Chapter 3

There was a chill in the air as Harry sat on the steps to the owl pen. His gaze was fixated on a spot in the horizon that he knew to be Hedwig. His trusty owl was making her way across the nearby forest to deliver a few letters that he'd finally written.

He hoped that those would suffice for the moment and slowdown the continual onslaught of mail he'd been receiving for weeks now. A part of him was thankful to have so many people caring about how he was doing, but mostly it irritated him.

Harry blinked and tried to find the dot in the cloudy sky. Unable to locate it he took to staring at the clouds and trying to count how many shades of grey there were in them.

He'd reached 26 when he heard someone approaching and stop when they caught sight of him. Harry turned and confirmed that it was whom he thought, Sirius Black. He sighed and looked back to the clouds, realizing how fast they were moving.

Sirius continued his previous pace then slowed down as he reached Harry on the steps. He started up the first few before turning back and sitting down next to him. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Harry tense and subtly lean away from him.

Sirius tried to pay more attention to the sky while thinking up something to say.

"Storm's coming," was all he could get out through a tight throat.

Harry nodded noncommittally. Sirius breathed in the air and closed his eyes.

"A thunderstorm at that."

"You say that whenever there's a storm coming," Harry responded in an irritated tone.

"Not always," Sirius responded in his own defense, "and was I ever wrong?"

"Quite a few times actually," Harry replied in an almost smug manner, "just because you want something to happen doesn't mean it will."

Sirius paused, wondering if they were still talking about the weather. He was never good at talking around a subject. He had always been one to speak from his heart rather than his head.

"I-," he stumbled on his words, trying desperately to think of something smart and vague to say. However, as he watched Harry roll his eyes he gave up on trying to be clever.

"I don't know why you're angry at me," he stated truthfully.

He waited a moment to see that Harry was unmoved by his statement before getting up and continuing up the stairs. Harry turned just in time to watch Sirius turn a corner. He contemplated following him and telling him that he wasn't angry. But he knew that it would be a lie, even though he had no clue why he was angry. He had no justifiable reason to be.

Harry got up from the step and started walking across the courtyard, his mind working over what Sirius had said.

He was just stressed, he thought to himself. He had an entire semester to prepare for. One that he was not looking forward to, knowing how the students would have all heard about what had happened and be whispering behind his back. Harry thought of all the notes that would be passed back and forth in the classroom and the children laughing at his expense. His stomach tied in knots at the thought; then again it seemed to be in knots all the time anyway.

He visibly flinched as a droplet of water fell on his neck. Harry found it ironic that the sky never seems to wait until you're safely inside to start raining when you're in a foul mood. He glared at the clouds as best as he could while rain smeared his glasses.

"You have a cruel sense of humor," he remarked to the clouds.

To which they responded with a crash of lightning and a rumble of thunder that sounded eerily similar to laughter.

Harry went from being in a bad mood to down right pissed. Not only was he being mocked by a storm, but it had also simultaneously proven Sirius right.

--

Thunder echoed down the long hall. The sound bounced from one object to the next, creating an almost unbearable chamber of sound. Many of the occupants tried to conceal their discomfort while others appeared completely relaxed.

Just as the thunder died down there was another sound, that of a marble striking the cement floor. Everyone's head turned in unison and they quickly moved to stand against the sides of the hall. The marbled rolled between the gap, picking up speed as it rolled to the center of the hall. A warm orange glow started to fill the room as the stained glass of the arched ceiling came to life.

Orange and red glass moved as if it had returned to its original liquefied form. The lightning added to the life like effect of the glass flames.

Thunder boomed within the chamber, creating a wave that began to run up the glass ceiling. The flames roared furiously and as the wave reached the end of the room the glass shattered. The flaming glass rained upon the cloaked occupants. Many of which started running, desperately trying to put themselves out.

A small group of them joined into a circle around the marble spinning on the floor. Lightning struck the small object and reflected back, arcing over the circle. The marble began to levitate, twisting and straining. An immense amount of power locked within trying to be released.

It started losing its shape. A face could be seen forming and a tail growing down the back. One of the members of the circle stepped forward towards the object that appeared to be twisting in pain.

"Has it been done?" the object asked in a strained voice.

"Yes, master."

"Good," the contorted figure cackled as it began to return to its previous shape.

"Master, it takes more and more power to call upon you, there are few of us left," the cloaked man spoke quickly.

"Worry not, for next time you call upon me I will be joining you for good," its voice was becoming more distant as it spoke, "with his power, nothing can stop us. Call upon me when the power has been released."

The man kneeled as the face disappeared and the marble fell to the floor.

--

Harry shivered as his forehead rested against the cold glass of the window. He watched lightning dance across the sky. The bolts appeared jagged through the rain soaked window.

Another shiver ran down Harry's spine as the bolts hit one spot in the distance repeatedly.

Why did Sirius have to be right? The last thing Harry needed was an intense storm rattling his nerves. He got up from the window seat and started pacing his room.

He silently wished that he had some company to distract him. After the thought crossed his mind, there was a knock on the door. He immediately took back the thought and jumped back onto the window seat.

Just when he thought that it had worked and who ever it was had left there was another knock.

"Damn it," Harry whispered under his breath as he got up and opened the door.

He had to resist letting out another curse when he saw Sirius standing in the hall.

"What," Harry demanded more than asked.

"I wanted to apologize," Sirius blurted out.

Harry blinked and stared for a moment. Of all the things Sirius could have said he'd not expected that. He stepped aside and let Sirius enter the room.

"What are you apologizing for?"

Sirius sighed and raised his hands in defeat, "I don't know… Anything… Everything."

Harry nodded, a silent acceptance of the apology. He reclaimed his spot on the window seat and looked out the window.

Sirius hesitated a moment before sitting down next to him.

"I don't know what to do," he admitted, "I don't know what you want me to do."

Harry glanced at him and shrugged, "who says you have to do anything?"

Sirius stared for a moment before responding, "I do."

Harry snorted but couldn't resist letting past a small smile. He should have known that Sirius' protectiveness of him would force him into action even when he had no idea what action to take.

Sirius visibly relaxed when he saw Harry's reaction. He leaned back against the wall framing the window and watched Harry look out the window. He noticed Harry flinch whenever there was a flash of lightning and a small shudder run through his body at the sound of the low rumbling thunder.

"I thought you liked thunderstorms," he commented after a while.

Harry looked up as if he hadn't expected the silence to be broken, "I normally do."

Sirius nodded but obviously didn't quite understand. He wanted to ask more about it but had a feeling that would only push Harry further away. All the stress and worry were catching up to him and while he knew he should be talking and trying to get Harry to communicate more, he felt his eyelids grow heavy and droop.

When Harry looked back he saw Sirius' head dipped forward, his breathing slow and rhythmic. Harry shook his head and got up to retrieve a blanket from his bed. He gently draped it over the sleeping man. He stood there for a moment looking down at him before putting his hand on the other's head and moving it to a more comfortable position. When he felt confident that Sirius wouldn't be complaining about a sore neck in the morning he went back to his bed and laid down.

He shifted uncomfortably for several moments, wishing that he could grab the covers and sleep on the floor as he'd been doing for the past month but he didn't want to deal with Sirius' questions and worry.

It took him far longer than it should have but he felt himself drift off into an uneasy sleep.

--

Harry snuggled deep into his covers as he started to wake up. His mind was slowly trying to process the scent filling the room. It smelled good. It smelled familiar. It smelled like the great hall?

He blinked open his eyes and peered over the covers. It took a moment for his vision to clear and even longer for him to figure out what he was looking at.

Was that Sirius? Yes, Harry thought to himself, yes that's definitely Sirius.

The man in question looked up from the table across the room and smiled at Harry who raised an eyebrow and sat up.

"I got breakfast," Sirius said in a voice that almost sounded chipper.

Harry's eyes moved over to the table, covered with almost every kind of food available at Hogwarts.

"Is all that for us or are we having some kind of party I wasn't informed about?" Harry asked and motioned towards the pile.

Sirius shrugged, "I didn't know what you were in the mood for."

Harry laughed and climbed out of bed. He leaned over the table and sniffed.

"Mmm," he hummed at the scent.

Sirius resisted laughing and instead handed Harry a plate. A wave of excitement hit Harry in the pit of his stomach, and he had no idea why. He'd never been this excited over breakfast, especially not recently.

He shrugged off the oddness of it and started choosing what he'd like to eat from the pile… Well, more like trying to shove as much of everything he could onto his plate.

Sirius coughed, trying to mask a small chuckle as he looked on.

"I think I should have gotten a bigger plate."

Harry laughed and tried to position a tomato so that it wouldn't topple over the side. With his hearty helping served up he took the plate to the window seat and dug in. Sirius, after retrieving a much smaller portion joined him.

They ate in a companionable silence. Sirius was surprised to look up and see that Harry was wiping off some leftover juices with his fingers. Sirius looked back at his plate.

"How is it you ate that mountain of food in the time it's taken me to eat half of a normal serving?" Sirius asked in amazement.

"Normal?" Harry came back at him incredulously, "you call that mincey amount normal?"

Sirius rolled his eyes and pointed at Harry's plate with his fork, "you're avoiding the question."

"You're a slow eater," was Harry's definitive response.

Sirius stared at him blankly and Harry stared back defiantly. It wasn't long before both were grinning like idiots.

"So are you done or just preparing yourself for round two?" Sirius asked, noting how Harry was eyeing the still impressive pile of food across the room.

"I'm not sure…" he responded tightly.

Sirius slowly licked the food off of his fork, "upset stomach?"

Harry nodded, the color draining from his face.

"You ate too much too fast. Here let me get you a glass of water."

"Too late!" Harry shouted before leaping from his seat and running into the bathroom.

Sirius raised his eyebrows as Harry slammed the door. He stood up and put their plates with the leftover food. He briefly wondered how they were going to eat all of that if Harry was sick and couldn't stomach it.

He sat on the bed and listened to the retching sounds coming from the bathroom. A pained look crossed his face as he started to wish that he'd held back on breakfast. If it was food poisoning the kitchen staff weren't going to hear the end of it.

After hearing the toilet flush and the sink faucet run Sirius stood up as Harry came out of the bathroom.

"Are you ok?" he asked, putting a comforting hand on the other's shoulder.

Harry nodded and wiped his brow with the back of his hand, "I don't feel so bad now."

Sirius' hand moved up to Harry's head. It paused there, thumb gently rubbing Harry's temple before dropping back down to his shoulder.

"You don't have a fever."

Harry couldn't resist a slight shudder. He wanted to back away, for Sirius certainly had to have noticed, but he kept still. He nodded and looked down at the floor.

Sirius stepped back and tried to give Harry some space, not sure what he'd done to cause the sudden mood change.

Harry sighed in relief, though he also missed the comforting contact. He felt torn as he walked past Sirius and sat down on the bed. Part of him wanted Sirius to join him, but he knew that would mean that they'd have to talk. The other part wanted Sirius to leave, but then he wouldn't have his comforting presence.

Sirius watched the other carefully, thinking how Harry's face reminded him of the sea as each emotion moved in on him in waves, and was reflected through his eyes.

"Have you ever been to the ocean?" Sirius blurted out.

Harry looked up to see his confusion mirrored back at him. He shook his head silently.

"The, uh, the rain yesterday," Sirius stumbled over his words as he sat down beside Harry, "it smelled like the sea… I hadn't thought about it in ages until yesterday and now for some reason I can't seem to get it out of my head. I've not been there in years. Not since I was a boy."

Harry nodded, "that probably means you're due for a visit."

"Yes, well, if I do take the trip and you're interested in joining me, you're more than welcome."

Harry nodded and tried to make himself more comfortable on the bed. Another bit of excitement sparked in his stomach. He might take Sirius up on that offer.

--

That afternoon Harry and Sirius parted ways. Sirius went to do, whatever important stuff he had to do… Ok Harry wasn't paying that much attention to what Sirius was saying. He was too busy trying to figure out what Hagrid was up to across the courtyard.

The normally gentle giant was stomping away at something. Harry was surprised when Sirius didn't even look towards the loud banging that would almost rival the loud crashes of thunder from last night.

As Harry approached he saw that Hagrid was compacting freshly turned earth. Why the big man couldn't use a shovel was beyond him.

"Hello Hagrid," Harry greeted, to which the other jumped and nearly broke his ankle, as he was in mid-stomp.

"Oh, uh, hi there Harry," Hagrid replied in a somewhat shifty tone, "what brings you here?"

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked down to the stomped pile of dirt, "what ever it is that you're doing," he answered and looked back up for the other's reaction.

Hagrid tried to keep from squirming, "oh, nothing… Just doing some planting."

Harry tried not to snort as he looked around the courtyard, "A bit of an odd place for gardening isn't it?"

The other shrugged and seemed to be making too much of an effort to look innocent.

"Nothing illegal is gonna sprout from there is it?" Harry asked, only partially joking.

Hagrid's eyes grew wide and he quickly shook his head, "no, no… nah, of course not. Me? Doing something illegal?"

Harry shook his head as Hagrid fidgeted.

"Though, I wouldn't mind if we just kept this to ourselves," Hagrid said while motioning down to the pile of dirt between them.

Harry shook his head and raised his hands in a gesture that clearly said, "I don't want to have any part in this anyway."

Hagrid relaxed slightly and invited Harry to visit him for tea and lunch. Even after being sick earlier Harry's stomach growled at the promise of food.

--

Sirius entered Dumbledore's office without so much as a knock. He resisted a grin as the occupants looked up in shock. That never got old. It'd been a while since he'd busted in on one of Dumbledore's meetings. Professors Lupin, McGonagle and Snape were gathered as well to discuss the attack.

"What news have you?" Sirius asked.

Lupin shook his head, "nothing other than what we already know. It's the same group of dark wizards who've been behind the kidnappings and murders of the past few months."

Sirius shook his head, anger building, "they've been at this for months and we know nothing? Who's in charge of this investigation?"

Everyone fell silent as Lupin discretely motioned towards the headmaster. If Dumbledore was insulted, it didn't show.

"And how are things coming on your front?" Lupin quickly redirected the conversation.

Sirius shrugged, though Lupin could tell there was more behind the simple motion. He made a mental note to question Sirius about it later.

"Well does anyone have anything useful to share?" Snape asked with his usual snarky delivery.

Silence fell over the room again in response to his question. With a huff Snape rose from his chair and left the room.

Lupin and Sirius shared a look that said, "somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed," while Dumbledore and McGonagle also rose from their seats.

"Let me know if there's anything else I can do, Albus," McGonagle said before following Snape.

The last two companions were on their way out of the room when Dumbledore turned to Sirius.

"How is Harry?"

"Better," Sirius responded tightly, "he isn't talking, but he doesn't seem to mind other people's presence."

Lupin nodded, "it's a step in the right direction."

Sirius sighed in irritation, "a small one."

"Better he gain his footing with small steps before trying to run," Dumbledore reassured them before they left.

--

Lupin sighed as he and Sirius walked through the halls of Hogwarts. He'd long since grown tired of Sirius' moodiness. His thoughts paused as he realized that this must be a cakewalk compared to what Sirius was dealing with trying to get Harry to open up.

While Lupin tried to think of ways to de-stress his friend Sirius was, well… stressing.

The unfairness of the whole situation made anger spark in the pit of his stomach. Why did someone as good and wonderful as Harry have to go through so much pain in his young life? Despite everything he'd been through Harry had grown into a great wizard and a man whom Sirius was proud to call a friend. As Harry grew older the title of Godfather didn't really suit Sirius. He did feel like he was someone to turn to and he certainly loved Harry, but more like a confidant or friend. Sirius almost tripped when he briefly wondered if Harry felt the same way.

Lupin glanced at his friend and shook his head.

"You're driving me and yourself crazy."

"I'm just tired," Sirius said, sounding as weak as he felt.

"Then rest. You're not helping anyone by working yourself to exhaustion."

"I doubt I'm much help anyway," Sirius replied, on the verge of sulking.

"Don't start that again," Lupin warned.

Sirius nodded and bit his tongue. He tried to remind himself that he was doing the right thing. That he was somehow going to help Harry recover from yet another horrible incident to add to his long list. Though he was doubtful. So much had changed and while Harry's physical injuries had healed Sirius could clearly see the internal scars reflected in his eyes. How does one recover from a lifetime of scars? He felt like he should know the answer.

A shiver ran down Sirius' spine as he and Lupin parted ways. He had a foreboding feeling. He was in the process of trying to push the thought away before it even entered his mind.

There was a lot more pain to feel before any healing could begin…

--

A/N: Writing this chapter was an epic battle that deserves a book written about it. Let's just say, it did not want to get written! But it's finally done and has, hopefully, shed some more light on the situation... Not much but just a little peak at what's going on.

To all readers/reviewers, I really wasn't expecting such a great turn-out for this fic. It puts a smile on my face and encourages me to write more to see all the reviews and hits the story's getting. Special thanks to: SPEEDIE22, jogger, Cherry-Starburst, semper paratis, Norwegian Eyes, amarna and riseofafallenangel, cute happy Harry/Sirius moment is dedicated to you. ;)

I'm sorry that this update took so long. I hope that the next chapter will come out much easier, and sooner!