Runaway Home

Prologue-

Broken Promise

"Sirius Black, you stand accused of the following: the murder of 13 Muggles, murder of one Peter Pettigrew, use of an illegal Bombardment Curse, murder of ones James and Lily Potter, attempted murder of one Harry Potter, and breach of the International Statue of Secrecy. How do you plead?"

Sirius licked his lips and looked up at the people sitting in rows above him. The anger, hurt and disappointment in their faces... It was unbearable.

Dumbledore was up in front, as Chief of the Wizengamot. His blue eyes weren't twinkling as Sirius remembered. They were cold and hard and narrow, looking down at him in fury.

Bartemous Crouch was next to him- it was he who had spoken. His expression was a mixture of hatred and contempt.

But the worst was sitting a few rows back...

Remus didn't look furious or murderous, as Sirius might have expected. He looked hurt and betrayed... His face was tired and cold, his hair prematurely graying. He looked older and more woebegone than anyone Sirius had ever seen; he looked away as Sirius' gaze rested on him.

Sirius felt something squeeze at his heart. His last friend, the last one who might have believed his story... He swallowed, trying to dislodge the lump from his throat.

"Not guilty," he said softly, almost a whisper. He heard Crouch snort.

"We have evidence of the 13 murders committed November first of six years ago, along with that of one Peter Pettigrew. Mr. Balsclaw, if you would..." Crouch waved a hand to one side of the huge room and a balding man rolled out a picture projector. A large screen magically unrolled itself from the ceiling and the torches around the chamber went out.

Has it really been six years...? Sirius closed his eyes tightly. It seemed so much longer...

"Here we have photographs of the street on which the Bombardment Curse was used... The bodies of the dead Muggles... Pettigrew's finger..."

There were gasps and groans of horror as Crouch provided a caption of each ghastly picture shown. Sirius kept his eyes scrunched up tightly, trying to ignore the sound of someone retching up in the stands.

Finally the gory slideshow was over and the room was relit.

"You have all seen evidence, now, of the charges of murder, breach of International Secrecy, and a Bombardment Curse.

"As to the murders of Lily and James Potter, and attempted murder of their son, Harry Potter, one Remus Lupin has agreed to testify."

Sirius opened his eyes in horror, and he watched as Remus walked down from the stands to stand before the Wizengamot.

"The Potters went into hiding when they first learned Voldemort was after them." Remus ignored the flinches and gasps at the sound of the name. "They agreed to have a Fidelius Charm placed upon them to hide their whereabouts. He was their Secret-Keeper. He betrayed them to Voldemort, thereby causing their deaths."

Sirius couldn't stand it. "No! Remus, I didn't, I swear! I'd never-"

"Silencio!" Crouch glared haughtily down at Sirius, who gaped soundlessly at his friend. Former friend, really, but his brain couldn't think of Remus as anything but his friend.

Dumbledore stood. "Thank you, Mr. Lupin," he said softly, sympathetically. "We have seen enough, Mr. Crouch, Mr. Minister." His voice had a triumphant ring to it as he spoke, looking coldly at Sirius. "The Wizengamot declares Sirius Black guilty of all charges."

Crouch stood up, an expression of gleeful evil on his face. "Sirius Black, you are hereby sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss. The sentence shall be carried out tomorrow the evening of November the thirty-first, at sundown."

Sirius allowed himself to be dragged back to his cell by the dementors, feeling limp and queasy even without their presence.

He shivered softly as he moved to the far corner of the familiar cell and sat down. Six years... It had all happened six years ago... So Harry would be seven now...

Sirius slumped miserably. Not only had he let Peter lead Lily and James to their doom, but he'd left poor Harry in the care of Muggles. He still remembered that night quite clearly; after all, it wasn't happy. The dementors couldn't suck it away.

He barely waited for his bike to come to a stop before leaping off and running into the Potters' house.

"Lily? James!" He frantically searched the house. It didn't take long.

James was in the den. Sirius felt tears stream down his face as he knelt and closed his old friend's eyes- they were still wide with horror. "I'm so sorry, Prongs," he whispered.

He ran upstairs, hoping to find Lily safe and sound, hiding somewhere. But he froze in the doorway to Harry's nursery. She was on the ground, and seemed to be huddled around something.

Harry.

That son of a bitch had killed two of his best friends and his godson. Sirius howled in mortal anguish and punched a hole in the wall of the hallway.

He was surprised when his howl was answered by another. Turning around with a start, he gently lifted Lily's body.

Harry had his eyes scrunched closed, his tiny hands curled into fists. As Sirius pried him away from his dead mother, he opened his eyes and let out a happy little noise. "Pafoo!"

Sirius gaped for a moment, wondering how Harry had survived. He smiled softly through his tears, hugging the boy close as he walked down the stairs and outside.

The night seemed so quiet and serene that it was sickening. Sirius wept and hugged his godson close. "I'm sorry, Harry..." He looked down into the boy's face. Pushing a stray lock of hair away, Sirius saw for the first time the jagged cut on his forehead. He sobbed harder.

"Sirius?"

Sirius had his wand out before he even turned around. He sighed and lowered it as he saw it was only Hagrid.

"I'm sorry, Sirius. Real sorry... they were grea' people, they were..." Hagrid patted him on the back, nearly knocking him over.

They stood in silence for a minute, Sirius sobbing, Harry making confused noises as he wondered what was wrong with Padfoot.

"I've... I've orders from Dumbledore, Sirius... Harry's to go live with 'is aunt an' uncle..."

"No. I'm not leaving him." Sirius glared defiantly up at Hagrid.

"Dumbledore knows best righ' now, an' it'll probly o'ny be fer a little bit. Jus' lemme take 'im there." Hagrid patted Sirius' arm again. "Jus' 'til it's all sorted out'n all."

Sirius kissed Harry's forehead gently and smiled waveringly down at him. "I'll see you real soon, lad. I promise."

Back in his cell, Sirius collapsed into sobs again. He'd let Harry go to the Muggles, and broken his promise. And now he was going to get his soul sucked out.

He shivered again, miserable beyond anything he'd ever felt.

"I won't let them do it," he said softly. "I won't."

And so that night, unseen to any human eyes, a large black dog slipped out of the cell and ran into the darkness.

Chapter One-

Bittersweet Freedom

Sirius lay panting on the shore. He'd made it. He was free. All that was left now was...

Somehow find Remus, convince him it had been Peter's fault, become a free man, and take custody of Harry.

He had his work cut out for him.

It seemed like a good idea to get as far away as possible for the time being. So once he'd regained his breath, he ran for it, enjoying the pleasure of freedom.

Or at least until pleasure turned to pain. He'd forgotten how six years of barely moving would affect him. After about ten minutes, he felt burning pain in all four long-unused limbs and was utterly winded.

He stopped for the night in the shelter of the forest, drinking from a puddle before sleeping more soundly than he had in six years.

***

Sirius awoke with his muscles tight and sore. He drank again and continued running though, too determined to let the discomfort slow him down. He was miles from Remus' house, and he had to get there quickly.

He soon found a road and got his bearings- he was a little over fifty miles southwest of London; Remus lived right outside London.

It took Sirius almost two weeks to get to Surrey, and by the time he did, he was in bad shape. The pads of his feet were torn to bleeding pulp and he was utterly emaciated- the only food he'd managed to scrounge had been from dumpsters along the way. He'd tried begging, but people had little sympathy for an enormous, filthy dog, and he soon gave up.

So he wandered dejectedly down the alleys of the town he was currently in. It was daytime, so he didn't want to get on the main roads and pass through just yet, even though he was so terribly close to Remus' house. He lived outside a small town mere miles from here.

Sirius flopped down with a doggish sigh. He seemed to be in an alleyway outside a schoolyard; a very clean schoolyard. This whole town seemed unnaturally clean, somehow. The dirty looks he'd received from the few who'd seen him had been priceless; his tail wagged involuntarily at the memory.

"Doggy?"

Sirius' head snapped up and he froze.

There was a young boy looking through the chain link fence.

"Nice boy... C'mere..." He held out part of a sandwich, putting his tiny hand through the fence. His green eyes sparkled hopefully behind broken glasses as he wiggled the sandwich at Sirius.

Christ... He looks just like James...Sirius stared for a moment before getting up very slowly. He didn't want to scare Harry away.

Harry giggled gleefully. "Here, doggy." He wiggled the sandwich again.

Sirius couldn't help but feel the irony as he delicately took the sandwich from his godson and wolfed it down. Here he'd come to help Harry, and Harry was giving him the first real food he'd had in three days.

"Nice boy," Harry said, holding out his now-empty hand.

Sirius licked the hand gratefully and wagged his tail. It wagged even harder as Harry giggled and patted him on the head. "You're a nice dog, aren't you?"

Sirius bobbed his head in agreement.

"My aunt Petunia says dogs are bad, and should be put down. Especially stray ones, like you," Harry whispered confidentially. Sirius growled softly in response.

"But don't worry, I don't think that." Harry scratched behind Sirius' ear, and the great black dog whimpered in pleasure. He'd been so starved for human contact the past six years that this was utter bliss.

"Oi, look! Wittle 'Arry's found a friend!"

"Hey!"

Sirius' eyes snapped open just in time to see a rather fat little boy knock Harry to the ground. He growled savagely at the boy, who turned and scowled at the dog.

"Stupid dog, go away!"

"He's not stupid!" Harry glared defiantly at the boy.

"He'd have to be stupid to stay with you!" The portly boy kicked Harry viciously in the ribs.

Sirius barked and reared up on the chain link fence; he was taller than both boys on his hind legs. He snarled at the fatter boy and lunged at the fence.

"Ahhh! Get away!" The boy fell backwards in his struggles to get away, then scrambled to his feet and ran.

Sirius dropped back down to the ground and whined softly at Harry. He'd not meant to scare him, but that stupid fat boy had made him so mad... He moved over to where Harry had fallen by the fence and lowered his head in what he hoped looked like a friendly gesture.

"Wow..." Harry looked dumbstruck. "You... you stuck up for me, didn't you?"

Sirius wagged his tail and bobbed his head.

"You really are a smart dog!" Harry looked amazed and oddly wistful. "D'you know, I read some books about a place called Narnia... They have talking animals there... Can... can you talk?"

Sirius nodded; not a bob of his head, like an overexcited puppy, but a clearly recognizable nod.

"Would... would you talk to me?"

"Get away from there this instant!"

Both dog and boy were startled by a shrill female voice. The fat boy seemed to have alerted a teacher, and was following her smugly.

"Scat! Go away, you vicious animal!" She waved her arms at Sirius and kicked at the fence before turning around and helping Harry up. "Come on now Harry, you mustn't get so close to stray animals! It could have been dangerous!"

"It tried to eat me!" said the corpulent little boy with a shudder.

"He's not dangerous, really!" Harry looked at Sirius, terrified that he'd never see the magic dog again. Sirius could only whine his own unhappiness.

"Thank you Dudley, for telling me it was here. Harry, you really should try to be more like your cousin sometimes." The woman led the two boys away, still blabbering on. Harry looked woefully over his shoulder at Sirius.

That little pig of a boy was his cousin?! So he must bully Harry about all the time... That would explain the broken glasses...

Sirius growled softly to himself and started thinking out his plan.

Chapter Two-

Pulled Apart

Harry spent the rest of the day looking out the window of his classroom, wondering if the dog would come back.

He just knew the dog was magic... He had to be! He couldn't be that smart, otherwise, to be able to nod and to talk. And he'd chased away Dudley! No one had ever defended him from Dudley before; it made him feel rather special.

He looked around after school, hoping to see the dog, but was disappointed. It was raining hard- the dog had probably gone home.

Harry felt tears welling up in his eyes as he walked home. The dog probably belonged to some other little boy. They probably had all sorts of fun together, and talked to each other all the time...

"Wish I had someone to talk to..." he mumbled to himself. He was soaked, wishing doubly hard now that he hadn't missed the bus. It'd been Dudley's fault- he'd tied Harry's shoelaces together at the end of class, and the bus had left while Harry was trying to get the knots out.

Harry kicked at a rock, which splashed into a puddle. And there in the puddle's rippling reflection...

"You came back!" Harry's face lit up and he ran over to the dog, who wagged his tail gleefully.

"You really are magic, aren't you?" Harry threw his arms around the dog and laughed as Sirius licked his face.

"Will you walk home with me?" Harry went tentatively back to the sidewalk, looking behind him to see if the dog would follow, and much to the young boy's delight, he did.

"I don't think you'd better let Aunt Petunia see you, or she might be angry with me," Harry said. Sirius nodded and whined sadly.

"You said earlier that you could talk... so you must be magic, right?"

Sirius nodded again.

"Will you show me?"

Sirius stopped; they were next to a playground. A very empty playground, and with rain marring visibility so well...

He nodded again and started into the playground.

"Wait! I'm not allowed to go there!" Harry looked utterly crestfallen.

Sirius whined softly, cocked his head and wagged his tail.

"Well... If it's quick... maybe Uncle Vernon won't find out..." After a moment's deliberation, Harry followed Sirius into the park.

It took a few minutes to find what he wanted- there was a wall of bushes separating the park from a row of unfinished houses. With the downpour, no one was working on them, and the housing development was utterly empty. Sirius led Harry through the bushes and onto the other side; perfect. No one would be able to see them.

"Will you show me now?" Harry looked slightly anxious through his excitement; he must have been very afraid of being caught.

Sirius sat down and nodded. Then he transformed.

He'd managed to steal a clean pair of Muggle clothes from one of those little stores that leaves their doors open, and from running around all day in the rain, he was at least moderately clean; he hadn't wanted to frighten Harry with his unkept appearance, and though this wasn't much better, it would have to do.

Harry gasped and backed away. "You... You're..."

For a moment Sirius wondered if Harry'd seen the papers or newscasts about Sirius Black, the mad murderer.

"A man?"

Safe for now...

"It's alright, Harry, I'm a friend. My name's Sirius." Oh please don't recognize that name... "I was a friend of your parents, a long time ago."

"You... you were? Really?" Harry looked suspicious. "Prove it!"

"Your mum's name was Lily, and your dad's name was James. Your middle name is James, too. Is that good enough?"

Harry still looked a little unconvinced, but he seemed less frightened. "And you were their friend?"

"Yep. Your dad's best friend, actually. I'm your godfather, Harry."

"Wow..." Harry sat down across from Sirius, stunned at such unexpected news. "And you're magic?"

"Uh-huh. There's a whole world of magic people, Harry. They're called witches and wizards."

"But Uncle Vernon says that magic isn't real, and that-"

Sirius barely kept himself from growling. He was beginning to dislike this Uncle Vernon. "He was wrong, Harry. I'm magic, and your parents were magic, and so are you."

Harry's eyes widened. "You mean... me? I can't be, I'm not..." He looked faintly frightened.

Sirius put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You are."

Harry had to think a moment about that. "Can all magic people... witches and wizards," he corrected himself, "turn into dogs?"

Sirius grinned. "Only some can do it, and they can change into other animals, too. Your dad, for example, turned into a stag."

"Really? Can I learn how?"

"You can, but not 'till you're older." Sirius smiled at the enthusiasm and looked his godson over again. He was thin, his glasses were still broken, and he was clothed in clothes that were much too big for him; not at all how Sirius would have liked it.

"So... so if you're my godfather... Why haven't I met you before?" Harry frowned thoughtfully.

"Harry... I'm going to tell you a story, alright? I want you to promise that you'll stay and hear me out. Promise?"

Harry nodded, looking rather fearful at the somber voice and grim face of his godfather.

"I've been in prison for the last six years, Harry, ever since your parents died. Do you know who Voldemort is?"

Harry shook his head.

"He was a very bad wizard. He did a lot of evil things to a lot of people at that time, Harry, before you were born. Your parents were good wizards who fought against him, along with me and our other friends. They knew that Voldemort was after them and so they went into hiding with you. Do you understand?"

Harry gave the tiniest of nods, his eyes wide.

"They had a spell put on themselves so that only one person was supposed to know where they were. That way Voldemort couldn't find them. Everyone thought that person was me, but it wasn't- it was another one of our friends.

"We thought that this friend was on our side, but it turned out that he was working for Voldemort. He told Voldemort where you and your mum and dad were hiding, and Voldemort killed them." Sirius was on the verge of tears, now. He cleared his throat before going on.

"When I found out, I went after our friend. No one knew that it was he who'd betrayed your parents; they all thought it had been me. When I found him, he blew up a street, and killed a bunch of people, but made it look as if I'd done that as well. He could turn into a rat, and he ran away, making it look like I'd killed him too. Still with me?"

"So everyone thought that you k-killed m-my parents, a-and all th-those other people? B-but it was really h-him?"

"Yes, Harry. And so they put me in prison, and I never got the chance to tell them what I just told you. I escaped from prison a couple weeks ago, because they were... were going to do something bad to me." Sirius shivered involuntarily. "There are a lot of people looking for me, Harry, and they'll kill me if they find me. So I've got to stay hidden.

"But there's only one other living person besides you and our 'friend' who knows I can turn into a dog, so it's safe for me to walk around that way. But you have to understand, Harry, you can't tell anyone I'm here, alright?"

Harry nodded quickly. "I don't want you to get caught, Sirius." He said his godfather's name shyly.

Harry was a bright child; he knew better than to talk to strangers. But somehow, Sirius just didn't seem like a stranger. He felt safe with Sirius, who was much nicer than Uncle Vernon had ever been to Harry.

"Good lad." Sirius reached over and ruffled the boy's messy hair, just as he'd done when Harry was a baby. Harry giggled at the show of affection.

"So if you weren't in trouble, then would I live with you?" Harry looked wide-eyed up at Sirius. He'd only known the man about ten minutes, but already Harry wanted to stay with him. He wanted to learn about magic, and about his parents...

"You would," Sirius said softly. "And hopefully, soon you'll be able to. If you want to, that is," he added quickly. "I don't know if you understand, Harry, but I loved your parents, and you, when you were young. I still love you, Harry, and I want to take care of you."

Harry goggled for a moment. "No one's ever said that to me before..."

Sirius had to swallow a lump in his throat. The boy looked as if this was the first time anyone had ever showed any affection towards him. And, he reminded himself, it very well might've been.

He leaned forward and gathered his small godson into his arms. "I love you, Harry," he said firmly.

Harry was tense for a moment before relaxing into his godfather's embrace. He'd never felt quite this way before... warm inside, and safe, as if nothing could happen so long as Sirius was there. He sighed blissfully and snuggled closer, not minding that Sirius was still a bit... filthy.

Sirius smiled. He'd not felt so happy since... since before Lily and James had been killed...

Suddenly his head snapped up; someone was coming. He quickly pulled away and transformed, giving Harry a quick lick on the cheek as apology.

"Boy!"

Harry's eyes widened in horror and he shrunk down in the bushes.

"What in blazes are you doing here?!" A rather fat man with a violently red complexion was stomping towards them through the mud.

"I-I... I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon, I-"

"Sorry? I had to come out here in this storm to find you, in the playground which you were specifically told to stay out of, and you're sorry?!" The man's face was turning from red to purple now.

"And what's this? Get out of here, you filthy cur!" Vernon Dursley aimed a kick at Sirius, who wasn't quite quick enough to dodge it.

There was a sickening crack of bone as boot met dog, and Sirius landed in the mud with a whimper.

Harry was too horrified to speak, small hands covering his mouth below wide eyes.

"Come on then, boy, don't be all day," Dursley growled. He grabbed Harry's arm and started towing him away.

Sirius was too stunned by the blow to be able to do more than lift his head and watch his teary-eyed Harry be pulled away.