Sirius glanced at the clock. It was getting late, especially for someone who looked like he'd gotten as little sleep as Harry did.
"Maybe we should turn in," Sirius suggested. As much as he wanted to continue talking to Harry, to fill him in on all the trouble he and James had gotten into during their first year at Hogwarts, his first responsibility was toward making sure his godson was well cared for. Sirius felt a twinge of regret at that; if this had been James, they would stay up all night laughing, probably sharing a bottle of firewhiskey…
But Harry wasn't James, and Sirius shook the thought from his head. It wouldn't do to think like that, but it was late, and he was unearthing all those old memories, and—
"I'm not tired," Harry interrupted his thoughts. Sirius gave him an appraising glance; the bruises on his arms and face were starting to fade, but Harry looked thin and pale and exhausted.
Sirius smiled. "I am. Belting your uncle really took it out of me."
Harry sighed, recognizing defeat.
"C'mon. We can share a room upstairs, if you don't mind."
Sirius led Harry upstairs, wincing as they passed some of the house's more questionable decorations. When they walked by the curtained portrait of his mother, he pressed a finger to his lip and indicated that Harry should pass by with extra care. Harry threw a curious glance at the portrait but complied. His eyes widened as they passed the stuffed and mounted house elf heads on the first floor landing, but he didn't say anything until they reached the door of the bedroom Sirius led them to.
"I can see what you mean about this house," said Harry.
"Charming, isn't it?" Sirius forced a rough laugh. He paused outside the bedroom door. "Look," he finally said, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry you have to see all this, it's just that's it's safe—"
"Don't worry about it," Harry said, cutting him off. "Anywhere is better than Privet Drive."
"Right," Sirius said, looking into Harry's thin face and feeling another surge of anger toward the Dursleys. "Well, here it is," he said opening the door and stepping into the gloom.
"Was this your bedroom?" Harry asked, joining Sirius in the room and peering around.
"Oh, no," Sirius said. "Just one of the guest bedrooms. I haven't gotten around to decluttering all of the rooms, but this one's safe, just had some puffskeins hiding in the closet." He refrained from telling Harry that he had yet to venture up to his old room, worried that his mother might have put some curses or jinxes on it after he ran away from home.
"Decluttering-?"
"You have no idea how much stuff has been breeding in here since my parents died. Nor do I, for that matter," Sirius said darkly.
"Er, right," said Harry, glancing toward the dark corners of the room. Sirius noticed and raised his wand, lighting the lamp that sat on a nightstand between two beds. A blank portrait hung on the wall, but besides that there were no decorations.
"I put some spare clothes in here," Sirius said, crossing over to the closet. "I should have some pajamas for you here somewhe—ah," he finished, pulling out some oversized pants and shirts. "Just some of my old things."
"Thanks," said Harry.
"There's a bathroom next door," Sirius said, standing with his hands in his pockets.
"And nothing hiding in there?" Harry asked.
Sirius smiled. "No, all good."
000
Sirius rolled over in his bed, feeling more relaxed than he had all summer. He rested comfortably in the drowsy land between sleep and consciousness, his dreams slowly filtering out of his mind. Which was a shame, since he had been having such a nice one, where he and James had been back at Hogwarts…
He opened his eyes. He was nestled in the cool sheets and blankets of the bed in the spare bedroom, the room light around him. Stretching, he was just thinking that maybe he would take advantage of the fact that he had been able to actually sleep and maybe try to grab a few more hours' worth, when he remembered last night's events.
Harry. Sirius turned over, expecting to see him, and was greeted with the sight of an empty bed, the sheets and blankets neatly smoothed back into place.
He sat up immediately, feet hitting the floor with a thump, and called out, "Harry!"
Sirius's heart pounded in his chest as he went downstairs, calling out Harry's name all the while.
"Sirius?" The answering call was quieter, and it sounded like it was coming from downstairs. Sirius followed the sound into the kitchen.
"Harry!" Sirius panted, leaning against the counter. "You scared me." There was slight reproach in his voice.
"Oh," said Harry, face reddening slightly. "Sorry."
"It's okay," said Sirius, rebuking himself for his reaction, for shouting, for criticizing Harry; the boy had only gone down into the kitchen, after all. "I overreacted," he said, waving a hand and sitting down at the table. "All that time being on the run, I'm a little jumpy." Which was true, especially so wherever Harry was concerned.
"I was just making breakfast," Harry said, raising the spatula in his hand and indicating the bacon sizzling away in the frying pan beneath him.
"You didn't have to do that," Sirius said, touched. "Here, let me, you sit."
Ignoring Harry's protests, Sirius took the spatula from him and gently pushed him into a chair at the kitchen table.
"Sleep well?" he asked, turning over the eggs Harry had started scrambling.
"Actually, yeah, it was great to get some sleep."
"I'm glad to—"
A sharp, insistent knock interrupted Sirius. He froze for a moment, then threw down the spatula and warned Harry to stay put. He carefully crept upstairs, wand in his hand, and paused behind the front door. The knock came again, impatient.
"Sirius! Open up, I know you're in there!"
Sirius relaxed automatically at the sound of the voice, stowing his wand back in his pocket and opening the front door.
"Remus! What are you doing here, I thought you couldn't come by til next week?"
"Harry's missing," Remus said without preamble, stepping into the dusty hallway and shutting the door behind him. He turned to face Sirius, anxiety etched into every line of his prematurely aged face. "I was supposed to be on guard duty this morning, but he's not there. I didn't know what to do, I've come here first—"
"You haven't contacted Dumbledore yet, have you?"
"No, no, I thought I'd do that afterwards—Why?" Remus asked, suddenly suspicious. He took a long look at Sirius. "What've you done?"
"Now, look," Sirius began, raising his hands at the fierce look Remus was giving him. "Harry is completely safe." At Remus's continued silence, he added, "They were hurting him, Moony."
Remus's glare softened. "Hurting him?"
"Yes, those filthy muggles were hitting him, starving him—"
A very ugly look crossed Remus's face before he asked "He's here then?"
Sirius nodded. "In the kitchen. I was just making breakfast, why don't you join us?"
"I'm supposed to—"
"If there's no Harry there to guard, you're free, aren't you?"
"Oh, all right, just for a little bit."
Sirius grinned, grabbed Remus's hand, and led him into the kitchen.
"Look who I found," Sirius said as he pushed Lupin into a seat across from Harry.
"Professor Lupin!" Harry said, pleased.
"Please, call me Remus. How are you doing, Harry?"
"Loads better," said Harry, and Sirius caught Remus's eye and grinned in a See-I-Told-You-So type of way.
"I heard," he said, eying Sirius warily. "Don't have any tea, do you, Sirius?"
"Coming right up," said Sirius, waving his wand. A mug set itself down on the table, and with another flick of his wand, water poured itself into the tea kettle and started boiling. "What'll you have to drink, Harry?"
"I already have some water," Harry said, as Sirius made his way toward the table and scooped some eggs and bacon onto the plate before him.
"Toast?" he asked as he did the same for Remus, and then added some to his own plate.
"Sure, thanks."
Sirius flicked his wand again, and the now finished tea poured itself into two mugs, setting one down in front of Remus and the other in front of his own plate. He popped some toast into the toaster and took his seat.
"So how is it?"
"Great," said Harry, swallowing a mouthful of food. Sirius beamed at him, then glanced over at Remus, who was looking at Harry with a quiet concern that Sirius knew well; his eyebrows were knitted together, his eyes following Harry as he shoveled the food into his mouth, no doubt noticing how thin and pale he looked. Remus didn't comment, though his eyes trailed to the fading bruise around his eye and his look of concern deepened.
"Very good," Remus finally said. "Who knew Sirius Black could cook so well?"
"Well, Harry helped me out."
"Ah, so that's it," said Remus, sipping his tea. "And what have you two been up to?"
"I've been telling Harry all about the trouble we got up to at school."
The tension and worry momentarily left Remus's face as he heard that, and he laughed easily. "Oh, no," he said. "How far along are you? Did you tell him how you got detention your very first week? Thought it must be some kind of record."
"Haven't gotten that far yet. We just finished with the story of my infamous sorting."
"Ah, yes, the black sheep of the Black family."
"Ha ha," Sirius said, sipping at his tea. "And luckily for you, or else you would never have had the pleasure of knowing the fine gentleman before you."
Remus snorted.
"Remus here was very tricky our first year at Hogwarts," Sirius said, pointing at his friend with his cup of tea. "Had to drag him everywhere, he was always trying to slip off alone."
"Eleven year-old werewolves tend to do that," Remus replied, sipping calmly at his tea.
"True," Sirius grinned.
"Was it hard?" Harry asked, emerging from his food for the first time. "You know, hiding that from everyone?"
An unreadable expression crossed across Remus's face for a few seconds, but he quickly recovered.
"It was hard, yes," Remus said. "Made more so by the fact that I had such wonderful potential friends before me."
At Harry's questioning look, Remus continued on. "My father had warned me, you see, of not getting too close to anyone lest they discover my secret. It was a gift to even be able to go to school—I could not afford to lose that."
Sirius watched Remus closely; he had rarely heard him express these thoughts.
"Why don't you tell Harry about our first year," Sirius prodded. "Give me a break from the storytelling."
A/N: A little break from the Marauders' Era here, but I hope you all enjoyed the Sirius/Harry bonding! And I hope you enjoy the addition of Remus J As always thank you for reading and let me know what you thought!