AN: I cannot apologize enough for the delay. I underestimated my course load this semester, and believe me, I've been suffering more for it than you have. Anyway, this next part is a lot shorter than I expected, only half of what I intended on posting, because I want to tweak the second bit of the chapter in light of a conversation (read: fight) I had with my friend this weekend about werewolves in the Potterverse.

I'm choosing to ignore the "reliable methods of communication" that the Order has according to Dumbledore because I don't know what they are, and I don't want to speculate.

RESPONSES TO REVIEWERS:

Severinus: The answer to the question you very subtly hinted at lies within!

Lilith11, lilyqueen777, LinZE, Morgana-Alexa, MorotheWolfGod: Thank you for waiting!

Silverthreads: Thanks! You were right, that was something that never got from my head to the computer. It's fixed now.

Cloudnine: Thank you! I'm glad that you commented on the characterization as this was, at first, meant to be only a character study (as the lack of plot no doubt indicates).

Melissa Jooty: I am completely floored to hear from you. I've read "The Taming of Harry Potter" (and am, incidentally, delighted to see you've updated! Your Dumbledore is human that I actually feel alright sympathizing with him which, as you've probably noticed, I usually don't). My philosophy for fanfiction is that... well, basically, we see the world only through Harry's very skewed view in the books. The teachers have lives outside what Harry knows of them. This is my attempt to create the adults in Harry's world as actual characters, not just stock figures that float in and out. I'm so glad that you appreciate it!

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Exhausted into silence, I waited with my students while Severus disappeared into his study to contact Remus Lupin. He returned in less than fifteen minutes and assured us in an oddly gentle voice that he would arrive shortly with "that mutt." I had not even the energy to protest the rashness of Sirius's coming to the school. With Severus's help, I barely made it onto the sofa in his living room where we began what felt like an interminable wait.

I have always been a patient person. Working with children, one rather must be. There are, however, incidents which try that patience, and this was one of them. Visions of my brief visits to Azkaban flitted through my mind with alarming speed and in repugnant detail, men whose downfalls I had caused, whose hands I had personally bound; former students sleeping in pools of their own vomit; Severus clinging to Albus when we came to liberate him after his trial, unable to walk or even stand on his own. By bringing Sirius back to Hogwarts, we were opening that door again, for all of us. It was a decision that Albus may very well have made, but that, even then, I felt certain that I oughtn't to have.

The children sat on the hearth, pressed tightly together, silent except for the occasional repressed sob from Hermione, and Severus sat at a desk just past them, a quill skimming deftly over parchment. I was grateful for his attempt at normalcy in the taut silence. More than any of us, he knew what we faced. Damned if we brought him: Umbridge would likely discover our deception, damned by his godson's impulsiveness if we forced him to stay.

Severus had explained to me in furtive whispers that the house elf had attempted to lie to him about Sirius's whereabouts. If he had not been the gifted Legilimens that he was (thanks to Albus... I felt my anger dim—mildly), he said that he feared he would have believed Kreacher and sent the Order to the Department of Mysteries immediately. A quick firecall upstairs had cleared up any suspicion, and both of my former students were on their way to the safety of Hogwarts.

A knock on the door elicited an exclamation from Hermione. Severus shot her a withering glare before crossing the room to admit Remus Lupin. Clad in a threadbare burgundy sweater and pants that were worn at the knee, he looked almost well, save for the nervous energy crackling in his eyes. A large, black dog entered behind him, and as soon as the door had closed, it sprung into Sirius. Without sparing a nod for Severus or myself, he sprinted across the room and gathered Harry into his arms. Neither seemed to mind indulging the other in public.

"Are you all right?" Sirius asked softly. His voice was raw with violent emotions. I had never heard him so distraught, though I could imagine there had been times... that I could not consider. The present was too tumultuous to consider a stormy past.

Harry gave a choking gasp, and his fingers opened and closed spastically around Sirius's hair and collar. "He performed the Cruciatus on you, over and over, and I thought it was real, and Professor Snape didn't know, I thought you were dead, I thought he was going to kill you, too!"

"Harry, I'm fine. Everything's fine."

"Nothing's bloody fine!" Harry exclaimed.

"Shh... all right, no, it's not, but you have to calm down. Do you have any idea what could happen if you let yourself get so worked up?"

"No, I don't! I can't!" Before I quite knew what was happening, the touching reunion turned into a full on assault as Harry's too-small fists began to pound against Sirius's chest. "What's wrong with you? Nothing's fine! What the hell are you doing here? If she finds you, she's going to send you back! If you were-!"

Sirius's huge hand captured Harry's wrists behind his back, and the other arm drew Harry close. Harry bucked against the restraint, but Sirius only tightened his grip. "Do you know what could have happened?" His voice was harsher than I could have imagined. All I remembered of him were hours of jokes and light, airy laughter floating through the common room even hours past curfew. Sirius Black is an adult now, and that is perhaps the most frightening revelation of the year.

"Yes, sir," Harry whispered again, so miserably that I wanted to run across the room and reassure him somehow. But Severus was sitting on his desk and watching with interest but no concern, and Remus was smoothing Hermione's hair to comfort her. I was the only person who seemed not to understand that this had to be a moment between the two of them.

"Well?"

"Voldemort was trying to lure me out of the castle so he could kill me," Harry whispered. The wisdom in his voice made me feel like I had just landed from a particularly violent broom ride. No child should be able to speak like that. "It was just like they said he would. I guess I... I mean, I... I should have tried harder."

"Yeah, well... You'll try harder now, won't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"All right, then," Sirius said. He leaned over and kissed the top of his godson's hair. Reassuringly, he pulled back and waited for Harry to look up at him. "Everything will be all right. Tonks will find me a safe house, and the Headmaster will take care of Kreacher, and within a few weeks, everything will be back to normal. I promise."

"Okay," Harry whispered.

"You're grounded the first week of summer, by the way," Sirius added gravely. "Homework, cleaning, eating, and sleeping. That's it."

That almost made me laugh. I never thought I would live to see the day when Sirius Black would ground someone, much less this child. I expected Potter to put up some sort of fight, to argue like a solicitor that he had done nothing to merit such a severe punishment, but he only sighed dramatically before nodding.

"Someone has to contact the Headmaster," Severus finally said. His eyes found some distant point, and he murmured, "He's not going to be pleased."

Remus murmured, "I'll tell him. When I get back home, I'll tell him... if he doesn't already know. He might already know. Tonks might have-"

There was a sharp knock on the outer door, and he fell silent.

Sirius kissed Harry one last time and transformed. Severus hissed, "Into the guestroom. Now."

For once, the children obeyed him without question, closing the door behind them. Remus took a seat across from Severus, and he conjured a tea service while Severus answered the door.