June 27th 1994

The Three Broomsticks brought back a lot of memories of various Hogsmeade weekends
as a student and a few as a Professor. Remus smiled happily as Rosmerta winked at
him from the bar and pointed him towards a table at the back.

Moody was waiting for him, back to the wall and at a seat which afforded him a
complete view of the rest of the tavern. It was a beautifully defensive position.
Remus shook Moody's outstretched hand and subsided into the opposite chair.

"Thanks for meeting with me," Moody said briskly, "I really have no idea why I
agreed to the job so anything you can tell me about how to survive it would be
appreciated."

"It's not a problem." Remus said amused. "We need to be finished by three though as
I'm meeting Minerva then."

He noticed the discarded paper on the table with a half-smile.

Brian's press offensive had continued that morning with the exclusive story of
Sirius's escape from Azkaban all to save his godson from the traitor Pettigrew.
There had been more quotes from various important people suggesting that such an
act surely should be rewarded with guardianship. Fudge had gone on record as saying
that he was in support of a wizarding guardian for Harry Potter. The paper was also
full of various sightings of Sirius from France to the Caribbean as the question of
Sirius's whereabouts vexed the press and the public.

"Have to admit Cutter's doing a good job for Black." Moody said noticing the
direction of Remus's glance. "Although I suspect you already know that."

"I couldn't possibly comment." Remus said as Rosmerta came over and took their
orders for lunch.

Moody waited until the innkeeper was well away from
privacy bubble. "You know I know you know more than
about Black's whereabouts I don't deserve to know
who dropped the ball where he was concerned but I
kid is safe and away from the muggles."
them before he erected a
you can say. I won't ask you
since I was one of the idiots
would appreciate knowing the

Remus regarded him, faintly stunned. He cleared his throat. "Harry is safe and away
from the Dursleys."

"Good." Moody took down the privacy bubble with a swish of his wand. "Now, about
this bloody school business"

It was a good lunch. The food was excellent, and Moody was entertaining and
frighteningly good at deconstructing Remus's old lesson plans into real life
stories. He made meticulous notes of the students and Remus could see that he
already had a copy of the final exam results.

Moody was appalled at Albus's choices of DADA instructor before Remus calling
Lockhart 'a slimy fraud' and Quirrell 'a blithering idiot.' Remus also took it upon
himself to inform Moody of the events of Harry's first and second year. Moody was
about as impressed with what had happened as Remus was.

"What were they thinking?" Moody grumbled as Remus finished up the story of the
basilisk. "Anyone with an ounce of common sense would have known it was a basilisk
after the ghost got hit."
"Beats me." Remus agreed amiably.

"The lad's got a penchant for being in the wrong place at the wrong time." Moody
said thoughtfully.

"Or the right place at the right time." Remus pointed out.

"No, I think my version is more apt." Moody argued.

Remus laughed. "It probably is at that."

Moody suddenly looked towards the front of the inn and gave a snort. "Heads up.
Albus has entered the building."

Remus turned and found an annoyed looking Minerva marching up to him with Albus
walking serenely behind her. "Minerva."

"Remus." Minerva glared at Albus. "I apologise but when I mentioned I was meeting
you, Albus insisted on coming along."

"Albus." Remus greeted him politely. He felt a little nervous; he had taken the
Headmaster to task at their last encounter.

Albus smiled at him. "Remus, forgive the intrusion but I wished to apologise for
the other day. You are quite correct and I promise I will caution Severus before
the next school year."

Minerva harrumphed. "As if that has ever done any good."

"Minerva" Albus began.

"I have been telling you for years that his behaviour as a professor is
unacceptable and you assure me you talk with him but then he carries on
regardless." Minerva argued fiercely, her Scots brogue thickening with her anger.

Albus looked completely taken aback at her outburst and Remus fought the urge to
applaud.

"What did Severus do now?" Remus asked, getting to the heart of the matter as he
saw Moody erecting another privacy charm. It wasn't like Minerva to be so
indiscreet about a colleague.

Minerva grimaced. "I don't wish to say, Remus." But her eyes fell to the copy of
the Prophet and Remus guessed that Severus had said something about Sirius.

"I see." Remus could hear his inner wolf growling and breathed in deeply. "I expect
Sirius would be rather unsurprised at Severus's attitude." He glanced at Albus.
"I'm sure you'll agree, Albus, that if Severus were to make any derogatory remarks
to Harry about Sirius that he would be acting very unprofessionally."

"It seems I will be having a rather long conversation with Severus." Albus conceded
with a sigh. "Have you heard from Sirius yet, Remus?"

"Not since you and I last talked, Albus." Remus said truthfully. "Have you sent
word to Harry?"

"Alas, he and the Dursleys have not yet returned to their home." Albus informed him
with what looked like sincere regret.
Remus pushed himself out of the chair. "Alastor, it was good to see you." They
shook hands and Moody thanked him again as he undid the privacy charm he'd put up.
"Minerva, we should leave or the goblins will get upset at our tardiness."

"A meeting with goblins?" Albus's eyes twinkled. "It sounds very mysterious."

"It's a will reading, Albus," Minerva snapped, "and I'll thank you not to hold us
up any longer."

"Albus." Remus said by way of farewell and offered Minerva his arm. She took it and
they headed over to the floo. As he followed her into the flames, he could hear
Moody in the background

"What the hell is this I hear about a bloody basilisk?"

Remus fell out the other end, laughing. Minerva fixed him with a glare that had him
sobering swiftly.

"Apologies," Remus said, "I overheard Alastor berating Albus about the business
with the basilisk just as I flooed."

Minerva sniffed. "We were very fortunate that all of the students were lucky enough
to survive the whole affair."

"You won't get any argument from me." Remus concurred.

They made their way into Diagon Alley and down the street to Gringotts. They were
shown into a back room and Remus was unsurprised to see Brian, Liam Arkam, Amelia
Bones, and Kipbold waiting for them, along with Augusta Longbottom and Andromeda
Tonks.

Everyone exchanged minor greetings before Arkam, a blond portly man with a
moustache, got on with the business.

"I thank you all for coming at such short notice and apologise for the lack of
details in your invitation beyond that this was a reading of a will and you had
been named as beneficiaries or were required to be here." Liam began pompously. "We
are here to read the joint will of James and Lily Potter."

Remus wasn't surprised but he heard Minerva's sharp intake of breath.

"I thought it was missing?" Minerva asked.

"Clearly, Minerva, it has been found." Augusta said crisply.

Liam cleared his throat. "You're here to represent Frank, Alice and Neville
Longbottom, Madame Longbottom?"

"Yes." Augusta said sharply.

"I am here to represent Sirius Black." Brian pre-empted Liam's form question of his
presence Remus knew the two solicitors were already aware of each other's roles
in the proceedings but Brian gained three sharp looks from Andromeda, Augusta and
Minerva.

"Remus Lupin?" Liam cast his gaze over Remus.

"Representing myself." Remus replied easily.

"Andromeda Tonks also representing myself." Andromeda spoke up before Liam could
ask her.

"And obviously Professor Minerva McGonagall is here representing herself and who I
recognise." Liam smiled at her.

"I should hope so, Mister Arkam. I was your teacher for seven years." Minerva
retorted.

"Quite," Liam replied hurriedly, "I also thank Amelia Bones who has agreed to act
as the executor given the extraordinary circumstances."

"Which are?" asked Augusta.

"A copy of the will was provided by the new Lord Black to the Ministry as part of
the special investigation into the matter of Sirius Black." Amelia explained. "I
can't say anything more because of confidentiality."

Again there were surprised looks.

"Very well." Augusta huffed. "Shall we get on with it?"

Liam cleared his throat again. "Quite," he pulled the parchment to him, "I'll skip
the legalese and summarise the bequests if that is OK with you all?"

Everybody nodded.

"Remus Lupin is left the sum of one hundred thousand galleons and the house at
Dithery Cliff. Do you accept this?"

"Yes." Remus said, a lump forming in his throat. He imagined James and Lily had
wanted to ensure that he always had a home and money to live, knowing as they did
how hard it was for him to gain employment as a werewolf.

"Minerva McGonagall is placed in charge of the Lily Potter Scholarship Trust which
should be used to provide one free place to a muggleborn student every year
including tuition for their seven years of study, school supplies and a modest
spending allowance to be set at her discretion. Funds are to be taken from the
Potter vault, set aside in a separate vault for the Trust and receipts provided to
the Potter Steward via Gringotts. Should she relinquish her position, she should
recommend a replacement. Do you accept this duty?"

"I do." Minerva said and Remus could see the glint of tears in her eyes.

"Now to the rest," Liam said briskly, "starting with Mister Black. Sirius Black is
left the sum of one hundred thousand galleons and the share of the flat 2A London
Street owned by James Potter. Does Mister Black accept this?"

"On his behalf, yes." Brian replied.

"Neville Longbottom is left ten thousand galleons from his Uncle James and Aunt
Lily. The funds are to be used at the discretion of his parents, Frank and Alice
Longbottom, or his named legal guardian until he is of age. Madame Longbottom, do
you agree to the bequest?"

"Yes." Augusta's starchy exterior was shaken.

Remus remembered that the Longbottoms, although an Ancient and Noble family, were
rumoured to have suffered financially over the years since Frank and Alice had been
attacked.

"There is a bequest to Lily Potter's sister which is being handled through muggle
solicitors, and one bequest that has been denied by the executor as the named
individual Peter Pettigrew has been found complicit in the deaths of the Potters.
The remainder of the estate is bequeathed to their only son." Liam noted, glancing
at Amelia. "All that is left is the appointment of a legal guardian for Harry James
Potter, the Potters' son, assuming responsibility for his care and upbringing, and
assuming regency of the House of Potter until he comes of age. Frank and Alice
Longbottom are named as first in line with provision made for the guardianship to
pass to Sirius Black should they refuse or be unable to assume responsibility, and
additional provision made for it to pass to Minerva McGonagall should Mister Black
decline or be unable to assume responsibility, or Andromeda Tonks should Professor
McGonagall decline or be unable to assume responsibility."

The three women looked suitably shocked and Remus schooled himself to appear the
same.

"For the record, I confirm that Frank and Alice are in no position to assume
guardianship." Augusta said tersely.

"Brian?" Liam inquired.

Brian cleared his throat. "My client Sirius Black will assume guardianship."

Liam nodded and looked over at Amelia. "I assume as custody is currently held by
muggles the Ministry will review the matter?"

Amelia sighed. "The Ministry has already reviewed the situation and has agreed
guardianship of Harry Potter should follow the legal wishes of his late parents and
therefore is awarded to Sirius Black." She glared at everyone in the room. "Please
do not share this until such time as the information is made public."

Everyone nodded.

"And that concludes our business." Liam said brightly. "Please see Kipbold for your
vault keys."

Augusta retrieved her key and swept out before anyone could say anything to her.
Remus exchanged a polite nod of acknowledgement with Brian and Amelia before he got
his key and waited for Minerva.

Andromeda paused beside him as she left. "It's been a long time, Remus."

"Too long," Remus agreed, "how are you and Ted?"

"Good." Andromeda said. "Pleased to hear the news about Sirius and feeling entirely
guilty for thinking that he would ever"

"Me too." Remus said hurriedly.

Andromeda looked at him intently. "Have you heard from him?"

"He's getting medical treatment in line with the conditions set by the Ministry for
him to take custody." Remus offered.

She nodded. "Tell him he's welcome to come over whenever he gets back. Well, I'd
best be off. Take care of yourself, Remus."
She left just as Minerva appeared and Remus fell into step beside her as they
exited Gringotts and made their way to the Leaky. He noticed his companion was
silent too silent.

Remus cleared his throat and discreetly raised a privacy bubble. "Are you alright,
Minerva?"

"No, I don't think I am." Minerva said quietly. She looked every single one of her
years. "I was with Albus the night he we left Harry in the muggle world and to
thinkI knew they were the worst kind, but I accepted Albus's decision and I
haven't questioned it since despite it's obvious the muggles haven't taken the
best care of Harry. I failed James, Remus. We weren't close after Dorea died, and
he and Lily left Hogwarts, but that's no excuse."

He placed a hand on her arm. "There was no way for you to know if they hadn't
informed you, Minerva, and it's clear from your reaction that they didn't. But if
you feel you need to make some kind of amends here, I would suggest that you don't
tell Albus that Sirius has guardianship until it goes public like Amelia
requested."

Minerva regarded him sternly for a long moment before her shoulders straightened.
"You have my word, Remus." She turned and left before he could say anything more.

o-O-o

Time Bubble: July 9th 1994

Harry was having the best summer of his life.

They'd been at the Valley for two weeks, and although Harry had time travelled with
the time turner he still had a difficult time getting his head around the idea that
however long they stayed at the clinic, only a week would pass in the outside
world. He'd decided to forget that oddity and simply enjoy his stay as much as he
could.

The first day had been scary. The whole thing about the residue in his scar had
been beyond frightening but it had all been dealt with very quickly. He couldn't
remember the procedures to cleanse his scar as he had thankfully been knocked out
for the whole thing. He had been restricted to bed for a few days after mainly
because they'd needed his magical core to settle. What had been enormously
comforting was that Sirius hadn't moved from his side the whole time except for a
few bathroom breaks.

It had soothed some lingering worry inside Harry that Sirius didn't really mean it
when he'd said he'd be there for him; that despite everything Sirius had done to
make it possible for Harry to live with him, Sirius wouldn't really want him once
he got to know Harry. But it was hard to argue about how much Sirius cared about
him when his godfather spent all of his time looking after him and keeping his
spirits up while he recuperated.

They'd mainly shared stories about Hogwarts during Harry's bed stay. It was the
most common ground they had. Sirius admitted that Remus had already told him some
of Harry's experiences but he wanted to hear about them from Harry. Harry had been
a little reticent but once he'd started to talk he'd found himself happily
reminiscing about his first year adventures.

He began with Hagrid taking him to Diagon Alley and Sirius had quizzed him over
what Hagrid had and hadn't told him about the wizarding world. He got the
impression that Sirius liked Hagrid but wasn't impressed that Hagrid had explained
so little. Which surprised him as Sirius, on the whole, was very non-judgemental
he'd understood Harry's immediate use of the invisibility cloak when he'd received
it and he'd mostly looked relieved about Harry surviving the troll.

It had also been a relief to Harry to tell someone about the events with Quirrell.
Sirius had listened intently to Harry's tale. He'd also placed a hand on Harry's
arm when he got to the confrontation with Quirrell and didn't let go as Harry
haltingly recalled everything. Sirius had reassured him again that it wasn't
Harry's fault Quirrell had died, noting that Harry had acted in self-defence. He
also explained about possessions and how they worked, including the fact that they
were almost always fatal to the host body; that Ginny had survived her possession
seemed something of a miracle. The discussion had made Harry feel better. He hadn't
actually realised that he'd still been so upset about what had happened with
Quirrell. He'd kind of bundled it all up and shoved it to the back of his mind.

Harry had been beyond ecstatic when Sirius had reciprocated, telling Harry all
about Sirius's first year at Hogwarts which luckily also included many stories of
his father, and even some about his mother. He'd smiled when Sirius had told him he
and James had agreed to be friends after sitting in the same compartment on the
train, but had been dismayed when Sirius admitted that they'd made a bad impression
on Lily during the same trip because they'd had an immediate enmity with Snape
who had been her friend! He'd also been dismayed by Sirius's admission that,
although they'd disliked Snape because they could tell he'd used dark magic
(something his mother had probably not known), he and James had also been rather
snobbish and full of themselves.

But he'd laughed at Sirius's recounting of how he'd begged the hat for Gryffindor
knowing James would be placed there and at all the pranks they'd played through
the school year. He'd enjoyed Sirius's tale of how they'd eventually included
Remus, who they'd quickly realised was simply brilliant, and had slowly worked out
he was a werewolf but hadn't wanted to say anything in case it upset him. Sirius
avoided talking about Wormtail and Harry couldn't blame him.

They'd repeated the story-telling the next day with their second years. Sirius
hadn't flinched at all over the fact that Harry could talk to snakes and Harry had
been thrilled at Sirius's continuing unwavering acceptance of him. Again, it had
helped to talk about the fight with the basilisk. Sirius had teased him over being
a knight in shining armour.

Sirius confessed in an overly sad fashion that his second year hadn't been all that
exciting in comparison. Mostly, they'd finally broached Remus's affliction with him
and tried to work out a way to help him Sirius eventually stumbling onto the idea
of becoming an animagus. He recounted how Harry's father had also tried to become
friends with his mother again, but how her continuing friendship with Snape had
kept them at odds. He'd confessed with more than a little chagrin that although
Snape could give as good as he got, he and James had probably crossed the line from
pranking to bullying a few times where their nemesis was concerned, and so it
wasn't any wonder Lily thought them both prats.

Harry was glad Sirius had been so honest with him but it disturbed him that his Dad
and Sirius could bully someone even Snape. It explained a lot about Snape's
attitude towards Harry. Then he remembered how Snape had accused Sirius of trying
to kill him and asked Sirius about that.

"You have to understand, Harry, that by sixth year, us Marauders and Snape were
mortal enemies. He'd thrown in his lot with the Death Eater crowd the year before
and dropped his friendship with your mother." Sirius began. "You remember my
telling you I'd run away that summer? Well, Snape caught me one day and hinted that
he knew more than the official story of my parents disowning me. He hinted that
he'd tell the whole school." He shifted on the bed and shame entered his eyes. "I
panicked a bit about whether he did know anything about my family situation, I
guess, and told him that he knew nothing. He then said he knew everything about
Remus and his monthly trips to the Whomping Willow, and would know more if he
followed him. So I dared him to press the knot on the Willow and do it if he was
man enough."

Harry frowned. "But that sounds like he knew Remus was a werewolf."

"I think he had a strong suspicion." Sirius agreed. "In fact, I made the dare
because I thought that he already knew and I didn't think for a moment he'd be
stupid enough to go looking for a werewolf." He sighed and rubbed at his beard for
a moment. "I didn't tell your Dad or Remus about it either for that reason. I
didn't think there was any reason to be worried."

"Only Snape went looking."

"I think he drugged our pumpkin juice that night because Peter went straight to
sleep and I found it hard to stay awake. Your Dad had sensibly stuck to water so he
was fine and bloody annoyed with us for snoozing. When I realised we'd been
potioned, I worked out Snape must be going after Remus I figured Snape was going
to try and kill him! So I sent James to save Remus while I got an antidote to the
potion." He sighed. "I ran after them as quick as I could and luckily your Dad had
already got there and was hauling Snape's arse out of the tunnel. Just as I ran up
to help him, Dumbledore appeared and marched us all to his office. He let James go
pretty quick. Snape, he made promise not to tell people about Remus while we were
students; said something about the fact that that was his punishment and then
something vague about how it wasn't too late."

"And you?"

"Banned from Hogsmeade weekends for the rest of the year, and the Quidditch team.
And I had detention for the rest of the Winter term." Sirius explained. "Wasn't as
bad as the two months of silence and the ban from joining them at the next full
moon that I got from Remus."

"He stopped talking to you?" Harry had never considered that the friends must have
had issues just like him, Ron and Hermione with the Firebolt.

"If Snape had found him, if Snape hadn't killed him and he'd killed Snape, or even
just attacked him, Remus would have been executed." Sirius said gravely. "My dare
put his life at risk. He was quite right not to talk with me. I understood it even
if it was a horrible two months." He gestured at Harry. "Your Dad forgave me after
a day or so. He was mostly annoyed because Lily had been warming up to us but
because the rumour around the school was that it was a prank that had gone wrong
and we'd almost killed Snape, she was giving your Dad the cold shoulder. That, and
your Dad said I should have told them about the dare when I did it, and he was
right. Peter stayed on the fence pretty much, which should have clued us in for
what happened later come to think about it."

"But Remus forgave you, right?"

"He did when your Dad intervened and pointed out that Snape had probably contrived
the whole thing both provoking me and going to the tunnel. He said Snape had
probably hoped he'd get Remus executed and me expelled or in prison." Sirius
grimaced. "But I don't think Moony ever truly trusted me after that. It probably
was one of the reasons why he considered me the spy and why he believed I was
guilty." He shifted position again. "And maybe because I felt that distance he'd
put between us, I was more inclined to think the worst of him too."
"You're OK now though?" Harry questioned, a little afraid that they weren't.

"We are," Sirius smiled, "I think mostly we're just pleased that we have each other
as a friend again and what's past is past."

"Shame Snape doesn't feel that way." Harry commented.

"No, he knows how to hold a grudge." Sirius said. "Truthfully, so do I; I don't

like him. I know I won't be apologising to him anytime soon I'd rather pull my
own teeth out first."

Harry chuckled at that.

Sirius poked his leg through the blankets. "The dare was a mistake though and I
regret it but I'm not going to pretend to you that I'm perfect and I don't expect
you to be either. I can be a little reckless at times. I can maybe be too cruel and
ruthless if I'm crossed. And I have a habit of acting before I think. Everybody has
flaws."

Harry flushed but he was comforted by the words nevertheless. It helped that Sirius
didn't expect him to be perfect he could just be himself. "I think I have the
same flaw," he said, "acting before thinking? And I have a bit of a temper
sometimes. Hermione says I brood."

"Well," Sirius said, "we can work on improving ourselves together, but we should
always keep in mind that it's OK not to be perfect."

In his heart, Harry forgave Sirius the whole affair with Snape quite quickly. Harry
had to admit his own dislike of Snape was well-rooted especially since Snape was so
unfair to him had been unfair to him from the moment Harry had arrived at
Hogwarts. It just seemed a shame to Harry that someone who had been such good
friends with his mother was so bitter towards Harry himself even if he understood
why more after all of his discussions with Sirius.

The following day, they had moved onto Harry's third year and although Sirius had
witnessed everything from a distance, he still wanted to hear all about it. Sirius
in return had shared his third year stories which revolved mostly around the
Marauders' continuing efforts to help Remus, more pranks, and Harry's Dad still
trying to build a friendship with his Mum and still failing badly.

Harry had been sad as they moved back to the cabin that they'd ran out of school
years to trade. Sirius had proposed that they made it a tradition that the first
day of the summer holiday would be spent with Harry telling Sirius all about his
school year and Sirius would tell him about the equivalent year of his own. It
warmed Harry that they had plans for the future that they had started a
tradition.

The days since had settled into a routine: mornings began with a healthy breakfast,
and the exercise routines that Doctor Jordan had assigned them both; an eclectic
mix of yoga, tai chi, weights and jogging. They had a light lunch usually in the
cabin. They split up in the afternoons for the mind healing sessions, Sirius's were
longer because of the damage done by the Dementors, and Harry's were a mix of mind
healing, Occlumency and art therapy.

The Occlumency sessions were a tad boring since it was mostly meditation to sort
through his memories and to build a defence around his mind. Talking about the
memories was the worst part Harry didn't really want to talk about any of his
life under the cupboard or his previous summers with the Dursleys. Healer Fay
didn't pressure him but she made it clear that dealing with his memories was an
important part of his treatment. He had started to accept her reassurance that he
wasn't being judged about any of it, but he still didn't want to talk about it. The
art therapy was better. Harry had liked rediscovering painting as a hobby; he'd
enjoyed it at primary school and he thought it was a shame Hogwarts didn't offer
that kind of course. He vaguely remembered Stonewall offered an arts subject.

Harry enjoyed the late afternoons more. Sirius had offered to teach him to swim in
the attached pool and they spent an hour in the water before eating dinner by the
poolside. The evenings were spent playing cards Sirius had taught Harry poker and
promptly regretted it or board games Sirius insisted on being the dog in Wizard
Monopoly. Sirius always told a story about Harry's babyhood or something about his
Dad or his Mum.

It was simply the best summer of Harry's life.

Except for the fact that Harry couldn't do any magic or fly until they checked his
magical core again but that was what they were going to do that morning.

Blackhawk greeted them warmly as Sirius and Harry were shown into a large treatment
room by Jordan. Harry grinned back at the old wizard. Blackhawk had joined them for
dinner a couple of times and Harry had been enthralled by his stories of healing.
He was actually thinking it might be something that he would want to do in the
future. Maybe. He'd kind of considered becoming a teacher when he'd thought about
life after the Dursleys before he'd known about Hogwarts, but that had mainly been
because they were practically the only other adults he'd seen outside of the
Dursleys.

"Now, we are going to repeat the tests we did before your procedures." Blackhawk
informed him briskly. He motioned to a bulls-eye target set at the end of the room.
"You will cast the Stupefy spell at the target." He indicated a book on the table.
"Wingardium Leviosa to levitate this book a metre above the desk. And finally, you
will produce a patronus."

Harry nodded. He only had a vague recollection of the tests the first time around.
He seemed to remember the target produced a number which equated to the power used.
Sirius patted his arm a silent good luck.

Harry faced the target eagerly and raised his wand. "Stupefy!"

The red light shot across the room and slammed into the target, sending it rocking
back into the wall.

Harry stared at it in shock; there was a huge hole in the centre of the crumpled
target. The number that appeared in the air above it was meaningless to Harry but
Blackhawk was looking at it with a wide-eyed surprise that disconcerted Harry. "I'm
sorry," Harry began urgently, "about the target."

Blackhawk waved his apology away. "You have done nothing wrong, Harry. Do not
worry." He exchanged a look with Sirius though that clearly indicated to Harry that
something was wrong.

"Try the book, Harry." Sirius encouraged.

Harry swallowed hard and faced the desk. He aimed his wand and with a swish and a
flick, said the spell out loud. The book shot up into the air and Harry had a hard
time yanking it back before it hit the ceiling.

"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Harry asked as Blackhawk's expression grew more
concerned.

"Not so much wrong as unusual." Blackhawk assured him calmly. "Lower the book and
cast your patronus, Harry."

Harry set the book down with an audible thump. He forced himself to focus so he
could cast the patronus; he aimed his wand at the empty space beside him. "Expecto
Patronum!"

The stag leaped out of his wand and clattered onto the tiled floor. The luminescent
animal tossed its antlers and pawed the ground, leaving scuff marks behind.

Sirius approached carefully; he reached out a hand and patted the stag's nose.
"Hello Prongs." He said awed. The patronus was not only corporeal, it was solid. He
smoothed a hand down a flank and Harry could see the fine hair of the stag's coat
brush through Sirius's fingers.

The stag blew a huffy breath through its nose. It looked to Harry for instructions.

Harry cleared his throat. "It's OK, you can go."

It transformed into a glowy mist before disappearing altogether.

"Beautiful." Blackhawk said, almost reverentially.

"Thank you." Harry said automatically. "What's wrong with me?" He asked bluntly,
fear churning in his gut.

"Nothing's wrong with you, Harry." Sirius said firmly. "But your power levels are
off the wall. I have never seen a solid patronus not even from Dumbledore. That
binding was obviously keeping a lot of your magic locked up. We're going to need to
work on you gaining some control over it."

"I agree," said Blackhawk serenely, "your magic is stable but you are unused to
having so much of it at your disposal. You will need to retrain otherwise you might
have instances of quite dangerous accidental magic."

Harry's gaze went unwilling to the damaged target on the other side of the room. If
that had been a person

Sirius nudged Harry's arm. "It's going to be OK, Harry. We'll work on your magic in
the evenings."

Blackhawk nodded. "As your stay here will need to be extended, if you wish I will
arrange access for you to the town; you can floo there from the clinic here. We do
not wish for you to get cabin fever as you recover."

"That would be appreciated." Sirius replied.

"I would also like to invite you both to my home for dinner." Blackhawk's eyes
twinkled. "I also have a granddaughter and a grandson your age I can introduce to
you, Harry? I thought perhaps you might like to spend time with people your own
age."

Harry's mood brightened. "That would be great." He smiled sheepishly. "I kind of
miss my friends."

"Of course you do." Sirius said. "Thank you, Healer Blackhawk."
Blackhawk smiled warmly. "Call me Noshi, Sirius." He motioned at them. "I will
leave you for tonight and will see you both tomorrow."

Harry waited until the old wizard had departed before he slumped against the desk
and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry." He gestured at his godfather. "It's my fault
you're stuck here."

"Firstly, there's no need to apologize; it's not your fault someone bound your
magic." Sirius replied. "And secondly, I get to spend more time with you helping
you relearn magic. That's not a bad thing in my book."

He felt a little reassured but still"I'm sure you have important things you have
to do back home though."

"Nothing is more important than you." Sirius said immediately.

Harry blushed; happy and bewildered at the sincere statement.

"Come here." Sirius held open his arms.

Harry moved into the hug with only minor reluctance a roll of his eyes, and
mostly that was for show he was a teenage boy; he wasn't supposed to want hugs.
But his mind healer thought they were good for him and he secretly enjoyed the
comfort of being hugged. Sirius was great at hugs. His godfather seemed to
instinctively know how to hug him; secure but not suffocating, comforting but
without babyish words of nonsense like Petunia gave Dudley, and Sirius had a sixth
sense about when to step back before Harry started to feel embarrassed.

Like right then.

Sirius patted his back quickly and eased away, although he clasped Harry's
shoulders and looked him in the eye. "I don't want you to worry about this. You're
a powerful wizard; we just need to work through your lessons again. OK?"

"OK," Harry mumbled, nodding. "It's just" he bit his lip as he tried to figure out
a way to tell Sirius that he wasn't that good a student. "I don't want to
disappoint you."

"Why would you think you're going to disappoint me?" Sirius asked, surprise written
all over his face.

Harry could feel his cheeks heating with shame. "I'mI'm not like my Mum and Dad.
I'm not as smart as they were."

Sirius sat on the desk and patted the space beside him, indicating Harry should
join him. "Why do think you're not as smart as your parents?"

Harry ducked his head. "Well, I'm not. I mean, you said they were top of their
classes likelike Hermione, and I'mI'm not, well, except in Defence Against the
Dark Arts."

"Hmmm." Sirius looked at him closely. "Look, your Dad was one of those annoying
people who could get good marks without trying very hard. He just had this
intuition about magic. It used to drive Remus bonkers because we would never see
him working but then in class he'd produce a perfectly conjured bouquet of flowers
or make a fork dance the can-can."

Harry smiled at the image.

"Your Mum had an affinity for Charms and Potions but she worked hard to get the
marks she did. She spent a lot of time in the library and a lot of time practicing.
Remus was like that although he had no affinity for Potions at all. He knew the
theory backwards but every time he got in front of a cauldron, it'd melt." Sirius
said. "I probably fell somewhere in between Transfiguration and Defence Against
the Dark Arts came easy to me but I had to work at the rest."

Harry listened carefully, hearing the underlying message in Sirius's words: good
marks and class positions took work and if he didn't put the work in well, he'd
end up where he was: average in all but the one subject that came naturally to him.

"But class positions aren't everything." Sirius continued. "Do you try your best?"

He didn't want to lie but he didn't want to admit the truth either. He squirmed
under Sirius's scrutiny. "Sometimes." He admitted.

"Which means sometimes you don't." Sirius pointed out with brutally honest logic
that reminded Harry of Hermione. "Why do you only sometimes try your best?"

"I don't know," Harry replied automatically, shifting again as he really considered
Sirius's question.

He thought back over his schooling. He'd loved his primary school when he'd first
attended; it had been an escape from his meagre existence at Privet Drive. But then
Dudley had started chasing away anyone who wanted to be friends with him and his
relatives had never praised his marks and had simply never accepted him being
better than Dudley. In the end he'd decided not to draw attention to himself by
remaining average in class, but secretly went over the lessons in his cupboard at
night. He'd looked forward to Stonewall as a means of starting afresh, and he
vaguely recalled that his plan had been to do well so he could escape Privet Drive
when he was sixteen and get a job. But then there had been Hogwarts and

And Harry had intended to do well the summer before he'd started. He'd stayed up
late reading his books and he'd tried, hadn't he, those first few weeks of school?
Butit had been harder than he'd expected between the quills and the wizarding ways
of doing things and Snape. Ron had never been interested in studying, openly
disparaging of Hermione's cleverness back then, and Harry hadn't wanted to rock the
boat with his new friend by going to the library or showing what knowledge and
aptitude he did have. Thankfully, Hermione had forced them into studying once
they'd properly made friends with her after the troll and Harry remembered that he
had gotten good marks that first year: exceeds expectations and a couple of
outstandings which had more than made up for the acceptable he'd scraped in Potions
and History of Magic.

Second year had been a nightmare between hearing voices in the wall and being
shunned for being the Heir of Slytherin; he hadn't wanted to stand out. There had
been no exams that year but he thought he would have passed. And he had passed
third year mostly acceptables with a couple of exceeds expectations and the
outstanding in DADA. But thinking it over, he slowly realised that he'd let Ron set
the tone again since Hermione had been busy or they hadn't been speaking to her.
Not that he could blame Ron Harry figured Sirius would expect him to take
responsibility for his own studying and hadn't he already decided that he was
going to be a little more independent from Ron in the coming year, drop Divination
and take something else?

He looked up from his meanderings and met Sirius's patient waiting gaze.

"I guess I haven't wanted to stand out too much oror upset Ron." He confessed
miserably. "He thinks studying is boring and"
"And you go along with it because he's your friend." Sirius completed. He nodded.
"I can understand that. Peer pressure is a hard thing to resist. I only joined the
Quidditch team because of your Dad."

"Really?"

"Yep," Sirius said, "I didn't want to play and while I could fly half-way decently,
I didn't enjoy it. But your Dad wanted company and I was his best mate soI ended
up as a Beater until I got banned and then I took advantage and refused to go back
on the team the next year." He flapped his hand. "Anyway, back to you. What do you
think you should do?"

"Decide things for myself," Harry replied promptly, "I'd kind of already realised
that after last year."

Sirius looked at him inquisitively.

"I hate Divination!" Harry exclaimed. "Trelawney's always predicting my death

andand I hate it. I only took it becausewell, you know. I was thinking of asking
Professor McGonagall if I could transfer to Runes or Arithmancy."

"I'll talk with her. There shouldn't be a problem if we get you up to speed before
Hogwarts starts." Sirius replied. "Which do you think would suit you best?"

Harry thought for a long moment, weighing both subjects in his head. "I think
Runes. I don't really enjoy theory stuff as much as I do practice and I get the
idea from what Hermione has said in the past that there are lots of practical
applications for Runes but Arithmancy is more about theory."

"You're right. Runes it is then and you're in luck because I did Runes and we can
start your tutoring while we're here and take advantage of the time bubble." Sirius
poked Harry's arm lightly. "I promise you that I won't be disappointed in any of
our lessons so long as you try your best."

"OK, I promise." Harry said quickly, resolving right there and then that he would
keep his promise and put the work in.

"I also expect that when you return you try your best at Hogwarts too." Sirius
continued.

Harry nodded, trying to ignore the twisting sensation in his gut at Sirius's
comment. He'd never had someone take an interest in his marks before if the
Dursleys hadn't cared about his marks at primary school, they'd cared even less
about his marks at Hogwarts and he was embarrassed anew at his past performance.

"I'm proud of you, Harry." Sirius said, surprising Harry into looking at him again.
"You've thought everything through and made some good decisions about your future.
It's like we said when we talked about our flaws, remember? We're not perfect but
we'll work on the things we know we need to improve. And I will never be
disappointed in you so long as you always try your best."

"I will." Harry promised again. He wouldn't let Sirius down.