Dark Phoenix Rising

My son! But he can't be! He's James and Lily's kid!" Black exclaimed.

"Tom isn't lying," Harry said, "the sorting hat told me before I left Hogwarts last summer."

"Well it must be mistaken then," Black spluttered.

"I doubt a magical artifact as powerful as the Hogwarts sorting hat would make a mistake like that," Tom scoffed. "Nonetheless there is about to be an explosion down the road which will likely have Aurors swarming the place so unless you want to risk getting arrested again, and likely given the kiss this time, I suggest we move this conversation elsewhere. Since, I doubt you will let us leave unless I allow you to follow so we will be heading to a town in the west Midlands called Cokeworth, Spinner's End to be precise, feel free to head there as I get the feeling you and Harry will need a long conversation sometime in the near future."

"No," Sirius stated, "there is no reason to risk traveling that far, plus I can't say I particularly trust you. My family has a house in London we can use and you should be able to get there in about an hour by broom. The address is 12 Grimmauld Place and we might sort out this ridiculous notion that Harry is my son. And, for the record, if you decide not to show up I will track you down and since, as you pointed out, I'm likely to get kissed should I get caught for anything, well, I've got nothing to really lose, have I?"

"Fine," Tom sighed, "but I'll have to inform our acquaintance of the change of plans as he has new wands for us. Harry, your bag please. And, for the record Black, you should definitely be careful who you threaten."

Harry passed Tom his bag as well as Hedwig, figuring the man would need his owl to send a message to Severus. "Won't your place be dangerous though?" Harry asked Sirius. "If they're even posting news about you on muggle tv then surely the wizarding world will be watching your house in case you return."

"Normally they might, although I was kicked out of that place long before I was arrested," Black said, "but if what Tom here says is right and there's going to be an explosion, I'm assuming at or near your Aunt's house, then all the Aurors will descend there, especially if they think I might be involved. That should give you a nice window to be able to sneak in although they won't look twice at me as a dog regardless." He turned to Tom. "By the way when we get there I expect an explanation as to how you knew there was going to be an explosion and it had better be a good one."

Tom simply scoffed as he attached a letter to Hedwig's leg and sent her on her way. "You'll get all the explanations you need Black, once we're somewhere safe. Now I suggest you change back and be on your way. Harry, I've never been very good at flying so you'll have to take the lead. London is Northeast of here so it shouldn't be too hard to get there."

Harry got himself settled on the broom and as soon as he felt Tom had a secure hold of him he kicked off. Sirius seemed to keep a close eye on him and didn't even consider moving until Harry was high in the sky, shooting straight up to try and avoid being seen. They made good speed, with Harry making sure to keep an eye on the compass as well as keeping a good height so as not to be seen, and it wasn't long before they could see the bright lights of London on the horizon.

Flying over the city did give Harry a new appreciation of the problems of light pollution though as he had a hard time figuring out where they were once they got within the city limits, especially as his knowledge of London was basically nonexistent. Thankfully Tom had far better knowledge of the area and was happy to take over navigating once they were passed into the city itself. For once Harry was glad of his short stature as it meant Tom could easily see over his head to be able to direct him, once he leaned in close anyway, which Harry had to admit felt quite nice, almost like getting a hug. He directed Harry towards a large green area that he said was Hyde Park but before they got there Tom snapped Harry's wand in half and dropped it.

"Why did you do that?" Harry asked.

"To make sure Dumbledore can't trace us from it," Tom explained. "There is a magical trace put on all wands given to children which detects all magic used in the vicinity of the wielder, not just the person themselves. That means that it might pick up our new wands if it was still nearby which would cause serious issues for us. I broke it and randomly dropped it on the off chance that Dumbledore would be able to use it to track you. If he can it'll show you in the middle of London which means you could be anywhere by the time he realizes. As soon as Severus arrives with the new wands I'll remove the trace on your cloak as well and by that point we should be in the clear."

"So are we not planning on staying at Grimmauld place?" Harry questioned as Tom directed him towards a wooded area where they could land.

"No," Tom stated, once they were safely on the ground. "Even without the presence of Aurors the Black townhouse isn't particularly secure but it will certainly do for now."

"Is it near here then?"

"Not too far, no," Tom smiled. "If I remember correctly it was bought by Elladora Black when she had a falling out with the rest of her family over certain beliefs. I would normally suggest we walk there but I only visited the house once so it's probably best if we get a cab, just to be safe. Thankfully that bitch with her dog had plenty of cash on her so that's one less thing we have to worry about."

It wasn't too late at night so they had no problem hailing a cab and Tom purposely drove to the end of the street, surreptitiously keeping an eye out for anyone that might be lurking around. Suddenly there was a faint silvery glow in some bushes and someone came darting out and seemed to dash towards an alleyway, almost tripping over their own feet on the way. Harry caught sight of Tom smirking in the reflection in the car window and breathed a sigh of relief. That must have been whoever was meant to be watching the property which meant that they now had a small window to enter without being spotted.

Tom stopped the cab and led Harry towards a small alley.

"Why are we going this way?" Harry asked.

"Thankfully a lot of these old houses have a back entrance to an alleyway that was used for the coaches. A lot of muggles converted the old coach houses into houses and sold them on but a wizarding family like the Blacks would never dream of doing that, however, so their access should be unrestricted. It's unlikely that wizards will be aware of this little fact, though, so we should be safe."

"Did we really need the distraction then, if we were just going to sneak in the bavk anyway?"

"Yes," Tom hissed, "because we couldn't be sure that no one was watching this entrance and we are not in a situation where we can risk taking chances. One wrong move and you will be right back in Dumbledore's clutches and I will either be dead or imprisoned somewhere until he needed me." Tom shuddered at the thought. "At least now we can be sure as, on the off chance that they did leave one guard, they will definitely be covering the front."

"And I guess having the explosion was a good way of destroying any evidence," Harry pondered.

"Precisely," Tom grinned. "It will also hopefully have Dumbledore chasing his tail for a bit, while the muggles fo their investigation, which is always a bonus in my book."

Harry grinned as Tom concentrated on counting the backs of the houses to find the right one. He stopped by one that looked quite dilapidated from the back and Harry almost questioned if it really was a wizarding property when Tom signaled him to keep quiet as he waved his hand over the lock saying alohomora . Harry had never seen wandless magic before and couldn't help but be impressed. Tom just brushed it off saying that once he was up to full power he'd even be able to do it without the incantation as well.

"You'll probably be able to do the same," he informed Harry, "and contrary to popular belief it's actually easier to do when you're younger as you're not as reliant on your wand."

"I thought the wand was where our power came from?" Harry queried.

"No, it's simply a conduit," Tom explained. "Sometimes it can help amplify our power, if we find the right one, but the power itself comes from within us or, as in rituals, from the world around us."

Harry was pensive. "How come they don't teach us this at school then?"

"For the same reason that Dumbledore cut a lot of subjects I presume."

"He cut subjects!" Harry exclaimed and Tom had to sush him.

"Yes, but for Merlin's sake keep it down or you'll wake up the neighbors," Tom whispered angrily, "and yes, of course he cut subjects. The man studied alchemy under Nicholas Flammel but god forbid anyone else get the chance to do the same."

Harry bit his tongue as he scurried to catch up to Tom as he stormed up the path. He had to admit that it hadn't occurred to him the year before when they were looking up information on the Philosopher's stone that Dumbledore had to have already known the basics of alchemy for Nicholas Flammel to have worked with him in the first place. Harry didn't have long to ponder that, though, as Tom made quick work of the back door with another alohomora and they quickly snuck inside the house.

"Wouldn't it be safer to stay in the coach house if the main building is being watched?" Harry asked quietly as Tom began checking the rooms, making sure the house was empty.

"Define safer," Tom replied. "It may be less likely to be under observation but no one has lived in this house for about 10 years so god knows what state it's in. We can check it out in the morning when it's light and we can see what it's like but for now the main house will offer us the best protection and if we stick to the back of the house or the basement then we won't be seen from the outside."

"Why are we heading to the front of the house then?" Harry queried as they entered a room with a clear view of the main road and Tom had to gesture for him to stay low.

"Because we are waiting for two people, one of whom has never been here before, plus we don't know when the watch will return, so it is better to be in a defensible position, preferably one where we can see anyone coming," Tom said, rolling his eyes. "Remind me to add tactical thinking to your education."

"So, what, we just sit here and wait for them then?" Harry asked with a sigh.

"Yes," Tom replied, "but it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and work on your observation skills while we wait. I want you to count how many people and cars pass the window before the others arrive."

"Why?"

"Because its good to be aware of your surroundings, especially if we're going to go into hiding," Tom explained. "I don't want to go through all of this effort for you to just end up back under Dumbledore's control in a month's time because you were careless."

Harry huffed and shuffled around to get himself comfortable. It was the early hours of the morning so there was actually very little movement outside and it wasn't long until his eyes started to feel heavy. He yawned and shifted until he was semi-casually leaning against Tom.

Harry awoke awkwardly to a wet nose prodding his cheek. He tried rubbing it away but it kept coming back and it seemed to be sniffing him.

"Had enough time to discern if we were telling the truth about Harry's parentage?" Tom asked as Harry blearily opened his eyes.

Black shifted back into his human form. "It's difficult to tell," he admitted. "He smells like family but that could just as easily be because he's my godson."

"So the ceremony took then?" Tom asked, looking confused.

Sirius shrugged. "Well I assumed so. James was in hiding because of the prophecy but said he could perform it in absentia using my hair and blood. I always felt a stronger connection to Harry than the others did so I figured it must have worked."

"And you never felt anything stronger than a godfather bond when you held Harry?" Tom pressed.

Sirius frowned. "I never got to hold him. James always said it was because Lily didn't trust Peter or Remus, which is why she was never around when we met up, but he didn't want to make it overly obvious by only letting me hold Harry so James always had him. I suppose it is a little strange looking back but at the time I had no reason to question anything."

"But you do now," Tom suggested.

Sirius paused and then shook his head. "I shouldn't, I don't even know who you are and you're clearly a dubious character. Not only have you kidnapped Harry but you actually blew up Petunia's house; I know because I went back to check. The only reason I'm not dragging you into the Ministry to pay for your crimes is that, as you said, they would just pin in on me and have me kissed."

"They can't do that!" Harry exclaimed.

"They can and they do, unfortunately," Sirius sighed, "although I must say, Harry, you don't seem surprised or upset to learn about your aunt's house."

"Why would I care about that?" Harry shrugged, although only the one shoulder since the other was still comfortably resting against Tom.

"She's your aunt, Harry, and at the very least that was major property damage," Sirius whined. "I may have pulled some shit in my school days but even I wouldn't have gone that far. Don't you even care that they could have got hurt!"

"Why should I when they never cared of they hurt me!"

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, a dangerous glint in his eye.

"Oh I don't know? Perhaps when Dudley and his friends used to play 'Harry hunting' and would beat the snot out of me when they invariably caught me, or when Petunia smacked me around the head with a frying pan because I burned the bacon. Or the time when I accidentally used my magic to stop a glass breaking, although I was about 7 so didn't know what I was doing, and Vernon slammed my fingers in the door for being a freak. You know, I honestly thought that was my name before I started school and I'm pretty sure the only reason Petunia enrolled me was so that she could keep claiming my child benefits since they certainly didn't care about my actual education and used to beat me or deny me food if I ever did better than Dudley."

"They did what!" Sirius yelled and Tom was just about to tell him to be quiet when an almighty commotion came from the hallway.

"Who's there? Come on, out with you! What cur is fool enough to trespass in the house of Black?"

Sirius darted out of the door leaving Tom to help Harry off the floor since his legs had gone dead from sitting in the same position for too long.

"Hello mother dearest," Sirius cooed to a portrait of an old woman in a black cap.

"You!" the portrait shrieked, "how dare you darken my door again! I threw your filthy hide out years ago and for good reason!"

"And may I ask what that reason was?" Tom enquired.

"Tom Riddle? What brings you to Grimmauld Place? And how is it that you look younger than my son?"

"It's a long story my dear, suffice it to say that I have your grandson to thank for it."

"Now I know you're lying," the portrait scoffed, "unless Regulus had a bastard somewhere that I didn't know about but my boy would never be stupid enough to do that."

"Actually Mr Riddle here claims Harry is mine," Sirius smirked.

"That's ridiculous, unless you were lying to me when you told me you had absolutely no interest in women," Walburga said, looking at Sirius accusingly.

"No mother, I wasn't, so don't worry, you were still right to throw me out for being a homosexual," Sirius huffed.

"I didn't think you cared about that sort of thing, Walburga," Tom said reproachfully.

"I don't normally," Walburga sniffed.

"Only when it's the heir to the 'great house of Black'" Sirius sneered.

"Some things are more important than silly preferences," Walburga bristled. "You would have come to your senses eventually, or at least you would have if my backstabbing brother hadn't left you all that money in his will."

"You're as delusional as ever, mother," Sirius laughed. "I was actually happy when you kicked me out and I never would have come back even if uncle Alphard hadn't left me a penny."

"You ungrateful wretch!" Walburga screamed. "Too much like your grandfather that's for sure! He didn't understand what was best for the line either!"

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"That old fool stupidly denied a match between you and Andromeda. He actually said that mine and Orion's union had been a mistake even though both you and Regulus were so powerful even from birth! And to think the metamorphmagus gene could have been back in the main line if he wasn't so short sighted instead of allowing it to be linked to a mudblood," the old witch spat. "Still I had the last laugh. I told him when he denied me that he would never see any of his heirs again and I was right."

"What do you mean you stupid cow! You told me my grandfather had died years ago!"

"Well as far as you were concerned he had," Walburga huffed.

"And what, dad just went along with it!"

"Your father was a smart man and understood what was best for him even if he did complain about it far more frequently than I would have liked," Walburga scowled. "And for some reason he decided to have his portrait hung at the castle instead of here."

"So the castle is still standing?" Tom queried.

"Of course its still standing! Castle Black was built in the 12th century and is an impregnable fortress! It's wards make even those of Hogwarts seem like child's play. Of course its still standing!"

"What's castle Black?" Harry asked.

"It's the ancestral home of the Blacks," Tom explained, "and a truly magnificent place although I was only allowed to visit twice."

"How have you been there more than I have?" Sirius moaned, shaking his head.

"What are you talking about? You were born there," Walburga stated.

"And yet I have no memory of the place or any idea of how to get there!" Sirius countered. "You could at least tell me the apparition coordinates or something."

"Why?" Walburga queried. "The wards allow for absolutely no apparition in or out so there would be no point in telling you where it was even if it wasn't unplottable."

"How does anyone get there then?" Harry asked.

"House elf of course," Walburga replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You mean it's under the Fidelius charm?" Sirius asked.

"Of course not," Walburga scoffed. "There are far too many flaws with that spell for it to be viable. Ignoring the fact that when the primary secret keeper dies all of the secondary secret keepers then become primary, it is even possible to get to a location by jumping on a person when they apparate, bypassing any other security measures you had in place. It's why the charm went out of fashion in favour of house elves; they would never dream of transporting someone when unknown magical was nearby and risk the home they were bound to."

Tom opened his mouth to say something but stopped as a scratching was heard at the front door and it slowly opened to reveal a dark figure.

"Hello Severus, so glad you could finally join us," Tom grinned.

My apologies my lord," Severus said, quickly entering the house and shutting the door behind himself. "unfortunately shortly after your owl arrived I was inundated with owls from Dumbledore demanding that I help track Harry down. Obviously I ignored him as I am no longer indebted to him but the constant barrage of owls made it very difficult to pack up my things. May I ask what Black is doing here?"

"Well since this is my house I have more right to be here than you Snivellus!" Sirius sneered.

"Is that really necessary, Sirius? Professor Snape is bringing Tom and I wands because you wanted to come here instead of going to his house," Harry chastised, "plus you're supposed to be an adult shouldn't you be above name calling, especially for no reason."

"Oh there is a reason," Sirius sneered.

Severus just shook his head. "Don't worry Harry, Black here has had it out for me since he I declared Slytherin was superior to Gryffindor on the train to Hogwarts before our first year. If being left to rot for over ten years in Azkaban because his so called friends couldn't see how ridiculous it was to even think that he was a death eater then I fear there is no hope for him."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, "are you trying to tell me that you knew I wasn't a death eater?"

Severus scoffed. "Of course I did, what with how vitriolic your were when discussing anything to do with Slytherins, your family or the dark lord. I hate to be the one to inform you of this but you are not a good enough actor to fake that and I told Dumbledore as such when I found out you'd been arrested but he said that I must have been deceived ass the evidence at your trial had been very damning."

"What trial!" Sirius exclaimed, "there wasn't one I was simply arrested at the scene and thrown in jail!"

"What do you mean there wasn't a trial?" Walburga asked, "I might have been angry at Arcturus but I know he looked up the transcripts and there is no way he'd have let his heir rot in Azkaban for life if he could have gotten you out."

Sirius looked between the portrait in disbelief. "You mean to tell me that none of you believed that I was guilty even slightly and yet my best friends doubted me with almost no evidence!"

"Yet further proof that Gryffindor is not the house of loyalty," Severus sneered.

"Now Severus there is no need to rub salt into the wound," Tom chided, "we may well need his help if we wish to find somewhere safe to stay."

"Apologies my lord," Severus bowed, "and you too, Black."

"What! Just like that!" Sirius gaped. "Since when do you follow the commands of children?"

"Since this child is the one you know as Lord Voldemort," Tom smirked.