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Lucky Strike	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Sirius Views: 76061 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 17
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and make no money off this strange dance in JK Rowling's world.

Chapter List
- 23
- 24
- 25
Beta'd by the most amazing Tenchi, who I can't thank enough for all the hard work she does for me!

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 23

Levitating the tray into the bedroom he shared with Harry, Sirius was pleased to see Harry was awake, looking over his shoulder in his direction when he came in. Good. That meant he didn't have to wake him up. “I've brought your breakfast. The elves made your favorite. And I've got your draughts.” Seeing Harry nod then turn his head back so he was gazing out the window, holding Bugs close, Sirius gave an internal sigh. This was about normal for what came after flashbacks. All it meant was he had to do some work, nothing more. It would be worse this time, though, because of what else he had to cover with Harry. For now, he would keep the Prophet tucked in his back pocket. The discussion had to come, however.
Walking over to the bed, he sat on the edge of it in the direction Harry was facing. Sighing at the look on the younger wizard's face, he said, “Come on, sit up. You need to eat something so you can take your draughts.”
Though he didn't say anything, Harry nodded and sat up, at least in a way. It was more of a sitting on his hip slightly so he didn't have to put his full weight on his bum. That was still plenty sore despite the draughts and cream that they were using. Holding Bugs close, petting the rabbit, he eyed the food, but didn't feel the least bit hungry. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep to escape that memory. He couldn't do that, though, until he took the draughts. To take the draughts, he had to eat. So, he would, at least some.
Conjuring a couple more pillows to brace where Harry didn't want to put his weight, Sirius then conjured a tray for him and set the food on it. Putting the draughts on the table by the bed, he reached out and stroked his godson's head, smiling a little. He wouldn't get far with Harry today, if the pattern from the last couple of times held out, but he would try. Later on he would have Remus come up and sit with him as his old friend would probably do a bit better. “You feeling any better? Other than the pain that is.”
Giving a halfhearted shrug as he nibbled on the toast with marmalade, Harry didn't say anything. All he wanted to do was eat then curl back up with Bugs and sleep, nothing more.
Not sure what to say, as nothing they did would work, honestly, Sirius leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the forehead as he ate. “It'll be fine. Give it a few days and you'll feel better. Nothing to worry about.” Seeing Harry nod, though not look up or say anything, he sighed. Sobering up, he said, “There's something I need to talk to you about that's important.” When Harry raised his head and looked at him, a concerned expression on his face, Sirius assured him, “Not about the mess you're dealing with, don't worry, but something else.”
Wondering what that could be, Harry's brow furrowed and he waited, looking at Sirius as he did.
Pulling the Prophet out of his pocket, Sirius handed it over to Harry, making sure he could see the headline about the breakout. Softly, he said, “It's about that.”
Taking the paper, Harry read through it, not liking what was there. From all he had ever been told, Azkaban was a prison that you couldn't break out of. So, this was rather strange and he wasn't sure what it meant. The names of those listed were ones he didn't recognize either, other than the Bellatrix one as that seemed to ring some bells. He just wasn't sure where from. Finishing what he could of the article, he looked at Sirius and waited for him to explain.
Sighing and taking back the paper, Sirius told him, “All the ones that were broken out were followers of You-Know-Who, his top ranking Death Eaters. We're all sure, though the Prophet didn't say it, that he was involved. He's the only one we know that has the power to break them out.”
Looking at Sirius, not sure what to make of it, Harry thought over all the lot of them had told him about Voldemort. He believed them when they said they didn't think that he was dead, but wasn't sure what to make of so much of it as it sounded almost surreal. So, he wanted for Sirius to go on, assuming that he would explain why this was something he had to know.
Pressing on as it became clear Harry wasn't going to talk, Sirius explained, “It means we have a lot to prepare for. All of us. First up is protecting you. We're going to have to stay far more vigilant when we go out.” Seeing an understanding nod at that, Sirius pressed on then said, softly, “Snape and Lucius are going to have to really watch their backs as well. The both of them would be considered traitors. We're all sure they'll be a target. While they both know how to protect and defend themselves, it just means we'll have to keep a closer eye out on many things, nothing more.” With a sigh, he then added, “Tonight we're going to try to have some of the old Order come over to see what we can do to figure out plans to keep all of us safe. We know a few are still connected to Albus, so we won't be having them around. From what we've decided, we want no part of anything he might be pulling and want to keep all the information we can from him. It's just to the point that we need to get plenty in place.”
Not understanding that part as he wasn't sure what Sirius was referring to, Harry just looked at him, trying to process all of what it meant. He knew that he might be in danger, from all he was told all along, so he understood that. The same with the part about Severus and Lucius. Those that were close talked about those two being spies during the last war. That was now exposed because of so much. He also knew parts most didn't because they talked about it around him, like the hunt for some objects to destroy them. It was the 'Order' bit he didn't get. That he'd heard about before, but only in passing. Still gazing at Sirius, he waited to see if he would explain. If not, he would let it go for now and ask later when he felt like he was in a better place.
Sighing when it didn't appear Harry was going to ask any questions, Sirius shook his head. He had hoped that some of this would draw him out in some way, but it wasn't working. Oh well, he would manage. “We're going to have a meeting of sorts tonight. Rufus is one we want here. I'm going to go talk to him today and see if I can persuade him to come over. Remus said he would come up and stay with you while I do. Nothing to worry about there.” Softening his tone, he said, “I know you don't feel good and are in pain, but we would like you to sit in on the meeting so you can hear what is said. That and get to know some of the people because they'll be the ones helping us protect you. To do that, we need you to get to know them.”
Shaking his head slowly, Harry shut his eyes. That he couldn't handle right now. That's all there was to it. He didn't want to be around anyone and wanted to stay in his room while others were around that he didn't know or didn't know well.
That Sirius expected, honestly. Harry didn't react well to strangers. All he had wanted to do was plant the seed, nothing more. He would let Remus take over from here to see what he could manage. If he couldn't, they would bring Lucius in. Besides, he knew there was plenty to explain still as parts of this were things Harry didn't know. All he had planned to do was cover the basics, nothing more. Tossing the Prophet onto the bedside table, he scooted up closer to Harry then kissed him on the head. “Enough of that for now. We'll talk about it more later. Don't let it worry you too much. We're perfectly safe here in the house. That's all that matters. Just finish as much of your breakfast as you can then you can take your draughts. I'll stay with you as long as I'm able. If I'm not here, one of the others will be when you wake up. I promise.” Seeing Harry nod and halfheartedly poke at his food, he changed to lighter topics, not wanting to get into just how much they were now scrambling to deal with the breakout and what it meant. Harry would find out, now wasn't the time for that though.

Head in his hands, James refused to look at the paper. While he was grateful that the debacle from court yesterday didn't make the front page, being relegated to further back, what was there was even worse, if that was at all possible. Shaking his head, he sighed then said to the other two seated there, “We don't need this right now. We're in no way prepared for this to start. And with all that's going on, it's just going to give that evil bastard an advantage he doesn't need.”
“While that's true, it can't be helped,” Albus sighed. Stiffening his spine, he said, “We just press on the best we can and prepare for the worst. I'll get with those that can help and try to cajole some others to join us for a meeting. Then we'll start making plans. I know this isn't what we planned for and didn't have the time we needed to sort through major issues, but we'll manage. It just means we have to prioritize, nothing more. We'll come up with a way like we always have.”
“We better find something, Albus,” James snorted. “Because we have about less than nothing. The ones we can get to help won't be much assistance. Harry—that's obvious there. We don't have the contacts we did during the last war. No intelligence, because people won't talk to us. No insiders in the Auror department like we used to. Nothing. Which means we don't know what to prepare for.”
“Again, a true assessment,” Albus admitted with a nod. “We'll manage, it'll just take more. It's been something we've been planning for since that awful night so long ago, so we'll find a way. Give it time.”
“I don't think we have a lot of that, Albus,” Lily sighed. “I doubt he's going to lay low after the breakout. He must be planning for something as we speak.”
“Probably,” Albus conceded. “We just have to wait and prepare ourselves then protect those we can. That and see which way the winds are blowing when it comes to the Ministry. It's my hope that they'll take this for what it is as there isn't anyone else out there that would gain anything by breaking out those they did. Rufus has been around long enough that he has to know this. We'll see.”
“I don't like this,” James said softly, shaking his head. “So much of this—we couldn't plan for and don't have the time to work out a way to go about it. I have a very bad feeling, Albus.”
“We'll manage,” Albus assured him once more, reaching over to pat his arm. “Now,” he started, settling back, “let's see what we can do to get as many of the old Order members back together as we can. They have to know what this is. I'll put out some feelers and see who I can recruit. Then we'll have a better foundation for what we can do.” With that, he pressed on to list out what they needed to tackle.

“Did you get anywhere with Harry?” Remus asked as he took a seat by the bed. It was afternoon and Sirius had to get to the Ministry to talk to Rufus. Harry had already eaten and taken his draughts, so he was out cold. He was going to sit with his son until Sirius returned.
“Nowhere,” Sirius told him with a sigh. “I can't even get him to talk. Anything else just isn't happening. I have a feeling that if you can't get anywhere with him, we might have to enlist Lucius to talk him into it. This is something we need him to hear, Remus.”
“Let me see what I can manage. If I can't or don't get anywhere, I'll call in Lucius. We'll manage, it might just take time.” Remus sighed, reaching out to stroke his sleeping son's head. Quietly, he asked, making sure to confirm it, “He's not talking again?”
“Same as last time,” Sirius groaned, slouching slightly. “He's more animated and will move, eat, whatever, but he's not talking. Though he is paying attention to Bugs. That's a good sign. In fact, he won't let him loose. I'm damned sure that's helping plenty.”
“Good,” Remus said, pleased with that.
“Just see what you can do with him,” Sirius sighed. Changing topics, he asked, “What is Snape up to? He said something about meeting up with Lucius. I assume it has to do with the meeting tonight.”
“It does,” Remus sighed, shaking his head. “They are trying to not only contact who they need to, aside from the ones I'll attend to personally, but put plans in place to protect all of us. That is paramount in this. I know that between the three of us in this house we can do a good job, but we'll all feel better with more helping as Severus will end up in extreme danger. There's no chance he can go back to being a spy now and You-Know-Who probably already knows he and Lucius were one during the last war. That means he's going to want revenge. So, we not only have to worry about Harry, but Severus and Lucius. That means we need to plan for it and see who we can get to help. They're going to get as much in place as they can when it comes to that.” Shaking his head, he added, “With Narcissa and Draco as well. More probably when it comes to Draco, as he's the most vulnerable of them as he's in that castle. Severus said he's sure that some of the kids of former Death Eaters might make him a target. Lucius is going to do what he can, but you know what it's like.”
“And that's not something I thought of,” Sirius groaned, head dropping back and eyes going shut. “Shite! It'll be even worse as most of those damned brats know that Draco and Harry are friends.”
“Exactly,” Remus admitted softly. “We have a lot to prepare for, Sirius. Tonight's meeting won't get it all settled, but we can at least start. If we can enlist Rufus to come in, we can pass information both ways. You know we can get more out of plenty of people than Rufus can. They won't have to know we're passing bits to him. That will only help all of us.” Since Sirius had the best shot of getting Rufus to agree, he wanted to make sure his old friend knew the complete picture.
“Understood and I'll do what I can,” Sirius assured him. “We've got—I don't even want to think about what a mess this is and how to go about it. Last time we had Albus in charge. He at least had an idea of what we needed to do. We're all just—we're not him. I don't know.”
“Severus and I are of the opinion that we don't have an actual leader, per se. More like you, me, Lucius and Severus being the ones they go to. If Rufus comes in, he can guide us with how we need to go about this. As the four of us don't have traditional jobs and have the time on our hands we need, we can do a bit more.”
“True that and it's something we can handle.” Stopping and thinking it over, Sirius groaned then looked at Remus before adding, “And that old man knows something. It has to be big as well for him to have pulled what he did. To be effective at anything we have to know what he does. Getting it out of him, though, will be a nightmare as it'll be just like the last war. We might as well bang our heads on a wall as it'll work just about as well.”
“Something else Severus and I discussed,” Remus admitted with a sigh. “We're fumbling in the dark with so much as we have no chance at getting out of Albus what he knows. You remember what he was like. I doubt that's changed. He didn't concoct this scheme without a reason. Whatever that might be is beyond us. We're of the opinion that the best we can hope for is getting parts of it out of James or Lily during the next meeting with Stuart. Even then it's just going to be pieces. With those we might be able to piece parts together. I don't know. If we push hard enough, we may manage to negotiate with the two to get more. I'm not counting on that, though, as what they'll want we won't be willing to give up.”
Shaking his head, Sirius snorted, “Or you could let me pound it out of James. That would get it for us.” Before Remus could say anything, he added, “I know, you don't have to say it. Just wishful thinking on my end, nothing more.”
Ignoring that and not wanting to encourage that line of thought, Remus assured him, “We'll come up with something. Don't worry. Harry will be the biggest target, I'm sure. The first couple moves from that side should give us a better idea of what we have to do. Then we'll go from there. Let's see what we can manage. We have Tonks and Kingsley in the Auror department. They'll help. I'm sure Rufus will as well as he has to know what this is.”
“We will. It'll just take time.” Sirius agreed, not liking it. “We'll deal accordingly then go from there.”

Holding his son close, Remus rested his head against Harry's. The book he had been reading to his son was lying face down over his leg so he didn't lose his place. For now, Harry was awake. It was about a half an hour until he could take his next dose of the draughts, so he wasn't feeling the best. While it wasn't the perfect time to deal with what he needed to, it was as good as he was going to get here as Harry would fall asleep shortly after taking the draughts, so he wouldn't be able to do it then. He was going to at least see what he could manage. If he couldn't, they would go the route of getting Lucius involved.
Stroking Harry's head, he said, “It's almost time for the next draught then you can go back to sleep.” Seeing Harry nod, he sighed and pressed on, “Harry, I know you don't like dealing with people that you don't know and feel poorly, but we really need you to attend this meeting tonight.” Seeing his son look at him, sweaty brow furrowed, Remus assured him, “We'll make sure you're surrounded by all of those you do know. Sirius will sit on one side of you and Lucius the other. Severus, myself and Narcissa will be close as well.” Giving his son a squeeze, he added, gently, “If this wasn't important, we wouldn't ask, Harry. What we're going to talk about is something we feel you need to know so you stay safe. We know you don't go anywhere alone, but there are other parts you need to hear as you weren't around during the last war to know what they mean. As it's not been a problem since you've come into our life, we've not talked about them with you.”
With a groan, Remus admitted, “We're at fault for you not having the information you need. So much of this are areas we should have discussed with you so you could prepare yourself to stay safe. I admit that a large part of the reason was we had so much else to handle. That's not an excuse, though. Now we need to give you a crash course in so much.”
Gazing up at his dad, trying to focus on what he was saying instead of the pain, Harry wasn't sure what to think, honestly. If it was big enough that his dad and Sirius, both, wanted him to go, he needed to think about it. He'd heard all of them talk enough about that evil arse that he knew it was plenty bad during that war. He just didn't think he could handle it at the moment with all he was dealing with.
Seeing Harry look at him, Remus smiled slightly then said, “How about we compromise? What we'll do is this; for this meeting we'll put you at one end of the table. We can make sure that all the ones you know are there. If Rufus comes, we'll sit him as close to you as we can. You know no one in their right mind is going to bother you if he's around. Tonks and Kingsley are coming. Though Tonks isn't someone you're as comfortable with as you are Narcissa, you get along. Kingsley you like. Arthur and Molly are coming. You like Arthur fine. I know Molly unnerves you slightly, but we'll put her there so she can take on the task of dealing with anyone that annoys you. With all those people plus us around, you'll be fine. We don't expect this to be a long 'do, honestly. We just need everyone on the same page and working towards finding a way to start tackling the issue. That and get all the information out that we have so everyone can prepare. After this we can judge better what we have to do. What do you think?” That's where he stopped and looked down at Harry.
Eyes dropping to the bed, Harry thought it over. He didn't like the idea, but understood why since it was explained to him. The more he knew, the better he was going to be. That was self-proving in the past. He could defend himself, no doubt there, but this was far different than what he was used to. So, he needed to know all he could.
Seeing that his son was actually pondering it, Remus gave him a squeeze then said, “How about you try. If you're having problems, you can come back up here and try next time. Is that a suitable compromise you can work with? Just give it a try. We'll make it as easy on you as we can and make certain no one bothers you.”
With a soft sigh, Harry lifted his eyes then looked at his dad before nodding. He would try, that's all he would agree to. Then he would go from there.
Pleased that he managed, Remus gave him a squeeze. “You'll do fine,” he soothed. He also thought being around others after what happened would do his son good. It might bring him around faster this time. Kissing him on the temple, he said, “Now, let's get back to the book.” Unlike normal, where Harry read a page then he did, something he set up to help Harry improve his reading skills, he was just reading to his son. He thought it was a good way for Harry to focus on something besides the pain he was in and the awful memories he was dealing with.
Leaning more heavily against his dad, holding Bugs close, Harry looked at the page after his dad picked up the book. He liked this, a lot. His dad had a wonderful reading voice that was soothing. It also helped that he could follow along as he read. Pressing tightly to his dad as the man wrapped an arm around him, he tried to focus on the book the best he could and not the time left before he could take something for the pain. That helped keep him from going barmy.
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Lucky Strike