Blood Is Thicker Than Fear

It’s funny, isn’t it? How every thing you’ve ever loved, ever wanted, can be taken away from you in less than an instant? How even when you think you know who you are, and what you really want—the truth is… you have no idea. I thought I knew who I was once: I thought I was the golden boy—some altruistic hero meant to save the world. Boy was I wrong. He showed me that…and I will repay him.


CHAPTER 1

The quick tapping of running heels could be heard coming from the catacombs below

Malfoy manor. Thunder clapped as a tall, slender, cloaked woman emerged from the bookcase

above, camouflaging the entrance to the extensive tombs. She slowly slid the bookcase into place, as

not to make a sound. After the hidden door made the familiar click that meant the bookcase was

completely shut, she turned to head toward the great fireplace, from which she would escape. Halfway

there, she ran into another cloaked figure and stumbled backwards, steadying herself upon the cold,

stonewall.

“ Beautiful Narcissa,” came the shrill, ice-laden voice that made her veins frost over, “

What ever is the rush?”


She quickly brought her hand to her mouth to keep from screaming. Standing before her

was the man responsible for all the misery she had ever faced in her desolate life; the man

responsible for her husband’s constant absence; the man responsible for her son’s condition. She had

thought before, that should she ever face him, she would be prepared: no one could possibly be

prepared to face this shadow of a man. Her knees trembling, to weak to support her, Narcissa

stumbled onto the marble floor. She made to raise herself again, when Voldemort held up a long,

spider-like hand.

“ My dear, there is no sense in struggling to stand—you’ll just fall down again.” With that,

he raised his wand and pointed it directly between her cloudy-blue eyes. “ Avada Keda—“

BAM. Voldemort was thrown to the ground as a huge, black dog leaped full-force into his

side. Before he could regain his composure, the dog’s head shortened, his legs lengthened and his

fur morphed into tattered black robes. Narcissa was snapped back to reality when she heard her

cousin shout, “ Cissa, MOVE IT!” before she had a chance to respond, strong hands grabbed her by

the shoulders and heaved her up. The gaunt man pulled a sparkling powder and threw it into the fire

six feet in front of them. He shouted, “ GRIMAULD PLACE!” and dove along with Narcissa into the

green flames, Voldemort shouting curses after them.

They were thrown, spinning and turning through the floo channel and landed with a thump

in front of the hearth of 12 Grimauld Place where several wizards were already waiting for them. As

soon as they had landed, a man clad in patched robes with dust-colored hair ran forward and seized

Sirius black in a bone-crushing embrace, tears flowing freely from his tired, red eyes. Sirius sighed in

relief as he supported his best friend and lover of twenty years, who presently had a death-grip on his

robes, as he sobbed deeply.

“ It’s you!” Remus choked, muffled by the fabric of Sirius’s robes. “ Everyone said you

were dead but I couldn’t believe them—and now you’re here—and” once again, he broke down crying

in his lover’s arms. Sirius placed a comforting kiss on the crown of his head, and cradles the hysterical

heap. In truth, he would be crying too, had he tears left.

Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Tonks, and Even Severus Snape smiled down

upon the pair, a slight gleam in their eyes—all happy to have Sirius back. Narcissa stood up and

brushed off her robes nervously---everyone in the room supposedly hated her, with the exception of

Sirius, and she was feeling rather…uncomfortable in such a sentimental moment. Feeling her

uneasiness, Dumbledore reached out a hand to the shivering woman. Apprehensive, she took his

hand and allowed herself to be drawn into a heart-felt hug. The wizened, old man leaned to her ear

and whispered, “ You’ll never know how thankful we are for your courage and strength. Few people

could have done what you did.” She smiled as he pecked her cheek. As soon as he released her,

McGonagall rushed over and gave her the tightest hug she had ever felt in her entire life. The older

lady smiled through the waterfall cascading from her eyes. She sniffled and said softly, with some

difficulty, given that she was in the process of bawling her eyes out, “thank you” and again, seized

her in a heart-felt hug.

Narcissa too, now had silent tears coming from her eyes, as she looked over at Remus

and Sirius who were now standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Sirius was beaming at her, and Remus was

looking…less than pleased.

“Why did you do it?” he asked in a stern voice, ragged from crying almost non-stop for the

past two months. Narcissa blushed and looked at her feet as she tried to mutter a response. Before

she could, her cousin strode over to her, and put his arm around her; facing Remus determinedly. “

Because, Moony, She knew it was the right thing to do. She never would have ordered Kreacher to do

that if Lucius hadn’t been hovering over her with Voldemort hovering over him, and you know it!”

“ Maybe.” He responded quietly, “ But maybe she realized too late that she was on the

losing side.” He quickly turned on his heel and headed for the downstairs landing. He gently set his

hand upon the rail, and not looking at them spoke, “ I’m going to get ready to pick up Harry—we’ll

just see how he feels about living with the woman who nearly killed you out of pure cowardice. You all

may have forgiven her, but I never will.” With that, he quickly ran up the stairs.

The remaining group looked amongst themselves. The last time they had seen Remus

that angry was when he found out Sirius had been taken to Azkaban. It was very unnerving. When

Remus was upset, he didn’t yell, curse, or do anything most people would do in that situation. He

appeared calm and collected. However, those who knew him well knew not to be deceived—and to look

at his eyes as they flickered from a honey-brown to fiery amber that sent shivers down even

Dumbledore’s spine.

Everyone jumped as the fire turned from orange to green, once again and Alastor Moody

stumbled out with broom in hand. “ Sirius,” he said gruffly, nodding to his former partner, “ Go fetch

Wolf-boy and tell him we’re ready.”

“ Yes sir!” he said with a fake salute as he ran upstairs. Moody then turned to Tonks. “

Pinky!”

“Sir, yes sir!”

“ Shut up and go get your broom.”

As though someone had jabbed her with a pin, Tonks jumped up and ran to the door,

where her broom lay against the old troll foot. Silent thumping could be heard as Sirius and Remus

made their merry-way down stairs, arguing non-stop.

“ She saved my life Moony, honestly—be reasonable!”

“ Yeah, well your life wouldn’t have needed saving if it wasn’t for her, would it?”

“ You forgave Snape pretty quick, after he tried to kill you—what, ten times?

“ Please, that was completely different!”

And so on, and so forth.

“ Shut it, you two! Honestly, you argue like an old, married couple…oh, wait”

“ SHUT UP, SNAPE” Sirius and Remus shouted in unison. After a loud whistle from

Dumbledore and a nod from Moody, Tonks, Sirius, Remus, McGonagall and Snape followed Moody out

the door to retrieve one Harry Potter from 4 Privet Drive.

***

Harry Potter was staring out his too-small window from his too-small room wearing too-

small glasses. He had his wand in hand, ready for whatever may come. His aunt, uncle and cousin

had left for their holiday three hours too early (They had agreed not to leave until Harry was escorted

elsewhere); meaning the twenty death eaters stationed outside in the garden would have an all-too-

easy time assaulting him. He had his invisibility cloak draped about his shoulders, ready to conceal

him from the fate lurking on his porch.

Harry jumped when he heard a knocking on his door. “ Harry! Don’t pack anything, just

grab your wand, cloak and broom!” came the booming voice of his former godfather. How cruel could

death eaters be? Deciding it best to ignore their taunts, he turned back to the window and slipped his

invisibility cloak over his head. As soon as he was covered, Sirius and Remus walked through the solid

wood door of his room. They looked around and stopped dead. Remus looked ghostly pale... mainly

because he had just walked through a wall, and had no bump nor bruise to show for it.

“Where is he!” he hissed urgently. Sirius smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “My guess,

Moony, is that he’s under his invisibility cloak.”

“ Why?”

“ Because people tend to be apprehensive when their god-fathers ‘return from the dead’.”

Suddenly, Harry appeared as he threw aside his cloak and ran to Sirius, speaking muffled to his

chest. “ Erm ee gods erie usae thert y’er dud!”

“ Yeah, well I will be if we don’t get a move on” he whispered urgently as he pushed away

his godson. “ Get your wand, cloak and broom.” obediently, Harry pulled out his Firebolt from under

his bed and tucked his wand in his robes while throwing his father’s cloak around him. Remus

meanwhile finished warding the door and turned to Harry looking grave.

“ All right. I’m going to be honest with you. Chances are, one of us is going to get hurt.

The only ‘safe’ way out is apparating. I know you’ve never done it before, but I’ll walk you through it—

it’s easier than a patronus, so it shouldn’t be too tough. Ready Harry?”

“Ready.” He said determinedly.

“ Right.” He said, straightening his robes, “ Close your eyes, and picture the outside of the

Burrow, like you would a happy memory for the patronus. Got it?” Harry nodded. “ Good, now picture

yourself standing outside the burrow. Raise your wand, and will yourself to be where the vision of

yourself is. Cast your wand and say, ‘ the burrow’. Will it to happen, Harry. I’ll hold your hand to make

it easier. Ready?”

Again, Harry nodded. “ On the count of three. One, two…THREE!”

“ THE BURROW!” Harry shouted. At that moment, Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange

stormed through the door to see the forms of Remus, Sirius and Harry melt into nothingness with a

faint pop. Malfoy growled in frustration and pounded on the door. Bellatrix smiled and said softly to

herself, “ Potty-wee-potty learned a new trick,” she stood there grinning manically and Malfoy turned

to her with a look of utmost loathing.

“ I hate you.”

***


Harry made it to the burrow along with his godfathers. However, something wasn’t right.

“ OY, HARRY!” he heard his best friend Ron shout from his window on the top floor of the burrow, “

YOU’RE COMPLETELY STARKERS!” Turning red, Harry looked down. He was right. Sirius stifled a laugh

with his hand while Remus humphed. “Oh, honestly Sirius” he said while pulling off his cloak and

wrapping it around Harry’s shivering form. “ Thanks, professor.”

“ You’re welcome, don’t be embarrassed, it happens to most people their first time, and

don’t call me professor.”

“ Sorry, professor.”

Remus rolled his eyes and dragged a hysterical Sirius and blushing Harry into the warmth

of the Burrow where a hysterical Molly Weasley greeted them…well mainly she greeted Sirius.

“ Sirius Black! YOU LET US THINK YOU WERE DEAD? GET IN HERE AND GVE ME A HUG! Here,

Remus, have a cookie.” She patted Remus on the head like an old dog, pointed to the cookie jar on

the counter and wrenched Sirius into a rib crunching, spine twisting, eye popping hug and refused to

let go until Arthur Weasley apparated home from the ministry several minutes later and pulled him to

safety, only to hug him himself.

Sirius smiled warmly at his “family” and kissed Molly on the cheek. In the commotion,

Harry was still staring at Sirius, unable to believe it. He turned to see Hermione, Ginny, Neville and

Ron pounding down the stairs—it was his turn for hugs. They seem unperturbed by Sirius’s presence.

They grabbed his arm (and a cookie) and dragged him upstairs. They gave him a moment to change

into Ron’s old Chudley Cannons jersey and a worn-out pair of slacks before they mingled with him

further. It wasn’t until they were all safely plopped on Ron’s bed that anyone spoke. Hermione was

the one to break the ice.

“ So Harry,” she said beaming, “ surprised?”

Harry’s jaw dropped. They knew. They bloody knew. They Bloody knew Sirius was alive and

none of them bothered to tell him. That was it—Harry felt a rant coming on.

“ Surprised,” he hissed, “ surprised?” He was now standing, and shouting quite loudly with

eyes that would have sent Fluffy running with his tail between his legs.

“ No, Hermione, I am quite far from surprised! Surprised is when someone throws you a

birthday party without telling you. Surprised is when I came out of the closet. This is pretty FUCKING

far from surprised” he was now pacing the room. “ YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU KNEW MY

GODFATHER WAS ALIVE AND IT NEVER OCCURRED TO ANYONE TO TELL ME?” He stopped pacing

momentarily to glare at them all. “ WHAT? I COULDN’T BE TRUSTED?”

Tears were coming from Hermione and Ginny’s eyes. Surprisingly, it was Neville who spoke

up.

“ Harry, shut the hell up!” he stood to stand face to face with the enraged teenager. “

Hermione, Ron, and Ginny have been nothing but faithful to you! Did you know that Ron got his leg

broken trying to fly to you to tell you? Did you know Hermione got suspended from her first week at

Hogwarts for trying to write you a letter? Did you know that Ginny kept crying her eyes out all summer

because she knew how mad you’d be when you found out we knew—“

Harry, taken aback now looked sickly green “ Neville, I didn’t—“

“ Didn’t what Harry, didn’t know? Or didn’t give a damn enough to find out!”

Neville’s hands were clenched into fists. He sighed when Ginny placed a comforting hand

on his shoulder. Ginny, tears still streaming silently from her face, walked over to a now Crying Harry

and pulled him into a light embrace. He whispered into her flaming hair, ‘ I’m so sorry, Gin, I didn’t

know—I had no right—I should’ve—“

“ Shhh” she whispered silently. She began humming a lullaby while she stroked his untidy

black hair. Harry calmed down significantly and released Ginny, giving her a small smile. He walked

over to Ron and Hermione and gave them each a hug and silent apology.

***

“What’s that yelling?” Tonks asked as she looked up from her tea. Sirius turned to Tonks

aghast. “ Didn’t you know,” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm, “ it’s the first rant of the summer?”

Tonks smirked knowingly and was just about to add a sarcastic remark when a stampede

could be heard making its way down the stairs. The group of five stumbled into the sitting room where

Molly, Arthur, Minerva, Remus, Sirius, and Alastor were idly sipping tea…with whiskey.

Harry quickly rushed over to his godfather, who was silently comforting a still distressed

Remus, gave him a hug and leaned on the armrest at his side on the love seat. Remus looked over

at them and smiled. Harry then straightened up and was about to open his mouth when the fireplace

illuminated the room with a fluorescent green light, and a very frustrated Severus Snape and

disgruntled Narcissa Malfoy walked out.

“ Perhaps if you had told Draco instead of letting Pettigrew do it, he’d be much more

inclined to run away with you!” Snape mumbled from what was obviously a very, very extensive

argument. Narcissa put her hands on her hips and screeched indignantly, “ Well, Snivellus, why didn’t

you tell him!”

“ BECAUSE HE’S NOT MY SON!” he shouted, arms flailing.

“Ahem”, Dumbledore coughed. Severus and Narcissa quietly turned toward Dumbledore, mouths

agape, bowed their heads and took seats on a tattered bench.

“Quite,” he continued in a solemn voice. “Harry, Remus” he gave them each a curt nod

respectively, “I know how angry you must be with myself and the rest of the order, but please, do not

speak until I am finished.

“ As you obviously have already found out, Sirius is alive and safe with us. Though this

comes as a shock to you, it is not to us. We have been planning this since early July. We had caught

wind from a spy of mine and head guru on the black arts, that it was quite possible that Sirius was

alive, though trapped behind the veil.” He began pacing, nodding to himself.

“ You see, spirits are able to pass in and out of the veil at will. There are several such

vortices throughout Britain. That one happens to be directly below Stonehenge. However, though

spirits are able to pass in and out, physical matter cannot; hence, the problem.

“ As told to me by that long-trusted friend of mine, the only way to retrieve Sirius, would

be to temporarily convert his body from physical matter, to spiritual matter. Ironically enough, the

ritual that would be able to accomplish that was the exact counterpart of the ritual Voldemort used to

return; unlike he, who needed to convert spirit to body, we needed to convert body to spirit.

Unfortunately, there was a leak in our plans. He was found out, and had to flee for his life.

Taking it as a brilliant opportunity, which it was, Voldemort performed the ritual himself, before we

could. Sirius has been within the dungeons of Malfoy manor for the last month being tortured for

information on the order of the phoenix.” He paused to let this information sink in with Harry, before

he continued. Remus lightly squeezed Sirius’ hand when he felt him stiffen in his chair. As if Azkaban

wasn’t enough. Harry began to feel an uncomfortable tightening sensation in his throat, but he tried

his best to let Dumbledore continue. He knew it wasn’t easy for him. Instead, he put a comforting

(mainly for him) arm around his godfather. With a solemn nod from Sirius, Dumbledore continued.

“ Being the loyal, brave, and quite frankly, stubborn person Sirius is, he did not leak any

actual information. Fortunately for us, we have more spies than Voldemort could ever dream. Narcissa

came to us, and told us what was happening…” he paused, thoughtful for a moment and added, “ You

see, Harry…Remus, the reason neither of you were told that there was hope for Sirius’ return so many

weeks ago, was because we knew that you were the ones who would be most crushed if we failed—we

didn’t want you to have to lose him three times. Remus found out only six hours before you did.” A

silent tear streamed down Harry’s face, as he smiled genuinely at his family.

“Trust me—“ began Ron, “You do not EVER want to see Remus that pissed; give me one thousand

giant spiders any day….” Dumbledore gave Ron a warm smile before he continued.

“ Anyhow, Narcissa told us what was happening and we devised a plan. We would distract

the death eaters, and Narcissa would release Sirius with the psychic guidance of Snape (who had

already made a replica of the key) and brought him out of the dungeons, to be here with us now….

Actually, it’s a hell of a lot more complicated than that but we’re all inhumanly exhausted, so let’s call

it a night. Right—back to Grimauld place!”