Sirius took the watch with trepidation, he really didn't know the man in front of him; however, Hydrus had stopped him from making the biggest mistake of his life. So taking a leap of faith he put the watch on. His cheekbones lowered, his mouth thinned and his hair shrank to ear length with his facial hair vanishing. It was a weird sensation. He conjured a mirror and looked at his new features.
"Now," Hydrus said, snapping Sirius's attention away from the mirror, "you need to get to the lawyer, have the will read, hire them to represent you and get custody of Harry."
"You don't want custody?"
"No, I have no legal ground; you, on the other hand, are his godfather. However, I do want all of us to live here, where the blood wards are."
"What blood wards?" Sirius asked, vaguely remembering Hydrus saying something about them in his narration earlier.
"Whatever Mum did to protect me and Harry, created a blood ward. That's the whole reason Dumbledore wants Harry at the Dursleys. When I picked him up those protections bonded to me. So the house is now under those wards," Hydrus explained calmly. "The ones from my timeline were weak from the lack of love in the house. I plan on making these as strong as I can."
"We should do something about those people," Sirius growled, getting fired up once again.
"Stop, look, I understand the need for vengeance, but these Dursleys haven't done anything. So, no, I will not do anything to them. I plan on letting them live their pathetically normal life. Without me as a fall guy, that normalness will fade soon enough. The only Dursley I plan on ruining is Marge. That sadistic bitch needs to be taken down, but that's for later." By the time Hydrus had gotten around to Marge in his timeline, she had disappeared, so his need to get back at her was still strong.
"What? After everything they did to you?" was the shocked response. Even after all these years, he still wanted to torture his parents for the way they treated him as a child. So it was hard to understand why Hydrus didn't feel the same.
"I got my vengeance in my timeline. When I left they were still running from wizards. George said he'd track them down every now and then to keep that fear alive," the immortal shrugged. "Years of therapy helped not to want to get it in this timeline. Your constant need to get revenge is unhealthy, so you will see a therapist if you're going to stay here with Harry." It was a demand and not a suggestion.
"What?! I'm not crazy," Sirius yelled in defense.
"If you wake Harry, we're going to have words again," Hydrus threatened, shutting the other man up. "I didn't say you were crazy, I said your emotions were unhealthy. Besides, I know a bit about your past and what you got up to at Hogwarts. What you find funny; I consider bullying. I will not have Harry raised a bully. Pranks are all well and good, if they don't hurt anyone. If you try and make him like you guys were in school, I erase your memory of us and dump you in London," the older man vowed.
"Wait, you're confusing me. One minute you want me to get custody, the next you're threatening to send me away. Make up your damn mind, for Merlin's sake," Sirius said, shaking his head and grabbing his hair.
"I do want you to get custody, and I want you in Harry's life, but there are going to be rules," Hydrus said in a much gentler voice, trying to get the man to see reason.
"How are you going to stop me from just grabbing Harry and running?"
"There you go again, not thinking of Harry," Hydrus accused. "There is no safer place on earth than in this house. No one can find him here, not even Dumbledore."
"Right, blood wards, forgot about them," the Animagus said with a shake of his head. He still wasn't thinking clearly, too much had happened to him in the last month and now this.
"Okay, look, you have to get to the lawyers before they close for the day. The watch changed you enough that you should be able to get there unmolested. Don't go to the Ministry until you talked to the solicitor. Don't forget your vow to keep mine and Harry's secrets."
Sirius looked at his new watch, which surprisingly told time, and noted it was three in the afternoon. He got up, cast a cleansing charm, righted his robes and said, "Right, I best get to it then. I'll be back in a few hours, hopefully."
"Since that huge scene with Peter never happened, you should be okay," Hydrus said confidently, even though he was a bit nervous for the man. "You'll have to go to the fence, only I can Apparate to and from the house. Good luck and keep your temper."
"Right," Sirius said with a determined look on his new face. He then left the house with his Gryffindor courage wrapped around him like a shroud and went to face his fate.
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