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Chapter Text

SIRIUS BLACK CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES

Sirius Black, until recently thought to be a mass murderer and You-know-Who's right hand man was proclaimed innocent during last month's trial in the ministry. A public apology was issued to Black by Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge himself.

Along with the apology, Black was also given an obscenely huge amount of 10,000,000  galleons as compensation for his unfair imprisonment. But, is this compensation truly enough? An innocent man spent a decade in Azkaban, the most dreaded place in this world. Can money really solve the problem?

It was discovered, two months ago that Peter Pettigrew, whom everyone thought to be dead was the one who had betrayed the Potters on that fateful night.

Pettigrew was their latest secret keeper and not Black. He was the one who had passed all the information regarding the Potters to You-Know-Who. Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail, confessed to his crimes under the influence of vertiaserum the previous day. He was shipped off to Azkaban without further ado and will be sentenced to the dementor's kiss next week.

Sirius Black, now a free man looks forward to rebuilding and continuing his life from where he left off.

For more information please turn to pg. 07.

That was the article that made the headlines of the Daily Prophet on 29th June 1992.

Sirius Black's acquittal received mixed reactions. A good deal of the public believed in his innocence while there were some who accepted the news with a bit of scepticism and then of course, there were those who were simply indifferent about the news.

The main question: How did the man feel?

The healers at St. Mungo's hospital had fussed over him (especially females), tending to him with great care.

After a week, the ex-Azkaban prisoner stepped out of St. Mungo's hospital feeling much better than he had in years. After a good night's rest, some much required treatment, a hot shower and a fresh set of robes, he was ready to go and collect his eleven-year-old godson who had just completed his first year at Hogwarts at platform 9 and 3/4.

Sirius Black was not the sort of person who would hold grudges. But he was considerably pissed off about the fact that his best friend Remus Lupin had believed him to be the traitor. He knew that he was being a bit of a hypocrite but he didn't care. Remus wasn't the one who'd spent ten long years in Azkaban.

Although the werewolf had written to him, he wasn't willing to bury the hatchet. He need some time before he could meet the man.

However, right now he wasn't going to bother about all of that since he had other issues that needed immediate attention.

He was now the Head of the Black family since his beloved parents had passed away. He was certain that family mansion Black Manor was currently in a fine state indeed since not a soul had set foot there in years. They couldn't. Not without his express permission.

With a slightly creased brow, he apparated to Black Manor and was pleasantly surprised when he found that he could still do it.

He walked up the pathway that led to the opulent mansion and once he reached the heavy rosewood door, he placed his palm flat against it. There was a grating sound as the door which hadn't been used for so many years, slowly creaked open at its master's touch.

The door opened and he entered the mansion, feeling elated to be back to this house instead of that gloomy residence at Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

He was about to go and take a look at the condition of his room but he had hardly taken the first three steps of the stairs when-

"Master Sirius Black has come home at last! Becky is feeling very happy," cried a squeaky voice and before he had time to respond, a thin pair of arms flung themselves around his knees and he looked down to see the house elf Becky, one of the few house elves who had not called him disgraceful names. He reached out to pat the house elf's head but Becky suddenly drew back, looking horrified.

"Becky has been very bad. She touched a wizard without permission. Becky is going to punish herself. Becky deserves it," said the elf and ran to the kitchen and started banging her head against the platform.

Sirius, who had only expected such a reaction, wasted absolutely no time in bringing the distraught little creature out of its self inflicted punishment. He gently grabbed the back of the elf's pillowcase and set her down on the ground. "Thank you, sir." said the small voice of the house elf.

"Now listen here, Becky, someone else is going to be moving in with me in a few hours and I want you to make sure that the house is cleaned properly. Get rid of all the dust, cobwebs, any unwanted creatures that have taken up residence in here. Please do up my brother's room so that it may be fit for an eleven year old lad. And no punishing yourself."

He emphasised on the last bit and glanced at the house elf sternly to make sure that she didn't do anything rash or made a mad dash for the set of knives in the drawers when he was away. The elf nodded earnestly and vanished with a crack, probably to get the requisite cleaning equipment.

Now that the house would be taken care of, he decided to focus on a certain conversation he needed to have with a certain headmaster.

He walked to the fireplace, grabbed a fistful of floo powder that was kept in an untouched clay pot that stood on the mantelpiece, also covered in a thick layer of dust. "Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore's office," he said crisply and felt the green flames engulf him with a whoosh.

******

Albus Dumbledore was currently going through some papers when the floo in his office roared to life and out came none other than Sirius Black. "Good afternoon Albus. I apologise for barging unawares this way but since it was rather urgent, I had to come through."

Albus Dumbledore was not a fool. He was completely aware of the reason Sirius had come to see him and this was definitely not a conversation he was looking forward to. He had expected it but that didn't mean he liked it.

But, he still put on a smile and invited the younger man to have a seat. "Not at all my boy, please sit. Now tell me, what can I do for you?"

"I want my godson's custody Albus." Straight to the point. It wasn't a request, not at all.

"He is living with his aunt and uncle and I assure you, Sirius, he is perfectly safe and happy over there," answered the old man.

Aunt and Uncle? He knew that James was an only child so that meant that Harry was presently living with Vernon and Petunia Dursley. The very thought made Sirius want to hurl. The Dursleys were horrible people. Completely against magic. He'd met them only once but that had been enough.

"Well let me make something clear, Albus, Harry will not be living with them anymore. As his godfather, I am his legal guardian and not some anti-magic muggles." said Sirius and for once Albus Dumbledore realised that this wasn't a discussion he would win.

"As you wish, Sirius but remember, the boy needs love and care-" he was cut short by a curt reply:

"And I am here for just that purpose."

With that, Sirius was gone through the fireplace and back to the Manor. As the ex- Azkaban prisoner went through the flames, Dumbledore realised that maybe it would be best to stay out of this matter since facing the wrath of Sirius Black was not something anybody looked forward to.

The man had already met his godson once after his acquittal and the meeting had gone pretty well. Perhaps this might be the right thing after all.

Sirius was a bit upset when he reached home but calmed down when he saw a that Becky had done up the whole place and the house was thoroughly furnished and cleaned to satisfy every need of the resident.

He glanced at his watch and saw that he still had ten minutes left so he apparated to King Cross Station and waited for Harry to arrive.

While waiting, he met the Weasleys and who assured him that they completely trusted him and the fact that he was innocent. The Weasleys were old friends, as was Augusta Longbottom.

As Sirius waited for his godson, he remembered his meeting with Harry a month ago:

Sirius sat in Dumbledore's office, drumming his fingers against the teakwood desk impatiently. He had been cleared only two days ago but the feeling of freedom was pure heaven. It was absolutely wonderful. He also had a lot of the aurors coming up to him and apologise for having thought him to be a death eater.  After all, he had been one of the senior aurors in the department and now, thanks to his proven innocence, he still was respected by many.

Dumbledore had told him it would take a while before it was declared in the prophet. He had asked for a meeting with his godson and Dumbledore had complied immediately. So here he was, waiting in Dumbledore's office for Harry to walk through the door.

The door opened and Harry walked in, along with Dumbledore. "Harry, my boy, this is your godfather, Sirius Black. He wanted to meet you. I hope you both get along and in case you need anything, send a message." With that, Dumbledore was gone.

Sirius took a good look at Harry, saying nothing. Harry looked so much like James that it almost hurt. They boy had that same untameable black hair, the same sharp nose and small ears. His eyes belonged to Lily though. It felt like a young James was looking at him through Lily's eyes.

Finally, Sirius decided to break the silence and gave Harry a smile. "Hello, Harry." He said, getting up from his seat and offering his hand to his godson.

Harry looked at his hand for a bit before grasping Sirius's hand hesitantly. The look on Harry's face was one of fear, not the one Sirius had been hoping for. But, that would change soon. "Hello sir." Harry replied after what seemed like forever.

"Sirius. My name is Sirius." The man corrected. The two of them sat down on a sofa, trying it get over the awkward silence. Sirius noted with worry that Harry's posture was extremely stiff, like he was super uncomfortable.

"Harry, like Dumbledore said, I'm your godfather and your parents made me your legal guardian." Sirius began, deciding that it would be best if he didn't beat around the bush. Harry's eyes widened at this but he said nothing. "I was wondering.... If you want to, only if you want to that is, maybe you could come and live with me." Sirius said, fidgeting with his wand.

"Live with you?" Asked Harry, disbelief colouring his voice.

"I would understand if you wanted to remain with your aunt and unc-"

" You really want me to live with you?" Asked Harry, his voice cracking slightly.

"More than anything, pup." Sirius replied, a smile playing on his lips.

"Yes please." Harry replied timidly, giving Sirius a shy smile if his own.

That was how they met. Everything had gone smoothly but Sirius had been taken aback by Harry's enthusiasm to live with him.

Why would Harry rather live with a man he had just met instead of the people who had been with him all his life?

He couldn't dwell on that any further as the scarlet engine pulled up at the station and one by one, the students rushed forward to meet their parents.

***********
Eleven year old Harry Potter was feeling extremely nervous. His godfather had offered him a home and Harry had readily accepted his offer at that time. Even though he was still looking forward to it, he couldn't help but feeling of apprehension.

His emotions were all messed up. There was anticipation, eagerness, joy and.... fear. Fear of this man he didn't know, yet the realisation that he had been shown more kindness by his godfather in an hour than his aunt and uncle for ten years made a big difference. And most of all, there was the fear of rejection. Of being shunned away or worse, sent back to them.

Sirius had seemed really nice when he had met him last week and for the first time, Harry had actually felt wanted. He didn't want that to change. After all, Harry caused a lot of trouble and was a freak just as his aunt and uncle had told him. Repeatedly.

He was yanked out of his thoughts by the engine pulling over at the station. He took a deep breath and got off the train along with Ron and Hermione. The young witch immediately found her parents and bounded over to meet them, after saying goodbye to her two best friends. Ron also went to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Harry's eyes scanned the crowd for his godfather.

There he was, looking everywhere, searching for Harry. "Sirius!" He yelled but immediately clamped his mouth shut. He probably shouldn't have shouted like that.

Sirius however simply smiled when he heard his name being called out and strode over to where Harry was standing and pulled the boy into a tight hug.

Harry immediately tensed at the sudden contact. Never had he been hugged before. Sirius, noticed the tense stance in an instant. As he held Harry against his chest, he couldn't help but feel that Harry was way too small for his age.

Harry didn't know how to respond to the hug as all this was totally alien to him. He was still frozen, not sure how to respond. He'd expected a hello or at the most, a clap on the shoulder.

Sirius pulled away after about a minute.

"Here, let me." Said Sirius taking the trunk from Harry with one hand and wrapping an arm around the boy's slight shoulders with the other. Harry flinched slightly but didn't pull away. Sirius frowned at his godson's tense posture but didn't comment about it. They had the whole summer ahead of them and Sirius vowed to put it to good use.

"Now pup, I want you to hold onto my arm tightly, alright?"

The boy looked a little suspicious but he did as he was told. The two of them turned on the spot and apparated to Black Manor, Harry's new home.

Chapter Text

With a crack, Harry and Sirius appeared in front of Black Manor. Harry felt sick because of the apparation. He'd never done it before so it felt like he had been sucked into a narrow tube and then thrown out on the other side. 

"What was that?" He blurted out, momentarily forgetting that his uncle had painfully made it clear that he wasn't supposed to speak unless spoken to.

"That kiddo, is known as apparating. You feel sick the first few times but you get used to it gradually." Explained Sirius. "Come along now," said the man.

As Harry went inside with his godfather, he started feeling more and more comfortable about the arm around his shoulders and slowly but steadily, he relaxed completely. He looked around the place, a look of undisguised awe on his young face. It wasn't just a house, it was a mansion!

The living room itself was thrice as large as his Aunt's entire house. It had a certain vintage charm to it with high backed sofas with intricate woodwork, carpets with wonderful designs and brilliant paintings adorned the walls. The place was pure beauty.

"-rry, Harry!" he realised that Sirius had been trying to call him whilst Harry had been drinking in every single detail. "Sorry, sir." He said, not wanting to get into trouble.

Sirius frowned at the unnecessary honorific but kept quiet about it. "Nothing to be sorry about, pup. I just wanted to ask you if you'd like to eat your lunch first or see your room?"

Harry's eyes all but popped out of his head at the mention of his room. He was getting a room? Why would Sirius waste his time for a freak like him?

"My room?" Came the incredulous question.

"Yes pup, your room." He was then led upstairs. Sirius opened the door and Harry's jaw dropped.

The room was simply brilliant with Gryffindor wallpapers, a comfy looking bed with scarlet covers and a closet for Harry to unpack and put away his stuff, a sturdy looking hardwood desk, along with a bean bag incase he wanted to relax and an attached bathroom. Compared to the rest of the house, his room was slightly more modern.

"Do you like it? Do you want me to chan-" Sirius never got too finish his sentence as a mop of wild black hair crashed into his chest, nearly knocking him over. Surprised by the unexpected movement, Sirius swiftly regained his balance and kissed the top of the messy black head, hugging his godson back.

"Are you sure this is mine?" The disbelief in his voice made Sirius want to frown but he put on a smile and nodded at the boy who barely came up to his chest. The man heard a muffled 'thank you' against his shirt. He tightened his hold on Harry before giving him an encouraging pat on the back and pulling away.

Harry pulled away, shocked that he had hugged his godfather on his own accord and was even more surprised when Sirius hadn't pushed him away. It had only been an hour and he'd already received two hugs.  The feeling was unfamiliar but completely welcoming.

It was only then that he realised that he was nearly craving basic physical contact that he had been deprived of for so long. Something as small as a hug was enough to make him smile. "Let's go have lunch now shall we?" Said Sirius and Harry eagerly nodded although the look of incredulity and disbelief never left his face as the two of them sat down, Sirius at the head and Harry to his right.

The eleven year old's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw the amount of food on the table. He hadn't eaten anything much in the train and he sure was hungry. Harry only served himself small helpings of the food and waited for Sirius to start eating first. The last thing he wanted was to let his godfather think that he was ungrateful.

"Oi, that's barely enough for a five year old, Harry." Sirius pointed out and with that, he loaded Harry's plate with more than sufficient helpings of each item. "Eat up pup."

The quantity on the plate surprised Harry. This was more food than what Aunt Petunia gave him in a week. He realised that Sirius was waiting for him to start and did so at once.

Sirius noted with worry that Harry ate like he had been starved before and kept giving him sideward glances like he was expecting an order for him to stop eating or something. Becky had done a brilliant job on the lunch and for the first time, Harry had eaten till even the mere thought of food would make his stomach explode.

After lunch, Sirius asked Harry to go and unpack and call him in case he needed anything while he went to the living room and sank into a cozy armchair. He was thrilled to have his godson around and the child was simply adorable. But Sirius found certain things to be a bit disconcerting.

For instance every time the man tried to initiate physical contact with his godson, the boy would flinch or tense like he was expecting a blow or something. Secondly, James had always been a little small for his age but even he hadn't been so thin.

When Sirius had hugged Harry, he had barely felt any flesh underneath his clothes. Another thing that bothered him that Harry was way too polite and quiet for an eleven year old. He answered when asked a question and was very shy as well. But then maybe it was because he hardly knew Sirius. Well, the concerned godfather would definitely change that this summer.

***********

As Harry unpacked, his mind was swimming with a thousand questions. What if he did something bad and Sirius didn't want him around anymore or what if Sirius found out about those horrible things his uncle had done to him?

So far Harry had tried his best to  be as good as possible and he didn't want to do anything to mess things up even the tiniest bit.

After he was done, he looked at his clock and saw that it was four o'clock and he still had a good three hours before supper was served. He didn't know what to do so he simply sat on his bed, fidgeting with the lose end of his shirt. About ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Sirius walked in. "I see you're done with your unpacking." He said, nodding his approval as he plonked down next to Harry.

The man frowned a little at the overly large clothes but decided to deal with that later. "So what do you want to do now?" He asked his godson who was still fidgeting.

Harry didn't want to be a burden but he did want to spend at least a little time with this man who had been so very kind to him because experience had made it clear to him that good things never last, well at least for him.

"If it's not too much t-trouble—you don't have to i-if you d-don't want to—could we play exploding snap please?" Asked the boy, still refusing to meet Sirius' eyes. "Of course we can." Said Sirius and so godfather and godson made their way to the living room to spend their first evening of summer together.

Dinner was a jovial but strange affair. Harry had been thoroughly shocked when Sirius had led him to the table for dinner. It was like he hadn't expected dinner. At one moment, Harry was laughing along with his godfather and the very next moment, he would offer profuse apologies for being loud.

After dinner, Sirius told Harry about the countless adventures he had at Hogwarts along with James. The clock struck ten and Harry yawned softly. "Time for bed pup." Said Sirius, noticing the tired eyes.

Harry nodded and headed upstairs, to his bedroom. Sirius came in, to find his godson in very baggy pyjamas and a baggy T-shirt. Well that wouldn't do. They'd have to fix that soon. Sirius held back the covers and gestured at the boy to get in.

Harry had never been tucked in before so he couldn't help the warm feeling inside him as he crawled in and Sirius brought the covers up to his chin. "I'll be right next door in case you need me. Is that alright?" Enquired Sirius as he carded his long, elegant fingers through his godson's hair. Harry nodded although he had no intention of disturbing his godfather and being a bother.

"Goodnight pup." Said Sirius as he leaned down and kissed Harry's forehead. He then walked out of the room, leaving the door open by a crack just in case Harry needed something.

**********

The next morning, Harry awoke at about six fifteen. Just the right time to begin with all of his chores and make sure that this day was punishment free. He knew what to do at his aunt and uncle's house and he also knew what happened when he did things wrong. He shuddered at the very thought of it. He didn't know what to expect from his godfather so it was all the more scary.

Time to start his chores. He decided to make breakfast first after which he would dust the furniture. He didn't know what Sirius liked and it would probably be better of he made a bit of everything. By the time he was done, he had made scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes, muffins and juice. He was about to lay the table when he heard Sirius coming downstairs. He was late. Fear tore at his heart. He was done for.

"Harry what--" Sirius stopped short when he saw the look of terror on Harry's face. He noticed Harry's trembling hands and the plate of pancakes he were holding. "I'm s-sorry Sirius. I t-tried to do it on time. P-Please. I'm sorry." Sirius strode forward and took the plate of pancakes from Harry's hand. Harry flinched violently and the moment Sirius was in front of him, he all but trembled. "Harry, pup, come here please." He said, pulling his godson closer towards him.

Harry knew it was wrong but he couldn't control his fear anymore. The abject fear of what was going to happen now made him quiver violently. He wrenched himself out of Sirius's hold and bolted upstairs, to his room. He knew that his punishment was definitely going to worsen now but he hadn't been able to help himself.

Sirius stood frozen for a moment before he rushed upstairs after his godson, wondering what in the world had happened. The boy had been totally fine last night so why was he so terrified now? Something was going on here and Sirius was going to find out.

He reached the room only to find it empty. He was about to leave and look for Harry in the other rooms when he heard a whimper. It was muffled, almost inaudible but thanks to his Animagus skills, he heard it. It was coming from Harry's wardrobe. He opened it to find Harry sitting inside, on the bottom most shelf. The troubled boy had pulled his knees to his chest and his eyes shone with fear. Sirius reached for his godson but Harry only curled up further. "P-Please. I-I'm sorry."

Not knowing what to do, Sirius simple sat down on Harry's bed, waiting for the child to stop quivering. This was so not what he had expected. He sat there patiently for nearly fifteen minutes until he saw that Harry's shivers had stopped. He then went and crouched down in front of Harry. "Pup, come out please. Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you." He held out his hand for Harry to take and Harry flinched once more.

Sirius pulled Harry out of the wardrobe, against his chest and Harry stiffened totally. A hug was certainly not what he had been expecting. A thrashing definitely, or just a slap or two if he was lucky but certainly not a hug. He felt a kiss being pressed to his forehead and it shocked him even more. Sirius was really strange. Here he had not completed breakfast and now Sirius was being so nice to him.

The man stood up, pulling Harry with him. He didn't say anything and just led Harry downstairs. They sat down at the dining table and Sirius ordered Becky to lay the table. The Animagus took a bite of his sausage and his eyes widened. "Sweet Merlin! This is absolutely delicious."

Harry's eyes widened. No one had ever said anything remotely nice about his cooking previously. "Thank you." He mumbled rather shyly.

Once they were halfway through their breakfast, Sirius forced the words out in a calm voice although he felt anything but that.  "Pup, why did you run?" Harry's frightened behaviour worried him to no end. There was a moment of silence where neither of them said anything.

When Sirius was about to ask again Harry spoke. "I was scared." He whispered, staring down at his plate.

"Of what?" Sirius asked, placing a finger under Harry's chin, he coaxed his godson to look up. When Harry didn't say anything Sirius decided that it would be better if the boy got to know him better before confiding in his godfather. "It's ok pup. Never mind." He said. "Eat your breakfast now."

As they ate, Sirius couldn't help but worry about Harry. He looked at his godson who was taking timid bites of his breakfast. Harry's hand shook, due to fright as he ate. What was going on?

******

Sirius was awoken in the middle of the night by a terrible scream from his godson's room and the panic that came over him was massive. He threw his covers aside, grabbed his wand and bolted to Harry's room. There he was. Alone. The panic was replaced by worry as Sirius saw his pup thrashing in his bed. "Harry, pup wake up it's just a bad dream. Wake up pup. C'mon." Slowly the thrashing stopped and Harry opened his eyes.

Harry opened his eyes to see warm grey eyes gazing at him with a slightly furrowed brow. He completely missed the concern in his godfather's eyes. The memories then came back to him. He had been dreaming that his uncle was punishing him and must've screamed loudly, causing Sirius to wake up. Oh no. He had tried so very hard to not bother his godfather and yet on the second night itself he had disturbed Sirius's sleep.

Unwelcome tears welled up in his eyes and slowly but steadily started to flow. “I’m sorry.”

Sirius was shocked on hearing his godson apologise. "You don't need to apologise for anything puppy. It was just a bad dream. There's no way it is your fault." He said and reached out, gathered the boy in his arms and cradled him to his chest, not caring that Harry was probably far too old for such treatment. He ignored Harry's taut posture and stroked the boy's head, murmuring reassurances. Too tired to do anything, Harry finally gave in and buried his face in the crook of Sirius' neck. He gradually relaxed, stopped crying and drifted into sleep.

Now to say that Sirius was worried would be a huge understatement. Harry's frightened behaviour of late was getting him all worked up. Earlier, when Harry had seemed quiet and extremely polite, Sirius had dismissed it as shyness but now he was sure that there was more to it.

The man tucked the boy in and settled down in a chair near Harry's bed. There was no way in hell that he was going to leave his godson alone that night and so even he fell asleep after a long while.

***********

The next morning Harry awoke to find himself neatly covered with the blanket and his curtains drawn. A while ago, he remembered his godfather leaving the room after brushing his hair. He glanced at the clock and his eyes widened to see that it was already nine o'clock. He had overslept. Harry ran to the bathroom to take a shower faster than you could say 'magic' and practically flew downstairs once he was done.

Sirius heard is godson come barrelling down the stairs and went to greet his pup. Harry stopped short when he saw his godfather walking towards him and he started to step away from him. He forgot that this was the man who had consoled him last night.

"I didn't mean to oversleep. P-please d-don't hit me, Sirius. I'm sorry,” stuttered the boy.

Sirius' heart broke on hearing the fear in Harry's voice and now he understood the whole situation completely. His godson had been abused by those filthy muggles. Sirius wanted to do nothing more than go to Privet Drive, No. 4 and beat the stuffing out of the Dursleys.

"Hush pup. You have nothing to be sorry for." Wide emerald eyes looked back at him incredulously.

"B-but I d-didn't cook breakfast." Replied Harry.

"Pup, you made breakfast yesterday and it was wonderful but you don't have to do it everyday. Now come eat your breakfast, kid,” said Sirius.

"No chores?" Came the disbelieving question. "Definitely not. I don't want you doing many chores. At least not unless you’re grounded." Said Sirius as he wrapped an arm around the small frame and led him to the table. Harry was still very stiff like he was expecting Sirius to slap him or something but the man didn't mention it.

They had the whole summer left and Sirius would make things better for the two of them. And that was a marauder's promise.

Chapter Text

"So pup, are you ready to leave?" Asked Sirius. Harry nodded, albeit hesitantly.

Sirius had wanted to take his godson clothes shopping. But that was a surprise so he just told Harry that he had some important work in Diagon Alley.

Harry took hold of the man's arm and braced himself for the unpleasant sensation of apparition. On Sirius' encouraging nod, he held on tightly and the two of them disappeared with a CRACK.

They reappeared, not in Diagon alley though. Harry looked up at his godfather with a quizzical expression but Sirius just smiled down at him, affectionately. "Where are we, Sirius?" Asked Harry, ready to move away in case.

But, he was slowly starting to learn that such things didn't matter here. Sirius was way, way different from his muggle relatives. "We are in muggle London. I believe a wardrobe makeover will is in order. You're the godson of Sirius Black. Fashion is a must."

Harry's eyes widened. He was going to get knew clothes. Every time he thought Sirius couldn't get any better, the man kept surprising him.

He had taken him in, promised him a home, allowed him to cry and had held and soothed him instead of punishing him. And now, he was going to get new clothes. He just didn't know how to repay the man.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He gushed, throwing his arms around Sirius' waist and burying his face into his godfather's broad chest. He pulled away after a bit and grinned sheepishly at Sirius.

Shopping had never been better. Sirius took Harry to every store in sight and made him try on almost everything on the shelves. The boy was didn't ask for anything by himself, so for now, Sirius was perfectly alright with choosing things for the pup as Harry nodded his approval hesitantly.

When they were finally done, Sirius had made sure that Harry had a whole knew wardrobe collection including casuals, formals, nightwear and underwear. Lunch was also quite fun. Harry started to open up, bit by bit and soon the duo was laughing away.

"Today was brilliant. Thank you so much Sirius." Said Harry, thanking his godfather profusely for the umpteenth time.

"You're welcome, pup. Now, I think there are new clothes that require unpacking so why don't you hop to it?" Said Sirius. Harry's face fell a little but nonetheless he went towards the staircase. Sirius noted Harry's expression. "What's the matter pup?" He asked gently.

"Well... I was hoping we could ... play a game of chess together if you ...uh don't mind."

Sirius' heart soared at this. His godson was already warming up to him.

"How about we both put away your clothes together? And then we can play? Hmm?" Harry nodded eagerly and headed upstairs while Sirius followed him.

As they put away clothes, Sirius plonked down on Harry's bed and patted the space next to him. "Come sit beside me pup. I need to talk to you."

Harry froze. It all started with a talk. "Relax pup. I'm not going to feed you to a hippogriff." Reassured Sirius.

At this Harry, quirked a grin and sat down.

"Harry, I just want you to be happy. You know that don't you?" he asked.

The boy nodded, not exactly sure where this was headed.

"Are you? Happy, I mean. I'm totally new at this, kiddo so I have no clue about how all this works."

"You're doing a brilliant job, Sirius, I swear. I do love it here and I am happy."

Sirius couldn't feel any better. Despite everything the boy had gone through, his godson seemed like the best child on the planet. "I'm glad to hear that."

That night, even dinner was an enjoyable event. Sirius sent Harry upstairs at ten o'clock since that was the idea bed time for an eleven year old according to Sirius.

As Sirius was just reading through a book, he heard a muffled crash from his godson's room and rushed up the stairs, wondering what the hell broke.

He threw open the door and saw that the glass vase that stood on Harry's study desk had somehow fallen down and shattered itself. That wasn't what worried him though. At the farthest end of the room, Harry was curled up in a small ball, hands covering his head and sniffles coming from his small form.

In three long strides, Sirius crossed the room and pulled the sobbing boy into his arms. It was then that he noticed them. Since his godson hadn't buttoned his night shirt up yet, Sirius very clearly saw the white faded scars on his stomach and shoulder. Those pathetic muggles! How dare they!

"Sshh, puppy. It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. Please stop crying, pup." Sirius said, as he softly stroked the boy's hair. Harry didn't look like he was going to stop crying anytime soon so Sirius lifted Harry off the ground, disturbed at how light the boy was and sat himself on Harry's bed, his holding godson. Harry's rigid body seemed inconsolable.

This was obviously deeper than a broken vase.

Unsure of what to do, Sirius simply held the boy close as Harry cried himself out. Once the boy had calmed down, he apologised once more. "You have nothing to apologise for. Like I said, I'll never hurt you, Harry."

Harry for one, simply couldn't understand what was going on. He had broken something, cried and blubbered like a baby, getting his godfather's shirt all wet but Sirius hadn't even raised his voice at him, let alone his hand.

He remembered that one time he had woken up from a nightmare. He had been about seven years old at that time and what had followed his nightmare had been even worse than the dream itself. That night Uncle Vernon had whipped him with that belt until Harry had become numb.

"Harry, I'm going to ask you a question and can you promise me an honest answer?"

Trust him. Said the little voice in Harry's head and listen to it he did. Despite all that he had been through, Sirius felt different. He wasn't aggressive and rough like his Uncle nor was his godfather nosy, like his Aunt. He gave Sirius a jerky nod. "Did your aunt and uncle ever hit you?" Even though Sirius was asking, there was something in his voice that let Harry know that he knew.

He knew. He knew. That was the only thought that ran through Harry's mind.

He knew that Harry was a freak, a weakling and an ungrateful brat who was a disgrace who couldn't stand up to a muggle.

"Please don't send me back, Sirius. I don't want to go back to them. They hated me, all the time. Please, just d-don't s-send me b-back. I don't want to go back to that cupboard." The desperation with which Harry was pleading tore Sirius's heart. Harry looked so fragile and young, more like an eight year old as he sat there, ardently begging for mercy.

"Harry James Potter, you are most certainly not a freak. I never want to hear you talk like that again and I promise that I will never ever send you back, puppy. You most certainly will never have to sleep in a cupboard again. I love you very much pup. You are completely safe here. I promise." Said Sirius, fiercely hugging Harry as he tried to quell his anger at those wretched Dursleys.

Sirius needed a drink and also a machete, mace and pernach so that he could bludgeon those bloody Dursleys to death. A slow, excruciating death.

Harry couldn't believe it. He was loved and wanted! It was all that he had always wanted and now he had it. "Thank you." Was all that he could manage, his voice, thick with emotion as he felt himself being hugged tighter. Was it all really true? With the love that was surrounding him, Harry couldn't ask for anything more.

"How about some sleep now, pup?" He asked Harry. His godson nodded sleepily as he yawned. Sirius tucked Harry in securely and kissed his forehead. "Goodnight, kid, love you." And with that the man extinguished the lights and walked out of his pup's room.

As Harry lay on his bed, for the first time in forever, he felt truly happy. Sirius loved him and he didn't have to go back. The insecurity was still there but that would also dissipate eventually. With only happy thoughts going on in his mind, the young wizard fell asleep, with a smile on his face.

Chapter Text

As Sirius was sitting and reading the letters he had received from the Gringotts regarding his account, Harry came downstairs, warily. Sirius sighed internally. It was evident that last night's reassurance had not smoothed out his godson's worries. With an encouraging smile on his face, Sirius led Harry to the breakfast table, aware that Harry was still too afraid to do anything on his own.

"Did you sleep well pup?" He asked, still smiling and Harry nodded timidly. He made sure that Harry had enough on his plate and only then did he sit down and start his own breakfast. As he was eating his beacon, another thought crossed his mind: What if those marks he saw on Harry's torso last night were only a fragment of what his pup had gone through? That thought was enough for him to lose his appetite.

"Pup", he began once both of them were done eating, "Let's go up to your room. I need to talk to you. I promise you that you're not in trouble." He added the last sentence on seeing Harry's fearful expression. The two of them headed upstairs, Harry was trembling slightly.

There was no easy way to do this. 

"Harry, all I want is to help you. You know that, don't you?" 

The boy nodded.

"I need to know what they did to you, kiddo. I cannot help if I don't know."

Harry understood exactly what Sirius meant. He had never shown his scars to anybody, never. Could he do that now? Expose the most vulnerable part of himself to someone he was only just starting to trust?

The answer was simple.

Slowly, he pulled off his shirt.

Not even a minute later, Sirius pulled Harry into a fierce hug. "I'm so sorry pup. I'm so sorry."

Harry was shocked on hearing his godfather apologise. He had expected Sirius to turn away and yet here he was, hugging Harry tightly. "W-why are y-you s-sorry?" He asked incredulously. He felt Sirius's arms tighten around him and didn't push the matter any further. Instead, he just melted into the arms that were holding him.

"What they did to you was wrong. I need you to believe me when I tell you that I'll never send you back. You need to believe me when I say that I'll never hurt you. Please trust me pup."

Two Weeks Later

Over the next two weeks, Harry came out of his shell miraculously quick. He was still nowhere close to becoming a mischief maker like his father but he talked a lot more now and even complained about things like his bedtime. He had completely stopped flinching whenever Sirius embraced him, instead he leant into the comforting touch.

Life at Black Manor was much more relaxed now, since Harry was no longer that boy who was terrified of his godfather. He was much more comfortable around Sirius despite the tiny bit of shyness that remained. The aforementioned boy was currently sleeping in his room or rather trying to not wake up.

"Harry, it's time to wake up pup. You've had your share of 'five more minutes' and it's time to wake up now, for real." Said Sirius firmly as he pulled the covers off his boy. Harry groaned but made no move to get up. Instead he turned away from Sirius and snuggled against his pillow. Sirius smirked at his godson's reluctance to wake up. Only two weeks ago, Harry had been very frightened of him. Now, this was how he was. Sirius couldn't be any happier. But, at the moment, he need to get Harry out of bed so with deft fingers, he attacked Harry's sides and started tickling him mercilessly.

"Aw stop! Pleeease! I'll get up. I promise." Pleaded Harry as he rolled over and try to dodge the fingers, in vain. "What was that young man?" Asked Sirius, the mirth evident in his voice as he tickled his pup. Harry realised that Sirius wasn't going to stop until he got out of bed so with a half hearted huff, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking younger than ever.

Sirius gently pushed Harry's hair out of his eyes and grinned at him. "Get dressed and come downstairs for breakfast pup. I have planned something for today." That got Harry excited. "What is it? What have you planned? Pleease tell me Sirius!" Came the whiny plea.

"Not a chance Harry. Get ready and I'll tell you all that you want to know." Said Sirius, ruffling Harry's hair and walking out of the room. Harry knew that his godfather wasn't going to tell him anything so he pushed himself up and threw his legs over the side of the bed to get up.

"Please tell me now." Harry pleaded as he wolfed down his scrambled eggs. "Oh alright you little menace." Said Sirius. Harry waited for his godfather to begin. "I need to go to the ministry today regarding some matters that need to be looked into and I'll be back by seven o'clock so I was wondering if you would want to call a friend over for a while or something." He said.

Harry nearly fell off his chair at this. Over the past two weeks, Sirius had proved to be absolutely brilliant. Harry had starting trusting him more and more with each passing day and he even looked up to him now. But he hadn't actually expected Sirius to let him have his friends over. Dudley would always call his friends over and aunt Petunia had made lots stuff for his friends while he had remained in his cupboard. The thought that even he was allowed to call his friends over filled him with a joy that was large enough to make him cry.

"I've never been allowed to have anyone over. Thank you so much Sirius." He said sincerely as he went to his godfather and hugged him around his middle. "You're more than welcome pup." Said Sirius, suppressing the anger that rose inside him at the Dursleys.

"However, there is one major rule you have to follow and I expect you to strictly stick to it while I'm gone. Is that understood young man?" Said Sirius, sternly. "Yes sir." Replied Harry, giving Sirius his full attention. "No leaving the house. As you know, after Pettigrew was caught, security has increased so I expect you to stay at home." That was a rather constricting rule as he had been hoping to fly around the grounds but he nodded nonetheless.

After that, the two of them are their lunch. Just as Sirius was getting ready to leave, the floo roared to life and out came Ronald Weasley. "Good afternoon Ron." Said Sirius, smiling pleasantly at the redhead. "Good afternoon Mr.Black, thank you for letting me come over." Said Ron, remembering his mother's warning to be polite while speaking to adults. "Just Sirius please, Ron. Anyways, I hope you both have a good time and I'll see you in the evening Harry. Be good and have fun." Said Sirius, giving Harry a hug and was gone with a crack.

The two best mates decided to engage themselves by playing a few games of wizard's chess. After that Becky brought them stuff to eat. As the two boys ate, Harry couldn't help but let his thoughts wander.

The two weeks of this summer had so far been the best days of his life. Living with Sirius had been absolutely brilliant. He had also discovered certain things about Sirius. He absolutely hated lying, cheating or stealing of any sort. His godfather also had a rather fiery temper ( he found out about that when a reporter named Rita Skeeter had written something about him being Voldemort's close follower in the prophet. Sirius had marched straight to the ministry and had given the witch a piece of his mind). The next thing he had found our was that Sirius was very, very, very rich. The Blacks had been and are one of the most powerful wizarding families to ever roam the planet.

After thinking and eating, they played exploding snap for a while after which Ron had to go home. He said goodbye and left, using the floo. For a little bit, Harry went through the quidditch comics Sirius had bought for him but even that didn't hold his attention for more than fifteen minutes.

He looked at the clock which showed six fifteen. This meant that he still had forty five minutes left before Sirius came home. Maybe, just maybe if he took a quick spin on his broom and came back before Sirius was home. Once the idea had gotten into his head, it was difficult to dismiss it. So, ignoring the tiny but if guilt that he felt for disobeying Sirius, he grabbed his broom which was upstairs in his room and he went out of the house.

As Harry flew around the grounds, a joyful scream made its way out of his mouth. He lost track of time and flew higher than normal and that's when he saw it. It was robed, a hooded figure that glided towards him. All of a sudden, Harry felt cold and empty. Every single one of his uncle's beatings came back to him. He had finally started to move on but thus had to happen. The next thing he knew was that he was falling. In his half conscious state, he caught a glimpse of a silvery dog that ran straight to the hooded monster.

Just as Harry was sure that he was going to fall hard, he hit the ground, it did t hurt a bit, just startled him s lot. The last thing he saw before he fully slipped into unconsciousness were the furious yet concerned eyes of his godfather.

Sirius was absolutely furious with his godson. He had apparated back home at about a quarter to seven and had found his godson missing. Harry wasn't there in any part of the house. He had searched every nook and corner of the house, his anxiety only multiplying by the second. On a split second thought, he had rushed outside, only to find Harry falling from his broom. He sent a Patronus zooming towards the dementor and then cast a cushioning charm to soften Harry's fall.

As he carried Harry's unconscious form back to the manor, he was trying to understand why had Harry so blatantly disobeyed that one single rule that had been given to him. He wasn't the sort who would deliberately do something g wrong. But then again, he was James' son. He was bound to do something so rash and foolish. He mentally cursed himself in all the twelve languages that he knew for not having given Harry a firm set of rules earlier.

He set Harry down in his bedroom and settled down in a chair, waiting for him to regain consciousness. Once Harry woke up, the two of them would be having a long and very detailed talk.

Chapter Text

As Harry's eyes flickered open, he saw Sirius asleep on the chair by his bed. That was when it all came back to him. The flying, the hooded creature, his godfather's angry visage hovering over him and then the darkness. Why oh why had he decided to go flying! Sirius had given him one rule and he just had to go ahead and break it didn't he? Now Sirius was definitely going to beat him. He deserved it didn't he? Why did he always ruin everything? As these thoughts filled his mind, a sniffle escaped from his throat.

Sirius, who hadn't been sleeping all that soundly, awoke instantly. He saw his godson looking down at the covers as he silently cried. There was nothing more Sirius wanted to do than pull the boy into his lap and soothe him as though nothing had happened. But this wasn't the time to go soft. He had to be tough now.

He cleared his throat to let Harry know that he was awake. Green eyes snapped up to look at him fearfully. "How are you feeling Harry?" Asked Sirius, genuine concern in his voice. "M-m f-fine." Stuttered Harry. Sirius hated seeing the fear in Harry's eyes and hated it even more because he knew that it was there because of him. "Why are you afraid Harry?" He asked gently. "Y-you hate me n-now. You gave me a rule a-and I b-broke it. I'm s-sorry Sirius. I really am. P-please don't hurt me."

Damn those muggles. Harry still thought that he was going to be beaten. He got up from his bed and wrapped an arm around the shaking shoulders, feeling the tense posture for the first time in two weeks. "I want you to understand something very clearly. I. Will. Never. Hit. You." Sirius said, his words firm but voice incredibly gentle.

Harry was silent for almost a whole minute but then he nodded. When Sirius saw that the fear was gone, he knew that it was time to get the hard part. "Harry," he began, his voice stern, as well as his expression. Harry looked up at his godfather.

"What you did today was extremely dangerous. Did I or did I not give you explicit instructions to not go outside the house?"

Harry looked down and his expression became contrite. "You did." He whispered, not able to look at Sirius. "And what did you do Harry James?" Came the stern question. "I went f-flying even when I wasn't supposed to." Replied Harry, as he played with the loose end of his shirt. "That's right. You disobeyed me. You could have been seriously injured today all thanks to your utter stupidity and foolishness."

The boy's lower lip wobbled a little but he managed to hold back his tears. He felt an unfamiliar feeling in his stomach at Sirius' scolding. "I'm disappointed in you Harry. I thought I could trust you." Said Sirius. His voice wasn't angry now. Just sad and.... disappointed.

Those two sentences hurt more than any of his uncle's beatings. It would have probably hurt lesser if Sirius would have slapped him instead. On several occasions he had been reprimanded by his muggle relatives. He had only developed a sense of fear back then but now, he felt ashamed of what he had done. "I'm sorry Sirius." He whispered as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Why did you go against the instructions given to you?" Harry didn't know how to answer that question. There wasn't any specific reason for his disobedience. "I wasn't thinking." He said. "That is obvious. Do you have any idea how worried I was when I saw you hurtling down from your broom?" Asked Sirius. "I'm sorry." He whispered once more, this time he met his godfather's eyes. He saw the worry in them and immediately felt guilty. The last thing he had wanted to do was anger, disappoint or hurt Sirius but he had managed to do all three of them on the same day.

"Your broom is going to remain on the ground until I say otherwise and I also want three feet on why it is wrong to disobey when something is told to you. Are we clear?" Sirius asked, as he doled out Harry's very first punishment. "Yes, sir." Said Harry, looking very upset with himself. He knew he deserved it and he also knew that he was getting off lightly. An essay and suspension of broom privileges could hardly be considered as severe punishments.

Sirius saw the forlorn look on Harry's face and knew that the point had been driven into his godson's brain and so there was no need to go any further as of now. "Let's go have dinner now pup. We'll talk more about this afterwards." He said, giving Harry a reassuring smile and a pat on his hip to prove that he wasn't angry anymore. Harry also managed a small smile. The usage of his nickname assured him that Sirius wasn't angry now.

The two of them ate their dinner after which there was still an hour left for Harry's bedtime. "Pup, we need to talk about certain rules you'll have to follow so that we are both on the same page when it comes to rules and what happens if you break them." Said Sirius. Harry nodded, feeling apprehensive about the conversation that would take place between them now.

"First of all, no lying. I expect complete honesty from you when I ask you a question. Can we work with that?" Sirius asked Harry. That was going to be a bit hard for the boy but he didn't want to lie to his godfather so he nodded.

"Secondly, there are a few rooms in this house which is rather you didn't wander into. They have black doors so you'll know. Ok?" Harry nodded once more.

"Next up, I want you in bed by ten o'clock every night. Is that understood?" Now that was something Harry didn't agree with. "But it's the summer vacation and I want to stay up late. Pleeease Sirius and besides, I'm almost twelve." He protested. Sirius raised an eyebrow at his godson's protests and smirked. "Thank you for reminding me that you're still eleven years old, Harry. Bedtime at nine o'clock instead." He said. "No no! I'm sorry. Ten o'clock is fine." Harry amended quickly. On hearing Harry's hasty compliance, Sirius continued.

“I will not have you endangering yourself no matter what the circumstances may be. I will not tolerate any dangerous tasks henceforth. The boy-who-lived is nothing but a moniker that has been given to you for publicity. You are only a child Harry. I care too much about you to let you go around risking your life with such carelessness. Do we understand each other?"

The chiding tone in his godfather's voice made Harry feel extremely ashamed of himself. He had never had an adult who care for him before Sirius so all this was really new to him. But nonetheless, upsetting Sirius was not something he wanted to repeat ever again. "Yes, sir." He said.

"Moving on to other matters, how did you do in your final exams?" Harry looked surprised by this unexpected question. "Um.. In defence I got an-"

"Why don't you just show me your report card?" Sirius interrupted gently and so Harry went upstairs to get the required document.

As he took the report card down to his godfather, he wondered whether the nervousness was normal. This was the first time that he had been asked for his report by a parental figure and he only hoped his marks met Sirius's expectations. He did not want to disappoint Sirius....again.

"Here you go." Said Harry, Giving Sirius his card. As Sirius' eyes skimmed the parchment, Harry couldn’t help but fidget. Sirius wasn't saying anything. He only raised an eyebrow once but the silence was driving Harry crazy.

"I see you've done quite well in defence and charms but I feel you can do much better in Astronomy, Transfiguration, Herbology and Potions. What went wrong in those subjects huh?" He asked as he patted the spot next to him, inviting Harry to sit down.

At Harry's lack of response, Sirius continued. "I want better results henceforth and you shall work harder. But, at the same time I want you to have fun and enjoy yourself. Can we work with that?" Harry nodded at this. Sirius tapped his cheek and said: "A verbal answer please."

"Yes." Sirius smiled at Harry and pulled him into an embrace which was immediately returned. "I don't expect you to be perfect Harry. I want you to be yourself and that's that." Harry realised that these were precisely the words that he had always wanted to hear from someone who loved him. "Thank you Sirius."

The two of them simply sat there in a comfortable silence when the clock struck ten. "Well, I think it's time for this pup here to go to bed." Said Sirius giving Harry's side a slight poke. "5 more minutes pleeease?" Asked Harry with a hopeful look.

Sirius pretended to think and then with a mischievous grin he picked Harry up, over his shoulders and carried him upstairs. Harry's surprised yelp soon turned into delight.  Never had anyone ever been so nice to him after a punishment (not that they were ever kind).

"Goodnight puppy mine. Sleep tight and the first thing you do tomorrow is start off with that essay. Alright?" Harry nodded, cheeks reddening at the reminder of his silliness. "Goodnight Sirius" he snuggled further underneath the covers and closed his eyes.

"Night pup." Said Sirius once more, swiftly kissing his godson's forehead.

After Harry was asleep he heard the floo roar to life. He frowned at this because he didn't remember inviting anyone at this time of the night. He took out his wand and went to see who the intruder was.

Chapter Text

Sirius rushed into the living room and his gaze hardened. "Lupin. What are you doing here?" He he glared at the man, visage softening only slightly as he took in the tired and pale face of Remus Lupin.

"I-I came to apologise, Sirius. I'm sorry. I really am. I'm sorry for suspecting you, sorry for accusing you, sorry for not believing you, abandoning you and I'm just really sorry Sirius. Please you have to believe me." Pleaded Remus.

Sirius stared at Remus long and hard before the hard demeanour evaporated. It had been hard to send a letter, telling his friend to sod off but when Remus was right in front of him, apologising so sincerely, he found it impossible to remain angry at him. "I believe you." Those three words were enough to make Remus smile broadly, making him look nearly ten years younger.

Sirius strode forward and pulled his friend into a brotherly embrace which was almost immediately returned. "It's good to have you back, Padfoot." Said Remus, the grin never leaving his face. That night, on Sirius's insistence, Remus crashed in one of the bedrooms in Black Manor.

The next morning Harry awoke to the sound of voices coming from the living room downstairs. He quickly got dressed and went down, curious to find out who else was there with Sirius.

"Good morning, Harry." He heard his godfather's cheerful voice as he took his usual seat at the table. It was then that he saw Sirius coming  out of the kitchen with another man in tow. He had seen this man in many of the pictures that Sirius had shown him. He looked tired but his amber eyes were sparkling. His robes and shoes looked worn as well. "Ah hello there, Harry. I'm Remus Lupin. I was your father's good friend."

"Hello, sir." Said Harry, feeling shy all of a sudden. Sirius caught that look on his face and shook his head fondly. He came over and ruffled Harry's hair.

"Eat up." Becky placed a plate loaded with toast, beacon and scrambled eggs in front of him. Harry didn't need to be told twice and dug in instantly. As Remus spoke to him and got to know Harry, even the shy eleven year old started liking the friendly man. "So tell me, how do you like your new home, Harry?"

"It's brilliant. I absolutely love it here. Sirius is simply awesome." Harry gushed out, sincerely and Sirius couldn't help but smile so wide that his face ached.

After breakfast, and a bit more of talking, Remus went back to his own home, leaving Harry and Sirius alone. "Well, how did you like Remus?" Asked Sirius, sitting down next to Harry in the living room. "He's nice." replied Harry. "Now I suggest that you get started with that essay assigned to you." Said Sirius and Harry reluctantly went to fetch his quill and parchment.

Once Harry had settled down to work on his punishment, Sirius decided to pen a letter to Rufus Scrimgeour, regarding the invitation he had received on his visit to the ministry. He had been invited to rejoin the Auror department. Sirius decided to keep it as an option as of now. He had absolutely loved his job as an Auror and wanted to return so maybe he would do that once Harry was back at Hogwarts.

About two hours later, when Sirius was sitting in his favourite armchair, Harry came up to him with a rolled up parchment in his hand. "I'm sorry." He said for the millionth time as he handed his punishment to Sirius and started to go back to his room. The older wizard sighed. "Come here pup." He said, holding his arms out and Harry complied.

Once Harry was within arms reach, he pulled his godson into his arms, stroking the black head soothingly. The hug was eagerly returned and neither said anything for a while. Once he had pulled back, he looked right into Harry's eyes. "Listen to me carefully. What you did yesterday was wrong. You could have been seriously injured and not to mention, you scared the devil out of me. But, at the same time, you apologised and were punished as well. Now, all of that is over and we move on. Alright? You have got to stop thinking over it. Everything has been forgiven. And always remember that I am always there for you. If you ever want to talk about something, a hug or anything for that matter, you come right to me. Ok?"

Throughout Sirius's reassuring speech, Harry hadn't said a word. But now, as he looked at Sirius with a bashful expression, a smile spreading across his face and Sirius knew that everything was going to be just fine.

"Now, how about some lunch? I suppose an essay does make you hungry." Said Sirius, ruffling Harry's hair. The two of them ate lunch and in no time at all, Harry was back to his normal cheery self.

After lunch, as Harry was idly lying on his bed, hanging off the edge when Sirius came into his room. As Sirius closed the door behind him, he furrowed his brows at Harry in an amused way. The boy was still draped over the edge of his bed as if he were looking for a lost sock underneath the bed. His t-shirt had climbed halfway up his back as he hung awkwardly.

Smiling mischievously, he reached forward and poked Harry's bare skin with his index fingers. Harry immediately burst out laughing and wrapped his arms around his sides protectively. "Get up pup. You can go to sleep at ten. If you feel you're getting less sleep, nine o' clock is alright with me." At the last sentence, Harry bolted up. Sirius laughed at the effect that one sentence had on his godson.

"Come on." Said Sirius, taking Harry's hands in his own ones and pulling him off the bed. "I need to go to Hogwarts today and you are coming with me." He said. "I don't want to come!"  Harry whined, not at all liking the prospect of going back to school just when the summer had begun, even if it was for only a short while. "Why can't I stay home? Pleeease Sirius!"

Sirius looked down sternly at Harry. "Remind me why am I not comfortable with the idea of you staying at home alone young man?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at his godson. "I don't kn-" He paused abruptly when he realised what Sirius was implying. He blushed profusely. "But Sirius, I've learned my lesson. I won't try something like that again so can I please stay home? Pretty please?" The pleading emerald eyes looked absolutely adorable and Sirius didn't want to refuse the request but as firmly as he could, he shook his head.

In all honesty, Sirius trusted his godson but at the same time, he knew that Harry was his father's son and was bound to do something he wasn't supposed to do. "No. I don't think that's possible Harry and besides, it's not going to be that bad. You can go visit Hagrid or you can come with me to Dumbledore's office."

Harry's shoulders slumped at this but he didn't say anything. Sirius felt a little bad for his godson and placed his hand between Harry's shoulder blades. "Come now, I promise you will not get bored. We'll be back in an hour alright and if you're good, I'll take you to honeydukes and you can pick up some chocolate frogs, a few licorice wands or something. How does that sound?" 

"Can we leave right now Sirius? You can talk to Dumbledore, I'll come along with you and after that we can go to honeydukes." The excitement in his voice was prominent, his despondency long forgotten. Sirius laughed at Harry's change in mood and grabbed him round the middle and ruffled his hair. "Um, why are we going to Hogwarts?" He asked curiously, but at the same time he didn't want to pry.

Harry was having mixed emotions all the time.

Although the major part of his brain was starting to enjoy the feeling of having a family, a tiny  portion of his brain kept telling him that it was all too good to be true.

"I don't know. I got a letter from Dumbledore today morning and he said that he wanted me to come over. That's all."

In ten minutes, godfather and godson were ready, standing right next to the floo. "Here. You go first." Said Sirius, handing Harry the clay pot that contained the floo powder. "Well I uh..." Harry trailed off, reddening slightly. "What's wrong, kiddo?" Sirius bent down to look Harry in the eye.

"I've never used floo powder before." Said Harry, all in one breath. "Ah I see. No worries, we can floo together." Said Sirius. He placed a hand on Harry's back and led him into the fireplace and with that the two of them were gone in a whoosh of flames.

Chapter Text

Godfather and godson stepped out of the flames and into Dumbledore's office. "Good afternoon Sirius, Harry." He smiled at the two of them pleasantly.

The two of them greeted him back after which Dumbledore asked Sirius to take a seat on the opposite side of the desk and told Harry to go and take a seat on one of the plush armchairs that were located on the other side of the office.

Harry looked at Sirius who gave him a reassuring nod and jerked his chin towards the other side. Harry reluctantly left his godfather with Dumbledore and went off to where he was told.

It was clear that whatever Dumbledore wanted to discuss right now must be quite important considering the look of seriousness that was hidden by his smile and the customary twinkle in his blue eyes. "Sirius my boy, I am happy you could come over today on such short notice but what I need to ask of you is rather important." Sirius nodded his head for Dumbledore to continue. "I have an offer of sorts for you. To accept or reject it is completely up to you but I am hoping that you will accept it."

"Ok..."

"I was wondering if you would like to take up the Defence Against the Dark Arts post this year. We are after all in need of a capable professor and you happen to be my very first option." Said Dumbledore.

Him? Teaching a group of students?

If he wasn't so stunned, he would've actually laughed himself silly. "Me? No offence Albus but are you alright? James and I were the most mischievous students to have roamed the school. We got more detentions in one year than most people did in seven years and now you want me to come back and teach? I really don't think I'm the best person for this job." The genial old man smiled like he had been expecting such a comment from his former student.

"I have absolutely no doubt in you my boy. After all, it is clear that you have simmered down over the years and are more than capable to take up this post. Do consider it." Said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling mirthfully.

Sirius thought about Dumbledore's words. It was true that he had become more responsible and serious (no pun intended) now thanks to Azkaban. Besides, if he took up the post, he would be able to be there for Harry when his godson needed him and the teaching part could be handled quite easily now that he thought of it. He could ask Moony to help him with the lesson plans. "I'll think about it."

"Wonderful." Said Dumbledore, leaning against the backrest of his chair.

"Anything else?" Sirius asked Dumbledore. The old man shook his head so Sirius decided to wrap the meeting up. "Very well then. I'll take your leave now Albus." He stood up, went to where Harry was sitting, lost in thought and gently shook his godson's slight shoulder.

Harry, who had been sitting and thinking there, brimming with curiosity, was jostled out of his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go pup." He looked up to see Sirius smiling at him.

"Yeah ok." Said Harry and they left the pristine office without further ado.

After that, as promised, Sirius took Harry to honeydukes where Harry picked up a lot more than just a few chocolate frogs and licorice wands. The main reason Sirius had wanted to take Harry out was because he silently wanted to observe how much his godson had opened up.

During their previous outing, Harry had been so afraid and frightened that he had hardly spoken at all. But now, the observation hadn't disappointed Sirius as he saw the boy prancing around the store, his arms loaded with all sorts of goodies including a pack of Bertie Bott's every flavoured beans, acid pops, sugar quills, toothflossing springmints and of course, a dozen chocolate frogs.

Once Sirius was sure that Harry had enough candy for quite sometime, he saw that his godson's arms were loaded with some more, he gave Harry the look. They were in the middle of the summer and he didn't want his godson getting sick. "You'll end up with a bad stomach young man. Put those back." He instructed firmly. Harry pouted and gave his godfather the best puppy eyes that he could muster although he knew pretty well be now that Sirius wouldn't budge. When the only reaction he got from the Animagus was a gesture towards the shelves, resignedly, Harry placed the stuff that he had in his arms back where they belonged. He cheered up a bit though when he saw that they had picked up quite a lot.

The rest of the day passed quite quickly and Harry found himself in bed in no time at all. "Goodnight puppy. I love you." He said, kissing Harry's forehead and moving towards the door. "S-Sirius?"

"Hmm?"

"I l-love you t-too." Sirius's heart soared with elation when he heard Harry say this. It was the first time Harry had reciprocated and he couldn't be any happier. "Love you pup." He said once again and walked out of the room.

*****

"Sirius, why did Professor Dumbledore want to see you the other day?"

The question caught Sirius off guard. He hadn't expected Harry to bring that meeting up after a week. But then Harry was rather inquisitive nowadays. "That is between me and the headmaster only." Said Sirius, playfully tweaking Harry's nose. The latter huffed indignantly and crossed his arms, looking like a five year old who had been refused a toy. But then maybe the boy was simply bored.

It had been quite sometime since Harry had flown on his broom but the boy hadn't brought up the topic even once although Sirius had noticed the longing looks he would cast towards his broom which was always in his room, in a corner. Part of Sirius felt it was because Harry was still too afraid to ask for it. The man felt that maybe it was time to lift the restrictions he had placed on Harry's broom privileges.

"Harry, would you like to go out flying for a while until lunch?" He asked. His godson gave him a surprised look at this.

"But it was... it was part of my punishment right?" He asked.

"Have you learned your lesson?"

A nod.

"And you will never try something so reckless and foolish again?" He asked sternly, giving Harry his best I-mean-it look.

Another vigorous nod. "Well then, I suppose a little flying won't hurt. I am letting you go out today on the condition that you will strictly remain within the wards and will not fly beyond a certain level. Are we clear, Harry James?"

"Yes, Sirius." Replied Harry, not wanting to let his godfather down. "Good. In that case, you are free to go and fly." At these words, Harry all but flew upstairs and was back again with his Nimbus 2000 clutched in his hand. He was about to go out when he stopped abruptly, walked to where his godfather was leaning against the door and wrapped his arms around the tall man.

"Thank you Sirius." He said and once more Sirius was touched by the amount of kindness this eleven year old possessed. "Your welcome pup. Now off with you little mongrel." He said, pretending to shoo Harry away. The boy just laughed and went off to do the one thing that he had missed for so many days.

As Sirius sat down on his favourite armchair, like most people when left alone, he began to think about all the recent happenings that had occurred in his life. Having Harry around had proved to be absolutley wonderful. Sirius couldn't be any happier now that Harry had opened up almost fully. But then ten years of abuse couldn't be forgotten within a month. There were times when he had caught Harry trying to do jobs around the house and the look of innocence on his godson's face when he had been asked to not do any chores had shattered his heart.

There were also times when Harry forgot where he was and every time he accidentally dropped something, his instinctive reaction was to back up against the wall. He was glad that Harry had started talking to Sirius more about what took place at the Dursleys'. Talking really helped and so every time Harry woke up from a nightmare, Sirius was always by his side, telling him that everything was alright.

He would then pull the distraught child into his lap and comfort him as Harry slowly related the contents of his nightmare to his godfather. He would then give the boy a glass of hot chocolate and tell him once more that he wasn't upset. After that he would sit and simply talk to Harry about all random things.

He had noticed that it made Harry feel lighter. Sirius had become used to his godson's pattern of thought by now and knew exactly what reassurance the boy needed and when. Everything that Harry had told Sirius had nearly brought tears to the man's eyes. Being locked in the cramped cupboard, dizzy with hunger for almost days together, sentenced to endless chores and tasks way beyond the ability of a small boy and then subjected to cruel punishments and beatings if he failed to complete them.

Sirius had worked hard to make sure that Harry would move on and was pleased to see that it was all working. Every time his godson would grin at him, laugh heartily or give Sirius a sudden hug, the man knew that he would still be able to give Harry a proper and much deserved childhood. With all sorts of ideas for Harry's welfare going on in his brain, he realised that it was the twenty fourth of July today. Precisely a week before his godson's birthday. By now, Sirius knew the Dursleys pretty well and was ready to bet that those wretched souls had never given the child a proper birthday. But this year, Sirius Black would change that.

He immediately floo called Remus and asked him to come over. The werewolf had visited quite a few times so far and now Harry was starting to get comfortable with Remus. The two remaining Marauders sat down in the living room and planned Harry's very first proper birthday.

"Hi Remus." Said Harry as he walked into the house, his hair sticking up in every direction and his cheeks flushed due to the air. Sirius was thankful that they had finished their planning for he would've gone crazy if Harry had walked in when they had been debating over the party's menu.

"Hello Harry. I see you've been enjoying yourself." Remus said to which Harry nodded enthusiastically. "Well them I'll leave you two alone. I had better get going." Remus said and what about to get up when Sirius firmly pushed him down. "You will stay for lunch and then you can wander off to wherever you want." It wasn't a question and Remus, who was accustomed to the Black Lord's stubborn attitude, gave in and stayed back.

"Moony, Harry, why don't you both go to the dining room? I'll join you'll shortly." Said Sirius and the aforementioned people walked off to the dining room. Harry practically ran since he was starving.

As Sirius watched the child, his child dragging Remus to the table, with a grin on his face, he knew that he, the famous Marauder would make sure that Harry would have a most memorable birthday indeed.

Chapter Text

"Have you started off with your holiday homework pup?" Asked Sirius as the two of them were bent over the tea table, engaged in a leisurely game of wizard's chess. "Well, I.....uh." Harry stammered slightly, not sure how to answer as he didn't know how his godfather would react.

"Shall I take that lack of response as a no?" Asked Sirius, raising an eyebrow to which Harry nodded, refusing to meet his guardian's eyes. Sirius observed his godson's worried demeanour and decided to ease his worries. "I'm not upset pup. That's alright. Why don't you get started with it so that you'll be done with it well before school starts? Hmm?"

Harry nodded, looking considerably relieved. Later on that day, Sirius went to the Weasleys for some 'reasons that he couldn't share with Harry.' He had made Harry promise him that he wouldn't try to do anything reckless and the small boy had done just that.

Harry trudged upstairs to his room, to get done with that monster of an essay Snape had set for the students. He opened his bedroom door to find someone or something rather, jumping on his bed. He recognised the creature as a house elf. The only one he had met so far was Becky so it was rather odd to walk in and find a house elf in one's room.

"Hello? Um who are you?" The house elf abruptly stopped bouncing at the unexpected entrance of the occupant of the room. He jumped off the bed and stared at Harry with an almost awed look on his face. "Harry Potter sir. What an honour it is sir. I is Dobby sir. Dobby the house elf."

"Ok so... uh... so what can I do for you?" Asked Harry, his confusion only increasing by the second. "It's.... It's difficult for..... for Dobby to say."

"Why don't you sit down," said Harry politely, pointing at the bed. To his horror, the elf burst into tears, howling loudly and blowing his nose with that filthy pillowcase that he wore.

Now Harry didn't know how to react. So he did the only thing he had become accustomed to, thanks to the Dursleys. He apologised: "Please Dobby, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm really sorry." The hurried and desperate apology only seemed to increase the flow of unceasing tears. After what seemed like ages to Harry the tears subsided to sniffles and Dobby looked up at Harry with wide eyes.

"Offend Dobby? Dobby has never been asked to..... to sit down by a.... by a wizard sir." The elf managed in between its sniffles. "I don't suppose you must've met any decent wizards then." Said Harry, his confused expression replaced with pity.

Dobby shook his head. Then, without warning, he leapt up and started banging his head furiously on the wardrobe, shouting, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

Harry stood transfixed for a moment before he came to his senses and grabbed the house elf's pillow case, bringing the distraught creature out of its self inflicted punishment.

"Thank you Harry Potter sir. Dobby is most grateful sir. Dobby almost spoke ill of his family sir so Dobby punishes himself sir." Harry looked at the elf, wondering why the elf would want to do that before he remembered that Becky had also started banging her head against the door upon a certain day until Sirius had stopped her and firmly reminded the house elf that she was not to punish herself.

"Um, why exactly are you here Dobby?" Harry asked, deciding not to dwell on the elf 's punishment.

"Dobby has come to warn Harry Potter that Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."

"What? But why? What are you talking about?" Harry enquired, a look of utter bewilderment crossing his features. "Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts! Bad things happen at Hogwarts sir. HARRY POTTER MUST NOT GO BACK TO HOGWARTS!" The elf 's initial plea turned into a loud screech and before Harry could ask any further questions, Dobby was gone with a resounding CRACK.

Harry was stunned. Why had the elf come here? Should he tell Sirius? What would his godfather say?

But then it suddenly dawned on him. It was a prank. A stupid, lame prank that was being played on him by one of the students at Hogwarts. He decided to forget about all of this and start working on that essay as he did not Snape sneering at him on his first day back at Hogwarts. As he started working on the essay with his copy of Magical Drafts and Potions lying open nearby for any reference.

******

While his godson was at home, probably doing some homework, Sirius had gone over to the Weasleys and invited them for Harry's birthday. He gave them the details and the matriarch of the Weasley family had assured him that the entire family would be present to celebrate Harry's birthday.

Later, he sent an owl to Hermione as well as Harry's other friends after he came home and was just about to go to the library when he heard a CRACK from Harry's room. Frowning slightly, he went upstairs and opened the door to the boy's room.

Harry froze when he heard the door being opened. He whirled around to see his godfather standing outside. "What was that sound I heard Harry?" He asked. He didn't sound angry or accusatory in the least, only confused.

"N-Nothing" Harry replied, feeling guilty about lying to Sirius but he really didn't want to make a big deal of some joke being played on him. "Are you sure?" Asked Sirius, giving Harry a questioning look. Harry nodded the affirmative so Sirius didn't say anything more. After Sirius left, Harry tried to do his essay and suppress that tiny bit of guilt and managed to do two out of the four feet.

Harry couldn't fall asleep that night. He didn't know why though. Sirius had tucked him in at ten and he had been tossing and turning in his bed for quite some time. He waited slowly for sleep to overcome him and it did at last.

************

Harry's eyes fluttered open to meet a pair of grey ones. Except that they didn't belong to a man. A huge black dog stood, tall and proud near the headboard, his eyes twinkling mirthfully. Harry didn't have time to think much as the dog climbed onto his bed and hovered above him.

The sight of a huge animal towering over him would have terrified Harry but not this one. "Good morning Sirius." The dog transformed and there stood Harry's godfather. Before Harry knew it, he was lifted off his bed and onto the floor in an upright position as his godfather's arms pulled him into a tight hug.

"Happy birthday pup." Sirius whispered, his chin resting on top of Harry's head after kissing the unruly black hair. With all the moving and settling that had been happening Harry had completely forgotten his birthday. But Sirius had remembered. He could feel himself positively bursting with love and affection for his godfather.

"Thanks Sirius." He said as he hugged the man back. "Get dressed and come downstairs pup." Said Sirius and left the room.

Harry got ready and rushed downstairs only to find Remus sitting in the living room instead of Sirius. "Where's Sirius?" The question popped out of his mouth before he could stop himself and Harry mentally berated himself for having been so rude.

"Sorry." He said, knowing that it was only proper. Remus however had expected such a question and he merely smiled. He had caught the flash of disappointment in Harry's eyes when the child had come downstairs to find him instead of his godfather. He couldn't tell Harry the real reason of course so he said the first thing that came to him. "Sirius had to go to meet a ministry official so he'll be back in the evening. However, I'll be there with you throughout the day and as per Sirius's instructions, I'm supposed to take you out for lunch and he says he'll meet you in the evening."

Harry felt disappointed. Why would his godfather leave like that without even telling him anything and that too on his birthday? He had really expected to have a great time after the warm birthday wishes Sirius had given him only a few minutes ago. But now, he was nowhere to be seen. Maybe Sirius didn't love him after all. With great effort, Harry pushed back the tears that threatened to flow and forced himself to remain silent and gave Remus a jerky nod.

After he managed to eat the breakfast that Sirius had left for him, Remus took him to muggle London where they went for a movie and ate lunch after that. Throughout their little outing, Harry had remained silent, answering politely when asked a question. He was too hurt to think or say anything much. Sirius had completely ignored him today and even Ron and Hermione hadn't written to him.

Soon, Remus told him that it was time to go back home and Harry all but jumped to the suggestion. All that he wanted to do now was go to his room and sob. He had been looking forward to spend the day with Sirius but there had been no sign of the man.

Remus and Harry stepped out of the floo only to find the living room dark. "Why is it so dark Remus?" Asked Harry as his hands tried to find purchase on something firm to hold onto.

He didn't get an answer as the place suddenly lit up and Harry blinked for a few seconds before his eyes adjusted to the light. And there it was:

The entire room and been decorated beautifully with streamers, balloons and a banner that read: Happy Birthday Pup. The Weasleys were there as well as Hermione, Neville, the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Seamus, Dean and..... Sirius.

He found himself being lifted off the ground and into a bone breaking hug. He didn't have to see the person's face to know who it was because there was only one person in the entire world who would show him such love and affection. "Happy Birthday again pup. Enjoy yourself." Sirius said before setting Harry down and giving him a light push towards his friends.

After that, Harry didn't know how time flew by. One moment he was talking to Ron and Hermione and the very next second he was dragged away by the Quidditch team with Wood shouting out the training plans for the coming year. Harry couldn't remember the last time he had had so much fun. This truly was his best birthday ever.

All too soon, dinner was served and slowly the guests began to leave after wishing Harry one last time. Once every one had left, Harry sat down to open the presents that he had received. "Did you have a good time today?" Asked Sirius as he sat down next to Harry on the floor, slinging an arm around Harry's shoulders. "The best ever." Harry replied, leaning against Sirius.

"Bed, Harry." Sirius said firmly when the clock had struck an hour past Harry's bedtime. Harry, too tired to protest, took his godfather's proffered arm and allowed himself to be led upstairs and tucked in. After their nightly ritual, Sirius went off to his own room to sleep. The man had spent a long and busy day making sure that Harry had the best birthday ever and the pure euphoria on his godson's face had made all his efforts worth it.

Harry, on the other hand, was feeling too guilty to be able to sleep peacefully. Throughout the party, he had enjoyed himself immensely but as the guests had left, and he had started on his presents, he slowly started feeling guilty. He felt like a prat, an utter and complete idiot for having thought that Sirius didn't love him. With a sigh, he decided that he would probably feel much better once he had spilled everything to Sirius and so he pushed the covers off himself and with as much courage as he could muster, he walked to his godfather's room.

He was doing pretty well until he reached the rosewood door that read 'Sirius Black.' What would Sirius say when he heard Harry's confession? Would he be angry? The answer to the latter question was obviously a yes but Harry felt that the deserved it so, taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door twice.

Sirius, thanks to Azkaban, was a very light sleeper and the timid knock on his door had him wide awake in an instant. He answered the knock with a soft 'come in' as there was only one other person who lived in this house other than him.

"Sirius?" Sirius sat up slowly and saw Harry standing at the entrance of his bedroom, a look of uncertainty flickering across his features. "Come here pup." He commanded gently and Harry obeyed without a word.

Sirius pulled Harry down to sit next to him, clearly aware that something was bothering the kid. "You know you can tell me anything right?" He asked, taking hold of Harry's chin and forcing his godson to meet his eyes. This was it, Harry thought.

"S-Sirius, today morning when you wished me, I felt really nice. B-But, after I came downstairs, y-you weren't there. Remus was. I thought you didn't l-love me and that was w-why you asked R-Remus to stay with me." Harry said it all in one go, although he was unable to avoid the occasional stutter. After his little confession, Harry dropped his gaze. He needed to get it out and he had been right. Talking really did help. He felt loads better now although he was waiting for Sirius's reaction.

"Look. At. Me." The words spoken were firm and brooked no argument. "Harry James, what I said the other day still stands. I love you kiddo and nothing is going to change that. I want you to understand that perfectly Harry."

Sirius was shocked that Harry would even think like that. He knew that Harry was happy living with him and he was sure that they had made considerable progress. He couldn't deny that he was hurt but then again, one decade of abuse didn't couldn't be forgotten in one month. He settled on calming Harry's fears and doubts and was glad when Harry relaxed completely against his side.
"Are you okay now pup?" Asked Sirius, running his hand through Harry hair: a gesture that seemed to calm the boy down all the time. Harry nodded and he meant it. He was alright now. He could feel his cheeks heating at the fact that he was behaving like a five year old that needed coddling due to a nightmare but being held like this was a feeling that he had started to enjoy.

Sirius then got up and took Harry to his room. "Sleep tight pup." Sirius said and Harry did just that for the latter part of the night.

Chapter Text

Last night's event had given Sirius the answer that he needed to give Dumbledore regarding the job offer. Harry was still healing from all those unspeakable things the muggles had done to him and he still needed Sirius to be there for him. He was going to be there for his pup and make sure that Harry completely moved on. With that decision in mind, Sirius sent a letter to Dumbledore, telling the man that he would take up the post for the forthcoming year. Although he knew that he had done the right thing, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive about his new job. He wondered how all the students would react to him. He could only hope that everyone believed that he was innocent.

With nothing to do, the Animagus started getting bored. Harry had gone to Ron's house to spend the day and Sirius would go over and collect him in the evening before dinnertime. There was still a lot of time left for that so he didn't knew how to kill time till then.

He looked at his reflection in the polished cup in which he had been drinking tea and smiled. His appearance had improved a lot ever since his release from Azkaban. He wasn't deathly pale anymore and he had gained back his much needed weight, muscle as well as his former looks that could bring any woman down on her knees. Sure, Azkaban had taken away his freedom for the past decade but it hadn't been able to take away his qualities. He still retained his charisma, his slick tongue and the temper. Of course, he wasn't reckless anymore and gave every matter great thought before acting.

He smirked at the thought of his godson's expression as he flirted with the ladies. James had always tried to imitate his charismatic personality so as to charm Lily but it had never worked. Most of the times, Sirius had nearly bitten off his cheek to keep himself from laughing at his best friend's futile efforts.

At about seven he went to collect Harry from the Weasleys who insisted that the two if them stay back for dinner and on Molly's insistence, Sirius complied.

Harry had been having a great time all day. Sirius had let him go to Ron's house right after breakfast and the two best mates had played Quidditch with the twins and Ginny after which they had come home, feeling absolutely exhausted and ravenous. After lunch, the twins had briefed Harry and Ron on the pranks they were going to play that coming year and how they planned on getting as many detentions as possible.

"Harry dear, have you bought all your requirements for your second year?" Asked Mrs. Weasley as she bustled around the kitchen cooking Beef Wellington for dinner. "No, Mrs. Weasley. Sirius said that we would go sometime this week." Harry replied as Ron defeated beat him at yet another game of chess. "Maybe we could all go together. It would be great." Said Ron to which Harry nodded. It would be brilliant indeed. He would ask Sirius later on if he was okay with it.

Later, Sirius came to pick him up for supper but then Mrs. Weasley insisted that they stay back and they did. "Sirius, can we go along with Ron to buy my new books?" Asked Harry as he ate. There was a shyness and hesitancy in his voice that always appeared when he asked for something or confessed anything. Sirius smiled at Harry fondly and ruffled the black hair, chuckling as he did so. "Of course we can."

All in all, it was a great day.

************************************

Sirius was waiting for Harry to come downstairs so that the two of them could have breakfast together. It was 8:30 already and although Harry woke up at around eight everyday, there was no sign of him waking up. Frowning, he went upstairs to see why the boy wasn't up yet.

"Harry, pup, wake up. You need to have breakfast and get ready for the day." He said as he opened the curtains in his godson's room. His voice made it clear that he wasn't requesting. When he received no response from Harry, he pulled the covers off him, only to find that harry was curled up tightly and shivering. Worried, he turned Harry over. As his hands made contact with Harry's bare skin, he realized that Harry was warm.

"Harry, wake up." The worry in his voice led to an unintended sharpness in his words and slowly Harry's eyes opened. Sirius sighed with relief and helped Harry sit up and supported him with his arm. It was quite obvious that Harry had a fever. The poor boy was still shivering and Sirius didn't know what to do. "I'll be right back pup." He said, kissing Harry's forehead and running out of the room. He ran downstairs and fire called his cousin, Andromeda Tonks. The two of them had met up last week and were on good terms now. "Andy, I need you to come over right now. Please. It's Harry."

"I'll be right there." And a second later, Andromeda Tonks stepped out of the fireplace. Sirius nodded his gratitude and the two of them rushed upstairs. Sirius stood to a side and watched as the middle-aged healer asked Harry a few questions and gave him a potion. Harry, who was still wary of strangers, seemed to be terrified of the healer. Other than Madam Pomfrey, he didn't have any experience with healers. He absolutely hated doctors, he was afraid of them. He shot Sirius a few desperate glances to which Sirius gave Harry a reassuring smile. "Pup, it's fine. Just relax. This is my cousin Andromeda and she's just going to check you. She won't hurt you kiddo."

Eventually, Harry relaxed, with the assurance that Sirius was right there. As Andromeda checked Harry, she took in the thin appearance and pale face of the small boy in front of her. He didn't look any older than nine or ten. Harry wouldn't stop flinching away from her. "Just relax sweetie. I'm just going to make sure that you get better real quick." She felt his forehead and instantly felt the heat.

"He's got a temperature. Nothing to worry about Siri. Just make sure he rests thoroughly. He'll be back to normal in no time at all." She said, handing Sirius a bag if potions along with a few instructions. "Thanks a lot, Andy." He said gratefully. "I'd also recommend a full body check up for him. He is worryingly thin. If you're willing to come by, I can give you a slot on Wednesday." she said. "I'll definitely get Harry along. You keep that slot open." said Sirius mentally making a note to take Harry to St. Mungo's. Andromeda nodded and smiled, gave him a quick hug and left.

After she was gone, Sirius went to check on Harry. "How're you feeling?" He asked as he sat down at the foot of the bed. "I'm fine." Harry replied, his voice was pinched and he sounded tired. Sirius gave Harry a look of utter disbelief. "The truth, young man." He said, in a no nonsense voice. "I'm o- feeling tired like I've been... been working all day." He answered truthfully this time.

"As per Andy's instructions, you're supposed to take rest as much as possible and no exerting yourself one bit. She's also given me some potions that I need to give you after lunch and before bed." Said Sirius firmly, knowing fully well that James' son was bound to grumble about medicines.

Harry didn't complain, as he was accustomed to his godfather's stubborn nature by now so he just nodded. "She also said that you need a check up so we'll be going to St. Mungo's on Wednesday." Harry froze at this. He had never been to a Wizard's hospital before and he didn't want to go. He remembered the few times he had been taken to a Muggle doctor. The medicines had not helped him get better in the least. On the contrary, they had made him feel terribly uneasy. "P-Please Sirius, I don't want to g-go. I don't like to." Sirius frowned at his godson's visibly distressed behavior. "Pup, calm down. We're just going to go for a harmless check up. You'll be fine. I'll be staying with you the entire while." He reassured Harry. Normally, such kind of reassurance was given to five-year olds but then after all that Harry had gone through, it was completely understandable. "W-Why do I have to go?" Asked Harry looking a little too worried. "You need to go Harry. It is absolutely necessary. The healer won't do anything much. She'll just look you over. That's it. You're a strong boy Harry. You'll be just fine." He repeated. After what seemed like forever, Harry nodded.

"Thank you. Sleep for a while. I'll wake you up before lunch." Said Sirius as he tucked Harry in snugly. Sirius was glad Harry had agreed to go but the reluctance and apprehension had been clear in those striking green eyes. He felt convinced that the only obvious reason for Harry's unfounded fear of Healers or Doctors had something to do with his filthy relatives. Harry fell asleep almost immediately so he was too late to notice Sirius's worried gaze on him. Merlin, I hope he recovers soon.

Harry awoke at about eleven thirty, feeling very nauseous. He wanted to get up and run to the bathroom but he was feeling very weak. The bile rose up in his throat and before he knew what was happening, he turned to his right and threw up all over the floor, over the right side of his bed. He felt disgust well up inside him. He heard footsteps and chilled with fright. Sirius was coming upstairs. By now, thanks to Sirius's repeated reassurances, he knew that Sirius wouldn't hit him but he was bound to be disgusted by Harry. Of course he would. Harry could only hope and pray that his godfather wouldn't hate him. That hate would be worse than any severe beating.

"Harry what-" he paused abruptly when he was the panic stricken expression on Harry's face and the mess on the floor that was the source of a fetid room. He pieced it all together immediately. He cleared the mess with a wave of his hand and tended to Harry. He scooped the boy up into his arms and went to the bathroom. He sat Harry on the closed toilet seat and knelt down in front of his distressed godson. "Pup, it's alright. Everyone makes a mess when they are sick. Nothing to worry about."

As he reached behind and rubbed Harry's back, he felt Harry's tense stance and frowned inwardly. Not for the first time, he mentally cursed the Dursleys for the fear that they had instilled in his godson. "I'm not your uncle, pup. Remember that."

Harry nodded. His eyes conveying a silent apology for dirtying the room. But Sirius simply ruffled Harry's hair and smiled at him letting Harry know that it was perfectly fine. "Why don't we get you out of these clothes?" He asked, raising his eyebrow at Harry's stained nightshirt.

The boy nodded, although his face was beet red and he refused to look at Sirius.

Sirius, noticed the boy's embarrassment but remained silent about it. He had only expected such a reaction from him. It was completely normal for a twelve year old to feel embarrassed in such situations. "Why don't you go and wash your face?" He said, tactfully giving Harry some time to get over his embarrassment. He went out of the bathroom to fetch a fresh set of clothes for his pup.

"Becky!" He called out, and the house elf appeared immediately. "Master Sirius calls?" Squeaked the creature. "Becky, please make the bed and bring me a bowl of soup as well." He ordered. "Yes Master Sirius." The elf then disappeared.

Sirius went back into the bathroom and helped Harry change into the new set of clothes. He smiled warmly at Harry and led him back to the newly made bed. Once Harry was in bed, Sirius helped him sit up. "I'm disgusting. Weak." Harry mumbled. It was so soft that had Sirius not been an Animagus, he wouldn't have heard it. "No you're not. Everybody has his or her bad days Harry. So don't you ever let me hear you talk like that about yourself again." Said Sirius firmly.

"Yes, sir." Harry whispered. Harry looked so forlorn that Sirius just didn't have it in him to scold him any further. "Let's have lunch now." Said Sirius, softly brushing his knuckles against Harry's cheek. As Harry drank the soup, some of his strength returned to his body. He even drank the potions that he had to take, making a face at their sour taste

After lunch, Sirius told Harry about some of the pranks that the Marauders had played during their time at Hogwarts and Harry cheered up considerably.

Later, by the evening, Harry's fever had subsided a little and he was slowly starting to get better.

Sirius was sitting in the living room, talking to Remus when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He went near the staircase to see Harry plodding downstairs. "I couldn't sleep. May I stay with you for a while?" Asked Harry, his eyes looked tired and small. Sirius bit his lip. Part of him wanted to send Harry straight back to bed. Harry wasn't supposed to be out of bed but one look at Harry's miserable expression made him relent. He jerked his chin towards the living room and Harry wasted absolutely no time in making it to his favorite recliner.

"Sirius told me that you've got a temperature. Shouldn't you be taking rest?" Asked Remus casually as he poured himself another cuppa. "I know but its just so boring. There's absolutely nothing to do. Just lie in bed all day," Harry complained. "That is precisely what you're supposed to do when you're not well young man." Sirius pointed out, sitting down next to Harry and pulling him close.

On Harry's consistent pleading, Sirius allowed Harry to have dinner downstairs with them instead of sending him back to bed. After dinner, Harry and Remus were hunched over the chess table playing the game, which Harry just couldn't seem to win. "This is so not fair. I played with Sirius, I lost, I'm playing with you, and I'm losing. Why is it so difficult for me to win?" asked Harry, looking exasperated. "Well, I can't tell you why you're losing against me but everyone loses against Sirius." Said Remus. "That is true. After all, I am prankster plus genius extraordinaire." Commented Sirius with an over exaggerated bow that had Harry grinning at once.

The clock struck ten. Remus took that as a cue and leaned back. "Off to bed pup." Said Sirius as he watched Harry's eyelids droop. "I'm not sleepy yet." Harry mumbled although his eyes were scrunched up as he yawned loudly. "Of course you're not. You're just yawning like that to prove otherwise." Sirius countered, offering his hand to Harry. "Goodnight Remus." Said Harry sleepily as he trudged upstairs. He received a reply and heard the floo roar meaning Remus had gone back home.

Once they were upstairs, Sirius brought Harry his potions. "Do I have to? They're absolutely disgusting." Harry gave Sirius is best puppy eyes that would have melted anyone else. "I taught you that look pup. It's not going to work on me. Now go on and take these." Sirius replied with a smile in his voice. Harry pouted but took the potions nevertheless, knowing that although he was stubborn, his godfather was way more stubborn than him. "Goodnight kiddo. Get well soon." Said Sirius.

Two days later, Harry was back to normal and Sirius couldn't be any happier. He had been so terribly worried about the child and was relieved to see his godson well again. He knew how to take care of Harry's occasional flashbacks but a sick child was one thing he just couldn't bear.

Harry was also glad that he was ok because over the past two days, he had worried his godfather a lot and even though Sirius had repeatedly told him that it was no trouble at all, he still felt extremely guilty for having been such a pain. At the same time, Sirius had taken care of him in a way no one else had.

Maybe this is what having a father felt like.

*********************************

Harry was nervous. Sirius could practically feel his godson's nervousness. The two of them were currently at St. Mungo's waiting for Harry's turn. "Harry Potter." The mediwitch at the desk called out his name and Harry nearly jumped.

As they went inside, Andromeda greeted both of them with a smile. "I need you to strip down and put this on love. You can change in that room right there," She said, handing Harry a hospital gown. Harry did as he was told and went and lied down on the hospital bed.

Sirius sat down on one of the chairs and observed Harry carefully. The boy was scared but he refused to show it. Andromeda waved her wand over Harry and after about a minute or so, her face contorted in anger. She went to Sirius immediately. "The innumerous scars on his body, what happened? Who did that to him?" She asked, anger giving way to sadness. "His oh so kind and loving relatives." Sirius spat.

"How could anybody do that to a young boy? The poor dear." She surreptitiously brushed away the tears that had gathered in her eyes before going and tending to the young patient in the room. She took a syringe and Harry jumped let out a worried cry the moment he saw it. He had seen Dudley get an injection many times before and his cousin had always created such a fuss that the doctors had to pin him down to inject it. He had always told Harry that they hurt terribly. "I d-don't want it S-Sirius." He pleaded, inching towards his godfather, his mind instinctively switching to his five-year old self, replaying everything that Dudley had said to him.

Sirius went and sat down next to Harry, on the bed. He threaded his fingers comfortingly in Harry's hair. "I need you to relax little one. Andy only wants to help you. She's going to make sure that you're healthy. Calm down pup." He hoped that his efforts to project confidence would work.

"Sirius is right Harry. This is only a potion which must not be taken orally." She soothed, showing him the syringe. "Come now, there's nothing to be afraid of." She took Harry's arm, and did the needful. Harry winced slightly as the needle pierced his skin but otherwise he remained silent.

"See, that wasn't bad at all." Andromeda later checked Harry's height and clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "You need to put on more weight sweetheart. You're currently 81 pounds, while the ideal weight is about 100 to 105 pounds. You'll need to take certain potions for your height and weight.

Harry grimaced at the mention of nutritional potions but he remained silent about it. "Alright then, I believe that's it. I'll see the two of you sometime later." Said the healer handing Sirius the requisite potions. Sirius nodded his thanks and accepted the potions. "This will take care of the scars. Make sure that he applies it twice a day." She said, handing him a salve. Andromeda gave the two of them a few more tips before saying goodbye to them. They left the hospital after that.

******************************************

"Sirius, yesterday in the hospital, you called me little one." Said Harry looking rather put out at being addressed like that. "I guess I did," Sirius responded, a smirk tugging at his lips. "I'm not little." The boy protested. He knew that he was small for his age but he most certainly wasn't 'little.'

"Can't help it kiddo because you'll always be that little one who held onto Padfoot when you were learning to walk. You'll always be my Pup."

Chapter Text

Harry laced up his shoes and ran downstairs. Sirius had told him that they would go shopping for his supplies today and that the Weasleys would meet them in Diagon Alley itself.

He dashed into the living room just to see Sirius coming downstairs as well. "So, I've got your letter that has the school list. Molly said she'll meet us outside Gringotts and from there, we'll carry on with the rest of the shopping." Sirius explained as he readjusted Harry cloak so that both the ends were equal.

Harry couldn't help but smile at the small action. It was a small gesture but the parental affection made Harry feel warm nonetheless. "Ready?"

Harry nodded, although floo wasn't his favourite method of travel.

"Can I... Can I try on my own please? To go through alone?" Asked Harry nervously. He wanted to try it out, to see what it felt like to do it all alone. "Are you sure?" Asked Sirius, gazing at Harry worriedly. Judging from his godson's expression last time, Harry hadn't enjoyed floo travel all that much but now when he saw Harry nod tentatively, he complied reluctantly.

"Okay pup, here's what you need to do. Take a handful of the powder. That's it just like that. Now you step in and say 'Diagon Alley' loud and clear. Okay?"

"Okay." Harry replied and did as told. He stepped into the fireplace and took the floo powder in his fist. He threw the powder into the fireplace and green flames arose immediately. "D-Dia-gon Alley," he coughed, thanks to the smoke. And then came the disliked part.

It felt as though he were being sucked down a giant drain. He seemed to be spinning very fast, the roaring in his ears was deafening, he tried to keep his eyes open but the whirl of green flames made him feel sick and suddenly the his big lunch didn't feel so good.

He fell face first into he floor, his glasses snapped at the bridge and his elbow bruised. Harry groaned as he pushed himself off the floor and sat up. He blinked as his eyes took in the surroundings.

A glass case nearby held a withered hand on a cushion, a bloodstained pack of cards, and a staring glass eye. Evil-looking masks stared down from the walls, an assortment of human bones lay upon the counter, and rusty, spiked instruments hung from the ceiling. Even worse, the dark, narrow street Harry could see through the dusty shop window was definitely not Diagon Alley.

The sooner he got out of here, the better. Nose still stinging where it had hit the ground, Harry made his way swiftly and silently toward the door. An old wooden street sign hanging over a shop selling poisonous candles told him he was in Knockturn Alley. This didn't help, as Harry had never heard of such a place. He supposed he hadn't spoken clearly enough through his mouthful of ashes. He needed to find Sirius.

As he walked, he saw several people glance at him rather crookedly, like they weren't right in the head or something. They gave him twisted smiles and one of the guys, am old, bald man smiled at him weirdly, revealing one lost tooth. He sauntered towards Harry, taking his time. "Lost are you, boy?" He asked, his voice was gravelly and rough. "I'm alright-"

"HARRY! What d'yeh think yer doin' here?" Harry's head snapped to his left and he saw Hagird. Never had he been so pleased to see the genial half giant. He brushed past the old guy and ran towards Hagird.

"I was travelling through the floo and then... and then instead of going to Diagon Alley, I landed up here. His words came out in short desperate breaths and he wanted nothing more than to get back to Sirius.

"O'right. Let's get yeh back tah Diagon Alley." He said.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sirius had turned up in Diagon Alley about a second after his godson had gone through the floo. Worry had seized his heart when he didn't see Harry waiting there. He looked around, his eyes scanning the crowd of people that thronged the streets of Diagon Alley but he didn't catch the similar flash of untameable black hair nor the glasses. He mentally chastised himself for having allowed Harry to go through the floo alone. He should have firmly refused.

Sirius, frantic with worry, suddenly wondered whether Harry had wandered off to meet his friends but he dismissed the thought immediately. Harry wasn't the sort who would do something like that. He was worried, angry and everything else.

"Sirius!" His head whipped around to see Harry and Hagird coming his way. The knot that had formed in his stomach loosened so quickly that it was almost painful. Harry all but ran towards Sirius when he saw his godfather and launched himself at the man.

"I thin' I'll leave yeh both now." Said Hagrid after Sirius gave him grateful nod.

Harry clung to the man, seeking reassurance. Once Sirius was sure that Harry was back and safe, his anger returned. "Where were you? You can't just wander off wherever you like Harry James!" 

Harry froze on hearing the anger in his godfather's voice. Sirius had only spoken to him that way only once so far and Harry couldn't hold back his flinch. "I'm sorry! I didn't wander away, Sirius. Honest! I landed up in Knockturn Alley and then-" He explained everything as quickly as possible, not wanting to upset Sirius any further.

Sirius heard the explanation and saw nothing but sincerity in the boy's eyes and chided himself for having lost his temper that way. "I'm sorry I got angry." He apologised as he slung an arm around Harry's shoulders, trying to calm the tense frame. It worked and as Sirius felt Harry lean against him slightly he smiled down at the boy.

"Harry!"

Harry turned to see Ron and his family. His face broke into a smile as he saw all the Weasleys. "Hey mate." Harry replied, unable to control his joy. He had thoroughly enjoyed his summer with Sirius but that didn't mean that he hadn't missed his friends. Ron and his family needed to go to Gringotts to get some money out so all of them decided to go together to the bank first and then they would go to Flourish and Blotts.

As the vault pulled up in front of the Weasley vault, Sirius noticed Arthur Weasley's embarrassment as the man and his wife searched every nook and corner of their vault for sickles and knuts. He tactfully busied himself by talking to Griphook about something regarding some transfers that had to be made.

"Sirius, can we go to my vault as well?" Harry asked from his place next to Ron, just outside the vault. Sirius had not expected that.

"Whatever for?" He asked, genuinely confused. Harry came over to him, hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Well, I uh need money to buy my school things." Sirius allowed himself a small smile. 

"Pup, that's exactly why I'm here. That vault of yours is going to remain untouched until you come of age."

Harry felt that warm feeling in his stomach. He had never had someone provide for him so it was all quite overwhelming. Sirius fulfilled every single one of  his needs and wants without so much as an extra comment while at the Dursleys, every second hand article that they had 'bestowed' upon Harry had been taken account of. He had been made to work overtime and had been subjected to punishments that were worse than normal when he failed. Harry was extremely grateful to his godfather and felt indebted to him for all that Sirius had done for him.

After Gringotts, they went to Flourish and Blotts where Sirius picked up Harry's new books. Over there when everything was going fine, Lucius Malfoy and his son walked into the shop.

The Malfoys didn't notice him but Malfoy senior's gaze fell on the Weasleys. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Arthur Weasley and his too many children." He drawled, an arrogant sneer on his haughty features.

Harry clenched his fist and he noticed the way Ron and the twins reddened at the insult. He opened his mouth to reply to the snide comment but he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Sirius looking at Malfoy with genuine amusement. "Lucius Malfoy. It's been a while."

Malfoy's arrogant sneer melted slid off his face the minute he saw Sirius, only to be replaced by a scowl. "Black. I should have expected a person such as yourself to associate with these blood traitors. " He snapped, a look of utter disdain on his face.

Sirius's look of amusement melted away instantly, his pureblood persona taking over. "Now, now Malfoy, that is hardly the way you treat your superior. What were to happen if you, the one who so staunchly believes in blood supremacy was caught disrespecting the head of his family?"

Malfoy didn't miss the underlying threat in the sentence. Of course the Malfoys were quite rich but then the Blacks had always been on the top. Now that Narcissa was married to a Malfoy, Lucius and his family were brought under the direct control of Sirius Black. "Remember cousin, one wrong move and you might find yourself ruined." Sirius said, although the expression on his face was light, his voice was steely. Lucius's normally pale face was as red as the Weasleys' hair and Harry had to control his laughter.

"Now look he-" Before Malfoy could say anything' Sirius dragged him away from the others, to another part of the shop.

"You listen to me Lucy. I don't know what games you've played in my absence but all of your influence is going to stop. You can keep your house and all your so called business ventures but remember if you try anything funny against me or my godson, all your power won't help you out." His voice was low but deadly and the small beads of sweat on the haughty blonde's brow were enough proof that he was cowed by their conversation.

"You can't d-"

"I can and I will do as I please because frankly me dear, I don't give a damn." Sirius snapped. The ire in his eyes told the recipient of the aforementioned statement that the Black Lord meant every word he had just said.

The senior Malfoy left without a word before he gave Sirius an opportunity to embarrass or threaten him any further. He grabbed Draco by the scruff of his neck and steered him out of the shop but before they could leave, Sirius caught Draco looking at him with a mixture of fear, awe and was that respect? Where did that come from?

*****

"Harry, do you remember the trip to Dumbledore's office the other day?" He asked. Harry was currently lying on the rug in the living room on his stomach, reading a comic. He sat up and turned around to face Sirius, and nodded in reply.

"He offered me something and I accepted." Said Sirius, deciding that it would best if Harry knew about the proposition before he left for Hogwarts. Harry's expression turned curious. "He asked me to become the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor for the coming year." Said Sirius. He waited for the boy's reaction a little worriedly.

"So you'll be there the entire year?" Asked Harry. "Yes."

Sirius felt thin arms go around his waist and looked down at the boy. "Thank you." Harry said. Sirius felt relief and joy. He was relieved that Harry hadn't taken it in the wrong way and was glad that Harry was happy that he would be there at Hogwarts.

"I want to be there for you pup. I want to make sure that I can protect you and make sure that you don't go looking for danger." He pulled away slightly from Harry to look down at him a little sternly. Harry blushed a little, he knew that Sirius was talking about the Philosopher's stone.

Harry knew that this year was going to be different. Sirius was going to be there with him. He was elated but at the same time he was worried. He was glad that his godfather was coming to Hogwarts as he was sure that saying goodbye to the man would have been very hard but at the same time he was worried. He would have to make sure that he stayed out of trouble otherwise he was bound to get told off.

Things were different but they weren't bad and that was perfectly okay with Harry.

Chapter Text

"I think you could do with some more sleep." Sirius said as Harry came downstairs, rubbing his eyes with both his hands. Harry smiled when he saw his godfather, just the way he did every morning. He still didn't have words to describe how happy he was to have someone as brilliant as Sirius as his godfather. "I guess so." He said sheepishly, knowing that Sirius was right.

After breakfast, Harry was going through another album that Sirius had shown him. "I love that one." said Sirius. The two of them were sitting on the floor, doing absolutely nothing but enjoying themselves. In the picture, Sirius was asleep on the sofa with baby Harry asleep in his chest. The one year old had Sirius's shirt firmly captured in his tiny and chubby fist and his hair was adorably messy. Sirius had his arms wrapped around Harry protectively.

Flashback:
"Now darling, we'll be back soon." Lily said as she placed a kiss on the small tuft of black hair tart was exactly like James' who had Harry settled on his hip. She and James were going to visit her parents today and Sirius had agreed to watch Harry so, they were currently in Black Manor, to drop him there. "James, we're going to be late if we don't leave now." She said as she watched her husband playing with their son.

"You be good for Padfoot ok? Mummy and Daddy will be back in the evening." Said James as he placed Harry in Sirius's arms.

"Pafoo! Pafoo!" Harry cried out, reaching out to the extremely handsome young man with longish black hair and blue-grey eyes.

"Yes puppy, that's it. You and I are going to have so much fun together. Let your boring daddy leave." Said Sirius sticking his tongue out at James.

"Mr. Prongs asks Mr. Padfoot to not turn his son against him otherwise Mr. Padfoot will not like the consequences." Said James with mock solemnity.

"Mr. Padfoot would like to tell Mr. Prongs that he will do as he pleases and there is nothing that Mr. Prongs can do about it." Sirius replied, unable to hide the smile in his voice. Lily simply smiled at the playful banter that took place between them so often. It was one of the things that brought a smile on everyone's faces despite the war that was going on.

"You're sure about doing this right?" Asked James, glancing at his best friend for the umpteenth time.

Sirius rolled his eyes at him. James trusted Sirius a lot and he did trust him to take care of Harry but then the fatherly concern was also understandable. Sirius gave James a reassuring smile. "We'll be fine Prongs. Now you two should leave before Mrs. Evans calls you out for being late." Said Sirius, shifting Harry to a more comfortable position.

The two Potters left after saying goodbye, leaving Sirius alone with his godson. "So it's just the two of us now pup?" Asked Sirius as he carried Harry over to his high chair and sat him down. He fed Harry first during which Harry made sure to throw food around the house and he managed to spill some on himself too. Had some other child done this, Sirius would've probably been annoyed but he only smiled down at his beloved godson and said: 'Let's get you cleaned up shall we?"

He picked Harry up and took him upstairs. Sirius took off Harry's clothes and lowered him into the bathtub. For an infant, Harry had a tremendous amount of energy. He splashed about vigorously, successfully soaking Sirius in the process.

After both of them had a fresh set of clothes on, Sirius tried to get Harry to sleep a little but the baby was anything but sleepy. "Pay! Pafoo pay!" Was all that he kept saying.

"You want to play?" Harry nodded enthusiastically. Sirius smiled down at his godson. "Alright. Let's go to your room." Harry spent a lot of his time in Sirius's house so his godfather had set up a room for him to play in. It had all the toys a child would want and a small playpen as well.

Harry played around the room, taking small, baby steps. "That's it puppy. Come on! You can do it." Said Sirius as he stood a little away from Harry and held his hands out for Harry to take. The toddler staggered a little but he took the steps. Once Harry had reached him, Sirius bent down and scooped him up, gently tossing him up and catching him.

Harry played with his rattles, banging them on the floor or swinging them around or just chucking them across the room. Sirius made sure that he didn't put anything in his mouth as he played. After playing for a while, Sirius read Harry a story. He sat in his godfather's lap, listening to what he could. Although Harry didn't understand the story, he still tapped the pictures energetically whenever he found any of them interesting or appealing.

By the end of the story, Harry yawned so hard that this eyes became all scrunched up. "I guess it's nap time now." He took Harry to the living room and sat down, rubbing his godson's back slowly. Slowly Harry's breathing became heavy and as Sirius started to lay him down, the infant gripped his godfather's shirt in his tiny fist, refusing to let go. Smiling tenderly at this, Sirius settled down on the couch and wrapped his arms around his godson. In no time at all, even he was asleep. That was how James and Lily found them when they returned.

"You were an absolutely adorable baby, Harry." Said Sirius as he ran his hand through Harry's hair. His godson smiled back at him shyly, blushing at the praise. "Come with me. I want to show you something." Sirius got up and offered Harry his hand which the boy took.

The two of them went upstairs to a part of the house where Harry had never gone before. It's not like he didn't want to but it's just that the house was so huge that he hadn't explored that section yet. They stopped in front of a door and Harry looked up at his godfather with curiosity and confusion but Sirius only smiled back at him gently.

Sirius opened the door and gestured for Harry to go in. Harry's jaw all but hit the ground when he stepped in. It was a playroom. The same one that Sirius had just told him about. It had everything intact, although dusty. Harry had never seen so many soft toys in his life. There was a lion, a unicorn, dinosaur, a stag, a black puppy and even a little wolf. There was even a disfigured rat with its stuffing all torn that was lying in a corner. Other than that, there was a playpen that had little animals on it and there so many other toys and action figures. "You used to play over here so often. You refused to leave so Lily and to put you to sleep sometimes right here."

Harry took in all this information and tried to control the tears that were threatening to spill. After living with Sirius, and listening to all the stories that his godfather had told him, his parents had become more and more real instead of just an album of pictures. Unable to hold it back any longer, a small sniffle escaped his throat.

Sirius glanced down at Harry with concern. Had he done the wrong thing by showing Harry all this. He opened his mouth, to say something comforting but before he could, Harry turned and buried his face into his godfather's robes. "I'm glad you took me in Sirius. I love you." Although his words were muffled, Sirius had no trouble understanding the words. Those two sentences tugged at Sirius's heartstrings. "I love you too pup. More than you can imagine." 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Pup, would you like to go out tonight?" Asked Sirius, out of the blue. It had been quite some time since the two of them had gone out and Sirius wanted to make good use of every opportunity that he got to make sure that Harry was totally comfortable with him. Harry had warmed up to him a lot but there were still moments where Harry flinched at his touch. There were times he looked at Sirius with only fear in his eyes while there were instances where Harry would back away from him. Sirius knew well enough that his godson would take a considerable amount of time to heal completely and he would wait patiently. But that didn't mean that he would sit back and do nothing.

"Yes please." Harry replied, looking really happy.

That evening, Sirius took Harry out to muggle London. Only this time, they didn't go shopping. Instead, Sirius took Harry to watch a movie. 

They watched a movie that revolved around werewolves and vampires in which Harry had to explain to his godfather that they weren't actual werewolves in the movie and that the vampires were unreal as well. After that, Sirius and Harry went to a restaurant, both of them feeling ravenous.

"So what would you like?" Asked Sirius, observing Harry's reaction. There it was again. Harry's eyes darted around nervously, looking everywhere but at Sirius. He was once again back to his former nervous self.

"Anything is fine." He replied.

"Oh come on pup. Surely you can do better than that." Said Sirius, giving Harry his best reassuring smile. "Go on. Choose whatever you want."

"Cheeseburger please?" Harry asked uncertainly. Sirius's smile widened and he nodded.

"Of course pup. Cheeseburger it is. You can also have a milkshake after that. Andy said that you need to gain more weight."

The waitress came to take their orders. "What can I get you?" She smiled at Harry sweetly but then she turned to Sirius and batted her eyelashes flirtatiously.

"And what can I do for you?" She smiled at him, even giving him a suggestive wink. "A double cheeseburger with a chocolate milkshake and a Spaghetti Bolognese. That'll be all for now. Thank you." He shot her a charming smile and watched as her cheeks coloured.

"Of course." The waitress tripped over herself slightly as she went to get the order. Harry watched all this, confusion taking over his mind. Why had that lady blushed so furiously!

She came back with their orders and gave Sirius another flirty smile as she set their dishes down on the table. Sirius of course reciprocated it with a suave, easy grin.

They were eating when Harry's curiosity got the better of him. "Sirius, why did that lady blush so much?" Asked Harry innocently as he ate.

"Did she now? I didn't notice at all." Sirius replied casually, although he was laughing really hard in the inside. Wait till Harry grew up a little. The expression on his fave would then be priceless.

After dinner, they went back home where Harry all but fell asleep on Sirius. "I think it's time you went to bed pup." Said Sirius, chuckling as Harry yawned widely once more. Harry was barely aware of his godfather's arm supporting him as the went upstairs so that he didn't fall over himself. He sleepily got into his pyjamas as Sirius pulled back the covers and he climbed in.

"Goodnight pup. Love you." Said Sirius, placing a kiss on Harry's crown. "Love you too." Harry whispered sleepily.

As his godson fell asleep with a contented smile on his face, Sirius thought that maybe everything was alright.

At that time, he didn't know how wrong he was to think that way.

*******

Seven year old Harry Potter had been washing the dishes all afternoon and his little arms were feeling extremely weary and he was totally worn out. If only he could sit down for just a minute. He dismissed that thought immediately. His aunt and uncle had taken him in despite all his freakiness. Sitting about lazily was no way to repay the hardworking family who tolerated his abnormality.

He picked up a porcelain dish and was about to put it in the sink and clean it when his arms gave way and it fell and smashed. Fear gnawed at his heart. Nothing he did now would take him away from the beating that was about to come. He dropped to the ground and began to pick up the pieces as quickly as he could but it was too late. "You clumsy little freak! How dare you!" Harry's head shot up to see his aunt striding towards him, her face contorted in anger. Before Harry knew what was going on, the Dursley matriarch yanked Harry up by the front of his shirt and delivered one sharp slap across his left cheek. Harry cried out in pain only to get another slap. "I-I'm s-sorry Aunt P-Petunia. I'm s-sorry." He sobbed.

"Clean this up. NOW!" She barked. Harry did as told, trying to stem the tears that were flowing down his face. After he had done that, she roughly grabbed him by the elbow and shoved him into the cupboard underneath the stairs. "You wait! I'll have your uncle deal with you once he's home." She slammed the door on his face and left him sobbing.

Harry drew his knees up to his chest and curled himself up as small as he could. Aunt Petunia's warning rung in his ears. He hoped against hope that Uncle Vernon would not use the belt but that would never happen. His uncle came home and he was yanked out of his cupboard. "We give you food to eat and a place to stay and this is how you repay our generosity! By tainting this place with your freakiness! He bellowed, his face red with rage. And then the beating began.

Harry lost count of how many times the belt made contact with his back. He had learned long ago not to cry for mercy. The last thing that he remembered was being thrown into his cupboard. He sat there, trying to nurse his wounds as best as he could, hoping for the millionth time that some relative of his would come and take him away.

The scene shifted and he found himself back at Black Manor. Sirius walked into the room, a cold and unemotional look on his face. "You're absolutely no good. Nothing more than a freak. I'd rather not waste my time with you here. Pack up and leave. There's no place for you in this house." 

"S-Sir-" Harry began slowly, his voice fearful when Sirius grasped his chin none too gently. "Not another word. Leave. Now."

This was so much more worse than the flashback he had just had. The only man who he looked up to as a father had just rejected him. He was orphaned once more.

*******

Sirius, who had been sitting in his study, looking at some letters that had arrived was jolted by the screams coming from Harry's room. He threw his quill down and raced upstairs. Sirius had thought that he knew what kinds of nightmares Harry had but he was totally unprepared for what he saw now.

"SIRIUS! I'm s-sorry! P-Please d-don't make me l-leave."

Never in his dreams had Sirius expected this. He was in his godson's nightmares? "Harry, sshh. It's alright. You're okay." He pinned Harry's arms down to stop the boy from thrashing around and held them there till the thrashing stopped. "Open your eyes pup. It's me, Sirius." He hoped that his words would calm Harry down and was glad when Harry blinked his eyes open.

"P-Please S-Sirius, I don't w-want to go back." The words were a knife to his heart.

"Ssh Harry. You're okay and you're not going anywhere." He hugged Harry to his chest and sat down. "What did you see Harry?" He asked, making sure to keep his voice calm and soothing. His godson stiffened at the question.

"It's okay, you can tell me about it. I won't get angry."

Harry looked at Sirius, searching for any traces of anger. He found none and so he took a deep breath and began, trying to keep his voice steady. "I w-was with my aunt and u-uncle and I was seven at that time. I was..... washing dishes w-when...... one of them b-broke........" Harry told Sirius about what had happened at the Dursleys but didn't speak about the latter half of the dream. "What happened after that?" Sirius's voice made Harry realise that his godfather knew that there was more to his dream.

"You told me..... told me to g-go away." Harry didn't raise his voice more than a whisper but Sirius heard it nonetheless.

Sirius drew in a sharp breath at Harry's sentence. He most certainly hadn't expected this. "Harry, I think I had made it clear to you when you arrived that you're not leaving. I'm not going to send you away so you need to stop worrying about all this. We're family."

"You promise?" Harry asked softly, eyes pleading with Sirius to say yes.

"I promise." Sirius replied while mentally swearing to himself that he would get rid of every trace of insecurity Harry had. "Why don't you try to go back to sleep now?" He asked as he got up and straightened Harry's sheets.

"Okay." Said Harry. The dream had seemed so real. When Sirius had woken him up, he had thought that the man had come to kick him out. He had been so afraid of going back, so afraid of leaving the only family that he had but his godfather's reassurance had calmed his fears.

Despite all his fears, somewhere deep down inside, he knew that Sirius meant all of what he had just said. Something told him that he had at last, found a family. One that would love him forever.

Chapter Text

"Harry we're already late. It's 10:45 already. You're going to miss the train if you don't hurry up." Said Sirius, knowing that he shouldn't have let Harry sleep in.

Since Sirius was going to be a Professor, he had to be there early so Sirius would say goodbye to Harry in Black Manor itself and as Harry flooed to platform 9 and three quarters, Sirius would leave immediately for Hogwarts. "I'll see you at the feast, okay?" Sirius said, pulling Harry into a hug. "Go on." He ruffled his godson's hair and gave him a little push towards the floo.

Harry turned up at the Platform just in time. Mrs. Weasley was rounding all her kids up. Come on, hurry up!" Said Mrs. Weasley as she urged the twins towards the barrier. Percy and his father went next. "You two come in after us." She said, grabbing Ginny's hand, she pulled the girl and mother and daughter disappeared into the barrier.

Harry and Ron bent low over the handles of their trolleys and walked purposefully toward the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it, they broke into a run and —
CRASH.

Both trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backward; Ron's trunk fell off with a loud thump, Harry was knocked off his feet, and Hedwig's cage bounced onto the shiny floor, and she rolled away, shrieking indignantly; people all around them stared and a guard nearby yelled, "What in blazes d'you think you're doing?"

"Lost control of the trolley," Harry said, clutching his ribs as he got up. Ron ran to pick up Hedwig, who was causing such a scene that there was a lot of muttering about cruelty to animals from the surrounding crowd."

"Why can't we get through?" Harry asked, panic starting to leak into his voice.

"I don't know! What if we miss the train?" Ron gasped, thinking along those lines. Ron felt the barrier. "It's sealed!" He exclaimed.

"Harry, if we can't get through, then mum and dad can't get back!" He said, looking extremely worried. Harry looked up at the clock. 7....6....5....4....3....2....1....0. It was eleven o' clock. The train was gone. They had missed it. They had missed the train! "We missed the train Harry! It's gone." Ron all but yelled. 

"Should we go wait by the car?" Asked Harry, unsure of what to do as he tried to rein his panic.

Suddenly Ron's eyes brightened. "The car!"

"What about it?"

We can fly the car to Hogwarts!"

"But I thought —"

"We're stuck, right? And we've got to get to school, haven't we? And even underage wizards are allowed to use magic if it's a real emergency, section nineteen or something of the Restriction of Thingy — Oh forget all that! Let's do it. We'll catch up with the train and then we can get to Hogwarts on time." Ron exclaimed, his worry replaced with excitement.

"Bu-" Harry didn't have time to finish.

"Come on!" Ron yelled as he grabbed his hand and dragged him to the blue car. They loaded their luggage into the  back when a thought stuck Harry.

"What about your parents?" Asked Harry as he got into the passenger seat. "They don't need the car! They can apparate." Ron explained rapidly, getting into he driver's seat and slamming the door shut.

Ron pressed a tiny silver button on the dashboard. The car around them vanished — and so did they. Harry could feel the seat vibrating beneath him, hear the engine, feel his hands on his knees and his glasses on his nose, but for all he could see, he had become a pair of eyeballs, floating a few feet above the ground in a dingy street full of parked cars.

Ron rammed the accelerator with his foot and just like that they were off. Up in the air and off to Hogwarts.

*****

Sirius felt a strong wave of nostalgia hit him as he stepped out of the floo. He was going to be here for the whole year and all his memories with James and Remus hit him at once.

He arrived right in time for the feast. As he took a seat at the teacher's table, his eyes scanned the crowd of students at the Gryffindor table for his godson. The sorting had just ended and he saw Percy, Fred, George and Ginny at the table but he didn't see Harry and nor did he see Ron. Where were those two?

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there. "Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our sorting which shall be followed by the banquet, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you all to your new Defence against the Dark Arts professor. Please join me in welcoming Professor Sirius Black."

Sirius waited for the jeering to begin but he was absolutely shocked and pleasantly surprised when the hall was filled with a huge round of applause. The Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws looked genuinely happy while the Slytherins didn't look all that pleased. Oh well, it's not like he cared about what they thought. The boys looked at him with looks of admiration because by now most of them were aware that he was an extremely skilful Auror. The female population of Hogwarts, on the other hand swooned as they stared with dreamy eyes at their new professor who had the looks of a Greek God.

Sirius stood up briefly and flashed his trademark smile at the students on my to be rewarded with huge smiles from the students and more swooning from the girls. This year would be interesting!

The sorting began and one by one, once the hat had finished singing its song. The new students were sorted into the four houses. The two boys still hadn't arrived. The sorting was soon over and the feast began. Sirius wasn't even concentrating on his plate. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw McGonagall and Dumbledore leave the table with suspicious speed.

He was about to get up and ask Hermione as to where Harry and Ron were when Filch came up to the head table. "Professo' Dumbledore wants tah' see yeh. He's in the dungeons now." He muttered, as he looked at Sirius with no small amount of loathing.

Sirius and James had caused immense trouble in Hogwarts and had given Filch a lot of cleaning to do. Now, he was back again. As a Professor no less! Sirius smirked slightly to himself. Oh well, this year was going to be fun.

"Thank you Filch." He said and went off to the dungeons, to Snape's office.

Harry and Ron had arrived at Hogwarts, only to crash the Ford Angila into the Whomping Willow. Ron's wand had snapped in the process of getting out of the car that had gone wild. It opened its doors and threw the luggage out. Absolutely brilliant.

They had collected their luggage and had hoped to make am inconspicuous arrival and join the feast but it seemed as if nothing was right for the two poor boys that day.

As they trudging up the stairs, hauling their trunks along, they bumped into the surly caretaker Argus Filch who had been only too pleased to escort the two boys to Snape's office. Snape had asked the two of them to wait there while he went to the grounds and 'inspected the damage' that had been caused.

As of now, the two of them were standing in Snape's office and listening to his rant. "HOW COULD YOU BE SO FOOLISH! He snarled, glaring down at them, over his hooked nose. "You were seen by muggles and you even managed to make the front age." He snapped, waving the muggle newspaper in their faces.

"I noticed, in my search of the park, that considerable damage seems to have been done to a very valuable Whomping Willow," Snape went on.

"That tree did more damage to us than we —" Ron blurted out.

"Silence!" snapped Snape again."

"If the two of you were in my House I would have-"

"But it is not so Severus." All three heads spun around to see Dumbledore and McGonagall at the entrance.

"Headmaster, these two insolent and irresponsible boys-"

"I am well aware of what they have done, Severus. However, the consequences for this shall be enforced by the head of their house." He said, looking at Mcgonagall.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, the two of you will receive detention for this act. You shall be notified about the date. Mr. Weasley, I shall also be writing to your parents regarding this matter. As for you Mr. Potter-"

"He will be coming with me." Sirius walked into the room, his expression serious and stance firm.

"Of course, Sirius." Said Dumbledore.

"Black. One would expect such subpar behaviour only from your charge. It is obvious that you do not know how to raise the boy. Clearly, you don't know how to deal with him. If you did, he would think twice before displaying such poor behaviour. What the brat deserves is a good hiding." Snape drawled, lips pulling up to form a mean smirk. Sirius's eyes flared up in anger and he glared at his nemesis.

"Go and wait outside you two." Said Sirius turning to Harry and Ron.

He then looked at Snape. "How I deal with my godson, is none of your bloody business, Snivellus." He spat, pouring a considerable amount of venom into his words. "I don't need you to tell me how to raise my godchild."

Snape's smirk melted and his impassive face was back again. Sirius then turned to Mcgonagall and Dumbledore. "I can assure the two of you that I shall speak to Harry and take care of the matter." He received a nod from the two of them and small smile as well. They left Snape and stepped out of his office.

"Mr. Weasley, you shall return to the feast." Said Mcgonagall and Ron ran towards the great hall after casting a brief glance at Harry. The red head was only too glad to get away. The other two professors also left leaving Harry and Sirius alone.

Harry was starting to get worried. His godfather had walked into Snape's office with a stern expression on his face. Sirius looked so angry and he hadn't said a single word to Harry other than asking him to wait outside. One thing was very clear to him: he was in major trouble. Sirius had said that he would never hit him but the anger on the man's face almost made him think otherwise.

"Harry, let's go."

Harry followed Sirius out of the dungeons and to Sirius's quarters. Sirius said the password (marauder) and the two of them were inside. Sirius shut the door and went onto the living room. 

The silence was driving Harry crazy and it made him panicky. He opened his mouth to apologise but was cut off. "Sit down." Said Sirius, pointing to the dining table and Harry nearly tripped over himself to obey.

The boy watched his godfather summon a house elf. Sirius asked the elf to get some dinner and the elf reappeared with turkey sandwiches, mashed potatoes and some pumpkin juice.

Sirius was trying his utmost to lower his temper. How the bloody hell could his godson have been so reckless! Sirius had been terribly worried when he had not found his Harry at the feast even after a long time. When he had been asked to go to the dungeons, he had a sinking feeling that something was very wrong and his suspicions had been confirmed when he saw his godson and his best friend standing in Snape's office with ashamed expressions. And to make matters worse, Snape just had to go ahead and open his big mouth and cast aspersions on his parenting skills.

He wanted nothing more than to scold the boy for his foolishness and he knew that he would eventually do that, but first, he wanted to calm himself down. The last thing he wanted was for Harry to be afraid of him. The pre Azkaban Sirius would have applauded and congratulated Harry, but as of now, he was nothing short of furious.

After the very silent dinner, Sirius sent Harry to change into his night wear. He had calmed down considerably and was no longer fuming. Now for the hard part.

Sirius saw Harry come out of the room from the corner of his eye. He had changed into his pajamas and was looking at Sirius apprehensively. He crooked his forefinger at Harry. Once Harry was standing in front of him, he pulled him down next to him. Harry was tense but Sirius knew that the tenseness would gradually ebb away.

"Explain everything young man and you will do well to be honest about it." He said, keeping his voice stern.

The sternness in his godfather's voice made Harry flinch. He had heard that tone very few times but it made Harry shiver nonetheless. The look on Sirius's face was one of anger and disappointment and he cursed himself for being the reason for that look.

"R-Ron and I were on the station b-but then the b-barrier wouldn't let us pass. W-We didn't know what e-else to do so we flew the car. P-Please Sirius, y-you have to believe m-me. There was n-nothing else we c-could do."  That wasn't the right thing to say. Sirius abruptly stood up and began pacing.

"Nothing else you could do? You should have waited for Molly and Arthur! How could you have been so reckless!" Sirius's voice grew sharper with each word.

"I thought I had made myself clear when I told you that you would stay out of danger but here I find you walking right I into it! Harry James Potter, do you even care about what I have to say? So many things could have gone wrong tonight. What happened to you and Ron was sheer dumb luck. The car could have crashed on the way, the Whomping Willow could have seriously injured the two of you and you might have gotten yourself expelled from Hogwarts. The possibilities of things that could have gone awry were endless!"

Harry tried to control his tears. Now that he thought of it, there were so many things that he could have done to avoid this. He was going to get punished, that was for certain. He wasn't going to complain, no matter what he received because the disappointment he saw in Sirius's eyes was like a knife to his heart. Harry lowered his gaze, unable to look at Sirius any further. He was genuinely sorry for what he had done and was willing to do anything to make up for his transgression.

"I'm sorry Sirius, I r-really am. I wasn't thinking at all. R-Ron and I didn't know what to do. We wanted to g-get to H-Hogwarts and so we panicked. I'm sorry, you have to b-believe me." A few tears slid down his cheeks as he apologised. He hoped Sirius would forgive him.

It was more of worry than anger for Sirius. He could not and would not lose his godson for such stupid stunts. He looked at the hunched figure before to him and let out a mental sigh of relief for the umpteenth time. Harry was here with him, Harry was safe. That was all that mattered. His anger receded, replaced with thankfulness that his godson was alright.

"Come here pup." He said the words softly and his godson all but flew to him on hearing those words. Harry buried his face in his godfather's chest, not wanting to ever let go.

"Don't you dare do something like this ever again." Said Sirius as he felt tears soak the front of his shirt. He heard a small 'I promise' in return.

"As for your punishment," He felt Harry tense at that word but he continued. "I'm aware that Professor Mcgonagall has given you detention. In addition to that, you are grounded for the remainder of the week. You will attend classes, go to the great hall for your meals after which you will go straight to your common room or you may come here as well. Understood?"

He felt Harry nod against his chest and he slowly released his godson. He looked down at Harry's tear streaked face and gently wiped the tears with his thumb. It had been a long day for both of them.

"I promise I'll never do it again. Please, you have to forgive me." Harry said, in a stronger voice, although his voice had a pleading tone to it. He had really done it this time. From now on, he would definitely think twice before acting. The telling off that he had just received was enough to make him feel ashamed yet loved at the same time.

"Of course I forgive you, Harry. You had better not try something like this young man of I assure you that you'll find yourself in a lot of trouble." Sirius warned his godson. The vigorous nod that he got made him smile slightly. He had done what was necessary and there was no need to push the matter any further.

"Come on, I'll walk you back to your common room. It's quite late as of now and the sooner you're in bed, the better. You'll be getting back to your lessons tomorrow and you will be needing all your energy." Said Sirius.

They walked back to the Gryffindor tower together in a comfortable silence. Harry was relieved that he had been forgiven. Although he wasn't looking forward to the grounding, it was definitely better than what he got at his Uncle's house.

Harry found Ron waiting for him right next to the Fat Lady's portrait. Ron did not notice Sirius who was behind Harry. "Oh bloody hell mate! I though you were never going to show. What did Sirius say? How much trouble did you get into?" He inquired urgently, all in one go.

"Relax, Mr. Weasley. I assure you Harry is perfectly fine." Sirius chuckled at the redhead's worry. Ron turned as red as his hair when he saw Sirius as well. "Sorry professor." He said, face flaming. Sirius only laughed though.

"Goodnight you two." He playfully mussed Harry's hair and let the two boys go into the common room before heading back to his quarters.

Chapter Text

Harry's eyes opened to the familiar Gryffindor boys dormitory. He sat up, reached for his glasses and put them on, trying to get over the sleepiness. He turned to his right where Ron was fast asleep, snoring like they had all day. He saw that most of his luggage had been neatly arranged next to his nightstand and he figured that his godfather must have had it moved there.

He looked at his watch only to realise with a jolt that it was already 8:00. Breakfast would get over in a while and it simply wouldn't do to be late on the first day of classes. The last thing he needed was another detention. He got out of bed and shook his best friend awake.

The two of them made it to the Great Hall where they met Hermione who wished them a very short 'Morning' before burying her nose into her Charms textbook. Harry saw Sirius sitting at the high table. He caught his godfather's eye and smiled. Sirius smiled back at his godson and gave him an affectionate wink.

Ron had loaded his plate with everything that was within his reach and began eating in his usual manner, completely ignoring the look of disgust Hermione was giving him. He was just halfway through his breakfast when Errol, his family owl dropped a letter into his plate after successfully knocking over a jug of pumpkin juice and a plate of beacon.

It was a red envelope, nothing special but all the colour from Ron's face drained. "Hey look everyone, Weasley's got himself a howler!" Said Seamus.

"What's a howler?" asked Harry, never having seen or heard of one ever before.

"You'll see." Said Neville who looked equally weary of the letter. "Open it quickly Ron! I received one from my Gran once. It was horrible!"

Ron opened the letter and the Great Hall was filled with Molly Weasley's enraged, resounding voice:

"RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR?  WE'RE ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED. YOUR FATHER IS FACING INQUIRY AT WORK. YOU HAD BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THE KIND OF FOOLISHNESS YOU'VE JUST DISPLAYED. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU'RE IN YOUNG MAN? THE NEXT TIME YOU'RE HOME, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU SPEND YOUR TIME DE-GNOMING THE GARDEN! YOU'LL BE GROUNDED FOR A VERY LONG TIME MISTER. Ginny dear we're so proud of you for being sorted into Gryffindor. I SWEAR TO YOU RONALD, IF YOU GET INTO ANY MORE TROUBLE....."

The letter tore itself up, leaving the threat hanging. Ron's face was as white as milk. "I'm in so much trouble when I get home." He whimpered, worry written all over his face. Poor Ron!

The time tables were handed out and much to Harry's dismay, the second years didn't have Defence that day. Instead they began with the year with Double Potions followed by History of Magic. Yay! Wasn't that brilliant?

*************************************

"Good morning everyone. Welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts." Sirius smiled as he addressed the batch of Sixth year Gryffindor and Slytherin students. The Gryffindor  students looked pretty excited, even a few Slytherin students looked enthusiastic about the lesson. "I'd like to make one  thing clear before we proceed with today's class. I may be pure-blooded but I shall have you'll know that any sort of prejudiced comments will only lead to a loss of points and detention. Trust me when I say that you'll do not  want to land up in one of my detentions. Are we clear?" There were a couple of 'yes sirs' in reply to his warning.

"Good. Let's get started."

He asked everyone to put away their quills as they wouldn't be doing any writing work that day.

Dumbledore had told him that the students of Hogwarts lagged behind in Defence due to the lack of a well qualified Professor. Well, not anymore. "Silent or non-verbal spells. A very good way to defend yourself in a duel is a non verbal spell. That is what we'll be doing today. What advantage do you have when you perform spells non verbally?"

"Your opponent has no warning about what kind of spell you are about to perform. So I guess that gives you a split-second advantage?" Answered Oliver Wood.

"Top marks Mr. Wood. Ten points to Gryffindor. Practical experience over theoretical knowledge makes you more prepared to act in unexpected situations. Wands out everyone."

Sirius divided the class into numerous pairs. He was smart enough to pair the Gryffindors against themselves otherwise he knew all too well that things would get ugly. All the students were doing quite well and by the end of the lesson, most of the students had successfully managed to perform at least one non verbal spell.

Throughout the lesson, as he inspected the students' performance, he caught the girls whispering among themselves. When he had asked them what was it that they were discussing so enthusiastically, they had turned a deep shade of red and fervently told him that it was 'nothing at all.' The dreamy looks that they were shooting towards their new professor made it clear that whatever they were discussing was most certainly not related to the syllabus.

"That's all for today. No homework this time. I'll see you'll again on Friday when we'll be having another practical lesson. Class dismissed." As the students filed out of the class, they were thoroughly satisfied with the lesson. After a long time, they had actually enjoyed a Defence class. They had expected a long boring lecture followed by lengthy essays but it seemed as if things had finally taken a turn for the better. The new  Professor's easy going attitude coupled with his sense of humour and suave appearance had made their first lesson of the year damn good.

********

Unfortunately for Harry, his day hadn't been as great as his godfather's. The second years had trudged to the dungeons for double potions where Snape had made every single effort to taunt him and knock points off wherever he could. Harry had exercised a great deal of self control to keep his temper in check. After the seemingly unending lesson, he had wasted no time in packing his stuff and exiting the stuffy dungeons without glancing back even once.

History of Magic wasn't any better either. Binns droned on in his monotonous voice and Harry tried to stay awake although he didn't have much of a choice since Hermione kept on nudging him, trying to keep him attentive. After that lesson, they had to go for lunch and Harry had never felt so thankful.

During lunch, Harry and Ron received a note from Mcgonagall regarding their detention that would take place the next evening.  Fortunately for the two of them they had the detention together but unfortunately, Filch would be the one supervising them.

"Hey Potter!" Harry looked up to see Oliver Wood coming towards him. "Quidditch practice begins next week onwards. You'd better be there because we have to win the cup this year. There can be no mistakes this time." Said the Gryffindor sixth year, instinctively slipping into Captain mode.

"I'll be there. Don't worry." Harry assured him.

Later, Harry went off to meet Sirius after telling his two friends that he'd meet them at the end of the day. The two of them had said that it was alright after which Hermione dragged a protesting Ron to the library (Bloody hell Hermione!).

Harry found Sirius when he reached his quarters. "Hey there kiddo. How was your first day?" Asked Sirius as he sat down next to Harry.

"It was pretty boring." Harry admitted. "We had Potions and History of magic and the Professors went on and on." Harry admitted.

Sirius tried to look stern but failed miserably.  "Well, I certainly hope you don't feel the same way about my class tomorrow. You had better pay attention or you'll end up getting detention young man." He said seriously. Harry looked up at his godfather with a slightly worried expression but when he saw the similar smile, he realised that Sirius was only teasing.

"Well, I will try my best to not fall asleep during your lesson Professor." He replied a little cheekily. He suddenly felt that he might have gone too far but Sirius only grinned back in response and before Harry realised, his godfather tugged on his arm and pulled him towards himself. Before Harry knew he was squealing with laughter when Sirius's fingers attacked his stomach.

"So you plan to fall asleep in my class?" Sirius asked with mock sternness as he tickled Harry mercilessly. By now, Harry had dissolved into peals of laughter.

"No, I promise..... I won't." Harry spoke as best as he could, in between his giggles.

He tried to dodge Sirius's fingers but in vain. "Sirius pleeeease!" He said, his sides aching from all that laughing. Sirius pretended to think and then said: "Hmm, no, I don't think so." Finally after some more begging from Harry, Sirius had mercy on his godson and stopped tickling him. Gasping slightly, Harry sat down, eyeing his godfather's fingers accusingly.

"What have you planned for us tomorrow?" asked Harry curiously.

"That's something for me to know and you to find out pup. You're just going to have wait like everyone else." Said Sirius with a grin. "Did any of the professors give you any homework?" 

"Both Snape and Binns want essays. It's not fair Sirius, it's only the first day back!" Harry complained.

"Well, if that's the case then you had better sit down and start working on it." Said Sirius firmly.

"Can I go and fly on my broom for a while?" Asked Harry, giving Sirius a pleading look. Sirius raised an eyebrow at his charge. "Last time I checked, you were grounded, mister."

Harry turned slightly red at that. "Alright I'll do the essays." He mumbled.

"Great. You do one of them tonight and I'll come back and check it for you."

After that, Sirius went to Dumbledore's office and Harry decided to do History of magic first. Four bloody feet of it!

***********

"Sirius my boy, how was your first day of classes? I take that you had no major trouble with any of the students?" Asked Dumbledore, offering Sirius a lemon drop that Sirius politely refused.

"Honestly, it was good. I had expected it to be really boring with nothing but me giving long lectures and the students staring at me like I was speaking an alien language but it was pretty decent and I'm actually looking forward to more classes." He replied.

Dumbledore smiled slightly at Sirius's description of a lesson when the door opened and Mcgonagall walked in. "I came to drop these off." She said, placing a stack of parchments on Dumbledore's desk. She noticed Sirius then.

“Hi there Minnie." He greeted her with a smirk knowing that the nickname was bound to annoy her. He wasn't disappointed.

"Mr. Black! Do not call me that." She said in a slightly higher voice.

"Whatever you say Minnie." Sirius replied. How he had missed annoying his former Transfiguration professor!

Professor Mcgonagall groaned internally. She had lost track of the number of times she had asked the two biggest troublemakers of Hogwarts to not call her that. They never listened.

The animagus later found out that Dumbledore hadn't called him for any specific reason other than to ask about his classes so he left after a short while itself.

Sirius came back to find Harry asleep on his desk, his face turned sideways on the parchment. He smiled fondly and levitated Harry into his room and into bed after changing his uniform into nightwear.

As he looked over Harry's essay, a sad smile made its way to his lips. His godson's handwriting was as messy as James's and he had also used his biggest handwriting so as to write as little as possible. He read through the essay and made encircled the mistakes. He'd have Harry make the changes in the morning.

************

"Come to me. Come to me.
Let me rip you, let me tear you, let me kill you.
Rip. Tear. Kill.
Come to me."

Harry shot up in his bed, his breath coming out in, breathless ragged pants. The nightmare faded into darkness and he was blank. The searing pain in his scar was killing him. And that cold, deathly voice. That voice had chilled him to the bone and it was the only part of the dream he was sure of.

He pushed the covers off himself and threw his legs over the side of his bed and stood up, unsurprised to find that his legs felt quite wobbly. He managed to steady himself with one hand holding onto the headboard while the other instinctively reached for his glasses.

Harry went out of his room and poured himself some water. He instantly felt better as the cool liquid made its way down his parched throat. As he tried to remember the nightmare, he found that he only remember it indistinctly. He couldn't quite remember the words. The only thing that he remembered vividly was that awful, icy voice that still made him shiver involuntarily.

Get a grip Potter. He told himself as firmly as he could. He mentally debated whether he should tell Sirius about this or not. He had told Sirius about his other nightmares so how was this any different? He finally decided against it and made up his mind to not bother Sirius with it since he couldn't even recollect the dream coherently. Although all his instincts told him to go and wake his godfather up and tell him everything, he ignored it. If only he knew that he was making a huge blunder by not telling Sirius.

After having another glass of water, Harry went back to his room and tried to fall asleep once more. It wouldn't do to get worked up and bothered over something he had practically forgotten by now. As sleep overtook him, his mind went blank and he simply slept.

***********

"Harry, are you alright? You seem to be a bit distracted this morning." Hermione noticed. She had been trying to talk to him for the past ten minutes but he hadn't responded.

"Yeah Hermione I'm fine. Just a little sleepy. I was up last night doing Binns' essay." He replied which was partially true. Hermione beamed at that. At least one of her best friends was studying seriously.

"I'm in so much trouble!" Ron exclaimed for the umpteenth time. All through yesterday, he had been going on about how his Mum would make him do chores all day and ground him till he came of age. "You're so lucky you live with someone as cool as Sirius. I bet he must've congratulated you for the kind of stunt we pulled." Said Ron. He had admired Sirius's attitude whenever he had visited Harry over the summer and even on the other day, when Ron had been pretty sure that he and Harry were as good as dead, Sirius hadn't looked angry at all when he had dropped Harry off at the Gryffindor tower. So, maybe, just maybe, he was jealous of his best mate.

No one other than Harry knew how false that was. He opened his mouth to tell Ron how Sirius had actually reacted but he closed it quickly. For some reason, he felt oddly protective of his godfather. He knew that side of Sirius who told him about his parents, made sure that he ate properly, held him tightly and consoled him whenever he had a nightmare, tucked him in every night and even told him off thoroughly when he deserved it. Call him selfish but he didn't want to share that version of Sirius Black with anyone. He realised at that moment that he was perfectly alright with his friends thinking that Sirius was okay with him doing dangerous acts.

"Come on, we have Transfiguration now. Lets go, we don't want to be late." Said Hermione when she saw all the students vacating the table. The three of them gathered their bags and went off to class.

Transfiguration, thankfully got over quite fast after which they went off for Herbology. Professor Sprout taught them all about mandrakes that day. They made shrill noises and were absolutely disgusting. After Herbology, came the subject Harry had been waiting for: Defense Against the Dark Arts.

As the students filed into the classroom, Harry saw Sirius casually leaning against the desk. He smiled briefly at him before asking everyone to take a seat. Sirius introduced himself to the class after which he went over the general warning he had given every single batch so far. He received a similar response from the students and so, he began the class.

Even though it was a theory class, the lesson was very interesting. Sirius didn't just stand and pour out a long lecture. He made sure that there was plenty of interaction between him and the students. He went over most of the hexes and jinxes which were actually supposed to be covered last year but hadn't been taught. He was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic response that he received from the students. All too soon, the class was over.

"That's it for today. For homework, I want a foot long essay regarding the pros and cons of the freezing hex. Write it in your own words please." He dismissed everyone, happy with the way things had gone.

Harry lingered behind after everyone had left and he approached his godfather. "So Mr. Potter, how was your first defence class?" Asked Sirius using an exaggerated 'professor voice.'

"You were simply brilliant, professor." Harry replied, the excitement in his voice emphasising the truth behind his words. "

Come here you!" Sirius said, pulling Harry into a loose embrace.

"Mcgonagall told me that you have detention tonight after dinner. Don't forget." Sirius reminded his godson after pulling away. Harry grimaced. but he nodded anyway.

********

"Wonder what we'll be doing tonight. Filch is such a bloody sourpuss, he'll go out of his way to make sure that he tortures us to the fullest for these three hours." Rom grumbled as he and Harry went to the classroom where they were supposed to meet Filch.

"Well hopefully, it won't be too terrible." Harry voiced his hopes.

It turned out that Harry was right. Their detention wasn't all that bad. Filch led them to the trophy room, his sullen expression firmly in place. Once they were inside, Harry and Ron just stood there, waiting for further instructions. "What are you waiting for? Get to work you two." He snapped, thrusting two dusting cloths into their hands.

Harry, who had no little experience when it came to cleaning, began the hot, grungy and tedious work. He started off with the left side of the considerably large room and Ron followed suit.

As Harry polished the dust from a particular trophy, he swept the cloth over it and gasped slightly at the inscription on it:

Trophy for Magical Merit : Sirius Black

"Blimey mate!" Ron exclaimed, noticing the trophy. "Magical Merit? Percy always talks about how he wants to be awarded one of those. It is awarded to 'distinguished Hogwarts students. Bloody hard to get one though." Said Ron, automatically reciting what his brother had drilled into his head repeatedly.

From all the stories that his godfather and Remus had told him, Harry had gathered that his mum, Remus and Sirius had been extremely bright students during their days at Hogwarts. This trophy proved it all. He now understood why Sirius had certain expectations from him. He only hoped that he would be able to meet them. He wanted more than anything to make Sirius proud.

As he continued his work, his eyes landed on another trophy: Special Award for Services to the School, Tom Riddle. His eyes didn't linger on it for very long and he quickly moved on to the next shield.

After what seemed like forever, the two of them were allowed to go back to their dormitory. Ron let out a relieved sigh as as soon as they were out. "I almost thought that the bloody git was going to keep us there all night." He said, shaking his arms to get rid of the soreness.

"Ditto. That was one of the longest detentions i have ev-" Harry stopped abruptly and froze midway. He heard it again:

"Let me rip you, let me tear you, Rip. Tear. Kill."

Chapter Text

"Did you hear that?" Harry asked Ron. His best friend turned to look at him with a questioning look. "Hear what?"

"That voice. The cold, deadly voice. Didn't you hear it?" Harry repeated, getting more and more worried by the second. Ron looked at him weirdly as of trying to figure out if Harry was pulling his leg or something.

"I don't know what you're talking 'bout mate. I hear nothing. You alright?" He inquired.

Why couldn't Ron hear that voice? Maybe he was hearing things? 

“Yeah I'm fine. Just forget about it." Harry muttered, not wanting to continue on that particular subject. Luckily for Harry, Ron dropped the topic and he was grateful that he was currently with Ron and not Hermione. His inquisitive best friend would have pressed on for more details.

The two of them walked back to the common room in silence after which they went to their respective beds, Ron, who was too tired to talk and Harry,who had a lot on his mind.

Over the next few days, Harry had found himself busy with his school lessons and quidditch practice. Wood worked the team harder than ever, his eyes set on the Cup which they just had to win that year. Before he knew it, nearly a month had passed.

One more thing that had been disturbing Harry for the past few days was that creepy, cold voice. He hadn't heard it since detention that day but it kept ringing in his head. He just didn't know what to make of it.

*******

Sirius inclined his head toward the left where his godson was asleep in his room. It was nearly time for breakfast by now and so he pushed himself off the sofa and went into Harry's room to wake him up. He walked in to find Harry breathing peacefully, his body burrowed underneath the covers. As he watched the boy's chest rise and fall periodically, he found it hard to believe that Harry was twelve. Truth be told, he didn't look any more than ten years old. It hadn't skipped his notice that his child was nearly a head shorter than his classmates. He mentally vowed to make sure that no further harm came to his charge. He had always thought of Harry as his own son and would continue to do so.

He sat down next to Harry, his back against the headboard and ran a hand through the untameable locks. Harry smiled slightly in his sleep and leaned towards his godfather. "Wake up sleepyhead." He said softly as he pulled the covers from Harry, giving him a small shake. "You have classes to attend and I have classes to teach, kiddo."

Harry felt long fingers gently running through his hair. It was comforting and something that he loved. He didn't have to open his eyes to see who it was but nonetheless, he opened his eyes sleepily and gazed up at his godfather. The boy rolled over and rested his head on Sirius' lap, turning to his side and getting comfortable. Sirius let him sleep like that for ten more minutes before he reached forward and playfully tugged on Harry's ear. "You know Harry, if you don't get up quickly, it's highly probable that you'll miss breakfast." It was finally the rumbling stomach that got Harry out of bed. He sat up slowly smiling at Sirius. "Good morning." He yawned widely.

"Up and out of bed pup." His godfather ordered once more and kissed the scarred forehead before getting up and opening the curtains in Harry's room.

About twenty minutes later, Harry walked out of his room, bright eyed. "Eat and drink up," Sirius instructed as he handed Harry his daily nutrient potions and his vitamins. He reluctantly popped the pills into his mouth and downed the potions, making a face. He glanced at Sirius, who was snickering quietly at Harry's disgusted expression.

"You're enjoying this!" He complained.

"Maybe a little. It is highly amusing to watch you make all those faces." Sirius answered.

Harry pouted, obviously put out that he was probably the only person his year who was forced to take these pills. His godfather ruffled his hair and lightly squeezed the back of his neck. "Go on, off to breakfast now."

*******

Sirius had only two classes to teach that day: second years and fourth years. Harry's batch had gone pretty normally. He had returned the essays to the students after grading them. Most of the students, including his godson had performed well. What had taken the class by surprise was the revelation that the whip-smart muggleborn Hermione Granger had received only an Acceptable. Sirius had simply told the flabbergasted girl that her essay was longer than twice the expected length. Secondly, she had written a lot of unwanted information and hence the grade. Hermione had then promised her professor (and herself) that she'd do better next time.

The fourth year class was also pretty much the same other than the slight disturbance caused by Fred and George Weasley's constant whispering. Sirius had spared the two boys a glance but they'd been too busy with their heads bent over a highly familiar parchment. He smirked to himself, deciding to talk to them after class.

Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley, I'd like a word." He told them just as they were about to leave. Fred and George glanced at each other and then at Sirius. "Um.... sure, Professor."

"I couldn't help but notice that throughout my class, the two of you appeared extremely busy, pouring over a piece of parchment. I'd like to take a look at it." He began, inwardly smiling. It had taken him one look at the twins to learn that they had quite the penchant for trouble. Almost as much as himself and James. Almost. Fred took out a parchment and handed it to Sirius.

"It's nothing at all sir, just a spare parchment."

"I highly doubt that." He took it from Fred and tapped it with his wand. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." He said casually. The expression on their face was priceless. Never before had any professor been able to figure out what they were always up to. Not even Mcgonagall. How in Merlin's name did he know that? They could only hope that Sirius would go easy on them.

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder's Map.

"Spare parchment, huh?" He questioned, a small smile playing on his lips as he lightly traced the different names on the map. "H-How did you...you.... We....... uh... we can e-explain." For the first time in their lives, Fred and George Weasley were at a loss for words. They waited nervously to find out how long they'd get detention.

Sirius merely tapped the map and said: "Mischief managed," folded it and handed it back to them.

"Y-You're really giving it back to us?" 

"I don't see why I shouldn't. The two of you have been putting it to good use." He replied, giving the two of them a knowing wink. "Keep up the good work." He encouraged. "I won't keep you waiting. I'm sure you'll have other classes to attend so, off you go."  Fred stuffed the map into his bag and the two of them made their way to the door.

George stopped and asked that one particular question that had been going on in his mind as well as his brother's. "Professor, how did you know how to work the map?”

Sirius smiled slightly. "Let's just say that I was very good friends with Moony and Prongs." He answered, taking care to leave the bloody traitor out.

"You knew them?" Was the shocked question. "I most certainly did. I'll tell you'll the rest eventually."

"Oh," was all that the twins said in reply to the slightly ambiguous answer. They left after that. Sirius decided that the rest was a story for another day.

********

Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way to the Quidditch pitch at 6:00 am. Wood had summoned the entire Gryffindor team for practice. It was a routine that had been going on for the past two weeks. Ron and Hermione would sit in the stands while the team trained.

"Alright everyone, we're not relaxing anymore. Nothing can stop us from winning the cup this year. We've got the best team anyone can ask for: two fantastic beaters, three amazing chasers, one hell of a seeker and me. The cup's ours and we shall take it!" Oliver barked, enthusiasm coloured his tone as he delivered his usual motivational speech. "Mount your brooms!" They were about to do just that when the nuisance arrived.

"Hey Wood! The ground is ours to train today!" Harry's head whipped to his left where he saw the Slytherin Quidditch team. Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Oliver Wood stormed towards the Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint with poorly concealed anger flashing in his eyes. Damn he hated that snake! 

"What the hell do you want Flint?" He snapped as he and the team reached the rival team's spot.

"Now now, there's no need to be so rude Wood. I'm sure we can sort this out amicably."  He rasped out in his usual hoarse voice. Wood spoke as if he hadn't heard his nemesis.

"Why are you here? I booked the pitch for practice today and you know that."

Flint smiled crookedly, revealing his yellow teeth. He reached into the pocket of his robes and fished out a price of parchment and thrusted it into Wood's hand:

I, Professor S. Snape, head of Slytherin house, grant permission to the Slytherin Quidditch team to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker.

Wood simply handed the note back to Flint, looking at the rival team with disgust.

"Are those the new Nimbus 2001?" Fred's eyes went straight to the shiny, sleek brooms that were firmly clutched in every member's hand.

"Yes they are. A gift, from our seeker's father." Adrian Pucey, a Slytherin chaser answered smugly.

"Who is this new Seeker?"

They parted to reveal a highly familiar, platinum blonde. "Malfoy?" Harry and Ron burst out almost together. Harry could hardly contain his surprise. When had he made the team?

"That's right Weasley. You see, unlike some, my father can afford the best." He sneered at Ron. Harry wasn't upset over the brooms. He was far more put out by the revelation that his nemesis had bribed his way into the team.

Hermione seemed to share his thoughts as well. "At least none of the Gryffindors bought their spot on the team. They earned it." 

Malfoy glared at the Muggleborn-witch. "It would be very much appreciated if you kept your mouth shut you useless mudblood!" He snapped. Tears sprang to Hermione's eyes the moment that vile word had left Draco's mouth. "How dare you say that! You'll pay for that Malfoy. Eat slugs!" It took  Ron less than half a minute to hex the pureblooded prat. But unfortunately, thanks to Ron's broken wand, the spell backfired. He fell to his knees with a groan and heaved.

Just as George pulled out his wand to curse Malfoy: "That's enough! All of you."

Sirius had come out for his daily morning jog when he heard all the commotion. He had just heard the Malfoy boy calling Hermione that horrible name. "Fred, take your brother to the hospital wing. The rest of you are to head back to the castle immediately. You'll can resume tomorrow onwards. Take a break today. Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy, please stay behind."

After shooting several dirty looks at each other, the two teams went back inside. Harry glared at Malfoy from the corner of his eye, mentally calming himself down. He didn't know what that particular word meant. Sirius had never mentioned it before but one look at Hermione's tear streaked face and Sirius' hard expression, he was sure that it meant something really bad. "Mr. Malfoy, I believe you need to say something to Ms. Granger." Said Sirius, loosely crossing his arms across his chest.

"I'm not apologising to her. I just called her what she is!" Malfoy snapped.

"Twenty points from Slytherin. Do I need to repeat myself?"

"I apologise Granger." He ground out as if those words caused him too much pain. "You've just earned yourself detention. Tomorrow evening, 7 o' clock. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir." He mumbled, looking anywhere but at Sirius. "Good. Back to the castle."

Once Malfoy had stormed off, he looked down at the sniffling girl. He recalled the many times Lily had been called the exact same word many a time and he had been her shoulder to cry on, on more than one occasion. Here was another such girl right in front of him. "Hey, Hermione look at me please." She complied hesitantly, wiping her eyes with one hand. "There's absolutely no need to feel inferior or bad about what Malfoy said. You'll find scores of people like him along the way. You're a brilliant student Hermione. Don't let anything or anyone change that. Do you understand? You're an amazing person and that's what matters. Okay?"

His words had the desired effect on her and Hermione offered him a slightly teary smile, nodding at him. "You're right Professor. Thank you." Sirius only offered her a large grin and allowed them to go back to the castle.

That day after lunch, Ron was released from the hospital wing. Although he had been cured completely, he was still bloody mad at Malfoy. He went on about how he wanted to burst into the Slytherin common room and hex him. He had however been elated when he heard that Malfoy had been assigned detention by Sirius. 'Your godfather has earned my permanent respect mate!' was what he had said.

****************

Harry, Ron and Hermione had just finished dinner and were heading back to their dormitory when Harry heard it again.

"Rip...... Tear...... Kill"

He stumbled to a halt, clutching at the stone wall, listening with all his might, looking around, squinting up and down the dimly lit passageway.

"Harry, what're you — ?"

"It's that voice again Ron. The one I heard a couple of weeks ago."

"soo hungry ..... so long...." Harry strained his ears. Distantly, from the floor above, and growing fainter still, he heard the voice: ". . . I smell blood. . . . I SMELL BLOOD!"

"I think someone's in danger. It's going to kill!" Harry shouted. Ron and Hermione stared at each other and then at Harry like he was mental. He followed the voice as it kept getting louder and finally stopped short in front of a wall. His eyes widened with horror as he stared at the angry red writing on the wall:

"THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED,
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE!"

"W-What's that?" Ron whimpered, the quiver in his voice evident as he pointed towards something below the writing.

As they edged nearer, Harry almost slipped — there was a large puddle of water on the floor; Ron and Hermione grabbed him, and they inched toward the message, eyes fixed on a dark shadow beneath it. All three of them realized what it was at once, and leapt backward with a splash. It was Mrs. Norris, Flich's cat.

"I say we get out of here right now. Trust me, we do not want to be found here." Said Ron but alas, it was a wee bit too late. From either end of the corridor where they stood came the sound of hundreds of feet climbing the stairs, and the loud, happy talk of well-fed people; next moment, students were crashing into the passage from both ends.
The chatter, the bustle, the noise died suddenly as the people in front spotted the hanging cat. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood alone, in the middle of the corridor, as silence fell among the mass of students.

An angry yell ripped out of someone's throat, braking the stunned silence. There, standing at the beginning of the corridor, with an anger and angst marking his face was none other than Argus Filch.

**********

Draco Malfoy was having a horrible day. He regretted calling Granger a mudblood for one major reason: he was currently scrubbing the floors of the classrooms on the third floor with a toothbrush! He remembered the warning Black had given regarding prejudiced comments but he hadn't known that the Professor had actually meant what he had said. This truly was his worst detention ever. He wiped his forehead and flexed his arms. He felt like a bloody house elf!

Sirius was sitting at the desk, when he heard an enraged shout. He frowned slightly. "Mr. Malfoy, I think that's enough. You're free to go." It didn't take the blonde boy more than ten seconds to bolt out of the classroom after a brief nod at Sirius.

Swiftly rising from his seat, the animagus made his way toward the source of that sound.

*********

"My cat! My cat! What happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked and just as luck would have it, his popping eyes fell on Harry.

"You!"he screeched. "You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll —" Harry drew back and flinched as the caretaker glared at him hatefully.

"ARGUS! That's enough!"

Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept past Harry, Ron, and Hermione and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket, his eyes losing their twinkle as he saw the red writing on the wall. "Prefects, you'll will escort the students to their respective dormitories. Mr. Potter, you shall stay behi-"

"What's going on here?" Sirius demanded, entering the hallway. He took in the sight in front of him: the message on the wall, all the professors gathered in one place, students exiting the hall in a hurry, Filch's murderous expression and Harry's stricken look.

"Wha' happened is dat your bloody boy killed my cat!" Filch spat, glaring at Sirius.

"Sirius I swear I didn't do anything! Please, you have to believe me." Green eyes locked with grey, pleading innocent. Sirius' gaze softened as he looked at the distraught boy.

He then turned to Filch, his eyes hardening from a pleasant silver to a steely grey. When Sirius spoke, his voice was soft but deadly. "Let me get something straight here. I will not have you accusing my son for absolutely no fault of his. I will let it slide this one time but know this: the next time you- anyone says anything remotely unfair about Harry, you will be sorry."

It wasn't an idle threat and the caretaker as well as all the professors and seemed to realise it. The boy who lived finally had someone to protect him.

Dumbledore was the one who broke the uncomfortable silence. "Professors, it's been a long day. I feel it's best if we continue this matter tomorrow. I wish you all good night." He turned around and left without another word.

One by one, all the professors cleared out until Harry and Sirius were the only ones left. Harry couldn't wait any longer. "Sirius I swear, I had nothing to do with it." He said, once more.

"I know pup, I believe you."

Harry offered Sirius a weak smile and wrapped his arms around him. "What's this for kiddo?" He asked, pleasantly surprised at the sudden hug. "No reason."

*********

They needed to talk but this wasn't the place. Once the two of them were reached Sirius' quarters, the man took his godson by the shoulders. "Tell me everything Harry." The words weren't a request.

Harry told Sirius about all that had happened after dinner. He left out the part where he heard the voice in the corridor. By the time he was done, Sirius had pursed his lips into a thin line, his expression grim. He couldn't help but feel as if something was missing. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

Harry bit his lip, thinking of what to say. He so badly wanted to tell Sirius about the chilling voice that he kept hearing but he just couldn't bring himself to spill everything. "No, nothing else." He lied, feeling worse than ever. It hasn't escaped his notice that Sirius had called him his son in front of all the professors. He had been overwhelmed with emotion when he had heard that. Sure, Sirius was his father in every aspect that mattered but until now, Harry never knew that the man felt the same way. He felt completely horrible for lying to the man who had become his father.

The Animagus looked down at the forlorn face and decided not to push him any more. Things weren't okay as of now. He knew more about the chamber of secrets thanks to his upbringing and it wasn't a pleasant topic at all. He'd do what he had to keep Harry safe but he'd deal with everything as it came. For now, a good night's sleep would do both of them a lot of good.

"Well in that case, I suggest that you get some sleep. You have a big day ahead and I'm looking forward to watching you catch the snitch tomorrow." Sirius answered, trying to lighten the mood, although his smile was genuine. He really was waiting for tomorrow's Quidditch match. He'd seen Harry fly many a time and it had taken him five minutes to realise that his boy was an even better flier than James. He had absolutely no doubt regarding who would win the match.

"Goodnight pup, I love you." Sirius said, gently propelling him towards his room. Once Harry was all tucked in and alone, he gave in and said what he had been wanting to say to Sirius since the past couple of weeks. He just wasn't brave enough to say it to his face. So for now, he was content with saying it softly, when no one was around:

"I love you too Dad."

Chapter Text

Harry stood next to Wood and took a deep breath. This was it. They had been training vigorously for the past few days for this match. Wood had worked the team hard and everyone had done so without a word of complaint. The entire team wanted to win the cup this year, more than ever before.

"We can do this. Just focus on what we've been doing since the past couple of days. We are going to win this." Oliver said in a low voice.

The doors were thrown open and the entire Gryffindor team walked into the pitch, head held high and nervousness well hidden. There was a huge round of applause and cheering from the stands as the seven players entered. If any of the students had been shaken by last night's events, then it certainly didn't show now as they screamed their lungs out in pitch.

Harry turned his head in the direction of the Professors' stand and saw Sirius. The man gave him his trademark wink and a wide smile. All the best, he mouthed the words to his godson.

Harry smiled back. It was a half nervous smile though. He could do this. He had to win this. He wanted to make Sirius proud and that's exactly what he would do today. The apprehension dimmed a little, replaced by determination.

The Slytherin team entered the pitch and the Slytherin stands erupted with cheering but the response from the other three houses was greatly underwhelming.

"Captains, shake hands." Madam Hooch ordered. Wood and Flint glared daggers at each other before nearly crushing each other's hands. Harry saw Malfoy giving him a dirty look and immediately returned the favour. There was no way he was losing today's game.

"Mount your brooms!"

Harry straddled his broom and kicked off forcefully from, the ground, feeling the familiar rush of excitement. The other players did the same.

Hooch released the quaffle and blew her whistle. "Let the match begin!"

Harry flew higher, higher than anyone else, his eyes squinting around for the snitch. Malfoy followed him closely, doing the same. His eyes darted around everywhere before he saw it.

There it was, the pesky little object was nothing more than the slightest glimmer of gold. It was hovering above Adrian Pucey's head. He dived down sharply, whizzing past George who was determined to whack a bludger into Flint's head.

Harry felt a rough shove against his left shoulder as Malfoy pushed him with his. He narrowly missed hitting himself against a pole. "You alright there scarhead?" He sneered before flying past Harry, having spotted the snitch himself.

Harry zoomed after Malfoy, trying to overtake him. Every now and then he heard Lee Jordan hollering, his voice carrying through the Quidditch pitch.

"IT SEEMS POTTER AND MALFOY HAVE SPOTTED THE SNITCH!" Lee Jordan, the commentator yelled.

"AND THERE GOES GRYFFINDOR CHASER KATIE BELL AND YES!! SHE SCORES!!" The crowd cheered, scarlet and gold banners waving furiously as they screamed with excitement.

Gryffindor was currently leading with 80-50. All Harry had to do now was catch the snitch. Steadily, the other chasers from both houses also scored goals.

He had lost the snitch again and his eyes roamed the air wildly, trying to spot it. His eyes landed on Malfoy, who had apparently seen the snitch. With a sharp tug of his broom, he dashed after him. The two of them went shoulder to shoulder, pushing and shoving each other. They dived, went left, right and everything else.

From the stands, Sirius watched Harry's various twists and dives with pride. Malfoy junior wasn't all that bad either. He seemed to be nearly keeping pace with Harry. It was a good game.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lucius Malfoy sitting straight and tense, his pale face was drawn tightly as he observed the two seekers.

The whole crowd watched with bated breath as two semi-blurred figures of green and scarlet flew with their hands outstretched. Anything could happen as of now.

Suddenly, the snitch shot upwards and Harry, being the better flier jerked his handle upward sharply and with one swift grab, he captured the snitch firmly within his hand.

"HARRY POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS WITH TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY POINTS!"

There was moment of silence before almost the entire pitch erupted with shouts of admiration and applause. Sirius leapt to his feet and clapped, harder than ever before as the students chanted 'Potter!' over and over. He decided to let his friends and team congratulate Harry before going over and doing so himself.

The Slytherins jeered but they were barely audible though. Once everyone had voiced their cheers, Sirius made his way to his godson.

"That was some flying there kiddo." Harry's head turned around to see his godfather standing behind him. Harry threw his arms around Sirius' waist and hugged him with all his might, not caring that his friends were watching. "I'm so proud of you pup. You were absolutely brilliant out there." Sirius said and it was the complete truth. "Thanks Sirius."  His voice was heavy with emotion as he took in the pure happiness on Sirius' face. He'd do anything for that look of unadulterated euphoria. "I'll see you later. Okay?" Harry nodded and watched as Sirius left.

He was just about to leave as well when he bumped into someone. "Mr. Potter, we meet again." Harry looked up to see Lucius Malfoy glaring down at him disdainfully. "Strutting about the place are we?"

Harry forced himself to remain quiet. He wouldn't give the man the satisfaction of getting to him. When Malfoy got no reply, he taunted him further. "Quite the insolent one, aren't you, just like your pathetic godfather."

That was the last straw for Harry. Nobody was allowed to say one bad word about Sirius. He looked the blonde patriarch dead in the eye: "Neither is my godfather insolent, nor is he pathetic. I think you've confused him with yourself, sir."

Malfoy lost his sneer at that. He stepped closer to Harry, grabbed his upper arm in a vice like grip and yanked him closer. Harry tried to wrench himself free of Malfoy's hold but he couldn't. The momentary flare of his temper had vanished now, replaced by the sense of helplessness and fear that was all too familiar to Harry. Lowering his face till they were facing each other, he snarled at Harry: "You do not want me as your enemy Potter, otherwise you shall meet the same sorry end your parents did."

He felt tears prick his eyes due to the severe grip on his upper arm plus the digs at his dead parents but there was no way in hell that he was going to cry in front of Malfoy. All the professors had gone back to the castle so he couldn't even shout for help.

After what seemed like forever, the haughty man released his grip, gave Harry one last disgusted look before walking away with his robes billowing behind him. Harry took a deep breath and forced the tears down with great difficulty. He wouldn't cry. His arm was still throbbing but he wouldn't let it affect him. He'd faced worse injuries before.

He stood there for a little more, in the empty pitch, a little shaken before deciding to go up to meet Sirius. He really wasn't in the mood for a party in the common room anymore.

As he climbed inside, Harry  schooled his features before looking at Sirius. He didn't want his godfather to know that something was wrong. Once he was sure that he wouldn't give anything away, he stepped inside the room.

******************

Sirius didn't have any classes to teach that day so he was totally free. "Hey kiddo," he greeted as he heard Harry climb through the portrait hole.

As Harry came in, Sirius casually held out his arm, beckoning Harry towards him and his godson complied almost immediately. He threw his arm around Harry.

Harry leaned into Sirius' side, burying his face in the man's shirt. Sirius, totally oblivious to his pup's bruised arm, lightly jostled Harry's arm and the latter winced harshly.

Sirius frowned at this. He was sure he hadn't been hard in the least. "Pup, did you hurt yourself during Quidditch?" He asked, worried.

Harry froze at that. "No." He replied, a little too quickly. He should have known better than to assume that he'd be able to hide his wound from Sirius. "I'm fine Sirius." Harry lied. He'd been doing a lot of that lately and honestly, he was starting to feel a bit pathetic.

"Let me see it." Sirius stated. "It's nothing Sirius, really." Harry tried one last time. "Well if its nothing, I don't see why I can't take a look at it. Now Harry."

With a sigh, Harry pulled off his robe and held out his left arm. Sirius rolled up Harry's shirt sleeve and there he saw it: right there, on Harry's upper arm was an angry mark of a red hand, circling the thin bicep. It was slightly swollen as well.

"Who did this?" Sirius surprised himself with the amount of rage in his voice but as of now, he couldn't care less. He wanted nothing more than to find that filth who had done this to his son and rip their throat out. Whoever had the gall to do this, was going to pay. Heavily.

"Harry, who was it?" Sirius asked again, barely controlling his temper.

Harry knew that there was no getting out of this. Maybe if he kept quiet for s really long time, Sirius wouldn't push him. He was well aware that his guardian would go ballistic when he found out who had done it. He didn't want to make a big deal of it. "Harry James," Sirius' tone had turned impatient now.

"It was Lucius Malfoy." He finally blurted out.

Sirius saw red the moment he heard the name slip out of Harry's mouth. How dare that bloody bastard! If he knew Malfoy well, there was more to this story. "What else did he say?" He forced the words out in a somewhat calm tone although his hands were itching to beat that arsehole to a pulp.

As quickly as he could, Harry narrated the entire incident. Part of Sirius was touched by the way Harry had defended him but the other major half was fuming.

He knew that he was too angry now and if he did anything rash, Harry would become the recipient of his anger and that was the last thing he wanted.

He took a deep breath and counted to ten in four different languages. Once sufficiently calm, he summoned some ointment. Wordlessly, he gently took hold of Harry's arm and dabbed the salve on that particular area. The slight flinch from the boy only added to his anger.

Sirius had felt anger, fury and rage many a time in his life but presently, he was purely livid. Malfoy was going to pay. But now, he had to calm down.

Ten minutes later, he was sufficiently calm to speak without yelling.

"Don't worry pup, it'll get better." Sirius soothed, once he had finished applying the salve. "Thanks." Harry replied.

Now that Harry's wound had been taken care of, it was time for plan payback.

*********

"Ah here it is!" Remus exclaimed, pulling out an old parchment from the huge pile of dusty books and letters. He handed the letter to Sirius who opened it with a rather evil smile.

His eyes skimmed the letter, his smile widening as he went through it. "So, how much does it come up to?" Asked Remus looking rather curious himself.

"30 billion galleons." Sirius replied, looking like Christmas had arrived early.

The two of them were currently in one of the many rooms of Black Manor, plotting revenge against Malfoy. They had come up with several ideas when Sirius had remembered something.

His father had spoken on several occasions about how the Malfoys were in debt. It had all started with Nicholas Malfoy. He had borrowed money from the Blacks, his descendants had followed his footsteps but no one had borrowed as much money as the current Malfoy head.

Although he wasn't like his family, there were some traits that had been invariably passed on from his father. Sirius was ultimately a Black and the Blacks were known for their absolute ruthlessness towards those who dared to cross them. Although 30 billion galleons wasn't that large a sum for Sirius, it was more than ten times Malfoy's net worth.

Sirius knew that Malfoy would never be able to repay the debt even if he sold all his houses, businesses and gave up his assets. He would definitely be out on the streets. Now, Sirius wasn't that cruel. He wasn't going to demand the entire sum. He'd just send out a little warning to make sure that Malfoy would think not twice,but a thousand bloody times before harming him or his godson.

"How much of it are you going to exact?" Remus didn't know about the entire plan. Just bits and pieces.

"I'm not sure."

"You're really going to make him pay, aren't you?" Although it was a question, Remus already knew the answer. Sirius was a very good person but you simply did not get away with messing with him. He almost pitied Malfoy. Almost.

The man deserved every bit of the disaster coming his way. Not just for the way he had manhandled Harry, but also for the way he had treated those less privileged than him.

"You must come with me to the castle for dinner. Harry'll be glad to see you." Sirius offered, knowing that his pup liked the genial werewolf.

"I'd come but the full moon is two days away, Sirius. You know how grumpy I can get. I don't want to be around Harry at such times." He reminded his friend.

"Fine. But I won't be accepting any excuse next time onwards." Sirius quipped.

Remus left after a while and Sirius went back to Hogwarts. Harry wasn't there so he figured that the boy had gone to his dorm. He decided to put the plan into action and pulled out some parchment and quill and began to pen a letter to Lucius Malfoy.

Once done, Sirius signed the letter and grinned in satisfaction. This would certainly shake Malfoy. He went over the contents one last time before attaching it to his owl's leg and sending it off.

*********

Malfoy Senior drew in a deep satisfied breath as he sat in his study at Malfoy Manor and sipped his firewhiskey. He was feeling rather content with the day's events. Although his disappointment of a son had embarrassed him in front of hundreds of students by losing the game, he had had the pleasure of putting the Potter boy in his place.

He was about to take another sip when an owl soared into the room and landed on his desk. It was no ordinary owl. It was an Eurasian eagle owl- very expensive and very rare. He knew of only one person who owned such an owl. His doubts were confirmed further when he saw the Black seal on the letter.

What could the man want with him?

He detached the letter from the owl's leg and opened the letter:

To: Lucius Malfoy,
Head of House of Malfoy

You are requested to read the parchment attached to this letter with utmost care. Kindly follow the instructions mentioned and no consequences shall have to be enforced.

Lord Sirius Black,
Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.

His previous mirth left him as he finished reading the letter. He pulled out the folded parchment and opened it. Merlin! What the bloody hell did this mean?

30 billion galleons! He couldn't bloody repay such an enormous sum. He had until tomorrow noon to pay the first instalment of 500 million galleons. There was no way he could return that sum without losing all his wealth and more.

He had always known that his family was in debt to the Blacks but he had never known that the sum was this large. No, he wouldn't pay. He'd go tomorrow to Hogwarts at noon and give Black a piece of his mind!

*****************

Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in a bedroom in the Defence quarters playing exploding snap or trying to play rather. "Ronald, you need to finish Professor Sprout's mandrake essay. You hadn't done it last time either." "Hermione will you give it a rest? I'll do it later." Ron answered exasperatedly.

Sirius couldn't help but smile as he heard the exchange. Definitely like them. There was a persistent, angry knocking on the portrait and smirked. He knew exactly who that was. He erected a privacy ward in the room before opening the door.

"What's the bloody meaning of this?" Malfoy demanded by way of greeting as he stormed inside, past Sirius, angrily waving a parchment in Sirius' face.

"I take that you're not illiterate Malfoy and have read the contents of the letter. It is exactly what it says. Judging by your behaviour, the first 500 million galleons haven't been deposited in my account?" Sirius asked, his voice as casual and calm as though he were inquiring about the weather.

He took a seat on one of the armchairs, his right ankle resting on his left knee. He didn't bother inviting Malfoy to take a seat.

"No it hasn't and it won't. You better get that straight!" Sirius appeared unfazed by the rude remark. The warning he had given to Malfoy in Diagon Alley hadn't had much effect on the man.

"You know Lucius, for someone who's in a lot of financial trouble, you are certainly showing a lot of disrespect."

"I asked you to pay up but you haven't and so now, you'll bear the consequences. As you know, I own sixty percent of the prophet. It won't take more than a letter from my side to have your 'good name' tarnished or your businesses torn down. All that shall be taken care of by the end of tomorrow."

The threat was informally put forth but all the colour drained from Malfoy's face. "Y-You wouldn't do t-that." His voice had lost the arrogant sneer by now.

"Try me Malfoy. Just you try. You'll see for yourself." Sirius drawled. Sitting in the armchair, looking completely at ease, a malicious smile on his handsome features, he looked far from the carefree Marauder everyone knew. Right now, he looked every bit of the Black lord few had encountered and were left utterly terrified. It was a side of him few people knew.

"W-Why are you doing this?" Beads of perspiration had gathered on his forehead. He was now sure that Black would go to all lengths to ruin him. It was no secret that Blacks were known to be merciless towards those who stood against them.

"I'd given you a warning the last time regarding staying away from my son. I'd made myself clear and yet the bruise on his left arm suggests otherwise. I don't know what made you do it and frankly, I don't care, but now, it's time for you to pay the piper."

Malfoy mentally cursed himself. How could he have forgotten about that! So that's what all this was about. He didn't feel so smug about hurting the Potter spawn now.

"Your son's got quite the mouth on him. Your doing I assume." Sirius went on stating numerous offences in a very offhand manner but his eyes were deadly. "If I were his father, he'd not even dream of speaking like that to anyone. But then again, it's not entirely his fault. You're the one to blame. Like all the other things I've just said, it's your mistake and so now you'll pay the price for it. Literally."

"I-I can't pay that." Malfoy said, arrogant tone now pleading. "Not without landing myself on the streets." He couldn't even repay the first instalment let alone the entire sum.

"Well, you should've thought about that before harming Harry." Sirius replied, his expression neutral. "Well, since it is clear that you are unable to repay the debt, I'll have to resort to other measures. You know, make sure that you don't ever think of something like this again. You're free to go now."

"W-What will you d-do?" Asked Malfoy, his face deathly pale.

"That's for me to know and you to dot dot dot."

The platinum blonde was stuck. He had to extract himself from this situation. He looked at Black who was sitting comfortably, at ease. He wasn't looking at him right now, he was thumbing through a magazine. Slowly, he reached into the inside of his robe sleeve and took hold of his wand. No one would have to know about what happened. But even before he could pull out his wand completely, it flew out of his hand and into Black's outstretched palm.

"You really thought it would be that easy did you? Non payment of debts, attempted attack on the Head of your family? My, my you've really gotten yourself into a fix haven't you?" Sirius hadn't moved from his easy position. All he had done was mentally utter an 'expelliarmus' and the wand had flown out of Malfoy's hand. He always had been rather skilled at wandless as well as non-verbal magic.

His last weapon was gone as well. He was truly defenceless as of now.

Let me go. If you insist on having the money, I'll be more than ruined. I'm willing to do anything you ask. I'll stay away from Potter forever, I'll keep Draco in check as well."

Ah. Now they were getting somewhere. "Your promises won't help you now but may be of some use to you in the future. Like I said, you're free to go now."

He wouldn't even look at Potter again, that was for certain. With a defeated sigh, he left, knowing fully well that the next few days wouldn't be good for him.

He couldn't have been more right.

*************

UNPAID DEBTS?
Lucius Malfoy has been quite the influential personality over the last decade. The several 'donations' that he has made to various departments of the ministry have helped in development. But what if there was more to this story?

It was discovered only yesterday that Malfoy, who is considered to be one of the richest wizards in Britain has a huge collection of unpaid debts, lined up and waiting. It's not just him. This debt is way overdue. It's all began nearly 400 years ago with Nicholas Malfoy who started off by borrowing 60,000 galleons from Aries Black-I. The sum grew over the centuries as all of his descendants followed his footsteps. Now, finally the sum has expanded to an immense, unimaginable amount of 30 billion galleons! Hard to believe that the Malfoys are in debt to the Blacks and that they always have been!

Well, isn't this the perfect example of don't judge a book by its cover? Who would've thought that the Malfoy tree had such weak roots?

Lucius Malfoy remains stubbornly quiet, refusing to shed any more light on this topic. His shameful behaviour only further reveals his true character.

Keep reading for more!

"Blimey Harry, can you believe this?" Ron asked, waving the paper in Harry's face. The mentioned boy looked equally stunned. "I know right, who could've known?"

They looked over to the Slytherin table but Malfoy wasn't there. "He's probably too ashamed to show his face. This is great don't you think? Now Malfoy won't be throwing his weight around anymore. Serves him right I say." Ron looked ecstatic.

"Ron, that's not very nice. You can't just say things like that about someone." Hermione admonished in her usual manner. "Whatever 'Mione."

"I don't think people are going to stop talking about this any time soon." Said Harry and boy was he right.

A week passed and although the discussion of the topic 'Malfoy Debt' reduced, it never settled down completely. Draco had stopped acting like a prat but maintained a sullen expression all the time.

*****

"So, what you saw was the stunning spell. We'll be performing it in the next class. Dismissed." Sirius wrapped up his class with the fifth years. No sooner had the students shuffled out, closing the door, the door of the class room burst open and Professor Mcgonagall walked in (nearly ran) hurriedly, followed by Sprout and Flitwick.

They seemed to be relieved that the students weren't present. One look at their faces and Sirius immediately knew that something was wrong.

"What happened?"

"Another student has been petrified."

Chapter Text

The atmosphere of the room became significantly colder at that. Sirius wasn't sure what to say. "Severus has taken him to the hospital wing. We're not exactly sure about how to cure him." Mcgonagall said, her face taut with worry.

"Who was the student?" Sirius inquired. 

"Colin Creevy." Sirius searched his mind for the student of the given name and easily recalled the first year Gryffindor who had followed Harry for quite a few days since the school had reopened. Sirius had had quite a laugh back then.

"I think we should warn the students and we need to make sure this doesn't escalate into something any bigger. Where's Albus?" Asked Sirius. 

"He's in the hospital wing as well." 

"Fine. Please do keep me updated." Sirius answered, clearly tensed. The professors nodded, before showing themselves out of the classroom. This was so not good. He knew a lot of things about the Chamber of secrets and unsurprisingly, none of them were pleasant. 

************

"Students, quiet down please! This is an important announcement." All the students settled down at the razor sharp voice of their Head of House. Harry looked at Mcgonagall's face, wondering what was so urgent. "There have been certain events at Hogwarts recently. Only today, Colin Creevy, your fellow house member was found petrified." 

There was a sharp gasp from the students. "We don't know what caused this or why this has happened. Unfortunately, in light of this event, you'll will not be allowed to stay back during Christmas vacations. You shall return after the break. Until the holidays, lessons shall continue as per the normal schedule. For safety measures, no student is to be left alone in the corridors, at any time, under any circumstances whatsoever. Further details shall be given to you later." 

Everyone hung on to every word Mcgonagall had just said, absorbing the information. To say that Harry was stunned was an understatement. This incident further made it clear that it would be best if he told Sirius about the voices that he had been hearing. He knew that Sirius would be less than pleased with him if the man found out that he was hiding things from him. 

"I'm going to bed," he suddenly announced to his two friends. 

"But it's only 8 o'clock, Harry." Said Hermione, looking worried.

 "I'm tired 'mione. I'll see you'll tomorrow." That wasn't a complete lie. For some reason, his head was aching a bit. He picked up his books and went off to meet Sirius. He decided to spend the night there instead of his dorm.

As he climbed the staircase, he made up his mind to tell his godfather everything. He didn't want to hide things anymore. He had done a lot of lying and he was pretty sure that if he kept up with this charade, he'd get his mouth scourgified. He did not want that happening. 

*********

"Hey, pup." Sirius greeted as Harry walked in. His smile however faded the moment he saw the look on the boy's face. He looked quite pale and he was pretty sure that his godson hadn't had dinner or lunch that day. Something was not right here and Sirius wasn't going to rest until he found out. But first, dinner. 

He gestured Harry over to the living room sofa and called for some dinner. "I'm not hungry, Sirius." Harry protested but the look from the man was enough to get him to eat. So, with a resigned sigh he picked up his fork and started to shovel chicken salad into his mouth.

After he had eaten, he threw his head back against the sofa and closed his eyes. He felt long fingers stroking his hair and relaxed slightly. "What's wrong, kiddo?" 

Harry's eyes shot open and he looked at Sirius who was sitting in front of him. Did the man really know him so well? "Promise you won't get mad?" He asked in a small voice.

"I can't promise that pup. But I can promise to hear you out completely. You need to trust me and tell me what's been bothering you. I can't help but notice that you haven't been eating properly. I can't have you slacking off when it comes to your health. I won't allow you to do this to yourself. You need your strength. Even your grades are falling." Sirius paused for a moment. "Tell me what's going on Harry." 

It wasn't a request. "I've been hearing these voices lately." He confessed. Sirius's face grew concerned at this. 

Leaning forward so that he could get a better look at the boy's face that was bowed, he steepled his fingers. "Continue."

"It started a few days after school reopened. I heard it on my way back to the dorm after Ron and I were walking back from detention. It was a very cold, chilling voice......I heard it again the day Filch's cat was petrified." 

Throughout his explanation, Harry kept his gaze firmly on the carpet, not wanting to meet Sirius's eyes. Firm fingers took hold of his chin, tilting his face upwards. Harry mentally cringed when he saw the stormy expression on Sirius's face. Definitely what he had been expecting. 

"All this started nearly two months ago and you're telling me everything now. Why?" Sirius inquired sternly. 

Harry dropped his eyes. "I didn't want to stand out as the freak." He whispered, feeling horrible. 

 He hadn't told Sirius about it because he didn't want to feel like the biggest freak on the planet. He had talked to Ron and Hermione about the mysterious voice and they had told him that it wasn't normal to hear things, even in the Wizarding World. So did that make him a freak? Of course it did.

"Pup, why on earth would you feel that way? You're. Not. A. Freak. Do you understand that?" Sirius asserted. 

The boy remained stubbornly silent, refusing to acknowledge the words and seeing the emotions fly across Harry's face, Sirius's expression softened. Whatever this was, it was serious. "Did you hear the voice again after that day?" When Harry shook his head, Sirius remained silent. 

He'd read several things about the Chamber of Secrets but he had never come across any voice. Absolutely nothing. He decided to go and take a look in the Black Library later and see if he found anything. 

 But now, he needed to see to his godson, his own son rather. One look told him that his pup most certainly wasn't alright. Quelling his anger, he reached forward and gently hoisted Harry off his seat and pulled him into his lap. The boy responded by wrapping his arms around Sirius in a death grip, tucking his face into the crook of Sirius's neck.

"You're not a freak. Absolutely not. I don't care what your relatives told you but you are most certainly not a freak." Sirius stated once again, resolutely, daring Harry to contradict his words. After what seems like ages, he felt Harry nod against his neck. "We'll figure out the cause of these voices. Don't you worry."

"At the end of the day, of doesn't matter that you're the Boy-Who-Lived. Not to me. You're just a boy, my boy and I'm not going to let anything happen to you. We're going to be alright. Everything will turn out fine."

If only Sirius knew how wrong he was.

***********

After that day, things didn't get better, they only got worse.

Nearly a month after Colin Creevy was petrified, another student was attacked. Justin Finch-Fletchley, a second year Hufflepuff was found petrified in the fifth floor corridor, along with Nearly Headless Nick.

Susan Bones, another Hufflepuff had told the Professors that the second years had finished Herbology and were heading to their Potions lesson. Justin had realised that he had forgotten his homework back in the Hufflepuff common room. He had told his friends to go on and he went to fetch it. 

The next time they saw him, he was lying on the floor, on the fifth floor. 

Mcgonagall was furious at this blatant disregard for school rules. Despite repeated warnings about not wandering off alone, the boy had gone off by himself. Further restrictions were placed upon the students and the rules became more rigid. All classes after six o' clock in the evening were canceled. 

Sirius had practically scoured every book in the Black library for any information about strange voices but nothing turned up.

Harry and Sirius had gone to Dumbledore and had told him about the  voices but even the wise headmaster had been at a loss. Finally, the matter was dropped. Dumbledore suggested that they wait it out and see what happened next.

"I don't know what to do, Ron." Harry grumbled. He had heard the voice again that day and it was driving him crazy. "I thought it would get better but its not. I keep hearing it every now and then." He confessed to his best friend.

Ron looked at his best mate sympathetically, not really sure about what to say. "This is not good. Harry is hearing voices and students are getting petrified. These two events have to be connected in someway, correct?" Hermione pondered aloud. 

"Right. You can sit and think all you like later on, 'Mione. Its nearly dinner time and I don't want to be late. My stomach's rumbling." Ron stated firmly. Inspite of himself, Harry smiled slightly. Typical Ron, always hungry. 

Trust his best mate to cheer him up in the weirdest of ways. "Fine, lets go." 

On their way, on the first floor, they heard someone sobbing hysterically. "Who could that be?" Hermione asked.

 "It could be a student but I'm hungry!" Ron grumbled. Harry pulled out his wand and followed the direction of the cries, ignoring Ron's protests. Seeing no other option, the two of them followed Harry.

The crying got louder as they neared the girls lavatory. Ron stopped short when they reached the entrance. "There's no bloody way I'm going in there." He retorted. 

"Quit being such a baby Ronald. No one comes in here anyway. This is Moaning Myrtle's bathroom." Hermione assured him as they went inside. For some reason, the place was all wet. 

"Whose Moaning Myrtle?" Ron questioned.

"I'M MOANING MYRTLE!"

They looked up to see a girl or a ghost actually, glaring down at the trio. She was wearing Hogwarts robes, her hair was tied in two ponytails and she had worn round framed glasses. "Come to throw something at me again have you?" She snapped, looking more sad than angry.

 "Why would we want to do that?" Harry asked, looking confused. 

"Don't ask me," Myrtle shouted, emerging with a wave of yet more water, which splashed onto the already sopping floor. "Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me. . . ."

"But it can't hurt you if someone throws something at you," said Ron, reasonably. "I mean, it'd just go right through you, wouldn't it?"

He had said the wrong thing. Myrtle puffed herself up and shrieked, bringing her face close to Ron's. "Let's all throw books at Myrtle, because she can't feel it! Ten points if you can get it through her stomach! Fifty points if it goes through her head! Well, ha, ha, ha! What a lovely game!" She bit out sarcastically. 

"Where's that book now?" Harry looked at her questioningly.

"It's over there, it got washed out. . . ." Harry and Ron looked under the sink where Myrtle was pointing. A small, thin book lay there. It had a shabby black cover and was as wet as everything else in the bathroom. Harry reached forward and picked up the wet book. 

"Who threw it at you anyway?" 

"I don't know. Now get out!" She snarled, her anger returning with full force. Not wanting to stay any longer, the three of them waded out of the flooded bathroom. 

"Well, that was... something." Harry said, tucking the diary into his bag.

 "There' a rumour that she died in this very bathroom and that's why she haunts the place." Hermione whispered, not wanting the ghost to hear her. Harry shivered involuntarily. Not pleasant at all. 

Ron looked at his watch and groaned. "Damn it! We missed dinner!"

*************

"That's all for today. No homework this time. Any questions." Sirius asked as he finished his lesson with the second years. Hermione's hand shot up into the air. "Yes Miss Granger?"

"Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us something about the Chamber of Secrets." Sirius remained silent at the odd request. Of course, he did know quite a bit on this matter and it wouldn't hurt if the students just knew the story behind it. He complied to Hermione's request.

"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago — the precise date is uncertain — by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution." 

He paused a bit before continuing. 

"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing. Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."

"That's all to the Chamber of Secrets. Nothing else is known as of this day." At that, the class broke out of their temporary trance before shuffling out of the classroom. 

***********

Harry and Ron climbed the portrait hole to Sirius's quarters after dinner. Sirius had allowed Ron to stay back with them that night so the two of them could have fun. Besides, with everything that was going on, it would do Harry good to get his mind off things. 

"Sirius!" Harry called out, setting his bag down on the sofa. "In here, little one." Sirius called back from his room. Harry's ears turned a deep shade of red as Ron snickered at the nickname. "Shut up!" He hissed, not angry in the least but embarrassed. Sure, he liked Sirius's various names for him but Ron didn't need to know all of them.

Sirius came outside and noticed his son's embarrassment and smiled slightly. "Go on and enjoy yourselves, you two." He said. The boys didn't need to be told twice. 

They pulled out the chessboard, exploding snap, chocolate frogs, Bertie Botts beans and a whole lot of other candies. Sirius joined them for a few games of Snap as well. Although Harry ate a little too much candy for Sirius's liking, he chose not to comment about it. It was great to see his pup laughing after so many days. 

Dinner was also fun. "So you see Ron, I had gone to James's house to look after Harry when said one year old thought it would be amusing if he-" 

Harry's eyes widened when he realised which story this was. It was so embarrassing! There was no way Ron, or anyone for that matter could know about this. Before Sirius could continue any further, he all but jumped out of his seat and clamped his hand over the man's mouth. "Nothing happened, Ron." He said loudly. 

"No, what happened was that Harry decided-"

"Nothing happened!" 

On Harry's  pleading stare, coupled with an adorable glare, Sirius spared his boy and the three of them laughed it off. After dinner, Harry and Ron resumed their game of chess while Sirius dealt with some lesson plans for the upcoming week.

Finally, at twelve thirty, Sirius was greeted by two very sleepy boys. Ron had fallen asleep on his spare bed and was snoring peacefully while Harry had curled up on the bean bag instead. With a fond smile, Sirius picked up his little green-eyed bundle and tucked him into his bed. 

*************

Christmas vacations began a week later. Hermione and Ron went home along with the other students since they'd weren't allowed to stay back. Harry however stayed back since Sirius was a professor. For the last few days, there had been no talk or incident about the Chamber of secrets and Harry couldn't have been happier. 

This would be his first proper Christmas with Sirius and he was really looking forward to it. The two of them were currently decorating the tree together. "And this goes right here." Said Sirius, hanging up a yellow bobble. The man let Harry hang up the star, feeling both happy as well as sad when he saw the look of wonder on his pup's face for such a small thing.

The clock struck eleven and Sirius opened his mouth to send Harry to bed but the boy beat him to it. "I think it's time you go to bed young man." He quipped, imitating Sirius's words quite well. 

Sirius was momentarily stunned before he barked out a laugh and caught Harry in a headlock, rubbing his knuckles against the messy black head. "Why you cheeky little rascal!" 

Sirius let Harry go after thoroughly tousling his already unmanageable hair. "Off to bed with you!" He ordered. The boy gave him a sleepy smile before making his way to his room.

The next morning, Harry awoke first which was surprising and so he decided to go and wake Sirius up, something he wouldn't have dared to do a few months ago. The boy tiptoed to his father's room, a mischievous smile on his face.

He opened the door, as quietly as possible and crept inside, toward the bed. The man had his back facing Harry and so with a deep breath, he pounced, ready to tickle the man awake. He wasn't prepared for what happened next. 

Sirius turned to face Harry just in time, sat up and caught the boy. He turned him around and pulled him close so that Harry was resting against his chest. He laughed softly, ruffling Harry's hair. "How did you know I was here?" Harry asked, his voice was a mixture of curiosity and mock indignation.

 "I'd be ruining all the fun if I told you, right?" 

"Merry Christmas pup," Sirius whispered, kissing his pup's forehead. "Merry Christmas, Sirius." Harry replied. The man stood, pulling him up as well. "Come on."

Harry's jaw dropped, the moment the two of them entered the living room. The Christmas tree had looked splendid last night but this morning, it was truly magnificent. Under the tree was the largest pile of presents he had ever seen. Brightly coloured parcels wrapped with different ribbons and strings. 

Seeing Harry's expression, Sirius threw his arm around the boy's shoulders, tugging him closer. "I know it seems a little too much but I have eleven years to make up for, kiddo." 

"You didn't have to do this for me, Sirius." Harry said, feeling rather overwhelmed by all these presents.

 "I know that. I wanted to do it for you." 

With a gentle nudge, Sirius propelled Harry towards the tree. "Have at it pup. The tree won't bite you." 

He sat down on the carpet and reached for a present. With fingers trembling with excitement, ever so slowly, Harry undid one corner of the wrapping paper. He did the same with the other side, taking care to not tear the wrapper even one bit. That's how it continued for over the next hour. Harry would pick up a present and open it almost reverently, breakfast long forgotten.

By the time he was done, he had a whole new collection of books (from Hermione and Remus), clothes and a broom servicing kit. Other than four or five if the presents, the rest were from Sirius. The gifts were all wonderful but what mattered most was the sentiment. "Thank you." He murmured for the nth time. "You're welcome, son." 

Now, although Sirius had referred to Harry as his son on several occasions, it never ceased to bring a smile on the boy's face. He'd been orphaned for so long . Harry didn't even remember James despite all the stories he had heard. His Aunt and Uncle had hated him and had  gone out of their way to mistreat and belittle him.  For the past so many years, he had actually been craving for someone who would be there for him. Someone who would hold him tight and tell him that he was a good boy, someone to tuck him in every night was and tell him that they loved him and were proud of him. 

The last few months had been amazing for Harry. He finally had that someone who would always be there for him. Sirius was absolutely brilliant. He couldn't have asked for anyone better. Truth be told, Sirius was the only father Harry had ever known. 

"Wait here. I'll be right back." He announced suddenly, running to his room. 

He pulled out the wrapped package from under his mattress. He could only hope that Sirius would like it. Feeling slightly nervous, he walked back to the living room. 

"This is for you." He mumbled, holding out his gift to Sirius, feeling shy all of a sudden. With a wide smile, Sirius accepted the package and opened it.

It was a framed picture but it wasn't anything ordinary. It was a picture of Harry and Sirius clicked from a magical camera. Sirius remembered the day quite well. The two of them had gone to Hogsmeade that day. They'd eaten at the Three Broomsticks after which Sirius had asked Rosmerta, the owner of the Inn to take the picture. 

Sirius had his arm around Harry's shoulders while the boy had thrown his arms around the man's waist. Both of them were laughing. On the bottom of the frame was a tiny inscription in Harry's handwriting:

Padfoot and his Pup. 

Sirius gently ran his finger over the messy scrawl, a smile etched on his handsome face. As he ran his hand along the back of the frame, he felt a piece of parchment graze his fingers. He turned the frame around and gently detached the small bit of parchment and opened it. 

Sirius's breath hitched when he saw what was written on it: 

Merry Christmas Dad,

I love you.

-Harry. 

Sirius looked at his pup who was sitting only a little away from him. He reached out and pulled the young wizard into a tight hug. "I love you pup." 

"I love you too, Dad." Harry whispered. He had never felt happier before. This truly was the best Christmas of his life. After a minute or two, Sirius released the boy and smiled down at him. 

"Come now, lets grab some breakfast after which everyone will be coming over. Best get ready quickly. That sounds good kiddo?" Sirius asked as he helped his son off the floor. 

"It sounds great.” And really, it was great.

**************

The day was absolutely wonderful. Later, Ron and the twins came over, as did Remus. Everyone exchanged greetings, ate cake, opened Christmas crackers and presents. 

Sirius took in the look of pure happiness on his son's face and knew that despite everything that was going in in the castle, they'd get through it. 

After lunch, once everyone had gone back, Harry threw himself on the sofa with a contended sigh. Christmas had turned out even better than he had imagined. He'd spent the day with his friends and his father. That's what mattered most. 

"So pup, you ready to leave?" Sirius asked, as he pulled on his coat. "Absolutely." Harry replied, pushing himself off the couch. 

And with that, the two of them left the castle for a night full of movies, popcorn, bike rides and completely fun and senseless chatter between father and son.

Chapter Text

"He actually got sealed in?" Ron asked for the third time.

"Yes Ron, he was sealed in." Harry replied. He hadn't ever mentioned what his Uncle had done to him throughout his childhood but this was a particularly funny one. He was telling Ron and Hermione about the visit to the zoo and how Dudley had ended up on the other side of the glass.

Ron had been openly laughing away but Hermione looked thoughtful. She hadn't said a word during the little story. "You can speak to snakes." She mused out in a hushed whisper. "You're a parselmouth." She continued.

"Blimey mate! She's right. How is it that you can talk to snakes?" Ron asked. His expression was a combination of awe and confusion.

"I don't know. I bet lots of people can do it." Harry defended. He was starting to get a little uncomfortable with the way the two of them were looking at him.

"No Harry, they can't. Parseltongue is a very rare..... gift. It's associated with the dark arts. There are very few known wizards and witches who can speak it. You-know-who was one of them." Hermione elaborated cautiously. She searched his expression for any sign of anger, fear or anything else but he remained neutral.

Harry felt sick. He was like Voldemort. What if he started hurting people? What if he became evil? He wasn't evil, he just wasn't. He couldn't be.

He looked at Ron who didn't have anything to say while Hermione was frowning intensely like her brain was running at a thousand miles per hour. "Come on, lets get to potions. The last thing I need is a detention from Snape." Harry tried to steer the conversation away and fortunately, it worked. The three of them gathered their books but, all the way to the dungeons, although Harry and Ron talked quite a bit, the bushy haired brunette didn't utter a word. Her mind was miles away.

During potions, Harry finally lost his temper. He had tried his utmost to keep his anger at bay but Snape had been particularly harsh and continuously taunted him, making snide remarks whenever possible. "Honestly Potter, you seemed to have surpassed all levels of stupidity. Your skills are deplorable. Absolutely useless." Snape provoked, loud enough for the Slytherins to hear. They snickered away at the boy's expense.

He hovered over Harry's potion, sniffing at it disdainfully. With a flick of his wand, the cruel professor banished the contents of Harry's cauldron and turned on his heel. "Bloody git." Harry mumbled, not quite softly and as luck would have it, Snape heard him.

"Thirty points from Gryffindor you insolent brat." Snape snapped at him. "Stay after class, Potter. I'd like a word." Harry forced himself to remain silent. He couldn't afford to land himself into anymore trouble with his wretched potions professor.

At the end of the class, once everyone had left, he approached Snape's desk and stood in front of it. "For that little display of your unnecessary arrogance, I expect you to write me an essay on the ingredients, uses and side effects of the Girding potion. Do you understand or are you so thick skulled that you are unable to decipher the simple meaning of my words? I trust you to apply that unused brain of yours."

With clenched teeth, Harry forced the words out. "Yes, sir."

"Now get out."

**********

Sirius was sitting in his room on his bed, back against the headboard and grading papers when he heard a small knock on the door. "Come in."

He smiled when he saw Harry come inside. "Hey pup. How was your day?" The boy didn't reply but instead he climbed into bed and leaned against Sirius's side.

"Dad, am I evil?" Sirius froze at the unexpected question. Whatever had made Harry think that?

"No, pup. You're most certainly not evil." He replied.

"But I can speak to snakes and Hermione said that Voldemort could do that as well." Harry looked distraught and was desperately looking at Sirius for reassurance.

Sirius knew about this particular ability that his son possessed. The boy had told him about it over the summer. He looked at the unconvinced expression on Harry's face and tried a different approach. "Harry, do you think I'm evil?"

Harry temporarily forgot about his own concerns when he heard that question. He stared at Sirius, as if the man had done barmy. He deeply respected his godfather  and valued his opinion above anyone else's. He found it impossible to believe that his father could be remotely evil. "Of course not!"

"But my family was very cruel, heartless and merciless."

The boy frowned at the mention of Sirius's family. His father didn't like talking about his parents or his childhood but Harry knew enough about them to deduce that they weren't the kind of people one would like or talk to (understatement). But, Sirius wasn't like the rest of his family. He was totally different.

"That doesn't mean your a bad person. Dad, just because your family was vicious, doesn't mean you are too. You're one of the best, kindest, and the most brilliant person I know. You're. Not. Evil." Harry asserted.

Sirius smiled and wrapped an arm around the thin shoulders. His pup really did have a heart of gold. "Exactly my point, kiddo. Just because you share a certain trait with Voldemort, that doesn't mean you are like him. You can never be like him, son. You're you." Sirius consoled Harry.

"Remember, I'm right here okay. If there's anything you want to talk about, come to me. Don't worry your head about it." The man said, ruffling his boy's hair.

"Thanks dad." Harry replied.

His godfather was right. He wasn't like Voldemort, not one bit. He'd been so stupid to think otherwise. He smiled sheepishly at Sirius before tackling him with a hug.

"Anything else?" Harry paused before answering that question. He contemplated whether or not to tell Sirius about what Snape had said and finally decided against it.  It was no secret that the Animagus loathed Snape so the last thing he wanted was for Sirius to go and threaten or hex the potions master. Besides, he had called Snape a 'bloody git' so it wasn't totally Snape's fault.

"No, nothing. Hey dad, can I go flying now?" Harry asked, hoping that Sirius would say yes. Sirius glanced at his watch. It was nearly 10 o'clock. With everything that was going on around the castle, it was too risky.

"You can, but you may not." Sirius spoke firmly, leaving no room for argument. Harry's shoulders sagged slightly but he didn't protest. He knew that once Sirius made his mind up about something, there would be no point in trying to convince him.

"Fine." He mumbled, with exaggerated exasperation, earning a chuckle from the older wizard.

***********

"Mr. Weasley, when I ask you to pay attention, I expect you to do as such." Mcgonagall barked when Ron was unable to answer a question. "Five points from Gryffindor. Pay attention and eyes on the board." She said sternly before resuming her teaching.

Normally, whenever a professor reprimanded Harry or Ron, Hermione would be quick to express her displeasure as well but his time she didn't even look up. Although she was looking at the board, her mind was a million miles away.

After the class, they had a free lesson. "I'm going to the library." Hermione announced. She went to the library more than any other student but over the past few days, she spent nearly ninety percent of her time with her nose buried in thick books.

"I'll come as well." Ron stated, not because he wanted to study but he was hoping that he would be able to wheedle the smart muggle born into helping him with his herbology essay. "You coming mate?"

Harry shook his head. He had to go back and finish Snape's essay before he could work on any other subject. "I'll see you'll at dinner." He responded and took off in the direction of the Defence chambers. He had quidditch practice the next day and he didn't want to miss it just because he had been unable to complete Snape's work. He had another Potions lesson tomorrow and the sooner he got done with the essay, the better.

He climbed the staircase to the seventh floor and arrived at the corridor that led to his destination.

Rip. Tear. Kill. I'm coming for you. To torment you. To kill you.

Harry stiffened the moment he heard the words. Panic gnawed at his insides. The last time he had heard this voice, things hadn't gone well. Not in the least. He looked around and cursed his luck. Not a single person was about. The boy quickened his pace, trying to reach the end of the corridor as soon as possible but the voice just kept getting louder and harsher.

RIP! TEAR! KILL! You cannot escape!

I WILL GET YOU. NO MORE RUNNING, NO MORE HIDING FROM ME. I will KILL you!

Harry felt hopeless because there was absolutely nothing that he could do, other than run. There was no way he would be able to outrun this voice. It was too late.

He felt a sharp blow on the back of his head and as he fell to he ground, losing consciousness, a searing pain erupted down his back. The last thing he felt before he slipped into a state of unconsciousness was an inordinate amount of pain rippling all over his upper body. His still, unconscious form just lay there, with blood oozing out through the material of his robes and a throbbing ache in his head.

*********

Minerva Mcgonagall crisply marched around the castle, doing the mandatory security rounds that had been assigned to every professor. Her wand was out, ready to take down any obstacle or enemy she might have to face.

As she made it to the top of the staircase of the seventh floor, she caught the distinct smell of blood. Something was majorly wrong. Holding her wand up, with a Stupefy on the tip of her tongue, she cautiously made her way towards the source of the smell.

She nearly screamed when she saw it. Mcgonagall had seen a lot in her fifty eight years but all that experience did not prepare her for the sight that awaited her.

Harry Potter, was lying on his front, on the cold marble floor, his arms and legs spread haphazardly. The small pool of the crimson liquid that surrounded the boy made her feel dizzy. She looked around for any sign and there it was, in big, bold, red letters:

And I shall continue.

Mcgonagall shook herself and hurried over to Harry. The message could be interpreted later. But first, she had to see to the student. She encircled the thin wrist with her fingers, checking for a pulse and was relieved to find one. It was a little weak but it was still there.

Mcgonagall conjured two patronuses. She sent the two patronuses with a single message. One to the Headmaster and the other to a certain Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. The two silver cats dashed off in different directions.

Dumbledore arrived first since his office was closer. His eyes lost their ever present twinkle when he saw everything. "Things have gone too far, Albus." Mcgonagall said. The headmaster remained silent, thinking about the last time the chamber had been opened.

The two of them waited in the darkness for the third person to arrive.

***********
Sirius had finished dinner and was heading back to his quarters. He hadn't seen Harry at dinner and was a little worried. He hoped everything was alright.

In the dimly lit corridor, he caught a flash of silver rushing towards him. When it got closer, he saw that it was Minerva's patronus. He immediately knew something was wrong.

The cat stopped right in front of him. "Seventh floor corridor, come quick."

Sirius didn't bother to think, he briskly climbed the stairs, two at a time. The knot of worry in his stomach was growing by the minute.

Of all the things that could've gone wrong, never in his dreams had Sirius imagined that he would have to face such a day. He found Mcgonagall and Dumbledore on the seventh floor but he didn't bother to acknowledge them. His eyes went straight to the immobile body lying in the pool of blood.

Harry.

Sirius knelt down in front of his pup and gently turned the boy over, his fingers trembling.

No, no, no! This couldn't be happening! Not to Harry.

He felt the bile rise in his throat when he saw all the blood that Harry had lost. The other two professors didn't say anything and for that, he was grateful. The only sign that his son was alive was the sound of his ragged breathing. Sirius heard it, thanks to his Animagus skills and it brought an infinitesimally small amount of relief to his mind.

He hadn't felt this devastated even on the night James and Lily had died. No, this was a whole new level of misery.

Pull yourself together, Black. Sirius mentally chided himself. He couldn't afford to be weak now. He had to be strong, Harry needed him. He could host his own little pity party afterwards.

As gently as he could, so as to not cause further injury, Sirius lifted Harry into his arms. He didn't care about the blood that soaked the front of his robes. Cradling the small form against his chest, he swiftly went off to the hospital wing, Dumbledore and Mcgonagall right behind him.

The man set his son down on one of the many unoccupied beds in the Hospital wing. "Poppy!" He called out sharply, trying his best to keep the panic at bay.

The mediwitch had been sleeping when she came out to greet the source of the voice. Madam Pomfrey took one look at the distraught look on Sirius's face and the bleeding boy on the bed. She immediately got to work. Questions could be asked later.

With a swish of her wand, the robes and uniform disappeared, leaving the boy in just his pants. She muttered a series of spells under her breath. The bleeding was stemmed after which she started cleaning the wounds. There was a deep gash running down all the way from his  shoulder blades to his lower back along with few small cuts. Once she had completed the cleansing, madam Pomfrey bandaged the cuts, taking care to not aggravate them any further.

Throughout the procedure, Sirius simply stood quietly, taking everything in. His heart had plummeted when he had seen the extent of the damage on Harry's back.

Pomfrey came up to him, her face tense. "How bad is it?" Asked Sirius and was surprised by how hoarse his voice sounded.

"Mr. Black, the wounds on his back are quite serious. He's lost a lot of blood from that deep bruise. Its a knife wound. Thankfully, his head injury is not a major concern. There has been no brain damage since he lost consciousness only due to a blunt force. The force applied to knock him out was small. I'm afraid that Mr. Potter will have to stay here for at least a few days. Other than that, there's nothing else to worry about."

Pomfrey hurried off to talk to Dumbledore, leaving Sirius alone with his boy. Sirius conjured a chair and sat down by Harry's bed. He was lying on his stomach. The man sighed dejectedly as he took in his twelve year old's appearance. Harry was pale due to the blood loss, his back was covered with bandages and lying on the large bed, he seemed to appear even smaller than usual.

Sirius gently ran his fingers through his pup's hair. Oh pup. This wasn't supposed to happen, not to Harry.

The old mediwitch approached him with a few potions. "Here's a blood replenishing potion. Make sure you give it to him every three hours once he has regained consciousness. Mr. Potter will wake up soon, not to worry dear. Also see to it that he does not apply any pressure on his back. It will only cause more pain. He also needs to take this potion every twelve hours for the next six days. He'll be back on his feet in no time." She gave him a reassuring nod before going back to bed.

Now that the initial panic had dissolved, Sirius felt the worry return. How could this have happened? He looked at the sleeping child and nearly cried. He had come so close to losing Harry. His boy would get better, Sirius would see to that. He would do whatever was needed but he'd make sure that his son was okay.

Sirius looked around and saw that Dumbledore and Mcgonagall had left. He relaxed into the chair, closing his eyes briefly. He wouldn't leave Harry alone. "You'll be alright, little one."

***********

Harry's head hurt. It felt damn heavy like he'd been trampled upon by a herd of elephants. His back felt worse. It hurt like hell. He hadn't felt this degree of pain ever before, not even when Uncle Vernon had caned him to the point of unconsciousness. To top it all, he felt bloody exhausted.

Summoning every bit of energy, he cracked an eye open. He was in the Hospital wing, lying on one of the beds. His dad was right there, resting in a chair by the headboard. Harry turned around so that he could sit up and immediately regretted it. He let out a hiss as his back made contact with the mattress. He returned to his original position on his stomach.

Sirius awoke at the slight noise that disturbed the quietness of the hospital. His eyes landed in Harry who was staring back at him, large green eyes blinking owlishly. He leaned forward and stroked the boy's hair. "Hey."

"It hurts." Harry whispered and Sirius felt his heart break. He knew that his pup always underplayed things so if he was actually telling him that it hurt, then Sirius could only imagine the level of pain Harry must be experiencing.

"I know pup, I know."

"Do you want to sit up?" When Harry nodded, Sirius got up and helped him sit up. Harry winced slightly but he relaxed as comfortably as he could, against the many pillows. The man held out the blood replenishing potion to his son.

Harry took it without protest, grimacing at the sour taste. Once the required potions had been taken, Sirius settled back into his chair. "So, how long do I need to stay here?" Asked Harry, hoping he could get out maybe today or tomorrow.

"Well, Poppy says that you need to be here for at least the next couple of days."

"But I'll miss so many classes." Harry tried. He really didn't mind missing his lessons but the didn't want to stay cooped up over here. The hospital wing was just so boring.

"That's perfectly alright. I'm sure your friends will fill you in whenever they come and visit you. I'm not taking any chances, Harry. You scared the hell out me last night." Sirius said, looking at him.

Harry felt guilty. He had never wanted to worry his father. "I'm sorry dad. I didn't mean to scare you." Grey eyes looked at him.

"Don't you apologise pup. You had no control over what happened. I'm just thankful that we found you." Harry looked at his dad, his eyes glistening. He wanted to hug Sirius and never let go but his current condition prevented him from doing so. Instead, he settled for taking the man's hand.

Sirius lightly squeezed Harry's hand before standing up. "I've got a class right now. After that's done, we'll eat lunch together. Okay?" Harry didn't want the man to leave but he nodded anyway. Sirius picked up on the boy's thoughts and kissed his forehead. "I'll be back soon kiddo. I promise. Once we've eaten, we'll talk."

"Okay."

*********

Two hours later, Ron and Hermione came to see Harry. "Harry!" The boy looked up from his Quidditch magazine to see his two best friends looking at him worriedly.

"Hey." He said.

"You gave us quite a scare mate." Ron commented. Hermione nodded in agreement.

"We were awfully worried, Harry. Professor Black told us."

Harry smiled at the two of them. He really had the best of friends. "I'm a little better now, I swear." It was true. His back still hurt a lot but at least his head wasn't throbbing. Instead it had settled down at a dull ache.

"I got you your homework for the day." Hermione said, placing a rolled up parchment in Harry's lap. The boy groaned dramatically.

The three of them talked for a bit. Neither Ron nor Hermione brought up the issue as to how Harry had hurt himself and he was grateful. He didn't want to talk about it, at least not right away.

Shortly after the two of them said goodbye and left, Sirius came back. He ruffled the boy's hair before settling himself in the chair. They ate lunch together, chatting pleasantly. Sirius avoided the discussion completely. They could talk once Harry felt better. "I got you some clothes from your wardrobe. I figured you'd rather wear these than the hospital gown." The man held up a pair of pyjamas and a t-shirt.

Sirius helped Harry to put them on. The boy's face turned red. He was twelve years old for Merlin's sake and he couldn't even dress himself! He had to rely on his father for something so small.

"Dad, this is so embarrassing!" He mumbled, dropping his gaze. Sirius laughed lightly at that.

"This is embarrassing? Just wait till I show you that picture in which you were running around the house, absolutely starkers."

"Dad, I really don't-"

"Or when you wore a diaper on your head and toddled around-"

"Dad stop-"

"The best one was when you were teet-"

"Dad! You're not helping!" Harry burst out. He wasn't angry, not one bit. In fact, he was actually feeling better. Trust his dad to cheer him up using the weirdest of ways. "You do realise that it is part of my job description to embarrass you whenever possible. Especially in front of you friends." Sirius said, smirking at his son.

Harry tried to frown but couldn't contain his smile. Yup, his dad was the best.

"Good afternoon, Harry. I hope you are feeling better." The two of them turned around to see Dumbledore approaching them. The boy nodded. "I'm alright now, sir."

The old man smiled at him. "My dear boy, I was hoping you would be able to tell me about what happened the other day. What was the last thing you remember?"

Harry gave the headmaster all the details right from his trip to the Defence quarters to the blow on his head. By the time he was finished,  Dumbledore looked grim while Sirius was nothing short of furious. He now realised how close his son had come to dying.

"Is that it, my boy?" When Harry nodded, Dumbledore left after wishing Harry a speedy recovery.

"Rest for a while now. I'll see you later." Sirius said, getting up. He had one last class to each that day after which he was free to spend the remainder of the day with his son.
****************

Four days later, Harry was released from the hospital wing and none was happier than him. Sure, his dad had spent a lot of time with him and Ron and Hermione had visited whenever they could but it had still been terribly boring. To sit there all day with no one other than the bossy Mediwitch.

"How are you now?" Sirius asked, probably for the fifth time that day. "I'm fine, dad." Harry replied, rolling his eyes to appear annoyed but he was secretly pleased with all the affection. His father had been quite overprotective of him over the past few days and although Harry had made a big show of being unhappy about it, he had relished every bit of it.

"Turn around, pup." Sirius said and Harry complied. The man pushed Harry's shirt out of the way and undid the bandages. He applied the salve as per Pomfrey's instructions, taking care to be as gentle as he could. The wound was healing but it was slow. The gash had been a very deep one and had it gone any deeper, it would have caused serious harm to Harry. "You'll get better." He said although it was more of a reassurance for himself than Harry.

Whoever had done this, was going to suffer. It seems as though everyone was after his son. First Malfoy, and now, whoever it was who had played the dirty game.

Sirius ran a hand through Harry's hair and walked out of the room. He would keep Harry safe. They would get to the bottom of all of this. It would all work out.

The worried father chanted these lines in his head before sleep overtook him.

Chapter Text

"Hermione, not now. I'll do it later." Harry protested. The girl had been after him all week, insisting that he complete his homework. He still had a few days before he could go back to classes and Hermione felt it would be best if he were up to date with all his work.

The boy didn't agree with this. After being freed from the Hospital wing, he had been holed up in Sirius' quarters for the past few days. He was bored to death but that didn't mean he had to do his homework to fight the boredom. Hermione sniffed at him disapprovingly but didn't push him any further.

Instead, the three of them played exploding snap for a while. They were all enjoying themselves but Harry's fun ceased the moment Sirius came into the room, floating a tray of the boy's potions. "Ugh! Again! Dad, can I pleeease take them before bed instead? That way, I'll be asleep and won't have to feel their horrible taste in my mouth for the next hour. Pleease?"

"Certainly not. You're taking them now and not a minute later." Sirius said firmly. This had become a routine between them. Harry always tried to persuade Sirius to grant him some reprieve from those horrible medicines but his godfather was immovable.

Ron and Hermione had become accustomed to this little banter between the two of them. They were the kind of simply natural moments that made one think that Sirius had raised Harry since his infancy. The two of them promised to meet Harry later before going off for classes.

"You either take these on your own or I'm more than willing to shove them down your throat." A few months ago, such a statement would have had Harry quivering fearfully but now he just laughed and accepted the potions from Sirius.

"Fine, I'll take them. But only because you're the world's greatest dad. And you're the most stubborn person I know." The man felt touched by Harry's words but he simply rolled his eyes and gave his pup an affectionate wink.

********

Three days later, Harry was finally ready to get back to his lessons. He'd taken Hermione's advice and had completed his homework. Classes continued in full swing and Harry had a lot to cover up. He didn't hear the creepy voice after the incident and for that, he was utterly thankful. The only lesson he did enjoy those days was Defence against the Dark Arts.

"So when are we getting back to Quidditch practice?" Harry asked George; when all of them were sitting in the common room. "Oh, you don't know, mate? Quidditch's been cancelled for the rest if the year. Mcgonagall' orders. Said it wasn't safe to play anymore. Wood was furious."

Great. Just great. The one thing he was looking forward to was gone. With a sigh, he slumped in his seat, looking more forlorn than ever. "Tough luck, mate. We're all equally miserable." Fred sympathized with him.

Harry went up to his dorm to put his books away when he saw something sticking out from his trunk. He reached forward and pulled it out. It was that diary he had found all those days ago. He'd completely forgotten about it. Just out of curiosity, he flipped it open. Written in tiny gold print on the right hand corner of the first page: Tom .M. Riddle. He'd heard that name somewhere. He simply couldn't recall where.

A week or so after resuming classes; the whispers started. He began noticing the changes a few days later. Students talked in hushed voices wherever he went. It was nearly impossible for him to remain at a certain place for more than fifteen minutes. They looked at him like he was some sort of abomination and it bloody hurt.

All sorts of rumours were spread about him. It was the same old story everywhere. "Potter's a bit on the freaky side."

"Why wasn't he petrified like the others?"

"He was just attacked. That's weird."

"Did you know he can speak to snakes?"

"Yeah. Apparently, he attacked his muggle cousin once.""What if he's the one behind all this?"

"He attacked his family! Merlin knows what he's capable of."

That's what he heard always, those days. When he had told Ron and Hermione about the incident at the zoo, Ron hadn't been soft enough and quite a few students had heard him. Soon, the whole school knew that he was a parselmouth. One thing led to another and before he even knew what was going on, he was being blamed for all the unfortunate happenings at Hogwarts.

Harry felt miserable. Hogwarts had been his very first home. He'd never do anything to harm the place or the people in it. Why were they all targeting him? What did he do to deserve this?

"I wonder who he's going to hurt next." The sentence was whispered but Harry heard it. It came from the Hufflepuff's table. He had enough of it. There was no way he could sit and listen to them anymore. With a frustrated sigh, he slammed his textbook shut and shoved it into his bag. He shouldered his bag and stormed out of the Great Hall, not bothering to look back.

Harry reached his room and angrily flung his bag on the bed before flopping down on the floor and bringing his knees to his chest. Why couldn't he be normal? How long was this going to continue? The way the talked about him, it bloody hurt. In a fit of anger, he picked up the nearest book and hurled it across the room with a yell. He was so mad.

He had a Defence class in ten minutes but he didn't want to go. To sit there and listen to everyone murmur about him was just too much. Harry couldn't sit there knowing that he was the main topic of conversation amongst students. He just couldn't. He grabbed a pillow from the bed and buried his face in it, wanting to just disappear for a while, to get away from everything that was going on.

*********

Sirius came back to his quarters at the end of the day. He went straight to his room to change. When he came out, he saw a book thrown across the hallway leading to Harry's room. Frowning slightly, he picked up the book and went into the boy's room.

Harry was slouching on the floor, his head tucked into a pillow. The man settled down next to his pup, gently pulling the pillow from his grasp. Harry looked up and Sirius's heart broke at the sight. His son's face was red; his eyes were bloodshot like he'd been crying.

"What's wrong pup?" He asked nestling Harry in his arms. "I hate it, dad. I absolutely hate it." The boy whispered, his arm going around the man's stomach. "They all hate me. I didn't do anything to them but they still hate me." Harry narrated the entire thing, leaning into his dad.

"You didn't do anything wrong kiddo." Sirius consoled the distraught child, feeling a pang of sadness in his chest. Harry's situation was all too similar to the one he had been in, at the beginning of his own first year.

Most of the students were afraid of him or disliked him because of his family background. The Blacks, after all were the pioneers of the dark arts. The students' opinion of him had changed gradually after a month or two when they found how different he was from the rest of his family and before he knew it, he was the most popular student in his year. Boys wanted to be like him while girls wanted to be with him.

"They're all wrong, pup. They will realise their mistake soon and that I can guarantee." Sirius said.

"How can be so sure?" Harry looked so miserable at that moment.

"I just do pup. You're not wrong and you've done nothing bad. That's that."

"But-"

"No buts Harry. They will come around. I know that." Sirius' words were reassuring. "What concerns me is how all this is affecting you." The man continued, looking at Harry with concern. The bags under the boy's eyes were a little too prominent. It was clearly evident that he hadn't been sleeping properly. "You haven't had a goodnight's rest in a while. When was the last time you just hung out with your friends and did absolutely nothing? You've been hurting yourself Harry, albeit unknowingly. I won't watch you do this to yourself."

Harry's gaze dropped to the carpet when his godfather looked at him sternly. "You're being far too hard on yourself Harry James. That stops now. What's happening around the school is not your fault. The students who are blaming you-- that's not your fault either. You know that and I know that. So, you need to stop working yourself up over this. They will come around and see sense. Now, when are you going to start seeing sense? Hmm?" Sirius scolded gently, running his fingers through the untamable mop.

"Here's what you are going to do for the next couple of days. You're going to invite Ron and Hermione over as frequently as you can. The three of you are going to enjoy yourselves and have fun. You will play snap, chess or whatever it is that you want. You'll focus on your studies and not on the rubbish around you. You're going to eat properly and I will make sure you do. If I find you're not eating or that you are skipping meals just to avoid students, I'm going to take a spoon and feed you every one of your meals. Are we clear?" Sirius lifted Harry's chin to look him in the eye. He had meant every word of what he had just said.

"Yes, sir." Harry responded as his eyes conveyed that he understood the seriousness behind his father's words and he would do as told.

"Good. Because if I come to know that you've been doing anything but taking care of yourself, I'll transfigure your ears into an elephant's." Sirius threatened jokingly, as he gently pulled one of the boy's ears.

Harry giggled slightly at the mental image of him roaming around the castle with large elephant ears sticking out from the sides of his head and that's when he realised that he already felt better. It never failed to amaze him as to how even a small conversation with his dad made him feel loads better.

"Don't worry, you won't have to. I'll make sure to play lots of games and eat tons of candy." Harry promised with a cheeky smile. Laughing, Sirius ruffled his son' hair.

"Good lad. Now get to bed. You don't have classes tomorrow and so, if I see you out of bed before nine, I'm going to throw you over my shoulder and haul your bum right back in." said Sirius.

Harry changed into his pajamas and crawled into bed. Sirius kissed his son's forehead and made to leave when his pup grabbed his wrist. "Will you stay?" Harry asked, ignoring that little voice that told him that he was acting like a needy five year old. "Of course."

Sirius sat down next to Harry and the boy snuggled close.

"Sleep tight, pup."

*********

For the next few days, Harry stuck to his promise. He made a sincere effort to ignore all the nonsense whispered by the other students. He played games of chess with Ron, ate chocolate frogs and licorice wands and even gave in when Hermione insisted that he study an extra hour everyday. After a while, he genuinely felt better. Every time he heard something being mumbled about himself, he imagined Sirius' voice in his head, telling him to ignore it all and stay calm. It took some time but eventually, the rumours and whispers didn't affect him anymore. He focused on just the happy parts of life.

His back had also healed considerably by then and all that remained was a slight ache and a thin white scar running down the length of his back.

If only such temporary solutions could solve the problems looming before them. If only.

********

"Come on, there's got to be a way." Ron said, looking eager. The three of them wanted to find out more about the Chamber of Secrets. Harry had come up with the brilliant idea of sneaking into the Slytherin common room and see if any of the students knew anything. They could take the invisibility cloak.

"I bet Malfoy knows something about it. Dad said that his father was of the Dark sort." Ron continued.

"Mione, think. How do we get in?" Harry prompted.

"I've already told you, even with the cloak, we need the password to get in. The Slytherins are not stupid enough to give away the password to anyone, least of all a Gryffindor." Hermione explained.

"What about Crabbe and Goyle?"

"Well, the two of them are always with Malfoy so that's not an option either."

"Think Hermione, think. You're the brightest of the lot. If anyone can come up with an idea then it's you." Said Ron. Hermione turned a shade of red at the compliment.

"I'll try and figure something out."

By the end of Herbology, Hermione approached the two boys. "Well, I've got an idea but it's dangerous. We'll be breaking over fifty school rules. If we're caught there's a good chance that we may be suspended." She said.

"We will just have to be extra careful then." Ron looked excited at the idea of getting into the Slytherin common room.

"It's not that simple, Ronald. It'll take me a while to carry this out." Hermione pulled out a book from her bag and showed it to them. "Look at this. The polyjuice potion allows you to temporarily transform into another wizard or witch. So, if we disguise ourselves, getting in shouldn't be a problem. We're just going to need a few ingredients."

"So what are we waiting for? Start making it Mione." Said Ron. Hermione looked rather unsure.

"Ron, we can get into a lot of trouble for this." She said.

"Relax Hermione. We have the cloak. No one will even see us." Said Harry. She looked uncertain for a moment but then she relented.

"Fine. We'll do it. Tomorrow during classes I'll take the cloak, sneak into Snape's lab and get the things that we need." She looked determined. The two boys looked at her like she'd sprouted an extra head.

Who would've thought that Hermione Granger would willingly break rules?

"Alright. Then it's settled."

*********

The next day however turned out to be utterly disappointing. "I searched the entire lab but Snape seems to have ran out of Boomslang skin and knotgrass. I found everything else."

"Well now that's bloody brilliant isn't it." Came Ron's sarcastic response.

"Can't we use anything else?" Asked Harry. They were so close.

"Unfortunately, there isn't. We can't replace the original ingredients."

"I've got it! I just thought of an amazing idea. The coming Saturday is a Hogsmeade weekend." Said Ron, looking very excited.

"So? That's third year onwards." Hermione spoke slowly like she was talking to a three year old.

"I know that. Here's what we can do. Last week, Fred and George were planning all these pranks so they had this map of Hogwarts that they were using. Apparently, there's this One-eyed witch passageway that leads straight into Honeydukes. We're into Hogsmeade. We can then get whatever we need." Ron appeared very pleased with himself.

"Well, for someone as dull as yourself, that's a pretty good idea Ron." Hermione teased. Ron was too happy to respond to her comment.

Harry didn't know how to tell his friends his current dilemma. Last year, he would've rushed in to the idea without a second thought but this year was different. He had somebody to answer to. If they got caught, they would be in major trouble. Sirius would get mad and although Harry knew that the man wouldn't hit him, he most certainly wasn't looking forward to being grounded, along with his father's disappointment in him.

He decided to be honest with his friends. "Ron, if we do this and are caught, my dad is going to be really mad at me. He was pretty ticked off when we flew the car and I promised him that I wouldn't put myself in danger." He confessed.

Ron looked surprised for a moment but then he said: "Harry, mate, I'm just as likely to get caught as you. My mum will kill me if she finds out."

Harry remained silent. On one hand, he didn't want to let Sirius down. But, on the other hand, Hogwarts was the first place he had ever felt at home and he didn't want to see the place destroyed. Some of his life's first good memories were connected with this place. Perhaps if they were really careful. "Fine let's do it."

*********

Finding the passage wasn't a difficult task. They were soon inside. Harry tucked the invisibility cloak into his sweater. His pocket was filled with a few sickles and galleons to pay for whatever they bought. As far as Hermione had told them, the ingredients weren't very expensive.

After their walk, they reached the end of the passageway that led upwards. There was an iron ladder going to the top. It was a little hard to cover all three of them with the cloak and climb the ladder at the same time but with some effort, they managed to do it.

Harry slowly lifted up the floorboard and was at once greeted by the bustling scene at Honeydukes. Trying to make as little sound as possible, they climbed out and headed for the exit.

J. Pippin' Potions was a half hour walk from Honeydukes. It took them longer since all three of them had to walk at the same pace. They reached the dimly lit shop. The door was open and they walked inside. Different sorts of ingredients and potions hung from the racks. Cauldrons of different sizes had been placed on the shelves. A small man, probably in his late fifties sat at the main counter. He was dressed in tatty robes and wore a sour expression.

The plan was to quietly take what was required, leave the money on one of the shelves and get back quickly. "Harry, over there." Hermione whispered, pointing to the third column from the left. The boomslang skin was there and two shelves below it was the knotgrass. They were about to grab it and go when another customer walked in: Remus.

The three of them exited the shop as quietly as possible. They waited outside nervously for Remus to get what he wanted and leave so that they could do their job. They hadn't planned for this at all.

*******

Remus had come to buy his ingredients required to make the Wolfsbane potion. The moment he walked into the shop, his senses caught whiff of a highly familiar scent.

He sharply turned his head to the left. Yes, it was definitely stronger that side. Someone had been here. It then hit him: it was Harry's scent. But that couldn't be possible right? The boy was at Hogwarts right now or was he?

He quickly paid for his materials and headed out when the scent suddenly became extremely strong. His suspicions were confirmed. Harry was certainly here, hidden under the invisibility cloak. Without further ado, Remus briskly marched forward and tugged the cloak off. And there he found Harry with Ron and Hermione: his partners in crime.

"What do you think you're doing out here, young man?" He demanded sternly.

For Harry, it seemed as though the world had stopped. They had been caught. They were in trouble; they were so dead. Ron's expression was frozen in a similar fashion and Hermione; the one who always had an answer for everything was quiet.

"Please don't tell Sirius!" Even as Harry said it, he knew what was going to follow. There was no way Remus would not tell Sirius.

"I won't. You will. But first, back to the castle."

They took the floo back to Hogwarts and as luck would have it, they ran into Mcgonagall on the way. The Transfiguration professor was surprised to see Remus with the three students and when she found out what was going on, she was furious. "To the headmaster's office this instant!" Remus didn't come with them. "I'll go and get Sirius."

Harry was beginning to panic. They were in so much trouble. The only relieving thing was that neither Remus nor Mcgonagall knew why they were caught out of bounds.

Harry had never been to Dumbledore's office before. Mcgonagall said the password and the Gargoyle sprang aside, revealing a spiral staircase. If anyone looked more worried than Harry then it was Hermione. She absolutely hated getting into trouble. She didn't want to know what was in store for them.

Dumbledore listened quietly to their story. Ron and Harry did most of the explaining since Hermione was too nervous to speak coherently. They left out the part as to why they had been outside in the first place. Instead, they told him it was for a prank. At the end of it, he pushed himself forward and laced his fingers. "I must say, it's disappointing to see such disregard for school rules."

"Miss Granger, I expected you to know better than the other two. How could you three do this?" Mcgonagall scolded, looking at her three students with disappointment. "After everything that's going on, you wander off like this! It's outrageous!"

"I'm afraid we shall have to call your parents immediately. We cannot ignore such behavior. It's simply unbecoming of you. I'm disappointed in all three of you. Twenty points from Gryffindor, each."

Harry's shoulders sagged further. He waited for the other shoe to drop. "Mr. Weasley, your parents shall be coming now in a few minutes. Miss Granger, I shall be writing to your parents. You may return to your common room. Mr. Potter, you godfather will come and deal with this matter. Until then, you may take a seat over there." She pointed to a plush sofa and they sat down, trepidation increasing by the second.

Harry watched as Mcgonagall waved her wand and a silvery cat popped out. She sent a message with it. Now for the real trouble.

Sirius was the first to arrive. He looked a little confused since Remus hadn't given many details. Harry's stomach twisted uncomfortably the moment he saw him. He had no idea about how he was going to explain himself.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arrived next, looking equally confused. "What's all this about?" Sirius asked, taking a seat on the opposite side of the large desk.

"Mr. Black, I'm afraid your godson has landed himself in quite a bit of trouble. Same goes for your son, Mr. Weasley."

Sirius turned around to look at Harry but the boy's gaze was firmly directed towards the floor. He couldn't even look at Sirius.

The story was retold and the parents listened, ever so attentive. "Albus, I apologise for Ronald's behaviour. It was completely out of line and unacceptable. I assure you, we will deal with him properly." Said Mrs. Weasley, glaring at her son who shrunk into his seat.

"I believe that's it." Said Mcgonagall.

"Albus, is it alright if I take Ronald home for the weekend. He'll be back for lessons on Monday. We have things to discuss." Said Mrs. Weasley. Harry had a feeling that this 'discussion' was going to be far from pleasant.

"Of course Molly."

Mrs. Weasley marched over to where they were seated, grabbed Ron by the ear and hoisted him off the sofa and dragged him towards the floo. Harry shot his best mate a sympathetic look before the three Weasleys flooed off to the Burrow.

The walk back to Sirius' quarters was quiet, much like the day they had flown the car. "Dad I'm-"

"Not now Harry." Uh oh. His dad was so mad. The portrait swung open and the two of them climbed inside. Remus was sitting in the living room. "Go to your room please." Said Sirius. Harry went inside almost immediately, softly closing the door after him.

Remus observed his friend. Sirius was handling the whole situation a whole lot better than he had expected him to. The man was calm although a little worried. "I didn't expect something like this from Harry. Come on, even James and I didn't do something like this. After everything that's going on, I expected him to be a little more careful. I don't know what to do, Moony."

"Of course you do Padfoot. Harry looks up to you. He listens to you and you're the only adult he has ever trusted."

"Which is why he decided to do this behind my back?" Asked Sirius sarcastically.

"He's a child Sirius. He'll make mistakes, which is exactly why you're here: to show him the right way. Go talk to him and I'm sure the two of you will work it out."

"Well, I do hope you're right." Sirius briefly squeezed Remus' shoulder in appreciation. Remus nodded with a smile and went back to his house.

Sirius took a deep breath. He wasn't going to yell at Harry. No. They would talk it all out calmly and then Sirius would do what was needed. He opened the door to Harry's room to find the boy on his bed. Harry's head shot up the moment he heard the door click. "Dad, I'm sorry. We-"

"You're not sorry you did it. You're sorry because you got caught and don't you deny it."

Harry opened his mouth to deny it but he closed it again. Sirius had a fair point. He wasn't exactly sorry that he had gone off like that. But yes, he was sorry because he had worried his father, got his friends in trouble and put himself in danger.

"Why did you go Harry? You know as well as I do that it wasn't to buy materials for a prank. Please, stop lying to me. You know how much I hate it."

"Sorry. Will you tell Dumbledore?" Harry whispered, his face was a light shade of red because of the scolding.

"This conversation is between you and me. You have my word that I won't tell anybody." Sirius promised. That was all Harry needed. He told Sirius the full truth about their plan to make the Polyjuice potion and question Malfoy.

"Your idea would've been completely useless." Sirius pointed out bluntly. "The Malfoys were deemed untrustworthy a few decades ago and so, they weren't given any information about such dark topics. Whatever they do know now, is irrelevant. Nothing more than what you already know. I can assure you that young Malfoy knows nothing much."

"Oh." Harry felt like such an idiot. To think they underwent all this trouble for nothing. "What I want to know is why you were getting involved in all this. It's dangerous and you know it."

"Hogwarts was my first home, Dad. I can't watch it crumble like this." Harry's confession made Sirius think about his own childhood. Hogwarts had been his first home too. His parents had always hated him for being different.

"I know what that feels like Harry but I can't simply ignore the fact that you rushed into danger. Several things could've gone wrong today." Said Sirius, his voice going stern.

Harry suddenly found the paisley carpet very interesting. "I trusted you, Harry James. Give me the cloak please."

Without a word of argument, Harry handed over his invisibility cloak. "You can have this back once I'm assured that you won't use it for anything dangerous." Harry nodded reluctantly. That was fair.

Harry got up and threw his arms around the man. "I'm sorry, Dad. I really am. I'm sorry I risked my life, I'm sorry for worrying you and endangering myself." At the last bit, Harry's voice broke a little.

Strong arms pulled him close. "I know you mean that, pup. I can't lose you Harry. It would kill me." Said Sirius. Harry nodded against him.

"We won't bring this up again." The man said. Harry smiled at that. It was one of his favourite rules. Sirius believed that once something had been dealt with, it wasn't to be mentioned again.

"Will Ron be okay?" Harry asked. His best friend's mother had appeared livid when she had taken him home.

"He'll be alright. His mother will be hard on him, but no doubt but he'll be fine. Don't you worry."

"In the meantime, I suggest you worry about yourself." Harry looked at Sirius questioningly. He followed Sirius down the stairs and into a room that was like the ground floor of the Defence quarters. It had a door on either side, probably leading to other such poorly maintained rooms. Harry had never been down here before and by the looks of it, no one else had either.

Every inch of the place was coated with a thick layer of dust. Cobwebs hung from the junctions of every wall. A couple of boxes had been haphazardly stacked here and there. Files were lying in a corner in an untidy pile. "This room could use some cleaning. Couldn't it?" Asked Sirius, leaning against the staircase.

"Um yes...." Harry wasn't exactly sure where this conversation was headed.

"So, I suggest you get to it. It needn't be spotless, just presentable. You can do one now and the other two tomorrow. Without magic of course." Said Sirius, casually.

Harry stared at his dad with a gaping mouth. "You can't be serious!" He said. It would take him hours to clean this place. Why had he thought of sneaking off like that!

"I'm perfectly serious about this Harry. You risked your life and I'll just take your cloak away? Absolutely not, young man. The longer you spend talking to me, the more time you're wasting so for your sake, I suggest you get started."

"But you said I didn't have to do chores." He cheekily replied, remembering the time Sirius had told him those very words.

"I remember what I said Harry James. This isn't a chore. It's punishment. Unless of course you'd rather be grounded for the week." Quickly shaking his head, Harry picked up the dusting cloth and began his task. Being grounded was truly terrible.

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked. Sirius conjured a chair for himself. "I'm going to supervise."

With a sigh Harry started with clearing the cobwebs. Brilliant way to spend the weekend indeed.

Chapter Text

With a sigh, Harry gave the room one last sweep with the broom and gave the place a look over. It was pretty clean now. He'd finished the other two rooms and this was the last one. He had dusted the cobwebs, swept the floor, organised the boxes and files in their right order and scrubbed the walls spotless. His hands were gritty; he was sweaty and exhausted. He gathered all of the cleaning equipment and went upstairs.

It was Sunday and he had spent the entire weekend cleaning the basement. He wondered how his friends were doing. He'd tried to convince his dad to let him do just one of the rooms but Sirius hadn't budged so he'd ended up cleaning them all.

"Did you finish with all the rooms?" His dad asked, not looking up from the book he was reading.

"Yes dad." Sirius closed the book and nodded approvingly.

"Good. Now, I don't think I need to tell you what happens if you try something like this again." Sirius said, looking pointedly at his son. Harry flushed slightly before nodding.

"Why don't you go and take a shower?" Sirius suggested, seeing Harry's dirty clothes and hands.

"Yeah okay."

Feeling clean and fresh, Harry stepped out of the shower and got dressed. He still had Flitwick's essay to complete so he sat down to do it. This had most certainly been the worst weekend ever.

That evening Ron was back. Harry went to his dorm to see Ron and Hermione sitting there. "So, what did your mum say?" Asked Harry, worriedly. The miserable expression on his best mate's face made it clear that Ron's weekend had been as bad as his if not worse.

"First she gave me a long talk after which sentenced me to every possible chore she could think of. It was horrible."

"What about the polyjuice potion?" Asked Hermione. Harry told them both what his godfather had told him. They both looked utterly disappointed.

"We got into all that trouble for nothing!" Ron groaned, smashing his face into a pillow.

"Oh don't be so upset Ron. I'm going to the library. Any of you want to come?" Hermione asked. When the two of them shook their heads, she went off on her own.

*******

Harry walked down the long, gloomy corridor, feeling more on edge than ever. There was something not quite right with this place. He'd never been here before. The walls were a dark green, covered with moss and cobwebs, the floor was wet and there was a strange smell surrounding the entire place.

He didn't know why he was here but he kept walking until he saw the end of the corridor. Upon getting closer, he could make out two snakes carved into an old, large door like structure. The snakes were coiled around each other. Despite the worn out condition of the place, their eyes were the brightest shade of green, glowing in the dim corridor.

Whatever was behind that door, made Harry shiver. He didn't want to know what it was but he knew there was something behind it. He just did.

"Harry Potter. We meet again." Harry froze when he heard the voice. He could never forget the sound of this voice. He had heard it for the first time last year, when he'd gone to retrieve the Sorcerer's stone. It was the same voice that had tempted him with the hopes of being reunited with his deceased parents, the one that had ordered Quirrel to kill him. Voldemort.

He desperately looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice but he found none. "You cannot see me, Potter. This is my domain, I'm the master." Harry turned around and tried to run but it felt like his legs had suddenly turned to lead. He couldn't move. "There is no escape from me."

"What do you want?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice steady. He wasn't going to appear weak, not in front of Voldemort of all people.

"Me? I merely wish to speak to you Harry." The voice was like an echo, coming from all directions.

"How is your godfather, Sirius Black? I personally don't like him. I have some scores to settle with him. He caused a lot of problems for me a few years ago. But enough about me. How are you? How's school, Harry? How are your friends?" Voldemort asked, his voice amplifying in the room.

All this pretense and small talk was driving Harry insane. "Leave me alone!" He shouted, covering his ears. Voldemort clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

"That's hardly polite, Harry. Didn't your new daddy teach you any manners? Hmm. It appears I'll have to rectify that!" Suddenly an intense pain flared up through Harry's entire body. It kept increasing and unable to take it anymore, he sank to his knees, finally curling up as he had often done in his cupboard.

"There. That's much better. I do hope we won't have to work on your manners again. Now as I was saying- before being so rudely interrupted, how is life? How do you like it with Sirius? Is he good to you or is he nothing more than an apathetic nuisance?"

"Don't say one word about him!" Harry snapped, uncurling himself and sitting up, trying to ignore the pain. "

My, my, quite fond of him aren't you. I wonder what you would do if something were to happen to him. What would you do if he left you alone, like James and Lily."

That was enough to get Harry's attention. Fear clouded his mind. He couldn't lose Sirius. No, he couldn't. He didn't remember James and Lily but their death made him sad. The very thought of losing a father after knowing what it was like to have one, brought tears to his eyes. If Sirius died, Harry was sure that he would also die- of grief. "N-No." he said shakily. "Don't hurt my dad."

Suddenly the air before him shimmered and Sirius appeared in front of him. On any other occasion, Harry would've been happy to see his dad but not at that time. At least not like that. Sirius lay in front of him, his eyes were open, a blank look on his face. No, no, no.

Harry ran forward and collapsed in front of his father. He took Sirius' hand but dropped it immediately. It was cold, so cold. Sirius was dead. His father was dead.

'It's not real, it's not real...' he chanted repeatedly. "

Oh but it will be, lad." Voldemort's ice-cold voice struck him like a knife. He couldn't take the sight if his father's immobile form anymore and he screamed, as loud as he could, pouring all his heartache into it. "

NO!"

Sirius' body dissolved into nothingness right before his eyes. Sobbing, he tried to reach out but everything around him started to disappear. "Dad no! Don't leave me alone! He continued to sob, feeling helpless when suddenly; strong arms wrapped around his body, lifting him up and away from his surroundings- his nightmare.

"Harry, open your eyes pup." He heard someone talking to him, soothing him. The screaming stopped and he forced his eyes open and saw Sirius looking at him. His gaze was filled with concern.

Harry looked around and took in everything around him. He was in his room, in the Defence quarters and Sirius was holding him tight. Sirius. His dad was right here, in front of him. He wasn't dead. With a sob of relief he launched himself at the man, throwing his arms around his godfather's neck. That nightmare had seemed so real.

Harry felt Sirius' hand gently rubbing his back. "You're okay pup. I got you now." He was set down on the bed and Sirius settled down next to him. Sirius said nothing. He ran his hand through Harry's hair, mumbling nonsense and trying to calm the boy.

"Pup, what was all that about?" Sirius asked once Harry had settled down a bit. Harry remained silent for a whole minute.

"I heard... I heard Voldemort." The arm that had been rubbing his back abruptly stopped.

"What else?" Asked Sirius, trying to keep his voice level and the panic at bay. Sirius listened with horror as Harry narrated his nightmare.

"He threatened to kill you, Dad. It was horrible." Harry's voice sounded weak. A few traitorous tears trailed down his cheeks as he recalled the emptiness inside himself when he'd seen Sirius lying there like that. He'd never felt so hopeless ever before.

"That wasn't real, kiddo. I'm right here okay, and you're safe." Sirius assured him. Harry shook his head frantically.

"No dad, you don't get it. He threatened to kill you. I don't want you to leave me. Please don't go." Harry pleaded.

"Oh pup. He said that so that he could get to you. Get inside your mind and hurt you. He can't hurt me Harry."

Harry remained stubbornly silent. "You want some hot chocolate?" Sirius asked. Harry looked up, confused but the idea of a drink was refreshing. He nodded. Sirius stood up and Harry immediately followed. With a sigh, the man wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders and led him outside. As he stared at Harry who occasionally sniffled and wiped his eyes, he realised that the dream had indeed hit his pup very hard.

He felt the familiar rage boiling at the surface but he shoved it down. Not now. Sirius pulled out two mugs from the cabinet and got to work. Two minutes later, both of them held a steaming mug of hot chocolate in their hands.

The liquid soothed Harry's parched throat, which felt raw from all the crying and shouting. "Feel better?" Harry nodded honestly. "That. Dream. Wasn't. Real. Do you hear me?" Asked Sirius, ducking slightly to look Harry in the eyes.

"Yes, dad." And now truly, although he was still shaken, he knew it wasn't real. But back then; it had all appeared so real. He gave a little shiver as his mind went back to the cold chamber. "Good boy. That was just Voldemort messing with your head, trying to get to you."

"But what if he comes back?" Asked Harry, hating himself for sounding so small.

"Then we will find a way to deal with it. There has to be a solution for all this. I'll think of something by tomorrow." Sirius promised. "Now, why don't you get back in bed."

Harry desperately shook his head, feeling the panic bubble inside him again. "No Dad. He'll come back; he'll come back, Dad. I can't see all that- see you like that ever again." Harry pleaded with his father and Sirius immediately relented.

"Sshh. Alright. You needn't go back to sleep. We'll sit right here, all night. I'll stay with you. Okay?" Said Sirius. That was definitely a better suggestion. Harry snuggled against Sirius' side. They talked for a long time. The man made sure to keep the topics cheerful and after what seemed like forever, he felt Harry grow heavier in his arms. He looked down and saw the boy breathing deeply, sound asleep.

Not willing to leave him alone, Sirius summoned a blanket and draped it over the child's sleeping form and brought his son closer.

Thankfully, the remainder of the night passed without any nightmares.

******

With another expert slash of his wand, Sirius knocked down the opponent in front of him and watched it disintegrate. His eyes were a deadly shade of steel as he tackled the fairly solid enemies in the room of requirement. His every reflex and every move was agile and catlike. If anyone had been watching him, all that they would've made out of Sirius was a blurry object destroying his enemies with terrifying skill. This was a mere glimpse of the Auror who made Death Eaters quake before him.

He felt the energy swirling around his entire person, the rage so intense that it was physically visible. With lethal accuracy, he aimed a hex at an obstacle approaching him, effectively obliterating it. How dare he! Slash. How dare Voldemort hurt Harry like that! Whack!

As he continued to destroy the illusions that the room had created on his requirement, he felt the anger diminish a little. Another figure popped up in front of him and like all others, it possessed the same white face, red eyes and slits for a nose. Surging forward with brutal intent, Sirius tore it down.

Finally, once he was satisfied, the room reverted to its original state and Sirius sank to the floor. He drew in a deep breath, willing himself to calm down. Since he had released all of that pent up energy, slowly but steadily, he felt the rage dissipate. He had managed to reassure Harry and the boy had gone off to his classes. Now, time to go and speak with a certain Headmaster.

"I see. This is indeed a very grim matter." Said Dumbledore. Sirius mentally rolled his eyes. Of course it was. He hadn't come here to drink butter beer with the Headmaster.

"I know that Albus. I want to know the reason behind this and how Voldemort was able to penetrate Harry's mind in the first place." Dumbledore saw the rage swirling in those grey eyes and not for the first time was he thankful that Sirius hadn't gone over to the dark side. There was a reason the Blacks were feared. He would never admit it out loud but if Sirius had switched over to the evil side, Voldemort would've definitely become the lesser threat. The love Sirius held for Harry was immense and beyond compare. He felt sorry for whoever tried to cross him.

"I'm not quite sure, my boy. Perhaps it has something to do with the boy's childhood." Sirius pursed his lips at that. Of course! The damage done by those bloody relatives of his had left Harry physically as well as emotionally scarred. It was natural that his mind wasn't strong enough to block Voldemort's mental attack, even when Voldemort was weak.

"As you know, Voldemort is a skilled Leglimens. If Harry needs to defend himself he'll have to learn-"

"Occlumency!" He should've thought about that earlier. "That's right. If you wish, I could ask Severus to hel-"

"Absolutely not! There's no way I'm letting that dungeon bat into Harry's mind. He hates Harry as it is. No need to cause further injury. I'll teach Harry myself."

Dumbledore looked surprised. "You know Occlumency?"

Sirius scoffed. "Of course I do, Albus. Along with Leglimency and a whole lot of other stuff. You see, when your summer vacations are a nightmare, the library and your room are the only places of solace." That was true. Sirius had hated it whenever the school year came to an end. His family had been a pain to live with so he had spent most of his time cooped up in either his roommate the library or the outdoors. Thanks to the vast resources of the Black Library, Sirius had picked on a lot of knowledge.

Dumbledore offered Sirius a sympathetic smile. With a hurried goodbye, Sirius walked out of Dumbledore's office and back to his quarters.

******

"Occu-what? What's that again?" Harry asked for the third time.

"Occlumency. Like I've already told you, it's a technique that allows you to close your mind and prevent any external factor from looking into your thoughts, feelings and emotions." Sirius explained patiently.

"So if I do this- Occlumency thing, Voldemort won't be able to get into my head?" Harry looked hopeful.

"Exactly. But, it's not as easy as it sounds. You'll need to focus and give it your very best." Said Sirius. Harry nodded eagerly. He'd do anything to keep a certain someone out of his head.

"Do you know Occlumency?"

"Yes I do and I'll be the one teaching you how to block your thoughts from him."

"How?" Harry asked. Sirius looked uneasily at his boy before answering. "I'll have to look into your mind and then you'll try and push me out of it." He said. Harry tensed up at that. If Sirius was going to teach him Occlumency then that would mean that he would be able to see everything that the Dursleys had done to him. Talking to his father about the abuse was one thing but witnessing it happen was something different altogether. His mind had been the one place where his Uncle couldn't hurt him. It had been his personal sanctuary. Learning how to block his mind meant opening his mind to Sirius and although he trusted his dad more than anyone including himself, he wasn't looking forward to the idea very much.

"Will it hurt?" He asked.

"I can't promise that it won't hurt but I'll be as slow and careful as possible." Sirius reassured him. Quit being such a baby! Harry scolded himself. If he wanted to protect his mind from Voldemort, then he had to do this.

Harry steeled himself. "Alright. When do we begin?"

Sirius gave Harry a smile. "We'll begin tomorrow night once your lessons are over. It takes courage to do this, Harry." But at that moment, Harry didn't feel all that courageous.

The next day, his classes seemed to drag on and on. He just couldn't wait for the day to get over. When Charms ended, Harry wasted no time in bolting out of the classroom and right to the Defence quarters. Sirius was already there, waiting for him.

"Come, sit and then we can begin." Their first exercise that day was simple. Sirius made Harry clear his mind. "Your mind needs to be clear. If your head is clouded with unnecessary thoughts, you won't be able to focus. Secondly, the invader attacks you through your thoughts. If your mind itself is blank, there won't be anything for him to attack. It also helps you calm down when you're faced with unfavorable situations. It helps me... most of the times."

Harry closed his eyes and tried to do as Sirius had instructed. He took deep breaths and willed all his thoughts to go away. It was a little difficult but after some practice, he got the hang of it. His father said that they'd move on to harder exercises later on.

By the end of their session, Harry had completely learnt the art of making his mind go totally blank. "I'm proud of you, pup." And just like that, those five words made the entire process worth it.

It was a small start but an important one nonetheless. Harry still had a long way to go if he needed to defend his mind from Voldemort's invasion.

******