Something wasn't right.

Harry looked around him, confused about the strange place that he had found himself in.

He was surrounded by dead trees, their blackened branches reaching for a pale sun that was barely visible through the clouds. A thick layer of fog was covering everything like a spectral blanket and Harry could barely hear any sounds outside of those he was making himself.

Harry tried to peer through the fog, hoping to find someone who could explain where he was. Suddenly he spotted ghostly black figures in the distance, their white eyes were incredibly unsettling in how empty they were.

He stood up, ready to start walking when the sky suddenly glowed red. Harry turned his head and saw the black figures moving towards him. Fearful of their soulless stares and what they could potentially do to him if they caught him, Harry began running and he desperately darted between the trees hoping that it would somehow throw off his pursuers.

The air around him was growing heavy, Harry looked his shoulder and grew even more frightened when he saw the shadows coming closer. He was frantically looking for someone, anyone who could help him. He didn't want to think about what would happen once he wasn't able to run any longer.

Suddenly, the sound of a crow broke the barrier of silence and Harry looked up to see a bird circling above him. Their eyes met and he suddenly heard two words in an elderly voice.

"Find me..."

Harry flew out of bed as he was brought back to the waking world, taking shaky breaths to slow down his racing heartbeat.

"Honey, are you alright?"

Harry looked to the side and met the concerned eyes of his mother, her hands holding his. Shaking the shock off, he responded in a voice that was more unsteady than he would have liked.

"I had a strange dream, it got really scary. I was being chased..."

Harry chose not to elaborate further than that. Lily embraced him and Harry held her close, he rarely got hugged nowadays and a part of him longed for those earlier years when the attention was distributed equally between him and Alexander. But there was nothing he could do, so he had to settle for enjoying the moments as they came.

Lily soothingly kissed his forehead and stroked his hair with great affection.

"It must have been dreadful Harry, but you are safe here. Breakfast is on the table, so try and come down in a few minutes."

Lily got up and walked towards the door. But before she left, she turned towards Harry again with a soft smile on her lips.

"And by the way, Sirius is going to come over today so please don't spend the entire day upstairs. He has been looking forward to seeing you."

Harry nodded and she walked out of the room, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts. As he got dressed, Harry wondered why Sirius wanted to see him in particular.

Sirius coming over was nothing new but he rarely acknowledged Harry's existence. It probably wasn't intentional, much like his parents, but it was difficult to not feel like he didn't have a godfather at all when he saw Sirius only play with Alexander with a boyish grin on his face.

Nonetheless, it didn't matter in the long-run. He had more important things to do than watching his godfather act like a child.

But Harry would be lying if he said that this new development didn't pique his interest...

-line-

Harry had been happy to see that the parrot had returned, this time the cage was open and the bird settled down his shoulder once he closed the door. Harry softly stroked the parrot's feathers as it affectionately whistled an unusual melody, it sounded like a somber waltz for a final dance. He hadn't seen it in a couple of days so it was a pleasant surprise to see it flying around the room.

The last few days that Harry had visited, the birdcage had been empty and the parrot had been missing. At first, he had been frightened and worried that it was roaming around the house somewhere. Thankfully, it had eventually returned to its cage like nothing had ever happened and his family still seemed to be oblivious to the parrot's existence. And Harry preferred it that way.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed something unusual on the birdcage. Harry walked closer and saw a small brass-plate attached to the base, caked over with dust and dirt. Curious, Harry wiped the dirt off and was suddenly able to read the inscription on the plate.

"Harvey, so that is your name..."

Harry directed the statement at the parrot who bobbed its head in a nodding-gesture, Harry took that as a confirmation.

"Well, now I know what to call you at least. I wonder where you came from..."

"The Lake."

Harry was startled by the sound of the parrot speaking. It had only whistled and squawked up until now so Harrry had not expected it to answer him, especially so directly. Fascinated by this, Harry looked over to his feathered friend who had settled down on the back of a nearby chair. He had a suspicion that he knew exactly what the parrot was talking about...

"The one from the reels?"

The parrot nodded and to Harry's delight elaborated a bit further, though rather cryptically.

"The Lake is a fountain of knowledge. It knows everything that was, is and will be. And it waits for you to find it."

Now Harry was incredibly excited, this parrot could be the breakthrough that he had been waiting for!

"And where is it waiting?"

The parrot's answer was infuriatingly simple.

"Beyond this room."

Harry was incredibly perplexed. What kind of an answer was that? Yet, there was something that told Harry that there was more to the answer than what he had been given.

Unfortunately, Harry heard the sound of the doorbell ringing which signifies the arrival of his godfather. And as much as Harry wanted to continue to uncover more of this mystery, he wasn't going to go back on his promise. He let the bird climb into the cage and he spoke to Harvey as he closed it, not knowing how much the bird was able to understand.

"We will talk more about this later, Harvey. I have to go and greet my godfather. See you tomorrow, I hope..."

-line-

Harry left the room and walked down the stairs, his godfather was indeed standing in the vestibule. Sirius looked up and his smile lit up the entire room as his eyes met Harry's. The young boy was immediately swept up in a strong hug as soon as he stepped onto the floor.

"Hello there, Harry! It's been a while, hasn't it? I don't think I've seen you since last Christmas. How's it going?"

Sirius' upbeat attitude was infectious and even though the bitterness inside his heart was more than happy to remind Harry of its existence, Harry couldn't help but to smile back.

Sirius took his coat off and settled down in one of the armchairs by the fireplace. He leaned forward with a grin on his face, clearly excited to hear what Harry had to say. Harry sits down in the sofa, not sure where to begin.

"It's been pretty good for the most part, I just finished reading another book yesterday. At the rate I am going, I am going to have read the entire library by the time I go to Hogwarts."

Sirius chuckled and Harry felt slightly more at ease, he had never been good at small talk.

"I am really looking forward to the trip on Saturday, I can't even remember the last time I went outside. It is going to be so much fun!"

"That's right! Me and Lily has found a really nice piece of untamed wilderness not that far away, it's pretty unknown so the risk of us getting interrupted are very slim. Nobody even knows that we are going away over the day, just to minimize the risk of the wrong person overhearing. I trust that you can keep a secret, old friend."

James suddenly chimes in from the kitchen doorway and Harry jumps slightly. Harry honestly forgot that he was there for a moment.

Sirius put his hand on heart and his expression was so serious that it looked almost silly on a man that was anything but serious.

"I swear that I will not divulge the news of your expedition to any living soul."

Harry couldn't help it, he burst out into laughter at the scene presented in front of him. When the adults in the room gave him funny looks, Harry responded in between his fits of laughter.

"That sentence did not sound right coming from you, uncle Sirius."

The playful glare he got in return only made the boy laugh harder.

The two spends the day having fun, Sirius showing off a few fun spells and Harry longed for the day when he would be able to have a wand of his own. Harry shows a few of his drawings, being very careful to not let Sirius see the ones that are related to the room.

He may be fond of his godfather, but he isn't ready to share his secret with him yet. Maybe in time, but not right now.

They even play a few rounds of wizard's chess, every time he looses Harry learns and matches gets longer and longer as the young boy becomes better and better at covering the holes in his strategy. It doesn't stop Sirius from beating him every time though.

Suddenly the floo flares to life and Alexander steps through, having spent the day over at the Weasleys. He freezes slightly at the sight of his godfather before he jogs forward to hug him.

"Hi Uncle Padfoot! How's it going?"

Sirius turns slightly to hug Alexander, happy to see him.

"Pretty well, so far your brother has yet to best me even once."

Alexander turned towards his sibling with a playful smirk and off course he couldn't resist to tease him a bit.

"Wow Harry, you suck that much?"

Harry simply shrugged, it took more than that to get him down.

"Alas, the Hound of the House of Black is far to cunning for me to defeat."

Alexander rolled his eyes in return.

"Harry, you have read way too many books. Nobody even talk like that anymore."

Sirius laughed.

"And here you said that I sound too dramatic Harry. Anyway, don't be too hard on your brother Alexander. He is still learning and he has a long way to go before he will be able to beat me. Care to watch?"

He turns back to the board, motioning his second godson to sit down on the stool next to him as he resumes the game.

Harry is surprised to see his brother settle down and observe them, Alexander has never been the patient type and a tactical game like chess was more likely to bore his brother out of his mind.

The game goes on for quite a while with neither player being willing to admit defeat, all the while Alexander kept on watching with great interest. Ultimately, the end result was still the same. Harry didn't mind, he had played to the best of his ability and it had been a close game.

"Boys, dinner's ready! You can continue playing later."

The trio rose and obediently trotted into the kitchen, the Potter-matriarch was not one you disobeyed without good reason.

A large grilled ham greeted them from its seat of honor in the middle of the dinner-table and the delightful smell of roasted potatoes was making every mouth water. Harry felt his stomach rumble at the sight of the feast that had been laid out before him.

He settled down along with the rest of the family and they carried on conversations about all sorts of things as they ate. Harry was content with merely listening and responding when someone addressed him directly.

For a while, things were pretty good.

All it took to make that pleasant mood evaporate was a single sentence.

"So Harry, I have heard that you have this secret little hiding-space of yours..."

Harry felt his blood freeze and he looked down into the floor, trying to find a way to respond.

"What are you talking about, Sirius?"

Harry met the eyes of his father who was equally confused, though not for the reason Sirius probably thought. Harry looked around the table and found the culprit sinking into his chair as his mother was giving him a disappointed glare.

"Well, a little tyke that I know quite well told me the other day that you have this magical cupboard that changes appearance and I was curious about...what's wrong, Harry?"

He knew.

He knew everything.

Harry felt trapped like a wild animal, he needed space. He had to get away.

Without warning, Harry suddenly bolted from the table. He mumbled a quick 'thanks for the food' to his father before he ran up the stairs, ducking into his sanctuary. He wanted to be alone.

He didn't notice the tiny crack in the door.

-line-

The rest of the family was left dumbfounded by Harry's sudden departure and Sirius turned towards James with confusion and concern written on his face.

"What is going on with Harry?"

James sighed sadly, this was not how he had wanted the day to end.

"Harry didn't want you to know about that secret yet."

Sirius looked down into the table.

"Did I do something wrong?"

James walked over to his old friend and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"No Sirius, this isn't your fault. It is just that...that place means so much to Harry and I think that he is scared that he is going to loose it if too many people know about it. It is the first thing he has that truly is his own, you know."

James then looked over to Alexander who fidgeted in his seat, not able to meet his father's gaze.

"And as for you, young man...I am very disappointed in you. I thought that I taught you better than this. Why did you share a secret that wasn't yours to share, Alexander?"

The boy forced himself to look up, knowing all too well that he has done something wrong. Somehow, the saddened and disappointed tone in his father's voice felt even worse because of how soft it was.

"I...I didn't mean to...I just wanted to be let in. I didn't know that he was going to react like that..."

James sighed, he understood where the boy's logic came from.

In spite of their best efforts, Alexander was still unused to the feeling of being denied something. They had managed to teach him to ask politely and not throw loud tantrums, but that does not prevent him from being affected by the way everyone in his environment spoiled him.

In many ways, Alexander was just as spoiled as any other famous child. He had just learned to be smarter when it came to getting what he wanted.

So when Harry wouldn't let him in, Alexander had off course gone to uncle Padfoot and complained, hoping that he could somehow make Harry change his mind.

Sirius has always been Alexander's go-to when something didn't go his way and the old dog loved his little pup so much that he couldn't deny him no matter how much he knew that it would come back to bite him later.

James put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Prongslet, if you had been patient and gentle perhaps Harry would have let you in eventually. Now he might never let in at all."

Alexander felt his stomach sink into the ground and a part of him wished that he could turn back time, somehow make everything right.

This wasn't how this day was supposed to go.

Now the only thing that remained of the happy mood from earlier was the chess-game lying abandoned in the other room, pawns still arranged for another game.

They would remain that way for the rest of the evening.