Sirius's Son Harry Black

9

Harry Black

Meet Clarissa

In the attack on the Hogwarts Express, Dumbledore had arrived before anyone had been killed, and Antonin Dolohov was in Azkaban. Sirius had been patched up from his duel with Bellatrix after arriving in Hogsmeade and sent home. Only Lily had been worse off than Sirius—Dolohov held her under the Cruciatus Curse for a few seconds before James introduced the man to hell, which allowed him to be arrested while his fellow Death Eaters fled.

The Wizarding World panicked when word of the attack got out. The Hogwarts Express had never been attacked before. Dumbledore and the Ministry were flooded with angry owls and howlers, and quite a few students had been pulled out of Hogwarts. Sirius, however, was among the parents who believed Dumbledore offered the greatest safety for his child, and after Harry told him everything Bellatrix had said, Sirius forgot about his self-pity long enough to assure Harry he'd never pull him out of school.

That was three weeks ago, and since then, Harry had sent an owl at least twice a week that Sirius never hesitated in responding to. He learned that his son had been sorted into Gryffindor (where else?), was now best friends with the Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger he had met on the train, and had managed to screw up his first potions assignment because he couldn't read the board as well as his classmates and needed glasses. Also, Sirius' cousin Draco Malfoy had approached Harry before the Sorting eremony offering friendship, but he called Ron 'riffraff' and Hermione 'Mudblood' so Harry told him, in a rather colorful way if he was understanding his son's hints, to bugger off. Not the best way to start his school career, in Sirius' opinion, but at least it meant he wouldn't have to "reconnect" with the Malfoys.

"Hey, mate. What'd you need to ask us?" James asked, entering Sirius' study with Remus and Peter in tow.

Sirius finished tying a letter to Hedwig's leg and sent her out the window. "I heard Harry say something on the train." He had been brooding over this for weeks and hoped his friends would have a better insight into it than he did.

"Yeah?"

"Has he ever asked you guys anything about his mother?"

"Nothing he hasn't asked you," James said, sitting.

"Only if I knew her," Remus answered.

Peter nodded. "I didn't know about her, so Harry didn't ask about anything else."

"What'd he say?" James asked.

"He sounded like… like he didn't believe I don't know who she is. How he said it… his tone… everything! He said that I would say I didn't know, and he was so bitter. I doubt that boy he was talking to—Ron—would have noticed, but I've been listening to Harry's voice for eleven years."

"I think you're reading too far into this," James said. "I was there when you asked Dumbledore, no one in our world knows who she is. We've both told him that."

"I guess…" Sirius said, but he knew that hadn't been pure disappointment Harry was speaking out of on the train.

"Maybe he thinks you don't care about knowing," Remus said, slowly.

"Huh?"

"You've never tried to find her. Have you ever offered to?"

"No…"

"Why don't you try? Go to the pubs you might have met her at and see if anyone remembers."

"That's not a bad idea," Sirius said, running a hand through his hair. "Do you really think that could be it though? If he wanted me to look for her, why didn't he just ask? Merlin knows he'll ask for anything else."