Welcome back! For those of you that have read this story before, there's a little bit that got added. Several reviewers were kind enough to point out that Sirius really shouldn't have been running around in his human form in the middle of the Three Broomsticks, so I needed to add a bit to get him chewed out over it ^_^.

Enjoy!

Mythic Alliance

by Jendra

Sirius' shock allowed Harry to make some decisions. He grabbed his godfather's hand and started leading him out of the room, with Remus following bemusedly. "I'm going to talk to Siri and Professor Lupin," he called back to the other three.

Harry didn't let go of his godfather's hand until they were in another room. Of course, they hadn't paid for the room, so they shouldn't actually be in there, but if the owner just had simple locks that could be taken care of by an "Alohamora", that was her problem. This was an emergency.

Once they were alone and privacy wards were up, Harry dropped Sirius' hand and turned to glare at him. "What in Merlin's name did you think you were doing?" he raved.

"Me! You were the one consorting with the enemy!" Sirius snarled back.

"And you were the one who turned into a human in the middle of one of the busiest places in Hogsmeade! How could you take that risk? What if someone saw you?"

"Nobody saw me, Harry! I checked the hallway to make sure there wasn't anyone around before I changed!" Sirius tried to explain.

"And what about the person that was in the room with me? What about the people that entered the room after you came in? You came barging into a room without knowing who was in there, and then couldn't even be bothered to ward the door after you! And what about Rita? You know she's a beetle animagus! What if she'd been hiding nearby? You could have gotten yourself killed or captured because you didn't think!" Harry was breathing hard by the time he finished ranting.

"Me? I'm not the one who was alone in a room with Lucius Malfoy! What did you think you were doing? How could you give him something to hold over you like that?"

Harry blinked, calming down in his confusion. "Hold over me?"

"He'll do it just to gain your trust! Then he'll be able to take you to his Master without you ever suspecting!"

"No, he won't. He doesn't want to work for Voldemort anymore. And yes, we got that under truth potion."

"And who gave you that truth potion? Snape? You can't trust him, either! Those Slytherins are working together. If he really wants to turn against his Dark Lord, Lucius should have gone to Dumbledore! Instead, he went to a fifteen year old boy."

"Actually, we went to him," Harry told him. "He went out of his way to make sure Draco didn't take the Dark Mark."

"It's a trick."

"No, Sirius, it isn't," Harry disagreed, getting annoyed.

"You can't trust Slytherins, especially not Snape or any Malfoy," Sirius tried to explain. "They're evil, just like their families have been for generations."

"Some people would say the same thing about any Black," Harry shot back. The fact that Draco and his godfather were cousins had been a great surprise, but he wasn't above using it. "And Pettigrew was a Gryffindor."

"Regardless," Sirius barked, refusing to be sidetracked, "I don't want you having anything more to do with those people."

"You can't tell me who my friends are!" Harry was beyond annoyed.

"They're not your friends! It's all some plot, and I won't have you being taken advantage by them!"

"It is not some plot!" Harry started to yell back. Then he took a deep breath and calmed down. Months of arguing with two stubborn Slytherins gave him more weapons than simply out-yelling his opponent. "I'll make you a deal. I'll stay away from them if you can do three things." At Sirius' nod, he continued. "If you can prove that every Slytherin has gone bad, every wizard who's gone bad is a Slytherin, and every member of the major Dark families has been evil. And if you can't, you'll stop being a git about this. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Sirius replied immediately.

Remus groaned and lowered his head into his hands even as Harry gave off a wicked grin.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Did you even *listen* to his terms?" Remus asked in a long-suffering tone. "Less than two minutes ago he reminded you about Peter, and that you are a Black."

Harry laughed as he watched realization dawn on Sirius' face. He really hadn't been sure that would work, it had been way too simple, but he'd lucked out and it had worked just fine. "Now you can't bother me about being friends with them," he reminded his godfather.

Sirius was the one becoming angry now. "I told you they were a bad influence on you, teaching you to cheat. Typical Slytherin trickery."

Harry's eyes grew cold and all humor fled. "That's enough. You not paying attention to what I say to you has absolutely nothing to do with them. Nor is what I've done, cheating. If you'd simply *listened* to me, then you never would have agreed. However, you did agree, and I'm holding you to your word, so I don't want to hear you say another thing against them." He took a deep breath, and muttered in an aside, "Merlin, you and Severus are so much alike sometimes it's scary."

"What?" Sirius roared. "I'm nothing like that slimy…"

Harry interrupted. "If you say Slytherin I am *so* going to hex you!"

"I was about to say Death Eater," Sirius shot back. "I'm nothing like him!"

"Oh, come on, you're *exactly* like him," Harry disagreed. "You both are prejudiced, outspoken, stubborn to a fault and can hold a grudge way, way, *way* past the time any normal person would have given it up. He thinks as little of Gryffindors as you do of Slytherins, and, believe it or not, you both have some valid points. You've both lived through Hells neither of you deserve. Most importantly, you're both people I care about."

"How could you care for such a… git?" Sirius obviously used a different word than he was originally intending, but was trying to draw Harry to consider his argument.

"Because you're my godfather," Harry answered, knowing that was not what Sirius had been asking, but unable to resist.

Sirius glared. "Oh, that's funny."

"I thought so." Harry's humor died once again at the look on his godfather's face. "Look," he said, blowing air out in a gusty sigh. "I'm not stupid. I don't expect you and Severus to become best friends and bosom buddies. I don't think you'll become chummy over how much trouble I get into, or the times I manage to pull off some stunt without getting caught. I don't even expect you to be civil to one another! I do, however, expect you both to refrain from insulting each other in my presence. And if I find you've attacked him because of some misguided attempt to keep him away from me, I'm going to be *seriously* ticked off! And, you will regret that. Do you understand?"

Whatever response he was expecting, it was not the gob-smacked expressions on their faces. "What?"

"You sounded just like your mother then," Remus replied. "She said that to us once, very close to word for word."

"And what did she do when she found out about that *prank* you played on Severus?"

He watched with interest as they blanched. He really did need to know more about his mother if she could cause this kind of reaction. "Well, keep that in mind." He told them both. "What I do will be worse."

Sirius suddenly laughed out loud, moving forward and gathering Harry into a hug. "You are so much like your parents," he told him. Only Remus had noticed the way Harry flinched as Sirius went toward him, and his stiffness within the hug before he caught himself and hugged back. Nor could he keep his sensitive nose from smelling the sudden wash of fear that came before the boy relaxed once more.

Sirius finally let go and stepped back. "So, are you going to show us your Animagus form?" he asked eagerly.

Harry laughed. "Not in here, the room's a little too small."

"Oh, really," Sirius said, his interest piqued even more.

Although Remus also wanted to know what Harry's form was, what he'd just seen and smelled was taking up a bit more of his attention. "Harry," he said as sharply as he could, at the same time making a quick move in the boy's direction, raising his hand. The response he received was the one he least wanted, but most feared. Harry jerked backwards, his face paling as his hands came up as if to protect himself. Then his demeanor changed; no longer a scared boy, he was suddenly a young warrior, wand in hand and eyes locked on the werewolf.

A snarling werewolf met his gaze. "Who did it? Who hurt you? Snape?"

Harry glared right back. "Severus has never hurt me, nor would he!" he snapped back without considering what he was giving away. Of course, it was obvious that Remus already believed something had been confirmed.

"Then who? Surely not the Dursleys, Dumbledore..."

"Dumbledore what?" Harry interrupted. "Dumbledore would have known? Of course he did. He would have done something about it? Don't be stupid, why would he do that?"

"Harry, Dumbledore cares for you; you know that," Sirius answered, his expression still confused. "Snape did something to make you think he doesn't, didn't he?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "The only thing Severus and Draco did was spend a week brewing up healing potions, bruise salves, strengthening and nutritional potions and scar reducers. Dumbledore, on the other hand, sent me back to the Dursleys every year, despite my pleas not to return."

"There must be a mistake somewhere," Sirius said.

Harry's eyes were cold. Of all the things he'd expected, for his godfather not to believe him was not one of them. He shrugged out of his robe and pulled off his t-shirt, turning around to show a scar that bisected his back just below his shoulder blades.

"How did that happen?" Sirius growled.

Harry walked over to the window, leaving his scarred back in their sights. "Dudley had gotten into the knife drawer and almost cut himself. Vernon pulled out a knife and sliced my back to show him what could happen if he wasn't careful. There was an awful lot of blood. I should know; I'm the one that had to clean it up." Harry's voice was emotionless as he recited the facts. "Oh, and let's not forget the beating I received for allowing him to get into that drawer in the first place."

"How old were you?" Remus asked softly.

Harry shrugged, turning back around. "I don't quite remember. Probably five or six. You find this shocking? You should have seen my back *before* the scar reducers. And every one had its own story."

Sirius snarled low in his throat. "I... will... kill... them," was forced out.

"You will do no such thing," Harry replied fiercely. He left the window and grabbed his shirt and robe, donning them. "The only thing you are going to do is leave Severus and the Dursleys alone."

"But Harry."

"No 'but Harry'," Harry glared. "I need you! You are not going to go back into Azkaban because you felt the sudden need to take revenge for everything bad that's happened in my life! I don't want to lose you. That time in my life is over! It's done with, and if Malfoy does as I've asked, then I'll never have to go back. Assuming, of course, you stay free until Pettigrew is caught!"

"I could take care of them without being caught," Sirius responded, but Harry smiled. He could tell he'd won. Sirius wasn't going to go do something stupid, and Remus would stay with him as well. He might have had to tell more than he'd wanted to, but he'd gotten the response he needed.

"Come on," he offered. "Let's find someplace where I can change."