Falling Rain
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, save for about three whom you'll meet later. ( I don't want to give anything away)
Warning: This story takes place during the Christmas holiday of the fifth book. A lot of things will be very similar to book 5 and WILL give several main plot points away. Therefor I would caution you not to read this story unless you have completed your reading of The Order of the Pheonix
Chapter one: The cloth in the snow
It was nearing New Years Eave at Grimmuald place. Not that this was something to be celebrated. In fact, as Harry Potter leaned against the window of the bedroom he shared with his best friend Ron, he was certain that in his five years in the wizarding world, he could never remember a gloomier "after Christmas". Even with the lively decorations still in place through out the mansion and the prospect of Mr. Weasly soon returning from St. Mungo's, Harry could not etch his thoughtsaway from the sullen mood of his Godfather, Sirius.
Knowing Sirius would soon loose all the company he had kept during the holidays made Harry wish he could stay in the dusty mansion and not have to return to school .
Then again, the thought of returning to Hogwarts would not be pleasant even if Sirius had not been in his sultry mood. Harry knew that Umbridge would still be as hideous as ever, if not more so. He had no quidditch to look forward to, even the D.A had begun to lose it's edge. All in all, he thought that, no matter what, the end of the week would come much too quickly.
With these pitiful thoughts, Harry continued to stare out the window at the unchanging white ground. It was then that the ground at the front of the house was not completely white. Harry rubbed his eyes twice to make sure that this was not some trick of the light or his imagination. Perhaps his mind, so eager to find a distraction from his depressing thoughts had simply imagined a red peice of cloth reaching out through the snow. It was not until the peice ofcloth slowly began to blow away to reveal a full head of long black hair and two hands did herealize he was not imagining. There was a woman lying on the door step of # 12 Grimmuald place.
Harry ran over to Ron's bed. Ron had been snoring contentedly for the last hour
"Ron! Ron! Wake up!" He said fervently. Ron, after several moments worth of shaking from Harry, reluctently opened his droopy eyes.
"Harry? Whatisit?" He said drowsily, rubbing his eyes more times than was entirely necessary.
"Ron come over here to the window and tell me what you see." Harry had a fleeting fear that the hands, hair, and cap could, like the theserals, be something only certain people could see.
"Why?" inquired Ron. However, he did as he was told and slowly walked across the room to look out the window.
"Do you see anything?" Harry asked hopefully. He wasn't exactly keen to have the burden of seeing yet another thing that no one else could.
"Just a load of snow." Ron replied. Harry's heart sank
"Wait!" Said Ron suddenly. He no longer sounded sleepy. Indeed, his voice sounded almost as eager as Harry's had when he woke Ron from his bed.
"I do see something. There's a redish looking cloth out on the step. And there's what looks like a lot of hair, and I think I see a pair of hands... blimey Harry! I reckon someone's out there!"
Ron continued to stare at the window in amazement. Harry however knew what he had to do. If someone really was on the door step of # 12, they would need help, and quick by the looks of it.
"Well, I guess we'll have to tell them won't we?" He answered reffering to the group of adults who were meeting down stairs.
"Now?" Ron asked incredulously
"Harry there in a meeting, Mum'll kill me if–"
"Listen, if someone's really out there she'd want to help them wouldn't she?" "Well yeah but-"
Before Ron could protest, Harry was out the door. He could hear Ron hurriedly following him down the spiral stair case as he neared the door to the kitchen where the meeting was taking place. He heard voices coming from inside the kitchen but he did not open the door. Instead he waited for Ron to meet him in the hall way. Somehow, he did not want to have to face the order alone.
As soon as Ron appeared at the foot of the stairs Harry swung open the kitchen door. The voices he had heard in deep discusion stopped suddenly upon the entrance of the two boys.
"What are you two doing up at this hour?" Mrs.Weasly asked sharply.
"I've told you a thousand times you're too young to sit in on meetings. Now go back up to-"
Harry and Ron cut her off and immediately flung into a series of explanations.
"There's someone outside! we saw them from the window-"
"They'll probably need help-"
"They looked in an awful state-"
"We'd better get out there quick!"
"Settle down both of you!" Lupin yelled above their hurried speech
"Now, What exactly happened?"
"I was looking upstairs looking out the window." Harry began. "And I saw something red or maroon lying on the front step. Anyway it blew away-"
"And then there was a lot of black hair and a pair of hands kind of out stretched." Ron continued
"I woke Ron up to see if I wasn't just imagining it..."
"I saw it. And we reckon that there's someone out there!"
"That's impossible!" Said Sirius in a would be calm voice.
"No one would be able to find this place even if they wanted to! Unless they were a member of the order."
"Oh, you don't think someone's been hurt do you?" Asked Mrs. Weasley frantically.
"You boys are sure of what you saw are you? You know that what ever out there's a who, not a what?" Growled Mad –eye Moody suspiciously. His normal eye fixed on Harry while his magic eye swerved to survey Ron.
"I think so. At least it looked human." Said Harry somewhat weakly.
Moody looked unconvinced Harry kept on.
"We reckon that whoever it is or whatever it is must be unconscious or something 'cause they were barely moving. So, we need to get out there!" The members all looked slightly hesitant. They didn't believe him. Harry knew he should have expected as much.
However, after a few moments silence Lupin and moody both volunteered to follow Harry and Ron out to the front porch. As they opened the front door, Harry knew that the entire house hold would soon wake to the renewed shreiks coming from the protrait of Sirius's mother. Feeling slightly guilty at having to wake every one, but still reselute, Harry and Ron led the way to the step on which they saw the red cap.
Sure enough, they didn't have to dig far to find a small, dark red cap, with a healthy brim lying in a snow bank next to the step. This find however, was nothing to what lay next to it. The black hair that Harry and Ron had seen from the upstairs window lay on top of a rather large, indelebly human, head witch belonged to some one who looked as if they had simply tripped and fell head first into the snow.
Moody silently picked up the cap and began examining it, as Lupin kneeled by the step and gently turned over the frozen body.
Harry could see more clearly now. The face was that of a girl...no a woman, who looked just slightly older than Tonks. She was draped in a slightly worn cape, and the state of her close seemed to rival those of Lupin's robes. Her eyelids were slightly open, while the rest of her thin body lay still and lifeless. Lupin, lifted her wrist to check for a pulse.
"She's still alive." He announced to the small group.
"She's frozen stiff, we'll have to get her inside."
"Are you sure that's the best idea Lupin?" Moody asked.
"After all what if she's a member of the ministry gone astray? Or perhaps a death eater who's mission went slightly a miss? Or worse, what if she's a muggle? You can never be too careful with so much at stake can you?"
"We can't just leave her here. If she's a muggle we'll be more than able to perform a memory charm on her when she's been properly nursed to health. If she's a ministry official or ... well, it's a risk we'll have to take."
Although Moody did not seem satisfied with Lupin's explanation, he made no complaints as Lupin began to lift the girl to move her into the mansion. But as he did, he was shocked to see that she had already begun to move. Everyone stood still for a moment as the girl's eyes began to open gradually. Once her eyes had become a custumed to the light, the woman began to look around questioningly. Harry was surprised to find that after a minuet her dark blue eyes had landed upon him.
"Harry?" She whispered so that it was barely audible.
No one moved for quite a while. Now everyone's gaze had lifted from the woman in the snow to him.
"You know my name?" He asked her.
The woman gave a slight nod and then whispered again.
"Harry Potter."
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, save for about three whom you'll meet later. ( I don't want to give anything away)
Warning: This story takes place during the Christmas holiday of the fifth book. A lot of things will be very similar to book 5 and WILL give several main plot points away. Therefor I would caution you not to read this story unless you have completed your reading of The Order of the Pheonix
Chapter one: The cloth in the snow
It was nearing New Years Eave at Grimmuald place. Not that this was something to be celebrated. In fact, as Harry Potter leaned against the window of the bedroom he shared with his best friend Ron, he was certain that in his five years in the wizarding world, he could never remember a gloomier "after Christmas". Even with the lively decorations still in place through out the mansion and the prospect of Mr. Weasly soon returning from St. Mungo's, Harry could not etch his thoughtsaway from the sullen mood of his Godfather, Sirius.
Knowing Sirius would soon loose all the company he had kept during the holidays made Harry wish he could stay in the dusty mansion and not have to return to school .
Then again, the thought of returning to Hogwarts would not be pleasant even if Sirius had not been in his sultry mood. Harry knew that Umbridge would still be as hideous as ever, if not more so. He had no quidditch to look forward to, even the D.A had begun to lose it's edge. All in all, he thought that, no matter what, the end of the week would come much too quickly.
With these pitiful thoughts, Harry continued to stare out the window at the unchanging white ground. It was then that the ground at the front of the house was not completely white. Harry rubbed his eyes twice to make sure that this was not some trick of the light or his imagination. Perhaps his mind, so eager to find a distraction from his depressing thoughts had simply imagined a red peice of cloth reaching out through the snow. It was not until the peice ofcloth slowly began to blow away to reveal a full head of long black hair and two hands did herealize he was not imagining. There was a woman lying on the door step of # 12 Grimmuald place.
Harry ran over to Ron's bed. Ron had been snoring contentedly for the last hour
"Ron! Ron! Wake up!" He said fervently. Ron, after several moments worth of shaking from Harry, reluctently opened his droopy eyes.
"Harry? Whatisit?" He said drowsily, rubbing his eyes more times than was entirely necessary.
"Ron come over here to the window and tell me what you see." Harry had a fleeting fear that the hands, hair, and cap could, like the theserals, be something only certain people could see.
"Why?" inquired Ron. However, he did as he was told and slowly walked across the room to look out the window.
"Do you see anything?" Harry asked hopefully. He wasn't exactly keen to have the burden of seeing yet another thing that no one else could.
"Just a load of snow." Ron replied. Harry's heart sank
"Wait!" Said Ron suddenly. He no longer sounded sleepy. Indeed, his voice sounded almost as eager as Harry's had when he woke Ron from his bed.
"I do see something. There's a redish looking cloth out on the step. And there's what looks like a lot of hair, and I think I see a pair of hands... blimey Harry! I reckon someone's out there!"
Ron continued to stare at the window in amazement. Harry however knew what he had to do. If someone really was on the door step of # 12, they would need help, and quick by the looks of it.
"Well, I guess we'll have to tell them won't we?" He answered reffering to the group of adults who were meeting down stairs.
"Now?" Ron asked incredulously
"Harry there in a meeting, Mum'll kill me if–"
"Listen, if someone's really out there she'd want to help them wouldn't she?" "Well yeah but-"
Before Ron could protest, Harry was out the door. He could hear Ron hurriedly following him down the spiral stair case as he neared the door to the kitchen where the meeting was taking place. He heard voices coming from inside the kitchen but he did not open the door. Instead he waited for Ron to meet him in the hall way. Somehow, he did not want to have to face the order alone.
As soon as Ron appeared at the foot of the stairs Harry swung open the kitchen door. The voices he had heard in deep discusion stopped suddenly upon the entrance of the two boys.
"What are you two doing up at this hour?" Mrs.Weasly asked sharply.
"I've told you a thousand times you're too young to sit in on meetings. Now go back up to-"
Harry and Ron cut her off and immediately flung into a series of explanations.
"There's someone outside! we saw them from the window-"
"They'll probably need help-"
"They looked in an awful state-"
"We'd better get out there quick!"
"Settle down both of you!" Lupin yelled above their hurried speech
"Now, What exactly happened?"
"I was looking upstairs looking out the window." Harry began. "And I saw something red or maroon lying on the front step. Anyway it blew away-"
"And then there was a lot of black hair and a pair of hands kind of out stretched." Ron continued
"I woke Ron up to see if I wasn't just imagining it..."
"I saw it. And we reckon that there's someone out there!"
"That's impossible!" Said Sirius in a would be calm voice.
"No one would be able to find this place even if they wanted to! Unless they were a member of the order."
"Oh, you don't think someone's been hurt do you?" Asked Mrs. Weasley frantically.
"You boys are sure of what you saw are you? You know that what ever out there's a who, not a what?" Growled Mad –eye Moody suspiciously. His normal eye fixed on Harry while his magic eye swerved to survey Ron.
"I think so. At least it looked human." Said Harry somewhat weakly.
Moody looked unconvinced Harry kept on.
"We reckon that whoever it is or whatever it is must be unconscious or something 'cause they were barely moving. So, we need to get out there!" The members all looked slightly hesitant. They didn't believe him. Harry knew he should have expected as much.
However, after a few moments silence Lupin and moody both volunteered to follow Harry and Ron out to the front porch. As they opened the front door, Harry knew that the entire house hold would soon wake to the renewed shreiks coming from the protrait of Sirius's mother. Feeling slightly guilty at having to wake every one, but still reselute, Harry and Ron led the way to the step on which they saw the red cap.
Sure enough, they didn't have to dig far to find a small, dark red cap, with a healthy brim lying in a snow bank next to the step. This find however, was nothing to what lay next to it. The black hair that Harry and Ron had seen from the upstairs window lay on top of a rather large, indelebly human, head witch belonged to some one who looked as if they had simply tripped and fell head first into the snow.
Moody silently picked up the cap and began examining it, as Lupin kneeled by the step and gently turned over the frozen body.
Harry could see more clearly now. The face was that of a girl...no a woman, who looked just slightly older than Tonks. She was draped in a slightly worn cape, and the state of her close seemed to rival those of Lupin's robes. Her eyelids were slightly open, while the rest of her thin body lay still and lifeless. Lupin, lifted her wrist to check for a pulse.
"She's still alive." He announced to the small group.
"She's frozen stiff, we'll have to get her inside."
"Are you sure that's the best idea Lupin?" Moody asked.
"After all what if she's a member of the ministry gone astray? Or perhaps a death eater who's mission went slightly a miss? Or worse, what if she's a muggle? You can never be too careful with so much at stake can you?"
"We can't just leave her here. If she's a muggle we'll be more than able to perform a memory charm on her when she's been properly nursed to health. If she's a ministry official or ... well, it's a risk we'll have to take."
Although Moody did not seem satisfied with Lupin's explanation, he made no complaints as Lupin began to lift the girl to move her into the mansion. But as he did, he was shocked to see that she had already begun to move. Everyone stood still for a moment as the girl's eyes began to open gradually. Once her eyes had become a custumed to the light, the woman began to look around questioningly. Harry was surprised to find that after a minuet her dark blue eyes had landed upon him.
"Harry?" She whispered so that it was barely audible.
No one moved for quite a while. Now everyone's gaze had lifted from the woman in the snow to him.
"You know my name?" He asked her.
The woman gave a slight nod and then whispered again.
"Harry Potter."