IMPOSSIBLE RISKS // Drarry

19) THE ORDER OF THE PHEONIX

TW: Delores Umbridge

The first thing that Harry hears when he enters Number Twelve Grimmald Place is the screams of, "Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers -"

Draco, who is standing next to him, tenses and whispers a barely audible, "Oh, fuck. Not this shit."

"What?"

"That's Walburga Black's portrait," he says, and Harry realizes where the screaming voice was coming from. It's probably about as screechy as Petunia Dursley's, "She's a nasty bitch."

"Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!" roars a voice, seizing the curtains. After a moment, he realizes that it's Sirius. The old woman's face blanches a the sight of him.

"You!" she howls, her eyes popping at the sight of him, "Blood traitor, abomination, the hame of my flesh!"

"I said - shut - UP!"

The old woman's screeches die and an echoing silence falls. Panting slightly and sweeping his long dark hair out of his eyes, Harry's godfather, Sirius, turns to face him.

"Hello, Harry," he says grimly, "I see you've met my mother."

"Your - ?"

"My dear old mum, yeah," says Sirius. "We've been trying to get her down for a month but we think she put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas. Let's get downstairs, quick, before they all wake up again."

"But what's a portrait of your mother doing here?" Harry asks, bewildered, as they go through the door from the hall and lead the way down a flight of narrow stone steps, Draco trailing behind him.

"Hasn't anyone told you? This was my parents' house," says Sirius, "But I'm the last Black left, so it's mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters - about the only useful thing I've been able to do."

Harry, who had expected a better welcome, notes how hard and bitter Sirius's voice sounds. He follows his godfather to the bottom of the stairs and through a door leading into the basement kitchen.

"He's not mad at you," Says Draco in his ear, "He just doesn't like his family-I can see why, I've heard some nasty stories about Walburga from my mother. Even when she was alive, I wasn't allowed to go so much as near the woman. She was bad-shit crazy."

"Oh," says Harry and he sees that Sirius has just caught notice of Draco's presence.

"Draco Malfoy, right?" he asks and the boy nods hesitantly. A smile grows on Sirius' face, "Thank you for protecting my Godson, cousin."

"Cousin?"

"Yeah, his mother is my cousin," says Sirius, turning back to Draco, "Glad there is another black sheep of the family, eh Malfoy?"

The rest of the Summer was mainly spent at the Grimmauld. Harry's tried to cope with the nightmare infesting his life, but it's been difficult. When they got their Hogwarts letters, they were more than excited. Ron found out that he made perfect, which Harry was super proud of him for. He's earned it. Though, the twins weren't all too happy about the comments they'd get from Molly.

After Harry got settled in, he was informed about the order of the phoenix. They decided to keep Draco in the dark about the group, in case information was to be forced out of him. At first, Harry was mad that his friends had kept it from him for so long. He'd gone most of the summer completely clueless about the Wizarding World. They should have told him. But, what's done is done.

Harry strolls through King's Cross station, getting prepared for a new year at Hogwarts. The steam from the trains pollutes the air around him, making his lungs burn. The mechanical noises from the gears turning also do very little to calm his nerves. A black deerhound is following closely behind him.