Sirius did not wake up until 3:54 in the afternoom. He hadn't stayed up all night for so long. Well, he did have his sleepless nights in Azkaban, but the dementors eventually put him to sleep after many exhausting hours of suffering.

He groaned and sat up. He stretched his limbs and yawned. He was in desperate need of food and coffee. As he was stretching he noticed a letter resting on his night table. He picked it up and read it.

Something happened to Harry and he passed out in Diagon Alley. He is at St. Mungo's right now. We didn't want to wake you, and you cannot risk leaving Grimmauld Place so stay put. There is nothing you can do. He is in good hands and will be okay.

-Kingsley

Sirius let the letter slip from his fingers and drift to the floor. Harry needed him, and he wasn't going to stay put while his godson was in the hospital. He walked over to his desk and took out a handful of floo powder. He wasn't dressed and had no shoes on, but the way he was going he wouldn't need any. Sirius entered the chimney and closed his eyes. "St. Mungo's!" He shouted.

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Harry's head was pounding. He could hear voices whispering all around him. For the longest time he had been in complete darkness that was only broken by the occasional dream.

He dreamt that he was back at Hogwarts his first year sitting in his transfiguration class. His assignment was to levitate a feather. As many times as he said the spell, he could not manage to make the feather float. Professor Dumbledore came and took him aside. He told him that they had made a mistake; he was 'just Harry' and was not a wizard. This had been a bad dream.

Sometime after that he dreamt of his parents. He was in the Dursley's house, only this time his parents lived there too. The whole family was sitting down eating and talking. The rest of the dream was a blur, but what he did remember of it cheered him up.

But now he was slowly waking. He opened his eyes a tad and squinted into the light. He moved a little and discovered that there were handles on the bed he was laying on. He wasn't at Grimmauld Place anymore. More whispers were audible.

"I think he's waking up." "Poor kid, he really had a rough day."

Harry felt someone grip onto his hand. They nudged his shoulder.

"Harry we're all here with you." It was Hermione.

Harry opened his eyes at last. He glanced around the room to see the concerned faces of all the order members. Hermione was sitting next to him on the edge of the bed. She let go of his hand and placed his glasses on him.

Harry mumbled a terse thank you. He still felt kind of dizzy and wanted nothing more than a light meal and some sleep.

"Where am I?" He asked.

A wise familiar voice answered him. "You're in St. Mungo's Harry. You lost consciousness and collapsed. Unfortunately, you hit your head on the way down and have a mild concussion. You'll have to stay awake for some time so we can make sure you do not enter a coma."

"Dumbledore? Is that you?" Harry whimpered, his vision still fuzzy.

Dumbledore drew closer to him. "Yes, Harry. Now Harry, it is very important for you to tell me what happened. Your friends say you grabbed onto your scar and collapsed. I believe that Voldemort entered your mind, did he not?" He asked.

"Yes, Professor it was him. It was so horrible…"

Dumbledore nodded slowly. "I fear that this connection between you and Voldemort is a danger to your safety. I have decided that you must learn occlumency. It is the only way to keep Voldemort out of your mind, Harry. You will begin your lessons when you return to school."

"But professor, there isn't any occlumency classes at Hogwarts." Harry said.

"No, there aren't. Fortunately, we have Professor Snape. I have asked him to give you private lessons. You will tell not a soul, and if anyone asks you are taking remedial potions." Dumbledore explained.

Snape, who stood sulking in the far corner of the room, rolled his eyes. He was obviously not pleased by the arrangement.

Harry's stomach turned sour. "But Professor!" He objected.

"Harry, it is the only way. As for now, you need some rest. I'll be back in two more days in hopes of seeing that my request has been honored." Dumbledore said.

Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes. More lessons with Snape? How in the world was he going to make it through this school year?

"When I return, we will have an important meeting. It's about time we get to work." Dumbledore said.

The order members nodded and watched as Dumbledore entered the floo and disappeared. Seeing that Harry was tired, the order began to leave and allow him some peace. Only Ron and Hermione remained.

"Mate, if you don't mind me asking, what did you see?" Ron asked curiously.

Hermione elbowed Ron's side. "What's wrong with you Ron? I'm sure he doesn't want to talk about it."

"Ouch, woman. He can tell me himself." Ron said rubbing his ribs.

"Its alright Hermione. I just remember his voice in my head. He said he was coming for me, and that he couldn't be stopped. He warned that I didn't have long to live…"

Suddenly, they heard a nurse shriek. "Get that mangy dog out of here!"

A round black nose pushed the door open and a shaggy black dog walked into the room. It meandered over to Harry's bedside and licked his hand.

A nurse ran in. "Don't let that dog lick you! It must be a stray that wandered in somehow." The nurse went to drag the dog away but Harry stopped her.

"No Ms., that's my friend's seeing eye dog." Harry said pointing to Ron.

Ron looked confused, but went along with it. "Um yeah, he must have gotten away sorry." He muttered.

The nurse raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip.

"Fine, but keep him in the room. We can't have a dog running around here." The nurse walked out and closed the door behind her.

"What was that about?" Hermione asked.

Harry smiled as he pet the dog's head. Harry had recognized his godfather's animagus immediately.

"Take a good look at him and you tell me. He's a good friend." Harry said.

Hermione and Ron looked at the dog. Hermione quickly picked up on Harry's hint. Ron scratched his head. "You adopted a dog?" He asked.

Hermione giggled and joined in petting him. "I can't believe you came here. Its so dangerous!" She said after figuring out the dog was Sirius.

"What in the bloody hell is going on?" Ron asked.

"Its Sirius in his animagus form." Hermione whispered. "He came to visit Harry as a dog, if he came as a person he might get spotted."

"Ohhh." Ron said. He pat Sirius on the back and pulled a cracker out of his pocket. He held it out to the dogs mouth.

"Here you go boy." Ron said.

Sirius looked at Ron and cocked his head to the side in an expression that said "really?"

Hermione and Harry laughed. "He's not an actual dog Ron. He doesn't want some old cracker from your pants." Harry teased.

Ron's face turned red with embarrassment. "Sorry." He muttered as he nibbled on the cracker. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You never stop eating." She said. Ron shrugged.

"Maybe I'm growing. Who knows, I could end up being as big as Hagrid."

Harry smiled. "Yeah, as big but not as tall. You'll be so huge we'll have to roll you around Hogwarts."

"That's rude, Harry." Said Hermione.

"Whatever." Harry said. "Anyway, in the vision I had I saw something strange."

Hermione, Ron, and Sirius leaned in. "I saw this door, but its not at Hogwarts. Then I saw Voldemort's eyes staring at me. I think that the door means something. I just don't know what yet." Harry finished.

"You have to tell Dumbledore Harry. Maybe it is important." Said Hermione.

Harry sighed. "I don't understand why Dumbledore can't teach me occlumency. Why does it have to be Snape?"

"Tough luck mate. Maybe he'll be more chill outside the classroom." Ron said.

"Yeah, because he's been so lovely the past few days." Harry mumbled.

Sirius perked up his ears. He had remembered his conversation with Snape earlier. He had asked for forgiveness and was curious if Snape had taken him seriously. Sirius had been sincere about the apology. He knew that he and Snape would never be real friends, but could possibly put aside their enmity for the sake of the order and their mission. Sirius also wondered if mending the damage with Snape would help Snape treat Harry better. It would be important for Snape to teach Harry well so Voldemort could no longer gain access to his mind. Not to mention his recent discovery about Snape being in love with Lily. What role did he have in protecting the Potters? Sirius had to know. Seeing that his godson was taken care of, he decided to head back to headquarters.

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Snape held his face in his hands. Tears streamed down his sallow face. He was not a person who cried often, but had found himself in greater pain than usual. His past was rearing it's ugly head once more. He lifted his head from his hands and glanced at the picture of Lily and him in his lap. As soon as he got home he would tape it back where it belonged in his yearbook. He had other pictures of him and Lily as children, but this one meant the most to him since it was the last photo they ever took together. He pondered her beauty and how it matched the giving person she had been inside. The giving person she had wasted on Potter. He had to admit that if she was his, he would love her unconditionally. However, he also felt that he could not make her happy. He was far to dark and cold to deserve her.

Using his sleeve he wiped the tears from his face and regained his composure. He had missed dinner and was famished. He figured that if he went to eat now there might be leftovers. Well, if the Weasley boys hadn't gobbled all of those down too. Snape glanced in the mirror before leaving his room to make sure no signs of his breakdown were visible. His keen black eyes observed his reflection. He looked like his usual stoic and unpleasant self. He had felt so ashamed of his appearance during his youth. Snape frowned. He no longer cared how he looked. He was not trying to impress any women and valued his intelligence, skill, and bravery over how he looked.

He twisted his face into its usual stale scowl. He had practiced perfecting his scowls many times. Not only did they convey his gloomy mood, they kept away unwanted attention. People did not find him approachable and nor did he want them to. He preferred his privacy and never had good enough inter-personal skills to make many friends. It was much easier to be anti-social.

As Snape was heading for the kitchen he felt a hand on his shoulder. At first he almost jumped. No one ever came close enough to touch him, except for when Potter had grabbed his arm in the hallway. The boy must have lost his mind or something. Now, someone was gently resting their hand on his shoulder.

"Severus…" It was Sirius Black. Snape spun around swiftly to face him. Sirius had a look of apprehension on his face, as if he was struggling to speak. This was far too strange for Severus's liking. Black never showed any fear for Snape. He would insult him with ease.

"I was wondering if you had finished deliberating about umm, our conversation this morning." Sirius said quietly.

Snape sighed. He still didn't believe that Sirius was really looking for forgiveness. He was just information hunting. Snape would not let his guard down. Black was playing a game with him, now he just had to play it better.

"I have given it some thought." Snape replied silkily.

"And?" Black asked.

"And I have decided it needs further deliberating. You see, I suspect some form of pretense may be behind your eager apology."

"Snape, I swear there is no ill will whatsoever. I am just looking to make peace with my…our past."

"Hmmmm. Interesting." Snape found Black's desperation amusing. Black really wanted him to let his guard down to make him run his mouth in a way that could be used against him. Snape would have none of it. Instead, he would feed Black a false sense of security, and then turn the tables on him.

"And how do you plan on making peace with it?"

Sirius paused for a moment. "I figured we could speak about it."

'Sweet Merlin, don't tell me Black's gone all touchy feely….' Snape thought.

"Would you care to join me in the study?" Black asked.

"Ugh, I guess." Snape said. He really didn't want to go in there after Black had walked in on him admiring Lily's picture. But luckily, Black knew nothing about that right? He couldn't have possibly seen from where he was. Or could he? Snape's face remained cool and composed, yet his heart was pounding a mile a minute. His greatest secret was almost exposed…or maybe, just maybe it already was.

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Black opened the door to the study and held the door for Snape, who hurried in and avoided eye contact completely. Black felt very uneasy about this. Snape was seeing right through him. Yes, Black did feel bad about bullying Snape. It was mean and immature. He did want to put it behind him and settle their enmity once and for all. Then again, he wanted to improve Snape's treatment of Harry and find out more about Snape's role in the war.

These were not easy subjects to touch upon with someone who hated him to death, and he had only one idea to get the conversation flowing in the right direction. Ever since he had seen Snape looking in the yearbook, he was convinced that he harbored love for Lily. Maybe if he played on Snape's warm emotions for Lily he could reach a better part of Snape's character. Lily had seen something good in Snape for years until they split, so maybe her memory could surface that. Love changed people and brought out the best in them. Why should it fail this time?

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