I didn't realise how stressful it was going to be having Sirius at Potter Manor, until Tipsy brought us back home. I tried not to show it but, on the inside, I was hyperventilating from having another person in side my home, what was my safety bubble. Knowing that it was Sirius helped reduce my anxiety but it was still difficult to get a hold of myself. It got so bad that Sirius saw it on my face and put his arm around my shoulder to comfort me.

"It's going to be okay Harry; we are going to get along great. I have loved you since you were a baby, and now even more so. I mean you already have the makings of a Marauder given that remarkable prank you pulled on Bones. Even she was mystified by you, she said it seemed like you weren't even walking but levitating around." He said with a boisterous laugh that I lightly joined in on, though mostly because he didn't know that was the truth.

"It…It's not that…It's just that you happen to be the first person I've brought home since I started living here." I stuttered out when we both stopped laughing.

"What? What, do you mean the first person? Don't you live with anyone else" He inquired, worry clearly visible on his face.

"I live with the elves if that's what you mean, they've been the ones taking care of me." I tried to pacify his worries.

"The Potter elves are great, I'll give you that Harry, but you can't, solely, rely on them to raise you." He said seriously.

"And why not? From everything I've experienced, adults can be extremely ignorant, immature, hateful and frankly stupid, just as little kids can be; So why would I not choose to raise myself in an environment I know I will be loved and taken care for!" I said raising my voice when I got towards the end

"Harry…how bad was it for you at the Dursleys?" He asked hesitantly, after giving me a couple of seconds to calm myself.

I had to close my eyes and take a deep breath to calm myself down and thankfully Sirius gave me the time I needed. He just waited and with his arm still around my shoulder, patted me slightly to comfort me.

"It was bad, Sirius. Very bad." I said looking at the ground, avoiding eye contact with him.

This was the first time I was actually talking to someone about my time with the Dursleys and it was giving me flashbacks. While my time in the small cupboard was a boon for my magic, there were some very rough days. At times the solitude filled with the silent darkness of the cupboard was haunting. It still gave me nightmares from time to time.

When I was able to clear the thoughts from my head and looked toward Sirius, I saw him looking ashamed and guilty. He was the one avoiding eye contact now.

"Sirius, I don't blame you." I said trying to sooth the guilt he was feeling, I continued on before he could say anything else. "I'm not going to lie, I was a little hurt, in the beginning, when you gave me up to Hagrid but I also understood the magnitude of emotions you were feeling that day. Nobody can blame you for your decision that night." I took pause before continuing, "What I'm trying to say is, I already forgave you a long time ago."

It then that he looked towards me, with tears forming in his eyes but with a small smile forming on his face.

"Thank you, Harry." Sirius said with relief in his voice "I can't say how much that means to me. I really am sorry, Harry, I shouldn't have listened to Hagrid that day. I-"

"It's fine Sirius. Like I said, I already forgave you for it." I interrupted him. "And hopefully, you can forgive me for not getting you out of Azkaban earlier?"

"Wh-What?" Sirius stumbled out confused.

"To be honest, between the elves and I, we probably could have busted you out of Azkaban. But that would have meant living the rest of your life as a fugitive." I responded in a matter-of-fact manner.

Sirius blinked a few times, digesting what I just said. Then, he burst out laughing.

"Harry…though I would have loved to see you pull that off, you could have been implicated as well…so I'm glad you didn't go through with it…and of course I forgive you…" He said between his laughs.

After that, the conversations between us were more wholesome and light-heartened. Soon I was more than comfortable showing him around the manor, pointing out all the little changes I had made while he regaled me with stories of James and Lily living in the manor. I even showed him my training area and study, though I think seeing my training area broke him for a little bit. When I mentioned showing him where I trained, I don't think he expected what he saw.

It was a massive room, big enough that I had a section for training magic and a section for my physical training. The magic training section had different types dummies set up to test multiple types of magic, targets for practising my accuracy, and a soft cushion I sat on to meditate sometimes. My physical training area looked like any home gym; dumbbells lined up, in front of a bench with a barbell rack set up. Just beside it was the stand for all the plates. I couldn't lift many of them yet, so it certainly was weird for an 11-year-old to have something like this, but I didn't like doing things half way.

By the time we were done touring the manor, we were both extremely hungry, luckily the elves had prepared a huge celebratory lunch for Sirius. The elves, Sirius and I spent the next few hours just eating and talking. The elves regaling Sirius with slightly exaggerated, stories about my wandless magic experimentations, or the many near-death scares I gave them practising my flying with the broom. Sirius soaked them all up, laughing along with the elves and I, as we reminisced on those times.

Eventually, I had the elves take Sirius to bed, he still wasn't 100% and would need naps throughout the day to keep him well rested, since he was having constant trouble falling asleep at night. We had discussed him living here, this being his home just as much as mine. He had accepted readily, while joking about how he was mostly staying for the elves. I told him that I would be back at Hogwarts when he wakes up from his nap, so he would need to send a message through the elves, if he wanted to talk to me. I figured I had taken enough advantage of the leniency Dumbledore had showed me for being out of Hogwarts when he saw me at the Wizengamot meeting.

I had Tipsy drop me off near the 2nd floor girl's washroom after checking the Map and seeing Dean and Ron in our shared room already, didn't need them asking unnecessary questions. As I was making my way to library, I had seen Neville and Hermione there, I was stopped by Snape. He told me Dumbledore wanted to see me in his office immediately. He still behaved fairly rude with me but I could see cracks of genuine admiration, from time to time.

It was once again just Dumbledore and I, in his office. I was glad he realized how improper it was to have Snape and McGonagall at our meetings, despite how much he trusts them.

"In all my years, I have not been wrong often, Harry," Dumbledore started once I was comfortable. "And maybe that's why, I was too arrogant and careless with my decisions towards your upbringing. It was foolhardy to believe every decision I made was the best one. And so, once again I am sorry, Harry Potter. I made too many mistake in regards to your upbringing."

"Thank you, Headmaster, and I would like to apologize for leaving Hogwarts without permission, but it was a situation that came about abruptly-" I tried to explain myself but he interrupted me.

"It's okay Harry, I understand that once you received news of Sirius' possible release, you had to be there and I can see how it would be difficult to get permission, in such a short time. So, I won't ask how it was that you were able to leave Hogwarts without raising alarm, IF you promise that it will not happen again." He had said the last part with a stern tone and expression.

I gave him a nod to show my consent but, on the inside, I was face-palming. Even Dumbledore glossed over house elves, maybe there is some form of magic that causes most wizards to be completely ignorant of house elves.

"That aside, Harry, we need to talk about this mysterious guardian of yours. From what Amelia tells me, he knew quite a lot about the night of Voldemort's death, and I think he knows more than what Peter could have told him. It is imperative that he tells us everything he knows. As your magical guardian, I should be aware of all the pertinent information regarding your life."

And there it was, I knew Dumbledore would find someway of inserting himself into the situation. And just as he was improving my opinion of him, it came crashing down. Two steps forward, one step back; that's what they say right?

"I'm sorry to say Headmaster but you won't be my magical guardian for much longer. Now that my godfather has been released from his unjust imprisonment, he can take up the responsibility my parents asked of him." I said, not hiding the irritation I was feeling towards him now.

"Harry, while that may be true, but Sirius still needs time to heal. I think it would be difficult for him to take care of a child by himself." He tried to explain, as if I was an ignorant child.

"But he's not by himself. He'll have all the help he needs to take care of me, after all I've been looked after fairly well since leaving the Dursleys. Besides, I don't think the ministry will give him a hard time when transferring the guardianship, they can't afford to." I countered with a smirk.

He then tried asking more about how Pettigrew was found if he was hiding as a rat but I deflected it by saying I hadn't been told that information. He believed me, thinking that my guardian would not tell me everything for compartmentalization, like how he usually did with canon Harry. Talking to Bones had further cemented his theory of a mysterious wizard raising me. I needed to remember to thank Bones…no Amelia…I needed to remember to thank Amelia for not blowing my cover to Dumbledore.

When he realized he was getting no information out of me, he dismissed me from his office. I had made sure to leave no clues for Dumbledore to find. I even had one of the elves fetch an identical rat to Pettigrew's Animagus form, with the missing limb. I wondered how the entire Weasley family would have felt finding out their family pet rat was actually Pettigrew but now they would never know, for the best I thought.