Author's Note:

To answer a few common questions from reviews: Yes, Harry is going to bond with Zee a bit, it is already written. I have a plan for year three that I think I've been dropping small hints about for a while and it does involve Azkaban; and no, they are not sweeping this under the rug, Harry went through a big ordeal. Sirius and Remus are going to work through it with him, but they want him to do it at his own pace as well.

At this posting — I have most of year three written and ideas jotted down for year four, but not edited and not organized so, give me some time. I write scenes out of sequence and often have to work at organizing them into chapters chronologically.

I spent a lot of time on this chapter so I hope you enjoy it.

Reviews and Comments: To E-Dett: Thank you! I agree, it felt weird that no one really took the time to speak to Harry about these types of things in the books. Sirius and Remus are definitely one hundred percent there for him. Harry is loved here. To Matt9917: Thank you! To WarMunger98: Thank you! Glad you felt my new chapter was worth staying up for! To alix33: Yes, Sirius did destroy objects in a similar fashion to canon Harry. I wanted to show their similarities a bit and yes, Harry made a good dinner for them. To Steelcode: Thank you! Third year will be different since Sirius is not in prison. To Guest: Thank you! I think the road trip is just what Sirius and Harry need as well. Zee and Harry will have some bonding time, yes. This is also some alone time for Remus and Tonks. I'm glad you enjoyed my jealous Tonks. To PolarWriter95: Thank you! I hope it's a good surprise to see what year three will bring. Tonks definitely won over Remus and her dark purple pubes were a little part of that I suppose haha. To Paola1991: Thank you! Sirius will tell Harry, but right now he is thinking like a father who doesn't want his son to have to grow up so fast.

Thank you very much for reading and please, please review!

Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you!

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT:

The One Where Harry Learns to Drive

France had been amazing.

Not only had the scenery been breathtaking, but doing the trip on the Ducati was definitely worth it. They spent four days in Provence visiting the little market towns and doing some shopping. Harry found a painting that he really liked of the countryside in Provence, some vintage tee shirts, and he started picking up small things for his friends.

For Ron, he started collecting tee shirts; the really cheesy tourist ones with stupid sayings like: 'My best mate went to France and all I got was this lousy tee shirt.' For Hermione, he collected a book about every place he went to and wrote little messages about why he had chosen each one for her and told her something that had happened that day. He knew that she would love them, even when they were in a different language, which knowing his friend, would only motivate her to learn said language. For Neville, he collected plants — anything that he found that looked different or strange, he'd bottle it up and Sirius would charm it to keep it preserved and Harry would write a little note about where it was from. He figured that Neville would get a kick out of that and he was leaving the discovery of the plant up to his friend as well. And for Ginny, he started collecting postcards.

He would find a postcard at the market that best described something that he and Sirius had done that day and then he would write her a message on the back telling her about what they had seen that day and how he was just checking in.

By the time that they got to Romania, he had sent three separate postcards with messages for her and he knew that he wanted to keep doing it. He hoped that she was having a good summer and that she was working through the horrors that she had experienced in May. He had a feeling that more had happened to her (with the whole being possessed by Voldemort situation) than he even knew about. He imagined it was tough for her.

He wanted to try to make her smile and he hoped that his postcards succeeded.

Sirius also decided to make sure that they took a picture of the two of them making stupid faces in front of an important landmark in each city or town. He had this idea of making a collage for McGonagall of them.

But it was in Italy when Sirius decided it was time to start teasing his godson, something he'd been waiting for the right opportunity to do, when he noticed Harry's eyes following a rather buxom blonde in a red striped bikini.

"She's rather beautiful, eh?"

Harry blushed when he realized his godfather had caught him staring. "Er, yeah."

Sirius grinned widely. The fact that he had just caught his Harry staring at an attractive woman was more amusing to him than he realized it would be. "So, outside of the whole Chamber of Secrets rescue mission, did anything else exciting happen this year that you'd like to share with me?"

"Like what?" Harry asked, turning to look at Sirius in confusion as he unpacked the tent from his book bag. "You already know everything."

Sirius grinned, looking like the cat that had swallowed the canary. "Um, I think that you left a few things out actually."

"Like what?" he repeated.

Sirius grinned mischievously. "Like maybe a Valentine perchance?"

Harry groaned aloud, holding the tent in his hand and staring at Sirius in horror. "Uncle Moony said that he wouldn't tell you that!"

Sirius chuckled. "He didn't. Tonks let it slip months and months ago about it being from Ginny. I waited for you to tell me about it and when you didn't, I thought that I'd much rather wait and ask you about it in person."

"It was embarrassing and I knew that you'd tease me!"

Sirius' grin widened. Harry knew him well, he thought gleefully. "Exactly why you should have told me, Prongslet! Is that why you rescued Ginny? Did her Valentine make you fall in love with her?"

"Uncle Sirius, we're just friends," Harry insisted, his face flushing.

He had forgotten about the Valentine (mostly) and he was pretty sure that Ginny most certainly didn't fancy him anymore. At least, he rather hoped that she didn't as he didn't know what to do with that information. They were friends, good friends.

"I don't like Ginny that way! I don't like anyone that way!"

"Are you sure? I mean trust me, Harry; Potters like redheads."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Uncle Siri, just because my mum had red hair doesn't mean that all Potters in the history of Potters, like redheads."

Sirius just wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "And your grandmother had red hair too, well, brownish-red, but honestly, Ginny is pretty great."

"She's more than just great! She's brilliant and funny but… I don't like any girls right now."

"I don't know, you sure had your eyes on that blonde's generous cleavage a few minutes ago."

Harry flushed and gave Sirius a look of loathing that made him laugh.

"Okay, so who's the bloke?"

"Uncle Padfoot!" Harry said in exasperation trying not to laugh now. He had known that when his father heard about the Valentine this was going to happen, which was why he had made the strategic choice not to tell him. "There's no one!"

"Okay, if you say so."

"I do," Harry said, adamantly.

Sirius was quiet for a minute and then, "I heard that the Valentine sang too; so what did it say?"

Harry just groaned again. He knew that he was never going to hear the end of this any time soon. He needed to have a word with his so-called big sister about betrayal. He knew that he was right when he heard Sirius singing under his breath a minute later.

"His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad," he sang as he magically hooked up the tent and crawled inside.

It was going to be a long summer, Harry thought.

~ ASC ~

Ginny was sitting in the kitchen of Bill's flat, the hustle and bustle of the market outside of the window a welcome sound. The entire family had come to stay with Bill in Cairo and she was thankful to have them there. But she found herself nervous for today.

Her mother had been hassling her something fierce, insisting that she needed to talk about what had happened to her, but once she had spoken to Bill, gotten the words out that first time in the Hogwarts hospital wing, the thought of telling her mum made her sick to her stomach. She'd spent almost a week in the hospital wing where both Madam Pomfrey and her mother had filled her on the details of the witch's talk: Menstruation, puberty, pregnancy, and sex. It had been mortifying and only made her even more determined not to talk to her mother.

Ginny loved her mum more than anything in the world. She was strong and loving and fiercely protective of her children, which also tended to make her a bit overbearing at times. She knew that her mother loved her and she knew that nothing she could ever tell her would make her mum love her any less, but the thought of seeing her mum's face when she told her what Tom had done to her — Ginny couldn't bear the thought of putting that look in her mother's eyes. It was one thing for her mum to know, but it was something else entirely for her to tell her about it.

No, she definitely wasn't ready for that.

She smiled at Bill when he came into the kitchen, bending down to kiss her cheek before he poured himself a glass of orange juice and drank it standing up. Ginny knew that he had only used a glass because their mum was nearby and the thought made her grin; some things never changed.

"What are you grinning at over there, Firecracker?"

Ginny shrugged. "You."

He grinned and sat his hip on the table. "I'm really glad that you've agreed to this."

Ginny shrugged again, biting her bottom lip. She had been trying not to think about it if she was honest. "I wasn't really given much of a choice."

Bill's eyebrow rose. "Ginny, you need to trust us. We love you and it may not seem like this is something that you want to do, but you need to do it."

She only nodded. "Can you take me? I don't want Mum and Dad to… will you take me today? Please, Bill."

Bill smiled and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Of course, I will."

Twenty minutes later, Ginny looked up at the marble building and gulped. She held her brother's hand as he led her through the emergency department and up the stairs to the floor that was labelled: Mind Healing. She swallowed as Bill led her through the doors and over to the receptionist desk.

Bill urged her forward five minutes later when her name was called. She hesitated, wanting to ask him to come in with her and then blushing in embarrassment at the thought of it. She had to do this by herself. It had taken her parents and her brother days to get her here in the first place. She couldn't ask her big brother to come with her. She had to be strong and take this step by herself. Ginny shook her head and followed the healer through the wooden door and into a small sitting room. The healer told her to take a seat and that MH Hickey would be with her soon.

Ginny chose the plush purple armchair, crossing her legs underneath her and tugging the throw pillow up into her lap to hold close. The door opened a few minutes later and a tall, thin woman with dark black hair and brownish gold skin came inside, a bright smile on her pretty face.

"Hello, Ginevra, my name is Mind Healer Hickey, but you may call me Na'eemah."

"Ginny," she said quietly as the healer sat in the arm chair across from her.

Na'eemah smiled warmly, crossing her legs. "How charming. You're from England?" At Ginny's nod, she continued, "My husband, Daniel, is originally from England, Sussex actually. It's how I obtained the very Egyptian surname of Hickey."

Ginny's smiled a little and fisted her hands against the throw pillow.

"Your brother Bill is quite the charming young man, I met him a few times when I went to visit the dig sites. He works with my husband, who is also a curse breaker. Bill told me that you had a very intense first year of school — Hogwarts, right?"

Ginny only nodded.

Na'eemah smiled patiently. "I know that this is incredibly daunting; coming in here and speaking to a complete stranger. There is no pressure here, Ginny. Nothing you tell me will be told to anyone else unless you ask me to. No one outside of this room will know anything of what you've spoken to me."

"I don't want to talk."

"That's all right, too," Na'eemah said, tapping her fingers on her knee. "We can just sit here and you can talk when you are ready to. You can talk to me about anything, Ginny, it doesn't have to be about the reason why you came to see me today."

Ginny stared down at her lap. She could feel the pretty woman's soft gaze on her and she shifted slightly. "Bill gave me a journal to write in and… I write my thoughts in there and that helps me think."

"Journaling is a wonderful tool. He was right to give you one."

"Everyone keeps telling me that it wasn't my fault, but it feels like it was."

Na'eemah smiled. "Why does it feel that way to you?"

"I wrote in the diary and I brought him to life, even if I wasn't aware of it at the time."

"The diary was cursed, Ginny, you couldn't have known."

"I should have."

Na'eemah nodded. "Blame is often the big question here and I want you to understand that you are not to blame for this. You are eleven years old, a girl still on the verge of womanhood. A sixteen-year-old-wizard manipulated you. He possessed you. He molested you. But you're still here. You're still sitting here before me — which shows me how strong you are, how powerful."

"I don't feel very powerful," she whispered.

"Girl power is the strongest and the toughest to knock down," Na'eemah said with a smile. "And together I think that we can work to bring that power back to you. What do you say?"

Ginny shrugged. "You already know what happened."

"Bill told me the facts, yes, but knowing what happened and hearing of your experiences are two very different things."

"Mum and Madam Pomfrey told me that sex isn't like what happened to me."

"It's not. What happened to you was wrong and terrible and it's not just the physical that needs to be healed, Ginny. The mind is resilient and versatile and the strongest part of the human body. It needs to be treated with as much respect and care as you would treat your own body."

Ginny hugged the pillow close to her. "What if I can't?"

Na'eemah only smiled warmly. "It won't happen in one day, Ginny. It's going to take time and effort on your part and you have to talk to me, to trust me. I am here to help you and if you let me, we will work together to help you heal. Time heals all wounds."

Ginny only nodded, picking at the string on the corner of the pillow. "And if I don't talk to you?"

"Then we'll just sit here for the next hour and a half, quietly, and that's okay, too. We'll get started when you're ready and not a moment before."

Ginny turned to look at the window, her heart beating in her chest.

She didn't know where to start.

She didn't know how to start.

She didn't know what to say and she didn't know how to say it.

She swallowed, the ticking of the clock behind her seemed to echo through the room loudly.

She closed her eyes and Tom stepped out of the diary.

"He said that he was my friend," she said quietly.

Na'eemah didn't speak, she only watched her, a reassuring smile on her face.

"He said that he was my friend," Ginny repeated, opening her eyes to look at the mind healer. "And I believed him."

~ ASC ~

By the first week of July, Harry and Sirius made it to Romania. They visited Bran Castle where the legend of Dracula was known to have lived. They spent time along the Transfagarasan Highway where they explored the Romanian countryside, passing through the Fagaras Mountains. The road was winding and curved with many large drops of rocky cliffs making it beyond beautiful and terrifying to drive on. Harry had merely held Sirius tighter as the bike weaved in around the bending road. They visited Bucharest, hit some more markets and went through some tours to learn more about the country.

Harry continued to collect souvenirs for himself and his friends and Sirius was collecting his own souvenirs.

It started when he saw the little bee charm that was a symbol of Provence at the market. It was silver and gold and he bought it while Harry was browsing the postcards. When they were in Italy, he found a little silver Italian wolf charm after passing through the mountains so that by the time that they got to Romania, he found himself looking for a charm to symbolize the country. He found it in Brasov, a little gold eagle charm with a cross in its beak that he made the decision to make his own charm bracelet for Zee with important animals from every country. He and Harry were enjoying finding the charms for it as they travelled.

When they got to Austria, seventeen days into their trip, one of the magical villages they stopped in had a newspaper stand out front of a little market. Sirius grabbed a copy when they saw that it had Gilderoy Lockhart on the front page. He used a translating charm so that they could read it.

The investigation against Lockhart was still strongly underway, but the Hogwarts portion of the investigation had finally come to an end. Lockhart had been formerly charged with child molestation and rape against nine students. One girl, aged eighteen who had finished at Hogwarts in June, refused to press charges against him claiming that the other students were telling lies and that they were in love and going to get married one day.

As to the pending investigation on fraud and memory charms, the Aurors had only made it through three of the locations that Lockhart had mentioned in his books, but already had Mind Healers working on fifteen people. It looked like he wouldn't be going to trial for quite a while yet while they continued to gather evidence. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement were keeping him contained in the Ministry jail cells for the time being with a trial upcoming in September for the charges of rape and child molestation. The Aurors declared that they could try him for the other crimes after he was in Azkaban.

There was no doubt to his guilt.

Harry only stared at Sirius when he finished reading the article. "Guess he's guilty then."

"More than guilty by the sounds of it," Sirius said, his eyes flashing in anger. "I hope the Aurors are looking for more than just fraud in these villages and towns. I mentioned it to King when I saw him in June. Hogwarts can't be the first time he's done things like this."

Harry only nodded, but chose not to answer. The entire Lockhart situation still made him cringe a bit. He had been so focused on wondering why Lockhart was such a terrible and incompetent teacher and all of this had secretly been going on. He was glad that no one he knew had directly been affected and that made him feel a bit bad too. He said as much in his journal that night and felt better for it after writing it down.

He woke that night, drenched in sweat and the smell of Ginny's blood in the air. His heart was pounding and he reached for his glasses, seeing the shadow of his godfather sitting at the table in the kitchen under the soft light.

Harry crawled out of bed, pushing open the curtain that gave him privacy and moved to sit across from Sirius. He had a notebook opened in front of him and seemed to be writing.

"Is that the journal from Uncle Moony?"

Sirius smiled as he finished writing his thought and closed the book. "It is."

"He'll be happy to know that you're finally using it."

Sirius hesitated, his eyes on Harry. He could see the haunted look in his son's eyes and it made him sigh. "I'm not really. I'm using it for something else entirely. Want to talk about it?"

Harry shrugged and reached for the glass in front of Sirius, sniffing the context and making a face. "How do you drink that stuff?"

"With pleasure," he said with a grin. He stood up and went about making hot chocolate, putting two steaming mugs in front of them. "Talk to me, Prongslet."

Harry took a sip of the rich chocolate, closing his eyes and savouring the taste. "I don't know what to say."

Sirius sipped his own hot chocolate and leaned back in the chair. "We haven't spoken about it since the day that you came home from school. I've left it, left you with your thoughts, hoping that you would come to me on your own. You're here, Harry, talk to me."

He was quiet for a long moment. His thumb slid along the rim of his cup, around and around and around. He took a long sip of hot chocolate and then his gaze met his father's. "I thought that she was dead."

Sirius only took another drink of his hot chocolate. He didn't want to interrupt.

"There was so much blood and I thought that she was dead. She was almost cold to the touch and when I felt a pulse, I had never been so relieved in all of my life. When Tom told me that he was taking her soul… she was my first friend, Uncle Padfoot. We've drifted apart over the last two years because she wasn't at Hogwarts with me and then she was but… she wasn't… and it wasn't the same and I felt bad about that, too. I don't know, I just keep re-living that moment, but in my dream, she's dead and I… Voldemort is real and alive and…"

Sirius moved around to his son, tugging him to his feet and wrapping his arms around him, kissing the top of his head. "It's only a dream, Prongslet. You saved her. She's very much alive and very much still your friend. Sometimes we drift apart from people, it doesn't mean that we stop caring about them."

Harry fisted his hands in the back of Sirius' tee shirt, the familiar scent of forest and leather reminding him that he was safe, that he was protected. "I know."

Sirius smiled at him when he pulled away, cupping his chin in his hands. "As for Voldemort, he is real and he is alive. We both know that. But he is not a threat right now. He is an unknown entity, a parasite living somewhere in Albania unable to do anything or to take form to hurt you." He kissed his son's forehead. "I won't let him hurt you, Prongslet. The last two years… it's been too close."

Harry nodded and hugged him again. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I'm sorry that I wouldn't talk to you after everything happened. I just… I didn't want you to worry and I… I didn't want to talk about it again, not right away, not after I had already spoken to Dumbledore and McGonagall. I knew that you'd worry and I'm sorry."

"It's a parent's job to worry, Prongslet," he told him with a smile. "I worry about you every damn day. You let me worry about my worrying and you just keep being the fantastic son that you are, okay?"

He beamed at him. "I can do that." He sighed when Sirius hugged him again. "Uncle Padfoot?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you tell me what you're writing in the journal if you're not using it for journalling?"

Sirius was quiet for a moment, his eyes on the book. "After we spoke about the events of the Chamber of Secrets, I went to speak to Dumbledore. We came to some conclusions about the diary, about the Chamber, and about that locket that you and I found in Grimmauld Place six years ago."

"What kind of conclusions? What does the locket have to do with the diary and the Chamber?" Harry asked, his eyes wide.

"They're all connected to Voldemort in some way. We want to know why."

Harry stared at him, fear in his eyes. "Connected how?"

Sirius smiled, gently running his fingers through his son's unruly hair, taking a seat and tugging Harry down to sit on his knee, his arms wrapped tightly around him from behind. He didn't want to lie to him, but the last thing that he wanted was for Harry to be as concerned as he was.

"That's for us to figure out. Now, why don't you try to get a few more hours of sleep. We have lots of sight-seeing to do tomorrow in Austria."

"Uncle Sirius, we don't lie to each other, right?"

Sirius kissed his cheek, keeping an arm around Harry as he guided him back to his bed. "Never. When I understand everything, Harry, we'll talk again, I promise. But until I know what's going on, I'm not going to bore you with my theories. Understood?"

He nodded as he climbed back into his bed, smiling when Sirius tucked him in. "Okay."

Sirius leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I love you. Get some sleep."

"I love you, too, Uncle Sirius," Harry said, smiling when Sirius closed the curtain around his bed.

He watched the shadow of his father clean up with their mugs and then the light went out and he heard him crawl into his own bed. Only then, did he close his eyes and fall into a dreamless sleep.

~ ASC ~

Harry and Sirius and spent the next four days exploring Austria and Vienna. They visited Salzburg Fortress, drove through Wachau Valley, toured the Schönbrunn Palace and spent time driving on the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse-High Alpine Road to see the sights. They made stops for food and photos and shopping and camped in Hohe Tauern National Park under the privacy wards.

The day they decided to leave Austria and make their way the roughly six hundred and fifty kilometres to Germany, Harry had just finished packing up the rest of their stuff when Sirius handed him the key to the Ducati. Harry's mouth had simply dropped open.

"Take it," Sirius said with a grin.

Harry beamed at him and accepted the key, immediately hopping into the driver's seat of the bike. Sirius climbed up behind him and put his arm around Harry's torso, resting his hands on top of Harry's on the bars of the bike.

"You've helped me clean and take this bike apart. You know where everything goes and how everything works. Show me, where is the accelerator?"

Harry's hand touched the hand grip on his right side. He pointed to the brake control which was next to the accelerator, then to the clutch lever near the dashboard. He pointed to the rear brake lever and the rear break pump. Sirius showed him how to change gears and tapped the steering damper handgrip with a smile.

"Sound easy enough?"

Harry nodded eagerly.

"The hardest part is that the motorbike is heavy, Prongslet. You are in charge of keeping it upright and keeping it in control as you drive it," Sirius explained, patiently. "We're just going to do a little test drive here, just through the trail here in the park. No roads. Okay? Start the engine."

Harry inserted the key, turning the ignition and the engine roared to life. The sound of it practically purring under his hands and he grinned widely. Sirius' hands sat on top of Harry's on the grip bars.

"I'm not letting go, Harry, not yet, I don't want you to lose control of the bike. Now, legs up onto the pedals… good, and brake off… yeah, just like that and accelerate slowly…SLOWLY, Harry!" he said when the bike vamped forward quickly. "That's it, just squeeze lightly, keep it steady… there we go."

Harry couldn't believe it.

He was driving the motorbike. Granted he was only going about twenty kilometres, but it was moving.

He was driving.

"You turn with the bike, your body must be one with the bike. Like this," Sirius said as they moved in a circle.

"This is brilliant!" Harry told him, grinning widely.

Sirius smiled at him, his eyes twinkling in delight. "I know it. The first time that I rode one of these I was in love."

"How old were you?" Harry asked as Sirius had him move in a figure eight pattern around the trail to practice his turns, still going slow and steady.

"I was fifteen. A Muggle girl I had dated briefly that summer, her brother had one. I was admiring it and he asked me if I wanted to take it for a spin. I was on that bike faster than you could say, 'Quidditch.' I listened to his instructions and I was gone. I went around the block six or seven times before I finally brought it back. I started collecting magazines on motorbikes and pictures of motorbikes and girls with motorbikes. as you know, and I knew that I wanted one of my own. The summer before seventh year, I bought my Triumph and Lily took me to some bookstores where I found everything that I needed to know about mechanical engineering," Sirius explained as he moved his arms back a little and let Harry mostly control the bike on his own. "I wanted to know everything about motorbikes that I could. But I only drove it that once until I had my own."

Harry nodded, breaking swiftly when Sirius told him too. "It's brilliant to drive. It's almost as great as being on a broomstick."

Sirius grinned. "That it is. All right, Prongslet, budge up. You can have a go again when we get to Germany."

Harry simply beamed at him.

~ ASC ~

In Germany, once they were settled into their tent for the night outside of Bavaria, Sirius again asked him again if there were any girls he fancied at school, or maybe a cute boy.

"Uncle Sirius!"

Sirius grinned. "I just want to know! I'm curious and you've been oddly closed mouth since we had the big sex talk."

"I have nothing to say that's why," Harry said indignantly.

Sirius laughed. "What about your dorm mates? Any of them into girls yet?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know if they're into girls exactly, but Seamus snogged Lavender after Christmas. He said that it was nice."

"Just the once?"

Harry shrugged again. "I think a few times, but he never asked her to go to Hogsmeade or anything."

"Ah, snogging buddies then. Classy bloke."

Harry laughed. "Well, she did ask him to snog her. She said that she'd never snogged anyone before and wanted to see what it would be like."

Sirius nodded. "That's a pretty good reason for a first kiss I suppose."

"How come you're so concerned with everything about girls anyway? Are you worried that I'm secretly dating someone and that I never told you about it? I'm not even thirteen yet!"

Sirius smiled. "Just looking out for my boy is all. When you are ready, I want to help you with your game. Jamie was a bit of a babbling idiot, especially around Lily. That boy never could form the right words around her."

Harry smiled at that. He liked the stories of his father's attempts to woo his mother. They always seemed to end with his mum calling him foul names and the thought of her falling in love with him later on always made him smile.

"There's no one, Uncle Sirius. When there is, I promise I'll come to you for advice first."

"Good," Sirius said simply. "That's all that I ask. Come on, you can practice driving around the park a bit before we turn in for the night."

Harry practically ran out to the bike.

~ ASC ~

They spent the next four days exploring Germany, visiting the impressive Neuschwanstein Castle near the Alps, seeing the parts still left standing of the Berlin Wall including the stunning artwork left on the East Side Gallery and the Brandenburg Gate. They stopped in Trier, the oldest town in Germany and drove the Moselle Valley, stopping at picturesque villages and even a few vineyards. Sirius let Harry drive through the Valley and Harry was beside himself with excitement. They spent their last night in Germany tucked away in the Black Forest and Sirius told Harry that he could drive some of the way to Norway when they headed out in the morning.

Harry drove the first two hours to Norway and then Sirius let him drive the final two of the fifteen hour drive. When they pulled up in Oslo, Harry was stiff, but still too excited to have driven in the first place to care. They stopped in to one of the museums and checked out the history of the Vikings and the Norse gods before finding a place to set up their tent for the night.

They visited Tromsø and Geiranger, the beautiful scenery absolutely breathtaking as Harry and Sirius snapped photo after photo. But it was when they made their way to Trollstigen to see the Stigfossen waterfall that they finally met up with Remus.

Harry was driving and pulled up in front of his father, shutting the engine off with a huge shit-eating grin on his face. He loved the feel of the engine beneath him and the power of the bike. He was getting quite good at it to and he was pleased with himself when he parked it.

Remus sighed. "You do know that he's only twelve years old, Padfoot."

"And he drives like a pro, Moony. Don't worry, I won't let him get caught," Sirius said as he pulled his helmet off and sat it on the back of the bike.

Remus shook his head. "It's not about him getting caught, Padfoot. Twelve years old is still too young to drive. In most countries you have to be at least fifteen to even obtain a permit of any kind."

"I want him to know how in case he ever needs to," Sirius said. "Besides, I'm doing most of the driving. He's driven maybe eight hours and most of that was practice, and we weren't even on the road."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Excuses. If Lily were alive, she'd kill you."

Sirius laughed up-roaringly. "Oh, yeah she would, which is why if Lily were still around, this would be a lovely secret between godfather and godson."

Harry laughed. "It's brilliant, Uncle Moony! I love driving!"

Remus sighed and then his eyes twinkled in mischief. "All right, little Prongs, take me for a spin."

Harry beamed and hopped back onto the Ducati as Sirius passed his helmet over to Remus with a knowing look in his eye. Remus wrapped his arms around Harry and winced as Harry took off, speeding down the road, but Remus had to admit, Sirius had taught him well.

They drove for almost ten minutes before Harry turned the bike around and they headed back to Sirius. Sirius was grinning widely at them, having set up the tent while they were away. When Harry shut the bike off, Sirius smirked at Remus.

"See? He drives like a pro."

Remus chose not to answer as Sirius guided the Ducati into the tent and he followed his friend inside.

Harry pulled his helmet off and headed into the tent, grinning at his father. "Uncle Moony, I'm a great driver!"

Remus sighed. "I'm not saying otherwise, Harry. It's just that you are only twelve years old."

"I'll be thirteen in four days!"

Remus smiled and pulled Harry close for a hug. "Still not old enough to drive even if you are good at it. Merlin, you grew again," he said as he hugged him. "You're getting taller, little Prongs."

Harry grinned. "I know."

Remus smiled at him. "And how have you been?"

"Great."

"Nightmares?"

Harry shrugged. "A few, but I'm fine."

Remus merely raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to tattoo that across your forehead one day."

Harry smirked. "I'm fine, I promise."

Remus hugged him again. "I know Sirius has probably been on your case about your nightmares anyway, right?" At Harry's nod and slight eye roll he chuckled. "You know I'm always here when you want to talk."

"I know. Thanks, Uncle Moony."

Sirius moved to prepare dinner as Harry filled Remus in on everything they had done and seen so far. Remus listened attentively, asking questions about some of the historic sites and landmarks and grinned as Harry told them how many rolls of film they had already gone through.

Remus was going with them to Iceland, but he was Apparating where as Harry and Sirius were going to fly the motorbike from Norway to Iceland the next morning. It would take them just under three hours to fly there and Remus told Sirius to make sure that they used a few extra warming charms when they left.

The flight over was breathtaking and Harry had to admit that Sirius putting a flying charm on the bike was rather brilliant as it was so cool to see the ocean beneath them, but also a bit scary too. The sound of the engine roaring beneath them as they smelt the crisp ocean air was incredible.

When they arrived in Iceland, they met up with Remus on the shore and immediately headed out to see some of the amazing landscapes. Iceland was known for its volcanoes, the lava fields, the ash deserts not to mention the incredible waterfall at Dettifoss and the hot springs at Myvatn. It was amazing to see. Harry wished maybe they could have seen the Northern Lights as he heard from a few Icelanders how incredible they were, but the lights wouldn't return until September. They did get to do some whale-watching though at Husavik and Sirius found a little whale charm to add to his collection.

They spent Harry's thirteen birthday snowmobiling on Langjikull, the second largest glacier in Iceland which was absolutely incredible not to mention so beautiful. It was located 1300 metres above sea level. Technically, you were supposed to be sixteen to participate in driving the snowmobile, but Harry was perfectly alright with sitting behind Sirius on his as they raced Remus through the snow with the rest of the tour of Muggles. They went on a guided ice tunnel tour and then explored the Lava Cave in Viōgelmir. They stopped at the Whales of Iceland museum and they ate at a restaurant near the harbour.

Harry kept claiming that it was the best birthday ever making his fathers smile.

Harry and Sirius packed up on the first of August to fly the bike to Denmark and Remus hugged them both goodbye. The full moon was the next night and he needed to get back to take his potion He told them both that he would be fine alone and that he couldn't wait to hear about the rest of their trip.

The trip to Denmark took six hours on the bike, flying over the water, and Sirius and Harry rested on the beach for a bit, snacking on the food they had purchased at the market before leaving Iceland.

Denmark was four amazing days exploring the Råbjerg Mile, where they saw the sand dune from the great sand migration in the sixteenth century. They went through Skagen, stopped at some museums and then headed to Fur Island before hopping back on the Ducati and flying it over to Scotland.

The familiar Scottish countryside made Harry feel homesick for Hogwarts and when he told Sirius, Sirius only smiled and hugged him close. They spent time touring the Scottish Highlands, driving the North Coast 500 to Skye, seeing the Grey Cairns of Camster, the castle ruins, the smuggler caves, the emerald lochs, and even stopping in Inverness. They stopped at a few distilleries as well.

Harry had nightmares a few more times that summer, waking up with his heart pounding in his chest. Sirius would rush across the room, pulling him into his arms and kissing the top of his head. "It's all right," he'd whisper and hold him close. "It was just a dream."

That night the nightmare had featured Ginny's sharp screams through the door and when Sirius rushed over, Harry hugged him tightly.

"Uncle Sirius?"

"Yes, Prongslet?" Sirius asked, keeping his arms around his son.

Harry hesitated before he spoke, wiping the tears away with the back of his hand. "I-I think Riddle, he…"

"He what, Prongslet?"

"I think he… raped her."

Sirius' eyes widened. He had suspected as much from what the Weasleys had mentioned to him when he had written asking after Ginny's well-being at the beginning of the summer. "What makes you think that?"

Harry shrugged, but his eyes were full of pain. "There was a lot of blood but… it was on her upper legs and thighs and there was… semen… it was on her robes."

Sirius sighed. "Harry, this was not your fault. Is that why you keep dreaming about it? Are you blaming yourself for her getting taken?"

"If I would have just talked to her, if I had taken the diary when I first thought of it instead of letting myself get distracted —"

"No," Sirius interrupted. "Could you have stopped this from happening? Maybe, but if you start looking at what ifs, you will drive yourself mad! How were you supposed to know, and if not her, it could have been someone else! She was being possessed, Prongslet. She wasn't in her right mind because she trusted the diary."

"She should have known better."

Sirius sighed and tilted Harry's head so that it fell on his shoulder, holding him closer as he kissed his forehead. "Maybe so, but it's not her fault, the fault lies solely with Voldemort. And you are even less to blame than she is. You saved her life, Harry. I'm sorry that it happened to her and I hope to Merlin that you're wrong if she was but… she'll be okay. I can promise you that. She has six big brothers who love her very much and her loving parents not to mention all of her friends. She's a little spitfire and one of the strongest girls that I know. She will be all right."

Harry nodded, "I hope so."

Sirius kissed his forehead and sighed. "Maybe Remus is right, maybe we should go back down there."

Harry turned to look at his father. "Go back where?"

"To the Chamber of Secrets," Sirius told him. He had almost mentioned it at least a dozen times that summer and every time he had stopped himself, but he was starting to suspect that his friend was right. "Dumbledore wants to retrieve the body of the Basilisk and get rid of any of the dangerous wards that might still be in place within the chamber. Uncle Moony thinks that you should go down there too; that it might help you to see it again now that the monster is dead. It could help you sort everything out. I told him that it wasn't happening, that I wasn't going to let you go back down there after everything you went through but… I'm starting to think that he might be right."

"Ginny, too?"

Sirius smiled and nodded. "Yeah, maybe it would be good for her. I'll mention it to Arthur. Do you want to go back with me and Uncle Rem and possibly Ginny, Dumbledore, and Auntie Minnie?"

Harry was quiet for a few moments and then he nodded. "Yes. I think that I need to see it again. I need to make sure that he's… he's really gone."

Sirius kissed the top of Harry's head. "All right, Prongslet. When school starts up again, we'll go down there. We'll put your mind at rest. Maybe not right when school starts, but we'll go soon, okay?"

Harry smiled at him and hugged him tight, sighing as Sirius held him close, his fingers gently running through his hair. He needed to go back, he thought.

He needed to see the Basilisk and he needed to make sure.

He just needed to know that he was truly gone; that the Basilisk was really dead.

He just needed to know.