My Godfather

Chapter XXXVIII: The Parcel

They all went back to Black Manor. "Draco, sit down, you don't look all that good right now." Sirius' words were curt and sharp. The blonde sat down and Sirius waved his hand over him, chanting something under his breath. "What's happened?" Narcissa asked worriedly.

Sirius' expression tightened slightly. He was angry about whatever had happened to Draco. "He exhausted himself. Anymore magic and you could have badly hurt yourself." The second statement was addressed to Draco. The boy was looking everywhere but at Sirius.

"You need to rest. The guestroom is fine, so you'll feel better once you've slept a little. We'll talk later." Harry could've sworn Draco winced at the last line. "Go and get some sleep."

"Yes, sir." It was the first thing Draco had said. Narcissa helped her son off the sofa and up the stairs.

Once those two were upstairs, Sirius turned to Harry. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Anywhere at all?" He asked. "I'm fine, Dad," Harry replied softly. They were silent for a long time. Unlike Sirius, Harry was terrible at bearing the stillness of the house. "Are you mad at us?"

He mentally kicked himself for asking when the only response he received was a raised eyebrow. "Right, sorry. Dumb question."

"I'm already quite furious with you. Explain exactly what happened and if you know what's good for you, you won't lie about it." Harry dropped his gaze at the reprimand and did as he was told. He explained everything to Sirius right from their trip to the Quidditch store to the way Burke had man-handled them.

Once he was done, Sirius didn't appear any calmer. On the contrary, he looked even angrier. Harry knew his father well enough to say that the man would never hit him, no matter how upset he was. But, he mentally braced himself for the rebuke coming his way.

He was right.

"What in Merlin's name were you thinking, Harry James? Knockturn Alley? How many times have I told you to stay away from that place?" A large knot had formed in his stomach as Hermione had told him about his son's little foray into Knockturn Alley. And Draco? Over the summer, he'd grown to care for that boy. What were they thinking?

"We didn't think it would be dange—" Harry was cut off almost instantly. "You didn't think? Now why does that not surprise me at all? Coming from you, that's almost become a regular statement." The man shook his head and stood up. "Borgin and Burke aren't good people. Hell, Knockturn Alley itself isn't a good place."

"What was I supposed to do, Dad? I couldn't just let Draco go on his own?" Harry defended. "I'm not applauding what Draco did. He's equally guilty and trust me, he's going to get it when he wakes up. But at this moment, we aren't talking about Draco. I'm concerned about you."

"I don't understand why the two of you had to go near that horrible shop in the first place," Sirius was trying to figure out the entire thing. "We didn't even go inside. We were crouching outside, trying to listen to their conversation."

"Listening to their— Harry, after everything we've discussed?" Sirius sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Things could have gone horribly wrong today, young man."

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "Of course you're not," Sirius' voice hadn't lost its harshness. "As usual, you didn't pause to think about the consequences. You simply rushed into danger. I don't understand what I need to say or do to make sure you stop doing stupid things."

The man was truly upset. Harry hated when Sirius was mad at him. He rarely heard that stern tone from his father, but when he did, he felt two inches tall. "Burke was about to do something nasty, wasn't he?"