The sun rose over London, giving warmth to the rooftops. The new light revealed the chaos caused by the storm. Branches and garbage were strewn across the streets. Deep puddles of dirty water turned the streets into shallow rivers. Muggles came out of their houses to begin cleaning up the rubble so they could move on with their day.

Meanwhile, in Grimmauld Place, two wizards had their own cleaning up to do. But they were not cleaning up trash or debris. It was their hearts that needed cleaning so they too could move on with their lives.

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Remus turned back around five in the morning, just as the sun was about to rise. Sirius had been sitting in the kitchen after his shift was pondering the deep secret he had recently discovered. He heard Moody call out "He's changing!"

Sirius ran in to aid his best friend. He watched as the gruesome beast slowly shrunk. Its muscles and bones twitched and bent, and the heavy coat had been absorbed by his skin. After a few minutes a wounded and naked Remus lay on the floor in front of them.

Molly looked away and handed Moody a blanket to cover him with. Scratch marks covered his body. Most were old scars, but some were new. Sirius helped Moody cover him while Molly cleaned the new cuts. Although he had changed back, the sleeping draught was still in effect. Remus was sleeping like a baby. His face was peaceful and calm.

"How…how is he?" Asked a shy, tired voice.

Sirius turned and saw Tonks standing in the doorway with clothes folded in her hands.

"He has a few scratches but he'll be alright. You don't have to be up so early you know."

Tonks blushed. "I was worried for him. I figured that his clothes would be ruined so I brought some new ones down for him, when he comes to."

Sirius smiled. 'Ah, young love' He thought.

"Thank you Tonks." Sirius said as he reached out a hand for clothes. "I'll give them to him when he wakes up."

"Oh, actually I wanted to give them to him." Tonks replied sheepishly.

"Okay then, I'll call you down when he…"

Tonks brushed past Sirius and sat next to Remus on the floor. She placed a pillow from the couch under his head and pushed back his hair. She looked at him longingly and hummed.

Sirius smiled again. So did Moody and Molly. Severus didn't smile of course, but he did not scowl. They filed out of the room to give them some privacy. The order members headed up the stairs to get some sleep. Remus was in good hands.

As Sirius was opening his bedroom door he saw Snape walk past him and down the hallway to his room. Sirius wanted to say something to him. He wondered if it would be cruel to ask him about Lilly, after all they didn't have the best relationship. Why would Snape want to open up to him? The only way to dig deeper was to build some trust with him.

So Sirius did what he should have done a long, long time ago. He apologized.

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Ron tossed and turned. He hadn't gotten much sleep that night. Knowing that a full grown werewolf was downstairs was bound to give anyone insomnia. And he couldn't stay up talking with Harry. He had came back and said he just wanted to go to sleep and was in one of those moods again. He had gotten to be so bloody hormonal the past few months.

Ron laid down on his back and counted the cracks in the old ceiling. He had just gotten to number 150 when he heard voices in the hallway. One was Snape, he was sure of that. The other he couldn't figure out. He was so tired of Harry and Hermione keeping secrets from him. They hadn't included him in their plans the whole time they had been here. Ron decided to do some snooping himself. Besides, he wasn't just the goofy sidekick was he?

Ron opened his door a crack and peered out into the darkened hallway. Sirius was standing a few doors down from him. Snape was at the end of the hallway.

'What are they getting on about?' Ron wondered.

"Did I hear you right Black? Are you drunk?" Snape asked.

"I am very sober at the moment. Yes, you did." Sirius answered.

Snape raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe you. What are you up to?"

"I'm not up to anything Severus. I will say it again. I am sorry for how I have acted towards you all these years. I only want you to accept my apology." Sirius said sincerely.

'Bloody hell!' Ron thought. Was he hearing this correctly or was that sleepless night making him mad?

Snape looked at him in disbelief. Sirius continued.

"I truly feel bad about how I have treated you, Severus. I have always been so cruel to you without good reason. After our conversation I realized how badly I had hurt you. I went out of my way to humiliate and laugh at you. Saying I was only a kid isn't good enough of an excuse. I was unkind to you throughout our youth and to this day, even when I knew better. You were just some isolated kid who could use a friend and I helped to isolate you more until you had nowhere to turn but darkness. I know an apology cannot make up for everything I've done, but it's a start."

Snape's eyes gleamed. "You mean to tell me you regret everything? All of it?" Snape asked.

Sirius nodded. "I do. I want to start over. We really did start off on the wrong track. I judged you all these years without even knowing you. Please, accept my apology."

Snape was silent for a moment. "I will need time to deliberate over this. I'll…sleep on it."

"Thank you. I'll catch you later then?" Sirius said.

"I guess." Snape mumbled. He scuffled into his room and swiftly closed the door.

Sirius sighed and ran his hand through his raven hair.

Ron closed the door slowly to avoid being detected. He leaned against the wall and replayed the conversation in his mind.

"Holy hippogriffs." He muttered. Ron walked over and shook Harry to try and wake him up. He was sleeping deeply and only continued drooling on his pillow.

"Alright then Harry, have it your way." Ron grabbed a pillow from his bed and began whacking Harry until he jumped up, startled from the sudden blow.

"That's for the attitude last night!" WHACK "And this is for not including me in anything!" WHACK "And this is for saving me the all the nasty flavor beans!" WHACK "And this is just for fun because you're going to love me after I tell you this!" WHACK.

Harry pulled the pillow out of Ron's hands and tossed it violently onto the floor.

"HAVE YOU GONE BLOODY MAD!" Harry shouted.

"I almost thought I had! Wait till you hear this!" Ron said excitedly.

"I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR ANY MORE ABOUT YOUR JUVENILE DREAMS ABOUT SPIDERS!" Harry snapped.

"Gee, Harry. Stop all the yelling someone's going to think I'm killing you."

"I am so close to…"

Hermione burst in the door. Her hair was a messy and flew in all directions. She wore a lavender pair of silk pajamas and a wrinkled t-shirt.

"What on earth are you two shouting about at 5:22 in the morning!" She asked angrily.

They sat there quietly and blinked at her.

"Well!" She prodded.

"It was Ron! He started whacking me with the pillow to tell me about some stupid spider dream." Harry said.

"Of course I wasn't going to tell you about my spider dreams. I was going to save those for supper. I just heard an interesting conversation between Snape and Black and I though Mr. Moody here would want to know about it." Ron explained.

Harry jumped out of bed and Hermione drew closer.

"What did you hear? What did they say?" Hermione asked.

"Were they fighting? Come on Ron, you did wake me up like a mad man to tell me this." Harry asked, desperate to be filled in.

Ron looked at them and beamed. As he told them what he heard, Hermione and Harry dropped their jaws simultaneously.

Their plan, although flawed and chaotic, had worked.