Disclaimer: I do not believe that Sirius Black is dead. Nor will I ever.




(Sirius's POV)

"Well, James, Lily…I think I screwed up. I don't know why I'm the one who was left here with Harry. You would have done a much better job at it than I just did. In fact, can we trade? James? You want to come down here and deal with this, while I go say hi to Lily? It'd be great fun…" I said out loud.

I was walking down the street, with both my hands in my pockets, and I was talking to my dead friends. I do that sometimes.

I couldn't decide if I was mad or not. Mostly, I was embarrassed, I think. I'd been mortified by what had happened earlier in Harry's room. I can't believe that he'd seen me like that…

And then to come home, and him not be there? I was sure that I had scared him off for good this time.

But no. Harry had come back, full of teenaged attitude and all sorts of fun stuff. Prat. I can't believe he went to Knockturn Alley voluntarily.

Shaking my head, I realized that this really wasn't as calming as everyone makes it out to be, and went back inside.

Harry wasn't still in the living room, but I really hadn't expected him to be. I started walking up the stairs.

"Harry," I called towards the general direction of his room.

No answer.

"Want to make some noise to let me know that you're here?" I said loudly as I passed his room.

I was acknowledged with the sound of metal hitting wood—his alarm clock, I hope.

Dinner was a silent affair—as in, we ate separately. He wasn't talking to me, so I wasn't talking to him. This made it difficult to decide where we were going to go tomorrow. I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask him though.

Bracing myself, I knocked on his door. "Har?" I said, then mentally chiding myself for using his nickname of sorts. We were fighting, and this made me look like I wanted to make up. Not that I didn't, but I didn't want to initiate it just yet.

"What?" he asked in a pretty emotionless voice.

I sighed, and leaned against the closed door. "I take it you're still mad?"

He didn't answer right away. Just when I was getting my hopes up, he answers, "Yes."

I was pretty glad at that moment that he couldn't see me through the door. "Fine. But I need you to tell me where you want to go tomorrow."

There was a pause, then, "Why?"

Why? Because I asked, and I'd like to consider your opinion, you little bugger. I sighed again. "Never mind. We'll figure it out tomorrow."

"Okay," Harry said in a slightly less hostile voice.

The next morning I was surprised when Harry came downstairs and sat across from me at the table. He kind of sat there for a minute, then promptly laid his head on the table and closed his eyes—just like every morning.

I caught myself smiling at the sight of him, but then reminded myself that we were still fighting. Or were we? Was this Harry's way of making up?

"We're out of milk," I said, just for the sake of speaking.

Harry looked up, and looked confused for a second. "Oh…yeah. I forgot," he said, which confused me. Did he mean that he forgot we were out of milk, or that he forgot we were fighting?

Without another word, Harry got up and climbed the stairs. I guess that was my answer.

"Harry," I called after him. He stopped, but didn't turn around. "We're leaving in two hours."

Harry continued up the stairs, and to his room. This was going to be fun trip.

Two hours later, and Harry reappeared from his room. He was lugging his trunk down the stairs, and I swear, it took all my self control not to laugh at him. He obviously wasn't allowed to perform magic—although he probably could've gotten away with it—so he couldn't cast any weightless or bottomless charms.

I turned off all the lights, and locked the door before following Harry outside. Gripping my bag, I placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and apparated us to the nearest Muggle airport. As soon as we got there, Harry shrugged off my hand, and turned to look to me.

"Where are we going?" he asked curtly.

I raised my eyebrows. This was getting old. "I have no idea. Wherever the plane takes us, I guess."

Harry looked at me like I was an idiot. He sighed. "Do you have any Muggle money?"

I shook my head. "Why would I need Muggle money?"

Harry gave me that look again. "Well, you're gonna need some before you get on the plane."

"Why? It's not like I'm buying the thing."

"You have to buy a ticket," he said, and walked up to the lady at the counter.

"Yes?" she asked him.

"Could you tell me what outgoing flights you have that leave sometime in the next five hours?" he asked.

The lady typed some things on her computer. "You don't know where you want to go?"

Harry begrudgingly looked back at me. I shrugged. "We talked about America," I said.

Harry turned back to the lady. "America," he repeated flatly.

"Well America is a pretty big place. You looking for somewhere touristy?"

"Uh…yeah. That would be good," Harry said.

With an overdramatic sigh, the lady began rattling off cities to Harry. "We've got Atlanta, Georgia leaving in two hours, Miami, Florida in six, Washington DC in one, and Las Vegas in three."

"Okay, thank you," Harry said, and began to walk away.

"Wait! Sir, aren't you going to buy tickets?"

"Um…" Harry looked at me, and said, "he left his credit card at home. We'll have to go get it."

I made a mental note to ask what a credit card was.

"Now what?" I asked.

"We have to go to Gringotts and get a money exchange," Harry said without looking at me.

I sat down on one of the benches in the airport. Harry followed suit, but was careful not to sit too close to me. Neither of us said anything for quite some time.

"Harry, how long are we going to do this?" I finally asked.

Harry shrugged. "Not too much longer, I'm thinking."

I sighed. "Why do you say that?"

He looked at me. "I dunno. We're both tired of it, I think."

"Oh," I said quietly. I'd been hoping for a more personal answer. Like an apology.

Harry looked at his luggage. "So…this isn't one of those fights where we just get over it and move on?"

I shook my head slowly. "I don't guess so."

After a slight pause, he mumbled "I'm sorry," to his trunk.

I gave him a sideways look, which would've been more effective if he'd look at me, and said, "I think your luggage forgives you."

He looked up me, slightly confused, then gave me a hesitant grin. "What about you?" he asked quietly.

"Well, I didn't do anything to your luggage, so I'm not sure an apology is in order on my part…" I said with a sly grin.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"It's okay," I said sincerely. "Forget about it."

Harry nodded, but looked at me expectantly.

"What?" I asked.

"Well…" Harry looked uncomfortable. "I mean, I'm not really sure how this works…but, am I, like, grounded now?"

"Oh," I said, surprised. "Um, well, no."

"Really?" Harry asked dubiously.

"Of course. I think I'd feel like too big of a hypocrite, because Merlin knows that I've done worse things."

Harry smirked. "Well yeah. I guess I just thought…with the lying…"

I shook my head. "Just try not to do it again, okay?"

Harry nodded.

"And please, please, always remember your wand." I said emphatically.

Harry looked sheepish. "Yes sir."

I blanched. "Sir?"

Harry laughed. "It seemed appropriate."

"Well it wasn't. Merlin…sir?" I shook my head. "What am I gonna do with you, Harry?"

"Take me to Las Vegas?"

I grinned. "Yeah, alright. That sounds 'appropriate'," I said, reaching over to mess up Harry's hair.

He batted away my hand, so I just let my arm fall onto his shoulder.

"But really…that's it? Just the lecture?" Harry asked with a disbelieving look.

"Mmm hmm," I said, and smacked him upside the head. "And that, for being stupid."

Harry rolled his eyes, and kind of grinned at me.

"Sirius?" Harry asked suddenly. "Do you have a passport?"

"A passport?" I repeated. The word sounded familiar, but I wasn't sure.

"Yeah. It looks like…well, that," Harry said, pointing to a large poster that read 'PASSPORTS NECESSARY FOR OVERSEAS TRAVEL' and had a picture of one.

"Oh! Yeah, I have one of those," I said.

Harry gave me a skeptical look. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," I insisted. "They make you get one during Auror training, just in case you have to do something under cover as a Muggle. I've never used it, but I'm sure it's still at my house."

"Does it have your real name on it?"

"No…it says Harold or something. But I've also got a driver's license, and a birth certificate to match."

"Harold and Harry…that's…interesting," Harry said with an amused look.

"Have you got one?" I asked.

"A passport? Yeah. But that's a…really long story, and I'd rather not tell it at the moment. But I've got one."

I wanted to ask him about it, but decided not to. We didn't need any thing else to disagree about right now.

"Okay," I said. "So, now that that's settled, we need to go to the bank, you said?"

"Yeah," Harry said, standing up. He began to pick up his trunk, but then set it down again. "Sirius? Could you, er…" he indicated to his trunk.

I grinned. "Make sure no one's looking," I said, and discreetly pulled out my wand. I quickly put the weightless charm on Harry's trunk. "Okay. Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Thanks," Harry said.

Slinging an arm around Harry's shoulder, we walked out of the airport.

After one thoroughly frustrating trip to Gringotts, and one confusing and mildly amusing trip through airport security, we were on our way to Las Vegas. Well, we were on our way to the plane. We still had half an hour till it took off.

I felt considerably happier than I had a few hours ago. I decided that Harry and I shouldn't fight anymore. It was annoying, and it was just a waste of time since we were going to make up again anyway.

Harry was just sitting there in the terminal, looking as if he belonged there, and I was watching him. I was just staring at Harry, and I think it made him a little uncomfortable because he kept shooting me glances. I didn't care though. The kid amazed me.

I was thinking too, though. I was thinking about what Harry had asked earlier—about me grounding him. He had seemed so unsure about the whole idea, and I wondered if he had really ever had any kind of consequences other than detentions and lectures. I was leaning towards 'no', because no consequence savvy kid would ask their guardian if they were sure that they shouldn't be grounded. I decided to ask him about it.

"Harry?"

He looked at me. "What?"

"What, uh, what did the Dursleys do if you got into trouble?" I asked.

Harry shrugged one shoulder, and thought for a moment. "I don't…I never did things that would constitute as 'trouble' in their house. I mean, they would get mad if I didn't complete a chore on time, or if I slept too late, or said the wrong thing, or did any kind of magic, but I never really did anything there that someone like you would consider as getting into trouble."

"Why not?" I asked, vaguely wondering what 'someone like you' meant.

"Well…I guess I was kind of afraid. But there also weren't very many opportunities. I mean, I didn't really have toys to hoard or throw, and I didn't go anywhere so I couldn't stay out past curfew or steal anything, or get arrested. And I didn't like, talk back—well, I guess I probably did, but they didn't mind in the way that you would. All they cared about was making sure I got the housework done, and if I was…disrespectful in the process, then that just meant more food for them."

"Did they ever hit you?" I dared to ask.

"No, at least, not in the way that you're thinking. I got an occasional cuff here or slap there, but they didn't abuse me or anything," Harry said matter-of-factly.

"But they kept food from you?"

"Well…sometimes. They were fond of the 'bed without supper' punishment. And then when Dudley was on a diet, but that wasn't just me."

I nodded.

"Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking about it earlier, when you asked if you were grounded. It made me wonder if you ever had been before," I said.

"Oh. Well, no, I haven't been. I mean, I've been, er, confined to my room, but…I have a feeling that that was different than what you're talking about," Harry said slowly.

"Mmm. Just for the record, that is different than what I was talking about."

Harry paused, then asked, "What exactly were you talking about?"

"In my mind, and in most decent parents' minds, it doesn't mean locking you in your room without food for hours on end. It basically just means taking away privileges. Normally, those, uh, privileges are specified. Like, 'no quidditch for two weeks,' or, 'no leaving the house without permission for a month,' etcetera. I wouldn't just leave you wondering—or locked up in a room, for that matter."

Harry nodded. "Well, you know, that's what I thought, I just thought I should make sure."

I nodded. "This was a weird conversation," I said.

Harry agreed. "You started it."

"I know. And…if you ever, um…have any questions about…well, anything, you can ask me. I don't mind weird conversations," I said rather awkwardly.

"I know. I'll keep that in mind," he said smoothly. Throughout this whole conversation, Harry had remained completely collected, and hadn't looked embarrassed once. Not that it was embarrassing subject matter, it just was a little weird. I'd thought this would've gotten more uncomfortable than it had. Maybe this meant we could talk about anything. We did have a cross-continental flight coming up…


A/N: Okay, so, no one guessed it right. I was a little disappointed. They're going to Vegas. Reason being, I've been there, and can actually write about it without having to look stuff up. I don't hate New York or anything.

Also, judging by some of the reviews, I think some of you were expecting a stricter Sirius than I've portrayed. But...Sirius wasn't strict in the books. Plus, it didn't feel right. Sirius is Harry's guardian, yes, but the whole instant disciplinarian father just didn't work for me. So, sorry if anyone was disappointed.