AN: I've added a little section to the end of Chapter 4, which should be read before starting this chapter. It was originally slated to be in this chapter, but it made more sense to be at the end of 4.

Chapter 5

As Harry reached the bottom of the stairs, a sleepy Bill and a yawning Ginny greeted him. Down the hall from the kitchen came the voices of an exuberant Fred and George, as well as the sound of Mrs. Wealsey scolding them for something that he couldn't quite make out.

"Morning," he greeted the two in front of him.

Bill nodded, muttering, "Fred and George are too happy this morning." He broke off with a yawn. "Sorry. I need some coffee."

Harry looked over at Ginny, who was almost asleep on her feet. "Why're you up so early?"

Ginny opened her eyes up just enough to glare at Harry. "Mum. She wants to clean mine and Hermione's room before she gets here, and guess who gets to help."

"Sorry," Harry awkwardly said. He didn't know if he could handle an angry Ginny this morning. He gave a sigh of relief as she shook her head and stormed into the kitchen. Turning towards the kitchen himself, he gave a flippant little wave to Sirius' mother, who sneered at him, all the while pounding on the picture frame.

As he stepped past the study, he was joined by Remus and Monster, who was growling at Snape behind them.

"Good morning, Harry," Remus greeted.

Monster yipped in agreement as Harry scratched his ears. "Good morning," Harry replied. "Do you have to take Fred and George to their store this morning?"

Remus shook his head, pushing open the door to the kitchen. "No. Bill volunteered to take them so we could talk to the headmaster."

Snape snorted as he brushed past them to take a seat on the far end of the table, next to where Professor McGonagall was talking to Mr. Weasley. Harry and Remus sat next to the door unnoticed by the twins and Mrs. Weasley, and Bill was already guzzling some coffee. They had just poured some juice when all hell broke loose.

Fred and George jumped out of their seats, knocking into Ginny, who'd dozed off into her hand. She went flying into Snape, who snarled as the twins bounced over to Harry. Meanwhile, Bill was startled enough to spew what was left of his coffee onto his parents. Mr. Weasley leaned over into Professor McGonagall, who bumped into Snape. The potions master, already off-balanced by Ginny toppling into him, fell down under the weight of the slight girl, bellowing loudly at Fred and George.

In the midst of it all, Harry kept Monster clutched tightly to his chest and stood against the wall, as Remus stood protectively in front of him.

And then, in the middle of the chaos, in strolls Professor Dumbledore, resplendent in flowing aqua robes covered in roaring dragons that spit fabric flames.

"Good morning, everyone!"

For a moment, the kitchen was silent and still as they stared at the headmaster, who was unusually happy.

Monster yipped, breaking the silence and setting everyone into motion.

Harry scratched him on the head as he looked at Remus. They nodded together at each other and slid out of the room as Snape yelled about two miscreants named Fred and George. Just below that was Mrs. Weasley screaming at said twins.

"What's going on?"

Harry and Remus turned to find Ron standing behind them, his hair a dark red from his shower. Ron's eyes were drawn to the kitchen door as Bill staggered out, dragging a bruised Ginny. One eye was rapidly swelling and turning the pale skin around it a fantastic color purple.

"I wouldn't go in there," the tall curse breaker stated. "Mum's in full rant mode and it doesn't look pretty."

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Fred and George," the other four said all at the same time.

Harry laughed as Ron's eyes widened with the realization.

There was a loud band and then it fell silent in the kitchen. The five of them paused a bit before Remus suggested, "Should we look?"

Monster gave a little bark in agreement. Harry looked at him, almost having forgotten he was holding the small puppy in his arms.

Remus pushed open the door to reveal Dumbledore looming over the twins. Snape stood nearby, holding an ice pack to his temple and the side of his head. Professor McGonagall and Mr. Weasley were quietly cleaning up a mess of shattered dishes.

Mrs. Weasley, spotting her daughter's eye, gave a small yelp of concern before racing over to Ginny and pulling her from the room, presumably to treat her.

Dumbledore nodded to Remus and then looked at Harry. The headmaster stopped in the middle of a nod as he caught sight of Monster lying in Harry's arms. He visibly shook himself and beckoned the twins to follow him out the door.

"Remus. Harry. I'll talk to you after we eat, then?" With that, the headmaster guided Fred and George out of the kitchen.

After they had finished eating, Harry let Ron know where they would be before the three of them left the kitchen. Harry let Monster loose when Remus closed the door of the study. Dumbledore stood by the desk, his face a lot more sober than it had been when the headmaster had entered the kitchen.

"I presume he is one of the things you wished to talk about?" Dumbledore asked, nodding in Monster's direction.

Remus nodded. "Yes. If you would, Monster?"

Monster shook himself before turning back into Sirius.

Dumbledore took a step back, his shock written all over his face. Hands trembling, he reached for the arms of a chair as he sat down.

"What...?" he muttered, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "How is this possible?"

Sirius sat down on the chair next to Harry's. "I wasn't dead when I fell behind the veil," he tried to explain.

"How did you get out from it, though?" Dumbledore asked. "No one who has fallen through the veil has ever returned."

Sirius shrugged. "Harry - "

"What!" shouted Dumbledore.

" - Came and got me."

The headmaster turned to Harry. "Just what, exactly, did you do, Harry?" His blue eyes were stern.

Harry sighed. He had guessed correctly how Dumbledore was going to react. Steeling himself for the questions that would come when he finished, Harry began explaining the events of his sixteenth birthday.


Sirius sat back in his chair, amused by what was happening before him. It had been decided, by really only Dumbledore, that he would just show up at the meeting they were having later in the afternoon at the appropriate point. The headmaster would think of something suitable to say, but only after Harry had insisted that he'd rather kiss a dragon than explain all of this to Snape. Dumbledore had looked sternly at him, but hadn't said anything. Snape, Harry pointed out, was unlikely to believe anything to come out of his mouth.

That would happen anyhow, but both Sirius and Harry would feel better about it.

Which brought him to the present. Well, what had led up to this point. Remus had carried him into the room in the form of Monster, Harry trailing behind. Snape and Molly had both protested Harry's being there, but for different reasons. No one else had voiced any objections, thought only Tonks greeted them in a welcoming tone. Harry had still lagged behind them, uncomfortable to be in the group of adults without his two friends, who were, most likely, holed up somewhere with the twins trying, in vain, to listen in.

Dumbledore quickly called the meeting to order, quelling any further protestations. He paused briefly after listening to the various field reports before detailing what Harry had told him earlier about the events in the Ministry building, leaving out certain details until the end. He paused again and looked at Monster, who climbed off of Remus' lap - though he didn't want to, as it was warm because of the werewolf metabolism. Once he was down, he quickly turned back, standing between Remus and Harry's chairs.

As soon as he was standing, Tonks was suddenly sobbing into his shoulder. Sirius hugged her as he ignored Snape's disgusted ranting about how there wasn't any true justice. The rest of the Order was chatting among themselves, until Moody loudly cleared his throat.

Once everything was quiet, Moody stood up and asked, "so exactly how did this happen? Will anymore people be coming back from the other side of the veil?"

Dumbledore raised his hand for silence as the others murmured to each other. "Shacklebolt reported that the Death Chamber, as well as several others, has been sealed since the thirty-first. Is that correct?"

Shacklebolt nodded, his bald head gleaming in the candlelight. "Yes. Both Tonks and I helped seal that particular door, along with other aurors. If someone was going to break the seal, it would take a couple of days for even two people. Baxter Meredith, who is in charge of the break-in under Wizengamot orders, said that it also would be guarded after business hours. The list of guards is in the report from Monday."

Dumbledore thanked him and quickly ended the meeting as everybody clumped into smaller groups to discuss the evening's events.

And that brought him up to the moment. Sirius still had Tonks clutching onto him even as he had seated himself. Next to him, Remus was chatting to Bill Weasley about something or another, but it sounded like the events they had discussed in Harry's bedroom a couple of days ago. What was amusing him, though, was Snape arguing with Dumbledore, at whose side stood Harry. The sixteen-year-old was waffling between anger and embarrassment.

Harry was shuffling slightly as he looked back at Sirius, who threw a quick grin at him before watching as Snape stormed from the room.

"Severus!" Dumbledore called uselessly.

Sirius shuffled Tonks off his shoulder, her sobs having finally quieted. "I'll be right back," he whispered. Sitting Tonks in his chair, he made his way over to Harry and Dumbledore.

"What was that all about?"

The headmaster shook his head. "Severus is not happy about what he heard tonight," Dumbledore said. "I suspected it might happen, but I had hoped he would not react in such a manner."

He was cut off as a frustrated bellow sounded in the front hall. "I want out of the damn house!"

Sirius looked through the now open doors into the hallway. Not seeing anything in the immediate area, he moved out of the room, with Harry and Dumbledore, and then some of the others followed slowly.

He stopped at the sight of Snape sending all manner of curses and hexes at the front door, which was beginning to glow with the amount of magic hitting it. Sirius looked at Harry, whose head was tilted to one side, as if he was trying to figure something out.

"Severus!" Dumbledore said as he strode over to calm the potions master down.

"This damn house won't let me apparate OR out the front door!" Severus yelled loudly. "And I bet it's Potter's fault!"

"Now, Severus," Dumbledore began. "I'm sure - "

"Actually, Professor," Harry interrupted. "I think it is me."

All those in the hall turned to stare at Harry. Well, Sirius looked on confused as Snape glared at Harry.

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked. "What do you mean?"

"Um," Harry shrugged his shoulders.

Snape snorted. "Are you trying to humiliate me, Potter?"

"As if you need help," Sirius suggested, tired of listening to Snape blame Harry for his and James' mistakes.

Dumbledore sparked his wand. "Gentlemen!" he commanded. "We will settle this situation once and for all."

Sirius sulked as the headmaster ushered Harry, Remus, Snape and himself into the study. Dumbledore cast several wards on the room. Then he turned icy blue eyes on the group. Snape was on one side of the room, practically foaming at the mouth, and the rest of them gathered on the large sofa.

"Now," Dumbledore started. "I believe that I stated a year and a half ago that you would have to work together. However, I now know that none of you will work through what has happened in the past without intervention.

"Severus, I gave you the opportunity to teach Harry Occlumancy for you to realize that he is not his father. I know that Harry did violate your privacy by looking in your pensieve. I believed that both of you would overcome your dislike of each other enough to work together. And you have not."

Dumbledore looked at Sirius, who felt like squirming under the intense gaze.

"And you, Sirius, have exacerbated the problem in recent years by defending Harry and James to Severus. Neither needs defending - James because he is dead, and Harry can do it himself. Plus there is the addition of you luring Severus to the Shrieking Shack in your sixth year. I have come to regret not letting you tell Severus your reasons when it happened, since it has festered all these years."

The headmaster paused. "I do not find much fault in you, Remus, other than your inability to ignore Severus' comments."

Sirius looked at his friend, who had also begun to squirm. He then looked at Snape, who was clearly uncomfortable with the entire thing. Harry, though, was sitting straight-faced - Sirius shouldn't think that way, today - as if he'd sat through many lectures like this before.

He brought his attention back to Dumbledore when it was clear that he was done for the moment. The other three were silent as well, so Sirius took this time to contemplate.

Remus was his last, best friend from Hogwarts. When Sirius had been able to prove he was innocent, he had thought they could go back to how they used to be. But there had been too much water under the bridge for that to happen, and so the two of them had forged an even stronger friendship than before. The road had been a little rough at times, but it had most definitely been worth it.

Harry... he would think about Harry - his godson, no less - later.

That meant it was Snape. Snivellus. The slimy git. In order to really think about him, Sirius was going to have to think about his own family. He didn't want to do that just yet. So, he would try to be civil, if only he was being forced to do so.

He was glad of that idea when Dumbledore outlined what he wanted them to do.

Snape jumped out of his seat, where he had been sulking. "I refuse to teach that brat any more Occlumancy! It's harder than getting rid of Black's fleas."

Sirius jumped to his feet. "Maybe if you didn't hold his father against him, maybe he wouldn't resent you teaching him."

Snape opened his mouth to retort, but Dumbledore cut in.

"I am not changing my mind on this. Harry needs to protect himself from Voldemort until the time comes."

Sirius growled at this, knowing just exactly what the headmaster meant by that.

"I am serious about all four of you working together on this, seeing as all of you will be at Hogwarts this coming school year. Remus and I had already discussed his helping Hagrid this year, as he will need to look more and more after the Forbidden Forest. The centaurs have already decimated two clearings used by other creatures in the forest."

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked as the headmaster paused for breath. "Is Grawp okay? He.... I mean he helped Hermione and I...."

The headmaster nodded. "He is fine, Harry. A little scratched, but Hagrid patched him up."

"Just who or what is a Grawp?" Remus asked in a curious voice. "I don't remember you mentioning anything such as this."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Grawp is Hagrid's younger brother, and has been recently been helping with the centaurs."

Snape snorted. "As if one giant and a half-giant are enough to guard against marauding centaurs on the warpath?"

"Hagrid's part giant?" Sirius asked, ignoring the remark about the name they had for their little group in school.

"It came out in my second year, Sirius," Harry answered.

"A little behind the times, Black?" Snape practically spit his ugly teeth out with the name.

Sirius scowled. "Forgive me, Severus, but I was a little busy at the time serving time for a crime I didn't commit!" He stood up, his fists clenched tightly. He was just tired of Snape's remarks.

Snape stood and stepped towards Sirius. "You deserved it for what you tried to do to me!"

"Gentlemen!" Dumbledore thundered.

Sirius turned to the headmaster, his sides heaving with the effort not to punch Snape in his big nose.

"We will settle this later at Hogwarts." Dumbledore let out an unusual sigh. "I will require all of you to join me at the school a week before the term begins, at which point we well discuss what we need to do to hide Sirius. Dumbledore practically glared at Sirius and Snape, his blue eyes wintry cold. "I don't care how you settle your frustrations with each other after we have examined your behaviors, but until then, do not touch each other. I want each of you to follow through with what I have suggested, but I doubt either one of you will do so.

The headmaster turned to Snape. "Now, Severus, I will ask you to stay here tonight so that we may discuss what you want to do next. After that, you may stay wherever you wish."

Dumbledore looked at Sirius after Snape nodded at the headmaster, sneered at the other three in the room, and left through hard-shutting doors.

"Sirius, I want you to think of anything that is in this house that may be useful as a trap for the Death Eaters. We have learned they are looking for Dark artifacts, and we may be able to lure at least a couple of them if we have any."

Sirius nodded and looked at Harry and Remus, the two of them still seated on the sofa. Remus looked tired, but Harry seemed as if he was elsewhere.

"Remus, please help Sirius with this." Remus nodded as the headmaster continued. "I'd also like for you to give Harry and the other children some Defense lessons, if you would."

"I will," Remus replied, rising from the sofa.

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

Sirius could see that the young man hadn't heard the headmaster.

"Harry?"

Startled green eyes looked up at the three men. Sirius was suddenly struck by just how mature Harry was with that thoughtful look upon his face. He also looked so much like his mother that it almost hurt, even though he hadn't been half as close to Lily as he had James. Sirius gave a shaky grin as Harry looked at him.

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked again. "I'd like for you to continue doing your Occlumancy exercises. I will help you a bit. Once school starts, however, Professor Snape will continue them. Also, your friends do not know that Sirius is alive - I put a secrecy charm over the meeting so that the others cannot tell anyone that was not at the meeting. I wish for you to keep this from them until we have decided where Sirius will be, come the start of school."

Harry glowered more and more as the headmaster spoke. "Of course, I'll keep it from them," he answered in a biting, sarcastic tone reminiscent of last summer. "And I don't mind you breaking your promise to me either!"

Harry jumped off the sofa and was out the door before Sirius could stop him.


Harry slammed the door to his room shut and leaned against it. He should have known that Dumbledore would go back on his promise to teach Harry Occlumancy. More and more he was having a hard time trusting the headmaster, and this was just one more example of why he couldn't.

The first week of summer, he had been practicing his Occlumancy hard, wanting to show Dumbledore just how much he could do, hoping that it would be enough. The apathy he'd felt at the Ministry had been enough to block Voldemort from totally taking over, and had been much better than anything Snape had managed to teach him.

And now....

It was like when he'd been growing up, always hoping that it would get better and Aunt Petunia would, for once, treat Harry like she did Dudley. That maybe he would somehow be welcomed into the family, because he was trying his hardest to fit in. But it never happened.

Harry moved over to the bed and crawled in, shoes and all. He wanted to bury himself in the covers and forget the world for days on end, but knew it wasn't possible.

A knock sounded on the door, along with a canine whimper.

"Harry?" came Remus' voice. "Monster wants to go in there."

Harry sighed. He didn't want anyone around, let alone Sirius, but he knew he couldn't keep him out.

The door opened and Remus stuck his head around. "Harry?"

He shook his head. "You might as well let him in, Remus."

The other man nodded, his face a study of concern. "Mrs. Weasley is serving supper, if you want any."

"No," Harry said. "I don't want to go down there." He looked away from the door.

There was the sound of nails clicking on the floor as the door shut.

"Harry?" Sirius asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

Harry turned over to face the wall. "I don't want to talk about it."

A heavy hand rested on his shoulder. "You sure?"

He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, but the hand didn't move. Instead, it rested there another minute before leaving. Harry was tempted to see if Sirius was going to move as the weight shifted off the bed, but all of a sudden there was a dip behind him. Sirius' body heat indicated he was a scant inch behind Harry, bringing back all of the embarrassing thoughts he'd had this morning.

"Harry?"

Harry didn't say anything as he tried to will his hot cheeks back to a normal temperature.

"I just wanted to say that I'm here whenever you need it. I may not be able to help, but I will try." Sirius sighed, his breath hot on the back of Harry's neck. "I will always be here for you."

Harry shivered slightly, trying to hold back whatever this was he was feeling. He felt strangely hot and cold at the same time, and there was an incredible itch crawling over his skin as Sirius breathed on his neck again. Twisting to face Sirius, he looked at the older man's face.

"Harry?" Sirius' eyes were wide with something that Harry couldn't read, and there was a slight tremor to his voice. Was he feeling like Harry was - this unnamable emotion that was driving him to reach out and touch Sirius on the cheek.

"Harry!?" Sirius' voice was strangled as Harry ran his hand over his cheek, the pads of his finger brushing against the faint stubble that lay in the skin.

Sirius closed his eyes as Harry reached his brow.

The itch was spreading the more he touched Sirius' skin, consuming Harry until instinct took over and he kissed the older man.

It was nothing more than a soft brush of lips, hot breath exchanging between the two.

Harry paused a second, and when there was no response from Sirius, he pushed his lips against his a second time, the heat moving up and down his body overwhelming him.

This time, after a second, Sirius moved his lips in response, quickly taking charge of the kiss. Harry had no problem with that, as he wasn't sure of what to do, only that he needed to kiss Sirius.

Wet lips slid against each other before Sirius darted his tongue against Harry's bottom lip, breaking free the groan that had been building. Harry reached for Sirius, his hand sliding into the older man's hair to hold him close, as Sirius' tongue moved inside his mouth, searching out every crevice and nook within. Shyly moving his tongue in reciprocation, Harry earned himself a moan as it slid across Sirius' upper lip.

There was a sudden knock on the door, and the sound of Ron calling, "Harry? I got some dinner for you."

Harry stopped where he was as Sirius pulled back, his eyes darker than Harry had ever seen. They were panicked and darted around the room, searching for something that was definitely not him.

"Harry?" The doorknob rattled from the outside, but didn't twist all the way. "You okay, mate?"

"Yeah," Harry managed to squeak out of his suddenly closed throat. "I want to be alone, is all."

"You sure?" Ron's voice held concern. "Cause if you want to talk, I can come in, even though we don't share a room anymore."

"No!" Harry shouted, his eyes struggling to meet Sirius' in vain. He hurriedly corrected himself to his friend. "I just need to think things over, about what Dumbledore talked to me about tonight after the meeting."

"Can you tell me about it, then?" Ron's voice was eager, but all Harry could think about was the man next to him in bed that was totally ignoring him.

"Tomorrow, Ron," Harry said in a sad voice. "Good night, Ron."

"G'night, then." Ron's heavy footsteps faded into the distance, making Harry wonder how they couldn't NOT have heard them.

And how he and Sirius would work out what had just happened between them. Because he most definitely wanted it to happen again.