Forgot to put in the disclaimer last time, so here it is: I don't own these lovely boys. That would be an extremely rich, blonde woman who lives in Scotland. I've never been further east than New York.

Thanks to everybody who has reviewed!

Chapter 2

Harry looked over his essay one more time. Even though he was getting the hang of inanimate to animate transfigurations, he had been having problems describing them. Luckily, Sirius had stepped in to help. The older man - Sirius having declared Harry a man now that he was officially sixteen - had offered tips on just what McGonagall was looking for.

He just wasn't about to ask Sirius for help on potions.

Putting his homework safely away in his trunk, he looked over to see what Sirius was up to. He had been pacing for a while before helping Harry with his homework. After he had done all he could, Sirius had looked through Harry's trunk for something to do. Harry hadn't minded, until he remembered that he might not have cleaned out all his dirty clothes. Still, he'd just shrugged his shoulders and went back to writing his essay, figuring that as long as Sirius didn't call attention to it, he would ignore it.

What he found was Sirius sprawled on the bed, shifting slightly to find a comfortable spot among the lumps in the mattress, of which there really wasn't one. He was thumbing through Quidditch Through the Ages, the book propped up on his thin chest, rising and falling in cadence with each breath. Harry wondered if that was enough to keep him occupied until dinner, even if it was with the Dursleys.

Already he could tell that *that* was going to be quite the experience.

Aunt Petunia had been strangely quiet when Harry and Sirius had made their way to the kitchen. When he'd woken from his impromptu nap, Harry had been famished, and he could only imagine how Sirius felt. When they had seated themselves, Uncle Vernon had gotten up and left the table, newspaper in hand. Dudley had tried to scoot closer to Aunt Petunia, but the chair cracked ominously, so the boy shuddered every time Sirius reached for his glass of water, which lay opposite of Dudley's on the table.

It had been a strange meal for Harry. Even last summer, Harry had been expected to take the smallest portion and drink water, but Aunt Petunia had actually offered some fresh lemonade to both of them. Harry knew that Sirius had found that strange, just by the surprise that must have shown on his face. Still, he hadn't eaten that well at the Dursleys ever, even the month after Hagrid had shown up on his birthday until the day he left for his first year at Hogwarts.

Dinner at the Dursleys, though, was much different than the noon meal. Harry found himself wondering if he would be given his usual job of being dish boy when it was over, in spite of Sirius being there. Then there was the chance that Uncle Vernon might take exception to Sirius and call the police on him. Harry was a little frightened by that thought, but he knew that the fact that his godfather had 'come back from the dead' had temporarily stunned Uncle Vernon into being quiet.

Maybe, just maybe, dinner would be better than normal.

******

Sirius' fingers hurt from clenching them through most of the meal he'd just suffered through. He'd kept quiet for Harry's sake - the poor thing's face had been distressed as the meal had progressed - but he'd had a hard time keeping himself from strangling Dursley. After the meal, Sirius had run Vernon to the ground in the garage and told him, in no uncertain terms, that he wasn't to talk to Harry - or about Harry - if it wasn't anything good. He wouldn't need to use his wand for that, either.

He settled himself on Harry's bed once more, watching as Harry poured through his potions books. Sirius wasn't going to even attempt to help Harry, since he didn't want to sabotage Harry's entry essay into NEWTs Potions. Even if Snivellus was a bastard.

Sirius calmed down as he read through Harry's birthday latter from Remus. He had forgotten quite a few of these stories, Azkaban having screwed with his mind so much. Remus had a natural gift for storytelling that Sirius had envied when they were still at school. He found himself actually laughing at his stupidity at sixteen, even if it was embarrassing to think on it now.

Eventually, Harry had to turn on the light, so Sirius began to mark the time Hedwig could be sent on her way to Remus. He watched the stars dimly appear against the city-lighted sky. He could just barely make out one of the constellations he remembered from his Astronomy class. Finally, the light grew its dimmest and he sent the snowy owl off.

Harry turned off the small lamp on his desk, leaving the two of them in the soft light of the overhead lamp.

"Did you want to sleep in the guest room, then?" Harry asked.

Sirius shuddered. "No. It's too pink and flowery in there. It looks too much like one of Lily's experiments at charms."

"When...? What?"

He chuckled at Harry's bewilderment. "I peeked into the guest room when you were muttering something about Polyjuice Potion - " here Harry blushed. Sirius would most definitely have to hear that particular tale. "And your mother was, in our seventh year, always trying to come up with a charm to tame your father's hair."

Sirius smiled at Harry, who gave a crooked grin in return. He knew that Harry craved hearing stories about his parents, especially since Sirius had been bombarded with requests over Christmas holidays. That, and all the stories Remus had written him since the beginning of summer.

"So, you get the bed then," Harry said. "I can sleep on the floor."

"Harry...."

The younger man shook his head. "I know that the bed's not the best, but I want you to take it. I can use some of Dudley's old clothes as a bed."

Sirius stared at Harry in shock for the briefest of seconds before relenting. He hadn't been prepared for how generous Harry really was. He had heard stories, from mainly Remus and McGonagall, that Harry was a generally nice-mannered, young man. He was nothing like James, and he was going to get that through his own thick skull sooner rather than later.

"Very well," he slowly said. "If your sure...."

Harry nodded before going over to the small dresser that stood in the corner. He began to pull out the not-quite-giant-size clothing. Sirius knew about the hand-offs from the Dursley boy, but that didn't mean he had to like it. As soon as he had the chance, he was going to take Harry on a shopping trip that would blow all others away.

Nothing like he'd had growing up - he'd been introduced to it by James' shop-happy mother and aunt.

All of which reminded him of having to put up with his mother's portrait again. And Phineaus. 'Well,' he thought as he made himself as comfortable as he could, 'I'll just have to find some way to get her off the bloody wall.'

Sirius wasn't sure what had woken him up until he heard the whimpering. Then he wondered why he had become Padfoot without realizing it. The whimpering came again, and this time he could tell that it was coming from the floor. Harry's direction.

He rolled over to look at his godson and saw him curled into a tiny ball, much smaller than his frame would indicate. The cloak Harry had been using as a blanket had been tossed off, and he lay shivering even in the summer hot night. Sirius got off the bed and leaned towards the young man.

"Harry?" he asked in a low voice. When Harry didn't respond, Sirius said his name a little louder and lightly touched his shoulder.

Harry jumped back as if he'd been scalded, myopic green eyes darting wildly. Sirius watched, worried, as Harry seemed to focus on him and calm down. The young man took a shuddering breath before launching himself into Sirius' arms.

He rocked back at the weight, tightening his arms around the slight figure. Sirius could tell that Harry was trying not to cry.

"I thought it was all a dream," Harry finally said in a shaking voice, the words muffled by Sirius' neck. "The room... the veil. Holding you and knowing you're real. Alive."

Sirius shuddered himself as all the events of the past day tumbled through his mind. He tightened his arms further to reassure both Harry and himself.

"I'm not going anywhere, Harry. I'm not leaving you alone anymore," he promised.

******

Harry heard Hedwig cooing at the window. He pulled himself from sleep enough to open one eye to look at her, but he wasn't about to move. He was far too comfortable to go anywhere at the moment.

"Hedwig?" he called in a soft whisper. "Did you bring back a letter?"

The snowy owl gave a soft hoot and flew over to land on Harry's outstretched arm, where it'd been when he had awoken. The string holding the parchment to Hedwig's leg tickled the inside of his wrist. It itched just enough to make him move to take the letter.

Behind him, there was a groan of protest. Harry felt the small bed shake as Sirius rolled up to his back.

"What..." Sirius rested his head on Harry's shoulder. "That from Moony?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders, earning a grunt from Sirius. "Sorry," he said absently, untying the parchment from Hedwig's leg. He unrolled the letter and held it so the both of them could read it.

Dear Harry,

Why did you request it like that? It sounds quite unlike you. Are you sure that the Dursleys are treating you well? Otherwise, I'll have to send Moody out to see you.

Since I have guard duty at your house on Tuesday - the wards and not you - I will talk to you in the afternoon, if that is fine. Dumbledore wants me to stay where I am until then, as no one else will be here. The Weasleys have gone to meet Charlie out in London while he's in the country. Ron was going to write you, but as Hedwig had shown up by then, I offered to let you know. I expect Ron will want to tell you all the details when you get here.

There is some news to tell you, but as it is very detailed, it will have to wait until I see you on Tuesday.

Look for me in the hydrangea bush in back of the house.

Remus Lupin

PS Congratulations on your Potions OWL! Snape was fussing over having to follow his own rules that all students with an "O" are automatically entered into the NEWTs class.

Sirius sighed in his ear as Harry rolled the parchment back up.

"So, he's not coming until Tuesday, then," he said as he fully sat up. Harry looked up at him, petting Hedwig after she flew up to the headboard. "That gives us another two day to fill, more or less. What time does your uncle get home?"

"Around six-thirty," Harry answered. "I usually start dinner around six."

Sirius started. "We'll see about that," he said under his breath. Harry wasn't sure whether he was meant to hear that or not.

"Well," Sirius clapped his hands. "I think the first thing we should do is check if my wand will be detected here. Because if it isn't, I'm making this bed a hell of a lot more comfortable." He paused, "And please, *don't* tell me how long you have had this bed, because I will do something very horrible to the Dursleys. So don't say anything."

Harry held back a laugh at the look of Sirius' face, like he was trying to laugh and taunt Snape at the same time. Instead, he rolled out of bed to stand on the pile of Dudley's old clothes that still lay in a crumpled mound. He kicked them over to lie in front of the dresser. Going over to his trunk, he pulled out an owl treat and offered it to Hedwig, who flew over to him as soon as she saw it, while checking that her water dish was relatively full. He looked over at the clock.

"It's almost time for breakfast."

Sirius looked up at that, his thoughts obviously still on Dursley torture. "What?"

Harry smiled. "Let's go to breakfast, and then we'll go outside and test your wand. Okay?"

"Sounds good," Sirius tucked his wand up his sleeve and opened the door. "Shall we?"

Harry nodded, leading the way down to the kitchen.

Harry was almost ready to shove his potions essay in Snape where the sun never shone. He wasn't about to say anything to Sirius, who had been gleefully warping all of the clothes Harry had inherited from Dudley into something wearable for the average human. Sirius had commented that they would only need to be a little longer and Hagrid could wear them.

So, he definitely didn't want to knock Sirius out of his good mood for help on potions.

He'd covered the topic of polyjuice potion on what he remembered from the venture into the Slytherin dungeons. The other topics though... he really needed to go through Hogwarts' library for this stuff, because there was no way he could find any information he needed down at the local library. It wasn't as if he could ask Uncle Vernon if he could use his card for it, either.

It looked like Harry would have to wait until he could ask Hermione about it, because she most likely had read all the books needed for the assignment in third year. That meant he'd have to put off finishing this essay until the last week of holiday, when Hermione would come to Grimmauld Place. Still, it was the principle of the thing on whether or not he could finish the essay without outside help.

Finally, he shoved his potions essay away. Digging through his trunk, he became aware of a high-pitched sounding noise coming from one of Uncle Vernon's old socks. Harry couldn't figure out what was making the sound until he picked it up. His old sneakoscope! But what was setting it off?

Harry looked over at Sirius - the likely suspect in the case - to see what he was up to. Sure enough, Sirius was hexing a shirt of Dudley's' that Harry had refused to wear even if it was shrunk down to his size. The florid, lime green shirt was glowing with the magic embedded in the fabric.

"You do realize that if you give that to Dudley while we're here, I *will* be expelled," Harry said as he fully turned to face his godfather.

Sirius flashed an impish grin. "Which is why the Dudster won't find it until he leaves for school."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "But where is the fun in that? We wouldn't be able to see what happens."

"Harry, my young friend," Sirius said in a boisterous voice. "If you will remember, we have a friend in the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office."

"But is that fair to Mr. Weasley, to make him deal with Dudley?"

Sirius paused. "Hm. Maybe I'll set it to go off after we've left. Once you leave the wards for a couple of days, they reset themselves to when you're at Hogwarts. The Dursleys won't dare blame you, and the Ministry will just think I made an attempt on you." Another rakish grin followed this statement.

"Sirius..."

"Harry..." Another grin.

He sighed in resignation. There was no way he would be able to talk Sirius out of this, but he had, at least, gotten him to not cause trouble for any of the Order members who would have to deal with the Dursleys. Harry pitied who actually would have to come to reverse the hexes Sirius was overloading the shirt with. Shaking his head, he stood and put his homework away. Reaching back, he grabbed the sneakoscope from where it had been sitting on the corner of the desk and unwrapped it.

Harry held it out, wincing, as the noise grew higher all of a sudden before stopping.

"What's that?" Sirius asked as he put the shirt away for the moment.

Harry smirked. "You've never seen one before?"

"Yes," Sirius said as he came over to look at it. "Where'd you get this from?" He picked the small sneakoscope up and turned it all over, trailing a finger over the faintly embossed writing along the middle. "I haven't seen one of these since James and I broke into his father's office when I moved in."

Harry smiled at the reminiscing look on Sirius' face. He was always happy to hear Sirius talk about his father without getting maudlin.

"Ron got it in Egypt," Harry finally answered. "Mrs. Weasley said it was a waste of money, but Ron said it was going off during dinner because Fred and George were putting things in Bill's soup."

Sirius laughed. "Sounds like those two, huh? Too bad it never went off..." he trailed off, hands clenching into fists, still holding onto the sneakoscope. "Damn that rat, anyway."

Harry gently touched a hand to Sirius' arm. "Siri."

He looked up from the sneakoscope held in one fist. "Hm?"

"We will catch him," Harry offered. "They all think you're gone. It'll be easier to hunt him down."

"And when I do - " Sirius growled.

Harry pried the sneakoscope out of Sirius' hand before he crushed it. He set it aside and tentatively held both of Sirius' hands in his own.

"Sirius. I know that you want to find him, and so do I. But it will take a while."

Sirius tightened his fingers around Harry's.

"I know that. I just don't want to be stuck in that damn house like I was last year."

Harry nodded. "I know. Dumbledore will have to do something about that - " even if Harry didn't trust him as far as he could throw him at that point " - I will make sure of that. If nothing else, we can always find a place for you to hide at Hogwarts." He gave a squeeze back and smiled. "I will help this time."

******

Sirius curled his toes in the still dew-damp grass. He'd come out here as soon as breakfast was over, needing to get away from Dursley. Harry must have been born a saint with having to put up with the man all these years. There was no way on this earth he would have been able to do so. And he finally understood why Harry really didn't want to inflict the Dursleys on Arthur. He shuddered as he remembered dinner last night. Definitely not the best meal he'd eaten. It had reminded him of dinners when he was growing up. Except the Dursleys talked of spying on their neighbors (well, not in such 'uncouth' terms) instead of which Mudblood families Voldemort wanted the Blacks to keep on eye on.

A flutter of white approached him, as Hedwig came home from her nightly hunt. The snowy owl landed gently on Sirius' shoulder, giving his ear a soft nip in welcome. He had the strange idea that she was glad her Harry had Sirius back. While it wasn't common at all, it was very likely that Harry and Hedwig had bonded enough for the owl to become his familiar - no ceremony needed.

Harry *was* a strong enough wizard for it to have happened. *That* he had only realized last night when Dudley had been taunting Harry while Sirius had been washing up. The door hadn't been shut all the way, and Dudley's voice carried enough anyway. The much larger boy had been saying something about James and Lily, a sure thing to set Harry's not-so-inconsiderable temper off - one of the many things Harry had inherited from his mother of which he'd been hiding. Harry had obviously been holding back when Sirius rounded the corner, judging by the clenched jaw and fists, but the boy had been glowing faintly, even in the well-lit hallway.

Sirius shook his head at the memory. He was impressed at how Harry held his own without resorting to magic like his father or Sirius would have at sixteen.

He felt somebody next to him, and he automatically knew it was Harry. He didn't make so much as a sound as just be. The magic Sirius had seen last night seemed to be a tangible thing the further his birthday fell into the past. Sirius really hadn't noticed that until he'd woken up that morning with Harry sprawled out on the enlarged bed next to him.

Harry's magic felt warm, and it reminded Sirius of when he'd been born. As soon as Harry had been put in his arms, Sirius had known that this kid would move mountains, just not in the way he already had.

"I can remember when your mum left the hospital with you," Sirius said, breaking the soothing silence. "It was a day exactly like this. Your dad was fussing something awful, but Lily was just as serene as could be. You were sleeping as usual - I only remember you crying once, and that's because James was waving your bottle around instead of feeding you... in between long naps. Your grandparents on the Evans side came and picked all three of you at hospital - London General, I think - because Lily refused to take the Knight Bus."

"That would have been a trip to remember," Harry conceded.

"Hm, yes," Sirius moved his feet a little, relishing the springy, wet grass. "Anyway, your Grandmother Evans took all sorts of pictures, but every time she tried to take a close-up of you, you'd turn your face into the blanket. No matter how much James made a face at you to make you smile, you didn't want your picture taken."

Harry snickered. "No wonder Aunt Petunia always was taking pictures of Dudley."

Sirius smirked. "That explains the strange wallpaper in the lounge. I didn't know that they had paper with land whales to plaster on the walls."

They both burst into laughter.

"I met up with them when they arrived at your parents' house - they were living over in Highbury at the time - your grandfather managed to get one picture of you while your grandmother was fussing over your mother. As soon as she found out, your grandmother grabbed the camera and tried to take a picture of you. You rolled over and she ended up getting a nice picture of your diaper."

Harry flushed as Sirius remembered how much he and James had laughed over that picture.

"Meanwhile, James and I are trying to keep your mother upright, because *her* mother had abandoned her for a picture. Your grandmother tried for a good half-hour trying to get a picture of you."

Harry burst out laughing, even as they heard a faint "Boy, be quiet!" coming from the garage, as Vernon left for work. Sirius made a rude gesture in that direction before reaching up and soothing Hedwig, who'd been startled awake by the laughter. He looked down and wiggled his toes, finding that Harry had enough sense to put shoes on before coming out.

"What happened to them?" Harry asked in a soft voice. "My grandparents?"

Sirius sighed. "You know that your father's parents took me in when I was sixteen?"

Harry nodded.

"Davidus and Lorelei Potter were good people. Voldemort hadn't begun targeting pureblood families who were 'Mudblood lovers' as they put it just yet, but they got caught by Death Eaters while on a trip to visit one of their friends. There wasn't much to indicate what really happened, but there were a lot of curse marks that showed they put up a fight, especially since Davidus was an Auror before he retired.

"Afton and Marigold Evans were in a car accident when you were a couple months old. They weren't killed, but their injuries were a strain on your grandmother. When she passed away, Afton was lost without her. You were just a year old when he died. Soon after that, your parents had to go into hiding."

"What did they do?" Harry asked as he sat down on the now dry grass. Sirius joined him, Hedwig flying up to Harry's room when he moved.

"Afton Evans was retired - a teaching doctor, and Marigold was a housewife. I think I remember Lily saying that Petunia was born in London and she was born in Brighton because your grandfather taught at several schools. Something to do with... um..." Sirius searched for the right word. "Carte... cardiology? I think that's what it was."

"So. Davidus and... Lorelei?"

Sirius nodded.

"And Afton and Marigold."

He nodded again, as Harry assimilated the information. Sirius looked over to the house and saw Petunia looking out the window like he'd expected her to be. As soon as she realized she was caught, the curtains were yanked shut. Lily had always said that Petunia was nosy, and he could believe it after staying here the past day or so.

Some things never seemed to change, no matter what else happened. Even if Sirius wished it would.