'You're not in trouble,' Sirius repeated. 'I'm glad you're here.'

Harry took a deep breath, steadying himself. 'Me too.'

Sirius pulled him back into a hug, rougher and more lighthearted this time. He gave a great sigh before clapping Harry on the back of the shoulder, and then releasing him he nudged him down the hallway towards the basement stairs.

'There's food downstairs. Let's eat first, and then we'll talk.'

Together they headed down into the basement, and it was apparent that despite the mess the kitchen had been untouched by demolition efforts. At one end of the table sat a steaming dish Shepherd's pie, so large it can't have been made just for him and Sirius alone. Sirius gestured for him to sit down, conjuring two place settings.

As Harry took his seat he looked around the basement, turning his attention to the hole in the floor upstairs, or in this case the ceiling. To his astonishment on the floor directly below the gaping hole sat a mottled grey cannonball, large and heavy enough that it had cracked the flagstone floor beneath it.

Harry looked around at his godfather questioningly, but Sirius said nothing, playing innocent. He smiled, positively daring Harry to ask about it. Leaving it unspoken he took his seat at the kitchen table, thanking him when a warm butterbeer floated over and set itself on the table. Sirius doled out generous helpings of the pie and then sat down, the two of them eating in comfortable silence.

It felt strange to be there, especially when just an hour ago he had been sitting in the Astronomy Tower, hiding from the world and dreading the prospect of another day. Now he had left Hogwarts (even if temporarily) and was sharing a meal with Sirius. For the first time in weeks something finally felt right - the drama at the Ministry, the loss of the DA and Dumbledore's firing, his problems with Occlumency, Umbridge - finally something had turned his way.

While they ate in silence Harry cast his eyes up at Sirius more than once. The place he had been brought to didn't matter in the slightest, Grimmauld Place itself wasn't much of a home, but it was being with Sirius that mattered. His godfather - the man his parents had originally entrusted him to...this was what his parents had wanted for him in their absence, and finally it had worked out that way.

'Normally a pie this big feeds the Order for a couple of nights,' Sirius commented, the break in silence feeling natural. 'They stop by quite a bit, but they've cleared out for a couple of days. I asked them to give us some peace and quiet.'

'They didn't have to do that,' Harry murmured, feeling bad. 'This is their base, right?'

'They don't mind. But you and I are eating pie all week.'

Harry laughed, not at all minding given how delicious it was.

'McGonagall filled me in this afternoon,' Sirius commented, tentatively broaching the subject of Harry's unplanned departure from school. 'On everything.'

Clenching his fork Harry looked down at his plate, wishing they didn't have to talk about it. 'She told you I shouted at her?'

'It came up,' he said heavily, looking at him in concern. 'As did your duel with Malfoy, and your row with Snape. Can't say I blame you for that one. I spoke to him too.'

'And?'

'He's worried about you…in his own way.' Sirius hesitated now, wanting to approach this in the right way. The lines on his face only accentuated his concern. 'I'm supposed to talk you about Occlumency. You can't just quit, Harry. That's not an option.'

He was about to take up the well worn topic, to regurgitate every argument he'd been wasting breath on all week. But he stopped himself, his mental exhaustion with the topic leaving him unable to continue. 'I don't want to talk about it.'

'We're going to have to.'

'No,' he said firmly, keeping his temper even though it bubbled beneath the surface, ready to break again. He looked down at his plate, staring at it while he held his temper. 'Not tonight. Please.'

'Alright,' Sirius agreed after a thoughtful moment. 'Not tonight.'

Hastening to change the subject, Harry asked, 'Where's Lupin? I thought he was staying here?'

'He's away.'

'Where?'

'No place I can tell you about.'

Harry didn't argue. 'When's he coming back?'

'Don't know,' Sirius said forlornly. 'He'll be back when he's done.'

'You seem worried.'

Sirius shrugged, taking a swig of his butterbeer. 'You'll always be worried about your friends.'

Agreeing, Harry's stomach clenched as he thought about Ron and Hermione. He hated the collateral damage being done to them, and hoped they might get a few days reprieve while he was away. Remorse swelled up inside of him, and he wished he had said goodbye to them properly. Instead he had rushed to get away from them, desperate for their conversation to end, to not have to see them looking so downcast.

Wanting to change the subject a second time Harry looked to the cannonball at the other end of the kitchen, still trying to work it out. Finally he turned back to Sirius in exasperation. 'Are you really going to make me ask?'

Sirius smirked. 'Ask what?'

'Fine,' Harry sighed impatiently. 'What's with the cannonball?'

'You don't like it there?' he asked, laughing at his own joke. 'I'm pretty sure Kreacher tried to do me in. It belonged to one of my ancestors, they stole it from the British Museum. It was in the attic, the shelf was meant to be charmed to hold its weight…had to be Kreacher.'

'It fell all the way from the attic?'

Sirius nodded. 'I don't mind saying it scared the living daylights out of me. Thought it was the Death Eaters coming. I have to make Kreacher move it. Finally figured out he's the only one who can get around the permanent sticking charms. I made him release the charm on all the portraits. The tapestry upstairs is gone too.'

'And your mother's portrait?'

Sirius grumbled under his breath. 'I let Kreacher keep her, so long as she stays quiet. I let him keep the mounted Elf heads too.'

'That was nice of you.'

'Well, he just about keeled over when I told him to take them down, and I need him to help purge the rest of the house before that day comes.'

'And the door knobs?' Harry enquired, gesturing to the kitchen door. 'You don't need door knobs?'

Sirius laughed again, his smile only growing the more Harry teased. 'That is a lesson in poor planning. Figured I'd replace the serpent door handles with...well, you know - regular door handles, except I don't have any yet. Make sure you bolt your bedroom door at night, Kreacher's taken it as a renewed invitation to creep around. Speaking of,' he said, pausing a moment. 'I've picked a new bedroom for you.'

Harry blinked, his heart lifting. 'For me?'

'Yeah. Something nicer than the room you've been staying in. But it's not fit for living yet.'

Grinning, he couldn't help but ask, 'Is there a cannonball shaped hole in the floor?'

Sirius raised his eyebrows, looking at him strangely. 'Yes, actually there is.' He shook his head in exasperation. 'You know, you may look like your father, but it's your mother you take after. She was a smart arse too.'

'Just an innocent question,' he shrugged, his heart swelling at this comment. It was that kind of anecdote about his parents that he craved, and very few people but Sirius and Remus could give him that. 'Can I help you with the house? You're not above child labour,' he added, seeing Sirius looked skeptical.

'Do you know how to renovate an old house like this?'

'Do you?'

Shaking his head in exasperation Sirius pushed his empty plate away. 'Like I said, just like your mother. You have enough to eat?'

Harry nodded, feeling very well fed. 'Thank you.'

'Good. Now go on. Bed.'

Harry blinked in surprise, looking at his watch. 'It's barely nine thirty!'

'Yeah, and you're going to bed. Speaking of, you and I are sharing a room while you're here.'

Harry frowned, a little taken aback. At times Sirius had spent the night with him in the room he shared with Ron, transformed into Padfoot and sleeping at his feet or by the bed on nights when Harry had been stressed or upset by something. But it hadn't been mandated, or even stated out loud.

'Did the cannonball destroy your room too?'

Looking serious, he shook his head. 'If you're not practicing Occlumency, Snape doesn't want you sleeping alone.'

'He's making a deal of nothing,' he said shortly, hoping they didn't get much further into this conversation.

'We don't know that. That's the way it is.'

'Fine,' he muttered, not caring that he shared a room with Sirius. 'I'll help you clean up.'

'No,' Sirius insisted, waving his wand at the plates and sending them to the sink where water was beginning to pour from the tap. 'I'll do this and be up later. Go to bed.'

Harry looked at him peculiarly, trying to gauge how much Sirius meant it…surely he wasn't actually sending him to bed like a child? That kind of thing was more familiar coming from Mrs Weasley, and it only now occurred to him that this was really the first time he and Sirius had ever been alone together. And so when Sirius gave no indication that he wasn't serious Harry had no choice. He was lucky to be there, he couldn't start an argument over something petty on his first night.

'Goodnight.'

Collecting his bag from the front door he slowly made his way upstairs. Taking his sweet time about it he looked around at the sheer destruction Sirius had inflicted upon the place, the ground and first floor in various states of disarray. As he went he looked in at a couple of the rooms, finding that although the family tree tapestry was gone from the drawing room only half of the carpet had been pulled up, while only one wall of wallpaper had been pulled down.

Other rooms were half demolished too, and they made Harry laugh. It seemed to him that Sirius was starting projects but not quite finishing them, prematurely moving onto to the next when he lost interest or was motivated by something new. But at least he had something to occupy himself when he was here all alone, and it was reassuring.

In the room he had shared with Ron he dumped his schoolbag on the bed. Procrastinating about going to sleep he unpacked a few things, wishing he had taken a little more time to pack neatly. He delayed for as long as he could by thoroughly brushing his teeth and washing his face, and he managed to make it to nearly ten o'clock before he sank into bed, glad that Kreacher must have come up to light the fireplace.

Bored, and not at all ready to go fall asleep Harry opened his palm and concentrated, conjuring the familiar ball of light. Lately he didn't do this very often, preferring that the other boys in the dormitory not ask questions - Ron and Hermione knew about the wandless magic he could do, they had laughed along with him when he tried new charms and failed abysmally, but for the most part he had kept it under wraps. The ball of light though still felt as special as it did the first time he had conjured it, blindly trying to find his way around the dank and pitch black cellar at Malfoy Manor.

Laying on his side Harry fondly watched the light, its intensity matched only by the burning fireplace nearby. Ten o'clock was an early night for someone like him who was normally still awake staring at a blank sheet of parchment. But tomorrow he didn't have class, and any homework due would wait. He wasn't entirely sure what tomorrow was going to bring, but he wasn't naive enough to hope for a wondrous solution to all his problems.

It wasn't long before he heard Sirius coming up the stairs, and so he hastily flung his glasses onto the bedside table and extinguished the ball of light, disappointed to let it go. With his eyes closed he feigned sleep, and when the bedroom door opened there was silence but for the crackling of the fireplace. He pictured Sirius standing in the threshold, attempting to gauge if he was genuinely asleep. Finally there soft footsteps came as he stepped inside and closed the door behind himself, bolting it shut.

Another blanket was draped over top of him, and Harry cracked his eyes just enough to see it was the one from Ron's bed. Through the slit in his eyelids he watched Sirius fuss around for a few minutes, stoking the fireplace and adding fresh logs of wood, and after a little boost from his wand the fire took off, and now he could better feel the warmth.

Taking the other bed for himself Sirius lay down with a heavy sigh, two thuds indicating he had kicked off his shoes, and then there was silence once again. With his eyes wide open again Harry continued looking into the fireplace, watching the light flickering and the flames creeping along the newer logs of wood.

He let the fireplace entrance him, still trying to delay going to sleep. The last thing he wanted after that day was to subject himself to another night of strange dreams, especially the corridor in the Department of Mysteries that felt relentless lately. The more he dreamt of it the more eager he was to reach that door and go through, to see what this great mystery was all about - but then the guilt crept in, followed by the resolute determination to focus on clearing his mind and learning Occlumency.

With a slow breath out he tried to clear his mind, to let go of every thought and think of nothing…but as usual at was an impossible struggle. The thoughts, numerous in count, continued to invade his mind with their usual ferocity, forcing him to overthink and dwell. It played in his head over and over again, every wrong move he had made, every mistake and miscalculation - the more he tried to stop thinking about it the more invasive the thoughts became.

Which was worse? Collapsing into bed after midnight, his head full of unfinished homework and dread for the next day? Or going to be early and with enough energy to agonise over it in great detail?

A short while later he heard a strange rhythmic thump, thump, thump. Harry lifted his head from the pillow to better listen, and then he looked around at Sirius's bed behind him. It was a little blurry without his glasses, but he could see Sirius had transformed into Padfoot, and the strange noise was the sound of his wagging tail hitting the bed sheets. When he saw Harry looking he lifted his head in interest, his tail wagging even faster now and betraying his happiness and contentment.

With a small laugh of amusement Harry lay down again, smiling as he remembered what Lupin had told him last September. Even though an Animagus retains their human faculties they're influenced by the nature of the animal they become.

His heart genuinely warmed, but only for a little while. Yet again the darkness crept in, gnawing thoughts eating away at him as he tried to fall asleep. It was a small miracle he managed to survive the awful day that had just passed. He had called Snape a Death Eater, duelled Malfoy and Nott, and had again been forced to defend himself from Umbridge's long held desire to rid the school of him.

'You are suspended from this school!'

Umbridge's screech was nothing on the shame he felt about McGonagall, his cheeks reddening when he remembered how he treated her. She had only been trying to help, doing what she thought was the right thing. He wondered what she had told Dumbledore and the others...and what she had told the school. Umbridge was sure to be pleased with his absence. No doubt she would take credit, thoroughly relishing the opportunity to tell anyone who'd listen that she had finally rid the school of Harry Potter, the delinquent liar.

Fudge would know by now. It would probably be in tomorrow's newspaper.

A low whining sound distracted Harry a second time, his ears pricking up. There was movement behind him, and then the sound of Padfoot jumping down from the other bed. He listened as Padfoot seemed to shuffle around the room, and when he felt the bedsheets jostle he opened his eyes and looked.

Padfoot had his paws up on the foot of Harry's bed, and he seemed to peer at him a few moments, whining again. He frowned, wondering what was wrong - and then without warning Padfoot climbed up onto the bed.

It wasn't the first time they had done this. Previously Sirius had taken to sleeping on the floor beside his bed over Christmas, indulging genuine fears that somehow Voldemort might attack him in his sleep. But he'd only climbed up onto the bed twice that Harry remembered - once after a frosty talk that left them both angered, and once the night he was returned from Malfoy Manor.

Just like other times Padfoot set about making himself comfortable, pawing at the bedding while Harry moved over to make room. When he finally settled Padfoot lay his head over his knee, nuzzling his hand atop the blankets until he responded, fingertips brushing through his fur. Though his tail was wagging he still seemed unhappy, and he gave another whine that prompted Harry to brush his fingers through his fur again.

Despite Padfoot's unusual neediness Harry didn't mind that Sirius was there with him. Sleeping in a dormitory with four others was just something he'd grown used to. But now more than ever he was dreading what tomorrow would bring. Sirius would want to talk to him about everything. He'd want to know why he hadn't made more progress with Occlumency and why he had quit, why he had been duelling with Malfoy and then shouting at McGonagall.

Padfoot's eyes were closed, but Harry's were not. Just like before he lay awake starting into the fireplace, wishing he could clear his mind and stop thinking. He couldn't help but think about tomorrow, dreading the conversation that was going to come. Sirius would want to talk to him about everything…he would want to know why he hadn't made more progress with Occlumency.

Still, he reminded himself to be grateful that he was here at Grimmauld Place…his situation right now could have been ten times worse had McGonagall not shown him mercy. He could still be in that alcove in the Astronomy Tower, or laying awake in his dormitory dreading a new bout of detention with McGonagall. Instead he was here with Sirius.

All in all, he had truly lucked out today.

A/N Thanks for the awesome reviews everyone, it's so encouraging to read that you're enjoying the story and plot points, especially the relationship between Harry and Sirius.

Back to posting chapters once a week from now one. Chapter 46 next weekend, which will be a Sirius POV (chapter 47 too). Hope you enjoy.