Chapter 2. Paws to Reflect

            Petunia was waiting expectantly for Harry's answer. "I guess," he finally said. She turned and walked sown the steps and into the kitchen, where the sound of a whistling kettle could be heard. Harry slowly walked downstairs and sat at the table.

            Petunia watched as he nervously entered the kitchen and took a seat. That was so unlike him, she thought to herself. He usually moves quicker than that. Sometimes I think Vernon is too harsh on him, but we can't have the neighbors know. She poured the tea and took a small plate of biscuits over to the table. Sitting across from Harry, she took a small sip. "It's not poisoned, you know." Harry slowly took a sip.

            "Don't think me rude, Aunt Petunia, but I thought you hated me."

            "Hated is too strong a word, Harry," she replied. "I never understood Lily and your Father and your world. It scares me because it perverts what I know."

            "But why are you nice to me now?"

            "Well…" She looked around nervously before continuing. "I had a visit with your Headmaster yesterday while Vernon was at work and Dudley was out."

            "Dumbledore was here?" Harry felt a mixture of anger and shame. He had broken a lot of things in the Headmaster's office and he wasn't sure if they were still on speaking terms. "What did he want?"

            "He was here to let me know what happened. He told me about Sirius and how he had been framed for those murders. He told me how you two had grown close. And he told me about what happened to Sirius. I'm not sure I understand it all, Harry; or even how you were involved. But I remember what I felt when your Grandfather died and I know it hurts."

            "Yes, it does. I relive that day every time I try to sleep. I can't help it because I was tricked into going there. And when Sirius found out, he came to save me…and he died!" Harry was barely holding back the tears.

            Petunia noticed this and changed the subject. "Now, I will try to talk with you when Vernon and Dudley aren't around, but when they are here it will be business as usual. I will try to soften it when I can, but that may not be often. You aren't the only one that disagrees with Vernon on some things. But he makes a decent wage, so we will have to take it." Just then, Harry heard a car in the driveway. He looked at his aunt, who suddenly had fear in her eyes. "Get back to your room, quickly now," she hissed.

            Harry made it to the doorway when he heard the front door open. He heard Petunia in the kitchen rinsing the cups. He heard Vernon asking if she had company.

            "It was Mrs. Figg. Didn't you see her?"

            "No, but I wouldn't really be looking for her. What did she want?"

            "She had some boxes that she needed moved and wanted to see if Harry could help. I told her he would be glad to."

            "Rightly so. Potter!" Harry closed the door and started down toward the kitchen.

            He walked in to see Uncle Vernon sitting at the table with a glass of lemonade. "Yes, Uncle Vernon?"

            "Boy, Mrs. Figg wants you to help her. You run along to her house this afternoon and when you get back wash the car."

            Harry looked at Petunia. She looked at him briefly. "Make her feed you lunch for helping," she added before turning back to the sink.

            "Yes, Aunt Petunia," he replied. He turned and headed for the door.

***

            Ginny watched as the stone she had thrown skipped across the surface of the lake behind the Burrow. She looked over at Luna who seemed lost in thought. "Luna?"

            "Sorry, Ginny. My mind must have been on Harry."

            Ginny tensed at this. Did Luna like Harry? "Why were you thinking about Harry?"

            "I hear those muggles he lives with are awful. Have you ever met them?"

            "No, but Ron has. He says Harry's cousin is very fat and so is his uncle. But his aunt is skinny."

            "Well, I hope they are treating him okay. I felt so sorry for him when we got back to King's Cross. And did you see his face when you said you were going out with Dean?"

            "What?" Ginny stared at Luna. "What about his face?"

            "You mean you didn't do it to make Harry jealous?"

            "No, I did it to make Ron mad. And Dean and I have already broken up. He isn't my type."

            "And who is? Maybe a certain dark haired boy with green eyes and glasses?"

            "Luna!"

            "Why don't you just admit it, Ginny? You like Harry!"

            Ron stepped from behind a tree. "What about Harry?"

            Ginny smiled and looked at Luna. "Luna here said that she felt sorry for Harry."

            "Oh. Well, come on, you two; Mum has lunch ready." The two girls followed Ron back into the house.

***

            Hermione Granger sat on the back steps of her home drinking iced tea and reading. She always had loved to read, from as far back as she could remember. Her parents, both dentists, had encouraged her and renovated a room in their home into a library.

            Since Hermione had come home from school, she had spent a lot of time reading and thinking about the events of that night in the Department of Mysteries. In her dreams, she watched as she was hit with a curse and fell until she had it memorized. Her thoughts also drifted to one of her best friends, Harry, and the loss of his Godfather, the accused mass-murderer, Sirius Black. She knew he wasn't a murderer; he had been framed. And Harry had seemed to be the happiest when he was around Sirius. But then a house elf named Kreacher had lied to Harry and the results were that Sirius had fallen through a mysterious veil in the Department of Mysteries…a veil that everyone knew caused death.

            But there was her problem. In all of her research, she had never seen proof of that. So she decided to delve deep into the books she had and ones that she had owled Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, to see if he would send to her.

            She had sent a note to Harry to let him know of her intentions, but she had gotten no reply; in fact, she had gotten no post from him at all since she last saw him. She had owled Ron, but his reply said the same thing—he hadn't heard from Harry either. But, unlike Hermione, Ron wasn't worried. He wrote her that Harry probably just needed some time to think. Hermione had to agree; maybe that's what he needed.

            She was determined to find the answers, though. She kept reading anything she could find to see if it held the answer to Harry's problem. Poor Harry, she thought, all alone at the Dursley's house. I hope they are treating him better. Hmmmm…I seem to think of Harry a lot lately. I wonder why that is? Surely, I couldn't be...no...there's no possibility of that, is there?

            Hermione took another sip of her tea and decided to wait to think about that subject.

***

            Harry closed the door behind him and started towards Mrs. Figg's house. As he walked along, he noticed that people looked at him strangely. He looked down at his clothes. He had changed, but they hung loosely on him. Dudley's hand-me-downs were getting baggier; Harry had definitely lost some weight.

            As he walked, he pondered on the day's revelation; why had Aunt Petunia acted like that? Surely she didn't care about Sirius. Maybe their run-in with the Dementors last summer and the howler she had received had something to do with it. As he turned the corner on Wisteria Walk, he thought he heard someone behind him. He stopped and turned around, but saw no one. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned back and headed for Mrs. Figg's house.

            He knocked on the door and waited. Mrs. Figg opened the door and smiled. "Harry! It's wonderful to see you! Come in."

            Harry stepped inside. "Aunt Petunia said you needed some help?"

            "That was just a story, Harry. You haven't come out of the house all week. Mr. Whiskers has been worried and so have I. Let me look at you." She looked Harry over, making a 'tsk' sound. "Well, they definitely haven't been over feeding you, like that whale of a cousin of yours. Why don't you come with me into the kitchen?" She started out of the room.

            Harry followed her into the kitchen. "I don't want to be rude, but is that the real reason why I am here?"

            Mrs. Figg eyed him as she started to grin. "Dumbledore told me you were quick! And after what I heard happened…oh, Harry, I apologize. I knew Sirius many years ago, and I couldn't believe it when they said he was a murderer. He was always so sweet and full of mischief…but malice? That was not the Sirius I knew."

            Harry looked up at her. "You knew Sirius?"

            "Yes, but not well. My sister was a sixth year when he and your parents started at Hogwarts. Your grandparents invited my family to a few parties and I met them. Since I was a Squib, I didn't get to know them better." She handed Harry a couple of sandwiches and a glass of milk. "Here, eat these. We shouldn't have long to wait."

            Harry had bitten into one of the sandwiches. "Wait?" he mumbled, as he tried to swallow.

            There was a sound from the living room and some muttering. "Arabella?"

            Harry jerked up at the familiar voice as she answered. "In here, Remus."

            Harry swallowed his milk in time to see Remus Lupin walk into the kitchen. Mrs. Figg handed him a glass. "Ah, thanks, Arabella. That solicitor talked me dry." He took a drink and turned to Harry. "Well, Mr. Potter. Enjoying your summer?"

            Harry saw past the smile into the pain in the eyes of his former Professor. "All right, I guess. How about you?"

            "It's been rough actually. I miss him a lot…I know you do, too."

            Harry felt his throat tightening and tears started flowing. "Yeah, I do. If I hadn't been so stupid as to let myself get tricked…"

            Remus walked over and put a hand on Harry's shoulders. Harry looked up into his face and saw the sadness and worry. "Harry, it's not your fault. If we had known what that Umbridge woman was up to…why didn't you tell us?"

            "I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing she got to me. Besides, with the power she had she could have caused any of you trouble."

            Remus chuckled. "You are entirely too much like your father, Harry. Must be a Potter thing."

            Harry looked at him. "I'm like my father?"

            Remus smiled. "You are definitely James' son, but I see a lot of Lily in you too. Your father was a good man, Harry. Oh, don't get me wrong, he was a prat at times. The things he and Sirius used to do! I was always the practical one. I did my best to keep them under control. But secretly, I enjoyed watching and even helping to plan some of the pranks. But there was a somber side to them too. They knew when they should back off or be prepared. Which is why I asked Arabella to help set up this time today."

            "What's going on? It isn't Voldemort again is it?" At the mention of the name, Remus flinched slightly and Mrs. Figg almost fainted. "Oh, come on you two, you can't be afraid of a name!"

            "I know, Harry, but it's just not easy to overcome. Anyway, we need to talk. It's about Sirius."

            Harry looked at the older man and realized something. It had been just as hard on Remus to lose Sirius as it had been for Harry. Remus had lost Sirius twice; once when he was sent to Azkaban and once when he fell through the veil. "Seriously?" Harry joked.

            Remus smiled. "Yes. I received a letter from his solicitor. It's kind of hard to explain. Sirius knew his family had a lot of money, and he wanted to prevent any of that money being put to use for dark purposes. So he decided to put someone he could trust in charge of it. He had his solicitor create a trust, and he named me as guardian of that trust. This was all done just prior to your parents going into hiding. He knew that if he died, the family estate would revert to his cousins Narcissa and Bellatrix. I knew about the trust, but I never intended on touching it, even after he had been sent to Azkaban. But right before Sirius left for the Department of Mysteries that night, he sent a letter to his solicitor reminding him of certain clauses in the trust. Sirius had set it up so that after my thirty-fifth birthday, a portion of the trust would become mine upon confirmation from Albus Dumbledore. The balance would become mine upon official notification from the Ministry regarding his death. Well, Dumbledore spoke to the solicitor and I have received a deposit in my vault at Gringotts…and this note from Sirius." He pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket and handed it to Harry.

            Harry unrolled the parchment and began to read:

Dear Moony,

So…my baby adopted brother has finally hit middle age. And, knowing you like I do, you won't have settled down because you like to get wild and party once a month. Can't say as I blame you. It's good to go out and howl sometimes! Anyway, when you open this, one million galleons of the trust becomes yours, free and clear. Consider it a birthday present. Just do me a favor. Take Harry out and buy him a few things; things he would think were frivolous. And buy yourself some nice things, too. If you don't abide by my wishes, I will come back to haunt you…hehe. Be good, Moony. See you around.

Your friend,

Sirius

            Harry stared at the parchment, and then looked up at Remus. "Harry…Arabella has agreed to take the two of us shopping the day after tomorrow. Is that okay with you?"

            Harry nodded. "Sure. I mean, if the Dursley's will let me."

            "Don't worry, Harry. They will," added Remus with a grin.