Sirius cast a glance towards Minerva across the reception room in Black Manor and sighed.
She looked like a cat which had caught a canary. She had positively glowed since Harry had told her about the night before and his animagus meditation. She also seemed very happy about his form, complimenting him on turning down the more sentimental and likeable forms for that of his raven. She had told him the form was a very practical one with the added bonus that it would give Harry the ability to truly fly. She was as proud as punch and hadn't stopped smiling smugly.
Frankly, Sirius had been completely unnerved by the whole experience and silently apologised to James for having laughed at him when he'd found Harry in the puppy form as a baby. It hadn't helped that it had been Hedwig who had alerted Sirius that there was a problem, flying in through his open study door and dive-bombing him, yanking his robes with her talons to get him up and moving to Harry. His heart had been pounding fast enough to win the Derby by the time he'd made it to Harry's room. Thank Merlin he knew the spell to force an animagus back into human form.
He could admit to a little disappointment that Harry hadn't chosen his puppy form but his explanation of the different representations had made sense. He was sad that Harry was no longer the happy-go-lucky chap who embodied the puppy but he was also happy that Harry was no longer the lonely wolf cub that longed for a pack.
He would need to read up on ravens, thought Sirius. Both he and Remus would need to know how to deal with a young raven. Not to mention they needed to come up with a Marauder name; Pronglet was clearly not applicable since a stag wasn't even an option for Harry but he hated to give up the name since it was the one James had approved of for his son. What could he call a raven? Blackie? Corvus? Wings?
He sighed and cleared his throat as Simeon and Anna finally arrived with Jason bundled into some muggle sling contraption that Simeon wore. Everybody had finally arrived: the Grangers, the Tonks (minus Dora who was on duty), the Longbottoms, Remus, Minerva, and the Blacks. The Malfoys were making their own way to the match as were the Weasleys. Everyone wore comfortable muggle clothing since the match was taking place near muggles; the teenagers wore jeans, t-shirts and light jackets for the most part; the younger adults wore a variation but Minerva and Augusta had stuck with long tweed skirts and blazers teamed with high-necked blouses.
Sirius whistled to get everyone's attention and smiled back at the happy faces in front of him. "OK! Our portkey leaves in five minutes! We have two hours before it begins so plenty of time to browse round the souvenir stalls and meet up with friends. Please stay with your designated buddies! We will convene in the Black box half an hour before the match. After the match, assuming there is time, we will make our way to the Potter Alliance After-Match Party in the designated tent. The portkey home leaves at ten o'clock. Any questions?"
Hermione raised her hand.
Sirius motioned at her.
"When are we meeting up with the Weasleys?" asked Hermione politely, lowering her arm.
"I though those interested could head to their tent when we arrive." Sirius said. Despite confiding the intelligence that they knew there would be a Death Eater attack at midnight, Arthur had elected to stay overnight as he had previously planned. He had understood Sirius's decision not to allow Harry to stay though especially after the death threat at the Longbottoms.
He handed out the rope portkey and carefully checked that everybody had a hand on it. Harry grinned at him from his position next to Sirius, sandwiched between him and Remus. He had been ecstatic that they'd still attend after the second death threat and Sirius hoped he'd made the right decision.
It would be fine, Sirius thought determinedly. The trouble wasn't due to start until midnight and Harry would be safely tucked up in bed at Griffin House by then. But the nagging voice in his head warned him to be careful and reminded him that Lucius had suggested it was someone outside of the old Death Eater circle – someone they couldn't control – someone who might not wait for the midnight hour.
He'd had Bill agree to meet them and guard their arrival at the portkey site just in case.
Sirius kept one hand on Harry's shoulder and Remus moved to do the same as the portkey activated. Harry had gotten used to floo travel, mostly because Andy had made him floo back and forth between Black Manor and Griffin House endlessly for over an hour, but he couldn't keep his feet with portkeys. So it proved as they landed at the portkey site within the World Cup stadium; Harry's feet weren't beneath him and only Remus and Sirius held him up.
Sirius exchanged a nod of 'all clear' with Bill who had his brother Charlie with him.
"Sorry." Harry muttered to Sirius as he regained his balance.
"Not a problem, Pronglet." Sirius frowned as the issue of the name came back to him.
Harry's face creased in concern. "What's wrong?" He murmured, keeping his voice low so it didn't travel to the others.
"Your animagus form doesn't exactly match-up with Pronglet." Sirius whispered.
"Oh." Harry's expression cleared but there was a hint of worry in his green eyes. "I guess not."
Sirius patted his arm. "Don't worry, Moony and I will come up with something."
"Yeah," drawled Harry with a mischievous quirk to his lips, "I think that's kind of a guarantee for me to worry."
"Hey!" Sirius sniffed. "We came up with…"
"Prongs," supplied Harry, "which I know my Dad hated because it said so in his journal. And while we don't mention the rat…"
Sirius grimaced because Harry was right; Prongs had hated Prongs mainly because Sirius had made up a limerick including Prongs, pongs and thongs which had been funny at the time. Of course, Prongs had changed his mind in their seventh year when everything had been lovely because he'd finally gotten Lily and she had loved the name. Wormtail had argued for days about Wormtail.
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