Chapter 113: Uncle and Nephew

Dumbledore did not consider the black dog proof of anything.

He did consider it enough to ask one of his contacts near Little Whinging to watch for the animal without approaching it. By evening, the report came back: the dog had appeared near the edge of a park, kept away from Muggles, and watched the road leading toward Harry's home.

"Animagus," Edward said.

"Possibly," Dumbledore replied through the Floo. "Still not certainly Sirius."

The Headmaster refused Edward's first suggestion that he go to Surrey. He also refused the second. The third was less reckless: Dumbledore would accompany Edward and Kreacher to a public location well away from Privet Drive, remain out of sight, and intervene if the dog attacked or if Aurors arrived. Edward would not cast first.

Kreacher protested throughout the preparation.

"Young Master should not meet a murderer in a park."

"Then stay beside me and tell me if he behaves like one."

"Kreacher will tell Young Master to leave before that."

"Also useful."

They traveled by Side-Along Apparition with Dumbledore near dusk. The park was nearly empty. Edward sat on a bench with Kreacher beside him and a folded newspaper in his hands. His own walnut wand remained holstered beneath his coat. Dumbledore waited beyond the line of trees.

The black dog appeared twenty minutes later.

It stopped beneath a streetlamp and stared at Edward.

Kreacher went rigid.

"Master Sirius," he whispered with naked disgust.

The dog did not approach.

Edward placed the newspaper beside him and kept both hands visible.

"If you are Sirius Black, I am Edward Black. Regulus's son. I want to hear your account before I decide what I believe."

The dog flinched at Regulus's name.

That was not proof either, but it was the first response that looked personal.

Edward continued. "Dumbledore is nearby. I told him I was coming. I am not alone, and I am not asking you to surrender to the Ministry tonight. If you do not want contact, leave."

Kreacher looked at him in outrage. "Young Master is giving him permission?"

"I am giving him a choice."

The dog paced once around the edge of the light.

Then bones shifted beneath black fur.

The transformation was quick and unpleasant to watch. A thin man in torn clothes rose where the dog had stood. Azkaban had hollowed his face and left his hair tangled around his shoulders, but the Black features were unmistakable.

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Sirius stared at Edward as if he had forgotten the rest of the park.

"Regulus had a son?"

"Yes."

"With Isabella?"

Edward's throat tightened. "You knew her."

Sirius laughed once, without humor. "Everyone who knew Regulus knew Isabella eventually. He thought he was subtle. He was terrible at it."

The detail was too ordinary to have come from a Ministry file.

Kreacher stepped between them. "Do not speak of Master Regulus as if you earned the right."

Sirius's face changed when he saw the elf clearly.

"Kreacher."

"Traitor."

Dumbledore emerged from the trees before the reunion could become a fight.

Sirius raised both hands. "I wondered how long you would wait."

"Long enough to see whether you chose conversation," Dumbledore said.

Sirius's eyes hardened. "And if I had run?"

"I would not have allowed Edward to follow you."

Edward appreciated the answer more than Sirius did.

They moved to an abandoned picnic shelter where every approach remained visible. Dumbledore set simple privacy charms. Nobody bound Sirius. Nobody took his wand, because he did not appear to be carrying one. Kreacher remained close enough to Apparate Edward away.

"Start with Peter Pettigrew," Edward said.

Sirius went still.

The story came out without polish. James and Lily Potter had used the Fidelius Charm. Sirius had been the obvious choice as Secret Keeper, so he persuaded them to switch secretly to Peter. Sirius believed Voldemort would hunt him first and never suspect the weaker friend.

Peter betrayed them.

When Sirius realized what had happened, he went after him. Peter shouted that Sirius had betrayed the Potters, caused an explosion that killed twelve Muggles, cut off his own finger, and transformed into a rat before escaping through the wreckage.

"You expect us to believe he is an Animagus," Edward said.

"Unregistered," Sirius replied. "James, Peter, and I became Animagi at school because of Remus. Peter's form was a rat. Missing one finger now, if I am right."

Dumbledore asked questions in no obvious order: where Peter stood, which hand held the wand, when Sirius last saw his body, who knew about the Secret Keeper change. Sirius answered each one. When he did not remember, he said so.

Edward watched for the things he had learned from the Chamber investigation. A consistent account was not enough. It needed independent pieces.

"Why did you not tell the Ministry?"

Sirius's mouth twisted. "I tried to tell everyone Peter was alive. I was laughing by then. James and Lily were dead, Peter had blown up a street, and I had handed him the secret because I thought I was clever. They saw a madman at the scene and sent me to Azkaban."

"Without trial."

"Without one I remember."

Dumbledore's face tightened.

Edward asked the question that mattered personally.

"What did Regulus think of you?"

Sirius looked away toward the dark field.

"That I was loud, arrogant, disloyal to the family, and probably infected by Gryffindor stupidity."

Kreacher almost agreed.

"And what did you think of him?"

"That he was a coward for staying."

The answer hurt because Sirius did not soften it.

"I was wrong about that," he added. "I learned he disappeared. I never learned why."

Edward exchanged a look with Kreacher.

"Then there is something you should hear. Not here."

Sirius studied him. "You are inviting an escaped prisoner into Grimmauld Place?"

"Only if Dumbledore agrees the wards can admit you without trapping anyone inside. And only if you go voluntarily."

Kreacher began a furious objection.

Dumbledore raised one hand. "Grimmauld Place is not a Ministry prison. It may, however, be the safest place to continue a conversation if its owner and house-elf can tolerate each other."

"Kreacher cannot tolerate him."

"Noted," Edward said.

Sirius looked at the dog-eared newspaper on the bench, then at Edward.

"Harry?"

"Safe at home. You do not approach him until Dumbledore decides how to do that without attracting Dementors or Aurors to his street."

Sirius's jaw tightened, but he nodded.

That mattered more than obedience would have. He had been given a choice and accepted a limit he disliked.

Dumbledore arranged the return. Sirius transformed into the black dog to avoid recognition during the short movement to the Apparition point. Kreacher kept a hand on Edward's sleeve the entire way.

At Grimmauld Place, the wards admitted Sirius after Edward deliberately named him as a guest. No blood test was needed. No tracking spell had dragged him there. He crossed the threshold because he chose to.

In the drawing room, Sirius changed back and looked around at the house he had hated enough to flee as a teenager.

His gaze stopped on Edward.

"Regulus's son," he said again, quieter this time. "Isabella... is she alive?"

Edward felt the old grief settle into place.

"No."

Sirius closed his eyes.

The next conversation would be harder than proving the name of a rat.