Hogwarts, i am Dementor

"..."

"Why aren't you talking?" Cohen sat down on the ground, so he wouldn't hit his head. "Are you just naturally more of an introvert?"

"..."

"If you're an introvert, it might be because of your family. Did your family often exclude you, say you weren't anything like your older relatives, and then you could only go outside to find other friends? But now all your other friends are dead or gone and nobody talks to you anymore, so you started becoming..."

"Shut up, will you?" Sirius was starting to crack.

He found the two chicken legs that had been dropped on the ground and sat down too, biting into them ferociously, as if the chicken legs were Cohen.

He finally understood. Dementors were all the same, it was just that Cohen had chosen a more disgusting way to kill people.

Cohen just watched as Sirius ate the entire chicken leg clean – even the bones, which he would turn back into a dog to gnaw on the marrow.

Truly pitiful.

"Why did you follow Booboo to find me?" Sirius sat on the ground, meeting Cohen's gaze, as if trying to figure out what Cohen wanted to get out of this.

If it was for the bounty, he should restrain himself right now.

If it was for food, he should pounce on him right now and suck away the little happiness he had left, along with his soul filled with guilt and regret.

If it was for Harry's safety, he would be yelling right now for the people of Hogsmeade to come and catch him.

But Cohen did nothing – just stood there blocking the exit, like a street bum with nothing better to do.

"Correction, Booboo brought me here. I didn't know you'd get mixed up with a dog, let alone an old professor's dog. I was just helping Professor Kettleburn walk Booboo," Cohen said. "Also, I wouldn't help the Ministry of Magic catch people anyway. Those guys threw hundreds of Killing Curses at me when I was little – it's a wonder I haven't destroyed the world yet."

Sirius clearly didn't quite believe this – after all, he'd never heard of such a thing. How could the Ministry of Magic throw hundreds of Killing Curses at a baby, and how could that baby have grown up to be thirteen years old and yapping away in front of him?

"And then what? What are you planning to do next?" Sirius gave a wry smile. "Go back to school like nothing happened, pretending you didn't see me? You wouldn't do that, or you would have left already."

"I'm going to tell Harry that his godfather is—"

"Don't you dare tell Harry about this!" Sirius said fiercely.

Suddenly, he felt something was off.

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"How do you know I'm Harry's..."

"Didn't you say it yourself that day you broke into my room?" Cohen mimicked Black's words from back then. "'Stay away from my godson!'"

"There were only two minors in my house back then, me and Harry. Edward and Rose didn't let me have a godfather, so Harry must be your godson then," Cohen continued. "It's pretty obvious."

"Very clever..." Sirius said softly.

"Why haven't you come to find me since that day?" Cohen asked suddenly.

"What? Do you like wanted criminals running into your bedroom?" Sirius sneered.

"No, I had a plan to make money that I wanted to discuss with you back then," Cohen said. "I'd hand you over to the Ministry of Magic and collect the bounty – then I'd have my Dementor 'elders' let you out. Catch you once, release you once, catch you once, release you once. Once the Ministry can't afford to pay anymore, you won't be wanted anymore. I get the money, you get your freedom, win-win!"

"I appreciate that," Sirius said dryly, clearly not thinking this method would work.

"But then I figured it out; this method isn't very feasible," Cohen said. "The Ministry might just give you the death penalty after a few tries – breaking out of Azkaban is a crime too, you know."

"I know Edward and Rose," Sirius ignored what Cohen said. He wasn't interested in freedom – all he wanted now was to kill Peter Pettigrew and then quietly accept his murder charge and atone with his death. "Why did they adopt you? Do they know you're... a Dementor?"

"Yeah, but does species really matter that much?" Cohen said. "Don't be prejudiced against species, old timer. You're hanging out with a Blast-Ended Skrewt—"

"Stop, stop, stop," Sirius interrupted. "I won't ask you any more questions about species... How much do you know about my imprisonment?"

"Killed a whole street of Muggles, and a wizard named Peter Pettigrew?" Cohen raised his eyebrows. "Oh, and some people say you were a Death Eater."

"I was never Voldemort's lackey; Peter was," Sirius said angrily. "Twelve years ago, I thought he died in that explosion – I caught up to him, but he blew himself up, taking a whole street of Muggles with him."

"Why?" Cohen let Sirius continue, even though he already knew everything behind it.

"It's a complicated story..."

Sirius told Cohen the real reason for James and Lily's death – somehow, he felt that this foster son of his old friends didn't seem as terrifying and ruthless as a "Dementor."

"No matter what you want to do, you and Harry have to be careful – that kid from the Weasley family has a rat, and that rat is Peter."

"You came to kill him, didn't you?" Cohen raised an eyebrow. "Have you considered the consequences?"

"What consequences? I just want that traitor Peter dead!" Sirius said, as if he wanted to grind his back teeth to powder.

"The consequence is that Harry won't know anything," Cohen said. "The outside world will always think you were the one who killed James and Lily, and Harry will always resent you for it later when he finds out—"

"By then, I'll be dead. I deserve it," Sirius said, covering his face and trembling. "It's all my fault... all of it..."

"Passing the buck to you is useless," Cohen snorted. "Your sudden suggestion to switch Secret-Keepers was indeed a clever trick that messed things up, but do you think dying is a good ending? Harry's parents are already dead."

"I can't bring them back to life!" Sirius said, glaring.

"Then you have to make up for it yourself!" Cohen said. "Do you think Harry cares if someone who made a mistake dies today or tomorrow? What Harry needs is family – if you really want to atone, then go and fill in the family part that Harry's missing."

"..." Sirius took a deep breath. "You mean... I should raise him...?"

"That's right, you need to become Harry's safe haven for the summer, because Harry's nighttime noises are bothering me," Cohen added. "The house next door to me has been empty. If I let Harry stay there during the summer, it'll be noisy – especially since he's in his teens now, and bed frames always creak and groan—"

"But Harry won't forgive me," Sirius's eyes, which had just held a glimmer of hope, dimmed again.

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