That Saturday, we went to Grandpa's like usual. We visit him every weekend, unless Dad's on call, and today we went to see a rugby match. Dad doesn't care much for sports, but Grandpa and I like them, so he went along with it. It was fun, Grandpa's team won, so we were all happy, and then we went out for lunch.

When we got back though, we found Uncle Sirius on our front porch. It had been awhile since I'd seen him, so I jumped out of Dad's arms and into his, yelling, "Padfoot, when'd you get here?"

Sirius, who's the same age as Dad, they went to school together, grinned and swung me around, like he usually does. He has dark hair and dark brown eyes, like a friendly dog's. And all the ladies think he's handsome as sin, whatever that means. Grownups are so weird sometimes! "Hello, little buddy. How have you been?"

"Good. We went to a rugby game with my grandpa," I told him. Then I said, "But why are you out here on the porch, Uncle Sirius? And why have you got a bag with you?" There was a medium-sized overnight bag by his feet.

"Well, I didn't want that killer baby panther of yours to eat me, Harry," he teased, setting me down.

I laughed. When Inky had first met Padfoot, he had hissed and spat at him, acting like Sirius was the enemy. But he soon got over his fear, once he realized that Sirius in his dog form could play with him even better than I could. Padfoot could even understand Inky somewhat and sort of "speak" with him in animal form. I was surprised, until Padfoot explained that cats and dogs could be friends if they were introduced to each other when they were young, like Inky.

Then Sirius looked at my father. "Hello, Sev. Mind if I ask for a favor?"

Dad looked at him askance, before replying, "What's the problem now, Sirius?"

"Uh, can we talk about it inside, Sev?" Sirius said awkwardly.

Dad unlocked the door and we all went inside. I ran down the hall to let Inky out of his room, he had probably missed me something awful. The panther bounded over to me, rubbing against me and purring. He was about the size of a cocker spaniel now and growing more every day. "Hey, boy." I scratched behind his ears, Inky loves that. "Miss me? C'mon, let's go say hi to Padfoot."

Inky followed me down to the den, where I could hear my dad and Uncle Sirius talking.

"See, it's like this, Sev. Melinda kicked me out of our apartment and put up wards so I can get back in, so I was, uh, wondering if I could, umm, stay here for a few days? She ought to be over her little snit by then."

I froze, waiting to hear what Daddy would say. I'd love it if Sirius stayed here for a bit, he was great fun to be around. Inky sat on my feet, wrapping his tail over his feet.

"Her little snit? Sirius, sounds like you had a full-blown fight if she kicked you out and warded the place magically against you. What did you do to her?"

"It's complicated," began Padfoot, coughing. "Y'see, I work with a gal in the Auror department named Clarissa, and sometimes we go out to lunch together if we're on the same shift. Well, yesterday, we went out and I was, uh, holding Clarissa's chair for her and laughing at a joke she told when Lindy walked by and saw us. She immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion and when I got home that night she uh, accused me of cheating on her," Sirius said.

"And she didn't believe you when you told her that Clarissa was just a friend, huh?"

"No. Now Sev, I know I might've at one time or another kissed another woman, but I wasn't this time, I swear it! Lindy just flew off the handle and now I'm stuck without a place to live till she, uh calms down. And I thought of you instead of Moony because you don't have a girlfriend who practically lives at your place the way Tonks does." He gave my dad a quick pleading glance. "You're not, uh, involved with anyone, are you, Severus?"

"No, not presently. Okay, Sirius, you can stay for a few days, but mind you pick up after yourself, I don't have house elves and I'm not your maid either."

Sirius held up his hands and chuckled. "Whoa, Sev. I promise I won't trash the place, so don't go on the warpath here. I forgot you're a neat freak, like most Healers."

Dad rolled his eyes. "I'm not, I just don't enjoy living in a pigsty, the way you used to, Black. Some days I wondered how you could see the floor."

"Hey, I wasn't that bad. I knew where everything was," Sirius argued.

"Buried under the mountain of dirty dishes and laundry," Dad teased. "That's one reason why I don't have house elves, because you grow too dependant on them and then you can't look after yourself without one. That's why Harry and I do all the housework around here."

"Oh, joy. Does that mean I have to?"

"If you want to eat, you do," Dad smirked, and Uncle Sirius just groaned.

"Padfoot, look how big Inky's gotten!" I said, when it looked like their conversation was ended. Dad always told me not to interrupt grownups talking, it was rude.

I picked up Inky and brought him over to Sirius, who exclaimed, "Holy Merlin, Harry, he's going to be so big you can ride on him soon."

"Cool!" I shouted, and Dad winced.

"Harry, did you feed Inky yet?" he reminded me.

I thought for a minute. Had I? "No, Dad. I'll get his food." I ran into the kitchen and looked at the chart on the wall, sure enough, there was no check next to Inky's Dinner. I checked it off with the red marker and then got out the pound of ground beef and his dish from the room.

I was just walking into the den with the dish when a bell rang and Dad pulled out the magic mirror he carried in his pocket. "Healer Snape here."

"Severus, I need a consult, and I left the patient's chart in the office," It was Healer Morgan, or Uncle Matt, as I called him. He was Dad's partner. "Would you mind popping over there and getting it for me?

"Matthew, I swear, you'd leave your head behind if it weren't attached to you," sighed Dad. "All right, give me a minute." The mirror went dark and he turned to Sirius and I and said, "I'll be back as soon as I can. Behave yourself, Harry."

"Okay, Dad." I set the dish of food down and Inky sprang out of Padfoot's arms and began to eat it.

"That goes for you too, Sirius," Dad mock-scolded.

"Yes, Mr. Snape," Sirius answered, rolling his eyes.

Then Dad Disapparated, going to his office to get the chart. I knew he would probably be awhile, whenever Uncle Matt asked him for a consult it meant it was gonna take at least half-an-hour.

Sirius eyed me consideringly and grinned mischievously. "Okay, kiddo. Now that Dad's gone out for a bit, let's you and I have ourselves a little fun."

"Okay. What shall we do?" I asked eagerly. Now this was more like it.

"Why don't we play a little game of tag?" suggested Sirius, and then he transformed into his Animagus form-a big black mutt.

* * * * * *

I was running full speed down the hallway, Padfoot in hot pursuit, Inky just ahead of me. We were having a great old time, even though I kept getting caught by Padfoot and Inky, ‘cause they were so much faster.

Inky leaped onto the couch and then over it, I dove after him trying to catch his tail, because he was "It". But Inky was too quick and I missed. I knocked some pillows off though and I turned to chase the cub around the recliner. But when I came around the chair, I ran right into my dad, who had just arrived home.

"Harry! What on earth?" he exclaimed, catching me by my shoulders.

"Uh, hi, Dad," I said, grinning sheepishly. "I was playing tag with Padfoot and Inky.

Dad stared around the den, which was sort of a mess, with the pillows knocked all over and the lamp tilted and I had also spilled a bag of crisps on the floor when I dove at the couch. His eyes glittered and I swallowed hard.

Uh oh. I knew that look. It meant we were all in big trouble, even Sirius.

"What the hell happened here?" he demanded, and I could practically see the steam coming from his ears. "I leave you alone for forty-five minutes and this is what I come back to?" he put his hands on his hips and gave us a nasty Snape glare.

I shivered, Padfoot crashed to a halt into the side of the sofa, and Inky hid under the recliner. Smart cub.

"Uh, Severus, I can explain," began Sirius, changing back and giving Dad one of his most charming smiles, the one he uses on the ladies. Too bad Dad's not a girl. "Harry and I were playing a little game and we, uh, got a bit carried away."

"A bit? Look at the mess in here!" Dad pointed to the crushed crisps on the floor, the pillows, the lamp and several books had fallen off the bookshelf, plus the Floo powder had spilled on the hearth. "I can't leave you two alone for five minutes, can I?"

"Aww, calm down, Sev. We'll clean it up, right Harry?"

I nodded, but Dad didn't look convinced. "That's besides the point. What do you think this is, a free for all?" He turned to me and I flinched upon seeing the disappointment and anger in his eyes. "Harry, I'm very disappointed in you. You know better than to behave like this."

I looked down at my feet. Oh, but I hated when he said that to me. it made me feel just awful. "Sorry, Dad."

"You ought to be." He pointed a finger. "Corner, young man. Now."

"Yes sir." I obeyed, going to the nearest one, it was right next to the kitchen, and facing it, hands at my sides. I tried not to fidget, but I really hated time-out and it was hard for me to stay still.

"Fifteen minutes," came Dad's voice, before I could ask how long I was to be punished for.

"Fifteen minutes!" protested Sirius. "Sev, for crying out loud!"

"You be quiet, Sirius, before I put you in a corner for acting like you were six instead of twenty-six," Dad scolded. "Now you can clean this up. What were you thinking, encouraging him to run around and knock things over like that? You're an adult, he's the child."

"It was a game, Sev. It just got a little out of hand is all." Sirius said defensively, cleaning up the spilled crisps with a wave of his wand. "I was going to clean it up before you got home."

"Oh, and that makes it all right?"

"Severus, it wasn't as if we totally trashed the place. Besides, magic can fix it, y'know."

"Sirius, whether or not magic can fix what happened isn't the point. The point is Harry knows better and I don't want him thinking he can do whatever he pleases because he can "fix" it with magic. If you wanted to play tag, you could've done it outside."

"Uh, yeah, I guess so."

"The last thing I need is you encouraging him to mischief, Siri. He and that panther get into enough trouble on their own, believe me. The other week I found both of them on the roof, Inky climbed up there and Harry went right after him up the trellis. I looked out the backyard, didn't see them, came out to search and there's my son, waving to me from the roof, holding the cub by the collar. I nearly died."

"How did you get them down?"

"Flew up on my broom and got them that way," Dad answered. "I grounded his little backside for two days for that little stunt, and now I come home and find the two of you treating my house like a playground."

"Sorry, Sev," apologized Sirius, though he didn't really sound like he meant it. "But I still think you're making a big deal out of nothing."

"Really? Harry, why aren't you allowed to run about inside that way?" Dad queried. "Tell your uncle why not, since he seems to have forgotten."

"Uh, because you could break something or-or knock something down or get hurt." I recited.

"Exactly. So why were you doing it?"

"Don't know. I-I thought it was fun," I said softly, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Was it worth getting time-out, young man?"

"No sir." While the game had been fun, it definitely wasn't worth getting yelled at and punished.

"Remember this next time, won't you?" Dad sighed, then said, "Five more minutes and you can come out."

He went into the kitchen then and Sirius came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry, little buddy. I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

I looked up at him and said in a whisper, "I'm not s'posed to talk in time-out, unless Dad says."

"Oh."

Then I added, not wanting to make him feel bad, "You didn't get me in trouble, Padfoot. I got myself in trouble." Which was true. Grandpa told me once that when I got in trouble, it was important to admit I'd been wrong and to take responsibility for my actions. He said he hadn't done that before and that was why my dad and him didn't get along for so many years. Grandpa had been drinking and been real nasty to Dad when he was growing up, only he wouldn't admit it until a couple of months ago. But after that they'd started forgiving each other and getting along like other families did.

"Yeah, but I helped," admitted Sirius, then he returned to rearranging the couch.

"All right, Harry. Time's up."

I heaved a sigh and came out of the corner. I'd nearly went to sleep it was so terribly boring.

I ran immediately to my father and he hugged me, same as always after my punishments. "All's forgiven, scamp." He murmured and tousled my hair. I smiled, then I asked him what we were going to have for supper, and he said he didn't feel like cooking so we could go to Lazy Joe's, my favorite restaurant.

"Thanks, Dad!" I beamed and went to find Inky and put him inside of his room, we never left him free when we weren't home to watch him, he got into too much trouble. One time he got into the bathroom and shredded all the toilet paper all over the house, I'd forgotten to latch the door to his room. I never forgot again, because Dad made me clean up the mess my cat had made and it took forever!

I knew Sirius was happy too, since Lazy Joe's has the juiciest rib-eye steak and the best whipped garlic potatoes.

After dinner it was nearly bedtime, so I had a bath and then Dad tucked me in. I still felt bad about what happened and so I told Dad sorry again. "C'mere, scamp." He took me on his lap. "I know you're sorry, son. But what did I tell you to do if someone you know asks you to do something you know is wrong?"

I thought for a moment, then replied, "Stop and think."

"Good. Stop and think about what you should do, and then do the right thing. But you didn't, now did you?"

"No."

"No, and that's why you got into trouble. Of course, some of the blame lies with Sirius, who knows better than to encourage you to behave like a wild thing, but you also knew better. Next time, Harry, stop and think, and it'll save you fifteen minutes in time-out or worse."

"I will," I promised. He hugged me and tucked me under the covers. "Story now, Dad?"

"What would you like to hear tonight?"

"Um, The Velveteen Rabbit, please." It was my favorite and I hadn't heard it in months.

So my dad got the book from the shelf and started to read. Before I knew it, we'd reached the part about the Rabbit staying with the boy when he was sick with scarlet fever, a really bad disease, according to Dad. But all of a sudden I just couldn't keep my eyes open and I had fallen asleep right in the middle of the story.

* * * * * *

On Monday at school, Miss Wilkins introduced us to a new student. "Class, can you all say hello to Hermione Granger?" she asked and we all said, "Hi, Hermione."

"Hello," the little girl said. She was about my height with long brown hair in two braids and bright brown eyes. She was wearing a green jumper and a plaid skirt with black shoes.

"Hermione and her family just moved here from Surrey," announced Miss Wilkins. She was a very nice teacher, young, but a little older than my dad, with short blond hair and she liked to wear soft pastel shirts and black skirts, and the shirts usually had some kind of animal pin on them, because Miss Wilkins was animal crazy. I sure wished I could tell Miss Wilkins about Inky being alive. She'd noticed I didn't bring him to school any more and I told her he was too old and needed to stay home. "Mr. and Mrs. Granger are dentists, isn't that right, dear?" Hermione nodded, twisting a braid round her finger nervously. "So maybe when you all need to get your teeth cleaned and checked, you can go to see them."

There were murmurs around the class, nobody really liked going to the dentist much. I didn't know anything about one, since I'd never been to one, my dad always took care of my teeth, making sure I brushed them twice a day, and ate healthy snacks.

"Now, why don't you go and sit by Harry, Hermione?" Miss Wilkins said, pointing to the desk next to mine, which was empty. "He'll be your seatmate for the next week or two."

Hermione came and slid into the seat next to mine. She smiled at me and I smiled back. I knew why Miss Wilkins had chosen me for Hermione's seatmate. It was because I was one of the kids in her class that behaved and worked well with others. I wouldn't have dared not behave, Dad would've killed me if I got in trouble at school.

"I'm Harry Potter," I introduced myself to her.

Before she could say anything else, however, Miss Wilkins called role and then we had our daily reading circle. That was when we all sat in a circle and read aloud from our reading book, on a story Miss Wilkins picked. I was quite surprised to find that Hermione was a better reader than I was. She read all the big words without help, almost as good as the teacher. I was a bit miffed, because before she came here, I'd always been the star reader in my class, and got my name on the Star Kid Chart with the gold star next to it.

Next we had math, which I was better at than she was, that's because Grandpa drilled me in all the addition and helped me count money too. But after that we had snack, then naptime, and then lunch and recess.

At recess I went to play with Jimmy and Tom, we usually played football together. But as I went by the other section of the playground, near where the girls usually hung out and played things like house and jump rope and other girl things, I saw Hermione standing off by herself, sniffling into a tissue, looking like she'd been crying.

I slowed and approached her cautiously, I wondered if some of the older girls, like Amanda Brown, had been teasing her. There were a few girls in my class that were a year older and they acted like they ran the classroom when Miss Wilkins was absent.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" I asked quietly.

"The-the other girls won't play with me anymore, ‘cause when I was playing house, I-I made the cup move by accident, and now they-they said I'm a- a freak!" She burst into tears, sobbing noisily into her tissue.

"You made the cup move how? By itself?" I asked softly, so as not to be overheard.

"Uh-huh." She nodded, her face all blotchy. "I know I'm not supposed to, Mum said I had to try real hard to-to stop doing stuff like that, but I just couldn't help it." She looked miserable. "And now nobody wants to be friends with me ‘cause I'm a weird freaky girl."

"That's not true," I said quickly. "You're not weird or freaky, Hermione. Have you ever made anything else happen?"

"W-well, sometimes I made my dolls dance when I was playing with them and once I made a fork fly into the air and another time I found a ring my mum had lost just by thinking about it. Why? That's not freaky to you?"

"Nope. Because I can do stuff like that too," I whispered.

"You can?" her eyes were big as dinner plates.

"Yeah, only nobody here knows it. It's ‘cause we're different. We've got magic."

"Magic? But that's not real. That's only in fairy tales."

"No, it's real. I can do it and so can you, because I'm a wizard and you're a witch."

She glared at me. "A witch! I am not! Witches are old and warty and ugly! Is that what you think I am, Mr. Potter?"

"No, no. You're thinking of the bad witches, but there's good witches too, like Glinda in The Wizard of Oz."

"Oh. Right."

"'Sides, my dad says the word witch just means a wise woman, and not an evil one, like all the stories say. He's really smart, my dad, and he's a wizard too. His name's Severus Snape and he's a wizard Healer, and a Potions Master, kind of like a doctor and a chemist."

"You mean there are grownup wizards and witches?"

"Of course!" I laughed. "I know lots of them. You can meet them too, if you want. Do your parents know that you can do magic?"

"Yes, and my dad says it makes me special, but mum's not so sure." Hermione bit her lip. "She just wants me to be a smart girl and do well in school and be like everybody else."

"Your mum sounds a lot like my Grandpa used to, before he understood that magic wasn't something to be scared of."

"Your grandpa's not a wizard then?"

"No, he's a Muggle, like your mum and dad."

"Muggle? What's that?"

"Um, it's what we wizards call people without magic."

"Uh, where do all of you live?"

"Same as you do, here in London, but we've got our own part of it, so that Muggles can't see us doing all the magic stuff, like flying a broom and Apparating, usually. And some wizards wear robes and pointed hats and carry staves and wands, unless they're kids like us. We can't use a wand yet, because our magic's not really awake. But we can do things with magic accidentally."

"Oh! Um, what can you do with yours, Harry?"

So I told her about protecting myself from Butch the Doberman who tried to eat me and about hurting the bad masked man who wanted to hurt me on Halloween. And then I told her about Inky.

"You made a stuffed panther come alive? You're making that up!"

"Am not. Swear to God and Merlin too," I said firmly. "If you want, maybe you could come over to play and meet my dad and Inky too. I could invite Ron over too, he's another wizard kid like me, the same age, six. His whole family are wizards. Would you like to come over?"

She nodded, her eyes shining. "I'd love to! Thank you, Harry!"

For one minute I thought she was gonna hug me and I stepped back a little, because there was no way I'd let a girl hug me in public. Yuck! Then everybody would think we were sweet on each other or something gross like that. "I'll ask my dad tonight and then I'll call you and let you know, " I said, sounding just the way Dad did with a patient or another doctor. "I don't think he'll mind, if I do all my homework right after school."

"I always do that," she declared. "Uh, I just have one other question, Harry. Why's your last name Potter and your dad's Snape?"

"Oh. That. Umm . . .he's not my real dad. My real dad died when I was one and my mum got married to Sev, and he adopted me, but they let me keep my last name to honor my dad James. But Daddy says when I'm seventeen I can change it to his if I want."

"Will you?"

I shrugged, having never really thought about it. "I might. It's less confusing that way, and Sev really is like my real dad, he's the only one I even remember."

"How about your mum? Is she a witch too?"

"She was. But she got sick and died two years ago, so now it's just me and my dad."

"Oh, Harry! I'm sorry, I didn't know you'd lost your mum too."

She really did look sorry and like she was about to cry again, so I said quickly, "Write down your number and I'll call you, okay?" I dug a piece of paper and a pencil out of my jacket pocket and gave it to her.

She leaned against the brickwork and wrote in careful letters: Hermione's # and then the number after it. Her handwriting was neater than mine too. Guess that meant I had to practice some more, because I didn't want to be shown up by a girl, even if she was a witch.

She handed it to me and I stuck it in my pocket just as the bell rang and we had to line up and go back inside.

Some of the other girls laughed and made rude signs at Hermione when we lined up, and she looked really sad, but I gave them one of my mean Snape glares and they quit it. Some of the boys teased me, saying I was sweet on the new girl, since I'd spent all my time at recess talking to her, but I just ignored them. They were so stupid, what did they know?

I could hardly wait for school to end, so I could go tell my dad that my new classmate was a witch and her parents were dentists and could she please come over to play?