Sirius was pacing furiously in 'his room' once more. He had not explained himself, but merely stated this was going to happen before leaving the room, and now that he knew the book snapped shut when he did was all the better.

He would not let this happen, it was the only clear thought in his head. Everything else was a swirling madness that would have had the dementors swarming to him as if a new feast had arrived, but even that he forced himself to think past and desperately grab at anything to help turn his conviction into a plan.

He wanted James. He was always the one to come up with the actual plans, Sirius was just the ideas.

Dumbledore was his greatest obstacle. He seemed determined to play some part in Harry's life, and keep Sirius out of it if he interfered.

He wanted James back. Prongs was Harry's father for Merlin's sake, he'd put a stop to this! Sirius' own title of Godfather had been stripped away, he was nothing to the boy he loved so much.

Someone walked into the room in his periphery, and he was so on edge he wanted to go for his wand on instinct before he remembered he didn't even have that anymore. He wanted his brother back, James always had his back when he was too distracted.

Remus stood there, looking as unsure of himself as ever, and Sirius almost sobbed at the sight. Moony had been so unsure of himself for the first few years of their friendship, he'd later confessed he'd always suspected the Marauders would figure out his secret and had a whole escape plan from the castle ready for whatever their reaction would be. He'd never have guessed it would be to drag him down to the Whomping Willow and take a picture with him.

James would never have believed Sirius had been the one to betray the Potters to Voldemort. His all consuming thought his first night in Azkaban had been what James' last thought was, if he'd blamed Sirius for suggesting Peter instead, but even still that guilt was nothing to the ferocity he'd later felt upon realizing why Remus had never come to speak to him.

Remus cleared his throat and gazed at his forehead, still unable to really meet his eyes for an unknown length of time. Sirius still wasn't sure he wanted him to, but he needed help. He did care about Harry still, he'd proven that already. He was no James, but he was still his friend, Sirius finally did believe that again.

"Sirius, if there's-"

"Moony, you've got to help me."

"Anything," he instantly promised, eyes snapping to meet his gray ones, and Sirius took a deep breath, wishing with all the years of their past that was still true. Remus had once believed Dumbledore over him on the gravest matter of his life though, and he was about to ask Moony not to do the same again. His eyes began prickling with tears, he didn't know if Remus was going to believe him, let alone help him.

"Padfoot?" He stepped forward with genuine concern, his face open, and exhausted. Sirius had not forgotten it was still the night before a full moon, he should have been dead on his feet, ill tempered, and asleep. Instead he was standing here, waiting patiently for Sirius to spit it out.

"Dumbledore doesn't want me around Harry," he said all in a rush, he wasn't even sure anyone else on the planet would have understood the jumble of words except the man in front of him.

Remus stepped closer, and then without hesitation, pulled Sirius into a rough hug. Sirius hesitated only moments before returning it, embracing him once more and burying his face in his shoulder. Just saying the words aloud helped take the smallest chip of fear out of the place it had lodged into his heart. They'd fix this, keep Harry away from Voldemort and Dumbledore and anyone else, they had to.

"I've noticed," Remus breathed into his ear so quietly, someone standing right next to them couldn't have heard. It was all the promise Remus needed to say for now.

Harry's eyes instantly latched onto his dad's two old friends as they reentered, forgetting at once what Ron had been talking about. He'd apologize for that later, he was too busy scrutinizing them to see if they'd suddenly decided Harry was no longer worth the trouble of being around, now that Voldemort seemed to definitely be coming back in this future, and Harry was clearly a part of that.

The opposite in fact seemed to be happening, as Sirius beckoned him to come join them back in the rooms, and Harry instantly got up to see what this was about.

Mr. Weasley and Dumbledore had been having some whispered conversation, but both looked up in concern to see Harry going off alone with these two.

"Perhaps we should get back to the reading," Dumbledore tried to gently intervene, his eyes laser focused on Sirius, who was paying him no mind. "We have no clue-"

"Yeah, just want to say something to him real quick, privately," Sirius waved a dismissive hand.

"You know all about that Dumbledore," Remus said bitingly.

"Now gentlemen, I really don't," he tried one last time, even getting to his feet, so Sirius dropped the pretense of trying to do this quietly and let Harry decide if he wanted to tell his friends this. He wasn't going to give Dumbledore the chance to intervene before he told Harry at least this.

"I'm your Godfather," Harry had been less than a dozen feet away by this point, walking very slowly as he didn't want to ignore Dumbledore but no more wanted to miss this, but now came to a stumbling stop in surprise. Some sort of explosion took place in the pit of Harry's stomach. He wasn't quite sure he understood what the words even meant in this context, but surely...

"You, you mean," Harry and Sirius couldn't take their eyes off each other, Harry was almost as terrified now as he had been first seeing him. What did this mean?

"It means I'd like to be the one to decide things for you from now on Harry," Sirius said calmly, still not looking away, but feeling Remus' icy expression still directed across the room stopping Dumbledore from cutting in. The man couldn't without making more of an arse of himself, and they both knew it now. "Unless, you'd rather the Dursleys keep doing it," he finished with a humorless smile.

"I, um, NO!" Harry shouted the last word and felt bad for it when Sirius flinched and stepped back in surprise, and Harry realized Sirius thought he'd answered the wrong part of that question. "I mean, yes! You, definitely, you!"

His dad's best friend had known him less than twenty-four hours and he'd already treated Harry with infinite more kindness than Harry's mother's sister had once done, there was no comparison! No matter what Sirius' choices were, they had to be better than what he'd be heading back to!

"Great, okay, glad that's, settled," he finished lamely now, they had not come up with a plan past this point. "Just, just in case," he hadn't meant to finish the thought aloud as he finally looked defiantly at Dumbledore, who was shaking his head disapprovingly at the proceedings.

Harry's heart plummeted as he understood, looking wildly between the two himself now. Sirius would be dropped back into Azkaban when this was over, why was Harry being told this now? He thought back over that Forbidden Forest moment, of every bad thing that had happened to him and Sirius' overwhelming concern for him, and how he'd seemed to be fighting with Dumbledore a lot since they'd been plopped in here. Just in case of what?!

"You, you said you were going to get him out though, right?" Harry asked, trying his hardest to get the tremble out of his voice as he took another couple of steps towards Sirius.

"I shall of course, try," Dumbledore sighed, he sounded very old. "Yet there is no witness, no proof of the true transgression-"

"He can stay with us until then," Arthur cut in. He was looking uneasily between the pair as well. He certainly trusted Dumbledore far more than the man who'd been around dementors so long, his mind should have deteriorated long before now.

He'd definitely shown some spotty problems, but certainly nothing that didn't seem manageable. Arthur wouldn't keep Sirius Black away from Harry, and he definitely agreed with him on one very valid point. "Molly won't mind, even if it takes another ten years to ah, clear up that mess."

Sirius blanched and had to fight off the urge to turn into Padfoot right now at the thought, he would not let that be the case, he couldn't stay out of Harry's life now, guilt for what he'd done be damned. Then an idea blossomed at the edge of his consciousness, like Prongs himself whispered to him just how useful Padfoot was. Large enough to help with Moony, but agile enough he'd been able to hit that particular spot on the Whomping Willow when Peter had detention. Small enough to try-

Dumbledore could only visibly beam at the man for his kind hearted gesture, and didn't even find himself surprised when the youngest Mr. Weasley howled his delight and he and Harry began dancing around in excitement. Mentally he was reorganizing his plan, clearly his suspicions of what resided in him were not to be tested any time soon then. He would have to tell Sirius, and Arthur and Molly it would seem, everything about Harry then. Even his suspicions about the part of Voldemort's soul residing in the boy. They had to understand there was a greater good here, Harry had to stay where he was safest.

But there was just the smallest part of him that was relieved when Sirius Black grabbed up his godson and held him tight like he had not done in ten long years that was relieved this would change nothing. Harry would know love, and still find some way to over power Voldemort with it, perhaps even stronger now with the abundance of it suddenly amplified for him. Somewhere in his heart, Ariana smiled at her big brother once more.