** HI. I'm Laterose, by the way. This fic is a sequel to The Trial of Sirius Black, on request by – well, pretty much everyone really. I suggest you read that one first if you haven't already, but if you are good at following that kind of stuff then you needn't. **

More Pressing Matters – Like Voldemort. Chapter 1 – A Home at Last.

Dear Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia

My Godfather has been let off. I went to his trial a few days ago and am now staying with him and another friend. The Headmaster says that I probably won't be coming back, and he will be writing to you too, but he said that I must write and tell you so you won't worry. Well, you won't be seeing me again unless I come visit sometime. Thanks for looking after me and everything .

Harry.

Well… It looked all right, but… well, to tell the truth it was just decidedly ungrateful. What else could he put though?

Still undecided, but not too worried about it, Harry leant back in the kitchen chair and brushed his hair out of his eyes. The Dursley's wouldn't really mind if they got the letter the second they were about to go and meet Harry off the school train at the end of next year.

In fact, Harry thought it might do them some good, to live in fear for a while as they always did towards the end of the summer term. But Professor Dumbledore would probably not stand for it. Oh well. He could do this later. Let the Dursleys be someone else's problem until he could be bothered.

Sirius chose that moment to come tramping down the stairs in his new boots, which he was very proud of and didn't miss an opportunity to show off.

He came into the kitchen so noticeably that Harry could have sworn that the spider hanging over the sink looked up.

"Have you finished yet?" asked Sirius.

"No," said Harry. "Well, it is finished, only it sounds really stupid when you say it aloud."

"So?" said Sirius with a shrug. "Dumbledore said he had to write them a letter, he didn't say you had to be polite." He picked up the drafted letter, read it, and chuckled. "Reminds me of the number of times I had to write apology letters when I was at school," he said with a distant smile, and pocketed it.

"Ah yes," said a voice from the doorway. "Dear Mr and Mrs. McNair. I am really sorry about the misunderstanding of which you have been informed. I honestly didn't mean to break his arm, I was only trying to see whether the ancient goblin's club Professor Binns showed us still worked…"

"You weren't meant to hear that," growled Sirius, as Harry laughed.

"I hear everything," said Remus, groaning as he heaved his tired body off the door jamb. "Especially you, thumping down the stairs in those boots, Sirius. Honestly, you'd think we'd been attacked by a herd of rabid elephants, the way the house shook."

Sirius wiggled his nose, in such a dog like way that Harry had to clutch his sides to stop them from bursting. "Well I like having boots that fit," Sirius shot back at his friend. "Which you would understand if you'd stop wearing footwear so small that you never lose them when you transform – accidentally in the middle of the day."

"Sirius," moaned Remus. "That was ages ago."

"Yet the wide honest truth," said Sirius with a wink at Harry, who stuffed his fist in his mouth like Ron so often did. It didn't help much.

~

Harry was alone in the house. "Don't wander too far off," he had been told. "If you want to explore the village, take your wand with you."

Harry wanted to. It had taken him some time to get used to the free run of a whole house, where he could do whatever he liked, and eat whatever he liked, short of wrecking the place, and the potions on the back shelf of Remus' kitchen cupboard.

Harry had been shown these the first day. Sirius had rolled his eyes – "the boy gets enough of that from Snape, skip the lecture" – but Remus had insisted.

After about five minutes, Harry knew why. All of the concoctions in there were very dangerous – most were poisonous – and Snape himself had made some of them. Harry didn't feel like willingly drinking anything that his potion's master brewed, whether for the good or not.

Harry closed the front door carefully behind him and pocketed the key. He looked around at the houses surrounding him. He had met some of the neighbours, but not all.

Some of the neighbours had been pleased to see him, others had not. Remus and Sirius had told him not to take it personally. Harry was glad that he'd had plenty of practise at this.

He even knew some of the locals already. Harry had wondered for a while on the first day, whether it would be a good thing or a bad thing, living so near to –

"Hi there, Harry!"

Harry had known it wouldn't be long. He could have sworn that Colin sat for hours at his window, just watching for Harry to come out.

"Hi Colin," he said with a little more enthusiasm than usual. Colin was delighted.

"Listen Harry, I'm really sorry, but I promised my Dad I'd help him with his rounds today," said the younger boy with fear and apology in his eyes. "You don't mind, do you?"

"of course not."

Still looking as though he'd personally let Harry down somehow, Colin waved, and with a final, "bye Harry!" he'd climbed into Mr.Creevy's Milkvan, and was off.

Harry waved back. Who cared if Colin was annoying? Harry was going to spend as much time with him as Colin wanted in the future, well, as long as it didn't cut into times when he slept, when he was with Ron and Hermione, Quidditch practices, when he did his homework, or when he was spending time with Sirius, or in fact gloating over the tremendous fine Lucius Malfoy had received after blackmailing the judge at Sirius' trial.

That left Colin about five minutes a day, which was just enough time before he exploded with pride, which Harry didn't particularly want happening just now. He had just bought a whole load of new clothes after all.

The three of them had gone to Diagon Alley the Day before. Everyone avoided Sirius so obviously that it was funny to see him walking ahead and carving a human path before them. People had started to relax after a while though, when Harry showed them, even more obviously, how strongly he believed in Sirius' innocence.

The barber had nearly fainted when they'd told him he had to cut Sirius Black's hair, but it had all been over in a flash. The change afterwards, was so astounding that Harry had stared at him all the way down the street. He had lost about fourteen years of age.

Harry, as well as Sirius, had treated himself to a full new set of Hogwarts robes (he was finally growing – "Good thing too," Sirius had said, "Or we'd have had to start feeding him raw meat.") and a fitting pair of jeans. Remus had promised that he would grow into his T-Shirts one day, though he doubted it.

Harry set off down the road. It was a nice morning, with the Gibbous moon still visible just above him in the milky blue sky.

Not many people were up. It was Sunday, and all the Muggles – there weren't many – were still in bed, peaceful, and unaware.

The families of Wizards who left for work early in the morning had left them to it. It was too quiet a day to worry about anything to do with Voldemort.

Because Fudge hadn't kept it locked up for long. Arthur Weasley had done his job. Dumbledore now had complete control over half the Ministry.

Harry had been thinking about this for a while before he realised that he had come further than he'd been shown the other day. He was about to turn back, when he noticed something that caught his eye.

It was a cluster of trees, not far off. Checking his wand – you can never be too careful – Harry moved towards it. Following the line of trees, he discovered that they were in fact outlining a large circle of land. Harry could not see past them, nor could he walk through the, nor could he climb them. They were thick, spiky pine trees and every time he tried his hands ripped. He made a few more circuits but without success.

It's probably just an old dump, he thought as he put the key in the lock, back at Remus' house. I don't know why I'm so interested.

But all the same, he made a resolve to ask Sirius and Remus about it as soon as they got back.