Every lesson was horrible for Harry. It seemed that even the teachers weren't too fond of him. Sirius had been right—Houseism ran deep, whether teachers were supposed to take sides or not. Life at Hogwarts had really had become awful, because all the students openly being hateful, and the teachers only being nice because they had to, reminded him of primary school. At least here he had Ron and Hermione, but that was it. There may have been no Dudley, but there was Malfoy, and Harry hated Malfoy way more than he hated Dudley.

Harry had been avoiding Sirius at all costs. They weren't holding Defense Against the Dark Arts classes anymore, and the only time they ever really saw each other was during Care of Magical Creatures. It wasn't because Harry was angry with Sirius; on the contrary, he was ashamed of himself for letting Sirius down, and didn't want to talk to him at all. He was also sure Sirius was angry with him, until he was leaving Herbology one Wednesday and Sirius approached him.

"Could I have a word, Harry?" Sirius asked, stepping in front of him. Harry kept walking, not so much to avoid Sirius this time but because Sirius's spell was forcing him to walk inside now that class was over. Sirius followed him into the castle.

"I can't," Harry said. "I've got homework."

"Just a minute?" Sirius insisted, placing one hand on Harry's shoulder. "This is important."

"Fine." Harry looked down at the ground like it was extremely interesting. "What do you want?"

"Well…Barbara is on Week 20 of her pregnancy now, and we were wondering if you'd like to come to the Gender Reveal sonogram this weekend," Sirius said, all in one breath.

Harry was shocked for a moment, but then steadied himself.

"No thanks," he said, continuing to walk again. "I'm wizard-grounded, anyway."

"Nonsense, Harry, I can take the spell off for one weekend," said Sirius, keeping up with his godson.

"Don't bother." Harry picked up his pace and walked away, up to his dorm, even though the spell wouldn't be making him do that until eight.

"At least think about it, okay?" Sirius called after him, but Harry didn't answer.

…

In the common room that night, Harry told Ron and Hermione about Sirius's offer, and how there was no way he could go, now that he had risked his neck and caused Sirius to be angry with him. Sirius was still angry, he thought.

"Harry," said Hermione, "I think you should go."

"What?" Harry was surprised. "Why?"

"Well, because if there's one thing I've learned about Sirius, it's that he's a man of action," Hermione explained. "He's not so good at expressing how he feels through his words, so he does it through his actions instead. He's trying to make up with you. This is his way of saying it's all water under the bridge now."

"It's not, though," said Harry miserably. "The kids still hate me, the teachers still hate me, and I think Sirius does too."

"Sirius never hated you!" Ron looked shocked Harry would say such a thing. "You're his favorite person!"

"Tell him you'll go, Harry, please," Hermione pleaded. "I hate seeing you two like this. And don't you want to see your little baby brother or sister on the sonogram? What kind of big brother would you be if you didn't go?"

Perhaps it was the desperate look on her face, but Harry suddenly felt just a little more convinced.

"Okay," he mumbled. "I'll tell him."

…

For the first time in two weeks, Harry hung after Care of Magical Creatures class to talk to Sirius again. As soon as the other kids were filing back into the castle, Harry felt the spell making his legs want to go too. But he resisted with all his might, and pulled on Sirius's sleeve.

"What?" said Sirius in surprise. "Harry?"

"I-I'll go," Harry told him, not without a huge effort. Talking was hard because it was taking all his energy to resist the spell. It seemed Sirius could see that, because he snapped his fingers, and as soon as he did, Harry had control over his legs again.

"You have?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," Harry said, his voice quavering. Now that he wasn't being magically forced to run inside the castle, he was becoming nervous…

"Thank you," said Sirius. "What…what changed your mind?"

"Well…what kind of big brother would I be if I didn't go?" Harry said, shrugging. Sirius sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Listen, Harry, I've been thinking," he said. "Do you remember how I told you that the point of punishment was that you learned your lesson?"

Harry nodded. He did remember that.

"Well, I'll make you a deal," said Sirius. "I'll end your wizard-grounding if you can tell me why I was so angry with you that night."

Harry thought. It wasn't because he'd broken a school rule, he knew that…Sirius didn't really have any business getting angry at anyone for breaking rules. That was why Professor McGonagall had been angry with Harry, but not Sirius.

"Because I risked my neck," said Harry quietly, looking down at the ground again. "Because that thing would probably have killed me if you hadn't gotten rid of it. You were just worried about me."

"I couldn't have put it better myself," Sirius said, his voice gentle. "Okay. Consider yourself un-grounded."

"I'm sorry, Sirius," Harry told him, then, remembering what Hermione said, "Can you ever forgive me?"

"Of course," said Sirius. "I already have."

It may have had something to do with his poor excuse for an upbringing, but Harry had always had trouble initiating hugs, and with the possible exception of Hermione, Sirius was the only person he really felt comfortable hugging. Even very shortly after they'd met, Harry had always found sanctuary in Sirius's hugs. Sirius had always been like the light in a storm, or like a warm blanket on a cold, rainy day.

This time, Harry didn't know who initiated the hug, but it didn't matter. All he knew was that he had missed Sirius so much, and as he hugged his godfather probably a little tighter than was necessary, it felt like they had never fought at all. He felt Sirius ruffling his hair the way he liked, laughing a little, and he knew that even though almost everyone else at school hated him, Sirius loved him with all his heart, just like he always had, and Harry loved him too.

"Can I come back to your teacher's quarters for tea?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"I thought you'd never ask." Sirius smiled, and Harry followed as he left for the castle.

…

Sirius and Harry had catching up to do, but the topic eventually drifted to the night Harry had gone into the Forbidden Forest. Harry had some questions about that night, now that he was talking to Sirius again.

"I know you found me on the Marauder's Map," said Harry. "So if you were looking at the Map, you must have seen who…or what…it was that tried to kill me."

"Well, actually not," said Sirius. "I put the Map away as soon as I saw your names, so I didn't see a name for that thing. I picked up the smell of dead unicorn, which wasn't pleasant. It was a little overpowering, but I could still tell that you, Ron and Hermione were there, and I figured you were under the Cloak, because when I'm a dog, I can smell people and things, even if I can't see them. Then there was a smell I didn't recognize, a really foul one, worse than the dead unicorn, and then there was the thing that drank the blood…I didn't see its name on the Map, like I said, but I think I have an idea of who it was, anyway."

"You do?"

"Yeah," said Sirius. "Listen, Harry…why do you think it was drinking the blood in the first place?"

"I…I don't know," said Harry. Now that he thought of it, drinking blood did seem kind of weird. "Maybe it was some kind of vampire?"

"No, it isn't that." Sirius shook his head. "You see, unicorn blood isn't like normal blood. It can keep you alive, even if you're hanging by a thread, hovering between life and death. But the thing is, you still have to kill the unicorn to get its blood, and when you do that, you're basically killing an innocent to save yourself. So drinking the blood will leave you morally bankrupt, with a corrupted soul. Your life will be cursed."

"But who'd be that desperate?" said Harry. "If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?"

"Not if you're afraid of death," Sirius told him darkly. "Not if your ultimate goal is to conquer death. Not if your name literally means 'flight from death'."

What was that Sirius had said, in their first Defense lesson, so long ago?

"Voldemort's name is actually French, if you study the etymology," Sirius continued. "It means 'flight from death', roughly translated. So as you see, even at the height of his powers, Voldemort is the weak one, because he fears death. Meddling with life and death is not our place, as humans—thus, doing so is considered the Darkest of magic. Voldemort is just a coward, fleeing from something he can't control…"

And then there was the book passage Hermione had shown Harry and Ron…

"(The Sorcerer's Stone) also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal…"

"Sirius, are you saying that was Voldemort?" Harry cried.

"I can't say for sure, but it's the only person I can think of who's really that desperate, as you put it."

Harry knew, then, he had to tell his godfather about the Sorcerer's Stone. He dished everything. He told Sirius all about the three-headed dog (although he did make it sound as though they had stumbled upon it during the daytime, not after hours), how they suspected Snape let the troll in on Halloween, how they had found Nicholas Flamel in Hermione's book, Snape's conversation with Quirrell and how they had suspected Snape was trying to steal the Stone and now…they knew why. It wasn't because Snape wanted to live forever and get rich. It was because he was planning on resurrecting Voldemort!

"You always said Snape was fascinated with the Dark Arts in school," Harry said, his throat dry. "And now we know he's a Death Eater."

"But why would Dumbledore hire someone who had once been a Death Eater?" Sirius was now pacing back and forth. "That's dropping the ball pretty badly!"

"Maybe he thought Snape changed."

"Well, he hasn't changed too much if he's helping Voldemort get the Stone, has he?" Sirius said in reply, looking extremely stressed, running his hands through his hair again. "And what is Dumbledore thinking, anyway? Why doesn't he just lock the Stone up in his office? Nobody can get in without the password."

"I wondered that, too," Harry told him.

"And as soon as Snape steals the Stone for him, Voldemort will be able to come back and…" Sirius suddenly hugged Harry again, sounding terrified. "Oh my God. We've got to go to Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore's not going to listen," Harry told him. "Everyone knows I hate Snape just as much as he hates me, and you two were old school enemies. And we don't even have any proof. It's all circumstantial evidence at best. Snape just has to say he didn't have anything to do with any of it. You'll probably get fired, Sirius."

"I can't just let this happen, though!" Sirius looked beside himself now, and he still wouldn't let go of Harry. "You weren't there when he was alive, Harry, you don't know! I can't let Voldemort get his slimy white hands on the last Potter, I just can't!"

"Sirius, I've heard Dumbledore is the only one Voldemort ever feared," Harry told him. "There's no way he's going to try and do anything to me as long as Dumbledore's in the castle. That's why the Sorcerer's Stone is hidden in here, isn't it? And isn't that why Voldemort never tried to take over Hogwarts, even when he was strong and had a bunch of Death Eaters? And besides, God help anyone who tries to hurt me when you're around."

For a moment longer, Sirius hugged Harry tight, then finally let him go.

"Just promise me you'll be careful, Prongslet," he said. "Please."

"I promise," said Harry, and he was relieved when Sirius finally gave him a smile.