Sirius' stomach may have been loudly growling at him
with hunger pangs but it was news about his godson he was really starved of. That was why the letter on top of the basket Dobby brought him got opened first, rather than the delicious smelling wrapped food it sat upon. As Sirius read the letter from Moony, he began to wonder if his hunger was worse than he'd thought - and starvation was actually affecting his mind. Surely this couldn't be true?
Reading how his godson, and his betrothed, had pranked Snivilus though immediately had a warm feeling welling up inside of Sirius. He didn't think he could have been prouder of those two. Turning back time to rescue him was pretty bloody special, but publicly taking down Snape - in front of the entire school and staff - wasn't too shabby either. While laughing his arse off at the prank, Sirius was also a little angry at himself for not considering casting something in Snape's direction when he had the chance.
Sitting down and eventually eating some of the wonderful food Dobby brought him, Sirius was still chewing over the letter's contents. Moony had mentioned that the only memory Harry had of his mother before that night was dementor induced, and had Lily begging Voldemort to kill her instead. That just seemed to emphasise how badly Sirius had failed his godson, and he couldn't even manage to kill the dirty rat that caused all of this.
Reading of the unbelievable task thrust upon his godson's young shoulders left Sirius ready to weep for the amount of shit fate seemed determined to bury Harry under. Lost both parents as a toddler, both godparents 'indisposed' so forced to live with magic-hating relatives and now prophesied to take on a Dark Lord the entire country thinks is already dead - yet are still terrified to even mention him by name. Remus though wrote at great length about how Harry and Hermione were desperate for them to help with the task that seemed to have been predetermined by prophecy to be Harry's, which is exactly what Sirius intended to do.
It would also seem his godson had a monster of a prank planned on Voldemort's richest supporters, something Sirius wholeheartedly agreed with. Hitting them where it really hurt, grasping them tightly by their vaults and tugging, would certainly start their payback. Hearing what happened in the infirmary also reinforced Lily's dire warning to Harry that Dumbledore was not their friend, though it seems things might be even worse than she thought they were.
Sirius had asked Dobby for some parchment, ink and quills - only to be told there was a supply at the bottom of the basket, along with some clean clothes. He would be making a list of what he thought they needed to do, getting his thoughts jotted down before writing back to Remus. He loved Harry's idea of making Remus Steward to his family, and intended to do the same for his own. His mother would be turning in her grave at the thought of a werewolf as Steward to the House of Black.
Even with Hermione deliberately closing their bond down as much as she could manage, Harry still sensed there was something really bothering her. Moving a rather large rock from the tunnel's caved-in ceiling, Harry sat down on one edge of it for a minute.
"Take a break, Hermione. Sit here and tell me what's bothering you?"
Trying to move her dirty hair from her eyes, Hermione sat beside her betrothed. "You mean apart from being filthy, cold and knackered?"
Putting his arm around her, Harry pulled Hermione close and gently kissed her lips. "Now, could we have the real reason please?"
With a slump of her shoulders and a sigh, she let out part of what was bothering her. "Harry, are we moving too fast here?"
"Not two minutes ago you were complaining that this was taking ages." Seeing her smile, Harry promised that things between them would proceed at whatever pace they were both happy with. He then pushed for the real reason she was worried and Hermione duly obliged.
"It's my mum and dad, I feel as if I'm going to be abandoning them. The minute Dumbledore discovers you're not at Privet Drive, he'll come looking for me and Ron. Me not being there opens my parents up to being told any sort of lies - and that's assuming he doesn't take his wand out. If he does then things could get really ugly - and Dumbledore's the good guy. I really want to be with you but feel I need to protect them too. I don't know what to do…"
Tightening his hold on Hermione, Harry began basically thinking out loud on any ideas to try and fix this problem. "The Dursley house has protective wards on it, we could get some of those placed on your house. We could also see about emergency portkeys for your mum and dad too. I'm sure Dobby wouldn't mind keeping an eye on the house, getting us to them if we're needed…"
Harry never got to say anymore as Hermione was using his lips for a whole different purpose. It took a minute or so before Hermione could actually say what she wanted but Harry wasn't complaining. "Thank you, Harry. I know you're angry at my parents for the way they treat me, I guess I was worried you were just going to leave them to fend for themselves. I think I needed to hear you say the words."
"I know it's been a hectic few days but, after this job tonight, we've got nothing else planned until it's time to leave for home. We'll have plenty of time to sit and sort things like this out. Now, these rocks aren't going to move themselves…"
At that, Dobby appeared and snapped his fingers. Both teens had to shoot to their feet as the large rock they'd been sitting on flew over to join its neighbours as the little elf magically repaired the tunnel.
"Dobby, that's wonderful…" Two steaming mugs of cocoa were gratefully accepted by the
young couple who were only now beginning to grasp just how powerful their little friend was.
"Dobby has folder from Steward Remus. Do you want Dobby to clear this up while you read it?"