Runaway Home

Chapter Three-

Kidnap... Kinda

The house wasn't hard to find. Vernon Dursley's scent was, while unpleasant, very easy to track. Sirius had no difficulty following it and, on finding the house, hiding himself behind some flower bushes positioned under a window. He stayed there that night, trying to protect himself from the rain but in too much pain from his cracked ribs to sleep.

Besides, there was too much to think about.

Harry was being mistreated here, Sirius just knew it. From the way he'd cowered in the bushes when his uncle had come, and the way said uncle had shouted at him...

This was no place for Harry to be staying.

Sirius was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he wasn't even aware it was morning until the window above him sprang open.

A rather dried-up looking woman popped her head out the window, smiling at the almost cloudless sky. For late autumn, it was a gorgeous day.

Sirius didn't notice that though. He was busy noticing what was going on inside the house. As a dog, he could easily smell bacon frying and hear the sounds of a television through the open window. Straining his enhanced hearing just a bit, he could make out what the house's occupants were saying.

"Hurry up, boy, and don't burn the bacon!" A female voice, no doubt Lily's sister.

"Yes Aunt Petunia," came Harry's meek reply.

They're making a seven-year-old cook their breakfast? Sirius thought to himself incredulously.

"Not that it matters to you any, since you won't be having any of it." Vernon Dursley sounded maliciously pleased.

"Yes Uncle Vernon."

They're not feeding him?

"After you're done with the dishes, you're going straight back to your cupboard, you hear me?"

"Yes Uncle Vernon."

They make him sleep in a cupboard?!

"No respect, none at all..." Petunia gave a petulant sniff.

"If I'd had my way, boy, you'd be in an orphanage... You'd think he'd show some gratitude to those who made room in their home for him, wouldn't you, Petunia? We give him food, clothing, a place to sleep, and he doesn't even-"

"Oh look, dear, the news is on!" Petunia was clearly trying to keep her husband from flying into a rage.

"Escaped murderer Sirius Black is still on the loose," droned the anchorman, "after escaping from a high-security prison over two weeks ago."

"Look at him," snarled Vernon Dursley, "Dirty, mangy bastard... They ought to kill those types before they've got the chance to escape..."

"Top officials say that Black will be caught soon,"

Sirius heard a muffled gasp at that; Harry, no doubt.

"...but until then, warn the public to be on their guard. Black is armed and highly dangerous..."

Sirius stopped listening to Vernon's ranting and the television altogether. Oh yes, highly dangerous... lying in a flowerbed with his ribs probably broken, about to keel over from hunger...

I'm a right terror, I am, he thought to himself with a snort.

"Boy!"

Sirius gave a start at the roar that came from within the house.

"You've burnt it!"

Sirius lifted his head cautiously.

"I-I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon, I was watching the news-"

"-Instead of paying attention to what you should have been doing! Take it out to the rubbish bins, go on... And don't think that just because it's ruined that means you can have it!"

Sirius could feel himself trembling with rage. Getting up as quickly as he could without making a noise at the pain in his side, he quickly followed the scent of garbage to the rubbish bins behind the house.

Harry emerged from the back door, looking frightened and somehow... subdued... as if he was all too used to such abuse. He wiped a tear from his face with the too-long sleeve of his shirt.

Sirius slipped out from behind the bins, wagging his tail. There weren't any windows on this side of the house, and their neighbors on either side had high fences surrounding their yards, so he was in no danger of being seen.

The boy's face lit up at the sight of the dog. "Sirius!" he whispered, running over to kneel by his godfather. "You have to go, or they'll see you!"

Sirius was more engrossed in the burnt bacon on the plate in the boy's hand than in being caught. Harry giggled from behind his hand as Sirius devoured it without bothering to chew.

"Quit lollygagging and get back in here, boy!" Sirius' hackles rose at Dursley's bellow.

"I have to go," Harry said sadly, giving Sirius one last pat before standing to go back inside.

But Sirius had other plans. He wasn't going to let Harry spend one more minute around these Muggles. He was sleeping in a cupboard, not being allowed to eat (as a punishment, he supposed), and being deprived of the love and attention that any young child craves and needs.

Even being on the run with a convict was better than that.

So as Harry turned to go, Sirius grabbed the overly long sleeve of the boy's shirt in his teeth and whined.

"Sirius, no, I have to go, before Uncle Vernon gets angrier!"

Sirius whined and wagged his tail as he released Harry. He trotted a few steps and turned, clearly wanting Harry to follow him.

When Harry hesitated, Sirius went back and took the boy's hand in his mouth (very gently, he didn't want to bite him), and led him a few steps towards the street.

"I..." Harry looked torn. "I don't know..."

Sirius' ears perked and he dove behind the rubbish bins, biting his tongue to keep from barking as his side collided with the ground.

A red-faced Vernon Dursley was at the back door, heading towards Harry. "What're you doing now, eh boy? Wasting time daydreaming, are you?"

"No, Uncle Vernon, I was just-"

"'You were just'," echoed Dursley in a squeaky falsetto. He leaned down and grabbed Harry's collar. "Listen here, boy. Your parents were lazy daydreamers, just like you, and-"

That did it. Laying a hand on Harry and insulting Lily and James...

Vernon Dursley was a dead man.

Sirius forgot the stabbing hurt of his side as he jumped from behind the bins. He snarled, looking faintly rabid, and dove on Dursley before the man could even straighten up.

He awoke from his blind rage only when tiny hands tugged at the scruff of his neck. "No, Sirius! Stop!"

Oh, he wanted to continue mauling Dursley, but in a rare show of self-control Sirius stepped off the man's fat chest, still growling.

The man wasn't hurt badly; there were deep bite marks on his hands, which he'd used to shield his face and throat. He'd probably have a bruise on his chest from the impact of Sirius diving on him, and his jumper was ripped, but barring that, he was fine.

"Did you kill him?" asked Harry in a frightened whisper.

He did appear rather dead, now that Sirius looked. His hands bled freely onto his throat, making the damage look much more severe, and the stupid bastard had fainted. But as much as Sirius would've liked to kill him, he shook his head in answer to Harry's question.

The rage was wearing off now, and Sirius realized something:

He'd just attacked a man.

And that would lead to one of two consequences:

He'd be caught, or even worse, Harry would be blamed for the attack. The boy was, to the casual onlooker, the only person there- Sirius would have to run for it if they called the police, there was just too much at risk... His only disguise would be ruined...

They had to get out of there.

He grabbed Harry's hand again and pulled harder, leading the boy around the house into the street. Harry was still too stunned by what he'd just seen to protest being led.

The boy was silent for several minutes as Sirius led him through alleys to small back streets, and soon out of the small town altogether.

It wasn't safe to use the roads. Soon Harry would be reported missing, and he would be recognized by anyone who watched the news.

But Remus lived only a few miles away; Sirius was sure he'd never move. His house had been in his family too long, and was in too good a location for him to want to move.

It was out away from any small towns, and too far from farms that lay outside those towns for him to be a danger to any of them during full moon.

However, werewolves do roam quite a distance. Sirius vividly remembered running with Moony through the very forests and fields that he and Harry walked by now. He could easily cross through them to get to Remus' house unseen.

So he led Harry off the side of the road into a bit of forest. Far enough in that they wouldn't be seen, he sat down and transformed.

Harry plopped down beside him, clearly exhausted. He was shaking, too.

"Where're we going, Sirius?" he asked fearfully. "Will Uncle Vernon be okay? Where are we?"

Sirius wrapped a friendly arm around his godson, who moved as close as he could manage to the older man.

"We're going to see a friend of mine, Harry, so I can tell him what I told you. He's like every one else, he thinks I killed those people, and I have to convince him that-"

"You didn't," Harry said forcefully. "Why do they have to be so stupid?" He sniffed, and Sirius saw tears run down the boy's face. "Wish I could've lived with you instead of the Dursleys..."

"Me too, lad... I'm sorry, really I am, for attacking your uncle..." His arm tightened around Harry. "I didn't want to see you hurt. And I didn't want to leave you there any longer, that's why I had to bring you with me. It won't take long to get to my friend's house, don't worry."

Harry sniffed again and nodded into Sirius' side. "I don't ever want to go back to the Dursleys," he said quietly. "Will I have to?" He looked up at Sirius sadly, as if he had a bad feeling what the answer would be.

Sirius felt something in his throat clench. "No," he said softly, as much to himself as to Harry. Even if I get caught, I'll make sure Remus knows he was being abused... Remus won't let him go back to the Muggles...

Sirius touched his burning side with his free hand. He hadn't had a chance to properly inspect the damage yet, but the mere touch made him gasp. That Dursley wore bloody big boots...

"Sirius? What is it?" Harry looked apprehensive, un-burying his face from his godfather's side.

"Nothing, Harry... it's nothing. Why don't we take a rest here for a while? You look tired."

Harry didn't think it was nothing, but he was tired, and he didn't want to anger Sirius by asking questions. So he lay down with his head in Sirius' lap, feeling somehow very, very safe.