Surrounded

"I've fucked up," Harry said immediately and both men stood up.

He had somehow brought aurors to his godfather's home.

'Allowed to do underage magic my ass. I've slipped somewhere, I should have been more careful,' he inwardly screamed.

Despite the bleak situation in which the reunited pair found themselves and the real possibility of being carted back to Azkaban, Sirius used every last bit of the occlumency his mother managed to beat in him as a kid and calmed down.

"Harry, I need you to calm down," the older man commanded his godson, putting both of his hands on the boy's shoulders and looking him in the eyes.

"But—" Harry tried protesting and only managed to make Sirius strengthen his grip on him.

Pure grey met sparkling green.

'That was fucking bad,' Harry observed with a frown, getting back a semblance of control.

He then used his formidable skill in the mind arts to detach himself from his emotions, and instantly, a cold mask settled on his face.

The sudden change in his godson's demeanour surprised Sirius, to say the least, but he chose to say nothing for the moment.

"Did you notice how the auror woman mentioned only my name? That means they don't know about you and thus, you aren't the reason they somehow found me. So, don't worry," the older man quickly deduced.

Had Harry not muted down his emotions, he'd have let out a huge sigh of relief.

Instead, he calmly looked at his godfather as he went on.

"As they don't know that you are here, we need to keep it that way. Any chance you got the cloak?" he asked, getting a nod from Harry.

"Excellent. Now, if I tell you to go under the cloak, you'll do so, and under no circumstances will you take it off. I don't want to see you pulling any stupid martyr moves today," Sirius stated in a serious tone.

Getting a reluctant nod, he smirked and continued.

"If you want to help me, wear this ring," the last Black said, taking the aforementioned item off his middle finger and throwing it to Harry; the ring wasn't visible before.

The youngest Quidditch seeker of Hogwarts in over a century easily caught the magical jewellery piece.

Like most things in the house, it was both simple and elegant.

It was made from sterling silver that was polished to a brilliant shine.

As Harry was about to put the ring on his finger, he noticed that its band exuded a nebulous sparkle in the light.

'How peculiar,' he mused and moved his face closer to the item.

His attention immediately shifted to something else.

Nested atop the band, instead of the grey gemstone, Harry thought there was, sat a captivating grey eye…

'Damnation,' he thought as its iris swirled with subtle shades of silver and charcoal.

Unnerved, Harry stopped peering at the dreadful ring that seemed to gaze back at him and threw a questioning look at his godfather.

"What kind of monstrosities do you have on your person?" he asked with an even voice, trying to ignore the sinister aura the jewellery gave off now that he wore it.

"That's the family heirloom I told you about. Push a tiny bit of your magic in it and it will change your appearance," Sirius revealed, surprising Harry as he didn't feel even the smallest amount of magic swirling around the item.

'Does it also conceal its magical signature?' he wondered and did as instructed.

As his magic met the ring, the grey eye glanced at Harry and then disappeared from view.

He felt another wave of magic wash over him and was slightly surprised by the sensation it left him with.

'I feel like someone just threw a whole bucket of old paint at me,' he mused, deeply uncomfortable by the sticky feeling that had encompassed him.

"Look at yourself in the mirror," Sirius chirped and pointed somewhere behind Harry.

The boy, following the man's gesture turned around.

He immediately found the reflective object in question, but couldn't see his reflection as it was located not only on the other side of the cavernous room but also on the wall on his left.

He promptly located the reflective item in question, yet his reflection eluded him, as the mirror was not only far away in the cavernous room, but also on the wall to his left.

Quickly moving there, Harry was surprised to see the man looking back at him.

The reflection was not different in proportions from him, though everything else was a fair game.

His hair was now a light brown and cut in a short style, not unlike a mundane soldier. His facial features were now bland and had lost the little aristocratic flair that they usually held. His sparkling green eyes had also changed to a deep brown.

However, these were not the changes that caught his attention, no.

It was a little change on his forehead, the absence of his word famous scar!

By the time Harry managed to confirm the unbelievable change and looked back at his godfather, the man was holding two fiery orange potion vials.

"These two bottles, contain strong invigoration draughts. They may come in handy," Sirius answered the unasked question and gestured for Harry to come closer.

After a quick mental calculation, the teen concluded that it'd be safe for him to drink it.

'Damn felix felicis and its terrible potion poisoning,' he thought and grabbed the offered drink.

Working quickly, he uncorked the potion and downed it in one go, feeling as his mind became even sharper and his energy levels went through the roof.

"Any chance that the majestic phoenix practically everyone in Hogsmeade was talking about can flash in and pop us out?" Sirius tried, just before the auror force started bombarding the wards with spells.

"Would you believe that he's currently on the other side of the globe? He went to Australia, something about having to talk with the mutual acquaintances he had with Ozeth, the dragon I killed," Harry informed him.

'I can't even reach his with the soul bond…'

"That's what I assumed," Sirius said with a sigh.

Phoenixes were known to immediately move to their masters when they felt that they were in danger.

"I can probably move us out myself. I've not tried flashing over anti-apparition wards though, so I don't know how will that go," the youth stated thoughtfully, getting a grimace from Sirius.

"Let's keep that as a last resort. I'm rather fond of my limbs you see."

Boom.

"Well, here's the plan then. If you didn't know, back in the last war, I was a senior auror officer, along with your old man of course, so I can deduce their way of thinking. First of all, they don't know you are here and I'm very confident that they didn't follow me, they are unlikely to be sure of any presence here. And that brings the question, why are they even here? They either, finally started going through every single recorded Black property, hoping to find me, or someone else informed them of my possible hideout," he muttered, holding back the sudden surge of wrath that threatened to come out.

Taking a deep breath, which was overshadowed by the spell barrage, Sirius composed himself.

"As soon as the wards fall, one of the aurors will cast a spell that detects magical presences and when he receives the confirmation, he'll inform his squad leader, probably the woman we heard shouting, that will then send someone to call for backup. Considering that I'm currently the most wanted serial killer in magical Britain, I assume that the backup will be plentiful… That's why, we'll attack right before that," he declared, just before a particularly strong spell hit the house's wards, prompting the building to tremble.

"Shit, they've brought a damn curse-breaker with them," Sirius shouted annoyed.

"We've got a minute at best before the wards fall," he informed Harry and swiftly made his way back to the entrance hall.

"Kreacher," the Black called.

Harry was briefly surprised to see a house-elf appear after his godfather's call.

Kreacher, as Sirius called him, had a bulbous, snout-like nose and bloodshot eyes. He also had white hair growing out of his bat-like ears and was suspiciously out of breath.

"Kreacher, take everything of importance from the house, starting with the library, and move them to our house the house in Skye," Sirius commanded the elf.

"It is already being done, nasty Master. Kreacher knows the importance of the Black's legacy after all," the elf muttered, huffing lightly.

"Well done. Keep doing that then," the older man said, dismissing the house elf and for the first time, pleased with his actions.

"Can't we just have Kreacher apparate us away," Harry asked curiously after the elf left with a silent crack.

"No. The anti-apparition wards that the aurors put down won't let him apparate if he's holding onto humans…"

With half a minute still on the clock, the duo stood in front of the house's door, their wands in hand.

Sirius wordlessly pierced the air twice with his wand, casting the familiar grey spell that hit the door.

Needless to say, the two men could see what was happening outside the house.

Unluckily for the auror squad that kept firing spells at the wards, they didn't hold the same advantage.

"Listen. The only reason I'm even letting you here with me is because you've slayed a bloody dragon and that has to mean something. Despite my feelings, I know you'll be able to take care of yourself, so please, if anything happens, I want you to have your safety as a priority. If I fall down, leave," Sirius said softly while joining his pup in observing the men attacking his home.

Harry frowned at his godfather's words but nevertheless nodded.

'He won't be able to fight at his best if he has to constantly worry about me as well,' he mused.

Nodding at his godson, Sirius pushed the door open and then…

All hell broke loose.

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[https://www.patreon.com/Mr_0ne] -> "Ch. 33 - Stall"

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