A few weeks later Hydrus got some pictures of the Dursleys playing outdoors from his detectives, and doctored half of them to include Sirius and Harry in the background. He sat Sirius down one day, showed him the pictures, described each person and asked him to talk to Harry.
"Why me? You know them, I don't," the godfather said, a curious look on his face.
"Yeah, but what Remus said might be true, and it'd be easier if you explained to Harry who they are, so if he slips it'll be 'Uncle Padfoot told me…'" the immortal explained. "I want us to do our best not to have Harry lie, so if we give general descriptions of each family member's attitude that might be enough."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Sirius agreed, rubbing the back of his head and going over what he had just been told about the Dursleys.
"If you want I can be there to help, but most of the information has to come from you," Hydrus offered, he had wanted to stay out of it, but that was a bit unreasonable. No one in the house knew the Dursleys as well as he did. Besides, he was better at explaining things to Harry. Well, Remus was good at dumbing things down, but Hydrus was better at full-on explanations. His education from his timeline served him well, though the way kids think still confused the hell out of him.
"When did you want to do this?" Sirius asked, getting comfortable in his recliner.
"Now, actually. The sooner the better."
"Okay. Hey, Pup, come here a minute," the dogman yelled up at the ceiling.
The sound of small feet was heard running through the house and coming down the stairs.
"Don't run down the stairs," Hydrus yelled, being the one who disciplined the child the most, since he was the oldest adult and wanted the child to be well rounded. Sirius was the more playful uncle and let Harry get away with a lot. Remus was the calmer one, and would only tell Harry how disappointed he was if the child caused trouble.
The sound slowed down and soon the little dark-haired boy shuffled in the room.
"Yes, Uncle Padfoot," he said timidly, thinking he may be in trouble for flushing his toy down the loo. He thought they didn't know, but you never know with adults, though his uncle didn't sound mad.
"What did you do?" Hydrus asked at the guilty look, the scuffing of feet and the wringing of little hands.
"Nothin'" the child said hurriedly, waving his hands in front of him.
"Harry," came the stern voice.
"Nothin'" the child tried to look innocent, but only looked guiltier.
"I'll find out," his oldest uncle said.
"I didn't do apurpuse," Harry defended himself, firming his little face.
"On purpose," Hydrus corrected. "What did you do?"
"Well, I might have flushed my duck in the loo," was the shy response. When he saw his Uncle Hydrus was going to scold him, he hurried to explain, "But, it's otay, it disapperiated and everythin'." Then he turned a bit sad and said, "I just wanted to see if it would float."
"Harry, the toilet is not a toy. Don't do that again," the immortal said firmly, shaking his finger at the child. He remembered Dudley doing the same when he was about this age, though not for the same reason. Harry was a bit more advanced than his cousin. Without being repressed by the Dursleys, his curiosity was something to be admired.
"That's not why I called you," Sirius butted in before punishment could be handed out, earning a glare from the immortal. "I want to show you some pictures of some of your mum's family. So come up here and let's look at them." He patted the arm of the chair.
"Otay," Harry said warily as he gave Uncle Hydrus a cautious look and climbed on his dogfather's lap.
Hydrus sighed and let it go for now, since there was no damage done. He watched as Sirius pointed to each person and told Harry who they were. He did have to stop the godfather from saying things like 'This horse of a woman…' by sending a stinging hex.
"Where does they live?" the dark-haired boy asked, thinking it was great to have more family.
"Do they," his uncle corrected.
"Do they," Harry echoed.
"They live far away, but we think you should not tell people that," Sirius answered, hoping in vain that the boy wouldn't question the request.
"Why?" the dark-haired boy asked, confirming that four and a half year old's questioned everything.
"Because they are hiding, and if you tell people where they are they might be found. We don't want them to be found," Hydrus explained, when Sirius got a blank look on his face.
"Oh, why are they hidin'?" the child asked with a scrunched up nose. "Are they playin' hide-and-seek?"
"No, they just don't like magic," Sirius said, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He still had issues with what this family had done to Hydrus, even though the time traveler had let it go. "They're afraid that people with magic will hurt them."
"Really? That's 'tupid," Harry said, folding his arms and pouting, maybe he didn't want to know these dummy people.
"Stupid. And that's not a nice word," the oldest Black corrected.
"So," Sirius once again interrupted, "if anyone asks you tell them that they are hiding, which is the truth." He patted the boy on the head.
"Otay, Uncle Padfoot. Can I go play now?" the child asked, bored with the conversation about people he might never know.
"Yeah, go play. If you ever have any questions about the Dursleys just ask, okay?" the godfather said as he lifted the child off his lap.
"Otay." And Harry ran out of the room.
"No running," Hydrus said loudly and the noise once again slowed.
"That went well," Sirius said, putting the pictures on the table.
"Yeah, it could have been more emotional, but then again I could be projecting." Hydrus picked up the pictures and put them in his pocketspace. He knew when he was Harry's age all he wanted was a loving family, but Harry had one, so, yeah, projecting.
The rest of the day was spent normally, until after Harry went to bed and they got some wonderful news from the vengeful ghosts.
....
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