Author's Note: So, I'm just going to stop saying, "The next chapter will be..." because it obviously never happens that way. I promised an order meeting this one, and it only begins here and will be continued next chapter. I do know that for certain, because I have a good deal of it written, but I didn't have time to complete it and edit it tonight, and I figured it would be a few days before I had time to do so again, so instead I uploaded what I had. It was already 6000+ words. I figured that was enough for now. :)

Also, I am changing my username, which I realize I didn't do like a month ago. Sigh...

As always, hope you enjoy! :)

March 15, 1995

"Ginny?" Sirius asked in disbelief. "What happened?"

Harry instantly sagged in his seat. He knew he would have to tell Sirius that he broke up with his girlfriend, but he wasn't quite ready to do so right now, and there was no way he could give his father the real reason for the breakup. But he also couldn't just say nothing. He took a deep breath and spoke quickly.

"I broke up with her."

"What? Why?" Sirius couldn't believe his ears. Harry had been head over heels for Ginny for the last several weeks, and they hadn't seen each other since Saturday morning when Harry was pouting about missing the Hogsmeade trip with her. What could have possibly happened?

"Well obviously she's crazy," Harry said defensively. "She hexed me!"

Sirius studied him a moment. He was sure Harry was covering something up. He may not be an expert on parenting, but he knew instinctively when his son wasn't being truthful. "But you said she hexed you because you broke up with her. Why did you break up with her?"

Harry looked away, his face pained. "I just don't like her like that anymore." The words were almost impossible for Harry to say. The truth was that he cared a great deal for Ginny, and he hated having to break up with her. Despite the painful hex she had then sent his way, his mind was still preoccupied with the look of hurt on her face, and he hated himself for being the one to put it there. He never wanted anyone to hurt Ginny, but that was also the reason he broke up with her. It was simply too dangerous to be associated with The Boy Who Lived.

Sirius couldn't see Harry's inner struggle, and he was more concerned now about the fact his son was lying to him. "Don't like her like that anymore? What are you talking about Harry? You liked her just fine Saturday morning. Did something happen while I was in the hospital?"

Harry sighed. "No, I just…Why does it matter anyway?"

Sirius frowned at him. "Because I know you really liked Ginny. Watching you around her was like watching your dad with your mum. I just don't understand why you would break up with her."

Harry felt like he was being punched in the gut. He did really, really like Ginny, and he didn't appreciate the reminder. He just did what he felt was necessary, and he knew if he explained that to Sirius, he'd be in for a lecture on how it wasn't his job to protect the people around him. But it was. The only thing he hated more than having to break up with Ginny was the thought that she could be hurt because of her association with him, and he couldn't let that happen.

"I'm not my dad, Sirius," Harry snapped.

"Yes, Harry, I understand, but…"

"Well if you understand then bugger off!"

Harry instantly regretted his words. Not because Sirius immediately became so angry he might as well have smoke coming out of his ears, but because Harry could see that though most of his features showed anger, his eyes showed pain, and once again Harry felt the overwhelming guilt of being the one to hurt the ones he loved.

"Sirius, I'm…"

"Corner!" Sirius barked. "Now!"

Sirius watched as his son stood slowly and slouched over to his usual corner. Sending his son to the corner was among his most hated parental duties. There was just something about sitting awkwardly in a quiet room as his child stared at blank walls that made him feel so authoritative and old. As he sat there in silence, he also knew that something was going on with Harry, and that something was likely not going to be fixed with punishment, but Harry needed to talk to him and he had no idea how to make the boy do that.

As he sat, he thought about all of his own emotional outbursts and rebellious acts as a teenager, trying to remember how Mr. and Mrs. Potter had gotten him to open up about the painful roots of his behavior. Sometimes it was accomplished over a plate of warm biscuits or cups of hot tea, sometimes it came while Mr. Potter helped him with his motorcycle or Mrs. Potter taught him to cook, and sometimes it came after long trips to the corner or a session over Mr. Potter's knee. Sirius was praying it didn't come to that with his son.

He stood slowly, mindful of his sore stomach, and took the opportunity of being standing to retrieve another pain potion. After drinking it, he walked gingerly back to their couch and took a seat again. A soft sniffle caught his attention, causing him to realize Harry was crying. Not all out sobbing, but the kind of crying where tears betray you by leaking out while you're giving all your strength to holding them in.

"Come here, Harry."

Harry surreptitiously wiped his eyes before turning around and walking over to sit in the armchair closest to his father.

"I'm really sorry, Sirius," Harry spoke quietly.

Sirius nodded his acceptance. "I appreciate that, Harry." He paused and looked closely at his son. Though Harry wasn't looking at him, he could see light bags under his son's eyes, meaning he probably wasn't sleeping well. If Sirius had to guess, he likely wasn't eating well either.

"I want to talk some more, but I want you to fix yourself something to eat first. It's supposed to be your lunchtime," Sirius said.

"I'm not hungry," Harry replied automatically.

"I didn't ask if you were," Sirius told him.

Harry looked up at him and nearly argued, but he could see from Sirius's stern face that this wasn't a fight he could win. Sighing, he stood up and walked to their small kitchen.

Sirius watched as Harry made himself a turkey sandwich. He cleared his throat loudly when Harry attempted to walk back with only the sandwich, so Harry turned around, careful to roll his eyes outside of his father's sight, and dumped a handful of crisps onto his plate. Harry looked back at him, and Sirius raised an eyebrow for good measure. Harry wasn't completely sure what that meant, so he picked up a banana just in case.

Sirius smiled at him as he took a seat in the armchair again.

Harry made a dramatic production of picking up his sandwich and biting it, then chewing and swallowing. He stared at Sirius as if to say, "Happy?" but was not foolish enough to challenge his father verbally after his time in the corner.

Sirius snorted at the boy's theatrics.

"Are you just going to watch me eat?" Harry asked before popping a few crisps into his mouth.

Sirius shrugged. "Not much else to do."

"It's kind of creepy," Harry answered.

Sirius chuckled. "I suppose it is, so I'll talk while you eat."

Harry cringed slightly, but Sirius ignored it and kept talking.

"Once you finish your lunch, you have a choice," Sirius instructed. "You may either go to your afternoon classes, then return here for dinner, a talk, and an early bedtime, or you can stay here for the afternoon, take a mild sleeping potion and a nap, and we can talk afterwards."

Harry frowned. Neither option sounded particularly appealing, and he hated that both options included a talk. "Is that my punishment for cursing at you?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, although we should discuss that. Now you know I don't much care if you curse occasionally, but doing so at an adult is unacceptable, and I happen to know that in the past three days, you have cursed at me, your godfather, the headmaster, and the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Harry frowned. "Remus told on me?"

Sirius gave half a smile. "Yep."

Harry looked thoroughly put-out with his godfather. "Snitch," he muttered.

Sirius chuckled. "You know, I just told him the same thing Saturday morning." He winked at his son. "But honestly, Harry, at this rate, I'm surprised your mother has not come back to haunt me for letting you talk like that."

Harry smirked. "I'd tell her it was all your fault, too."

Sirius reached forward and tweaked his nose. "Cheeky brat." His face twisted to more serious again and he looked pointedly at his son. "Like I said, I don't much have a problem with cursing, but direct it towards an adult again and you can expect a scourgify spell directed at your mouth. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," Harry confirmed. He looked cautiously at his father. "What else did Remus tell you?"

"Everything," Sirius said without hesitation.

Harry winced.

Sirius tapped his son's chin to get Harry to look at him. "He told me how scared you were, and how you felt so helpless and powerless. He…we understand completely, Harry. We're not upset with you, but now that we're on the other side of all this, now that we know I'm ok, we really need you to talk to us. We can't help you process how traumatic this weekend was for you if you don't talk to us, tell us how you're feeling."

Harry's chin quivered as he fought to get his emotions under control. He almost confessed to Sirius everything. How frightening the whole ordeal was, how he was so angry with Amelia for asking his father to go, how he felt responsible for what happened and how he didn't want anyone hurt again because of him. He almost said all of these things.

Almost.

But instead, as he fought to hold back the tears that were now painfully stinging his eyes, he thought about how none of that would change the fact that everyone around him was in danger because of him. Sirius couldn't offer some kind words and a mug of hot chocolate and fix that.

And he really needed to stop crying so much. He had cried more in the past three days than he remembered doing in his life. If he was going to be the one to take down the Dark Lord, he had to be stronger than this. How would Voldemort view the Boy Who Lived if he knew that the boy was just a big ball of constant emotions. Some hero that would be.

So Harry took a deep breath and told perhaps the biggest lie he had ever told in his life. "I'm fine, Sirius."

Sirius sighed heavily. He just stared at Harry for a long moment before recognizing again the tired look in his son's eyes and reasoning that Harry might be more forthcoming when he was well rested. "Ok, Harry. What is your choice for this afternoon?" he asked resignedly.

Harry's frown deepened. "Sirius, I don't need a nap or an early bedtime. I'm not a toddler." And I certainly don't need to talk, he added in his head.

Sirius looked at him disapprovingly. "Well, then consider it your punishment because you will do one of them. Now, which one?"

….

Ultimately, Harry chose the nap. His only class that afternoon was Transfigurations now that he had dropped History of Magic, plus he hadn't been too keen on leaving Sirius alone anyway, even though the man was driving him crazy with pushing him to discuss his feelings. Sirius had not given him a choice when it came to taking the sleeping potion, promising that it would just help him go to sleep and wouldn't keep him asleep more than 2-3 hours, and he fell asleep rather easily curled under a blanket on the couch beside his father.

Sirius himself decided a nap was in order, so he slowly widened the couch, then wrapped his arm around his son and fell asleep beside him. It was only about an hour later that he heard Remus's soft chuckle and the click of a magical camera.

Sirius opened one eye. "Didn't anyone ever teach you it's rude to wake a sleeping person, Remus?"

"My mother may have mentioned it," Remus answered, grinning guilty. "My apologies, but you two are just so adorable there together," he whispered.

Sirius couldn't help but return his smile at that. He slowly pulled himself up and maneuvered around Harry. Remus immediately reached over and helped him stand.

"Thanks," Sirius said, wincing at the pain. "I think I'd like some tea."

"I could have gotten that for you," Remus reminded him gently.

"I know, but I just felt like being up for a little while. The healers said it would be ok to walk around for a few minutes at a time. Plus, your tea usually sucks."

Remus scoffed before Harry shifted in his sleep, causing Remus to immediately go quiet. "Should we go to your study so we don't wake him?" he whispered.

Sirius shook his head. "I gave him a potion. He should be out for at least another hour." He walked two cups of tea over to their dining table, where Remus joined him.

"So, since Harry is here, I presume the rumors are true?" Remus asked.

Sirius sipped his tea before answering. "You mean the rumors that Harry and Ginny broke up?"

"Yeah."

Sirius nodded. "Unfortunately."

Remus looked over at Harry, then back at Sirius with a frown. "What happened?"

Sirius shrugged. "I wish I knew."

Remus set his tea down. "Let me guess, he didn't want to talk about it?"

"Told me to 'bugger off'."

Remus frowned. "I said that to my mother…once."

Sirius chuckled. "I said much worse to my own mother, but I made the mistake of saying it to Mr. Potter once too. Anyway, his claim is that he doesn't like her like that anymore, which I know is bullshit..."

"No wonder Harry talks like a sailor…" Remus mumbled.

Sirius smirked before continuing. "I just can't figure out why he would break up with her. I'm sure it has something to do with what happened to me, but why would my injury lead him to break up with his girlfriend?"

Remus was equally as puzzled. "I have no clue." He rubbed his cheek for a moment as he thought it over. "Well, I have him in class tomorrow. Maybe I'll try to keep one of his friends back to ask them if he's mentioned anything to them."

"Good idea," Sirius said, pointing at him. "I'll keep trying to talk to him, but if I can't get anything out of him, maybe his friends will know something."

March 17, 1995

Harry paused as he entered Remus's classroom, catching sight of his father sitting in a chair to the side of the room.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "You're supposed to be on bedrest."

"I'm supposed to be resting," Sirius countered. "Which I have done, and I wasn't missing this for anything," he continued with a mischievous grin.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, but Remus was calling the class to order.

"Sit, you'll see," Sirius responded in a whisper.

Harry raised a suspicious eyebrow but he sat at the table nearest Sirius beside Ron.

"Thank you," Remus told the class as they began to quiet down. "Now, since the full moon was two nights ago, and my regular sub is a bit under the weather," he began, gesturing towards Sirius, "I thought it would be appropriate for you all to meet the real Alastor Moody today."

Harry looked towards the door and realized that Mad-Eye Moody was indeed standing in it, though he would have sworn he wasn't there just seconds before.

"Professor Moody is going to be working with you all on dueling. Please give him your full attention," Remus told them, then moved to a seat so Moody could take over.

The aged auror hobbled in and stood at the front of the class as both eyes looked directly at Harry.

"Potter!" he barked.

Harry jumped.

"Professor Lupin says you're the best in the class. Stand up and show me what you've got."

With a nervous glance at Sirius, Harry stood slowly.

Before Harry could react, Moody pointed his wand at him. "Pungo!"

"Ouch!" Harry shouted, rubbing his wrist. His anger flared as he noticed both Ron and Sirius snickering. "I don't even have my wand out!" he told the substitute professor.

"Well what are you waiting on, Potter? Constant vigilance!"

Harry instantly pulled out his wand. "Rictusempra!"

Moody casually dodged the spell as if it were a butterfly. "Nice try, Potter, but if you want to get me to giggle like a schoolgirl, you're going to have to work harder than that. Tarantallegra!"

"Protego!" Harry cast a shield to protect himself. Now feeling in his element, he took a courageous step towards the skilled wizard. "Immobulus!"

This time Moody had to move quicker to dodge the spell. "Oh, Mr. Potter's finally woken up. Impedimenta!"

Harry sidestepped the spell as he made his way to the front of the room. "Colloshoo!"

Wordlessly, Moody waved his wand and caused the hex to change courses, hitting Dean Thomas and making him unable to pick up his feet. "Come on Potter, you can do better than that! Brachiabindo!"

"Emancipare!" Harry shouted, causing Moody's spell to fall short.

"Now that was impressive," Moody muttered to Remus.

"We've been practicing," Remus beamed proudly.

"Well let's see how much," Moody said, his voice scary as he raised his wand and shot several annoying but mostly harmless hexes at Harry in rapid succession.

Harry had no choice but to dive behind Remus's desk.

"Harry," Sirius called. He gestured towards the ceiling when Harry looked at him. Harry looked up to see the thestral skeleton and instantly knew what his father was hinting at. He pointed his wand at the skeleton. "Oppugno" he shouted and then pointed his wand towards Moody. The skeleton broke free from the ceiling and began to charge at the auror.

Harry stood and watched the result. For a brief moment, Moody's good eye went wide, but in a flash the man had banished the skeleton. Moody quickly shot a twitchy ear hex at Sirius before turning his attention back to Harry. "Nice try Potter, but not quite good enough." He then continued his assault of hexes and jinxes.

Harry was panting as he crouched behind his own shield, truly lost at what to do next. Then he saw a truly frightening sight. Mad-Eye Moody's eye spun until it landed, pointing to the ceiling above Harry's head. Moody grinned, causing Harry's heart to skip a beat, and he pointed his wand towards the ceiling. "Engorgio!"

Harry looked up as, seemingly out of nowhere, a spider enlarged to the size of Padfoot and was falling towards his head! Harry reacted without thinking. He stuck his wand up as he ducked and shouted, "Confringo!"

The spider exploded, sending its disgusting guts all over the room and students that had made the mistake of sitting towards the front. Mad-Eye was dripping in green and black goo. He raised his hand to wipe his eyes and Harry seized the opportunity.

Expelliarmus!"

Moody's wand sailed out of his hand and into Harry's. Harry smiled triumphantly, the class erupted in cheer, even the ones still covered in spider goo, and even Moody managed a satisfied smile.

"Nice one, Potter," he said as he walked over and took his wand back. "And next time," he said as he began to clean himself and the other students with his wand, "Just use Arania Exumai." Everyone in the class laughed until Moody turned his attention towards them, causing them to go instantly silent. "Who's next?"

….

Harry ended up faring better than anyone in the class against Moody. No one else managed to disarm him, but Hermione did very well and even Neville lasted a few minutes longer than average.

Sirius's ears were still twitching occasionally when he and Harry sat down to eat together that evening. Harry had eaten with the man every meal for the entire week. His motives were twofold. One, he could avoid Ginny and further push away his other friends, and two, he could make sure Sirius was ok.

"Today's class was brilliant," Harry remarked. "Moody is incredible."

Sirius nodded as he took a bite of his roasted chicken. "Imagine him being your instructor all day, every day at the auror academy."

Harry laughed. "I bet that was hard."

"Very," Sirius agreed, "But fun. It made us all better witches and wizards, that's for sure."

Harry nodded. He hesitated for a moment. They had managed to spend the previous hour together without Sirius asking him about his feelings, so he was hesitant to bring up what he wanted to say, but he wondered if his impressive performance in class today would help his cause.

"I want to join the Order," Harry said quickly before he lost his nerve just as they were preparing their dessert.

"Well Harry, I'm hoping that by the time you are of age there will be no need for the Order anymore," Sirius answered, spooning a hearty portion of ice cream into his son's bowl.

"No, I mean, I want to join now," Harry answered. He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable outburst. He just knew Sirius was going to absolutely forbid him, remind him he wasn't even close to being of age, and lecture him on keeping himself safe. When it was silent for several moments, he chanced a peek, opening one eye. He opened both when to his immense surprise, Sirius wasn't angry or upset. Instead he looked…thoughtful?

"Sirius?"

Sirius looked at him and cleared his throat. "I actually was going to speak to you about that, but I wanted to talk to Professor Dumbledore first. I do believe," he began, speaking slowly and choosing his words carefully, "that you should be allowed to sit in on the meetings from here on out. The information often pertains directly to you, so it's only fair that you have all the facts."

Harry couldn't believe his ears. Was Sirius really going to let him be a part of the Order?

"However, you are not, under any circumstances, to go on any Order missions, and definitely not to use the information to go out on your own and try to fight. Do you understand?"

Harry's face fell, "But Sirius…"

"No buts," Sirius said firmly. "Those are the terms or you can continue to sit out of the meetings."

"But I could help," Harry argued. "You and Remus are always saying how good I am at defense. I mean, I beat Mad-Eye Moody today."

Sirius nodded. "You are. I dare say the best in the school, and what you did today was very impressive, but keep in mind that Moody just got out of the hospital wing and he wasn't trying to harm you, before you get too cocky."

Harry huffed. "The point is I'm skilled enough to help."

"The point is," Sirius said sharply, "I am your father, and I can't stop you from doing what you want when you turn 17, but until then you will absolutely not be involved in any Order missions. Period."

Harry sighed. He wasn't sure how he could make his father see that he just couldn't let anyone else get hurt protecting him. He just couldn't.

Sirius watched Harry. He could tell his son was lost in thought, so he gave him a few moments, but after a while he tapped his knee. "I need to hear a 'yes, sir' or some sort of acknowledgement that you understand."

Harry frowned. "Sirius, I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me."

Sirius lowered his eyebrows in confusion. "Because of you? Harry, nobody's gotten hurt because of you."

Harry didn't like what he saw as his father patronizing him. "You did!" he shouted. "You were going after Crouch because he was at Hogwarts impersonating Moody, all to get to me." He stood up and looked down at his father. "If it wasn't for me, none of this would be happening!"

Sirius's heart broke for his son. How could he make the boy understand that the fight against Voldemort was about way more than the baby who survived the evil man's killing curse? The wizarding world already put all their unrealistic expectations on the poor child. How could he make Harry see it wasn't his mission in life to defeat the Dark Lord? He pointed at Harry's abandoned seat. "Harry, I want you to sit down and listen."

Harry stopped his pacing and looked at the seat for a few seconds, but eventually he obeyed and threw himself down.

Sirius gently held his chin so that he could look in Harry's eyes. "Harry, Tom Riddle was born decades before you were. He chose to become Lord Voldemort years before you were born. He killed a lot of people, Harry, A LOT, including my brother and my best friend, before he somehow couldn't kill you. So you listen to me very carefully, Harry James. None of this, I mean NONE of it, is your fault, do you understand me?"

Harry stared at him for a long moment before he nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. Yeah, I get it."

"Good," Sirius dropped his hand from his son's chin and nodded. He pushed Harry's ice cream bowl towards him, and Harry reluctantly picked up the spoon and began eating again.

Sirius ate his own dessert half-heartedly, choosing rather to pay close attention to his son. Something was still off. "Wait a minute, that's why you broke up with Ginny, isn't it?"

Harry wouldn't meet his eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked, feigning cluelessness.

Sirius put his spoon down. "You broke up with her because you think dating you puts her in danger, right?"

Harry tensed his shoulders. Still not looking at his father, he shook his head. "No, I told you, I just don't like her like that anymore."

Sirius frowned at the obvious lie. "Hold on a minute," he told his son, standing slowly and walking to their fireplace.

"Where are you going?" Harry called after him. "You're not supposed to be floo traveling."

"I'm not," Sirius said. "I'm just making a call."

Harry listened as Sirius called Remus and asked him to come over. He wished he could just fall through the floor and avoid this whole situation. He knew exactly what was about to happen. Sirius and Remus would do that annoying double-team thing where they both lecture him and push him to open up about his feelings.

"Sirius, I really have a lot of homework to get to," he said, standing and praying he could get away before the barrage.

"Sit," Sirius ordered.

Harry sighed but accepted his fate. He sat back down and crossed his arms. It didn't take long for Remus to enter.

"Good evening you two," Remus greeted them, sitting at the table across from Harry. "How can I be of service?"

"Why did you call him?" Harry asked, already annoyed with Remus's endless optimism.

Sirius flashed him a warning look. "Because he's an expert on pushing people away. Maybe he can talk some sense into you."

"Well, I'm not sure whether I should be proud or offended," Remus remarked.

Sirius looked at him. "Harry broke up with Ginny because he thinks being his girlfriend puts her in danger."

Remus frowned.

"I didn't say that," Harry snapped.

Sirius just shot Remus a knowing look. Remus completely understood. The professor leaned over and placed his hand on Harry's arm. "Harry, I want you to really think about this before you answer," he instructed gently, "Why did you break up with Ginny?"

Harry hated the way Remus's voice was so calm and soothing. He swore if Remus ever got tired of being a professor, he could give Healer Williams a run for her money.

More unfortunate for Harry was the realization that he didn't actually have a good excuse to give them. He was more or less stuck here until he opened up and told the men the truth. After a long silence, he finally sighed and answered honestly.

"Ok, fine, I broke up with her because it is dangerous to be associated with me!"

"And that's why you've been pushing Ron, Neville, and Hermione away too," Remus questioned kindly.

"You talked to them?" Harry asked angrily.

"They're worried about you, Harry," Sirius told him. "We're all worried about you."

Harry shook his head and gritted his teeth. He hated this. Finally he pushed his chair away from the table and stood up.

"But I'm right!" he shouted. "None of you can deny it! You've both been attacked this year because of your association with me. Ron had his leg broken last year because he was with me. Everyone…" he shouted before the tears finally broke through. "Everyone I love is in danger because of me!" he screamed before collapsing on the floor in tears.

Sirius and Remus immediately rushed over. Remus could tell Sirius's quick reaction caused him a great deal of pain. He pointed the man towards the couch.

"Come on, Harry," Remus told him softly as he pulled him up and walked him to the sofa.

Harry laid his head on Sirius's shoulder and sobbed out his heartache. Sirius and Remus just sat with him, Sirius rubbing his back until his cries finally quieted.

After a long time, Harry finally looked up. "Sorry," he said softly.

Remus summoned a handkerchief for him to blow his nose. After he did, Remus decided he was ready to listen to reason.

"Harry, as much as I hate to admit it, Sirius is right about me. I am the expert on pushing people away. I've lived my whole life scared that I would hurt the people around me. When your dad and Sirius discovered my secret, I instantly tried to stop them from becoming my friend. I was so afraid of what I could do to them. But Sirius and James wouldn't hear of it. I remember James telling me very firmly that it was their choice who they would be friends with, and they didn't care about the danger because they liked me for me." He brushed a tear from Harry's cheek. "And your dad wouldn't hear of you pushing people away either," he added a little more firmly.

"Remus is right," Sirius told him. "James firmly believed that when you love someone, you support them in everything, not run the other direction. Now you may try to run from us, Harry, but we're always going to be your family, always going to be here for you. No matter how much you try to push us away."

Remus nodded. "I also want to be clear that I believe you are putting way too much responsibility on your own shoulders by saying we're all in danger because of you, but ignoring that for a moment, I just want you to know that it is unfair of you to break up with Ginny on those grounds. If she feels it's too dangerous to date you, let her make that decision for herself. Don't make it for her."

Harry nodded. "I think I'm beginning to see your point."

Remus and Sirius both smiled proudly.

Sirius patted his back. "You think you might want to go have a conversation with Miss Weasley?"

Harry sighed and hesitated, but finally he gave in. The thought of dating Ginny again was just too appealing. "Yeah, I think I might."

March 18, 1995

Sirius walked into the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning. His eyes, as always, immediately searched for his son. He expected to find him sitting next to Ginny again, giggling like they usually were, but he was surprised that the brilliant head of red hair next to Harry wasn't Ginny, but Ron.

Harry was sitting with Ron, Neville, and Hermione, and though the four of them seemed to be chatting casually and Sirius was pleased that Harry was no longer pushing his friends away, he wondered why Ginny was on the complete opposite end of the table.

He took a seat next to Remus and began spooning eggs onto his plate. "Good morning," he told his friend.

"Good morning for us," Remus said, "but I take it you haven't heard the rumors yet."

"What rumors?" Sirius questioned.

"Harry apologized to Ginny and asked her to be his girlfriend again," Remus began, but Sirius, ever the impatient one, interrupted.

"I know that, Moony."

"You didn't let me finish," Remus told him. He looked sadly at Harry for a moment before turning back to Sirius. "She said no."

March 20, 1995

"Now remember, I am willing to push to have you in the Order meetings, but you take one step towards danger and you'll not be allowed in another until your grandchildren are attending them. You understand?"

Harry snorted, but Sirius's sharp look quickly changed his attitude. "I mean, yes sir."

Sirius and Harry were sitting around the basement kitchen table at Grimmauld Place sharing a plate of biscuits and waiting for the other members of the Order to arrive. Harry, as usual, had not wanted to talk about the situation with Ginny, so Sirius had let it go. Truthfully, he had gotten pretty good at helping Harry sort through his irrational thoughts, but he wasn't sure he was quite equipped yet to deal with a heartache he couldn't fix. If Ginny didn't want to date Harry, Sirius was powerless to fix that, and if there was one thing Sirius hated, it was a feeling of powerlessness.

They heard the floo chime upstairs, then a distant, "It's me," call from Amelia.

Sirius stood quickly and stopped her at the door, his wand drawn. "Tell me something only the real Amelia would know."

"You have a birthmark just below your left buttcheek," Amelia answered, obviously unaware that Harry was in the room.

Harry made a disgusted face. "Oh Merlin!" he said as he mimicked throwing up.

"Oh my," Amelia said in realization, her face instantly reddening in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry, Harry." She covered her face with her hands.

Sirius rubbed a hand over his face before looking back at Amelia. "Technically, I could have sl-...I mean, a fake Amelia could know that. Try something else, and keep it safe for children please."

Amelia sighed and thought for a moment. "When you were a rookie auror, we went on a mission together to Romania. You caught six death eaters. I only caught five."

Sirius nodded and moved over, allowing her to walk into the room. "I'm surprised you remember that."

"Well you were impressive…way back then anyway," she teased.

Sirius chuckled. Harry watched them for a few seconds and began to feel even more guilt. Sirius and Amelia were obviously very good friends and enjoyed each other's company a great deal. Maybe he should reconsider his hesitation to Sirius dating, though just the thought made his stomach twist.

"So Harry," Amelia interrupted his thoughts. "I hear you are joining us from now on."

"Uh, yeah," Harry answered. "Sirius cleared it with Professor Dumbledore."

Sirius snorted. "Cleared it" actually meant that Sirius spent the better part of three hours arguing with the headmaster trying to convince him that the Order meetings pertained to Harry, so the boy should be there. At first, Dumbledore had been absolutely against it, but whether by Sirius's skillful negotiation or just the fact that the headmaster wanted to man out of his office, he finally agreed begrudgingly.

Sirius didn't like to clash with the skilled wizard. He respected his former headmaster and current employer a great deal, and he appreciated how much Dumbledore had aided in Harry coming to live with him. But there were still things they would likely always disagree on.

For one, Sirius had some strong feelings about Dumbledore leaving Harry with the Dursleys to begin with. He did acknowledge that it seemed like the best choice at the time, but to leave the child there for ten years without even checking on him was borderline criminal in his opinion.

He also disagreed with Dumbledore's secretive nature, and this was primarily where they differed on Harry being involved with the Order. Of course, Dumbledore also thought Harry too young, and Sirius agreed if it was a matter of a dangerous Order mission, but Sirius never liked withholding information from his son, ever. Complete and total honestly was something he expected of Harry, and he was more than willing to be completely honest with him as well.

Sirius was sure he could have convinced Dumbledore to his way of thinking without it, but he did have one major factor in his favor. He was Harry's father, and ultimately he was in charge of if Harry were allowed to attend. So finally Dumbledore capitulated and allowed the boy to be present, though he still didn't like it.

Once all the Order members were present, Dumbledore began the meeting.

"First, I would like to welcome back the real Alastor Moody," he told them.

Moody harrumphed. "I just want you all to know that you're idiots for not being able to tell it wasn't me. I trained you and you," he said sharply, pointing at Sirius and Amelia.

Sirius and Amelia looked at one another in a silent war over who should attempt to speak first. Amelia may have been the DMLE director, but at that moment she felt very much like a foolish young recruit.

"Look Alastor," she began nervously. "Crouch was really convincing. He tricked all of us, even Albus…"

"Well, Albus is old, and the headmaster of an entire school. What about you, Black? Weren't you supposed to be in charge of security?"

"Come on, Mad-Eye. He was convincing. He was grumpy and withdrawn…" Sirius said apprehensively.

"And you think that's all there is to me?" Moody interrupted again, but before Sirius or Amelia could work up the courage to answer, he looked around at the group. "Well…I guess that's a fair point."

Everyone laughed, instantly breaking the tension. Sirius gave his son, who had been quietly snickering as his father was scolded, a slight smack to the back of his head.

Dumbledore finished his chuckling and cleared his throat. "Well, on that note, let's get started shall we?"