AN: This part of the story has been a request by many people, so I am glad that it was a part of my plan for the story. A word on Dumbledore that a very astute reviewer, Dark Angelx1992, prodded some thinking from my part on. Dumbledore can be a very difficult person to write, and writers seem to either take the bent that he is the manipulative puppet master of everything (meaning he meant for Harry to be raised by abusers, he meant Sirius to go to prison though he was innocent, and so forth) or that he is good and somewhat naïve, or clueless, and really thought Sirius must have been guilty. I am choosing the latter, obviously, but I think that doesn't mean that he isn't wise or even ruthless when needed. I just see him as human. But I can see how others have a really hard time with Dumbledore – in many ways he is a gray of a character as Snape is, just with better manners. This chapter is a pretty Dumbledore intense chapter, let me know what you think about how I kept him in character and your opinions on Dumbledore in general.

"So Remus is really going to come and we're going to talk more about capturing Peter?" Sirius asked Harry.

"That's the plan," Harry told him. "He's teaching now, and Dumbledore's got some stuff to do, so we're waiting until this afternoon. That's part of the fun of quarantine – waiting for everything."

"I haven't talked to him in twelve years," Sirius admitted. "What must he think of me?"

"When he found out that Peter was alive he drew the same conclusions that I did, and Professor Snape did," Harry replied. "We all thought that something was extremely strange and that there were big questions to ask. Professor Dumbledore will tell him of Snape's conclusions before he comes over."

"I can't believe you cooperated with Professor Snape!" Sirius accused, but with a laugh. "Out Slytherined by him once again.!"

"Cunning isn't only a Slytherin trait," Harry defended.

"Of course not," Sirius agreed. "Look at Dumbledore. It's kind of insulting to think that nobody outside of Slytherin can have a cunning thought. But an interrogation such as that – that has Slytherin written all over it."

"Dumbledore says that he trusts Snape."

"There were rumors of that before," Sirius agreed. "Though I never knew why. Dumbledore is a complicated man. Say, just checking, can the ol' bat hear us?"

"He said he was erecting a sound barrier so he could get some work done," Harry told him, careful not to actually lie. "Do you think anything we say is really of interest to him?"

"Probably not," Sirius admitted. "Although after how much he's fooled me in the past few hours . . ."

"He's pretty brilliant with that sort of thing," Harry admitted. "You know I went along with it because I actually did want to see if you were guilty or innocent, right?"

"I understand," Sirius nodded. "But is the old bat evil or good? I mean, I have all my instincts and memories telling me one thing, and when I saw him scaring you and about to whack you – well, let's just say that if you were trying to set me up to make me act without thinking, that was a great way to do it."

"I don't really know," Harry shrugged. "Before this quarantine we hated each other. But being trapped together like this, I don't know. We're sort of coming to an understanding I think."

"If you can say that after he whacked you with a ruler then there must be something redeeming about the man," Sirius reasoned.

"You still like Dumbledore and he caned you, right?" Harry asked.

"How did you hear about that?" Sirius asked, astonished.

"So I was right!" Harry surmised. "I just picked up a few clues and put them together. To be honest, it surprises me a little bit. I mean, when I heard him talking to you all stern there it's the first time I've ever even heard him talking that way. He's not exactly the disciplinarian type, I would have thought if you'd gotten in trouble at school McGonagall would have punished you."

"She would have," Sirius shrugged. "Except what I did was really bad. Really I deserved to be expelled for it. She tried to talk to me about it, but couldn't get me to respond to much of what she said. So, she sent me to Dumbledore."

"Would you tell me about it?" Harry asked.

"Do you really want to hear it?" Sirius asked. "It's not exactly flattering to me."

"I get in trouble plenty," Harry answered. "You don't have to worry about that at all. I think it's sometimes nice to know that adults did too when they were at Hogwarts."

"Well, this story involves your father too," Sirius told him. "And Severus Snape. Do you think you can handle hearing about them too?"

"I would really like to hear about my father," Harry answered eagerly. "Now you have to tell it."

"It started with me being incredibly foolish, as usual . . ."

Sirius waited outside the Headmaster's office, lost in thought. He had known that expulsion was a possible consequence, it had just never occurred to him that it was something that could happen to him. What could he do if he were expelled? Go home? The idea was horrifying. But even as McGonagall had scolded him and threatened him with a dozen different punishments, he had sat there still and silent, nothing she said could even move him. How could he worry about detentions when he had to live with what he had just done? He was a bad person – as bad as his father. Maybe it was better if he was expelled so he wouldn't have the chance to hurt any more innocent classmates.

"You may come in, young Sirius," Dumbledore invited him with a soft voice. "Lemon Drop?"

"Professor McGonagall sent me here to be expelled," Sirius told him, skipping the preamble and ignoring the proffered sweet. He would get straight to the point, and skip past the ineffectual threatening that McGonagall had engaged in.

"She sent you here because she's worried about you," Dumbledore gently corrected. "We all are. The incident yesterday was quite serious."

Sirius nodded, his throat feeling tight and he found himself forcing himself not to tear up. He couldn't think of the incident yesterday without choking up, and if he thought about the betrayal in Remus' eyes that morning . . .

"Yes, sir," he managed to reply. "It was."

"This incident not only endangered the life of your classmate, Severus Snape, but it also endangered the life of your friend. Surely you realize if Severus had been injured or killed there would have been an inquest, likely resulting in the conviction and death of your friend, Remus Lupin."

"So James explained to me," Sirius answered, closing his eyes in pain at the memory. "Quite forcefully."

Dumbledore looked the boy over critically, sifting the evidence before him. "Luckily your friend intervened in your plans," Dumbledore carefully told him. "James Potter saved Severus Snape just in time."

"He did," Sirius nodded, this time not able to stop a tear from escaping, which he hastily brushed away. "He save Remus, and I nearly killed him."

"James saved Severus, and by doing that saved Remus and also likely you," Dumbledore told him. "If Severus had been harmed I would have no choice, you would have to be expelled. What would happen if I expel you?"

"I would have to go home," Sirius told him. "I am underage."

"I understand that your parents are somewhat . . . disappointed that you were put in Gryffindor house," Dumbledore observed.

"They were," Sirius agreed, chagrined at the understatement. "Very disappointed."

"And you are the only Black in three hundred years to be sorted in any house other than Slytherin," Dumbledore observed.

"Yes, sir," Sirius replied, his eyes flashing a bit of defiance.

"So what happens if you go home?" he asked gently.

Sirius looked down, his body deflating. He knew what would happen – or at least he could guess well. He was already considered a disgrace before this incident, and after it would be worse. No Black had ever been expelled from Hogwarts; his parents would feel the slight keenly. They might consent and send him to another school like Durmstrang after they were done making their displeasure known, but just as likely he might have to live at home in misery until he reached seventeen. It looked bleak.

"It would be bad," Sirius replied, forcing his voice to be calm. "They don't like me very much."

Dumbledore looked him over again, feeling compassion for the young Gryffindor. "There is also the matter of this needing to remain secret if it is to protect Remus, and expelling you would raise inconvenient questions," Dumbledore told him. "I believe I could take some latitude and perhaps not expel you, I could punish you instead."

"Please punish me," Sirius found himself asking, relieved it was an option. "Please. I would do anything to not go home."

"Somehow I don't think a few detentions are going to do it," Dumbledore told him. "Do you have any other suggestions?"

Sirius nodded, looking down. Somehow, suddenly everything seemed very clear. "You should cane me."

"Cane you?" Dumbledore echoed. "What gave you that idea?"

"It's what my father does," Sirius admitted, his voice deadly quiet. "I mean, he does worse things . . . but I think you wouldn't do those things to me. But a caning, that is something that would be reasonable."

"A caning is a harsh punishment," Dumbledore told him.

Sirius nodded, a new determination in his eyes. "It is," he admitted. "But it should be. I, well, I deserve a harsh punishment. I almost killed someone."

"Did you mean to almost kill him?" Dumbledore pressed.

"Merlin's sakes, no," Sirius answered earnestly. "You have to believe me, Headmaster. Really, I was just tired of him always spying on us and trying to get us in trouble. I was just thinking of getting a bit of revenge – I wasn't thinking about what could happen."

"I believe you, Sirius," Dumbledore nodded. "If I had thought you had meant to kill him you would not remain at this school."

Sirius gulped at Dumbledore's serious voice, but nodded. "I don't know if James and Remus believe me."

"Does part of you hope that a severe punishment will show them that you have been punished enough?" Dumbledore nodded in understanding. "Maybe evoke their sympathy?"

"Maybe James and Remus . . . maybe if they knew that you punished me harshly . . . maybe it would help," Sirius reasoned. "I don't know if they will forgive me."

"I'm not sure that's a good reason to cane you," Dumbledore told him doubtfully.

"It's really the best solution, logically," Sirius told him. "You'll see it if you think about it. And it needs to be a harsh caning, too, not a few swats and it's over either. At least twelve strokes, and decent ones at that."

"My goodness, Sirius, I have never delivered a caning that severe," Dumbledore told him. "On the few occasions I've felt this type of correction was needed I've never given more than six."

"Have any of the other kids tried to kill their classmates?" Sirius asked pointedly. "Did any of the others endanger their werewolf friend? I'm sorry, Headmaster, but you know that I'm right on this."

"You are right on this," Dumbledore acknowledged. "Such wisdom for so young a person. Alright, Mr. Black, I agree to your terms. For your punishment in this incident I will administer a caning, and the whole thing will then be behind us. This punishment will avoid your expulsion and maintain Mr. Lupin's secrecy. I have already secured Mr. Snape's oath of secrecy in this matter, so that will be done."

"Thank you, Headmaster," Sirius nodded.

"I hope you'll still thank me when you can no longer sit down," Dumbledore smiled kindly at him. "Remove your robe and bend over my desk."

With that command, Sirius began to feel the fear from the punishment that he had pushed down before. This would be a harsh punishment – certainly nowhere near the worst he'd had, but harsh – and the fact that Dumbledore would be the one to administer it would make it all the worse on him. When his father punished him he could just feel hate; hate towards his father and hate towards the injustice of the punishment he was suffering. But with Dumbledore he knew he would just feel guilt and shame over what he had done. He obeyed the Headmaster silently, watching as Dumbledore removed a school disciplinary cane from a hidden cupboard behind his desk. He squirmed a bit as his stomach wretched. His body knew what this was going to feel like, and was anticipating it.

"What was your father's ritual?" Dumbledore asked gently. "Did he make you count?"

"He did," Sirius told him. "If I didn't count, I would have to re-do the stroke. But I didn't often know how many I was getting."

"I will count," Dumbledore told him. "And you're getting twelve. Did your father scold?"

"He would say . . . terrible things," Sirius confessed.

"Then before we start," Dumbledore told him. "I want to say that you are a good lad, Sirius, you just made a really bad mistake. You're going to pay for that mistake now, and I believe you're going to do better."

"Yes, sir."

"I believe in you, Sirius," Dumbledore told him, tapping his backside with the cane. "This caning is to correct, and I hope this helps you make a change."

Sirius nodded, waiting for the first stroke. It came, stinging and stern. Dumbledore didn't strike with the cruelty of his father, but it wasn't a love tap either. Sirius was going to receive a proper caning.

"And then what happened?" Harry asked, swept up in the story.

"What do you think?" Sirius shook his head with chagrin. "Dumbledore caned me. I did my best to take it as a proper son of the Black family and a Gryffindor, but I would be lying if I didn't say that my cheeks were wet and I wasn't exactly silent under that cane either."

"But you actually asked him to do it!" Harry exclaimed. "I can't believe anyone asking for it!"

"Nothing else made sense to me at the time," Sirius explained. "I was desperate – and desperation makes you do crazy things. I was desperate from the guilt of what I had done, the recriminations from my friends, and even the fear of being sent home. A bit of pain seemed like a very small price to pay to get out of that mess."

"Did it help?" Harry asked curiously.

"It did," Sirius smiled. "But what helped the most was probably what he said. After it was over, instead of letting me limp away to wallow in my misery, he told me that he was proud of how I took my punishment, and proud of how I felt remorse and faced up to my wrongdoing. He told me that he had taught many members of my family, including my parents, and that I was . . . unique among them. He said that my courage and my honor in this situation had impressed him."

"That sounds like what you needed to hear."

"Dumbledore always has a way of saying what I need to hear," Sirius told Harry, as if realizing it for himself for the first time. "Even what he said to me a bit ago – which sounded like a stern scold – was actually what I needed to hear. It was comforting in a strange way; he told me that I should have asked for help and I should have looked at my duties rather than wallowing in my guilt. He made it clear he didn't blame me for James' and Lily's deaths, and I felt like he really did understand me. If he had said it in a soft and kind way I don't think I would have believed him, but how he said it I think I actually did. I feel lighter hearing him say that, just like I felt lighter after what he said when he caned me."

"Was it better with your friends too?" Harry asked.

"When I limped back to the Gryffindor common room, everyone wondered what I'd done to earn Dumbledore's ire – everyone knows he's a pushover with punishments," Sirius told him with a wry grin. "But James and Remus forgave me, and even cast some cushioning spells on the furniture in the common room so I could sit down."

"What about Snape?"

"Dumbledore told me he would tell the Head of Slytherin about my punishment," Sirius told Harry with a shrug. "But I don't think it helped with him, we kept on hating each other all the same."

"I'll bet you never messed with Snape again."

"I wish I could say that," Sirius looked down. "Harry, I'm not a perfect man . . . in fact there's a lot about me that's not great. We were horrible to Snape in school, and to be honest if I had had a wand I probably would have tried to harm him when I was first in here. But the fact that he investigated and believed me innocent, well, that goes to show you how much people can change. I hope that someone will say that about me someday."

"Twelve years is a long time to be in prison," Harry ventured.

"It really was," Sirius nodded.

"That's a lot of guilt."

"Guilt can do funny things to a man," Sirius admitted. "And it's hard to explain about Azkaban. Once you're there, with the dementors – it's like it all amplifies. Every happy thought is gone."

"How did you not go mad?"

"There were two things, I think," Sirius considered. "One was that it was my own guilt keeping me there, not me raging against the ministry. The other was Padfoot. When I couldn't stand it anymore I would transform – being Padfoot was a layer of protection. I think my thoughts were simpler and harder for the dementors to prey upon."

They were silent together for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Thanks for telling me the truth," Harry told him. "I know you actually barely know me, thanks for trusting me."

"For years it has felt like nobody cared," Sirius said honestly. "I think it feels good that someone actually does."

"Lunch time," Snape called to them. "I believe you may have been upgraded to cream soups, Black."

"I can't wait until I get actual meat," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Madame Pomfrey is sure being careful with me."

Harry walked over to where Snape was sitting down to their lunch, and Snape casually cast a muffling charm.

"Dumbledore's directions, I presume?" he asked sardonically, raising an eyebrow.

"He said you deserved to hear it," Harry shrugged. "It said it would help you. Did it help?"

"Yes, it did," Snape answered simply, picking up the spoon for his own bowl of soup. Though his face was unreadable to his lunch companion, overhearing the conversation with the boy and Black had unsettled the man considerably. He had a lot to think about – the world he had constructed around himself was not as simple as he had thought it to be. The "help" Dumbledore was referring to was of a severe kind indeed, it was the type of help not meant to comfort, but to change. Not only did he now have to deal with the fact that the man he would have considered his arch enemy in school – Sirius Black – may actually be innocent of the crime of betraying Lily Potter, but that he may also have been genuinely remorseful of the crime he committed against Snape's person in school. Add to that Harry Potter's burgeoning non-hatred of Snape himself and he really didn't know what to think. Was it possible to have something different with Lily's son than an antagonistic relationship where he hates up close and protects from afar? But that was not what he wanted to say to the boy, to him he would stay emotionless. "Thank you," Snape nodded.

Snape undid the muffling charm, so as not to garner suspicion, and they ate their lunch in companionable quiet.