Chapter Three, Grimmauld Place

Sirius led his Godson across the road and onto the path opposite the houses eleven and thirteen. Harry looked to his left and saw number ten was next to number eleven, but there was no number twelve, he then turned hesitantly to Sirius to ask why there was no number twelve, when Sirius said, "Wait a minute, Harry." Harry nodded then turned back to the houses and gasped. Right in the gap in between numbers eleven and thirteen, an house, a real house was actually growing there and was pushing numbers eleven and thirteen aside.

A few seconds later the house had fully materialised and Harry saw it had a golden number twelve on the door. Harry's mouth was hanging open and Sirius chuckled at him, effectively making Harry close his mouth. "W-wouldn't anyone of noticed that?" Harry asked.

"No, Muggles can't see this house, not many wizards and witches can either. They can only see this house if I tell them where it is." Sirius replied. "It's surrounded with Protection Charms."

"What are Muggles?" Harry asked interested.

"It's what we call people who don't have a drop of Magical blood in them, like your Aunt, Uncle and cousin." Sirius replied leading Harry up the steps to the front door, which Harry noticed had no letter box, or a keyhole, instead it just had a door bell and a knocker that was in the shape of a large silver snake. "Muggles are not very nice; well..." Harry paused for a moment before continuing. "Not all of them just my aunt Petunia, uncle Vernon, my cousin Dudley and his gang are not very nice." Harry said sadly.

"Don't worry Prongslet; you will never be seeing any of them again." Sirius said soothingly, but inside his blood was boiling with rage, at the unspoken words of Harry's treatment with the Dursleys. "Why did you call me Prongslet?" Harry asked. "Well," Sirius said crouching down on the step next to Harry and placing his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Your dad, James was my best friend and his nickname to me and my other best friend Remus was Prongs, and as you are his son your nickname is Prongslet, I used to call you it when you were a baby, to tease Lily and James."

"Did they have a nickname for you and what about your other friend Remus?" Harry asked quietly. "My nickname is Padfoot, as I can turn into a dog and Remus' nickname is Moony." Sirius replied. "Okay." Harry said, and then he hesitantly gave Sirius a hug which Sirius returned at full measure. "Now Harry, I want you to stay very close to me when we enter the house as I haven't lived in this house for years and I don't know what state it will be in, even though my mother only died a few years ago, but she was going mad so it might be in a horrible state, so don't touch anything, okay?" Sirius said sternly.

Harry nodded, and Sirius stood up again and took hold of Harry's hand. He then took his wand out of his pocket and touched the door with it. From inside they could hear the sound of the locks magically unlocking. Sirius opened the door, making sure he had a firm grip on Harry's hand. They entered the hallway, Harry keeping very close to Sirius' side, once they were both inside, the door closed behind them and they were plunged into darkness. Sirius waved his wand and all the lamps in the hall flickered into life, even the candelabra above them which also had snakes on it, golden this time and flickered to live. They then noticed that the dark green carpet was fraying, the wallpaper peeling, and that everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, and that there was also wax and cobweb hanging from the snake candelabra. Sirius sighed and pulled Harry closer to him, and waved his wand again, this time making the dust, wax and cobwebs disappear. "That will have to do for now I suppose." Sirius mumbled. "Come on Harry lets go upstairs." He then led Harry towards the stairs, as they were walking up the first flight of stairs, they noticed the elf heads on the wall and Sirius made a noise of disgust, and pulled Harry even closer to him.

When they were on the first floor, Harry noticed long black hangings on the wall up ahead on his right, which flew open as they got closer. It revealed an extremely old woman dressed in black, she then began screaming. "HOW DARE YOU RETURN TO THIS HOUSE, YOU FILTHY BLOOD TRAITOR?"

Sirius felt Harry jump back in fright, and held his hand tighter. "SHUT UP! YOU MISERABLE OLD HAG! YOU PUT YOURSELF ON THE WALL!" Sirius shouted in disgust, he then pointed his wand at the portrait, there was a jet of red light and the portrait fell silent and the hangings fell back into place.

"S-Sirius w-why w-was t-that p-portrait s-screaming?" Harry asked. Sirius turned to face Harry and noticed he was pale and he was shaking, and drew him into a hug. "It's alright Prongslet that was just a portrait of my mad old mother." Sirius explained. "Come on lets carry on upstairs." He then led Harry up to the very last landing of the house. There were two doors on this floor, one that Sirius' name on the door and the other one that had his brother's name on the door. 'Regulus Arcturus Black', Sirius then led Harry into Regulus' old room.

Sirius waved his wand making the lamps flicker on, he waved it for a second time and all the dust and cobwebs disappeared from every surface including the bed. All the furniture in the room was made of a rich, dark mahogany wood, including the beds frame, bedside table, wardrobe, desk and chair and the bookshelf which was on the opposite wall to the door. Near the large windows, the desk, chair and wardrobe were on the wall opposite the small king-sized bed. The wallpaper was green and silver; there was also a Slytherin banner and some yellowing newspaper clippings above the bed, in the beds headboard the Black Family motto 'Toujours Pur' was engraved into it.

On the wall above the desk was an old photograph with seven people all dressed in long green robes and all holding a broomstick each, Harry gasped, the reason for him gasping because when he looked at it the people in the photo were actually moving. Sirius smiled down at his shocked Godson, "That Harry is a photo of my brother and his Quidditch team at Hogwarts,"

At Harry's confused look, Sirius explained further. "Quidditch is a wizards sport played on brooms, it's sort of like football in the Muggle World, it's what we play at Hogwarts but it can be played professionally. The photo is moving because all photos in the Wizarding World move, unlike in the Muggle World where they stay still. I think its better when they move, makes them more interesting to look at." Sirius explained. "I like it better when they move too, Sirius." Harry said smiling up at his Godfather.

Sirius liked it when Harry smiled and the fact that he was making Harry smile it made me feel happier than he had felt in a long time, Harry's smile seemed to be infectious as Sirius himself couldn't help but smile at the little boy who was still clinging to his hand.

Sirius took off Harry's rucksack and placed it on the floor by the desk, Harry sat in the chair in front of the desk, Sirius crouched down in front of Harry so they were at eye-level and said, "Harry, this used to be my brother's room, but now it is yours, my room is just opposite this room. I want you to stay in here, while I go down to the kitchen and see if there is anything to eat. I want you to stay in here because this house hasn't been lived in for years, and some rooms might not be habitable and I don't want to risk you getting hurt. Okay?"

Harry didn't want to stay in here by himself he wanted to stay with Sirius, but by the look on his Godfather's face, told Harry why Sirius didn't want him going into the other rooms, so Harry nodded his understanding to Sirius. "Good boy." Sirius said ruffling Harry's hair and making him smile. "You can sleep in here and tomorrow we can clean up this house together, as a team." Harry nodded enthusiastically; he liked the sound of that. The idea of helping Sirius it made him think that they were a team, and he liked the sound of that.

Sirius couldn't understand why Harry was so enthusiastic about staying in Regulus' Slytherin bedroom, when his Gryffindor bedroom was much cooler and he told Harry this, making the small child laugh. "I'm not staying in here 'cause of that Sirius, your bedroom sound better, but you said I could help you tomorrow, that means you want me and you said we could be a team." Harry said shyly.

Sirius smiled sadly at the small boy in front of him, he then pulled Harry onto his lap into a tight hug. "We are a team Harry, and I do want you, I love you and I'm going to take care of you." Harry nodded into Sirius' shoulder. "Sirius?" Harry asked his voice, muffled by Sirius' clothes. "Yes, Prongslet?" Sirius asked curiously, he was surprised Harry had taken to him so quickly when he hardly knows him, Sirius doubted that Harry remembered him from when he was a baby, but then Sirius thought he might otherwise he might not of taken to him so quickly.

"What are Gryffindor and Slytherin?" Harry asked his head still buried in Sirius' shoulder. Sirius pulled back slightly so he could see Harry's face. "You know I told you about Hogwarts." Sirius said, when he saw Harry's nod he continued. "Well, Gryffindor and Slytherin are two of the school houses, there's four. There's Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. I, Remus, your mother and father were all in Gryffindor and in the same year, my brother who was a year younger than me was in Slytherin." Sirius replied. Harry nodded and Sirius gave him one last hug and placed him back in the chair, while smiling lovingly at the small boy who he has always loved as his own son. "Right, I'm going to go down to the kitchens to see if there is anything to eat, I want you to stay in this room." Sirius said sternly, Harry nodded and Sirius got up off the floor. He smiled reassuringly at his Godson and left the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He then made his way down stairs towards the kitchen.

Once Sirius had entered the kitchen he waved his wand to restore some light to the depressing desolate kitchen. After the light had been restored, Sirius then noticed that the kitchen was in even worse shape than the hallways, or Regulus' bedroom. He then noticed that by one of the cupboard doors there was something that looked liked Doxy droppings. Sirius walked across the kitchen to one of the cupboards and took out a large jug and two glasses, after cleaning them with a powerful 'Scorgify', he entered the pantry on the other side of the kitchen, and started looking for something to eat and drink. Sirius then noticed that there was some orange juice and some crusty rolls, it wasn't much but at least it was something. He waved his wand to make sure they were fit to eat and drink, and realised they had an 'Ever-lasting Charm' on them. He picked them up and some plates (after cleaning them is the same way as the jug and cups) and made his way out of the pantry and the kitchen and started making his way back upstairs to Harry, he didn't want to leave Harry on his own, but he also didn't want a Doxy to bite him and their venom could be deadly to such a small child like Harry, and by the looks of the Doxy droppings in the kitchen there was definitely an infestation, but he put it from his mind for now he would deal with them in the morning, while Harry was still asleep. He also made a mental note to check the other rooms in the morning for any more infestations.

Meanwhile, back in Regulus' old bedroom, Harry was sitting at the desk looking around the room, Harry was sitting at the desk looking around the room, and he noticed that the bookshelf on the other side of the room was full to bursting with books. He slowly got out of the chair and started walking slowly towards the book shelf. When suddenly there was a loud pop, right before the book shelf and the strangest creature Harry had ever seen before appeared. It had large bat-like ears, a snout-like nose, large yellow tennis-ball shaped eyes and its skin seemed to hang of it in wrinkly folds. Before, Harry could do anything the strange creature turned around and saw Harry and fixed him with his large yellowed-eyed stare. But then it spoke and its voice shocked Harry as it sounded like a Bull frogs croak. "What is this boy doing in Master Regulus' room, Kreacher doesn't know." The creature croaked, taking a step towards Harry, who took a step backwards. "Kreacher, will stop this filthy thief from taking any of Master Regulus' things, if he has, if has taken anything. Oh, Kreacher will make the thief pay." It then snapped its fingers and then to Harry shock he found he couldn't move a muscle.

Fear was quickly filling Harry, he wished Sirius was here, the creature then took another step towards Harry, and then Harry started shouting for Sirius. "Sirius, Sirius, Sirius. SIRIUS!" Harry screamed at the top of his voice, he couldn't stop his voice from shaking as the fear and panic reached an ultimate high now. A few seconds later the bedroom door burst open, and Sirius came in with his wand raised, he also seemed to be panting, and evidently he had run up the stairs. He then noticed that Kreacher had closed the gap between him and Harry. "KREACHER!" Sirius shouted. "LET HARRY GO!"

"Kreacher will not let the thief go, Kreacher found him here and if he has stolen anything Kreacher will make him pay." croaked the creature.

"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" Sirius roared. "HE IS MY GODSON, NOT A THIEF. NOW. LET. HIM. GO!" Kreacher gave Sirius a nasty look, before clicking his fingers; he then disappeared with a very large crack. Sirius placed the rolls, plates, glasses and the jug down on the desk and walked over o Harry.

"Are you okay Harry?" Sirius asked worriedly. Harry nodded fear still etched on his face, and Sirius drew him into a tight loving, calming hug. "I'm so sorry Harry." Sirius apologised. "I-its o-okay, Sirius." Harry replied. Sirius sat Harry down in the chair at the desk and handed Harry his roll, while Sirius poured them both some orange juice, Harry turned to Sirius. "What was that?" "That Harry was Kreacher the house-elf that lives here, they're meant to keep the house clean, and make food and stuff like that Merlin knows what Kreacher has been doing instead." Sirius replied.

Now that they had finished eating, the lights in the room and gotten brighter, Sirius was able to clearly see the state his Godson was in, his glasses were held together with a lot of cello-tape, he had a black eye and it also looked like he had a split lip. "Harry how did you get the black eye and the split lip, and how did your glasses get broken?" Sirius asked concerned. Harry bowed his head and looked at his hands that were clasped tightly in his lap. "My cousin Dudley and his gang p-played t-there f-favourite g-game 'H-Harry H-hunting'." Harry replied quietly, so quietly Sirius had to strain to hear him.

Sirius was angry, no he was more than angry he was fucking pissed at the barbaric game Harry's cousin and his friends play and on Harry as well. He then remembered what Harry had told him earlier that evening. "H-has your uncle ever hit you Harry?" Harry nodded; Sirius took a deep breath trying to get his temper under control before asking again. "W-where has he hit you?" Sirius couldn't stop his voice from shaking as he wished that none of this was true and that Harry wasn't abused, but he knew Harry wasn't lying to him.

"He punched me a few times, a-and t-then h-he u-used h-his b-belt." Harry said in between sobs. Sirius took an intake of breath as he was trying to calm himself down for Harry's sake as his temper was already bubbling below the surface waiting to be let out. "Where..." Sirius cleared his throat then tried again; he was going to murder that Muggle for even thinking of laying a sausage like finger on his precious little Godson. "Where did h-he u-use the b-belt?"

"H-he...used it on...on my b-back...a-and m-my a-ankles." Harry replied through his steadily rising sobs. Sirius pulled his sobbing Godson into his arms trying to calm him down a little before he asked to see how deep the cuts were so he could clean them. After a good ten minutes Harry had calmed down enough so Sirius placed Harry back into the chair and asked his next question, even though he hated himself for making Harry this upset but he knew he had to do it in order to clean them to stop them getting infected.

"Can...can you show me please, it's just so I can clean them. Please Harry." Sirius asked gently, his voice betraying the anger he felt deep inside him at what Vernon Dursley had done to his little boy. Harry nodded with fresh tears running down his face. He then took off old and battered trainers and socks, then he rolled the baggy trouser leg up five times just so Sirius could see both of his ankles which had deep, fresh cuts on them.

"N-now could I see your back please Harry." Sirius said, forcing himself to stay calm which was becoming increasingly difficult. Harry nodded and let go of his trouser legs and pulled the ragged blanket off of his shoulders which Sirius had just noticed was still around his Godson's small shoulders. Harry then turned around in the chair so his back was to Sirius. Sirius had stop himself from gasping out loud, so as not to upset Harry even further but it was a close shave. Sirius knew how bad Harry's back was from just looking at his shirt which had a lot of blood stains on it.

"R-right roll your jeans back up so I can clean your ankles, then I will do your back." Sirius said as he conjured a bowl of Luke-warm water and a cloth, he placed the cloth into the water and turned to face Harry, who had turned back around to face Sirius. Sirius then carefully wiped the blood off of Harry's ankles making sure, they were clean. Once Sirius was satisfied that the cuts were clean enough, Sirius performed a spell to stop any dirt from getting into the cuts and prevented them from getting infected.

He waved his wand and replaced the bloody cloth and water with a clean cloth and some clean Luke-warm water. "Right Harry, take your shirt off so I can clean the cuts on your back." Harry nodded and handed his shirt to Sirius, who waved his wand saying, "'Scorgify'" and all the blood vanished from the shirt. Sirius then proceeded to clean the cuts on Harry's small back, with Harry wincing every so often, making Sirius frown, he knew he would have to get Harry checked out by a proper Healer soon but he was on the run, maybe he could disguise himself. But then he remembered that his cousin Andromeda was a fully trained Healer maybe if he could convince her that he was innocent she could come over and treat Harry. Sirius then turned his attention back to the matter at hand he would deal with Andromeda another time; right now he had to make sure he cleaned the deep cuts on his Godson's back. After awhile of gently cleaning the cuts on Harry's back, Sirius performed the same spell he used on Harry's ankles; he then passed Harry his shirt and after Harry had put it back on Sirius pulled Harry into a tight loving hug. Harry smelled in Sirius' scent while he cried and Sirius whispered reassurances while holding him tighter to his chest. Harry sort of remembered Sirius scent it was like he had half forgotten it, and was now starting to remember it but now it represented much more. It represented that he was safe and loved in Sirius' strong loving arms.

After a few minutes they broke apart but Harry was still sitting on Sirius' lap and Sirius didn't have the heart to tell him to get off and nor did he want Harry to get off either instead he just pointed his wand at the blood stained cloth and cold bloody water and they vanished into nothing. After it was gone he turned to Harry. "Right, time for bed Prongslet I will be sleeping in here with you tonight, is that alright?" Sirius said. Harry nodded his head trying and failing to stifle a yawn. "Right, let's change your clothes into a pair of soft, red cotton pyjamas with golden lions on them." Harry smiled and nodded his head at his Godfather, he then gasped as his old and baggy shirt and jeans turned into the pyjamas Sirius had mentioned. Harry looked down at his new pyjamas in wonder, before looking up at Sirius. "Thank-you Sirius." Harry said giving him a hug. "Don't mention it." Sirius said ruffling Harry's hair before turning his robes into a pair of soft, red cotton pyjamas exactly like Harry's except there was no golden lions on them. "Right, come on into bed Prongslet." Sirius smiled as Harry tried to stifle another yawn. Sirius was shocked when Harry just nodded and got off of his lap and climbed into bed. 'Where is that boy's fire, I have never known a seven year old, not to argue about going to bed?'Sirius thought. 'I bet it was those bloody Dursleys, they will pay for what they've done to my Prongslet.'

Sirius then placed his wand onto the bedside table before climbing into bed next to Harry. Once Sirius was next to Harry under the covers, Harry snuggled up close to Sirius, laying his head on the soft pillow. Sirius smiled at his small Godson beside him, he then took Harry's glasses off and put them on the bedside table next to his wand, before he put his arms protectively around his Godson's small form and held him close. Sirius then picked up his wand again and flicked it to extinguish the light in the room. Sirius placed the wand back on the bedside table before he shifted under the cover to get more comfortable, Harry thinking that Sirius doesn't want him near him anymore moved away, but Sirius his arms around him and pulled him closer and started stroking Harry's messy black hair. "It's alright Harry I was just getting comfy, you didn't need to move." Sirius said he liked having Harry lying there as he was also starved of affection while he was in Azkaban for six years. Harry nodded into the pillow, while Sirius kept stroking his hair Harry liked that feeling it made him feel loved. "Goodnight, Prongslet." Sirius said, he then gave Harry a kiss on his head, and then continued to stroke Harry's hair trying to lull him to sleep. "G'night Sirius." Came Harry's sleepy reply, he then fell straight to sleep, with Sirius falling asleep not long after him, but he had a huge grin on his face.