The conversation wrapped up soon, with Ron and Hermione being called to help Mrs. Weasley with some chore. They promised to call later, and made plans to visit Grimmauld Place the following day.

Harry found some spare parchment from his trunk and wrote the following to (he hoped) his new Potions teacher.

"Dear Professor Slughorn,

I was wondering if you will be accepting students in your NEWT class who received Exceeds Expectations on their OWL?

Thank you.

Harry"

It seemed a bit short, but Sirius thought it sounded fine, especially since they had only spoken the previous night. Harry thought his godfather was still a tad put out that Slughorn had referred to the Black brothers as "a set" and had "missed out" on "getting the pair."

"As though my brother and I are pieces of silverware!" he'd grumbled to Harry afterwards.

Harry couldn't help but feel insulted on Sirius's behalf as well.

After he sent Hedwig off with the letter, they finished their breakfast without talking much, but it was hardly the tense silence that they had endured for two weeks under the Dursleys. With Kreacher at Hogwarts, they had to clean up on their own, but Sirius did this with a flick of his wand. Harry watched in fascination.

"How do you do that? Without saying anything?" he asked. "Mrs. Weasley did that as well, but I thought you had to say all your spells..."

Sirius grinned, but his eyes showed a hint of sadness. Putting an arm around Harry, the two sat down on a couch. "I forget, sometimes, how much you didn't experience when you grew up with muggles. They're nonverbal spells. Takes more concentration to get the hang of it, but some witches and wizards find them easier once they get the hang of it. You'll start learning them this year."

"How does it work? You just think the words inside your head?" Harry wondered.

"In essence, yes," Sirius agreed, arm still wrapped around Harry's shoulder. "Some spells are entirely nonverbal-if you say them out loud, nothing happens. Levicorpus is one of those. Hangs someone upside down..."

Sirius stopped speaking at the look on Harry's face.

"What's wrong, pup?" he asked, softly.

Harry couldn't quite look at Sirius. "Dad used that on Snape. In the memory I saw," he murmured.

A second arm joined the first one. Harry wished it had been like this before, when he'd first told Sirius what had happened. Not that his godfather hadn't done his best to help, and they hadn't been the type to give hugs until recently...

Still, this felt better. Harry firmly reminded himself that his godfather had matured, that even his dad had grown up a lot since the memory. Besides, he'd saved Snape's life, hadn't he? That must have been what made him stop acting like such a prat.

Well, most of the time.

"What we did was awful," Sirius began, "and nothing I say can excuse it. We probably should have been expelled, honestly, for assaulting a student like that. Even if it was Sniv-Snape," Sirius corrected. "I know that if your dad were still alive, he'd be horrified by hope he'd acted."

"I should just try to forget it, then?" Harry asked.

He saw Sirius shake his head out of the corner of his eyes. "No. I don't think you can, anyway. But once Dumbledore's pensieve arrives, probably in the next day or so, Remus and I can show you some memories that don't present him in such a negative light."

Harry nodded. "I would like that, Sirius."

Sirius gave him another squeeze, and they sat like that in silence for a few minutes. Then, he began to tell Harry about nonverbal spells, and some tips he had found helpful for getting the hang of them.

Just before lunch, Hedwig returned with Slughorn's response.

"Dear Harry,

I am happy to accept all students who passed their OWL with an Acceptable or higher into my class. I look forward to having you as a student this coming term.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Slughorn."

Harry let out a sigh of relief. While he'd dreaded the subject under Snape, he wasn't entirely sure how much of that had to do with his former teacher and how much with the subject itself.

Sirius didn't look over his head as he read the reply, but he could guess the answer from the look on Harry's face.

"You'll be able to continue with Potions, then?" Sirius guessed.

Harry nodded. "I just hope it will go better than before."

"Well," Sirius began, slowly, "I can help you study before the class starts. If you'd like. Perhaps an hour or so a day, and see how that goes?"

As much as he would have liked a summer holiday free from homework, he couldn't deny that this would be helpful when he returned to school.

"I'd like that, Sirius," he answered, simply.

"Well, then," Sirius smiled, "let's head to Diagon Alley to pick up your books."

"Er, I don't have the list."

Sirius chuckled. "It's mostly the same from year to year. Anything that we miss or buy that you don't need, we can always return. Besides," he added, "if you take a look at when some of your books were written, you'll find they're older than I am. Rather a pity, because you can tell by the older language. Well, shall we go?"

"All right," Harry agreed, with a grin. "I'll grab my money bag..."

"Pup, we've been through this. I'm paying for your schooling for the rest of your time at school. It's what your parents would have wanted," Sirius said, firmly, but without any anger.

"Well, all right," Harry relented. "You did buy me my Firebolt, though, and those books and the knife..."

"Presents, pup," Sirius reminded him. "Which is my privilege as well as duty as your godfather. Oh, and they won't stop after they come of age, so don't try and protest," he added, ruffling Harry's hair.

Harry nodded, then smiled. "I won't try to argue with you, Sirius."

Sirius grinned. "Very wise, puppy." He paused, glancing at Harry, who was dressed in one of the new sets of muggle clothes Sirius had bought him. "Before we shop for your books, we might as well see what else you need. Let's see how your school robes fit."

"They're a bit short, I think," said Harry, a little sheepishly. "I think I grew a bit since I bought new ones."

Sirius's eyes crinkled in a smile as they walked upstairs to his room. "And how long ago was that?"

"Er-either before third year or fourth year, I think?" Harry guessed.

"You'll probably need new ones. You have dress robes, too?" Sirius asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, we needed them for fourth year. Y'know, the Yule Ball?"

He didn't expand on that. While he didn't mind having not gone with Cho, not anymore, it brought back memories of the Triwizard Tournament, and the aftermath.

"We'll likely need to get you new ones of those as well. At least two, I'd think," Sirius mused.

They had arrived at Sirius's room, and it was the first time Harry had seen it in broad daylight. He was rather startled at the pictures of female muggles in bikinis.

Following his gaze, Sirius chuckled. "My mum went mad when she saw those. Tried to remove them more times than I could count. Thank Merlin for permanent Sticking charms."

Harry snickered. "And all the Gryffindor colors. Bet your family loved that."

Sirius snorted. "Well, in all fairness, you should see my dear brother's room, the perfect little Slytherin, I had to make my loyalty known." Sirius put a hand on Harry's shoulders. "While we're here...let's see what state your wizarding wardrobe is in."

Harry walked over to his trunk and began removing various items. The robes were near the top-well, his ordinary ones-but he still had to remove a good bit of items before getting to them. Sirius helped, amusement on his face.

"You ever unpack your belongings completely, pup?" he teased.

"No," Harry admitted. "Just what I needed for the summer holidays."

Sirius understood. He placed a hand on Harry's shoulder again, which would have been enough, but then he took Harry in his arms, holding him in a long, secure hug.

"It won't be like that anymore, puppy," he promised.

Harry nodded, unable to speak for a minute, not even to ask Sirius not to let go, not yet.

His godfather, fortunately, seemed to understand.

They stayed like that for several moments before Harry let go. Sirius ran a hand over his hair, affectionately.

"Er, so. My robes," Harry murmured, turning back to his trunk. "Here's one..."

Sirius determined that Harry did, without a doubt, need new robes for classes and for dressy occasions. He was rather surprised that Harry's dress robes were green, although Harry couldn't see why.

"Mrs. Weasley picked them out," he explained, with a shrug.

"Probably thought they would bring out the color in your eyes, eh?" Sirius asked, with a chuckle. Seeing Harry color, he added, gently, "They're not so bad, but, well, your eyes aren't as noticeable as some of your other features. Your father always chose darker colors, to go with his hair. I must say, it made him look rather mature. A good two years older, which had been what he aimed for. Say we look at some other colors when we go to Madam Malkin's?"

"Sure. Thanks, Sirius," Harry added, smiling.

"Also," Sirius noted, examining Harry's robes, "you really should have a few robes that are for casual wear. You're almost of age, and while it's fine to wear muggle clothes during the holidays, it's a bit frowned upon once you're an adult. Now," he added quickly, "I don't believe in dressing entirely to appease the pure blooded standards, but it's hardly a bad idea to have robes that aren't part of your school uniform."

Again, Harry could see the logic behind this, and nodded.

"Thanks," he repeated. "It's good to have someone who knows this stuff."

Sirius rumpled Harry's hair again, receiving a sheepish grin in response.

"I don't want to mollycoddle you or anything..."

"You're not. Really," Harry promised, impulsively, hugging Sirius. His godfather squeezed back, and once again, it was Harry who let go first.

"Ready to go? Good, now grasp my hand tightly..."

Once they had reached Flourish and Blotts, Harry could see what Sirius had meant about not needing a formal book list. After selecting the year six edition of "Standard Book of Spells," Sirius made a comment to Harry that Matilda Bagshot had been his age when she had begun to write them.

"What did your parents use before?" Harry asked, placing his in a shopping basket.

"Grandparents," Sirius corrected. "No idea, to be honest, but probably something similar, or perhaps, nothing at all. Some spells are fairly well known, and others fade in and out of style."

"Like summoning stuff or lighting your wand," Harry said, with a nod.

"Yes, or opening a locked door, cleaning up a mess, even healing a cut," agreed Sirius. "Some witches and wizards, especially Healers, become so adept at that sort of thing that they don't need to think the words in their mind, just imagine the action. Your father and I," he added, with a bit of a laugh, "never managed it."

"Do you need a wand, or can you learn to do magic without one?"

"You need one to focus your magic. Even the greatest witches and wizards need one, although I expect that they can use other ones without as much difficulty as the rest of us," Sirius explained. "Kids can do accidental magic without one, but can rarely control it. I expect muggle borns get quite a shock when they do magic without meaning to."

"I always thought it was just odd stuff that kept happening me. Once, I accidentally turned my teacher's wig blue. Another time, I ended up on the roof when Dudley's gang were chasing me." Harry smiled ruefully. "The Dursleys were furious."

"And inept and neglectful, at the very least. It's one thing if you're a muggle and don't know what's going on, but they knew damn well," Sirius growled, then took a deep breath. "You know I would hex them something awful if the Ministry wouldn't find out."

"I know," Harry said, softly. "It's okay."

They left the book shop loaded with books. Not just the ones on the list, but extra ones that Sirius thought would be helpful. Had it been Hermione, Harry would have rolled his eyes at the very least, but Sirius didn't seem like one to work themselves or their friends nearly to the point of exhaustion.

Especially during a holiday.

As they headed to the robe shop, Harry could detect a difference in the atmosphere. Some shops were entirely vacant, and most of the people looked very serious, as though they wanted to do their shopping and leave immediately. There were signs up warning about the escaped Death Eaters, and precautions for leaving your home. Harry and Sirius had seen the list in the Daily Prophet, and found most of the suggestions downright unhelpful.

It did emphasize why Dumbledore had wanted the two of them home before dark, even at the Dursleys.

Madam Malkins measured Harry for his school robes, and then the three of them (mostly Sirius and her) discussed options for appropriate casual robes and, most importantly, dress robes.

"His previous ones were bright green, to match his eyes, but I don't think that's the best look for him," explained Sirius as Madam Malkin walked around Harry, giving him the odd sense of being surrounded. Or, at least, closely inspected.

"Dark brown might be better. Or, perhaps, a dark red?" the witch suggested.

With her wand, she pulled forth a few bolts of fabric, and a large amount of brown cloth began to encircle Harry.

"That looks nice," Sirius said. "Harry, what do you think?"

Harry peered at himself in the mirror, but he couldn't decide.

"I'm not sure," he answered, honestly. "'Sides, I trust you."

Sirius chuckled. "You'd regret that if I charmed them to have giant rabbits on them!"

Harry's eyes widened in mock horror. "You wouldn't!"

"No, not horrifying enough," Sirius relented. Then, impishly, he added, "Serpents would be far more terrifying."

Harry tried to glare at his godfather, but ended up laughing instead.

They ended up buying two dress robes in dark brown, and another set in rich red. For casual robes, they went with lighter red, dark blue, pale green, and light yellow. The last, neither was entirely sure of, but it had brown in the edges, and Madam Malkin thought it looked "very respectable." So, who were they to argue?

As Harry adjusted his glasses on the way out, Sirius gave him a once over. "Harry? How long have you had that pair of glasses?"

Harry frowned, trying to remember. "Since I was eight, maybe?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I think it might be best if we visited the Eycles Eye Emporium for a proper checkup."

"All right," Harry agreed, confused.

Ten minutes later, he was sitting in a chair, and Healer Eycles was waving a wand over Harry's face, muttering charms under her breath. She had him remove the glasses, then muttered more charms. Finally, she motioned for him to put the glasses back on.

"You'll need a new pair, with all the necessary charms for vision enhancement," she told the two of them, her tone brisk. "Mr. Potter's been using magic to enhance his vision, and while he can see with his glasses, this will cause damage to his magical core in the long term."

"How long term?" Sirius asked, his voice rather unsteady.

"Fifty years, perhaps a bit sooner. It's nothing he's noticed so far, because he has been wearing glasses. It would have been more severe had he come in without them," the healer assured them. "As long as he wears a pair that self corrects if his vision diminishes, he won't have any trouble with his magic."

The two of them had some fun looking at the glasses available, and Harry ended up choosing a pair not too different from the ones he was wearing.

"Best to stick with what works-or, rather, what you're used to," Sirius laughed. "I will say I prefer those to the other pairs you tried."

So did Harry. After Sirius paid for his new pair of glasses, he was rather happy to throw out his old pair, as there was no reason except sentiment to keep them-and Harry had no emotional connection to his old pair of glasses.

"I'm beat!" Sirius laughed, once they had left, packages tucked safely in a large bag Harry held, made easily manageable by an Extension charm and a Feather Light charm. "What do you say we get some ice cream and then head back?"

Harry, never one to say no to ice cream, eagerly agreed, and they set off for Fortescue's. The parlor was a little crowded, but they received their orders without any wait.

"I did my History of Magic essays about witch burnings here during my third year," Harry told Sirius, after swallowing a large spoonful of chocolate and strawberry. "Mr. Fortescue knew a ton about them, and he gave me free ice cream."

"He loves to help students with their History of Magic homework," Sirius said, not bothering to swallow his mouthful of chocolate caramel. "Real knowledgeable, but it's only the kids who want to know about the history. Well, not sure it's so much want to as prefer to hear from an alive person who can answer their questions, as opposed to a boring textbook or a ghost."

"I was just happy not to have to write my essays under my covers after they'd gone to sleep," said Harry.

"But things changed after you told them I was a convicted murderer, eh?" Sirius asked, eyes crinkling in amusement.

"Well, you've seen them. That's how they are at their best. But I got to finish my homework without having to sneak around," Harry answered.

Sirius nodded, having taken another large spoonful of ice cream.

They left soon afterwards, and Harry began to read over his Potions textbook for the next year. They planned to begin with his tutoring the following day, and Harry wanted to start this "class" on the right foot.

A/N: The Dursleys never struck me as the type to keep up with doctors appointments beyond the bare minimum, and even if they HAD, it's entirely likely that Harry would have gone from age 11 thru 15 without seeing an eye doctor. I wanted to address this potential problem without giving Harry a sudden burst of magic as a result of not relying on his own to see. The end result? Harry might have a slightly easier time with magic, but not enough to notice it.

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