Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.

Harry had tried to be good, to obey the new restrictions. He really had. But it felt ridiculous, he doubted he was in any real danger. If Lestrange and Black had escaped Azkaban, why would they risk coming to Hogwarts and getting caught? It was more likely that they would run as far away as they could get. It made sense to him so when he got the opportunity to slip away to visit Hagrid and Snuffles, he took it. Just for a moment, he told himself as he ran down the pathway.

"Snuffles!" Harry grinned as he saw the dog sitting near Hagrid's hut.

Snuffles barked and wagged his tail.

Remus exited the hut, looking surprised. "Harry? Did your father bring you out here?" He looked around but didn't see anyone with the child.

Snuffles growled.

"Uh, no," Harry admitted. "I just wanted to visit for a minute."

"Harry, you shouldn't have done that," Remus said with a frown.

"What are you doing out here?" Harry asked, hoping to distract him from the fact he was out here alone.

"I've decided to adopt Snuffles," Remus said. "I came to pick him up. I was going to tell Hagrid thank you but he left a note on his door that he had left for an errand."

"Oh, that's great for Snuffles!" Harry said happily. "Will he be in the castle then?" He asked hopefully.

"Yes. As long as he is good." Remus smirked slightly.

Snuffles turned and gave a huff at him.

"Uh oh," Remus said softly, his eyes looking behind Harry.

Harry turned and gulped. His father was heading straight for him and he looked furious.

Severus glanced at Remus and then back to Harry. "You are to let me know when you are going outside, even with an escort." At the guilty look on Harry's face, Severus's eyes narrowed. "You did come out here with Professor Lupin, did you not?"

Harry shook his head slowly.

"Then what in Merlin's name are you doing out here? You know the rules, Harry!" Severus scolded fiercely as he reached his wayward son.

"I just wanted -"

"It does not matter what you wanted. You are not to leave the castle without me, a Professor or a Prefect!" Severus snapped. "Do you have any idea how worried I was when I couldn't find you? You deliberately disobeyed me!"

Harry winced. "But I just wanted to -"

"Again, I do not care what you wanted, you are not to be alone in the castle, never mind outside!"

"But dad -"

Severus took a step toward his son, intending to grab his hand and lead him back to their quarters so he could lecture him in private but before he could, Snuffles came running and jumped on him.

"Blast you, you mutt!" Severus yelled as he was knocked down.

"Snuffles!" Harry scolded as Remus tried to pull the angry dog back. He watched in shock as Snuffles blurred and turned into a man. "What?" He gasped. "Who are you?"

"Sirius Black!" Severus hissed, jumping to his feet with his wand out. He stood protectively in front of Harry.

Harry's mouth dropped open. Snuffles was Sirius Black?

Sirius glared at him. "You don't touch my godson, you hear me Snivellus?"

"Huh? Godson?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Your parents made me your godfather," Sirius informed Harry.

"Oh," Harry said. "Uh, you do know that James is not my father right?" He asked hesitantly.

"Of course, he is, Harry!" Sirius exclaimed.

"He is not," Severus said coldly. "Harry is my son. I was married to Lily. She had just found out she was pregnant when Bellatrix cast the imperious curse on her, making her break up with me and go to James."

"No way." Sirius scoffed.

"Think about it, Padfoot," Remus said gently, stepping forward. "Remember how strange we thought it was, for her to suddenly want to marry James? They never even dated."

Sirius hesitated. He remembered how Lily had seemed different and James had wondered about her wanting to suddenly be with him. "So what? She finally came to her senses, that's all." He spat out.

Remus sighed. He pointed his wand at Harry. "Verus Pater."

Above the boy a mist of words appeared. Severus Tobias Snape.

"But..." Sirius stammered.

"Let me guess. Now you don't care to be Harry's godfather." Severus said knowingly.

Sirius scowled at him. "Shows what you know, Snively. He's still Lily's child, and she was my friend too. And he's still the same baby I held and played with. I even bought him his first broom."

Harry's eyes brightened. "You did?"

"For your first birthday," Sirius said smugly. "A toddler's broom but you loved it!"

Severus rolled his eyes, feeling some bitterness that Black had been there for Harry when he had been a baby but Severus hadn't. "So do you accept the truth, mutt?" He asked rudely.

"I suppose," Sirius said grudgingly. "Although, I don't know how a man like you could produce a sweet child like this." He ruffled Harry's hair.

"Now that that is settled..." Severus pointed his wand right at Black's heart. "Why did you betray Lily and James?"

"I didn't!" Sirius yelled. "Pettigrew did!"

"Peter Pettigrew is dead," Severus said, narrowing his eyes.

"No, he isn't. He's hiding out somewhere as a rat."

Severus paused. "He was also an Animagus?"

"Yes," Remus spoke up. "He, Sirius, and James learned how our fifth year."

"We can learn to turn into animals our fifth year?" Harry asked excitedly.

"No, absolutely not!" Severus said with a mild glare. "You must be seventeen to get your Animagus license."

"Oh." Harry glanced at Remus and Sirius. "So you broke a rule?"

"A rule?" Remus chuckled.

Sirius grinned. "I broke many rules, pup. Keeps things interesting."

"Do you mind not corrupting my son?" Severus asked in irritation. He wished he could just stun Black and take him to the Aurors but something ran true about his story. If he had wanted to harm Harry, he had had many chances already. And despite how much he hated Black, it had never sat well that he was a supporter of the dark lord.

Sirius rolled his eyes. Yeah, with Snape as a father Harry definitely would need him around. Someone had to show the kid how to have fun, after all.

HP

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, observing Sirius thoughtfully. He had just administered Veritaserum and was content that what he had been told was indeed the truth. He glanced at Remus and Severus. "You are satisfied?"

"Yes," Severus said reluctantly. "Although, I think it wrong for a certain professor to keep the fact Black was here a secret."

"Gee, are you talking about me?" Remus rolled his eyes. "I was going to tell both you and Albus. I wouldn't have kept that a secret."

"No. Although you did keep it a secret that he was an Animagus." Dumbledore said lightly.

Remus flinched slightly. "I know. I apologize."

Sirius seemed to finally come out of the haze left over from the truth serum. "So is it Azkaban for me?" He asked.

"No, dear boy," Dumbledore said gently. "And I must apologize for all the years you were a prisoner. I wish I had known the truth, I would have done everything I could to get you out of there."

"I suppose James and I should have told you we changed secret keepers, but it seemed safer to keep it as quiet as possible," Sirius said, regret in his voice. "And Peter acted so honored...he must have been so excited to tell his master." He scowled.

"He's a rat Animagus?" Dumbledore asked thoughtfully.

Sirius nodded. "He's hiding out in his rat form, I'm sure of it. And it would make sense he would hide out someplace where he could keep his ears open for news for Voldemort."

"That could be anywhere, with anyone," Dumbledore sighed.

"Can't the ministry just see his memories? Or give him truth serum?" Remus asked.

Dumbledore shook his head. "Before I would even be able to try and explain anything, Sirius would be given the dementor kiss."

Sirius shuddered.

"Fudge is desperate to catch him and Bellatrix, he won't want to listen to the truth. We need to find Peter, it's the only way." Dumbledore continued. "Until then, you'll need to be very careful and keep to your Animagus form."

"I can do that," Sirius said with a grin.

HP

Harry had been made to promise that he would tell no one, including his friends about who Snuffles really was. He felt bad not telling his friends, but he didn't want to risk Sirius getting taken back to Azkaban so he kept quiet. It was kind of fun, Remus let Snuffles join him in the Great Hall and the classroom. The students loved him and during the meals, he would trot from table to table and be given food from the students.

Harry chuckled as Snuffles sat on the floor next to Ron, watching hopefully as Ron ate his pot roast.

"Stop staring at me," Ron said, holding a forkful of pot roast. He eyed Snuffles warily.

Snuffles licked his lips, his eyes on Ron's fork.

"Oh, fine," Ron grumbled, letting the piece of the roast drop to the floor.

Snuffled immediately scarfed it up.

"You want my carrots?" Harry asked hopefully, holding out his plate.

Snuffles covered his nose with his paw.

"Guess not." Harry chuckled, putting his plate back on the table.

"Nice try, Harry," Hermione laughed.

"He's such a cute dog." Lavender cooed.

"Yeah, he's cool. He can do all sorts of tricks!" Dean added. "Snuffles, sit!"

Snuffles sat.

"Speak!"

Snuffles barked.

"High-five!"

Snuffles lifted his paw and tapped it against Dean's hand.

Dean clapped. "Good boy!" He tossed him a piece of chicken. "Such a cool dog."

Harry bit his lip to keep from laughing. He looked to the Head Table and saw Professor Lupin grinning at them and his dad rolling his eyes.

HP

Harry flew happily, keeping his eye out for the snitch. They were ahead in points, the Ravenclaw team trying hard to catch up. He felt good. There was no more Voldemort to worry about, and okay there was still Bellatrix Lestrange out there but he figured she would run far to hide. His dad disagreed but he was really overprotective. He liked Professor Lupin and Sirius was pretty brilliant. He was with Professor Lupin, as Snuffles, watching the game. It was hard to believe sometimes how much things had changed since he had received his Hogwarts letter. Now he had a dad who loved him. He had great friends. He even had a godfather!

Suddenly the air felt a lot cooler and Harry shivered slightly. He squinted his eyes as he saw a dark cloud coming toward him. He felt colder and sorrow filled him as the cloud got closer. Except it wasn't a cloud. It was...Harry didn't know what it was. It was several somethings though. Covered in dark hooded cloaks and as it got closer, Harry could see that whatever they were, they had faces that looked like decomposing corpses. He couldn't move, he couldn't make his broom fly. He could only stare in horror as they got closer. Dimly, he could hear screams and shouts from the crowd below.

"Lily, take Harry and run!"

"Step aside."

"No! You will not kill my son!"

A cackling laugh.

"Move or you will die as well!"

"Please, don't hurt him."

"I love you, Harry."

A flash of green light.

Harry wasn't aware of anything except grief as he fell from his broom. He couldn't hear anything except the voices in his head. A memory? Mum, he thought faintly as he plummeted toward the ground.

"Harry!" Someone screamed.

"Arresto Momentum!"

HP

"How could this happen?"

"What in Merlin's name was Fudge thinking?"

"You better get rid of them, Albus!"

"I assure you, I will do what I can."

Hearing the voices, Harry slowly opened his eyes, feeling a little disoriented. "Dad?" He murmured. He blinked a few times and glanced around. He was in the infirmary.

"Harry." Severus breathed in relief. He ran his hand through his son's hair. "How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"

"I don't think so..." Harry moved his arms and legs slowly. "Did I fall?"

"You did," Severus said tightly.

"Oh." Harry sat up, helped by his father. "And I didn't break anything?"

"Your father was able to slow your fall," Remus spoke up. He glanced down at the black dog whining next to him. "He's fine Padfoot, er, I mean Snuffles." He gave a frustrated sigh when Sirius jumped up on Harry's cot, laying by his feet and putting his head on Harry's leg.

"He better not have fleas," Severus said with a slight scowl.

"What in the world – why is there a dog in my infirmary?" Poppy demanded as she came into the room with several vials of potions.

"My apologies Madam Pomfrey. This is my new dog, Snuffles." Remus said smoothly. "I thought it would be a comfort to Harry to see him."

"Hmm." Eyeing Snuffles disapprovingly, she cast a diagnostic on Harry. "Any dizziness, Mr. Snape? Do you feel sick to your stomach?"

Harry shook his head. "No." He said softly.

Poppy handed him a bar of chocolate.

Harry looked at her in surprise and then at his dad questioningly.

"Go ahead, Harry. It will help." Severus encouraged.

Harry took a bite and felt a rush of warmth go through him.

"Feel a little better?"

Harry nodded and swallowed. "What happened? What was that thing?"

"A Dementor," Severus said angrily. "Horrible creatures that guard Azkaban. Apparently, the minister decided they should guard Hogwarts and didn't inform the Headmaster."

"They shouldn't be here," Remus said, glancing at Snuffles. "And while they are, certain people should not go outside. At all. Right, Snuffles?" He looked pointedly at the dog.

Snuffles gave a huff.

Poppy looked at him in confusion before focusing back on Harry. She did another diagnostic and nodded in approval at the results. "I recommend getting some rest but he should be just fine. He can rest here or -"

"I will take him to our quarters."

"Let me know if he starts to feel dizzy or any pain, but I don't anticipate that he will."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."

Harry fiddled with his half-eaten chocolate bar. "I heard something before I fell."

Severus put his hand on his shoulder. "What did you hear?"

"I heard mum and James," Harry whispered.

Snuffles jumped down and immediately blurred into Sirius. "Oh, pup." He said sadly.

"Sirius!" Remus hissed, quickly closing the curtain around Harry's cot and putting wards up so no one would hear them. "Are you trying to get caught?"

Severus ignored them and focused on Harry. "What did you hear?"

"I heard James yell for mum to take me and get away," Harry said slowly. "Then, I heard a horrible voice tell mum to step aside or she would die too. She begged him not to kill me. I heard her tell me she loves me. And then there was a green light..." Tears filled his eyes and when Severus pulled him into a hug, he buried his face in his neck.

"Shh, it's all right," Severus said soothingly, gently stroking Harry's back. "It's okay."

Sirius watched in surprise. Who would have thought Snape could be comforting? But he was glad for it. His poor pup needed it.

"She s -should have just m-moved when he told her to," Harry sniffed.

"What?" Severus pulled back and stared at him in shock.

"Harry, no. Don't say that!" Remus exclaimed.

"You can't think that way, pup," Sirius said, shaking his head.

"But then she'd still be here," Harry said, wiping away the tears that were falling.

Severus took a deep breath and looked at Lupin. "I would like to speak to Harry alone. Thank you for your assistance today."

Remus nodded and glanced at Harry. "You flew great today. Which reminds me, we have your broom. It got a little scuffed up but we can easily fix it."

"Thank you," Harry said gratefully.

"Don't forget to take your flea-ridden dog with you."

Sirius glared at Severus. "We'll check on you later, pup." He blurred into Snuffles.

Harry waved as they left.

"Now, about this nonsense of your mother stepping aside," Severus said sternly. "I don't want to ever hear you say that again. No mother could have merely stepped aside while her baby was threatened. No good mother, anyway. No good father either. Lily did the right thing, she did the only thing she could do. She protected you with everything she had. I would have done the same." He wiped away the tears from Harry's cheeks. "She loved you. And James loved you." He added. It was hard to say, he still had some bitter feelings over his former bully but the man had tried to protect Harry and Lily. "And I love you."

"I love you, too," Harry said, leaning into his dad. He relished the comfort, something before this year he never remembered getting. "It's just, hearing them..."

"I'm so sorry, Harry," Severus said softly. Hearing Lily's last moments, he couldn't even imagine. You don't deserve this, he thought sadly. He kissed his boy's forehead. "Why don't we go to our quarters so you can rest, okay? Perhaps have some hot chocolate?"

Harry perked up. "Okay. So what happened with the game?" He asked as they headed to their quarters.

"It obviously came to a halt when you fell. There will be a rematch set later." Severus said as he got Harry settled on the sofa, having him lay against the pillows and covering him with a blanket. "I'll get your hot chocolate."

"With some whipped cream on top?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I suppose." Severus pretended to grumble.

HP

Harry was in his dad's quarters, working on homework while waiting to go to dinner. Hermione was studying in the library and Ron was playing exploding snap with Dean and Seamus. Harry had been going to join them, but then he heard Remus ask his dad if he and Sirius could visit so they could talk about Pettigrew. Harry wanted to know what was going on and figured this was the best way. He was in the sitting room with his homework spread out all over the coffee table while his dad, godfather, and Remus were in the kitchen. Thankfully, they hadn't used a silencing charm so Harry could hear everything.

"How are we going to find Pettigrew? He could be anywhere." Sirius's frustrated voice spoke up.

"And he's just a normal-looking rat," Remus added.

"Actually, he's a rat that would be missing a toe," Sirius said. "That git cut off his own finger as part of framing me, remember?"

Harry dropped his quill on the table. A rat missing a toe? Could it be?

"As Padfoot, I would scent him right away." Sirius continued.

"Good idea, just go from house to house and ask if the dog can sniff around." Severus's derisive voice said.

"It wouldn't be good to have Sirius find him, he'd just kill him," Remus said.

"And what's wrong with that?" Sirius asked loudly.

"He needs to be alive to prove your innocence," Remus said exasperatedly.

Harry tiptoed out of the room, quietly opening the door and slipping into the corridor. He had to find Scabbers and bring him back here. What if...could it really be? Scabbers was missing a toe and Ron had told him that Scabbers was really old. What if Pettigrew was Scabbers and had been with them the whole time? After all, Mr. Weasley did work at the Ministry. He's a dangerous killer, Harry thought with alarm. He broke into a run.

HP

"It's almost time for dinner," Severus said with a sigh. "Honestly, I have no idea how to find Pettigrew but until we do, Black is a wanted man."

"Which means I stay as Padfoot," Sirius grumbled.

"You mean Snuffles." Remus grinned. "Come on, let's head to dinner."

"Yes, you'll have a nice big bowl of dog chow," Severus smirked.

Sirius made a face. "Hey, where's Harry?" He looked into the sitting room.

Severus glanced at the homework still on the coffee table. "Probably took a bathroom break or is in his room." He said, checking. When he didn't see his son, he began to panic. "Harry? Harry!" He held out his wand. "Point me, Harry Potter." When his wand led him out of his quarters, he growled. "He knows he is not to go anywhere alone, never mind leaving our quarters without my permission." He muttered.

"Why would he leave?" Remus asked in confusion as he followed, Sirius next to him in dog form.

Padfoot barked happily as he saw the boy in question heading toward them. Harry was hurrying down the corridor to them, holding something in his hand.

"Harry James Snape!" Severus scolded even as he felt immense relief that his boy was unharmed. "How dare you leave our quarters?"

Padfoot began growling, his eyes on what Harry was holding.

Remus sniffed the air. He stared at Harry. "How – Is that...?"

Harry thrust Scabbers into his dad's hands triumphantly. "See? He's missing a toe!" He said excitedly.

Severus stared at the rat, who was squirming like crazy in his hands. Indeed, he was missing a toe.

"Don't let him go!" Remus exclaimed as he tried to hold Snuffles back. "That's Pettigrew!"

"Stupefy!" Severus cast, the rat going limp in his hands.

"I'll summon Albus," Remus said, sending a Patronus.

Severus stared down at Harry. "You, young man, have some explaining to do." He said in a low voice.

Harry's smile faded. Uh oh.

TBC: