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The Official Adopting Of Snuffles and Aspen

Sirius Black was perched nervously on the sofa with a garden snake around his neck, its fangs poised ready to strike, and his godson standing threateningly across from him with a large kitchen knife pointed at him. As much as he wanted to talk to his godson, he didn't expect to be held hostage by said boy. He sucked in a deep breath - totally not flinching when the snake hissed, you have no proof! - before starting his explanation from the beginning.

"I was best friends with your dad and two others, we went to Hogwarts together. The four of us were called the Marauders! We were the legendary pranksters! We were practically inseparable." Sirius paused to take a deep breath as memories flooded through his mind, "When He-Who--"

"Call him Tim Roddle, it's shorter and easier."

"Okay? When Tim Roddle began to come after you and your parents, Dumbledore helped place their house under the Fidelius Charm. It hides the location from everyone by making it a secret which only the secret keeper knows. At first, I was the secret keeper, James was practically my brother! But, it is because of this that we decided to switch the keeper to who we thought was our friend. Peter Pettigrew sold your parents out to He- um, Tim Roddle. I went after him that night and I caught him! He blew up a muggle beaker box, killed thirteen muggles, and the little rat escaped."

"I was in shock. I started laughing and couldn't stop, not even when the aurors carted me off to Azkaban. I've been waiting twelve years to escape and find the stupid rat! And I have! I can finally get revenge for them!"

Harry had heard enough to know that the man, while unstable, was innocent. He sighed as he lowered the knife and scooped up his snake. With a gesture to follow, Harry walked into the kitchen to make supper for the three of them. The man looked as if a strong wind would push him over and he himself wasn't used to eating, so light food would work best. Harry made chicken noodle soup and grabbed some crackers from the cabinet for the two humans before getting a mouse from the trap under the sink.

A tense atmosphere filled the dining room as they ate, mostly from Sirius's constant flinching as his snake, he really needed a name, chased its meal around the table gleefully. Harry ignored the mad cackling erupting from his snake as he dipped his crackers in the chicken broth.

"Do you know any types of trees? I need to pick a name for my garden snake and I think a type of tree would be best."

"I know a few basic ones. Willow, Pine, Oak, Aspen, Ash, and Sycamore. Why do you have a snake anyways?" Sirius flinched as the mouse scampered across his foot closely followed by a very happy reptile.

"I like Aspen. That'll be his name. And he asked me to keep him when I found him in the back garden!"

"You can talk to snakes?"

"Yes. Is that gonna be an issue?" Harry's voice had gone cold and emotionless, clearly showing his displeasure at his godfather's fear and exasperation. Sirius had gone mute again, merely shaking his head violently before returning to his soup. "How are we going to hide you? Your face was plastered on the news already, so you need a disguise. And a bath."

"I'm an animagus! I can turn into a dog, your father was a stag. I could pretend to be your dog, Snuffles!"

"Fine. When you're ready to sleep, feel free to crash on the couch. I'll be upstairs." Harry placed his dishes in the sink before scooping up Aspen and walking upstairs. Well, he definitely had something to rant about to his followers now!