A Second Chance

By S.L

Chapter Five: Making Acquaintances

Lily had made a fire-call to Sirius ahead of time to make sure that he and Remus kept the kids occupied for the day so that Harry would have a chance to become accustomed to the house without too many distractions. Poppy had told her that Harry was doing very well, but she had stressed the fact that he was not to be over stimulated so soon since his release from the Hospital Wing. Following the medi-witch's orders, Lily had arranged for the rest of the household to stay a big longer in Diagon Alley, so that Harry would have a quiet afternoon. Sirius had seemed a bit reluctant at first, since he was surprisingly anxious to meet Harry and have a chance to speak with him himself, but in the end, he had relented.

James hadn't said a word about the whole situation, which would have worried her if Lily didn't know her husband so well. It usually took him some time to get acquainted to new ideas and new things, and he wasn't the type to express too much of what he was feeling, even with her. However, she knew, that if he needed someone to speak to he would address either her or Sirius when he was ready.

They arrived at the house in Hogsmeade, just a little bit before dinnertime, and after a leisurely walk through the town, which Harry had seemed to enjoy immensely. He hadn't talked much since they had left Dumbledore's office, but the walk seemed to have done him good. He had taken in the sights with a small smile, his eyes darting back and forth as he tried to absorb everything Hogsmeade contained.

It was a beautiful time of year to be in the village, as there were still groups of witches and wizards getting their holiday shopping done and the stores and cottages were adorned with lights and holiday decorations. Harry watched all in with barely any word at all, except when they passed Zonko's where he laughed loudly at a group of playful children who were testing out their new purchases outside the store.

Finally they came upon the Potter cottage, located down the road from the rest of the village with a scattering of a few other cottages that were well spread apart. James led the way with purpose, with Harry following more slowly behind him which left Lily trailing the small group so that she could have a good view of Harry's reaction to their home.

They passed through the little gate without a comment and down the path to the front door. Inside they gathered for a moment to remove their snow-covered boots and shake off their cloaks before hanging them up on the rack. Lily and James did so with familiar ease and then moved on into the den, glad to be home. Harry followed them after a second's hesitation and them joined them in the den and started taking a look around as he went.

"I'm just going to go put a pot of tea on then alright?" James said after Harry had joined him. He smiled tersely and then he quickly retreated into the kitchen.

Harry didn't respond. Instead, he went to examine the family pictures on the crowded mantle. There, the Potter children were portrayed at various stages of their lifetime, at different vacation spots and on birthdays. There were a few pictures of the Marauders gathered together at different events such as Quidditch matches and nights at the local pub, as well as a picture or two of Lily and her good friend Emmeline Vance from back in her school days, which Harry examined with even more attention.

"Mare and Bran's rooms, as well the guest rooms are all on the second floor," Lily offered, gesturing to the staircase that led out of the room and up to the landing. "James and I are on the third floor along with the office we share, and there's also an attic, but we mostly just use it for storage."

Harry pulled his gaze away from the moving pictures reluctantly, but turned to Lily with a smile. "Its very lovely," he said in an uncomfortable little voice, then he looked around again. "Very homey indeed."

Lily glanced around the room and tried to see it from the same point of view Harry was examining it. It was comfortable enough, nothing fancy, though the Potters were well off. A few of Bran's joke supplies were lying around and there were a number of books on the table that were haphazardly spread about. It was homey indeed, and Lily had worked hard to make it that way. Though she didn't get to spend much time in their cottage, she didn't want it to feel unfamiliar either.

"Thank you Harry," she responded, shifting her feet rather nervously. She hated to admit how badly she wanted him to approve of their home, and how much she wanted him to feel that it was his as well. "I have Mare and Bran bunking together for the holiday so that we could move Sirius to Bran's room and give you one of the guest rooms," she added. "It's the second door on the right if you maybe want to go up and get settled?"

He looked back up at the stairs. "Thank you Mum," despite herself Lily warmed at hearing him call her that. "I'll go ahead and do that then."

Lily watched as he retreated up the stairs slowly, so that he could further examine the picture frames that followed the stairway. Rather than wait to see him disappear beyond the landing Lily turned and entered the kitchen instead to see what her husband was up to.

She found him sitting at the kitchen table, a steaming cup of tea in one hand, as he stared absently out the window. He looked up and smiled as she entered the room and kicked out the chair opposite him from underneath the table so she could take a seat.

"Thanks," she told him as she collapsed back into her usual chair with a relaxed sigh. It had been too long since they had been back here, not since summer actually, as she hadn't had enough time to spare on the weekends. Now that Harry was here and she knew all was well, she could finally start to enjoy herself. "Pass me a cup will you, James?"

He poured her a cup, added a lump of sugar and passed it over to her. "Set him up in the spare room then?" James asked, taking a long sip, trying very hard not to look at all interested in his question.

"Yes, Sirius' usual room, the one that overlooks the back garden," she glanced out the window and noticed the snow as it started to fall again. "Well, where the garden usually is," she amended.

James set his cup down firmly and looked down at the table. "I'm sorry Lily, you know I'm happy its just-"

Stretching out a hand, Lily covered his and gave it a squeeze. "I know James, I feel the same way, but," she shrugged. "I guess I'm just trying not to think of all that right now. One day at a time love."\

"What about Bran and Mare?" He responded. "You know we're going to have to start thinking of how to tell them the truth."

Ashamed at the reminder Lily relaxed her grip in James' hand. "I know, but- I just…" She sniffed to avoid becoming teary. "Well, we made the decision not to tell people about Harry back then in case You-Know-Who went after him. Then after he died we made the decision not to tell people we had, had a child in hiding." She knew really that it had been her decision and James had gone along with it, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. It had been her that had been afraid for the child growing inside her, and her who had not wanted the reminder of the child she had lost. Then we she became pregnant with Bran she had wanted to experience it as if it were her first child, like she could start over, she hadn't wanted anyone to pity her for the one she had already lost. "In any case," she continued. "It wouldn't do anyone any good to know who Harry really is. Bran and Mare deserve to know, but I think we need to see how things work out first."

James didn't say anything, and she knew he saw right through her words, like always.

"I just can't James- not yet," she pleaded, avoiding his eyes. She didn't want to know what she would find there, she didn't want to see if he was judging her. "I need to see if it's real for myself first."

"I know Lily," James squeezed her hand gently. "I think we both need some time to accept all of this. Though it might take me a little longer, that's all. It will all work out when all is said and done."

"I know it will," Lily agreed, looking up into his calm eyes. Then she gave him a gentle kiss and headed up to her room to finally finish unpacking the rest of her things.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Harry had finished exploring his room after a few minutes; it really didn't contain anything interesting. There was just a wardrobe, a four-poster bed, and a comfy chair that sat near the window that overlooked the back yard. He did however take the opportunity to pull out his two trunks from his pocket and return them to their normal size. After doing so he pulled out a few things from his school trunk so that he could take a quick shower and have a change of clothes. The second trunk, the one that was much larger and contained much more important things, Harry made sure was locked tightly before shrinking it down again and storing it in the top drawer of the wardrobe.

The bathroom, he found, was just one door down and the shower did wonders for him. It had and managed to loosen up all the kinks that lying in bed for several days seemed to produce. It also gave him a renewed sense of energy, and reminded him of the sharp hunger pain growing in his stomach, so he dressed quickly, ran a towel through his hopeless hair and bounded down the back stairs which led, he hoped, to the kitchen.

It did lead to the kitchen, he quickly found out. It was a small homey little kitchen with a small nook for a wooden breakfast table. He was pleased to find it didn't look at all like the Dursley's kitchen, which was very modern and full of new gadgets. Nor did it look like the rag tag, ever-busy kitchen from the Burrow. Also it was absolutely nothing like the huge, ancient looking kitchen in Grimmauld Place. Rather it looked almost like an old muggle kitchen, with a few wizard gadgets strewn about the counters, and perfectly comfortable.

"Oh," Harry stopped his quick assessment of the new room when he caught sight of a tired looking James slumped over the wooden table in the corner. "Hello," he continued lamely, pushing his hands deep into his trouser pockets. He wasn't quite sure what to say around his Dad yet, as he seemed to be having a hard time adapting to his presence. It was to be understood though, Harry couldn't expect to be treated like the son he was after suddenly appear twenty years after his supposed death. Merlin knew if he was in his
Dad's place he'd be a right suspicious bastard of Harry's sudden appearance. As it was, James was reacting in the most reasonable, though not the most convenient, manner.

James looked up as Harry spoke up and nodded in acknowledgement. "I'm afraid the tea's gone cold or I'd offer you a cup," he said rather unenthusiastically.

"Its no problem really," Harry answered and slowly took a seat at the table opposite his Dad. "Listen, if this is going to be too hard, I can go somewhere else. I can always just stay at Hogwarts, or get a room at the Leaky Cauldron or something, I don't want to be an imposition."

Looking almost guilty James' eyes snapped up to meet Harry's. "No, Harry, that's not it," he sat back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I mean I'm just having a difficult time accepting this," he explained, "but I really am glad that you're here." He stopped and bit his lip intensely. "I really am Harry, I don't want you to think that I'm not, this means so… so much to me, it really does."

Harry nodded, and leaned back in his chair, it was better to just let James get everything out.

"I guess," James, continued, "I guess I still don't get why you're here really."

For a moment Harry didn't dare say anything, instead he fidgeted with his hands until his thoughts were composed. "Do you know what the Mirror of Erised is?" He said finally, as he locked his fingers together on the table and looked up to stare his father in the eye.

James blinked. That was obviously not the type of answer he was expecting. "Yes I've heard of it, I recall Dumbledore saying something about it a few years back."

At that Harry smiled and nodded. "Yes, Dumbledore is very familiar with it. Actually my first year at Hogwarts he knew," he blushed a little, but did not look away from James. "Well, he knew I was having a little bit of a hard time with things. He had um," his cheeks darkened again. "He had given me your old cloak that Christmas and I had been using it to explore the castle."

James actually leaned forward a bit at that, seemingly warming up. "My invisibility cloak?"

"Yeah," Harry confirmed, releasing some of the pressure his was putting on his fingers as he clasped them firmly together. There was no reason to be so nervous really, he just didn't want to mess things up. "That's the one. Anyways like I said I used it to explore the castle, and one night I found myself in front of the Mirror of Erised," Harry sighed wistfully as he remembered his early days at the castle. Then the simplest of had been an adventure, that was before he knew what adventure really was, and that it was not always something to be welcomed.

"I returned several times after finding it, of course, the mirror it was amazing and I couldn't get enough of it." Harry gave his Dad a searching look, trying to make sure he understood. "When you look into the mirror it shows you your deepest desire, and mine-" he sighed, trailing off. He could see the raw curiosity in James' eyes. It caught him for a moment before he cleared his throat, resolved to continue. "Well, eventually Dumbledore caught on, and found me sitting in front of the mirror one night. In all honesty I think that is really where he got the idea to tell me about the Damnari Voti spell. He knew how badly I wanted what was in that mirror; he knew how it drove me.

"It had to come to an end of course," Harry finished. "Dumbledore moved the mirror the next day so I wouldn't be driven to waste my nights away in front of it," he shook his head, and pushed the long hair out of his eyes so he could look at James again. "I never forgot what I saw in that mirror, and neither did Dumbledore. I knew I had to come here, because this was the life I wanted for myself, the life I envisioned when I first looked upon myself in the Mirror of Erised. My greatest desire."

Blinking, James removed his glasses and placed them on the table between them, and then he looked back up at Harry. "What did you see in the mirror Harry?"

Harry smiled. "You," he answered simply. "My Mum, and all the rest of my family." He looked down a little embarrassed. "The one thing that has been denied to me my entire life," he shrugged it off and looked back at James and was surprised to see that his Dad's eyes looked a little glassy. "I've had my chance at money, success, talent, and the rest. All I've ever really wanted was a family, the one thing no one could ever really give me. That's all."

A tense silence fell between the two, and eventually their locked gazes broke off. James reached for his glasses again and wiped them off on his shirt. "So," James said after he had replaced his glasses on his face. He drew the silence out, trying to figure out how to respond to this. Then he cracked a smile, "how is my old cloak doing?"

Grinning, Harry relaxed a bit more. At least now his Dad was willing to talk to him. "Not to shabby," he answered. "I can tell you it's gotten me out of more than a few detentions."

"Yeah," James responded, running a hand through his hair. "I remember how angry I was at Sirius when he left it in the Astronomy Tower. You know, I had almost forgotten all about it until now. I think Dumbledore may still be holding it in his office to this day. I certainly haven't seen it since then."

"No?" Harry asked. "You haven't wanted it in all these years?"

Snorting James shook his head. "And let it fall into Bran's hands? I'm surprised Dumbledore trusted you to have it as it is. I can't imagine him giving it to troublemaking first years anymore."

"He's a real troublemaker then?" Harry asked.

He had been wanting to hear a bit more about his brother and sister, but unfortunately their existence was slightly overshadowed by that of all the others Harry had been longing to see. He had never considered the fact that he could have siblings; he had never hoped to discover anyone more than his parents in this world. Of course he was pleased that he did have a big family, it was something he had always envied the Weasley's for.

However, being a brother, he suspected, was something that grew through years of companionship. He never really expected that he would have the type of relationship, say Ron and Ginny had had. They had old stories from their childhood to relate back to, they had that way of bickering about practiced arguments, and the way they innately related to one another about certain things. Ginny had been ever critical of Ron's repeatedly awkward approaches to relationships and he had been able to play the part of the horribly over protective big brother.

Just because he had a little brother and sister now, Harry didn't think he was allowed to just step into the practiced role. He wouldn't have the kind of relationship that the Weasley brothers and one sister had. Theirs would always be kind of distant, after all they were only meeting one another when Harry was in his twenties and they were in their teens. He couldn't expect to play the stern older brother to Mare, or the cool, knowledgeable older brother to Bran like Charlie was to his younger siblings.

"Like you wouldn't believe," James gave a distracted sort of half smile. "I swear he's almost worse than the Marauders were, but thankfully he doesn't have our resources."

Harry snorted. Resources, the Marauders had had. The most brilliant wizards in the school, an invisibility cloak, a magical map and the ability to turn into an animal at will? Those ideal conditions were unlikely to ever fall into place again. The Weasley twins had come to a close second with the help of their joke products and the Marauder's old map, but even they hadn't managed to match their predecessor's success.

"That," Harry agreed. "Would be dangerous. The Weasley twins are out of school though right?"

"Thankfully, Bran practically hero-worshipped them, almost more than he worships Sirius."

Harry's attention sharpened at the name of his godfather. "He worships Sirius then?"

"Yeah," James continued, relaxing even more into their conversation. He didn't even seem to notice Harry's strained tone. "I swear I think they speak more than Sirius and I at this point."

"So um," Harry pulled his hands off the table and rubbed his palms against his legs anxiously. "I heard mention that Sirius was here for the holiday? Any idea on when he'd be returning?"

James gave Harry a sharp look, finally noticing the not so subtle strain in Harry's voice. "Sometime after dinner I expect," he said slowly, trying to see if Harry would reveal why this was so important. "Lily asked them not to be back until after dark at least, we didn't think you'd want all the excitement. Poppy did leave us specific instructions for you to rest."

Wincing Harry leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, trying to push Sirius to the back of his mind. "Poppy is a very skilled medi-witch and I know she means well, but I think that you and I both know that her treatment can get a little carried away at times."

"Don't I know it," James agreed. "I thank the gods I'm a teacher now and can escape her clutches with relative ease. Merlin forbid anything actually happens to a student, and they find themselves on bed rest for a week, forced to slurp down some of Snape's most wicked concoctions."

Harry laughed; the picture was all too familiar for him. After all, he had spent more than then his fair share of time cooped up in the hospital wing than most students. "I know, I remember when I broke my arm in a Quidditch match, she had me there for days for observation."

"Quidditch?" James perked up. Harry smiled; he seemed to have stumbled upon the right middle ground for the two of them. "Did you play on the house team?"

"Seeker," Harry declared proudly. "Youngest in more than hundred years actually," he couldn't resist adding. Normally he didn't like to brag, but this was Quidditch.

James' jaw nearly dropped. "You're kidding! That means you would have made the team your first year!"

Lip's twitching into a smile, Harry nodded. "Yeah, I was actually just lucky I made the team, I could just have easily been expelled." He then went on to recount the story of how he had taken his first flight on a broom, against the rules, right in front of McGonagall. "I thought she was furious with me," Harry went on. "It turned out, that she didn't care what I had done, as long as I promised to do my best to get the Quidditch cups out of Snape and Slytherin's hands."

At that James laughed and slapped his knee. "They still fight every year about that, neither one of them can stand seeing the other win! I swear the house rivalry between the staff is almost nearly as bad as with the students."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Harry agreed. He could remember a few times when he had witnessed this at first hand. After his days of a student had firmly passed of course. The professors rarely revealed their quarrelsome selves in front of the student body when they could save it for the staff room.

"Seeker then," James repeated to himself with a slight shake of his head. "I always wanted the kids to take more of an interest in Quidditch, but," he shrugged to himself. "Bran tried out for the team his third year, though I know he wasn't very interested in it, and he didn't make it anyways. Mare is just absolutely hopeless, even if she's not at all bad. Still, it takes all of our powers of persuasion just to get her into a family game every once in a while." James' eyes lit up and leaned across the table again. Harry had noticed that his dad had become much more animated since they had started talking about Quidditch. "Any chance you made captain?"

Clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, Harry waved his hand. "No question, sixth year," this seemed to make James very happy indeed, and this time he got up from the table and busied himself with making another pot of tea.

"How do you like that," he said to himself. "First year seeker, incredible."

"What's incredible darling?" Lily asked as she glided down the stairs and landed with a thump in the kitchen. Her gaze was immediately drawn to Harry, who she smiled at warmly, then it darted approvingly back to her husband.

Harry suspected that she was pleased they were getting along. On the walk over to the house he had noticed that she had been giving James strained sort of looks.

"Harry," James said, keeping his eyes on the tea as it poured from the pot into a new cup for Harry. "He became seeker his first year at Hogwarts."

"How wonderful," Lily said, walking over to Harry and giving him a gently pat on the back, she turned back to James. "Leave it to you to get worked up over Quidditch.

Just then there was a rather large 'bang' as, what Harry assumed was the front door, hit against the front wall and several feet started stomping snow off boots. Lily turned her attention to the door and left briefly to greet the newcomers.

James just looked up at the clock that hung on the wall above the pantry and sighed. "Earlier than expected, oh well," he turned and faced Harry, a small smile appearing on his face. He rubbed a hand through his hair, causing it to stick out in all directions. "Up for a few more introductions?"

Unable to do anything else, Harry nodded. He hated to admit it, but as much as he had wanted to see his parents, seeing Sirius alive again meant so much more. After all he had had time to develop a relationship with Sirius, had known and loved him as family for the better part of two years and two years of having someone he loved in his life was a long time for Harry Potter. Of course he was anxious to meet his brother and sister, also to see Remus Lupin again, but Sirius somehow managed to overshadow them all.

Swallowing awkwardly Harry accepted the cup of tea from James and tried to occupy himself by taking small, measured sips. He could hear his Mum's voice outside the door, as well as the muffled cries of several others, and though he couldn't quite distinguish words, he knew he didn't recognize Sirius' tone at all.

"-at Honeydukes," Harry heard Remus say as he pushed open the door into the kitchen and looked around for someone, him, Harry assumed since his eyes glazed past James.

Ignoring the direction of Remus' stare, James immediately strode forward and gave his old friend a one armed hug, offering him a cup of tea with the other. Remus accepted the offering with a smile and then turned back to face Harry. "Well, you must be Harry then," he said.

Harry stood up so that he could get a good look at his old friend. Remus and him had never been as close as Sirius and him, but he had loved the man in his own way. Though in reality, he had never quite been able to shake looking at him as a professor, since it was under those circumstances that they had first met. Also, Remus was a much more private man than Sirius had been, but he had always been kind to Harry and had always encouraged him in all of his endeavors.

This Remus looked better than the one Harry remembered. He stood a bit straighter, and his robes were of a better quality, and he looked as if he might have a bit more weight on him than Harry remembered. Harry devoutly hoped that Remus had someone to take care of him in this world. Perhaps Tonks had managed to get her hands on him sooner than she had in Harry's world. Though since Harry had not heard mention of Tonk's joining them for the holidays, and Remus was here alone he wasn't so sure.

"Its nice to see you," Harry said, giving Remus a smile. This meeting was somewhat stranger than all of his others had been. With his Mum and Dad he had been meeting perfect strangers, and with Dumbledore he had been meeting someone who he had known as being long dead. Remus would be a different story as Remus was one of the few surviving members of the Order of the Phoenix, and one of Harry's few surviving friends from the war. In fact Harry had seen Remus only a week before deciding to use the spell to bring him here, as he had wanted to make his final goodbyes. He hadn't told Remus what he had planed of course, but he couldn't leave without at least knowing that Remus wouldn't worry about him. The poor man felt that since he was the last of Marauders, and the last of his father's old friends that it was ultimately his responsibility to make sure Harry didn't befall any harm.

Remus only had time to blink before he was rather roughly pushed aside by the door swinging open again and admitting two fighting teenagers into the room.

"Did not," the girl was saying, pushing her brother with her elbow. "You just lost it is all. What would I want with your stupid letter anyways?"

The teenage boy pushed her back. "What do I know, but you can't-"

"Bran!" James rushed forward and tore the two apart, pushing the girl into Remus' arms and pulling the slightly older boy into his own. "Enough of this, haven't I asked you two a thousand times to stop fighting? Consider this matter dropped for now, the both of you," Harry watched as James glanced sharply between the two teenagers, obviously giving a well-practiced warning. Both the girl and the boy glared resentfully at one another, but nodded reluctantly in the end. Remus and James both released their charges who immediately glared and made angry faces at one another.

Sighing hopelessly James turned and motioned to Harry. "Kids, I want you to meet your cousin Harry, he's going to be living with us now, and you two are to both behave politely!" He glared back at both of them again; who were sulking now and looked as if the last thing they wanted to do was to be forced to allow someone new into the house. "Harry, this is Bran and this is Mare."

Harry smiled at them both, though neither really seemed to be looking at him; instead they were continuing to make faces behind his Dad's back. Harry resisted the urge to chuckle at this. It was just like the Weasley children used to act, and strangely enough their quarreling made him feel all the more at home. "Hello, its very nice to meet you," he said politely.

"Yeah sure," Bran said, giving him a quick glance, then he looked back at James. "I'll be in my room, call me when dinner's ready." Then without any further notice he bound up the back stair and disappeared.

James sighed in frustration and shook his head as Mare strode up to Harry. "Well I am glad to meet you," she said shaking Harry's hand rather seriously for a fourteen-year-old girl.

Harry returned the handshake, shooting his Dad an amused look over her head. She was quite short, very petite, and obviously had his Mum's wild red hair. "Thank you Mare," he responded when he dropped his hand and settled herself stiffly at the table.

"I will apologies for my brother and myself, I'm afraid you haven't caught the both of us at our best," she poured herself a cup of tea and turned around and examined Harry, who couldn't resist staring at her peculiarly. Strangely enough he was strongly reminded of a female version of Percy Weasley. "I hope you'll excuse our behavior, as I'm sure we'll have plenty of time over the break to become acquainted."

"Er- right," Harry admitted and then shot another perplexed look to Remus and his Dad, both were trying hard not to laugh and were rolling their eyes at one another. Apparently Mare Potter was being quite serious indeed.

"So where's Sirius?" James finally asked, and Harry felt his heart leap again, his eyes darted quickly to Remus to hear his answer.

Remus motioned back towards the door. "Oh he stopped off at Honeydukes for some desert, Lily went after him to get him back before he bought out half the store, he'll be by in a minute," he said and took a long sip of the tea James had offered him. "Its freezing out there you know," he was looking at Harry though, and Harry resisted the urge to squirm under the gaze. "So Harry, how are you holding up?" He asked, polite as always.

Harry shrugged. "As well as can be expected I should say, though I still feel a bit light headed."

"Why, Harry are you ill?" Mare asked in a dry tone, she was rummaging through the paper that was still sitting on the kitchen table, looking for a certain section.

Harry was saved having to answer as a rather forceful 'boom' shook the whole house. James and Remus turned and grinned at one another, "Sirius' is back," James said simply before he opened the door just in time for a large black dog to come racing in the room and skid across the floor until he nearly crashed into the oven. With a large 'pop' Sirius Black transformed back into a man and stood up laughing.

"You should have seen your wife's face when that snowball hit her, James," he said as he dusted a bit of snow from his robes. "Absolutely priceless she-"

But Harry never found out why Lily's face was so priceless, he had crossed the distance between himself and Sirius in a few quick paces and flung his arms around the older man's neck. "I'm so sorry Sirius," he said loud enough that he was sure the whole room must have heard him, though that had not been his intention. "I missed you so much."

Hesitantly Sirius returned the impromptu hug and patted Harry on the back. "Er- yeah mate, me too," he added rather awkwardly and then Harry remembered himself and pulled apart.

He hadn't been thinking, he shouldn't have done that. Harry blinked furiously to keep his eyes from watering, ran a hand through his hair and looked around the room until he met the concerned gaze of his father. "Um, I'm sorry about that," Harry said as soon as he was sure he could trust his voice. "You know what," he said hurriedly. "On second thought, I think I am still feeling a bit under the weather. I'm going to have to skip dinner for now and head up to bed early."

Then, trying very hard not to meet the gaze of anyone, Harry retreated to the upstairs, though he felt the stares of four pairs of eyes burning into his back.

He was just turning around the landing when he heard Sirius' voice ring out again. "So what's for dinner then?"

Harry paused and swallowed, leaning up against the wall on the landing and trying to regain composure before he took another step. Then he took another deep breath and darted back to his new room. Hopefully he would have a better control over things in the morning.