Verus

twelve

1996, 12 Grimmauld Place, Islington, London

There was a rather vivid contrast between the man Harry had first met and the person who sat across from him now. The three of them, being Sirius, Remus, and himself, had since gathered around an old table within the confines of Grimmauld's kitchen. It was long, wooden, and looked like it had seen better days, much like everything else that littered the eerie house.

Remus had led the way, hand hovering cautiously over the small of Sirius' back whilst Harry had trailed behind. Neither one of them had spoken much since the reveal of just who Harry was, but the teen had caught on pretty quickly to the identities of the two apparent strangers. But he was honed in on one in particular.

Sirius Black. It appeared that in his haste to defend himself, Harry had failed to remember the likes of his godfather, the aforementioned man Merlin had brought up in his many tales. The same man he himself had been so excited to meet growing up.

Seeing him now though, after all those years spent pining, Harry almost wanted to laugh at just how much this man differed from the person he'd dreamt up as a child. The grand wizard he had always pictured was tall, elegant, and regal. So full of humour, warmth, and charm. His smile had always been bright and his eyes forever youthful. Fantasy Sirius was well educated, too smart for his own good, and he never disappointed when asked to spill all about his many adventures spent abroad. But most of all, the man had been the perfect blend of all four of Harry's founders, holding a bright flaming torch to each of their best attributes.

This person, this Sirius, sat before him, definitely had a comedic streak- Harry had seen as much during the early moments of their meeting when the former had been completely unaware of his presence- but he also held so much darkness within.

Harry had noticed it slowly. It was this encompassing shadow that seemed to watch carefully from just behind the man's flamboyantly rowdy image. Sirius disliked it, that much Harry could tell, he never seemed to acknowledge it, stowed it mostly away, as best he could. But it was there, always there. It seemed to trickle out of his pores and infect the air. Harry could sense it even then, not as clear as he had before- earlier, when Sirius had struggled to control the sudden fury he'd felt- but it was right there. Hovering just beneath. A baited breath away.

Granted, Remus seemed to compliment him nicely. The two balanced one another out, and without even trying. Where Sirius was sharp and rather quick to use his words as weapons, Remus appeared subdued, an unrelenting albeit calming presence.

The latter was sat opposite Harry too, close to the raven haired wizard who was still somehow struggling to string together a coherent sentence, but he observed Harry with a piercing intensity that the boy found oddly intriguing.

Harry had an inkling about him of course, he couldn't not with the way they had earlier connected. That zap of pressure he'd felt, the fascinating chill that had bristled the hairs on the back of his neck, and the prolonged energy that had seemed to pass between their two beings. But most of all, he was intrigued by his magic's reaction to the quiet man. Remus Lupin seemed to be quite the enigma, but Harry was rather unsure on just how to go about voicing it.

There had already been enough upset for the time being, and this truly wasn't how Harry had pictured meeting his godfather for the very first time. In spite of that though, he couldn't seem to help himself, and opened his big mouth before he could even heed Rowena's careful warning about tamping down his excessively inquisitive nature.

"So..." He practically sung, "was it the you who recognised me first, or the wolf?"

The silence that had since settled within the kitchen's four walls stretched further then, practically all-consuming. He could actually hear the faint tick of the grandfather clock that crowded the cluttered hallway, as well as the drip on one of the upstair sinks, it deafened the space.