It was 1 am when Harry Potter knocked on the door to Sirius' room at Grimmauld place.
"Alohomora," came a sleepy voice from inside as the door clicked open. "Harry what are you doing here at this hour. Come inside"
As Harry moved from the shadows, nearing the bed, Sirius saw tears streaming down the lean boy's face.
"What happened?" asked Sirius getting up and gathering his godson into his arms.
"V-Voldemort" he cried as a fresh wave of tears started falling "It was Cedric dying all over again."
"It'll be alright Harry, it was just a dream"
"Can I sleep here tonight please? I just don't want to be alone." Harry said with such hope in his eyes, Sirius didn't have the heart to say no.
Harry climbed under the bedcovers as he got the hint of a nod from the dark haired animagus and snuggled close to him. Sleep overtook him almost instantly. He was in the arms of someone who loved him back.
"Harry has been sleeping in your room since the past few days" said Remus conversationally one evening.
"Yeah" Sirius replied as he busied himself with refilling his firewhiskey.
"Padfoot, look at me" pressed the warewolf.
"He came to me crying one night. Asked if he could stay," mumbled Sirius "Just couldn't refuse him, you know. Figured he needed a father figure considering the Dursleys made him sleep in a closet. So I let him in that night," Remus nodded and took a sip of his drink, encouraging his friend to speak further "Since then he has been there every night."
"Do you want to say something Sirius?"
"The first few nights were fine. But after that, something changed Moon. He is expecting something Moony. I don't know…" he trailed off.
"Why do you let him in then?" asked Remus.
"I don't know Moony. I just don't know." He buried his head into his hands.
"You know what he wants though," he looked up at his long haired friend "Don't encourage him Padfoot. He has enough on his plate already. Don't get his hopes up."
"You're right." he sighed "I'll talk to him tonight."
"Harry. We need to talk." said Sirius determined as Harry entered his room that night "I don't think you should sleep here anymore." Harry just stared at his feet, not answering "You have to know Harry, that I can't give you what you want."
Fresh tears started to fill the emerald eyes. "I can't deal with this anymore," he whispered "I'm sorry Sirius. I'm just so sick of all of this. Sleeping alone, hugging pillows and pretending they were people, having constant nightmares…" he choked on his tears "I won't bother you anymore. Goodnight." He wiped his eyes and went out of the room, leaving Sirius looking helpless.