Black Letters

By Neurotica

Five: Explanations

Harry stared dazedly at his godfather… his dead godfather… "But you're… I saw you… you're…"

"Dead?" Sirius said casually. "Yeah, I thought so too. But the thing is… I'm not," he added in a loud whisper.

"But… how…?" Harry asked weakly, completely bewildered.

Sirius shrugged and sat down on the slide next to Harry. "Honestly? I have no idea. I know I went through the veil. But… I don't know. Next minute – or so it seemed – I'm lying in the middle of a Muggle street. Cool, huh?" he grinned.

Harry could only stare at him as if he were crazy. Hell, he probably was, and that made Harry crazy for believing him. It was what he'd hoped for since that night in the Department of Mysteries. His godfather was sitting right in front of him. His grin was beginning to fade at Harry's silence, but he was sitting there nonetheless. Maybe it was all a dream…

Harry reached over with his right hand and pinched his left arm hard. "Ow," he muttered, rubbing the sore spot. Sirius raised an eyebrow at his godson's actions. Definitely not a dream… Harry thought.

With another notion in mind, Harry reached over to Sirius half expecting to find he was cold and that his hand would go right through his body. But when Harry pushed Sirius half way off the slide before he was convinced, Sirius laughed. Okay, not a ghost.

"Do you have any idea how absurd this is?" Harry asked aloud.

"Some, yeah," Sirius answered, still grinning.

"Just making sure I'm not the only one," Harry muttered, sitting beside Sirius on the sand, not taking his green eyes off of him. "Does anyone else know?"

"Nope," Sirius said loftily. "Not yet. I reckoned you'd want to see me first. I did see Remus when you two were sitting here talking, though."

"And you thought I'd be easier to convince?" Harry said with raised eyebrows.

Sirius laughed. "Well, no. I knew you'd be the hardest to convince, actually. And I was right, wasn't I? Didn't Dumbledore ever teach you not to point your wand at the good guys?"

"Yeah, but he also taught me things aren't always what they seem," Harry said darkly.

Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "Very true," he said. "What time is it?"

"1:30."

"And when was the last time you slept?"

"Last night," Harry lied. Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Two nights ago," he finally admitted.

"Thought so," Sirius muttered.

"Were you outside my window the other night?" Harry asked.

"Yep."

"So I'm not crazy, then?"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Sirius teased. "Look, why don't you go back and get some sleep? I'll still be here tomorrow. And bring some food when you come back. That damn owl ate the toast I wanted," Sirius said as an after thought.

Harry nodded and stood. He picked up his forgotten wand and Invisibility Cloak. "Do you want to keep this for the time being?" he asked, holding out the cloak for Sirius.

For a moment, Harry's godfather seemed to consider it. "No, you keep it. I've got Padfoot," he grinned.

Harry chuckled. "Okay, I'll be back in the morning, then."

Sirius winked, transformed into the black dog, and bounded off into the trees.


As promised, Harry returned to the park the next day with a knapsack loaded with food. He looked around for Sirius, and felt a tug on his pant leg. Harry looked down and smiled at his godfather in dog form.

"Lead the way," the teenager said.

The dog that Harry once thought was going to haunt him until he died led him into the bushes and down a path he'd never noticed. Deeper in the woods surrounding the park, Harry saw what his godfather had been calling home. Leaves and branches formed a makeshift bed, and Harry could see the brown owl that brought Sirius' notes to him asleep in a tree with its head under its wing.

Sirius transformed back and sat with a sigh on the leaves, eyeing Harry's bag hungrily. Harry grinned and sat next to him, reaching into the brown bag. He pulled out freshly made eggs and bacon stored in Aunt Petunia's plastic ware. He handed one of the bowl's to Sirius and retrieved the large jug of orange juice he'd brought.

"You're a saint," Sirius said thickly through his breakfast. "My favorite godson."

Harry grinned. "You're only godson."

Sirius leaned over and ruffled Harry's hair.

The pair spent the day discussing what had been happening in the wizarding world. Sirius was quite bitter when he commented that it was about time Fudge listened to Dumbledore. Sirius also asked what happened after he fell through the veil. Harry hesitated, but told him everything – from the chase of Bellatrix Lestrange to Dumbledore's telling him of the Prophecy.

"I wanted to tell you about that, Harry," Sirius said quietly and sincerely, looking Harry in the eye. "I got into a fight with Remus about it, actually. He wanted to tell you too, but being the reasonable werewolf he is, he knew we couldn't. I'm sorry," he added.

Harry nodded. "Me too," he whispered.

"For what?"

"For – you know – killing you" Harry answered, still feeling strange about the whole situation.

"Dirt under the road," Sirius said airily.

"Water under the bridge," Harry corrected him with a grin.

"Whatever."