Disclaimer: I still don't own the characters or anything and am not making any money, just having fun.

A/N: So you guys are amazing, like over twenty reviews for one chapter. It makes me so happy! Maybe we can hit 100 this chapter. Thanks to everyone who leaves a review, put the story on their alerts or favorites, or who is just enjoying reading.

Warning: So my warning for the next few chapters is that some of you may not like the way I go with Sirius' character but my reason is simply that I like him. I always liked his character because I feel like he actually did care for Harry, although I agree with some of the reviews that he should be a bit unstable and maybe not the most in control of his own emotions. But we do have to give the poor guy a break, he spent like ten years in Azkaban. Anyways, so that is the reasoning behind his actions in my story. I see him as definitely caring about Harry but perhaps not handling things in the right way.

Anyways, I worked hard to get this out for you guys before I left for my parents house for Thanksgiving. Have a wonderful holiday to all those who celebrate it in the U.S. and just have a wonderful Monday to everyone else. I won't have internet access there for the week but I will have my laptop, so another chapter should be out this coming weekend. Again, you guys are the greatest! :)

From the last chapter…

"NO! I've had to put up with pricks like him my whole life. My mother was right. He was just a bullying jackass!" As Harry finished his rant he fled from the room leaving three completely shocked adults.

Chapter 10 – Changes in Perception

And that was the pivotal moment for Severus. In that moment Harry ceased to be any resemblance to James Potter, the child had the heart and soul of Lily Evans. Severus had sorely misjudged him all these years.

Not only did Harry stand up for Severus, much like Lily did in that memory, but he did so to Sirius Black, the closest thing Harry had to family, and even after Severus had treated Harry so poorly.

Of course he should have known Harry would take his words at face value, but that was honestly not what Severus intended. He was furious with the entire situation and reminded of too many emotions he thought had been locked away. It was wrong of him to take it all out on Harry. Naturally the boy would be curious about the Pensieve and want answers as Albus and Severus were purposely keeping things from him.

But Severus did have to admit the look on Black's face right now was priceless.

Thankfully at least the werewolf had the intelligence to chase after the child, Severus thought. Someone needed to go after Harry and if not for precedents he would have been tempted to do it himself.

Sirius, on the other hand, just stared dumbstruck after his godson trying to figure everything out. Finally he rounded on Snape drawing his wand. "Tell me how he got hurt," he growled.

"I've had enough accusations for one day Black," Snape hissed in reply as he turned his back to the animagus and walked to his potion's cabinet. To hell with precedents! "Marla," he called out.

The little house elf, who had made herself scarce during the ensuing argument, reappeared instantly at being called. "Yes Master Severus," she asked, looking up at him worriedly.

"Take these upstairs," Snape said as he handed her a vial of pain-reliever potion with a mild calming-draught, a jar of bruise balm, and the rest of the chocolate bar. "Make sure you see him drink the potion and tell him to stop packing if that is indeed what he is up to," he finished sarcastically, knowing Harry all too well.

Marla needed no further instruction. It would not be the first time she brought something up to Harry's room on Severus' request. She nodded her head in agreement and disappeared with a crack.

"Don't you walk away from me! I want to know why the hell my godson has blood dripping down his face and why you looked ready to thrash him when we walked in. And I don't give a damn if he invaded your privacy," said Sirius as he took an offensive step forward across the room. He had noted what Snape was doing but brushed it aside, too crazed about the idea of Snape laying a hand on Harry.

"If you were half as concerned about your godson as you claim to be Black, you would have already inquired about a pain-reliever. But evidently it is far more important to falsely accuse people than to see to his pain," Snape sneered as he too, took a menacing step back towards Sirius. He knew the man was concerned about his godson, but being accused of harming the child didn't sit well with Severus.

Sirius eyed Snape with pure loathing. "Falsely accuse? Then explain why the hell you had your hands on my godson. And I swear to god, if you've hurt one hair on his head, I'll kill you," said Sirius, his wand pointed threateningly at Snape's chest.

"You may think I'm a sadistic bastard but I DO NOT condone nor participate in child abuse," Snape replied angrily leveling his wand with Sirius'.

Both wizards were aware of the floo flaring up and the arrival of an elder wizard in brilliant violet robes, yet neither relinquished their stances.

"Gentlemen, I think that is ENOUGH," Dumbledore said firmly as he stepped between the two men. "I know we are all interested in some answers, Sirius, and I'm sure Severus would be happy to oblige," he said eyeing both men over his half-moon spectacles.

"No! I don't want to hear any excuse this man has," Sirius said irrationally. He turned to Dumbledore continuing his rant, "He hit Harry and I don't want him anywhere near my godson again."

"Oh, for the love of god, Black! If you were even the slightest bit concerned about Harry you would have chased after him like Lupin did," Snape said heatedly. He shouldn't let the mutt get to him so much, but the accusations were infuriating. And Merlin, when did the boy become Harry?

Neither man looked ready to lower their wands, so Dumbledore continued. "We will not get anywhere at this rate gentlemen." He wasn't quite sure what he walked into, only catching the last few comments by both men, but Sirius was livid over something he believed Snape had done. He turned to Snape as he seemed to be the more rational of the two at the moment. "Severus, why don't you kindly explain everything that happened," he said more as a command than a request. Severus' slip of the tongue had not gone unnoticed by the headmaster and his blue eyes twinkled madly at the Potions professor.

He detested the insinuations Sirius was making, but at the same time Severus felt a bit of relief at seeing how defensive the man was over his godson. Now, if only the mutt would have chased after the child. That was what Harry needed, to see and believe that people would stand up for him. Severus knew an all too familiar reason for not talking about abuse is the belief that no one cares, and based on Harry's childhood, it would be easy to understand how he came to that conclusion.

"It is humorous how I don't feel much obliged to speak while someone is pointing a wand at me in my own home," said Snape. He wasn't stupid and certainly wouldn't let his guard down while Sirius Black was itching to hex him.

Dumbledore flashed an exhausted smile while nodding his head and quickly turned to the other wizard. "Sirius," he said in an almost pleading tone, "the quicker we know the whole story, the quicker we can help Harry."

Obviously that last part struck a chord within the animagus and he lowered his wand. "Fine. Explain. But I make no promises to control myself afterwards," Sirius snapped, still eyeing Snape.

Snape rolled his eyes at the marauder before launching into everything he knew. "The boy viewed some memories in my pensieve without permission. Obviously I was irate and told him to leave the room."

Sirius looked like his blood was ready to boil and tried to interrupt but Dumbledore raised a hand to stop him.

"He came back within a few minutes to apologize and again I requested that he leave my presence. Foolishly, he took my words at face value and fled the property. The wards alerted me to his departure and I… followed," Severus sneered this last word, again hinting that a proper adult would go after an upset child much like Lupin did earlier. "I found him a couple miles down. There were two teen-aged boys collapsed in the street and two dementors retreating from them. Another dementor was leaning over Potter, and in the process of lowering his hood. The boy already had the injuries to his head and I can only assume he had an altercation with the two teenagers," Snape finished matter-of-factly. "Satisfied?" He sneered while cocking an eyebrow.

"No! Either way, you let him get hurt and I won't believe a word of it until I hear it from Harry," Sirius answered heatedly.

Again Dumbledore raised a hand to silence the Order member. "Three dementors, Severus?"

Snape nodded his head.

"And indeed, Harry cast a corporeal Patronus, hence explaining the two retreating dementors." Again Snape nodded and Dumbledore continued. "Why then did one slip around it? Harry is quite proficient at that charm," Dumbledore asked almost to himself as if analyzing an intricate puzzle.

"My speculation is that he focused on saving the two boys first and foremost. He was quite a few yards from the teens. It would have allowed enough room for one Dementor to slip past his defenses and break his concentration," Snape said seriously.

"The real question is, who sent Dementors after the boy and how did they know he was here?" Snape continued.

"Yes, indeed," said Dumbledore in contemplation. "Well I have gotten the Ministry to assign him a hearing for the end of August to decide on his expulsion."

Snape nodded his head in approval. Of course Dumbledore would find a way around the boy being expelled. "Then we will need to let Lupin assimilate my memories to act as witness and corroborate the boy's story."

"Yes, he would work best, and the sooner the better," Dumbledore said, still obviously deep in thought over the entire situation. "Why don't you bring Remus and Harry down here, Severus. That way Sirius can speak with Harry -"

"Alone!" Sirius cut in.

"Yes, in private, where I'm sure he will corroborate Severus' story," Dumbledore finished.

Sirius was still glaring daggers at Snape, but both men nodded their heads in reluctant agreement and Snape swept from the room.

-SS-

Harry had sprinted from the room in another panic, much like when he fled the manor earlier, only this time he headed straight for his room. It was childish yes, but he was at a complete loss as to what to do, and so he went for the one place he felt safe. His room here in Snape's manor was one of the few places he felt he could really call his own. Snape had never bothered him about the bedroom and even referred to it as "his room". His bedroom at the Dursley's never felt like his, especially not after the brutal beatings he had received in said room. He would rather consider the cupboard there his own safe space than Dudley's spare room.

So yes, like a little child who had just broken their parent's favorite vase, Harry raced into his room, slammed the door and jumped into the bed pulling the covers up over his head. Oh god what have I done? And how many times can I screw up in one day? He had just screamed at Sirius, the one person who had ever acted like they really wanted him. And what did Harry do? He screamed at the man saying that he was sickened by both his father and godfather. He really hadn't meant to say all that but he was just so worked up and everything came tumbling out.

Harry was abruptly interrupted from his self-pitying thoughts by a light knock on his door. Whoever it was it didn't matter, Harry couldn't face any of those men. He had most definitely insulted each of them in one way or another.

-SS-

Remus had watched Harry bolt from the room and immediately took after him. If Sirius and Snape were going to act like five-year olds, he didn't care if they killed each other. He knew like Severus, that someone needed to talk to Harry.

He had brushed past Sirius and sprinted up the stairs into the hall to catch the second door on the right slamming shut. If he had been any slower he wouldn't have had the slightest clue where Harry went. Now he found himself knocking lightly on the door, hoping Harry would let him in without having to force entry.

"Harry, please. We need to talk," he said softly through the door.

Remus? Harry thought he was probably the best out of the three, but he still had no desire to talk. All he wanted to do was hide in here for the rest of his life and make everything go away. Or maybe he could just take back the last few hours. Things had been going alright up until that point.

"Harry, I'm not mad with you, but we need to talk. I'm not going away, please open the door," Remus pleaded again.

Harry stayed curled into a ball under the covers and shook his head lightly, trying to rid his eyes of the tears that were starting to form. He hated talking about his feelings and that was surely what Remus would want to discuss. He felt like such an emotional wreck this summer and he had no idea what had unhinged him so much in comparison to the rest of his life. He was always good at handling the pressure. That's how he was raised, to handle everything himself. Why did everything all of a sudden seem to be too much? He hated it when people asked him if everything was alright, probably because he wasn't used to the question. But when people asked that it always seemed to force to the top, the fact that, no, everything was not alright. It was so much easier to hide his feelings when it appeared no one cared. Harry didn't quite know how to handle people that might actually care, or at least said they did. He still had a hard time believing they really meant it.

Harry heard the soft click of the door and light footsteps across the sitting room. He scrunched his eyes shut tighter in hope that it was all a bad dream until he felt the bed dip behind him. He flinched slightly when a hand was placed softly on top of the comforter where his shoulder was.

"Harry, are you alright," Remus asked softly, keeping his hand placed on the hidden form.

There was that horrible question.

Remus could feel Harry trying to steady his breathing as the comforter rose and fell with each breath. He would wait all night if he had to, if it took that long for Harry to answer. He had to know what happened and how Harry got injured.

"I'm fine," Harry finally huffed out.

"Harry, you're hurt and I need to know how it happened. And I'm sure you want to talk about the memory you saw," Remus encouraged softly.

"Please, just leave me alone," Harry said desperately.

"No, I can't do that," he answered sincerely.

Harry was so exasperated. Why couldn't anyone respect what he wanted? "Fine," he said snappily, flinging the blankets and Remus' hand off him and pulling himself up to sitting, drawing his knees into his chest. No sooner than he had assumed the defensive position did he leap from the bed. "I should pack," he said frantically, pulling open his trunk.

Remus was startled by the sudden dash of movement. "Harry, what are you talking about? You're not going anywhere."

Harry didn't get a chance to explain as both men's attention turned to the little house elf appearing in the center of the room with a small tray.

"For Master Harry, Sir," Marla squeaked as she gazed lovingly up at Harry, having grown quite fond of the boy over the past few weeks.

He returned her gaze with a perplexed expression as his eyes roved over the items on the tray. He recognized the green vial of pain-reliever instantly, reminding him that a million little hammers were pounding in his head, and the jar was probably that bruise balm Snape had given him before. He was sure he had a nice shiner around one eye. And then the last item was -he shuddered involuntarily as the feeling of the dementors started to creep back up his spine- chocolate. Did Snape send this up for him? Maybe Sirius made him do it.

"Uhh, you can just leave it there, Marla," Harry finally said.

"Master Harry has to drink the potion first and stop packing," Marla said.

Harry gave the little elf another baffled look.

"Marla has strict instructions, Master Harry must drink the potion," she said sternly.

Remus couldn't help, but smile at Snape's blatant act of kindness. And now he wouldn't have to convince Harry he didn't need to pack either.

Harry on the other hand, had a hard time accepting Snape's gesture. Not that it was so un-Snape, even though it was, but Harry didn't think he deserved any kindness from the man after he had disrespected the professor so much. Obviously though, Marla would not fail her duties and Harry reached for the vial and downed it in one go.

Marla closed Harry's trunk and set the tray down on top of it before smiling warmly up at him. "If yous need anything," she said turning between Harry and Remus, "just call."

No sooner had she disappeared then there was a tapping at the window. Remus reached over and opened it to allow a small brown owl to fly over and drop a letter in Harry's hand. He torn it open in record speed and scanned the lines with a quizzical look.

"What is it?" Remus asked softly after a few minutes of silence.

"Guess I'm not expelled yet. They'll decide at a hearing," Harry said quietly in an unconvinced tone.

Remus watched Harry continue to stare indifferently at the parchment. He could still see the boy tremble every so often and figured it would be a good idea if he ate more chocolate. "Harry, please come have a seat so we can talk," he said warmly, gesturing to the spot Harry had vacated earlier.

Harry flashed a quick glance at Remus before he walked miserably over to the bed and resumed his defensive position, hugging his knees to his chest and resting his head on his arms. He was sitting as far away from Remus as possible.

This wasn't exactly what Remus was hoping for, but it was better than being hidden under the covers. Harry had his head tilted away enough that he couldn't see the worst of his injuries, but he knew they were still there. "How did you hurt your head? And may I take a look at it?" he asked softly. He wasn't a healer, but he could perform a simple spell to seal up the cut.

"I already told you, it wasn't Snape and it is fine," he said frustratingly. "These two kids stopped me and wanted money and when I didn't have any the one punched me, okay?"

"Alright," Remus said in surrender, deciding it would be best to let that subject rest for a second and attack the other one that was clearly on Harry's mind. "Then we need to discuss the memory you saw."

"I know what I saw Remus, so if you are going to try and convince me that it was a one-time thing and my father was really a stand-up guy, just save it," Harry answered bitterly.

"No, that's not what I was going to say. You're right, your father could be a bully at times. We were all very immature Harry. I won't deny that. But you do need to know that he did change. He did grow up," Remus said sincerely.

Harry closed his eyes, shaking his head lightly.

"Tell me what memory you saw," Remus requested.

After a few moments of silence Harry finally responded. "It was after your OWL's, out by the lake," he practically whispered.

Remus nodded his head in understanding. Everything Harry had said down in the study now made perfect sense, and of course he would have an awful opinion of his father based on that incident. It definitely had not been one of James or Sirius' shining moments. "Harry listen… I know that memory wouldn't give you a very good impression of us, but you have to understand that we were all very immature at the time-"

"I'm practically the same age Remus and I would never act the way my father did," Harry answered heatedly.

"I know Harry, but like I said we were immature. You've been through a lot more than any of us had at your age. Your father came from a great family and he always had whatever he wanted. It took all of us longer to grow up. We should have never acted like that. I know it's no excuse," he tried desperately to explain.

"It's not your fault, you didn't do anything Remus," Harry said sadly.

"That's exactly it, I didn't do anything. I just sat there and turned a blind eye to your father and Sirius. I was a prefect, probably so, to keep them in line, and yet I let them get away with that behavior. That's why you have to understand Harry, that everyone makes mistakes. And I swear, your father did grow up, he did change, and your mother did fall in love with him. He grew into a loyal, kind, amazing man, and you have to believe that. He would have done anything for your mother and you, and he did sacrifice his life for the both of you," Remus finished, his eyes sparkling with unshed tears at the memory of losing one of his best friends.

"I know," Harry said quickly. "And I didn't mean to dishonor his memory, honest," he said pleadingly, suddenly realizing how ungrateful he must sound. "I know he died for me, and Sirius has been great to me. He'll hate me now for saying all that terrible stuff…" Harry's voice trailed off as though he weren't finished speaking, but couldn't find the right words.

Remus shook his head in disbelief at Harry's fear. "No, Sirius would never hate you, don't ever think like that."

"I just can't believe they acted like that... I-" he swallowed thickly before he could continue, "- I just understand now why Snape hated them so much and I don't blame him for hating me," Harry finished despondently.

They were both startled by the voice across the room. "I do not hate you and never have. My behavior towards you was, however, inexcusable, and for that, I apologize," Severus said seriously from the doorway. The words came out of his mouth before he even realized what he was saying or who was in the room to witness. But he knew Harry needed to hear them and deserved to know that Severus meant them.

TBC…

Next up: The talks continue and Memoria Absorbere

Leave me some love – Mara