~~Meeting Room 7, Gringotts~~
Sirius Black simply gaped at the boy standing at the door with a lost look on his face. He had been pacing in the room impatiently, waiting for Harry's arrival, but now that he didn't know what to say… He had seen Harry's pictures in the books and he had to admit, Harry looked nothing like in those pictures. The similarities between Harry and James were uncanny, but the differences were also prominent.
The most prominent differences were his eyes and the lack of his glasses… James' eyes were brown, but Harry's eyes were vibrant green, even more vibrant than Lily's. It almost felt like his eyes were glowing, but his eyes were simply so vibrant that they looked like they were glowing. Thanks to the lack of glasses, his eyes were standing out even more.
"I-I am Si-Sirius. I a-am yo-your G-Godfather" Sirius choked out as he was barely holding himself back from breaking down. Now that Harry was standing right in front of him, all of his guilt was coming back at him. He had talked with Albus and he had told him all about the abuse… Sirius blamed himself for ruining Harry's childhood.
When he saw the bodies of James and Lily lying down on the floor, completely lifeless, he was blinded by revenge, but that was not an excuse as Harry was also there, in his crib. He prioritized vengeance before his Godson and thanks to the choice he made that night, his Godson lost his childhood and he had to spend almost a decade and a half in the hellhole, otherwise known as Azkaban.
"Sirius" Harry greeted the man with a nod and then he turned toward Tonks, who was staring at him while subtly shaking her head. He immediately understood that Tonks was probably trying to convey something, but it took him a moment to understand what she was trying to convey. Apparently, she was trying to remind him that their meeting was to be kept a secret.
"And who might you be?" Harry asked, playing along with her, making Tonks slump down in relief. Harry had no idea if Sirius was still one of Dumbledore's yes men, so it was a good thing that even Tonks wanted to keep their meeting a secret.
"I am Tonks!" Tonks introduced herself with a bright smile on her face as she pointed a finger at herself. Harry gave her a weird look after hearing her words.
"You probably already know this, but I am Harry Potter" Harry introduced himself politely, before turning back toward Sirius, who was staring at him like a deer caught in headlights.
"Um… Why don't we sit down and talk?" Harry suggested as he gestured toward the meeting table.
Sirius blinked as he finally realized that he had been staring at Harry. He coughed in his hands to regain some decorum. "Yes. Yes. You are right!" Sirius immediately agreed and coughed again when he realized that he was acting like a kid whereas Harry was acting like he was the adult between the two of them.
"Sirius, you need to calm down. He is not going to eat you" Tonks pointed out from the side, making Sirius take a deep breath to calm himself before he finally sat down. Harry also sat down on the other side of the table and decided to wait for Sirius to start speaking… Unknowingly, Sirius was also hoping for Harry to start speaking, so the two of them simply kept staring at each other for the next few moments, until Tonks finally decided to interrupt again.
"Well, this is bloody awkward…" Tonks mumbled as she kept switching her gaze between them.
After hearing her words, Sirius was the one who decided to break the ice… "I am sorry. I know, I messed up. Instead of making you my priority, I decided to chase after Pettigrew and you paid the price for my actions… I don't have any excuses for what I did, but I still want you to know that I am sorry for whatever it's worth" Sirius stood up and apologized looking really miserable and Harry decided not to interrupt him.
Sirius needed to get this off his chest or it might keep eating at him from the inside… When he was finally done, Harry started to speak. "It's alright… It wasn't your fault. It was the fault of the people who had wrongfully imprisoned you…" Harry tried to comfort the man with his words. "I won't say that I wasn't angry at you, but I understand, shit happens" Harry shrugged.
"My father was like your brother in all but blood and my mother was also one of your best friends, I can understand why you decided to chase after Pettigrew" Harry nodded his head in understanding. "But, all of that is in the past… Neither of us would gain anything if we keep wallowing about what happened. So, why don't we move on?" Harry asked, taking the lead in the conversation.
"...Wow. I can't believe you are only fourteen…" Tonks trailed off with an awed look on her face before all of a sudden, a frown crossed across her face. "You are fourteen, right?" Tonks asked in an unsure tone, wanting to confirm if was already fourteen or not. After getting a nod from Harry, Tonks whipped her head toward Sirius with an exasperated look on her face.
"See!! Even a fourteen year old gets it!" Tonks explained with a huff as she threw her arms up in the air in exasperation. "This is what my mum was trying to get into that thick head of yours!" Tonks continued to scream at Sirius, who was trying to look away from her with a sheepish look on her face.
"...You are smart just like your mother" Sirius said when Tonks finally stopped scolding him. "Your mature attitude reminds me quite a bit of her. She would be proud that you didn't turn out like your father…" Sirius trailed off with a longing look on his face and sniffed as he wiped the corner of his eyes. "Not that I am saying it a bad thing" Sirius quickly added when he realized that Harry might feel bad since he said that Harry is nothing like his father.
"I know she is proud" Harry admitted mysteriously, but both Sirius and Tonks didn't seem to think much about his words. "By the way, thank you for the gift. I love it!" Harry said with a bright smile on his face.
"Haha!! I told you he would love it!" Sirius exclaimed as he threw Tonks a smug look, who gave him an annoyed look. "There is no way James' son wouldn't love flying or Quidditch!" Sirius exclaimed and clapped his hands. He was acting like he had won the lottery.
"I don't like Quidditch. Why would I like that silly game?" Harry asked unhappily, making Sirius stare at Harry in complete horror and Tonks burst out laughing while pointing a finger at Sirius' horrified face.
"I can't believe this!" Sirius gasped in horror as he reeled back in his seat. "This must be a dream. Yeah… This must be a dr… Oww!!" Sirius started to mumble with a horrified look on his face, but he exclaimed and started to rub his arm when Tonks hit him with a Stinging Hex. "You didn't have to Hex me literally!" Sirius explained, looking offended.
"Well, at least, now you know that you aren't dreaming or anything" Harry pointed out with an amused look on his face.
"That's right, kiddo!" Tonks exclaimed cheerfully as she put away her Wand.
"Ohh… Well, I was hoping to invite you to the world cup finals, but if you don't like Quidditch then you don't need to come" Sirius sighed in disappointment.
"Though I hope we are still going! It has been quite some time since I went camping and all that" Tonks mumbled looking a bit disappointed too.
Harry perked up at the word camping and then there was the fact that Harry wanted to visit Magical Britain without raising any flags. He realized that he wouldn't get any better chance than this. Additionally, he also wanted to check out the Black Library. "Hmm… I don't mind. I may not like Quidditch, but I would like to get to know you and I have never been camping" Harry said, looking a bit excited.
"Really?" Sirius perked up in excitement after hearing his words. "Well, then… I guess I can't disappoint you!" Sirius cheered in excitement. He was happy that Harry wanted to get to know him. "Don't worry! It will be your best camping experience!" Sirius beamed at Harry, looking like Christmas had come early.
"Thanks for the invitation" Harry thanked the man with a smile on his face. Sirius clearly knew about his childhood, which meant he either heard it from Tonks or Dumbledore. Tonks clearly didn't tell him as she reminded him to keep their last meeting a secret, which meant that he could also exempt Moody from the list, leaving only Dumbledore.
Harry wanted to know how much Sirius trusted the bearded fool and if Sirius could be brought to his side… Having Sirius on his side would do him a lot of good as he was bound to get involved in the War and he wasn't planning to fight a bloodless War. The only good Death Eater is a dead Death Eater.
"Think nothing of it. It is my duty as your Godfather!" Sirius waved off his hands dismissively. "So, Harry, tell me about the school" Sirius finally decided to change the topic as he internally thanked Andi for helping him prepare topics for the conversation…
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