Summery:

On The Run

Chapter Twenty Five

Discussions with Sirius

Entering his holding cell after day three of the trial, Sirius sighed as he sat down. Two days from now Remus was coming to visit him. He was excited to hear about how Harry was doing in school. It was driving him nuts not knowing what was going on in his godson's life.

The cell door opening brought Sirius from his thoughts; looking up Sirius saw Mr. Willis step through. "Hello Mr. Willis." Sirius said pleasantly.

"Hello, Sirius. Things went well today." Mr. Willis informed Sirius. "Also, I have this for you." He pulled out a package wrapped in Christmas wrapping and handed it to Sirius.

"Thanks." Sirius said as he examined the gift. He recognized Harry's handwriting and smiled.

"Well, I'll leave you to your gift." Mr. Willis said as he stepped out of the cell and the Auror locked it behind him.

Looking down Sirius began to slowly un-wrap his gift. Inside, Sirius found pictures of his godson at Hogwarts. He smiled as he saw them. Harry looked well in the pictures. Looking at the rest of his gift Sirius saw some books. Most of them were novels. Opening the card Sirius read the note.

Merry Christmas!

Hi Sirius! Merry Christmas! How are you? I hope well. I'm doing okay. I hope you like your gifts. There are some books for you to read incase your bored. And some pictures. I figured you might like to see what my friends look like and everything. Anyway, the girl with bushy hair is Hermione Granger, and the red head is Ron Weasley. I hope you had an okay Christmas, as this won't get to you until after Christmas. Ron tells me that his family is spending Christmas here, at Hogwarts. He said they want to meet me. I hope the meeting goes well. Classes are okay. I don't like Transfiguration and Charms and History of Magic a lot though. Herbology is cool. There is this kid, Neville, who I talk to during the class. He is interested in Herbology. It's his favorite class. I am enjoying Potions. I don't like having class with the Slytherin's though. All they do is make nasty comments about this stupid house rivalry. Gryffindor's do too, but usually after the Slytherin starts it. This house rivalry stinks. They really should just dump the house rivalry thing and make it one big school. Anyway, I'm rambling. I can't wait to see you again soon! Have a merry Christmas!

I love you,

Harry Potter

Sirius smiled as he folded the letter and placed it inside one of the books along with the pictures so he wouldn't loose them.

Two day's passed quickly and Sirius was being taken to the detaining room to meet his friend, Remus. Stepping into the room - the Auror closing the door behind him- Sirius could see Remus sitting at the table.

"Hello Sirius. How are you?" Remus said smiling at his once best friend.

"Hello Remus." Sirius said as he sat down at the table. "I'm okay."

"So that's where Harry got that?" Remus mused.

"Got what?" Sirius asked confused. What did Remus mean?

"If anyone asks about him all he says is 'fine' or 'okay."

"Is he okay?" Sirius asked concerned.

Remus sighed and leaned forward a little. "He seems okay. Just a little withdrawn."

"What do you mean withdrawn?"

"He's been tired lately. More so than usual. He hasn't been eating like he should. More quiet then usual." Remus listed.

"Is it just because of his work load – He is still catching up with the rest of his year."

"Maybe." Remus said sighing. "Albus plans on speaking with him in a few days."

Sirius nodded. He didn't want this to be ignored. Harry had given no indication in his letter that anything might be wrong; but that wasn't the best thing to go by. His godson had always been one to hide something from him if he thought it wasn't important and didn't want to worry him.

"I gave him the Marauder's Map for Christmas." Remus' voice brought Sirius out of his thoughts. Sirius grinned. He himself wouldn't have been able to come up with a much better gift. Maybe James' old invisibility cloak, but Albus had beaten him to that.

"That's great! What did he think about it?" Sirius was really curious about how Harry reacted. He had told Harry about the Marauder's Map growing up; and he knew Harry had always been fascinated with the Marauder's Map.

"He seemed to really like it. He came to my office on Christmas and I asked him if he'd figured out what the parchment meant. So I showed him and he recognized it immediately." Remus explained with a grin of his own.

"What was his reaction to the cloak?"

"He also recognized it. I assume from your stories?" At Sirius' nod he continued. "He was really impressed with it as well."

"Maybe he'll make good use of it." Sirius said cryptically. Remus knew by the gleam in his eyes he was thinking of pranks.

"Is Harry even interested in pranks?" Remus asked curiously. He had never seen Harry do a prank - that he knew of. And Harry didn't seem like he was the kind of person to pull pranks often. Though – Remus corrected – he himself didn't seem like the kind of person to pull a prank.

"Sometimes." Sirius answered vaguely, and then continued. "If we're in the middle of a prank war or he is getting someone back for something, then he'll pull a prank. He's pretty good when he does pull one though. He has some pretty good ideas."

A knock on the door interrupted Remus from replying and an Auror stepped in. "It's time for you to leave, Mr. Lupin."

Remus nodded and stood up. "I'll see you later Sirius. Take care of yourself."

Sirius nodded at his friend. "You too. And please keep an eye on Harry."

Remus promised he would and left the room. A moment later the Auror reentered the room. "Time to go to your cell, Mr. Black."

Sirius nodded and stood.

End of Chapter Twenty Five

A/N: I hope you like this chapter! I'm not too pleased with it myself. But it was necessary I think. Please review!

Next Chapter: Discussions with Dumbledore.