A/N: Just a stupid little one-shot I wrote during one of my study periods. This one's dedicated to Sassy-Scallywag, I actually got this idea whilst reading one of you very entertaining PM's. I really wanted to tell you at the time but I decided to leave it as a SURPRISE! Please read and review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter yada yada

Less like my father

"I would, I just don't want you chucked back in Azkaban!" said Harry.

There was a pause in which Sirius looked out of the fire at Harry, a crease between his sunken eyes.

"You're less like your father than I thought," he said finally, a definite coolness in his voice. "The risk would've been what made it fun for James."

"Look-"

"Well I'd better get going, I can hear Kreacher coming down the stair," said Sirius, but Harry was sure he was lying. "I'll write to tell you a time I can make it back into the fire, then. Shall I? If you can stand to risk it?"

There was tiny pop, and the place where Sirius' head had been was flickering flame once more.

Even though Sirius' face had long since disappeared from the fire, his words still seemed to echo around the room, bouncing off every single object and straight into Harry's heart. 'You're less like your father than I thought' 'You're less like your father than I thought'

Just eight ordinary, normal, everyday words, so why did they make him feel so empty inside?

It was like the only bit of his parents he'd managed to cling on to had been snatched away also. All in eight words.

'You're less like your father than I thought' 'You're less like your father than I thought'

There had been no humour in his godfather's voice as he said the words. Sirius and Remus always went on about how Harry was so much like James; it always made them happy. Would they hate him now that he wasn't really like his dad; there had been a definite coolness in his godfather's voice when he had said it.

'You're less like your father than I thought'

Is he a disappointment to his dad's best friends, as well as Prong's memory? Would he still love me if he were alive?

His own thinking shocked Harry. 'Of course he would' his brain quickly countered, but for the first time in his life it was slightly weak-slightly unsure.

The eight words were eating through his insides.

"Harry. Harry. Harry!" The boy jumped as he heard someone calling his name. For one fleeting moment he thought -hoped- that Sirius had come back into the fire to tell him, Harry, that he was only joking, only messing around. But the flames continued to lap in their cage, quietly undisturbed. It was only Hermione calling out to him.

"Harry! Are you all right? This isn't about what Sirius said about you not being like your dad is it? You had every right to try and protect and help Sirius, and quite frankly he was being really ungrateful. You know you don't have to be like your father to be a good per…"

" SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Harry had no idea why he was shouting. At that moment it seemed as if it was the only thing he could do to ease the growing tension building up inside him. "You have no idea…neither of you. You don't understand!" Upon hearing his own voice crack, Harry turned on his heels and practically ran to the dormitory, leaving his homework scattered around the common room, under the feet of a bewildered Ron and Hermione.

Crawling into the covers of his bed, the teenager drew the curtains around himself, confining to his own darkness. Burying his face into the pillow, Harry picked up the small mirror that lay on his bedside and stared gourmlessly back at his own reflection for several long minutes.

'You look so much like your dad, except for the eyes- you're less like your father than I thought. You look so much like your dad- less like your father'

Harry uncurled his hand and let the mirror fall to the ground, shattering into a million pieces.

What else had Sirius said 'The risk would've been what made it fun for James.'

But did he really want to be like his dad if it meant risking his godfather? Wasn't it bad enough that his whole life was one giant risk?

'I was only tying to look out for Sirius.' Half of Harry's brain was desperately trying to defend his actions, as though he were trying to explain himself to someone.

'Yes but Sirius' doesn't need a carer; he need's a friend. That's what dad was.' The other half of his brain countered furiously.

'Why do I have to be like my dad anyway? Just because I look like him doesn't mean…'

'You desperately want to be like him, and you know it. There's no use denying it'

Harry buried his face further into the pillow. He felt like he'd lost someone, something- he felt like he'd lost a part of him.

A single, solitary tear slipped down his' cheek and mingled into the pillowcase.

Then suddenly a new image entered the teenager's mind, causing him to smile into the darkness. 'You're less like your father than I thought'

Less like my father- more like my mother!

A/N: Not my best piece of writing I know, sorry about that. It was kind of over the top wasn't it? Oh well, maybe if I get time I'll rewrite this. But for now, plz review! Please!