The ride to the station was painfully silent. None of them said a word and it was an awfully tight fit in the back.

Although his own home lacked a telephone, Harry was pretty certain that Ron's family did own a one. Mr. Weasley's fascination towards all things muggle had motivated him to procure it from the ministry a few days ago. It had been an ordeal but the man had been determined to get it working.

As for Sirius... an uneasy nervousness crept into his bones. He'd been living with the man for nearly a month now and the two of them had fallen into an easy familiarity and routine.

Not once had his godfather gotten mad at him. Of course until then, there hadn't been any reason. His midnight adventure had certainly changed that.

Far too soon for his liking, they arrived at the station. They were led to a bench in the corner of the office, facing the cubicles. It was the middle of the night and apart from a handful of sour police officers on the night shift, the station was nearly empty.

As they waited for the inspector, one of the other officers treated their cuts and bruises as best as she could using the emergency first aid kit. It was a miracle that none of them were badly hurt.

Harry did not wince when she cleaned the cut on his head for his mind was on a different wavelength altogether.

The inspector in charge was a short, slightly red faced man in his late forties. The officers Frank and Ed explained what had transpired, the latter waving his hands excitedly as he described the flying and eventually falling car. The inspector scoffed at that.

"Flying cars! I see you've clearly fallen off the wagon again! You're on thin ice, Burke! You remind me of an old partner who insisted he'd seen two blokes take off on a flying motorcycle. What's next? Evil witches on broomsticks?"

The other officer wisely kept his mouth shut.

"What we have here is nothing more than four spoiled brats with little regard for the law." He levelled each of the boys with a glare that clearly indicated just how much of a nuisance he considered them to be.

"Let me tell you how this is going to go. Call your parents and once we're all settled in, I'd like to know just what they think of your little outing. What you boys need is a firm hand."

Harry knew that the inspector didn't mean it in the literal sense but he shrunk back in his seat nonetheless. The inspector retreated to his office after instructing Frank to let him know when the adults arrived.

Ron and George agreed that Fred should be the one to call their parents since George had taken the brunt of their mother's ire the last time.

"Mum's livid." Fred grumbled as he returned to his seat. "I couldn't talk to Dad but I reckon he's pretty ticked off as well. Mum said she'd floo call Sirius. They'll be here in about half an hour."

Harry's palms were sweating. He rubbed them against the fabric of his trousers wanting more than anything to simply go back home. He was aware that it was a childish thought but he didn't care.

His traitorous mind wandered to what might've occurred if he'd been living with Vernon and Petunia. He could vividly picture his uncle's face, nearly purple with barely controlled rage as he dragged Harry back home. He shuddered because he knew all too well that what would've followed once they were within the confines of Number 4, Privet Drive.

Harry trusted Sirius, more than he'd ever trusted any other authority figure in his life including the muggles as well as the professors at Hogwarts.

With the Dursleys, he knew what to expect and even if that made things worse, he was prepared for the inevitable beating.

This time though, he had no clue about what was in store for him.

It won't be like that ever again. It won't.

Sleep was a luxury that Sirius hadn't been able to afford for over a decade. Sleep in Azkaban was scarce and came in the form of uneasy, fitful naps that were broken by Dementors and sometimes plagued by his own nightmares.

He wasn't sure which was worse.

It got easier after his acquittal but there were still those rare nights when he couldn't close his eyes without being haunted by the past.

That night however wasn't one of them. He'd fallen into a surprisingly peaceful sleep a little after midnight, having finished working on his motorcycle. It was nearly done.

A resounding crack rang though the bedroom, jarring him into consciousness. Alert at once, he bolted upright, wand aimed in the direction of the intruder.

It was just his house elf.

"Master Sirius! Becky is very sorry sir, Master must come with Becky immediately. Mrs. Weasel-ley is asking for Master Sirius."

"What?" His voice was still rough from sleep. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand.

3:46 AM

Something was certainly amiss if Molly Weasley wanted to speak with him at this hour.

Harry

Still in his sleep pants, he rushed down stairs to the massive fireplace in the living room. The worried—no, angry face of the Weasley matriarch crackled through the flames.

"Molly, what's wrong?"

"Oh those little rascals! Just wait until I get my hands on the twins! The sheer audacity— it is absolutely unacceptable! How dare those two! And for Ron to go along with them! Not that I blame dear Harry in any of this. It wa—"

"Molly, what is wrong?" Sirius asked again, patience wearing thin.

"It's the car. The boys thought it would be a good idea to take the blasted thing out for a drive— oh the nerve of them! Something went wrong with the car and they lost control of the vehicle. Fred said they fell."

Fear, cold and harsh wrapped itself around Sirius's heart. "Fell? Are they okay? Are they hurt?"

"They're alright. Thank Merlin, it was the car that got damaged. They landed in a muggle neighbourhood and to make matters worse, they ran into those muggle Aurors. Muggle aurors! The boys as well as the car are in their custody right now. How could they have been so reckless?"

Sirius was well aware of the risk, but in that moment he didn't care. All he wanted was to see Harry and assure himself that his pup was indeed unharmed.

"Where are they?"

He got the address from Molly and agreed to meet the Weasleys over there. Without wasting much time, he transfigured his pyjamas into a pair of jeans and a black long sleeved t-shirt.

He apparated to the given address, right in front of the police station. A moment later, the Weasleys arrived as well. Under different circumstances, he might've been amused at the couple's attempt at muggle attire but his mind was on a completely different tangent.

The station was relatively empty with only a skeleton crew working the night shift out of which an officer guided them to the correct floor.

Fred, George, Ron and Harry were seated on a bench.

"Now dear, it's best that we remain calm," Arthur cautioned his wife as they approached the lads who hadn't noticed them yet.

"Of course, dear." She replied immediately. "FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY! How dare you! HOW COULD YOU BE SO RECKLESS!"

The few police officers present glanced sympathetically at the boys but wisely stayed out of the way.

"Mum, we did—"

"Oh no you don't! YOU COULD'VE DIED!"

"We're sorry, Mum," George tried with a far too innocent grin.

"Oh you're not sorry yet. But you certainly will be once we're home. All three of you. It's not your fault, Harry dear."

The poor boy looked like he wanted to disappear but Sirius was far more concerned about the look on Harry's face. The four boys were obviously shaken but his godson appeared terrified. He was trying his best to hide it but Sirius saw right through him.

"Pup—"

"Sirs, Madam, perhaps we might discuss this in my office?" A voice suggested rather meekly. The commotion had drawn the Inspector out of his office where he took in the situation. One glance at Molly Weasley's wrathful expression proved that he did not want to be on the receiving end of it for any reason whatsoever.

Once the three of them were settled on the other side of the desk, the Inspector cleared his throat. "Mr. and Mrs.—?"

"Weasley."

"And Mr.—?"

"Black."

"Underage driving is no light matter. We're lucky that no one was harmed and that the street was devoid of any other vehicles. They could have been in big trouble otherwise.

"They're in big trouble either way. Those boys are going to be dearly sorry once I'm through with them," Molly replied with promise ringing in her tone and the inspector was at a loss of words.

Sirius couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards the Weasley lads. Merlin knew that Molly Weasley loved all her children as fiercely as a lioness did her cubs and anyone who dared to raise a finger against any of them would incur the terrifying brunt of her undivided wrath.

But if any of the said cubs wilfully misbehaved... in that case, Merlin himself would run the other way.

The rest of the conversation was pretty much along the same lines. Once the Inspector seemed reassured that the children would not be getting away scot-free, he was happy to hand over the matter to the parents.

"Is that all?" Sirius asked. "As Mrs. Weasley vehemently stated, the children will be dealt with accordingly," he reassured the man with a confidence he most certainly did not feel.

Truth be told, he had no idea what to do. All he wanted to do was take his kid home and ensure that Harry was truly alright. Enforcing rules and discipline was not his job. Anyone who knew him well could attest to that.

The Marauders, him and James in particular had pulled countless pranks and tricks as kids. James's parents had often told their son off but Sirius's parents simply didn't care. He broke the rules and got away without any consequences.

Sirius Black was the rich playboy, the heartbreaker, troublemaker, the Marauder extraordinaire whose silvery eyes and crooked smirk always promised mischief and even a hint of danger. He didn't do rules.

But that was then. He was a different man now, less impulsive and reckless. Time and life has made sure of that.

"One last thing. Mr. Weasley, you said that the car belongs to you. Before I release the vehicle, I need to check your insurance papers and verify that everything is up to date."

Mr. Weasley turned sheepish. "Er... insurance you say?"

Fifteen minutes and one clever Confundus charm later (courtesy of Sirius), the three adults were finally able to leave the inspector's office.

According to the clock on the wall in front of them, Sirius and Ron's parents had been inside the office for nearly half an hour.

He picked at his nails, his mind preoccupied, scrambling for a way to explain their actions to his godfather. Harry wasn't an idiot. He knew there were going to be consequences for what they'd done that night.

But, if only he could reassure Sirius that he wasn't gonna do anything stupid like this ever again, that he would behave, then maybe everything would be okay again.

Yes that was it.

Earlier when Sirius had tried to call him, he'd referred to him as Pup. Surely, the nickname meant that the man wasn't livid.

Maybe Sirius would just yell. Or maybe he wouldn't want to talk to Harry at all. That would be even more awful. Or maybe they would simply not bring up the matter again. Sirius was cool right? Maybe he'd give Harry a pat on the back for a job well done.

Okay so that last option seemed unlikely. He wasn't sure if he wanted the last option either, no matter how easy it sounded at the moment. Maybe a part of him had wanted to test the waters. He kicked that part of himself.

"Harry?" His head snapped up at the sound of his godfather's voice. "I think it's best if you come back home tonight. The Weasleys have things to discuss... as do we."

Sirius was... calm?

He swallowed thickly and nodded. Next to him, Ron tried and failed to hold back a whimper. Despite his own nervousness, Harry was certainly glad that he wasn't in Ron's shoes that night; or even worse: the twins. Mrs. Weasley was a wonderful woman but she was downright terrifying.

He attempted a reassuring smile at his best friend and followed Sirius out of the station.

They walked in silence until they reached a shaded corner that would allow them to Apparate inconspicuously.

The Weasleys were still a little away and in the darkness, Harry saw that Mrs. Weasley had one of the twins by the ear while the other two trailed behind, smartly choosing to hide behind their father.

He waved at Ron who offered a meek hand in return before the entire family disappeared into thin air with a muffled crack.

"Come on, kiddo. Hold on tight."

Harry gripped his godfather's arm tightly were instantly sucked in by the darkness.

Whew! And so that's part II. The final part is also nearly done so until then, let me know what you felt about this chapter.