Chapter one

Harry Potter couldn't help grinning as he thought about how easy it was to sneak away from Privet drive and get to Grimmauld place, with the help of his godfather. Knowing Voldemort had returned Harry and Sirius both believed Harry should be with witches and wizards, not stuck with muggles. But also, Sirius knew that if Harry had to remain inside the house the entire holidays, he would go crazy. Harry just didn't want to have anything to do with the Dursley's anymore, he wanted to spend time with his godfather. He had gone straight upstairs when he arrived, without speaking to the Dursley's, he waited until it was dark, then left.

Harry had sent Hedwig off first, then he took a bag from the garage since he would have to leave his trunk. He packed the few things he did want to keep, apart from his cloak, Firebolt and photo album, Harry packed his books and the few pieces of clothing that actually fit. Harry had used his cloak but Sirius had caused a diversion so the two members of the order of the phoenix would be looking the other way when Harry snuck out of the house under his cloak. Harry got a few streets away where he found Sirius waiting in his dog form, they went behind some trees, Sirius changed back then apparated Harry directly into the old Black home.

Even though Sirius said the order of the phoenix could use the house, and Albus Dumbledore cast the fidelius charm, and he made himself secret keeper. That charm will not prevent Sirius, as a Black by blood or anyone he was touching from apparating directly into the house. Sirius had changed those wards so they would only recognise Sirius and Harry. He did not want to take the chance that his cousins, Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, both death eaters, could get inside. They were both Blacks by birth. He was able to add Harry since Harry's great grandmother was born a Black. Dorea Black married Charlus Potter, Harry's great grandfather.

The first few meetings of the order of the phoenix had Sirius do a lot of thinking, but he also watched how everyone acted while in his home. He knew most of the order, one was his second cousin, from the part of the family that didn't follow the dark arts. Tonks was the only person who seemed to remember that the house belonged to Sirius even if he didn't like his old home. Sirius knew a war was about to start but he still didn't like the way he was being treated, or how everyone thought they could do anything they wanted without his permission.

Sirius had explained to Harry on the night he arrived about something he wanted to do. He was never sure if he would ever get his name cleared so this was a good way of making sure no one could ever touch the Black money or any of the properties. He also wanted to make sure Harry was looked after. Eventually Sirius wanted Harry to leave England with him, but he wasn't sure if Harry would want to leave his friends, or his home. He hadn't asked Harry about leaving, he thought he would wait and see what would happen once everyone found out what Sirius had done. Even though Harry agreed to the idea Sirius presented, he reluctantly accepted what his godfather wanted from him. Sirius contacted the Black account manager at Gringotts, who organised everything.

Harry and Sirius didn't want anyone to know that Harry was there, at least not yet. Sirius couldn't trust Kreacher so he removed the house elf's memories then set Kreacher free. Harry was worried about letters arriving for him from his friends, anyone from the order might see the owls arrive there. Sirius had an idea, having a house elf that was good, loyal and trustworthy would help with any owls that might arrive in the owlery, which was on the top floor of the house. Harry had called Dobby, they spoke for a while with Dobby begging to belong to Harry, so Sirius did the small ritual which would bind Dobby to Harry. After that the little elf wanted to work and get the old dirty home cleaned up for his new master and his new master's godfather. They did explain about the owls, so Dobby had used some elf magic that way he would know when an owl arrived, and they could only arrive in the owlery. Harry had spoken to Hedwig and explained that she couldn't be seen, she seemed happy just to be able to come and go as she pleased.

'Morning Sirius,' Harry sat at the kitchen table ready for breakfast.

'Morning pup, so ready to eat?'

'Yeah, before the house gets invaded again and I have to stay hidden. I wanted to ask you something though.'

'You can ask me anything.'

'I heard a rumour, after taking your O.W.L.s you can leave Hogwarts, is that true?'

'Yes, are you thinking of leaving at the end of the school year?'

'Yeah, more so now, but if he finds out I left and staying here he might try to force me back with them. If he gets angry when I refuse then he might…um, well, I hate thinking this Sirius, but he might turn you in to make me cooperate.'

'I've had the same thought pup, he knows you would be safe here, I tried to tell him, Remus did, Tonks did, even Molly did, but he wanted you there. It doesn't make sense pup, after what you went through in the graveyard you needed to be with people who cared about you, who you cared about, which wasn't those muggles.'

'I did need this time with you Sirius, but only you. Mrs Weasley would have spelled me to a bed and fed me soup. I know she cares but she tries to act like my mother, I won't let anyone replace my mother.'

'No one could ever replace Lily, but I wanted you with me as well. It's taken me all this time to get well after the dementors but I still would have been fine if you stayed with me. It's not like you aren't old enough to take care of yourself, but you still could have stayed with me. I am your legal guardian, yet Albus believes he knows what's best in regards to you. This time he was wrong by making you return to those muggles.'

'He's been wrong a lot of times Sirius. But why I mentioned this, is there a way to make an emergency escape plan of some sort, I mean for both of us, just in case? I know it would mean staying in hiding, but I don't care.'

Sirius finished putting the food on the table then sat opposite, 'As you know I never bothered working, I never needed to, but I did work for the order. Apart from Remus and your parent's, I was also close to Alice and Frank Longbottom, who were both aurors. There was one meeting that I had with them about security and safety, I wanted to know if they could help with quick escapes if it was needed. They said the easiest and safest was a port key, but if the place you were staying at when you needed to escape was warded then the port key would need to be spelled to match the wards. I wanted all the order members to have an emergency port key on them, but only the aurors can legally make them. Frank liked to go by the book, but Alice was scared, for her family and friends. She knew how to make them she just didn't like doing behind her husband back. She taught me how to make a port key then how to make them match the wards of a property so I could escape without the wards holding me in. I planned to make one for me, Remus, Peter and your parent's, it was only a few days later that…your parent's were gone.'

'So can you make us both one?'

'I'll do it tonight after everyone has left. Do you have any idea where you would like to go?'

'No, I just have a feeling that we will need to leave, and quickly. There is no use staying in this country since Fudge is bloody useless. He's allowing Voldemort to build up his army, then when it's too late he will expect people like the order to deal with it. But you also explained how he cut funds to departments like the aurors. Right now he is mouthing off that I'm lying but once Voldemort is seen he will even want the-boy-who-lived on his side, which will never happen. I won't allow anyone to use me, especially an idiot like him.'

'He will definitely come running the moment there's proof Voldemort has returned. I feel the same, I will not allow that fucking idiot to have anything to do with you.'

'Thanks Sirius, I just have this really bad feeling that something is going to happen. I'm not sure it's with Voldemort, Fudge and the idiots at the ministry, or even Dumbledore. I mean I've told you all the things that has gone on at Hogwarts and you've said it, those situations seemed suspicious. It could all be innocent on the old man's part, or he's just too old to keep running the school. I don't know, I just want to be prepared.'

'Then we'll work that out tonight, but you better head back upstairs, they will start arriving any time. We'll sneak out when everyone has left.'

'Okay,' Harry hugged his godfather then hurried back upstairs. Sirius had closed off the third floor so Harry would have space to spread out, and not be stuck hiding in one room. He had his own bedroom, bathroom and sitting room, there was a library and an office, he had access to the owlery as well.

Even though a lot of the books in the library were on the dark arts, they were still interesting to Harry. Some made him sick, but there were a lot of other books, which Harry read eagerly. He never really had a chance to just curl up on a sofa and read, he never could at the Dursley's and there was too much school work to do at Hogwarts. Now he had time, and he wasn't going to waste it.

Harry did wonder how long it might take before anyone found out he wasn't at the Dursley's. If Dumbledore found out that Harry wasn't there than he would believe Harry would be with Sirius. It had been two weeks since he arrived, he hadn't received any letters, which Harry felt was strange. They set Dobby to get letters but so far Harry hadn't received any. Ron and Hermione usually wrote him and often sent him some food or snacks. The old man usually wrote mainly to say Harry had to be careful and stay in doors. That is the one thing that made him angry, Albus Dumbledore expected Harry, a fifteen year old boy to remain inside a small room for more than two months. But Harry decided since the old man was not related to him in anyway, then he wouldn't do what Dumbledore wanted, at least not when he was outside of Hogwarts. This was his time and he was going to spend it with someone he cared about, his family, Sirius.