I do not own JKR or her works!

AN: Greetings! This is my first attempt at a fanfic. I'm hoping to receive positive feedback from this chapter. The feedback, good or bad, will help me in the future with this work and others. Positive feedback will further motivate me to continue working on it. I'm not positive on the length yet, but it's not going to be in the millions. That might be the other fic I want to write. This one will probably teeter towards 300k if I was a betting man.

Pairings, I haven't worked out yet, but I'm open to suggestions as long as it's not hinny. I'm not really interested in Harmony for this fic either. With that being said, I will make the primary pairing as natural as possible. No slash though, I don't believe I have the ability to do it justice as the primary pairing(s).

There won't be a whole lot of bashing in this fic. Next to none really. If I don't like a character, then their will be minimal scenes with said character. Their will be some characters that get knocked down a few pegs, but I refuse to beat a dead horse.

My PMs are always open. Please review if you'd like. Even if I go a little inactive with uploads, I'll still be actively reading on this site.

Thank you all! Enjoy!

High above the forbidden forest, an outline of a man atop a winged creature can be seen heading in the direction of the full moon. The man's eyes are closed, his head tilted back, and his hands are held high above his head. His pale and gaunt face sporting a smile that he hadn't smiled in nearly 13 years.

Sirius Black was free.

Well… not exactly.

With the help of his godson and his bushy haired friend, he escaped being captured and kissed by a dementor. That thought alone made Sirius shudder involuntarily. Having spent 12 years surrounded by the foul creatures was not a pleasurable experience. It was primarily his innocence that kept his mind from shattering under their care.

And that's the primary reason for Sirius feeling as though he's on cloud nine. Apart from riding a hippogriff, of course. He is innocent, and despite that being true for the ministry, it was true for the only person that mattered in his life: his Godson.

A slight bump from Buckbeak momentarily broke Sirius from his musings, and he regripped the feather beast to stabilize himself. He had just proven himself innocent to his Godson after having been on the run for nearly a year. There's no way he'd allow himself fall to his death now. Though he had to admit, it wasn't the worst way he could go out, but not now.

Sirius was going to enjoy his 'freedom'. Perhaps he could find the old Back family property in the Caribbean. That would nice. He could bathe in the sun, and not have to worry about anyone other than a Black showing

Of course, there were two other people that could properly access it at this point in time, but he'd hardly doubt his cousins would spend their time there. None of them had been there since they were kids.

Sirius' mind briefly drifted off to the more pleasant memories of his youth. The ones where his cousins and brother actually acted like somewhat normal people. At least Andi turned out well. Who would've guessed.

His thoughts then shifted to wondering whether or not Harry would enjoy spending time there. True, he would be spending his time with an ex convict and nobody else, but the idea of spending time with his godson was elating.

A gnawing feeling soon settled in the pit of his stomach, and Sirius was pretty sure it had nothing to do with his hunger levels, despite not having eaten in over a day.

There were certain red flags that at the time, Sirius wasn't really paying attention to. And now that he had the time to go over the memories of tonight, the more they stood out to him.

Harry was small. He wasn't severely undersize, but Sirius was sure that neither James or Lily were that short in their third year. James may have been a tad on the skinny side, but he was lithe. Harry was definitely scrawny, but boy did he pack a punch. The boy definitely had the worst of his parents' tempers.

There was something else that was borderline frightening for Sirius.

Harry had known he was innocent for all of thirty minutes, but as soon as he hinted at the possibility of Harry living with him, Harry looked as if Christmas had come early. It didn't matter that Sirius had spent 12 years surrounded by dementors. It didn't matter that his psyche was teetering on the unhinged side. Harry had said yes with barely a moments hesitation.

Sirius had gathered that Harry didn't have a good home life with Lily's sister and her husband. He didn't need to be a seer to predict that outcome, but to jump on the opportunity to leave them without as much as a small thought was alarming.

Sirius then thought back to the first time he had seen Harry near the park in Surrey. Harry was in the middle of running away from home. An act that Sirius was all too familiar with, but Sirius had made it all the way to sixteen before he did that. For a thirteen year old to be able to throw his hands up and leave his home with seemingly nowhere to go, that was either an extreme act of petulance or a far cry for help.

As Sirius' alarms bell were reaching a fever pitch, his heart started to ache. Like every night for the past 13 years, Sirius became overwhelmed with feelings of loss and grief, but now those feelings were accompanied by another: guilt.

Here Sirius was basking in his freedom, and making grand plans of running away and enjoying himself. He failed to realize that he was once again doing the same thing he had done all those years ago. He was abandoning his godson. He was leaving Harry when Harry needed him.

Shame filled the animagus, and he wanted to do nothing more in that moment than to turn Buckbeak around and head back towards that castle. To hell with the ministry and him being wanted, he wanted to go back to his godson.

But that was the crux of the situation. He was a wanted man. Aurors and ministry officials would be scouring the country, even more so than they have been. And it wasn't like he could just take Harry away with him. Not only would Dumbledore not allow that, his 'kidnapping' of the boy-who-lived would lead ti a kiss on sight order being raised to a kill on sight order.

Thoughts and ideas were being generated as fast as his subdued mind could manage, but every hopeful idea was quickly cast out in frustration. The wind causing his long matted hair to whip his face wasn't helping.

Sirius ran a hand down his face and subconsciously reached back to scratch behind his ear. But after the initial scratching, Sirius paused and slowly looked at his hand as an idea began to form. As it came together, a mischievous glint formed in his grey eyes.

It was perfect. Extremely risky, and he'd have to be extremely careful, but if done correctly, then he could easily pull it off. He could spend time with Harry, and he'd never have to worry about being caught. He also didn't have to worry about stealing Harry away from his relatives. He'd need to find a place for buckbeak, but that could be arranged.

A smirk grew on the marauder's face, and the smirk soon gave way to laughter. It started out slow and hollow, but soon turned into uproarious barking laughter. He was certain it was the scariest damn sight on planet earth at the moment, but that only made the man laugh more.

'I'll be seeing you soon, Harry'

OoOoOo

The scarlet steam engine was met with the usual coming home affair upon its' arrival to King's Cross station. Family and loved ones were lined up and down the platform, eagerly awaiting the Hogwarts students. Some were saying their congratulations, and offering their best wishes to the older students. Others were holding the younger years a bit tighter.

For Harry Potter, he had grown used to seeing the love and affection shared amongst his peers and their famous. And while it still caused a pang of sadness in his heart, he'd mostly gained a mask of indifference.

"I'm going to go find my parents on the other side." Harry's bushy haired friend, Hermione granger said a bit hesitantly.

Ron replied with a 'see ya' as he made his way over to the gathering of red heads further down the platform.

Harry watched Hermione's face flashed a bit of sadness in the lanky red head's direction, but she quickly masked it as she looked back to Harry.

Harry, never being one for affection, gave Hermione a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Have a good summer, Hermione. Hopefully I'll see you at the Burrow."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but flashed a smile before engulfing her bespectacled friend, who immediately stiffened at the contact. "Despite my loathing for quidditch, the idea of spending time with you all, and seeing a cultural event like the World Cup should be fascinating."

Harry chuckled as he awkwardly patted Hermione on the back. She soon released him, and they bid each other one more good bye before Hermione left to go find her parents.

Harry walked in the direction of the Weasley clan, not really paying attention as his mind wandered to the inevitable. Soon he'd be with the Dursley's, and soon his life will return to being a living hell. He hoped that the threat of his escape convict of a godfather would at least grant him some peace this summer.

The thought of his godfather brought a wave of mixed emotions to the teen. On the one hand, he believed for all of ten minutes that he could be free and have some semblance of a family. That just wasn't meant to be. On the other hand, he now had someone in his life that was sort of family. He had a link to his parents that he was actually proud of having. He just hoped that Sirius would remain alive and free for the foreseeable future.

Harry was brought out of his musings by yet another bone crushing hug. "Harry, dear! It's so good to see you!" She then held Harry at arms length and gave him a once over. Harry wouldn't admit it, but it was nice having someone like a mum that gave him some affection and cared for him.

"Ron told you about the World Cup, yes?" Molly Weasley asked, and after his nod, continued. "We so hope that you will be able to join us. We'll be sending for your family's permission first."

Harry went from feeling elated, if not a little awkward, to his heart sinking at her last sentence. He knew it was a considerate gesture, but the Dursley's absolutely hated anything remotely related to magic, especially post by owl. He could only imagine the response they would have to Errol landing on their kitchen table, half dead, with a note from Mrs. Weasley.

"That's okay." Harry said quickly. "You don't have - I can just ask them myself and write to "

"Nonsense dear." Mrs. Weasley interjected. "We would want to ask them properly."

Harry gave a half hearted smile in return, casting Ron a significant look. While Ron gave him a look of sympathy, he shrugged in response. That's the best he could probably hope for. None of the Weasley children would get anywhere with their mother, and it's not like they would have any better luck with addressing muggles.

Mr. Weasley would be his greatest hope, but considering the man's quirkiness and overall cluelessness of all things muggle, he didn't know if that was truly worth considering.

All too soon, the Weasley's bid goodbye as they took the station's floo network home, leaving Harry to face the music on his own. He actually found himself grateful towards the idiot Fudge for modifying his relative's memories.

Harry quickly found his relatives on the other side of platform 9 and 3/4. His uncle was tapping his foot rather impatiently, his aunt was casting wary glances to the people around her, and his whale of a cousin was tucked safely behind his mum.

After the usual heartfelt reunion, and Harry's threat of his godfather which he is still surprised worked, the four of them made their way back to Number 4, Privet Drive.

"You are to go to your room and stay there." His uncle Vernon ordered, his tone a few decibels quieter than his face suggested he would use. "I don't want to hear a peep out of you. Got it."

Harry gave the safest response he could give, a nod, then bound up the stairs to his room. He suppressed whatever anger and sadness he felt in the moment, and settled for just keeping the peace. If the Dursley's were just going to lock him in his room all summer, then that was honestly the best possible situation Harry could find himself in. He just hoped that they would at least give him some food.

'Oh well.' Harry thought, 'A month and a half of quiet imprisonment, if the Weasley's pull through for the Cup. At least there are no dementors here.'

Harry sighed in resignation as he reached the door to his room. His cell for the next six weeks. Opening the door, Harry was met with the absolutely last thing he would've expected to see in his room.

There, on his bed, was a giant Black dog. A black dog that Harry was now all too familiar with. The dog had immediately perked up at the sound of the door being opened, and now it was giving Harry its best attempt at a smile.

The dog then changed, and in its place sat his godfather. He looked almost no different than the last time Harry saw him a week ago. His long black hair was matted, and his skin was ghostly pale. He was in the same prison wear that was baggy on his thin body. But his eyes, while still gaunt looking, a faint glint to them, and he had an ear-to-ear grin.

"Woah there, Prongslet." Sirius finally broke the silence with a scratchy whisper. "You'll catch flies looking like that."

Harry's jaw closed with an audible click, but he remained rooted to the spot. A million questions and emotions were flooding his mind, but it was like someone had put a body bind on him. He couldn't speak or move.

Sirius, on the other hand, started to become uncomfortable. He had hoped Harry would have liked to have seen him. He knew that it would be a bit of a surprise for his godson, but he didn't know it would give quite the shock.

"Why don't you come in and close the door, and I'll explain everything?" Sirius asked softly after another minute of stunned silence. That seemed to do the trick.

Harry shook his head rapidly, then hissed a whisper. "Sirius! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on the run?"

Sirius' response was the same. "Why don't you come in, and I'll explain everything?"

Harry opened his mouth to speak, then stopped, and hastily shut the door as quietly as possible. He all but threw down his truck as he made his way over to the chair at his desk. His bright emerald eyes hardly ever leaving his godfather.

"That's better." Sirius tried to joke. Seeing it had little effect, he plowed forward. "Look Harry. I know it's probably better for me to be on the run, but it's better for you if I am where you need me."

"I don't need you back in prison." Harry threw in during the pause.

Sirius gave him a sad look, but took a deep breath to steady himself. "Harry, I know you don't want me back there. Trust me, I'm not fond of the place either. But there's nowhere better, or safer, for me to be than right here with you."

"But Sirius." Harry whispered frantically, pleadingly. "What if the Dursley's find you? I can't very well keep a whole other man hidden away in my room, and I'd much rather you not be locked away with me in here."

Sirius' eyes flashed dangerously for a moment. He wanted nothing more than best that walrus into a bloody pulp, and curse Lily's bitch of a sister; but he steeled himself as he explained further. "We can make it work. I've already thought of an idea."

Harry snorted. "Something tells me that I should be even more worried."

Sirius looked offended, but suppressed a snicker. "You sound just like prongs." That comment elicited a grin from his godson, and he felt the tension ebbing away. He quickly turned serious though.

"We can do it. We'd just have to do it right." Sirius stated rather simply. "A few charms here, a couple wards th-

"Sirius, I can't do magic." Harry whispered glumly. "And before you say that you can, trust me, they'd blame me for it. I've already been blamed for a house elf doing something here."

Sirius frowned. "A house elf? You have a house elf?"

Harry shook his head. "No, but one came here and tried to get me in trouble so I wouldn't go back to school."

"Why would he do that?" Asked Sirius.

Harry waved him off. "Long story. The point is, neither of us can do magic here."

Sirius' brow furrowed for a moment. There was so much to that tidbit of information that inwardly, Sirius was dying to know, but he knew that it wasn't the time. "Can you call him?"

Harry gave him a confused look. "I've… never tried."

"Is he one of the Hogwarts elves?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I freed him."

"How?"

Harry smirked at his godfather. "I tricked Lucius Malfoy into freeing him."

Sirius' jaw proceed to hit the floor as his eyes grew comically wide. That kind of prank was marauder worthy, and what he wouldn't given to have seen that blond haired ponce's reaction.

"Woah there, Padfoot." Harry quipped. "You'll catch flies looking like that."

Sirius grimaced, and looked to be trying extremely hard at holding himself together. "I'm trying very hard to not die laughing at this moment."

Harry snickered. "Tell me how to call him."

Sirius was nearly going red in the face with his resisting the urge to laugh. After a few moments, he finally managed to quickly rasp out the instruction. "Just say his name."

Harry looked skeptical but quietly called out into his room. "Dobby?"

A popping noise filled the quiet room, and in the middle now stood Dobby. His bat like ears protruding off his head, his tennis ball eyes were glistening, and he looked to be shaking with excitement. Gone was the filthy rag he used to wear, now he had his own horridly colored tea cozy.

"The great Harry Potter, sir has called for-"

Dobby started to squeak out, but his eyes soon landed on the other occupant of the room.

With a high pitched squeak/war cry, Dobby leaped in the direction of Sirius Black. "You shall not harm the Great Harry Potter, sir!" The little guy was so overcome with worry and anger that he forwent any use of magic. Instead, he chose to pummel Sirius.

Luckily, Harry was on him in a flash. "Dobby! No! Stop! Silence!" Harry frantically hissed through gritted teeth. He had no clue why he was trying to remain quiet. Dobby had probably alerted half of Surrey with his outburst.

With much effort, Harry was able to pry the mini demon off of his godfather. When Dobby went to protest, Harry put a hand over the elf's mouth.

"What the-"

"Shhh!"

"BOY!"

Harry temporarily froze at the sound of his uncle's voice, but he shook himself at the sound of footsteps bounding up the stairs.

Wide eyed, Harry gently threw Dobby under the bed and gestured for him to stay quiet. He looked back up to his godfather, and happily gave a sigh of relief when he saw him change into his dog form. Thankfully, he didn't need to be told what to do, neither did Harry have to restrain him from attacking his uncle.

Harry had just flipped the covers back on the bed and sat down when his uncle burst through the door. He was red in the face, either from the anger or the movement. Both, if Harry had to guess. If looks could kill, then Harry would be dead.

"Boy! What the bloody hell did I tell you when we got home?"

"To go to my room and stay there." Harry answered calmly, almost mechanically. "You didn't want to hear a peep out of me."

His Uncle Vernon's eyes narrowed. "That's what I thought. Anymore, and you can kiss your meals for the week goodbye!"

Harry acknowledged the threat with a subtle nod. He thought he heard a growl under his bed and quickly stomped his foot to silence his godfather. Vernon paused to give him one more venomous look before slamming his bedroom door and locking all of the locks.

Harry waited until his steps were long gone before he peaked back under his bed. "You can come out now." He whispered to them.

Dobby crawled out first, then Padfoot. Once Padfoot returned to Sirius, Harry noticed both guests wearing identical looks of fury.

Wanting to nip things in the bud quickly, Harry chose to speak. "Nothing either of you do or say will make things any better, so for me, please don't do or say anything."

Sirius immediately deflated, though he still looked pissed. Dobby hid is ire behind obeying the command of Harry.

Harry wore a dejected look, not meeting the eye of either of them. In his mind, he was berating himself. He had two people in his life that would move Heaven and earth for him, but while he was stuck at the Dursley's, he was redrawn to his fate.

"Dobby" Sirius addressed the elf. "I'm Harry's godfather. Despite what you may have heard of me, I'm innocent. There is nobody in this world that I care about more than that boy right there, and I can tell that you feel the same way."

Dobby looked to Harry for confirmation. Once he saw the nod from Harry, Dobby's ears drooped and he looked to the floor. "Dobby is terribly sorry. Dobby didn't mean to attack the great Harry Potter sirs dogfather. Dobby will punish himself."

"No you will not." Harry jumped in, looking fierce. "Dobby, you will never ever punish yourself. Do you understand?"

Dobby nodded as his eyes brimmed with tears. The only thing keeping him from wailing tears of joy was Harry's command to be quiet.

"Dobby." Sirius again addressed the elf. "It's alright. You didn't know." He placed a comforting hand on the elf's shoulder and immediately wondered how bizarre things were at the moment.

'Comforting a house elf.' Sirius thought humorously. 'I wonder how the family would react to that.'

It wasn't a foreign idea to the Potter's though. They always treated their elves like family. And while other families would claim they did that, none of them ever really acted on it. That, or they treat their family members horribly. It warmed Sirius' heart to see his godson display attributes of his family.

'A family he doesn't even know.' Sirius thought bitterly.

"Say Dobby?" Started Sirius. "What would you say to helping Harry and I with a project?"

Dobby instantly perked up. He looked as though he was ready to pop with excitement. He nodded his head so violently his ears were flopping. "Dobby would dos anything for the great Harry Potter sir and his dogfather!"

Sirius beamed, Harry looked morose but vaguely optimistic. "Thank you Dobby! Would you mine putting up some wards to hide us from his relatives?"

"Dobby, no!" Harry instantly refused. "You can't do magic here. Remember last time? I got in trouble with the ministry for underage magic."

To both Sirius and Harry's surprise, Dobby started to look rather uncomfortable. He was holding his ears and was wearing his foot into the carpet.

"Dobby?" Harry inquired. "Dobby, what's the matter?"

Dobby cringed, wearing his foot even harder into the carpet. "You see, sir. It is… difficult, sir. Dobby may have matchedyousmagictodobbytogetyousintrouble" Dobby finished it all with a breathless, squeaky rush. Sirius looked astonished, but Harry was confused. Dobby looked like he wanted to bang his head against the dresser.

"Erm." Harry stammered eloquently. "You matched my magic?"

It was Sirius who answered. "It's an ability of house elves that not many people are aware of. Many old families used to use their house elves to cover for them by either masking their signature, or performing magic that wouldn't leave a trace."

Harry's eyes went wide. His emotions flipped from astonishment, to outrage, then back to astonishment. They eventually settled for amusement when he snorted. "So that's how I got into trouble." Harry shook his head, then he grew curious. "So the ministry doesn't actually know I'm doing magic?"

"Not really." Sirius answered. "This is a non magical neighborhood in which you're the only magical person in residence. If magic is performed, then they'll just assume it's by you."

Harry's eyes flashed briefly. "Well I better hope neither me or anyone else is attacked. They'll just blame me for everything."

"Unfortunately." Sirius answered meekly.

Harry then wondered something. "So in a magical residence, the ministry wouldn't know who to blame if underage magic is performed?"

Sirius shook his head. "Nope. A lot of old families get away with teaching their children magic during the holidays, or allow them to use magic whenever they want."

"The Weasley's don't." Harry pointed out, inwardly applauding Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for keeping that secret amongst their family. He could only imagine what the twins would get up to if they could freely use magic.

"I wouldn't think so." Sirius commented. "Some families either think it too advantageous over muggleborns and half-bloods, or they are sticklers for obeying the law. Most are the latter."

Harry shook his head at the backwardness of it all, but he immediately perked back up. Excitement and hopefulness evident on his face. "So you're saying that Dobby would be able to make it to where the Dursley's would completely avoid us? They wouldn't even have a clue we were here?"

Sirius beamed, happy that his godson had caught on, and relieved that he was excited by the prospect. "Right in one, Prongslet. It would be a huge prank. We'd be confined to the room, mostly, but Dobby could take us wherever we wanted for a day if we so pleased."

Dobby, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet, was just awaiting the order from Harry. Harry frowned though. "Sirius, we can't go anywhere. You're still on the run, and Dumbledore would have a conniption."

Sirius snorted at the image of the old man throwing a temper tantrum. "That may be, but you're forgetting something Harry. I'm a fully capable wizard and prankster. I can disguise both of us easily. Dobby could take us near diagon alley under your dad's cloak -I'd have to be Padfoot-, and after Dobby throws up a notice-me-not, we can disguise ourselves. Oh, and we don't have to stick to magical areas." Sirius added as an afterthought.

Harry pondered the idea. He really, really wanted this to work. He'd have a good summer, spending it with his godfather, learning about his mum and dud, but it was extremely risky. A risk that Harry wasn't sure he wanted to take. He couldn't gain the only family he had left only to turn around and lose it. It's the same reason he went after Sirius and a transformed Lupin. He couldn't lose him.

Sirius watched as his godson went over things in his head. He didn't mind. He knew that it was risky, but in Sirius' mind, it was worth the risk. But Sirius also knew that Harry really didn't want to lose him after finally regaining him, and if Sirius was completely honest with himself, he didn't want to be taken away from Harry again.

He went over and kneeled next to his godson, and placed a comforting hand on his knee. He noticed his godson stiffen, but he kept his hand there to show he meant him no harm. He looked into his godson's eyes, the same eyes that used to belong to his best friend, and he could see the emotions in them.

"Harry." He started softly. "I wish that it could be any other way. I wished that we could strut up and down that alley without a care in the world. I also wished that you could do that with your mother and father."

Sirius choked up a little, and he noticed the first sign of tears in Harry's eyes that he quickly blinked away. I

"I hate that it's not that easy." He continued. "I'd give anything for it to be that way, but I can't. I just want to do the best that I can by you, and give you the best that I'm able to offer. If you're perfectly happy staying here all summer, then that's okay, I'll be right here with you. Dobby and I both. I'm not leaving you again. I promise."

Harry looked deep into his godfather's grey eyes, and he could see a lot, almost too much. He saw the pain, the regret, the sadness, the loss, the hopefulness, and the truth. Harry had been struggling with the idea of losing Sirius ever since that night, but while looking into his eyes, he knew that his godfather would never leave him. He wouldn't risk being taken away from Harry. And for the first time in a long time, Harry allowed himself to feel warmth from an adult in his life.

Without thinking, and without knowing where the temptation came from, Harry threw his arms around his godfather. The contact nearly caused Sirius to stumble, and after a few moments of shock, Sirius allowed himself to hug his godson for the first time in nearly 13 years.

Unaware to the both of them, Dobby acted without having to be ordered. He set up all of the necessary charms and wards. Nobody would hear any nose coming from Harry's room, and if anyone got close enough to Harry's room, then they would immediately be sent away with an urgency to do something else.

After a few minutes, the teary eyed humans broke apart. Harry embarrassingly wiped his nose and eyes underneath his glasses. Sirius wiped his eyes, but had a contented look on his face.

Harry then cleared his throat and jerked his head to regain his wits about him. When he was finished, he fixed Sirius with a wide eyed stare, and when he spoke, it was in a near frantic whisper. "Sirius! Where's buckbeak?"

And cut! I hope you all enjoyed. Please feel free to leave feedback. My PMs are always open!

P.S. I don't have a beta. This is strictly me. If anyone is interested to help out, then that will be great. I'd rather not have a devoted beta though, because I wouldn't want them to commit to something that doesn't have the possibility of panning out. I would love to finish this. I hate starting things I won't finish, but writer's block and life can be b¡tches.