Harry had been with the other dementors at Azkaban for about five days, and the morning of Christmas Eve was dawning. It had been a highly productive five days overall. From what Harry could tell, the dementors were excellent at running a prison, but terrible at contract negotiations. The consensus seemed to be that it would be best to either stick it out with the ministry or take Voldemort up on his offer, just so they wouldn't have to move. When Harry explained very patiently that neither of those options were in their best interests, the common vote was to just pick an offer off the top of the pile and accept that one.
The pile turned out to be a literal pile. Apparently, the creatures were highly in demand across the world to run magical prisons. Every offer they had received over the years had been tossed into an empty cell in the minimum-security wing, and the pile was overtaking almost half the cell. Harry, Jean, and Mina ended up sorting through the entire pile and narrowing it down to just one neat stack of acceptable offers. Any repeat letters were tossed, those for prisons in very cold climates, those that didn't have a maximum-security wing, and ones where the air was too dry to create mist. Once the letter for the prison located on its own Caribbean island was explained to the group, all around 150 or so dementors voted unanimously to accept the offer.
Harry then found himself learning how to write rejection, resignation, and acceptance letters. He figured he was gaining some very practical business experience at least. He tore up five letters before he had an acceptable one to send to Voldemort respectfully rejecting his offer. Since it was coming from the dementors as a whole and not Harry Potter, he figured he needed to represent them as they would want to be represented, and they were a very neutral party in the war. Really, if it didn't impact their ability to hang out around evil people and feed from their souls, they didn't really care what was going on. Considering neither side of the war cared for them (really both sides hated them), Harry could understand where they were coming from.
The ministry was also sent a letter of resignation, though no one believed they would actually read it. The dementors didn't want to leave their post without someone realizing they were gone, so Harry came up with the idea of sending a letter to the newspaper. He hadn't quite figured out how to ensure they printed it, so it was currently sitting on his makeshift desk in the cell he had been given for his own personal use.
One of the dementors, Ronnie if he had to guess, had even put a piece of what looked like aluminum foil up by the tiny, barred window to catch the sunlight and cast shiny stars throughout the cell. To a dementor, the prison already felt pretty homey, but the other dementors seemed to be really trying to make Harry feel welcome and like he was a valued member of the group, especially as he had helped them so much already.
The acceptance letter was much easier to write, but then he had to deal with the back and forth of the negotiations. After the initial letter of acceptance was sent by owl, the ministry located in the Turks and Caicos sent a self-updating parchment where they could communicate instantly with each other just by writing on the paper. They used this to mockup a draft contract that Harry insisted needed to be looked over by a solicitor before it was finalized. The dementors and the Caribbean Ministry ended up agreeing to just 20 years in the initial contract with the opportunity to extend for another 50 years at that point if both parties found the arrangement acceptable. This was much better than the dementors' original contract with the British Ministry for 100 years without acceptable communication of terms. They also made it very clear that a house elf would be required to be at every in-person negotiation for translation purposes.
Harry couldn't believe they had gotten through all of that in only five days, but it did help that none of the dementors had to sleep. It was the most useful he had felt in a very long time, maybe ever. He felt bad for leaving Jamie and hoped someone was taking care of him, but he actually felt needed at the prison and not like he was in the way or one wrong move from getting the rest of his friends and family killed through a mistake he made. The dementors' excitement over the move was infectious as well. Harry happily sat through a lecture led by Mina and King on what to expect on an island with more sun and warmer weather since they seemed to be the best travelled of the group. Everyone oohed and aahed when Mina explained how the sun would glint off the water and shine like diamonds. Harry was glad to know he wasn't the only dementor fascinated by shiny things.
Christmas Eve was positively festive at the prison, well not for the prisoners, Harry was positive the prisoners had no clue what day it even was, but the dementors knew how to party on their end. Apparently, dementors can sing…Harry wasn't sure how it would sound to someone with human ears (probably horrifying), but to him, they were actually quite good, especially Drake, but no one would tell him that because his ego was already too inflamed. There was also dancing, races across the island, and games that could be played in flight. All the activity ground to a halt, and a hush settled over the group as a fairy landed right in the midst of the activity.
The fairy's wings were iridescent and caught the light, shining like they were covered in crystals and casting little rainbows on the stone walls. The entire group of dementors were mesmerized and as one pulled in their auras to protect the beautiful creature in their midst.
"Um, hello," Ginny awkwardly waved at the stunned group of dementors around her. "Er, is Harry Potter around here somewhere? I'm sorry, I'm not good at telling you all apart."
All the dementors continued to stare in shocked awe as her wings fluttered a bit and the light shined once more. "Oh, I'm sorry," Ginny chuckled and quickly cast her normal glamour back on her wings. "I forgot the shiny object thing. Now…Harry? Are you in here somewhere?"
Harry floated through the group until he was hovering beside a stern-looking Mina who blocked his progress protectively. "She's a friend," Harry explained to the other dementor. "She won't hurt me."
"You forget young one that we can feel emotions," Mina took Harry's wrist in her hands. "You came here broken inside, and we will not let you leave if it's only to be broken once more."
Harry patted her hand and smiled. "I don't plan to leave (Mina). I just want to talk to her. Is that ok?"
Harry could feel Mina's aura waver in indecision, but she did eventually move aside and let go of Harry's wrist. He continued until he was right in front of his friend and gave her a little wave, knowing she wouldn't be able to understand him.
"Thank Merlin! I was worried I was wrong about where you ran off to," Ginny gave the dementor a hug, shocking the rest of the group. "Your godfather, Professor Lupin, and the Headmaster have been looking everywhere for you, but I knew this is where you would go. Where else would a dementor go to feel safe? Oh Harry, what happened?"
Harry shrugged but didn't know how to convey everything nonverbally, frankly he didn't feel up to conveying it verbally either. He made screeching noise to indicate he can't speak in his dementor form.
"Oh, sorry, right," Ginny looked at him sheepishly. "Kreacher!"
After a loud pop, the ancient house elf stared around himself in fear but took a deep, steadying breath and turned to Ginny. "Mistress Fairy, did you find Kreacher's friend?"
"Yes, Kreacher," Ginny smiled at the elf kindly before motioning to Harry. "Here's Harry. You mind translating for him, please?"
Kreacher nodded with a little awkward wave to Harry. "Yes, Mistress Fairy," he responded promptly. "Harry-Dementor, you shouldn't have run off. You should have told Kreacher at least!" He turned to admonish Harry next.
"I'm sorry, Kreacher," Harry shook his head, confused that the house elf actually cared. The elf narrowed his eyes, but just crossed his arms and gave Harry a little nod. "Kreacher, would you ask Ginny why she's here?"
Ginny just rolled her eyes after Kreacher's translation. "Apparently, Mr. Black and Professor Lupin tried to wake you up the morning after you left, and Jamie of course wouldn't wake up. Professor Lupin cast some kind of diagnostic charm, and they freaked out when they realized Jamie doesn't have a soul. They went and got Headmaster Dumbledore, and he had to explain everything to them. I don't think that helped them freak out any less though."
"Oh no! So, they know now?" Harry asked dejectedly. "I guess I really won't be returning. I hadn't planned to, but it was nice to know it was an option."
"What are you talking about Harry? Of course, you're coming back with me!" Ginny exclaimed in shock. "I'm sure the other dementors are just lovely, but your friends need you! All those men at Grimmauld were useless, even the headmaster. You left and they just lost all ability to cope. If I hadn't shown up, they'd be looking for you in youth hostels in London. That was the actual plan of where they were going to start looking! You left your body, and they still thought you'd be out around people!"
Harry shook his head determinedly. He knew Sirius mentally couldn't accept him as he was, and if Remus couldn't accept himself, why would he be able to accept Harry. No, it was best if he just stayed away. "No, Ginny. I'll miss you all terribly, but you don't need me. I put you all at risk. You're much better off without me screwing things up for you."
"I really hope Kreacher translated what you just said wrong!" Ginny exclaimed indignantly as Kreacher shot her a death glare clearly communicating he'd translated every single word correctly. "What did Severus say to you that sent you off like this?! You should know he feels terribly about it. He's been taking care of Jamie since you left and positively beside himself, not that he'd ever admit that of course. He told me that he said something he shouldn't have, something that wasn't true at all."
Harry shook his head sadly, but very surprised she'd talked to the professor about him. "No, Ginny, he only told me the truth. He's the only one who sees me as I am. Since I started Hogwarts, he's the only one that saw me, that saw how much of a disappointment I am. He's the only one that sees the freak, not the Boy-Who-Lived or the son of James and Lily Potter or whatever. No, you don't know who I really am, Ginny. I should stay here. The dementors actually need me. I can't mess up and get everyone killed here."
Kreacher translated every single word like a curse as he opened and closed his little hands like he was imagining strangling Snape over and over again. "Kreacher will destroy the Potions Master!" He ended his translation with the vehement declaration.
"No, Kreacher! He's right and only told me what I needed to hear!" Harry assured him frantically.
"What in the goddess's name did the human say?!" Drake exclaimed as he hovered down from where he'd been spying on them from above. "I know you're an idiot, Potter, but even you should know he was speaking out of his arse if he said anything like what you just did!"
"Kreacher likes this new dementor," the house elf grinned evilly. "The dementor will help Kreacher destroy the man."
"Sure, what the hell," Drake shrugged with a nod to the elf.
"First of all, he's a vampire, not a human, and second, there's no reason to destroy him, whatever that means," Harry sighed and rubbed the back of his neck under his hood.
"Erm, I'm not sure what's going on exactly," Ginny looked between the three since Kreacher hadn't translated the back and forth. "But Severus definitely didn't mean whatever it was he said. He said that he'd had a really bad day and took it out on you. I would've made him come with me, but I wasn't sure if he'd just make it worse. Look, you need to come back and talk to him, and to Mr. Black and Professor Lupin. Mr. Black wanted to come with us, but he just couldn't. He still loves you…but you know, he tried but couldn't make it here. Professor Lupin and the Headmaster are waiting for us at the gates though. They can't fly, so I had to come on ahead. Just come talk to them, ok?"
"No, it's best that we make a clean break," Harry protested vehemently. "They can get on with their lives now and not have to worry about me."
Drake sighed loudly. "Look, elf, tell the fairy that she's going to need to bring the git vampire or this isn't going to get anywhere. Tell her I'll sick (Mina) on him if he refuses to come."
"(Drake)! Really!" Harry huffed angrily.
"Kreacher will get the git vampire for new friend dementor!" The elf exclaimed before immediately popping away.
"Do I even want to know what just happened?" Ginny asked in concern at where Kreacher had stood a second before. Both dementors shook their heads at her. "Yeah, I figured. Now, what all goes on at a dementor Christmas?" She asked as she looked around at all the activities happening in the prison yard.
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Severus Snape fell into a heap at the feet of the ancient house elf who popped in a few minutes later. He stood elegantly and brushed the dust from his robes like he had meant to be kidnapped and crashed into a prison yard. "Which one of you is Potter?" He looked around at all the assembled dementors, many of which had moved closer and released more of their aura as they had been listening in angrily to what had happened. Apparently dementors were fairly nosy by nature and this was the most excitement they'd had since they were stationed around Hogwarts. Ronnie in particular looked like he was contemplating eating a soul for lunch.
Harry raised a hand and gave him a little wave. "I'm sorry, Professor. I know I'm breaking my promise to not see you. I didn't send Kreacher."
"Merlin, Potter! I'm an acerbic, vicious man who had a very, very bad day," Snape exclaimed after Kreacher's growled translation. He began pacing and ranting at the same time. "The Dark Lord was angry at me because I can't fix Pettigrew's potions mistake and make him look human again, so he made me torture some muggles with the Cruciatus Curse on pain of death before being cursed myself, then the Order accused me of liking to torture muggles and called me a monster in that meeting. I was in no mental state to talk to you then and should have just told you that! If anyone is to blame for your parents' deaths, it's me! I'm the idiot who thought Divination was a ridiculous subject and assumed the Dark Lord would think the same thing. I'm the idiot that told him a partial prophecy I overheard that sent him after you!"
Harry gasped at the man who stopped his rant with a regretful look towards the dementor. "Harry," Snape began again, facing the teen this time. A wave of distress, self-hatred, and regret flowed steadily from the vampire. "I loved your mother; she was my best friend. You had absolutely nothing to do with her death, that blame lies completely at my feet. Yes, she gave her life for yours, but that was who she was. She was a person who would willingly die for those she loved, and you couldn't ask her to be anyone different than who she was. I had no right to say anything else."
"Wow, I really do want to kill him," Drake shook his head grimly from behind Harry.
"Kreacher will help," the house elf agreed gleefully.
Harry put a steadying hand on Drake's arm to hold him back. Everything shifted in his mind. He heard Snape, but he heard more than his words. The meaning shifted his thought process as a new idea clicked, one he'd never considered before. His world then realigned along a different axis. Snape was right, Lily Potter was a person who made decisions that she could live with, that fit in her moral code. She made decisions like Harry did with the information she had. Some of her decisions might not have always had the best outcomes either. Snape had made decisions as well, some not the best or even good in the slightest, but those decisions were based on his knowledge and experiences too. "What if it's not either of our faults, Professor?" Harry asked in amazement at his new revelation.
"No, Harry, it's definitely my fault," Snape sighed tiredly after Kreacher's begrudging translation. "I don't know why you believed me for a moment before but believe me now. I'm the reason your parents were murdered."
"No, listen. Mum died because of who she was. She saved me because that's a decision she would make. You told a prophesy, one you said was partial, and everyone knows your feelings about Divination. You obviously don't respect it even now. Why would you think it was going to be taken so seriously by someone you assumed had similar thoughts to you at the time? Obviously, you know Voldemort's evil now or you wouldn't have switched sides…another decision you made when you had more information to go on," Harry started pacing, seeing an approving look from Ginny as Kreacher translated.
"It's just like me with the Triwizard Tournament. I made the decision to ask Cedric to take the cup with me. If it hadn't of been a portkey, Hogwarts would have had a united victory, Cedric would have a good job now and be famous, and I wouldn't have been hated by Hufflepuff for stealing a victory. I made a decision based on the information I had and who I am…maybe his death wasn't my fault but Voldemort's. Maybe my parents' deaths weren't your fault but Voldemort's. He's the only one that made decisions to kill people based on the information he had. You just told a funny story you didn't believe, and I just tried to be nice to a friend. Neither of us decided to kill someone intentionally."
"Why in Merlin's name would you think the Diggory boy's death would be your fault?!" Snape exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. "That's ludicrous, just as ludicrous as having any fault whatsoever in your parents' deaths. Did you cause the Black Plague centuries ago as well?! That seems just as plausible."
"Severus…I think he's getting there," Ginny soothed the man who was starting to get flustered again.
"I'm beginning to truly believe those relatives you grew up with messed you up in some very serious ways," the man grumbled.
"Well…this has gotten boring. I'm out if we aren't going to snack on his soul," Drake shrugged apologetically to Kreacher before flying off again. "Stop being an idiot, Potter," he called out in farewell.
"So, you coming back with us?" Ginny asked hopefully.
"Sirius and Remus want me back?" Harry asked, with only a slight glimmer of hope.
"They've both been insufferably mooning over you since you left. I'm sure I'd be six feet underground right now if they knew you left because of some inane thing I said," Snape answered with a sneer. "Of course, they want you back, you dunderhead. And frankly, I'm tired of having to waste all my nutrition potions on keeping your sorry body alive."
Harry grinned at them both before turning back to the dementors pretending badly to not be listening in. "Er, guys…you think you can handle the move without me?" He asked.
"Of course, Harry. You've already done more for us than we thought possible," King assured him as he hovered down to them and patted Harry on his shoulder.
"You'll need this," Jean handed Harry the letter for the newspaper from his desk. "We'll make sure to set you up a desk in the new prison. You'll come visit right?"
"Of course!" Harry assured them as he took the letter. "I have to make sure those Caribbean wizards aren't taking advantage of you. Plus, I'd love to see the ocean sparkle like what (Mina) described."
"Er, sorry we turned you into a dementor," Ronnie added sheepishly from the back of the group.
"And what's wrong with being a dementor?" Harry laughed, echoing Drake from just days before. "Thank you all for finding a loophole in the ministry telling you to suck out my soul…and for removing my parasite as well."
"It was our pleasure…no really, it tasted amazing!" Drake exclaimed with a laugh.
"We'll miss you, Harry. Visit soon," Mina gave him a quick hug as many of the other dementors waved goodbye.
"Happy Christmas!" He called to them.
Kreacher grumbled in irritation when Ginny told him to take Severus back to Grimmauld, and they popped away from the prison. "Come on, dear. Let's get you back to all the festivities. Mr. Black said he's missing his decorating and sneaking out buddy," Ginny took Harry's hand and removed the glamour from her wings.
"My eyes are up here," she joked as she waved a hand in front of Harry's face when he began to stare at her wings again.
"Er, right…your wings are very pretty," Harry mumbled even though she couldn't understand him and tried to focus on anything else that wasn't shiny.
"Just try not to fly into a tree," she laughed and took off into the air while Harry followed along behind her.
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As they approached the gates to the prison, Harry was surprised to see Dumbledore and Remus both pacing worriedly. It confused him to no end why they were concerned; he thought they would have been happy to get rid of him, especially once they learned he was now a dementor. "Found him!" Ginny exclaimed happily as they both landed past the gates.
"Ms. Weasley! Don't scare us like that again!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "We told you to wait and we'd find another way in. You weren't to go off on your own!"
Harry nodded in understanding at that. They had been worried about Ginny, not him. That made much more sense. "Oh Harry!" Remus exclaimed and rushed forward only to stop feet from him. "We thought we'd lost you! Why did you just run off like that?! And why didn't you tell us what happened?!"
Harry cocked his head in confusion again. "Because you wouldn't want me around if I told you. See, you can't even get close to me even though my aura is completely retracted. It's not like you can understand what I'm saying right now anyway, so this is completely pointless," he huffed.
"If we head back to the house, Kreacher can translate for him or he can go back into Jamie and talk for himself," Ginny suggested. "I don't know what you're saying, but I don't think I like your tone."
"I don't know how you can tell from the screeches," Harry shrugged. "I would be nice to be able to be understood again though."
Dumbledore smiled kindly at him, clearly at a loss for understanding. "Right, so Remus, you apparate with Ms. Weasley, and I'll take Harry here. We'll meet back up at Grimmauld."
That tracked, Harry figured. Remus wouldn't want to be that close to him anymore. "No!" Ginny spoke up, looking at Harry out of the corner of her eye. "I'm going with the headmaster. Professor Lupin, you have Harry. He thinks you don't want him around anymore."
Remus finally closed the distance between them cautiously. "Merlin, I know it's you in there Harry, but it's hard to get past the seeing a dementor. I'm so sorry. Sirius and I both still want you with us; please don't think otherwise," he said. Remus slowly wrapped an arm around Harry's waist tentatively in a loose hug. Harry stood as still as possible, not even breathing so as to not startle the man.
"Right, let's go!" Dumbledore exclaimed with a twinkle in his eye as Ginny took a hold of his sleeve and they disapparated with a crack. Remus turned on the spot and they followed immediately after.
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The four appeared on the street in front of Sirius's house. "It still amazes me Ms. Weasley that you're a fairy," Dumbledore chuckled as he looked wistfully at the townhome. "I had no idea!" Dumbledore looked like he had been gifted a cartload of lemon drops, he was so interested in Ginny. "You must tell me all about the fairy realm if you are allowed! I know nothing of the culture."
"Erm, Headmaster, we should probably go in," Remus interrupted. "We left Sirius having a bit of a breakdown."
Harry was having a bit of a breakdown himself at what he'd find on the other side of the door. How could Sirius ever accept him as the thing that had tormented him for over a decade? They entered the house and were immediately greeted with the sound of breaking china. Sirius was standing in the entryway looking a fright with his hair rumpled and his clothes looking like he hadn't changed for days. The teacup he had been holding was shattered at his feet. He kept one eye on Harry as he addressed Dumbledore. "That one's definitely Harry, right?" He asked shakily.
"Yes, Sirius, this dementor is definitely Harry," the elderly man assured him with a grin and a bounce in his step.
"Oh, thank Merlin!" Sirius rushed forward to everyone's surprise and grabbed the dementor into a bear hug. "I thought I'd lost you, pup! Never do that to me again! I don't care what you are as long as you're here and you don't leave me like that again!"
Harry awkwardly patted the man on his back, making sure his aura was as tightly pulled in as possible. He hesitated a moment once Sirius pulled away, but he hovered slowly up the stairs after a quick pat to his godfather's arm. He had to find his body, he couldn't take no one understanding him a moment longer.
Jamie was just where Harry had left him, tucked into bed. Snape was in the room though as well, sitting beside the nightstand that was littered with potion vials. "Finally, the errant dementor has returned," the vampire drawled. "I return responsibility of him back over to you," he motioned with a hand to Jamie as he stood to leave the room. "Never make me babysit again."
Harry chuckled but fell back into his body, picking up the shell once more. "Thank you, Professor," he said as Snape paused at the door.
"Look, Potter…" Snape sighed, seeming to come to a difficult decision. "The prophecy, the one I mentioned, that's what the Order was protecting at the ministry. The Dark Lord wants to hear the rest of it. I only know the first part, but if you want, I'll tell it to you."
Harry pulled his feet up and sat cross-legged on the bed, thinking about the offer as he watched the light play off the stones in his bracelet. "No, sir, I don't think I want to know," he said to Snape's complete surprise. "Look, like Voldemort, and despite my experiences with the subject so far, I do actually believe in Divination. Unlike Voldemort, I don't want to know what destiny has in store for me until I'm forced to meet it head on. I may have only been with the dementors for five days, but during that time and my time with the HSMC, I've come to some pretty difficult conclusions."
"What might those be, Mr. Potter?" Snape asked as he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe in surprised interest.
"First, Voldemort has absolutely no interest in helping magical creatures, no matter what he might say," Harry began.
"That is a given," Snape snarled in agreement.
"Second," Harry paused with a sigh. "The dementors told me the ministry sent them to kill me this past summer. So, the wizarding world doesn't have my best interests at heart, as well as clearly demonstrating they hate magical creatures through their policies and racism over the years."
The vampire raised a surprised eyebrow at the news. "So, you plan to be neutral in the war?"
Harry shook his head. "No, that ship sailed back before I was even born."
"Indeed," Snape nodded in agreement.
"If I'm a third side now, then so be it," the teen sighed in resignation. "I decided that my only responsibility is to look out for the dementors, and the house elves, and the fairies, and the gargoyles, and druids, and whatever the hell Malfoy is. If I have to fight for someone, they're the only ones that deserve it. They are the only ones that accepted me as their people and not some kind of figurehead or savior. And, honestly, they're the only ones that actually asked for my help instead of just expecting it. I don't know what that means, but it's the only thing that makes sense to me anymore."
Snape slowly nodded in understanding. "Potter…your mother, Lily, she would be proud of you," he said quietly as if it took his entire being to force the words out. Harry could feel the truth in the words this time. The wave of emotion that hit him caused him to gasp and hold back tears.
The vampire turned to leave once more. "Professor," Harry stopped him again, a small smile on his face. "I might not especially like you a lot, and you are definitely a bit of a bully…but you're not a monster. And thank you…thank you for trying, for trying to make better decisions, even though they bring you pain. I think Mum would be proud of that too, at least I hope she would."
Snape looked over his shoulder for a minute before giving a slight nod and silently disappearing from the room and back to the attic. Harry grabbed his glasses off the nightstand and took a deep breath before steeling himself to head back downstairs and face the music.
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"Harry, welcome back," Dumbledore said with a small smile, but also sternly. "You can't run off like that. What were you thinking?"
Harry shrugged as he slowly made his way into the sitting room where Kreacher had served everyone tea. "I was thinking you'd all be better off without me. Sirius and Remus wouldn't want a dementor hanging around the house and you, headmaster, wouldn't need to worry about the other students around me all the time."
Ginny stood from her armchair and sat down beside Harry on the couch, putting an arm around him. "Harry," Dumbledore sighed, showing his age in tiredness. "I haven't been worried about the other students. I've been worried about you. Surely you know that…your life was completely turned upside down and you were handling it too well, or so I thought. I was worried about you, not that you would harm anyone. I know you'd never do that."
"See," Ginny smiled at him. "There is no monster…"
"Albus, Ms. Weasley, maybe you should both give us some time with Harry. I'm sure you have your own Christmas Eve events to get to anyway," Remus remarked as Sirius was wringing his hands in distress.
Ginny agreed as she stood. "Don't make Hedwig or Kreacher have to track me down again," she warned Harry sternly but with a smile.
Harry winced, he hadn't seen Hedwig yet, and figured that was definitely not going to go well. "I won't, Ginny," he assured her and then pulled out the letter of resignation from the dementors. "Oh, would you have Mr. Weasley maybe send it along to the Daily Prophet? It's from the dementors."
The older men in the room all looked at the letter in interest but refrained from asking about it since Ginny didn't ask. "Sure, Harry. Dad will love to do it!"
"Thank you for coming after me," Harry smiled at his friend broadly.
"Always," she smiled back and squeezed his hand. "Drop me at home, Headmaster?" She asked as Dumbledore made to follow her out.
"Of course, my dear. So, do fairies celebrate Christmas, or do they have their own holidays…?" He asked as they headed out the door and out of the house.
Sirius moved over to take Ginny's spot on the couch, looking nervous but hopeful at the same time. "I can't believe you ran off to Azkaban," he grinned. "Everyone wants to run away from there, not to there!"
Harry grinned back at him. "It's actually quite lovely to a dementor. It's calming and peaceful, like the basement here."
Sirius stared at him in disbelief while Remus chuckled. "Harry, why didn't you think we'd accept you?" The werewolf asked. "You know what I am. Granted, a dementor isn't as common, but why would we turn you away?"
Harry shook his head in bemusement. "Why would you accept me if you can't accept yourself? I don't understand."
Sirius and Remus both looked confused at that. "Harry…cub, why would you think I don't accept myself?"
"You didn't know about Remedial Potions," Harry sighed and grimaced at having to explain without giving away what Snape had told him. "The secret society…It's the Hogwarts Society of Magical Creatures. You were invited in your first year but turned down membership because you didn't want to be a werewolf, or so I was told."
"What's he talking about, Remy?" Sirius asked his friend in confusion.
Remus for his part had a stricken look on his face as his mouth moved into a sad oh. "Siri, Remus wasn't the first werewolf at Hogwarts, nor the last," Harry explained to his guardian. "There is a whole society of magical creatures at the school, but he didn't want to be a part of it. Why would he want me around if I am a magical creature? I just don't understand."
"There were other werewolves? Why didn't you tell us, Moony?" The animagus stared at his friend.
"You have to realize," Remus began. "I didn't have any friends before Hogwarts, and it was first year. You guys accepted me, but as Remus, not Moony, not yet anyway."
"It was because of us?" Sirius's eyes grew wide in horror.
"I didn't know it was quite as extensive of a group as what Harry said. When Se…er, someone, approached me to join, I only knew that I would be walking into a group that would immediately know I was a werewolf and who would define me as such my whole time at school. I was scared," Remus shook his head sadly. "I lived in constant fear of people finding out what I was. I couldn't take it that I'd be outed to a group, even a group of creatures themselves."
Harry nodded, connecting everything back to his epiphany from earlier. "Making decisions based on fear hurts us in the long run," he explained.
Remus smiled at him in agreement. "Yes, I made many very bad decisions based on fear. I even outed another magical creature once to cover myself when a friend was close to finding out what I was. I still regret it to this day."
Knowing what Remus was talking about, Harry sighed sadly. One decision made out of fear helped kill a friendship, especially when his mum eventually did find out and accept Remus in the future. "What about now, Moony?" Harry asked. "Who are you? Are you a wizard, a werewolf, or what? Who do you want to be?"
Remus looked at his friends and seemed to consider his answer carefully. "I'm a wizard who needs to learn how to be a werewolf properly, and who wants to be your godfather…if you'll have me?" He asked hopefully.
"I'm a fugitive animagus with a fear of dementors," Sirius grinned at them both. "I'm here though for you forever, if you'll have me too."
Harry put an arm around Sirius and smiled at them both happily. "I think we should learn to be here for each other…especially since you're stuck with me this coming summer as well. I kind-of burned a bridge with the Dursleys."
Sirius gave a loud whoop of glee and Remus laughed. "So, cub…about dinner…" Remus started sheepishly.
"Kreacher!" Harry called out loudly before he could be volunteered.
A/N: Thanks for reading and please vote and comment!