A/N: Hi everyone! We are putting this chapter up early, because we have a friend's 16th this weekend! Hang on, Josh wants to say something. (My twin.)

Hi everybody, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm Indigo's beta and thought it was only fair that I should get to say something. TEAM HERMIONE! Ahem. Enjoy.

Chapter Two: Sapphire Rose Rowan and the Very Bad Man.

The next morning, Sirius padded downstairs only to find Harry waiting already. Harry was dressed smartly, in a neatly pressed shirt, and pants. His mended glasses looked clean, and overall he looked the picture of a happy healthy five year old boy. He jumped off the stool he had been sitting on, and ran to Sirius' side.

Except for his face. It was downcast, rather gloomy and his mouth was turned down at the corners.

'I was having fun,' Harry informed Sirius. 'I had a glass of water, and was waiting here for you. But then this thing came in here. It had big ears and it started calling me names.'

'Kreacher,' Sirius said under his breath.

'A wha-?' Harry said, his face comically questioning.

'My house elf,' Sirius explained. 'I'd show you, but I'm having a good morning, and I'd rather I didn't have to see him.'

Sirius went to the pantry. 'Did you have breakfast?'

Harry shook his head no. 'At my cousin's I'm not allowed in the kitchen cupboards, and Dudley always gets more than me.'

Sirius was once again appalled at these Muggle's treatment of Harry. 'Well,' he told him firmly, 'you're allowed to eat from these cupboards when you like. Cereal's in here.'

He gestured to the pantry and then brought out a box of Rice Bubbles. 'Yum,' Harry said. 'Not that I've ever had any. I just get muesli.'

'D'you want some?' Sirius asked.

'Please.'

They sat in silence, only punctuated by occasional snap, crackle or pop. Sirius cleared his throat. 'So, do you want to go to Diagon Alley today?'

'Okay,' Harry agreed, his eyes shining beneath his glasses.

'I need a new wand.' Sirius told him. 'I've been borrowing this one.'

'You can buy wands in this – Diagon Alley?'

'Yes,' Sirius replied, 'as well as anything else your everyday witch or wizard desires.'

'Oh.'

They cleared away the morning's dishes, and set off down the steps, Harry holding tightly on to Sirius' hand.

'Alright,' Sirius said, his face already faintly green. 'Hold tight to my arm.'

'Okay,' Harry gulped, and pushed down his reluctance.

His lungs squished in, the air being sucked from them, that band about his head tightened, and then…they were standing outside a drab, dank, dirty nondescript old pub.

Harry was breathing heavily, and Sirius was massaging his long fingers against his temples. 'Okay,' Sirius breathed, still recovering. It had been awhile since he'd Apparated anywhere.

'Now, Harry,' Sirius said seriously. 'Hold tightly to my hand, and don't go wandering off.'

'Yes, sir.' Harry said, looking like a mini military sergeant.

'Sirius,' Sirius corrected gently.

They pushed open the door to the pub and Harry looked about. It was dark and smoky, and everything had a coating of dust. So what on earth were they doing in here?

Whispers met them as they stepped into the dim light.

'That's Sirius Black-'

'He hadn't really murdered those people, that was Peter Pettigrew…'

'Yes, I heard the only way they could solve that case was with copious amounts of…'

'Veritaserum, yes, I heard that too.'

'Who's that with him?'

'Oh Merlin, It's Harry Potter.'

'The Boy Who Lived.'

'Look, look at the scar!'

Sirius smiled tightly at the bartender and pulled Harry towards the back door. A woman in a long sleeved dress that came to mid calf, with brown knee high boots, long brown hair and pale skin blocked their path. She was quite beautiful, and looked to be about seventeen or eighteen. Her eyes were excited and bright, and she kept sneaking glances at Sirius

'Welcome back, Sirius Black,' She said formally, curbing her enthusiasm. Then she bent down to eye level with Harry, and stuck out her pale hand. 'Hello, Mr Potter,' She said softly. 'I'm Sapphire Rowan.'

'Hello, Miss Rowan,' Harry said politely.

The girl, Sapphire stood. 'Oh, just Sapphire, sweet heart.' She said this exuberantly, her eyes shining at Sirius.

Studying him, she seemed to change her mind about something. Harry knew what it was when she hugged him tightly, whispering, 'I knew it.'

Sirius hugged her back, the muscles in his back relaxing. 'Well,' he said loudly, clapping his hands together. 'We'd better go!'

'Bye boys,' Sapphire winked and disappeared into the crowd that now wanted to shake Harry Potter's hand.

Harry shook many hands; spoke politely to many people until Sirius started to shepherd him toward the back door.

Harry looked confused, but furrowed his brow and kept silent as they left through the back exit.

Sirius led him over to the solid brick wall and tapped it with his wand, third brick from the left. Harry gaped as the bricks melted away to form an archway, but again, said nothing.

Harry craned his neck in every direction as Sirius pulled him through the streets. After Harry had dragged himself away from the Quidditch store, he asked curiously, 'Who was the first woman?' He didn't mention anything about the whispers, or the other people talking to them, so Sirius took his lead from Harry, unsure of whether he should push him to talk about it.

'Sapphire Rose Rowan,' Sirius said. 'She's famous.'

'Why?' Harry said curiously. 'She dressed funny too. In those boots, and that purple dress.'

'She's faerie. The first one admitted to Hogwarts,' Sirius explained.

'A fairy?' Harry said, astonished. 'She didn't look like a fairy. Where were her wings? And she was far too big to be a fairy.'

'Not a fairy,' Sirius corrected gently. 'She's faerie. I'm not sure of the full details, she arrived at Hogwarts when I was in seventh year.'

'How did she know you?' Harry wasn't going to let the subject drop now.

'Um…' Sirius looked up. 'Oh, look, Harry! Ollivander's the wand shop!'

Harry rolled his eyes and followed Sirius inside. 'Why, hello, Mr. Black,' said a grey haired silver eyed man in a pair of old style robes.

'Mr. Ollivander,' Sirius greeted him with a nod. 'I'm looking for a wand, as my other was…well…'

Ollivander nodded and wandered down to the end of his narrow shop, disappearing into the gloom. Harry, before Sirius could stop him, followed him. 'What are all these boxes?' Sirius heard Harry ask cheerily.

'Wands, my dear boy,' Ollivander replied. 'You must be Harry Potter, such a pleasure.'

'You too,' Harry said, before coughing. 'You really need to dust down here, Mr Ollivander.'

'I do, my boy, I do.' Ollivander said, his silver eyes laughing. 'I never had the time.'

'I could help,' Harry volunteered.

Sirius shook his head, holding in laughter. 'Harry,' he called, his voice shaking. 'Come back here!'

There was a massive thud, a tornado of dust motes and muffled coughing.

Harry skipped out of the swirling dust motes, an apologetic expression on his innocent face. 'I didn't mean to knock the bookcase down,' he promised. 'It's just so dark and messy down there!'

Sirius looked shocked. 'No matter!' A muffled Ollivander called, and suddenly the shelves righted themselves and wands soared back into their spots on the shelves.

Ollivander rushed out and skid along the floor, very sprightly for a man old as himself. He was holding a wand box and Sirius held out his hand for the wand. 'Not for you, Mr Black,' Ollivander reproached. 'I'm just curious about something,' He said, eying Harry.

'No,' Sirius said firmly. 'He's not eleven.'

Ollivander looked at Sirius past his shaggy fringe. 'Many pureblood children are educated in at least basic wand work before they leave for Hogwarts, Mr Black. Surely you want young Mr Potter to have the same advantage.'

Sirius deliberated, the muscles in his jaw jumping. 'Oh, alright,' he said finally. 'Do it, then.'

'Mr Potter,' Ollivander called. He held out the wand in his gnarly old hand.

Harry looked mistrustful. 'It's alright, Harry,' Sirius assured him.

Harry came and took the wand, standing still and staring at it, as though it were an unexploded bomb.

'Wave it a little,' Ollivander instructed exuberantly.

Harry gave it a wave, and from his wand shot red and gold fireworks that lit up the old store.

Sirius' eyes were wide. He felt the power in the room after Harry gripped that wand. 'I knew it!' cried Ollivander, who was doing a bit of a jig on the spot. 'As a wand maker, this is an extraordinary breakthrough. Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple, Mr Black, shall you be purchasing this wand today?'

'Oh fine,' grumbled Sirius.

They spent a few more minutes in the shop while Sirius tried out plenty of wands before settling on an ash wand, dragon heartstring, thirteen inches.

He handed over a handful of Galleons to cover both wands, before resting a hand on Harry's shoulder, and steering him out of the store. Harry began to speak, 'Sirius, why did –'

'Hi boys!' cried the enthusiastic, bubbly voice of Sapphire Rose Rowan. 'Fancy seeing you here!'

'Hi Sapphire,' Sirius said. He didn't look unhappy to see her, but he wasn't exactly jumping for joy either. He's just nervous, Harry decided. I suppose it's been a long time since he's talked to a girl.

Sapphire Rose waved a hand at him in greeting and bent her face down to Harry's, grinning. 'Shall we get an ice cream then? Get Uncle Sirius to buy us a nice big tasty ice cream cone?'

Harry looked at Sirius, who nodded with a smile. 'Okay,' Harry said. He wasn't sure what it was, but he quite liked this girl. They headed over to Fortescue's ice cream parlour and Harry said curiously, 'Is Sirius really your Uncle?'

'Gosh, no,' Sapphire Rose said laughingly. 'Is he your's?'

'No,' Harry said. 'My Uncle Vernon wasn't very nice.'

'Neither was mine,' Sapphire Rose confided.

Sirius smiled at the easy way she dealt with children. They entered the ice cream shop and Harry's eyes bugged out. 'I've never had ice cream,' He confided in Sapphire Lily, feeling he ought to return the favour.

'What?' Sapphire Rose and Sirius stared in amazement at him.

Harry shrugged. 'Dudley always took mine,' Harry explained as if it all made perfect sense, 'when Auntie and Uncle bought me one.'

'Sounds like Cousin Dudley wasn't very nice either,' Sapphire Rose said to Harry.

'He wasn't,' Sirius said.

They paid for their massive ice creams and went outside to sit and eat their treats. Harry was quiet as he ate his, eyes wide and mouth smeared with chocolate.

'Have you seen Remus?' Sapphire Rose asked softly.

'No,' Sirius said. 'Dumbledore…Dumbledore wont tell me where he is. In fact, I shouldn't even be here today. We're supposed to be lying low.'

Sapphire Rose laughed, throwing her head back. 'Sirius Black, lying low? I thought Dumbledore was intelligent.' She teased.

'I can lie low!' Sirius protested.

'What are you doing here then?' Sapphire Rose challenged.

'I had to get out of the house,' he sighed in defeat.

'D'you know if anyone from the Order…?' Sapphire let the question hang in the air.

'There's a meeting at my place Monday week,' he told her, sotto voce.

'Pointless,' Sapphire Rose said carelessly. 'Voldemort's gone.'

Sirius gave her a look and darted his eyes at Harry. This didn't go unnoticed, by either of them, Sapphire Rose or Harry.

'Well,' he said firmly. 'Dumbledore wants to talk to us about something. It's the first meeting in five years.'

'Okay,' She said, leaning back in her chair. 'You've persuaded me. At least you'll be there, right?' She asked rhetorically as she gave a long slow smouldering wink.

She kissed Harry quickly on the cheek, who smiled at her, and did the same thing to Sirius before skipping down the street yelling back, 'I'll see you guys Monday week!'

'She never did know the meaning of discretion,' Sirius muttered.

'What was she doing?' Harry imitated Sapphire Rose's wink.

'If she was never very good at her lessons,' Sirius told Harry, 'though she did master one thing: The Subtle Art of Flirtation. I, myself, am a master.' Sirius said modestly.

'Oh,' Harry squinted. 'I heard everything you said, you know. We'll be having a long talk when we get home.'

'I thought so,' Sirius sighed.

They strolled along the street, Harry's sticky hand in Sirius', not that he minded.

Harry stopped soon, and tugged Sirius over to the Quidditch store to ogle the broom I the window. Sirius laughed. 'Just like your dad,' he told Harry. 'One day, we'll get you a real broom and I'll teach you how to play Quidditch, though I was never as good as James.' Sirius paused. 'You're very like your dad, you know. I'll bet you've inherited his talent.'

Harry flushed at the unexpected praise. From the Dursley's, that would have been an insult. Every time he'd done something wrong they would yell, and always end with, 'Just like your parents!' and they didn't mean it in a good way.

Sirius entered Flourish and Blotts with Harry trailing along behind him like a very small pale shadow. 'I just have to pick up a few things,' but Sirius trailed off as he saw his godson already had a book in his small hands as he sat on a comfy armchair, he was only looking at the picture, but Sirius thought they needed more books around the house.

Sirius smiled affectionately and a young sales assistant smiled. 'Is he yours?' she asked, friendly.

'Yeah,' Sirius murmured automatically.

'He's gorgeous,' she told him. 'Now, how may I help you?'

Sirius told her what he needed and she hurried off to fetch it. Sirius went over to Harry. 'Would you like to get a few books, little man?'

'Yes, please,' Harry said, his eyes shining.

Sirius let Harry pick out as many as he wanted and Harry then carried the wobbling stack over to the counter. The woman scanned them through and smiled at Harry, 'You'll be busy.'

'Yes'm,' He said politely, before clutching Sirius' pant leg, his face turned away.

'Thank you, have a nice day,' the woman farewelled them at the door.

Back at Grimmauld Place Harry set down his books and a few toys they'd purchased and looked at Sirius steadily.

'Who's Voldemort?' Harry asked straightforwardly.

'A very bad man,' Sirius answered. Dumbledore had told Sirius not to tell him anything, until Harry's memories of that night and his parent's started to return.

'What's the Order?'

A group of people who have meetings together,'

'But what do you do?' Harry persisted, annoyed that he wasn't getting more out of him.

'Talk.' Sirius replied.

Harry sighed. 'What's happening Monday week?'

'The Order is coming here…for a talk.'

Harry sighed in frustration.

'Come on,' Sirius ruffled Harry's already unruly hair. 'Shall we read a book?'

'Okay,' Harry said, sitting on the armchair opposite Sirius.

Sirius would have though he'd come and sit on his knee, but he didn't want to push it. He began reading, and soon, like a wild animal sensing it's safe, Harry edged closer. He stood by the chair, perched on the edge and then Sirius patted his lap.

Harry clambered on to his knees and sat there, his back straight as he inspected the pictures. Soon, he had taken off his glasses and was resting against Sirius' chest, as if they'd been doing it all their life.

Josh is gone now, so I can say what I want. I hope you like this chapter, please leave a review on your way out!

Much love,

Indigo

xoxo