AN: Thank you for all of the story alerts and hits if you want a disclaimer look at the chaps before. Because if I did own this why would I put it online I would be making $$$ now if I was. My beta sent this back to me last night around 11:30 and after I saw the word 'sullied' all I could think of was monsters inc….

Sirius stumbled towards Hogwarts Castle, barely able to walk. His injuries, combined with his lack of food and water from the past two weeks, had taken their toll on his body. He had never been so weak in his whole life. The door to the Entrance Hall looked almost unbearably difficult to open in his injured state. His hand reached out to just try, but Severus beat him to it. He looked at Sirius for a moment, thinking about something Sirius had no idea of (and nor did he care in his current condition). Then, Severus waved his wand, spelling a now-shaking Sirius invisible, and taking him into the Castle, up six flights of stairs to the Room of Requirement, which had taken the form of a loft apartment.

Sirius was laid on the bed and Severus called a house elf to bring some food as he grabbed the bandages and potions, that had materialized on the night table beside the bed, to heal Sirius.

An hour later, Sirius was patched up and, besides the weight that he had lost and the pale color of his skin, you could see nothing wrong.

When Sirius had finally gotten over what was happening he asked in a small voice, "Why are you helping me, sir?"

Severus just shook his head, "I'm sorry, Black. I had hoped that they would not hurt you so much."

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't realize what could have happened. I thought that it would just be a good laugh." Sirius said quickly, hoping that Severus would accept his apology, since he was still unsure of Severus and if he had any wishes for personal revenge. For once, his apology was genuine, unlike the half-hearted (at best) apologies he had given, when demanded by professor McGonagall.

"I know. This is really all Albus's fault," Severus explained, a bitter set to his mouth. "He lets your group and the rest of your house get away with too much, while he pays no attention to the rest of us and looks for every chance he can to put Slytherins down. He has sullied the whole school system not only with the inter-house relations but the courses and textbooks themselves."

"Really?" said Sirius, leaning forward in interest.

"Oh, yes. When he became Headmaster, he got one of his old friends to re-write Hogwarts: A History, and with that he started the house rivalries. Before, each house had a tower. He took over Slytherin Tower and made it his own, moving the Slytherin students into the dungeons." Sirius was shocked now. "He then got rid of all the courses that he hadn't done well in: Warding, Wizard Studies – which is the equivalent to Muggle Studies and explained all of the Wizarding traditions and was a mandatory course for anyone who grew up in the Muggle world. The only reason he didn't do away with Muggle Studies was because the Ministry demanded it, but even they think it's a useless course because he has stopped them from updating the information. He has done so much damage to this school," Severus looked bitter again, "it's a wonder that it's still respected and even that's only because people don't know better." Severus had to stop his rant to take a breath.

"And even then that's only the beginning, and all because a Slytherin turned him down when he asked them to the Yule Ball. Another thing that he stopped at Hogwarts." Severus finished with a shake of his head. "But enough about Albus. We need to get you better before you report to the Headmaster, and we also need to go over a cover story for you over the past two weeks."

Sirius just nodded and accepted the glass of water Severus held out for him, which he finished in record speed and greedily started in on the plate that the house elf had brought. It was a meagre meal of broth and bread, along with potatoes, but after the past two weeks in prison, it was a welcome meal.

"Don't eat foods that are very rich for the next week, at least, and pace yourself. If you eat too much you will just throw up," Severus said, in a voice that was to be obeyed, yet had a friendly undertone. "When you are done, take a bath and dress in the clothing in there. Here is your cover story, alright?" Severus handed him a roll of waterproof parchment. Because of the time constraints, it would make more sense for Sirius to just read it in his bath, rather than wait until after. Sirius then went into the washroom with the parchment.

Two hours later he came out looking at least five hundred times better than he had going into the room.

"Do you know the story?" Severus asked, eyes over the book he was reading.

"Yes, should I go and talk to the Headmaster now?" Sirius asked, surprised that he was even thinking of asking Severus for permission.

"Yes," said Severus, as if this sort of thing happened every day. "Go through the Floo, act as if you've just gotten back here from Canada, ok?"

Sirius nodded and stepped into the green fire, calling out, "Headmasters Office, Hogwarts."

Albus Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, going through some papers, when his fireplace suddenly glowed green. He watched intently as Sirius Black appeared, the fire spitting him out. He smiled in greeting.

"Hello, Mr. Black. I hope you had a good trip," said Dumbledore.

"Yes, Headmaster. I had an enjoyable stay with James's grandparents," lied Sirius easily.

"That's good, it's always an asset to have connections in high places. I'll have to pay a visit to them soon, I think. To thank them for their hospitality, of course," he said, gesturing to Sirius, "but also – I hear Canada has some beautiful sceneries, don't they Sirius?"

"Yes, Headmaster," said Sirius. "The landscaping is quite beautiful."

"And the, er, castle. Was it as monumental as they say?"

"Of course, Headmaster."

"Delicious food, I assume."

"Uh-huh."

"And, er, James's grandparents were kind to you?"

"Yes."

"I hope you put in a good word for me, then?"

"Yes, of course, Headmaster," Sirius replied sarcastically, he couldn't believe how desperate his Headmaster seemed for the attention of royalty.

After some more pointless conversation, small talk and the like, Dumbledore finally questioned Sirius about his trip.

Sirius took a deep breath. Now was his moment. "Well," he began, I was escorted into their grand ballroom and told that after all of these wonderful things they had heard about me if I would like to join their training program."

Dumbledore was nodding enthusiastically.

"So I've spent the last two weeks training with their army," Sirius continued. "It was quite interesting because they combine Muggle fighting styles with magic. It is much more efficient than how we fight here." He hesitated before the final bit. "I cannot tell you any more about my time there since I was put under oath not to tell anyone," he finished, using the story Severus had given him earlier.

Headmaster Dumbledore sighed slightly, looking disappointed and dissatisfied with the answer. He could tell, however, from the finality of Sirius's explanation that he would not be getting another one any time soon. So, Dumbledore simply dismissed Sirius and went back to his papers.

You see that button down there just calling to you it's so pretty so yes click on it and review tell me what you think! Sorry it's taken so long I've been working on a one shot that will hopefully be up within the week only a few sentences left, I had a star I had a part just before the end and now I'm a few sentences away from finishing the middle and moving on to the last little bit.