The Godmother || Sirius Black

━ 20. Calm before the storm

Sitting on Harry's shoulder, Diana scoffed and Harry had never heard a bird scoff before.

"This is the famous Cedric for whom we all got a letter in the middle of a freaking war! Well, bless him! He grew up to be a nice young lad, unlike his boastful father!" 

Hearing Diana's annoyed monologue in his head, Harry stifled his laughter.

After that they started walking ahead again towards a destination Harry was unaware of. When he walked up to Amos, the older man grinned.

"Merlin's beard! You must be Harry Potter!" he exclaimed rather loudly and Harry just nodded politely. He was used to hearing this all the time.

"Great, great pleasure!"

"Pleasure to meet you too, sir."

"What a uh, big bird! Bit of an odd choice for a pet, isn't it?" Amos looked at the goshawk on Harry's shoulder. The bird almost sneered at the older man but Harry quickly stroked her feather gently.

"Yes, but I like her..." he didn't know what else to say.

The whole way Amos talked to Harry about Cedric being the seeker of the Hufflepuff quidditch team and how last year during the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff match, Hufflepuff became victorious. When Cedric protested by saying that that was because Harry fell off his broom, his father said that was because Cedric was a better flier than Harry and told his son that he was just being modest.

Hearing his never ending boasting for around ten minutes which felt like hours, Harry clearly understood where Diana's annoyance toward the man stemmed from. The bird on Harry's shoulder sneered at almost every sentence Amos uttered.

They walked for another ten minutes before they reached a stranded meadow. 

"It's just over there." Amos said.

"Shall we? Arthur asked.

"Oh yeah."

As Ginny and Hermione ran up towards something in the distance, Harry looked around. "Where's Sirius?"

"I'm here!" As if on cue, Sirius apparated out of thin air and Harry felt a tap on his shoulder. 

"Took you long enough." Harry said with a smile.

"Just had some business that needed attending to." Sirius answered.

Before Harry could ask what business he was talking about, Amos approached Sirius.

"Sirius Black!" Amos shook Harry's godfather's hand with a genial smile. 

"Amos Diggory." Sirius greeted him rather formally.

"Last summer, was it? When we last met at the ministry? After you helped with the Diana Lynstorm case with Arthur?"

Sirius stiffened at that question, as well as Diana who was perched up on Harry's shoulder. The dark haired man threw a quick glance towards Diana as Harry tensely looked back and forth between his godparents. 

"Yes..." Sirius answered shortly and uncomfortably.

Completely oblivious about the situation in front of him, Amos prodded Sirius further. "You must be feeling quite distressed after Lynstorm's break out since your testimony played a big part in her imprisonment."

Sirius's hands clenched into fists and his jaws tightened, however, he said nothing.

"I assure you, the ministry is doing everything in their power to recapture Lynstorm as soon as they can."