Harry Potter and the Daemon Sidhe

Harry and Sirius stayed where they were for several minutes before separating, both with wide grins on their faces. Harry's friends then gathered around to congratulate the newly-freed man with Remus throwing an arm round his friend's shoulders. Sirius returned the gesture and for a moment they looked like the schoolboys they once had been.

"So, Harry," Sirius said cheerfully once the initial fuss had died down. "Who the hell are the Daemon Sidhe?"

Harry grinned. "That's kind of a long story. I think we should go home first."

"Home," Sirius said slowly, seeming to almost savour the word. "That kind of leads me to my next question. Where the hell is home?"

"Grimmauld Place, for now," Remus replied as Dumbledore walked back in holding a rather ugly piece of bronze statuary.

"Here we go," the Headmaster said cheerfully. "This portkey will take you all back to Grimmauld Place. Sirius, I think it might be best to stay out of sight until the Ministry can process the paperwork and make the official announcements. I don't think anyone wants to lose you now to some overexcited person who hasn't heard the news."

Sirius' eyes widened slightly and he nodded vigorously. Dumbledore handed the statue to Remus and everyone shuffled around until they could put a finger on it. Dumbledore smiled at them all then said, "Home" and the portkey activated.

They arrived with the normal wrench in the parlour of Grimmauld Place and somehow they managed to stay upright. Sirius looked around with resignation.

"Lovely," was all he said in tones of disgust. Then he looked at Harry. "Alright, I think its time for food and explanations."

Remus and Harry laughed and led the way into the kitchen where the two of them collaborated in producing a couple of large platefuls of sandwiches. Harry saw Severus sidling towards the door and raised an eyebrow at him.

Running away? he said archly.

Severus scowled at him. I am sure you will have a pleasant reunion without me. And I am in no mood to put up with his idiocy.

Harry's face hardened. You will stay, he ordered and when Severus baulked and glared, he matched that glare with one of his own. You will stay. You are a member of my court and he is my godfather. I will expect both of you to behave yourselves.

For a moment Harry thought Severus would leave anyway but the man slowly sat down at the table, the picture of reluctance and disdain. Sirius eyed him with suspicion and distaste but did not comment for the moment. Instead he concentrated on eating, seemingly contesting with Ron to see who could eat the most. Once everyone was finished, Sirius leaned back in his chair and gave his godson a stern look.

"Alright, we're safe, fed and watered, now will you please tell me what the hell is going on?" he demanded.

Harry chuckled. "That is a very long story," he said then he launched into the tale, starting with his own dismal start to the summer holidays and the reason behind the sudden cessation of his horrific nightmares. He explained about the Daemon Sidhe and the creation of his court and the very strange dream that had led to Sirius' rescue.

Sirius listened to all of this in silence and the silence continued after Harry finished.

"Alright," he said finally. "Let me see if I've got this right. The Daemon Sidhe, who I vaguely remember from History of Magic, have woken and selected you as their king." Harry nodded. "Remus, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Luna and Snape are all members of your court but Dumbledore isn't." Harry nodded again. "And you had a dream in which I told you how to rescue me; a dream, I might add, I don't recall having."

Harry nodded for a third time. "Yes, that just about sums it up."

Sirius shot a very dubious look at Snape. "Why is Snape part of your court?"

Harry sighed. "Because he is, Sirius. I just got this feeling about everyone who should be in my court and he was one of them, just like Remus and Ron and the others."

Sirius looked unhappy at this and a faint, hurt look crossed his face.

"There's something you're meant to be doing too," Harry said suddenly and much to Sirius' delight. "I haven't quite worked it out yet. It's been growing ever since you came out of the Veil." He grimaced. "It may have to wait until we can get into Dreamtime."

"What about the dream?" Hermione said looking slightly concerned.

Harry shrugged. "I guess that's going to have to wait until Dreamtime too. Maybe Awena will have some answers."

Sirius nodded unhappily then looked over at Remus. "You turned into a jackal," he said bluntly.

Remus grinned. "I know!"

The others stared at him in astonishment. "You turned into a jackal?" Harry said curiously.

"Behind the Veil," Remus confirmed. "That's how I was able to find Sirius."

Harry was about to make a comment when Hermione looked at her watch. "Shouldn't we get some sleep so that you can ask those questions of the Daemon Sidhe," she said.

Harry looked at the clock on the wall and nodded. "Good idea. I'll pull Sirius in as well so we can sort out what's going on."

Everyone slowly got to their feet and shuffled out of the kitchen without argument. Harry stayed where he was and raised an eyebrow at Sirius and Remus. The two men stayed behind and Sirius, who seemed to be recovering from the revelations of the night, grinned.

"What's up?" he said.

"Um, should I move back in with Ron?" he said hesitantly and Remus groaned.

"Argh, you can't," he said with chagrin. "We put Neville in with him." He looked at his friend. "I gave Harry your room. I thought he deserved a room of his own, all things considered, and I thought you wouldn't mind."

Sirius' grin widened. "Not at all. Keep it, Harry. To be honest I was only using my old room out of habit. I wouldn't mind the chance to make a change. Remus and I should be able to make one of the other rooms habitable for tonight; we can do a better job tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Sirius leaned forward and captured one of Harry's hands. "Absolutely sure."

Harry nodded with relief and the three of them headed out of the kitchen and upstairs.

*********************************************************************

When Harry appeared in Dreamtime that night, he immediately summoned the Daemon Sidhe. The three men and three women materialised in front of him looking uncharacteristically frantic.

"Did it work?" Awena asked urgently.

Harry goggled at her for a moment. "You knew?" he demanded. "When?"

"Not that long," Awena replied. "After last night."

"Remus was able to get him out," Harry said bluntly. "But there are a lot of things about it that we don't understand."

The Daemon Sidhe exchanged glances. "Well, this is going to make things interesting," Gwydion observed.

"Why don't you bring everyone in," Kolos said dryly. "I think tonight is going to involve a few explanations."

The room shimmered and changed into almost a mirror of the Gryffindor common room and Harry chuckled as he pulled his court and Sirius into Dreamtime. His court immediately made themselves at home while Sirius stared around him in surprise.

He gave a small laugh. "Looks like the common room in Gryffindor Tower," he said absently.

"We took a comfortable place from Harry's memories," Gwydion said. "Why don't you take a seat?"

Sirius nodded and sat down in a large squashy chair next to Harry.

"Alright," Harry said firmly. "What the hell is going on? You seemed to know what we were up to today. How? And what kind of significance does Sirius have to my court? I get an odd feel about him but it's not the same as the one I had for the others. And how the hell did I have a dream about Sirius telling me how to get him out when he is adamant that it never happened?"

"Calm down, Harry," Devante said. "Awena had a Vision today that told her that events were in flux. That something you would do today could change matters quite remarkably."

Harry looked dubious. "And this has something to do with getting Sirius out from behind the Veil?"

"Yes!" Awena said intently. "Partly because it was the first test for your court but mostly because if you succeeded, you would have obtained the one member of your court that no other king we have followed has managed to find!"

"Me?" Sirius said with disbelief.

"Yes!" Awena said fervently.

"But I don't get same feeling about Sirius as I did for the others," Harry objected.

"That's because Sirius does not fall into the same kind of category as the others," Kolos explained. "The others all serve you in one capacity or another. Sirius is your Champion. It is his job to guard and protect you."

Jaws dropped around the room.

"So do I bring him into the mental link like I did with the others?" Harry asked faintly.

"Yes," Devante said urgently. "It's very important that he is in the link."

"Uh, what link are we talking about here?" Sirius said nervously.

"We're all linked together so that we can all speak mind to mind," Harry explained. "And I enhanced that with another spell that protects our minds from attack by Occlumency."

"All?" Sirius said dubiously, his gaze flickering over to Snape.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He looked over at Kolos. "Do you think it's wrong to do something just slightly unethical if it's for the greater good?"

Kolos chuckled as he looked between Sirius and Severus. "No, not at all," he said blandly.

"Oh good," Harry replied. Then he grabbed Severus' mind in a fierce grip and held it while he sought out Sirius' mind.

Hello, Sirius, he said cheerfully when he reached it. He then pulled Sirius rather abruptly into the bond, causing the man to gasp and flinch. Now, we are going to sort this out, he said firmly to the two men.

He pulled the three of them into a tight bond and deftly pulled out their individual memories of not only the incident that had caused the worst of this animosity but also a lot of what had gone on before and afterwards. He showed Severus that Sirius had indeed paid for his stupidity; he let the Potions Master view the angry lecture Sirius had been given by James and the hurt and betrayed words that had come from Remus. He let him see the extended estrangement between the friends that had occurred and how much that had hurt Sirius, who hated his own blood and had therefore chosen a new family in his friends. A family who were now angry and upset with him. He then allowed Sirius to see how much damage he and James had done to Severus' psyche and how their actions had been a major factor in driving Severus to Voldemort's side. He then let both of them see how much their constant fighting had hurt each other and more recently him. Then he finally let the bond relax a fraction.

Do you think you two could at least be polite to each other? he asked wearily. For my sake, if nothing else.

There was an extended period of silence from both men then Sirius spoke hesitantly.

Perhaps I...didn't behave very well.

A feeling of resignation came from Severus. Perhaps that was...mutual.

I guess it would be a good idea to leave the past in the past, Sirius offered gingerly.

This time it was a feeling of sour amusement that came from Severus. It must be a Gryffindor thing. That is exactly what your godson offered. He paused. It is a...good idea.

The two men looked at each other then Sirius offered his hand to the Potions Master. Unlike the last time this happened, Severus took his hand without prompting and they shook on the idea of a lasting truce.

Good! It's about time! Harry growled then he brought Sirius fully into the bond and established the Mentat spell in his mind.

He let both minds go and opened his eyes. "I hope that's settled now," he said staring challengingly at the two men.

Sirius grinned wryly at his godson. "Uh, yes."

Grins flashed around the group.

"So exactly what am I meant to be doing in this thing?' Sirius asked curiously. "And what the hell have you lot been doing while I've been away?"

Harry looked over at Gwydion. "Can you show him?"

Gwydion nodded and raised an eyebrow at Sirius. "Hang on, this could get interesting."

Sirius visibly braced himself and then he closed his eyes as Gwydion showed him everything from the first time that Devante had approached Harry up until the last training session they had. When he was finally let go he slumped back into his chair and tried to organise his thoughts. The only thing that seemed to be making sense was the obvious distress Harry had been in. Sirius mentally castigated himself for being so stupid; he had been warned to stay at Grimmauld Place but he couldn't, it was Harry after all. And he should have known better than to mess around with Bella. He knew what his cousin could be like; he should have just dealt with her and got on with things.

He got up and pulled Harry up into a tight hug. "Merlin, Harry! I'm sorry. I should have been more careful. You should never have had to go through that." He let his chin rest of his godson's head. "I should have taken Bella more seriously."

Harry just leaned against his godfather and closed his eyes. "Doesn't matter," he said, his voice slightly muffled by Sirius robes. "You're here now."

Sirius then remembered something and he raised his head and looked at Remus. "Have you really been named as Harry's guardian?"

Remus blinked. "Er, yes. And not just named, we got it through the Ministry."

Sirius gaped for a moment as Harry pulled back a little and grinned. "How did you do that?" Sirius said, unsure for the moment whether he was pleased about this or hurt.

"Percy helped," Remus explained. "He and Penelope managed to get it through quietly. The recommendation from the Gringotts goblins helped as well." He paused and read Sirius' expression as easily as when they'd been at school. "We'll work something out, Padfoot. You've been officially cleared by the Ministry and you heard the Wizengamot, they're expecting us to sort out something mutual."

Sirius gave a relieved sigh. "Good." He then gave Harry a gentle push back into his seat and sat down himself. "So how much power do you have anyway?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "A lot but I'm having a bit of trouble controlling it." Gwydion chuckled and Harry glared good-naturedly at him. "The Daemon Sidhe used a spell that limits my access to my power outside of Dreamtime but I do have full access during Dreamtime. I keep making things explode. Ask Neville; he shares part of my magical training with me, I think he finds it funny."

Neville blushed and laughed. "Well, when you've blown up as many cauldrons as I have it's good to see someone else having troubles."

The others laughed as well and there was even amusement deep in Snape's eyes.

"Harry's control is improving," Gwydion explained. "But it was always going to be a slow process. One doesn't adjust to having that much power overnight. We are working fairly hard. We don't want to have the block in place when Harry returns to Hogwarts so we need to make sure he can control reasonably well."

The others looked surprised and Neville, who shared an hour of magical training with Harry, looked slightly apprehensive.

"That might not be as much of a problem as we first thought," Harry said slowly. "I had to tell Dumbledore about what has happened in order to get his help to get Sirius out. He...seemed pleased about it all."

"Remember what I said about having to remind him about your autonomy," Severus warned and Harry nodded.

"I know," he said. "But I think he'll be a bit more accommodating than we thought he might be."

"He knew something more was going on than we were telling him," Hermione warned. "You nearly slipped and called Severus by name. You caught it well but he picked it up nevertheless."

Severus had eventually given all of the students permission to call him by name in private though mostly they still called him Professor. He still intimidated them.

"Dammit," Harry groused. "I'm going to have to work on that."

"It'll be easier when you get back to school," Remus said reassuringly. "You'll be more in your normal roles then."

"Well, we'll see how he reacts when we become corporeal," Devante said with amusement. "We should be able to manage that at Hogwarts with all the ambient magic a place like that must possess."

Sirius looked startled at that idea then he scowled. "So what exactly is it that I'm supposed to be doing?"

"You are Harry's Champion and Defender," Devante said promptly. He cocked his head to one side and looked at Sirius curiously. "Though there is something odd about you," he said musingly. "A dual nature of some kind?"

Sirius blinked. "Oh, you mean this?" he said and suddenly Padfoot was sitting in the chair.

The Daemon Sidhe blinked almost as one. "Yes, that would probably be it," Devante said with admirable aplomb. "How did you do that?"

Padfoot changed back to Sirius and looked at Devante with suspicion. "I'm an animagus."

"Indeed," Devante replied, looking interested. "The root words are easy enough to understand. The ability to turn into an animal. Very interesting."

There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at the Daemon Sidhe.

"You don't know what animagi are?" Severus asked curiously.

"Er, well, I can see what they are but no, I don't know the process," Gwydion replied with a small smile.

"And yet you maintain that we will eventually be able to transform into our animal symbols?" Severus continued. "Is that not the animagus transformation?"

"No," Gwydion replied. "Not from what I could follow magically of Sirius' transformation. What we can do, what Merlin could do and what we will teach all of you to do is something different. Far more internal and personal."

"So what does this mean for me?" Sirius asked. "And do I have any of these animal symbols?"

"No, you won't," Kolos said decisively. "The Champion never does. Though I suppose your...animagus form does change things a little."

"Maybe, maybe not," Asa said thinking hard. "Think of the advantages of Sirius' animagus form. A dog can go so many places that a person cannot. And who is going to argue if Harry brings a trained dog with him for protection?"

"Instead of a person," Devante said nodding slowly. "They might underestimate the situation and think that Harry is vulnerable."

"But people are going to know about my animagus form," Sirius objected. "I'm going to have to register now after outing myself so spectacularly in front of the Wizengamot. I think they might get annoyed at me if I didn't."

"You'll probably find Animagus registration forms sent to you along with the paperwork for your pardon," Remus said with a grin. "It's about time you registered anyway. The reason for keeping it a secret is well and truly blown."

There were a few winces as people recalled exactly how Remus' status as a werewolf became public knowledge.

Remus... came Severus' uncomfortable thought.

Don't, was Remus' reply. You had valid reasons for disliking me. And besides I'm on the werewolf register at the Ministry. It's not like it wasn't known before then. The circle was just smaller. Anyone could have just walked in and found out if they'd really suspected and wanted to know.

Really? came Hermione's surprised reply, making the men aware that they hadn't made this a private conversation. I would have thought that there would be some respect for your privacy.

There is no privacy for a werewolf, Remus replied sourly.

They all heard Sirius' amused snort. Uhuh, he said dubiously and a little tentatively, clearly still getting used to this new method of communication. Because of course we all knew about this. It wasn't like we didn't have to scour most of the books in the restricted section to confirm our suspicions.

Most of them? Remus responded blandly.

Hey, you were Mr Studious, came the amused response from Sirius. If you'd been doing the research it would have been only half the books. He paused for a beat. Oh, hang on; if you'd been doing the research, we wouldn't have needed any books.

Hardy har har, came Remus' dry response. It was clear that this was a joke that had been made many times before.

Harry gave a mental laugh and they all saw a snatch of some kind of memory; one that had Remus detailing five things that identify himself as a werewolf, James and Sirius' amusement and Peter's clueless response. It cut off rather abruptly and they then heard Harry swear mentally.

Sorry! he said abruptly. I didn't know that was going to happen!

What was that? Hermione asked curiously. It looked like a genuine memory but I thought the only memories you had of your parents was what the Dementors gave you.

Harry snuck a rather nervous glance in the direction of Severus and found the Potions Master's face stormy and set.

Uh, it is a genuine memory, he said hesitantly.

Oh, it's a rather good one, isn't it? Hermione continued. Very funny.

Harry made an odd noise then realised that Hermione was only referring to what she had seen.

Uh, yeah, he said weakly, gaining curious looks from everyone except for Severus, Sirius and Remus.

Severus stared at the young man for a long moment then he said privately, I never believed you. I am sorry...and...thank you.

Of course I didn't tell! Harry replied hotly. I wouldn't do something like that. They didn't need to know and it was private.

So I see, Severus said.

"So will I need any training, like the others are doing?" Sirius said abruptly, looking to change the subject.

The Daemon Sidhe, who had been watching Harry and his court with interest, gave a start.

"Yes," Devante said, getting his mind back on track. "I'll give you some in depth training on defense since that will fundamentally be your job. When things move along a bit more, we'll integrate your training with Harry's and the others. You'll have to learn how to work with everyone at once. And they'll have to learn that the top of the chain of command is Harry, his Queen then you, the Champion."

Sirius blinked then grinned. "Queen?" he said with a sly look at Harry. "Now which of these young ladies would be filling that role?"

Harry blushed then scowled at his godfather. "None of your business."

"Ah but it is," Sirius laughed. "There's that whole chain of command thing but more importantly, I'm your godfather!"

"I'm his Queen," Ginny said shyly.

Sirius grinned at her. "Ah, I might have known. A red-head! There must be something about Potter men and red-heads."

Harry blushed as the others chuckled.

"Sirius!" Ginny said sternly, taking pity on Harry. "I believe the chain of command was Harry, me and then you. Are you sure you want to annoy us?" She smiled sweetly at him.

Sirius stared at her, his grin widening. "Probably not," he said cheerfully. "But I always braved Lily's temper so why not yours?"

"Yes, you always were a bit stupid," Remus said dryly.

"Hey!" Sirius said indignantly. "I wasn't stupid, I was just..."

"Brainless," Remus said in an even drier tone. "Impulsive? Reckless?"

"You say that like those are bad things," Sirius said mock-hurt. "I'll have you know I'm very proud of every Gryffindorish tendency I have. They annoyed my mother no end."

That comment tipped Remus over and he started laughing; he knew what Mrs Black had been like when they had been at school.

"Somehow that does not surprise me," Severus said archly.

Sirius kicked at Remus' feet in amusement. "Hey, I hated my whole Slytherin family and wanted nothing more than to be everything they weren't. Gryffindor seemed a good start."

Severus raised an eyebrow but refrained from making any more comments.

"Okay, time to get this back on track," Devante said with a small smile.

"Yes," Harry said firmly, snatching the conversational ball. "What about that dream I had where Sirius told me how to get him out of the Veil, except it wasn't Sirius at all? What's going on there?"

There were nods from many of the others; everyone had been worried about that from the moment they had heard that Sirius had no knowledge of the dream, wondering what exactly had invaded Harry's mind. The Daemon Sidhe turned to look at Awena, who was smiling softly.

"I believe I have an answer to that," the Seer said softly. "The Veil is a gateway to the other side but it was never meant to be used by those who are alive. Or rather those who enter must be dead, dying or condemned to death. A pathway then leads them to their destination."

"There was nothing like that for me," Sirius said. "Just endless fields."

"That is because you were not dead, dying or condemned to death," Awena said gently. "There was no destination for you. If Remus had not gone in after you, you would have wandered for all eternity."

Sirius' face was blank while he digested that thought. "That would have got pretty boring," he said finally, eliciting small laughs.

"Indeed," Awena replied. "Those who act as guardians of the plane between our world and the next do not like wanderers. They find it distressing. On the few occasions it has happened, the guardians have tried to contact someone in our world to retrieve the wanderer." Her face became sad. "Mostly they have failed and the guardians have eventually had to kill the wanderer. Humans cannot remain in that plane for too long before their sanity is destroyed. The guardians were only being kind. In this case, they were able to reach you, Harry. Probably because of the strong feelings of love between you and your godfather. That would have made it easier for them."

Harry nodded slowly. "And they appeared as Sirius because I would believe them."

"Correct," Awena said, looking pleased. "And thankfully you did. This will greatly change the way things are going to proceed. You have gained a great advantage. This is the first time the full court has been assembled."

"How is it an advantage?" Harry asked curiously.

"Previously our kings have had to worry greatly about their own safety," Devante explained. "To the point where it has actually been an inhibition. In more than one case, it has contributed to their death. By having a Champion, that burden is largely taken off your shoulders. Sirius is responsible for your safety now."

"Good," Sirius said with deep satisfaction. "I can do that."

Harry just grinned at him as Devante continued, "That means that you become, not necessarily more powerful, but more able to direct your power where it needs to go."

"Well," Gwydion said with satisfaction. "This is going far better than any of us thought. I think it might be best if we called it a night. You've had an interesting time and the rest you get while in Dreamtime isn't the same as proper sleep.

There were a few grumbles from Ron and Hermione but everyone else agreed and they each made their way out of Dreamtime and back to their own slumber.