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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
- 32
- 33
- 34
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 33

Sirius leaned over and looked at the letter Harry was reading from Dudley, smiling and nodding his head as he did. It pleased him the two were trying to form a relationship, despite Petunia and Vernon. When Harry finished reading, putting it down with a grin on his face, he nudged his godson then said, “We’re going to shoot for Halloween for a visit. Cissy thought, and I think it’s a good idea, to have him over for tea. We’re planning on a huge feast, like they have at Hogwarts, so we thought it would be perfect for having him over. While all of us will be here, it shouldn’t end up as intimidating.” It was right after lunch and they were on a break from classes while Lucius took on some of what Draco needed that Harry wasn’t taking, so he would use the opportunity to talk with Harry alone.

“I’d like that,” Harry nodded, still smiling. Then he sobered up and asked, “We’re going to include the thing Madam Pomfrey wrote up this time?” He worried about this because of how it would sound and he didn’t want Dudley to fret over it, as strange as that sounded what with the past relationship and all.

“We are and I’ll help you explain most of it,” Sirius assured him, reaching over to give Harry a reassuring pat on the back. “Arthur will also go over and explain it more so Dudley doesn’t worry too much. Nothing to concern yourself with.” Then he added, with a smile, “Cissy has a camera. We thought we would take some pictures of you, including with Draco, to show you’re as well as can be expected with all you’re dealing with. The visual should help plenty to prove it.”

“It should,” Harry nodded, pleased with the idea. “When he comes over, can we take some of him?” He then asked. “I don’t have any pictures of Dudley.”

“We can and will,” Sirius assured him, smiling bigger. “While we wait for Halloween, talk to Draco about him. As the three of you are the same age, he’ll probably help put Dudley at ease a little rather than focusing on all the adults.”

“Will do,” Harry agreed, planning to fill Draco in.

“Since we’re just relaxing for a while, there’s something I want to do with you,” Sirius told him, changing topics to one which still bothered all of them. This was just to prove it to all of them then they’d work with Albus from there. Seeing Harry look at him, he explained, “We want to prove to Albus the Horcrux is gone. The only way we can think of is the Parseltongue. This means we need to figure out if you still are and the trait carried on even with it gone. If you are, we have to come up with something else.”

“Understood,” Harry said with a nod. Then he asked, curious, “How are we going to do this?”

“Very simple; I’m going to conjure a snake and see if you can understand it,” Sirius explained. Then he chuckled and added, “I’ll make sure it’s not venomous and behind a shield.”

“Easy enough,” Harry agreed, pleased it was simple. “Let’s go for it.”

After ensuring there was a shield around them, Sirius stiffened up then conjured the Serpensortia, focusing on the non-venomous sort. The snake, a typical garter snake variety, shot from the tip of his wand, safely behind the shield. As expected, it was hissing up a storm, sounding angry, slithering around in the confines of the shielded area. Wand trained on the snake, planning to vanish it quickly, he asked Harry, “Can you understand what its saying?”

Harry concentrated on the snake, brow furrowed, but all he heard was hissing. He waited a minute, making sure, then shook his head. “I can’t. All I can hear is hissing, nothing more.” Then he chuckled and added, “It doesn’t sound like the happy sort of hissing though!”

After casting the Vipera Evanesca to get rid of the serpent, Sirius grinned hugely. “Perfect,” he nodded, pleased it was that easy. “Right, this is what we’ll use to prove it to the old man. How? We need to work on that part so it’s not contrived, but we’ll come up with some way and hope like hell he realizes what it means.”

“I think it’s something we need to do fast, before he comes up with another of his barmy schemes,” Harry grumbled, shaking his head. “He’s not above that, Sirius.”

“No, he’s not and we all know it,” Sirius groused. “Give us time, we’ll manage. We just need something that doesn’t look contrived in some way. If we put our heads together, we’ll manage.”

After Harry nodded, looking sour over the topic, he changed to another he wanted to cover with him. He softened his voice and made sure his tone was calm, then launched in and told him, “I talked to Remus yesterday. After all these years, I finally came out to him.” When Harry’s eyes widened and he tensed up slightly, he shook his head and smiled, “It didn’t matter to him, Harry. In fact, he told me he knew from the time we were in school, just never said anything. When you feel up to it, talk to him. If I didn’t matter, you won’t either and it’ll give you someone else to talk to if you don’t feel like you can with me. You know what he’s like and is probably easier to talk to than I am about some areas.”

“It’ll take time,” Harry told him, though relieved Remus didn’t react badly. “It’s not easy.”

“No, it’s not,” Sirius chuckled. “Look how many years it took for me to tell him. That alone should tell you how hard it is. And we both know you’ll encounter plenty in your lifetime who won’t react nicely, but there are also plenty that will. The more you surround yourself with ones who will be fine and know, the better you’ll be able to handle the ones who don’t. It’s best to start early. You have me and Draco for that. Adding Remus would help, Harry. I don’t mean tell the whole world, obviously, but start with ones you know won’t cause you issues. It gives you a support system to build on.”

After some serious thought about what Sirius mentioned, Harry gave a slow nod. “It’s a good idea. Just give me time.”

“You have plenty of that,” Sirius assured him. “Remus is safe, though. The more you talk about it, the easier it’ll get as well,” he then added.

“There is that too,” Harry admitted, nodding again. “Just give me some time.”

“All you need,” Sirius told him with a smile, giving him a clap on the shoulder.

Sirius figured that was enough for now. “Let’s take a short nap. We have plenty to work on today, so we’ll stay busy. A bit of rest will do us both good.” This was true, of course, but he also knew Harry tended to need a nap due to his physical problems and the medicines. It was improving, of course, but still there.

“A nap is a good idea,” Harry admitted, holding off a yawn.

“They’ll let us know when they’re ready for us,” Sirius told him, standing with a groan. Yeah, it would do both of them good.

“He’s not a Parselmouth anymore,” Sirius told Cissy and Lucius, looking between the two. It was the end of the day during the time Draco and Harry were having their study period. As they were alone, it was the perfect time to fill them in. He would tell Remus later, but the man was readying himself for work, so it could wait.

“We now have the perfect way to prove what we need to Albus,” Lucius nodded, pleased.

“Just how to prove it now,” Narcissa told them, looking between the two. “I can’t think of anything that wouldn’t look contrived in some way and have Albus wondering why.”

“As long as we now know, we can come up with something,” Sirius told her. “It just comes down to finding the perfect way and having him around.”

“We’ll manage,” Lucius assured him. “Just let Severus know. He might come up with a way we can’t.”

“I passed it along with the daily report to him,” Sirius assured him. “Let’s see what suggestions he has. Then we work with it and do what we can.”

After hearing the two agree, he pressed on with a suggestion he received from Snape before he sent the report out, one which came with Harry’s potions. “Cissy, Snape suggests we start having Harry meditate for other reasons, rather than just what we’re working with him on. He said it can help him with his frustration. From what he wrote, he’s bringing some books over on the topic.”

“It’s not a bad idea and I’ll suggest it to him. Maybe at night before bed might help him sleep or if he’s starting to feel supremely frustrated with whatever, we take a break so he can for a time.” She suggested, looking between the two men.

“At night is a damned good idea,” Sirius admitted. “He’s still having nightmares about so much. It might help.”

“It can’t hurt, honestly,” Lucius told him frankly. “Give him a chance to get some of his frustration under control. It might aid with the nightmares he’s having. I doubt it’s all of the reason, of course, but it has to factor in.”

“You won’t get any arguments from me on the topic,” Sirius told him. “I’ll talk to him a bit. Even a short time, like fifteen minutes or so, may help.”

“Let’s see what he says and go from there. Severus can speak to him a little about the topic as he knows more about such matters.” Narcissa nodded.

“Anything else we need to plan for?” Lucius asked, leaning back. Sirius tended to know from Severus because of the daily reports and how they passed information that way, so he wanted to find out.

“Some, not much,” Sirius told him then passed on the minor areas he heard about. Once they were all aware of everything, they would plan for other areas for the night.

Draco leaned over and told Harry, after reading Dudley’s letter, “I don’t have a problem getting to know him. If you say he’s good, that’s enough for me. You just might want to include parts in this letter about those of us in the house. Will ease him into this rather than ending up feeling overwhelmed by all of us.”

“Will do. Good suggestion,” Harry admitted, planning to do so. “Sirius will take some pictures of us that I’m going to send with the letter. It might help as well.”

“It will,” Draco agreed. “Those give a visual of what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t want him feeling overwhelmed by this,” Harry sighed. “He’s trying, something I want to continue. Took a lot for him to do this, with what I know of Dudley. It’s something I want to make as easy on him as I can. We’ll have plenty to worry about when it comes to explaining the stuff he’ll see in the house.”

As everyone had given him a brief rundown of what Harry’s life was like when it came to his Muggle relatives, Draco didn’t need to ask questions about that area. Instead, he suggested, “Why not start explaining some of it. Start small, like paintings as he’ll have a visual with the pictures, then go from there. We can make a list of what we’re sure he’ll encounter, like the elves and whatnot, then you can include a little in each letter.”

“Another good idea I’ll do,” Harry told him, pleased to have some leanings on how to deal with this as it seemed a little overwhelming.

Draco pushed aside his school books as the two finished studying for the day and leaned back with a sigh. “I’ll help, if you want it.”

“I do,” Harry told him, taking notes the best he could on what they said. “It’s plenty hard with all we’re including.”

After giving a nod, Draco changed topics. “I have a question about your ‘gift’.” Though Harry looked uncomfortable about the topic, something Draco could easily understand, he motioned for him to go on. “Mother said you managed to get into the place they wanted and think you can again.”

“I think so,” Harry sighed, not liking the topic. However, he was curious, so asked, “Why?”

“Getting some help finding the spell for the Patronus,” Draco groused, slouching down with his arms folded over his chest. “We’re getting nowhere, Potter, so help of the magical mystical sort might assist. Think you can manage to ask your father or like Regulus? They might know as they have sources we don’t on the matter or just—might know because of whatever. Nothing anyone has given us is helping.”

Harry put the quill down then frowned, thinking it over before giving a slow nod. “Let me see what I can manage the next time I’m in that state. You’re right; even the help from Professor Snape and pointing us after some hints hasn’t given us squat.”

“We need something,” Draco groused, shaking his head.

“Let’s see what I can do,” Harry agreed.

After staring around the desk, he asked, “You caught up the best you can manage?” Harry was still plenty behind, but catching up finally as he was learning to deal with all the challenges he had. This was good. His father assured him Harry would end up close by the time for the hols, something he was certain would help Harry.

“Yeah, why?” Harry asked, leaning back with a sigh.

“Let’s grab Sirius and Father then go muck about on the brooms for a bit to relax,” Draco told him with a tiny grin. “We have plenty of time before tea to have some fun. Will do us both good, I think.”

“Brilliant idea,” Harry said with a grin. Just smacking balls back and forth would end up fun, honestly. Being in the air and his broom negating plenty made him feel normal once more, something he adored. The more he could do of those sorts of things, the better he felt about himself.

“Come on, Potter, let’s see what they’re up to,” Draco told him, smirking already, standing with a tired sigh.

Now enthused, Harry stood as well, grabbing his cane. Yeah, he liked this idea and couldn’t wait to get in the air. While he wouldn’t attempt some of what he used to yet, there were a few stunts he could try which wouldn’t bother anything dealing with his issues. Nothing like relaxing by flying a little.

Sirius flopped on the bed that night with a tired groan. It wasn’t that he was more worn out than normal from doing something odd, just nicely fatigued from having some fun. They didn’t fly when Harry and Draco came to them because tea was almost ready, but did after they finished. And they all had fun. Cissy and Lucius didn’t join in but stayed on the ground to keep watch. He had, though, on his old broom. And they had plenty of fun. Now they were nicely relaxed before bed.

After sitting up with a groan when Harry came in and sat down on his bed, looking tired as well, he grinned then reached over and ruffled his hair. “We had a good time, didn’t we?”

“We did,” Harry agreed with a chuckle, putting his cane aside where he could grab it easily if he needed it. “I’m worn out from it, but in a good way if that makes sense.”

“It does as I’m feeling the same way,” Sirius nodded.

“I love flying,” Harry admitted, leaning against the headboard and stretching his legs out on the bed with a soft sigh. “It’s relaxing. And fun, even if I don’t play Quidditch.”

“I agree,” Sirius nodded. Remembering part of what James said, he asked, curious, “I know playing isn’t always fun, especially in bad weather, but is it something you ever thought of doing professionally or was it just a case of just liking to in school?”

Harry actually had to think that over for a minute since he wasn’t sure himself. While there was the fantasizing about it at the World Cup, he hadn’t thought much beyond that. After a minute or so of debate, he finally nodded then told Sirius, “I would like to give it a try. Love the game, honestly, and it was the first thing I was ever really good at. It’s rather stuck with me. Not sure if I can what with the head injury and such, but I’d like to give it a shot.”

Another item James said confirmed. Sirius then told Harry, “You can, Harry. Will just take some work. Unlike plenty of areas, most of your issues will end up negated by your broom. The rest? A helmet like we’ve made will stop plenty. If you’re a Chaser you’d have to worry about the Bludgers. A Beater? Not so much. I think Seeker is out as you’re getting too big for the position. Keeper? I think we need to rule that out as it’s too dangerous there.”

“I’d rather like either Beater or Chaser,” Harry admitted with a grin. “Maybe Beater more, honestly. Swatting the balls is fun. I like that a bit better. Have to work on it a bit as it’s harder than other areas, but I could manage.” Then he sobered up and added with a sigh, “We would have to have the lifetime ban Umbridge put on me lifted, though. As far as I know, it’s still in effect for me, Fred and George.”

“I’ll send something off to Rufus about that.” The Sirius added, with a snort and grin, “One of the easier issues we’ve asked him to take care of, honestly. Bet he won’t mind. Will also mention he should ensure sure he checks some of the crap she put in place as well as it can affect plenty.”

“Even if he does, not sure how I would go about ending up coming to the notice of teams,” Harry shrugged. “I know most teams by now, honestly, and they tend to pick up from Hogwarts. If they have trials for whatever, not sure when they are or how I would manage.” Harry admitted. Though he hadn’t thought about this until Sirius asked, the more he did, the more he wanted it, for plenty of reasons. There were just nerves about it and the uncertainty of not knowing so much.

“We can easily find out all you need to know, Harry,” Sirius assured him, sliding over to sit by his godson, putting a hand on his leg and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Let’s focus on getting you better this year. Come next, we’ll see what we can manage. Even if you stay homeschooled, I know the rules state you can join house teams and whatever if you qualify. We can make that a goal.”

“I didn’t know that,” Harry told him, a grin forming. If that was the case, he might manage. After all, he’d been on the team and could manage again if he had his issues under some form of control.

“It’s the truth,” Sirius nodded, seeing the grin there and adoring it. “If you want, we’ll work with you all we can and see what we can manage. There are issues to tackle, of course, and items we need, but we can.”

“I want this,” Harry told him softly, far softer than normal. It was almost like he didn’t dare even wish for this as it would end up snatched away or him being told he couldn’t. With a mental shake of his head, he then said, far firmer, “I do, Sirius. I really want it. Might not make it beyond whatever, but I want to try, just for myself.”

“We’ll keep it in mind,” Sirius told him, grinning himself at the enthusiasm he could read on Harry’s face. “Plenty we have to work on, of course, and around, such as your training when you leave school, but it’s a realistic goal. Can’t guarantee you’ll end up on a pro team, but we can try.” And he loved that Harry was showing enthusiasm for something once more. While he was doing fine with other areas, like the pranks, this was the first time he had really seen it. That was enough for him to press for it with all he had.

With a nod, still grinning a little as he thought it over, Harry began to ask Sirius what he knew of professional players, how they managed, what went on and all that. It’s not something he had thought much about before, but now he was and he wanted all the details. Yeah, the passion and fire for it was now stoked and burning hotly. Remembering Krum, he focused there and decided he wanted to try, badly. It was just a matter of pushing himself and finding a way. He could and would do that. No matter what.
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In His Place