/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Seven

It turned out that Harry couldn't get a chance to see Sirius until later that week, as much as Harry wanted to go find him and talk to him. Hermione and Ron had suggested that Harry wait until Defense Against the Dark Arts class to talk to him, which was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

Thursday finally came and Harry stared at the clock on the wall in each classroom, impatient for the morning to end so he could go straight to Sirius' room. There was so much that he wanted to say to his godfather that it was nearly unbearable.

When the bell for Herbology class to end, Harry grabbed his bag and hurried off towards the castle, barely waiting for Ron and Hermione. He was nearly to the castle doors when Hermione caught up with him and grabbed his arm.

"Harry, wait up," Hermione panted, "You're not in that much of a hurry, are you?"

"Hermione, I've got to go see Sirius, I can't wait to see him for one more minute longer. I've waited for a little over three months thinking he's dead and then he shows up on the first day of school and I can't even talk to him?" Harry all but shouted.

Ron, who had finally caught up to the both of them, stood wiping his sweaty brow. He looked like he was about to pass out from the running he did across the schoolyard.

"You know, she does have a point. There's no hurry at all. Sirius is still going to be there after lunch," Ron exclaimed.

Harry sighed and punched a fist in his opened hand. "What's gotten into you two, lately? Just last year, you two would've gone with me anywhere, and now you're acting as if everything's normal."

"But Harry, this year's different. Nobody was trying to kill you last year," Hermione said nervously.

"Oho, nobody was trying to kill me last year? Hm…I guess being aimed at with a killing curse isn't in anyway trying to kill me, is it? Oh, yeah, it happens all the time, I'm sure, but this year's different," Harry growled.

"Harry, we—" Ron began.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU GUYS THINK! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE A MADMAN KILL YOUR PARENTS, LIVE WITH THE MOST DISGUSTING RELATIVES EVER KNOWN TO HUMAN BEINGS AND THEN WHEN YOU FIND OUT YOU HAVE A GODFATHER, HE ENDS UP SO CALLED DEAD FOR MORE THAN THREE MONTHS AND THEN HAVE HIM COME BACK ALIVE!" Harry shouted out.

"Harry, you're misunderstanding us—" Hermione began.

"OH, SO NOW I'M BEING MISUNDERSTAND?" Harry shouted.

"Harry! Lower your tone, please. This is a school after all," a voice said behind them.

Harry turned around and gaped. Sirius was standing quietly at the top of the stairs, his hands at his sides, sad eyes staring at his godson. This was just what Harry wanted was Sirius catching Harry in the act of having anger management problems. Have a yelling fit for a nice greeting as to say hi have a nice day.

Glancing around, Harry noticed that a small crowd had gathered around Harry when he started having a fit. Looking back up at Sirius, Harry sighed.

"I'm sorry, professor, just a mishap. I shouldn't have yelled," Harry said.

"Come with me, Harry, I need to talk to you in my office," Sirius looked at everybody else, "the rest of you will go to lunch. There's nothing more to see here."

Everybody grumbled as they pushed passed Harry and past Sirius to go inside. Ron and Hermione stood close to Harry, hoping that they'd be able to go with him to Sirius' office. When everybody left, Sirius stared at Ron and Hermione.

"I think it's best that you two go up to lunch, too. Under normal circumstances I would've let you come, but I would like to have a private word with Harry. He did point out that we haven't seen each other in a little over three months," Sirius told them.

"But Sirius," Ron began but Sirius held up a hand to silence him.

"Go to lunch, now," he said.

Hermione pulled on Ron's shirt and the two of them left quietly. Somehow she knew that this was something private only between godfather and godson.

After the two of them disappeared, Sirius motioned for Harry to follow them and the two of them headed up to Sirius' office. After reaching the room, Sirius closed the door behind them and sat down behind his desk. Harry stood beside the door for several moments, staring at his godfather. It had been so long, too long, even for three months. Suddenly the emotions welled up in him and Harry grabbed onto the handle to make sure he didn't fall over.

"Sirius, I've missed you so much, when I thought you were dead, I couldn't take it—what happened down there? Lupin said you died, but I didn't want to believe it, and I wanted to help you, but—" Harry rushed out, trying to get everything out at once.

Sirius smiled. "Whoa, slow down there, Harry. You're probably wondering what's been happening and where I've been all of this time. But sit down and stay a while. There'll be time for everything."

Harry couldn't help but smile back and sat down in the chair across the desk from Sirius, feeling in a daze. Sirius was alive and he was sitting right in front of him! After several moments of silence, Sirius stood up and began pacing around the room.

"It was so long, I felt that I was down there for what seemed like a long time. The voices, they were horrible, whispering and laughing. Every bone in my body felt like it was going to break—they felt so delicate. I don't know how long I was down there, probably an eternity…And then I felt somebody pulling me up and up and I saw this bright light and the face of a man, and then," Sirius turned sharply towards Harry, "I blacked out and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in a bed here at Hogwarts with Dumbledore standing at the foot of my bed, smiling and saying 'It's about time you woke up'."

Harry stared at Sirius in shock. All of that happened to his godfather? But how could that be possible? The Veil didn't seem all that dangerous, but maybe that's why it was called the Department of Mysteries. Suddenly Harry felt a tingling on the back of his neck. For some reason, Harry knew that Sirius wasn't telling him everything. But Harry didn't blame him; Sirius probably went through a whole lot more and didn't want to give Harry nightmares until the end of his days.

"It must have been terrible," Harry murmured.

"Oh, it was. You don't know how many times I wanted to die, but couldn't—couldn't do anything," Sirius said. "But let's not think about that. I'm alive and that's all that matters. I'm just so glad to see you again!"

Sirius rushed around the desk and nearly lifting Harry out of his chair, gave him a huge bear hug. Harry grunted and felt the air leave him, but gave Sirius a pat on the back. Finally, after seemed like eternity, Harry felt Sirius let him go and Harry sat down with a grunt.

"So, Harry, tell me everything. What happened after I disappeared? And tell me about your summer—I bet it was terrible, but I promise you're going to come and live with me this summer," Sirius exclaimed.

Harry then launched into what he'd been up to, how Moody and company came with him to see the Dursleys to tell them off and treat Harry like someone decent this summer and how the summer what somewhat better than the summer before and how his grief for Sirius plagued him all summer though he tried to move on. When Harry was finished, Sirius sat back with a sigh.

"That sure was a different summer than the one before, if I can make that assumption," Sirius said with a smile.

"Yeah." Harry sat quietly for several moments. Looking up at Sirius again, Harry said, "Sirius, how did you become a professor?"

Sirius grinned. "Dumbledore thought I was the best person for the job, since I experienced first hand. Of course I had to do some studying, brush up on a few things, but I'm good to go, I think. And anyways, Dumbledore thinks that I'd be safer here, plus I can watch over you when he can't. Now enough questions and let me ask one. How come you didn't come to see me earlier this week?"

Harry had a feeling that that question was going to come to that sometime in this meeting. So he launched into everything about how Ron and Hermione were persuading him to not come and see Sirius because they thought it wasn't best, that it would be suspicious.

"I don't know why it would be so suspicious to come and talk to you," Harry concluded.

"Well, I can sort of understand where they're coming from. For one, they still think I'm a murderer who escaped a high security prison and shouldn't have been cleared of all charges. That would make you look bad. And also perhaps they were afraid that Voldemort was going to jump out from behind a knight of armor and try to kill you without them," Sirius explained.

"But he wouldn't try anything with Dumbledore around, would they? And anyways, I don't care what others think about me as long as I get to talk to you," Harry exclaimed, fidgeting with a stray string connected to the seat.

"I understand you completely, Harry, but sometimes we must follow the rules of society," Sirius stated.

"Such as?" Harry asked.

"Such as going down to lunch and grabbing something quick to eat before the lesson begins. I don't want you to not pay attention to your first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson of the year just because you were up here the whole time. They would think I was starving you on purpose," Sirius smiled.

Harry nodded, stood, and looked at his watch. He had half an hour before the lesson started.

"I'll be back in a minute then. See you," Harry said.

"Bye," Sirius said and Harry hurried out of the door towards the Great Hall with a smile on his face and a light of heart. Nothing could stop him now.