"Only Snape went looking."
"I think he drugged our pumpkin juice that night because Peter went straight to sleep and I found it hard to stay awake. Your Dad had sensibly stuck to water so he was fine and bloody annoyed with us for snoozing. When I realised we'd been potioned, I worked out Snape must be going after Remus – I figured Snape was going to try and kill him! So I sent James to save Remus while I got an antidote to the potion." He sighed. "I ran after them as quick as I could and luckily your Dad had already got there and was hauling Snape's arse out of the tunnel. Just as I ran up to help him, Dumbledore appeared and marched us all to his office. He let James go pretty quick. Snape, he made promise not to tell people about Remus while we were students; said something about the fact that that was his punishment and then something vague about how it wasn't too late."
"And you?"
"Banned from Hogsmeade weekends for the rest of the year, and the Quidditch team. And I had detention for the rest of the Winter term." Sirius explained. "Wasn't as bad as the two months of silence and the ban from joining them at the next full moon that I got from Remus."
"He stopped talking to you?" Harry had never considered that the friends must have had issues just like him, Ron and Hermione with the Firebolt.
"If Snape had found him, if Snape hadn't killed him and he'd killed Snape, or even just attacked him, Remus would have been executed." Sirius said gravely. "My dare put his life at risk. He was quite right not to talk with me. I understood it even if it was a horrible two months." He gestured at Harry. "Your Dad forgave me after a day or so. He was mostly annoyed because Lily had been warming up to us but because the rumour around the school was that it was a prank that had gone wrong and we'd almost killed Snape, she was giving your Dad the cold shoulder. That, and your Dad said I should have told them about the dare when I did it, and he was right. Peter stayed on the fence pretty much, which should have clued us in for what happened later come to think about it."
"But Remus forgave you, right?"
"He did when your Dad intervened and pointed out that Snape had probably contrived the whole thing – both provoking me and going to the tunnel. He said Snape had probably hoped he'd get Remus executed and me expelled or in prison." Sirius grimaced. "But I don't think Moony ever truly trusted me after that. It probably was one of the reasons why he considered me the spy and why he believed I was guilty." He shifted position again. "And maybe because I felt that distance he'd put between us, I was more inclined to think the worst of him too."
"You're OK now though?" Harry questioned, a little afraid that they weren't.
"We are," Sirius smiled, "I think mostly we're just pleased that we have each other as a friend again and what's past is past."
"Shame Snape doesn't feel that way." Harry commented.
"No, he knows how to hold a grudge." Sirius said. "Truthfully, so do I; I don't like him. I know I won't be apologising to him anytime soon – I'd rather pull my own teeth out first."
Harry chuckled at that.
Sirius poked his leg through the blankets. "The dare was a mistake though and I regret it but I'm not going to pretend to you that I'm perfect and I don't expect you to be either. I can be a little reckless at times. I can maybe be too cruel and ruthless if I'm crossed. And I have a habit of acting before I think. Everybody has flaws."
Harry flushed but he was comforted by the words nevertheless. It helped that Sirius didn't expect him to be perfect – he could just be himself. "I think I have the same flaw," he said, "acting before thinking? And I have a bit of a temper sometimes. Hermione says I brood."
"Well," Sirius said, "we can work on improving ourselves together, but we should always keep in mind that it's OK not to be perfect."
In his heart, Harry forgave Sirius the whole affair with Snape quite quickly. Harry had to admit his own dislike of Snape was well-rooted especially since Snape was so unfair to him – had been unfair to him from the moment Harry had arrived at Hogwarts. It just seemed a shame to Harry that someone who had been such good friends with his mother was so bitter towards Harry himself even if he understood why more after all of his discussions with Sirius.
The following day, they had moved onto Harry's third year and although Sirius had witnessed everything from a distance, he still wanted to hear all about it. Sirius in return had shared his third year stories which revolved mostly around the Marauders' continuing efforts to help Remus, more pranks, and Harry's Dad still trying to build a friendship with his Mum – and still failing badly.
Harry had been sad as they moved back to the cabin that they'd ran out of school years to trade. Sirius had proposed that they made it a tradition that the first day of the summer holiday would be spent with Harry telling Sirius all about his school year and Sirius would tell him about the equivalent year of his own. It warmed Harry that they had plans for the future – that they had started a tradition.
The days since had settled into a routine: mornings began with a healthy breakfast, and the exercise routines that Doctor Jordan had assigned them both; an eclectic mix of yoga, tai chi, weights and jogging. They had a light lunch usually in the cabin. They split up in the afternoons for the mind healing sessions, Sirius's were longer because of the damage done by the Dementors, and Harry's were a mix of mind healing, Occlumency and art therapy.
The Occlumency sessions were a tad boring since it was mostly meditation to sort through his memories and to build a defence around his mind. Talking about the memories was the worst part – Harry didn't really want to talk about any of his life under the cupboard or his previous summers with the Dursleys. Healer Fay didn't pressure him but she made it clear that dealing with his memories was an important part of his treatment. He had started to accept her reassurance that he wasn't being judged about any of it, but he still didn't want to talk about it. The art therapy was better. Harry had liked rediscovering painting as a hobby; he'd enjoyed it at primary school and he thought it was a shame Hogwarts didn't offer that kind of course. He vaguely remembered Stonewall offered an arts subject.
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