At first, it seemed as if both Sirius and Lupin were unsure of how to react, and Harry feared he had gone too far, but a moment later, both of their faces broke into huge smiles.

"Not complaining or anything, but why?" Lupin asked.

Harry shrugged, "You helped."

Their bright smiles made them look ten years younger. "I don't think we have met before. I'm Sirius Black."

"Harry Potter," Harry replied with a smirk. Harry's smirk quickly vanished, however.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, concerned.

"It's probably nothing, but I swear I have heard your name before."

Sirius froze for a moment and then said, "My brother, Regulus Black, used to be a Death Eater. Maybe you know it from there?"

"What do you mean used to be?" Harry asked quickly.

"He may still be, for all I know," Sirius laughed a humorless laugh. Harry pondered it for a minute. Now he could remember Regulus, or rather, he remembered hearing stories about him. Part of his thoughts must have shown on his face because Sirius quickly asked,

"What?"

"Nothing," Harry said much too fast.

"Harry, what is it? Just tell me."

"It's just… I have heard stories about Regulus."

"He's dead, isn't he?" Sirius said in a flat tone.

"Yes," Harry said, not bothering to lie. "I'm sorry,"

"How did he die?" Sirius asked.

"Voldemort found out that he was plotting against him. He got killed by Voldemort himself in front of loads of Death Eaters. He was used as a cautionary tale for others." Harry said hurridly to try to cover up the awkwardness. Sirius looked away into the dark yard, and Harry could not tell how he felt about this news.

"You okay?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Fine," Sirius laughed again, but this one was just as humorless. "He deserved much worse." Harry was rather shocked at this reaction.

"He was your brother…"

"He was no brother of mine." Sirius said firmly, "The only brothers I ever had were Lupin and your father. I considered Peter one once, but not anymore."

Harry nodded but didn't say anything. He knew Sirius cared more than he was letting on, but he decided not to push. Harry sat back down and looked into the dark yard again.Now, a sort of tension hung in the air, but Harry wasn't focusing on it.

A slight pain was starting to pulse in his head again. He really did not want to deal with it right now. He was getting used to the almost constant throbbing of his scar, but this one was different. It meant he would be taking another trip into Voldemort's mind.

"Harry," Lupin began, "What else is bothering you?"

Harry jumped slightly at his words. He had been lost in thought and had forgotten they were there. The thing which was now paining him was what was bothering him, but he didn't really want to tell them about that. Or did he?

"I don't know," Harry said, but it was mainly just to stall for time.

"Really?" Lupin asked, "Because you make that very hard to believe."

"He's not wrong, you know," Sirius said, "I don't think for a second that, one, there isn't something wrong, and two, that you don't know what's wrong." They were right, of course, but Harry was not sure how he should tell them.

"Well… the thing is… Ah," Harry's hand jerked to his head involuntarily. His scar had just burned with a sudden burst of pain.

"What's wrong?" Lupin asked worriedly. Harry did not answer him right away, trying to control the pain which was building in his forehead.

"Just, just a headache." He said, though he was not sure why.

He should just tell them what was wrong. He couldn't hide it from them forever, especially if he was going to go into Voldemort's mind right now.

"Harry, tell us what is actually wrong. No one, especially not you, grabs their head like that for just a headache." Sirius said, a bit stern. Harry grimaced.

"My head has been hurting since I destroyed the ring in Dumbledore's office."

"What do you mean by hurting?" Lupin asked.

"I mean, head splitting open and seeing into Voldemort's mind kind of hurting."

"Wait, are you serious?" Sirius asked Harry.

"No, you're Sirius, I'm Harry." Harry said kind of lamely.

"Harry, this is no time for jokes." Lupin scolded, but Harry could see Sirius was holding back a smile.

"Fine, yes, I am serious." Harry said.

He started to massage his forehead with the palms of his hands. It really did not help, though; it never did.

"Harry, you should have told someone. This is important." Lupin chastised.

"I am going to tell Dumbledore tomorrow night."

"You should have said something earlier."

"I know, I just wasn't sure who I should tell."

"I'm glad you told us," Sirius said, "What happens usually? Besides, you see Voldemort, I mean."

"It starts with my scar hurting. Then, it reaches a certain point, and everything goes black. Sometimes, I try to stop it, but it really doesn't do much. Then I see what Voldemort is thinking, almost like Legilimency, but for that, you usually need eye contact. Then I come back. Generally, I look pale, and I feel sick afterward. I also think I shout during it, but I am not sure."

"That was why you shouted last night." Lupin said, a look of dawning comprehension on his face. "I thought you were just mad about something."

"Not quite," Harry said, trying to keep the pain from showing on his face.

"What should we do?" Sirius asked, more to Lupin than Harry.

"Take him to Dumbledore?" Lupin suggested.

"No," Harry said, "It's not important. It can wait till tomorrow."

"But if you're in pain." Sirius said.

"I can deal with it till tomorrow." Harry said firmly.

"But you shouldn't have to!" Lupin said, frustrated.

"I am not going to Dumbledore. I don't want to bother him with something this stupid. He won't care anyway."

"Harry, this is not stupid, and you would not be bothering him. And I think he would definitely care about this." Sirius said.

"No, he wouldn't." Harry insisted.

"Why not?" Lupin challenged.

"Because I am as good as a Death Eater in his eyes. He only cares about me if I have something to offer him or if I am a threat to him. Right now, I am neither."

"That's not true," Sirius said.

Though he tried to conceal it, Harry inhaled sharply as his scar burnt again. It felt as if his head was being chiseled into. He would not give Lupin and Sirius the satisfaction of seeing him give in to their request to take him to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore would be able to do nothing right now. In fact, he would probably make everything worse.

Harry resolved not to give in to Voldemort this time. He would resist the pain and wait for it to go away. He pressed his hands hard into his forehead, trying to resist.

"We really should take him to Dumbledore." Sirius half whispered.

Harry closed his eyes and blocked out Lupin and Sirius' conversation. He blocked out the rest of the world, too. Instead, he focused just on Voldemort. He gathered up all of his energy and tried to push away his thoughts.

Nevertheless, Voldemort was strong, and Harry could see blurry images forming in his mind. Harry, out of pure desperation, did the last thing he could think of.

He gathered up all of his magic and forced it out of him towards Voldemort. He could feel the Voldemort's hold on his mind starting to weaken, and, using the last of his strength, he pushed.

His eyes flew open, and he saw Lupin and Sirius staring at him.

His scar was still pounding, though it felt considerably better than before. In fact, for having just pushed the Dark Lord out of his mind, he felt great.

"That was the first time I could get rid of him." Harry said, his voice only slightly shaky.

He started rubbing his scar hard as though forcing the remaining pain to go away just from the pressure. Still, Lupin and Sirius did not say anything to him, their faces both masks of shock.

"What?" Harry asked.

He touched his face. It felt normal. He slowly stood. His stomach was upset, but not the worst it had been by far.

He was very pleased with himself. He had been able to get rid of Voldemort. With some more practice, he was sure he would be able to get rid of him totally. Well, maybe not totally, but he would never have to see his thoughts again.

Sirius and Lupin still didn't say anything, though. He stood there, wondering why they were looking at him as though he had two heads. Was there something wrong? Had he done magic without meaning to?

He looked down to examine the rest of his body. His shirt was soaked in sweat, and he pealed it off of his body with some difficulty.

There seemed to be a soft blue glow emulating from his chest. He touched it, but it felt completely normal. He didn't think this warranted the looks he was getting from the other two.

"H-Harry," Lupin said, the first out of the daze. "What did you just do— exactly?"

"I told you, I was able to push him out of my head."

"No, I know, but I meant, what did you do inside of your head to get rid of him?"

"I fought it as hard as I could, but I felt like I was losing. I used the magic that I have inside of me, the stuff that I use when I perform wandless magic. It's kind of hard to explain, but I was able to use that to push him out of my head. He didn't go without a fight, of course, but I won in the end. Why though? What happened?"

"It was weird," Sirius said finally. "A blueish light sort of burst out of you, like Lumos, only stronger. It stayed like that, and then it started to, I don't know, almost project what looked like memories. It lasted for a few minutes, but it stopped when you opened your eyes."

Harry sighed heavily. What had they seen? Did he want to know? He knew he had to ask.

"What did you see?" He asked, his expression neutral, though he was dreading the response.

"I-I don't really know." Lupin admitted. Harry sat down on the steps again, his back to them.

"Describe it."

Both of them inhaled a sharp burst of breath and said nothing. Harry quickly turned back to face them. Both of their faces were masks of shock and pain. They were staring at him again.

"What?" He asked quickly. "What now?" They said nothing, seeming to struggle to find the right words.

"What?" Harry asked sharply.

"W-What happened to your back?"

He felt like an ice cube had just slipped down into his stomach. He had made a big mistake. He had taken off his shirt. He jumped to his feet, turning quickly to hide his back from view.

"It's nothing," He said coolly, not reflecting the panic he felt inside. What would they think? What would they say? Why was he thinking like this? Since when did he care about other people's opinions?

"Harry," Lupin's voice was soft, but Harry cut him off quickly.

"It doesn't matter," He said, grabbing his damp shirt.

He pulled it back over his head, hiding his back from view. As he did, his hands brushed all of the scars which he had tried so desperately to cover.

He could feel the raised skin, which would never be fully healed. He knew what his back looked like; he knew it was so scarred, so ripped apart that it could never be whole again.

"What did you see?" He asked, his tone making it evident that they should answer him.

He looked them in the eye and saw they were both looking as though they had just made some sort of massive connection. Harry had no idea what that could have been.

"Well…" Sirius started, "I thought it might have been a dream, but…"

"Which was?" Harry asked. He was getting impatient now.

"It started somewhere very dark, a dungeon, I think. The whole thing was very confusing, but you sort of looked up, and your wrists were tied up above you.

"They were— bleeding quite a lot. You looked to your other side, and there was a figure tied up like you were. We couldn't hear anything, but it looked as if as if they were being tortured. You started to struggle to get out, but you couldn't.

"Then, whoever was casting the spell faced you, and you tried to get away but couldn't. As soon as the spell hit you, the whole thing stopped. You opened your eyes after that one." Sirius tried to rush through this part, almost like he was pulling off a bandage. It was as if he thought by telling Harry quickly it would be better for him.

Harry was half revealed and half horrified. He was glad Lupin and Sirius had not seen him killing anyone, but it was bad they had seen him getting hurt. And now he knew why they had looked like they had been putting something together. They were linking his scars with the images he had just shown them.

"I'm sure it was just a dream, right?" Sirius asked, seeking assurance. "Just another nightmare?"

Harry was unsure of what to say. It had not been a dream; he knew that it had actually happened to him. What could he say to them? Where did they think all of his nightmares came from? Why did they think he avoided sleep so often? Why did they think he was able to resist torture so adequately?

Lupin seemed to guess the worst from his silence; however, Sirius asked again, "It was a dream, right?"

How could he still think it was a dream after seeing Harry's back? Perhaps he just wanted the words to be true, even though he knew they were not. Harry looked into his eyes, not wanting to deliver this news but not wanting to lie.

"I wish it had been." Sirius' eyes widened with horror, and he shook his head.

"No, it has to be a dream."

"Sirius," Lupin touched his shoulder. "Drop it."

"No," Sirius said, pushing him off. "No, they couldn't have. Why would they?"

Harry laughed a humorless laugh, "Why would they? The real question is why wouldn't they. What you don't get is that they never have or need a reason to. They do it regardless, and they do it to everyone, even their children."

Sirius shook his head more fervently. "No, that's awful. It's—" But it seemed he could not find a word bad enough to describe what the Death Eaters had done to Harry and Draco. He fell silent for a moment, and then his eyes snapped back up to Harry.

"How old were you?" Sirius demanded.

Harry didn't want to answer that. He did not want to increase Sirius' agitation.

"Sirius," Lupin said again, "Drop. It."

"No," Sirius said fiercely. "The wrists were small. How old were you, Harry?"

What could he do? He would not be telling Sirius the truth of when they had begun to do this. He couldn't. So, instead, he lied.

"I think we were about 15 or 16."

"Don't lie to me, Potter!" Sirius snarled furiously. He had never called Harry by his surname before.

"Calm down!" Lupin said, trying to intervene. "Harry, what age were you really? You can tell us."

"No," Harry said firmly. "It doesn't matter; it is in the past now. You can't do anything about it anyway. What do you care?"

"Harry, please, trust us." Lupin said. Harry sighed again and complied unwillingly.

"Fine, you really want to know? We were seven, okay? Seven years old, and they started to torture us. That was when they started to train us; it was a part of it. In case you didn't notice, I have had a lot of practice throwing off the Cruciatus curse. Happy now?"

Harry watched as Sirius' face changed. The anger at Harry melted away almost immediately and was replaced with shock. Lupin, too, looked sickened by the idea.

Harry wasn't sure why they found this so shocking. After all, this was Voldemort. Why would he have any problems with cursing children?

"They didn't!" Sirius said the first to speak.

"Yes, they did." Harry said flatly.

"I'll kill them!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

"Sirius, no!" Lupin cried, jumping up.

Harry jumped, ready to pull out his wand and stun Sirius if he had to. There was no way he was going to let him charge Slytherin Manor alone. He would be dead before he realized what had happened.

"You can't do anything." Lupin argued.

"Yes, I can. I'll fight them, kill them all!"

"They are too strong."

"They hurt them!" Sirius exclaimed, "They chained them up and tortured them and made them hear each other's screams. They were only kids, just seven."

"I know," Lupin said, "I am furious too, but now is not the time. We have to wait. We will fight in the end. Then you will get your revenge. We all will."

Harry was watching them debate, unsure of which side he should take.

"Let me see your back, Harry!" Sirius said, turning suddenly to face him.

"No," Harry said firmly.

He did not want them to inspect his scars any closer. He did not want them to know the extent of his suffering.

"Let me see it!" Sirius demanded, taking a step towards Harry. Cautionary sparks flew out of Harry's wand, but Sirius paid no attention.

"Sirius don't—" Lupin started, but he was cut off by Sirius.

"Let me see what they did to you, or else I will tie you down and look for myself!"

At this, Harry smirked.

"I would like to see you try."

Sirius let out a sound that was half frustration and half anger.

"Calm down!" Lupin insisted.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Sirius said, "They hurt them, nearly killed them from the looks of it! I am going to go and fight them right now; I just want to make sure that I am properly angry."

Harry fought back a smile as Lupin fought back Sirius. He knew he would have to intervene, though, before this got out of hand.

"Sirius," He said, his voice commanding and sharp. Sirius glanced at him, still fighting with Lupin. "As much as I would like to see it, you can not go charging into Slytherin Manor. If you do, then you will die."

"But they hurt you!" Sirius exclaimed, and Harry noticed a hand reaching for his wand.

"No, they trained me. Besides, there is nothing you can do about it now. You can't erase the past."

"Killing them would be a good start." Harry fought to keep the smile off of his face.

"You don't want to kill them." He said quietly.

"Yes, I do!"

"No, you don't. You can't, Sirius. You can't sink to their level." To my level, this is what Harry would have liked to say, but he didn't.

"I would gladly sink to their level!" Sirius exclaimed.

"You don't know what you're saying." Harry shook his head, "You have no clue…" Sirius paused from his fight with Lupin and looked at Harry.

"No clue about what exactly?" Sirius asked quietly.

"To say that you would sink to their level! You have no clue how low their level actually is! You have no clue about any of it, about anything! You think you know, but you don't! You don't even know a portion of it."

"Then tell me!" Sirius exclaimed. Lupin placed a hand on his shoulder, but he pushed it away.

"No," Harry whispered, "Just know that you never want to go that low. You'll never want to have to fight your way back."

Sirius didn't say anything for a second. Without warning, a flash of light hit Harry in the chest, making his shirt disappear. Harry flared up at once, but he forced himself to stay calm.

"Really, Sirius?" He asked, his tone neutral as he kept his back turned away from them.

"Turn around, Harry." Sirius said, taking a step towards him.

"No," Harry refused, "Don't make me curse you, Sirius"

"Sirius, stop." Lupin said, trying to get in between him and Harry.

"Turn around," Sirius said again, "Don't make me curse you."

At that, Harry chuckled, even though he was sure that Sirius would stay true to his word.

"Sirius, just stop." Lupin insisted, "It's not worth fighting over."

"So my godson's back is all torn apart by dark curses nonetheless, and you want me to do nothing?" Sirius demanded. It took Harry a second to process what Sirius had just said.

"What?" he asked loudly, turning to face them again.

Sirius took a minute to realize what he had just said. Then he sighed, and his eyes met Harry's. "I'm sorry, Harry, I didn't want to tell you like this."

"Huh?" Harry asked, confused.

"I am your godfather. Your parents made me your guardian if anything were to happen to them. I wanted to tell you differently, but." He shrugged.

"Wow," Harry said, not sure what else to say.

"I failed you, Harry." You were locked up and tortured, and here I was sitting around."

"It's not your fault." Harry said, his tone empty. "You didn't know. You thought I was dead; everyone did."

"I guess." Sirius said, sighing heavily. It seemed as though all of the fight drained out of Sirius. Lupin seemed to notice this as well and relaxed slightly.

"You couldn't have known. Not even Dumbledore knew. Lily and James would have understood." Lupin said. Harry remained standing, his back away from them.

"I just wish I could have done something." Sirius said miserably.

"We all do." Lupin said, looking at Harry.

"I know." Harry said, "I don't blame you guys for anything. Voldemort covered his tracks."

"Harry," Sirius said, looking up at him with sadness in his eyes, "I am so sorry I wasn't there when you needed me. I promise I will be from now on."

"We all will be." Lupin added.

"Thanks," Harry said with a half smile. He really hoped this time it would be the truth.

Sirius still looked upset and rather mutinous, so Harry reached out and touched his shoulder. He looked up, surprised.

"Listen, there was nothing you could have done. Don't dwell on it, or else it will consume you.It has happened to loads of people; don't let it happen to you."

Sirius nodded, and Lupin said, "You know, you should try taking your own advice sometimes." Harry looked at him with a smirk.

"I know. The problem is I can never seem to give myself the right advice when I need it." Lupin chuckled at that, his laugh interrupted by a yawn.

"I'm shot; I think I'll go to bed. Are you guys coming?"

"I will," Sirius said, "Harry?"

"Yes?"

"Are you coming inside?"

Even though he was tired, Harry knew he would not be able to fall asleep. Even if he could, his dreams would be nightmare-ridden.

"I think I am going to stay here for a while." He said.

"Are you sure?" Lupin asked, brow furrowing.

"Yes, I don't think I can sleep now anyway."

"Okay then," Sirius said, "Good night, Harry."

"Night," Harry said. It had turned out to be a very interesting night.

He felt better about everything that had happened with Draco. Having his wand back had helped.

He thought briefly about making himself invisible and following Sirius and Lupin to see what they were saying now. There was no doubt they were talking about him. However, he pushed the idea out of his mind. He had enough to worry about at the moment; he did not need their sympathy on top of everything else.

He sat down on the bottom step and stretched his legs out in front of him, his back against the railing. He was just about to settle in when he remembered something. He still needed to hide his scars from everyone else.

He pointed his wand at his chest, and a shirt appeared almost instantly. He sighed and relaxed against the wood.

He would talk to Dumbledore tomorrow and see what was going on with his scar. Until then, he would continue to block Voldemort to the best of his abilities.

Harry closed his eyes and listened to the crickets chirping merrily in the yard. They were the same as before Sirius and Lupin had come out, but now they sounded completely different to him.

I hope you all had a good week! Please review and let me know what you thought about this chapter. Also, Please go to my Favorite Stories and read the updated version of The Darkness Within! It was amazing!