Grim Tidings

Clear.

The word kept tumbling about in his head as if no part of his mind could quite catch and comprehend it. He tried to apply it to the sky, but there were clouds covering half of it, even if the sunlight shafted through them and gilded the edges. He tossed it at the glass in the window of the Hogwarts Express, but the glass was too smooth, and it wouldn't stick.

After twelve years of the same walls, the same food, the same memories echoing in his head, the events of the last day seemed impossibly fast to Sirius. He'd gone from a hunted, hated fugitive to... what? A free man? Remus Lupin's friend, once again?

Harry Potter's godfather?

Cleared. Free.

Sirius Black stared at his own reflection in the window and mouthed the words carefully. After all this time clinging miserably to the knowledge that he was innocent as despair tried to suck him down, he could hardly believe that anyone else believed it now. That it was legally true. That he'd spilled his guts under Veritaserum to the Ministry and a jury and he -- had -- been -- acquitted.

The trial had been mercifully short. He barely remembered the taste of the Veritaserum, the questions he'd been asked... maybe he'd remember it better after a little distance, but for now the only thing that stood out was the judge asking the jury to raise their hands in favor of acquittal, and twelve wizards and witches doing so without hesitation.

Some niggling part of his mind pointed out that it still didn't seem fair he had to pay a fine for having escaped from Azkaban when he hadn't belonged there anyway. There had been another for having become an unregistered Animagus, plus the registration fee, but those were perfectly reasonable, really. It was the fine for escaping that seemed absurd. Didn't the time he'd served unjustly count against that? Still -- he couldn't bring himself to care. He had the money. The fine wasn't so bad.

He was free.

Wormtail was going to rot.

And he was on his way back to Hogwarts to see his godson.

His godson. Harry. Seeing Harry at thirteen was the sharpest reminder of how long it had been, and the slice had been all the keener for being unfelt while he gaped up at what looked for all the world like James's face at that age.

It hardly seemed real. The world was too big, suddenly; all the walls had come down. He'd stood paralyzed on Azkaban's shore before diving into the sea, staggered by the horizon; this felt just the same. He had too many choices. Too many things that needed to be done.

He'd need a house -- would Harry want to come live with him? And a job, because he couldn't live off his Gringotts account forever. And a new wand. And an Apparition license. And a haircut. And, and, and....

But Moony would help.

And he could be to Harry what he should have been twelve years ago; what James and Lily had trusted him to be, what he'd thrown away in his grief.

That was the only thing that mattered. He had life, and hope, and family again.

The brakes of the train squealed, pulling into the station, and to Sirius Black it was the sound of freedom.

*****

The carriage ride from Hogsmeade took Sirius eerily back to his school days -- the cheerfully rattling axles and bouncy seats were very familiar. But if the carriage had been this quiet back then, it would have been a sure bet that he and his friends were plotting something; instead, every time he looked up, Albus Dumbledore was occupying one seat and large piles of chocolate and a few other sweets the rest.

He knew Dumbledore had a sweet tooth, and he had been vaguely aware that the headmaster had spent most of the time on the train talking to the lady with the food cart. Sirius suspected, however, that Dumbledore was trying to feed him enough chocolate to counteract the effects of twelve years of Azkaban's Dementors and Azkaban's food.

At least, he hoped that was it. Otherwise Dumbledore had been replaced by a doppelganger who was trying to make him eat enough to burst, and he didn't really like that idea.

Fortunately it seemed to be only a paranoid imagining, and he arrived at Hogwarts un-exploded -- and, curiously, not nearly as full as he would have thought. Dumbledore led him into the staffroom. "It occurs to me that you may want some time to rest and think -- in one place -- before you begin to be announced and congratulated."

"Thanks, Professor." Sirius smiled a touch nervously. "One of your famous world-shaking dinner announcements, eh?"

"I thought that would seem appropriate. Unless you should prefer another method?"

"No, that'll be fine. Get it all done at once. Besides, I've never seen that hallful of shocked expressions from the staff table."

"It's quite enjoyable," Dumbledore promised him. "Now, unless you wish to converse, I shall leave you in peace for the remaining hour or so -- except, of course, for any teachers wishing to use the room. Don't worry; I shall alert them to your presence and the verdict ahead of time."

"Thanks, sir." He grinned abruptly. "This'll be the first time I've been supposed to be lurking alone in the staff-room."

Dumbledore smiled as he headed for the door. "Please restrain yourself from recreational sabotage this time." His eyes and glasses glinted as he looked over his shoulder. "After all, I will know it was you."

Sirius chuckled. "Thanks for everything, Professor."

"You're very welcome." Dumbledore closed the door and left Sirius in temporary peace.

Sirius threw his hair out of the way over the back of a chair and closed his eyes to think about all the possibilities and all the things he needed to do. He didn't realize he had been dozing until he woke with a start to a sharp voice whose words he hadn't quite caught.

Remus's smoother tones followed, half reproachful and half amused. "Really, Severus, couldn't you have let him sleep? I have been, for the past ten minutes."

"He is going to have to deal with the petty annoyances of freedom soon enough anyway; why should I change my routine to his liking?"

"You routinely come into the staffroom before dinner and address the furniture as Sirius Black? I have been missing a show."

"He is," Snape said precisely, "lounging in my usual chair."

"Oh, is that the problem?" Sirius asked lazily. Then he opened his eyes properly and blinked. "Why, Snape, when did you take up wearing a boa?"

"Since it attempted to strangle an escaped convict. I thought it deserved a reward." Snape paused, then continued coldly, "And it is the nominal pet of one of my students, Black, so you may cease entertaining any thoughts you may have in the direction of stranding another of my pets atop a Quidditch goalpost."

"One of your students? It seemed to be answering to Harry last night."

Somehow, Snape's expression managed to sour further. "As Potter is one of two Parselmouths currently at the school, naturally they have an association."

"Oh, that's right, he mentioned Tom-who-is-apparently-not-Lord-bloody-Voldemort. Must be interesting to have him in class."

"Riddle is an excellent student with an unfortunate tendency to make trouble that is only exacerbated by his attachment to the Weasley girl. He does not so far appear to have developed the... particular ambitions of his other life. He is also my problem, not yours."

Sirius blinked. "There's a Weasley in Slytherin? How long has it been since that happened?"

"No, there isn't," Remus corrected him. "Severus assigned them to work together in his class; it seems to have been quite a remarkable success."

"That depends entirely on your definition of success."

"Both students seem to be doing very well in all their classes, and I understand they've launched an effort to spread the notion of inter-House cooperation and amity." Remus paused. "This doesn't seem to have affected anyone's enthusiasm for competition, mind."

"Nor their appetite for troublemaking. Though I do admit to some relief now that Weasley is no longer causing anything to explode. She was approaching Longbottom's record for uselessness at the beginning of the year."

Sirius made a mental note to find out the real story on that later on. He couldn't very well argue without having a clue who these people were. "I blame her partner," he declared, "at least until I meet them. But if you're so keen on the rules, when did giant snakes get added to the approved pet list?"

"The boa is a special case, and both Potter and Riddle are standing warrant for its behavior." Snape petted the boa's head absently. "Besides, it is a remarkably well-behaved animal."

The boa arched its neck and hissed proudly. Sirius blinked at it. Remus chuckled. "You might want to watch what you say about it, Sirius. Judging from its reaction time last night, I'm not at all sure it can't understand English."

"I did wonder about that." Sirius snickered. "Amazing how many things calm down in the presence of friendly animals, eh, Remus?"

Snape's eyes narrowed. "Surely you are not comparing me to --"

Sirius grinned. This was another thing that was just like his student days. He could still get a rise out of Snape. "Well, he did, you know. Every time. Just like you do with that boa."

"Neither I nor the boa is a deadly, ravenous beast!"

"Not ravenous, maybe, but it could've killed me if Harry'd told it to!"

"Pity he didn't!"

"Both of you, be quiet!"

"Sorry, Remus."

"I will not be silenced at your -- oof." Receiving a soothing hug from a boa constrictor was not on most people's list of desired activities.

"Now. Since I was the deadly ravenous beast in question, and I didn't ask to be the engine of a prank --"

"A murder attempt!"

"It was not!"

"AS I WAS SAYING! Sirius, you're going to apologize to Severus, who was kind enough to brew Wolfsbane Potion for me all year despite our past history, and Severus, you're going to accept his apology. Or we all stay here until the next full moon and the situation gets resolved on its own."

Snape, who was accustomed to the werewolf being unusually even-tempered in human form, stared. Sirius stared as well, not so much out of surprise at Remus's behavior but more due to the appalled realization that he was really going to have to apologize to... Snape.

"What, apologize? And mean it? It was just a joke that got out of hand, Remus, you know that, and James stopped it before anything permanent happened. I mean, it's not like I meant to kill the slimy git, obviously."

Remus closed his eyes. "Not," he said tightly, "to him. And quite frankly, if James had not stopped it and I had killed or... infected Severus or anyone else, it would have made very little difference to me that you meant it as a joke."

"Well...." Sirius looked down at his hands. This felt alarmingly like being dressed down by his father. Remus was too young to sound like that, dammit, and the grey hair wasn't helping. "You're right. Damn." He turned to Snape. "Look, you -- er, look, Snape, I've never been good at thinking things all the way through. James and... Peter... were the planners. And I was used to Remus being pretty calm, you know, around us, so I didn't figure he'd do more than give you a scare to keep you out of our business. I thought you were a nosy git and a rules-bound prig, but I never wanted you dead. Or turned into a werewolf. So... sorry. Really." He shot a sidelong look at Remus. "Satisfied?"

"Calm?" Snape said incredulously under his breath.

"I don't know yet," Remus said, looking at Snape expectantly.

Snape ground his teeth and put a hand on the boa. "I still find it incredible that you could consider that behavior a joke. But under the circumstances, I... suppose I can attribute it in part to stupidity rather than entirely to malice." He nodded sharply, jerkily. "Apology accepted."

Remus sighed, and could have sworn the boa did too.

"Right, then." Sirius fixed Snape with a glare. "So you're not going to do any bloody stupid revenge thing like tell the whole school about Remus, then? Because if he loses his job because of something you do, I'm going to pound you into next week."

"Sirius...."

"I have already been requested to keep that information from my students, and Albus Dumbledore's requests carry a good deal more weight with me than yours, Black."

"Well, as long as Remus keeps his job, I'm satisfied. Aren't many places that'll hire a werewolf, and he was always good at Defense."

Snape glowered.

"What? He was."

"He'd better have been, I suppose."

Sirius snorted. "Well, he got better marks there than you did, as I recall."

"I suppose being a Dark creature gave him extra insight."

"Oh, now you're just jealous. Unless you really are a vampire now."

"Please. Both of you." Remus rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm beginning to feel as if the boa is the only other sensible person in the room."

"I was in prison for twelve years. What's his excuse?"

"I've been coping with dunderhead students!"

"And why the hell Dumbledore thought you should be turned loose on unsuspecting children I'll never understand."

"Penance, and a warning?"

"What, like 'There are gits in the world, here's the worst one, get used to it quick?' I suppose."

"At least I know the material --"

"I'm not arguing that, you've spent half your life muttering at cauldrons. The bit that gets me is you spend the other half being miserable to people."

"Oh, no, I can do both at the same time."

"No doubt." Sirius frowned. "I'll be looking after Harry from here on."

"Well, that should be an unmitigated disaster."

"Will be for you if I hear you're being unfair to him."

"I assure you that I will not tolerate your encouragement of his rulebreaking tendencies."

Sirius broke out into a grin. "He's got rulebreaking tendencies? Good for him! Not what I meant, though. I can't have been the only one to note the family resemblance, and you're just the sort who'd make Harry pay for your old grudge with James. And I won't have that; he'll have had enough of that from Lily's sister already even if only half of what she used to say was true."

Snape ground his teeth. "I neither know nor care about Evans's sister. Potter has no regard for rules or authority -- which I'm certain will delight you, and may you suffer his ignoring you -- and to all appearances has every intention of getting himself killed despite anyone else's efforts to the contrary."

Sirius snorted. "Well, I'll just bet he has no regard for your rules or authority. And he's still alive, so obviously intentions don't count for much. -- You should have seen him up there last night, Remus. Thought he was facing his parents' murderer and he was cool as anything. James wasn't a patch on him for nerve."

Remus tilted his head thoughtfully and spoke before Snape could do more than snarl. "He's braver than he thinks he is, I believe. You should have a talk with him tonight."

"I want to. I hope -- well, never mind. But I want to get to know him. I've got a lot of years to make up."

Whatever Snape was about to say was interrupted by a soft chime; he swept haughtily out of the room instead. Remus allowed himself a boyish smirk at the Potions Master's back, then patted Sirius on the shoulder. "Well, we can start you off with a good Hogwarts dinner, then. Come on."

*****