"Harry? Harry, wake up".

Grumbling wordlessly as a voice whispered in his ears and a hand shook at his shoulders, Harry swatted away the annoyance in his bed and tried to fall back into the warm sleep he was being so cruelly dragged from.

"Harry, please! Come on kid, it's really important".

Finally cracking his eyes open to scowl at the intruder, Harry's annoyance fled and was replaced with a small smile as he blinked up at his godfather sleepily. "Sirius?" he slurred, pausing to yawn tiredly.

"It's me, Pup, but I really have to pee," the dog animagus said quietly, making Harry frown in confusion before grunting as he was rolled over and off of his godfather, the bed dipping as the man scrambled off it and hurried from the room.

Yawning again and looking around slowly, it took Harry a while to recognise the dark yet clean room as the one Sirius had given him in Grimmauld Place, only the sight of a skinny Hedwig sleeping on the headboard of the bed jogging his memory. He must have fallen asleep last night after his little… outburst… with Sirius, his eyes feeling dry and itchy as he wiped the sleep from them awkwardly. Merlin that was embarrassing if it was true, he couldn't believe he'd broken down and cried like that in front of his godfather, he could only hope that Sirius didn't bring it up that morning.

Climbing out of bed stiffly, Harry looked around for his trunk and found it in the corner, padding over to it and opening it up to grab a new change of clothes. Promising himself a shower later on, he quickly got dressed and checked on the bowls of water and owl feed on the desks by instinct, freezing and glancing over at the still sleeping Hedwig as guilt slammed through him.

If he hadn't sent her to try get information this wouldn't have happened to her, she wouldn't have been starved and tortured by Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix. And, Harry thought with a smirk, the phoenix was a magical firebird of legend, a creature that symbolized rebirth and freedom. Well so did he, Harry had certainly been reborn through fire after all, and he was proud to say that he would immolate anyone who tried to move in on his new freedom. And the fact that Harry could actually ignite his body like a phoenix could was only an added bonus, even he couldn't deny that he looked cool while doing that.

"You reminded me of your mother last night".

Stiffening and turning to face Remus Lupin, Harry eyed the werewolf standing in the doorway to his bedroom suspiciously, walking over to the desk and throwing his small sling backpack across his back again. "Oh?" he asked casually, pretending not to notice the way Lupin's eyes darted around his room curiously.

"Lily was an amazing person, kind and caring," Lupin explained softly, "Until you got her really mad. She had a temper that woman".

"I know," Harry admitted curtly, "Sirius told me that last night".

Lupin stared at him for a moment before nodding sadly, "I remember one time, we were on a Hogsmeade trip and James accidentally hit her robes with a vanishing charm, leaving her just in her shirt and pants. She was furious, half-way through screaming at him Death Eaters-"

"Apparated into the middle of Hogsmeade for an attack," Harry interrupted, the black-haired boy unimpressed by Lupin's repeated story. "She and my Dad tore them apart, it's what made her give him a chance".

"How?" Lupin began in shock, face falling a couple of seconds later in realization, "Sirius".

"Unlike you, Sirius kept in contact with me after third year," Harry confessed coldly, "We traded letters every week".

As Lupin flinched and looked around for another topic that didn't revolve around his own failures, Harry's hand rose to curl around the strap of his backpack. Hidden inside it was a small satchel he'd originally bought for Hogwarts back in first year, one that could hold an almost infinite amount of notes without getting thick or fat, he'd repurposed it to hold all of his letters from the magical world when he realized that his relatives would do anything they could to hurt him – destroying things from his 'family' included. Now though the satchel only held things like the Hogwarts letter Hagrid had given him, the letters he and Sirius had exchanged, and only some of the letters that he, Ron and Hermione had sent each other over the years. He may have refused to forgive them, but he also refused to forget the good times they had together, he liked to think he was better than that.

"Oh, uh," Lupin began suddenly, "Right. Molly, Mrs Weasley, sent me up to come get you. Breakfast is going to be ready soon and then she wanted you to join the others in the drawing room to help with the cleaning up".

"Harry's already got something planned," Sirius' voice corrected from behind the werewolf, sounding just as cold as Harry's had. "So you can let Molly know that we'll be busy for the rest of the day".

Lupin didn't bother to argue, instead choosing to just nod stiffly and hurry down the hallway without a second look in Harry's direction. As Sirius padded into the room, his godfather took one look at him before scrunching his face up, moving over to pick up Harry's wand before taking aim and flicking it, pulling a startled squeak from Harry's lips as his clothing started moving about on his body.

"I wish I could take you shopping," Sirius mumbled softly, "Get you some proper clothes, maybe even some of the toys your father loved growing up, treat you like you deserve".

"It's fine Sirius, I never really played with toys when I was younger anyway," Harry dismissed honestly, smoothing down his as-new better fitting red shirt with a small smile. "And who cares if these clothes are second hand? You've made them fit, haven't you?"

The former prisoner looked relieved for a moment as he moved over to pull Harry into a one-armed hug, handing his wand over after flicking it over himself and murmuring freshening charms. "Wait? You're using my wand?" he blurted, eyes widening nervously, "And I used it last night, I've got to get to the Ministry and tell Madam Bones that"

"Whoa, Harry! Slow down," Sirius interrupted, latching onto his shoulders and holding him in place. "It's fine," he assured Harry with a gentle smile, "This house is registered to belong to a Pure-Blood family, any magic done here is assumed to be done by a member of House Black. The Ministry can't tell it's you casting the spells so the Trace doesn't work here," he explained, making Harry relax with a sigh of relief. "Now," he continued, hands tightening slightly on Harry's shoulders, "I think we need to have a little chat, don't you?"

As Sirius moved over to shut and lock his bedroom door, Harry mentally kicked himself, approaching the waking Hedwig to carefully carry her over to the desk despite her whispered hoots in protest.

"Harry-"

"I've had a bad couple of months, okay?" the dark-haired fire elemental interrupted quickly. "Merlin, I've had a bad couple of years! First I get you and then I lose you almost instantly. Then I'm forced into that stupid Triwizard Tournament, and Ron and the rest of the school turns on me, then at the end I see Cedric Diggory die and Voldemort return! Then as the icing on the cake I'm abandoned by everybody and left at the Dursleys where I'm attacked by dementors, accused of casting a spell I didn't even cast and then I find out that the Order of the Phoenix is a thing and that I'm purposely being left out of the loop!" he ranted in one long breath, Sirius' face expressionless. "Then there was Hedwig, and Ron and Hermione, and I just feel so alone that I just… I just needed a moment".

Seconds later he was being pulled into Sirius' chest, warm arms being wrapped around him gently in a hug. "Do you remember how I said I moved in with your Dad when I was sixteen?" his godfather's smooth voice rumbled in his ear, "In the letter we talked about my family in?"

When Harry nodded slowly, remembering the guilt he'd felt when he'd felt pleased that Sirius had been abused too, Sirius tightened his grip on him and continued. "That first night I couldn't sleep and I ended up sneaking into your father's room to talk. I cried so much that night that we both needed a pepper-up potion to get through the day because I'd kept us both up. Sometimes a guy – or a girl – just needs to cry, to let it all out, there's nothing wrong with that kid," he promised softly, making Harry's arms tighten around him as well.

"I want to be angry," Harry confessed, grateful that he was still being hugged as he could pretend Sirius couldn't hear the words Harry was speaking into his chest. "I want to be angry at them all so much, and I kind of am… but mostly I think I'm just hurt," he mumbled, "Hurt that they all chose to believe in Dumbledore instead of believing in me. But most of all," Harry continued when Sirius made an approving noise, "I'm disappointed. I used to think that the three of us would graduate Hogwarts together and would be best friends even once we were old and grey, and now I can't even think about them without getting all sad".

"Merlin I sound like a little kid," Harry spat, disgusted in himself for being so pathetic despite Sirius' reassurances.

"I've already said it's fine, Pup," Sirius argued calmly, "Boy-Who-Lived or not, you're still just a boy. And boys, despite what some people think, do have feelings".

Scoffing, Harry just buried his face further into Sirius' chest, content to just stand there and soak up all the love he'd missed out during his childhood. "Anyway," his godfather continued slowly, "Last night wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about, well actually it was," he corrected before letting out an annoyed noise. "Our heart-to-heart last night wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about," Sirius said carefully, trying again as Harry snickered against his chest, "I'm more interested in your 'wandless magic', actually. Yeah see? You know what I mean," he agreed smugly when Harry stiffened.

"It's just wandless magic," Harry lied defensively as he pulled away from Sirius and turned his attention to Hedwig casually. "I did it when the dementors attacked, I just practiced it since then".

"Come on, Harry," Sirius exhaled gently. "I know I'm not entirely in one piece after Azkaban, but you're talking to one of the Marauders. You can't bull-shit a bull-shitter, and I'm a very good bull-shitter".

"I don't know what you mean," Harry tried, shrugging as he turned back to Sirius, realising nervously that he'd never come up with a secondary excuse beyond 'wandless magic'. "It just happens".

"The only spells that are cast-able without a wand are called 'cantrips'," his godfather explained simply, "Your father and I studied wandless magic when we were doing the animagus transformation, since the transformation is wandless. The fire-throwing charm is not a cantrip, and even if it was then the likelihood that a fifteen-year-old boy could not only cast it but cast it silently? You don't have to tell me the truth, Harry, but please don't look me in the eyes and lie to me".

Staring at his godfather for a moment and seeing the very real emotions in the convict's eyes, Harry just shrugged dumbly, making his mind up on the fly. "I wasn't lying," he said simply, "It happened when the dementors attacked me and I've been doing it ever since. I just don't know what it is".

"You don't need a wand?"

Snap.

"Obviously not," Sirius murmured as Harry carefully held the fireball away from the cautious-looking Hedwig, crushing it in his fist as he gently stroked his owl's chest. "Doesn't that hurt you?"

"I stuck my hand into a bowl of boiling water and it felt warm," Harry confessed, not wanting to look at Sirius to see the disgust on his face. (Even though he knew logically that his godfather wasn't going to turn on him for this, of all things).

When his godfather didn't say anything, the silence beginning to press down on Harry's shoulders heavily, the dark-haired wizard had no choice but to glance over to see the animagus frowning at him. "Sirius?"

Jumping slightly, his godfather shook his head, frown still fixed on his face. "Sorry Pup, it's just… I swear I've heard about something like that, but for the life of me I can't think of where," the man apologised slowly as Harry straightened up hopefully.

"So… so I'm not some kind of… freak or anything?" he blurted before he could stop himself, darkness flashing through Sirius' eyes as the convict launched himself across the room to grab Harry's shoulders again, this time squeezing them almost painfully as the man's grip tightened.

"You are never a freak; do you get me?" Sirius demanded, a flicker of fear darting through Harry's chest for a moment before he remembered Sirius' Mums' favourite nickname for her eldest son.

"I'm sorry, Sirius, I didn't mean it like that," Harry apologised weakly, "You know I-" grunting as he was pulled tight against his godfather's chest, Harry couldn't help but muse if there was some kind of limit to how many hugs a man could give another man a year before it turned weird. He was pretty sure that if there was a limit, that he and Sirius were already way over it.

"Don't apologise, I shouldn't have overreacted," Sirius mumbled into his hair.

"But still," Harry pressed after a couple of seconds, "I'm not…".

"Alone?" Sirius asked, "No… no you're not," he breathed out. "I remember something about an army? There was a king who made some kind of deal, I think?" he explained uncertainly, "There were definitely others," he promised Harry as they parted. "But… if somehow you are? I want you to know that I will never leave your side again". As an indignant hoot echoed through the room, a grin split Harry's face when Sirius tilted his head back to bark out a happy laugh. "I'll have to get in line behind Hedwig, of course," he corrected, still chuckling, "But I think my point still stands, you'll never be alone".

Smiling thankfully at his godfather, feeling like his sullen mood had lifted (not that he was back to normal and ready to stand handing out forgiveness), Harry jerked in fright as a loud rumble echoed through the air. "I guess we missed dinner last night didn't we," he mumbled as he placed his hand over his stumble, grinning stupidly as Sirius' stomach rumbled back in greeting.

"Lupin did say breakfast was ready right?" his godfather asked, Harry holding his arm out for Hedwig to hop onto, the owl shuffling up to his shoulder as the two of them left Harry's room and started down the stairs. "Who knows," Sirius added, "If breakfast if already over I might have to cook up some of my family 'Black Bacon'," he offered, "And no, it's not a family recipe, I'm just a terrible cook so it's always burnt".

Chuckling, Harry wondered for a moment if he should broach the subject of the obvious rift between the two Marauders, the two of them hadn't been acting so coldly towards each other the last time he'd seen them together after all. Deciding not to as they reached the kitchen/meeting room to find the werewolf sitting at the table reading a newspaper, Harry took one look at the table and suddenly regretted not staying upstairs for breakfast, the sight of Hermione, Ron, and Ginny waiting for him expectantly turning his stomach already.

"Oh Harry! You're looking much better this morning," Mrs Weasley exclaimed as her fiery-haired head popped through the archway to where Harry could see a sink with self-cleaning dishes. "You looked so tired last night," she bustled as she hurried into the room and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug that he didn't have the space to duck away from. "It's okay honey," she added in a whisper, "We don't blame you for anything you said last night, we all know you didn't mean it and that you're just a little stressed".

"Oh I'm definitely stressed," Harry agreed bluntly, "But I still hate you all and refuse to lift a finger to help you".

As Mrs Weasley gaped at him in shock Harry unceremoniously clambered onto the table top and jumped down behind her as her plump bulk blocked off the narrow aisles between the table and the wall. "Coming Sirius?" he called over his shoulder as a large black dog shoved its way out from underneath the table and followed him into the kitchen, hearing the sound of four paws fluidly changing to two feet as he looked around the room curiously.

"I wouldn't open that if I were you, I'm pretty sure something's alive in there," Sirius warned as Harry approached what he assumed was the wizarding version of a fridge. "If you want food you'll have to send for it, Dumbledore normally has a house elf send a package of ingredients for Molly to use, she's obviously sent the leftovers back by now".

His godfather's words pulled a smile onto his face, and Harry cleared his throat loudly. "Oh, it's such a shame that I don't have a house elf of my own to bring my godfather and I breakfast".

"Har- crack crack -ry?"

"Thank you Dobby," Harry called with a smile. He'd need to do something nice for that elf, maybe give him some galleons to go buy himself some colourful socks.

"You have a house elf then?" Sirius asked slowly as they looked between the two full plates of bacon and eggs waiting on the bench for them, the amusement clear in the older man's voice.

"I have a friend," Harry corrected, taking the plates and handing on to his godfather, letting the man lead the way past the still shell-shocked Mrs Weasley and back up the stairs into what Harry despaired to discover was a library. "I feel I should warn you I'm allergic to books".

"I tried that one back when I was your age," Sirius dismissed with a snort, "It didn't work on Minnie then and it won't work on her now I promise you that".

"I know," Harry mumbled sheepishly, "I tried".

Exchanging a quick grin with Sirius, Harry felt himself tensing up and looking down at his breakfast mournfully when loud footsteps thundered up the stairs and through the open door.

"What the BLOODY HELL was all that about?!"

"What was all what about?" Harry asked casually, moving his chair around so he could raise an eyebrow at Ron, really not looking forward to another argument right now. He knew he should have expected them to try again, and he had thought he'd have to scream at them a little more before they got it through their heads he was done with them, but Harry had been hoping that he would be able to get through today without someone ruining his mood.

"You bloody know what I'm talking about! I thought we were best mates!" Ron demanded furiously. "Best mates don't talk to each other's Mums like that!"

"You thought wrong, we're not even friends let along best friends," Harry denied bluntly, crossing his arms and settling in for a long argument of using only words he'd learned in muggle primary school. "And personally I thought what I said to your Mum was rather mild". He might not have much… appreciation… for Mrs Weasley right now, but she did still take him in when she didn't have to and treated him like her own son, Harry felt he owed her something for that.

"That doesn't make it the right thing to say, Harry!" Hermione interrupted unhappily, "You really hurt her feelings!"

A flutter of guilt dancing through his chest, Harry brushed it aside quickly and instead focused on the determined glare on Hermione's face. "So I'm not allowed to tell someone how I feel about them, but they're allowed to treat me like an animal and that's okay?" he asked coldly.

"Oh for Merlin's sake! Grow up, Harry James Potter!" Hermione shouted, stomping her foot angrily. "I let you yell at us last night because I knew you were stressed and hurt, but you're taking this too far! You're just acting like a child who thinks they can hold their breath until they're given what they want!"

Well… that was an efficient way to ruin his mood for the day.

"If I thought that would work I would have done it, Hermione," Harry admitted slowly, "But I knew Dumbledore wasn't going to tell me anything, if he had been going to then he wouldn't have left me alone in the dark and ordered my so-called friends to cut off all contact with me. So what's the point in holding my breath for a pointless cause?"

"It wasn't pointless!" Hermione argued loudly, "Ron and I were going to tell you everything if you hadn't jumped down our throats last night!"

"Like what?" said Harry, "What could you possibly tell me that I didn't have to find out from other people because you betrayed me! This isn't even about the Order of the Phoenix anymore!" he confessed as he stood up and glared, my problem with you two is that you were my best friends and I thought we were-" freezing as he realised what he was about to say, Harry glanced back at Sirius apologetically before taking a breath and finishing his sentence. "I thought we were the Golden Trio, that we were strong, but I guess we're just like the Marauders with two Wormtails instead".

All of them flinching as Sirius' knife scratched across his plate, they all took a moment to wait for the man to say something, before Hermione took the silence as her cue to say. "We are nothing like him… how could you even say that? We're your best friends!"

"James was Wormtail's best friend," Sirius rasped out from behind them, "He was my best friend. And he got Prongs killed and framed me for the murder".

As Hermione ran from the room, choking on a sob, Harry just raised his jaw and stared at Ron challengingly. "You've already betrayed me once, Weasley, you're not getting a third opportunity to stab me in the back," he stated bluntly, making the boy's face go as red as his hair as he whirled about and stomped out.

"Excuse me while I ignore you for speaking about him around me," Sirius announced, only the pain in his voice keeping Harry from snorting. "And don't apologise," the man added quickly as Harry turned to do just that, "It needed to be said".

"Why does life suck so much?" Harry asked (not whined, he never whined) as he dropped back into his chair, staring down at the meal he suddenly wasn't in the mood for.

Dragging his chair around the table when Sirius merely raised an arm silently, Harry leaned against his godfather's side in another one-armed hug. "Because if it didn't then it'd be too easy, life's got to do something to keep up devilishly handsome young men from developing a complex," the man bull-shitted randomly, the two of them snorting simultaneously seconds later.

They sat in silence for a moment, both of them clearly lost in their own thoughts. Harry's being filled with doubts over his current path, he knew that everyone would accept him back if he apologised now. But the thing was, he didn't want to go back to the way everything was, he liked being taken seriously for once. He liked being able to speak his mind. Merlin, he liked being able to act like Harry Potter; Fifteen-year-old instead of Harry Potter; Boy-Who-Lived.

He wondered what Sirius was thinking about, probably something equally as complex. Either that or he was thinking about Wormtail, Harry realised guiltily, after his not-so-subtle reminder of his betrayal earlier.

"Do you think we're hugging too much?" Sirius asked suddenly, cutting through Harry's thoughts, "I like hugging, but isn't there like some type of quota for man-hugs that we should be watching out for?"

Or not… well, Sirius did say he wasn't in once piece after Azkaban, Harry couldn't say he wasn't warned.


IGNITION


Last chapter got 68 reviews, that's twice as many as the first chapter did! I'm glad to see you're all liking this story so much, even though I know from the reviews the real love is towards a Harry who isn't hesitating to stand up for himself and speak his mind. Anyway, as I promised, here's a little more confrontation between Ron and Hermione and our dashing hero, although the Harry-Sirius fluff moment took up a LOT more of the chapter than I thought it would.

Also. Fanfiction finally got their sync issue fixed, where I received the emails for your reviews but they didn't 'exist' technically yet. So I'll be able to answer any reviews you send for this chapter.

Thank you again for the whopping 68 reviews last chapter guys and gals!


IGNITION