Harry took a deep breath before looking up, expecting to have Sirius pounce on him and demand to know what Snape had done.

Sirius did not pounce. He wasn't even looking at Harry. He was on his bed, sitting with his back against the wall and his knees drawn up.

Lupin dragged his eyes from Harry to Sirius and back again with a guarded expression. "Come sit down, James. How was lunch?"

Harry had the distinct impression that he had walked into the aftermath of a very unpleasant scene.

He sat down gingerly on the edge of his bed. "It was all right, I guess."

He had no idea how he would begin. What Snape was expecting seemed an impossible task.

"Good," Lupin said in a somewhat strained voice. "You were gone for some time...."

"Professor Snape wanted to tell me some... things."

Sirius made a sound that could best be described as a half-hearted snort.

Lupin studied Harry's face for a moment. "Did Professor Snape ask you to relay a message?"

"Yes, but...."

Lupin's brows creased and his eyes darted in Sirius' direction. "I think you might as well."

Harry hesitated. He had no idea what was going on, and what he said wouldn't be taken well under the best circumstances. It looked to him like nerves were already frayed to the breaking point.

"Hogwarts is going to open on Monday --"

"This Monday?"

"Yes. I don't know how many students they'll get on such short notice, but there you go. They want us to join the first year class. I overheard them say something about there being a precedent for it or something."

Lupin pinched the bridge of his nose like he might be getting a headache.

"They're going to Sort us, but Professor Snape isn't sure he'll let us stay in the dorms. We're supposed to get our letters today, and I think he's going to take us for our wands and school things."

Lupin's headache had to be the sort that felt like a troll stamping around inside your skull. Finally he looked up, sighing. "I suppose the Sorting has been assured to yield very particular results?"

A bitter sniff came from Sirius' corner of the room, to remind them they had an audience.

"Not... exactly," Harry said, steeling himself. "He said the Sorting Hat can't be fixed, so we... we kind of have to do it ourselves."

Lupin's hand, which had been rubbing his temple, fell into his lap. He stared at Harry in consternation. "Do it ourselves? What does that mean?"

Harry shrugged helplessly. "He said the Hat will put us where we want to go."

Lupin looked from Harry to Sirius and back again. "So," he said faintly, "we just have to make up our minds to... to...."

Harry nodded miserably. He had been rather hoping that Lupin would take the news well. He needed him to help calm Sirius.

He frowned. Now that he thought about it, there had been no reaction from Sirius, where he had been expecting an eruption of epic proportions.

He turned slowly, dreading whatever was coming.

Sirius was staring at the both of them, a slightly puzzled, knitted-brow look on his face, like everything hadn't quite slammed into place yet.

Suddenly he pushed away from the wall with a horrible expression twisting his face, his arms folding tightly over his chest.

Harry braced himself, but Sirius did not begin yelling. He paced like a madman, muttering under his breath, his face thunderous.

"Uh," Harry said weakly, "so... so I reckon we're better off as first years than not, because Professor Snape and McGonagall are planning to keep us locked up much of the time if we don't do it."

Sirius' muttering increased in both volume and hostility, and he threw himself back on the bed, wincing when his shoulders hit the wall.

"What's with him?" Harry whispered to Lupin.

Lupin shrugged and looked worriedly at Sirius.

"I'm not doing it," Sirius declared through gritted teeth. "You can tell that barmy git I'd rather go back to Azkaban."

"You don't mean that," Lupin said disapprovingly; Harry thought he detected a hint of anger in his voice, too, though Lupin was trying to look calm.

Sirius' grimace indicated that he did in fact mean it.

"It wouldn't be that bad, really, "Harry said quickly. "And at least we can learn to do magic again. Professor Snape said we should be able to --"

"NOT going to do it!" Sirius snarled, his face flooding with color. "GET that through your damn head!"

"Hey!" Lupin exclaimed, anger erasing all the false calm. "That's out of line, Padfoot. You've got no right to speak to him like that."

The look Sirius threw their way was murderous. Without another word, he turned his back on them and yanked the blanket over his head.

"Oh, just leave him," Lupin said irritably when Harry made a move to get up. "It's no use when he's like this."

Harry sat down again reluctantly. "It's just that..." He hesitated, lowering his voice to a bare whisper. "Professor Snape isn't letting us out until we've agreed."

"Then we'll rot here," Lupin said calmly, "because there is no way Padfoot will willingly do this. I'll speak to Professor Snape about his unrealistic expectations."

"How --?" Harry began, but his mouth fell shut as Lupin walked to the door, rapped smartly four times, and was promptly let out.

Snape must have been waiting on the other side. Maybe even listening in the whole time. Harry thought he caught a glimpse of black robes as the door swung shut behind Lupin.

That left Harry alone with Sirius. He felt like he had to at least try to do what he'd told Snape he would, because he wasn't convinced Lupin knew what he was up against.

"Uh... Paddy?"

There was no response; Sirius was clearly determined to ignore him.

"It's just that... I can see their point. No one would ever expect me to be in Slytherin. If we're Gryffindors again, it's like inviting people to compare."

Silence.

"I don't think it's so bad, really. We probably won't even stay in the dorms."

Not even a twitch.

"We could keep an eye out for any trouble," Harry offered rather desperately. "There could be Death Eaters out for blood, and Slytherin's the right place to ferret out any plots."

Nothing.

He sighed. "You know, I was almost sorted into Slytherin last time. Of course, now that I think about it, the Hat might have been seeing that bit of Voldemort in me. Still, if I hadn't talked it into putting me into Gryffindor, you'd have a Slytherin for a Godson."

He'd expected that to have an unpleasant effect, but once again the blanketed lump that was Sirius didn't so much as breathe.

"You'd still have broken out of Azkaban and tried to find me, wouldn't you have? Or would you have let Wormtail do away with me?"

Usually the mere mention of Wormtail lit a fire under Sirius, but to Harry's frustration it had no effect at all.

He huffed peevishly. "Oh, all right. Ignore me."

He looked around for something to do, and noticed a few new items had been left on the desk. Upon closer inspection they were Quidditch Through the Ages, a battered Gobstones set, quills, ink, and parchment.

He carried the book over to his bed, but didn't open it. He had just remembered that he had three letters he'd yet to open.

He looked at Sirius, who hadn't moved at all. Harry wondered how he wasn't suffocating under the woolen blanket.

The temptation was too much, especially since he didn't know when he would get another private moment.

He retrieved the letters from the odd little cupboard behind the hidden panel and sat down on the floor with his back against the wall. What he'd really wanted to do was to get inside the cupboard and shut himself in, but he reckoned he wanted to know if Sirius decided to stop his childish sulking.

He tore open Ron's letter first, but almost couldn't bring himself to read it.

Dear Harry,

Mum's been at me to write. Sorry
mate, I haven't been in the mood
these past weeks.

Charlie's come, finally. I think
Mum's been putting off falling
apart until he got here.

Bill's much better. Been out of
bed for a few days and he can see
more than shadows now. The
healers reckon he likely will
recover completely.

We're crammed in like sardines here,
but I do wish you could come
stay with us. We heard Hogwarts
might stay closed, and I couldn't
stand not seeing you all year. It
better not be true.

I hope to see you before too long.

Ron

His eyes watered, and he wiped them roughly with the back of his hand.

He hated what all of this must have done to the Weasleys. It sounded like they hadn't been doing so well to begin with, and he was sure hearing of Harry's death would have devastated them.

A voice in the back of his head asked nastily if they might not feel it was all for nothing, taking him in and protecting him at their own expense, only to have him get killed anyway.

He shoved that thought away as hard as he could, crammed Ron's letter back into the envelope, and thrust it and Hermione's two unopened letters back into the box in the cupboard. His breathing only evened out when the panel was closed and the whole thing was out of sight.

He climbed onto his bed, let Quidditch Through the Ages fall open, and threw all his determination into reading.

When he next looked up, hearing the lock click in the door, Sirius still hadn't moved.

Lupin came in, balancing a heavy platter loaded with food. He took one look at Sirius and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Harry shook his head.

"I brought lunch," Lupin said rather loudly, setting it down on the lid of the trunk at the foot of his bed. "I know you've eaten already, James...."

"I'll have some," Harry said, suddenly reminded by his stomach just how little interest he had taken in his food earlier at lunch. "I'm glad you thought of it."

He immediately felt guilty that he hadn't thought of it. If Snape hadn't let Lupin out, Lupin and Sirius might have gone hungry until dinner.

He had just taken a sandwich when Lupin sat down next to him. He felt Lupin's warm breath on his ear.

"He's agreed to leave it to us to convince Padfoot."

Harry nodded, but he didn't think that was much of a concession on Snape's part, since Snape had already made it clear it was up to Harry to accomplish this feat.

"Do you think you'd be all right if I left for a bit?"

"I guess so... Why?"

"I want to help Professor Snape get ready for the first week of classes."

Harry frowned at him. "But I thought you said you're rubbish at Potions."

"Not Potions," Lupin said, lowering his voice even more and glancing over his shoulder to check on Sirius. "Defense Against the Dark Arts. He's going to teach both since they couldn't find anyone on such short notice. Don't tell Padfoot."

"I won't. And... we'll be fine, if you want to go."

He wasn't really sure of it, though. Maybe Lupin sensed that, because he drew back and looked at Harry scrutinizingly.

"All right, but if anything comes up you don't think you can handle, get me immediately."

"I will," Harry said, not at all happy to know that Lupin expected Sirius to be that difficult.

Lupin wrapped a toasted bun in a napkin, picked up a glass of pumpkin juice, and headed out the door.

"Just us again," Harry told Sirius' unmoving form with a resigned sigh. "I don't suppose you'd fancy a friendly game of Gobstones?"

Lupin didn't come back for hours. By then, Harry was acutely worried about Sirius, who still hadn't moved.

Maybe it hadn't been such a grand idea to tell him I was almost sorted into Slytherin.

"Still refusing to have anything to do with us?" Lupin asked with a nod toward Sirius. He didn't bother to keep his voice down, or the tone of disapproval out of it.

And still Sirius kept his back to them.

Harry shrugged helplessly. At this point he would have welcomed a big row, just to have it out. Having Sirius ignore him was maddening.

"Padfoot?" Lupin said, walking over to Sirius and shaking him lightly by a blanket-covered shoulder. "James and I are going to dinner. Are you coming with us?"

There was no response, and when Lupin straightened his mouth was pursed in anger.

"Fine, but we're going without you. Come on, James."

Harry trailed after Lupin reluctantly. Had they not better stay and make sure Sirius didn't do anything rash?

That thought was quashed when Snape locked the door after them. Sirius wouldn't be going anywhere.

Harry still felt terrible, and the feeling stayed with him through dinner. He filled his pockets with extra bread and obscene amounts of the sugared fruit and nuts that were the night's popular dessert, even though Lupin was going to take a generous tray back to their room.

As it turned out, they only had a few minutes to note that Sirius was still determinately ignoring them, and leave the food on the bedside table, before Snape ushered them out again.

Harry found himself sorting an endless supply of potions ingredients. The cabinets had been virtually emptied by the ceaseless demand for healing potions. Snape must have ordered the full year's supply, because each classroom had a number of crates and brown paper-wrapped packages marked with the names of various Apothecaries both in Britain and abroad. Harry only noted that the name Slug & Jiggers was absent.

He hardly saw Snape or Lupin all evening. They were working in Snape's office, while he was slowly making a round of the classrooms.

Shoving yet another bucket of pickled slugs into a cabinet, Harry shut the door and leaned against it tiredly. He wouldn't say no to turning in early.

But there were more cabinets and more ingredients.

With a sigh, he got back to work.

"McKenna."

Harry looked up, realizing suddenly that he hadn't touched a Shrivelfig in a long time. He had fallen into an exhausted stupor with a basket of them in front of him.

"Yes, sir?"

"You're done for the day," Snape said, pulling the basket away and covering it with a cloth. "You may finish the rest tomorrow."

Harry nodded.

It took him a moment to notice that Snape was holding something out to him.

"Sir?"

"Freshly made," Snape said. "Sixteen doses."

Harry frowned at the bottle before recognizing the potion as Dreamless Sleep. "Thank you."

Snape looked down at him unpleasantly. "I would rather limit the number of nights I'm pulled out of bed by your hysterics."

Harry swallowed hard.

Snape said nothing more, but led the way back to his quarters.

Harry was much too tired to do anything but place the potion into a drawer, undress, and climb into bed.

Lupin had gone for a shower first, and Harry tried to keep awake until he got back, so he could ask if they shouldn't pull Sirius out of bed and make him talk whether he wanted to or not. But he was simply too tired, and in the end was barely aware of Lupin getting into the next bed.

His dreams were vague and rambling. He saw dozens of faces pass before the Weasleys came into focus.

He woke in a cold sweat.

"James?"

Harry tried to answer, but all that came out was an indistinct grunt.

"I'm sorry if I woke you," Lupin said. He was whispering. Harry heard rather than saw him gathering up his clothes and shoes; Lupin hadn't lit a torch. "It's fairly early, but Professor Snape and I are going to get started. You don't mind, do you?"

"No," Harry mumbled, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.

"Try to go back to sleep. You weren't having another nightmare?"

"No."

"All right, then. I'll be back in time to walk down to the Hall for breakfast with you... and Padfoot if he's good and done with his nonsense."

That brought Harry all the way awake. He remembered what he had been going to ask Lupin.

Lupin was already on his way out, though, and Harry held his tongue. Maybe sleeping on it would make Sirius more reasonable. He would wait and see.

He flopped over on his back, closed his eyes, and tried to focus on the calming exercises that sometimes helped after a wretched night.

His thoughts turned instead to the potion Snape had given him. For a disoriented moment he wasn't certain it had really happened, and had to feel for the drawer knob and feel around until his hand met the cool, smooth side of the bottle.

He wished he had taken a dose the night before, and glad that Sirius had slept through the night without a repeat of the previous night's unpleasantries.

As if on cue, Sirius moaned.

Harry swung his legs out of bed without thinking.

"Paddy?"

He heard nothing except the creak of bedsprings and a body moving restlessly.

He tried to orient himself in the dark; all he could see was the shape of Lupin's bed, which was between him and Sirius. He let his hand trail its edge and made his way around it, only suffering a stubbed toe in the process when he forgot about the trunk at the foot of the bed.

"Paddy?"

Damn it, he really needed a light, but he couldn't see well enough to make out the torch on the far wall.

Another moan made him move faster; he really needed to get to Sirius before the screaming started if he was to have any chance of keeping Snape out of it.

Finally close enough, he reached out a hand and groped for Sirius' shoulder. Finding it, he shook it hard.

"Wake up, Paddy, you're having another nightmare."

Sirius moaned and shuddered violently.

"Come on," Harry said desperately, shaking him harder. "Wake up!"

Sirius jerked away from him, and Harry's hand slipped.

He snatched it back with a gasp. Hot!

Not understanding, he reached out again, only to again feel like he had stretched his fingers toward fire.

He stumbled back, his hand slamming down on the bedside table as he struggled for balance, and suddenly a flash of brilliant white light illuminated the bed in front of him.

Frozen in horror, he was rooted to the floor even after his hand slipped from the wand and the light faded to black.

Lupin.

I need Lupin now.

He flung himself across the room, finding the door by some miracle; and by another miracle it was not locked.

Lupin had to be there; he had only left minutes ago; he had to still be there.

But the room was empty.

He saw the light under the bathroom door and his heart jumped into his throat.

"Moony! MOONY!"

His hands were in agony; he felt he had been pounding on the door for hours, and why didn't Lupin open the damn door?

"MOONY! THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH PADDY! MOONY!"

The door was yanked away from his fists.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Harry stared up at Snape's impassive face and was overcome by nausea.

Snape. It was Snape.

Lupin wasn't there.

And Sirius....

A roar in his ears turned into a flood as the monstrosity of the situation became clear.

He didn't care that he was crying helplessly in front of Snape, bawling and choking on his own sobs.

It was unfair. Everything in his damn life was bloody unfair!

Snape elbowed him aside.

His strides were so long that even at a run Harry couldn't keep up.

The room was filled with light, dazzling Harry so that he stubbed his toe again on the same trunk. The pain barely registered.

Snape was standing over Sirius' bed, and when Harry tried to get close he pushed him away, so that the back of Harry's knees hit the edge of Lupin's bed and he sat down hard.

Snape had thrown back the blanket and now Harry could see Sirius' bare legs glistening with sweat. The sheets were damp.

Snape had his wand out, but all Harry could see were his voluminous robes; he couldn't see Sirius at all now.

There came a ripping sound and a velvet green button landed at Harry's bare feet.

"Damn."

Without any warning Snape turned and swept out of the room, and Harry's numbed brain registered that the bed was empty now.

He ran after Snape, only to have the door to Snape's bedroom slam shut long before he reached it.

His breath came in hiccoughs. It was the only sound in the room.

His legs gave up supporting him, and it was just lucky that there was a chair behind him.

Lupin found him exactly like that some time -- hours? minutes? -- later.

"James? What are you doing in your skivvies? You'll catch a..." Lupin's expression turned momentarily puzzled and then he paled and ran forward. "James? What's wrong?"

Harry's spine followed the example of his legs now that Lupin's grasp on his shoulders was holding him up, and he collapsed against the front of Lupin's robes.

Lupin pushed him upright again. "You're scaring me. What happened?"

"Pa-d-dy," Harry choked out. "S-something's wrong with Paddy."

He was looking up at Lupin when he said it; Lupin's face turned ashen and he swayed, his hold on Harry turning painful. His face twisted toward the closed door.

Harry almost fell over when Lupin let him go.

The door was well-warded, and Lupin's knock, which turned into pounding, made no sound.

With a frustrated swear, Lupin backed against the wall and hugged his arms around his chest. His eyes never left the door.

Neither did Harry's.

It was a long wait.

The breakfast bell chimed and fell silent.

At some point Lupin had slid to the floor.

Harry's nose was dripping badly from cold.

That was how McGonagall found them when she came to find out why they hadn't appeared at breakfast.

Her shrewd, piercing eyes took in the scene, including the locked door. Then she let herself past the wards with a wave of her wand, and shut the door again before their stiffened legs could carry them forward.

Lupin paced like a trapped animal.

"It's my fault," he muttered fervently. "It's my fault... I should have noticed. I just... just didn't think...." He raked his hands through his hair. "It was so like him... but I should have known he could never keep that up for so long... I should have seen...!"

"It's --"

Harry had been about to say, It's not your fault. when the door opened.

Lupin froze in his steps. Harry rose slowly to his feet, feeling weak.

McGonagall came out first, followed by Snape.

"You may see him," Snape said shortly.

They barely waited for the words to be out of his mouth.

Harry's throat closed up when he saw Sirius.

He was in Snape's immense bed, drowning in one of Snape's nightshirts. His face was as pale as the sheets.

Lupin collapsed into a chair and reached for Sirius' hand, leaving Harry to find a spot on the other side of the bed.

He moved Sirius' discarded robes -- one sleeve was torn to the elbow -- off a chair and sat heavily.

"Don't look at me like that," Sirius said. His voice was slightly hoarse.

"Are you all right?" Lupin asked. He was staring at the stark white sling holding Sirius' hand against his chest.

Sirius considered this. "Let me see. Potion tasted like crap. I'm in the greasy git's bed. And I think we're fighting, but I'm not sure what about, which might be a point to the git since he thinks the fever fried my last usable brain cells."

Lupin didn't look amused at all, and Harry himself saw nothing funny.

"Oh, come on," Sirius said peevishly. "I'm on my death bed and I'm trying to cheer you up? You might make a little effort here."

"But what happened?" Lupin asked. "What's wrong with your arm?"

"My wrist," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "I fell when the git shoved me through the door. I didn't think it was that bad, at first. I thought I caught it on a splinter or something. That floor's filthy enough."

"But you didn't, did you," Lupin said faintly. "You broke it, and the bone must have gone through the skin to make you ill so quickly."

"Well it's healed now. The bloody git just wrapped it for McGonagall's benefit." Sirius smiled widely. "She wasn't very happy when she heard how it happened."

Harry glanced through the open doorway and he could see McGonagall pouring tea from a steaming pot, while Snape stood rigidly off to the side, his arms folded defensively over his chest.

"But he wrapped it tight enough to make my fingers numb," Sirius finished, now scowling. "Git."

Harry and Lupin wisely remained silent.

Sirius stared at the blanket contemplatively for a few moments. "What were we fighting about? All I remember is you -- James -- saying something about the Sorting Hat putting you in Slytherin, which is barmy, and Wormtail... something about Wormtail."

Harry exchanged a look with Lupin. He didn't think now was a good time to try again.

Sirius glared at them. "What is it with you? I want to know. It's not a hard question."

He might have said more, but at that moment McGonagall decided to interrupt.

"Milo, James, come here please."

Lupin let go of Sirius' hand reluctantly.

"Not to worry," Sirius said, "I'll be here." He scowled darkly. "All day, I'll wager."

"James. Milo."

Harry followed Lupin out of Snape's room.

"Go get dressed, James," McGonagall said, taking in his appearance.

Harry trudged off, aware that McGonagall was pouring Lupin a cup of hot tea. He really was terribly cold, and wouldn't have minded some hot tea himself.

What he got was a dose of Pepperup from Snape, instead.

"Honestly," McGonagall said with a disapproving shake of her head, "you're left alone for a few hours and two out of the three of you end up in need of a nurse."

Lupin glanced at Harry, then quickly away, a guilty expression crossing his face.

Harry happened to look at Snape, and was surprised to see a similar expression fleetingly pass over his scowling features.

"I need to get back to work," McGonagall said. "I assume the crisis is over?"

"Of course it is," Snape said, giving Harry a glare as if he thought the entire fiasco had been carried out by Harry to make him look bad in front of McGonagall. He walked her to the door and saw her out.

When he turned around his usual scowl was firmly in place.

Harry was quite certain Snape was in a worse mood now than he had been in days. Snape's hands were clenched at his sides, and his eyes glinted dangerously.

It didn't seem like a great thing, then, when Snape headed resolutely for the bedroom.

Lupin must have thought the same thing, because he was out of his seat and on Snape's heals in seconds, giving Snape no chance to shut the door.

Snape made no move to do that. He stood just inside the doorway, glaring at the pathetic figure occupying his bed.

Harry privately thought that Sirius might be playing up his injury a bit. He was lying with his uninjured arm thrown over his brow, moaning piteously. He opened one eye and looked at Snape.

"W-w-water..." he croaked. "F-f-ood...."

Snape looked disgusted. "McKenna, bring him a glass of water."

Harry ran to obey, but not before noticing that Sirius had stopped moaning and was giving Snape a glare.

He's all right! turned into a chant in his head.

He poured a tall glass of cold water and fairly flew back to the bedroom, feeling so light he thought he had grown wings.

"Go down to the kitchens and see about breakfast," Snape said. "And don't dawdle or waste time."

As if they would, when Sirius eyes followed them all the way out, pleading not to be left alone with Snape.

"He's all right," Harry said tentatively as they hurried down the corridor. "Isn't he?"

"Of course he is," Lupin agreed. His hand found Harry's and squeezed reassuringly. "Of course. McGonagall would have called Pomfrey if there was any doubt."

"It must have been terrible, though. He doesn't even remember anything from last night."

"He was running up a fever, and probably too agitated from pain to pay any real attention to what we said." Lupin shook his head and winced. "I can't believe I was so stupid. I should have known. I let him suffer all night."

"We both did," Harry said, swallowing hard. "It's my fault too."

"Don't say that. None of this is your fault. You've been incredible through all of this."

Harry didn't feel incredible in the least. He felt... small, lost, and helpless to do anything to help himself or the people he cared about.

They helped themselves to the cold leftovers.

"I did some accidental magic, I think," Harry said, breaking the silence. "This morning."

"Oh?"

"My hand just touched the wand, and it was like I cast Lumos, only more powerful. But I hadn't cast it, or even thought of it."

"Was it dark?"

"Yes."

"I suppose your need for light translated into a nonverbal spell, and the wand just happened to be there."

"I guess."

"It's a good sign," Lupin said, glancing his way with a small frown. "You don't have anything to worry about."

"I just..." Harry paused, thinking. It was only now that the incident with the wand seemed to mean anything. "I feel so helpless without magic. If we were attacked, I'd be useless." He shook his head sheepishly. "More useless than usual, I mean."

"You were never useless," Lupin said. "And if not having magic makes you a little less likely to run into dangerous situations --"

Harry waited for the end of the condemning speech, but Lupin stopped short. He shook his head. "I'm sorry. That wasn't what I intended to say at all."

"It's okay," Harry said, his voice coming out just a bit strangled.

They walked back to Snape's quarters in silence.

Lupin went in with the tray, but Snape accosted Harry for the purpose of dosing him with Pepperup again, making him cough while tapping his wand up and down his back, and mopping his nose with a rag soaked in something bitter that made Harry's head reel.

"I'd think after all these years you would know not to run around the dungeons in your underpants."

Finally out of Snape's clutches, Harry was so relieved he couldn't even bring himself to get angry.

Snape moved off to check on a row of simmering cauldrons, and Harry headed for the bedroom.

"Just keep the Slytherin slimeball away from me, Moony."

Harry froze with his hand on the door.

"You wouldn't believe the things he's been telling me. Sorted into Slytherin! I could just -- oh, don't make that face at me. I can't believe you left me here with him. He's worse than Molly. Do you know my hand hurts worse now that he's fussed with it? And I think I might sick up. Those potions were vile."

Harry slowly let out the breath he'd been holding.

Whom did you think he meant?

He pushed open the door and crossed the room, and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Lupin.

Sirius speared a bit of egg and made a face at Harry. "Your ears are steaming, did you know?"

"I know."

Sirius chewed and swallowed, and let the fork clatter onto the plate. "What a waste of a Saturday. Hey, Moony, can you bring me my wand?"

"Your wand?" Lupin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's on the night stand, I think."

"What do you want it for?"

"Just do."

"What's the use of a wand if you can't cast spells?"

Sirius gave him a filthy look. "I could stick it up his abnormally large nose, for one thing."

A throat clearing made them all jump. Even Sirius looked like he wished he hadn't said the last bit, though he pulled on a defiant expression.

"So this morning is not a complete loss, we will see if you can select your wands," Snape said in a restrained tone. "The fewer of you I have to drag to London, the less the risk, and a wand is the only reason to take you to Diagon Alley at all."

Harry saw that Snape had a long, flat wooden box in his hands. He set it down on a table and opened it.

There were two dozen or more wands or every sort displayed on black velvet. Wands with intricate carvings. Wands with jewel-encrusted handles. Wands with crystals embedded in the tips. Wands that were nothing more than gnarled wood. Even wands no different from those Harry was used to seeing.

"Is this some sort of collection?" Lupin asked, leaning in for a closer look.

"You could say that." His long fingers trailed over a dazzlingly white wand in what was almost an obscene caress. "Some of these are very old, or have unusual cores. Still, there might be a suitable fit." He selected a thick, highly polished wand. "Try this one. Oak, ten inches..."

Lupin reached for the wand.

There was a terrible BANG! and Snape's bed shuddered and careened to the side, almost spilling Sirius out.

"... Werewolf fang," Snape finished dryly, extracting the wand from Lupin's shocked death-grip and using his own wand to restore the shattered leg of the bed. "Apparently not a good fit."

"Could you aim away from me, next time?" Sirius said peevishly, rubbing his arm.

Snape tried to hand Lupin another wand, but Lupin sank, white-faced, onto the edge of the bed, and refused to take it.

"I'll try it," Sirius said. "Give it to me."

The wand did not work for him, which convinced Lupin to give it a go. Finally it was Harry's turn.

He wondered for a moment, as the lifeless wand lay in the palm of his hand, if any wand could feel as right as his old one. This one certainly did not.

They tried a few others, until a deeply carved ebony wand hummed with life in Sirius' hand.

Snape looked at the wand as if reluctant to let it go. It had occupied a prominent place in the center of the display.

"What's the core in this one?" Sirius asked, spitting on the handle and polishing it on the corner of his blanket.

"Minotaur hair," Snape said through clenched teeth. Apparently Sirius' treatment of the wand did not agree with him.

Sirius stuck the wand under his pillow and unceremoniously returned to his breakfast.

Unfortunately, none of the wands were right for Harry or Lupin. Snape shut the box.

"I had hoped there would be a suitable one for you," he told Harry. "It wasn't so long ago that Ollivander sold you your first wand."

"He remembers every wand he ever sold," Harry said, frowning. "Is that going to be a problem?"

Snape scowled at him. "Not if you keep your mouth shut and your wits about you."

Harry swallowed and nodded.

He supposed that Snape had to be glad that Sirius, at least, wouldn't need to come with them.

"Couldn't one of us use your spare?" Lupin asked. "It worked reasonably well for us all, and responds especially well to James."

Snape shook his head. "Too much recent activity on that one."

"Oh."

"I had planned on taking you to London this afternoon. However...."

Sirius glared hatefully at him. "Don't look at me like it's any of my fault."

Snape's eyes flashed with anger, but he pressed his lips together and seemed to hold in whatever retort should have followed.

"Will we be able to go tomorrow?" Lupin asked.

"I suppose we will have to. You can't very well start classes without a wand."

"I'm sorry. I know it will take you away from planning. I can help --"

"No," Snape said, cutting him off. "I don't require any more of your help. Stay here and make sure nothing else happens."

He picked up the box and swept out of the room.

"Nothing else happens," Sirius muttered darkly. "He's the one --"

"Oh, please be quiet, Padfoot," Lupin said, rubbing his forehead. "I'm too tired to argue with you, too."

Sirius looked him over with a frown. "I forgot. The moon's full on Monday."

Lupin sighed and sank into a chair. "Terrible timing." And he looked pointedly at Harry.

"But you'll still be there for the sorting, right?" Harry asked with a sinking feeling. If Lupin wasn't there, Sirius would be ten times more likely to pull some stunt. Besides, Harry didn't think he could face the sorting alone.

"I... I will be," Lupin said uncertainly. "I might have to leave the feast early, but I'll be there for the sorting."

Harry noticed Sirius' eyes narrowing. He wished he knew what Sirius was thinking. He would have asked, but Lupin was holding his temples again, a pained look on his face.

"Can't you ask Professor Snape for a headache potion, or something?"

"I've already taken two."

"Oh."

"You should try to sleep," Sirius said. "It helps sometimes, doesn't it?"

Lupin nodded.

"If you want some Dreamless Sleep, help yourself."

Harry followed Sirius' gesture and saw that there was a bottle on the nightstand, identical to the one Snape had given him the previous night.

"Mind you, I can't promise he isn't trying to poison me."

Lupin smiled weakly. "I don't suffer from nightmares, fortunately."

"Too bad," Sirius said with an exaggerated sigh. "Here I was hoping you'd test the stuff for me."

"I'm sure the potion works as intended."

"Especially if it is poison."

Lupin shut his eyes and shuddered.

"That's it," Sirius said. "To bed."

"All right, but James, call me if anything happens."

"Nothing's going to happen," Harry said firmly.

Lupin stood up a little shakily and left the room.

Sirius swore under his breath. "That git better be making his potion, that's all I have to say."

Harry picked at a loose thread on the blanket.

"Now, let's talk about this Sorting business."

He had known it was coming.

"The way I see it, if they couldn't bamboozle the Hat into putting us where they want us, then they'll have a hard time accusing us of not doing our part if we land in Gryffindor anyway."

"But --"

"And --" Sirius continued loudly, "-- the way I see it, once we're in Gryffindor there isn't a damn thing they can do about it."

"But if --"

"AND I don't see how any of us could possibly get into the Snake House even if we tried our damnedest!

Harry wished he had followed Lupin out. He was starting to get a headache himself.