Sirius's Son Harry Black

8

The Hogwarts Express

August 30th. Whatever else Sirius had told himself about the safety of Hogwarts and Harry needing friends his own age, September 1st was not a day he wanted to dawn. Ever. Deep down, Sirius knew he was being selfish. Harry deserved a life with friends and freedom from home. Without Hogwarts, Harry would grow up surrounded by his father, his godparents, and his uncles. What kid wanted that? But ten minutes to midnight, sitting alone in his dark kitchen, reaching for the full glass next to an open whiskey bottle, Sirius could care less what Harry wanted. And that thought drove him to refill his glass. What kind of father put himself over his son? Since the day he first saw his son, Sirius knew the boy would be accepted to Hogwarts one day. Eleven years, and Sirius still couldn't accept that his son would leave home. He filled his glass again.

"Padfoot, you up?" James Potter called from the living room, his voice quiet enough to not carry to the second floor where Harry was asleep.

Sirius sighed and placed a half-empty glass on the table. When he stood, his legs shook from the sudden rush of alcohol to his brain, and he grabbed a chair, nearly toppling it, to stay upright.

"Yeah."

The room swayed like a boat at sea, but Sirius managed to stumble to the living room without falling by using countertops and walls to steady himself.

"Wow. Mate." James tried to get an arm around Sirius, but Sirius pushed him away, almost toppling over.

"I dun eed 'elp." Sirius only needed one of his hands on the floor to push himself onto the couch. He tried to blink the blurry, rocking world into focus. "I oo 'ere? Ut ha'end?" Sirius heard something in the kitchen and tried to raise his heavy head to see.

"Drink this."

Sirius felt too weighted down to protest, so he swallowed the thick liquid being poured down his throat. The living room and James' frowning face slowly cleared into an image Sirius could process. "Prongs?"

"Feel better?"

"I feel like I've been hit by the Knight Bus," Sirius said, bringing his hands to his face and sitting up.

"Not surprised; you polished off that new bottle of whiskey."

Sirius groaned. "Why are you here?"

"Assignment from Dumbledore. He wants you, me, Moony, and a couple other Order members on the train tomorrow."

Sirius forgot about the train Dumbledore had assigned him to guard in the past. He started drinking one night too early. Then again, a long, relaxing train ride was an excellent place to sleep off a hangover. Staying with Harry throughout the ride would be out of the question. No matter what, Sirius refused to be 'that' parent, the parent who humiliated his son by always being present while the kid tried to make friends and not get made fun of.

"You think that's a good idea?"

"If Voldemort tries to attack the train, I think it's a great idea. If not, I'd still rather be prepared, especially with Harry on-board." James sat next to his best friend. "Why?"

"I mean Moony, not the rest of us."

"Full moon's not for two weeks—"

Sirius could not pretend he didn't feel James' glare.

"Not this again!"

"Prongs—"

"No!" James jumped up. "I'm getting you another potion; you're obviously still drunk."

"Hear me out. We aren't any closer to finding out who it is now than we were twelve years ago. And Remus told me something."

"What? That he suddenly works for everything he spent years fighting against? I don't want to hear it, Sirius!"