Chapter 286

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-Back in the Room – A few minutes later-

After spending some time in the Three Broomsticks pub drinking a large mug of Butterbeer, waiting for Harry's conversation with Sirius to end, Hermione, Ron and I returned to the private room.

Once in the room, I sat down in the same chair as before by the window, while Ron and Hermione pulled out two chairs to sit opposite Harry and Sirius, who were sitting next to each other, with a table between the four of them.

From Sirius and Harry's happy looks, I assumed their conversation went well, which was a relief, even though it was something I'd hoped for.

"So how did you two meet?" Hermione was the one who asked the first question, looking back at me and turning to look at Sirius.

"Well, it's a funny story," Sirius said with a slight amused smile, and I snorted in my corner, looking out the window.

"Funny and a little humiliating, at least for you," I commented, and Sirius's smile changed to a grimace, which I pretended not to see.

Looking back at the trio, he noticed that the three of them were looking at him confused and curious, and he decided to explain.

"Long story short... He captured me," he said, and Ron and Harry's eyes widened before they turned to me, and I looked at them and shrugged.

"It was surprisingly easy," I said.

"Did he capture you?" Hermione asked in mild surprise, "How?"

"Well..." Sirius started to say, scratching the back of his neck, "On Halloween night while you were in the Great Hall for the feast I broke into the castle to capture Pettigrew, and it turns out that Ethan found out I was in the castle and ambushed me, and I was so focused on my revenge that I didn't notice him and he stunned me"

"Oh, so it really was easy," Ron said aloud, causing Sirius to wither in dismay.

"Wait! How did Ethan know you were in the castle?" Hermione asked.

"The same way Harry manages to escape and go to Hogsmeade without the teachers knowing," I said, and Harry looked at me confused for a moment before his eyes widened in realization.

"The Marauders' Map!" he said, and I nodded.

"Yeah, something like that" I said.

"Wait a minute, do you know about the Marauders' Map?" Ron asked me.

"Who do you think was the first person the twins showed the map to?" I asked back with a raised eyebrow.

"Damn it, and they never told me about it" Ron grumbled.

"But how could you see that Sirius had broken into the castle if the map was with me that day?" Harry looked confused at me.

"Simple..." I said, raising my arm and showing my bracelet, tapping it with a finger, "I have my own map"

"Do you have a Marauders' Map? But I thought this was the only one" Harry said, taking the map out of his pants pocket and looking at it and my bracelet, "And why is your map a bracelet?"

"To answer your questions, first that this is not a Marauders' Map, but the ATLAS, which I created using the Marauders' Map as inspiration. And second, the 'map' is a bracelet because I found that design more practical and stylish" I explained, shrugging at the end.

"Hmm, strange...Fred and George have bracelets just like this one" Ron muttered with a finger to his chin.

"That's because I made three bracelets, and two of them are the ones you saw Fred and George wearing"

"What?! Serious?!" Ron exclaimed.

"He's right there," I said, pointing at Sirius who puffed out his chest with a playful smile as if to say 'Yes, I'm here'.

"Huh?" Ron stopped short, not getting the joke.

Harry, who had been staring at the map in his hand, nodded to himself.

"Oh, so that explains why they gave me the map, they had a nicer one," he said.

"Actually if they hadn't given you the map I would have convinced them to give it to you" I said.

"Really? Why?" Hermione asked.

"Because it's Harry's right to own the map, as it's a family heirloom in a way"

"Family heirloom? My family?" Harry asked with a strange face.

And seeing the face his godson was making Sirius put a hand on his shoulder, making Harry turn his head in his direction, "Yes Harry, the map is an heirloom that should be yours"

Sirius then pointed to the map, which responded to his touch and started showing the Marauders' names.

"Your father would have wanted it that way," he said, pointing to Prongs' name.

And it took Harry a moment to understand what Sirius was trying to say.

"Was my father Prongs? Was my father a Marauder?" he asked surprised and a little excited.

"Yes, and not just your dad but me too" Sirius replied smiling.

And hearing this, Harry stared at Sirius for a moment in surprise before whispering, "You're Padfoot"

"At your service" Sirius said, bowing slightly playfully.

And I was surprised to see Harry guess who Sirius was so quickly.

"Mr. Black…" Hermione started to say, but Sirius cut her off.

"You can call me Sirius, Hermione. Mr. Black is my father, and as you are my godson's best friends I think we can drop the formalities" he said smiling at the curly haired girl.

"Oh...well thanks Sirius" Hermione said with a small smile, but then she shook her head and continued her question, "If you're Padfoot and Harry's father is Prongs, who are the other two?"

"Remus and Pettigrew" Harry was the one who replied, spitting out the last name with contempt.

Blinking for a moment Sirius nodded slowly, "Yes, how did you know?"

"Wasn't hard to figure out. The four of you were best friends and always hung out and did things together, so if two of you were Marauders, the other two would be too.... And besides, I've been talking to Remus since Christmas, and with the things I heard from him and found out I only had to put two and two together" Harry shrugged, not noticing the impressed look Sirius and I were giving him.

And Hermione, who had listened to Harry's explanation, looked at him proudly, with a part in the back of her mind feeling strangely drawn to see 'her' Harry act so intelligently.

"Well, I think you got a lot more out of your mother than just her eyes," Sirius said with a fond smile, ruffling Harry's already messy hair.

"What can I say? I got the best of them" Harry said with a shrug and a mischievous smile.

'Oh no... Sirius is already corrupting him' I thought, palming my forehead.

"Well, that explains how you two met, but what about the rest of the story?" Ron asked, glancing at me slightly, "I still don't know how you guys became friends, or why Ethan wanted to go after you, and besides, I may not know Ethan very well, but I know him well enough to know he had something to do with you being cleared"

"Yes, the coincidences are many, and now that we know how you two knew each other before the trial I'm 100% sure he's involved in this" Hermione said, frowning in thought, as if trying to solve a puzzle.

And listening to them, Sirius and I looked at each other, with Sirius looking at me as if asking permission to tell the whole story, to which I shrugged.

I didn't really mind that the three of them knew about everything, as at some point or another they would find out, and I think it would be better if it were now at a time when I'm around to talk about events from my point of view.

When he saw that I shrugged, Sirius sighed, shifting in his seat, with the golden trio paying attention to him as I turned back to looking out the window.

"Well, you already know how he and I met, but to understand the whole story I need to talk about things that happened a long time ago, back when James and I were still students at Hogwarts..."

And with that, Sirius started talking about everything about his life and his time with Harry's father, enjoying this moment he was having with his godson, feeling that this day was finally worth all the waiting.

End.

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(End AN: More than a week without chapters because an outbreak of virus appeared in my city, and unfortunately I was one of those inflicted.)