Chapter 8:
So my parents are brewing him Wolfsbane Potion every month? Harry thought to himself. He knew the potion was prohibitively expensive, but clearly the Potters could afford the cost.
Was that all it took to keep Remus functional in regular society? Could Harry have helped him in his past life, if he'd known the man was struggling so much without it?
The Remus he'd known would have never asked a child for such financial assistance, but Harry would have given it in a heartbeat.
"Hey, little troublemaker!" Remus greeted
Dahlia, who had just bounded down the stairs to see who had arrived. "Still giving your brother a hard time?"
"Always!" Dahlia beamed, accepting Remus' hug. "He won't let me touch his wand anymore, after I almost blew up the living room."
"Nobody will be touching that wand until Harry is off to school," Lily said sternly. She had confiscated the wand from Harry after he nearly blinded Dahlia with a Lumos charm that wound up being more powerful than anticipated.
The Kneazle wand was indeed finicky, as Ollivander predicted, making the power level of his spells hard to regulate if he wasn't focusing hard enough.
"Well, that's for the best, anyway," Remus reasoned. "Technically you shouldn't be performing magic outside of school, even though the Ministry won't be able to tell it's you in this household."
"Seems unfair, doesn't it?" Harry piped in, verbalizing a nagging thought he'd had for years now. "Muggle-borns don't have that same advantage at home, while we can get away with it."
"You're right; it was extremely unfair for me to return home every summer and not be able to use magic," Lily agreed. "Which is why you will not be allowed to use your wand during the summers either."
"What?! Why not?" Harry protested. "Like Uncle Remus said, the Ministry will never know!"
"It'll be good for you to get used to doing things the Muggle way every now and then," said Lily. "And speaking of which, I'm visiting my sister and her family for dinner tonight in Surrey. Want to come spend time with your relatives?"
"Eww, no way!" Dahlia blanched at once. "Dudley gives me the creeps!"
Part of Harry was morbidly curious what the Dursley family would look like if they hadn't spent the last ten years raising a magical nephew they never wanted. But based on Dahlia's reaction, the sickening feeling in his gut was worth listening to. "Absolutely not," he said.
"Can't blame you," Remus said with a grin. "Never did like that Vernon fellow. Petunia could have done so much better for herself—"
"Oh, hush, you three," Lily tutted. "They aren't that bad. You just don't understand Muggles like I do."
If only you knew, Harry thought bitterly. But he did not belabor the point, and was grateful when Lily did not force him to attend dinner that evening.
August passed far too quickly for Harry's liking, as he yearned to spend every free moment possible with his family. He awoke earlier than usual on September 1st, feeling apprehensive but excited about the term to come. But that wasn't the only reason for his lack of sleep, as a distant rumbling slowly grew to a deafening roar as something very loud approached their home and stopped directly in front of it. Harry leapt out of bed and ran downstairs, excited, as he had a pretty good idea of what it might be…
"For god's sake, did you have to bring that infernal thing here?" Lily was shrieking from the front door as Harry reached the landing. Peering around her, he could see a man with a wild mane of black hair standing out front, dressed in a Muggle leather jacket and jeans.
"Of course I didn't have to, but today's a special occasion!" Sirius laughed. He leaned in to plant a kiss on Lily's cheek, which she squirmed away from, looking unamused. "Ah, and there's the man of the hour!"
"Uncle Sirius!" Harry exclaimed, running up to give his godfather a hug. This was not the same Sirius he'd seen fall through the Veil – this version looked far younger and less wasted, having not spent a decade in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit.
He was handsome and care-free, looking every bit the troublemaker Harry knew he had been in school.
"Brought you a little surprise," Sirius grinned, beckoning towards the street where a large, enchanted black motorbike was parked.
"Thought you might like a lift to King's Cross for your big send-off!"
"James has already secured a Portkey for us to get to the station," Lily said crossly. "There was no need for you to bring that awful machine all the way up here!"
"It's only an hour to London by air!" Sirius insisted. "He can wear a helmet. Far safer than a broomstick, I'd reckon!"
"Thought I recognized that sound!" a voice boomed from inside the house; James had come down to join the conversation. "Hey, Padfoot, thought you were gonna meet us there!"
"Change of plans, Prongs," Sirius grinned, giving his best friend a bear hug. "Figured young Harry here might enjoy a little airtime before his train ride."
"Ahhh," James said thoughtfully, a smirk creeping onto his face. "What do you think, Harry?"
"Absolutely not!" Lily protested before Harry could enthusiastically say yes. "We agreed that Harry would not ride on that stupid thing until he was older!"
"He is older, isn't he?" Sirius laughed. "C'mon, don't be such a…"
"Such a what, Sirius Black?" Lily demanded when he faltered. "Finish your thought!"
"I'd like to go, Mum," Harry said softly.
"Please can I? We'll be safe, promise!"
Lily looked down at her son worriedly, then sighed and rolled her eyes. "You two are horrible influences, you know," she said to James and Sirius before turning back towards the kitchen.
The two men looked contrite as she walked away, but quickly shared devious grins once she was out of sight.
Minutes later, Harry was nestled in the side car of the motorbike, wedged in between his shrunken luggage. Lily was fussing over his helmet, tightening the straps far tighter than they needed to be. "If he tries any dangerous stunts, you ask him to slow down, you hear?" she instructed her son.
"Honestly, Lil, you act like I'd purposely endanger my favorite godson!" Sirius laughed. "We'll be perfectly safe."
******
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