Despite how nervous they all were, it was only a matter of time before they drifted off. It took several hours, but Harry had not gotten any sleep the night before, and all the fifth years were exhausted from their exams.

When dawn finally arrived, it found Neville draped across one of the couches the room had provided. Luna was curled up on an armchair. Ginny and Hermione were laying in a pile of blankets and pillows they had found in the room.

Meanwhile, Draco was half laying on a second sofa, half laying on an ottoman. Harry was also occupying two spaces. He was half laying on the couch, half on his boyfriend. He was draped over Draco's lap and curled up against his chest. Harry was clutching one of Draco's hands, and the other was on Harry's head, the two having fallen asleep while the blond was playing with the brunette's hair.

A few hours later, when Sirius and Remus walked in, they were almost sad to wake everyone. They all looked so peaceful, even Harry, who only a few months before could not go to sleep without waking up screaming. The solace was that the adults knew they only had good news to share.

"How should we wake them up?" Remus whispered.

Sirius looked around a room and spotted a whistle conveniently lying on a table. "I love this room," he said with a smirk as he picked up the whistle.

"Seriousl—" Remus began, but was interrupted when his boyfriend did indeed proceed to blow the whistle. His shock quickly turned into laughter as the loud shrill startled the teenagers awake. Sirius nearly doubled over watching Neville fall off of his sofa. Hermione and Ginny had gotten tangled in the blankets and were struggling to get free. Meanwhile on the second couch, Harry had leapt upwards while Draco had surged forward, resulting in a collision of heads. Only Luna seem unperturbed.

"Seriously?" Draco asked, rubbing his head.

"I'm always Sirius," Sirius replied with his tell-tale smirk. The teenagers all groaned, but Remus shoved his boyfriend affectionately. Suddenly, Harry realized exactly who he was talking to.

"Sirius!" he exclaimed. He practically threw himself at his godfather. He squeezed Sirius as tightly as he could, making sure he was really there. "You're alive."

"Yes," Sirius said with a laugh. "I'm alive."

"I'm alive too by the way," Remus piped up. "You know, if anyone cares." When Harry laughed and moved to hug Remus, he realized he was crying tears of joy.

"Did you go to the Ministry?" Hermione asked, having finally freed herself from the blankets. Everyone looked at the two adults expectantly. They shared a look, and Remus spoke up.

"Yes," he said. "We did." He paused and everyone stared on.

'Well!?" they exclaimed.

"It was a trap," Sirius said. "The place was crawling with Death Eaters." They all exchanged worried looks. "The good news is that you weren't there Harry."

"And my dad?" Draco asked quietly.

Remus and Sirius shared a look. "Yes," Remus answered. "It rather looked like he was in charge of the situation."

"So what happened?" Harry asked.

"We fought," Sirius said. "We won."

"Is anyone hurt?" Ginny asked, likely thinking of her father.

"Some minor injuries," Remus assured. "Nothing we can't handle."

"And the Death Eaters?" Harry asked, glancing at Draco.

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look and smiled. "Well, that's the really good news," Sirius replied with a grin. "You see, we fought long enough that the Ministry officials started arriving to work."

"And when the Minister for Magic walks into the atrium in the middle of a duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort it's hard to deny that Voldemort's returned," Remus added.

"Dumbledore fought Voldemort?" Neville asked.

"Destroyed the entire atrium in the process," Sirius confirmed.

"And the Death Eaters?" Ginny asked eagerly.

"Bellatrix escaped, but the rest were rounded up," Remus answered. Neville, Hermione, Ginny, and even Luna cheered, but Harry looked towards Draco. He looked upset, but not surprised.

"You okay?" Harry asked, grabbing the blonde's shoulder.

Draco looked up at Harry and he had tears in eyes. "Not really," he said. "I know the terrible things my father's done, and would have done to you had you been there, but he's still my dad. This will be hard on mum." Draco looked up at the adults. "You couldn't let my dad escape and capture Aunt Bella?" They couldn't help it. Everyone laughed, even though they knew it wasn't really funny.

"Hey it's not like we let her get away on purpose," Sirius said. "She tried to kill me. I'd return the favor if I could."

"She tried to what!?" Harry exclaimed.

"Calm down," Sirius said. "She missed."

"Barely," Remus clarified, not sounding happy about it.

Sirius shrugged. "Can't change the past," he said. "I didn't die did I?" Remus huffed a yes out, but did so begrudgingly. Sirius looked towards Harry. "So what do you say kid? Breakfast?"

"Can the room provide food?" Hermione asked.

"No, but I was thinking the Great Hall," Sirius replied with a smirk.

"But we can't let people see you," Ginny said. "Can we?" They all looked at Sirius expectantly.

"Well…" Sirius trailed off.

"Well what?" Harry asked.

"Well, the Ministry sort of saw that I was there this morning," Sirius said.

"And!?" Harry exclaimed, growing impatient. "What did they do?"

"Well obviously they arrested me and put me back in Azkaban," Sirius said sarcastically. "I'm standing here aren't I?"

"So you're free?" Neville asked. Harry looked at his godfather with wide eyes. It couldn't be true.

"Oh for Merlin's sake Sirius," Remus said, shoving his boyfriend. "Yes, he is free. They tried to arrest him, but the rest of the Order pointed out that he was in fact fighting for us. Of course, now that Dumbledore has been proven right about Voldemort, they weren't about to question him about Sirius. Kingsley was smart enough to suggest Sirius be given veritserium, and the rest is history. His record is being expunged as we speak."

Harry's mouth had fallen open in shock as Remus spoke, but Hermione was the first to say something.

"So, why didn't they just give him veristersium the first time all those years ago?" she asked.

"Who cares!?" Harry yelled, finally regaining the ability to speak. "Sirius is free!" He once more surged forward and enveloped his godfather in a bone-crushing hug. It was returned ten-fold.

"You know this means I'm officially your guardian right?" Sirius whispered in his ear.

Harry looked up at him, once more with tears in his eyes. "Seriously?"

"Always." Harry buried his head in his godfather's chest. "Unfortunately, that means you have to live with me at…" Sirius choked on the words. He looked up and realized the room had several people who did not know about the Order. "…headquarters for now. But one day, when this is all over, we'll get something much less oppressive."

"I'd live with you in a cave if that's what it took," Harry said, finally pulling back. "We'll just have to make do. Your parent's place can use a few less walls and maybe some new paint."

"I like the way you think kid," Sirius said, ruffling Harry's hair.

"As the third person taking up permanent residence in this house, I second that motion," Remus chimed in.

Everyone started talking at once, excited by the news. As they went to leave the room, Harry looked towards Draco, remembering that this was not a happy occasion for the Slytherin. He started to make his way back to his boyfriend, but Draco shook his head.

"Go," he said. "Celebrate. You deserve it. I'll go brood with the rest of my house and we can talk later, yeah?"

Harry nodded. "Absolutely," he said. He ran over and gave Draco a short kiss. "I'm here for you." Draco gave him a grateful smile, and Harry turned and walked out into the open with his, decidedly, not-a-criminal godfather.

The days that followed were a blur. Dumbledore and Hagrid were reinstated. McGonagall was still at St. Mungo's, but then again, so was Umbridge. Apparently, it was very…traumatic for her to be carried away by centaurs. All of Umbridge's new rules were undone. Life at Hogwarts was returning to normal. Well, not exactly normal.

It felt euphoric to walk into the Great Hall with his exonerated godfather right as the student body were reading the news in the Daily Prophet. Those who had doubted him were apologizing. Those who had always believed were celebrating the good news. And the animosity between Slytherin and the other three houses intensified.

To Draco's credit, he played his part very well. Even those who knew that he was secretly dating Harry questioned his loyalties. Everyone but Harry that is. The down side was that the scrutiny was so high, it was too dangerous to meet. Harry really wanted to see how Draco was doing, but it wasn't safe to sneak off until the night before they left for home. Harry eagerly made his way to the Room of Requirement.

He entered the room to find his boyfriend huddled on the sofa nursing a steaming mug. There was a plate of biscuits on the coffee table in front of him. Harry cocked an eyebrow.

"Tea and biscuits soothe me," Draco said. "Sue me." Harry laughed and sat down to snuggle next to his boyfriend. There was a second steaming mug on the table.

"For me?" Harry asked.

"No for Peeves," Draco said with an eye roll. Harry gave the blond a playful shove.

"Thanks," he said. He looked at the Slytherin. "How are you?"

Draco sighed. "I don't know," he admitted quietly. "My mum says she's doing okay, but it's hard to tell the truth in a letter." He leaned his head back against the sofa. "I'm scared to go home." He turned his head to look at Harry. "Aunt Bella will be there, and she'll only make things worse. It isn't socially acceptable to show her emotions in public, especially considering how my father will have failed in their eyes."

"That's horrible," Harry said. "I'm sorry Draco."

Draco sighed again. "I'll get the full force of it most likely," he said. "She'll try to put on a show for me too, but even the strongest people can only hold the façade for so long."

Harry repositioned himself so he could snake his arm around Draco's back and hold him. "I can't say I'm sorry that your dad is in Azkaban, but I am sorry that you and your mother have to deal with it," Harry told him. They sat in silence for some time, sipping their tea and munching on the biscuits. Harry rubbed circles on Draco's shoulder.

"I'll need to be a spy now," Draco said, breaking the silence.

Harry took a deep breath. "Are you ready?" he asked.

"Honestly?" Draco asked. "I'm not sure. Snape says my mind should be strong enough, but that the only way to tell will be to put in in practice. That's not exactly reassuring, is it?"

"I'm sorry I put you in this position," Harry replied.

"You didn't force me," Draco insisted. "I wanted this. I don't regret it."

"Still," Harry said. "I'm sorry. But for what it's worth, I have faith in you."

Draco gave Harry a small smile. "Thank you," he said gratefully. He grabbed Harry's hand. "I know how stupid it sounds, but I wish you would be there."

Harry jumped up. "Hey, maybe I can," he said excitedly. He dug through his bag for the item he was looking for. He pulled out a small mirror, familiar to them both.

"That's the mirror Sirius gave you," Draco said.

"Yep," Harry said. "It's a two-way mirror. Sirius has the other. We've been using it to communicate all year." He looked up at Draco. "I want you to take this one." He handed it to his boyfriend, who took it and fingered it gently. "When I get home, I'll get the one from Sirius."

"Are you sure?" Draco asked.

"Positive," Harry answered. "I'll be living with Sirius all summer. It's you I'll want to communicate with."

"How does it work?" Draco asked.

"You just call into it," Harry said. "Say my name." He thought about it for a moment. "We had a rule this year that only I would call for Sirius because he could never know when it was safe to speak with me. Let's make the same rule. Only you can call me. That way I won't accidently get you in trouble, or you know killed."

Draco laughed. "How considerate of you," he replied.

"I try," Harry responded. Draco looked down at the mirror. Harry watched his boyfriend's expression change. He didn't like the forlorn look on the blonde's face. So, he took it between his hands and made Draco look at him. He framed the blonde's face with his hands and stared into his grey eyes. The Black family eyes, Harry realized suddenly. He took a deep breath. "We can make it."

Draco looked down. "Can we?" he whispered.

"Look at me," Harry quietly ordered. Draco looked back up. "We can. No matter what they throw at us. No matter what happens. We can make it. I know we can."

"How?"

"Because…because I love you."

Draco's eyes widened, and, to Harry's relief, an expression of pure joy spread across his face.

"I…I love you too," he whispered.

Harry smiled, and kissed his boyfriend.

The next day, Harry and his friends made their way towards the train station.

"I'm sure we'll see each other at some point this summer," Harry said.

"I'd like to spend some time with my parents," Hermione said. "But just write to me. I'd be happy to come to Headquarters later in the summer."

"Same," said Ginny.

"We live by the Weasley's, if you're in the area," Luna added and Harry nodded at her.

"I'd like to spend some alone time with Sirius and Remus," Harry admitted. "This is the first time we'll get to be a real family. But I'm sure I'll get bored eventually."

"I guess I'll see you guys when next term starts," Neville said dejectedly.

"No way!" Harry exclaimed. "You're invited too Neville!"

"Really?"

"Of course!" Harry assured. He saw Neville perk up, and then he turned to make his way into the compartment. As he did, he caught a glimpse of blond hair. He made eye contact with his boyfriend one last time, and they shared a quick smile before they both darted into their respective compartments.

Harry wasn't sure what next year would hold. He thought back to how broken he had been last summer. He looked around at his friends and thought about the ways his life had changed over the year, mostly for the better. He wasn't sure what next year would be like, but he was sure if he could survive this year, he could survive anything.