Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any of J.K. Rowling's characters, places, ect. I am merely a fan, writing fiction...fanfiction...

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Chapter 1 – No News is Good News

Harry lay on his bed at the Dursleys and stared sullenly at the ceiling. He glanced at his clock to find that it was 6am. He heard a tapping on the window and looked. It was Pigwidgeon, Ron's owl. Sirius gave him that owl, he thought with a pang. He let Pig in and briefly felt like stuffing the owl in the trunk in the back of his closet along with everything else that reminded him of Sirius. Pig was blissfully oblivious to Harry's inner battle, and flew around his head at annoying speed. Harry yanked him out of the air and pulled the letter off his leg. Then he practically stuffed the owl in to Hedwig's water bowl. Pig looked at Harry particularly reproachfully before taking a drink and zipping out the window. Harry looked down at Ron's untidy scrawl and wondered if he even wanted to open the letter. So far, they had all been filled with things like, "I know how you feel, Harry, but it's not your fault". It wasn't his fault, they said. But Sirius was dead – he had come to save Harry and died. Harry pummeled his fist into the bed, fighting back the familiar feeling of tears threatening to spill. Finally, more out of curiosity than anything else, he opened the letter.

Harry,

How are you, mate? You haven't written back for the last two weeks, except to Lupin and the rest to tell them you're all right. We want to know what's going on with you. Hey, guess what? The adults all have something they're guarding, and it's not you!

Harry was half indignant, half curious. On one hand, they should be guarding him because, what was that reason again – oh yeah, Lord Voldemort was after him. But on the other hand, this new thing they're guarding had to be pretty interesting. He wondered if it was another weapon.

Snape goes ballistic when he's not allowed to guard it. You see, they're supposed to take shifts – one person for the day, and another for the night (they Apparate to wherever they're going). Last time Snape went, he was gone for two days. Now, we know that's weird, but guess what's weirder? Tonks accidentally gave out that it's alive, or, at least, that it moves. You see, Snape and Moody were arguing about who got to go, and Tonks burst in and said, "Well one of you had better go because it's been fifteen minutes and who knows where (she looked at us)...it...is now!" So then Snape told Moody to go wash his eyeball and Disapparated. It's really weird.

Harry thought about this for a while. Snape desperately wanted to guard something – that kind of made sense – but not if this something was alive! Since when had Snape wanted to be around other living creatures? He glanced back down at the letter.

Oh yeah, Lupin is coming to get you the 1st of July at 3. I was supposed to tell you in your last letter, but I forgot. We've all been pestering Dumbledore to let you come down here, and he's finally agreed. I bet with all of us together, we can find out what that thing they're guarding really is – even Fred and George don't know, and every time somebody mentions the words "guard" or "duty", they completely explode saying they should have a chance to guard whatever it is.

Anyway, mate, please write back this time!

Ron

With no intention of writing back, Harry carefully stored the letter in a drawer of his desk and looked eagerly at his calendar. Suddenly he jumped up, not caring if he woke the Dursleys or not. Today was July 1st! He sank onto his bed, suddenly overcome with relief. He wouldn't have to stay in this prison much longer – only eight more hours. He decided to try and keep busy, but found it to be harder than he thought. He was packed in half an hour, and had successfully made, eaten, and cleaned up his breakfast in another hour. Six and a half more hours, he chanted to himself as he finished washing his dishes.

He turned around to see Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia giving him suspicious stares.

"What are you doing?" his uncle demanded. Harry had half a mind to reply with, "What does it look like I'm doing, you stupid rhinoceros?", but decided against it.

"Washing my breakfast dishes", he replied, "Oh and later today a werewolf is coming to pick me up around three, so I won't be back for the summer." He smiled sunnily at them as if he had just announced he was having a tea party with the king and queen, and then ran upstairs nearly bursting with laughter. The look on their faces had been priceless – ah, the magic words.

At a quarter til, he was downstairs pacing around the whole house. He paced the entire downstairs and then went upstairs and paced that, too. He had no idea if Lupin was going to Apparate, use floo powder, or if there was some other magical means of traveling which he had never heard of.

"What are you doing, boy?" his uncle growled as he paced the living room where he, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley were all huddled.

"I don't know how he's going to get here", Harry replied absentmindedly. As he left the room, he suddenly heard a large crack behind him, followed by a shrill scream, although which member of the family it came from he couldn't tell. He ran back into the living room to see Lupin standing in the middle of it. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley scurried to a corner furthest away from Lupin.

"Ah, Harry", Lupin said brightly, not acknowledging his other family, "All packed?"

"Yes", Harry replied, "My stuff is just upstairs."

The smile was wiped from Harry's face as he trudged upstairs, followed by Lupin. Lupin reminded him of Sirius. He felt a familiar lump rising in his throat. As he walked into his room, however, something hit him. Lupin was the last of the Marauders. He had lost his best friend in the world when Harry had died. Two of his best friends had died, and his other had betrayed them all. Lupin understood. Harry turned to Lupin to find that he was looking at him with an odd gleam in his eye. Harry found that he couldn't stop himself. He stepped forwards and threw his arms around Lupin at the same time Lupin enveloped him in a hug. Lupin held Harry tightly, and Harry thought that this might be what it was like to be hugged by a father. Harry couldn't stop the tears from coming, but when Lupin released him, he brushed them away embarrassedly. Lupin did the same.

"It's not your fault, Harry", he said simply. Suddenly Harry believed him. Harry felt a bit childish for running into Lupin's arms like that, but it had taken a huge burden off his shoulders to do so. He finally felt that it wasn't his fault. Harry and Lupin surveyed each other for a second, until Lupin spoke.

"Harry", Lupin said, "I'm not your father – and I'm not Sirius..."

Harry cut him off. "I don't care", he replied, "You're enough – more than enough."

Lupin looked genuinely touched, and seemed to be refraining from enveloping Harry in another hug. Harry wished he wouldn't restrain himself so much – although he felt childish, he still rather liked the feeling.

"So, ah, how are we going to get there?" Harry asked, awkwardly breaking the silence.

"We're just going to Apparate," Lupin replied, "If we hang on to all the stuff we want to bring with us, it should come with us."

"Oh", Harry said. Lupin was looking at him with that odd gleam in his eye again, but Harry tried not to get too hopeful.

"Harry", Lupin said, "May I –"

"Yeah", Harry replied.

Lupin hugged him again, and this time it was briefer, but tighter than Mrs. Weasley's. Harry found that he didn't mind. When Lupin released him, he smiled down at Harry, and Harry smiled back at him.

"Well, got all your stuff? Hanging on tight? Want me to hold that cage for you? Want to go say goodbye to your family? Didn't think so. Yell down at them anyway," Lupin directed.

Reluctantly Harry yelled a "Bye", down at the Dursleys, and after waiting about a minute with no response, he shrugged at Lupin.

"Right", Lupin said, looking annoyed at the Dursleys, "Let's go". He put a firm hand on Harry's shoulder and they disappeared with a –pop-.

They reappeared in a hallway of the Black house. Harry temporarily thought he was going to be sick. Everything cried out Sirius' name. Lupin squeezed his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I know, Harry", he said, looking as if he himself were about to be sick. "Everyone's in the living room. You can come in when you're ready, and until then you have the house to yourself."

Harry smiled thankfully at Lupin. He couldn't say anything, but he knew Lupin understood. Lupin smiled down at him, ruffled his hair, and walked off towards the living room. Harry dragged his things up to his room and set them at the foot of his bed. On his bed lay Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Sugar Quills, and various other candies, some which bore the label of Fred and George's new joke shop. He turned and walked out of the room, not really knowing where he was going until he got there. Sirius' room. He turned the knob and entered. The bed had been made, and it looked as if most of his things had been put away, but other than that, Sirius' mark was everywhere. Pictures of Harry lay on the nightstand, the dresser, and in various corners of the room. Harry's picture selves were looking worried and sad, but when he walked in they put up a good show of waving and smiling. Also lay pictures of his father and his mother, and of the Marauders – of course, Peter had been blasted out of these. Suddenly Harry noticed that one of his pictures was trying to get his attention. His picture self was flying around on his broomstick and waving his arms. Harry walked over, and his picture pointed excitedly behind itself. He peered behind it, but saw nothing. His picture self shook his head and pointed behind again. Harry reluctantly took it out of its frame and turned it over. There was a note on the back.

Sirius,

Yes, I have finally gotten you a picture of your godson. Do you see what an excellent flyer he is? Just like James, in many, many ways. Now you have no excuse to threaten me at wandpoint every time we meet to get a picture of Harry for you. I assure you, I will get more – I wouldn't risk your anger by not doing so. Now, please stop sending me owls every five minutes threatening to hex me if I don't get you a picture.

Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore

Harry grinned. He could imagine Sirius threatening Dumbledore to get pictures of him. For the first time in weeks, the thought of Sirius didn't make Harry feel like breaking down into a wreck. Instead, he felt oddly empowered by the fact that Sirius had loved him so much. Lestrange will pay, he told himself. The thought of Sirius' killer sent an electric wave of hatred through Harry. He wanted to kill her himself, but he wouldn't care who killed her as long as she died a painful death. He put his picture back in the frame and thanked his picture self before exiting.

When he walked into the hallway he nearly had a heart attack. Right in front of him was Snape. Snape looked just as surprised to see him, and if Harry didn't know any better, he would have sworn that Snape jumped. "Potter", he snarled, as if he had been waiting for an opportunity to corner Harry. But suddenly, he looked thoughtful. "Good...afternoon," he said slowly, "I'm sorry to have – gotten in your way." He looked as if every decent word he spoke towards Harry was causing him pain. He turned and headed down the stairs in the direction of the living room. Harry stared after him in shock. He sat on the top step of the stairs, listening to the chatter going on in the living room behind the partially closed door. He couldn't catch any particular conversation, but he heard laughing and happiness. How can they be happy when Sirius is dead? he asked himself. He felt anger rising up in him and nearly burst in there to start screaming at them, but stopped himself when he caught sight of Lupin through the door. Lupin was standing with a forced smile on his face – Harry couldn't see who he was talking to. But he knew that Lupin felt the same way as him, and he felt himself relax once more. Lupin suddenly turned, as if he sensed Harry's eyes on him, and smiled at Harry. Harry smiled back, and suddenly felt ready to leave his stair step.

He walked down the stairs and pushed open the door to the living room. Every mouth stopped moving, every eye fixed on him. Just as suddenly, cries of "Harry's back!" and, "He's here!" filled the room as nearly every person in the room ran forward to give him a hug. The first person to reach him was Hermione, and his vision was temporarily impaired by her hair, but she was soon pushed out of the way by the others. He lost track of who was hugging him at what time. Finally, everyone backed away, looking at him with concern. The room was completely silent. He knew everyone was wondering if he was going to break into tears over Sirius or begin yelling at all of them for no apparent reason. He realized for the first time that Dumbledore was in the room as he looked into his sparkling blue eyes. He didn't feel as mad at Dumbledore as he had over the summer, although he was still debating just how much Dumbledore's fault it was that Sirius had died. He decided that for now he was okay with him.

"Hi", he said to everyone, grinning a bit sheepishly. The room filled with cheers as everyone shouted their hellos back at him. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George surrounded him and began to tell him of what had happened while he was gone, Fred and George even filled him in on what they were planning for their joke shop. Various adults, including Tonks, Moody, Mr. Weasley, and Dumbledore himself came to become filled in on Harry's happenings. Finally, Mrs. Weasley made her voice heard above the chatter. "Children!" she said, "Time for bed!" At their protesting looks, she rambled on, "Harry's had a long day, and so have you. You all need to get to bed now. Fred and George, that includes you." As they went up the stairs, Fred grumbled, "They just want to talk about who's having tonight's guard duty while we're not there." "Definitely", George agreed, "But let's see if some Extendable Ears won't do the trick." Grinning, everybody followed Fred and George and grabbed some Extendable Ears. Soon, they were listening to Dumbledore call everyone to order.

"May I have your attention, please?" Dumbledore requested. Immediately there was complete silence. "Now, is there anybody who is particularly interested in tonight's duty?" After a second, he said, "Now Severus, I really don't think you've gotten enough sleep yet."

To everyone's surprise, Snape argued. "I have, headmaster", he protested, "I feel fully rested."

"A Pepper-Up potion won't fool me Severus", Dumbledore replied. Snape made no answer.

"Arthur, I believe you could do it. You took a rather long nap this afternoon, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir", Mr. Weasley replied.

"Very well then, Arthur, you may go as soon as Kingsley returns." At that moment there was a loud crack.

"Ah, Kingsley, welcome back", Dumbledore said, "How did it go?"

"Very well", Kingsley's deep voice boomed respectfully.

"Good, good", Dumbledore replied, "Arthur, we shall see you in the morning."

He was answered by a small pop as Mr. Weasley disapparated.

Lupin's voice was the next to be heard. "I believe I'm going to retire a bit early tonight", he informed the other adults.

"Very well", Dumbledore replied, "We shall see you in the morning. Severus, you would do well to accompany him."

"You guys had better go", Fred and George said suddenly. Quickly, everyone reeled in their Extendable Ears and ran to their respectful rooms. Nobody wanted to be caught eavesdropping by Snape.

"So what do you reckon, Harry?" Ron asked as they slid into bed, "What are they guarding that Snape, of all people, wants to be around so bad?"

"I don't know, but it can't be alive", Harry replied, "I mean, Snape hates humans."

Ron snorted. "That's for sure", he agreed.

"Actually", Harry said, "He was almost decent to me today." He related to Ron what Snape had said to him in the hall.

"Yeah", Ron said thoughtfully, "I suppose he has been pretty decent to everyone lately. Dumbledore probably told him he would never get guard duty again unless he was nice to people."

At this they both began to laugh. Suddenly, the doorknob turned. They quickly shut up. Lupin poked his head in.

"Harry, Dumbledore wanted me to remind you to practice your Occlumency tonight", he said, "And he wanted me to remind both of you to get a good night's sleep", he added, eyes twinkling as he looked at their guilty faces that weren't completely wiped of smiles. They both nodded. As Lupin shut the door, Harry realized how tired he really was.

"G'night", he mumbled sleepily. He was answered by a huge snore from Ron. He weakly tried to clear his mind, and wasn't quite sure if he had succeeded when he fell asleep.