a/n: okay, its been way too long since my last update but unfortunately i think for the next couple its going to have to be fortnightly. School has to take some sort of priority if i plan to finish in november. also, i've been getting a lot of shifts at work now that i'm a supervisor (stupid night shifts). i have never been so tired as i was on sunday night. anyway. a huge thank you to all of my reviewers for being the best readers in the world and a quick apology for the rambling sentences in the middle of the chapter. they are intentional. so enjoy, drop me a review, read on!

Chapter 32

For the first time in a long time Sirius felt like he could breathe properly. He was no longer restricted to the dark hallways of Grimmauld Place, he was free. Admittedly free was hidden under a cloak and a half dozen glamour charms but he was still out there. He was still free to do what had to be done to help Harry, to fight the war against Voldemort. While Remus walked around Grimmauld Place concerned for his friend and moping over the state of his not-relationship with Tonks, Sirius was skulking around some of the more unsavory magical businesses. He was still hardly able to believe it, could still remember the feeling of Tonks handing him a heavy parchment envelope and a basket of clothes.

'I don't do laundry,' she'd told with a wink.

Naturally he had been confused as he didn't remember asking her to do any washing for him but then he had opened the letter to find the clothes were part of a care package from Harry and his ADADA. Some of it had been quite amusing, especially the letter on noticing the unnoticeably Luna Lovegood had written. The package had also revealed a side of Harry that had only been hinted at during his stay at Grimmauld Place. Though Sirius had had very little actual contact with his godson, most of his information and orders (for lack of a better word) having come from Tonks, it was still apparent that his godson had become a force to be reckoned with.

A force that had handed him (via Tonks) a stack of gold and a list of not entirely legal texts he was supposed to track down. The note attached to the list had told him any texts that took his fancy could be liberated also. What Harry hadn't mentioned was that while texts one through seven would be easily bought, or as easy as anything is when threats and bribery are involved, books eight, ten and eleven were in fact part of a private collection.

That was why he was wearing an extra three concealment charms and loitering in an alley near a muggle apartment building that was owned by a respectable member of the Hogwarts board of governors. It wouldn't do for anyone to find out that respectable Melissa Jonathon had one of Britain's largest collections of dark arts books hidden away in a simple muggle apartment. It also meant that when Sirius wandered in and emptied the place of anything useful there would be no one she could complain to.

He had to wait a little over two hours before he could make his move. Unfortunately he had picked what appeared to be one of the few days Jonathon spent in her library of sorts. He had to wait for her to leave before he could even attempt to break in. Once he was sure she was gone he gave it another half hour before he crossed the street and slipped inside the building. The apartment was located on the fourth floor and it was apparent even before he reached it that there was some serious magic protecting the place.

He wasn't going to do anything rash like Remus had done striding into Martin's home. Mostly because Sirius had laughed really hard after hearing about that and he didn't want Remus laughing at him in turn. The first hurdle was a very subtle charm that was intended to distract anyone attempting to pass with the sudden urge to go for a Butterbeer. Sirius wasn't so easily swayed and he stepped straight through the ward like it was just a cobweb. The second ward wasn't so simple, it was a rather nasty itching hex that, had he walked through it, would have likely had him scratching every available piece of skin against every hard surface.

It wasn't something he wanted to be doing while trying to steal things. He quickly dispelled that ward and this time he made it to the front door. The door handle was jinxed so flicked his wand casually at the door and opened it that way instead. He promptly ducked a purple ball that came hurtling towards his head. It hit the wall behind him with a wet splat and what looked suspiciously like a sleeping potion dribbled down the wall. Jonathon was turning out to be his kind of woman. So far she had used simple amusing spells aimed to turn people away and not get her in trouble with the ministry. The water balloon like sleeping ball had been particularly genius and he made a note to mention it to the twins next time he saw them.

Finally through the door he was confronted by one large room, every wall was lined with bookshelves completely filled with books. A table, about waist high, sat in the centre of the room and though it had chairs pulled up to it, its main function appeared to be a huge display table for a wealth of dark objects that any one of Voldemort's Death Eaters would have loved to get their hands on. Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to send a tip to the Ministry once Voldemort had been defeated; it wouldn't do to have this kind of material in Ministry hands just yet.

He pulled out the list of books Harry thought would be a part of this collection and attempted to summon them off the shelves. It didn't work but it did result in stunning spells being aimed at him from a dozen different directions. He dropped to the floor and rolled onto his back to watch the spells whizzing over him. He let out an exhilarated laugh. This, this was what life should be like. Still lying on his back he fired disabling charms at each of the objects omitting the stunners and then slower got back to his feet. A quick revealing spell showed that not only was the whole collection jinxed but each book in turn was then hexed or cursed in some way.

'Bloody hell!'

In the end it took him three hours to disable all of the curses, wards, hexes and jinxes that Jonathon had used to protect her collection. By the time it was over Sirius had to take a quick break, slumping into one of the chairs and resting his arms on the table. Right on top of another book. He glanced briefly at the title, intending to shove it out of the way, when the title caught his attention.

Physically Manifesting Mental Attacks by Obe S. Cure.

Sirius quirked a brow and chuckled at his good fortune. What were the chances that he would stumble upon a book that proved to be so promising when in search of others? A quick read through of the introduction proved just how useful this little tome could be. With renewed energy Sirius began his search of the shelves, dropping anything that looked to be useful or simply to dark to be left in the care of a witch with questionable loyalty into a bag. He was immensely glad Tonks had charmed it to be bigger on the inside and virtually weightless. By the time he had worked his way completely around the room the shelves were considerably barer and he was carrying what had to be over a hundred books in his bag. He'd even come across a few that had been further down his list, ones that he'd thought he was going to have to shed quite the number of galleons to get a hold of.

Life had definitely improved for Sirius Black.

It had not, however, improved for Ally Martin who wanted to be Ally Potter who was sore and tired and the Ministry were a bunch of ignorant weak minded fools and her feet hurt and she was trying really hard to pay attention to the words coming out of Luna's mouth but all she was getting was static and sitting on the floor had been a stupid idea because she couldn't get up again and all she wanted to do was cry about it and, well, she wouldn't mind some pudding but Harry wasn't there.

And she knew it was her hormones working her over but right that moment she wanted to be able to throw a good old fashioned tantrum like a whiny teenaged girl or take it out on Harry which was always good for a laugh and mostly made her feel better, at least until the guilt kicked in but she couldn't because he was in detention with Snape for something she couldn't even work up the strength to care about and Ginny's perfume was making her gag.

And Harry's damned daughter was kicking her like mad for extra space she didn't have to give. And she was just so sick of being pregnant! The sudden silence in the room had her opening her eyes to find Daphne and Emmy peering down at her in concern. A quick look around told her that her rambling pregnant thoughts had been all the cover the ADADA needed to sneak away. A deep breath told her Ginny wasn't around. Both girls extended a hand toward her and heaved her to her feet.

'My mother got the same look just before my sister was born,' Emmy said with a sympathetic smile. 'She called it her "pregnancy bad" phase.'

Ally snorted to show she was amused but still too tired/sick of being pregnant to bother laughing.

'Come on,' Daphne laughed, she found the entire thing funny. 'We'll help you back to your room.'

Ally didn't actually need the help once she was on her feet but she appreciated the thought. Although once she was standing her daughter started to do an Irish jig against her insides.

'Damn kid has her daddy's kick,' Ally muttered rubbing her stomach soothingly.

'Next time I see Harry I'll be sure to kick him extra hard.'

The moment the words were out of her mouth Daphne froze. Emmy's eyes widened and she shared an alarmed look with her friend. It may have been common "knowledge" in the ADADA but it was the first time Harry's role in Ally's pregnancy had ever been mentioned aloud to Ally. The whole topic was almost taboo, and though Harry himself had alluded to his role, it still wasn't mentioned. At least not outside of the ridiculous comments Ron kept throwing at Harry just to make him squirm. Daphne knew he'd been conspiring with Tonks. Ally didn't seem the least bit fazed and anyone who didn't know her well would have thought she hadn't reacted at all. Daphne and Emmy did know her though; at least they knew her well enough to notice the mild pause in her pace.

'Make sure you get him in the shin.'

'Will do,' Daphne replied with a relieved sigh.

'Fred on Dumbledore duty?'

'Uh huh,' Emmy answered. 'George got word that after his detention with Harry Snape is going to meet with Dumbledore.'

Ally nodded, though she couldn't help wondering just how much she had missed during her fed-up-with-pregnancy moment. 'Here's hoping Harry's Occlumency shields hold up.'

Snape scowled at Harry while he scrubbed the second years' cauldrons clean of a tough to remove potion. The idea was to keep the boy distracted leaving Snape free to peruse his thoughts. Dumbledore had warned him that Harry was showing some skill in Occlumency so Snape was merely scratching the surface, skimming through the random memories and thoughts on the top of Harry's mind. It was rather sickening, though greatly enlightening. It helped that the potion Harry was scrubbing away was giving off fumes intended to open the mind.

Harry's thoughts were wandering aimlessly and Snape was having a very hard time putting together a simple and coherent memory. Especially when a disturbing fantasy involving the new DADA professor and a desk kept surfacing in Harry's mind. Snape could see some form of memory charm in his future to erase the childish fantasy. He couldn't have known that Harry was merely remembering a rather adventurous earlier encounter with Ally. He did however stumble across something rather interesting while mentally closing his eyes.

Harry held memories of fights with Death Eaters. Fights that Dumbledore was not aware of, fights that even Snape wasn't aware of Harry participating in. There was a brief glimpse of a bar and Ruby Reid. Ginny Weasley talking with an older man over a glass of mead. There were images of the allusive advanced defense class that included something Snape never would have associated with Ron Weasley: intelligence. The image that provided Snape with the greatest shock was that of Narcissa Malfoy choking Ally Martin and then of her lifeless body falling to the floor.

Harry had been witness to the death of a Malfoy. More than that, he had been the cause of her death. Snape struggled to reconcile his two conflicting images of Harry Potter. On the one hand was the arrogant fifteen year old boy who took after his father, getting into pointless trouble and flaunting his disregard for rules. On the other was the image of an older, stronger Potter who fought Death Eaters and was responsible for the death of a prominent member of society.

'Makes you think, doesn't it?'

Snape jumped at the sound of Harry's voice but it was his words that struck him hard. 'What was that, Potter?'

Harry gathered his things despite the fact that his detention was supposed to last for another half hour. He shouldered his bag and headed for the door and Snape was so stunned he couldn't seem to form the words of a protest. Harry paused and turned to look at him over his shoulder.

'What else am I hiding?'

Snape was left with the disconcerting truth that everything he had just gleaned from Harry's mind was thoughts and memories he had been allowed to see. Harry had been in control the entire time and had he not said anything Snape would never have known. It was more than a little worrying though it did answer a number of questions that had been burning within Snape since Harry had first appeared at Grimmauld Place a changed boy.

Harry had secrets, that was obvious. What he hadn't counted on was that those things Harry was hiding were a great deal bigger and a lot more important than the pathetic teenage rebellion of a wannabe hero he had assumed. They were also far greater than the darkness Dumbledore feared of him. Harry Potter had done what even Dumbledore and his Order had not managed to do. He had taken the fight to Voldemort and he was holding strong. Snape didn't need to see into Harry's head to know that he had merely seen the tiniest percentage of the battles the boy had fought. He didn't need to be granted that access like earlier to understand that Harry Potter was fighting a war while the greatest wizard of the time was sitting behind a desk worrying over the little things.

It was a horrible feeling to know that the small secrets he had seen, though not enough yet, were close to that which would sway him from the path Dumbledore had set them on. Snape would find out what he could about Harry but he would share it with no one. That much he owed Lily. He just hoped he could hold out against Dumbledore in their meeting later. Like many of the Order he had begun to notice that Dumbledore was…slipping. Also like many of the Order he wasn't about to do anything. He wasn't sure there was anything that could be done. Dumbledore was Dumbledore and he would always do things his way. No matter that stalking a fifteen year old boy using highly trained Ministry Aurors was more than a little creepy.

But he wouldn't admit that to Dumbledore because deep down he knew how badly Voldemort wanted to see the boy dead. Not that that made him agree with Dumbledore's actions but he had enough respect for the man and enough experience to know that fighting it wouldn't be worth the effort.

He made sure to strengthen his Occlumency shields long before he arrived at the stairs to the headmaster's office, just in case. He knocked gently on the door and waited for the gentle words of permission to enter. The moment he stepped into the room the base instinct he'd long begun to associate with the Weasley twins kicked into gear. It was a sixth sense almost that had allowed him to avoid numerous pranks aimed his way. It may very well have been his magic building up a warning system after so many attacks. Or it could have been a sure sign of early onset madness. It didn't matter how the bizarre skill had come about only that it had served him well in catching the bloody twats in the act. There was a Weasley twin in the office and he was hidden very well.

Snape shook himself. Harry's revelations had put him on edge and he was imagining things. After all, the headmaster would definitely have noticed someone hiding in his office. Dumbledore offered him a questioning look and a lemon drop. He ignored both and took a seat.

'How was your detention with Harry, Severus?'

It was so unlike Dumbledore to get straight to the point these days that it actually took Snape a few moments to decide whether or not he was actually seated before the headmaster or if it was someone under polyjuice.

'It was enlightening.'

'Oh?' Dumbledore murmured which was in fact Dumbledore speak for "please, tell me everything you know".

'I believe your concerns that the boy has chosen to follow a darker path are unfounded.'

It was the closest he had ever come to anything remotely positive being spoken aloud about Potter and it almost killed him to do it. Aligning himself (possibly) with Harry in his head was one thing but out loud was not something that would or could happen.

'You are sure?'

Snape once again pictured the quick and efficient death Narcissa Malfoy had suffered and the reasons for her death. He tried not to think too much about that horrific fantasy but he did take a moment to focus on what he had gleaned about the ADADA. He'd seen the face of each member and seen the intelligence that Weasley kept well hidden from view. He'd seen, been shown, a fight against two Death Eaters a few months ago between Potter and Reid. He glimpsed the skill Potter was hiding and the lengths he was willing to go to in order to see Voldemort fall, he couldn't imagine the Harry of a year ago killing anyone, let alone Narcissa Malfoy.

He looked up at Dumbledore and grimaced. 'I'm positive.'