Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot. The original concepts belong to JKR and Warner Brothers. Any concepts brought from other fictions are either coincidental or will be used in their own way, and no plagiarism is meant.

A/n: Thank you, Subhogue, for telling me about the fourth task issue. I had fixed one spot of it, but I truly have no idea how I missed the other spots. Though perhaps for Harry, the ball was a task of its own considering how it went. Also, for those of you that care, chapter 1 went through revisions on how Harry felt about his past life. I clarified that, but nothing changed past the point he woke up and talked to Vernon.

Chapter 18: The Old Bonds

Cont.

Sirius eventually worked up the motivation to apparate back to Hogsmeade, something which took twenty minutes of self-convincing to do. Truthfully, he could happily have postponed these meetings, but Harry and he agreed that it was best to not delay them much.

He was halfway up the path towards Hogwarts when he smirked, diverting his course back towards the very same shack he had left the night before. A simple disillusion spell hid his appearance from under the exceedingly violent tree and only faded when he was entering the castle proper. Many of the students stepped back from him, still fearing him some, but none really stopped him as he walked up towards the Great Hall.

"Sirius?" Harry's voice seemed louder than the others. He barely got to take in Harry's slightly tired look before Harry's expression lit up, making it vanish in a moment. "You're here?"

"What? Didn't want to see me yet?" Sirius asked cheekily. Harry only sighed as he approached the man, giving him a firm hug.

"Sirius, meet Heir Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Heiress Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbot." Harry gestured at each one individually, and Sirius could only smile at the similarities between Neville and Frank and Alice, and of the same in Susan between Edgar and Sarah, "Everyone, Lord Sirius Black of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black."

"A pleasure to-"

"Sirius Black!" Sirius saw Harry grin at the his flinch, "What in the blazes do you believe you are doing showing up unannounced?"

Sirius slowly turned towards the angry Scottish woman, "Hello Minnie."

"Minerva." She snapped out, causing Sirius to wince once more, "What do you believe you are doing?"

"Um… attending a meeting with the Headmaster? And perhaps Remus as well?" Sirius replied. Honestly, the woman still intimidated him. He still remembered the time back in fifth year when-

"And yet you snuck in, appearing without warning in the Great Hall, and just ignored any sort of proper procedure for what?" She demanded. Everyone was watching right now, and Harry was grinning like no other.

"Um… Well…" Sirius withered slightly under her glare, she could truly be intimidating at times.

She stared at him impatiently, but no explanation came. She just threw her hands up and walked towards the door. "Come along, Lord Black."

Sirius just grinned, waving goodbye to Harry and his own band of misfits, before following the irate woman through the castle. The few students they passed did double-takes at his presence, but not a single one spoke to him. He could admit it was unsurprising, especially since they had only known of his innocence for a week.

Still, even a small wave or nod would have been nice.

"Blood Pops."

Old memories hit him like a freight train. Oh how many times he had followed her to this exact place, ascending these very steps, only to earn several detentions and massive point losses. Only this time, James wasn't next to the two, barely hiding his happiness, nor Remus or Pettigrew giving them looks for earning more detentions, even if they had fun. There was no ecstasy from the most recent prank, no suppressed laughter, no fast beating hearts.

Just silence.

Only the grinding of stone could be heard as the steps spun from below the ground, and his body froze, his mind replaying the better days with his brother in all but blood, his two best friends... "Sirius."

He felt his body jerk, and slowly followed Minerva onto the steps. Due to his delay, they still had to walk up several steps before reaching the door. She didn't knock instantly, instead turning towards him with a look of sadness and understanding in her eyes.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you're still here. And I'm sure they would be proud that you're here for him."

"How'd you know?" He asked quietly.

"Your godson gets the same look in his eye when I mention his family. That look of longing…" She gave him a small smile, "Interesting, how much the two of you are alike. I miss them too."

There were no further words spoken as Dumbledore's voice was heard on the other side of the regal door, "Enter."

She opened it instantly, and Sirius followed her in just in time to see Dumbledore lower his wand, which he guessed had been drawn when no one had immediately knocked. "Ah. Minerva, and Lord Sirius Black! I hadn't expected you so soon!"

"Headmaster Dumbledore." Sirius nodded neutrally, controlling his emotions once more. He could visibly see the slight dimming in Dumbledore's eyes, where the sparkle faded slightly.

"Please, sit. And only Albus. You aren't a student any longer." Dumbledore said calmly, "Minerva, you may stay if you wish, or you may go."

"Sirius?" She asked, he only shook his head, "Alright, find me before you leave though, I'd like a word with you."

Sirius nodded, and as she left, Fawkes flew down from his perch, landing on the arm of his chair. "I hear I have you to thank for saving Harry last year?"

Of course, all he got back was a trill, one that radiated happiness from it, "Well thank you, Fawkes, for looking out for him."

Another trill left the bright orange bird, before Fawkes leaned down and butted his head against Sirius' hand. Sirius reached up, scratching Fawkes' head as the headmaster spoke once more.

"He seems to like you a lot more now. I remember when you and James wondered what would happen if you hit him with a snowball." Dumbledore smiled, "A shame that it took Poppy a week to regrow your hair."

Sirius felt a grin tug at his lips, the fourth year prank replaying in his mind. It was foggy, as were many of his happier memories due to the dementors, but it was still there. "Perhaps it is a sign of how much I matured. Twelve years in Azkaban does that to a person though."

His tone held a bit of bitterness and resentment. Regardless of how aware or unaware Dumbledore was of Sirius' incarceration, it still hurt that he fought, bled, and even killed, and the man didn't bother to even visit him once to verify the facts, something Sirius knew he had the power to do as the Chief Warlock.

"Sirius." Dumbledore didn't continue speaking until Sirius looked up, "I am terribly sorry for not having checked for myself that you were actually guilty. I made many mistakes at the end of the war, and amongst the worst were leaving you in Crouch Senior's hands and leaving Harry with Petunia."

"You did." Sirius agreed. "You knew, full well, exactly how deep my hatred for my family ran once the war really geared up, and yet, you allowed yourself to believe that I was just like them in the end."

"And for that, I may never forgive myself." Dumbledore said softly, "Once I read that paper, many things clicked into place that I hadn't fully understood before. With you as the traitor, the pieces never lined up quite right, but Peter… I am still unsure how I missed it."

"All of us did." Sirius huffed out as he focused on Fawkes, his still redeveloping control over his emotions slipping once more for a moment, "Yet, it is permanently done. Nothing will change the past. Now, only caring for Harry matters to me."

"Of course." He heard a bit of shuffling, and a thunk of heavy parchment hitting the desk, "Transfer for Harry's guardianship to yourself. All it needs is your signature." Sirius pulled his hand away from the phoenix to pick up the several sheets of parchment, glancing through them and seeing everything already filled out.

"I tried to get the paper's from Gringotts for his vaults as well, but it seemed they already recognized you as Harry's guardianship with your declared freedom." Dumbledore added, "I know it's not a lot, but it is the best apology that I can give, outside my words of regret."

Sirius hummed. Harry had been right in his assessment of Dumbledore. Manipulative as he was, Sirius could still feel the genuine regret and remorse coming from the old man. "Harry has told me of your meetings with him. Should I be worried about his scar?"

"No." Dumbledore replied. "Before now, yes. His scar held very strong magic in it, something that I was only suspicious of but had yet to confirm, which worried me greatly. Fortunately, it's gone. I daresay that as long as no one kills him, including Voldemort when he returns, he shall live a long life."

"And if the scar was still there?" Sirius asked, feigning curiosity.

"He would have possibly had to have died in order for Voldemort to die." Dumbledore replied softly, not meeting his eyes. Sirius put on an angry expression at his words, causing Dumbledore to raise his hand. "I believed it to be a part of Voldemort's soul, though I had yet to confirm it. If it had been, then only with Harry's death could Voldemort truly die. That isn't the case any longer, thankfully."

Sirius stared for several moments, holding narrowed eyes at the confirmation of Harry's suspicions of the man during his first life, but dropped it. "It seems irrelevant."

Dumbledore chuckled, "He has said the same thing on other matters. There was something he wished for us to discuss, the mail redirection ward. One is still on Privet Drive, which is rather strict. I wouldn't wish to remove it flat out without a backup to take over, in case someone sends him something dangerous."

"He told me as much. I'll speak with Gringotts soon and write to you when it is time to remove it." Sirius replied quietly. "What about their will?"

"I do not know where it is at." Dumbledore replied, frowning, "I had looked at the Ministry, but there hadn't been one on record."

"Gringotts." Sirius huffed out, "Much like everyone else's during that time."

"I did not have many rights as his guardian appointed by the Wizengamot. They weren't willing to tell me either way if they had a will, as it was outside of my purview." Dumbledore sighed, "My purview ended at getting his trust vault key and authorizing them to manage his accounts."

There was a stifling silence for over a minute before Dumbledore spoke once more, noticing that Sirius had no plans to speak, "You look well, Sirius. Far better than most would after so much time in Azkaban."

"Harry helped me." Sirius replied quietly, "A lot like Lils, he is fierce about making sure I am doing well."

"That he said." Another tense silence, before Sirius spoke.

"You should be glad, Dumbledore, that he is remaining at this school." Sirius said, his voice soft, "I have half a mind to remove him from here. A basilisk, acromantulas, trolls, and Voldemort, really?"

Dumbledore's face fell. Sirius watched the older man remove his glasses and rub his face, "I have made many mistakes. Using the stone as bait was one of my major ones. It wasn't until after Halloween that I realized who was likely after the stone. As for the Basilisk, I truly had my hands tied. Between Lucius forcing me out, and the fact that I was entirely unable to find the animal, it made for extremely tough circumstances. I only wish Fawkes had alerted me before he departed."

"I know that you knew what it was. Why not call in the ICW? And you want me to believe that you were unable to travel with Fawkes?" Sirius asked disbelievingly.

"I would have needed the Ministry's approval for ICW intervention, and they wanted proof before they would call in outsiders. You know how the Ministry feels about them. As for Fawkes…" Dumbledore spoke quietly, "Fawkes has his own thoughts, and it is terrible that I did not understand him sooner."

Sirius huffed. He knew what could and couldn't be spoken of, and he wasn't about to allow the headmaster any information that he and Harry didn't want him to know. There was a long silence before Dumbledore spoke.

"May I ask where you and Harry plan on living?" He asked.

"Black Manor. And before you ask, the wards are already verified as holding strong by the goblins." Sirius answered firmly.

"A good place to raise him." Dumbledore nodded, "I visited once, and I remember the open grounds. He will enjoy the open freedom."

Sirius snorted. "True enough. He is amazing on a broom."

"Shall I save you a seat at his next match?" Dumbledore offered.

"Yes." Sirius sighed, accepting the Olive Branch. Fawkes seemed to understand and flapped his wings, vanishing in a burst of flames. "Was there anything else?"

"Not at the moment. Could you sign these before you leave? I will ensure they are expedited to make everything official."

With a quick signature, he left to visit Minerva.

Break…

"So were you the one to send me that gift at Christmas?" Mooney asked curiously.

They had been catching up for the past forty minutes. Well, Remus had talked about his past twelve years anyways. Much of which had been the most recent two years, where he had gotten back into a more normal lifestyle. Of course, Sirius knew what his future had been, and while he wasn't sure of how he felt about Dora chasing and getting married to Remus, Harry had explicitly forbidden him from interfering if it happened again.

"Nah. Come on Moony, my prank style is far more loud and in-your-face." Sirius grinned, "I'm rather proud of his pranking debut though."

"Who… Harry?" Remus asked. Sirius nodded. "That little shit. I knew there was some glimmer in his eye, but the only person who seemed to think it was him was Severus, and I had no proof."

"Yeah. I was rather proud of his prank. Especially the audience." Sirius replied, "Although the magazine of different species was rather.. horrifying."

Remus choked, "Yeah. Never expected to see one of those."

"I kno- Wait? Have you visualized that kind of thing before?" Sirius asked. Remus turned red, "What the hell, Mooney. I mean, you're a werewolf and all, but really?"

"Look." Remus started, cut off by Sirius vigorously shaking his head.

"Nope. Don't wanna know. Not in the slightest. My cousin may be nuts, but at least she never mentally scarred me like anything you are about to say would." Sirius said quickly. "Say nothing more. Remind me to ask someone to obliviate this conversation as well."

"Merlin Sirius." Remus groaned. "It's not that bad. I only wondered if Mooney was actually attracted to female wolves or werewolves. An answer I still don't know."

Sirius grabbed his face, "Enough. No more talks of weird kinks. How is Harry in class? How are his friends? What's the world like right now?"

"Harry is amazing in class, even if he isn't in the top like Lily or James. It's all natural for him, though he doesn't seem to push himself." Remus said with a smile, "Well, besides the Patronus spell. He's almost got that one, and it's a Charms Mastery Level spell. Even the theory is N.E.W.T. Level."

"He loves your class, you know." Sirius smiled, "You're perhaps one of his favorite teachers."

"Really?" Remus grinned, "Told you I'd be a good teacher all of those years ago."

"And we all told you, you would become boring." Sirius snarked back. "What's the world like?"

"Crazy?" Remus shrugged, his happy look falling some. "I haven't been only involved in the public. The legislation against werewolves makes it hard for us to be accepted anywhere really. Sure, there are some small positions, but we are often shunned from even those. I'm blessed that Dumbledore was willing to hire me, even if it is for only a year."

"I'm sure it could be longer if you wanted it to be." Sirius commented.

Of course, he knew it wasn't likely. It wasn't impossible though. If the curse on the position was linked to the Horcrux in the Room of Requirement, then it was entirely possible that Remus could keep his job if Snape kept his mouth shut.

Not likely, but possible.

Perhaps a conversation with Harry was due to be had.

"Don't get my hopes up." Remus said softly. "I have no doubt that if for no other reason, Severus will expose me for my condition."

Sirius snorted, "We'll see. Does that wolfsbane potion work well?"

"It works." Remus shrugged. "The change is painful, and I still can't take potions or use spells before it for the pain, but the potion at least allows me to control through the night. It's not perfect, Moony is still there, his urges muffled but present. It's certainly a step towards a cure though."

"That's good." Sirius nodded, "Perhaps in the next few years one will be found."

"We can always hope." Remus nodded, "What are your plans?"

"To raise Harry. He is lacking in his knowledge of the wider magical world. Not to mention, he was living with Petunia of all people."

Remus' eyes seemed to shift from Hazel to a dangerous and more animalistic Amber in an instant. The growl seemed to come from deeper in his throat before he slowly spoke, "He put Harry where?"

"We've already had it out." Sirius said carefully, hoping that the wolf wouldn't cause too many issues. "I've already taken his guardianship and he will never return there."

"Good." Remus' took a moment, and Sirius noticed him doing the breathing exercises he once did long ago, "What in Merlin's beard was he thinking?"

"That blood mattered to the horrid woman. It didn't, and the only reason I don't seek revenge is because Harry asked me not to." Sirius said quietly. "I've gotten a good gist of his childhood, and Dumbledore only found out because Harry slipped up in a meeting with him last week. It wasn't pretty, Moony. Lils and James would have likely killed her and Vernon."

"Don't tell me, Sirius. I doubt I can stop myself from carrying out that sentence." Remus said angrily, shaking his head.

Sirius nodded, sitting silently across from the man for several minutes, "What are your plans for the summer?"

Remus seemed to focus on that for a minute, before shrugging, "Haven't thought about it. Maybe head back to my parents' old home?"

"How about staying with us at Black Manor?" Sirius suggested, "I could use the company, and Harry would like to have you around, I'm sure."

There seemed to be hesitation in his eyes, and Sirius could only sigh. "Harry doesn't care about your condition, Remus. Come on, it'll be like old times. Prank wars and a lot of laughter."

Remus nodded slowly, "If you're both sure."

Sirius couldn't help but smile, hopeful that things would go better like Harry expected.

Break…

Evening…

"So that was your godfather?" Hermione asked curiously. Harry had been astounded it had taken her so long to ask about him, so he made peace with answering a few questions.

"Yeah. He's great from what I can tell. What about him?"

"He just looks… far better than he should." Hermione questioned with a frown, "I mean, surely he was malnourished and weak after escaping, plus, food can't exactly be easy to come by when you can't even go into the muggle stores.

"He maintained his sanity, Hermione. Though he needed a lot of healing for his body, and quite a bit for his mind, he recovered well. Far better than most would. It was a lot of work." Harry answered. "I'm proud of his hard work too."

She just nodded, smiling slightly. "I think he'll be good for you. He seems like a very optimistic person."

"He can be." Harry agreed.

"Seems intimidating though mate." Ron spoke dryly.

"All Blacks are. I know Gran said the late Lord Arcturus was an incredible force to reckon with." Neville replied, "The Blacks can be dangerous too. I've never heard of one not being good with their wand."

"Is that a pattern with families?" Hermione wondered. "Magical potential… or like, power and intelligence, is it linked by the parents?"

"Eh. Some would like to believe so, but it clearly shows it isn't in some ways with the birth of squibs and muggleborns." Neville shrugged, but happy to talk about a subject he seemed to know something about besides Herbology. "To answer your question though, there are some families that have always born powerful children, but there are always outliers. Harry, for example, is following like many Potters, seemingly average, but knowing the Potter's like I do, he likely has a hidden strength to him just like his father did."

"Then there are some at the other end. The Crabbes have often come out with less intelligent members. Then there are those like the LeStranges-" There was heat to Neville's tone, "- Had some that were smart, but in the last few generations, they just had brute power, and no real self-thought, just mindless drones like Malfoy's butt-buddies."

"Interesting. What do they say about us?" Ron asked.

"Your family is labeled as Blood Traitors, though your father is respected due to the fact he respects tradition, even with his odd fascination with muggles. That being said, some consider your family respectable, but most often, they tend not to express it much." Neville said quietly. Ron pinked some, but nodded.

"Right."

The conversation tapered off, but Harry was glad none of them seemed to have an issue with Sirius.