October 19, 1993

Remus Lupin let out a series of curse words Sirius rarely heard from his mild-mannered friend as he read about Peter Pettigrew's sighting, and escape, from Hogsmeade. When he had finished, he slammed the paper down and looked up at Sirius.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

Sirius frowned. "I'm just going to have to tell Harry he can't go."

Remus nodded and flashed Sirius a look of sympathy. "I hope you're ready for a fight."

Sirius deflated. He thought back to when Harry had first asked him to sign his Hogsmeade permission slip, before Peter had run away from the Weasleys. He eagerly said yes to the request, picturing his godson strolling through the village carefree with his friends, making the memories that he had made with James and Remus many years ago. He knew there were things about Harry's life that weren't fair, but he relished the opportunity to give his godson a little more normalcy. Now he had to take it all away. "I don't expect him to be happy about it, but I can't take a chance of him going and Peter being there. He probably should be more careful around here now too. Do you think Dumbledore would let him move into your quarters?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm sure that would be fine. There's just two tiny little problems. One, Harry would hate that, and two, there's a werewolf hanging out there once a month."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "It was just a suggestion."

Remus scoffed. "So are you going to tell Harry tonight?"

"Tell me what?" Harry asked as he came walking into the room. He walked over to Sirius and hugged him with one arm. Sirius was happy that this had become a regular occurrence between the two of them, and Harry no longer hesitated or stood rigidly during it.

Sirius returned his godson's hug before sputtering out, "Umm, well, you see Harry...It's just that...well... Do you want to tell him Remus?" Sirius looked hopefully at his friend who quickly shook his head.

"No, this seems like something that should come from you, Sirius," Remus answered, "In fact, I probably should be heading to the Great Hall for dinner."

"If you walk out that door, Moony, you'll do so with a pig's tail," Sirius threatened.

Remus froze in the door frame before slowly turning around and walking back to sit on the front of his desk. He muttered, "Coward" to Sirius as he passed. Sirius glared at him before turning his eyes back to Harry, who was looking at him expectantly. He took a deep breath and tried again, speaking quickly.

"Harry, there's no easy way to say this. Peter was spotted in Hogsmeade last night," Sirius began.

Harry looked back up at him, "Yeah I know. Hermione showed me this morning. Is it really a big deal? You were supposedly spotted loads of times when you were just at Remus's house."

Sirius sighed and rubbed his eyes. Remus decided to help him out a bit.

"That's true Harry, but unfortunately this seems like a credible sighting. The owner of the Hog's Head made the report, and unfortunately he's not much for attention. He wouldn't report it unless he was sure," Remus explained.

Harry ran a nervous hand through his hair. He was afraid he knew where this conversation was going. "But the article said that he was trying to get into the sweets shop. If he was really after me, why would he stop at Hogsmeade to steal some chocolate frogs first?"

Sirius sat down at a desk and motioned for Harry to sit beside him. Harry obeyed and Sirius explained, "The sweets shop, Honeydukes, has a tunnel in its basement that leads directly to the castle. Peter would know that. We think he was trying to get in to take that passage."

Harry's eyes grew wide. "How do you know that?"

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look before Remus answered guiltily, "We found it during some of our full moon wanderings."

Harry sighed and drooped his shoulders. He really didn't want to hear the answer to his next question. "So, why are you telling me this?"

Sirius looked at Remus, who crossed his arms and shook his head, communicating to Sirius that he was absolutely not going to be the one speaking this time.

Sirius sighed and stood up. "Harry, I can't let you go to Hogsmeade next weekend. Not if Peter is still on the run."

Harry stood up quickly, "What? Sirius that's not fair! Why should I be punished just because the ministry can't catch him?"

Sirius held up two hands and looked at his godson with sympathy, "I understand Harry, really I do, but I'm sorry. It's just not safe for you to be there. The village doesn't have the same wards the castle does. It would be too easy for Peter to grab you and apparate before anyone could do anything."

Sirius's heart broke at his godson's downtrodden look. He wanted more than anything to just forget about Wormtail and tell Harry it was fine, but he wouldn't risk his safety like that. "I'm sorry Harry," he finally added quietly.

Harry stared at the floor for a while before making another desperate plea. "Do you really think he would try something right in the middle of the village, with a bunch of witnesses?"

"He murdered twelve muggles in the middle of a crowded street, Harry," Sirius answered quietly.

Remus walked over and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "To be honest, Harry, we really have no idea what Peter is capable of. He was a death eater, telling our secrets to Voldemort right under our noses, and we had absolutely no idea. Sirius is right, it's just too big of a risk."

Harry sighed. "But-," he began again, but Sirius cut him off. "I'm not changing my mind Harry." Harry could hear the sympathy in his voice, even through the finality of the statement. He knew no amount of arguing was going to change his mind. He slumped back into a chair and stared at his shoes for a few minutes. Remus and Sirius watched him carefully. Remus had felt like a monster many times in his life, but never more so than in this moment. He could only imagine how Sirius must be feeling, for the first time having to tell Harry no on something he really wanted. I really need to stop teasing him, he told himself.

Harry finally raised his head and looked at Sirius and Remus. "It's not fair," he said matter of factly. There was no whining or heavy anger in his voice, just a statement of fact, an acceptance that once again being The Boy Who Lived had negatively affected his life, and there was nothing he could do about it. Sirius's heart broke for the boy.

"I know," Sirius responded gently.

Harry stood up. "So, dinner?" he asked solemnly, looking at Sirius.

Sirius nodded, "We'll go anywhere you like."

Harry just nodded and followed Sirius to the floo, both of them bidding Remus goodbye before disappearing.

Dinner was quiet. Sirius spent most of it asking Harry questions, and Harry spent most of it pouting and answering with nods, head shakes, or one to two word answers when necessary. Sirius did his best to keep his temper under check, he completely understood Harry's unhappiness, but it became harder and harder as the sullen teenager continued giving him the cold shoulder.

"Do you want dessert?" Sirius asked.

Harry shook his head.

"Harry, please give me a verbal answer," Sirius answered, exasperated.

Harry rolled his eyes. "No thank you," he said forcefully.

Sirius flashed a mischievous smile. Two can play this childish game, he thought to himself. He ordered a large brownie covered in ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. The dessert was huge, meant for two people, but when Harry made to grab the second spoon, Sirius muttered under his breath, causing the spoon to scoot away from Harry. Harry glared at him.

"You said you didn't want anything," he stated innocently.

At this point, the spoon started floating around Harry's head, its handle flicking his ear. Harry wished at that moment that he had chosen a muggle restaurant, so his immature godfather couldn't play these silly games. The spoon started to float over his head, quickly moving from right to left. Still glaring at Sirius, Harry reached up quickly and grabbed the spoon as it whirled by.

"Nice catch," Sirius said as he innocently took a bite of brownie.

"I'm the youngest seeker in a century. I can catch a spoon," Harry said as he scooped up a spoonful of ice cream. He was just about to put it in his mouth, when the entire bite disappeared completely off his spoon. He looked at Sirius, obviously annoyed.

"Got any quidditch moves for that?" Sirius asked, grinning.

Harry wanted to continue his bad mood, but Sirius's humor made it almost impossible. With a smirk, Harry tried once again to scoop a spoonful of ice cream and pretended to eat it, but at the last second, he flicked the spoon towards his godfather, and the scoop went flying and smacked Sirius right in the nose.

Sirius's mouth dropped open. Harry laughed at his godfather's shocked expression. "Perfect shot. Maybe I'll try out for chaser next year," he said cheekily before taking a bite of the brownie.

Sirius wiped his nose, then launched a spoonful of ice cream back at his godson. Harry tried to smack it away, but he missed and it landed against his cheek and dripped into his lap.

"Definitely not keeper material," Sirius added with a grin.

Both men completely ignored the glares of the older witch at the table near them as they dissolved into uncontrollable laughter.

The rest of dinner passed more easily, Harry's bad mood mostly dissipated. When Sirius dropped him back off at Hogwarts, he assured Remus that all was well.

Back in Gryffindor Tower however, Harry's bad mood set back in as he told his friends he couldn't go to Hogsmeade.

"Sirius is just looking out for you, Harry. He wants you to be safe," Hermione told him.

"I know, Hermione, but it's still not fair," Harry huffed.

"Why don't you sneak out and come with us? You have your cloak," Ron whispered so only the three of them could hear.

"Ron! That's a terrible idea. Sirius is right, it's not safe for Harry to go," Hermione chided.

"That's easy for you to say. You get to go," Harry retorted. Then he sighed and added, "But I don't think I could sneak out. Sirius will probably have Lupin check on me while everyone is gone. If they can't find me, I'll be in trouble." He crossed his arms and sunk down in his chair. "Overprotective git," he mumbled under his breath.

"He cares about you Harry. Is that really so bad?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked at her briefly before standing up. "I'm going to bed," he told the two of them. Hermione tried to remind him they had homework, but he brushed her off and stalked off to his dormitory.

October 26, 1993

Sirius and Remus were casually chatting while Sirius waited for Harry to arrive for dinner when an irate black hair boy came stomping into the room.

"Hey pup-," Sirius began, but he was quickly cut off.

"You have got to stop this!" Harry spat out angrily.

Remus and Sirius exchanged confused looks.

"Stop what?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"This whole over protective thing!" Harry yelled back as he started pacing. "It's bad enough that I can't go to Hogsmeade, or can't even go visit Hagrid for that matter, but now you're trying to take quidditch away too! I mean, this is just getting bloody ridiculous Sirius!"

Sirius sat up quite quickly. Remus studied the two of them cautiously. Part of him wanted to stand up, demand Harry change his entire attitude, have the boy apologize to Sirius, and maybe even write a few lines for good measure. But the other part of him wanted to see how Sirius would respond to this clear test from his godson. He had been immensely proud of how Sirius was handling parenthood so far, but he knew Sirius, knew his tendency to lose his cool when cornered. He wondered briefly if his role in this altercation would be observer or referee. He watched as Sirius stood up and walked over to Harry, who was seething.

Sirius stopped only a few feet in front of Harry, crossed his arms, and began sternly.

"Harry, I have no idea what you're talking about. But what I do know is that you and I are not finishing this discussion until you've calmed down and can speak to me respectfully."

Harry huffed, but he didn't calm down. "McGonagall just told me I can't practice quidditch unless a teacher is available to supervise! She said it wasn't safe with Peter being seen so close to the castle. You're telling me you had nothing to do with that?" Harry was shouting by the end, his arms crossed stubbornly over his chest as he breathed hard.

Sirius blinked a few times as he took in this information before he opened his mouth to speak, "Yes, Harry. I am telling you I had nothing to do with that."

Harry's face twisted from angry to confused. "You didn't?"

Sirius's face twisted from confused to annoyed, "No, I didn't. Although I happen to agree with McGonagall, she must have come up with that on her own. However, I don't know why you continue to insist that people caring about you is such a bad thing."

Harry had begun to feel a little embarrassed by his outburst, but his godfather's chastisement only served to fuel his outrage again.

"It's suffocating, Sirius! I can't do anything. I can't walk or fly around outside without being supervised like a toddler. I'm not a child!"

Sirius held up his hands, "Harry, I understand your frustration, but you need to calm down."

That did nothing to actually calm Harry. "Don't tell me to calm down! You ran all around the grounds every chance you got! You have no idea what this is like!"

Sirius took a deep breath, trying desperately to calm his rising temper. "Harry, you're allowed to be angry, but you are not allowed to be disrespectful. I will not allow you to continue to speak to me this way."

Harry wanted to scream, throw something. He found himself once again feeling so angry, but not really being able to articulate why. He shot a fierce glare at his godfather before saying between gritted teeth, "Well then, I just won't speak to you at all." He turned quickly and stalked out of the room, barely registering the "Harry James Potter," Sirius was calling after him.

Sirius turned to Remus, both of them completely in shock.

"What should I do?" Sirius asked despondently.

"I...I have no idea," Remus answered.

Harry didn't return, and Sirius spent the next half hour pacing in front of Remus's desk, trying to reason what he should do next. Remus finally told him that he should head home and give Harry some time to cool off. Sirius agreed and left feeling miserable. Later that evening, he tried calling Harry on his mirror, but Harry ignored the call.

Hermione and Ron could sense that something was off with Harry. The only thing he had told them was that he had had a row with Sirius. Hermione tried prodding him to call Sirius and talk things out, but Harry refused, politely at first but then, when her nagging continued, telling her plainly to butt out. Harry's mood remained solemn for the coming days. He went to class, participated at the bare minimum level, and practiced quidditch in the evenings. Every night, just before bed, his mirror would buzz, and every night he would ignore it until it stopped. Then he would crawl into bed and fall into a fitful sleep.

October 31, 1993

Harry said goodbye to Ron and Hermione and made his way to Remus's office. The professor had sent a note asking to meet with him while his friends were gone, and Harry was sure he knew why. He had half a mind to ignore the request completely, but he knew that would only get him in more trouble with Sirius and with Remus too, so he trudged slowly to the DADA office.

"Come in," Remus said casually as Harry tapped on the door. "Tea?" he asked Harry.

"Sure," Harry answered, taking a seat in a chair across from Remus. "You wanted to see me? Or did Sirius ask you to keep an eye on me today?"

Remus looked at him warningly, raising an eyebrow. "Sirius did not. In fact, Sirius does not know we're meeting at all, although to be fair, he probably will pop in later to ask if I've checked on you since someone is refusing to answer their mirror."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course he will," he muttered.

Remus handed Harry a cup of tea and took his seat again. He propped his legs up on his desk and looked at Harry. "Don't you think you're being a little hard on him?"

Harry sighed and looked down but didn't say anything.

Remus continued, "Believe it or not Harry, I think all of this is harder on him than on you." Harry looked up and narrowed his eyes on Remus, but he didn't interrupt and Remus continued unfazed. "When you were a baby, he'd steal you away for a whole afternoon so your mum and dad could rest. He'd take you for a ride on his motorcycle, take you to the playground, and feed you nothing but junk. He'd bring you home exhausted, and you loved every minute of it. He'd bring a new toy for you every time he visited." He paused a moment to chuckle at the memory. "But what you loved most was playing with Padfoot. All you had to do was flash those green eyes at him and say 'Pafoo' and he'd be a dog, chase every ball you'd throw, let you ride on his back, and lick your face until you had an uncontrollable fit of laughter." He glanced over at Harry to see his reaction. Harry wasn't meeting his eyes, but he was listening intently. "He spoiled you absolutely rotten, Harry, and he would gladly do it now if he could. But his role has changed. He has to think about what is best for you now, and unfortunately what is best for us is not always what we like or want the most."

Harry looked at him briefly before looking back down. He took a sip of his tea and thought about Remus's words. The anger he had felt for several days now was beginning to wash away, and something worse seemed to be taking its place: guilt.

"I know it's not his fault," Harry began with a sigh, "It's just, I get so tired of not having a normal life. I just want to be like everyone else for a change."

Remus smiled sympathetically at him, "Trust me, Harry, I completely understand that feeling."

Realization dawned on Harry and he flushed, "Oh damn, Remus. I'm sorry. I didn't think about that."

Remus held up his hands, "It's quite alright, Harry. And watch your language," he added with a smirk.

Harry grinned, "Sorry." He set his tea cup down on Remus's desk. "How do you cope with it? With being different from everyone else?"

Remus let his legs fall off his desk and sat up straighter, contemplating. "To be honest Harry, I didn't cope with it very well for many years. I still don't at times. But what really helped was meeting your dad and Sirius. Their friendship meant the world to me. They didn't understand what it was like to be a werewolf, but they sympathized, and they did everything they could to make it better." He propped his elbows on his desk and laced his fingers together, looking seriously at Harry. "The truth is Harry, Sirius and I will never know what it's like to be 'The Boy Who Lived.' Neither will Ron or Hermione, but we all care very much for you Harry. We all sympathize with you, and we'd do our best to help you, if you'll let us. But you can't push people away that care about you. You'll regret it in the long run."

Harry thought over those words for several minutes. Finally he said quietly, "I think I better go call him," but just as he was getting up, Remus's floo chimed and his godfather was standing there.

"Oh, hi Harry. I didn't expect you to be here." Sirius said nervously.

Harry sat his teacup down and walked over to Sirius, throwing his arms around the man so fiercely Sirius was nearly knocked over.

Sirius chuckled. "Not that I'm complaining, but what is this for?" he asked.

"For being you," Harry said into the man's shirt. He pulled away and looked up at Sirius, "I'm really sorry, Sirius. I've been a complete jerk."

Sirius smiled down at him, "Apology accepted."

"Really? Just like that?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Well Harry you're 13. You're allowed to be a little jerk-like sometimes," Sirius answered with a wink. He placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, "But, we do need to talk about what happened. What do you say I steal you away for a couple of hours. Make up for Tuesday?"

Harry's cheeks reddened at the memory of why they did not eat together Tuesday night. Sirius let his godson save face and asked Remus, "You won't tell anyone, will you Moony?"

Remus dramatically turned to look at his desk and pretended to grade a paper. "Tell anybody what?" he answered cheekily.

Harry and Sirius exchanged grins before taking the floo back to their home for lunch.

A few hours later, Harry was sitting in the common room with a quill and parchment when Ron and Hermione returned. They told him all about Hogsmeade and dumped a bag of Honeydukes candy out for him. Harry picked up a chocolate frog and popped it into his mouth happily.

"Harry, what's that you're working on?" Hermione asked curiously.

Harry flushed, "Oh, yeah. I talked to Sirius finally. We had lunch together. I have to write this 100 times."

Ron laughed as he read the top of the parchment.

I will speak calmly and respectfully to my handsome and amazingly talented godfather.