A/N: This is kind of a reverse/re-write of one of my favorite parts of POA.
5. Start Over
"I'm not sure if anyone's ever told you this, Harry..." Sirius hesitated for a moment. "I'm your godfather." Sirius wasn't quite sure what he had expected Harry's reaction to be, but he certainly hadn't expected him to smile. After everything that had just happened, there was no way the thirteen year-old could process and accept it all so quickly. But clearly he did because he smiled. Sirius made a mental note to never underestimate his godson again.
"I know," Harry said. Godfather and godson locked eyes for a few seconds, then Sirius returned his gaze to the castle. A comfortable silence engulfed them. Sirius was lost in his thoughts, unsure as to how to voice the question he so desperately wanted to ask. Then Harry spoke and pulled him out of his thoughts.
"It hasn't been easy, you know." Sirius looked at him. "I mean, growing up without a real family."
Sirius gave a humorless laugh. "Thanks, Harry, that makes me feel loads better."
"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Sirius grinned at his godson's nervousness. "What I mean is..." Harry took a deep breath, then turned to look at Sirius. "Look, we've both had a pretty rough couple of years, right? I mean with you being in Azkaban and me being stuck with the Dursleys." Harry shifted his feet nervously and turned his eyes away from Sirius. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, do you want to start over? Once you're free I'm sure you'll want to be alone to get your life back in order, but if you ever wanted to catch up on all the time we missed out on together..." Harry looked up to see Sirius smiling broadly at him. Suddenly he felt confident and sure, like everything really was going to be okay.
"Harry," Sirius laughed, not even bothering to try and contain his excitement, "I want nothing more than to start over! I - I want to take you to Quidditch games and rock concerts. I want to let you eat ice cream for dinner and stay up late watching horror movies. I want to spoil you rotten like I never got to before I left. And believe me, Harry, I never want to be alone again." They looked at each other, both of them smiling too widely to laugh. They embraced, relieved at finally being reunited after twelve long years. There was so much they wanted to do, so much they wanted to learn about each other. Yes, it was going to be a wonderful rest of their lives.
Then the full moon came out from behind the clouds and all hell broke loose.