Listen Now: A Harry Potter & Remus Lupin Hurt/Comfort Adoption Fic

Wards

Harry didn't tell Sirius about the Dursleys in nearly as much detail as he'd gone into with Lupin. His relationship with Sirius was different from the one he had with Lupin. In some ways, he felt closer to Sirius, because Sirius was his godfather and had offered to adopt him. But Harry knew Lupin better than he knew Sirius, thanks to a year of DADA class and additional tutoring to teach him the Patronus charm. Of course, it wasn't just about the closeness of each relationship—Harry had never told Ron or Hermione much about the Dursleys, and he was closer to them than to anyone else in his life.

But aside from all of that, Lupin felt more . . . stable. As Harry told bits and pieces of his childhood, the vein that bulged in Sirius's neck made Harry nervous, not for his own safety but for Sirius's. Harry couldn't know if Sirius was going to risk his life to try to take revenge on the Dursleys somehow. It seemed like something he might do. Sirius had contained himself when it came to Umbridge, but only just barely.

They'd been talking for less than a half an hour when Lupin returned through the fireplace. His shoulders slumped, and he sighed heavily as he brushed the ash and leftover Floo powder off his patched robes.

Harry cleared his throat. "Sir—I mean, Remus. Not that it's any of my business, but . . . what errand did you need to run?"

"I've just spoken with Professor Dumbledore."

Harry cringed internally—he didn't want to make any more trouble when Dumbledore had already been so busy this school year. Then again, Dumbledore must have already known about some of what was happening at the Dursleys. That first Hogwarts acceptance letter had been addressed to the cupboard under the stairs. "What did he say?"

"He asked me to tell you the real reason you've been sent to live with the Dursleys."

"Oh!" Harry blinked a couple of times. On the one hand, he was looking forward to this explanation; on the other, he didn't want there to be an explanation. He wanted it all to have been a mistake, something that could be easily remedied by sending Harry somewhere, anywhere else—though preferably, to live with Sirius.

"Have you ever heard of blood wards?"

Harry breathed in to speak, but Sirius cut him off. "Blood wards? That's the reason my godson's been abused all his life?"

Lupin frowned. "Sirius, let me explain it to him."

"There are wards over this place!" Sirius cried. "We can protect him."

"That might be, but he has the right to know why it's been done this way."

Harry slid cautiously to the edge of his seat. "Dumbledore knew about what was happening at the Dursleys?"

"I'm not sure he knew as much as you told me, but I don't want you to think you were completely abandoned, Harry. The reason why you've been forced to live with them so long is that living in the home of your mother's sister affords you some magical protection against Voldemort."

"Because my mom gave her life for me?"

Lupin nodded. "Death Eaters cannot find you while you are at their house, and some measure of that protection remains with you throughout the year as a result of those wards. It's possible that you are alive today because of them."

Harry let out his breath and lowered his head. He knew Lupin's promise had been too good to be true. "Thanks for trying."

Lupin's brow furrowed. "Harry?"

"I've got to go back, don't I?"

"No," Sirius said. "There are wards over Grimmauld Place. You're not going back to them."