AN: Thank you for all the support! It is very deeply appreciated!

This was not what Sirius had envisioned.

From the time St. Pete had announced he was to see Harry in a dream, Sirius had several images of where it would occur. Perhaps they would meet on a Quidditch pitch, soaring on their brooms above the clouds. Maybe they would meet in an abandoned Hogwarts classroom and talk things over seated at desk with names etched into it. Better yet, they could meet at 12 Grimmauld Place in Sirius' old room. At least then he'd have a good memory of the place.

Instead, he was in a stark white interrogation room, sitting on a metal chair. He folded his hands onto the steel table and frowned. This was hitting a little close to home. Either Harry's subconscious was more spiritually in tune with reality than Sirius thought, or the Trinity was having fun messing with his dreams. Sirius was leaning towards the latter. It wouldn't be the first time the Almighty had manipulated someone's nighttime visions. Could that be considered a type of mind control though? What implications did that have for free will?

Why was he doing philosophy when he was finally given a chance to see his godson?

The door opened before he could continue on his meditations.

"It says here you've been booked on the charge of attempted murder." Harry kept his nose in the files. "Apparently you tried to hang a man from a tree."

"I'm guilty as charged." Sirius stood.

"You aren't going to dispute the charges?" Harry poked up his head.

"What's there to dispute? You and I both know I did it. You even saw me do it when you looked into a pensieve."

Harry dropped the file onto the floor. His eyes widened as the color drained from his face.

"I did hang a man from a tree," Sirius continued. "And I regret it every moment of my afterlife."

"Sirius?" Harry's voice cracked.

"Hello." Sirius stood.

"Sirius!" Harry ran over to hug him.

"Nice to see you Harry." Sirius returned the embrace. Even if they weren't touching, he could still feel the other man's energy coursing through his essence. It was the closest he'd come to heaven since dying.

"You, you shouldn't be in jail. You should be out there, with me." Harry took his hand. "Look, I'll show you my workplace."

"How? You're in a dream."

"Oh I'm sure my mind could conjure something up. Now come here! There's so much to show you."

"As much as I'd like to be shown around, we don't have time for a tour of the place."

"You're right," Harry shook his head. "What am I thinking? I need to conjure up James. It won't be the same as meeting them, but it will have to do. Oh you'll be so happy to meet James."

Sirius' glow brightened at the sound of the child's name.

"There has to be someway for you to meet them. Perhaps if I wake up you'll be with me."

"I would love to see them, but I can't."

"We'll find a way. There has to be a way."

"Harry, I came to see you, and only you."

"Yes, I know, but they're a part of me and my life."

"You don't understand." Sirius gripped Harry's hand tighter. "We need to talk one on one together, while there's still time."

"Time?"

"Yes," Sirius's glow dimmed. "Despite the afterlife being eternal, there are time tables on certain things, like how long one can stay during dreams."

"I suppose that's true, but it's just so great to see you." Harry's eyes glistened.

"It's great to see you too." His glow returned to normal.

"What's it like up there?"

"Well, to be quite blunt, it's pretty odd."

"Oh?"

"Yes," Sirius replied. "For the last ten years I've been in a room watching my life replay over and over again. When I got into a new afterlife program, I decided to take up reading Ancient Greek philosophy. Admittedly it was somewhat against my will, but it's better than watching the movie."

"You read philosophy?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Believe me, I'm as surprised as you are."

"Well." Harry shook his head. "This is shaping out to be one odd dream."

"It's about to get odder."

"How?"

"Right now, I'm on a mission." Sirius answered. "I came to help you with your meeting with Severus Snape."

Harry swallowed.

"I know you're speaking to him tomorrow." Sirius put a hand on his shoulder. "And I want to help it go as smoothly as possible."

"Why?"

"Because the Trinity thought it would be funny if Severus and I were thrown together and forced to help each other get to heaven."

"I thought you hated Snape."

"I did when the program began, but." Sirius shrugged "He grew on me."

"So he's part of the program too?"

"Yes."

"Was dating Hermione part of the program?"

"I have no clue."

Harry cocked his head.

"The only three people who have any clue how any of this works are the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sanctifier. Everyone else is just along for the ride."

"Do you think the program is working?"

"Well," his glow lessened. "It did make me realize how much of a bully I was in my life."

"You were more than just a bully."

"But that was a huge part of who I was." Sirius removed his hand from Harry. "I tormented Severus, and I'm going to spend the next few centuries atoning for that."

"Centuries?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry it's going to be that long." Harry frowned.

"Don't be, I'm getting what I deserve."

"You don't deserve to be punished," Harry argued. "You were a hero. You helped save the Wizarding World."

"What did I do other than emotionally support you?" The spirit asked. "I didn't create any new spells or spy on Death Eaters. I complained and tormented people I didn't like my entire life. That's hardly winning a war."

"You're being too hard on yourself."

"No, I'm being honest. I wasted my life being awful to Severus for no reason other than he was different from me. Now, I'm here to make it up to him."

"How?"

"By helping you collect your thoughts about seeing him."

"How do you know I'll be seeing him and Hermione tomorrow?"

"Call it a spirit's intuition."

"Either that or," For a moment, Harry glowed. "You are watching over me."

"I watch over you every chance I get," the spirit's glow was soft.

"I knew you were out there somewhere, I just didn't know where."

"I'm here now, and trying to help you not muck up this conversation."

"I could use some help with that." Harry lowered his head. "I go over it so many times in my head, but every time I wind up saying the wrong thing and losing Hermione's friendship."

"I see." Once again, Sirius wished someone had given him guidance on what to do next. Instead, silence fell between the spirit and mortal.

"I was awful to Severus before he died." Harry said in a soft voice. "Then, I almost got Hermione committed to a mental institution because she was seeing him. There's no way I can ever apologize or make things up to him. How can I ever make up what I've done to the man who saved the Wizarding World?"

"First of all," Sirius began. "Severus Snape is a man, not the second coming of Christ."

"But he saved the world…"

"He was a man." Sirius' voice was louder.

Harry closed his mouth.

"This is where you're going to mess up," Sirius continued. "You are treating Severus like he's a god, when he's just a man, er uh, spirit."

"He didn't get the respect he deserved in life."

"I know." Sirius' glow pulsated. "But at the end of the day he was also your spiteful professor."

"I thought you were supposed to be nice him as part of your program."

"I said he was a man, not a snake."

"I don't get the difference."

"Okay." Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose. "One of the reasons Severus loves Hermione is that she looks beyond the myth of who he is. She looks past the git of a professor he was to the spirit he is now."

Harry blinked.

"Don't get me wrong, he is a great spirit, but he appreciates someone who can see his flaws too."

"You just called him a great spirit." Harry couldn't hide his surprise.

"Yes, he is great, better than I ever gave him credit for." Sirius admitted. "I missed out on an amazing opportunity to be his friend in life, and I'm regretting it."

"Because they're punishing you."

"Because I've been forced to see him as a person." Sirius said. "I've been forced to see him as more than a Slytherin I could torment and as a person who is capable of being my friend."

"You have changed then."

"I have, which is why I can help you."

"How?"

"By explaining some things." Sirius replied. "See, in life I didn't see Severus as a person. So I did things, which if I'm being honest, disgust me now."

"The hanging him from a tree was awful."

"Yes, as was laughing about it in front of a crucifixion victim." Sirius' glow went blue. "Not one of my smarter moves."

"You still thought it was funny?" Harry furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yes, which shows what an arse I was."

"I hope you've changed."

"I hope I have too," Sirius said. "Back to the topic though, you have to remember when you speak to him that you are talking to a person. He isn't a myth or a legend. He is a spirit who is in love with Hermione."

"I know." Harry swallowed. "It's still weird to think of them together."

"It makes a certain amount of sense when you consider things."

"They are both geniuses, and they have both been hurt by the world. I suppose there's that."

"They can create things together too." Sirius replied. "That more than anything else has kept them together, and will continue to keep them together in the future."

"I wish I could see Snape when we talk. It would be easier if I could get some kind of read on his reactions."

"Perhaps it's for the best you don't see him. Hermione may be able to keep some of the bitterness out of his words so to speak."

"She will be a great mediator."

"She will be." Sirius said. "That's another issue, you're too tense about this whole thing."

"How can I not be tense about this?" Harry raised his voice. "He's Severus Snape, the man who saved the Wizarding World."

"We just went over him not being a legend."

"I know, I know." Harry held up his hand. "Still, he is Hermione's first real boyfriend after Ron."

"Aren't you happy about that?"

"I am, I really am."

"But?" Sirius drawled.

"I guess a part of me is afraid she'll be hurt like she was with Ron." The light in Harry's eyes died. "I saw her when she broke up with Ron. She was a wreck for so long, and closed herself off from the world. This is the first time I can really say she is happy. I have to wonder though, what if he winds up hurting her more than Ron did?"

"I wish I could promise you he won't hurt her, but I can't. Nobody can. In fact, the opposite if very likely that at some point, he will hurt her."

Harry sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that."

"What I can promise you is that Severus is committed to making things work with her, as unconventional as this relationship may be." Sirius continued. "The truth is, they will hurt each other. That's inevitable."

"It shouldn't be."

"You and Luna have hurt each other, unintentionally at least."

"True."

"Then it will be the same with them." Sirius said. "They will have their conflicts, and knowing them some will be passionate. Still, they are both loyal, especially to each other. They won't abandon each other over one careless word, nor will they allow anyone to take advantage of their pain to drive a wedge between them."

"Did you drive a wedge between my mother and Severus?"

"No, but we didn't discourage her wrath, which led to the situation we're in."

"Hermione told me she went to Purgatory for wrath."

"I played a small role in that, and I'm sorry."

"I know."

The silence fell between them again.

"Do you know where my dad is?" Harry asked.

"In Purgatory, performing intake on the souls." Sirius replied.

"So he didn't make it straight to heaven either." Harry flinched.

"If it makes you feel better, he did better than me. He only got five hundred years of Purgatory. I got a millennium."

"The Trinity sounds harsh."

"They're fairer than I'd like to admit." Sirius' glow dulled. "Though their prosecutors could stand to be a little nicer."

"Their prosecutor?"

"Yes," Sirius said. "If you see an angel named Metatron, don't cross him. He isn't much to look at, but he knows how to bring down the wrath of God so to speak."

"I'll remember that."

"That being said." Sirius smiled. "I'm so proud of you and the man you've become."

"You are?"

Sirius nodded. "You've become an amazing man, much better than either you or your father ever were."

"You two weren't evil."

"No, but we were deeply flawed men, just as Severus Snape is."

Harry relaxed.

"How about this?" Sirius' grin widened. "I'll put in a good word for you with Severus."

"You will?"

"Sure, why not? Anything to help your cause."

"I don't know if he'll listen to you."

"Maybe not, but I can try."

"I'd appreciate that."

"I know." Sirius patted Harry's back.

The silver of the metal table lost its sheen, and the chair was fading into the ground.

"You're going to wake up soon." Sirius said.

"I know." Harry's voice was soft.

"Just remember what I've said, and know when you talk to him, I'll be with you."

"Will you be with me even after we talk?"

"I wouldn't be anywhere else."

"I," Harry's voice cracked. "I felt you when James was born."

"I was there, watching over you."

"Thank you for that."

"Thank you for naming him after me."

"I love you." Harry embraced him once more. "You were an amazing godfather, despite your faults."

"You are an amazing godson." Sirius squeezed him close. "And I love you too."

A few moments later Sirius was in his Purgatory room.

"You look rather pleased with yourself." Severus crossed his legs and he leaned back onto the couch. "What sort of mischief have you been managing?"

Sirius' glow intensified. "I am going to prevent you from making an arse of yourself with Harry."