Second verse, same as the first!

This will probably be the last chapter I put up for about two weeks on any of my stories. School fucking sucks like that. Anyway, I'm glad that you all have expressed interest in this story. It's been a breath of fresh air for me.

Enjoy Chapter 2!


Chapter 2: Drunken Conversations

Harry twirled his wand in his fingers down by his side. He was at a loss of what to say. Sirius Black was in his house! Not his…well it was his, now, but it had been Sirius' house first – and he was young! Really young! Before Azkaban young! Sirius was in a Hogwarts uniform, for Christ's sake!

It was one of the most bizarre things Harry had ever witnessed, and that was saying something. Honestly, he was not sure why he was not freaking out more. Perhaps it was the alcohol. Instead of losing his bloody mind, however, Harry merely stared at the boy that would become his godfather.

And said boy fidgeted as he avoided his gaze.

Sirius – this Sirius – was not his godfather. He was a child. It made the whole situation a bit easier to digest. Now, if Harry had seen his Sirius walk through the door…well…

As it was, this was just another inexplicable, unprecedented thing to happen in Harry's life. No big deal.

Harry cleared his throat softly and Sirius' gaze snapped back to him.

"Er," Harry started awkwardly, glancing longingly to his scotch resting on the table by his recliner. "Perhaps we should sit? I mean, I'm sure you have questions – and I have questions, too. You shouldn't have been able to get in here. This house is warded to the teeth. I've had to ward it so strongly because people are bloody batty."

"Sure," Sirius agreed, but hesitated to make the first move. Harry rumpled his hair with a grimace before waving him over to the hearth.

Harry plopped into the recliner with a heavy sigh, grabbing his drink and downing it. Sirius watched him oddly.

"What?" Harry asked. "I was planning on getting shitfaced before you walked in. Speaking of, would you like a drink? It's scotch – I can get you something else, though. There's quite the extensive liquor stock in the wine cellar."

Sirius shook his head, the first smile of the evening revealing itself. "No, thanks. You look so much like a friend of mine. It's caught me off guard –"

"Well, I said I was a Potter, didn't I?" Harry remarked lightly, summoning a bottle of rum from the kitchen that had been sitting in ice. "That shouldn't surprise you too much."

"So you're related to James?" Sirius smiled happily. "He's never mentioned you! I thought I knew all the Potters! I've been over James' house enough times – of course, that doesn't explain how you're here, though. Unless…well, where are we?"

Harry pulled the cork out of the bottle with his teeth, pouring some into his glass and embracing the silence. Sirius wanted to know where "here" was, eh? Well, it was exactly where he thought it was, but how was Harry supposed to answer that?

Truthfully, Harry supposed. God, rum tasted fantastic.

"Here is Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, London," Harry grunted. "Exactly where you thought, hmm?"

Sirius leaned forward, looking around. "Yeah," He said. "It's different, though…or at least it looks different than from what I...you said you lived here? I don't…I don't understand."

Harry sighed again, leaning forward and brushing the hair from his face. "I don't, either," He informed Sirius. "I don't understand how you got in my house and I don't understand how you're here at all. I mean, I can answer stuff for you, but there's something else happening here. You…you shouldn't be here."

"Well, obviously," Sirius snorted. "I was in Hogwarts a minute ago, talking to my mate Remus. I'm walking down the corridor one minute and the next – "

"- The next, you're opening a door and entering a house that used to be yours," Harry finished for him. It was starting to make sense in the haze of his mind. At least, it might be making sense. Harry needed to ask something –

"Used to be?" Sirius cried. "What's that supposed to mean? I still live –"

"Were you on the seventh floor?" Harry cut him off. "Near the tapestries?"

Sirius blinked. "…Yes. I was – well, James and I got into a…into a fight. And Remus and I were talking before I went for a walk. I kind of…paced, I guess. Back and forth down the hallway. I just needed to get away for a bit. I needed to get out of Gryffindor."

Harry nodded slowly. "And what were you thinking? Do you remember?"

"I…I wanted to go home," Sirius muttered. "And then I was thinking about how awful my family is and how I don't really have a home. Then…I saw a door."

"This door. The door to…here," Harry nodded again, encouragingly. "Well, Sirius, you're lucky that I had such a crazy seven years at Hogwarts - that actually helps me understand a bit. The door that you went through is called the Room of Requirement. It's a room not many people know about and it gives you what you want. So you wanted…?"

Harry trailed off. That seemed to be the key to it all, but only Sirius could really answer it.

"I wanted a home," Sirius said simply. "Or to go home, wherever that is. And it landed me here."

Sirius looked lost. Harry could not help but laugh.

"What?" Sirius scowled defensively. "You taking the mickey?"

But Harry could not stop laughing. Magic was fucking weird. A poor kid wanted to go home and magic thought it was wise to drop them on his doorstep?!

"Sirius," Harry chuckled mirthlessly. "I'm not taking the mickey. I'm laughing at how dumb this all is. You aren't seeing it from my perspective because you don't know everything. Let me enlighten you."

Harry swished his holly wand once more. Sirius jumped, turning in his chair in time to see a newspaper and several boxes zoom into the room, piling neatly at Harry's feet.

"Here," Harry grunted, leaning down to grab the topmost box and the newspaper. He reached out, tossing them both into Sirius' lap before reaching for his drink once more. Sirius watched him for a moment, but when it became clear that Harry had nothing to say, he looked down.

And his jaw dropped:

YOU-KNOW-WHO DEAD

BOY-WHO-LIVED HARRY POTTER VANQUISHES EVIL, SAVES US ALL

Thousands Dead in Battle of Hogwarts

"W-What is this?" Sirius asked shakily. "What is this?!"

Harry eyed him over his glass. "It's the paper from the day after I killed Voldemort."

Sirius could not stop gaping. He could not blink. He could not speak. Here he was, sitting across from the man who killed You-Know-Who…

"But…but he's alive," Sirius shook his head. "You-Know-Who's alive. This can't be a real –"

"Look at the date," Harry prodded him gently.

Sirius stared, wide-eyed for a moment before looking down.

The Second of May, 1998.

Nineteen Ninety-fucking-eight.

Alarmed, Sirius looked up. His eyes were wild and desperate. Harry smiled grimly.

"Welcome to 2005, Sirius," Harry said quietly.

The hearth in the living area continued to crackle merrily, completely ignorant of the heaving breaths that Sirius was taking and the heavy implications lingering in the air.

How did this happen? How could a door in a school take him to the future? Sirius read the article in a daze. The man in the room with him had killed Voldemort….in a one on one duel. He saved everyone. He survived a Killing Curse! And he was related to James!

Sirius opened the box in his lap and an Order of Merlin medal sparkled in the firelight. He looked up – Harry was merely staring at him.

"Got seven of 'em," Harry toed the stack of boxes with his foot. "The Ministry gave me a ton of them once they learned all the stuff I had to do to get rid of the damn fool. It was pretty bad, that war – it was just me and my friends…and Remus at times. Snape. More friends. A house elf."

Sirius' hands shook. "R-Remus? Remus Lupin? Snape? How-how is he?"

"Dead," Harry frowned. "Both of them. Both died in the Battle. Remus, though…Remus had a son. He's my godson, actually. Teddy."

"R-really?" Sirius trembled. Remus died? "How's…how…Teddy, you say? Remus had a son? Wait – James! What about James? And Peter? And…my brother? And me? What happened?!"

Sirius was breathing rapidly and it did not take a trained Mediwizard to notice the boy was freaking out. Harry got up and kneeled in front of Sirius, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Easy," Harry breathed. "Calm down. It's gonna be alright. Before we start getting into this, why don't you go check the door? I need…we need to know if you can get back through."

That got Sirius' attention. Grey eyes shot back to him. Harry smiled encouragingly.

"Go on," Harry patted him on the shoulder. "If you can get back through, than my story is just that. A story. It isn't a reality to you. My liquor is real, though! Go on, check and then we can drink and talk and stuff."

Harry got up and Sirius followed suit, walking on shaky legs to the front door of Number Twelve. His parents' front door. Please…please be Hogwarts. Sirius opened the door in the shadowy entrance way and almost collapsed with relief. The door did not open up to reveal the stoop and street that Sirius had been dreading. Instead, Barnabas the Barmy was there, trying in vain to teach several trolls to dance.

"It's…it's Hogwarts," Sirius laughed with joy. "I'm not stuck here! Thank god!"

Harry laughed from the living area. "Good. I still owe you some answers, though. Get back in here – I'll pour you a drink."

Sirius beamed as he entered the room again. "I'm fifteen, you know."

Harry was busy pouring a drink. He turned around, smirked, and shrugged.

"I'm an Auror," Harry said. "The Head Auror. I make the rules. Besides, if there were ever a time to drink as a minor, it's with a trained Auror. Go on, take the drink."

Harry waggled it in front of Sirius. Sirius snatched it with a grin.

"Oh, I've drank before, alright," Sirius boasted. "Us Marauders drink all the time. It's nothing new for me."

"Sure, Butterbeer," Harry teased him lightly. Sirius shoved his shoulder. "Oi! I'm already four drinks ahead of you! You'll knock me over."

The two of them laughed. All the tension was gone. Sirius was safe; he could return to his time. Now they could just talk.

"So you said you had a story," Sirius grinned, wincing slightly at the taste of the rum. Boy, that stuff was strong.

"Well, this all probably doesn't make sense to you, right?" Harry pointed out. Sirius nodded. "See? Can't blame you for having a fit. In short, the Room of Requirement did something weird, spit you out in a different time, and now you're talking to your godson from the future."

Sirius blinked. "W-What?"

Harry burst out laughing at Sirius' expression. Sirius frowned, but waited for Harry to stifle his laughter. "It's not funny," Sirius defended. "You…you're my godson?"

Harry's face was ruddy and warm as he rubbed at his own cheek. "You didn't think my dad would pick anyone else for the job, did you?"

Sirius started again. "James has a kid, too?! Wait! Who'd he marry?"

"Come on," Harry smiled lazily. "You can guess that. He only has eyes for one lass, doesn't he?"

"Lily Evans," Sirius breathed. "He actually got Evans to notice him? Oh my God, wait until I tell him! How did he do it?"

Harry swallowed a gulp of his drink and gnawed at the ice that came with it. "Well, according to everything I know about my father, he's still acting like an arsewipe. Mum warmed up to him once he grew up a bit. The war did that to people…"

Harry trailed off awkwardly, looking into the fire. Sirius cleared his throat.

"Well, I'm sure James is proud to be the father of the guy who killed You-Know-Who!" Sirius pointed out happily. "I know I'd be!"

Harry looked back at him, his smile strained.

"He's uh," Harry struggled to speak. "Er, my dad's….dead."

"WHAT?!"

"Mum too," Harry chuckled sadly. "They both died when I was a toddler."

The silence was even worse, this time. This silence was just as awkward as the ones before it, but the desperation that lingered made Harry feel uncomfortable. Sirius was still grasping at straws.

"I…my life hasn't been the best," Harry admitted to his godfather. "So many people died and sacrificed for me. I grew up with my aunt and uncle who despised me. You died too, Sirius. And I've missed every single one of you every day since. Sure, I have friends and they're the best, but I'm still…"

"Missing something," Sirius filled in for him. "Like me."

"…Yeah," Harry agreed.

Silence.

Sirius frowned at his lap. He let the news of his death wash over him. Despite the fact that the war was ongoing in his time, he never…never realized how likely it was that he would die. It was inconceivable. James. Remus. Lily Evans. All of them died.

"I…I never realized how mortal we all are," Sirius admitted softly. "I can't believe we die. It's just…hard to imagine. Depressing, even."

Harry nodded, sipping at his newest drink. "I lost you when I was fifteen myself," Harry informed him. "Your life definitely didn't go the way you probably planned: A long stint in Azkaban, living on the run for a year before living here…getting killed by Bellatrix."

"No!" Sirius cried. "No way! I'd never let her do that to me!"

Harry shook his head ruefully. "You got cocky. She hit you with a simple spell that knocked you into a Ministry device that – that finished the job."

"See? She didn't kill me!" Sirius joked. "She got lucky. Circumstance…"

"I hit her with the Cruciatus Curse after she did it," Harry looked Sirius in the eye. "And then Voldemort tried to possess me. Dumbledore and him dueled and then I broke most of Dumbledore's possessions. That was a shitty night."

Sirius smiled feebly. "Well, you got her back for me. Thanks."

They high-fived, causing them both to laugh and sip at their drinks.

"Anyway," Harry sighed. "That might be why the Room of Requirement dropped you off, here. This is your house, technically. You gave it to me in your will, but I have never really thought of it as my house, you know? It's where I live. And you're my godfather, so we're family."

Sirius beamed. "I'll have to work on being responsible, then!"

"Don't worry about it," Harry snorted. "I'm all grown up. Be as childish as you like. Doesn't change the fact that you're Sirius and you're the closest thing to family I have…apart from Teddy."

"That's…that's brilliant," Sirius chuckled. His head was a bit dizzy – whether from the alcohol or from happiness, he could not tell. "My real family is pretty horrible. Well, except for my brother. He's just…lost."

"Like us," Harry agreed. "Listen, Sirius. Your brother joined Voldemort. He did exactly what was expected of him and I can't deny any of that…but he grew a pair and stood up for what was right. He turned on Voldemort and was killed for it. But what he did to Voldemort when he betrayed him…Sirius, your brother was very important to killing Voldemort. Your brother was a good person and Siri-well, my Sirius always told me that he should have reached out to Regulus. You should talk to him when you go back."

Sirius hung to Harry's every word. When Harry finished speaking, Sirius looked pained.

"I know," Sirius admitted in a whisper. "I knew he was good. Reggie's always been a good kid. Too good. My parents have had no problem taking advantage of it."

Harry nodded. "Exactly. Snape's had a rough go of it as well, come to think of it."

"SNAPE?!"

"Snape," Harry asserted solemnly. "How much do you know about Severus Snape?"

Sirius scowled. "That he's a slimy, greasy tosser who hates our guts."

"Snape had a horrible childhood, too," Harry informed Sirius. "It's something that's really hard to see or understand when you're a teenager – trust me, I know. And then you hit twenty or so and feel rotten at how you used to treat people. I know more about Snape than I'd really care to know. I never liked the bloke, but his life sucked and he was so damn brave through it all. He spied on Voldemort for Dumbledore. I know for a fact in school that he was lonely."

"He's always hanging around Avery and Mulciber!" Sirius protested. "Rosier, too! And Malfoy even talks to him!"

Harry shook his head. "He's not friends with any of them. He talks to them because he's a Slytherin in a time where Voldemort is at power. He does what he has to – even as a fifth year. You lot could save a fellow teenager if you bothered to reach out."

Sirius did not know how to respond to that, so he stayed silent. He gulped down the last of his drink and yawned.

Harry smiled wryly. "It's eleven. Well past curfew at Hogwarts. You should go."

"But what if I can't get back?" Sirius asked suddenly. Harry looked at him oddly. "Come on, Harry – of course I want to come back! You're my godson, aren't you? We're family, you said!"

Harry set his drink down and stood again, laughing. "Yeah. We are. You still need to go back, though. School's important. The Marauder's will miss you. All that rot. Think about it, though; if the Room could bring you here with such a vague wish, surely it would cater to a more detailed wish, right? You just have to think it up and pace back and forth in front of the wall three times."

Sirius stood as well, following Harry to the entrance hall. "You could come with me, you know," Sirius said slyly. "In case you ever want to come through."

Harry shook his head. Magic never worked like that. "I doubt it works. The door should lead you to Hogwarts and me to…well, the rest of my world. This is home for you, remember? For me, it's just…where I go when the Ministry doesn't need me to go play superhero."

Sirius frowned. "Well…okay, then. Thanks for…well. It's nice to meet you, Harry. And thanks for letting me stay for a while."

Harry shrugged lightly. "Sure. It's home, right? I'm glad we got the chance to do this. It's bizarre, but that's right on track for my life."

They laughed at the silliness of it all, the ridiculousness. It was something they had in common.

"Can I have a hug?" Sirius asked suddenly. Harry raised his eyebrows and Sirius flushed.

"It's something us Marauders do," He explained. "And, well, you're my godson, right? I'm sure I hugged you a lot…"

Harry laughed. "Of course. Come here."

Sirius wrinkled his nose a bit at the smell of alcohol, but enjoyed the hug all the same. Harry was another…would be another member of his family. Still, it was remarkable that Harry could still stand and speak, if that stench was an indication of how much alcohol he had consumed.

"There. I'm off," Sirius grinned. "I'll talk to you soon."

With a cheery wave, Sirius walked through the door. Harry scratched at his hip through his pajama pants, staring for a moment before shaking his head and heading upstairs. He tossed his shirt to the floor and flopped down on his bed, doing his best to fall asleep.

He would not think about how he had been able to see Hogwarts through the threshold of the door when Sirius had opened it. Nope. That was not even possible, anyway. The Room of Requirement did not work that way.

Right?

Harry was asleep before he could answer his own question, dreaming of flying on his godfather's motorcycle. A joyous, barking laughter brought a smile to his face in his sleep.