Trying to be Good Mates (Drarry)

Chapter 17

"Harry," Narcissa spoke gently, the tone somehow helping to make his elven side calm down. "You know Sirius Black is dead, right? I know he was incredibly important to you as your godfather, but this," She gestured to the dog who was still standing between Harry and the Malfoys, "Is just a dog." 

"Sirius is an animagus, he can become a dog. I know how to recognise my godfather. I don't know how he's alive, but he is, he's right here." Harry gestured at the dog too. 

"Harry, I saw you after he died, hell, the whole castle did. You know he died." Draco added his own voice to the argument. 

Lucius finally understood why they had let such a filthy mutt in their home; veelas would do almost anything for their mates. Lucius didn't have anything against dogs in general, but he certainly didn't like dirty ones, and this one in question was filthy. A single conversation was unlikely to convince Harry that this was not, in fact, Sirius Black, a man who had died on a mission he had barely escaped doing. Until they had convinced Harry, though, it wouldn't be possible to get rid of the dog who seemed to hate all of them but Harry. 

Well that at least lined up with Sirius Black. 

"He was never registered as an animagus, Harry." Lucius raised his hand to put it on Harry's shoulder, but with a growl from the dog, he thought better of it. 

"That's because he, my father, and Peter Pettigrew all became unregistered animagi while at Hogwarts. If you don't believe me you can ask Hermione or any of the Weasleys." The air around Harry was filling with his magic, a clear sign that he was getting increasingly defensive. 

Harry was relieved that at least his elven side was shutting up. If he had any doubt about this being Sirius, which he didn't anyway, this silence even while his mate so clearly wanted him to stop believing this was Sirius confirmed it. 

"Harry!" Narcissa's voice wasn't loud, but it was enough to make Harry flinch. "Sirius is dead. I'm sorry, but this dog is not your godfather." 

"After everything you have asked me to just accept, why is this, the one thing I have asked you to take my word on, is something you can't believe?" Harry's voice broke slightly, and he left the room immediately, the dog following him as they heard his hurried footsteps go to his room. 

For all he was clearly angry and upset, his footsteps were relatively quiet and the door didn't slam. 

"Mum!" Draco turned on Narcissa, angry. 

"Draco, do not talk to your mother like that." Lucius shook his head, this was a mess, but letting Draco disrespect his mother wasn't going to fix it. 

"But father!" Draco looked at Lucius offended, but when he didn't relent, Draco too left the room, far less respectfully than Harry. 

"I'm going to contact some mind healers." Narcissa said after a moment of awkward silence. 

"Once you've done that you should also apologise to Harry. I know how what he's saying sounds, but his fondness of us is trying at best, and we do not want to ruin Draco's chances of having a good relationship with his mate." Lucius shook his head, looking at the muddy trail left by the dog. 

"I know, I regretted it immediately." Narcissa sighed as she, too, left the room, going to her office to write to St Mungo's. 

----- 

"Why aren't you transforming back to your human form?" Harry asked, in his en suite with Sirius, helping him wash in his dog form. 

Sirius had let Harry take care of his fur before, though it was an instance neither talked about. Harry had been having a bit of a breakdown that Sirius had reassured him was more than understandable, but the easy, repetitive action of brushing Sirius' fur had helped him calm down significantly. This, while equally comforting for Harry, was different. 

It's not like Sirius was naked, his fur was enough evidence of that, but still, shouldn't Sirius transform back and wash himself? And why would Sirius refuse so staunchly to transform so the Malfoys would stop thinking he was losing his mind? 

Sirius just barked sadly, nudging Harry's hand with his damp head. 

"You know..." Harry didn't quite know how to tell Sirius about this, but Sirius seemed to be the only thing he and his elven side seemed to agree on, and his godfather, he should be able to talk to him about anything, right? "After I thought you died I kept waiting for you to come back, as a ghost you know. I thought you had abandoned me." 

Harry didn't realise he was starting to cry until Sirius licked his cheek to wipe away the tears, looking sad. 

"Is there something stopping you from transforming?" Harry didn't know what that something might be, but it would explain why Sirius was refusing to return to his human form. 

Sirius barked, Harry taking it as a yes. The question now was who had done this? And why? 

Did they save Sirius, or was there a darker reason for them having them? And why was he so much smaller? This wasn't just a case of being underfed, though he was as skinny as he had been when he had barely escaped Azkaban, his bone structure was smaller, he looked younger. 

That's when Sirius barked, breaking Harry out of his train of thought, shaking the now warm and clean water off him, successfully soaking Harry. 

"What was that for?" Harry looked down at his now soaked new clothes. They would probably dry out before long, and he did have more to change into, but still. 

Sirius obviously couldn't respond with words, but he still looked proud of himself. 

----- 

Sirius looked down at Harry, who had fallen asleep while brushing his fur, that seriously needed keeping, telling him how he had ended up in Malfoy Manor for the holidays. Sirius wasn't happy about it, he knew what pureblood families were like, and he would have preferred if Harry was kept as far away from that as possible. 

All he could say was at least Harry's mate is a veela, who while opinionated were known for spoiling their mates. It was better than some other options, and it did seem like the Malfoys were trying to treat him well. 

Most of all Sirius hated hearing about how Harry had reacted to him falling through the veil. He was hardly surprised hearing what life was like for Harry with the Dursleys, not happy, but not surprised, but he had never wanted to be a cause of such misery for his godson. 

How was Remus holding up? 

Would Remus even recognise him? 

Harry had, but how? 

"Harry?" The youngest Malfoy and Harry's mate was at the door. "Can I come in?" 

Harry stirred slightly, his head resting on Sirius' stomach as they both lay on the bed. Sirius barked in place of Harry's answer. 

"I'm going to take that as an invite in." Malfoy said after a pause, not hearing anything but Sirius' bark. 

Sirius let out a low growl as Draco opened the door, he may be Harry's mate, btu Sirius had no reason to like him. What Harry needed was not a mate, but some help from both healers, and other creatures of the same type so he could learn to control his instincts. 

"I brought food, and Harry's potions." Draco raised a tray with 2 plates and several potions on, placing it on a bedside table. 

Sirius watched Draco with suspicion as he made sure the tray was safe, before he came to sit on the edge of the bed. Sirius' hair stood on end as his growling got louder. He couldn't move without waking Harry, but he wanted nothing more than to protect the child he just kept failing. 

"Hey, dog, I don't care if you're Sirius Black or not, but regardless if you hurt Harry, I will make sure to hurt you at least twice as much. If you are Sirius you should transform back soon." Draco wasn't looking at either Sirius or Harry, but his still voice had strong venom to it, it was no question that Draco was a veela when you remember their second faces. 

Sirius wished he could, his memories were foggy to say the least, filled with hazes of magic, but he did know that whatever had caused him to change like this made it so every time he tried to return to a human form he would be consumed with agony, unable to even see from the pain, and before reaching the safety of his human form he would be dragged back to the place he had escaped from, stuck as a dog perhaps forever more. 

"Make sure at least Harry eats." Draco pointed at the food again before he left.