The walls were painted sky blue, the carpet a faded warm brown hinting at many years passing along leaving a permanent tread. The walls were covered in several posters that Harry didn't recognize of bands, but also several hand done, and extremely accurate, drawings of dragons that someone had magicked to life, flying around through each other's edges.

It was crowded, the sparse bit of walking space nonexistent with the eight of them all in here at once, hardly much bigger than his cupboard; but the love and care that went into this room was evident from where Harry had landed in a corner watching the others groan and pull themselves together once more.

Ron was already at the door, banging and screaming with all his might, "Mum! Mum, it's Ron! Are you okay! Mum!"

Silence. Even Malfoy waited on tenterhooks to know if rescue was going to finally arrive, but there was no answer. Ron's next broken yell held back a sob as he kept going until his knuckles began turning red.

"Ron! Ron!" Harry and Hermione jumped beside him and tried to pull him back, but they may as well have gotten into another fight with the troll for all the good they were doing as he kept trying to beat the door down with his bare fists and screaming bloody murder. Neville sprung from the bed where he'd landed and finally all three wrestled Ron onto the red comforter, his face as bright as it.

"This room shouldn't exist," Remus murmured. He'd been here enough in recent times to know as he looked out the window what floor they were on. This was supposed to be Bill's old room, only one fading and always asleep poster of his favorite band covered the walls nowadays when he slept here. "We, truly are traveling right through time itself." He hadn't felt this out of place since he was eleven years old, having a sit-down with Albus Dumbledore explaining his special needs while being allowed into Hogwarts. Something as tricky and untested as time magic only just came in a close second to that feeling.

"Great, what a barmy adventure," Sirius groaned as he watched Malfoy prod his wand hopelessly against the door and uselessly tried the same on the window. He hoped the Department of Mysteries never found out about this or they might all vanish into the Ministry never to be seen again as they were prodded like potion experiments.

Ron's watery blue eyes were trained on the back of Malfoy's head, still listening for the slightest peep of his mother in the kitchen where he had found her every step of his life. It wouldn't matter he was so much older than he should be whenever they were, she'd help him and figure out what to do next.

There was no bustling or smells of food. He knew every member of his family's footsteps and what floor of the house they were one, he and Ginny had made more than a few games of it. Only the wind battered the house. For once in its existence, the Burrow was quiet.

He spent the chapter frozen in place taking back every awful thing he'd ever said about his family as he wondered if he'd ever see them again.

"Somebody please keep reading?" Hermione asked anxiously. The only reason she wasn't doing it herself was because she still had a death grip on Ron's arm and was rubbing his sternum to feel him keep breathing, the flush red in his face was the only sign of life.

Sirius did, picking up the book with plenty of curiosity why they were here of all places, and the chapter title about a rare breed of dragon named Norbert wasn't very enlightening. He read it blandly like he would a report to give to Dumbledore full of sarcastic updates how the house cleaning was going. With no real emotion other than mild surprise how that was going to connect.

Remus's watched with his heart doing a summersault in his chest. Some of Padfoot's memories had been jogged, but clearly not all of them, and his very rational fear of dragons from one particular summer of his youth could stay buried; and yet it made no sense. Dementor's fed on good memories, Sirius should well remember his loathing of those beasts and any mention of them should have at least caused a tick of annoyance.

Nothing. He wasn't even shifting restlessly in place with that old energy that nothing had ever fully contained as he leaned against the wall closest to Harry. Days like this truly were like watching a carbon copy of his old friend, someone trying to imitate Sirius without having spent the countless hours of youth they'd had together to know they were doing a piss poor job.

With sunlight streaming into this open room however, some of him was coming back. He kept sweeping his hair out of his face only for it to fall right back as he read, the tangled mess seeming to annoy him for the first time when he hadn't once groomed himself in that disturbing old house. A few pages in he even began shifting his weight from foot to foot. Nothing extravagant like his old flamboyant self, but bits were slowly sowing themselves back.

Remus's ears had perked with interest upon the topic, he was back in that hospital wing bed reading a book on dragons and having a lively discussion with his father while trying to bite back a sob for his shoulder still throbbing anew. Magical creatures were the one topic he could always engage to help keep his mind off the one he turned into somehow.

"You alright Remus?" Tonks asked gently. Her voice as quiet as it could be in the tomb like house where not a peep was made except Sirius reading, and fighting down tuttering laughs at Hemione stressing about her exams during all of this. "You haven't looked so put out since I stole your jumper."

"Which time?" He asked with an absentminded smile, "you do it every fortnight." He too was watching the trio, Hermione's twitching hands never leaving Ron's side even as she kept anxiously looking at her book bag. Clearly the reminder their OWL's were just around the corner while they were trapped in this was getting to her, but in true consolation for how worried she was for her friend's odd silence, not a nag passed her lips how far behind her two friends probably were.

Tonks giggled and budged up right to him, mock tugging on his patched and dusty robes. "Well you can't blame me for doing it, they're so comfy compared to this mess."

"I'll be running around starker's if you keep it up," he told her in exasperation, still unable to fully drag his eyes away from a scene James would laugh himself stupid at. Sirius casually reading. Harry was only watching him out of the corner of his eye while staying close to his friend.

"That'll be the day," Tonks murmured so softly he wasn't sure if she had said that or it was just the wind.

Harry was checking his watch and as usual now seeing in glum displeasure the hands spinning aimlessly as he impatiently listened to Sirius read through their very boring retelling of time spent in the library when his godfather's voice hitched in now familiar concern. He looked around to see Sirius studying the pages like it was his own test coming up, before exhaling in defeat and already looking around at him with a question he didn't want to know the answer to. "Hagrid has a Norwegian Ridgeback in his hut doesn't he?"

"It's only a baby," Harry shrugged. He gave Ron a hopeful prod with his finger. "Never hurt me," he stressed.

Ron didn't react, only his thumb very slightly twitched at the reminder of that thing biting him and Ron using a whole new swear when it had happened his best mate had been very proud of after the fact.

Neville and Malfoy on the other hand gave Harry a hilariously similar look of shock. "The dragon was real?" They demanded together.

"Oh, err," Harry at least gave his friend a sheepish smile and shrug. "Sorry, for ah, never getting around to telling you." He continued the trend now of ignoring Malfoy in kind.

Neville did feel just the slightest bit hurt. He'd been miserable and cried himself to sleep that night for making a fool out of himself for nothing, he wished he'd crossed Harry's mind long enough to be told it had at least been almost worth it rather than a real prank he'd thought he'd fallen for.

Malfoy turned to the book with the first mild hint of interest for this story. Finally, something was happening. Whatever had happened to the blasted beast might still be incriminating enough to get that oaf fired even after all this time, and he'd very much like to know how Potter had slipped through punishment as he rubbed his ear in hopeful revenge.

He realized the answer to his own question though before Black had even kept going. That cloak! Potter had snuck about under it to avoid getting caught! He'd almost be impressed at such a sneaky way about it if he wasn't still vexed how the half-breed even had such a thing. Surely his father, even being a blood-traitor, didn't have a true invisibility cloak that had lasted so long. It certainly seemed something worth stealing at any rate if he ever found the chance, even his father had never found one that lasted longer than a decade while paying the highest price.

Sirius kept going with a sort of mild indulgence Harry hadn't expected. He still was never sure what sort of reaction to expect from Sirius and it was leaving him jumpy lately. His godfather just looked, interested to know more about how he'd wound up in this situation. He even sounded pleased, even delighted as he got to the part of Hermione buttering up ol' Hagrid and getting him to spill the rest of what was guarding the Stone. "You three really are a force to be reckoned with," he said with another subdued chuckle.

"You're not, mad?" Harry asked just to be sure.

"About you snooping into business you were told not to and conniving teachers into information? Sneaking around, having fights, Merlin it even mentions you studying!" He shook out his hair, his grey eyes sparking with delight. "Harry, this little trip to Hagrid's is everything I could have asked for from your school life. I've only been mad at you when you followed Snape and that troll without a single thought as to how dangerous that could have been."

Harry gave him a tentative smile that wasn't even ruined when Sirius concluded, "I'm reserving judgement on hearing why you went after that bloody Stone in this book. I know you though, I'm confident it was for a good reason," he finished with his own warm smile that kept Harry's twitching hopefully in place.

Remus exhaled slowly a breath he hadn't been realizing he was holding and felt himself go so lax Tonks nearly tumbled to the floor if he hadn't reflexively caught her. He hadn't even realized how much she'd been leaning against him. She gave him a grateful smile he promptly returned. Sirius might still be going through rough patches within himself, but his genuine delight at getting this peek into Harry's life was drawing more out of his friend than even a year of freedom had done for him on the run.

The rest of the chapter was a miraculously unmiserable time for everybody else for once. Ron was growing uncomfortably familiar with the pit of dread he'd had since finding himself in the Leaky Cauldron and realizing his entire family was nowhere to be found. Here in his own home, the reality was very forcibly sinking in they just had to get back, no matter what. Even never having to do homework again wasn't worth this. Then everything would go right with the world. He would get them all back. Even Percy.

Sirius read through Harry's side adventure with gusto at the dragon, he even finally got a real laugh even if it was still subdued at the random thought of a prank in letting it loose in the castle. It didn't linger, the idea of those beasts still left a bad taste in his mouth, but that dark bank vault his thirteen-year-old self had spent an afternoon in couldn't begin to know the fear he still felt every day so many years later.

Malfoy was giving Hermione a filthy look about her singing of his detention, but mostly he was still leaning against the wall with distaste he had no proof he could use. Goyle had stupidly tried to turn that letter in for an assignment until Pansy stopped him by snatching it away to read for herself and ripped it in half. Blaise had thrown it away rather than bothering to look up the repair charm and Malfoy had been getting his detention details when all of this had happened. Now he learned Weasley's useless brother had done the most illegal of the act, and he knew he couldn't do anything about all that.

Sirius came to the last line and concluded the chapter with a mock affronted look at his godson, "you know what Harry, I may add you to my will so you can continue being so careless with priceless heirlooms after a stunt like that."

Harry didn't quite pick up on the sarcasm, Sirius knew he got it back after all and was mostly teasing, but all Harry heard as they once again completed another chapter; was his godfather found him a disappointment.

HPHPHPHP

If you're old to this page and haven't rechecked the tags lately, I finally made up my mind this'll be Remadora. There's more than enough Wolfstar and not enough of them, and I like them both equally, so I'll try my hand at this pair. Remus and Sirius will just be besties in this. I weighed both ships in my mind and decided I didn't want a love triangle, that's boring and messy, and since the original is wolfstar so this'll be a definite change.

As said in the first chapter, the original premise of this fic and most of the locations are taken directly from Bookhater's, and even the opening description to this chapter, even if the contents and characters are my own (fanfiction wise obv.) Just making sure to keep my promise of acknowledging what I borrowed.