Harry Potter: The Shadow’s Heir

"So, Harry. You ready to live with a probably mad ex-convict?"

"Shut up, Blaise"

"Sorry, sorry," Blaise said, raising his hands in a placating gesture, "I just think it's bizarre, that-"

"Of course it's fucking bizarre!"

"Harry, relax. It's not exactly something you can hide. Not since that article, anyway"

' Fucking Rita Skeeter' Harry thought darkly, ' bitch has to put everything out there. If she's the one who's gonna write about my childhood…'

"What I meant, was it's bizarre that one of the biggest news stories of the last thirteen years, was that Black was innocent. And the whole article is talking about how he's gonna get custody of you"

"I know," Harry said, stabbing his bacon. "I haven't even met him, not really"

"But-"

"Yeah, I was at the trial. But I didn't exactly get a chance to speak to him"

"So you saw Pettigrew get the Kiss?" Tracy said eagerly.

"Yeah," Harry said, stabbing his bacon again. It shattered very satisfactorily.

"So?"

"So what?"

"Did you see it?" She half-shouted, half-whispered, "his soul?"

"Yeah. Wasn't much though"

"What do you mean, wasn't much?" She had that look on her face. The one she wore throughout every lesson.

' God, she's trying to memorize what I'm saying'

"It was just this blob. A silvery blob. Didn't look like anything"

"What exactly happened? The Dementor just-"

"Just sucked it out. You could see it moving up his chest; then it hung in mid-air for a second, then the Dementor swallowed it"

"What happened to him?"

"Um. They said they're giving his body to the department of mysteries, and-"

"No, no. I meant what happened once his soul was taken?"

"Oh. He was just-done? Like he was nothing. His head just kinda flopped forward, and-"

"Ugh! Do you have to talk about this while we're eating?" Pansy shot them a dirty look.

For a second, hot rage filled Harry.

' Bitch! You're mine! Don't you-'

He cleared his mind, almost without having to think about it.

"Sorry babe," he said, putting an arm around her. She tensed, almost imperceptibly.

' What's that all about?'

"Blame Tracy though, she brought it up"

"I do blame her," Pansy said, primly, "and I blame you for encouraging her"

Of course, there were other side effects to the whole Sirius Black being an innocent story.

Side effects such as Peter Pettigrew's hideout for the last twelve years having been brought to light.

"Hey, Weasley" Draco called, "I hear that Pettigrew was going to teach your whole family to turn into rats. Apparently, it would mean you could all have more space in your hovel"

Weasley's ears went a bright red, and he turned around, Granger gripping his arm.

Draco didn't let up though. "I also heard that Pettigrew wanted to hide from the Dark Lord. But he couldn't handle the stench of muggles, so he-"

Draco's speech was cut off by Granger spinning around, and slapping him across the face.

"Lousy, rotten-"

For a moment, no-one could do anything but stare. The bitch actually hit Draco again, and Harry and Theo just watched, wide-eyed.

"Get off me, Ron!" She said, squirming out of Weasley's grip and drawing her wand.

For a moment, all Harry could think of was to Crucio her.

' Azkaban for life!'

Sanity quickly reasserted itself, and he hit her with a stupefy instead.

As Granger fell, Weasley gave an unintelligible roar and charged right at the three Slytherins.

' Idiot hasn't even drawn his wand'

"Stupefy!"

The red jet hit Weasley, and Harry lowered his wand as the ginger cunt fell to the ground.

"Holy fuck" Theo whispered, sounding awestruck.

"That bitch! That dirty, stinking, mudblood bitch! She hit me"

"We saw," Harry said, still looking down at her prone form.

' She needs to learn her place' a sly voice whispered.

"How dare she! Mudblood bitch!"

' Teach her a lesson'

Harry felt something stirring as he looked at the unconscious form.

"So what should we do with her?" He muttered, still not looking up.

"W-what do you mean? Harry?" Theo sounded very nervous.

"She needs to learn a lesson," he said quietly. "Someone needs to put her in her place"

' Repressed bookworm. She's probably fucking wild if you get her naked'

"Harry? I-I think we should j-just leave her here. Don't wanna get caught or anything"

"Don't worry, Theo. Draco, what do you think?"

Draco shared a worried look with Theo. Harry still hadn't looked up.

"What did you have in mind?" He asked, impressed at how he managed to keep his voice level.

"I don't know," Harry said, breath coming quicker, "we could take her back to our rooms, or even-Oh!" He straightened his neck, meeting Draco's eyes with his own. "The Chamber of Secrets! You've got to be a parselmouth to get down there!"

"Harry. I don't think that's such a good idea"

"Why not? Look!" He pulled his invisibility cloak out of his pocket, "ta daa! No one will see us taking her, and we could do whatever we want! Just obliviate her afterward, and-"

"You-you're joking, right?"

Harry looked at Theo's horrified face. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Draco's expression.

"Of course!" He gave a blatantly fake laugh.

"Good. I'd rather fuck a dog than a mudblood" Draco said viciously, before spitting on her face.

"Slap me? Fucking whore"

They left the two there, unconscious on the floor.

"Draco? Is Harry-all right?"

"What do you think?" He muttered in reply. Theo thought for a few minutes before answering.

"No, I don't think he is. Not at all"

"What gives you that impression?" Draco snarled, practically stabbing the parchment with his quill.

"Probably started when he tried to Crucio me".

He looked up to see Draco staring at him, mouth slightly open.

"He-he tried to-"

"Yeah. I managed to dodge it, but-"

"Why? What the fuck did you do?"

"We were talking about something. He told me not to tell anyone"

"Theo" Draco rubbed his forehead, "What were you talking about?"

"I can't say. He told me not to. He'll kill me if I do"

"Theo. You need to-"

"Draco. You need to shut up. I'm not saying, ok? I'm just trying to figure out what the fuck is going on in his head. What happened with Granger today-"

"That was nothing. You have no idea. The shit he's done. The stuff he had to do at our initiation…"

"Yeah?"

Draco looked at him.

"I'll tell you if you tell me"

"C'mon! He told me not to tell!"

"So give me a general subject then"

Theo was silent for a bit, before saying, in a subdued voice, "his childhood"

"He told me all about that! How-"

"Not this part. Not about this"

"How do you-"

"It's about-" Theo looked around nervously, "about that guy his boggart turned into"

Draco hissed as he sucked in air. He'd thought about that, a lot. Wondering what it could be. He had some ideas, but never the courage to actually ask Harry.

"Did he-"

"I'm not saying! Draco, I'm not fucking saying, ok! But I pushed him to talk about it, and he got really angry, and he tried to Crucio me. And then this whole thing today. I'm worried about him. He's gonna get himself into Azkaban"

Draco laughed, utterly humorlessly.

"I've been worried about that for months"

"And?"

"And what? There's nothing I can do about it! I spoke to Snape, but that's it! The stuff the Dark Lord's made him do has-has twisted him"

"What was it?"

' Screams filled the room. His best friends voice gently asked, "do you renounce?" His best friend carried on flaying the muggle, blood pooling by his feet, as a mad light danced in his eyes"

"The muggles we had to kill. They were both priests. The Dark Lord told Harry to make the one renounce his faith"

Theo watched in horrified fascination as Draco continued, eyes distant.

"And Harry, he just. It was crazy. He was Crucioing this guy and ripping his skin off, and he just kept asking him if he would renounce. In this really soft voice. And he was fucking loving it. He got off on it"

Draco looked at Theo sharply. "When the Dark Lord said that Harry reacts strongly to dark magic, I had no idea what he that meant. I understood that night. This

muggle's blood was spraying everywhere, and Harry just kept on going. And when he pulled off his mask, there was blood on his face. And-and he was smiling! He loved it!"

Theo nodded. He'd seen that look on Harry's face when he had demonstrated the Unforgivables.

"And since then, he's just been-different. Harder. Angrier. Snape said he'd speak to him, but I don't think it helped"

"Pansy's scared of him," Theo said suddenly.

"What?"

"Watch her. When Harry's not looking, she gives him this look. She's scared of him, I'm telling you"

"Fuck"

"What are we gonna do?"

"Talk to Snape, again. Maybe he can think of something"

"I hope he can"

"Trust me, Theo. If anyone can, it's him"

"Before you all leave, I have your results for the year here"

Everyone quieted down and stopped packing their stuff away as Waffling continued.

"I am pleased to say that each of you has achieved a passing grade. If you wish, you may continue in this class next year"

Harry glanced at the paper that landed on his desk. There was a large "O" scrawled on the top page.

"I have graded you, not only on your assignments but on your classroom participation as well. You will find a breakdown of your mark contained in these pages. Please look at it, and find out what you need to work on in the future"

At the desk beside him, Granger twitched slightly. He tried to see what her report said, but she hurriedly hid it, shooting him a dirty look.

' Little miss full of herself. If Draco and Theo weren't such pussies, you'd be tied up right now, naked and screaming and-'

' What the fuck! Clear your mind!'

He did, almost missing when Waffling carried on talking.

"Good luck with your exams. I wish you all a most pleasant summer and look forward to seeing you next year. Until then"

After their final Defence lesson, which had been a boring revision class, Lupin asked Harry to stay behind.

Fiddling with something on his desk, the werewolf said, quite uncomfortably "I'm going to St Mungo's tomorrow. To visit Sirius. I thought, since you're going to be living with him, maybe you'd like to come to meet him?"

' Oh yes, let me spend more time with the lunatic than I have to'

' Although. Maybe it is a good idea. Get a feel for him. Start guilting him. And he is family, of a sort'

Harry nodded. "Yeah," he said, surprised to feel a lump in his throat, "What time are you gonna go?"

Lupin blinked a few times, and put down the quill he was playing with.

"During lunch. You might miss the lesson immediately afterward, but so close to exams I'm sure it's all revision-"

"It is. And it's charms, Flitwick will let me miss"

"Excellent" the werewolf smiled and seemed to be a totally different person. "Just make sure to tell him, please. And Professor Snape, as well"

"I will"

Snape eyed the boy sitting before him.

"Repeat that," he said quietly.

"He tried to Crucio Theo. Theo was pushing him to talk about something that happened in his childhood, and Harry tried to Crucio him! Theo dodged it, but still!"

"And what happened with Granger?"

"She attacked me! So Harry stunned her and Weasley-"

"Her attack was unprovoked, I'm sure"

Draco flushed and muttered something.

"Speak up"

"I insulted Weasley, ok? Still, the mudblood had no right to slap me, and-"

"You need to grow up, Draco"

Draco opened and closed his mouth a few times.

"Fortunately, your lack of maturity is not the subject of discussion at the moment. What happened once Harry stunned them?"

Still red from the insult, Draco spoke quickly.

"It was creepy. He said we should teach her a lesson. He wanted to-to take her, and lock her up in the Chamber of Secrets. Said we could obliviate her afterward"

"But he did nothing?"

"Only cause Theo and I said no! If we had agreed, or if he was alone, I don't know what would have happened. Merlin, the way he was looking at her" Draco shivered.

"How has Miss Parkinson been?

"Theo says she's scared of him. I've been watching her. I think he's right"

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Draco. I'll speak to him"

"You won't," Draco said hesitantly, "you won't tell him I told you this stuff, right?"

"Do you think me an imbecile?"

"Sorry, sorry, sir"

Snape watched Draco leave his office.

He sighed.

' It seems I need to have another chat with Harry. I wonder how he'll take to Black'

A sneer crossed Snape's face at the thought.

It seemed even magical hospitals carried the same antiseptic smell. Harry had only been to a real muggle hospital once when one of the kids in the orphanage had been diagnosed with leukemia.

' What was his name? Jacob? No, it was Paul'

That was it. Of course, Mrs. Spruce had decided it would really cheer the kid up for the whole orphanage to show up.

' I wonder if it did cheer him up? Make him feel like he had a family?'

They only visited the one time. In the orphanage, there wasn't much attention given to each kid. So no-one noticed when Paul started getting sick. By the time his complaints were taken seriously, it was too late to do anything.

' What was it, two weeks later? At least they didn't make us go to his funeral. Fucking muggles. Don't even really care for their own kids'

The magical hospital didn't have those fluorescent lights at least. Or that crappy linoleum flooring.

"Was wondering when you'd show up, Moony. Thought you'd-"

Sirius stopped speaking abruptly, making an odd choking noise. His eyes widened, and in the most broken voice Harry had ever heard, he said "James"

Lupin gripped Harry's shoulder tightly, steadying himself.

"It's Harry, Sirius."

Sirius didn't move his eyes an inch, just carried on staring intently at Harry.

"Harry. You-you look just like him"

' Except I've got my mother's eyes' Harry thought, holding back a snort.

"I. I watched you play. Quidditch. Just like him. Just like J-James"

' Mordred's balls. Were you in love with him or something?'

"He is, isn't he?" Lupin said. "Chaser too"

Sirius finally moved his head, pulling a heavy tension off of Harry.

"You-you watched?"

"I teach there. Defense Against The Dark Arts. How could I not watch? Although it felt weird supporting Slytherin, I'll tell you that"

"Slytherin?" Black looked exceptionally confused at that.

"Harry's in Slytherin"

Harry was not expecting Black to erupt in laughter at that.

"Merlin, that's brilliant! Your parents are probably rolling in their graves"

Something twisted in Harry's chest as he watched the man laugh. He noticed Lupin letting out a very relieved breath next to him.

"Where've you been living?" Sirius asked suddenly.

' Definitely crazy. Going from shaking his bed with laughter to asking questions with no pause in between. That's not normal'

"I-grew up in an orphanage. But I've been spending break at the Malfoys"

"The Malfoys?"

"Lucius and Narcissa?"

Black looked torn between outrage and horror. "Why?" He rasped, "Why would you stay with them?"

Lupin coughed delicately. "Harry and their son are very good friends"

Black Just goggled. Then he laughed again.

"Gods, you've been living at cousin Cissy's house. That's just-"

And he was off again, laughing like a loon.

"Whew," he said, wiping the tears out of his eyes. "That's too brilliant. Any girls in your life?"

"Yup"

Sirius grinned widely. "That's it. Just remember, the contraceptive charm has to be done before you start fu-"

"Sirius!"

"What?" He said innocently. "It was his grandfather who gave me that advice"

"I don't think he phrased it quite like that"

"Maybe. Although old Fleamont could really let loose when you got some firewhiskey in him. I remember this one time, James and I-"

And then he was crying, weeping almost as hysterically as he had been laughing.

A hand shot out from under his blanket and gripped Harry's left wrist. Harry drew his wand immediately.

"I-I left you! I shouldn't have! I'm so sorry Harry! I shouldn't have"

He let go of Harry's wrist, and Harry seized the moment to take a step back.

"I should have stayed, should have guarded you! But I had to chase down Peter, I just had to! I should have"

' Fucking right you should have! It's your fault almost as much as Dumbledore's'

"I'll make it up to you, I swear! When you live with me. You shouldn't live with me, you should be living with James and Lily!"

His howls drew a team of healers who came rushing into the room. While two of them bent over Sirius and held him down, the third just watched for a minute, before he pulled a potion off of his belt.

"Here Mr. Black. This will help. Drink"

Sirius did, gulping the potion down greedily. Seconds later, his thrashing stopped.

"Mr. Lupin, Mr. Potter. Would you mind telling us what happened?"

' He's an absolute lunatic'

"He was talking, quite coherently. Then he just started crying and wailing, and apologizing to Harry. And to his parents"

The healer looked at the parchment in his hands.

"Hmm. Well, all I can say is that after his stay in Azkaban, sudden mood changes are not unexpected. Mr. Potter, perhaps you shouldn't come back for another month. Just give us some time to work with him"

' The longer the better'

"Mr. Lupin. I think you visiting could be quite healthy, but not too often. I would say no more than twice a week, for half an hour a time. At least for the first month. We can reassess the situation then"

"Are you sure? I mean-"

"He's been in isolation for the last twelve years. As strange as it may sound, too much human contact at this time could be detrimental to him. He needs to slowly come back to himself"

"How long?" Lupin said. "Until he's normal?"

The healer sighed. "It's hard to say. I highly doubt he will ever be back to how he was before Azkaban, but I would say three months until he can be released. Probably another few months after that until he can be truly functional. He'll be on a potions regiment for a long time though"

"Thank you"

"How long until he can get custody of me?"

' They probably think I'm eager. Well, fuck them too'

The healer looked at Harry with pity. "Six months to a year, I would say. I can't make guesses about this type of thing. It could end up being much longer than that. It all depends on his strength of will"

"How have you been lately?"

"In terms of?"

"In terms of your… urges, shall we say?"

Harry resolutely did not look Snape in the eyes.

"Bad" he eventually admitted.

"How so?"

"I've wanted to do a lot of of-bad stuff. Come very close to doing some of it"

Snape watched him carefully.

"And have you been cl-"

"Yes, I've been clearing my mind. Hundreds of fucking times a day. For all the good that does"

"Don't interrupt me"

"Sorry"

"Only apologize when you actually mean it"

Harry rolled his eyes.

"When you say it doesn't help, what exactly do you mean?"

"It only helps right then. Ten minutes later, I'm back to square one"

Harry looked down, and when he next spoke, it was barely above a whisper.

"And it's getting worse"

"How so?"

"More often. Stronger. And I don't know what to do. It-I think I'm going crazy"

"You are not"

Harry jerked his head up. "Really? Normal people don't think about doing the things I want to. They don't think about-about"

He trailed off. Snape raised an eyebrow. "They don't think about?"

"Stuff" Harry muttered.

"That may be true. But were those so-called normal people in your position, they would be. And Harry. You are not normal. You are far above normal people. You have greater possibility then them, so you face greater challenges"

"I have no idea how to keep going without failing"

Snape sighed. He'd been waiting for Harry to say something like that.

"When your Occlumency improves, it will make more of a difference" he raised a hand, causing Harry to shut his mouth. "At the moment, you can clear your mind and push your emotions aside momentarily. Once you have proceeded far enough in your Occlumency, you will be able to keep your mind clear at almost all times, without even focusing on it. But you will not be at that stage for a while"

"So what do I do?"

"What do you enjoy doing?"

That question totally blindsided him.

"I, uh"

"Let me rephrase that. What do you like doing that is not seen as immoral?"

"Flying. And reading. And hanging out with my friends"

"Why don't you do that, then? Take some time, every day, just to fly. Not in Quidditch, not in training. Just fly. Purely because you like doing it. And read something simply because you enjoy it, something not as part of your curriculum or training"

"When? It's not like I'm sitting around doing nothing all day"

"I didn't say you were. But you need it. It will help you blow off steam in a healthy way. Make time. You need it"

"I'll try"

"Harry, I cannot impress the importance of this upon you enough. You-"

"I said I'll try, ok?!"

Harry breathed deeply for a minute and unclenched his fists.

"Sorry"

"Try. Let me know how it goes. Even over the break, take some time for yourself every day. We will discuss this again at a later point"

"Yeah, fine"

Harry stood up to leave.

"I haven't finished marking your year's exams yet. However, so far you are in the top few. Keep it that way"

"Thanks," Harry said, walking out.

Snape watched him go.

' Maybe. Maybe this will work. It is definitely better than the last bit of advice I gave him. Maybe I can hope the Dark Lord will not push him over the summer'

His lip curled in a bitter smile. Apparently, the part of him that still hoped for good fortune wasn't quite dead yet.