Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed! Enjoy!

After Harry's classes were finished he obediently went to his quarters with Ron and Percy accompanying him. His stomach felt full of knots and he simply felt awful about everything. He hadn't talked to Hermione at all and he knew he needed to apologize to her. He also wanted to make things right with his Dad but there was a stubborn part of him that did not want to give in.

"Thank you Percy." Harry said when they reached the door.

"No problem Harry." Percy said, patting his Head Boy badge. "It's my duty to help ensure the students safety after all."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Oh, save it Percy." He ignored his older brother's disapproving frown. "See you at dinner Harry. Maybe if you get everything done you can come back to the dorms early." He said hopefully.

Harry sighed. "Doubtful. I also have today's homework to complete, as well as yesterdays."

"You know, time management is the – ow!" Percy glared at Ron who had stomped on his foot.

"Oops, sorry Percy." Ron said innocently.

"See you later." Harry laughed, letting himself inside. He hesitated, the laughter fading as he looked around the empty sitting room. "Dad?" He called out uncertainly. There was no answer and he felt mixed feelings about that as he went to his bedroom. He felt partly relieved that his Dad wasn't here as he didn't know what to say to him, yet he was also disappointed that his Dad wasn't here as he wanted make up with him.

Harry first did the homework he had not done yesterday and then began on his current assignments. He now really wished he had started his Potions essay yesterday as he could tell it would take awhile. He sighed and flipped through his Potions book as he began his outline. He heard the floo flare up from the other room and knew it would be his Dad, who usually flooed from his office. Sure enough, his Dad was in his doorway a moment later.

Father and son stared at each other for a moment and Harry desperately wanted to apologize but instead he simply went back to working on his essay. A few seconds later he heard footsteps walking away and the knots in Harry stomach tightened even more.

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In the sitting room, Severus was feeling just as miserable as his son. He hated the tension between them but he didn't know how to make it right. He wouldn't budge on the Firebolt issue and trying to get Harry to understand why wasn't working, they only ended up arguing. With a sigh, Severus sat down and began his own work of grading essays. As if he had not already been in a dour mood, he had had a visit from Oliver Wood. The Gryffindor captain had actually had the gall to demand Harry be given his Firebolt back! Of course, it had not taken the boy long to realize his mistake has Severus had ruthlessly ripped into him for his disrespect and caring more about a game than the safety of one of his players. He had added detention with Filch and sent the chastised teenager away. According to Minerva, Wood had tried to convince her to get the broom back as well and had received a sound lecture on priorities.

Severus shook his head and continued working on grading essays. At least Harry obeyed his restrictions and come back to their quarters to start his homework. With the attitude he had been getting, Severus had been worried he would have to track his son down and drag him home which would have resulted in more arguing. And the last thing Severus wanted was to argue with his child. The truth was he missed him. Even with Harry only in the next room he felt far away from his son and it made his heart hurt.

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Harry put down his quill and flexed his hand. He had finally finished all of his homework and had made some progress on his lines, though he still had quite a few to do.

"It is time for dinner."

Harry looked up and saw his Dad watching him.

"How much progress have you made?" Severus asked.

"I still need to finish my lines." Harry replied and cringed inwardly at his accusative tone.

"You'll have plenty of time after dinner." Severus said evenly. "Let's go."

They walked in silence to the Great Hall and Harry quickly made his way to the Gryffindor Table. He noticed a miserable look on Oliver's face and briefly wondered what that was about.

"You okay mate?" Ron asked when he saw the downcast look on his friend's face.

"Yeah, I guess." Harry stared at his empty plate. His stomach still felt tight and he honestly did not feel like eating. He glanced down the table where Hermione was sitting and noticed she looked just as miserable as he did.

Ron followed his gaze. "So, think you guys will make up soon?"

Harry shrugged. "Eventually." When I stop being such a prat, he thought ruefully. "You know, you were rude to her too." He pointed out.

Ron looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, well…she is bossy." His tone sounded slightly regretful however.

Harry grinned slowly. "You miss her too." He said triumphantly.

"Whatever. I don't miss her cat trying to kill Scabbers." Ron mumbled.

Harry put some roast chicken and a roll on his plate but he only managed a few bites. He dreaded having to go finish his lines and feel so unsettled around his own father. He didn't talk much more during dinner and when the meal was over, he dutifully waited outside of the Great Hall for his Dad.

When they got back to their quarters Harry gave a disgruntled sigh and walked towards his bedroom. He turned his head but his Dad gave no reaction that he had heard him.

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It was almost curfew and Harry had finally finished his three hundred lines. He stretched his hand which was cramped and aching from all the writing. With a sigh, he got up to hand in his lines to his father.

Severus was reading through a potion's journal when Harry wordlessly handed in his several pages of parchment.

Severus looked through them and nodded. "Thank you Harry." He said quietly. He wanted to talk about their issues and see if Harry understood why he had been punished but his son's eyes still held a defiant glint in them and Severus really didn't want to get into another argument. He noticed Harry rubbing his right hand and was sure it was feeling sore. "Would you like a pain reliever for your hand?" He asked gently.

Harry quickly dropped his hands to his side. He wanted to say yes but he didn't want to appear like a baby who couldn't take a little pain. "No. I'm fine. Can I go back to my dorm now?"

The corners of Severus' mouth turned down. The pain reliever offer had been an olive branch he had hoped his son would take it so that they could talk things out and get back to normal. Apparently Harry wasn't ready to do that. "Yes, I will take you now."

They walked silently and when the apparently drunk Sir Cadogan's portrait opened, Harry only hesitated a moment before stepping through. "Good night."

"Good night Harry." Severus said softly before turning away and walking back to his quarters, his heart heavy.

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Harry quietly got ready for bed and slipped into his maroon sheets. Despite having asked to come back to the dorm, he sort of wished he was back in his quarters with his Dad. He also wished he had taken the pain reliever because his hand still ached. And he regretted not apologizing when he had handed in his lines. Harry didn't even know why he was being such a brat about everything. He felt horrible yet there was a stubborn side to him that didn't want to admit he had been in the wrong. He missed talking with his Dad, joking with him, getting his advice and getting hugs. And it's my own fault, Harry thought grumpily as he slowly fell asleep.

Harry looked around in confusion. He was back in the alley where he had run into his relatives.

"No good freak." Vernon Dursley stepped out of the shadows, a mean grin on his face. "Now even your own Dad sees it."

"You always were a miserable spoiled little boy." Petunia also stepped out and stood next to Vernon. "Such a disappointment to your parents, right boy?"

"No I'm not." Harry protested though he couldn't help feel that may be true. After all, his attitude of late had been quite horrid. "Go away! Dad?" He spun around looking for his father and wondering how he had gotten back into this ally. "Dad?" He saw a movement and with relief went towards it. However when he got closer he saw that it wasn't his Dad. It was a Dementor.

"No no no…" Harry couldn't concentrate on his happy memory. He didn't even have his wand with him! He could hear his Aunt and Uncle laughing as the Dementor got closer and closer…

"I'll help you Harry."

Harry eyes widened as he saw the man from the wanted posters coming towards him, with a crazy look in his eyes. Sirius Black! "You won't get away this time!" Sirius said threatenly.

Harry opened his mouth to scream but before he could, he heard someone else screaming. It sounded like…Ron?

"Ahhh! It's him, it's Sirius Black!"

"Ron?" Harry sat up in his bed and saw a dark figure dart out of the room. He jumped out of bed as Seamus, Dean and Neville began to wake up.

"What happened?" Dean asked, rubbing his eyes.

Ron got out of his bed, his eyes wide and afraid. "It was Sirius Black! He had a knife!"

"You were dreaming mate." Seamus said dismissively.

"No, I woke up and saw someone run out of the room." Harry said shakily. Black had managed to get into his dorm again? And this time, he had been only a few feet away from him! "Ron, are you okay?"

"He had a knife!" Ron stared at Harry. "He must have thought my bed was yours!"

Harry felt sick and he sat down on his bed. "I don't, how…how did he get in?"

"I'm getting McGonagall!" Dean ran out of the room. The others could hear him shout for help as he went down the stairs.

"I can't believe he was in here!" Seamus shook his head. "What does he want?"

"You said he must have thought Harry's bed was yours." Neville whispered, terror on his face as he looked at Ron.

"Um, well, I just figured if he was so determined to get in here it would be because he was after Harry not me." Ron said weakly.

"Oh right, the boy-who-lived and all that." Seamus looked at Harry sympathetically.

Harry bit his lip and looked away. He didn't want everyone to know that Black had betrayed his parents and was, or had been, his godfather. It was bad enough they would now know that the escaped murderer was definitely after him, his peers didn't need to know all of the details.

Percy burst into the room. "Ron, are you okay?" There was concern clear in his voice.

"He was here Percy, honest! I saw him!" Ron said in an agitated voice.

Percy put his hand on Ron's shoulder. "It's okay. You're okay now." He said and his tone a mixture of comforting and seriousness. "We need to all go to the common room and wait for Professor McGonagall."

When they got downstairs Professor McGonagall was already there and asked Ron to tell her exactly what happened.

"I woke up hearing a noise and Sirius Black was leaning over my bed with a knife." Ron said shakily. "I yelled and he ran out of the room." Percy and the twins stood close to their brother as he talked.

"Are you sure you were not dreaming Mr. Weasley?" Minerva asked calmly though her voice was tense.

"I saw him too Professor. I mean, I saw someone dressed in dark clothes run out of our room." Harry spoke up. His eyes met hers and he saw the blatant concern on her face. He noticed Hermione was standing near them with her eyes wide with fear.

Minerva flicked her wand and a silvery cat leapt out. "All right, I want everyone to stay in the common room until the Headmaster gets here. Where is Sir Cadogan? He keeps wandering from his post."

"There he is Professor." Percy pointed to a portrait above the fireplace.

"Sir Cadogan, did you let anyone inside recently?" Minerva asked.

"Why yes Madame! He was quite happy about it too!" Sir Cadogan said cheerfully.

The Gryffindors gasped as it was confirmed that a murderer had in fact been in their dorms. Again.

"Why would you let someone in who did not have the password?" Minerva demanded to know.

"But he did have the password. He had an entire list of passwords!" Sir Cadogan protested.

Minerva swirled around on her students. "Who wrote down a list of the passwords?" She asked sternly. An exasperated looked came over her face as Neville slowly raised his hand. "Honestly Mr. Longbottom, why is always you?"

"I don't know Ma'am." Neville said in a defeated voice.

"You and I will talk about this later." Minerva turned towards the portal opening as the Headmaster walked in despite Sir Cadogan not guarding the entrance.

"He was here?" Dumbledore asked and the normally twinkling eyes were serious.

"Yes. He got a hold of the password." Minerva said with a narrowed eyed glance at Neville which the Headmaster noticed.

Dumbledore frowned. "I will convince the Fat Lady to resume her post. Is everyone all right?" He looked at Harry.

Harry shrugged and looked down. The truth was he was not all right. It was all too much and he simply wanted his Dad. He vaguely heard Ron tell his story again to Dumbledore and then McGonagall was telling everyone to be careful and watch out for each other.

"Harry."

Harry looked up in surprise. His classmates were going back to their rooms, except for Ron and Hermione who were looking at him with worried expressions.

"Go on Mr. Weasley, Miss. Granger." Minerva said briskly. "You need to get some sleep. If you think you will be able to Mr. Weasley?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Ron said weakly. He and Hermione exchanged concerned glances before each went to their own dorms.

"Harry, I'm going to take you to your father. He needs to hear about what happened." Dumbledore said gently.

"Good idea Albus." Minerva nodded. "I'm going to stay up here for a bit in case any of my lions need me."

The walk to the dungeons was silent as each wizard was lost in thought. They waited after the Headmaster knocked and a couple of minutes later Severus opened the door wearing his dressing gown. "Albus, what is wrong?" He then noticed his son. "Harry?"

Harry flung himself at his Dad, not caring how immature he probably looked in front of Professor Dumbledore at the moment.

Severus wrapped his arms tight around his son. "What happened?" He demanded of Dumbledore.

"There was an incident tonight. Sirius Black managed to get into Harry's dorm again." Dumbledore said. He then braced himself for the Potion Masters reaction.

TBC: Reviews are very much appreciated! =)