I am so, so very sorry about the long wait. Hope you'll like the chapter!

"Did you hear that?" Harry asked Ron. His best friend turned to look at him with a questioning look. "Hear what?"

"That voice. The cold, deadly voice. Didn't you hear it?" Harry repeated, getting more and more worried by the second. Ron looked at him weirdly as of trying to figure out if Harry was pulling his leg or something. "I don't know what you're talking 'bout mate. I hear nothing. You alright?" He inquired.

Why couldn't Ron hear that voice? Maybe he was hearing things? "Yeah I'm fine. Just forget about it." Harry muttered, not wanting to continue on that particular subject. Luckily for Harry, Ron dropped the topic and he was grateful that he was currently with Ron and not Hermione. His inquisitive best friend would have pressed on for more details.

The two of them walked back to the common room in silence after which they went to their respective beds, Ron, who was too tired to talk and Harry,who had a lot on his mind.

Over the next few days, Harry had found himself busy with his school lessons and quidditch practice. Wood worked the team harder than ever, his eyes set on the Cup which they just had to win that year. Before he knew it, nearly a month had passed.

One more thing that had been disturbing Harry for the past few days was that creepy, cold voice. He hadn't heard it since detention that day but it kept ringing in his head. He just didn't know what to make of it.

Sirius inclined his head toward the left where his godson was asleep in his room. It was nearly time for breakfast by now and so he pushed himself off the sofa and went into Harry's room to wake him up. He walked in to find Harry breathing peacefully, his body burrowed underneath the covers. As he watched the boy's chest rise and fall periodically, he found it hard to believe that Harry was twelve. Truth be told, he didn't look any more than nine years old. It hadn't skipped his notice that his child was nearly a head shorter than his classmates. He mentally vowed to make sure that no further harm came to his charge. He had always thought of Harry as his own son and would continue to do so.

He sat down next to Harry, his back against the headboard and ran a hand through the untameable locks. Harry smiled slightly in his sleep and leaned towards his godfather. "Wake up sleepyhead." He commanded softly as he pulled the covers from Harry, giving him a small shake. "You have classes to attend and I have classes to teach, kiddo."

Harry felt long fingers gently running through his hair. It was comforting and something that he loved. He didn't have to open his eyes to see who it was but nonetheless, he opened his eyes sleepily and gazed up at his godfather. The boy rolled over and rested his head on Sirius' lap, turning to his side and getting comfortable. Sirius let him sleep like that for ten more minutes before he reached forward and playfully tugged on Harry's ear. "You know Harry, if you don't get up quickly, it's highly probable that you'll miss breakfast." It was finally the rumbling stomach that got Harry out of bed. He sat up slowly smiling at Sirius. "Good morning." He yawned widely. "Up and out of bed pup." His godfather ordered once more and kissed the scarred forehead before getting up and opening the curtains in Harry's room.

About twenty minutes later, Harry walked out of his room, bright eyed. "Eat and drink up," Sirius instructed as he handed Harry his daily nutrient potions and his vitamins. He reluctantly popped the pills into his mouth and downed the potions, making a face. He glanced at Sirius, who was snickering quietly at Harry's disgusted expression. "You're enjoying this!" He complained. "Maybe a little. It is highly amusing to watch you make all those faces." Sirius answered.

Harry pouted, obviously put out that he was probably the only person his year who was forced to take these pills. His godfather ruffled his hair and lightly squeezed the back of his neck. "Go on, off to breakfast now."

Sirius had only two classes to teach that day: second years and fourth years. Harry's batch had gone pretty normally. He had returned the essays to the students after grading them. Most of the students, including his godson had performed well. What had taken the class by surprise was the revelation that the whip-smart muggleborn Hermione Granger had received only an Acceptable. Sirius had simply told the flabbergasted girl that her essay was longer than twice the expected length. Secondly, she had written a lot of unwanted information and hence the grade. Hermione had then promised her professor (and herself) that she'd do better next time.

The fourth year class was also pretty much the same other than the slight disturbance caused by Fred and George Weasley's constant whispering. Sirius had spared the two boys a glance but they'd been too busy with their heads bent over a highly familiar parchment. He smirked to himself, deciding to talk to them after class.

Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley, I'd like a word." He told them just as they were about to leave. Fred and George glanced at each other and then at Sirius. "Um... sure, Professor."

"I couldn't help but notice that throughout my class, the two of you appeared extremely busy, pouring over a piece of parchment. I'd like to take a look at it." He began, inwardly smiling. It had taken him one look at the twins to learn that they had quite the penchant for trouble. Almost as much as himself and James. Almost. Fred took out a parchment and handed it to Sirius. "It's nothing at all sir, just a spare parchment."

"I highly doubt that." He took it from Fred and tapped it with his wand. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." He said casually. The expression on their face was priceless. Never before had any professor been able to figure out what they were always up to. Not even Mcgonagall. How in Merlin's name did he know that? They could only hope that Sirius would go easy on them.

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder's Map.

"Spare parchment, huh?" He questioned, a small smile playing on his lips as he lightly traced the different names on the map. "H-How did you... you...We...uh... we can e-explain." For the first time in their lives, Fred and George Weasley were at a loss for words. They waited nervously to find out how long they'd get detention.

Sirius merely tapped the map and said: "Mischief managed," folded it and handed it back to them. "Y-You're really giving it back to us?"

"I don't see why I shouldn't. The two of you have been putting it to good use." He replied, giving the two of them a knowing wink. "Keep up the good work." He encouraged. "I won't keep you waiting. I'm sure you'll have other classes to attend so, off you go." Fred stuffed the map into his bag and the two of them made their way to the door. George stopped and asked that one particular question that had been going on in his mind as well as his brother's. "Professor, how did you know how to work the map.

Sirius smiled slightly. "Let's just say that I was very good friends with Moony, Padfoot and Prongs." He answered, taking care to leave the bloody traitor out. "You knew them?" Was the shocked question. "I most certainly did. I'll tell you'll the rest eventually."

"Oh," was all that the twins said in reply to the slightly ambiguous answer. They left after that. Sirius decided that the rest was a story for another day.

Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way to the Quidditch pitch at 6:00 am. Wood had summoned the entire Gryffindor team for practice. It was a routine that had been going on for the past two weeks. Ron and Hermione would sit in the stands while the team trained.

"Alright everyone, we're not relaxing anymore. Nothing can stop us from winning the cup this year. We've got the best team anyone can ask for: two fantastic beaters, three amazing chasers, one hell of a seeker and me. The cup's ours and we shall take it!" Oliver barked, enthusiasm coloured his tone as he delivered his usual motivational speech. "Mount your brooms!" They were about to do just that when the nuisance arrived.

"Hey Wood! The ground is ours to train today!" Harry's head whipped to his left where he saw the Slytherin Quidditch team. Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Oliver Wood stormed towards the Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint with poorly concealed anger flashing in his eyes. Damn he hated that snake!

"What the hell do you want Flint?" He snapped as he and the team reached the rival team's spot. "Now now, there's no need to be so rude Wood. I'm sure we can sort this out amicably." He rasped out in his usual hoarse voice. Wood spoke as if he hadn't heard his nemesis. "Why are you here? I booked the pitch for practice today and you know that."

Flint smiled crookedly, revealing his yellow teeth. He reached into the pocket of his robes and fished out a price of parchment and thrusted it into Wood's hand:

I, Professor S. Snape, head of Slytherin house, grant permission to the Slytherin Quidditch team to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker.

Wood simply handed the note back to Flint, looking at the rival team with disgust. "Are those the new Nimbus 2001?" Fred's eyes went straight to the shiny, sleek brooms that were firmly clutched in every member's hand. "Yes they are. A gift, from our seeker's father." Adrian Pucey, a Slytherin chaser answered smugly.

"Who is this new Seeker?"

They parted to reveal a highly familiar, platinum blonde. "Malfoy?" Harry and Ron burst out almost together. Harry could hardly contain his surprise. When had he made the team?

"That's right Weasley. You see, unlike some, my father can afford the best." He sneered at Ron. Harry wasn't upset over the brooms. He was far more put out by the revelation that his nemesis had bribed his way into the team. Hermione seemed to share his thoughts as well. "At least none of the Gryffindors bought their spot on the team. They earned it."

Malfoy glared at the Muggleborn-witch. "It would be very much appreciated if you kept your mouth shut you useless mudblood!" He snapped. Tears sprang to Hermione's eyes the moment that vile word had left Draco's mouth. "How dare you say that! You'll pay for that Malfoy. Eat slugs!" It took Ron less than half a minute to hex the pureblooded prat. But unfortunately, thanks to Ron's broken wand, the spell backfired. He fell to his knees with a groan and heaved.

Just as George pulled out his wand to curse Malfoy: "That's enough! All of you."

Sirius had come out for his daily morning jog when he heard all the commotion. He had just heard the Malfoy boy calling Hermione that horrible name. "Fred, take your brother to the hospital wing. The rest of you are to head back to the castle immediately. You'll can resume tomorrow onwards. Take a break today. Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy, please stay behind."

After shooting several dirty looks at each other, the two teams went back inside. Harry glared at Malfoy from the corner of his eye, mentally calming himself down. He didn't know what that particular word meant. Sirius had never mentioned it before but one look at Hermione's tear streaked face and Sirius' hard expression, he was sure that it meant something really bad. "Mr. Malfoy, I believe you need to say something to Ms. Granger." Said Sirius, loosely crossing his arms across his chest.

"I'm not apologising to her. I just called her what she is!" Malfoy snapped. "Twenty points from Slytherin. Do I need to repeat myself?"

"I apologise Granger." He ground out as if those words caused him too much pain. "You've just earned yourself detention. Tomorrow evening, 7 o' clock. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir." He mumbled, looking anywhere but at Sirius. "Good. Back to the castle."

Once Malfoy had stormed off, he looked down at the sniffling girl. He recalled the many times Lily had been called the exact same word many a time and he had been her shoulder to cry on, on more than one occasion. Here was another such girl right in front of him. "Hey, Hermione look at me please." She complied hesitantly, wiping her eyes with one hand. "There's absolutely no need to feel inferior or bad about what Mr. Malfoy said. You'll find scores of people like him along the way. You're a brilliant student Hermione. Don't let anything or anyone change that. Do you understand? You're an amazing person and that's what matters. Okay?"

His words had the desired effect on her and Hermione offered him a slightly teary smile, nodding at him. "You're right Professor. Thank you." Sirius only offered her a large grin and allowed them to go back to the castle.

That day after lunch, Ron was released from the hospital wing. Although he had been cured completely, he was still bloody mad at Malfoy. He went on about how he wanted to burst into the Slytherin common room and hex him. He had however been elated when he heard that Malfoy had been assigned detention by Sirius. 'Your godfather has earned my permanent respect mate!' was what he had said.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had just finished dinner and were heading back to their dormitory when Harry heard it again.

"Rip... Tear... Kill"

He stumbled to a halt, clutching at the stone wall, listening with all his might, looking around, squinting up and down the dimly lit passageway.

"Harry, what're you — ?"

"It's that voice again Ron. The one I heard a couple of weeks ago."

"soo hungry ... so long..." Harry strained his ears. Distantly, from the floor above, and growing fainter still, he heard the voice: ". . . I smell blood. . . . I SMELL BLOOD!"

"I think someone's in danger. It's going to kill!" Harry shouted. Ron and Hermione stared at each other and then at Harry like he was mental. He followed the voice as it kept getting louder and finally stopped short in front of a wall. His eyes widened with horror as he stared at the angry red writing on the wall:

"THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED,

ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE!"

"W-What's that?" Ron whimpered, the quiver in his voice evident as he pointed towards something below the writing.

As they edged nearer, Harry almost slipped — there was a large puddle of water on the floor; Ron and Hermione grabbed him, and they inched toward the message, eyes fixed on a dark shadow beneath it. All three of them realized what it was at once, and leapt backward with a splash. It was Mrs. Norris, Flich's cat.

"I say we get out of here right now. Trust me, we do not want to be found here." Said Ron but alas, it was a wee bit too late. From either end of the corridor where they stood came the sound of hundreds of feet climbing the stairs, and the loud, happy talk of well-fed people; next moment, students were crashing into the passage from both ends.

The chatter, the bustle, the noise died suddenly as the people in front spotted the hanging cat. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood alone, in the middle of the corridor, as silence fell among the mass of students.

An angry yell ripped out of someone's throat, braking the stunned silence. There, standing at the beginning of the corridor, with an anger and angst marking his face was none other than Argus Filch.

Draco Malfoy was having a horrible day. He regretted calling Granger a mudblood for one major reason: he was currently scrubbing the floors of the classrooms on the third floor with a toothbrush! He remembered the warning Black had given regarding prejudiced comments but he hadn't known that the Professor had actually meant what he had said. This truly was his worst detention ever. He wiped his forehead and flexed his arms. He felt like a bloody house elf!

Sirius was sitting at the desk, when he heard an enraged shout. He frowned slightly. "Mr. Malfoy, I think that's enough. You're free to go." It didn't take the blonde boy more than ten seconds to bolt out of the classroom after a brief nod at Sirius.

Swiftly rising from his seat, the animagus made his way toward the source of that sound.

"My cat! My cat! What happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked and just as luck would have it, his popping eyes fell on Harry.

"You!"he screeched. "You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll —" Harry drew back and flinched as the caretaker glared at him hatefully.

"ARGUS! That's enough!"

Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept past Harry, Ron, and Hermione and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket, his eyes losing their twinkle as he saw the red writing on the wall. "Prefects, you'll will escort the students to their respective dormitories. Mr. Potter, you shall stay behi-"

"What's going on here?" Sirius demanded, entering the hallway. He took in the sight in front of him: the message on the wall, all the professors gathered in one place, students exiting the hall in a hurry, Filch's murderous expression and Harry's stricken look.

"Wha' happened is dat your bloody godson killed my cat!" Filch spat, glaring at Sirius. "Sirius I swear I didn't do anything! Please, you have to believe me." Green eyes locked with grey, pleading innocent. Sirius' gaze softened as he looked at the distraught boy.

He then turned to Filch, his eyes hardening from a pleasant silver to a steely grey. When Sirius spoke, his voice was soft but deadly. "Let me get something straight here. I will not have you accusing my son for absolutely no fault of his. I will let it slide this one time but know this: the next time you- anyone says anything remotely unfair about Harry, you will be sorry."

It wasn't an idle threat and the caretaker as well as all the professors and seemed to realise it. The boy who lived finally had someone to protect him.

Dumbledore was the one who broke the uncomfortable silence. "Professors, it's been a long day. I feel it's best if we continue this matter tomorrow. I wish you all good night." He turned around and left without another word.

One by one, all the professors cleared out until Harry and Sirius were the only ones left. Harry couldn't wait any longer. "Sirius I swear, I had nothing to do with it." He said, once more. "I know pup, I believe you."

Harry offered Sirius a weak smile and wrapped his arms around him. "What's this for kiddo?" He asked, pleasantly surprised at the sudden hug. "No reason."

They needed to talk but this wasn't the place.

Once the two of them were reached Sirius' quarters, the man took his godson by the shoulders. "Tell me everything Harry." The words weren't a request.

Harry told Sirius about all that had happened after dinner. He left out the part where he heard the voice in the corridor. By the time he was done, Sirius had pursed his lips into a thin line, his expression grim. He couldn't help but feel as if something was missing. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

Harry bit his lip, thinking of what to say. He so badly wanted to tell Sirius about the chilling voice that he kept hearing but he just couldn't bring himself to spill everything. "No, nothing else." He lied, feeling worse than ever. It hasn't escaped his notice that Sirius had called him his son in front of all the professors. He had been overwhelmed with emotion when he had heard that. Sure, Sirius was his father in every aspect that mattered but until now, Harry never knew that the man felt the same way. He felt completely horrible for lying to the man who had become his father.

The Animagus looked down at the forlorn face and decided not to push him any more. Things weren't okay as of now. He knew more about the chamber of secrets thanks to his upbringing and it wasn't a pleasant topic at all. He'd do what he had to keep Harry safe but he'd deal with everything as it came. For now, a good night's sleep would do both of them a lot of good.

"Well in that case, I suggest that you get some sleep. You have a big day ahead and I'm looking forward to watching you catch the snitch tomorrow." Sirius answered, trying to lighten the mood, although his smile was genuine. He really was waiting for tomorrow's Quidditch match. He'd seen Harry fly many a time and it had taken him five minutes to realise that his boy was an even better flier than James. He had absolutely no doubt regarding who would win the match.

"Goodnight pup, I love you." Sirius said, gently propelling him towards his room. Once Harry was all tucked in and alone, he gave in and said what he had been wanting to say to Sirius since the past couple of weeks. He just wasn't brave enough to say it to his face. So for now, he was content with saying it softly, when no one was around:

"I love you too Dad."