A/N) Thank you to everyone who left a comment. I'm afraid to say that I am still stuck on Chapter 66. I have made some progress with it, but not much. If this continues, then I'm afraid I will have to go to weekly updates. If I haven't completed the chapter by Monday, then I will begin updating weekly. I really do not want to do that, however as I am quickly running out of chapters to post, I have to, otherwise we might find ourselves in a situation where I don't update for three years. So, in the best interests of the fic, if I haven't finished chapter 66 by Monday, weekly updates will occur which will hopefully give me more time to get ahead of myself once again.

On with the story...

Chapter Sixty: The Slug Club

"I understand you met Professor Slughorn today," said Sirius. He was leaning against the wardrobe in Harry's room, when his godson walked in and flopped down on the bed, not even noticing his godfather's presence.

Harry jumped, leaping off the bed, hand already reaching into his pocket for his wand. He swivelled, wand now in hand, but he breathed a sigh of relief when his green eyes clamped down on Sirius. "Sirius! You scared me!"

He raised his hand in surrender. "I didn't mean to scare you kid, but I figured you'd notice that I wasn't anywhere else in the house."

Harry shrugged. "I didn't look or speak to anyone else. I just came up here."

Sirius noticed his godson's monotone voice. "Something is bothering you, what is it?" he asked, walking across the room and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Professor Snape is going to make Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons hell," said Harry moodily. "Why couldn't you have said yes, Sirius? Professor Dumbledore said you declined it."

Sirius sighed. "I knew you'd find out. Harry, I'm an Auror, we just found out that one of our senior Aurors has been betraying us for years. They can't afford to lose another Auror. Yes, Avril was teaching but she was still heavily involved with the Aurors. I am already taking time out training you, Ron and Hermione and helping Moony with the Apparition lessons. If I took the post I would have to go on leave with the Aurors, I would not be able to help them in any way. Instead of losing one Auror, they would lose two and the Ministry cannot afford that. You understand that, don't you?"

Glancing up, Harry caught Sirius' gaze. He swallowed; his eyes were wide. Of course he understood that, how could Sirius think he wouldn't? "Yeah, I do. The Aurors need you."

"You just wish that it wasn't Snape," guessed Sirius, smiling slightly.

"I'd rather it was Voldemort then Snape," said Harry, his lips lopsided. "I'm sure Voldemort trying to kill me every lesson would be rather entertaining for the other students."

"Now that is a rather interesting scenario..." grinned Sirius. "Of course, I doubt Dumbledore would ever employ him though, so it's very unlikely to happen."

Harry laughed. "It's unlikely to happen anyway!"

Sirius reached out to ruffle Harry's hair. "I know that."

"Sirius!" protested Harry, battling away Sirius' hand from his head. "Stop it!"

Wednesday 30th December 1995

He hadn't wanted to do this, but there had been no one else to escort Avril Leverg to Azkaban prison. The Ministry had finished questioning her; her trial had been held yesterday afternoon in which she had been sentenced to life in Azkaban. Beside him was John Dawlish, one of the old-timers within the department. He was tough-looking with very short wiry hair, and watery eyes, however that didn't prevent him from giving others the death glare (as they had come to calling it) when you did things wrong. Sirius had been on the receiving end of it several times. They had decided to keep Avril Leverg out-cold however it was still necessary to have two Aurors as an escort, just for precautionary reasons.

They were at the docks to the island. Due to Azkaban's location and the defences surrounding it, they were unable to Apparate directly to the island so they had to take a boat in. This was how the Lestrange's had escaped when they had been en-route to the island; of course it had helped that Avril had leaked the time they would be leaving mainland to travel to the island, allowing Voldemort to rescue his two most staunchest (and insane) supporters. Sirius levitated the unconscious form of Leverg, positioning her in front of him and began to walk towards the prison doors.

He shivered. Despite the lack of presence of Dementors he could still remember waking up in Azkaban for the first time...

Cold, it was so very cold.

In front of him were bars, keeping him locked in, trapped forever in this place; two Dementors were floating just outside. Memories began to surface... his worst memory ever... the day he had suggested for Peter to be Secret Keeper. It kept replaying over and over in his head.

"No... It is my fault," he moaned, the effects of the Dementors seem to lessen for just a few seconds, but then it worsened.

With effort he curled up in ball, hands on his head, trying to shield himself from the memories... But he was soon lost in them once again...

I hadn't thought to transform then, thought Sirius as he shook himself free of the memory.

"Sirius?" It was Dawlish. "Are you alright, son?"

Sirius swallowed, his throat was dry. "I'm fine..." It wasn't convincing but anyone who knew of his past (and really, who didn't know of it?) would be able to understand this reaction to his place. At least I hope so... "Let's just get this over with as quickly as possible."

Dawlish nodded and together they stepped through the prison doorway. Someone was already waiting for them, an Auror that Sirius did not know.

"Aurors Black and Dawlish, welcome to Azkaban." The female Auror eyed the figure floating between them. "Out of anyone, I would have never thought that Avril would be the one..." she trailed off, motioning for them to follow her through another door which led to the first row of cells.

These cells, Sirius remembered, were the ones where minor criminals served their sentences. The Dementors had barely roamed that area. They followed the Auror up twelve flights of steps before coming to the most secure part of the prison; the floor and cells were Sirius had spent the majority of his adult life. He shivered, his eyes focused on the door four ones ahead of him to his left. My old cell. He swallowed, ignoring the memories as he continued to move forward, noticing Dawlish watching him out of the corner of his eye. He knows I don't like being back here.

"She goes here," said the female Auror, unlocking one of the unoccupied cells.

As Sirius looked around he noticed that there was only one other cell that was occupied on this level. Lucius Malfoy sat leaning against the bars, watching them with intense cold grey eyes. He did not expect him to start talking, let alone to him...

"I see you finally discovered our spy, Black. What's it like to know that you were the cause of her turning to the Dark Lord?" The drawl was soft and pronounced but it still sent shivers up Sirius' spine. "What? Not talking to me, Black?"

"I have nothing to say to you," answered Sirius as he let Dawlish take over levitating Avril into the cell. They laid her on the small bed at the back of the cell. They would not wake her up; they'd leave her to regain consciousness on her own. Sirius stepped back away from the cell; the door closed and clicked into place, locking the traitor away. The female Auror waved her wand, muttering under her breath, casting all the charms that would prevent her from escaping.

"There, all done," said the female Auror. "All the spells are in place. The on-duty Auror is off on break for the moment but will be back within a few minutes. If any of these prisoners get out of the cells, the alarms go off."

"Alarms, you didn't have those when I was in here. You had Dementors instead. Still... that was a good thing in the end. If my cell had been alarmed I wouldn't have got away would I? Instead I'd still be stuck here, rotting away."

The woman's eyes widened. "I'm sorry..."

Sirius shrugged. "It doesn't matter, I'm just glad security is tighter then it was." He nodded towards Lucius Malfoy. "I know he's looking for the right moment to escape. He's a slippery fellow; he's been doing it for years. I wouldn't put it past him to try at some point." He began to walk away out of the cell block that had been his home for years when Lucius Malfoy spoke again, but his voice was cold and calculating.

"The Dark Lord will kill you, Black. He's been planning it for years. It's only a matter of time before he succeeds. You'd better watch out that I'm not the one to do it."

"Bit difficult to make threats while you are behind bars and unarmed, whereas I am armed and at full strength," replied Sirius, walking out into the corridor and heading straight for the stairs. He did not want to get into this conversation with Malfoy; it was bad enough that he had to see him, let alone for him to start making threats. Still, their job was done, they could go home now.

But there was no mistaking the animosity and hope (when he had said Voldemort's title) that he would soon be a free man. Whether he liked the idea or not, Voldemort would soon come to free the rest of his Death Eaters in Azkaban, and could possibly even claim the prison as his own. Without the Dementors to guard the prison, it seemed likely that the small band of Aurors that protected it would fall in any offensive.

I have to talk to Dumbledore about this.

Sunday 10th January 1996

Before Sirius knew it the Christmas holidays were over and Harry was returning to Hogwarts once again. The attack on The Burrow had been the first open assault made by Voldemort in months however it was the only attack that had been made. Once again everything had fallen quiet since that day and Sirius had contemplated why the attack had even happened in the first place. The only explanation he could think of was that Voldemort was trying to see if Harry would show 'the power he did not have' however Harry escaping had not been at the front of his mind when he had issued that attack. Once again, Voldemort had gone into hiding.

As a precaution, like back in September, the Hogwarts Express had been reinforced with Aurors and extra wards to prevent anyone attacking the train. Unlike before, Sirius had managed to convince Dumbledore to allow him to be part of the guard on the train.

"Hey, Sirius, are you okay?" Nymphadora Tonks' voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

He shook his head and grinned at his second cousin, leaning back against the window of the train carriage they were stationed in. "Hey, Nymphie," he grinned, which earned him a hard glare from his co-worker.

"Don't call me Nymphie!" she said irritably, her purple hair turning red.

"Aww, but you used to love me calling you that when you were a little girl..." He waggled his eyebrows at her, but his smile fell from his face when he saw the expression on hers.

"I am not that little girl anymore," she grated out through gritted teeth.

"I was just checking..."

"Do you want me to hex you off this train because I will!" shouted Tonks, earning her odd glances from various students who had been passing them.

He raised his hands in mock surrender and began to back away from her. "I think I'll go and check on Harry..."

Tonks continued to glare at him as he left the carriage, hurrying into the next one, his eyes searching for Harry amongst the sea of students. He eventually found Ron and Hermione with another girl who Sirius remembered as Luna Lovegood from his days as Defence teacher. He wouldn't have thought they'd be sitting with her, but he shrugged it off and opened their compartment door, sticking his head through. "Hey, where's Harry? I can't find him. And I didn't see Ginny either... or Neville come to think of it."

"They were invited to have lunch with Professor Slughorn," said Hermione nonchalantly, her face buried within the pages of a book.

"Oh no," Sirius nearly whacked himself on the head. "I should have known he'd try to collect Harry."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Collect him?" She looked wary, possibly the word 'collect' had unnerved her. During their time as prisoners of Voldemort, Hermione had told Sirius that Bellatrix had said that she 'wanted to collect a Mudblood's blood to prove how filthy it was'. However his deranged cousin hadn't managed to accomplish that because he had given in before she had been allowed to do so.

"Oh, Professor Slughorn used to be at Hogwarts when I was a student. He had this club for the powerful and influential... no doubt he will try to collect Harry. Lily was one of his favourites. He kept trying to come after me too... and James, but we both refused. I think he finally gave up after sixth year," shrugged Sirius. "Still, I'd rather he didn't suck Harry into his little club. Do you know what compartment he is in? I wasn't actually aware he was on the train..."

"Compartment C," answered Ron.

"Thanks," replied Sirius. "Knowing my luck Slughorn will drag me right into his 'lunch'..."

Ron smirked. "You don't sound too pleased about that!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You wait till you meet Slughorn, then you'll know what I mean." He leaned back through the door frame. "Of course, that is if you become one of his favourites..." Quickly walking down the corridor, he passed into the next carriage and then stopped outside a door that had the sign 'reserved' upon it. Without even bothering to knock (because Sirius was obnoxious like that) he pulled the handle down and opened the door, stepping into the compartment.

He tore his gaze around the room noting that Harry was sitting beside Ginny Weasley with Neville on his right. He recognised Blaise Zabini, a Slytherin boy who had constantly cheeked him during his lessons; two other students were sixth year Gryffindor's, Cormac McLaggan and Marcus Belby, while the final boy in the room was Cedric Diggory, the other Hogwarts Triwizard champion, a seventh year Hufflepuff.

"Well, well, if it isn't Sirius Black!"

Sirius resisted the urge to roll his eyes and plastered a wide grin on his face as he took in Horace Slughorn's older face. "Professor Slughorn," he said.

Slughorn waved a podgy fist his way. "There is no need for you to call me 'Professor'; you are no longer a student!" He conjured a chair with his wand, gesturing for Sirius sit down. "Come and join us! We were just getting to know one another, weren't we, Harry?"

"Actually I only came to..." Sirius was cut off by Horace Slughorn interrupting him.

"You can tell me all about what you've been doing these last few years!" said Horace, sounding delighted.

"Harry told me you knew I was an Auror," answered Sirius carefully. He eased himself down into the chair knowing that he wouldn't be able to escape unscathed. I should have stayed away... This is not going to be pleasant.

"Of course I did! It's been all over the papers in recent months! Why would I not know that? And considering how much power you have I am not surprised you chose that career path!" Slughorn was positively beaming. Everyone in the room was looking at Sirius; the only one who seemed bored with the attention on him was Cormac McLaggan, who Sirius knew was a big-headed prat anyway.

He sighed. Guess I'll have to stay then, it's not far to the station anyway. A dry smile pulled at his lips. "I'm sure you know Horace that I spent twelve years in Azkaban for something that I didn't do, escaped, and caught the rat that really did commit those crimes. Other than that exciting and fun part of my life," his tone was very sarcastic, "I've spent the last year and a bit looking after my godson."

Slughorn had noticed the tone to Sirius' voice and his happy expression had faded only a little, his cheeks colouring slightly. "Yes, well, I was sorry to hear about your unfortunate incarceration in that terrible place..."

Sirius didn't deign to answer; instead he watched Slughorn's voice, wondering what he would ask next. As silence had fallen in the carriage he could have taken advantage and got Harry out of there but didn't.

"I haven't heard from your brother in years, Sirius, I hope he is living up to his potential!" said Slughorn. "Little Regulus was one of my favourites as you very well know!"

"Of course I do," replied Sirius, "you used to pursue James and me as well, though I don't know why especially since we took great delight in pranking your students."

"The magic you two performed at the ages you were was astounding! Of course, I shouldn't have expected anything less from the heirs of the Black and Potter families. I am sure Harry has picked up his father's talent for mischief-making and his mother's talent at Potions as well," Slughorn was positively beaming.

Sirius saw Harry's eyes bulge right out and stifled a laugh. He knew his godson wasn't that good at Potions so it was likely that his former Professor would be disappointed in that department, however Harry did indulge in mischief-making but not in the way he and James had done. Harry's mischief was more about foiling Voldemort then anything. "Well..." grinned Sirius.

"So, then, what is Regulus up to these days?" asked Slughorn, leaning forward, hands clasped in front of him. "You'll have to put me in contact with –"

"Regulus died," interrupted Sirius.

Horace's face paled. "What? Little Regulus? He died?"

"You didn't know?" Sirius was surprised about that, but then it was understandable; the only people who would have known about his brother's death would have been close family members. His little brother's death had never been announced to the general public: Regulus Black had just disappeared.

Slughorn's face had fallen. "I had thought he might have done, but I dared to hope he was still alive... He was a wonderful lad."

"I don't know how he died," explained Sirius in a soft voice, "all I know is the year he died." He swallowed, bracing himself for his old Professor's reaction to the words he was about to say next: "Regulus was a Death Eater. I think he died because he realised he was wrong and tried to get out..."

"Oh dear... he was always a quiet lad, you know, always inquisitive though, but wanted people to be proud of him. He missed you, Sirius, did you know that?"

Sirius swallowed. He did not want to be having this conversation in a carriage-full of students, especially those that belonged to Slytherin. "I know he did; we never got on after I went to Hogwarts. It was left to Regulus to bring honour to the Black family name since I had dishonoured it so badly by being a Gryffindor. Of course, being a Black and not being in Slytherin, automatically means something is severely wrong with you. Being the heir and that happening was a major embarrassment for my parents, apparently," he snorted. "I like to believe Regulus tried to live up to our parent's expectations...but he realised that their ideology was wrong, tried to back out and was killed for it."

Slughorn heaved a great sigh. "That shouldn't have happened to such a nice young man. Too many good people were killed by You-Know-Who. None of them deserved to die..."

Sirius knew then that Slughorn was thinking of Lily. He had always been fond of her. He took a swift glance out of the window and realised with a jolt that the sky was darkening. He stood abruptly from the chair. "We'll soon be arriving at the station; I'd better go and do one last check around the train before we get there." He met Harry's gaze. "And I'm sure Ron and Hermione are missing you. Let's get you back to them, shall we? And you too, Neville, Ginny, Cedric." I may as well get them all away from Slughorn. No doubt he will try to collect them, providing they passed his test today to see if they were worthy of a place as part of the 'slug club'.

"Yes, yes, Blaise, Cormac and Marcus, I think it is time we parted ways," he smiled warmly at Cormac and Blaise but his smile didn't hold for Marcus, not that he seemed to mind.

Sirius walked behind Harry, Neville and Ginny; as soon as they were out of the compartment Sirius asked: "I can understand why you and Neville were asked to lunch, and of course you too Cedric, especially since you were one of our Triwizard Champions last year," his eyes lingered on Ginny, "but you Miss Weasley are a mystery."

Ginny blushed. "It was Zacharias Smith. He kept asking about the attack on our home... He wouldn't let up, so I hexed him. Professor Slughorn was passing and saw me," she hesitated. "I thought I was going to be in trouble, I was surprised when I was invited to lunch..."

"Weren't we all?" asked Cedric. "I guess he's the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor."

Harry and Sirius exchanged looks. Harry had not even told Ron or Hermione that Snape was no longer going to be teaching them Potions, though he felt that he should have done. Still it would be interesting to see what the reaction would be like to the most hated Professor taking possession of a job he had undoubtedly been after for years.

Cedric parted ways with them at the next carriage pausing long enough to thank Sirius for rescuing him from Slughorn, before Harry, Ginny and Neville carried on through the train to the compartment that Ron and Hermione were sharing. Luna Lovegood was still there, her head bent down low reading an edition of The Quibbler.

"There you are!" said Ron, as Sirius opened the door. "We were beginning to worry!"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "We did wonder what was taking you so long."

Harry chuckled. "Sirius got dragged into the conversation, didn't you?" He elbowed his godfather gently in the stomach.

"Ow," glared Sirius, "that was a bit uncomfortable, talking about Regulus like that, though." He felt sad. He could still remember the last time he had seen his baby brother. Their last words had been ones of anger; ever since Regulus Black's death, he had forever regretted those words. "You're not my brother! Not anymore!" He shivered as his own words came back to haunt him. I really wish I had never said that to you, Reg... You realised you were wrong in the end and I'm proud of him for trying to get away from it, even if it meant he died, he still tried.

"Sirius?" Hermione's voice was gentle. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I am. Look, I'll be around, okay Harry?"

His godson nodded. "Sure."

They had already discussed earlier that the first lesson of the New Year would be held on Wednesday night. Until then, Sirius would not see them. As soon as the students were safely back at the school he and Tonks would be Apparating straight back to Grimmauld Place.

He left Harry in the compartment and went to find Tonks, who was patrolling the corridors at the other end of the train. Her hair was back to her bubblegum pink and she turned to face him as he approached her, her expression one of sourness. Oh dear, she's still mad at me.

"No 'Nymphie' calling, you got that?" she said, her voice low and hard.

He swallowed, suddenly feeling a tiny bit fearful. "Yes."

She threw him a wide grin. "Good!"

"You were pulling my leg earlier, weren't you?" he groaned, slapping himself on the forehead.

"No, I wasn't. I don't like being called that now, but it is not as bad as being called 'Nymphadora', so I don't stay mad at you as long as I would do with someone who uses my first name in full."

Sirius blinked. "You are a very puzzling person."

"It took you this long to figure it out?" she laughed. "I suppose I can let you off after all..."

He knew by then that he had truly been forgiven for his little joke earlier. Tonks wouldn't joke around unless she really had. Following her up the corridor, he began his patrol of the Hogwarts Express, only stopping once more to say a farewell to Harry and his friends before departing from the train at the station and Apparating back to London.

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think!

I'd completely forgotten I'd had Cedric survive the Triwizard Tournament, so I thought it would be a good idea to place him within Slughorn's private club. Other characters that are significant in the books, may not be significant in this fic, for example, Luna Lovegood, who is briefly mentioned in this chapter. At the moment I have no plans for her, however that could still change.

The next chapter is another memory chapter (the second to last one!) so there won't be a preview for it.

Until Monday (where hopefully I will bring you good news about chapter 66!),

the-writer1988