Author's note. Sorry for the delay, enjoy the new chapter. Original chapter written by MySecretThoughts and used with permission.

There are mentions of abuse in this chapter just so everyone knows.

Enjoy and please review.

"This doesn't appear to be a chapter of the book," Remus said curiously. "The title is Break."

Snape grimaced; he dearly hoped none of the attention would be on him.

"Harry?" Sirius called softly as the group reached the second landing. "Come up to my room please."

The teenager shared a grimace with his best friend before following his godfather. "Am I in trouble?" he asked as they reached the fourth floor. He fidgeted nervously near the door.

Sirius barked out a laugh. "Not yet... Unless there's something you want to tell me?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Hah," Ron exclaimed and as everyone looked at him, shrugged and said. "What? Harry never tells anyone he's in trouble."

"Yes I do," Harry said as Hermione said pointedly. "Remind us what you were planning earlier?"

He paused and then had to admit defeat at that. Sirius looked curiously at him but figured he could ask later, obviously his godson wouldn't want to discuss personal things with the likes of Snape sneering away.

Harry blushed but shook his head. His answer was cut off as he looked around the room they entered in shock. "This is awesome!" he breathed, walking up to a poster of a bikini-clad woman on the wall.

This made Sirius roar with laughter.

"Oh my parents hated those," he stated gleefully, although he only really looked at those pictures as nostalgia for his rebellion against his parents.

He was swatted on the back of the head by Remus as the older man walked into the room. "You know, Padfoot, you are an adult now and it would be totally appropriate to redecorate your room to something more befitting our age."

"What and give dear old mum the satisfaction?" Sirius said with a grin. "Anyway, I put a permanent sticking charm on them."

"But not as fun!" The dog animagus whined. "Though maybe we could relocate them to Harry's room. I'm sure he'll get a lot of enjoyment out of them."

Harry blinked and opened his mouth in surprise at this. He hadn't really thought about getting pictures of girls on his wall, he was still more into Quidditch posters. None of the others in his dorm had any bikini clad girl posters in on their walls either.

"Aww, but our Harry's far too young for that sort of thing," Fred sniggered as his father looked rather amused.

Harry blushed at that as Hermione said wryly.

"Do you want me to buy some Muggle magazines for you?"

"No," he practically yelped, blushing at the amused looks on the adults face. "I'm good."

Although he couldn't help but ponder how Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would react if he tried to put posters like that on his bedroom wall at Privet Drive...

Harry smiled, moving about the room as the two bickered lightly behind him. His stomach was tying itself in knots as he remembered the disapproving looks Remus had given him downstairs.

"Even though that wasn't me, I apologise for that," Remus stated, making Harry grin.

"I accept," he joked, making his former teacher smile.

Had he realized the truth, that Harry wasn't worthy of having a family?

There were gasps at this and Harry realised they were going to move into a really embarrassing part of the story. This was going to be very painful.

Were they going to send him back to the Dursley's that very night?

"Well now that you mention it," Sirius mused, stroking his chin in dramatic fashion.

"Very funny," Harry said, briefly distracted from his embarrassment.

The silence of the room penetrated his consciousness after a couple of minutes and he turned around to see Remus lounging on a chair and Sirius sprawled out on the bed. Both were looking at him expectantly. He walked over to perch on the edge of the bed but remained silent.

"Do you remember when I told you about running away from my family when I was sixteen?" The older man asked suddenly.

Harry glanced at his godfather, remembering the story. Things had gotten so bad that'd he run away from his family and never looked back. And even though he hated it at the Dursleys, somehow he didn't think it was half as bad as Sirius had it. After all, these were Sirius own parents who'd driven him away, not to mention his little brother. He could not imagine how that would feel.

Having expected to be yelled at Harry looked at him in confusion. "Yeah I guess. Is this about me running away in third year?" He asked nervously.

"No," Remus answered narrowing his eyes. "Though we will be having a discussion about that soon."

Remus squirmed in his feet and looked away from the others with a frown. There it was again, his other self acting like some sort of self proclaimed uncle towards Harry. He wasn't Harry's guardian, Sirius was and while he was happy to talk if Harry came to him, to forcefully insert himself like that into Harry's life just...it wasn't him.

Merlin, this was starting to get really embarrassing.

Sirius made a face at his friend. "I wanted to talk to you more about why I ran away." He waited until Harry nodded in understanding before he continued. "My family was all about pureblood beliefs and all things Slytherin. Something I was not. What I didn't tell you was how my parents expressed their displeasure when I did not follow those beliefs."

Sirius grimaced.

Sirius's expression turned grave and he had to take a deep breath before continuing. "They hurt me Harry, did things no child should ever have to suffer."

"Yes, they piled him with gifts, the very best of everything," Snape thought viciously. "He never had to dress in muggle hand-me-downs that didn't even match."

His mind briefly reminded him that Potter had been but quashed that thought.

Harry looked at his godfather horrified. "That's horrible! No wonder you ran away."

He glanced away. "The day I finally left my father used the Cruciatus on me."

"Did he?" Ginny exclaimed in horror as others looked shocked.

Sirius paused and said slowly. "I have a feeling this other Sirius had it worse than me but my dear old mum did try it before I left. But I was old enough to deflect it; it was mostly mental abuse I got."

Remus spoke up knowing his friend need a moment. "Do you know why Padfoot is telling you this Harry?"

The teenager shook his head quickly his eyes never leaving the grieving man.

"Bleedingly obvious," Harry muttered to himself.

"You don't see the similarities between yourself and your godfather?" he prodded gently.

"Not in that case thankfully," Sirius said, giving Harry a look and relaxing when the teenager nodded.

Harry swung toward the wolf with a startled exclamation. "The Dursleys didn't curse me!"

"No they just neglected you, starved you, locked you up, and beat you," Remus recited in a hard voice.

"Not the last one they didn't," Harry said casually making Dumbledore sigh gravely.

Harry was shaking his head. "Its not the same."

"They caused you emotional and physical pain." Sirius stated quietly. "It's very much the same."

"But they were your parents. They were supposed to love you! The Dursleys got stuck with me! They were forced to take me in even after...I deserved what they did to me."

Harry felt his face grow hot as everyone stared at him and was starting to understand why other Harry got so emotional. He really did not like this and really wished he could sink into his seat.

"You don't think like that, do you Harry?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"No," he mumbled. "I know it wasn't fair but at least they didn't beat me."

He flinched as Remus slammed his fist into the arm of the chair and let loose a stream of strangled curses.

Snape smirked as he saw how uncomfortable the wolf looked, he always was so spineless.

"Sirius?" Harry asked, turning to his unnaturally still godfather. His voice quavered with nerves. "Is Remus angry with me?"

"Perhaps he is experiencing his monthlies," Snape could not resist saying snidely.

"Severus!" McGonagall exclaimed as Remus smiled slightly and said. "You sound just like James; he'd always call it that if he was annoyed with me."

Sirius smirked as Snape looked annoyed at the comparison. Hermione frowned, trust a boy to make light of something like that. Especially considering how devastating Remus's monthlies were.

"He's understandably upset." The older man answered having no doubt his friend had heard the question.

"Oh..." Harry was shooting quick glances at the fuming werewolf.

"Get a grip on yourself," Remus muttered darkly.

"Harry, are you scared of Remus?" Sirius asked suddenly. The two men tensed as they waited for the answer.

"No," Harry snorted, although he'd never seen Remus angry like that before.

"No, not really." Harry answered frowning in concentration. "It's just different now and I don't really know what to expect and I get why he's angry with me but..."

He trailed off as Remus spoke. The wolf was careful to keep his voice soft and resisted the urge to get up from the chair. "I'm not angry with you. Frustrated maybe, by the fact that you didn't feel you could confide in us.

"Why on earth would Potter confide in a deranged wolf who practically rips him apart every time a difficult subject is raised," Snape drawled as Sirius snapped. "Shut it Snape."

"No, Sirius he has a point," Remus said tiredly before anyone else could interject. "It would be utterly preposterous to expect anyone to confide in me if I acted like that."

Snape just smirked at this.

But I can understand it. Trust me when I say Padfoot was much worse," Said dog gave a quick bark of laughter. "Yes I'm angry but it's directed toward your foul relatives."

"Perhaps you should make that clearer," Snape sneered at the book, what a fool this other Lupin was. Even more so than this Lupin was.

"Shut up Snape," Sirius said automatically again.

"He's right Sirius," Remus said tiredly, this was becoming very famliar. "As I said, it is ridiculous to act like that and not explain yourself to a vulnerable teenager. I appear to have a lot less control in this other realm."

"It sounds like these other characters have suffered a lot more," Dumbledore said gently. "And in turn, that would have affected you Remus."

"Perhaps," Remus said, nodding gratefully but still not feeling good about it.

"Its not their fault! I deserve..." he flinched as Sirius bounded off the bed. "I'm just a burden to them, one they didn't want!" He continued backing up until he hit the far wall. He didn't see the two men exchange helpless looks.

"Oh dear," Molly said anxiously, even though they were reading from a book, she still felt for the two men that cared so much about that poor boy. He'd been abused so badly but clearly blamed himself.

Bright green eyes glazed over in shame as he slid down the wall. "I didn't want to read the stupid book. I knew it would show everyone how awful I was and how it's all my fault," He cried slamming his head back into the wall repeatedly, reminiscent of a house elf.

"Jeez!" Harry exclaimed, things really were bad with his other self. He saw his two best friends looking at him in concern and flushed.

"Hey, at least I'm not that bad, right?" he said and they shook their heads.

"I would hope not," exclaimed Molly, unable to stop herself from glancing at his forehead in case there was any redness or signs of bruising.

Sirius waved Remus back when the horrified man made to pick up the distraught boy.

Remus actually flinched at this as Harry looked embarrassed.

"Harry," He pitched his voice low as he sat on the floor, careful to keep enough distance between them so as to not frighten him. He didn't attempt to stop the self inflicted punishment.

Molly twitched, she most definitely would have, the poor boy could seriously injure himself.

"I had much the same reaction when your father and Moony confronted me."

"You banged your head against a wall?" Bill asked Sirius who smiled and said. "Yeah, pretty much. Very fashionable back then, the old head banging."

Harry, Hermione and a few others chuckled at the reference.

He was rewarded for his calm by the slight turning of the teenager's head and continued his story. "Of course your father was not as smart as me. He attempted to hold me down but I was inconsolable and enraged. I ended up throwing him into the wall. At which point Moony," he threw a pointed look at his friend, "hexed me."

Harry stopped his hurtful movements as he started at his godfather in astonishment. "He hexed you?"

Sirius nodded solemnly. "He needed to get my attention. Once he had it he proceeded to chew me up and down."

"Hopefully not literally, eh?" Sirius said with a smile towards his friend whose lips twitched slightly.

Harry shot a glance at the mild mannered man lounging in the chair. "Do you think he's going to do that to me?" he asked.

"No," Remus said sharply, rather angry with that question.

Sirius considered the teenager carefully. "I don't know. I saw him reaching for his wand earlier but he seems to have calmed down."

Remus's annoyance grew, how dare that Sirius suggest such a thing. Sirius was also frowning; didn't other Sirius know that was a really stupid thing to suggest in front of Remus? That he would actually attack someone for no good reason?

The werewolf rolled his eyes as Harry gave a weak laugh. "How come I always end up the bad guy?" Remus muttered.

Remus smiled wryly, that part was true. Whenever he objected to a scheme or bullying his friends wanted to do, he was always accused of being the bad guy or a spoilsport.

Harry leaned into is godfather's side. "How do you always know when I need you to be..." He searched for the right words. "Not normal."

"I didn't realise you stopped being not normal," Tonks said bracingly to her cousin who went "Hah!"

"I've always been abnormal." Sirius quipped grinning slightly.

"So you admit it?" she said triumphantly.

"I admit nothing," he declared solemnly as Snape looked irritable.

Harry rolled his eyes and poked the man in the belly. "That's not what I meant. When McGonagall read the part about the...cupboard you didn't get mad. You even teased me about it. Not normal, but exactly what I needed."

Sirius cautiously put his arm around the distraught boy. "I've been there. I know what it feels like when other people find out. And I'm pretty good at reading you."

"It's not normal is it?" Harry asked softly after they had sat in silence for several minutes.

Sirius shared a look with his friend. "Which part?" he asked carefully.

"The cupboard." he answered in a small voice.

Harry scratched his head; he pretty much knew that wasn't normal. Okay, when he was really little he had thought that maybe orphans did have cupboards for rooms but he soon worked out that wasn't the case. It was merely something the Dursleys did, simple as that.

"I mean a lot of kids get sent to bed without supper.

"It's horrible," Ron said in a very serious voice but as Harry glanced at him, saw his lips twitching. He smirked, that would be torture for his friend.

And a lot of kids get smacked with a belt " Gazing at the floor he didn't' notice Remus's enraged face or Sirius curl his hands into fists. "And a lot of kids have chores right?"

Harry scoffed, he was pretty sure they didn't have that many chores.

"Did you get a lot of chores?" Sirius asked him.

Harry shrugged.

"My aunt Petunia's a clean freak," he told him. "But usually, she preferred to do all that and the cooking. But I did used to have to do a lot of garden work. But that's pretty much petered off the last few years; I mostly stay in my room now or wander about."

"But I must have done something really horrible to be locked in the cupboard," He ended in a whisper.

Harry felt a pang of remorse for other Harry, he was really suffering. He'd never really thought of it as an utterly terrible thing but he'd always wanted his own room. But being in there had always made it easier to get food when he'd gone without and it was quiet. Once Dudley was upstairs, he was too lazy to come down to bother his cousin.

"Harry they didn't put you there because you did anything bad. The Dursley's..."

Harry shook his head, tears glimmering in his eyes. "I'm the reason my parents died." he mumbled into his hands. Sirius exchanged a horrified look with Remus. "Because of me Aunt Petunia's sister was killed and that's why they punish me."

"As if she cared," Snape thought to himself as Harry muttered. "As if Aunt Petunia cared about my mum."

Snape's hands clenched at that, not happy with the fact he and the brat had had the exact same thought.

"I...think she once did," Remus said gently. "Lily sometimes talked about how things were different when they were younger, before they knew Lily was a witch. They used to play a lot together but magic separated them."

Sirius pulled the limp teenager onto his lap, curling his arms around him tightly. "Did they ever say that?" he asked softly, trembling in the effort to keep his own emotions at bay. He felt the head against his chest shake in a negative. "Don't you think if it was even remotely true that they would have made sure you knew?"

"They never told me anything about my parents except that they died in a car crash and they got landed with me," Harry stated, the adult Dursleys had never ever wanted to discuss anything relating to the Potters.

"Harry," Remus joined them on the floor. "Nothing you did killed your parents. Voldemort killed them."

"But he wanted me," The teenager cried. "Otherwise he would have left them alone."

"The Potters were extremely active against Voldemort," Dumbledore said gently. "They defied him numerous times and were outspoken about him and the Dark Arts. I'm afraid they were on his hit list before anyone even knew you were coming."

This wasn't strictly true but Dumbledore didn't feel like it was the right moment to go into more detail. If these books continued, it would eventually come up and for now, he thought it best to focus on what they were reading.

Harry nodded in response to what Dumbledore said and believed him but couldn't help but wonder why Voldemort had wanted to kill him specially. The man had admitted that he wouldn't have necessarily killed Lily if she hadn't tried to protect her son.

"Nonsense," Sirius answered roughly. "You parents were fighting that monster long before you came into this world. He would have wanted them dead regardless." He gave the kid in his arms a little shake. "It is not your fault. None of it. Not your parents, not the cupboard and not the abuse those bastards brought on you." He felt his own tears fall as the boy continued to sob, long hidden emotions coming to the surface for both.

Snape smirked as Harry pulled his top up over his face, sinking as deep into his chair as possible. Molly wanted to say something comforting but she did know teenage boys liked to pretend nothing had happened. Sirius cleared his throat and said.

"Hmm, things getting a little mushy there, anyone got a suggestion?"

"Blast something?" Moody said casually, idly fingering his wand as Tonks grinned.

"Who wants to be the target?" she asked brightly making nearly everyone chuckle.

After what seemed like hours Remus stirred, stretching out stiff joints. "He's asleep Padfoot."

"Aww," Ron teased and Harry punched him.

"Shut up," he said, glad at the distraction.

Sirius nodded but made no move to get up or release his hold. "How long do you think he's thought that?" he asked his voice thick with emotion.

"Well," Remus began trying to think it through logically. "The book already told us that he didn't know anything about his parents before Hogwarts. So something happened his first year that gave him that idea. And I bet his views on his life were upset a little when he went to the Burrow and saw how a real family interacts."

"We are perfection personified," Fred declared proudly as George nodded solemnly.

The dark haired man nodded as he gently rubbed circles on the slim form in his arms. "We should have been there for him Moony."

"And James and Lily shouldn't have died." Remus told him bluntly. "We can't go back and change the past. We can help him heal though." he sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "How can he be so blasé about the abuse? 'Every kid gets sent to bed without supper.' Honestly how much of an understatement was that?" he asked angrily.

"It's all he knows." Sirius answered sadly. "But tonight was a start."

Harry was pointedly staring at the bookcase so he didn't have to look anyone in the eye.

Downstairs, still gathered in the expanded kitchen, sat the rest of the Order that had been present during the reading.

"It's amazing isn't it?" Tonks broke the heavy silence. "How well he turned out, considering." The words were mild enough but the tone dripped with enough acid it did its job reminding all present that she was a member of the Black family.

"Thank goodness I don't have to share their name," she stated cheerfully as Sirius scoffed.

"All's well that ends well," Albus murmured absently, buried in his own memories.

"I'm not sure I would put it that way," Dumbledore said delicately as several adults nodded.

McGonagall gave a distinctly feline growl as she rounded on the headmaster.

She snorted at that.

"I told you that night you left him there, I told you they weren't appropriate! But no, you felt you were right because you could never be wrong!" Eyes flashing she folded her arms across her chest. "Well you were wrong, weren't you?"

"They were his relatives," the old man answered simply as he avoided her gaze.

Dumbledore looked very grave at this, his other self seemed so determined that Harry be with his relatives that he would ignore any signs they weren't suitable. He knew The Dursleys had not made Harry very happy but they were nowhere near as bad as these other Dursleys.

"Did you never go and check on the child?" Emmeline demanded. The answer was plain on Dumbledore's closed off expression.

"I didn't personally check," Dumbledore admitted softly to Harry. "But Arabella was very vigilant; you would have told me if there were any problems."

Harry nodded; everyone knew everyone's business on Privet Drive, except for Harry's one secret.

"I did not feel it was necessary. Arabella..."

"Well what did she have to say about what was going on?" Moody growled when the old man remained silent.

"I don't know," he admitted quietly. "She sent in reports... but I never read them." He narrowed his eyes at the awful silence. "I didn't want to get attached to the boy. I knew if I did it would cause problems in the future." he defended himself. "And it has." he added silently to himself.

"I most certainly did read the reports she sent," Dumbledore said with a slight frown. "Attachment had nothing to do with my decision."

"Don't give me that load of hogwash!" McGonagall spat at him. "That boy was your responsibility. You took that responsibility when you hid him away from everyone! When you made me swear not to reveal his location to anyone!" she sighed, sinking back into her chair. "You used my faith in you against me, and now my trust in you, in your leadership is almost nonexistent."

Dumbledore bowed his head at these words, keeping the anger at the words hidden from the rest of the group.

"I know that's not true," McGongall said quietly to her headmaster and he nodded gratefully.

"Not only hers," Kingsley spoke up, his voice unusually grave. "Remus Lupin idolized you.

Snape scoffed and Remus looked at him.

"You think that isn't true?" he asked and Snape sneered coldly.

"Only that you used that as a good excuse during Potter's third year."

"What do you mean by that?" Tonks asked as Harry and his friends scowled.

"I'm sure it will come out Nymphadora," Snape said smoothly, making her scowl at the use of her name.

So grateful that you allowed him to come to school, to have a normal life, that he never questioned you, even when you denied him access to the boy, to his nephew.

Remus clenched his fists. He had fully understood the decision to allow Harry to grow up in as normal a way as possible and he'd supported it. He hadn't been in a state to visit the boy, not after losing everything and he could not have simply turn up out of the blue to invade the poor boy's life. But even if he had wanted to, he was NOT his uncle!

I certainly won't hold it against him when he refuses to accept your word as law anymore."

"Somehow I think Sirius will do much more than that," Emmeline added with a feral smile.

"This Emmeline seems awfully smug considering she never bothered to check on Potter," Moody commented on.

Tonks, whose hair was a deep red with anger, her eyes black as pitch, turned to her mentor. "Mad-Eye, I think you led me false. We might have a better chance of fighting Death Eaters on our own than working with the so-called Order."

"Ere now, that's a bit harsh," Tonks said in surprise, eyes wide. "Why strike out on our own when we can all work together?"

"Exactly," Moody grunted, if the stupid Ministry continued to turn a blind eye, they had no choice even if they did want to leave.

Severus Snape quietly exited the room, not wanting to draw attention to his departure. His face was set in angry lines, his indifferent mask slipping in his ire at the treasonous words. How dare they question the headmaster's motives? he seethed inwardly. So what if the brat had to suffer a little if it ultimately kept him safe.

Harry's eyebrows shot up as Molly exclaimed.

"Professor, surely you do not believe that?"

"These are not my thoughts," he stated dismissively.

That's what leaders do, make tough decisions that looked after the whole rather than one person!

Memories of his less than stellar childhood intruded on his thoughts, as well as his own flash of anger toward the headmaster at the first mention of the cupboard. Resolutely he pushed them away, determined to ignore them. Harder to hide behind his shields, however, were Lily's accusing eyes.

"Perhaps we should all take a break before the next chapter?" Dumbledore suggested seeing how annoyed Snape looked and everyone agreed.

"Remus?" Tonk said as the tired man suddenly got to his feet and marched out, a strange look on his face.

"I'll go after him," Sirius said as Molly stated. "I think I'll make some tea and get some snacks ready. Ginny dear, will you give me a hand?"

"I'll catch you in a bit," called Sirius as he went out the door.

"Hey mate, you can come out now," Ron said, giving Harry a nudge.

"Blimey that was embarrassing," Harry muttered as several people got up to stretch and move about. "I can't believe I was crying and banging my head..."

"Well, that Harry did suffer a lot," Hermione said gently. "I'm glad that wasn't you, he clearly needs help. At least Sirius is there for him."

"What about Lupin, he seems pretty close to," Ron pointed out as Harry frowned. That was...distinctly odd as they were most definitely not that close in real life. His old Professor hadn't even kept in touch, had this other Lupid done so? He then felt guilty; would Lupin feel that he should take a more active role in Harry's life when he had so much on his plate already? Harry didn't want to him his favourite former professor feel responsible and start trying to make up for things.

"You think he's going to be okay, Lupin I mean?" Harry asked, glancing at the ceiling.

"I'm sure he will be," Hermione stated. "I think he's just finding this hard going as well, it's uncomfortable hearing another you. I hope the book will treat me kindly when Ron and I start to feature more in it."

"Oh blimey," Ron groaned. "What's the betting I'm going to be an idiot or something in it?"

"Trust me, it won't be as bad as it does me," Harry said, watching as Snape stalked out of the room.

"Not as bad as Snape," Ron sniggered. "I thought he was going to explode."

"Same here," Harry agreed before shuddering. "Urgh, what's all that stuff about him and my mum? It's creepy."

"I honestly have no idea," Hermione stated as a pensive silence fell, as each of them tried to work out just what Snape's precise relationship to Harry's mother.

Meanwhile

"Remus...Remus!" he yelled as he followed his friend upstairs.

The other man disappeared into a room and Sirius saw it was the one Remus used when he stayed here. It hadn't belonged to anyone in particular previously; his family had used it as a guest room.

"What's wrong?" he asked his pacing friend and Remus sent him an exasperated look. "Isn't it obvious Sirius?"

"Obviously not," Sirius stated, not bothering to sit down but leant against a chair. "So what's wrong?"

"This book!" Remus exclaimed with a wave of his hand. "All this 'the three of us are a family,' your 'nephew,' I can't stand it anymore Sirius. The three of us are not a family and I am not Harry's uncle."

He panted heavily, he was extremely worked up. Sirius didn't say anything, just allowed him to continue.

"You are Harry's family, you are his godfather," Remus said, emphasising the words. "You were James's best friend, practically his brother, I was not."

"Remus," Sirius began but his friend talked over him.

"Sirius, I was James friend," he said, still with a rather passionate tone to his voice. "But I was not his best friend or a brother. I was like Peter, a friend who was far closer than the others in our year but I was nowhere near as close as you."

"Remus, James cared about you," Sirius said quietly. "Are you...do you think he didn't, that he thought less of you than me?"

"I'm not saying that Sirius," Remus said, suddenly sounding tired. "I know he cared about all three of us, I'm just saying that the two of you were like peas in a pod. If Peter and I hadn't been there, then you two definitely would still have been friends and you'd have been absolutely fine without us. You, James and Peter were all my friends but I don't really think I was closer to one of you than the rest. It doesn't matter Sirius, that's how some things happen."

"But does that bother you?" Sirius said earnestly. "That James and I were closer?"

"No," Remus said with a small smile. "I had three close friends as well as others I liked a lot. That was more than I ever thought I'd ever get and it was wonderful. The only regret I have is the same one you do, Peter."

Sirius scowled at the mention of the traitor.

"What went wrong?" Remus mused, would they ever know why. He still remembered Peter in first year and it was hard to reconcile that image of that nervous but earnest mousey little boy becoming such a monster.

"He was a stinking coward," Sirius spat viciously.

"Is it that simple?" Remus questioned. "He was brave enough to become an Animagus and face down a fully grown werewolf, that takes courage."

"Pft, Moony would always have gone for us before he went for a tiny, tiny worthless rat," Sirius said in contempt, making Remus sigh. Sirius was still not at the stage where he could properly discuss their former friend and why he might have done what he had.

"Anyway," Sirius said, changing the subject. "What else bothers you Remus?"

Remus took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts before saying in a grim tone.

"I don't want Harry getting the wrong idea and then being disappointed. It's bad enough that his aunt and uncle obviously don't care much for him, he doesn't get on with his cousin and he barely gets to spend any time with you. And this book is going on about how we're his guardians and that the both of us are going to look after him when the focus should be on you!"

"Was Peter ever Harry's uncle?" he asked furiously. "No, he wasn't but he was one of the Marauders so why isn't he?"

"Why would he be?" Sirius demanded, disgusted at the very idea of that rat being Harry's uncle.

"Because he was just as close to the Potters as I was," Remus said quietly. "If I had a right to call myself uncle, then once he did to. I know you don't want to admit it Sirius but it's true."

Sirius didn't look at all convince about this but he decided to ignore it.

"Harry knows that's a different...universe, he isn't going to get the wrong idea Remus, he's a smart kid. But I could talk to him for you if it would make you feel better and make sure there's no confusion."

"Oh I don't know," Remus said, collapsing into a chair. "I think I just need a proper break from that book. You should do go and be with the others, I'll be fine up here."

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked, he didn't want his friend shutting himself off.

"Yes, I'm sure, I just need to clear my mind," the tired man assured his friend.

Sirius hesitated before nodding.

"Alright, I'll let you know when it's starting again."

"Mm," Remus mumbled, his eyes closed and his head tipped back as Sirius got up and headed downstairs.

Author's note. Back to the books chapters for both groups, how does it go? Find out next time, until then.