Ch. 28

"Knockturn! Well, that seems a bit dangerous -"

"Molly!"

"I mean, how lovely! And don't you worry. You seem quite young, dear. I'm sure you have plenty of time to find a husband."

"Mollywobbles!"

"You are both welcome over to the Burrow any time of course. Boys Harry's age need a good, strong male role model."

"Wow! Look at the time, Molly. Should we get started on dinner?" Arthur tugged her out of her chair. "Let's let Ms. Adams enjoy the weather, come on dear."

Harry found her sitting there, frowning as she tried to cover her face from the sun.

"Harry, do you require a father figure?"

"Uh, no? I don't think so? Does dad's ghost not count?"

"I don't think that's what Molly Weasley was intending."

"Oh. Well, I dunno. I think I'm alright."

"Wonderful, perfect answer. If you need one, go find one yourself, I'm not doing it."

"What about siblings, can I have six brothers?"

"Shut up."

"DINNER TIME! Come in, everyone! Dinner's ready!"

"The party's almost over mum, don't worry." Harry assured her. "Thanks for putting up with this for me."

"Yeah, yeah. You're lucky I -" She stopped in her tracks, brain malfunctioning for a second. "Right, come on. Into the house."

...

"When the guard asks, look sad and mournful," Alabasandria instructed. "It took forever to get us this portkey. I had to possess two different workers and forge paperwork." They both grabbed hold of the empty tin can.

"Visitors?" The squeaky-voiced guardsman stuttered as they touched down in a cold, barren room. "F-for who?"

Alabasandria handed him some paperwork.

"Harry Potter to visit Sirius Black."

B-buh- Black?" The man could barely force the name out. "You must be joking!"

"Nope. This is what his mindhealer deemed necessary. Harry is so traumatized by the deaths of his parents, see, that the only way for him to heal is to face the man who betrayed them." Alabasandria nudged his side.

"Y-yeah," he said, sniffing loud and covering his face in his hands. "I am so traumatized."

"He's a kid, he can't go in there, the dementors! - "

She flicked her wand and a large, silver raven erupted from its tip.

"That's why I'm here to escort him," she said in her deadpan voice.

"Alright. If you insist." He pulled a strange red ball off of his desk and spoke into it. "Sirius Black." Very reluctantly the guard began to unlock the door behind them, rows and rows of heavy locks sat on the metal door. "You'll have thirty minutes, the dementors will lead you there."

Once the door slammed behind them with a loud 'click', Alabasandria flicked her wand again, dissipating the silver raven as well as the two dementors waiting for them.

"What was that?" Harry asked.

"Patronus charm," she explained. "It's a method to get around the terrifying effects of the dementors. Which is, of course, irrelevant to us both. It's still useful to avoid their Kiss, but you're a bit young to learn it yet." She took off walking at a brisk speed.

"And Sirius Black?"

"Your godfather, apparently. He is also irrelevant. We won't be visiting him. We should take blood from the first prisoners available. We don't want that guard to come rescue us." Her shadow pulsated and twitched. It stretched out long behind them. "Bring us to where those with life sentences are kept," she ordered.

The shadow swallowed them and spit them out in another corridor similar to the last. Ahead of them, rows of cells spread as far as the eye could see.

"Let's get looking," she sighed.

...

Padfoot's ears perked up at the new sounds. Voices, talking. When was the last time they'd had a visitor up here? The dementors sure did not say much and the other prisoners usually screamed, not spoke. He huddled down in the darkest corner of his cell, tail twitching. Suddenly, a mop of curly black hair peered into his cell, a lumos lit wand illuminating their face. Sirius recognized that face. James? No, the eyes were a vibrant green - Harry! But what was Harry doing here? In Azkaban of all places? His godson's face was there for only a second before the kid sighed and began to walk off.

"No one in this one, either!" He complained. "All the cells are empty or full of dead bodies, this sucks." Padfoot couldn't pinch himself so he bit down hard on his tail. Not dreaming. He ran towards the bars and followed the boy with his eyes.

But no, he must be dreaming, or hallucinating, or something! Because Harry, his precious godson was here, in Azkaban. Padfoot shook his head wildly as though that would shatter the illusion in his mind.

Then he noticed it. The dementors were gone. The constant haze of misery had eased up considerably. Usually, there was a heavy fog that weighed down his mind, making it near impossible to think about anything other than death and mistakes and James' body twisted in a heap on the floor, eyes wide and glassy and wrought with the emotions of his final moments. Terror. Lily eagle spread on the floor as though she'd taken a nap, but her body was pallid and cold. And little baby Harry screaming and screaming and screaming.

Sirius could focus now, for the first time in a long, long time. His eyes were glued to Harry's retreating body.

It didn't matter if this Harry in front of him was real or not. The fading agony reminded Sirius of one very important thing. Harry was out there, alone, without his parents. Without his godfather! He'd sworn to protect that boy with his life and look how that had turned out. No, Sirius couldn't stay in this hellhole a second longer.

While his mind was clear, he began to hatch a plan.

....

Join my P*atreon for early access to 60+ chapters ahead of the public release. 

Link : pa*treon.com/thebookaddict (Remove the *)

Free members can get 2+ advanced chapters FOR FREE.