𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐬 | 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐨 𝐞𝐫𝐚

Chapter 38. Catching Up ☾

A/N: Its a short chapter ahead but I will post another chapter today...

Remus awoke to two soulful grey eyes staring back at him. He jumped, a little shocked, and made to sit up. He found himself covered with a blanket and wearing fuzzy slippers, a pillow underneath his head. Sirius stuffed a pair of the wolf's robes in his face.

"Your tea will be ready momentarily. Take these and put them on. We'll have a lovely chat when you're decent." Sirius promised, leaving the room and shutting the door. Remus stared at the closed door in shock. He shook his head and began putting on his clothes.

When he was finished, he walked out to where Sirius waited for him. He sat down and was rewarded with a steaming cup of Earl Grey and some scones. He rolled his eyes. Since when was Sirius motherly? The last time this had occurred, Peter made the tea and scones. Looking back, Remus blushed at the fact that they had teased him mercilessly for it. Was that the reason he turned? Could they have stopped him if only they had taken the time to stop and evaluate how they talked to one another?

Remus shook his head again. These thoughts would not get them anywhere. He sipped his tea and sat back.

"So, Azkaban." He started. Sirius nodded.

"Professor Lupin." He retorted.

"Touche." Remus laughed. Boy, had their lives turned out differently than they had imagined. Remus took the time to think. "How did I not notice you were Harry's dog this whole time?" He asked the other man. Sirius smirked.

"To be fair, I did have blond hair and brown eyes. Not very similar to my original look." Sirius pointed out. He quickly grew somber. "Remus, there is something that you should know. Pettigrew escaped last night. I'm not free. He's out in the wind, probably running to his master at this moment."

"So, where will you go?" Remus asked. "How will you hide from the dementors or the ministry?" Sirius shrugged.

"I don't know. I might go 'home' to Grimmauld Place, clean it up a little bit. I thought about going down to the tropics for a vacation, but that just doesn't seem fair to Harry. He just got me back. I won't leave him again." The dark man promised. He knew Remus would probably never get the second meaning behind his words. He would never know of Sirius' death at the hands of Bellatrix, nor would he hear about the way Harry tortured himself over it. Sirius could not quite understand why Harry felt so responsible, but it did seem pretty bad, from the way Harry talked about losing him. Sirius blinked his eyes several times. He had to come back to the present. Remus needed him, not his stray thoughts.

"I'm glad. You know, if I could, I'd take him in a heartbeat. I tried to gain custody way back in the beginning, but as a werewolf, there was no way for me to do anything. They turned me down." Remus informed his friend.

"I wish I could take him, too. Maybe I'll go with him back home. It might be fun to play the pet dog over the summer." Sirius thought aloud. Remus smirked.

"Oh, I'd pay money to see that, Padfoot." Remus teased. Sirius smiled.

"Wherever he's living can't be that bad. He could easily explain finding a stray dog on the side of the road and taking it with him to school." Sirius replied seriously.

"I can't wait to see how you would avoid being neutered." Remus snorted. Sirius went red before smirking again.

"Besides, I'm sure the family he's staying with would be accepting of a pet." Sirius assured his friend. Remus' face dropped.

"I highly doubt they would." Remus rebutted. Sirius looked confused.

"Come on, I'm a loveable childhood pet. Who could say no to that? As a matter of fact, who could say no to Harry Potter?" Sirius questioned. Remus looked thoughtful.

"Lily's sister and her husband would be first in line." The wolf replied. As an afterthought, he added, "Quickly followed by Severus Snape."

"Well, I'm talking about people who matter." Sirius retorted.

"As am I." Remus argued. "Well, at least the first part anyway."

"Why? Why would Harry have anything to do with that evil wench and her vile, walrus husband?" Sirius inquired. Remus quirked an eyebrow.

"They matter because they're his guardians?" Remus suggested, almost as if he were asking if this really did make them count.

"No. No way! Harry was specifically not supposed to go to Petunia and Vernon." Sirius told Remus. Remus shrugged.

"Who else was available to care for him?" Remus proposed. Sirius balked for a minute.

"I don't know. Look in their will again! It should have a list of people James and Lily agreed to have as Harry's guardians. They told me about it. They also specifically said that Harry was not supposed to go to Petunia or Vernon. He was not to even see them, ever." Sirius replied, outraged.

"Look in their will again? What do you mean?" Remus queried.

"Well, what did their will say?" Sirius responded. Remus shrugged.

"I don't know. Their will was never read." Remus informed Sirius. Sirius remained calm. Remus was surprised. For Sirius credit, he seemed to be taking it very well.

"WHAT!?" Sirius screeched. Remus winced. He spoke too soon.

"There wasn't much time. Harry had to be placed right away. There was so much going on. We had to think quickly. Professor Dumbledore sent Harry directly to his aunt and uncle's. There was no reason to uproot him. Of course, Professor Dumbledore suddenly had to deal with the heavy load of trials and court cases, last minute laws changing, people trying to plead not guilty, and so on. It just seemed best to put him there." Remus explained, though he did not quite know why he had defended the Headmaster.

"Well, the will needs to be read." Sirius announced with authority. He got up and walked toward the door.

"Sirius, while I agree Harry should not be with the Dursleys-really, they do horrible things to him-I cannot see us going in and demanding to see the Potter will. The way things ended this year, and Harry needs you. Going out in public would be a bad idea." Remus debated. Sirius smiled wryly, quickly turning into Dragon. The werewolf smiled. "I know you think that solves everything, but it really doesn't." Sirius turned back.

"We could go right now. No one would suspect the pet dog of Harry Potter to be the mass murderer supposedly out to get him. We can get into Gringotts. We'll be safe there. The goblins don't care about ministry laws, nor do they have an opinion on escaped convicts. We'll be really quick, and then we have our ammunition to fight Harry's current placement in court." Sirius argued. Remus sighed. He looked at Sirius, back to himself, and then back to Sirius. Sirius got the idea. "Okay, not right now. Like, this afternoon, or tomorrow."

"You won't let this go until we've seen this through, will you?" Remus asked, almost pleading with the man to say that he would indeed let this go.

"When have I, Moony? When have I ever?" Sirius questioned. Remus sighed again.

CHAPTER END
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