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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
- 2
- 3
- 4
Beta'd by the amazing Tenchi. Love you, woman, you're the best!

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Chapter 3

“No offense here,” Harry, panting heavily, said as he looked at Snape, “but can I hang on to Remus?” Quickly, he added so the man didn't get offended as he was really being decent about everything and he didn't want to anger him, “He's shorter and it's easier on me to get my arm around his shoulder.” Right now, his whole body ached from using muscles he hadn't for several months, so he was trying to make the whole operation as easy on himself as he could. The less he had to stretch, the better he was going to be.
“That's not something I thought of, Mr. Potter,” Severus told him softly, waiting for Lupin to change places with him. “When we get you into the other room, I'll give you something mild for the soreness. Then a balm for Black to rub on you when you get upstairs.”
“Yeah, we can do that, Harry,” Sirius told him quietly, looking at the door to the kitchen. Grinning, he told his godson, “Oh, the looks on their faces are going to be so good.” Glancing at Snape, who had moved behind them to help steady Harry, he asked, “You made sure they knew to hold dinner?”
“They know,” Severus told him with a smirk. “I didn't say why, of course, but I believe they are assuming the fact that I’m staying is the reason.”
Chuckling, Sirius nodded, “Good!” Looking at his godson, he said, gently, “Alright, Harry, let's do this. It's not far then you can sit down. Plus, you'll get a good laugh at the reactions. It'll be worth it.”
Nodding, Harry took a step forward. He was still trembling, badly, and it was worse than normal because he was tired right now from the trek down the stairs. He hadn't walked them, of course, he was too unsteady for that, but he had walked some, like in the hallways. Coupling that with all the walking he had done that day and he was worn out. Eyes locked on the door to the kitchen, he visualized sitting down at the table, knowing it wasn't far off.
Keeping a firm grip on his godson to make damned sure he didn't fall, Sirius muttered encouraging words as they drew closer to the door. This was good, that's for damned sure. When they reached it, he looked over his shoulder at Snape then said, keeping his voice low, “Open it for us, if you would, and hold it so we can get him in.”
Nodding, Severus gave the young man a pat on the shoulder then stepped in front of them. Opening the door, he stepped into the kitchen and away from the entrance, smirking at Narcissa and Lucius' questions. Keeping the door open, he said, “It's all clear to the table.”
“Severus? What's going on?” Narcissa asked, confused, looking between the man and her equally befuddled husband. Because of where they were sitting, they couldn't see what was going on or who was in the doorway. She assumed that Sirius had brought the sleeping Harry down again like he had before to give him stimulation. However, the last few times that he had done that, he had warned them so they knew to be prepared.
Saying nothing, Severus smirked bigger and waited.
Feeling Harry start to tremble harder, knowing the poor young man was probably about at the end of his endurance, Sirius encouraged, “Almost there. Just look at the table. It's only a few more feet.”
Clutching on tightly to Remus and Sirius, Harry's eyes locked on the table as he willed his now really aching body to keep going. All he could think about was sitting down.
Seeing who was coming in with Sirius and Remus, Narcissa stood, gasping, “Oh, sweet Merlin's magical mercies, he's awake!”
Standing himself, not sure whether to go over and help or stay put, Lucius asked, “When did he come around?”
“Right after Opening Feast ended,” Severus told him with a smug smirk as he watched the two help the young man slowly to the table. “We'll explain it all when he sits down.” Looking at Narcissa, he said, “Send an elf to fetch a wet flannel and a towel for him.”
Nodding vigorously, Narcissa sent an elf to get what was needed while keeping her eyes locked on Harry's trek to the table.
Once they reached the table, Sirius had Harry put his hands on it then helped him stand in front of the bench. “We made it. Just take a seat and slide down a little so I can sit on the end by you.”
Grateful to finally have reached the thing, Harry plopped onto the bench almost bonelessly. Inching down, he made enough room for Sirius then sat there, panting heavily, trembling violently. Shaking his head, he stammered out, “I'm not sure I'll make the other part of the trip back up.”
Taking the towel and flannel from the elf, Sirius began to bathe Harry's face then said, grinning, tone gentle, “If you can't, you can't. You did damned good with what you just managed. We'll get you back up the stairs, don't worry about that.” Looking at Lucius and Narcissa, he grinned, “This is what we've been hiding. The medical leave papers showed up just before we brought him down, so he's out for the term, what we were waiting on.”
“Perfectly understandable,” Lucius told him with a dismissive wave, pleased.
“Oh, this is wonderful,” Narcissa said, delighted, smiling at the young man. Sending the elves to add extra plates, she asked, “How are you feeling, Harry?”
“Like I've been run over by a whole herd of hippogriffs,” Harry told her, rubbing his eyes. Blinking, he added, “Though the contact lenses are good!” Sirius had explained to him that Madam Pomfrey had implanted something akin to permanent contact lenses on his eyes as they didn't want to chance anything happening if he had a seizure while wearing his glasses.
“That's good though!” Narcissa said with a smile. “At least you're finally awake!”
Sending one of the elves to get a glass with a lid for the milk that came with dinner, he handed it to Harry. While his godson gulped it down, he said, looking at the two, “We have problems, no doubt there, but we're working with them. And we're going to need help, lots of it.”
“Whatever you need. You know that, Sirius,” Lucius told him pointedly, pleased with this surprise.
Handing over the mild pain killing draught to Black, Severus said, “Mr. Potter can describe the effects of the spell. You can start hunting it tomorrow, Lucius.” Stopping, he shook his head looking at the trembling young man then added, “We're going to have to get Poppy involved with this. The trembling isn't improving, even with the added potion I've given him. He's also showing some other signs we need her help with. They did the standardized tests with him yesterday and some of the readings tell me there is some residual damage.”
Rubbing Harry's head as his godson relaxed, Sirius grinned, “I promised him I would get you two to pull the memories of going off on Albus and that battle so he could see them when he feels up to it.”
“I can do that,” Lucius said smugly. “One of my finest hours, I admit that.”
“Bloody brilliant is what it was,” Sirius laughed. Piling some food on Harry's plate when it showed on the table, he added, “Remus is going out tomorrow and get some catalogs for things we need, like special silverware so he can eat without so much frustration. We'll get with you, Cissy, to help pick it out as you know what you're doing, then send an elf for whatever it is we need.”
“Whatever you need, you know that,” Narcissa told him, smiling at the young man who was leaning heavily against Sirius.
“We're also going to need to borrow a few elves tomorrow so they can help work on Sirius' room then move furniture into it so Harry can stay in there,” Remus added, reaching out to rub Harry's sweaty head, smiling.
“I'll set them on the task,” Narcissa told him firmly. “I'll have them expand it and go pick out something nice we have stored at the Manor for the two of you.”
Looking over at the two across the table, Harry glanced at Narcissa's hands then said, softly, “You do have long nails.”
Bewildered by that comment, Narcissa said, “Well, yes,” then glanced at her equally bewildered husband then to a grinning Sirius.
“He remembers us talking to him,” Sirius explained. “He even described how your nails felt on his scalp when his head was resting in your lap.”
“Oh!” She said, pleased with that. “How much do you remember, Harry?”
“Quite a bit,” Harry told her, trying to get a fork full of food into his mouth without ending up wearing most of it.
Keeping a close eye on Harry, though not wanting to help if he didn't have to so his godson could get the hang of eating with the trembling, Sirius told them, “He's described enough to us that it's apparent he remembers most of it.” Stopping, he looked at Harry, remembering something else he told him about earlier when they were alone then added, tone very quiet, “And something downright strange and eerie that I'm sure is real as well.”
“What's that?” Severus asked between bites of food. As this was interesting and something Poppy probably needed to know about to indicate several things that could help, he wanted to know.
Putting a hand on Harry's back, Sirius said, quietly, looking around, “Passing through the Veil seven times without being able to turn around or look back, including our voices calling to him to come back.”
Shivering at that, looking at the young man, Severus then looked at Black before asking, cryptically, “Does he know?”
“I told him about the first time and the one here that took out the glass for two blocks. The others he didn't know about until he was done describing it to me,” Sirius told him, shaking his head. “He can describe things about James and Lily he has no way of knowing about otherwise.”
Not sure what to make of that, Severus shook his head while looking at the young man. Clearing his throat, he moved on, wanting to ask Harry about it at a later date. “We have a plan for this, a basic one. It's our thinking to let everyone at the meeting tomorrow night know he's awake by bringing him down. We need not only Poppy's help, obviously, but other areas as well.”
“Like a new wand,” Remus sighed. Patting Harry on the back, he said, “I'm just grabbing your wand.” When the young man nodded between bites of food, he pulled it out of Harry's back pocket and placed it on the table. Pointing to it, he said, “You can see it's riddled with hairline cracks. That comes from us working with him today. It's not going to stand up to him using it for any length of time. While out getting the catalogs, I'll set up an appointment for him to get one made.”
“Remus and I can take him, of course, but we'd feel better with some other bodies as well,” Sirius explained. Looking at Lucius, he asked, “Do you have a cane or something he can use? We're going to need it for a while I think. It'll help, that's for damned sure, especially with as unsteady as he is. And I think he'd prefer not to have me help him to the loo.”
“Plenty,” Lucius confirmed with a nod. “I'll have them brought over tomorrow and he can pick out the one he likes.” Looking at the young man, he said, gently, “You'll like them. They are quite elaborate and very intricately carved.”
Grinning after getting some food into his mouth, something that was getting easier as time went on, Harry said, “At this point, I don't care what it looks like, just so it helps.”
“We'll find you a good one,” Lucius told him with a nod.
Looking around, Sirius added, quietly, “We're going to have to work with his magic, that's for damned sure. The simple levitation spell turned the feather into solid stone. It lifted it, but that's not a good reaction. Which means, we have to get a new wand and start all over.”
“Shan't be a problem,” Lucius told him with a dismissive wave. “We have nothing but time, so we can work with whatever arises here.”
“I thought so,” Sirius told him, nodding. Finishing off his dinner, he pushed the plate away then said, “We've filled him in on the basics of what's going on. Or, what we suspect and what's off. I can also confirm that he didn't know why the lessons were set up beyond what I heard. Which just shores up our end of things here.”
Looking sour, Severus nodded, “I assumed he didn't.” Shaking his head, he sighed, not sure what to say.
Looking at Lucius, Sirius asked, “Is there any way that Albus can push for him to be back in school with the papers being finalized?”
“No,” Lucius confirmed with a shake of his head. “It's out of his hands completely. Those are set in stone and no one, anywhere, can override them.”
“Good. We wanted to make sure,” Remus said with a sigh of relief.
“He's in the clear there,” Lucius told them, pushing his plate aside. “We'll keep on our toes for any hint of someone trying to manipulate the situation and draw him in.”
“For now, I want one of us with him at all times. It'll be me, mostly, but if I'm handling something, one of you needs to sit with him for not only the obvious reasons, but this one as well,” Sirius added, looking around. “I have a bad feeling that Albus is going to try something, somewhere, once he finds out he's awake. And I'm not sure the shape he's in is going to deter him.”
“He will,” Snape groused, shaking his head. “Though the infirmary might help with some of the issues, with what is wrong here, Mr. Potter is going to be at a distinct disadvantage in defending himself. And there are some that are going to try to curry favor.” Looking at the young man, he said, softly, “If Albus tries to talk you into anything, say no. No matter how good it sounds or for what cause. Then tell one of us sitting here. We'll handle it from there.”
“I will,” Harry nodded, leaning heavily against Sirius and shutting his eyes.
Putting a hand on Harry's back, rubbing it softly, assuming his godson would doze for a bit as he had off and on all day, Sirius asked Snape, “Is Draco going to manage to get through the term? Or should we prepare to have him back?”
Shaking his head, Snape said, sighing, “He's not. I'm trying to get him through the week, but I don't think it's going to happen. He's in a room in my chambers to stave off the worst, but attending class with his house alone is causing a nightmare.” Looking at Lucius and Narcissa, he said, quietly, “Give it a couple more days to see what I can manage, but if it doesn't improve, I'm going to have you pull him out. Between everyone here, we'll manage to get him the education he needs.”
“We'll get the elves on clearing out a room in the basement for a potions lab,” Remus said softly. Looking at Harry, he added, “It might do both the young men good to work this way. Draco won't be tormented into making a very bad decision and Harry will have someone his age around. The relationship might not be the best there, but we can work with it.”
Looking at Cissy, Sirius asked, “Can you spend some time with Harry tomorrow and help him write letters to his friends while we work with some of the other things? He wants them to know he's awake and doing as well as possible. I've talked him into writing to Draco as well. Snape said he'd make sure they were delivered after the meeting. As bad as he's shaking, it's going to take someone else writing for them to be legible.”
“Oh, of course,” Narcissa nodded. “That's easy enough. We'll work with what's presented, don't worry.” Looking at Remus, she said, “Tomorrow when you're out, stop at one of the stationery stores and get a catalog. We'll get him a dict-o-quill to use for the time being. That will cut down on his frustration level.”
“Good idea,” Remus nodded, adding that to his mental list of things to do.
Looking at the young man who was obviously dozing, Lucius nodded, “This is good, though. He's awake. Have you filled him in so there aren't issues with trust?”
“As much as I can,” Sirius nodded, sipping at his drink. “I'm sure I forgot a few things with it, but I got the basics. He also knows the background enough that he's going to work with it. Draco is going to be the iffy part, but that has more to do with so much interaction in the past. You two he's going to be fine with as I've explained it all the best I could.”
“We'll prove it to him,” Narcissa told him with a firm nod. “It'll just take time.”
“I just want to add something here you should all know, but you need to keep in mind,” Severus said softly, trying not to wake the obviously tired young man. “There is going to be a lot of frustration here when it comes to dealing with this. He's bound to have more than one fit of temper over it because of that. Take it for what it is and don't let it bother you.”
“We will need to keep that in mind, yes,” Remus agreed with a nod.
After agreeing, Lucius asked Severus, “You have something ready to feed the old man about this?”

“I do,” Severus told him with a firm nod. “It won't be a lie either. Don't worry, I'll work with it.”

“Oh, that feels bloody wonderful,” Harry moaned, eyes sliding shut. He was sitting on the edge of the bed with his shirt off while Sirius rubbed that balm Snape had left on his back and shoulders.
“I bet it does,” Sirius grinned as he massaged it in. “I'm sure you're going to be plenty sore for the next few days while you get used to this. At least you'll get a nice back rub out of it every night.”
“There is that,” Harry grinned as his head dropped down.
“You did great,” Sirius told him honestly. “I know it was hard, but the more you work with it, the easier this is going to get. In a week or so, you should be able to do some of it like you used to, such as walking and that. Not going to trust some yet, like taking a bath alone. We'll work with that, though, like we did today.”
That Harry could handle, so he nodded. What they had done was Sirius sat in there with him while he bathed. He kept his y-fronts on and just handled cleaning beneath them when Sirius turned his head. His godfather was worried about him slipping or something, a realistic concern right now. Once he was steadier on his feet he would go back to taking a shower on his own. Right now, that wasn't a good idea.
“And tomorrow night you'll have your own bed again, so you won't have to deal with sleeping with me anymore,” Sirius grinned.
“That's not so bad,” Harry admitted quietly. Chuckling, he added, “You snore, but it's so softly that it's not a big deal.”
“And just how do you know I snore?” Sirius asked, laughing.
“I remember that,” Harry told him, snickering. “It wasn't loud, but it was there.”
“Well, if you can tolerate it, it's not bad I guess,” Sirius told him, working on his lower back. “I'm going to make sure that the elves put our beds close together, though. And I want your promise you won't try to go anywhere on your own for now. Not even to the loo. I don't want you falling and making something already plenty bad worse.”
“I can do that,” Harry told him with a nod.
“I think tomorrow I'm going to have Cissy get some measurements on you so we can get you some clothes you can get on easily. Those you could manage on your own in a few days. It'll make it easier on you and less frustrating until you get used to some of this,” Sirius told him as he went back to rubbing the young man's shoulders.
“Muggle sweat pants and t-shirts should work well for that,” Harry told him. “Those are easy to find too.”
“Yeah, we'll go with that. Remus can pick some out as he won't grab anything strange. Once you get better, we're going to have to get you other things as well. You lost a lot of weight over the summer from this, so nothing you have is going to fit right.” Seeing Harry nod, he changed topics, “I'm going to bet Draco will be back with us before long. I know you two don't have the best of relationships there, but it's one of those things that needs to happen.”
Sighing, Harry didn't know what to stay about that.
“He's changed,” Sirius told him bluntly. “He had to. This is all a right mess he didn't expect. He got slapped, hard, with some of it. I think, honestly, part of it was that he realized he didn't have friends like you do. His are more followers that are out for themselves and their own power. Yours are different. That was bad. Then there was Lucius' change of sides. That threw him off completely. It has to be bad at school right now for him because of that.” Stopping, he slipped an arm around Harry and pulled him back against his chest. Resting his chin on Harry's shoulder, he said, “He spent a lot of time up here with you just talking. We were worried about that at first, not sure what was going on. I think now it had more to do with he could talk out some problems with you because you couldn't ask questions or make him explain it. It was his way of dealing with whatever he's going through. It worked for him so we didn't say anything about it. He also seemed to do better when he was finished. So, it'll probably be different than you remember when he gets here. I can promise no one, including his parents, are going to allow him to talk to or treat you badly. I don't think he would anyway as he knows that this is about the safest place in the world for them now.”
“I'll work with it,” Harry said softly. “He keeps the idiotic stuff to himself and we'll be good.”
“He knows to, especially if I'm around,” Sirius told him. Rubbing Harry's bare stomach, he said, “How about we get some sleep. I imagine you're tired. So am I. We have plenty to do tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I am,” Harry admitted.
“Alright, let's do the loo thing first then we'll go from there.” Seeing Harry nod, he slipped off the bed and helped him to stand.

Yanked into the waking world, Sirius was disoriented. Rubbing his eyes and looking around, heart hammering in his chest as the times over the summer this had happened meant that something was wrong with Harry, he looked down. Relaxing, he let out a sigh when he realized that what pulled him awake was Harry shifting in his sleep and curling up to him, an arm draping over his waist. He supposed that it would take a few more days to get used to the fact that Harry was back with them and not in the kind of danger he had been.
Slipping his arm around his godson, Sirius held him close and kissed the top of his head. This was good and he didn't mind it at all. Shutting his eyes, letting his head drop back down, he sighed. There was a mess here, do doubt, but he could handle it and would.
Holding Harry close, feeling his godson clutch onto him tightly, Sirius rubbed Harry's back softly as he dozed off once more.
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In His Place