4/6

"Well… since you were with him, I assume he didn't sneak in, but how come he was allowed in?" Harry asked this, hoping that Professor McGonagall would regale him with a dramatic story of some elaborate scheme Sirius had employed in his latest penetration of the school's defences.

"Mister Potter, I will forgive your ignorance, considering the events of the last school year. But in spite of the fact that we are in a castle, you seem to have forgotten that this is first and foremost a school. Parents and/or guardians are perfectly free to arrange to visit their children here during term time. Though, perhaps not in the manner mister Black displayed this morning. And usually with more than twenty minutes notice." She finished with a mutter.

"Oh." Harry said, blushing lightly.

"Of course, the Ministry has applied certain extra restrictions for you and Gaara, but even they cannot prevent a guardian from stopping in to talk to their charge."

"I guess." Harry said, "Do you know what he wants to talk about?"

McGonagall shot him a stern look, "You know very well that I won't be telling you anything of the sort, Mister Potter. That topic is between Mister Black and Gaara, unless one of them wishes to share the matter with you."

"Yes, of course, Professor." Harry averted his gaze.

They lapsed into silence, with McGonagall enjoying the peace and quiet before her day's lessons began, and Harry unhappily avoiding saying anything else that would end up embarrassing him.

Eventually the door slammed open and Sirius came bustling out, pantomiming the stern disciplinarian he had appeared to be when he first appeared, but something about the performance rung hollow now. Professor McGonagall, Harry decided, had also reached the same conclusion, judging by the subtle pursing of her lips.

Gaara's face, which had hardly registered any sort of shock on his way out of the Great Hall, now appeared to be back to being perfectly blank again. But he didn't usually seem to care when he was being told off anyway, so he couldn't be relied upon to give any sort of indication of Sirius's actual intentions.

"And another thing, young man, you're bloody-well lucky that I don't give you a good hiding!" Sirius yelled, struggling not to let the ever-present smirk grow on his face.

"Yes, well, that will be quite enough of that, Mister Black." McGonagall said with a withering sigh.

"You're probably right. Already gave the lad a right good tongue-lashing." Sirius said, adopting a northern accent, bringing a smile to Harry's face automatically but doing nothing to reduce McGonagall's frown.

Before Harry could ask one of ten questions he'd been formulating while pacing, Professor McGonagall spoke, "Now that you have spoken to your charge, I will show you out."

"Actually, Professor, I was hoping to spend some time with the boys together, since I'm here."

"As you used to be the first to remind me, parents may only spend time in the castle when attending to important business or an emergency. They can't just drop in."

Sirius, remembering the fervent effort he went to in his years at Hogwarts to escape is parents' meddling and stop them confronting him and his friends during term-time, struggled to maintain his smile. "Well, Professor, I'm sure an emergency could be arranged. If you like."

"While I can no longer assign you detention, I must remind you, Mister Black, that you are also no longer the beneficiary of the school rules preventing staff from cursing students." McGonagall countered.

"You wouldn't begrudge your old favourite student a little grace, would you, Professor?" Sirius chanced, while both Harry and Gaara silently watched on.

"You, Sirius Black, are not who I would be thinking of if I claimed to have a favourite student." She said, "…however, considering the imposition you and these two have been put to by recent events, I suppose it would be heartless of me to deny you some time together before the boys have their first classes of the day. If you make them late, on the other hand, I might not be so forgiving." And with that final, ominous warning, the Deputy Headmistress moved to leave.

Two steps on her way, she turned back and said, "I might also suggest that you find somewhere discreet before the whole school finishes with its breakfast and seeks out the latest intrigue in the castle."

Sirius thanked her and then turned to the two teenagers at last. "I know just the place."

"Where?" Harry asked, since Gaara never would. In fact, come to think of him, Gaara seemed to be standing a couple of feet further away than when Harry last looked.

Sirius seemed to notice Gaara's unseen movement, as well, not long after. Instead of mentioning anything, which Gaara would likely not deign to reply to, Sirius instead took Gaara by the shoulder and started 'guiding' him towards the staircase that would lead them upwards.

"There's this one hidden area your father and I always used to hang out. I'm sure you'll have come across it before but it would be nice for Gaara to see it as well, I think."

Neither Gaara nor Harry could guess why Sirius thought Gaara might care about where Sirius and Harry's father used to sit around when they were at school, but Harry was too interested to mention anything that might stop them and Gaara had no say in the matter since Sirius was practically marching him along. He could have actually spoken up about his treatment, but Harry supposed Gaara knew it would amount to nothing if he did try.

Sirius was more than used to shutting Gaara down by now.

Harry followed after Sirius and Gaara, excited enough by the walk through the castle with his godfather that he wasn't at all bothered by the silence. He did, however, become a little apprehensive when they continued to climb the castle staircases one by one, rising to very familiar surroundings until finally they were stood outside of the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

"Is it much further?" Harry asked.

"Not much further at all, if I remember correctly." Sirius said, turning to Harry at last.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked.

"My first real home." Sirius said, nodding back towards the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Harry followed his indication and his eyes widened, "Oh, in there. But…" Harry hesitated and then nodded at Gaara, who was still looking at the portrait but was entirely aware of what Harry was doing. The portrait was watching them with a look of terror on her subtly-cracked, painted face.

"Come on, I'm sure Gaara won't say anything." Sirius whined.

"I'm still not sure." Harry said, having no intention of letting Gaara into his House. Or any Slytherin, for that matter.

"I've already been in there." Gaara said without turning to look at them, knowing exactly what (who) the issue was.

"That's not- wait, you've been in our common room? When?" Harry hadn't wanted to offend Gaara by revealing the truth of the insight, but he was taken aback by Gaara's revelation.

"Oh, it was at Halloween last year, wasn't it!" Sirius said, excited.

"Halloween?" Harry asked, trying to remember what happened last Halloween. It had been a pretty memorable night but his mind was still reeling from the events around the most recent Halloween.

"Of course, now I remember. I was here last year trying to find Pettigrew and then Gaara showed up."

Harry turned to Gaara fully, "What? How did you get into our House?"

Gaara finally turned to look at them, "I found a way in." He didn't know the Longbottom boy very well, and suspected he would like him less if he did, but he didn't want to get him in trouble. After all, it was understandable, forgetting to close the door every now and then.

"Speaking from experience, it's really not that difficult to penetrate this castle's defences." Sirius said absently.

Harry would get to the bottom of this, he resolved, but he knew his chances would be better once Sirius had left. Gaara might be harder to track down but at least Sirius wouldn't chime in and give Gaara an excuse to clam up again.

That said, he had no desire for Sirius to leave. He drew as close as he could to the Fat Lady and whispered the password to her so that Gaara might not hear it and report back to Malfoy and the rest of Slytherin. The last time one of the feuding Houses had discovered and disseminated the other House's password, it started a prank war that last for six months. Students were hospitalised.

How did Harry know this? Because he was letting one of the primary perpetrators into his common room. Hermione might be able to recite Hogwarts: A History in her sleep, but Sirius could recount almost as many stories from just his short time at the school, and the stories he told were almost invariably better than the ones Hermione lectured him with.

Harry paused at the entrance after the portrait swung open, checking the interior for any lingering Gryffindors before lettering two intruders in.

"Okay, coast's clear." Harry said.

"You know, the passwords we used in my day were much harder to guess."

Harry swivelled to Sirius, wondering if he might have spoken too loudly and instigated the next great prank war, which the Weasley Twins had been prophesying for years now.

"Don't look so worried. I have a keen sense of hearing, thanks to my dogged little skill." He grinned. "Besides, Gaara's already proved he could get in whenever he wants. You're not exactly the sort to go around pulling practical jokes, are you, Gaara?"

"I don't care for jokes." He said solemnly.

"According to some people I know, he's the reigning prank king of Hogwarts." Harry said, leading them through to the main area and immediately Gaara gravitated ever-so subtly towards the fire.

Harry and Sirius noticed this and took the initiative to settle themselves near the fire so that Gaara would have the excuse to sit right in front of it without appearing weak. Harry really only had a passing acquaintance with Gaara, but even he knew these concessions had to be made for him.

"I spent a long time believing I would never ever get to come back here, you know." Sirius said, looking around him again. "And then, I believed I would only ever see it in the dark of the night as I came to kill someone."

"Hopefully Ron won't see you in here. He's sworn he'll never let you near where he sleeps again."

"Yeah, he did bear the brunt of my attempts last year." Sirius chuckled, scratching his beard. "I hope you enjoy every moment you spend here."

"I do." Harry said, looking around himself.

"What about you, Gaara? Do you feel the same way about your House?" Sirius asked, noticing that Gaara had zoned out.

Gaara looked back at the pair when he heard his name, looking a little surprise to be addressed. "I like it. It's quiet."

"Does it feel like home to you?" Harry asked. He had only been into the Slytherin common room but it had not endeared itself to him.

"Home? No, my home feels very different." Gaara said thoughtfully.

"Do you think you'll miss it when you leave?" Harry asked. He couldn't imagine not missing Hogwarts like Sirius did when he finally graduated, but with the way Gaara spoke, he wondered if Gaara would even care if the castle crumbled.

Again, Gaara took his characteristic time in answering. "Yes, I will miss it greatly."

Sirius had to resist the fading of his smile. Harry might be surprised to hear that Gaara would miss the school when he graduated, but Sirius knew Gaara had another kind of departure in mind. As far as Sirius knew, Gaara had made absolutely no progress in leaving yet, but he knew leaving would forever be on Gaara's mind.

Harry didn't seem to notice Sirius's sobriety, instead he moved on. "Hopefully I'll be able to come back every once in a while like you can. I don't ever want to leave here for the last time."

"Never do. Don't listen to McGonagall; you'll always be able to find a way back in here." Sirius smiled properly again. "And I know a few ways they'll never be able to block."

Vividly remembering Sirius-the-murderer trying to break into the school last year, Harry found the man's claim of impunity less amusing.

"Is it normal for adults here to frequently visit their schools?" Gaara asked suddenly.

"No, it's not normal. Sirius is anything but normal." Harry laughed, and suddenly the peculiarity of the situation occurred to him. Here he was with Gaara and Sirius in the Gryffindor common room, smiling and laughing. He wasn't smiling but Gaara wasn't even glaring. Even odder still was it to see Gaara open up.

"You didn't go to a regular sort of school in your homeland, did you, Gaara?" Sirius asked.

"No, I was taught by my uncle and then my teacher." Gaara said, strangely upfront. Harry jolted a little at Gaara's mentioning his uncle after the last time Gaara had decided to have a heart-to-heart with him.

"Really? You didn't go to primary school?" Harry wanted to change the subject away from Gaara's uncle.

"Well, to be fair, I didn't either." Sirius said.

"You didn't?" Harry said. Gaara, he could believe, but Sirius seemed too well-adjusted. For a wizard, anyway.

Sirius scratched the back of his neck. "Actually, Harry, most pureblood children don't attend a primary school. There aren't any of them just for little witches and wizards in Britain, and not many purebloods are willing to send their children all the way to France before they turn eleven. Even fewer of them are willing to send their kids to a muggle school where they might learn heretical things like kindness or maths."

"Maths?" Harry asked, still a little shocked. He knew Ron had been homeschooled by his mother, but he figured that was just because they lived in the middle of nowhere and Mrs Weasley wouldn't let the children near Mr Weasley's enchanted car until they were older.

"Yes, a lot of families considered maths and other muggle subjects like it to be wrong. James, your father, was kind enough to try and teach me when we first met. Remus took over after a while because James wasn't very good at maths."

"So none of the Slytherins know maths?" Harry found it hard to believe.

"I'm sure most of them know some these days. My parents, as I'm sure you'll remember, were insane. The mere association with muggles was considered abhorrent. A lot of them probably had tutors teach them basic skills like that."

"Does Malfoy know maths?" Harry swivelled to interrogate Gaara. He couldn't believe he might have missed such fertile ground for mockery in all of these years.

"He is quite skilled." Gaara said, quite honestly. Of course, what he failed to mention was that Gaara was not very good at maths himself and he was not the best judge of mathematical prowess.

"I bet that caused an argument. Cissy would have pitched a fit about Draco learning his numbers but Lucius wouldn't have stood for a son who couldn't do the family accounts. The Malfoys are one of the only pureblood lines who embraced that particular skill."

"I would have thought it would be the other way around." Harry said. His own experience with Lucius Malfoy was… turbulent. The man had tried to resurrect Voldemort by having him leech off of Ginny's soul, and then he was pretty sure Mr Malfoy had tried to use the killing curse on him. Nonetheless, he was pretty sure Draco's father would be the conservative of the pair, compared to Mrs Malfoy who seemed comparatively warm (for a staunch pureblood).

"Nah, Cissy was always the biggest priss. She would have wanted her baby boy learning French, Latin and piano, oh, and wizarding history. She'd want him to stop there. Lucius wouldn't stand for a blissfully ignorant son. Maths, accounting, politics, whatever else he thought Draco might ever need."

"Oh." Harry supposed it made sense.

"Draco did not care for his piano lessons." Gaara said, remembering the many rants his friend had shared on the subject. "He is skilled, though."

"You've heard him play?" Harry couldn't imagine Malfoy doing anything artistic or pleasant.

"Yes, his family have a grand piano at their home. He practices every day when he is home."

"You said he doesn't like the piano."

"He didn't like the lessons. The teacher was rude, apparently. He likes playing on his own now. He can pick his own music."

"What does Draco like to play?" Sirius asked.

"Music by a man named Chopin." Gaara said, recalling Draco's endless musings on the great composers, which Gaara half-listened to.

"Chopin? He must be pretty good." Sirius whistled. "I could never get my fingers to move that fast." Sirius started miming some piano sonata in the air but neither boy had the skill to appreciate the movements. "I haven't tried playing since… Well, I suppose I would have to get our old piano tuned first."

Sirius's first instinct was to buy a new grand piano, maybe a Steinway, but Remus was still drilling the necessity of not wasting hundreds of thousands on things he didn't need.

It was easy to forget about the drama from the Tournament in the easy atmosphere. It was harder to ignore the outside world when the three of them started to hear the approaching clamour of the returning Gryffindors.

Harry started looking around nervously, perhaps for a blanket to throw over Gaara but the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open before he could make a move to conceal the Slytherin and suddenly people were pouring back in to get their things for their first classes of the day.

The first ones into the House, naturally, were the long-legged seventh-years who had been able to climb the stairs the fastest, who paused when they came upon the scene. It was a surprising scene, to be fair. They'd all seen Sirius Black and Gaara exit shortly before Harry Potter trailed after, but the last place any of them expected to find the trio was in their common room, huddled around the fire.

"I think you two should probably go now." Harry said, hearing more voices nearing the still-open portrait. It would be easier to manage the inevitable mess if the causes had already left. Harry didn't want to have to argue with half of his House while Sirius and Gaara were still sat there.

"Actually, there's another reason I came today." Sirius said, "I probably should have brought it up before it got busy. Can we go somewhere private for a minute? And then I'll leave you two to your classes."

Harry looked around as the trickle of startled and hostile Gryffindor upper years continued to enter and stand around. "Umm, yes, let's go to my room. It should be empty for a bit…"

Harry had no idea why Sirius was now looking nervous, but Harry's own nerves were reserved for the impending awkwardness that would follow him in his precious House for the foreseeable future. And he hadn't exactly been popular before then.

They quickly retreated upstairs to the room Harry shared with his friends. His friends that he dearly hoped wouldn't show up for a while.

"Why do you sleep on top of one another like this?" Gaara asked. He had seen the sleeping arrangements when he last visited and now seemed like a good opportunity to answer the previously unanswered question.

"The bunk beds?" Harry asked. "Don't you have them in Slytherin?" Harry had honestly thought the only difference between the Houses was the décor.

"No. We have our own beds."

Coming from any other Slytherin, it might have seemed derisive, but Gaara said it so matter-of-factly that Harry was just surprised he hadn't realised the Slytherins wouldn't stand for such informal quarters.

"If you believe the story Dumbledore once told a student, the beds were set up this way to ensure that no matter how courageous our House became, we would never forget to be loyal to those closest to us. It doesn't matter how strong you are, you need to trust the people you sleep around." Sirius said sombrely. "On the other hand, I heard from Lily that it was really because the original founders of the school hadn't been able to anticipate the British population boom and so they failed to plan adequate housing space for all of the students. Magical expansion charms only work so far. And unlike some Houses, Gryffindor can't just tunnel further under the Black Lake."

"Really? So it's just too small for everyone to have their own beds?" Harry asked. He liked being close with everyone, but having his own bed did also sound nice.

"Maybe. Lily was a fount of knowledge, to be sure, but she wasn't above lying to me and the others to see how far she could take it. She had me believing a great many untrue things about life as a muggle. I only found out after we graduated and I visited her home that muggles don't all have mechanical butlers who cook and clean for them."

"She lied?" Gaara said, knowing almost as little about muggle living as Sirius had.

"After she began hanging out around us, because your father's charm finally started working on her, Harry, Lily got tired of always being the one we asked for help with our homework or because we were curious about something." Sirius smiled absently. "Once she just gave Remus her whole set of muggle encyclopaedias because he kept on asking her questions. Budding nerd even back then, he was. So, anyway, she started telling us things that weren't true and when our grades plummeted, we got the message and stopped asking. Of course, it should go without saying that I just started stealing her homework and copying it after that."

"And you got away with it?" Harry asked.

"For about a week before McGonagall caught on. I didn't think to change any of the wording or make myself seem less of a prodigious genius."

"What did my mum-"

"You had something important to discuss." Gaara cut Harry off forcefully. Gaara had nowhere else to be right now, but he knew they would be ejected from the House soon and then he would have to wait until the next time Sirius visited to find out what this was about. And that meant Sirius would be visiting again.

Harry could not hide his disappointment at the interruption, but Sirius sighed and said, "No, you're right. We don't have long and this does need to be said. Things are in motion and it wouldn't do for it to come as a surprise later down the line."

If Harry hadn't already been perched on the edge of his seat from his excited conversation about his parents, the mounting suspense would have driven him there.

"The truth is, and Remus said I probably should have clued the pair of you in earlier, is that…" Sirius swallowed thickly. "I'm currently trying to adopt the two of you." Sirius seemed to gain some momentum, because after those words left his mouth, before either of the listeners could react, he carried on. "I realised that, before this goes any further, I should make sure you're both… okay with it."

Sirius's realisation had come after six or seven lectures from Remus on the subject. Even if it weren't permanently stuck to his wall, Sirius knew there was no point in removing his mother's portrait since Remus was doing such a good job filling her shoes lately. He had all but threatened to impose a curfew on Sirius after he had gone out for a quick pint and come back twenty-seven hours later. It wasn't like Sirius hadn't offered to take Remus with him.

"I've filed paperwork with the Ministry but Fudge and his grunts don't know anything about it. He couldn't do anything about it now, anyway. But eventually they'll send someone to talk to you two, to make sure you're okay with it, and that you wouldn't mind being adopted."

Harry was just lucky he hadn't slipped entirely out of his seat. He felt numb. Like a cold dread had slivered into his veins. If this wasn't real, if it turned out to be another happy dream like he'd had a thousand times in his childhood at the Dursleys' (and many times since), he didn't think he could take the disappointment. The possibility, however remote now that it had happened in front of him, that this wasn't really happening, scared Harry more than a hundred Triwizard Tournaments.

"Wuh- I- Are you sure?" Harry needed to allay that paranoid fear first.

"Am I sure? Are you kidding? I've never been so sure of anything!" Sirius laughed. "I'm just sorry I'm late in doing it." Sirius sobered a smidge, "I should have done years ago."

"Would I get to live with you?" It would be a shame if not, but Harry would still dearly love for Sirius to adopt him. Just to know he was wanted.

"Until you grow up and leave me for someone better! But you'll still have to come back and look after me in my old age. With the things I've done to my body, and will continue to do to it, I won't be aging gracefully, you can be sure of that!" He laughed and wrapped his arm around Harry shoulders.

Sirius hugged Harry and then looked over to Gaara…

This could go one of two ways.

Gaara was still sat there, his face as blank as it ever was. Sirius had been expecting something. Some sort of reaction from the consummate stoic. Considering what he had just been told, Sirius wondered if this stoicism might actually, in fact, be shock.

Had Sirius managed to stun Gaara by offering to adopt him?

"What is the purpose of adoption?" Gaara finally said, his voice even, belying any shock he might (or might not) have been experiencing.

"The purpose?" Sirius wasn't sure how to respond. Did his world not have such a thing as adoption. It wouldn't surprise him, with what he knew about Gaara's home.

"Yes. What is the advantage of being adopted?"

Harry had emerged from the hug to look at Gaara with as much bewilderment as Sirius regularly felt when dealing with the redhead.

Sirius considered how he might best sell this to the surly boy. His immediate urge to extol the virtue of giving him a proper, stable home and a family in this world died in his throat. Gaara was a practical boy who would appreciate a practical reason.

"It'll help keep the Ministry from taking you away if you're legally under my child, rather than just in my care." Sirius waited.

Gaara did not react, processing the excuse for a few moments. "Very well."

Harry pushed past his bafflement and asked the most pressing question, "When can I move in?"

Sirius laughed. "I wanted to get you there for the Christmas break this year, but with the Yule Ball and everything… and also there've been a couple of delays while we try and keep Fudge out of it. It will all be settled long before your summer holidays, so we can stop by your aunt and uncle's, a 'notorious serial killer' can make a brief reappearance to threaten them and you can collect your things. Then we'll go get very drunk and celebrate your new home."

"I don't think you should be encouraging minors to drink." Gaara said.

"Merlin, between you and Moony, Prongslet won't get so much as a drop until he's already eighteen!"