Chapter 1: Safe For Now

Rose invited me over for dinner tomorrow to meet her family. Not thinking, I agreed, excited to meet Muggles and learn more about them. It wasn't until after I accepted that I realized that they might get the wrong idea and think that we might be dating. Strangely enough, the thought didn't bother me all that much. I wonder why?

"Sirius Orion Black, you giant bloody moron -"

A crash sounded as a porcelain teapot flew across the kitchen and hit the wall.

"Now, Leo, don't you think you might be overreacting a bit -"

The statement ended in a yelp as a giant, shaggy black dog ran from the kitchen and up the stairs, a blonde teen hot on his heels and hurling insults at him. The boy stopped at the top of the stairs, glaring at the dog as he pelted up the next flight of stairs and continued all the way up to hide in his room. The boy huffed before stomping back down the stairs and flicking his wrist, allowing a long, thin piece of wood to fall into his hand. With a wave and a muttered word, the teapot repaired itself and the boy sat down at the table, looking over the various things laying there.

The boy was Leo Black, and he was a wizard. Twelve years ago, Leo had lost almost all the magical relatives – with the exception of his cousin, Harry – he had left to an evil Dark Wizard who called himself Lord Voldemort. They had been murdered right in front of their very eyes when Harry and Leo were barely more than a year old. Harry had escaped from the same attack with nothing more than a scar on his forehead, where Voldemort's curse, instead of killing him, had rebounded upon its originator. Barely alive, Voldemort had fled...

But Leo had come face-to-face with him at Hogwarts. Remembering their last meeting as he sat with his head in his hands, Leo had to say he was quite lucky to be alive. He had dueled one of the most powerful wizards alive – sort of – and, not only had he survived, he had won. Granted, if Fawkes the phoenix hadn't swooped by and distracted him, Leo doubted he would've gotten the upper hand. But still, he had won.

Ordinarily, Leo's ego would have inflated to the point where he would have been barely tolerable to be around, but the experience ended up grounding him somewhat. Seeing how close he had come to death had inspired Leo to train even harder over the summer so he would not be caught unawares next time he ran into Voldemort – because there would most assuredly be a next time. He had some help from his father's best friend, Remus Lupin, and his uncle, Sirius Black who, while not having a wand, was still able to advise, direct, and teach Leo when Remus was unable to be there.

Leo picked up one of the things on the table, glaring at the clipping that came from the wizarding newspaper, the Daily Prophet, and reading:

MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE

Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw.

A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, "We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank."

The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children currently attend.

Leo scanned the moving photograph, his scowl becoming more pronounced as he saw all nine of the Weasleys waving furiously at him, standing in front of a large pyramid. Plump little Mrs. Weasley; tall, balding Mr. Weasley; six sons; and one daughter, all (though the black-and-white picture didn't show it) with flaming-red hair. Right in the middle of the picture was Ron, tall and gangling, with his pet rat, Scabbers, on his shoulder and his arm around his little sister, Ginny.

It was the rat that had caused the argument in the kitchen. Leo had been showing his uncle all the birthday gifts he had received from his friends, when Sirius had suddenly gone rigid, staring intently at the rat in the photo. After some careful prodding, Sirius finally admitted that the rat was really Peter Pettigrew, the man who had sold Leo's family out to Voldemort and gotten Sirius sent to life in Azkaban after carefully framing him.

Leo had been searching for him since his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but had not been able to find him due to the fact that he was lacking one crucial bit of information: Pettigrew could turn into a bloody rat. Sirius had then followed this up by showing that he could turn into a dog, at which point Leo had started yelling at him, telling him Pettigrew had been sleeping in his dorm room for the past two years and he had had ample opportunity to find and capture him. That had been the point where Leo had started throwing things and sent his uncle fleeing from the room in the form of the dog, Padfoot.

Leo jumped slightly as he felt wetness touching his hand and stared down crossly at the aforementioned mutt who looked up at him. His eyes were wide, his ears folded back as he gave a low whine, nudging Leo's hand. Begging, Padfoot? Really?

"One of these days, I'm going to send you to the pound," Leo threatened, receiving an affronted look before Padfoot quickly went back to begging. "You're still a git." More whining as Padfoot licked his hand. "Fine, you can still come. But you have to behave, alright? Don't need to make things worse for Harry than they already are."

Padfoot gave a happy bark before racing from the room, Leo following at a slower pace as he shook his head fondly. It was July 31st, the day of his and Harry's thirteenth birthday. Harry had to remain at the Dursleys for a few weeks out of every summer to ensure the blood wards stayed intact so that Voldemort couldn't come and murder him in his sleep or something. Leo didn't really understand it, but he didn't understand a lot of things Dumbledore said.

Leo was planning on visiting his cousin and bringing him a present: a Memory Orb. It was a small, unassuming glass ball that, when touched by a wand, showed whatever memories were stored within. Sirius said it was a bit like a portable Pensieve, whatever that was. Leo had put memories of himself and Harry in there – only the fun ones, of course. He had wanted to put memories of Harry's parents in there as well, but neither Remus nor Sirius wanted to give themselves away to the boy just yet, for his own safety.

Leo could understand their reasoning. Remus was a werewolf with the biggest case of self-loathing Leo had ever seen whereas Sirius was an escaped convict accused of murdering thirteen people. He was innocent, of course, but still. It was hardly the right time to drag Harry into the wacky world Leo found himself in.

Padfoot sat at the front door, collar and leash in his jaws as he wagged his tail at Leo's appearance. Leo attached both to the dog, wanting to keep up appearances as the two set out for the nearest bus stop that would get them close to Little Whinging, where Harry lived. They didn't have to wait long before the bus appeared and the driver eyed Padfoot warily. Padfoot gave him the patented puppy-dog eyes while Leo convinced the man that his dog was perfectly docile.

Reluctantly, they were allowed to board the bus, where they sat in the back and waited for their stop. Half an hour later, they arrived at a bus stop ten minutes from Little Whinging and hopped out before walking the remainder of the way to their destination. Leo stopped at Number 4 Privet Drive and knocked on the door. The door flung open and Leo had to blink in surprise.

On the threshold stood Marge Dursley. She was very like her brother, Vernon Dursley: large, beefy, and purple-faced, she even had a mustache, though not as bushy as his. She held a glass of wine in her left hand, and an old and evil-tempered bulldog peeked out behind her hamlegs. Padfoot growled lowly before Leo nudged him.

"Come crawling back, have you?" she barked at him. "Got tired of living under the bridge with the rest of the trash?"

"Hello, Marge," Leo replied, giving a polite smile. "I see you've had a wonderful time at the Twinkie factory. Hope you left some for the rest of the world."

Padfoot gave a small snort as Marge stared at him, appalled. Leo wasn't sure why, considering he had never once been nice or polite to the woman. Vernon suddenly appeared at this moment, his face paling visibly at the sight of Leo, who waved his fingers and gave an evil grin. He waddled forward quickly.

"What're you doing here, boy?" Vernon demanded.

"Clearly, someone's forgotten the days of the month," Leo remarked dryly. "I'm here to see Harry. It is our birthday, after all."

Padfoot barked in agreement and, for the first time, the Dursleys noticed him. Vernon's reaction was priceless he had gasped in surprise, jumping back in the hallway with a loud yell of, "What the ruddy hell is that?!"

"Most cultures refer to it as a dog," Leo explained as though talking to a two year old while the rest of the inhabitants of Privet Drive ran down the hall to see what the commotion was about. "Surprised you don't know what one is, considering your brother-sister breeds them. Or, at least, she breeds something that's half-dog and half-pig. Anyway, hiya, Harry, Happy Birthday!"

Leo waved behind Marge at the dark-haired, bespectacled boy who stood there, a half-amused smile on his face. Padfoot stood up on his hind legs, trying to get a better look when Leo grabbed him by his collar and pulled him down. That wasn't exactly normal dog behavior, after all.

"You have some nerve -" Marge began, and Leo realized she was still standing there.

"I have all the nerve, actually," Leo informed her pleasantly. "And I shall take my nerve – and my dog – and leave once I've had a little Harry time."

At once, both Marge and Vernon began shouting at him. About what, Leo wasn't quite sure, as their voices constantly overlapped each other. Leo exchanged a bemused look with Padfoot, who seemed to be hovering between amusement and mild irritation at the people who had the audacity to – as he would later, rather sarcastically put it – yell at his precious, innocent little nephew. The boy was half-tempted to interrupt, but figured they'd just end up stuck doing this for another hour after he did so. It was simply best to let them get it out.

After several minutes, the two stopped, sweat beading over their purple faces as they heavily panted. Leo merely raised an eyebrow at the pair, refraining from commenting how out of shape they both were. That was just low-hanging fruit. Then again, practically everything with the Dursleys was low-hanging fruit in Leo's book.

"If you're quite finished," Leo began in a very dry tone. "I'd like to speak to my cousin – the adorable skinny one."

Harry's face turned bright red as both Dudley and Padfoot chortled before Dudley abruptly stopped, realizing he was being insulted. Vernon and Marge looked as though they were about to start yelling again when Aunt Petunia decided to step in and somewhat mediate the situation. She allowed Harry to leave the house for a bit to talk with Leo, if only so the boy would leave quicker.

Harry sat down on the front step next to his cousin after the Dursleys went back inside. Immediately, Padfoot jumped on him, wagging his tail and licking his face before Leo pulled him off of the now laughing boy.

"Bad dog, no jumping," Leo scolded him, swatting his nose.

Padfoot gave him an unamused look as Harry sat up, grinning broadly.

"When did you get a dog?" he asked.

"Found him when I got home from the station. He smelled funny," Leo grinned as Padfoot snorted. "But I let him stay anyway. It's been nice having someone around besides Kreacher. Apollo's not too fond of him, though. Keeps trying to bite him and chases him round the house. It's quite hilarious."

Padfoot gave a low grumble while Harry merely laughed. Leo reached into the pocket of his dark red hoodie and pulled out a box, handing it to Harry. Harry opened it and took out the glass ball, looking it over curiously.

"It's called a Memory Orb," Leo informed him. "You can put memories in there and view them at any time by touching the ball with your..." He paused, recalling they were in a Muggle neighborhood. "Stick of Destiny. I've already put a few memories of us and our friends in there."

"It's brilliant, Leo, thanks!" Harry grinned, giving his cousin a one-armed hug before giving a small frown. "I haven't been able to go out and get you anything yet -"

"You gave me Apollo our first year – and he's given me everything. As far as I'm concerned, we're square, Potter," Leo clapped him on the back. "What else've you gotten?"

"Ron got me a Sneakoscope, Hermione got me a broom care kit, and Hagrid got me a book -"

"That tries to bite your face off?" Leo chuckled. "First time I showed it to Paddy here, it chased him round the kitchen. Took nearly half an hour to catch it – mostly because I couldn't stop laughing."

Padfoot gave him a look that could only be described as a discontented pout. Harry laughed.

"How do you put up with him?" Harry asked, scratching the dog behind the ears.

Padfoot gave a low whine and a bark of agreement.

"He gets free food and a warm bed. He can't complain," Leo narrowed his eyes at the black canine. "He won't complain."

Padfoot gave another pout.

"Malfoy sent me something too. Something called Peruvian -"

"Instant Darkness Powder?" Leo finished as Harry nodded, still scratching Padfoot's ears. "Yeah, me too. It was a bit odd, but it should come in handy one day, what with all the adventures we tend to have. Could've used it in the Forest last year for Aragog and the spiders."

"Dunno, not sure it would work. Aragog was blind, but still somehow seemed to know where we were. Vaguely, anyway," Harry frowned. "Still, it was a nice gesture and I... sort of wanted to... apologize, I guess. You were right last year, Malfoy isn't as bad as he used to be. He's really come round."

"Yeah, all it took was opening his eyes a bit and getting him to admit what he really wanted. After that, it was just a matter of his dad revealing what a murderous git he was. Draco's opinion about him changed pretty swiftly after that."

"Do you think he's alright?" Harry questioned somewhat nervously. "I mean, he's not exactly the same person he used to be. He's alright with Muggleborns and Gryffindors and -"

"I wouldn't worry too much about him, Harry," Leo replied, meeting Padfoot's grey eyes and receiving a reassuring tail wag. "Draco's been part of the pure-blood elite his entire life. They develop a lot of different skills, the most prominent of which is a mask that they can put on to hide what they're really thinking and feeling -"

"But what if Malfoy's cracks?" Harry argued.

"Then I send in Kreacher to rescue him," Leo shrugged. "Trust me, Harry, I've thought all this through long and hard. Draco is safe for now. When that ceases to be the case, he will be rescued. You have my word."

"That's good, I guess," Harry finally said, nodding his head as he relaxed. "Did you get the letter about Hogsmeade?"

"Aye," Leo nodded. "Figured I'd just sneak in since there's no force on this earth that would ever get the Dursleys to sign it for me."

Harry snorted in amusement.

"You do realize that Remus can sign it, right? He is your godfather, after all."

Leo stared at his uncle, half-tempted to flip the table onto him in aggravation. They had returned to Grimmauld, wherein they sat across from each other at the kitchen table, drinking cups of tea as they discussed their talk with Harry. When they got to the part about Hogsmeade, Sirius had decided to drop this bombshell on him.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" Leo asked dryly. "Maybe that my mother's half-mermaid or my dad's secretly a werewolf in disguise?"

"I don't know about all that, but I can tell you what you are," Sirius replied, managing to keep a straight face as Leo leaned forward slightly in curiosity. "A git."

Leo threw the teapot at him again and he took off running, laughing all the while.