À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)

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Beta'd by the most wonderful, amazing and stupendous Tenchi. Woman, you are the best and love you for all you do for me!

 

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Chapter 2

 

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Helping Harry and Sirius into Grimmauld Place after an Apparation that left them more disoriented than they were before, Remus talked to them soothingly. As with everything in life, not all had gone exactly according to plan. Like Rufus had said, he made sure that the way was clear for them to get out of Ministry. There were people there of course, ones that gave them stunned looks, but there had also been a reporter and photographer from the Prophet. They had gotten pictures. He was now sure what the front page of the Prophet was going to be the following day. That was fine too. He really didn't care. They were protected here and would remain so until Sirius and Harry were in better shape, which meant they wouldn't be bothered by whatever went on outside their doors. For him, it just meant he was going to have to step up the timeline slightly for talking to Arthur. They could also expect to be bombarded with owls of all kinds. Again, that was fine and nothing they couldn't deal with.

Shutting the door behind them, making sure it was warded heavily, though the house was about as protected as anyone could get it, Remus sighed in relief. This wasn't the end of the problems, that he knew, but it was the major ones for now. Looking at the two, making sure they were fine, he nodded when he saw them both slouched against the wall catching their breath. With what had happened, this was expected and he was content to let them rest for a few minutes. Calling the two house elves he had purchased shortly after moving in, he quietly introduced them to Sirius and Harry when they appeared.

Looking at the two clean, respectful elves, Sirius nodded. That was fine with him. Standing up, still breathing heavily, he asked, voice a snarl, “Where is Kreacher?” The elf was a creature he had a bone to pick with, one that wasn't going to be pleasant considering his role in this mess. Though it worked out fine, the betrayal would be dealt with accordingly.

“He's around somewhere, I'm just not sure where that is,” Remus told him with a sigh. “Just—no bloodshed, Sirius. There are other ways of handling him and what he did.”

“No bloodshed,” Sirius assured him, shaking his head. “There are fates worse than that for an elf.”

After catching his breath, Harry stood up straight, still shaking slightly. Grinning, he said, “I'm hungry. And that feels great!”

Chuckling, grinning a little, Remus nodded, “I figured you both would be. Something will be waiting for us in the kitchen.”

Clapping Harry on the back, grinning, Sirius nodded, “Yeah, I am too and that is fantastic. We didn't notice such things where we were, but eating is still a good thing you miss.”

“It is,” Harry snorted, grinning bigger. “Is Hedwig here? And my stuff? She knew to come and there was charm on my things to make sure they made it here.”

“Everything went according to plan, Harry,” Remus told him with a smile. “Your things are here and Hedwig arrived shortly after you went through the Veil. She's kept me company for the last year.”

“Good,” Harry said, relieved, with a nod. There were other things he wanted to cover so they could get filled on what's happened, but his thoughts were still too muddled for that. Shaking his head, he sighed. It would take time, he knew that, it was just frustrating was all. Looking down at his rumbled, dirty clothes, he added, “I think we need to change, too. We're still covered with the residue.”

“We'll handle that when we get in the kitchen,” Remus assured him quietly, smiling. “Since you're feeling a little more with it, let's go sit down.” Gently, he began to herd the two in that direction.

 

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Look at Severus, trembling hands folded on his desk, Albus then glanced at the completely stunned Minerva, before looking back at the Potions Master then asked, softly, “Are you sure, Severus? It's them?”

“It is,” Severus confirmed with a firm nod of his head. Sighing, he said, “Something is very strange there and I don't know what. The archway is gone, blasted to pieces of rubble, and they came back through it. I can show you the memory. In fact, you probably need to see it so we can figure out what they did. From what we overheard, no one thinks it's anything Dark, but everyone is at a loss about how they managed.” Lowering his voice, he looked between the two then said, “The kiss and that collar—I don't know what's up there. I think Lupin knew something because he seemed to expect it from some of his actions. And it's going to get out, fast. Not only were there plenty of people in the Ministry when they left, but there was a photographer there. I'm damned sure they got pictures.”

Not sure what to say here, Minerva looked between the two then asked, quietly, “Any idea what they could have done to manage this, Albus?”

“No,” the aging headmaster said quietly with a shake of his head. “There is nothing I know of that could bring someone back through that Veil. Even Necromancy couldn't manage that as there was no body to work with. It's—they were gone with no chance of returning. As a ghost of them didn't show up, it appeared they accepted their fate and crossed over. I'll check with some contacts in the Department of Mysteries, but I'm not hopeful we can figure it out without the two of them telling us.” Sighing, he added, “And that might not be something that'll happen for some time. Disorientation will be a factor here. Let me see what we can work with and find out.” Sighing, he looked down, stroking his beard, then asked, distractedly, “Remus said something about contacting Arthur?”

“He did,” Severus confirmed, shifting around in his chair.

“I may let him see what he can do. He's mild mannered enough that he may be deemed as not a threat,” the old man said with a nod. “I’ll contact him to see what he thinks he can manage.”

“I think we need an Order meeting to let everyone know,” Minerva said firmly. “We can manage it here as the classes are over the year.” Quietly, she then added, looking between the two, “And we need to let Mr. Potter's friends know before they are blindsided by the pictures in the paper.”

“That may be the way to go,” Albus agreed.

“It is,” Severus told him firmly, crossing his arms over his chest. “Moody and Arthur were going to pass the word about it, so questions we have no answers for will come. We need to head off wild untruths before they start to spread.”

“Yes, I'll set something up for tonight,” Albus told them firmly with a nod. “We don't need to make a bizarre situation even worse with wild untruths circulating. At least we can give the facts and lay that out until we can manage to figure out how they accomplished this.” Looking at Severus, he said, “Pull the memory and I'll view it. After that, I'll set things in motion for a meeting tonight after all the students are in the dorms.” Looking at Minerva, he said, quietly, “And I'll get with Harry's friends and explain this the best I can before then. I want you with me when I do that, of course. We'll have to talk to most of the students tomorrow when the paper comes anyway, I think.”

“I'll arrange it,” Minerva said with a firm nod.

“Alright, you go back and deal with what's going on. I'll have Severus pull me the memory so I can view it then will work on what I need to arrange,” Albus said, plan forming as to how to handle this.

Nodding to the two men, Minerva swept out, off-kilter in a way she hadn't been in a very long time.

Looking at the man in black, Albus said, when he was sure Minerva was out of earshot and the wards were back in place, “This is a good thing. Tom won't expect this.”

“It is,” Severus confirmed with a nod. Sighing, he then added, “I'm not sure it's going to be as easy to work with as it was before, though. It's going to take time for them to come around completely. And it's going to depend on what they did to accomplish this.”

“Anything now is going to be a big help,” Albus told him quietly. “We aren't in good shape. Rufus is doing what he can, but Tom has the upper hand and we all know it. Losing Harry was a blow to our side that we have yet to recover from.”

“Even if Potter is out for the foreseeable future, he's a beacon that many will look to and could be a rallying point,” Severus admitted, looking at the man. “It may be enough to gain support and get people to step up to do what's right.”

“Very true,” Albus agreed with a nod. Sighing, he said, “Give me the memory and I'll work from there. There is much to do. This is unexpected, but good.”

Pulling the memory, Severus handed it over and waited, mind working on how the two had managed this.

 

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Sitting at the table, straddling one of Sirius and Remus' legs, leaning back against the two, Harry sipped at his juice then set the cup down with a contented sigh. “That was good,” he said, smiling.

Shoving his empty plate away, Sirius agreed, “It was. Nothing like eating again.”

Resting his head on Remus' shoulder, Harry grinned, “We missed our pervert.”

Chuckling at that, Remus reached up and ruffled Harry's hair then said, smiling, “I missed you both, too.” Looking down at Harry's bare arms, he fingered the bond mark that was there. There would be no hiding it anymore, on any of them, since this happened. He didn't mind that, honestly. Fingering the large, bear-like dog that symbolized Sirius, then the wolf that was him and finally the small black dog that looked almost like a puppy that was the mark for Harry, he nodded. It was now crystal clear and not the faded color it had been before the trip through the Veil with a gold outline around all the animals. That meant there was nothing anyone could do to separate them again. They would seal it further, of course, when Sirius and Harry could handle being around people again, but even if they didn't it would be fine.

Letting his fingers trail down Harry's arm, he fingered the leather wrist cuff that was there and ran a tip of one digit over the engraved name of Sirius. That was to show who was the dominant in the relationship, signified by the wearing of the cuff on the arm the mark graced. On Harry's other wrist, as he well knew, was another one with his name on it. Both, together, meant Harry belonged to them and always would unless the young man chose to remove the collar and cuffs, something that would probably never happen. They would be together until real death came for all of them with no more separations, taking on the roles that had been set out for them by not only James, but Harry's choice.

Snickering, Harry asked, rolling his eyes up to Remus, “Let me guess; you spent the year dreaming all kinds of new perverted ways to have fun?”

Grinning, Remus nodded, “Of course. While some of it had to do with the only real way to deal with the twitching caused by being apart from you two, the rest was—fun. Experimentation and new things are the key to keep from getting bored.”

“With you and your ideas, we're never going to get bored, Moony,” Sirius laughed, shaking his head.

“Which means things will stay exciting for a very long time,” Remus observed, looking smug. Serious expression sliding into place, he said, quietly, “There are much more complicated and worry-some issues to tackle. Some we need to start on soon. I bet that in the morning we're going to be bombarded with owls and issues we have to handle.”

“We'll take it as it comes,” Sirius said, looking at him then sighing. Shaking his head then rubbing his eyes, he added, “Just not tonight. I'm still too befuddled to take some of it on as I'm going to have to be able think clearly to deal with it. That and you have to fill us in on what's happened in the last year. I'm sure there are plenty of things that we need to know about.”

“We'll start tomorrow, Sirius,” Remus soothed, putting a hand on his lover's back and patting it. “And take it a little at a time. I would suggest I handle most of it as I was around and know what went on.”

“Yeah, going to let you do that,” Sirius nodded. “At least until Harry and I get it together. And we'll go with the plan for this we came up with before the trip through the Veil; give them some information, but not all, and make it clear we won't give it all up. If they figure it out, something doubtful, we won't confirm or deny.”

“That's the best plan we have and it'll still work,” Remus told him softly. Resting his head against Harry's, he said, quietly, “Some we have to, like the relationship and what it is, as they're going to see it. Your end we can handle and this time away from everyone will make it manageable. Harry's problems are going to come when we have to go back to interacting with people.”

“I should be in a stable place by then and can handle it,” Sirius told him, looking in his direction.

“I'm going to suggest now that we deal with Arthur at first. He's one I don't think will set off anything on your end as he's mild mannered and has a family with kids Harry's age. He's not about to make any kind of move that will give you problems. There might be a couple others later on we can do that with. For now, I say just him,” Remus suggested.

Thinking that over, Sirius gave a bare nod, “Arthur I can handle I think. Just give it a couple days. Anyone else—we need to wait there. The Ministry was bad enough to handle that I don't need anything else right now.”

“I'll work with owls for now,” Remus told him softly. “When the other comes into play, we'll get together and discuss it.”

 

Nodding to let Remus know he could go with that, Sirius then asked, “What about me being wanted?”

“You were pardoned,” Remus told him with a smile. “They caught Peter and he was Kissed. I actually have the official paper for that framed and put up in our room. So, there is no problem there.”

Grinning at that, Sirius nodded, “That works. No wonder I wasn't arrested on sight.” Glancing at Harry, he added, quietly, “We're going to have to give some of this up to explain what we did. At least a small chunk. And no one, anywhere, is going to like part of it. We're going to catch hell from many over the whole thing.”

“I think I have something worked out there,” Remus said, looking at him. “I'll go over that with you tomorrow and see what you think. You're right though. However, we can prove it so that will hold off the worst for us.” Quietly, he added, “We're also going to have to make it damned clear that what happened with you two wasn't suicide. We don't need the speculation out there that you had some kind of suicide pact going. Some of this—it's going to be hard to get across without us giving details.”

“Yeah, going to let you take that too,” Sirius told him, picking up his butterbeer and taking a sip. “It's probably better if you do it as you can get it across better than we could. 'Cause what we would have to say would make it sound like something similar even though it wasn't.”

“I'll take it, Sirius,” Remus assured him. “I've worked out parts and will go with that. We'll give up what James did and the reaction later, without the details they would need to figure out just what it caused. Beyond that, Arthur will probably see parts and will be able to relay what he observes to others.”



Snickering, grinning slightly, Sirius said, “Yeah, well, some of the parts he's probably going to see he sure as hell won't like. He better learn to deal with it.”

Knowing what Sirius was referring to, Remus nodded, giving Harry a squeeze because he knew the young man would be involved in it and it would probably be things that would have embarrassed him in the past. “I'll make that clear the first time he comes over.”

Looking at Harry, who was resting his head on Remus' shoulder, a smile on his face, Sirius said, tone hard, “Make it clear to him that he needs to tell Albus the Horcrux is gone and that whatever other part of the fucking prophecy that pertains to Harry is going to be ignored. It's going to be a long time before this all settles enough for us to even think about this damned war again. That is assuming it's still going on.”

“It is,” Remus sighed, nodding. “It's not going well either. I'll make it clear to him. Everything else you set into motion before this happened is still in readiness and will be waiting for the bonding. It'll set off a firestorm and cause us problems from the other faction in this mess, but it's ready if you want it, Sirius.”

“And that I'm not hiding the collar,” Harry said quietly, eyes sliding shut after Sirius said that was fine to what Remus imparted. Shaking his head, he continued, not opening his eyes, “I'm done hiding. No more. It was my choice and I'm not ashamed of it. I don't care who sees it.”

Smiling at that, Remus told him gently, “I'll make that clear, Harry. I'll explain exactly what it means too. Arthur will get it, others may not.”

“Screw them if they don't,” Sirius snorted, grinning. “They don't like it, they can kiss our arses.” He was about to go on, but a familiar mumbling voice was heard approaching the kitchen. Snagging his wand, Sirius leveled it at the door and waited, eyes narrowing.

When Kreacher stepped into the kitchen, muttering to himself about traitor werewolves, Sirius said, tone icy, “Hello, Kreacher.”

Head coming up, eyes widening almost comically, Kreacher stared at who was seated at the table then began to tremble. “M-master? You are here?”

“Oh yes,” Sirius said, standing, wand leveled on the elf. “Did you enjoy betraying me to Cissy and Lucius, Kreacher?”

Starting to pull at his fingers, Kreacher began to back up, not sure what to say. This looked like Master Sirius and sounded like him, but he heard he had died. Swallowing thickly, eyes trained on the wand, he began to stammer.

“You betrayed me and Harry, both, Kreacher,” Sirius said, advancing on him. “Which means you betrayed the House of Black and mother.” Seeing the elf backing up, he barked, “Stop right there and hold still.”

Forced to obey, Kreacher stood there, waiting, trembling, eyes locked on Sirius. This told him it was, indeed, his master and he had come back.

“What happens to elves that betray their masters, Kreacher?” Sirius snarled, stepping in front of Kreacher.

“Clothes,” the elf managed to stammer out, eyes lifting to Sirius' face.

“Usually, yes,” Sirius told him with a feral grin. “In this case, I think there is something more warranted for the level of betrayal. Something worse.”

Eyes filling with tears, Kreacher began to stammer, shaking his head. There were plenty of things that he feared this could be and none of them were pleasant.

“You can't be trusted, so you can't serve the House of Black,” Sirius told him bluntly.

“No, master.” Kreacher stammered, shaking his head. “Kreacher will make up for his mistake and do what he's required. Kreacher will be a good house elf, yes he will.”

“Mistake? That was no mistake!” Sirius snarled, eyes flashing. “You knew just what you were doing. There is no making this up to me. So, I'm rebinding you to another family who you will serve to the best of your ability or I will turn you over to the Ministry for them to handle.”

“No, please, master,” Kreacher sobbed, trembling madly. Shaking his head, he stammered, “I only live to serve the House of Black. Kreacher will be a good elf!”

“Too late,” Sirius snarled. “You've proven you can't be trusted. If you were half the elf you profess to be you would have noticed the bond with the traitor werewolf to me. You didn't. If you did, you ignored it. No more, Kreacher.”

“Master, Kreacher--” the elf stammered and was cut off.

“Enough,” Sirius barked. “I don't want to hear it. I'm going to bind you to the Weasleys. One hint of your usual antics and you go to the Ministry for them to deal with.”

Sobbing, Kreacher stammered, shaking his head, but couldn't get anything out.

“Go to your cupboard and stay there other than to tend to your needs and to eat. I catch you anywhere other than that and you go to the Ministry. When Arthur comes over next, I'm binding you to him.” Sirius snarled. “Now, move!” He yelled.

Stammering, sobbing loudly, Kreacher began to walk towards his cupboard, pulling his ears as he did.

Making sure the elf did as he was told, Sirius then flopped back down on the bench and pulled Harry back to where he was perched on one of his legs. “That should end that problem. He won't want to go to the Ministry as he knows what they'll do to him when they find out the level of his betrayal.”

Looking at Sirius, Remus nodded. That was a good way to handle the situation, what with all Kreacher knew about what was going on. “I'll ensure that Arthur knows we're handing him over.”

Nodding, downing the last of his butterbeer, Sirius rubbed his eyes in a tired way. Glancing at Harry, who still had his eyes shut, he said, “We need sleep. The amount of energy it took to cross back over then get used to this again is—exhausting.”

Having expected that, Remus said, smiling, “That's fine. I have a room upstairs all ready for the three of us and made sure it's comfortable. You both need real sleep.” Gently, he roused Harry and helped the two up then led them upstairs.

 

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Standing at the window in the room he now shared with Sirius and Harry, Remus looked out over the backyard, smiling. This was good. Absolutely perfect. He knew it would work as the bond mark was active after the two went through the Veil, but there had been those nagging doubts for the last year. Now he felt better, complete once more. There were problems to come, no doubt there, but the worst was over. They were back, so anything else would be handled in some way or another.

Glancing over his shoulder at the bed where the two were curled up together sleeping, he smiled bigger. They would probably be out until morning sometime, if not early afternoon. He was damned sure it took almost everything they had to come back to him, so they were exhausted. That was fine, too. As long as they were here, nothing else mattered to him.

Sighing softly and looking at the floor, he shook his head. There was so much to do now, stuff he couldn't handle ahead of time, that was going to bombard them. Starting tomorrow, they would have to deal with it, or he would anyway. Sirius and Harry wouldn’t be in any shape to handle some of it yet. And, well, honestly, the time to take care of it was going to be intermingled with other activities as the bond would press for them because of the time apart. Chuckling at that, he grinned. Of all of it, that was going to be the fun part, the chunk he was looking forward to.

Looking back at the bed, he decided he, too, needed rest. Stepping over to it, he slipped his robe off, something that left him naked, then slid into bed behind Harry. Curling up to the younger man's naked body, he spooned to him tightly then draped an arm over him and rested his hand on the equally nude Sirius' stomach. Burying his face in Harry's hair, he sighed contentedly and let his eyes drift shut. Life was good and whatever it threw at them they would handle.

 

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