The Dog and the Duckling//Blackinnon

Epilogue Spring 1985

Vernon Dursley was an easy man to hate. Sirius had been intent on imposing himself onto Harry's upbringing from the get go, but he might have felt at least a twinge of conflict about fighting hard to take Harry away from a guardian who was kind and good to the little boy. The Dursley family, however, did not present this challenge of heart to him. They were genuinely awful people.

Marlene's animagus was smaller and thus it was easier for her to hide at close range, but a dog was much less noteworthy than a tiny mallard hen casually walking around Little Whinging. 

Marlene as a duck tended to carry herself in a way that suggested that she not only belonged there, she owned the place. It came with the territory of her career, she said. Minerva had encouraged the young couple to legitimize becoming animagus as a worthwhile magical endeavor and Marlene had taken her up on it. She was the only registered animagus alive who took on pupils. She oversaw the brewing of their potion and monitored their first transitions. She'd always thought she had an easier time with the process because she had Sirius to walk her through it. She helped add an average of 5 witches and wizards per season to the animagus registry. Therefor her aura of being the most important duck in Wizard Britain was not unwarranted. It was generally really fun for Sirius to watch, but it was incredibly conspicuous.

For today the Blacks had decided that Marlene would go behind a shrubbery in the Dursley garden and Sirius would wait at a distance for her signal that Vernon had left, if he left. They came around at least once a week in animagus form. Minerva came along when she could. Sometimes they weren't even able to interact with Harry at all, but in those instances they just observed the way he was treated by his guardians. They had to have solid proof that he was in a harmful environment if they were going to go to Dumbledore to contest the arrangement. As of that moment, the piggish looking muggle man was just sitting on a lawn chair and reading a newspaper.

Marlene thought it was concerning that this family routinely left 4 year old Harry unattended in the garden. But she questioned whether it was just something muggles did. Maybe since their children didn't have magic to contend with they didn't think it was very dangerous. The Dursleys occasionally left their own little boy out in the white-fenced front garden as well.

Harry proved Marlene's point by magically willing the lock on the front gate, which was well out of his reach, to open itself. Very impressive wandless magic from a child so young. She'd have to tell him how proud she was later. At this moment she had to stay hidden and watch as Vernon Dursley realized what was going on. His face grew even redder than it's usual shade. That was quite a feat.

He looked like he might start emitting steam as he stomped towards the skinny little black haired child.

"How many times do I have to tell you, boy? NO funny business!" The horrible man fumed before slapping Harry across the face.

Marlene would not stand for that. Not even as a duck. She could get just as mad as this horrid muggle and she wasn't inclined to hold it in any longer.

She came out from behind the shrub and headed straight for Vernon Dursley's ankles, quacking as loudly as possible, mostly hoping to shock him. She didn't even have teeth as a duck, so she could hardly do any real damage, none the the less she snapped at him with all the mite of her little bill.

At first he looked perplexed. Of course he looked perplexed. This was extremely atypical behavior from a duck. Not to mention the question of what the duck was even doing there. Marlene didn't stop her attack to observe his confusion or to think about the likelihood he would suspect magic. She continued to chase him as he made futile attempts to put distance between himself and the irate duck.

Sirius, by this point, had been alerted to what was going and wasn't sure he if could laugh as a dog but he sure felt like he was laughing as he watched the spherical man grab his equally round son by the hand and run for cover inside their home. His hearing was very acute as a dog and he swore he head a grown man squeal in fear of a duck. A duck that Sirius Black was proud to call his wife.

Little Harry had already enveloped his Duckie, as he generally called her, into a hug before Sirius phased back to his human form and let himself into the front gate. He was still in complete stitches from the scene he'd witnessed as he approached his godson and duck shaped wife.

He knelt down and messed Harry's hair while Marlene phased back to her human form as well.

She had to take a minute to collect herself. She was nearly crying with laughter. That had been the most fun she'd had in years.

"Sirius we're bringing him home." She stated matter of factly.

"...ok I know better to argue with you but can you explain what Dursley did?"

"He got angry. I opened the gate." Harry's little voice chimed in.

"You opened the gate? Bravo Harry! Marlene our Harry is a prodigy."

Harry beamed at his godparents. He knew that he wasn't allowed to mention magic in front of Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, but it was always part of him. He was so excited that his godparents were proud of him for his magic.

"Yes but you've missed the point. That slimy git slapped Harry right across the face! We're not leaving him here. I have incontrovertible proof that Dursley is harming him. We take Harry with us today and we go to Dumbledore before he can hear it from someone else. We can give him the courtesy of an explanation but we aren't bringing him back here even if that means we all run off to start a new life in Spain."

Marlene had gotten worked up and forgotten that Harry was listening. She hoped that she hadn't upset him. Sirius was always better with that sort of thing. The truth was neither of them had any idea what they were doing with regard to raising a kid, but they knew they loved this particular one unconditionally. They'd made him a priority since the very beginning, and had always hoped to become his guardians. They'd figure out the particulars of that as they went along. Marlene figured that must be what regular parents do anyhow.

"Is Kitty coming with us to Spain?" Harry asked, with a tinge of worry creeping into his tiny voice.

"We aren't going to Spain Harry. We're going to London. We're going home. You'd like to stay with Duckie and I?"

"Yay yay yay!"

The little boy was actually jumping up and down with excitement. His godparents and his kitty had been a constant presence in his life. Even at not quite five years old, he was certain that they were his real family, and he'd been given to the Dursleys by mistake.

Marlene magically summoned the nearest writing implements and scribbled down a note for Mrs. and Mrs. Dursley that Harry is with his Godparents and they should stay away if they'd like to avoid further vicious duck attacks.

"We should owl Minerva. If Dumbledore knows she's on our side then sees what you saw there's no way he can tell us no. But just in case, we'll ask the old girl if she speaks any Spanish."

Sirius winked at his wife as he took Harry by the hand and lead him down the street to his motorbike. He helped Harry into the side car and then Marlene onto the back before kicking off on their first ride home as a family of three.