Petunia looked like she was about to faint in horror. "Fine, take the boy," she said, waving a hand. "Just get out! I don't want you anywhere near my family!"
"Believe me, Petunia, I have no desire to be near your… family." Snape's eyes turned to Dudley, making it abundantly clear what he thought of the boy. Dudley whimpered. "Get a move on, Potter. Your godfather is waiting."
Harry's face split into a grin. Snape was taking him to Sirius! He went to drag his trunk up the stairs, but with a wave of Snape's wand it began to levitate up behind him. "Sir," he said quietly, once they were up the stairs and out of earshot of his relatives. "Won't the Ministry be able to track that?" Between breaking the padlock and levitating Harry's trunk, wouldn't he get Harry in trouble?
"I have ways of keeping my magic undetected," Snape assured him. He waited in the doorway to Harry's room, his gaze studying it. Harry's stomach turned when he realised Snape would piece it all together. No normal boy had eight locks on the outside of his bedroom door, or a cat-flap, or the need to hide his homework beneath a loose floorboard. No normal boy had zero signs whatsoever that the room he lived in even belonged to him. He grit his teeth, keeping his head held high. He refused to let Snape mock him for this.
"Hedwig is out hunting," he said, shoving the rest of his possessions into his trunk. He didn't have much — he hadn't dared take out any of his new clothes, in case the Dursleys asked where he got them, and the only magical items he had out were his wand and his homework supplies. "Will she be okay?"
"She'll find you," Snape assured. "Is that everything?"
Harry gave his room one last scan, then nodded. "Yes, sir."
Snape shrunk Harry's trunk down to the size of a matchbox, then led the way back down the stairs, grabbing Hedwig's cage and shrinking that down too. "Ready?"
"Yes, sir." Harry looked to his relatives, quietly amazed that none of them had fainted in fear. If only he'd known sooner that his grouchy Potions' professor could inspire such reactions in his aunt!
"As I said, Petunia. Potter will come and go as he pleases, and if I find out you've told anyone where he is or who he's with, I promise you will regret it," Snape said coldly, staring Petunia right in the eye. She glared at him, arms folded over her chest.
"Your father should've tried harder to beat it out of you," she spat. "You have my word, Snape. We won't say anything."
Harry gaped at his professor, Petunia's words making a sickening realisation come together in his mind. Beat it out of you.
Maybe he and Snape were more alike than he thought.
To his credit, Snape didn't so much as flinch, offering one last sneer before turning to Harry. "Hold my arm, Potter. Tightly, now." Harry did as bid, gripping tight to Snape's forearm, and all of a sudden the world span on its axis.
It was just for a split second, but Harry felt like he was being shoved through a small tube. His knees buckled slightly when he landed, but Snape kept him upright, walking him forward several steps. "Side-Along Apparition. Not entirely pleasant the first few times," the professor explained. Harry let go of his arm, staring in shock.
They had arrived in the middle of a long gravel driveway, with wide stretches of lawn either side that faded into woodland. At the end of the driveway was an enormous manor house. All dark wood and grey stone, it was an imposing silhouette against the forest behind it, four stories tall and bigger than anything Harry had seen before.
"Where are we?" he breathed in amazement, looking for any sort of clue as to where Snape had taken him. Were they even still in England?
Then, the front door of the manor slammed open, and bounding down the steps came an enormous black shaggy dog.
As soon as he saw Padfoot, Harry's heart skipped a beat. He laughed, dropping to his knees with his arms wide open, but by the time the dog took his last huge leap towards Harry he was transformed back into a man, wrapping the boy in a crushing hug. "Hello, pup," he greeted huskily.
"Sirius." Harry clung to the man like he might disappear, burying his face in the man's robe.
"I may vomit," Snape drawled, and Harry heard a familiar chuckle.
"Behave, Severus."
Harry's head snapped up, his grin getting, if possible, even wider. "Professor Lupin!"
The werewolf smiled back at him, standing shoulder to shoulder with Snape. "I'm not your professor anymore, remember?" he pointed out lightly. "I think it's about time you called me Remus."
Harry tore himself away from his godfather, getting to his feet in order to hug his ex-professor too. "Remus," he echoed. Remus' cheek pressed against his hair for a brief moment.
"It's good to see you, cub."
Sirius stood up, slinging one arm each around Harry and Remus. He'd showered and shaved since Harry had last seen him, and already he looked like a much younger man. He looked happy.
"What is this place?" Harry asked again, looking back to the manor in front of him. "This is Seren Du House," Sirius announced, a strange accent on the words; Welsh, maybe, or Gaelic. "It's been in the Black family for centuries."
"But this one wasn't in the portfolio the goblins sent me," Harry said with a frown. Sirius' grin widened.
"This is one of two Black properties the goblins don't know about. Our family does love its secrets, after all." Harry's heart fluttered at the easy way he said 'our family', including Harry without batting an eyelash. "It's completely Unplottable; that means no one can find it on a map, or with any tracking spells. You have to know where to look. And, as that's in the middle of nowhere in North Wales, and there's only about six people alive who have ever been here before, I'd say you're pretty safe."
"Wow." Harry wished he could think of something more eloquent to say, but words had failed him.
"Are you quite done gaping?" Snape cut in, though his words weren't quite as harsh as they might have been a year ago. Sirius rolled his eyes.
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