In the Leaky Cauldron when he'd had nightmares, Sirius had been there to nose him awake and then let him pet him until he fell back to sleep. It didn't stop the nightmares completely, but it was comforting. Now when he woke there was only himself in the darkness. Sometimes if he was shouting in his sleep Snape came in to wake him up, but Harry didn't always shout out in the night, and was left to suffer in his nightmares about Voldemort, the Dursleys, and even about Sirius in his dog form being captured and killed.

Sirius had helped him so much that summer in various ways, Harry felt like he knew the man even though he'd only ever known the dog, and felt strange for it. Dumbledore's warning for him to be careful in regards to Sirius came back to him again, but it didn't feel right. Sirius could have killed him too many times... could have sabotaged him. He could have hurt or killed Justin in the alley or blown half the alley up like they say he had before when he killed Peter Pettigrew. He had only run though. Harry was a firm believer in the idea that ‘actions speak louder than words.' Plenty of people had promised Harry things... promised to be there for him or help him, but few had.

Harry had been watching The Prophet daily as well as The Lighthouse for any word that Sirius had been captured and sent back to Azkaban, but there had only been speculation about his whereabouts. As he lay in bed and wondered where Sirius was at that moment and what he was doing, and if he had food or shelter, an idea struck him. What if he sent a letter to Sirius and asked?

Harry pushed the covers off his legs and rummaged around in his trunk for a quill and parchment and turned on the light. It was half five in the morning and he doubted he'd be able to get anymore sleep anyway so he might as well get up for the day.

Once Harry was set with his parchment though, he didn't know what he should write as he stared at it. Somehow, ‘dear Sirius, did you kill my parents by betraying them,' didn't seem like it would get a response. Harry was beginning to feel more and more certain that Sirius hadn't done such a thing in any case, so that question didn't need answering immediately anyway.

Putting quill to parchment Harry penned, ‘I'm glad you got away. I hope you're in a good place with food and shelter. I know what they say you did. You could have killed me at any time during the summer if you wanted though, and you didn't. You could have hurt my friend Justin and you didn't. I don't expect you'll tell me where you are, and I don't blame you. I hope you're safe though.'

He hoped Sirius would write back to him, but didn't think he would. Harry got dressed and took Hedwig up to the oak front doors in the Great Hall and said quietly to her, "Take it to Sirius." She cooed softly at him as though she understood, and took off with Harry's short letter.

Harry went back to the Dungeons to eat breakfast, and found Snape already in the kitchen sitting at the table with a cup of black coffee.

"I can only hope you were out early and not just now returning from a late night walk after hours."

"I went out to send a letter," Harry said, sitting at the table. Even now after spending weeks with the man in his quarters, he still thought the worst of Harry at every turn.

After Harry ate a few waffles and some bacon, he said, "When can I go to the alleys next? I have some things to ask Mr. Silver."

"As it so happens I need to get something in London and can take you. Be certain you are not making a nuisance of yourself to the Barrister. He has other clients and things to do than catering to your every question."

Harry stuffed his mouth with half a muffin instead of answering him. Harry knew for a fact that he was Silver's biggest client, and that at least 80% of Silver's time was spent dealing with matters involving Harry's family holdings. Podmore had told him as much over the summer.

An hour later Snape had dropped Harry off in front of Fortescues and warned him to stay on the alleys. He had business in Muggle London and would be back to get Harry in an hour.

Harry went upstairs to Silver's office and was greeted by the secretary with a smile. "Mr. Potter, he'll be right out."

Harry was still slightly put out at the way she had treated him at the start of the summer, so he gave her a nod and that was all.

A few minutes later Silver came out and motioned for Harry to come back into his office. After the door was closed and they were both seated, Silver said with a smile, "The Headmaster has returned your original accounts and holdings to your control."

"He has?"

"All of them," he said. "There's still an account with several thousand galleons worth earmarked in his name for your care and keeping, and I suspect future legal fees, and a hundred galleons a month is being sent into it from the holdings, but the rest is back under your control."

"Should we merge the accounts I created then?"

"If that's what you want, but yes, I think that would be a good idea."

"How much money is in the old accounts we just got back?"

"Too much to count," he said and slid several sheets of parchment over to Harry. Harry oggled at the amount and pushed the papers back across the desk to Silver.

"I'd like to send an extra few hundred Galleons to the orphanage every six months," Harry said.

"What should the money be used on?" he asked. "If you designate it for a certain use, they can only use it for that."

"Holidays," Harry said.

Silver didn't question what Harry had told him and wrote it down. "Starting this month?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "Three hundred Galleons, then three hundred again in six months."

When he was finished marking things down, Silver looked up and said, "What did you need from me today? Unless this is a social call?"

"How much does a house cost? Out in the country somewhere away from the city."

"Around 43 thousand galleons," he said. "Most houses aren't sold by wizards though. The money has to be transferred into Muggle currency and the home purchased from Muggles."

"I want to buy a house," Harry said. "One in good shape out in the country."

"What size?"

Harry looked at him, bewildered, and Silver clarified, "How many bedrooms? A big house? A small house? How much land? All of those factor into cost."

"Three bedrooms I guess," Harry said. "A little piece of land... just something to stretch out on, you know? It doesn't have to be a huge house, but it'd be nice if it weren't tiny."

"And this house will be in your name?"

Harry nodded.

"You don't want to wait until you're of majority to buy a home? As I understand it you'll be spending all of your time at the castle until you're 17."

"I know it's a long way off," Harry said. "But I want someplace to call my own if I ever end up on my own again. Is it something you can do for me? Buy it I mean and get it in my name?"

"I can, though it will take some time. I can get some options together for you and then take you to look at them."

"When should I come back for that?" Harry asked.

He looked at the calendar on his desk and said, Tuesday next. Be here at 11 am. I expect we can be done by half three that afternoon."

"I'll be here," Harry said.

Harry thanked him for his time and then left and went down Knockturn to the orphanage. Mrs. Ginger was happy to see him and embraced him with a big hug when he found her in the kitchen. Harry was one of the few people allowed to enter the orphanage without permission. Snape was another, though Harry hadn't seen him come back to the orphanage since the middle of the summer.

"What brings you by today?" Mrs. Ginger asked.

"I thought maybe you and the kids might like to go on holiday somewhere... to the beach or camping or something."

"We've never had enough money to do that," she said.

"I was hoping if I sent a few hundred galleons that would be enough? Even just for a weekend?"

She gave him an appraising look just then and said, "What am I going to do with you Harry Potter? You've already given us better than we could have asked for."

"I just thought... I've never been on holiday anywhere. I wanted the kids here to get to go on holiday sometimes and have good memories. I told Mr. Silver to send an extra 300 galleons every 6 months for holidays."

"That's more than generous," she said. "Perhpas you should come with us on holiday since you've never been."

"Are you sure? I could pay for myself."

"I quite like the idea of a trip to the sea. We can floo from the Leaky Cauldron to anyplace that's nearby, and spend two or three days at the beach. 300 Galleons will be enough to rent somewhere for that long and to buy food. It might even be enough to get every child a pair of shorts to wear to get into the water with."

Miss Ava had come in part way through their discussion and said, "We'll need another chaperone. Professor Snape perhaps?"

Mrs. Ginger gave her a knowing look and smiled and then said, "I'll ask him."

"We'll have to go soon if we're to take a holiday before everyone goes back to school. Hogwarts starts in two weeks."

They talked about potential locations for their holiday for several more minutes, and then Harry looked at his watch and realized he had to go and meet Snape in just a couple minutes.

"Professor Snape is coming back to get me," Harry announced. "Can I bring him over now to talk about it?"

Miss Ava looked flustered and hurried away, and Mrs. Ginger smiled. "Going to straighten her hair and put on a clean blouse I'd wager."

Harry hurried off and got to Fortescue's just a few moments before Snape arrived.

"I assume you have concluded business for the day?"

"Yes sir. If it's all right, Mrs. Ginger had something to talk to you about and asked if you could go see them before we left today."

Snape gave him a little frown, but then nodded and they made their way back to the orphanage. In short order Mrs. Ginger had told Severus about their upcoming holiday to the beach and had him convinced that he needed to be a chaperone. And since he was going to be there anyway, Harry should come along as well.

Snape didn't seem pleased about the prospect of toting Harry along on holiday, but couldn't say anything about it since Mrs. Ginger had already made up her mind about it.

As they left the orphanage and headed down the alley to a safe apparition point, Severus frowned down at Harry. "You set me up," he accused.

"How?" Harry asked.

"You and Mrs. Ginger have been conspiring to make me spend time with Ava."

Harry gave him an innocent look. "The only thing I did was set money aside for the kids to go on holiday. Every kid should get to go at least once."

"You mean you wanted to go on holiday," Snape corrected.

"That's not why I did it," Harry said cross. "You always think the worst of me." There was no way to please him. Harry didn't say it out loud, but the message got across nonetheless.

* * *

A week passed without a reply to his letter from Sirius. Harry had a lot to keep him busy over the course of that week, but he still thought of Sirius often, especially in the middle of the night after waking from nightmares. That was when he felt the most alone, and he thought of how alone Sirius must be feeling then as well.

Harry had asked the Headmaster for permission to spend the day with Silver as opposed to asking Snape, who seemed more irritated with him than usual since the incident at the Orphanage. Snape had been dragged back to the orphanage at least twice to plan the trip with Mrs. Ginger and Miss Ava, who was always present if Snape was there. They were to go on holiday the upcoming weekend as it would be their last chance before Hogwarts started again. When Tuesday came and it was time for the Headmaster to drop Harry off with Silver, Snape was only too happy to have Harry out of his sight for the day and didn't complain at all.

Dumbledore smiled at Harry and asked what business he was attending to that day, but didn't question Harry too much when he said he needed to visit several of his family's holdings with Silver to inspect them. Harry was surprised when Dumbledore handed Harry a small pouch of coins and told him to be certain he bought something nice for lunch that day, patted him on the head, and apparated away, leaving him outside Fortescues.

Up in Silver's office, Harry tried not to feel guilty about lying to the Headmaster, who looked as though he was trying very hard to fulfil his promise of being a good guardian to Harry.

"I have three potential properties," Silver told Harry when he greeted him a minute later. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes," Harry told him, and Silver held out his arm to Harry so they could apparate together.

A moment later they reappeared outside a single story cottage in the country with a brown roof and white walls.

"Where are we?" Harry asked.

"Outside of Wooler. The land behind the house there is Northumberland National Park. Wooler is that way," he pointed, though Harry couldn't see a town or houses. The house was isolated, which was what he wanted.

"I have the key to all three homes we have to look at," Silver said.

"The Muggles let us have the keys?"

"Any good businessman in the wizarding world will have holdings in the Muggle world as well. It's helpful for obtaining properties and raw materials. In my case I can deal with client needs in both worlds. I am also a barrister in the Muggle world, and expressed to the real estate agents that I was conducting business in the name of a client. They had no issue giving me a key."

"Do I have holdings in the Muggle world?" Harry wondered out loud.

"You do not. A home would be the first. Your grandfather did not think it a necessary move, though in the last twenty years it has become much more common."

"Huh," Harry said as Silver unlocked the front door and let him in. The home was nice and looked to be in good shape. It had a small living room, dining room and a medium sized kitchen. Down a hall past the kitchen was a bathroom and three bedrooms."

"You would have a hectare of land. The boundaries are marked by low stone walls. The home costs 41 thousand Galleons and has been inspected and found to be in good repair. You would have to pay a yearly Stamp Duty Land Tax on the land, but that could be set up to come out of your accounts."

"What about wards and stuff? Can I hire someone to put those up?"

Silver nodded and gave Harry a surprised look. "Of course. On a property like this, if you wanted Muggle repelling wards and basic security wards that would cost about 50 galleons. The company you had work on the orphanage could do it. Advanced security wards an adding the house to the floo network would cost considerably more. A skilled wizard could ward the home himself."

They looked around for a few more minutes before locking the front door again and apparating to the next house.

"We are outside of Perth on the River Almond," Silver said. Perth is about 10 and a half miles East of us."

Harry looked around at the wooded area they were in. There was a small river with trees on both sides, and a small home set just far enough back from the river to avoid being flooded in a heavy rain.

As Silver walked to the front door and unlocked it he told Harry, "This home is 52 thousand Galleons. Three bedrooms like you requested. As before, it was inspected and found in a suitable condition for living."

The living room had wood beams on the ceiling that made Harry feel like he was in a cabin, and windows on two walls looking out into the woods and towards the river. The kitchen was small and there was no dining room, but Harry noted there was a big wooden deck outside the kitchen door that looked like it might serve as a dining room in good weather. The three bedrooms at the back of the house were small, and the bathroom was nice.

"I like this one," Harry said.

"There are more Muggles in the immediate vicinity than at the first house, and if you wanted to remain isolated Muggle repelling charms would be a must. You have half a hectare of land, some of which is on the other side of the river."

Harry nodded and made a mental note of it all. He liked this house a lot.

After locking up Silver apparated them to the final house he had to show Harry. They found themselves on the windswept highlands of Scottland above a lake around the size of the Black Lake at Hogwarts. To confirm that it wasn't the Black Lake, Harry eyed the surroundings for Hogwarts, but couldn't see any buildings at all. The other difference was that Hogwarts had the Forbidden Forest and the West Woods, and there were barely any trees here at all, aside from a few small copses of trees near the house.

"This is Loch Meadie," Silver said as wind whipped gently through Harry's hair. The nearest village is Kirtomy about two miles north, on the sea. There are few Muggles who live there or in the neighboring villages. You expressed a need for a remote location, and this was about as remote as I could find."

"How far are we from Hogwarts?"

"Seventy or eighty miles. An hour and a half by broom." He let them inside and told Harry the home was only 50 Galleons. It was smaller than the other two and had less windows so it was darker. "It's a quarter hectare of land. Not enough to roam far, though with so few Muggles you could roam for miles with little likelihood of encountering any of them. Keep in mind winters will be harsh here."

Harry nodded. He'd already made up his mind.

"I want the second house. The one on the River Almond."

"You are certain? You don't want to see any more homes?"

He shook his head. "How soon can it be bought?"

"It will take weeks to get the paperwork in order and go through the Muggle system. We'll need to go over which accounts the funds will come from back at the office, and the charms you want placed on the house."

Harry nodded and they apparated back to Silver's office.

Now that Harry had accounts full of money to choose from, he didn't have to worry about taking too much from one account or another. In short order they had figured out which accounts to pull money from, and Silver had contacted the construction firm Harry had been using by floo. A foreman Harry hadn't worked with yet came through and talked with Harry about the various charms they could put on the home, and Harry signed a contract for two hundred and seventy galleons. Once the home was purchased, the construction firm would apply Muggle repellant charms, fire and flood protection charms, and a security ward with a password that would require Harry to visit the property himself to set. They had offered to make the home unplottable, but Harry wasn't completely sold on the idea.

"You and anyone you give the location to will be able to find it. But while you're at the home, owls won't be able to pinpoint your location to deliver mail, and no on will be able to use tracker spells to pinpoint your location."

Finally Harry agreed to an unplottable ward as well and signed the contract.

"I will owl when the home has been purchased and the wards are set," Silver told him, and Harry thanked him for his time.

At three thirty Harry went downstairs and bought a big ice cream for lunch from Fortescue with the money Dumbledore had given him, and then wandered down to a street vendor and bought a basket of fish and chips. He was just finishing it when Dumbledore came down the alley to find him.

"Are you ready Harry?" he asked.

Harry threw his trash away in a bin and said, "Yes sir."

"You had a good day I hope?"

"Yes sir."

"As I understand it, you're going on holiday with Professor Snape later this week."

"To the beach with the orphanage."

"I see. Then it seems to me you'll need some holiday clothes. Shorts and sandals and some new shirts?"

"You don't have to-" Harry started, but the Headmaster had already smiled at him and held up his hand.

"Muggle London will have some nice things, don't you think?" He lead Harry out through the Leaky Cauldron and then hailed a cab like a pro. The cab driver only gave Dumbledore and his long beard and robes a close looking over for a moment before he whisked them away to a shop a few streets over.

In no time Dumbledore had filled a basket with several pairs of shorts, a pair of sandals, a light blue button up polo shirt and several shirts. He had gravitated towards several wild floral patterns, but thankfully was able to be steered away towards things Harry was actually likely to wear.

Dumbledore pulled out a pouch of Muggle bills and paid 86 pounds, and then led Harry to an alley to apparate to the Hogwarts boundaries. Harry only hoped Snape wouldn't grouch at him about the bag of clothes this time.

In the Entrance Hall, Harry looked up at Dumbledore and suddenly felt shy. It was still strange having the Headmaster taking him around to do his shopping, or to drop him off or spend the day with him.

"Thank you," Harry said. "For the clothes and for taking me to see Silver."

"You are more than welcome dear boy."

"Mr. Silver said I might need to come take care of some paperwork in a few weeks, but I know school is starting next week."

"If he is willing to make a trip here, he will be allowed to visit on a weekend. Otherwise, I understand the need for you to return to Diagonalley from time to time for business errands. Provided it is not terribly often, something can be arranged. As it so happens staff visit Diagonalley throughout the term to pick up supplies or run errands for the school or themselves."

"Thank you sir."

Dumbledore smiled at him and then went on his way up the stairs towards his office. Harry turned and stared at the entrance to the Dungeon for a few moments, steeling himself for a confrontation with Snape about the clothes, and then went down to Snape's quarters.

Harry was surprised however when he got into the quarters. Snape eyed the brown paper sack and seemed relieved. "The Headmaster took you for holiday clothes?" he asked.

"Yes sir. Just a few things."

He sighed in relief. "Good. I have precious little time to finish preparing for the upcoming term now that I've been roped into planning a vacation for twenty some children."

"You're not-" Harry paused thinking better of what he'd been about to say.

"What Potter?"

"Nothing sir," he said, and hurried to his room.

Harry dumped the sack of clothes on his bed and admired the new swim trunks, khaki shorts and handsome dark blue and black sandals. The shirts were nice too and he was looking forward to wearing them during the term. He didn't know when he'd get a chance to get clothes again, and hoped there would be time after the vacation to get his robes and school books on Diagonalley. He would be gone on holiday on Dumbledor's day with him, so he would have to ask Snape and hope the man was willing to drop him off on the Alley one last time before school started.

Harry put his clothes away and laid on his bed, unable to fall asleep even though the hours were now stretching on towards ten pm. His mind was over excited about the holiday, about the purchase of his own home, and about what he planned to do with it. As soon as the home was purchased and the wards were set, he was going to write to Sirius and tell him the address and password. He didn't know if Sirius would trust him enough to use it, but he hoped he would. Harry wouldn't have a chance to find out until the next summer. He couldn't very well ask Snape or the Headmaster, or even Silver for that matter to take him to a house where Sirius Black was potentially staying and hiding out from the Aurors.

It could still be several weeks until everything was settled though, and in the meantime Sirius could be hungry and sleeping outside somewhere. Being stuck at Hogwarts and without any idea where Sirius was, he supposed there wasn't much he could do about it. He wished there was.

Harry fell into a deep sleep, though he woke hours later, sweating from a nightmare about being locked in his cupboard for weeks without food or use of the bathroom. He'd never been locked in that long without use of the bathroom, but his mind thought it was a funny joke to give him vivid dreams about it anyway.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Harry sat up and tried to think of anything at all to chase the nasty dream away. His mind flitted back to Sirius, and then to Bellamy. Maybe Bellamy would know a way to help. Bellamy knew a lot of people that were wary of the Ministry... a lot of people who were on the outer fringes of society, and even some who were on the run from the law, Muggle or otherwise.

Pulling out another parchment, Harry scribbled a quick note to Bellamy, finally satisfied that he had done everything in his power to help Sirius. He would send the note off with Hedwig in the morning.

As he fell asleep again, the note lay hidden inside one of his business books. ‘Dear Bellamy, this may sound crazy, but I don't believe Sirius Black did the things they say he did. I don't think he's a murderer. I don't have any way to do it, but if anyone sees a big mangy black dog, he should be helped.'