Author's Note: Hey guys! Again, a massive thank you for all of the support with this story, it really means the entire world to me! This is a very Harry/Sirius based chapter, so enjoy and let me know what you think!

It was a week before Mara was released from the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey wanted to make sure she was completely better before letting her return to school. Sirius had stayed around her most of the week, getting cover for most of his classes. Harry had, of course, visited every morning and night, but Mara spent most of the time sleeping. And the times she was awake, she didn't speak much.

Sirius spent just as much time making sure Harry agreed never to tell Mara about Regulus. He sensed that Harry had a sort of discomfort around him and Mara now that he knew the truth, but he never said anything. Most nights he just sat on a chair next to her reading a book or doing his homework. Sirius just left him to it, the last thing he wanted to do was anger him or go making accusations. But the night before Mara was due to leave, he overheard him talking to Mara. He had been up discussing things with Madam Pomfrey, when he stopped behind the curtain around Mara's bed. He heard voices in a deep discussion.

"…won't you tell me what's going on with you and Sirius?" Mara asked.

Harry didn't answer for a moment. He sighed loudly. "There's nothing going on." He said bluntly.

Mara snorted. "Don't give me that crap, Harry. You barely speak to him anymore."

Sirius heard a book slam shut. "Yeah, well how would you know? You've been just lying there for the past week."

"I didn't ask to be here!"

"You performed the stupid curse in the first place, Mara! Didn't you stop to think about the fact it was far too advanced for you!"

"No actually, I was thinking about saving my best friend… Although I'm starting to wish I hadn't bothered."

Sirius wanted to intervene, but his feet stayed glued to the spot. He needed to hear more. This was evidence that Harry had cold feelings towards Mara and himself.

"Aren't you just a saint." Harry said angrily.

"Why are you being like this?" Mara cried, "I haven't done anything to you! And neither has Sirius."

It was Harry's turn to snort. "No, just his stupid brother!" He shouted.

Sirius felt a wave of upset and anger flash through him. He rushed around the curtain. Harry was standing, he fists clenched angrily at his sides. Mara was sitting up, looking both angry and defeated.

"What do you mean? What has any of this got to do with his brother?" Mara asked, looking from Harry to Sirius. No no no no, Sirius didn't want her to know, not yet! He looked up at Mara, at Regulus's eyes, and lied through his teeth.

"He doesn't mean anything. He's just angry. Lie back down, Mara." Sirius reached out his arm and dragged Harry over to him, who was still breathing heavily with anger. "I'm going to take Harry back to my quarters for the night. I'll see you soon. Try and sleep."

Mara nodded, shot Harry a dirty look, and lay back down, turning away from them.

Sirius dragged Harry by his upper arm out of the hospital wing and up the stairs, towards his classroom. Sirius was beyond angry, he was struggling to control himself from shaking the boy until his head fell off. Neither of them said a word the whole way. Sirius reached the classroom door, turned the doorknob and threw Harry inside. He slammed the door behind him, and rounded on his godson.

"What the hell are you playing at!" He shouted. Harry, who was standing defiantly with his arms crossed, looked enraged.

"She started it!" He shouted back.

"No, she didn't! She was concerned about you! You didn't have to mention Regulus like that!"

"YOU'VE ASKED ME TO LIE TO MY BEST FRIEND!" Harry roared, "All because you're too much of a coward to even tell her who you are!"

Sirius felt his stomach clench. Harry had never spoken to him like this, never. But then again, Sirius had never spoken to Harry like this either.

"Then why take it out on Mara?" Sirius asked.

Sirius looked at the small boy in front of him, and for once noticed how small he really was. Harry was a child, a child who had lost his whole family. Who had been through hell at such a young age. Who had been raised by two guys, who weren't his father or his uncle- That was it. That was what this was about.

"This is about Mara being related to me, isn't it?" Sirius said quietly.

Harry's eyes widened, and Sirius knew he was right. Sirius and Remus were the only family Harry had ever known, or at least, could remember. But they weren't technically family…not by blood, anyway. As if blood mattered to Sirius! James had been his brother; his parents had been there for him more than his own ever were. Remus was his brother, and Harry… well Harry was his world. Sirius didn't know how he would have gotten through the last ten years without the boy. Harry had helped him heal when James had died, had given him a reason to keep going and stay strong. Harry was more than a godson, a nephew or even an adopted son- He was everything in the world that mattered to Sirius.

But now Harry felt threatened. Mara was related to Sirius by blood, was rightfully his. Harry was not. How could Harry even think like that? Surely, he knew by now how much Sirius cared about him. Blood did not matter to Sirius, Harry was as much his as Mara.

Harry had sunk to the ground, his eyes filling with tears.

"I thought we were family." He whispered, "You're all I've got, Sirius. But Mara…well she is your family, your proper family."

Sirius sat down next to Harry, his anger suddenly gone, leaving only the urge to comfort this boy.

"Harry," Sirius began, putting his arm around him and pulling him close, "we are family. You are all I have in this world, too, or all I did have. I care for Mara a great deal, she is my niece. But Harry, you're everything to me. I don't know how I would have coped without you after your parents died."

"You felt obliged to take me, because of dad." Harry sobbed, his head leaning against Sirius's chest.

"No. I took you because you are my godson, and I love you more than I can ever say. I wanted you nowhere else but by my side. I fought with Dumbledore for days to let me raise you. He wanted you to go to your mother's sister. But, Remus and I, we were having none of it. Harry, it makes no difference to me whether you have my blood in your veins! It's your blood that I care about. Families don't always need to be related. Don't you ever forget that."

"I suppose," Harry said, sitting up to look Sirius in the eye, "Mara could be a part of our family? I thought that because now you have her, you would want rid of me. Why need two kids, right?"

"Good idea!" Sirius said, "I'll give you to Snape sure, he would love to look after you!"

Sirius saw Harry shudder at the thought, and he chuckled.

"Yes, Mara is joining our family, not kicking you out of it." Sirius said, putting a hand on Harry's hair and ruffling it around. Harry dodged away, smirking.

"But to do that…won't you need to tell her?" Harry gave Sirius a questioning look.

"I will tell her, but in my own time. Until then you have to promise me to not say a thing about it to her."

"I don't like lying to her, but I promise. For now, at least."

"You also, owe her an apology." Sirius said.

Harry nodded.

"You can go in the morning. Get to bed, it's late." Harry got up and walked down the classroom to the door that led to Sirius's quarters. He stopped dead, and turned around to look at Sirius.

"Sirius?" He said.

"Mm-hm?" Sirius answered, still sitting on the floor, watching Harry closely.

"I love you, too." And with that, he disappeared through the door.

Harry went to see Mara first thing the next morning, Sirius with him. They walked down the corridors, Sirius's arm around Harry's shoulders. Sirius had written to all Harry's teachers, excusing him from lessons until lunch time. Mara was awake when they entered the hospital wing, sitting up and reading a book. She looked both pleased and nervous to see Harry, but Sirius smiled welcomingly at her. He gave Harry a little nudge forward, watching him walk over so he was next to Mara.

"Mara… I'm sorry about last night. I shouldn't have said what I did. I was just in a mood."

Mara's dark eyes glittered, and she smiled back at Harry. She reached out and touched his shoulder in a sympathetic sort of way.

"It's ok. I think I was a bit off with you, too. Let's just forget about it. Madam Pomfrey says I can leave today and I'll be back in class tomorrow!"

Harry sat down on the chair, pulling it over so that his elbows were leaned on the bedside. "Don't be too excited! Snape's given us all about 3 essays this week, McGonagall as well. And that's not even including the History of Magic essay we have due in next week!"

"Hey," said Sirius suddenly, his face breaking into a smirk, "It's in my job description to give you homework. I can't let it slide, I'm afraid."

"Bummer," Mara said, "You know Sirius, I think I may still be sick next week… Who knows, might accidently perform another curse or something."

"Don't even try it girl." Sirius laughed. Harry giggled.

It was late afternoon by time Mara could leave. She had missed lunch in the great hall, so Sirius insisted they go have lunch in his quarters. Harry, surprisingly, wanted to go to his afternoon classes. Sirius knew why, of course… they had flying lessons that afternoon.

Mara was not permitted to be back in class until the next day, so Sirius took her up to his quarters to have lunch while Harry almost ran down to the Quidditch pitch.

"He's a natural, you know." Mara said over lunch, "Better than any of the other boys."

Sirius smiled. "I'd expect so. Harry's dad was a fantastic flyer, the best I'd ever seen." He said, stuffing a chicken sandwich into his mouth.

"I don't know if my parents were good flyers." Mara said suddenly. Sirius nearly choked on his lunch, he drained his whole glass of pumpkin juice to ensure he kept it down.

"Are you ok?!" Mara said, jumping up to rub Sirius's back.

"I'm fine. Down the wrong way, I think."

Mara looked unsure, but went back to her seat. Sirius looked at the girl in front of him. He couldn't believe she was eleven. She looked no older than nine, being extremely small and slight. Harry was like that, too. He was small and skinny just like Lily had been. Sirius didn't know where Mara got her size from. Regulus had been quite tall, Bellatrix had been medium height. But their daughter, the thing they shared, was tiny. Tiny, but very feisty, Sirius thought to himself and he fought the urge not to smile. He supposed she was like him in some ways.

After lunch, Sirius insisted Mara take a nap. The girl still looked exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes. She went into Harry's room, where half an hour later when Sirius checked on her, she was fast asleep. Sirius decided to do some lesson plans for the next few weeks while he was free. An hour later he was still there, morbidly scheduling study breaks for his O.W.L students. He heard the classroom door open, and seconds later Harry walked into the room, smiling when he saw Sirius.

"Hey. Where's Mara?" The boy had thrown his bag down on the floor beside the door and was now lying on the couch.

"Asleep in there." Sirius replied, jerking his head over towards Harry's door. "She's still a little weak."

Harry nodded.

"How was flying practice?"

Harry's face beamed. "Bloody brilliant! I caught the snitch in the fastest time! Flint saw me, and said about maybe considering me for the team!"

Sirius was gobsmacked. First years weren't allowed in house teams. And Harry's head of house, was Snape, who hated Harry with a passion. Sirius could not see it happening, but he wasn't going to crush Harry's spirit. This was the happiest he had been in weeks. Come to think of it, Sirius had never really seen Harry play properly. Grimmauld Place was in the centre of London, so he couldn't practice outside. When Harry had been younger, maybe 5 or 6, Sirius had bought him a junior broom and cleared the drawing room with Remus's help. Harry played for hours on that broom, and from what Sirius had seen, he was a natural flyer ever then. Sirius had also, although he would never admit it to Dumbledore or even Remus, allowed Harry to fly up and down the stairs on his broomstick when he had gotten older. He could just imagine Remus telling him how dangerous that was, and how Harry was going to smash something or break his neck. But Sirius had never seen Harry play outside, on a proper pitch, or on a proper broom. He had an old broom that Sirius had gotten him for his eighth birthday. But it was a little slow and chipped. Sirius was now keen to watch Harry fly properly, and decided upon watching one of his flying lessons.

Harry stayed in Sirius's quarters that night, and for the first time ever, so did Mara. She had awoken tired and groggy, so Sirius had transfigured a bed for her in Harry's room. She had gotten changed and climbed into bed only an hour after waking up. Harry, too, was feeling slightly tired so decided to go to bed. He said goodnight to Sirius, went into his room (which was now considerably cramped with both beds) and climbed into his bed. Mara was breathing softly at the other side of the small room. It didn't take Harry long to fall asleep.

He saw a woman. A woman with red hair and green eyes, sparkling like emeralds. She was smiling, holding a baby on her lap. The baby, who also had her emerald eyes, had a head of dark hair. Then there was a man, was scruffy raven black hair and a cheeky grin. He kissed the woman. The woman laughed. It was perfect. The perfect family. But then the woman's face fell, as did her body. She was on the cold, dark floor, her eyes dull and dead, her skin as white as snow… her body lifeless. The man too fell to the cold ground, his eyes darkening and his hair falling like his stone-cold body. The baby… the baby screamed. Then there was a flash of green light, a high, cold voice… the baby screaming-

"HARRY!"

Harry felt his body being shaken. His mouth was opened wide for he was screaming like he was in pain. He looked up to see Sirius's face staring down at him. He gasped for air, finding that his lungs weren't working. He felt cold sweat all over his body that was trembling uncontrollably. His head felt sore, like someone had smacked him with a heavy object.

"Harry, it's ok, it's ok… shh now, it's all ok." Sirius said softly, sitting down on Harry's bed and pulling him onto his lap. He stroked his hair reassuringly.

It took Harry a minute to realise he was crying. The dream had been so real. He knew those people, he had seen them in photographs so often. They were his parents. And they were dead, they had been murdered. So had Harry…nearly. Harry cried and cried, and he did not know why, but he could not find the will to stop.

Mara was sitting up in her bed, her faced ridden with both horror and concern. Sirius stayed where he was, holding Harry to him in a protective grasp. Sirius turned to Mara after a moment.

"Mara, go and floo Snape. Tell him it is an emergency and we need some dreamless sleep." Mara looked like this was the last thing she wanted to do, but she obeyed. She climbed out of bed and vanished into the main room in Sirius's quarters.

"It was them…" Harry gasped, "They were dead…murdered- "

"Shh, Harry, it's ok, you're safe. It was just a dream, a nightmare that seemed real."

Harry looked up at Sirius, who looked so scared and determined at the same time. They sat in silence after that, Sirius holding Harry close to him on his lap while Harry continued to tremble.

Mara returned after 10 minutes with Snape following behind her dressed in a black night shirt. He did not look happy on a normal day, but now he looked practically furious. Sirius looked at him.

"There was no need for you to come, Severus. You could have just sent that through to the girl." Sirius said. Harry saw that Snape was holding a small vial of liquid.

"I had to see for myself. I don't just give things away, Black."

"Does he pass your stupid test then?" Sirius snarled.

Snape handed Sirius the vial of Dreamless Sleep. Sirius gave him an almost thankful look, before turning to Harry.

"Lie back down, Harry, and drink this."

"Wha-what is it?" Harry asked, still slightly shaking.

"It's Dreamless Sleep. It will put you to sleep without being able to dream. You won't see any of that again, ok Harry? Drink up now."

Harry took the small vial from Sirius and drank. It didn't taste bad, nor did it taste nice. Harry drunk it all, and immediately felt himself get tired. He lay down, Sirius still right where he had been through this whole ordeal. Mara, too, had climbed back into bed and was looking thoughtful as she stared at Sirius and Harry. Harry hadn't heard him leave, but when he had looked over Sirius's shoulder he saw that Snape had gone.

"I'll stay here if you want me to, Harry?" Sirius asked. Harry felt his eyes beginning to close, his head feeling heavier than usual.

"Stay." He managed to croak out, right before the darkness swallowed him whole.