A/n: The world of Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling only. I'm not making any money by writing this, and hopefully no one is paying any money to read it.

Wow, this chapter has certainly been long overdue. All I can say is that I am terribly sorry for the long wait, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Snicker

Harry Potter and the Journey to the End

Of Dogs and Men

Harry awoke groggily to the sound of thunder and a heavy rain lashing against the window. He checked his watch and saw that it was seven in the morning, but no light could be seen outside because of the angry gray clouds that covered the sky.

Rolling over, Harry grinned as he saw Ron. The red head was asleep, snoring softly and making gestures with his hands. He was obviously having a very real dream. To go along with the show, Ron stopped snoring for a moment to mumble something that sounded suspiciously like "You know how I like it when you walk."

Harry chuckled to himself and climbed quietly out of bed. He walked over to Hedwig, who was still asleep in her cage and reached in to stroke her wing which she had her head tucked under. She made a soft chirrup but otherwise didn't respond. Smiling, Harry went to his trunk and dug around for some clothes. Putting them on, he made his was over to the door and, taking one last look at Ron(who seemed to be kissing the air), went out into the hall.

He gently knocked on Hermione's door to see if she was awake, and a couple moments later, she opened it. She had clearly been awake for a while because she was fully dressed. with her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. Harry noticed that she must have straightened it as well, because it didn't look at all like the bushy hair he was used to seeing on her. In fact, it looked almost like it did in their fourth year at the Yule Ball.

"Good morning, Harry" She said cheerfully and opened the door wider to let him in. He said his good morning and stepped in, taking a seat in one of the chairs. Hermione promptly went over to her bedside table and picked up a heavy book before carrying it back over to Harry. He took the book from her and looked down at it.

"It's all about Godric Gryffindor. I couldn't sleep last night so I took a trip over to the library that they have in the village. It's open all night, so I made use of it and found some really interesting things about the Founder and the Village itself." Hermione said brightly.

Harry looked up at her with a small look of concern. "You shouldn't have gone off on your own like that Hermione." He said quietly. "We don't know if we're being tracked or not."

Hermione blushed slightly at his tone, but replied in a slightly indignant way. "I do know how to take care of myself, just as much as you do, Harry. Besides, I'm all right and whole with nothing but a slight headache from all the dust that was over that book." Her tone became more severe now. "Honestly, some people just don't know how to take care of old books. And you should have seen the librarian, she didn't even ask which book I had and let me go with! I have it in my mind to just take it with us."

Harry stayed quiet throughout her rant and waited for a moment to see if she was finished. After making sure she wasn't going to say anything else, he spoke.

"Let's go down and get something to eat. You can tell me what you found in the book over breakfast." He said with a small smile.

"Alright then." Hermione said, taking the book back to the table and setting it down. They were at the door when she asked if they should rouse Ron.

"We should let him sleep a bit longer." Harry said, and then muttered "He probably hasn't gotten to the good parts, yet."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The matron set down two plates of eggs, bacon and pancakes as well as some toast for the two young wizards. Harry reached around from some money to pay her with but there Matron merely slapped his hand.

"There'll be none of that now. You two enjoy your breakfast and make sure to tell me when I should have the cleaning girl sent up to your rooms."

The two friends grinned at each other and said their thanks to the kind Matron before she went of to tend to other guests.

"It seems like we have a Mrs. Weasley on our hands." Harry said in an offhand tone, and Hermione snorted into her drink.

"So what did you find out from that book, Hermione?" Harry asked after trying a bit of each of the items on his plate and finding them all to his liking.

Hermione set down her drink and took a bite of her eggs before saying anything.

"Well, I found out that the Village was founded before Hogwarts, by Godric's father, Octavian Gryffindor. Unlike his son, though, Octavian was far more of a scholar and prized knowledge more than anything else. It's strange how his own son could turn out so differently."

"His mother, maybe?" Harry suggested, though he knew that was probably incorrect. Hermione gave him a look that said she didn't think so either, but didn't say anything.

"The book was written by a muggle, but there is something in it that should be of help to us." Hermione said quietly.

Harry leaned forward slightly and nodded for her to continue. "While Godric had a sword and shield, apparently the shield was destroyed a long time ago, way before Tom Riddle was even born. So it couldn't be a Horcrux, could it?"

Harry sighed and went back to eating his food, his silence telling his disappointment for having that theory shot down.

"Was there anything else that could have been useful?" He asked after a moment.

Hermione smiled a little and a small bit a of blush crept into her cheeks. "Well, yes, actually. It turns out that Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw were lovers."

"Well well." Harry said, and then discovered that was all that he could really think to say on that particular subject.

"And," Hermione continued with some amusement at Harry's reaction. "He helped her build a village of her own not too far from here."

Harry said. "Alright then, I suppose we'll stay here a few more days and make use of that library you've found, and then head out to that village. We'll travel by foot as well, since I don't want any mistakes if they can be avoided. If we splynch ourselves we'll have to tell someone why we're all the way out here and not at school like good little children."

"Sounds good." Hermione agreed and they finished their meal talking lightly about what they should look for while in the library.

Harry asked for some toast to take up to Ron which the Matron provided and then followed Hermione up the stairs to their rooms. He handed Hermione the toast and said he would send Ron over since he himself was wanting to take a shower. Hermione took the toast into her room and Harry went into his.

Ron was still as soundly asleep as he was an hour ago, except this time he wasn't making any gestures or saying anything. Harry smiled as he remembered something from a little over a year ago that he had to pay Ron back for. Walking over to the sleeping friend, Harry took out his wand and waved it once. A loud snapping noise filled the room and Ron sat bolt upright.

"Wuzzgoinon?" Ron asked groggily. Perfect.

Harry rapped Ron sharply over the head and laughed as the other wizard started rubbing where he had struck, cursing vigorously.

"What was that for?" Ron demanded after a moment.

"Just payback for last summer." Harry said simply.

"Oh, alright then." Ron said before slumping back into the pillows and then dragging himself from there out of the bed.

"Hermione has some toast for you, since I didn't want to wake you up earlier when we were going for breakfast." Harry said, watching his friend look around for some clothes.

Ron looked over at him. "Why not?"

"Oh you seemed awfully busy, so I thought it best not to disturb you." Harry replied, not even bothering to conceal his laughter at all the implications he had just made.

"Well, erm, thanks, mate." Ron said after turning a brilliant shade of red.

"No problem, mate."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Harry relaxed against the chair in his bathrobe while opening the book he had taken out of his trunk. It was one of the books they had decided to take from Grimmauld Place. There were all sorts of interesting jinxes and spells inside as well as a good amount of curses and the like as well. There were no illustrations for the spells but there were very well detailed descriptions. Harry winced as he read about a rather nasty sounding boils spell, and decided that he probably wouldn't ever find a need to use it.

Setting the book aside, Harry closed his eyes and began to think about all that had happened to him in the past years since he had learned he was a wizard. It startled him sometimes at how much he, as well as his friends, had been trough. He had lost so much to the hands of what once was a man but he had also gained much, much more. Looking out of the window, he saw that the rain had stopped but the sky was still very overcast. He glanced at the door thinking that maybe he should tell his friends that they should go ahead and go to library to try and find something useful, but then decided against it. He wanted to do something else even more, something he just realized he wanted to do.

He put on some different, warmer clothes and scribbled down a note to Ron before quietly stepping out into the hallway. He could hear murmurs coming from Hermione's room so he knew it was alright to go downstairs.

He stepped out of the Inn and looked around at the town. The graveyard was to the left, while the more populated part of the Hollow was to the right. Taking off toward the right, Harry looked over his shoulder and was able to make out the Gryffindor Mausoleum in the distance. Pulling his coat closer to his body, he set off toward his destination.

There had always been a certain number of strange occurrences in any town, but most were few and far between. In fact, nothing strange had happened in Godric's Hollow for many, many years. Sixteen years, to be precise. Harry noticed that he was spared more than a casual glace every now and then by the older townspeople, but none of them appeared hostile or suspicious of the young man who was making his way to the former Potter residence.

The only thing that really gave away that three people had lived there was the wooden sign bearing the legend Potter. There was no rubble, no new house, just an empty lot that looked well tended. Flowers of all sorts were blooming, even with the rainy weather that was starting to come in foreboding a late winter. Harry smiled sadly as he noticed that the most prominent batch of flowers were Lilies. They must have been planted in tribute to his mother.

He looked around at the houses near the site. They all looked well kept and were obviously still inhabited. Harry walked over to the house right next to where the Potters lived and knocked on the door. He heard the click of a lock and the door opened to reveal a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair and brown eyes. She was quite pretty and her smile seemed friendly.

"Hello, how may I help you?" She asked kindly.

"I am sorry for the intrusion, Mrs. -"

"McDowell." The woman supplied.

"McDowell. My name is Daniel Granger. I am visiting Godric's Hollow with some friends. We're from London and have been looking over an unsolved murder case that had taken place in the area about sixteen years ago. It's an assignment that was given to us by the university we attend to see if young eyes can see what others might have missed. Is it any trouble if I could talk to you for a while?"

Harry was rather proud of himself for being able to lie so well on the spot. He just hoped that Hermione wouldn't be too mad that he stole her last name for this occasion.

The woman looked a bit hesitant, but then stepped aside to let him in. Harry went inside and waited for the woman to tell him where he could sit.

"Please, have a seat on the couch. Would you like something to drink?" She asked after locking the door and stepping away from it.

"No, thank you. I've just had breakfast." Harry said with a thankful smile.

"Very well." She said and then sat down opposite him in a chair. "So how can I be of help to you, Mr. Granger?"

"Have you lived here long, Mrs. McDowell?" Harry asked.

"Please, call me Gloria, and yes, I've lived here for nearly twenty five years."

"Then perhaps you knew the Potters? I believe they lived right next to you unless I'm mistaken. Call me Daniel, please, by the way."

"Well, Daniel, I didn't know the Potters in the sense that I knew them both very well. I had tea with Lily Potter often, but I don't think that I've ever really seen James Potter. They had a son, too, whose name I can't remember."

"I believe his name is Harry. He is currently living in London." Harry said, still keeping the deception up well.

"Ah, that was it. Yes, Lily and I were pretty good friends, despite the fact that I never was able to meet her husband. She was a very kind and thoughtful person. From what I heard from her about James was that he worked all over the country and was rarely home, and he usually got home very late in the night."

Harry nodded to himself and thought of what to ask her next. He found something. "Was there ever anyone else that was at the Potter house?"

"Oh yes, they got a lot of visitors. Strange people sometimes, but who's to judge? In fact, Lily introduced me to one of James' friends who was almost always over even though he lived far away." She looked away for a moment, blushing. "He was a very handsome man."

"Could I have his name, please?" Harry asked kindly, already knowing the answer.

"His name is Sirius, but I haven't seen him since the Potters were murdered. In fact, I think people believed that he was the one that killed them." She said, her eyes suddenly sparkling with tears.

"I'm sorry Gloria, if you would prefer we stop."

"No, it's alright. I was just thinking what Dorian would think of me if he knew who his father was." She said, sniffing quietly.

Harry sat, dumbstruck for a moment. He didn't quite comprehend what the woman was saying.

"I'm sorry...but...what?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Oh it was some time after we met that Sirius and I started seeing each other. He would ask me to show him around the Hollow. Well, after a while..." She trailed off, tears streaming down her face.

"I didn't know that I was carrying until after the Potters died. And I never even saw him after that." She said quietly.

Harry didn't say anything. He vaguely heard what the woman was saying because all that his mind could process was the one simple fact that no one in the Wizarding or Muggle world knew.

Sirius had a son.

Well that's that for this chapter, my friends. I hope you enjoyed. I changed the plot around a little to suit myself so ignore that bit in the last chapter that said they would be heading to Raven's Bluff. Again, I'm sorry for the long, long, long wait for this chapter, but life had been far to dramatic lately to write anything more than my name.

Next Chapter: Harry learns more about Sirius' prodigal son, and then the Trio decides that it's time to head out for the next destination, Raven's Bluff.