THE GRIM AND HIS BOY

Fanfiction By: MirrorWakes

A/N: I know all this is a little out of order but, well, it is an AU…

I'm only using the canon as a guide so, yes, there is a proper explanation for why Fudge didn't meet Harry at The Leaky Cauldron but no, I'm not telling you now. You'll just have to keep reading, won't you lol.

Thank you so much to my beta Rosie and to everyone who reviewed.

Chapter 03: Where To Go

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. I have used many quotes from the authors Terry Pratchett, JD Robb, Lloyd Alexander, MM Kaye, Diana Wynne Jones, Dudley Pope and Douglas Adams in this fic but again, no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

ooOoo

'Those who advise us to keep going seldom tell us where.' – PK Shaw

After breakfast, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Sirius decided to separate from the rest of the Weasley clan and do their shopping on their own. Since Harry had already bought his school supplies the week before the process was over rather quickly. Pretty soon all that remained to be purchased were that year's books and Hermione's new owl. As the quartet entered Flourish and Blotts the manager came hurrying towards them.

"Hogwarts?" he asked, a little nervously in Harry's opinion.

"Yeah," confirmed Ron. "We need two copies of The Monster Book of Monsters and-"

"Two?" whimpered the manager, looking alarmingly close to tears.

"Er… Yes…" confirmed Ron uncertainly.

"Oh dear, oh dear. Never again! I'm never stocking these books again! The Invisible Book of Invisibility was bad enough but this!" The manager continued, muttering in this fashion as he fetched his thick gloves and knobbly walking stick. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Sirius followed the man to the front of the store where all copies of The Monster Book of Monsters were kept in a large iron cage. He jabbed the walking stick through the door and whacked the books energetically until he managed to isolate two. He then opened the door and swiftly plucked them out, all the while mindful of their unfriendly snapping pages.

"Here," panted the manager, thrusting the books at Ron who backed away nervously.

"Well how am I supposed to fetch their straps if they're trying to take my hand off?" asked the manager, sounding exasperated.

"Well then how're we supposed to hold them?" demanded Ron, taking another cautious step backwards and glairing at the manager.

"We could stand on them," suggested Harry.

The manager gave the green-eyed teenager a grateful look and promptly dropped the books on the floor, almost running to the back of the store.

"Oh no we can't, Harry!" gasped Hermione, looking scandalised. "These are our school books. We can't just go jumping on them all the time!"

"We're not jumping on them Hermione. Besides, how else are we supposed to keep them from getting away?" Harry rolled his eyes. Trust Hermione to make a stink about anything out of the ordinary involving schoolwork.

"Well, at least take your shoes off!"

Harry and Ron obeyed reluctantly.

"Quick! Come on, they're getting away!" yelled Ron. The redhead pelted after one of the copies, which was quickly making its way towards the back of the shop, leapt and just managed to land with one foot planted awkwardly on the runaway tome.

"Ron!" gasped Hermione.

Ron made a face at his friend and pointed to the other book, which was about to conceal itself behind a bookshelf.

Sirius sprang after it and trapped the textbook under one of his massive paws, dragged it towards him and sat on it, panting.

"Good boy," laughed Harry, turning to Hermione and raising his eyebrows.

His bushy-haired friend huffed bad-temperedly and turned her back on the lot of them to pursue the other literature available.

The manager shuffled reluctantly back to the front of his store but when he realised that he wasn't about to be dreadfully assaulted by a couple of his own texts, he sighed with relief and handed Harry the leather straps he'd gone to fetch. After handing one to Ron, Harry walked cautiously towards the Animagus and his struggling charge.

"I think I'd better do Hermione's," Harry muttered to his godfather, gingerly kneeling down whilst holding the strap out in front of him. "Knowing her, she'd probably try and stroke the bloody thing to calm it down!"

Sirius barked, looking amused, and shifted just sufficiently to allow his godson to bind the book tightly without it taking a few fingers off.

"Thanks," said Harry. Holding the book in his left hand, he levered himself to his feet with his right. As Harry turned to hand the book to Hermione, his big toe connected painfully with some unseen obstruction.

"OUCH!" yelped Harry, hopping up and down whilst clutching his bruised toe. Sirius whined and poked the thirteen-year-old's foot with his muzzle, apparently checking for serious damage.

The manager hurried over, looking concerned, and prodded the seemingly empty space with his own – booted – toe. He grinned happily and clapped the injured teenager on the back.

"You've just found my missing copies of The Invisible Book of Invisibility! Thank you very much!"

"You're welcome… I suppose," said Harry through gritted teeth.

The manager bent to pick up his long-lost texts. "Here," he said, supposedly thrusting a copy at Harry. "Keep it, free of cost. You deserve it."

Harry felt around until his hand came into contact with the invisible book. He thanked the man and, closely followed by Sirius, went to stand beside Ron who was quietly sniggering behind his hand.

"Shut up," suggested Harry. "Hey, where's Hermione?"

"Over there with… What the heck's she doing?" gasped Ron.

Both boys stared, open-mouthed, as Hermione staggered over to the counter, knees practically buckling under the tonne of books she carried in her arms.

"What are all those for?" asked Ron suspiciously.

"School, of course. I'm taking quite a few more subjects than you two, remember?" answered Hermione, wheezing slightly.

"Going to catch up on sleep in History of Magic then, are you?" grinned Harry.

"Don't be stupid, I can handle it," said Hermione haughtily.

"'Course you can," said Ron, a little disbelievingly.

Hermione sniffed and went back for another armload.

Sirius nudged Harry's hand for attention and, upon receiving it, comically rolled his eyes.

Harry grinned and scratched Sirius' favourite spot behind his ears. "I know, Paddy. I know," he said.

ooOoo

After depositing their individual burdens at The Leaky Cauldron and buying an ice-cream each, Ron and Hermione met Harry and Sirius outside the Magical Menagerie to buy Hermione's owl.

"Here you are," said Ron, handing Harry two of the cones.

"Thanks." Harry held out both of the ice-creams in front of him and when Sirius chose the chocolate-flavour with a jab of his snout, Harry took a lick of the strawberry. He bent down so Sirius could have a taste of his own sweet.

"What sort of owl are you after, Hermione?" asked Ron, peering through the window.

"I don't know, whatever takes my fancy, I guess."

"Let's go in then," Harry suggested, opening the door for his godfather and his two best friends, and then following in their wake.

The quartet waited until the witch behind the counter finished speaking to a wizard about double-ended newts before approaching.

"It's my rat, Scabbers," he told the witch, gently placing the sorry-looking rodent on the counter. "Ever since I took him to Egypt he's been-"

Ron stopped, startled, when Sirius began snarling ominously.

"Paddy?" whispered Harry. "What…? Oh my God!" Harry looked from Scabbers, who was now frantically fighting Ron's grip, to the growling Sirius and back again. But before he could move, a great, hissing orange blur latched itself onto Ron's scalp.

"OUCH!" yelled the redhead, buckling under its weight.

"NO CROOKSHANKS!" screeched the witch, flinging herself around the counter to beat at the yowling menace, which appeared to be a rather angry cat.

"Get it off! Get it off!" howled Ron.

The cat leapt off Ron, using his head as a launching pad, to make a dive at the hand holding Scabbers.

Ron frantically tried to shake off Crookshanks, but the orange feline just dug its claws deeper into his freckled hand, causing Ron's eyes to water with the pain.

Harry gripped the cat in both hands and tried to pull it off, but Sirius clamped his jaws around the seat of his jeans and dragged the green-eyed boy away.

Hermione, nimbly dodging Sirius and his godson, grabbed Crookshanks by the scruff of his furry neck and managed to tug him off.

Ron sighed with relief and unclenched his hand, checking to see if Scabbers had been harmed in the mayhem. This was difficult to tell because the rat was curled up defensively in a quivering ball and refused to move, no matter how hard Ron prodded him.

"Let's go," said Harry when Sirius finally released him.

"But what about Scabbers, Harry? Just look at him!"

"Ron… There's something really weird going on here. Somehow, I don't think there's anything actually wrong with Scabbers." Harry had the strong suspicion that Scabbers wasn't exactly what he seemed to be. One look at Sirius' bared fangs confirmed it.

"What? Harry, I think you need new glasses. Scabbers looks half dead and what the hell do you think you're doing, Hermione?" Ron watched in horror as his best friend handed over the Galleons to buy the creature that had just used its claws to puncture his skull and then tried to eat his pet.

"Poor Crookshanks is lonely, Ron," said Hermione, by way of explanation.

"That's right," confirmed the witch behind the counter, looking overjoyed at the prospect at finally being rid of the orange menace. "He's been here for years and nobody's ever given him a second glance!"

"Oh, I wonder why!" spat Ron, his face turning a deep red that could only be matched by his hair.

"Ron, we really need to get out of here," hissed Harry. He placed his hand lightly on Sirius' head in a vain effort to calm the Animagus down. "Make sure you've got Scabbers. Right… He's asleep after all that? Crikey! Oh, well. Good. That makes things a lot easier. Now, whatever you do don't let him go!"

"What's going on, Harry? What's wrong with Paddy?" Hermione asked, hugging a now purring Crookshanks around the middle.

"I'll explain outside… I think I've figured something out."

"Figured what out?" asked Ron, in no mood to tiptoe around the tulips after his recent ordeal.

"Outside, Ron," growled Harry.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and an incensed Sirius filed out of the Magical Menagerie and began walking in the direction of The Leaky Cauldron. Sirius broke away from the group to plonk himself under one of Florean Fortescue's tables and refused to budge, so Harry, Ron and Hermione seated themselves around the Animagus to have their conversation.

"What's this about, Harry?" asked Ron in a low voice.

"Well, you know how Peter Pettigrew's Animagus form is a rat-" Harry broke off when Florean walked over, balancing four huge ice-cream-sundaes in his hands.

"Er, thanks," said Harry, as Florean placed the ice-creams carefully in front of him. The manager gave a mock salute and strolled back inside to serve other hungry customers. Harry slipped a sundae under the table for Sirius and passed the other two to Ron and Hermione.

"What were you saying about Peter?" asked Hermione, scooping up a large chunk of ice-cream with her spoon and slowly licking it off, savouring the delicious flavour.

Harry took a deep breath and sat down his own spoon. Catching Ron's eye, he indicated for his redheaded friend to follow suit. "How long have you had Scabbers, Ron?" he began.

Hermione gasped. "Oh, surely not! Harry, that's impossible! The Weasleys would have known if Peter Pettigrew was hiding in their house!"

"WHAT?" yelled Ron, startling quite a few passers-by and causing the small group to be the object of quite a few disapproving glares.

Sirius growled in warning and moved out from under the table to sit beside Harry's chair. The teenager reached down and absently scratched Sirius' favourite spot behind his ears.

"Listen to me, Ron. It makes sense," hissed Harry, glancing around nervously to make sure nobody was paying attention anymore. "Warmtail's Animagus is a rat – Scabbers is a rat-"

"Just because I happen to own a rat doesn't mean it's a fugitive murderer," interrupted Ron.

"Ron, shut up!" ordered Hermione. "Let Harry finish… Yes, I know he's acting mental," she gave Harry a pointed look, "but I think we should hear him out… there might just be some method to his madness."

Ron scowled at his two best friends, but didn't say anymore.

"Right," continued Harry, "just think about this for a minute: Peter severed his index finger to frame Paddy – Scabbers' middle toe is missing on his front paw and I bet anything that's the hand Pettigrew cut his finger from, right Sirius?" Harry, Ron and Hermione looked to the older man for confirmation; Sirius nodded his head and gave a soft "Woof".

"Oh, c'mon Harry, that's just coincidence," scoffed Ron. "Scabbers got into a fight with another rat, that's all." Ron grinned a little uneasily and began methodically spearing his spoon into his sundae.

"How old is Scabbers, Ron?" asked Harry abruptly.

"I don't know… Percy had Scabbers before he got his owl, after that he gave him to me, so he's twelve at least," answered Ron, slightly confused by the odd question.

"A bit old for a common household rat, isn't he?" said Harry furtively.

"We've looked after him!" said Ron defensively.

"Not looking too good now, is he? Not since we heard Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban, anyway."

"Egypt didn't agree with him!" retorted the freckle-faced boy.

"He was looking fine in that newspaper clipping you sent me and you'd been there for a week at least by then."

"Yeah, but… oh," said Ron, unable to think of a logical explanation.

"It does explain a few things, Ron," said Hermione slowly. "I always thought it a bit strange that Scabbers was so healthy, considering his age I mean. You've got to admit, Scabbers was overreacting a bit back in the pet shop. Why should he flip when Paddy's there? Crookshanks hadn't even turned up yet!"

"Well…" said Ron, biting his lip. "I guess…"

"Look," said Harry, "it makes sense. Even Hermione thinks so." The green-eyed boy smiled at his logic-loving friend. "Thing is, we can't do anything about it! Not yet, anyway. My suggestion is we wait until we're at Hogwarts. Tell Dumbledore what we know… But the real question is: until then, do we tell anyone else?"

Sirius yipped sharply to get the trio's attention and shook his head emphatically.

"I'd say that's a 'no'," grinned Ron, face a little pale which caused his freckles to stand out quite a bit. "Harry, if what you and Hermione are saying is true… Does that mean I've let a murderer share my food?"

"Ron! Honestly, that's disgusting! Sharing your food with a rat, Animagus or not, is very unhygienic!" scolded Hermione, shaking her finger at Ron in a disapproving manner.

Harry laughed but sobered quickly. Peter Pettigrew wasn't a very amusing topic. The man who had framed his godfather for murder and practically killed his parents was at this very minute maraudering as his best friend's pet. The thirteen-year-old turned to his godfather, hoping to gauge the older man's reaction to the recent conversation. Despite the fact that it was fairly difficult to read emotions on a canine face, Harry could tell that Sirius wasn't displeased. The Animagus seemed to be lost in thought, but when he caught Harry watching him, he gave his young godson's hand an affectionate lick. Harry smiled at Sirius and turned back to his two best friends.

"I think we'd better consider heading back," proposed Ron, looking at his watch. "It's getting pretty close to one thirty, and we promised we'd meet the others at The Leaky."

"Oh, right," said Hermione, "just a moment, I'm nearly finished." The bushy-haired girl scraped her spoon over her bowl, catching the last melted traces of ice-cream.

"That's not how you do it, Hermione," grinned Ron. He lifted his bowl to his face and began to lick off the last of the drops.

"Oh my god Ron, that's really gross," laughed Harry.

Ron simply poked his tongue out at the other teenager and resumed licking.

"Boys, so immature," complained Hermione to nobody in particular.

ooOoo

The next day Harry, Sirius, Hermione and the Weasleys arrived early at King's Cross in one of the cars the Ministry of Magic had provided. The trip had been particularly uneventful, a fact which made Harry slightly nervous.

The Ministry chauffeurs found the students trolleys and, after unloading their trunks, drove away again.

Mr Weasley decided to go through the barrier in pairs, so he went first with Harry (Sirius following closely behind) and the rest filed in after.

As the others were loading their trunks onto the Hogwarts Express, Mr Weasley ushered Harry and Paddy aside for a private talk. "First of all Harry, what are you going to do about Paddy? You can't take him on the Express, or to Hogwarts for that matter. I'd offer to keep him myself if you think he'd stay."

"Really? Thanks for the offer Mr Weasley, that'd be great! I found him on Privet Drive and I didn't fancy the idea of just making him fend for himself," Harry smiled gratefully at his friend's father. He was telling the truth: Harry didn't want his godfather to scrounge for food and shelter, nor did he want Sirius to hide at Hogwarts – there was too great a risk of the convict getting caught. If Sirius could live with the Weasleys, the kindest family Harry knew, he felt confident the Animagus would be well cared for. Harry glanced down when his godfather licked him on the hand. He smiled fondly and rubbed Sirius' ears as the Animagus panted happily.

"Very good. Well, I'm glad that's sorted out. Now, on to more serious matters. We, that is, the Ministry, believe that Sirius Black – you know all about him? Yes, good – escaped from Azkaban with the intention of… well… hurting you." Mr Weasley looked decidedly uncomfortable as he revealed this information and Harry got the distinct impression that the redheaded man wasn't supposed to be telling him this.

"Why would he want to hurt me?"

"Well, you are You-Know-Who's downfall…"

Paddy growled threateningly and thrust himself roughly in between Mr Weasley and his godson. He stared unblinkingly at the balding man and the expression on his canine features could only be described as accusing.

"Yes… Well, that's the spirit!" said Mr Weasley nervously. "Loyal dog that."

"Paddy, stop it," whispered Harry, "it's not his fault."

Sirius stopped rumbling but remained tense for the rest of the conversation.

"Harry, promise me, whatever you hear, you won't go looking for Black and stay within the school grounds."

"Mr Weasley, why would I go looking for someone who wants to kill me?"

"Good lad," said Mr Weasley hastily. "Very sensible. Got a good head on your shoulders."

"Arthur! It's nearly time," yelled Mrs Weasley, bustling over to the small group.

Harry dropped to his knees in front of Sirius and leant forward so they were almost nose-to-nose. "Watch out for yourself," he said in a low voice. "Don't give the Weasleys any trouble, they're the best! I'll write to you every week!"

Sirius quickly licked his godson's nose and, as Harry was making noises of revulsion, the Animagus whined and tilted his head to the side.

"Urgh! Paddy, you twerp!" growled Harry, wiping his nose on his sleeve. Then his face softened and the green-eyed boy hugged the Animagus around the neck. "Miss you," he whispered. Harry quickly stood up and surreptitiously wiped his sleeve (the one without the dog slobber) over his eyes.

Just then the whistle blew and Harry ran onto the Hogwarts Express, not wanting to be left behind. As the train slowly pulled away from the platform Harry leant out the window and waved to Mr and Mrs Weasley. He laughed as Sirius galloped along with the train and waved furiously at his godfather, stopping only when he was too far away to see him.

ooOoo

A/N: A few more unhelpful remarks from the author… I've been slack, I know. But I'm not giving up on this one! Please Review!