Forward: This is all property of JK Rowling. All I own is my silly idea of what pairings I prefer. Contains Honks and Slash, independent Harry and manipulative Dumbledore

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I'm Sorry

Shaking and shaking, that was all Harry Potter could do now that he was sitting in front of the veil in the Department of Mysteries. Dumbledore was the first to make it to the changed boy in front of him and though he tried to reach out a steadying hand; the seeker skills Harry was so famous for snapped the wrist far more quickly than he should have been able to. Dumbledore clenched his jaw, pain shooting up the arm that had been withdrawn as he tried to figure out what to do, how to help the Harry in front of him. The withered body of Sirius Black was held in Harry's arms making it at first hard to tell the difference in Harry himself.

Arms were far more developed and muscular than before and though his face was turned from the crowd surrounding him you could tell there was less skin around his cheeks and jaw. One could only describe him as defined now and that was something that ultimately scared Dumbledore. He feared the day Harry got to independent for his control to be easily asserted and as expected, that day had come far before he was prepared to relinquish hold. Remus Lupin stepped towards Dumbledore and with a nod from the older man squatted and half crawled towards Harry, attempting to stay on a level that wasn't threatening to him. Muttering could be heard coming from the hunched over Harry and though Sirius wasn't speaking loudly Remus could hear him from this close. "I'm sorry Sirius, its all my fault, I'm so sorry. Sirius please don't leave me." Harry just kept repeating the same phrases, sad and yet stirring at the same time to the old wolf.

Creeping up Remus put his hand out, not towards Harry which he had already been shown was a mistake but towards Sirius. The man he had loved for nearly the whole of his life was lying next to Harry withered and older than Remus though he would ever see him. He realized then just what had happened to Harry. The veil in front of them all, was the passage of time. Whether slowed down or sped up it proved to be a most deadly weapon created in a time of war. Although the implications of such a weapon were astronomical Remus could see why it remained here in the Department, it would be hard to trick a Death Eater into walking through it; especially after potentially watching others of their group go through and not come out.

Sirius' hand gripped his and Harry moved aside letting the werewolf closer to his mate. Though it had been a highly guarded secret before Remus didn't give a knut for what anyone around him would think as he scooped the animagi up into his arms and kissed him soundly on the lips, stroking the white hair surrounding the sunken face. Just when I thought he was getting a bit of meat on his bones. Collectively everyone gathered around them let out a sigh and then another body was seen creeping closer. A younger looking woman with bright pink hair crept towards Harry's group of people. Although she hadn't known her godfather long they had gotten close in the year previous as meetings for the Order had brought her in and out of his house. He had hated being there, everyone including her had known that fact but she hadn't thought of him running out and trying to save Harry just as he was supposedly in danger.

A sigh escaped the soft lips as she reached them and held out her hand, brushing Sirius' own with hers and sat, close to Harry but still not pushing him out of the way of Sirius. She didn't think she was quite woman enough to try and separate them just yet as Dumbledore had. Someone behind them cleared their throat and Harry looked up, pain written all through his fierce green eyes; Remus' golden ones and Tonks' violet ones followed quickly enough to stare at the Headmaster in front of them. "Harry I must really insist you let us take you to Hogwarts immediately. It isn't safe for you here." The green eyes that held the headmasters neither wavered nor blinked as Harry stood up and the crowd gasped again. He was tall, covering all of 6'3" with his lanky frame. His face looked older, less plump with childhood than anyone who had seen him not 10 minutes ago would have figured possible and he was mad. "I will not return to Hogwarts, I will not have information withheld from me and I WILL NOT LEAVE SIRIUS." Harry's voice had been so monotone at the beginning that by the time he started yelling experienced aurors were flinching.

Harry turned and held out a hand to Tonks, showing her the anger wasn't for her, nor for the two men who had just received a quite caring and warm look from the green eyes Tonks had though would never be anything but angry again. "I think we need to take Sirius home and get him comfortable Remus, can you manage or do you want me to grab him?" Remus shook his head and heaved himself up, Sirius in his arms, with head pillowed against the hard werewolf's chest and arms around his neck. The three of them started walking towards the door, Harry brushing off any hands and arms trying to restrain him from continuing on with his godfather. Striding purposefully out of the department Harry turned, not quite sure which direction would be the right one. He had been in such a rush trying to get here to begin with he hadn't payed much attention to directions.

A nudge on his arm from the violet eyed auror told him to turn left and towards the lift. They all walked on in silence until reaching the street above the ministry. Remus nodded and apparated himself and Sirius to the order safe house. Harry found himself looking at Tonks' raised eyebrow and shook his head with a rueful sigh. "I haven't learned that quite yet." She nodded at him and held out her hand. Harry grasped it as tightly as he dared before feeling the familiar tug of apparition taking him away. They landed in the foyer on the floor, tangled limbs all around. It wasn't that much of a surprise to Harry considering that he wasn't used to having to land and Tonks was quite the clutz but all the same it took some time to extricate himself from the human devils snare before he could dash up to Sirius' room.

Discreetly knocking on the door Harry felt Tonks ease up beside him before Remus' low rumble of a voice told them to come in. His godfather lay on the bed propped up by every pillow in the room and could only offer Harry the weakest of smiles. It was obvious the man was weakened and equally obvious there was nothing that they could do about trying to make him any better. He had aged prematurely at least 60 or so years and his body was barely clinging onto life at this point. Remus kept Sirius hand in his while looking over at Harry and Tonks standing on the other side of the bed and looking quite forlorn. "If you'll pull some pillows and blankets from another room I think we can all kip in here for the night.

A nod from both of them and Remus was taken aback as Harry leaned forward, kissing Sirius softly on the forehead before turning on his heel and heading out the door behind Tonks. "I think Harry has aged more than we predicted tonight Sirius." The werewolf said with a hint of sadness to his tone. He didn't want Harry to have to grow up any faster than he was already being forced to but it looked as if that decision was made for him, another thing out of Harry's hands. "Cheer up wolf, our Harry isn't about to let himself be a pawn anymore. It's time he figured out a King can never be just a Pawn." Sirius said in his gravelly and oddly aged voice. Remus leaned forward and kissed Sirius again gently before climbing up into the bed and laying down beside him. "I didn't know this day was coming so soon Sirius." Remus said quietly, sounding like a scared child. The only thing the withered figure in the bed could do was grasp the werewolf's hand in his own and give it a quick squeeze.

Down the hall Harry and Tonks had found a room with 2 full size beds in it. Stepping inside and looking around Harry turned to Tonks hesitantly and grabbed her arm, stopping her from heading immediately to the bed. "Listen I'm sorry. It's my fault and if I hadn't tried to run off and be the wizarding savior this wouldn't be happening." Voice quavering Harry cut his speech off and looked down at Tonks, tears showing in the green eyes before she grabbed him into a hug. Though the witch wasn't by any means short, her 5'8" was still tiny compared to Harry's large frame and she was immediately surrounded by his arms and the chest shaking with sobs he couldn't let out yet. "It's not your fault Harry. Everything went how it was supposed to go. We weren't the maestro, just the orchestra." She said quietly rubbing a hand up his back. Even Harry couldn't miss that and stood up tall slowly, shaking his head and taking a deep breath. In this light Tonks thought his hair looked a bit like Sirius' long and unruly. "Dumbledore won't control me again, not if I have anything to say about it."

Emotion drained from them both the grabbed the top covers and pillows off of the beds and returned back to the room Sirius was laying in. Remus was curled on his side sound asleep next to him and though it was light and shallow, Sirius was breathing still and appeared to be sleeping peacefully next to his lover. Tonks was already laying out the blanket and pillows on the side of the bed closest to the wall and though she raised an eyebrow when Harry covered Remus up with his own blanket she kept her lips sealed shut as he lay about a foot away from her, eyes staring at the ceiling unseeing without anything but a pillow.

Hours after everyone else went to sleep Harry Potter finally closed his eyes with a content smile on his face and tension in his shoulders. It would be a fight but he had made the decision to be the controlling factor in his life from now on. He wasn't sure how he would accomplish such but he knew the dawning day would hold more than a few surprises for the wizarding world.

A.N: Sorry I abandoned my other fic, life happened and all but I plan to make this one quite long and drawn out so I hope you enjoy it.