Disclaimer: yeah you get the idea

A/N: Sorry for the slightly longer update time but it is for good reason because I now have a beta! Hopefully you should all see massive improvements in my writing and no plot holes. I'd like to endlessly thank Teufel1987 for his help.

Soooo...Please Review!


Chapter 7: Conversations

Xander was slightly frustrated. He was sitting outside Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour, which he had found was well positioned to survey Diagon Alley, not to mention Xander rather enjoyed lemon sherbet. It was mid-August and so far he had made negligible progress in finding Pettigrew. He felt his plan was solid; track followers of Voldemort until they meet up with Pettigrew or gave an idea where he might be hiding and then make the grab. Unfortunately, figuring out who Voldemort's followers was turning out to be more difficult than he had expected. Xander knew a number of names of Death Eaters, of course, but almost all of them were imprisoned in Azkaban. They wouldn't be leading him to anyone anywhere.

Xander chewed on the inside of his cheek as he once more perused a small leather notebook he kept. Xander's memory was excellent, partly natural and partly due to skill in the Mind Arts, so he never really needed notes. Nevertheless, Xander found that writing and diagramming his thoughts often helped him make connections. Right now he was staring at two columns he had written out. In one column were the names of all the people he had recognized during his long hours of sitting and watching in Knockturn Alley, many of them Xander suspected of being Voldemort's recruits. There had been a few dark bounty hunters he had recognized (dark meaning they would take non-government and 'kill only' contracts), a couple black market Curse-breakers he knew only by reputation and description, and a handful of wanted criminals that Xander had recognized from bounty lists. There were a little over a dozen names under that column.

Xander had marvelled a bit at the dichotomy presented by Knockturn Alley and Diagon alley. 'One is as seedy and sketchy as the other is clean and safe,' thought Xander. It was unlike most other magical sectors he had seen; the magical portions of cities like Delhi, Beirut, Moscow, Tokyo, and Mexico City had their safe areas and dangerous areas but they ran together much more than in London.

The other column was filled with the names of suspected Death Eaters from the first war that had avoided prison. This was the list that causing most of Xander's problems. The names on the first list weren't particularly useful at this point. Even though Pettigrew had met with Raine's fugitive, he doubted Pettigrew did that often as Xander thought he was probably in Voldemort's inner circle, having served so long. Additionally, a supposedly dead man showing his face in front of some of the stronger dark bounty hunters he had noticed would probably give away more information than Voldemort wanted to reveal to unknown quantities. Finally, while Xander knew he was very skilled, making a grab at Pettigrew while he met a couple of the more dangerous wizards he had observed would be vastly more difficult and dangerous than making the grab when Pettigrew was alone or with an unsuspecting British wizard.

Thus, Xander knew he needed the names of the Death Eaters that had run free for the last 15 years. Unfortunately, that list seemed either implausibly small or laughably large, depending on whom Xander asked. Xander had tried casually asking around at the bar of the Leaky Cauldron, and had incited a near riot. One portly man, who he later found out was some minor bureaucrat in the Ministry, insisted that, "Black is the only follower of You-Know-Who still free," while a rather drunk witch seemed to believe that dozens of them had fled to Iceland.

Xander looked through the names on the second column. It still contained nearly 90 names. Some of them seemed ridiculous, like Ludo Bagman. Xander had actually tailed him when someone insisted he believed that Bagman had been part of Voldemort's inner circle. Instead, Xander wasted a day following an enthusiastic but slightly idiotic sports fanatic; Xander thought the most important 'inner circle' Bagman had ever been a part of was probably a poker group. Other names seemed likely but presented their own problems, like Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy. From what he could gather, it seemed extremely probable that both were Death Eaters, but they were also unfortunately borderline untouchable. Snape was a professor at Hogwarts with Dumbledore vouching for him, while Lucius Malfoy seemed very powerful politically and Xander wasn't sure just how much trouble his ICW medallion could get him out of. Those were two bridges he was only going to cross if he absolutely had to.

Xander briefly considered going to the Ministry and the DMLE. He knew they would have the information he needed in some form or another; the problem was actually getting it from them. 'They already aren't being that cooperative, I doubt I'd make any friends going back and asking about all the other Death Eaters they screwed up on' Xander thought. No, going back to the Ministry was not an option.

Xander exhaled deeply while scratching out Ludo Bagman's name and putting a small 'x' next to Snape's and Malfoy's. 'What I need is someone from the last war who knows the Death Eater structure or someone who knows the legal cases from 15 years ago, someone who can sort through these names and point me at the useful ones' Xander thought as he set the notebook down at the table, 'Preferably both.'

At that moment, Xander looked up from his notebook to see the answer to his problems in a standard bodyguard stance at the entrance of Flourish and Botts, watching alertly as a troupe of redheads entered the bookstore. Xander stood up and discreetly cast a number of glamour charms so that he appeared to be in his mid-20s before striding over towards Mad-Eye Moody.


Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody was not a happy man. He hadn't been a particularly happy man in a long time; being trapped in your own trunk by a Death Eater for a year and the resurrection of Voldemort would do that. Nevertheless, even within his normal baseline of unhappiness today he was particularly unhappy. Molly Weasley had hysterically insisted after the last Order meeting two nights ago that some of the members of the Order help her escort her kids to Diagon Alley to pick up school supplies. Mad-Eye had immediately shot her down, saying it was a poor use of resources and that her kids were not a high priority target like Potter and thus didn't need Order protection duty.

This had only driven Molly so hysterical that some observing Order members thought she might have done the impossible and become more paranoid than Mad-Eye. The youngest male Weasley also had the unfortunate timing of entering the room as Mad-Eye spoke, making him mutter something about, "Harry bloody Potter being so damn important…why is he more important…"

Dumbledore finally stepped in and acquiesced to Molly's demands, which meant Mad-Eye was leading Vance, Tonks, and Diggle on glorified baby-sitting duty.

'If you count the fact that Arthur, Molly, Bill, and Charlie are all also here and those twins are of age, we have 10 people guarding two damn kids. I don't think Fudge is even this bloody well protected," grumbled Moody under his breath as he swept Diagon Alley, looking for any signs of danger, before following the group into Flourish and Blotts. Even if he thought this was a waste of time, Mad-Eye was still a professional, and was still going to follow proper protocol.

Once he had stepped inside, he started barking orders while taking in the surroundings. "Shacklebolt, Bill, Diggle, Tonks; each of you take a corner of the room. In case of attack the closest three will collapse on our marks while the furthest one will find an escape route. Go," ordered Mad-Eye gruffly. They followed the orders wordlessly; they knew Mad-Eye was in a poor mood.

Mad-Eye then turned to rest of the group. "Alright, Charlie, Vance, Molly; take the youngest two and get your books. Arthur and I will take the twins. Let's try to finish this in ten minutes."

Molly started to speak, "Shouldn't we stay together," she questioned, looking slightly frantic at the idea of her children wandering away from her.

"No! Too big a target and harder to defend, now go!" barked Mad-Eye. Molly didn't look happy. "But…" she began but didn't get anywhere as Mad-Eye cut her off.

"Dammit Molly, you wanted protection and I'm doing it, this is standard procedure so get moving. That is a direct order," Mad-Eye growled. Order member or not, he wasn't about to let Molly Weasley tell him how to do his job, especially when she didn't have a clue what she was talking about.

"C'mon mum, it'll be fine. Let's get going, I wanna look at the Quidditch books," said Ron, pulling on his mother's arm. Molly finally acquiesced and was led away by her two youngest children, Charlie and Emmeline Vance trailing behind.

Mad-Eye followed Arthur and the twins as they went to the Transfiguration section. 'The youngest boy finally did something right,' though Mad-Eye to himself.

His opinion of the youngest Weasley boy wasn't particularly high; he thought he had a bad case of jealousy of the Potter boy along with a mild case of idiocy.

"Why the bloody hell would anybody be jealous of a kid whose chances of surviving the next few years are as slim as my wand?" muttered Mad-Eye so only he could hear as they walked to the Charms section. The group quickly moved section to section and gathered their books; even the twins weren't going to make any trouble with Mad-Eye around. Once done, they began heading for the till to pay for the books. The bookstore wasn't particularly full, probably about a dozen customers scattered through the stacks of books. As Mad-Eye turned towards the register just in time to hear Ron scream, "Bloody Hell!" while his mother admonished, "Ronald! Language!" as someone ran into him, causing him to drop his books. Mad-Eye moved on instinct, wand out he began closing the distance, motioning for Bill to close in.

Mad-Eye began sizing up the man who had run into Ron. He seemed to be in his mid-20s, well built, and was wearing jeans, leather boots, and a hooded leather jacket. Though he looked pretty normal, the leather jacket set off alarm bells in Mad-Eye's mind, 'A jacket like that in the summer heat doesn't make much sense.'

What the man did next completely surprised Mad-Eye. He bent down, picked up one of the books Ron had dropped, and handed it to him before turning and looking at Mad-Eye right in the eye. "Sorry about that," the man began, "Completely my fault, if I could, I would like to buy you all ice cream at the shop across the street," finished the man.

Mad-Eye vaguely recognized the accent and the cadence of his voice; something was going on. He finally noticed the subtle hints of a glamour charm around the man's face as the youngest Weasley male said, "Alright, I'll take some ice cream!" while Bill tried to cut his brother off and politely decline. Mad-Eye activated his magical eye to strip away the glamours from his vision as Shacklebolt and Tonks came jogging up, putting themselves between the Weasleys and the man, who Mad-Eye finally recognized.

"That'll be fine sir, and I'm going to have to ask you to back off," started Kingsley coolly.

"I really must insist," the man replied, equally coolly, "I feel some ice cream would be great, we can all learn something new and beneficial" he finished, speaking the last words directly at Mad-Eye.

Tonks then decided to step in, turning her hair an aggressive red colour, "Listen buddy, ice cream's great and all but you are going to have to back off or I'm…"

Mad-Eye finally put the pieces together. "Ice cream sounds like a great idea, let us pay and then we will follow you right over to Florean's," he said.

The reaction from the rest of the adults in the group was pure shock. Shacklebolt looked like he had just been slapped, Tonks was simply gaping, and Dedalus Diggle actually fell over. Mad-Eye? Ice Cream? While on a mission?

"Mad-Eye, what the hell…we need to get back," started Shacklebolt as he was the first to come to his senses.

Mad-Eye finally ripped his eyes away from the stare down he was having with the bounty hunter he recognized from the his stop in at the Ministry a few weeks ago.

"Kingsley, shut it and follow orders. We are getting ice cream. Let's get the Weasleys rung up. Go!" growled out Mad-Eye, leaving no room for argument. Kingsley just nodded while Ginny and the twins looked confused. Ron's response, however, was "Great! Ice cream!" He was completely oblivious to the situation.

Mad-Eye just shook his head, 'Maybe more than a mild case of idiocy with that one' he just thought.


Xander was now sitting at a corner table with Mad-Eye and a tall black Auror that now knew was called Kingsley. Most of the other adults that had been with Mad-Eye were seated at a table just across the little outdoor seating area, watching as the redhead children ate ice cream, courtesy of Xander. Xander noticed that two of the non-redheaded adults had taken watch positions around the alley, and were looking at him suspiciously.

Xander was snapped out of his observations by Mad-Eye's voice. "What do you want?" the Master Auror growled roughly.

Xander turned his attention to the one called Kingsley. "Who's he and does he need to be here," Xander asked coolly.

Kingsley looked as if he was about to speak but was cut off by Mad-Eye, "Auror. He doesn't but he won't blab about this if that's your worry. Now out with it."

Xander nodded, what he wanted wasn't illegal or classified, and it would be easier to deal with the added presence than make a scene. Xander pulled out his notebook and yanked out the page that had the two columns of names. Using his wand, he duplicated the two columns back on a fresh page of the notebook before taking the old page and ripping it in half. He slid the half that had the 90ish names of who Xander thought were possible British Death Eaters to Mad-Eye.

Mad-Eye placed the paper between him and Kingsley as they both read through it. "That's a list of names I found of possible Death Eaters that escaped prison or death during the first war. I think we can both agree that it's on the long side and that your head of the Department of Magical Sports, Bagman, isn't any Dark Arts master, yes?" Both men nodded, Kingsley grinning slightly.

"Alright, but what does that have to do with us," asked Mad-Eye, narrowing his eyes.

"Information swap," Xander said simply. Kingsley looked confused while Mad-Eye suddenly looked very interested.

"What for what?" replied the old Auror.

"You give me the names of the Death Eaters that got away last time and have been running free. Mark which ones you think are part of his inner circle, which ones you think are skilled, and which are well connected politically. In return, you get this piece of paper," Xander said as held up the other half of the page he ripped out, which contained second grouping of names.

"And tell me kid, why do I want that second piece of paper?" asked Mad-Eye.

Xander glared a little at the 'kid' comment before saying. "It's some of the fish that have been pulled in by the Lordly fisherman we discussed last time," said Xander.

He was purposefully cryptic, all he knew was that the other man was an Auror and wasn't sure if he would reporting this to his bosses who were denying Lord Voldemort's return. Xander didn't feel like pushing any political buttons he didn't have to. Fortunately, Kingsley was utterly confused, his eyes darting back and forth between Xander and Mad-Eye.

Mad-Eye, on the other hand, looked like Christmas had come early when he figured out what Xander said. "Done. Got a quill and some paper?" Mad-Eye asked while grinning. Xander tossed him a muggle ballpoint pen (much easier to keep in a pocket) and a sheet from his notebook. About five minutes later Mad-Eye slid the paper back to Xander. It contained about 30 names.

"The numbers 1-10 indicate who I think would be toughest in duel, 10 being the weakest. A capital 'I' means I think they are in the inner circle. A capital 'P' means political power, which you'll notice a lot of," Mad-Eye said quickly.

Xander nodded; it was exactly the information he needed and would save him a lot of time. He grabbed the ballpoint pen and scribbled a few things on his sheet before tossing it to Mad-Eye.

"'C' is for Curse-breaker, 'B' for bounty-hunter though they are more like assassins, and 'W' is for wanted criminals. All seen within Knockturn Alley."

Mad-Eye glanced through the list quickly before slipping it in his pocket. Standing, the he gave a quick nod and a gruff "Thanks" before walking off. Xander nodded in return and pocketed his notebook along with his new list of names before getting up and walking to the Leaky Cauldron.

The two experienced professionals left a shell-shocked Kingsley sitting there thinking, 'What in the bloody name of Circe just happened?' before Mad-Eye started yelling at him to get moving.


For the blissful weeks between arriving at Grimmauld Place and a few days after his birthday Harry's psyche had been on a honeymoon. Being removed from the Dursleys and spending his days living moments he should have had during his childhood with his incredibly fun godfather temporarily transformed Harry in a gleeful eight or nine year old. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. This period where Harry managed to banish most of the events of the outside world came to a screeching halt in the first few weeks of August.

Harry had managed to convince Dumbledore to allow Hermione to come over and an Order member, he thought it was Dedalus Diggle, had gone and fetched her. The plan was for just a calm day of catching up, exploring the house, and talking about the upcoming school year. Unfortunately, the situation had rapidly devolved when Ron had decided to bring a copy of the latest Daily Prophet as they had finally reported Harry's near assassination.

"They aren't all that mean in this one mate. You'll back to being the Golden boy in no time," said Ron with a torn look on his face.

"Ron! You shouldn't say it like that! Oh Harry I've been worried and I've done some reading. Have you started reading that book on coping I gave you? One of the other books I read said we should really sit down and talk it out," ranted Hermione until Ron cut in again.

"Bloody Hell Hermione, Harry's a bloke. He doesn't need any of that touchy-feely crap," exclaimed Ron.

This only got Hermione worked up, "Ron! Language! Also, just because you don't need it, because nothing happened to you, doesn't mean you know what Harry needs!"

"Oh and you do because of course you know everything," retorted Ron.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Hermione said, deathly quiet. Unfortunately, Ron, afflicted with the condition known as 'clueless teenage male', didn't see the warning signs.

"I mean you act like a know-it-all but you are a girl so you don't get this sort of stuff," replied Ron while shrugging.

Even Harry, who was also often afflicted by 'clueless teenage male' syndrome, realized that Ron had just ordered his own death sentence. The following explosion from Hermione and subsequent shouting between the two managed to touch on Harry, classes, marks, the Yule Ball disaster (that really got Ron in trouble) and ended with Hermione crying in a bathroom while Ron got chewed out by his mother and Ginny.

During the entire argument Ron and Hermione had somehow managed to forget about Harry's presence, which wasn't abnormal, so Harry had just slipped away into his room. He hadn't tried to intervene because their words and struck home; the Daily Prophet article and Hermione's rant on coping had brought what Harry felt like was the weight of the world crushing back onto his shoulders.

The following couple weeks saw a complete flip in Harry's behaviour. He barely left his room, was quiet during meals, and only cracked the smallest of grins during Sirius' funniest jokes. He felt a myriad of emotions, but nearly all were negative - anger, frustration, helplessness, loneliness, and sadness.

Finally, the day that the Weasleys were due to move into Grimmauld Place for the rest of summer, Sirius stepped in. Harry had been once again locked himself in his room and was laying on his bed.

"Alright, I've tried to give you some space for a couple weeks but what's the problem kiddo?" asked Sirius as sat himself in a chair. Harry just responded with a glare.

Sirius frowned a bit, "Okay, dumb question, I'll admit. How about you tell me what you are thinking about?"

"You mean other than the fact that the raging madman who killed my parents, murdered a classmate in front of me, used me in some screwed up ritual to revive himself, tried to kill me, and is still trying to kill me? Oh and that the wizarding world thinks I'm a delusional liar because of it?" Harry spat out.

Although the article concerning his near death had been sympathetic; Harry had started reading the Daily Prophet regularly and saw just how aggressive they were trying to drag his name through the mud.

Sirius sighed and looked down, cracking his knuckles. Harry could tell he was trying to pick his words carefully. "Look, I'll be blunt. Yes things are shitty for you and I wish I could fix it but I can't. But sitting up here all day isn't exactly improving things, is it?"

Harry didn't move for a moment before he shook his head. "Alright, then let's figure this out. What are you thinking about the whole situation," said Sirius a bit more confidently.

A tense silence filled the air for a solid minute before Harry spoke, "It's a lot of frustration and anger I guess. Frustration at the world and Fate for making my life so far from normal, and frustration with myself because I feel so weak and have no idea how I'm going to make it through all of this alive. Anger at myself for letting Cedric die, and anger at people like Dumbledore for not doing more, and making so many decisions for me. I've also been, I think, sorta annoyed at Ron and Hermione, and missing someone to talk to."

Sirius was biting his bottom lip. Four years fighting a war and over a decade in Azkaban had certainly not prepared Sirius for a situation like this one.

"Alright let's go through it one by one. First, you honestly have every right to be frustrated and angry. However, you shouldn't be angry with yourself. There was nothing you could do about Cedric, people die in wars and it's unavoidable. It's not easy to forgive yourself. I still don't, but you have to at least try, because it does make things better."

Sirius sat up a little straighter, he was getting on a roll, "Second, yeah it's going to be tough for you, and you are probably going to front and centre in the war that's coming. But sitting in your room alone isn't exactly doing anything to prepare you, right?" Harry nodded; his godfather was somehow making a lot of sense.

"Good. You can't practice magic this summer, but we can at least go through a lot of the books in the library and look up useful spells that you can practice when you get back to school. You can also ask a lot of the Auror Order members for tips. Maybe don't ask Mad-Eye unless you want your arse kicked though…" Sirius said laughing a little. The tension broke a bit and even Harry grinned.

"Finally, well, remember you always, always, have me to talk to. But I can see why you might want someone your age and all, even if everyone thinks I've still got a 16 year old's brain. What's up between you, Ron, and Hermione?" asked Sirius.

Harry sat up and ran his hand through his hair. He wasn't quite sure what to say. Ron and Hermione were his best friends, no, his only friends. Nevertheless, he couldn't ignore the fact that they hadn't exactly been ideal friends lately.

"Look Ron and Hermione are amazing and my best friends. Ron is my best mate and Hermione is pretty much my sister, but…" Harry stopped for a moment, struggling to find the words, "I know no one is perfect, but things just seem to repeat over and over with them and not really in a good way.

Sirius looked a bit confused and intrigued all at one. "What do you mean 'repeat over and over' kiddo?" he asked.

"Like that argument the other day I felt like I've heard a million times. Always Ron says something tactless while Hermione thinks she can answer everything from a book. I mean I know they both mean well and all, but it gets annoying. I mean Ron said because I'm a bloke so I don't need the 'touchy-feely' stuff, but he has no idea what's going on with me. On the other hand it was really weird and not helpful from Hermione to get a book on coping or whatever. Plus she started harping on me about talking about it when I didn't want to," said Harry.

Sirius looked pensive, "That isn't all of it either? Not the first time huh?"

The experience was clearly cathartic for Harry; he was finally letting out a lot of thoughts that he had trapped away because he never had someone to talk to. "Yeah, it seems like every year this happens. Ron gets jealous at me because of the attention I get even though I don't want it. It almost cost us our friendship last year when he accused me of entering my name in the Goblet of Fire. I forgave him and we are good but it still hurt," Harry finished.

"And Hermione?" Sirius asked.

"Same thing, like every year when something crazy is happening she tries to just solve it with a book or with the rules when they don't always work. And then she sometimes gets crazy mad at me when I don't follow what she says. She can be really controlling," explained Harry.

Sirius quickly shot out a question, "Are they still your best friends?"

Harry answered immediately, "Of course! I mean yeah they have their faults but so does everyone. Ron always comes through in the end, like first year, and Hermione is absolutely brilliant and has been really helpful. I'm not sure I would have gotten through the tournament without her." Ron and Hermione were far from perfect, Harry knew, but they were still his first and best friends and he would defend them until the Gates of Hell.

Sirius leaned forward in his chair and started lightly chewing on his fingers. It was one of those habits that Harry thought he carried over from his dog form.

"Harry, who else would you consider a friend at Hogwarts?" Sirius finally asked.

Harry opened his mouth to answer and then closed it rather quickly. His mind was running through names, 'Seamus? Dean? I know them but I wouldn't say friends, we don't really hang out together. Neville? Not really either, I don't know him that well. Fred and George? They are older and I only really know them through Ron. Same with Ginny.'

Sirius frowned a bit when he saw this was actually a difficult question for his godson. "Your roommates? Your Quidditch teammates, maybe? Or that girl you went to the Yule Ball with?" he asked.

Harry looked up a bit confused. "Erm… I'm friendly with my roommates but not really friends. Then, I mean, I've always been the youngest on the Gryffindor Team, which makes it kind of weird. And Parvati? I mean I know her, but we aren't friends, especially after the Yule Ball."

Sirius frowned a bit again.

"How about people in other Houses? Some 'Claws or 'Puffs? Maybe a Snake even?" prodded Sirius.

Harry actually looked shocked at the question. "I talk to some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs a bit but not really, Gryffindors stick together a lot. Don't think I've ever talked to a Slytherin in a friendly way, all my experiences are usually with Malfoy and his cronies, and they definitely haven't given me a reason to talk to any Snakes."

Sirius leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful look on his face. Harry was feeling nervous, like he had done something wrong or made some mistake. Harry could feel his whole body tense up as Sirius finally started speaking.

"Look, Harry, Ron and Hermione are your best friends and having people like that is great. Merlin knows that your father, Remus, and I were as close as could be at Hogwarts. The Rat too, unfortunately." Sirius said the last bit with a furious scowl before continuing, "Anyway, we were best friends, but we also branched out and did stuff with plenty of other people, Claws and Puffs included. Hell, I even dated a couple Slytherins in my time and I don't regret it." Sirius got a wistful look in his eyes. Harry knew his godfather's memories were probably centred on broom cupboards at the moment.

"Well what I'm trying to say is," Sirius started, trying to get back on track, "you should try branching out, making more friends. Ron and Hermione can stay your best friends of course, but it seems like you could use some other points of view in your life. Plus, with the war coming, the more friends and allies you can have, the better."

Harry thought about it for a moment. What his godfather had said actually made a lot of sense, not just the part about friends either. He loved Ron and Hermione to death, but he agreed that having more friends probably couldn't hurt. Harry wasn't sure how exactly he was going to make more friends when he was thought of as a delusional liar but that was an issue for another time.

Harry finally looked up at his godfather, "Jeez Padfoot, when did you get so….serious?"

Sirius lit up as Harry brought his right palm to his forehead; he had walked right into his godfather's favourite joke.

"Well that's because I am…"

"Don't finish that," Harry mock glared at Sirius, cutting him off.

"'Kay, but was that all helpful? Feeling better?" asked Sirius frankly.

"It was great, Sirius, and I'm still not feeling great, but I am feeling much better. I'm also in definite agreement I should try to make more friends, maybe even in other houses," responded Harry.

Sirius responded jovially, "That's the spirit! Besides you don't want to limit yourself, you don't know what kind of quality resides in the other houses!"

Harry just looked confused and responded with a very eloquent, "Huh?"

"You know, maybe you could explore the insides of some broom cupboards with some of your new female friends as a…erm…bonding activity," said Sirius with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Harry suddenly turned beet red when he realized what Sirius was talking about. "Keep it to yourself, you mutt!" he exclaimed as he threw a pillow at Sirius, hitting him the face.

"Alright, alright I surrender! In the meantime let's get downstairs, the Weasleys should be here soon, and hopefully Ron won't do anything too stupid after that chewing out he got last time," responded Sirius as he loped out of the room.

Harry got up and went to brush his teeth, letting the conversation he just had sink in. 'My life is still terrible, but Sirius is right, locking myself in my room isn't exactly changing that. Might as well do something' thought Harry before following his godfather downstairs.


A/N: Should be less of an update until the next chapter as most of it is already written as this is being posted. On another note, I'm still struggling on pairings; I thought I was settled on Harry/Susan, Xander/Padma for awhile. But then I came up with great ways to do Harry/Padma, and either Xander/Susan or Xander/Daphne. Bugger. Least I have a couple more chapters before I need to really decide. Keep weighing in please!