"Aren't you still trying to woo your Healer, Miss Reed?" Harry questioned knowing Sirius flirted with the woman every time he went in for his check-ups.
"Marlie is a wonderful woman." Sirius nodded. "But if she wants to tame Sirius Black she'll have to bring her best!" He finished with a grin while rubbing his chin with his index finger and thumb.
"I'm sure if she showed even a bit of interest you'd be like a puppy begging for attention." Harry rolled his eyes with a laugh.
"I'll have you know that I had dozens of admirers in my time, mister!" Sirius practically pouted at his Godson.
"'Had' being the key word there, Sirius. You aren't getting any younger!" Harry replied doing a semi-passable imitation of Andromeda's voice.
"Don't you start too!" Sirius harrumphed as he was reminded of Andromeda's prodding for him to settle down and start his own family. He'd get to it eventually! Just had to find the right woman, preferably one that would make his bigoted ancestors roll over in their graves! Imagining the Ancient and Noble House of Black having a Muggle-born or Half-Blood Lady was the greatest prank Sirius would ever pull off in his opinion.
"Yeah, yeah…just let me finish copying this process down. I want to hit one hundred Test Frames before the end of summer still." Harry waved at his Godfather making Sirius shake his head as he made his way out of the smithy.
"Typical Ravenclaw nerd." Sirius said just loud enough for Harry to hear.
"Oi!" Harry yelled at the empty doorway. Only Sirius' laughter coming from outside could be heard in response to his indignation.
A loud crash just after breakfast alerted Harry and Sirius that something was going on at Wood End Cottage. Both wizards charged into the kitchen to see Hedwig screeching and clawing at an unfamiliar Elf while Tayla wrestled letters from the other Elf's grip.
"What the bloody hell is going on?!" Sirius demanded loudly making both Elves freeze up while Hedwig flew over to Harry.
"Master, Tayla found this Elf trying to take Young Master Harry's letters from Hedwig!" Tayla accused as she handed the three letters over to Harry. Looking them over Harry saw they were from his study buddies.
"Have you been taking all of my mail from my friends?" Harry asked the unknown Elf with a grimace.
"Dobby had to! Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts this year!" The now named Dobby pleaded while wringing his hands.
"Who has ordered this?" Sirius demanded of the Elf.
"Nobody, Dobby is not supposed to be being here, sir." Dobby nervously twisted his dirty pillowcase.
"What danger are you talking about?" Harry asked Dobby.
"Dobby cannot say, Great Harry Potter, sir." Dobby replied twisting his large ears. "But horrible things are going to happen at Hogwarts this year. Dobby thought that if Harry Potter only received letters from people outside of Hogwarts he wouldn't want to go back."
"Dobby, I have to return to Hogwarts, I'm a student there." Harry tried to console the Elf with a gentle tone.
"But Great Harry Potter sir mustn't put himself in danger!" Dobby cried out fearfully.
"Thanks to your warning, Dobby, we'll be able to inform the people that can prevent these bad things." Sirius reassured the distraught Elf.
"Dobby has helped protect the Great Harry Potter?" Dobby asked his large eyes widening.
"You warned me ahead of time Dobby, so now I'll have people that will look out for me and do everything they can to prevent these bad things." Harry nodded with a smile to the trembling Elf.
"Oh Great Harry Potter sir is too kind to Dobby!" Dobby wailed as large tears of happiness ran down the Elf's face. "Harry Potter is truly a Great Wizard!"
"Thank you for warning me Dobby, I truly appreciate it." Harry thanked the crying Elf.
"Of course, Harry Potter sir!" Dobby nodded vigorously his large ears flapping. "Dobby must be going before he is missed. Please be safe Great Harry Potter sir." With that and a pop Dobby disappeared from Wood End Cottage.
"Well this is bad news." Harry sighed and Sirius had a frown across his face.
"I'll Floo Dumbledore and tell him about this." Sirius nodded as he headed towards the living room. "With any luck this forewarning will let Dumbledore put a stop to whatever these 'bad things' are before they start."
"We can only hope." Harry sighed as he hoped his school year wouldn't be disrupted by whatever Dobby had tried to warn them about. But for now he had letters from his friends to read and respond to. Hopefully once he explained the situation his study buddies wouldn't be cross with him.
-Diagon Alley ~ Near the End of August-
"We should have done the shopping earlier." Harry grumbled as he and Sirius made their way through the crowded Alley.
"It's not so bad Harry." Sirius grinned catching all the eyes turning to look at his Godson.
"Speak for yourself, Sirius." Harry grumbled feeling the crowd staring at him. "If Miss Reed hadn't taken pity on you and agreed to a date last week we could have gotten this done then.
"I just wanted to make sure she enjoyed herself!" Sirius defended his multi-day planning of his first date since Eighty One. "It worked too!"
"Yet you still refuse to admit that you're doing exactly what I said you would if she showed any interest." Harry shook his head with an exaggerated sigh.
"I am not following her like a puppy!" Sirius harrumphed with his arms crossed.
"You are, completely and totally." Harry disagreed with a chuckle. "But she's a wonderful woman so try to be a gentleman."
"She is wonderful." Sirius nodded his head. "Truly a beacon of kindness and care."
"Explains why she's giving you a chance, woman's a saint." Harry chortled while Sirius grumbled about him spending too much time with Andy and Dora.
"I just need my textbooks and we'll be done." Harry mentioned looking over his school list. "Why do I have to get one of every 'Gilderoy Lockhart' book? Is the teacher some rabid fan of the man?"
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