The Life that Never Lived ? (Philosopher's Stone)

THE FORBIDDEN FOREST

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Harry was rubbing his ear, and looking more chagrined then they had yet seen him. "Err, yeah, we may have been really excited and ah, left it up there..." he said, trailing off when it looked like the three boys were going to faint. "So err, Sirius, want to tell me what your problem with dragons are?" he asked, trying to deflect the subject off of him.

Shaking his head like he was trying to get water out of his ears he said, "I'll tell you that if you tell me you got the cloak back."

"Of course I did," he said at once, then frowned, rubbing his temple again in agitation.

Sirius shrugged before saying, "that's good enough for me. Alright fine, remember how I said I went down into the lower vaults at Gringotts with my cousin Bellatrix."

When he paused and eyed both Harry and Lily, they both nodded, Lily saying, "yes, but you said you stayed in the carts."

"I lied," Sirius shrugged, "I felt like an idiot, so I didn't mention it, but the truth is I got left down there for a few hours before the Lestrange's came back for me. That bloody dragon hated me being there as much as I hated it, and-" he shuddered again in disgust as he cut off.

"How old were you?" Harry demanded, feeling sorrier for his sort of Uncle then he ever had for himself.

"Thirteen," he admitted, "my parents were off with my brother getting his Hogwarts stuff, but they wouldn't give me the key to the vault, so they got my other family to go down there with me. I don't know what they were thinking-"

"Probably that you would steal all of the gold in their vault and make a run for it," James offered.

"Very likely," Sirius agreed before going on, "but I meant I don't know what they were thinking leaving me with them. The Lestrange's are known supporters of Voldemort, and they knew I hated them. I always swore they left me down there on purpose, probably paid off that bloody Goblin to." He trailed off into evil mutterings.

James and Remus had heard this story already, Sirius had been a little off at the beginning of their third year and they had eventually wheedled this out of him.

Deciding he wanted to stop the sad eyed looks he was getting from everyone Sirius snapped, "Oh, give the book here Moony. I want to know how much trouble Harry's going to get in." He snatched the book away and began reading Harry trying to make up a wild excuse to explain this mess.

"Which is why you always have a cover story before going out," James said in what he clearly thought was a wise voice.

"There is no way out of trouble," Lily agreed.

"And if you do, I really will think something's wrong with McGonagall," Remus added.

"Still not enough to get expelled though," Sirius said quickly when he saw Harry was getting a little pale again.

"I don't know," Lily said, a bit fearfully all of a sudden. "If Filch or McGonagall really do know about the dragon, you know believed Malfoy, they could get into far worse trouble than detention. What they did was actually illegal."

"Lily, you're freaking him out," James snapped, as Harry continued to grow paler.

Lily winced and said sorry, which Harry accepted, though he still looked like he was going to be sick.

Remus finally said, "I really don't think so. Norbert's gone, and all they can prove is Harry was up on the astronomy tower. The cloak is a bit suspicious, but that's all they can prove. McGonagall's always been like that, punishing for what she knows you've done, instead of what she thinks."