A/N: Waha! Chapter 4 has emerged from the depths of… my brain! Told you I'd post it! (thumbs up) Oh! And thanks to those who reviewed my previous chapters! Mikeli… I feel the same way, too! And not just him but other characters as well. (ponders) Is that normal? O.o Hehe…

Disclaimer: Nope! Nada! Nothing belongs to me! (does the it-does-not-belong-to-me dance)

Experience With Me
Chapter Four

Your Home

Silence filled the air for what almost seemed like an eternity. Harry's eyes kept darting from his godfather to the Dursleys. He wanted to say something but couldn't find the words to break the tension. It was up to the adults to handle the situation, leaving Harry in quite a tight spot. He admitted to himself that he totally forgot the reason why his godfather came in the first place. There was a strip of hope inside his gut that he could finally leave the Dursleys, but he knew conflicts would arise.

Just then, Uncle Vernon made the first move. His foot slid sideways, barely moving an inch away from his frightened family. Sirius remained motionless with his fists clutched tightly to his sides. His mind was racing, filled with anxiety and anger. He too knew that asking the Dursleys to take Harry home wouldn't be enough. However, he knew that he had the advantage. The Dursleys were absolutely frightened of the famous murderer and wouldn't dare do anything to provoke him… or perhaps they had found a solution to side step from the obvious? Sirius' eyes darted right towards Uncle Vernon's. His eyes were narrowed, filling up with a mixture of anger and fright.

Uncle Vernon cleared his throat, causing Sirius to straighten up.

"Y-You are not t-taking Harry with y-you!" he said in an unsteady voice. "E-Even if you are a t-threat to e-everyone! I-I'm… I'm standing up for us!"

Sirius yawned in a mocking sort of way. "Is that all you were gonna say to me? Well, if you're done, Harry and I must make haste."

"I told you! He is n-not going with you, and that's final!" Uncle Vernon stomped loudly, surprising everyone in the room. "I could c-call the police if you d-do so! They'll come f-find you a-and-"

"Hah! Go ahead! Call them! They wouldn't know where to look anyway," he peered over to Harry and winked. "Besides, our magic's too much for them right, Harry?"

Harry cautiously nodded his head. "Y-Yeah, I guess so… but-"

"See? Now then!" Sirius snapped his head towards Uncle Vernon. He jumped for a mere second as Sirius made his way closer to him. "I believe that Harry is better off with me. You don't know the first THING about taking care of a child! Just look at your pudgy Dumbette cowering in fear in the corner!"

Dudley whimpered as Aunt Petunia held him closer to her body. They were boxed into a corner, unable to do anything. Uncle Vernon glared at them for a moment then turned back to Sirius. He gasped as the tip of Sirius' wand was inches away from his neck.

"I don't mean to put you in this situation," Sirius said rather calmly. "But, I'm doing what is best for Harry. So, I'm basically taking him off your hands. You'd like that, RIGHT?"

"H-He's my responsibility!" Aunt Petunia suddenly shouted. "I-I'm supposed to make sure he s-stays here!"

"That's enough!" Uncle Vernon growled at her. "This isn't your time to talk!"

"Yes it is! R-Remember? W-We must take care of Harry!"

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "You sure didn't prove that at all!" he turned away from the Dursleys. "I'm taking him home with me, right now."

"Now just wait a darn-"

"Harry! Go upstairs and gather your things," he pointed his wand at Uncle Vernon. "We'll leave as soon as you're done."

At that, Harry sprang to his feet and hurried upstairs. His bedroom door swung open, surprising Hedwig who looked exhausted. Harry quickly opened Hedwig's cage and let her outside.

"Hedwig, please wait for me over at Sirius' place, okay?"

Hedwig hooted in response then flew off into the night.

Just when Harry had finished gathering his personal belongings into a backpack, he realized that that was all he needed to bring. The Dursleys had thrown all of his magic equipment away just the other day. Harry sighed, knowing that he would never see his Firebolt again. With one more glance around the empty room, he slowly made his way out.

He trudged down the stairs, noticing that the silence had returned. Apparently, Uncle Vernon had given up the fight, leaving Sirius with a grand smile of victory planted on his face. Harry shifted towards the Dursleys and bowed his head.

"Thank you for everything," he looked up. "But… I think you'll have an easier time here without me."

Uncle Vernon grunted. "Do as you please. But I know that you'll regret it."

Harry didn't respond. Somehow, he just didn't understand what had just happened. What Aunt Petunia had said earlier about him… making sure he stayed with the Dursleys. He'd thought they wanted to get rid of him as soon as they had the opportunity. He just shook the thought out from his head. Perhaps he would understand sooner or later…

Sirius turned to Harry and examined the only luggage he brought. His head tilted in confusion.

"Is that all you're bringing?"

Harry peeked at his backpack then nodded to Sirius.

"Yeah, I guess."

He didn't want to tell Sirius about losing his magic equipment because of the Dursleys. Another conflict would arise if it were mentioned… so he decided to keep quiet… at least for now.

Sirius just shrugged then turned to the Dursleys who seemed fidgety. He just nodded his head then made his way out the front door. Harry waved goodbye then quickly ran alongside his godfather.

"So, where exactly do you live, Sirius?"

"Oh, it's not really far away," he started. "I'm even surprised by how I made it without Buckbeak's help."

A smile formed on Harry's face. He had almost forgotten about Buckbeak, the hippogriff. Now that he realized, he never really asked Sirius how Buckbeak was doing through the mail. Harry was sure that the first thing he would do was to greet the hippogriff with open arms… or at least a bow.

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck. "This quite tiresome…"

Harry snapped out from his thoughts. "But we've only been walking for a few minutes. Is your house really that far?"

He turned to face his godfather but couldn't find his tall figure anywhere. Harry shifted around until he heard a soft whimper below him. The next thing he knew, a black dog sprang up to its hind legs and licked Harry's pale face.

"Ah! S- Stop that!" Harry said, pushing the excited dog back down onto the ground. "You scared me for a second."

Harry patted Sirius' head then followed him down the sidewalk.

"S…Sirius… are we there yet?"

Harry and Sirius had been walking for at least two hours and they still weren't close to where Sirius resided. Harry could barely drag his own feet while Sirius looked like he could run around all night.

Finally, Sirius came to a sudden halt. Harry watched the black dog dash across the street towards a rather small and grim-looking house. That couldn't be the house Sirius was residing… could it? But, what did Harry know? He'd been so used to the Dursleys big and bright house, seeing the small house started to make him wonder. He just shrugged at the then quickly crossed the street.

Sirius, who had changed back into his human form, cautiously open the front door and gestured Harry to follow. As Harry entered the house, he was surprised to see that it looked much bigger than it did from the outside. In fact, it was huge.

"Lemme turn the lights on for you while I fetch you something to drink," Sirius told Harry, turning on the lights as he left the room.

The lights shone brightly into the boy's face, hindering his eyesight for a while. After a moment, he blinked his eyes open and examined the area. As he gazed around, he realized that it was absolutely filthy. It was like it hadn't been cleaned for a good century or so. It was surprising to Harry that he would be living in this house for what seemed to be the rest of his life. But he knew he would get used to it eventually, since he was going to live with his godfather. A smile formed at that thought. This was the first time in his life that he felt at home.

He dropped his backpack to the ground and walked towards a curtain that seemed to be blocking something behind it. The moment he was about to peek in, Sirius had entered the room, making Harry jump away from it. Sirius lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Wouldn't wanna look under there if I was you," he smirked at that. "C'mon, you must be h…" his voice trailed off. He noticed that Harry looked quite shocked. "What's wrong?" he surveyed the room. "I swear I was gonna clean it later."

That made Harry chuckle. "No, that's not it. It's just… everything's happening so fast. One minute I'm inside the Dursleys home… and the next minute I'm here…" he let out a soft gasp. "Oh, but I'm alright, really I am."

A sigh broke out from Sirius' mouth. "You're such a liar, Harry. You're just like James."

"…my dad?"

"Yeah, he was really horrible in hiding them… except maybe that one time when Snape believed he would turn into a four legged toad on a full moon…"

Harry widened his eyes in amazement. "Really? Snape believed that?"

"Oh, you should have seen it! It was so convincing too! Remus and I could barely hold our laughter in. Good thing Snape ran away like a scared little girl! Oh, but this was only our first year at Hogwarts. Later in our seventh year, it got a little insane yet it was enjoyable at the same time. Snape was onto our little tricks by the time… yet he would always end up headfirst in the toilet or hung upside down thanks to James. He was so easy… Lily was totally against it of course…" he suddenly stopped then faced Harry, who seemed speechless. "Oh, sorry about that. Going through memory lane again… ehe…eh."

Harry shook his head and responded quickly, "No, that's alright."

In truth, Harry really wanted to know more about their parents. However, he felt a little overwhelmed by how everything was moving too quickly for him. At the situation he was in right now, the only thing he could do was try to get used his new surroundings before he got serious.

He lifted his backpack and swung it over his shoulder.

"Uhm… if it's okay with you… could I rest for a while? I'm… kind of tired."

Sirius blinked. "…yeah, sure. Uhm… lemme show you your room."

Harry followed his godfather upstairs, passing through the long and dusty hallway. They both stopped in front of one of the doors of the hallway. Sirius opened the door for Harry, revealing a surprisingly clean room. A small bed with light blue sheets was present as well as a nightstand, a closet and a dresser with Hedwig on top, flapping her wings. Despite the room's old and rickety appearance, it was indeed flawless. A smile appeared on Harry's face as he walked inside the room. Sirius noticed that and smiled to himself.

"I actually cleaned something today," he admitted. "Not as lazy as you thought I was, huh?"

Harry grinned. "You surprised me, Sirius."

After that, they remained in silence. Harry felt a little awkward and not quite sure what he wanted to do except sleep. There were so many things he wanted to talk to Sirius about but he didn't feel that it was the best time. Maybe he could start fresh tomorrow in the morning? Seemed like a good idea.

At last, Sirius clasped his hands together and sighed.

"Well… eh, I guess I better hit the sack too. I'll be right next door so if you need anything, you know where I am."

"Yeah, thanks," was all Harry said before Sirius quietly closed the door behind him.

Harry walked up to Hedwig and stroked her soft white wings. The owl hooted calmly before shutting her big eyes. Harry frowned then turned to his lone window as it cast the moon's bright rays into the room.

He wasn't tired at all… he just wanted to be alone for a while.

A/N: End of chapter 4! Whee! Y'know… I felt bad for Snape… but Sirius totally dislikes him so… I couldn't help it. (sweatdrop) Sorry Snape fans. I love him, really I do. (smile) Anyway! Fin-a-lee, the story begins! This chapter was actually fun to write. Harry and Sirius are bonding… a little. Poor Harry just has a lot in his mind at the moment. But, their bond will grow later in the story. Welp! I hope you liked and please tell me how you thought of it!