Disclaimer: I know you thought I was, and wasting my time writing fanfiction when I should be busy writing book six, but I am not actually JKR and thus do not own any of these characters.

Chapter 8, The Acceptance

"Oi, Sirius, are you even in here?" I bellowed, looking around the apparently empty chamber Dumbledore had allocated to Sirius as his own private quarters. The room I was standing in was large and circular, complete with a stained glass window. In the centre of the room stood a huge four poster bed, complete with crimson velvet hangings, much like the beds in my own dormitory.
"Sirius!" I yelled again, starting to get impatient.
"Yes! All right! Hold on Harry, I'll be right with you. Just let me get out of the shower!" he called.
I sat down in one of the comfortable armchairs and waited for Sirius to emerge. Presently he appeared, looking neat and tidy. His raven hair was long and glistening, and he had a devil-may-care grin on his face.
"Thanks for this yeah Sirius? I had a nasty Charms essay that Dumbledore told Flitwick to let me off doing so I could go into Hogsmeade with you."
Sirius grinned as he replied.
"Well, Dumbledore understands that me spending some quality time with my godson is far more important than some Charms homework, Harry mate."
We made our way into Hogsmeade chattering comfortably. As we entered the village Sirius' face lit up, this was friendly and familiar to him. We arrived outside a building that exuded a welcoming atmosphere. "The Three Broomsticks" read the sign above the door.
Sirius suddenly stopped in his tracks looking nervous. I sensed what was troubling him.
"Sirius, everyone knows that you're innocent. They'll be a bit shocked to see you but I'm sure they'll be okay soon enough."
He smiled grimly at me and we went into the pub.
We entered the Three Broomsticks, as usual Rosmerta was doing a roaring trade, the pub was packed fit to burst with all sorts. Goblins, Hags and a suspicious looking horned creature sitting in a shadowy corner on his own. Upon our entrance a dull silence descended over the crowded pub. I could feel Sirius' embarrassment radiating off him, the silent seconds seemed to drag like hours. Suddenly a welcoming hand grabbed Sirius and pulled him into a welcoming hug.
"Good to see you again, Sirius!" Madame Rosmerta beamed.
Suddenly the unwelcoming atmosphere was broken by cheers, applause and welcome greetings. Witches and wizards from all round the pub were coming up to us and hugging Sirius and shaking his hand. It reminded me of the first day I returned to the wizarding world, and the similarly warm reception I'd received in the Leaky Cauldron. Sirius was beaming, and he laughed delightedly at every welcome greeting he received.
"One large Firewhiskey please, Rosmerta" Sirius asked eventually, when all the well wishers had dissipated.
She insisted upon giving it to him on the house. We sat down with our drinks after Rosmerta had insisted upon giving me a free butterbeer too.
As soon as I set my empty bottle down, Sirius grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the pub, yelling hoarse good-byes to those present. He wanted to go and explore Hogsmeade again. I was envious of him; life must seem so brilliant to him. Everything must have been so much more vivid as he had been brought back from the beyond. I laughed as he ran about excitedly looking in the shop windows. We went into Honeyduke's and came out laden with all sorts of sweets. He took me up to the Shrieking Shack, and we remembered how we first found each other. He took me to the cave on the hillside, and we remembered the way I'd smuggled food to him. We finally went back to Honeyduke's and purchased more sweets for the walk home. We walked back, still chatting and grinning.
Sirius was still weaker than he should be; there was so much recovering for him to do. He went up to his quarters for a rest while I headed down to the Great Hall for my dinner.
I took my seat next to my Gryffindor classmates when I had walked into the hall. I smiled properly at Parvati for the first time since we'd split up. The whole situation seemed silly and trivial now, and I forgave her without even thinking about it. She was taken aback by the genuine warmth in my smile, but quickly recovered and smiled back. She was still very beautiful and her smile still held magic. I knew we could be friends, because what had happened just didn't matter to either of us any more.
I turned to Seamus and Dean, who were having the usual heated discussions about football. Dean, with the aid of various culinary implements was trying to demonstrate the offside rule. Seamus just looked blank and then angry and then muttered that it was a stupid game. Dean disagreed. This went on for quite some time. I turned to Neville, he grinned and stared reproachfully at both of them.
After dinner we all headed up to the common room, my fellow Gryffindors all delved back into their assigned four foot on Disguising Charms. I laughed delightedly at them, making a mental note to thank Sirius again for getting me out of that one.
Gradually, they began to finish, throwing down their quills with noises of relief. I spent another happy evening with my friends, playing chess, eating ridiculous amounts of sweets and enjoying the general banter. I remembered Ron and Hermione, and I realised that for the first time since they'd gone I didn't actually miss them. Now I was content without them, I had Sirius back and five new close friends that had replaced them, in my mind anyway.
I fell asleep happily. My dreams all involved flying, but without a broom. I flew above all the places I wanted to visit. I saw Stonehenge, and the surrounding countryside. The air fizzed, and it seemed as if it held more magic than even Hogwarts. I was in New York. I sat on top of the Empire State Building and stared at the lives around me, wishing that they could all be as happy as I was. I flew to the top of some beautiful mountains, and I just sat, alone with my thoughts. I flew around many other places; the feeling of the air supporting me was brilliant. Eventually I came back to Hogwarts, and flew back into the window of the tower. I glanced fondly at the peaceful look on my friend's faces, before eventually settling back down into bed and sleeping.

The next morning I headed down towards the edge of the Forest, where a small crowd was already gathered around Professor Grubbly-Plank. I attempted to blend into the background, placing myself next to Neville who was stood on his toes trying to see the creatures. Professor Grubbly-Plank was speaking and gesturing so often to a row of small hairy creatures that often emitted a muffled squeaking sound, like a hiccup, and produced a stream of turquoise bubbles from their large, protruding ears.
"This class, is a Grimblehook," Professor Grubbly-Plank told us. "It is commonly found in..."
But where this unusual creature was often found, I did not hear.
"Pssst, Potter, I didn't see you in school yesterday."
Malfoy had sidled up to me, and appeared to be trying to make conversation. I was pleased about this, it seemed he might have gotten over his silly embarrassment in Potions.
"Nah, went to Hosmeade" I whispered back.
He looked confused, it hadn't been a Hogsmeade weekend, and students didn't commonly go on Sundays anyway.
"Sirius took me, Dumbledore let us." I offered by way of explanation.
He nodded, understanding. Professor Grubbly-Plank then told us to get into pairs. Malfoy looked at me questioningly and I shrugged to indicate my assent. I went to collect our Grimblehook from the pen, and led it over to where Malfoy was now sitting; I led the creature on a lead that was attached to a pink collar around its neck.
"Now class, I want you to clean out the creature's ears", the teacher yelled. "You may think they'd be clean enough, with the constant stream of bubbles coming out of them, but the soapy bubbles leave a sort of residue that needs to be cleaned off every three weeks, or the Grimblehook will actually explode. In the wild the Grimblehook's mate or parent would do this, but as ours have been bred in captivity we have always done this for them and they simply do not know how."
Malfoy looked disgusted. I sighed and said
"You can hold it still then you big girl."
He looked at me witheringly.
"Potter, just because I don't enjoy being up to my elbows in some filthy creature's earwax does not make me any less of a man than you."
"You think what you like, mate." I replied.
We had a fun lesson. Malfoy directed one of the streams of bubbles directly in my ear. It tickled and I fell to the floor giggling while Malfoy laughed evilly.

Author's Notes

Yay! They're friends again. Hmmm, still no slash for a bit yet, I'm afraid. Harry's in denial and Draco is certainly not going to try and instigate anything after the last disastrous attempt.