Disclaimer: I do not own or have any rights to Harry Potter.

I hope you enjoy this story that I got from katie13 (yes another one) that she said that she had never put up on this site.

Chapter 18

Sirius nodded and led the headmaster over to the couch. The two of them sat down and there was a moment of silence.

It was Sirius who finally spoke: "You wanted to talk to me," he said, half a question, half a statement.

Dumbledore nodded and leaned forward in his seat, looking Sirius intently in the eyes. "Sirius, you know that Harry will be in more need of your help and your time after taking the de-aging potion."

Sirius lowered his head. He had already thought about this and felt a little unsure if he could pull off being- well- a parent: "I know." He said quietly.

"You realize that you will have to take care of a small child, in other words, be Harry's father, don't you?"

Sirius nodded, still not looking up. "I know. I'm not sure whether I'll be able to be— a father to Harry, but….." Sirius swallowed hard and forced himself to look into Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes. "I'll try."

Dumbledore held Sirius' gaze for a moment, making Sirius feel as though he had just seen everything in Sirius' soul.

After a few tense seconds, Dumbledore allowed a small smile to flit across his face and leaned back in his seat. "I'm sure you'll be just fine, Sirius. But you do realize that you will have to teach Harry yourself if he is not back to his normal age by September 1st." It wasn't really a question.

Sirius nodded again. He had often helped other Gryffindor students with their homework in his time at Hogwarts and was not afraid of teaching. "Yes." He said simply.

Dumbledore's smile broadened and his eyes started to twinkle mischievously. "Very well then, Sirius," Dumbledore said, looking oddly pleased, "Here is the de-aging potion."

He pulled the small bottle out of his pocket again and handed it over to Sirius.

Sirius took the potion with slightly shaking hands. He wanted to help Harry, he wanted to be a father to his godson, but he realized that giving Harry this potion would render him practically helpless, and Sirius would have to take on the responsibility of taking care of Harry.

"Thank you," Sirius said in a slightly shaking voice.

Dumbledore smiled and gave Sirius' shoulder an encouraging squeeze. "Write me after he takes it." He said and then, before Sirius could say another word, the headmaster disappeared with a 'pop'.

Sirius stared at the place where Dumbledore had been just moments before for a while and then dropped his gaze to the bottle in his hand. The liquid inside was swirling and blue, looking innocent and friendly. And yet this potion could be powerful enough to turn a one-hundred-and-fifty-year-old person back into an infant! Or an almost fifteen-year-old teenager back into a five-year-old child.

For the first time in his life, Sirius understood why Snape loved potion-brewing so much. It was truly amazing what a small bottle of potion could do! Sirius knew that this bottle contained just enough de-aging potion to turn Harry back into a child.

Sirius shook his head and came out of his daze. He took a deep breath and walked upstairs to his godson's room. Harry was sitting on the bed looking slightly bored and apprehensive. He looked at the bottle in Sirius' hand with curiosity.

Sirius sat down on the edge of Harry's bed and asked, "Harry, if I asked you to do something for me, would you do it?"

Harry looked surprised at the question and threw Sirius a strange look, but he answered without hesitation. "Yes." Harry said firmly.

Sirius smiled and his heart swelled in his chest when he realized just how much Harry already trusted him.

"Would you like to know what it is that I'm asking?"
He asked, a little worried that Harry might not want to take the potion.

Harry picked up on Sirius' uneasiness immediately and frowned slightly. What could be so bad that Sirius was asking such strange questions? Did it have to do anything with the potion in Sirius' hands? Harry decided suddenly that he didn't even want to know. "No."

Sirius was surprised but quickly hid it. He uncorked the small bottle and held it out to Harry. "Ok, then, drink this, Harry." He said gently.

Harry eyed the vial with some apprehension and brought it closer to his face. The liquid in the bottle was blue and swirling and it smelled, oddly enough, of jasmine.

Harry threw Sirius one last look and closed his eyes. He downed the potion in one gulp, noting distractedly that it tasted like lemon. Then, he felt the oddest sensation, like someone was tickling him and tearing at his limbs at the same time. His last coherent thought was: "What the hell have I gotten myself into now?"

~*~

Sirius turned away from the bed when he saw that Harry had drunk the potion and locked Harry's trunk. He put it away into the closet and then turned back to look at his godson. Harry was unconscious.

Sirius sat down on the bed beside Harry and pulled the limp boy into his arms. He smoothed back his godson's hair and then watched in fascination as the potion took effect. It was like Harry's already small form was shrinking. His arms and legs became shorter, his face softened, Sirius had to tighten his hold on Harry to keep him from falling off the bed.

Finally, it was over, and Sirius was left staring at the face of his now five-year-old godson. Sirius could feel his throat constrict. So many emotions were racing through him.

Love for this little child that needed him so badly, protectiveness, sadness, because neither he nor Lily or James had never seen their son grow up, pride that he could have a child this precious, fear that he couldn't pull off being a father, disbelief that this was really Harry….. So many feelings were racing through Sirius that he could feel a strange prickling in the corners of his eyes; he had to blink to keep the tears from falling.

He finally regained his senses and pulled out his wand. With a muttered spell, Harry's clothes had shrunk to accommodate Harry's size.

Before Sirius could do anything else, the child in his arms stirred and opened his startlingly green eyes with a moan. Harry blinked a few times and yawned and then his eyes focused on Sirius. Harry seemed to freeze. His eyes got wide with fear and apprehension, his body rigid in Sirius arms.

Sirius was surprised at Harry's behavior before he realized that Harry was probably expecting to be yelled at or even hit. A fresh wave of anger surged through Sirius but he squelched it quickly. He didn't want his godson to think that the anger was directed at him!

Sirius smiled gently and asked, "Hey kiddo, how are you feeling?"

Harry looked surprised at Sirius' tone of voice. He stared at Sirius for a moment, and when the latter smoothed Harry's soft hair back gently, Harry threw his arms around his godfather and hugged him as hard as he could.

Sirius was a little surprised at Harry's behavior but complied and hugged his godson back. "It's alright, Harry," he whispered, "You are safe now."

Harry looked up at Sirius with wide eyes. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Safe? He had never really felt safe in his life before and Sirius was being so nice to him! Aunt Petunia had always said that Harry didn't deserve people being nice to him. It was all too much.

Harry started to cry in Sirius' arms. Sirius was surprised for a second but pulled Harry closer. He rubbed soothing circles on Harry's back, just talked to him and let him cry. Sirius sensed that Harry needed to cry now and didn't try to stop him.

~*~

Anne and Jim stepped into the room with a few bags containing toys for Harry. They noticed immediately that Harry was crying softly in Sirius' arms and that Sirius was looking very worried.

"How long has he been crying?" Anne asked, frowning ever so slightly.

Sirius frowned, too, and with some difficulty managed to look at his watch. "More than an hour!" He said, sounding alarmed.

Anne nodded and set down the bag she was carrying. She dug through it for a while and pulled out a cute, stuffed lion. Anne walked over to her grandson and handed Sirius the toy: "Here, give him this."

Sirius eyed the toy a little doubtfully and said, slowly, "Alright….."

"We'll be downstairs if you need us." Jim said, and Sirius nodded. Then his grandparents left the room quietly. Sirius turned his attention back to his godson, who was still clinging to his shirt and crying softly.

"Hey, Harry," Sirius called softly. Harry didn't react at first, but then slowly lifted his head and looked at Sirius. Sirius smiled gently and said, "Kiddo, here!"

Sirius held the stuffed lion out to Harry. Harry looked at the toy in wonder and then up into Sirius's eyes.

"Am I allowed?" He asked in an innocently confused tone.

If looks could kill, the Dursleys would have been six feet under, judging by the expression on Sirius' face. Sirius took a deep, calming breath and said, "Yes, Harry, you are."

Harry looked surprised, but also very happy, and took the stuffed lion. He eyed it in wonder for a while and then hugged it to his chest.

Sirius watched this with a mixture of sadness, happiness, and anger: "Kiddo, listen, nobody is going to yell at you for playing, alright?"

Harry looked astonished at that and hugged his new and first toy tighter. Harry and Sirius stayed in Harry's room playing until lunch. Then, Sirius gently pried the toy from Harry's arms and lifted his godson up.

"Come on, Harry, let's go downstairs, it's lunchtime."

Harry frowned slightly and started to squirm in Sirius' arms: "No!"

Sirius sighed and put Harry back onto the bed, crouching before him so that his face was at the same height as Harry's.

"Kiddo, let me tell you how this works." Sirius said firmly, yet gently.

Harry looked slightly apprehensive. Had he angered his godfather? "What?" He asked, hesitantly.

So, do you like?

Please rate and review ^-^