6/6

"Yes, I am well aware of the particulars of that arrangement but unfortunately he did not, to my knowledge, say anything that would be in breach of the agreement. That said, his article was definitely given outside of the spirit of your agreement and a sternly worded letter would suffice, I believe."

"A letter!?"

"A reminder of the consequences if he should continue to speak out against you: not only will he not receive the custody of mister Potter, but he will lose mister Gaara's guardianship as well."

"He will regret this."

"I have no doubt, but for the moment a reprimand will suffice, I think."

"Yes, you're probably right, Henrick. It was just a poorly written article by a silly little girl; people will forget in a few days. This business about Pettigrew, though…"

"I have my department looking into where Mr Lovegood came by his information regarding the… unfortunate incident with Mr Pettigrew. Would you like the perpetrator to be charged with the leak of secure information or simply have him quietly excused?"

"Toss the little bugger in a cell. I've been getting owls all day demanding the Ministry removes the dementors from Azkaban. Demanding!"

"Yes, that will be a difficult perception to change, regarding the dementors."

"Exactly! First Black escapes, then when we find him again those bloody things attack the school, then that little freak shows up with Peter Pettigrew back from the dead! And now not only did we ruin Sirius Black's life, we apparently also mislaid another bloody dementor and it Kissed Pettigrew before his trial!"

"Yes, a truly unfortunate accident. My people have investigated the incident and their findings indicate that while an oversight was made, it was nothing more than negligence from an overburdened prison employee. He is now under review and will be relocated to another department pending his acquittal of gross misconduct."

"Another department? That idiot misplaced a dementor and not only is he staying out of Azkaban, he's keeping his job!?"

"That will be determined during the course of the investigation, though from preliminary findings that I have been made aware of, I expect he will be found innocent of any crimes beyond a clerical error."

"A clerical error?"

"A most unfortunate one, indeed."

"I want to be kept abreast of the review board's findings, Henrick. Something went wrong here and I am going to be staring down the wolves for this one. I want answers."

"Of course, Minister. I will arrange for the minutes from the hearing to be added to your morning briefing.

Fudge sat down at last, his face going back to its starting colour.

"Ten galleons says the ruddy Prophet jumps on the bandwagon and decides to comment on this rag." Cornelius picked the latest Quibbler back up from his desk so he could gesticulate with it some more.

"I did not wish to worry you, Minister, but the Daily Prophet has sent their early approval copy to us and it does include several references to the Black article in tomorrow's edition. They contacted several of our offices for confirmation of the details but I have ordered all press liaisons to deny such requests for the time being. I think it would behove us to wait until you are ready to make a public statement, to avoid any misunderstandings or mixed messages."

"Tell them we do not approve of the article!"

"I am afraid they will likely ignore any protests we might lodge unless we can determine a legal standpoint from which to lodge an injunction. Sadly, no such reasons are forthcoming."

"Bloody press!" He smashed his pudgy fist down on his desk heavily, failing to incite a flinch in Morbidus. "Fine! Why don't we just tell them the earlier report was wrong and Pettigrew was caught trying to escape?"

"I would… be wary of making any definitive statements to the papers on the subject. Instead, consider suggesting the possibility and announce, as part of our investigation, that we are looking into reports of an escape attempt."

"Yes, that will do the trick. It will keep them busy for a while at least until we can get this mess sorted." He sat back in his chair, taking his hat off. "If my venture doesn't go to plan next year, I am done. You'll help me, won't you, Henrick?"

"Of course, Minister. I will do everything within my power to ensure you are able to continue governing as smoothly as is possible."

"Thank you, Henrick. Could you send for my speech writer on your way back to your office? I think we will need to get started on that statement."

"Yes, Minister." Morbidus let himself out of the office and told Fudge's personal assistant to start making preparations for the press conference.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Sirius was at Lupin's apartment, helping him to clean up after a nasty potions spill had caused a magic resistant mess when the paper came to Grimmauld Place. Gaara had taken to reading it every week or two to keep up to date with the world he was currently in. He had never made it past the first five pages owing to his total disinterest in current events, but he kept tring.

Today, however, he found himself reading page one and then going straight to pages two and three for the whole story, headlined: 'Pettigrew Kissed, Sirius Black Speaks Out'. The Daily Prophet hardly mentioned Luna's efforts or her father's in getting the interview or exposing the cover up surrounding Peter, Gaara was not happy about that.

After the relation of Luna's article and the direct news regarding the rat, the Prophet featured a subsequent article covering a press conference given by Fudge to respond to the accusations made by the Quibbler. The Minister had said very little and spent a long time saying it, but did intimate that Pettigrew might have been trying to escape and that since Sirius' escape from Azkaban they would have to revise their security policy lest anybody else try to copy him. Essentially he was blaming Sirius for the whole affair.

Instead of the reporters agreeing that Sirius was to blame, they had gone ahead and blamed the Ministry for the whole mess instead. There were more suggestions that Fudge should resign, which altogether made Gaara smile. What troubled him was the mention the inept politician made to a spectacular announcement to be made in September.

Gaara guessed it was going to be some sort of glorified publicity stunt; he just hoped it would not involve Sirius or himself.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Harry was waiting patiently for Sirius to come back downstairs. It was time for him to return to the Dursleys once again but Sirius had been waiting all day for the owl carrying their World Cup tickets to arrive. His godfather was insisting that Harry be there when they arrived and Harry was not in any rush to get back to Privet Drive.

The fireplace flared and for a moment Harry thought it was going to spit out Professor Lupin, who, once again had needed to disappear for the duration of Harry's stay. He would have thought something was terribly amiss if he had not seen the haggard ex-teacher on his birthday. As it was, he still did not fully believe the string of coincidences that called him away every time Harry came to stay when in the course of Sirius' regular letters Lupin hardly ever seemed to leave.

Out of the fire stumbled, not Remus, but Draco Malfoy. Just about the last person Harry wanted to see, barring perhaps Snape or Voldemort.

As the platinum blond rose to his full height ad brushed off the traces of soot from his expensive robes, he noticed someone standing across the room and got an equally unpleasant surprise once he identified the person set to greet him. He had anticipated Gaara or Sirius, certainly not Potter.

He loosened his instinctual sneer to pass some kind of salutation along since he was in absolutely no mood to get into a pissing match with the Gryffindork, but in that spirit he kept his mouth shut. Draco honestly was not sure he could say two words to Potter without making one of them an insult.

Harry was suffering the same predicament, his mood already precarious with his impending departure, so he too keep his mouth shut for fear of starting a fight that would only make him feel worse. Though, as soon as Malfoy mouthed off he was fair game.

Sirius practically skipped downstairs with the golden envelope the delivery owl had just handed him waved about in his hand. He was about to loudly proclaim his joyous receipt when he realised the other teenager standing in the room with Harry was not Gaara but the only other young Slytherin with which he was currently acquainted.

"Oh, Draco, is it that time already?" He dropped his hand and looked back at the door.

As expected, Gaara had appeared like magic just in the nick of time. Gaara, apparently due to his training as a shinobi, was able to walk all through the creaky old house without making a sound, which frustrated Sirius to no end. In this instance, though, he was simply glad of Gaara's unerring ability to show up any place at any time.

Gaara didn't take any notice of the tense stand off between his friend and Potter, instead saying, "come on." And leading the way back out of the room.

Draco did not care for being summoned like a dog, but he could either stay put in protest with Potter, or he could swallow his pride (a familiar taste by now) and follow Gaara. Needless to say he thought the Black ancestral home was disgusting as he ascended the stairs.

Malfoy Manor had been in their family for only about two hundred years, his ancestors having lived an embarrassingly meagre existence before them. Before their rise to prominence, the Malfoys may have been purebloods but they had not been wealthy. Looking around at the current state of the oldest pureblood family in Britain, Draco was given the startling thought that wizarding families could fall as quickly as they rose.

"Here they are!" Sirius cheered, resuming his flapping the tickets.

Harry pulled on a smile, trying act enthusiastically for his godfather's sake. It was hard to jump into the excitement when he had just confronted his school rival and was about to be sent back to his borderline abusive relatives because his godfather had chosen a redheaded psychopath over him. All that said, his fakery did not last long when Sirius opened the envelope and pulled out the four tickets.

Four tickets?

They had moving players flying all over them and each of the tickets featured a different position. One had two pairs of Beaters whacking Bludgers between them, one had players passing a Quaffle from person to person in some intricate play, and then there was…

Why four tickets?

There was one with a set of hoops being desperately defended by a Seekr, and the last one had two Seekers facing off! They were so cool!

Sirius, him, Professor Lupin…?

"Those are amazing!" Harry's split mind was entirely excited now.

"Aren't they?! I think I know which one you'll be wanting." Sirius said, handing Harry the Seeker one with a flourish.

"Isn't it a bit early for this?"

"I want you to hang onto it." Sirius thought it was the least he could do, to give Harry a souvenir to remind him that he had not been forgotten.

"Why are there four, though? There's you, me, and Professor Lupin…"

"…And Gaara." Sirius said after taking a deep breath.

By this point he had simply been planning to ask Remus to take Gaara while he accompanied Harry, and then they would have just run into each other at the Finals. He was ready to admit it had not been a great plan.

"Gaara's coming? He doesn't even like Quidditch." Harry tried to reasonably persuade Sirius that Gaara would be much happier staying at Grimmauld Place on his own. In fact, everybody would be happier that way.

"I'm sure he'll enjoy himself one way or another. Even if the match doesn't do anything for him, thought I don't know how it wouldn't, the parties and camping afterwards are half the fun anyway."

"You're probably right." Great, now Gaara was going. At least he would probably sit quietly with a book the whole time. Harry would likely forget he was there, he hoped.

"Come on, we'd best get going. We're running late."

"I wouldn't worry about it. Aunt Petunia won't miss me for a few hours." Or days.

"Maybe she wouldn't," Sirius said darkly, "But part of the visitation agreement is that I have to get you back on time. Don't want the kind and generous people of the Ministry getting the panties in a bunch now, do we?"

"I suppose." Harry trudged to the door once again.

Upstairs in Gaara's room, both boys had taken seats to catch up properly.

"Sorry about the awkwardness on my last visit. Mother and father can be quite stifling when they chaperone."

"Your culture's formalities are as baffling as my own." Gaara conceded.

"I can imagine." Draco nodded, wondering, like others had, what sort of world could have produced Gaara.

"Has your father been hitting you?"

"What?!" Draco had been reclining in Gaara's desk chair but snapped upright when Gaara's casually asked if his father had been beating him.

"Of course he hasn't." He might have slapped Draco once or twice but it was certainly nothing beyond the scope of parenting. And most definitely not something to be discussed, even with a best friend.

"Good. I will kill him if he hurts you."

Now, in Gaara's mind that was the sort of thing a friend says to comfort a troubled comrade and reaffirm their bond. In Draco's mind, Gaara was suddenly reminding him of when they first met and his redheaded roommate terrified him. Now that he knew him better, he knew Gaara was trying to show he cared.

Draco hoped so.

"Thanks, Gaara. Don't worry about it. Umm… how is your animagus training going?" Draco asked, desperately trying to change the uncomfortable subject.

"Well, I believe. Sirius has said I am progressing quickly but he is unsure when I will be able to transform at will."

They hung for the entire afternoon and Draco was to stay for dinner. Lupin hadn't returned yet so it was just the three of them at the table. Sirius got up to retrieve their plates from the dumbwaiter and set them down on the table himself.

"Why does your house elf not carry the plates for you?"

"Kreacher doesn't care much for Gaara. Won't even be in the same room as him."

"Really? How impudent. I had always heard the Black family elves were particularly loyal. Then again, if Dobby could betray our family, it's not outside the realm of possibility for yours to become defiant."

"It's not that, really. He would serve Gaara if I ordered him to, I'm sure, but I would not want to subject Gaara to the foul thing."

Draco was surprised to hear a so-called Light wizard talking about a house elf like that. Even Draco didn't have that much against them and his had run off. Then again, no matter what Sirius was, he was a pureblood. "What did it do, Gaara?"

"It was annoying so I told it to go away."

"You told him a few other things as well, didn't you, Gaara?" Sirius intoned.

Draco thought back to Gaara casually threatening to kill his father, so he did not want to think the boy would say to a lowly house elf.

"So, what have you two been chatting about up there? Girls? Quidditch? Pulling one over on old Snivellus?"

"Snivellus?" Draco questioned. He wasn't sure if Sirius was demanding a full report on their discussion (like he was sure to receive at home) or if he was just interested.

"Severus Snape, an old chum of mine from school. Next time you see him, you tell him I said hello."

"Okay." Draco said, having no intention of mentioned the names of either Grimmauld Place resident to his Head of House when term restarted.

"Draco said he is going to the Quidditch World Cup." Gaara said. He preferred not to converse over dinner since it slowed his digestion, but there would be no avoiding it now, so he picked the only of one of the three subjects Sirius mentioned that was applicable: Quidditch. Although, come to think of it, Luna came up once and she was a girl.

"Are you now? I bet our father has got you in the nicest seats, am I right?" Sirius had a wide grin on his face.

"Yes, we're going to be sat next to Minister Fudge this year. Last time we had to sit at the back of the box, it was humiliating."

"I don't know about that, sitting back there you get to throw popcorn on the Minister for Magic. And you don't have to talk to the man. I would say that privilege is worth paying extra."

Draco laughed but tried to quell it since it was entirely inappropriate to be laughing about such a political topic at the dinner table, doubly so when this was his first proper meeting with Mr Black.

It was hard to remember the formalities expected of even an informal dinner like this when Mr Black kept making jokes and teasing Gaara. It went from enjoyable levels to uncomfortable ones and back over the course of the three course meal. Mr Black (who insisted on being called Sirius for fear of being mistaken for his deceased father) was not saying anything truly inappropriate, it was simply his never-ending impertinence that made Draco feel put off.

He had been warned Sirius Black was a consummate Gryffindor, but he had still expected a certain level of comportment from a renowned pureblood.

Dinner came and went and soon after desert had been finished, Draco started to make his excuses.

"Thank you very much for hosting me for the day, Mr Black."

"You're always welcome, Draco, unless you keep calling me 'Mr Black', like I'm some sort of respectable adult."

"Yes, sir…-ius." Draco stumbled. "It was good to see you Gaara; father says you are welcome to visit after the World Cup finals. I'll send you the dates he said we're available."

"Okay." That was all Gaara said.

Draco walked into the fireplace and called out, "Malfoy manor!" And disappeared in flames again.

"He looked much better this time around, didn't he?" Sirius stated.

Rhetorical question or no, Gaara grunted in affirmation.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Sirius forced out a laugh, "Gaara, you have to see the tickets I got for the Quidditch World Cup. They're amazing!"

"Congratulations."

"And you said that Draco will be there as well so you'll have someone to talk to."

"I'm going." There wasn't really a question there.

"Of course you are, we'll have a great time: Seeing the best Quidditch in the world, camping, meeting friends, and getting drunk, for me anyway."

"Do I have to go?"

"Do you have to go? Do you have to? No, of course you don't have to go, but why wouldn't you want to go and watch some spectacular sports and see some people for a change."

"I don't want to go."

"Well, too bad because you're going. I already dug out the tent. Plenty of room for three."

"Three?"

"Harry and Moony are coming too, but Remus has to use his own tent. We used to go with James all the time, but Moony hasn't been in years. Just wait until you see drunk-Remus; that right there is true magic."

"I've see him drunk, on my birthday."

"That's right! Oh, well, then you know how much of a treat it is. We'll definitely have him blitzed by the first whistle." Sirius cackled. Gaara doubted the weekend would have much to do with Quidditch, and even still he didn't like the sound of it.

"If you're good, maybe I'll let you have a sip of some Fire Whisky." Sirius was enamoured with the thought of a drunken Gaara and was determined to make it a reality one of these days. Some might call it irresponsible to plot to get a fourteen year old drunk, but each and every one of those same people would undoubtedly call Sirius an irresponsible man, so who cared what they thought.

The only obstacles were Gaara's level head, and Moony's better judgement, the latter of which would be swiftly neutralised with the proper application of inebriation and subtle reasoning.

It was going to be one hell of a World Cup; enough to make up for a decade of missed opportunities.

In a few years, he would delight in getting Harry drunk too, but until then he was too afraid of Lily somehow cursing him from beyond the grave for encouraging her precious child to underage drink. If anyone could manage it, she could. So Harry would have to be the responsible, sober one.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Omake:

Gaara was glad for his voice coming back only occasionally. Since its return he had been expected to talk a lot more, but with it back he had access to the floo network without having to cling onto an able-throated accompanying witch or wizard. So, with this small measure of freedom from his captivity at Grimmauld Place, he had decided to take a short trip somewhere he might otherwise not want his guardian(s) to know about or accompany him to.

"Hog's Head Inn." He said, throwing the floo powder into the flames and stepping in. It was his first time using the fireplace without supervision and his aversion to all magical form of travel was flaring up, so he stepped gingerly into the hearth until he was sure he wasn't being burned.

When he tumbled out of the other end, he was met with the amused expression of the proprietor who was cleaning tables; the man did not pay him much mind otherwise. Gaara tried to recall the man's name but the only one that came to mind was Dumbledore and that was the headmaster, so he supposed he must have forgotten. He offered a dignified nod of greeting after he got up from the floor and then walked straight outside.

It was a very sunny day but Hogsmeade was a quiet village when there weren't dozens of teenagers running around so Gaara was able to walk at his leisure to the edge of the village and into the forest.

He had walked nearly a mile into the massive woodland when he heard a familiar thumping through the forest floor.

Gaara had planned to spend a relaxing summer's day in the woods training his claimed dog but he had failed to account for the fact that Fluffy was a dog who loved Gaara and who had not seen Gaara in over a month. Gaara's did not know how excitable dogs could get when their masters returned from extended absences.

When he arrived back that evening, Sirius had been panicking and wondering how long he should wait before hiring a bounty hunter to track down his missing ward, when Gaara flew out of the fireplace, covered in a nasty mixture of ashes and what looked like saliva.

Sirius opened his mouth to berate the reckless teenage boy and question his current state but when he caught the look on Gaara's face he thought twice about it. He would try again later.

Three days later, after many tries, Sirius finally asked Gaara what happened and was told, "I went for a walk."

Sirius then whined to Lupin all evening about how terrible a parent he was.

Remus was entirely unsympathetic, telling him, "You're not a parent, Padfoot." Thank Merlin.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Omake 2:

During Luna's interview with Sirius which Gaara had been obligated to sit through (he was not supposed to abandon his friends when they visited), the redhead had sat scribbling something on a pad of paper. Luna had asked what he was writing but Gaara had told her it was nothing and she accepted that. Sirius had pushed the issue, curiosity burning at him, until Gaara finally admitted that he had been drawing a picture.

That had stunned Sirius. He had never considered that Gaara might be artistic, but knowing how proficient he was in almost everything he did (barring magic), Sirius wanted to see what the boy had sketched.

Gaara was quick enough to tell his guardian that he had been sketching his siblings from memory but steadfastly denied any further request to see the picture. He would not budge.

Sirius was determined to see the product so he started a campaign over the next few days (with more determination than he had showed when trying to ascertain where the fourteen year old had sneaked off to without telling him) that primarily consisted of giving Gaara not a moment's peace until he caved. It was not just Gaara's drawing skills that Sirius wanted to see, he was also very interested in seeing what Gaara's siblings looked like. He knew a few details about them including the genders and names, but he was curious about their appearances.

In his mind they were an older girl-Gaara and an older boy-Gaara. The mental image of three Gaaras was… unsettling.

Gaara eventually relented because he did not want to kill Sirius (the only other solution, he devised) and because he was a great artist. Yashamaru had told him he was a prodigious artist when he was younger and that if being a shinobi didn't work out, he could make a living from his art.

Turned out that Yashamaru had been telling the truth, Gaara was a good artist… for a six year old. His uncle had looked upon the crayon scribbles fondly back then and proclaimed them to be masterpieces, if only to see Gaara smile.

Sirius looked down at the stick figures roughly sketched and scribbled and started to sweat. From the look of cool confidence on Gaara's face, apparently no one had ever told him he drew like a young child. It was at that moment that Padfoot stumbled upon the age-old secret discovered in every major shinobi village on Gaara's home world: if a Jinchūriki hands you a cherished drawing, you should avoid insulting their efforts.

The Sandaime Hokage had suffered to learn that lesson.

"Oh, wow. You weren't kidding. You really are good at drawing." Sirius said, trying to make out the individual characters Gaara had been trying to depict.

Gaara did not need to smile. He knew how good he was, he did not need people praising him.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

A/N: The sequel of the story is already up, just look on my userpage for it. It is called 'Hidden Inhumanity'. It took me a while to come up with the name, but I was given help from a few friends on here.

I'll admit that the nickname 'Prongslet' was hardly original, but it is oh-so fitting. And I took inspiration for Harry's (and Gaara's) birthday presents from Fantastic Beasts, which I watched recently. Oh, and to pre-emptively dispel any notions to the contrary, the views expressed during Draco and Gaara's conversation regarding corporal punishment were Draco's and not mine.

I actually had to rewrite the argument between Harry and Gaara because I just couldn't get it to work. This was the better version.

I have a cheeky request, is there anybody who would be willing to try drawing me a new cover image for my sequel? If anybody is interested, you can give me a message and I could proffer up a couple of small spoilers if you have any specific scenes in mind to draw. I've received some absolutely wonderful fanart during the course of this fic and an unbelievable front cover image and I would be eternally grateful for anyone who might oblige this latest selfish request.

As previously stated, this story is now finished, and the sequel has already been posted, ready for you to go ahead and read. There are a lot of twists and turns to come in this next year at Hogwarts and much more tribulation for our long-suffering Ichibi Jinchūriki, I'm afraid.

Thank you to everyone for reading all of this time, and for those 589 reviews at the time of writing this) that have encouraged me to keep typing away.

Update: I have recieved many kind offers to draw a cover image for my sequel and I have asked someone to do it for me from amongst them. If anyone else would like to draw fanart, though, it always makes my week to see it.