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There is always something special about the freedom of the sea. The water surrounding him is a little bit different to that of the ocean, but James likes it.
Of course, he’d like things a lot better if he could remember anything besides his tail and his name. Ever since he woke up on a beach as merman with golden tail over a decade ago with a note that read:
James Potter, you have defied me three times, but I shall always spare a pureblood. Enjoy your new life as a merman, good luck thwarting me from the water. – Lord Voldemort
He’s wondered where he truly belongs. It’s clearly not as a merman.
It’s clearly not in the ocean or in the sea.
But it’s all he has.
He hopes that one day to figure it out.
***
The first thing that Sirius thinks about when he escapes is finally, freedom.
Finally, he gets the chance to go and do right by James and Harry, but especially Harry, who is in danger by the rat. He’s gotta find him. Save him. Protect him.
So, he swims in the North Sea as Padfoot to the shore, and just as he turns into himself for just a breather … just a chance to be human again, he spots a merman who looks quite different to the merpeople he remembers from Hogwarts, but quite familiar in everything else.
The messy hair, the glasses (how do merpeople have glasses, he wonders), the chiseled abs.
“James…?”
The merman turns to him and with delighted hazel eyes asks, “You know me?”
“I – you – I must’ve actually gone mental,” he says in awe. He still moves forward anyway. “James, you – how are you a merman?”
James shrugs. “Apparently, I must’ve been some sort of troublemaker for someone named Lord Voldemort.”
He’s too trusting to be James Potter, Sirius thinks as he offers him a note, but the note looks real. Sirius doesn’t hesitate to take out his wand (found locked in a drawer at Azkaban) and run it over a confused looking James.
The effect is instant.
James is blinking rapidly, breathing heavy in anger. He still has a tail but it’s clear that he remembers.
“Sirius, fuck, what the fuck?”
Sirius shakes his head. “I’m just as confused as you are, I thought maybe Azkaban –”
“Azkaban?”
“It’s a long story. You don’t have any idea how to get rid of the tail, do you?”
James shakes his head. “We need somewhere to hide if you – you’re, you know, a fugitive.”
“Caught onto that, eh?”
James gives him a look.
“Alright, I think I can make something work. Just give me a few minutes.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good.”
***
James is astounded at the magic that Sirius has wielded here.
He’s managed to open up the nearby abandoned cabin to have a sea entrance that isn’t obvious to anyone else and quickly put charms on the cabin to protect them.
Once that’s settled and Sirius had cleaned himself up a bit, as James sat on the ledge in the water with Sirius sitting on the edge of the pool, they shared stories of what happened.
James was furious. He could only imagine the horrors bestowed on his son and of course, he’s furious at Sirius going to Azkaban without a trial. He didn’t deserve that, no matter what it looked like.
His first order of business after getting rid of his tail is waltzing into the Ministry and telling the fucking truth and making it damn clear that Sirius wasn’t the one that did anything on the Dark Side and that should throw into question whether or not what happened in that fight was what it appeared to be.
At least enough to question things. Get Sirius freed.
And then he’s finding his son and finding out if Petunia and her so-called husband treated his son fairly. He wouldn’t want to jump to conclusions. But deep down, he knows.
“I was going to go check on Harry, just for a minute. Just to make sure he was alright before going to Hogwarts,” Sirius offers. “Obviously we’ll have to deal with your tail, but I could… try and bring him here?”
James isn’t too sure about that. “How am I going to explain this?”
“With the truth,” Sirius states. “Voldemort cared about pureblood nonsense, so he spared you, but also neutralized you. And we’re going to figure this out, together.”
James hums. “Alright, I suppose. But try not to scare him too bad.”
“I’ll do my best.”
***
Harry’s pretty sure this is probably a trick of some sort, but he’s probably a fugitive for blowing up Aunt Marge, so why go about it alone?
Sirius had seemed to be sincere and had offered to call something called a Knight Bus if he truly didn’t want to come with him, so… he trusted his first instinct to go with him.
“Alright, so where’s my merman dad?” he asks, sarcastically once he’s inside the cabin, which does admittedly have a pool that leads to the sea.
Before Sirius has a chance to respond, a man that looks like the man in the mirror pops out of the sea pool.
“Oh,” Harry breathes. This is real?
“Harry! Oh, Merlin, look at you!”
***
James pulls himself on the edge, taking in his son. Barely into his teens and looking so much like James it’s astounding. “Hey, kid.”
“Dad?” he asks, so quietly, so uncertainly.
“Yeah, it’s me – it’s a long story, but Sirius and I just had to check on you as soon as we could.”
Harry sways a little like he might faint, but Sirius helps him to the edge of the pool.
“We know it’s a lot to take in,” Sirius offers. “I have to admit when I broke out of Azkaban that I wasn’t expecting this, but – but this is good. We can figure this out together.”
“As fugitives?” Harry questions, looking a little uncertain. “Because the Ministry’s after me, too.”
James frowns. “You’re thirteen, what would the Ministry want to arrest you for?”
“I blew up Aunt Marge and last year I got an official warning for a house-elf using magic in front of muggles and the letter said if I did any other magic, I’d be expelled.”
“Is that why you looked like you were running away?” Sirius questions, which makes James give him a look.
“Woah, woah, woah. I think I missed something,” James states. “Maybe we all need to share some stories.”
“Definitely do.”
***
By the time that Harry falls asleep after talking for hours with Sirius and James, Sirius is even more furious at himself and Peter (and even Remus). What the fuck had they done to this poor kid?
“I should’ve fought harder for him.”
“You had no chance against Hagrid,” James offers, but it’s quiet.
Sirius can tell that he’s disappointed in him. Disappointed in the friends that he would’ve died to protect.
“I still should’ve done better.”
“Yes, you should have. Remus should have. Peter should have. Dumbledore should have. McGonagall should have. Hagrid should have. I should have,” James spits bitterly. “I’ve spent twelve years swimming in the sea while my son suffered. Well, guess what I’m not going to rest until I get rid of this bloody tail and fix everything.”
He doesn’t wait for an answer as he takes a dive and swims away. Sirius knows he’ll be back, but he also knows that he can’t chase after him.
He’s gotta do right by Harry.
James’ll come back when he’s ready.
***
Sirius doesn’t expect James to disappear for days, but he has. He can tell that Harry feels a little abandoned. As if maybe his stories had driven James away.
He tries to help. He tells him that James is just off doing what Sirius can’t and focuses instead on helping Harry with his magic since he’s protected here at this cabin dangerously close to Azkaban.
He knows that he can’t stay here forever with Harry or they’ll think that he actually kidnapped him, but he tries not to think about that, though.
“Do you think he’s ever coming back?” Harry questions on day five as they sit down for lunch. “Because maybe –”
He’s cut off by the door opening.
They both jump to their feet with their wants to find James – tail-less and grinning with the paper and a wand.
He throws the paper on the table between them.
A Pureblood Lord Returned, a Rat Found, and a Black Innocent?
A picture of James and Dumbledore with an annoyed looking Fudge and someone he assumes is the head of the DMLE with a cuffed Pettigrew is under the headline.
Harry grabs it quickly and reads the short article quickly. “Dad, you really did all this?”
“I had to unfortunately go to Dumbledore, who knows I’m beyond appalled at the events of that night, and angry at his choices, but he was able to get me in the door. St. Mungo’s helped sort the merman thing out, I found Pettigrew – easy since he was with your friend, Ron – and that forced Fudge to listen.” He’s smiling brightly like it was no big deal. “Sorry, it took so long.”
“What does this mean for us?” Harry questions, mildly timidly.
“Well, it means the three of us are going to find us a home and get to know each other,” James states. “And get you ready for school, but you’re never going back to the Dursleys. Ever.”
The hug Harry gives James is the biggest hug Sirius has ever seen. He’s so unbelievably happy, and Sirius can’t help, but smile.
He’s a bit uncertain himself.
Could he really be free? Was it really that easy?
He vaguely hears James tell Harry to go pack everything up because he already knows the perfect cottage out in the country that they could live in, but James is suddenly in front of him.
“Si?” he prompts.
Sirius blinks. “Yeah, Jay?”
“It’s real, I promise,” James offers, running re-assuring hands up and down his shoulders. “You’re a free man and we have the rest of our lives to heal from the craziness of the last decade.”
“And – and you – you want that? Me around considering that I buggered everything up?” Sirius questions, a knot tight in his stomach. He doesn’t think he deserves another chance. Certainly not with James, definitely not with Harry.
James gives him a soft smile. He lets one hand link with Sirius’ hand, the other hand running over his lightly bearded cheek.
“Yes, Sirius. I want it to be the three of us. We all made mistakes, but I really think there’s more to our story.”
“Our story?”
James hums and leans in.
The second their lips meet; he stills in shock. James’ lips taste like some sort of hot chocolate with cinnamon, they’re not soft but not rough. The kiss is sweet, assured, but tentative as if he’s not sure of Sirius’ reaction.
Sirius squeezes the hand he’s holding and James leans back, brushing their noses against each other’s, playfully.
“They told me at the hospital that I was drawn to the North Sea because the curse was helping me find the one person that could break it without medi-wizards and healers interventions. When they told me, I didn’t want to come back here and demand a kiss out of nowhere. I wanted to kiss you because I want to be with you, not because of some curse.”
Sirius is surprised, but the bubble of happiness inside him erases all of that. He doesn’t care that it’s unexpected. He just wants more of James’ kisses.
“I – er – I like that. And – and I know I buggered everything up but if you’re willing to give us a try … so am I.”
James smiles, brightly. “Good.” He reaches down to grab a glass of water on the table. “Then, here’s to trying new things together.”
Sirius grabs his own glass. “Cheers to that.”