Sirius and the Leaky Cauldron
Harry sat down on the sidewalk and contemplated his next move. He heard a rustling of leaves and looked over. He did a double take. He could not believe his eyes! Was it really truly him?
"Padfoot!" Harry exclaimed, jumping up from his spot. The big, black, shaggy dog stopped in its retreat and turned around, its tongue lolling to one side. Harry ran over to his godfather and dropped down to his knees. "Padfoot! It's you!"
Harry looked around. This was not the best place to have such an important conversation. "Hey boy, want to come with me to the Leaky Cauldron?" Harry asked Padfoot. The dog barked and bounced its head. Harry took that to mean yes. "Well, come on then." Harry directed and grabbed the scruff of the dog's neck.
How are we going to get there? Harry wondered. He thought for a moment. The Knight bus worked last time. Well, if it's not broke, don't fix it! He held up his wand and the purple bus came roaring to a stop.
*"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stanley Shunpike and will be your conductor this eve-"* He stopped and looked over at Harry holding a dog by the scruff of its neck. "Is that a dog?"
"Yes sir, this is my dog, Snuffles. Are dogs not allowed on the Knight Bus?" Harry asked, concerned. Heck, he hadn't done this before.
"Nope, your dog's fine. The more the merrier, that's what I always say." Stanley replied. He took the money Harry offered him and Harry made to sit down. "Where to?"
"The Leaky Cauldron," Harry answered.
The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful, and went on like it had before. When they arrived at the Leaky, he was not surprised to find Cornelius Fudge there as he got off the bus.
*"There you are, Harry,"* Fudge intoned, bustling around to get a good sight of Harry.
"Uhm, hello." Harry greeted, suddenly very concerned. He looked down at Sirius who was starting to growl at the minister.
"And who might this be?" Fudge asked the teen as he knelt down to get a better look at the dog. Harry's heart began to race. What could he say?
"This is my dog, Shadow. Shadow, be nice." Harry ordered, giving his godfather a quick pat on the hindquarters as the black dog growled and snapped at the Minister. He didn't know if the pat shut Sirius up or common sense did, but he was sure glad Sirius stopped.
Fudge showed Harry into the Leaky Cauldron, where they sat down and chatted for a little bit. Fudge gave the same little speech he had previously, and Harry feigned interest. He was grateful when Fudge took his leave, and Harry closed the door to his rented room behind the robust gentleman.
Harry looked over at Sirius, still in dog form.
"Okay, Sirius, you can come out now." Harry assured. The dog looked at him like he had grown a second head, but soon complied. Fairly shortly, he had a room full of escaped felon on his hands. He then murmured into his wrist-galleon, "Found Padfoot. Apparate to the Leaky Cauldron."
He had to stifle a laugh when he heard Draco's voice coming back at him. "Who the heck's Padfoot?"
"Come to the Leaky Cauldron and find out!" Harry replied.
Meanwhile, Sirius sat down. He was very confused. How did Harry know who he was? Who was Harry talking to? What was going on?
Harry looked over at Sirius as he heard the first pop sound.
"Don't worry, we'll explain soon." Harry promised as Hermione rushed into the room.
"Sirius!" She cried as she ran to hug him. Sirius, though confused, was never one to refuse a hug from a pretty girl, and graciously accepted the hug from Hermione. At that point, another pop sounded and Draco came walking in, staring dumbfoundedly at Hermione gushing over a ragged and tired-looking Sirius Black. Draco stopped and quickly shut the door and put a silencing charm up. The last thing Harry Potter needed was to be found with a convicted mass murderer hidden in his room.
Draco then turned around and exclaimed, "What in the WORLD is going on?"
"I was just about to ask that same thing," Sirius agreed, looking confused and confounded. Hermione finally realized what she was doing and let go of the man, brushing invisible dirt off of her shirt and skirt, trying to make the awkward situation less awkward.
"I think we should tell him." Harry announced to Draco and Hermione. Sirius quirked an eye brow.
"What? Harry, no!" Hermione argued. Draco remained silent. He was NOT about to get in the middle of Harry and his godfather, but he did NOT want to debate Hermione.
"He could prove useful, and I will not allow my godfather to spend the whole year starving off in a cave somewhere." Harry refuted.
"But Harry, remember what," she looked over at Sirius and whispered, "they said. We really cannot risk telling him. Back me up, Draco." Draco shook his head resolutely. Hermione sighed. "FINE! Go tell the whole world, while you're at it," she grumbled. "See if I care." She walked over to a corner of the room, crossed her arms, and sat down.
Sirius had had enough.
"WHAT is going ON here?" Sirius yelled. Draco suddenly felt very glad he had put up the silencing charm.
"Sirius, you may want to sit down for this." Harry suggested. Sirius sat down on the side of the bed. Draco sat down in the desk chair. Harry hemmed and hawed for a moment. What was he to say? Well, maybe he should get the worst part over first. "We're time travelers."
There was a moment of silence. And another. And another. Finally, Sirius stood up.
"Harry, I think you need to sit down. Now, I'm going to call some very nice people in green robes that are going to come and take you to a very nice place where I know you won't hurt yourself." Sirius promised as he slowly maneuvered over to Harry.
"He's not crazy. Well, he's not lying. I can't say he's not crazy…" Draco said, as he blocked the door.
"Hey!" Harry defended. "I'm not crazy!"
"Quirrellmort?"
"Well, you can't say…"
"Basilisk?"
"That wasn't entirely…"
"We have a convicted mass murderer hiding in your room!"
"Fine, I'm nuts, but can we please get on the same page here." Harry finally agreed.
"We really are time travelers." Hermione piped up.
"Okay, let's say you're time travelers…" Sirius started.
"It would explain why I knew you were Padfoot." Harry finished.
"But that could be…"
"And how I'm not taking you straight to Azkaban."
"But, that's not…"
"And why I know Remus is a werewolf."
Sirius stopped. This kid seemed to know everything. But, time travel? Really? And the first thing the kid did was pick him up off the street and drag him to the Leaky Cauldron?
"Why? Why contact me?" Sirius asked.
"Because, like I said, I don't want you starving in a cave somewhere. I know you're innocent. I know you did not rat on my parents. No pun intended, by the way." Harry chuckled.
"No, the real rat is waiting for us back at the Burrow." Hermione added, rolling her eyes in disgust.
"Okay, okay, I believe you three." Sirius took a good look at Draco. He squinted his eyes a moment and came closer to the blond. "You're Lucius Malfoy's son, aren't you?"
"Well, I guess I am cursed with that moniker, aren't I?" Draco moaned. He held out his hand to the older man. "Draco Malfoy."
"Sirius Black." Sirius replied, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you, cousin."
"Don't remind me." Draco murmured as he resumed his post in front of the door.
"So, what made you come back in time. It's an illegal act, you know. Not that I care." Sirius quickly added.
"Well, last time around, we inadvertently killed all of wizarding kind. Fate and Time decided to give us another go." Harry explained.
"So, how do I help to stop the end of wizarding kind?" Sirius asked.
"Well, you don't. Not really. I just don't want to spend five minutes with you and then see you get killed in the Ministry of Magic." Harry replied.
"What?" Sirius yelped.
So, the three of them described, in detail, what happened last time around. They started with first year up until this coming year and went on to explain what Fate and Time had said.
"What can I do to help?" Sirius asked.
"Stay out of the way and go to Grimmauld Place?" Hermione suggested hopefully.
"Actually…" Harry started.
"No, Harry, no. Whatever you're thinking, no." Hermione interrupted.
"No, wait a minute, Mione. Let him talk." Draco rebuffed.
"We could take him to Hogwarts with us. He could go as Padfoot." Harry offered. Sirius looked at him hopefully.
"And what will happen when Remus sees him and recognizes him?" Hermione countered.
"What if we dyed his hair blond?" Harry suggested.
"Yeah, actually that could work. Once, James jokingly died my hair neon pink as a prank. When I turned into Padfoot-to attack him-I was completely pink!" Sirius recollected wistfully. Hermione sighed again.
"Fine, it looks like I am outvoted this time." Hermione mumbled. "But, if we're taking you to Hogwarts, we need to set some boundaries."
"Okay, boundaries. I can try boundaries." Sirius promised.
"First, you cannot kill Peter Pettigrew." Hermione listed. Sirius muffled a groan.
"Second, you cannot prank my godfather." Draco added. Sirius looked confused.
"Who is your godfather? Why would I prank him?" Sirius asked innocently.
"Severus Snape," Draco replied sternly.
"Snivelous? What's he doing at Hogwarts?" Sirius complained.
"First of all, you will not use that name with him, Padfoot. He is the reason we got as far as we did in the war and he deserves our respect, no matter that we think of him personally. Second, he is the Potions Master." Harry explained carefully.
Sirius sighed. "Fine, what's number three?"
"Third, you can't tell Moony." Harry finished.
"What? I can't tell Moony? But I have to! I have to tell him I'm sorry. I should have never expected him to be the spy! How could we not have figured out that the ratwould rat on us?" Sirius argued.
"Sirius, we have to let things play out. They have to go as close to similar as possible; otherwise, Time will get upset." Harry explained.
"Which is why we're bringing the escaped convict to Hogwarts with us." Hermione mumbled angrily. Harry scowled at her.
"Just because we have to allow the broad brushstrokes to remain the same, doesn't mean the details must." Harry defended.
They all stopped for a moment. Sirius looked at the three teens staring at him intently.
"Fine, I won't tell Moony." He agreed.
*The Prisoner of Azkaban p. 33, 42