Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. I've been super busy with things that are actually way more important than writing fanfics (gasp!) but you probably don't care for the details. I appreciate all the love for the first chapter. I hope to have a healthy mix between fluff and angst in this series, and this chapter is definitely more angsty, so buckle up. Also, for those of you that need the warning, there is a *mention* of corporal punishment in this chapter.

Enjoy! :)

Summer 1996

After the events following the third task, Sirius and Harry never really discussed whether or not Sirius would date Amelia. She was always just kind of there.

To be fair, a lot of people were there. Remus and Tonks, Amelia, the Weasleys, all people that cared for the father and son had agreed to rally around them, and for several weeks they even had a schedule of who would check on them and when. So Amelia would show up a few times a week, would usually bring a meal or cook something when she got there, and the three of them just kind of fell into a rhythm together. Over time, Sirius would occasionally reach for her hand and hold it a while, then he began putting his arm around her, and walking her outside when she left so he could kiss her goodnight. She never spent the night, and Sirius watched Harry very closely to make sure none of the physical affection he was giving Amelia was bothering his son, and it seemed for the most part like it wasn't.

The first time Harry had seen them kissing, outside that horribly embarrassing night at Hogwarts a few months prior when they both had had a little too much alcohol, was completely by accident. Harry was outside flying and felt himself growing thirsty, so he landed, went inside the back door, and walked into their kitchen to find his father snogging Amelia as she leaned against their kitchen counter. Of course the couple pulled apart rather quickly at the arrival of the teenager, who snickered, shook his head, and told them they should get a room before retrieving a pumpkin juice and heading back outside.

Accidental encounters notwithstanding, Sirius did at least try to hide the more intimate moments from his son. Remus faithfully took Harry out for some sort of adventure every Thursday, so Sirius usually took advantage and had some alone time with Amelia. Harry also spent several afternoons throughout the summer at the Burrow, which meant Sirius would also sneak away for lunch or a quick visit. Amelia was the interim Minister of Magic until an election could be held, which meant her free time was limited. But Sirius never left Harry alone to spend time with Amelia. It didn't feel right to him to do so, though his best friend was less than supportive.

"I think you and Amelia are behaving like idiots," Remus told him pointedly one day during lunch the previous summer while Harry was at his private quidditch training.

"What are you on about?" Sirius asked, a bit taken aback by his best friend's vehemence.

Remus scowled. "You're behaving like idiots. You do a hell of a job with Harry, Sirius, but you've been mother and father to him for long enough. What makes you so sure he couldn't use an actual mother in his life?"

It was Sirius's turn to scowl. "I have to think about what is best for him, Remus, and with everyone he's lost, I don't want to be the reason he loses someone else if Amelia and I do not work out."

"I thought you said you and Amelia were getting pretty serious," Remus countered.

"We are," Sirius agreed.

"And didn't you tell me just last week you've never felt the same about any other girl you've dated?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"Do you think you're in love with Amelia?" Remus asked, interrupting his friend's excuses.

Sirius hesitated. He knew the answer, but he had never admitted to something like this before, though he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. "Yes, I think so. But she might not feel the same way."

Remus took a sip of his tea. "She does," he said firmly.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "What makes you so sure?"

Remus smirked. "She does, Sirius, trust me. So if you're in love with one another, what's the problem?"

"What if it doesn't work out? What will that do to Harry?" Sirius asked while also secretly worrying about what it would do to him.

Remus rubbed his forehead like he had a headache. "Sirius, none of us can predict the future, but if you and Amelia are in love, what makes you so sure it won't work out? You never told me and Dora not to get married, or Lily and James."

"Yes, but you and Dora and Lily and James are different."

"How?"

Sirius sighed. You're not me he thought to himself. Sirius exuded confidence from the outside. He was handsome and put together; he was talented and a smooth talker. He had, on more than one occasion, typically by a woman, been accused of being a bit big-headed. But on the inside, when it came to his ability not to hurt the people around him, he saw himself as nothing but a failure, and watching his son literally die in front of him had not helped his confidence at all.

Remus noticed Sirius's hesitation and decided it was time to be more supportive. "Like I said, Padfoot, you do a wonderful job with Harry, but he could use a mum too. If you and Amelia are serious, I think it's time you talked with her and with Harry."

And so he did.

When Harry returned that evening, he sat him down.

"I need to talk to you," Sirius began.

"Am I in trouble?" Harry asked nervously.

"No," Sirius quickly reassured. "Not at all. I just need to discuss some things with you."

"Ok," Harry said. "What's up?"

Sirius took a deep breath. "I think I'm going to start dating Amelia."

"Aren't you already doing that?" Harry questioned, his eyebrows arched on his forehead.

"Uh well, yeah, but probably more," Sirius attempted to explain.

Harry waited for more, but when it didn't come, he looked at his father strangely. Sirius was wringing his hands together and biting his bottom lip. It was a bit unnerving to see his usually laid back father so unnerved himself.

"Is that it?"

Sirius looked at him. "Well actually, I wanted you to know that I think I'm in love with Amelia, and if we begin dating more, in a few months I might ask her to marry me."

Harry nodded reasonably. "That makes sense."

Sirius moved to be sitting beside his son. "You're ok with this?"

Harry shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Sirius let out a long breath. "Well, to be completely honest, I still have a lot of guilt over taking James's place, and I don't want you to feel like I'm trying to replace your mum too. Plus, I want you to know that you will always be the most important person in my life. That will never change."

Harry stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "First of all, you didn't replace my dad. Dad asked you to take over if anything happened to him, and you did. That's fulfilling his wishes, not replacing him. And I don't think mum would care either. She probably would prefer you have more feminine influences in my life anyway. Hermione's always telling me and Ron we're pigs."

Sirius chuckled. "I think Miss Granger is a bit harsh, but we could probably both use some 'feminine influence.' Amelia says I'm a slob too."

Harry laughed. "How about this? If it gets weird, I'll tell you."

Sirius placed his hand on his son's knee. "You promise?"

"I promise," Harry said firmly.

So Sirius and Amelia started dating more than they already were. Within a few weeks, Harry was back in the Hogwarts dorms, and Sirius was in his quarters at the castle, meaning Amelia could visit more often. Harry kept up their tradition of having dinner together every Tuesday, and after a few weeks Amelia was there too when she could be.

If Harry were being completely honest, he enjoyed having Amelia there. Sirius always did an excellent job making sure they had plenty of father-son time, so Harry never really felt any jealousy, and he legitimately liked Amelia. She made his favorite meals and did fun things with him often. She listened to him, gave him advice, and usually took his side in his playful arguments with his father.

Christmas rolled around and Sirius asked her to marry him, with his son's permission of course. Then they married in the spring and took a short honeymoon while Harry was at Hogwarts. At every step along the way, Sirius always discussed Harry's feelings with him, but Harry never really had any bad feelings about it.

But as the summer holiday approached, Sirius found himself becoming more and more concerned with Harry's adjustment to living with Amelia. What he really should have done was sit both his wife and his son down for a meeting and discuss what was going to change, stay the same, and what they expected of each other.

But instead of doing that, with the stress of Harry's OWLs and the final exams Sirius had to give in his own classes, plus Amelia's adjustment to being the newly elected Minister of Magic, Sirius sort of pushed that conversation to the back burner and before he knew it, they were all together at the home Harry and Sirius shared in Dorset.

For the first few weeks of the holiday, things went very well.

Until they didn't.

Harry was eating his breakfast when Sirius walked in with a letter.

"Where's Hedwig?"

"Taking a letter to Ginny," Harry answered, his mouth full of cereal.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at his son's atrocious table manners, but otherwise didn't comment on them. "When will she be back?"

Harry shrugged. "Whenever Ginny writes back, I guess."

Sirius sighed. "I need to send these exam results to McGonagall. I guess I'll take the floo over and deliver them myself." He sat down beside his son. "We need another owl."

"Don't let Hedwig hear you say that," Harry told him.

Sirius smirked. "I won't. She's a great owl, but you keep her busy. I think it's time we bought another. Want to go to Diagon Alley today?"

Harry's eyes went wide. "Yeah, that sounds brilliant."

"Ok," Sirius nodded. "Finish your breakfast and then go get dressed. We'll leave when you're ready."

….

They flooed directly to the Weasleys' joke shop, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Fred and George had graduated, and Arthur gave them the joke shop location as a graduation gift. Arthur was on site helping them that day, and Harry was pleased to see Ron had tagged along. Fred and George immediately began showing Sirius around the store he was responsible for while Harry chatted with his best friend and helped him stock the shelves.

"Have you seen the new Nimbuses?" Ron asked as he squeezed more fake love potions onto the shelves.

"Only in magazines. Do they have them in stock yet?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Yeah, I saw them yesterday. You should see them. They're bloody beautiful," Ron responded. He looked over his shoulder where his older brothers and dad were talking to Sirius before checking his watch. "I've been working for about two hours. I could use a break. Want to ask if we can go now?"

Harry nodded. "Let's do it."

After too much deliberation for Harry's liking, Sirius cautiously agreed to let Harry go. It had been over a year since Harry had ended Voldemort for good, and Sirius had come a long way in his fear of letting Harry go anywhere alone. Sirius knew that following the first war, Voldemort's followers were very active in the few weeks following his downfall, as evidenced by what had happened to Frank and Alice Longbottom, so Sirius had kept Harry pretty locked down in wizarding areas the previous summer. But over time, with a lot of reassurance from Amelia, which was another reason Harry liked having her around, Sirius became less and less restrictive. Harry was pretty free to move about in muggle areas, and in wizarding areas like Diagon Alley, as long as he was careful, he was most likely safe.

"Ok," Sirius agreed. "But be careful. I have to go to Gringotts when I leave here, so I'll meet you at Eeyelops in half an hour. Sound good?"

"Perfect," Harry answered. He turned to walk away, but Sirius gently grabbed his shoulder.

"Be careful, Harry James."

"Yes, sir," Harry answered before he and Ron were out the door.

The two practically sprinted to Quality Quidditch Supplies to see the newest broom. They basically drooled over the new Nimbus 2500. Harry was fiercely loyal to the Firebolt line of broomsticks, but he couldn't deny the broom's sleek design looked really cool.

"I heard Puddlemere just ordered them for the season," Harry told his best friend.

Ron smirked. "If you play professionally, are you going to give up your Firebolt obsession?"

Harry chuckled. Most professional teams in Europe did use the Nimbus line, it was true. His own trainer, Max Brankovitch, was coaching the Wimbourne Wasps and the entire team used Nimbus brooms. He shrugged. "I guess if I have to, but maybe I can talk them into switching."

Ron snorted. "Firebolt should give you a sponsorship. 'The broom of choice of the Boy Who Lived'." He waved his hand through the air like he was painting the phrase on a billboard.

Harry punched him lightly. "Shut it."

Ron laughed until someone outside the window caught his attention. He motioned with his head. "Look who it is."

Harry turned to see who Ron was referring to. Just outside the window, he saw Draco Malfoy following his mother down the street like he was trying to hide his face.

Lucius Malfoy had been among the Death Eaters arrested the night Lord Voldemort died. He would likely be spending the rest of his life in prison, and though Azkaban had been seriously reformed under Amelia's administration, meaning the boy could visit his father from time to time, it still was a horrible place to be.

Of course, Draco's pain from losing his father quickly morphed into an all-out and ongoing feud with Harry. Much like James and Snape, there was no love lost between Harry and Draco, and the two boys spent most of the school year bickering and fighting. Draco usually started their quarrels, but Harry wasn't completely innocent. They had both been in trouble from time to time throughout the school year for hexing one another, ultimately coming to blows in the spring when Draco hexed Ginny and Harry responded by disarming him and punching him square in the jaw. The fight that ensued had resulted in three weeks of Saturday detentions for both of them, three weekends of being grounded to Sirius's quarters for Harry, and Dumbledore telling the two boys in no uncertain terms that if they were caught fighting again, they would both lose their prefect badges.

They had managed to remain civil until the school year ended, but the animosity remained.

"I wonder what he's up to," Harry commented.

"Want to find out?" Ron asked, and Harry's only response was a smile.

They trailed slightly behind the mother and son. Both Narcissa and Draco seemed determined to not be seen. Harry and Ron didn't have to put much effort into hiding themselves as the Malfoys were not looking up at all. They stalked quickly towards the end of the street and took a left turn.

"Figures," Ron mumbled.

Harry stopped and scoffed. "His mum told Sirius she was trying to make sure her precious Draco didn't follow in Daddy's footsteps, but she's taking him to Knockturn Alley. She's full of it."

Ron looked at his watch. "We better go. You have to meet Sirius in just a few minutes." He turned back in the direction of Eeyelops, but Harry didn't move. "Harry?"

Harry was still staring at the spot that Draco and his mum had disappeared from. "I really want to know what he's doing."

Ron tried to pull his arm. "You can't go to Knockturn Alley. Sirius will kill you."

Harry looked down at his own watch. "I still have ten minutes. Come on."

"This is a really bad idea, Harry. Let's go back," Ron pleaded, but he still followed his best friend. "Do you at least have your cloak?"

"No, but we'll just see where they're going and come right back," Harry tried to reassure him as he sped up his steps.

It was a hot day in Diagon Alley, but instantly stepping into the darkness of Knockturn Alley the temperature dropped several degrees. The streets were mostly deserted except for a couple of dodgy characters standing around. Harry's eyes scanned until they saw Draco and Narcissa going into the only store in Knockturn Alley Harry had ever visited before, Borgin and Burkes. As they slowly walked over, crouching so as not to be seen through any of the windows, a vendor with crooked teeth and greenish skin pushed a cart of evil-looking masks right up to them, blocking their paths.

"No, thank you," Harry said quickly, pushing Ron past him. They hurried as fast as they could away. They were just about to reach Borgin and Burkes when they felt someone grab both of their collars and drag them into an alley between two stores. Harry and Ron fought and kicked, but were powerless until they felt the stranger spin them around. Harry was surprised to see it was a witch and not a wizard that had grabbed them, and though she appeared to be nearly a hundred years old and scrawny, her voice was unmistakable as she began to lecture them.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Tonks whispered harshly as her face morphed and hair shortened.

"Tonks!" Ron said, relieved. "You scared the hell out of us!"

"Shh!" she hissed. "You'll blow my cover. Now, I'm going to change and walk the two of you out of here. If you take one step out of line, I will petrify you and drag you, got it?"

Harry and Ron nodded quickly. She pushed them forward and they marched as fast as they could. Once they were in the bright light of Diagon Alley again, she checked her surroundings and changed back to recognizable.

"Now will one of you please explain what you were thinking going into Knockturn Alley? Especially you, Harry! You're bloody lucky I was the one that recognized you!"

Harry shifted his feet nervously. "We saw Draco and Narcissa and wanted to see what they were up to."

"You saw Aunt Narcissa?"

"Narcissa Malfoy is your aunt?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I told you that," Harry told him. "Narcissa and Andy, Tonk's mom, and some woman in Azkaban named Bellatrix that Sirius says is bat-shit crazy, are all sisters. I know I told you this."

"No, you didn't…" Ron began, but Tonks interrupted by smacking both of them in the back of the head.

"This is not important right now, you idiots. What were you thinking?"

"We wanted to see what they were up to," Harry responded, feeling like an idiot.

"That's my job, kid, not yours. Where is Sirius?"

"I'm supposed to meet him in like five minutes. Please don't tell him, Tonks," Harry pleaded.

Tonks crossed her arms angrily and stared at him. "You're putting me in a really bad position here, kid. I can't lie to Sirius."

"You don't have to lie, just don't tell him," Harry reasoned, though his stomach twisted because he knew that was indeed a lie itself.

Tonks sighed. "Where are you supposed to meet him?"

"Eeyelops," Harry answered.

Tonks thought about it a few more seconds, shaking her head before finally saying. "Alright. I'm not sure I won't tell Sirius, but I won't tell him now. Go on before I change my mind."

Harry and Ron both hurried off with a few "thank you"s thrown her way.

….

Amelia shuffled paperwork on her desk, rubbing her eyes. She heard a knock on her door and was sure that no matter who walked in, she would prefer talking to them over doing any more paperwork.

"Come in."

Tonks peeked her head in. "Is this a good time, Minister?"

Amelia smiled. Though she was always technically Dora's boss, she had always been one of her favorite people, and now that they were married to best friends, they had become close friends themselves. "Tonks, you know not to call me that when no one is around. Please come in."

Tonks shuffled in and closed the door behind her. "How's it going?"

Amelia sighed. "I think I'm suffering from death by paperwork. How's Teddy?"

Tonks smiled. "He's perfect. He's the happiest baby. He started crawling a few days ago."

"That's wonderful!" Amelia told her. "You all should come have dinner soon. I could use some baby cuddles."

"You're not getting baby fever are you?" Tonks asked, bouncing in her seat a bit with excitement.

Amelia quickly shook her head. "Not at all. Sirius and I don't want any more children right now. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy borrowing them for a bit."

Tonks smiled at her again before she began to shift uncomfortably. Amelia grew concerned. "Did you need to talk to me about something?"

Tonks looked guilty. "Yes, actually. I have something to tell you."

….

Harry was working on his homework on their couch when Amelia came through the floo.

"Hey Amelia."

"Hi Harry," she greeted, genuinely happy to see him though she was upset with him. "Where's your dad?"

"He went to Remus's to borrow a book. Said he'd be back in a few minutes."

Amelia nodded. "You're not flying this afternoon?"

Harry shook his head. "My stomach isn't feeling great."

Amelia was instantly concerned. Instinctively she walked over and felt his forehead. Harry was a bit surprised by the move. He had no memory of a mother-like figure doing that for him. Of course, Sirius had done it nearly every time Harry had even sneezed or coughed, but never a woman. Though it felt awkward, if he were being honest, he would admit it felt nice.

"You don't feel warm. Do you feel like you're going to throw up?"

Harry shook his head and tried to laugh it off. "I'm fine, Amelia. I think I just ate a little too much ice cream in Diagon Alley."

Amelia nodded her understanding, then suddenly grew annoyed. Not only had Harry snuck off to Knockturn Alley, but he had lied to Sirius about it and enjoyed a trip to Fortescue's as a result. She studied him another moment, then stood up straight and crossed her arms. "I need to ask you a question."

Harry was confused at the sudden change in his stepmother. He squirmed, wondering if this was how the wizards and witches Amelia had arrested in the past felt to be questioned by her. "Ok."

"Your stomachache, you think that's from ice cream or guilt?"

Harry panicked, though he pretended to be confused. "What do you mean?"

Amelia narrowed her eyes on him and spoke sternly. "I had a very interesting conversation with Tonks today. So tell me the truth, did you and Ron go to Knockturn Alley today?"

Harry bit his lip, which was all the confirmation Amelia needed.

"Harry James," she began sharply, "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was, especially for you! Knockturn Alley is dangerous for any young wizard, but especially the boy who defeated Voldemort. There's any number of nasty individuals down there that would love to get their hands on you."

Like any respectable teenager, Harry immediately grew defensive. Never mind that his stepmother was right. How dare she talk to him like that?

He stood up. "It's not like anything happened!" he yelled.

Amelia was appalled. "Thank Merlin for that, but it was so very dangerous Harry. And what's more is you lied to Sirius about it."

Harry grit his teeth. He already felt bad about lying. He didn't need her reminding him. "I don't think that's any of your business, Amelia."

Amelia's jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"

Harry threw himself back down on the couch and crossed his arms before pulling a page directly from the Teenager's Guide to Arguing with Parents, if that were really a thing. He said the most hurtful thing he could think of.

"You're not my mum, Amelia."

Amelia was hurt, but she hid it well. "I'm not trying to be, Harry, but I care about you and don't want to see you get hurt."

"Well, I didn't get hurt, so nothing to worry about, ok? You can leave me alone now." Harry hardly recognized his own voice as he spoke, but his guilt was eating him up and making his hurtful words come out like vomit.

Amelia sighed. "I'm afraid it's not that simple, Harry."

Harry sat up, suddenly realizing what Amelia was implying. "You're going to tell Sirius, aren't you?"

Amelia stared at him for several seconds while she thought about the best way to answer. "Sirius and I don't keep secrets from one another, so I will if I need to, but I think it would be best if you told him."

Now the teenager was quickly morphing from defiant to desperate. "He'll be so mad," he pleaded. "Please don't tell him."

Amelia shook her head. "He has a right to be angry. You did something you knew was absolutely forbidden, and put yourself in extreme danger. And you lied to him."

Harry stared at her, stuck between the overwhelming urge to scream at her for reminding him how awful he was and the urge to drop to his knees and beg her to just keep this between them. He finally tried a different approach.

"Look, we made a mistake. I'm sorry, ok? But we didn't get hurt, Tonks gave us an earful, and we will never, ever do that again. So can we please just let it go?"

Amelia wished there was some book somewhere with foolproof answers to handling sticky situations with stepchildren. Maybe there was, but she hadn't read it.

She felt extremely conflicted. On the one hand, she hadn't been Harry's stepmother very long, and she wanted the teenager to like her. They had never had an argument before, and she didn't want to have one now. But on the other hand, she did care deeply for Harry, and though she didn't want the boy to be in trouble, she recognized that having consequences for such a serious act would probably go a long way in preventing the same careless actions in the future.

It was not being overly dramatic to say that Harry could have legitimately been seriously hurt or killed if the wrong person saw him in Knockturn Alley, and she hated the idea of something happening to him because of his own carelessness and her unwillingness to be the bad guy.

Plus, keeping secrets from her husband wasn't the best way to ensure a lasting marriage.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but no. You need to tell Sirius. I will give you until tomorrow evening, but if you haven't by the time we have dinner, I will."

Harry felt his last bit of hope slowly fade away. He was in for it, he knew, but right now he was just angry. Angry mostly at himself, but it definitely looked like anger at Amelia.

"Fine, then just leave me alone!"

Unfortunately, Sirius had chosen that exact moment to step through the floo and caught his son's last loud words to his wife.

"What is going on?" he asked, looking between his wife and his son. Harry was sitting with his arms crossed defiantly, a frown that was dangerously similar to a pout affixed to his face. Amelia was standing, looking sadly at her stepson, her features looking defeated. "Is everything ok?" he asked as he studied them.

Amelia raised an eyebrow at Harry, trying to give him an opportunity to tell Sirius what was going on, but when the boy just remained silent, she turned toward her husband. "Everything is fine. I was just going to start dinner."

"Well wait a second," Sirius stopped her and looked at his son. "Harry, I don't like the way you were speaking to Amelia. I think you owe her an apology."

No bloody way Harry thought to himself. This was just great. Sirius was taking her side without even hearing what he had to say. Of course, he wasn't saying anything, so that probably didn't help, but he was annoyed nonetheless.

"So you're just going to take her side without even asking me?" he snapped.

"No," Sirius answered, shaking his head. "I asked both of you what was going on. You didn't answer. Amelia did. I'm not sure what reason you could have for being so disrespectful to an adult, but I'm certainly willing to listen to one."

Amelia felt annoyance rise up in her chest. Sirius had called her Amelia and an adult but he never once referred to her as Harry's stepmother. She began to wonder what role Sirius saw for her in Harry's life.

Harry continued to say nothing.

"Harry? Do you have anything to say?" Sirius prompted again.

"No," the teenager responded plainly.

Sirius sighed sadly. "Ok, well you can go to your room until you do."

Harry's jaw dropped. "What?!"

"You heard me. If you are not willing to explain yourself or apologize, you can go to your room until you are," Sirius told him.

Harry felt anger boiling up inside him, though if he were being honest it was mostly at himself. "Fine!" he shouted as he stomped up the stairs and slammed his door.

Sirius jumped slightly at the door slamming before looking at his wife. "What was that about?"

Amelia huffed and sat down. "I need to ask you a question."

Sirius blinked a couple of times in confusion. "Ok."

She rubbed her face a few times, then clasped her hands together, something Sirius knew she always did when she was nervous, but he stayed quiet and let her speak.

"What do you think my role in Harry's life is?"

Sirius lowered his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"What is my role? You just said that I was an adult, so he had to be respectful, but you never reminded him that I was his stepmother. What exactly does being his stepmother mean?"

Sirius looked absolutely lost, so Amelia continued.

"Let's say, hypothetically speaking," she began, "Let's say that…hypothetically of course…that I knew Harry had done something wrong and you didn't know about it. How would you expect me to handle that…hypothetically?"

Sirius sat down beside her and scratched his head. "Hypothetically?" he asked, teasing her.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, hypothetically."

Sirius smirked before growing more serious. "Ok, so I'm assuming you mean like he's broken some sort of rule or done something stupid?"

Amelia nodded.

"Ok, well I guess I would expect you to tell me, and I would handle it."

Amelia's shoulders slumped. "You would handle it?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah."

"So, if Harry does something wrong, and I find out about it, I should just tell you, and then let you handle the whole thing. I have no role in that whatsoever?"

Sirius was confused by her anger. "Yes…"

Her jaw dropped.

"I mean, no!" Sirius corrected. "No, of course you're more important than that. I guess I am just kind of used to being the disciplinarian."

Amelia sighed. "Well, I don't exactly admire that role, but we discussed before we even got married that I wasn't just a woman living with Harry. That I would be taking on the role of his mum, and I love him, Sirius, so I feel like I should be involved with everything that goes on with him."

Even though Sirius was still a bit confused and mostly worried about what was going on, he couldn't help but feel his heart swell hearing the woman he loved say she loved his son. He knew that, of course. He would never have married anyone that wasn't crazy about Harry too, but it always brought a smile to his face to hear her say it. "Yeah, I agree. I just want you to know that it probably won't be easy. Harry's a really good kid, but he had a very hard time adjusting to having an adult in charge of him when I stepped into his life. Those damned Dursleys did a number on him, and he had to do a lot of taking care of himself. So it's not always easy for him to let someone else do that."

Amelia nodded. "It would be wrong to hex them into a million pieces, right?"

Sirius chuckled. "No, it would be illegal. I can't say it would be wrong."

Amelia smiled and leaned her head over on him.

Sirius leaned over and kissed her forehead. "So, you want to tell me what this hypothetical situation that is most definitely really happening right now is?"

Amelia sighed. "I can't."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You can't?"

She shook her head. "It's not that I don't want to tell you, but this is something that should really come from Harry. Plus, I told him to tell you. It would undermine my authority if I did it for him. He needs to learn to obey me."

Sirius twisted his face in thought. "Ok, I get that. Should I be worried?"

Amelia shook her head a second time. "No, he's not in any danger or anything. He's just being stubborn."

Sirius nodded his understanding. "Well, when this is all over, maybe we should sit down and discuss your role in Harry's life, so we're all on the same page."

"Good idea."

"Now," Sirius continued, standing up, "I'm going to go get my…our little miscreant."

….

Harry heard Sirius's footsteps coming up the stairs. In just a few weeks of living with Amelia and Sirius, he had learned to distinguish between their steps. They were both thin, but Sirius walked on his heels, making his footsteps heavy. When Amelia walked her steps were light.

He briefly thought back to his time with the Dursleys. Often, as he was lying on his cot in his cupboard, he would hear Aunt Petunia step out of her bed and tip-toe past her precious Duddykin's room so he could sleep as late as he wanted. Uncle Vernon couldn't step softly if he had wanted to, and he hadn't, but Petunia always made an effort not to disturb her precious son. It wasn't until she had crept down the stairs that she banged violently on the cupboard and woke up Harry to begin his chores. Now, Amelia usually left early for work so she could get her tasks done and be home early to spend time with her boys. She always tiptoed by Harry's door so as not to wake him in the mornings, though Harry had known she was there the first few mornings when he was still used to waking up early for classes.

That thought shifted Harry's mind to the first night he had been home from Hogwarts. Sirius had sent him to bed a little after ten because Harry did look tired, but though Harry was exhausted from the end of exams and the train ride home, he wasn't sleepy. He wasn't quite ready to admit to his father that he was used to staying up much later, so he went to bed obediently and tried to fall asleep.

As he had done every night that Harry stayed with him, Sirius crept in before he went to bed himself and placed a gentle kiss on his son's forehead. Harry had completely expected it and pretended to be asleep when he came in, but what he didn't expect was Amelia to come in too at the same time and do the same thing. He felt her gently tuck the covers around him and run a hand tenderly down his cheek. She stood back up and whispered, "I love you, Harry," and it had taken all of his self-control to remind himself that he was asleep and not to lean into her gentle touch.

Lying here stewing in his room feeling like the worst person in the entire world, he suddenly realized that he did love Amelia. She had been a part of his life almost as long as Sirius, and in the past year he had really grown close to her. Of course she was upset with him for doing something so stupid, and he knew it was his own guilt that had made him so angry at her.

The two quick knocks on his door that Sirius always gave before letting himself in pulled him from his thoughts.

Harry sat up as Sirius walked over and sat on his bed. Harry picked at the blanket while he waited for his father to speak.

"Hey," Sirius began, giving him a smile.

"Hi," Harry responded quietly.

Sirius put his arm around his son. "I wanted to apologize."

Confused was an understatement for how Harry was feeling. Sirius was apologizing to him? "What? Apologize to me?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, I wanted to apologize because I never took the time to prepare you for what this was going to be like."

Harry smirked. "We talked about it like a million times, Dad."

"Yes, we talked about how things would be different, but we never really talked about what that would look like specifically. So I think it would be beneficial for us to do that now. And then again with Amelia."

Harry nodded. "Ok."

Sirius leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. "Well first of all, I want you to know that I will never take Amelia's side over yours, but there may be times when I agree with her as the adult and not with you as the kid. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," Harry told him. "And I know that. I shouldn't have said that. I was just angry."

Sirius nodded. "That's understandable. You're allowed to be angry. You're allowed to have trouble with this. I made the decision to marry Amelia, not you, so it is reasonable for you to have a more difficult adjustment. And I would like her to be like a mum to you, and not just a woman that lives with me."

Harry looked him in the eyes. "I want that too. I like Amelia, Dad. I really, really do. I think she's a great mum. I guess it's just hard, you know. I didn't really know what a good dad was like until you came along, and now I have to learn what a good mum is like."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Sirius told him with a smile. "I think she'd be glad to hear it too, because I know she loves you."

Harry blushed, grinning…until Sirius's voice grew stern.

"But that also means that she will occasionally be the one to discipline you as well. If you break the rules, she has just as much of a right to get onto you as I do. I don't expect you to always agree with her, but I do expect you to be respectful."

Harry nodded. "I know. I guess I owe her an apology."

"I think that's a good idea. Then you can tell me whatever it is you need to tell me." He raised an eyebrow at his son.

Harry winced. "Yes, sir." Sirius stood up and Harry followed. "You know, shouldn't I tell both of you, and let you both decide my punishment?" he tried, knowing that the fact that Amelia hadn't already started whacking him meant she would probably handle the whole thing better than Sirius.

Sirius stopped and looked back at his son before smirking. "Yes, I suppose that's true."

….

"I thought you learned your lesson after your last fight with Malfoy, young man," Sirius said sternly after hearing Harry confess his wrongdoings from that morning.

"I did…" Harry began, but was cut off.

"It's hard for me to believe that Harry when you do something like this," Sirius answered, more sad than angry.

Harry frowned. "I just wanted to see what they were up to."

Sirius glared at him, but it was Amelia who spoke first. "That's not your job, Harry. You could have told me. I would have looked into it."

Sirius nodded in agreement, but he could tell Harry was still skeptical. He knew his overly curious son wasn't going to be completely penitent until he knew what the Malfoys were doing. "My guess is that Narcissa is trying to get rid of some of Lucy's dark objects, to get them out of their home. When I last spoke to her, she was really trying to get Draco back on the straight and narrow. I think this may have just been one step in that direction."

Harry scoffed. "I'm sure he will be a perfect angel in no time," he said sarcastically.

Sirius sighed in frustration and rubbed his hands over his face. He felt no sorrow for the elder Malfoy, but he empathized with his son. Draco may have been a brat, but he wasn't responsible for his father's misdeeds. "Draco is a child, Harry, just like you are. He does not deserve to have lost his father any more than you deserved to lose your parents."

Harry felt himself shrinking. He hated when Sirius called him a child, but considering his current predicament, he probably shouldn't point that out right now. He also knew Sirius was right, but he couldn't see himself ever getting along with Draco.

"I do not expect you to be his best friend," Sirius continued as if he could read his son's thoughts, "But this continued rivalry has done nothing but get the two of you in trouble, and it will continue to do so if you cannot learn to be civil with one another." He felt as though he could be quoting Mr. Potter, saying nearly the exact same words to James and Sirius about Snape a couple decades before.

Harry hung his head and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Sirius sighed. "Alright, enough about Draco, let's get back to the matter at hand." He reached over and tapped his son's knee so Harry would look at him. "You know I hate lying."

Harry nodded. "I know," he said quietly, staring down at his hands again.

Sirius looked at Amelia. "I'm thinking his broom needs to stay on the ground for the next two weeks. What do you think?"

Amelia looked at Harry, noticing how the boy slouched, the pained look in his eyes. She hated being the cause of that, and she suddenly had the urge to tell Sirius she no longer wanted any part of disciplining their son.

"Uh, yeah. That sounds reasonable," she managed to make herself say hoarsely.

Harry couldn't help himself as he winced. He probably hated losing his broom worse than any other punishment, though he knew he deserved it. What was worse is they hadn't even discussed his punishment for actually going to Knockturn Alley. He chanced a glance up at his father.

Sirius took a deep breath as he leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. "I'm assuming that Amelia already told you how dangerous it was for you to be in Knockturn Alley. It's dangerous for anyone, but especially you." Sirius's tone was stern again and Harry felt dread pooling in his stomach.

"Yeah, she told me," the teen admitted.

Sirius nodded a few times. "And what was the last thing I told you before I let you go to the quidditch shop with Ron?" he asked.

Harry was so surprised that Sirius didn't reiterate Amelia's lecture that it took him a moment to answer. "Uhh..be careful."

Sirius looked up at Amelia with a raised eyebrow. She grimaced, but eventually shut her eyes and gave one silent nod to communicate her agreement with what Sirius was thinking.

Sirius sighed and looked back at his son. "Ok, no broom for two weeks for lying. But you also disobeyed me and put yourself in danger. I think you already know the consequences for that in this house."

Harry let out a soft whine as he looked pleadingly at Sirius, but Sirius hardened his heart.

"Go wait for me in your room."

….

Amelia found her husband in his study later that evening pretending to be lesson planning and in reality reeling from having to punish his son. The look of sadness on Harry's face when they had taken his broom away had nearly broken her resolve, and she couldn't imagine how hard it had been on Sirius when he sent him to his room to await a spanking for his little adventure in Knockturn Alley, much less actually carry out the punishment.

"Hey," she said softly.

Sirius pulled off his glasses and smiled at her. "Hi. How did Molly take the news?"

Amelia winced. "My ears are still ringing." She shook herself and surveyed her husband. "Are you ok?"

Sirius leaned his chair back and put his hands behind his head. "Yeah, just a little worse for wear."

Amelia nodded. "Parenting is hard."

Sirius chuckled. "It is indeed."

She walked behind him, forcing him to drop the front legs of his chair. She put her arms around him and kissed the top of his head. Sirius reached up and stroked her arms.

"You ready for bed?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Let's go."

….

Harry could hear both sets of feet walking up the steps, though Amelia's made a much softer sound. He squeezed his eyes together and pretended to be asleep. He heard rather than saw the door open, then heard both Sirius and Amelia walk to his bed. Amelia pulled his blanket up around his shoulders and gently tucked it around him.

Sirius put his arm around his wife as she stood back up. "He's a good kid," he whispered.

"The best," she replied softly.

Sirius bent over, smoothed his hair back, and kissed his forehead. "We love you, Harry James."

Harry knew he was supposed to be asleep, and he also knew he had been sent to bed early as part of his punishment, but he couldn't stop himself. Just before Amelia and Sirius walked out of the room, he called out to them.

"I love you too. Both of you."