Chapter Three;

[From now on, I believe each chapter will be just from the reader's point of view.]

Sirius spent most of the next day sleeping in until late afternoon, finally stumbling out of his chambers at around 1 'o clock to meet Remus in the Great Hall for a late spot of breakfast or early spot of lunch, whichever Sirius didn't care, food was food. When he arrived, he saw a beaming Remus at the staff table talking to a chipper Harry, Ron, and Hermione, whom had all been permitted to stay the week before term at Hogwarts. Sirius smiled at the sight, running up and ruffling Harry's messy mop of hair, and giving Hermione a one-armed hug. He took a seat and nibbled on a sandwich as they all four discussed the day, supposedly the Seventh and Sixth year classes will all be merged to three houses at a time instead of two, due to all the casualties of the battle in June, or all the parents whom had pulled their children out of Hogwarts to attend elsewhere due to a War being fought here. It was actually surprising to everyone that this year Hogwarts would be allowing students to return. As the battle ended nearly the whole school was destroyed to rubble.

Sirius looked around at the hall, having a flashback, back in June you could actually see the sky instead of an illusion on the roof as it had a huge hole in it. He gave a smile remembering Filius, Albus, and Severus all working together to charm the place back to life just days after the battle had ended, all three of them still recovering but being too stubborn to allow Hogwarts to stand in such a way.

"What're you grinning about, Sirius?" Hermione asked, being observant as usual.

Sirius turned his gaze to Hermione, "Oh, nothing, just thinking back. How long did it take Albus, Filius, and Severus to rebuild the castle?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow, Harry and Ron exchanged an odd look, and Remus was the one to finally answer "Roughly a week, I think, why?"

"Curious," Sirius said, turning his attention back to the enchanted ceiling. "How long until they all get here?"

Remus rolled his eyes, finishing up his food, "About 7 hours, Sirius, stop being impatient."

"Can't help it, I'm a dog, we don't have long attention spans which makes us become very impatient at times…" Sirius answered never taking his gaze off the ceiling. The ceiling was showing clouds slowly moving, which meant outside it was a clear day. "We should go to the Lake, for a walk."

"That sounds lovely, but I need to go to the Library. We have NEWTs this year, might I remind you two especially," Hermione scolded towards Harry and Ron. They both groaned.

"Yeah, guess we'll go too, we need to get some books…" Ron finally said much to the surprise of Hermione.

"Just because you're dating me doesn't mean you need to change your lifestyle with fighting me on going to the Library," she stated, standing up from the table, "Talk to you later, Remus and Sirius! Oh, sorry," she blushed of embarrassment "Professor Black and Lupin," she corrected as she walked out of the Great Hall, followed by Harry and Ron who both said silent good-byes to Remus and Sirius.

When they were gone, the only ones left in the Great Hall were Remus and Sirius. Remus gave Sirius an odd look, "What did you do?" he asked nonchalantly as he lifted his goblet and took a sip of his pumpkin juice.

Sirius came out of his daze to look at Remus in confusion. "Nothing, Moony."

"I'd hope not. Why do you keep going off into your own world?" Remus asked.

"I've no idea what you're talking about," Sirius lied as he stood up from his spot, "So, a walk by the Lake?" he asked his friend.

Remus shook his head, "Can't. I need to finish up my lesson plans, Teddy and Tonks have been keeping me busy at home and you keep me busy at night with your 'Let's go get a drink' line. Sorry, Padfoot," Remus apologized standing up as well and waving off at Sirius as he walked out and towards his chambers.

Sirius sighed as he walked out towards the shores of Black Lake alone. At least it wasn't snowing or anything, which it would be by next month or the end of this month. He stared out at the Lake for an unknown, or at least to him, amount of time before he saw a stick land by him. He looked down at it then turned to see who threw it, watching as Severus made his way down to where Sirius was standing, "Did you throw that stick at me, Snape?" he asked in a calm tone.

"I did - to see if you would fetch it. Like a good dog… you've proven me wrong however," Severus replied as he now stood beside Sirius.

"What're you doing out? I wasn't aware you could walk in the sun without /burning/," Sirius spat back.

Severus did something that Sirius thought he was incapable of, he chuckled. "Funny Black, no, no, hilarious," he said as he regained his control and went back to the emotionless expression he normally wore. "I was going to retrieve some ingredients I need from the Forbidden Forest, when I saw you standing out here like an idiot staring at the water."

"So you decided to throw sticks at me, how nice," Sirius replied, giving him a smug smile.

"Quite," Severus responded, rolling his eyes at the smile he received. "I should be on my way, good day, Black," he said as he turned in the direction of the Forbidden Forest and beginning to walk.

Sirius bit his bottom lip, 'Did I just have a casual conversation with Severus without getting hexed?' he asked himself, 'Yes, I did. Which means… here comes the level-up from colleague to friend', "Mind if I join you?" he asked.

Severus stopped and looked back at Sirius, keeping a blank expression, "If you wish."

As Severus continued walking, Sirius nodded his head, following behind him.