Credits: The phrase about Professor McGonagall and the kittens in this chapter was inspired by one of Theresa's letters on hers and Morgan D.'s Hogwarts Letters site. And I can only tell you again to pay that site a visit if you're one of those who always wanted to know what the HP-characters' private interactions might look like. It's fun to read and extremely well written.

Chapter Three: Return of the Godfather

But whatever nightmare had been plaguing Harry during his first attempt to sleep that night, it either didn't return or if it did, didn't haunt him strong enough to wake Remus up in the process.

At half past seven in the morning, Remus woke up on his own, seeing the early morning sunlight already filtering through the curtains. The silence in the rest of the house seemed to prove that at least Harry was still asleep.

After lazily snuggling into his pillows for another five minutes, Remus decided that it wasn't half as much fun to spend waking time in bed when there was no other warm body to cuddle up to, and so he got up to head for a shower.

If Dumbledore was right in his calculations, then it was possible that Sirius arrived here today. Standing under the hot spray of water in the bathtub, Remus contemplated what this could possibly mean.

Harry surely would be delighted if his godfather turned up, the sooner the better from all Remus could tell. He didn't begrudge the boy, after all there had truly never been any possibility for them to get beyond that stage of student-teacher relationship they had had during his year at Hogwarts. It didn't matter there that he had been one of his father's best friends, not at all.

It hadn't been a much different starting point with Sirius for Harry, but somehow over the past year those two seemed to have managed to bond closer. Not as close as they would have been had they known each other for all their lives, but probably as close as it was possible, given the circumstances.

Remus sighed as he washed the shampoo from out of his hair.

With Sirius here it would surely become easier for himself to be around Harry, Remus knew that with Sirius' help it would be easier to break the initial ice between him and the teenager, but nevertheless he couldn't help but dread his oldest friend's arrival nearly as much as he looked forward to it. Because there had been a time when Sirius had been more than just an 'old friend' for him.

Sirius had owled him numerous times since they had parted ways that night, after the events in the Shrieking Shack had turned around everything Remus had believed in, had wanted and needed to believe in to protect his sanity, for over a decade.

But letters could not properly do what so urgently needed to be done between them. Talking. Washing all the dirty laundry that had been stocking in their minds and hearts for far too long. They needed to talk about everything that had happened, Remus desperately needed to talk about it. Not only about the events that had led to James' and Lily's death, not only about their suspicions about each other. That needed to be done, no doubt about it, but that wasn't what Remus dreaded.

He and Sirius needed to talk about what had once been between them, they needed to because the way it had ended was not a way Remus could accept for any longer. He had hardly been able to live with it when it had happened, and thirteen years after that, but now, with the possibility of seeing Sirius for longer than an hour filled with other events that needed more urgent attention, Remus didn't intend to let that matter rest for any longer.

He really didn't expect things to change drastically, he only needed to know once and for all if there was still a chance, or even the slight trace of one.

Right now he'd prefer a straight 'no' over another year of uncertainty anytime, no matter how painful it might be to actually hear his biggest fear spoken out.

When suddenly the hot water ran out and Remus found himself standing under a spray of icy-cold liquid, he involuntarily returned from his thoughts. Hastily grabbing for his wand on the windowsill, he charmed the water hot again and washed the last lingering traces of soap from his skin.

Maybe it was good that the water had drawn him out of his musings, he'd only drive himself mad if he kept on pondering these thoughts. Sirius would come either tonight or tomorrow, and there would be enough time to worry about everything that once was between them when the time came. It wasn't of any use to do this now.

Slipping into a pair of old blue jeans and a grey t-shirt, his liking for muggle clothing was one of the few things that had remained from his time spent with Sirius, Remus cleaned up the bathroom and went downstairs to make some breakfast for Harry and himself.

He didn't really know whether Harry preferred to sleep in during his holidays, but even if he usually didn't, Remus thought it better to let him sleep for as long as he would after all that had happened. Though he was fairly sure that the nightmare last night had had nothing to do with whatever had happened during the night when the Dursleys had been attacked. Harry had not been in any real danger that night, and he had hardly witnessed anything the Death Eaters had done. But the way the boy had moaned and thrashed around in his bed, his brow sweaty and his arms stretched out in a defensive stance, it had appeared as if he'd been dreaming about a more dreadful memory of his.

Remus pot the kettle on the stove to heat some water for tea. He'd tell Sirius about the nightmare, and in case it returned maybe Harry would open up to his godfather and tell whatever it was that was worrying him off his chest.

Ignoring the slight sting the realization brought that the child who had once been as close to him as if it had been his own godson or nephew didn't trust him enough to tell him about a nightmare, Remus set the table and pulled the breakfast ingredients out of the fridge.

Just as he was about to prepare the scrambled eggs in a bowl, a low scratching sound from the front door made him look up.

Was he already beginning to imagine things?

No, there it was again, followed by a low, but clearly audible whine.

Remus' heart started beating faster, beyond his ability to remain indifferent about it. It could not be, could it?

Letting the fork fall into the bowl without even thinking, Remus wiped his hands on a towel and literally sprinted into the front hall. Before he could rip the door open, Remus forced himself to take a deep breath. Collecting his stance, he put a hand on the doorknob and pulled the wooden obstacle out of his way.

He had not dared to hope for it to happen so soon, but when Remus looked at the front step of his house he couldn't help but smile. In front of him, looking up from blue eyes that betrayed a mind intelligent far beyond the limits of a canine, sat a large black dog. It was looking a little worse for wear, his fur matted and speckled with dirt, but his tail was thumping excitedly up and down on the stone step. The dog gave a small bark.

"Hello Padfoot. Come in."

The dog lifted itself up from the step and walked through the door at Remus' invitation. Remus closed the door, and as soon as he turned around he found himself face to face with Sirius Black, his oldest and last remaining friend.

Sirius didn't look as bad as Remus had expected him to, it was obvious that on his way to alert 'the old crowd' he had found time for a decent meal and a bath from time to time. The robes he wore didn't look new, but they at least weren't as ragged and torn as the ones he had worn when he had first escaped Azkaban. His hair had been cut since then, and though his face (and entire frame, Remus mused) was still too thin to remind of the young, handsome man he had once been, he looked a lot better than a year ago when they had first met again. Sirius smiled warmly back at Remus.

"Hello Remus. How are you?"

'Hello Remus, how are you? Why is he so formal? Why are we so formal around each other, haven't we lost enough time already with not saying what we truly thought and felt? Then again, maybe that is all he truly feels, maybe that is all that has remained.'

He must have drifted off quite obviously, because the next thing he realized was a hand softly touching his arm.

"Are you alright, Remus?"

Remus quickly shook his head in an attempt to re-focus his eyes, then he nodded.

"Yes, yes I am. Just been spacing off for a moment, sorry."

He looked into Sirius' eyes, for the millionth time wondering how any eyes could possibly be so blue. He smiled.

"It's good to see you again, Sirius."

And before he could even think twice about it, Remus made a small step forward and hugged Sirius carefully. The circumstances couldn't have been different from the ones surrounding their careful embrace slightly more than a year ago, but just like back then Sirius didn't return the embrace. Instead, he even stiffened noticeably under Remus' touch.

Remus let go after a short moment and, not daring to look into Sirius' eyes and face the rejection in them, gestured him onwards into the kitchen.

"Let's sit down and have some breakfast, you have to be starving."

Sirius followed and sat down on one of the chairs around the table while Remus put the tea on the table and returned to the abandoned scrambled eggs.

He found that it was way easier to talk to Sirius when he didn't have to look into his eyes.

"You're early. Albus said you were not to be expected before tonight at earliest."

"I was lucky, had the chance to jump onto a truck that drove roughly into your direction without being detected. Saved me half a day at least."

Remus nodded and turned the bacon in the pan, then added the eggs.

"How did it go?"

Remus couldn't see it, but he guessed Sirius must have shrugged then.

"Alright. Dumbledore had warned all of them that his messenger would be someone unexpected, and they believed him that I could be trusted. Arabella even forced me to stay for a day, giving me new robes and trying to feed me up. Only Mundungus was a little more…difficult to convince."

Remus finished the eggs and sighed. He remembered Mundungus Fletcher only too well. Shoot first, then ask questions.

He turned around and rose a questioning eyebrow.

"What did he do?"

"Stun and bind me. But luckily he remembered Dumbledore's announcement and decided to listen to me before he called the Ministry. It tell you, his questioning methods haven't changed in the slightest. Some people should not be trusted with a wand."

Remus put the pan on the table and watched Sirius while he filled his friend's plate, not able to keep the concern out of his voice.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

Sirius waved a dismissive hand.

"I wasn't exactly comfortable until he believed that I was telling the truth, but he didn't do anything illegal. Don't worry. You know old Mundungus, he loves to threaten around and to show off, but he never really causes any harm. Mostly he's been trying to scare me by telling what horrible things he could do to me if I only did as much as breathe too loudly.

Thank you."

Sirius accepted the full plate and for the next ten minutes, no further words were spoken ad he hungrily devoured the food on his plate. Remus ate his own breakfast, though remarkably slower than his friend, and desperately tried to keep himself from staring at Sirius.

After Sirius had finished the rest of the eggs in the pan, he leaned back in his chair with a sigh and patted his stomach.

"Thank you, Remus. I tell you, living off rats and out of garbage cans is not something I enjoy."

He suddenly looked up, his eyes widened and his cheeks flushed a little.

"I hope Albus wrote you, he told me to stay here for a while and wait for new instructions. I hope this is alright with you, I wouldn't want to impose."

There it was again, the formal tone, as if they hardly knew each other well enough to call each other by their first names.

"Sirius, Albus wrote to me immediately after he sent you off. I assure you, it's fine for you to stay here. I want you to stay here."

Sirius nodded, his eyes evading Remus'.

"Thank you, Remus."

"You're welcome, Sirius."

For a moment, tense silence settled over the kitchen, similar to the way it had been during dinner the previous evening. Both men were lost in their own thoughts about what had been and what would possibly still come. Finally, after long moments, Sirius was the first to break the silence.

"Remus? Do you think I could borrow your owl today? I want to write Harry a letter, tell him that I've arrived safely. The poor kid has been through enough, and knowing Lily's relatives he has so much on his mind already that he doesn't need to worry about me, too."

For the first time since he had arrived here, Sirius' voice lost its hard edge when he talked about Harry, and immediately Remus' thoughts snapped back into present time. Harry. Maybe Harry's presence here was just what Sirius and he needed to overcome this icy stillness that dreaded to settle between them.

But first he needed to tell Sirius what had happened without worrying him even further.

"Erm, Sirius? I think there is something you need to know."

Immediately, the other man raised his head, his eyes wide with barely hidden concern.

"What? Has something happened to Harry?"

So much about not worrying Sirius. Great. Remus immediately raised his hands in a calming gesture.

"No Sirius, I assure you he's fine. But he no longer is staying with his relatives."

An ebony eyebrow raised in silent question, and so Remus started to tell.

"The day before yesterday, a bunch of Death Eaters breached the wards around Privet Drive."

Seeing the panic rise again into Sirius' eyes, the haunted look returning to his face, Remus smiled warmly.

"It's okay Sirius. Well, as okay as it can get, given the circumstances. The Death Eaters caused a little row in the street Harry lives in, and they even got into his relatives' house, but Albus had been warned in time. He went and retrieved Harry himself, and later the Ministry has cleaned up everything and arrested the four Death Eaters who tried. Nobody has been harmed or hurt, and all the muggles' memories have been altered. Harry's relatives think he's on a field trip for the rest of the holiday, because Albus didn't want Harry to return there after the wards have been breached once."

Sirius nodded, relief written plainly across his face.

"So he's staying with the Weasleys?"

Remus shook his head.

"No, and neither at Hogwarts. Albus thought that the Weasleys are already in enough danger as it is, and he didn't want to risk it to have one of them hurt on Harry's behalf. As wouldn't Harry. And as Albus and the other teachers except from Sibyl and Filch won't be staying at Hogwarts for the greatest part of the summer, this wasn't an alternative either."

Again, Sirius nodded, but this time his expression quickly changed into one of confusion.

"But then, where *is* Harry now?"

Remus smiled.
"Somewhere where he has two fully educated wizards to take care of him for the rest of the holiday."

Remus' smile grew into a smirk, but it soon vanished as he realized that Sirius had not figured out the clue. On the contrary, he seemed even more confused, and he was slowly growing exasperated. Patience had never been one of Sirius Black's virtues.

"Where, Remus?"

Remus sighed.

"Harry is upstairs, still sleeping soundly in the spare room."

Sirius' jaw dropped.

"He's…he's…Harry is here?"
Remus nodded, the smile back on his face. Sirius' expression was priceless. Whatever he had been expecting, it had not been this.

"Yes, he's here Sirius. And he'll stay here for the rest of the holiday, which is what I assume you will do as well, given the case nothing grave interferes."

Sirius nodded, still too stunned to use his vocal chords. Glancing at the clock on the wall behind Sirius, Remus realized that it was already way past nine in the morning. Harry must have been really tired if he slept so long, after all he had not gone to bed really late last night.

"Speaking of which, he should be up soon. Or so I guess."

Sirius nodded, his composure slowly returning. And with it, as it seemed, all paternal instincts he ever had.

"Remus, how is he doing?"

Remus shrugged and for some long moments looked at his friend.

"I don't really know, Sirius. I only brought him here yesterday morning, and he seemed to be quite fine. He spaced out when I told him that we'd go here by portkey and it took me some moments to understand why."

Sirius nodded.

"Else, well we didn't really do that much yesterday. I showed him the house, we had lunch and then we played chess for the entire afternoon. He was quite shy and reluctant to talk or ask questions around me at first, and I guess it'll take some time till he gets used to it. Last night I woke up when he was thrashing around in his bed. He was having a nightmare, but he didn't tell me what it was. I had thought he'd rather talk to you about it in case it returned."

Sirius nodded again, a small smile playing around his lips. It seemed as if the thought about spending six weeks together with his godson was finally trickling through.

Remus' heart contracted painfully in his chest as he saw the first true and genuine smile pass Sirius' features. The first true smile Remus had seen from him in so many years. It made Sirius look so much younger, took so many signs of hardship and pain from his face, which had aged way before its time.

Remus wished he could see Sirius smile like that again everyday, like he had grown used to seeing him during the long years of their friendship.

Sirius smiling while thinking up another scheme or prank, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

Sirius smiling up at Professor McGonagall with all the charm a fifteen year old could muster, desperately trying to lessen their punishment for getting caught in the act. More than once one of his innocent million-candle-smiles had saved Gryffindor a lot of points.

Sirius smiling at James and Lily, who had fallen asleep on the sofa in front of the fireplace in Gryffindor common room, his arms around her waist and her face buried in his shirt. Then, his eyes had been shining with happiness for his best friend, happiness that James had found his perfect match.

Sirius smiling down at Harry when he had held him for the very first time, in the delivery room shortly after Harry had been born. There had been tears in his eyes then, no matter how hard he had tried to hide them, while he had silently pledged love and the promise of protection to his newborn godson.

Most painful were the images of the uncountable times Sirius had smiled at him.

Fond smiles of friendship during their first years at Hogwarts, never bearing any trace of the fear or rejection Remus had so dreaded to see in them.

Smiles with another quality in them, with an interest he had not been able to pinpoint at that time during their fifth year.

Remus closed his eyes as the memories started to resurface, allowing the images to pass in front of his inner eye because he knew there was no way to stop them.

Sirius' face as the first thing he saw upon waking up after another transformation, smiling gently but his eyes full of concern.

Sirius in their dorm room, staring off into space, a dreamy expression on his face and a Mona Lisa smile on his lips.

Sirius' flushed face after their first kiss, smiling shyly, his eyes showing the whirlwind of emotions that was running through him at that time.

Sirius, his eyes red from crying and tear tracks still on his face, disbelief and hope in his eyes and smile when they had had their first long talk after he had sent Snape into the Shrieking Shack, after nearly four months during which Remus had tried his best to completely ignore Sirius' existence.

The smile on the sleeping Sirius' face after their first night together, when Remus had watched him for a long time in the morning after waking up in his arms.

Many more images came to his mind, some thought long forgotten. Remus had not known how much a simple smile from Sirius could imply, never had he guessed that it would one day mean so much to him. Sirius had always been smiling, he had always been cheerful. That was what hurt most now, Remus thought. Sirius was a different person now. Whatever he had been through in the past years, and Remus didn't know whether he'd ever be able to completely understand it, if it had been enough to take the smiles from Sirius it must have been horrible. Beyond horrible. And if that already hurt Remus that much, he didn't want to know what it must be doing to Sirius. No wonder he felt uncomfortable around Remus. Sirius surely had learned more than his fair share of how painful memories could be if they resurfaced in the wrong moment or manner.

"Remus? Remus? Earth to Moony! Moony, what's wrong?"

Remus opened his eyes and saw Sirius standing in front of him, a worried frown on his face and his hand on Remus' right shoulder. As soon as he saw Remus coming back into the here and now, he quickly pulled his hand away again as if he had burnt it.

"You okay, Remus?"

"Yes, yes I am. Sorry Sirius, I guess I drifted off."

Sirius nodded, albeit slowly.

"You seem to do that a lot, lately."

"No, it's just…I don't know really. A lot has happened during the past days, it's just too much to take in."

Those blue eyes bore into him as if they were trying to probe the barriers around Remus and find out what he truly thought. But Remus would have none of that.

"Why don't you go upstairs into the bath and make yourself a little more presentable for Harry? I'll look if I can find something to wear for you."

Sirius nodded and turned towards the door, but then he turned around again and gave Remus a somewhat sheepish grin.

"First door to the left, upstairs. There should be enough towels in there, and toothbrushes are in the cupboard under the sink."

"Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, Sirius. You're welcome."

He meant the last part just as much as a 'welcome home', but didn't dare to speak it out aloud. Not here, not now.

Half an hour later, they were back downstairs, sitting in the living room for a cup of tea. Sirius' hair was still damp from the bath,  but at least it was untangled and completely clean now. He wore a plain white t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans that belonged to Remus. Before his time in Azkaban, it would have been unlikely for Sirius to ever fit into a pair of Remus' trousers, but years of malnutrition had done that to him. Remus had only needed to slightly lengthen the trouser legs because however thin, Sirius was still taller than Remus by nearly half a head.

Remus was slowly starting to think that he would have to get used to uncomfortable silence around, because Sirius had not said more than five words on his own since he had come back down, and had replied monosyllabically when Remus had asked him something.

Light was showing at the end of the tunnel when sounds from upstairs indicated that Harry had finally woken up. The shower was running, and ten minutes later the bathroom door shut close, followed by the door to Harry's room and after a slight pause there were footsteps on the stairs.

Remus smiled at Sirius.

"Seems like someone has finally decided to return to the land of the living."

With that, he got up from his armchair and made his way back into the kitchen. Harry stepped in a few seconds later, his hair in its usual unruly state. He stifled a yawn behind the back of his hand which earned him a smirk from Remus' direction.

"Good morning, Remus."

"Good morning, Harry. Good to see you finally awake."

The teenager blushed slightly.

"I'm sorry, usually I don't sleep that long. I don't know what has gotten into me."

"It's perfectly okay for you to sleep in, Harry. It's your holiday, after all. And there is nothing that really needs your attention that early in the morning. Breakfast?"

Not waiting for Harry's answer, Remus put some more bacon and eggs into the pan on the stove, this time cooking it quickly with a wave of his wand. He put the breakfast down in front of Harry who nodded his thanks and began to eat. He had not realized that Sirius had entered the room and was now leaning in the doorframe behind him, taking in the scene before him with obvious amusement.

"Now Harry", Remus began, settling himself on the opposite side of the table so that he could see both of them clearly, "what are your plans for today?"

Harry shrugged between two bites of scrambled eggs.

"Haven't got any, actually. I guess I'll write to Ron and Hermione, and then maybe start with my homework. There's an essay for Professor Binns about which I still haven't got any clue at all."
Remus stifled a chuckle.

"Let me guess – a goblin rebellion."

Harry laughed.

"Exactly. But don't ask me when it was, or what they were rebelling against. I just can't keep all those rebellions apart, let alone their leaders."

Remus nodded.

"Urgh the Ugly and Simon the Smurf. Those were two with which your father always got through. Believe me, Binns was not an ounce better while he was still alive."

"Yeah, I just hope we'll have him during the first period again next year. It's always two hours of additional sleep, though Hermione has kittens every time Ron and I don't pay attention. I swear, that girl is bound to become the next McGonagall in the future."

Remus snorted, nearly choking on his tea. Harry frowned in confusion.

"What? What did I say?"

Remus shook his head and waved his hand while he waited for the coughing to subside.

"Nothing. It's just that I can actually imagine that. But don't tell Hermione."

"Remus, I might only be fourteen years old, but I'm not that stupid, you know? Knowing my luck, McGonagall would stand behind me while I said that and then she'd be the one to have kittens."

Now Remus couldn't hold on his composure anymore, the old image of his former colleague metaphorically having kittens mixed with images of her animagus form in his mind and he burst out laughing. Harry looked startled for a moment, but then sound form behind him made him turn around. He found himself face to face with his godfather, leaning in the doorframe and laughing along with Remus as if there was no tomorrow.

"Sirius!"

Harry leapt to his feet, nearly taking his plate of breakfast with him in the process and, not really thinking twice about it, flung himself at the older man.

Sirius was startled for a moment, but then happily hugged back.

"Hiya kiddo. How are you?"

"M'fine."

The reply was slightly muffled through the fabric of Sirius' shirt. The fact that the teenager who had ever before been somewhat reluctant to offer or receive physical affection clung to Sirius as if he was his lifeline, his fists gripping Sirius' shirt so tightly that his knuckles turned white told clearly that Harry was not as fine as he claimed to be, but Sirius decided to let the matter rest for now. As Harry made no movement to let go of his godfather, Sirius kept his arms in place and rubbed slow circles around Harry's back.

Remus watched the scene with a smile on his face, only slightly pained by the realization that Sirius didn't seem to mind hugging Harry as much as he did hugging him. But then again, they and their former relationship were a completely different matter.

After a minute or so, Sirius gently drew back from the embrace and held Harry at arm's length, looking him over as if in search for any signs of injuries, though he should know that there were none. He gently brushed some stray strands of black hair from Harry's forehead.

"Sure you're fine? Remus told me what happened."

Harry looked down at his feet, his smile vanishing from his face. He shrugged his shoulders.

"A lot has happened, that's all."

Sirius nodded, though it was obvious that he didn't completely believe him. Putting his hands on Harry's shoulders, he steered him back to his recently vacated chair.

"Go on an finish your breakfast, then we think about those plans you have for today. I'd say they need a little re-working, don't you agree?"

Harry allowed his godfather to steer him back into his chair on the kitchen table and hungrily devoured the rest of his scrambled eggs, not leaving Sirius out of sight. He realized that he was really glad for Sirius' presence. Not that he didn't like Remus, that definitely was not the case, but he just wasn't as comfortable around his former teacher than he was around Sirius. It was stupid really, but Harry just couldn't help it. Sirius was as close to a parental figure as he'd ever come, and it felt good to finally have him around for a longer time.

When he had finished and put his plate into the sink for Remus to clean, Sirius gestured to follow him into the living room.

"Now", he began, "I guess you haven't been on a broom for quite some time, right kiddo?"

Harry nodded and couldn't hide the grin that started to spread across his face. He had an idea as to where this conversation was leading.

"Actually, it's been something around nine months ago. And then I was flying around a dragon, so that's also not what I'd call 'normal' flying."

Sirius grinned.

"Ah, yes. The dragon. I did tell you how proud I am of how you handled that, didn't I?"

Harry smiled shyly, but as soon as he started thinking back to the first task, it didn't take long until everything that had happened during the third task came back to his mind. His smile immediately vanished. Telling Cedric to take the cup with him certainly was nothing Sirius was proud of him doing. And Cedric would never be told that somebody was proud of him. Never again.

"Harry?"

Upon hearing his name, Harry blinked and quickly focussed his eyes again. No need to let Sirius know what he had been thinking about, he had already not been able to hold himself back from hugging Sirius like a small child. Time to behave like any other fifteen year old (well, nearly fifteen year old) would to, too.

But if he had thought that he could fool Sirius, Harry had been mistaken.

At first Sirius had asked himself why it was that the inhabitants of this house seemed to space out so often, but the haunted look that briefly crossed Harry's features told Sirius more than he had ever wanted to know about what was going on inside of Harry. Mentally, Sirius kicked himself. He should have known better than to chose his words so carelessly.

He had wanted to talk about something that would not upset Harry, at least at first, at least until Harry would make the first step to open up towards him. Quidditch and flying had appeared as good a choice as there could be, but he should have known it. He should have known that the first thing Harry would think about would be his flying during that blasted tournament. Harry had not had any chance to fly otherwise during the past year. But no, as stupid as he was, Sirius had had to remind Harry of the tournament again. And with thoughts about the tournament, thoughts about that other kid's death came.

'Great Black. Really great. The boy is already scarred enough as it is, he certainly doesn't need a godfather who makes him think about all that shit over and over again.'

But what had been done had been done, Sirius could not change it anymore now. He gave Harry what he hoped was an encouraging smile.

"Anyway, what I wanted to say – how about you and me going out and flying a little? It's been quite some time since I've been on a broom as well, but I'd like to try and see what I'm still able to do."

Harry nodded and smiled back at Sirius, though his smile had a somewhat forced quality.

"Sure. I'll just go upstairs and get my broom."

Harry jumped up from the armchair and left the living room, moments later Sirius could hear his footsteps on the stairs. Sirius sighed and got up as well. Harry had a broom, alright, now he only needed to make sure how he was supposed to leave the ground.

He found Remus in the kitchen, rummaging around in the fridge while the breakfast dishes were cleaning themselves in the sink.

"Ah, Sirius. I'm about to go to town to do some shopping. Is there anything you want me to bring from the stores?"

Sirius leaned against the counter and scratched his head, thinking about this question for a moment.

"No, nothing I could think of at the moment. But thank you. Though there might be something you could help me with."

Remus closed the refrigerator door and scribbled something down on a piece of parchment, then he looked up.

"What is it?"

"Harry and me want to go flying for a little while. And while he has this really, *really* good racing broom, at the moment I am rather helpless when it comes to leaving the ground."

Remus crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at his old friend, not able to hide the enormous grin that started to spread across his face. He would be enjoying every moment of what was about to come, that much he knew.

"Wait. Do I get this right and you, Sirius Black, ask me, Remus Lupin, for a broom? If I remember correctly, you always used to say that I should not be allowed anywhere near a broom, let alone own one. And you said that I wouldn't know which model to buy, anyway. And now you're asking me for a broom?"

"Erm, the way you put it, it sounds so…so…negative."

Remus shook his head and waved a dismissive hand at his friend.

"Just forget about it. There's a broom in the garden shed. I don't know how useful it will be compared to Harry's, though. It's an old one, and I guess I haven't flown it since England has last won the Quidditch World Cup."

Sirius just raised his eyebrows.

"Oh."

A pause.

"Erm, Remus?"

"Yes?"

"Now that you mention it, when *did* England last win the World Cup?"

"You don't want to know, Sirius. You don't want to know."

"Oh. Okay. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Sirius."

With this, Remus pocketed his wand and took his shopping list. He turned back towards Sirius and pointed his index finger at him in a gesture of mock admonishing.

"Have fun, stay close to the house and whatever you do, stay out of trouble and away from my kitchen. I'll be back in an hour or so."

Sirius grinned.

"Yes Mum. May I have a cookie and a glass of milk while you're away?"

Remus playfully swatted Sirius across the head, his outward demeanour not showing how much this light-hearted banter warmed his heart inside.

"You know I don't particularly care about cookies at all. I'd advice you to throw away anything cookie-like which you might find in here. I don't think I've had new ones ever since I've moved in here."

Sirius raised his eyebrow, and his eyes gained a bit of their long-passed mischief back.

"No possibility then that there are still some of those fantastic cookies Lily helped us make left? In some tin or cupboard maybe?"

Remus just shook his head.

"Sirius, really. Not after all those years. And would you like to explain our first and only experimentation with muggle drugs to your godson? I thought not."

With another shake of his head, Remus turned and left the kitchen, feeling Sirius' grin in his back. At that moment, Harry came into the kitchen, his Firebolt tightly in his hand.

"Where is Remus going? And what do you want to explain to me?"

Obviously, Harry had heard parts of Remus' last sentence.

"Nothing Harry. Nothing at all. Let's just say that you should be glad not to have seen the late seventies. Now, about this flying we're intending to do."

Harry raised his eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Well, it seems as if somehow miraculously good old Remus owns a broom. But I'm afraid I won't be a good match for you and your Firebolt."

Harry had quite a good idea where his godfather was driving at, but he decided to let him suffer a little more.

"And?"

Sirius knew what kind of game Harry was playing, but one look at the racing broom in the teenager's hand made him forget that he had ever cared about his dignity. After all, the kid had seen him in his worst after the Azkaban escape, Sirius doubted he had that much of a reputation to lose.

"Please let me have a go on your broom!"

He fell to his knees and folded his hands in a mock begging gesture, and finally Harry could not hold back his laughter anymore. Sirius pretended to be crying into his palms, occasionally sniffling to underline his point.

"Oh, alright Sirius. You can stop now, I didn't fall for this in the first place, you know? You can have a go as soon as I've finished my first round, alright? Now let's look at that broom of yours, maybe it isn't that bad."

Sirius got to his feet again and shook his head as they made their way towards the backdoor.

"There's no chance, Harry. Remus keeps a broom in case he needs to fly somewhere. He doesn't keep a broom because he wants to have a broom, but because he thinks it might be useful one day. It's like cars."

Harry stopped and looked at his godfather quizzically. He wasn't used to wizards who made muggle-references.

"Cars?"

Sirius nodded feverishly.

"Yes. You see, if brooms were cars, then the different broom models would be different car models, right?"

Harry nodded, but still frowned his brow.

"Right. I guess."

"So, your Firebolt would be something like a Ferrari. Something I would buy, and something your father would have bought. A combination of the best in speed, looks and technique. But expensive and if we're honest also a bit of a boast. 

Now, your Mum would probably have been the Volvo-type of person. You know, safety first. She'd probably have insisted on a Sweepmaster as your first broom. A safe thing, and not a racing model. Good to learn flying. A Volvo, yeah I like that one.

Now, if you, your Dad and I have a Ferrari, and your Mum would have bought a Volvo, then let me tell you that Remus is the kind of person who doesn't really pay any attention to details like model or colour at all. For him, it is important that his car does what it's supposed to, without any additional stuff he doesn't know how to handle. He'd drive a Fiat, or a Lada, or a small Japanese car. But the important thing is, he probably wouldn't even *know* what model he was driving. Maybe, if at all, he'd remember his car's colour so that he would find it again on bigger parking-spaces.

He'd only use it when it could not be avoided and have it for as long as it would work. Because he doesn't care what kind of car it was, but it would be important that it does what a car is supposed to do. The same goes for his brooms, so I would not be surprised if we'd find a Cleansweep Two or a Nimbus One-Twenty in that shed."

Harry looked at his godfather with an expression that stated quite clearly what he thought about Sirius' state of mind, and it wasn't something good. He had the kind of expression on his face which people normally showed before they carted their relatives off to St. Mungo's.

They had reached the shed by now and Harry opened the door.

"Just look what kind of broom it is, alright?"

Sirius nodded and grinned apologetically.

"Maybe I've over-used that car-metaphor."

"Yes, maybe. Though I liked the part about me having a Ferrari."

Sirius laughed and ruffled Harry's hair as he passed him in the shed doorframe. There in the corner leaned the broom Remus had been talking about.

Sirius grabbed it and returned to daylight of the backyard where he examined the broom more closely. It was a ShootingStar II, more than ten years old by now but still in quite a good shape.

"Well, I guess it could have come worse. Alright Kiddo, let's fly, shall we?"

Harry nodded enthusiastically, a feeling Sirius couldn't quite share. Truth be told, he had not been on a broom ever since the ShootingStar in front of him had been the newest and best broom on the market, but using one now somehow irked him. During his school days he had always wanted to own the newest and fastest broom and would have never even looked at a broom that was older than a decade. But one of the many lessons Sirius had learned during his time in Azkaban was that brooms were definitely not the most important thing in the world.

Which was quite hard to keep in mind when he was holding a ShootingStar II while his teenage godson was standing in front of him, the world's fastest racing broom in his hand.

Pushing those thoughts from his mind, Sirius followed Harry into the middle of the backyard where the teen already stood, ready to kick off.

"Okay, I'd say we'll fly a little round, and by the time I realize how much this broom sucks compared to yours, I'll go and search for something we could use to play Quidditch with."

Harry just grinned and pushed himself from the ground, soaring up into the sky at a neck-breaking speed. Sirius could hear him laugh out loud, and a moment later Harry dove back towards the ground, pulling the broom up only moments before he crashed.

"Did I already tell you that the Firebolt was the best present I've ever been given?"

Harry was by now racing out of earshot again, so Sirius only nodded, paralyzed with shock.

Yeah, the Firebolt had been just a *brilliant* idea, Sirius thought. Surely that was why he feared Harry might fall off that blasted thing any moment. He'd have a stroke or an ulcer by the end of summer, if things continued like that.