AN: Thanks to everyone that's reviewed. And if you haven't reviewed, why not? I'd like to hear what you think of this story! And for those who had questions...

SStar Luna: It's been a while since I've read PoA, but I think I'll keep it anyway, because I'm feeling lazy. :D And about the suite: they were originally across the hall, but I was thinking the walls at Hogwarts are substantially thick, so I switched it. I must have missed that when I changed it after getting it back from beta.

Athena kitty: Sirius' name isn't cleared just yet. They have to find Wormtail first.

Slytherinkid07: there's no going back in time in this story. However, Sirius and Remus do have a little something planned for the Dursleys when it's a little more peaceful – and when they think it's safe to breath a sigh of relief at getting rid of Harry.

Chapter 8

Harry was tired of Snape's snide remarks about his childhood. If Snape weren't such a stubborn bastard, he would have seen the treatment of Harry at his relatives' hands. It was as if the potions master had blinders on when it came to everything Harry had revealed about his home life in either the Occlumency lessons last year - when it had been involuntary - or in Dumbledore's required sessions the past few days - when it had been not quite so involuntary. Either way, it had been dragged out of him, one way or the other.

They were sitting in the headmaster's office working on the last exercise. Dumbledore must have gotten them from Hermione, and that's why they were on the last one. Otherwise, if Dumbledore had been the source, this would continue until the day that school started. Harry and Sirius were sitting on the couch, while Remus was seated in a nearby, high-backed chair. Snape, of course, had to be different and was restlessly pacing in front of the headmaster's desk.

"Obviously Potter doesn't know how to behave as something other than a spoiled brat," Snape spat at the headmaster. "I doubt he learned what humiliation feels like." Snape glared at Harry.

Next to him, Sirius growled as Dumbledore admonished his potions professor.

Snape spluttered and ranted on for a few more minutes before Harry had had enough of it. Enough of all the glaring and shouting and knowing that one of his professors had hated the very idea of his school-time enemy's son.

"Stop it!" he shouted, standing up.

The room froze.

"Don't tell me what to do, boy!" Snape shouted back.

Harry could feel his anger reach a boiling point. He wasn't going to take any more of Snape's shite. No way.

"I will do whatever I will to get through to you! You think I don't know what humiliation is? Do you?"

Snape sneered. "Of course you couldn't. Not with how I'm sure your family treats you!"

His anger broke past every barrier he had erected since he'd learned, at a very young age, that anger was dangerous around Uncle Vernon. Severus Snape was too close to comfort at times like this, reminding Harry of numerous times that he'd been yelled at by his uncle. He narrowed his eyes at Snape.

"I'll show you, then," he whispered in a cold voice. His anger took hold, freezing him. Harry then reached for the memory he wanted to show Snape, just how he knew what humiliation was all about. Harry gathered his magic and pulled everyone in the room into a Muggle classroom.

"Harry?" Sirius asked from where he was standing beside Harry. "Where are we?"

Harry looked around, searching in the darkest, farthest corner from the door. He pointed to a small boy at the desk that lay in it after spotting the tousled hair. "We are at my primary school and that is me at seven."

"You're pathetic even when you were little, Potter," Snape sneered again, stepping over to where seven-year-old Harry sat.

Harry felt the anger seethe forward once more, but he didn't let it wash over him. Not yet. Only once he was done showing Snape the real truth could he let go of the anger and magic that was still building behind the shell of Harry's body. Then he saw Dudley and Piers Polkiss enter the room, the two, bigger boys were snickering to themselves as they made their way to Harry at seven.

Piers bent over him, standing next to a not-really-there Snape. "Potter. Dudley and I think it's time to show Barstow how to beat you up properly if we're sick."

Dudley laughed his pig-like snort, trying to sound snide. "And forget telling Miss Hammersmith what we're going to do. Dad and Mum told her you're a big, fat liar." He reached down and yanked the younger Harry's head back by the hair. "Meet us outside after you eat." Dudley laughed again, with a fake, surprised look on his fat face. "That's right! Mum doesn't give you dinner. Sorry!" He pulled Harry out of the chair by yanking on his hair. When he let go, a few, black strands fell from Dudley's pudgy fingers.

In the blink of an eye, Harry switched the scene to the small grounds outside of the gray, two-storied brick school. There was a dark, tree shaded corner, and that is the direction Harry pointed to the others.

Harry passively watched as his younger self was used as a teaching tool in Bullying 101, knowing that he couldn't do anything about it.

"This is the best you could do, Potter?" Snape asked as the bell rang, and the three boys using seven-year-old Harry as a punching bag ran inside the school.

"Wait," Harry told him in a cold voice. He looked at the other three men with them and saw horrified looks on their faces. Dumbledore's eyes were actually tear filled. But it was Sirius and Remus' faces that caught his attention. The two, true, remaining Marauders had guilt-ridden faces.

A middle-aged woman approached Harry at seven and prodded him with her shoe. "Up, Potter!" she barked. "What have I told you about climbing this tree?"

The small, green-eyed boy groaned. "Yes, Miss Hammersmith."

"She's your teacher?" Remus gasped out.

Harry at sixteen nodded. "Yes."

"Harry," Sirius began. "Please don't tell me this happened very often?" There was a pleading look in his eyes.

Harry shrugged. "Most of the time, except when I had Mrs. Corcoran the school year after this incident. Otherwise, it was about like this."

"This is the worst?" Snape snarked again.

Harry shook his head. "The worst is what happened after school. Other than that, it was a pretty typical day for me."

The scenery flashed again to reveal Harry at seven limping home, two bags draped over his thin shoulders, with a third being dragged behind him. All three were loaded heavily with books. In front of him, Dudley and Piers were eating candies and taking drinks out of a can of soda. Every once in a while, Dudley would look back at his cousin and flaunt whatever they were eating at that moment.

"Hey, Potter," Dudley's friend Piers was suddenly blocking seven-year-old Harry's way. "I told you not to get my bag dirty!" The dirty blond boy hit Harry on the shoulder, knocking the much smaller boy over onto the bag that had trailed behind him.

All four of the men with Harry at sixteen winced at the loud crack of Harry at seven's back, and then once more as his head made contact with the pavement.

Dudley came over and kicked Harry in the side. A groan came from the dazed boy. The older - and much, much bigger - cousin grabbed the bags on Harry's shoulders, tearing the sleeves from the oversized shirt. "We gave you this job and you screwed up!" Dudley ranted, obviously imitating an adult, and Harry knew that it was Uncle Vernon. His cousin spit on Harry at seven's face. "And now you're gonna get it from Mum about my shirt you just ripped!"

Dudley and Piers sniggered and left Harry at seven where he lay.

The older four men were silent as they watched various neighbors ignore Harry, going so far as to cross the street in order to avoid the injured child. A few older children tossed stones at the boy, taunting him about his 'troublemaking.'

The stars had just started making an appearance in the near-summer sky as a chilly, spring wind began blowing. The seven-year-old version of Harry seemed to finally be coming around as a small, black cat crept forward to sniff him.

"Hi, Mr. Whiskers," Harry at seven croaked. "Aunt Petunia's probably mad at me, huh?"

The cat just meowed and nuzzled Harry's cheek as the small boy struggled to get up off of the bag. It took a couple of minutes, in which Sirius futilely tried to help. Once Harry at seven was up, he stretched and there was a series of pops and cracks erupting from his back.

Seven-year-old Harry's observers followed him up the set of stairs that suddenly appeared before them.

"Did you just apparate, Potter?" Snape asked. His voice was somewhat cowed by the events he had just witnessed.

"Yes," Dumbledore answered, finally speaking. "Harry apparated two separate times. I believe the next time will be in a month, at the end of the school year, when he apparates to the school roof."

Harry nodded as they followed the younger version of himself inside. "Dudley found a knife that day."

"What!" Sirius roared as Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon met Harry in the hallway in front of the cupboard under the stairs.

"Where have you been, boy?" Vernon bellowed.

"And you ruined poor Dudders' shirt!" Petunia cried. She came right up to Harry and slapped him. "Shame on you, you freak! You should be grateful that we took you in, seeing as your lowlife parents got themselves killed."

Vernon snorted. "It's no use, Petty." The large, beefy man picked Harry up by the collar, opened the cupboard door, and shoved the small boy in. Harry at seven's head banged against the doorframe. The little boy didn't even wince. Vernon shut the door, catching Harry's hand when he didn't pull it in fast enough.

"That's what you get, you freak! You should have died with your parents!"

"Vernon!" Petunia said. She wasn't even scolding her husband for his last comment. "What about his teacher calling?"

"Potter," Vernon bellowed. "Miss Hammersmith called and said you were in that tree again, after she told you a hundred times before not to climb it. For that, you're not to get any meals for two weeks."

He shut the small grill on the door and the silent observers were suddenly back in Dumbledore's office.

Harry stared at the corner, unable to look at the others in the room. He was startled as a slight weight landed on his shoulder. He could tell it was Fawkes who had just landed on his shoulder by the feel of talons lightly gripping his shirt. The phoenix trilled softly in Harry's ear, and he could feel his body begin to relax and the load partially ease from his figurative shoulders.

Dumbledore spoke, "Harry, I...."

Harry turned to look at him, feeling the anger rise once more, even with Fawkes singing in his ear. "You what? You're sorry for what happened? For just what I showed you, or for the thousand other times when I got blamed for things I didn't do, imagining a hundred slights, and not get food for a few dozen weeks!"

The anger was dangerously high. "Was it enough to just leave me there and forget about me, just like the rest of the world I had just saved! The same one where I have to kill Voldemort!"

Harry clenched his fists as Fawkes took off of his shoulder. He wasn't sure why, but it felt like the entire room was shaking.

"Harry!" Sirius was suddenly there in front of him. "It's all right, Harry!"

Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes, willing this awful feeling away. It was as if his magic and anger had combined, making his skin crawl and itch with the need to do something.

Sirius took Harry into his arms, where he collapsed. His magic was beginning to suppress him, smother him, and the feel of Sirius' arms around him, showing that someone cared enough to help lessened the agony. Harry buried his face in Sirius' neck as the magic washed over him.

"Harry, I..." Dumbledore began. "I know when I left you with your aunt you would have problems. But I had hoped the protection given to you by your mother's blood would far outweigh them."

"It didn't," Harry said thickly, his face still hidden.

Dumbledore sighed. "I know that now. Unfortunately, I had thought your independence was a trait of your father's, but now I see that it is because you have learned not to trust anyone with authority."

Sirius softly petted Harry's hair, helping to release the magic and anger mixture. The sadness in Dumbledore's voice went a long way to help, as well.

Snape snorted in that irritating way he always did, but Harry made himself ignore it. If he let that get to him, the magic would build up again, and he didn't want that at all. Instead, he let his body totally relax against Sirius, knowing that he would take care of Harry. As he did, the last of the crawling went away.

"You learned that you couldn't depend on anyone, could you, Harry?" Remus asked.

"No," Harry answered, pulling back just enough to smile at Sirius. "Thanks, Siri."

Sirius grinned a little sadly at him. "No problem, Harry."

Snape snorted again and Sirius turned and scowled at him.

"If I may leave this Gryffindor love fest, Headmaster?" the potions master asked, standing up.

Dumbledore nodded and the tall man swept from the room, his black robes billowing dramatically.

"I do believe Severus should give lessons on how to leave a room," the headmaster said once the door was shut and the sound of the stairs turning faded into silence.

Harry broke out into giggles, trying to stifle the childish noise. He couldn't help it, though, as the image of Snape giving etiquette lessons flashed through his head. There was a sneaking suspicion that Dumbledore had said that to break up the tension still left in the room.

"Harry?"

He looked up at the headmaster.

"Let's talk tonight after dinner?"

Harry nodded, even if the headmaster had sounded as if talking like someone Harry's own age. He knew that they had to talk, just the two of them, about quite a lot of things. Still, he was reminded of the last time it had just been Dumbledore and himself. Harry had destroyed quite a bit of the headmaster's office. It looked much better, now that he thought about it. He just hoped that things didn't get out of control like then, especially since Sirius wasn't going to be with him.

"Yeah, that's fine with me." He smiled at Sirius. "If he can keep out of trouble," Harry said, pointing at the other man.

"I'll keep him out of trouble," Remus said in a mock-innocent voice.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Harry retorted. He felt the heaviness totally life at the laughter bouncing around the room.

It felt odd to Harry, sitting in the Great Hall before any of the other students arrived. The House tables seemed quite lonely sitting empty. Harry looked up at the Head table. Dumbledore was bantering with McGonagall, making him shudder. There were just some things students should NOT know about their teachers. Snape was scowling in Harry's direction, but that wasn't anything new.

Professor Sprout was intently reading some magazine, even as Professors Flitwick and Vector talked around her, seated as they were on either side of the Head of Hufflepuff. Professor Sinistra was looking Harry's way as well, but her expression was much different than Snape's. The Astronomy instructor had taken Harry aside before they had taken their respective seats. Sinistra had asked if he would like to talk to her sometime. Harry had been stunned and just stared at her at the statement, especially when Sinistra said that she had known Lily in school. He had then been angry that she was offering now, and it must have shown on his face, for she then said that, now that he wasn't a student in her classes, she could freely talk to him.

"What are you thinking about?"

The question startled Harry out of his wondering about his mother's friends. He flashed a smile at his companion. Bright blue eyes lit up with his return smile.

"My Mum," he answered. "I guess Professor Sinistra knew her."

The boy next to him looked up at the Head table. "Oh, yes. Most likely. Celia Sinistra was a year behind us, so she probably knew Lily. There were only two girls in our class in Gryffindor, and Lisa Christopher was a snob to the rest of us."

"Siri..." Harry warned.

Siri laughed. "Oops!" He leaned forward and pointed to his hair with a big grin on his face. "Are my roots showing?"

Harry sighed in exasperation and lightly slapped his arm. "You are going to be in big trouble if anyone find out who you really are."

"I know," Sirius mockingly pouted. "If they find out I'm really Sirius Black and not just sharing his name, I'll be fed to the Dementors." He said all that in the singsong voice of one who was reading out a really boring piece of text while trying to be funny. It wasn't working.

Harry glowered. "No, I will make you talk to your mother after I give her voice back."

Siri shivered. "That's gross, Harry! Where'd you learn that?"

He shrugged. "No one. I just figured that'd keep you on track."

The new brunette now known as Siri Greystone, formerly Sirius Black, chuckled. "You know you're going to have to warn me about once a week."

Harry smiled. "I know."

McGonagall rose to gather up the first years at that moment, and Harry knew it couldn't be long until the rest of the students entered the Great Hall. When Ron and Hermione came over to sit by him, Harry would tell the story he, Sirius, and Dumbledore worked out - that Siri had come with his Muggle-born parents from Australia, where he had been schooled over the radio through the WWN, like all other students who lived in the far interior of the country.

It wasn't that Harry liked having to lie to his friends, but he would do quite a bit to protect Sirius. If he could do that by not telling any other Gryffindors who Sirius really was, then so be it.

Siri nudged him and Harry smiled back at him, glad that they could still be together. They hadn't been able to talk last night, but Harry hoped they could do so tonight after the others in the dorm fell asleep. Ron and Neville tended to essentially pass out after the feast, more or less. Dean and Seamus would actually undress and brush their teeth before going to bed. Harry had always been the last one to fall asleep and first to wake up, having trained himself long ago to protect him from the Dursleys.

"Harry!" Hermione and Ron were the first students to burst through the doors of the Great Hall. Harry stood up and found himself in a stranglehold courtesy of Hermione.

"Ack!" Harry tried to say something, but all he got was a mouthful of Hermione's bushy hair.

"'Mione! Let him breath, already," Ron came to Harry's rescue, like any good best friend would.

Hermione finally released him and suddenly was she when she noticed Siri standing next to Harry. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She stuck her hand out at Siri. "I'm Hermione Granger, sixth-year Gryffindor prefect."

Siri shook her hand. "I sort of guessed that. Siri Greystone at your service."

"Ron Weasley. Where're you from, mate?" Ron asked as he shook Siri's hand.

Siri smiled and Harry hid a smirk. They'd had to put a spell on Sirius, because he couldn't keep up with the Australian accent needed for the ruse. Harry and Remus had gotten quite the kick out of it, much to Sirius' disgust.

"Smack dab middle of the Outback, mate!" Siri answered.

Ron grinned. "Wicked!" He leaned in closer. "You a decent Quidditch player?"

Harry laughed as Hermione smacked Ron in the arm.

"We should get our seats," Harry said, and point out the curious students looking their way from their seats. The other three nodded and they made their way to seats next to Ginny and Neville. Those two were busy talking about something Harry couldn't catch, so they really didn't notice their new company.

The Great Hall eventually grew silent as Hagrid took his seat, knowing that McGonagall and the first years were about to arrive. Dumbledore stood and smiled at the students.

"Welcome back, students, to another year at Hogwarts. I wanted to take this time to introduce a transfer student into out midst." He looked over at Siri, and Harry could tell his eyes were twinkling madly. "Siri Greystone has joined us from the Sandstone Academy out of Melbourne. Students there use the WWN for classes, so he hasn't been in a formal classroom for quite a while. Yes, it is highly unusual for Hogwarts to have a transfer, though our last students to transfer in was in the 1950s."

Siri flushed slightly, but continued to stand until Dumbledore was finished, waving at the House tables, smiling when he got to Malfoy's group sitting in the middle of the Slytherin table. Most of the students politely clapped, but Malfoy and his bunch of followers scowled and glared in his direction. Siri sat back down as the doors opened to reveal McGongall and the first years.

"They look so small," Siri whispered in Harry's ear.

He nodded. Had he ever been that small? Thinking about being stuffed in his cupboard until he was eleven, maybe he had been that small.

He attention was brought to the front of the Great Hall as Flitwick set the Sorting Hat on the stool. As he did so, Harry felt a twinge run across his scar. He took a deep breath and quickly began clearing his mind. He had almost cleared it when he noticed a dark tint at the far reaches. Harry moved to it, to look at it a little closer.

When he reached the point where light blended to gray, Harry realized what it was. He backpedaled as fast as he could, pushing what magic he had in his reach. There was no way he would let Voldemort into his head. He threw the magic as hard and fast as he could until he could tell the only person inside his head was himself.

The magic snapped back at Harry, and he let the blackness of unconsciousness overtake him.