WOW, just WOW. Thanks for all of the reviews for the last chapter. It's always nice to get the take from my regular, loyal and much loved reviewers and it was great to see all the new ones!

In answer to some of your questions:

The lullaby is an actual drinking song called "Red is the Rose". It really is quite pretty to hear and does sound like it could be used as a lullaby. It just tickled my sense of humor that a marauder would use a drinking song to sing his son to sleep, lol.

There is going to be more to Snape's attitude than I've written so far.

jogger, I will happily feed your addiction as long as you want to stay hooked! You too, Iva!

Also, aimael, I'm fast, but I'm not that fast, lol.

WARNING: This chapter has some dark topics of violence. Please be advised.

Enjoy!

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His eyes still closed in defense of the bright sunlight that was stubbornly streaming through the window, Harry swallowed thickly. His throat was raw and sore, no doubt as a result of his breakdown last night. Humiliated, he scrunched his eyes up further and tried to drive away the memories of just how emotional he had become. Surely Sirius thought he was ready for the nut hatch they way he acted.

He shifted slightly onto his side and felt himself press up against something warm. Cautiously peeking, he saw through his eyelashes the unmistakable form of his godfather lying next to him on top of the blanket that was firmly tucked around Harry. His face looked tired and drawn, his eyes closed peacefully. Harry wondered if he was asleep and, if he was, if he had been there all night. He lay there and stared at Sirius' face. There were lines across his forehead and a bit of graying on the sides of his hair. His skin was a bit slack from rapid weight loss, but lately it had been filling back in. Harry wondered if he would ever fully get back his careless look that he had in the old pictures he had seen, but everything was already a complete improvement from what it had been last spring.

Warm and comfortable under the blankets, still a bit bleary from sleep, the boy was content to just lay there and stare for a while. Sirius had taken care of him last night after the horrors of his nightmare. When his distraught state had threatened to tear him apart into a thousand pieces, his godfather had hugged him tight enough to keep his very soul together.

He couldn't think about it anymore. He couldn't go through it again. He burrowed his head a little more into the pillow, still staring at his godfather's placid face when he was surprised to see Sirius smile.

"Good morning," he greeted his godson, his eyes still closed. Harry frowned. He hadn't meant to wake him.

"Morning. Sorry I woke you," he mumbled quietly.

Sirius took a deep breath and turned slowly onto his side to face Harry as he opened his eyes. "You didn't wake me. I've been getting ready to get up for a bit now." He reached over and gently brushed the hair from Harry's forehead.

"You need a haircut," he observed absentmindedly. Harry wrinkled his nose. "Maybe." He knew it was true. His unruly black mop was getting a little more unruly than usual lately.

The two of them lay there staring at each other. Neither one of them knowing how to address the events of the night before. Harry was too ashamed of the way he had acted. He had screamed and cried for hours it seemed and his godfather had just held him and let him go at it. Now, his face flushed with embarrassment knowing that the only thing he wanted to do was to crawl back into the strong embrace that had made him feel so secure. Surely he was too old for that.

For his part, Sirius could see the dilemma in his godson's eyes and knew exactly what he was thinking. No matter how much he tried to shower Harry with affection, the boy still seemed hesitant to ask for it. He understood why. At his age, Harry should bristle against the idea of hugs from a parent, but Harry had thirteen years of deprivation to make up for. In Sirius' mind, that entitled the awkward teen to be behind the curve in the hug department. Besides, after all they both went through last night, Sirius wasn't above admitting that he could use some comfort himself.

Reaching out his long arms, he gathered the boy into his embrace and pulled him to his chest. He was relieved when he felt Harry immediately relax against him. Smiling, he pressed a small kiss against the top of the boy's head.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, concerned.

Harry fidgeted a little, getting comfortable as he breathed in the soothing familiar scent of his godfather's aftershave.

"Alright, I suppose," he answered noncommittally.

He did feel better but, somehow, just a little more empty. Seeing what he did last night helped him finally come to terms with the deaths of his parents but, at the same time, it made his resolve to destroy the evil being that had taken them from him so cruelly that much stronger.

They didn't speak or even move for a few minutes. Finally, Harry shifted a bit more and broke the silence.

"Thanks," he whispered.

"For what?" Sirius asked, genuinely interested in what he might have done right.

"For everything," Harry answered simply. "For the stories, for listening." He paused, slightly smirking. "Even for the...singing," he teased.

"Hey!" Sirius cried with mock indignation. He reached around and playfully swatted Harry's bottom over the thick blanket. "Don't be cheeky. I'm just a little out of practice, that's all."

Harry snorted before becoming quiet again. "No, really. Thanks for that," he said in a small voice. He glanced up at his godfather's face and Sirius could tell from the earnest look in the vivid green eyes that Harry would probably not object to him doing it again sometime in the future. Sirius knew he would be happy to oblige.

Reluctantly, Sirius looked over at the clock on the small desk. Sighing resignedly, he stretched his legs out. "We both have classes soon. Do you want to go meet your friends in the Great Hall for breakfast?"

Harry groaned. He didn't really want to go anywhere or do anything today. He thought about asking his godfather if he could just spend the day in his room. After what had happened yesterday and during the night, Sirius would probably allow it too. But he didn't want to act like a big baby any more than he already had. Besides which, his academic career this term was not off to a bright start and he couldn't really afford to miss classes this early on. He still wasn't quite ready to face his friends though.

"Could we just eat here? he asked hopefully.

Sirius nodded his head. "Sure. Why don't you go take a quick shower and I'll arrange for it, okay?"

Comforted by his godfather's easy going manner, Harry nodded. Reaching over to give Sirius a quick hug in gratitude, he pushed the blanket aside and slid off the bed before making his way into the bathroom. Watching him go, Sirius was working diligently to keep his temper in check. As soon as humanly possible, he was going to confront Alastor about his teaching methods and it would not do to ram his wand down the former auror's throat in the middle of the Great Hall. He still had too much lingering respect for his former mentor for that. Although, after what Harry had just been put through, not much more.

*****

Thankfully, for Harry, Sirius had thought to supply his small wardrobe with extra uniforms, robes and the necessities. Showered and dressed, the two sat around the small dining table pecking at the breakfast that the house elves had delivered. Sirius was throwing anxious glances at his godson every few minutes. He wasn't entirely convinced that Harry was doing as well as he professed.

For his part, in an effort to put more upsetting matters behind him, Harry was trying to decide how to best bring up the topic of what happened in his Potions class the day before. He had to tell his godfather. Sirius would surely find out some other way and then it would probably be twice as bad for Harry when he did. After all, he was new to the whole concept of having to confess school transgressions to a guardian.

Maybe Sirius would be understanding. He hated Snape with a passion, after all. Also, didn't Sirius have quite a track record of detentions himself? It would be absolutely hypocritical of him to give Harry a telling off for something that he had vast personal experience with.

Sirius was looking at him quizzically. He knew that there was something that Harry was debating internally. Every time his godson was mentally weighing having a conversation with him about something prickly, his forehead would scrunch up in concentration. Smiling slightly, he decided to put the boy out of his misery.

"What is it?" he asked, giving the boy a wink.

Harry's eyes shot up in surprise. He was caught and he knew it. Harry looked at his godfather's expectant face and knew that he just needed to rip off the bandage quickly.

"Snape gave me a zero and detention in Potions yesterday," he said sullenly, afraid to look Sirius in the eye.

Sirius frowned. "Professor Snape, Harry. And why did he do that, might I ask?"

Speaking quickly and defensively, Harry outlined what happened during the lesson. When he was done, his godfather's face was murderous. Paling rapidly, Harry panicked at the thought that Sirius was going to blame everything on him.

"I didn't do anything, Sirius. Honest," he pleaded.

Recovering quickly, Sirius looked down at the distraught child. "I know that, Harry. I'm not angry with you." He didn't fail to notice that Harry took a deep breath of relief. He sighed sadly. It really had been a tough two days already for his boy.

"Harry," he started, "just relax, little one. You may have gotten off to a rocky start this term, and I'm sure that my presence here has not helped at all, but it will all smooth out and get better." He leaned over and put a comforting arm around Harry's shoulders.

"Just study your lessons and do your homework. Don't forget to have some fun. You can even get into a little mischief as long as you don't go too far overboard," he said with a wink, "or do anything dangerous," he warned, looking pointedly at him.

Harry had the sense to blush at the reminder of his usual escapades.

Smiling mischievously, Sirius tapped the end of the boy's nose with his long index finger. "I promise that I am not going to go mental every time you get a detention. Just don't make a regular habit of it, okay?"

Grinning sheepishly, Harry gave his godfather a quick hug in appreciation. He had to admit that he did feel loads better. He realized that he had unknowingly been feeling a lot of pressure to not disappoint Sirius at school and the knowledge that he wasn't expected to be perfect calmed him considerably. "Okay."

Sirius held him for a second and the got a jolt of inspiration. "Seeing as today is Friday, why don't you invite Ron and Hermione over for the evening. We'll do something really fun for dinner and then play silly games all night. Just be jolly for a while. I'll invite Remus too. What do you think?"

Harry beamed, feeling a huge load lifted off of him. "I think that's a brilliant idea."

Sirius watched as Harry disappeared down the circular staircase, much happier than he had been earlier. He knew then that they would find a way to get through everything together.

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Ron and Hermione were quite worried about their friend when Harry didn't join them at breakfast. Hermione especially had been fretting that Harry had taken the DADA demonstration much harder than he had let on. After all, they knew that he was sensitive about the topic of his parents. He didn't shy away from the subject when it had to come up in conversation between the three of them, but he definitely bristled when it was mentioned in mixed company.

"I'm sure he's fine, Hermione," Ron stated with more confidence than he felt. "Sirius' note just said that he wasn't feeling well last night."

Hermione huffed, unconvinced. On the one hand, she was worried about how Harry was handling what had really been a bad couple of days. On the other hand, she was more worried about how his strict (in her mind) guardian was handling them. It's not that she didn't like Sirius, because she really did. It was more a matter of thinking that he had Harry, who had always been fairly independent, on an awfully tight leash. She wasn't sure how Harry would react to that kind of restriction.

Ron, on the other hand, having had a slightly more close encounter with the kind of disciplinarian Sirius was, was not terribly concerned about that aspect of it. He just felt that his friend was slowly drifting away from them and it upset him more than he cared to admit. It made him jealous to think that now that Harry had a father, especially one who worked at Hogwarts, he didn't particularly need his friends anymore. With Hermione always at her studies, he had been feeling unhappily lonely of late.

As they slowly walked towards their morning History of Magic class, they bickered back and forth for a ways until they saw Harry striding down the corridor to meet them. Far from being the distracted upset mess he had seemed the day before, he gave them both a large genuine grin as he jogged a bit to catch up with them.

"Hey," he greeted them happily.

"Alright then, Harry?" Ron asked, confused but not disappointed in the change in his mate's demeanor.

"Yeah, sure," Harry answered back as if Ron had two heads. "Sorry about yesterday, guys. I was just a bit tired, is all." He didn't want to go into any further detail. It was over and that was that.

Hermione gave him one of her disbelieving looks and he found himself turning away. If he avoided looking her directly in the eyes, there was a chance that she would just let it go.

"s'all right, mate," Ron assured him. If Harry didn't want to talk about it, he wasn't going to force him. Harry shot him a grateful look and then remembered about the invitation.

"So, you guys want to come with me to Sirius' tonight? He's going to invite Remus too. He promised we'd do something fun."

Ron agreed immediately. Sirius always seemed to have the best ideas for entertainment and he inwardly brightened at the idea of being included in time that Harry was spending with his godfather. "Yeah, definitely." Even Hermione allowed herself a small smile when Harry gave her a flash of puppy dog eyes.

"Okay," she agreed, laughing. "I'll have all weekend to study." Harry and Ron snorted and exchanged exasperated looks.

Good humor returned to all three of them and in much better moods, they arrived at the classroom just as Professor Binns came gliding through the blackboard.

*************************************

Sirius glared at Moody across the professor's table at lunch. He had been getting into the habit of sitting next to Alastor during meals but, on this particular afternoon, he didn't trust himself to sit and make polite conversation when he was clearly itching gouge out the old auror's good eye. He glanced over to the Gryffindor table. His godson was sitting with his friends, laughing about who knew what. It warmed his heart to see Harry looking so carefree again. He had been terribly worried about the damage that might have been done to the already hurt child.

The Alastor he had known before his time in prison would never have even suggested subjecting a bunch of fourteen year old kids to the Unforgivables, let alone show them himself. Through Alastor's rough exterior beat a heart of gold in his interior. His entire reasoning for becoming an auror was because, once upon a time while he was still in Hogwarts, two dark wizards had broken into his parent's home as payback for the life imprisonment of a friend of theirs. Alastor's father had been the judge that signed the order for incarceration.

They had killed Alastor's mother and little brother right away using the killing curse. Then they made his father watch as they used the imperious curse to force his little sister to do unspeakable things with them. Then, as if that wasn't enough, they made the little girl watch as they tortured his father into madness and death. Unfortunately for the little girl, they didn't finish the job they started with her. Unable to cope with the trauma she experienced that night, she suffered in mental anguish for years before taking her own life at the age of sixteen. The two had fled, leaving no trace other than a cryptically worded taunt written in his sister's blood.

Alastor had his revenge though. In his first year as an auror, he had reopened the cold case and pursued it with a fiendish obsession. After many false leads and dashed hopes, he finally broke the coded message they had left and hunted them across four continents. He got his first facial scar from the duel that resulted in their capture and he successfully pushed for the Dementor's Kiss. After watching it performed, he had grabbed two bottles of firewhiskey and eventually passed out on the graves of his family. After that, he had single mindedly devoted his life to the eradication of the Dark Arts, becoming the greatest auror there ever was.

Suffice it to say, this was not a man who took the Unforgivables lightly. Even as an auror who was authorized to use them in the line of duty, Alastor only ever killed when it was absolutely necessary. It just didn't make any sense. Did twelve years really change a man that much?

Sirius thought back to all the conversations they had had during his years of training.

"Constant Vigilence, Blackie! That's all that separates us from the dead and buried," he bellowed, forcing Sirius through his paces again in dueling practice.

Sirius, sweating and panting from the exertion, just bobbed his head up and down a bit, ever mindful of where the next attack was coming from.

"We fight so that our children may never have to. We bleed so that they may never need to know the darkness."

Sirius dodged another curse and rolled to his side on the ground.

"Good, Blackie! Excellent. Again," he roared his approval. Groaning, Sirius stood back up and started the drill again.

Remembering what his mentor had been like in those days, Sirius wondered what exactly had happened to him. Coming back to the present, he noticed everyone getting up from the meal. Alastor was taking another long swig from his elaborate flask. He wondered if the old auror had taken to drinking. It might explain his behavior. Rising to his feet, he made his way over to the end of the near empty table.

"Alastor, a word if you please."

Alastor looked up at him critically, his wild blue eye whirling around in the socket as it appraised his potential as an enemy.

"Certainly, Sirius. What can I do for you?" he grunted.

That was another thing. Ever since he had arrived at Hogwarts, Alastor had only referred to him by his given name. In all the years that they had known each other, he had never called him anything but 'Blackie'.

Sirius sat down next to him, vowing to keep his temper in check. "I'd like to know what you were thinking teaching Harry's class about the Unforgivables," he stated simply.

"You do, huh? Well, I think it's high time these kids know what they are up against. These are dark times. They have to be prepared for the worst and they can't do that if they don't know what threatens them."

Sirius shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know if it escaped your attention, Alastor, but these children are only fourteen, for Merlin's sake. What happened to protecting our children? When did they become part of the fight?"

Alastor took another long swig. Trying very hard, Sirius leaned a bit closer to see if he could smell the telltale odor of firewhiskey, but he couldn't.

"They became part of the fight the minute little Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord. Surely you want him to be prepared if he has to do it again?" Alastor spat, never looking Sirius in the eye.

Sirius seethed. "Harry doesn't need to see a spider killed with the killing curse to understand its ramifications. He lives with them every day. Neville Longbottom doesn't need to see what his parents experienced when they were tortured into madness either. They're just children, Alastor. Remember when that meant something to you?" It was a low blow, but he didn't care.

Standing up abruptly, he restrained himself from punching his old mentor in his scarred face.

"I don't know what game you are trying to play here, Alastor, but I assure you that if it involves my godson, you will answer to me. I don't care what allegiance or respect you think I owe you. I don't want to see you near Harry outside of class, and if I find out that you have been using your position here to hurt him, I swear that Dumbledore's reaction will be the least of your problems."

With that, he stalked out of the room, never seeing the gleeful smile on the old man's ravaged face.

*********************************

In the darkness of the room, Sirius leaned over and gently brushed away the hair on his godson's forehead that threatened to spill in his eyes. He was definitely taking Harry for a haircut tomorrow while they were in Hogsmeade. He smiled gently at the peaceful sleeping face. After all the activity this evening, he was sure that the boy was exhausted and, for that, he was grateful. Maybe Harry would get a good night's sleep.

On the other side of the bed, Ron mumbled something incoherent about spiders and rolled to his side facing away from Sirius. As usual, Harry had tried kicking off his blanket, taking it from Ron as well. Sirius chuckled softly as he pulled it back up over the two boys, Harry shifting in comfort of the welcoming warmth. Silently, Sirius leaned over and pressed a small kiss on top of the too long ebony hair.

He tiptoed across the room to the door, sparing a glance over to the far wall where Hermione slumbered in the transfigured bed. He made a mental note to make more permanent arrangements for Harry's friends. They had all had such a good time this evening, it was unanimously decided to make it a weekly event. Satisfied that all three Gryffindors were safe and comfortable, he closed the door and joined Remus in the sitting room.

The room was an awful mess. Sirius had had the bright idea to have a make-your-own-pizza night for dinner. It was a brilliant idea, or so he was assured. The kids had a blast piling toppings high on the little pieces of flat crust. The boys trying to out do each other with the most obnoxious combinations. Hermione was just pleased that she was not forced to partake in an especially scary looking sausage, anchovy, olive, ham and pineapple concoction of Ron's. She just wanted to know how to perform the spell that cooked the little laden rounds.

Keeping in the theme, they were given free rein in making their own sundaes as well. Once again the boys tried to see who could add the most to their old fashion sundae glasses without spilling over the top. Hermione just rolled her eyes as she kept to her own small dish, her dentist parents' words of warning never straying too far from her conscience.

Groaning in discomfort from all the food, they had settled down to games. Remus and Ron engrossed in a particularly lethal battle of wizard's chess. Their little corner of the room regularly smoking from the destruction, in truely bloody fashion, of their opponent's pieces. Sirius, Harry and Hermione fought each other with Exploding Snap. Harry winning most of the games as Hermione kept up a steady stream of badgering as she tried to get Sirius to support her new organization S.P.E.W.

Even after he had patiently explained how hypocritical it would be of him to do so, both as an employee of Hogwarts and the master of house elves himself, she persisted. Eventually, he caved to the point where he pledged a donation of twenty galleons to the cause with the condition that she stop trying to free them against their will.

There had been rumors of complaints from the elves that cleaned Gryffindor Tower that items of clothing were being placed where they could be tricked into taking them. Busted, she postured for a moment or two, but eventually agreed. She had come to the conclusion that if Sirius, with his wild popularity, was willing to wear the badge at the teacher's table during meals, the publicity was worth more to the cause then her single handed underground efforts at knitting.

Children secured in Harry's room, Sirius strolled over to the sofa where Remus was sitting in front of the fire, his feet propped up on the coffee table. The tired godfather plopped down next to him and added his feet to the table's burden.

"So, what are you planning on doing?" Remus asked bluntly. Upon his arrival, Sirius had informed him of the goings on with Harry and Alastor, including his strong suspicion that his old mentor was acting well out of character.

Sirius shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. I thought about consulting Albus, but I'm not sure it's come to that just yet." He let out a loud sigh and summoned his tea cup from the table, drinking the lukewarm dregs for something to keep his hands occupied.

"If you like, I can make some quiet inquiries. At least talk to Arthur. He was the one that got Alastor out of the bind over that rubbish lid nonsense just after the Cup. Maybe he noticed something that could help."

Sirius turned his head and gave his friend a grateful look. "I'd appreciate that. I'm going to keep a close eye on him here. Something's not right, Remus."

Remus nodded his head comfortingly. "Don't worry old friend. We'll figure it out."