Chapter Text
Harry could do nothing more than stare in disbelief as Sirius disregarded his concern about meeting in Hogsmeade, about how his father would have found it fun. How he was apparently not as like his father as he thought.
“Fuck this,” Harry growled, throwing some floo powder he knew Fred kept in a hidden brick in the fireplace in and calling out the address. "Sirius!"
“What?” Remus appeared, looking confused. “Harry? What’s wrong?”
“Where is he?” Harry demanded.
“Who?”
“Sirius. Where did he stomp off to pout and mope?”
“I am NOT pouting.” Sirius’ voice cut in as he pushed Remus aside and leaned into the fire. “You were just the one telling me how dangerous this was, and now you’re calling me?”
“You listen to me, Sirius Black,” Harry growled, pointing at the image of his godfather who looked startled, “what is my name?”
“What kind of question is that?” Sirius demanded defensively.
“What. Is. My. Name?”
“Harry James Potter.” Sirius replied through gritted teeth.
“HARRY. James. Potter.” Harry agreed. “I am not James Potter, and I am not Lily Evans Potter. Go on. Ask me something about them.”
“What?” Sirius looked completely baffled, but Harry wasn’t done.
“Ask me something about them.”
“What was James’ patronus?” Sirius asked, finally. He paused long enough, Harry was almost sure they’d be caught, but he didn't care.
“Dunno.” Harry shook his head. “Go on. Ask something else.”
“Harry-” Remus tried, but Harry glared as much as he could through the fire.
“No. What neither of you, let alone the teachers of this bloody school, seem to understand is that I didn’t know them. How old was I when they were killed? Hm? Not even a year and a half, right? So how the bloody fuck would I know that anything I may have done or haven’t done would be what they would?”
“Harry-” Sirius said, looking like he was catching on, but Harry was done coddling them.
“No. I’m talking. You were meant to be my godfather, Sirius Black. You were meant to raise me if anything happened to them. But you chose to leave me alone and chase your revenge. I didn’t know who you were until I was 13 fucking years old. So what I’m not like James? So what I’m not like Lily? I’m Harry. Always have been, always will be. Until you can see that, see that I’m a separate person instead of pieces of whatever you lost, I don’t want to talk to you. I will take my detentions with Umbridge, and I will use her fucking blood quill for hours at a time; I will take my punishment for perceived wrongs. Because no matter where the hell I am, I’m never enough. I’m not normal enough for my muggle relatives. I’m not as talented with magic as James or Lily. I am never enough as just me. I’m done trying to be what everyone bloody thinks I should be. If Harry Potter isn’t enough on his own, then you don’t deserve to know him. Take care of each other. Because I’m done.”
Harry cut off the message and turned to find Ron and Hermione watching him carefully, George and Fred standing behind them, Ginny on the girls’ stairs giving him a soft understanding smile.
“Can we do mum next?” Fred asked curiously, grinning crookedly when Harry snorted.
“She is a bit overdue.” Ron agreed, snickering.
“Oh, can we do McGonagall and Snape tomorrow in class?” Hermione asked, eyes lighting up.
“Only if we have a grand exit planned.” Neville smirked coming down the stairs and sitting on them. “No doubt Umbitch will use it as an excuse to expel us.”
“Pretty sure we can make a memorable exit. Right George?” Ginny asked, grinning as he smiled brightly.
“Obviously.” He said in his best Snape impression.
“Gabrielle and Aleksander, Fleur and Viktor’s little sister and brother, have already said we could enroll at their schools anytime.” Hermione shrugged.
“They have much better standings when it comes to future career opportunities.” Neville agreed. “Maybe I can even get my own wand.”
“Oh, we are definitely fixing that before we start classes with them.” Harry nodded. “I guess we’re going on a farewell tour.” He chuckled.
“As much as I love having you teach us defense, mate, because you are incredible at it,” Ron said, pointing at Harry, “you’re supposed to be a student, too. Even if we ignored that when we suckered you into this mess. If we stuck around and managed to do half decent on tests, it would be because we were taught by a fifth year who doesn’t even have his own defense mastery.”
“Which would be funny, except the toad would get the credit for the Ministry approved curriculum shite.” George shrugged. “Right. Hermione, have your and Ginny’s things ready to go, put those shrinking runes on the trunks, we’ll take care of the boys’ stuff and we’ll be ready to leave, say …”
“Lunch time?” Fred suggested.
“Cool.” Neville nodded. “But we’re still doing Harry’s other tongue lashings before we hit international airspace.”
“We can do more at a campfire when we stop for the night.” Hermione agreed. “Harry and I are more accustomed to camping the muggle way, so we’ll take care of all that.”
“You guys are the best.” Harry sighed. He laughed when Fred and George pretended to fan themselves, telling him to stop.
They spent about an hour together in the common room, Dobby bringing them snacks and drinks and even offering to come along. Eventually they agreed, because Dobby could help them and keep his magic undetectable, being a house elf. Harry felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his chest at how much his friends cared about him as Harry. They didn’t constantly compare him to people he barely knew, let alone couldn’t remember. Hopefully Sirius and Remus would come around, but until then … until then, Harry had a few more impassioned speeches to give to others. And it was going to be a lot of fun.