Present Mixed in the Past

Chapter 18| Sirius Freedom

Remus took a deep breath, lightly pulling on his fancy robes. He looked nervous; he was nervous. This was his first time entering the large building. He didn't like how tense the air felt. It was only the day before did it broke that Sirius had never got a trial and was getting. There was so much uproar, for many reasonings, and now the wide room was tense. It was nerve wracking.

"Your tense, don't look tense it'll make you seem like you're lying." Harry hummed softly, grabbing the older man's hand. He had learned from his nervous children that grabbing their hand could help sooth their fears or nerves. It had helped as the older man did relax a little.

The werewolf noticed the boy was looking around for a bit, at times standing on his toes to see over some people. It wasn't long before he was able to find who he wanted if the wide smile was anything to go by. Happily, he pulled the older man with him till the two were in the presence of the Malfoys. Malfoy Senior gave the two a raised eyebrow, his grey eyes looking them up and down.

"Lupin?" His tone was tense, obviously waiting for an explanation. He hadn't expected the younger man to come by, especially considering how quiet he had been when Sirius originally got thrown in.

The werewolf cleared his throat, straightening his back. With ease, he was able to pull a naturally calm mask similar to a pureblood's mask. Harry was pleased with that, he had tried to work with him on the pureblood ways, at least some basics like the mask.

"I had taken an inheritance test and it seems my family has a seat. I'm here to claim it and listen in on an old friend's trial." His voice was cool and crisp as if he was talking about some DADA lesson that he found distasteful.

"Listen in? Not vote?"

"I can't. Not only would I have just claimed my seat, but I am emotionally connected to Sirius. I reasonably can't vote."

Lucius nodded coldly, finding his words to be satisfactory. He doubted that the council would've allowed him to vote even if he did have a seat.

"If you want to claim your seat today, you should hurry. Though I would suggest Potter go with my son to a separate room." His eyes narrowed down on the boy, who only gave a soft smile to him before looking to his son with a brighter look.

 Harry gave the older man's hand a squeeze before releasing it and stepping forward to Draco. The young Malfoy gave him a calm pureblood look and nodded to the other child. Without another word, the two walked ahead of their guardians before making a sharp right turn to a private room for people that weren't allowed to see the trial. The two were alone as most other Seats had left the ones who couldn't go in at home.

The two sat in quiet for a while before the Silver Boy grew bored and annoyed. His dreams weren't matching up with everything. None of this happened! There never was a trial for Sirius, in fact he had escaped the worst place to be during the third year! Taking a deep breath, he looked to the other.

The ravenet smiled when he saw the other's grey eyes. Quickly, those eyes looked away. The new God pouted at that. He really wanted to have a good relationship with Draco this time around. However, he didn't want to force anything, that wouldn't do anything good.

"Why are you here with that Half-blood?"

Draco blushed some as he saw the other bounce up, a bright look on his face. The pureblood felt an odd sense of shyness forming inside of him. He didn't show that though, he was the sole heir of the Malfoy family. He wasn't going to show such humiliating emotions, especially in front of Potter.

"He's a friend of my parents. Actually, he's my Godfather. Well, he and Sirius are my Godfathers." He smiled sweetly.

The young Malfoy nodded; it made sense to him. In his dreams, the Golden Boy had always been close to the two. He had always seemed to be eager to help them, looking out for them the best he could. He loved them there and he loved them now.

"Do you know him?"

The smaller boy nodded, humming sweetly. It didn't seem like a lie, but not the full truth either.

"Did your father buy you a new broom? I heard there was a new Nimbus coming out."

A smile cracked onto the blond's face. He shifted forward in his seat, nodding eagerly. This was something he knew they both could talk about without getting awkward.

"Father suggested that we buy the whole team the broom. To make it an easier transition."

Harry giggled, his own smile growing. That must've been what had happened the first time around, guess he was too blind to see that.

It wasn't long before the pair were talking about game plans, some Quidditch matches and all that. The muggle-raised had also told the pureblood some favorite sports that muggles liked to play that were similar to Quidditch. The blond hated to admit it, but he grew interested in the sports. They often sounded more violent, but still very similar to Quidditch. It also was something more active than just walking around.

"Draco."

"Harry."

The two boys quickly stood up, their faces dropping into pureblood masks. Standing in front of the room were their guardians and three familiar red-headed faces. The twins were grinning their business grins while their father looked sick almost. It seemed the twins had kept their own promise, something that was mostly last minute, and that Harry had honestly forgot about.

"He's free. He'll be at St. Mungo's for the rest of the year." The twins hummed happily.

The raven-haired boy broke his mask in a bright grin. He then noticed how Mr. Weasley looked, and he couldn't blame him. Quickly, he moved forward, grabbing the man's hands.

"Thank you for listening to them. I know how difficult that is."

"Hey!" The twins pouted at that, but their father finally looked less sick.

"I honestly didn't know that... I can't believe we... For years." He pulled away at that point, sighing heavily. He was beginning to look distraught again.

Remus placed a comforting hand on the other's shoulder. The hazel-eyed man then gave a look to the two adults. It was a look that Harry understood as an offer for a drink. He should know, he often gave that look to his Auror buddies after a long day. The two purebloods gave nods, Lucius's was a bit stiff though. After getting that confirmation, Remus looked to the child he was with.

"I should get you back to your Aunt... We've been gone for a couple hours longer than we said."

Harry gave a confused look before finding a clock. He winced a little, a soft hiss leaving his lips. It had been much longer than they had said.

"She's going to be pacing the floor." He muttered. Quickly, he turned his attention to the other people. He gave a sweet smile, bowing to them politely. "Thank you for your time. I hope you have a good day."

Remus followed the boy's actions before taking his hand and walking away. When they were at the Apparition zone, he apparated them near Petunia's tiny apartment. Yes, apartment. She had finally had enough of Vermon, running off with Dudley and whatever they could grab. She only had enough personal money to afford a two-bedroom apartment, her taking the living room so the two boys could have their own rooms. Yet, if she was honest it was the happiest and freest she had ever been. She was even looking for lawyers to get a divorce. She didn't care much about the assets, she just wanted to become Petunia Evans again.

The werewolf and her looked at each other awkwardly, the woman's first response was to say something cruel. Instead, she opened her door more, giving him a stiff smile, she would need to work on that. He gave one back, the two moving to the tiny dining table. Harry quietly shook his head at them. To help ease them, he gave them each a kiss on the cheek. The two jolted some before giving him more calm smiles.

"Why don't you go play with Dudley? He's with the Anderson's." Petunia offered.

"We'll just be talking about the trial and all that boring stuff."

The raven-haired boy grinned more and nodded, giving them both a kiss again before rushing off to change. He was back out of the apartment and walking down the stairs to the Anderson's apartment. He really hoped that boring talk goes well. He really liked this Petunia and Dudley.