Archive of Our Own ^beta

Winter 1982

Severus was awakened by a persistent alarm in the wee hours.

“What the hell?” he muttered, slinging his legs out of bed. He groped for his wand in the dark and wordlessly silenced the annoying buzzing.

He made his way downstairs, still pulling on a dressing gown. A glance at the clock on the wall told him it was half past three in the morning. That was… concerning. He sent a quick revelio ahead. Hmm…

Pulling the door open, he waved in the visitor.

“Thought you weren’t ever going to open up,” Sirius grouched, stepping inside.

Severus latched the door and reset the wards before turning to look at the other man. “Forgive me if I was asleep in the middle of the night. Now. Can I help you?”

Sirius rolled his eyes, “Don’t be stupid. Anyway, I’m making a delivery.”

Clearly, it was too early–or was it too late?--for this nonsense.

“Sirius, I will toss you out and go back to bed. What the hell do you need?” Perhaps it was his tone that told Sirius he wasn’t awake enough to bandy words.

“We need you to take Harry for the weekend.”

Severus blinked, “Pardon?”

Huffing, Sirius replied, “You heard me. James and I just got called in to deal with something, and you know it’s not a good time for Remus. Therefore, you’re up.”

“Black, I mean it–” Severus cut off as Sirius tapped his wand on his shoulder. He watched as a strange strap appeared. Moments later, he was looking at Harry, fast asleep in the carry pack on Sirius’s back. “Ah.”

“I said I was making a delivery,” Sirius continued, “It’s important, and we have to go. James had to leave immediately. I said I’d bring Harry here and catch up. You can Floo Remus tomorrow if you have to, but you know he won’t be up to helping for a few days.”

“Wait, days?” 

“Yes, days.”

Severus stared at him for a moment before relenting. “Fine, I’ll take him. Merlin help us both.”

Sirius carefully removed the pack, holding Harry in the crook of an arm. “Come off it,” he scoffed, “You’re a Healer. And I’ve seen you playing with him at Sunday dinners. Where am I putting him?”

Sighing, Severus gestured to the sitting room. “Just put him on the sofa. I’ll find some blankets in a few. What’s the call?”

Sirius followed him to the sitting room, and they situated Harry on the sofa. The kid certainly slept like a rock. As Severus pulled the throw blanket over the boy, Sirius replied quietly, “We’re not sure. You’ve seen the reports in the paper lately? Magical Law Enforcement is drowning trying to sort out who’s behind the trouble. All we’re certain of is it’s not the usual suspects. I guess a tip came in an hour or so ago, and they’ve called everyone in.”

There was a pause as Severus processed that. He opened his mouth to comment but froze as a distinct creaking drifted down the stairs. Here we go, he thought. Three, two-

“What was that?” Sirius frowned at the ceiling. A half-second later, he jerked back around to stare at Severus, who was pointedly avoiding eye contact. “Severus?”

“Hm.”

“Do you… have company?” Sirius’s voice was needling. The Marauder’s sense of mischief had been piqued.

Striding over to open the front door, Severus huffed, “Black, if you’re just going to talk nonsense, go bother someone else.”

Eyes glittering now, Sirius edged towards the door but didn’t go out. “You do have company, don’t you?” His voice, Severus thought, was far too gleeful for this hour of the morning.

“Even if I did,” Severus shook his head, “Why on Earth would I tell you?”

He did not like the smile spreading over Sirius’s face. “Now, now, play nicely. No wonder you were so grouchy at being woken. Not gotten much sleep, have you?” The smile had turned into a toothy grin. “Do we know her?”

“Get. Out.”

“That’s a yes.” Sirius was positively giddy with mischievous energy now. He opened his mouth to further prod into the matter when a sleepy voice floated down.

“Sev?”

Severus sighed and dropped his head to his hand as Sirius seemed to vibrate with excitement.

“Is that who I think it is?!” he whispered, leaning in close.

“Merlin, Black, must you behave like a thirteen-year-old? Don’t you have somewhere to be urgently?” Severus’s tone did not invite further questioning. 

Perhaps remembering the real reason for the early call or realizing it was probably not a good idea to poke a Slytherin when he was tired, Sirius snorted and straightened up. “Fine,” he chuckled, “But James or I will be back for Harry in a few days. I’ll be expecting details, Sev.” With that, he left, pulling the door closed behind him.

Severus quickly reset the wards and heard the footsteps on the landing. Casting a monitoring charm on the sleeping boy on the sofa, he made his way back upstairs. 

“Everything all right?”

He nodded, “Looks like I’m babysitting for a while. The whole of the Aurory’s been called in. Harry’s situated on the sofa for now.”

Back in bed a short while later, Severus checked the monitoring charm once more before stowing his wand. He’d kept Harry overnight before but never more than one at a time. Ah, well. Harry was a well-behaved child for the most part. What’s the worst that could happen?

Dammit, he knew better than to ask that question at 3:30 in the morning.