Harry Potter and The Shadowed Light

Black family values

Previously

"Did you know it's a five year prison sentence for not registering as an animagus after you finish school?" Harry asked, smirk widening as he saw Sirius make the connection.

"So, she's...?" he trailed off.

"Yes. People always did say they thought she bugged them to get her information," Harry said, hinting widely.

"Bugged?" Sirius asked.

Harry laughed. "It's a muggle thing," he explained. "But either way, she's an unregistered beetle animagus. I just pointed out the consequences if the wrong people found out and the benefits of our ongoing professional relationship."

Sirius was silent for a moment before he barked out a dog like laugh. Eventually, he calmed down. "You're scary sometimes, but I have never been so proud," he said, making Harry smile.

~

Later that evening, Harry waited with Remus while Sirius went to collect his wand and sign the custody papers. He had taken out a blank book and was planning his days before the trial:

He needed to go out a get Neville a birthday present, and would be busy on the 30th seeing his friends.His own birthday was the 31st, so he should probably expect Sirius and Remus to do something, and the Malfoy's had also mentioned dinner, so that would most likely occur then.On the 1st of August he needed to be in the alley to meet his friends, but more importantly he needed the diary. He hoped Lucius planned on sabotaging Arthur again, he had heard about the raids so he knew the Weasley patriarch was acting as he had in his last life.The custody trial was on the 3rd, so they had to be prepared for that.

Thinking about all of this made Harry want to groan and he bemoaned his fate; he half-heartedly considered if it was worth maintaining his friendships, but he knew that he would regret breaking them off. Not only would they be useful in the future, but all the kids he had befriended were genuinely nice - and Neville, well, Harry couldn't do that to the blond boy. He enjoyed their company, so he knew he wouldn't deliberately end any of his friendships.

"What are you writing now?" Remus asked, not surprised anymore to find Harry with a book; he was always either reading or writing. He couldn't believe anybody who spent more than five minutes with Harry would doubt the small boy belonged in Ravenclaw.

"Just a plan for my next few days. I need to go shopping for Nev's birthday present," he said.

"This is Neville Longbottom?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, Neville's my best friend," Harry told the wolf.

"What's he like? I knew his parents. They were great people," Remus said, his voice sad as he thought about the couple's fate.

Harry spared him a sad smile. "Neville is great. He's in Gryffindor - when we first met he didn't think he was brave enough for the lion house, but almost immediately he stood up for me against some busybody muggleborn girl. He's not a loud boy, more brave when it counts. He also loves Herbology and cannot even look at a potion without it failing somehow," Harry said.

Remus smiled, "He sounds like a nice boy."

"He really is. I don't think he had many friends growing up, he seemed kind of lonely. He also doesn't care that I'm Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. To him, I'm just Harry. He doesn't expect me to be anything or anybody I'm not," Harry said.

Remus frowned as he remembered how the clerk at the ministry had acted. "Does that happen a lot - people acting weird around you?" he asked. He hadn't realised Harry would dislike the fame, but thinking about it, he thought it obvious.