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Sorry this has taken so long, I've had an overload of work lately. It seems a few people have had that also, as I see some still haven't updated their stories. *coughMs.Padfootcough* But anyway, here it is!
A Different Life
Chapter 40 - Meet the Godfather
Sirius stepped out of the shadows and stopped in front of Harry, still maintaining his distance. After a few minutes of complete silence he coughed, obviously feeling a bit nervous under Harry's strong shocked gaze. "Hi Harry." His voice had a roughness to it; he obviously unsurprisingly hadn't spoken very much while in Azkaban.
Harry for his part just continued to gape until Remus nudged him in the back. Harry quickly brought his thoughts together and swallowed. What was he supposed to call him? Every story he had been told about the man in front of him by his father or Remus he had been referred to as Black and the fact that it was always said with hatred didn't make him feel any easier at the moment.
"Hello Mr. Black." Harry finally decided that he couldn't go wrong with that.
Remus snorted behind Harry and quickly covered his mouth when Harry turned around to look at him.
Sirius smiled at him. "Call me Sirius Harry, though Padfoot might be safer at the moment."
Harry nodded. "Why are you...?" Harry trailed off, realizing he had no idea how to act in front of this man and what he could and couldn't ask him.
"Why am I out of Azkaban?" Sirius finished where Harry left off.
Harry nodded nervously, he wasn't sure he felt truly comfortable here.
"Well I've had my trial and was fully pardoned."
Harry looked closely at Sirius. He had most likely just cleaned himself up a bit recently, but still aftereffects could be seen over his face and posture. A slight slouch as he stood said he had been in a confined space that probably wasn't suitable for his height. His eyes were shallow, with large bags under each eye. He also had the appearance of someone weak. His bones were skinny and he was very pale.
"How come it wasn't in the Daily Prophet? I looked for any mention just this morning and there was nothing."
Sirius seemed to light up when he heard that Harry had been looking for articles on him. A glow seemed to come through his eyes.
"The ministry wanted to keep the trial secret, they wouldn't want the public to know that they may have made a huge mistake." Remus replied, walking over to a desk that was in-between Harry and Sirius and sitting on top of it.
"So now that you have been cleared, will there be something that announces your innocence to the public?"
"There should be something before the end of this week." Sirius said, a bit of bitterness seeping through his voice.
This should be a big case, so why was the Daily Prophet not even concerned by the fact that an innocent man was in prison for almost 10 years? Harry was dragged out of his thoughts when he realized he was being spoken to.
"So Harry, have you decided what animal you want to be yet?" Sirius asked out of the blue.
"Animal?" Harry shifted to lean onto his other foot, wondering what Sirius was talking about.
"To become an Animagus of course." Sirius said as if it were obvious.
"Sirius! Even we didn't start researching that until our third year, and it took long enough to happen. Harry is only in his first year. There is no way he is even going to research such a thing, let alone attempt it."
"Oh come on Moony, why not? I bet Harry would be a..." Sirius leaned closer to Harry and studied him carefully. "... I don't know, what do you think Remus? I was never good at picking what animal one should be. I was sure James was going to be a turtle."
"A turtle?" Harry asked, truly wondering why he had picked that animal to be his father out of all of them.
"Yes, he just had that look about him I suppose." Sirius shrugged and leaned away again.
"What did you base that on, I mean if anything, James was totally opposite to a turtle. He was always fast, especially on the Quidditch pitch, he had a normal sized neck, he was not green and if presented in a situation he did not use camouflage and hide." Remus said, acting as though they had entered into a fight that had been going on for years.
"Well one, James liked to do the opposite to what you thought he would do, two, he wasn't that fast on the Quidditch pitch-"
Remus rolled his eyes.
"-three, not all turtles have long necks, four, Not all turtles are green, and besides, I remember that time in second year when you gave James those sweets that you had charmed to taste like vomit-"
"I did not! That was you." Remus said indignantly, although the smile appearing on his face gave away his true feelings.
Sirius waved Remus' comment off and continued talking. "Point is, he turned green faster then you used to flush every time Amy Birch would say two words to you."
Harry laughed as he saw a twinge of red on Remus' cheek. He was enjoying seeing them talk and joke around. He was amazed at how much younger and happier the two looked.
"Sirius, I did not go red whenever-"
"Oh give it up Moony, I didn't believe you then and I don't believe you now." Sirius smiled innocently at Remus. "And lastly, what did you call James' invisibility cloak? I would call that a nice camouflage device he had." Sirius smiled at Remus smugly.
"Why would you charm a sweet to taste like vomit? Don't they already have them in Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?" Harry asked.
"Not in our day Harry, and the one's that Sirius-" Remus emphasized Sirius' name. "-used were a lot stronger then what you get in those packets."
Harry winced, the first vomit flavored bean he had had was a bad experience, it happened when he was a lot younger and he now even up to this day refused to have any colour that resembled yellow.
"So what animal do you think Moony?" Sirius brought the conversation back on track.
"He isn't going to have to worry about that since he is not going to be an Animagus." Remus glared at Sirius, as if daring him to argue that. Sirius smiled and didn't even think twice before replying.
"Why not Remus? It will be a lot safer for him now with all the new developments I'm sure they would have made, and he also has you and me to help him. We never had that and look how well ours turned out."
"Sirius, you are not going to teach Harry to become an Animagus. Not only is he too young, but if Severus found out he would kill you."
"What has Snape got to do with this?"
"Sirius, we talked about this. Severus is Harry's father."
Sirius' good mood seemed to fly out the window and he glared at Remus, but seemed to have great will in keeping what he wanted to say to himself.
Harry started to feel awkward with the sudden silence that fell over them and really wished they were back in their playful mood.
"So Harry, why don't you tell me about yourself?" Sirius asked kindly, sitting at a desk that was behind him.
Harry barely got to open his mouth before he was cut off.
"Actually Harry, you should head off to bed now, its already past curfew." Remus stood up.
Harry looked down at the watch his father had given to him and realized that it was very late. He would have to talk to his father tomorrow, though he did have a pretty good idea why his father was angry at dinner now.
"How about tomorrow, Harry? We can meet back here for dinner and talk after?" Sirius asked, hope tinged his voice.
"I won't be able to be here, I have..." Remus trailed off.
"Did you want me to join you?" Sirius asked quickly.
"No, no, I'll be alright. Severus has already given me the potion that I can take."
"Snape has given you a potion?" Sirius looked skeptically at him.
"Yes, but you both can still meet here if that's alright with you Harry?" Remus looked at Harry.
Harry thought about it, he didn't really know this man, and from the stories he had been told about him, he probably shouldn't since almost all of them he was painted in a not so flattering light, but after tonight, he couldn't help but trust him. "Sure."
Sirius smiled. "So dinner it is then." Sirius stood back up.
"Where are you going Sirius?" Remus asked wearily.
"To walk Harry back to his common room, the walk should do me some good I would think."
"But what if someone recognizes you?" Harry asked.
"Oh, I doubt anyone will." Sirius smiled and then transformed into his dog form.
Harry marveled at him, he hadn't heard much about Sirius' form.
Remus shook his head and then led Harry to the door. "I'll walk with you too, that way I'll be able to explain to any Professor's why you are out past curfew and why there is a dog following you."
"Thanks Remus." Harry smiled at him and opened the door.
"Besides, you tend to find yourself in trouble quite often, and knowing Padfoot, you would probably wind up in those situations a lot more often."
Padfoot drooled all over Remus' robes and then quickly ran a few steps ahead so Remus couldn't grab him.
Harry laughed as he watched both Remus and Padfoot play around. Every once in a while Padfoot would hide behind Harry so Remus couldn't hit him with a well aimed curse.
***
"Where have you been Harry? I was just about to go looking for you." Ron stood up and over to the still laughing Harry.
After bringing himself together Harry walked over to a chair in front of the fire and collapsed onto it. He had been standing for far too long.
"Harry?" Hermione sat in the chair beside him.
Harry smiled at them both, feeling in a very good mood, it had been a while since he was this happy. "I was with Remus-"
"See Ron, I told you he would have just stayed behind to talk to him."
Ron poked his tongue out at her and sulkily sat in a chair on the other side of Harry.
"What did Professor Lupin want Harry?" Hermione pulled out a book as if what Harry would say wouldn't be that interesting and opened up to a page, still listening to Harry but also reading at the same time.
"He introduced me to Sirius Black." Harry answered calmly, trying to take in both their reactions at once.
Ron spluttered and Hermione dropped her book onto the floor.
"Could- could you repeat that. I think I just muddled up what you said with what I was reading."
"Well maybe if you put that book away you wouldn't have that problem." Ron said smugly.
Hermione scowled at Ron and picked up the book that had fallen to the ground. She put it back into her lap but made no move to open it.
"I said that Remus introduced me to Sirius Black." Harry said extra slowly, as if talking to a small child. He was rewarded by a sour look from Hermione and a laugh from Ron.
"So what's he like?" Ron asked, he was quick to skip over the 'how' and 'why' part. Hermione was not.
"Why is he here now? Has he been set free then? I don't remember hearing or reading about a trial. How long will he be here for? Where is he staying? What does Professor Sn-"
"Hermione, please, give me a chance here." Harry gasped out, trying to remember all the questions she had asked. He hadn't even thought to ask some of them. "He seems very nice. He and Remus get along well, he's really funny. Umm... yes he is free, the Ministry kept it all quiet, but he said that there should be something in the Daily Prophet soon. I'm not sure where he is staying, but I would suggest he would be most likely staying with Remus and I have no idea how long he is staying for." Harry took a deep breath; he was starting to feel tired.
"When do we get to meet him?" Ron asked eagerly.
"I'm not to sure. Soon I would say. I'm meeting with him tomorrow night but I don't know if it's a good idea if you come along."
"Why not?" Ron asked, confused.
"That's obvious Ron. He would want to spend time with Harry alone of course." Hermione shook her head at Ron and then looked at her watch. "You should both get to bed, it is getting late."
"What about you?" Ron shot back at her, not willing to admit she was right.
"I will also be going to bed. Goodnight Harry. Ron." She said curtly before getting up and leaving.
Ron shook his head at her until she was out of site. "She's dead annoying sometimes you know."
"That's because you don't like being wrong and she kindly seems to point it out to you when you are." Harry answered back, yawning.
"Yeah, I have you to do that for me." Ron rolled his eyes and stood up, stretching.
"Hey Ron, I'm really sorry about before in class."
Ron smiled. "Don't worry about it Harry, I'm over it."
Harry smiled at him too. "Thanks Ron."
They both headed over to the bottom of the stairs and Harry stopped just before he took his first step.
"What?" Ron too stopped just behind Harry and looked at him curiously.
"You really were an ugly baby Ron." Harry laughed as Ron chased him up the stairs and into their dormitory.
***
Harry was heading towards the Great Hall for lunch then next day when his father caught up to him and led him into an empty classroom. He almost groaned out loud. He had woken up late that morning and had to miss breakfast to make it to his first class on time, and he was absolutely starving now.
Harry stood and watched as his father shut and locked the door, while warding the room so no one could listen in on what was being said.
"You met Black last night." It was more of a statement then a question.
"Yes."
"Did he hurt you?" Severus pulled out a chair and moved it so it was facing Harry and then sat in it.
"Hurt me?" Harry asked, frowning at his father, feeling a bit confused.
"It's a simple question Harry." Severus indicated for Harry to sit in a chair that was facing him, just behind where Harry was standing.
"Of course he didn't." Harry sat down and looked at his father carefully.
Severus sighed and looked around the room.
"Is that all you wanted to know, because I'm hungry and I don't want to miss lunch." Harry smiled at him as just after he finished saying that his stomach growled.
Severus rolled his eyes at him but got up anyway. "I was hoping we could talk longer then this Harry-"
"I know and we can talk more tomorrow night after our potion lesson." Harry suggested, he too getting up and starting to head toward the door.
"I was thinking more tonight Harry."
Harry stopped and turned around. "Actually I have some homework I was hoping I could finish tonight." Why was he lying? This was his father, he could tell him anything. "And I was meeting Sirius tonight."
"Black? Why? You just spoke to him yesterday." Severus frowned at him.
"We didn't get to talk much yesterday."
"What about that homework you just mentioned?"
"I can do it after; we won't be too long I'm sure." Harry started to walk backwards towards the door. Partly because he was very hungry and wanted to get to the Great Hall soon, and partly because he had a sneaking suspicion that his father would say he couldn't go tonight.
"Harry, I don't think you should-"
"Please dad." Harry put his best pleading look on his face and almost sighed in relief when he saw his father's resistance crumbling.
"If I find out you were out past curfew Harry-"
"I know, I know. Thank you so much dad." Harry turned and was almost out the door when his father called him back.
"I thought you might like this back. I keep forgetting to give it to you." Severus put his hand in one of his pockets and pulled out the chain he had found by the snake in the forest while looking for Harry and Draco.
"I didn't even realize I had lost it." Harry walked back over to his father and took it, feeling a strange but welcome warmth fall over him as he put it on. "Thanks dad." Harry smiled at his father before walking back over to the door and leaving.
***
A/N: Not too much Severus in this chapter, a lot of Sirius though. I hope he isn't too much out of character... But in the next couple of chapters there most likely will be a confrontation between Sirius and Severus. So that should hopefully be interesting. Hope you all liked it!
Sorry this has taken so long, I've had an overload of work lately. It seems a few people have had that also, as I see some still haven't updated their stories. *coughMs.Padfootcough* But anyway, here it is!
A Different Life
Chapter 40 - Meet the Godfather
Sirius stepped out of the shadows and stopped in front of Harry, still maintaining his distance. After a few minutes of complete silence he coughed, obviously feeling a bit nervous under Harry's strong shocked gaze. "Hi Harry." His voice had a roughness to it; he obviously unsurprisingly hadn't spoken very much while in Azkaban.
Harry for his part just continued to gape until Remus nudged him in the back. Harry quickly brought his thoughts together and swallowed. What was he supposed to call him? Every story he had been told about the man in front of him by his father or Remus he had been referred to as Black and the fact that it was always said with hatred didn't make him feel any easier at the moment.
"Hello Mr. Black." Harry finally decided that he couldn't go wrong with that.
Remus snorted behind Harry and quickly covered his mouth when Harry turned around to look at him.
Sirius smiled at him. "Call me Sirius Harry, though Padfoot might be safer at the moment."
Harry nodded. "Why are you...?" Harry trailed off, realizing he had no idea how to act in front of this man and what he could and couldn't ask him.
"Why am I out of Azkaban?" Sirius finished where Harry left off.
Harry nodded nervously, he wasn't sure he felt truly comfortable here.
"Well I've had my trial and was fully pardoned."
Harry looked closely at Sirius. He had most likely just cleaned himself up a bit recently, but still aftereffects could be seen over his face and posture. A slight slouch as he stood said he had been in a confined space that probably wasn't suitable for his height. His eyes were shallow, with large bags under each eye. He also had the appearance of someone weak. His bones were skinny and he was very pale.
"How come it wasn't in the Daily Prophet? I looked for any mention just this morning and there was nothing."
Sirius seemed to light up when he heard that Harry had been looking for articles on him. A glow seemed to come through his eyes.
"The ministry wanted to keep the trial secret, they wouldn't want the public to know that they may have made a huge mistake." Remus replied, walking over to a desk that was in-between Harry and Sirius and sitting on top of it.
"So now that you have been cleared, will there be something that announces your innocence to the public?"
"There should be something before the end of this week." Sirius said, a bit of bitterness seeping through his voice.
This should be a big case, so why was the Daily Prophet not even concerned by the fact that an innocent man was in prison for almost 10 years? Harry was dragged out of his thoughts when he realized he was being spoken to.
"So Harry, have you decided what animal you want to be yet?" Sirius asked out of the blue.
"Animal?" Harry shifted to lean onto his other foot, wondering what Sirius was talking about.
"To become an Animagus of course." Sirius said as if it were obvious.
"Sirius! Even we didn't start researching that until our third year, and it took long enough to happen. Harry is only in his first year. There is no way he is even going to research such a thing, let alone attempt it."
"Oh come on Moony, why not? I bet Harry would be a..." Sirius leaned closer to Harry and studied him carefully. "... I don't know, what do you think Remus? I was never good at picking what animal one should be. I was sure James was going to be a turtle."
"A turtle?" Harry asked, truly wondering why he had picked that animal to be his father out of all of them.
"Yes, he just had that look about him I suppose." Sirius shrugged and leaned away again.
"What did you base that on, I mean if anything, James was totally opposite to a turtle. He was always fast, especially on the Quidditch pitch, he had a normal sized neck, he was not green and if presented in a situation he did not use camouflage and hide." Remus said, acting as though they had entered into a fight that had been going on for years.
"Well one, James liked to do the opposite to what you thought he would do, two, he wasn't that fast on the Quidditch pitch-"
Remus rolled his eyes.
"-three, not all turtles have long necks, four, Not all turtles are green, and besides, I remember that time in second year when you gave James those sweets that you had charmed to taste like vomit-"
"I did not! That was you." Remus said indignantly, although the smile appearing on his face gave away his true feelings.
Sirius waved Remus' comment off and continued talking. "Point is, he turned green faster then you used to flush every time Amy Birch would say two words to you."
Harry laughed as he saw a twinge of red on Remus' cheek. He was enjoying seeing them talk and joke around. He was amazed at how much younger and happier the two looked.
"Sirius, I did not go red whenever-"
"Oh give it up Moony, I didn't believe you then and I don't believe you now." Sirius smiled innocently at Remus. "And lastly, what did you call James' invisibility cloak? I would call that a nice camouflage device he had." Sirius smiled at Remus smugly.
"Why would you charm a sweet to taste like vomit? Don't they already have them in Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?" Harry asked.
"Not in our day Harry, and the one's that Sirius-" Remus emphasized Sirius' name. "-used were a lot stronger then what you get in those packets."
Harry winced, the first vomit flavored bean he had had was a bad experience, it happened when he was a lot younger and he now even up to this day refused to have any colour that resembled yellow.
"So what animal do you think Moony?" Sirius brought the conversation back on track.
"He isn't going to have to worry about that since he is not going to be an Animagus." Remus glared at Sirius, as if daring him to argue that. Sirius smiled and didn't even think twice before replying.
"Why not Remus? It will be a lot safer for him now with all the new developments I'm sure they would have made, and he also has you and me to help him. We never had that and look how well ours turned out."
"Sirius, you are not going to teach Harry to become an Animagus. Not only is he too young, but if Severus found out he would kill you."
"What has Snape got to do with this?"
"Sirius, we talked about this. Severus is Harry's father."
Sirius' good mood seemed to fly out the window and he glared at Remus, but seemed to have great will in keeping what he wanted to say to himself.
Harry started to feel awkward with the sudden silence that fell over them and really wished they were back in their playful mood.
"So Harry, why don't you tell me about yourself?" Sirius asked kindly, sitting at a desk that was behind him.
Harry barely got to open his mouth before he was cut off.
"Actually Harry, you should head off to bed now, its already past curfew." Remus stood up.
Harry looked down at the watch his father had given to him and realized that it was very late. He would have to talk to his father tomorrow, though he did have a pretty good idea why his father was angry at dinner now.
"How about tomorrow, Harry? We can meet back here for dinner and talk after?" Sirius asked, hope tinged his voice.
"I won't be able to be here, I have..." Remus trailed off.
"Did you want me to join you?" Sirius asked quickly.
"No, no, I'll be alright. Severus has already given me the potion that I can take."
"Snape has given you a potion?" Sirius looked skeptically at him.
"Yes, but you both can still meet here if that's alright with you Harry?" Remus looked at Harry.
Harry thought about it, he didn't really know this man, and from the stories he had been told about him, he probably shouldn't since almost all of them he was painted in a not so flattering light, but after tonight, he couldn't help but trust him. "Sure."
Sirius smiled. "So dinner it is then." Sirius stood back up.
"Where are you going Sirius?" Remus asked wearily.
"To walk Harry back to his common room, the walk should do me some good I would think."
"But what if someone recognizes you?" Harry asked.
"Oh, I doubt anyone will." Sirius smiled and then transformed into his dog form.
Harry marveled at him, he hadn't heard much about Sirius' form.
Remus shook his head and then led Harry to the door. "I'll walk with you too, that way I'll be able to explain to any Professor's why you are out past curfew and why there is a dog following you."
"Thanks Remus." Harry smiled at him and opened the door.
"Besides, you tend to find yourself in trouble quite often, and knowing Padfoot, you would probably wind up in those situations a lot more often."
Padfoot drooled all over Remus' robes and then quickly ran a few steps ahead so Remus couldn't grab him.
Harry laughed as he watched both Remus and Padfoot play around. Every once in a while Padfoot would hide behind Harry so Remus couldn't hit him with a well aimed curse.
***
"Where have you been Harry? I was just about to go looking for you." Ron stood up and over to the still laughing Harry.
After bringing himself together Harry walked over to a chair in front of the fire and collapsed onto it. He had been standing for far too long.
"Harry?" Hermione sat in the chair beside him.
Harry smiled at them both, feeling in a very good mood, it had been a while since he was this happy. "I was with Remus-"
"See Ron, I told you he would have just stayed behind to talk to him."
Ron poked his tongue out at her and sulkily sat in a chair on the other side of Harry.
"What did Professor Lupin want Harry?" Hermione pulled out a book as if what Harry would say wouldn't be that interesting and opened up to a page, still listening to Harry but also reading at the same time.
"He introduced me to Sirius Black." Harry answered calmly, trying to take in both their reactions at once.
Ron spluttered and Hermione dropped her book onto the floor.
"Could- could you repeat that. I think I just muddled up what you said with what I was reading."
"Well maybe if you put that book away you wouldn't have that problem." Ron said smugly.
Hermione scowled at Ron and picked up the book that had fallen to the ground. She put it back into her lap but made no move to open it.
"I said that Remus introduced me to Sirius Black." Harry said extra slowly, as if talking to a small child. He was rewarded by a sour look from Hermione and a laugh from Ron.
"So what's he like?" Ron asked, he was quick to skip over the 'how' and 'why' part. Hermione was not.
"Why is he here now? Has he been set free then? I don't remember hearing or reading about a trial. How long will he be here for? Where is he staying? What does Professor Sn-"
"Hermione, please, give me a chance here." Harry gasped out, trying to remember all the questions she had asked. He hadn't even thought to ask some of them. "He seems very nice. He and Remus get along well, he's really funny. Umm... yes he is free, the Ministry kept it all quiet, but he said that there should be something in the Daily Prophet soon. I'm not sure where he is staying, but I would suggest he would be most likely staying with Remus and I have no idea how long he is staying for." Harry took a deep breath; he was starting to feel tired.
"When do we get to meet him?" Ron asked eagerly.
"I'm not to sure. Soon I would say. I'm meeting with him tomorrow night but I don't know if it's a good idea if you come along."
"Why not?" Ron asked, confused.
"That's obvious Ron. He would want to spend time with Harry alone of course." Hermione shook her head at Ron and then looked at her watch. "You should both get to bed, it is getting late."
"What about you?" Ron shot back at her, not willing to admit she was right.
"I will also be going to bed. Goodnight Harry. Ron." She said curtly before getting up and leaving.
Ron shook his head at her until she was out of site. "She's dead annoying sometimes you know."
"That's because you don't like being wrong and she kindly seems to point it out to you when you are." Harry answered back, yawning.
"Yeah, I have you to do that for me." Ron rolled his eyes and stood up, stretching.
"Hey Ron, I'm really sorry about before in class."
Ron smiled. "Don't worry about it Harry, I'm over it."
Harry smiled at him too. "Thanks Ron."
They both headed over to the bottom of the stairs and Harry stopped just before he took his first step.
"What?" Ron too stopped just behind Harry and looked at him curiously.
"You really were an ugly baby Ron." Harry laughed as Ron chased him up the stairs and into their dormitory.
***
Harry was heading towards the Great Hall for lunch then next day when his father caught up to him and led him into an empty classroom. He almost groaned out loud. He had woken up late that morning and had to miss breakfast to make it to his first class on time, and he was absolutely starving now.
Harry stood and watched as his father shut and locked the door, while warding the room so no one could listen in on what was being said.
"You met Black last night." It was more of a statement then a question.
"Yes."
"Did he hurt you?" Severus pulled out a chair and moved it so it was facing Harry and then sat in it.
"Hurt me?" Harry asked, frowning at his father, feeling a bit confused.
"It's a simple question Harry." Severus indicated for Harry to sit in a chair that was facing him, just behind where Harry was standing.
"Of course he didn't." Harry sat down and looked at his father carefully.
Severus sighed and looked around the room.
"Is that all you wanted to know, because I'm hungry and I don't want to miss lunch." Harry smiled at him as just after he finished saying that his stomach growled.
Severus rolled his eyes at him but got up anyway. "I was hoping we could talk longer then this Harry-"
"I know and we can talk more tomorrow night after our potion lesson." Harry suggested, he too getting up and starting to head toward the door.
"I was thinking more tonight Harry."
Harry stopped and turned around. "Actually I have some homework I was hoping I could finish tonight." Why was he lying? This was his father, he could tell him anything. "And I was meeting Sirius tonight."
"Black? Why? You just spoke to him yesterday." Severus frowned at him.
"We didn't get to talk much yesterday."
"What about that homework you just mentioned?"
"I can do it after; we won't be too long I'm sure." Harry started to walk backwards towards the door. Partly because he was very hungry and wanted to get to the Great Hall soon, and partly because he had a sneaking suspicion that his father would say he couldn't go tonight.
"Harry, I don't think you should-"
"Please dad." Harry put his best pleading look on his face and almost sighed in relief when he saw his father's resistance crumbling.
"If I find out you were out past curfew Harry-"
"I know, I know. Thank you so much dad." Harry turned and was almost out the door when his father called him back.
"I thought you might like this back. I keep forgetting to give it to you." Severus put his hand in one of his pockets and pulled out the chain he had found by the snake in the forest while looking for Harry and Draco.
"I didn't even realize I had lost it." Harry walked back over to his father and took it, feeling a strange but welcome warmth fall over him as he put it on. "Thanks dad." Harry smiled at his father before walking back over to the door and leaving.
***
A/N: Not too much Severus in this chapter, a lot of Sirius though. I hope he isn't too much out of character... But in the next couple of chapters there most likely will be a confrontation between Sirius and Severus. So that should hopefully be interesting. Hope you all liked it!
