"Harry, could I talk to you for a miniute?" Lupin asked. Harry looked up from the book he was reading and smiled at his former professor. "Yeah?"

Lupin say down next to Harry on the bed and bounced for a moment, a small crease in his forehead as he considered how to say what he needed to say. "You remember that I told you that I still had a birthday present to give you?" he asked Harry. Harry nodded and Lupin continued. "And I have it for you. But we've got to clear up some things first. The official reading of Sirius' will is tonight so you'll have to come with me for that. We're supposed to be at the Law Office in about an hour and I wanted to make sure that you were ready. You can handle this can't you?"

Harry nodded impatiently. "I'll be fine." He bit his lip to keep himself from letting any of the pain that he felt come up onto the surface. "I'll be fine." He repeated, more for his own sake than Lupin's. Lupin sent him one more slightly skeptical look and opened his mouth. But he closed it again and just smiled. "Be ready in about twenty minutes then alright, muggle clothes. I know this is a bit hurried but since you go back to school tomorrow and they had the reading scheduled for after that we had to change it in a hurry." Harry managed a feeble smile as Lupin left but as soon as Lupin was out of hearing Harry sank back onto his pillow. He pinched the skin between his thumb and his forefinger, hoping to prevent any of the tears he could feel welling up inside him from escaping.

Twenty minutes later he was downstairs and in the robes that he had bought in Diagon Alley. Lupin gave him a quizzical look as he came out of the kitchen and Harry grinned as he tapped the shoulder of his robes with his wand. Instantly he was wearing a t-shirt and overly baggy pants. Lupin gave him a smiling look of approval as they walked over to the fireplace.

"I thought the Floo Network wasn't very stable right now." Harry said.

"To the Ministry they've got about seventy operatives on just that connection because it's an important one. Practically the only transit that's safe right now." Lupin said. He handed some Floo Powder to Harry, "Exit's Ministry Law Office." He said.

Harry obediently threw the powder in. "Ministry Law Office!" For once he had done it right apparently, as Lupin stumbled into the room only moments behind him. Harry looked around him in thankfulness. The room he had just entered looked nothing like the room Sirius had died in. He breathed a sigh of relief and followed Lupin up a narrow stairway to enter a large room with row upon row of seats. To his surprise almost every seat was filled.

"Sirius left stuff to this many people?" Harry asked incredulously. Remus shook his head with a smile. "No, he'd have had to been about twenty times as rich as he was, they're here for the other part of tonight. The memorial service bit." Harry looked around him, searching for familiar faces. He saw Moody and Dumbledore in one corner, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sitting with some Ministry executives who looked as if they were around the same age as Remus. To his surprise Harry saw that Snape was sitting among those Ministry officials. Harry blinked a few times, he would not have thought that Snape would care enough about Sirius to come to his memorial service.

There were Tonks and Kingsley down in a clump with the rest of the Aurors, and Cornelius Fudge was standing near the front, frowning down at a long scroll of paper. "Ahem! Yes, order please. If you will come to order we can begin!"

As the room quieted Fudge looked down at the paper one more time and frowned then cleared his throat. "Yes, well, today we are convened here to mourn the passing of a heroic man." Fudge coughed. He looked up and Harry grinned as he saw Moody catch Fudge's eye in a murderous glare. "Yes, a heroic man. His name was Sirius Black. Black was the last descendant of the great Black family and was wrongly accused of the murder of two of his best friends, James and Lily Potter. In truth these two were betrayed by Peter Pettigrew who is evidently still at large despite popular belief. Yes, Sirius Black's name is hereby cleared of any and all wrongdoing and he is post-humously awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class." The wizards in the audience broke into applause and Fudge looked around happily. "Yes, yes, all very good. Now Sirius Black's last will and testament will be read." Fudge stepped aside and a young man Harry didn't recognize stepped forwards to speak.

"I Sirius Black, hereby leave the following to the people named. To Arthur and Molly Weasley I leave ten thousand galleons. To Albus Dumbledore I leave an object that he has expressed much interest in having. I have arranged for it to be sent to his vault at Gringotts simultaneously to this reading." Sirius' will seemed to go on forever leaving various little things to countless people he had known during his life. Finally Harry heard a name that the recognized. "To Severus Snape I leave an apology and something which I have left in Albus Dumbledore's possession to be given to Snape upon the reading of this document." Harry glanced over at Snape as the man at the front continued reading.

Snape's face bore an expression of surprise and something else that Harry couldn't quite name. He shrugged as he turned an ear back to Sirius' will. To Remus Lupin I leave half of the sum of my wealth after the other people have received what has been left to them. Along with that sum I leave the things that we all promised each other that last day at Hogwarts. To Harry James Potter I leave all of my remaining possessions and money including those properties which I own and the servitude of the family house elf, nuts as he may be. To James and Lily Potter I leave my eternal love and gratitude and I hope that if this is being read it means I'm with you two somewhere." Harry stopped listening again as he felt blood welling up inside his mouth from where he had been chewing anxiously on the inside of his mouth.

As Harry finally got a hold on himself he listened to the presentations from those who had known Sirius best bitterly. How could these people who hadn't believed in Sirius' innocence, who had condemned him instantly as a murderer come up and say these loving things about him now? Harry choked down the tears that were threatening to boil from his eyes and he listened as person after person came up to talk. He wanted to say something to them, to show them how stupid they were being, but he didn't think that he would be able to talk even if he tried.

What seemed like hours later Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up into Remus Lupin's eyes. His face was tear streaked and yet another tear was rolling its slow way down his face. "Come on Harry, we'd best be getting home." He said softly. Harry stood up silently and followed Remus back to the Headquarters.

As Harry turned to go into his room Remus reached out and handed him a folded piece of paper. "It's from Sirius." He said. Harry took it and ran.

Dear Harry,
If you're reading this, it means I'm dead. If I hadn't been sent to
Azkaban so long ago I'd have to name you a guardian because I am your
legal guardian. But I was and so you'll be spared of that pain.
There are a few things I'd like to say to you since I haven't gotten
around to telling you them yet. Firstly, I loved your father. He was
like a brother to me and I'll never forget him. He was the best friend
I ever had and I have never met a better man. Sometimes I forget that
you aren't your father. I love you Harry, you're like the son I've
always wanted. You can't imagine how much it hurt me all those years
in Azkaban knowing that you were growing up with those Muggles and I
wasn't there to see you. Whenever I look at you I think of your father
and then I look back at you and I'm only thinking of you. I hope I can
show you this letter someday, after you've been living with me for
years and Voldemort's so long dead we can laugh about all this.
The other thing I wanted to tell you is just as important. No matter
how I died, no matter under what circumstances it happened, it wasn't
your fault. I know you'll blame yourself if I die, no matter whether
or not you were even there at the time. Whoever actually cast the
spell that killed me, or sank the sword into my gut, they were the
ones who killed me. You can disregard this paragraph of course if you
were the one who actually pointed your wand at me and did something
that made me die. In that case you are responsible, but only then.
Seeing as I can't really see that, it isn't your fault. No matter what
you think it wasn't your fault.
I love you Harry.

Love,
Sirius

P.S When you get back to Hogwarts you should do a bit of exploring.
Remus tells me you've got the Map. Put it to good use.

P.P.S I've left something for you with Remus, I'm sure he'll give it
to you in good time.

P.P.S.S Every time I stop writing I think of something else I want to
say to you. I've already told you I love you, but I'll say it again.
Just because I do. I love you Harry.

I've forgotten where we're down to by now so I'll give up on the P.Ss.
I'm not sure if you've properly explored some of the house's library.
I've left most of the interesting books to you, go look at them.

I don't think I remembered to include this in my will by the way,
since I'm really just the caretaker of all this stuff. If I die before
you come of age you'll get all of the things that Lily and James left
to you. Besides that puny bit of their money that they gave you in the
vault you've been using. Most of the things are either at Gringotts or
up in the attic here. Dumbledore's still got a few of them. And one
that I'm sure you'll like is under the floorboards in your room. I've
looked at the Marauder's Map and I'm pretty sure you've got the same
bed James used to have when we were in Gryffindor together. Look under
the bed and you should be able to find the right bit alright.

I love you Harry.
Love,
Sirius

Harry lay back on his bed and cried.