"Oh, I have a cave nearby. I wanted to be close in case you needed me," the older man said, looking Harry in the eye to show he was serious.
"That was very thoughtful of you," the teen said with some positive emotion. This was the first adult to show he cared, so maybe Harry could trust him. Still, he wanted a vow before he shared all his secrets.
"You are my godson. I failed you once, I won't do it again," Sirius promised with a firm nod.
"Right, as much as I'd like to take you at your word, I still don't know you, so my secrets are going to stay that way for a while," the young man stated firmly, making up his mind to not tell.
"I understand," his godfather said with a nod, but sad eyes.
"Okay, well, you can't stay in the cave, so why don't you maintain your dog form and live with that giant guy, Hagrid? Doesn't he live on the grounds? That's what Hermione said. Something about a dragon," Harry asked thoughtfully. Having man close would be helpful.
"Dumbledore doesn't want me near the castle, unless I have to be. He said it's not safe," the dogman stated.
Harry scoffed, "But it's the 'safest place in all of the United Kingdom'. That's what everyone tells me anyway," he added with a disbelieving shrug.
"Okay," Sirius said slowly. "Perhaps, I can stay here for now. Maybe I can sneak into the kitchen and get some food." His mind was going over plans to fix the joint up a bit.
"Or you could bond with a free elf and have her bring you meals."
"You know a free elf?" the surprised man asked, thinking of his mum's elf and hoping this one wasn't as twisted. "Do you know how rare that is? Most of them wind up working for Hogwarts."
"Right, they said that. Anyway, yeah, I know of a free elf. Dobby," Harry called to the air.
"Master Harry is calling Dobby?" the clothed elf asked as he popped in.
"Yeah, thanks for coming. Can you get Winky here? He," he pointed at Sirius, "needs an elf."
"Dobby can be doing that right away. She is being sober now," Dobby said happily and then popped away, while Sirius mouthed 'Sober?' to which Harry just gave an 'I have no idea' shrug. Seconds later both elves appeared.
"Someone is wanting Winky?" the female elf asked hopefully.
"Yeah," Sirius said, making her turn to him. "My name is Sirius Black… I'm innocent," he said hurriedly at the elves' confounded looks, "I was framed. If you want I need an elf."
Poor Winky had already been made to do many, many things that scared her in her last position. The Crouches were not kind masters. She looked the jokester up and down and wondered if it were worth it. Finally coming to the conclusion that it was better than being drunk, she nodded.
"Great," the older man said, "I, Sirius Black, take you, Winky, as my elf," he stated as he put his hand on her head. There was a quick heaviness in the air, and then it dissipated.
"What can Winky be doing for Master Sirius?" the excited female elf asked, bouncing on her long feet.
"Well for starters, we are going to be staying here for now. So can you clean up the inside, but leave the outside alone?" he asked, looking around the room at all the dust.
"I'll help fix some of this furniture," Harry offered as he pulled his wand. He was thinking this would be a test on the man's loyalty. He could fix up the house, making it look like he needed his wand, and if his godfather didn't tell then Harry would know that he was true to him.
"Dobby will help too," the little elf said as he started snapping his fingers in time with Winky. Soon enough all the dust was gone from that room. The elves popped away and were elsewhere in the house.
Harry waved his wand around the room and said, "Fix." The furniture mended. The wallpaper repaired. The floors were smooth again. The roof was free of holes, though the boards stayed to keep up appearances. All in all, the whole inside looked freshly built. "Your word that you won't repeat what you just saw, or I can take it from your mind and replace it," Harry said in the least threatening way possible. He felt kinda bad making that threat, not that he'd carry it out, seeing as it was just as bad, if not worse, that what the old man did. Still, the threat might be enough to get a vow or something.
"Don't worry, pup, you have my word. I won't even tell Moony," Sirius promised, holding his hand in the air as he swore.
The teen said a line he read in a book, "So mote it be," and that promise became binding. Not that it would have ramifications; he could still break his word and not be harmed, but magic would remind Sirius that he made a promise. He waved his wand and pulled up his floating clock, he cursed when he saw it was almost lunchtime. "I've got to run; I promised the girls I'd be back for meals. If you need anything, have Winky or Dobby get a hold of me," he said as he headed for the tunnel.
"Girls, as in plural?" his godfather asked proudly.
"Shut it, I hardly know them," Harry said almost to the exit. "I'll tell you about them later."
"Right can't wait to hear this story."
"Oh, I think you'll like it." And with that he was gone.