Prongslet

Chapter Four: Black Manor Pt.1

Remus and Sirius appeared right in front of a small, isolated building that resembled a castle. There were two towers on either side, and the main body was large and looked promising.

"Welcome to your new home, Harry." Sirius whispered softly in Harry's ear, so as not to frighten him. Harry looked up at his words, surveying the building with horror.

"What's wrong, pup?" Sirius asked worriedly, as they walked up the asphalt path to the manor.

Harry quickly shook his head. He couldn't act like he didn't want to be here, or they might beat him up. Sirius looked powerful, and his firm embrace meant that it would really hurt if he hit him. But... one of his chores had always been cleaning the house daily. How could he clean such a big place everyday? It had been tough just cleaning all of Uncle Vernon's two storey house, but this? Harry shuddered at the very thought of the task.

"Harry?" Harry belatedly realised that he had been staring at the house for a long while now, and Sirius was looking at him in concern.

"Please say something, Harry," Sirius said softly. It broke him, seeing his godson like this.

Harry racked his brains for something to say, anything that didn't involve commenting on his new house or cleaning. It just struck him that he couldn't feel his nose or toes that well. It was fall, he realised slowly, so the weather was chilly. The weather! He could say something about that!

"C-cold." Terrified that he would get smacked for speaking, he didn't say a word after that. It was true, after all, he had only Dudley's rags, no shoes and the cold wind was picking up speed too.

"Oh?" Sirius smiled, shrugging his thick coat off, and wrapping it around his little godson. "Well? How's that? You're not cold anymore, right?"

Harry shook his head shyly, but he couldn't erase the incredulous, amazed look from his brilliant emerald eyes. Sirius inwardly frowned at that look. It was as if Harry simply couldn't comprehend why Sirius would put his coat around him. And then, like lightning, the horrific realisation began to sink into the Animagus.

Harry didn't understand. He had been living with those filthy Dursleys since he was a three month old infant. They had been abusing him, treating him like their own personal punching bag, for three whole years. He was completely foreign to the concept of being shown affection.

Sirius felt a wave of nausea crash through him, as Harry turned his head so he could bury his face against Sirius' throat. A dirty gash was revealed, right at the nape of his neck, and blood had dried around it. Sirius was sure that there would be a lot more cuts and other injuries on the child's frail body. It brought tears to his eyes, just contemplating how badly maltreated his best friend's son was. It was simply unforgivable.

James and Lily had been among the top Aurors of their time, protecting the Muggles from the onslaught of the merciless, sadist Death Eaters, and yet, it was Lily's own sister who had so vehemently betrayed her son. The sister she had loved so dearly, despite the fact that the latter never accepted her as a witch, had trampled over the innocence of her infant son. Harry had been deceived by his blood relatives, and it made no sense. These were the people that so many Aurors had died to protect. So many had fallen, trying to protect the Potter heir. At least as people who had been through the same magical conflicts, Petunia should have had some sort of compassion or, in the very least, humanity towards her nephew.

"Come on, we've got to show you where you're going to be living." Sirius looked down at the apprehensive emerald eyes, and despite Harry's condition, he couldn't help but smile fondly.

This little kid... James' and Lily's son... was now officially, legally, truly his. He had been granted permission to raise little Harry as his own son.