Chapter 3

Once the door was closed, he then started tapping on the bricks again. When Sirius finished he sighed. "Well, that was easy," he said.

"But won't he be able to get inside?" Harry asked.

"No. He would need to reveal the door first and then unlock it. But he doesn't know the combination for the secret wall. So we can stay in here for a while," Sirius said.

Harry smiled. "But you're going to be in trouble. How did you know that was there anyways?" he asked.

Sirius smiled back. "Yes, I will be. But it's nothing I can't handle. And as for knowing it was there: My parents told me," he said. Walking up the stairs with Harry in a one-armed embrace. He saw the stunned look on Harry's face. "Yes, they told me. When I was young and not so rebellious. They wanted to be sure Reglus and I had a safe room to go to incase anything happened in the house. So they told me, and I had just remembered it was there."

Harry was happy that he was able to get away from the headmaster, though he knew Sirius would be in trouble for helping him. "So, where does this go?" he asked.

Sirius smiled. "You'll see." They continued on up the stairs when Harry saw a door up ahead. He assumed that was the room Sirius was talking about. When they got to the door Sirius turned the handle, which opened after having to be pushed physically by Sirius to get into the room.

They walked in and Harry stared wide-eyed at the room. The room was a fare size, with a sofa and armchairs in the middle of the room. There was a fire near the armchairs, which roared to life when Sirius waved his hand at it. There was a bookcase filled with books to Harry's right and a table for at least four people. The rest of the space was open area. There was also an armoire, which Harry had overlooked. It looked like one of those that you could hide a bed in. The walls were painted a mid-shade of green. The sofa and tablecloths were silver. There were a few candles scattered about the room and a hanging chandelier above the table. And everything was covered in dust and cobwebs.

Sirius watched his godson with amusement. He had acted about the same way when he first saw the room, though he was only five at the time. He thought that Harry might want to have a safe place to go to as well. He would teach him how to get into the secret room. Though that would wait for later. "I need to re-decorate. Don't you agree?" Sirius asked. The only thing he hated about this room was the color: Slytherin Colors.

Harry smiled. "Definitely!" he said. He paused in mock thoughtfulness. "But what colors?" he asked.

Sirius returned the smile. "Maroon and gold?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "Maroon and gold sounds like a good idea."

Sirius raised his wand and went over to the sofa and chairs. He tapped them twice and said an incantation that Harry couldn't hear. The next second, the chairs were red. Harry smiled, he now knew what was going to be what color. When Sirius was finished the room had golden yellow walls. The tablecloth was yellow, and there were now place mats that were red. There was now a red rug near the chairs, but far enough away from the fireplace so it didn't catch fire.

The room now gave off comforting warmth. Harry smiled at how much changing the colors of the items in the room brightened it up. Sirius then pointed to the sofa and they both sat down. They looked at the fire and enjoyed the silence they had found. Harry wondered if they could do this more often, just sit and enjoy the other's company.

All of a sudden there was a soft, but audible noise. Harry looked at Sirius, who smiled. It occurred to Harry that they had probably missed dinner. Sirius got up. "Why don't I grab us something to eat? As you can tell we've missed dinner and I'm hungry."

Harry smiled. "Sounds like a good idea," he said. "Do you want me to go with you?"

Sirius shook his head, "Nah, I'm fine. You just sit here and I'll be right back," he said, moving towards the door.

"Be careful," Harry said. Sirius turned around, he knew what Harry meant: Don't get caught by Dumbledore. Sirius nodded his head, the walked out.

Harry sat down with a sigh. He already missed Sirius, and he had only been gone for less than thirty seconds. He would have to get over this before school started; or else he would be in bad shape. Harry just stared into the fire wondering what they were going to do together for the rest of the summer.

Sirius walked down the stairs quickly, but quietly. He knew he needed to get the food and back soon for Harry's sake. He knew that Harry couldn't stand to be out of his presence for long periods of time. Hell, he couldn't stand being away from his godson either. He also needed to be careful to watch out for Dumbledore; he didn't need to be held up for longer than he needed to be.

Sirius reached the door in a few seconds from leaving Harry. He tapped the door to reveal it, and then the tapped it again in the special sequence to unlock it. He took a deep breath and turned the handle. He walked out and cautiously looked around; he sighed in relief, Dumbledore wasn't there.

He walked up to the door that led to the kitchen. He listened for any noise on the other side of the door. There was none, so he quietly opened the door enough to peek out and make sure there wasn't anyone there. All clear. Sirius walked out and grabbed a bag and shoved some food in it. He was about to turn back around when the door opened.

Sirius wasn't about to be seen by Dumbledore so he ducked down behind the counter. He listened for any noise and then he heard footsteps, then a sigh. Sirius smiled, then stood up. Remus jumped when he saw him. "What are you doing?" he whispered. "Dumbledore was waiting for you. What did you do? Where's Harry?" he asked.

Sirius smiled. "Well, I'm getting food, number one. Number two, Dumbledore was holding Harry captive and I wasn't about to let him do that, and I had just remembered that there was a secret room hidden in the wall of that room. So, I took Harry over there and we got in, away from Dumbledore. And number three, Harry is up there waiting for me and this food," he said.

Remus sighed. "Well, you'd better get moving then. You know that boy can't stand for you to be out of his sight for more than a little while. So get on back up there," he said.

Sirius smiled. "You don't want to go?" he asked. He motioned Remus to come with him and they both walked over to the door.

Just as they opened the door to go in, the door that Remus came through opened again. This time not one Sirius wanted to see: Dumbledore. When Dumbledore saw them they hightailed it to the door. Just as he opened the door, Dumbledore came rushing in. They both ran in and when Sirius shut the door, he locked it, then hid the door.

Sirius sighed. "Well, I think he's going to be a bit mad," he stated.

Remus laughed. "I'm sure he will be. Though he would be very angry to actually show it. So let's hope that he's not all that ticked off with you, yes?" he asked.

Sirius smiled. "Definitely." He said.

Sirius started to walk up when Remus stopped him. "Sirius, you remember a few hours ago after Harry eavesdropped and you said that was just what James was like?" he asked.

Sirius nodded. "Yes, what about it?" he asked.

Remus sighed. "Did you see that look in his eyes?" he asked. Sirius shook his head. "I didn't think so. He wants to hear some stories about Lily and James. It's so obvious. What we need to do is to either tell him some stories or get a pensive and let him see it for himself." Remus stated.

Sirius started to nod. "Yeah that sounds like a great idea. We could tell him some stories now, and we could give him some memories for his birthday. That's brilliant, Moony!" he said, clapping Remus on the shoulder. They started walking up the stairs.

"Hey, that's why I was the thinker of us Marauders. You guys just did what you wanted and didn't think it through enough to see at what point would it be most advantageous to do those pranks. You would always be in trouble before I decided to step in and give a little advice," Remus stated, smiling. Sirius put his nose in the air and walked one stair ahead of him. He raised his voice to reach Sirius, "You know I'm right, why not just admit it? But then again I should know you better than that by now. You never admit you were wrong, even at school," he said as they walked in the room.

Harry stood up. "Sirius?" he asked obviously not expecting the next person to walk in the room. "Remus? What are you doing here? Not that I'm not glad you're here, just wondering," he asked.

Sirius laughed, "Well, he came in while I was finishing getting the food," he said as he put the bag on the table. "Then when we were leaving, Dumbledore came in." Harry's eyes grew wide. "But we hightailed it when we saw him come in. So now Remus is on the run." Sirius said, smiling at his old friend.

Remus sighed. "Yeah, well." He said looking around and smiled. "Let me guess, you redecorated?" he asked.

Sirius let out a dog like bark, "Absolutely! I mean did you seriously think that I would leave this room in Slytherin colors?" he asked.

Remus smiled. "No, not really. It was the only logical conclusion that I came up with. Seeing as how this house is so Slytherin and you are so Gryffindor, I didn't think that this room would be maroon and gold all on its own," he said.

Sirius smiled. "Now we are shown who the real thinker of the Marauders is," he said, smiling towards Remus.

Remus sighed. "Yeah, sure Padfoot. I'm sure that when you decided to raid the library of books, you didn't think that Madam Pince would be in the library at the same time did you? Though seeing as how it wasn't even after hours, I have no clue why you would have even thought to take the books until she was at least gone," he said.

Sirius blushed. "Now, that's not fair. I was a first year and you know that it wasn't just me, but James, Peter, AND you. So, I don't think you need to be pointing fingers here old Moony." He said.

Remus glared at Sirius. "OLD?! Who's old? If I'm old then that means you're old too. But that doesn't matter, I was trying to talk you out of it and you, James, and Peter decided it would be a good idea. So did you listen to me when I said it might be a good idea to not do that? No, nothing I said would make any difference. So you took several books out of the restricted section and tried to get out of the library when…"

Neither one of the two men noticed Harry's face. His face shown with excitement, listening to the story of his dad and friends. Harry couldn't believe that even a first year would have been that stupid. He then started to get a little drowsy. So, he settled down in the armchair he was sitting in and dosed off with the sound of Remus and Sirius' voices lulling him to sleep.

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The next thing Harry knew he was in the air and being carried down a hall. When he opened his eyes he was looking at Sirius' shirt. He closed his eyes, not wanting Sirius to know he was awake. He heard Sirius tell Remus to open the door, and how to open it. He would store that information for later on. He then heard the door open and Sirius started walking forward. Remus walked in front of Sirius to open the door. Harry heard the door open to the kitchen then he heard Sirius gasp. Harry knew Dumbledore must be there. He was very careful not to make any movements; he didn't need a scene on his hands.

"Sirius, what is going on?" Harry heard Dumbledore ask. It was hard to tell if the old man was angry or not, but that was always hard to tell.

"Albus, please. Harry's asleep and I need to get him up to his room," Sirius said quietly. Harry was now slowly drifting back to sleep in his godfather's arms. He was very comfortable, so he ended up falling right back to sleep.

All of a sudden, Harry started to dream. He hadn't been dreaming before but now the dream came back, as it always did when he was asleep.

Harry watched helplessly as Sirius battled Bellatrix. He knew what would happen and needed to stop it before Sirius was gone forever. He tried to move but found that he was stuck to the ground. "Sirius!" he yelled. Trying to get Sirius' attention he screamed again, "Sirius! Watch out she's going to kill you, please move. Don't leave me, PLEASE!" he was screaming. Sirius wasn't taking any notice of him, he was still battling his evil cousin. As Bella shot her first stunner, Harry wanted to wake up so badly so he didn't have to witness, once again, his godfather's death. Just as Bellatrix shot her second curse, before it could reach Sirius, Harry tried one last time, "SIRIUS!" he screamed. He was woken up before Sirius could fall through the veil.

"Sirius!" he screamed as he woke up. Tears were falling down his face as his godfather wrapped his arms around his frightened godson. Harry buried his face in his godfather's shirt. "I'm so sorry, Sirius," he said in between his tears. "I'm sorry I killed you."

"Harry," Sirius said, trying to comfort his distraught godson. "You didn't kill me, it wasn't your fault. I went even when I knew what might happen, but-"

"No, Sirius. It was my fault. I didn't do what I was supposed to and I went to the Department of Mysteries and-" he stopped, gasping for air.

"It's okay now, Harry," Sirius said, rubbing Harry's back in small circles trying to get him to calm down.

Harry pulled away from his godfather, who had suddenly transformed into his dog form, with a confused look on his face. Sirius nudged Harry so he fell onto the bed. Harry then realized why he Sirius was in his dog form: he was going to stay with him. Harry tried to argue back, but Snuffles gave a low growl and Harry shut his mouth and gave a small smile. Harry moved to the opposite side of the bed, where the bed met the wall, so Sirius could have more room.

Sirius made himself comfortable and moved closer to Harry. Harry put his arms around his neck, and said "Thank you, Padfoot." Harry shut his eyes and, thankfully, fell into a dreamless sleep. They never saw Remus and Dumbledore come into the room and look in upon the scene with big smiles.

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Harry woke up from his sleep to find himself looking at a bunch of black hair. The night's events rolled through his mind as he looked at the dog in front of him. He realized that Sirius had stayed all night. It felt good to know that someone cared enough to stay with him while he slept so he didn't have any nightmares. He felt a large smile slip on his face.

Harry moved his arms as to let Padfoot know he was awake. Sirius must have already been awake, for he jumped off the bed and stretched to let Harry get up. He barked at Harry, who was just lying there watching Sirius. He came over and pulled on Harry's shirt so he would get up. "Hey!" Harry yelled, as Sirius accidentally pulled too hard and he fell off the bed and onto the floor with a 'thump'.

Padfoot whined in apology, then smelled the air, his tail started to wag. Harry got the message: Food. Rolling his eyes, Harry got up and put on a clean shirt as Snuffles walked over to the door and started pawing the door, whining, telling Harry to hurry up.

Harry smiled ."Alright, I'm coming keep your…hair on." He said.

Sirius snorted, and continued to paw the door until Harry opened it. Even though he seemed eager to get out, he walked down the stairs at Harry's side.

Harry wondered why Sirius didn't change back into himself, and what he was going to do for breakfast if he stayed as a dog. He didn't have long to wonder, as they were approaching the door to the kitchen. Harry opened the door for Sirius to go in first, then walked in behind him.

"Hello, Padfoot. Sleep well?" Remus asked. When Harry looked at him, he saw a knowing look in his eyes. When he looked at everyone else he saw a knowing look in their eyes as well. He wondered briefly how everyone could have known that Sirius had slept with him. But his curiosity was short lived, when he spotted the headmaster with the same knowing look and a smile to accompany it.

Harry suddenly felt guilty about how he had treated the old wizard the day before. But, before he could do anything, the headmaster nodded, as if saying 'it was alright'. Which confused Harry to no end, how did he know what he was thinking? He double-checked his Occlumency shield. It was up, so how could he know? He then realized that it must have shown in his eyes, he must have let his guard down for a second and let that emotion show.

Harry smiled at his professor. They had come to a temporary truce, until they could talk. Sleeping had done Harry a world of good it seemed. He felt much better, and the entire room could feel it. Sirius transformed back into his human form. He and Harry shared a look and smiled at each other.

Harry and Sirius sat down. Harry was sitting next to Hermione and Sirius beside Remus. They were, of course, sitting next to each other. Hermione looked over at Harry and said, "Good morning, Harry."

"Yeah, good morning, Harry."

Harry looked up from his food to see Ron staring at him with a weird look in his eyes that he couldn't define. "How did you sleep, Harry? I hope quite well," he said.

Harry was now very confused. What was Ron playing at? Then a thought came to him. "What are you going on about? Where did you sleep last night?" Harry asked his friend.

Ron smiled knowingly. "Why, in our room of course. What other room did you expect me to sleep in?" he asked his confused friend.

Harry now knew why everyone had that knowing look on their faces. "So, you're the reason that everyone knows that Sirius stayed with me last night?" he asked.

Ron smiled. "No, Harry. I was there and I saw you two sleeping like babies, which was very sweet I might add, but there also were a few more people who came into the room and saw you two sleeping", he said.

Harry was now confused again. Who came in their room while Harry and Sirius were sleeping? He decided to ask Ron that very same question.

Ron smiled. "Well, let's see. There was Dumbledore, Remus, my parents, Hermione, the twins, Ginny, Tonks, Kingsley, and I think that's it," he completed.

Harry was blushing slightly. Almost everyone came in to watch him and Sirius sleep. How embarrassing. He heard Sirius chuckle, and looked over to his godfather. Sirius looked at him and said, "Don't worry about them, Harry. Just eat your breakfast."

Apparently Ron agreed, because he dove face first into the pancakes. He put about 6 pancakes on his plate and started to shove it all in. Everyone started laughing when Ron started choking on his food. He then took a drink of water and started breathing again. He continued eating but at a little bit slower pace.

Harry followed everyone's lead and started filling up his plate. He hadn't had a good meal in almost three weeks. They ate their food in relative silence. Then some people started having side conversations. Harry wasn't so into his food that he couldn't hear his name. "That was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. Harry and Sirius sleeping like that. I wish I had had a camera. Though I wonder why Sirius decided to sleep with Harry?" he heard Mrs. Weasley ask someone.

Though he didn't hear the response he didn't really care. "So, what are we going to do today, Harry?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. "I'm not sure, but we'll think of something." he said.

Ron leaned back in his chair and sighed. He was finished with his breakfast. Soon after Hermione was done as well. Harry was just finishing up when Sirius said, "Why don't you guys go upstairs for a while. I'll be right up after I have a little discussion with Remus," with a pointed glare at his best friend, who just smiled.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked his godfather. He really couldn't stand having him away from him for more than a few seconds. But he knew he had to get over this, so he said, "Ok, we'll meet you upstairs." Harry gathering his friends and walking towards the door. When they got to the door and Hermione and Ron went in Harry looked back one last time. He gave his godfather a smile and went upstairs with his friends.

Sirius stood up after he knew the children were gone "Hey, guys listen, I've got an idea." Everyone looked at him expectantly, wondering what he was going to say. "Harry's birthday is in a few weeks, and I thought that we could throw him a surprise birthday party." he finished.

"That's a great idea, Sirius!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley. "I doubt that boy has had a proper birthday party in sixteen years," she said, hating the muggles more.

"Well, more like fifteen, but that doesn't matter. So, I was thinking that we could fix up the kitchen for the party, and all that. But the problem is, getting Harry away from the kitchen while we do it. He's pretty good at figuring stuff out," he said.

The group nodded. "Well, we'll figure that out when the time comes, but I think we can work with what we have right now. So, you'd better get upstairs, Sirius, or you'll have someone coming down to fetch you," Remus said with a smile.

Sirius glared at his best friend, who just smiled. "You don't know why I stayed with him, and you don't need to know. So just butt out Remus," he said.

His friend backed down. He understood that Sirius was very protective of Harry, but his curiosity got the better of him. "Why did you stay with him all night? Can't he sleep on his…own?" he asked. Then recognition dawned on his face. "Of course," Remus said quietly. "He can't sleep without you, can he?" he asked.

Sirius shook his head. "No, but I have to go now," he said, walking towards the stairs. When he got to the door, Harry came in. Sirius held his breath, thinking Harry had been there the entire time.

"Hey, kiddo, I was just coming up," Sirius said.

Harry smiled. "Yeah, that was reason number one, but I also would like to speak with Professor Dumbledore, if that's ok," he asked.

Sirius nodded. "Sure, do you want me to stay with you, or go wait upstairs?" he asked.

Harry shook his head. "No that's ok, you can wait upstairs if you want," he said.

Sirius nodded. "Ok, I'll see you in your room." he said. Sirius walked upstairs leaving Harry to talk with his professor.

Harry walked over to the headmaster. "Sir, could I talk to you for a moment?" he asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "If you will excuse me. That was a wonderful breakfast, Molly, as always," he said, rising from his chair.

Mrs. Weasley chuckled. "It was nothing, Albus," she said.

"Yes, thank you, Mrs. Weasley. It was wonderful," Harry said with a smile.

Mrs. Weasley started to blush. "It was nothing, dear. Why don't you and Albus go talk, I'll do the dishes," she said.

"Do you need any help, Mrs. Weasley?" he asked, his smile vanishing.

Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "No, dear, I'm fine. You go talk with Professor Dumbledore. I've got everything under control."

Harry turned around to see his professor walking towards the room they used the previous day. He followed the headmaster and walked inside the room, closing the door behind him, though not before hearing Mrs. Weasley say, "What a nice boy."

Harry started talking once the door was closed. "Sir, I'm sorry about how I acted yesterday. I was out of line and I apologize. I shouldn't have gotten so angry. Please forgive me, sir?" he asked, his head bowed.

Dumbledore laughed. "Harry, it's all right. No harm done. I realized I shouldn't have done what I did either, and it is I who should be apologizing, not you."

Harry lifted his head to meet the eyes of the headmaster, shaking his head. "You have nothing to apologize for, sir," Harry told him, though yesterday he believed the exact opposite. Waking up with Sirius and knowing he was really alive allowed Harry to be in a forgiving mood.

"Neither do you, Harry," said Dumbledore, smiling. "Why don't you go back upstairs? Enjoy the time you have with Sirius and your friends," Dumbledore said.

Harry nodded. "Yes, thank you, Professor." He walked out of the room, trying his best not to run. He didn't want Dumbledore to think he was running from him. Then once out the small room, he sprinted out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his godfather. And his best friends of course. He never heard the people gathered in the kitchen chuckle when he ran through.

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