to find him, huh?! I am not an heir to a Big family like you or James, my parents had to move places every month, just because of me! My whole life has been on the run until I got to Hogwarts and made friends but one day, one of my friends betrays another one of my friends and kills the last one along with dozen muggles. Tell me Sirius, when should I have looked for Harry, huh! Tell me!!'' with those last words out of his mouth, Remus collapsed in front of Sirius and all Sirius could think of at that moment was to hug and comfort is friend who had suffered perhaps even more than him. After that ordeal, Sirius dragged Remus away to Grimmauld Place and threatened his maternal grandfather, Pollux Black, with leaving the Black Family if Remus wasn't allowed to stay there.

The next target for questioning was the person he had left his Godson to and Sirius quickly made his way to Hogwarts and learning that Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hagrid had left his Godson with Lily's sister, the storm of cursing and shouting along with his Magical Aura's pressure reduced Hagrid to tears, made McGonagall have a breakdown and made Dumbledore so embarrassed that Fawkes left the Headmaster's Office not by flying but by using his Flame Apparition. After finding Harry's current location, Sirius made his way to the Dursley's place at 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey but Dumbledore offered to go with him, to enable his entry through the `Wards' he had placed on the house. Although Sirius's gaze made Dumbledore, considered to be the greatest wizard of modern times, perhaps of all, time want to crawl into a hole and never leave it. He was still the Wizard that defeated Grindelwald and the only Wizard that Voldemort feared, so, he made his way to the Dursley's with Sirius and was honestly appalled at the sight of the `saviour of the Wizard World'.

``No! No! No! How is this possible?!'' without even looking at Sirius's expression which by the way was one of rage, anger and shock, Dumbledore put the boy in a Sleeping Spell and looked at Harry who had opened the door for them and was genuinely shocked that the Dursley's would treat a child with such mistreatment. Although Harry had no signs of physical abuse, the skinny frame inside the baggy old clothes, fearful, distrusting and shy expression, it all showed that the boy had been mentally abused, underfed and isolated by his relatives. Not counting Sirius, Dumbledore himself wanted to burn down the Dursley's house, with them inside it! But his years of Occlumency practice barely helped him control his rage and allowed him to control Sirius, who was ready to put Dumbledore's thoughts into action, ``Sirius stop! We can't! I know what you want to do and trust me! I want to do the same but we can't!!'' Sirius, who was already an emotional person before his stay at Azkaban had made him even more crazy wanted nothing more than to subject the Dursley's with pain and torture but Dumbledore convinced him to think of Harry and told him of a better way to deal with scum.

While recounting the situation to Molly and Arthur, Sirius thought back to how he, Dumbledore and even Pollux Black had first destroyed the image built up by the Dursley's before giving evidence of their deeds to Muggle Police. Finally, when both adults had been brought to a social and financial death, Pollux Black gave them a taste of what the `freaks' could do. Of course, Dudley was spared from all of this and a stay with his Aunt Marge and had instead been sent to live with a disowned Black Family Squib who although had no contact with the family, had been taken care of financially. Both Dudley and the Squib's memories were `tweaked' to suit the situation but that brought a close to the Dursley's chapter. `Sirius, I don't know if I should say this but I don't think you should be the one to raise Harry.'' Unlike the shouting and cursing Arthur had expected, Sirius sighed and told the surprised Weasley Couple, ``I know, actually Dumbledore already told me the first time I took Harry back with me. But as always I didn't listen and the child has been living in conditions not fit for, well, a child.''

While Sirius was explaining how his search led him to them, the adults heard the children coming back inside and Sirius saw Harry being a child. Although still timid and distrusting of everyone, the longing look on his face convinced Sirius of his decision.