Disclaimer: Characters and the settings don't belong to me; I'm not making any monetary profit from this.

~3~

The next few days went extremely well, despite Harry getting very little done in terms of planning and plotting. Instead, he used the time to train his magic and feed his body and mind.

It wasn't until half-way through the next week that he finally got an owl from Madam Bones about Pettigrew. She and two Aurors had gone to the Weasleys' house, caught the rat and confirmed that it was, in fact, an Animagus. They had hauled Pettigrew's sorry ass to the DMLE, where he had been forced back into his human form and mercilessly interrogated, both with and without Veritaserum.

Their interrogation had not only established that the rat was Peter Pettigrew, but also that he had been responsible for the deaths of the muggles, the betrayal of the Potters, and the framing of Sirius Black. Madam Bones had personally gone to Azkaban to retrieve Sirius and he was currently resting in the secure ward of St. Mungo's awaiting his appellate hearing.

To say that Harry was stunned with how fast and bloody easy it had been would be a severe understatement. Now it was important to make sure the dirty bastard didn't escape and run off to Voldemort. Not that Harry had any way of preventing that but he crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.

One thing in Madam Bones' letter that especially caught his attention was that she had apparently informed Sirius of Orion Aubrey's role in freeing him. Specifically, he had been informed that it had been his son that had caused all this.

'Whoops...'

All Harry could do was hope that Sirius hadn't said anything like 'but that's impossible, I didn't even sleep with her that year' when the topic of Erin Aubrey's son appearing out of nowhere, claiming to be Sirius's illegitimate son, was brought up. He would need to visit Sirius soon to clear things up and explain to him who he really was.

Harry was honestly rather overwhelmed that everything had come together so fast. He had not expected to see hide nor hair of Sirius at all that summer. But to have the man freed after only two and a half weeks in this new dimension? Completely unexpected.

The following morning, Harry got up at his normal, obscenely early time to run. He had made it a habit now to run for half an hour every morning. It would help get him back into decent dueling shape, which was essential.

After his morning run, Harry couldn't help but begin to feel nervous. Sirius had already had his trial and Harry had yet to hear the verdict. However, as he was walking back to the Cauldron trying to catch his breath, he saw the heading for that morning's Daily Prophet.

MINISTRY INCOMPETENCE EXPOSED!

SIRIUS BLACK FOUND INNOCENT AFTER TEN YEARS IN AZKABAN!

PRISONER NEVER RECIEVED TRIAL!

Now this was news he had to read. With a smile on his face, Harry picked up a copy, tossing a few knuts onto the counter.

He walked slowly as he read over the article, his smile growing larger with each paragraph. He wondered if he should pay Sirius a visit now or if the man would need some more time to recuperate in St. Mungo's. Part of Harry was anxious to go visit him as soon as possible, but he had to admit that another, even bigger part of him, was terrified of seeing him again. Especially since this wasn't his Sirius. His Sirius had died when Harry was sixteen years old. What if this one was a sad mockery? Harry didn't know what he would do in that case.

Besides... what was he going to say to the guy? 'Hi Sirius, I'm not really your illegitimate son, but I'm actually Harry Potter. No, not the dead one— I'm Harry Potter from an alternate universe (that's conveniently set in the future) and I was sent here by some weird crow goddess who claims that I'm the only one who can save this world from Lord Voldemort. So, how've you been?'

'Yeah. That would go over real well'

He shook his head, hoping that somehow that would be enough to clear his head. Harry knew he couldn't postpone this for long; Sirius was a key component of his plans. Delaying visiting would only delay his plans and that was not something Harry wanted to do. The sooner he killed Voldemort, the better. There were lives at stake.

~3~

Harry was grumpily dusting the ashes off his dark blue robes. Merlin, he hated the floo. One would think that with magic at his disposal there would be better ways to travel. But noooo, traveling from fire place to fire place was just dandy. And completely rational.

After nearly thirty minutes of quarrelling with the desk clerk for Sirius' room number, Harry stood in front of an Auror who had been stationed in the hallway to keep media and 'well-wishers' away. Harry gestured to a badge, given to him by the desk clerk, and waited. The guard examined it critically before going inside to ask Sirius if he felt well enough to receive visitors.

Harry stood in the hallway in front of Sirius' room, feeling a powerful mixture of emotions. He was anxious and wary but also extremely excited. He was going to see Sirius again... A living, breathing, and free Sirius!

A pang of remorse shot through him at the remembered loss of his godfather and he had to pull in a deep breath to steady himself. The door opened up then and the Auror came out. He ushered Harry inside, closing the door quietly as he slipped back into the hallway. Harry felt his breath hitch at the sight of his godfather who was sitting up in bed staring at him with wide disbelieving eyes.

"Is it really true?" Sirius whispered in a stunned tone. "Are you... my son?"

Harry floundered and felt frozen. There was a strange glow in Sirius's sunken eyes. It looked like... hope? He felt tempted to reply in the affirmative, to keep that look in Sirius' eyes alive. But he knew it would do him no good to lie, so he swallowed and croaked out a simple 'no'.

Sirius looked disappointed, the hope vanishing form his eyes. It dawned on Harry that Sirius had probably been waiting for his son to visit.

"Oh. Who are you?"

Harry pulled his shoulders back; he might as well get this over with. However, looking around, he felt uneasy admitting his true identity in an unprotected room.

"Do you mind if I cast some privacy spells? I'd rather not have this overheard," he explained. Sirius's eyebrow's shot up. No doubt he was surprised that Harry had a wand, let alone the knowledge to cast privacy wards. After all, Harry looked like a ten year old boy.

"Uh. Well... Sure, have a go at it." Sirius replied slowly, bemused. Harry quickly took out his wand and after a few seconds of mumbling incantations and wand flicking, turned his attention back to Sirius who seemed rather impressed.

"Those are pretty solid wards!" He paused, looking at Harry with a critical eye. "How old are you, anyway— Nine? How'd you get a wand?"

Harry huffed, crossing his arms. "I'm nineteen. This," he gestured to his body, "is the ten year old version of me."

Sirius blinked. "Uhm. Right… I'm starting to think you escaped from your room… It's happened before you know. Not very good security here, to be honest. Wait a second, I'll call the guard. He'll help you to your room." Sirius began to reach for a little red button that was located on the dresser next to his hospital bed.

"Wait a second! At least hear me out! Give me a sec, it'll make sense." Harry said, urgency coloring his voice. Sirius grabbed the button from the table and put it in his lap, eyeing Harry with a strange mixture of amusement and wariness.

"Fine. Introduce yourself. I could use some entertainment, the nurses don't visit quite as often as I'd like… and when they do, it's not to give me a sponge bath. They use charms now. It's pitiful, the state of our nation's hospitals…"

Harry stared unsmilingly for a second, making Sirius feel like a trouble maker again. The boy's emerald eyes reminded him too much of Lily.

"I'm…I'm your godson." Seeing Sirius's disbelief, Harry rushed to finish. "I'm the one who got you freed."

Sirius snorted. "You're definitely out of your mind, kid… Madam Bones told me that it was my son who helped get me released."

"Well, the thing is, I told them I'm your son. There's not really an Orion Aubrey. It's a cover I'm using right now to try and avoid anyone finding out who I really am. Look," Harry raised his yew wand up to his forehead, dispelling the glamours he had put in place with a mumbled finite. "See. I look like a ten year old James Potter, don't I?"

Sirius' gray eyes grew cold. "Harry Potter died five years ago. Don't pull this shit with me."

"The Harry Potter in this world did die." Harry said earnestly, "I'm from another universe. His death was the reason I was sent here. Really, Padfoot—"

"What did you call me?" Sirius interrupted.

"Padfoot. It's your nickname from when you were young." Seeing an opportunity to prove he was who he said he was, Harry hastily continued. "Dad was Prongs, Remus was Moony, and Pettigrew was Wormtail. The nicknames were based on your Animagus forms. Well, except for Moony's…"

"How do you know that?" Sirius demanded in a furious whisper.

"I already told you! I'm Harry Potter! I'm just not from this world. I'm from a... a parallel dimension, or an alternate universe or something. I don't claim to understand it. I was sent here about two weeks ago, right after I'd died in my own world. Some goddess that looked like a crow came to me in the afterlife and offered me a second chance if I was willing to come to this world and fill in for the me that died here."

Sirius' face was stunned but still suspicious.

"My mum and dad, they went into hiding under the Fidelius charm, didn't they?"

"Yes…" Sirius answered grudgingly. "But that's common knowledge."

"But did they tell you why? I mean, you know that we were being hunted down by Voldemort, who was specifically after me, but did they tell you why Voldemort was after me?" Harry questioned persistently.

Sirius looked suspicious again but nodded his head. "They did mention a reason..."

"A prophecy, right?" Harry prodded.

Sirius's eyes widened. How could this kid, who looked eerily like James with Lily's eyes, know about that? Unless… could he be telling the truth?

"The prophecy said that I was the only one who could defeat Voldemort. He's not really dead, even now. His soul was blown out of his body but he's got all these dark magic artifacts that he made to keep himself alive. He's just a spirit now but at some point he's going to find a way to get his body back and when he does, he's going to start up the war all over again. He did it in my world. I was nineteen years old when I killed him. And then I got killed by a killing curse to the back. The goddess I mentioned earlier, Morrighan—"

"Wait, the Phantom Queen?" At Harry's nod, Sirius let a low whistle. Harry grinned. Sirius was finally beginning to believe him.

"Apparently she thought I got a bum deal. I fulfilled my destiny just in time to get killed. She said that she could give me another life but I had to come back to this world and... do it all over again. This, I'll admit, isn't exactly an appealing prospect but... what the hell, right? She gave me one hell of a guilt trip by pointing out that this world was basically screwed because my counterpart here is already dead and that apparently Voldemort isn't really dead until he dies in all eleven alternative universes."

Sirius was silent for a moment, chewing over Harry's words. "Wow; that sure gives a new picture on death, that's for sure. Odd to think that there are eleven Sirius Blacks out there."

Harry nodded. "Talk about a head trip, huh? I already know you but now it's like I have to get to know you all over again. I've been having massive deja vu."

"Wait, wait..." Sirius said sitting up straighter, holding up a hand. "So, not only are you from another world but you're also from the future?"

"That's right." Harry confirmed.

"And you've been here for three weeks?"

"Just about, yup." Harry said cheerily.

"And in the three weeks that you've been here, you got me out of Azkaban?"

"Shocked the shit out of me too! Maybe that's one of the differences between my world and this one. The Ministry is a thousand times more efficient. Either that or we just got really fucking lucky."

Sirius barked out a laugh and grinned weakly.

"I guess it helped that I knew where Pettigrew was. In my third year at Hogwarts, you broke out of Azkaban and—"

"I broke out of Azkaban?" Sirius looked like someone had confounded him. Harry chuckled.

"Yeah, you did. Slipped out as Padfoot when you figured out where Wormtail was. You thought he might try to harm me as a way to get back into the Death Eater's good graces because they weren't very happy with him either. After all, it was his intel that got their master killed." Harry paused before continuing, a bitter look crossing his face. "He escaped when you finally cornered him. Partly because of me. I was too damn morally up tight to let you kill the bastard. You ended up having to stay on the run from the ministry. They still thought you were a killer and all that hogwash. Your name was never cleared."

"This is so surreal..." Sirius muttered weakly.

"Yeah, I guess it is. It still freaks me out when I look in the mirror and see a ten year old staring back." Harry responded, grinning wryly. "Um, mind if I take a seat?"

"Go ahead!" When Harry was seated next to Sirius' bed, there was silence for a few moments.

"So I don't have a kid…" Sirius said.

"No, sorry. I needed to get you released from Azkaban. I know that place was hell for you… So I thought I'd pose as your illegitimate son. Otherwise, people would have been suspicious if a random kid wanted to get you out. I don't want the scrutiny that would have entailed. I'd had enough of that as Harry Potter. And you made it pretty easy for me too. Ladies' man that you were, it wasn't hard to believe that you had a son somewhere."

Sirius grinned wolfishly. "What can I say; it would be a crime to deny the ladies a piece of the handsome, gorgeous hunk that is Sirius Black."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Back in my world Remus told me you had an on and off thing with a girl named Erin Aubrey after Hogwarts. I knew that she'd vanished within months of Voldemort disappearing without anyone ever finding a body or anything. It sounded like a decent enough foundation for a plausible cover story. I put on a few glamours to make me look a bit like you and had a chat with Arthur Weasley. Now here we are."

"What are you gonna tell people who ask where you were? And documentation…? Surely that's an issue?"

"Not really, I just got some forged at Knockturn Alley." Harry answered with a shrug.

Sirius gapped. "You went to Knockturn Alley? Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"It's no big deal, Sirius. My magical core is the same. I only look like a ten year old. I can take care of myself." Sirius looked like he was going to disagree but sighed instead. Harry continued to explain Sirius the cover story he was using.

"I'm just telling people that Erin Aubrey's my mum. She found out she was pregnant, didn't want to risk my safety, you were in Azkaban. So she took me out of the country and I lived with her till she died. And since then, I've been working on proving you innocent by trying to locate Pettigrew. I found out he was alive and tracked him down. I returned to Britain and since I'm in the country, I showed up on Hogwarts' registrar. I received my acceptance letter. It came under the name Orion Aubrey, so I guess that worked."

"Huh? How'd you pull that off? Isn't there a super complex charm that's completely impossible to bamboozle?"

"Morrighan." Harry said simply. "She said I had twenty-four hours to pick a name and she'd make sure it got on the registrar. I decided that if I had to do this I wasn't going to do it as Harry Potter. I already endured that crap. Being the Boy-Who-Lived sucked and I have no desire to do it all over again… So is this ok with you?"

"If you pretended to be my son?"

"Er... yes…?" Harry said with an innocent, hopeful smile. If he was stuck in the body of a ten year old, he might as well milk it.

Sirius let out a slow breath. "This is a lot to take in all of a sudden, Harry. I mean, ten years in Azkaban probably hasn't given me the best parenting experience…"

"I'm not looking for a parent, Sirius. I know how to take care of myself; I've been doing it for practically all of my life. The muggles Dumbledore left me with treated me like shit. Hell, they actually managed to kill me in this world. Even when I entered the wizarding world, I was on my own." Harry sighed, running his hand through his shoulder length hair. The both sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking. Finally, Sirius spoke.

"For the last few days I've been under the impression that I had a son who saved me. But now you're telling me that you're actually James' son, Harry— which would be one thing, but you're actually nineteen and from an alternate reality?" he shook his head warily. "It's just a lot to take in…" He paused. "So did you ever live with me in your world?"

"No, but we did keep in contact. I actually spent the Yule holidays with you once at Grimmuald Place. It was nice..."

Sirius frowned. "Only once?"

"You died the following spring. Killed in a Death Eater attack on the Ministry. It was my fault you were there, Voldemort lured me in. You showed up so you could save me but that stupid bitch Bellatrix killed you. She killed me too!"

"Bellatrix, my cousin Bellatrix?" Harry nodded, grimacing. "Wow. I knew she was trouble but to think she'd be the death of me… Kind of hard to swallow. Guess it was a bad sign when she started dismembering her dolls…"

Harry snorted. Sirius suddenly sat up straighter.

"Wait, didn't you kill Voldemort? And she killed you? Is she stronger than him?"

"Nah, she shot me in the back. All those duels with Voldemort and then to die by a curse to back..." Harry shook his head sadly.

"For real? Duels with Voldemort!" Sirius asked with a mixture of stunned disbelief and pride.

Harry chuckled weakly and shrugged. "Yeah. Got pretty desperate there towards the end... I still can't believe it's really over... but then again, I guess it's not. It's only just beginning. Blimey, that sucks." Harry groaned and slumped back in his chair. "At least I know what the fuck I'm doing this time."

"I feel like I should be scolding you for your language. You curse an awful lot for someone who looks like he's only ten."

Harry blinked at Sirius before bursting out laughing. "I guess I'm going to have to watch myself when I get back to Hogwarts. My language has slipped a bit after two and a half years in the trenches."

"Merlin..." Sirius said in a quiet whisper. "So you've been fighting in a war for years, huh?"

"All the really tough stuff started when I was sixteen. Torture, being forced to lead, killing people… That was the year that Dumbledore died, when I was sixteen. The next year the Ministry fell completely. Not that that made much of a difference; the Ministry was pretty useless for both sides."

"Dumbledore died?" Sirius gasped. "And the Ministry fell?"

"Yeah, but it's not like any of that is going to happen in this world. Or at least I hope it won't. There's still time before things turn really ugly."

"But you're only a kid, Harry…"

"I was never only a kid, Sirius. I killed a man with my bare hands when I was eleven. He was my DADA professor, possessed by Voldemort. At twelve, I killed a huge ass basilisk and then I killed a piece of Voldemort's soul, which inhabited a cursed diary, using that basilisk's venom. At thirteen, I fought hundreds of Dementors with my Patronus. Fourteen, a death eater snuck into Hogwarts and put my name in the goblet of fire. I had to deal with that and at the end of the year I was abducted by Voldemort and my blood was used in a ritual that returned him to a body but I managed to escape afterwards. Fifteen, you died during the ministry attack that had been my fault. When I was sixteen, there was a huge Death Eater attack on Hogwarts and Dumbledore was killed, and I didn't even go back for seventh year because the war had started up. Took another two years of guerrilla warfare to end it."

"Bloody hell and you were the leader of all this? They made a nineteen year old the fucking leader?" Sirius cursed in a horrified tone, his voice hoarse.

Harry nodded, a dark, grim expression on his face. "That's one of the reasons I don't want people to know who I am in this world. The whole Boy-Who-Lived shit just gave people an excuse to sit on their lazy asses and give me the chore of cleaning up their mess. And the ridiculous part was they turned on me almost every year." Harry snorted. "Cynics, the lot of them. I guess the only thing they weren't cynical about were themselves."

Sirius' gray eyes blazed with anger. "Well, you may not be my son but I swore I'd look after you as if you were and I'm not going to go back on my word, especially now. If this is the way you want to work things, who am I to argue? You got me out of that hellhole Azkaban. I owe you my life."

"You don't owe me anything, Sirius. You..." Harry paused, ducking his head, "You were the closest thing I ever had to family. I couldn't let you rot in that place." He finished softly.

Sirius cleared his throat. Harry looked up and Sirius, staring determinedly into Harry's emerald eyes, spoke.

"I'm glad the other me made you feel like that, Harry." Sirius grinned crookedly, stormy grey blue eyes still locked on emerald ones, "Whatever you need done from me, I'll make it happen. Just say the words. I'm here for you."

Harry looked away feeling a bit overwhelmed by the force with which Sirius spoke those words. It felt… good knowing that someone cared about him. Maybe this wasn't his Sirius, but he was still Sirius.

The two wizards continued to converse lightly until one of the healers on duty walked in and insisted that Sirius be allowed to rest. And so Harry left, promising he would visit again the following day. He could not help noticing, as he took one last glance at his god father, the soft smile that graced Sirius' face. Feeling oddly emotional, Harry quickly stepped into the hallway, closing the door gently behind him.

Harry could not help the pleased, happy smile that came over his features at the thought of Sirius. Despite being in an alternative reality, he still had someone he could relate with. It felt amazing.

He glanced at his watch. It was only 2 o'clock. He had been at St. Mungo's for 4 hours.

Harry felt a sense of bewilderment pass through him as he considered all that had occurred in just 4 hours. It was surreal. He shook his head. Time was a strange invention indeed.

Harry briskly walked to the end of the hall, towards the stairs. He paused, however, when he saw the names of the floor directory, a thought crossing his mind. Were Neville's parents in the permanent resident ward in this world too?

'I could go check,' he supposed. It would be one more thing he'd be sure of in this vastly unknown world. But at the same time, he didn't really want to know. Sighing, he decided to just let it be and walked quickly down the stairs before he could change his mind. Waving good bye to the desk clerk who had let him pass earlier, he walked out of the hospital, relieved. Harry hated hospitals. He'd spent so much time in them; they brought back too many unwanted memories.

Feeling the warm sun on his face felt rather nice and he decided to not worry about things that were out of his control presently, like the horcruxes and the future.

~3~

Harry's next visit to Sirius proved just as noteworthy as the first. Sirius had done quite a lot of thinking, having been confined to his bed by the healers. And as he observed Harry come in and close the door, Sirius couldn't help but feel slightly nervous although he tried his best to hide it. Harry casually put up some privacy wards before taking the seat next to his godfather's bed. Noticing the other man's unease, Harry frowned, asking what was wrong.

"Nothing really, Harry. It's just… I was thinking about the discussion we had yesterday and …" Sirius paused, feeling unsure.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "And?" he prodded. Surely Sirius wasn't regretting agreeing to let Harry pose as his son? Harry felt his heart sinking at the thought. However, he kept his disappointment in check and simply stared questioningly at Sirius, waiting.

Sirius' skeleton like fingers began to fiddle with the blanket that was covering his overly thin body. Clearing his throat, he said: "I think we should do a magical adoption."

Harry couldn't stop the shock he felt from showing on his face. A magical adoption? That was a serious thing. He would become Sirius' son in blood, name and magic.

Sirius, who had been watching Harry closely, misread his surprised expression and hastily began to speak again. "I think it'd be safer for you because you wouldn't have to worry about glamours. What if someone cast a finite charm at you? But I understand if it's too big of a step to take. I mean, you wouldn't look like James anymore and I understand if you want to keep your parents—"

"Sirius, no, it's a bloody great idea." Harry cut in, still reeling from the suggestion. "Having to rely on glamours all the time at Hogwarts would be a pain in the ass. It's a brilliant idea but… are you sure?"

Sirius grinned widely at Harry, as though someone had told him he was the only male left in a world full of Veelas— which was a very wide grin, indeed.

"Of course I'm sure!" Sirius declared, "If we get things moving fast enough, we could even have it done by the time you head off to Hogwarts. It'll also legally change your name to Orion Black. Have many people have seen you with your glamours?"

"Um… Mr. Weasley, Madam Bones and some shopkeepers in Diagon Alley... but none of the shopkeepers know me as Orion Aubrey. Well, Tom does but that's it. I'm sure they wouldn't notice if I looked a little different…"

"That's great! Since we're going to have to have a middle name for you, as per my families' traditions, do you have any specific one in mind?" Sirius inquired. Harry blinked.

"Middle name?" he echoed blankly. "Never really thought it was a big deal…" Harry disclosed, scratching his head sheepishly.

"Hmmm. I guess I'll have to think of one…" Sirius hummed and began to mumble names under his breath, testing out the rhythm of the names to see if any were a good match with 'Orion Black'. "It needs to be one of the longer constellations. A two syllable middle name just doesn't flow well with Orion as the first name..." He mused aloud, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

Harry watched silently, smiling. It was nice, Sirius' interest.

"Orion Perseus Black. Not terrible... Orion Scorpius Black... not too bad either. Orion Reticulum..." Harry winced and Sirius grinned at his reaction. "That sounds stupid. Orion Centaurus... Nope… Hey, there's a constellation called Phoenix! Orion Phoenix Black," He recited, enunciating each name, testing it out. "What do you think, Harry?"

"Orion Phoenix Black, huh? That sounds good!" Harry confirmed, smiling. "It's appropriate too. The whole rising from the ashes of death thing phoenixes tend to do… It suits me!"

"Alright, it's settled then. I'll contact the goblins by owl and schedule the magical adoption ceremony."

"The goblins?" Harry echoed curiously.

"Yeah, they'll be able to keep this confidential. Much better than doing it here or at the ministry. The goblins don't answer to wizards."

Harry nodded, remembering Morrighan saying something similar. Suddenly an idea struck him. "The Potter vaults! If you're my guardian, you can access those!"

"I don't need your money, Harry." Sirius protested with a frown. Then his face broke out in a sly smirk. "Besides, I plan on suing the Ministry for my stay in Azkaban. Those guys are going to pay through their noses. Not that I need the money..."

"I know you don't need the money. It's just that I'd like to gain access to those vaults before I turn seventeen and this will let that happen, right?"

Sirius blinked. "You've got me there."

"So where are we going to live after you're released? I guess we could go to Grimmauld Place, but... uh... ew?" Harry finished with a grimace.

Sirius laughed and agreed. "It is a pretty awful place."

"Now that you're free, you should have access to the Black vaults. And I have the money from the Potter trust fund… and the Potters have some properties that were in pretty good shape in my world at least… I'd rather not live in a house that's as infested with uck as Grimmauld Place is."

"Infested with uck," Sirius repeated with a snicker. "I haven't set foot in that house in years. I can only imagine what sort of state it's in after being empty for so long."

"Not empty. Kreacher's been there, slowly going insane."

"Oh Merlin, I forgot about him!"

"Yeah well… I don't know what to think about that elf so I'd rather avoid him for now…" Harry muttered a slight scowl on his features.

Sirius was interested as to why Harry felt like that but he decided that he could ask some other time. 'Besides,' he thought happily, 'Harry's actually going to be living with me! Sirius would have plenty of opportunities to get to know him.

"I'd rather we get a new house. I'd like a place of my own. We can look around during the summer." Sirius suggested.

"Aright, sure," Harry consented, his face brightening up at the thought.

It was then that a healer entered. She didn't look surprised to see Harry there, assuming on sight that it was little Orion Aubrey who she knew had helped get Sirius released.

"Mr. Black, it's time for your daily potions." She declared, referring to the seven vials she had on a tray next to a glass of water. Sirius made a face, causing Harry to smile sympathetically. He knew how bad healing potions tasted; he had had plenty during the war. It was one of the many reasons he hated hospitals.

'You would think that the brilliant potions masters who invented them could at least make them taste tolerable…'

"Awww but Healer Blackburn, I feel fine…." The healer snorted, eyeing Sirius' protesting face in disbelief.

"Ten years in Azkaban can't be undone with just a few nights of rest, Mr. Black. The blue vial first, if you will." Sirius grimaced before doing as he was instructed. He did the same for the next six potions until he was finally done. Healer Blackburn nodded in satisfaction, handing him a clear glass of water.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" she remarked as she cast a variety of healing diagnostic spells on Sirius. "Those potions will help you get healthy. You're so skinny… But that's to be expected from someone who spent ten years in Azkaban… Right, I believe everything's in order." She announced, smoothing Sirius's blanket and picking up the tray that held the empty potion vials. "I'll be back again at six, Mr. Black."

Sirius called goodbye as the healer made an exit before turning back to Harry.

"That blue potion was a sleeping drought, so… unless you enjoy my company enough to watch me sleep, which wouldn't be surprising because I know I'm rather charming, you should leave."

Harry nodded and stood up, straightening his robes. "Alright, Sirius, see you tomorrow. I'll go and find out the details for the adoption at Gringotts." Sirius, who was already feeling drowsy, agreed and so Harry left, softly closing the door behind him.

~3~

The next week passed by quickly. Harry continued his newly established routine of getting up at the crack of dawn and jogging up and down Diagon Alley before showering, eating breakfast and then flooing to St. Mungo's. He ran a few documents back and forth between Sirius and Gringott's to iron out the finer details of the impending adoption. After eight days passed, the Healers at St. Mungo's finally agreed to release Sirius from their care.

"Merlin, it feels good to be out in the hustle and bustle of the magical world…!" Sirius exclaimed happily as the pair stepped into Diagon Alley. "The adoption is happening today, isn't it?"

"Yup. But we have a little time before then; it's at three. How about we get some ice cream?" Harry smirked when Sirius nodded excitedly.

"Ice cream! Bloody hell, I haven't had any for ten years! Believe it or not, it's not on the menu at Azkaban…"

"Then let's go." Harry said. But he did not have to say anything. Sirius was already eagerly heading towards Fortescue's. Chuckling at Sirius' antics, he ran to catch up and the two disappeared in the crowd.

~3~

A/N: Thanks for reading!