A Second Chance
By S.L
Chapter Ten: The Night Before and the Morning After
It didn't take long for Harry to learn to adjust to his new life as a tenth-year student at Hogwarts. He generally got along well with everyone and managed as expected in all of his classes.
He was usually partnered up with Hermione in most of their classes, and spent some time studying with her every night in the library. During free time however, he tried to hang out with Ron and his group. So far he had been unsuccessful at bringing the two together for more than thirty seconds without it ending in a fight.
It wasn't the ideal situation, as studying with Hermione became boring, without having Ron there to joke with him and hanging out with Ron became annoying after Ron and the other boys starting heckling one another and making fun of some of the other students. He wasn't sure he liked the way either one of them behaved, but they were his friends, and he was determined to get along with the both of them and anyone else who came between them.
Now they were at school Harry found himself spending more time with both of his siblings, though not by much. He tried to make sure he made it down to breakfast in time to eat with Mare, and spent some time in the afternoon talking with his brother about whatever came to mind. Both, still seemed to only be talking with him out of general politeness to the family, but Harry thought they were coming around to actually enjoying his company. Mare usually sought him out in the morning and more often than not it was Bran who would start up a conversation with him later on in the day.
Seeing his parents on a regular basis, was a different story altogether. Lily was frequently missing from the head table during meals, especially when Dumbledore was not present. The few times Harry had run into her in the halls, she had been in a rush to get to someplace else and had only been able to spare him a second or two to say hello. James was more of a steady figure, as Harry had Defense three times a week, and so they saw one another quite a bit. Class gave them an excuse to talk and Harry sometimes hung out in James' office before or after so they could chat. Ever since they had spoken to one another about Harry's Patronus and Snape, the tension had broken between them. James had become much more friendly and open towards Harry and things were coming along better than Harry could have expected.
As promised, Harry and written to both Sirius and Remus after his first week of school, and had continued with weekly correspondence. It was nice to have someone to write to again, and Sirius' letters were just as anticipated as they had been back in Harry's world. For the first time in years Harry really felt his age.
Of course, Harry wasn't about to fool himself. There was still real work to be done. The homework and classes were trivial, and a nuisance. He got that out of the way as quickly as possible so that when he had free time he could use it to examine the problem at hand; Voldemort.
It had been difficult to piece together, and his information came from (hopefully) subtle questioning, and digging through years of old Daily Prophets in the library. Also he had started his own subscription to the Daily Prophet so he could keep himself as up to date as possible. Sirius, unknowingly, was also providing a bit of information in his letters, by telling Harry what he had been occupying his time as a Auror with, since his winter holiday had ended.
There were certain things that were still in black and white for Harry, but he had managed to piece together the general puzzle. Voldemort here was a much stronger and accepted force than he was in his world. A great deal of his manipulations were achieved through politics. As far as Harry could tell, the majority of the Wizengamot were Dark Wizards and those who were in positions of power were generally corrupt if not suspected Death Eaters. There seemed to be fewer actual attacks, but many reports of a growing army. The Auror's and the Department of Mysteries seemed to be the only branches of the Ministry that were still fighting back against a Dark influence. The Auror's still had to be seen fighting back, and though Harry suspected there would be a spy in their midst, he was sure that they were still trying to do some general good. As for the Department of Mysteries, well, it was as big of a mystery as ever.
There were an alarming number of unsolved murders reported, though not all were officially associated with Death Eaters. Azkaban seemed virtually full and there was a huge population of dark creatures in Britain. Werewolves, vampires, giants, dragons and inferi were all a great deal more common in this world than they had ever been in Harry's. Also, the wizarding communities in Britain were overcrowded. It was very unlikely that any wizardining families lived in the seclusion that they usually preferred. It seemed that only Dark Wizard families, such as the Malfoys lived in relative peace at being well distanced from their neighbors. Though Harry had found out that a few families, such as the Weasley's still lived in their old homes, but they were generally the families that were well recognized for standing out against Voldemort and the Death Eaters and having an unusual amount of protection on their homes.
There was also a huge fugitive community down in Hogsmeade that Harry hadn't even realized. It was where many families who had children in the school, had moved closer in case of emergencies. When things really got bad, Dumbeldore was known for secretly sneaking the families into the school, especially if he knew there was an attack on Hogsmeade coming. Though there were many quotes in the Daily Prophet where Dumbledore denied this, Harry at least, was sure it was true. He had done the same thing, at Dumbledore's urging from his frame, in his world.
It was slow going, as Harry did not want to seem obvious in his search, but he was gaining information none-the-less. Soon he would have to begin to take a more active step, though he still had some time before he would need to make decisions about that.
In the mean time, he had Ginny to worry about.
The girl was driving him absolutely mad, and worse, she knew it. Harry had his suspicions that she was following him, though he knew that sounded silly even in his head. Everywhere he went he seemed to run into her, with and without Malfoy. When he went for a walk in the morning he would run into her on his way out the door, or up in the Owlery, or near the library. They would walk together for a minute, exchanging some light banter, while she just generally teased him and he tried to keep up. They had Potions together, but that was it, and he saw her at meals. At those times she was usually wrapped so close to Malfoy, they were almost one. He was sure he was being especially affectionate to bother him. Often, if he glanced over at the pair he would see her staring back at him with a smile as she leaned forward to kiss Malfoy. It was disgusting, but what was worse was that it was working, because it was starting to get to Harry, despite his better judgement.
Luckily enough, no one else seemed to notice what was going on. The only time they ever spoke to one another was if they ran into each other in an empty corridor. That, Harry suspected, was their house rivalry peeking its head into the situation. Ginny didn't dare be seen interacting with a Gryffindor, as Harry couldn't be seen around a Slytherin. In addition, Harry had made the mistake of asking Ron about his sister only to be treated to a length rant about how much he hated her. If Ron noticed what was going on, Harry was sure their fragile friendship would certainly be jeopardized.
Before Harry knew it, six weeks at Hogwarts had passed.
"So tonight Sirius is coming by for dinner," James told Harry after holding him back after their Friday afternoon class.
They were both sitting in James' office, relaxing for a few minutes before heading down to dinner.
Harry nodded, he knew, Sirius had written him last week to tell hi so.
"He also told me that he's taking you out tonight," James said, maybe hinting at something.
Puzzled, Harry stopped flicking through the book he had been looking at and looked up at James. "Really? We had talked about going out somewhere, but I didn't think we had scheduled anything."
James shrugged and relaxed back in his chair by placing his hands behind his neck and leaning against them. "Well he's taken it into his head that you and him need to get roaring drunk together in order to bond.
At this Harry rolled his eyes and returned to flicking through the book. It was from James' collection, and it was about vampires, Harry found it particularly interesting since a vampire had written it. "I know, he mentioned the same thing to me," Harry told him. "I told him that I wasn't much for anything more than a butterbeer here and there, but he wouldn't listen."
"Eh, just go out," James urged and started spinning around in his chair lazily. It was just that kind of day, the whole castle had that stale feel of nothingness and it was effecting the two Potters. "Sirius is fun to be around, god knows I haven't had the chance to get out with him in a while."
Harry placed a thumb in the book to hold his place and looked at his Dad. "Come along with us then," he said.
As he stopped his spinning by sticking out his leg and catching it against his desk, James made a face. "Not tonight, I'm way too tired. You'll learn that a night with Sirius isn't one you step into lightly."
"Really?" Harry asked. "The Sirius I knew really didn't get out much," Harry widened his eyes at the thought. The Sirius he knew really didn't get out much. Or try not at all, except for the night he died. It was a sobering thought, suddenly Harry very much so wanted to go out with Sirius tonight, any Sirius, even if it was one who wanted to force a great deal of alcohol on him.
"Strange," James commented. "I can't imagine that," just as Harry still had a hard time imagining a Sirius who was able to get out of the house. "Anyways," he continued. "Sirius wants it to be a whole bonding theme, him and his godson, he said."
Harry shrugged. "That's fine, should be fun, in any case."
"We could do something another time though," James added, as an afterthought.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. He and his Dad had grown a lot closer over the past few weeks, but there was still a bit of work to be done. "I'd like that, I think."
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in," James called, sitting up very suddenly and adapting a more professional look.
Harry stifled a laugh, flipped open his book and laid back down on his Dad's couch. Sometimes when he was spending time in his Dad's office a student would come by for a few moments and James would have to change attitudes very quickly.
Lily pushed open the door and came into the room smiling. "Good afternonon, boys," she said, giving her husband a quick kiss and then moving to push Harry over on the couch after kissing the top of his head.
Harry moved over gladly, though he still blushed when Lily kissed him like that. It was such a motherly thing to do, and it was hard to explain how much it meant to him. Having Mrs. Weasley around on occasion had been the closest thing Harry had had to experiencing such affection.
"You'll never guess who's coming tomorrow," she told them smiling.
James and Harry exchanged a look as if deciding whether or not to care. James broke first with a soft, "Who?"
Lily smiled widely at them both, not aware of the quick exchange that had just taken place. "Journalists from all the major Newspapers and Magazines in Wizarding Britain. Dumbledore has decided to hold a short press conference. It's nothing particularly special, but Hogsmeade is going to be full of reporters for the entire weekend, and the staff is going to be pictured in at least the Daily Prophet."
"Very cool," James agreed, nodding, but not showing much enthusiasm, though he did seem slightly intrigued.
Harry however groaned aloud, slinked down in the couch and slid the book up to cover his face.
Lifting up the corner of the cover, Lily looked down at him. "What's that for?"
Harry opened his mouth to tell her to try hiding from a town full of people who want to write lies about you and post your picture on the front page, and stopped. Then very suddenly he sat up and smiled. "Nothing, actually, I've just remembered."
His parents exchanged one of the looks they shared whenever Harry talked nonsense that they could attribute to him being from another world. It happened occasionally, where Harry would still forget that something was different, or that a spell didn't exist, or there was a student that hadn't been enrolled in Harry's world.
No one wanted to take his picture here. In fact Harry was willing to bet that he could walk right up to Rita Skeeter and tell her he was hers for an entire afternoon and she would push him aside in disgust. She wouldn't care about him at all- it was wonderful!
"Care to share with the class?" James asked in an amused tone.
"No thanks," Harry said smugly and settled down with a smile. He preferred to keep this one to himself, there was too much explaining to do.
"Okay," Lily said slowly. "So what time is Sirius due for dinner?"
As it turned out, Sirius was late for dinner that night, which apparently wasn't unusual at all. He arrived after the Great Hall started serving so the Potter family had gone down to meet him at the Three Broomsticks instead.
He arrived in good spirits, though he told them that it had been a rough day and a rough couple of weeks. Dinner passed relatively uneventfully, except for a brief uncomfortable moment when Sirius mentioned visiting the grave of his favorite baby cousin Bellatrix Black. Harry had glared at his plate for that part of the conversation and just hoped no one noticed, though silently he thanked whatever power had seen Bellatrix away before she had the chance to turn into a crazy, bloodthirsty Death Eater. But the moment quickly passed, and moved on to better things and before they knew it, Sirius and Harry were watching James, Lily, Mare and Bran marching back up to the castle.
"So, how'd you like to go to the Leaky Cauldron?" Sirius asked.
It had seemed like an innocent question.
Five hours later and Harry was smashed.
Absolutely, and completely smashed and it was all Sirius Black's fault.
True, Harry was no stranger to alcohol, but he had never become drunk for fun, or to celebrate anything before. The only times he could recall ever drinking was after particularly horrible missions when Snape would slam down a bottle of fire whiskey and they would both sit in the dungeon and drink until everything stopped hurting. Then there were the times when Harry would be sitting alone, up in Dumbledore's office, usually after another person he knew had died. When that happened Harry would sit and drink until he passed out, just so he could have a night of sleep that wouldn't be filled with nightmares.
Sirius' introduction to drink was a polar opposite to Snape's usual practice. For the majority of the night Harry had found himself at the Leaky Cauldron sitting up at the bar with Sirius in a crowd of shouting and singing men and women, all just as drunk as he. There was a group of Irish teenagers, just a little younger than Harry in the corner, standing on the table and singing an almost incomprehensible song about a hippogriff, and on the other side of the room a number of French tourists were taunting a couple of old German warlocks. Around Harry were a number of men Sirius' age, all laughing and patting each other on the back, making jokes and trying to see whom could out drink whom. Sirius seemed to be winning so far, he was in the absolute thick of it, singing louder than anyone, making the rudest jokes, waving to absolute strangers across the bar and getting them to join the party.
For the first time in his life Harry had a night on the town, though mostly he spent the night laughing at the others antics. A few times however he found himself singing and at one point he was even dancing with a number of very pretty young witches who had joined in the fun.
Eventually the end of the night found Harry and Sirius stumbling out of the Leaky Cauldron and out into the London streets, doing their best to copy the hippogriff song that the Irish group had been singing.
Though Grimmauld Place was only a few blocks away it took Harry and Sirius over an hour just to make it home. Along the way, Sirius had stopped to get sick, Harry had wandered down a side road, trying to follow a tabby cat he thought was McGonagall, and they had tried to race a passing car and ended up failed miserably.
By the time they got back to Number 12, Harry and Sirius raced into the kitchen where Sirius had proclaimed that he had a half full bottle of rum they could share before they went to bed. It turned out to be a bottle of vodka and it was only about a quarter full, but they greeted it enthusiastically anyways.
"Did-ja know, I have not been to-o-o drunk before?" Harry told Sirius while he watched the older man pour a glass of the clear liquor for him.
Sirius laughed. "No mate, I can tell you haven't, James doesn't drink neither," he responded. "Old fussy biddy." He made a face and did a quick impression of his best friend. It had Harry hiccupping until he fell out of his seat and onto the floor, right in front of the old burner where Kretcher made his home.
Suddenly angry, Harry stood up and kicked the stove hard and then fell back into his seat.
"What was that for?" Sirius asked, shooting back another gulp of vodka.
Harry pulled a face. "Stupid tattletale, bad," Harry managed, somehow having all of that make sense in his mind.
"You're drunk," Sirius told him as a response.
"You're drunk," Harry argued back.
"Nah uh," Sirius argued. "Look what I can do!" Then he promptly began shrinking down from the table until he was a great black dog barking sharply at Harry's heels.
Harry began laughing immediately and watched as Padfoot drunkenly tried to chase his own tail as he stumbled about, tripping over his own feet. With a quick flick of his wrist Harry conjured a ball in his palm and threw it for the dog to catch. Padfoot leapt into the air, mouth open, only to have the ball hit him smack in the middle of his forehead. With a snap Sirius was back on the ground where Padfoot had been, laughing hard.
It was the last thing that Harry remembered, after that the drink began to take over and he couldn't recall doing anything from that moment forward.
When he woke the next morning it was to a blaring headache, and nauseating feeling in his stomach. He hadn't had a hangover this bad in months.
For a while he lay in bed, not even wanting to move, hating every part of his body for feeling so horrible. Even turning his head on the pillow seemed to be too big of a chore. Harry lay aching for quite some time, trying to recall the events of last night, but sometime during the events in the kitchen he must have gone past his limit and blacked out, he couldn't remember a thing.
After an hour or two Harry heard the kettle steaming down in the kitchen and decided that though he probably wasn't ready for any tea yet, he really could go for a tall glass of water, and then maybe he could track down a hangover potion.
Somehow he managed to crawl out of bed, throw on a warm jumper and make his way down the stairs to the kitchen. Sirius was already there, obviously nursing his own hangover, as he leaned over a steaming cup of tea. He flinched as Harry came in and the door slammed against the frame.
Without saying a word Harry poured himself a glass of water and sat down at the table across from Sirius. After a minute Harry had drained the glass and was feeling considerably better, Sirius still looked like absolute hell.
"Got any hangover cures around here?" Harry asked him. Sirius shook his head, it was only about an inch away from hitting the table.
Harry nodded and pulled out his wand and muttered a quick specialized spell so that Sirius wouldn't hear it. It was a password that was connected to his special trunk. Though the trunk was still technically at Hogwarts, he would be able to reach in through the space and collect something from inside. After a second the air in front of Harry seemed to stretch open and he was looking into the contents of his trunk. Sirius peeked up a bit and strained to see what Harry was doing.
Picking up an old book, and trying to use his body to block the majority of the contents from Sirius, Harry picked through until he found a grey padded case and pulled it out of the trunk. Then he took his two fingers and zipped the space of open air shut.
Unfastening the case, Harry opened it to reveal several rows of various colored vials held in bands. He picked out two bright pink ones and handed one to Sirius to drink, while he himself shot back the other one.
The difference was instantaneous. The moment Harry threw back the potions (which tasted oddly like bubblegum) he felt better, perhaps lacking a few hours of sleep, but no trace of a hangover at all.
Sirius too, was instantly changed, as soon as he took the potion he sat up straight and rubbed his head gratefully. "Man, that stuff is good," he said, looking at the vial thoughtfully. "We'd you get this?"
Harry raised his own vial. "Best stuff there is, if it weren't for this, I think I would become sober. The Snape from my world mixed them up for me."
"Hmm," Sirius said interested. "I never thought of that." Then Sirius laughed nervously, suddenly trying to look at anything but Harry.
Something was off, now they were both clean and sober Harry felt it. Sirius wouldn't look him in the eye at all. "Alright spill it, what's going on."
"Nothing, mate," Sirius said awkwardly, "nothing really."
Harry sunk back in his chair. "What did I do? What did I say last night?" Alcohol had never quite agreed with him entirely. Now he was thinking back on it, he remembered that the reason he always drank by himself was because when he was under the influence he had a problem keeping secrets, he was usually all too honest. He hoped he hadn't given away anything too big.
"Well, it wasn't anything really, but," Sirius squirmed under his gaze for another moment before sitting up straight again and looking Harry dead in the eye. "Why didn't you say anything about being a.. uh… parselmouth?"
Cursing himself Harry winced back. "I was speaking it last night then?"
"Yeah," Sirius confirmed. "When we were going up to bed, I kept trying to talk to you, but it came out…"
Harry held up his hand to stop any more conversation. "I know, I know, I'm sorry." He searched for a way to explain it. "Look, I know I would probably have told you, and maybe my parents, and Dumbledore I guess, well anyone really, but," he floundered for words, then decided to lay it all out straight for Sirius. He was his godfather after all.
"See, I don't know why I'm a parselmouth, I don't know how, I just know that I am." Harry searched for the words to explain. "Trust me its not a particularly useful bit of magic- unless you're a zookeeper I suppose- but its something I'm stuck with. Unfortunately I know it is also connected to Dark Wizards."
"You-Know-Who is a parselmouth." Sirius stated bluntly.
Harry winced again. "Yeah I know that too, you see it's why I don't usually tell people that I am, too." Harry sighed. "Do you know how I first found out about being a parselmouth?" Sirius raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting for Harry to explain himself.
"I was twelve, in my second year at Hogwarts," Harry began. "Dumbledore decided that the students should be given the opportunity to learn how to duel, so he made arrangements for Snape and the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to hold weekly meetings. Well during one of the lessons, Snape, being the snarky git he is, called Draco Malfoy and myself up on stage to duel one another." Harry rolled his eyes, remembering what a pain the Potions Master had been back then, before they had reached an understanding between them. "It was really just a chance to embarrass me, or try to get me into trouble, or… something like that, I don't know. Anyways he taught Malfoy the snake-summoning spell, because he thought it would scare me enough, so that he could step up and get rid of the snake. Unfortunately the snake got away from the stage and started in on a crowd of students."
Harry shook his head sadly. "I didn't really think, I just ran behind the snake and started yelling at it to stop and stay away from my classmates. I had no idea I was speaking another language, but the snake just stopped and sat curled up until Snape could banish it. Everyone was staring at me and I had no idea what was going on." He looked up at Sirius ironically. "You know I had to wait until Hermione and Ron pulled me out into the hall to demand to know why I hadn't told them I was a parselmouth before I found out what was going on. I didn't even know it was possible to talk to snakes, let alone that only I could do it! I didn't know it was a rare or dark talent at all."
"Look Sirius," Harry said, still trying to get Sirius to understand. "After the school saw me talk to the snake, they thought I was bad, real bad, for a good while. They thought I had been edging the snake on a muggle born student, and that I was associated with the Chamber of Secrets, or Slazar Slytherin, or Lord Voldemort. They found out a few months later that I wasn't of course, but I still went through those few months with everyone hating me." Harry clicked his tongue. "To be perfectly honest, most of the time I forget that I can talk to snakes, it never even occurs to me, but when I do remember, I also know that its not something I care to draw attention to."
He looked at Sirius levelly so that he could be sure he understood this next part. "I am not a Dark Wizard, I am not associated with Voldemort or Slytherin for that manner, but I am a parselmouth. If I go around announcing that, then it's just something else that I have to explain. It's hard enough adjusting to everything being different in this world without alienating myself further. Do you really think that if everyone knew I was a parselmouth that they would just shrug it off and think it was no big deal?"
Considering this heavily Sirius sighed. "I see your point. I can't say I would want to tell anyone either. So you don't know why then?"
Harry shrugged. He actually did suspect that it was from when Voldemort had cursed him as a baby, but he had no real evidence of that. Even Dumbledore had never found out why he was a parselmouth.
"Huh," then Sirius smiled. "Alright then, I'll buy it. So tell me, have you ever really set a snake on anyone?"
Harry laughed and smiled with Sirius. "Actually I went to the zoo when I was ten with the Dursleys and accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley, but I didn't know there was such a thing as magic then, and I didn't know that not everyone could talk to snakes. Besides he wanted to see Brazil."
Sirius laughed and then tapped his chin. "That has definite possibilities then. Very wicked," Sirius responded. "Definite possibilities indeed."
Harry shook his head, it figured that Sirius could jump from thinking Harry was Dark to thinking about using his ability to trick someone. "I'm not sending a snake after anyone, Sirius. It doesn't work that way. I only have the ability to talk with snakes, not get them to do whatever I say. I just know a different language is all."
"So, potentionally you could use them to spy couldn't you?" Sirius asked, now going in a completely different direction.
Harry thought about it for a second, sure the thought had crossed his mind before, but there were major flaws. "Not necessarily, Sirius. I mean- like I said, I can talk to snakes, I can't get them to do what I say. Even if I could manage to hold a snakes attention long enough to spy, they see things differently than we do, and they wouldn't be able to understand what people were saying around them. The information would be essentially useless. Besides they have very short attention spans. A snake would be more likely wander off task and never be seen from again."
"Pity," Sirius said, letting go of that idea. "So it really is a useless bit of magic isn't it?"
"Yeah, I told you so. I never quite understood why it was associated with Dark Magic. I suppose just because Voldemort goes around with that great big snake and because it's linked with Slytherin, but really- what good does talking to a snake really do for you? Other than knowing that no one around you can tell what is going on, you would have that aspect of mystery to invoke, I guess."
Sirius leaned back in his chair and stretched. "Well then forget I said anything Harry, I guess I won't tell anyone about it, but I don't think James and Lily would mind hearing about it from you when you get the chance."
This Harry had thought about. "I think you're right Sirius, but I'm not sure I am ready to get into that yet. Like I said I'm still getting used to things in this world, and I'd rather take it gradually then spill everything on everyone at once. Sometimes it seems hard enough to be accepted for the few things people already do know about me." Harry shook his head sadly. "It really is far more difficult than I had imagined."
"Yeah," Sirius said, while pouring himself another cup of tea. "I can't think how hard that must be, you're having a difficult time with it then?"
Harry shrugged. "You could say that, I mean this is the life that I wanted, it's the one I want to become adjusted too, it's only that- its so different. People treat me completely different here, and the people that I was close to in my world don't know that we were ever acquainted, or the ones that I am acquainted with here are so dissimilar its like meeting them all over again and becoming friends with entirely new people."
"Am I different?" Sirius asked, now pouring Harry a cup of tea.
At this Harry hesitated. Of course Sirius was different, Sirius was probably the most changed out of anyone Harry had met so far. "Its really very difficult to compare, I mean you led a completely different life in my world, there's no way you could have turned out the way you are now."
"Really?" Sirius asked, looking very intently interested. "How so?"
"I mean, you have to understand Sirius, that your life in my world was much darker. You suffered a lot more from Voldemort than you do now." Harry lowered his voice. "Things were very unfair for you."
"Ah," Sirius said, now looking a little sad. "Is that why I wasn't the one raising you after-" he squirmed a bit in his seat, not wanting to say the words.
"Yeah," Harry said uncomfortably. "I never even knew I had a godfather until I was thirteen. Even after that I only really knew you for two years before-"
"I died?" Sirius asked. Then he looked down at the steam rising from his cup of untouched tea.
Harry took the opportunity to take a swig from his own cup and let the hot liquid rejuvenate him a bit. Even though Sirius was standing right across from him, he still couldn't help but feel the sting that always followed any thought of his Sirius, the one who had died in the Department of Mysteries.
"Were we close, Harry?" Sirius asked frankly.
Harry bit his lip and then he nodded. "Yeah, we were. Like I said we didn't know each other for very long, but you know- you helped me out a lot."
"Yeah?" Sirius asked. Harry was shocked to see that Sirius' eyes had become very saddened, a look that was out of place on this usually chipper Sirius, and would have been more at home on the shallow, sunken looking Sirius Harry had known. "I'm glad I was help to someone."
"You were Sirius," Harry said, somehow, now anxious to try and make this Sirius feel better. "You were the only person outside Hogwarts who cared about me, the only little bit of family I had. Whenever I had any problems at all you did absolutely anything to make sure you could help me out." Sirius looked up a bit, smiling.
"That's really good to hear Harry," Sirius said. "I mean things are good for me here, but sometimes I just wonder, you know?" Now Sirius seemed to be talking more to the table than to Harry. "I mean James and I are good friends, but really he's so busy with his own life and family that we usually don't get to see one another much. To be honest," he looked up at Harry ironically. "Since you came back into the picture I've seen him more than I have in years. It used to be just birthdays and holidays, and the occasional Order meeting. This is the first time I think since we graduated Hogwarts that I've been around any more than that.
"And Remus," Sirius looked sad again. "God knows I love the man, but being a werewolf and all really makes it difficult for him. For all that he lives here, he's always wandering off, like his is right now, or hid up in his room. I haven't seen him in days, and I don't even know where he is, but," he shrugged. "He's like that. I mean, I still stay with him as Padfoot for his transformations, but… James is usually too busy with the kids, or school, or something to come. He makes it when he can, at least a few times a year, I suppose we couldn't ask for more than that."
Suddenly Harry saw something of his Sirius in this one. Sure, his Sirius had felt trapped after he had escaped from Azkaban, when he wasn't allowed to leave the house or interact with anyone who wasn't in the order, but this Sirius felt trapped by the world. He was trapped into a life where he had to watch everyone else change and move on while he was staying the same. "But you have your job right? And you get to do work for the Order?"
Sirius shrugged. "You know, I always thought I wanted to be an Auror, but really its not what its cracked out to be. Mostly it's just following false reports and chasing after Death Eaters who elude you at every turn. Nothing ever seems to happen! As for the Order," he shrugged again. "Its important work, but its always the same with Voldemort, he's always one step ahead of us."
"I had no idea you felt that way Sirius," Harry said honestly. "I thought you really enjoyed yourself, what about Bran?"
Sirius smiled widely then. "Yes well, Bran. Bran I love with all my heart. Sometimes I think he's the only one who really understands what's going on with me. He's always writing about some new trick or plan and asking for my opinions." He smiled at Harry. "I guess kind of like what I did for you in your world."
Harry's smile faltered. Here Sirius wrote to his godson about pranks, in Harry's world he had written about Voldemort, nightmares and warnings. It was not at all the same thing. "Not really, there wasn't much time for jokes back then."
For a moment Sirius stared silently at Harry. "Things were pretty dark then huh?"
Harry just nodded.
"So how did I kick the bucket?" Sirius asked, trying vainly to sound good-natured, but he was failing miserably, Harry could detect the bitter undertone underneath it.
Harry swallowed. "You were killed in a rescue mission, trying to save me." He shook his head, as the memories came flooding back in. "I was lured to the Ministry one night when a group of Death Eaters had broken in and uh," he swallowed again. "It was me and a couple of other students, so Dumbledore found out and he, and you and some of the other order members showed up and uh," Harry closed his eyes, then snapped them back open. "It was hell, our side ended up capturing the Death Eaters and clean things up, but," Harry looked Sirius in the eye. "You died. It was Bellatrix Lestrange, well Bellatrix Black, but she didn't die when she was a little girl in my world and ended up marrying Lestrange," now Harry's tone was sharp and full of hate.
"What?" Sirius asked, a little startled. "Bella, my cousin? But she wasn't a Death Eater, I told you about her last night. She died when I was little." He stopped as he realized something. "So that's why you got all quiet at dinner last night when I mentioned going to her grave last week."
"Yes," Harry answered stiffly. "Look, I know things are different in this world, but there are some things I just can't let go, you know? Watching her kill you was definitely one of them, I don't care how good she was Sirius, I won't ever be able to get that picture out of my head."
"Yeah," Sirius answered blankly, obviously mulling things over too. "She was a Death Eater then?"
"Voldemort's number one lady actually," Harry said bitterly. "We got her though, when all was said and done. We didn't let her get away with that."
"Huh," Sirius said and propped his arms up on his elbow so they rested on the table. "It's amazing how different things could have been."
"Yes it is, isn't it," Harry agreed. Then he looked around the house. He hadn't taken the opportunity to really look at Grimmauld Place last night, he had been far too drunk, but now he could appreciate some of the subtle changes that had taken place. It looked cleaner, more lived in, more loved. "So why are you living in this place? I thought you had another house that you bought after Hogwarts."
Sirius looked around the room himself, and them settled for resting his head on his waiting hands. "Yes, well, I pretty much gave that to Dumbledore. He let's families stay there after their homes are destroyed by Voldemort, at least until they find somewhere else to go."
"Really?" Harry asked, very surprised by this. In his world Dumbledore had a few such places, that Harry later adopted to use in the same manner, but he hadn't expected Sirius to.
"Yeah," Sirius said, with touch of pride. "Occasionally I share this house with people too. It's the only reason I really live here. Otherwise it's just too big to have alone. Usually there's a family or two camping out for a few weeks, but things have been unusually quiet over the past month or two."
Harry nodded and looked down at his watch. It was nearly two in the afternoon, he groaned. "Merlin it's late, what time do you think we got in last night?"
As an answer, Sirius just snorted. "Who knows, mate," he said. "But you should probably be getting back to Hogwarts. Lily will kill me if you disappear for the whole weekend."
"Yeah, I suppose so," Harry said, and gathered up his case of potions and looked around for his cloak. It was laying on the floor by the sink, and was half drenched and covered in mud. He used a few quick cleaning and drying spells and then wrapped it around him.
"Thanks Sirius," he said, holding his hand out to say goodbye. Sirius smiled at him and pulled him into a big bear hug, they separated quickly. "It was fun."
"Yeah," Sirius agreed, as if it were nothing. "You should come by another night, we'll see if we can't drag that bore of a Dad of yours out."
"Sure thing," Harry agreed, then with a soft crack he Disapperated.