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In His Place	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Sirius Views: 72865 -:- Recommendations : 16 -:- Currently Reading : 16
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, so sad for me, and make no money off this story, even sadder for me.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
Beta'd by the amazing Tenchi. Love you, woman, you're the best!

With help from Lynn who works with me when it comes to flow, continuity and other issues.

Just a reminder of what's on my profile; reviews complaining or whinging about the lack 'o sex in stories will get deleted. If you want a smut-filled romp, you need to find another story to read.

Chapter 19

After reading through the letter from Dudley again, Harry sighed then nudged Sirius. They were sitting at the kitchen table alone. It was in between times when they were doing schoolwork and were just relaxing with a snack. Sighing, he said, when Sirius looked his way, “When you get a chance, can you help me with this? I'm not sure what he knows or what to say to him. Honestly? I don't know how to explain some of this as he's not encountered magic much, so he won't understand parts.”
Leaning over and looking at the letter, Sirius nodded. “Let me take a gander at it then we'll come up with something. What's he asking about?”
“What's wrong with me, what to expect and if it'll improve,” Harry sighed, passing the letter over while sipping at his drink, then picking up one of the cakes that were on the table. “I'm not sure what to tell him as some of it is going to take serious explaining.”
Reading through the letter quickly, Sirius groaned then set it on the table. Shaking his head, he admitted, “I'm not sure what to tell him either, Harry. Arthur explained the basics, that I know. Beyond that—I just don't know.”
“If he's asking, I want to tell him,” Harry said truthfully. “I mean, he's writing to me, so he's being honest about it. That's not something he would do if he wasn't serious about this bit. I just—I don't know how to explain it. Some parts I can translate as they are conditions Muggles have. We just have other terminology for it.” Looking at the letter again, he added, quietly, “And I don't want him to worry about me either. To explain some of this is going to worry him. I don't know how to get it across without doing that.”
“I honestly don't either,” Sirius sighed. “Let me think,” he added, drumming his fingers on the table, not sure what to do.
“Is there any way to have Mr. Weasley sit there when the letter is delivered so he can explain some of it? Or have Mrs. Figg do it?” Harry asked. Shaking his head, he added, “They might be able to get parts across so he doesn't get overwhelmed or they can answer whatever questions he has so he doesn't get upset.”
“Arabella can easily do it,” Sirius nodded, liking that idea. “She knows enough to get anything needed across.” Thinking it over again, he said, “Let me get Cissy in here. She should be able to help us word this in a way to get the information across without upsetting him too much. Or explain it in a way he can understand it better. One of the two.”
Relieved, Harry nodded. “Good. We need something because I don't know how to start to do that. Any way I put it is going to upset him.”
“I'm not much better there, I admit that,” Sirius conceded. “Let me go find her. I don't think she's doing anything.” Seeing Harry nod, he went to get his cousin.

Rereading the letter to Dudley that Narcissa helped him write after adding some other parts, like the pranks he and Draco had pulled, Harry signed his name to it, pleased with how it turned out. All the information was there, but Narcissa had managed to help them word it in a way that it didn't sound as horrific. That made him happy. Putting it aside for Sirius to send out later, he looked up as he heard the front door open, wondering who it was. Seeing Professor Moody come in, he wasn't too worried about anything as the man didn't look upset or grave like he did if it was something bad.
“Something up, Alastor?” Sirius asked, sipping at his drink. He assumed there was, as the man didn't come over for a lark most times. It was usually to pass on information or deliver something for them.
“There is,” Alastor gruffed as he sat down with a groan. Putting up the standard ward and signal they used when he needed to pass on something from Rufus, he said, “Rufus wants to arrange a meeting with everyone in the house and Snape as quickly as you lot can put it together. He made it clear to me that he wants this done fast.”
Brow furrowed, Sirius said, “We'll get in touch with Snape today and see what he can swing when it comes to getting over here at a specific time. What's going on, Alastor? Do you know?”
“I don't,” the ex-Auror admitted with a shake of his head. “Whatever is going on is big. I don't have a clue what topic either. He made it clear he doesn't want to talk about it until we are all together. All I know is he now has several departments scrambling to check something with that diadem they found. And he's making it damned clear to everyone that it's something they are keeping under wraps. He went so far as to mention prosecution if it slips out. I'm sure that it relates to whatever that creepy thing is.”
Concerned, Narcissa told him, “We'll get something off to Severus today to see what he can manage when it comes to getting here.”
Thinking it over, Sirius said, tone distracted, “If we can't, we can use that mirror to talk to him. I'm sure he can find somewhere in that castle to protect himself while we talk. It'll just take us enlarging the mirror so we can see easily.”
“He can use the Room of Requirement for that,” Harry added softly, glancing around. “I can explain easily enough how to use that so he won't have a problem or be overheard.”
“Good damned idea,” Sirius said, clapping his hand on Harry's back. “We can manage this, Alastor. Let's see what we can get off today in our normal report and what he can pull off on his end. I'll let you know from there. It's not the same as doing it in person, but he can be there without the old man catching wind that something might be off.”
“I like it and we'll go this route,” Alastor told them, pleased. “I'll go get word to Rufus when I can. He said to pass along that it doesn't matter the time of day. If it's late at night, that's fine with him. He's at the Ministry until the wee hours of the morning anymore, desperately trying to counter what might be coming and see what he can do.”
“We'll do what we can today,” Narcissa assured him. Quietly, she asked, “Any news on Pansy and the rest? I mean, aside from what's in the papers. They say her family is pushing for a full trial.”
“Not much,” the older man said with a sigh, resting his elbows on the edge of the table and clasping his hands. “Rufus said it's his understanding that the full trial is a ploy to cut some kind of deal to lessen the sentence. The evidence they have is so overwhelming that everyone knows she's going to end up with the book thrown at her when she gets convicted. He thinks their hope is to get some kind of leniency by cutting the deal so they save the expense of a full trial.” Snorting, he shook his head, “It's not going to happen from my understanding. Not only is the public howling for her head, Rufus told me he made it as clear as he could get that he wants no deal cut with her.” Stopping, he glanced at the three then added, “They are pushing for a delay so they can talk to Mr. Zabini to see what he knows. There may end up more to this than we have figured out. They don't want to end up in the middle of a trial only to have more evidence dropped on them. As they know he'll recover, though it'll take time, they can manage. Add on that she's pregnant and the prosecutor can easily delay this until she gives birth.”
“What about the other two?” Sirius asked, wondering about that. He knew they were involved, but wasn't sure what charges might end up being leveled at them.
“Those are the tricky ones,” Alastor admitted with a sigh. “They are singing about everything. And I mean everything, including their fathers. I'm sure that, in both cases, it's at their mothers prompting. Rufus, quite frankly, needs some of the information they are giving and the prosecutors want other parts. So, it's my understanding they are cutting a deal of some sort. They aren't getting off with a wrist-slap either. We're talking Azkaban for at least a year or so. Couple that with they were expelled and their wands were snapped and they're paying. Rufus admitted that they really didn't know much about what Parkinson was doing other than the letter part. The rest—they just kept watch, not knowing just what she was up to.”
“Well, it's something,” Narcissa sighed, shaking her head.
“Unless they can prove those two goons knew something of what she was doing, it's the best they can manage,” Alastor admitted with a shrug.
“I honestly doubt they did, Alastor,” Narcissa told him. “They—well, they weren't the brightest of people. Any help they would have given her was probably more of the muscle variety than anything to do with brains.”
“That's everyone's thought on the matter,” Alastor admitted with a snort. “I'll keep you filled in as I know anything.”
“For Draco—could you see if you can find out how Blaise is doing? He's worried about him, of course,” Narcissa requested softly.
“I'll do what I can there,” Alastor assured her. “If I manage, I'll pass it along.”
“Anything else we need to know?” Sirius asked, assuming that was the last of those topics.
“Nothing that I've heard. The only rumblings around are that something big is coming. Nothing more than that. What it might be is beyond all of us,” Alastor admitted with a shake of his head. “Rufus is doing what he can to figure out what's going on. If it's that big, he'll have me pass it along. Until we know something, we just keep on like we are. All I can tell you. Everyone knows to protect themselves. We want to make damned sure they do. I think, as does Albus, that Fleur might not be the last Order member he goes after. If the opportunity presents itself, that side's going to take it. So, we all need to stay alert. I know that doesn't affect most of you, other than Remus, but we want it out there.”
“I'll make damned sure to impress that on everyone,” Sirius told him honestly, hand drifting down to rest on Harry's back.
Standing with a groan, Alastor said, “I'm going to head out. When you can get something set up, let me know.” Seeing nods, he then left.

“Do I want to know what you two miscreants are up to?” Lucius asked, leaning against the doorjamb, arms folded over his chest. Harry and Draco were holed up in the normal room they used to work on assignments. From what he could see, there were books, open to various pages, spread hither and yon across the table they were sitting at. There were even a bunch stacked on the floor.
Seeing Potter grin as he looked at his father, Draco said, tone amused, “Nothing to worry about, Father. We're looking for a spell to add to the Patronus. Severus made it an assignment for Harry.”
“Ah, an actual constructive use of your time,” Lucius snorted, still amused. Walking over, he took a seat by his son then asked, “What kind of spell are we hunting?”
Quickly, Harry gave him a rundown of the assignment. Shaking his head, “We're trying to figure out just what kind we need or what might work.”
Nodding slowly, Lucius looked around, rubbing a thumb over his chin. “Do you have any idea what class of spell we would even start with? Or what have you found?”
“We've gotten next to nowhere,” Draco admitted with a sigh and shake of his head. “We're not even sure of the class of spells. The standard locking charms, of all types, don't seem compatible with the Patronus. Which means, we have to look elsewhere. And that's what we're not sure of. The only thing we think we know is it's a charm of some kind. That's what we're looking up.”
Picking up a parchment by his son's elbow, reading through the list of charms there, Lucius gave an amused snort, then said, “I see you've found plenty of others that are interesting.”
“If we're doing this, we might as well use some of what we find,” Harry admitted with a grin. Sobering up, he said, “Some we can use to work with like Professor Snape wants because they are harmless. We're going to try to modify a few of them. Others are ones that do something we can use for various bits, like around the house. And yet others look like they would be great for defense. So, we decided to keep track.”
“A very wise idea,” Lucius admitted with a nod, sitting the parchment aside. Leaning forward and clasping his hands on the table, he said, tone thoughtful, “Let's take a look at Defensive spells. It might be a better way to go about this. As this is used more for protection against someone hearing what's said, it might be where we find it.” Looking at Harry, he asked, “Severus takes no issue with you getting help for this?”
“None,” Harry assured him with a shake of his head. “In fact, he said I could get help.”
“Good,” Lucius nodded. “We might have to get Remus and Sirius to give us an assist. We'll find something.” Watching Harry and Draco stack the books then put them aside before summoning Defensive tomes, he said, “I actually came in to see about setting up times for you to work with Narcissa and myself on producing the Patronus, Harry. With all that's going on, I think it's wise for us to learn the spell as well. Just be prepared for it to take longer for us to pick it up.”
“I can do that,” Harry said with a bit of a grin, liking the idea. “Whenever is good with me. Just pick a time and we'll work on it.”
“We'll start setting aside some time each day to work on producing it,” Lucius told him, pleased. Picking up a few of books that were summoned, he began opening them, looking through the table of contents. Distractedly, he said, “I think, first, we need to find the class of spell before looking for one that would work. That way we can narrow down our search. Once we have an idea of just what we're looking for, it'll probably be easier to find the correct one that would work. As I only know the theory on the Patronus, not how to produce it, we're going to need help after we find the class.” Quickly, he divided up the different classes between them so they weren't all looking for the same thing.
Sitting there, pouring over the books, Lucius asked, tone amused, “I don't suppose that either of you two are going to give me any foreshadowing of pranks that are in the works?”
“Not a chance, Father,” Draco told him, tone smug.
“Which tells me you have something planned or are plotting,” Lucius snorted, smirking. Sobering up, he added, “Keep going. As long as it's nothing malicious, no one in the house will say a word to you. Not only will it help you with boredom, it's helping you learn how to work with spells and whatnot. That can only help you. Especially you, Harry, when it comes to Spellcrafting.” Quietly, he added, smirking bigger, “Just make sure you don't catch your mother in the middle of it, Draco.”
Grinning, Draco said, “We're making sure. She wouldn't react well and we both know it.”
“The rest of us will deal accordingly with whatever happens,” Lucius told them. Sitting aside one book that had no useful information at all, he added, tone casual, “And if you have any problem with getting something to work, come to one of us. We'll give a hand. Or, just maybe, depending on the 'victim', an assist in pulling it off.”
“That we might need,” Harry chuckled. “We have something big planned and aren't sure how to pull it off.”
“Do I want to know the victim?” Lucius asked, looking at the two, both of whom were grinning.
“Dumbledore,” Draco snorted.
“Oh? Do tell,” Lucius said, leaning back, curious.
“It's just in the start-up stages,” Harry admitted. “We thought that he might appreciate a hat that rains lemon sherberts. At least for a couple minutes. After all, he'd eat all of them.”
Snorting at that, completely amused, Lucius inquired, “Do you have the most basic of ideas on how to do that?”
“We do,” Draco nodded. “The twins gave Harry a prank that does something similar. We've got part of it down using our hats from school, but we can't get it to do the lemon sherberts, only Gobstones. So, we're still working on it.”
“That is something I think we need Sirius and Remus involved in,” Lucius told them thoughtfully, trying to suss out what might work. “The issue is making the candy instead of the stones. I'm not sure on that.”
“We've got them looking like lemon sherberts, but they're still Gobstones,” Harry sighed, shaking his head.
“Yes, I believe the other two miscreants are needed to help you solve this particular problem,” Lucius admitted. “We'll get with them when we're done with our studies for the day to see what they might know on the topic.” Picking up another book, he began to skim the table of contents. Changing topics, he said, “On this I think we may need to look at a defensive spell in the class of secrecy. That usually involves defensive warding, but it can include plenty of other areas as well. I'm not sure, though. I'll look into that and you two take on other topics. If we can't narrow it down from there or the area ends up too broad, we will get help.” This was good, though. And he liked it. The two were getting along well and doing plenty that, though some of it was for amusement, they were learning a lot from. That was great as well.

Grinning as he looked at Harry's hair and the neon yellow streaks in it, Sirius snorted, flopping down in the chair. They were in their room relaxing before bed. Shaking his head, he asked, chuckling, “Do I want to know what happened? And is Draco in the same kind of shape?”
“His streaks are neon green,” Harry snorted, grinning himself. “It'll fade out shortly, nothing to worry about. It's the same sort of spell we used when we did the first bit with you lot. We were just attempting something else and trying to get it right.”
“Yeah, it takes some trial and error for some spells,” Sirius nodded, still grinning. “Do I want to know what you two have planned for this bit or not?”
“Not telling,” Harry said, grinning bigger and leaning back in his chair.
“Which means we need to worry,” Sirius laughed, shaking his head. Sobering up, Sirius said, looking at him, “Harry, I'm proud of you.”
Confused, not sure what that meant, Harry asked, “Why?”
“You and Draco. I can honestly say that I probably wouldn't have been as flexible as you are when it comes to trying to get along. Yeah, I get he knows he was wrong about so much and is trying to change, but there was so much there that I'm not sure I would have let it go like you have. You're trying, both of you, and getting along despite how much has gone on with the two of you. That shows plenty, Harry, and I'm proud of you for what you've done.”
Grinning a bit sheepishly and shrugging, flushing slightly, Harry said, “It's nothing. We're stuck together so we might as well get along. Besides, we're having fun. It was just hard at first.”
“It's probably still hard, even though you're both managing,” Sirius told him softly. “We all get that. And it shows a great deal on your end that you're letting it go on. I think, honestly, you're good for each other. Draco—he doesn't have anyone. You need help. Even you admit that. You both bring something into this relationship you need. Go with it.” Seeing Harry nod, he pressed on, “And I like what you two are doing with the pranks. It's not the pranks either. More like you both are doing something that is teaching you plenty. I don't get the feeling you plan to press on to do something like Fred and George, making a career of it, more like just have a bit of fun. That's good, too. Not only are you learning plenty of spells, and more about potions and other bits that can only help you, but you two are spending time together and getting along. I think it's great.”
“We're having fun with it,” Harry admitted with a grin. “A lot of it. I mean, it's fun to work with some of what Fred and George gave us to see what else we can do with it. What we're doing might not be used for anything serious, but it's good for a laugh.”
“I think it can be used, for plenty,” Sirius told him softly. “You're learning how to put together spells in different ways and that no matter what it is, you can change it. That's always good, Harry. It means that the two of you won't just get something and think that's all it can do. There are always ways to improve on something, no matter what it is. What you're doing is going to help you immeasurably with Spellcrafting because you're working in that area. Snape will be plenty happy with that as you're teaching yourself the basics and he won't have to cover it with you.”
“I like doing it,” Harry admitted, looking at him. “It's fun and interesting. We might get a bit of a backfire, like the streaks, but nothing harmful.”
“And that's fine, too,” Sirius nodded. “We all know neither of you are going to delve into something harmful. If you run into a problem, grab one of us. We'll help. Besides, those damned bird heads were hilarious and we're all curious about what else you two can come up with like it.”

Grinning at that, Harry nodded. “We're working on a couple of things. One—if we can't figure it out soon, we'll need help.”
“Just grab us and we'll give you a hand,” Sirius grinned. Sobering up again, he told him seriously, “I also wanted to make it damned clear that you can talk to me about anything, Harry. I don't care what it is. Personal or not, it doesn't matter. I know you really don't have anyone else around to discuss some bits with. It's also obvious I'm not exactly a parental figure to you, but in this case I want you to come to me. I'll help all I can, I swear. Even if all you need is to talk something out that’s bothering you. It'll stay between us, I swear it will. And none of it will matter, I swear.”
Smiling a little, liking that, Harry nodded, “I'll remember.”
“Good. I mean it, Harry. You can talk to me about anything and it won't change anything between us,” Sirius said. Reaching out and ruffling Harry's hair, grinning as the yellow started to fade, he asked, “Alright, tell me what caused this reaction, if you know. You don't have to say what you were working on, of course, but the spell you used might give me an idea of what backfired.”
Quickly, Harry walked him through what caused the reaction. “We tried making the color more realistic. The spell just didn't take well and kinda' bounced off the object then we got this reaction.”
Knowing the spell Harry was talking about, Sirius nodded then began to ask questions, sure he could help suss out what the two needed. This was good, though, and fun. He hadn't done bits like this since he was back in school. That he adored. Harry wasn't James. He had never seen him that way, despite what some thought, but working with him on such matters sure brought back the good memories. And he liked it, more than he would ever admit.
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In His Place