Oh, getting to ride on the motorcycle had been fantastic. Even though he knew how angry his mother was going to be with both of them when they got back ("You let him RIDE that thing? I don't believe it! I don't care who was driving, Sirius, I think it's completely-") he just had to think of how it felt to be flying and he didn't care. It was as good as Quidditch. But since he didn't have his own broomstick yet, he'd have to make do without it for the summer. A pity, but Sirius had managed to make up for it...

"Harry! Oi, Harry!"

Harry looked up. He was sitting on a bench in Diagon Alley, and he'd been daydreaming for the past five minutes or so. Sirius was coming towards him, grinning.

"Finally found a place to park it..."

He sat down next to Harry.

"I didn't make you bored, did I?"

"No," Harry said, grinning also. "But I don't want to sit here all day."

"Me neither!" Sirius said, jumping to his feet. "Where would you like to go first, Harry? The day's yours, the money's mine. Name the place."

"I'll let you choose."

"Quality Quidditch Supplies."

"You're on."

They started ambling down the street. The sun came out from behind a cloud.

"Maybe it'll turn out to be a nice day after all," Sirius said, glancing skyward. "We'll still have to get you school stuff, Harry, don't forget."

"How could I? We need too much stuff...new spellbooks and everything..."

"Well, don't worry," Sirius said. He held up his bag of Galleons. "There still might be a bit of money left over for something else..."

Harry's face lit up, but he said nothing. They turned into a side street, and through the archway to Quality Quidditch Supplies. They spent a very long time looking over various bits of Quidditch uniform and discussing teams, and then went to look at the broomsticks. Harry spent a very long time staring at the Nimbus Two Thousand and One. He pointed it out to his godfather.

"That's the one I'd buy."

"We'll see, Harry," Sirius said.

"I'll pay for some of it," Harry said. "I don't mind..."

But Sirius shook his head. "It can be an early birthday present. And you can share it with your father."

"What?"

"He'd love a thing like that," Sirius said, grinning. "He always wanted the most expensive brooms..." He tapped Harry's shoulder, because he'd gone back to looking at it. "Anyway, we have to get your school things first. Your mother said we had to, and I don't want to cross her." Harry laufghed.

Shopping for school supplies, though, was an enjoyable task in itself. Sirius knew a lot of the people at Florish and Blott's, and they spent a good fifteen minutes discussing old times and other grown-up things, so Harry was free to explore on his own, and narrowly escape having his arm bitten off by a book called The Monster Book Of Monsters. He didn't mind. Nothing really bad had ever happened to him here.

After that...with plenty of money left over, just as Sirius had predicted...they went back to Qualirty Quidditch Nimbus was still there, and Harry was almost certain he'd never felt happier in his life when Sirius paid for it, lifted it from the stand and handed it to him.

"Use it wisely."

"Certainly will!"

They left the shop.

"So maybe they'll let you play for the team..."

"I dunno. McGonagall said no first-years, but she didn't say no second-years, and that's what I'll be in a few days."

"Indeed," Sirius said, nodding in a wise sort of way. "We'll see, eh?" He clapped Harry on the back.

There was still, even after that, a small bit of money left over, so they went to Fortescue's, and ate their ice-cream outside in the sun.

"Mum'll do her nut when she finds out we took the motorbike," Harry said lazily.

"Yeah, I know," Sirius said. "She'll probably stop us from using it again. How did you make her think we were getting here?"

"I made her think we taking the Knight Bus. She's not too keen on that either."

"Neither am I," Sirius said, taking a large bite out of his ice-cream. "Your dad won't mind, though. He always wanted a bike of his own." He grinned.

After the ice-creams, they still sat around, discussing their friends.

"Ron and Hermione can come round next summer, maybe," Harry said excitedly. "I asked Mum, she said it'd be fine. You'll like them, I think. Hermione reminds me of Moony sometimes..."

Sirius nodded. "The smart one?" He smiled.

"The smart one all right. And Ron reminds me of you, sometimes. And...well, you know the Weasleys. I mean, you're related to them."

Sirius grinned. "Yes indeed. And I am looking forward to meeting your friends. Find one more friend and you might just come the next-generation Marauders."

"That'd be cool, but we have Fred and George for that," Harry said with a grin. "That's Ron's brothers. They're mad. Although, you know, there's Neville...he reminds me of Wormtail sometimes, but not all the time...so we might still manage it. And we have a Snape in Draco."

Sirius grinned. "So," he said. "you're enjoying yourself at Hogwarts."

"Yeah!"

"We all knew you would," he said, and put his arm around him.

Then Harry sat up suddenly, blinking.

The sun had gone. The broomstick he was carrying had gone. Diagon Alley had gone.

Sirius had gone.

He was in the Dursley's house, in his bed, and it was night, and he was in danger, always in danger, and his parents had always been dead and now Sirius was too...

He tried not to cry...tried desperately. But it was no use.

THE END