(replaces part of Chapter 12 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)

The double attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick turned what had hitherto been nervousness into real panic. Curiously, it was Nearly Headless Nick's fate that seemed to worry people most. What could possibly do that to a ghost? people asked each other; what terrible power could harm someone who was already dead? There was almost a stampede to book seats on the Hogwarts Express so that students could go home for Christmas.

"At this rate, we'll be the only ones left," Ron told Harry and Hermione. "Us, Ben, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. What a jolly holiday it's going to be."

Crabbe and Goyle, who always did whatever Malfoy did, had signed up to stay over the holidays, too. But Harry was glad that most people were leaving. He was tired of some people skirting around him in the corridors, as though he was about to sprout fangs or spit poison; tired of all the muttering, pointing, and hissing as he passed.

Fred and George, however, found all this very funny. They went out of their way to march ahead of Harry down the corridors, shouting, "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through..."

Ben was rather amused by and grateful for their behaviour.

"At least that proves they don't believe you're the heir," he stated to Harry.

Percy was deeply disapproving of the twins' behavior.

"It is not a laughing matter," he said coldly.

"Oh, get out of the way, Percy," said Fred. "Harry's in a hurry."

"Yeah, he's off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea with his fanged servant," said George, chortling.

Ginny didn't find it amusing either.

"Oh, don't," she wailed every time Fred asked Harry loudly who he was planning to attack next, or when George pretended to ward Harry off with a large clove of garlic when they met.

Harry didn't mind; it made him feel better that Fred and George, at least, thought the idea of his being Slytherin's heir was quite ludicrous. But their antics seemed to be aggravating Draco Malfoy, who looked increasingly sour each time he saw them at it.

"It's because he's bursting to say it's really him," said Ron knowingly. "You know how he hates anyone beating him at anything, and you're getting all the credit for his dirty work."

"Not for long," said Hermione in a satisfied tone. "The Polyjuice Potion's nearly ready. We'll be getting the truth out of him any day now."

-Break-

On the Saturday before Christmas, Harry was approached by Professor McGonagall after breakfast. "Mr. Potter, please come to my office after lunch today. Mr. Black will be joining us."

"What d'you 'reckon that's about, mate?" Ron asked as soon as Professor McGonagall had left.

Harry thought for a moment before replying. "Probably to see Sirius Black. He's my godfather and Ben's uncle. He was asking about us when he got out, according to Professor Dumbledore."

"Well, that's obvious," Hermione said in a bossy tone. "Clearly, he'd want to know about his godson and nephew who he hasn't met."

"Right," Ron said, in a tone of comprehension.

The trio processed to head towards the library to see if they could find Ben. Although he had practically lived in the library during their first year, he was starting to spend more of his free time in abandoned classrooms or, if the weather was alright, outside. Harry once found Ben practicing the disarming charm on one occasion, muttering to himself as he was. Harry disrupted his concentration, causing him to miss his target, to hilarious results. There was still an ink splotch on that tie, right in the center.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the time until lunch playing games in the common room. After he was finished with his lunch, Harry noticed Professor McGonagall coming towards him, as Ben rose from his seat.

"Come, Mr. Potter, we'll be heading to the Headmaster's office. Mr. Black - oh, your ready to, good."

As he got up, Harry waved goodbye to Ron and Hermione, who waved back. Professor McGonagall, Ben, and Harry marched in silence through the castle and she stopped before a large and extremely ugly stone gargoyle.

"Sherbert lemons!" she said. This was evidently a password, because the gargoyle sprang suddenly to life and hopped aside as the wall behind him split in two. Even if he would have been full of dread, Harry couldn't fail to be amazed. Behind the wall was a spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upward, like an escalator. As he and Professor McGonagall stepped onto it, Harry heard the wall thud closed behind them. They rose upward in circles, higher and higher, until at last, slightly dizzy, Harry saw a gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin.

They stepped off the stone staircase at the top, and Professor McGonagall rapped on the door. "Enter," a voice said from behind the door. The three entered and Harry saw that Professor Dumbledore was seated at his desk, smiling at them.

Harry looked around. It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tattered wizard's hat — the Sorting Hat. There was also a beautiful, ornate perch, currently with a baby bird on it the likes of which Harry had never seen before.

"Ah, excellent, thank you, Minerva," Dumbledore said.

Professor McGonagall nodded before leaving. Dumbledore turned to the pair, and smiled, noticing Harry staring at the bird. "I see you've noticed Fawkes."

"What is he?" Harry asked, seeing Ben staring at the bird as well.

"Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry - " Dumbledore was interrupted by Ben snorting and muttering "good name" " - thank you - now as I was saying, phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes. They can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have healing powers, and they make highly faithful pets."

"He's just been reborn, hasn't he?" Ben stated shrewdly.

"Quite so," Dumbledore replied. "Now then, as much as I'd enjoy our conversation, I think that you'd rather be spending time getting to know Sirius."

As the pair nodded, Dumbledore got up from his desk, moved to the fireplace, and threw some Floo powder in. Dumbledore turned to them as he stepped away from the fireplace. "Sirius is staying at St. Mungo's."

Ben was first to go through, hesitantly and with glasses in pocket as he clearly called out "St. Mungo's!" Harry was next, also without his glasses on his head. The sensation was the same as his first time, but he only stumbled this time. He and Ben waited for a moment before Dumbledore stepped through gracefully.

As Dumbledore led them to the front desk, Harry stared at the plethora of interesting injuries and maladies that plagued the waiting room. One that caught his eye was a man who appeared to be half transformed into a tiger sitting on a chair, reading the Daily Prophet. Another was an older woman who was dancing for no discernable reason, and seemed quite exhausted.

When they finally reached the front of the line, the witch behind the desk glanced at them, then straightened up when she realized precisely who was in front of her.

"Good afternoon, we were wondering where Sirius Black is currently residing as he stays here."

"First floor, in ward forty-two, the isolated ward."

Dumbledore smiled. "Thank you. Come along, boys."

As they passed it, Harry read the floor guide:

(AN: not really important at the moment, look it up if you don't remember)

They walked in silence as they made their way there. Harry was wondering what time of person Sirius would be. Hopefully he'll like me, Harry thought. He noticed Ben seemed to be thinking along the same lines, if the nervous expression on his face was any indication.

On reaching the first floor, the trio watched down the hall to the fifth door on the left, bearing the words "Paranoid" Marvin Allen Ward: Isolation. Ben snorted upon seeing this and asked, "What's this Marvin Allen famous for?"

"A most ingenious spell that counters excessive emotions," Dumbledore replied, smiling. "The Apathy Charm."

"And I imagine that, aside from being paranoid, he was a rather dour chap?"

Dumbledore was taken aback before replying. "Yes. However did you know that?"

Ben smiled in reply. "A muggle author."

With that he walked into the room with a confused Dumbledore and nervous Harry following him. Inside were two men. The one on the bed, presumably Mr. Black, had black hair that hung down to his shoulder, his grey eyes sunken in their sockets. His skin was slightly waxy and there was a slightly manic light in his gaze, even as he smiled brightly at his current company. The other man was in extremely shabby robes that were darned in several places. His hair was a light brown with flecks of grey within.

When the door opened, both men turned towards it with curious glances. The looks were immediately changed to surprised and happy ones once they seemed to recognize Harry. Mr. Black beamed at them, even if he looked mildly confused by Ben.

"Harry!" Mr. Black exclaimed, "Merlin, you've grown. Come here, come here."

Harry walked over to the bedside, Ben trailing after him. Harry was pulled into a hug. Mr. Black was crying lightly into his shoulder as Harry's eyes were getting a bit misty too. "It's good to see you," he repeated over and over again as Harry patted him on the back. Harry noticed Dumbledore smile before heading out.

About a minute later, Mr. Black seemed to have recovered himself. He sniffed and cleared his throat before speaking to Ben. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

Ben smiled sadly. "I'm Benjamin Black, though you can call me, Ben … Mr. Black. I'm Regulus's son."

"Reggie?" Mr. Black said hoarsely, before clearing his throat again. "None of that Mr. Black stuff, makes me sound old."

Ben smiled, a relieved look briefly flashing across his face, "Okay, Uncle Sirius."

At this juncture the other man politely coughed, amusement written across his face. Sirius started. "Sorry, Moony, got sidetracked. Ben, Harry, this is Remus Lupin, a good friend of mine and your father's, Harry."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lupin," Harry said, holding out his hand for him to shake.

"Call me Remus," he replied, shaking Harry's hand. "We've met before, although you wouldn't remember."

Harry had an unpleasant thought, anger rising as he had to ask it, "Where were you, when I was growing up?"

Remus winced. "I have a … condition that prevented me from looking after you. The Ministry tightened its regulations on foster-parenting shortly after your parents died. Added onto that, I wasn't in a good place mentally immediately after their deaths."

Harry thought that was understandable. He smiled at Remus, patting him on his hands, causing him to look at Harry with relief and gratitude.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, tell us about your lifes," Sirius said.

Harry and Ben looked at each other, for a moment, before Ben started. He explained what his life was like living with the Williams before he went to Hogwarts. Harry, Sirius, and Remus were listening with rapt attention as Ben described living in a mix household.

"I'm not sure I like this Charles," Sirius growled as Ben described another incident which ended with Charles yelling at him.

"He wasn't so bad when I met him," Harry said.

"He's not," Ben said, slightly defensive and evasive in tone, "it's just that, well, he and I are fundamentally different people with very different ideals and perspectives that don't align most of the time. He also never put his full effort into getting to know me on a personal level, but he's fundamentally a good man, just … not someone I particularly get along with. He's pushing me in a similar way to the way he was pushed as a child, if what he's describe what his father was like is any indication."

As Sirius and Harry pondered this, Remus nodded along. "Makes sense, when you think about it. The greatest example that anyone would see of parenting is of their own guardians."

As Harry started to look panicky and horrified, Ben jumped in to reassure him. "That can be an example of what not to do, provided you go about it with an eye on it. Something that Charles doesn't do."

After Ben finished his time before Hogwarts, it was Harry's turn. He tried to skim over most of his experiences so as to not upset or worry anyone, but he didn't seem to be successful. Sirius and Remus would question specific points in ways that made Harry feel incredibly uncomfortable, although the pair would always reassure him that he wasn't at fault. Ben tried his best to be an emotional support to Harry, but even he seemed appalled by what was and wasn't being said. When he got to Hagrid showing up, Sirius stopped him for a moment.

"When I get out of here, you're never going back there. You understand that, Harry?"

Harry nodded, throat constricted by emotions, trying not to cry. Ben patted him on the back, a comforting smile on his face. Sirius shifted his focus to Ben. "You're welcome to come as well, Ben. Moony, you're coming, no excuses."

Remus had briefly opened his mouth to protest, but on seeing the look on Sirius's face, he relented. After that, Harry continued with his Hogwarts experience, with Ben chiming in every so often with a very small prank or a bit of information he found. When he got to the Troll, Sirius and Remus went white.

"You faced a troll!" Sirius yelled. "Where were the teachers?!"

"Looking in the wrong direction for the troll," Harry said, trying to calm Sirius down. "They came as soon as they could, Professor McGonagall leading the charge."

"Where were you, Ben, during this entire thing?" Remus asked quickly, heading off Sirius's angry retort.

"I was in Ravenclaw tower, trying not to go into Panic Mode. I didn't want to dissolve into a crying mess in front of everybody. I only found out about what happened the next day and, let me tell you, I was furious. Concerned, of course, but also furious. Daphne swears she could've heard me from her common room as I yelled at them."

Harry frowned. "Daphne wasn't there."

"She was a few rooms away. The fact that she heard me should tell you how loud I was."

"So, who's this Daphne you keep mentioning? And where did you meet her?" Sirius asked, a sly grin on his face.

Ben smiled fondly, not immediately noticing Sirius's smile. "Daphne Greengrass. A Slytherin in our year from a pureblood family that is traditional, but not prejudiced. I met her just about a week before Halloween in the library. I had just finished an essay and was wandering the shelves looking for a topic to catch my interest, when I spotted her sitting alone, struggling with what turned out to be the essay I just completed. I went over and very politely offered my assistance. She accepted and I helped her finish her essay. Afterwards, we talked over various topics and found we had a lot of common interests. When we realised it was close to curfew, we decided to meet again later to talk further about these topics. The rest is history." He finally noticed the look on Sirius's face. "We're not like that, I'm not interested in girls in that way yet."

"Yet," Sirius repeated, sly smile never leaving his face.

Ben sighed before motioning for Harry to keep talking, much to his and Remus's amusement. Harry finished the tale of his first year and the summer after without many major interruption after the reveal of the maze to the Philosopher's Stone, in which both Sirius and Remus cursed up a storm. When he got to Lockhart's first class, however, both Sirius and Remus were, at first appalled, then burst out laughing at Ben and Harry's unintentional prank. As Harry started wrapping up his tale, Dumbledore returned.

"I'm afraid it's time for the boys to go, Sirius."

Sirius jumped a bit and looked outside. "Is it that late already? Damn. We'll have to continue this again, there's so much I want to tell you, particularly you, Ben, isn't that right, Moony?"

Remus smiled as he rolled his eyes. "He seems to be getting along fine without our help, Padfoot."

Ben shook his head fondly as he rose. "It was nice meeting both of you. We'll have to continue this some other time."

"Yeah," Harry said.

With their goodbyes said, Dumbledore led Harry and Ben to the fireplace. "Did you boys have a good time?"

"Yeah."

"Definitely."

AN: Whew. So, new chapter. I actually just finished writing this. This chapter includes some of the things that reviewers have pointed out that I didn't include. Part of that was that I could visualize it going differently or I couldn't figure out a way to do it that Harry would see and still have certain believable interactions. I'm actually toying with the idea of making a side bit to this piece that would view certain events from other perspectives, such as the Troll or the Stone, but that'd be after I get much further in this piece if I do it. Oh, and yes, I did make that reference, the last name being the first name of the man who played a role in both worlds. May he rest in peace.

Uploaded June 12th, 2020, Edited Jan 10th, 2025