"Do you have everything Prongslet?" Sirius stuck his head through the door looking at his godson. Harry laughed not looking up. He was sitting on his bed, his back against the backrest and played with Dawn who was play-fighting with his index finger. She cooed, gripping his fingertip with her little but powerful beak pulling at it while fluttering her wings only to jump around when Harry's second hand started tickling her. She cooed louder like she was laughing making Harry smile. He had spent the last couple of days only with her. He had spent time with Sirius and Narcissa but his focus at the moment was clear, it was this little bird. Sirius had smiled watching him, remembering the way James had been with Harry himself. Yet he felt a little sad his godson was leaving today, way too early in his opinion and they hadn't spent enough time together.

"Prongslet?" He asked again, stepping in. Harry raised his head, smiling at him. His finger still fought with the little bird, but then Dawn stopped looking around at the older man. In short hops the black hatchling came down the bed to the end, jumping at the footrest. She spread her wings and cooed at him in excitement. She was about the size of a small canary and was as excited and energy loaded. Sirius smiled, walking up to the bed and held his arm out for the small creature to jump on. Dawn did eagerly, cooing up at him demandingly. Sirius chuckled and tickled her under the beak, knowing full well how much she loved it. The bird leaned her head back to give him more room to tickle and closed her eyes.

Sirius raised his eyes seeing his smirking godson and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" He asked, sitting down next to Harry on the crimson bed. Harry grinned at him nudging him ever so slightly.

"Narcissa was half right, but not only women are suckers for little newborns. You are practically melting when Dawn is around." Sirius chuckled and held the small bird to Harry again. She jumped over, nuzzling against his chest. Harry's face got a dopey grin on itself. Sirius pointed his long finger at him grinning again.

"See, you got the same! You are just like Prongs when he held you." Harry's smiled turned a little bittersweet and he grinned a little while petting Dawn. Then he looked up.

"Thanks, Padfoot."

Sirius ruffled his hair, chuckling again. "No Problem Prongslet. Now have you packed everything?" At that question, Harry got an annoyed face.

"Oh come on Pads, you have asked me that like ten times now. Yes, everything is packed and ready. Kreacher helped me yesterday to pack everything." Well, that was only half true it was more like he helped Kreacher, who had accepted Harry's help begrudgingly after the boy had all but threatened him with vacation. They had packed his new trunk, which was a gift from Narcissa. She had said a young gentleman needed everything at his disposal and had given him an expanded trunk which was basically an entire room for him to carry around. It had a closet in it, a bed and even a built-in bathroom. While he thought it was a little much, he liked that he had his room with him, that he could decorate himself. There were posters stuck to the walls and everywhere was cushioned. Dawn had her own perch, for later, because at the moment the small bird slept in Harry's bed with him. On the table stood quite a few photos. There was one of Harry, Ron and Hermione from mid last year, all smiling while they sat at the Black Lake. One of Harry, Sirius and Narcissa, it was more one of the photos that you would think of when you think of a dignified family, in the sitting room. Yet it moved and the Sirius in the picture always made faces while Harry laughed and Narcissa seemed to scold him for it. There was a picture of Harry, about a month old, being held by his Mom and Dad. It was hard for Harry to look at that particular one. The last picture was the newest. It was Harry, lying on his bed, exhausted and sleeping, with Dawn cuddled on his chest in her blanket. He had a happy smile on his face, one hand cupped around her. It had been the evening after her hatching when Professor Dumbledore and Mr Flamel had left. They had stayed for quite a while, Nicolas telling stories from the past while the others sat there and listened. He was good at it and Harry got the feeling he learned more about history that evening than in three years of Binns lecture.

Sirius raised his hands in defeat, leaning back.

"All right all right. Just making sure. Prongs would rip off my head if I did this wrong you know?" Harr nodded smiling and he leaned against his godfather. Dawn had closed her eyes and made this little purring sound that indicated her being asleep. Harry smiled watching his familiar twitch slightly in whatever dream she was. From the feeling he got through his bond it seemed to be a good one.

"Thanks, Padfoot. I know I have to spend a lot of time with Dawn the last days but I...I just want you to know for the first time I am not that eager to go back to Hogwarts. Not because it isn't great but for the first time I will leave behind home, one I will miss and I will miss you and Narcissa." Harry didn't look at his godfather, but he felt him shift and then Sirius wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulders, careful not to press on Dawn and hugged him, before kissing the side of his head.

"I will miss you too Prongslet. And Narcissa will also." Harry smiled while he felt his eyes water a little. He raised his hand and brushed over Sirius's elbow. After a moment Sirius pulled back, wiping his eyes.

"Okay, now, time to get your luggage down. And remember-"

Harry interrupted him with a sigh.

"Yes I know, I just mirror call and you will bring it with you when you are there. Or get Kreacher to bring it."

Sirius nodded smiling. He thought himself a little bit of a genius for getting to see his godson throughout the year.

With a swirl, Sirius stepped forward, out of the hearth into the well-known office. He smiled looking around. Over a decade and it looked almost exactly the same. He had no idea how many hours he had spent in this office in detention but he loved it. There were the same furniture, the same books on the shelves and the same rug. The only difference was that now more framed pictures were on the wall. He stepped closer taking a look. It was pictures of every Gryffindor alumni year of the last few decades. He smiled looking at the one in particular. There were four boys on the side of the class, standing together, grinning widely. One was a small, little chubby boy with ash-blond hair and pimples in his face. Next to him stood a taller one, having rings under his eyes and a large scar right over his face, his brown hair middle long and scruffy. The two boys next to them had their arms around each other's shoulder. Both had black hair but while one wore glasses and his hair looked like he just got out of bed the other one wore his hair long and had somewhat of a beard like youngsters often do when they are proud of getting hair on the chin but aren't quite there yet. All four boys had in common that they were smiling brightly. Sirius' eyes trailed a little to the side, next to the boy with the glasses stood a girl, her red long hair flowing in the wind. She was shaking her head at the boys, smiling none the less. She and the boy next to her holding hands. Sirius felt a sad smile creep to his face and his hand raised by itself, his finger brushing over the two of them.

"Hey, Prongs Lils. I...I do my best with little Prongs. He is so wonderful, you have an awesome son. I wish you were here to see how he is. James, you would be so proud, seeing him fly, he is such an awesome player. And Lils you would be worried I know you, when he got on his broom you would turn crazy, but also you would be as proud as Prongs. I...I love him so much. Thank you for trusting me with him." He stepped back when he heard the door open, and turned to the person who stood in the centre of each of the pictures on the wall.

"Ah Lord Black, welcome." She stated standing in the door. Sirius grinned, walking over and scooped her in a hug.

"Lord Black? Are you serious Aunt Minnie? Oh, wait no I'm Sirius." He laughed a little at his oldest joke he had, making her roll her eyes but she smiled anyway and returned the hug.

"All right, but only when we are alone. I don't want Mr Pot...Lord Peverell...I don't want Harry to pick up on this." Minerva stated with a firm tone, while Sirius smirked at her.

"Well, that might be a little late by now. You see, he already turned to this nickname and you love it!" Sirius laughed at the little blush Minerva got when he hit it right on the head. Yes, she does like the young boy opening up to her but she would not allow it in school.

"May it as it is, he will have to be proper in class. And if he doesn't learn, I know a method that worked quite well on another certain young man." She said with a smirk. Sirius remembered. He had refused to let go of the nickname when he first adopted it in the sixth year so Minerva had him detention writing out Professor McGonagall for two hours. That had repeated four nights after and he had accepted with a hurting wrist he should let it go. Until he had graduated and then he came back with a revenge, sending a singing howler to her at the welcoming feast with Aunt Minnie in the song text. He was sure he could still feel the stinging hex he got to his bum for that. Worth it.

Minerva stepped back and nodded.

"So ready?" He nodded too.

"Yes, please lead the way." They walked through the corridors at a slow pace. Sirius felt weird. Hogwarts didn't seem to have changed since he had been here over twelve years ago still it felt different, a little sad and then it hit him. There were no kids around during the summer, so the castle felt empty and hollow. Minerva didn't pick up on his mood walking a little ahead.

"So Albus told me young Harry got a new friend?" She asked carefully, making Sirius smile.

"Oh yes, Dawn is lovely. You will melt when you see her." Minerva's face split for just a fraction of a smile. Then she winked at Sirius.

"Maybe I will. Remember I am a cat, so maybe she isn't safe from me." She said jokingly, only to freeze at the growl from Sirius' throat. "Don't say that not even in a joke. I would have to hurt you." Minerva turned her head. The way Sirius had said it, that wasn't a joke. He was dead serious about it. The deputy headmistress blinked at him, surprised.

"Oh I...I'm sorry that was inconsiderate." She said in a confused and apologetic manner. Sirius had never been threatening to her, not up until now. The man relaxed a little bit. "It's all right, just don't joke about things like that." He was a little confused himself, since when did he get angry at Aunt Minnie for a joke? She was feisty, so it wasn't the first time she joked a little with him. Yet when she said danger to Dawn he had almost pulled his wand at her. Was that this bond Flamel had talked about? He would have to look into it too. Minerva turned to the door.

"Anyways here we are. I have to go, Sirius, to fetch the others." Sirius nodded and walked inside.

There was a large conference table with about twelve chairs around them but only eight people were sitting there. Everyone's head raised to look at the man coming in. On the one end of the table sat Albus Dumbledore, smiling under his half-moon glasses at the black-haired man. His hands were folded in front of him. He looked not the least surprised since he knew Sirius would come here. Their rest of the table looked more so. There were different reactions but two stood out. The first was the old man next to Dumbledore raising his hand in surprise.

"Ah Lord Black, what a nice surprise!" He exclaimed, waving at him with a smile. Sirius bowed a little to him with a gracious smile.

"Ah Mr Greyhorn, wonderful surprise seeing you, how are you?" The old Herbology Professor, who had been there before Sprout smiled at him. He had received an Order of Merlin second class for his scientific work and had been retired for a few years. This was just a little fun time for him. The old man smiled at his former student and was about to speak up when a cold voice from the other end of the table cut him off.

"What are you doing here Black?" The voice asked with a little twitch of fury in it. Sirius turned to his owner, smiling as nothing bad had happened between them.

"Ah Lord Malfoy, hello. I hope you are well." Lucius Malfoy glared at him his red face, at least what you could see. There were bandages all across it, making him look like a mummy. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see the bandages. I hope it is not too bad. Maybe a mask would be appropriate at the moment." Sirius' voice turned a lot colder at that statement and even though only he, Dumbledore and Malfoy really knew what he was talking about the rest picked up there must be a hidden meaning in this sentence. Malfoy grabbed the edges of the desk, before sneering at him.

"That is none of your concern, Black."

Sirius nodded, smiling a little and his hand landed on the backrest of one of the free chairs.

"Oh of course not. I'm sorry, my mistake. You see, I read it in an old diary a while ago and just remembered it." The poison was even more vicious in his voice and the blond man he was talking to began to sweat a little. If he knew about the diary what else did Black know? The man was dangerous. He needed to change the subject.

"I ask again Black, what are you doing here?" Sirius pulled out the chair before flopping down in a relaxed way. He thought about propping his feet on the table, just to stick it to the guy but he knew Greyhorn wouldn't like that. Instead, he pulled out a parchment and handed it to the old man.

"Well, dear Lord Malfoy, you see, I have not much to do with my days at the moment, so I thought to myself, Sirius I thought, you should do something with your life and all the money you have in your vaults. There are a lot of vultures that want to get to my money you know."He shot the man a gaze and noticed with a smile Malfoy was seething.

"But then I thought, that charity would be a wonderful thing to do because society has done so much for me I should give some back. And none had done more than Hogwarts, so I made a donation to the school. Dear Mr Dumbledore here first didn't want to take that much money from me." He smirked at Dumbledore who smiled back and nodded. It had been indeed quite a mass of coins he had to spend. "But at the end, he agreed. But he didn't he then asked me if I could do more for the school and after we talked a little and talked to Minister Fudge after that well." He pointed at Mr Greyhorn. The man lowered his glasses smiling at the people around him.

"The Ministry and the headmaster have decided to grant Lord Black a seat on the Board of Governors. Congratulations Lord Black." He nodded with a happy smile at his former student. Sirius smiled in return bowing a little.

"No need Mr Greyhorn, and please call me Sirius. I don't feel like Lord Black you know?"

Lucius Malfoy seethed. Black had bought himself a seat on the board and he would call him out on it but he had done the exact same thing. Even the head position. But then a smile appeared in his face. May it be that way, after today he would have the control here. Dumben, Jovner, Zibling and McDover had retired this year and with that most of his opposition had been gone. Greyhorn, Dumbledore and Black would be the only ones who would defy him, and while the Headmaster had two votes so had he. He had already people in place to fill the free seats and he would get it done today. The remaining four present governors were deep in his pocket, so he could outvote them by two votes. So he folded his hands.

"Very well, congratulations Black. In that case, we should start our meeting. Sadly I have to announce that Mr Dumben, Mrs Jovner, Mr Zibling and Mrs McDover decided to retire this year and I have sent each of them a long thank you letter for their hard work and endeavours, as well as placing an honorary plaque for each of them in the trophy room. I think the board will agree to that. " There were nodding heads and murmurs of agreement, even from Black, who seemed oddly calm and smiling to himself. It unnerved Lucius to no end, but he had no idea what the man was doing, so he kept on going. Probably he just wanted to just annoy him.

"Very well. As our next point of order, we have to discuss the filling of the new seats. As you all know the board needs twelve members and that is the most important duty at the moment. Of course, as the head of the board, I have already filled out a few potential candidates, I would like to present to the Minister. If you would like to look into the ledgers in front of you, then you will see the first candidate is Lord Goyle, an old friend of mine, who-"

"Excuse me." Black's voice interrupted him in his monologue something Lucius Malfoy dearly hated. Was that the men plan to just annoy him and get on his nerves because he had nothing else to do?

"What is it Black?" Sirius smiled widened, pointing in front of him.

"It seems like I didn't get a ledger." Lucius stared at him before really slowly pulling his wand and copying one more for him. The ledger slid over the table and stopped in front of Black. The black-haired man nodded and picked it up, starting to read in it with great interest. Lucius glared one more time at him before returning to his own.

"Where was I? Oh yes, Lord Goyle. He is a long-time friend and I know him dearly. He has an honest heart and a-"

"Excuse me." Again Black interrupted him in a clear voice, making Lucius head almost explode. He saw quite well the smirk on Dumbledore's face. Oh yeah, smirk all you want you old geezer, tomorrow you will be out of a job and kicked out of the school you love so much. So laugh all you want.

"What, Black?" Sirius placed down the ledger like he finished his last sentence before turning his head to Lucius. The other people around the table followed the confrontation with interest and in Greyhound's case a little bit of nostalgia remembering Sirius confrontations with one Severus Snape. Sirius Black smiled brightly at Malfoy.

"You see, I'm sorry Lord Malfoy, I'm not familiar with the procedure here, but I did notice you don't speak to me with my right title. I'm not one big on these things and you are far more familiar with the way this is handled, but it seems wrong you know. I just wanted to get it out of the way before it got to used too, Lord Malfoy. I'm sure it is just a slip-up, but you know my cousin is insistent on these sort of things."

Lucius faces almost turned white in anger. How dared this blood traitor to lecture him on etiquette and procedure? How dared he to throw his ex-wife into his face. The entire time he had insulted Lucius non-stop while keeping it all civil. Lord Malfoy gritted his teeth while his right eyelid twitched a little.

"My apologies Lord Black, It must have slipped my mind. Could we please go on?" Sirius bowed his head in acknowledgement and smiled, waving for Lucius to move on.

"All right. You see Lord Goyle has a long history of interest in this school. Just think about last year when he-"

"Excuse me."

Lucius Malfoy was almost popping a vein in his face, trying to hold back a yell at the man on the other side of the table. Black had leaned back, no more acting like he did read the ledger and had a thoughtful look on his face.

"What. Is. It. Loooord. Black?"

Sirius smiled folding his hands in front of him.

"I just...wait Oh yeah I just remembered. Silly me I almost forgot this. Well you see, when I was with Mr Dumbledore here and the Minister." He smiled over at the old and smirking headmaster. "We were just talking you see, and then our talks came to the school and what importance the future and our children have." He smiled into the round, making Lucius' eye twitch in anger.

"Is there a point to your story, Lord Black? We do have business here." Sirius nodded grinning at him like he was just happy to be there.

"Well you see, the two of them they asked me if I had ideas on how to improve the schooling and all and what I thought. Now you all know my history, I have spent quite a few years not being able to follow the ups and downs of our society and only started this year with parenting so what do I know."

Malfoy glared at the man. Something was fishy but he had no idea what. He knew he was played and his time ran out so.

"That is really interesting Lord Black but I think w-"

"And that is what I told them, I was eager to do something and they asked me if I knew someone who would be willing to work for the wellbeing of our children and you know I had just the right though I think." Lucius paled at these words. He didn't...He can't.

"So in agreement with the Minister and the headmaster we filled the missing seats on the board. I'm sorry we didn't ask the board for permission but you know, like Lord Malfoy said time is important so, yes. My deepest apologies." He raised his voice calling out a little louder.

"Deputy Headmistress would you kindly?" The door opened and Professor McGonagall walked in followed by the stern-looking Amelia Bones, an even sterner Augusta Longbottom and the cool and collected Lord Greengrass. Lucius stared at them, looking like he just had been french kissed by a ghoul. Sirius smiled rising to his feet.

"Honored board of Governors please meet our newest members."

The door opened and Narcissa looked into Harry's room smiling at the two of them, sitting on the bed, Dawn on Harry's chest and just talking quietly. This was family. But she had to break it.

"Harry, Dawn, it's time to go."