A/N: So this is my third 'ANL' story, alternating between Harry/Sirius/Remus' perspectives (and I felt it only appropriate to post on 1st September!). You can absolutely read this without having read the first two, the main differences to canon so far are that Harry is living with Sirius and Remus and he is dating Ginny already. Of course as we're in Harry's sixth year Sirius also wasn't killed at the department of mysteries (thank Merlin!) I hope you'll enjoy it, and please let me know what you think!

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Chapter 1 - Dumbledore's Secret

"Why do you get to go first?!" Remus asked Sirius indignantly as he put his gobstones piece firmly on the board before he or Harry could.

"Harry went first last time." Sirius said by way of explanation.

"And who am I, the ghoul in the Weasleys' attic?" Remus spluttered, but Sirius knew his friend didn't really mind.

It had been a quiet summer so far. Far too quiet for Sirius' liking. It was the worst combination of things happening (it was clear to anyone with two brain cells that the Brockdale bridge hadn't been just a muggle accident) but them having no idea what to do about it.

"He's playing a clever game." Dumbledore said, sounding, as he sometimes did, distastefully impressed at his ex-student's attempts to take over the wizarding world.

"At least the ministry knows he's back now." Remus said reasonably.

"The ministry's about as useful as a chocolate cauldron." Sirius said, which he knew to be true from personal experience.

"Yes but at least we're on the same side again." Dumbledore said. "Although Scrimgeour and I have rather different ways of going about things..."

Sirius knew the new minister for magic had sought a meeting with Dumbledore immediately after meeting the muggle prime minister.

"You'd like him, Sirius." Dumbledore said, smiling as he recounted the conversation he'd had with the man. "He's a man of action. He's authorising the auror department to use unforgivable curse on the death eaters where necessary and he's reinstating Crouch's old laws to send those suspected of dark activity to Azkaban without trial."

"Why on earth would I agree with that?!" Sirius had asked, quite bewildered.

As far as he was concerned, the less they had to do with the ministry for magic, the better.

"I agree." Harry said emphatically, moving his gobstones piece to threaten one of Remus'.

Harry wasn't the only one with scars from his experience with the ministry, Sirius noted sadly, looking at the back of his hand where the words his awful DADA professor had made him carve there were still visible.

Fortunately Umbridge had left Hogwarts though. Sirius sincerely hoped the new teacher they appointed would be a significantly less odious character.

"You've got to be joking." He said, staring at Dumbledore in horror as he heard of the plan.

Of course he remembered Horace Slughorn from his own days at Hogwarts. He was a bit of a snobby git, but harmless enough (and quite persuadable fed enough crystallised pineapple and oak matured mead). He had no problems with him coming to teach at Hogwarts, but…

"You can't possibly make Snivellus defence against the dark arts teacher." He told Dumbledore. "He'll just miss off the 'defence against' part and teach them all dark curses instead!"

Dumbledore frowned at him. "And why exactly would he do that?"

"Because the greasy git's a death eater!" He said for what was surely the thousandth time, but Dumbledore was losing his patience with him.

"Thank you for your input into my staffing decisions, Sirius, but when I want your opinions, I will ask for them. Now I will be coming to pick Harry up at seven to take him to Horace's. I'm sure he can be persuaded."

Sirius sincerely hoped not. It was the only chance they had to keep Snivellus away from the dark arts, sorry, defence against the dark arts, job.

"He remembers you." Harry told him after he returned from his visit to Slughorn's house (or rather the house the cowardly prat was taking refuge in this time).

"That's nice." Sirius said, who didn't have much interest in his old potions master and was surprised the feeling wasn't mutual.

"Yeah… I think he was disappointed you weren't in Slytherin."

"He wasn't the only one." Sirius said, recalling vividly the years of hell he'd endured from his family following the hat's controversial decision.

"He said I was like my mum and dad." Harry added, more quietly now.

"Well now that is something I can agree with him on." Sirius said, squeezing Harry's shoulder and smiling as the boy looked up at him. "You'd have made them both proud at the ministry last month, Harry. Er, but don't do it again." He added quickly, remembering his vow to be more strict with his godson when it came to his (very James-like) thirst for adventure.

Rarely had Sirius been more afraid than the time he'd heard Harry had gone off to the ministry of magic following a vision Voldemort had planted in his mind.

Fortunately no harm was done (although Remus still liked to point out how lucky Sirius was to have missed death by inches), and the death eaters in attendance had been safely carted off back to Azkaban. If Sirius hadn't disliked him so much, he might have felt quite sorry for Fudge. It certainly didn't look great, having a handful of teenagers do a job he ought to have done six months ago in his own office.

They had managed to pass information to the ministry on one more death eater. Yaxley was a crafty Voldemort supporter who had managed to evade Azkaban the first time round but who (though Sirius didn't like to admit it) Snape had helped track down and confirmed was still working for the dark side.

Unfortunately the defences the man had set up against them were impenetrable, but with the might of the ministry they might have more luck, and the stunner Sirius shot at him (though not enough to break his defences), had been enough to make him drop the pint of milk he was carrying. Sadly he hadn't cried over it.

It had become apparent that, as Dumbledore had warned, the dementors had joined Voldemort's side.

Sirius wasn't sure what was more depressing, being inside number twelve, Grimmauld Place, or being out in London, where it was nearly impossible to avoid the patches of thick fog and feelings of despair that usually indicated the presence of a dementor or three.

They'd spent all of last year trying to convince the ministry and Daily Prophet that Voldemort was back. Now it was all the government ever seemed able to talk about.

"What the bloody hell is this?!" Sirius said, holding up a purple pamphlet which had come through their window, delivered by a pompous looking owl (if such a thing existed) wearing a ministry of magic jacket.

Remus glanced up from the Daily Prophet he was reading. "Oh this'll be it then. There's an article in here about it. A guide to staying safe in dark times."

"Oh is that what they're calling it?" Sirius said, holding the offending article distastefully in front of him. "Not just a pile of…"

But at that moment Harry entered the kitchen and Sirius cut himself off.

"Hiya." He said, grinning at his godson. "Any news from Ron, Hermione or Ginny?"

He knew Harry had written to invite his friends and girlfriend round for the remainder of the holidays. He hoped they'd accept the invitation (though he couldn't see why they wouldn't). It would do Harry good to have some other company than him and Remus.

"Ginny can't wait." Harry grinned back. "Bill's girlfriend Fleur's driving her mad. I don't think Ron minds her quite as much though..."

"And Hermione?"

"Hermione doesn't like her because Ron does."

"No, I meant…" but he stopped himself. This was one of those rare moments when Harry was just so like Lily. "You mean you think there's something going on between them?"

Harry nodded. "I suppose I can't complain. I risked my friendship with Ron for Ginny, but I dunno, Ron and Hermione… what would you even call that?!"

"Romione?" Remus suggested from behind his Daily Prophet.

Sirius snorted. "That sounds weird."

"My point exactly!"

"Don't worry Harry. We'll give them separate rooms." Sirius said, ignoring the mortified look on his godson's face. "There will be no 'Romeoninny' under this roof."

Now Harry had fought in the battle at the department of mysteries and been an integral part of the capture of the now re-incarcerated death eaters, Sirius felt it was only fair to keep him updated on the work they were doing for the Order.

Mrs Weasley hadn't approved of course. "Our boys go charging off to London when they're supposed to be in their exams and you reward them by giving them what they wanted in the first place?"

Of course the honest answer to that was yes.

Though Mrs Weasley still forbade Sirius from telling Ron and Ginny anything that was going on, he knew it was pointless as Harry would just tell them anyway.

When Molly and Arthur weren't at headquarters they had quite a few good discussions with the kids actually.

"I don't get why they're all scared of him." Ginny said, sitting at the kitchen table with her hands around a mug of hot chocolate as they discussed the events of June. "Voldemort, I mean. He can't be a very good boss if they're all so terrified to upset him. Why would you want to help someone like that?"

Sirius thought of Wormtail. He wondered if the man had only gone to Voldemort in the first place because he was terrified. But was the same true of Bellatrix?

"They thrive off fear." He said darkly, remembering the years he'd spent being terrorised by his cousin as a small child. "It must make a nice change not being the one causing it for once."

"What's wrong with them all?!" Ron said, shaking his head incredulously.

That was a question Sirius had given up trying to answer. Had his cousin been born evil? She'd been eight when he was born, so he supposed he'd never find out, but his first memories of her were certainly unpleasant. As he once said to Remus, 'some people just want to watch the world burn'. Bellatrix had bought firecrackers and binoculars.

"They're obviously not very happy people." Hermione said sensibly.

Sirius had snorted at that. "Don't go feeling sorry for them, Hermione. Those scumbags know exactly what they're doing."

They didn't talk about the death eaters too much though. Sirius wanted Harry to have as normal a childhood (or what was left of it) as possible.

He, Remus and Tonks took them all to a quidditch game between the Chudley Cannons and the Holyhead Harpies to celebrate Harry's sixteenth birthday.

This amused them all greatly, as Ron and Ginny were both loyal supporters of the opposite teams. Sirius thought it sensible to seat them as far as possible away from one another during the game, but there would still be a handful of popcorn thrown or a triumphant finger pointed from one Weasley sibling to another as the game progressed.

They laughed and joked all the way back to London, Ginny absolutely delighted that the Harpies had triumphed over the Cannons and Ron doing his best not to hex her in response.

The mood back when they arrived back at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, however, could not have been any more different.

Dumbledore was there with Arthur Weasley. They were sitting at the dining table looking like two guests at a poorly attended funeral.

"Amelia Bones and Emmeline Vance are dead." Dumbledore said by way of greeting (and explanation).

"And there's been another dementor attack." Arthur said, his voice trembling slightly. "Gary Parkes of the department for the control and regulation of magical creatures. I knew him…" He brought a shaky hand to his forehead and Ginny moved over to comfort him.

"Karkaroff's body's been found in a shack in Northumberland." Dumbledore went on.

"And there's still no sign of Fortescue and Ollivander." Arthur said hoarsely.

"How did they kill Emmeline?" Sirius asked, thinking first of the brave witch he'd fought alongside since his days in the first wizarding war.

"Not now." Dumbledore said with a glance at Ginny, who still had an arm around her father's shoulders. "For now, we will just remember them."

The headmaster and Arthur stayed for dinner after that.

"Doesn't it get weird, having Dumbledore around all the time?" Sirius heard Ron ask Harry after they'd gone.

"He's not, really." Harry replied. "This isn't normal."

"You can say that again…" He heard Ron mutter.

Harry was quite right though, it was rare that any of them saw Dumbledore these days.

Sirius, taking a leaf out of Remus' book, decided the best thing to do was 'talk' to him. He knew the headmaster liked to operate alone, but no man was an island. Which muggle had said that?

"Dum-Albus." He said, approaching the wizard after an Order meeting and before he had the chance to vanish off on 'private business' as he so often did. "Can I have a word?"

They'd gone into his father's study. Quite the best place for a quiet conversation as most inhabitants of and visitors to the house generally avoided it given how unpleasant the man's portrait was in there.

"What's going on?" He'd asked seriously, ignoring the portrait's customary protests as he poured the two of them a glass of firewhisky. "We hardly ever see you anymore. What are you up to?"

Dumbledore met Sirius' eyes and he had the strangest sensation the man was sizing him up. Trying to decide whether he trusted him or not.

Sirius sighed. "You trust Severus Snape but you don't trust me." He said somewhat bitterly.

He would have thought the headmaster would have at least given him the courtesy of trusting him the second time round. He hadn't spent twelve years in Azkaban as an innocent man for people to still believe he might be capable of betraying his friends.

There was that odd expression in Dumbledore's eyes again. What was it?!

"I know you think you have to do everything alone." Sirius continued. "But I'm pretty sure you're not the only one who knows how to defeat Voldemort."

As Dumbledore continued to say nothing, Sirius realised that this was in fact exactly what the man thought. He knew Dumbledore had been brilliant in his youth and throughout his career. He'd developed many of his twelve uses for dragon's blood when still at Hogwarts and his work with alchemist Nicholas Flamel had of course been legendary. Is that why he didn't trust anyone? Was it simply that no one was quite good enough?

"I don't mean to be rude, Albus, but I sometimes wonder if you've got a bit of a Merlin complex."

It was as if some kind of spell had been broken. Dumbledore looked at him and then he burst out laughing.

"So it's true then." Sirius said, grinning too in spite of himself. In his experience laughter and truth often went hand in hand.

"It's been said before." Dumbledore admitted. "More often than not by my adversaries."

"Well I'm on your side." Sirius promised. "And I want to help. Can't you trust me?"

And as their eyes met again, Sirius thought he could finally recognise what it was he'd been unable to name.

It was funny that everyone said Dumbledore was too trusting, as really the opposite was true. Sirius could see that now. Yes, he gave people second chances, but those cards he truly cared about he played close to his chest. Would he ever let anyone in? Who had hurt him so much in the past to shut him down like this?

He smiled at his old headmaster, now boss. "You can trust me." He said again.

And then, at last, Dumbledore smiled back.

"I've got something I want to show you." He said.

…

A/N: if anyone can guess what it is you'll be able to guess that this story is going in quite a different direction to canon…! And because of that I'm hoping to explore a bit more of Dumbledore and his past too in this story.

I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I try to update every few days.