Author's Note: Wow, how quick is this chapter out? And it's the chappy you've all been waiting for…(drumroll)…Sirius's reaction! Hope you all like it! This chapter is dedicated to Srialb—good luck in court. I just want to say how much I appreciate everyone's reviews. Each one of them means so much! Wow that sounded really corny, but hey, it's true. Everyone seems to have been waiting for Sirius's reaction so I'm really nervous about how you guys will like it. I hope the scene lives up to your expectations. Well, not much else to say so on with the story! Oh yeah, and review, review, review!

Meanwhile, in Snape's private chambers, the potions master was pacing around his living room.

"Why is this happening?" he muttered to himself. There was a battle raging in his head. This was Harry Potter: the boy he had hated since the day they had set eyes on each other. He looked so much like his father, Snape's worst enemy in school. James Potter. The boy who had made his school days a living hell. And of course, his son just had to become the most famous wizard in Europe. Up until this year he had seen Harry as nothing but a new James, everybody praising the ground he walked on. The Quidditch star. The school hero. But now…

Now he knew that Pot…no Harry, was different than his father. He wasn't some pampered little prince who basked in the attention he received. Snape was finally acknowledging that Harry actually didn't like the attention. The Gryffindor Golden Boy had actually led a difficult life, which only seemed to grow more difficult by the day. The strangest thing of all was what he had heard the Weasley boy say.

"And to think you were actually defending Snape at breakfast. Yeah, Harry, he's a really decent guy."

Harry had defended him to his best friend? A best friend who hated the potions master? Had he really tried to convince his friends that the professor who had made his life a living hell for five years was a decent guy?

Snape was neither deaf nor stupid. He managed to hear conversations with students all the time. He had never once heard even a Slytherin student defend him, and he was their head of house! In fact, he couldn't remember anyone besides professors defend him, and most of the time that was only to prevent students from bad-mouthing another teacher, rather than out of compassion. The only person who had ever seemed to actually like him for who he was, was the headmaster.

'Of course. Of course! The only other person who may have had a chance at liking me and he's gone off and gotten himself a death sentence for playing the hero,' Snape thought to himself as he huffed angrily. It was lucky for his students that he had canceled his earlier class, because even he would have been frightened away by the scowl that crossed his face now.

It wasn't that he was desperate for people to like him. Obviously, with all the people he emotionally chased away, that wasn't really a concern for him. He had never had many friends in his childhood or during his schooling. He had long ago learned how to be emotionally independent. He didn't need other people to like him as long as they respected him, even if it was respect based on fear.

'But it's still nice…' he told himself but then immediately told himself to shut up and stop sounding like one of Dumbledore's speeches.

"Severus, you underestimate people. If you just gave them a chance, I think you might just find yourself pleasantly surprised. After all, it's always nice to have people who care about you."

But Potter didn't care about him, nor did he care about the stupid Gryffindor.

'Then why are you stalking around your chambers like you're going to kill something because you found out he's dying?' a little voice in his head asked. Snape told his mind to shut the hell up.

He decided to do his little mental exercise that he had been doing since finding out about Harry's home life. Or perhaps he had been doing it since the day the boy had started Hogwarts. Maybe even longer.

'All right. Why I hate Harry Potter,' he started silently, sitting down on his couch. 'He's a pampered little prince. Oh yeah, that one doesn't work any more. Okay, he's an arrogant attention seeker. Well, that one isn't exactly true either since he hates attention and has a pretty low self-esteem. He bullied other kids just because he could. Damn, I've heard enough fights outside my classroom door and in the halls to know that the kid is never the one to start the fights and never really bullies. Okay, think, think… all right everyone gives him special treatment because of his fame. Well some of them do! Well, I suppose that's not exactly his fault. But he totally disregards the rules! Not that I didn't break a fair share of rules in my day. Oh come on, though! His father was James bloody Potter!'

Snape groaned in frustration. He always seemed to forget that his little list wasn't very convincing anymore. All he could come up with was because the boy's father was an arrogant twit? He hated the boy because of who his father was? A father that didn't even raise the boy.

'And look at my father!' he thought in disgust. 'Death Eater to the core. Ignorant, subservient and spineless. Merlin, if people judged me by my father….'

Snape vividly recalled the helpless look about the boy as Snape had carried him to the Hospital Wing earlier that day. It was just as the first time, but even more frightening, not knowing what was wrong with him, because he just couldn't believe that he could have some fatal illness like his friends had said. The blue tint to his lips, the ragged breathing, Madam Pomfrey saying that his pulse was weakening. His own worry had come as a surprise to himself. The relief that had come when his friends informed the adults that Harry had woken and spoke with them briefly, was totally unexpected.

Oh Merlin and there was Longbottom's comment too. I need to have my co-president in the 'Hated by Snape' club. He had been hurt that Potter thought that he hated him. Of course, he hadn't given him much reason to believe otherwise with the way he acted toward him in class. But why should he care, wasn't the comment true? Wasn't it? He was just so confused. And wait, he had been hurt that Potter thought that? That wasn't true. Was it?

"I'm Severus Snape!" he called out angrily to the empty room. "I don't get hurt by other people. I don't care about people, but especially not Harry bloody Potter!"

"Never be ashamed to care, Severus," a voice said from behind him. Snape's head whirled around to find a distressed looking Dumbledore.

"How long have you been standing there?" Snape asked annoyed.

"Long enough," he said tiredly. Snape's expression softened in seeing the weariness on the headmaster's face.

"Well, you might as well come in and sit down," he sighed gesturing to the chair next to him.

"Thank you Severus." Dumbledore walked over and sat down on a dark green chair.

"Albus, maybe this is just another one of Potter's horrid jokes. A plea for attention."

Dumbledore looked up at him and smiled sadly. "Severus, even you know Harry better than that."

"And there's absolutely no hope for a cure?" Snape asked with a sigh.

"No. Poppy has told me that there is nothing to cure it once it has been transferred and there is no way for it to be transferred to someone else. I contacted a few experts on rare medical cases and they gave me the same answer." He sighed. "I don't think he realized how his actions would affect people. Poppy feels guilty for giving him the spell. I've just finished speaking with Minerva and Remus. Both care for him deeply and I doubt Harry even knows it."

"How did they take it?" Snape asked curiously, taking a seat on the couch. Dumbledore sighed.

"They were both shocked, didn't say much. Last I saw, they were in Minerva's chambers, sitting at her table, each trapped in their own thoughts. They're trying to get it to sink in. They will be the only two I will tell. It's really Harry's to tell, not mine. I only told them because I need Minerva to be aware of it if anything goes wrong, being his head of house. Remus will discover it anyways, since Sirius will be finding out soon. I think it's safe to assume that Remus would have adopted Harry long ago if it had been safe and legal to do so, but with his condition as a werewolf, well, it would have been impossible. Even now, I'm not sure if I should inform more. Does Hagrid have a right to know? The Weasleys? The Stensons? I just don't know. I can't judge that."

Snape had never seen the elder man look so weary and confused before. He had never known him not to have the answers before.

"I think you're right, Albus. It's Potter's business really. It should be up to him to inform who he wants. If you tell too many people without his consent, he will never trust you again," he said, trying to hide the uncertainty in his voice. He paused. "What about you, Albus? Are you…erm…are you all right?" he asked. It felt strange to show concern and he felt oddly vulnerable. Luckily, the headmaster didn't point it out. There was a pregnant pause.

"I should have seen this, Severus. I thought something was going on with him. Suddenly he was showing such advancements in his skills. I didn't push to figure it out though. I convinced myself that if Harry was keeping something secret, that it wasn't anything serious, or he would have come to me. I didn't want to believe that something could be wrong, especially not this wrong. This is the second time this year I have underestimated the seriousness of a situation concerning him. I so want him to lead a happy life that I seem to convince myself that things are fine when they aren't. I've been so wrapped up in what I wanted to believe his life was, that I've overlooked the reality," he said clearly distressed.

"Sounds familiar," Snape mumbled thinking of how he had done the same in his own way.

"And how are you feeling about this, Severus," Dumbledore asked, looking into Snape's eyes as if searching his soul.

"Don't expect me to sympathize with the boy, Albus. He knew what he was doing and should be prepared to deal with the consequences of his actions," Snape said apathetically.

"Severus, you should know by now that I know you well enough to know when you lie," Dumbledore said, a small twinkle reappearing in his eyes. Snape sneered at him, but couldn't put his usual conviction behind it. "Right, right, of course. James Potter's son, right? Well, I won't nag you about it right now, but we'll have to talk about this later when you've had time to think and sort out your confusion. I'm glad to see, however, that you are beginning to think of him as something besides his father's son," Dumbledore grinned and left, leaving Snape wondering for the millionth time how exactly the man could figure out what he was thinking.

Harry sat in the hospital wing bed with a piece of parchment resting on a book on his lap. His quill kept touching down to the paper, but when the words failed to present themselves, it popped back between Harry's teeth. How could he concentrate on his History of Magic essay when Sirius was going to be there soon?

Suddenly, the door creaked open. Harry froze. What was he going to say? He looked to the window. Was it really that far of a jump?

Then, Hermione's head popped through the door and Harry started breathing again. She smiled.

"Nervous?" she asked walking over to his bedside.

"No."

"Then why do you look like a pack of Dementors are going to burst in the door any minute?"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Oh good, well at least I've got a courageous look about me," he said sarcastically.

"You know, Harry, it's okay to be nervous. It's going to be really hard to tell him something like this, I mean, who knows what his reaction might be. I'd be nervous to."

"Well thanks, 'Mione…I think," he said, unsure if her comment was meant to make him feel better or not.

"Just remember, you've already done this once with Ron and I, and we're still here."

Surprisingly, that did make Harry feel better. He hadn't really compared the two before, but he had done this before, sort of.

The door opened and Sirius popped his head in.

"Hello, Hermione."

"Hi. Well, I really ought to be going now. I'll see you later, Harry," she said giving Harry's hand a reassuring squeeze. She left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Hey Harry, Dumbledore told me you were in here and needed to talk to me. What's going on? Why are you in here again?" He paused. "It doesn't have anything to do with those Muggles again, does it? Because I swear, if…"

"Calm down, Sirius, it's not that."

"Oh, I see, well then," he said plopping into a chair next to Harry's bed. "What's going on?"

Harry took a deep breath. This was going to be hard.

"Do you know what Cancer is, Sirius?" he sighed.

"Never heard of it," he said shaking his head.

"It's a Muggle illness; a bad one. Many types are terminal, meaning that people die from it. Well, during the summer I spent most of my time with this Muggle family, the Stensons, and I became really close to them. Then Mr. Stenson was diagnosed with Cancer."

"I'm so sorry, Harry, that must be really hard. Is there anything I can do to help?" he interrupted. Harry held up a hand to stop him.

"Please, Sirius, I'm not done and I should probably just say this before I lose my nerve, okay?"

Sirius nodded for him to continue.

"Well, I found that there was only one way to cure him. I-I…" he began to falter.

"It's okay, Harry, keep going. You can tell me," Sirius said reassuringly. Harry took another deep breath.

"Well, Cancer can't be destroyed, only transferred." Sirius knitted his eyebrows in confusion before his jaw dropped open. He backed up in his chair as though he had been slapped.

"What are you saying, Harry?" His eyes grew wide. "Why are you in the Hospital Wing? No. You didn't. Please tell me you didn't…"

"I did. Sirius, I'm so sorry, but I couldn't let him die. So I transferred it to myself," Harry said quietly.

The next few minutes were chaotic. First, Sirius began to faint, his eyes starting to roll back. Just when Harry was going to call Madam Pomfrey, Sirius regained his senses and began screaming that it wasn't true. After Harry convinced him that it was, he demanded that Harry simply give it back. Harry explained that this was impossible so Sirius ordered Harry to give him the spell and was prepared to transfer it to himself.

"No, Sirius! I'd never let you do that….anyways, it's impossible," Harry said shaking his head. Sirius sat down and put his head in his hands.

"There's no way to cure it?" he asked desperately, massaging his temples.

"No."

"Well, how many years does this thing take to become fatal?"

Harry winced. "Not years, Sirius. I have, at most, until July."

"What?" Sirius asked in an almost crazed expression, jumping out of his chair. "What have you done, Harry? What were you thinking? WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?" he screamed.

"I…," he started, but Sirius cut him off.

"And you didn't even tell me?! How the HELL could you do this to me?"

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, fighting back tears.

"You're sorry?" he asked incredulously. "YOU'RE SORRY? Your mum sacrificed her life for you and this is how you repay her? By just giving it up like her sacrifice was nothing?"

The words stabbed into Harry's heart. He tried to remain calm but he could feel a burning sensation in his throat as tears began to well up in his eyes. His voice was noticeably strained. "No. I just made a sacrifice of my own for someone I consider family to me."

"What, someone you met this summer? How could you be so bloody stupid? That isn't family Harry! HE'S NOT YOUR FAMILY!" Sirius screamed in rage.

"Well I need some family and the Dursleys certainly don't qualify! So if he's not my family then who is?" Harry snapped back, choking back tears.

"Me! I'm your family!" Sirius yelled.

"Oh really? Just because you have the title of my godfather?" Harry screamed angrily.

"I broke out of Azkaban for you!" Sirius screamed back.

"You broke out of Azkaban to kill Peter! You didn't give a shit about me until I said I wanted to live with you!" Harry screamed, leaning forward angrily. "And did you ever wonder why I'd be so excited to live with someone who I had thought wanted to murder me until minutes before? Did you even consider that there might be a reason I was so desperate to leave the Dursleys to go live with an escaped convict? No! Because you didn't care! So don't give me this crap about being the loving parent figure."

Sirius looked at him with a pained expression and Harry's anger melted away.

"Oh my God, Sirius, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that."

"No, you're right Harry. I have been a horrible godfather. But you're wrong about me not caring. I've always cared about you from the day you were born. I begged Hagrid to let me take you when your parents died. I would have given up getting revenge on Peter if Hagrid had given you to me. Honestly. I couldn't really think of you being alive while I was in Azkaban, because that was a happy thought that was taken away from me. All I could think of was Peter. After I got Azkaban out of my system, though, I cared about you more than any petty revenge on Peter. But then I ignored what was right in front of my nose about those bastards you lived with. Oh Merlin, if I had been there, you wouldn't have done this!" he said, bursting into tears.

"That's not true, Sirius. I would have done it anyways. But I'm glad you're here now," Harry said quietly.

Sirius sat down next to him and grabbed Harry's hand in both of his. He rested his head on the hands, crying into them. "No. no. no. no. This isn't happening."

"I'm sorry Sirius," Harry hiccuped through his tears. Sirius looked at him sniffling.

"When you were little, we all used to call you Prongs Jr. Did you know that?" Sirius asked in an unusually high voice because of the crying. Harry shook his head.

"James thought you'd be a Chaser like him, and Lily said you'd be a Beater because you kicked a lot when you were in her stomach. I said you'd be a Keeper because you would sit in doorways and wouldn't let anyone past you without picking you up. Remus said you'd be a Seeker. I don't even know why. Maybe because it was the only one left. I think he saw something though. He was always the smart one. I'm glad you became a Seeker. You're excellent. I was so proud of you when I saw you play. You were better than even James was. I was so proud," he sobbed. Harry didn't know why Sirius was telling him all of this but he liked hearing it anyway.

"James and I would always fight over holding you and Lily would have a fit because she thought we would drop you."

Harry laughed through his tears.

"I always teased them that I was going to come in the night and steal you away so that I could keep you. They made me your godfather because they knew I wouldn't have it any other way," he told Harry with a blurry-eyed smile.

"And now I finally had the chance to do it. I was going to show you that I would have been a great godfather. And now….and now…" Sirius began crying into his fists which still held Harry's hand.

"Oh Merlin. First James and Lily and now you. I'm losing everyone," he muttered. Harry felt the gnawing pains of guilt.

"I'm so sorry, Sirius," Harry sobbed. "I'm sorry."

"I was going to show you such a great summer! I had so much planned! Why didn't you tell me?" His words stung Harry. He knew this was a shock to everyone, but why were they all rubbing into his face all the things he was going to miss out on? It wasn't like he was going on to some huge party they weren't invited to, he was dying!

Sirius must've seen the pained expression on Harry's face and his expression immediately softened.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I just don't know what I'm going to do without you." Sirius put his head into his hands. "Why?" he sobbed, "Why did you think that you deserved this more than that Muggle?"

Harry was actually glad he asked this question. Now he would be able to explain.

"Sirius, he's a father. He has a wife and a daughter. He means so much to them. They would be lost without him. His daughter, Kota, told me once that she loved him more than life itself. You see? I couldn't just let that just be destroyed when I could do something about it," he explained desperately. He knew Sirius couldn't argue with that. Surely he would see how important Mr. Stenson was.

But Sirius just looked at him with a slightly horrified expression. "Harry, there are people who feel the exact same way about you! Don't you understand that? I would die for you in a heartbeat."

He studied Harry's face and must have picked up on the skepticism that Harry felt. He had never felt loved in his childhood. Even now, he didn't believe that anyone could love him like the Stensons loved each other, or how the Weasleys loved each other. He knew Sirius cared about him, but Harry had long ago abandoned the fantasy that they could have what the Stensons and Weasleys had. His chance had died the night that his parents died.

Sirius grabbed Harry by the shoulders and looked frantically into his eyes. "You didn't know that? You believe me don't you?" Harry nodded but his eyes told the truth. No, he didn't believe that.

"I guess this is the worst consequence of us leaving you with those monsters," Sirius murmured. Harry wasn't quite sure what Sirius meant by that.

Sirius suddenly wrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him into a hug. He began to weep into Harry's shoulder.

Harry awkwardly hugged Sirius back and just let him cry.